Chapter 44: The Fu Family Matriarch's Sudden Return (Part 2)

"Don't say that, Mom! With a family empire as vast as the Fu family's, if you don't pass it on to the eldest brother, who else can you give it to? I certainly can't handle it. How could you bear to hand over to outsiders the family business that you fought so hard to protect back then?" Ye Huaiting hastily stepped forward to dissuade her.

"Knowing how difficult it was for Mom back then, and how much effort it took to preserve this family fortune, you still manage to infuriate me like this. And as for Xiaxia, everyone in the Fu family has treated you well, and we will surely find you a good destination in the future."

"And you two brothers—elite marriages have always been tied to family interests. It is already a concession on my part that I haven't forced you into a strategic marriage. I hoped you would find someone you actually liked among families of equal social standing, but a mismatch in status is completely out of the question." Madam Fu tried to persuade them with earnest and well-meaning words.

"I have been through it all, and your mother sees things clearly when it comes to the three of you. Yanchen, especially you—if you truly cannot muster the slightest bit of interest in women, then so be it. We will simply take the route of a family-arranged alliance, select the most advantageous candidate for the Fu family's development from among the aristocratic daughters of the capital's elite circles, and have her married into the family!" Madam Fu said with a stern expression.

However, Fu Yanchen did not back down in the least. He responded with unwavering resolve, "Mom, that is absolutely impossible! There is no way I will ever marry a woman I do not love. I firmly believe that one day, I will find the woman who stirs my heart and with whom I want to spend the rest of my life."

With that, completely disregarding Madam Fu—who was so enraged that she clutched her chest with a pale face—he turned around and strode straight toward his own room without looking back.

Shen Mengxia, who had been standing on the sidelines witnessing the entire scene, froze like a wooden statue, rooted to the spot.

At this very moment, her mind was as tangled and chaotic as a mess of hemp.

It was only at this exact moment that she suddenly came to a bitter realization: all of this had simply been her own wishful thinking and delusional daydreaming all along.

Listening to people around her teasing her and Ye Huaiting about being childhood sweethearts, a destined match, or a future daughter-in-law raised for marriage, she had truly believed that the Fu family regarded her as a future granddaughter-in-law, and assumed that her pairing with Ye Huaiting was tacitly approved by the Fu family.

Because no one had ever stepped forward from beginning to end to clarify or explain the situation, Shen Mengxia had subconsciously assumed that she and Ye Huaiting were a couple. Looking at it from a different perspective now, she realized she didn't even know what her true feelings for Ye Huaiting actually were.

Madam Fu watched Fu Yanchen's departing figure, her trembling finger pointing after him. "This boy is becoming more and more disobedient." She turned her gaze to Shen Mengxia. "Why are you still standing here like a post? Do you think things aren't chaotic enough?"

Shen Mengxia lowered her head, feeling wronged.

Seeing this, Ye Huaiting hurriedly intervened, "Mom, with our family's strength, is a strategic family marriage really necessary? Can't you just let my eldest brother and me marry the girls we actually love?"

Madam Fu took a deep breath. "Have the two of you grown wings and think you're flying high now? Do you even have the strength and capability for that? Which wealthy family's marriage isn't conducted this way?"

That night, Shen Mengxia wandered alone through the garden. Ye Huaiting quietly approached her. "Xiaxia, don't be upset. My mother is just a bit old-fashioned in her thinking. Give her some time..." Shen Mengxia shook her head with a bitter smile. "Ye Huaiting, you don't need to comfort me. I understand."

Fu Yanchen stood silently in the shadows, watching Shen Mengxia and Ye Huaiting in the distance.

The two of them stood side by side, chatting and laughing, appearing intimately close. Meanwhile, he looked down at the marriage certificate he held tightly in his hand, a surge of complicated emotions welling up in his chest.

This was the marriage certificate he cherished most above all else—his marriage certificate with Shen Mengxia!

Yet at this moment, this document, symbolizing marriage and commitment, felt like a heavy and unbearable burden.

For even though he was already legally wedded to Shen Mengxia as husband and wife, due to various reasons, this truth could not be made public, nor could even his closest family members know of it.

Every day, he had to watch with his own eyes as the woman he loved deeply went everywhere and behaved affectionately with his own younger brother, Ye Huaiting.

That sensation felt as though a sharp blade were constantly twisting inside his heart, inflicting excruciating pain. Countless times, he had wanted to rush forward and loudly declare to the world that Shen Mengxia was his wife, but in the end, reason always triumphed over impulse.

Fu Yanchen had never imagined that he would fall into such a helpless predicament.

As a man, he was powerless to protect his own love and marriage, forced to silently endure this torment. This profound sense of defeat lingered like a shadow, gnawing at his heart every waking moment.