After a few brief words on the phone, the scenes upstairs and downstairs were completely different.

Upstairs, the springtime was warm and cozy.

Downstairs, the cold wind howled bleakly.

As soon as she hung up, Ming Yue continued to lie on the second floor, watching the drama unfold. But the man clutching his temples couldn’t even spare a glance for her upstairs; instead, he barked at the crowd still playing “Eagle Catches Chicks,” “Enough! Stop fooling around! If you keep this up, all of you get out of here!”

The Ming family living room seemed to have hit the pause button—almost everyone froze in place at the same moment, turning to look at Ming Shuo.

Ming Shuo didn’t say much else; he simply instructed Liu Qinxin, “A Qin, take Lai Lai back to your room and make him study hard. If he dares to act like this again, I’ll break his legs.”

“Mm.”

Liu Qinxin nodded and led Liu Lai upstairs. She didn’t ask what had happened with Ming Shuo; instead, she winked at her daughter standing nearby, signaling her to come along too.

Liu Jia stood there in a daze for a moment, not moving right away—as if she still wanted to say something in her defense. But then she saw that her father, Ming Shuo, was already looking at her, his expression far from pleasant. “From now on, you’d better work hard at the company, humbly learn from others, and stop acting like a spoiled rich girl.”

“It’s not me…” She wanted to tell her dad that today’s incident really wasn’t her fault, that it wasn’t her doing. But her father didn’t seem willing to listen; his face was full of impatience. So she could only weakly bite her lip and lower her head, replying, “I know, Dad. I’m going back to my room now.”

Without getting any response from her father, Liu Jia could only slowly follow her mother’s footsteps. But as soon as she brushed past him, two tiny teardrops fell with a soft plop.

Everything that had happened today really wasn’t her fault.

Yet her father still seemed to be blaming her for it all.

Whether it was the tone of his voice or the way he treated her, things were nowhere near as good as before.

But she couldn’t just go crazy and lash out at her father like that madman upstairs, so she could only swallow these bitter tears by herself.

Meanwhile, Ming Xia heard her brother’s shout and suddenly remembered what had happened yesterday. She felt a bit resentful and a bit scared, her eyes darting around as she thought about slipping away.

But Ming Shuo beat her to it and called out, “It looks like you’ve got more and more free time these days—you’re even finding ways to pick on your nieces and nephews at home all day long. Since that’s the case, while your arms and legs are still working, go find yourself some kind of job. From now on, don’t expect to get any more pocket money from me.”

“Brother!”

Ming Xia’s head rang loudly, her vision went dark, as if struck by lightning.

Find a job?

Are you serious?

How many years has it been since she last went out to work and earn money? All she does every day is go shopping, buy things, and play around.

Where on earth is she supposed to find a job?

Ma Fengying also thought her son was going too far. Just as she was about to speak up and plead for her daughter, she heard him cut her off: “If you want our family to raise a bunch of useless people who can only eat and do nothing but make money, then go ahead and defend her all you want. Whether they’re older or younger, you can keep raising them—I’m done with it!”

“Shuo…”

“I’ve got other things to do; I’m skipping dinner.” With that, Ming Shuo turned around and walked upstairs, his steps heavy and deliberate.

By the time he reached the second floor, Ming Yue, having finished watching the show, was already dragging her chair toward her room, like an audience member leaving after the performance.

But just then, Ming Shuo called out to her, “You—come with me.”

“What for?”

Ming Yue stopped in her tracks.

Ming Shuo remained silent, his mind filled with the news his assistant had just reported over the phone: “Boss Ming, bad news—there’s a shift in the trending topic online. People are starting to talk about your marriage.”

Naturally, his first reaction was: Ming Yue must have leaked it.

At this particular time and under these circumstances, she was the most likely one to do such a thing.

Yet as he looked into her calm eyes, a flicker of doubt crossed his mind, so he called her over to get a clear explanation.

If it really was her…

“You’re not saying anything? Fine, then forget it. I don’t even want to talk to you right now.”

Ming Yue remained as calm as ever. After waiting a while without getting any response, she continued dragging her chair toward the room.

Of course she knew exactly what he wanted to ask.

It was simply whether those online rumors about him cheating and keeping a mistress were spread by her.

After all, she had just received a call from Jiang Feng, warning her that someone had brought up the issue of Mr. Ming’s infidelity and mistress—but the wording was very subtle, avoiding direct mention of Liu Qinxin and the Liu family. Instead, it was vague and deliberately misleading, with unclear motives but effective results: the topic had already sparked heated debate online, so she should be careful.

End of Chapter 33: Suspicion