Morning arrived.
Rays of sunlight passed through the window and covered Jiang Yue, giving her an ethereal beauty and enhanced her facial features.
Her long and curly eyelashes fluttered and her beautiful pair of eyes slowly open. She got off the bed and wore the slippers while yawning. Then, she slowly walked towards the mirror.
Since Jiang Yue had woken up, she didn't have the time to look at herself properly so she decided to find herself a mirror. She looked at her own reflection in the mirror. Her face had returned to when she was back in her youth. She had tears in her eyes and smiled bitterly, "I recovered my appearance.."
In her previous life, she had a hideous scar on her left eye and a few other scars on her body when she was in battle and also the times in when she tried to save Jian Ming multiple times. Since then, Jian Ming despised her even more. He felt disgusted looking at her face. Even though, she did that all for his sake, he didn't feel guilt, sympathy or any other feelings.
(A/N* Yes he's an ungrateful bastard. You all can despise or curse at him all you want. He deserves such attention.)
Although Jiang Yue was a workaholic and was not like any other women out there, she was and is still a 'woman.' She actually cared about her appearance. She thought that as long as Jian Ming hadn't lost a single hair, it didn't matter how much she needed to sacrifice.
After a few minutes of crying, determination and hatred could be seen in her eyes. She was determined to make all those people who hurt her and the people she cared about to suffer. She wanted to pay them back tenfold. She hated them for doing those things and hated herself more for letting them to.
'Maybe if I was more cautious and protected them well, things wouldn't turn out like that,' she blamed herself.
She then prepared herself to meet An Ran. She remembered that she needed to meet her in a mall near her neighborhood. She went down the stairs and saw her whole family in the dining table, including her beloved stepmother and half-sister. She could see the undisguised loathing in their eyes.
'They don't even have the intention to hide it,' she rolled her eyes.
She intended to eat breakfast before but seeing their faces made her lost her appetite. They made her want to puke. She walked to her seat, pulled up the chair and sat beside her mother and greeted her beloved family. "Good morning, mother, father, brother."
Jiang Yue had a brother named Jiang Wei. He's the legitimate inheritor and is now learning the ropes in their father's company. Jiang Wei may looked cold on the outside but his heart was warm. When she was in danger, her brother would always protect her. She..was the reason her brother died. She got careless before and got him involved in her underworld affairs as well. Thinking about this, Jiang Yue felt guilty inside.
Seeing Jiang Yue's attitude, Jiang Mei and Shi Rou felt irritated inside and at the same time suspicious. 'Had she known about the plan?' they thought to themselves as they had cold sweat running down their backs but then comforted themselves. 'Our plan was perfect, there's no way she'll know. 'That' person had covered all the evidence too.'
Shi Rou was Jiang Yue's stepmother and Jiang Mei's birth mother. She was the same as her daughter, a two-faced bitch. She had really good acting skills that Jiang Yue believed that she truly cared about her in the previous life. It's such a waste of talent that she didn't enter the entertainment industry and be an actress. She might even become a popular actress and make an amount of money.
Jiang Mei hurried to Jiang Yue's side and hugged her right arm and said with a wronged expression, "Sister, why didn't you greet Mother Shi and me?" If someone else was seeing that moment, they would think that Jiang Yue was bullying her younger sister.
As a matter of fact, Jiang Yue was only older than Jiang Mei by a year. Their ages weren't so far apart and worse, it was so close.
No one knew where Jiang Mei came from before. The people only knew that there was once a woman knocking on their door two years ago saying that Master Jiang's child is here. That woman was Shi Rou. Master Jiang denied it at first saying that he never impregnate any woman. When they did a DNA test, it was proven that Jiang Mei is Master Jiang's daughter. Master Jiang did not have a choice but to let them move in the house or their reputation might go down and they'll need to face public resentment.
Most men from wealthy families have hidden mistresses and illegitimate children so it's a normal occurence but who knows how lucky Shi Rou was that she picked a godly perfect timing when the Jiang family was hosting a party in their mansion. Furthermore, they had a tight security but she somehow had the ability to come in without guards obstructing her and caused a big ruckus which arouses everyone's suspicion.
At first, Madam Jiang felt heartbroken and even depressed thinking her husband cheated on her with another woman but then she calmed herself and decided to let the matter go as long as her husband still loved her and blatanly biased with her. Although Master Jiang didn't mistreat Jiang Mei and her mother, he still preferred Madam Jiang and Jiang Yue more. He had only solely loved Madam Jiang.
Jiang Yue smirked inside, 'Wow, what excellent acting skills. I really want to rip off that fake facade.'
Out of expectations, Jiang Yue replied with an apologetic face, "My apologies, sister. I didn't see you both. I think it's because your presence is too low that I didn't notice. As a good sister, you will forgive me, right?"
Jiang Mei's mouth twitched hearing her excuse and at the same time an insult but still forced out a smile, "Of course, sister."
On the other hand, Shi Rou was fuming in anger as she gritted her teeth but kept it inside since she knows that Master Jiang will took his legitimate daughter's side. Her title as the second madam was more or less just a decoration that held no power. She was not like a madam at all in the family. Even the servants dared to call her a mistress and home wrecker behind the scenes. But what could she do? She could only grit her teeth and keep her anger to herself as she continued to pretend she wasn't even slightly affected.
Master Jiang was the first one who broke the silence, "Xiao Yue, how are you feeling now?"
Jiang Yue replied with a smile as her eyes turned to crescents, "I'm okay now, Daddy."
Yes, that smile was a true smile from the heart.
After eating their breakfast, Jiang Yue bid everyone goodbye and said some words that made Jiang Mei and her mother fumed in anger. Seeing their forced smiles and anger in their eyes, she felt satisfied and arrived in the mall with a blooming smile.
Since Jiang Yue had a devastating beauty, she would always attract attention. This was one of the points that Jiang Mei was envious of. When the people saw Jiang Yue's beautiful and elegant smile, they were awe-struck.
In her previous life, she investigated Jiang Mei's identity and found out that she wasn't Master Jiang's real daughter and the DNA test was fabricated. She didn't figure who was Jiang Mei's real father before though. This meant that there was a powerful person covering up for them and it seems that Jiang Mei's real identity isn't simple either since she can't get ahold of much information even with her special identity in the underworld. And it was not the right time yet to expose it.
'Who was her backer and what's the motive in helping her? I think I should gather my comrades in my previous life and some potentials to build an empire. I need to have power to protect my people.'
When she was lost in thought, she didn't realise that there was a pair of eagle eyes observing her every expression intensely.