His voice remained cold, controlled, but something razor-sharp cut through underneath.
"So now that she's healthy, however that happened, whatever treatment made it possible, I'm not going to let anyone disturb her recovery. Not you. Not the family. Not anyone who thinks they have claims on her just because of a blood relation they never bothered to nurture."
"I cared about her," Lu Cheng protested weakly.
"You cared about the idea of her," Lu Yuze corrected. "You cared about being seen as a good uncle, about fulfilling family obligations with minimum effort. But an actual relationship? Actual knowledge of who she is as a person? You have none of that. So your sudden desperate need to 'understand' and 'help' rings rather hollow."
Silence stretched between them, filled with years of accumulated distance and resentment finally breaking the surface.
