Chapter 27: Bombshell

"Alright guys, I feel as if I've been building anticipation for a while now and I wonder how many of you have guessed it by now!"

"My mother, Gu Yanya, has another child. Can anyone here guess who that might be?"

Everyone was shocked to complete silence. Only a fool wouldn't be able to guess who she was talking about. They had spoon-fed them everything that they needed to know.

"I'm sure you all have guessed it. My mother has another child: Gu Yan!"

"Ya see, my mother had already had Gu Yan about three years before she and my father had married. She had just introduced her to my father as her niece. While that's true now, it wasn't true at the time."

"My mother had never told my dad that Gu Yan was her child—only that her brother had named her after her. The thing is that it wasn't the truth. According to Gu Yan's adoption certificate, she was adopted by my mom's elder brother on the fifth of March in 2002."

"This date, as all in my family know, is the day that my father married my mother."

Zhao Yingyue had just dropped a bombshell on everyone there. No one had expected this to be the truth. While they had guessed that Gu Yan was Gu Yanya's daughter, they hadn't expected so much scheming to go behind keeping the secret. She even gave up her child for adoption so that she could make it seem as if she wasn't hers to begin with. Then she abused the daughter she had with her husband in favor of the one that nobody knew that she had.

Zhao Xiang turned to his wife with only anger fueling him. He didn't even have the energy to feel embarrassed that this was aired to the most important people in the country.

Gu Yanya, who was frantic, screamed, "What she said is a lie! Zhao Yingyue is my only child and she's only saying this because she's jealous of my niece who she'd always been so terrible to! And I know what those audios said but even now, I still love her I do admit to having that conversation out of anger but..."

Zhao Xiang shouted, "There is no but! There's never an excuse to be so cruel to your own child!"

Zhao Yingyue smiled and said, "Don't worry everyone. I don't stand before you without any proof of my accusations tonight. After all, that would be extremely wrong of me and be considered defamation. Don't you worry mother, I've come with irrefutable proof."

Behind her, the projector screen turned to the results of a parental DNA test done on Gu Yan, Gu Yanya, and Zhao Xiang alongside Gu Yan's adoption certificate. There was even test results to a sibling DNA test on Zhao Yingyue and Gu Yan alongside Gu Yan's original birth certificate. They left no stone unturned in proving that Gu Yan was her sibling. There was no space to accuse anyone of fabrication.

"You see, my precious bodyguard had multiple tasks that went along with protecting me from this cruel mother-daughter duo. She also secretly connect DNA from everyone in the house so that we could perform these tests in secret. So now, it's clear to see that my dear cousin Gu Yan, is in fact, my illegitimate sister. And my mother has hidden this fact for many years."

Everyone in the room was dumbfounded. They couldn't believe what they were seeing or hearing in that room. They all murmured quietly amongst themselves with no idea how to react to the situation. They wanted to gossip but it wasn't appropriate then.

Gu Yan had fallen to her knees in tears and Gu Yanya was frozen in place. She wanted to hug her daughter but she also wanted to disappear into nothingness. There was no escaping the truth anymore.

"After years of torment by this mother-daughter duo, I have come to my wit's end. If any of you bash my character or think of me as unfilial for what I've done here today, would you have let this slide? Tonight, I, Zhao Yingyue, stand before you all to promise a new era in my life. One where I can truly live as my own person without fear of angering these two women."

"It took me meeting an actual family in the Liu's before I could break free. My fiancé had my back throughout this entire thing and actually planned every last bit of it. I just got to do the talking."

"I state now for all to hear that I will no longer sit back and be bullied by anyone. Shall anyone aim to hurt me, I will pay them back tenfold. Just as my fiancé has taught me to."

Liu Haoyu smiled down at her and pulled her into his arms, a display for all to see how dear he held the woman to his heart. He then leaned down to the level of the microphone.

"And I will back up every move she makes. My Yingyue is a Liu and will never suffer at anyone's hands again."

Everyone in the party heard their words loud and clear. It was a warning to every influential person there that they stood no chance shall they ever move against Zhao Yingyue. The only thing is, none of them would've been crazy enough to do it even before this. This show of power was just too much!

Gu Yanya slowly spoke.

"Must you do this to your own family? No one ever deserves this type of public humiliation Zhao Yingyue."

Zhao Yingyue calmly looked at her. There was no emotion there, not even anger.

"When you answered that question I asked, you pretty much separated us as family. Me? The only thing I feel bad about is knowing that my dad will have to live with heartbreak because of what I've said here tonight. And he might feel shame for being blinded by love for such a vicious person to find out the lies in such a public way. He's the only one I owe an apology to."

