My gaze darted to my mother in a panic, but her head was bowed, her face hidden as she wiped away tears. No answers there. I turned to my father, my voice urgent. "Dad, what are you talking about? I'm your daughter. Don't you know who I am?" A sharp crack echoed as the water glass on the table was hurled to the floor. My father’s eyes were bloodshot. "Tang Li," he snarled, "you're still not going to tell the truth, are you?" Just as he used to when I was a child, he began searching for the broom. Panic flashed in my mother's eyes. She rushed to say, "Lili, Mr. Li was just here. He told your father everything… about you and Ms. Lu's fiancé. Oh, my child, what were you thinking? How could you do something like that?" Mr. Li? Li Mu? How could Li Mu possibly know about me and Gu Zhizhou? I had no time to process it. My father returned with the broom, his eyes burning with fury as he stared me down. His voice was a raw, guttural cry. "Tang Li, you tell me! Is this what I taught you all these years? I, Tang Wenkuan, have lived my entire life with my head held high, only to have someone come to my door and laugh in my face! Tang Li, you’ve really done it now, haven’t you?" I knew there was no way to defend myself. I dropped to my knees before him, tears streaming down my face. "Dad," I choked out, "I'm sorry. I know I was wrong. Just hit me." He raised the broom, just like when I was a child, and brought it down on me with all his strength. He was crying as he struck me, and my mother stood by, weeping. I bit down hard, refusing to make a sound, letting him vent his fury on me. I knew he was beyond reason this time, that he was truly trying to hurt me. My silence only seemed to fuel his rage; each blow landed harder than the last. My mother, frantic now, tried to intervene, but he was blind with anger and wouldn't listen to her pleas. Seeing me covered in welts, my mother finally threw herself at him, grabbing his arm. "Wenkuan, you'll kill her!" she screamed. "You have to stop!" He shook her off, his voice thick with grief and rage. "After the disgraceful thing she's done, death would be getting off easy!" He tossed aside the broken broom, grabbed the feather duster, and came at me again. My mother, desperate, clung to him, her voice tearing with a heart-wrenching sob. "Lili just had a miscarriage! If you keep hitting her, you're going to lose your daughter for good!" My father froze. The feather duster slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor. He stared at me, his voice a raw whisper. "You were pregnant? With that bastard's child?" The pain was excruciating, but I just knelt there, tears falling in silence, too afraid to speak. Seeing my silence, he grabbed my mother violently. "You! You tell me! What is going on?" Through sobs, my mother explained what she knew. My father stood rooted to the spot, his face ashen. He looked at me. "Tang Li," he said, his voice dangerously low, "tell me. Where did the money for Xiao Chen's chemotherapy come from?" I lowered my head, unable to speak. He pressed on, his voice trembling slightly. "And your money… from the past two years. Where did it come from?" When I remained silent, his rage erupted anew. With a roar, he swept everything off the table, sending it crashing to the floor. "Speak!" I could barely breathe through my sobs. "It was from Gu Zhizhou," I choked out. An absolute, deafening silence fell over the room. "Wenkuan! Wenkuan, what's wrong?" my mother’s frantic voice pierced the quiet. I shot my head up just in time to see my father's face drain of all color. His breathing became ragged, his hand flew to his chest, trembling, and then he collapsed to the floor, the whites of his eyes showing. Terror seized me. My hands shaking, I fumbled for my phone to call for help. My mother cradled my father, her voice breaking as she called his name, but he only gasped for air. Tang Chen ran out of his bedroom, freezing at the sight of the chaos, utterly lost. After calling 120, my mind raced, trying to remember any first-aid training. I moved closer to my father, trying to help. He grabbed my hand, his grip surprisingly strong. He seemed to be trying to say something, but no words would come out. My heart clenched in my chest. "Dad," I sobbed, "I was wrong. I promise I'll be good from now on, I'll be a better person. Please, don't scare me." His breaths grew shallower, the light fading from his eyes. My mother and I could only watch, helpless, until the wail of a siren announced the ambulance's arrival. As they loaded my father into the ambulance, Tang Chen tugged on my sleeve, his face a mask of fear. "Sister, what's wrong with Dad?" I pulled him into a hug, trying to sound calm. "He'll be okay. You stay here and be good. We'll be back soon." Then I climbed into the ambulance. The Hospital. In the corridor outside the operating room, my mother was crouched on the floor, head in her hands, her sobs echoing in the sterile silence. "Our family was fine," she wailed between sobs. "How did it all come to this?" I stood beside her, my body wracked with a cold that had nothing to do with the temperature. I wanted to say something, anything, but the words were frozen in my throat. Suddenly, the doors to the operating room swung open, and the doctor emerged.