Chapter 642: THE ONLY ONE LEFT
Madam Wang laughed.
“You are all alive, aren’t you?” She asked. “And everything I have done made you stronger. I made sure that you could all stand on your own. All I asked in return was for you to take care of me. But who knew you would all be selfish little b*stards?”
Her face was no longer warm. It became cold and accusatory.
“You of all people, Wang Che, did not have the decency to treat me like your mother, despite all your success.” She added. “Do you think you could have come as far as you did without me being behind you at every point?”
Wang Che was incredulous.
“What do you mean by that? All the success I had was because I was sold off by my dear brother. I fought at every stage to keep my life and build something of my own. I did not see you until you thought I could be useful to you.” He said.
Madam Wang laughed. “And who do you think came up with the idea? I wanted all of you to become successful, but your success stifled and made your eldest brother a useless bum. Since you proved yourself stronger, I could only use you to sharpen him.”
.....
Wang Lu looked shocked. “No, nothing like that happened. Mom, you are being crazy!”
“Please, who do you think gave your friends that idea? You were so eager to listen to them.” She laughed.
Master Wang fell to the chair as he looked at the wife who had always obeyed him in horror. But he still could not think of anything to say.
“But why would you use Wang Ning like that? You never treated him like you did us?” Wang Lu asked, trying to grasp the whole thing.
Madam Wang smiled wistfully. “Call it a social experiment. I wondered if I could get better results by lavishing him with love. The two of you, despite not knowing my role in your lives, did not show closeness to me. I wondered if I could get more by being softer.”
“And I was right. Even though Wang Ning became a little spoiled, he has always been close to me. He considered me a part of his inner circle throughout most of his life. When he became a sports idol, he chose me as his manager with just a little prompting.” She laughed.
Wang Che’s eyes widened a little. “That is how you became close with those two men.”
“What men?” Master Wang finally regained some sense.
“Calm down, old man. It was purely business.” Madam Wang looked at her husband with derision. “I did not intend to do anything against Ning. He was a good son and always treated me well financially. He would always give me a good share of his earnings.”
“But then, I found out later that he had several lucrative clubs.” Her eyes burned. “What he was giving me was peanuts compared to his actual net worth. He was placating me like a child with cheap candy. He failed me.”
Wang Che could not help asking. “What about the drugs?”
Madam Wang looked at Che and laughed lightly. “It seems that everything has come to light. At first, I wanted to use the drugs as leverage so that I could get a little more control over Ning. But he is smarter than I gave him credit.”
“He never touched the stuff despite all the tricks I used. I planned to have him compromise his athletic contracts. If I protected him after that, he would understand that he needed me. But he seems to have always been on guard against me.”
“And ultimately, I was raking in a lot of cash through the drugs. I had a cheap source, and people will pay almost anything for quality drugs in Supreme City. There was no need to ruin a good business. Unfortunately, Wang Ning discovered my distribution channels. I had to shut everything down.” She sighed.
Wang Che looked at his mother with disgust. “How did it come down to me?”
“You are the one who hates me most, but you were the only one left.” Madam Wang’s face became gentle again. “If I were to get you back within my control, I needed something big to drive you down to your knees. And you might need a mother’s comfort.”
Wang Che realised how sick his mother was at that moment. And he also understood one thing: that plan might have worked if Shun had died.
If he was so torn up while Shun was still with him, how much would it have taken after his death for him to be shepherded back to the Wang flock? He would not have had the strength to think for himself. He would have been a sheep led to slaughter.
“I would have done it for just your assets, but I was glad to learn that you would also inherit that boy’s property.” She laughed. “Even if I could not take anything directly, I had a plan. Well, multiple plans, just in case. From drugging you to finding you a ‘suitable’ marriage.”
Wang Che felt terrified. “You are crazy!”
“If you and your stupid brothers treated me well, would I need to go to these lengths?” She shouted. “You should know how hard it is to live with this Neanderthal father of yours. I can’t even get decent jewellery.”
“So, you will trade us for a jade bangle?” Wang Che scoffed.
“I prefer platinum, but sure.” Madam Wang sat back down.
“Is it enough to justify killing your accomplices?” Wang Che asked.
Madam Wang smiled. “Now, that is something I cannot take credit for. I suppose I have angels watching over me.”
Wang Che took a simple guess and looked at Wang Lu. There was only one person who would think getting rid of the evidence would be beneficial.
“Did you know about this, Wang Lu?” Wang Che asked.
“I...” He said before sighing. “I was not sure who did it. At the time, I thought it was Ning because I have been trying to use him to get you back to our business. I thought he acted against you because I implied that you should join the family company.”
He laughed to himself. “Of course, I did not know at the time that he was a hidden boss. How foolish of me! I thought he would owe me a favour for protecting him. Who knew there was such a mess behind all this?”
The room fell silent again under the weight of the revelations.
But Wang Che felt an eerie peace.
It was indeed time to move on from Supreme City.