His voice was lazy and clear, with an upward inflection that sounded almost seductive.
Lin Anqiao lowered her gaze and replied calmly, "We aren't arguing. We're getting a divorce."
The room fell into a heavy silence.
Song Hanjiang remained silent for a long time.
Puzzled, Lin Anqiao looked up, only to catch a fleeting flash of emotion in his eyes.
"Are you feeling unwell?" His voice was cool, but his gaze was somewhat sharp. "You've lost a lot of weight."
Lin Anqiao's eyelashes fluttered slightly as she instinctively touched her face.
Tortured by cancer, she had indeed lost a great deal of weight.
Feeling that her sickly appearance was far from flattering, Lin Anqiao lowered her eyes and gave a faint, detached hum. "I'm fine, I've just been eating less lately."
If he knew she only had three months left to live, what would he do?
He would probably go out of his mind.
With a hint of coldness in his voice, Song Hanjiang reached out and took the empty milk glass from her. "Since you're getting a divorce, why don't you stay at my place for the time being?"
That was out of the question.
Lin Anqiao looked up, just about to refuse, when she heard his tone—firm, leaving no room for argument, accompanied by a half-smile.
"Why stand on ceremony with me? When we were little... you used to cling to me every day, saying you wanted to sleep with me."
His voice was unhurried, carrying a touch of amusement as if he had seen right through her thoughts.
He made the remark sound thoroughly ambiguous.
Lin Anqiao was instantly left speechless.
How could childhood be compared to now...
"You're my younger sister, after all." Song Hanjiang's voice was clear yet remarkably gentle. "We're family."
The word "sister" made Lin Anqiao's fingertips curl slightly. Her voice was hoarse as she said, "Thank you."
Song Hanjiang still had a meeting to attend, so after making arrangements for her, he hurried away.
Left alone in the room, Lin Anqiao could hear nothing for a moment except the sound of her own breathing.
Her best friend had gone abroad, and she couldn't get in touch with her for the time being.
She still had to find a way to secure a place of her own.
*Click.*
The door lock suddenly clicked open.
Lin Anqiao instinctively looked up to see a delicate, doll-like little girl peering curiously at her through the crack in the door.
She looked to be about the same age as Fu Xiaochuan.
Lin Anqiao offered the little girl a friendly smile.
Emboldened, the little girl stepped into the room, her voice bright and lively. "My uncle has never brought a woman home before. You must be my new aunt, right?"
Over the years, Lin Anqiao had heard about the affairs of the Song Family.
Song Hanjiang had an older brother who died in a car accident a few years ago, leaving behind only a little girl.
This must be her.
Before Lin Anqiao could answer, the little girl scampered over and familiarly grabbed her hand.
"My name is Song Yu, Little Aunt. You're so pretty, you look just like a celebrity."
The little girl's eyes were wide, filled with undisguised wonder.
Lin Anqiao paused and the corners of her mouth twitched.
At the exact same age, a stranger's child praised her for being pretty, yet the son she had carried in her womb for ten months spent all day telling her she looked like an old witch.
"My name is Lin Anqiao. I'm not your little aunt; I'm your uncle's friend," Lin Anqiao patiently explained to her.
Song Yu wore a knowing expression and hugged her tightly, refusing to let go.
"It doesn't matter, it's nice to meet you. Can I call you Auntie Qiaoqiao? You smell so nice. I wonder who will be lucky enough to be your child one day."
Lin Anqiao paused, caught between laughter and tears.
She loved children. Softly and gently, she coaxed Song Yu to sleep, and ended up lying down right beside her.
She slept soundly until the next day.
When Lin Anqiao opened her eyes again, Song Yu had already left for kindergarten.
She went downstairs to have breakfast.
Song Hanjiang was sitting at the table drinking coffee. Seeing her, he smiled faintly and said, "Song Yu is quite the social butterfly; I never expected her to take to you so much."
Lin Anqiao gave a soft laugh.
