Ruomei and Old Madam stood shocked to the core. The Old Madam gnashed her jaw in hatred. "What did you say?"

Jiang Xiurang looked at her son in daze. Not only did he talk nicely even after being hit by Lihua, he also addressed her as sister-in-law. Just this morning, he was cursing her. But just in a few hours already, he changed so much!

Lihua wanted to shed tears of happiness. "Fai Fai! Did you just call me sister-in-law? I am so touched…"

The teenager glared at her. "Don't call me Fai Fai! That's gross!"

"Aiya. You will get used to it. It's cute."

The Old Madam, at first, blankly looked at them. Then a dangerous smile curled her lips upwards. "What magic did this witch use to fool you?"

Seeing the funny banter between them, even Ruomei was thrown off her pace.

This...H-he should call me sister-in-law, not her…

Jiang Fai narrowed his eyes. "She stood up for me even though I hated and cursed her so much. She believed in me. She proved me innocent and made my bastard step siblings expelled from school otherwise it would have been me. And most importantly...she promised that Mom will definitely leave that cheater bastard!"

Jiang Xiurang froze and so did the others.

The Old Madam burst into laughter. "Hahaha. Divorce Li Tingzhe while I am here? Impossible! Try it if you want," she sneered.

For a moment, Jiang Xiurang felt hopeful, but then her gaze dimmed in sadness as she was reminded of the Old Madam's power.

Ruomei quickly said, "Jiang Fai. Don't be so quick to trust Lixue. Everybody knows about her challenge. She is just doing this to win your favor…"

"But you are not, right? So why did you assume that it must be all my fault?"

Her expression froze and she stuttered. "T-that...of course not…*

The Old Madam snorted. "Forget it, Ruomei. What does a mere teenager's favor will garner her anyway?"

Jiang Fai was stunned. Then a vein popped on his forehead, hearing how blatantly he was ignored. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

Lixue smiled. "Old Madam. You shouldn't underestimate anybody. Be it a child, teenager or an adult. You can say what you want now, but I just hope that you don't have to eat back your words one day."

The Old Madam was furious at such disrespect.

Lihua grinned. "Come Fai Fai! We will celebrate your evil step sibling's downfall! Hohoho!"

"Don't call me Fai Fai!"

She grabbed his hand and pulled Jiang Xiurang's hand too. "Come on Aunt. You have to join us!"

"That me…"

"Of course!"

As they went away, Ruomei anxiously looked at the Old Madam, "Old Madam this...Lixue has already won over Jiang Fai."

The Old Madam coldly said, "Didn't you hear what I said? Fai is just a teenager. He is nothing in this family. As if his opinion even matters," she snorted. "I don't consider that rebellious brat a part of my family! It's because of Xiurang that I have to tolerate him. Heh and as for divorce? Xiurang would never go against me. She knows that if she did then she would never see Fai again," she smiled.

---

In her room, Jiang Xiurang applied the cold compress on his cheeks with tears in her eyes. "It must be so painful…"

"Oh please! Don't be so melodramatic!"

She peeked at Lihua, who was eagerly shuffling through his video games. She looked like a child who got a mountain of candies as a gift.

She slowly said, "Thank you for helping Fai in school…"

Lihua's ears perked up and she brightly smiled at her. "You don't have to thank me. It's your son who didn't disappoint you. If he would have really hit Kang Meifen, then even I couldn't have helped him, not that I would have anyway for beating a girl."

She awkwardly smiled. "I was supposed to be there as his mother but...I am sorry you had to go on behalf of me."

Jiang Fai sneered. "As if you would have been of any help! You would have just apologized to that cheater bastard even if I was innocent! So no thank you. I am glad you didn't come."

She froze but then a self deprecating smile laced her lips. She lowered her head. "You are right…I am useless as a parent."

"Owwwww!!" Lihua twisted his ear once again and glared at him. "I told you not to talk like that to your mother!"

Lihua sat beside Jiang Xiurang and held her hand. "Aunt, this is why Fai Fai acts so rebellious. He wants you to take a stand for yourself. But you get afraid and everybody thinks that you are a pushover. He wants you to fight, but you take a step back and allow the Old Madam to humiliate you. A child also cannot see his parents getting insulted as much as a parent doesn't want that for her child."

Jiang Xiurang widened her eyes. With a stunned look, she stared at her son. He grumbled and looked away in annoyance.

"That's why he would get angry at you and be mean. He is right in a way concerning today's incident. With your current state of how you feel so inferior and unconfident, that cheater and his family would have definitely overwhelmed you with their disgusting tactics."

She couldn't help but agree even if the truth was bitter.

"He wants you to divorce that cheater, but you say nothing."

She paled and quickly said, "I-I don't want to divorce-"

"Then why would you want to live here? Why did you threaten to kill yourself eleven years ago when Old Madam was forcing you to go back to him?"

She bit her lip and couldn't retort.

Lihua smiled. "It's because of Fai Fai, right?"

She stiffened. "N-No…"

Lihua shook her head. "I understand everything. So you don't have to worry about anything! Just give me an honest answer. Do you want to divorce that cheater or not?"

"I…" she clasped her hands together. The Old Madam's threat was still fresh in her mind.

"Do you want to be connected to that man who disrespected your marriage and had an affair? Do you want Fai Fai to have such a father?"

Tears pooled in her eyes as she recalled all the humiliation she had to suffer. Lihua's questions struck her heart hard and she trembled.

"No…" she softly whispered under her voice. "I...I don't want to have anything to do with him anymore. I don't want him to be Fai's father. I am so disgusted that I still have to be his wife. I am so tired…"

Jiang Fai widened his eyes. This was the first time that his mother finally opened up about this matter. She would always divert the topic whenever he would ask about it.

Lihua grinned. "Then leave it upto me! That day is not far when you will finally be free from him!"