After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

"mom!"

Cheng Wanwan rushed into Han Yun's room, where Han Yun was lying on a chaise lounge receiving a beauty treatment from a beautician.

Cheng Wanwan asked the beautician to leave, leaving only the mother and daughter in the room.

Han Yun turned her head to look at her, "What's wrong, Wanwan? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I've discovered Cao Ma's secret!" She sat down next to Han Yun and lowered her voice, "It's about her daughter!"

"Her daughter's secret?" Han Yun asked. "Isn't her daughter back in her hometown? What secret could she possibly have?"

"Does Aunt Cao only have one daughter and no other daughters?" Cheng Wanwan asked.

Han Yun thought for a moment, "Yes, she's the same age as you, born in the same year. She's worked for our family for so many years. I saw that she was quick and efficient, and didn't need to go back to her hometown to take care of her children, so I kept her."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Wanwan quickly moved closer to Han Yun, "Aunt Cao's daughter is An Ning!"

"Anning?" Han Yun exclaimed in surprise, "Anning is Cao Han's daughter?"

"Shh!" Cheng Wanwan made a shushing gesture. "I overheard it this morning. Anning came to see Cao Ma, and I heard their conversation. It seemed like Cao Ma abandoned Anning shortly after she was born, and quite far away, all the way to Dianhai."

"Abandoned in Dianhai right after birth?" Han Yun's eyes were full of disbelief. "Impossible! From south to north, who would abandon their newborn daughter, let alone so far away? You must have misheard."

"It's true! They said it themselves!" Cheng Wanwan whispered, afraid that Han Yun wouldn't believe her. "Aunt Cao said she hated Anning and cursed her horribly, so she abandoned her at birth. But how did Anning end up with the surname An, and how did she end up in Jinghai?"

"An Ning is Cao Han's abandoned daughter? How is that possible?" Han Yun found it increasingly absurd. "Why would she abandon her own daughter? Why did she say last time that her daughter was at her uncle's house and that she was even paying for her daughter's living expenses? Isn't that contradictory?"

"That's why I find it strange." Cheng Wanwan thought for a moment, then quickly asked, "Mom, is Cao's mother planning something with our family?"

Han Yun pondered for a moment and shook her head. "She's been in our family for decades. If she wanted to do something shady, she would have done it long ago. She wouldn't have waited until now. Besides, all these years she's only received her salary and hasn't asked for anything else."

She looked at Cheng Wanwan and said, "Besides, she's been so good to you, raising you from childhood to adulthood with great patience. She doesn't seem to have any bad intentions."

Then she added, "Alright, stop asking about this. Whether it's true or not, it's Cao Han's secret. She probably has her reasons for keeping it from us, and we can't say much about it. Just pretend you didn't hear anything today and stop overthinking it."

"But I'm angry! Cao Ma was so good to me, how could she have given birth to a woman like An Ning! She stole Xi Yan six years ago, and she still wants to take Xi Yan from me six years ago!" Cheng Wanwan gritted her teeth, "She deserves to be abandoned and unloved since childhood, and has no upbringing!"

"Wanwan!" Han Yun interrupted her, "It's fine if you say such nasty things to my face in the future, but you absolutely must not say them outside. So many eyes are watching you and our Cheng family. If you say or do anything that is not in line with your status, the media will make a big deal out of it, which will affect your father's company and the entire Cheng family, do you hear me?"

"I know!" Cheng Wanwan said with dissatisfaction. If it were Cao Ma, she wouldn't blame her, but would help her vent her anger and scold her even more harshly.

She stood up, turned around, and left.

"Where are you going?" Han Yun called out to her.

"An Ning's back, so west Yan must be back too!" Cheng Wanwan strode out. "I'm going to find west Yan!"

Hearing her footsteps fade into the distance, Han Yun sighed and shook her head.

"Why is it all about Western banquets every day!"

......

"Bang!"

The water glass on the table was knocked away, making a deafening sound in the huge lobby.

Lu Lixiao's slap nearly shattered the expensive mahogany table. He roared in fury, "Lu Xiyan! Are you insane?!"

"Grandpa asked if I've thought it through?" Lu Xiyan stood in front of him, having shed his usual sharp suit and donned casual clothes, looking just like he did four or five years ago before he took over the company.

His fingertips hovered over the dark yellow envelope on the table, which read "Resignation".

"I've made up my mind."

With a light tap of his fingertips, he wrote, "Chairman Lu, I came here today specifically to submit my resignation as Chairman and Chief CEO of the Auten Group."

Seeing Lu Lixiao's increasingly gloomy face, he continued, "I will convene a shareholders' meeting as soon as possible and submit a written statement to the board of directors, hoping that Chairman Lu will approve it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Xiu frowned slightly, knowing that the second young master had truly crossed the chairman's bottom line today.

Sure enough, the golf club he was holding was snatched away the next second.

Lu Lixiao was furious and swung his cue stick, hitting Lu Xiyan hard on the back.

"Lu Xiyan, you've gone too far!"

A heavy blow landed on Lu Xiyan's back, causing his straight back to sway forward. His hands, hanging at his sides, clenched into fists. He gritted his teeth, but his expression remained calm.

"Grandpa." He straightened his back and looked at Lu Lixiao. "I will break off the engagement with the Cheng family. I will definitely marry Anning."

"Just how far are you going to go with this nonsense!" Lu Lixiao hit him on the back with his cue stick again, showing no mercy.

Lu Lixiao was originally practicing golf at the golf course early in the morning when he heard that the second young master had come over. He thought that Lu Xiyan should have come to his senses after kneeling in the ancestral hall, so he quickly took a car from the golf course to come over.

Unexpectedly, that scoundrel Lu Xiyan handed him a resignation letter, which was going to infuriate him!

"For a woman, you'd give up the Lu family? Give up the company?" Lu Lixiao was furious. "What kind of spell has she cast on you?!"

"Grandpa, I will never forget the path you designed for me and the Lu family's blueprint that you wanted to realize."

Lu Xiyan stood ramrod straight, his gaze still calm. "But on the path I'm about to walk, in my future, there can be no peace. I can sacrifice other things, but I absolutely cannot lose her."

He met Lu Lixiao's angry eyes with a fixed gaze. "If I have to choose one, I'll choose her."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Lixiao swung his club and struck him on the back again. The club pointed at him as he demanded sharply, "You really want to marry her that badly? You really want to be the father of someone else's child?"

"Yes! I want to marry her! I want to marry her!"

Lu Xiyan met his gaze. "Even though she's divorced and has a child, I'll still marry her properly! I don't think she's inferior to any rich heiress or socialite. In my heart, no one can compare to her!"

"If you won't allow her to enter the Lu family, I can leave through the Lu family."

"If you think she's not good enough for me, I'll make her!"

Lu Xiyan spoke decisively, straightening his back, "If you've had enough and vented your anger, then I'm leaving."

After saying that, he ignored Lu Lixiao's anger and strode away.

"Western Banquet!"

Just as I stepped out of the lobby, a soft, gentle voice sounded behind me.

He paused slightly, turned his head to look, and saw Cheng Wanwan standing behind him with tears streaming down her face.

"And what about me?" she asked. "Are you going to call off the engagement, break it off, and leave me alone to face all the gossip?"

Her eyes were red. "I've liked you since I was a child. What does this 28-year relationship mean?"