He Wan walked expressionlessly to stand before her, looking down at her from above.
“Now you know how to be afraid, little bitch?
“Weren’t you quite good at insulting people yesterday? Come on, say everything you said yesterday again.”
Yan Sui twisted her fingers together and looked up at her in confusion and bewilderment.
“Auntie, what did I say yesterday? How would I ever dare insult you?”
He Wan let out a cold laugh.
“Still pretending? You really know how to act!”
The young girl turned to the man behind her as if asking for help.
She had met him once during the first family dinner. He was Lin Jian’s assistant and also He Wan’s distant cousin.
“I don’t know why this is happening. Auntie must have misunderstood something. What exactly did I do wrong? I’ll definitely change it…”
Like a helpless flower caught in a storm, she desperately reached for a lifeline.
He Qiang froze for a moment.
He Wan laughed in anger.
“You’re quite the actress. Kneel down!”
As soon as she finished speaking, she raised the ruler and viciously struck toward Yan Sui’s back.
Yan Sui quickly retreated several steps, barely avoiding the blow. Hugging herself, she crouched behind the sofa.
“He Qiang, what are you standing there for? Bring her here!” He Wan glared fiercely at him.
But He Qiang did not move.
“Sis, could there be some misunderstanding?”
A surge of fury rushed to He Wan’s head.
“Idiot! That little bitch called me a dog with her own mouth yesterday, and now you believe her just because she puts on this act? You trust her instead of me? He Qiang, don’t forget that without me, you’d still be drifting around waiting to die!”
After being scolded so harshly, He Qiang’s expression darkened, but he did not dare argue back.
Tears streamed down Yan Sui’s face.
“Auntie, why are you falsely accusing me like this? You know perfectly well that I would never dare disrespect you! I never insulted anyone!
“I don’t have a mother. No one loves me. I thought I finally had a family…
“There are no outsiders here now. If you just want to hit me, then hit me. But please don’t accuse me of things I never did!”
She closed her eyes, her slender body trembling as though she might collapse at any moment.
Looking at Yan Sui’s deeply wronged expression, He Wan felt both furious and absurd.
She was beginning to doubt whether what she had heard yesterday had been a hallucination.
He Qiang could no longer hold back.
“Sis, I don’t think you’re usually this harsh. She’s so tiny. What if you seriously hurt her?”
“Harsh? I’m harsh?!”
Enraged, He Wan shoved He Qiang aside, grabbed Yan Sui by the arm, and dragged her forward.
The slender girl had no strength to resist.
Yan Sui stumbled and fell to the floor. A large patch of red immediately appeared on her fair arm.
He Wan raised the ruler high and swung it down at her—
“What are you doing?!”
A furious roar echoed through the room.
A teenage boy rushed in through the front door like a gust of wind and grabbed He Wan’s wrist.
“You’re abusing Yan Sui for no reason? How can you be this kind of person?!”
Lin Qi glared angrily at his mother, his other hand tightly gripping his phone.
Ten minutes earlier, Yan Sui had sent him a message:
【I want to apologize to Auntie tonight, but I’m afraid she’ll get angry again. Could you come back and help me talk to her? I’m sorry, but you’re the only person I can ask for help. It’s okay if you don’t want to… Thank you.】
He had plans with friends that evening, but after seeing her message and thinking of those moist almond-shaped eyes, he decided to come home.
What he never expected was to arrive just in time to hear Yan Sui’s tearful accusations and his mother’s furious shouting.
How had his mother become like this?!
He Wan stood frozen in place, staring at her son in disbelief.
Lin Qi crouched down and helped Yan Sui to her feet.
As the girl reached out with tear-filled eyes, he immediately noticed the bright red marks on her arm.
The sight stabbed painfully into the hot-blooded young man’s heart.
Lin Qi angrily moved Yan Sui behind him.
“Mom! I never thought you’d actually abuse your stepdaughter!
“Yan Sui doesn’t even know how she offended you. She’s been thinking about apologizing and making peace with you, yet all you can think about is hitting her?
“She’s already pitiful enough. No one protects her and no one loves her. How can you do something like this?!”
He Wan trembled with rage.
At that moment, the little girl hiding behind Lin Qi suddenly gave her a sweet smile.
Tear stains still lingered on her face, but there was not a trace of timidity left in her expression.
It was malicious and mocking, as if she were saying—
Look at how pathetic you are.
Dizziness overtook He Wan from anger. She swung the ruler wildly.
Lin Qi shielded Yan Sui, and nearly every strike landed on him instead.
The little girl cried out in panic.
“Auntie, please don’t do this! If you want to hit someone, hit me!”
Then she grabbed the hem of Lin Qi’s shirt and asked tearfully,
“Does it hurt? Move aside quickly…”
He Qiang hurried over to break up the fight.
The woman’s shrill screams nearly pierced through the roof.
“You’re all idiots! Every one of you is blind! Lin Qi, I raised you for nothing! Turn around and look at that little bitch’s expression!”
Lin Qi turned around.
At that exact moment, a tear rolled from Yan Sui’s beautiful eyes.
She looked utterly frightened and pitiful.
“Stop acting crazy!”
Unable to tolerate his mother’s behavior any longer, he shoved her away.
He Wan staggered and nearly fell before He Qiang caught her.
Trembling all over, she stared at her son.
“You dare push me for the sake of that little bitch?”
Rubbing his burning arm, Lin Qi sneered.
“If I didn’t push you, was I supposed to stand there and watch you hit Yan Sui?”
“No one protects her. Then I will!”
With that, he grabbed Yan Sui’s wrist and strode out the door.
Darkness clouded He Wan’s vision, and her chest rose and fell violently.
Yet even then, He Qiang cluelessly tried to persuade her.
“Sis, there’s really no need to go this far.”
“Get out! All of you, get out!”
Yan Sui jogged after Lin Qi the entire way. After holding it in for so long, she finally managed to suppress the smile threatening to appear on her lips.
She tugged at his sleeve.
“Where are we going?”
Lin Qi was a wealthy young master whose life had always been smooth and uneventful. Now, however, he felt the thrill of being a hero.
“My friends invited me to a lounge bar. Come with me. You haven’t been back long, so I’ll introduce you to them.”
Yan Sui’s eyes widened with delight.
“Really? Sure!”
Lin Qi called his friend.
“Come pick up your dad!”
Inside the most exclusive lounge bar in Jiangcheng.
Several young men walked out of a private room and laughed into the phone.
“You little brat, your dad’s here.”
As they passed a private bar area, they caught sight of a man sitting alone in the corner behind the glass.
Even though they could not hear anything through the glass, they instinctively lowered their voices and softened their footsteps.
“It’s my first time seeing someone in there. Is he from the Jiang family?”
“No idea, but only members of the Jiang family are allowed in that section.”
“Come on, let’s go…”
The boys left.
In the corner, the man lowered his eyes, his eyelashes trembling.
They trembled from the combined effects of medication and alcohol.
The dim lighting concealed most of his face in shadow, revealing only a pale and cold jawline.
The jazz music outside became nothing more than faint vibrations after passing through the glass. It hazily enveloped his heart, which beat sluggishly under the influence of the drugs, making all sensations feel dull and distant.
Jiang Yuan looked at the second hand on his watch as his vision gradually blurred.
Ten hours, twenty-three minutes, and fifty-four seconds.
He had endured for that long already.
The new medication really worked.
Combined with alcohol, perhaps tonight he would finally be able to sleep.