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Ye Mingxi stared at her retreating figure in utter confusion. "What's going on?"

He turned to the others for confirmation. "Did I just say something really out of line?"

Why had this person suddenly gone crazy?

Eldest Brother Ye glanced at Ye Mingxi, whose sharp tongue was entirely unconscious to himself, and said in a deep voice, "No matter what she wants to do, we'll find out sooner or later."

Mrs. Ye looked at the silent Ye Mingzhao with eyes full of heartache. She had never known that Ye Mingzhao had hidden so many secrets in his heart.

Noticing Mrs. Ye's gaze, the armor Ye Mingzhao had always worn came crashing down. He sat down somewhat dejectedly, rubbed his face wearily, and looked anxiously at the Ye family. "I'm sorry. I embarrassed you."

"Don't ever say that." Mrs. Ye could no longer hold back. She rose from the sofa, hurried to Ye Mingzhao, and pulled him into her arms—just as she had when he was sick with a fever as a child and refused to take his medicine. She gently kissed Ye Mingzhao's forehead.

"It wasn't your fault." Mrs. Ye's voice choked up. "You've already done very well."

In the original novel, the villain Ye Mingzhao had been terrified that the Ye family would think him calculating and vain, so he had never dared reveal that he remembered every detail of being abandoned as a child. But the shadow of being abandoned by his closest relatives in childhood would not disappear simply because he deliberately tried to forget it. It would only bury itself deep within his soul, eroding Ye Mingzhao's already imperfect personality day after day.

If Ye Mingzhao had never had the chance to reunite with his parents in this life, perhaps he could have slowly healed the part of his soul that had been forced to break from the moment he was born, surrounded by the Ye family's affection.

But life had no ifs. Chu Hengyi's sudden return, along with his painstakingly planned revenge, instantly ignited the fuse Ye Mingzhao had buried deep within his soul.

The moment his biological parents appeared at his birthday banquet under the guise of delivering gifts, the perceptive Ye Mingzhao immediately caught the scent of the conspiracy that followed. His ill-intentioned biological parents, the hunter lurking in the shadows—everything was pushing Ye Mingzhao's innate destructive urges and instinct for self-preservation to the limit.

The string called reason in his mind finally snapped. Unable to endure any longer, Ye Mingzhao chose revenge—and began to fall into the trap.

And his seemingly unprovoked, extreme methods of revenge only made the Ye family increasingly uncomfortable and suspicious.

Everyone believed Ye Mingzhao was naturally cold-hearted and ungrateful, even blaming the reason he had been abandoned on genetic defects. Coupled with the mastermind's step-by-step manipulation, Ye Mingzhao was ultimately dragged deeper into the mire, abandoned by everyone and driven out of the Ye family.

But in reality, the prepared Ye Mingzhao had taken the initiative to set the board. Using the Chu family's secrets, he directly cut off Chu Hengyi's emotional restraints, forcing him to willingly hand over Ruan Cuimei's information in exchange—

Knowing the plot well, Ye Mingzhao was certain that given Chu Hengyi's way of doing things, he would never owe an enemy a favor. And the easiest bargaining chip that would allow him to repay that favor without affecting his later plans was the identity of Ye Mingzhao's biological parents.

After obtaining Ruan Cuimei's information, Ye Mingzhao used Zhou Heting's wariness of him to force Zhou Yueze to quickly uncover Ruan Cuimei and Lin Feng's true identities.

Of those two, Ruan Cuimei craved fame, valued family, cared about her reputation, and her husband's garment factory was also facing a business crisis. So, in the name of the Beggar Prince production crew, Ye Mingzhao held a fashion design competition and lured Jiang Shangyun into the trap. Through his subtle influence on Jiang Shangyun, he directly shattered Ruan Cuimei's image as a virtuous wife and loving mother.

He wanted the child she cared about most to completely deny her past as a mother. That was his revenge.

