Chapter 177: Not By Blood
Everyone finally managed to let out the breath they had been holding when they realized that Xie Rong had stopped the attack with his bare hand.
The blood scattered across the floor had come from his palm.
"Rong’er!"
Old Madam Xie’s voice trembled as she hurried forward, while Master Xie’s face darkened at the sight of the sharp hairpin lodged between Xie Rong’s fingers.
Xie Rong’s expression, however, remained frighteningly calm.
Blood slowly trickled from the wound in his palm, slipping between his fingers before falling onto the floor one drop at a time.
Wang Gege stared at his hand, her face turning pale. "Husband..."
Xie Rong glanced at her. "I’m fine."
"Fine?" Her eyes immediately widened. "Your hand is bleeding!"
Only then did Xie Rong lower his gaze toward his injured palm, as though he had only just noticed it. "It is only a minor wound."
But Wang Gege’s expression only became darker. "Minor wound, my foot! You just caught a hairpin with your bare hand!"
Xie Rong blinked at her sudden outburst.
Before he could answer, Wang Gege had already turned toward Xie An’an.
And the expression on her face was no longer amused.
"You damn bitch demon girl!" Wang Gege suddenly lunged forward.
"Furen—" Xie Rong reacted immediately.
He caught her around the waist just as her feet touched the ground and pulled her backward.
"Let me go!" Wang Gege immediately began struggling in his arms, one hand still stretched furiously toward Xie An’an. "You dare stab my husband?!"
"I am not stabbed," Xie Rong corrected calmly.
"You are bleeding!"
"It is only my hand."
"Only your hand?!" Wang Gege twisted in his hold and tried to reach forward again. "Do you still need your hand or not?! Let me go! I am going to personally let her experience what death feels like!"
Xie Rong’s brows furrowed. "Furen..."
"Let go of me!" Wang Gege tried to pull herself free again, but with one arm firmly around her waist, Xie Rong simply pulled her slightly farther back.
"You cannot even stand steadily," Xie Rong said, trying to calm her down.
"My legs might be weak, but my hands are perfectly fine! And I definitely don’t need my neck to smack some sense into someone!"
Wang Gege shifted her gaze back to Xie An’an, who had remained frozen since then. Beside her, Mo Yan was already standing guard, ready to stop her should she attempt another attack.
For a moment, Wang Gege simply stared at her.
Then she frowned, "You really are crazy."
Xie An’an’s eyes flickered.
"What would make you stop?" Wang Gege took a slow breath, trying to calm herself as her breathing gradually became heavier.
"I suppose it is true what they say..." Her gaze slowly hardened as she continued, "When the heart has already gone crooked, the mind follows after it."
Silence followed.
When suddenly...
"Heh..." A strange sound suddenly escaped Xie An’an’s lips.
Wang Gege frowned.
"Hahahaha..." Xie An’an slowly lowered her head as her shoulders began shaking.
At first, everyone thought she was crying. But the sound of her laughter only grew louder.
"What is so funny?" Wang Gege asked.
Xie An’an continued laughing, covering her mouth as though she had just heard something truly amusing.
"Stop?" she finally repeated. Her laughter gradually faded.
"You are asking this sister what would make me stop?" She slowly lowered her hand. The tears were still on her face, but her expression no longer looked pitiful.
"I will stop the moment Brother becomes mine..." She smirked.
Her answer shocked everyone.
"An’an!"
Old Madam Xie rushed forward in disbelief. Then, unable to restrain herself, she raised her hand and gave Xie An’an a sharp slap across the face.
Xie An’an’s head snapped to the side.
"Wake up!" Old Madam Xie’s voice trembled with fury and grief. "He is your brother! No matter what happens, he will always be your brother!"
Xie An’an slowly turned her face back. Her cheek had already begun to redden.
"I said..." Her voice shook.
Then she suddenly shouted, "He is not!"
Everyone stiffened.
Xie An’an glared at Old Madam Xie, no longer bothering to hide the madness in her eyes.
"We are not related by blood!" Her chest rose and fell heavily. "I am not his true sister! I never was!"
Xie An’an’s chest rose and fell heavily as she glared at Old Madam Xie.
"All these years, all of you kept telling this one the same thing." Her lips curled bitterly. "Brother, Brother, Brother..."
She laughed again, though there was nothing amusing in the sound.
"So what if this one was raised in the same residence as him? So what if all of you insisted on calling him this sister’s brother?"
Her gaze slowly shifted toward Xie Rong. "We do not share the same blood."
"An’an, enough!" Master Xie shouted.
But she seemed not to hear him. Her eyes remained fixed on Xie Rong.
"Do you know how long this sister has waited?"
The bedchamber fell silent.
"This sister thought that as long as that Shen Taotao disappeared..." Her eyes slowly moved toward Wang Gege. "As long as there was no one else between us..."
Her lips curved faintly. "Brother would eventually see this sister."
Old Madam Xie’s face turned pale. "An’an..."
"But he never did." The faint smile on Xie An’an’s face slowly disappeared. "No matter what this sister did, his eyes were always elsewhere."
Her fingers slowly curled, "So why should this sister stop?"
Her gaze darkened. "If he would never willingly become mine..." A strange smile returned to her lips, "then this sister would simply make sure there was no one else left for him to choose."
"Oh, Heaven..."
Old Madam Xie’s face turned deathly pale. Her body suddenly swayed, and her knees nearly gave way beneath her.
Fortunately, the servant standing nearby quickly stepped forward and caught her.
"Old Madam!"
Old Madam Xie clutched tightly at the servant’s arm, staring at Xie An’an as though she could no longer recognize the granddaughter she had raised.
"What... What has Grandmother raised all these years?" Her voice trembled. "An’an..." Tears slowly filled her eyes. "When did your heart become like this?"
Xie An’an’s expression slowly changed. The faint smile on her lips disappeared.
"When?" She suddenly laughed. "It began when all of you agreed to accept the Shen family’s proposal."
Old Madam Xie’s eyes widened. "An’an..."
"This one had already gotten rid of that foolish Gu Ruyan!" Her voice suddenly rose. "This sister finally thought there would no longer be anyone standing between Brother and me, yet what did all of you do?"
Her gaze swept across the people in the chamber. "You accepted another marriage proposal!"
Her eyes finally returned to Wang Gege. "And you brought another woman into this residence!"
Her breathing became increasingly uneven. "This sister endured that foolish Gu Ruyan for so many years. When she finally came out from brother’s side, this sister thought I had waited long enough..."
Her lips slowly curled.
"Yet Grandmother still had to bring another one." She pointed toward Wang Gege. "Her."