The second visitation room inside the detention facility felt even colder than the first.
Perhaps it was because the air carried a different kind of tension. The confrontation that was about to take place here did not belong to two rival sisters or enemies who had sched against one another for power. This one ran deeper—through years of resentnt, buried secrets, and wounds that had never truly been acknowledged.
Hua Jing sat down slowly on the hard chair facing the glass partition.
Monts later, the opposite door opened and Chen Li was escorted in by two guards.
Unlike Hua Ling, who had entered her eting in a storm of hysteria and rage, Chen Li carried herself with a strange composure. Her posture remained upright, her chin slightly lifted as though she still refused to allow the humiliation of her circumstances to break her entirely. Even dressed in the dull uniform of a detainee, there was still sothing aristocratic in the way she moved—a lingering echo of the powerful madam she had once been.
But the mont her eyes landed on Hua Jing, that composure cracked.
Her gaze sharpened instantly, the sa old malice flickering to life like a fla that had never truly gone out.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Chen Li demanded sharply, her voice cutting through the room.
There was no greeting, no attempt at politeness.
Only hostility.
Hua Jing did not react with anger. Instead, she folded her hands gently on the table and looked at the woman who had shaped so much of her childhood suffering.
"I ca to tell you one thing," she said calmly.
Chen Li’s lips curled with imdiate disdain.
"I do not want to hear it," she snapped.
Hua Jing’s smile was faint but unwavering.
"Whether you want to hear it or not," she replied evenly, "you will still have to hear it. You don’t have a choice."
Chen Li’s eyes narrowed sharply.
"You?" she scoffed with disbelief. "What makes you think you can force anything on ?"
At that, Hua Jing laughed softly.
The sound was quiet, almost gentle, but it carried sothing unsettling beneath it—like soone who had finally reached the end of a very long road.
"What happened back then," Hua Jing said slowly, "was actually not my mother’s fault."
Chen Li froze for a split second.
"She had been molested by Hua Mingrong."
The words dropped into the room like stones into still water.
Then Chen Li burst into laughter.
The sound was harsh, mocking, almost hysterical.
"Who the hell are you trying to fool?" she sneered. "My husband would never do sothing like that. It was your mother who seduced him that night. And the result of that disgusting act is the wretched person sitting in front of right now."
The insult was sharp enough to wound most people.
But Hua Jing had lived with words like that her entire life.
They no longer cut as deeply as they once had.
Her expression remained calm, almost thoughtful.
In truth, she had already made peace with much of the past. Not because it had stopped hurting, but because she knew that if she continued carrying that weight, it would poison the rest of her future.
For her own sake, she had chosen to let go.
Still, so truths deserved to be spoken.
"You were once praised as one of the few madams in the capital who knew everything," Hua Jing said lightly. "People used to say nothing happened in high society without Chen Li eventually hearing about it."
She tilted her head slightly.
"And yet you didn’t even know what really happened the night I was conceived."
Chen Li’s expression hardened.
"Just because you don’t rember," Hua Jing continued, her voice still gentle, "let refresh your mory."
For reasons even she did not fully understand, Chen Li did not interrupt.
Perhaps it was curiosity. Perhaps it was the quiet confidence in Hua Jing’s tone that made her hesitate.
"That night," Hua Jing began, "you hosted a very large gala at the Hua mansion. Many of the wealthiest families in the capital attended. The house was full of laughter, music, expensive wine, and people pretending to enjoy one another’s company."
Her eyes grew distant as she recounted the story she had pieced together over the years.
"But that night, you had a plan."
Chen Li’s fingers curled slowly on the table.
"You were the daughter of a powerful family, and your marriage to Hua Mingrong had always been more of a contract than a romance. At the beginning, neither of you loved the other, but over ti you grew... comfortable together."
She paused briefly.
"But there was one problem."
Chen Li’s jaw tightened.
"You hadn’t consummated your marriage yet," Hua Jing said quietly. "And your parents were beginning to pressure you. They wanted a grandchild. They wanted proof that the Hua and Chen families would continue through the next generation."
The silence in the room grew heavier.
"So you decided to take matters into your own hands," Hua Jing continued.
"That night, during the gala, you arranged for Hua Mingrong’s drink to be drugged. Your plan was simple—you wanted him disoriented enough that you could bring him to your bedroom without resistance."
Chen Li suddenly slamd her palm against the table.
"Shut up!" she shouted.
But Hua Jing did not stop.
"That sa night," she went on steadily, "my mother was working the night shift."
"She wasn’t even supposed to be there. Another maid had fallen sick unexpectedly, and she volunteered to cover the shift. She had no idea what was happening in the rest of the house."
Hua Jing’s voice softened slightly.
"By the ti Hua Mingrong disappeared from the party, the drug had already taken effect."
She t Chen Li’s eyes through the glass.
"And my mother happened to cross his path."
The aning settled slowly, heavily.
"Hua Mingrong had always been fascinated by her beauty," Hua Jing said quietly. "The servants talked about it often. And in that state... he lost control."
The room felt unbearably still.
"He forced himself on her."
Chen Li’s head shook rapidly.
"No," she whispered. "No. That’s not what happened!"
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