"Slap!" The clear sound of a slap rang out at the banquet. Mu Rulan only felt her cheek stinging and numb, and her mouth was filled with the taste of blood.
The onlookers showed no sympathy at all. They were dressed elegantly, meticulously made up, holding red wine or champagne in their hands, with cold sneers at the corners of their mouths.
"Say that again!" Mu Zhengyang was trembling with anger all over, his eyes shooting out blood-red rage. Those who didn't know would have thought Mu Rulan was his enemy instead of his biological daughter.
Mu Rulan was wearing her school uniform, which now had red wine stains on it. Her back was stubbornly straight, like a birch tree. Her eyes were bright, full of stubbornness, and her fists were tightly clenched. "I'm not wrong!"
"You..."
"Daddy... No, Uncle Mu, it's my fault. Don't blame Sister. It's all because I overestimated myself..." Bai Suqing said weakly, with a deep palm print on her pitiful face. As she shook her head, her black hair couldn't cover the mark. When Mu Zhengyang saw it, another wave of anger surged up in him, and he slapped Mu Rulan hard, sending her crashing to the ground.
On such an occasion with so many outsiders present, he showed no mercy and slapped his biological daughter twice for an outsider. This was a father.
Mu Rulan sat on the ground, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, but her eyes couldn't help turning red.
She felt aggrieved. Bai Suqing had only been in her family for half a year, yet she had snatched away her parents, her younger brother, and her lover. She had always thought that maybe she had really done something wrong. However, Bai Suqing had admitted to her personally that she had planned all of this. When she had naively thought that she had a younger sister to love and cherish, Bai Suqing had plotted against her, got her raped by school hooligans, and then pretended to be a good person to comfort her, making her feel deeply grateful. But the next day, she had posted the relevant video online, making her lose all face, and her fiancé's family also despised her for being impure...
She had explained to her friends, to her parents, and to her younger brother, but all she got in return were their cold looks and ridicule. They said, "Mu Rulan, you're so despicable. Suqing is so nice to you, yet you slandered her behind her back. No wonder you encountered those things. It must be God punishing you. You deserve it!"
Yes, she deserved it. It was her own fault for being so blind and unable to judge people properly. She had been stubborn since childhood and couldn't bear being betrayed by everyone. After several attempts at explanation that no one believed, she began to be disdainful. At least she wouldn't let Bai Suqing take away her dignity as well. She believed in one saying: Those who care about you don't need your explanations, and those who don't care won't believe your explanations.
Since they didn't believe her, she simply removed them from her heart. She was still a stubborn and proud young girl. If she couldn't outwit the villains, she could avoid them. She didn't care about the parents and brothers who could be manipulated away from her, nor did she care about the lovers and friends who could be snatched away. But she hadn't expected that this black-hearted little white lotus wouldn't even leave her a way to live. When she came back to get something, Bai Suqing had to keep pestering her. Bai Suqing said she hadn't expected her to have the nerve to come back. Mu Rulan replied that it was only natural for her to come back, and that Bai Suqing, a pheasant who came to snatch others' things just because she had no parents, could never become a phoenix even if she entered the Mu family.
So, the little white lotus got her henchman to slap her. With just one cry, there were so many self-proclaimed justice enforcers that even her parents and brothers were on her side.
Mu Rusen sneered with disdain. Having a sister like her must be the worst luck he could have in eight lifetimes.
Mu Rulin stood behind the crowd, his eyes cold, as if he were just watching a stranger's drama.
"Will you apologize or not?!" Mu Zhengyang was so angry that he felt like exploding. Hadn't this daughter brought enough shame to him? He really regretted not strangling her to death when she was born, so as to avoid being disgraced by her here today!
"Rulan, quickly apologize to Qingqing. After all, you're the older sister. How can you say such things to your younger sister? Apologize quickly!" Mother Ke Wanqing hugged Bai Suqing to comfort her, looking at Mu Rulan with sharp and cold eyes, with a hint of threat in them.
Mu Rulan's eyes were icy. She stood up and walked straight out without looking at anyone. Her back was straight, thin and slender. No one could make her bow or bend, even if that person was her biological parents. Today, just for telling the truth, she was publicly humiliated by her own parents. If she were to fight back, they might even want to cut her into pieces.
"If you take one step out of here without apologizing today, the Mu family will no longer have you as a daughter!" Mu Zhengyang was so angry that he wanted to pick up a stick and hit her. She was now provoking his authority as a father and the head of the family! How dare she not listen to him!
Mu Rulan clenched her fists and continued walking towards the door without saying a word. Who cared about such a family? She, Mu Rulan, had hands and feet. In this life, she would rather beg than set foot in this place again!
Several harsh curses came from behind, but Mu Rulan pretended not to hear them. The bright moonlight shone on her, making her look lonely and thin.
She had just reached the side of the road when Bai Suqing's anxious voice suddenly came from behind, "Sister! Sister, don't be impulsive! It's my fault. Don't go. I'll go! Sister..."
Mu Rulan ignored her. Headlights in front lit up, stinging her eyes a bit.
"What's the rush?" The originally delicate voice became sharp and harsh. Bai Suqing grabbed Mu Rulan's hand, with a mocking smile at the corners of her mouth. "I haven't had enough fun yet."
"What else do you want? I already have nothing left. What more do you want?" Mu Rulan shook off her hand and looked at her coldly, with a stubborn expression, as if she didn't care about the things that had been snatched away.
Bai Suqing narrowed her eyes slightly. "I want to see you cry! I want to see you kneel on the ground and beg me like a dog, and I want to see you as dirty and lowly as an ant. But why won't you cry?" She extremely hated Mu Rulan's lofty and pure appearance. Even though she had been raped and her body was no longer pure, she still looked as innocent and clean as a child. That look made her want to tear it to shreds.
Mu Rulan's mouth twitched slightly, cold and stubborn. "Then I'm sorry. You'll never get your wish in this lifetime."
"Then just die!" A murderous look flashed in Bai Suqing's eyes as she pushed her right into the middle of the road.
"Bang!"
Mu Rulan's shocked expression seemed to be frozen on her face. She felt as if her whole body was broken, and the scarlet blood quickly spread from her head. She tilted her neck and looked ahead with blurred eyes.
She saw Bai Suqing's sinister, smug, and disdainful smile, saw her family members running over, and saw that the man who had killed her was the one she had once loved with all her heart.
Such an obvious act of pushing her out could be seen by anyone with eyes.
However, they seemed quite happy to see her die.
Mu Zhengyang said, "Don't take it to heart. It's not your fault."
Ke Wanqing hugged Bai Suqing, who seemed to be frightened, and comforted her repeatedly, "It doesn't matter. I still have you, my dear daughter who is even dearer than my own."
"Pah, this kind of woman deserved to die long ago. Her existence is an embarrassment to me!" Mu Rusen put his hands in his trouser pockets, chewing gum, looking at Mu Rulan lying in the middle of the road as if she were a piece of trash.
"I've only loved you from the very beginning to the end." The man who had killed her just a second ago was now making such a affectionate confession to Bai Suqing.
Her consciousness gradually became blurred. In the second before she died, among her resentment, she somehow felt envious and admiring. Being able to kill someone in public and still be comforted by others was quite an "achievement" in life...