Transmigration; Married to My Ex-Fiancé's Uncle-Chapter 168; Lu Yuze & Lin Shuyin (o)

He didn’t need someone else to provide proof of his relationship with Lin Yueling.

His eyes widened as recognition hit him.

The hair. The unique features. The unmistakable family resemblance.

"Lu Yuyan?" He said her name like a question, like he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. "What are you doing here?"

His cousin. His uncle’s only daughter. The sickly child he’d seen maybe twice at family gatherings, always pale and fragile, always hovering near death according to family gossip.

But the girl standing before him looked healthy, vibrant, and full of life. Like, everything in the past had been a pretense.

And she was glaring at him with open disdain while still holding her phone with photographic evidence.

Yuyan stepped forward, her posture perfect, her voice cold and imperious, a tone that was clearly a product of her father’s influence.

"Where else should I be, Cousin?" She emphasized the word with just enough edge to make it sound like an insult. "Though we aren’t that close, so I would prefer if you addressed me as Young Miss Lu." She paused, tilting her head with exaggerated thoughtfulness. "What do you think, Mother?"

The last word was directed at Shuyin, delivered with complete naturalness, as if she’d been saying it for years.

Mother.

The office went completely silent.

Lu Zeyan’s face went white, then red, his mind clearly racing.

"Mother?" He repeated the word like it was foreign. "Why is she calling you that? What...."

"Oh!" Yuyan’s expression brightened with perfectly performed innocence. "Mother came to visit me in the hospital when I was sick. She was so kind, so caring. She acknowledged me properly and spent time with me. She’s been more of a mother to me than anyone else ever has."

She smiled sweetly, but her eyes were calculating and deep hiat like her Father. "So I call her Mother now. Is that a problem, Cousin?"

"That’s.... you can’t just..." Lu Zeyan sputtered, clearly thrown off balance. "She should be your cousin-in-law at most! Since we’re engaged!" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

He gestured desperately to Lin Shuyin, who was standing there nonchalantly, looking uninterested in the situation.

Yuyan’s expression shifted to something that might have been pity if it weren’t so laced with contempt.

"Cousin-in-law?" She repeated slowly, as if explaining something to a particularly slow child. "But Cousin, you’re not engaged to Mother anymore. You broke that engagement, remember? You chose... her."

Her gesture toward Lin Yueling was dismissive, almost contemptuous. Lin Yueling was caught in between with a word to defend herself.

"So Mother isn’t your fiancée, not now and not ever, she will be. She’s not my cousin-in-law. She’s just... Mother. My mother. The woman who cares about me. Got it?" After all, their relationship would never come to fruition when she was already married.

It seemed like she needed to force her father to hold a family meeting so that they could get to know each other better.

"That’s not the point!" Lu Zeyan’s voice rose, frustration bleeding through. "You can’t just adopt random people as your mother! That’s not how family works!"

"Random?" Yuyan’s voice went cold, dangerous, her father’s daughter in every way. "You call Mother random? After everything your family put her through? After you put her through? How dare you?"

Shuyin watched the exchange with barely concealed delight, letting Yuyan fight this battle was really a situation for opening her eyes; in the future, she wouldn’t settle for less. The girl was magnificent, twelve years old, and already a force to be reckoned with.

"Cousin," Yuyan continued, her voice dripping with disdain, "you’re holding one woman in your arms...." She pointed at Yueling. "....she’s visibly pregnant with your child. And you’re claiming you were engaged to another woman?" Her finger swung to indicate Shuyin. "How many women do you want, exactly? Do you plan to collect them all like trading cards? Or are you lying to at least one of them? Maybe both?"

She giggled, the sound musical and cutting. "Unless there’s some new type of engagement I’m not aware of where you get to impregnate someone else while planning a wedding to someone different?"

Lu Zeyan’s jaw worked soundlessly, trying to formulate a response.

Lin Yueling jumped in before he could speak, her voice pitched to sound hurt and vulnerable.

"It’s not like that!" She stood carefully, one hand on the couch for balance, the other cradling her belly in that universal gesture of protective motherhood. "Sister, please don’t misunderstand him! He was just comforting me. I was feeling down because of yesterday’s scandals...." Her voice caught up convincingly. "...all those horrible things people were saying online. Lu Zeyan was just being kind."

She moved toward Shuyin, her steps slow and careful, emphasizing her delicate condition.

"This baby..." She gently caressed her swollen stomach with deliberate emphasis. "....this is your family too, Sister. And there’s nothing inappropriate going on between Lu Zeyan and me. We’re just... close. He understands what I’m going through because of... well, because of everything. And you do know the baby is yours!"

The implication was clear: I’m carrying his baby. I’m fertile and valuable. You went to prison and came back with nothing.

The smugness beneath the sweet words was almost impressive.

Shuyin’s smile didn’t waver. "Ooohhh? How touching. Truly. I’m so glad you have such a... supportive friend during this difficult time."

She leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs elegantly.

"I expect to see a healthy baby in about three months, then? Or is the timeline different? I always get confused with pregnancy math. Though I suppose Lu Zeyan here will know better than I would, given his... intimate involvement. You should be giving me that child by the end of three months."

The casual dismissal made Lin Yueling’s smile falter, and anger bubbled deeper in her heart.

Shuyin turned her attention back to Lu Zeyan, her expression shifting to businesslike efficiency.

"But enough about your complicated personal life, we’re here on business. Lu Zeyan, we had an agreement. You promised my people employment. These three...." She gestured to Tank, Blade, and Razor. "....are ready to start work today. But first, there’s a problem that needs addressing."