Half an hour later, the screaming stopped.
Yu Ni stood at the attic door listening, and only when sounds came from the top of the stairs did she turn and go back inside.
The footsteps drew closer.
Yu Ni calmly walked to her desk and sat down, picking up her pen to work on the design blueprints.
In the narrow, dim space, the only sound was the soft scratch of the pen.
Yu Jingxi pushed the door open and walked in, his voice rough. “I told you, I already taught Rou’er a lesson for you. Why did you still tattle to Father?”
Father’s hand had been truly merciless.
He had beaten Yu Rou until not a patch of skin on her body was left unmarked.
Yu Jingxi had doted on that sister since childhood, and seeing her suffer, he naturally ached with sympathy.
He guessed Yu Ni was behind it, and came up immediately to demand answers.
Yu Ni didn’t stop what she was doing, keeping her head down to hide all emotion. “Father saw the wounds on my hands and pressed for the cause. I already did my best to plead on my sister’s behalf—so how is it that in Big Brother’s mouth, I’ve become some heinous criminal?”
Yu Jingxi stepped forward and grabbed her wrist, his voice betraying an unusual humility. “You know how I feel about you. How could I possibly think of you that way?”
“I want to sleep. If Big Brother has nothing else, please close the door on your way out.”
Her cold indifference thoroughly enraged Yu Jingxi. “What will it take for you to be with me?”
Yu Ni found it truly filthy.
She flung his hand away.
“Sure. Kill Yu Shengnian for me.”
Yu Ni smiled with pure innocence, as if joking.
Yu Jingxi’s face changed drastically. “Are you insane?”
“If you don’t have the guts, then don’t talk about love—it just looks cheap.” Yu Ni continued drawing her blueprints, so calm it was as if nothing could touch her.
Yu Jingxi was no kinder than Yu Shengnian.
A beast in human clothing—she saw through both father and son completely.
“Yu Ni, don’t refuse a favor only to accept a penalty.”
Just as the words fell, his phone rang.
Yu Jingxi glanced at the caller ID, and his manner instantly turned respectful. “Father.”
Whatever they discussed, Yu Jingxi didn’t linger in the attic, turning and leaving.
Not long after, Uncle Lin, the butler, came up to ask her to come to the study.
Yu Jingxi and Yu Shengnian were discussing the Luanxing Bay project.
The moment Yu Ni arrived, Yu Jingxi asked, “How far along are the design drafts?”
“Only sixty percent.”
Yu Ni had inherited her father’s talent from childhood, showing a great gift for architectural design.
Over the years, Yu Shengnian had publicly claimed that the Second Miss was in poor health and unfit to appear in public.
In reality, he kept her locked at home drawing design drafts.
Recently, Yu Corporation had been bidding on the Luanxing Bay project. Yu Shengnian looked down on everyone else’s designs, so he handed the work to Yu Ni.
The bidding was intense.
The timeline was tight.
That was why Yu Jingxi had made her stay on the second floor tonight to do extra drawing.
“You have to speed up. It must be finished by tomorrow evening.” Yu Jingxi was clearly anxious.
Yu Ni looked troubled. “But Big Brother, you said one week before.”
“There’s no time,” Yu Jingxi explained. “The Young Master of the Mu family moved the bidding up. You’re staying in the attic tomorrow to work on the design.”
Yu Ni spoke in a soft, wheedling voice. “Big Brother, my hands are injured. They hurt.”
Yu Jingxi had seen the security footage from the lounge and knew what Yu Rou had done to her.
When he first came up to the attic, he had clearly noticed her difficulty moving as well.
At this pace, she truly wouldn’t finish in time.
Yu Shengnian slammed the table and stood up. “Reckless fool. I shouldn’t have held back against her earlier.”
Worried that he would go after Yu Rou again, Yu Jingxi stepped in to smooth things over. “Even if you can’t draw it, you still have the concept in your head. Tomorrow night, you’ll come with me to the bidding site and improvise on the spot.”
Yu Shengnian refused. “Ni Ni cannot leave the house.”
