Chapter 59: All Alone

Sky Arc Complex.

Zhao Wenjin blankly stared at the empty, black monitor. His face was stony and hard to read even for his wife and daughter.

Wang Nuoli thought to herself, was this where her daughter got her genes from? People always compared Zhao Lifei to her father. Stoic face, aloof personality, and determined eyes, they shared the same expressions that always masked their bad temper.

Who knew she would inherit the worst attributes of her parents? From her mother’s alcoholic tendencies to her father’s scheming ways. Unlike her little sister who mirrored her mother’s beauty and exhibits her father’s confidence, she didn’t inherit anything good.

Wang Nuoli couldn’t handle her husband’s blank face anymore. He was so hard to read at times, especially at this moment where she was scared he might cause another scene. She leaned closer to him and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." He immediately replied, averting her gaze to stare at the entrance of the building.

Wang Nuoli frowned at his cold-shoulder, before stubbornly crossing her arms and deciding to ignore him as well.

Zhao Linhua understood her father’s expression. To others, it looked as if she got her parents’ doting without any effort. But that was a lie.

At a young age, she had quickly realized the difference in treatment between her and her sister. Even with that disparity, their childhood had been filled with sweet stolen moments of sisterhood.

Her award-winning pianist Zhao Lifei sister doted on her by teaching her how to play the piano. With both of them excelling in the same instrument, she originally thought that their parents’ affections would now be balanced.

Unfortunately, it was all wishful thinking. She couldn’t help but lock herself in her room and cry for days when all they did was compare them. When Zhao Lifei had ceased to pursue fame as a pianist and had started training to become the future matriarch of the Zheng household, their relationship also got strained.

Zhao Linhua didn’t know the real reason why her older sister stopped pursuing the piano, despite the fact that it was one of the few things that made her very happy. She didn’t know that Lifei had occasionally heard her cry in her room for missing a key and not being as good as her older sister.

Deep down, she harbored a dark hatred for Zhao Lifei. The misunderstanding between them was strong, but even if the truth was revealed, Linhua would’ve never forgiven her older sister.

Without the warmth of her sister, she had to grow up navigating her parents’ emotions. It was all the timing of knowing what to say and when to say it. From the years of experience, she has honed the skill to a very high level of manipulation. She knew by successfully becoming a pianist that followed both her mother and father’s wishes, they would completely adore her.

Given the fact that she always bragged and showcased her parent’s affections in front of Lifei who rarely got any of it, the distance between her and her older sister had grown further apart.

Studying her parent’s emotions at a very young age, she was quick to pick up their current mood. Right now, she could see the storm brewing within her father. She knew he didn’t want to cause a further embarrassing scene, but that didn’t suppress his wish to punish Zhao Lifei for this humiliation.

Zhao Linhua glanced at the elevator door that looked so close, yet was so far away. She stared at the intricate metal work on the elevator and marveled at the designer’s keen eye for details.

Sometimes, Zhao Linhua would wonder if Lifei did not stop playing the piano, or if Lifei did not teach her, would she have been forced into a music career? There was a point in time where Zhao Linhua wanted to be an architect...but Linhua knew that was an impossible dream.

If Zhao Linhua wanted the love and support of her parents, she would need to abandon her high hopes. She had watched as they quickly discarded her sister, their own daughter.

Her mother wanted to brag about being a world-renowned pianist mother and her father wanted the perfect lady. If she pursued a field her father deemed "only suitable to men", Linhua would lose everything she worked so hard to gain.

Aside from her parents, she has no one in this world. Everyone in the Zhao family is scheming to secure their inheritance, trying their hardest to gain Zhao Moyao’s affection while pushing their own kin down, and she had seen multiple attempts of her uncle attempting to ruin her father.

The fighting and money-grabbing schemes made the Zhao family a very dangerous place to stay. And without the protection of her parents, Linhua would’ve been trampled by her relatives. That was exactly what was supposed to happen to Zhao Lifei, but either by pure luck or skills, she was able to garner the protection of the Head Monarch, Zhao Moyao himself which made her practically untouchable.

Bitterly, Zhao Linhua thought about how her grandfather only acknowledged Zhao Lifei and one of her cousins. The gap between her sister and her had become irreparable.

From being too sheltered at a young age and drowned in her parent’s attention, Linhua was too naive and didn’t think about venturing outside of her comfort zone.

This resulted in her detachment from the socialite circle. Sure, she had a few acquaintances, but neither of them considered her as a good friend. Unlike Lifei, her parents kept a tight leash on her and she was homeschooled from a very young age while her sister can go out and about without a care.

Zhao Lifei had even spent more time in the Yang mansion than their family home. When Linhua was sent across seas to study piano, she wasn’t able to make any lasting connections.

Zhao Linhua bitterly hated Lifei for her ability to control the socialite circle and rule over it with a mighty fist. When everyone crowded Lifei in hopes of currying favors to the future "Madam Zheng", she didn’t bother with helping her younger sister enter the social circle.

Zhao Lifei had witnessed personally how vicious these women were. In hopes of shielding and protecting her younger sister, she had deliberately left her out any socialite events.

But Zhao Linhua refused to believe it was because her older sister was sheltering her. She thought it was because the socialite circle was the only place her older sister got to shine, so she tried her best to keep Linhua out of it in fear of stealing the limelight.

And for the next few years, Zhao Linhua would never get to meet the fellow rich heirs, heiresses, and children of wealthy families.

That was until she met the kind and welcoming Xia Mengxi who was quickly climbing the ranks in the socialite circle for being the love of Zheng Tianyi’s life.

Unlike her older sister who never introduced her to any of her friends, Mengxi actually invited Linhua into the circle. Thanks to Xia Mengxi’s influence, she was able to make a lot of new friends and was quickly integrated into the socialite ring. And because Mengxi was extremely likely to become "Madam Zheng", a lot of the women flocked to her — crowding her the same way they used to do so with Zhao Lifei.