Chapter 45: This Time, It Was Her Who Disrupted This Interest Relationship

"Is Mom saying I shouldn't have come?"

The woman wore a coffee-colored coat over a light beige high-necked thin knit sweater, paired with dark coffee straight-leg pants. Her long hair was casually gathered in a low bun, and pearl earrings adorned her ears, looking simple yet elegant and aloof.

While everyone else was dressed up for a grand occasion, she looked like she had just rushed over after getting off work.

An Ling kept her hands in her pockets, her gaze slowly sweeping past the man next to Mother Shen.

"I am Lu Jingshen's sister-in-law, after all. It's his birthday, so I had to come and take a look."

Lu Jingshen frowned in disgust, his tone hostile, "An Ling, I'm warning you, you'd better not try any of your tricks. You are not welcome here!"

"So this is the Shen family's second young master's attitude toward his sister-in-law."

An Ling sized him up playfully, then suddenly turned her head and burst into laughter. "Ha, you really have no manners at all. I wonder who taught you."

As soon as the words fell, the entire venue quieted down.

The An Ling who used to be dead set on Lu Jingshen was actually speaking like this now.

Mother Shen's face darkened, "An Ling, what crazy nonsense are you talking about! Security, take her out!"

"Did I say something wrong?" An Ling spread her hands, her eyes curving into a smile. "I just got here and you're already telling me to get out. That's not respectful at all."

Lu Jingshen gritted his teeth, "What right do you have to talk about me!"

Seeing that the situation was going south, Zhou Wen quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Jingshen, Mom, let it be. Sister-in-law is already here."

After saying that, she looked at An Ling with a slightly apologetic expression. "Sorry, Sister-in-law, we really appreciate you coming to the party, but you don't need to prepare a gift. It's the thought that counts."

"What gift?"

An Ling said lazily, "Didn't you buy a gift for my husband a while ago? It just so happens you didn't give it to him. Why don't you take it out and give it to Lu Jingshen now, and just pretend it's from me."

The atmosphere in the room froze for a moment, as if everyone was processing the massive amount of information in that sentence.

Beside them, Shen Fuyuan let out a "Wow."

Zhou Wen's eyes widened. Facing everyone's stares, her face flushed with embarrassment, and she quickly waved her hands. "Sister-in-law! Don't say things that will cause misunderstandings! Big Brother didn't take it! Besides, I only bought it to thank Big Brother!"

Lu Jingshen's face instantly darkened. "You bought a gift for Shen Linyan?"

"I was just thanking Big Brother!" Zhou Wen looked panicked and quickly explained in a low voice, "Jingshen, don't misunderstand, listen to me, at the time I just..."

But Lu Jingshen grabbed her wrist.

His eyes were dark and ruthless, ignoring the gazes of the people around them, his tone cold. "Zhou Wen! Didn't I tell you to stay away from Shen Linyan! Don't tell me you still have feelings for him! Didn't you give him enough in the past, and now you're still giving him things?!"

In an instant, the crowd of guests was dumbfounded.

The past?!

The second madam and the eldest young master actually had a history?

An Ling's expression remained unchanged, but the hands in her pockets slowly clenched.

Whispers began to rise and fall.

"Is it true?"

"I only knew that An Ling used to chase after Lu Jingshen, but I didn't expect Zhou Wen and the eldest young master to have a history too."

"Oh, this is getting exciting."

"The way An Ling said it, it seems she knows about it too. Maybe this is revenge. The Shen family is really interesting."

Zhou Wen was both angry and anxious, her eyes welling up with tears. "Lu Jingshen, what are you saying! There is absolutely nothing between Big Brother and me. That was all in the past, why are you bringing it up now."

Lu Jingshen's face grew darker. "The past?! Then why did you still go give Shen..."

Before he could finish, Mother Shen suddenly scolded him sharply. "Lu Jingshen! Watch the occasion! Zhou Wen already said it was a misunderstanding!"

After saying that, Mother Shen glared at An Ling with a cold and sinister look, as if she wanted to eat her alive.

An Ling, however, slowly curved her eyes into a smile at her.

You like celebrating birthdays? Go ahead.

If I let you have a peaceful birthday, I might as well stop being the vicious female supporting character.

From now on, whenever Lu Jingshen celebrates his birthday, people probably won't be thinking about An Ling anymore.

After all, what could be more exciting than this drama.

Watching this scene, Shen Fuyuan couldn't help but cover her mouth and exclaim, "An Ling, you are... freaking awesome."

