After days of drowning herself in alcohol, her body was weak and drained.
Although Li Wanran heard her mother’s words, she had no intention of responding. Compared to listening to another round of scolding, the confused and exhausted part of her just wanted a mont of silence.
“……”
Ti felt as if it had frozen.
In the bedroom, aside from Li Wanran lying on the bed like a corpse, only Ye Rong stood nearby.
Disappointnt crept into Ye Rong’s mind. She had raised her daughter for so many years—who would’ve thought she’d end up like this?
Throwing herself away... for soone else.
Becoming such a pathetic sight.
Her lips parted slightly, and after a long pause, Ye Rong finally spoke.
“I’m giving you three seconds. Get off the bed.”
“……”
Still no response. Seeing this, Ye Rong’s face instantly turned cold.
“Did you not hear ?”
“Mom…”
The word finally escaped Li Wanran’s lips. This ti, she didn’t stay silent. After calling out to her mother, she pushed against the bed with trembling hands, trying to sit up.
Her arms were weak. It took several tries before she managed to prop herself upright from her sideways position.
Now sitting on the bed, she tilted her head slightly. Her ssy hair fell to the sides, revealing her entire face to Ye Rong.
Maybe it was the alcohol, but her eyes looked hazy, her cheeks were flushed red—anyone would assu she was completely drunk just from looking at her.
A flash of disgust crossed Ye Rong’s eyes. Lately, she had faced nothing but setbacks, and seeing her daughter like this only made it harder to accept.
This daughter of hers—once so beautiful and elegant, resembling her in her youth—had allowed herself to fall into this state?
Ye Rong felt all her remaining dignity slipping away.
Frustration took over, and the words spilled out.
“If anyone saw you like this now, what do you think they’d say?”
She raised a hand, her emotions beginning to unravel.
Pressing her hand to her chest, she slapped it a few tis.
“They’d say that after I left Li Zhengmao, I couldn’t even raise my daughter right. They’d say I’m not as good as him, that I should just be like all the other won—playing mahjong and getting beauty treatnts. Have you ever thought about that!!”
What started as a relatively calm lecture quickly escalated in volu and intensity.
It was as if she was finally speaking her true thoughts in front of her daughter.
She didn’t want to admit she was inferior to Li Zhengmao.
anwhile, Li Wanran looked on with a blank expression.
Her dazed eyes stared directly at her mother, watching her inexplicably lose control and rage.
Then she spoke, as if she already knew the answer.
“So... you don’t care how I feel at all, do you... Mom?”
“What feelings? Just because Li Chongming cheated, you turned into this? Do you have any idea how your little heartbreak compares to the humiliation I once endured? It’s nothing!”
“……”
“This ss you’re in—you brought it on yourself! Love? That stuff’s not worth taking seriously. As long as a man’s useful, that’s enough. You don’t need to waste your energy or emotions on them. You should—”
“But I can’t!”
Li Wanran suddenly shouted.
And the mont her voice rang out, Ye Rong—still mid-rant—was cut off.
She stared in surprise… at the daughter who, for the first ti in her life, dared to defy her.
The daughter she had raised so carefully.
“You…”
“I can’t be like you. I just wanted a love that made feel happy and fulfilled. I thought Li Chongming was that person... but later I realized, he wasn’t. He wasn’t anything like I thought. He never even understood what I wanted…”
Her hands clutched tightly at the bedsheet, and Li Wanran’s eyes flew wide open.
It was like she was reliving everything.
“I just wanted to live a simple, happy life without so many worries. You’ve been teaching since I was little that n are all untrustworthy, that they’re worthless. But… I’m not just your daughter—I’m also a woman. I wanted to know what love felt like too…”
Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes. Images flickered through her mind.
Liu Zhiyue...
Liu Xiazhi...
Liu… Changqing…
“I… I wasn’t supposed to end up like this. If I’d never t Li Chongming, I wouldn’t have divorced. Xiazhi was so clingy with , my kids were…”
She suddenly stopped.
Another face surfaced in her mind.
Her father.
Li Zhengmao.
Don’t make decisions you’ll regret.
That voice echoed in her head like a spell—growing louder and louder.
More and more clear.
She raised her hands and covered her face.
Li Wanran didn’t want anyone to see her like this—not even her own mother.
“No… no regrets. I won’t… I won’t regre—”
Smack!
A sharp sound cracked through the room.
Ye Rong had slapped her daughter’s hands, forcing her to lower them from her face. The pain snapped her out of her daze.
Her teary, red-rimd eyes stared at her mother.
The sa mother who had taught her…
Taught her step by step how to beco what she was now.
“Who gave you permission to cry?”
The words sounded like they were ground through clenched teeth.
Ye Rong’s face twisted with emotion.
She stared down at her daughter.
The daughter who looked so much like her younger self…
And a little like her now-dead husband…
It was complicated.
Even though she knew this was her own child, whenever she rembered who the father was… Ye Rong couldn’t help but feel a wave of disgust.
She hadn’t lost yet.
Not to Li Zhengmao.
Her eyes were wide with intensity. Standing tall over her daughter, Ye Rong spoke slowly, emphasizing every word.
“It’s not over yet. If you want your children, then do whatever it takes. You’ve got the ans.”
Staring at her mother, the one who had just uttered those words…
The haze in Li Wanran’s eyes slowly began to clear.
She repeated what her mother had just said.
“It’s not… over yet…”
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