“Please… take your seats. Don’t get too excited. These are just appetizers,” Lily mused before she looked at her men. “If they refuse to return to their seats… drag them.”
“You-” Xuan Hui instantly made his way towards Qin Fei and tried to protect her but another uniformed man approached from behind and overpowered him instantly. “You are going overboard! How could you do this to the Qin Family?”
“Mr. Xuan… yours will come soon. Take a seat before I accidentally open another can of worms. We don’t want another level of chaos right now. Do we?”
As expected, Xuan Hui was rendered speechless. Guilt instantly flashed in his eyes but it was too quick for Qin Fei too notice as her back was facing her husband. Qin Fei only narrowed her eyes at Lily as she gritted her teeth. The most frustrating thing for Qin Fei was knowing that Lily knows something important about her husband but she could not simply ask her to reveal everything.
With this in mind, Qin Fei marched to her seat and eyed Zhang Yifei who was crying and still trying to go over to Lily. Qin Fei didn’t understand what was going on but if her guess was right, Lily must have known about their plan to request assistance from the Qin Family, which was why she chose to attack first. After all, that is totally Lily’s style.
“How sad,” Lily mocked the Qin Family, her gaze was fixed on Zhang Yifei. “You knew that your father was alive and yet you didn’t say a thing? Come on Miss Zhang… was it the money?”
“What nonsense are you sprouting?” Zhang Yifei said. While she appeared emotional and tear-stricken on the outside, inwardly she was calmly planning her next move. Did Lily think that she was the only one bearing a welcome gift? She sneered inwardly as she eyed everyone’s reaction. Old Man Qin was frowning and seemed to be analyzing everything while Qin Hao was staring at her, as if waiting for her to explain herself.
But what could she do? Her father was already dead! If her guess was right, then Lily was only trying to create doubts and distrust within the Qin Family. This would then prompt the old man to investigate her and ultimately cause a delay in her initial plans. Zhang Yifei cursed inwardly. What a cunning enemy. Too bad Lily is not ruthless enough. “My father is already dead. How could you mock him like this?”
“Come on Miss Zhang… Are you saying that the wealth of the Qin Family isn’t enough to make your heart beat a little faster?” Lily asked as she eyed the old man. “Check out the next document which show the times that Zhang Yifei withdrew cash from her offshore accounts. Now why would she do that? Unless… she is giving money to a debt collector, or someone who needs money… Like an ill and aging father, for example. Am I right, Miss Zhang?”
“That… that is not true!” Zhang Yifei retorted. What convincing evidence could Lily show? All of this was circumstantial evidence. There is no way that she can persuade the old man to believe this nonsense. “Father… that is not true.”
“I know,” Old Man Qin said as he stared intently at Lily. “I saw him die in the hospital. There is no way that he is still alive.”
“Well…it’s up to you whether to believe me or not,” Lily shrugged as if she expected this. “But remember this… I won’t stop until I destroy the people who ruined my family.” Now that she had poked the tiger, she was also expecting a counter-attack from Zhang Yifei at any time. “I’ll bide my time. I believe that you all will come to believe my words soon enough.”
“I don’t get the purpose of any of this,” Old Man Qin said. “Are you trying to ruin my family? Aren’t you also a Qin? You are my Qin Chuan’s daughter. What happened to you? How could you betray your own family?”
“Not really,” Lily said. Seeing that the old man seemed not to understand her words, she instantly clarified, “I mean… I am not planning to ruin everyone. One or two should be enough. But if someone dared to stand in my path then… I will destroy them too.”
“Lily Qin… I don’t understand. Why are you targeting me? Why us? I don’t even remember meeting you! How could you just barge in here and declare that you are coming for us out of nowhere? Your mother… she… Bec… Facci was my husband’s first love and Qin Yuanfeng’s mother. But she left after giving birth to Yuanfeng. She left him! If my guess was right, she ran away knowing that she was still carrying Qin Yuanfeng’s twin in her womb. Then she poisoned your mind so you would fight against us.” Zhang Yifei instantly retaliated with her own made up story. Does Lily think that she is the only one capable of making a believable story?
How naïve, Zhang Yifei smiled inwardly. It was common knowledge in the family that Bec run away. This only made her story more credible!
“If you think that your life has been unfair because you were raised in a branch family instead of the main family then… you can only blame your mother and not the Qin Family!” she said as she looked at Old Man Qin. “If you think that this was all my fault then… I am willing to leave the Qin Family and never return again. I knew Bec was jealous of me back then. I knew she loved Qin Chuan and was devastated when you informed her about the betrothal. This was all my fault.”
“If the Qin Family will be punished because of me… then… I would rather leave and face the punishment alone! I refused to let the whole family suffer because of me!” Zhang Yifei dramatically shook her head, instantly earning kudos from Lily. It seems that Zhang Yifei has been controlling the men in the Qin Family for decades with her delicate and gentle persona that made her appear ever so sincere and genuine.
On the outside, Lily was all smiles. On the inside, she was truly surprised by Zhang Yifei’s cunning and the amount of thought she put into her choice of words in order to draw sympathy. Anyone who knew Qin Chuan and Zhang Yifei’s story would swallow that version! How amazing was that? Of course, Lily did not reveal a hint of surprise as she focused on Zhang Yifei as she continued her monologue.
It seems Zhang Yifei has truly perfected her craft. Her aggrieved and gentle expression instantly earned the pity of everyone.
“Qin Chuan and I never slept with each other, even though we are married. This is why I was unable to bear a child for the Qin Family. I respected your father’s love for your mother, and yet… you…” she paused deliberately and looked at Lily, despair and sorrow apparent in her eyes. Her pitiful look instantly gained the pity from everyone. Even Qin Fei was shedding some tears as if she was truly touched by her story. “You come in here and dare to slander my family in front of the people who raised me since I was a child. What kind of monster are you?”
*Clap*
*Clap*
*Clap*
“To say that I was not surprised with all this would be a lie,” Lily smiled, her eyes turned into crescents. “Even I could not achieve that level of acting. I mean… you deserve an Oscar!” she mocked. “But… Please… Stop asking what kind of monster I am. Aren’t you the one who created me? Are you not my Frankenstein?” she made a deliberate pause as she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at Zhang Yifei. “Am I not your monster? Frankenstein?”
