Ren Xue paused slightly upon hearing Ren Xiya’s words, instinctively looking towards Old Mr. Gong.
Old Mr. Gong showed no expression, blowing on his hot tea and calmly said, "It’s time for her to get married, what’s wrong with looking at a few men? I am just thinking of her best interest."
Ren Xue, swept by his gaze, nodded repeatedly.
Turning her head, she looked at Ren Xiya, reprimanding yet pleading, "Xiya, your father is right, you’ve grown up, it’s time to get married."
Ren Xiya looked at her romantic-minded mother, scoffing coldly as she swallowed the blood in her mouth and slowly propped herself up.
"Get married? To whom? A man who monopolized me because his wife is lying with cancer in the hospital? Or a man who has a daughter as old as me? Or perhaps a man who first destroys another’s relationship and then takes advantage of the situation?"
"Mom, don’t you understand? He despises you and plays with you, how could he respect your daughter? Otherwise, why would my last name be Ren?"
"In that far-off country, where the emperor is high and far away, I don’t even qualify to bear my father’s surname!"
"Moreover... why didn’t you get married? Is it that you can’t? Or does he simply not want to marry you?"
As soon as her words ended, Old Mr. Gong’s teacup smashed at Ren Xiya’s feet.
"Bastard! Kneel down!"
Ren Xiya glared at Old Mr. Gong, teeth clenched in resentment.
Old Mr. Gong narrowed his eyes and waved towards the bodyguard.
The bodyguard forced Ren Xiya to kneel, her knees landing right on the shattered pieces of the teacup.
She moaned in pain, her lips tightly sealed, refusing to cry out for mercy.
Old Mr. Gong glanced coldly at her knees, the bodyguard immediately pressing down hard on her shoulders.
Soon, blood seeped through Ren Xiya’s skirt.
Seeing this, Ren Xue finally showed some reaction.
"Don’t, don’t do this, Xiya can’t take it."
Her face showed a strange, complex expression.
She rubbed her chest repeatedly, then scratched her neck.
Finally, scratching her head frantically, her gaze unfocused.
Ren Xiya, sensing trouble, shouted loudly, "Mom! I’m okay! Keep calm."
Seeing this, Old Mr. Gong looked at the butler next to him.
The butler slowly took out a bottle intentionally.
Psychotropic medication.
Ren Xiya, recognizing the characters on the bottle, struggled to grab it.
But Ren Xue beat her to it, stepping forward quickly as the butler stepped aside.
"Give it to me! Give it to me!" she cried shrilly.
Old Mr. Gong took the medication, raising it for Ren Xue to see clearly, "Xiaoxue, haven’t you been taking your medicine lately?"
"Yes, yes," Ren Xue nodded vigorously, fixated on the medicine.
"If you’re sick, you need treatment, I can afford it. Do you want them?"
Old Mr. Gong deliberately shook the medicine bottle, creating a sound as the pills collided, muffled, the quantity abundant.
Ren Xue reached out and grabbed Old Mr. Gong’s arm, "Please, give it to me."
"Of course, but..." Old Mr. Gong looked up at Ren Xiya.
Ren Xue immediately turned and walked over to Ren Xiya.
Ren Xiya’s cheek was slapped askew.
Before she could recover, Ren Xue slapped her again.
"Xiya, mom is begging you, can’t you just obey? Can’t you consider me for once? He’s all I have left!"
"As long as he wants me, I will be his woman for life!"
"Say something! Apologize to me!"
Ren Xue grew increasingly impatient, slapping Ren Xiya relentlessly with both hands.
Until her addiction surged, and her body uncontrollably trembled.
She knelt down before Ren Xiya, pleading, "I can’t live without him... Xiya, please help mom..."
Watching her mother kneeling before her, Ren Xiya’s swollen face was full of sorrow.
"You only have him? What am I then?"
"He controls you with psychotropic drugs. Every time I help you quit, just one call from him, and you run to him. What am I considered!"
Ren Xue on the ground couldn’t bear it any longer, grasping Ren Xiya’s clothes and shaking her vigorously.
