Chapter 26: Who's Playing That!

The couple, along with their parents, now stood at the front of the hall. Zhao Yingyue and Liu Haoyu stood in the middle with their parents on either side of them.

Hua Mengyao held the microphone and started off the speech portion of the party.

"Hello everyone, may we have your attention?"

She didn't wait for long before all chatter came to a stop and all of their guests eyes were on them.

"Seeing as my husband is a calm man of few words, I won't pester him into doing the greetings. After all, as a wife, I should balance it out, right? Plus, many of you know that I've always been the energetic and friendly one."

Laughter resounded through the crowd of guests and Hua Mengyao's joke. Though the woman hadn't been completely joking, she was the friendlier one to most. She laughed along with them for a few seconds before continuing.

"So I would like to thank you all of you for taking time from your busy schedules to come to this event at the last minute. It means the world to our families. What a beautiful occasion it is to celebrate young love!"

"For all of you kind words and well wishes, we are all so thankful once again. I don't want to take too much time off the shining stars of tonight though so I'll try to be quick."

"When my son finally came to me and told me he wanted to get married, I was over the moon. I only got more excited when I met our Little Yingyue who is the sweetest child that I have ever met. Even though I've always believed in my Haoyu's choices, this one has to be the best one yet. I always did want a daughter and to find one as amazing as her, my whole family should be considering ourselves lucky."

The crowd gave another chuckle. Hua Mengyao's energy always kept the crowd entertained while delivering the message that she wanted to.

"That day, we learned that she had endured much hardship throughout her life and to see someone emerge from that... is amazing. We, of the Liu family, simply can't wait to officially call her our daughter. Though in her hearts, and out loud, we already do."

Zhao Xiang nodded along as he smiled tenderly at his wife. In most cases, with other people, he was cold. Only around Hua Mengyao was he tender and warm. He even allowed others to see him soften when in her presence but never let them forget who he was.

"Enough from me though. See, I kept my promise and let my speech be short. Now, we'll hear from the Zhao family."

Hua Mengyao handed the microphone over and Zhao Xiang took it. After so many years of not being properly there for his daughter, he'd make up for it at this event and all those in the future. This speech would be the most heartfelt thing that he could offer.

"Hello everyone. I don't have much to say as I'm a man of few words but I feel as if I should still say something to support my daughter and her soon-to-be husband. This won't be long but bear with me."

"My daughter had grown up under the care of her mother for the most part and I admittedly wasn't there for a very long time, something that I truly regret. I've recently learned of her own sufferings but I have vowed that not another one would happen to her now and in the future."

"And now, she has the Liu family to protect her, too. However, regardless of all the bad things, she was still raised with the care and love of her mother. So I won't take up too much time. Instead, I will let my wife speak."

In his speech, Zhao Xiang still brought up the care and love from his wife since although what had happened earlier that week had been bad, he'd assumed it couldn't be too bad over all. After all, Zhao Yingyue had defended her mother when he had asked.

He'd still been upset from the things he'd said and heard but he couldn't deny the results.

Zhao Xiang handed the microphone over to his wife.

"I first would like to thank everyone here once again and also apologize since I'm not sure if I can keep the same promises everyone else has made with keeping their speech short."

Everyone in the crowd chuckled and Gu Yanya's joke.

"My Zhao Yingyue has always been a good girl since I tenderly started raising her. While she may have had her moments of mischief and misfortune, I can happily say that everything must happen for a reason. Look at her now! So beautiful and beloved."

"Of course, this can only be the result of the love that I've shown her for so many years since nothing is more powerful than a mother's love for her dearest daughter."

The woman had really taken the opportunity to brag. She had to, it seemed, let everyone know how great she was.

But before Gu Yanya could finish her speech, her microphone was turned off and the speakers instead played part of the tape of her conversation with Zhao Yingyue from all those days ago.

"Mother, did you ever love me?"

People in the crowd could clearly distinguish Zhao Yingyue's voice the second it boomed across the room. Of course, that meant that they could also recognize Gu Yanya's voice in the reply.

"Maybe back when you were small..."

Then the audio cut out. The murmurs started immediately. Gu Yanya went pale while she looked around at everyone. How did anyone get a recording of that conversation?

She shouted, "Who's playing that! Someone needs to get this fake recording out of here! I can't believe someone would dare try to ruin such a joyous occasion with such a measly, cruel trick!"

The recording then started playing again at another part—the one where she admitted to never letting her daughter marry into the Liu family.

