When Beryl woke up she found herself in a big bed. To her surprise, her clothes had been changed and
her wound had been dressed properly. She whipped her head around, but nothing she saw seemed
familiar to her.
Beryl wore a puzzled expression as she had no idea what had happened to her. She noticed a woman
standing by the window and sat up straight.
"Are you awake, Beryl?" The woman had a kind voice.
Yilia was delighted to see the little girl awake. "Our rescue went successfully. There's nothing to be
afraid of," she said happily.
"But why I am here? I should be at the police station. Why here?" Beryl's eyes flickered nervously in
doubt.
She was expecting to wake up at the police station now so that she could ask the police to help her find
her father.
Yilia paused for a moment and then answered, "You know, the police had to deal with many other
important and complicated cases. They had no time to take you back to your father. So they asked me
to help you find your father. You said your father is Jacob Gu, right? I know him."
Beryl frowned, seemingly skeptical of Yilia's explanation. "Can you really help me find my father?"
"Of course. I will take you to him today. Would that make you happy?" Yilia smiled at her. For some
reason, she no longer was the mean woman from before. It was as if she wasn't Yilia at all.
If Beryl really was Jacob's daughter, she would be a fool to let such a good opportunity slip by her
hands. Yilia was hoping to score a big reward by bringing Jacob's daughter to him.
More importantly, she was hoping to use this opportunity to meet Jacob so she could woo him into
marriage. Perhaps then she would go from rags to riches overnight.
The thought of Jacob's handsome face, his wealth and his status, deeply excited Yilia's deluded
imagination. She blushed red picturing herself and Jacob as lovers in her mind.
Perhaps she was destined to be Jacob's wife. God had finally smiled down upon her and blessed her
with an opportunity of a lifetime. She wouldn't miss it for the world.
Her good fortune had brought Beryl to her, who could lead her to meet the most handsome man she
had ever seen, Jacob.
In order to leave a good impression to Jacob, she tried her best to please Beryl. So the first thing she
did was take Beryl to have a meal at a fancy restaurant. Later that day, she went to a shopping mall
and bought herself an expensive dress. Then she got a new haircut to make herself look more
attractive.
She had a completely new image after she had put on her new dress. The new hairstyle made her look
like a fancy woman. The grim look she always had on her face was gone and she was delighted at the
thought of her incoming good luck. To show her kindness to Beryl, she decided to buy Beryl a new
dress too.
In the shopping mall, Beryl stood in front of a bright mirror, in a beautiful dress, looking at herself, but
she didn't seem happy at all. She could hardly wait to see her father. "I don't want a new dress. Can
you take me to see my father now? I want to see him as soon as possible," she begged Yilia.
"Take it easy, Beryl." Yilia smiled and said, "I will take you to see your father. But don't you want to look
pretty for you father? I think your father would be happy to see you in this beautiful dress."
Frustrated, Beryl furrowed her eyebrows and stomped her feet on the ground. "But I really need to see
my father."
Yilia blatantly disregarded Beryl and looked around to find other dresses for her to try on. After a while,
she turned to Beryl and said, "We have plenty of time. There's no need to rush. You can rest assured. I
promise that you will see your father today. But if you don't listen to me, I am afraid I won't be able to
help you see your father."
Finding no other alternatives, Beryl clamped her lips because she was afraid that Yilia wouldn't take her
to her father if she got on her bad side.
To appease Yilia, Beryl tried on every dress she chose for her. She figured if she couldn't win the easy
way, she might as well try the hard way.
The sales clerk stood beside Beryl with several other dresses in her hands, waiting to help Beryl
change into them. "Miss, you are so lucky to have this lovely girl. Look, how beautiful she looks like in
this dress. She is just like a princess. The dress suits her very much." The sales clerk cajoled Yilia
when Beryl came out of the fitting room in another new dress.
Suffice it to say, Yilia was quite delighted to hear the sales clerk's flattering words. Moved by how
obedient Beryl was, Yilia's bad impression of children had gradually vanished. She believed she could
have a harmonious relationship with this girl after she got together with Jacob.
"I will take this one. You don't have to pack it, because she doesn't need to change into her old clothes
anymore," Yilia said to the sales clerk.
"Okay. Well, what about these dresses?" The shopping guide gestured at the other dresses she had in
her hand.
