Chapter 21 21

Chapter 21 21
Su Yan looked up sharply, her eyes wide. "What? Father, do you know what you're saying? You’ve seen how they treat people. You’ve seen how Lu Chen is."
"I know exactly what I'm saying," Su Guowei said, his voice gaining a bit of steel. "If the Lu family has tied themselves to us, even by rumor, we shouldn’t waste it at all. The city thinks we are under their protection now. The creditors have stopped knocking. The other houses are waiting to see what happens. If we pull away now, we are just a falling family with no allies. But if we stay..."
"If we stay, we are tied to a monster father," Su Yan argued.
"We are tied to power," Su Guowei corrected her. "Chang Lu is a dangerous man, but he is a man of his word when it comes to contracts. If he wants this marriage, he will have to pay for it. He will have to restore our lands. He will have to clear my name in the capital."
Su Mei looked disgusted. "You're selling her? Again?"
"I am saving this family," Su Guowei snapped, turning his gaze on his younger daughter. "And Su Yan understands that. Don't you, Yan?"
Su Yan felt a cold chill run down her spine. She thought about Lu Chen sitting on his bed, looking at her with those tired, bloodshot eyes. She thought about his warning that coming back would be stepping into a cage.
"He told me his father was using us," Su Yan said quietly. "He told me to go home and not come back."
Su Guowei laughed, a short, humorless sound. "Of course he did. He’s trying to be clever. He wants to keep his options open. But he doesn't realize that his father and I are the ones who decide where the pieces go. You will go back tomorrow."
"Father we are not pieces we are people"
"You will go back," Su Guowei repeated. "You will be the devoted fiancée. You will make sure everyone sees you entering and leaving that estate. Every time you walk through those gates, you are building a wall around this house that our enemies can't climb."
Su Yan stood there, her heart hammering against her ribs. She felt like she was being squeezed between two giants. On one side was Chang Lu, a man who saw her as a leash. On the other was her own father, who saw her as a shield. Neither of them cared what she wanted. Neither of them cared that she hated the man she was supposed to marry.
"I hate him," Su Yan said, her voice trembling with sudden, raw emotion. "I hate every second I spend in that room."
"Hate is a very useful emotion, Yan," Su Guowei said, his eyes softening just a fraction. "It keeps you sharp. It keeps you from being fooled. Use that hate to watch him. Use it to find out what they are planning. But do not let it stop you from doing what is necessary."
Madam Lin sighed and walked over to Su Yan, patting her arm. "It’s for the best, dear. If your father says so, it must be the way. At least the Lu mansion has better coal for the winter. We are almost out here and they will treat you well mostly his mother."
Su Yan looked at her mother, then at her sister, then at her father. She felt a wave of nausea roll over her. She was the one who had to sit in that room. She was the one who had to endure Lu Chen’s strange remarks and his father’s cold stares. And she was doing it so her mother could have better coal and her father could have his title back.
"I understand," Su Yan said. Her voice was dead.
"Good," Su Guowei said. "Go rest. You have a long day tomorrow."
Su Yan turned and walked out of the room. She didn't look back at her sister’s angry face or her mother’s relieved expression. She walked out into the courtyard, looking up at the moon. It was the same moon that was shining over the Lu mansion.
She realized that Lu Chen had been right.