Lu Shiyan drove to the Su residence. Dark clouds piled heavily above the villa, and a fierce wind whipped around.
The weather had been terrible lately. The heavy snow had just passed, and today, oppressive dark clouds loomed, heralding an approaching storm.
The door opened. My mother looked behind him, confirming no one else was there, and a trace of disappointment flickered in her eyes.
"That wretched girl Su Wan still isn't back?"
"No."
"Really, what was the use of raising her all these years! Throwing a tantrum and running away over some trivial matter." My mother complained, her gaze landing on Lu Shiyan's mud-stained clothes. "Shiyan, where have you been? How did you get so dirty?"
"I took a fall. It's nothing. Mom, where's... sister?"
The moment Su Ning'an was mentioned, my mother's expression instantly softened. "She knew you were coming and insisted on cooking for you herself."
Lu Shiyan changed his shoes and headed for the kitchen. I entered just before him. Hearing the commotion, Su Ning'an deliberately cut her finger with a knife.
Watching this scene, I finally understood where I had lost. Aside from her cunning, I simply didn't have her acting skills.
When Lu Shiyan entered, he saw her flustered, trying to tend to the wound, blood smeared across the counter.
All his intended questions turned into concern. "What happened?"
"I'm sorry, Brother. I wanted to make your favorite dishes, but I'm so clumsy. I cut my finger."
"Where's the first aid kit?"
"In my room."
Under the dim lamplight, Lu Shiyan meticulously tended to her wound, seemingly having forgotten why he had come in the first place.
Once the bandage was secure, Su Ning'an suddenly threw herself into his arms.
Lu Shiyan frowned. "Let go. What if someone sees?"
"Brother, why have you been so cold to me these past few days? Did I do something wrong? I'll change, I promise. Just don't ignore me. I can't live without you." Lu Shiyan, reminded of his purpose for coming, gradually cooled. "Ning'an, that day at the café... how did you fall down the stairs?"
Su Ning'an answered without hesitation. "Brother, it was Sister. She pushed me by accident. Please don't blame her. She didn't mean to."
This was Su Ning'an's cleverness. Always using words like this to manipulate Lu Shiyan.
Lu Shiyan stared at her intently, his gaze scrutinizing. "Really? You're not lying to me?"
Su Ning'an looked at him pitifully. "Brother, when have I ever lied to you?"
"Fine. Second question. Did you know Su Wan was pregnant?"
Su Ning'an didn't answer immediately, likely thinking.
Lu Shiyan pressed closer, his eyes cold. "Why did she miscarry? Did you do something?"
Su Ning'an looked shocked. "Brother, how could you think that of me? In your eyes, am I really that vicious? I didn't even know Sister was pregnant before that!"
Lu Shiyan clearly wasn't going to be fooled by her usual tricks today. He grabbed the collar of her dress, his voice dark. "Then explain this. She was on bed rest. Why did she miscarry right after you went in, crawling out covered in blood? Even if you didn't know before, you must have known at that moment. Why didn't you tell me?"
Tears instantly welled in Su Ning'an's eyes. "Brother, I found out by chance at the hospital that Sister was also admitted. You visited me every day those days but never mentioned her. I was afraid she'd be upset, so I went to see her, to explain about the café incident. But Sister was very agitated. She hit me, said a lot of bad things about you, like wanting revenge. No matter how I explained, she wouldn't listen. She got more and more worked up, and then... she miscarried."
Clearly, this explanation didn't satisfy Lu Shiyan. "If she miscarried, why didn't you call for medical staff immediately? Instead, you let her crawl out, covered in blood?"
"I did call! But Sister refused to listen, refused to stay in bed. She insisted on crawling out. I think... I think she wanted everyone to know. It was part of her revenge on us."
Su Ning'an's tears fell freely. "Brother, think about it. Whether she likes me or not, she's my own sister. Why would I harm her? I was terrified when I saw all that blood. It was my first time experiencing something like that. The strange thing was, when Sister crawled out, the first person to arrive wasn't a doctor, but... Uncle."
"I saw Uncle's face, full of tension and anger. It was as if Sister wasn't your fiancée, but his. I just found it odd. He's been abroad for years, and I never heard he had any connection to Sister. Why did he have that look in his eyes then?"
Under Su Ning'an's questioning, Lu Shiyan's grip gradually loosened. She continued to guide him. "After Sister miscarried, you rushed to the hospital first thing. But she didn't tell you about it herself. If she wouldn't say, how could I, an outsider, bring it up? Wouldn't that be gossiping? I've been thinking about this a lot these days. Why did Uncle appear right after Sister's miscarriage? And it was the gynecology ward! Why didn't Sister tell you about the miscarriage? Could it be... there was a problem with the baby?"
I thought that this time, with witnesses and circumstantial evidence, Lu Shiyan could finally catch her red-handed.
I had underestimated Su Ning'an. She could so blatantly distort the truth, twisting the facts into this shape!
No man could tolerate the thought of his fiancée being involved with another man. I didn't know what Lu Shiyan was thinking, but his expression turned icy, a cold aura emanating from him.
"What else did you see?"
"Brother, aside from that time at the hospital, I actually saw Uncle and Sister meeting in private a few days before your wedding. I was a bit far away, couldn't hear clearly, but I caught words like 'don't get married,' 'leave,' things like that."
Su Ning'an glanced cautiously at Lu Shiyan's face. "You don't think Uncle and Sister, they..."
"No." Lu Shiyan coldly denied it.
I finally understood how Su Ning'an had turned my entire family against me in just a few years, transformed the once-disgusted Lu Shiyan into what he is now, and made me lose so utterly, without a single win.
She was too skilled. With a few sentences, she could disorient Lu Shiyan, who had come to question her, and redirect all the conflict onto me and that Uncle I'd barely met.
Lu Shiyan fell silent, clearly considering the possibility in her words.
BOOM!
A sudden clap of thunder exploded across the sky.
Thunder was rare in winter, so both of them jumped, their bodies trembling.
The room was only lit by a single bedside lamp. Apart from the weak light by the bed, everywhere else was dim and dark.
When the thunder crashed, Su Ning'an let out a sharp scream.
I thought she was putting on another act, trying to elicit the man's pity.
But this time, she was looking directly at me, standing at the foot of the bed.
"Sister! It wasn't me!" Su Ning'an suddenly cried out.