Chapter 3

The moment I opened the door, I saw the mess all over the floor.

Li He wasn’t home. Only my daughter’s cat and dog came to greet me.

I put out food and water for them, then pushed open her bedroom door.

That room had been thoroughly turned over, too. Everything lay scattered on the floor, with a few spots of blood here and there. Every expensive cosmetic on the nightstand at the far end of the room was gone.

The clothes in her wardrobe had been cut to pieces.

Someone had clearly been taking their anger out on them.

I took photographs, then cleaned the place until it was spotless.

Sitting on the bed, I sent my son-in-law a message: Give me a bank account number. I’ll send the money over.

He replied with one almost immediately.

I had a pretty good idea of all the bank accounts he and my daughter held. The moment I saw the number, I knew it belonged to that woman.

I quickly wrote back: Son-in-law, I’ll go transfer the money first thing tomorrow. Please keep that girl happy. I don’t want my daughter going to prison.

Li He sent an excited voice message.

“Mom, you really know how things work. Don’t worry. Qingqing has a much better temperament than your daughter. She says as long as you pay enough, she won’t have your daughter locked up.”

I could hear the woman’s laughter in the background.

It turned my stomach. I put the phone down, then checked the balance on it.

Between my savings and the money I’d recently made from investments, I had well over a million yuan. I called my financial adviser.

“Xiao Wang, could you see about getting all my money out? I need it urgently.”

Her fraud alarm went off at once.

“What could you need so much money for? You’re not being scammed online, are you? Tell me what you’re planning to do.”

Choking up, I told her what had happened to my daughter.

“You know my husband died years ago. She’s my only child. How could I bear to see her go to prison? I’ll pay whatever it takes to keep her safe!”

Xiao Wang fell silent. After a while, she said angrily, “All right. I’ll help you cash everything out right away. Just give me a little time.”

When I hung up, the corners of my mouth lifted.

There was a reason I’d chosen Xiao Wang to handle my investments. I knew exactly what kind of person she was.

Upright. A woman of her word.

Very useful.

The first payment came through not long after our call ended. By the time I got up in the morning, the rest had arrived in installments.

I transferred the whole lot to that account in one go.

Less than an hour after the transfer notification appeared, the police called.

Xiao Wang had reported it.

When I reached the station, a woman wrapped in bandages was busy explaining herself to the police.

“I’m not a scammer! Why would I scam some old woman? She sent the money voluntarily! How was I supposed to know she’d send that much all at once?”

“Couldn’t you investigate before coming to get me? I was at work, and you just hauled me out! What are my colleagues going to think?”

I went over, putting an apologetic look on my face.

“I’m so sorry. Really, I’m terribly sorry. I don’t understand these things. It was my fault…”

Jiang Qingqing turned and saw me.

Sometimes I really did think women who became mistresses all had a certain look. So utterly ordinary. Some were even downright ugly.

They loved wrecking ordinary people’s marriages.

And they could do it so easily, because the men actually believed women like that loved them for themselves.

Laughable.

I looked at her. She looked at me.

“Old lady, did you do this on purpose?”