Serena was startled as Jianyu roared in anger. He tightly clutched her arm in his fist, and she whimpered in pain.
“So, from the beginning, I was merely a tool for you. You did nothing but use me.” His eyes were red in tears and anger.
“You knew everything, and I was such a fool, feeling guilty of hiding my past from you…D-do you know how I felt when I came to know that you and Nana were best friends? Do you know how difficult it was for me to get the courage to tell you the truth? Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to move on and fall in love again? DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING!!!”
Serena shut her eyes, and big drops of tears stained her cheeks wet.
“You brought Suyin back? Why? I loved her so much, but she left me and then one day she came back, all because of you. I thought I forgot about her, but you stepped on all my efforts for the last two years in forgetting her and brought her in front of me. Do you realize how I must have felt?”
“Jianyu…”
“You knew she had betrayed me. You knew how much I got hurt by loving her all these years. Even then you betrayed me just like Suyin…I thought I finally found my love in you…but it was all just a plan. I am such a fool.” Jianyu started laughing.
“Mom is right. She was always right. I couldn’t recognize the true Suyin…and this time, too, I couldn’t recognize the true Serena. Oops, I mean, Huo Zhilan.”
“Jianyu, please…I-I really didn’t realize when I fell in love with you. My feelings aren’t a lie…please…please…don’t hate me…”
“Lie?” He chuckled, then started laughing loudly.
The twins looked at him anxiously. Nana didn’t give any reaction.
“Everything was just a lie, isn’t it? Our first meeting, our living together, our love, our first time…what was real in that? Now, the illusion is finally broken, Serena. Now I understood you could stoop so low…You used Nana, and you used me. Neither your friendship was real, nor your love. So what is not a lie?”
Jianyu gripped her jaw hard. “How could you do it? How could you play with our trust in you? First, Suyin used me to gain money and status, and then you used me for your revenge. You know what? I don’t even feel a human anymore. I think I’m just some sort of disposable trash, right?”
“No! Please don’t say that…” She frantically shook her head.
“How else should I feel? Suyin used my feelings for her own benefit, and so did you. You must be laughing at me, right? What kind of an idiot is Chen Jianyu? He still didn’t learn his lesson after Suyin.”
“No…I didn’t want to do all this…please believe me…” She choked. She tried to touch him, but he gripped her wrist and pressed it hard.
His gaze had pure madness in them.
“Ouch! I-it’s hurting…”
Jianyu pressed his fingers even harder, and her face contorted in pain.
“Hurt? Do you know how it feels to be hurt? Do you understand pain? Do you understand betrayal? No. So how can it hurt you?”
“Please, Jianyu…” She cried hard. “Punish me as much as you want. Hurt me as much as you like…but please don’t leave me…I really love you, Jianyu. Please don’t leave me…”
Serena looked at Nana, who was standing in a daze and rushed to her.
But Jinhai stood in between and pushed her back. His aura was enough to freeze the temperature. “Stay away.”
Serena said, “Nana, please listen to me. I really didn’t want to do this. I tried to stop Mom so many times. Please believe me. A-at first, yes, I admit, I was angry at you. I thought you snatched my birth father from me. But then after spending time with you, I realized that you could not harm anybody on purpose. You are just not that type of girl. But…I couldn’t stop Mom-“
“Enough.” Nana said in a low voice. She looked at her with a blank stare. “Enough already, Huo Zhilan.”
Serena froze.
“N-no…I’m Serena…Please…”
“I thought of you as my sister more than my best friend. But who knew you would actually turn out to be my sister? And a sister who wanted to ruin my life, a sister who was the cause of all my sufferings until now. And I…didn’t even realize that my best friend was my worst enemy all this time.”
Jianyu laughed. “Right, Nana? Aren’t we a bunch of fools? Serena oops, Huo Zhilan must have enjoyed it a lot by playing with such jokers.”
His words stabbed both Nana and Serena.
Serena then went to the twins. “Yukito, Yukira. Trust me. Mom was not going to harm you. She had promised me. We would keep you here for some time and then let you go without hurting even a strand of your hair. I-“
Yukito harshly slapped her hand and said, “Not a word, Huo Zhilan. Don’t dare to utter our names from your mouth.”
