Chapter 30: Suspicion

"He never went to West City. So, who exactly is this 'Mr. Qiao' you keep talking about?"

Qiao Yanxin froze, her face etched with utter bewilderment.

"What?! How is that possible? Grandmother, are you telling the truth?"

Grandmother’s words left everyone in the room stunned. Watching the varied expressions of shock on their faces, I felt, for some reason, a flicker of satisfaction.

Well? Now that you know I wasn't in West City, do you feel any regret? Does the memory of what you said about me weigh on your conscience?

I scrutinized every detail on their faces, not letting a single tremor of expression escape me. Seeing them so startled, I suddenly found it rather amusing.

I had been missing for so many days. It would have taken only a single phone call to verify my whereabouts, yet they were unwilling to call or even bother to check. They had simply swallowed Gu Tingchu’s words whole, too lazy to even seek the truth.

These are my fine parents, my fine sister, my fine family. If the public knew of this, they would laugh themselves sick.

Grandmother Qiao looked at the ashen-faced Qiao Yanxin and offered a cold, mirthless smile. "Yanxin, all these days, haven't you felt even a hint of suspicion?"

Qiao Yanxin’s face turned pale. Only now did she begin to recall the various inconsistencies in the process of searching for me.

The truth was, whether it was the videos or the trip to the rental property, she had never actually seen me in person. The figure in the video was blurry, the face unrecognizable, and the neighbors’ accounts only confirmed that a man surnamed Qiao lived there—not necessarily that it was me. She hadn't even shown a photograph to the neighbors for identification before rushing back in a panic.

Hearing Grandmother’s words now, she finally realized how absurdly wrong she had been.

Father Qiao wore a grave expression. "Mother, are you truly certain that Yunzhou never went to West City?"

Hearing this, Grandmother Qiao found it laughable.

"What kind of question is that? He is your son! Do you mean to tell me you have no idea where he went? Did it never cross your mind to investigate, to make a single phone call to show some concern? Or perhaps, you never cared whether he lived or died at all!"

Grandmother’s words tore away the masks of hypocritical virtue worn by Qiao’s parents.

They truly did not care. After all, while I was their child in name, I was, at the end of the day, merely adopted. How could an adopted child ever compare to one of their own blood? As long as Qiao Yanxin was fine, that was all that mattered. As for me, whether I lived or died was of no consequence.

Qiao Yanxin bit her lip. "Grandmother, I will check right now."

She immediately pulled out her phone and dialed Secretary Zhang. "Help me check whether Qiao Yunzhou actually boarded the flight to West City on the day of the wedding!"

Before long, Secretary Zhang called back.

"President Qiao, I’ve just checked. Young Master Qiao did not board the flight; he never passed through security, and naturally, he never got on the plane. I am currently investigating whether he even went to the airport that day, or where exactly he might have gone."

Qiao Yanxin’s face was livid. "Don't just check that time frame—check everything before and after as well!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

After hanging up, Qiao Yanxin felt a sudden sense of collapse. However, this only confirmed that I hadn't gone to West City. It still didn't prove I was missing. Even now, the Qiao family likely believed I had simply run away from home, not that I was missing—or perhaps dead.

Qiao Yanxin sat on a chair, her gaze vacant. After a long while, her eyes refocused, shifting toward Gu Tingchu standing nearby.

"Tingchu..." Qiao Yanxin’s face was filled with disappointment and pain. "Why did you lie to me? Yunzhou never went to West City. Why did you tell me he did?"

Gu Tingchu was taken aback, then, as if he had been prepared all along, his eyes reddened, and he nearly burst into tears.

"Yanxin, I didn’t lie to you. I only told you what I knew. I had no idea Brother Yunzhou hadn't gone to West City! If I had known, why would I have let you go? How could I bear to see you endure such a grueling journey?"

Grandmother, however, refused to believe his nonsense. "You say you didn't lie, but you were the one who provided that video. What was your intention in showing it to everyone? Weren't you trying to lead them astray? You wanted to ruin Yunzhou’s reputation—don't think I can't see through you!"

Gu Tingchu wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, his face a mask of grievance.

"Grandmother Qiao, you’ve truly misunderstood me. I didn't want to frame Brother Yunzhou. A friend sent me that video, and I just thought it looked like him, so I showed it to everyone. I didn't expect everyone to assume it was him. I didn't know it wasn't—I really didn't do it on purpose."

As he spoke, he kept glancing toward Qiao Yanxin.

But Qiao Yanxin did not, as she usually would, pull him up from the floor to comfort him. She simply stood there, staring at him with a gaze full of scrutiny.

I knew that Qiao Yanxin had finally begun to suspect Gu Tingchu. After all, if I hadn't boarded that plane, what was Gu Tingchu’s purpose in doing all this? They had gone to West City to search that rental house based entirely on clues provided by Gu Tingchu.

He wouldn't find it so easy to clear his name now.

Seeing that Qiao Yanxin remained silent, Gu Tingchu began to panic.

"Yanxin, believe me, I truly didn't want to frame Brother Yunzhou. Why would I do that? What possible benefit could it bring me?"

Seeing that no one believed him, Gu Tingchu simply knelt down.

"Uncle, Aunt, Grandmother, and Yanxin... I can swear that I never intended to deceive you. I only saw that Brother Yunzhou was gone and happened to receive some information, so I passed it on. I just wanted to help find him as quickly as possible!"

Grandmother’s expression remained cold and hard, completely unmoved by his pleas.

"Do you think I’ll soften just because you say these things? Speak! Did you have a hand in why Yunzhou left the Qiao family?!"

Gu Tingchu sobbed, unable to utter a coherent sentence.

Grandmother, furious, raised her cane and prepared to strike him. "If you won't speak, I will beat it out of you until you do!"

Just as the cane was about to fall, Father Qiao caught it.

"Mother, Tingchu is not part of our family. What would people say if word got out that you beat him like this?"

Tears welled in Grandmother’s eyes. "He made my Yunzhou disappear, and I’m not even allowed to vent my anger on him?! You know he’s an outsider, yet you protect an outsider over the life and death of your own son? Are you even human?!"