Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
To be precise, this should be a photo of a marriage proposal. Zhao Shuncheng could be seen smiling happily in the photo. He was holding the girl’s hand with his head lowered and putting a beautiful diamond ring on her finger.
But this was not the main reason why Duan Yarong was dumbfounded. She was dumbfounded simply because she recognized the ring that Zhao Shuncheng was putting on the girl’s finger. It was exactly the same as the one that Zhao Youlin’s mother wore on her finger back then.
Her expression suddenly became as gloomy as the night when she connected this to what Zhao Youlin said before. She raised her head and bellowed angrily at Zhao Shuncheng, “Zhao Shuncheng, how could you… propose to your mistress using Su Xin’s wedding ring? Y-You… You…”
Duan Yarong was so enraged that she had difficulty breathing for a moment. She swayed, and she actually was going to pass out just like that.
Fortunately, Zhao Shunrong had been keeping an eye on Duan Yarong by the side. When he saw that she was about to faint, he swiftly pulled her into his arms in time, which prevented the disastrous situation of Duan Yarong collapsing on the floor.
“Mom!” Zhao Youlin did not expect Duan Yarong to react so strongly. Her expression changed slightly. Leaving Zhao Shuncheng behind, she rushed over to hold Duan Yarong. She consoled her while trying to help her breathe smoothly, “Mom, calm down. It is not worth letting your anger ruin your health because of someone like this. Come on, take a deep breath, take a deep breath.”
Duan Yarong listened to Zhao Youlin’s words and took several deep breaths until she could finally calm down a little. Though when she looked up, she saw Zhao Shuncheng sneakily moving toward the exit, apparently intending to run away when they were not paying attention.
Duan Yarong’s face turned sour. Duan Yarong, who rarely got angry, yelled, “Zhao Shuncheng, where do you think you are going? You are not leaving until you explain yourself today!”
After Duan Yarong shouted at him, everyone’s attention was turned back to Zhao Shuncheng.
Zhao Shuncheng stiffened, knowing that he could not get away today. He chewed on his lip and slowly turned around. He gave out a dry laugh at Duan Yarong and the others. Then, he waved his hand at them and said, “Yarong, don’t be mad. Calm down.”
“Don’t be mad?” Duan Yarong snorted coldly. She was genuinely livid because of Zhao Shuncheng, “You are asking me not to be mad? How can I not be? Zhao Shuncheng, back then, it was you who cried, begged, and played all kinds of tricks to get Su Xin to agree to marry you, and what did you do after that? Not long after Su Xin married into the Zhao family, you started to have affairs with different women. You even have illegitimate sons and daughters with them. And Su Xin, who was such a nice woman, died young because of this.”
Having said that, Duan Yarong paused and took a deep breath before she could finally make sure her voice sounded calm. She continued, “Putting aside your affairs, after Su Xin died, you couldn’t even let her die in peace. You used the wedding ring she left behind to propose to your mistress, impressing that woman with other people’s belongings. Have you no fear of retribution? Aren’t you afraid that Su Xin would come back from the underworld and haunt you when she saw you snatching away those things that she had left for Youlin, when she found out how you are treating the child who she went through hell to give birth to for you, and how you proposed to another woman with her wedding ring?”
By the end of her words, Duan Yarong finally lost control of her emotions. Her tears rolled down her cheeks with great distress. She felt deeply sorry for Zhao Youlin’s mother.
When Zhao Youlin saw that, she felt upset as well, especially when she heard Duan Yarong describing how Zhao Shuncheng treated her body’s predecessor. She could not help but feel the pain in her heart.
How would Duan Yarong react if she found out one day that the previous Zhao Youlin had actually grown cynical because of these twisted family conflicts, and because of her cynicism, she moved toward a dead-end, little by little, and ended her life in pain?
Upon hearing Duan Yarong’s words, Zhao Shuncheng’s face turned slightly pale as well. His eyes swept across the room in a cautious manner, as if he was afraid that his late wife would really crawl back from the underworld and haunt him.
However, such fear lingered on his face for only a few seconds before it was covered up by a forced calm.
“Ya… Yarong, take it easy first. This… This is a misunderstanding. Actually… Actually, this wasn’t the diamond ring I intended to use that day. It was… It was just a careless mistake at that moment, I took the wrong ring out. Yes, that’s right, I just took the wrong ring out by accident, it was just a careless mistake.”
“You took the wrong ring out?” Zhao Youlin was amused by Zhao Shuncheng’s lame excuse, and she snorted. She pointed at the bracelet on the girl’s wrist, which was the same hand that was wearing the ring in the photo, and questioned him, “Even if you took the wrong ring out by accident, why did you give her the wrong bracelet too, Uncle Shuncheng? Okay then, since you knew you made a mistake, you could rectify it. Could you please bring back these things that originally belonged to my mother for me?”
In fact, this bracelet, which was given to Sun Qian by Zhao Shuncheng, was the exact reason how Zhao Youlin found out that the predecessor’s mother had actually left her a large inheritance before she passed away.
When Zhao Youlin got these photos at the time, she noticed that bracelet on Sun Qian’s wrist immediately. It was not because of the value or the beauty of the bracelet, but because although the pattern of the bracelet looked simple and it was not as exquisite and beautiful as those bracelets sold outside now, it gave off a retro air.
Most importantly, Zhao Youlin had seen another bracelet exactly like this one on Sun Qian.
It was at the time when Zhao Youlin and Mu Tingfeng had just divorced. When Zhao Youlin was packing her bags to move out of the Mu Residence, she not only found the document about the transfer of the Zhao family’s shares, but also found several pieces of jewelry, one of which was a bracelet of the same style as this one.
When Zhao Youlin found the bracelet, it had been placed inside a delicate box, and it sat above overlapping layers of soft silk. It was obvious that the owner of the bracelet attached great importance to it. Hence, she could not help but steal a few more glimpses at it.
She brought it out with her when she moved out of the Mu Residence. She never thought she would see another bracelet in the same retro style in another place.
After feeling shocked by the bracelet, Zhao Youlin had sent her men to look up the origin of the two bracelets out of momentary curiosity.
In the end, the investigation actually brought her a big secret. It turned out that those two bracelets, together with several gifts given to Sun Qian by Zhao Shuncheng, including the ring for the proposal, were actually the belongings of the predecessor’s mother!
What was more, the information found also showed that although the predecessor’s mother came from a family with only a small business, she grew up favored, as she was the only daughter in her family.
When she married Zhao Shuncheng, the dowry that she brought over might not be as generous as Zhao Youlin’s current dowry, but it was still a lot.
The dowry was kept by the predecessor’s mother herself after she married into the Zhao family.
Supposedly, her predecessor should have inherited these items after her mother had died. Though as far as Zhao Youlin could remember, she had never heard of these items, let alone see them..
