C2 Chapter 2

The hands on the clock had already passed 3:00 p.m., and Hee Yu—still being held in the interrogation room—grew darker by the minute.

When she’d left the presidential suite, it was just after 9:00 a.m. The time she’d been stopped at the hotel entrance by a group of officers and taken to the station on suspicion of aggravated assault couldn’t have been later than 10:00 a.m. Which meant that if the accusation didn’t hold up, the most they could keep her in this interrogation room was until before 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.

But from 10:00 a.m. until now, forget lunch—she hadn’t even been given a sip of water.

At that thought, a face flashed through Hee Yu’s mind: pale, beautiful, and poisonous beneath the surface.

Zhuh Qingwen—the woman who’d taken her mother’s place and held her guardianship until she came of age.

If Zhuh Qingwen didn’t have a hand in this, Hee Yu wouldn’t believe it even if you paid her.

She’d assumed the Hee family—if they were going to show up at all, even just to punish her—would wait until close to tomorrow morning. Instead, they came even earlier than she expected… and it was her own father.

It was already past 7:00 p.m., and Hee Yu had to admit the smell drifting from the takeout Hee Zheng brought made her stomach twist with hunger.

“Hungry?” Hee Zheng wore a gentle smile as he slid the container toward her. “I didn’t find out until I got here that they don’t provide meals. I went back out and picked up something you like—pork cutlet.”

He didn’t mention the assault charge at all, looking every bit like a kind, ordinary father.

If, back when she was little—when Zhuh Qingwen worked her like a maid, when a bad mood meant Hee Yu got hit or went hungry—if Hee Zheng had treated her with even a fraction of this warmth, maybe she would’ve felt something for him.

But Hee Yu was an adult now. She knew what was real and what was an act.

She took the food without hesitation. She’d never been the type to punish her own stomach, and she wasn’t about to go hungry just because the person in front of her made her sick.

Tearing open the disposable chopsticks, Hee Yu pressed her lips together, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Maybe you forgot—pork cutlets are Xiaowu’s favorite.”

Hee Zheng and Zhuh Qingwen had two biological daughters: the eldest, Hee Yimo, and the younger, Hee Qianshi.

Yimo was a year younger than Hee Yu; Qianshi was five years younger.

Hee Zheng met Hee Yu’s mother when they were nobodies, the kind of childhood sweethearts who grew up side by side. So he could keep focusing on school and land a high-paying job someday, Hee Yu’s mother worked days on a factory line and stayed up at night doing needlework to help cover expenses, pouring everything she had into supporting Hee Zheng’s future.

But Hee Zheng turned out to be the kind of man who never pays a debt back. After building a career in the state capital through the Zhu family’s connections, he hid the fact that he was married and ran off with Zhuh Qingwen, the Zhu family’s daughter.

Hee Yu’s mother didn’t even get the chance to demand anything for the half a lifetime she’d sacrificed. She worked herself to death. And Hee Yu—the eldest daughter of the legal wife—was suddenly recast as Hee Zheng’s “illegitimate” child, taken in by the Hee Family and turned into their second daughter.

After all, nasty rumors about a woman were easier to swallow than a bigamy charge.

Hee Zheng’s expression stiffened.

All these years, he really had never bothered to learn what Hee Yu liked to eat. He’d only assumed girls liked fried food because his youngest daughter, Hee Qianshi, loved it.

Forcing his face to soften, Hee Zheng said, “That’s on me. What do you like? I’ll go buy it again.”

“No need.” Hee Yu didn’t even look up, focused on the bento in front of her.

Ever since last night—when that old man sat beside her and kept bothering her—she hadn’t gotten a proper meal. After being worn down all night, then skipping breakfast and lunch, her stomach was in full revolt. How was she supposed to be picky now?!

“Fine.” Seeing Hee Yu accept the boxed meal, Hee Zheng visibly relaxed.

Putting on a show of friendliness, he waited until she finished eating before saying, “Last night was a misunderstanding. Your uncle only saw you were drunk and tried to get you settled in a hotel. Who knew you’d be so on guard you’d clock him. Now he’s still in the hospital—doctor says it’s a mild concussion.”

How thoughtful. When she wasn’t drunk enough, they drugged her—what, so she could “sleep better”?

Watching her expression, Hee Zheng went on, “Your mom already brought gifts to your uncle’s place to apologize for you. The problem is, his wife is stubborn as hell and won’t accept it.”

“She’s not my mom,” Hee Yu said flatly.

Hee Yu was sick of playing nice with her biological father. “When can I get out of here?”

Hee Zheng narrowed his eyes and finally dropped the act. “Hand over the deed your mother left you, and this all goes away. You’ll still be my daughter, still part of the Hee family. And when you get married someday, I’ll make sure you have a respectable dowry.”

Hee Yu let out a cold laugh. “In your dreams.”

Out of everyone in the world, only she, Hee Yu, could’ve ended up with a father this shameless.