Too Late to Regret, She’s Now With the Big Boss - Chapter 38

“Big brother~ what are you~ even saying~” Ye Qingyan interrupted anxiously from the doorway upon hearing Ye Dashao’s intention to reveal the truth to the family.

Like a young swallow returning to its nest, she rushed into Ye Dashao’s arms. Ye Ruixuan instinctively caught her but then pushed her away, feeling physically repulsed.

“Big brother~~” Every time Ye Qingyan called out to someone, her voice naturally lifted at the end, luring others to want to hear it again and again.

But this time, Ye Dashao shuddered at her exaggeratedly sweet tone, his skin crawling with goosebumps.

Frowning, he thought to himself: How did I ever find her curled-tongue speech charming?!

“Yanyan, who did this to you?” Ye Dashao asked furiously.

Seeing Ye Qingyan pushed away by their eldest brother, he immediately bent down to help her up, only to find her face swollen like a pig’s head. His heart ached with both pity and anger.

“Second brother~~ please don’t ask, it’s all my fault… wuwu…” Ye Qingyan sobbed tearfully, her words deliberately vague.

She was a master at speaking half-truths, leaving the rest for others to guess, whether they guessed right or wrong was never her concern.

Sure enough, Ye Mu began filling in the blanks herself. “It must have been Yuntao. He was furious after seeing Yanyan with Ruixuan earlier.

But all of this is because of that cursed Qianqian! If she hadn’t maliciously retaliated against Yanyan, Yuntao wouldn’t have hit her!

“We never should have brought that curse back home. Ever since she returned, our family has known no peace!”

Ye Mu, already tearful with worry over Xie Yun, now burst into fresh sobs at the sight of Ye Qingyan’s disfigured face.

Ye Ruikang, who usually cursed Ye Qianqian the loudest, hung his head in silence this time.

At noon, his rival Song Yunjie and his gang of friends had called him an ungrateful wretch. Among them was even the brother of the girl he secretly admired.

He had spent the entire afternoon reflecting in his room, questioning whether he truly was an ungrateful wretch.

After recovering from his illness, he had learned that his father and eldest brother had brought home a biological sister solely because he needed a bone marrow transplant.

When he first saw her, her dark complexion had shocked him. Having always favored beautiful people, that single glance had cemented his prejudice against her.

Whenever she quarreled with Yanyan, his father, eldest brother, and second brother would immediately scold her, calling her a porcupine who lashed out at everyone.

Though he resented her for seemingly provoking conflicts, he had initially held back from criticizing her, fearing others would label him ungrateful.

Yet, she and Yanyan clashed constantly over trivial matters.

Year after year, his gratitude toward her dwindled until it vanished entirely, and eventually, he joined the chorus of those who cursed her.

At first, it was only at home, but later, even at school. No one ever called him ungrateful, so he became the harshest critic of all.

Now, looking back, perhaps… it was simply because no one knew Qianqian had once donated her marrow to save him.

In the end, he concluded: he really was an ungrateful wretch!

Ye Qingyan glanced at her silent eldest brother and the pensive third brother before whimpering, “Big brother~ third brother~ do you think Yanyan is ugly now? Do you dislike me~~”

“No,” Ye Dashao replied stiffly, forcing himself to steady her by the shoulders despite his discomfort at her swollen face.

He comforted himself internally, perhaps, like him, she had no idea she was their father’s daughter.

“Of course not!” Ye Ruikang said guiltily. Not only did he dislike her, but he also despised her from the bottom of his heart for stealing Song Yuntao away.

Seeing Brother Ye’s concern for her, Ye Qingyan wrapped her arms around his waist, thinking smugly that whenever her eyes welled up with tears, he would fly into a rage for her.

“Ye Ruixuan, since you miss her so much, why didn’t you just marry her earlier.” Song Yuntao roared furiously.

“Song Yuntao, just listen to what you’re saying! Are you even a man?” Second Brother Ye shot back, hopping mad.

“Ask Ye Qingyan if I’m not a man! She said I’m amazing, better than most men… Ye Qingyan-”

Song Yuntao suddenly stopped mid-sentence, then bellowed Ye Qingyan’s name like a roaring tiger or lion.

“What are you yelling for? Your own wife was framed by someone else, and yet you take it out on her, what kind of man are you?” Mother Ye also chimed in to scold him.

“Look at them right now, does this look like they were framed? What kind of drug lasts this long?” Song Yuntao demanded, his eyes bloodshot.

His father had said Ye Qingyan hadn’t returned to the Ye family, but he refused to believe it, so the father and son came to the Ye residence together to see for themselves.

And what he saw was a fickle woman who, upon his arrival, buried her face in Ye Ruixuan’s chest.

“Brother Yuntao~~ how could you say such things to me~~ wuwuwu, I don’t want to live anymore~~”

Ye Qingyan sobbed dramatically as she pulled away from Brother Ye’s embrace, wanting to throw herself into Song Yuntao’s arms. But unwilling to lower her pride, she pretended to run headfirst into a wall.

“Yanyan, don’t be rash.” Father Ye quickly rushed over to pull his daughter back. “Yuntao didn’t know you and Ruixuan are biological siblings.”

“Qiang, what did you just say?” Mother Ye stared at her husband, wide-eyed and disbelieving.

“Father-in-law, are you serious?” Song Yuntao exclaimed loudly, utterly shocked, thinking he must have misheard.

“It’s true. If you don’t believe me, we can go to Song Hospital for a paternity test,” Father Ye affirmed firmly.

At this point, he could no longer worry about his wife. Third Master Lu had already begun suppressing the Ye family, so he had to align with the Songs.

“Ye Zhiqiang, I’m asking you… did Ruixuan and Yanyan know about this beforehand?” Father Song asked, his face dark.

The old master, infuriated by his most favored eldest grandson, had been hospitalized. Upon waking, he scoured the rumors online and nearly fainted from rage again.

He even lashed out at them in the hospital for slandering Ye Qianqian, cursing so vehemently that he almost believed it himself!

If the young Master Ye and Yanyan were truly siblings, then… they must have been framed by Ye Qianqian.

“Ruixuan… didn’t know. But Yanyan has always known,” Father Ye admitted truthfully.

He had initially planned to say they both knew, but seeing his son’s face instantly turn cold, he could only tell the truth.

“Dad, are you sure she always knew? Do you have proof?” Ye Ruixuan asked expressionlessly, though his heart was in turmoil.

He himself didn’t know when he had started developing inappropriate feelings for his adopted sister, but he was human, not a beast.

On her eighteenth birthday, she and Qianqian had fought over a gift from Third Master Lu. At the time, Assistant Bai had explicitly stated the gift was for Qianqian.

Neither he nor his father dared to oppose Third Master Lu, so for the first time, they didn’t side with her. Yet she had thrown herself into his arms, crying pitifully.

Heartbroken, he wiped her tears, restraining himself fiercely, not daring to cross any lines.

Even when she fell asleep in his arms, utterly defenseless, he didn’t dare steal a kiss.

At twenty, they fought again over Third Master Lu’s gifts.

She clung to him, whining sweetly, “Brother, why does Third Master Lu favor Qianqian? It hurts so much.”

“I have video evidence.” Father Ye’s voice snapped Big Brother Ye out of his reverie.

Father Ye opened his phone for everyone to see, and they all heard Ye Qingyan’s sweet, coquettish voice…