“Honey… she scratched my face… *sob*… If I’m disfigured, will you still want me?”
A woman barely in her twenties calling a man over fifty “honey” was enough to make even Aunt Vuong feel sick.
I shot Aunt Vuong a look, warning her not to actually throw up.
Lục Hoa Thịnh comforted her for a long while. Somehow, he finally managed to coax the canary into the car.
“Tiểu Thần, just pretend you didn’t see what happened today, okay? I promise I’ll never let her come here again!”
“She’s carrying a boy—your own little brother.”
I took the last sip of my tea. “Okay. And?”
“Of course you can’t tell your mother. If you do, we’ll both get kicked out, and you can kiss your life as a little princess goodbye!”
“You and I are on the same side! The family fortune will belong to you and your little brother someday, won’t it?”
Lục Hoa Thịnh thought he’d made a perfectly sound argument and was sure I’d take his side.
Because he was right: these good days were all thanks to my stepmother.
Too lazy to say another word, he gave Aunt Vuong a cold snort, then left with the canary.
The canary looked back and made a provocative “international sign of friendship” with her hand.
“Tell your mother to hurry up and divorce your father! I can’t keep this baby waiting!”
She was so arrogant it was almost laughable.
3
“Miss, I recorded the whole thing! I’m so mad! We have to show Madam! But I’m afraid she’ll dock my pay…” Aunt Vuong rushed over, asking what I wanted her to do.
“Give me the video.”
I had to make sure my stepmother saw that video as naturally as possible.
My father even transferred 100,000 yuan to me.
【Sweetheart, here’s some spending money. You look so skinny lately—make sure you eat more.】
I accepted the money and replied with nothing but a “Mm-hmm” emoji.
【That’s my good girl. With your dad here, there are plenty more good days ahead.】
【Daddy’s precious girl, you and I are on the same side.】
He made a point of emphasizing that, too.
That evening, Viên Lộ Dao returned from a business trip.
After dinner, I made an excuse to ask my stepmother a few questions about work.
I said I’d put my PowerPoint presentation up on the big screen.
Then I “accidentally” projected the video of the canary showing up at our house and causing a scene.
I pretended to panic as I searched for the remote to turn off the projector, but deliberately failed to find it.
So I kept pacing around the living room like an ant on a hot pan until the entire video had played from beginning to end. Only then did I “find” the remote.
Aunt Vuong sneaked me a thumbs-up, then slipped away without a trace.
Viên Lộ Dao’s expression was utterly grim.
The man everyone said was her gentle, handsome, attentive husband really was keeping a dog on the side.
She sat motionless on the sofa, silently watching the video replay again and again.
Her eyes held confusion, hurt, disbelief, and other emotions I couldn’t begin to read.
She asked me:
“Haven’t I treated your father well enough? I don’t make him work. All he has to do is live in the villa and drive a luxury car. I only ask that he be handsome. Tell me, why doesn’t he know how to appreciate what he has?”
She sighed, lamenting.
But the corners of her eyes reddened despite her efforts to hold back.
In public, she was a formidable businesswoman: strong, decisive, and always direct.
Even the heads of major companies had to bow and scrape before her.
But at home, she was just an ordinary woman who wanted a shoulder to lean on and a husband who would care enough to ask how she was doing.
She didn’t need her husband to be capable; she only needed him to be home waiting for her when she returned.