The night in City B is dazzling with bright lights and colorful neon that intoxicates onlookers. The bustling metropolis is filled with laughter and joy everywhere. But behind this lively scene, there sleeps unknown solitude and loneliness.
"Open the door! Kang Qiao, open the door for me now!" A loud female voice, accompanied by deafening knocks, echoes in the empty villa garden. It sounds abrupt and sharp into the quiet night.
Kang Qiao puts down the sketch she's been working on, and a little frustrated, she pokes the table with her pencil before standing up and dragging her slippers toward the living room.
The housemaid, Mother Zhang, has gone to open the door. A gust of cold wind sweeps in. Kang Qiao, dressed only in a thin nightgown, shivers and quickly sits down on the sofa, hugging a soft pillow to keep herself warm.
"Madame! How come you're here?" A middle-aged woman forces her way in from the door, dressed in a costly fox fur. Though she's over fifty, her conscientious care for her health makes her appear only in her thirties.
"Mother." Kang Qiao is not surprised and greets her respectfully.
Nevertheless, she feels a bit annoyed. Aside from her and Mother Zhang, even her husband Huo Sina, whom she has been married to for half a year, rarely comes to this villa. Why would her mother "humble" herself to visit her today?
Probably it's about that matter again, she sneers inside but she keeps a poker face, acting as if she knows nothing.
"I'm here for a purpose. This is Bai Lianwei, the daughter of a good friend of mine." Huo's mother cuts to the chase, strides in with a woman, and doesn't even bother to change her shoes. Footprints are left on the shiny clean floor.
She steps aside, and the woman behind her has a shy smile on her face, bending awkwardly to Kang Qiao and saying, "Hello, young madam."
Kang Qiao turns to look at her, her heart misses a beat when she sees her face.
Still, she looks calm outwardly. Her gaze sweeps without changing expression over Bai Lianwei's doll-like face, and then she nods, saying, "Hello."
"Lianwei, there's no need to be so polite to her. She's just an ill-famed granddaughter of the Kang family. Nothing worth respecting," Huo's mother, holding Bai Lianwei's hand, sits opposite Kang Qiao on the leather sofa, and commands, "From today, Lianwei will be living here. There are so many empty rooms in this house, you wouldn't disagree, would you?"
Her forceful gaze seems to suggest that if Kang Qiao disagrees, she will make a scene. Can Kang Qiao disagree? In Huo's mother's mind, Kang Qiao, the adopted daughter of the Kang family, isn't good enough for her handsome and distinguished son.
"Okay." After a couple of seconds of silence, she utters a word, the smile not leaving her face.
Mrs. Huo gave her an 'I knew you'd wise up' proud look, then held the slightly uncomfortable hand of Bai Lianwei and assured her as if nobody else was present, "Xiao Wei, you don't need to worry, treat this place like your own home. If there's anything you need or are displeased with, just tell Kang Qiao, she'll sort it out for you. If anyone dares to bully you, just give me a call and I'll definitely teach them a lesson for you."
As she talked, she shot a warning look that was more like a threat at Kang Qiao, making it clear to whom the 'someone' was referring to.
Bai Lianwei obediently agreed, behaving exactly as a good obedient girl should. It wasn’t until half an hour later, after Mrs. Huo finished her instructions, that she seemed content and prepared to leave.
Just as she was about to step out of the door, Kang Qiao, who had been silently listening all along, suddenly spoke up, "Is Miss Bai also your niece?" She seem to lay heavy emphasis on the word 'niece'.
Upon hearing those words, Mrs. Huo’s smiling face turned stern. She shot Kang Qiao with a piercing glare, her gaze was sharp as a knife's edge, "Kang Qiao, you better understand your position! Xiao Wei is not like that bitch, Qing Han! She’s someone I personally chose. If you dare do anything ill towards her, just wait to be kicked out by my son.”
"Mom, I just said it casually. If you don’t like what I said, I’ll keep quiet.” After a sip of hot tea served by Zhang's mother, Kang Qiao apologized without guilt, only her tone lacked any hint of remorse. Like it was a joke. As if trouble had already found its way to her doorstep, was she supposed to welcome it with joy?
“Be careful on your way, it's stormy outside.”
