The family pressure didn't end with Madam Ye's visit.
It shifted.
Became quieter, more insidious.
A week after the confrontation, invitations stopped coming for Ye Beichen alone. Now they came for "Mr. Ye and guest." The guest was never named, but the implication was clear: bring the appropriate one.
Lin Meiqi's social media filled with photos from charity galas, family gatherings, old-money events. Always elegant. Always alone. Always with captions about "tradition" and "legacy."
Subtle.
Cutting.
Wanyin saw them because Ye Beichen showed her.
"She's playing the long game," he said one night, scrolling through his phone in bed.
Wanyin lay beside him, head on his chest.
"She's good at it."
He set the phone down.
"My grandmother taught her."
She traced circles on his shirt.
"Your grandmother taught you too."
He smiled in the dark.
"Not this well."
The board's acceptance had been corporate—cold, calculated, based on numbers.
The family's was personal.
And personal hurt more.
Two weeks later, Madam Ye summoned him.
Not to the estate.
To the ancestral home.
A three-hour drive outside the city. Traditional compound. Courtyard gardens. Rooms that hadn't changed in decades.
Wanyin wasn't invited.
He went alone.
She waited in the apartment, working, pretending not to worry.
He returned late, tie loosened, exhaustion in his eyes.
She poured him tea without asking.
He drank half in silence.
Then told her.
"She showed me the family tree. Every marriage. Every alliance. How each one built the company."
He set the cup down.
"Then she showed me the branch that ends with me."
Wanyin's heart tightened.
"She said if I don't marry appropriately, the line dies. The company fractures. Everything my grandfather built falls apart."
He looked at her.
"She cried."
Wanyin felt something cold settle in her chest.
Madam Ye didn't cry.
Ever.
"She said I'm throwing away duty for desire."
Wanyin stood, walked to the window.
"And what did you say?"
"That duty without happiness is just another kind of death."
She turned.
He was watching her.
"She asked if I was willing to lose everything for you."
Wanyin's voice was quiet.
"Are you?"
He stood, crossed to her.
"I already have."
She searched his face.
"The company—"
"Is mine to protect. Or lose. My choice."
He took her hands.
"I choose you."
She leaned into him.
They stood like that for a long time.
The next move came from an unexpected corner.
Ye Beichen's mother.
A phone call.
Soft voice. Gentle.
"Beichen, your grandmother is ill."
He went pale.
"How bad?"
"She won't see doctors. Says it's stress. From you."
Wanyin watched him pace the living room.
He hung up.
"I have to go."
She nodded.
"Take me with you."
He stopped.
"She won't allow it."
"Then make her."
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then nodded.
They drove the next morning.
The ancestral home felt heavier this time.
Madam Ye was in bed, looking smaller, frailer.
But her eyes were sharp.
Ye Beichen knelt beside her.
"Grandmother."
She looked past him to Wanyin.
"You brought her."
"I did."
Madam Ye studied Wanyin.
"Sit."
Wanyin sat.
Madam Ye's voice was weak but clear.
"You think you love him."
"I know I do."
"You think you're enough."
"I'm not here to replace your legacy. I'm here to stand beside him while he builds his own."
Madam Ye was quiet.
Then:
"My husband married for love once. Before me. She died young. He never recovered. Built the company to forget her. Told me love weakens a man."
She looked at Ye Beichen.
"I wanted better for you."
He took her hand.
"I'm not him."
She looked at Wanyin again.
"Prove it."
Wanyin met her gaze.
"How?"
"Stay. When it's hard. When the board turns. When the money runs low. When he's weak. Stay."
Wanyin didn't hesitate.
"I will."
Madam Ye closed her eyes.
"Then perhaps… you are enough."
She slept.
They left the room.
In the garden, Ye Beichen pulled Wanyin into his arms.
"She accepted you."
"She gave me a test."
He smiled.
"You'll pass."
She leaned into him.
The pressure wasn't gone.
But it had changed.
From opposition to condition.
From rejection to reluctant hope.
And for the first time, Wanyin felt like they might actually win.
Not just the company.
Not just the board.
But the family.
The legacy.
The future.
Together.