novelraw Chapter 197 What are you doing?
Chapter 197 What are you doing?
Lu Xiran was startled.
In that instant, it was as if a bolt of lightning had cleaved through all the fog in her mind. It wasn't a coincidence, it wasn't a misunderstanding, it wasn't her overthinking—the person hiding behind Su Lanzhi had always been her.
That woman who was the only one in the Gu family who treated her well, that always gentle and proper, always impeccable second aunt. She had been scheming and plotting all along, from three years ago to three years later, she never stopped.
"Second Aunt, you might have misunderstood!" Lu Xiran's voice trembled, but she desperately tried to steady herself. She couldn't panic, she couldn't lose her composure, she couldn't let her see the shattering look in her eyes. "The child in my belly isn't Gu Yanshen's."
Lian Bichen looked at her with a hint of amusement in his eyes, as if watching a dying prey struggling in a trap, watching it exhaust its last bit of strength.
"You should know that Gu Yanshen and I divorced three years ago." Lu Xiran's voice grew increasingly steady, so steady that even she herself was surprised, as if she were telling a story she had long ago prepared. "I'm with Xin Mubai now. The child is his."
Lian Bichen's lips twitched slightly, not in a smile, but in an indescribable expression, as if surprised, yet also as if she had expected it.
She looked at Lu Xiran for a long time, so long that Lu Xiran thought she believed her. Then she smiled, a very light smile, as if she were talking about something insignificant.
"Ranran, do you think I'd believe that? I know Xin Mubai is pursuing you. But do you think I can't tell who you love?" Her fingers tightened suddenly, causing Lu Xiran to wince in pain, a cracking sound of dislocating knuckles echoing in her wrist. "You're exactly like your mother." A flicker of hesitation crossed Lian Bichen's eyes, a hesitation as fleeting as a breeze across water, vanishing in an instant. "You shouldn't have come back. Otherwise, I wouldn't want to touch her daughter."
Lu Xiran caught that fleeting moment of reluctance, like a drowning person grasping at the last piece of driftwood. She immediately put on a smile, her voice softening, carrying a sweetness even she herself didn't recognize. "Second Aunt, do you know my mother?"
Lian Bichen's gaze flickered, as if something had pulled her far away. "She and I were once like you and Qiqi. Only, I married the wrong person, while she... she seemed so happy." Jealousy shone in her eyes, a deep, suppressed jealousy that erupted like magma from a crack. "I just never expected Lu Hao to be even more ruthless."
Lian Bichen laughed, "I didn't expect her happiness to be just a facade."
"Moreover," Lian Bichen traced Lu Xiran's face with her eyes, "Lu Hao is not only ruthless to her, but also ruthless to his own daughter."
She looked at Lu Xiran, the ruthlessness in her eyes slowly fading, replaced by a thin layer of pity that was hard to define. "You're a pitiful person too. I don't want to hurt you. It's just that everything about the Gu family… I can't let go. Otherwise, what has it meant by enduring this for so long?"
She stared at Lu Xiran's stomach, her gaze like a knife, slowly, bit by bit, cutting into it. She grabbed Jin Qiqi's clothes from beside the bed and quickly tied Lu Xiran's hands to the bedpost. Her movements were swift and practiced, as if she'd done it countless times.
Lu Xiran struggled for a moment, the fabric digging into her flesh, causing her to gasp in pain. The ruthlessness in Lian Bichen's eyes sent chills down her spine; there was no hesitation, no pity in his gaze, only a resolute determination that could freeze one's blood.
"Ranran, you'd better not move. I've been fighting Gu Qisheng for so many years, do you think I'm a pushover? Five of you wouldn't be a match for me!"
She turned and left. Her steps were hurried, as if she were going to get something.
Lu Xiran twisted her wrists desperately, the fabric chafing her skin until it burned. She couldn't just sit and wait to die; she couldn't let anything happen to her child.
She gritted her teeth and pulled her wrist out little by little. It slipped half an inch out of the fabric, then got stuck again. She tried harder, and it slipped out a little more. Her skin was chafed raw and bleeding, but she didn't care about the pain. She only knew that she had to break free, she had to get out of here, and she had to do it before Lian Bichen returned.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor. They grew closer.
Lu Xiran's hand finally slipped out of the fabric a little, but before she could stand up, Lian Bichen had already walked in with a glass of orange juice.
Her steps were quick, so quick it was as if she were chasing after someone, as if she wasn't giving Lu Xiran any chance to catch her breath. Lu Xiran had only stood up halfway when she was pressed down on the shoulder with an unusually strong force, like a wall pressing down on her, pushing her back down onto the bench at the foot of the bed.
"Drink!" Lian Bichen supported Lu Xiran's back with one hand and brought the orange juice to her lips with the other. The sour smell of the orange juice rushed into Lu Xiran's nostrils, and her stomach churned. She turned her head sharply, and the glass hit her teeth with a crisp sound.
Lian Bichen no longer held back. She pinched Lu Xiran's chin, her nails digging into her skin, and turned her face back. The orange juice touched her lips, icy cold, and Lu Xiran pursed her lips tightly.
No! She can't let her hurt the child!
Lu Xiran gritted her teeth, used all her strength to struggle, and shoved Lian Bichen away from behind.
Lian Bichen stumbled, bumping into the bedside table before regaining her balance. Half a glass of orange juice spilled, the golden liquid soaking into the sheets. She glanced down, then looked up at Lu Xiran. Her gaze had changed—no longer scrutinizing, no longer threatening, but a raw, chilling killing intent that sent shivers down one's spine.
"Lu Xiran! Since you won't behave, don't blame me for being impolite!"
She put down the orange juice and abruptly grabbed the lamp from the sideboard. The metal base and ceramic shade were heavy, gleaming coldly in the light. She held it up and walked towards Lu Xiran.
Lu Xiran ran forward, but Lian Bichen blocked her path. Lu Xiran's back pressed against the wall, with nowhere to retreat. She clutched her stomach, trembling all over, watching the lamp being raised high in Lian Bichen's hand.
"mom!"
Jin Qiqi's voice exploded from behind, hoarse and weak, yet it was like a thunderclap that cleaved the frozen air.
Lian Bichen's hand froze in mid-air. The lamp was hanging less than a foot above Lu Xiran's head, its shade still swaying slightly.
Jin Qiqi sat up, propping herself up on the edge of the bed. Her face was as white as paper, her lips were chapped, and her eyes were bloodshot. She wasn't fully awake yet, but her hand gripped Lian Bichen's wrist tightly, her nails digging into her flesh.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Her voice trembled, but she spoke slowly and deliberately, each word seemingly squeezed out from between her teeth.
Jin Qiqi looked at her, at the lamp, at the orange juice spilled on the sheets, at the blood seeping from Lu Xiran's wrist. Tears fell silently, drop by drop, onto the blanket.
"Mom, what are you doing?"