You've crossed my bottom line.

Xu Xiaoman was so furious she nearly spat blood.

"You... you all teamed up with Lin Xuan to deceive my sister! What did Lin Xuan promise you?" Xu Xiaoman trembled all over.

"Sister, these people have all been bribed by Lin Xuan!" Xu Xiaoman cried out in frustration. "If you use a bit of tough love on them, they’ll spill the truth!"

Su Hua sneered. "So, all these people can testify that you hit yourself, and then you turned around and framed my Ah Xuan? What exactly are you trying to pull?"

"I... I..." Xu Xiaoman was at a loss for words.

After all, the surveillance footage was gone, and all the servants and bodyguards were siding with Lin Xuan. There was no evidence left to prove her innocence.

Wait—she had an idea!

Xu Xiaoman immediately pointed at the whip lying discarded on the floor. "Sister, Lin Xuan used this to hit me! There must still be his fingerprints all over it. Just test it and you’ll see!"

Butler Wang shook his head.

Even now, the second young miss still couldn’t read the room.

It was obvious—Miss Su was firmly on Lin Xuan’s side. Whatever he said went.

Evidence? Too bad. Miss Su didn’t care to see it.

Just as Butler Wang expected, Su Hua let out a cold laugh. "If I remember correctly, this whip belongs to you, doesn’t it?"

"Sister, it is mine, but Lin Xuan snatched it from me!" Xu Xiaoman desperately explained.

Su Hua remained expressionless. "You’ve trained in martial arts since childhood—you’re even stronger than some of my personal guards. Ah Xuan is so slender and frail. How could he possibly wrestle the whip away from you?"

"Xu Xiaoman, your lies are pathetic."

The bodyguards glanced up at the sky.

Young Master Lin... frail? Miss Su, are you sure about that?

"Sister, he’s just pretending!" Xu Xiaoman frantically argued. "He’s way more skilled in martial arts than I am!"

Against him, she hadn’t stood a chance.

Even she had to admit Lin Xuan was formidable—though still no match for Brother Huo, of course.

In her heart, Brother Huo was the strongest.

Su Hua scoffed. "Do you really think I don’t know my own man?"

Xu Xiaoman was on the verge of tears. "Sister, he’s an expert at putting on an act! The way he behaves in front of you is completely different from how he is with others!"

Su Hua remained unmoved.

Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow.

It was time to put on an even more shameless performance for Xu Xiaoman.

"Hua Bao."

Lin Xuan suddenly stepped in front of Su Hua. "I’m hurt too."

Su Hua’s heart immediately clenched.

"Where are you hurt?" she asked anxiously.

Lin Xuan lifted his pant leg, revealing a faint red mark on his calf.

"Right here," he said, pointing at it.

Xu Xiaoman frowned tightly.

Lin Xuan was hurt? Since when?

She leaned in for a closer look—there was a tiny whip mark on his thigh.

Just a faint red line, nothing more.

The servants: "..."

That "injury" would probably heal on the way to the hospital. Yet here was Young Master Lin, pouting and tattling to Miss Su like it was a big deal.

The servants suddenly remembered Lin Xuan’s earlier words—he wanted Xu Xiaoman to witness firsthand what it meant to be "shamelessly invincible."

"How did this happen?" Su Hua’s eyes brimmed with concern as she examined the mark.

Xu Xiaoman’s eyes nearly bulged out of her skull.

She was covered in wounds from Lin Xuan’s beating, yet her sister hadn’t spared a single word for her.

But Lin Xuan?

One tiny scratch, and Su Hua was beside herself with worry.

What Lin Xuan did next drove Xu Xiaoman to the brink of madness.

Lin Xuan whined, "Hua Bao, Xu Xiaoman doesn’t want me as her brother-in-law, so she tried to 'educate' me. This happened when I dodged her whip."

Of course, it was all a lie.

The mark was from when he’d accidentally hit himself while clumsily handling the whip—he wasn’t used to wielding one.

Xu Xiaoman exploded. "Lin Xuan, you’re lying again! You hit yourself when you were using the whip on me!"

Su Hua’s eyes narrowed.

The air around her turned icy.

Whether Xu Xiaoman’s version was true or not, Ah Xuan had been hurt because of her.

"You started it?" Su Hua’s voice was dangerously soft.

"Sister, I just couldn’t stand his smug face! I only wanted to teach him a lesson!" Xu Xiaoman defended herself.

By now, Su Hua had pieced together the whole story.

Her Ah Xuan never provoked anyone.

Xu Xiaoman must have insulted him, threatened him, even tried to hit him—so he’d retaliated.

Hah—

The man she cherished, the one she couldn’t bear to see wronged... and Xu Xiaoman dared to curse him? Strike him?

How dare she?

Su Hua picked up a rope from the ground.

Xu Xiaoman, thinking her sister was about to avenge her, nearly vibrated with excitement. "Sister, go on! Teach him a lesson!"

"Oh, I will." Su Hua’s beautiful eyes glinted with cold fury.

She raised the whip.

Lin Xuan stood right in front of her.

He didn’t flinch—he knew his Hua Bao would never hurt him.

The servants and bodyguards held their breath.

Butler Wang, meanwhile, was thoroughly enjoying the show.

No denying it—any drama involving Young Master Lin was top-tier entertainment.

"Relax, everyone. Miss Su would never harm Young Master Lin," Butler Wang said casually.

The moment he finished speaking—

Crack!

The whip came down hard, striking flesh with a resounding slap.

"Ahhh—!" A woman’s shrill scream pierced the air.

Everyone froze.

Miss Su had struck the second young miss... not the young master.

Su Hua’s blow was vicious, sending Xu Xiaoman’s tears flying.

"Sister, you hit the wrong person! It’s supposed to be that pretty-boy Lin Xuan, not me!"

Su Hua’s expression darkened further at the words "pretty-boy."

"Oh? Ah Xuan is a pretty-boy?" Her voice was glacial. "Who told you he’s my pretty-boy?"

"He’s my boyfriend. Soon, he’ll be my husband, the father of my children, the man I’ll spend my life with."

Xu Xiaoman’s eyes widened.

Lin Xuan had brainwashed her sister so thoroughly that she already saw him as her future husband!

"And as for you saying he’s after my money?" Su Hua smirked. "I’d be honored."

Money was the one thing she had in abundance.

If Ah Xuan really wanted her wealth, he’d never leave her side.

"Xu Xiaoman, you insulted Ah Xuan, tried to hit him—you’ve crossed a line."

Thanks to Longcheng’s Hongzhi for the explosive flower shower gift!

Thanks to dayodream for the three extra update tokens!

My five-year-old phone finally died, so I had to splurge on a new one. Ugh.

Uu.