The abandoned daughter of the Lu family turns around and marries a celibate tycoon.

"Why?!" Lu Xiran's voice trembled with brokenness.

"Because," Lin Chen's gaze turned cold, "your mother has finally decided to get a divorce."

"What?!" Lu Xiran's pupils dilated in shock, and her breath almost stopped.

"Yes." Lin Chen's eyes were sharp as a hawk's. "That autumn after you finished your high school entrance exam, your mother, Qin Xuru, officially filed for divorce from Lu Hao. I think... she was probably determined to give you, and my brother, a belated but complete family."

Home……

She recalled her mother during that time, always hesitant to speak, her eyes filled with hope and determination. She whispered to her, "In a while, Mom has something very important to tell you..."

So that's what it was all about! It turns out she was just one step away from having biological parents and a truly loving home!

"Then...then why was my father...so suddenly sent to Antarctica?" Her voice trembled uncontrollably.

"On the afternoon of the same day your mother filed for divorce, my brother received an urgent call from the institute director. A pioneering mission for drilling deep ice in Antarctica, which was originally scheduled for six months later and had an extremely high risk factor, was suddenly upgraded to the highest priority, and my brother—Lin Heng, the youngest and most promising glaciologist in the institute at the time—was 'specially designated' to lead the team immediately."

How could the timing be so "coincidental"? It's a coincidence so unsettling it's chilling!

"How could it be... such a coincidence?"

"Of course it can't be a coincidence." Lin Chen clenched his fist tightly. "It was Lu Hao! He personally called the director and 'suggested' and 'facilitated' this emergency dispatch! Afterwards, he even 'generously' donated 30 million yuan in 'research funds' to the research institute, on the condition that the impact of this matter be minimized and 'pacified' as soon as possible."

He sneered, a laugh filled with irony and sorrow: "Three years have passed. How many people still remember Lin Heng, the young scientist once hailed as a rising star in academia and the most promising young scientist? A mere 'disappearance in Antarctica' has erased everything he had."

"Missing? Ha." Lin Chen's eyes were sharp as knives. "I privately interviewed the families of several researchers who were with him at the time, and they all said in unison that my brother did it to save the core equipment and protect his colleagues..."

He paused. "Antarctic ice shelf collapses, avalanches bury people... In such extreme environments, it sounds 'perfectly normal,' doesn't it?"

Lu Xiran lowered her eyes, her thick eyelashes soaked with tears and stuck together. An overwhelming sense of powerlessness and a deep-seated sorrow overwhelmed her.

"So," Lin Chen's voice carried an almost weary desolation, "I hate Lu Hao, I hate that he ruined my brother's life for his own selfish desires; I also... cannot help but resent your mother, without her, perhaps the ending would have been different; even, when I first learned of your existence, I... subconsciously did not want to face you."

He looked out the window, his tone gradually calming, carrying a hint of relief and a sense of destiny: "I originally only wanted to fulfill my brother's request, to ensure your safety in Switzerland, as a final act of brotherly devotion. But—"

His gaze returned to Lu Xiran's face: "Your relationship with Yan Shen has exceeded all my expectations. I'm gradually realizing that perhaps all of this is preordained. Perhaps, for my brother, seeing you safe and happy now is far more important than anything else."

Lu Xiran's tears flowed silently.

Just then, the door to the private room was gently pushed open.

Gu Yanshen walked in, his gaze instantly locking onto Lu Xiran, whose face was streaked with tears, and his brows furrowed sharply. He strode to her side, and without a word, pulled her into his arms. Then, he raised his eyes, his gaze filled with questioning and a hint of displeasure, and looked at Lin Chen opposite him.

"Did you tell her?"

"You guessed it long ago, didn't you?" Lin Chen said in a declarative sentence.

—Given Gu Yanshen's meticulousness and insight, it's impossible that he was completely unaware.

Gu Yanshen closed his eyes briefly, tacitly agreeing. He looked down at the trembling, crying girl in his arms, his gaze softening instantly, filled only with heartache.

Seeing this, Lin Chen suddenly twitched the corner of his mouth, a very faint, almost mischievous smile flashing in his eyes, and said to Gu Yanshen, "Then, according to seniority, shouldn't you call me 'Uncle'?"

Gu Yanshen's arm around Lu Xiran stiffened almost imperceptibly for a moment. Then, he slowly raised his eyes and looked at Lin Chen, as if to say: You give it a try.

Lin Chen tactfully touched his nose and looked away.

On the way home, the city lights outside the car window shimmered and shone, turning into a blurry patch of light through Lu Xiran's tear-filled eyes.

"Uncle, I'm so sad... and so guilty." Her voice was muffled, with a heavy nasal tone. "I don't even know who my biological father is... he didn't even have a chance to look at me."

Gu Yanshen squeezed her hand, his voice low and gentle: "He is a very good person. During those eight years in the orphanage, without his overt and covert protection and guidance, Lin Chen and I would have had a much harder time."

That night, Gu Yanshen didn't ask many questions. Instead, he patiently and slowly recounted to Lu Xiran the bits and pieces of his memories of Lin Heng in his deep voice—his erudition, his gentleness, and his protection of the weak hidden beneath his aloof exterior.

Those fragmented memories, recounted by Gu Yanshen, gradually pieced together a more vivid and relatable image of a father, filling the huge void in Lu Xiran's heart and allowing her to feel a belated warmth from her bloodline amidst her sorrow.

The next day, at the Gu family's old house.

Lu Xiran and Jin Qiqi sat on either side of Bai Fang, chatting away and making the old lady beam with joy. Jin Qiqi's pregnant belly was already showing slightly, and the wedding was set for next week; she radiated a soft glow.

After Bai Fang rested, the two of them had just stepped out of the small living room when Lian Bichen greeted them with a beaming smile: "Qiqi, come here quickly, take a look and see if the jewelry and dress that Mom prepared for you are suitable? If there is anything you are not satisfied with, or if you are missing anything, be sure to tell Mom, and I will have someone go and buy it for you tomorrow!" The warmth and importance in her tone were almost overflowing.

Lu Xiran stood to the side with a smile, watching the harmonious relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and felt genuinely happy for her friend.

However, at that moment, a sudden wave of nausea surged up my throat without warning!

Her expression changed slightly, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand, hurriedly saying "Excuse me" to Lian Bichen and Jin Qiqi before turning around and walking quickly towards the restroom.

Lian Bichen was holding Jin Qiqi's hand, but her gaze followed Lu Xiran's slightly hurried back for a moment.

Her smile remained unchanged, but a fleeting, complex emotion flashed quickly in the depths of her eyes.

—It's fleeting, so fast that it seems like an illusion.