We Weren’t Fated, I Just Played My Cards Right - Chapter 21

Jenny seemed oblivious to Liu Mumu’s reaction, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on the man walking ahead.

That voice—she remembered it clearly. It was the lawyer who had come to their house days ago to announce her father’s will.

The conversation between the two men up ahead continued.

“What a shame. Zhan Hongye had substantial assets. If the will had been changed, even without company shares, the inheritance that girl could’ve gotten would’ve been worth hundreds of millions, right?”

The lawyer chuckled vaguely, saying only, “Zhan Huitian treats his sister quite well. There’s really nothing to regret.”

When Zhan Hongye had consulted him, the questions had been rather vague, and no final decision had been made. Now that his employer had passed away and his professional relationship with the Zhan family had ended, there was no harm in casually mentioning it—especially when someone was paying him extra to spread the information. It wasn’t like he was lying, and it was all internal Zhan family business anyway. As an outsider, his only concern was making money.

The man beside him shook his head with a smile. “Even brothers keep clear accounts. Right now, how much could she possibly spend? But once Zhan Huitian gets married and has children, there’s no way he’d give his sister any of that money.”

The lawyer fell silent, clearly agreeing with this assessment.

As the two men gradually walked away, Jenny remained rooted to the spot, watching their retreating figures.

What did hundreds of millions mean? For a young girl who hadn’t even started earning money yet, it was likely more than she could spend in a lifetime.

That money should have been hers. But now, not a single cent of her father’s wealth belonged to her.

Her eldest brother said he would take care of her, but that only meant providing food and shelter. If he truly wanted to care for her, why not give her the money?

A cacophony of thoughts buzzed violently in Jenny’s mind. Without even acknowledging Liu Mumu beside her, she suddenly turned and ran off.

Liu Mumu stayed where she was, making no move to chase after her, instead waiting for Dong Zhenghao to find her.

She had overheard the conversation too. In her view, wealth was something that came and went—if you got it, that was fortunate; if you lost it, that was fate. There was no need to stop striving just because fortune seemed elusive, nor to obsess over lost riches.

Her grandfather had taught her that while they could divine fate, they shouldn’t put complete faith in it.

But not everyone had grown up with such teachings. To miss out on an inheritance worth hundreds of millions—Jenny’s outburst was understandable. It just proved that they were indeed two very different people.

“Where’s that Zhan girl?” Dong Zhenghao asked casually when he arrived to find Liu Mumu alone.

“She left just now.”

Dong Zhenghao looked around disapprovingly. “She just left you here by yourself?”

Liu Mumu shrugged. “Probably in a bad mood. Where’s Aunt Jiang?”

Dong Zhenghao had come alone—Jiang Li wasn’t with him.

“Talking with her family. Arguing about something, I don’t know.” Rare irritation showed on Dong Zhenghao’s face—an expression he seldom displayed in public.

Her biological father usually maintained his public image as carefully as any celebrity.

Dong Zhenghao had good reason to be annoyed. At today’s funeral, besides Jiang Li and her sister Jiang Jia, their parents had also shown up.

Even though the current head of the Zhan family, having just inherited Zhan Hongye’s estate, heartlessly kicked Jiang Jia—his stepmother—out of the house without regard for past affections, she was still Zhan Hongye’s lawfully wedded wife.

With the son-in-law gone, it was only natural for the in-laws to step in.

Dong Zhenghao had always maintained a cold attitude toward Jiang Li’s family. During holidays, he would only send gifts but never visit in person, as he couldn’t stand dealing with them.

Speak of the devil—no sooner had the two mentioned the Jiang family than Jiang Li, her parents, and Jiang Jia approached together.

Though Jiang Li’s face showed no expression, her steps were heavy and quick, as if she were angry.

Walking slightly behind, Jiang Jia held the arm of an elderly woman who appeared to be in her seventies or eighties but was still in good health—likely the mother of the two sisters. On the other side was a man of similar age.

Upon seeing Dong Zhenghao, the elderly couple immediately forced smiles. “We heard Xiao Dong was here today, so we came specifically to greet you.”

Dong Zhenghao gave them a curt nod in acknowledgment, and surprisingly, they didn’t seem bothered by his indifference.

Then the old woman began, “Ah, our Jiajia has had such bad luck. Xiao Zhan was so unfortunate—gone so young. Now Jiajia is left all alone, and we don’t know how she’ll manage.”

As she spoke, her eyes darted toward her eldest daughter.

Jiang Li sneered and retorted bluntly, “She owns several properties. Selling just one would let her live better than most.”

The old woman smacked Jiang Li disapprovingly. “How can you talk about your sister like that? You live in a villa while Jiajia squeezes into a tiny apartment. Is it right for her to rely on selling property to get by?”

Wow, Liu Mumu was utterly fascinated.

