“Why don't you agree to my remarriage?” Lin Wan asked angrily.

“Silly girl. You're so focused on being his weak woman that you've forgotten your status again. You're the head of the Lin Family. And as the head of the family, you can only be a strong woman. How can you be a weak one instead?”

Lin Wan frowned and did not answer Mrs. Hong. Of course, she knew what Mrs. Hong meant. She was the head of the Lin family and indifference and ruthlessness were qualities she must have. Brutality and dictatorial were also something she could not miss. Otherwise, how would she have the power to deter such a huge family?

And her status of being a weak woman would obviously be criticized by the clan. They’d despise her. If this went on for long, disaster would strike. Even if she was willing to step aside and let her position out for someone else, she would not even be alive to continue being a weak woman. In fact, her husband would also be involved in this mess.

“Lin Wan, I won't say more. I’m sure you know very well about the stakes. You can't hide what happened between you and him from the clan. If you act cowardly in your marriage, how can you establish your authority in front of the clan? You have no choice. Even if your heart is not willing to give up, you have to force him to listen to you!”

“I, I...”

“Some people have started to take you lightly because you ran away before this. If your behaviour out there just affirmed their thoughts that you were weak and frail, disaster could strike anytime! I'm not trying to scare you. But things aren’t going too well back there. And everyone is watching every single move of yours. Marriage is a private matter for you and a public matter for the family as well!”

Lin Wan did not say anything. She had already acquiesced to Mrs. Hong’s suggestions. She was not a girl from an ordinary family. Growing up in a big family, she wasn’t in control of many things. Besides, she had already tried to run away from her responsibilities once. But she knew that it was what she needed to do, and she could not hide from it forever.

“Lin Wan, I have thought it over carefully. There are two things that you need to consider carefully and clearly. Don't rush yourself to give me an answer. Just tell me what’s your decision when you have thought it over.”

“What is it?”

“Firstly, to be honest, your character is not suitable to be the head of the family. I suggest for you to hand over the power of looking after the Lin Family to Li Mu. And you can be the nominal head of the family.”

“Sure!” Lin Wan replied without hesitation.

“Be patient. I haven't finished speaking yet. As you know, Li Mu’s personality is so impulsive and prone to extreme acts. Hence, he’s still not able to take on such a heavy responsibility at the moment. He needs some serious coaching from us. Otherwise, we’re sending the Lin family to the depths of hell.”

“How do you plan to coach him then?”

“It’s no rush. I'll tell you when you’ve confirmed to do so. Anyway, I'll move on to the second thing!”

“Alright. Go on!”

“I think it's time for you to confess who you really are. There's no point in hiding it any longer now. I’m sure you know the reason much better than I do. I won't force you. But you’d better think about it yourself.”

Lin Wan went silent for a moment before she nodded and said, “Okay. I will take these two matters into consideration and tell you my decisions later.”

“Sure thing!” Mrs. Hong said happily, “Now let’s move on to you. I’m sure there’s something else you have in mind instead of coming out to chat with me?”

Lin Wan squirmed and said, “Well, I want you to help me figure out a way. How to get rid of He Xiaoyu?”

“That's a little too hard. You and Li Mu are divorced. And they've verbally agreed to get married to each other. Who are you to get rid of her?”

Furious, Lin Wan grabbed a pillow and tore it into pieces in just a few seconds. The silk and cotton inside the pillow spilled all over the floor.

If Li Mu saw this scene, he would be extremely shocked. He might not even be able to tear it apart with his teeth, while his ex-wife easily tore it up with her hands. How strong was she to be able to do so? It seemed that it was not even a problem for her to tear him up.

Mrs. Hong was so angry that she slapped Lin Wan on her buttocks again and complained in a low voice, “Damn! What did the pillow do to you? What am I going to sleep on later now that you’ve torn it up?”

Lin Wan stared wistfully at the guest room. God knew what was going on inside her head.

Mrs. Hong discouraged her, “No bad ideas! That girl is not bad in nature. She has never harmed you although she wants to replace you a lot. She’s competing with you fair and square. And when we’re facing such an opponent, we from the Lin Family must not play dirty tricks. We can't afford to lose our morale!”

“Have you checked? Did she really had nothing to do with that incident?” Lin Wan asked in disbelief.

“Yes. She's so mentally powerful. I almost couldn't control her. But I already know everything I wanted to know.”

At this point, Mrs. Hong sighed and patted the back of Lin Wan's hand.

"She wasn’t lying. Zhou Zijian was a private detective she hired. But she wasn't involved in setting you up the whole time and was so disgusted with Zhou Zijian's plan that she even warned him not to harm you! It's just that your behavior disgusted her so she chose to stand and stare! I think that you shouldn't hold a grudge against her. She didn't do you any wrong!”

Vexed, Lin Wan lowered her head and rubbed the corners of her shirt.

Mrs. Hong reassured her, “What has happened has already happened. Regretting it will not solve the problem. You should focus on thinking of more ways to ease the relationship between you and Li Mu. Lin Wan, I must remind you seriously that although there was a reason for what happened, you must take this as a warning and not do anything like this in the future ever again!”

