After finishing his statement, Luo Yuxuan strode out of the restaurant, leaving her to pay his bills. Mingxia's eyes fumed, and her nails dug deep into her skin, causing her blood to drip onto the ground. Her eyes tightened shut, threatening not to cry or sob—she was neither weak nor feeble! Despite it all, it was truly difficult not to. She finally assumed that Luo Yuxuan had understood her, but no, he did not!
In the end, Luo Yuxuan only saw her as someone he could not lean on. He was right! She was nothing without her father. Mingxia had grown up used to her father's pampering after her mother's death during her labor and had not learned how to move on in life without one or two of his helpers. He was right—she hated to admit it!
Mingxia slumped to the ground and screamed. Her legs kicked off the heels she wore. She needed quick answers! Mingxia wiped her tears away, stood up, and strode out of the restaurant. Mingxia did not look back until she was some meters away from the building. She touched her purse and realized late that she was not with her keys. She ruffled her hair and picked up her phone.
'Ring, Ring,'
Her phone beeped repeatedly while she dialed He Lihua's number, who was supposedly her best friend. After a few rings, there was still no reply from her, as if she had suddenly disappeared. Mingxia shifted her gaze to the dark sky and got scared.
She was not accustomed to staying out late—Daddy never allowed her! Mingxia's mind drifted back to the endless, harsh scolding he gave her any time she stayed up late in the night, and today was going to be another day. She had to find at least some means of getting back home.
"Pick your phone, He Lihua; you are my last hope." Her breath hitched as the weather became hazy. "Pick your call." She called her number, yet the reply from the services remained the same. Was it that He Lihua also discarded her, as Luo Yuxuan did to her?
No!
Impossible!
Mingxia yelled internally. Lihua could not also do this to her—not the person she had trusted so much! She felt her knees wobble at the thought of Lihua leaving her too. She had lost Luo Yuxuan to Xu Mengyao and did not have the heart to lose another one. Was Luo Yuxuan right with his words?
Weren't people pretending to like her only for her wealth? Mingxia's eyes swelled with tears. She wiped them off immediately and braced herself for the unknown. Hauling a cab, she boarded it as her last resort and headed straight to the main mansion. Her tired legs wobbling with no energy, she pushed open the door to see her father casually sipping his evening tea.
He did not appear bothered or concerned as to why she had come late to the house tonight; the only noise he made was his teacup and his chuckles.
"Father," She greeted him lifelessly. Mingxia's body paled as her energy reduced drastically. She had not eaten since morning, and the only food that had kept her going was a salad, which she munched on a few hours ago. She heard nothing from him, decided he was disappointed with her, and marched towards the stairs. The left energy in her was able to take her to climb one stair, and when she was about to climb the other, she heard his voice.
"Mingxia, how many times have I warned you not to return to that law firm?" Her face deepened, and her brows twitched. From the beginning, she only noticed that she had fed her father nothing but lies. Muchen never agreed to her dream of becoming a lawyer but instead chastised her for it.
Mingxia swallowed deeply and faced her father. Her father never failed to dote on her; however, tonight's case was very different. This was the second time in a long time she had seen his flared expression, and the first was when he pushed her sister off the balcony to her death.
"I... Father, it is my passion."
"Passion? Did you call that ugly occupation your passion? I see it is in your genes to always piss me off!" Muchen dropped the teacup and roared at her. He reached for a whip behind the chair on which he stood and moved to Mingxia. "You bastard! You reprimand my decision to make you a better person. To free you from your mother's stupidity. Nevertheless, you effortlessly make it so possible and easy to agitate me."
"Father, Can you not support me for once? I have always done the same to you," Mingxia said, folding her wrist in rage. This man over here was her worst nightmare. Muchen had everyone misled by his awesome disguise into deeming that he truly cared for his daughter. Frankly speaking, Muchen had always seen her as a terrible eyesore! He never doted on her; he loathed her to the core. Every single inch of her existence disgusted him.
