A Marriage in Name Only? My Stepbrother Won't Let Me Go

The man’s footsteps were heavy and frantic. Hearing the commotion, Mei Wanying and Ling both looked over.

The former looked displeased, while the latter had a look of confusion, even forgetting to drink her milk.

Mei Wanying thought it was one of the servants causing trouble and was about to scold them to be more composed and less clumsy.

But the person who came in was a tall figure.

Mei Wanying jumped in fright.

She hurriedly turned her body to the side, her slender fingers tightly pulling her open lapels closed.

In the same motion, she held her daughter tighter.

When she turned her head to look again, she saw that the visitor was Pei Yan.

Mei Wanying was both shocked and furious. Her reason vanished in an instant as she picked up a porcelain cup from the table. "Get out!"

Holding Ling with one arm, she threw the porcelain cup with the other, and her hastily closed robe fell open again.

Mei Wanying’s face flushed red. She clutched her lapels again, not daring to let go.

All she could do was glare daggers at Pei Yan. If looks could kill, he would have been torn to shreds by now.

Pei Yan was stunned, frozen on the spot.

He had practiced martial arts for years and followed General Mei on campaigns everywhere, developing extremely sharp eyesight.

The fleeting scenery was branded into his mind.

Every detail was so clear.

Pei Yan’s chest tightened. His throat suddenly felt parched, and his palms grew hot.

The porcelain cup hit him with a dull THUD, then fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces.

Pei Yan finally snapped back to his senses.

He instinctively turned to close the door behind him.

Dazedly, he thought, ’Thank goodness it was me who came in. No one else can see Ah Yin like that.’

’Not even Ding Xiang and the others.’

The door was closed, but Pei Yan didn’t leave. Mei Wanying was so angry she could have coughed up blood.

"Aren’t you going to get out?"

Pei Yan’s reason finally returned. Although they were married, Ah Yin didn’t acknowledge him.

And she forbade him from getting close.

’He was already Ah Yin’s man. They had been intimate and even had a child together.’

’But now he was being cast aside, leaving only the child behind. Was there a more pitiful man in the world?’

A bitter sorrow filled Pei Yan’s heart.

He said in a muffled voice, "I’m not looking, you can relax. I’ll leave after I clean up the fragments."

’He actually wanted to be a lecher and openly stare at Ah Yin.’

’But he knew in his heart that if he really did that, Ah Yin wouldn’t stop at just throwing things at him.’

’Can’t make Ah Yin angry...’

Pei Yan crouched down, his well-defined fingers picking up the broken porcelain shards.

He picked up the large pieces, then carefully checked for tiny fragments, showing no disgust as he pinched them up one by one with the pads of his fingers.

’Ah Yin’s eyesight isn’t good. I have to clean this up completely. If she accidentally steps on a piece, she’ll definitely get hurt.’

The man’s meek and submissive appearance made Mei Wanying’s anger flare.

"Are you incapable of understanding me? I told you to get out!"

But someone else was the one who couldn’t understand.

Ling was still little. Although she couldn’t understand what Mei Wanying was saying, she could understand an adult’s tone of voice.

Mei Wanying had hurled a few harsh words at Pei Yan, and her tone was fierce. Ling thought her mother was scolding her.

This time, she started to cry for real.

She was crying her heart out.

Tears rolled down her face, her little face scrunched up, revealing her toothless gums.

Whenever Ling cried, her eyes and nose would turn red, making her look unbearably pitiful.

Her daughter’s heartbroken cries were like a knife to Mei Wanying’s heart.

Mei Wanying hated Pei Yan to death!

But she didn’t dare scold him anymore, afraid she would frighten her daughter.

Stared at coldly by Mei Wanying, Pei Yan felt he had caused a disaster and didn’t dare provoke her further.

After cleaning up the fragments, he was about to leave.

But Ling started crying even louder, turning her head in his direction and stretching out her short little arms, wanting him to hold her.

Pei Yan tentatively took a step forward. Mei Wanying’s gaze grew colder, and he didn’t dare to advance any further.

