After Getting Married to My Obsessive Older Sister - Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Chu Yiqiao sat blankly by the window, staring at the melted mango mille-feuille in front of her. Fang Yizhen had already left with Chu Lingtong.

The iced tea had melted, leaving a puddle of condensation on the table. Chu Yiqiao picked up her fork, scooped up the first bite of mille-feuille, and put it in her mouth. The sickeningly sweet cream coated her tongue, but upon closer inspection, it had a hint of bitterness.

She was still thinking about what Chu Lingtong had said this afternoon.

Time rewinds to an hour ago.

Chu Yiqiao followed Chu Lingtong to a more private booth, half-believing her. She ordered her usual afternoon tea set. Chu Lingtong’s conversation started normally, asking about her studies and reminiscing.

Just as Chu Yiqiao was letting her guard down, Chu Lingtong’s tone shifted: “Turn off your phone. We’ll give each other trust.”

Chu Yiqiao instinctively tried to hide it, playing dumb: “What?”

“You’re recording,” Chu Lingtong tapped the table: “It’s a good habit, but not so great for keeping tabs on family.”

Chu Yiqiao unlocked her phone. The screen showed “Recording 5 minutes 33 seconds.”

She turned off her phone in front of Chu Lingtong and placed it face down on the table.

“Satisfied?” Chu Yiqiao said.

The conversation finally got to the point.

First, Chu Lingtong claimed that Tan Ze’s marriage to her was for an impure purpose and that all the surprises and romance Chu Yiqiao thought were genuine were all part of Tan Ze’s calculations.

Starting with the smallest things, Chu Lingtong went on, item by item.

“That report back then, do you think a tabloid reporter would have dared to publish it if Tan Ze hadn’t intentionally left out flaws?” Chu Lingtong looked at Chu Yiqiao’s innocent eyes and continued: “There were so many chances to tell you, but Tan Ze chose to lie. How do you know she didn’t do it on purpose?”

“What does that mean? Is it Sister’s fault if she didn’t do a good job?” A fire rose in Chu Yiqiao’s chest: “Aunt, so you knew about it too? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“And Yizhen Jie,” Chu Yiqiao turned to the seemingly detached Fang Yizhen: “Yizhen Jie, why didn’t you tell me either?”

Chu Yiqiao’s expression was resolute, but her eyes were already welling up. She closed her eyes, holding back her tears: “No one is at fault. It’s not fair to blame anyone. Can we please not talk about this anymore?”

“Yiqiao, you’re too naive,” Chu Lingtong said: “Tan Ze will stop at nothing to get what she wants.”

“That’s just prejudice!” Since childhood, Chu Yiqiao had heard countless bad things about Tan Ze, and she was used to it: “That just means Sister is goal-oriented and has strong execution skills.”

Chu Lingtong paused, then said: “Then where does the locator on you fit in?”

Chu Yiqiao frowned, instinctively recoiling: “What are you talking about?”

Chu Lingtong was well-prepared. She pulled a stack of photos and documents from her bag. The documents were Mingsheng’s navigation technology research reports from late last year. The photos showed Zhao Jingxing’s whereabouts: labs, auction houses, airports…

Based on the timestamps below the photos, this surveillance had started in early March of this year.

This was also the time when Chu Yiqiao received the bracelet from Tan Ze.

“You’ve been wearing the bracelet,” Chu Lingtong said: “You should have noticed how quickly Tan Ze finds you.”

“Take your time and look. Here are the surveillance logs.” Chu Lingtong pulled out a few more.

The previous document had too many words for Chu Yiqiao to understand at once. She immediately understood the surveillance photo, and her hair stood on end: “You came into our house? This is breaking and entering! I’m calling the police!”

Chu Lingtong didn’t say a word.

Chu Yiqiao figured it out herself: “Was it the cleaning lady? How could she do this!”

Fang Yizhen had been receiving messages from Chu Yiqiao on WeChat for the past few months and understood her a little. She knew Chu Yiqiao had a typical ostrich mentality when facing problems—if she couldn’t see it, it didn’t exist. She wasn’t incapable of understanding; she just didn’t want to face it.

“Xiao Qiao,” Fang Yizhen’s gaze lowered. Chu Yiqiao’s fingers on the table were trembling, and looking up, her eyelashes were fluttering unusually fast: “You know what this means.”

Chu Yiqiao immediately hid her hands under the table, her eyes lowered, refusing any eye contact. She said in a muffled voice: “Yeah, I know.”

“You’re all sick.”

