Chapter 19: They Were Simply Too Shameless

The rest of the day up until the dinner flew by now that she was free from her family's clutches.

Liu Haoyu had held Zhao Yingyue for as long as she needed him to before they had even left their parking spot by the restaurant.

When they'd left, he'd taken her to grab something to eat at a nice restaurant before following her every whim without question. He just wanted to see her smile again. He'd found himself taking her to a book store, a video game shop, and an arcade, knowing that had she asked, he would have even taken her out of the country.

Now, they were pulling up to one of the hotels owned by the Liu family. Both of their families should already be waiting for them to show up by then. She'd already changed into something else so that she wouldn't give her mother anything else to complain about. Her mother who cared nothing of her—only what she could bring to the family as long as she remained under control.

"Are you ready for this, Yingyue?"

Zhao Yingyue nodded before letting herself out of the car. This dinner, she rationally knew that no matter how hard they tried, her family wouldn't be able to change the Liu's opinions on her but she still had this anxiety that they would turn their backs on her two. After all, her own biological mother had never even truly loved her.

As they walked into the hotel, Liu Haoyu wrapped his arm around Zhao Yingyue's shoulders. He led her all the way to the rooftop restaurant where they'd be eating. He only let go once they reached the table with their parents and even that was only because of the seating arrangements. He felt himself being a little more weary with her out of reach.

The two of them were sat across from each other in between their parents.

Hua Mengyao smiled gently at Zhao Yingyue, happy to see her precious daughter again. She'd even made sure that there were no further signs of abuse as she walked in. Luckily for the Zhao's, none that she could see.

"Hi Yingyue. How are you feeling? Did you sleep well last night?"

Zhao Yingyue smiled back at the woman. She acted as a true mother should with genuine concern instead of using favoritism and abusing her child under the guise of "punishment".

"Please don't worry about me, Mom. I'm more concerned about you. Yesterday, you had gotten so worked up throughout the day and I was worried that you might be unwell yourself. Are you feeling better today?"

Hua Mengyao felt even better than she had been knowing that her daughter was so sweet and attentive. Even her own son sometimes forgot to check in. Soon enough, this beautiful woman would be away from that awful family of hers.

She chuckled before giving a rather snarky return. "Oh sweetheart, it's fine. I'll be alright as long as this husband and son of mine don't drive me crazy. Yingyue, see, this is why I need a daughter. Especially one as perfect as you."

Liu Ting shook his head slowly at his wife but the small smile on his lips gave away how he truly felt. Liu Haoyu just ignored his mother's comment—his gaze piercing Gu Yanya instead as he thought about how he'd rip her life apart. His mother, at least, showed Zhao Yingyue how she deserved to be treated.

Contrary to the other two men, Zhao Yingyue laughed in response to Hua Mengyao's joke. She loved the way that the woman managed to tease everyone yet be so endearing at the same time. She couldn't imagine her trying to truly bring either of these men down.

Hua Mengyao smiled in satisfaction and said, "See! At least someone at this table has a sense of humor. You guys only give me more of a reason to favor Yingyue."

Gu Yanya and Zhao Xiang awkwardly looked at each other. Neither of them had ever had this type of family environment so this was very strange to them both. And neither of them had expected their daughter's part in the interaction.

Zhao Yingyue got along so well with the Madame of the Liu family. While Zhao Xiang found comfort and saw opportunity in this, Gu Yanya was rather upset since it seemed she wouldn't be able to use her to break apart the marriage. The woman was far to manipulated by Zhao Yingyue and therefore was completely useless.

Gu Yanya instead turned her attention to Liu Ting. He hadn't said anything toward Zhao Yingyue yet to be openly affectionate or approving of her. Would he be the one that she could rely on as an ally? What value would such a practical man like himself see in her daughter? None, that's what.

Zhao Xiang, on the other hand, who wanted to use his daughter to secure this connection, smiled as he tried to join the conversation.

"I'm so glad that our Yingyue seems to have a great relationship with her future in-laws. Yesterday, I had been out handling some business when I'd heard that she'd gone to meet you. It seems that I can now be relieved and all is well between our families."

Liu Haoyu wanted to laugh. Nothing was well between their families. Things were well between his family and Zhao Yingyue, specifically. These sad excuses for parents were not included in that count. He only operated on what would make Zhao Yingyue happiest, something that no one has ever advocated for her.

Liu Ting just nodded—a neutral, calm expression on his face.

"She was no problem at all. My wife had an instant connect with her the second that Liu Haoyu walked her through the door. In fact, my wife had taken such a strong liking to her that she was restless all day, too excited for this dinner. She wondered what kind of people could raise such a sweet young lady."

