Cecilia Gu took a step back, her expression dark as she stared at Helen Jiang.
"What are you trying to do?" Cecilia asked warily, keeping her eyes on Helen Jiang. "I've never had any grudge against you. Why do you keep targeting me again and again?"
Cecilia truly couldn't understand it.
She could understand why Lydia Lin and Sylvia Ran would target her.
After all, she had become Charles Yin's wife, hadn't she?
Both of them had complicated feelings for Charles Yin, so it wasn't strange for them to be against her.
But what about Helen Jiang?
She and Charles Yin were only cousins, and not even that close.
Most importantly, Cecilia hadn't seen any sign that Helen Jiang was secretly in love with Charles Yin.
So really, there was no grudge between her and Helen Jiang!
She'd tolerated Helen's provocations more than once.
And now Helen was trying to frame her for something she didn't do?
Was this woman out of her mind?
Paranoid much?
Hearing Cecilia's question, Helen Jiang glared at her and snapped, "Of course there's a grudge! Who told you to have such an infuriating face?"
Cecilia looked completely baffled. "What? What does my face have to do with you?"
"Cecilia, stop pretending! Just because you have the exact same face as Nora Yun, you think my brother will fall for you? Dream on!" Helen Jiang snarled, forcing Cecilia to take another step back.
"What did you say? Fall for me?" Cecilia burst out laughing, as if she'd heard the biggest joke in the world. "Helen Jiang, are you crazy? Last time at home you were spouting nonsense, and now you still haven't learned your lesson? You can slander me all you want, but are you really going to smear your own brother too?"
Cecilia really didn't get it.
Wasn't Helen Jiang supposed to have a brother complex?
How could she say something so damaging to Eric Jiang's reputation?
If word got out, just think how much it would ruin Eric Jiang's name.
"Fine! If you want to prove you're not trying to seduce my brother, then ruin that pretty face of yours!" Helen Jiang suddenly pulled out a sharp fruit knife and closed in on Cecilia. "Let me slash your face, and I'll believe you!"
She had to be crazy!
Cecilia stepped back in shock, wanting to call out for Wendy, but remembered that Mrs. Yin had called her away just moments ago!
"What, trying to call your assistant for help? It's useless! I've already made sure she's out of the way! Cecilia Gu, there's no escape for you today." Helen's voice grew more twisted. "I'm going to ruin that face of yours!"
Cecilia took a deep breath.
How did Helen Jiang become so obsessed?
Wait, she's fixated on my face?
So she doesn't hate me—she hates Nora Yun?
But why would she hate Nora Yun?
Nora Yun was the perfect lady—she barely ever stepped outside, let alone made enemies.
With her personality, it's unlikely she'd ever offend anyone, and she rarely even appeared in front of strangers.
Could it be that Helen Jiang hates Nora Yun because Eric Jiang once pursued her?
How does that even make sense?
Whether Eric Jiang succeeded or not, it's his business. Why would Helen's expression be so twisted over it?
Just how much hatred does it take to twist her face like that?
"I don't get it. My face didn't provoke you, did it?" Cecilia started stalling for time. "If you're going to ruin my face, shouldn't you at least give me a reason?"
Cecilia was backed up against the wall, with nowhere left to go. All she could do was try to buy some time.
She silently prayed that Wendy would hurry over. If Wendy couldn't find her, she'd definitely call!
Right now, all she could do was stall for time—there was nothing else she could try.
"Stop playing dumb! You know your face looks exactly like Nora Yun's, and you keep showing up in front of my brother. What's your motive? Tell me!" Helen Jiang waved the fruit knife dangerously close to Cecilia's face. "Are you trying to use your resemblance to Nora Yun to seduce my brother?"
Cecilia took a deep breath.
First time she'd ever seen a woman so desperate to frame her own brother!
"You're mistaken. Why would I try to seduce your brother? We're family, for one thing, and I would never do something like that. Besides, your brother isn't even my type. More importantly, you know very well that Charles Yin and I are in love, right? My heart already belongs to Charles—why would I even look at another man? You're a woman too—you understand what it's like to love someone, don't you? When you truly love someone, there's no room for anyone else in your heart or eyes." Cecilia quickly calmed herself and replied, "So you're really overthinking things. I have no intention of seducing Eric Jiang, nor do I need to. Charles Yin is every bit as good as Eric Jiang!"
