Chapter 25 Outsiders

Chapter 25 Outsider

Song Yan walked through the noisy crowd toward Si Yuan.

He had rushed there as fast as he could, and there was still some weariness in his eyes.

Seeing Si Yuan standing there with a pale face, Song Yan frowned slightly: "What's wrong? You look so pale."

Si Yuan grabbed his sleeve, her voice panicked: "Brother, what exactly is Lin Shuangyu planning to do today?"

Song Yan didn't understand.

He glanced at the decorations and chuckled, "Wasn't this birthday party all set up nicely? What's wrong with you?"

Even knowing that Song Yan might not believe her, even knowing that he trusted Lin Shuangyu, she couldn't just sit and wait for her to die. Only Song Yan could help her.

"Brother, Lin Shuangyu, she..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Lin Shuangyu's voice interrupted.

She walked closer to Song Yan, naturally took his hand, and subtly pushed Si Yuan's hand away from Song Yan's body: "Ah Yan, I've been waiting for you for a long time. How was it? Did I do a good job with my mission?"

Song Yan nodded, his eyes gentle: "I always trust you with my affairs."

Lin Shuangyu smiled and continued, "There's another surprise for my sister on the big screen later."

Si Yuan froze, then turned sharply to look at the large screen in the center of the banquet hall.

In that instant, she almost guessed what Lin Shuangyu was going to do.

Song Yan turned to her and asked, "What were you doing just now... Xiao Yuan?"

Si Yuan couldn't hear anything. She took two steps back, stopped looking at Song Yan and Lin Shuangyu, and turned to walk towards the control room behind the big screen.

When the staff saw her burst in, they quickly stood up and asked, "Ms. Song, is there something you need?"

Si Yuan's voice trembled slightly with coldness, her fingertips clenched so tightly they turned white: "Where is the thing Lin Shuangyu asked you to put?"

The staff members exchanged glances, their eyes darting around as if they wanted to say something but hesitated.

Si Yuan stepped forward, her gaze icy, and asked again, "Where are you?"

Someone finally relented and took a USB drive from the console drawer and handed it over.

Si Yuan took the USB drive, her fingertips gently touching the cool casing, and her tense chest relaxed slightly.

She didn't linger; she walked out of the control room and quickly went into the restroom at the end of the corridor.

He raised his hand and tossed the USB drive into the toilet.

Press the flush button, and the USB drive disappears.

Si Yuan was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Her chest heaved twice, and she closed her eyes.

Finally... it's solved.

The emcee's voice came from outside, and Si Yuan knew it was time to go out.

As her unease subsided, she finally regained her composure.

Si Yuan straightened her clothes in front of the mirror, took a deep breath to calm herself, and stepped out of the room.

The birthday party officially began.

The lights in the room suddenly dimmed, and the silver candlesticks next to the tables lit up one by one with a warm glow, casting a soft halo over the entire room.

Mr. and Mrs. Song sat at the main table. Mr. Song's gaze fell on her with a gentle expression, and Mrs. Song forced a smile.

At the very least, they didn't want to leave Si Yuan with bad memories at her birthday party.

Si Yuan lifted the hem of her dress and walked step by step through the crowd to the center of the hall.

The waiter slowly pushed a three-tiered cake cart forward.

The rhinestone decorations on the cream sparkled in the candlelight.

A soothing piano birthday song slowly began to play.

Song Yan took the cake knife and handed it to her, his tone as gentle as ever: "Little princess, you are the star today, so you have to cut the first slice."

Si Yuan smiled slightly, took the knife, and steadily made a cut in the center of the cake.

Everyone applauded.

Si Yuan nodded her thanks while glancing at Lin Shuangyu out of the corner of her eye.

Just then, he saw the staff member from the control room quickly walk through the crowd, then bend down and whisper something in Lin Shuangyu's ear.

Lin Shuangyu's smiling face instantly turned cold.

The next second, she looked up and stared straight at Si Yuan, her eyes filled with coldness.

Si Yuan nodded, withdrawing her gaze from Lin Shuangyu.

It seems Lin Shuangyu is determined to fight me to the death.

Fortunately, she didn't succeed this time.

No one noticed when a giant firework balloon floated overhead and hung in mid-air above the banquet hall.

With a loud "bang," it suddenly exploded.

Si Yuan was startled and subconsciously looked up.

Colorful ribbons wrapped in tiny sequins fluttered down, instantly immersing the entire venue in a dazzling spectacle.

As she looked down, she happened to meet Song Yan's smiling gaze.

Song Yan took two steps closer, his voice unusually clear despite the noise: "Xiao Yuan, happy birthday."

Si Yuan felt a warmth in her heart: "Thank you, brother."

Song Yan raised an eyebrow, his tone full of affection: "This year, will your older brother be the first to wish you a happy birthday again?"

Si Yuan's smile faltered for a moment.

If we really have to rank them, actually... it should be Jiang Wang.

Just as Si Yuan was about to say something more, a questioning voice suddenly came from the crowd: "What is this?"

Before the words were even finished, someone picked up a piece of paper from the ground, held it up, and frowned: "Why are there photos here?"

Discussions erupted instantly.

As the lights came back on, Si Yuan could see that along with the ribbons, there were also many photos and papers falling.

Si Yuan put down the cake and picked up one of the photos on the table in front of her.

It was her old diary that she had lost.

But it was torn into pieces, along with her photos filled with her thoughts, mixed with ribbons, and scattered all over the hall.

A few scraps of paper happened to fall in front of Mr. and Mrs. Song.

Song's mother's fingers, which were gripping the piece of paper, turned white, and her eyes instantly turned cold.

Si Yuan froze, her mind going blank for a moment.

She suddenly looked at Lin Shuangyu, only to be met with undisguised mockery in his eyes, as if he were looking at her as a joke.

Yes, how could Lin Shuangyu be so stupid as to expose the plan ahead of time?

The USB drive she just used was not her final resort.

She even predicted that she would try to steal the USB drive.

From beginning to end, I felt completely kept in the dark, like a fool.

But she clearly threw those things into the sink herself...

She turned to Song Yan in a panic, her voice trembling, "Brother, I didn't do this, you have to believe me—"

Before he could finish explaining, he was interrupted by a cacophony of opinions.

A great commotion arose.

"The words on this photo, were they written by Miss Song to her brother?"

"This is really strange, isn't it...?"

"Even if they're not biologically related, you can't like your adopted brother, right?"

The whispers pierced Si Yuan's ears like needles.

Song Yan clenched his fists.

These diaries and photos, which he had secretly put into a drawer after discovering them, how did they end up here?

He saw Si Yuan's face turn pale inch by inch, her eyes redden, and she was already at a loss and about to cry.

His heart ached, and he wanted to wipe away her tears, wrap her in his arms, and say, "It's okay, your brother is here. Your brother won't let anyone hurt you..."

But the disdainful looks from those around him made Song Yan swallow back the words of comfort that were on the tip of his tongue.

He turned to look at Lin Shuangyu, who immediately put on an innocent expression: "Ayan, I really don't know what's going on. There's no balloon or firework item in the procedure."

Song Yan's Adam's apple bobbed, but he ultimately did not admit it.

He avoided Si Yuan's bewildered and pleading gaze, his tone as indifferent as that of an outsider: "I'll take Mom and Dad home first. You handle things here yourself."