Qiao Qilin’s warm, refined voice rang out from outside the door.
“Excuse me, everyone, please make way. I have urgent business.”
In front of outsiders, he always maintained this polished, gentlemanly facade.
The gentle expression on Qiao Xi’s face vanished in an instant, replaced by something sharp and untamed—like a small beast baring its teeth, not bothering to hide her hostility.
The door was pushed open. Qiao Qilin dismissed the people in the room in a few quick words.
When he saw Qiao Xi, his expression darkened immediately.
“What are you doing? If you take him away now, aren’t you afraid something will happen to your brother on the way? Acting like this… really disappoints me as your father!”
“Stop pretending,” Qiao Xi sneered coldly. “We already tore each other apart at the company. Don’t even think about using moral coercion on me now.”
Qiao Qilin finally stopped pretending as well.
“Don’t think that just because you’ve latched onto the Nan Gong family, you can act so recklessly. In the end, you’re still my Qiao family’s daughter!”
His voice rose sharply.
“He’s not well right now. I won’t let you take him away.”
Qiao Xi spread her arms, blocking her brother behind her.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re really after. You just want to use him for your own selfish purposes.”
“With him right under your eyes, you can keep using him to threaten me. But that won’t be possible anymore. The helicopter is already outside—we’re leaving now.”
Qiao Qilin grabbed her arm, trying to push her aside.
“I raised him for so many years—he’s practically half my son. You don’t have the right to make this decision on your own.”
“Even if there’s a helicopter outside, even if there’s a rocket waiting, I will not let anyone take him!”
Qiao Xi let out a mocking laugh.
“So you’ll let him stay here and die instead? You keep saying he’s your half-son—so this is how you act as a father?”
“Oh right, I forgot. You’re someone who even schemes against his own biological daughter. What’s a half-son to you?”
“Smack!”
A sharp slap landed across Qiao Xi’s face.
Qiao Qilin’s face turned livid with rage.
“You insolent thing—how dare you speak to me like that! No wonder your mother says you have no upbringing. Is this the rebellion you learned from growing up in the slums?!”
“Heh… and this rebelliousness is exactly because of you!” Qiao Xi snapped back. “If you hadn’t lost me back then, would I have ended up in the slums? After returning to the Qiao family, if you had even given me one-tenth of what you gave Qiao Ying’er, would I have had to fight for everything myself?”
Her voice grew sharper.
“You forced me to marry Young Master Chen. You refused to let me take my own design drafts. You used my brother’s medical fees to threaten me. Every single thing—you pushed me into it!”
Qiao Qilin pointed at her nose, furious.
“You’re just useless! If you were as outstanding as your sister, your mother and I wouldn’t have had to worry so much!”
“You ungrateful thing—you not only refuse to be grateful, you constantly oppose us! Don’t think I can’t handle you. Even if the King of Heaven himself came today, I won’t let you take him!”
“Is that so?”
Qiao Xi raised her phone slightly, a cold glint in her eyes.
“What if I release this recording? Who do you think people will let take him then?”
Qiao Qilin’s expression instantly changed.
“What are you planning to do?!”
“Your true face is all clearly recorded here,” she said coldly, shaking the phone. “I’d really love to show everyone how the respected CEO of the Qiao family treats his own daughter.”
Qiao Qilin’s face darkened.
“So you’re determined to make this blow up until no one can save face. If you still remember even a shred of my upbringing of you, delete that video!”
Qiao Xi’s expression turned sharp and ruthless.
“I can delete it—but only if you let me take my brother and leave.”
Qiao Qilin’s anger exploded.
“So that’s your condition? Don’t even think about it! Someone—smash her phone!”