Chapter 22: The Video
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When Xiao Xue said that, it sounded as if Su Nuo was deliberately sulking with her family.
Duàn’s father snorted coldly, “She’s been spoiled far too much. This must never happen again.”
Duàn’s mother hesitated to speak, but in the end, remained silent.
Duàn Yubai silently stared at the seafood porridge before him.
This was the porridge Su Nuo often made for him during his overtime hours, yet now it had been carelessly left until morning.
She was truly “thoughtful,” wasn’t she?
Taking advantage of everyone’s distraction, Chi Ling followed Su Nuo up to the third floor.
Su Nuo stood at the door, hesitant to enter.
This used to be her room, but now it felt like a world apart.
Suddenly, something was pressed into her hand. She instinctively wanted to resist, but then heard Chi Ling’s familiar, indifferent voice.
“Remember to apply the ointment.”
She looked down at her palm and found a burn ointment.
Chi Ling turned and went downstairs without giving her a chance to thank him.
Her nose tingled, and she whispered softly, “Thank you.”
Thinking that Mo Xiaoxue would soon come upstairs to change clothes, Su Nuo just stood by the door, carefully applying the burn ointment.
The cool sensation spread, and the stinging in her hand gradually faded.
She stared blankly at the blister on her hand.
If Duàn Yubai hadn’t come over earlier, she might have kept rinsing it and the blister wouldn’t have formed.
She closed her eyes, refusing to think any further.
Laughter and chatter echoed downstairs, while upstairs all the servants were busy.
Slap!
A cloth was thrown onto her chest, soaking a large part of her clothes.
“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and wipe the railing!” Sister Cui glared at her.
Su Nuo dared not disobey, quickly picking up the cloth and working hard to clean.
“That bitch is so pretentious,” Sister Cui smiled uncontrollably.
What did it matter if she was the eldest miss or an adopted daughter?
She was still trampled beneath her feet.
Having missed her clothes yesterday, Sister Cui was already furious, determined not to let Su Nuo have a moment’s peace today.
Half an hour later, Mo Xiaoxue finally came upstairs.
Seeing Su Nuo kneeling on the floor cleaning, she glanced at Duàn Yubai still downstairs, then stepped over Su Nuo’s hand directly.
In an instant, Su Nuo stiffened, unable to move.
Mo Xiaoxue nodded with satisfaction, then loudly said, “Miss Su, I’m entrusting my room to you for cleaning later.”
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“No need to do much, just tidy up a bit.”
“Stop acting up, everyone’s watching. You should rest more later.”
Then she bent down, looking down on the muddy Su Nuo with a superior gaze.
“If anything of mine goes missing, you know the consequences.”
Su Nuo nodded repeatedly, too frightened to say another word.
Hearing Duàn Yubai going upstairs, Mo Xiaoxue hurried back to her room to change before following him to work.
After Duàn’s father and Duàn Yubai left, and Duàn’s mother went out shopping with some ladies, Su Nuo cautiously entered Mo Xiaoxue’s room.
The moment she stepped inside, the strong scent of perfume almost suffocated her.
She hurried to the window and threw it open.
Fresh air flowed in, easing her mind somewhat.
But the scene before her stunned her completely.
The orchids and hydrangeas she had carefully tended were all withered, and even the cactus that was about to bloom had become nothing but an empty shell.
The once-beautiful balcony was now filled with dead flowers and broken branches.
All the flowerpots were piled in a corner, replaced by a large sofa and a beautiful tea table.
It seemed Mo Xiaoxue often enjoyed tea here.
The two couple’s teacups on the table made Su Nuo’s heart tighten painfully.
She took several deep breaths and began tidying up the room.
Mo Xiaoxue’s room had undergone a drastic transformation.
Where it had once been decorated in Su Nuo’s European style with white and pink ornaments, now the walls were painted in bold clashing colors, and even the bedding bore suggestive rose patterns.
Su Nuo’s old dolls were nowhere to be seen; only Mo Xiaoxue’s sultry sleepwear lay on the bed.
Su Nuo cautiously made the bed and started cleaning the floor.
Suddenly, her pupils constricted sharply, and her hands trembled uncontrollably.
A pair of black men’s underwear lay on the sofa.
Duàn Yubai only wore that brand.
And he never wore black—this single pair of black underwear was a gift Su Nuo had impulsively bought for him once.
A sudden rush of blood flooded her head, and she felt dizzy and faint.
So Duàn Yubai was wearing the underwear she had bought, with Mo Xiaoxue...
She dared not think further and quickly tucked the underwear into the laundry basket.
At that moment, the door was pushed open, and Mo Xiaoxue entered, talking on the phone.
“All right, got it. Don’t worry, I know.”
“Are you sure it’s in the sofa? I didn’t see it.”
“Ah, it was your fault last night, if Uncle and Aunt had seen—”
Her voice abruptly ceased as if she’d just noticed Su Nuo.
“Stop talking, Miss Su is in my room. I’ll hang up first.”
Mo Xiaoxue cleared her throat. “Mr. Duàn asked me to come back for a file.”
“Did you see anything?” she probed cautiously.
Su Nuo shook her head repeatedly. “No, I didn’t see anything. Nothing at all!”
“Even if you did, it wouldn’t matter.”
Mo Xiaoxue shrugged and pulled the file from the drawer.
“You’ve been gone so long; a lot has happened. I’m not new here anymore.”
Her words were ambiguous, and Su Nuo understood their implication.
During her absence, Mo Xiaoxue had been living at the Duàn residence.
She might even have been maintaining an intimate relationship with Duàn Yubai all along.
Su Nuo’s heart tightened painfully but then calmed.
It was meant to be this way.
She had long known Duàn Yubai didn’t like her; she shouldn’t have coveted what was not hers.
Who he was with had nothing to do with her.
Seeing Su Nuo’s blank expression, Mo Xiaoxue clicked her tongue.
“Su Nuo, don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. Do you really think that just because you came back, you’re still the lady of this house?”
Suddenly sitting on the bed, Mo Xiaoxue raised her eyebrows at her.
Su Nuo looked at her in confusion. “What?”
“I’m telling you, the mistress of this house will be me sooner or later.”
“If you behave, I might still let you have a bite to eat. Otherwise...”
Mo Xiaoxue tapped her phone a few times, and Su Nuo’s phone instantly chimed with a WeChat notification.
She instinctively took out her phone but trembled violently when she saw the video Mo Xiaoxue had sent.
The video was short, only about ten seconds.
But in it, Su Nuo was beaten until her face was bruised and swollen, a man gripping her hair, forcing her to make a heart shape in the video.
Su Nuo quickly closed her phone, trembling all over.
She remembered that man—it was the one who had tortured her in the underground basement of the park!
She opened her mouth, but the suffocation returned, and she still couldn’t utter a sound.