After Chi Yingyu’s overwhelmingly oppressive voice fell silent, she waited for a long time, but in the end, there was still no response from her brother-in-law.
The small room became unbearably quiet.
At this moment, Chi Yingyu finally realized that she no longer held any place in Jiang Lai’s heart.
No matter how angry she was, it wasn’t enough to make him speak the truth.
Originally, Chi Yingyu’s anger was fueled by the hope that, because of Jiang Lai’s affection for her, she could afford to act recklessly one last time—or at least throw a tantrum without consequence.
But now, Chi Yingyu could clearly feel that she had overestimated herself.
Just moments ago, Jiang Lai could still sense the almost overwhelming fury radiating from his sister-in-law, a fire that seemed ready to burn her to ashes in an instant.
But in the blink of an eye, that same fire transformed into tears slipping from Chi Yingyu’s eyes.
“Why… do I really mean so little to you?”
Had Chi Yingyu just been thinking that if Jiang Lai refused to comply, she would just force things through, bind their lives together irrevocably, and leave everything else for later?
Yet that burning desire suddenly froze into ice.
At this moment, she no longer even entertained the thought of having any relationship with him.
She felt utterly foolish for having been so self-important all along.
She truly had no place at all in her brother-in-law’s heart; all the hopes she’d once held were nothing but a joke.
Chi Yingyu stared blankly at Jiang Lai, whose brows were tightly furrowed as he said nothing.
A bitter, uncontrollable wave of pain surged upward, burning her eyes and filling her vision with tears.
“All the kindness I’ve shown you over the past decade, all the efforts I’ve made—was it all just empty talk? A fleeting memory?”
Her emotions collapsed completely at this moment.
Tears streamed down her cheeks in torrents as she knelt on the floor, covering her face in anguish, unwilling for Jiang Lai to see her so vulnerable in this last moment.
“That’s not true…”
When Jiang Lai saw his sister-in-law crying, his heart tightened, and he choked up instantly.
He had sworn long ago that he would never allow his daughter or sister-in-law to be brought to tears by anyone.
He promised to ensure they both found their own happiness.
But now, seeing Chi Yingyu so broken and weeping, Jiang Lai knew it was all because of him.
“It’s not what you think… Yu, you are the most important person to me. I want you to be happy more than anyone else does. When you’ve been by my side for over ten years, I’ve grown dependent on you in ways I never imagined.”
Jiang Lai sat down beside Chi Yingyu, who was still on the floor, wanting to embrace his pitiful sister-in-law.
But as soon as he sat down, Chi Yingyu pushed herself away, moving her hips to put distance between them.
“Please don’t come closer. Don’t let me have any illusions…”
Jiang Lai had been hesitant to speak up until now because he wasn’t sure what Chi Yingyu’s heart was truly feeling.
When Jiang Lai first returned, she found Chi Yingyu sitting on the couch, tidying up her adult toys.
At that moment, most of Jiang Lai’s brain cells seemed to shut down.
She couldn’t imagine under what circumstances so many unhealthy items would appear in the room.
She had cleaned every corner herself not long ago, placing even the adult toys in known spots—yet she had never seen any of these before.
When exactly had Chi Yingyu prepared all these…?
Jiang Lai’s fear didn’t stop there.
As soon as she entered the room, Chi Yingyu had said some shy words and was holding a prop made of various beads, walking toward her.
At the sight of that, Jiang Lai was utterly stunned, unable to comprehend what she was witnessing.
To a certain extent, Jiang Lai had treated Chi Yingyu as a sister, imagining her as elegant, pure, and independent.
But just now, seeing a pink toy in her hands, Jiang Lai found herself at a complete loss for words.
To put it precisely, it was like waking up one morning to find her male traits had regrown, but her body remained that of an ideal woman.
Only such an intense visual shock could describe how Jiang Lai felt when she saw Chi Yingyu with that object.
Moreover, what Chi Yingyu said was so vague that Jiang Lai couldn’t tell if she liked her or if she was trying to hear a lesson from her late sister.
Jiang Lai didn’t dare ask further, fearing that anything she said might worsen the already tense atmosphere between them.
