Ruan Zhengsheng suddenly fell silent. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Forget it. It's up to you guys."

The carriage returned to its previous tranquility.

Ruan Zhengsheng's profile was reflected on the glass window. Ruan Mengmeng looked at the already old face with mixed feelings.

Many things, once they happen, cannot be undone.

The father-daughter relationship between her and Ruan Zhengsheng had probably disappeared completely that summer five years ago.

Uncle Ming sent Ruan Mengmeng back to the apartment. He took out a book from the car and handed it to Ruan Mengmeng, saying, "This is what the president asked me to hand over to you, Second Miss."

Ruan Mengmeng took it and found it was an ordinary English book. She weighed it in her hand and found it was so thick but so light, which was obviously strange.

She raised an eyebrow and asked, "What else did he say?"

Uncle Ming: "The president said that this is his last gift to the second young lady."

Ruan Mengmeng remained silent and walked into the elevator with the book.

The elevator opened, Ruan Mengmeng walked out, and saw Mu Heng leaning at the door of her house with several gift boxes at his feet. She was stunned.

Since the quarrel with Mu Heng that night, they haven't seen each other much.

But she ran into them today. She took a look at Mu Heng's attitude and knew that he must be waiting for her.

"You're back?"

Mu Heng asked idly.

Ruan Mengmeng looked at him coldly without saying a word.

Mu Heng didn't care. He picked up the things on the ground and said to Ruan Mengmeng, "This is a special product from Edo that my aunt and grandma mailed to you. It's for you."

Ruan Mengmeng wanted to refuse, but Mu Heng interrupted her and said, "Just accept the old man's kindness."

Mu Heng put the things at Ruan Mengmeng's door, then turned and left.

Suddenly, he paused in front of the elevator and said calmly, "I'm going to leave City B for a while. If you can't contact me, you can find Liuhuo and he will notify me."

As soon as Mu Heng finished speaking, he walked into the elevator.

After Mu Heng left, Ruan Mengmeng pursed her lips, struggled internally for a few moments, and picked up the things on the ground into the house.

What Zhang Wan and Madam Mu sent over were some yin-nourishing medicinal herbs, with precautions written on them.

Ruan Mengmeng put those things away. As soon as she sat on the sofa, she saw the book that Uncle Ming gave her out of the corner of her eye.

She casually opened a page and saw that the middle of the book was hollowed out and there was a wooden box inside.

Ruan Mengmeng picked up the wooden box in confusion, opened it and saw a key lying inside.

Ruan Mengmeng weighed the key in her hand, not understanding what Ruan Zhengsheng meant.

Ruan Mengmeng put the key back to its original place and put the book in the box at the bottom of the cabinet. In that box, there were things Ruan Zhengsheng had given her, all of which were kept intact.

Ruan Mengmeng's eyes stayed on the box for a few seconds, then quickly looked away.

No one could stop her determination to break away from the past.

…

Tao Hongmei was sitting at home watching the eight o'clock TV series. When Ruan Zhengsheng came home, she didn't even look at him, as if her mind was completely drawn to the TV series.

Ever since Tao Hongmei was forced to clarify the feud between her and Xia Lin'an at a press conference and publicly apologized in front of the media, she has been in a cold war with Ruan Zhengsheng and they sleep in separate rooms.

All the servants knew about this matter, except Ruan Tiantian.

After that incident, Tao Hongmei finally understood that all identities and status were false and nothing was more practical than money and property.

That's why she went to great lengths to encourage Ruan Tiantian to get pregnant with a child so that she could use the child to gain benefits.

After Ruan Zhengsheng returned to the study, Tao Hongmei also turned off the TV and returned to her room.

The room was in a mess, which was the result of Tao Hongmei's anger in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, Tao Hongmei learned that Ruan Zhengsheng not only went to the law firm, but also went to see Ruan Mengmeng.

She knew without even thinking what they would talk about.

Ruan Zhengsheng, the old fox, will definitely not compensate her and Ruan Tiantian as he said. There may be some preconditions.

Tao Hongmei knew the man who had been sleeping with her for more than 30 years very well, and she could guess his thoughts accurately.

Tao Hongmei is well aware that Ruan Zhengsheng's health is not as good as before, but the Ruan family's successor has not been decided. Tao Hongmei does not want to sit and wait for death any longer, she must take the initiative.

However, she had to solve a problem first. Tao Hongmei dialed an unfamiliar number and said to the person, "Start taking action in the next two days. Remember, do it well."

After hanging up the phone, a strange smile appeared on Tao Hongmei's face, and she vowed to return the pain she had suffered double.

…

Late at night, it suddenly started snowing outside.

Ye Ruohuan stood in the living room, the floor heating seeping from the soles of her feet to her whole body. Her hands were holding onto the floor-to-ceiling window, and the hot air she exhaled turned into white mist when it met the cold air on the window.

Fu Yijian walked over, put the shawl on Ye Ruohuan's shoulders, and said in a magnetic voice: "It's late, go to bed."

Ye Ruohuan obediently let Fu Yijian lead her to the bedroom and lay on the side of the bed.

Fu Yijian followed and lay down, hugging Ye Ruohuan gently from behind, placing his palm on Ye Ruohuan's lower abdomen, transferring the heat from his palm to Ye Ruohuan's body, and asked, "Does it still hurt?"

Ye Ruohuan paused for a moment and shook her head: "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Clearly, when she fell down the stairs and hit her stomach, she felt a cramp all over her body and was about to lose consciousness. But now, apart from a little loss in her heart, that dull pain has long disappeared without a trace.

Ye Ruohuan placed her hand on the back of Fu Yijian's hand and asked softly, "Yijian... I... accidentally lost our child... Do you blame me?"

Ye Ruohuan's eyelashes trembled slightly, and her eyes suddenly turned red. A tear slid down the corner of her eye onto the pillow and disappeared, leaving only a trace.

After a day of calming down, Ye Ruohuan finally dared to face the fact that night.

"It's not your fault." Fu Yijian hugged Ye Ruohuan tightly and said in a deep voice: "I am also responsible."

Ye Ruohuan's miscarriage was not her fault alone; Fu Yijian, as the child's father, was also responsible.

"Were you scared at that time?" Fu Yijian asked.

He was not with her that morning. How helpless and lonely it would be to face such a thing alone.

Whenever Fu Yijian thought of Ye Ruohuan enduring that pain alone at that time, his heart ached terribly.

"Hmm..." Ye Ruohuan's voice was muffled and she bit her lower lip tightly.

"I'm sorry... It's all my fault that I didn't get back in time. I failed to protect you."