Gu Yan accused, finally voicing the words she had kept buried in her heart for years.
However, Mrs. Gu completely ignored her words and pointed at her harshly, "As expected, you turned out to be an ungrateful wretch, a heartless creature! Just because I raised you for one day, you owe us until we die!"
Gu Yan looked at her with amusement, wondering where such stubbornness came from.
She couldn’t have children herself, so she wanted to enslave others to support her in her later years, yet she was never willing to give even a little. How could such a good thing exist in this world?
"Aunt Gu," Gu Yan changed her address, "out of respect for my dad, you can say whatever you like, but it was my dad who raised me, not you. I’m crystal clear about that, so don’t confront me with that self-righteous face of yours."
Mrs. Gu heard the address and felt her head was about to explode with anger, "How dare you, heartless Gu Yan, spread your wings and disown your mother! I’ll beat you to death!"
As Mrs. Gu spoke, she grabbed a piece of fruit from the cabinet and hurled it at her, but Gu Yan dodged.
"How dare you dodge!" Mrs. Gu pushed past Li Xiulan and Gu Qin, rushed in front of Gu Yan, grabbed her arm, and slapped her forcefully.
Gu Yan took the slap squarely, the handprint on her face, still fresh, grew redder and more prominent.
Gu Yan looked at Mrs. Gu coldly, "This slap is the last bit of sentiment I’m giving you!"
She pushed Mrs. Gu away, her icy gaze sweeping over the three of them, "Don’t think those two are so kind-hearted. They are the ones who gained the most by selling me out. You’ve been manipulated without even knowing, and you’re here going crazy by yourself."
Gu Yan spoke mercilessly, and Li Xiulan’s face changed, "Gu Yan, what nonsense are you spouting? We are kindly thinking of your dad; how can you turn around and slander us?"
"You know very well whether it’s slander."
Li Xiulan wanted to argue, but Mrs. Gu interrupted irrationally, "I don’t care what their purpose is, but you must get the million to save your dad! While things have not settled yet and Gu Qin is here, take her and go apologize to President Liu now and have him give you the million!"
"I won’t go!" Gu Yan firmly refused.
Mrs. Gu glared at her fiercely, "You just want to watch your dad die, don’t you? You’re trying to drive us to death! Gu Yan, I’m telling you, you must go today no matter what!"
"Gu Yan..." A weak and hoarse male voice suddenly sounded in the ward, and the words Gu Yan was about to rebut caught in her throat. She hurriedly looked at her father on the hospital bed.
"Dad!" she called out, ignoring Mrs. Gu and the others, and quickly walked over.
Mrs. Gu saw that Gu’s father was awake and hurried over as well, forcefully pushing Gu Yan aside. She looked at Gu’s father, her eyes instantly reddening, and cried out regardless of her appearance, "Old Gu, you’re finally awake, but it’s useless! We raised an ungrateful beast. She won’t even raise money for your treatment; we raised her all these years in vain, and you were so good to her for nothing!"
Gu’s father lay in bed, slowly looking at Gu Yan with no blame in his eyes, only guilt.
Gu Yan’s heart ached.
"Don’t cry anymore," Gu’s father spoke, and Mrs. Gu instinctively fell silent.
"Gu Yan is not obligated to save me, especially if it would require unethical means. I’d rather die than let her do it," Gu’s father said, uncharacteristically sternly, and then started coughing.
Gu Yan took a step, then halted where she stood.