Chapter 252: The full truth and nothing else
The marriage booklet fell from her hands.
Huo Xiao Fan was stunned when Jinhai said, “Your husband Huo Shen knew the truth about Yu Tengfei. As a matter of fact, your grandmother too.”
She looked at him in disbelief.
Jinhai shrugged. “As to why they didn’t tell you, you can ask Huo Shen yourself.”
Yukira gritted his teeth in anger. “And what revenge? Maybe you should have got one from Dad since he betrayed you, but why Nee-chan? I can’t believe you would think the same as my mother! He attacked Nee-chan and both of you only blamed her for his suicide. Is your brain in dumps?”
Jianyu said in utter loathe. “Both of you are women and yet you sided with the man who molested a 10-year-old girl.”
Huo Xiao Fan wasn’t listening. She was blankly staring at the red booklet.
All of this was a lie? I spent all these years loving Tengfei, missing him every single day but he was never mine from the beginning.
A lie…a joke…a misunderstanding?
Nana asked, “But it’s been twelve years. Why did you wait so long? Why are you doing this now?”
Jinhai sneered. “Who said that she waited that long? She is indeed having her revenge since twelve years.”
“Huh? How? She didn’t contact me before.”
“She didn’t need to. Because her and Yu Tengfei’s daughter, Serena or Huo Zhilan or Yu Zhilan whatever, was always with you.”
Serena clenched her fingers in a fist as a tear trickled down.
“She is the reason why Yu Ichika has still not recovered. Because she had bribed one nurse to feed her poison that would aggravate her mental condition. That was their revenge from Yu Ichika, to never be able to live a normal life. They also troubled her by giving spoilt food to eat or scaring her unnecessarily and provoking her to cause a ruckus.”
Nana felt as if a thunderbolt struck her. The twins looked in disbelief.
“Serena didn’t accompany you in your visit to her to support you. She wanted to see if it’s going on just as planned. You remember how she was annoyed to see Serena? It’s because Serena looks quite alike to Yu Tengfei more than Mrs. Huo. So, she always irked Yu Ichika because she couldn’t understand why she always saw Yu Tengfei in Serena.”
It made sense now. Now that they looked at her, Serena did look like Yu Tengfei. She had his eyes and her nose and jawline was similar to his structure.
“Serena was more of a spy than your best friend. Remember, I asked you how you met Serena?”
Nana blankly looked at Jinhai.
“Her transfer to your school wasn’t a coincidence. Huo Xiao Fan had purposely admitted her in your school. Serena coming to you bringing her lunch box was her way to become your friend. All these years, your supposed ‘best friend’ was working for her mother.”
“T-this is not true…”
Jianyu exclaimed angrily, “Bro, enough! I will not hear anything against Serena.”
Jinhai smiled. “Then why is she keeping silence? Why isn’t she defending herself?”
Jianyu grabbed her shoulders. “Serena, say that everything is a lie. It’s a misunderstanding, right? Why are you just listening to all this crap?”
Jinhai ignored him and continued. “At the front, she was your best friend, but in the back, she was instigating things. Like when she came to know that Aunt wanted you and Jianyu to date, very cleverly she brought Suyin back in Beijing.”
Jianyu froze. Nana jerked her head in shock.
“Yes, Suyin’s entry back in Jianyu’s life wasn’t a coincidence. Serena played her cards very well to bring her back because she knew that Tang Suyin was Jianyu’s ex-girlfriend.”
Confusion was written all over Jianyu’s face.
“Yes, cousin. Your girlfriend knew from the beginning that you are Chen Jianyu. She knew your identity.”
He widened his eyes. “N-no…”
“She knew Suyin would try to intervene in your relationship with Nana. And she did. As expected by Serena, Suyin started to plot against Nana. She thought Suyin would succeed in breaking you both apart. But it didn’t happen. Even your first meeting with her was planned by her.”
How can Jianyu forget their first meeting? They had met outside the airport where she was about to crash by his car.
“No. I wasn’t driving in my senses and didn’t look where I was going-“
“Serena came in front of your car on purpose.” Jinhai said.
“No! You are lying!” Jianyu was feeling breathless. He felt a tight knot in his heart.
