Chapter 26: She Regretted It

Ye Xuan smiled at Yang Bingyu, though it was a bit forced. Ultimately, he still couldn’t stop worrying about Lin Aoxue.

Although Mrs. Lin was biased at times, she still treated Lin Aoxue well. Moreover, Lin Aoxue had grown up by her side since childhood, so the grandmother and granddaughter were quite close.

Now that Su Xiaobai had angered Mrs. Lin into the hospital, Lin Aoxue was probably in a panic.

He didn’t know how the situation was unfolding. If anything unexpected happened to Mrs. Lin, Lin Aoxue would be heartbroken.

"You’re thinking about that woman, Lin Aoxue, again." Seeing Ye Xuan lost in thought, Yang Bingyu pursed her lips in displeasure, unexpectedly feeling a twinge of jealousy.

She really couldn’t fathom what was so great about that woman. Even after their divorce, Ye Xuan still cared so much about her.

"Alright, I’ll stop thinking about it. Let’s go home."

Ye Xuan looked at Yang Bingyu’s angry, pouting face and smiled helplessly. He then drove them back to Yunju Mountain Villa.

He had genuinely planned to stop interfering in Lin Aoxue’s affairs, but he just couldn’t put his mind at ease. After Yang Bingyu fell asleep, he secretly slipped out and headed to the hospital.

Mrs. Lin was elderly, after all, and her body couldn’t handle such intense aggravation. She underwent a lengthy resuscitation in the emergency room before they finally managed to save her life. Even so, the situation wasn’t optimistic; she needed to stay in the ICU for a few days of observation.

After the surgery, Lin Aoxue felt as if all the strength had been drained from her body. Her legs gave out, forcing her to lean against the hospital wall, her body trembling with lingering fear.

"Uncle Guodong, Su Xiaobai forced us! We really didn’t want to sell the shares to him!"

"That’s right! Su Xiaobai threatened us. He said if we didn’t sell him the shares, he would cripple both of us. You really can’t blame us for this!"

Lin Yexing and Lin Jiaxing had finally shown up. Both of their faces were covered in black and blue bruises as they trailed behind Lin Guodong, desperately trying to explain themselves.

The night before, the two brothers had been out enjoying their nightly revelry when they were forcibly abducted by Su Xiaobai’s men.

Without a word, Su Xiaobai’s men gave them a brutal beating. Just when they couldn’t take it anymore, Su Xiaobai brought up the matter of buying their shares.

Initially, Lin Yexing and Lin Jiaxing refused, but that only earned them another beating. After several rounds of this, they ultimately yielded to the torture and agreed.

"You two ungrateful wretches! And after Grandma treated you so well! Is this how you repay her?"

Seeing her two cousins, the grievances and anger in Lin Aoxue’s heart ignited instantly. She rushed up to them. SLAP! SLAP! She struck them both across the face.

Lin Yexing and Lin Jiaxing were stunned by the blows. They clutched their faces, standing frozen for a long moment before they finally reacted.

"Lin Aoxue, how dare you hit me?!"

Lin Yexing roared at the top of his lungs, his eyes wide as saucers while clutching the struck left side of his face.

The man was utterly ridiculous. He had clearly already been hit, yet he still felt the need to yell about how she dared to hit him.

Lin Jiaxing was much smarter. Without saying a word, he raised his hand and slapped her back.

"You bitch, you have the nerve to lecture us? If you hadn’t played hard to get and rejected Eldest Young Master Su’s proposal, would our family be in this state? Grandma is in the hospital entirely because of you! You absolute jinx!"

Lin Jiaxing and his brother showed not a shred of remorse. They even shifted all the blame onto Lin Aoxue.

Hearing this, Lin Aoxue’s small face turned deathly pale. She stared at her two cousins in disbelief.

Was it a crime to not want to marry someone she didn’t love?

It was obviously their own fault for not withstanding Su Xiaobai’s threats and caving under pressure. Yet now, they were pinning the entire blame on her.

It was absolutely despicable!

"Do you two have no shame? Is this my fault? If you hadn’t—"

"Enough! Isn’t the Lin Family in enough of a mess right now?!" Lin Guodong interrupted with extreme agitation, looking at her with eyes full of blame.

"Aoxue, in three days, go to the Civil Affairs Bureau and get the marriage certificate with Su Xiaobai. Stop this pointless struggle. Our Lin Family can’t withstand this anymore. You need to focus on the big picture."

Lin Guodong’s words pierced Lin Aoxue’s heart like a sharp sword. This was her biological father!

What kind of father would push his own daughter into a fire pit?

"Dad, the Yang Family has already agreed to cooperate with us. We don’t need to be afraid of Su Xiaobai. I don’t want to—"

Lin Aoxue still wanted to fight back, but before she could finish, Lin Guodong furiously cut her off again.

"The Yang Family, the Yang Family! That’s all you know! Today, when Su Xiaobai caused such a huge scene at the banquet, did anyone from the Yang Family step forward to speak up for you? If you ask me, the Yang Family is intentionally humiliating us! They’re just doing it to vent anger on behalf of that piece of trash, Ye Xuan!

"Tonight, Ye Xuan was basking in the limelight beside Yang Bingyu. He didn’t even spare us a glance. I never imagined that worthless loser could latch onto the Yang Family’s high branch. I really underestimated him!"

He still remembered what happened at the banquet earlier. The moment Ye Xuan appeared with Yang Bingyu, Lin Guodong had wanted nothing more than to find a hole to crawl into.

It was obvious that Yang Bingyu wanted to slap the Lin Family in the face. This so-called cooperation banquet was probably a deliberate setup just to make a fool out of their Lin Family!

Narrow-minded people like him always assumed the worst of others.

Although Yang Bingyu did want to vent some frustration for Ye Xuan, she wouldn’t go so far as to host an entire banquet exclusively for his sake.

These were all just Lin Guodong’s own paranoid delusions.

"We really didn’t treat Ye Xuan well back then. It’s perfectly normal for him to act this way."

Thinking of Ye Xuan, Lin Aoxue’s heart ached so much she could barely breathe. She bit her lower lip hard to keep herself from crying.

She deeply regretted it. Why had she ever divorced Ye Xuan?!

If she were still with Ye Xuan, she wouldn’t be forced into a marriage by Su Xiaobai now, and Grandma wouldn’t be in the hospital.

"You’re actually speaking up for him? The moment he turned around, he found a high branch to cling to, while you don’t even know how to enjoy wealth when it’s handed to you. How could I, Lin Guodong, have fathered such a stupid thing?"

Lin Guodong now considered Ye Xuan a major thorn in his side. Lin Aoxue speaking up for him only fueled his dissatisfaction. He jabbed his finger forcefully against Lin Aoxue’s forehead several times, lecturing her with a face full of displeasure.

When Ye Xuan arrived at the hospital, he caught sight of this exact scene. Lin Aoxue’s aggrieved yet stubborn expression made his heart ache immensely. In the past, when would he have ever allowed Lin Aoxue to suffer such grievances?

"Enough. She is your daughter, not a pawn of the Lin Family! If your Lin Family lacks the backbone to stand up to Su Xiaobai, don’t push the blame onto a woman!"

Ye Xuan couldn’t tolerate it any longer. With a darkened expression, he stepped out from the corner. He shielded Lin Aoxue with his own body and spoke in a deep, chilling voice.

His sudden appearance was completely unexpected by the Lin Family. Lin Guodong froze for a long while before finally recovering his senses. In an instant, the veins on his forehead bulged, and like a riled-up rooster, he bellowed at Ye Xuan.