“But she probably won’t agree,” Lin Fantong said with some hesitation.
After all, this daughter of his… seemed to have changed. She was no longer so easy to control.
Everything that had happened since yesterday proved that clearly.
Without making a sound, she had first ruined her stepsister’s reputation, forcing her into marrying a local thug.
Then she had beaten his wife until she was seriously injured.
Each incident was strange—too strange to explain.
How could someone who had been timid and submissive for twenty years suddenly change so completely?
And become so scheming?
“Heh, whether she agrees or not isn’t up to Lin Jiaojiao.”
Lin Miaomiao’s voice lowered, until Lin Jiaojiao could no longer hear what they were saying.
But even without hearing it, she could guess.
Nothing more than those dirty, underhanded tricks—drugging or something equally despicable.
She had already seen such things before.
Bang—!
The tightly shut door was kicked open from the outside.
Lin Jiaojiao walked in with a cold, sneering smile on her face.
Without saying a word, she grabbed Lin Miaomiao by the collar and slapped her hard—left and right.
The crisp, resounding slaps echoed through the neighborhood like thunder.
So loud that the neighbors who had already gone to bed after dinner all turned their lights back on one after another.
“Ah! Help! Dad! Mom! Save me! Save me!”
The pain snapped Lin Miaomiao out of her daze. While screaming for help, she tried to push Lin Jiaojiao away.
But Lin Jiaojiao’s grip was like iron—no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t move her at all.
Lin Fantong and Xia Qiuyue, finally shaken back to their senses by her screams, rushed forward at once to rescue her.
But the moment they met Lin Jiaojiao’s gaze, both of them froze in place, not daring to move another step.
Seeing their cowardly reaction, Lin Jiaojiao curled her lips in ridicule.
Xia Qiuyue was one thing, but Lin Fantong—her father—suddenly felt his authority as a father being challenged.
His previously blank expression darkened instantly.
Xia Qiuyue knew him best. Seeing his expression change, she felt a surge of satisfaction.
As long as he got angry, this little bitch would definitely suffer.
“Lin Jiaojiao, let go of your sister right now. Otherwise—”
Lin Fantong didn’t finish, but the threat was obvious.
Instead of being afraid, Lin Jiaojiao smiled mockingly.
“Otherwise what?”
“Thirty lashes with a whip? Starve me for three days and nights? Or make me stand outside in winter without a coat for two hours?”
Lin Fantong’s body stiffened slightly.
A trace of awkwardness flashed across his face.
Because everything she said—he had actually done to her before.
But that was years ago.
He hadn’t expected this little wretch, just like her mother, to still remember it all.
And to say it out so bluntly—she was slapping his face.
Truly, not one’s own blood is never close.
But he also knew that force was not wise here.
With so many neighbors around, if they saw him hitting his daughter, the “kind father” image he had worked so hard to maintain would collapse.
What he didn’t know was that his image had already been seen through long ago.
Everyone had seen how the stepmother entered the house, and the stepdaughter was given everything she wanted.
While his own daughter looked thin and weak, clearly underfed, wearing patched clothes.
That contrast alone had already told everyone the truth.
Lin Fantong quickly changed his expression, forcing a loving smile.
“Jiaojiao, what are you saying? How could Dad ever treat you like that now that you’re grown?”
He reached out as if to pat her head, but Lin Jiaojiao shot him a cold glance that made him retract his hand.
He continued smoothly, “Dad just means… if you keep being stubborn, it might harm the relationship between you sisters.”
“Heh. Did we ever have such a thing?”
Lin Jiaojiao sneered.
Lin Fantong’s forced smile almost cracked.
This ungrateful little bitch—she really had grown wings!
He would not let her off once he got the chance.
Suppressing his anger, he continued, “Jiaojiao, I know there’s been some misunderstanding between you and your sister.”
“Your sister now knows she was wrong. She’s already suffered the consequences too. As her older sister, you should be magnanimous and forgive her this time.”
“After all, even teeth bite each other sometimes. Let alone people—don’t you agree?”
Seeing that Lin Jiaojiao only smiled without replying, he pressed on, “How about this—you let go of your sister, and I’ll have her apologize to you.”
“Dad! Why are you talking so much to her? Just order her to let me go!”
Completely unaware of the seriousness of the situation, Lin Miaomiao suddenly spoke up.
Her tone even carried a commanding edge.
It nearly made Lin Fantong want to slap this foolish daughter of his again.
“My god… I used to think she was gentle and weak. I didn’t expect her to be so fierce in private.”
“And she even dares to order her father around?”
“Exactly. Looks can be deceiving.”
“Heh, as the saying goes, like parents, like children. Don’t forget her real father is a gambler and a wife-beater…”
“Enough!”
Xia Qiuyue, who had been watching Lin Fantong’s expression closely, quickly warned Lin Miaomiao.
But Lin Miaomiao, in pain and humiliation, didn’t care at all.
She glared at Lin Jiaojiao and said, “Dad, you’re my real dad, how can you—”
“Shut up!”
Before she could finish, Lin Fantong quickly covered her mouth.
He almost wanted to sew it shut on the spot.
And in panic, he glanced toward the doorway.
The neighbors were still watching with gossip-filled eyes.
His heart sank.
When he looked back and met Lin Jiaojiao’s faint, mocking smile, his body stiffened again.
But only for a moment.
He quickly forced a kind expression again.
“Jiaojiao, don’t misunderstand. Your sister is just upset about not wanting to marry Liu Quan and is talking nonsense out of anger.”
Lin Jiaojiao couldn’t even be bothered to respond.
She said coldly, “Whether it’s nonsense or not, you know it yourself. I don’t care.”
Then she casually threw Lin Miaomiao to the ground like a dead dog.
And walked straight into Lin Miaomiao’s room.
Seeing this, Lin Miaomiao immediately shouted angrily, “That’s my room! Get out!”
She tried to rush in again, ignoring the pain on her face.
But she was stopped by Xia Qiuyue.
“Mom, are you helping that little bastard too?”
Lin Miaomiao stared at her in disbelief, as if she had committed some unforgivable crime.
At this point, not only Lin Fantong—but even Xia Qiuyue wanted to strangle this foolish daughter.
How did she, Xia Qiuyue, so clever all her life… end up giving birth to such an idiot?