"If you think that this is another forgive and forget for my father, forget it! This makes me wonder if you even ever loved him for a second since it seems to me your number one goal this whole time has been providing your luxurious daughter with a good life."

"While I don't care about the answer to that, my dad deserves to know it. I think you should worry about those matters more than me. I am of no concern to you anymore."

"Good riddance, Gu Yanya."

Zhao Yingyue then grabbed Liu Haoyu's hand, handed the microphone to Hua Mengyao, and led him through the room. No one bothered to approach them and it was just an extremely awkward situation for everyone there. The tension in the room was so thick that it was almost suffocating.

Hua Mengyao said, "The show's over now but you all are more than welcome to indulge in the food and drinks!"

Zhao Yingyue, almost on cue, grabbed an hors d'oeuvre and popped it into her mouth.

"Liu Haoyu, I can't believe it went that smoothly."

"Don't call me that," he replied with a frown. "I told you that you can't go back to that before."

"Right. I mean... Haoyu, I can't believe we did it!"

Liu Haoyu smiled and said, "You did amazing and now, it's finally over. Neither of them will ever even be able to face you again. This phase of life is behind you now."

Zhao Yingyue smiled with a complex mix of emotions flowing through her. She didn't know what they all were but she knew, at the very least, they were good feelings.

Before she could say anything, some people came up to her. To her surprise, it was her extended family. None of them were from her mom's side since they all still resided in the states so she knew that none of them would take her mom's side.

"Yingyue, I knew that it must have been bad in the main house but I never imagined it would be so terrible."

"Yingyue, why did you never tell us about what that woman was doing to you?"

"I never did like that witch!"

As her family members started chiming in one after the other, Zhao Yingyue awkwardly laughed. She had never told these members and couldn't blame them for anything. After all, they had always treated her well.

"Everyone, it's fine now and it's finally over. We don't have to dwell on what my mother has done any longer. She'll likely be out of the family soon anyway."

Her cousin said, "Don't worry, Yingyue. I saw Uncle drag that woman and her child out of here so they shouldn't be able to do anymore damage."

"At least, you found yourself an amazing partner and ally. You won't ever be bullied by anyone ever again! You handled it beautifully! I was so awestruck!"

Zhao Yingyue laughed awkwardly and said, "Thanks guys, I just can't believe it lasted so long. But the rest of tonight is to celebrate so..."

Her aunt interjected, saying, "I get it! Please excuse us!"

They quickly scurried off and started socializing with the other guests. They didn't want to bother the couple any further.

Zhao Yingyue, however, was exhausted and just wanted to leave. She'd socialized and done what she wanted to do and now, nothing was left there for them.

"Li... I mean, Haoyu. I think I'm ready to leave. I'm feeling quite drained after everything. I know it's rude of us to leave our own party, but..."

Liu Haoyu pulled on her hand and pulled her toward the door. If she said that she wanted to go, he'd make it happen without hesitation.

As they walked to the car, Zhao Yingyue went over the events of the night in her head all over again. She was so proud of herself for going through with it and happy that she had Liu Haoyu to make it possible.

"Ya know tonight has been crazy. I really can't say that I'm mad. After tonight, when my dad kicks my mom out, not a single socialite that she used to hang out with will take her in."

Liu Haoyu opened the door for her.

"Of course not. Unless they'd risk the financial security of their entire family for the sake of an artificial friendship."

Liu Haoyu and Zhao Yingyue both knew that none of the women would risk anything like that. Even if they tried, their families would never allow it.

Regardless, there was no way that anyone would have any respect remaining after they saw everything that had been displayed that night.

And Gu Yan...

Life would surely be more difficult. She was an illegitimate child who constantly bullied the real heiress to the family for many years. She would be lucky to even get a part-time job once word had spread.

Gu Yanya and Gu Yan would be stuck suffering for an extremely long time now. Zhao Yingyue knew that her father would leave nothing to them in their separation and he had more than enough evidence against her to possibly retaliate if she tried anything.

"I just hope this won't hurt any of my father's chances with those inside. It did pretty much prove his own negligence and people may think it also shows incapability."

Liu Haoyu replied, "I don't think so. He had owned up to not being there before we exposed your mother. He's also still in your good graces so many will still think of being in his good graces as being in the Liu family's good graces."

Zhao Yingyue sighed in relief knowing that her father shouldn't suffer anything but some major embarrassment as a result of the night.

"Then while crazy, this night has been a long way coming."

Liu Haoyu turned to her and asked, "How about we do something even crazier?"

"What are you thinking?"

He smirked.

"How about we marry tonight!"