Did you like the grand gift I gave you?
The hotel fiasco quickly spread throughout high society.
The Jiang family became the biggest laughingstock.
The Lin Group unilaterally tore up all their contracts with the Jiang family and used their connections to completely block the Jiangs' business.
Our family company's stock plummeted overnight, pushing it to the brink of bankruptcy.
At home, everything descended into utter chaos.
Dad drowned his sorrows in alcohol all day, while Mom cried incessantly.
And Jiang Xue, the mastermind behind it all, was locked in her room.
I went to see her once.
She was like a madwoman, hair disheveled, laughing and crying hysterically.
Seeing me, she threw herself at the door, scratching frantically at the wood with her nails, shrieking at me.
"Jiang Yue! You devil! It was you! You planned this all! I hope you die a horrible death!"
I stood outside the door, watching her calmly.
"Yes," I whispered. "It was me."
"You guessed right. From the day you broke the vase and framed me, I've been thinking about how to pay you back." "Are you satisfied now? My dear sister."
Jiang Xue froze, then let out an even more piercing scream.
As for Jiang Chen, he became utterly useless.
He shut himself in his room, refusing to see anyone, refusing to eat or drink.
Dad barged in, beat him, called him worthless, and blamed him for destroying the entire family over a woman.
Jiang Chen cowered in a corner, clutching his head like a dog.
He looked at me, his eyes filled with fear and hatred.
"You… you destroyed us all…" he muttered.
I smiled, said nothing.
*I* destroyed you?
No.
I only ripened the bitter seeds you planted yourselves.
It was your greed, hypocrisy, and selfishness that destroyed you.
With the family in shambles, Mom and Dad couldn't care less about me.
They were too busy, scrambling to deal with the company mess, too busy blaming and accusing each other.
Mom yelled at Dad for being greedy and forcing their son into a marriage alliance.
Dad yelled at Mom for spoiling Jiang Xue rotten, calling her a jinx.
They fought viciously, all pretense of "love" and "dignity" gone.
One night, I heard them arguing loudly in the study.
"It's all your fault! I said back then we shouldn't have adopted that Jiang Xue! You wouldn't listen! Just because she looked like your dead white moonlight! Now look! We invited a wolf into our home! She destroyed us!" That was Mom's shrill voice.
"Shut up!" Dad roared. "And where do you get off? You doted on her day and night, treated her like your own daughter, just because she was sweet-tongued and knew how to flatter you! Did you forget how you treated Jiang Yue when she was little? You thought she was dull, you thought she was awkward, when did you ever truly care about her?"
"I…" Mom faltered.
"We're both the same!" Dad's voice was heavy with exhaustion and despair. "We're both selfish bastards! Don't point fingers at me!"
Inside the study, I heard things being smashed.
I stood outside the door, listening quietly.
*So, Jiang Xue looked like Dad's white moonlight.*
*So, they had all just been using her, satisfying some deep-seated need within themselves.*
*The so-called "love," the so-called "family affection," had been a complete sham from the very beginning.*
*How utterly ridiculous.*
The company finally went bankrupt.
The house, the cars, everything was repossessed by the bank.
Our family moved from the wealthy clouds to a dilapidated old apartment complex.
Dad seemed to age twenty years overnight, his hair completely white.
Mom lost all her former refinement and elegance, becoming coarse and shrewish.
Jiang Chen found an ordinary job, leaving early and returning late every day, silent and withdrawn.
And Jiang Xue? She was sent back to the orphanage she came from.
It was said she had mental problems now, her sanity coming and going.
The day they sent her away, she clung desperately to the doorframe, refusing to leave.
She cried out for Dad, Mom, and Brother.
No one paid her any attention.
Dad disgustedly shook off her hand: "Get lost! I don't have a daughter like you!"
Mom spat on her: "Jinx! It's all your fault! Get as far away as possible!"
Jiang Chen watched her coldly, like a stranger.
I stood to the side, watching this scene of "familial severance." Not a ripple of emotion stirred within me.
The orphanage staff dragged Jiang Xue away by force.