"Is it just an apology! What’s so difficult about that? I love him! I’m willing to be controlled by him!"
Ren Xiya let her pull and shake without saying a word.
Mr. Gong gestured to the bodyguard with his eyes.
The bodyguard pulled out a sedative and injected it into Ren Xue. Seconds later, he carried the limp Ren Xue away.
"Where are you taking my mom? Let her go!"
Mr. Gong threw the medicine on the ground and, while wiping his hands, reminded, "Your mom won’t last long. People addicted to drugs like her can do anything after getting addicted, including suicide."
"It was you!" Ren Xiya hysterically, "You deliberately got her addicted!"
"Xiya, you need evidence for everything. Your mom is not in good health, I introduced her to doctors, paid for her treatment, her addiction is entirely due to her poor self-control. Even so, I haven’t abandoned you, have I? You know what choice to make, I don’t need to teach you."
Mr. Gong’s voice grew colder and his tone more impatient.
Ren Xiya looked at him, clenching her teeth.
"I knew raising you wasn’t in vain." Mr. Gong slowly stood up, straightened his suit, and walked past Ren Xiya.
As he left, the butler placed a delicate box on the table before following Mr. Gong out.
Ren Xiya slumped down, painfully got up, and opened the box.
Looking at the contents, she scoffed coldly.
After turning off her phone, Lin Zhiyi’s world became much quieter.
She had been asleep for a whole day and night at Liu He’s place, and seeing the sweet couple Liu He and Gong Shiyan, her mood also improved significantly.
Liu He deserved happiness now after suffering for the past twenty or so years.
Had Liu He not mentioned Gong Chen and Sang Ran’s wedding happening in two days, Lin Zhiyi might have stayed longer.
Liu He and Gong Shiyan could stay out of other matters, but they couldn’t miss Gong Chen’s wedding, with Gong Shiyan being the close elder brother.
Lin Zhiyi naturally had no reason to stay, so she packed up and returned to her own apartment.
But to her surprise, an uninvited guest was already waiting for her.
Moonlight poured into the living room, outlining the graceful silhouette of a woman on the sofa.
Lin Zhiyi stood at the entrance, staring at the shadow and tentatively said, "Miss Ren."
A light chuckle echoed in the darkness.
"We meet again, Lin Zhiyi."
With a snap, the lights in the room turned on.
When Lin Zhiyi saw the person on the sofa clearly, her eyes widened in shock, and her legs involuntarily moved backward.
At that moment, Ren Xiya pulled out a gun from her pocket and aimed it at her.
"Don’t move. It wouldn’t be good if the gun went off by accident."
Lin Zhiyi stood motionless, her eyes fixed on Ren Xiya’s face: "What happened to your face?"
"You care about me? Haha..."
Ren Xiya’s hand holding the gun visibly shook, and she laughed mockingly.
"Come, have some sweets with me."
She pointed the gun at the desserts in front of her.
Lin Zhiyi recognized the logo on the box; it was from the coffee shop she and Ren Xiya had visited last time.
She didn’t expect Ren Xiya to actually mean it when she said they’d have desserts together next time.
But who could have an appetite with a gun pointed at them?
Lin Zhiyi thought for a few seconds; Sister Zhou had just posted a photo with her colleagues from a company outing today.
Even if she had the life to run next door, no one could save her.
In the corner of her eye, she noticed Ren Xiya’s knees, haphazardly covered with band-aids now soaked with blood.
She involuntarily remembered the scene of Ren Xiya carrying her out of Gong Chen’s room.
She turned and walked towards the cabinet. Ren Xiya tightened her grip on the gun, shouting harshly, "I told you not to move! Do you really think I won’t kill you?"
Lin Zhiyi opened the cabinet and pointed at the medical kit: "Your knee wound has reopened, let me apply some medicine. With all this blood, who can eat desserts?"
Ren Xiya’s eyes wavered, staring blankly at Lin Zhiyi: "Why are you so kind to me? Lin Zhiyi, I came here to kill you."