Chapter 2

The Xu family had flourished over the generations. Including the collateral branches, there were nearly thirty relatives.

By eleven the next morning, the courtyard of the Xu estate was packed.

Everywhere I looked, I saw relatives I could not stand.

After a careful glance around, I realized that only Eldest Uncle was absent. Everyone else had come.

The Xus were one of Jingchuan City’s most prominent families, but their thinking was feudal: only men, they believed, could inherit the family business.

My mother, Jiang Jing, had suffered complications while giving birth to Xu Sui. Her uterus had been removed, leaving her unable to have another child.

So she and Xu Chenggang had only one daughter and no son.

Every relative who had produced a boy looked down on them.

But Xu Chenggang held twenty-one percent of the Xu family shares, so everyone at least pretended to get along in public.

In private, I had heard their gossip countless times.

“What good are all Xu Chenggang’s shares? He couldn’t even father a son. The Xu family has never let a daughter take over.”

“Exactly. I think he planned to marry Xu Nainai into the Bai family when she came of age, then let his son-in-law run his branch of the business.”

“But look at Xu Nainai. She barely says two words to anyone. Would the Bai family even want her? Any man who married her would only be after the Xu fortune.”

“If you ask me, Chenggang should just give his shares to my son. My boy could support the two of them in their old age. He’d be far more dependable than a daughter.”

“He should’ve gotten rid of that wife twenty years ago. What kind of woman is she without a uterus?”

“Right! A successful man like Chenggang could have any woman he wanted. If he’d taken a new wife and had two big, healthy boys, he wouldn’t need an alliance with the Bai family at all.”

The Xu estate was enormous and housed three families: Eldest Uncle’s, Second Uncle’s, and ours.

Xu Chenggang and Jiang Jing had spent most of their time working over the years and were rarely home.

So I had grown up under the watchful eyes of my two aunts.

My aloof nature and lack of interest in playing with their children turned their contempt for me into outright dislike.

Like parents, like children. Their sons and daughters hated me even more.

A stretch Rolls-Royce pulled up outside the courtyard gates.

Xu Sui stepped out in a nude-colored dress, her neat, shoulder-length hair cut short.

The moment her feet touched the ground, she ran into our parents’ arms.

“It’s been so long, Mom. Have you been well?”

The corners of her mouth lifted in an elegant, composed smile.

“And you, Dad? Everything going well?”

They were warm and familiar with one another, nothing like people meeting for the first time.

But of course it was not their first meeting.

Xu Sui had always known I existed.

“One look at Xu Sui and you can tell she’s a true daughter of the Xu family. Xu Nainai could study that presence all her life and never imitate it.”

“I always suspected Xu Nainai wasn’t Chenggang’s biological child. Every Xu child is lively and outgoing. She’s the only one who hugs her sketchpad all day without saying a word.”

My aunts stood behind me, gossiping without the slightest restraint.

“Don’t you have a nephew? I heard he’s handsome and well educated. Why not ask your brother if he’d marry into the Xu family?”

“Better to keep the fortune in the family than hand it to the Bais. And another thing—”

“Eldest Aunt!”

A ringing female voice cut them off.

It was Xu Sui.

I had watched her from the moment she got out of the car.

Yet she had not looked at me once. Her gaze passed right over me and settled on the woman behind me.

“Sui! You’re finally home! I’ve missed you to death.”

The corner of my mouth twitched. Did Eldest Aunt ever think before she spoke? When had they even met?

Xu Sui came straight toward her, her eyes fixed behind me the entire time. She never glanced my way, as though I were nothing but empty air.

Yet only yesterday, she had told me to wait for her. She was coming home to take very good care of me…

It did not matter. We had broken up.

Ridiculous. I was the one who had ended it.

“Eldest Aunt, Mom has always told me what a wonderful wife and mother you are. She says you take such excellent care of Uncle and my cousins.”

“Oh, really? Your mother actually said that? Well, I’m hardly—”

Eldest Aunt beamed, but Xu Sui did not even let her finish before turning to link arms with Second Aunt.

“Second Aunt, I heard your daughter is doing her master’s abroad at a top-ten university. I’ve been thinking about graduate school overseas too. Will you send me her WeChat later?”

Second Aunt brightened as well. “Sui, her school isn’t actually in the top ten. But of course you can talk to her about studying abroad. She knows all about it.”

Xu Sui nodded. I could not tell whether her smile was genuine or pure flattery.

This was not the woman I knew. She had never acted this way with me.

Before I could make sense of it, my father Xu Chenggang raised his voice.

“Everyone, let’s go inside and eat!”

The crowd began streaming from the courtyard into the reception hall in chattering groups.

Twelve banquet tables had been set to celebrate Xu Sui’s return.

Every table was loaded with food, ready for the feast to begin.

Without looking back, Xu Sui led both aunts inside.

I stood there in a daze until the courtyard had emptied.

“It’s really over between us…” I murmured before making my way into the hall.