The Devil who devoured Snow White

The possibility of having another woman was there. The only question was… would that be enough reason for his father to be blackmailed by Bai Keran? For him to be brainwashed to that extent? For him to allow the old man to take control of his every move?

"Your father's relationship with your mother, is it going well?" Lu Mengjie inquired as she looked at him in wonder.

Was it going well? He rarely saw them together but that was only because he was busy as well. How about whenever he was at home? It was all the same. The once 'love' between them was gone. Or at least that was what he thought. Maybe he wasn't able to see the real relationship between them? What if they were just doing their duty as a parent back then that he was not able to notice the distance between the married couple?

"Did they marry out of love?" she continued to ask. She was patient and did not rush him to answer any of the questions she threw at him. She knew how much pressure she was giving him by bombarding him with inquiries that shocked him.

Did they… marry out of love? No, from what he found out, it was less than that. They did not marry out of love. It was one of Bai Keran's arranged marriages for his children. Back then, it was to strengthen the company. Bai Jingye thought. That was always the case for his grandfather, right? He only did what was advantageous for him. He only followed his selfish desires. No one cared other than him… and his favorite daughter, Bai Xiuying.

Lu Mengjie quietly stared at the man who seemed to be in deep thought. He did not answer any of her questions but she knew that he was racking his brain on it.

That's right, they have to know what kind of blackmail the old man was using against his family. Their first target was Bai Jingye's father since according to him, he was the easiest to attack. Not until they learned something about what was going on, they both knew that Bai Keran would continue to have faithful pawns around him.

A sigh was heard, interrupting Lu Mengjie's thoughts. It came from Bai Jingye. He looked so troubled. Guess he was put in a dilemma, huh? Did he seriously never think of the possibility that his parents could be having outside affairs?

Bai Jingye ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "This is bad," he breathed out.

"Of course it is." She leaned forward to rest her chin on her palm. "So, tell me about your parent's relationship. Did they marry out of love?" She asked once again since she never received replies from him.

He answered her this time, "no. They did not."

"Then that only means that there's a higher chance of having a third party," she concluded. "And if Bai Keran knew about this then shouldn't he use this to his advantage? What if you have another sibling out there? If we can find out where your father is keeping them then it will be beneficial for us too. In that way, we can at least snap him out of his 'doll' phase. We already know that both your grandfather and brother are thorough people. It would only be a matter of time before they find out what we are up to. Most importantly, we need to have the upper hand against them."

"Do you think I didn't think of that back then?"

"Then don't tell me that after months of trying to go against your grandfather, you still couldn't find anything to use against him?" She refuted.

"I've been at him for years!" He raised his voice out of frustration. It was Lu Mengjie's first time to see him this uneasy. Who could blame him? The more he tried to dig deeper through his family, the more disappointed he became. He did not have a good family, he knew that. The members were not good people but he was a part of this family and… he wanted to change. 

"I think we should continue this matter in your study." She eyed her son's crib just to make sure that Bai Jingye's short outburst didn't wake him up. To her surprise, she saw the boy awake although it seemed like he didn't mind having two adults talking in the room since he looked so focused on trying to reach out to the colorful toys that were dangling above him.

"Do you think your arrival will only make my grandfather careless? He has years of experience. He has been doing this for so long," Bai Jingye continued, caring less if the woman was distracted by her son.

"And so?" She finally turned her gaze back at him, raising a brow. "That doesn't mean that we can never outwit him. We only need to carefully plan things out. If he is crafty then we need to be craftier. You know how your grandfather thinks, we should use this to our advantage. If not, then we need someone who knows his ways around him. For example… your father."

"Do you think we can pull him to our side?" He looked at her in disbelief.

"As long as we have the right leverage against him, why not?" The side of her lips curled up into a mischievous grin. "He's not the only person in this world who has a brain."

"…" He looked at her with a blank look in his eyes. Did she think that he didn't know that already? It was not like he was doing nothing for years. The people he was against were careful with their schemes but… he couldn't help but agree with what she said. They only needed to outsmart his enemies. 

"There will be a day where all secrets will come to light, Jingye. No matter how dark it is."

"Dead men tell no tales," he said in response.

The side of her lips curled up into a small, knowing smirk. "But they always leave enough clues for others to find out."