"Yes, you did." Zhao Moyao bluntly said, his words prickly, but she sat beside him, completely unaffected by his treatment. Growing up by his side, she had gotten accustomed to his behavior and even developed one that mirrored his.
Zhao Lifei's eyes skimmed the dishes and saw there was still steam rising from them, which meant they were freshly cooked less than a while ago.
Despite seeing fault in his words, she quietly said, "I'm sorry." She knew he valued the time spent with family, especially dining.
Zhao Moyao picked up his chopsticks and placed a piece of lotus root in her rice bowl. "What's there to apologize for?" He questioned, placing more food onto her bowl — urging her to eat.
He knew she was being respectful and following the old traditions of ensuring the eldest at the table got the first bite before anyone else. But how could she forget, rules didn't apply to her? If it was anyone else, he would instantly snap back at them for breaking etiquette rules, but when it came to her, he would keep quiet and instead, offer her more food.
"For making you wait—"
"Xiao Fei, you are a Zhao. Apologies should not fall so easily from your mouth." Zhao Moyao reminded her, raising his keen eyes to pierce into her.
He had taught her all her life to never express gratitude unless it was absolutely necessary. He preached to her that her rank in this society was an unreachable dream.
She was the Phoenix among the canaries, the dragon's pearl amongst oysters', and the diamond amongst pebbles. To him, she was special.
Cruel but coy, arrogant but charming, calculative but quiet, everything she had ever known, he had taught her. She was his ultimate weapon, his champion, the one who shall succeed far beyond her peers. It was something he promised to himself the day she chased after him when all other kids ran away from him.
"Yes, grandfather." Her tone was not pitiful, nor did she look sullen upon being scolded. Instead, she kept her head high like he had taught her, and leveled her voice to be distant and frigid.
The corners of his mouth slightly curved into a proud and satisfied smile upon seeing her expression. Slowly but surely, his little Phoenix was rising from the ashes again. And he had a suspicion who the man behind it was…
– – – – –
The next morning.
Following the pictures of Zhao Lifei and Yang Feng were pictures from yesterday. An anonymous source posted a picture of Zhao Lifei and Wei Hantao's hug online, then pictures of Yang Feng intervening, and the next was a clear shot of Wei Hantao grabbing Zhao Lifei while Yang Feng clutched her tightly. The images caused widespread gossip to surface about her. The astonishing headlines from yesterday were gone and replaced by malicious comments made about her.
"What a shameless sl*t!"
"It seems she already had a man on the side before going out with President Yang!"
"As expected of a tainted woman, she's still desperate to latch onto another big-thigh."
"Caught double-timing? Pft, how embarrassing."
"Tsk, CEO Yang deserves a lot better than this wh*re who only knows how to open her legs."
"She's settling the problem in public too. How humiliating…"
"I pity the other man, it's clear they have history. Knowing her scheming ways from the past, she must've played with both of them at once!"
"Wow, just how far is she willing to go to come back into the spotlight? I heard she bullied Xia Mengxi again at Imperial Star Mall. Just when will she stop? It's pathetic."
The hate piled upon Zhao Lifei was as tall as a mountain. Zhao Moyao immediately worked to have the comments deleted, but it was too late. She had already seen all of them.
Yang Feng had called her early in the morning to check up on her condition and when she talked to him, her voice calm and steady. Her words soothed his angst, but not his indignation and wrath. The people behind such comments and false images all had a target on their backs, specifically, the untraceable person who posted the images.
When Zhao Lifei went to pick up the gown from Granse, people whispered about her from the minute she walked out of the car and up to the store's entrance. Because the store was located in a neighborhood many socialites frequented, many were able to easily recognize her.
A group of women stood by the entrance, purposely bad mouthing her.
"Ew, look at what the cat dragged in. Seeing such a shameless person is really ruining my appetite!"
"Yikes, she still has the guts to show her face in public? Hah, she's truly an audacious woman!"
"If I were her, I would not even walk out the door for a month. No wonder the rumor about her parents abandoning her surfaced… What a disappointing daughter."
"Pft, so retarded of her to cheat on President Yang and then get caught the next day."
Zhao Lifei rolled her eyes upon hearing the words. "Are you done?" She asked, her face nonchalant while she examined her nails. Her eyes were filled with boredom, for she didn't even have to lift a finger to destroy these lower class socialites.
She could tell they were newly debuted ones. They were probably the underdogs of someone much higher up… She only needed to find out who it was and it would be over for that person.
Her personality might've changed throughout the years, but her pettiness did not die down. She was not a white lotus that would swallow the words and cry about it later. She was the type to squash the people on the spot without batting an eye towards their begging and groveling.
"Wow, the wanton is actually talking to me."
"Mei-mei, did you hear that? I think I heard an annoying fly buzzing in my ears!"
Zhao Lifei lifted her eyes from her perfectly manicured fingers to glance at the women. The confident haughtiness in her eyes was hard to miss and so was the growing smirk. The more she stared at them, the more these ladies felt a shiver crawl up their spine. Why was her gaze so scary? She looked like a tiger toying with her meal before devouring it.
"Get lost." Her quiet and mellow voice was oddly enough to make them shudder. She didn't look particularly angry upon hearing the insulting words, but the emotions within her eyes said otherwise. When her words were not threatening them, her eyes were.
"Or else what?"
Zhao Lifei tilted her head, her perfectly curled hair blowing in the wind. She remembered where she saw these familiar features. Two of the women were fraternal twins whose appearance starkly differentiated from each other, but their features strongly resembled their parents. "If I remember correctly, the Bai family has recently risen to wealth." She watched as the twins in front of her paled upon the mention of their family.
"The fact that they can drop faster than they rose amuses me." Zhao Lifei chuckled, the threat standing strong. "I wonder how new money can survive in a world ruled by the old money whose connections have been deeply rooted for generations." She clicked her tongue.
The Bai twins could not afford to lose their newly attained wealth. Once their lives were exposed to the affluent lifestyle, they would never be able to tolerate living like a commoner.
This was a battle they could not win. Trembling, they grabbed their friends and hurriedly left the scene. While they left, one of them snuck a secretive smirk in her direction, her face filled with mischief.
It was too easy defeating them. Zhao Lifei knew there would be another surprise awaiting her. With how confident they seemed, despite the threats, she knew, whoever was backing them was not a simple person.
