"For once, I agree with you. We should definitely go to the police station after this," Xinghe said with a nod, "I'll go get the proof for you now."
With that, she walked up the stairs.
"Stop right there, where are you going?" Wu Rong yelled as she stood up from the sofa.
Xinghe turned her head around slowly as she said, "Getting the proof. You're the one who asked me for it. Scared because of your guilty conscience?"
"I'm scared you'll steal from me! You're no better than a beggar now!"
Xinghe wanted to reply: Very soon, I'll make sure you'll be more of a beggar than I am.
"You're welcome to follow along if you're so scared, matter of fact, let the two securities come along as well," Xinghe turned and continued up the stairs.
"Xia Xinghe, you stop right there!" Wu Rong yelled as she ran to chase after her but Xinghe was too fast for her to catch up.
The two security men looked at each other, shrugged, and decided to follow.
They felt their presence was going to be needed. Unbeknownst to themselves, Xinghe's composure had influenced them to buy her story.
Xinghe's destination was Xia Chengwen's old study.
"Xia Xinghe, what are you doing?" Wu Rong arrived one second later. Xinghe ignored her and leaned her weight into one of the bookshelves. She knocked lightly on the revealed wall and dust fell as a 30 centimeter rectangular indentation appeared on it.
Xinghe removed the fake-wall cover and retrieved from the secret space a small insurance case.
Wu Rong's face changed from derision to alarm as she watched all these unfold.
She leaped forward to grab the case from Xinghe, screeching, "Xia Xinghe, give me my stuff back!"
Xinghe predicted as much and sidestepped out of her way. Missing her target, Wu Rong slammed into the bookshelf which almost toppled over from the sudden force. Wu Rong grimaced as she rubbed her shoulder.
Xinghe walked slowly to the two security men, politely saying, "Inside here is the property certificate for this villa that my father gave me. I hope both of you kind sirs will be my witnesses today and help me reclaim back what's mine. My stepmother is vicious enough to threaten my life once, who knows what she'll do when her ploy is unraveled."
The men felt honored by her respectful tone. The deference they had for Wu Rong slowly changed to caution. Preconception is a scary thing because even though Xinghe didn't say clearly how Wu Rong had threatened her life, they believed it must be through some morally ambiguous methods since that is what a stepmother usually does.
Wu Rong was livid with rage but she also knew she couldn't let Xinghe open that case.
As long as the case remained close, she still had the upper hand.
"You two dumbos don't be roped into her lies! Everything in this house belongs to me! She is a heartless woman who killed her own father and now she's back to harm her own stepmother, she's the vicious one here! Detain her quickly and return the case to me!"
In her efforts to claim the insurance case, Wu Rong had started raving like mad woman.
"Listen to yourself, you're not even making any sense anymore. The contents of this case certainly have you flustered. Alright, I'll give you one last chance to prove that this case is yours. Surely you can open it if you're the rightful owner," Xinghe said with a smile.
"I…" Wu Rong faltered and this weakness in her conviction pushed the two securities over to Xinghe's side.
"Mrs. Xia, please open the case, we'll immediately escort Ms. Xia out if you do."
"You shut up!" Wu Rong leveled her icy stare at them, "I am the house's rightful owner here, the likes of you have to obey my every command. I said the case is mine and you have to reclaim it for me or else I'll report the both of you to the management and have you fired by the end of the day!"