Fu Xiaochuan had been precocious since childhood and was never affectionate toward her.
Yesterday, when Song Yu had hugged her to sleep, she felt her heart melt.
For the first time, she understood what it felt like to be a mother.
"I like her a lot too," Lin Anqiao said softly.
A familiar dull ache still lingered in her stomach. Without a trace, she pressed a hand over it and lowered her gaze to suppress the pain.
Song Hanjiang remained silent for a long time.
Puzzled, she looked up, only to find him staring intently at her.
Those peach-blossom eyes were somewhat cool, their sharp gaze almost piercing right through her.
After a moment, Song Hanjiang said indifferently, "Another day, I'll take you to the hospital for a checkup."
Lin Anqiao's pupils contracted.
They hadn't seen each other in eight or nine years, yet he was still this sharp.
"Thank you," Lin Anqiao said softly.
Though she didn't refuse out loud, in her heart she was already calculating her plans for the next three months.
She was dying. Before the end, she actually wanted to properly say goodbye to him.
Yet she must never let him discover that she only had three months left.
"So... how is Qiaoqiao going to thank me?"
The warm and intimate male voice interrupted her thoughts. Lin Anqiao looked up, straight into Song Hanjiang's smiling peach-blossom eyes.
He enunciated the name "Qiaoqiao" with deliberate emphasis.
Unlike the innocent way he used to address her by name in their youth, the name "Qiaoqiao" sounded profoundly ambiguous at this moment.
Her fingertips curled slightly. "Is there anything you need me to do?"
Her tone carried a trace of politeness and aloofness.
Song Hanjiang paused, the color in his peach-blossom eyes dimming slightly, though the smile on his face remained cool and gentle.
"Xiaoyu just transferred to a new kindergarten and has been making a fuss, demanding that you pick her up. If it's convenient, could you go get her?"
Lin Anqiao agreed.
Song Hanjiang seemed very busy, leaving for the company as soon as breakfast was over.
Lin Anqiao opened her phone and saw the address Song Hanjiang had sent her, her pupils contracting instantly.
How could it be such a coincidence?
It was the exact same kindergarten as Fu Xiaochuan's.
She lowered her gaze. With some time still left before school let out, she contacted her lawyer and asked him to draft a divorce agreement.
Everything the Fu Family owed her, she would demand down to the very last cent.
Afterward, Lin Anqiao went out to look around at some vacant apartments available for rent.
She wanted to hold an art exhibition, she wanted to pick up her paintbrush again, and naturally, she needed a studio.
Although Fu Jingzhou had frozen her cards, her handbags and jewelry held their value well, and she could sell them second-hand for a substantial amount of money.
By the time she wandered over to the kindergarten for pickup time, Lin Anqiao felt a mild discomfort in her stomach once more, but her heart felt remarkably fulfilled.
In the past, she had toiled away for the Fu Family; now, she was doing it for herself.
This was her first step toward living for herself.
When she arrived at the kindergarten, the children were already lined up, waiting for their parents to pick them up.
This was an elite kindergarten in Beijing. In the past, Fu Xiaochuan considered her an embarrassment and rarely let her pick him up.
Lin Anqiao didn't see Song Yu, but from afar, she spotted Fu Xiaochuan standing at the front of the line with a stern face, deep in thought.
She walked up to them.
When the headmistress saw her, she immediately smiled. "Are you here to pick up Xiaochuan?"
Before Lin Anqiao could speak, the headmistress turned and called out to Fu Xiaochuan, "Xiaochuan, your mother is here to pick you up."
Fu Xiaochuan looked up at Lin Anqiao.
He let out a cold hum in his heart.
His mother had been so willful that he really ought to teach her a lesson.
After leaving yesterday, she hadn't even come home! There was no one to make his late-night snack!
With an indifferent expression, Fu Xiaochuan stood his ground and didn't move. "She isn't my mother. She used to be our family's nanny, but she got fired by us. I'm not going with her."