14. Has Big Brother Fallen for My Girlfriend?

The living room fell into a deathly silence.

Ji Huali and Chen Yuru exchanged a glance, neither daring to speak first.

Ji Qingran noticed the fleeting guilt on their faces and felt her eyes blaze with sharper sarcasm.

“Have you forgotten?” she chuckled lightly. “You said that if I took the fall for Ji Wanrou, you would compensate me.”

“N-no, we haven’t forgotten,” Chen Yuru was the first to speak, forcing a stiff smile. “You’re our daughter. We could never forget what we promised you.”

With that, she turned and went upstairs. A few minutes later, she pressed a blue velvet box into Ji Qingran’s hands.

“Mom has been saving this for you.”

Ji Qingran opened the box. Inside lay a brooch set with a large emerald.

It was a gift from her grandmother on her eighteenth birthday—the only birthday present she had received that day. Her biological parents only remembered Ji Wanrou’s birthday; no one recalled that it was also her birthday.

Though they had given Ji Wanrou so many gifts, Ji Wanrou had singled out the one from their grandmother, tearfully asking Chen Yuru, “Did Grandma purposely not prepare a gift for me because I’m not related by blood to my parents?”

So, her one and only birthday gift was brazenly taken away by Chen Yuru and given to Ji Wanrou.

Now, they called this rightful return a form of compensation?

Ji Qingran accepted the brooch.

From the time she was taken back to the Ji family at twelve, she had lived there for six years. If there were any good memories, they came from her grandmother.

Since the brooch was her grandmother’s gift, she had no reason to leave it with Ji Wanrou.

Seeing that she accepted it, Ji Huali and Chen Yuru simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

But in the next moment, Ji Qingran’s voice struck like a dagger: “It seems you’ve both forgotten, so let me remind you. A matter as serious as going to prison, you wanted me to confess in court, so the promised compensation was grand. Mr. Ji himself said that once I was released, he would give me ten percent of Ji Group’s shares.”

The atmosphere instantly froze again.

After a long pause, Ji Huali’s face darkened as he spoke, “Ji Qingran, don’t be ungrateful. I did promise the shares, but I’m still alive. It’s not your place to take Ji Group’s shares.”

“So, Mr. Ji plans to go back on his word and not give them to me?”

“When I die, the ten percent shares I promised will naturally be yours to inherit.”

Perhaps sensing that Ji Huali’s words were a curse upon himself, Chen Yuru hurried over to soothe him and cast an annoyed glare at Ji Qingran. “You’re such a difficult child.”

Ji Wanrou lowered her head and whispered, “Sister, don’t anger Dad. You haven’t been home for so long. You don’t know, in recent years, Dad and Mom’s health hasn’t been good...”

Sure enough, a loving family.

Ji Qingran curled her lips in sarcasm. “Give me the shares you promised, and I’ll leave immediately. I won’t ever show my face again, and I won’t cause you any more trouble.”

“Impossible,” Ji Huali replied coldly.

Chen Yuru hesitated, then tried to mediate. Her voice carried a hint of testing as she addressed Ji Qingran, “Ranran, the shares we promised you were meant for you. But… the family business has hit some rough patches these years. Your father and I thought if Wanrou and Wei’an got married first, with the support of the Lu family, our business might recover. But since Wanrou is an adopted daughter, the Lu family has always been uneasy about her status. To reassure them, we transferred that ten percent of shares to her.”

“Transferred them to Ji Wanrou?” Ji Qingran’s smile was bitter, her eyes heavy with sorrow. “Mr. and Mrs. Ji, I’ve wanted to ask for eight years: you would sacrifice everything for your adopted daughter, but where do I, your biological daughter, fall short compared to Wanrou?”

Her voice trembled, the anger and helplessness she had suppressed since facing these three now bursting forth uncontrollably.

Tears welled in her eyes. She had to tilt her head slightly to keep them from falling.