But when Chi Yingyu spoke of feeling insignificant, Jiang Lai could no longer hold back.
She absolutely refused to let her sister-in-law have such thoughts.
As Chi Yingyu moved away, Jiang Lai shifted closer, finally cornering her against the junction of two sofas.
“Can you look at me?”
With Jiang Lai’s voice, Chi Yingyu lowered her head like an ostrich burying itself deeper and deeper.
Seeing this, Jiang Lai knew that if she didn’t take a firmer stance, this matter would never be resolved today.
“Yingyu, can you look at me?”
Her voice softened, sounding like a gentle lullaby wrapped in cotton, carrying no threat whatsoever.
Yet her actions were firm—she pinched Chi Yingyu’s chin and lifted her face, forcing her to meet her eyes.
People say the eyes are the windows to the soul, the primary way to tell if someone is telling the truth.
Suddenly locking eyes with Jiang Lai’s soft gaze, Chi Yingyu froze slightly.
Jiang Lai leaned in, pressing her forehead against hers, whispering, “You are the most important person to me. No one in this world matters more than you. Do you know how despicable my thoughts once were?”
“Am I really that important to you?”
Chi Yingyu’s throat tightened as she lifted her eyelids to meet Jiang Lai’s sincere gaze.
Tears fell uncontrollably, and feeling foolish for crying so much, she buried her head in Jiang Lai’s chest.
This time, Jiang Lai didn’t force her to raise her head.
As long as she could hear his words clearly, that was enough.
“You are my most important, most precious person. I once thought I didn’t want you to leave me, that you should never fall in love or marry, just like these past ten years—stay by my side forever. Honestly, without you, I wouldn’t have made it through the last decade.”
“You always say I saved you, but for me, it’s you who saved me.”
Jiang Lai gently patted her back, soothing her, and gradually Chi Yingyu’s emotions settled.
Her tears poured out like spilled beans, releasing all the grievances inside her heart.
“But I know this desire is selfish—I wanted you to stay by my side forever without considering your feelings. You’re only twenty-nine now, a rising star in the legal profession. You’re so talented; you deserve your own happiness, not to stay with someone like me.”
“Yingyu, do you know why I asked you to move out after your Master’s Degree?”
“Because my presence would stir gossip among the neighbors?”
Chi Yingyu sometimes overheard the neighborhood’s gossips slandering her, calling her a mistress or a kept woman.
Sometimes she thought to herself that if being a mistress or kept woman meant gaining her brother-in-law’s love, maybe she wouldn’t mind.
Sometimes she felt sick, even imagining that if her brother-in-law found a stepmother for his niece in the future, maybe his cheating would be better.
Because that would mean pure affection for her, that she would receive all of his love and care.
But she knew such thoughts were pathological and impossible to happen with Jiang Lai.
Once Jiang Lai chose someone, he wouldn’t engage in any ambiguous relationships—not even casual chats with other women beyond the basic greetings.
He gave his partner a strong sense of security.
Chi Yingyu had never dated Jiang Lai; she only knew these details from her sister’s boasting.
Her curiosity about Jiang Lai stemmed from her sister’s accounts, through which she had learned and endured years of relationship sweetness.
Before meeting Jiang Lai, Chi Yingyu thought no one in the world could be so perfect.
Only after truly understanding and spending time with Jiang Lai did she realize that her sister’s modest praise was an understatement.
If Jiang Lai ever cheated on his wife, and Chi Yingyu saw herself as a mistress or kept woman, she could be happy all day.
But that was just her own fantasy—just her inability to help but imagine.
If anyone else said those things, Chi Yingyu had even argued with them.
In her mind, the rumors had gotten out of hand, and Jiang Lai had been forced to ask her to move out to protect his reputation.
“But the truth isn’t like that. Do you think I care what others say?”
“All along, the only people I’ve cared about are you and my daughter. Nothing else matters. How could I ask you to move out because of someone else’s opinion?”
If Jiang Lai truly cared about outside opinions, how could she have allowed her wife’s sister, her own sister-in-law, to stay by her side for over ten years?
Yet gossip is unstoppable.
Whenever Jiang Lai heard these rumors, even though she was normally calm and rarely argued, she would track down the source and fiercely confront them.
