"I'm s-sorry…" Huang Yuyan sobbed, covering her wet face with her hands. "I l-love my children the most b-but…I also love my sister and L-little Luo Luo…" She looked up at Grandma Li with pitiful eyes. "Mother…w-what should I do? I'm so confused…I don't know what to d-do…"
Grandma Li sighed. Her daughter-in-law had always been pure at heart, generous in her affection, loving and loyal to the people she trusted. Huang Yuyan's unchanging innocence was what endeared her to everyone when she married into the Jin family. It made all the men in the family, including her own two sons Jin Liwei and Jin Chonglin, to want to protect her like a delicate treasure.
In short, Huang Yuyan was very spoiled by the Jin family. Not in a bad way. It was actually adorable. However, this made her too emotionally dependent on other people. She was already delicate to begin with. If anything happened that was more than she could bear, she would break down like this. She always needed someone to lift her up and support her.
"Yuyan my dear—hm?" Grandma Li saw her assistant in her peripheral vision standing by the door. "What is it?"
It was the man from the helipad who welcomed visitors to Grandma Li's mountain estate. He gave an apologetic bow. "Please forgive this humble one for interrupting the two madams. But I have urgent news that I believe the two madams need to know."
"Alright. Come in and show us," Grandma Li said.
The man bowed in respect before entering the bedroom and handing a tablet to Grandma Li. Huang Yuyan sat up on the bed with great effort from her lying position. She was also curious about what kind of urgent news it was.
Grandma Li gasped in shock. "This…good heavens!"
"Mother…what is it?"
Grandma Li glared at her daughter-in-law, her eyes flashing. She also began trembling in fury.
"So this is the kind of girl that you love so much?!" Grandma Li threw the tablet on the bed in front of Huang Yuyan. "You're willing to defend such an evil person to the point that you'll blame your own children?! I have never been so disappointed in you, Yuyan! Read it! Now!"
Huang Yuyan began crying again but still took the tablet with shaking hands and began reading. Then she gasped. The tablet fell from her hands to bounce on the bed. "Th-this…no. There must be some m-mistake… Little Luo Luo is not like this… She would n-never do something like this…"
"Yuyan! Listen to yourself! That evil girl did such wicked things to trap your own son and you're still defending her?! Even Liwei's Xiulan has fallen victim to her! Oh! I can't imagine what Xiulan must be feeling now, poor girl. Her parents, too. This must be so traumatizing for her." Grandma Li touched her forehead in distress before glaring at her daughter-in-law again.
"Xiulan…?" Huang Yuyan didn't read the part about Iris' car accident, so she grabbed the tablet again and began reading. "W-what…? No… H-how could this be? Xiulan…oh no…"
"I've had enough of your denial, Yuyan! Listen to me!" Grandma Li pointed a shaking finger at her daughter-in-law. Her rage was so palpable that the maid and her assistant cowered and retreated a few steps away. "If you still dare to defend that evil girl and her family of criminals, even if my son—your husband—curses me from heaven, I would stop recognizing you as a member of this family! My heart breaks that my two grandsons have a mother like you who'll choose a criminal over her own children! My Jin family doesn't need a blind, stupid and spineless fool like you!"
Grandma Li stormed off the bedroom. Her assistant and the maid followed behind her, leaving the shocked Huang Yuyan staring after them.
She continued reading on the tablet until she couldn't bear it anymore. Then she broke down and sobbed with all her heart.
"I'm so sorry…."
###
What he read sent chills down his spine. He immediately tried calling Jin Chonglin but the guy wasn't answering. He tried several more times but to no avail. He became worried, so he rushed to Jin Chonglin's house.
When Lin Dong arrived at the house, the living area was a total wreck. He could hear banging sounds coming from upstairs. He ran, following the sounds. He winced at all the wreckage he passed by along the way.
He found Jin Chonglin wreaking havoc inside his bedroom. Jin Chonglin was silent yet his whole body was emanating unbridled fury. Lin Dong hesitated and didn't go near him.
"Chonglin?" he cautiously called out.
Jin Chonglin stopped and gave him a cold glance. "Oh, you're here. Based on your expression, you must've seen the news."
"Yeah."
Jin Chonglin threw his head back and laughed in a mocking way. Lin Dong cringed at the sound.
"This is just great! Now the world knows that I, Jin Chonglin, had been cuckolded! I, the one who was once known as the national playboy! Ahahaha! What a f*cking reversal!"
Lin Dong didn't know what to say, so he just stayed silent.
Then he punched hard at the wall, alarming Lin Dong.
"Chonglin, stop! Your hands! You're gonna break your hands!"
Lin Dong grabbed Jin Chonglin's hand and saw that his knuckles were now angry red. They were going to bruise badly later on. Lin Dong felt the hand and sighed in relief when nothing was broken.
Ever since Jin Chonglin announced that he was going to write his own music once again, he returned to playing the guitar and even the piano. His hands should be protected from now on.
Thankfully, Jin Chonglin didn't struggle and stopped punching. Then he dropped to sit on the floor, cradling his head with his hands. "F*ck! Those fourteen women were harmed and some were even killed because of me! Sh*t!"
"No, Chonglin! Don't you dare blame yourself. It's that evil woman who harmed them, not you. It's not your fault! Okay?"
Lin Dong was now worried. It was outside his expectations that Jin Chonglin would feel guilty for the fourteen women harmed by Fan Luo. He didn't want his artist to bear such a heavy emotional burden like this. It might affect him in a detrimental way. Lin Dong must not let that happen.
"Even Iris Long…" Jin Chonglin rubbed his hands over his face, as if trying to erase the surface of his skin. "I didn't even interact with her that much and she was…she spent one whole f*cking year in coma! F*ck! I can't believe all of this…"
'Me neither,' Lin Dong thought.
Jin Chonglin knew that it wasn't his fault. He wasn't the one who harmed and killed the women, but he still couldn't stop the feeling of guilt from growing within him. It ate at him, making him hate himself for the first time ever for being such a playboy. If only he wasn't such a ladies magnet, perhaps those fourteen women would still be safe and alive.
He hated himself but he hated Fan Luo even more. All the tender feelings he felt for her from watching her grow up since childhood disintegrated, replaced by hatred so intense that he imagined wrapping his hands around her throat and squeezing the life out of her.
"Don't let me see you again, Fan Luo, or I won't be able to control myself," he hissed.