Jing felt horrible seeing Yukito so betrayed.
Yukira said, “Leave. We don’t want to see your face anymore. You disgust me!”
Serena stood there, trembling.
A guard said, “Boss, Huo Shen, and his son are here.”
“Let them in.”
Huo Shen rushed inside and saw Xiao Fan collapsed on the knees, staring blankly at the red booklet.
“Xiao Fan!”
Huo Liwei saw Serena standing, sobbing and shivering. But he didn’t react.
Huo Xiao Fan slowly raised her head. “Shen…”
“Are you alright?” He glared at Jinhai and angrily said, “What have you done to my wife?”
Jinhai smiled. “At this point, shouldn’t you ask what your wife has done to my wife? You must know everything, right?”
He gritted his teeth.
“Shen…”
He looked at Xiao Fan. “Xiao Fan, are you-“
“Did you know that Tengfei was already married?”
He froze.
“And grandma too?”
Huo Shen didn’t know what to say. “I…We will talk about this later. Let’s go home.”
“Home?” Jinhai sneered. “Do you think the Liu family will let you go after what your wife and your daughter did?”
Huo Shen clenched his fingers into a fist. “Liu Jinhai. Can we talk about this later?”
Suddenly, Nana held his hand. “Jinhai…”
Jinhai immediately paid all his attention to her. “Nana, what happened?”
“I want to go home…I don’t want to stay here anymore.”
Jinhai nodded. “Let’s go.”
He looked at Huo Shen. “Mr. Huo. Get ready for your destruction. I will make your family’s life a living hell. This is not over.”
Jianyu stared at Serena and walked up to her. She became elated as she saw him coming towards her.
“Jianyu…”
He smiled. “Bro, you don’t have to worry about her. I will be the one to make her regret even stepping into my life.”
Serena looked at him in shock.
Huo Shen was furious. “Chen Jianyu! What do you mean? Don’t you dare do anything to my daughter.”
Jianyu chuckled. “Well, well, Mr. Huo, unfortunately, your daughter is carrying my child inside her. How can I leave her alone?”
Huo Shen widened his eyes. He looked at Serena, stupefied. “Zhilan…you are pregnant?” Then it struck him. “Chen Jianyu is your boyfriend?” Even Huo Liwei was dumbstruck. He remembered how he saw him after the competition that day.
So, he came for her.
Jianyu raised his eyebrows. “I see your father is unaware of your deeds.”
Serena clutched the dress in her hands.
Jianyu grabbed her arm and started dragging her out.
“J-Jianyu, where are you taking me?”
Huo Liwei stepped in between. “Wait. Leave her. I may have my issues with her, but I will not see her in this state when she is pregnant.”
Jianyu laughed. “Keep your brotherly feelings to yourself, Huo Liwei. I don’t think you would really want the Chen family adding to your troubles. After all, Liu Jinhai, alone, is going to be a nightmare for you.”
Huo Liwei said coldly. “Leave her.”
Jianyu glanced at a guard, and he nodded. He was a Liu family guard, but Chen family was not any stranger after all.
The guard came forward and twisted Huo Liwei’s arm, making him collapse. The guard was so tightly clutching it that beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
“Big brother!”
“Liwei!” Huo Shen exclaimed.
Jianyu said, “Do you want to interfere any further big brother? Oh, and remember that if you do, then your next trip would be to the hospital.”
Serena was horrified.
“Jianyu, please don’t hurt him!” It did not affect him at all.
Huo Liwei gritted his teeth. He tried to fight back, but another guard held him too, and a third guard punched in his gut. He groaned in pain.
“Jianyu, please! I will come with you. But please stop them!”
Jianyu smiled. “See, big brother. Your sister has no problem coming with me. So, you should also stay out of it. This is between her and me.”
Huo Shen roared. “Chen Jianyu!”
Jianyu ignored them and harshly dragged Serena away.
“Zhilan!”
Jinhai supported Nana, and as she passed by near Huo Xiao Fan, she asked in a plain voice. “You did all this because you thought Dad died because of me. But why did you leave me in the orphanage if I’m not your daughter?”
Huo Xiao Fan froze. She kept silent.
