After breaking up with Li Mengyao, I returned to my own home.

Unexpectedly, the very next day, Li Mengyao stormed in angrily to confront me, accompanied by a middle-aged woman.

When I saw this woman, I was momentarily dazed—it was my mother.

Since being kicked out of the house that year, I hadn't seen her again. Even though Zhang Xuan frequently appeared in my life later on, I only heard about her through him.

This was the first time in all these years that I actually saw her.

She had aged significantly, with wrinkles on her face and a head of hair that had turned gray.

Life hadn't been kind to her these past years.

Seeing Li Mengyao still brought a pang of pain to my heart, but seeing my mother intensified the pain, making it hard for me to breathe.

Li Mengyao, with a stern expression, asked, "Lu Tao, do you really have no sense of loyalty or care for our past?"

I said nothing, looking at her indifferently.

Li Mengyao, her eyes red, stared at me intently. "You're A-Xuan's biological brother. Do you know that A-Xuan is sick?"

I sneered. Why should I care about his illness? I couldn't care less if he lives or dies.

My indifferent attitude provoked Li Mengyao. She shrieked and angrily approached me, but in her haste, she stumbled.

Instinctively, I caught her to prevent her from falling to the ground.

Once she steadied herself, Li Mengyao shook off my hand.

Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and urgently grabbed my hand again. "Lu Tao, you're the only one who can save A-Xuan now. He needs your kidney, please, I beg you."

I stared at Li Mengyao in shock, tasting the bitter taste of irony.

How absurd!

My fiancée, pregnant with her male best friend's child, was pleading with me to donate a kidney to him.

As my vision blurred, I staggered backward, Li Mengyao's once beautiful face now unfamiliar and indistinct before me.

She continued speaking, "You and A-Xuan are blood brothers! I'm carrying A-Xuan's child; you wouldn't want him to grow up without his biological father…"

Li Mengyao's mouth opened and closed, but all I felt was a splitting headache. I pushed her away.

My mother, who had been watching, suddenly bent her knees and knelt on the ground. "Lu Tao, he's your brother; we are your only family in this world. Please, save him."

Suddenly, a voice broke through, "Save him? Zhang Meijuan, you're truly skilled at manipulating emotions!"

Li Mengyao and I turned to look, both surprised to see the newcomers.

Li Mengyao's face turned pale—it was her parents.

Upon seeing them, tears welled up in Li Mengyao's eyes again. She walked over and clung to her mother's hand. "Mother, Father, Lu Tao wants to break up with me, and he refuses to save A-Xuan. Please, try to persuade him.He always listens to you…"

I sighed, opened my phone, and played a recording.

It was a conversation between Li Mengyao and Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan said, "Yaoyao, can you have a child for me? My mom is putting a lot of pressure on me, and I don't know what to do! Maybe I should just end it all."

Li Mengyao's voice came through, comforting him, and she agreed to his request without hesitation. Then Zhang Xuan pretended to be worried, saying, "Wouldn't that be unfair to Lu Tao?"

Li Mengyao replied indifferently, "Lu Tao loves children the most. He would love the child I have even more! Besides, I'm not planning to give him one. If I don't, who will inherit all his wealth? He should be thankful that you're even considering having a child for him."

But faced with Zhang Xuan's appeal, Li Mengyao suddenly hesitated, "Ah Xuan, we can't do this. It's not right to Lu Tao. We should go for a medical procedure to have a child instead."

After listening to the recording, everyone present had different expressions. Li Mengyao angrily said, "What are you trying to say by playing this recording? I wasn't wrong. I'm not planning to have a child with you, so who do you want to benefit from your wealth... "

Before she could finish, Mrs. Li raised her hand and slapped her.

She held my hand, her face full of guilt, "I'm sorry, Lu Tao, we failed to raise Mengyao properly."

They knew my feelings for Li Mengyao and assumed she initiated the breakup.

The two elders worried I was upset and came to talk to me, trying to comfort me.

But who would have thought we'd hear such explosive news?

Mr. Li was furious, continuously scolding Li Mengyao, who was too ashamed to speak.

Until Mr. Li mentioned Zhang Xuan, Li Mengyao suddenly stood her ground and said defiantly, "I won't let you speak badly about Ah Xuan. He's not at fault!"