"You are as useless as your dead mother and dead sister. I assumed when I got them out of your way, you would, at last, be useful, but no! I was wrong! You were born to be useless, just like them!"
THUD!
Mingxia's heart tugged grotesquely at the news, which tore her apart. Her head hammered in discomfort, and she could feel her body crashing down the stairs. Tears dropped from her eyes, yet she could not reach them. Her hands were seized for doing so. Her head sprung toward the force that held her, and she struggled out of his embrace.
"Let go of me." She mumbled, crying beneath her stoic attitude. The truth hurts; it hurts bitterly—it hurts so much! The man who she had aspired to be like every day, the man who gave her courage to fight on after the deaths of her late older sister and her mother, the man who she called father, turned out to be a merciless, cruel demon!
For years, Mingxia had gone in search of her late mother, hoping and wishing that one day she would find her, or at least her dead body. In contrast, it was never supposed to be! He killed her and lied to her, saying that her existence was the reason why Aliya, her sister, had lost a mother and why he too had lost his wife. Years after years, Mingxia had carried all the blame on her head until today, when the truth was revealed!
"Let…go…off… me," She stuttered, feeling the bruises forming on her pale wrist. All she ever wanted was to cry herself to sleep and wake up in the morning, assuming everything was fine like she always did. "I cannot believe this."
"What can you not believe? That I killed her. Alternatively, have you wasted four years abroad studying a course you never got a certificate for, or are you surprised that those certificates hung on your wall are not yours? They were never yours, Zhou Mingxia! They are all fake!"
"Say that again! Say it again, Dad!" She could not hold it any longer and slumped to the ground. Her eyes burst into tears as she glared at him—the man whom she had called father for twenty-two years of her existence! Her heart shattered into several irreplaceable pieces. "My certificates are not fake! I worked for it!" Mingxia confidently retorted, retrieving her steps from him. Her energy was drained from her body and could only result in crawling backward, which was not efficient enough as Muchen closed the gap between the two of them.
"Such heartbreaking news, right?" Muchen snorted and stepped on Mingxia's fingers. He further added pressure until he heard her large outburst. "Beg me, Mingxia! I am the only one who can save your life."
"No! You are not my father; you are only a sperm donor—a heartless one."
"You ungrateful harlot! Luo Yuxuan had every right to dump you. Besides, poor wretched fools like him did not deserve you, or should I say my wealth?"
"You are the reason why Luo Yuxuan broke up with me. And I am very sure you are responsible for He Lihua blocking me."
"You are so smart. Did it take you so long to notice He Lihua was only using you? No one likes you. Your mother sees you as a thorn, the same as me! Your existence here on earth was only a mistake—a horrific mistake."
"I gave you your life, and I have every right to take it from you when I am not satisfied with you. I should have killed you when you were born, but I did not. I wanted you to witness a painful life!" Muchen's teeth gnashed tightly as his palms tightened the pain on her wrist.
Mingxia's wrist already had enough bruises on her arm. Her father inflicted it all on her. Years after years, Mingxia kept it cool, obeying every single one of his deeds. She had no complaints on her face, as she hoped for him to be a better person. She knew how her father flared up when he raged, but this—he was not behaving like a true father!
Not only did he do heartless things to her loved ones, but he also destroyed all her hard work, faked her certificates, and never believed in her abilities. To him, she would always be useless!
"Why? What have I done to deserve this?" She wailed, tears falling from her ocean-blue eyes. Her body was weakly crawling on the ground. Her skin had gotten paler, and her lips were charred. She could gasp for air!
"Everything!" Muchen screamed at her for yanking off strands of hair from her head. "Your presence here brought nothing but sorrow. "Do you know how much I wish you were dead? Dead from this earth! You are the reason why I am suffering!"
'Suffering? He is the one suffering?' Her eyes shot out a painful glare. Using the last strength in her bones, Mingxia pulled herself away from him, winced at her bruised white skin, and slumped to the ground. Her legs stiffened when she perceived his last avowal.
"Well, you don't have to worry; tonight, you will have a painless death, and I guarantee it."