Chapter 31
Chapter 31
But this was obviously the worst possible outcome. Pei Yuming’s single-mindedness would never have led him to think of checking surveillance footage. He probably just overheard some gossip from a security guard in the neighborhood and decided to bluff Lu Dong.
Even so, Bai Xue remained uneasy. If he knew about something Lu Dong had hidden so deeply, how could he not know about her involvement with Lu Dong?
The thought tightened her chest. All these years, she had risked the stigma of being a mistress and the collapse of her family just to stay with Lu Dong. She had believed every sweet word and confession he’d ever made, truly convinced his love was genuine. But now she realized she was no different from the over two hundred people in his phone-just another fleeting notch in his bedpost exploits.
Out of nowhere, Pei Yuming glanced back at Bai Xue and, sure enough, saw her face frozen in terror. A perverse satisfaction shot straight to his head. So this was how satisfying it felt to play people for fools. No wonder they all stabbed him in the back and played him for a fool. Before that deadly dinner began, they must have felt the same thrill watching him stay clueless.
Lu Dong, of course, had no answer. Not because he didn’t know the answer, but because he simply didn’t dare speak.
But his silence didn’t stop others from asking. Su Jin instantly caught the sarcasm in Pei Yuming’s voice, realizing Lu Dong was hiding more than just this one thing from her.
“What happened an hour ago? Yuming, since things have come to this, why not just tell me everything directly?”
Pei Yuming had no objection. He had already decided to be a bystander this time, waiting for Bai Xue and Lu Dong’s fallout to reveal even more secrets. He wanted to know why Bai Xue had strayed with Lu Dong. At the very least, he needed to know who had made the first move.
He believed he loved Bai Xue deeply. They had lived together for twenty years, closer than blood relatives. Being betrayed by someone so close was a first for him.
At this thought, Pei Yuming looked at his own younger brother, his gaze turning complicated. What his brother had hidden from him paled compared to Bai Xue’s infidelity, but this was the first time in all these years he’d discovered Ah Cheng had lied to him. He never imagined that his obedient, utterly dependent brother would deceive him.
Pei Yucheng felt his brother’s scrutinizing stare and couldn’t help but avert his gaze. Although his older brother hadn’t spoken plainly, he sensed the meal today likely wouldn’t happen.
Pei Yuming turned back to Lu Dong. “If you won’t say, then I’ll take Su Jin to the property management to pull the surveillance right now. But seeing it with her own eyes, I’m afraid the shock will be worse. That’s up to you to decide.”
This struck Lu Dong at his weakest point. He didn’t fear anyone else knowing his deeds, only Su Jin and the Su Family. He knew all too well that his status and wealth meant nothing without the Su Family’s backing.
If he weren’t Su Jin’s husband, if he weren’t Su Bonian’s son-in-law, he wouldn’t even have the standing to speak as an equal.
In high society, connections and resources mattered above all else. Everyone’s abilities were roughly the same, so why would anyone partner with you if not for the extra resources and advantages backing you?
Though Lu Dong lacked Pei Yuming’s ability, he had long seen through human nature, deeply understanding that interest was the fundamental glue of all relationships.
In a final act of desperation, he argued, “Lao Pei, do you really have to be this ruthless? We’re old classmates, decades of friendship. Can’t we settle this civilly without destroying each other?”
“So you slept with my wife, and I should be considerate? Lu Dong, when you and Bai Xue were booking hotels behind my back, did you ever consider our decades-long friendship?”
The moment those words left his mouth, the living room fell dead silent. The two parties involved, Bai Xue and Lu Dong, didn’t even have the heart to retort. Pei Yuming had brought up the surveillance footage earlier precisely to preempt this.
Su Jin looked at them blankly, her face growing even paler.
Pei Yucheng’s gaze darted between Bai Xue and Lu Dong, his mind unreadable. Seeing that no one was speaking, he clicked his tongue and said, “Big brother, calm down. Could there be some misunderstanding here? You and sis-in-law just managed to patch things up; don’t start fighting again. We’re family-harmony brings wealth. Constant arguing makes life unbearable.”
“It’s been unbearable for a long time!” That statement seemed to hit a nerve with Bai Xue. She sneered at her brother-in-law, “Pei Yucheng, stop playing the good guy! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. Your dear brother still has no idea what you’ve been doing behind his back, does he? Should I just spill it all for you today?”
If it was a game of truth or dare, Bai Xue had no qualms about making an even bigger mess. If they were settling scores, they might as well do it all at once. Since they’d already torn off all pretense, they could all be humiliated together.
“Hey, sis-in-law,” Pei Yucheng immediately grew anxious, “I was trying to help you-how can you…”
He probably meant to say “can’t tell good from bad,” but glancing at Bai Xue’s expression, he weighed his words and swallowed the rest of his sentence.
The subject had shifted to his own younger brother. Pei Yuming knew full well that Bai Xue was deliberately dragging him into the mess, but he went along with it anyway. “What has Ah Cheng done? Feel free to speak plainly. There’s no need to be evasive and invite speculation.”
Bai Xue curved her lips into a smile, one tinged with a hint of satisfaction. “Fine, I’ll tell you then. Your dear little brother used my affair with Lu Dong as an excuse to demand money from me time and again. To put it bluntly, he was blackmailing and extorting me. Pei Yuming, you thought I was the only one deceiving you? Little do you know, your most trusted brother deliberately kept this from you-for a mere few tens of thousands of yuan. You see yourself as a good husband and a good older brother, a perfect victim. But that’s just your own delusion. Pitiful people often have their own despicable traits. You’re no cleaner than the rest of us.”
Pei Yuming took deep breaths, silently warning himself not to get worked up, not to let anger rob him of reason the way it had before. But when he looked at the gloating smile on Bai Xue’s viperous face, he suddenly felt a strange sense of release. Faced with someone so untruthful and shameless, no one could keep their cool.
He stepped around Su Jin and grabbed Bai Xue’s slender wrist, bellowing, “Clean? You dare talk about being clean?! After what you did with Lu Dong, just looking at you makes me sick!”
“Did I beg you to look?” Bai Xue didn’t back down an inch. Though she had a sweet appearance, she had a truly fiery temper. Once riled up, she’d dare to talk back even to the Emperor of Heaven himself, let alone Pei Yuming, whom she’d had under her thumb for so many years.
“Back then, if you hadn’t sweet-talked and fooled me, trailing after me shamelessly, you think I would have been blind enough to marry you?! I’ve long seen through you men. Once you’ve tricked a woman into marriage, she’s no longer treasured, no longer worth the effort! All these years, you’ve treated me like a servant, a maid, a tool for bearing children for the Pei family. Never once have you treated me as a real person, a woman who needed your care and attention. If you didn’t cherish me, I found someone who would. What was wrong with that? Let me tell you, my only mistake was being soft-hearted and still attached to this family. Otherwise, I would have divorced you long ago!”