Everyone stopped in their tracks.
Mu Yaohui's expression stiffened. He had noticed earlier that before Chu Xiao and Chu Zhi spoke, they would glance at the man's reaction—meaning this man's status was even higher than the Chu family's. He simply couldn't afford to offend him.
A cold sweat dripped down Mu Yaohui's temple. "I don't quite understand what you mean."
"Don't understand?" Chu Xiao glanced at Huo Shiqing's face and suddenly let out a mocking laugh.
"Mu Dong just now was so certain that Miss Mu and Director Huang had an improper relationship and insisted on giving Miss Mu a lesson, right?"
"I…"
Chu Xiao cut Mu Yaohui off before he could speak. "I also don't know why Mu Dong assumed the person in the room was Director Huang? If we hadn't been here today, wouldn't Miss Mu have suffered an undeserved accusation?"
Mu Yaohui instinctively looked at Lin Ru; everyone else turned their heads sharply as well.
Lin Ru's face went stiff as she began to weep dramatically. "I… I never doubted Beiyin. It was that assistant who misled us!"
Mu Yaohui stammered, "Yes, yes, it's not our fault. We were just deceived by slander…"
Chu Xiao nodded. "I see. It seems Mu Dong really doesn't trust his own daughter. Whatever the mistress says, he believes. Just a few provocations and he's ready to sever ties with Miss Mu."
"Even though her mother is gone, she's still the Mu family's eldest daughter. How can everyone bully her like this?"
Mu Beiyin lowered her head and feigned submission. "Young Master Chu, Dad trusts Aunt Lin and my sister the most. I'm used to it."
Lin Ru and Mu Qianrou covered their mouths and cried, as if the whole world had wronged their mother and daughter.
Mu Yaohui's mind went blank for a moment. "No! No, I was just tricked by Director Huang's assistant. I got angry and didn't mean to cut ties with my daughter!"
Mu Beiyin asked slowly, "I have no grudge against Director Huang's assistant. Why would he deliberately frame me?"
Mu Qianrou restrained herself and shook her head. "Sister, are you doubting me? I know you don't like me and think I'm taking your place with Mom, but I truly treat you as my sister. How could I intentionally harm you?"
Lin Ru cried and shouted, "Yes! It's all a misunderstanding! Beiyin, you let Young Master Chu question us. Do you consider us family? Everyone knows how worried I was about you just now. How could you…"
Mu Yaohui's heart softened at Lin Ru's tears. He angrily yelled, "Mu Beiyin, what nonsense are you talking? Lin Ru and Qianrou always told me you're young and advised me not to argue with you. And now you slander them like this? You've really disappointed me!"
Mu Beiyin spoke coldly, "Am I really the one disappointing you? Doesn't Dad know everything?"
Mu Yaohui suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Last night, Director Huang did come to my room." Mu Beiyin lifted her eyes to meet his. "Director Huang said I was sold to him by Dad for fifty million."
Mu Yaohui almost couldn't catch his breath!
Everyone looked at each other, uncertain if what Mu Beiyin said was true.
Director Huang really came? Fifty million… that was exactly the amount Huang Corporation invested in the Mu family, wasn't it?
Mu Beiyin continued slowly, "Director Huang drugged me, but fortunately Huo… I mean Young Master Chu and his friends arrived in time to save me. Dad, what do you say about this?"
Mu Yaohui noticed everyone's gaze had changed. His face flushed as he raised his voice to hide his guilt.
"N-No! How could you believe Director Huang's lies? You're my biological daughter. How could I sell you for some money? Director Huang only came to you because you weren't proper. How can you blame others?"
Mu Beiyin's eyes flickered and she suddenly choked up, lowering her head.
"Really? Even now, Dad puts all the blame on me. But why don't you say I originally didn't want to meet Director Huang? It was Mrs. Lin who forced me to toast him!"
"Yes, it's all my fault. I'm the one to blame. My existence doomed Mrs. Lin to be a mistress. I admit Dad is biased, but I'm still your daughter. Must you ruin my whole life to pave the way for your illegitimate daughter?!"
Everyone shuddered. Indeed, Mu Beiyin was helpless in this family, forced to live under the control of the mistress...
Chu Xiao also spoke up: "Last night, Miss Mu was drugged. As a doctor, I can tell—the drug was colorless and tasteless, applied on the skin. Yesterday, only Lin Ru touched Miss Mu's hand. Director Mu, don't you know who administered the drug?"
Mu Yaohui was truly flustered, his whole body stiffening. "N-no, no, that's not true…"
Lin Ru's face turned pale. Raising her voice, she cried pitifully,
"Beiyin! I was just trying to help you when you were drunk. You… you can't take your grievances out on me! They say it's hard to be a stepmother, but what wrong have I done?"
Mu Beiyin nodded. "You're right. I can't blame others for my own suffering. But…"
She deliberately paused for two seconds, looking at Lin Ru's anxious and fearful eyes, then suddenly smiled.
"But, Mrs. Lin, I have evidence that you bribed Director Huang's assistant to spread rumors."
Lin Ru's breath suddenly stopped!
"Director Huang invested fifty million in the Mu family. I was drugged. You bribed the assistant, and in the end, you all came in full force to catch me in the act… Mrs. Lin, don't you think this is very interesting?"
Lin Ru's face turned deathly pale, her whole body trembling. "I don't know, I know nothing! It's just a coincidence!"
Mu Beiyin sneered, "If it's just a coincidence, then why did you bribe Director Huang's assistant?"
"If you can't explain, I'll have to suspect that you deliberately sent me to Director Huang to make me leave the Mu family!"
Chu Xiao gave a confirming grunt and added, "After all, first Mu Qianrou stole Miss Mu's fiancé, then Miss Mu gets into such a big mess. No matter how you look at it, you two mother and daughter are the biggest suspects."
"I… I…" Lin Ru looked panicked, almost about to faint!
What kind of words were those? If these got out, how could she and Qianrou face anyone?
"Enough!"
After a minute, Mu Yaohui finally couldn't hold back and shouted at Mu Beiyin, pointing at her angrily,
"You weren't in trouble, right? We're family—what's the point of making such a fuss? Shut up!"
Mu Beiyin curled a mocking smile. "Yes, as long as I'm not dead, no matter what Lin Ru does, I have to take it. How naive of me to think Dad would stand up for me?"
"Dad doesn't even love his original wife, so how could he care about the original wife's daughter? If Dad tells me to shut up, then I'll shut up. Mrs. Lin, sister, I'm sorry. It's all my fault."
Mu Yaohui and Lin Ru both choked on their words: "…"
What was Mu Beiyin playing at with this pitiful act?
Huo Shiqing in the room raised his eyebrow.
His wife Huo was taking a step back strategically, saying she wouldn't make a fuss, but in fact, she was pushing Lin Ru and Mu Qianrou right into the eye of the storm.