In June, the sunlight poured over the earth like a layer of finely shattered gold. Lian Xinying emerged from the examination room, and the driver immediately pushed through the crowd with a parasol.
"Miss, let's go back," he said.
Lian Xinying responded absently as she took out her phone to turn it on, her red lips muttering, "Why didn't dad come to pick me up himself? Didn't we agree that he'd take me out after I finished my exams?"
The driver's face hung low, his expression strange.
That very morning, tragedy had struck the Lian Family. Xinying's phone had been off, so she was unaware of the news.
"Miss... I..."
The driver stuttered, unable to finish his sentence, when he saw Xinying's face turn pale.
Upon powering up her phone, a message leapt into view, sent by her stepmother Jian Wanrong: "Your dad has jumped off a building and passed away. Come home right away after your exam."
There was a loud 'crack' as the phone hit the ground, emitting a piercing sound.
"Miss, after I take you back, I will be leaving the Lian Family. Let's hurry back," the driver said as he bent down to pick up her phone and handed it to her.
Clutching the phone in a daze, Xinying's eyes filled with tears that soon blurred her vision.
Before her father's incident, Xinying remembered, it had been almost half a month since she had seen him last.
It was only the day before yesterday, when she was about to take her exams, that she received a text from her father encouraging her to do well and promising to take her out after.
Perhaps trouble had started for her father half a month earlier, which explained why he hadn't come home.
Returning to the familiar home, Xinying found the house surrounded by a curious crowd. Some pointed fingers, others wore faint smiles...
Xinying bit her lip as her heart bled.
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter; when the wall collapses, everyone pushes!
The scenes before her were acutely painful.
"Get away!" Xinying took a deep breath, her lashes fluttering as she fought back the tears and shouted at the onlookers before clenching her fists and running towards the house.
Inside the house, police were conducting a search.
Seeing Xinying return, Jian Wanrong approached her with a suitcase in hand.
"Since your dad's gone, there's no need for us to stay in touch. Here's your luggage. You can leave now!" Jian Wanrong was blunt, "Your dad is now in the funeral home."
The relationship between Xinying and Jian Wanrong could be best described as fire and water.
Since marrying into the Lian Family two years ago, Jian Wanrong spent her days doing nothing but squandering the family's wealth. Xinying, having been pampered from a young age, naturally rejected her stepmother's more delicate demeanor than her own.
Jian Wanrong was far from benevolent, and had it not been for the face of her husband, she would have never shown Xinying any goodwill.
Xinying gripped the suitcase tightly, her sharp gaze as if etching a hole in Jian Wanrong's delicate face.
"My dad wouldn't jump from a building for no reason. Don't think I don't know why you married my dad; you had an ulterior motive! Maybe, you and your pretty boy drove my dad to his death!" Xinying spat out each word with weight.
Jian Wanrong's face changed, and just as she was about to speak, she was cut off by a deep male voice:
"Girl, are you talking about me?"
A tall figure, exuding an oppressive presence, appeared before Xinying, sinister and daunting.
He stood well over six feet tall, broad and imposing, with a powerful aura.
Xinying had to lift her head to meet his gaze.
"Don't pretend I don't know you were with my stepmom in her room until late last night! Do you dare say you're not a gigolo?" She scoffed. Hilarious—they had their tryst in her father's house and treated her like she was invisible!