“Please spare me, Miss Sun…” Meng Jiao begged. She cast away her pride knowing that she was in deep s.h.i.+t, and only Sun Feiyan could offer her salvation.
Unlike Lu Xinyi, she couldn’t gauge Sun Feiyan’s temperament. How was she supposed to know that this time she couldn’t escape death?
“Spare you?” Sun Feiyan pushed her back onto the floor and lifted her right hand that she used to touch Meng Jiao’s face. Ye Xingjie stepped forward and wiped her palm and each finger clean.
“Miss Meng, do you remember why I helped you and sponsored your stay in Silver Leaf?”
Meng Jiao, who looked like a rag doll forgotten by its owner, sobbed and held her swollen face.
“Miss Sun wants me to look after Lu Xinyi and force her to leave the academy…” she answered.
“Then tell me how it ended up Lu Xinyi kicking you out of Silver Leaf instead?!” Sun Feiyan snapped back. She couldn’t believe how dense Meng Jiao was. It was no wonder her cousin, Lu Xinyi, could easily trample this woman.
“It’s my fault. It’s really my fault.” Meng Jiao kowtowed in front of Sun Feiyan until her forehead hurt. Had she known this would happen, she wouldn’t have agreed to Sun Mingai and Sun Qiyan’s requests.
If only Lu Xinyi didn’t survive in the wilderness…
However, thinking of what-if and what should have been done couldn’t save her this time.
“So how do you plan to compensate me for the loss, Miss Meng?” Sun Feiyan took her seat again and regarded Meng Jiao with impatience written on her face.
“Whatever Miss Sun wanted me to do…”
Sun Feiyan scoffed and picked up another wine gla.s.s on the table beside her.
“You’re a liability to me, Miss Meng. Do you know Shen Yi had pushed the case of Lu Xinyi’s disappearance to the authorities? How can I still keep you if you keep giving me problems instead of helping me?”
Meng Jiao opened her mouth in disbelief. President Shen had escalated the case to the authorities? Then, it’s only a matter of time before the police would come knocking on her door.
What should she do now?
Sun Feiyan would surely wouldn’t let Meng Jiao implicate her to this issue. If Chairman Sun found out that she was instigating against Lu Xinyi, she would lose all favors and advantage before she could achieve her goal.
No, this couldn’t be. She wouldn’t allow Meng Jiao to ruin her plans.
“Did you get the larger picture now? If you hadn’t acted impulsively without my permission, do you think problems wouldn’t come after you?”
Meng Jiao crawled and helplessly clutched Sun Feiyan’s long skirt.
“Please, Miss Sun. I know I was wrong. Can you spare me this once and help me? I promise I’ll do the part of our deal. My parents wouldn’t be able to take it.”
Sun Feiyan kicked Meng Jiao’s chest, pus.h.i.+ng the latter away from her.
“Now, you know to beg? I expected more from you, Miss Meng. You truly disappoint me this time.”
Her beauty and elegance that Meng Jiao took pride in were now forgotten. In just one day, she seemed age tremendously. With her hair sticking out and needed to be combed down, her face tainted with tears as she cried helplessly on the floor.
“What to do? What to do?” she kept mumbling to herself.
“You want to save yourself and your family?” Sun Feiyan asked after a long silence between them.
Meng Jiao nodded. She had no choice but to rely now on Sun Feiyan. In her heart, she blamed Sun Mingai and Sun Qiyan for bringing this to her. She gritted her teeth. Even now, the two would surely turn their backs on her and refuse to acknowledge that they were the ones responsible for Lu Xinyi’s disappearance.
“The investigation hasn’t started yet. Now that you aren’t part of the academy, take this time and leave the city. Go somewhere far. Say that you’re going to unwind and find yourself again. I cannot guarantee that Shen Yi wouldn’t be able to find you. I can only stall his plans until you can get away.”
Sun Feiyan didn’t need to explain more, Meng Jiao understood at once what she wanted to happen. Sun Feiyan was giving her a chance to retreat before Shen Yi could get her. She knew what was waiting for her behind the bars. Now that she was kicked out of the academy, her future was uncertain.
Why? All of this was because of that wretched woman, Lu Xinyi. She was like a pest that she couldn’t kill. She lowered her head and hid the hate that glint in her eyes, but it was too late because Sun Feiyan had seen it.
“Then I’ll do what Miss Sun suggested. I will leave the city this night and never return again. If there’s a day that President Shen finds me, rest a.s.sured I wouldn’t implicate Miss Sun on my previous actions.”
“Then go. You know what to do now. You better reflect on your mistakes and never betray me again. Leave.”
Sun Feiyan’s words were final. Meng Jiao slowly lifted herself up and stood. She gave a curt nod to Sun Feiyan before turning around to leave. Three pairs of eyes watched her retreating figure.
“Are you sure you want her to go?” Chen Anqi asked. She didn’t trust Meng Jiao one bit. If Meng Jiao could betray Lu Xinyi, why wouldn’t she do it to Sun Feiyan?
“Of course not,” Sun Feiyan stared down at the wine on her gla.s.s, slowly swirling the liquid within. She had seen the murderous glint on Meng Jiao’s eyes before she left.
How could she give Meng Jiao a chance to kill Lu Xinyi? She needed Lu Xinyi alive—not dead, or else how could she achieve her ultimate goal?
“Then what should we do with her?” Chen Anqi couldn’t predict what her mistress was planning.
“Ye Xingjie,” Sun Feiyan called her bodyguard.
“Yes, Miss Feiyan?”
“Dispose of Meng Jiao immediately,” Sun Feiyan said coldly, “Don’t leave any trace.”
Chen Anqi gasped and covered her mouth. She couldn’t believe her mistress would resort to this solution. Ye Xingjie didn’t respond and kept silence for a few moments.
“Are you certain, Miss Feiyan?” he asked. Making sure they weren’t hallucinating when she said it.
“Yes. Dispose of Meng Jiao tonight. I want to see her in the headlines tomorrow morning.”