“I really question whether you’re Ye Youyou’s biological mother or Guan Queye’s.” Li Jinnan looked at her chillingly without any warmth whatsoever on his face.
Ye Tian stood tall and looked at Li Jinnan self-righteously as she replied, “I am Ye Youyou’s mother, but I also know what is right and what is wrong! I stand on the side of justice regardless of familial relation!”
“Justice? Familial relation?” Li Jinnan’s expression grew ugly. “Where was that familial relation when you abandoned your family for money? Where was that justice when you accused your daughter without any evidence and without finding out the truth? What a joke!”
His words made Ye Tian’s blood boil. She retorted, “It’s none of your business! Who do you think you are? Ye Youyou is my daughter! I will discipline her as I deem fit! Who are you to interfere? Furthermore, she is indeed in the wrong here! As a mother, isn’t it within my right to give her a slap or two?”
“Stop making yourself out to be so honorable!” Ye Youyou roared in anger as she stared at Ye Tian with wide open eyes and a red face. She wiped the tears off her chin forcefully and said, “All you’re doing is riding on your high horse, pointing your finger at the person everyone else is blaming. When everyone said I pushed Guan Queye over the cliff, you slapped me and chased me out of the house without even giving me a chance to explain myself, judging me as guilty without a second thought. Did you ever treat me as your daughter then?”
“You left on your own. Nobody chased you out,” Ye Tian said. “Don’t you try to push the blame on me now. What happened back then was your fault anyway. You cost Queye the use of her legs! She was such a great dancer back then, and she can’t even stand up properly now. You’re the whole cause of this tragedy, Ye Youyou!”
“No!” Ye Youyou yelled thunderously. “It wasn’t me at all. Guan Queye fell over on her own because she wanted to frame me for it! She didn’t dare press charges against me legally at all. All she could do was put on a weak and pitiful front so that everyone else would point their fingers at me from the moral high ground. I could never have done such a thing!”
“Ye Youyou, you’re my daughter. I know you best,” Ye Tian looked at Ye Youyou and replied. “Indeed, you weren’t that sort of person in the past, but you’ve completely changed.”
“Ha ha ha!” Ye Youyou was furious. Her face had reddened, but she was out of tears as she yelled back, “It’s always been like that. You’ve always wanted to be the ideal stepmother, the ideal wife! Don’t treat me as an idiot. You handed me over as the sacrificial lamb in exchange for a steady position in the Guan family. You’re scared of a life of poverty, and you’re especially scared that you might one day lose it all!”
Ye Tian didn’t expect Ye Youyou to say such words. The mask that she had maintained for so long was suddenly torn apart, exposing her for the bloodsucking person she really was.
“More than a decade ago, you took one of your children with you as you resolutely decided to abandon your husband. After all these years, Ye Zhenghua has never forgotten you. There is still someone in Yun Town waiting for you.” Ye Youyou laughed mockingly. “From what I see now, you’re nothing but a heartless woman. You were never good enough for Ye Zhenghua!”
“Ye Youyou!” Ye Tian hollered in anger. She could feel all the eyes on her, and her face pricked with embarrassment. “I’m your mother!”
Just as she made that proclamation, a commotion rang out within the crowd.
The crowd parted, and several policemen walked in. The one in charge looked around, and asked, “Who is Ye Youyou?”
Ye Youyou froze when she saw the situation unfold before her eyes.
Li Jinnan held her tightly in his arms and lowered his voice, “Don’t worry, I’m here. I’ll not allow anyone to malign you.”
