Zhou Xiaoming was now cornered. His brother-in-law, Zhang Zhongyi, was under control, and he'd heard that Zhou Huai'an had gathered plenty of evidence against him.

Unable to protect Zhang Zhongyi, his only option was to clear his own name—fast.

But over the past two years, he'd done too many things that would easily come to light under scrutiny. So he had planned to trick Li Yunlan into coming. If he couldn't persuade her, he would make her watch what happened to Zhou Xiaohong.

He refused to believe that wouldn't drive Li Yunlan out of her mind. If she went mad, the Zhou family would fall into chaos, and no one would have time to pursue him.

He had manipulated Zhou Xiaohong into bringing Li Yunlan here, but he never expected Lin Xiaoxiao to show up.

Now he had no choice. None of them were leaving today.

He knew he wouldn't make it out of this alive anyway.

Grabbing Li Yunlan's arm, he glared fiercely at Lin Xiaoxiao. "What are you doing here?"

Li Yunlan cried out in pain and anger. "Zhou Xiaoming, what do you think you're doing?"

The gentle, harmless smile was gone from Zhou Xiaoming's face, replaced by a vicious snarl. "What am I doing? You brought this on yourselves!"

Zhou Xiaohong stood frozen, staring at this stranger. "Big Brother?"

Zhou Xiaoming's expression was dark. "Shut up! I'm not your brother—Zhou Huai'an is! I lived with the Zhou family for thirty years, and you cast me aside just like that."

Perched on the wall, Lin Xiaoxiao was struggling to process it all. Had Zhou Xiaoming lost his mind?

What kind of weak, foolish plan was this?

If Zhou Xiaoming was this incompetent, he wasn't even worthy of being Zhou Huai'an's opponent.

Li Yunlan was furious. "Zhou Xiaoming! Let go of me! Have you gone mad?"

Ignoring her, Zhou Xiaoming kept his menacing gaze on Lin Xiaoxiao. "Get down here! Or you'll regret it."

Lin Xiaoxiao thought he was insane—even now, he dared to threaten her!

When she didn't move, Zhou Xiaoming grew uncertain whether Zhou Huai'an was coming. He needed to deal with this quickly.

Dragging Li Yunlan toward the house, he was blocked by Zhou Xiaohong. "What are you doing? Big Brother, have you lost your mind?"

She couldn't believe Zhou Xiaoming would take their mother hostage. Had everything he said been a lie?

Zhou Xiaoming glared at her. "Get out of my way. You saw it yourself—they don't believe a word I say. I was trying to help them, but since they won't listen, why should I bother?"

Terrified, Zhou Xiaohong pleaded, "Big Brother, calm down. There must be some misunderstanding. We can talk this through."

Shoving Li Yunlan toward the door, Zhou Xiaoming sneered, "Let's go inside. Let's see if your precious son comes to save you."

Watching Zhou Xiaoming force Li Yunlan inside, Lin Xiaoxiao knew she had to act—once they were in, it would be too late. But rushing in herself was too risky.

Who knew what traps Zhou Xiaoming had set? She could end up captured too.

Time was critical. Thinking of Li Yunlan's health, she made a split-second decision. "Zhou Xiaoming! Wait."

She climbed down from the wall. "You want me inside? Then let her go. Take me instead."

Li Yunlan shook her head desperately. "Xiaoxiao, run! This is my fault for raising a wolf. Get out of here!"

Suddenly, Zhou Xiaohong lunged at Zhou Xiaoming, grabbing his arm. "Let my mother go!"

Something felt off to Lin Xiaoxiao. She took a cautious step back, considering whether to make a move, when the courtyard gate burst open.

Lin Zihao entered with two others.

Relief washed over Lin Xiaoxiao. She darted behind Lin Zihao. "Zhou Xiaoming's gone crazy."

Lin Zihao glanced at her—quick and clever. "He's not Zhou Xiaoming."

Both Li Yunlan and Zhou Xiaohong stared in shock. How could they have mistaken him? His voice, his face, his height—everything was identical.

Lin Zihao's voice was cold. "Zhang Changlong, let her go. Now. Or no one can save you."

"Zhou Xiaoming"—or rather, Zhang Changlong—jolted, frozen with uncertainty.

Zhou Huai'an entered slowly on his crutches, scanning the courtyard. Seeing Lin Xiaoxiao unharmed, his expression relaxed slightly.

Lin Xiaoxiao hurried to his side, holding his arm. "What's going on?"

Zhou Huai'an's explanation was brief and clear. "The real Zhou Xiaoming is in hiding. This is a double he's kept for three years—trained to imitate his every move, then made up to look like him."

Lin Xiaoxiao was amazed. Did such advanced disguise techniques already exist in this era?

Under pressure from Lin Zihao, Zhang Changlong released Li Yunlan without resistance. He'd been paid by Zhou Xiaoming to obey his orders—including assaulting Zhou Xiaohong if necessary to get her pregnant.

But he still wanted to live. Now that he'd been exposed, there was no point in continuing the charade. He confessed everything.

When Li Yunlan learned that her son Zhou Xiaocheng's death three years ago was also linked to Zhou Xiaoming, she didn't care that this was just a double. She flew at Zhang Changlong, grabbing his hair, hitting and kicking him.

"You monster! Why would you do this? Give me back my son! Give me back my Xiaocheng! You beast! Animal!"

Her hatred was palpable—she wanted to tear him apart.

Zhou Xiaohong was in complete shock. The brother she'd defended so fiercely was a monster in human skin—one who'd even planned to ruin her.

If Lin Xiaoxiao hadn't come, if Lin Zihao and Zhou Huai'an hadn't arrived... would she have been violated?

The thought made her sick. She doubled over, vomiting violently.

Lin Xiaoxiao felt no sympathy for Zhou Xiaohong. She seemed smart, but her poor judgment had nearly destroyed her.

Once Li Yunlan had exhausted her rage, Lin Zihao took Zhang Changlong away.

Lin Xiaoxiao went to Li Yunlan's side. With Zhou Xiaoming's whereabouts still unknown, she couldn't reveal that Zhou Xiaocheng might still be alive.

She held her, comforting her. "Let's go home. We'll get to the truth and avenge Xiaocheng."

Li Yunlan could barely stand, weeping and repeating, "Monster... monster..."

Meanwhile, in Beijing, Zhou Zhennan had spent the past few days investigating. He'd discovered that Zhou Xiaocheng's death was indeed connected to Zhou Xiaoming.

No wonder Zhou Huai'an had asked whether Zhou Xiaoming and Zhou Xiaocheng had been together three years ago.

And how had he responded? With a casual, offhand remark—he hadn't looked deeper.

Zhou Huai'an must have been deeply disappointed, thinking he preferred to smooth things over without seeking justice.

He hadn't explained himself because he wanted to return to Beijing first—to clear out all the connections and influences Zhou Xiaoming had built there over the years, especially within the Hu family, which was riddled with corruption.

He was worried Zhou Huai'an would be at a disadvantage.

But at the time... he had said nothing.