Shi Zhelan trembled in joy as she saw Sky's press conference going on.
"Huan!"
She ran to her daughter's side in her bedroom as she showed her the video clip. "Look, Huan! That author admitted her wrongdoing! Did you see that? She said that you are innocent."
Huan was also watching the same press conference on her phone, and her black irises were turning misty upon the revelation of the truth. Her heart felt especially at ease for Yunru.
Now the blame over his head of using his power or position to help her was all drained down in the water. There came a point where she felt guilty of ever meeting Yunru and getting involved in his life. He wouldn't have had to suffer from these baseless accusations then.
"Yes, Mom…I am so relieved…" she sniffled.
Shi Zhelan took her into a warm hug and patted her head. "Now you don't have to worry about anything, dear. You can hold your head high and continue writing as always."
Her gaze softened. "I hadn't expected Liu Jun to go against his own author to defend you. Surely, his cousin was involved too but still…I will properly thank Liu Jun for this. But for now, let us celebrate this good news! Let me make something good for you!"
The last few days were so stressful and filled with anguish that Huan had lost a lot of weight. As a mother, her heart only tightened in pain seeing her silently suffer.
Shi Zhelan stepped out, her face shining brightly with the desire to celebrate when her husband, Shi Shuren came running to her.
"Zhelan! I-I just saw the press conference!"
She stopped and narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh. So? What do you care about?"
He was left stupefied. "How could you say that, Zhelan? Of course I care about Huan. She is my daughter and finally she-"
"Is proved innocent? From the allegations that your 'other' daughter pinned on her?"
His eyes widened. "W-what are you talking about? How is Yahui involved in all this?"
She sneered. "I think you didn't watch the part where both Lu Bohai and Cui Fen admitted that they were TOLD to carry out the deeds that they had."
"I did see that."
"And you think your darling daughter has got nothing to do with it?" She burst into laughter. "I don't know if you are actually blind or just refusing to see the truth. It will just be a matter of time before it will be revealed as well that she was pulling the strings all along!"
He quickly said, "T-that's not it-"
"Enough!" She gnashed her jaw. "You have already disgusted me years before when you betrayed our marriage. Don't disgust me more and more by always…by always standing up for your illegitimate blood!" She shook.
He froze.
"But what can I expect from someone who was shameless enough to hand over his shares to that woman!? It was because of you that she became so arrogant to believe that she could become Shi Publishing's CEO!"
Shi Shuren was visibly tense. He wanted to calm her down, but he knew it wouldn't work.
"Hah! And what had she promised? That will save Huan and the company's reputation?" She folded her arms, her sharp gaze questioning him without mercy. "But what did she do? She just idly enjoyed her position without taking a single step to help Huan. She didn't carry out her duties for which she was given the CEO's authority in the first place."
"That…"
"Such a person was out to ruin my daughter's life and her career forever and damage my family but you…did you care? Did you ever stand up for Huan?"
"Zhelan, please give me a ch-chance-"
Shi Zhelan chuckled. "Forget it, Shuren. Don't bother defending her and don't worry either. It won't be long before I and the other shareholders kick her out of MY company for failing to do her duties," her voice grew harsher and colder. "Wasn't she so haughty that day when she took over? Let me see how long she will be able to maintain her facade now."
—
*CRASH*
A third vase fell and shattered into pieces, being subjected to Zhan Yahui's wrath. Her room had turned into a complete mess with all the things violently displaced to meet their tragic ending.
"How…HOW!?"
She clutched her temple, trying to figure out what went wrong in her plan. She chose to expose Sun Bai to pour oil into the already burning flames of Sky. But instead, Jun's press conference turned the tide around in a completely opposite direction.
"What the fuck is with this self-defense nonsense!? That bastard Lu Bohai said that Sun Bai had killed her boyfriend! She tried to hide away from the law! And now suddenly she became the victim!?"
She walked up to her bedside table and pushed all the stuff away in a fit of anger.
"Did he lie to me or he just thought that Sun Bai was the murderer, glossing over what his brother did to her!? Is he an idiot!?"
If I had known this…If I had known this then I would have approached it differently!
"That Liu Jun…" she suddenly burst into a peal of manic laughter. "He seriously hired a murderer to work for him. But yeah…what can I expect from him? He would have actually felt it so natural, right?"
But soon her face twisted with fury once again.
It wasn't just Sun Bai's matter at this point.
Cui Fen had confessed to the truth too, making Yunru and Huan to be proved innocent. Which also meant that her CEO position was in grave threat as she failed to protect Huan.
And by mentioning the Summit's corrupt judges, Jun brought that incident back all fresh in everybody's mind, which they had already forgotten by now. Now, the Summit was suddenly under scrutiny once again.
Everything that Zhan Yahui had carefully disposed of and buried was beginning to surface and see the light yet again.
It was as if the perfect tower that she had been building for all this time by patiently and cautiously stacking her cards on top of each other was beginning to shake violently to fall to its collapse.
I won't let this happen. I won't let this go on...
After coming this far, I won't let you win, Liu Jun.
Never ever.