Chapter 10 A Torn Mother and Daughter
The evening breeze blew in through the car window, and Su Yuting leaned back in her seat contentedly. She had been the center of attention at Mrs. Zhang's tea party that day.
Those haughty ladies and young women who usually looked down on everyone were all trying their best to curry favor with her.
The thought that Su Wantang, that sickly girl, had such incredible luck made her feel disgusted, as if she had swallowed a fly.
But then I thought, what does it matter how well Su Wantang marries? She, Su Yuting, is the rightful eldest daughter of the Su family, the apple of her mother's eye.
As soon as the car came to a stop, she eagerly pushed open the car door and went straight to her room on the second floor.
She wanted to take another look at that precious set of jewelry and imagine how stunning she would look wearing it, outshining everyone else.
She pushed open the door, humming a little tune, and walked briskly toward the dressing table.
The next second, the smile on her face froze.
On the dressing table, the rosewood jewelry box that she cherished more than her own life was gone.
Instead, a glass marble was used.
A cheap-looking glass marble that a child plays with, reflecting the sunlight.
A deathly silence.
Su Yuting's pupils shrank little by little from their normal size to pinpoints.
"ah--!!!"
A scream that could pierce eardrums echoed throughout the entire Su family home.
She lunged at it like a madwoman, her hands groping wildly across the dressing table, her fingernails scraping against the expensive lacquer, making a grating sound.
No!
She frantically opened all the drawers and dumped everything inside onto the floor.
Scarves, gloves, letter paper... scattered all over the ground.
Still no!
"My jewelry box! My dowry!!" Su Yuting's eyes turned red as she frantically searched the room, pulling back the covers, opening the wardrobe, and making a complete mess of the room.
"What's wrong? Why are you shouting like that? What kind of behavior is this!" Liu Liyun frowned as she walked upstairs. As soon as she reached the door, she was shocked by the scene in front of her and gasped.
"Mom!" Su Yuting cried out as if she had grasped a lifeline. She scrambled over to Liu Liyun, grabbed her sleeve tightly, and burst into tears.
"Mom! My jewelry box! My jade set! It's gone! It was stolen!!"
Liu Liyun's face turned pale instantly.
That set of jewelry was priceless; it was her most treasured possession and the foundation she laid for her daughter!
"Impossible! How could a thief break into the house?" Liu Liyun's first reaction was disbelief. She forced herself to remain calm, immediately locked the door, and lowered her voice.
"Keep your voice down! Do you want the whole household and servants to know?!"
She quickly glanced around; the window was bolted from the inside, and the door had only been locked after she came in.
Where did the thief enter from?
It was as if a string in Su Yuting's mind snapped with a "buzz".
She suddenly raised her head, her bloodshot eyes flashing with resentment.
"It was her! It must have been that bitch Su Wantang!!"
Besides that bitch, who else would hate her so much? Who else couldn't stand to see her doing well?
"She's jealous of me! She's jealous of how good you are to me, Mom! She's just getting revenge on me!!" Su Yuting's voice became extremely shrill. She broke free from Liu Liyun's hand and tried to rush out like a madwoman.
"I'm going to settle the score with her! I'm going to tear her apart!"
Su Wantang was in her room, slowly flipping through a rare travelogue she had taken out of her spatial library.
She could hear the screams and cries from downstairs clearly.
She closed the book, walked to the door, timed it perfectly, and gently opened the door.
As soon as the door opened, Su Yuting rushed over like a madwoman, her hair disheveled, followed by Liu Liyun, whose face was ashen.
"Su Wantang! You thief! Hand over my jewelry box!" Su Yuting bared her teeth and claws, ready to pounce.
Su Wantang dodged to the side, causing her to miss her target and nearly fall.
She leaned leisurely against the door frame, looking at the mother and daughter with an innocent expression, her eyebrows slightly raised, showing a hint of incomprehension and laziness.
"Sister, what are you acting out? What kind of dream are you having in broad daylight?"
"Stop pretending!" Su Yuting steadied herself, pointed at her nose, and cursed, "It was you! You stole my jewelry box! You shameless thief!"
Upon hearing this, Su Wantang was not angry at all. Instead, she chuckled softly, her laughter like a feather gently scratching the tense nerves of Su Yuting and Liu Liyun.
"Sister, you need evidence to back up your words." She extended a slender, white finger, tapped her temple, and pointed towards Su Yuting's room. She spoke slowly and deliberately, her logic frighteningly clear:
"First of all, I spent the whole afternoon reading in my room, and Aunt Wang can vouch for that. Your room is so far away from mine, do I have superhuman eyesight or super hearing?"
"Secondly, you're saying I stole your jewelry box? I remember that box was quite large, made of rosewood, and incredibly heavy. Tell me, how did I manage to walk through the wall and move it from your room to mine right under your nose? Am I some kind of living god?"