She looked back, glaring at me with pure venom.
That look, I'll never forget it.
But I didn't care.
With Jiang Xue gone, the house became much quieter.
But Mom and Dad didn't suddenly appreciate me for being "sensible and obedient."
They took all their resentment out on me.
"It's all your fault! If you hadn't opened your mouth at the engagement party, things would never have gotten this bad!" Mom screamed, pointing her finger in my face.
"You're a curse! Just like that adopted sister of yours! Both of you are here to collect debts!" When Dad got drunk, he'd throw things at me.
I endured it silently.
No resistance. No explanation.
Because I knew the time wasn't right yet.
I used my time outside of school to take on several part-time jobs.
Handing out flyers, tutoring, and aitressing at restaurants.
I saved money desperately.
Because I needed to leave.
To leave this disgusting place.
The day I turned eighteen was also the day my college entrance exams ended.
I did very well; my score was high enough for the best university in the country.
That evening, I came home.
Strangely, there was no arguing.
A small cake sat on the table.
Mom had bought it.
"Yueyue, happy birthday." She looked at me, her expression complicated.
Dad and Jiang Chen sat there too, silent.
"Sit down," Dad said.
I sat down.
Mom cut me a piece of cake: "Yueyue, you're grown up now. From now on, this family will have to rely on you."
**[Lie: "From now on, this family will have to rely on you."]**
**[Truth: "You've finally made it. Once you get into a good university and find a good job, you'd better repay us properly. Raising you wasn't easy."]**
Dad spoke up too: "Your brother… he's hopeless now. Don't forget to help him out when you succeed."
**[Lie: "Don't forget to help him out."]**
**[Truth: "You *have* to support him! You're his sister! It's your duty! If you don't, you're an ungrateful wretch!"]**
They were still the same.
Selfish. Hypocritical. Only ever think of themselves.
I looked at them and suddenly felt exhausted.
This game needed to end.
I put down my fork, looked at them, and smiled.
"You know what?"
I said softly, "I can hear lies."
All three of them froze, staring at me in confusion.
"Ever since the day they locked me in the ancestral hall, I've been able to hear the true thoughts hidden behind every lie you tell."
I looked at Mom: "You said you valued honesty above all. But really, you were just terrified of losing your pathetic pride."
Then, Dad: "You said you adopted Jiang Xue to give me a companion. But really, you were just searching for your white moonlight's shadow in her."
Finally, Jiang Chen: "You kept saying I was your sister, yet you harbored forbidden feelings for another sister who wasn't even blood-related. Jiang Chen, you make me sick."
Their faces turned deathly pale in an instant.
Shock. Fear. Disbelief.
"You… what nonsense are you spouting!" Mom shrieked.
"Nonsense?" I gave a cold laugh. "Then let me tell you something else you don't know."
"When Jiang Xue broke the vase and framed me, I deliberately steered her towards it."
"Her humiliation in the socialite circle? I orchestrated it."
"Her exposure in front of Mr. Wang? I planned it."
"And that wonderful scene at the engagement banquet? That was also my doing. I directed the whole play."
"Step by step, I pushed her to the brink, made her an enemy of all, turned her into a madwoman."
"And you," I looked at them, "were the sharpest knives in my hand."
"Your vanity, your selfishness, your stupidity—they were all my weapons to use against her."
"I exploited your craving for sweet talk to drive you apart. I exploited your chase for profit to destroy you."
"When I lied, it wasn't to please you. It was to make sure your family was ruined."
Word by word, I laid all the truth bare before them, bloody and raw.
Their expressions shifted from shock to horror, and finally, to utter devastation.
"A devil… You're a devil…" Mom pointed a trembling finger at me.
Dad slumped in his chair, face ashen.
Jiang Chen suddenly stood up, lunging towards me to strike.
I picked up the fruit knife from the table and pointed it at him.
"Don't come closer," I said coldly. "Or I can't promise this knife won't plunge into your heart."
Jiang Chen's steps halted.
He looked at me, his eyes filled with terror.
He finally understood that the person before him was no longer the weak Jiang Yue who let them bully her.