The Wealthy and Influential Fiancé Has the Ability to Read Minds
Chapter 48
The man pressing her down had his head tugged lower by her grasp, and for a brief moment, his movements paused. Tang Nuan thought she might have a chance to escape, but as soon as he sensed her intention, he resumed his assault, clearly having no intention of letting her go.
Her hand, gripping his tie, was soon covered by his large palm. With a gentle squeeze, her hand was completely enveloped, forcing her to release the tie. With no other leverage, she could only surrender to his demands, gradually losing herself in his embrace…
It wasn’t until the sound of crashing waves against rocks suddenly filled the air that Tang Nuan snapped back to reality. It turned out the projection lamp had lit up again, this time casting a seaside theme: white sandy beaches, blue skies, white clouds, various rocks, seashells, crabs, and small fish…
She struggled a bit, and in a desperate move, she bit him lightly. The sensation brought Ye Shuyan back to his senses, and he released her. They looked at each other for a moment before both quickly averted their eyes, each trying to regain composure.
Tang Nuan stood up from his embrace, her breath still a bit unsteady. Ye Shuyan watched her, the confusion in his eyes fading as he clearly began to think about how to handle the situation.
But before he could speak, Tang Nuan took the initiative. She took a deep breath, looked him straight in the eye, and asked, “Ye Shuyan, did you ever like Jiang Miao? What really happened between you two in high school?”
This was a boundary-crossing question, but Tang Nuan couldn’t care less. After what had just happened, she needed to shatter her own illusions, and if she couldn’t do it herself, she wanted Ye Shuyan to do it for her.
It seemed like the right decision. Ye Shuyan, perhaps surprised by the question itself or by her asking it, quickly shed the remaining warmth in his expression, reverting to the cold and distant Ye Shuyan she was more familiar with.
Tang Nuan turned on the light and walked to the dressing table, her expression and movements as natural as if nothing had just happened.
Just when she thought Ye Shuyan wouldn’t answer, he spoke slowly, “I never liked her. Never have, never will. Not in the past, not now, and not in the future.”
Tang Nuan turned around in surprise and saw Ye Shuyan sitting on the edge of the bed, his eyes downcast, making it impossible to read his expression. “There was an incident with the Deng family during high school,” he continued.
Tang Nuan knew this. Ye Shuyan’s maternal family was a powerful political clan that, over a decade ago, had been falsely accused and investigated by the authorities, causing a huge scandal.
Ye Shuyan went on, “My parents’ marriage was a political alliance. My mother, as you’ve probably noticed, is a firm believer in love, needing to be adored and showered with passion every day to feel like her life is worthwhile.”
“She was initially attracted to my father’s appearance, but after I was born, she realized that he was always focused on his work and couldn’t fulfill her ‘princess dreams’ whenever she wanted, so she felt heartbroken and wanted a divorce. As for my father…” Ye Shuyan’s lips curled into a mocking smile, “He could have met my mother’s needs, but he was still in love with someone else.”
Tang Nuan was surprised. She had always assumed that Ye Zhenghong and Sun Wanqiu had met only after Ye Zhenghong’s divorce from Deng Qiong.
“My mother insisted on getting a divorce, and my father went along with it. After all, they already had me, so the purpose of the marriage alliance had been fulfilled,” Ye Shuyan explained, his tone completely devoid of emotion, as if he were recounting someone else’s story. “So, they both made a fuss about it, and eventually, my grandfather and maternal grandfather, seeing that the marriage couldn’t be salvaged, agreed to the divorce but on one condition: they had to sign an agreement stipulating that I would be the sole heir of the Ye family.”
“Of course, to ensure my safety, my grandfather and maternal grandfather created a complex set of arrangements. In short, if I were to die under suspicious circumstances, half of the Ye family’s wealth would vanish.”
“So even after my mother left and my father got his wish by marrying his first love, and even after Ye Shuchen was born two years later, my life was…” He seemed to search for the right word before finally settling on, “comfortable.”
“But my father’s new family of three wasn’t as comfortable. My father looked at his adorable younger son and felt guilty that, despite being born into the Ye family, he would inherit nothing because of that agreement. He always felt he owed him something.”
