Chapter 2

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Qiao Xin staggered back. If it weren’t for Su Xue, she would have fallen.

She had known that Qiao Nian would not be married off obediently. She was about to be sent to the Gu family; there was not enough time. At the thought, Qiao Xin could not help but tremble in fear. She could not marry a short-lived wretch, absolutely not!

Looking at Qiao Xin’s frustrated expression, Su Xue said in a low voice, “Qiao Nian, the past is in the past. You are the elder sister. Can’t you give way to Qiao Xin? She is your little sister!”

“If you give me the shares, I’ll marry in place of you. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being impolite!” Qiao Nian smiled like a cunning fox. Those shares had been left to her by her grandmother and she would never give them to an outsider.

“You beast! You should have been grateful for even being allowed to come home, yet you keep asking for shares!” Breathing heavily, Qiao Shan glared at Qiao Nian with a dark expression. Had he known how despicable this daughter would become, he would have just thrown her away back then so that he wouldn’t have cause for vexation. “Are you, or are you not, still a member of the Qiao family?”

“Didn’t you say long ago that I’m no longer a member of the Qiao family?” Qiao Nian glanced at the clock in the living room. It was already three in the morning. “I remember that the Gu family will pick someone up at six in the morning. There’s not much time left for you!”

“Sister.” Qiao Xin quickly walked to Qiao Nian’s side and tried to hold her hand, but Qiao Nian shook her off, hard. The back of Qiao Xin’s tender hand momentarily turned red, and she held back her tears.

“Qiao Nian, how dare you hit the back of Qiao Xin’s hand? Are you tired of living?!” Su Xue cried. The sight of Qiao Xin’s red hand made her heart ache, and her eyes grew red-rimmed.

“Are you sure that counts as hitting?” Qiao Nian raised her eyebrows slightly. Under the astonished gaze of Su Xue, Qiao Nian turned and gave Qiao Xin a hard slap.

“Pa!”

The crisp sound of the slap resounded throughout the entire room.

On Qiao Xin’s face, a clear palm print had appeared. It was so painful that tears welled up in her eyes. She covered her face and sat there, not understanding what she had done wrong.

“Qiao Nian!” Su Xue cried out. She stared at Qiao Nian in disbelief. All these years, she couldn’t bear to let Qiao Xin suffer even a little. Now, she couldn’t believe that Qiao Nian had gone so far as to slap Qiao Xin.

“What do you want me to do? Didn’t you say that I hit her? Isn’t this a demonstration? Let me show you what it means to hit her!” Qiao Nian’s lip curved slightly and she looked coldly at Su Xue, who had raised her hand to slap her. “Go on, hit me!”

“Mom, don’t do this!” Afraid that she would hit Qiao Nian, Qiao Xin hurriedly stopped Su Xue. She knew that Qiao Nian was being serious. Looking at Qiao Nian, she sobbed pitifully. “Sister, I’m willing to give you the shares!”

“Pa!”

Without hesitation, Qiao Nian slapped the other half of Qiao Xin’s face. Just like that, there were two palm prints on either side of Qiao Xin’s face. The palm prints were extraordinarily symmetrical.

“What are you doing!” Su Xue hurriedly pulled Qiao Xin behind her. She tried to hit Qiao Nian, but was stopped again by Qiao Xin. She could only glare at Qiao Nian angrily. “You beast!”

“The shares were mine to begin with. You’re just returning them to their original owner. Don’t make yourself seem so wronged. People who don’t know the circumstances might think that I’ve stolen something from you.” Qiao Nian stood up slowly and smiled at Qiao Xin. Calmly, she said, “Transfer the shares to my name now. Otherwise, even if you send me to the Gu family, I’ll tell the Gu family about the replacement marriage in full detail!”

“How dare you!” Qiao Shan had been suppressing his anger all this while. When he saw Qiao Nian acting so brazenly, he was so furious that he slammed the table and stood up. He stepped in front of Qiao Nian, livid. His hand shook by his side, ready to hit her at any moment.

