The voice on the other end of the phone sounded deeply frustrated. "...No, I haven’t been able to reach them since last night until now."
Jiang Yonghe’s voice was laced with anger. "What?! What kind of useless person did you hire?"
The other party sighed helplessly. "They said the guy was a fugitive who had assaulted over a dozen young girls. I thought he’d be ruthless enough, but turns out he’s a complete failure—couldn’t even handle one woman."
"Absolutely worthless! Today, I almost got kicked out of the Jiang family by that wild woman Jiang Youli! If I really get thrown out, don’t even think about getting another penny from me!"
"Wait, wait—I’ll figure something else out!" the voice hurriedly replied.
Jiang Yonghe coldly retorted, "She’s already back at the Jiang residence. If you send someone after her now, do you really think the Jiang family won’t suspect me?"
"Then what should we do?"
Jiang Yonghe gazed out the window at the eastern district villa across from her, her voice eerily calm. "It seems your hired help has run into trouble. Lay low for a while and make sure no one traces this back to me."
"Understood."
After hanging up, Jiang Yonghe hurled her phone onto the bed in fury.
Useless!
Couldn’t even handle such a simple task!
Her original plan was to have Jiang Youli assaulted and filmed, creating leverage to control her in the future and eliminating any chance of Qi Huan developing feelings for her.
Yet even this small scheme had failed!
Taking a deep breath to steady her rage, Jiang Yonghe picked up her phone again and opened her chat history with Qi Huan. The last message, sent yesterday morning at eight, remained unanswered.
[Brother Qi Huan, how’s your leg doing?]
He hadn’t replied.
Ever since the two families had arranged their marriage alliance, it had mostly been her initiating conversations. Qi Huan’s responses were sparse and distant, as if fulfilling a mere obligation.
After all, the Jiang family was the one climbing the social ladder by marrying into the Qi family—it was only natural for her to be the proactive one.
If not for Qi Huan’s accident, which left him paralyzed, she would never have given up such a perfect match.
Under normal circumstances, Qi Huan would undoubtedly have been the Qi family’s future heir.
Not to mention, he was breathtakingly handsome.
Marrying him would have been the brightest, most glorious path for her future.
But fate had cruelly intervened, leaving him crippled.
Otherwise, how could this marriage alliance have been handed over to Jiang Youli?
A wild woman who’d been cast aside for twenty years, now daring to usurp her place in the Jiang family’s hearts!
How laughable!
Did she have any idea how hard Jiang Yonghe had worked these past two decades? From childhood, she had excelled in looks, talents, and education—mastering music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and multiple languages. By sixteen, she had been exceptionally admitted to Jing City’s top art university.
She could have gone abroad for further studies after graduation, but now, because of this ugly wretch’s sudden appearance, all her carefully laid plans had been derailed!
Fine. Once back in the Jiang household, she’d make sure this wild woman regretted crossing her!
......
Zhang Susu nudged her husband when she spotted Jiang Yonghe lingering hesitantly outside their doorstep, clutching several luxury-brand shopping bags.
Jiang Yehan frowned as he looked out.
"I’ll go ask what she’s doing here," Zhang Susu said, setting down her tablet and rising. But Jiang Yehan held her back. "Let me handle it."
He hadn’t forgotten the flash of malice in Jiang Yonghe’s eyes whenever she looked at his wife.
"Yonghe, what brings you here?" Jiang Yehan asked as he stepped outside.
"Uncle..." Jiang Yonghe hesitated before explaining, "I just thought that since Youli-jie just returned to the Jiang family, she might not have enough clothes. So I brought some of my unworn outfits for her."
She lifted the shopping bags slightly. "May I come in, Uncle?"
Jiang Yehan studied her for a moment, detecting no obvious deceit, then nodded. "Of course. Come in."
"Thank you, Uncle." Jiang Yonghe smiled sweetly and followed him inside, offering Zhang Susu a gentle greeting. "Auntie."
Zhang Susu nodded politely but said nothing.
"Uncle, which room is Youli-jie in?" Jiang Yonghe asked.
"Third floor, the middle room," Jiang Yehan replied.
"Alright, I’ll go deliver these to her then." With that, Jiang Yonghe headed upstairs with the bags.
......
Watching her retreating figure, Zhang Susu fretted. "Youli dislikes her. Should I follow and check on things?"
Jiang Yehan shook his head. "Don’t worry. Let Youli handle it herself. She’s clever—she’ll manage."
After a brief pause, Zhang Susu relented, picking up her tablet again. "Speaking of which, we really should prepare some clothes for Youli. I’ll contact the boutique for their latest sample catalogs."
......
Jiang Yonghe reached the third floor and knocked on the middle door.
Moments later, it opened.
She immediately held out the shopping bags to Jiang Youli. "Youli-jie, I thought you might need fresh clothes, so I brought you some of my unworn pieces."
Jiang Youli glanced at the bags and scoffed. "Since you already know I won’t accept anything from you, why bother pretending?"
Jiang Yonghe feigned innocence. "Youli-jie, I genuinely want us to coexist peacefully. Why insist on hostility? It’ll only hurt us both."
Jiang Youli burst out laughing. "Who said anything about ‘both’? You’re the one who’s going to lose."
Jiang Yonghe’s smile stiffened. What gave her the confidence to think she could win?
"Youli-jie, while I have no interest in competing with you, what makes you so sure you’ll come out on top? Do you have any idea how many resources Mom and Dad poured into me growing up? How many elite young ladies in Jing City can’t even compare to me, let alone someone like you—raised in some backwater village?" Jiang Yonghe’s tone dripped with pity. "If I were you, I’d obediently accept our parents’ care and live comfortably as a Jiang heiress. Why throw away your future over pointless pride?"
Jiang Youli merely replied, "Oh. So the so-called elite ladies of Jing City can’t even measure up to you? How underwhelming."
Jiang Yonghe: "..."
Her eyes flashed with disdain. "Heh. Youli-jie’s confidence is truly something. Fine. I’ll be watching closely to see how you plan to drive me out of the Jiang family, win everyone’s approval, and secure your place as the rightful heiress."
With that, Jiang Yonghe hung the shopping bags on the doorknob and turned to leave.
But before she’d gone far, a loud crash sounded behind her.
She turned to see the bags flung to the ground, their contents scattered.
Jiang Yonghe sighed theatrically. "Youli-jie, even if you despise me, was it necessary to waste my goodwill? After all, you’ve probably never worn such high-end designer clothes in your life, have you?"
