"I suppose you would say that I should partially blame myself. It was my cruel and detached behavior towards my son that made him a failure of a father.

"

Despite his words, Zhao Moyao did not regret anything. He did not regret his treatment towards his children, he did not regret abandoning his grandchildren, and he did not regret all of the times he beat his kids.

But the one thing he regretted, even if he would never admit it, was leaving Zhao Lifei in the hands of her parents. They had tarnished her beyond repair and even to this day, her scars ran deep, accompanying her all the way to adulthood.

That buffoon, Zheng Tianyi, and his little mistress's treatment towards her did not help Zhao Lifei at all. She was already a cracked shell when she was with Zheng Tianyi and after the bastard left her for a gold-digging tramp, that shell crumbled into nothingness.

Zhao Moyao could see it clearly. What little light she had tucked within those amber eyes of hers was gone — stolen by people that never deserved it.

Recently, he could practically shed tears of joy. The same she lost light had returned and this time, the brightness of it was enough to rival the stars. She was the happiest he had ever seen her.

Her smile was more genuine now, so carefree and pure. She was different from the woman she used to be, the one that was broken by the fact that the man she was groomed to love was stolen in the blink of an eye, so easily and without warning.

"There's always a saying where a grandfather will love their grandchild, but never as much as they love their actual kid. What bogus words.

" Zhao Moyao muttered.

Yang Feng wondered what the conclusion of their conversation was, but when he saw the shift in emotion within Zhao Moyao, the way he seemed to be reminiscing about something, Yang Feng realized he was getting the permission to end Zhao Junkai once and for all.

"Treasure my granddaughter well, Yang Heng. If not, I will personally come for you.

"

If this was anyone but his woman's beloved grandfather, Yang Feng would've taken Zhao Moyao's head for such threats, but he did not dare to, for such a thing would hurt his darling too much.

"Of course.

"

"Now, if you'll excuse this babbling old fool, the dinner is starting soon.

" Zhao Moyao walked off, not providing Yang Feng a direct answer, but his long speech was enough.

Yang Feng messaged Chen Gaonan to set up a meeting with Zhao Junkai. It was time to set his plan into action.

Yang Feng took a final sip of his champagne before placing it back onto a passing waiter's tray. He made ways to seek his beloved out, but paused by the dessert table and grabbed a macaroon. This bewildered the people whose gaze continuously latched onto him no matter what he did.

Yang Feng ate the dessert in one bite to ensure she would not be able to taste the champagne. It had been more than five minutes and when he saw Zhao Lifei was not back yet, he became worried. Where did she wander off to?

He made notes to lecture that little sister of his. How could she run off without telling Zhao Lifei anything? How dare she make his woman worry like this when all of her attention should be on him?

Yang Feng growled and stalked off in the direction she had walked off in. He messaged the men trailing after her who instantly replied and gave him her current location: the women's bathroom.

Yang Feng pressed his lips together as he walked there and sure enough, there was a group of inconspicuous people browsing the winding hallways. No one would've noticed a single thing, except for Yang Feng who knew these were his men.

The leader of the group looked around to ensure no one else was here, then he motioned his underlings to secure the area. He walked to Yang Feng, bowed low and greeted,

"Boss, you're here.

"

Yang Feng did not reply, his eyes settled on the white oak door with textured glass.

"The Lady Boss and Young Miss have been in there for approximately ten minutes now. Shall I call forth a woman from the other team to check in on them?

"

Yang Feng glanced at his watch. The dinner would be served in less than five minutes. He needed her to eat properly.

Yang Feng nodded his head.

That was all the man needed. His bow deepened, nodding his head before standing up to his full height and calling a female bodyguard. Less than two minutes later, she arrived, bowed and greeted Yang Feng before turning towards the door.

She gave it a light knock and stepped inside. Instantly, she was surprised to see the scene before her. Their Young Miss was crying in the arms of the Lady Boss, her sobs and loud sniffles bouncing off of the walls, but because this room was soundproof, no one outside heard a single thing.

"Feifei, it was horrible!

" Yang Ruqin wailed, welting hot tears flowing out of her eyes, her face red, her hair slightly messy, and her body shaking with occasional hiccups.

"A-all they d-do is use me!

" She choked, barely able to speak well with the sobs that shook her body.

"P-people only l-like me because I-I—

" She said something incoherent before crying louder, hugging Feifei for dear life.

Zhao Lifei felt her heart being torn with each passing second. The more her Qinqin cried, the more intense the prickling in her chest was. She swore whoever did this would suffer her wrath.

"There, there, Qinqin, it's going to be alright.

" Zhao Lifei comforted Yang Ruqin by patting her quivering back while she whimpered and hugged her tighter.

"W-why can't people like me for who I am?!

"

"Because most humans are greedy and power hungry by nature.

" Zhao Lifei replied, gently running her hand up and down Yang Ruqin's back.

"Do not let one horrible person ruin you like this. Do not give them the satisfaction.

"

"Fight back, Qinqin. If they insult you once, insult them back with twice the cruelness. You must fight fire with fire.

"

Yang Ruqin bobbed her head at the advice, continuing to bury herself within Zhao Lifei's shoulders.

"But what if—

"

"I have to be honest. Not everyone in this world will like you. As your fame soars beyond the clouds, so will the insulting words, but do not let them pull you down.

"

"To all of the hands desperately grasping at your feet — whether it's to leech fame, wealth, and power off of you, or just to tug you down, kick them all off. Trample their fingers, but do it with dignity and virtue. Do not be physical with them, instead, you should verbally destroy them tenfold the times they have done to you.

"

Yang Ruqin was too kind. There were times she would lash out upon people, but she was a people-pleaser since she was young, she often curbed such behavior. They said the kindest people should be the most feared for their anger would be a hundred times harsher than others; that much was true for her.

Yang Ruqin's cries were subduing now, her brain fully absorbing Zhao Lifei's words.

Zhao Lifei sensed she had stopped crying, thus pulled back. She pulled out a handkerchief from her clutch and wiped Qinqin's damp cheeks before brushing back the messy strands of hair.

"You are as strong as you are kind.

" She whispered, cleaning the smudged makeup off of her.

Yang Ruqin sniffed and slowly nodded her head, fully believing all of Feifei's words. They had never wronged her in the past and she was sure it would remain that way for a very long time.