Chapter 2

I patted my pockets. “I rushed out tonight and forgot my bank card. There’s no money on my phone, either. Tell you what—I’ll transfer it tomorrow.”

Li He nodded in satisfaction, then pointed at me as he addressed my daughter.

“You ought to learn from your mom. If you were more like her, I wouldn’t have had to cheat. I cheated because you’re practically a man. You give me nothing emotionally. Understand?”

Smiling and humming to himself, he walked out of the station.

After he’d gone, the policewoman who had been comforting my daughter came over.

“Auntie, come with me. I’ll explain exactly what happened.”

Lin Ya stayed where she was, signing paperwork through gritted teeth.

I followed Officer Xie into the office at the back. She switched on her computer.

What I saw shocked me.

“It’s that bad?”

“Yes. When we arrived, your daughter was still straddling this woman’s face and hitting her.”

I glanced back at my daughter. Clean from head to toe. Not so much as a scrape.

I remembered a rule I’d taught her as a child: You can fight, but don’t start trouble. Once you’re in a fight, don’t lose.

My daughter had taken it to heart right up to the present day. Even in her third trimester.

I felt a little awkward. “Will her injuries be classified as serious?”

Officer Xie shook her head. “The assessment just came back. They don’t even qualify as minor injury. Your daughter’s an orthopedist. Her blows were all very…precise. No vital areas damaged, but she certainly made it…uncomfortable.”

I said nothing.

Officer Xie took my hand. “As women, we understand how terrible your daughter must feel. But she needs to control her emotions, for her baby’s sake and her own future. You’re her mother. I’m sure you understand what I mean.”

I nodded. “I do. I’ll talk to her when we get home.”

“Then that’s all. Once she’s finished signing, you can take her home.”

When I came out, Lin Ya had just finished. She looked at me, and neither of us spoke for a long while.

She only opened her mouth after we got into the car.

“That Jiang Qingqing showed up at our door herself. The second she came in, she started playing innocent. Kneeling, bowing her head to the floor, saying she didn’t need any official status. She just loved Li He. She said I didn’t need to divorce him—she only hoped I could find room for her.”

The more she spoke, the angrier she got. Her hands tightened into fists.

I squeezed one of them. “If all she wanted was love, she wouldn’t have come looking for you.”

Lin Ya looked at me. “Mom, she’s shameless! You have no idea what she did. She tried to set me up with her brother! Said he’d suit me better than Li He. And since her brother was infertile, he wouldn’t mind the baby. That way, everyone could have their happy ending. That was what set me off.”

I gave a cold little laugh.

Another one of those.

Nothing special to look at, no spectacular figure. Just utterly shameless, with no line she wouldn’t cross. Always insisting it was love, while keeping her eyes on the wife’s money. Hoping to drive the wife to an early grave so she could inherit everything without lifting a finger.

I’d been through it once already and come out in one piece.

I wasn’t letting my daughter fall to someone like that.

“Stay out of sight for a couple of days,” I told Lin Ya. “I’ll give you some money. Take time off work, go enjoy yourself. Relax. Mind that belly. I’ll let you know when I’ve handled things.”

I took out my bank card and pressed it into her hand.

She stared. “Didn’t you say you forgot your card?”

I looked at her. “Were you actually hoping I’d spend my money on that mistress?”

Understanding dawned on her face. She nodded. “Right. Thanks, Mom…”

I didn’t even let her go back to that home of hers. I put her straight into a hotel with strict security.

Then I went back myself.