Chapter 219

Chapter 219 Plastic Sisterhood The police officer put the phone on speaker, pretending to be familiar with the person on the other end to fish for information: "Brother Xiang, sorry about that. I partied too hard last night and forgot to send you the video." The man on the other end took the bait immediately. "Hurry up! I want that bitch Shu Mingyue ruined! Did you get six guys to play with her like I asked?" The officer played along. "Of course. I'll send you the video now." "Hurry!" The man hung up after saying that. Chu Tang and Shu Mingyue exchanged a glance. Perhaps the person on the other end wasn't familiar with the phone's owner either—just a temporary partnership—so he didn't notice that the voice on the phone was different from the original. That man was too stupid. The police quickly traced the phone number through the public security system. The officer asked the victim, Shu Mingyue, "The registered owner is Sun Xiang. Do you know him?" "Sun Xiang!" Shu Mingyue's eyes widened. "He was the deputy manager of my company's project department. I fired him a few days ago." Chu Tang said seriously, "That explains everything. Those men who drugged you were paid by Sun Xiang to harm you deliberately. That best friend of yours was probably involved too." "How could this happen..." Shu Mingyue murmured in a daze. "How could Qianqian do this to me? I was so good to her. How could she..." ... Sun Xiang sat on the sofa at home, waiting and waiting. He never received the video of Shu Mingyue, but instead got the police coming to his door to arrest him. Once the mastermind was caught, solving the case was easy. Sun Xiang and Yang Peng were the principal offenders. They harbored resentment toward Shu Mingyue for firing them and plotted revenge. Sun Xiang approached Shu Mingyue's fair-weather friend Xiang Qian and gave her three hundred thousand yuan to help lure Shu Mingyue out for drinks. Yang Peng had been a project manager at the company for many years, earning over eight hundred thousand a year. He contributed two hundred thousand of the money given to Xiang Qian, while Sun Xiang put in one hundred thousand. At the police station. Shu Mingyue, who had always been strong-willed, couldn't hold back her tears. "Qianqian, why did you help them harm me? Haven't I been good enough to you?" Shu Mingyue choked out. Xiang Qian sobbed uncontrollably: "Mingyue, I was wrong. I really know I was wrong. Please forgive me. I really needed that money. My son needed money for surgery." Shu Mingyue wept, looking utterly disheartened. "Xiang Qian, we've been friends for so many years. Why didn't you tell me you needed money? Do you think I wouldn't have helped if you were in trouble?" Xiang Qian was emotionally distraught, her cries mournful. "I was wrong. I should have asked you for help. Mingyue, I beg you, please don't press charges. Please drop the case. My son is only five years old. He just had surgery and is still lying in the hospital. He can't lose his mother. I'm begging you, Mingyue. Please let me go!" Shu Mingyue's face turned cold. "What's the point of saying all this now?" Xiang Qian dropped to her knees with a thud in front of Shu Mingyue. "I'm kneeling for you. Please drop the case, Mingyue! I'm really begging you! I truly know I was wrong. It was my fault. I'll kowtow to you." With that, Xiang Qian pressed her forehead to the ground and knocked her head again and again—thud, thud, thud. "Xiang Qian, rape is a public prosecution case. It's not something I can just drop by saying so. The evidence is conclusive, and the police have already transferred the case to the procuratorate for prosecution. There's nothing I can do." After a pause, Shu Mingyue looked down coldly at the woman kneeling and kowtowing before her, her voice as icy as the snow of deep winter. "Even if I could drop the case, I wouldn't. I'm not a saint. You tried to destroy me like this and you still want me to drop the case? Dream on!" Drugging her. Having six men rape and assault her, and filming it too. Absolutely insane! Shu Mingyue trembled with rage. She never imagined that the woman she considered her best friend would help others harm her! Hearing that the case couldn't be dropped and that Shu Mingyue wouldn't drop it anyway, Xiang Qian suddenly stopped kowtowing. The woman jerked her head up, a vicious, hateful glint flashing in her eyes. "Can't drop it, huh?" Xiang Qian's expression turned dark and sinister—a world apart from the pitiful, begging-for-mercy look from moments before. "Shu Mingyue, stop being so fake!" Xiang Qian's eyes burned with loathing. "Did you ever really treat me as a friend? All these years, you gave me your leftover food, your old clothes, your used bags and cosmetics. What did you take me for? A trash can? Or a dog you keep?" Shu Mingyue was taken aback, her brows furrowing as she stared at Xiang Qian in disbelief. "How could you think that way? I knew your family was poor, so I always looked after you. I deliberately bought extra snacks to share with you, yet you say they were my leftovers? And those clothes—I intentionally bought them in your size and said they didn't fit me so I could give them to you. Those were all new clothes! And those bags and cosmetics were brand new too. I only said I didn't like them because I didn't want you to feel burdened. They were actually things I bought specifically for you. I just didn't want you to feel obligated to reciprocate." "Xiang Qian, I've always considered you a very good friend." Shu Mingyue's eyes were filled with pain, tears streaming uncontrollably. "I never imagined that my kindness toward you would be interpreted in such a way." Xiang Qian sneered coldly. "Hah, Shu Mingyue, stop putting on this act of being a good person here. Yes, you're the pampered young miss, and my family is poor, so I'm not worthy of being your friend. You think you were good to me? Do you know what our classmates used to say about me back in school?" "They said I was your maidservant, a dog by your side, the green leaf that set you off. I don't believe you never heard those remarks. You knew everything in your heart but just pretended not to, right? You enjoyed that feeling, didn't you? Having an ugly duckling like me by your side only highlighted your elegance as a white swan. Shu Mingyue, you're nothing but a hypocritical Green Tea Bitch!" Shu Mingyue staggered back two steps, her eyes turning ashen and lifeless. A dull ache throbbed in her chest. Shu Mingyue felt a wave of dizziness and nearly lost her footing. Chu Tang steadied her. "Miss Shu, are you alright?" Shu Mingyue shook her head woodenly. "I'm fine." ... Emerging from the police station, Shu Mingyue's eyes were vacant and her expression numb, like a puppet on strings. Chu Tang helped her into her car and said to A Wen, who was in the driver's seat, "A Wen, take Miss Shu home." Chu Tang and Shu Mingyue sat in the back seat. Throughout the ride, Shu Mingyue remained silent. Chu Tang glanced at her a few times with concern. Perhaps sensing Chu Tang's worried gaze, or perhaps because the weight in her heart was too much to bear and she needed someone to confide in, Shu Mingyue finally broke the silence and spoke to Chu Tang. "It wasn't like that." Shu Mingyue's voice was soft, filled with a sense of fragility.