“From today on, Mr. and Mrs. Ji, keep your precious daughter well. As for what you owe me—I don’t care anymore.”

She turned to leave.

Ji Wanrou quickly gave Ji Huali a warning glance and whispered, “Dad, Grandma’s side…”

Ji Huali instructed the housekeeper to block her and, suppressing his anger, said, “Next month is your grandmother’s birthday. She’s old and set in her ways. Since she learned Wanrou is not biologically related to us, she has never liked her. Since you’re back, you and Wanrou will perform a duet dance at the birthday banquet to ease your grandmother’s worries.”

Ji Qingran found it laughable. With the family in such a mess, they still wanted her and Ji Wanrou to pretend to share sisterly affection?

How could they be worthy?

“I won’t dance,” she flatly refused.

Ji Huali’s face darkened. “What are you being so stubborn about? Even if you’ve been wallowing these years, with your previous dance skills, you can still be Wanrou’s partner. I’m telling you to dance, so dance. If you want payment, fine, everything except the shares.”

Ji Qingran shook her head slowly. “I said I can’t. The second month after I went to prison, someone pushed me from the bunk bed and I fractured my spine. Luckily the guards found me in time, or I wouldn’t be alive. Being able to stand again is already a blessing; as for dancing—forget about it for the rest of my life.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Chen Yuru gasped in disbelief. “How could you break your spine? You were fine, how did this happen...?”

“Mrs. Ji, do you not believe me?” Ji Qingran lifted the hem of her clothes and turned her back so the Ji family could see the scars.

So ghastly, so ugly, so shocking.

“I don’t understand why, even though I did nothing, someone deliberately targeted me.”

Her gaze swept coldly over Ji Wanrou. “It’s as if... someone had instructed them to.”

Ji Wanrou averted her eyes and buried herself in Chen Yuru’s arms. “Mom, I’m scared...”

Ji Qingran looked at the three of them with contempt, sneered, and without a shred of lingering feeling, turned and left the Ji household.

At the gate, she ran into Lu Wei’an, who had hurried over.

The courteous young gentleman was dressed in a sleek, sharp suit. His handsome face was full of worry. Upon seeing her, his eyes locked onto her immediately.

“Ranran!” He quickened his steps, voice urgent and filled with unmistakable concern. “Are you okay? Did uncle and auntie mistreat you? How is Wanrou? Is she treating you well?”

He stood before her, brows furrowed, eyes soft yet resolute, like a knight ready to rescue her from all troubles.

Ji Qingran slightly turned aside, evading his reaching hand.

Her gaze was cold, her voice indifferent. “I’m fine. If it weren’t for Lu’s meddling, I wouldn’t have been taken back by the Ji family, and I wouldn’t have seen with my own eyes how close my biological parents and your fiancée are.”

A flicker of pain crossed Lu Wei’an’s eyes. He stepped closer, closing the distance, arms outstretched as if to embrace her, but halted by the coldness on her face.

Still, he maintained a protective stance.

“Ranran, I know you suffered many injustices at the Ji family. I couldn’t protect you before, but things are different now. I can take you away—to a place where the Ji family can’t find you. No matter what happens, I’ll be by your side. You won’t be alone anymore.”

Before he finished, a car came to a steady stop before them. The window rolled down slowly, revealing Lu Tingyuan’s mocking face.

He glanced at the two, his gaze lingering on their nearly touching hands, and spoke coldly, “Big brother, are you interested in my girlfriend?”

Lu Wei’an’s expression immediately darkened.

Ignoring him, Lu Tingyuan opened the door and waved at Ji Qingran. “Ranran, come here.”

Rather than being entangled with Lu Wei’an at the Ji family gate, Ji Qingran preferred to leave in Lu Tingyuan’s car.

She lifted her foot to walk toward him.

Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed by Lu Wei’an.

His voice carried a somewhat pleading tone, “Ranran, don’t go.”