"An Lan! How can you talk to your dad like that?" Zhou Huimin hinted darkly, "This time, it was because of you that the An Family got targeted by Director Huo, and now you're acting high and mighty?"
"Mom! What's the use in telling her these things," An Yuxian sneered, "I think she just doesn't want to give the money!"
"Shut up!"
An Guohua came down the stairs and said indifferently, "What do you mean by begging you? You're part of the An Family no matter what, and you should contribute to the family!"
"When it's time to ask for money, I'm part of the An Family, but when it's not about money, have you ever cared whether I live or die?"
An Lan looked at the iron-faced An Guohua and mocked, "Moreover, does the An Family have even a penny of my share in it? Since it doesn't, even if the An Family goes bankrupt, what does it have to do with me?"
"How dare you!"
An Guohua was livid. He never expected the daughter who had always been at his beck and call to talk back to him like this!
"I think you're trying to turn heaven and earth upside down! The An Family has raised you for so many years in vain! You thankless wretch!"
"Raised by the An Family? Don't make me laugh, every penny of the An Family's should belong to my mother!" An Lan sneered, "This An Family should have had the Fu surname in the first place!"
"Dammit!"
An Guohua couldn't restrain himself and fiercely slapped An Lan.
"I see you've had a few good days and forgotten the rules of this house!"
"Go! Bring me my whip!"
"But, she still has to go back to the Huo Family later! This isn't good, right?"
Zhou Huimin said this but had already gone to fetch a horsewhip.
"When I tell you to bring it, just bring it!"
"Think carefully, I am now Huo Zhanting's wife. If you hit me, it's like slapping his face!"
"You!" An Guohua trembled with rage, his hand holding the whip but hesitating to strike.
Huo Zhanting was notoriously vindictive in Binhai, and his methods of protecting his own were even more ruthless. Let alone slapping his face, every person who had offended him had met a miserable fate.
An Lan, watching An Guohua's expression, felt a rush of unprecedented satisfaction, "Since there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
"I'll leave my words here: the day the An Family is renamed Fu, I'll come to the rescue without being asked."
With a cold sweep over everyone present, An Lan said, "Farewell."
Then she left without looking back.
Outside the villa, the black Maybach was still parked. An Lan, shivering, opened the car door.
"Five minutes late."
Holding a tablet, Huo Zhanting glanced at her and said flatly, "Huh, beaten up?"
An Lan subconsciously touched her face, "I'm soaked, I'll sit in front, so you don't catch a cold."
"Useless."
Huo Zhanting pushed the words through his teeth and then ignored her, returning to his tablet.
An Lan breathed a sigh of relief, took the passenger seat, and couldn't stop glancing at him through the rearview mirror.
But for some reason, she felt like Huo Zhanting...
Seemed a bit angry?
The car drove back to the Huo Family home, and Huo Zhanting remained silent the entire trip.
Upon entering the door, Sun Lanfang quickly followed, "Zhan Ting, you're back? Dinner's ready, let's eat."
He ignored her, taking off his coat and going inside.
Sun Lanfang's face fell in disappointment, but when she saw An Lan following, her anger surged.
She pointed at An Lan's forehead sharply, "You have the nerve to come back? Haven't seen you all morning; one would think you're the lady of the house if they didn't know better!"
Huo Jiajia also complained, "You didn't cook! And my dress for tomorrow's banquet isn't even ironed yet!"
"I was late coming back from my mother's funeral today."
"Tsk tsk tsk! Such bad luck!"
Sun Lanfang turned away in disgust, "Get out!"
"One's death day comes for us all," An Lan said as she took her place at the table and began eating on her own, "After death, the bad luck is the same."
Sun Lanfang stamped her feet in fury, "You! You dare to curse me?!"
Smack!
Sun Lanfang knocked over her rice bowl with a smack.
An Lan was covered in hot, sticky rice, but she didn't care, instead turning her head to glance at Huo Zhanting.
He continued to eat in his leisurely manner, as if he hadn't heard a thing.
An Lan pursed her lips, unclear about what was angering Huo Zhanting, but she knew it was unwise to provoke him while he was irate.
She paused for a moment, then squatted down and reached out to pick up the broken porcelain pieces.
Huo Zhanting slammed his chopsticks angrily onto the table, stood up, and went upstairs, dropping this sentence as he passed by An Lan.
"What a good dog!"
An Lan looked at his retreating figure puzzledly, and before she could react, Huo Jiajia kicked over the things in her hand.
Her heavily made-up face was full of disdain, "Heh, what are you looking at? You really think my brother would fall for you?"
"A bitch will always be a bitch, thinking she's safe just because she climbed into Zhan Ting's bed!" Sun Lanfang sneered, "Turns out she's just a plaything Zhan Ting picked up on a whim, thinking she has someone backing her!"
A vicious slap landed on An Lan's body, and Sun Lanfang felt utterly satisfied, "Bitch! Weren't you so arrogant yesterday? Daring to cause trouble and snitch, resulting in my pocket money getting halved!"
The more she talked, the angrier she got, and her beating didn't stop, "Are you all dead? Drag her to the basement, I can't stand the sight of her!"
Several servants dragged An Lan away toward the basement. She hadn't said a word the entire time until she suddenly spoke up, "I can walk on my own."
After saying that, she pushed the servant away, stood up, dusted off the rice grains, picked up the bowl from the table, and splashed it all over Huo Jiajia.
"Ah!" Huo Jiajia screamed, jumping up, "You bitch, are you crazy? How dare you splash me?"
"Now we're even."
After saying this, she walked into the basement without looking back, but not before catching a fleeting smile in Huo Zhanting's eyes.
"I'm so angry! Bitch! You all go to the basement and teach that whore a lesson! Ahhh! My new skirt!"
With a bang!
The hysterical voice of Huo Jiajia was blocked by the basement door and could no longer be heard.
Fists rained down on her body, but An Lan fought back until her arms were pinned, and she quickly lost the strength to resist.
Time passed, and she curled up lying on the cold cement floor, shivering with her teeth clacking, so hot to the touch it was unusual, her throat painfully dry.
She must have had a fever.
Trying her best to curl into a ball, An Lan's consciousness started to fade. She was now on her own, relying on her hope that her judgment was correct.
Huo Zhanting just wanted to punish her and didn't intend to take her life.
Or perhaps, widowhood was also a condition for losing shares according to grandpa's will?
The more An Lan thought, the more her head hurt. She didn't know how long it had been until her curled-up body began to stiffen painfully.
In a daze, she heard the door being opened and someone walking in.
A long arm reached out and picked up An Lan; a familiar cold fragrance enveloped her.
She bit down without hesitation.
A muffled grunt came from above her head.
"Really a dog's nature, biting at everyone?"
"You are... Huo Zhanting?"
An Lan's voice was hoarse and dry as she lifted her foggy head to look, meeting a pair of pitch-black eyes.
She blinked for a long time.
Huo Zhanting said indifferently, "You don't recognize me anymore?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the woman who had been relatively calm in his arms bit him even harder.
"Hiss!"
Huo Zhanting's voice held a note of annoyance, "Are you crazy?"
"Who needs you to play the good guy now?"
An Lan retorted angrily but with a sob, "Let go, I can walk by myself!"
With Huo Zhanting releasing his grip, An Lan fell to the ground. The moment her foot touched the floor, the pain was so intense that she had no choice but to cling onto Huo Zhanting's neck like a koala.
"Heh, silly woman!"
Huo Zhanting made a retort, picked up An Lan again, and strode out of the basement.