Chapter 822 - 283: Qin Mei Tells Off Jie Jingwei

"You are my wife, and you need to fulfill your wifely duties to me." Jie Jingwei paused and leaned closer to Lin Yaru. Ignoring her trembling body, he pinched her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes. A bloodthirsty glint flashed in his deep, dark eyes as he said cruelly, "We will continue tonight."

Lin Yaru’s pupils constricted sharply, her face filled with terror. Jie Jingwei released her chin.

"Hahaha." Jie Jingwei burst into laughter, the sound laced with sarcasm and absolute determination.

Patting Lin Yaru’s cheek, he stood up. He turned to leave, but the moment he saw Qin Mei, a flash of panic crossed his eyes.

He hesitated for a few seconds before walking toward her. The bloodthirsty cruelty faded from his face, replaced by a beaming smile. "Qin Mei, what are you doing here?"

"Just passing by." Qin Mei wasn’t lying; she genuinely had just happened to pass by.

"This path isn’t the only way home." Jie Jingwei’s smile remained fixed on his face, but inwardly, he wished he could tear Qin Mei to pieces.

"What? Just because it’s not the main route means I can’t walk it?" A smile spread across Qin Mei’s face, though it didn’t reach her eyes.

Jie Jingwei dropped the act. He narrowed his eyes, exuding a chilling, murderous aura. "Qin Mei, how exactly did I offend you? Why are you so hell-bent on targeting me?"

"Jingwei, you’re overthinking it. I’m not targeting you. I just make anyone who targets me regret ever being born." Qin Mei stared deeply at him with her almond-shaped eyes. Her expression was indifferent, yet that indifference carried an oppressive, icy edge.

"You reported me. You are a sinner to the Jie Family," Jie Jingwei sneered, laying it all out in the open.

"The person I reported was Xu Chunyan." Qin Mei spoke slowly, enunciating every word clearly. She wasn’t going to take the blame for this. Jie Jingwei hadn’t confronted her head-on yet; otherwise, she would have been just as ruthless to him.

Jie Jingwei gritted his teeth. He and Chunyan were together; reporting Chunyan was no different from reporting him.

Old feelings died hard. Although he and Chunyan were divorced, their affection still remained. After his remarriage, Chunyan had been very understanding. Keeping one woman in the open and another in secret, enjoying the best of both worlds—it was simply perfect.

But Qin Mei had ruined all of it. Chunyan had taken all the blame and was sent to the Northwest for labor reform. Jie Jingwei couldn’t bear it, and he felt immensely guilty toward her.

However, he didn’t have the courage to shoulder the blame himself.

He loved Chunyan, but sacrificing himself for her was absolutely out of the question.

"Qin Mei, I advise you to be a little kinder, or karma will catch up with you sooner or later," Jie Jingwei said, glaring coldly at her.

Qin Mei scoffed. "Kinder? Jingwei, ask yourself, have I not been kind enough? If people leave me alone, I leave them alone. But if they cross me, I will never let them off the hook. Your ex-wife ended up like this because she brought it upon herself."

Qin Mei made it perfectly clear: she would be kind to those who treated her well, but she would ensure that those who wronged her faced the consequences of their evil deeds.

"If you hadn’t shown up, our home would still be peaceful. Your arrival turned everything upside down..."

"Jingwei, by ’peaceful,’ do you mean your family of three, along with your ex-wife and her relatives, endlessly leeching off Mom?" Qin Mei interrupted him.

Jie Jingwei felt guilty but remained stubborn. "My mother lost her life to save Aunt Qiao. Aunt Qiao married my dad and became our stepmother. Taking care of us and raising us is her responsibility."

Qin Mei sneered in disdain at his emotional blackmail. "Responsibility? She is your stepmother, not the stepmother of your ex-wife’s relatives. Raising you is her responsibility, but why on earth should she have to support your ex-wife’s entire family as well?"

Jie Jingwei was momentarily speechless, but he quickly deflected. "If my mother hadn’t sacrificed her life to save her, she would have died a long time ago..."

Qin Mei cut him off again. "If she had died, your spineless mother would have had to drag you kids along to scrape by under Granny’s thumb, groveling just to survive. I guarantee you wouldn’t have even been able to find a wife. Your mother’s sacrifice changed your fate. Yet, instead of being grateful to the stepmother who altered the course of your lives, you use your mother’s sacrifice to emotionally blackmail her. Have you completely lost all sense of shame?"

"You..." Faced with Qin Mei’s humiliation, Jie Jingwei didn’t feel ashamed; instead, he grew furious.

However, he was utterly powerless to refute her words. His biological mother hadn’t been able to protect him and his two siblings. Granny had looked down on her, constantly beating or scolding the three of them. His father had been foolishly devoted, obeying Granny’s every command.

"Jie Jingwei, you need to be decent. Mom has already done more than enough for you," Qin Mei said.

"What do you mean ’done more than enough’? She kicked me out of the house, and I got nothing when the family split their assets. She’d rather give the north room to my oldest sister than to me! She’s just biased toward Jing San and my sister." Jie Jingwei was practically boiling over with resentment. Under his father’s pacification and promises, he had previously held back and hadn’t gone home to make a scene. But with Qin Mei provoking him today, he could no longer suppress his anger.