It was impossible for him to believe that this was the first time his second wife and Xiao Yunyao tried to harm his eldest daughter. He knew that Xiao Rufeng never got along with them and had chosen to distance herself from him and his second family. Still, it didn't mean that he had disowned her as his child.
It pained him to realize that Xiao Rufeng might have been dealing with this on her own for a long time. Perhaps with him favoring his younger daughter, Xiao Rufeng could have thought that he wouldn't listen to her if she tried to inform him of what was going on.
"Were you trying to kill my daughter?" He asked incredulously.
"It's not like that…" He heard his wife say, but her expression was enough for him to know that he was right.
Xiao Yunyao said nothing and could only cry, while her elder sister's expression hardened. Xiao Rufeng refused to show weakness in front of these people. Her pride wouldn't allow her to do so. However, she couldn't believe that tonight's dinner would turn out like this. This wasn't how she wanted to introduce Yan Xiuchen to her father.
"Dad, you have to calm down. We'll discuss this later." She suggested, but her father shook his head. From the corner of her eye, she saw Yan Xiuchen making a call, overhearing him summoning a doctor to come to her father's home.
"No. Since we're all here, I'll deal with this problem this instant." Her father insisted, holding her hand in a vice-like grip, as if he was afraid that she would disappear from his sight.
"Xiao Yao, I expect to see your resignation letter tomorrow, early in the morning."
Xiao Yunyao ceased her crying at once and looked at her father with widened eyes.
What was that supposed to mean? She wondered. What was she supposed to do when, her whole life, she had expected that she would be the one to succeed in their family business?
"But Dad, you can't do this…"
"I can't? Then give me one good reason why you did that to your elder sister!" He demanded, his fury rising once again, reflecting on how Xiao Rufeng must have suffered throughout the years because of him.
If only he had paid more attention to his eldest and didn't spoil Xiao Yunyao rotten, the latter wouldn't have entertained such vicious thoughts towards her sister. Alas, he knew that it was too late to regret now, but that didn't mean he would not seek justice for his eldest.
Xiao Yunyao clenched her fists tightly on her sides, then glanced at Yan Xiuchen.
"Mr. Yan, please forgive me for offending you. I didn't mean to do so." She lowered her head and put on the best pitiful look she could muster, so he would take pity on her.
It still shocked her to know that the man she'd been trying to reach out to for the past weeks was none other than this scar-faced man in front of her. If only she could take back the words she had thrown at him earlier…
However, what Xiao Yunyao didn't know was that for Yan Xiuchen, Xiao Rufeng was now his bottom line. It was also obvious that Xiao Yunyao was only sorry right now because she was caught, and not because she truly regretted what she had done to her sister.
"I'm not the person you should seek forgiveness from, Miss Xiao. You know this." He pointed out the obvious.
Xiao Yunyao was taken aback by his words, but she refused to acknowledge her sister and ask for her forgiveness. Just as she thought that she already had more than enough on her plate to deal with, the next words were enough to shatter her dreams and future.
"Dear Lord, I'm somewhat thankful that this happened before the announcement of their engagement." Jin Qiu's mother suddenly blurted out, much to Xiao Yunyao's shock. "I'm sorry, but I don't think that there would be any wedding happening between our children." She added with a frown.
"Mom!" Jin Qiu exclaimed.
"What?! If she could scheme and send her own sister to another man's bed, who could guarantee that she wouldn't smother you to death if she became displeased with you?" His mother reasoned.
"I certainly won't allow such a vicious and black hearted woman into our family! You will not marry her!" She pointed at Xiao Yunyao. "I told you to consider Xiao Rufeng instead, but you fell for this fox's charm."
"Your mother is right. A woman like Xiao Yunyao isn't someone we can welcome into our family." Jin Qiu's father chimed in.
He was displeased to know that he wouldn't be able to connect with the Xiao family through marriage, but he would rather stay out of the Xiao family's issue rather than get caught in between and offend Yan Xiuchen in the process.
Madam Xiao started to panic as she witnessed how her daughter was starting to lose everything. She tried to reason out with Jin Qiu's mother but her husband didn't give her a chance to do so.
"I will not let the two of you off easily." Mr. Xiao heaved a deep breath, his eyes glaring furiously at his wife. "I cannot tolerate someone who is harboring such murderous thoughts towards my daughter. Expect the divorce papers to be delivered soon." He told her.
Madam Xiao was stunned in her place, not quite believing what he had just said. Even Xiao Rufeng was surprised with her father's decision.
"I have always wondered if Xiao Yao is really my daughter." He continued, dropping another bomb to everyone.
"I have trusted you, taken care of you and yet, what did you do to my Feng'er? You isolated her from everyone, made her feel like she wasn't part of our family. I was really a fool, thinking that my daughters would one day mature and would accept each other despite their differences. I see now that I was gravely mistaken."
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