Qiaoqiao covered the left side of her face, not daring to look into Little Taotie’s eyes. Little Taotie’s eyes were so beautiful, like mirrors that reflected her own unsightly image.
She was also confused about the future.
Her grades were mediocre, but her family’s financial situation was decent. She used to think about just getting by in school and then having her family arrange a job for her after graduation, expecting life to be smooth sailing from there.
But between dawn and darkness, you never know what the next second might bring.
And what came for her was her darkness.
Seeing her covering her face and not speaking, Little Taotie approached affectionately to greet her, "Qiaoqiao, I’ve missed you so much!"
Little Taotie’s skill of "confessing" to everyone she met was somewhat useful; Qiaoqiao’s tightly furrowed brows eased slightly.
Little Taotie took a step forward, but Qiaoqiao retreated subconsciously.
Little Taotie was taken aback.
Qiaoqiao turned to run, and Little Taotie hurriedly grabbed her hand.
Qiaoqiao: "..." Run! I run!
How could Qiaoqiao hope to free herself from Little Taotie’s grip?
In the end, Little Taotie managed to get permission to enter Qiaoqiao’s room and chat with her in whispers.
Hua Jinyan, Little Fatty, and the sports committee member, three little boys, were invited by the Filipino maid to the dining room, where the table was laden with various delicious fruits and pastries.
Little Fatty didn’t hold back, picking up the food and eating it right away.
The sports committee member, on the other hand, grabbed a juice and drank it.
Hua Jinyan was cautious and didn’t touch any food or drink handed to him by someone he wasn’t familiar with.
In the room, Little Taotie asked softly, "Was it you who pushed her?"
Qiaoqiao shook her head in haste: "It wasn’t me, really not me!"
"Then who pushed her?" Little Taotie was puzzled. "Did she just fall by accident?"
Qiaoqiao clung tightly to the left side of her face, trembling, "If I tell, you simply won’t believe it!"
Little Taotie extended her arms, gently wrapping them around Qiaoqiao: "You say it, and I will believe."
"You won’t believe it," Qiaoqiao shook her head, voice low and hoarse.
"As long as I believe, even in the most bizarre moments, it can be credible. What people believe and doubt varies. I think that as long as it’s from a person I trust, I will believe them."
"Words from a person you trust?" Qiaoqiao’s face flushed red, "You trust me?"
Little Taotie could only see the right side of her face that was red, the left side was covered tightly by her, completely hiding the current condition of the left side from view.
Qiaoqiao spoke softly: "I’ve always known she’s not my biological mother, but my stepmother, yet she was good to me. My grandparents told me she raised me and it was her who fed me and changed my diapers when I was a baby. They said she was even closer to me than my biological mother and that I should repay her kindness."
"I truly saw her as my real mother, I trusted her deeply and loved her so much. When she became pregnant, as a stepdaughter, a child who was abandoned by her father’s previous wife right after birth, I felt an enormous threat and panic."
"I was scared that the appearance of a brother or sister would take away all the attention from my stepmother."
Little Taotie looked at her incredulously, "So you were planning on getting rid of the baby?"
"I just thought about it, but I never acted on it," Qiaoqiao’s voice was hoarse, "I was afraid of being abandoned again. My biological mother didn’t want me and went overseas to remarry, now she has a new child and doesn’t care about me at all. For me, she’s like a stranger, the times I’ve met her since birth can be counted on one hand."
"You’re afraid that once the stepmother has the child, she will be like your biological mother, having other children and then abandoning you?"
Little Taotie sighed like an adult beyond her years, "Then what happened next?"
Recalling that day, Qiaoqiao turned deathly pale: "She came through the front door smelling of alcohol. I urged her not to drink, telling her it’s bad for her and the baby."
"She suddenly looked at me and said, ’Isn’t this better? If my child has an accident, you’ll still be the only one left!’"
"I didn’t quite understand why she said that, then I saw her fall flat on the ground. I went to help her up, but she grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go."
"From an outsider’s perspective, it looked like I was pulling her sleeve. The door opened, and it was my grandparents who arrived. Then, she suddenly screamed, making a pushing motion with the hand holding mine, violently hitting the wall before rebounding onto the ground, lying still, with so much blood..."
Qiaoqiao’s voice broke as she covered her eyes, as if the blood was spreading before her again.