Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

“They dare not move?” Song Wan snorted. “That’s not up to them. I really wanted to kill them.” At the thought of how Li Manni had been poisoning her son, she felt as though someone had gripped her heart. That throbbing and aching pain had almost driven her crazy. The victim was her son—the man who was full of purpose in his life. He had not driven himself mad, which only showed his immense willpower.

If it was someone else, that person would have driven himself crazy by now.

It was like that for her son. Her heart went out to him the more nonchalant he acted and the more he hid his emotions. She knew he was bottling all his emotions up and hiding them. He bore his heartache and shouldered his pain alone. He didn’t deserve this severe punishment no matter what wrong he had done in the past.

As anticipated, the Li family didn’t leave. Song Wan had said some really harsh words to them, but they simply refused to move out. That family had made up their mind to stay, and no amount of beating or scolding would force them out.

Chu Lui opened the door and strode into the house. The television was on, and there was leftover food uncleared from the dining table. Mrs. Li was holding the remote control in her hand when she heard the door open. She nervously threw it away, and it fell onto the floor.

“Chu... Chu Lui...”

Mrs. Li stood up in a hurry. She was so terrified of Chu Lui as though she had seen a ghost.

“Chu Lui, what are you doing here?”

Chu Lui walked over and stood right in front of her. He replied to her in a monotone voice devoid of all emotion. “This is my house. Why can’t I come? But you...” He smirked. “My mom told you to leave. Why are you still here?”

Mrs. Li was speechless and guilty as she faced Chu Lui especially when she knew that he was not the father of her daughter’s baby—her maternal grandchild. It was such a big embarrassment for him to be made a cuckold.

With her guilty conscience and the overwhelming pressure that Chu Lui was giving her, Mrs. Li could feel her pain in her chest again. The devastating pressure was too much for a person to bear.

“Chu Lui, you see...” she stuttered. Right now, there was no air of seniority on her.

“You’re right. I don’t wish to see you.” Chu Lui picked up the remote control on the floor. He pressed a button, and the television screen went black.

“Mrs. Li, take your things and get out of my house now.”

Chu Lui wanted to change everything in the house. They were filthy and needed replacing especially after the Li family had used them. Everything in the house became trash.

“Chu Lui, don’t go too far!” This time, it was Mr. Li. He stormed in from the outside, pointing his finger at Chu Lui as he roared. “No matter what, we are your seniors. How can a junior talk to his seniors like this? Didn’t your parents teach you about manners?

“It is not up to Mr. Li to preach about how my parents brought me up.” Chu Lui narrowed his dark eyes. He walked over to Mrs. Li, took out something, and put it in front of her.

“Mrs. Li, you dropped something.”

With shaking hands, Mrs. Li took the thing that was handed to her.

“A man sent this to me a few days ago. I was hoping that it won’t come in handy, but I think Mrs. Li will like it.” Chu Lui added.

Mrs. Li held the envelope with her trembling hands. There was something in there, but she didn’t know what it was. A sense of crisis washed over Mrs. Li, and she quickly hid the envelope behind her.

Chu Lui left for his study. He came out a few minutes later, went to his car, and drove away. The whole process took less than half an hour. He didn’t speak to the Li family members again. From that moment on, Mr. Li knew Chu Lui was no longer that son-in-law he used to be. Could it really be true that he wasn’t the father of Li Manni’s baby? He had harbored the thought of waiting for the baby to be born and take a paternity test since it was still in its first trimester. Perhaps, everything would be resolved once they had the DNA test. Where there’s life, there’s hope. Even if it turned out that Chu Lui wasn’t the father, they wouldn’t leave this place. They would stand their ground.

He took a very deep breath and went to open his bedroom door, intending to take a rest. When he entered the room, he saw his wife looking at something. Her back was facing him.

“What are you doing?” he suddenly asked. It gave Mrs. Li such a fright that she dropped whatever she was holding.

Those humiliating photos of hers scattered on the floor. Mrs. Li was naked in them, and her wrinkled flesh was totally exposed. There were also a few photos of some men, and they were taken when the men were having sex. The man in the middle of the group was his son, Li Manxuan. The faces of the other men were covered with mosaic except for Li Manxuan’s face which was clear as day. Every expression and action had been captured clearly in the photos. The realistic nature of photos was very high, but these were equivalent to looking at them in real life.

“What have you done?” Mr. Li raised his hand, and a loud slap landed on Mrs. Li’s face. In an instant, her aged face was swollen. The surrounding lighting shone on the photos that were scattered all over the floor. Mrs. Li and Li Manxuan’s faces were on every one of those obscene photos. Mr. Li was utterly embarrassed. Fortunately, there were two people in that room. Otherwise, Mr. Li would have banged his head against the wall due to the embarrassment. He couldn’t afford to shoulder the responsibility of these photos, and neither could he lose them.

Mrs. Li landed her buttocks on the sofa from the impact of Mr. Li’s slap. She wailed as she covered her hand over her face. She stuttered as she tried to explain to her husband. However, what good would that do to them? They had the photos while the negatives were in someone else’s possession. The Li family might be down on their luck now, but they used to be affluent, and many still recognized them. They could only imagine the consequence if the photos were leaked out. Their whole family would drown in the gossip with them as the main topic. Stepping out of their house would be wishful thinking much less starting another business. They would be buried under gossip before they could have the chance to rebuild their lives.

“Why are you still standing here?” He gave her a hard kick in her buttocks. “Get up. Pick up the photos and burn them.”

Then, Mrs. Li started to do as he said clumsily. Each time her fingers touched the photos, she could feel her heart skip a beat. It was unbearable. She picked everything up and burned them all in the kitchen. Her clothes were soaked with her sweat by the time she was done.

“What do we do now?” She moved her face close to her husband. “If anyone finds out, it would be the end for Manxuan and me. With me as the whore and our son selling his butt, we would be the biggest scandal of the century.”