Chapter 2

4

Lin Ran gritted her teeth.

“You think I’d confront you without real evidence?

“I meant to leave your family some dignity. You’re the ones who have no shame!”

She grew more vicious with every sentence.

Mum collapsed.

“Mum!”

I caught her and called an ambulance.

In the confusion, Zhou Yu took the opportunity to pull Lin Ran aside.

Whatever they said, I could no longer hear it.

I carried Mum downstairs and hurried her to hospital.

A lovely Mid-Autumn birthday had turned into a disaster.

Her blood pressure had surged, and she had lost consciousness.

Swallowing my tears, I called Dad, who was away on business, and told him everything.

His shock became fury.

“What the hell is Zhou Yu doing?

“I’ll call him right now.

“Look after your mother. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Afterward, a nurse sent me to pay the hospital fees.

I hurried downstairs.

In the crowd, I spotted Zhou Yu.

Holding another woman’s hand.

Wasn’t he supposed to be with Lin Ran?

I followed quickly, toward the obstetrics and gynecology department.

Someone seized my hair from behind.

“You scheming little bitch! Caught you!”

Lin Ran’s face was vicious.

“You couldn’t stand him comforting me, could you? So you messaged him, pretended your stomach hurt and tricked him into coming to hospital! Have you no shame?”

Pain burned across my scalp.

I gritted my teeth and restrained her.

I’d studied taekwondo.

She was no match for me.

“Have you finished? I’m following Zhou Yu too! He brought another woman. She’s the one you want!”

She faltered.

I pulled her toward the clinic.

But Zhou Yu and the woman were gone.

“Go on. Keep acting.”

Lin Ran shook me off.

“Writing the story and playing every part. Quite the little actress.”

I could barely breathe.

All the anger and hurt of the evening broke open.

I took out my phone and called the police.

The hospital had cameras.

We would find out who the real “Qiaoqiao” beside Zhou Yu was.

5

The officers arrived quickly.

I reported Lin Ran for deliberately injuring me and asked them to obtain the corridor footage as evidence.

They went through it frame by frame.

At last, I saw the woman clearly.

She looked remarkably like me.

But she wasn’t me.

Su Huihui.

A student at my university.

The resemblance was why I remembered her.

Lin Ran stared at the screen.

“Impossible. How can it be someone else?”

My phone vibrated.

Dad.

[Qiaoqiao, I’ve found out. That animal Zhou Yu found a stand-in for you! He knows he’s in the wrong. He won’t even answer my calls!]

Dad was the CEO of the city’s largest business group.

He moved fast.

A detailed investigation followed the message.

Zhou Yu had been keeping Su Huihui for a year.

He had already been openly dating Lin Ran.

Unwilling to give up a woman with her family connections, he had carried on with both.

He even intended to have Su Huihui secretly bear him a son.

Perhaps afraid Lin Ran would discover her, he saved Su’s account under the name of his niece, whom he rarely contacted.

Me.

A convenient cover for his filthy behavior.

Nausea rolled through me.

I held the phone in front of Lin Ran.

“See? He’s having an affair with Su Huihui.”

Her stunned expression twisted.

“You think that clears you?

“There’s no smoke without fire! If you weren’t always playing innocent and flirting in front of him, why would he go looking for a copy of you?

“He admitted it at dinner. You seduced him first. You put the idea in his head!”

Her logic was so outrageous that even the officer frowned.

She gave a cold laugh.

“Haicheng University, isn’t it? What a coincidence. I lecture there part-time.

“I’ll make sure everyone hears about you. Let’s see who lets the girl who seduced her uncle pass a class.”

Even now, she believed Zhou Yu’s claim that I wanted him.

I had thought she was another victim.

Deceived, just like me.

I had even considered letting it go.

Now I could see they deserved each other.

I turned to the police.

“I won’t accept mediation or compensation. I want her detained.”

6

Lin Ran was taken away.

My injury wasn’t serious, so she would only be held for a few days.

But the incident would be on record.

After giving my statement, I returned to Mum’s room.

She had woken up.

Phone in hand, she was tearing into the family group.

“Stop using insinuations to smear my daughter! Qiaoqiao didn’t do it.

“You’ve lived comfortably for so long you’ve forgotten who brought you projects and helped you make money.

“Fine. Ruan Group will end every partnership with your families!”

The flood silenced them.

Then apologies poured in.

Mum didn’t read them.

She left the group.

Seeing blood through my wrist dressing, she looked distressed.

“How did the wound open again? Did Lin Ran come after you?

“Don’t be afraid. Your father and I are here. If the sky falls, we’ll hold it up for you.”

Warmth filled me.

I didn’t want her worrying, so I kept the hospital confrontation to myself.

She was discharged that evening.

Dad had flown home in a hurry.

He was angry and full of blame for himself.

“I felt sorry for Zhou Yu. An orphan, and capable. I took him as a sworn brother.

“Who knew he’d turn out this ungrateful? Using our daughter as cover for his affair!”

“I’ve formally removed him from every position at the branch. There’s a special audit team going through all the accounts he handled.”

Dad had known about Zhou Yu’s little tricks over the years.

He had overlooked them because the branch was doing well.

But after this betrayal, Zhou Yu could expect no more favors.

I never imagined he would still have the nerve to come to our house.

The next day, he arrived with health tonics and gifts, wearing an ingratiating expression.

“Qiaoqiao, I heard your mother was discharged. I came to see her…”

“You’re not welcome. Get out.”

I began closing the door.

He blocked it.

His eyes were complicated, his tenderness false.

“After everything, you still don’t understand how I feel?

“I only kept Su Huihui because she looks like you.

“Two years ago, when you first smiled at me, I fell for you.

“But you were still in high school. I didn’t dare admit it. I was afraid your father wouldn’t accept it. Afraid of what people would say…”

I froze.

I remembered that lunchtime.

I was in my final year of high school and had gone to Dad’s company to eat.

The staff knew me.

They greeted me cheerfully.

I smiled back.

Ordinary politeness.

And that had been enough for him?

Nausea rose into my throat.

Zhou Yu hadn’t merely ruined my reputation.

He really had wanted me.

The thought disgusted me.