Shen Qingyu turned. Xiao Nian's eyes were red-rimmed, and he crossed the carpet at a run before climbing onto the sofa and pressing his face against Shen Qingyu's arm. He did not fully understand adult betrayal or engagements or public opinion — but he understood that his dad had been hurt, very badly and for a very long time, and that when his dad spoke about it he sounded like he had been completely alone.

"Dad, I'm here," Xiao Nian said.

The words were childish and simple and almost clumsy, and Shen Qingyu's breath stopped. Lu Yiheng came over too, his small face remaining serious, his eyes dry — but his fingers curled tightly around the hem of Shen Qingyu's sleeve.

"Dad," Xiao Heng said, "according to basic moral logic, you were not wrong."

The living room fell silent. Shen Qingyu looked at his two children, and the wound that had not hurt when strangers cursed him, had not hurt when the staff asked him questions, had not even hurt when he repeated the words from that year aloud — suddenly throbbed so sharply that he almost could not breathe. At sixteen, everyone had told him he was making a scene. At twenty-two, his children told him he was not wrong.

The difference was absurd. Absurd enough to make his eyes sting.

But Shen Qingyu did not cry. He only reached out and gathered both children into his arms, and his voice, when it came, was very soft. "Dad knows."

Lu Jingheng watched them. His hands were still, his expression composed, but the veins on the back of his hand had risen.

【I'm crying.】

【Xiao Heng saying "you were not wrong" broke me.】

【He was sixteen. Why did no one say that to him?】

【His own children are doing what his family should have done.】

【I feel like we helped hurt him too.】

A hostile comment appeared: 【This is obviously scripted. Children don't say things like that.】

Before Shen Qingyu could respond, Xiao Heng looked toward the production monitor, where a staff member had accidentally enlarged that comment during moderation. He studied it for a moment.

"Dad, what does scripted mean?"

"It means someone thinks we prepared what to say in advance."

Xiao Heng frowned. "That is unreasonable. If the production team wanted a script, they should have provided it earlier for review. We received no such document." A brief pause. "Also, Brother's emotional reaction is spontaneous. His eyes are red, his breathing frequency changed, and he dropped his puzzle piece. These are not efficient performance choices."

Xiao Nian rubbed his eyes. "I'm not acting."

"Correct," Xiao Heng confirmed. "Brother's acting ability is currently unverified."

Xiao Nian looked at him with an expression of pure bafflement.

Shen Qingyu: "…"

Even Lu Jingheng's expression loosened for half a second.

【HAHAHAHAHAHAHA】

【Baby, you are defending your brother, but why does it sound like a peer review?】

【This child is too logical to be scripted.】

【If this was scripted, the screenwriter deserves an award.】

The laughter in the comments did not erase what had come before it — the impact of Shen Qingyu's words had already spread outward and would not be recalled. Marketing accounts were cutting clips. Anti-fans were attempting to mock him. But many ordinary viewers had already begun searching old timelines, cross-referencing dates, looking for the specific evidence that had never actually existed. Sixteen. Twenty. Nineteen. Fiancé. Fifth brother. Cancelled engagement. The old story, viewed through those numbers, no longer looked like a romantic tale of brave true love. It looked like betrayal dressed up as destiny.

The staff member looked at the next card, hands trembling, and did not dare continue. But Shen Qingyu did not let the segment end.

"Is there another question?"

The staff member looked up in shock.

"Since we've started," Shen Qingyu said calmly, "let's finish."

Lu Jingheng looked at him. Shen Qingyu did not avoid his gaze. He had promised himself he would answer it himself — not because he needed strangers to absolve him, and not merely to relive the past, but because if he did not cut open the old wound himself the protagonist halo would continue using it to poison his children's future. He could endure being called vicious. But Xiao Nian and Xiao Heng could not be called the children of a vicious omega mother forever.