The nit-picker seemed to be asking questions and interrupting the press conference intentionally, even when it was not yet time for questions.

Sheng Jiaoyang ignored the reporter and continued, “Last year, my mother and I met an old man by chance. We found out that the old man’s wife and daughter had both passed away. As time went by, we got closer to him, to the point where we became relatives without blood relations. He became my grandfather. Grandfather also had a biological granddaughter who was very close to him. Her name was Sheng Jiaoyang, and Jiaojiao was her nickname, just like mine. Unfortunately, she passed away due to heart failure.”

She took a deep breath before continuing, “Everyone here must be thinking about what possible connections there could be between my grandfather and Sheng Xun after hearing the Sheng Family name. That’s right, Sheng Industrial’s founder, Sheng Xun, used to be my grandfather’s son-in-law. Why did I say ‘used to be’? That’s because Grandfather’s daughter had passed away over a decade ago, and not long after her death, he brought his mistress and illegitimate daughter into the family.”

Everyone in the audience was from the media industry. Hence, they were extremely sensitive towards exclusive news, and they immediately captured the key message from her words.

“Does this mean that Sheng Shiyun is the illegitimate child?”

“So, Sheng Shiyun’s accusation is actually a bogus claim.”

The reporters started whispering amongst themselves.

Sheng Jiaoyang knocked twice on the tabletop and said, “To the person who claims that she is the legitimate child, I am not sure how you are so confident that people will not expose your lies. I dare you to reveal the date of your parents’ marriage. Haha, in just 12 short years of marriage, their child is already an adult. How awesome! If you’re not Sheng Xun’s daughter, then you have no right to say that I’ve snatched your inheritance.”

Her words were directed at Sheng Shiyun.

“Now, to answer the key question of this issue: 'Why did Sheng Xun want me to inherit his assets?' If you must find a reason, I’d say that we’re fated.” After she finished her explanation, she turned and looked at Xu Ping.

Xu Ping understood her intentions immediately, and she said into the microphone, “From here on, we’ll be taking questions from the media. To ensure fairness, we will only take one question from each media outlet. Please consider your question seriously.”

“Ms. Xu Jiaojiao, why would Mr. Sheng leave his assets to you, someone with no blood relations, when he could have left them with his relatives? There are some rumors alleging that you resorted to underhanded means to obtain the inheritance. Could you please give us an explanation?”

“This just shows how disappointed he is with his close relatives.”

“Ms. Xu, there’s one thing you missed earlier. Ms. Sheng Shiyun had complained that you had broken her family apart, and that you caused her and her mother to be chased out of the house. How would you explain that?”

“Tear her family apart? She dared to say that? Since it has come to this, I don’t have to give her any more leeway. Did she mention where her mother is right now? I believe she hadn’t, because she doesn’t dare to. Once the truth is out, she would be put back in her place.”

“Can Ms. Xu share the truth with us then?” the reporter added on quickly.

Sheng Jiaoyang had no intentions of hiding the truth, so she might as well take the opportunity to seek redress.

“Sheng Shiyun’s mother, Liang Xiaohui, is currently being detained and awaiting her sentence. She was involved in a homicide case eleven years ago. Back then, she contacted a group of scumbags and got them to threaten a pregnant woman, with the purpose of getting her to abort her baby. Eventually, the pressure on the pregnant woman was so heavy that she committed suicide by jumping off a building. Liang Xiaohui, in an attempt to kill two birds with one stone, pinned the blame of the incident on Sheng Jiaoyang.”

“And how do I know about this? Sheng Jiaoyang is my grandfather’s biological granddaughter. Hence, Grandfather shared with me about the things that happened to her. Sheng Jiaoyang knew her own body very well. Thus, she wrote a record of everything that happened to her while she was still alive. She even left a will, so that Grandfather could deal with her assets after her passing.”

“When I accompanied Grandfather to take stock of all of her belongings, I found that over ten pieces of jewellery were missing. They were worth up to a total of over a million dollars. Subsequently, I found out that an elder acquainted with Liang Xiaohui was the one who stole the jewellery, and half of the jewellery pieces were being sold on the black market. How could Sheng Shiyun not play any part in this when some of those pieces were seen on her?”

“Those who sit around everyday while thinking that their lives are very pitiful are least worthy of sympathy. Previously, to protect Sheng Xun’s reputation and dignity, I did not open an investigation into their theft. But now, she dares to falsely accuse me of tearing her family apart. Haha!”

A cold glare flashed past Sheng Jiaoyang’s eyes. Since Sheng Shiyun wanted to use the public’s opinion against her, why should she be afraid and hold back when she has so many cards in her hand that she can use against her? Sheng Shiyun was obviously still a fool. If she were in Sheng Shiyun’s shoes, she would never incite trouble. Instead, she would choose to be a good person.

“Is there some hidden relationship between you and Mr. Sheng? Just the word ‘fated’ isn’t good enough to fool us,” the reporter who was intentionally being nit-picky asked again.

Sheng Jiaoyang looked at him, “What are you implying when you say we have a hidden relationship?”

Everyone else looked at the reporter as well. They could all see that he was here to nit-pick.