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Li, who was tending to my wounds, turned pale. She looked at Li Mengyao in disappointment, "Zhang Xuan is not at fault? He knew you were going to marry Lu Tao, yet he asked you to have a child for him. How could I have such a foolish daughter?"

"Li Mengyao, how did we teach you? Be faithful in relationships, yet you asked Lu Tao to donate a kidney to Zhang Xuan? Do you know how Zhang Xuan bullied Lu Tao back then?"

Li Mengyao gritted her teeth, defending Zhang Xuan.

But hearing Li Mengyao's words, Mr. Li and Mrs. Li grew increasingly disappointed.

Mr. Li scolded, "Zhang Xuan is just a rascal. He approached you only for the Li family's money! Do you really think he wanted to be friends with you? What kind of friend meddles so heedlessly in your relationship?"

Listening to Mr. Li and Mrs. Li's protective words towards me, I suddenly felt a wave of grievance.

Li Mengyao erupted in anger, "Lu Tao, Lu Tao! You only care about Lu Tao! You only know Zhang Xuan bullied Lu Tao! Ah Xuan even tried to cover for Lu Tao, but do you know that when Lu Tao was young, he was dishonest and disrespectful to Aunt Zhang, which is why Ah Xuan hit him!"

"You only care about money! You use your dirty minds to think of the pure friendship between me and Ah Xuan. You truly disgust me!"

"Lu Tao is just a hypocrite. He claims he loves me, but if he loves me so much, why won't he let me have a child for Ah Xuan? Ah Xuan is near death, why won't he donate a kidney for him? Is this what he calls love?"

Listening to Li Mengyao's audacious claims, Mr. Li and Mrs. Li's eyes widened in disbelief.

Li Mengyao's words grew increasingly outrageous, even saying my mom shouldn't have given birth to such an ungrateful son. Thankfully, she divorced my dad early and left me with him; otherwise, I would have been the death of her.

She accused me of being disrespectful to elders, watching my mom kneel in front of me without offering help.

Hearing Li Mengyao's words, Mr. Li was so angry he couldn't catch his breath, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

After taking Mr. Li to the hospital, Mengyao Li wore a stern expression and was about to leave when Mrs. Li called out to her, "Where are you going?"

Mengyao, her face cold and impatient, replied, "I need to go over to Xuan. He's waiting for me, and I have to take care of him."

Watching Mengyao, I felt she was becoming more and more unfamiliar to me.

Seeing the hurt in Mrs. Li's eyes, Mengyao grew even more impatient. "Why are you staring at me like that? Don't you have a good son, Lu Tao? I'm not comfortable leaving Xuan alone, and anyway, Dad gets annoyed with me. I might upset him even more if I stay."

With that, Mengyao turned and walked away, ignoring Mrs. Li's calls to her.

Mrs. Li held her chest in emotional pain, clearly upset by Mengyao's behavior.

I quickly poured her a glass of water.

Mrs. Li looked at me with a guilty expression, "It's better this way, it's better this way... You deserve someone who truly appreciates you."

Listening to Mrs. Li's words left me feeling lost.

From childhood to now, I had always revolved around Mengyao, blind to other girls. To me, Mengyao was the best woman in the world.

She was beautiful, self-assured, and passionate.

I never imagined I would love anyone else, as my world only had Mengyao in it.

I think I probably won't fall for anyone else.

Loving someone is exhausting, and it's too much of a compromise.

After confirming Mr. Li was alright, Mrs. Li urged me to go home and rest. Although I wanted to stay in the hospital with them, Mrs. Li insisted I leave, saying they couldn't face me right now because of what happened.

I had no choice but to leave.

Just as I was about to exit the hospital, I spotted Mengyao and Zhang Xuan.

I quickly hid, not wanting to face them or see Mengyao's indifferent gaze and Zhang Xuan's smug demeanor.

Not far away, Mengyao was carefully supporting Zhang Xuan. Seeing her so cautious made my heart ache.

Mengyao had never treated me like that. Even when I had a high fever, she remained calm and indifferent, sitting by my side.

I always thought she was spoiled and sheltered and didn't know how to care for others.

Witnessing this scene, I could no longer deceive myself.

It wasn't that Mengyao was spoiled and sheltered and didn't know how to care for others; it was that she didn't love me, so she didn't want to care for me at all.