Chapter 20: I Hate Liars

Gu Yanya was taken aback from Hua Mengyao's sudden change in attitude. Up until then, the woman had been nothing but a jumble of energy and praise for her daughter.

"Excuse me? What are you talking about?"

The only thing she could think of was the day that Zhao Yingyue went over to meet the Liu family. Did she tell them about the punishment she had received when she was there? If she had, Gu Yanya wasn't sure what she'd do but she wouldn't go down without fighting.

Hua Mengyao wasn't a fan of Gu Yanya's faux ignorance. It was obvious that she was trying to find out how much she knew so that she wouldn't risk exposing herself too much and could maintain some sense of dignity.

"I don't know, you tell me."

At that moment, Zhao Yingyue saw that the coldest member of the Liu family may just be the Madame. She had been so bubbly and kind to her since they first met so Zhao Yingyue had no idea this usually bright woman even had the capability to be so cold.

Gu Yanya was at a loss for words. She had no clue how to answer Hua Mengyao. She was certain that it had to be about the abuse but there was no way that she could outright admit to it.

In this case, after what her husband had said, he had reason for plausible deniability even though she knew that he had to know that something was going on. Was that his plan? It would be especially bad if Zhao Yingyue stripped her makeup off.

Since the beating was only two days before, the bruises would surely still remain there for all to see. Even if she denied responsibility, they would likely not believe that they could have no knowledge of these injuries and if they didn't, it would be considered negligent.

Hua Mengyao refused to let her off though. What she knew was more than enough to hate this woman for life.

"Well?"

Gu Yanya gritted her teeth but decided it would be better to play innocent. After all, even if the Liu family didn't believe her, she could just convince her husband later. She also doubted that Zhao Yingyue would have the guts to take off her makeup and expose her in front of the Liu's.

One thing that she knew about her daughter was that she at least protected her family's image in front of others. She wouldn't risk something like this—especially with the idea of marriage being the combination of two families. She couldn't have her in-laws think that her family were anything but the best.

Gu Yanya, to her credit, kept a look of shock on her face as if she'd been wronged by some type of false accusation.

"I'm sorry Madame Liu but I really don't know what you mean. You've said it yourself that I raised her to become such a sweet young lady. How could that be accomplished with so-called fake love? I only wonder who would feed you such falsities."

Hua Mengyao seemed to somehow become colder. Gu Yanya only continued to add more negative qualities to the already heavy list. No matter how many times she gave her the opportunity to at least own what she'd done, she kept lying and denying.

This only caused more anger to build up inside of Hua Mengyao.

"Really? Well Madame Liu," she said mockingly. "I hate liars. I heard the words I've just said straight from your mouth."

"It was earlier today. Don't you remember? It actually sounded like you favored one child over the other—one who seems to not even be of your direct lineage. Why put someone like that's opinion over your first and only child?"

She had made sure to emphasize the words "first" and "only".

"I was just curious Madame Zhao but don't mind me. Maybe there's something that I'm missing."

After she spoke, Hua Mengyao abruptly stopped. She knew she had caught Gu Yanya but didn't release any of the evidence she had such as the recording or the pictures of the bruises on Zhao Yingyue.

The real target for tonight wasn't Gu Yanya. It was the man sitting quietly on the other side of her Yingyue. She knew that she'd instilled some doubt in this man's heart and that's all he'd need to do some digging.

As head of the family, there was no way he'd let go of that feeling that he wasn't completely aware of his own wife's doings. It was too much of a risk of an embarrassing secret that could be exploited later.

Zhao Yingyue decided to stir the pot under the guise of breaking the ice.

"Mom, take it easy. It was just yesterday that you almost let your anger hurt your health. I don't want you to put your health at risk for me again. It's fine, really. I'm sure mother might be confused right now. After all, I did turn out quite well even if some of her 'love' was a little rough."

Gu Yanya took Zhao Yingyue's words for their surface meaning and approved of her response. However, Zhao Xiang listened quietly and deeply internalized the meaning of his daughter's words. He had remained blissfully ignorant and never dug deeper because he loved and trusted his wife and her methods. Maybe he should've been more involved in family matters. Now these matters ran the risk of embarrassing him and their entire family.

Wanting to switch the topic away from this, he said, "Maybe we should be talking more of the marriage of our children. They're the stars of tonight's show, are they not?"

Hua Mengyao once again had a gentle smile as the thought of her children's wedding came up. She let the excitement seep in and try to extinguish at least some of the fire which was her anger.