But her fury only lasted for a few months at a time, eventually becoming a quarterly ritual.
This practice improved Jiang Lai’s eloquence, making her unbeatable even against the neighborhood troublemakers.
When Chi Yingyu first started working, Jiang Lai worried about her and practiced many mock trials with her in their spare time.
Jiang Lai’s quick wit and adaptability rivaled Chi Yingyu’s own skills.
During this time, Chi Yingyu also thought about how to help Jiang Lai professionally—after all, being her Secretary was only a temporary role.
Though she wished Jiang Lai would stay by her side forever, how could a mere Secretary title ever match her brother-in-law’s stature?
If Jiang Lai were a lawyer, her quick thinking was more than enough.
Once she had the knowledge and passed the national bar exam, Chi Yingyu planned to pull Jiang Lai into her own firm immediately.
But before this plan could even begin, it was utterly shattered.
“The real reason I asked you to move out was simple: because I had feelings for you. Because I realized I couldn’t live without you. Do you know how terrifying that is? You should have your own life, your own happiness—not be stuck by my side forever.”
“I’ve wasted your most precious years. If I keep wasting your time, I won’t forgive myself. The moment I realized those feelings in myself, I knew I couldn’t let you stay with me.”
“Otherwise, your presence would nurture this obsession until it became uncontrollable.”
Jiang Lai poured out all her feelings for Chi Yingyu, including her possessiveness.
“I don’t mind. Actually, I like it.”
Though still trembling with sobs, Chi Yingyu’s tone was much firmer than before.
After crying, her eyes and nose were red and swollen, and her eyelids were so puffy they barely closed.
But her mood was much better than before; a faint smile appeared on her face.
She shyly tugged at Jiang Lai’s clothes, now soaked with her tears.
“You’re all soaked through. You should change your clothes soon.”
Seeing Chi Yingyu finally relaxed, Jiang Lai’s heart eased.
But just as she let down her guard, Chi Yingyu murmured once again.
“So, Brother-in-law, how exactly did you meet Xu Ruobing? You’ve never told me, always hiding it.”
Her voice was tinged with a slight grievance, as if she had been wronged.
But after Jiang Lai’s words, Chi Yingyu’s earlier feelings of insignificance had completely disappeared, quickly returning to her usual mode.
Jiang Lai hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell everything about her relationship with Xu Ruobing.
At this point, if she didn’t reveal the truth, the consequences could be worse than she imagined.
Jiang Lai recounted every detail, including their first time sharing a hotel room and the fact that their intimacy was abruptly interrupted halfway.
She never expected to reveal so many embarrassing things.
After finishing, Jiang Lai’s face was flushed bright red, hot enough to be compared to a boiling pot.
Jiang Lai felt ashamed to speak of these intimate details.
But Chi Yingyu, throughout the whole story, was nearly fuming with anger.
This situation was the exact opposite of what she had imagined.
Chi Yingyu wanted nothing more than to rush straight to Xu Ruobing’s studio and give that bar-hopping troublemaker—who seduced strangers and even dragged them to bed—a good scolding.
At this moment, a terrifying thought crept into Chi Yingyu’s mind: she wanted to sue her.
Otherwise, this anger inside her could never be extinguished.
Her brother-in-law had nearly lost his purity because of this.
Chi Yingyu thought back to how beautiful Jiang Lai looked at the studio today and to the videos circulating online about her.
She wondered why Jiang Lai could smile so seductively in front of others but never show that charm to her.
Chi Yingyu felt deeply unsettled.
Jiang Lai said she was the most important person in her heart—more than even her own daughter.
So why did Jiang Lai seem the coldest to her?
She desperately wished Jiang Lai would show her the most beautiful side of herself and only for her.
As Jiang Lai, who was about to stand, suddenly pulled her back into her arms, Chi Yingyu greedily inhaled the sweet scent of Jiang Lai.
She had never dared express such intense feelings before, fearing it might scare Jiang Lai away.
But now she was afraid that if she delayed any longer, she would fall behind someone else.
“Jiang Lai… aren’t you going to ask me if what I said earlier was true?”