Yang Sen’s study was dark, or at least that’s what Yang Lina thought the moment she entered the room. She squinted her eyes to adjust to the darkness and then she noticed that Yang Sen was standing in front of an old painting on the wall of his office. The lights were all turned off, with the exception of a small table lamp that was too small to illuminate the whole room.
“Ehem…” She cleared her throat to announce her presence.
“Lina, who is it that you offended this time?” Yang Sen enquired, surprising his sister.
“I-I’m sorry. I don’t seem to understand your question.” she said while approaching her brother. However, when she noticed Yang Sen’s cold expression she immediately added: “I don’t recall doing anything except for protecting our family, so If I accidentally offended someone then it’s not my fault. I was just trying to protect our family.”
“You are protecting no one but yourself, Yang Lina, and you know that,” Yang Sen hissed as he turned his gaze towards his sister, a look of pure disgust evident in his eyes. “I am done with covering everyone’s tracks.”
“Brother… I… I don’t understand. What do you mean? How could you lash out at me like this?” Yang Lina immediately rationalised. She really didn’t understand what was going on. Why was Yang Sen mad at her? Was this because of Yang Mi? “I didn’t mean to ask our men to check on Yang Mi’s mother. I didn’t have any ill intentions at all. I just thought that maybe the Yang Family could compensate Yang Mi’s mother for raising her on her own,” she said. Yang Lina thought that Yang Sen had discovered that she’d used the Yang Family’s resources to send some people to get Yang Mi’s mother.
“Good. Now I know that you are indeed evil through and through,” he spat out before walking towards his conference table.
“B-Brother, I don’t understand why we are arguing because of other people. Don’t you think this situation is just too… trivial for you to react this way?” she said while watching Yang Sen take a seat with a very dark look on his face.
“Seven years ago…”
“Seven years ago was a mistake,” Yang Lina interrupted her brother. “It was an accident! He Xinlan was drunk! This… This is something in the past. Can’t we just move past this?”
“The things that followed after. Was that an accident too?” Yang Sen asked, rendering Yang Lina speechless.
“You knew?”
“I knew all along.” His confirmation immediately made his sister pale. How much does Yang Sen know about the past? “And it seems that other people know it too or why would they want to punish you?” he said before he passed a tablet to his sister.
Yang Lina silently accepted the tablet and played the video. Instantly, her eyes grew wide as her mouth fell open. Her face grew even more ashen as her hands began to tremble. Yang Lina instantly bit her lip in an attempt to compose herself. “Where d-did you get this?” She slowly took a seat across from her brother to prevent herself from falling to the ground.
“It was sent to me together with the DNA test result and the proof that it was you who caused it. No demands and no other information,” Yang Sen answered. “As a public servant I did not expect you and Zengmo to engage in these types of… bizarre activities to pursue sexual satisfaction.”
“I…” Yang Lina’s face grew redder as time passed. She then looked at the video of two men in bed. One was a tied up Xuan Zengmo and the other was Li Tian Ya, while Yang Lina was leisurely watching from the table just a few feet away from them. She had a smile on her face as she took a sip of her tea and watched the duo in bed. “Who else… Did you let anyone else watch this?” she asked.
“No, I did not,” Yang Sen said. “You can go now. I don’t want you to visit more often than absolutely necessary. The person that you offended does not concern me and the entire Yang Family. I don’t want you to drag us into this.”
“Brother! What are you saying?” She rose from her seat and slammed her hands on the table. “What do you mean? I will not drag the Yang Family with me! I… We don’t even know who sent this! What if they only want money?”
“I always thought that you were so smart and yet… you fail to understand one thing,” Yang Sen said, unfazed by Yang Lina’s pitiful expression. “Whoever it is that you offended was capable of taking a video of you and your husband in your intimate session, unnoticed. This person was able to dig into the dirt and produce DNA results from years ago, something that you and He Yuyan must have already tried desperately to dispose of, and then this person was so confident as to send everything to a military man who works with a team of people who can easily hack into the system and find the sender’s identity.”
He stared at his sister’s changing expression before he added, “The one who sent this is a very bold individual who is not afraid of being recognized. Someone capable, someone even more capable than me and father combined. Someone… Someone who is meticulous and is a few steps ahead of you, of us.”
“They have no qualms in offending a military family. They are confident and very courageous. Two things: It’s either that you offended someone who had nothing to lose and is trying to drag you into misery with him or her, or, you offended someone who is not afraid of you knowing their identity, someone who is confident that you cannot beat them no matter what.”
“And I’ll bet… it’s the second option. You have offended someone frightening, Yang Lina, and I don’t want you to drag me and the whole Yang Family into this mess,” he declared, his gaze serious.
“But … but brother you can’t just leave me alone! I am your sister! I am still someone from the Yang Family! You can’t just let those people get me!” Yang Lina said as tears started to pool in her eyes. How could Yang Sen do this to her at a time like this? Yang Lina was not even aware of who she’d offended, and her brother, the patriarch of the Yang Family, already declared that they’ll have nothing more to do with her.
