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

The evening breeze whistled across the lake, ruffling Anning's hair.

The tear stains on her face were almost dried by the wind.

Cheng Wanwan threatened An Xian to stand by the bridge, saying that if she leaned back even slightly, she could drag An Xian down into the lake, which was more than ten meters deep.

No one dared to take a step forward to provoke her; Anning dared not gamble.

Anxian is only three years old, still so young...

She couldn't imagine what the consequences would be if she fell from here.

How could his small body possibly withstand it?

"I want my mom! I want my mom!"

Xiao Anxian was like a helpless rag doll, held in Cheng Wanwan's hand, crying until her voice was hoarse.

Every second he spent in Cheng Wanwan's hands was like another cut into An Ning's heart.

Anning felt a pain in her heart that made it hard to breathe.

Lu Xiyan clenched his fist and watched An Ning take a few steps forward.

Her slender figure appeared precarious on this night.

A sense of unease suddenly rose in his heart.

Cheng Wanwan's interrogation was simply forcing An Ning to choose between her lover and her son.

He knew all too well that the answer to this choice was obvious to both of them.

But he remained fearful.

He wasn't afraid of her choice.

Instead, she will keep her word and truly disappear completely.

"Cheng Wanwan!"

An Ning looked at her and said, "Apart from Lu Xiyan, I can give you anything you want."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiyan suddenly looked at her, her tearful eyes filled with a broken yet resolute gaze.

"I won't take anything you had before; it's all yours," An Ning said generously. "I won't hold your past actions against you. As long as you give me back my son, you'll still be the eldest daughter of the Cheng family!"

"Everything you have except Lu Xiyan is yours, and you can have it all!"

An Ning's outstretched hand trembled. "Dying is easy, of course, but if you die, you'll truly have nothing left! Cao Han did all that for you, just so you could live a good life, carefree and without worries. Now that opportunity is right in front of you, don't you want it?"

"Miss Cheng?" Cheng Wanwan looked up, tears streaming down her face. "Can I ever go back? Is there still a place for me in the Cheng family?"

Yes! Yes!

Suddenly, two loud voices came from a car not far away—

"Wanwan!"

Before Cheng Shao and Han Yun's car had even come to a complete stop, the two of them hurriedly got out and ran over.

Han Yun's eyes were swollen from crying. "Wanwan! Mommy and Daddy never said we didn't want you! You'll always be our daughter!"

"Wanwan!" Cheng Shao shouted, "Don't do anything foolish! Cao Han is Cao Han, and you are you! Your parents have raised you for over twenty years, how could we disown you because of this! Even if we're not related by blood, you're still our daughter, you're still a daughter of the Cheng family!"

Cheng Wanwan looked at them, a hint of emotion in her eyes.

Her face was pale, and she slowly forced a smile. "I'm still your daughter? What about Anning?"

"Her too! Her too!" Han Yun quickly pointed at An Ning and said, "You and she are both Mom and Dad's daughters! You should both come back to the Cheng family, you can be sisters! Wanwan, don't do anything foolish, don't scare Mom!"

"Sisters?" Cheng Wanwan suddenly burst into tears, feeling wronged. "I don't want to be sisters with her! I hate her! I despise her!"

"Cheng Wanwan!" An Ning took a deep breath, her eyes fixed on An Xuan, who had cried herself to sleep. "The Cheng family is yours, your parents are yours! I don't want any of it!"

"I promise I won't go back to the Cheng family! The Cheng family means nothing to me; it's all yours, yours alone, okay?"

Cheng Wanwan looked at Cheng Shao and Han Yun in the distance; the worry and pain in their eyes seemed genuine.

She turned to look at Lu Xiyan again. His deep eyes, just like they had been twenty years ago, were filled with indifference as he looked at her.

It's like a stone that can't be warmed up.

Her affection for over twenty years couldn't earn her even a warm glance from him.

Even now, he doesn't show the slightest bit of guilt towards her.

She then turned her gaze to Anning.

I've hated this woman ever since I first met her.

I hate it just as much six years later as I did six years ago.

What she hated even more was that her smooth-sailing life of over twenty years had actually been peaceful!

Her wonderful life originally belonged to this woman she hated!

What a huge irony!

"peaceful!"

With tears streaming down her face, Cheng Wanwan screamed at the top of her lungs, "I hate you! I hate you so much! I'll always hate you!"

"I don't want your fake compassion! I don't want your pity or sympathy!"

"I, Cheng Wanwan, have been proud for over twenty years! I will not live a life of compromise!"

She let out a soft laugh, and two lines of tears streamed down her face in despair.

"I stole twenty-eight years of your life, and I'm giving it back to you!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she shoved An Xian forward with all her might!

In an instant, she jumped off the bridge!

They plunged to the bottom of the lake!

"Xianxian—"

"Wanwan—"

Just as Lu Xiyan struggled forward to catch An Xian, the calm lake surface beneath the bridge was blasted open with a deafening roar.

The water rippled outwards.

"Wanwan—"

Han Yun cried out so hard that she couldn't catch her breath and fainted in Cheng Shao's arms.

In an instant, the sounds of sirens and ambulance wailing echoed throughout the entire overpass.

The red and blue lights illuminated almost the entire night.

An Ning held An Xian tightly in her arms, staring at the spot where Cheng Wanwan had jumped, her body trembling slightly, unable to react for a long time.

......

three days later.

The crisp laughter of children could be heard from the large lawn in front of the Yuhe Duke's Mansion.

The child ran around happily, and Li Quan chased after him, playing and laughing with a soccer ball in his hand.

"Grandpa Quan, kick it this way!"

"Over here!"

The soccer ball landed at his feet, which he picked up and threw at Li Quan.

Li Quan chuckled as he dodged the attack, then picked it up and threw it at him, but each time he missed, the ball always landing right next to Xiao Anxian, making him giggle.

What was supposed to be a nice football match turned into a game of throwing the football around.

"Xianxian, catch!"

Li Quan raised the soccer ball, as if to throw it at him.

Xiao Anxian covered his mouth and laughed loudly, standing still. Li Quan's ball hit his feet but missed him, rolling away from him.

Little Anxian laughed heartily and ran happily to retrieve the ball.

After running a few steps, someone squatted down and gently picked up the ball that was rolling not far away, and held it in their hand.

Xiao Anxian walked over and looked at the person who came; it was a grandfather.

But he looked a bit older than Grandpa Quan. Grandpa Quan didn't have gray hair yet, but this grandpa in front of him already did. The grandpa held his ball in his hand and looked at him with a kind and gentle expression.

Xiao Anxian politely extended her hand, "Hello, grandpa, this is my ball, can I have it back?"

He stretched out his little hand and smiled, revealing a row of white teeth.

Her fair face had large, bright eyes, and her nose and lips were delicate and beautiful.

Looking at it this way, she's practically a carbon copy of Lu Xiyan.