Chapter 4: Apology

The interior of the villa was luxuriously and exquisitely decorated, with antique ornaments visible everywhere. In the huge living room, three women and two men sat on the sofas.

An Ling's gaze quickly swept over the people present.

Although she didn't recognize a single face, she could figure it out with a little deduction.

Father and Mother Shen were older, so they were easy to identify.

The one with a gauze pad on his head should be Lu Jingshen.

The woman beside him, whose eyes were full of heartache, was undoubtedly Zhou Wen.

The only one difficult to recognize was the woman sitting alone on a small sofa.

This should be the youngest daughter of the Shen family, Shen Fuyuan.

As soon as she walked in, the quiet atmosphere felt somewhat bizarre. The gazes of the five people instantly fell on her.

Mother Shen, in particular, stared fixedly at her, as if her gaze could pierce right through her.

An Ling's expression remained unchanged as she followed Shen Linyan and sat down.

Whatever. Since Shen Linyan didn't greet them, neither would she.

Her butt had barely touched the sofa when Mother Shen's cold sneer rang in her ears.

"Some people are really thick-skinned. After such a thing happened, she can actually act like nothing is wrong. Not even an apology. Our Shen family is truly unlucky to have brought in such a shameless thing."

These words fell just short of directly calling out An Ling's name.

The living room was silent, not a single person speaking up. Everyone seemed to tacitly agree with Mother Shen's statement.

Even Shen Linyan merely picked up the teacup from the table methodically, looking as if he had no intention of speaking.

After all, those were the facts. The things An Ling had done had already caused the Shen family to lose all face.

The focus of the entire room gathered on the woman eating fruit on the sofa.

An Ling swallowed the apple in her mouth, put down her fork, swept her gaze across the crowd, and finally looked at the indignant Mother Shen.

Acting as if she had just realized everyone was talking about her, a perfectly measured smile of surprise appeared on her face.

"Mom, are you talking about me? Isn't this all a misunderstanding? Last night I went to the bar on behalf of Linyan. Do you guys actually believe those rumors online?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone else was stunned.

Ever since she married into this family, An Ling's face had only ever worn cold sneers and mockery, and she always spoke aggressively. When had she ever spoken in such a pleasant and mild-mannered tone?

Mother Shen was also taken aback. She narrowed her eyes at the woman in front of her and twitched her lips in a sarcastic sneer. "A misunderstanding? You mean you smashing Jingshen up like this is all a misunderstanding?"

"Of course! Because I was accidentally drugged by someone, and my mind was a bit confused."

After saying this, An Ling turned her head with a beaming smile to look at the man beside her.

"Don't you agree, Hubby?"

Shen Linyan was drinking his tea, and upon hearing this, his eyelids twitched violently.

He suddenly felt a bit doubtful. Was this woman really nervous at the door just now?

A few seconds later, the man gave a soft "Mm."

Receiving his reply, An Ling turned her head back in satisfaction, catching Zhou Wen's gaze right at that moment.

The young woman was dressed in a pure white long dress, her soft black hair cascading down. Her teary, misty eyes, with their reddened corners, stared at An Ling. She looked incredibly pitiful.

After last night's reports came out, it seemed the misunderstanding between the male and female leads was quite deep.

Look at her, her eyes were red from crying.

An Ling propped up her chin, glancing out of the corner of her eye at a certain second male lead beside her.

The man continued to sip his tea with lowered eyes. His facial expression was very faint, looking completely detached from the situation.

Ever since returning to the villa, Shen Linyan had been like this. He seemed to be in a rather bad mood.

But it made sense. Watching the woman he loved marry someone else with his own eyes would indeed easily break one's heart.

Just now at the door, he had told her not to be nervous, but in reality, he was the one who was truly nervous, right? After all, his first love was present.

Fortunately, she didn't like any of them. She definitely didn't want to get involved in this bizarre love triangle.

While thinking this, An Ling began to explain to Zhou Wen:

"Sister-in-law, don't worry. Yesterday was truly a misunderstanding. I just got back from the hospital this morning, and my head still hurts."

To make this statement more convincing, she pretended to have a headache and rubbed her temples. She coughed lightly a few times and instinctively tried to lean on the person next to her to act weak.

