So all those people who had hinted over the years that Lục Hoa Thịnh had a mistress on the side had been telling the truth.
She had sincerely believed they were jealous of her—jealous that she was successful and had a handsome, obedient husband.
She thought they envied her because they coveted her husband.
But the truth was… she was nothing but a joke.
Tears fell from her eyes one by one, like a string of pearls coming undone.
Gorgeous and tragic.
I really didn’t understand. What good would sitting here crying do? Shouldn’t she be furious and march straight over to catch them in bed?
“Mom, I’ll take you to find Dad!”
“Don’t go… You’re his daughter. If you saw him in such a humiliating situation, he might be embarrassed.”
“Huh???”
My head was seriously full of question marks.
My dad cared about being embarrassed?
The year he sold himself to my stepmother for five million, he hadn’t seemed embarrassed.
He’d been sponging off others for years without feeling ashamed.
Now his mistress had shown up at our door pregnant, and he still felt no shame.
He actually knew how to be embarrassed?!
4
In the end, Viên Lộ Dao still decided to go see the “canary.”
She was living in a luxury apartment downtown, overlooking the river—the best unit in the whole building.
Clearly, a poor college student couldn’t possibly afford a place like that.
When the canary saw Viên Lộ Dao, she didn’t recognize her as Lục Hoa Thịnh’s legal wife.
She merely froze for a moment, then instinctively took a step back.
She was probably intimidated by Viên Lộ Dao’s commanding presence.
“What’s this? Here to apologize? Let me tell you, I’m not accepting any apology! That old woman’s daughter gave me an earful today and upset the baby. I’m in a terrible mood!”
“I know you’re her daughter. You must be here to make peace, right?”
“Stop trying to talk me out of it. Go talk to your mother instead. Tell her to get a divorce as soon as possible! What’s the point of clinging to a man who doesn’t love her anymore?”
“I know what rich wives like you are thinking—you grit your teeth and turn a blind eye to your husbands having affairs, just to hold on to the title of legal wife.”
“But that’s just fooling yourselves! Her man’s heart has belonged to me for a long time!”
“The baby I’m carrying is the only heir to the Lu family. If you don’t want your little brother to be born out of wedlock, then make your mother get out of the way!”
Viên Lộ Dao was worldly and had seen plenty of people and situations, so even hearing that, she didn’t fly into a rage like Aunt Vuong.
She only tilted her head to look at me and unexpectedly asked:
“Did you say things this harsh to your birth mother back then?”
I shook my head. “Never.”
“So being a mistress really does make people hate you that much.”
“Not everyone hates them. For example, my stepmother—my birth mother didn’t hate her.”
5
Back then, my dad was addicted to cheating. He had women everywhere, never brought any money home, and often secretly took the money my mom had worked so hard to earn—in reality, she was supporting all the women he kept on the side.
But my stepmother was different.
Viên Lộ Dao came into our home with five million in her hands.
First, she sincerely apologized to my birth mother.
Only then did she hand over the money.
She asked my mother very politely:
“I like your husband. Would you sell him to me? Do you think five million is a fair price?”
My birth mother worked as a fishmonger at the market.
When Viên Lộ Dao came to see her, she was haggling with a tutor.