Chapter 1: She Is Not A Liang Family Member
The pregnancy test stick on the sink showed a result.
Two bright red lines.
Liancheng raised her hand to rub her face, bloodshot eyes dense, her mind in utter chaos, filled with an inexpressible fear, only one thought remained.
This is a taboo.
It must never be exposed.
In the suffocating silence, an engine sound arrived from the courtyard, and the downstairs immediately became lively. Footsteps quickly approached her door, and Nanny Wang called out, “Liancheng, the Eldest Young Master has returned from his business trip.”
Liancheng’s hand trembled, feeling caught off guard. The Dian Province project was urgent; why would Liang Chaosu return early?
Before she could think further, Nanny Wang urged her again from outside the door.
Liancheng could only respond hoarsely, “Coming.”
She quickly opened the bathroom mirror. In the second compartment of the walnut wood cabinet were Liang Chaosu’s lighter and cigarette case from a long time ago.
Picking up the lighter, she burned all the evidence with a flame, then turned on the faucet and carefully washed away the ashes from the cracks.
This was not Liancheng being overly cautious.
Liang Chaosu had been a soldier and possessed a keen awareness and sensitivity beyond ordinary people’s imagination. Liancheng felt his eyes could see through everything, penetrating people’s hearts.
Nanny Wang urged for the third time from outside the door, “Liancheng, Madam is calling for you. The Eldest Young Master brought a gift.”
“Coming.”
Liancheng opened the door and went downstairs.
The grand living room, three stories high, was brightly lit. Liancheng’s first sight was her mother.
The fifty-year-old Noblewoman had fair, delicate skin and dressed gently. Compared to the dignified elegance of many wealthy family ladies, she possessed more kindness and compassion.
Dotingly, she looked at her biological daughter, Liang Wenfei, who was playing with pearls, her gaze so soft it could condense into water.
Liancheng’s heart ached, making it impossible for her to step closer.
Before she was eighteen, she too was the cherished darling in Mother Liang’s arms.
But when Liang Wenfei returned with a paternity test, everything turned upside down.
Liang Wenfei was the true Young Lady of the Liang family.
And she was merely an outsider, swapped at birth and kept because Mother Liang was kind and reluctant to let her go.
“Dian Province is rich in jade. I’ll give you a tourmaline jade bracelet, and Feifei some earrings. What about your father?”
Father Liang, sitting on the side sofa, waved his hand, “I’m already decades old, I don’t care about such things.”
The man standing opposite smiled, handing over a gift box.
From Liancheng’s angle, just looking at the man’s back, he was of the distinguished and mature type, with broad shoulders and strong legs, wearing a bespoke dark suit, his bearing outstanding, his presence calm.
At first glance, he appeared steady and serious, with a hint of indifferent, aloof abstinence.
But Liancheng had personally experienced that Liang Chaosu was a wolf in civilized clothing.
Inside was the most sinister, wild, and cruel soul.
Father Liang coughed and opened the box.
The mother and daughter on the sofa suddenly burst into laughter, exchanging glances intermittently, a tacit, mischievous understanding between them.
Because Liang Chaosu was blocking the view, Liancheng couldn’t see what the gift was, only Father Liang glare in mock anger before breaking into laughter.
In the lamplight, it was a warm and joyful scene.
Liancheng couldn’t help but walk over and stand beside Mother Liang’s sofa, “Dad, Mom, Sister Feifei, Eldest Brother.”
The laughter abruptly stopped.
Liang Wenfei, nestled in Mother Liang’s embrace, glanced at her, “Why are you so late coming down? Brother is tired from his business trip and kindly brought a gift. How can you make him wait for you?”
Liancheng looked at Liang Chaosu. The Liang family had some mixed-blood ancestors, which was particularly evident in him. His features were sharp, his brow bones high, his eye sockets deep, and his nose bridge straight.
Under the lamplight, the shadows in his eye sockets were heavy, further highlighting the sharp, cold gleam in his eyes, piercing straight into one’s heart.
Cold sweat trickled down Liancheng’s back. She lowered her head to avoid his gaze, “Sorry.”
Liang Wenfei felt a surge of joy.
Liancheng had a sharp tongue and was never her match in a one-on-one fight. But with her brother back, it was different. Her brother was always on her side and deeply disliked Liancheng.
Liang Wenfei turned her head towards Liang Chaosu, but her eyes remained fixed on Liancheng, asking maliciously, “Brother, what gift is Liancheng?”
Liang Chaosu chuckled, his voice magnetic and deep, but his tone was dismissive, “She has no gift.”
