Little Miss Witch: Revenge of the Tainted Angel

Chapter 153 - Grievances Of A Wife (1)

Li Chuntao remained silent in the corner and busied herself peeling an apple while Mu Jianyu talked to his mother, occasionally asking her a question once in a while. She let them think that she was being reserved and shy at not being able to remember anything about her mother-in-law.

"Ying, I think you've peeled enough apples for mother. Thank you," Mu Jianyu went to her and took the peeling knife from her hands and set aside the apples she peeled and sliced. 

"I didn't know you're so good at this, Ying. Even the peels are the same size and thickness," he teased as he picked up peel of the apple which was almost translucent with his fingers. 

Li Chuntao blinked at him and smiled. Ah, she almost overdid it. Thankfully, Mu Jianyu didn't find it suspicious that the usual clumsy wife he had could now use a knife properly. 

"Why don't you wash your hand and take the flowers with you?" He suggested. 

Li Chuntao bit her inner cheek to stop herself from smiling. Oh, this mother and son were just too obvious. The old woman wanted to talk to him without her around and that's why he was kicking her out for a while. 

"Oh, sure. Give me the vase and the flowers. I'll get Yu Lou to help me with it." She smiled brightly and took the vase from his hands and called for Yu Lou who was stationed just outside, waiting for them. 

Yu Lou took the vase from her while Li Chuntao took the bouquet of flowers Mu Jianyu brought for his mother. They found Su Ling leaning against the wall across the room. 

Li Chuntao closed the door behind her and stood beside it, before gesturing to Yu Lou to place the flowers on the vase herself while she eavesdrops on the conversation between Mu Jianyu and his mother. 

As soon as Yu Lou's footsteps faded away, the old woman didn't waste time talking to her son. 

"Jianyu, are you sure that woman lost her memories?" Song Xiangrong asked her son. 

Mu Jianyu frowned at how his mother regarded his wife. Ying had never done anything to offend his mother. Why wouldn't his mother accept Ying as her daughter-in-law?

"Mother! How can you call Ying like that? She's not just 'that' woman. She's my wife!" He complained. 

"Jianyu, I don't know what's wrong with you. You could have chosen a woman who is not from a wealthy family. Why would you choose her of all people? Her family would put a leash on you and you'll never be a man in this marriage as long as they have influence over your wife." His mother retorted. 

Li Chuntao crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall next to the door. She could clearly hear the heated argument between mother and son. 

'Oh, so she didn't like Ying because she's a Li? Interesting.'

She had never thought that there would be a mother like Song Xiangrong, who dislikes people born with a silver spoon. Why was it Li Xiuying's fault anyway? The one who sought after her was Mu Jianyu and not the other way around. 

It wasn't her fault if Mu Jianyu fell in love with her and wanted her to become his wife, so why blame Ying now when she didn't do anything wrong but be born from the Li family? It was never a child's fault. They could never choose what kind of parents they would get. 

"Then look at what happened to you? Are you being forced to work at their company? You've been working hard to prove yourself and yet they still look down on you." Song Xiangrong snorted. "That woman couldn't even bear you a child. What kind of woman is she if she couldn't give you one?" 

Li Chuntao's eyes sharpened at those words. Since when did the value of a woman depend on how many children she can produce for her husband? Ying wasn't less of a woman just because she had trouble getting pregnant but how was Song Xiangrong sure that her son wasn't the problem? 

What if the one who had problems was Mu Jianyu and never Ying? Surely this woman hadn't even considered it, because she was already prejudiced against Ying all this time. Song Xiangrong would probably not believe it because she favored her son and would push all the blame on Li Xiuying. 

"Mother, I told you I already left their company. Didn't I tell you I'm a CEO now? Please don't make this hard for Ying. I really love my wife and I want you to learn to at least be civil when she's here." 

Mu Jianyu felt torn between his mother and his wife. His mother had never liked Li Xiuying even before their marriage, but he hoped that with his Ying's kindness, his mother would have at least had a change of heart. 

Song Xiangrong laughed at her son's words. Did he really love Li Xiuying? Was he joking? 

"You say you love her but why did you cheat on her?" She said with a snarky remark. 

Mu Jianyu was rendered speechless at his mother's words. How did she know? 

"How did I know?" Song Xiangrong scoffed and pulled her hand away from his. "Didn't I tell you she came here to meet me? Your wife told me about your affair. Did you know what else she said? She told me she was leaving you if that would make you and I truly happy." 

There was a hint of guilt and remorse in her voice that Li Chuntao picked up. What else did her sister say that day? 

Mu Jianyu's jaws hardened at the thought of his wife making up her mind to truly divorce him, but to think that she would tell these to his mother, was beyond him. 

"She wanted to divorce you back then, so why would you think that she wouldn't divorce you once she remembers everything?" She added.

"Then what did you tell her, Mother?" He was curious to know how his mother treated his wife back then. Was she being hard on Ying? Did Ying cry because of his mother? 

"What did I say?" Song Xiangrong paused and looked at his face, observing his expression. She was still a mother after all. Even if she disapproved of Li Xiuying, if Mu Jianyu really loved her, she would try to stomach anything for his sake. 

"I didn't believe her at first." She started, "then she started to show me pictures of you with your other woman. Li Xiuying never showed me her weakness before that day. She cried." 

Mu Jianyu's guilt rose and gnawed inside of him. He could imagine how hard it was for Ying to admit defeat and how she endured the pain he'd caused her. 

"I know you love her, Jianyu. That's why I couldn't believe her. When she proved to me how you betrayed her, I hoped that it was a lapse of judgement on your part. That eventually, you'd come back to her." 

That was what he was doing right now, Mu Jianyu quietly agreed. When his mind became clear after Ying's accident, he finally realized how much he still loved his wife. 

"I told her to wait and to give you a chance, but she said that the other woman got pregnant and you've successfully destroyed your marriage with her,"