Downstairs, the Qin family's living room was thick with tension. Zhao Shuying's furious sobs shattered the silence as she clutched a tissue in her trembling hands.
Her face was red, her eyes swollen from crying, but her anger far outweighed her grief.
"Qin Lian is utterly shameless!" she spat, her voice trembling. "We fed her, clothed her, and raised her for twenty years, only for her to turn around and humiliate us like this?"
"She called our Ruoyu a vixen in front of the entire Lin family and accused us of mistreating her. How dare she?!"
"She humiliated not just Ruoyu but all of us," Qin Zhong, the original owner's so-called father, added coldly, arms crossed over his chest.
"And that ridiculous stunt, slamming her head against the wall? What was she hoping for? Pity? Sympathy? Or did she think she could threaten us with her fake act? That girl is nothing but a disgrace."
Zhao Shuying sniffled, dabbing at her eyes. "All we asked was for her to break off the engagement with Lin Chengyan and marry Xu Yinchen. It should have been Ruoyu's all along."
"Poor Ruoyu, she never even asked for any of this. And yet, Qin Lian hates her and blames her for everything."
"She finally showed her true colors," Qin Zhong said, voice like ice. "Ruoyu is our real daughter. It's time she takes back what belongs to her."
A moment of hesitation flickered across Zhao Shuying's face. "But… Lian'er, she has known Lin Chengyan her whole life and was engaged to him. Wouldn't this be a bit cruel—?"
"She's not a child," Qin Zhong cut her off, his tone sharp. "The engagement was never hers to begin with. She stole Ruoyu's identity, her life, and her future. It's only right that she returns it."
"Even the Lin family agrees that Mu Ruoyu is a better match for their family than this shameless, rebellious girl. Our daughter is polite, simple, and an obedient girl, who has suffered in life."
"Unlike Qin Lian, who was spoiled since childhood and is becoming rebellious and unruly by the day."
Tears welled up in Zhao Shuying's eyes. "But forcing her to marry Xu Yinchen... He's nearly thirty, a pig farmer with three children. Qin Lian has grown up in the city…how could she possibly survive in a village?"
"She'll survive," Qin Zhong said coldly. "She comes from a village, after all. If not for the switch at birth between Ruoyu and her…"
"Anyway, she should be grateful we're arranging a marriage at all. Xu Yinchen has already paid the bride price to the Mu family."
"Since they refuse to cancel the engagement or return the betrothal gifts, as their biological daughter, it's only right that she takes responsibility and fulfills the engagement in their place."
Zhao Shuying's grip tightened on the tissue in her hands. "But she'll hate us forever…"
"And?" Qin Zhong shot her a cold look.
"Do you think I care about the opinions of an outsider? We raised her for years, and this is how she repays us? There's nothing more to say. The wedding is set. Xu Yinchen will come for her tomorrow, whether she likes it or not."
While the couple was deciding Qin Lian's fate, a soft, trembling voice interrupted them.
"…Mom? Dad?"
Mu Ruoyu stood hesitantly at the doorway, her doe-like eyes glistening with tears. Her delicate figure trembled as if weighed down by guilt.
"Dad, please… don't blame Sister," she whispered, voice choked with emotion. "It's not her fault. All of it happened because of me. I shouldn't have come back."
"Ruoyu, don't say that!" Zhao Shuying immediately rushed to embrace her, holding her tightly. "None of this is your fault. You are our daughter."
"But it is!" Ruoyu sobbed into her mother's shoulder. "If I hadn't come, Sister wouldn't have had to give up her engagement with Lin Chengyan. She wouldn't have hurt herself. Let me marry Xu Yinchen instead. I was betrothed to him anyway."
"No!" Zhao Shuying pulled back, shaking her head firmly. "You've suffered enough. How could I let my daughter become the stepmother to three filthy bastards? How could I let you marry a pig farmer?"
"You deserve so much more. I can't believe the Mu family had the audacity to force this onto you, a girl who just turned twenty, while Xu Yinchen is nearly thirty! Three kids? A pig farm? Absolutely not!"
"But Sister will hate me forever…" Ruoyu whimpered, her voice shaking. "She seems so hurt by my arrival. If I hadn't come back, none of this would have happened…"
"Mu Ruoyu," Qin Zhong said, his voice firm but laced with a cruel finality and surprising gentleness towards his daughter. "This isn't your fault. Everything Qin Lian has belongs to you. It's only right that she returns what was never hers to begin with."
Mu Ruoyu hiccupped, shaking her head. "But—"
"No buts," Qin Zhong cut in, his voice sharp. "This is the way it has to be!"
Zhao Shuying nodded, wiping her daughter's tears away with a soft touch. "Don't think about it anymore, my love. Tomorrow, everything will go back to how it was meant to be."
Qin Zhong exhaled, his decision final. "Qin Lian will marry Xu Yinchen tomorrow, and that's the end of it."
....
Upstairs, Qin Lian's heart pounded as muffled voices from downstairs reached her ears.
Xu Yinchen… Lin Chengyan… Mu Ruoyu.
The names echoed in her mind. Her breath hitched. This wasn't just a strange dream. This was the world of a novel she had read before.
And those names, Lin Chengyan and Mu Ruoyu; they weren't just ordinary people. They were the main leads of the story. Meanwhile, Xu Yinchen, a pig farmer and father of three children, was nothing more than a side character.
But the most shocking of all—
There was another character in the novel. A villainess, or more precisely, a cannon fodder, who exists just to make sure the main leads get their happy ending. A girl who shared her name and face.
She…she had become that side character, Qin Lian.
Her chest tightened as she recalled the plot. In the novel, Qin Lian was the fake daughter, swapped at birth after a hospital fire.
For twenty years, she lived a privileged life as the beloved daughter of the Qin family, while Mu Ruoyu, the real daughter of the Qin family, grew up in poverty, in the countryside, raised by the Mu family.
But one month ago, Mu Ruoyu returned to the Qin family. And everything changed.
The Qin family, devastated by the truth, wasted no time in embracing Mu Ruoyu, their biological daughter. Overnight, they showered her with love and affection, eager to make up for the years she had lost.
And Qin Lian? The daughter they once cherished?
She was discarded.
The warmth, the affection, the security she had always known, was snatched away overnight and given to Mu Ruoyu.
Even her engagement.
Qin Lian had been engaged to Lin Chengyan since childhood. Her entire life had revolved around the dream of becoming his wife, of becoming Mrs. Lin.
Meanwhile, before Mu Ruoyu returned to the Qin family, she had been engaged to Xu Yinchen, a pig farmer with three children.
The Mu family had already accepted the betrothal gifts and had no intention of breaking the engagement, even after finding the truth.
To break the engagement, the Qin family has to return the betrothal gifts amount, something they had no intention of doing. Their solution was cruelly simple: Qin Lian, the real daughter of the Mu family, would take Mu Ruoyu's place and marry Xu Yinchen.