Now, I have to find a way to save myself.
Lin Tianba cares most about himself and Lin Jian. She couldn’t believe that after so many years of affection, Lin Tianba would truly abandon her just like that.
So, our version t0 Liu Yuemei began her performance.
"Lin Tianba, I’ve been with you for so many years, and you hit me, scolded me—do you have any idea how heartbroken I am? Wuwuwu..."
Lin Tianba froze. He couldn’t believe that at this point, Liu Yuemei could still say such things.
"You’re heartbroken? Then what about my heart? Who broke mine?"
Liu Yuemei continued crying, "Back then, if it weren’t for you, how could I have become your mistress? Doesn’t that prove how much I love you? You say Xiao Jian isn’t your biological son, but do you know the pain I endured giving birth to him? You could never understand."
"I’ve suffered so much, and yet you still care whether the child is yours? You’ve disappointed me so much. All these years, I must have been blind to stay with you... wuwuwu..."
Liu Yuemei’s grief was overwhelming, enough to move anyone who witnessed it to tears.
Lin Tianba’s mind went blank. He even started doubting himself.Seeing Liu Yuemei’s tear-streaked face, his heart softened in its most vulnerable spot.
"Yuemei... you..."
Liu Yuemei cried and accused him, the scene practically grinding Lin Tianba’s dignity into the dirt.
"I’ve suffered so much for you, and you still care whether the child is yours? Does it even matter? Hasn’t Xiao Jian been calling you ‘Dad’ all these years?"
Lin Tianba felt his brain short-circuiting, yet he couldn’t find any rebuttal.
"Even if Xiao Jian isn’t your son, setting aside the facts, aren’t you at fault too? If you had married me instead of Su Yanyan from the start, none of this would’ve happened!"
"It’s all your fault! All your fault! All your fault!" Liu Yuemei punctuated each word with tiny fists pounding Lin Tianba’s chest.
Lin Tianba felt a surge of rage, but Liu Yuemei’s words didn’t seem entirely wrong.
If he hadn’t taken Su Yanyan’s handouts back then, wouldn’t he and Liu Yuemei be living happily now?
Could it really be that he was the one at fault?
"I... I need to think."
Like a kite with its string cut, Lin Tianba collapsed onto the floor, lost in thought.
Just then, Liu Yuemei’s phone buzzed with a message.
[Huafeng Silver Plaza Hotel, Room 1221. The boss is waiting. You’re in high demand now.]
Liu Yuemei: ...
[Can I not go?]
[Don’t think just because your husband knows your secrets that I can’t do anything to you. You owe me so much money—if you dare default, I can make sure you rot in prison for life. Believe it? Now get your ass over here.]
[Fine. I’m coming.]
Liu Yuemei was truly exhausted. At this point, she had to start planning for the future.
"Husband, you think things over. I’ll go out to clear my head too. Honestly, this isn’t entirely your fault. I’m also to blame—I loved you too much to tell you the truth. Maybe after we’ve both calmed down, we can sit down and talk properly."
Lin Tianba said nothing. His gaze at Liu Yuemei could have cut steel, but he held back—perhaps this was the magnanimity befitting the head of a household.
Seeing Liu Yuemei’s devastated expression, he couldn’t bring himself to raise a hand again.
"Right now, we should focus on our situation. You should go find Xiao Ran. That poor boy is stuck with that lunatic Luo Yao. If you can, bring him back to the Lin Family."
Biting her lip, Liu Yuemei turned and left, leaving Lin Tianba and Lin Jian in the motel.
Lin Tianba didn’t stop her. Maybe they really did need space.ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ɴoᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt
Lin Jian didn’t dare approach Lin Tianba. He didn’t dare keep pretending to be unconscious on the bed either, afraid that Lin Tianba might snap and kill him.
After all, he wasn’t Lin Tianba’s real son anymore. Lin Tianba had every reason to act irrationally.
At this thought, he hated Liu Yuemei too.
How could she just abandon him here? It was too dangerous.
His father wasn’t his real father, his mother didn’t love him, and his cousin was locked up.
His whole life was like walking on thin ice.
"Dad, I’ll go check on Mom. I’m worried she might do something reckless in her grief."
With that, Lin Jian bolted. Lin Tianba didn’t stop him, lost in his own sorrow as he muttered to himself.
"Was I wrong?"
"Was I really wrong?"
Suddenly, Lin Tianba remembered how he’d treated Lin Ran all these years, and a sharp pang of regret struck him.
He’d been so harsh to his own flesh and blood, yet doted on a child that wasn’t his.
Damn it all.
Liu Yuemei had just tried to gaslight him—as if he were some fool.
Just then, Liu Yuemei sent another message.
[Husband, I’ll bring you dinner later. Love you.]
Lin Tianba froze, then sighed deeply.
"Ah... whatever. Yuemei isn’t so bad. A kind, understanding woman like her—what more could I ask for?"
Lin Tianba chose to accept it. Or rather, he had no choice but to accept it.
Because this was how things had always been. If he changed now, wouldn’t that mean he’d been wrong all along?
That every cruel thing he’d done to Lin Ran truly made him a terrible father?
Unacceptable. He couldn’t accept that.
Lin Tianba had to be right. He was the king of the Lin Family.
A true leader didn’t complain—he shaped reality to fit his will. And Lin Tianba was the strongest of all.
He would keep Liu Yuemei. He would keep his son. And he would put that ungrateful brat in his place.
Lin Tianba would reign supreme, unmatched through the ages.
"Today, I’ll go to that ungrateful wretch Lin Ran and demand money—demand a job. If he refuses, I’ll beat him to death."
If life wasn’t worth living anymore, he might as well drag that brat down with him.
As Lin Tianba stepped out of the motel, snow began to fall.
The first snow of winter in the capital.
"Even the heavens weep for my suffering. Snow in December..."
Lin Tianba stole a butcher’s knife from a market stall and trudged through the snow, his lonely figure growing smaller in the distance.
A man could compose poetry in sorrow, in joy, in despair.
And in his most tragic moment, Lin Tianba composed one too—and recited it aloud.
"Ungrateful child... your father is coming for you... kneel before me."
Winter had come. It was time for the brat to repent.
Bundled up, Lin Tianba walked the cold streets alone. The occasional honk reminded him that the world still noticed him.
The honks grew louder, more frequent. Lin Tianba smirked—they were cheers for his solitary bravery.
Finally, Lin Tianba got what was coming to him.
"You goddamn idiot! Ever heard of a sidewalk? Wandering in the middle of the road like a dumbass—you’re holding up traffic!"