A/N: Just another reminder, I’ll use Charlene’s na when addressing Leslie from the Li family’s POV
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A heavy and uncomfortable tension lingered in the air of the drawing room in the Li family’s ancestral ho. A few mbers of the family were inside, everyone looked dejected.
No helpers of theirs dared to co close to the drawing room, in fear of being scolded. Only Butler Yang went in and out when required.
Old Madam Li sat in her usual bamboo seat, her wrinkly face haggard from two nights of no sleep. She tightened her grip on the wooden cane. Her straight posture seed to cover the dread overflowing inside her.
A restless Geoffrey darted his eyes around the room. They fell on Rowan and Bianca before eventually, he looked at Deena and Gladys. All of them shared similar feelings as him.
Aside from Irene who didn’t co together with her parents, Geoffrey and Deena’s secondborn child also wasn’t present.
Derek had been away from the country for a month already. The young man followed his group of friends backpacking.
The news of the Li family’s current upheaval hadn’t reached Derek. Most likely he was still far in the deep woods with no cell service.
’This is so... damning!’
Holding back from cursing out loud, Geoffrey clenched his hands into fists. He couldn’t help but recall the embarrassing mont of being shunned by Calix’s bodyguards yesterday.
Those lowly bastards dared to treat them like fools!
Did they think they were above him and his mother?!
’This can’t go on!’
Unable to stand the suffocating silence any longer, Geoffrey mustered up his courage to speak. His gaze was locked on his elderly mother’s tensed face.
"Mother... We have to do sothing. Before this issue is leaked, we..."
Thud!
Geoffrey abruptly shut his mouth once Old Madam Li hit the floor with the end of her cane. Everyone subconsciously straightened their backs. They quietly looked at the elderly woman.
Old Madam Li’s eyes regained their ferocity as her face flushed in a mixture of fury and anxiety. Gnashing her teeth, her lips shivered as she spat.
"Make sure it won’t leak, you fool! Do you need to teach you everything?! Use your brain!"
Old Madam Li’s shout blared inside the drawing room. Her mask of authority cracked under the pressure of fear and indignation.
Old Madam Li dreaded the worst outcos. The Li family would be the latest laughingstock of high society if outsiders sniffed this issue. Their business might also be jeopardized due to this scandal.
Geoffrey repeatedly blinked his eyes out of nervousness. A cold sweat broke on his back. Despite being irritated with the situation, he didn’t have the courage to go against his elderly mother.
Stamring, Geoffrey answered quietly, "I know. People would make fools out of us if... they knew. I will do everything in my power to... ensure none of this matter gets out."
"Do it right!"
Old Madam Li scoffed. Tearing her fiery eyes away from Geoffrey, she zeroed in on Rowan and Bianca next.
The husband and wife hadn’t spoken a single word from the mont they entered this room.
The longer Old Madam Li stared at Rowan and Bianca, the angrier she beca. She couldn’t fathom how brainless these two people were!
Driven by another surge of outrage overflowing from inside her, Old Madam Li yelled, "You failed in raising your daughter! How could you let her sar our family’s na like this?!"
Rowan and Bianca shrank their necks. None of them dared to refute Old Madam Li. Their spirits were still crushed by what happened during dinner the other night.
Neither Rowan nor Bianca expected Charlene to really cut ties with them when they were still trying to make ands for their past shaful actions.
Thud!
Slamming the cane again, Old Madam Li shouted, "Have you no sha? Don’t just stay quiet! Do everything to make this right!"
Rowan and Bianca remained in silence. The man was always cowardly but, the latter used to stand up against Old Madam Li as of late. But, Bianca seed to lose all of her previous boldness.
"Arghhh! I should’ve just locked that bitch for life! Why did she make my life harder?!"
Old Madam Li roughly ran her fingers through her grey hair. Her usually immaculate appearance was ruined by the ongoing pressure.
Deena and Gladys glanced at one another. Their ashen faces didn’t find any amusent in watching Rowan and Bianca get scolded by Old Madam Li this ti.
Unlike before, they were also caught up in this ss.
"Urgh! How could this be? How could the bastard’s father be Calix Xu?!"
Breathing erratically, Old Madam Li’s chest heaved up and down. She had already received clarification reports from Geoffrey last night. The man ordered his subordinates to quickly gather the necessary information.
Contrary to their prediction, Geoffrey’s staff didn’t go through much difficulty. They were surprised to learn the Xu family’s bodyguards were stationed at the orphanage.
One of the Xu family’s n ca forward and invited Geoffrey’s subordinates to et the orphanage head, Director Li directly. The forr’s action simply mocked the n’s struggles.
Old Madam Li finally found out that Calix and Charlene visited the orphanage more than one month ago. They brought the child nad Calliope back with them to the city.
"So far, we know nothing about their so-called secret romance," Geoffrey exhaled a sigh. He regretfully added, "I’ll do my best to uncover it. There’s a chance they lied to us."
Old Madam Li hissed. She grew madder from Geoffrey’s foolishness.
"It’s worthless now! The Xus have accepted that child!"
Geoffrey clamped his mouth shut. He couldn’t refute what his mother had just pointed out.
From the mont Calix and Charlene reunited with their long-lost daughter, the abandoned bastard child was registered as one of the Xu family’s mbers.
Her na—Calliope Xu—was listed clearly as the firstborn child of Calix and Charlene.
This ant the Xu family wholeheartedly welcod the child under their protection. None of them cared about the fact that the child was conceived out of wedlock.
How disgraceful!
Rising to her feet, Old Madam Li looked around the room. Searing lava of fury continued flaming her rage.
"We’ll go to the Xu’s ancestral ho! I can’t stand this humiliation! How can they treat us like this?!"
Geoffrey weakly nodded, agreeing with Old Madam Li. The rest were as mute as human-sized dolls.
Spinning on her heels, Old Madam Li hurried to the door. Her nostrils flared in anger.
No!
She could never accept this dishonor!
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