“Why don’t you give it a try?” Qiao Nian narrowed her eyes. Turning to look at Qiao Xin’s face, her lips curved into a bright smile.

“Fine. I’ll transfer the shares to you right now!” Qiao Shan took out his phone and logged into the company’s administration. He immediately transferred the shares, which rightfully belonged to Qiao Nian, to her account.

Qiao Nian received the confirmation text and immediately clicked ‘Agree’. She smiled at Qiao Shan and nodded in satisfaction. Then her gaze fell on Qiao Xin’s face and she said absently, “Qiao Xin, don’t you still owe me something?”

Qiao Xin was crying her eyes out. When she heard Qiao Nian’s voice, she wiped her tears and looked up at Qiao Nian, asking pitifully, “Sister, what are you saying?”

Qiao Nian walked up to Qiao Xin. The corner of her eye twitched, and coldness flashed in her eyes. She met Qiao Xin’s guilty gaze and asked meaningfully, “Where’s the jade pendant I brought back five years ago?”

That jade pendant was a token given to her by the man. It was the only thing she could use to find him!

Qiao Xin looked at Qiao Nian in shock, tears still running down her face.

That jade pendant was of such high quality, and it was so rare. It was even better than the million-yuan jade pendant she had bought. Qiao Xin felt that the owner of that jade pendant was definitely someone rich.

“I… I don’t know!” How could Qiao Xin return the jade pendant to Qiao Nian? She felt that the jade pendant held even greater value.

“Pa!”

“Pa!”

Cleanly and skillfully, Qiao Nian gave Qiao Xin two more slaps. Seeing that the corner of Qiao Xin’s mouth was bleeding, she raised her eyebrow and said, “If you don’t return it to me in two days, you may no longer be as able-bodied as you are now!”

Qiao Xin looked at Qiao Nian in disbelief.

What did she mean by that?n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Was Qiao Nian going to cripple her?

Qiao Xin trembled. She lowered her gaze, let her eyes roll back, and simply pretended to faint.

Qiao Nian didn’t bother responding. Instead, she walked upstairs.

The door of her original bedroom had already disappeared. Qiao Nian walked to Qiao Xin’s room, which was adjacent to hers, and opened the door. Only then did she realize that the Qiao family had knocked down the wall between the two rooms. Qiao Nian’s room was now a walk-in wardrobe for Qiao Xin.

Qiao Nian looked at the dazzling array of jewelry and accessories in the wardrobe. The light in her eyes dimmed.

Stepping out of the room, she saw Su Xue running over anxiously.

Su Xue glared at Qiao Nian fiercely and said, “The makeup artist is here. Go downstairs and get your makeup done!”

Again, Qiao Nian didn’t say anything and simply walked downstairs.

Seeing Qiao Nian’s clothes, Su Xue frowned and said, “Change!”

Su Xue walked to Qiao Xin’s room and threw a piece of clothing, whose tag had yet to be removed, to Qiao Nian. She said coldly, “Change into this!”

Qiao Nian didn’t want to continue wearing her hospital gown either. After changing into the clothes, she walked downstairs and let the makeup artist help her with her makeup. When everything was ready, the Gu family’s wedding car arrived.

Stepping on the red carpet, Qiao Nian was about to get into the wedding car when she saw a child in the boisterous crowd faint to the ground, his face terribly pale.

“How inauspicious!” Su Xue, who was standing to the side, frowned and said unhappily, “It’s obvious that he’s trying to scam us. Let’s stay away!”

With that, Su Xue pulled Qiao Shan away.

Looking over, Qiao Nian saw that the child’s clothes were made with fabric of a decent quality. The clothes were well tailored and looked like they were custom-made. She walked over in her wedding dress.

At this moment, there was no one around the child.. No one was willing to go forward to help, for they were afraid that they would get into trouble.