"Well, what do you have to say for yourself? Speak!" Yun Xiang roared at Yun Nan.
There was nothing to explain. If they were truly willing to listen to her, she wouldn't be so disappointed.
She took out the marriage certificate from her bag and showed it to the whole family.
They were so stunned that even the crying stopped, and she took the chance to lightly say, "I'm married now so I'll move out immediately and we can go our separate ways in the future."
"W-who are you married to?" Gu Wei asked reflexively.
"Shi Nian," Yun Nan answered in a flat tone.
"What?!"
Shi Nian's name was like a bomb that blew up the four members of the Yun family. The matter of the female lead was no longer important; it was completely inconsequential in the face of Yun Nan's news.
"Come again? Who are you married to?" Yun Zhang questioned shakily.
Yun Nan cleared her throat and raised her voice slightly so that everyone could hear her clearly as she repeated, "My fiancé, Shi Nian. The betrothal you arranged for me when I was a kid."
"No! Impossible! Shi Nian is my fiancé! Mine!" Yun Liu screamed and rushed over to snatch the marriage certificate from Yun Nan's hands.
Yun Nan swiftly dodged Yun Liu's hands, put the marriage certificate back into her bag, and added, "You can call Shi Nian to verify it."
Yun Liu was dumbfounded.
"No! Yun Nan, no! You can't marry Shi Nian! Shi Nian is your sister's fiancé!" Gu Wei stared at Yun Nan firmly and resolutely with eyes that were bloodshot from her crying jag.
"Mom, what do you mean? I'm your biological daughter, aren't I? I'm the one promised to the Shi family back then." Yun Nan met Gu Wei's gaze and returned it with the same determination.
Gu Wei was flabbergasted by that response. She averted her gaze for a moment, before stoutly stating, "But your sister has liked Shi Nian since she was young. They are the childhood sweethearts who grew up together! You can't steal your sister's boyfriend! You can't be a homewrecker!"
"Homewrecker?" Yun Nan echoed; she didn't expect her biological mother would stoop so low as to throw such allegations on her.
"*Smack!*" A heavy slap landed on Yun Nan's face.
"You are shameless!" Her father's voice was cold and angry as he delivered this after having soundly whacked his daughter.
Yun Nan covered her stinging cheek, looked at her flesh and blood relatives, and laughed bitterly, "Who is the actual thief here? Exactly who is the shameless one? Who are you calling a homewrecker?"
"You stole your sister's boyfriend. If you're not a homewrecker, then what are you?" Yun Xiang replied angrily.
"Her boyfriend? Didn't the Shi family state that they would hold an engagement ceremony when the Yun family's daughter turned eighteen and get married after graduating from university? Yun Liu is twenty-six years old now so why is Shi Nian still unwilling to marry her?"
"You keep insisting that Shi Nian is her boyfriend but did he ever admit to it?" Yun Nan coldly gazed at Yun Liu, whose face alternated between red and white as she glared back at her venomously.
"The Shi family is indebted to the Yun family. They personally agreed to this marriage; it was set from the moment you were born!" Yun Xiang said roughly. "Shi Nian has no choice but to go through with it; this marriage has to happen whether he likes it or not!"
Yun Nan smiled and gently remarked, "Dad, so you do still remember that this marriage was promised to me when I was born. Then, what's all this about Shi Nian being Yun Liu's boyfriend?"
Her mocking smirk made Yun Xiang's anger rise again. "You're both daughters of the Yun family! Although Yun Liu isn't our biological daughter, she grew up with us and that makes her our family! Yun Liu is your elder sister; you have to respect her seniority! Moreover, she has liked Shi Nian since she was young, so this marriage is naturally hers!"
Yun Nan lowered her eyes. When she raised her head once more, her eyes were misty with unshed tears as she lamented, "Back then, you lost me when we were on a trip. I was only two years old and couldn't even speak clearly. In order to make it easier for you to find me, my adoptive parents didn't dare to leave that place for five years and worked part-time to raise me."
"Even in their last moments, they implored me to find you guys. They said that you all must be worried sick and so very heartbroken to have lost me. Hah!"
Yun Nan laughed self-deprecatingly. Her kind adoptive parents always expected others to live up to their standards, but they didn't know that the world wasn't as generous as they were.
Gu Wei's eyes shone wetly and were filled with guilt as she looked at Yun Nan. She spoke softly, "We'd been searching for you, too. We put up notices everywhere and even called the police, but three days in, still no one contacted us. Who knows, maybe your adoptive parents took you away on purpose!"
"Exactly!" Yun Zhang chimed in. "We lost you in the most famous tourist city in the country; it was a high-traffic area with many travelers so it's quite difficult to find a missing child there. Our parents were so saddened that they had to adopt Yun Liu to ease their grief. For so many years, it was Yun Liu's presence that alleviated our parents' pain of losing their daughter!"
'Three days! The couple who found their daughter searched for her birth parents for a lifetime, whilst the parents who lost said daughter only persevered for three days!'
'How ironic! The heavens were too cruel to my kind adoptive parents.'
Hearing her cue, Yun Liu bawled out, "I'm not good enough! I'm not fit to stay in the Yun family, and I'm not worthy of marrying Shi Nian. I'm just trash that no one wants!" Yun Liu wailed and threw herself into Gu Wei's arms.
Gu Wei's heart ached, and tried to soothe her like a child, "There, there, don't cry."
Yun Liu's knees buckled, and she knelt on the ground. "Mom, Dad! Don't feel bad! It's not your fault, it's mine! I'm the one who stole Yun Nan's home; I stole her parents and brother! I'm a thief, a thief!"
Tears streamed down her face as she pounded her chest. "I'm not as outstanding as Yun Nan nor am I as beautiful or capable. I know I don't have what it takes to be famous. I just want to stay in the company and help my brother."
"With a director for a sister and me as an actress, I thought I can also contribute a little to our family's company and repay my parents for raising me. I never wished to fight with Yun Nan for anything! Daddy, a person like me doesn't deserve anything!" Yun Liu cried her heart out and hugged Yun Xiang's thigh.
Yun Xiang's expression changed as he pulled Yun Liu to her feet and loudly proclaimed, "Stop crying! Daddy is here! I won't let anyone steal your things! You're the eldest daughter of the Yun family!"
He handed Yun Liu over to Gu Wei, pointed his finger at Yun Nan, and yelled commandingly, "Get a divorce immediately! Return Shi Nian to Yun Liu! Don't think that you're great just because you have some fame! You're nothing without the Yun family, nothing!"
"In the future, do as you're told to in the company; you will direct whatever drama your brother asks you to direct! You'll support whoever I want you to support! I'll pick a suitable marriage for you; the Yun family won't mistreat you!"
'What a patronizing tirade! It's like he's doing me a favor and giving me handouts.'
Yun Nan knew she couldn't reason with this family. Perhaps from their point of view, she was the one being unreasonable. Since they had such differing viewpoints, it was best for them to part ways.
"That won't be necessary." Those were Yun Nan's last words before she left to pack her bags.
She'd returned to her original family and fulfilled her adoptive parents' wishes. There was no need for her to stay any longer.