Chapter 5

TangShi’s father sounded overly excited as he tossed away his daughter’s freedom, careless with her feelings. As though talking about the weather. This was the first time she heard what was expected of her, as he refused to discuss anything when she returned yesterday. She inwardly smirked and sneered at just how miserable her family made her. It seemed she was not significant enough even in planning her own life.

She was sent to her room alone when she arrived, not even allowed to attend dinner at the family table last night. Such was her lowly position in this place. Only the servants had shown her any compassion in the past. Even now, most of them had been replaced over the years, and new ones mostly ignored her. It seemed that Ava or Juefeng chased out any who had shown warmth to TangShi. They lived to make life as difficult as possible for her.

“Two years unless no child is born, in which case she will have to try harder. After two years, proving she has given YuZhi an heir, she shall be compensated and set free, and the child will be raised in the family of Leng. I expect quick results given her age and your reports showing her good health. I want a child as soon as possible. My grandson is twenty-six; he will not be young forever.” The older man threw a disinterested look over Juefeng, then TangShi, sitting quietly off to one side, appraising her and nodded with satisfaction.

He seemed to like the presentation enough not to refuse or mention her simple attire. Although he did gaze back at Juefeng for a long second, TangShi wondered if maybe she had an opportunity to be let go if they chose her sister instead. She hadn’t allowed herself to feel much of anything about this whole thing until now. She was holding her breath, hoping to get through this by some miracle and find a way out the other side.

As much as she longed for that outcome, a minor ache in her heart flashed through, surprising her, and she felt herself sliding her eyes back to YuZhi with a sad glimmer of hope. Glad that he was at least gorgeous, if not warm.

Stupid girl! She chastised her foolish heart. What really was her heart and head thinking of?

“So, we should set an announcement of engagement soon and a wedding quickly after?” Ava gracefully smiled, fluttering her lashes. TangShi tried not to make it obvious she was falling into a sad depression as she listened without control over her own life. She stayed still, held herself upright and in good posture, and concealed the sadness breaking her heart. Feeling her sister’s cold gaze eating her up, her smug smile aimed ruthlessly and ignored her.

“I want them married immediately, privately. So they can begin consummating and creating a child. We can announce an engagement formally, keep it a secret, and then later, a wedding will appease the netizens who follow my grandson’s fame. I don’t want to delay.” The grandfather had made his mind up, and it seemed the only goal in his calculating mind was that TangShi produces a child. The family was everything here, and future heirs were how a corporation survived.

There was a rumor that the Leng family was short on living relatives after a disastrous plane crash killed several a few years ago, and the remaining grandchildren were mainly female. They had failed to produce any children recently. The older man was getting on in years and wanted the joy of great-grandchildren before he passed. YuZhi was the known heir to take over as CEO, which meant his children would bear more importance than anyone else in his family.

YuZhi was the future of their company, the one set to inherit the majority shares when his grandfather stepped down in the next two years, hence their strict timeline. It seemed Grandfather Leng had found that Miss Cheng was not worthy of a union with his grandson for his first-born child, who would be set to inherit the future company after his father. Cheng was a name in fashion and design but was even lower than Lei Enterprises in terms of worth.

TangShi shyly looked up at the second man, assuming it was YuZhi’s father, and was met with a blank stare of a quiet and bored person. The other gentleman was more on the age line of grandfather, which confused her, and she wondered if his father had been late in life when he had a son. She didn’t know the relation of these two other quiet men to YuZhi, or his grandfather for sure, other than they looked alike.

TangShi couldn’t help but be drawn back to YuZhi as the elders continued to talk and finalize the details of her life. She was zoning out because she had no say and didn’t want to listen anymore. It would all be written into a contract she would sign today, and she could read back at the worthlessness of her value when she was alone. She didn’t want to digest it while unable to cry or react to how she felt inside.

YuZhi was staring at his coffee, oblivious to the conversation, and seemed disengaged and closed off, lost in his thoughts, even while managing to sit like a commanding emperor and looking devastating and devilish all at the same time. TangShi’s heartbeat hastened rapidly, her palms became clammy, and she looked away as the blush rose on her cheeks.

One encounter was enough to leave a lasting impression, and she regretted it deeply. Despite knowing this man was cold and heartless, he was still the type of male who could reduce her to a trembling mess. She had thought him beautiful, even masked, but seeing him fully now, her heart tore a little, and her eyes dampened with regret at letting him wound her.

She wished she could erase that night and meet him as a stranger. She felt it would be somewhat easier had she never tasted his lips and been eternally traumatized by his kissing her. It had ruined her from ever being kissed by another, and she had actively avoided dating men in the years following.

Such was the crushing effect he had on her fragile heart by standing her up. Proving all his words had been lies. She wondered if her lack of self-worth and need to find love had been catalysts to how much it affected her. If she had been someone like Juefeng, she might have brushed it off and forgotten him in a matter of days.

She had often felt weak and pitiful by being so broken over such a minor episode in a long life, but seeing him again, she understood how he could devastate hearts so easily. He was like a god among men. She had basked in his light and been burned for eternity with unhealing wounds.

“So, she will leave with you today? So fast. I was not expecting it. We have not prepared her to leave just yet.” Ava’s words pulled TangShi back to the present, and she froze as they seeped into her brain and sobered her melancholy.

Did they really just say she was being taken from here immediately?