Chapter 18 — Nine Months Post-Divorce

Before departing, however, that woman had left a bag of newborn supplies at the nurse’s station. When the nurse brought the bag in, everyone exercised the utmost caution. Inside, there were no dangerous items. Only a few sets of infant clothes, a tiny golden lock, and a neatly folded sheet of paper. On that paper lay a pre-printed request for a name change. In the blank for the full name, the characters for Zhi Yi were written. The mother’s signature line remained blank. The father’s signature line already bore the two characters of Yan. Upon catching sight of those three words, Yan’s expression twisted into one of utter revulsion.

I did not sign that.

My voice remained flat.

I know.

But they do not care whether it is authentic.

They only need others to believe it is real.

The nurse grew so furious that her voice trembled.

The child was born only a few days ago. How could they stoop so low?

I said nothing. For I knew quite well that they were entirely capable of it. In the eyes of Shu Hua, Zhi Yi was never merely a child. She was the bloodline of the family. The key to unlocking the trust fund. A pawn meant to once again bring Yan under her thumb. By midday, the police returned to the hospital. When they located Housekeeper Liu, she was lingering near the old family estate. At first, she insisted she had simply followed Shu Hua’s instructions in delivering the items. Only after being confronted with the hospital surveillance footage did she confess to having tampered with the transfer request. Yet she stubbornly maintained that Shu Hua had assured her Yan had already consented. Yan denied this on the spot. The police demanded he provide his call logs and proof of his whereabouts. He cooperated fully throughout the process, no longer shielding anyone. By afternoon, Ting filed an application for a temporary protective order with the court. The terms explicitly prohibited Shu Hua, Ruo, and their associates from approaching either me or Zhi Yi. It barred anyone from disseminating Zhi Yi’s personal information without authorization. It forbade any member of the household from initiating transfer requests, name changes, household registration, or guardianship without my written consent. Once the documents were dispatched, I finally exhaled a long-held breath. Yet before that breath could fully settle, Yan’s assistant received a phone call. He listened for less than ten seconds before his complexion shifted dramatically.

Master Yan.

Something has happened at the old estate.

Yan furrowed his brow.

What is it now?

The assistant cast a sidelong glance at me, lowering his voice significantly, though every word still reached my ears with absolute clarity.

Madam was just released, and she immediately tore up the supplementary will testament left behind by the late master.

The housekeeper says she recorded a video before tearing it apart.

In the recording, she claims that the trust fund clause never existed at all.

She also declared that if Miss Lan continues to press the matter, she will ensure the child never receives a single cent.

The assistant’s words fell, and the atmosphere in the hospital room grew suffocatingly heavy. Yan gripped his phone tightly, remaining silent for a long time. I gazed at Zhi Yi resting within her incubator, my heart gradually settling into a profound stillness. When people are driven to desperation, the more frantically they tear things apart, the more it proves the undeniable truth of what they destroy. Ting spoke up without delay.

Instruct the housekeeper to preserve the scene.

Do not touch the paper scraps.

And do not delete the video.

The assistant hurriedly acknowledged the order. Yan looked at me, his voice deep and raspy.

I am going back to the old estate.

I did not stop him. I merely said.

Do not let her use Zhi Yi as a weapon ever again.

He nodded.

I know.

This time, he departed swiftly, without looking back or lingering in hope of a reassuring word from me. Ting remained in the hospital room. He pulled up the video sent by the assistant. On the screen, Shu Hua stood within the study of the old manor. Clenching a yellowed folder, her voice rose to a piercing, trembling shriek.

This thing has never held any legal validity!

No one dares use a newborn child to extort the wealth of our family!

With that, she tore the document into shreds before the camera lens. I watched in silence. As the video drew to a close, she turned directly toward the lens and spoke.

Lan, if you dare to continue this lawsuit, I will make sure the whole world knows that you only birthed this child to lay your hands on the trust fund!

Ting switched off the video, his expression chillingly cold.

She is simply lifting a stone only to drop it on her own feet.

I asked.

The documents are torn. Do they still hold any legal weight?

Ting glanced at me.

If it is a supplementary will testament, a copy is typically filed with the notary public, and the attorney’s office will also retain duplicates.

Her destroying the copy in her hands does not mean the clause ceases to exist.

I nodded.

Then investigate.

Ting replied.

I have already sent men to look into the law firm that the late master collaborated with during his lifetime.

And the notary records as well.

I closed my eyes, drawing in a brief breath. Yet I knew Shu Hua would not stop at merely tearing up a single sheet of paper. By recording that video, she intended to control the narrative first. Sure enough, less than half an hour later, the video had already surfaced within several family chat groups. Whispers began to spread in the shadows, claiming that I had carried the child in secret for nine full months without a whisper, all for the sake of the trust fund.