Chapter 14
Edward Quan ·
His face had gone deathly pale.
“Mom…”
She looked at me.
Tears kept falling.
I asked slowly:
“What is he talking about?”
My mother didn’t answer.
My father stepped forward.
He took my mother’s hand.
Then looked at Old Master Gu.
“You promised you wouldn’t bring this up.”
Old Master Gu laughed.
“A promise?”
“Do you think a promise still means anything after all these years?”
I looked at my father.
My heart pounded.
“Dad…”
He turned to me.
His eyes were filled with pain.
“Ruoxi.”
I swallowed.
“Am I not your biological daughter?”
He fell silent.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Finally, he nodded.
My legs went weak.
Gu Mingzhe immediately reached out to steady me.
But I gently pushed him away.
I looked at Dad.
“Then who are you?”
He looked at me.
Only after a long time did he say:
“I’m the person who raised you from before you could speak.”
Tears immediately spilled from my eyes.
He continued:
“I’m the one who taught you to ride a bicycle.”
“The one who took you to school.”
“The one who stayed up all night when you had a fever.”
“And the one who’s listened to you talk nonsense for twenty-three years.”
I burst into tears.
Dad came over.
He held me.
“Ruoxi, I may not be the man who gave you your blood.”
“But I’ve never thought of you as an outsider.”
I hugged him tightly.
“Dad…”
He stroked my head.
“You’re still my daughter.”
I sobbed.
“I know…”
Dad sighed.
“And I still wish you’d talk less.”
Me: “…”
I was crying!
Couldn’t he be serious for once?!
But that very sentence made me laugh through my tears.
I knew.
No matter what my true identity was—
This man would always be my father.
Old Master Gu stood at a distance.
His gaze was cold.
“How touching.”
I turned around.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel like joking.
I looked straight at him.
“Mr. Gu.”
He frowned.
“What?”
I said slowly:
“I don’t know who my biological parents are.”
“I don’t know who those assets belong to.”
“But there is one thing I know very well.”
He looked at me.
I continued:
“The people who raised me are my parents.”
“They’re the ones who love me.”
“And those who only remember me when money and power are involved…”
I paused.
“I don’t need them.”
The entire hall fell silent.
Old Master Gu looked at me.
For a long time, then suddenly laughed.
“You think you have a choice?”
I frowned.
He said slowly:
“Because your biological mother…”
But before he could finish—
A woman’s voice suddenly rang out from behind us.
“Enough.”
Everyone turned.
A middle-aged woman in a black coat stood at the doorway.
She was very beautiful.
But her eyes were cold.
I looked at her.
My heart suddenly began pounding.
Because…
Her face.
She looked uncannily like me.
The woman looked straight at Old Master Gu.
Then said slowly:
“How long are you going to use my daughter to threaten me?”
Chapter 19: The Mother Who Appeared After Twenty-Three Years
The entire hall fell silent.
The woman walked inside, one step at a time.
Her high heels rang clearly against the stone floor.
I stood motionless.
She looked at me.
Her eyes reddened.
“Ruoxi…”
I didn’t answer.
Not because I didn’t want to.
I simply had no idea what to say.
She walked toward me.
But when she was only a few steps away, she suddenly stopped.
As if she were afraid she had no right to come closer.
“I…”
Her voice trembled.
“I am…”
I looked at her.
Only after a long while did I ask:
“Are you my biological mother?”
She nodded.
Tears fell.
“Yes.”
I felt as though my heart were being squeezed.
Twenty-three years.
I had never known this woman existed.
And now—
She had suddenly appeared.
In the middle of a party full of schemes.
And told me she was my mother.
I asked slowly:
“Then why didn’t you look for me?”
She burst into tears.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to…”
I looked at her.
“Then why?”
She fell silent.
Only after a long while did she say:
“Because I was afraid.”
I laughed.
A very soft laugh.
“Afraid?”
She nodded.
“Someone threatened that you would be in danger if I showed up.”
I looked at her.
“In twenty-three years, you couldn’t think of any other way?”
She was at a loss for words.
I continued:
“Couldn’t you have sent a letter?”
“Couldn’t you have called?”
“Couldn’t you have asked someone to check on me?”
“Or at the very least…”
My voice trembled.
“Couldn’t you have let me know I had another mother who was still alive?”
The woman began to cry.
So did I.
But I didn’t step toward her.
Because there are some distances—
A few tears alone cannot erase them.
Old Master Gu suddenly spoke.
“Ye Manqing.”
The woman turned.
Her gaze immediately turned cold.
“Gu Chengyuan.”
I was stunned.
Ye Manqing.
That was my biological mother’s name.
She looked at Old Master Gu.
“You’ve lost.”
He laughed.
“Lost?”
“You think showing up is enough to turn everything around?”
Ye Manqing took a folder from her handbag.
“No.”
She answered slowly.
“I didn’t come here to argue.”
“I came to hand over evidence.”
She gave the folder to the police.
“These are all the records of illegal transactions involving Gu Chengyuan over the past twenty years.”
Old Master Gu’s expression changed at once.
“You!”
Ye Manqing looked at him.
“What did you think I’d been doing while I was gone for twenty-three years?”
The whole hall was utterly silent.
She continued:
“Did you think all I knew how to do was run away?”
“No.”
“I spent all those years finding the people you bribed.”
“The ones you forced into silence.”
“And everyone who helped you hide the truth.”
Old Master Gu stepped backward.
For the first time—
I saw real panic in his eyes.
But Ye Manqing was not finished.
She stared straight at him.
“Gu Chengyuan.”
“Do you remember the woman who helped you alter the records back then?”
His face turned deathly pale.
She said slowly:
“She’s still alive.”
“And she has agreed to testify.”
Old Master Gu stood motionless.
After a long while, he suddenly laughed.
“Fine.”
“Very clever.”
He looked at me.
Then at Ye Manqing.
Finally, he said slowly:
“But you’ve forgotten one thing.”
I frowned.
He continued:
“The person truly behind all of this…”