"Gu Zhizhou!" I screamed, my voice raw and broken. "Haven't you punished me enough? I've stayed out of your way. You're the one who pursued me, the one who held me in bed and promised you'd be good to me. So why am I the one left shouldering all the blame?!" His dark eyes fixed on me, his brow furrowed. "Punishment?" he rumbled, his voice low. My legs gave out and I crumpled to the floor, my chest tight with a raw ache. "My dad is gone, Gu Zhizhou," I pleaded. "Please, just let me go. I won't bother you anymore." His face was grim, his brow deeply furrowed as he stood over me, aloof and imposing. Scooping up my things from the floor, I avoided his gaze and headed upstairs. At the top of the stairs. My mother and Tang Chen weren't inside; they were standing at the doorway. Figuring they’d forgotten their keys, I handed the memorial offerings to Tang Chen and started digging in my purse. "Just a second, Mom," I said, my head down. *Smack!* The blow caught me completely off guard. My hands froze. I looked up at my mother, my cheek burning, and whispered, "Mom." "Don't you call me Mom!" Her voice was a raw scream. She hurled a stack of flyers at my face, her fury absolute. "Tang Li, will you not be happy until you've torn this family to pieces?" Utterly bewildered, I bent down and picked up one of the scattered flyers. My breath caught in my throat and my vision narrowed. My photo was plastered across the top, surrounded by slanderous filth calling me a homewrecker, a whore. There were other photos, too, ones I couldn't bear to look at. The sight of them sent a jolt through me—Fang Hui's warning at the hospital. *She did this.* "Mom, I'm sorry, I..." I tried to explain, but the words wouldn't come. My mother’s face was a mask of cold despair. She looked at me and said, "I'm not your mother. I never was. I could never have a daughter as shameless as you. I was wrong. If I had known you'd do these disgusting things, I would have let you freeze to death in the snow rather than bring you home!" It was the first time she had ever said anything so cruel. A chill spread through my limbs. "Mom, what are you talking about?" She snatched the keys from my hand, unlocked the door, and pulled Tang Chen inside. Looking back at me, she repeated, "I am not your mother!" Then she slammed the door in my face. I was stunned. On any other day, I might have dismissed her words as a cruel joke, a fit of anger. But the cold conviction in her eyes terrified me. *Bang!* The door flew open again. My mother shoved a bundle of my clothes at me, then pressed a small bracelet into my hand. She looked at me as if I were a stranger. "I found you in town. You had nothing but this bracelet on you. Tang Li, I raised you for over twenty years. You don't have to repay me for that, but you have no right to destroy this family. You can go. This family has no place for you. We can't take any more of your drama." I stared at the firmly shut door, my mind reeling. Her words echoed in my head, over and over. *I was found?* I wasn't their biological daughter? Then who was I? Who were my parents? Where was my home? It all happened so fast I couldn't process it. Staring at the mess on the floor, I sank down, feeling like this had to be a nightmare. I just couldn't understand how everything had ended up like this. A pair of gleaming black dress shoes entered my field of vision. I didn't look up. I just clutched the bracelet tighter, a hollow laugh escaping my lips. "Are you satisfied now?" He didn't answer. Instead, he picked up one of the flyers from the floor. Then a low voice asked, "Are you alright?" It wasn't Gu Zhizhou's voice. I flinched, looking up, and met the deep, gentle eyes of Lu Yi. For a moment, I was completely lost. He bent down to help me up, but I instinctively shied away from his touch. "Mr. Lu," I said, my voice strained, "what brings you here?"