Chapter 132

Pei Qiaonian looked at Lin Yan with piercing eyes. "Before my mother met that animal, she was just a shop assistant in a remote town. Because Pei Xingzhi was drunk and drugged, he forced himself upon my mother, and that is how I came to be. An unmarried woman who became pregnant, she was subjected to public shaming and had to raise me all on her own. In the society of that time, do you have any idea how much she endured? She never intended to destroy anyone's family. You shouldn't blame everything on a woman who shares your own gender; she was a victim too. It was that animal who was the catalyst for all of this. Don't hate the wrong person."

This was the longest sentence Pei Qiaonian had spoken all evening.

He had laid his past bare, exposing the most sordid chapter of Pei Xingzhi’s life.

Pei’s mother was innocent.

Even if she was timid, and even when she swallowed the bitter fruit of her circumstances rather than reporting the crime.

When she discovered she was pregnant, she couldn't even afford an abortion. Because she was beautiful, she was branded a loose woman for years, pointed at by others for giving birth to a fatherless bastard.

She opened a hair salon in the roughest part of town.

Male customers harassed her constantly, and to make a living, she had to force a smile while being cursed as a slut.

Pei Qiaonian grew up fast.

At eight years old, he was already brandishing a knife to scare away the men who coveted his mother.

Pei’s mother would stroke his head, begging him not to play with dangerous weapons.

Later, the people they encountered became increasingly dangerous. When Pei Qiaonian was fifteen, he nearly killed a man who tried to assault his mother, and she finally realized that she could neither protect her child nor herself.

Beauty in such a chaotic place was nothing more than her grave.

So, she took her son to the Pei family, begging them to take him in. She was willing to leave, but she never expected that once the scandal broke, Lin Yan would be so resolute in divorcing the man.

And that man, in turn, wanted to marry her.

For the sake of her son, she agreed.

But she did not know this was a form of revenge.

After her son nearly died, she had only one wish: she would do anything, as long as Pei Qiaonian remained safe.

Day after day of subservience had made Pei’s mother forget how to look up and meet the eyes of the people who only knew how to order her around.

She wanted to stay in the Pei family, to ensure her son stood on firm ground, believing that as long as they had power, no one would ever be able to bully them again.

Hearing Pei Qiaonian’s words, Pei’s mother felt her shoulders tremble slightly, and tears dripped onto the table.

Her relationship with Pei Qiaonian had deteriorated five years ago.

When he first took charge of the Pei Group, she had been desperate for him to climb higher, so she arranged many social engagements he disliked, including meetings with daughters from various prominent families. She interfered in his social life and restricted his movements, wanting to trap him within the safety she had woven for him.

Yet, it was precisely this that sparked his resentment.

Her relationship with her son grew increasingly distant.

It wasn't until he impulsively married Xu Yunzhuo that her dream of Pei Qiaonian marrying a powerful heiress was thoroughly shattered. Perhaps this was Pei Qiaonian’s answer.

He would rather enter a flash marriage with a stranger than follow her arrangements.

Her son’s defense of her brought a warmth to the depths of her heart.

Lin Yan’s expression grew colder, her hands clenching in frustration. "But why did she have to show up? To make your existence known to everyone? There were so many ways to resolve this, yet she chose the most high-profile one. Her intentions are truly obvious."

She might as well have said that Pei’s mother was plotting to take the Pei family’s money.

Pei Qiaonian chuckled, his brow relaxing as his tone became languid. "Yes, that’s right. We came for the money. After all, who can survive in this world without it? It seems our choice was the right one—the money is here, the company is ours, and now you can get out. Someone, show them the door."