With a loud “smack,” Ruan Jiajia was caught off guard by a slap and fell backward onto the sofa.
Lin Qinglan gasped in shock and rushed to help her up.
“Ruan Jiajia, this slap is to teach you that a person must have principles. Without them, you’re nothing but a beast.”
Ruan Zhi’s face was flushed with anger, her expression fierce—a far cry from her usual gentle demeanor. Her right hand, which she’d swung with all her might, felt burning hot and numb.
“Ruan Zhi!”
No sooner had Lin Qinglan’s steely gaze fixed on her than Ruan Jiajia suddenly lunged at Ruan Zhi, flailing her arms and claws:
“You bitch! How dare you hit me? I’m going to kill you…”
Ruan Zhi couldn’t dodge in time; as she raised her hand to block the attack, Ruan Jiajia grabbed a lock of her hair.
A sharp pain shot through her scalp. Gritting her teeth in fury, she refused to back down and grabbed a lock of Ruan Jiajia’s hair, yanking it viciously.
Ruan Jiajia screamed in pain as the two women wrestled in a tangled heap, their curses and shrieks echoing intermittently through the vast living room.
Lin Qinglan’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. When she saw Ruan Zhi roll over to straddle Ruan Jiajia and start choking her, she finally rushed over to pull Ruan Zhi away.
Caught off guard after being struck on the head, Ruan Zhi’s fierce grip suddenly loosened. As she was pulled away, Ruan Jiajia’s sharp fingernails slashed across her face…
“All of you, stop it right now!”
Just then, a man’s furious roar, like a bolt of thunder, exploded beside the three of them.
Ruan Xiuming had taken the elevator down at some point and was now rolling his wheelchair toward them.
Ruan Jiajia stood frozen in place, gasping for breath.
Lin Qinglan helped her up with concern and asked softly if she was all right.
Ruan Jiajia threw herself into Lin Qinglan’s arms and burst into tears, feeling utterly wronged.
Ruan Zhi, who had fallen to the ground, was panting heavily. She lowered her eyelashes, braced herself against the floor with her hands, and slowly stood up. Every muscle in her body ached, and her legs were so weak they trembled—the discomfort caused a wave of heartache to well up inside her.
She wanted to cry too, but she couldn’t. There was no one she could lean on and cry to.
Set against the black down jacket, her small face—streaked with blood—was frighteningly pale. Her eyes were red, and her hair was a tangled mess perched on top of her head.
Seeing her like this, Ruan Xiuming’s anger flared even more, and he slammed his hand down on the armrest of his wheelchair:
“As an adult, shouldn’t you have stepped in to stop the kids from fighting? Making us a laughingstock first thing in the morning—how do you run this household?”
His anger turned toward Lin Qinglan. Her pampered face darkened for a moment; she glanced at her husband in the wheelchair, pressed her lips together, and remained silent.
“Dad, why are you picking on Mom? Ruan Zhi was the one who hit me first!”
Seeing that Ruan Xiuming was once again taking Ruan Zhi’s side, Ruan Jiajia stuck out her chin and cried out,
“You’re always like this—you don’t even ask. Everything is Mom’s and my fault, but Ruan Zhi never does anything wrong. She’s the best-behaved one. Look at my face—she even choked me…”
The red, swollen handprints on her face were clearly visible, and a red mark from being choked was visible around her neck; she looked even more disheveled than Ruan Zhi.
Having spoiled her since childhood, Ruan Xiuming’s anger subsided considerably.
Seeing this, Ruan Zhi fluttered her eyelashes, her voice thick with a nasal tone:
“Uncle, last night Jiajia found some old man to drug me, and that guy took me to a hotel room…”
“Ruan Zhi! You’re making baseless accusations!”
Before she could finish, Ruan Jiajia retorted, her face flushed,
“I’ve been at home these past few days—I haven’t even gone out. It’s you who’s been coming and going late every day, hanging out with those shady little actors. Now that something’s gone wrong and you can’t find anyone to blame, you’ve come running back here, acting crazy and pinning it all on me.”
She panicked; she never would have imagined that the usually quiet pushover would dare to go straight to their parents to tattle.
The “small-time actress” Ruan Jiajia was referring to was clearly senior Song Ran.
It didn’t take Ruan Zhi long to figure it out—she must have hired someone to follow her. Otherwise, how could she know her whereabouts so precisely, let alone team up with that scumbag surnamed Lin to drug her?
And as for her habit of never admitting when she’s wrong and twisting the truth—she’d seen that behavior countless times since she was a child.
A trace of mockery flashed across her cool, almond-shaped eyes.
She didn’t defend herself, but instead turned to Ruan Xiuming, whose face was dark with anger. Her eyes reddened, and her voice choked with emotion:
“Uncle, I heard it with my own ears. Jiajia even said she’d post a video of me being defiled by an old man all over the internet, so that Rong Che wouldn’t be able to marry me, and in the end, I’d have no choice but to marry that scumbag…”
“Xiao Zhi, you’re taking this way too far.”
Lin Qinglan rebuked her with a cold expression,
“Jiajia may be a bit spoiled at times, and you’ve had some minor conflicts, but you’re cousins after all. You’ve lived under the same roof for over a decade—would she really go so far as to harm you? We all share the Ruan surname; what good would it do her to ruin your reputation?”
“You’re right, Auntie.”
Ruan Zhi gave a bitter smile,
“I just can’t figure it out. Is it really worth using such vicious tactics against me just for the inheritance Grandpa left me, as you keep saying? You know full well that Rong Che and I are a couple—aren’t you afraid he’ll find out and come after you?”
Her tone grew increasingly firm and sarcastic.
The air turned as cold as ice.
Ruan Xiuming’s face turned ashen, and his piercing, icy gaze fixed on Lin Qinglan and her daughter:
“Did you two do this?”
Even he didn’t know about the inheritance; he believed Zhi couldn’t have made up such a lie.
Besides, she was such a good girl—how could she possibly lie?
Lin Qinglan’s face went pale.
She had only found out by chance that the old coot had changed his will at the last minute; Ruan Xiuming was still in the dark.
He’d love nothing more than to leave everything in the Ruan family to the daughter of that slut—why would he even consider her and Jiajia?
Ruan Jiajia’s eyes darted away. Biting her lip, she shouted back indignantly:
“Dad, I’m your biological daughter. She’s just an outsider. You believe everything she says—tell her to produce some proof!”
So what if that slut overheard her? Without anyone to testify on her behalf, this whole thing would just fizzle out.
A hint of smugness in her eyes didn’t escape Ruan Zhi’s notice.
She took a deep breath, bent down to pick up her bag from the floor, and pulled out her phone:
“Jiajia, you might not know this, but I recorded every single word you said to my aunt.”
Her calm and composed demeanor didn’t seem feigned.
Ruan Jiajia’s pupils dilated in shock, and she glared at her viciously:
“You’re lying. You didn’t record anything at all. Don’t even think about tricking me.”
Lin Qinglan, standing nearby, also fixed her gaze on Ruan Zhi, terrified that she might actually play the recording.
Ruan Zhi tugged at the corner of her lips and handed the phone to Ruan Xiuming: “Uncle, here’s the recording…”