"I won't allow you to marry into the Liu family. You can try to expose me but what good would there be in that? Who would believe you? Your dad has never even given your words a second thought when put against mine."

Then, it stopped again which sparked more murmuring. Next to Gu Yanya, and angry Zhao Xiang turned toward his wife. She didn't even have to look at him to feel how angry he was. But he also felt ashamed because he really hadn't thought his wife could ever go so far.

Zhao Yingyue took this as an opportunity to grab the microphone from her mother's hands and speak.

"It doesn't even end there."

The recording played once again—the clip toward the end.

"In your eyes, I'm irredeemable and will always be this terrible person. It doesn't matter how much I try to please you by running myself ragged everyday to maintain this image of being the perfect socialite. Or how much I try to protect you by covering the bruises left behind from your 'punishments'."

"It doesn't matter if I manage to get engaged to the eldest son of the most powerful family in this country. It doesn't matter if I put aside my wants for your or the betterment of this family."

"In your eyes, I will always be this vile creature. Everything I do is useless. From now on, I'll remember that I do not have a place in your heart and never will. Thank you for the clarity, Mother."

They murmured at the pause in hesitation before they heard the response coming from Gu Yanya.

"If things are clear then stop crying. It will ruin your makeup and if anyone sees, it'll be on magazine covers by morning."

The coldness and indifference in her voice shocked all in the room more than everything else they had heard. She'd been so cruel to her child and then had the audacity to tell her to stop crying? She didn't even pretend to care enough to comfort her. She only cared about their image in such a vulnerable moment.

Gu Yanya was terrified and her legs trembled. She had been caught. She could keep accusing others but now Zhao Yingyue had the microphone and it was obvious she wouldn't let her off easy. There was nothing that she could do about it anymore. Everyone would know and there was nothing she could do to Zhao Yingyue anymore.

Zhao Yingyue spoke to the crowd, "In case anyone wants to know what these 'punishments' consist of, I'll show you."

The lights turned off and a projector attached to the ceiling turned on. It covered the wall behind them with a collage of pictures.

"These pictures where taken by Madame Liu on the first day I met her since my mother had 'punished' me the night before. The reason for the punishment? My dear cousin who was also one of my staff members disrespected me—and this was a constant occurence."

"This had always flown under the radar before, but with my fiancé being the amazing person he is, he made it so that my parents had to punish her. After all, he can't stand even the smallest form of disrespect toward me. Out of vengeance, the two of them ambushed me when I got home so that they could 'teach me a lesson'."

Everyone looked at the bruises on her face, stomach, and side. They had been such an ugly color and extremely swollen. It was obvious that no one had cared for them.

Gong Xiaosi, who had been next to Gu Yan after chatting her up for some time, inched away from her. He knew after hearing this that being acquainted to her didn't seem like such a good thing anymore. Someone who could hurt another person, especially a future Liu, for petty reasons was not to be touched with a ten foot pole.

Him and his mother had trusted in her familial connections but it seemed that may have not been the best thing—especially with Gu Yanya being exposed up front, too. Neither woman was worth anything.

Gu Yan looked desperately over at him and took a step toward him but he instead stammered out some excuse and walked away quickly. He wouldn't waste another moment on her.

Zhao Yingyue then continued talking.

"I always wondered why my own mother would treat me in such a way but then I learned the truth. This truth made me feel a wide array of emotions if I'm honest. I was disappointed and angry but most of all, I was relieved that I finally had the answers that I needed."

"You see, while my father is my mom's first husband, he is not her first partner. From what I hear, he's far from it!"

Gu Yanya and Gu Yan had there eyes wide open as they gaped at Zhao Yingyue. There was no way that she could know or even would expose Gu Yanya's deepest secret. Wouldn't that be too far?

"Everyone, I hope it wouldn't trouble you much but I think my dear older cousin should join us from this point on. Please clear a path."

The entire crowd split as soon as their eyes landed on Gu Yan. Gu Yan had been standing there frozen but decided that escaping this situation would be a much better bet and ran toward the door. Everyone watched her futile attempt to escape but she was grabbed by both her arms from two of the Liu family bodyguards. They carried her up to the front where her family was.

"So, I don't know how many of you know this but my mother was born and raised in the United States along with her other siblings. From what I hear, she was way less conservative than she is now when she was there. However, she met my father one day and he fell in love with her. They married in less than a year and she moved to China to be with him. A happy love story, right?"

"Well, I'm gong to reveal a little secret. I'd call it a family secret but seeing as my dad and I were completely oblivious, I feel like the term 'scandal' is a lot more fitting."