“So, when the Deng family was falsely accused and scandalized during my high school years, my father’s first instinct wasn’t to help them. Instead, he and Sun Wanqiu convinced my grandmother and allied with the shareholders to try to remove me as the heir.”
“At that time, my grandfather’s health was poor due to the stress from the Deng family’s situation, and he didn’t have the energy to look after me. I doubt he ever imagined that Ye Zhenghong would go so far as to turn against me.” Ye Shuyan paused, a hint of self-mockery in his smile. “To be honest, I didn’t expect it either. I always thought he just preferred Ye Shuchen more. I never imagined he would resent me to the point of being willing to destroy me for the sake of his younger son.”
Tang Nuan hadn’t expected Ye Shuyan to have gone through something like this.
Ye Shuyan finally lifted his gaze to meet hers. “When someone stays at rock bottom, they might not attract much attention. But when someone falls from a great height, there will always be parasites trying to climb on top of them to prove their own worthlessness.” He tugged at the corner of his mouth in a bitter smile. “That was the first time I learned how to fight.”
Tang Nuan remained silent. As the heir to the Ye family, and with his natural excellence, Ye Shuyan had likely never faced harsh words or mistreatment—until he found himself in a situation where he was pushed so far that he had to fight back physically. For someone like him, this would have been incredibly humiliating.
“And Jiang Miao…” Ye Shuyan’s gaze dropped again as he continued, “She was probably just a testament to my own helplessness during that time.”
“My father made a big show of convincing the shareholders that having an heir with the ‘tainted’ blood of the Deng family would be a liability for the company. Word spread, and everyone assumed I was about to be cast aside. A few people, who I’d always looked down on as nothing more than parasites, took the opportunity to provoke me.”
“One of them was the son of a nouveau riche family. Their wealth came from questionable sources, and the boy was notorious for his lawless behavior. He was especially lecherous and vicious. Back in middle school, several girls had fallen victim to him, but nothing ever came of it. However, when he got to high school, the girls there were from more powerful families, so he didn’t dare to cause as much trouble. At first, he kept himself somewhat in check.”
“Later, because Jiang Miao ended up sitting next to me in class, she caught their attention. Once they found out she had no background or connections, they targeted her. I overheard them planning to intercept her on her way home and drug her… but since I didn’t know when they would act, I couldn’t even report it to the authorities.”
He paused for a moment before continuing, “At that time, my warnings were nothing more than a joke to them. They even went as far as to openly harass Jiang Miao in front of me just to provoke me.”
That was probably the most humiliating part. A person whose words were usually given serious consideration, who was always taken seriously, found his formal warnings being mocked by these vile individuals.
Ye Shuyan went on, “I had no one to rely on and had to admit that Jiang Miao was my girlfriend. The authority of the heir might be challenged, but as the son of the Ye family, they wouldn’t dare actually harm her. I had to use my own status to make them hesitate. And since I couldn’t trust their moral limits, I allowed Jiang Miao to stay close to me.”
“The misunderstanding probably started around that time. I never paid much attention to it, especially since I went abroad at the end of our second year of high school… As for the so-called fights I got into for Jiang Miao, they were just me retaliating against them. Because the first time…” Ye Shuyan fiddled with his tie, his voice trailing off, “I lost.”
Tang Nuan found it hard to imagine Ye Shuyan in a fight, so she focused on what seemed like the most important detail. “Did you win the second time?”
Ye Shuyan paused, then looked up at her. The embarrassment he had been feeling was suddenly replaced by amusement. “Yes, I won, though it wasn’t a pretty victory.”
Tang Nuan nodded and said, “That’s good.” She then gave him a thumbs up, adding, “You’re truly worthy of being Young Master Ye.”
Her praise was genuine. She knew all too well the feeling of powerlessness. As the abandoned daughter of the Tang family, she had struggled at the very bottom and had found it unbearable. For Ye Shuyan, who had once enjoyed everything before falling from grace, that sense of loss must have been a hundred times more painful. Yet, in just a few short years, he not only clawed his way back to the top but also wrested control from Ye Zhenghong, making the entire Ye family bow to his will.
