The Secret of the Zhang Family

Edwin's mother, Kathy Zomorod, paced back and forth in her room while her friend, Venus Zhang, read the reports about Edwin and Noah seated behind her desk.

" So? What do you think?" Kathy said.

Venus leaned back on her seat and asked her doubtfully.

"What are you panicking for? Isn't it a good thing he finally got involved with others? He was so impassive and apathetic about his surroundings that it gave me goosebumps. I'm perplexed by your reaction."

Kathy nervously bit her fingernails and started pacing again, recalling yesterday morning's incident. Every time she closed her eyes, She still could see enraged Edwin with red eyes and bulging veins in the forehead.

The fright she received has still lingered in her. But the boy, Noah, was not affected and even worried about Edwin. She was sure that he was no ordinary person. Upon her return from the hospital, her first action was to instruct her subordinates to investigate Noah immediately.

The report she received came as a complete surprise. There were two well-known private schools in this town. It has to do with the battle between two powerful political parties. One was a school overseen and supported by their family and the town's mayor. An opposition party led another.

The report stated that Noah was a student at the other school and had a good relationship with Jack Sanders and Liam Jakubian. Kathy was wary of him for it. She strolled anxiously towards Venus.

"Do you consider it a conspiracy? Why did their friend get close to Edwin?"

" Calm down. I know Liam hates Desmond and our family, but I don't think he's capable of doing anything like this. I'm not sure about Jack, though. Of the Scandal, he changed his social group two years ago and went out with more influential people than before. But based on what you said, I think Noah truly cares about Edwin."

The Zhang family had a disastrous relationship with the Sanders and Jakubian families. Most people were unaware that Liam's mother, Lucy, was an illegitimate daughter of the Zhang family. In addition, Liam's father had an affair with Jack's mother two years ago, leading to a child.

"Are you sure your sister didn't plan to get back at us?"

Kathy insisted on bringing up the issue again.

Venus felt a pang of guilt as she heard it. The fact is, her sister was her cousin. They hid this fact not only from others but also from Lucy. Her aunt was a free-spirited and unpredictable woman known as the family's black sheep. She came back one day pregnant while she hadn't a clue about the child's father. Venus's father was forced to hide her and announce to others that the child was his, making Lucy think her mother was her aunt. Until age five, she had a weak constitution and was forced to stay in the countryside for most of her childhood. She grew up as a timid and submissive girl under the influence of their distant relatives' neglect. Following her aunt's return, Lucy moved to a different house and spent most of her time with her aunt.

They were delighted to see this. They thought her aunt finally got enlightened. But they were careless and simple in thinking of it. Lucy got a little thinner every day. And she avoided them, scared. They were confused by her acts.

They tried to take her to the hospital, but her aunt wouldn't let them. That impasse existed until her aunt died in a car accident. And that's when the truth broke out in front of their eyes. Her aunt repeatedly abused her daughter in secret, pretending to be them. And at the end of the abuse, she would act like a loving aunt and come forward to save her. A total example of a psycho!

She gave Lucy the idea that they harassed and tortured her while she kept her safe from them. And this farce lasted for almost two years, but nobody noticed it. The weight of their guilt felt like a mountain smashing them.

They tried to reconcile with her but were not successful.

Her mom brainwashed Lucy into hating them. Most of the psychologists advised them not to force her to accept the one who showed her love was also her abuser. Due to her youth and inability to cope, the likelihood of her falling apart was high.

So they kept pretending to be bad people and didn't correct her assumption about them. When Lucy was a grown-up, she refused to recognise them as her family and left home.

But her father made her come back each year for the New Year in fear of losing touch with her. She married and had a son; they were worried about her behaviour towards her newborn baby, so they disguised their trusted aids as nannies to supervise and help her care for the child. Liam grew up fine, but she still projected her ideas onto him. That is why hatred toward them and Desmond took form in him.

Liam was a simple boy who manifested an aversion to them every chance he could get. But Jack was a different story. When this scandal broke, he was only 14 years old. His mother had the intention of divorcing and marrying Liam's father. Jack put an end to this escalation. They didn't know how he did it, but they heard the news from their people. But the strange thing was that the information about the scandal didn't go outside their families.

They all acted as though nothing had happened. If her father hadn't had people in Liam's house, even they would be in the dark.

That showed how capable Jack was. She was sure that if Jack had this information about Liam's relationship with the Haily family, he would use other methods to get close to them, not like this. He was an intelligent boy, and with their bad relationship, he would have thought they would be wary of him, and this boy and his plan would fail.