The fake heiress loves to act? The max-level boss isn't interested in playing along.

She stared wide-eyed at the recording pen as if it were some kind of monster.

"No...that's not what I said..."

She shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

"Zhou Rong fabricated this! She framed me!"

"How could Zhou Rong, a high school student, have the ability to forge a recording?"

Officer Li turned off the recorder.

"Fu Chaochao, confess and you'll be treated leniently. If you tell the truth now, you can still try to get lenient treatment."

A long silence.

The only sound in the interrogation room was Fu Chaochao's suppressed sobs.

In the observation room, Su Yurou collapsed into Fu Xiao's arms, sobbing, "Old Fu... how could this happen... how could our Chaochao have become like this?"

Fu Xiao held his wife, his eyes fixed on his adopted daughter behind the glass.

He watched her go from crying to silence.

From panic to... an eerie calm.

A feeling of unfamiliarity settled over me.

He suddenly realized that they didn't understand their daughter at all.

Then, Fu Chaochao raised her head.

She wiped away her tears and tidied her hair.

He even... smiled.

That smile was familiar; it was the gentle, sweet smile she often wore at home.

But at this moment, under the cold light of the interrogation room,

That smile looked particularly eerie.

"Officer,"

Her voice suddenly calmed down. "Can I speak with my parents alone for a few minutes?"

Officer Li frowned: "This is not in accordance with regulations."

Just a few words.

Fu Chaochao looked at him, her eyes revealing a maturity beyond her years.

"After you finished speaking... I confessed everything."

Officer Li exchanged a glance with his colleague, and finally nodded: "Five minutes."

Fu Chaochao was taken to the reception room.

Fu Xiao and Su Yurou were already waiting there.

As soon as the door closed, Su Yurou rushed over and hugged her: "Chaochao... tell Mommy, none of that is true... right? Why did you do that? Why?"

Fu Chaochao didn't hug her back, but just stood there quietly.

After a few seconds, she gently pushed Su Yurou away.

"Mom, I'm sorry," she said.

Su Yurou was stunned.

Fu Chaochao looked at Fu Xiao, then at Su Yurou.

She still had that gentle smile on her face: "Those words... were mine. The money was mine. I was the one who found the person."

"Why...why?"

Su Yurou's voice trembled.

Why?

Fu Chaochao tilted her head, as if pondering an interesting question.

"Because she shouldn't have come back."

Her voice was very soft, and her eyes were veiled in a dark mist.

"This family was fine before: Dad, Mom, my eldest brother, my second brother, and me."

We are a family of five, so happy. Why did she come back?

Why break all of this?

"Just because she has the blood of the Fu family?"

Fu Chaochao laughed, a laugh tinged with sarcasm.

"And what about me? I've called you Mom and Dad for over a decade, I've been with you for over a decade, just because we're not related by blood, does that mean I'm not family?"

Fu Xiao's throat tightened: "Chao Chao, we never said you weren't our daughter..."

"But that's what you really think!"

Fu Chaochao suddenly became agitated, "Ever since she came back, the way you all look at her has changed!"

Her eldest brother is protecting her, Dad, you're protecting her too, even her second brother… her second brother is starting to waver, Mom, Mom, aren't you proud of her too!?

"No, I didn't!"

Su Yurou shook her head, crying, "You will always be the best, the best daughter in my heart. I am so proud of you."

"No? You don't have any?"

Fu Chaochao stared at Su Yurou, her eyes filled with sorrow: "Mom, Steinberg chose Fu Hua, not me."

You bought her a piano and personally taught her music; I saw it all. You've already made your own comparison in your mind.

Su Yurou opened her mouth, but couldn't say a word.

She did indeed have plans to persuade Fu Hua to enter the halls of art.

Because her talent is innate.

As for Chaochao, she works very hard.

But art is not something you can achieve success through hard work alone.

"I'm scared."

Fu Chaochao lowered her voice, "I'm scared. I've been terrified ever since she came to the Fu family."

The day has finally come. You've all realized that Fu Hua is smarter than me, more capable than me, and more worthy of your love.

She and her mother look like mother and daughter. You'll soon abandon me, just like throwing away an old piece of clothing...

She took a deep breath, and tears streamed down her face again, but this time they weren't faked.

"So I think if she were gone, everything could go back to the way it was before."

I am still your most beloved daughter, and this family is still whole...

Was I wrong? I just wanted to protect my home!

These words were spoken with genuine sincerity.

Even the police officers outside the door fell silent upon hearing this.

But Fu Xiao heard something else.

He looked at Fu Chaochao, the daughter he had raised for over a decade.

She was crying her eyes out, saying, "I just want to protect my home."

But then he remembered the words she had said in the recording: "Kill me or sell me, it's all fine," how cruel.

Protecting what you love shouldn't be done with such cruel methods!

The Fu family doesn't have this kind of ruthless approach in their genes.

Even if you travel to Sichuan, you may be prone to violence and impulsiveness.

He would never do anything to harm Fu Hua.

But Fu Chaochao, of all people, did it.

If it weren't for the recording pen, would she have admitted to all of this?

"Every morning,"

Fu Xiao spoke, his voice hoarse.

"Do you really just... want to protect this family?"

Fu Chaochao was taken aback.

Or perhaps,

Fu Xiao looked at her, "You just want to maintain your position in the Fu family."

"Hold on to your identity as the 'Fu family's heiress,' and hold onto those things... that never truly belonged to you?"

These words were like a knife, piercing straight to the heart.

Fu Chaochao's expression froze instantly.

That feigned weakness, pitifulness, and helplessness

Like a glass mask, it shattered inch by inch.

She stared at Fu Xiao for a very long time.

Then she smiled.

This time it was a genuine laugh.

I laughed so hard that tears came out.

"Dad, you're so smart, no wonder you're a soldier."

She wiped away her tears. "Yes, that's what I want. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"I've given her seventeen years of my life, why should she get everything just because she comes back? Why?"

She looked at Su Yurou: "Mom, what do you think? You raised me for over ten years, you love me the most, are you really willing to... send me to prison?"

Su Yurou trembled all over.

Fu Chaochao slowly knelt down and hugged Su Yurou's legs.

Like when I was a child: "Mom, please save me! I'm still young, I just made a mistake. Please talk to Officer Li and tell him I was tricked by Zhou Rong, okay?"

She looked up, her eyes brimming with tears: "I'm your daughter... How can you bear to see my life ruined?"

Su Yurou looked down at Fu Chaochao; those eyes were soft and complex, unlike her own at all.

Her habitually furrowed brows when she cried, her "pitiful" expression, were exactly the same as mine.

At this moment, Su Yurou's mind was in turmoil.

The door was pushed open.

Officer Li walked in: "It's time."

As Fu Chaochao was being led away, she glanced back.