Listening to her inner thoughts, Ye Shuyan found that recalling this chapter of his past no longer felt as painful. “It was the first real setback I ever faced,” he admitted. “I was so consumed by my own world, wallowing in self-pity. Looking back now, the way I handled things was indeed childish and laughable.”
Tang Nuan quickly responded, “How could it be? The setbacks you faced were overwhelming—your grandfather’s scandal, your maternal grandfather’s illness, your mother abandoning you, your father betraying you, and all those bad people bullying you, all at once. Most people might not face even one or two of those in their entire lives, and you went through them all. That’s impressive; it really shows that success doesn’t come without reason.”
Ye Shuyan couldn’t help but chuckle at her earnestness. “In any case, that period made me think a lot.”
“Ultimately, all the troubles were rooted in emotions. Take the Ye family, for example. If my parents had been truly committed to each other, the Ye family would have reached greater heights much sooner, and there wouldn’t have been any current or future conflicts between brothers.”
“Ye Shuchen is indeed innocent, but his innocence was the result of my father’s so-called feelings. If my father had chosen my mother for the sake of his career and enjoyed the benefits that came with the Deng family, then he had no right to take away what was mine to give to someone else because of his love for Sun Wanqiu. That’s not fair to me.”
“And if my mother hadn’t placed so much importance on her feelings, she could have lived a carefree life as Madam Ye, without the existence of Sun Wanqiu or Ye Shuchen, and without constantly feeling heartbroken and hurt.”
“So, starting from the selfish emotions of my mother and father, everyone ended up getting hurt, feeling wronged and imbalanced. This is where disputes and internal conflicts begin, and these troubles could have been avoided.”
He looked at Tang Nuan seriously. “That’s why I don’t want to become like them. I want my wife to be aligned with me so that we can support each other throughout our lives. I want my children to rightfully have everything they deserve, focusing all their energy on meaningful pursuits instead of pointless hurt and conflict.”
“Compared to fleeting emotions, a sense of responsibility towards each other can lead to a more stable, healthy, and comfortable life. Don’t you agree?”
Tang Nuan nodded in agreement. “So, when you first proposed to me, you said that while you couldn’t promise love, you could give me everything I deserved.”
Ye Shuyan hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Tang Nuan suddenly asked, “Then just now…” She pointed to Ye Shuyan’s lips and then to her own, “If you’ve developed feelings for me, does that mean we should break off the engagement?”
Ye Shuyan: …
He couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation. “Weren’t you the one who leaned in first? And I did say that if you fell in love with me, we’d call off the engagement.” Seeing her eyes light up at the idea, he quickly added, “But according to our supplemental agreement, as the party initiating the breakup, you’d have to pay around thirty million in compensation.”
Tang Nuan: …
Tang Nuan, of course, wouldn’t admit it. “Who’s in love with you? You were the one who hugged me first! I just accidentally bumped into you!”
Ye Shuyan, seeing an opportunity, decided to play along. “We’re engaged, after all. Since you came over, it’s my duty as your fiancé to fulfill my obligations. I already told you, whatever you want, I’ll give it to you!”
Tang Nuan: …
Was he being a rogue?
Ye Shuyan realized his words sounded a bit too suggestive and cleared his throat. “Anyway, I’ve never considered breaking off the engagement.”
Tang Nuan glared at him, feeling an unexpected surge of irritation. “Don’t worry, I won’t be the one to call it off either!”
[I don’t love you! I never will!]
Ye Shuyan: …
He had achieved his goal, but why did he still feel so annoyed?
Emotions, he concluded, were indeed far too troublesome.
The author has something to say:
Ye Shuyan: Whoever falls in love first is the loser and has to initiate the breakup.
Tang Nuan (angrily): Don’t worry, I definitely don’t love you.
Ye Shuyan (even angrier): I don’t love you either!
Author: Since neither of you wants to break up, congratulations, you can get married now!
Ye Shuyan & Tang Nuan: ……