After hanging up the phone, Wen Xinya took a deep breath and walked out of the hospital gate. A biting cold made her body shiver. The bone-chilling cold made her subconsciously shrink her shoulders. Only then did she realize that she was still wearing the silver-gray dress she had worn to the banquet. The thin material left her shoulders and arms bare, which was completely unable to withstand the severe winter cold.
When she was about to go to the garage to get the car, she felt warmth on her shoulder, and then her whole body was embraced in a warm and broad embrace. When she looked up, she met Si Yiyan's deep and unfathomable eyes, just like the night sky today.
Wen Xinya hugged him and said coquettishly, "Why are you here?"
"I knew you were in the hospital, so I came here to pick you up." Si Yiyan gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. Looking at the shocking slap mark on her right cheek, his beautiful eyebrows suddenly furrowed, and his two eyebrows, which were usually elegant and clear, suddenly seemed to be sharp like swords, revealing a sense of momentum.
Then his eyes fell on the two scratches on her chest that were faintly bloody. Her thin lips were tightly pursed into a line, and the line of her jaw suddenly became cold and hard.
"Si Yiyan, I..." Wen Xinya opened her mouth to speak, but under Si Yiyan's astonishing momentum, her voice seemed to be stuck in her throat. She couldn't help but curse herself for being useless.
Si Yiyan gently lifted the coat draped over her shoulders, only to see that her exposed skin was covered with purple scars from scratching and pinching. His deep pupils suddenly shrank and his breathing became heavier in an instant.
"Didn't you promise me that you wouldn't let anyone hurt you again?" Si Yiyan's voice was filled with forbearance, and his eyes, which had lost their brilliance, flashed with a bone-chilling coldness, like the water in a cold pond, deep and chilling to the bone.
"I won't do it next time..." Wen Xinya knew she was in the wrong, so she lowered her head and said in a low voice. She had been hit on the forehead by Wen Haowen before, and she did promise him that she would not let others hurt her easily in the future.
Her grievance was pitiful, but it did not arouse any sympathy from Si Yiyan. His gaze became increasingly deep and cold, like an ancient cold pond, so deep that it was bottomless. Hidden in the calmness was a danger that could corrode bones and flesh.
Feeling uneasy when he looked at her, Wen Xinya reached out to pull his hand and said in a pitiful and coquettish way, "Don't be angry, okay? I did promise you before, but... sometimes there are always unexpected things..."
As she spoke further, her voice became lower and lower, and she felt more and more guilty. She lowered her head slightly, and kept looking cautiously at Si Yiyan out of the corner of her eye.
Si Yiyan remained indifferent and looked at her with a clear expression.
Wen Xinya was a little frightened, and a chill crept up her back. She quickly hugged his arm and said, "Don't be angry! I will be more careful next time... Really, I didn't lie to you, I promise you..."
Si Yiyan gently withdrew his arm, and his eyes turned serious as he looked at her.
Wen Xinya was stunned. Si Yiyan's coldness was ingrained in his bones. She knew it from the first day she met him, but she never thought that one day Si Yiyan would face her with his coldness and indifference.
For a moment, she felt a surge of uncomfortable emotions in her heart, and suddenly she felt wronged. At the Wen Group's annual meeting, she was on edge the whole night, afraid of making a wrong move. But even so, she could not prevent Xia Ruya from becoming the adopted daughter of the Wen family, nor could she prevent Ning Shuqian from slapping her in the face in public, nor could she stop Wen Haowen from being so cruel and ruthless to her.
As expected... She was spoiled by Si Yiyan and couldn't stand even the slightest cold treatment.
Si Yiyan asked her calmly: "Wen Xinya, you want to become stronger and take control of your own destiny, so do you know what it means to be strong?"
Wen Xinya was stunned. This question really stumped her. She had no idea how to answer it.
Si Yiyan stared at her, his voice was clear and cold, piercing her soul: "You are smart, rational, resourceful, wise, tenacious, and decisive, but you lack self-affirmation, which is a necessary factor for success."
Wen Xinya looked at him in astonishment, her eyes full of disbelief!
Self-affirmation… What four deafening words, Si Yiyan was right. The miserable experiences in her previous life, her vulgarity and stupidity, her depravity, made the Wen family completely deny her. Because of the Wen family’s complete denial, she fell into an abyss from which there was no return.
So after being reborn, she knew too well how important the Wen family's recognition of her was, so she gradually began to act according to her grandfather's opinion and recognition of her. She lost the value of self-affirmation, and in her attitude towards the Wen family, she set a bottom line for herself, carefully maintaining her bottom line, not allowing anyone to break it, and not breaking it herself on her own initiative.
She had no expectation of affection towards Wen Haowen, but even when faced with Wen Haowen's beatings and scoldings repeatedly, she just endured it indifferently.
She adopted a cold and tolerant attitude towards the harassment and beatings from Old Lady Wen.
Si Yiyan sighed slightly and said, "Xinya, I don't believe that you still have blood ties with the Wen family, but your submissive and cautious attitude towards the Wen family has trapped you in the so-called Wen family bloodline. You may succeed, but sooner or later you will be defeated by the so-called reality."
The Wen family is restraining her now, and will sooner or later hinder her in the future.
Wen Xinya's body was shaking because she was too shocked and stunned. Her feet were on the smooth marble floor. A chill kept running up her body from the soles of her feet. The cold feeling spread through her pores, and in an instant it crawled up her back and invaded her heart.
Noticing that something was wrong with her, Si Yiyan wanted to reach out and touch her: "Xinya!"
Wen Xinya consciously took a step back, slowly raised her head and looked directly at Si Yiyan, moving her lips to say something, only to find that her voice was stuck in her throat due to the cold.
The hidden beauty in Si Yiyan's eyes shattered in an instant, and the pretty and elegant little face in front of him turned pale. Under the bright light, one could almost see the soft fuzz and thin blue capillaries on the face.
Wen Xinya forced a smile. It turned out... She thought she had escaped the shackles of her previous life, but it turned out that she was still standing still after all these years.
The so-called growth and success are actually illusions created by money.
But her heart was like a paper tiger, fragile and vulnerable to any blow.
She slowly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes were clear.
Wen Xinya, it will be your eighteenth birthday soon!
By then, you'll be an adult.
So... at this moment, you must truly begin to learn to grow up and welcome your coming-of-age ceremony.