C12 She Could also Play with Her Love Rival!

Her face still throbbed with a searing pain. Despite the sunny weather, Fu Yunyi felt a chill coursing through her body.

She sneered and turned to face her father, her heart sinking into an icy abyss.

The smug and scornful looks on Miss Wang and her sister's faces were all too clear.

Fu Yunyi's once bright eyes grew dull. "Do you know, sometimes I seriously doubt if you're even my father? I'm the one who gets hurt, yet it's always someone else who reaps the rewards."

"Yunyi, you..."

Fu Guoyi's face contorted with displeasure. He had hoped to gain some prestige through his son-in-law today, but Shen Qingli had not given the Fu family the time of day, leaving all the guests hanging and failing to show up.

Embarrassment was one thing, but now his daughter was causing a scene.

For years, he'd made a habit of pinning any issues on his eldest daughter, never bothering with fairness, and so he intervened to stop Fu Yunyi first.

Watching her father's face shift through a myriad of expressions, Fu Yunyi pulled a self-mocking smile.

What was the point in hoping for change? After all these years, was it even possible?

She shrugged off Fu Guoyi's hand and stood tall, ready to walk away.

Her heart might have been battered and bruised, but Fu Yunyi remembered her late mother's teachings, holding her posture erect and graceful, like a swan enduring the storm.

She felt the weight of countless stares on her retreating figure, yet no one saw the tears welling in her eyes.

"I was only half an hour late, and someone's already disrespecting my wife?"

The voice, deep and resonant like a cello, carried an authoritative chill that left the crowd agape.

Fu Guoyi's face ran through a rapid sequence of colors. "Qing... Qingli?"

Fu Jianing and Miss Wang looked utterly defeated. Damn it, wasn't Young Master Shen supposed to be absent today?

That voice was unmistakably familiar...

Fu Yunyi lifted her head, dazed, only to meet Shen Qingli's gaze, filled with an incomprehensible mix of annoyance, compassion, and fury.

She was baffled. Why was this man so inexplicably angry?

She was the one who had every right to be angry.

"You said you wouldn't come..."

"Today is your homecoming banquet. As a devoted husband, how could I possibly be absent?"

Before Fu Yunyi could even respond, Shen Qingli leaned in and tenderly kissed her forehead.

The unexpected caress made Yunyi instinctively want to pull away, but Shen Qingli only tightened his embrace, pulling her closer.

Displaying his possessiveness, Shen Qingli lifted his chin with a cold arrogance, "I merely stepped out to buy a gift for my sister-in-law, and someone dares to disrespect me by bullying my wife in front of everyone?"

Despite being the youngest guest, his bold words commanded silence from the crowd.

Fu Jianing envied the kiss Shen Qingli had given Yunyi, yet the thought that he had come because he was buying her a gift brought her a surge of joy.

She masked her delight with a contrite furrow of her brows, "Brother-in-law, I'm so sorry. My best friend didn't mean any harm..."

"Best friend?"

Shen Qingli cast a glance at the anxious Miss Wang and questioned, "This is your best friend?"

Oblivious to the cunning thoughts behind his charming facade, Yunyi nodded softly, "Yes, she's my best friend. She acted impulsively just now... please, for my sake, let's forgive and forget."

With a mischievous smirk, Shen Qingli's eyes narrowed meaningfully, "It seems I've indeed chosen the perfect gift today."

His voice was low, but Yunyi caught every word, her gaze shifting curiously at him.

What was he up to now?

Shen Qingli didn't immediately hand over the gift to Jianing but instead entrusted it to a servant.

"Yes, Young Master Shen—"

The servant accepted the gift and departed. Shen Qingli's gaze, lifting at the corners, unintentionally caught sight of the bruise on Yunyi's cheek, and a tempest raged in his beautiful eyes.

His fingers gently lifted her chin, his icy gaze piercing with a chilling intensity, "Who is responsible for this?"

As Miss Wang shuddered, Fu Guoyi cleared his throat, "Qingli, you can't really blame Miss Wang for this. It's not uncommon for young women to have their disputes."

Listening to her father so blatantly defend someone else, while shifting the blame onto her, Fu Yunyi couldn't help but look up at him with a hint of disbelief.

This was indeed her father, the man her mother had implored her to care for until her dying breath.

Of course, he was defending Yunyi. Noticing her slight tremble, Shen Qingli soothingly patted her waist with his large hand.

When he lifted his gaze, it was fierce and calculating, like a black panther poised to strike, exuding both danger and lethality.