"No, thanks. I will just take one. That's enough," Yilia replied impatiently. She used to be stingy, but this
time she was determined to sacrifice her money in order to get her a big fortune in the near future.
Having thought of that, she took out her credit card carefully and then handed it to the sales clerk. She
pretended to be generous and coughed to clear her throat. "Here is the card."
The sales clerk took the card with a smile and walked away to the cashier desk, cursing at Yilia in her
mind. "Such a mean lady! Only bought one dress for her child after trying so many. I am fed up of
stingy people. What a waste of time!" she said under her breath.
Somehow, Yilia's ears caught on what she said. She rushed at the sales clerk angrily and yelled at her,
"What did you say? How dare you! Do you know who I am? And do you know who she is?"
Yilia pulled Beryl over and showed her to the sales clerk. "She is the daughter of Jacob Gu! Do you
think I can't afford these clothes? I'm warning you! I could ask Jacob to buy the entire shop if I wanted,"
she bragged.
All the while, she hinted at the sales clerk that she was Jacob's woman.
"I don't think my father would do that. I know him," Beryl murmured.
"Aha!" The sales clerk burst out laughing. It was quite clear that she didn't believe anything Yilia had
said before. She had seen numerous hypocritical women ever since she started working here. "Even if
the little girl is Jacob's daughter, what does that have to do with you? It doesn't mean that you are her
mother. I called you a mean woman, not this girl," the sales clerk argued and looked at Yilia scornfully.
"I have seen so many snobbish and superficial people like you!" Yilia was shouting venomously. She
lost her temper and decided to fight back. "Just wait and see. You will soon come to know what is my
relation to her. Until then I hope you don't forget what you've said to me."
Yilia then grabbed Beryl's hand and walked away.
"You will see. I will make the people who looked down upon me pay a heavy price! Beryl, you must do
me a favor. Please ask your father to help me teach these bad people a lesson."
Beryl hesitated and then replied, "But I don't think it would be nice of you to do that."
"Do you think I am wrong? It's that sales clerk's fault! You should be taking my side. I will make her
regret what she did to me." Yilia vowed to herself, as she clenched her fists firmly. Suddenly it occurred
to her that she should teach Beryl what to call her, so she stopped cursing and bent down to Beryl.
"Sweetie, from now on, you should address me properly."
She wanted Beryl to be intimate with her because it would help her to get close to Jacob more easily.
Beryl, however, had no idea what her intentions were. "Okay, but what should I call you?" she asked.
Yilia mulled it over for a long time and then finally came up with a proper title. She happily said, "You
can call me aunt."
"Sure, aunt," Beryl replied. What a fast learner!
"Let's go find your father," Yilia said.
"Really?" Beryl jumped with excitement and then she said, "Thank you, dear aunt. You are so kind."
Beryl had been anxious to see her father. She needed to tell her father that her mother and Anna were
in danger.
However, she was afraid that Yilia wouldn't help her, so she did her best to make her happy. Everything
she did was for the purpose of seeing her father.
Beryl learned it the hard way, that no one in the world would love her as much as her mother and father
did. Difficult circumstances had taught her to be self-reliant when her parents were not by her side.
After all, she was brave enough to come to another country and save her mother on her own.
Yilia was grateful for Beryl's obedience, but she also felt a little guilty for treating her badly before and
taking advantage of this innocent little girl now. "I will take you to the Gu Consortium right now," she
said.
Yilia and Beryl went out the shopping mall and hailed a taxi on the street. They got on the taxi and told
the driver to take them to their next destination.
Beryl waited in the car anxiously, hoping that driver would drive fast. While Yilia was excited to meet
Jacob as she kept re-doing her make-up and adjusting her dress, wanting to show her perfect image to
Jacob.
"Beryl, does my hairstyle look good? And how about this dress? Is it beautiful?" Yilia's face glowed with
anticipation.
Beryl didn't understand why Yilia cared about her appearance so much but the only thing she knew
was that Yilia wanted her acknowledgement, so she played along. "You look quite beautiful, aunt."
Yilia was over the moon with her answer. She imagined her meeting with Jacob and rehearsed what
she would say to him in her mind over and over again. Everything she did was solely to attract Jacob's
attention.
Suddenly, her daydream came to an end when she realized they had arrived at the building of the Gu
Consortium.
Yilia got off the taxi with Beryl and entered the building confidently, as if she was already a member of
the Gu family.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda