Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

For the sake of loving him, she had plucked out the thorns one by one from her body until she was left with bruises and injuries.

She was hoping to regain her pride, self-esteem, and dignity from him someday, but her hopes had all been dashed at this instant!

“I’m a fool! I’m such a stupid fool!”

At the mention of her sore spot, Song Enya clutched and clawed at the bedsheets, with snot and tears flowing out of her facial orifices, making her look like a hysterical mess.

Jiang Qimeng wrapped the lass in her arms, feeling heartache for her.

The missy wailed. “I was wrong, mom! I should’ve listened to you back then! I shouldn’t have pestered him! I-I have lost everything now, though… my pride, my self-esteem—everything’s been destroyed by him! Like a hedgehog that has its spines plucked out, I’m wounded all over and reduced into a laughingstock! M-Mu Yancheng must be hating me for my shamelessness and low-handedness! He must be thinking that I’m cheap and loose! Only God knows how he will look down upon me when he finds out how the child came about!”

“Then, find your pride and self-esteem back!”

“I can’t!” she cried. “Look at how smug they must be now! What can I do at this point? I should’ve seen this coming! I should’ve known that a prideful man like him wouldn’t allow himself to be in a despondent state. My naïve self actually thought that he lost everything the moment he left the Mu Group! How ludicrous that thinking was!”

Given how prideful the man was, he would never allow himself to fall into the pit.

“My silly child, that’s why you should be working hard to live a better life! Trust me on this; no one will dare see you as a laughingstock once you marry into the Mu family in a grand fashion! What of that cousin of mine managing to stage a comeback? ‘A starving camel is bigger than a horse’; even though the Mu Group has suffered a great loss, Shengyu Financial Group still isn’t its match! The Mu Group is a long-standing company with deep roots and unshakeable status! Others will only be envious of you becoming Young Madam Mu; who will dare look down on you?!”

Tears clung onto her lashes as she nodded weakly. “I laid my cards on the table with Mu Yancheng the other day. He refused to believe that our encounter that day was a pure coincidence. The Mus are indeed not easily fooled!”

“What of him knowing?! He still has to acknowledge the child whether he likes it or not!” answered her mother with her lips curling into a cold smirk.

…

The Mu residence.

“Your child?!” Mu Shumin stared wide-eyed at her nephew in shock. “What are you talking about? Song Enya is expecting your child?”

“Yes!”

“A-Are you trying to drive me to an early grave?! How could you stir up such trouble at this critical juncture?!” She fumed, feeling disappointed with her nephew.

Mu Yancheng felt immensely aggrieved. “I didn’t knock her up, aunt! You’re unaware of this, but she managed to get pregnant with my child through other means! I didn’t touch a single finger of hers!”

“How could she possibly get pregnant if you didn’t touch her?!”

The elderly woman did not believe him. “There’s no use shirking your responsibility when she’s already carrying your child!”

He explained, “She underwent artificial insemination to expect my child! How does that have to do with me, then? I wouldn’t be denying it if something really did happen between us.”