Chapter 57: The Secret Exposed

Seeing Cheng's mother's unusual appearance, Ji Xia said seriously, "It's alright. The most direct evidence of the truth is to go to the hospital for another checkup."

"Who is right and who is wrong is obvious at a glance."

Upon hearing this, Cheng's mother panicked instantly and hurriedly said, "Why do these tests? It's unnecessary."

Ji Xia looked at her and sneered, "Mom, even now you're still not telling the truth?"

Seeing that her secret had been exposed and could no longer be hidden, Cheng's mother had no choice but to put on the appearance of a pitiful elder.

“Xiaxia…”

"I'll tell you the truth, don't blame me."

Upon hearing this, Ji Xia's heart skipped a beat. She was startled and guessed what had happened. Seeing her cold look, Cheng's mother had no choice but to speak up and explain the whole story.

It turns out that she was behind all of this. It was simply because their family was far inferior to Ji Xia's family in terms of wealth, and Cheng Shuyuan was just a son-in-law who had married into the family.

To prevent the Cheng family from ever being able to hold their heads high in front of their family again, and to control her, they orchestrated for her to go to the hospital for a checkup, bribing the doctor to shift the blame for her infertility onto her.

Little did she know that it was the medication that made her unable to have children.

After hearing this, Ji Xia chuckled self-deprecatingly, "So it was all your doing. I've been taking the blame all along. How ridiculous of me..."

Upon hearing this, Cheng's mother quickly explained, "That's not how it is, Xiaxia, I'm only doing this for your own good."

"For our own good?" Ji Xia suddenly spoke sharply: "You used the excuse of 'for our own good' to make me unable to have children after several years of marriage, and I have to endure your cold looks in public. Is this what you call 'for our own good'?"

"If I hadn't discovered this, how long were you prepared to keep it a secret for your own selfish desires? A lifetime? You wouldn't even care if you had a grandson?"

Hearing Ji Xia's accusations, Cheng's mother felt flustered and subconsciously became somewhat apprehensive.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jiang Ran standing to the side, arms crossed, watching the scene with a cold eye.

He was immediately enraged and blamed everything on her.

"You're the one who kept quiet, aren't you? No wonder you have such a bad reputation!"

"You don't even respect your own child; you're clearly ill-mannered!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ran's expression changed slightly, and a hint of coldness appeared in her eyes.

Although she also disliked Si Zuochen and Si Youlin, she couldn't tolerate others speaking ill of them.

Who is she targeting? Well, then she can't be blamed.

Jiang Ran ignored her and looked up at Ji Xia, saying, "You said something wrong just now. It's not that she doesn't care about having a grandson, it's just that she doesn't want the child in your belly."

"What do you mean?" Ji Xia asked in surprise and confusion.

Jiang Ran turned to look at Cheng's mother: "You found a woman for your son before, just to carry on the Cheng family line, didn't you?"

Cheng's mother's face turned deathly pale instantly. She had kept this a secret so well that even Ji Xia hadn't found out. How did she know?

Then, a hint of fear appeared in his eyes as he looked at Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran looked at her with extreme indifference from beginning to end, as if she were a clown.

From the moment she witnessed this farce, she had been calculating all the things they had been through, never expecting such a dramatic turn of events.

As Ji Xia listened, her expression grew increasingly grim. She looked at Cheng Shuyuan, her voice hoarse, and asked, "Is what she said true?"

Seeing this, Cheng's mother quickly stepped forward and said, "Xiaxia, listen to me..."

"Can't we talk about this at home? We're family, how can you listen to an outsider?"

Thinking about how she had been unjustly accused for so long, Ji Xia turned to look at Cheng's mother, her eyes filled with coldness, and said sharply, "I didn't ask you!"

Startled by her tone, Cheng's mother didn't dare to argue or cause trouble for a moment.

Ji Xia looked up at Cheng Shuyuan and said coldly, "You speak."

Cheng Shuyuan lowered his head, his face clearly showing unease, and dared not look Ji Xia in the eye.

She pursed her lips and replied softly, "It's true..."

Upon hearing this, Ji Xia's face immediately turned deathly pale.

Then I heard him continue to argue, "But I didn't agree, really, I swear, I didn't even touch that woman."

As Ji Xia listened to his explanation, she suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh, her face full of sarcasm.

She now feels like a joke because she has been backing down on this issue for the past few years.

What did we get in return?

Not only does her mother-in-law target her at every turn, but she would even rather have an unknown woman give birth to her child than have her own grandson, all to keep an eye on her.

