"I have nothing to do with your family anymore. Let's call it a day. You can choose to believe what I just said or not. It makes no difference to me."
Yang Mo stood up after saying those words, his expression as cold as ever. He didn't forget to pocket the bank card that had been placed on the table moments ago. Without a second glance, he turned toward the door. "And don't ever come looking for me again. Goodbye."
"M-Mo, wait!"
Seeing that Yang Mo was about to leave, Li Xia hurriedly stepped forward, reaching out as if she could stop him just by calling his name.
"Sha Mo, I know I treated you badly in the past. Everything was my fault... Big Sister's fault. Can you—can you forgive me?" Her voice trembled slightly, her usual composed demeanor nowhere to be found.
Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill over. Her heart felt unbearably heavy, weighed down by guilt and regret. "I'm not asking you to return to the Lin family, nor am I asking you to acknowledge me as your sister. I just... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."
Li Xia was already on the verge of breaking down. Her hands trembled slightly as she struggled to suppress the emotions overwhelming her.
"You saved my life, and yet, this is how things ended up between us. It makes me feel... guilty."
Yang Mo's sharp eyes flickered toward her, but his expression remained unreadable. He raised a hand, cutting her off before she could say anything more.
"There's no need for all this," he said flatly. "I took your money, didn't I? Think of it however you want. A deal. A transaction. Payment for a job done. We owe each other nothing."
Li Xia bit her lip, taking a shaky breath. "Then... does that mean you forgive me?"
There was a long pause before Yang Mo finally responded.
"Fine. I forgive you. But from now on, we're just strangers. Let's never meet again."
With that, he turned on his heel and walked out of the door, not sparing a single glance back. The sound of the door clicking shut behind him echoed in the vast silence of the room.
Outside, Yang Mo hailed a cab back to school. In the past, he would have hesitated, opting to take the bus or find some other way to save money. But now, with a hefty sum in his pocket, he could afford to indulge just a little. He leaned back in the seat, exhaling slowly. It was over.
Inside the house, Li Xia stood frozen in place, staring at the door with vacant eyes. Her hands balled into fists at her sides, and silent tears began slipping down her cheeks.
He's really gone.
Regret burned through her. She hated herself. She hated how blind she had been. How could she have been so cruel to him? How could she have treated her own brother that way—without evidence, without reason? Instead, they had given their love, their care, their trust... to a fraud.
"That ungrateful bastard!" Lin Ruan suddenly cursed, slamming her hand on the table. "Big Sister, why did you lower your stance so much for him? And he still refused! He actually walked away as if we were nothing to him!"
Li Xia wiped away her tears, her expression hardening. "Ruan, don't be so quick to judge. If what Yang Mo said is true... then we truly were fools."
Lin Ruan flinched. She didn't want to admit it, but deep down, a creeping unease spread through her.
If Lin Kuan's illegitimate identity was confirmed, then the entire Lin family would become a laughingstock.
The prestigious, highly respected Lin family of Jinghai City—a family that stood tall above the rest—had unknowingly placed an outsider's illegitimate son at the center of their world.
How absurd. How humiliating.
"Big Sister, is it possible that Yang Mo was lying to us?" Lin Ruan's voice wavered slightly. "I mean... even in novels, they don't write plots this ridiculous. A mistress's son fooling an entire household? It's too much."
Li Xia shook her head. "What would he gain by lying to us? Just to disgust us? Didn't you see his attitude? He couldn't care less about us anymore. And have you ever known him to lie?"
Lin Ruan hesitated.
True, Yang Mo had never been one to fabricate stories. If anything, he had always been brutally honest. That was what made his words all the more terrifying.
"So what do we do now?" Lin Ruan asked, shifting uncomfortably. "Should we tell Mom?"
Despite being a well-known singer, Lin Ruan had never been good at handling real crises. She looked completely flustered, uncertain about what to do next.
Li Xia, on the other hand, remained calm, though her mind raced.
"It's better to wait until we confirm everything. At the very least, we need concrete evidence." She exhaled deeply before adding, "And think about it—if what Yang Mo said is true, that means Father actually cheated on Mother 18 years ago. How do you think she's going to react to that?"
Lin Ruan's blood ran cold.
If their father had truly fathered a child with another woman and then brought that child into their home, deceiving them all...
The mere thought of it made her stomach churn.
Their mother doted on Lin Kuan. Treated him like her own flesh and blood. She had just bought him a luxury car worth ten million dollars for his birthday. How would she feel if she learned that the boy she loved so dearly wasn't even her own? That he had been secretly planted in their family to take everything from them?
"We can't tell Mom yet," Lin Ruan muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. "Not until we know for sure."
"Agreed." Li Xia nodded firmly. "We'll investigate first. I'll handle it."
Lin Ruan hesitated for a moment before saying, "I have some connections with paparazzi. They're good at digging up dirt. I could ask them to investigate."
Li Xia frowned. "No. We can't risk word getting out. If this leaks to the public, our family's reputation will be ruined before we even have the full picture."
Lin Ruan bit her lip and nodded reluctantly. "Alright. Then what do we do?"
Li Xia took a slow sip of tea before setting her cup down with a determined expression. "We investigate on our own. We'll find the truth ourselves. And once we do... we'll decide how to handle Lin Kuan."
A heavy silence filled the room.
For the first time, Lin Ruan and Li Xia both felt as though the ground beneath their feet had crumbled away.
Everything they once believed—everything they had built their lives around—might have been a carefully constructed lie.
And they would uncover the truth, no matter what it took.