Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ruan Zeyan looked at the USB drive, trying to remember where it came from.
The day of the audition, Ling Tianya had an altercation with her step-sister in the hotel. He asked Du Gang to investigate the incident, who then got the USB drive from the private investigator.
Ruan Zeyan plugged the drive into his laptop. He hadn’t cared too much about the content on it because he thought it contained nothing more than just some ugly and petty conversations between two women.
He clicked on the first audio file. It was Qu Wan and Ling Yuqing bashing the Lings and the Guans. He turned it off, annoyed, and opened the next file. It was still the same mother and daughter speaking, but the focus of the conversation was different.
“Mom, what do you think is the real reason that Ling Tianya is back? Do you think she’s seeking revenge?”
“Seeking revenge? What can she do? Well, back then it was the Guans who pressured her to marry Li Chenfeng. We had nothing to do with it!”
“That’s right.”
“Plus it was Ling Qi who told Ling Tianya that if she agreed to marry Li Chenfeng, she would give her custody of Ling Tianxin. I wonder what Li Chenfeng and Zhang Li were able to offer to that witch, Ling Qi. Maybe they were in some dirty business together back in the day. Even if Ling Tianya had a poor reputation, she could probably still marry someone from a decent family. Who knew why Ling Qi picked Li Chenfeng and then threatened Ling Tianya with the custody of her sister. The person who actually drove Ling Tianya away was the mother of Guan Meiyi, Ling Qi! We had nothing to do with it. Maybe a little help here and there, but nothing major…”
“But Ling Tianxin did disappear…”
“Shut up! Ling Tianxin was a bastard child, who cares if she disappeared! Your dad didn’t care, only Ling Tianya made it a big deal.”
“Making a big deal didn’t stop her from getting kicked out of the family. At the end of the day, I should thank her. With Ling Tianxin missing and her kicked out of the house, I became the only child in the Ling Family. Even if I’m not blood, daddy cares for me just the same!”
The video ended. The study fell into a dead silence.
Du Gang was disturbed by what he just heard. He knew that women in influential families always had their wars and calculations, but he didn’t expect Miss Ling to have lived in such a hellhole. In the entire family, nobody believed her, nobody helped her, even her biological father hated her enough to kick her out. Her aunt was forcing her to marry some random guy while her step-mother and step-sister were plotting against her. Dear lord, what a miserable life!
In the study, silence turned into dread and the air was chilling.
As an outsider, Du Gang felt horrible after hearing the recordings. He couldn’t imagine what Ruan Zeyan must be feeling…
Ruan Zeyan sat completely still, staring at the computer screen. Du Gang could clearly see that his hand over the mouse was shaking.
“That family was… Ms Ling had it so bad…” Du Gang lamented. “Not even a grown man would be able to handle that level of plotting by family members, let alongea girl like Ling Tianya!”
All of sudden, Ruan Zeyan threw everything on his table onto the floor. Du Gang was startled before starting to sweat. Did he say something wrong?
At that moment, the spacious study felt like a giant ice cave, chilled to the bones.
The laptop fell on the ground, but somehow the play button was pressed and the audio started to play again. Once more, the voices of Qu Wan and her daughter filled up the room.
