Chapter 482: Furious Rebuke
Chapter 482: Chapter 482: Furious Rebuke
SMACK!
Old Mrs. An slapped An Lizheng hard across the face, then grabbed the nearest cup and hurled it at An Likang.
Startled, An Likang tried to dodge, but he wasn’t fast enough. The cup struck his temple, which immediately reddened.
The cup hit the floor with a sharp CRACK and shattered into pieces.
"Mom, what are you doing?" An Lizheng said, cupping his stinging cheek as he stared at Old Mrs. An. Her return today had been so abrupt it had caught them completely off guard. They certainly hadn’t expected her to show up at the company.
Even though they were in the office, the employees outside could surely hear some of the commotion. ’How could the two of them show their faces now?’
"And you have the nerve to ask me what I’m doing," Old Mrs. An said, furious. "Don’t you know what you’ve done?"
Mrs. Lin, who had followed her in, quickly began rubbing Old Mrs. An’s back. "Ma’am, please mind your health. This much anger will take a toll on you."
"These two animals will be the death of me anyway, so why should I care about my health?" Old Mrs. An allowed Mrs. Lin to help her to the sofa, where she sat and glared at An Lizheng and An Likang.
An Likang clutched his forehead and exchanged a look with An Lizheng before speaking. "Mom, weren’t you visiting Dad? Why are you back so suddenly? How is he?"
The Feng Shui Master hired by the An Family had said that staying by the sea would aid in Mr. An’s recovery. For the past two years, Mr. An, who remained in a coma, had been residing in a beautiful seaside sanatorium in Xiangcheng with top-tier medical care. His condition had shown some slight improvement over that time. While Old Mrs. An lived in the family’s old residence, she would visit the sanatorium periodically and stay for a few days to be with her husband.
Watching her son put on this act, Old Mrs. An felt a pang of sorrow. ’Why can’t the brothers of the An Family just get along in peace and harmony?’
She thought of the way An Zhihan had looked at her, of the scolding she’d received from her cousin, and her heart ached. ’I try so hard to balance all the relationships in this family, but it seems to have so little effect. They all do whatever they want. They’re respectful to my face, but they go right back to their old ways behind my back.’
’I know my husband and I wronged that boy, Zhi Han. For the sake of family peace, we let him suffer an injustice back then, and I’ve been trying my best to make up for it all these years. I thought that out of respect for me and his grandfather, Zhi Han would have let the past go. But with this latest incident, I know this won’t be resolved peacefully.’
The thought that her two sons could do something so stupid made Old Mrs. An seethe with rage. She glared at the An brothers. "Don’t tell me you don’t know what I was doing."
"Mom, why would you say that? We wouldn’t spy on you. What you do is your own business," An Lizheng said hastily.
"Heh!" Old Mrs. An sneered. "Is that so?"
In her younger days, Old Mrs. An had stood beside Mr. An as they dominated the business world; she had always been a formidable woman. Only in recent years had she compromised for the sake of her children. Now, with her commanding presence on full display, both An Lizheng and An Likang dared not meet her eyes. "Mom, please don’t be angry."
"If you want me to stop being angry, then you can stop doing things to make me angry." Old Mrs. An stopped beating around the bush. "Out with it. Why did you send people to harm Zhi Han? The boy is in the mainland; he’s not in your way. What is it? You can’t stand him so much you have to have him killed?"
"Mom, what are you talking about?" An Lizheng quickly interjected. "Why would my brother and I try to harm Zhi Han? Like you said, he’s in the mainland. He’s no threat to us. We have no reason to hurt him."
Besides, the three assassins had already been silenced. With no one left to testify, An Lizheng and An Likang were determined to deny everything to the bitter end. Even if Old Mrs. An suspected them, she couldn’t do anything without proof.
"So you deny it?" Old Mrs. An sneered.
"Mom, you can’t force us to confess to something we didn’t do," An Likang chimed in. "We’re your own sons. How can you suspect us like this?"
"Li Xian was your own brother. Did you spare him back then?" Old Mrs. An shot back, her voice filled with rage.
"Mom, lower your voice," An Lizheng said urgently as his mother’s voice rose. "My brother and I regret what happened back then, we really do. But we’re at the company right now, and there are people around. Can we please discuss this at home?"
Afraid that word of their past deeds would leak out and ruin their reputations, An Lizheng and An Likang tried to appease their mother. "Mom, that was so many years ago. You wouldn’t want people in our social circle gossiping about our family, would you?"
Mr. An and Old Mrs. An cared more about their reputation than anything else—a fact the brothers knew full well. Don’t air your dirty laundry in public, as the saying goes. They were certain that if the family’s honor was at stake, their mother would compromise.
Just as they predicted, Old Mrs. An fell silent for a long moment before saying, "Fine. You’re coming back to the old residence with me right now. And you’re going to explain everything."
The An brothers knew this wasn’t the time to disobey their mother. After giving some instructions to a secretary, they followed Old Mrs. An back to the family’s old residence.
Back at the old residence, Old Mrs. An’s fury had not subsided. "You two. Kneel."
An Lizheng and An Likang exchanged a glance and knelt before Old Mrs. An. "Mom, please calm down. We know we’ve been unfilial, but please don’t be so angry with us. If your health suffers because of this, it would be our fault."
"Oh, so you know you shouldn’t make me angry?" Old Mrs. An snapped. "Then why didn’t you think of that when you went after Li Xian all those years ago? Or this time, when you went after Zhi Han?"
"Mom, what happened with Li Xian... my brother and I were in the wrong," An Likang began, looking utterly aggrieved, as if he were the one who had been terribly wronged. "We shouldn’t have gotten into a fight with our younger brother over something so trivial. We only meant to teach him a lesson, but it ended up costing him and his wife their lives. But this time... you’re saying we tried to harm Zhi Han. We can’t admit to that. We didn’t do it. You can’t just force a confession out of us."
Old Mrs. An’s heart went cold. "Such ’fine elders’ you two are. You know something happened to Zhi Han, and all you can do is deny your involvement. Why haven’t you asked how he is? Whether he was hurt? What’s his condition? Or is it that you already know the outcome, so you don’t even need to pretend to care?"
Old Mrs. An’s words sent a jolt through the An brothers. An Lizheng managed to keep his composure, but a flicker of guilt and panic in An Likang’s eyes gave him away—and Old Mrs. An saw it all.
At that sight, a chill settled deep in Old Mrs. An’s heart. ’It’s just as my cousin and Zhi Han guessed. The ones who ordered the hit were my own two precious sons!’