“Shouldn’t Ms. Xu Jiaojiao be more clear about your relationship with Mr Sheng than me? You claim that you have no blood relations, but you still address Mr. Sheng by his name. I don’t think anyone would address their seniors like that.” He spoke harshly, as though he was unafraid of offending anyone.

Following his words, almost everyone present started thinking in a negative direction. Xu Jiaojiao had mentioned earlier that she did not have any blood ties with Sheng Xun, so just what kind of relationship would make a man give all his inheritance to a young lady?

Sheng Jiaoyang squinted her eyes. However, she was not panicking. She was just put in a rather bad mood.

“I’ll address him in whatever way I like. You may say that I’m being disrespectful, but apart from his seniority, I don’t think he deserves my respect. He probably felt that I closely resemble his late daughter, and thus left his inheritance to me. Alright, next question.”

“You still haven’t answered my question. What is your relationship with him?” the reporter asked in a very sarcastic manner.

Sheng Jiaoyang didn’t display her anger publicly. Instead, she directed a fake smile at the reporter and said, “Sir, I just answered your question. If you have any trouble understanding me, I’d suggest you go back and study more about our extensive and profound chinese language.”

Everyone but the reporter being scorned by Sheng Jiaoyang burst out into laughter. The scorned reporter was livid.

“Alright, next question.” Xu Ping stepped forward to continue the press conference.

“Ms. Xu, since you’ve gained a huge amount of assets, will you still continue your career in the entertainment industry?”

“Although I’ve inherited it, they do not belong to me, I will continue to do what I like.”

“Since you said that those assets do not belong to you, does that mean you plan to return Mr. Sheng’s assets to the Sheng family?”

“I’ve never said that I would return them. I will not use the inheritance on myself, but I will use it for the welfare of the public, and to help more people in need. In time, I will release details of the donation. Please look forward to it.”

One of the reporters started to clap, and soon, everyone joined in the clapping, their eyes filled with appreciation. If they were the ones who got the inheritance, would they ever donate the full sum to help the needy, especially if the inheritance was enough for them to forget about their monetary problems for the rest of their lives?

Everyone got their chance to ask a question, and apart from the nit-picker, everyone else was gentle with their questions.

Those seated at the back had to suffer some losses, since the reporters seated at the front had already asked the questions that people were curious about. Hence, their questions were not very significant.

Finally, it was time for the last reporter to ask her question. Sheng Jiaoyang realized that this journalist was someone who she had met before. She was Journalist Peng, a journalist from a second-rate magazine who had once interviewed her.

Peng Peng stood up and waved her hand at Jiaojiao. “Actually, I did not come for information on the illegitimate daughter incident, as I always believed that Jiaojiao was not the person Sheng Shiyun had described her to be. Jiaojiao is an open and straightforward person who brings positive energy to everyone. That is also the reason why so many people like her.”

She had begun her speech with a lot of flattery. However, even if she was being rather obvious with her compliments, the person who was being complimented would not call her out on it, as they would find it pleasing to the ears.

“Recently, I was watching the episode of 'Journey of Love' that Jiaojiao had participated in. Everyone loved the Team Super Tall pairing, and netizens even gave them the nickname 'Peerless Couple'. Thus, my question is: when does Jiaojiao plan to get married to Mr. Shen?”

Sheng Jiao was stunned for a brief moment, “I’ll… let nature take its course.”

“Lastly, I’d like to ask a question that fans had been curious about. When will Jiaojiao’s latest project 'Double-Faced Lovers' premiere?”

As this was not a question about Sheng Jiaoyang’s personal affair, Xu Ping did not enforce the rule of one question per media outlet.

Sheng Jiaoyang answered, “It will be premiering soon. Please look forward to it.”

“We will end the press conference here. Thank you for all the support!” Xu Ping stood up and announced the end of the press conference.

Sheng Jiaoyang stood up as well, and her bodyguards escorted her as she left through the side door

Soon, the contents from the press conference were uploaded onto the internet by the various media outlets.

In just a short while, those who had supported and sympathized with Sheng Shiyun started defecting. Some even felt that they had been cheated by Sheng Shiyun. Thus, they went on her Weibo to send her some personal attacks. This led Sheng Shiyun to shut off her comments section.

In a dimly lit apartment with drawn curtains, a girl sat on the couch, clearly drunk.

The girl staggered as she stood up and walked toward the balcony. She supported herself by gripping onto the handrail with one hand. Then, using her free hand, she took her mobile phone and slammed it roughly against the handrail while crying out, “Why do all of you believe her?! Are you all blind? Xu Jiaojiao, why can’t you die, just like Sheng Jiaoyang? If you died, Lin Yu would not ignore me, and dad’s things would all be mine. Don’t you dare snatch them away from me!”

Just then a resident from the lower floors shouted out, “Why are you yelling? Are you trying to stop others from sleeping?!”

“You’re all against me. You should all die--” Sheng Shiyun broke down into tears as she plopped down and hugged her knees.

Her loud cries woke everyone up, and as the lights of the neighbouring apartments flickered on one by one, more and more abuses were hurled at her.