Wei Yumeng detested being threatened with her mother. She gritted her teeth, unwilling to be manipulated any longer. At least, verbally, she would make Yin Fang and Wei Jin shut up. She took a deep breath, forcing a smile, her words calm yet carrying an inexplicable strength that stunned them both.
"If you dare lay a single hair on my mother's head, I'll risk my own life to make you pay!" Her lady-like demeanor shattered, her face contorting into a ferocious mask. If they weren't out in public, she would have clawed that hateful woman's face.
"Wei Yumeng, is this how your mother taught you? Disrespectful, not even greeting your elders, and you dare threaten me? Don't forget, your surname is also Wei."
Wei Jin chimed in, "Exactly. If Father knew you dared to utter such rebellious words, he'd beat you to death."
Wei Yumeng glanced at the smug Wei Jin with disdain. "Then go tell Father and see if he disciplines you first or beats me to death."
Wei Jin's face flushed crimson at her words, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably. He pointed at Wei Yumeng, struggling to form coherent sentences. "You... you think just because you're the Young Madam of the Zhan family now, it's just an empty title. If you can't even bear a son or daughter for the Zhan family, who will acknowledge your status!"
Hearing Wei Jin's words, Yin Fang found an opening. She lightly patted Wei Jin. "Look at you, child. Have you forgotten that Zhan Mohan is paralyzed from the waist down? She'll never have children in this lifetime. Even if she did... it wouldn't be from any man of hers."
Wei Yumeng's heart trembled violently at Yin Fang's words, her expression stiffening. Her phone suddenly vibrated in her bag. She pulled it out, her pupils constricting sharply. This call... She had no energy to argue with Wei Jin and the others anymore. She quickly walked out of the clothing store. Wei Jin and Yin Fang watched her retreating back, still unwilling to let it go.
"Why did she leave?"
Yin Fang pulled Wei Jin's hand. "Enough. If we continue arguing, we might not gain anything. This Wei Yumeng has become increasingly sharp-tongued since marrying into the Zhan family. I wonder whose influence she's relying on."
Wei Jin recalled how he had appraised Wei Yumeng earlier and stroked his chin. "Mom, don't you think Wei Yumeng seems to have gained quite a bit of weight recently?"
Wei Yumeng stopped a long distance away, afraid Wei Jin and Yin Fang would follow. Just as she was about to answer the call, the person hung up. She stared at her phone, thinking, he hung up himself, it shouldn't be her fault. She hadn't bought clothes and had been angered instead, her mood soured. She raised her hand to hail a taxi by the roadside. Unexpectedly, that man's call came again.
"Wei Yumeng, it seems you don't even know your own name unless I teach you a lesson, huh? Dare to not answer my calls!"
Her mood was already terrible, so she retorted, "Excuse me, I know my own name." It was him who seemed to know nothing, like an elusive shadow, appearing and disappearing without a trace.
The man didn't get angry as expected. Instead, he chuckled on the other end of the line, though his voice was chilling, filling Wei Yumeng with dread. "Why weren't you so eloquent in front of that mother-daughter pair just now?"
Wei Yumeng instinctively looked around, finding nothing amiss. The passersby, even those on phone calls, didn't seem like him. This wasn't the first time he had tracked her whereabouts. If it happened a few more times, she might get used to it, but she still felt deeply uncomfortable. At the Zhan family, countless eyes watched her, and outside, this man stalked her. Her life was filled with oppression.
"I am insignificant, unlike you, who always prefers to act in the shadows."
"If you had learned even a fraction of my cleverness and wisdom, you wouldn't have suffered losses in front of them. However, for the sake of our fleeting union, I'll help you for now."
A bad premonition instantly surged through Wei Yumeng. "What do you want to do?"
"Make them both disappear from this world."
"No, even if they bullied me, they don't deserve to die. Besides, if something really happened to them, the police would suspect me. You wouldn't be helping me; you'd be pushing me into a fire pit." Wei Yumeng suppressed her fear, trying to persuade him to abandon this idea. Two lives, spoken by him as if discussing trivial matters. This man was a devil. She had a feeling that if he said it, he could do it.
"Do you think you can stop me? Oh, right, I left a card in your drawer. Buy whatever you want from now on, no need to face others' disdain."
"I don't need your charity," she refused without thinking. She was desperately trying to get away from this man. Accepting his card would be tantamount to acknowledging his pursuit.
"This is my reward for you. You've been increasingly satisfying me lately. I look forward to our next date."
"You..." Before she could finish speaking, he had already hung up. Wei Yumeng touched her chest, feeling increasingly uneasy.
That evening, she received a call from Wei Anguo. "Your mother and sister were in a car accident on their way back today. Both of them broke their legs. What exactly happened?"
Wei Yumeng's heart skipped a beat, her face freezing. He had really done it. Was this car accident his plan?
Wei Anguo waited for Wei Yumeng's reply for a long time and questioned her again. "Wei Jin said you hired someone. Because you had an argument at the mall this afternoon, you hired someone to hit them, didn't you?"
"It wasn't me," Wei Yumeng replied firmly.
Wei Anguo sounded half-believing. "It really has nothing to do with you?"
"I'm not an idiot. If I knew I had an unpleasant encounter with them this afternoon, why would I hire someone to hit them? Wouldn't that be like practically writing 'I did it' on my forehead?"
Wei Anguo also breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it wasn't Wei Yumeng. Otherwise, if Yin Fang and Wei Jin made a fuss, he wouldn't be able to handle it. "It's good that it wasn't you. Dad knows you're not that petty. Recently, Yin Fang has dismissed some of the maids. Can you come back and help out for a few days? You can also see your mother."
Wei Anguo used both soft and hard tactics. He knew that as long as Gu Shuyi was mentioned, Wei Yumeng would agree to any condition.
Wei Yumeng asked with surprise, "Will you really let me see my mother?"
"She is your mother, after all. I'm not imprisoning her. On a side note, let me tell you something else. Do you know who that man from the hotel that night was?"
Wei Yumeng's pupils contracted sharply. "Who?"