Lin Wanyi held Wang Keke by the hand as the little girl skipped along and asked her,
"Mommy, can I really go to Grandma's house this time?"
Li Suhua picked her up. "That's right! From now on, you'll stay at Grandma's house and live with me. How does that sound?"
Wang Keke was overjoyed. "Yes, yes!"
She was almost seven years old and could already sense who liked her and who didn't.
She looked forward to living at her grandmother's house forever. She never wanted to return to her paternal grandmother's house, where she was called a worthless money-loser every day.
On the way to the airport, Wang Keke couldn't contain her happiness.
Lin Wanyi, however, was somewhat worried. Her previous experience had left her with lingering fear, and she wasn't sure if they would be able to leave smoothly this time.
While she was filled with anxiety, Wang Hao was even more frantic, pacing like a cat on a hot tin roof.
Because when Liu Xiulan dragged her luggage over to look for Lin Wanyi again, a neighbor told her that Lin Wanyi and her family had already left with their bags.
She hurriedly called Wang Hao. "Haohao, come quick! That outsider wife of yours and her whole family have run away."
Wang Hao broke out in a cold sweat.
His worst fear had come true: Lin Wanyi had quietly slipped away.
He rushed home as fast as he could, only to find Liu Renzhi's family waiting downstairs.
They were holding expensive gifts and looking up at the apartment.
Boiling with anger, Wang Hao pointed at Liu Renzhi and cursed,
"What are you doing at my house? No one welcomes you here. Get lost!"
Liu Renzhi ignored him and lifted his foot to head upstairs, but Wang Hao continued to block his way.
"I told you to get lost! Are you deaf?"
Liu Xiulan looked at the gifts in their hands, her eyes gleaming with greed.
"So that cheap tramp really did hook up with you! Let me tell you, she's a married woman, and she's carrying the eldest grandson of our Wang family in her belly.
"Stop thinking about her. Leave the stuff and get the hell out of here!"
Liu Renzhi remained silent, as did the rest of the Liu family.
Liu Xiulan suddenly ran out and grabbed Wang Hao.
"Haohao, why are you still standing here? That damn woman and her whole family packed their bags and left, and they took your daughter too!
"Isn't she from out of town? Is she heading back to her parents' house?
"Hurry up and stop her!"
Wang Hao turned to leave, but Liu Xiulan pulled him back again.
"Tell me your door passcode first so I can put my luggage inside."
Wang Hao rattled off a random string of numbers and went to the garage to get his car. Liu Xiulan and Wang Meijuan followed him.
The Liu family exchanged bewildered looks. Liu Renzhi told them to go back first; he was worried and wanted to follow Wang Hao to see what was going on.
None of the people in that family were any good, and he was worried that Lin Wanyi would be bullied.
But where would they go? The train station or the airport?
He didn't know, and neither did Wang Hao, but both of them tacitly drove their cars toward the airport.
Wang Hao figured that it was impossible to buy train tickets right now, while for Liu Renzhi, it was sheer instinct—in his mind, traveling far away naturally meant taking a flight.
While these men were rushing over in a panic, Lin Wanyi and her family were already checking in.
Wang Keke grew even more excited, spinning in circles around Lin Jiajun.
"We're going to Grandma's house! We're going to Grandma's house!"
Lin Jiajun finished checking their luggage. There were still two hours before their flight took off.
Lin Wanyi sat next to Li Suhua.
"Mom, thank you for coming. If you hadn't come, I really wouldn't know what to do."
In just under two short months, she had been through too much.
She had lost her father, and she had seen Wang Hao's true colors.
She understood more than ever that the Wang family was no longer a place where she should stay.
She knew clearly that she had regretted her choices a long time ago.
She regretted marrying Wang Hao, and she regretted not listening to her parents and moving so far away for marriage.
There were far too many regrets.
Li Suhua held her hand tightly:
"You silly girl, you should have told us a long time ago.
"You should have told us before your dad passed away. If you had said something earlier, you wouldn't have had to suffer so much."
Right.
Lin Wanyi was also thinking about how great it would have been if she had confessed to her family earlier.
But back then, she was the one who insisted on marrying far away, so she endured it, thinking it would all pass.
She thought that if she just endured it, life would get better.
But she was wrong. The more she endured, the more the Wang family pushed their luck.
She would take a step back, and the Wang family would take a mile.
She should have woken up to reality a long time ago.
Fortunately, it was not too late now.
The flight was taking off in an hour and a half, and the Lin family started to get up to head to the boarding gate.
Wang Keke kept sharing the news with her friends using her smartwatch:
"Did you know? I'm going to my grandma's house, and I'm about to take an airplane."
"Yeah, I have a grandma too, and I have an uncle, and they all came to pick me up."
"Mhm, it's okay, we can still chat on the phone later."
Lin Wanyi reminded her, "Talk to them when we get to Grandma's. We are getting on the plane soon."
"Okay!"
Wang Keke obediently turned off her watch, but the next second, she nervously tugged at Lin Wanyi's hand with all her might:
"Mom, Mom, look quickly! That's Grandma and Dad, and Auntie is there too."
Lin Wanyi's heart skipped a beat. She quickly looked in the direction Wang Keke was pointing, but she did not see the three of them.
She let out a long breath. A mistake, Wang Keke must have seen it wrong.
It couldn't be them.
Absolutely impossible.
Seeing that it was almost their turn in line, Lin Wanyi felt increasingly relieved. At least she could send Wang Keke away first.
Last time, it was Liu Xiulan who fed Wang Keke peanuts, causing them to miss going back to see her father for the last time.
Now, this absolutely could not happen again.
It absolutely must not.
Lin Wanyi anxiously watched the line ahead.
Ten, nine, eight, seven.
She counted them one by one. Finally, there was only one person in front of her.
She was about to smoothly board the plane.
But the next second.
A pair of hands grabbed her arm:
"Lin Wanyi, are you really planning to just sneak away like this?"
Lin Wanyi's mind buzzed.
Wang Hao, he came after all.
He tightly grabbed Lin Wanyi's hand and dragged her out of the line.
Lin Jiajun quickly went to stop him: "Wang Hao, let go of my sister, let her go right now."
Wang Hao did not let go; instead, he grabbed her even tighter:
"Why should I let go? She is my wife, and I won't let go.
"Lin Jiajun, what right do you have to take my wife away? She is my person."
He pointed his other hand at Wang Keke:
"And her, she is my daughter. On what grounds are you taking my wife and child away?"
Lin Wanyi was in pain from his grip. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and bit down hard on Wang Hao.
She bit him with all her might, making Wang Hao grimace in pain until he finally let go.
"Wang Hao!"
Lin Wanyi roared, "Did you rush here in such a hurry to divorce me?
"Fine, let's go right now, let's do the paperwork now."
"No!"
Wang Hao still shook his head:
"I said I will never divorce you. I want to take you home, take you and Keke home.
"Honey, can we talk about everything when we get back? I'm begging you!"
"No!"
Lin Wanyi seethed, her jaw clenched in fury. She remembered the last time they were here—her daughter had suddenly started foaming at the mouth and had to be rushed to the hospital, robbing Lin Wanyi of the chance to see her father one last time before he passed away.
And now, Wang Hao was blocking her from returning to her family home yet again. She was pushed beyond her breaking point.
Raising her hand, she delivered a vicious slap right across his face:
"Wang Hao, you can go straight to hell!"
