My Online Girlfriend Has a Twin Sister

“I’m not trying to be disrespectful, Mother, but I have my own thoughts on whether or not I return to Lanjing.”

“You’re still so young, what opinions could you possibly have? Just do as I say and stay in Mingzhu City. What’s so bad about being by my side? We can be a happy, reunited family again, just like when you were little. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” Jiangg Ruxue’s brow furrowed tightly.

“But I’m not little anymore! I have my own life now!” Jiangg Yao protested fiercely.

Her sister had worked so hard to help her escape the shadows of her childhood, yet Jiangg Ruxue was insistent on dragging her back to that hell. Now that she had tasted the joy of freedom, how could she possibly allow herself to be locked up in this gloomy little villa again?

She would never agree, no matter what.

Seeing the revulsion on Yaoyao’s face, Jiangg Ruxue’s expression darkened.

She was gradually starting to realize it. In the two-plus years since Ningning had taken Yaoyao to Lanjing, Yaoyao had changed a great deal. She hadn’t noticed it before, but between their last phone call and this moment, Jiangg Yao’s attitude toward her had done a complete one-eighty.

Before, she wouldn’t have dared to raise her head, let alone protest.

‘Lanjing… what’s so great about it, anyway?’

It made both Yaoyao and Ningning argue so vehemently, refusing the moment she even hinted at wanting them to stay.

Countless thoughts flooded Jiangg Ruxue’s mind.

She remained silent on the surface, but doubts were already forming. After all, there weren’t many things that could so completely captivate a young woman’s heart and mind.

As calculating as ever, Jiangg Ruxue zeroed in on the crux of the problem based on nothing more than the few sentences Jiangg Yao had said.

“You certainly should have your own life. Not just you, Ningning as well,” Jiangg Ruxue said, looking at them coolly. “You’re both twenty-six years old. You’re not young anymore.”

Jiangg Ruxue herself had gotten married at nineteen, and it had been a shotgun wedding at that.

Times were different now; there was no need to rush into marriage.

But with their studies finished and Yaoyao’s illness more or less cured…

Jiangg Ruxue had called them back this time for a serious discussion about their marriages.

A sense of foreboding flashed through Jiangg Ning’s mind, and Jiangg Ruxue’s next words confirmed her fears.

“It’s time to start preparing to build your own families.”

“Mother, I don’t think we need to rush. I don’t even feel truly mature myself, let alone Yaoyao. We still need more—”

“Enough!”

Jiangg Ning was cut off before she could finish explaining.

Jiangg Ruxue waved a dismissive hand. “You tried to fool me with those same words three years ago. Look how old you are now! Are you planning to spend the rest of your lives together?”

“That wouldn’t be so bad…” Yaoyao mumbled.

“Start preparing for your weddings. Find a good match next year, and get married here in Mingzhu City.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, she pronounced the sisters’ death sentence.

“Marriage is something we should decide for ourselves. You don’t need to worry about it, Mother,” Jiangg Ning said calmly, uttering her first defiant words of the evening.

The moment she spoke,

Jiangg Ruxue’s eyes went wide.

‘It’s one thing for Yaoyao to childishly talk back, but for the always sensible and proper Jiangg Ning to dare do the same!’

She shot to her feet, pointing at the two sisters.

“Enough! The two of you conspired against me. I see it clearly now.”

“Controlling one’s own life is the most natural thing in the world. It’s not something we need to conspire for,” Jiangg Ning said without batting an eye, lifting her gaze to glance at her furious mother.

“Are you saying I’m meddling?”

“If you insist on arranging our marriages, Mother, then yes, that is precisely what I’m saying.”

Jiangg Ning’s tone was utterly flat, like a glass of lukewarm water.

But it made Jiangg Ruxue’s scalp tingle. She felt a surge of fire WHOOSH up inside her.

CRASH—

She furiously smashed a cup on the floor, and it shattered into countless pieces in an instant. Shards of glass flew out, landing in every corner of the living room.

CLINKING and CLATTERING across the floorboards.

The sharp, shattering sound made everyone hold their breath.

“I went through hell and high water to raise you two! A single woman, providing for this family! Everything you eat, wear, and use—which of it didn’t I earn by humbling myself? Has anyone ever cared how tired I am at the company?” Jiangg Ruxue’s voice trembled as she berated them. “Now you’re not only making snide remarks about me needing a man, but you also think I’m a meddler? How could you treat me this way!”

Her shrill screams threatened to tear the roof off the house.

The maids hid in the side hall, trembling with fear.

They couldn’t understand how the warm, loving family atmosphere from just a few minutes ago had escalated into this.

The living room.

Fell into a dead silence.

Jiangg Yao buried her face in her hands and said nothing, her thoughts unreadable.

It was Jiangg Ning, however, who calmly parted her lips to speak. “The inheritance Dad left is enough to cover all of our expenses. But it’s all in your hands now. We’ve never asked for it, and you’ve never mentioned it. Back when the lawsuit was settled, it was agreed that it would be handed over to us when we came of age.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Let’s forget that it was never handed over. What belongs to the daughters can belong to the mother. But as our legal guardian, you were responsible for our living expenses until we became adults. That’s the law. We don’t owe you a single cent.”

Jiangg Ruxue’s expression was frozen. She never expected her eldest daughter would dare to say such things.

In just over two years.

The two of them were like completely different people. Now they were confronting her face-to-face, without so much as flinching!

They weren’t giving an inch.

She had no room to argue, because everything Jiangg Ning said was correct.

And so, in her desperation,

she said frantically, “What is this attitude!? Is this any way to speak to your mother? Besides, I haven’t touched a penny of the inheritance! Who needs that paltry sum of money!”

Jiangg Ruxue was incredibly stubborn. Of course she wasn’t going to dwell on the topic of the inheritance.

Because many years ago, when the company was expanding, she had secretly embezzled the money Liu Jing had left for the two sisters.

She had never once thought about them coming of age, or any of that nonsense.

In her mind, that money was hers. There was never any question of her just “holding it in trust.”

When her mother pivoted to the issue of “attitude,” Jiangg Ning knew she had run out of logical arguments and was preparing to throw a tantrum.

But Jiangg Yao, who had been silent all this time, suddenly lifted her head.

“You worked hard at the company… Yes, that’s right. When I was sick at home during high school, you were the one who brought a man home—your former assistant secretary. Very hard work, indeed…”

An expression of pain and inner turmoil washed over Jiangg Yao’s face.

She didn’t want to recall all those memories from the past.

As a mother, Jiangg Ruxue had never brought her any glory, only the deep-seated feeling that she was unworthy of the title.

“You…” The expression on Jiangg Ruxue’s face was a sight to behold, shifting countless times. “Slander! How dare you, my own daughter, slander your mother’s good name! You wretched girl!”

She let out a shriek and raised her hand high,

swinging it down toward Jiangg Yao’s face!

But the next second!

A slender, snow-white wrist flashed before her eyes, grabbing her hand firmly before it could connect.

Jiangg Ning stepped in front of her sister, glaring coldly at her mother.

“That’s enough. I won’t let you hit her.”

In that instant,

Jiangg Ruxue’s entire body went stiff. She stared blankly at her eldest daughter, suddenly feeling her own presence completely overwhelmed, utterly suppressed by the other’s.