The Heiress's Game

After getting off work, Jinwei went to the market and bought fresh bamboo shrimp and bok choy. When she passed by the flower stall, she squatted down and picked out a bunch of pink and purple daisies.

Pei Yan loves her steamed shrimp with garlic the most. She said that today is not a special day, she just felt like making it.

She actually lied—she had made an appointment with the obstetrics department and planned to have her first prenatal checkup the next day.

She had already rehearsed that scene in her mind countless times: putting the ultrasound photo in an envelope, waiting for him to come home from get off work and open it, then rushing up to hug his neck and whispering in his ear, "You're going to be a dad."

Just thinking about it makes me feel like my whole heart is soaking in a jar of honey.

When she returned to the villa on the hillside, it was still dark. She put the flowers in a glass vase on the dining table, tied on an apron, and began washing the vegetables.

Her collection of jazz music was playing from the stereo, and the shrimp were jumping around in the basin. She hummed a song as she processed them, completely unaware of the sound of the keypad lock opening.

"Pei Yan, why are you here so early today—" She walked out of the kitchen wiping her hands, her smile freezing on her face.

The person who came in was not Pei Yan.

Mrs. Pei stood in the entryway, wearing a navy blue Chanel jacket, her makeup impeccable, and her expressionless face blank.

Behind her was another person—an old woman with completely white hair, wearing a dark green cheongsam, leaning on a sandalwood cane, who was looking her up and down with a pair of cloudy but still sharp eyes.

Jin Wei recognized the face; she had seen a family photo on Pei Yan's phone—it was Pei Yan's grandmother.

"Aunt Pei—" Jin Wei subconsciously took off her apron, her fingers trembling slightly.

She has lived here for so many years, and Madam Pei has never been here.

"No need to rush, sit down, we'd like to talk to you."

Madam Pei helped Grandma Pei to the sofa and sat her down. When Grandma Pei sat down, her cane hit the floor with a dull thud.

Jin Wei sat down opposite them.

She poured tea for the two elders, but her fingers trembled slightly when she touched the teapot, and a drop of tea splashed onto the coffee table.

She frantically grabbed a tissue to wipe herself, but then realized she was being too tense, so she forced herself to take a deep breath.

She told herself: It's okay, Pei Yan's mother and grandmother are also human beings. As long as you speak nicely and sincerely, they will understand you.

"Miss Jin," Madam Pei began, her tone not stern.

"You should know why we're here."

Jin Wei gripped the hem of her apron tightly with her hands on her knees.

"Auntie, I know you've always disapproved of me being with Pei Yan."

But I truly love him. We've been together for ten years, and I've never wanted anything from him.

"I don't care if he's rich or not, I don't care if his surname is Pei or not, I only care about him as a person."

"I believe it."

Jin Wei was stunned. She hadn't expected Madam Pei to say that, and a tiny glimmer of hope even rose in her heart—did she believe her?

She continued, "I know my family background is not as good as the Pei family. My parents are just ordinary teachers and bank employees who have lived in Yunzhou their whole lives."

But I've been with Pei Yan for so long and have never caused him any trouble.

I won't bring shame to the Pei family. I don't need any expensive gifts or a grand wedding; just being with him is enough.

Madam Pei picked up her teacup and took a sip.

"Miss Jin, to be honest, I knew what kind of person you were the first time I met you."

Simple, kind, and without guile.

I believe your love for Pei Yan is genuine, and I also believe you don't care about the Pei family's money. But—"

She put down her teacup and looked up.

"Whether or not there is love, it is completely unimportant in a family like ours."

Jin Wei's eyes began to redden; she wasn't quite sure what she had heard.

"You're right, Pei Yan does care about you a lot." Madam Pei's tone remained calm and unhurried.

"But he is the son of the Pei family, and from the day he was born, he was not just himself."

He carried the expectations of the Pei family on his shoulders, as well as the foundation built by his father.

He's the only one in your world; he might be your everything.

But his world contains so much more than just you—family, career, and responsibilities.

To him, you are just a very, very small part of him.

Jin Wei sat on the edge of the sofa, her hands clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white. She wanted to argue, but her lips moved, and she couldn't utter a single word.

"Pei Yan has done more than enough for you," Madam Pei continued. "He has argued with his father countless times for your sake, and his father's health has been poor these past two years."

It's not impossible for him to marry you. But what will happen after he marries you?

Will he still be able to hold his head high in this circle? When people mention him, they'll say, "Oh, that's Pei Er, the one who married an ordinary person."

