Madam Li sat across Tong Yan and checked the fearful woman who caused the recent problem within Silver Leaf Academy. Meanwhile, Shen Yi chose to stand still and waited for Madam Li to question her.
“You bit your tongue now, didn’t you?” The soft-spoken Madam Li asked Tong Yan. The woman refused to acknowledge their presence and kept her silence.
“Still not going to talk?” Shen Yi’s voice almost made Tong Yan cry. She opened her mouth to speak, but her words never came out as the door suddenly the open from the outside—with Lu Xinyi storming inside the room in a blind rage.
“You! I knew it wasn’t a test at all!” She knew this proctor! Didn’t Tong Yan oversee the preliminary exams? The one who was staring at her with disgust? This scheming woman!
“What did I ever do to you? Did I kill your dog? Did I take something away from you? In what way did I offend you that you have to sabotage my exams?!”
Lu Xinyi was held in one arm by Director Han.
“Miss Lu. We have an agreement. You better compose yourself, or I will throw you out of this room.” Han Zhiling reminded her while Madam Li wasn’t offended by Lu Xinyi’s reaction. She watched her face intently as if she was trying to carve the memory of Lu Xinyi’s face in her mind.
Lu Xinyi met her gaze and reluctantly controlled herself. Turning back her attention to Tong Yan, she felt an itch to slap this woman to knock some sense into her stupidity. Shen Yi and the Silver Leaf Academy wouldn’t let Tong Yan go without a punishment. The thought of her leaving the academy was the most logical punishment Lu Xinyi could think of, but something bothered her and wouldn’t leave her in peace. She needed to know. She needed to hear it from Tong Yan.
“Tell me, was it Sun Feiyan?”
Hearing her mistress’ name from Lu Xinyi’s lips, Tong Yan jolted up from her seat. Her dark locks matted on her sweaty forehead.
“Miss Sun has nothing to do with this!” she exclaimed. No, she couldn’t just betray Sun Feiyan like this. After all, everything she had came from Sun Feiyan. She was just trying to repay her favors to her mistress.
Lu Xinyi had expected that Tong Yan would take all the blame to save Sun Feiyan’s face. What kind of heartless woman did Sun Feiyan become over the years?! She was still the same conniving person. She snorted which was very unladylike of her status and crossed her arms in her chest.
“Yes, yes, of course, she has nothing to do with it. Was that the script she told you to follow? Then tell your mistress that I don’t fucking care about her and her family. Leave me alone. Surely, you can do that for me? No?”
Words left Tong Yan. She stared into those brown eyes burning with anger, and her heart fell silent.
“Answer me!” Lu Xinyi roared, but Tong Yan couldn’t will her lips to move in fear. As if stuck underwater, everything was slow and warbled as Lu Xinyi pointed a shaky finger in her face.
“Do you have nothing to say? Afraid now that you’ve been caught red-handed? You’re delusional if you think you can get away with a simple sorry.” She demanded. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
Tong Yan knew that she was not supposed to be afraid of Lu Xinyi. She was not supposed to show the tension that grew in her head and heart. Was this woman not really afraid of Sun Feiyan? Didn’t she know what Sun Feiyan was capable of?
Lu Xinyi didn’t wait for her to respond and stalked away, leaving her husband with Madam Li and Tong Yan standing inside the room. Even Director Han was startled in Lu Xinyi’s choice of words. Since Lu Xinyi was Sun Meixiu’s daughter, she was technically part of the Sun family. Then why did Lu Xinyi chose to associate herself with the Shens?
As if sensing her thoughts, Shen Yi drew light in her confusion.
“You are lucky that my wife let you go easily without ruining your face.”
As soon as those words left Shen Yi’s lips, Tong Yan felt she just received a deadly blow right to her chest. Director Han opened her mouth, but she couldn’t find words to ask Shen Yi to repeat what he just said.
“W-wife?” she stuttered.
“You heard what I said. If you’d known that she’s my wife, would you have chosen to go against her?”
His question made her limbs weakened, and Tong Yan’s energy left her.
Wife… Lu Xinyi was the young madam of the Shen family. Now it all made sense why Shen Yi took an extra mile to protect her.
Tong Yan’s mind was blank and eyes wide—as she stared at him in horror. His eyes burned against her skull… waiting for her to defend herself, but none came. Tong Yan knew she had to say something! She searched her mind for something reasonable to say, but to her surprise, her mouth answered for her.
“I… I didn’t know.”
The moment she realized she’d misinterpreted everything—Lu Xinyi’s words, her mistress’s expressions for so many times… it was as if she’d been speaking a language she couldn’t understand… that moment her words stopped was the moment her heart broke… yet she knew it was her own fault.
Sometimes, the loss of words spoke more, and Tong Yan was left curled in lifelessness, knowing she had signed her future away from this mistake she committed against Lu Xinyi.
Outside the room, Qiao He watched the scene and saw her in despair. He shook his head. These people… they should know not to pick a fight that they couldn’t win. Those who dare to harm the Young Madam had suffered the same fate. There was no future waiting for them.