Another stack of documents was placed in front of Chu Yiqiao. Chu Lingtong calmly flipped to the relevant section and said: “You might find this hard to accept, but Tan Ze is already transferring her assets. She’s marrying you while planning how to scam all your money. The marriage is just a cover.”

Chu Yiqiao closed her eyes, refusing to look: “I don’t believe you.”

“That’s fine if you don’t look,” Chu Lingtong smiled: “I have the audio recording.”

With her eyes closed, Chu Yiqiao heard a crackle of electricity, followed by Tan Ze’s voice saying, “What she’s like, what does it have to do with me?”

Chu Yiqiao couldn’t take it anymore.

“Do you all think I’m an idiot?” Chu Yiqiao’s initial anger turned into a feeling of helplessness: “You’ve been like this since I was little. No one cares about me! No one cares about me!”

Chu Yiqiao’s voice uncontrollably rose: “Only my sister cares about me. I’d be willing to give her all my money!”

Chu Lingtong clearly heard Chu Yiqiao loudly shout, “You’re all psychopaths!”

After Chu Lingfeng’s death, Chu Lingtong had never spoken to her niece again. Birthdays, New Year’s—no communication at all.

Before deciding to meet Chu Yiqiao this time, an old employee who had left Mingsheng told her that the effect might not be as good as expected because “Chu Yiqiao has been brainwashed by Tan Ze.”

Chu Lingtong now realized that this statement might not be an exaggeration.

But Chu Lingtong hadn’t expected to turn Chu Yiqiao against Tan Ze with just a few words. Creating a rift in their seemingly happy life was just to annoy them. The important part was yet to come.

“Besides that, there was a problem with the inheritance distribution,” Chu Lingtong looked Chu Yiqiao up and down and said: “Yiqiao, you were there when Chu Lingfeng died, weren’t you? It was so sudden. Did you know Chu Lingfeng didn’t leave a will?”

Chu Yiqiao became alert.

“I’ve asked the old butler. The current will was forged by Tan Ze. You were raised by her, so you should naturally have a share of the inheritance. Tan Ze isn’t so lucky. How long would a court sentence her for forging a will for profit?”

Chu Lingtong’s voice was chilling as it entered Chu Yiqiao’s ears: “Three years? Or five? Given Mingsheng’s current size, the most likely outcome is life in prison.”

Chu Yiqiao looked up, glaring at the two people in front of her with resentment.

“What do you want? Money?” Chu Yiqiao’s eyes couldn’t hold back the tears, which streamed down her face: “I don’t have a mom anymore…”

Chu Lingtong took out the final document and handed a black pen to Chu Yiqiao.

Chu Yiqiao blinked, and more tears flowed from her reddened eyes, leaving dark spots on the pristine white paper.

Chu Yiqiao wiped away her tears, trying to read the clauses clearly, wiping her eyes after every line. She flipped to the end and began to write in a blur.

The top two parts of the character “楚” were already written, when Chu Yiqiao suddenly stopped.

“I can’t sign,” Chu Yiqiao crossed it out and threw down the pen: “I’m married to Tan Ze. The shares are community property. I have to discuss it with my wife.”

Chu Lingtong silently took the document back. Chu Yiqiao became nervous, afraid she would change her mind, and said in a rush: “You can’t sue Sister! Mingsheng can’t function without Tan Ze. If Sister goes to prison, the stock will plummet!”

“Besides, didn’t you say Sister is already transferring assets?” Chu Yiqiao wiped her tears directly with her sleeve: “Then my signature is useless anyway.”

Chu Lingtong looked at Chu Yiqiao as if she were surprised that the person in front of her had suddenly become smart.

“Then sign this first.” Chu Lingtong took out another document, this time a property ownership transfer contract.

Chu Yiqiao’s eyes were swollen from crying. She had to squint to read the words. Her heart skipped a beat: “You want the old house?”

Chu Lingtong: “The old house is in your name. I’ve had someone check it. Sign it.”

Chu Yiqiao flipped to the end and signed her name stroke by stroke, her tears returning with a vengeance.

Goodbye, the house I grew up in.

“When can I get my mom’s belongings?” Chu Yiqiao clutched the contract, not letting Chu Lingtong take it away.

Chu Lingtong looked at her coldly: “You gave me the house. The things inside are also mine.”

“You thief!” Chu Yiqiao swore.

Chu Yiqiao couldn’t pull the contract away from Chu Lingtong and watched as she put it in her bag.

“As for you and Tan Ze, I’ll have someone deliver them another day.” Chu Lingtong stood up. After a few steps, her clothes were pulled tightly.

