Gu Hanshen's abnormal and distant behavior over the past few days has raised Jiang Rou's alarm to the highest level. Although she doesn't know what the woman named "Lin Wan" has done, she can clearly feel that Gu Hanshen's heart no longer belongs to her completely as it did in the past.
No, she couldn't let this situation continue. Everything she had worked hard for five years could not be destroyed by a woman of unknown origin.
Jiang Rou is well versed in men's psychology. She knows that instead of hysterical questioning, it is better to cleverly play the role of a weak and innocent victim, which can arouse men's desire to protect and guilt.
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon. Jiang Rou did not go shopping or have a SPA as usual, but prepared Gu Hanshen's favorite afternoon tea at home. Exquisite bone china tea sets, hand-baked cranberry cookies, everything was arranged warmly and romantically.
This was the scene that Gu Hanshen saw when he came out of the study. Jiang Rou was wearing a homely beige dress with long hair draped over her shoulders. She was sitting quietly on the sofa, holding a photo album in her hands. The sunlight shone on her through the French windows, making her look like a tranquil oil painting.
"Han Shen, are you done? Come and try the cookies I baked." Jiang Rou raised her head and gave him a gentle smile, but behind that smile, her eyes were red, as if she had just cried.
Gu Hanshen sat down on the sofa opposite her, his eyes falling on the photo album on her lap.
"What are you looking at?" he asked casually.
"Nothing, just... flipping through." Jiang Rou's voice was choked with an imperceptible sob. She closed the album and wanted to put it away, but "accidentally" let a photo slip out.
The photo fell on the carpet, and Gu Hanshen's gaze froze.
It was an old photo, showing two girls with beautiful smiles. One was the bright and beautiful Jiang Wan, and the other was the young and rustic Jiang Rou. It was the only photo of the two sisters together.
"I'm sorry," Jiang Rou hurriedly bent down to pick it up, unable to conceal the tears in her voice any longer, "I didn't mean to see these, it's just... it's just that the weather is so nice today, it reminded me of my sister. If... if she were still here, she would be very happy to see how happy we are now."
As she spoke, tears fell like pearls from a broken string. She didn't cry loudly, but just shed tears silently, her shoulders heaving slightly, and I felt pity for her.
Gu Hanshen's heart softened by the tears. The irritability and suspicion of the past few days seemed to be diluted by this sudden tenderness. He took out a tissue and handed it to her, and his voice became much slower: "It's been so many years, why are you still so sad."
"I can't control myself..." Jiang Rou took the tissue, wiped her tears, and said intermittently, "Han Shen, you know, in the past five years, I have blamed myself every day. I always wonder, if I could stop my sister from drinking and driving that night, would...would everything not have happened?"
She raised her tearful eyes and looked at Gu Hanshen pitifully: "Everyone thinks that I have replaced my sister and lived the life that should have belonged to her. But no one knows how much pain I feel in my heart. My sister's death is a shadow that I will never get rid of in my life. I have nightmares every night, dreaming that she is covered in blood and asks me why I didn't save her ..."
These words were spoken with true feelings and were very touching.
She cleverly portrayed herself as a kind sister who loved her sister deeply but was burdened with heavy shackles for her sister's "crimes". Her words not only cleared her of the suspicion of "occupying the magpie's nest", but also quietly reminded Gu Hanshen that Jiang Wan was a sinner who drove drunk and caused an accident, and she, Jiang Rou, was the innocent victim who needed to be loved and pitied.
Sure enough, the suspicion and indifference in Gu Hanshen's eyes were gradually replaced by heartache and guilt. He took Jiang Rou into his arms and patted her back gently.
"Silly boy, how can you be blamed for this? It was her own mistake, and it has nothing to do with you." Gu Hanshen's voice softened, "You have done well enough. If you hadn't been by my side for the past five years, I might not have been able to hold on."
Hearing this, Jiang Rou buried her face in Gu Hanshen's arms and revealed a smug smile.
But she knew that this was not enough. She wanted to completely dispel Gu Hanshen's thoughts about "Lin Wan".
She raised her head from his arms, pretended to be strong and wiped away her tears, and said, "Han Shen, I know that the company has been busy recently and you are under a lot of pressure. Did the waitress at the dinner a few days ago remind you of your sister? It's okay, you don't have to hide it from me. Your sister... after all, is someone you once loved deeply. It's normal for you to still miss her in your heart."
She was so generous and considerate that Gu Hanshen felt a little guilty.
"Don't let your imagination run wild." He stroked her long hair. "That's just an insignificant person. In my heart, no one can replace you."
"Really?" Jiang Rou's eyes sparkled again.
"Really." Gu Hanshen answered affirmatively.
Jiang Rou finally burst into laughter and snuggled into his arms again.
The crisis of trust brought about by "Lin Wan" seemed to be easily resolved by her superb acting skills.
However, none of them noticed that at the corner of the staircase leading to the second floor in the living room, Gu's mother was standing quietly. She saw and heard everything that had just happened.
She looked at her daughter-in-law, who was crying in her son's arms, and a complex and sharp light flashed in her well-maintained eyes.
Jiang Wan knew very well that Jiang Rou's most powerful weapons were her tears and disguise. To tear off her mask, Gu Hanshen's suspicion alone was not enough. She had to disintegrate Jiang Rou's backers from within, so that the first crack would appear in her wealthy marriage that she was most proud of.
