Chapter 249 — The Last Chance
Years of Heartflutter · Page 4 of 5
Yang Juehuan's words struck like a thunderclap, leaving Tian Yan dazed for a long while. His mouth fell open, and he stared at Yang Ce in disbelief. Yang Ce said nothing about some behind-the-scenes boss—that was all too vague. The single fact that he was Sun Lin's future son-in-law was enough to explain Tian Long's abnormal behavior. It also gave him a reason to move against Tian Long.
"Sun Jie! Your girlfriend?" Tian Yan stared at Yang Ce in disbelief. "Then my dad coming after you wasn't because of some mysterious boss behind the scenes, but because of your connection to the Sun family?"
Yang Yuting nodded and said: "As long as I'm not eliminated, he can never fully control the Sun family, and I will certainly avenge the Suns. That's why your father wants to capture me..."
"Yang Ce, Sun Jie is actually your girlfriend? That's far too astonishing!" Tian Yan's eyes went wide. "How come I never knew?"
"How could I go around broadcasting something like that?" Yang Jincong laughed. "But what I've told you is the truth—you needn't doubt it."
"So that mysterious boss behind the scenes was just a pretext? There's actually no such person at all?" Tian Yan asked urgently.
"Whether such a person exists specifically, I can't say." Yang Ce shook his head. "But his move against me definitely has something to do with the Sun family."
Yang Mo felt somewhat apologetic—after all, he had deceived Tian Yan. But a well-meant deception was far better than a direct one. Given Yang Juehuan's character, he would never let Tian Long off, and for now he had merely found a reason Tian Yan could accept.
"Yang Ce, you're going to set yourself against my father?" Tian Yan was slightly stunned.
"Some things must be done." Yang Yuting nodded. "I must save Sun Jie."
"But you're no match for my father!" Tian Yan cried out. "How about I talk to my father and get him to release the Sun family?"
"Donghua, I know it's hard for you, caught in the middle, but I don't want you to keep involving yourself in this matter—it will do you no good." Yang Ce shook his head. "Tian Long is an ambitious man. If he could be talked around by you, he wouldn't have gone back on his word. Once a grudge is formed between him and me, it won't be so easily dissolved."
Hearing the way Yang Minlan referred to his father—from the initial "Uncle Tian" to the present "Tian Long"—Tian Yan knew that Yang Ce had truly resolved to make an enemy of his father.
In truth, Yang Yanzhou was right. If his father could be talked around, he would not have gone back on his word; his own words carried next to no weight before his father, almost no real effect at all.
And Tian Yan did not wish harm on either Yang Ce or his father. Though it was his own father who had started it, his father was his father after all—family on one side, friendship on the other—and Tian Yan fell silent.
"Yang Ce, no matter what, I'll advise my father, and I hope he pulls back from the brink." Tian Yan drew a deep breath. "Even if he won't listen to me, I'll do my best to persuade him not to harm you and yours. Likewise, I hope that if... and I say if... my father truly ends up standing against you, then when reconciliation is possible, the matter can still be settled peacefully..."
Yang Ce looked at the Tian Yan before him—usually so full of jokes and laughter—suddenly speaking these words, and was somewhat surprised. But a sudden transformation brought on by a turn of events was not uncommon, so it could only be understood as Tian Yan having grown up.
"I... I give you my word!" Yang Ce said after a moment's hesitation. Tian Yan's attitude had, in the end, kept Yang Ce from hardening his heart. If Tian Long lived to see another day, he owed more thanks to Tian Yan than to anyone. Had it not been for Tian Yan's willingness to fall out with Tian Long for the sake of friendship, Yang Ce would not have stayed his hand.