He steeled his heart and turned away. His daughter’s cries became shrill; she couldn’t speak, so this was the only way she could express herself.

In the baby’s mind, she had been scolded by her mommy, so she wanted her daddy.

This was normal, but Mei Wanying still felt awful.

’Her own daughter, whom she had gone through so much to give birth to... Pei Yan had only visited a few times, and now he was going to steal Ling away from her.’

Bitterness and frustration welled up in her heart, and she, too, began to cry.

Hearing Mei Wanying’s ragged inhale, Pei Yan no longer hesitated and strode toward her.

He took Ling from Mei Wanying’s arms, cradled the baby in the crook of one arm, and picked up a shawl, clumsily draping it over Mei Wanying’s shoulders.

He covered the porcelain-white skin revealed on her chest.

’No matter how much of a beast he was, he wouldn’t be thinking about that sort of thing at a time like this.’

Mei Wanying didn’t want Pei Yan near her. The moment he finished draping the shawl, she flung it off and fumbled with her sash.

Pei Yan draped it over her again.

She flung it off again.

With his wife and daughter both crying, Pei Yan’s heart was about to break.

While rocking the baby in his arm, he took out a handkerchief and tried to wipe Mei Wanying’s tears.

Mei Wanying’s vision blurred with tears. She didn’t want to cry, but she just couldn’t control her emotions.

’Whether in her past life or this one, her emotions were always stirred up by Pei Yan.’

’Mei Wanying hated this version of herself.’

’She shouldn’t let her emotions be provoked by Pei Yan, shouldn’t be influenced by him anymore!’

’And her Ling shouldn’t be dependent on Pei Yan either...’

The more she thought, the more wronged she felt, and her tears flowed like a waterfall, impossible to stop.

Feeling the handkerchief dabbing gently at her face, Mei Wanying slapped Pei Yan’s hand away.

"Can you just stay away from me?"

Pei Yan didn’t answer, only coaxed her in a soft voice, "Don’t cry. When you cry, Lingling cries nonstop too."

’He wanted to say that it pained him to see mother and daughter crying, but he was truly no good at saying sweet things.’

’No matter how gentle his tone, the words that came out were always dry and plain.’

To Mei Wanying’s ears, his words sounded no different from a complaint against her.

"Then take her and go!"

Pei Yan didn’t go.

And he wouldn’t let Ling go either.

’A family shouldn’t hold grudges overnight. This was a lesson he had learned at a terrible price.’

"Say whatever angry things you need to say. Lingling can’t understand anyway. I’m her father. Even if the sky falls, I should be the one to hold it up."

As Pei Yan spoke, he shifted how he was holding the child, letting his daughter’s little head rest against Mei Wanying’s arm.

With the little one snuggled up against her, how could Mei Wanying say anything cruel?

She could only cry silently.

Her beautiful eyes had turned completely red, and a dull ache spread through Pei Yan’s heart.

’He didn’t want Ah Yin to cry.’

’But he was terrible at comforting her.’

He could only place his hopes in Ling. He lifted his daughter up high and used her little hand to wipe Mei Wanying’s tears.

Ling, who had been crying sadly, suddenly stopped wailing. Her big, tear-filled eyes looked at her own little hand in confusion.

Thinking her mommy and daddy were playing with her, she let out a happy little grunt.

Seeing his daughter open her little "claws," Pei Yan was quick to react, gently holding her chubby fingers.

"No scratching!"

Ling thought she was being scolded again. Her mouth crumpled, and she started wailing once more.

This time, she stretched her hands out for Mei Wanying to hold her.

She even kicked her little feet a few times, trying to struggle out of Pei Yan’s arms.

Mei Wanying watched, the corners of her mouth twitching a few times.

She took a deep breath to keep herself from laughing out loud.

’Crying one moment and laughing the next, how embarrassing!’

She shot the father and daughter a glare. "Can you two stop being so annoying!"

Turning away, she lay down on the chaise lounge, no longer looking at Pei Yan and Ling.