Helen Jiang's eyes flickered, as if Cecilia's words made sense.
But whenever she saw Eric Jiang looking at Cecilia, with that unmistakable tenderness in his eyes, Helen's anger flared up all over again!
"No! Don't try to change the subject! Even if you don't care about my brother, with that face, he'll still fall for you! So the best solution is to ruin your face!" Helen Jiang growled, her voice twisted. "Don't think I haven't noticed—the way my brother looks at you is different!"
Different, my ass!
Cecilia was about ready to lose it!
Helen Jiang really was out of her mind!
"You must be seeing things! No way! I'm just his cousin!" Cecilia denied it flatly. "He's only nice to me because I'm Mrs. Yin! As the eldest son of the Jiang family, of course he treats his cousins well. And besides, he knows I'm Charles Yin's wife—why would he have any other thoughts about me? So you're definitely mistaken!"
"Is that so? Well, mistake or not, I'm still going to ruin that face of yours! Once it's gone, my brother will give up on you, and you'll be safer, won't you? This way, you can clear your name, right?" Helen Jiang said arrogantly.
Cecilia was about to explode with anger!
Helen Jiang wasn't even a true Jiang by blood, but her arrogance was every bit as strong as any real member of the family!
Cecilia's gaze flickered. "Then tell me, why do you hate Nora Yun so much?"
Helen Jiang sneered, "Her? Besides seducing men, what's she got? Campus queen, provincial goddess—it's all crap! Good thing she died young, or I'd have ruined that face of hers too!"
Cecilia's eyes locked onto Helen's hand. If she moved even an inch closer, her face would really be in danger.
This was just insane.
What did Nora Yun's story have to do with her, anyway?
Just because her face looked like Nora Yun's, did she have to deal with all of Nora's old romantic messes?
"My brother was bewitched by that witch, do you get it, Cecilia? Do you have any idea how much it hurts? You have no clue! Every time my brother mentions Nora Yun, his eyes light up—he can't stop talking about how wonderful she is! And then he ignores me completely! Why? What's so great about that Nora Yun? She's just got a seductive face and is always sick! Why is my brother so obsessed with her?" Helen Jiang screamed wildly. "I'm the one who loves him the most! That woman is nothing!"
Cecilia stared at Helen Jiang in shock.
What had she just heard...?
"Why can't my brother see how good I am? Why does he have to like that woman?" Helen Jiang shouted. "I've loved him for so many years—why does he always fall for someone else?"
Helen Jiang screamed, and the knife suddenly sliced Cecilia's ear.
A thin line of blood trickled down.
Cecilia didn't dare move anymore, afraid Helen might get even more worked up and really go for her face.
She didn't care about her own face—what worried her was Helen Jiang might hurt her child!
"So you had your maid bring me here, just to frame me? But have you thought about this? If you ruin my face, how will you explain it to your family? I'm a guest here, after all. If you treat me like this, how will you explain it to the Yin family?" Cecilia forced herself to stay calm and pressed on, "If Eric Jiang finds out you slashed my face, what will he think of you? You need to calm down. Let's talk this through."
"Save it! You think I didn't plan for this?" Helen Jiang suddenly slapped herself hard across the face.
She really didn't hold back with that slap.
Her five-finger mark was clearly visible!
"You drugged me and hit me, so I defended myself! In the chaos, I grabbed the fruit knife and slashed your face! Satisfied with that story, cousin-in-law?" Helen Jiang looked at Cecilia with a vicious glare. "This way, I can perfectly explain why I fought back, and Eric will finally give up on you! Cousin-in-law, don't you think that's a great plan?"
"You're really going to frame me?" Cecilia stared at Helen Jiang in disbelief.
"That's right, today I'm framing you!" Helen Jiang laughed, her face twisted and terrifying with that red handprint.
She really was willing to go that far!
Suddenly, Cecilia had a flash of insight. She asked softly, "When did you fall in love with Eric Jiang?"
Helen Jiang's eyes flickered with panic. "What are you talking about?"
"Your wild jealousy of Nora Yun, your obsession with ruining my face—it's all because you fell for Eric Jiang, isn't it?" Cecilia said softly. "You're the adopted daughter of the Jiang family, not the real eldest daughter. You grew up with Eric Jiang, and he's such an outstanding man—it's no surprise you fell for him. But does Eric know?"