Mai Hui Ling Is Dead

Just about a day later, Ling woke up. The doctors only said she had superficial injuries and smoke inhalation. But with her understanding of her own body, Ling knew it wasn't true.

"What if I had died there, brother?"

Ling asked softly, her eyes empty as she looked at him, but he didn't look at her once. His hands were clenched tightly, blue veins clearly visible on his fair skin. She spoke of death? Did she want to die that much?

"If you died, I would make them all be buried with you."

Wu Dan Feng said coldly, in a terrifying tone he had never revealed before her. But now, perhaps his endurance had reached its limit. If it happened one more time, he didn't know if he would have enough composure not to shoot them in the head.

"I'm sorry, Wu Dan Feng."

Ling hugged him, her slender hands stroking his broad shoulders. He was always like this, so warm.

The next day, Ling was able to get out of bed, and the first place she went was Wei's hospital room.

From a distance, she only saw the figure of a man rushing in in a panic, followed by an elegant woman. As far as she knew, they were Mai Hui Ling's relatives. Her relatives, her beloved father and paternal aunt. They weren't visiting their own daughter, their own niece, but someone else's daughter. Was this what he wanted to protect? Life... Was it a comedic play? But this play was not funny at all...

Through the crack in the door, Ling saw Xiang Wei's figure. She lay on the hospital bed, her eyes bandaged white, beside her were Madam Xue Lan, Wei's mother, and her father, along with her paternal aunt.

"Is our child alright? Why can't I see anything? What's wrong, Mother?"

Wei asked in a panic, her trembling hands touching the white cloth on her face, then rubbing her belly.

"The baby is fine... it's just your eyes..."

Madam Xue Lan stammered, tears streaming down her face, grasping Wei's hand, unable to speak.

"Don't cry, I will definitely cure your eyes. Don't cry..."

Mr. Mai Qing Yin said gently, his hands embracing Madam Xue Lan's shoulders. The gentleness emanating from his eyes sent shivers down Ling's spine. Was this her indifferent, stern father? Was this the father who didn't care about his daughter? How ridiculous...

"I told you, that vixen only brings bad luck to our family. Why don't you quickly get rid of her?"

Madam Hui Na spoke up, her shrill voice unchanged through the years. But these were the words of the closest people Mai Hui Ling cherished? Daughter? Vixen? So that's how it was.

"Your family is truly happy..."

From outside the door, Ling's voice was terrifyingly cold, startling them. They watched her step inside, as if causing the air temperature to drop several degrees Celsius. Seeing her cold in a gray leather outfit was truly frightening.

"What are you doing here?"

Madam Hui Na's voice once again broke the silence, but upon meeting the coldness in Ling's eyes, she quickly fell silent.

"To see how happy your family is."

*Slap*

"Shut your mouth."

Before Ling could finish, Mr. Mai Qing Yin slapped her across the face. His face was now filled only with coldness.

"Is this what you want to protect? Your real family? Your woman and your daughter?"

Ling smiled faintly, but it sent a chill down Mr. Mai Qing Yin's spine. Was this the daughter he had neglected for twenty years? She was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

"Is it the woman you want to protect? Or the one you don't want to be caught in the whirlpool of high society? Is it the wife you love more than your life, which is why you pushed my mother into this predicament?"

The more Ling spoke, the more terrifying her voice became, her slender hands clenched tightly.

"What is this, Mother?"

Wei turned to ask. She didn't know anything. She didn't understand what Ling was saying, she didn't understand...

*Slap*

"Shut up, I told you!"

Mr. Mai Qing Yin shouted furiously, his hand once again slapping her face with great force.

"Are you afraid your beloved daughter will know your wicked deeds? Are you afraid? I had originally intended to leave, but everything is because of you..."

She spoke again, her cold face magnified before Mr. Mai Qing Yin, making him frown.

"What are you saying? I don't understand."

He stammered, turning his face away.

"You don't remember? Then let me remind you. Do you remember the woman named Wu Lan Yue? Your wife? The one you personally pushed into the water eleven years ago, the one you told, 'you've held the position of Mai Family matriarch for too long.' Do you remember? The one who once shared your bed."

She gently sat down on a small chair, her face gazing into the distance, as if lost in thought, but who knew this was merely a disguise for her body, which was trembling in waves.

"Brother, get rid of this vixen."

Madam Hui Na, seemingly out of patience, spoke up, but before Mr. Mai Qing Yin could answer, Ling quickly continued.

"Do you remember Mai Chun Feng? Your son..."

