C12 Chapter 12

A furious, profanity-laced call went straight to the Hee family. After Mrs. Zhang hung up, she still felt like she hadn’t gotten it all out. The moment she stepped into the hospital and saw her husband lying in bed, she started wailing on him, dumping years of swallowed anger onto him in one brutal outburst.

After that, Zhuh Qingwen knew she’d played herself. When she tried to call back and explain in person, she couldn’t get through anymore.

As soon as Hee Zheng heard what happened, he hurried to call Mr. Zhang to smooth things over. But with everything blowing up at the worst possible moment, Mr. Zhang didn’t have time to deal with either of them.

The calls went unanswered. Hee Zheng and Zhuh Qingwen—already the ones asking for a favor—panicked.

Just when they were out of options, Zhuh Qingwen suddenly had an idea: use this as the perfect chance to kick Hee Yu out of the Hee family.

Taking Hee Yu in before hadn’t been a choice. Her mother had just died, and if they pushed Hee Yu over the edge too, people at the Ancestral Mansion would raise hell for that poor mother and daughter. After all, everyone there knew Hee Zheng had married Hee Yu’s mother.

Back then, to keep the peace, Zhuh Qingwen swallowed her pride and reluctantly accepted Hee Yu.

But the Hee family wasn’t the struggling family it used to be. And Hee Yu was still an unwanted orphan with no one in her corner. Even if she threatened the family’s reputation, they could use this scandal to muddy the waters. A woman who’d sell her body to a man old enough to be her father for money—how could anything she said be trusted?

And that was how the press conference announcing the end of the father-daughter relationship came to be.

Hee Yu stood at the very back of the crowd, but she still heard every word of Hee Zheng’s prepared statement, loud and clear.

The air-conditioning in the hall was set painfully cold, but it was nothing compared to the chill in her chest.

She’d long since stopped believing in the Hee family the way she once had. Still, as Hee Zheng’s words drilled into her ears, a sharp, searing pain rose up—like her bones and flesh were being torn apart, piece by piece.

She’d never really had a father.

“Ready?” Yan Jin leaned in close to Hee Yu’s ear and asked softly.

Hee Yu blinked, forcing the tears pooled in her eyes back down. “Ready!”

The Hee family wasn’t worth a single tear.

And as for what Yan Jin was about to do—Hee Yu was sharp. She knew exactly what he had in mind.

Two bodyguards cleared the way up front, with two more guarding from behind. Like a queen above it all, Hee Yu looped her arm through Yan Jin’s and, step by unhurried step, walked to the very center of the stage.

“Hee Yu?!” The startled cry came from Hee Zheng’s youngest daughter, Hee Qianshi.

Hee Qianshi was five years younger than Hee Yu. Growing up, her favorite thing was playing the sweet, obedient daughter in front of their parents. But behind closed doors, she loved setting traps for Hee Yu. She didn’t succeed often, but that never stopped her from trying—or from enjoying it.

“As one of the people involved, I figured I should show up, don’t you think?” Hee Yu said with a faint smile that never reached her eyes.

“If you want to embarrass yourself in front of the media, be my guest.” Hee Qianshi let out a cold snort as she shot back.

But when she noticed Yan Jin standing beside Hee Yu, she couldn’t help frowning.

This guy… she’d seen him somewhere before.

Hee Qianshi might not have recognized him, but Hee Zheng and Zhuh Qingwen certainly did.

Before the shock could fade from their faces, Yan Jin stepped forward and took the microphone from Hee Zheng’s hand—so fast he didn’t even have time to react.

The reporters below, already buzzing with chatter, erupted.

They’d only come because they’d been invited—paid, really. As long as the Hee family covered the bill, they were willing to show.

But they hadn’t expected to run into Yan’s Group’s CEO, Yan Jin. Someone like him wasn’t just hard to interview—most of them would never even get the chance to see him in person.

“Mr. Hee has just made it clear that he’s cutting ties with Miss Hee Yu as her father. And since we’re already here at the Hee family press conference, I might as well announce something too.”

The announcement hit the room like a live grenade tossed into a small pond—instant chaos.

“Since Miss Hee Yu is with Yan Jin, then what was that whole thing about her seducing Mr. Zhang earlier?”

“Exactly! She’s got a legit shot at being the Yan family’s young madam, and she goes after some guy old enough to be her dad? Even if she’d lost her mind, she wouldn’t do something that stupid.”

“If anyone’s lost their mind, it’s the Hee family. They’ve got the Yan family as in-laws and still choose this moment to disown Miss Hee Yu? What are they thinking—did they get kicked in the head?”

But of everyone there, the most stunned was Hee Zheng.

He’d run the numbers a thousand ways and still never imagined Hee Yu would end up tangled with Yan Jin.

How this mess was going to end now—that was the real problem.