"Calm down, Momo!"
"Even though we don't know how Lu Wensheng pulled it off, it's a fact that she hit us!"
"Once the police investigate and find out the truth, they'll see we weren't lying!"
"When that time comes, Lu Wensheng won't escape a single bit of the price she has to pay!"
Lu Qingtang looked at Lu Erya's calm and confident expression, her eyes narrowing slightly.
No wonder Lu Wensheng, despite being the true daughter of the family, could still be plotted against and driven out of her home.
This fake daughter of the Lu Family certainly had some tricks up her sleeve...
Lu Qingtang blinked her clear-cut eyes, the corners of her lips curving into a smile that was half-righteous, half-wicked.
***
Inside the office, absolute silence reigned.
Ning Yan's slender body leaned lazily and gracefully against the desk, his expression cold with a smile on his lips. His gaze cut through the glass, measuring "Lu Wensheng"—who was sitting quietly and obediently in a chair, answering the police's questions—with an unreadable intent.
If this really was "Lu Wensheng," and she intended to force the issue, that little idiot might actually just submit obediently.
After all, though he didn't really want to admit it, that idiot was also him.
Ning Yan had a very clear understanding of his own taste and innate preferences.
He imagined for a moment: if the "Lu Wensheng" sitting in there right now were to run over, smiling sweetly and asking him if he wanted to have a one-night fling with her, he really might not... refuse.
The woman who slept with him... could she really be "Lu Wensheng"?!
Ning Yan's pale red lips curved slightly, and with a cold gaze that could only be described as hyper-critical, he scrutinized Lu Qingtang inch by inch from head to toe.
Her appearance was right, her personality was right, and she... seemed to be the right person after all!
Yet... something still felt discordant.
Watching the mixture of naive innocence and cold indifference in Lu Qingtang's brows and eyes, Ning Yan unconsciously wore a smile, even as his lazy, affectionate peach-blossom eyes grew cold.
So... exactly what was wrong?!
***
Out in the lobby, Lu Qingtang sensed someone watching her almost immediately.
The other party made almost no effort to conceal their scrutiny and appraisal.
Although there wasn't much offense or malice in it, Lu Qingtang still felt uncomfortable.
Suppressing the impulse to turn her head and glare back, she frowned slightly.
As Lu Qingtang was wondering who was staring at her from the shadows, a woman in luxurious clothes hurried in through the doors of the police station.
Seeing the newcomer, Lu Erya's eyes suddenly reddened. She ran over, buried herself in the woman's arms, and cried with aggrieved sadness, "Mom!"
Seeing Lu Erya's head covered in blood and her utterly disheveled state, Madame Lu was terribly startled. Furious and heartbroken, she demanded, "Who did this?!"
With reddened eyes, Lu Erya lowered her voice and said, "Sheng'er hit me..."
Lu Mo stared venomously at Lu Qingtang and chimed in, exaggerating the situation, "Yes, Madame. Lu Wensheng has gone mad. She cursed Erya, calling her a fake who isn't worthy of being a daughter of the Lu Family."
"Not only did she hit Erya, she even tried to kill her..."
Hearing this, Madame Lu looked at the gauze wrapped around Lu Erya's head, and a surge of fury rushed straight to her head.
Without a second thought, she turned, raised her hand, and lashed out with a fierce slap toward Lu Qingtang's face.
Watching Madame Lu's furious expression, Lu Erya secretly curved the corners of her lips.
Just as Madame Lu's palm was about to land on Lu Qingtang's face, Lu Qingtang suddenly raised her hand and caught Madame Lu's wrist.
With a single jerk, Madame Lu's face instantly changed color from the pain, and she barked sharply, "Lu Wensheng!"
Lu Qingtang lazily lifted her eyelids to look at the poised and radiant noblewoman before her.
Madame Lu's features didn't bear much resemblance to Lu Wensheng's, but judging by her bone structure and contours, they were indeed mother and daughter.
If she really shared some blood relation with Lu Wensheng, then there was an eighty percent chance these Lu Family members were her own kin.
With cold indifference, Lu Qingtang scrutinized Madame Lu standing before her, looking at her enraged expression and hateful gaze... and thought of Lu Wensheng's expression, which had been so calm it bordered on lifeless.
Clearly a young lady of a wealthy family, yet she could only live alone in a dilapidated alleyway, depending on a dog for companionship...
At this thought, a murderous glint suddenly flashed through Lu Qingtang's pitch-black eyes. "What kind of thing do you think you are, daring to hit me?!"
Hearing Lu Qingtang's icy words, Madame Lu was momentarily stunned.
She looked into the opposite girl's calm, cold, pitch-black eyes. There wasn't a trace of the respect and obedience a daughter ought to show her mother in those eyes; instead, they were filled with deep disgust and appraisal, as though looking at something utterly nauseating.
Madame Lu felt an inexplicable pang of panic in her chest, which instantly gave way to an even greater rage. "Lu Wensheng, what kind of look is that?! I am your mother!"
With an expression of disgust, Lu Qingtang flung Madame Lu aside, the corners of her lips curling into a cold, mocking smile. "There is no mother in this world who would help an outsider to harm and trample upon her own flesh and blood."
"To do something so beastly, yet still dare to call yourself my mother, and even righteously demand that I treat you with the respect due a mother..."
"Madame Lu, how shameless can you possibly be?!"
Madame Lu was shoved back a step, staggering.
She widened her eyes and stared in disbelief at the "Lu Wensheng" standing before her.
She simply couldn't believe that the daughter who had always been submissive and obedient to her would actually speak such sharp, cold words to her...
Seeing Madame Lu standing dazed in her spot, too stunned by Lu Wensheng's words to demand justice for her, Lu Erya felt a venomous flash in the depths of her eyes.
She stepped forward to steady Madame Lu, lowering her head as she said with sorrow, "Mom, don't blame Sheng'er."
"Sheng'er is right. I was the one who owed her in the first place, so it's only right that she hit me..."
"I shouldn't... even exist..."
Hearing Lu Erya's painful and aggrieved voice, and remembering the blood-soaked appearance of the daughter she had treasured since childhood, Madame Lu's newly subsided anger was instantly reignited.
Glaring viciously at Lu Qingtang, she roared in a rage, "Erya was raised by me! I say she is a daughter of the Lu Family, and she is a daughter of the Lu Family!"
"On the contrary, you are the one who shouldn't have appeared, the one who shouldn't exist!"
Listening to Madame Lu's cold and vicious words, and seeing the triumphant, gloating look in Lu Erya's eyes, Lu Qingtang smiled. Suddenly, she stepped forward, raised her hand, and with lightning speed, delivered a heavy slap across Lu Erya's face.
*Crack!*
With a crisp, ringing sound, the attention of the entire police station was startled in an instant, all eyes snapping toward them.
Then, everyone watched in shock as the girl who had just been sitting quietly and harmlessly in her seat, obediently answering the police's questions, finished slapping someone without the slightest pause, immediately raised her hand high again, and struck Lu Erya's other cheek with another fierce blow.
*Slap!*
Lu Erya's face was knocked sharply to the side.
She had never expected that "Lu Wensheng" would dare to hit her right in front of Madame Lu. For a moment, she froze in place, forgetting even how to cry.
Amidst an indescribable silence, Lu Qingtang chuckled softly and spoke...