Chapter 149 She likes Lin Feng.

Originally bearing a cold and aloof expression, Ling Shuang’s face betrayed a trace of panic the moment her father’s words fell.

“I... like him?”

Her voice faltered slightly, but Tian Li, who knew his daughter best, no longer needed a verbal answer.

Yet he still wore a stern face, gazing intently at his daughter with grave seriousness.

Aside from work, her father rarely spoke to her with such solemnity. Ling Shuang knew he was earnest now.

It was precisely because of this that unease stirred within her heart.

Earlier at the dining table, in front of Lin Feng, her parents’ coordination had seemed seamless, but Ling Shuang understood it was all mere pretense.

The true thoughts were now, in this private conversation.

Could it be that her father disapproved?

No, if he forbade her to be with Lin Feng, she wouldn’t hesitate to seize the final say.

Facing her father’s stern gaze, Ling Shuang narrowed her eyes. “What exactly do you mean by this?”

Danger flickered in her gaze, barely restrained. Tian Li’s expression darkened, yet his voice remained strict: “What if I don’t agree?”

So it was truly like this?

Ling Shuang frowned deeply, urgency flashing through her instantly: “He is mine!”

“But I am your father!”

Tian Li’s sharp rebuke cut through the air, his face etched with unyielding resolve: “Would you defy your parents and become an unfilial daughter, the shame of the world?”

In the past, he had been gentle with her and Yun Ran in private.

Even if there were differences, they were confined to work and family matters.

Though she seldom conversed with her parents, she understood their thoughts well enough; she simply disliked idle chatter.

But now, her father was showing unprecedented anger right before her.

Ling Shuang had never witnessed such a scene.

After a stunned pause, she bit her lip and lowered her gaze.

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“I don’t think it’s that you wouldn’t dare. For a man, you would go against your parents’ wishes? Is all our years of nurturing worth nothing to you?!” Tian Li’s roar echoed throughout the study, filled with bitter disappointment.

For a man...

Lin Feng?

His face flashed through her mind—his movements, his defiance, his freedom.

He rode horses with her by the sea, gifted her fireworks that blossomed across the starry sky.

If he would ultimately be free, if he would never belong to her, if he disappeared from her sight, if her world no longer contained him...

At that thought, panic and chaos surged up from her heart, flooding her limbs.

She had never imagined Lin Feng leaving her side. Now, at the birth of such a possibility, an unprecedented suffocating pain and heartache intertwined within her.

It was as if, in this moment, she had fallen into a dark trap from which there was no escape.

Impossible!

She would not allow this to happen!

Suddenly raising her eyes, like a fierce beast struggling to break free from chains, she met her father’s gaze squarely, her voice cold and gritted: “What must I do for you to agree?”

Meeting Ling Shuang’s restrained eyes, Tian Li raised an eyebrow but remained stern: “Give me the seal!”

He wanted to take away her authority.

For a moment, Ling Shuang was caught in a dilemma.

Since reaching adulthood, the family seal had been in her possession. Her father seemed to have awaited this moment for a long time, traveling with her mother after entrusting it to her.

She had steadily consolidated her family’s standing, maintaining their pinnacle until now.

But now, her father demanded she choose between the seal and Lin Feng.

The thought of Lin Feng leaving her pierced her heart like never before.

It was a feeling she had never experienced, so painful it stole her breath.

He could not leave!

As for the seal, even if taken back, she would reclaim it sooner or later.

All the rebels in the family were gone!

She refused to believe anyone else could hold her place securely.

As if stripped of reason, her eyes reddened and she responded fiercely, “Fine, I agree.”

With that, she curled her lips into a faint, indifferent smile, staring coldly at Tian Li, her voice icy: “Consider this my repayment for all these years.”

She spoke, locking eyes with her father, a confident smirk playing on her lips.

At the same time, Tian Li’s anger suddenly gave way to a smile.

He looked at his daughter with satisfaction shining in his eyes.

This change caught the tense Ling Shuang off guard; she instinctively asked, “What are you smiling at?”

“Silly child!”

Tian Li shook his head with a smile, his tone softening: “How could your father force you to do something you do not want?”

Especially something so desperate.

He looked at her with gentle eyes, a gaze that made her heart flutter uneasily.

His gaze suddenly receded, tinged with nostalgia: “That matter has passed long ago. You should try to trust your father once.”

Ling Shuang pressed her lips tightly, staring unblinkingly into her father’s eyes, ignoring his words, her expression cold as she asked, “What exactly do you mean?”

The hope in Tian Li’s eyes dimmed; he did not say more, but smiled at her and gave his verdict.

“You like Lin Feng.”

“I...” Ling Shuang instinctively turned her eyes away, but her father closed in relentlessly.

“Admit it, Ling Shuang, you like him.”

“Your instinctive reaction does not lie.”

His words came smoothly, yet each syllable struck Ling Shuang like a blow.

Was it that obvious?

She instinctively touched her cheek, cold pride mingling with doubt in her eyes.

Tian Li, who had seen through everything, sighed with a smile and asked again, “You don’t want him to leave you, do you?”

Instinctively, Ling Shuang nodded.

“You want him by your side forever, right?”

“...Yes.”

“You cannot accept the fact that he might leave, right?”

“Yes.”

“So, you do like him, don’t you?”

“Yes...”

Following her father’s steady prodding, Ling Shuang nodded repeatedly.

But halfway through the last sentence, she suddenly realized, “No! I... I just... I just want him to always... stay with me...”

For the first time, her words stumbled, faltering before she completed them.

But when she lifted her eyes to meet her father’s increasingly deepening smile, she instinctively raised a hand to her chest.

Her heart pounded wildly, uncontrollable thoughts replaying.

His eyes, his lips, everything about him—like exploding fireworks, igniting her parched heart in countless wild nights in an instant.

Ling Shuang’s lips curved with tender longing, her gaze shimmering with endless affection.

She looked straight at her father, calling out a long-unused title—

“Yes, Dad.”

“I like Lin Feng.”