I walked over and sat down, crossed my legs, and made a soothing gesture with my hand, "Please don't get agitated, sit down and talk things over."

Tang Xiu'e stared at me with a stern face, clearly unwilling to "speak slowly" to me.

But perhaps because she needed my help, she finally had to suppress her temper and sit down.

Little Cherry ordered me a hot cocoa, and as she put it down, she whispered, "Sis, I'll stay and keep you company."

She was probably afraid that Tang Xiue would hit me, so she thought that staying would give me courage and help me if necessary.

"Speak, what do you want?" I took a sip of hot cocoa and spoke calmly.

Tang Xiue also had coffee in front of her, and she had already drunk most of it.

She sat up a little, warmed her hands with the coffee cup, hesitated awkwardly for a moment, and then made an outrageous demand: "We're out of money at home, give me fifty million."

I raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Do I look like a sucker?"

“Jiang Wan, I know you have money. Fifty million is nothing to you. Of course, if you really don’t want to pay, then return the shares of Yuanyang Trading and transfer them to my name.”

Tang Xiu'e spoke with conviction.

I frowned slightly and asked curiously, "What gives you the right to order me around like that? Is it because you're my stepmother? Or because you're shameless?"

"Jiang Wan!" Tang Xiu'e suddenly raised her voice, angrily saying, "Don't push your luck and drive people to their doom! Your father is going to jail because of you, and even Gu Yanqing finding him the best lawyer couldn't help him. Isn't this revenge enough to satisfy you?"

I was slightly taken aback.

As expected, Gu Yanqing made his move.

It seems his illness has improved, otherwise he wouldn't be bothered with this. In that case, my divorce from him can be put on the agenda.

"Since Gu Yanqing is willing to help you, then go ask him for the fifty million." I said casually.

"How can that be the same? He has to pay back the money sooner or later. Where am I supposed to get the money to pay him back?"

"Ha, so I don't have to pay back my money?" I think she's utterly shameless.

"You're the one who ruined us like this. Besides, you're surnamed Jiang, shouldn't you have used the money to save your father? How dare you ask us to pay you back?" She became more and more self-righteous, as if I owed them something from birth.

I lowered my eyes and gave a helpless, bitter smile.

"Sorry, I have no money, but you can take my life. Believe it or not." I was too lazy to explain further, so I left with those words and got up to leave.

"Jiang Wan, you can't leave!" Tang Xiu'e suddenly stood up and opened her arms to block me.

I could only sit down again and continue drinking my hot cocoa.

"Jiang Wan, if you don't want to give me the shares under your mother's name, then give me back the ones under your father's name. Those weren't yours to begin with." Tang Xiu'e backed down when she saw that I wasn't willing to talk to her.

I shook my head: "No, I didn't force him to give me those shares. He offered them up in exchange to force me to give the jade bracelet to Jiang Yi."

"But the jade bracelet you gave Jiang Yi was fake!"

I smiled slightly and asked calmly, "Who said that? Who said that jade bracelet is fake?"

"You said it yourself! The bracelet really is on your arm!"

I smiled and said, "The one I was wearing on my arm that day was fake; the one Jiang Yi broke was real. If you want me to return the shares to you, then you should return the broken jade bracelet to me intact, or you can compensate me with 300 million."

As everyone knows, Su Shenglin acquired that mutton-fat jade bracelet at an auction for 300 million yuan.

Tang Xiu'e glared at me, both angry and anxious, her face flushed.

I maintained my faint smile.

I was certain that Tang Xiue wouldn't have kept that fake bracelet that had been shattered into pieces, so I deliberately played a trick on her, a classic case of "all's fair in war."

Since she can't prove the bracelet's authenticity now, she's at my mercy.

"Jiang Wan—you, you are so despicable! You are truly a viper, so scheming!" Tang Xiu'e remained silent for a long time, unable to find any flaw in my words, and gritted her teeth in anger, her voice trembling as she spoke.

I simply smiled and remained silent, calm and composed.

They were the ones who bullied me, slandered me, and even framed me time and time again, but every time I turned the tables, they would falsely accuse me and then denounce and sue me.

It's unimaginable that there are such shameless people in the world.

I picked up my hot cocoa, intending to take one more sip and leave, when I suddenly caught a glimpse of her reaching out towards the coffee cup out of the corner of my eye—

In the blink of an eye, just as I was about to throw the coffee at me, my body reacted instinctively before my brain could process it, and I managed to throw the hot cocoa out of my hand first!

Two streams of brown liquid met in the air, but were closer to Tang Xiu'e.

Analyzing from the perspective of force, because I used more force and there was more liquid in the cup, the liquid I splashed out also gained the upper hand, bringing back some of the small half-cup she had splashed, which then landed all on her.

It was quite a coincidence. If I hadn't deliberately delayed for half an hour, Tang Xiu'e would have almost finished her coffee—in this exchange of splashes, I really wouldn't have come out on top; it would have been a lose-lose situation for both of us.

I can only say that fate has its own plan, and God is on my side.

The unexpected situation caused extreme chaos, startling the surrounding guests.

Tang Xiu'e held the coffee cup, frozen in place, unresponsive, perhaps stunned by the spill.

I snapped out of my daze, quickly stood up, grabbed several tissues, and went over to her. "Oh! I'm so sorry, my hand slipped and I spilled coffee all over you."

Before I could finish speaking, I stepped forward apologetically to wipe her down.

Tang Xiu'e was wearing a light-colored double-sided fleece coat, with slightly thick hot cocoa clinging to the fabric. Wiping it with a tissue only made it more disgusting, and she looked utterly disheveled.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!