Chapter 818: Deceit It was a long letter, and Sun Yuhan’s shock was increasing as she read on. By the time she reached the last word, she was astounded beyond belief.

Yan Huan was that man’s daughter.

Her eyes were bulging, the letter quivering gently in her hands.

Yan Huan’s mother didn’t have a surname of Yan; she was Ye Rong, Ye Jianguo’s daughter and Ye Chuji’s sister, a woman born in a scholarly and wealthy family. Currently, the Ye Family was one of the most notable families across the entire Sea City.

As a girl, Ye Rong was doted upon. If she was still alive, she would definitely have been married to a wealthy, or at least powerful, family. A commoner wouldn’t have been able to marry the scion of the Ye Family.

The Ye and Su Family appeared to have a neutral relationship on the surface, but beneath that laid a long-standing feud. This was something both families were well-aware of, but the two families maintained outward neutrality. Beyond that, there wasn’t much interaction between them.

Ye Rong was only a college student at that time, but she was already famous throughout her campus for her good looks and impressive family background. Her existence had garnered the attention of many young males, but she was shy by nature and interacted little with her male contemporaries.

At that time, Su Qingdong was two years further into college. He too had a good family background, and he spoke good English on top of that, earning him the nickname of “Prince”.

A prince is meant to be with a princess, and their families were of equal footings.

Those had all happened twenty years ago, and Sun Yuhan from today could not have comprehended the type of lives people led back then. During that era, people were simpler, purer, and devoid of schemes and plots.

Ye Rong was only a young girl, inexperienced with the ways of the world, a stranger to love. She was clean and pure like a blank sheet of paper, yet composed at the same time.

That changed ever since her encounter with Su Qingdong.

He was handsome and refined, famous throughout the campus for his academic achievements.

Beauty drew heroes, and women loved talented men. It was the same for the young Ye Rong. There were times when her heart fluttered and had butterflies in the stomach. The cause of that was none other than the man named Su Qingdong.

However, she knew inwardly that there would never be a marriage between the two rival families, so she buried her feelings deep inside her heart, and only confided them to one good friend — Zhu Xianglan.

But some things are unavoidable — like looks, and feelings. Su Qingdong was a lady’s man, and he could tell at a glance which woman harbored feelings towards him. How could the naïve Ye Rong be his match? In a few days, she had fallen head over heels for him.

They kept their relationship a secret, and were always fearful of being discovered. That was especially so for Ye Rong, whose family had already found her a match. The two pertinent families never made the news official, but they were ready to announce it once Ye Rong graduates from college. It’s not hard to imagine the pain, the inner conflict, and the pressure Ye Rong suffered during that time.

She thought that maybe if they worked hard together, a reconciliation between the two families might have been possible, and that maybe they could be together one day. One day, when she went to look for Su Qingdong, she overheard a conversation between him and another person. The voice belonged to a woman, a woman she was very familiar with.

It sounded like... Zhu Xianglan.

“You couldn’t have really fallen for her, right?” asked Zhu Xianglan, stroking her tummy as she stared straight into Su Qingdong’s eyes.

“You are not being serious, are you?” asked Su Qingdong, putting on a tough front with an impassive face. “You should know why I approached her. I don’t even like her. I was just curious to see what was so different about the noble lady of the Ye Family. Turns out, she fell for me just like the others. Like you,” said Su Qingdong. He was young and vain, and his pride wouldn’t allow him to admit to liking Ye Rong. Ye Rong was pretty, good-natured, and fiercely loyal; every quality a man could ask for. It was a shame that she was from the Ye Family.

But his ego forbade him from confessing his true feelings, not even before Su Ancheng.

“What about me, then?” asked Zhu Xianglan. She stood up and huddled against Su Qingdong. “I’m your girlfriend, but I have to stand there and watch the two of you playing couple. Have you thought about my feelings?”

“Jealous, are we?” Su Qingdong suddenly drew closer to Zhu Xianglan’s ear. His hot breath sapped the strength out of her.

Then came the bestial noises of intercourse.

It was hard to stand, and a little gross.

What happened next was simple, even for a naïve girl like Ye Rong.

When she got back home that day, she got struck down by a serious illness, an event that deeply shocked the people around her.

In her misery, she spoke gibberish which no one understood.

When she appeared at school again, she stopped paying any heed to Su Qingdong.

That was something Su Qingdong couldn’t accept. He demanded a reason, but Ye Rong gave nothing. On one fateful day, the disgruntled Su Qingdong, under the influence of alcohol, took her by force.

When Ye Rong got home, she didn’t tell anyone about it. Soon, she heard about Su Qingdong and Zhu Xianglan’s engagement. The talk all across campus was that it was a shotgun marriage triggered by Zhu Xianglan’s pregnancy.

The Zhu Family made a scene at the campus, and the Su Family had no choice but to comply. They didn’t have the face to lose, and didn’t want to be at the center of all the rumors and condemnations. In the end, Su Qingdong married Zhu Xianglan — Su Muran’s mother.

Ye Rong cried, wallowed in self-pity, and went through hell. Her best friend and lover had betrayed her at the same time, but that wasn’t the worst part; she was pregnant. She couldn’t accept it, but at the same time there was nothing she could do about it. It broke her. Her child was two months younger than Zhu Xianglan, which meant that the two of them had gotten together before he even approached her. They had been deceiving her all along.