Song Yan's eyes widened in disbelief. She never expected Lu Jingyang, who had always been so obedient to her, to be so cold and tough. While she was still stunned, he had already hung up the phone.
The hand holding the phone trembled slightly. Compared to his previous refusal to answer her calls, this conversation made her feel even more despair.
If only she hadn't been so impulsive and had chosen to break up with Lu Jingyang, perhaps she wouldn't be in this situation now.
Although Lu Jingyang wasn't a child of the Lu family, he was indeed Lu Yanbei's biological brother. Even if he achieved nothing in the future, as long as Lu Yanbei was there, Lu Jingyang's life would be fine.
Thinking of this, Song Yan was filled with regret.
She knelt on the living room carpet, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. That white carpet was something Lu Jingyang had specially brought back from abroad for a certain anniversary.
Song Yan could now be considered abandoned by everyone.
Not only had she lost her job, but she had also been betrayed by her own mother. It turned out that when Song's mother visited last time, she had sneaked away Song Yan's bank card while she wasn't paying attention. Her password was her birthday, and Song's mother had cracked it after a few tries. Without any regard for how hard she had worked to save the money, she had taken every last cent, leaving none for her.
Song Yan only found out about it when she received a text message from the bank.
No matter what she said, Song's mother refused to return the money, even claiming that she had already used it to buy a house for her brother.
Song Yan felt like she wanted to die at that moment.
That was her last bit of savings.
Apart from the apartment she owned, she truly had nothing left.
What she didn't know was that Zhao Yafen had already hired a lawyer and planned to reclaim the apartment. The excuse was that they had the right to take back the apartment, which was considered marital property of Lu Jingyang.
Of course, Lu Jingyang was unaware of this.
Although he had cut ties with Song Yan, he had no intention of asking for the gifts he had given her back. However, Zhao Yafen thought differently; she was doing it for Lu Jingyang's sake.
Without the Lu family's support, their son couldn't live with them when he got married in the future, could he? Lu Yunting's apartment was a two-bedroom, one-living room unit, which even felt cramped for the couple. Moreover, there was also Zhou Yingzi.
Speaking of Zhou Yingzi, her mental state had been quite good lately. She would occasionally meet friends for shopping or other outings, showing no signs of depression at all.
And every time she returned, her face was flushed with happiness, as if something good had happened.
Zhao Yafen had privately asked her about it, but Zhou Yingzi had been evasive and hadn't told her directly. However, with her intuition, it wasn't hard to guess that Zhou Yingzi must have found a boyfriend.
One day, Zhou Yingzi came back from outside carrying a bouquet of flowers and was coincidentally met by Zhao Yafen. Seeing this, Zhao Yafen grabbed her and asked, "Who sent you these flowers?"
Zhou Yingzi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, blushing as she replied, "Dr. Luo sent them."
"The psychologist who treated you?" Zhao Yafen quickly understood. "What's his family background like? Is he local? How many properties does he own?"
"Oh, Mom, are you conducting an interrogation? We've only just started dating, it's not appropriate to talk about these things." Zhou Yingzi sniffed the bouquet in her arms, looking bashful and shy.
She was clearly head over heels in love.
Compared to her previous obsession with trying to get close to Lu Yanbei, Zhou Yingzi now appeared to be in a much more normal romantic relationship.
Zhao Yafen pursed her lips and said, "Why can't we talk about it? You're not a teenager anymore. When people your age date, aren't they aiming for marriage? It's better to understand things beforehand to avoid wasting time."
Zhou Yingzi, lost in the beautiful trap woven by Luo Fei, couldn't bear to hear Zhao Yafen talk about such mundane things and immediately put on a cold expression. "It's a matter of politeness, don't you understand!"
"I don't care about that. I just want you to marry the right person, to a good family with a substantial background." As Zhao Yafen spoke, she suddenly remembered something. "Are you sure you've found out everything? At his age, shouldn't he be married already?"
"He was married once, but they divorced years ago." Zhou Yingzi defended her boyfriend. "Besides, they didn't have any children, so there are no lingering ties."
"Divorced?" Zhao Yafen's expression immediately turned to disdain.
Divorced men, more or less, had some issues.
Zhao Yafen's heart sank.
"There are so many divorces nowadays. It's not strange for people to separate if they're not compatible. Besides, the reason for his divorce from his ex-wife wasn't his fault..."
"What was the reason for their divorce?" Zhao Yafen asked suspiciously. She couldn't sleep unless she knew the details.
"His ex-wife was a model, and she didn't want to have children to maintain her figure. They couldn't reach an agreement, so they divorced. Also, his ex-wife had a very dominant personality and wanted him to listen to everything she said. Tell me, what man could tolerate that!" As she spoke, Zhou Yingzi couldn't help but feel sympathy for Luo Fei.
Zhao Yafen, however, remained skeptical and unwilling to easily believe these fabricated stories.
After all, these were all coming from a man's mouth, and their credibility was questionable.
"In any case, be careful and don't let him deceive you," Zhao Yafen advised her kindly.
Zhou Yingzi responded impatiently a few times and took her flowers back to her room.
Since Lu Jingyang didn't live there anymore, the second bedroom had become her room.
She took out her phone and sent Luo Fei a message to let him know she was safe. After a few pleasantries, she happily went to take a shower.
On the other end, Luo Fei looked at the sweet words Zhou Yingzi sent, a mocking smile curling his lips. "She fell for it so easily, there's hardly any challenge."
"But it has been quite boring lately, so I'll play along with you for now."
As soon as Luo Fei put down his phone, another call came in.
Looking at the caller ID on the screen, he hesitated for two seconds before answering.
"Daddy, you haven't visited me in so long," a sweet, childish voice came from the other end of the line.
Luo Fei's contemptuous expression gradually faded, replaced by a hint of tenderness. "Ya Ya misses Daddy?"
"Yes." The girl's voice sounded a little unhappy.
"Daddy has been very busy lately. I'll fly over to see you after a while and buy you the doll you like the most, okay?" Luo Fei, rarely dropping his pretense, coaxed his daughter in this manner.
"Daddy, I'm in fourth grade now, I don't like dolls anymore," the girl complained softly.
"Then what do you like? Daddy will buy it for you," Luo Fei said with a smile, comforting her.
"All my classmates have cell phones, I want a cell phone," the girl said expectantly.
"You're too young to have a cell phone. It's still too early for you." Luo Fei thought for a moment and refused her request. "When you're older and have better self-control, Daddy will buy you one, okay?"
"Why are you all like this! You all say you love me, but you won't even buy me what I want! You're all lying to me!" The girl said, suddenly bursting into tears.
Luo Fei scratched his head with some difficulty and was about to try and comfort her when the phone was suddenly snatched by someone else.
"Luo Fei, if you dare to call and harass us mother and daughter again, I'll call the police!" The other party harbored great hostility towards him, and their tone was extremely unfriendly.
Luo Fei wanted to explain, but the other party didn't listen and hung up the phone directly.
Luo Fei looked at the illuminated phone screen, and the gloominess in his heart resurfaced. His gaze became sharp and cold, his eyes reddening, like an enraged leopard.