Unlike the villa's clean, fairytale-like exterior, the moment Qin Fan entered the living room, she was nearly blinded by the lavish and extravagant interior design.

Even the ceiling was changed to a light gold. The huge, magnificent chandelier was lit, clearly revealing two people dining in the open-plan restaurant inside.

Qin Fan stood at the entrance, her eyes narrowing slightly from the stinging light.

"Fanfan?"

At the dining table, a woman in an exquisite white satin dress suddenly stood up, staring in disbelief at the daughter who had abruptly appeared at their doorstep.

Her beautiful features, similar to Qin Fan's, held a hint of irresolvable sorrow, but now her eyes were filled with pleasant surprise.

Qin Fan's vision cleared, and she calmly called out, "Mom."

Qin Lin gestured gently to Qin Fan. "Fanfan is back. Come and have some more breakfast with your mother."

"She missed you very much."

Qin Fan didn't answer, her gaze falling on the man who had spoken.

Even though he was past middle age, Qin Lin's figure was well-maintained. He was refined and gentle, giving off the impression of a successful, scholarly businessman.

Just then, the sound of footsteps in slippers came from the staircase, the tone tinged with a coquettish air: "Dad, Mom, why didn't you call me for breakfast—"

Qin Yuzhi came down from the second floor in her everyday pajamas, and the first thing she saw was Qin Fan's figure.

She stopped abruptly, then smiled the next moment and said, "Welcome."

Qin Yuzhi sat down next to Madam Qin and intimately linked her arm with hers. "Mom, you made my favorite pumpkin cakes by hand today."

Being hugged so intimately by her stepdaughter in front of her biological daughter, Madam Qin's body stiffened slightly.

Qin Yuzhi deliberately raised an eyebrow at Qin Fan. "Fanfan, seeing how close Mom and I are, you won't get jealous and throw your chopsticks like you did as a child, will you?"

Qin Fan's expression didn't change as she simply watched the family of three.

She had known since she was young that after her father passed away and her mother married Second Uncle, she had lost not only her father but also her mother.

Madam Qin subconsciously reached for Qin Fan's hand. "Fanfan, sit..."

Qin Fan avoided her hand, her words very polite. "I won't sit. I'll leave after I've said what I need to say."

"I'm here to ask Second Uncle to keep his canine daughter on a leash."

Qin Fan deliberately stressed the words for "leash" and "canine" lest her peacemaking Second Uncle fail to understand.

The whole family turned to look at Qin Fan in unison.

Qin Yuzhi looked at Qin Fan innocently. "Fanfan, is there some misunderstanding you have about me?"

"Then again, you've deeply misunderstood your older sister since we were young."

Qin Fan couldn't be bothered to watch her pretentious act and lightly tapped her phone screen.

A rustling conversation came from the phone:

"You did it, didn't you?"

"So what if I did, Fanfan? You understand. As long as I'm in the entertainment industry for a single day, I will stand in your way..."

As soon as the audio started playing, Qin Yuzhi reacted. Her eyes flickered, and she sighed, "Fanfan, I didn't expect you to hate me this much."

"I was going to help you hide it, but you took it out of context..."

As she spoke, Qin Yuzhi pulled down the high collar of her pajamas, revealing the purple bruises from being choked on her neck.

"Hiss..."

Madam Qin gasped, looking at Qin Fan in a panic. "Fanfan, how could you bully your older sister?"

When Qin Fan had grabbed her neck, she hadn't used any force at all. It was impossible for bruises like that to appear overnight.

And yet her own biological mother was questioning her without distinguishing right from wrong. Qin Fan's eyelashes trembled slightly; she found it somewhat laughable.

She had been framed by Qin Yuzhi as a child and was powerless to defend herself because everyone believed the sweet and well-behaved Qin Yuzhi, while they thought she, who had been spoiled by her father, was headstrong and mischievous.

Under such a shadow, Qin Fan developed the habit of gathering evidence first before confronting anyone.

That was why, even though Qin Fan knew Qin Yuzhi was plotting against her, she had endured and waited for an opportunity due to the lack of proof.

Last night in the corridor at the fashion gala, Qin Yuzhi took the bait, allowing her to seize the chance to record this ironclad evidence—

Qin Lin remained silent, implicitly condoning Madam Qin's accusation against Qin Fan.

Qin Fan's knuckles tapped casually on the tabletop. "First, you accuse me of choking you. You can take your evidence to the police station. Based on an injury like this, I could be charged with intentional assault. But, Qin Yuzhi, do you dare to call the police?"

Qin Yuzhi bit her lower lip tightly, saying nothing.

Of course, she didn't dare.

Qin Fan ignored her and shifted her gaze to the silent Qin Lin beside her. "If Second Uncle can't control Qin Yuzhi, then let's ask Grandma to come back and take charge."

"This audio recording I have is enough to prove that Qin Yuzhi used the family's power to persecute a relative."

Old Madam Qin was the current head of the Qin Family, and Qin Lin was merely acting in her stead. So when Qin Fan mentioned her grandmother, Qin Lin finally spoke, "What do you want?"