"How dare you mention my nephew! If it weren't for you and that vixen—your mother—my nephew and my mother wouldn't have died so tragically!"

Like a wild beast, Madam Hui Na roared again, the images of that year flashing through her mind. It was because of that woman that her family was shattered.

"Because of me? Because of my mother... haha... you're mistaken. You should ask your beloved brother, Mai Qing Yin, about that."

Ling's eyes met Mr. Mai Qing Yin's. His face subtly changed color, but he quickly regained his composure.

"What do you want to shut up?" he said softly.

"I want you to pay with your life. If you hadn't abandoned my mother and brother in the storm that year to rush to your ex-wife's side, my brother wouldn't have suffered. If you hadn't dropped my brother into the water again, he wouldn't have died... and your mother wouldn't have passed away because of it..."

The more she spoke, the more everyone's faces changed dramatically, especially Madam Hui Na's. Her face was stark white; she couldn't believe it, that her revered brother would do such things...

"Brother..."

"Why did you treat my mother like that? Why did you accept my brother but still not accept my mother? Was it because my mother was lowly? Because my mother loved you? Why?"

Ling spoke loudly, her voice reaching its limit, cold, emotionless, piercing their minds and plunging them into the pain of guilt...

"And me... what did I do for you to hate me so much? For all of you to hate me so much? Is it because I'm the vixen's child in your eyes? What did Mai Hui Ling do for you to treat her like this? A child born as a mistake, so why was she allowed to be born only to suffer coldness throughout her childhood? Was Mai Hui Ling merely a substitute for Mai Xiang Wei?"

Ling's face turned completely pale, her voice slightly trembling, as if to hide the fear within her. In the past, she had wanted to leave this place, but they had forced her to do this. Hurting them couldn't erase all the wounds in her heart.

"Do you remember? Twenty years ago, on the very day I was born. You once said, 'a substitute, one is enough'."

At this point, her voice had become hoarse and trembling with fear. She spoke of a very distant past, far beyond the past of her birth.

"Do you remember?... Do you remember your second daughter? The daughter you called a waste and threw into the trash, do you remember? The child you didn't even bother to look at before abandoning her. The child you said, 'the child of that woman isn't worthy of living'..."

Her eyes were squeezed shut, as if to prevent tears from flowing. She was afraid that if she cried now, they would surely laugh at her again. But she hurt so much, not from the bleeding wound on her back, but from her heart. She had once said she didn't need this family, but somewhere in her heart, there was still an intense longing for family.

"That is the fate of my family. They, one by one, all died at your hands, leaving only me. I have repaid all their debts to your Mai Family. Repaid you for saving my mother's life, repaid you for giving birth to Mai Chun Feng, repaid you for raising Mai Hui Ling... Now I have repaid everything, everything Mai Hui Ling thought she owed you. Owed the Mai Family, but perhaps you should know who truly owes whom. But if you wish to repay, you must wait until your next life to do so..."

With that, Ling's steps staggered out of the room, for she was afraid. If she stayed there, she would surely die. She was so tired, tired to death...

"Mai Hui Ling?"

As she stepped out the door, Mr. Mai Qing Yin's voice rang out again, but it held no emotion. Hearing him call her, one couldn't discern his mood.

"You're not her..."

He spoke again, his voice slightly trembling, startling Ling a little. Did this iron man also have such emotions? How ridiculous.

"Yes, I'm not. Because Mai Hui Ling is dead. Dead because of you."

She said coldly, her face slightly bowed then lifted, then she turned back to look at them.

"You..."

Mr. Mai Qing Yin looked at the girl before him in astonishment. It was still the same face, but the clear dark eyes had been replaced by beautiful jade-blue pupils, eyes exactly like those on that rainy day years ago, clear and indifferent, filling him with fear.

"I am not Mai Hui Ling. She is dead, and I am merely here to repay her debts."

Ling said softly, then slowly walked away, her heart feeling much lighter, for the past held too many secrets that made her truly unable to breathe anymore.

As for Mr. Mai Qing Yin, he collapsed to the ground, watching the disappearing figure. It was her, she was alive? Was it the child he had once abandoned?

"I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry..."

He burst into tears, his voice trembling and aged. If time could turn back, he would never have done such a thing, but now that he was sorry, would they agree, would she forgive him? He didn't deserve to be human; he had abandoned his own flesh and blood, he had destroyed them. He knew he was wrong, truly wrong, but perhaps, as she said, this debt he could only repay in the next life. As for this life, he would surely live in torment forever, never finding peace.