Gu Yanya and Zhao Xiang had no clue what double meaning was hidden behind Liu Ting's words. He knew what had happened to his future daughter-in-law and was also very angry about it. He was just more restrained with it as opposed to his wife and son. He also knew that when his son swore to get revenge for Zhao Yingyue, he would follow through.

Simply put, there was no need for him to get personally involved. If he ever did need to step in, though, he wouldn't hesitate to jump in and defend her without question. However, if what his son had planned could be considered a fight, Liu Ting would launch an all-out assault.

Zhao Xiang graciously accepted the praise, ignorant to the true meaning behind their words.

"Thank you so much. To be honest, I was always so busy with work that my Yanya had been the one to caringly raise her into the young woman she is today. I only played such a small part that it's almost hard to believe that she is engaged to be married. I feel as if she was just a toddler only yesterday. I just can't take credit when my beautiful wife put so much effort into her and molded who she is today."

Zhao Xiang thought that he was passing on a compliment to his wife, but this had instead infuriated the Liu family as they knew something that he was so blissfully ignorant to. The fact that he believed what he said to be a compliment actually made them more upset than before. They're not as ignorant as this set of parents think.

How could a father be so ignorant that he let his daughter be abused under his own roof for so long without knowing? And how could a mother be so cruel to abuse her daughter and then let others sing her praises for her "good" parenting?

They were simply too shameless and it left a sour taste in the Liu family's mouths.

Hua Mengyao instead changed the topic so that she could try to avoid getting more angry. Anything further and the small thread of restraint that she'd been holding onto would snap in two.

"So Gu Yanya, I heard that you weren't born in China but rather that you were born in the states. I've been there for work and vacation but I've never actually experienced what it was like to live there. What was that like?"

Most people knew that Gu Yanya hated talking about life in the United States—Hua Mengyao included. She was deliberately forcing Gu Yanya into an uncomfortable conversation. One uncomfortable conversation isn't much in the grand scheme of things, considering the cruelty that she'd targeted at her own daughter. And she should consider herself lucky that this is the uncomfortable topic that she brought up when she had so many more in her arsenal. Her husband and son weren't the only ones who knew how to play games.

Not wanting to talk too much about it, Gu Yanya mentally scowled but respectfully replied, "Well, I had rather humble beginnings and a really hard youth. That's why I tried to make sure that my own daughter wouldn't have to suffer the way that I did. I'm just so glad that I met and fell in love with Xiang. Having a family like this is such a beautiful thing. I never even dreamed of such a pleasure when I was a child."

While the real show was to be had on that Friday during the engagement party, Liu Haoyu had sent the voice recording that he'd received from Zhao Yingyue to both of his parents. He decided that when Gu Yanya inevitably started to talk about her great parenting, they would sow seeds of doubt.

However, Liu Haoyu believed it best if he didn't make the first official blow. After all, the Zhao family still believed that only his parents had been behind Bai Xinyi and that he had nothing to do with it.

Besides, he still wanted to work in the shadows to deliver a final blow to Gu Yanya. He wouldn't let her know that he was on to her other big secret. He couldn't allow her to try to cover it up any further. It wasn't that he wouldn't still be able to uncover it, but he just didn't want to spend any unnecessary energy on the family.

Knowing that the Zhao family had seen how close Hua Mengyao had gotten to Zhao Yingyue, the first blow being made between mothers also seemed sensible enough and would allow his mother to vent some of her anger. Home life would at least return to a semblance of the peace that it usually is so he would technically be saving himself and his father in the long run.

Liu Haoyu had also known how hard it was for his mother to keep it all pent up since she had seen the bruises. The fact that even twenty-four hours had passed and she'd shown as much restraint as she had, he knew that must have been difficult.

"Love is such a beautiful thing. It only makes it more repulsive when I see people fake or abuse it. No one deserves that kind of pain," Hua Mengyao said gently in reply.

She wanted to see how hypocritical Gu Yanya would be at that moment. She was already angry and her son had given her permission to attack today. There was no way she'd pass up the chance.

Gu Yanya hadn't picked up on any of those hints that were dropped, still operating in the fantasy she'd conjured in her head. She just kept up her loving wife and mother act.

"I know. It really would be shameless for someone to do that to anther person. Taking advantage of another's heart is truly evil."

That was it! Hua Mengyao couldn't take it anymore. She would not let this woman off.

Hua Mengyao's eyes turned cold as she asked, "If that's the case, then how come that's not what I've heard?"