That man was a huge beast. He allowed her to give him less money alright, but he set his eyes on something else- her shares in Le Blanc Group.

One had to know that she didn't have any shares yet. She could only suck up to Lin Lihua in hope that one day, she would recieve them.

At the same time, she had to make Katy the bad girl so she would be the good girl. That way, it would be a guarantee that in the next years when Lin Lihua and Henry Blanc decided to hand over Le Blanc Group and HL Entertainment, they would be hers.

Of course, no scheming plan goes perfectly well. Henry Blanc discovered that she was up to something.

Luckily, she had always been cute and obedient in Lin Lihua's and everyone else's presence. So she didn't believe it when Henry told her that Ruoxi was up to something.

Most importantly, how old was she? How many people would believe it if they were told that a teenager was a schemer?

Her fake age was sure useful.

That was right. Her uncle had taken advantage of her short height to fake her age. She was not a few months older than Katy. She was in fact three years older.

By the time Katy was fourteen, she was seventeen. She knew exactly what she was doing. She schemed to have Katy tarnish the Blanc family's reputation each time there was a chance. As an older girl, of course a child like Katy couldn't outwit her no matter what.

That was why that day when she realized that Katy had sent a maid to give her water, and that water was drugged, she diverted it to Lin Lihua.

This not only made Katy take the blame and lose Lin Lihua's remaining affection, it also eliminated the possibility of having another person fighting her over Le Blanc Group.

Who would she be kidding? Of course the biological child would be the most beloved.

To ensure Katy was never forgiven by Lin Lihua, she didn't stop at that. Because she had grown to hate Katy and at the same time, and because her uncle wouldn't let her stop.

In fact, she wouldn't stop even if her uncle let her. What right did Katy have to enjoy a peaceful life? They were both adopted.

In fact, it should be enough that Katy shared a blood relationship with Henry Blanc.

___

Ruoxi narrated all this in a few sentences because she didn't have the time to go through all her life once again.

"Mother..."

Lin Lihua glared at her. "Don't call me that. It's disgusting."

Ruoxi didn't care much about this. "Haven't I told you the truth? Save my child now."

Lin Lihua laughed. "Save your child? If I save your child, who will save mine? My poor innocent baby was denied the right to live, and so will yours."

"But... but you promised." Her stomach hurt so much that she was sweating.

Lin Lihua didn't relent no matter how pitiful she looked. "I said I have the antidote. When did I say I would give it to you?

On a side note, you could have chosen to tell me everything when you were still young. Since you chose this path, you only have yourself to blame.

It was such a pity that her uncle used a child to do those evil deeds. However, it didn't mean the child was excused either. After all, some of those things were not only done because she was being forced. It was because she was hateful.

"What's going on?" Henry Blanc was back. Why was Ruoxi sprawled on the floor and.. urgh how disgusting. "Couldn't you have sent her to hospital?"

Lin Lihua glanced at him for a second. What wrong timing! Wasn't he discussing business with the Lu brothers? "Since you want to save her child so much, why don't you send her?"

Henry Blanc looked at his wife disbelievingly. Since when... did Lin Lihua hate Ruoxi so much?

He called an ambulance. "Never mind. I don't know what happened here but if she were to die, the blame would befall our family."

Lin Lihua acted as though it was unrelated to her. "Clean up." She said to a maid.

...

"Daddy, you're back." Katy had been watching this scene fearfully from upstairs. If she had anything to say, Ruoxi totally deserved this ending.

She ran downstairs and stopped at Lin Lihua's side first.

"What now?" Lin Lihua felt creeped out by this move.

"I'll let you ladies catch up." Henry Blanc left them alone.

...

"What do you want?" Lin Lihua asked.

Katy unceremoniously hugged her arm. "Mother, can you let me call you mother just for today?"

"And why would I?"

"I know you didn't find out what Ruoxi has been doing recently. You have known it for a while now. You were conflicted because she was your only child, right?" This was Lu Meili's deduction and as expected, Lin Lihua stiffened.

Katy rubbed herself against her like a happy kitten. "Mommy..."

"Katy Blanc, I'll pluck your head."

"Then hug me once, okay? If not, I will cling onto you forever."

Lin Lihua really wanted to get her away. She wasn't in the mood to play with adults who still wanted to act cute. "Fine. Just for tonight. When you wake up, I'm not your mother."

"Okay."

But a few seconds later, Katy Blanc was no longer so happy. She was nervous.

She wanted to get to hug Lin Lihua for the last time because she knew that in a few minutes, she might not have a father either.

She had decided to do this. No matter what, she could not back down. Ruoxi had already paid for her fault in this using her child's life. As for her, the guilt would haunt her forever.

Like a robot following instructions, she went to Henry Blanc's room and knocked.

"Daddy, I need to tell you something that I've been hiding for years."