"I agree. These children of ours have already grown up. While these are all formalities, it really is up to them where we go from here. We've given our blessings already."

Zhao Xiang wanted to stop her there and ask about the dowry but after what happened with his wife, it would be a further embarrassment to himself and his family. He couldn't allow them to see him and his family as greedy in addition to whatever it was that his wife had done. It was obvious that she had earned a negative reputation with Madame Liu.

Liu Haoyu said, "Auntie, Uncle, we want to have an engagement party this upcoming Friday night in this hotel's function room. However, we would like to keep it extremely lowkey so only close friends and family are allowed. Due to my line of work, I don't want our marriage or engagement to be made known to the public yet. Yingyue and I have already discussed this and it's what we both want. We hope that you understand."

Zhao Yingyue nodded in agreement. They didn't need to know the full reason for the secret just yet. She'd rather them see it later and be shocked with the rest of the world.

"It only makes the most sense for us. I don't mind it and our inner circles will know. We were hoping to hold the right to get married when we please and only have our wedding in the future when we both are ready. After all, we'd like for it to be perfect."

"The Liu family already promised the dowry after the legal process so you won't need to worry about that."

Hua Mengyao and Liu Ting nodded in understanding.

Zhao Xiang was happy that the dowry was brought up without him having to mention it himself. He wouldn't embarrass himself by asking what it included but he was satisfied knowing that it would be given sooner rather than later.

Zhao Xiang didn't let Gu Yanya speak, worried that she would only anger the Liu's Madame even further, as he said, "Alright. I do agree that our children are old enough to make this decision. I just hope that they understand the risk of keeping this engagement and marriage private."

"Both of you have numerous suitors so you'll have to be careful. Without knowledge of your marriage, people may try to take advantage."

Zhao Yingyue smiled.

"Thanks for your concern dad but we have already acknowledged that risk and we are willing to take it."

Matter of fact, she just trusted him enough not to do anything crazy and she knew that he also trusted her. Neither of them would disrespect the other.

Gu Yanya wanted to speak up but knew that after earlier, it was best to stay out of the serious talks. She didn't want to be targeted by Hua Mengyao any further. Defending herself without offending the woman was getting more difficult and she knew that if she did offend her, things could go awry.

Hua Mengyao then said, "Also, thank you for taking care of my Bai Xinyi. However, she did tell me some things that were rather concerning to me."

"She told me that there's a member of your staff named Gu Yan who has disrespected my Yingyue twice since she has been there. Yingyue, being as sweet as she is, didn't punish her but Bai Xinyi told me this seems to be a common occurrence by how comfortable she is in doing so."

"There was also an incident earlier where someone almost physically harmed Yingyue and the only reason he was stopped was because Bai Xinyi was there. Though from what I hear, it should have never been a position she was forced into."

"She feels as if there's cause to worry about the physical wellbeing of Yingyue. Therefore, we are offering to allow her to protect her up until the wedding. We aren't saying that you are incapable, rather that there can never be enough protection for our precious children. Isn't that right?"

Zhao Xiang looked over to his wife. He knew that she had accompanied Zhao Yingyue for the day but this was the first that he had heard of this. The only thing Gu Yanya had told him was that Zhao Yingyue had thrown a fit and left with Liu Haoyu after not getting her way and being rude to the person that they met with.

What Hua Mengyao said made a lot more sense though and filled in the blanks. Zhao Xiang couldn't help but feel blindsided at this revelation. Why would Gu Yanya leave out such a key detail?

On top of that, Gu Yan had caused trouble once again. In the last few days, not a day went by that she didn't cause trouble. He thought one punishment was enough for his niece but she kept messing up. She had embarrassed them once again to the point where the Liu family indirectly told them that they weren't incapable of protecting their own daughter.

It was even more embarrassing when it was apparently true!

He would deal with Gu Yan when he got home and he wouldn't let his wife stop him again!

"Yes, there could never be enough protection. And don't worry, that member of my staff will be dealt with accordingly when I get back. She will be properly reformed soon and taken out of our Yingyue's circle."

Gu Yanya swiftly looked at her husband in astonishment. He hadn't discussed this with her before and now that he said so in front of everyone, it had to be done no matter how much she tried to convince her husband otherwise.

She had counted on Gu Yan sticking with Zhao Yingyue for as long as possible so that she would gain more respect from the connection and possibly be connected with someone from a higher status to marry her way up.

It would be too inappropriate for Gu Yanya to bring Gu Yan along herself so this was the only way that she could see fit. She couldn't allow Gu Yan to suffer for that Zhao Yingyue.