And this breakthrough point is Gu Hanshen's mother, Mrs. Gu—Zhou Peilan.
Zhou Peilan is a typical wealthy lady, shrewd, materialistic, and even more concerned with family tradition and reputation. She agreed to Gu Hanshen marrying Jiang Rou because Jiang Rou looked docile and easy to control, and because the Gu family needed to use this marriage to quell the negative impact of Jiang Wan's hit-and-run and demonstrate the Gu family's "righteousness." But deep down, she may not really like this daughter-in-law who relied on her sister to "get to the top."
What Jiang Wan wanted to do was to let Zhou Peilan see with her own eyes what kind of face her "docile" daughter-in-law really had.
The opportunity will come soon.
Through the backdoor she left behind when she was a temporary worker at the Gu family, Jiang Wan easily gained access to the Gu family's internal surveillance system. She was like a hacker lurking in the dark web, observing everything that happened in the villa without making a sound.
She saw Jiang Rou's sad drama of "missing her deceased sister" in front of Gu Hanshen, and also saw Zhou Peilan's thoughtful expression at the corner of the stairs.
Jiang Wan knew that the time had come.
She needed a recording, a recording that would completely destroy Jiang Rou's image in Zhou Peilan's mind.
She used hacking techniques to implant a micro-eavesdropping software in Jiang Rou's mobile phone. This software will automatically record the conversation between Jiang Rou and a specific contact and send it to a designated email address. That specific contact is Jiang Rou's best friend, a rich girl who is also vain.
Women are often the most defenseless in front of their best friends.
Sure enough, the next day after "performing" the sad drama, Jiang Rou couldn't wait to show off her achievements to her best friends.
Jiang Wan soon received a clear recording in her mailbox.
"...You didn't see how distressed Gu Hanshen was at that time! I just shed a few tears and said a few nonsense about missing my dead sister, and he believed it. Men are so easy to fool." Jiang Rou's voice was full of disdain and complacency.
The best friend agreed, "You are really awesome! But aren't you afraid that he still misses Jiang Wan?"
"He's thinking about her? Haha," Jiang Rou sneered, "He's just thinking about a dead person! How can a dead person compete with a living person like me? Besides, my silly sister was willing to go to jail for him. He feels guilty about her. Isn't it right for him to be nicer to me, his 'substitute'? I'm just taking back everything that belongs to me!"
"What about your mother-in-law? I heard that Madam Gu is not an easy person to deal with."
"Old woman?" Jiang Rou's tone was even more contemptuous. "She accepted me because of the Gu family's reputation. Don't worry, as long as I hold Gu Hanshen firmly and give birth to a son, what else can she do to me? By then, the entire Gu family will be mine!"
The recording ends here.
Every word was filled with calculation, malice, and contempt for the Gu family.
Jiang Wan listened to the recording without any expression on her face. She had known that Jiang Rou was this kind of person, so she was not surprised. Now, she wanted Zhou Peilan to listen carefully too.
She edited the recording and sent it directly to Zhou Peilan's private email address using an anonymous overseas email address.
The title of the email is: "A gift from a friend"
The body of the email contained only one sentence: "Mrs. Gu, do you really understand your daughter-in-law?"
After doing all this, Jiang Wan completely erased all traces of herself and turned off the computer.
She knew that this bomb was enough to trigger a war of some magnitude within the Gu family.
Zhou Peilan received the email in her private yoga studio. She thought it was spam and was about to delete it, but the title made her click on it.
When she put on her headphones and listened to the recording, she froze. The expensive mask on her face seemed unable to hide her instantly livid face.
"Silly sister", "dead person", "old woman"...
These vicious words, like poisoned daggers, stabbed deeply into her heart.
She had always thought that although Jiang Rou came from a poor family, she was pure and kind, and she was deeply in love with Gu Hanshen. But she didn't expect that all this was just an act! This woman who was so docile and well-behaved in front of her was actually so unbearable behind her back!
What she couldn't stand the most was Jiang Rou's calculations and contempt for the Gu family. She actually wanted to control the Gu family by relying on her son!
Zhou Peilan was so angry that she was shaking all over. She wanted to rush downstairs and tear Jiang Rou's hypocritical face apart. But decades of rich life had given her strong self-control. She knew that it would be the stupidest thing to do to get angry directly. She had to remain calm and slowly take back everything she had given to Jiang Rou.
At dinner that day, the atmosphere at the table was extremely strange.
Zhou Peilan did not say a word to Jiang Rou, or even look at her. When Jiang Rou served her soup as usual, she just said calmly, "No, I can do it myself."
The alienation and coldness in that tone made Jiang Rou's heart shudder.
"Mom, are you feeling unwell?" Jiang Rou asked tentatively.
"No." Zhou Peilan said briefly, with no expression on her face.
The meal was tasteless. Jiang Rou could clearly feel that her mother-in-law's attitude towards her had changed 180 degrees. She didn't know what she had done wrong, so she could only look to Gu Hanshen for help.
But Gu Hanshen was also distracted by Lin Wan's matter and didn't notice the undercurrent at the dinner table.
For the first time, Jiang Rou felt isolated and helpless in the Gu family.
And this is just the beginning.
Jiang Wan's revenge had quietly opened the first gap from inside the enemy's strongest fortress.