Mr. Lu, stop being such a jerk. Your wife is your nemesis's white moonlight.

Seeing Lu Yiming's anger, Zhao Shumei quickly grabbed Xu Mingjiao and preemptively rebuked her:

"How dare you talk like that, Jiaojiao! What do you mean by 'orphan'? An'an is your older sister!"

She then turned to Xu An'an, smiling as she raised her glass: "An'an, Jiaojiao is young, don't take it to heart. Come, let me toast you..."

Xu An'an turned her head away, not wanting to drink the wine.

Zhao Shumei, holding her wine glass somewhat awkwardly, paused for a moment, then said, "But An'an, you know our family's situation back then. Raising Jiaojiao was already a struggle, let alone having you. But we still brought you in, didn't we? Look at you now, you're rich, have a career, and married such a wonderful husband. As the saying goes, 'Don't forget the well-digger when you drink the water,' you can't forget your roots..."

These are the same words again.

Over the years, Xu An'an had heard it so many times that her ears were practically calloused.

She could barely tolerate it before, but today, for some reason, she suddenly didn't want to endure it anymore.

She slammed her hand on the table.

The porcelain bowls and plates rattled and clattered.

"Auntie," Xu An'an said coldly, looking at Zhao Shumei, "I don't think I owe your family anything right now."

"You took me in, but every penny I had came from my grandmother. Have you forgotten? When you ate meat, you only gave me a sip of soup at most."

"I've been living in your house for three years, and I've always worn my old clothes. I haven't even changed my pants when they're too short. I'd like to ask you, what happened to the four thousand yuan that Grandma gave you every month?"

Zhao Shumei was somewhat embarrassed by what she said, "You child... that happened so many years ago, why bring it up now..."

"Aren't you the one who keeps bringing up the past?"

Xu An'an sneered, "Since you're going to talk about it, I'd like to make everything clear today. Aunt, I admit that you took me into your home, which is why I was able to go to school, and I'm very grateful for that. But have you ever calculated how much money I've spent on you over the past ten years?"

As she spoke, Xu An'an opened her phone's notes app and slammed the screen directly in front of her.

"Your uncle's business ventures, gambling debts, the villa your family is currently living in, Xu Mingjiao's tuition and living expenses for studying abroad, and the luxury cars you've changed over the years—totaling 68,735,000 yuan."

"Auntie, is this enough to pay back the rent I owed you for the past three years?"

Zhao Shumei's expression changed several times. "Why bother calculating these things... We're family, how can feelings be measured in money..."

"emotion?"

Xu An'an couldn't help but laugh out loud, "How dare you say those two words to me?"

"In all these years, besides asking me for money, when have you ever called me once? When have you ever truly cared about Grandma? For someone as mercenary and greedy as you to talk to me about feelings—it's a joke!"

"An'an!"

The uncle, who had been silent for a long time, finally couldn't hold back any longer. He slammed down the dishes and said, "How dare you talk to your aunt like that? She's your elder!"

"Uncle, what's the rush? We were just about to talk about you." Xu An'an then turned her gaze to Xu Zhaobei, who was standing to the side.

"As far back as I can remember, everything you do ends up losing money. Have you forgotten—when my father was still alive, every time you lost money gambling, wasn't it my father who helped you settle things? And after he died, how did you treat me?"

All you ever say is, "An'an, I don't have the final say in this family." Then you let your wife and daughter humiliate me and bully my grandmother!

"Now you want to play the hero? Fine, but don't forget why we're sitting here today! Xu Zhaobei, you're a gambling addict, incorrigible, and stubborn. Someone like you doesn't deserve to be my father's brother!"

Xu An'an shouted it out almost in a fit of anger, venting all the grievances she had accumulated since childhood.

Xu Zhaobei never expected that Xu An'an, who was always well-behaved and sensible, would say such hurtful things. His face turned pale, then white, then purple.

He's usually incompetent and is suppressed by his wife at home. Xu An'an is one of the few people he dares to scold at will because of his kindness. And now, she actually wants to climb over him!

"Xu An'an!"

Xu Zhaobei suddenly stood up. "Shut up!" he said, raising his hand to strike.

But Lu Yiming seized his wrist first.

"Uncle," Lu Yiming said coldly, "think carefully. You don't want to get locked up again so soon after you get out, do you?"

As he spoke, he forcefully shook off Xu Zhaobei's arm.

Xu Zhaobei slammed into the solid wood chair due to the enormous inertia, making a teeth-grinding "squeak" sound.

Lu Yiming walked up to Xu An'an and tried to hug her trembling body, but she gently pushed him away.

"Lu Yiming," Xu An'an took a deep breath and turned to look at him, "I do thank you for what happened today. But that doesn't change my decision to get a divorce."

"What?!"

At the same second, Xu Zhaobei and his family of three shouted out those two words in unison.

Xu An'an turned to look at them.

"That's right, I want to divorce Lu Yiming."

"Therefore, neither the Lu family nor Lu Yiming will have anything to do with me from now on."

"Go ahead and ask him for help, but don't use my name again. And from this day forward, I will not give your family a single penny!"

"An'an," Zhao Shumei said in a panic, "what are you doing...?"

"Isn't that clear enough? From today onwards, I, Xu An'an, sever all ties with you. Everything from the past is wiped clean. As for Grandma, I will fully take care of her in her old age. But if you dare to bother her with money again—"

Xu An'an paused deliberately, her cold gaze sweeping over Xu Zhaobei, Zhao Shumei, and Xu Mingjiao in turn.

"I have plenty of ways to make you return all the 68,735,000 yuan you owe me."

"If you don't believe me, just try it and see."

After saying that, she left the private room without looking back, ignoring the horrified and astonished looks of the others.

It wasn't until she reached the hotel lobby entrance that Xu An'an could no longer hold back.

She leaned against the door frame, panting heavily.

She hadn't eaten a single meal today, and just now, after a violent emotional outburst, her stomach suddenly spasmed. She leaned against the wall and dry heaved for a while before finally calming down.

"An'an!"

Lu Yiming's voice came from behind.

Xu An'an turned around, and Lu Yiming saw her red-rimmed eyes, feeling a pang of heartache. Before Xu An'an could say anything, he forcefully grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the car.

Lin Wan'er, who happened to be eating at the restaurant, witnessed all of this.

She had only intended to use the restroom, but suddenly saw Xu An'an storm out of a VIP room, and start gagging as soon as she got outside.

Lin Wan'er recognized this symptom—she had experienced the same reaction during the first three months of her pregnancy.

Sure enough, Xu An'an was indeed pregnant.

Lin Wan'er recalled the date of the ultrasound scan—it was after that that Xu An'an suddenly became assertive and even dared to openly challenge her.

It turned out that was when she found out she was pregnant.

No wonder Xu An'an dared to propose a divorce so brazenly... She knew how much Yiming valued the child. No matter how much she made a scene, as long as Yiming found out she was pregnant, he would listen to her no matter what.

That bitch Xu An'an... she's really insidious!

But she miscalculated one thing: she didn't know that she already knew she was pregnant.

Hmph, since she wants to keep this trump card hidden, then let it remain a secret forever...

Lin Wan'er picked up her phone and made a call.

"Hello, is this Miss Ye? Yes, hello, I'm Lin Wan'er. We met at Old Master Cheng's birthday banquet before... I'd like to ask you for a favor..."