After witnessing the Dong family dynamics, she thought no household could shock her anymore—yet today proved her wrong.

Dong Zhenghao remained stone-faced, hands clasped in front of him, silently listening.

Jiang Li’s parents seemed utterly oblivious to his displeasure, continuing their lively chatter despite his silence.

When the old woman noticed Dong Zhenghao’s lack of response, she turned her gaze to Liu Mumu, scrutinizing her with unmistakable hostility.

She then said to Dong Zhenghao, “So this is the child you just found, right? I heard she has quite the temper? Don’t let her bully our Xiao Qi—he’s the only son of the Dong family, after all.”

Dong Zhenghao stayed silent. Of course, he valued his son, but with Liu Mumu present, he didn’t dare show overt favoritism.

His son was important, yes—but he couldn’t afford to offend his daughter!

“Enough, Mom. Can you just stop?” Jiang Li shot a fierce glare at Jiang Jia and cut her mother off.

Even if she disliked Liu Mumu, she never spoke ill of her in front of Dong Zhenghao. Her mother had been intimidated by Jiang Jia and paid no attention to the plight of her eldest daughter.

The old woman didn’t understand her eldest daughter’s feelings. She snorted unhappily, “I’m only doing this for your own good. I also heard from Jiajia that you listened to this girl’s instigation and kicked Jiajia out of your house. Is that true?”

After speaking, she shot Liu Mumu a sidelong glance. “So young, yet so venomous.”

Dong Zhenghao looked at Jiang Li in surprise. He had indeed seen Jiang Jia when he returned home a few days ago, but he hadn’t greeted her from the car and had no idea she’d been driven out.

If this continued, things would escalate beyond control. Unable to blame her parents, Jiang Li could only direct her anger at Jiang Jia.

“Jiang Jia, what nonsense have you been filling Mom and Dad’s heads with all day?”

Jiang Jia crossed her arms, delighted to see Jiang Li being scolded by their parents. “Isn’t what I said the truth? Brother-in-law, I’m not complaining, but a child brought in from outside should still be properly taught. She doesn’t even understand basic manners. You and my sister have been married for so many years—by all rights, I’m her aunt.”

Dong Zhenghao hesitated and glanced at Liu Mumu.

If it had been Dong Yue standing beside him, he could have forced the child to apologize to Jiang Jia.

It wasn’t a big deal—just an apology would settle it. No matter how willful a child was, they shouldn’t be rude to family.

But he didn’t dare make decisions for Liu Mumu so casually.

Unexpectedly, this time, Liu Mumu seemed to have grown more sensible. Faced with Jiang Jia’s accusations, she stepped forward, lowered her head, and said, “I’m sorry. It was all my fault that day. I was ignorant. I hope Auntie… won’t hold it against me.”

Dong Zhenghao and Jiang Li both stared at Liu Mumu in shock.

Jiang Jia was pleased with her attitude and waved her hand magnanimously. “Fine, I won’t stoop to your level.”

Having tattled on Jiang Li in front of their parents and brother-in-law, and having put this little brat in her place, she felt a bit better.

“Alright, Mom and Dad, let’s go home,” Jiang Jia said.

The old woman agreed, but before leaving, she couldn’t resist pulling Jiang Li aside to admonish her. “Your sister has it hard too. You should help her out when you can, understand?”

Jiang Li’s face was cold, and she didn’t respond.

Seeing her silence, the old woman turned to Dong Zhenghao. “Xiao Dong, our family is counting on you.”

She didn’t say “Jiang Li’s family,” but “our family.”

Dong Zhenghao hated hearing this kind of talk the most, but he couldn’t very well lose his temper with the elderly. Resentful, he decided to keep his distance.

Jiang Jia led their parents away. Dong Zhenghao was about to leave too when he noticed Liu Mumu still standing in place.

He thought to himself that the child had been surprisingly sensible today, preserving his dignity as a father and keeping the peace.

Before he could finish feeling relieved, Jiang Jia and her parents had walked a few dozen meters away when she suddenly stepped into a pothole. Her body lurched, her high heel flew off, and her ankle made a sickening crack.

Jiang Jia shrieked and face-planted into the dirt.

The whole sequence happened in one fluid motion.

The scene was eerily familiar. Dong Zhenghao stiffly turned his head to look at his eldest daughter.

Liu Mumu lifted her gaze to meet his, offering a sweet smile. “Does Daddy want to go help?”

Dong Zhenghao’s throat bobbed. “What… happened to her?”

“Nothing much, I just sincerely acknowledged a relative earlier.”

Not everyone was like Dong Zhenghao, immune to her fate. When she deliberately wanted to do something, others would inevitably suffer misfortune—especially those closely connected to her, like her younger brother or aunt.

Dong Zhenghao was speechless for a long while.

This fate was truly vicious—even hearing an apology from her could make someone twist their ankle.

