Chapter 8: The Secret of the Diary

“Xia Yu, come out here now!”

Xia Rusheng was furious—not because she cared so much about the car, but because Xia Yu actually dared to sneak into her room to steal the car keys. If she was capable of such a thing, what else wouldn’t she dare to do?

“Xia Xia, what’s going on? Grandma’s already asleep, don’t wake her,” Xia Rui called upstairs upon hearing the noise. He saw Xia Rusheng knocking on the door with a cold expression, while Xia Yu seemed to be inside, refusing to open it.

“Dad, if we don’t want to disturb Grandma, Xia Yu should come out and explain clearly,” Xia Rusheng tried to soften her tone, but her anger still came through.

“What’s going on that you don’t want me to know?” The elderly matriarch had wrapped herself in her nightgown and appeared at the stair landing. She had just gone to bed when she heard the commotion upstairs. Lately, the household had been far from peaceful; the mother and daughter, Tan Li and Xia Yu, never gave her any peace of mind. If nothing happened every day, they were unhappy. So as soon as she heard the noise, she got up.

“Grandma, you should ask Xia Yu. I want to know what’s going on too.”

The matriarch’s face darkened immediately upon hearing Xia Yu’s name. With the matriarch personally intervening, Xia Yu finally opened the door obediently. But what Xia Rusheng saw inside was nothing like she had imagined. Xia Yu, in her pajamas, looked as if she had just woken up, her face blank as she looked at everyone and asked, “Why is everyone here? Grandma, why did you come upstairs?”

Xia Rusheng stared coldly, knowing Xia Yu was putting on an act. But Xia Rui and the matriarch didn’t realize this. Bewildered by the scene, all eyes then turned back to Xia Rusheng.

“Xia Yu, your goal is achieved. My car is wrecked. Can you return the keys now?”

“What keys?” Xia Yu continued to feign ignorance, looking pitiful when questioned.

Seeing her stubbornness, Xia Rusheng thought there was no use arguing. The more she spoke, the more Xia Rui and the matriarch would think she was making trouble. Xia Yu had clearly been sleeping, yet she was being so aggressive. So she stormed into Xia Yu’s room and found the clutch purse Xia Yu had used that night.

“How could it be missing? Where are my car keys?” Xia Rusheng had intended to present the evidence, but to her surprise, the keys were nowhere to be found. She emptied the purse’s contents onto the bed, finally her gaze settling on a slip of paper.

Xia Yu’s face changed the moment she saw it. She lunged to grab it, but Xia Rusheng switched hands and held it up. It was a fine—a freshly issued one—with her new car’s license plate clearly printed on it.

“A fine from twenty minutes ago, with your name and my car’s license plate. How do you explain this?”

Handing the ticket to the matriarch, Xia Rusheng spoke as Xia Yu’s act crumbled. She quickly admitted her fault. “Sister, I didn’t mean to. I just liked that car so much, I took your keys and drove it around. I didn’t expect… I didn’t expect…”

“Did you wreck my car? The rear ends of the cars on both sides are scratched, the headlights broken, and the front end deformed. Did you get into an accident? Did you hit someone, get hit, or crash into something yourself? The car is ruined, yet you’re unscathed and can still sleep at home. That’s quite lucky!” The matriarch’s tone was sharp, her words laden with meaning.

She slammed the fine on the table and declared, “From now on, you’re forbidden from driving. Hand over your license to me for safekeeping.”

“Grandma, if I’m not allowed to drive, how am I supposed to get around?” Xia Yu cried out in distress. Just then, Tan Li came upstairs. Xia Yu gave her a meaningful glance, hoping she would intervene.

Tan Li had already hit a dead end with the car purchase and dared not plead while the matriarch was angry. Instead, she signaled Xia Yu to calm down. Xia Yu had made a mistake, but if she bowed her head now, it would be easier to seek leniency later.

“Xiao Yu was careless driving. Mom, you’re right not to let her drive. Xia Xia, don’t worry. Xia Yu won’t take your car without permission again. As for that car… since you like it so much, Dad will buy you a new one exactly the same. How about that?” Xia Rui was a bit weary, seeing this as nothing more than sibling rivalry. Such quarrels had often happened before. Back then, Xia Xia was stubborn and sharp-tongued, so he had always leaned toward Xia Yu.

Xia Rusheng was speechless at her father. It wasn’t about the car at all. No matter how she looked at it, Xia Rui was clearly favoring Xia Yu. Whatever that mother and daughter duo did, in the end, they only faced light punishment. Did he really think a little compensation could erase her sense of injustice?

Filled with unspeakable disappointment, Xia Rusheng returned to her room and couldn’t sleep all night. The next morning, she began frantically packing and rearranged the furniture, locking everything up. Eventually, she even changed the locks on her door.

“Xia Xia, what are you doing? Don’t move it alone. Let me help you carry that,” Aunt Chen said anxiously, seeing her struggling with a huge bookcase, afraid it might topple and injure her.

“Bang!”

Before Aunt Chen could reach her, something fell from the bookcase and struck Xia Rusheng on the head. Luckily, it wasn’t heavy. When it hit the floor, Xia Rusheng saw it was a box and a diary.

“Oh, isn’t this your mother’s diary? How did it end up here?” Aunt Chen was surprised to see the old notebook.

It was the first time Xia Rusheng had discovered something belonging to Xia Xia’s mother in the Xia household. Puzzled, she examined the diary. The cover was stained with stubborn dirt, the pages marked by water damage and blurs, as though it had been plucked from a trash heap.

“Where’s the rest of my mother’s things?” Xia Rusheng suddenly asked.

“Your mother’s belongings? They were all burned when that woman came in. In the end, it was that man who was ruthless and caused her death—” Aunt Chen caught herself mid-sentence, quickly spitting out, “Oh dear, why am I dredging up old grudges?”

Xia Rusheng didn’t miss the two words she had let slip—‘caused her death.’ Could it be that Xia Xia’s mother was murdered?

After helping Aunt Chen rearrange the furniture, Xia Rusheng sat quietly and opened the diary. She turned the pages slowly. The diary was written by Xia Xia’s mother after marrying into the Xia family, though it contained few entries. Each page made Xia Rusheng’s expression grow darker. By the last page, she trembled uncontrollably.

No wonder Xia Xia hid this diary so carefully—it wasn’t a diary at all, but a record of the crimes committed by Xia Rui, Tan Li, and the matriarch!