Meng Yanran looked at the scenery her hotel room was offering. She wasn't new to this. Since she was young, she had experienced everything that the luxurious wealthy people had been enjoying. It didn't entice her even one bit anymore. Maybe she had lost everything easily because she had gotten it easily in the first place.

  It had been three days since she came here to Royal Crown Hotel. The first day, she contemplated if she should give Lin Qianrou a call and have a nice talk with her cousin. She hadn't talked with her cousin for years and she regretted everything she had done to Qian when they were younger.

  Until last night, she finally mustered all the courage she had and dialed the number given to her by Tang Moyu. Lin Qianrou had been ecstatic to hear from her. Lin Qianrou had promised to visit her today. She said she would bring her newborn baby with her for Meng Yanran to meet.

  So here she was, waiting for Lin Qianrou to arrive. Meng Yanran had woken early today and had waited and waited until the long hand of the clock hit eight. But still, there was no sign of Lin Qianrou.

  Was she coming or not? Meng Yanran wondered.

  She was so lost in her thoughts as she stood near the floor-to-ceiling window at her living room that she didn't hear the first time her doorbell rang. She only snapped out of her trance when she heard the third ring. She then quickly ran to her door to open it.

  "Yanran? It's really you!" Lin Qiarou's eyes brimmed with tears as she held both Meng Yanran's hand. "We've been looking for you everywhere, did you know that?"

  Lin Qianrou pulled Meng Yanran into a hug and held her close. Meng Yanran was so shocked that she staggered back and looked at the other woman and the two male bodyguards Lin Qianrou had brought along with her.

  Ah, how could she forget that Lin Qianrou was now the Young Madam Xu and that she had a fortune under her name.

  On both her sides, the pair of bodyguards were standing with a stiff posture, not paying attention to what their Madam was doing. Meng Yanran allowed her cousin to continue weeping in her arms.

  Having gotten enough attention from strangers, Meng Yanran led her cousin inside along with the nanny, who was holding a baby that Meng Yanran presumed to be her nephew.

  "Qian, don't cry. I'm okay now. I promise. I'm sorry for making you worry about nothing." She started once they were seated in the living room.

  "What nothing? You aren't nothing, Yanran! Don't over say those things again! You are my cousin. Whatever the differences we had, I still care about you." Lin Qianrou retorted, not wanting her cousin to devalue herself.

  She didn't give a damn if Meng Yanran had lost her wealth, her status and her husband. So what if Meng Yanran was a divorcee now? It didn't define her worth as a person.

  "Thank you, Qian." Meng Yanran patted her cousin's hand reassuringly. She didn't know why Lin Qianrou still cared about her after what happened. She had been mean to Lin Qianrou, and Meng Yanran thought that her cousin would be the last person to even care about her.

  The two women continued to talk, catching up to each other. Lin Qianrou then introduced her son to her cousin. She was glad that her Sister Moyu was able to find her cousin and bring her back with them.

  "Qian, he's so beautiful." Meng Yanran held her sleeping nephew in her arms, amazed at how small and delicate Lin Qianrou's baby was.

  For a moment, she wondered if she ever got pregnant, would she have a cute little baby like Lin Qianrou's? Maybe she wouldn't lose her husband to some of his mistresses who bore his children.

  No. Meng Yanran pushed these thoughts aside. Her husband would cheat on her one way or another. The only difference was, it would happen a little later than it had.

  Now, she had a new life to start. Without a mother breathing down her neck or a husband who was always not around for her.

  "Qian, Mr. Qin and Tang Moyu have offered me a job. I'm going to Mengyin in about ten days." She told Lin Qianrou, giving back the baby to his mother.

  "A job, Yanran? Are you sure?" Lin Qianrou asked in surprise. Meng Yanran had never worked in her life before because she didn't need to.

  She was raised as an heiress. Everything was provided to her by her father until his untimely death. Then, she got married to the Xu family, where she was bound to a huge prison she could never step out of, even if she wanted to.

  "Yeah." Meng Yanran gave her a weak smile. "Surprising isn't it? But if Tang Moyu was able to pull herself out of deep shit she was in, I think I can do the same."

  She might be not as smart as the empress, but she would do her best to prove that she needed no one but herself.

  Tang Moyu had said that she would become an apprentice of an expert. This way, she would be able to learn more about her family's craft that she had somewhat forgotten over the years.

  "Then I hope everything goes well for you. Since Sister Moyu thinks you can do it, that means she sees potential in you. I'm glad you are finally living the life you wanted. The freedom you've been longing for since we were younger. Isn't this the life you've always dreamed of?" Lin Qianrou said, her eyes filled with hope.

  Meng Yanran looked at her with surprise, not noticing the tears spilled from her own eyes.