Upon seeing this, Cheng Shuyuan quickly reached out to try to pull her, but Ji Xia turned slightly to the side to avoid his touch, a hint of disgust flashing between her brows.

He awkwardly withdrew his hand, a hint of helplessness flashing across his face.

"Cheng Shuyuan, did I force you to marry into my family?" Ji Xia suddenly asked in a cold voice, her tone calm and unwavering.

But too much calm is often the prelude to a storm, and Cheng Shuyuan was well aware of this, which made him feel uneasy.

He then replied in a low voice, "No."

“Although you are a son-in-law, my parents have never been prejudiced against you. They even entrusted you with a part of the Ji family business.”

"What else are you dissatisfied with?! You were afraid you wouldn't be able to hold your heads up in front of me, but now that things have been exposed, do you feel proud of yourself?"

"Shameless! A bunch of shameless scoundrels!" Ji Xia's emotions gradually escalated, and her voice involuntarily rose.

“Xiaxia…” Cheng Shuyuan took a step forward, about to explain something.

Ji Xia pointed at him, her hand trembling uncontrollably in her rage, and interrupted him abruptly: "Get out! All of you, get out!"

Seeing this, Cheng's mother felt a pang of fear and said in a trembling voice, "Xiaxia, don't be angry. I know it's all my fault. I was blinded by greed. Don't blame Shuyuan."

"Blame me if you must..."

After speaking, Cheng's mother lowered her head, looking as if she knew she was in the wrong and dared not look directly at her.

Ji Xia looked down at her and suddenly felt that her mother-in-law, whom she had lived with for several years, was very unfamiliar, as if she had never seen through her.

She took all the blame upon herself, just so that Cheng Shuyuan could stay out of it, right?

Oh……

How ridiculous!

Seeing that Ji Xia remained silent, Cheng's mother's eyes shifted, and she began to play the victim: "I'm so old, and my health isn't good. How much longer can I live? Don't let me cause discord between you and your husband."

Hearing Cheng's mother's words, a hint of disgust flashed in Ji Xia's eyes.

If it weren't for the fact that she was an elder, she would have definitely questioned her thoroughly.

Knowing they're old, why do they still cause all this trouble? Do they think they haven't been worrying enough and have lived too long?

Let's get a divorce.

Ji Xia, unwilling to argue with Cheng's mother any further, slowly began to state her decision.

"What?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng's mother was startled and hurriedly tried to say all sorts of nice things to salvage the situation, but Ji Xia ignored her.

Cheng Shuyuan realized the seriousness of the matter and quickly apologized.

Jiang Ran remained aloof, watching them suddenly realize their mistake, and felt a strange sense of irony.

It's too late to mend the fence after the sheep are lost.

Unable to resist, he scoffed, "What's the point of apologizing now that the deed's already been done?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng's mother frowned: "Why didn't it work?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow. She never expected there to be such a shameless person, comparable to Song Yuqing.

Then, with a cold sneer, he said, "If that's the case, I'll just hire thugs to beat up your son every few days, and apologize after each beating, and that'll be the end of it, right?"

Then he took a few steps closer to Cheng's mother: "After all, as you said, to err is human, to forgive divine, don't you agree?"

Cheng's mother was stunned by her words, and Jiang Ran glanced at her with disdain.

Fu looked at Ji Xia again, sighed softly, and said gently, "Solving the problem is the fundamental issue. Have you thought it through?"

Ji Xia nodded slightly and replied, "Yes, such feelings are better left unrequited."

Seeing that Ji Xia had made up her mind, Cheng's mother panicked and quickly shed a few tears, putting on a pitiful act and crying and begging for forgiveness.

Ji Xia felt disgusted looking at her. She looked at Cheng Shuyuan and frowned, saying, "If you don't want to attract everyone here, take her away quickly and don't embarrass yourself!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng's mother disregarded the disrespect in her words and quickly continued to cry and complain.

Jiang Ran was getting a little annoyed and spoke up at the right moment: "If you say one more word, I don't mind having your bodyguards kick you out."

Then he looked at Cheng Shuyuan and said, "When the time comes, you won't be able to hide the dirty things you've done under the watchful eyes of everyone."

Upon hearing her words, Cheng Shuyuan's expression changed. He looked up at Ji Xia, but saw that she remained unmoved.

He frowned slightly, pulled Cheng's mother aside, whispered a few words in her ear, and the two had no choice but to leave.