Sara Zhuo had never before suffered a loss that left her so powerless.
This was completely at odds with her lifelong style of doing things.
Ever since the Zhuo family collapsed more than twenty years ago, Sara had been working tirelessly to return to the heart of Beijing’s high society.
Twenty-odd years ago she had been the undisputed centre of that world, adored and pursued by all.
If she were to make her comeback now, it absolutely could not be as “so-and-so’s mistress”.
Lu Meishu’s death had forced her into an impossible corner. No one yet knew the identity of the woman Zhang Zhijun kept outside, but even Dai Chenglan, far away in Shanghai, was already convinced that Lu Meishu had been driven to suicide by “the mistress Zhang Zhijun supported”. Sara could grow ten mouths and still never clear her name.
And Lu Meishu’s suicide was not the only thing gnawing at her.
Lately Zhao Dong had been sniffing around, probing her several times.
Sara naturally told him nothing, so Zhao Dong turned his attention to the Zhuo siblings.
Zhuo Chen was untouchable.
Yet Zhao Dong had actually sent that idiot Zhao Qian to sound out Zhuo Yue. The sheer absurdity almost made Sara laugh out loud in rage.
With so many fires burning at once, Sara’s usual composure had cracked.
Dai Chenglan, blissfully unaware of the storm Sara was facing, kept prattling on with smug gossip. Sara found it insufferable.
Had she not been cut off from her old circle, would Sara ever have stooped to keeping company with a marginal figure like Dai Chenglan?
Utterly infuriating.
Even coffee couldn’t gag that woman’s mouth.
Designer suit, designer bag, dripping in jewellery; did she think that made her aristocracy?
It did not.
In Sara’s eyes, the word “vulgar” was etched into Dai Chenglan’s very marrow. No amount of money could scrub it away.
Sara mentally tore Dai Chenglan apart from head to toe, felt slightly better, then cut her off mid-sentence. “Enough. Why keep talking about other people? Let’s change the subject. I heard your son quit managing Silan and started a new venture abroad. What’s that about? Using everything he learned at Silan to pursue his own entrepreneurial dream?”
The tone was light, but the barb was vicious.
Dai Chenglan hurried to deny it. “That’s exactly why I envy you most; you know how to raise children. Chen and Yueyue are exceptional and obedient. My He Zhen is hopeless, so stubborn. I only mentioned that his foreign girlfriend isn’t suitable to bring home, and he’s held a grudge ever since. Not only did he storm back abroad from Shanghai, he proudly refuses our living expenses too. So hard to discipline. Zhinian and I are worried sick! Entrepreneurship? At his age, never having suffered, how would he know how brutal it is? It’s just a child playing pretend!”
Dai Chenglan framed her son’s independence as a childish tantrum against his parents.
Sara gave a non-committal hum.
In truth, she thought the same.
If He Zhen were really going it alone, he would never succeed. Sara had merely seized the chance to rattle Dai Chenglan and warn her not to secretly funnel Silan resources to the boy.
Seeing Dai Chenglan scramble to explain, Sara was satisfied this lackey was still under control.
Her good mood lasted all of two or three minutes.
Then Zhuo Yue came running up, face full of panic.
“Mummy—”
“Whatever it is, speak calmly. Don’t rush about like that. You’ll make Auntie Dai laugh.”
The moment Sara finished speaking, a suited lawyer appeared in their line of sight.
He walked straight up to Sara, stopped, and drew a business card from his briefcase. “Good day, Ms Zhuo. We met briefly at the hospital the other day. In case you’ve forgotten, allow me to reintroduce myself. I have been retained by Mr Xie Jinghu. During the subsistence of his marriage, Mr Xie repeatedly transferred property to Ms Zhuo and paid substantial child-support for his non-biological daughter Zhuo Yue. Mr Xie now wishes to recover those gifts. There are some details I would like to discuss with Ms Zhuo. Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated.”
Sara’s face was expressionless. “How did you know I was here? Are you following me?”
As if that needed asking.
Getting a fat commission was never easy.
The lawyer denied it smoothly. “Of course I would not follow Ms Zhuo. I happened to be at this hotel for business and ran into Miss Zhuo Yue at the entrance. Since fate brought us together, I thought I would come say hello.”
Zhuo Yue looked on the verge of tears.
That wasn’t true at all!
Whether he had bumped into her or not, this lawyer would have come looking for Mummy anyway!
Dai Chenglan was completely stunned.
Xie Jinghu had divorced Zou Weijun. Wasn’t the next step supposed to be making Sara the official wife?
The two of them had once been madly in love. After being forced apart, their old flame reignited and burned for over a decade. Now that Xie Jinghu was finally single again, it would be perfectly normal for him to spend a fortune giving his true love the wedding of the century.
Who could have imagined that not only did he have no intention of promoting Sara, he had hired a lawyer to make her pay everything back?!
Dai Chenglan wondered if Xie Jinghu had lost his mind.
Then the lawyer dropped another bombshell: non-biological daughter Zhuo Yue.
What did that mean? Zhuo Yue wasn’t Xie Jinghu’s child?!
Impossible!
If anyone were to say one of the Zhuo siblings didn’t look like Xie Jinghu’s child, Dai Chenglan had actually always been slightly suspicious of Zhuo Chen.
Zhuo Chen’s birth was murky, and Dai Chenglan had seen Xie Qian with her own eyes.
Father and son looked strikingly alike.
Zhuo Chen did not.
But the lawyer hadn’t mentioned Zhuo Chen, which meant Zhuo Chen was the biological one.