Once again, Mrs. Huo shot her an angry glance. She left the room annoyed, the sound of her high heels echoing behind her.
At the sound of the slamming door, Kang Qiao let out a silent, smirk. Zhang's mother, who had been pouring tea for Bai Lianwei, almost splashed out the steaming hot liquid because of the shock. She couldn't help but sigh, her young mistress always knew right where to poke someone’s weak spots. Every time the old lady came to pick a fight, she deftly blocked her with a few casual remarks.
As for this Bai Lianwei, a number of incidents similar to this one had happened over the past months. Most women would have already quarreled with their mother-in-law if faced with such incidents. Kang Qiao, however, had the leisure and the interest to concern herself about Shen Qinghan, the niece whom the old woman had adopted ten years ago.
Bai Lianwei, not knowing what to do, fiddled with her fingers as she sat, occasionally shot timid glances at Kang Qiao.
Kang Qiao took a deep breath, smelling the faint scent of lilies in the air, her smile chilling a little, "The fragrance on Miss Bai is very distinctive and pleasant”.
“Oh! Really? It might be the smell of flowers that latched onto me when I was with Mr. Huo in the flower fields this afternoon... I’m sorry! Madam, I didn’t mean to…” Bai Lianwei said. At this point, her already tense face turned deeply worried, and her moist eyes were full of crystal teardrops, making her look pitiful.
A simple sentence filled with innuendo, leading into a barrage of assumptions. If Kang Qiao really had any feelings for Huo Sinan, she would probably be devastated. Regardless, she has an unresolved issue in her heart now.
Seeing her act as if she wanted to kneel down and apologize, Kang Qiao blew on the tea foam in her cup and lazily said, "You don't need to apologize to me, after all, Si Nan and I are husband and wife, I trust his character." As if.
Right now, all she wanted was to leap up and find that heartless, cold-blooded man, fiercely berate him, and satisfyingly slam the divorce agreement on his face!
But no matter how furious or agitated she was, this was a matter between her and Huo Sinan. How could she let a so-called innocent woman bewilder her with a few words and sit back and enjoy the show?
Bai Lianwei gritted her silver teeth, a flash of resentment passing in her eyes. She timidly lifted the teapot, her voice carrying a hint of choking, she apologized profusely, "I misspoke. Could Madame Huo give Lianwei a chance to apologize and drink the tea filled with my regrets that I've poured just for you?"
Before her words had finished, without waiting for Kang Qiao's response, she aimed the spout of her teapot at the teacup held by Kang Qiao. Just as the tea was about to pour out, she subtly angled the spout away, in the next second, the scalding tea would splash onto Kang Qiao's fair hand.
Kang Qiao's brows furrowed, and she pretended to lean back lazily on the sofa, pulling her hands back conveniently. But Bai Lianwei seemed to have become stupefied, and as she reflexively stepped back, the steaming tea spilled over and splattered onto her left arm.
She let out a pained shriek and threw the teapot away without a thought. The high-quality clay teapot smashed into pieces on impact, with the high-temperature tea splattering. Even though Kang Qiao dodged quickly with her quick reflexes, a few places on her body were scalded, especially the skin on her cheek, which was giving her a piercing painful burn.
She couldn’t help but draw a cold breath, and amidst the throbbing pain, she saw Bai Lianwei rolling in agonizing pain on the floor and howling. Bai Lianwei's forehead crashed into the sharp leg of the tea table, and blood immediately started flowing. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
Kang Qiao's heart seized, and disregarding the burning pain on her face, she cried out, "Nanny Zhang, call an ambulance, quickly!"
Awakened from her shock, Nanny Zhang couldn’t move a muscle while watching Bai Lianwei’s blood-covered face, which was both ferocious and terrible. Kang Qiao's lips began to tremble involuntarily, and she wailed in heart-wrenching pain, "Nanny Zhang! Hurry up!"
Among the women Huo's mother had brought before, there were many sly and scheming ones, but none were like Bai Lianwei — appearing gentle and weak-looking yet possessing such a ruthless heart and vicious hand. Just to achieve her goals, she ended up injuring herself to this extent!
Was she not afraid that she might accidentally kill herself with one wrong move?