She was an expert at this. During her university days, she would often coordinate with her best friend, using this trick to escape military posture training.

But when she remembered that the person beside her wasn't her best friend, but Shen Linyan, An Ling's coughing motion stiffened.

She smoothly shifted directions, leaning her body toward the other side. Propping herself halfway against the sofa's armrest, she lowered her head and rubbed her brow as if in discomfort.

The woman's movements were subtle, but Shen Linyan still noticed this action that resembled disgust.

His movements paused slightly as he turned his head to look at her.

When their eyes met, the woman was momentarily startled, then she secretly blinked at him, as if asking, "I did pretty well, right?"

"..."

Shen Linyan stared at her for a few seconds before silently retracting his gaze.

His eyes were quiet and unreadable, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking. His fingertips tapped against the teacup rhythmically.

But in reality, An Ling's explanation didn't hold much credibility.

After all, the fact that An Ling liked Lu Jingshen was already deeply ingrained in everyone's minds. Even Lu Jingshen himself believed so.

Hearing the woman's defense, he scoffed. "Drugged? An Ling, stop spouting nonsense. I think you were quite sober last night. Do you need me to repeat what you said last night?"

Hearing this, An Ling looked up, curled her lips, and said unhurriedly:

"Sure, go ahead and repeat it. What did I say?"

Lu Jingshen was just about to speak when Father Shen, who had remained silent all along, suddenly scolded, "Enough! Since you all say it's a misunderstanding, then hurry up and clarify it! Do you know what a mess it is outside? Everyone is watching our Shen family make a fool of ourselves!"

He stood up and looked at Shen Linyan, his tone stern and cold. "Linyan, come up to the study."

Shen Linyan set down his teacup. "Yes, Father."

Without Father Shen and Shen Linyan, the atmosphere in the living room became even more tense.

Shen Fuyuan stood up impatiently. "You specifically called me back just for this? Just clarify it and be done with it. I'm leaving."

She picked up her bag and stood up, but right before leaving, she cast another glance at An Ling. The two briefly exchanged a look.

An Ling didn't have much memory of this sister-in-law. This character didn't appear much in the novel, but she was probably on the female lead's side as well.

Just as she was wondering if she should leave too, a familiar voice sounded in her ears.

"An Ling, what kind of trick are you trying to play now? Do you think I don't know that you were the one who sent that message? You clearly admitted it yourself last night."

Her movements paused, and she looked at Lu Jingshen with a weird expression.

...He knew?

He knew, yet he still came last night?

Slowly shifting her gaze to Mother Shen, whose face was ashen, An Ling became thoughtful.

This didn't seem right...

She was so actively trying to clarify things to keep the Shen family out of the scandal, so why were these people still unhappy?

Could it be... they wanted her to admit to the act of seducing a man?

At this thought, An Ling rested her chin on her hand, her eyes filled with interest.

She had found it strange from the very beginning.

Since the Shen family valued their reputation so much, and knowing full well that "she" liked Lu Jingshen and hated Zhou Wen, they actually let Shen Linyan marry "her."

Shen Linyan might not have refused out of the goodness of his heart, but how could Mother and Father Shen agree? They could have clearly ignored the marriage agreement with the An family.

Even after she did all those things, they still hadn't divorced.

If the divorce procedures were complicated and property issues were hard to divide, that could barely be used as an excuse.

But looking at it now, it seemed like Shen Linyan had been set up.

However, none of this had anything to do with her. She had a ton of trouble of her own.

An Ling ignored the dark-faced Lu Jingshen. Anyway, as a vicious female supporting character, ignoring people was standard procedure.

She stood up, patted some non-existent dust off her clothes, and smiled as she spoke to Mother Shen:

"Mom, I'm going to prepare the clarification, so I'll head out first."

Mother Shen's expression was grim. Frowning, she scrutinized the woman's retreating back, her eyes filled with suspicion.

Why did this girl seem so different from before?

An Ling was just about to leave when a woman's voice, slightly hoarse from crying, suddenly spoke up behind her.

"Even if the incident at the bar was a misunderstanding, Sister-in-law still hit and injured Jingshen. Shouldn't she apologize for that?"

She paused in her tracks, looking at Zhou Wen with a half-smile.

"Apologize?"

She wasn't even the one who hit him, so why should she apologize?