"What are you doing?"
A child’s voice, clear and bright, rang out suddenly.
There was no need to look in the direction of the voice; the few servants and the fierce little girl all instantly shrank back, their expressions shifting.
Ye Ran looked curiously at the boy walking over from a distance. He was a few years older than her, with delicate features, profound and handsome, his fair skin as clear as snow or porcelain. He looked like a precious jade, exceptionally striking.
"Brother!"
The little girl turned to call out to him. Her voice, which had been spoiled and petulant, softened considerably, but she still intended to tattle. She turned back and pointed at Ye Ran. "She bullied me! I don't know where this wild child came from, what right does she have to bully me?"
After saying this, she urged the servants, "Auntie, hit her! Hurry!"
"Nonsense!"
Before the servants could make a move, the boy’s voice cut them off.
At the same time, the boy stepped forward and reached out toward Ye Ran. "You must be Uncle Ye's daughter, right? I'm sorry, my sister is still young. Let me apologize to you on her behalf."
Ye Ran blinked in a daze, sensing the connection between the boy and the little girl. After a moment's hesitation, she reached out and let the boy help her up.
"Thank you," she whispered.
The boy smiled, his peripheral vision falling sternly onto the little girl. "Lu Lingshuang, how old are you? How can you be so ill-mannered? Apologize to your sister!"
Lu Lingshuang pouted, clearly unwilling.
The boy wasn't in a hurry; he just watched her coldly.
Though he was young, his presence was formidable. A sense of pressure radiated from him, and in an instant, Lu Lingshuang crumbled. She mumbled an apology to Ye Ran and turned to run away. The servants followed her as she left.
Ye Ran looked down at the ruined cake on the ground, her heart aching. She hesitated, wanting to pick up the pieces. The cake wasn't expensive and could be bought again, but her father's love was priceless.
Ye Ran was very young then and knew not to start a conflict with the eldest miss of the Lu Family, which would only put her father in a difficult position. She just wanted to carefully clean up the mess, but the boy beat her to it, squatting down to help.
"I am truly sorry. My sister has been spoiled rotten."
Ye Ran stared, watching the boy in his handmade shirt and trousers. There was an inherent nobility about him that was impossible to describe, and his fingers, stretched out to help, were fair and luminous. Yet, he didn't mind at all as he picked up the dirty cake.
He even meticulously wiped the box clean before handing the cake to Ye Ran.
"No apology is sufficient, but if I may, could you let me bake you a new cake?"
Ye Ran knew the boy meant well, but she wasn't without a temper, and having endured this much, she was reaching her limit. She took the cake and retorted, "I don't need it!"
She ran to find her father and told him what had happened. Her father praised her for being sensible, but he also held her close, comforting her with a heavy heart.
Just as the father and daughter were about to leave, the boy chased after them, holding an exquisite gift box.
"Uncle Ye, I am truly sorry. I made this myself. It surely can't compare to the one you bought, but it is a token of my sincerity."
The boy said this as he handed the perfectly boxed cake to Ye Ran.
"Young Master, this is..." The housekeeper, who had followed him out, started to speak but trailed off. After glancing at Ye's father and Ye Ran, he tempered his words out of etiquette. "Why go to such lengths?"
The boy glanced at the housekeeper, his disapproval evident.
Ye's father didn't want to spoil his daughter's birthday mood, so he exchanged a few polite words and left with Ye Ran.
As Ye Ran looked back, she inadvertently heard the housekeeper say, "That’s just the daughter of a driver. We have more than one driver in this house. She is a servant, after all; it wasn't worth the Young Master going to such lengths."
"What servant?"
The boy’s rebuttal was soft, yet filled with stern righteousness. "People shouldn't be judged by their status. Don't look at others through prejudiced lenses."
"Yes, Young Master."
The boy seemed to notice Ye Ran’s gaze. He turned his head and offered a bright, faint smile as he watched her and her father leave.
The afternoon sun was thick that day, casting brilliant light over his youthful face. He looked like a painting, deeply imprinted in Ye Ran’s heart.
At that moment, she turned to her father, clutching his arm, and asked, "Dad, what is that boy's name?"
"Lu Linshen."
...
Three short words, a single name.
She held onto it firmly for over a decade.
Perhaps it was because Lu Linshen had stood up for her when they were young, or perhaps because of the many subsequent interactions where Lu Lingshuang always viewed her with prejudice, it was fated that no matter how well Ye Ran treated her sister-in-law after marriage, it would be useless.
It also caused Lu Lingshuang to form a deep-rooted belief that Ye Ran was a pushover, easy to handle and easy to bully.
In the past, she loved Lu Linshen, so she could endure it.
Later, she married Lu Linshen, and out of respect for their relationship, she had to endure it as well.
But now, she was ready to give up even on Lu Linshen, so why would she continue to indulge Lu Lingshuang?
Ye Ran washed her face, applied light makeup, and changed her clothes. Just as she was about to leave, she received a call from the police station asking her to come in for questioning.
That was exactly what she intended to do.
But on the way, she stopped at a law firm to meet with a licensed, senior lawyer. She detailed the entire incident and requested to officially press charges against Lu Lingshuang for malicious insult and defamation.
At the same time, at the Lu Group skyscraper.
In the top-floor CEO’s office, Jin Fan reported the afternoon's itinerary and the progress of several projects. He cautiously observed his boss's gloomy expression, hesitating over words that were stuck on his tongue.
Lu Linshen hadn't eaten lunch. On a table in the distance sat a meal packed by his assistant from a five-star hotel—far better than anything that woman had ever made—but it didn't stir his appetite in the slightest.
He hadn't been home since yesterday.
And she hadn't come to the company to bring him food as she usually did.
Lu Linshen knew exactly where the cracks had appeared, especially with that phone call at noon. Ye Ran actually dared to...
He took a deep breath, his sullen expression showing no signs of easing. He had no idea how many cigarettes he had smoked, and he reached up to loosen his tie. "Go check what Lu Lingshuang has done," he ordered.
Jin Fan wasn't surprised. Without a word, he took out a tablet, pulled up some files, and handed it over. "Miss Lu accessed the surveillance footage from Liyuan and claimed that Madam stole property worth up to 30 million. She has already arranged for a lawyer to call the police."
Lu Linshen frowned in astonishment. He looked at the photos and screenshots on the tablet, his long, jade-like fingers flipping through them one by one, until he stopped on a specific photo, his gaze lingering for a long time.
Jin Fan knew that Miss Lu had gone too far this time.
So, without waiting for Lu Linshen to give further orders, he said, "Mr. Lu, I will handle this matter properly. Clearing things up is simple, but as for Madam..."