There was no such thing as a perfect family. Happiness was only temporary. Ever since Tian Ruyi found out the truth behind those kind facades, she saw the members of the Bai family in a different light. The only good person there was Bai Jingye. She hated his parents for turning a blind eye, for doing nothing for their son. She hated Bai Zichen, his brother, for making things hard for her precious friend, and among them all, the person she hated the most was the old man. The root of all evilness in the family.

"It was his punishment whenever Jingye did something Bai Keran didn't like. He would be locked in that room for weeks. He was only fed once per day, water, and a small piece of bread. I would usually sneak in some food whenever I have the chance. Jingye would always come out thin at the end of it." She was now sitting on the sofa, her hands clenched together. "Since then, Bai Jingye had already made up his mind. He didn't want to be his grandfather's puppet like his family. He wanted to do something to cut those strings and I swore to help him. I was his only friend, Mengjie…" 

Now Lu Mengjie understood why Bai Jingye grew up as a decent person despite having such a past. It was all because Tian Ruyi was there. He was never alone. He had someone he could lean on. She was his pillar and light during those dark days.

Tian Ruyi turned to look at her with a small bitter smile. "I was happy when he began considering you as one as well… even more actually. He likes you."

Lu Mengjie already knew his feelings for her that was why she had already put distance from him. She didn't want to give him hope that they could build a romantic relationship. 

"I'm not telling you to like him back. Actually, I was hoping that you could fall for him but that's impossible." Tian Ruyi chuckled. "Besides, Jingye is not someone who is interested in dating."

"He once told me that he doesn't believe in love," Lu Mengjie recalled. "He considers it a hindrance."

The other woman chuckled. "That is so like Jingye. He has long closed his heart just so he could focus on his grandfather's demise otherwise, he had already pursued you when he began liking you."

Lu Mengjie reached out, placing her hand on top of Tian Ruyi's hands. "We have to help him, Xiao Ruyi."

"We can't. We have to wait until the duration of his punishment ends."

"But – "

"I hate to say this, but Jingye can handle it. He has been receiving the punishment since childhood. Also… we will only be making things worse for him if we help him now. You don't know what Bai Keran can do even to his own family. I saw how cruel he could be, Mengmeng. We can't put Jingye in danger while he is in that place."

She gritted her teeth as she lowered her head. Lu Mengjie badly wanted to help him. She was not the type of person to sit and watch her friends get abused by someone.

Tian Ruyi placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "I know it's hard… doing nothing." She has already been there. She knew the pain of watching someone get punished for a mistake they didn't do. It was unfair. Bai Jingye has always taken the blame. He has always protected her in this way. For once, she wanted to do something to protect him but she knew that it was not possible. She was that useless friend who could watch and cry knowing that she was his weakness. 

"I guess we will have to make a move while Bai Keran is distracted. We can't waste the opportunity Jingye made."

"What do you mean?"

"We will be removing that old snake's pawns one by one and turning them against him."

…

Meanwhile, back in the parking lot, slow music was playing on the car's radio.

Boom!

Bang!

Xia Liqin was playing a mobile game. His thumbs tapping and sliding. Despite the lively fighting sound effects, he had a plain look on his face.

Wei Sianqi was sitting in the backseat with her arms crossed. She was curious about what kind of game he was playing. She wanted to take a peek. Just like him, she was someone who liked playing mobile and computer games. Based on the sound effects coming from the man's phone, she could tell what kind of game he was playing and what kind of character he was using.

"Let's fire it up! Explosive puppet!"

From that character line, she could easily tell that he was using the game character 'Theresa'. 

She bit her lower lip as she heard his kills from the game. Damn, he sure was good. She wanted to watch his playstyle and maybe even check out his game ID. If only she brought her phone, she would be able to play along with him. 

'Arena Collision' was the name of the game he was playing. A famous game that players around the world enjoyed. She has always wanted to join a professional team but sadly, she has to wait for an invitation from them. She could only level up and work hard on topping a character rank just so she could be noticed. One of her favorite streamers was called 'Black Cat'. He belonged to the top professional team in the country, the 'Cyborg Cats'. Since it was her dream to join their team, she changed all her game names to 'Grimalkin'. It was an archaic name for a cat. Aside from that, the word was often used for women who were tried as witches. It was believed that they used cats as their familiar. Wei Sianqi liked it and she found it cool.

Not being able to tolerate the temptation in the car, she slowly and quietly shifted her legs just so she could move close to him from behind. There, she finally took a peek at his phone.