As for Lin Feng, who valued profit even more and had been obsessively trying to take Gu Jewelry public, Ye Mingzhao would naturally give him exactly what he wanted. So, again in the name of the production crew, Ye Mingzhao held a jewelry design competition, hired internationally renowned designers as judges, and persuaded international luxury brands to provide sponsorship. He hoped the Gu family would hear about it and seize this opportunity to build connections and rise in one leap.

Unfortunately, something had apparently gone wrong along the way. The Gu family had not entered the jewelry design competition.

But Ye Mingzhao did not take the matter to heart. As long as Lin Feng still wanted to take Gu Jewelry public, he would find ways to approach all kinds of capital. And when it came to capital operations, Ye Mingzhao had never feared anyone.

Sooner or later, he would get his chance for revenge.

The group of people who had banded together for profit in the original novel, each taking what they needed, was also destined to fall apart.

Ye Mingzhao would not give them the opportunity to join forces. He would defeat them one by one.

Of course, none of this could come at the expense of his own life.

That was why he had taken the initiative to leave Ye Group. Taking advantage of the Zhou family's eagerness to sow discord, he deliberately showed weakness. Not only did he gain the Ye family's pity and guilt, he also successfully obtained shares in Ye Group—though it was only one percent, the number itself was not important. What Ye Mingzhao valued was the meaning represented by those shares.

He wanted his parents and brothers to know that he was not invincible, nor was he flawless. He had his own little schemes. He could feel uneasy, and he could be afraid. He was afraid of losing everything he had now—not only his affluent material life, but also his spiritual peace and contentment.

—Because he clearly remembered how his biological parents had abandoned him just after he was born!

"He's no use anymore. Send him back."

"If you send him back, what am I supposed to do? I'm not even married yet. I can't exactly raise a son, can I? Didn't they say she couldn't have children?"

"She's pregnant. Of course she wants her own child."

"Then what do we do with this child?"

"Whatever. If it comes down to it, give him away. Or send him to an orphanage."

"Guess he's just unlucky!"

Ye Mingzhao had once hated his hyperthymesia.

Never forgetting what he saw or heard was not as wonderful as people imagined. Because it also meant that he could never forget anything he wanted to forget.

Even the fragmented words he had heard before he was old enough to understand could be firmly etched into his mind.

They constantly reminded him: I was abandoned. I was never wanted.

But once he grew a little older, Ye Mingzhao began to feel fortunate that he had hyperthymesia.

Because his exceptionally powerful brain was enough to support him in learning any skill he wanted. He could master anything with ease, maintain excellence effortlessly, become the pride of his parents and the considerate younger brother in his older brothers' hearts.

He would remember the preferences of everyone around him, never miss a single meaningful anniversary, remember every casual remark anyone had made, and bring it up casually the next time they met.

Gradually, Ye Mingzhao earned the affection of many people. He had more and more friends, a wider and wider network, and more and more possessions.

He had finally escaped the tattered swaddling cloth that had once bound him, escaped the vicious stray dog with its bared fangs, and escaped that patch of blue that had always turned its back on him.

Yet he still liked snowy nights and the color blue. Because those things glaringly reminded him that if one had no value and was not loved, one would be abandoned.

Ye Mingzhao buried his head in Mrs. Ye's arms. Like when he was little, his shoulders shook helplessly, but he made no sound.

Everyone's noses stung. Unable to help themselves, they stepped forward, wrapping their arms around Ye Mingzhao's thin shoulders, placing hands on his back, holding his slender waist. Even Chairman Ye, the most reserved of them all, could not resist rubbing Ye Mingzhao's head.

The family of five held each other tightly.

Only Chu Hengyi stood where he was with a cold expression, indifferently watching the scene before him.

His tricks for playing the victim were getting more and more sophisticated.

He thought expressionlessly.

Then, the next second, he took out his phone and sent a message.

That night, while applying an ice pack to his slightly red and swollen eyes, Ye Mingzhao opened a social media app.

A photograph lay quietly in Chu Hengyi's chat window.

Inside a dimly lit private room in a bar, Zhu Junjie, some of the actors from The Prince's Transformation production crew, and some actors from Zhou Film and Television Company were drinking and singing karaoke.