"Ever since I was born, they stopped treating my mother as they did before, and directly assigned her to a remote room, ignoring her completely!"

"It was precisely for this reason that the man's wife finally got a chance to take action against us." Dongfang Shu spoke with a face full of hatred: "Previously, she wanted my mother dead, but because my mother was pregnant, she couldn't do anything!"

"Over the span of a year, the hatred in her heart grew deeper and deeper. After my mother lost her status, she couldn't wait to take action."

"However, she also knew that she couldn't directly kill my mother. After all, my mother had given birth to children for the Dongfang family. If she did it blatantly, it would be hard for some of the elders to accept!"

"She was also smart, every time she dealt with my mother, she never went for the kill, only injured her. My mother was made to do all the heavy and laborious tasks!"

"Every time my mother did something wrong, it was a beating, a flurry of punches and kicks that left her covered in bruises!"

"Especially after she gave birth to a son, everyone in the third branch watched her, which made her even more arrogant, leading to my mother's life becoming increasingly miserable!"

"Being beaten became a regular occurrence. My mother knew she couldn't resist, and the more resistance she put up, the harsher it got!"

"And as I grew up, that woman also set her sights on me. My mother endured again and again to protect me, not wanting me to get hurt, just hoping I could grow up safely!"

"I witnessed my mother's miserable life for more than ten years!"

Dongfang Shu didn't know when her eyes had turned red, her tears beginning to well but held back from falling.

"In more than ten years, my mother was tormented by her to the point of being neither human nor ghost, her body covered in bruises, growing older by the day!" Dongfang Shu's voice was filled with an uncontainable tremor: "And her son often bullied us as well!"

"I remember once, that little bastard got hold of a bag of dog food from somewhere and forced my mother to eat it, threatening her with a beating if she didn't. I saw with my own eyes my mother eating it..."

Dongfang Shu gritted her teeth audibly, her delicate body trembling with rage, and the hatred she felt exploded unchecked.

Ye Xunhuan had unknowingly lit a cigarette, silently watching Dongfang Shu with a complex expression.

At this moment, he finally understood why Dongfang Shu hated the Dongfang family so much.

To her, it was never truly a home, and the Dongfang family was nothing short of hell.

She lived a life there that was worse than that of a pig or dog.

"I was nine that year!" Dongfang Shu took a deep breath, slowly suppressing the rage within her: "From that moment on, I swore to kill that little bastard to avenge my mother!"

"But I was alone, just the daughter of a servant, with nothing besides the title of Miss Dongfang."

"I could only silently watch my mother being humiliated, helpless. Do you know that kind of pain?" Dongfang Shu asked, her eyes bloodshot as she looked at Ye Xunhuan.

Ye Xunhuan couldn't find words to respond, a child wanting to care for their parent is a sorrow, watching one's kin be humiliated and being powerless, it's more than sorrow, at that moment, Dongfang Shu's heart must have felt like it was being torn apart, right?

"And my mother kept telling me to endure, endure, because only by enduring could we survive. If I showed even a hint of murderous intent, they would kill me!"

"I had to smile at everyone, and smile brightly, a smile as splendid as a blooming flower!" Dongfang Shu said firmly: "Every day I forced myself to practice in front of the mirror because I had to smile, only by smiling could I survive!"

"It was my mother's wish for me to live on, and I needed to live on because I wanted revenge, I wanted to clear my mother's name, I couldn't die!"

"At nine, do you know what it feels like for a nine-year-old child to practice smiling repeatedly in front of a mirror every day?"

At this point, Ye Xunhuan had no idea what to say.

When he was nine, he was still a mischievous child, always making Qin Fenghuang stomp in frustration, yet Qin Fenghuang couldn't bear to hit him!

But Dongfang Shu was practicing how to smile, and she was only nine at that time!

What were we doing at nine?

We were probably growing up under the doting love of our parents, right?

She had no childhood, or at least her childhood was a very dark side.

"Every day my face would get stiff from smiling, but still, I had to smile, and smile sincerely, making everyone think I was a thoughtless, naive little child!"

"When I was fourteen, my mother finally collapsed under the burden, fell ill, I begged them to save my mother, but no one was willing, especially that woman, who cursed my mother to die quickly!"

"And her bastard son, even knowing my mother was seriously ill, still caused trouble every day!"

"I couldn't take it anymore and gave him a good beating, but because of my action, that bitch strung me up, left me to roast under the sun, and whipped me!"

"What about that man?"

"Him?" Dongfang Shu laughed mockingly and tragically: "He never said a word from beginning to end, almost watching my mother and I fend for ourselves, watching us be bullied by everyone!"

For a moment, Ye Xunhuan didn't know what would be appropriate to say.

He didn't expect Dongfang Shu's father never spoke up at all.

If he had spoken up a little at the time, perhaps Dongfang Shu wouldn't have lived so miserably?

"Because they didn't take action to save my mother, nor did they call a doctor for her, my mother died early!" Dongfang Shu shifted her tone: "After my mother died, I found a letter she left behind at the bedside, telling me to live well!"

In this moment, Dongfang Shu's emotions gradually calmed, as if she was telling a story unrelated to herself!

"To my mother, death might have been her relief, she could finally be at peace, without worrying about being bullied." Dongfang Shu said softly: "And I told myself to keep striving, striving, one day, I will stand at the pinnacle of this world, and make them all kneel at my mother's grave to repent, I want them to see with their own eyes how I destroy the Dongfang family!"

Her voice, neither light nor heavy, was filled with a persistent will that could not be erased.

"What are their names?"

"Dongfang Mingkun, Dongfang Jinbao, Wu Lanqin!" Dongfang Shu said with clenched teeth, spitting out the three names she had buried deep in her heart one word at a time!

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(PS: Two more chapters, likely later tonight, sorry, hope you understand!)

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