Chapter 62 Driven to Despair

Once Xia Rusheng made her decision, Xia Rui personally went to the school to pay the fees and complete the registration procedures.

Upon hearing that Xia Xia was going to attend the same school and major as her, Xia Yu immediately called Shen Rou, who studied at the same institution. Since the two of them had suffered a humiliating defeat at Xia Xia's hands last time, this presented the perfect opportunity for revenge.

"Xiao Yu, are you serious?" Shen Rou had been harboring this resentment for a long time, but lacking any opportunity to get back at Xia Xia, she sounded even more excited than Xia Yu upon hearing the news.

"Of course, and she'll even be in our class. Our chance has finally arrived," Xia Yu replied with a smug smile, as if the school were entirely under their control.

Shen Rou echoed her sentiments over the phone. Bouncing ideas back and forth, the two quickly hatched a counterplan. Finally, Shen Rou asked with a trace of hesitation, "Are you sure this will really put her in her place?"

Xia Yu answered with absolute certainty, "Of course. She grew up attending ordinary schools in other provinces and has never played the piano in her life. This time, we will definitely make a fool of her at school."

"Alright then, I'll trust you one last time."

After hanging up, Xia Yu was still basking in the residual thrill of excitement, but soon, another distressing problem plunged her into gloom: What was she going to do about the 1.7 million?

Her mother truly had no money left, and neither her father nor her grandmother showed the slightest inclination to help. In this household, the only person she could turn to now was her aunt.

Xia Yu checked herself in the mirror, trying to make herself look as pitiful as possible, before heading to Tan Xue's room. Tan Xue was currently cramming knowledge about real estate. Seeing Xia Yu suddenly barge in, her expression darkened slightly as she hurriedly covered her books beneath a stack of fashion magazines.

"Xiao Yu, is something the matter?"

With reddened eyes, Xia Yu rushed straight over, threw her arms around Tan Xue, and pleaded, "Auntie, you have to save me this time! You saw it this morning—Dad is forcing me to return the money to my sister today. I really don't have it. Could you please go put in a good word for me?"

Tan Xue knitted her brows. As an outsider, what qualification did she have to intercede? Besides, on her very first day in this house, the matriarch had warned her not to meddle in the family affairs of the Xia family.

"Xiao Yu, it's not that your auntie won't help you, but that I can't. Your father has set his mind on making you face the consequences. If I try to intercede, it will only have the opposite effect. Listen to your auntie, just take your punishment this time. I don't have much money on me, but I can lend you some to tide you over; as for the rest, you'll still have to find a way yourself." With that, Tan Xue took a bank card out of her handbag. Having long anticipated that Tan Li and her daughter would inevitably turn to her out of desperation, she simply decided to take the initiative.

"Auntie, how much is on here?" Xia Yu asked, holding the card with a flicker of anticipation. Over the years, her mother had subsidized the Tan family quite a bit, so she figured there had to be at least eight hundred thousand to a million on it.

"There's a little over three hundred thousand. This is practically all of your auntie's savings. I'm not from a wealthy family, you know, and I managed to save this up with great difficulty," Tan Xue said as she handed the bank card over to Xia Yu.

Disappointment washed over Xia Yu, but something was better than nothing. Just as she was about to express her gratitude, she caught a glimpse of a glittering object beneath Tan Xue's sleeve. Reaching out to pull back her sleeve, she was stunned to find an extremely expensive bracelet!

She recognized the brand; it was the exact same one she had seen in Xia Xia's room yesterday, part of a newly released collection.

"Auntie, where did you get this bracelet?" Xia Yu asked suspiciously, glaring at Tan Li. The bracelet had been bought by her father, but it was meant for Xia Xia. Therefore, it could only have been given to her aunt by either her father or Xia Xia. Her father wouldn't even bear to give her such a gift, let alone bestow it upon her aunt! And Xia Xia was even less likely!

Xia Xia hated the Tan family to the bone; how could she possibly gift a bracelet to her aunt?

Since Tan Xue dared to wear it, she wasn't afraid of being questioned, and she calmly recounted how she had acquired it.

To her surprise, Xia Yu's eyes rolled around craftily upon hearing the explanation. "Auntie, how much does a bracelet like this cost?"

"Around two hundred thousand, I suppose," Tan Xue said conservatively. In fact, Xia Rui had been extraordinarily generous when buying things for Xia Xia; even the cheapest one among them was worth over two hundred thousand.

A scheme suddenly hatched in Xia Yu's mind. "Auntie, could you do me one more favor?"

A trace of suspicion flared up in Tan Xue's heart. Before she could even answer, Xia Yu leaned in close to her ear and muttered a flurry of whispers, after which she promptly pushed Tan Xue right toward Xia Rusheng's bedroom door.

"Eldest Miss, could you please come down and help me with something?" Tan Xue opened a crack in Xia Rusheng's door, asking while exchanging a meaningful look with her.

Catching her drift, Xia Rusheng asked a few brief questions before heading out. The moment Xia Rusheng left her room, Xia Yu seized the opportunity to slip inside and began rumaging through the jewelry box.

Xia Rusheng only kept extremely valuable jewelry in the safe; trinkets like bracelets were tossed casually into her jewelry box, so Xia Yu quickly located the other five bracelets Xia Rui had purchased yesterday.

"Hmph, let's see how you explain losing the bracelets your dad gave you!" Tucking the bracelets into her pocket, Xia Yu drove off to the brand's boutique.

Not long after Xia Yu left, Xia Rusheng returned to her room and immediately opened her jewelry box.

"Just as you expected, she really did steal those bracelets. To stoop to such petty theft—truly worthy of Xia Yu, always finding clever ways to make a fortune."

Standing quietly on the side, Tan Xue kept her eyes fixed on Xia Rusheng. A short while later, she watched as Xia Rusheng calmly took out her phone and dialed Xia Rui's number.

"Xia Xia?" Xia Rui sounded thoroughly surprised, as if he could hardly believe Xia Xia was actually calling him.

"Dad..." Xia Rusheng answered, turning on the speakerphone.

Hearing the grievance in her tone, Xia Rui immediately demanded, "Xia Xia, what's wrong? Did someone bully you?"

"Dad... I-I'm sorry. All the bracelets you bought me yesterday have suddenly vanished today."

"What!" Xia Rui gasped in agitation, immediately pressing Xia Rusheng to recount the whole sequence of events. For a thief to brazenly strike their home was outrageous enough, but to steal the very bracelets he had just gifted to his daughter crossed the line!

Giving a rough outline of the situation, Xia Rusheng deliberately omitted the part about Tan Xue asking her for a "favor." Xia Rui instructed Xia Rusheng to stay put at home, promising he would return immediately to handle the matter, and father and daughter hung up simultaneously.

"Is that it?" Tan Xue asked, feeling somewhat disappointed and unwilling to drop the matter.

Ignoring her, Xia Rusheng retrieved another phone from the safe, sent a text message, and promptly turned it off before putting it back.

"All I need to do is this much, but what my father is going to do will go far beyond this," Xia Rusheng said with a sudden, faint smile.