Chapter 2
I had come for the heroine. Lin Daiyu was still young, and as long as I wasn’t too awful a stepmother, I could try my hand at bringing her up.
Who wouldn’t love a bright, quick-witted little girl with a proud streak?
What I hadn’t expected was to fall for her rich, eligible father, a man in his thirties, before I even met my little heroine.
Honestly, I’d never quite understood the appeal of older men. What was wrong with a sweet young boyfriend?
Yet here I was, inside a novel, stumbling into a romantic encounter beyond anything I’d imagined.
The man before me—or rather, across the screen from me—seemed to come with his own soft-focus lighting. His handsome features had a mature warmth, his manner an unhurried composure.
Shielding my mouth with my sleeve, I wiped away a little drool, then put on a dignified smile and curtsied toward him. “Lord Lin.”
He inclined his head. His voice was low. “Forgive me for asking you here, Miss Shen. I wanted to speak frankly with you.”
I listened attentively. “Please do, Lord Lin.”
Lin Ruhai was quite honest. “My first wife and I were deeply attached. In the years since she passed, there has been no one to manage the household, and matters both within and without have become somewhat disorderly. I originally had no intention of remarrying and sent my only daughter to her mother’s family. Recently, however, I have noticed certain troubling things about that household. I would like to bring her home and raise her myself. But my official duties take me away, and with no one here to oversee things, I fear too much interference from the clan might make matters worse. That is why I wish to ask you to become Yu’er’s stepmother, Miss Shen, and teach her proper conduct and household management.”
After all that, what our wealthy bachelor meant was that I would be strictly a means to an end. My main job was to protect his daughter.
Honestly? A little hurtful.
But… what did that matter to me?
This handsome middle-aged man was offering me exactly the chance to meet the heroine that I’d wanted. I was delighted. “No problem. None at all. That sounds excellent,” I said, nodding repeatedly.
Lin Ruhai was very pleased with how the Shen family had brought me up, which made my parents feel they had done us credit.
And so, although it was a second marriage for him and a late one for me, the wedding preparations were splendid.
My future husband was genuinely rich. His betrothal gifts followed the grandest possible specifications.
My parents rose to the occasion and matched their value with my dowry.
News of the marriage naturally reached the Jia household and my stepdaughter.
As Lin Ruhai’s only daughter, she would of course return to witness her father’s remarriage.
I didn’t know how she took it, but the Jia household was clearly in an uproar. Apparently, Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian would be accompanying Lin Daiyu back in person.
Lin Ruhai sent word that the Jias might have plans of their own when they arrived. I wasn’t to worry. He would deal with them.
Well, well. Older men really did know how to charm a girl.
When Mother heard, she said, “Lord Lin has shown some consideration. In that case, don’t let them think they can knead you like a lump of dough. When the Jia boat arrives, go and meet it with him.”
Thus, with my parents’ permission, Lin Ruhai came to collect me from the Shen residence three days before our wedding, and we went to the dock together.