Qin Fan stood looking down on them, speaking clearly and logically. "My request is simple. Control Qin Yuzhi. Don't let her use the Qin Family's status to go around biting people. Can Second Uncle do that?"

"Qin Fan, you!"

Qin Yuzhi was just about to speak.

But Qin Lin reprimanded her, "Zhi'er, from now on, you are not to bully Fanfan anymore. If there's any misunderstanding between you two sisters, can't you sit down and talk it out properly?"

"And Fanfan, even though you've married into the Xie Family, you still need your maternal family. You sisters can argue behind closed doors, but don't let outsiders see you as a joke."

After speaking, Qin Lin stood up and left the dining room.

Madam Qin watched Qin Lin leave with a nervous expression, then tried to grab Qin Fan's hand. "Fanfan, come to the room with Mom for a moment..."

Beside them, Qin Yuzhi snorted coldly, and her hand froze in place.

The next moment.

Qin Yuzhi threw down her chopsticks without a word and turned to go upstairs.

Qin Fan looked at her anxious mother. "If there's nothing else, I'm leaving."

"There is! We haven't seen each other for a year, Fanfan. Mom misses you so much."

Looking into those beautiful eyes filled with sorrow and longing, she could see there was no acting involved.

Qin Fan hadn't wanted to agree to her...

She glanced at the time.

Qin Fan said coolly, "I'll only stay for fifteen minutes."

"Okay, okay." Madam Qin hastily pulled Qin Fan to her room.

Inside the room, Madam Qin first caressed her daughter's cheek. "Fanfan, are you doing well?"

"Fourteen minutes left. Mom, if you have something to say, don't waste time." Qin Fan was completely indifferent to this belated motherly love. If she had truly loved her daughter, where had she been all this time?

Madam Qin choked up, then said, "Fanfan, Mom knows you don't like that I married your Second Uncle, but what could I do? Your father passed away so early, we couldn't have survived as a widow and an orphan."

"For Mom's sake, can't you just bear with it? Don't be so reckless like today in the future. What if, what if..."

"What if Second Uncle gets angry over this and abandons you? That's what you're afraid of, right?" Qin Fan's lips curved into a chilly arc. "So what? You want me to keep the peace, just like before, and not bother with Qin Yuzhi, letting her bully and slander me as she pleases."

This mother of hers was like a dodder vine, unable to survive without a man.

"It's not that serious. You've misunderstood Zhi'er. She's a very kind girl; she always speaks well of you at home." Madam Qin felt that Qin Fan was too extreme, thinking the worst of people.

Qin Fan didn't want to talk to her naive and sweet mother anymore and got up to leave.

"Fanfan, if Zhi'er doesn't like you being an actress, then you should just quit the entertainment industry."

Hearing this, Qin Fan's fingertips, resting on the doorknob, tightened slightly. A few seconds later, with her back to Madam Qin, she left behind a single, emotionless sentence: "You really are my biological mother."

Completely uncaring about her own daughter's career and dreams, just because her stepdaughter was unhappy, she could so easily say something like asking her to give up her career.

Qin Fan laughed self-deprecatingly. Fortunately, ever since she became old enough to understand, she had never held any expectations for the role of a mother.

At the top of the stairs, a servant suddenly stopped her. "Second Miss, the Eldest Miss is waiting for you by the swing in the garden."

The swing?

Qin Fan, who was about to leave directly, seemed to think of something, and her eyes turned cold.

Without needing the servant to lead the way, Qin Fan turned and went toward the garden.

She was more familiar with that place than anyone.

Because that swing had been personally crafted and polished for her by her father. Sitting on it felt as if her father was still there beside her.

Passing through rows of flower bushes, under the large cherry blossom tree, the small and exquisite swing that once stood there had disappeared.

Qin Fan's dark pupils contracted abruptly—

Qin Yuzhi had changed into casual clothes and was toying with a large pair of scissors. At her feet was a pile of wood and snapped hemp ropes.

Seeing Qin Fan arrive, she smiled at her. "That broken-down old swing of yours was about to fall apart anyway. Big sister helped you take care of it."

Then she twisted her wrist. "Those ropes were really sturdy. I almost couldn't cut through them. Luckily..."

Qin Fan's eyelashes were lowered as she walked toward Qin Yuzhi, one step at a time.

Knowing full well what the swing meant to Qin Fan, seeing her like this, Qin Yuzhi's gaze became even more malicious.

"Get out of the way."

Qin Fan suddenly spoke.

Her eyes were on the wood being trampled under Qin Yuzhi's feet.

Qin Yuzhi remembered her goal and shot a look at a nearby servant.

Qin Fan had humiliated her so much last night. How could she bear it without getting revenge?

Qin Fan's eyes were filled with the sight of the shattered wood and snapped ropes. She reached out a slender, pale fingertip and touched them gently.

As if afraid of hurting them.

This was the last gift her father had given her.

Now it was gone too.