Chapter 14 - The Evil Step-Mother

Liu Lifen could remember the day she had found out Feng Xuan was going to come back from overseas. She was having a spa day at home. There were cuc.u.mbers on her eyes and a mixture for a face mask that made her skin tight and she had difficulty speaking.

She was in the garden under the shade of a gazebo and had two girls attending to her nails. She had heard her husband's footsteps and she greeted him with a smile. "How are you, dear?"

"Good," Feng Lizhao replied to her. Her husband did not like to speak many words. He had always been quiet and most of the time, let her do all the talking in social events. "I have news."

She gasped. "Did you finally find someone to marry Meilien?" She had been nagging him for months to find a suitable husband for her only child and daughter.

Silence followed and she felt her stomach sinking and anger was building inside her chest. How was it that he had not found a suitable groom for her daughter? They had been married for three years already and her daughter, while working as a model and a soon-to-be actress, had not received one advantageous suitor.

"No," Feng Lizhao answered her after a few beats. "The news is, Xuan is coming home."

She pulled her hand from the maid in a snap. She lifted one cuc.u.mber from her eye. "Xuan? Your daughter?"

"Yes," Feng Lizhao nodded at her. When Liu Lifen first met Feng Lizhao, she thought she reminded him of the man from the KFC bucket less the goatee. He was huge with an outward stomach like he was on a second trimester of pregnancy. Nevertheless, she married him not long after.

"Why is she coming back?"

Then the words she heard next just made her chest felt tight with rage. "She's getting married."

Liu Lifen felt the mask breaking on her skin. It hurt but she did not mind. She sat upright, the other cuc.u.mber falling from her other eye. "To whom?"

Feng Lizhao shook his head. "I canont say for now. You will know at the wedding party."

"What about Meilien? When is she getting married?"

Feng Lizhao's shoulders raised a little. "When we find someone who will marry her."

Liu Lifen's eyes widened. But Feng Lizhao was not someone she could just shout at unlike her previous husband. She was trying to find words to retort but her mouth remained closed.

Seeing there was nothing else following Liu Lifen's question, Feng Lizhao said,"Well, then. I will be upstairs."

Liu Lifen huffed out angrily once she was out of earshot and when Feng Lizhao disappeared in the house, she took a cup of tea and threw it on the ground, heaving heavily. "Clean that!" she shouted to one of the maids.

If Feng Lizhao was not going to find Meilien a groom, she might as well just do it herself.

She knew Feng Xuan already touched down two weeks ago and that ungrateful brat had not once came to her father's house. Eh, Liu Lifen refused to be bothered by Feng Xuan. She had only interacted with her twice, but both times she did not like the girl.

Now, Liu Lifen was busy scanning through business magazines in the living room, looking for the richest ones and looking them up on the internet to know if they have a bachelor son, when a maid in a hurry skidded to a stop on the side.

"Missus, the young miss is home."

"Meilien? Then send her in," she said immediately. Meilien had been up north for a photoshoot in some forest. "I would like to see her."

The maid's voice became quiet. "It's not Ms. Meilien, missus."

Liu Lifen dropped the magazine she was holding. "Feng Xuan?"

The maid's head nodded the slightest and that was what Liu Lifen only needed before rushing to the first floor of the house. In the foyer she saw the girl, greeting the maids.

Feng Xuan managed to tie a silk robe that reached just above her knees and made it look casual. She wore her heels from the night before and brought her little bag with her. Besides, she only stayed in the car, making her feel shameless for a few minutes with the clothes she was wearing.

Feng Xuan tilted her head at the sound of heels clacking against the tiled staircase. "Hello, step-mother," she greeted. Liu Lifen's face looked long. Feng Xuan would say Liu Lifen was beautiful for her age. There were not much visible wrinkles on her skin and her hair was a straight as a ruler, slightly grazing her shoulders.

"Hello, Feng Xuan," the woman said and smiled. "I heard you got married last night."

"I did."

"May I know to whom?"

A sly smile appeared on Feng Xuan's face. "Would you really like to know?"

Liu Lifen gritted her teeth. "Of course."

"Huh," Feng Xuan said. "Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until the wedding party. Father said that it will happen this weekend."

Liu Lifen could feel her blood boiling. Just look at that conniving face. Whom did she get married to? She was even looking at the tabloid websites earlier, trying to fish some news that might reveal who was Feng Xuan's husband. Liu Lifen had to know because she wanted to immediately find a groom for her daughter, someone richer and more handsome.

"I see," she said. "What are you doing here, by the way?"

"I just want to get some stuff from my room."

To this, Liu Lifen smirked. "When we moved here your room was given to Meilien. Your things are in the guest room."

Feng Xuan swallowed her anger and pulled a smile on her face. She knew it would irritate her step-mother more. "It's alright," she said. "I'm just going to get a few things just to make our mansion a little more homy."

To this she left her step-mother on the foyer. She climbed the steps and went into one of the guest rooms. Her things were stuffed in boxes, labeled, and were stacked in the middle of the room. On the bed, most of her clothes were laid down.

She wasn't really looking for anything particular in the home. She took all her things overseas. They would arrive a week later in her new house. She exchanged the silk robe for a knitted dress. She took some more clothes that might fit her in case her baggage might not come this afternoon.

For a few minutes, she inspected the contents of the boxes and took some stuff from there too. When she emerged, she had two boxes in her hands. A maid passed by and helped her bring the boxes to the car.

She went to the living room and stopped at the entryway. Liu Lifen's feet were propped on the glass table. She was reading a business insider magazine. Feng Xuan never thought she would be interested in that kind of stuff. "I'm leaving. I just really wanted to drop by."

Feng Xuan almost gasped when she saw that the huge painting that had once hanged on the wall was now gone. It was a picture of the three of them back when her mother had been alive and well. Why was she even surprised that it was gone? Of course Liu Lifen would have had it removed.

"See you on the weekend, then. Make sure your new husband won't disappoint me."

Feng Xuan's lips pulled a smirk, she had heard from Wang Yimin that Liu Meilien still had not found someone to marry and that there were rumors about Liu Lifen gassing Meilien to young bachelors at parties.

Feng Xuan wanted to be snarky but then, she remembered just how handsome and how nice Qing Chen treated her. How he was so kind and easy to talk to. Her lips softened to a smile. "He won't. He's beyond every girl's dreams. Bye."

Liu Lifen did not bother to say good bye to her step-daughter. Who was that man that was beyond every girl's dreams? Huh, Liu Lifen thought. He must be an old man with an infinite number in his bank—probably one of her husband's colleagues. Maybe a widower, looking for a new wife.

Liu Lifen begun to smile. Yeah, Feng Xuan probably married an old man just like her great-grandmother did.

Brides for sale.