When Ling Tianyou came back, Gu Ningyue was wearing a white T-shirt, lazily sitting and watching TV.
Her hair flowed like clouds behind her, devoid of the daytime hostility, instead she looked like a harmless, pure girl next door.
But as she turned to look at him, her face was alluring beyond words: "Oh, you're back? I need to go home, can you come with me? I'm a bit afraid!"
Afraid? Ling Tianyou glanced at her skeptically; he truly never met a girl braver than her, "Is there any benefit for me to go with you?"
Gu Ningyue smiled, "What do you want?"
Her eyes sparkled, her lips rosy without any touch-up, and her smile was as captivating as a rose with dewdrops.
Ling Tianyou's heart stirred, abruptly leaning down to kiss her lips.
"..." Gu Ningyue's eyes widened in surprise; it was the first time someone dared to take advantage of her, and she didn't break his leg: "You! Rascal!"
Ling Tianyou pursed his lips, the grin on his face undeterred: "Why? Asking me to go back to shield you, and you can't even spare a kiss?"
No one in the Gu Family was easy to deal with; now Gu Ningyue had nothing, he could only help her hold her ground!
Such a little scheme couldn't possibly escape his eye, but her lips were really soft, he'd like to find another chance to savor them...
Gu Ningyue pouted, turned off the TV, and went to change clothes.
Her mother's relics were still at the Gu Family's house, and there were issues to handle.
Forget it, just a kiss, doesn't matter, doesn't matter!
Driving all the way to the Gu Family, Ling Tianyou's phone suddenly rang: "Hello? Found anything?"
Gu Ningyue wisely got out of the car first, and felt the original owner's lingering pain in her chest as she walked to the door.
Home should be a safe haven, but hers was a battlefield.
"You still know to come back? The Gu Family lost face because of you today, you disgrace!"
Just stepping into the villa, a piercing voice came from above.
This voice she wouldn't forget even in her dreams.
Gu Ningyue looked up, Gu Wanwan stared down at her, her gaze seemed eager to tear her apart.
Gu Ningyue's eyes darkened: "A mistress's child claiming I, the legitimate fiancée, am a disgrace? Is this what Li Yulan taught you daily? Truly like mother, like daughter!"
Gu Wanwan was already upset from the fiasco at the banquet, and being pointed and cursed at by someone who always tried to please her drove her into a rage, she stamped down the stairs to face Gu Ningyue: "Gu Ningyue, don't think that clinging to Ling Tianyou will turn your luck, look at your conduct! You're nothing but my dog, were before, are now, and will be!"
Before her words were done, two slaps were already on Gu Wanwan's face.
Fast and ruthless, giving Gu Wanwan no chance to react.
"You and Ye Mingchen poisoning and plotting murder, if I call the police, even if you don't die, you'll suffer! As far as I know, every time Ye Mingchen takes drugs from the lab, he must first scan his fingerprint, right? If I call the police and they check the records then compare it with when I was poisoned, do you think you can escape responsibility?"
Gu Ningyue's eyes coldly stared at the girl before her, the murderous intent in them was chilling. In an instant, the girl went pale.
Premeditated murder, that was a grave crime!
If the evidence was solid, even the combined power of the Ye Family and the Gu Family would be ineffective!
"I didn't realize I raised a thankless wretch!" A bland voice came from behind, Gu Ningyue turned, seeing a woman who seemed no more than in her thirties somehow showing up behind her, "After your mother's passing, I treated you like my biological daughter, fed you, clothed you, sent you to the best schools, and you repay me by framing my daughter? Ning Yue, how could you be so vicious?"
No need to mention, this person was Li Yulan, the mistress who rose to power.
"You raised a thankless wretch? Spare me the disgust!" Gu Ningyue turned her gaze sharp: "I haven't eaten your food, drank your drink, everything you've used was my dad's money! Besides... you, a mistress kept outside, dare to come teach me?"
It was this woman who caused the original owner's mother endless heartbreak and tears, and now she dared speak such shameless words before her, truly she had no sense of shame!
Li Yulan seemed surprised at her guts to talk back, stunned for a moment before turning angry: "No matter how, I'm your elder. Is this what your mother taught you? No upbringing! From your looks, it's clear, your mother is just like you, mentally ill, a miscreant!"
Her voice wasn't loud, yet it pierced Gu Ningyue's heart like a thorn, making her want to slap Li Yulan's head off her shoulders: "Even without upbringing, my mother never taught me to be a mistress, to destroy families. Gu Wanwan turning out like this, that's the true like mother, like daughter!"
"Ning Yue?" The argument brought out Gu Zheng, not a trace of concern in his eyes, his first response only a question: "Where have you been? Why are you back so late?"
As for this supposedly 'mentally unfit' daughter, Gu Zheng felt he had been very tolerant.
It was only after hearing what Li Yulan said this afternoon did he realize that tolerance might also be a mistake.
It was precisely because of his tolerance that allowed Gu Ningyue to do something so absurd!
This time, he decided he couldn't go on indulging her!
"Finally, you're here, Old Master." Li Yulan immediately took Gu Zheng's arm effectively like finding a protective umbrella, half aggrieved, half complaining: "Ning Yue has been completely out of line, calling me a mistress non-stop, calling my daughter a mistress's child, all these years, I... sigh!"
Gu Zheng comfortingly patted Li Yulan's arm, then looked at Gu Ningyue, eyes full of intimidation: "Ning Yue, apologize to your mother and your sister! Immediately!"
Gu Ningyue sneered, "Want me to apologize to this pair of mother and daughter, over my dead body!"
Is this really my father? Without asking any questions, just demanding an apology?
"You truly are getting more and more unreasonable!" Gu Zheng displeasedly looked at Gu Ningyue, then noticed her outfit has been changed, "Where did you come from? Do you know that because of you the Ye Family is considering withdrawing their investment in the Gu Family, severing cooperation between the two families?"
Gu Ningyue felt a painful twinge in her heart, "So to save the Gu Family, you want to sacrifice my happiness? Force me to be with someone who wants me dead?"
"What nonsense are you talking? Hasn't Mingchen treated you well these years?" Gu Zheng's face full of dismay, "I've already arranged with the Ye Family, three days from now there will be a banquet in the Holy Hall, you just need to say you had an illness, apologize to the Ye Family, and everything will be settled!"
Publicly admitting to having a mental illness, this would undoubtedly stomp on her dignity, insult her character!
Originally holding onto some hope for Gu Zheng, who, although rarely caring for the original, did provide money, Gu Ningyue was thoroughly disappointed upon hearing these words.
"Impossible!"
"Impossible!"
Two voices rang out at once, Gu Ningyue turned around happily, seeing Ling Tianyou stepping into the villa.
He wore a white shirt, his tall figure had never seemed so grand.
Gu Zheng's bewilderment, Li Yulan's fear, and Gu Wanwan's yearning, all eyes were fixed on him.
For some reason, his arrival inexplicably made Gu Ningyue feel somewhat relieved.
This feeling was quite peculiar.