Lin Wan nodded vigorously, “Mrs. Hong, don't worry. I'll stay true to my words. From now on, no one can ever take advantage of my kindness again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

“Hmph!” Mrs. Hong glanced at her disdainfully, “What about Li Mu? Can't he take advantage of your kindness either? You're too full of it, aren't you?”

“Except for my husband!” Lin Wan hastily added.

Mrs. Hong reached out and pinched her nose. She mocked her in a low voice and asked, “What about those people. Are there any that you’d like to spare?”

After asking this question, Mrs. Hong looked at Lin Wan seriously, her eyes full of expectations.

Without hesitation, Lin Wan said with hatred, “Do what you have to do. Don't let anyone go!”

Her answer was a great relief to Mrs. Hong. This was how the head of the family should act. If she chose to forgive after her marriage was torn apart by them, how could she possibly carry the burden of the family's development with such a weak character?

The two most important qualities of the head of the family were fairness and ruthlessness. Otherwise the clan would not respect her. And no one would obey her either. Each of them would have their own ways. And the family would fall apart sooner or later.

“Great!” Mrs. Hong agreed, “Leave this matter to me. I'll let them know what price they will pay for setting you up, the one and only Miss Lin!”

“Mrs. Hong, there's one thing I find really strange. According to reason, after you dealt with Mr. Gou, he would have warned his disciples and apprentices not to mess with us again. But how is it that Lu Fangliang still had the guts to set me up? Could it be that he's not one of Mr. Gou's people?”

“That's what I don't understand. According to my knowledge, literally all the prominent people in Shanyang City are somehow related to Mr. Gou. Hence Lu Fangliang shouldn’t be an exception. There's something strange about this matter. I'll ask Mr. Gou about it tomorrow.”

“Alright. Unlike that reckless man, Lu Fangliang is considered a figure of renown in Shanyang City. You’ll need to be extra cautious when making a move on him. Inform Mr. Gou in advance too so that he’s prepared beforehand. I don't want to cause unnecessary shocks.”

“Alright. Don't worry Miss Lin. I’ll know what to do.”

“As for Zhou Zijian, I don't know him at all, and have no grudges with him. Why does he want to harm me? You have to find this man as soon as possible. I want to know the secrets he carries and deal with him myself!”

Mrs. Hong knew very well that the person Lin Wan hated the most now was Zhou Zijian, the man who had harmed her multiple times. This man, whom she had never met, had become her number one enemy, and of course, the number one enemy of the Lin Family.

Zhou Zijian was pretty unlucky too. He had been as cautious as possible throughout his career, as he knew very well that there were some people out there which he could not afford to offend.

But in Lin Wan’s case, he misjudged. How could he have known that this seemingly beautiful and soft woman was someone so powerful that he could not afford to offend?

If he had known Lin Wan's true identity, he would not have dared to do that for life! Unfortunately, his ignorance would cause him death.

“And also Zhou Li!” Lin Wan reminded, “I want to know if the person who forced her to lie in the first place was Zhou Zijian. She should be with Wang Shen now. Please ask Mr. Gou to enquire on my behalf when you meet him.”

“Alright. I'll do that.” Mrs. Hong responded.

Immediately afterwards, she said, “There is something fishy about Zhou Zijian. I suspect that there is someone else who is plotting all these behind him, and that he instructed Zhou Zijian to set you up twice.”

“Did He Xiaoyu told you this?”

“Yes. He Xiaoyu hired Zhou Zijian to investigate you. But she didn't ask him to set you up. After you were set up for the first time, He Xiaoyu reached out to Zhou Zijian through the help of the police and asked him why he lied to her. Zhou Zijian's explanation was that he made up all that evidence of you on an affair just to help her get together with Li Mu.”

“Bloody hell. He Xiaoyu deserves to die too!” Lin Wan said with hatred.

“They all deserve to die indeed. But He Xiaoyu cannot die. It’s not because I am soft-hearted. It’s all because of him!”

Mrs. Hong raised her head in the direction of the bedroom and persuaded Lin Wan, “If you don't want to be with Li Mu anymore, then I definitely won't stop you from killing her immediately. Otherwise, this love rival of yours should only be defeated by you, but not killed!”

“I’ll defeat her then. Do I look like I’m scared of her? Mrs. Hong, go on!”

“Well, what happened next was a little fishy. He Xiaoyu let Zhou Zijian off the hook and asked him to continue to keep an eye on you! I didn't expect that Zhou Zijian would set you up once again. And this time using Lu Fangliang as his reason. I think Zhou Zijian was lying. There should be someone else behind all this!”

“No matter who was the mastermind behind Zhou Zijian’s actions, dig them all out. I must revenge them by myself!” Coldly, Lin Wan said without a trace of warmth in her tone.

“Don't worry. They won’t get away. I have already made an arrangement. We’ll split into two groups tomorrow. I will find Mr. Gou and Lin Kun will find Zhou Zijian. Once we catch Zhou Zijian, the truth will be revealed.”

As she said this, Mrs. Hong’s phone vibrated for a few times.

She glanced at it very casually for a few moments and sat up immediately. Nervously, she said, “What the hell!”

“What happened?” Curious, Lin Wan asked.

“Have a look at it yourself!” Mrs. Hong handed her phone to Lin Wan.

The latter looked at her in surprise. It was rare for Mrs. Hong to panic. What the hell happened? She started to feel nervous too.