In the future, when he negotiates business, attracts investment, and continues to work in this industry, it may not sound good, but the facts are undeniable.

You can't help him, your family can't help him, have you thought about that?

Grandma Pei finally spoke, "Ayan is destined for great things. Your presence here is just holding him back."

Jinwei's tears finally fell.

She tried hard to keep her voice from trembling, but she couldn't control it:

"Grandma, I never thought of holding him back—I can study, I can work hard—I don't need him to support me, I have my own job—"

"Your job," Grandma Pei snorted.

"The money you earn in a year isn't even enough for Ayan to buy a car. What can you do to help him?"

Do you understand investing? Do you have a network? What resources does your family have? Nothing.

After you enter the family, when relatives sit together during holidays, everyone else talks about deals worth tens of millions, what will you talk about?

What are you doing sitting there doing nothing? Everyone'll laugh at Ayan for marrying a pretty face, and not even a fancy one, just someone picked up from a roadside stall.

Jin Wei's mouth was agape, tears streaming down her face. Pei Yan had never told her that her very existence was causing him such distress.

Madam Pei stood up, took a tissue from her bag, walked over to her, and handed it to her.

His tone suddenly softened, "Miss Jin, I have no ill intentions towards you."

You're a good girl, really, but a good girl isn't necessarily a good wife.

You're willing to die for him today, but what about ten years from now? Twenty years from now?

When the daily grind wears down love, when you can't find common ground in any social circle...

When you don't understand why he works until midnight every day, and he can't explain to you what he went through at the company—can you still be like this?

Love can be depleted. What sustains a marriage is never love, but rather the usefulness of each other.

Jin Wei lowered her head, tears falling drop by drop onto her apron, leaving dark water stains.

Madam Pei and Grandma Pei stood before her, one old and one young, both with the same resolute expression on their faces.

They truly believed what they said: that love was merely the lightest weight on a scale.

They weren't lying; they were simply stating a rule that had never existed in Jinwei's world.

"The child must be aborted." Madam Pei sat down again.

"I've already contacted the doctor, and it can be arranged anytime."

Jin Wei suddenly raised her head, her eyes red and swollen like a rabbit soaked in rain:

"I won't hit him—this is Pei Yan's child—he won't agree to you doing this—"

"Of course he disagrees." Madam Pei's tone was as if she were talking about a child who didn't understand anything.

"So he doesn't know. We came today without letting him know either. Don't worry, he'll accept the situation. His grandmother and I have ways to persuade him."

Jin Wei shook her head vigorously, tears streaming down her face onto the leather sofa. She shrank back as she cried, like a little bird cornered by two cats.

"What right do you have—this is my child too—you can't—"

"Miss Jin," Madam Pei sighed softly, as if giving a final plea to a crying child who refused to take his medicine.

"Your parents are doing well in Yunzhou, right? Your father is a middle school teacher, and your mother works at a bank. They have good, respectable, and stable jobs."

"But you have to understand, it's very easy for the Pei family to do what they want. With just one phone call, it's uncertain whether your father can continue teaching or your mother can continue working at the bank."

Jin Wei's eyes widened suddenly. Looking at Madam Pei's still calm face, she felt as if her whole world was collapsing before her eyes.

She couldn't quite believe that the world worked this way—her parents were so ordinary, so honest, working hard their whole lives, and they were going to lose everything just because their daughter fell in love with someone she shouldn't have?

But she also had a vague feeling that this was not a threat, but a notification.

They really can do it; they probably won't even need to make a few phone calls.

"Aunt Pei—" Her voice was so broken that she could barely hear it herself.

"You can't do this—my parents didn't do anything wrong—"

"I know." Madam Pei nodded, a hint of genuine regret even in her expression.

"So don't make them pay the price for your choices."

She took a check out of her bag, placed it on the coffee table, and pushed it towards Jin Wei.

"You fill in this number yourself. You're a smart girl, and I know you'll make the right choice."

Grandma Pei stood up, leaning on her cane. "It's not that we're heartless."

It's all about social class; if you can't get in, you can't. To marry Ayan, you have to be worthy of him.

You're not good enough for him, and that's fine, but you can't stand in his way.

The front door closed, the combination lock clicked crisply, and the living room returned to silence.

Jin Wei sat alone on the sofa, the check in front of her was empty, and the tea on the table was still warm.

The soup pot in the kitchen had boiled dry, sizzling and emitting a burnt smell, but she seemed not to smell it at all.