Chapter 17: Well Worth It

As soon as Duan Yubai got into the car, he began reviewing the documents. The car was filled with silence, broken only by the sound of a few breaths. Suddenly, Duan Yubai clicked his tongue. The trembling image of Su Nuo appeared again before his eyes. Why wasn’t she in her room? Why was she in the bathroom? Could it be that after vomiting yesterday, she never went back? Who was she putting on a show for this time? Countless questions swirled in his mind, leaving him restless and troubled. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat, recalling Su Nuo’s behavior during this period. Since her return, she had become unusually obedient. In the past, if he wasn’t home by 9 p.m., she would call him incessantly until he answered. If he came home late, she would mess up the kitchen, cooking a pot of so-called stomach-nourishing soup, forcing him to drink it. But since she came back, none of this had happened. She hadn’t even called him once. He had already returned the phone to her—what more did she want? Suddenly, a faint scent of milk reached his nose. Duan Yubai instinctively opened his eyes. Mo Xiaoxue parted a milk candy and held it to his lips. “Mr. Duan, they say eating sweets can lift your mood. Want to try?” she said softly, smiling shyly. His gaze fell on the candy. He remembered this brand was Su Nuo’s favorite. She had once pestered him for over a week just to get this brand of milk candy. In the end, he had someone buy it from abroad. If it were before, he wouldn’t have accepted candy directly from Mo Xiaoxue. But today, as if by some strange fate, he took the candy and put it in his mouth. The sweet flavor spread across his palate, and he frowned slightly—it was a taste he disliked. Su Nuo liked to eat such things? “I remember Mr. Duan asking friends to buy these candies before. I also asked many friends to get them, the taste isn’t bad, right?” Mo Xiaoxue’s eyes sparkled as she looked at him. Duan Yubai hummed in response. “Any more?” Mo Xiaoxue’s eyes brightened. “Of course, but only one per day. Don’t forget you have to see the dentist.” She winked playfully and pulled another milk candy from her pocket. “But today is an exception; you can have an extra one.” Duan Yubai took the candy and placed it in his suit pocket. Perhaps if she ate the candy, she would stop pretending.

Suddenly, Mo Xiaoxue's phone rang. She glanced at Duan Yubai beside her. “It’s the police station.” “Answer it.” Mo Xiaoxue quickly picked up. On the other end was the voice of the officer in charge. “Secretary Mo, the officers we sent have completed their questioning. The next step is for the official public account to release information to help clarify matters for the Duan Group.” “Will you continue to prosecute some of the prominent online figures who spread rumors?” Mo Xiaoxue looked at Duan Yubai. Seeing him shake his head slightly, she smiled and replied, “Netizens are often overly concerned. Large corporations should have broad-mindedness. We won’t pursue it further, but we do ask the police to help clarify.” Hearing this, the police officer relaxed. If the matter wasn’t handled well, the public opinion would cause great pressure on them too. After all, it was just a rich young lady running away from home to seek attention, not something worth wasting public resources over. After exchanging some polite words, they hung up. “With the police announcement, our stock price should rebound,” Mo Xiaoxue sighed resignedly. “If Miss Su wasn’t so headstrong, we wouldn’t have suffered such losses.” She hesitated and looked at Duan Yubai. “Miss Su is really quite unreasonable.” “Do you think what she said is true?” Chiling, who was driving, suddenly asked. Mo Xiaoxue furrowed her brows. “What do you mean?” “Is everything the young lady said true? Nothing happened in these past few months?” Chiling clarified. Glancing at the rearview mirror, he saw Duan Yubai seemed to be pondering this question too. He continued, “Mr. Duan, when you rescued the young lady, she had many wounds.” “Maybe Miss Su caused them herself?” Mo Xiaoxue shook her head. “You forgot she once pretended to slit her wrists?” “That doesn’t mean she’d really hurt herself. She’s afraid of pain.” Chiling spoke calmly, as if stating the obvious. Duan Yubai’s thoughts drifted. She was indeed very afraid of pain. She cried over menstrual cramps, cried when cutting her finger, cried at the dentist’s office. Just as he took a deep breath to speak, Mo Xiaoxue interrupted with a light laugh. “You don’t wear makeup, so of course you wouldn’t know.” “Nowadays, many stylists can create battle-wound makeup, just like on TV shows. Miss Su put much more effort into it this time.” Mentioning last time, Duan Yubai’s expression darkened instantly. Last time, Su Nuo, to make him spend New Year’s Eve with her, claimed she had a car accident and had her leg amputated. Duan Yubai gave up a billion-dollar project and rushed back. Seeing her missing a leg nearly broke him.

In reality, Su Nuo had hired a special effects makeup artist to create a fake prosthetic. Su Nuo had indeed done many unthinkable things before. Thinking of those absurd events, Duan Yubai closed his eyes. “Don’t ever mention this again.” He had seen the wounds on her body. But she was so cunning; this wasn’t the first time she had done such things. To get his attention, what hadn’t she done? Pretending to jump off a building, pretending to slit her wrists, pretending to have an accident… This time, it was a fake kidnapping. Kidnappers usually kill hostages if they don’t get the ransom. Months had passed, yet she was still alive and well. He snorted coldly and fell silent. Chiling also remained quiet. He knew you could never wake someone pretending to sleep. Su Nuo was clearly a skeleton wrapped in skin, clearly had vomited so much disgusting stuff. Yet, no one believed her. Such was the sorrow of a foster daughter in a powerful family. She could only appear glamorous before the public, never sully the family’s reputation. Otherwise, it would be a fate worse than death.

That afternoon, the Duan family finally saw the police announcement. According to the investigation, everything was a drama orchestrated by Miss Su herself. Public opinion flared up instantly. “I said it was all her own doing. Didn’t she slit her wrists last year?” “I don’t understand the world of the wealthy, but I want to know how she lost so much weight. So strong!” “Wasting public resources, so annoying. Just seeing her photo makes me sick.” “A vicious foster daughter’s rise—could she have dirty thoughts about her own brother? So disgusting.” Netizens alternated between cursing Su Nuo and apologizing to the Duan family on their official Weibo. Some even rallied to expel Su Nuo from the family. Such a troublemaker was indeed unfit for a prominent family. Su Nuo held the pendant around her neck with one hand and closed her phone screen with the other. She had known it would end like this. No one believed her; no one would stand by her. Yet, a bitter smile still lifted the corners of her lips. One lie, reclaiming a keepsake from her mother—wasn’t it worth it?