The Tang family patriarch had a heart attack and was incapacitated.
The already chaotic Tang family was further plunged into leadership vacuum. The massive capital chain loophole sent many employees into a panic, leading them to submit their resignations.
As the acting president, Tang Sui did not stop the employees from resigning, approving their requests one after another.
Madam Tang shuttled between the hospital and the villa, weeping every day. In the twenty-odd years she had been with the Tang family patriarch, she had never cared about him so much.
The Ye family, where Ye Nan belonged, now avoided the Tang and Bai families like the plague. However, they could not prevent their son, Ye Nan, from falling in love with Bai Annian. He openly defied his family, insisting that he would only marry her, which infuriated Ye family's couple, their faces turning ashen. Patriarch Ye glared at Ye Nan with dark eyes, making a harsh threat, "You will regret this."
Under Madam Ye's disapproving gaze, Ye Nan's expression was resolute, his back straightened. No matter how Madam Ye pleaded, he remained unmoved.
He was the Ye family's only child, and without him, the vast Ye family would have no other heir!
With this thought in mind, Ye Nan was stunned the next day when he was brought back to the main mansion by Patriarch Ye, by a young man who bore a seven-tenths resemblance to Patriarch Ye.
"Who is he?!"
Ye Nan demanded with an imposing voice.
Patriarch Ye glanced indifferently at his son, who had been reduced to a lovesick fool. In front of Madam Ye, he openly acknowledged the young man's identity: "His name is Ye Qing. From today onwards, he is a member of the Ye family and my next successor."
An excellent son who could promote his company, versus a simple-minded son whose intelligence was clouded by love – anyone with a brain knew who to choose.
"Ye Lin! You actually have an illegitimate son behind my back?! Do you have any regard for me?!" Madam Ye let out a sharp accusation.
Patriarch Ye sneered coldly, "So what? I can't possibly watch the Ye family be ruined by this unfilial son. I told you long ago to stay away from that scheming adopted daughter of the Tang family. Every time you said you would advise him or stop him, and what was the result? They are now practically having a child!"
Madam Ye incessantly argued with Patriarch Ye. Ye Nan, who had been stunned, received a gentlemanly bow from Ye Qing, along with a polite smile: "You must be Ye Nan. It's our first meeting, but you know, for families like ours, having one or two illegitimate sons is quite normal. If you don't mind, I can call you 'brother,' and perhaps give you some dividends in the future."
"Of course, if you can't accept me, I don't have to acknowledge you as my brother. In the end, you might truly end up with nothing, a complete waste of effort."
Ye Nan's head buzzed with anger. Listening to Ye Qing's veiled threats, he felt a hint of familiarity, but it was quickly overwhelmed by greater fury. He clenched his fists and lunged at Ye Qing.
Patriarch Ye, with sharp eyes, saw this and rushed forward to intervene, fending off Madam Ye's clawing. The entire Ye family was instantly thrown into chaos.
During the chaotic, sleepless night, Tang Sui, dressed in a knee-length chiffon dress, calmly ascended the cold marble stairs.
Her usually unbound raven-black hair was now styled into an intricate princess bun, secured with a crystal tiara adorned with blue rhinestones. Complementing her exquisite gown, it seemed as though the recent bleak clouds could not affect her; she was even planning to attend a leisurely banquet to relax. Su Dan Novel Network.
All the Tang family's servants had been dismissed by her. In the vast villa, the presence of people was almost non-existent.
The empty long corridor was adorned with framed masterpieces of various styles, hung on the walls.
The paintings remaining in the mansion now were unsaleable art pieces. The position that once held the most valuable hanging painting had been replaced by Tang Sui with another unique work of art.
"Tap, tap."
Tang Sui paused before her darling artwork, tilting her head slightly towards the source of the sound. She saw Bai Annian, with her disheveled coffee-colored hair and eyes bloodshot.
"Tang! Sui!" Bai Annian's bloodshot, murky eyes stared intently at Tang Sui, her malevolent expression as if she wanted to flay the silhouette in her eyes.
"It seems you haven't been resting well lately," Tang Sui observed her with leisure.
"Why... why can you always wear that indifferent expression?!"
The hand behind her back moved, and a sharpened kitchen knife was tightly gripped in it. Her voice trembled, "Ever since that incident, you've been the same upon returning. You always have that high-and-mighty expression. Even though the family went bankrupt, your childhood sweetheart fell for someone else, and you were directly sent abroad after college, a disguised exile, you always maintain that faked expression that makes one want to tear it apart!"
Bai Annian looked at Tang Sui, a mix of tears and laughter on her face, her expression comical and distorted. She roared out the words that had been hidden in her heart for a long time, wielding the sharp kitchen knife, and lunged at Tang Sui fiercely—
"Don't you... feel anger?!"
She wielded the sharp kitchen knife, lunging at Tang Sui fiercely:
"You emotionless monster!"
Anger?
Tang Sui's dark pupils reflected Bai Annian charging towards her. The faint smile on her lips made her expression as false as a carved mask.
"Buzz—!"
In this instant, time seemed to enter high-speed mode. Everything except Tang Sui herself slowed down infinitely, every second and minute stretching out, long enough to clearly see Bai Annian's trajectory.
She took small steps in her patent leather shoes and walked unhurriedly past Bai Annian, stopping behind her.
"Bang!"
Time resumed its normal flow. Bai Annian, who had missed her target, crashed heavily into the wall, shaking loose other paintings on the wall. One even hit her shoulder, causing Bai Annian to let out a scream.
She endured the pain in her shoulder, stood up, and turned to strike again, only to be met by a black mask with vivid facial features resembling a human face. It was grinning, yet its expression was contorted with rage—
Like a true demon's mask.
Bai Annian's mind went blank. The kitchen knife, no longer held firmly, clattered to the floor from her hand.
—Author's Note—
Moli's procrastination habit has kicked in again (sigh.jpg)
See you tomorrow!