Ming Yue deliberately emphasized the word “that.”

What was her intention?

She understood.

Liu Lai, nestled in Liu Qinxin’s arms, understood even more clearly.

Upon hearing this, Liu Lai felt deeply uncomfortable and quickly shook his head, gritting his teeth: “No, I… I just watched a short video and started shouting along for fun.”

With that, he shot Ming Yue a furious glare, silently vowing to himself: “You son of a bitch! You madman! You scoundrel! Just you wait—someday you’ll pay for what you’ve done tonight! Tenfold!”

“Look, look, see? I told you it wasn’t me, didn’t I? Yet you all refuse to believe it and insist on pinning this whole mess on me. Speechless—utterly speechless. What kind of people are you, this whole family? You’re worse than animals. Why not just stop being human and become dogs instead? Dogs love shit, but I sure don’t!”

Ming Yue brazenly let out her sarcastic curse, then leisurely turned her head, strolled as if nothing were amiss, and slowly made her way toward her bedroom.

Not a single member of the Ming family wore anything but an expression of utter disgust.

Yet no one dared to respond to Ming Yue—or even argue with her.

And why not?

Because they simply didn’t dare.

Only Ming Shuo and Liu Qinxin happened to glance twice at Ming Yue’s retreating figure, their eyes meeting in silent understanding, each harboring their own thoughts.

Ming Yue had already retreated to her room and paid no mind to how others viewed her.

With a forceful slam, she flung the door shut, sending it crashing loudly, then locked it from the inside. Humming softly to herself, she slipped under the covers.

“Ah! What a wonderful day today—truly, truly delightful!”

Ming Yue switched off the light and prepared to sleep.

A notification buzzed on her phone.

She reached over to check—and there was a new WeChat message from Fu Qiancheng: [Yueyue, I know, no matter how much we talk about it, it was all my fault. I’m the one who wronged you, and I’m the one who wronged your family. Whatever price you make me pay, I’m willing to make amends—but letting you go is absolutely out of the question.]

Ming Yue: …

She didn’t reply.

Just like every call and message she’d received from Fu Qiancheng today, she’d read them once and then left them untouched, ignored them completely, letting them sink into oblivion.

But before long, Fu Qiancheng sent another message: [I know my mom said some unkind things to you—I apologize on her behalf.]

Ming Yue still ignored it.

Apologize?

As if!

Ming Yue had no desire to engage further with this man whose mind remained muddled after all these years. She set his messages to “Do Not Disturb” and was about to put down her phone and rest.

But then the unnamed male operative sent yet another message: [Yueyue, there’s something I need to tell you—about that incident back then, I’ve been making amends ever since.]

Suddenly, Ming Yue lost all drowsiness—but she still didn’t respond. Instead, she sat quietly, staring at her phone screen, waiting to see what the man really wanted to say.

Two minutes later, her patience finally paid off.

The unnamed male operative texted her: [Yueyue, after careful investigation, I can confirm that the incident back then was definitely not an accident—not by any stretch of the imagination.]

“So what?”

At last, Ming Yue replied to Fu Qiancheng.

Fu Qiancheng, still lying in bed and struggling against fate, finally managed a faint smile.

Yet when he thought about that past incident—the things he’d done back then, how Ming Yue had stormed out in anger after their huge fight, unilaterally announcing their breakup and disappearing from his life for so many years—his brow furrowed deeply again, and his hand gripping the phone trembled slightly.

It took him quite a while to regain his composure before he could speak to the other end of the line in a calm voice: [So whatever debts I owe, I’ll repay them one by one; and whatever debts others owe you, I’ll help you collect them too. But all I ask is that you give me one more chance.]

“Is this a deal? Or blackmail?”

“Neither.”

“Then what exactly is it?”

End of Chapter 26: It Wasn’t an Accident