Inside the grand living room of the Feng Estate, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Feng Ju paced the floor like a trapped animal, his expensive shoes thudding against the marble.
Feng Qian sat rigidly on the sofa, her nails digging into her palms.
Madam Lin stood by the window, her face unreadable but her mind racing.
"You're telling me," Madam Lin said slowly, her voice dangerously calm, "that Li Yan — Li Yan! — personally defended Xiao Xiao?"
Feng Ju gritted his teeth. "Not just defended her. He humiliated us. Publicly."
Feng Qian shivered, remembering the coldness in Li Yan's eyes.
He hadn't even treated them like threats.
More like… flies.
"This is bad," Feng Qian hissed. "If he starts helping her… Grandfather might side with her even more!"
Madam Lin turned sharply. "Enough whining. We still have the banquet."
Feng Ju's eyes flickered. "The birthday banquet?"
"Yes."
Madam Lin's lips curved into a thin, poisonous smile.
"We'll be hosting it for Feng Yichen, as a grand show of 'family unity.'"
Her voice dripped with false sweetness.
"But underneath the glitter, we'll make sure Xiao Xiao is exposed. Publicly disgraced. Helpless. She'll never recover her reputation."
Feng Qian's heart beat faster with excitement. "How?"
Madam Lin's eyes gleamed.
"We'll let her destroy herself."
She leaned closer, whispering darkly, "With the right rumors, the right evidence... even Li Yan won't be able to protect her."
Feng Ju smirked. "Good. Let her taste real humiliation."
Across the city, unaware of their plotting—or perhaps already expecting it—Feng Xiao Xiao sat by her brother's bedside, scrolling through the threatening message again.
She traced the screen lazily with one finger.
You want to play?
Fine.
She smiled—a slow, terrifying smile.
At the banquet, it wouldn't be her who was destroyed.
It would be them.