He had clearly underestimated his eldest daughter’s vengeful streak. Now, he was seriously considering whether to buy her a couple of properties in the next few days to smooth over past misunderstandings.

After all, as a family man, he couldn’t afford to take any risks.

“Let’s go.” He pretended not to see his sister-in-law’s sorry state and changed direction.

Jiang Li hesitated, unsure whether to help, but her husband had already left with Liu Mumu in quick strides.

After a brief pause, she hurried after them.

With the Dong family gone, Jiang Li’s parents rushed to pull Jiang Jia up from her face-first fall.

As the farce ended, Mr. Ning, who had been watching from a distance, chuckled and said to Zhan Huitian beside him, “Your stepmother—aside from her looks—really has nothing else worth praising.”

Zhan Huitian remained silent. Now that she had fallen from grace, everyone could see her flaws. Back when she was still Mrs. Zhan, no one would dare speak ill of her.

She was nothing more than a scheming, gold-digging mistress who had clawed her way up by clinging to men.

If Jiang Jia had managed to bear a child, his own position in the Zhan family would have long been usurped.

“Well, I should be going. The Zhan family’s future now rests on you,” Mr. Ning said, patting Zhan Huitian’s shoulder.

Zhan Huitian replied respectfully, “I owe everything I have today to your guidance, Mr. Ning. If you ever need anything, just say the word.”

With that, he handed over a card with both hands.

Mr. Ning accepted it and sighed, “Ah, five years have passed in the blink of an eye. Back then, when you came to me because you didn’t want your stepmother to have a child, you were still an impulsive young man who acted without thinking. Now, you’re already running a company—far more capable than your father ever was.”

Zhan Huitian clenched his teeth and muttered after a pause, “He was a madman.”

After learning from Mr. Ning what Zhan Hongye had done, he could no longer look at the father he had once respected the same way.

Mr. Ning smiled. “A man who loses his reason will drag everyone down into the abyss with him. I hope you won’t disappoint me.”

“You have my word,” Zhan Huitian vowed.

He wouldn’t become like the deranged Zhan Hongye—expanding his business empire at any cost, harming others, and even turning on his own family.

There was also his biological mother, who had given birth to two children and raised him from childhood.

Despite being unrelated by bl00d, Zhan Hongye had sacrificed his own mother without hesitation, yet spared Jiang Jia, who was right by his side.

This was the reason he hated that woman—her original sin.

After collecting himself, Zhan Huitian drove the car over and took Mr. Ning back to his residence.

As Mr. Ning was about to leave after getting out of the car, Zhan Huitian suddenly called out to him.

He stepped out, retrieved a box from the trunk, inside of which lay a gray vase.

Seeing the vase, Mr. Ning showed a hint of surprise. “Why did you bring this here?”

Avoiding Mr. Ning’s gaze, Zhan Huitian said quietly, “I’ve thought it over. Keeping this at home isn’t safe, and I don’t plan to use it anymore. Please take it back, Mr. Ning.”

After a pause, he continued, “I’ll hold the company together—not like him, not with those filthy methods.”

This wasn’t a decision Zhan Huitian had made on a whim. He had watched his father turn from a man into a monster. Keeping this vase any longer, he feared he might one day become the same.

Mr. Ning took the box. “Very well. When I first gave this to your father, I never imagined it would cause so much trouble. It’s for the best that you don’t use it.”

Relieved that Mr. Ning wasn’t angry with him, Zhan Huitian finally relaxed.

After driving off, Mr. Ning weighed the vase in his hand and muttered to himself, “Tsk, these Zhans… always so troublesome.”

The day after the funeral, Zhan Huitian had already returned to work, spending his time at the company as usual.

Left alone in the empty villa, Jenny picked up a book and flipped through it halfheartedly. Just as she was about to retreat to her room, the doorbell rang.

She went to answer it and found a man in a Zhongshan suit standing outside the gate, holding a box. His face wasn’t unfamiliar—he had attended the funeral the day before, and her elder brother had treated him with great respect.

Seeing Jenny, Mr. Ning smiled warmly. “You must be Jenny. I was a friend of your father’s. I’ve come to return something.”

Still wary, she hesitated before finally opening the gate to let him in.

Mr. Ning didn’t venture further inside, seemingly content to speak with her in the courtyard.

He handed her the box and said, “Your brother left this behind yesterday. Since I was passing by, I thought I’d return it. Please give it to him for me.”

Jenny took the box, finding it unexpectedly heavy. She glanced down curiously before replying, “I will.”

Mr. Ning gave her another smile. “Then I’ll take my leave.”

After he left, Jenny carried the box back inside.

She placed it on the coffee table and opened the lid, revealing the same gray vase inside.

Alongside it were two empty bl00d collection tubes—identical to the ones her father had used that night—tubes that had once held her bl00d.