“Then came the time for your engagement. And with Huo Xiao Fan’s help, she had already planned to create a drama.” Jinhai ordered a guard. “Bring her in.”
A guard dragged a woman inside and she started crying. “I will tell everything! Please don’t hurt me.”
Serena gulped, seeing the woman.
“It was this woman!” She pointed at Serena. “She had given me money to tell everyone that I’m pregnant with Chen Jianyu’s child.”
Nana and Jianyu were shocked.
This cannot be true…
Jinhai said, “But after the engagement, Nana and I were drugged and a different drama unfolded so Serena told her to back out.”
Nana’s voice was trembling. “Serena was busy in her project in her new company.”
“I contacted Design Premier boss, Gong Hong in jail and he said there was not any project going on that time. She was not in the company that night.”
Her eyes stung with tears.
Serena was close to breaking down in tears.
“Then after the banquet, Serena approached Jianyu in the bar and brought him in her house in a drunken state. And then the next day, she convinced him to start living with her because she wanted to prevent any contact between Nana and Jianyu. Right Serena?”
Serena started sobbing. And that was enough to give Nana and Jianyu their answers.
“But things suddenly took a sharp turn when they came to know that Nana and I are married. Of course they wanted to prevent it from that happening, but Serena missed it for the first time. Our marriage slipped past her.”
He sneered. “Perhaps Serena was really invested in her fake relationship with Jianyu.”
Jianyu was all numb to his words. He wanted all of this to end already.
“When Huo Xiao Fan came to know that Nana and I are married, she started blackmailing Nana. She didn’t want her to have a happy life with her husband when she lost her own love. Serena was keeping an eye on her movements.That’s how she got to know that Nana had planted a hidden device in Qian Mei’s room. Serena had told her.”
Then it struck Nana. Only Serena knew her plan about hiding the device. And here she thought that there was a spy at Natsukashi.
“Then Serena brought Jianyu at SuperX mall where he bumped into Nana. Because I was there too. Nana lied to me that morning and they wanted me to see Nana and Jianyu together so that I doubt Nana if there is still something going on between them.”
Jianyu blankly recalled how Serena had urged him to go shopping that day. And she appeared exactly after Nana went away.
“Then she sent Jianyu at Natsukashi saying that Nana is hurt. She knew I had planned a date with Nana and once again seeing them both together would have strengthened my doubt in them.”
That night…Jianyu wanted to tell his past to her, but she interrupted it with Nana’s message.
“That’s why Serena didn’t come with you to save Nana. Because she wanted the two of you alone.”
A sense of panic and dread enveloped him. He couldn’t say anything because the circumstances were matching Serena’s behavior.
Jinhai coldly said. “Serena must have forced you to come at Huo Banquet, right Jianyu? Because the mother-daughter pair wanted to lock you and Nana in a room, take pictures, show it to me and strike the last attack on our marriage. They were sure that after this I would divorce Nana. But, it didn’t happen. So, we finally come to today.”
Yukito thought of something. “Serena Nee-chan, it was you who told us to bring ramen from that deserted street.”
Yukira completed his brother’s question. “So, was it you who kidnapped us here?”
Serena collapsed on her knees and sobbed loudly. “Sorry…I’m so sorry…”
Nana looked at her as if she was a stranger. She wasn’t the girl with whom she was a friend, who shared so many years of friendship with her, happiness, sadness, fear, problems, so many emotions…
This girl in front of her was completely different. Nana was vacantly staring at her.
So many years of friendship was nothing but a lie…a plan. Everything was a calculation, nothing else…
Jianyu grabbed her arm and forced her to stand up. “Look at me Serena. Tell me, is everything true? Tell me. Please say that it’s a lie. I-if you say it’s a lie I will believe you. Just say that you are innocent. Our love, our relationship, our child… i-it’s all genuine, right?”
Jianyu was hopefully looking at her. It might sound all convincing but he wanted to hear from Serena’s mouth.
Serena couldn’t raise her head to face him. Tears were continuously streaming down.
“Jianyu…I…I…I admit that I knew everything, but believe me that I really love you. T-that is not a lie. I wanted to stop all this but I couldn’t. Jianyu please, listen to me…I-“
“SHUT UP!!!”