Chapter 101 – No One Knows

Dinner was a rather “cheerful” affair… At least, someone thought so!

Reluctantly, Ranran followed the newly hired auntie—specifically brought in to care for her—back to her own room.

The smile that had been plastered across Lin Xiaowen’s face instantly collapsed the moment Ranran left. She set her chopsticks down gently, her eyes lowered, and stood up to say, “I’m done. I’ll head back now.”

The dining room was on the first floor; aside from the “prison cell” Sinan had prepared for her, it was the only place Lin Xiaowen had ever set foot in within this house. Of course, if it weren’t for wanting to share a proper meal with Ranran, she would have preferred to stay alone in her room, lost in thought.

“Stop right there!” Sinan’s voice rang out.

The long oval dining table, crafted from solid wood, was set with both meat and vegetables—a complete spread. Sinan sat at the head, with Lin Xiaowen and Ranran seated on either side. It almost looked like a real family.

But very little of the meal had been touched, especially the dishes in front of Lin Xiaowen.

“What exactly do you want?” Sinan looked up at Lin Xiaowen, his tone filled with helplessness and a deeper, weary fatigue.

Lin Xiaowen ignored him. She paused for half a minute, then walked towards the staircase leading to the second floor. Her soft-soled slippers made no sound on the floor; for a moment, Sinan felt as if the house was as empty as ever, and that cheerful dinner had been nothing but a figment of his imagination.

Sinan pinched the throbbing bridge of his nose, then abruptly stood up. In a few strides, he caught up to Lin Xiaowen and grabbed her right hand.

He thought his sudden action would anger her, but Lin Xiaowen merely met his restrained, smoldering gaze without so much as a ripple of emotion.

“What is it that you want?” Sinan almost ground the words out through gritted teeth.

Lin Xiaowen gave a cold, mocking laugh. “What do I want? That’s an interesting question, President Si. Isn’t that the question I should be asking you?”

“It was you who kept Ranran and me here, forbidding us to leave. I had no other choice but to comply, and now you ask me this?”

“Was I wrong to want you and Ranran to stay? Was I wrong to want to give you both the best life possible? Lin Xiaowen, I didn’t keep you here to imprison you. You’re free—you can go out, go shopping, do whatever any other wife would do. But look at you, look at what you’ve become…”

A bitter laugh burst from Lin Xiaowen, so forceful she almost ran out of breath. “Any other wife? Sinan, listen carefully. I have never been anyone’s wife, much less yours.” Her expression hardened as she continued, “If you wish, you can call me your sister-in-law. Perhaps I’d even be grateful for your care for Ranran, for finding her such a good school. As for anything else…”

Her gaze was as cold as ice as she went on, “Don’t even think about it for the rest of your life.”

She jerked her hand free from Sinan’s grasp, turned around, and ascended the stairs without a backward glance.

“Lin Xiaowen—”

Sinan’s anger finally boiled over. He caught her arm again, and Lin Xiaowen felt his dangerous, volatile presence envelop the space as he drew near. Without warning, her head struck the wall behind her. Dizzy, she saw Sinan’s dark, forbidding face looming closer—so close that in the next second, his lips, carrying the faint scent of liquor, nearly brushed her own bloodless, tightly pressed lips.

Almost, but not quite.

Lin Xiaowen squeezed her eyes shut, her breath steady, her upturned face as passive as a fish laid out on the chopping block.

Sinan stared at her lifeless expression, and for a long moment, neither moved. Lin Xiaowen’s back ached from being pressed against the wall, and just as she felt she might be crushed into it, Sinan finally spoke. His deep voice was laced with sorrow.

“Must you push me this far? Do you hate me that much?”

Lin Xiaowen’s lashes trembled as she slowly opened her eyes. Those deep-set eyes, mere inches from her own, were filled with loss and pain. But she merely glanced at him, turned her head away, and replied in a voice devoid of warmth, “Is this the freedom you speak of? You use Ranran to threaten me, making it impossible for me to do anything but stay here obediently. Every day you keep her by your side, refusing to let her attend school—is this the freedom you offer her?”

She paused, then continued, “Sinan, that’s what I want to ask you. What exactly do you want? Do you really enjoy forcing things that don’t belong to you to stay by your side?”

When Lin Xiaowen looked up at him, Sinan’s eyes flickered with a trace of confusion. But it lasted only a moment before he cast the troubling thought aside.

“Ranran is a child of the Si family. Naturally, she should be with her elders from a young age, learning early what she’ll have to face when she grows up. There’s nothing wrong with that. Besides, nothing in this world is inherently meant to belong to anyone, least of all feelings. As long as I desire it, there is nothing I, Sinan, cannot obtain.”

Lin Xiaowen gazed at him with a helpless, bitter smile. “Ranran is only six. She’s just a child. She doesn’t need to inherit anything, and please, don’t impose your Si family’s cold, unfeeling ways on her.”

“In the Si family, six is no longer a child,” Sinan replied.

Faced with such obstinance, Lin Xiaowen could only fall silent. She looked down at the hand Sinan still held tightly and said quietly, “Then please let me go. It’s late, I need to rest.”

This time, as Lin Xiaowen turned to leave, Sinan did not stop her. What could he do? What more could he possibly do?

Just moments ago, her expression, her response, and the feeling that struck him all made it clear—no matter what, he could never bring himself to truly hurt Lin Xiaowen.

He downed an entire bottle of harsh, burning foreign liquor—he hadn’t even looked at the label. His stomach twisted with pain from the fire inside, his heart pounding miserably along with it.

Sinan couldn’t understand. He had gone to such lengths to please this woman, so why couldn’t he move her heart?

What he could offer her was a life far better than the hardship and poverty of her past—a hundred times better, a thousand times. He was willing to pour all his effort, all his devotion, into her and Ranran, even at the risk of provoking the bitter opposition and resentment of the family elders.

No one knew just how much pressure he was under, all for the sake of giving mother and daughter a peaceful home.

No one knew…