Chapter Forty-Seven: Your Father Has Returned (Part Three)

Unfortunately, Lu Yuehong, for all her self-assured calculations, never anticipated that the Chao Xu before her possessed the memories of Chao Si. While speaking just now, Chao Xu was probing Lu Yuehong, testing whether there remained even a shred of humanity in her. The final answer was no.

The moment Lu Yuehong spoke of Chao Si's death, the relief in her eyes thoroughly betrayed her true nature: cold, ruthless, and driven solely by profit. Such a person is truly repulsive. When she, as a teacher, remains unrepentant in this manner, it becomes all the more abhorrent.

Chao Xu withdrew her gaze with a calm indifference and remarked, seemingly without intent, “Speaking of when my sister disappeared, the school never notified her family. If they had, perhaps she wouldn’t have died.”

No one else knew that, in fact, Chao Si could have survived that day. After Gu Zhongming’s hired killer kidnapped her, fearing discovery by the school staff, he did not kill her immediately. Instead, he hid for an entire afternoon before acting. If anyone had noticed, if just one person had paid attention, perhaps Chao Si would not have met such a tragic end.

At the mention of this, Lu Yuehong’s pupils contracted sharply, as if something had occurred to her. She let out a dry laugh, her gaze evasive. “You may not know, but Chao Si was a bit wilful. She often left for home without telling anyone. After it happened several times, I stopped worrying about it. Who could have guessed something would happen this time? I really felt uneasy inside.”

As she spoke, she secretly pinched her own thigh, forcing out two crocodile tears. Yet, Chao Xu’s heart remained utterly unmoved. What Lu Yuehong said was nothing but a cover. Chao Si, naïve as she was, had always been exceptionally well-behaved. Even when beaten or scolded at school, she insisted on being a punctual student and never left the campus without permission.

It was those students who bullied Chao Xu who, for amusement, often locked her away somewhere, listening to her scream, only releasing her after a day or half a day. Sensitive and afraid of the dark, Chao Xu became even more fragile after enduring such torment repeatedly. Yet Lu Yuehong, a teacher responsible for nurturing and guiding, completely indulged these young demons. Not only did she fail to stop them, she would scold Chao Xu for being late when she was finally released, feigning ignorance and seizing the opportunity for punishment. Her level of depravity was unprecedented.

That time, Lu Yuehong likely assumed Chao Si was merely being teased again, thus paid no attention. She might even have been planning how to torment her further upon her return. Tragically, no one expected that young life would be extinguished in a desolate grove, never to return.

Judging by the outcome, the one hired by Gu Zhongming—the person who killed Chao Si—was the murderer. Yet, in truth, every student who bullied Chao Si, and every person who ignored her suffering, were indirect executioners. Unfortunately, it seems none have realized just how loathsome their actions were.

But that does not matter.

A malicious curve appeared at the corner of Chao Xu’s lips.

Because she will ensure that each and every one of them pays the price they deserve for what they have done.