Chapter 3

The moment we entered Su Tao’s room, I started pulling at her clothes.

Hadn’t she just tasted forbidden fruit for the first time? Why was she wearing layer upon layer?

How had she managed to put all of them back on so quickly?

The girl looked at me, flushed and confused.

“Mommy, what are you doing…?”

Yet she made no real effort to stop me or resist.

That struck me as odd.

I was about to expose her. Shouldn’t she be panicking, desperately covering herself, begging me to stop undressing her?

I reached the final layer.

I was just about to see whether Su Tao had any telltale marks on her body.

Then everything went black, and I passed out.

“Mommy! What’s wrong?!”

I woke up.

I ignored my adopted daughter, tearful and worried beside me.

I ignored my husband, who was gently asking how I felt.

I thought in silence.

Ha. I understood now. I could test them with a phone call, go downstairs to stir things up, even drag someone back to her room.

Because those were only “indirect interference” or “actions along the way.”

But the moment I approached the crucial evidence, I was forcibly shut down.

Which raised a question. If the plot wouldn’t let me discover their affair,

surely I wasn’t the only one it had to keep in line? Those two had to cooperate as well.

Realizing I’d found a loophole to exploit, I broke into a sincerely delighted smile.

That meant I could make their lives unpleasant within certain limits, and they’d have to put up with it, right?

If they dared put on this little show in front of me, I’d be sure to add some spice.

So at lunch, when the comments started jumping again, saying things like:

[Oh my God, his wife’s right there and he’s teasing our girl under the table! He’s slid his leg against hers and is rubbing it slowly. Aaaah, the delicious taboo! I ship them so hard!]

[Waaah, our girl’s name suits her so perfectly. She’s as pink and juicy as a peach. How could his wife possibly compare?]

I was livid.

Delicious taboo? More like a recipe for disaster.

I fought the urge to flip the table.

Afraid that one look beneath it would knock me out again, I gave a cold laugh and rubbed my own leg against Su Tao’s.

Lunch for three, flirting for two? Make room for one more. Let’s see you keep this going.

Su Tao’s eyes flew wide. She turned toward me in astonishment.

Her lips moved, but she eventually lowered her head without saying anything.

Her small earlobes had turned scarlet, as though she’d suffered an enormous shock.

Xie Ting seemed to notice something. He glanced under the table, puzzled, then gave me a peculiar look.

The comments erupted in complaints:

[Fuck! What’s the sleeping wife doing?! Can’t she just eat her damn lunch and stay out of the way?]

[Gross! Can this prop go sit with the dogs?! May lightning strike her for interrupting the leads’ flirting!]

[How dare she touch our sweet, soft, lovely girl with her filthy feet?! Who does she think she is?]

I frowned slightly, almost amused.

Before I adopted her, your darling girl hadn’t exactly been sweet-smelling, soft, and lovely.

Those comments filled me with a nameless fury.

But however angry I was, it wasn’t directed at Su Tao, a girl who’d only just turned eighteen.

Because there was still something I needed to establish.

The plot controlled and restricted me.

Was my adopted daughter Su Tao really involved with my husband of her own free will?

In this absurd, sordid drama, was she a pawn without a choice, or a willing accomplice?

After lunch, I watched her mood for a moment, then got up and led her somewhere completely private and quiet, where no one could interrupt us.

I was ready to start dropping hints.