Lin Xu was in a car accident.
A large truck ran a red light and collided with her sedan, causing it to overturn.
Steel pipes from the truck fell off, piercing through her body. Before the pain could even spread throughout her body, she lost consciousness.
Numerous images flooded her mind, and Lin Xu realized that she was in a novel world; both her sons were villains in the story, and her daughter was a disposable supporting character.
After she and her husband died, the three children were left to fend for themselves. With no one to guide them, the sons grew more twisted. One became a pervert who liked to imprison the novel's female protagonist and play dark room games, and the other was a villain who would nonchalantly draw blood from substitutes, harvesting their kidneys for the female protagonist, his moonlight.
The only daughter, lacking affection in her childhood, grew up love-struck, revolving her life around the male protagonist and setting up traps for the female protagonist.
Because they opposed the leads of the novel, it wasn't long before the villainous sons were caught and spent their lives in prison. The disposable daughter was manipulated by the male lead, losing the family business and ultimately falling off a cliff in a state of despair.
"Be careful!"
Lin Xu suddenly sat up, gasping for air, her chest heaving violently.
The image of her daughter falling from the cliff was still in her mind. She patted her chest, unsettled, and then noticed the gaping hole the steel pipe had left in her chest during the accident was gone. In fact, all her other wounds had also disappeared.
Lin Xu was stunned. Before she could make sense of what was happening, she heard a loud shout near her.
"Ji Tingyang, I don't like you, let me go."
The man's clear voice was tinged with anger, "I'm telling you, impossible! Butler, take her back to her room!"
Lin Xu followed the voice into the room and saw a man throwing things on the floor, all the cups and dishes swept off the surfaces and shattered into pieces.
She tentatively called out a name, "Ji Tingyang?"
Ji Tingyang turned around, his brows furrowed in displeasure, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
Those familiar eyes and face made Lin Xu's heart tremble, "I'm your mother."
"Say that again?!" Ji Tingyang's eyes were ice cold, his clear voice suppressing anger.
Lin Xu stood her ground, responding, "I said, I'm your mother."
Ji Tingyang radiated a chilling aura, his frosty eyes piercing her like knives, "You dare to joke about my mother, are you seeking death!"
His mother had died twenty years ago, and even if she had been alive, she would be in her forties or fifties by now, but this woman looked to be in her twenties at most.
"I'm not joking, I'm serious. When you were five, you still wet the bed; at six, you liked Ultraman; at seven, you still enjoyed drinking milk," Lin Xu revealed details about Ji Tingyang as if she were reciting treasures.
Ji Tingyang's forehead vein bulged, his teeth clenched in anger, "You've had someone investigate me."
"There's no need for an investigation, I've told you I'm your mother," Lin Xu was also frustrated, why was this child so obstinate? He had been so cute as a child, believing everything she said.
Lin Xu thought for a moment, then whispered, "You have a red mole on your buttock, surely you can acknowledge that?"
Ji Tingyang's expression grew even colder. He stepped forward, gripping her wrist tightly, causing her pain, "Is there someone else from your side in this house? Who is it, speak!"
"How can you be so stubborn, I already told you I'm Lin Xu, your mother! After the car accident, when I woke up, I found myself here, completely confused. I'm trying to talk to you, and you won't listen," Lin Xu, infuriated, took to hitting him, raising her hand to slap his shoulder as she scolded him.
The familiar tone and slap of anger made Ji Tingyang pause for a moment. He remembered, over twenty years ago when he cut his mother's dress, she had slapped him just like this when she was angry.
Could she really be his mother?
"If you still don't believe me, then let's do a paternity test," Lin Xu suggested wearily, proposing the most effective solution without further covert signals.
Ji Tingyang had intended to throw her out of the Ji Family, but her face, so similar to her mother's, along with her actions and demeanor, made him hesitate for a moment.
In the end, he called a doctor to draw blood for testing, but the results wouldn't be available until the next day.
"You…" Ji Tingyang glanced at Lin Xu and, for a moment, didn't know what to do with her.
Lin Xu didn't mind his awkwardness and asked, "Where are my brother and sister? Why haven't I seen them?"
Ji Tingyang frowned, "You want to find out where they are? Let me tell you, there's no…"
Before he could finish, Lin Xu slapped him again.
Ji Tingyang felt a surge of frustration rise in his chest, and he turned to glare fiercely at Lin Xu, about to let loose a curse but held it back upon seeing that familiar cheek, begrudgingly answering, "They don't come home often; they don't live here."
When the test results come back, if this woman has deceived him, he would surely make her regret it.
Lin Xu's slender brows furrowed, a hint of barely perceptible sadness in her expression, "Do you not get along well?"
Otherwise, why wouldn't the siblings live together?
Ji Tingyang paused, then fell silent.
Lin Xu wanted to ask more about them, but seeing Ji Tingyang's unhappy face, she swallowed her doubts.
Forget it, she'd ask another time.
"Is my old room still available? Where will I sleep tonight?" Lin Xu looked around, the house hadn't changed much, most of it still the way it used to be.
"Sleep in the guest room," Ji Tingyang said coldly.
Lin Xu's lips parted, about to speak, but then she met his uncompromising gaze, "Alright."
Ji Tingyang was still wary of her and it made sense to not allow her to stay in the master bedroom.
Lin Xu had received an overload of information today, leaving her head spinning. She told Ji Tingyang goodnight, went upstairs, chose a guest room she knew, and went to rest.
She slept soundly through the night.
Lin Xu woke up the next morning to the strange yet familiar surroundings of the house and realized she had truly been reborn.
It took her a while to catch her breath and slowly accept this fact. As she opened the door to get something to eat, she saw Ji Tingyang standing in front of her room.
He held an A4 paper in his hand, staring at its contents with an expression of disbelief written all over his pupils.
Lin Xu's thoughts raced as she looked at the paper, "Are the paternity results out?"
Ji Tingyang looked up, his expression complex as he responded.
Seeing him like this, there was no need to ask what the results were.
As Lin Xu contemplated whether to offer him a long-awaited mother-son hug, the room at the end of the hallway erupted with the sound of objects being smashed.
The nanny rushed out of the room, startled to see Ji Tingyang in the hallway, and hesitantly approached to say, "Young Master, Lady Wen has thrown out all the breakfast."
Lin Xu's eyelid twitched as she remembered the novel's protagonist who was locked in the dark room.