Best friend turned enemy? Marrying the villain, if she runs, I'll run too.

Meng Tang sighed and said, "It's not that I don't want to help, but I really can't. You all know Guan Ting's temper, Aunt Gao. I never interfere in the company's affairs."

When Gao Yali saw that Meng Tang was not buying it, she burst into tears.

"In the end, it's because I'm a stepmother. No matter how well I do, Guanting still doesn't want to accept me. If Guanting has any resentment, he can just take it out on me."

"Yixuan is young and impetuous, and it's inevitable that he'll make mistakes. It's fine to punish him by locking him up at home. The police station is a gloomy place, and he'll be all alone. Yixuan must be terrified, sob sob..."

Song Yuanshan got up to comfort her with heartache, and Gao Yali turned her head and leaned against him with a wronged expression.

To everyone's surprise, these words did not embarrass Meng Tang at all. Instead, she replied with a surprising statement: "If Aunt Gao is worried that your second brother will be alone at the police station, you can go and keep him company."

Detaining one person is the same as detaining two; it even boosts the police's performance record.

Gao Yali's sobs were choked back.

Grandpa Song took a breath of oxygen, coughed twice, and said, "Xiao Tang, I know you have always been filial. Harmony in the family brings prosperity in everything. No matter how big the matter is, if it involves family members, you must take a step back and put the family first."

"Call Guanting now and persuade him to agree to mediation. As for what he said, we'll talk about it when he gets back from his business trip. But Yixuan can't stay at the police station forever; it won't be good for the Song family."

Because Song Guanting is only a villain in the book, there is very little description of his family affairs.

Therefore, Meng Tang did not know exactly what Song Yixuan had done wrong, but she could guess from the few words she heard.

It's likely that Song Guanting caught Song Yixuan red-handed and had him locked up in the police station. To get him out, Old Master Song would have to agree to the conditions he proposed.

It is obvious that the condition proposed by Song Guanting is difficult to meet, so the old master Song and his family refused to agree. With the two sides at an impasse, they turned their attention to her.

In fact, Meng Tang felt that Song Guanting's psychological distortion and his extreme pursuit of love were largely due to his family background.

His mother passed away early, and his father did not love him. Instead, his father remarried a stepmother for him. Although Old Master Song valued Song Guanting, he only valued his business acumen.

In reality, however, they cared very little about him.

Growing up in this environment, one either explodes from silence or becomes abnormal in silence.

Since Grandpa Song had spoken, everyone thought Meng Tang would compromise, but unexpectedly she dared to refuse.

“I’m sorry, Grandpa, this is Guanting’s decision. Even though I am his wife, I cannot interfere with his wishes. Please forgive me for not being able to do so.”

Old Master Song's face was stern, exuding the oppressive aura of an elder: "Are you going to defy me too?"

“It’s not that I’m disobeying you, but I really can’t do it. Please understand.”

Having said all that, Old Master Song raised his hand and said, "Take the young mistress to the ancestral hall. Since you understand Guanting so well, then offer incense to his mother on his behalf. Come out again when you've changed your mind."

Hey, it's the 21st century already, why are you still showing this feudal dregs of kneeling in ancestral halls? Isn't that going too far?

The butler gestured, "Young Madam, please."

Meng Tang wasn't stupid; she quickly understood Old Master Song's intention.

Old Master Song didn't really intend to punish her by making her kneel in the ancestral hall. He was simply certain that she was a wealthy young lady and wouldn't be able to endure such suffering, so she would complain to Song Guanting immediately.

With his wife being threatened, it remains to be seen whether Song Guanting will choose his wife or his shares.

This isn't even an option! With Song Guanting's ruthless and heartless nature, only the female lead can make him lower his standards and compromise. As for her, this fake wife, she wasn't even on his list of options!

Meng Tang certainly wouldn't make a fool of herself. Old Master Song just wouldn't allow her to leave the ancestral hall; at most, she would just have to make do here for one night.

Considering how unyielding she is, when Song Guanting returns, he can give her a large sum of compensation, so it's not a bad deal!

Meng Tang has always been an optimist. With money on his mind, he felt that being trapped in the ancestral hall was no big deal.

She underestimated the temperature drop at night. She hadn't expected this to happen when she arrived, and was only wearing a long dress. Now she was shivering from the cold.

She could only run and jump, rub her hands and stomp her feet to keep warm.

Marrying into a wealthy family is indeed difficult!

This whole mess was caused by Song Guanting; it won't be over without a few million!

Meng Tang was cold and sleepy, so she could only curl up on the futon, feeling drowsy, her head bobbing up and down like a roly-poly toy.

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard outside.

Meng Tang suddenly woke up, her mind still foggy, when the door of the ancestral hall was broken open from the outside.

Song Guanting, who should have been thousands of miles away, appeared as if a god had descended to earth to save the world, with the reversed light behind him seemingly coating him with a layer of ethereal light.

This only accentuated his icy, frosty expression, his deep-set eyes, and the turbulent, dangerous glint in his dark pupils, which seemed to hold the power of countless floating corpses.

"Song...Song Guanting?"

Meng Tang was so cold that she couldn't straighten her tongue for a moment and almost bit herself.

Song Guanting had already strode over and was in front of her in just a few steps.

The man was tall and imposing. When he stood in front of her, he cast a shadow that completely enveloped her petite frame.

As Meng Tang looked up at him with her pretty little face, bewildered, before she could react, Song Guanting first noticed her lips, which were white from the cold, and her shivering body.

With a gloomy face, he took off his trench coat, flicked it through the air in an arc, and landed on Meng Tang. The large trench coat, carrying the man's body heat, enveloped her entire body.

At the same time, Song Guanting reached out, went around her knees, and easily and steadily lifted her up.

If she hadn't been held in Song Guanting's arms, with half her face pressed against his chest, she wouldn't have realized that Song Guanting's heart was beating so fast.

Bang bang bang.

It was so fast and urgent, like I was running all the way here, that my heart was pounding.

Why didn't you call me?

The colder Song Guanting's face was, the deeper the voice that rang out above her head.

It was as if he was suppressing a dangerous emotion that, if it were to erupt, would leave millions dead.

"Why are you back?"

Meng Tang felt warm in his arms and couldn't help but snuggle closer to him, her voice slightly hoarse.

But Song Guanting replied coldly, with a morbid stubbornness: "Answer me."

Meng Tang didn't think anything of it and just made up a reason.

“You’re on a business trip, right? Didn’t you say before that nothing important happened and I didn’t want to bother you with your work? I’ll just sleep in the ancestral hall for one night and I can go back tomorrow. It’s nothing serious.”

No matter how casually Meng Tang spoke, Song Guanting's breathing became heavy and labored, and the chilling coldness surging in his dark eyes seemed to transform into a murderous blade.

"Frozen to death is the real issue?"