Shi Yuan wanted to beat up Liu Yanmei, who was pouting while Wu Changming shielded her from his mother's wrath. But, fearing for the old man's health, she instead rushed to his side and held him.
"Grandpa Chen, please don't be too upset..." Shi Yuan winced at her own words.
Who wouldn't be upset if their grandchild was betrayed on her wedding day?
But the old man had a weak heart, and any further shock could be fatal.
They had to be careful.
"We should discuss this privately," Wu Zhou said, his voice firm as he stepped closer. "Let's figure out how to handle this."
"Dad, let's wait until everyone has left," Chen Jie suggested. "It's not appropriate to air our dirty laundry in front of everyone."
People were already gossiping.
Grandpa Chen ignored them both, focusing his gaze on the woman who had caused all this chaos. "Yanmei, how could you do this to Linlin? Have you even thought about how she feels? Haven't we treated you like family?"
Chen Lin had managed to hold her tears back before, but now, she couldn't keep them in any longer.
The betrayal stabbed at her heart, but seeing her grandfather in pain was unbearable.
The old man just wanted to see her happily married, and now this... all this suffering.
"Grandpa, it's fine... I'm okay. At least the wedding didn't happen, right?" Chen Lin tried to sound calm, but her voice cracked, her tears falling freely.
Chen Hai's rage was evident, but he fought to keep his composure as he gently soothed his granddaughter, rubbing her hair. "How can you say you're okay? Don't worry, Grandpa will make sure they pay for this. No one hurts my precious granddaughter like this."
"No, it was this wretched girl who seduced my son! How dare you—" Shao Fenfang's voice shook with fury as she tried to lash out, but her son, still holding her back, prevented her from moving any further.
"Mom, enough!" he shouted, his tone desperate.
Aunt Si, Liu Yanmei's guardian, approached the girl with a sense of urgency. "Yanmei, come on, let's go. We shouldn't be involved in this. It could ruin someone's life." She tried to usher the girl away, her eyes filled with concern.
After all, Chen Lin had treated them both so well, and yet, here they were, turning against her.
Aren't they worse than dogs for biting the hand that feed them?
"No, I have something else to say." Liu Yanmei's voice rang out, cutting through the tension in the room.
She turned to face the elderly man who had always been a father figure to her, the man she had called 'Grandpa Chen' for as long as she could remember.
Her heart pounded as she prepared to speak the truth she had long kept hidden.
"I'm also a Chen. I'm your biological granddaughter. My father is Uncle Chen." Her gaze shifted then to Chen Jie, whose face went ashen as the revelation hit him.
The moment the words sank in, Chen Lin's world seemed to shatter. Her mind spun as the truth registered.
Liu Yanmei... is my half-sister?
Is that why our blood match?
She had always thought it a strange coincidence when they discovered their rare blood types aligned perfectly, allowing her to donate her kidney to Liu Yanmei. At the time, she hadn't questioned it—she was just relieved that the operation could proceed immediately.
So she had given Liu Yanmei her kidney, her own flesh and blood, without hesitation. But now, everything she had believed seemed like a lie.
Her half-sister, the very person she had helped, had seduced her fiancé!
The betrayal cut deeper than any wound, and Chen Lin felt as though the ground had been ripped out from beneath her.
"Grandpa, I have the DNA Paternity Test Results here," Liu Yanmei said, holding up two pieces of paper she had only just noticed.
She handed the papers to the old man, whose hands trembled as he took them.
When he read the words, 'The probability of Mr. Chen Jie being the biological father of Liu Yanmei is 99.9999%', his heart seemed to constrict. Liu Yanmei—the little girl he had watched grow up—was his biological granddaughter too.
Chen Lin, standing nearby, saw the results as well. The truth hit her like a violent wave. The ground beneath her seemed to disappear, and she was falling into an endless abyss, feeling lost and confused.
Her mind raced, questioning everything—was this real?
"Did you know about this?" Grandpa Chen's voice trembled.
Liu Yanmei nodded.
"You knew all this time, and yet you still seduced your sister's fiancé?" The old man's voice broke. "Even if you only learned recently, it doesn't matter. We've treated you like family! Linlin gave you her kidney, and now she's starting to have health complications, and you—" His words faltered as pain gripped his chest.
"Grandpa!" Chen Lin cried out.
"Dad!" Chen Jie shouted, rushing to his father's side.
Chen Lin pushed aside the complex emotions flooding her and rushed to her grandfather, her heart heavy with the fear of losing him.
"Get Grandpa's doctor! Call an ambulance!" she ordered, her voice filled with urgency.
Memories of their life together rushed through her mind, each one more precious than the last.
Suddenly, Liu Yanmei moved forward to assist the old man, her eyes brimming with tears. But as her hand reached out to him, Chen Lin shoved her away with all her strength. The force of it made Liu Yanmei stumble back, nearly losing her balance.
Wu Changming was quick to steady her.
Chen Lin's stomach churned at the sight of Liu Yanmei. Fury burned in her eyes as she hissed, "If something happens to Grandpa, mark my words, Liu Yanmei, I'll make your life a living hell."
If the old man didn't make it, she swore she'd never forgive Liu Yanmei—and Wu Changming.
Several people rushed to assist the old man, helping him breathe as best they could, but it was clear he wasn't stabilizing. The ambulance arrived just in time, and they hurriedly transferred him inside, heading toward the nearest hospital.
Chen Lin stood frozen at her spot as she saw her grandfather being taken away.
The chapel, once filled with warmth and anticipation, now felt eerily empty. Only her family and Wu Changming's remained.
With a heavy heart and a sense of uneasiness, she knew that her life would never be the same again.