“Third,” her gaze swept lightly over Su Yuting’s face, which was contorted with guilt and anger, “and most importantly, do you have any evidence?”
A series of rhetorical questions struck Liu Liyun's heart like a series of small hammers.
Su Yuting was rendered speechless by the questioning, and could only scream repeatedly, "It's you! It's you! There's no one else but you!"
Such accusations, delivered in a shrewish, street-fighting style, are utterly harmless.
Amidst the chaos, Liu Liyun's mind quickly calmed down.
She grabbed her daughter, who was still throwing a tantrum, and re-examined the matter with a gloomy look in her eyes.
Su Wantang is right.
There is no evidence.
Moreover, it doesn't make any logical sense.
She pushed Su Yuting aside and strode into her daughter's room.
The room was a mess, but the doors and windows were intact. She went to the window and carefully examined the latch; there was a faint scratch on it, as if something had pried it open from the outside.
But she immediately dismissed the idea.
If it really was a thief, why only steal a jewelry box? The scattered gold and silver jewelry on the dressing table, and the designer coats in the wardrobe, aren't they all valuable?
This thief is being far too "honest".
An absurd yet seemingly perfectly reasonable thought popped into Liu Liyun's mind.
Her gaze slowly shifted to her daughter, who was still wailing and crying by the door.
Could it be... that Yu Ting herself hid the jewelry?
This daughter of hers has been spoiled rotten since childhood; she's jealous and petty. Recently, Su Wantang married into the Lu family and is enjoying great success. Yuting may not say anything, but who knows how much resentment she harbors inside.
She used this "thief crying 'stop thief'" self-inflicted injury tactic for two reasons: first, to frame Su Wantang and ruin her reputation; and second, to use it as leverage to demand more benefits from herself!
Thinking of this, Liu Liyun's gaze towards Su Yuting instantly changed.
The look in his eyes no longer held heartache and anger, but was filled with scrutiny, suspicion, and a chilling sense of being deceived.
Su Yuting was crying and shouting when she suddenly met her mother's unfamiliar gaze, and her crying stopped abruptly.
"Mom...why are you looking at me like that?" She felt a pang of panic.
Liu Liyun didn't speak, she just stared intently at her.
Su Yuting completely broke down; she could read the distrust in her mother's eyes.
The person she relied on most actually doubted her!
"Mom! You don't believe me? You actually don't believe me!" she screamed, her voice shrill and distorted.
"This must be Su Wantang's revenge! She hates us! She's going to take everything that belongs to me!"
"Smack!"
A crisp, loud slap landed hard on Su Yuting's face.
The entire hallway fell into an instant silence.
Liu Liyun's hands were still trembling, and her chest was heaving violently. Looking at the five finger marks that quickly appeared on her daughter's face, she shouted angrily, "You're crazy! I think you really are crazy!"
Family scandals should not be aired in public!
Whatever the truth, this matter must not be blown out of proportion! Otherwise, if word gets out, Liu Liyun's reputation for failing to raise her daughter properly and Su Yuting's reputation for being unruly and unreasonable will be confirmed!
Su Yuting covered her face, looking at her mother in disbelief.
From childhood to adulthood, her mother never said a harsh word to her.
Today, because of Su Wantang, he actually hit her?
The seemingly unbreakable chain between mother and daughter snapped with a crisp sound under that slap.
Just then, steady footsteps came from the stairwell.
Lu Jingyan, dressed in a cold, hard military uniform, returned from outside. His tall figure, carrying an invisible sense of oppression, appeared before everyone.
He glanced at the mess at the scene and the slap mark on Su Yuting's face, then walked straight to Su Wantang's side.
He remained silent.
But his unfathomable black eyes swept coldly over Liu Liyun and Su Yuting.
That look in his eyes was like the cold wind in December, chilling one to the bone.
The mother and daughter, who had been so arrogant just moments before, fell silent instantly, like chickens with their necks being choked, not daring to even breathe loudly.
Lu Jingyan's gaze lingered for a second on Su Wantang's face, which was watching the show with great interest, before turning to Su Zhenhong, who was trembling with fear to the side.
“Mr. Su,” he said in a low voice, but every word was precious, “I would like to meet with you tomorrow to discuss some business matters. Would that be convenient?”
Su Zhenhong dared not say it was inconvenient and nodded vigorously.
Lu Jingyan stopped looking at them and said to Su Wantang, "Get some rest at home tomorrow."
After saying that, he turned and went into his guest room.
As Su Wantang watched Liu Liyun drag the distraught Su Yuting away, the corners of her mouth curved upwards and upwards.
Lu Jingyan is clearing the area for her.
This ally is really quite good.
Her next target was the secret room in Su Zhenhong's study.
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