She turned around. Chu Yiqiao was glaring at her with eyes full of a desire for mutual destruction: “You haven’t written a guarantee yet, promising not to sue Sister.”

Chu Lingtong was a little surprised. After all these years, Chu Yiqiao had grown a bit of a brain.

Chu Lingfeng’s biggest mistake was dying too early. They had been rivals their whole lives, and she left Chu Yiqiao to continue as her opponent. Chu Lingtong, feeling the victory was dishonorable, was willing to show a little bit of kindness.

She returned, tore a blank piece of paper, wrote a letter of understanding, and signed it. Chu Yiqiao immediately clutched the paper to her chest.

Fang Yizhen left with Chu Lingtong. Chu Yiqiao had misjudged her; the person who had sent flowers to her mother was also a bad person.

While cursing Chu Lingtong to die in a car crash, Chu Yiqiao didn’t forget to curse Fang Yizhen to break her leg in an electric scooter accident.

Chu Yiqiao laid her head on the table. A staff member came to check on her three times. After using up an entire pack of tissues, Chu Yiqiao finally stood up and went to the restroom to wash her face.

As she dried her hands, Chu Yiqiao noticed the bracelet on her wrist. She tugged at it with all her might, but even as her wrist turned red, she couldn’t take it off.

It was real.

Chu Yiqiao found it hard to be angry with Tan Ze.

What’s wrong with a locator? Maybe it was just for safety. Bei Tong and Yan Yuanjing’s families had also installed locators on them when they were little for fear of kidnapping. Chu Yiqiao already reported where she was going anyway, so what difference did it make if there was a locator? Besides, Sister was so busy, how could she check it every day?

And the asset transfer… was it real? Why would Sister do that? She could have just told Chu Yiqiao, and Chu Yiqiao would have given her the money.

Besides, why would someone as smart as Sister need to get married to scam money? Now that she had it, was she going to get a divorce?

Chu Yiqiao ran her fingers over the matching ring on her ring finger, thinking that it wasn’t allowed. Sister had clearly promised to “love her, care for her, respect her, accept her, and remain loyal to her forever until the end of her life.”

How could she do this? Maybe a bolt of lightning should strike Tan Ze too.

No, on second thought, she couldn’t bear it.

Chu Yiqiao had always seen the world differently from other children. Most people saw with their eyes, but Chu Yiqiao preferred to use her heart. When looking at people, Chu Yiqiao preferred to look at their concrete actions.

Although her sister could be a little temperamental at times, she almost always went along with Chu Yiqiao. When Chu Yiqiao was sick, it was Tan Ze who cared for her at her bedside; when Chu Yiqiao was sad, it was Tan Ze who comforted her; when Chu Yiqiao had a problem, it was also Tan Ze who helped her solve it.

The person who woke her up was Tan Ze; the person who drove her to school was Tan Ze; the person who took her out to eat was Tan Ze; the person who went to art exhibitions with her was Tan Ze… Chu Yiqiao could not accept that all the warmth she felt was fake.

Chu Yiqiao hated Chu Lingtong even more. Why did she have to tell her? Chu Yiqiao would rather know nothing.

Chu Lingtong and Fang Yizhen had left, but the documents and photos accusing Tan Ze were still on the table.

Family scandal should not be publicized. Chu Yiqiao sobbed, gathering the documents and stack of photos into her arms.

Chu Yiqiao turned her phone back on. The first thing she did was blacklist Fang Yizhen.

At the same time, six missed calls popped up in her notification bar. In WeChat, Tan Ze’s profile picture had a 99+ notification.

Chu Yiqiao clicked in and scrolled up, seeing many messages.

“Do you want to try this? The staff said many people like it”

“Why aren’t you replying?”

“Why is your phone off? Can’t you log in to WeChat on your computer?”

“Don’t believe her.”

“I won’t go to prison.”

“Don’t cry.”

“I’ll help you get the house back.”

“Xiao Qiao, wait for me. I’m coming back right now.”

How could her news be so fast?

Chu Yiqiao looked up at the camera in the café. She frowned. Could Sister even see the surveillance here?

÷: “I hate you!”

Then she blacklisted Tan Ze as well.

After getting into a taxi home, Chu Yiqiao hugged the white documents, feeling a little regretful.

She was afraid Tan Ze would abandon her. She took out her phone, wanting to un-blacklist Tan Ze, but the documents and photos “whooshed” and scattered all over the floor.

Chu Yiqiao lowered her head and, with no backbone left, burst into tears.

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