She lifted the vase and peered inside, spotting a partially burned slip of paper with a birthdate written on it.

She remembered what Liu Mumu had told her—to safeguard her birthdate, because someone could use it to harm her.

What method they might use, Liu Mumu hadn’t said.

Is this how it works? Writing one’s birth details on paper and then burning it?

Is this how her father died?

These past few days, this vase had been constantly carried by her eldest brother. If Mr. Ning hadn’t coincidentally returned it when her brother was away, she might never have gotten the chance to touch it.

Jenny’s fingers lightly brushed against the vase, then immediately recoiled as if shocked.

She picked up the empty bl00d collection tube beside it, feeling a surge of anger rising within her.

Her father was already dead, and this vase had always been in her brother’s custody. There was no need to ask whose bl00d had been used from this tube.

Clearly, her brother had no intention of letting her go.

What should she do? Ask Liu Mumu for help?

No, that wouldn’t work—she would never help her. Jenny instantly dismissed the thought.

Perhaps she could confront her brother? No, no… if he turned hostile, her situation would become truly dangerous.

Then, the lawyer’s words she’d heard at the cemetery yesterday echoed uncontrollably in her mind.

A month ago, her father had wanted to amend his will… originally, he had planned to leave her a substantial inheritance.

If not for her brother, if not for him stealing all of their father’s assets…

Yes, it was her brother!

Jenny felt as if struck by lightning—her brother had killed their father!

She suddenly remembered—her brother had asked for their father’s exact birth time, and she had told him herself. Not long after that, their father died.

His death wasn’t natural. She only knew that there had been no traces of anyone else at the scene. The police had found nothing suspicious so far, meaning the killer would likely never be caught.

But she already knew who it was.

If he could kill his own father, would he really spare her?

Clutching the empty bl00d collection tube, Jenny felt as if she had grasped the courage to burn all bridges.

She didn’t know if Mr. Ning had informed her brother in advance about returning the vase today. Even if he hadn’t, she didn’t have much time left.

Jenny carried the box back to her room, carefully locking the door behind her.

She first hid the vase under her bed, then, feeling uneasy, pulled it out and placed it beneath her desk where her legs could touch it.

Sitting at the desk, she took out a brand-new notebook, tore out a sheet of paper, and picked up a fountain pen.

Holding the pen for several minutes, she finally made up her mind and wrote down the first number.

It took her a full five minutes to write down a simple sequence of numbers. When she finished, she realized with frustration that she had only written down the date and time of birth—not the complete birth details.

So she opened her phone again and searched online for methods to calculate birth horoscopes.

After some difficulty, she found a website that required a paid membership for the calculation service. Without hesitation, she made the payment and entered the numbers she had written down.

After about ten minutes of effort, she finally obtained her elder brother Zhan Huitian’s birth horoscope.

She took a fresh sheet of paper and wrote down the horoscope smoothly this time. Taking the vase out of its box and placing it on the table, she then went downstairs to fetch Zhan Huitian’s lighter from the coffee table. With all preparations complete, she held the lighter in one hand and the paper with the horoscope in the other, setting it alight.

Only when the flames licked at her fingers did Jenny seem to finally feel the burning pain, quickly letting go and tossing the nearly consumed paper into the vase.

Watching the firelight in the vase gradually fade, the expression on her face shifted from nervousness to calm.

For the entire day, Jenny didn’t leave her room, not even to prepare meals.

She simply sat quietly on her bed, waiting.

At nine o’clock in the evening, she saw from her window a car pulling into the yard.

Her heart skipped a beat as she rushed downstairs, flinging the door open.

Zhan Huitian had just parked when he saw Jenny running out, which surprised him. “Why did you come out without shoes?” he asked.

As Zhan Huitian approached, Jenny stiffly took two steps back, her voice trembling slightly, “I forgot in my hurry.”

“Go put your shoes on,” Zhan Huitian said, brushing off her odd behavior as he headed straight inside. Exhausted from a long day at work, he had no energy to pay her any mind.

It had failed.

Standing at the doorway, Jenny clenched her fists tightly and glared at Zhan Huitian’s retreating figure.

Or was her previous assumption wrong? Had she made a mistake in the procedure?

What should she do next? Would Zhan Huitian discover what she had done? Did he know the vase was in her possession?

Jenny repeatedly told herself to stay calm. Zhan Huitian likely didn’t know she recognized the vase or understood its purpose. Even if he asked for it back, it wouldn’t matter.

This attempt had failed, but there would be other opportunities.

By bedtime, Zhan Huitian still hadn’t mentioned the vase.

This allowed Jenny’s anxiety to finally ease. Had he forgotten? Or had Mr. Ning neglected to tell him?

Either way, it was a good thing.

But… she needed to figure out how to use the vase properly as soon as possible.