Shen Ruxue’s tears fell like pearls, one by one slipping from the corners of her eyes, soaking Chi Yingyu’s suit again and again.
She couldn’t accept that there was no place for her in Jiang Lai’s heart.
Shen Ruxue’s heart was filled with unwillingness.
She was the one who understood Jiang Lai best in this world.
No matter what kind of monster or demon that homewrecker might be, Shen Ruxue would never forgive her.
She absolutely would not allow an outsider to steal her place.
Shen Ruxue’s loss of composure lasted only a short while.
Very soon, she understood what she truly wanted in her heart.
When she lifted her head again, she stared straight at Chi Yingyu.
Even though her long lashes were soaked with tears, her eyelids trembling ever so slightly, and her lips bore a faint mark from being bitten in frustration, Shen Ruxue had already made up her mind.
“Xiaoyu, will you stand by your sister’s side from now on?”
“Sister, I will…”
Chi Yingyu could feel her sister gripping her arm tightly.
Here, with her sister, she was the only one she could rely on, the only one who could help her return to her original family.
As the younger sister, she should have helped her sister without question.
But Chi Yingyu just felt disgusted with herself—putting on one face before her sister, while harboring entirely different thoughts in her heart.
She didn’t dare tell her sister that the person who truly wanted to take her place was herself.
She was the real homewrecker, the greatest threat to her sister.
Yet she was also the one her sister trusted most right now.
That unconditional trust from her own blood sister made Chi Yingyu’s once unshakeable resolve begin to waver.
If her sister came back… would it be better if she stepped aside?
Chi Yingyu knew very well that, in the lives of her brother-in-law and niece, she was just a stand-in—a substitute for her sister.
Back when her niece was in elementary school, she had struggled to adjust to the absence of her mother, and it was always Chi Yingyu who stayed by her side.
There was one time when, because all the other students’ mothers came to the parent-teacher meeting, Chi Yingyu was afraid her niece would feel lonely and inferior.
That time, she put on mature makeup and disguised herself as her niece’s mother to attend the meeting.
Incidents like pretending to be her mother happened several times without Jiang Lai ever knowing.
Though Chi Yingyu was Jiang Leyi’s aunt, she had taken on almost all of a mother’s responsibilities, watching over Leyi as she grew up.
When Jiang Leyi was little, she even wanted to call Chi Yingyu “Mom.”
Even though this was not allowed in reality, sometimes, deep in her heart, she wished that could be true.
But as Jiang Leyi grew older, she gradually understood the importance of ethics and morality, so she no longer insisted.
Still, in her heart and in how she treated her, she always regarded Chi Yingyu as a mother.
Chi Yingyu knew all too well that her feelings were a betrayal of her sister.
At this moment, it felt like two little people were fighting inside her heart.
She wanted to let go, to let her brother-in-law and sister reunite so that the three of them could be together again, so her niece could have the mother she always longed for, and her brother-in-law could have her sister by his side again.
But if that really happened, Chi Yingyu was a hundred percent unwilling.
She wanted to go further in her brother-in-law’s heart, to finally express the love she had hidden for more than a decade.
The two conflicting thoughts clashed endlessly in her mind, making Chi Yingyu’s mental state increasingly unstable and on the verge of collapse.
Chi Yingyu stayed in this absent-minded daze until her sister left.
Shen Ruxue had sneaked out this time just to catch a glimpse of her younger sister.
Meeting her now was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but in the end, the result was good.
But her actions hadn’t escaped Jiang Leyi’s notice.
While she and her sister were talking, her daughter had already sent her many messages asking where she had gone, so she couldn’t stay with her sister for too long.
Even though she longed to catch up with her sister, she couldn’t help but worry when she thought of her daughter being alone at home.
In the end, Shen Ruxue only stayed in the office for a short while, exchanged new contact information with her sister, and hurriedly left the law office.
She left Chi Yingyu alone in the office, dazed, and as she thought back on everything she’d done, she couldn’t help but let out a self-mocking smile.
It was only now, only with her sister’s return, that she finally understood—she had merely stolen her sister’s place.
Now that her sister was back, sooner or later, she would have to return everything and let her sister’s family be whole again.
But what about her?
What was she supposed to do…
When Jiang Lai finished with her excuse and returned to the office, the first thing she saw upon opening the door was her sister-in-law’s exhausted figure.
Her sister-in-law looked completely worn out, lying limply on the desk—just looking at her made Jiang Lai’s heart ache.
Seeing her like this, Jiang Lai gently closed the door and tiptoed over to her sister-in-law’s side.
Jiang Lai had wanted to grab a small blanket to cover her sister-in-law.
The weather was cold, and even with the heater on, it was easy to catch a chill if you slept without a cover.
But how could Chi Yingyu, who was feeling so troubled, possibly fall asleep?
She had only lain her head on the desk for a bit because of a splitting headache.
The moment Jiang Lai opened the door, she had already opened her eyes.
When Jiang Lai carefully approached her with the blanket, Chi Yingyu sat up weakly.
Turning her head, the first thing she saw was her brother-in-law’s face, magnified before her.
When she saw the worry etched all over Jiang Lai’s face, Chi Yingyu’s eyes immediately stung.
All the grievance and pain in her heart surged up like a stream, washing over her fragile heart bit by bit.
Her heart ached, her eyes reddened, and tears kept spilling out, her vulnerability overflowing in that moment.
“Brother-in-law…”
This call of “brother-in-law” from Chi Yingyu was softer and more fragile than ever before, so much so that it made one’s heart ache to hear it.
Jiang Lai gently pulled her sister-in-law into her arms, feeling her soft body, softly stroking Chi Yingyu’s slender back.
“Are you just too tired, or did you run into trouble at work?”
Chi Yingyu didn’t answer, only shook her head in response.
She clung tightly to Jiang Lai’s arm, biting her lip and holding back a breath.
“Can you just hold me tight for a while?”
Recently, her sister-in-law had been acting much more spoiled than before.
Jiang Lai hugged Chi Yingyu tightly, taking in the sight of her flushed cheeks, misty eyes, and soft body—she saw it all.
But she didn’t mind.
As long as her sister-in-law wanted to act spoiled with her, her arms would always be open for Yingyu.