Dai Chenglan could not hide the shock on her face. She immediately rounded on the lawyer. “Where did a conman like you crawl out from? Keep talking nonsense and I’ll have hotel security throw you out!”
The lawyer calmly handed her a business card as well.
Dai Chenglan fell silent the instant she touched it.
The He family dealt in medical equipment; they worked with lawyers constantly. Not only had she heard of this firm, she knew it was one of the top-ranked in the country.
So… Zhuo Yue really wasn’t Xie Jinghu’s daughter?
Had Sara Zhuo gone insane?
Every penny Sara had spent these years came from Xie Jinghu, yet Sara had actually cuckolded him?!
Before Dai Chenglan could digest this, the lawyer dropped the next bomb.
“With regard to the substantial child-support Mr Xie paid for his non-biological daughter Zhuo Yue, Mr Xie intends to add Mr Zhang Zhijun as a co-defendant. After all, Mr Zhang Zhijun is Zhuo Yue’s biological father and bears the obligation to support her.”
Who?
Who was Zhuo Yue’s biological father… Zhang Zhijun?!
Dai Chenglan wasn’t merely shocked. She felt ill.
Zhang Zhijun had indeed pursued Sara back in the day, but Sara hadn’t chosen him; Zhang Zhijun wasn’t as handsome as Xie Jinghu.
After Sara got together with Xie Jinghu, Zhang Zhijun backed off.
Dai Chenglan had no idea when Sara had hooked up with Zhang Zhijun again or borne him a daughter.
Heavens! Zhuo Yue was Zhang Zhijun’s daughter!
That made Sara the woman Zhang Zhijun kept on the side; the one who drove his wife to suicide?
Dai Chenglan had known nothing.
Just moments ago she had been gossiping about it right in front of Sara.
The most terrifying part was that she had been clueless while Sara, the actual person involved, had listened to her commentary as though it were someone else’s affair.
Dai Chenglan gripped her handbag strap tightly and fought the urge to look at Sara.
They had known each other since they were young… yet suddenly Dai Chenglan felt extremely uncomfortable sitting next to her.
Facing the lawyer’s aggression, Sara appeared completely unafraid.
A business card? A lawyer’s letter? Child’s play.
If he had the guts, let him serve her with court papers!
The lawyer sounded almost regretful. “It seems Ms Zhuo is not inclined to cooperate. Although you hold a foreign green card, you remain a Chinese national. This will facilitate Mr Xie’s recovery of the gifts. On his behalf, I thank you for your continuing attachment to the motherland.”
The lawyer came and went, leaving behind a stunned Dai Chenglan, an unreadable Sara Zhuo, and Zhuo Yue, who had only just learned the name of her biological father.
Zhuo Yue had a thousand questions for Sara.
Dai Chenglan had just as many. The first burst out of her mouth. “You never naturalised abroad?”
Dai Chenglan had assumed Sara became a foreign citizen long ago. Who would have thought she only held a green card?
Even the bodyguard who had protected Sara for years had obtained foreign citizenship with her help, yet Sara herself had not?
Sara’s face was cold as frost. She countered, “Why would I naturalise abroad?”
When the Zhuo family collapsed, Sara had fled the country in a hurry.
She quickly obtained a green card through marriage.
While the old overseas Chinese businessman was alive, he had offered to help her apply for citizenship, but Sara refused every time.
The old man had been willing to invest in China more than twenty years ago and felt strong patriotic sentiment. When Sara refused citizenship, far from being angry, he admired her principles; it fit perfectly with the “fallen princess” image he had of her.
While the old man lived, Sara did not naturalise. After he died, for reasons known only to herself, she kept her Chinese citizenship.
Not only Sara, but Zhuo Yue as well, held only green cards.
Of the mother and her three children, only Zhuo Chen was a genuine foreign citizen.
Because Zhuo Chen had been born abroad as the old businessman’s son!
No one had expected Xie Jinghu to demand the gifts back.
Ever since Xie Yuping suddenly took Zhuo Chen and Zhuo Yue to the hospital for paternity tests, everything had spiralled out of control…
Sara suddenly turned and stared at Dai Chenglan. “Chenglan, we’re still friends, aren’t we?”
Dai Chenglan forced a smile. “Of course. Twenty-plus years of friendship. I’m not the kind of person who kicks someone when they’re down.”
That was what she said, but she quickly found an excuse and left.
Sara watched her retreating back and laughed coldly without end.
Zhuo Yue looked exactly like a lost lamb. “Mummy, was the lawyer telling the truth? Am I really Zhang Zhijun’s daughter? What kind of person is he? Compared to Daddy, is he… even more impressive?”
From childhood, Zhuo Yue had been taught to admire strength.
The strong can seize resources, wealth, and even love.
Even marriage cannot forever bind the heart of someone who worships strength. If you are not strong enough, you have no right to blame your partner for choosing someone else.
Zhuo Yue thought: If I’m not Xie Jinghu’s daughter, there can only be one reason; this “Zhang Zhijun” the lawyer mentioned is stronger than Xie Jinghu, so Mummy chose him!
It’s fine if the Xie family won’t acknowledge me. I can still be a Zhuo daughter.
Light returned to Zhuo Yue’s face. She looked at Sara expectantly, hoping to hear about Zhang Zhijun from her mother.
Sara was speechless.
Because she genuinely didn’t know where to begin.
Was she supposed to tell Zhuo Yue that she had lost the chance to be a Xie daughter, that she could have returned to the Zhang family and been officially recognised, but Zhang Zhijun’s wife Lu Meishu had suddenly committed suicide, forever closing the door on that possibility?
“Mummy?”
Zhuo Yue was puzzled and anxious. “…Can’t I acknowledge this daddy either?”
