She was extremely controlling. Not only was this visible in the way that she treated Quan Ziye, even fine details like the warmth of the lights in the living room, had to meet her requirements.

Tonight, she was ready to show off to the world.

After all, Quan Ziye's fiancee was from a political family and people were always jealous when business and political families combined because it meant they could support each other.

Soon, the Quan Family Home was filled with guests. People from all walks of life were present and they were all gossiping about the Quan Family's secrets.

Lin Qian and Li Jin headed out much later than everyone else. But, Li Jin decided not to wear formal wear to the event. Instead, he chose to wear his military uniform.

It seemed, no form of high-cla.s.s brand could draw as much attention as the uniform on his body.

"Tonight is my brother's engagement party. Don't tell me you've prepared some kind of a 'show'..." Lin Qian suspected on the way to the Quan Family Home.

"I've prepared a gift. After all, you may have broken ties with the Quan Family, but you are supposedly indebted to them," Li Jin replied as he drove.

After hearing this, Lin Qian fell silent. Although she was curious about Li Jin's present, she was in no rush to find out what it was. After all, it would eventually be revealed.

Li Jin did not say another word. He was better than anyone else at remaining calm. Especially when it came to 'gift-giving'.

After all the pain that the Quan Family had put Lin Qian through, how could he possibly let them off so easily?

...

Meanwhile, at the engagement party, under the intertwining of the lights and the pleasant-sounding violin, the guests were all discussing the soon-to-be groom. At this time, Mother Quan smiled and said to everyone, "Everyone, please remain calm. When the time is right, my son will naturally come out. He said he's preparing a surprise for the bride and wants us to remain patient."

"Fair enough, but how come we don't see your family's Second Miss?"

Everyone was well aware of who this Second Miss was.

But, this didn't stop a few of the guests from asking Mother Quan about her. In response, Mother Quan did not look pleased.

"Lin Qian is busy today. I don't think she'll be able to attend."

Everyone was well aware of whether it was because she was too busy to attend or whether there were other reasons.

But, everyone sat back and enjoyed the show.

So, as soon as Mother Quan turned around, they all began to whisper amongst themselves.

"The rumors have already made the rounds in the industry: Quan Ziye personally admitted to liking Lin Qian. Someone even saw them acting indecently in the bathroom on the night of Father Quan's 60th birthday."

"Now that Quan Ziye has thrown Lin Qian aside and decided to marry the daughter of a government official, Lin Qian must not be taking it well."

"Don't tell me the Quan Family adopted Lin Qian so their son could have someone to play around with?"

"I really want to see Lin Qian's expression right now."

"You better stop talking. Look who's here."

Even though the Quan Family didn't pay much attention to the entertainment industry, it was impossible not to know who Mo Ting and Tangning were. The couple kept a low profile and didn't dress too fancy, but their presence resembled a king and his queen, so everyone's attention was naturally drawn towards them. They even found themselves subconsciously raising their gla.s.ses and greeting them.

No one expected Mo Ting and Tangning to attend. Even though Quan Ziye was once a part of Hai Rui, this was much too strange...

Everyone immediately tried to suck up to the couple. After all, if they managed to grab the attention of either Mo Ting or Tangning, they would have a high chance of becoming famous.

Unfortunately, as soon as the couple arrived, they found a nice spot to sit down before Mo Ting went to say a few words to Father Quan.

"President Mo, thank you for your attendance," Mother Quan approached Mo Ting with a smile and tried to cheers him with the gla.s.s in her hand. But, Mo Ting completely ignored her as he turned around and returned to Tangning's side.

Mother Quan was surprised. In fact, she was a little dumbfounded, "Have I offended him in some way?"

"It's fine, everyone knows how heartless Mo Ting is. He pays attention to whomever he wants and he could ignore someone without batting an eyelid," Father Quan explained. "Since you'll never see him again, you shouldn't take it to heart."

Mother Quan took a deep breath as a form of acceptance.

"But, what's Ziye getting up to? Why isn't he back yet?"

"Why are you being so impatient? Your future daughter-in-law is still upstairs getting her makeup done."

While they were speaking, one of the guests suddenly let out a surprised gasp.

At this time, the bride-to-be was seen walking down the stairs from the second floor.

It was hard not to admit that she was indeed beautiful. In fact, she had a natural elegance to her, befitting of a government official's daughter and her appearance and presence were both breathtaking.

"Is this the bride-to-be? She's beautiful."

"Yes, when compared to her, Lin Qian is like a wild weed that's sub-par."

"Exactly, their different backgrounds make them appear so different."

Everyone watched as the bride-to-be stepped before them dressed in a white mermaid gown. But, everyone also subconsciously looked around for Quan Ziye. The bride was here, but where was the groom?

Seeing that her daughter-in-law was so beautiful, Mother Quan pounced towards her excitedly and wrapped her in a hug, "Xiao Ye, you are beautiful."

The woman looked down at the engagement ring on her finger and smiled, "Thank you, Auntie..."

"Why are you still calling me Auntie?"

The woman was a little surprised, but in the end, she turned to Mother Quan and timidly called her 'mom'. 

"Don't worry, now that you've called me mom, I will always be here to back you up."

At this moment, all the lights in the room turned towards the bride-to-be; she was the center of attention. 

This was the Quan Family's new daughter-in-law. An ident.i.ty that would never be wasted on an adopted daughter like Lin Qian.

"Mom, where's Ziye?" the bride was curious why the groom was nowhere to be seen on such an important day.

"Ziye said he wanted to give you a surprise, so he left in the afternoon to begin preparations," Mother Quan replied kindly. "Let's patiently wait for a little longer, OK?"

The bride-to-be nodded her head. The relations.h.i.+p between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was so harmonious that it made everyone envious of them.

But, at this time, someone began to guess that Quan Ziye was nowhere to be seen because he had gone to look for Lin Qian.

As soon as Mother Quan heard this, she was furious. So she quickly rea.s.sured her daughter-in-law, "Don't believe in their nonsense. Ziye always keeps his promises. Don't worry."

"Plus, Lin Qian is just our adopted daughter. There could never be anything between her and Ziye. Don't get any weird ideas."

At first, Miss Ye smiled understandingly. But, as time pa.s.sed, her expression began to change...