The rift between father and son flared up once more.
Yu Jingxi pressed urgently, “The design blueprints for Luanxing Bay were drawn by Ni Ni. In the entire company, no one knows Luanxing Bay better than she does. If she doesn’t show up, we’re certain to lose this bidding.”
His unyielding tone sent Yu Shengnian into a rage on the spot. “You’re the one in charge—don’t you know Luanxing Bay yourself?”
Yu Jingxi answered honestly, “Only Ni Ni understands the design concept. An amateur like me would be seen through by the Crown Prince at a glance. Father, whether it’s for your own selfish desires or for the company’s survival—you decide.”
Yu Shengnian lit a cigar and took long, heavy drags.
In the face of profit, he ultimately relented. “Keep Ni Ni protected. If anything goes wrong, I’ll hold you accountable.”
…
After leaving the study, Yu Ni was confined to the house by Yu Shengnian, forbidden from going out.
Before long, waves of sobbing and screaming drifted out from Yu Rou’s room.
Yu Ni sat by the window, a chisel in hand, carving the marble before her. The smooth, flat surface of the stone gradually took on lines and contours.
Though she hadn’t gone downstairs, she knew exactly what was happening.
Yu Rou had injured her, leaving her unable to finish the design blueprints on time, forcing Yu Shengnian to relent and agree to let her attend the bidding conference.
With nowhere to vent his fury, someone naturally had to serve as a human punching bag.
The screams rose one after another, until a resounding kick against a door rang out, and the house below finally fell silent.
Yu Ni remained unmoved, focused on her work.
Her hands rose and fell with practiced, deft precision.
Soon, a handsome man’s face gradually took shape.
Yu Ni set down the chisel and studied her carving with care.
She had indeed chosen the right person.
This face was the most perfect one she had ever seen to date.
“Second Miss.”
A knock came from outside the door. Yu Ni’s eyes turned cold, and she picked up the statue and hid it behind the curtains.
Uncle Lin, the butler, pushed the door open. “These are the evening gown and jewelry the Young Master prepared for you. He says you must be ready by five-thirty tomorrow—he’ll come back to pick you up.”
With that, Uncle Lin set the gift box outside and turned to head downstairs.
Only then did Yu Ni go over to get the dress.
Opening it, she found a white lace gown with puffed sleeves, its hem falling just past the knees, along with a diamond necklace of considerable value.
It was clear how much Yu Jingxi cared about tomorrow night’s bidding conference—he had personally picked out clothes for her, and in this debutante style, no less.
She wondered what expression her adoptive father would make when he saw her in this outfit.
For the first time, Yu Ni found herself looking forward to tomorrow night.
After all these years of open strife and hidden rivalry—
how would this father and son manage to keep up their facade of harmony?
The next day, before dawn had fully broken.
There was constant commotion downstairs, and before long, an ambulance pulled up outside the villa.
Yu Ni stood on the staircase, looking down as the butler and several servants carried Yu Rou, her body covered in wounds, into the ambulance.
A few servants hid in the corners, secretly discussing what had happened.
From them, Yu Ni learned that last night, Yu Shengnian had gone to Yu Rou’s room and beaten her savagely. Yu Rou couldn’t endure it and vomited blood on the spot.
All night Yu Rou lay on her bed moaning. She had suddenly come down with a high fever, convulsing repeatedly, her face turning an ashen blue. Worried that something serious had happened, the butler called an ambulance and had her taken away.
“The master really didn’t hold back. She’s his own daughter, after all—how could he beat her to such a state?”
Merciless?
Compared to how he had hounded her parents to their deaths back then, what were these little tactics worth?
Yu Rou was simply a fool.
Jealous and combative.
Unable to withstand even the slightest provocation.
Yu Jingxi had only needed to say a few casual words, and Yu Rou had worked herself into hurting herself.
Yu Jingxi might protect Yu Rou.
But Yu Shengnian was different.
He could never bear to see her hurt. With Yu Rou having injured her like this, how could Yu Shengnian possibly let Yu Rou off?