259 Yimei & Samantha

Zhu Cheng looked up, as did the others.

"Well, she hasn't turned out so bad, after all. Did I choose the wrong side all those years ago?" that was Zhu Cheng's first reaction as Sam descended from the stairs.

"What right do you have on those shares, anyways? In what way have you contributed to the family to deserve that windfall?" Mr. Li continued with his tirade towards Samantha.

"Who gets to decide whether anyone is deserving of their current privileges or not? The Li family would have gone bankrupt had it not been for the infusion of money from your wife's side. So does that make you worthy of any wealth which you are enjoying currently?" his mother's sharp words caused an acute moment of embarrassment to Li Yichen.

"What is wrong with you, mother? To defend that worthless girl, you are using events of the past to make your own son lose face in front of everyone?" he asked her in consternation.

Grandma Li looked at him with regret.

Softening her tone, she said, "I was well aware of your father's decision to pass on half of the company's shares to Li Sam. As per the discussion between him and me, the wealth which your wife had brought to the marriage required us to give back to her daughter. We were aware that you would eventually pass on the same to Yimei. But what about the child of the Li family? For many years, your grandfather felt guilty about not bringing the real descendant of the house back into our fold. So he decided to offer these shares as a sincere but insufficient apology to his granddaughter."

Everyone turned to look at Grandma Li in surprise.

"You… you knew about father's decision to give her the share??? And neither of you bothered asking or consulting me about it?" Li Yichen couldn't believe his ears.

Sam was also looking at her grandmother in disbelief, tears were flowing freely from her eyes now.

"We didn't tell you because we thought that you were not ready to forgive her yet for what had happened. Your father and I had seen enough ups and downs in our lives to be able to judge a person, not solely by what is visible in front of our eyes," Grandma Li's gaze was on Zhu Cheng when she said these words.

He hastily rectified his expression from that of an injured party to a neutral one. Did the old woman suspect him? Nah! It wasn't possible. After all, it had been a perfect plan. That's why everyone had sided with him, all those years ago. She was just being biased towards her own bloodline, that was it.

Mr. Li couldn't believe that his own mother would choose to come to Samantha's defence versus his.

"Why are you doing this? Can you see that the family has already developed fissures on day 1 of your arrival?" he addressed his daughter bitterly.

"I think you would know better than me that these fissures have been existent for a long time now. Maybe my arrival has blown away the tarp of pretension which you had laid on it," Sam shot back.

She was suddenly feeling buoyed by the unexpected warm support of her grandma and her late grandfather. So what if they had come to her defence just for the sake of her being a part of their bloodline. She would prove it that she was worthy of that support and much more.

"I think we should all step back and take a deep breath. After all, it has been long since that… that event. I hope she has learn her lesson. And as mother said, this is Sam's house as well," Mrs. Li held her husband's hand in her own and spoke to the room, in her gentle manner.

Yichen shrugged off her hand and walked away in a huff.

Yimei looked at her mother in uncertainty. She didn't know how to behave towards Sam going forward.

When Sam had first come to Li mansion, all those years ago, she was the first one to go and befriend her. There had been something warm, gentle and restrained about the girl, which had resonated with her own nature. She had been one of the most vocal voices in persuading Sam to return post her exams and spend a semester in Shanghai, just within a week of knowing her. Yimei had wanted to spend more time with her newly found sister before she got married and went to live with the Zhu family.

Sam had returned as promised and those six months had been spent in strengthening their bonds of sisterhood and friendship. Yimei had been really happy during that period.

But then Sam had gone behind her back and fallen in love with her fiancé!!