Everyone froze in place.
Lin Zechuan stared at me in a daze.
"I'm your brother, Ranran."
I let out a broken, hysterical laugh.
"I don't have a brother who poisoned his own sister mute and sent her to prison to take the fall!"
My hands trembled as they moved to my mouth, and I bit down—hard.
"No."
"No! No!"
Lin Jiaojiao chose that moment to step inside, tears streaming down her face.
"Sister, I know I was wrong back then."
"But brother and mom and dad… they were only thinking of me. I was weak. They were afraid I wouldn't survive prison."
"Enough!"
Shen Yuzhou's face darkened, his eyes flashing with a coldness I had never seen before as he looked at Lin Jiaojiao.
"Didn't I tell you to stay away from Ranran?"
"Why are you still here, tormenting her?"
"Get out!"
"All of you should leave!"
Grandmother shoved Lin Jiaojiao aside and rushed to my side, pulling me into her embrace.
Her hands trembled as she stroked my back.
"Ranran, don't be afraid."
"Grandmother is here."
I buried myself in her arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Grandmother, I'm scared."
She carefully pulled a blanket over my head, shielding me from their judgmental gazes.
Then, she turned to the rest of the room, her voice shaking with fury.
"Do you all want to see Ranran dead that badly?"
"Five years ago, I was sick, and you threw her into prison behind my back."
"Now, after finally getting her back, you still refuse to let her go?"
"I may be old, but I am not senile!"
"I will get to the bottom of this!"
Hearing the determination in Grandmother's voice, Lin Jiaojiao's expression shifted to panic.
"Grandmother, am I not your granddaughter too?"
"I just want the truth! What are you afraid of?"
Grandmother shot her a sharp glare.
"Ranran is the one I raised with my own hands."
"If you want to bully her, you'll have to step over my dead body first!"
"Now—get out!"
The bodyguards by the door stepped forward, polite but firm.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please respect the old madam's wishes."
After they were all driven out, the hospital room finally fell silent again.
Grandmother gently lifted the blanket covering me and carefully smoothed my disheveled hair.
"Ranran, you still have Grandmother."
Her fingers traced the scars on my arms, and warm tears dripped onto my skin.
"It must have hurt so much."
I clung to her, shaking my head desperately.
Grandmother held me tightly, her voice suddenly filled with determination.
"I will get justice for you."
"For now, focus on healing."
"Once your wounds have healed, this nightmare will finally end."
She wanted to shield me from everything, to resolve it all without me knowing.
But nurses talk, and soon enough, I started piecing things together.
I heard that before Yu Wei was handed over to the police, he mysteriously disappeared for three days and nights.
When he was finally found, he was lying at the entrance of the police station, his body covered in bruises and wounds.
At the same time, an anonymous email was sent to the police chief, containing undeniable evidence of his crimes over the years.
After regaining consciousness, Yu Wei screamed that he would sue me for intentional injury.
But in the end, the court ruled that I had acted in self-defense.
As for the people who had tormented me in prison, they were arrested again, this time under different charges.
Even the prison guards who had turned a blind eye—or worse, encouraged the abuse—were convicted of negligence and multiple other crimes.
Once all of this had been settled, the Lin family and Shen Yuzhou came to the hospital again.
The bodyguards kept them from entering, so they could do nothing but kneel outside my hospital room, begging for forgiveness.
"Ranran, we were negligent. We didn't know you suffered so much in prison."
"We thought... we were just letting you stay there for five years."
"We even gave specific instructions for them to take care of you."
"But somehow..."
"Somehow?"
Sitting on the hospital bed, I listened to their pathetic excuses, finding them more and more laughable.
"Do you really not know, or are you just refusing to admit it?"
"Who, under your orders, would dare to do all those things to me?"
"I'm no longer part of the Lin family."
"So there's no need for you to keep up this act in front of me."