Liang Wenfei immediately beamed with delight. Mother Liang opened her mouth to say something, but Liang Wenfei grabbed her hand.
The spacious living room fell silent for a few breaths before Father Liang spoke, “Why doesn’t she have one?”
Liang Chaosu appeared calm and composed, saying lightly and dismissively, “She is not my sister.”
Liancheng felt a wave of suffocation.
Four years ago, when Liang Wenfei returned to the Liang family, Liang Chaosu quickly came home as well. Not long after, he broke into her room for Liang Wenfei’s sake, shattering her hopes.
From that day on, she was an unwelcome outsider during the day and his plaything in his grasp at night.
Of course, she was no longer a sister.
The atmosphere grew even more stagnant.
After a few breaths, Mother Liang directly changed the subject, “Feifei and Lichuan’s marriage is on the agenda. The next three months will be busy with preparations. Our family’s medical examination this year has been moved up to this week. Get ready.”
Liancheng froze, feeling as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head, chilling her to the bone.
The Liang family’s annual medical examination was usually scheduled at the end of the year.
She had originally calculated that she still had two months.
Enough time for her to deal with the bomb in her belly, and now it was suddenly brought forward to within a week?
Liang Wenfei immediately noticed Liancheng’s odd reaction.
“Are you scared? Scared of what? Scared of me marrying Lichuan?”
Liancheng’s heart became even more chaotic.
Lichuan, Shen Lichuan.
Liancheng’s former fiancé.
After Liang Wenfei fell in love with Shen Lichuan at first sight, Liang Chaosu helped, and he became her fiancé.
Because of this, Shen Lichuan was a sensitive topic; Liancheng touched it once and it exploded every time.
As expected, before Liang Wenfei finished speaking, everyone’s eyes turned to her.
Among them, Liang Chaosu’s gaze was the most sinister.
Their eyes met, like knives and thorns.
Liang Chaosu hated her for her persistent ambition, still trying to snatch Shen Lichuan from his biological sister.
Liancheng finally managed to put on a smiling face, “You’re overthinking it. I’m afraid the doctor will diagnose me with infertility again, and with laparoscopy, it’ll be agonizingly painful.”
Her fallopian tubes were congenitally narrow, and she also had uterine problems. Every year, when the examination results came out, Liang Chaosu would force her to undergo various endoscopic surgeries.
Liancheng thought of the operating room ceiling, the surgical lights, the ice-cold long catheter poked into her body, and her mood worsened.
She couldn’t help but look at Liang Wenfei, “He’s been your fiancé for four years, and only two and a half with me. In terms of long-term affection, what are you afraid of?”
Liang Wenfei’s expression turned ugly.
The engagement was for two years, but everyone knew Liancheng and Shen Lichuan were childhood sweethearts.
“Brother—” Liang Wenfei sought support.
“Apologize.” Liang Chaosu’s voice turned icy, a chilling warning, “Before Feifei’s wedding, you are not allowed to see Shen Lichuan.”
Liancheng: “…”
It was truly absurd, like an outhouse giving birth to absurdity, and absurdity giving birth to speechlessness.
For four years, not a single day had she been allowed to see him.
In the next second, her peripheral vision caught Mother Liang’s face full of disapproval, and Father Liang’s impatient anxiety.
She gave a sad smile, lowered her head, “Sorry.”
A family gathering ended unhappily.
……………………
After washing up, Liancheng opened the bathroom door.
By the bedside, there was a pair of simple, off-white men’s slippers.
She froze instantly, standing still in place.
Liang Chaosu leaned against the head of the bed, implying, “Still longing, unwilling to let go?”
Liancheng knew that what happened downstairs just now wouldn’t be over unless she explained clearly.
“It’s not that serious.”
Liang Chaosu sneered, strode over, and cupped the back of her head with powerful force.
“Do you know why I came back early, and didn’t give you a gift?”
When Liang Chaosu was angry, he possessed a thunderous, sharp, and deterrent power.
Although his voice was not loud and his expression was not ferocious, that stern, piercing anger shot from his eyes, capable of freezing a person’s limbs.
Liancheng instinctively began to tremble, gritting her teeth, “Because you don’t acknowledge me as your sister.”
Liang Chaosu’s hand moved from the back of her head to her face, “Still trying to conceal it? What have you been doing recently?”
Liancheng’s pupils constricted.
In the past few days, she had only done one thing: discovering she might be pregnant, ordering a pregnancy test online, confirming it, and destroying the evidence.
Could it be…
He found out?
