Chapter 3: Forced to Break Up
838 Words
She was ruined. Her future was gone. Her relationship with Zegang was doomed to end anyway. This call just brought that day crashing forward, didn't it?
Gu Xixi choked back tears and sobs. “I understand,” she forced out into the phone. “I’ll do as you say.”
Satisfied with her answer, the other end hung up.
Standing under the blazing sun, Gu Xixi tilted her head back sharply, fighting desperately to keep the tears from spilling over.
Yet, she felt bone-deep cold. An icy chill she’d never known before.
Scorching sun overhead, her heart encased in ice.
Reeling from the relentless blows, Gu Xixi couldn't force herself to carry on as normal. She took leave from work and, dragging her exhausted body and shattered heart, boarded a long-distance bus back to her hometown.
She’d hoped, desperately, to find even a shred of solace at home.
But the moment she pushed open the door, she knew that was a futile wish.
“A low-born s**t can only raise another little s**t! Look at your precious daughter! So young, and already w*****g herself out in hotel rooms!”
Her mother knelt on the floor. Her grandmother was hurling a stack of photos in her mother’s face. Her mother swayed precariously, clearly having knelt for a long time. Bruises marred her face, and a dark, ugly contusion stained her forehead – likely from forced kowtowing.
Grandma was tormenting Mother again. Only this time, Gu Xixi didn’t know the reason.
“Mom—!” Gu Xixi dropped her bag and lunged forward, kneeling beside her mother before Grandma. “Grandma! What has Mom done wrong now? Why must you hit her?”
Grandma Gu looked at her with utter contempt. She snatched a photo from the table and slapped it hard against Gu Xixi’s face.
“How dare you ask what she did wrong? Your mother couldn’t even bear a child! That’s her greatest sin! And this bastard she picked up off the street is no better!” Grandma Gu swept a disgusted glance over both of them, her disdain palpable. “Today, someone delivered these photos right to our door! They say you were in a hotel room with some random man? Filthy s**t! You disgrace the Gu family name!”
Grandma’s words drained the color from Gu Xixi’s face. She grabbed a photo from the floor. It showed her and that man tangled together on the bed!
She flung the photos away as if burned. What were these? How could they exist?!
And… how did Grandma get them?!
“Grandma…” Her mouth opened, but no words came out. The photos were horrifyingly real.
Her mother tried to interject, “Mom, Xixi, she—”
Before she could finish, Grandma Gu slammed her hand on the table, bellowing, “Who gave you the right to argue?! The proof is right here! Do you think someone framed your precious daughter? The older one’s a barren hen, the younger one’s a tramp! What sin did the Gu family commit to bring such shameless women under our roof!”
Grandma Gu snatched a teacup and hurled it straight at Gu Xixi’s mother’s head.
Seeing the movement, Gu Xixi twisted, throwing her body over her mother’s.
Thud! The cup struck Gu Xixi’s back, shattering instantly. Scalding pain exploded across her skin, the shards biting deep. Her whole back burned, the agony so intense it felt alien.
“Xixi…!” Gu Xixi’s mother cried out, seeing her daughter take the blow, her eyes welling. “Does it hurt?”
Gu Xixi shook her head slightly, tears pricking her own eyes.
What was this pain?
Her mother had endured far worse, for years.
Grandma Gu snorted derisively. She couldn’t stand their display of mother-daughter affection.
Just then, the endless TV ads finally ended, cutting to a news report. Photos flashed across the screen.
“This morning, photos surfaced of Yin Sichen, heir to the Yin financial empire, leaving a hotel room with an unidentified woman. The scene, captured through the doorway, shows clear signs of disarray, clothing strewn about…”
Seeing Gu Xixi’s face on the television, Grandma Gu’s fury erupted. She snatched up her nearby cane and swung it wildly at the cowering mother and daughter.
“Disgrace! w*****g around on television! What shame you bring us! How did the Gu family raise such a s**t? Get out! Both of you! Get out!”
Gu Xixi was stunned that the incident had made the news, but she had no time to process it. She clung tightly to her mother, gritting her teeth against the blows, unable to fight back, terrified to step outside.
Because once they left this house, they truly could never return.
Suddenly, the door burst open. A man rushed in, calling out, “Mom…!”
Hearing the voice, a flicker of hope ignited in Gu Xixi’s eyes: Dad was home!
She immediately turned her pleading eyes towards her father, silently begging him to speak up for her mother.
- Writer