She hadn't seen such a melodramatic scene in years.

"..."

Shen Fuyuan quietly leaned over. "By the way, how did you know that Big Brother and Zhou Wen had a history? Look at Second Brother's reaction, he really cares."

An Ling's expression was indifferent.

"I guessed."

The gentle second male lead and the female lead interact, the male lead sees them and misunderstands, the male lead gets crazy jealous, isn't this plot everywhere?

It was just that even she hadn't expected that what she said casually actually existed in this novel.

Lu Jingshen really used to be jealous of Shen Linyan and Zhou Wen.

Catching a glimpse of the surroundings from the corner of her eye, An Ling didn't spot Shen Linyan, so she withdrew her gaze.

"I'm leaving now."

Shen Fuyuan was startled. "You're leaving just like that!?"

Wasn't she here to find Big Brother?

"Yeah."

An Ling guessed what Shen Fuyuan was thinking.

But actually, she didn't come here for Shen Linyan.

She just suddenly thought of her previous plan.

She needed to show her face more and shatter the image the system had built for her over the past two years.

So that was her goal.

And the result was quite satisfying.

Judging from this, the relationship between An Ling and Lu Jingshen would no longer be one of pursuer and pursued.

It would be more like enemies.

Just as An Ling was about to turn around, footsteps suddenly sounded behind her, and the familiar crisp scent of cedar mixed with tobacco drifted into her nose.

"Wife."

A deep voice sounded above her head.

An Ling stopped in her tracks and looked up at the man in front of her, her gaze immediately landing on that familiar black tie.

Shen Linyan really did what he said; he wore the tie she gave him.

Her gaze paused slightly, and she pursed her lips, not knowing what she was thinking.

Seeing that the woman's mood was off, Shen Linyan paused slightly, lowered his eyes, and gently hooked his long fingers around her hand.

"Wife, let's go home first, okay?"

But from behind came Mother Shen's vicious voice.

"Shen Linyan! Make that woman leave! Then hurry up and explain that there is nothing between you and Zhou Wen!"

She pointed at An Ling's back through gritted teeth, her face looking terrible. "This kind of woman doesn't deserve to stay in our Shen family! She doesn't deserve to be my daughter-in-law! Divorce her immediately! Right now! Immediately!"

Sure enough, the moment things felt off at the beginning, she should have made Shen Linyan divorce this woman!

It was bad enough that this woman brought no benefits, but now she was actually biting the hand that fed her!

Shen Linyan ignored Mother Shen's roaring and held the woman's hand, wanting to leave.

But unexpectedly, An Ling stood rooted to the spot and didn't move.

After a moment of silence, she took a deep breath, let out a helpless, low chuckle, and slowly looked up at the man in front of her.

"What should we do... Shen Linyan."

Although tonight's incident would bring trouble to Lu Jingshen and Zhou Wen, Shen Linyan was also a party involved.

As Shen Linyan's wife, she had actively exposed her husband's scandal with someone else, completely disregarding the impact it would have on Shen Linyan.

She knew what would happen once those words were spoken.

Zhou Wen and Shen Linyan, how could there have been nothing between them in the past? As long as she lit the fuse even slightly, Lu Jingshen would completely explode, and there would be conflict between the male and female leads.

Shen Fuyuan called her cold-blooded, saying she was completely indifferent whenever she heard anything concerning Shen Linyan.

Indifferent? An Ling just felt that it wasn't her place anymore.

Saving Shen Linyan—Zhou Wen had already done that.

Giving him gifts, celebrating his birthday... the female lead had already done all of that in the earlier parts of the story.

As someone so starved for affection, how could Shen Linyan not have been moved after meeting a female lead like her?

Just as Jiang Mai had said before, Shen Linyan's tragic past existed solely to give the female lead a chance to heal him.

Unlike her, who only ever used him.

Jiang Mai was right. She really did need to break free from the Shen family as soon as possible, break free from the male and female leads, and break free from this intoxicating tenderness she was so close to drowning in.

And now was the perfect time. The chance to distance herself from the plot was right in front of her.

All she had to do...

All she had to do was exploit Shen Linyan's kindness one last time.

Under the man's stunned gaze, An Ling concealed the emotions in her eyes, slowly curving them into a smile as she pulled her hand from his grasp.

"What is there left to explain? Shen Linyan, did you really think I could just accept what happened between you and Zhou Wen back then?"

I'm sorry, Shen Linyan.

This time, she was the one destroying their relationship built on mutual benefit.