After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

Gu Zheng pushed the blank, festive red invitation card in front of Ye Zhen, his fingers remaining pressed against the gold-embossed "囍" character. His gaze fell on her face, leaving the decision entirely to her.

This problem was more difficult for him than any military decision.

Ye Zhen didn't answer immediately. She picked up the invitation, her fingertips tracing the delicate gold foil patterns. This object, symbolizing rebirth, was entangled with the past she most wanted to sever ties with. The room was quiet, with only the soft hum of the old-fashioned table lamp on the table.

She looked up at Gu Zheng and asked, "What do you think?"

Gu Zheng hesitated for a moment. He leaned forward slightly, his arm resting on the edge of the table in a protective posture. He looked at her, his eyes, which always carried a hint of roguishness, now filled only with seriousness.

"In my opinion," he said, his voice steady and protective, "the Lin family is unworthy. Everything they've done to you doesn't deserve any more respect from you."

His words were filled with empathy and anger for her past experiences. He didn't want her to suffer even the slightest injustice because of those people.

Ye Zhen's heart was gently touched by his words "unworthy".

She stood up and walked to the window. Outside, the Gu family compound was bathed in the tranquil night.

"If I don't send her off," she said, her voice exceptionally clear in the quiet night, carrying her usual calm and rationality, "what will people outside say? They'll say that I, Ye Zhen, was kicked out of the Lin family, harbor resentment, and don't even acknowledge the eighteen years of kindness that raised me."

Her gaze pierced through the glass and landed on the distant night sky. Tall poplar trees grew in the courtyard, their leaves rustling in the wind, far more vibrant than the precious but silent flowers and plants in the Lin family garden.

"This will affect you," she slowly turned around and looked at Gu Zheng, "It will affect your reputation, and the Gu family. They will say that the Gu family's granddaughter-in-law is an ungrateful and ill-mannered person."

"I don't care!" Gu Zheng interrupted her, speaking almost immediately. His brows were furrowed; he wouldn't allow her to humiliate herself because of these baseless rumors. Did his woman, Gu Zheng's woman, need to live by other people's approval?

"I care." Ye Zhen's voice wasn't loud, but it was unusually firm.

She walked back to him and looked directly into his eyes. Those eyes, which were always as clear and cool as water, now reflected the warm light of the lamp and his worried face.

"I don't care what the Lin family thinks of me, but I don't want others to think that your wife is someone who is not presentable and will bring shame to you."

She wasn't trying to prove anything to the Lin family, nor was she seeking revenge. She simply wanted to put an end to her past in the most dignified and decisive way. From now on, she was Gu Zheng's wife, the Gu family's granddaughter-in-law. She needed a clean and impeccable identity to stand by his side. She couldn't let him become the subject of gossip because of her.

This was the choice she made for their shared future.

Gu Zheng looked at her, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He reached out and pulled her to his side, letting her sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. Her body was very thin; even through the thin fabric, he could feel the shape of her spine.

He said nothing, only held her tightly. He knew that she was, in her own way, donning her armor, burying the past with her own hands, and then walking towards him with a completely new attitude. This woman always made him feel both heartache and pride.

After a long while, Ye Zhen broke free from his embrace and sat back down at her desk.

She carefully wrote a few words on the envelope of the invitation.

"To Mr. Lin Weiguo and Ms. Zhao Shuya"

Her handwriting was neat yet cold, each stroke carrying a precise restraint, devoid of any emotional expression. It was as if she were filling out a medical record—objective, calm, and devoid of any personal feelings. The words she wrote were "Mr." and "Ms." instead of "foster father" and "foster mother"—this subtle change in address already signaled the end of all ties.

Gu Zheng sat beside her, quietly watching her profile as she wrote. Under the lamplight, her drooping eyelashes cast a small shadow, her expression focused yet aloof.

……

The next day, the invitation was personally delivered to the Lin family by a guard from the Gu family.

When Lin Weiguo got home from get off work, he saw Zhao Shuya sitting on the sofa, clutching the red invitation in her hand, trembling all over. On the coffee table was a cup of tea that had gone cold, and Lin Wan sat beside her, whispering something to comfort her, her eyes red-rimmed, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice.

"Weiguo, look at this! Look at this!" Zhao Shuya became agitated the moment she saw him. She slammed the invitation onto the coffee table. "What does she mean by this? She's slapping us in the face! She married some military officer and deliberately sent the invitation to our house. She's showing off and humiliating us!"

Lin Wan spoke up at the right moment, her voice so soft it seemed as if it would be blown away by the wind: "Dad, please don't blame my sister. She might... she might just want to tell us that she's doing well." As she spoke, she picked up the invitation and handed it to Lin Weiguo, her finger intentionally or unintentionally tracing the name "Ye Zhen" at the bottom of the invitation, a hint of smugness flashing in her eyes.

Lin Weiguo wearily loosened his tie, not even glancing at the invitation. He picked up the cigarette case on the table, took out a cigarette, but didn't light it for a long time. The air in the living room was so heavy it was hard to breathe.

He listened silently to his wife's sobs and curses, his gaze fixed on the gray sky outside the window. The weather was bad today, gloomy and overcast, just like his mood.

"A slap in the face?"

After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice hoarse and full of weariness.

"Shuya, have you ever thought about...?"

He slowly turned his head, looked at his wife who was immersed in resentment and bitterness, and wearily closed his eyes. During this time, rumors about Ye Zhen were rampant in the hospital; the adopted daughter they had kicked out of their home was now rising to fame at the military hospital. He, the vice president, had become the laughingstock of the entire hospital. Whenever someone mentioned "Dr. Ye," he felt those gazes piercing his back like needles.

"We may have... been wrong from the very beginning." He finally said it.

"Wrong? What did we do wrong?" Zhao Shuya shrieked, unable to believe these words were coming from her husband's mouth. "Weiguo, how can you side with that ingrate? What's wrong with bringing Wanwan back? She's our own daughter! That Ye Zhen, she took Wanwan's place for eighteen years. We fed and clothed her, and she didn't even appreciate it, instead she resented us!"

"She resents us?" Lin Weiguo suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze sharp as he looked at Zhao Shuya. "Does she resent us, or did we push her to the opposite side? What did you give her when you kicked her out? A hundred yuan! Zhao Shuya, are you treating her like a beggar?"

"I..." Zhao Shuya was taken aback by his shout, her momentum weakening, but she still tried to defend herself, "She signed the agreement to sever ties herself, she's the one who doesn't want this family anymore!"

"Who forced her to sign that agreement?" Lin Weiguo pressed on, his chest heaving. "If Wanwan comes back, we can live happily as a family of four. Why do you have to drive one away and leave one behind? Put your hand on your heart and ask yourself, don't you feel ashamed because of her background and the disgrace she brought to your life, and that's why you're so eager to distance yourself from her?"

Zhao Shuya was speechless when asked the question, her face turning pale and then red.

Seeing this, Lin Wan immediately burst into tears: "Dad, Mom, please stop arguing. It's all my fault. If I hadn't come back, things wouldn't be like this at home... and my sister wouldn't be like this either..."

She cried with tears streaming down her face, looking utterly pitiful.

Lin Weiguo raised his head, glanced at her with a complicated expression, and then looked at Zhao Shuya, his eyes filled with disappointment and a kind of despair at being dragged into this mess.