Lin Ru fanned the flames and said, "We're all family here. What belongs to Sister Su naturally belongs to you, Yaohui. But Beiyin said we had no right to take it, and even accused us of trespassing. She's so disrespectful!"
Anger surged in Mu Yaohui. "Mu Beiyin, Su Xingling's estate naturally belongs to me after her death. Lin Ru just took a few things, and you want to hit her? Kneel!"
Mu Beiyin lifted her eyes and glanced at him. "Chairman Mu, are you out of your mind? My mother left a will. What does that have to do with you?"
Mu Yaohui choked with rage. "It's just a few keepsakes. Are you really that stingy?! Qianrou is visiting the Song family. Give her your mom's jewelry!"
Leaning against the doorframe, Mu Beiyin raised an eyebrow. "Mu Qianrou? That illegitimate daughter thinks she's worthy?"
Lin Ru cried like a pear blossom in the rain. "Beiyin, how could you say such hurtful things? Qianrou is your sister! Her happiness is your happiness. Why won't you help her? How did you become like this?"
Furious, Mu Yaohui raised his hand. "Ungrateful girl, I'll beat you to death today!"
Mu Beiyin didn't flinch. She casually waved her phone. "I recorded everything that happened today. Trespassing, helping a mistress steal the rightful wife's inheritance—imagine what will happen if that gets out. Chairman Mu, I suggest you think carefully."
That slap froze mid-air.
Mu Yaohui's blood pressure spiked. "You… you… how dare you…"
"At your age and already stuttering? I suggest you see a doctor soon," Mu Beiyin said coldly.
She asked in a chilly tone, "Chairman Mu, do you want this recording leaked, or will you return my mother's belongings?"
Mu Yaohui's face turned crimson. He never imagined Mu Beiyin had recorded everything!
Seeing the spoils slipping from their grasp, Lin Ru cried out anxiously, "Yaohui, think about Qianrou. How could my daughter have a sister like this…"
Mu Yaohui hesitated, but Mu Beiyin calmly pushed further, provoking him:
"So Chairman Mu has decided, then? I'll just send the recording to Xie Lin…"
"Return the items!" Mu Yaohui snapped.
Lin He was dumbfounded. Those were priceless jewels, and now they had to give them back?
Lin Ru was furious, but she couldn't disobey Mu Yaohui. She sulkily threw the jewelry box on the ground. "So in the end, Beiyin still looks down on me… sob…"
Mu Beiyin ignored them completely. Without sparing a glance at the trio behind her, she turned and went back inside.
She returned the jewelry box to its original place and rummaged through the cabinet for a while. "Uncle Fu, where's the photo album?"
Uncle Fu was startled. "Madam's photo album has always been kept here. No one's touched it—except just now when Ms. Lin…"
Mu Beiyin immediately understood, nearly laughing in disbelief.
She stormed out and blocked the three who were about to leave.
Lin Ru hid behind Mu Yaohui, crying, "Beiyin, we already gave the stuff back. What more do you want?"
Mu Beiyin asked coldly, "Where is my mother's photo album?"
Mu Yaohui snapped impatiently, "Aren't you done yet? What photo album? Who wants some dead woman's album? So unlucky!"
Mu Beiyin narrowed her eyes. "Lin Ru, do you want a slap?"
Startled by Mu Beiyin's intensity, Lin Ru felt a surge of resentment.
This tramp, who relied on the Mu family, should be groveling at her feet. How dare she speak like this!
Still furious, Lin Ru couldn't help herself and taunted, "Photo album? Oh, I remember now. It was small and tattered—I thought it was trash and just burned it."
"Oh, it was your mother's? Well, Yaohui was right—something from a dead person is bad luck. Burning it was the right thing to do."
Mu Beiyin's blood turned to ice. She lunged forward and grabbed Lin Ru by the throat, asking each word through clenched teeth: "You. Burned. It?"
Lin Ru cried out, "Yaohui, help me!"
Mu Yaohui said impatiently, "It was just a few old photos. So what if they're burned!"
Suddenly, Mu Beiyin felt a wave of dizziness. There weren't many photos of her mother left. She hadn't brought them when she returned to the Mu family, knowing it wasn't safe.
But she hadn't expected Lin Ru to come all the way to Baishui Town just to burn them.
Mu Beiyin slowly closed her eyes, then opened them again—her gaze icy and sharp.
"Seems I've been too merciful with you people."
Lin Ru pretended to be understanding. "Beiyin, why let a dead person ruin our relationship? We—ah!"
Mu Beiyin grabbed her head and delivered two sharp slaps.
Lin Ru's head was knocked sideways, red handprints swelling on her face, ruining her carefully applied makeup.
"You bitch! You hit me?!"
Mu Beiyin didn't even glance at her. She shouted, "Uncle Fu, call the police!"
Uncle Fu quickly called the local police station.
Hearing the siren outside, Mu Yaohui's expression darkened. "Mu Beiyin, are you insane? You're calling the police over something so trivial?! All this for a dead woman? I'm telling you, you're my daughter—if I lose face, so do you!"
Mu Beiyin sneered coldly, her eyes chilling. "Chairman Mu, I don't know if I'll lose face, but your actions will be widely known soon enough."
Mu Yaohui almost had a stroke. "You wouldn't dare!"
Just then, the police arrived.
Mu Beiyin turned to them. "I made the call. These two broke into my house and maliciously destroyed my mother's belongings. I have a recording and a witness."
The officers, already briefed, immediately pressed down on Lin He and Lin Ru's shoulders and escorted them to the police car.
Mu Yaohui, furious and panicked, had no choice but to pull strings to get Lin Ru released. "Mu Beiyin, you'll regret this!"
Mu Beiyin slammed the door shut and took a deep breath.
Uncle Fu apologized, "I'm sorry, Beiyin. I didn't protect Madam Xingling's photos."
Mu Beiyin shook her head. "There may be more photo albums scattered elsewhere. Uncle Fu, could you help me look into it?"
Uncle Fu nodded.
After they finished organizing the belongings, he added, "By the way, Beiyin, that person who was investigating you five years ago seems to have traced you to Baishui Town."
Mu Beiyin narrowed her eyes. "Oh? Who leaked my whereabouts?"
"It seems no one did. That person found it out themselves."
Mu Beiyin frowned.
She hadn't wronged anyone. Why was this person so persistent?
"Uncle Fu, please keep an eye out in Baishui Town. If they come asking about me, stall them—and…" Her brow arched slightly. "Help me find out who's behind it."
…
Half an hour later, Mu Beiyin bid Uncle Fu farewell. Just as she stepped out of the courtyard gate, she bumped into a tall man.
She winced and held her forehead. "Sor—"
Before she could finish, her gaze met a pair of pale gray eyes.
Mu Beiyin instinctively took two steps back.
Was she seeing things? Why did he look so much like Huo Shiqing?
Huo Shiqing glanced behind her into the courtyard, his tone calm. "Mrs. Huo, stunned, are you?"