Ly Xia couldn't suppress the excitement welling up inside her. She stood up abruptly, her eyes fixed on Yang Mo. "It was me! You saved me back then! Don't you remember?"
Yang Mo remained seated, his expression cold and indifferent. His voice was eerily calm when he spoke. "So what? Whether it's a person, a cat, or a dog, if it falls into the water, I'll save it. There's nothing special about that."
Lin Ruan's expression darkened. "Yang Mo, aren't you going too far? How could you compare my sister to a cat or a dog?" she said indignantly.
Yang Mo chuckled, his lips curling into a smirk. "Oh, I apologize. You're right. It's not a fair comparison. After all, at least cats and dogs know how to show gratitude." His words were sharp, slicing through the tension in the air like a blade.
Lin Ruan was so infuriated that she was momentarily speechless.
"Alright, second sister, sit down," Ly Xia said firmly. "Let's just talk."
Unlike Lin Ruan, Ly Xia wasn't angered by Yang Mo's attitude. If she had been in his position, she might have acted even colder. She took a deep breath before continuing, her voice sincere. "Yang Mo, I just wanted to say thank you for saving my life."
"There's no need," Yang Mo replied dismissively. "I told you—I save whoever falls into the river. As for treating your hand, I accepted the money. We don't owe each other anything."
Without hesitation, Ly Xia placed a bank card on the table. "There's $30 million in this card. Twenty million is for your medical treatment, and the extra ten million is a token of gratitude for what you did back then."
Yang Mo looked at the card and, to their surprise, picked it up without any pretense of humility. "Fine. I'll take it." He slid the card into his pocket, his expression unreadable. "It's what I deserve, so why not?"
He then leaned back in his chair. "This should at least allow your adoptive parents to stop struggling so much. And you'll have enough capital to start your own business." He paused before adding, "By the way, our mother misses you. If you return home, we can forget everything that happened before. We'll promise to treat you the same as Lin Cohen." Lin Ruan's voice softened, as if she was trying to reason with him.
Yang Mo's eyes darkened. "What's wrong with you people? When I was in the Lyn family, you treated me like an outsider. Now that I've left, you want me to come back? What, do I need to suffer a little more before you're satisfied?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"Yang Mo, don't get upset. We're just trying to fix things." Ly Xia spoke carefully, trying to ease the tension.
"Fix things?" Yang Mo let out a bitter laugh before standing up. "If that's all you wanted to say, I'll be leaving. The college entrance exams are coming up, and my time is too precious for this."
But before he could leave, he paused. A dark glint flashed across his eyes. "Oh, right. Let me tell you one more thing. Lin Cohen is not our father's adopted son. He's his biological son. Our father had an affair. The son of his mistress is the one you've been coddling all this time, not me. I was the one who was discarded like trash."
The two sisters froze, their minds struggling to process his words. "What did you just say?" Ly Xia's voice trembled.
Lin Ruan's face twisted in disbelief. "Yang Mo, don't talk nonsense. I remember very clearly that our mother only gave birth to one child—you. There were no twins."
Yang Mo scoffed. "When did I say Lin Cohen was born to your mother?" His gaze sharpened. "I meant that he's your father's illegitimate son. A bastard."
Ly Xia suddenly felt weak, her body sinking into the sofa as if all her strength had drained away. "No… that's impossible…"
"Oh, it's very possible," Yang Mo said with a smirk. "What's even funnier is that you, the legitimate daughters of the Lyn family, have been treating a mistress's son like your precious little brother while treating me, your real family, like trash. Hilarious, isn't it?"
Lin Ruan slammed her hands on the table, her anger flaring up again. "Who are you calling a fool?!"
"Isn't it obvious?" Yang Mo leaned forward slightly, his voice sharp. "You've been blind this whole time. Lin Cohen's goal has always been to inherit the Lyn family's wealth. Do you really think he calls you 'sister' and 'mother' out of love? Once he has control of the company, do you think he'll hesitate to push you all aside? But no, you've spent all your time in that house finding ways to pick on me instead of watching what Lin Cohen has been up to behind your backs."
Ly Xia was still reeling from the revelation, but she forced herself to regain composure. "And how do you know all of this? You didn't have the time to investigate when you were living with us."
Lin Ruan, still skeptical, crossed her arms. "Do you have proof?"
The moment she said that, Yang Mo's smirk disappeared, replaced by cold disdain. "Unbelievable. The moment it concerns Lin Cohen, you demand proof. But when it came to accusing me of stealing a bracelet, none of you needed any proof at all. A single word from him was enough to convict me." He shook his head. "And here I was thinking you might have actually changed. How ridiculous."
Ly Xia quickly tried to calm him down. "Yang Mo, don't be angry. My second sister just asked a question. She didn't mean to doubt you."
Lin Ruan's face was flushed with anger and embarrassment. She had never been spoken to like this before.
Yang Mo, however, wasn't done. "You expect me to prove things for you? What am I, your servant? Or maybe the Lyn family's personal investigator?" His expression darkened. "I was being nice by even telling you this. Consider it my final gift to you."
Lin Ruan stood up again, her temper reaching its breaking point. "Yang Mo, don't forget—you have Lyn family blood in you, too!"
Yang Mo let out a short, cold laugh. "You really don't have a brain, do you? Did you forget the agreement we signed? I'm no longer part of the Lyn family. My surname is Yang now. We have nothing to do with each other anymore. And you? You don't deserve to be my family."
Ly Xia felt her heart clench at his words. She reached for his hand, her eyes filled with regret. "Yang Mo… I'm sorry. It was my fault. I shouldn't have wronged you or spoken ill of you. Will you come back? Big sister swears that from now on, I'll treat you like real family."
For the first time, Yang Mo hesitated. He had never imagined Ly Xia, who had always been so authoritative, would say something so gentle. Even Lin Ruan looked shocked.
But then Yang Mo shook his head. "No. Being part of your family costs too much. I finally have peace now. I don't need to go back to that cold place." He turned away. "You always thought I wanted the Lyn family's fortune. So fine—keep it. I don't need it."
And with that, he walked away, leaving the two sisters sitting in stunned silence.