Zhu Jinzhao's breath caught in her throat. Just thinking about the descriptions of the fake heiress being locked up in the novel made her vision go black in waves, and at the same time, a chill ran down her spine and her stomach felt so empty it was cramping.

Overwhelming fear enveloped Zhu Jinzhao. She didn't have time to think much and almost instinctively slid to her knees at Zhu Xingye's feet, then opened her arms and tightly hugged Zhu Xingye's thighs.

"Big brother, I was wrong. I will never go out to start a business again. Please don't be angry with me or punish me!"

A strong will to survive left Zhu Jinzhao with no time to consider anything else. She looked up at Zhu Xingye, her eyes red, and earnestly apologized for her mistake.

"Big brother, I'm sorry, I really won't mess around anymore, please forgive me."

"..." Zhu Xingye looked down at her with a puzzled expression, somewhat bewildered by her sudden admission of wrongdoing.

"What's wrong? Why did you suddenly realize that?"

Zhu Jinzhao said in a trembling voice, "I...I just suddenly understood what my elder brother said. My elder brother's teachings are very correct. My behavior was indeed wrong. I...I'm sorry to my elder brother, and I'm sorry to Mingyue."

"Big brother, please don't be angry with me, please don't punish me, okay?"

Zhu Jinzhao had tried her best to control her panic, but as she spoke, tears still streamed down her face uncontrollably.

"Why are you crying?" Zhu Xingye's heart softened instantly upon seeing her tears. He bent down and gently wiped away Zhu Jinzhao's tears with his fingers, his tone immediately turning into a coaxing one.

"Don't cry, Chaochao. Your older brother didn't say he was going to punish you."

Zhu Jinzhao pouted, her inability to hold back her tears making it hard to stop crying: "If Big Brother won't punish me, then why are you looking for the switch for the solitary confinement room on the bookshelf?"

“I wasn’t looking for the switch to the solitary confinement cell; I was looking for your books.” Zhu Xingye sighed helplessly and lifted Zhu Jinzhao up from the ground. “Didn’t you say a while ago that you wanted to learn Hanfu design? I don’t know anything about this, so I asked someone to get you some related professional books. I just suddenly remembered this and was planning to find the books for you.”

"...Really?" Zhu Jinzhao's eyes widened, somewhat incredulous.

Zhu Xingye pinched her cheek, then turned and took the book down from the bookshelf: "Of course it's true. You've been fooling around with your older brother for so many years, when has he ever been willing to punish you?"

"..." Zhu Jinzhao stared blankly at the books in front of him, then reached out and took them with a dazed expression. "Thank you, brother."

Zhu Xingye hummed in agreement: "Chaochao, remember what you just said. If you make the same mistake again, it won't be something that can be solved by crying and admitting your mistake."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jinzhao glanced at the dark door, hesitated for a few seconds, and then decisively agreed to Zhu Xingye's words: "Okay, I understand."

Zhu Xingye's face, which had been cold for a while, finally broke into a smile: "It's good that you know. It's getting late, you have class tomorrow, go back and get some rest."

"Okay." Zhu Jinzhao nodded obediently, then picked up the books and walked towards the door.

"Every morning."

She hadn't taken two steps when Zhu Xingye suddenly called her back.

"Huh?" She turned around blankly, looking at Zhu Xingye with a dazed expression.

Zhu Xingye took off his slippers, held them in his hand, walked over, and squatted down to personally help Zhu Jinzhao put them on.

"The floor is cold, don't always walk barefoot."

Zhu Jinzhao was a bit dazed, feeling that some of Zhu Xingye's behaviors were strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why.

However, she didn't have time to think about it carefully. After Zhu Xingye changed her shoes, she went out with red eyes.

Zhu Xingye gazed at her retreating figure, and after a moment, he suddenly smiled, a smile with a complex meaning.

"Oh, you're crying?"

Zhu Ning had just returned from the match, and the first thing she saw when she saw Zhu Jinzhao was crying.

He walked over to Zhu Mingyue, tilted his head, and leaned close to Zhu Jinzhao, looking at her red and wet eyes with a sly grin: "You really cried? Why did you cry?"

Zhu Jinzhao, not bothering to hide anything, said directly, "She was scolded until she cried, she was so fierce..."

"puff!"

Several people in the corridor were amused by her words, including Zhu Mingyue.

Zhu Ning hadn't had time to change out of his team uniform; several red ribbons were still draped over his shoulders. He looked at Zhu Jinzhao and sighed, one hand on his hip, the other on Zhu Jinzhao's shoulder: "I heard you've had some new ideas in mind while I was away these past few days?"

Zhu Jinzhao lowered his head guiltily and didn't say a word.

"Let's go." Zhu Ning put his arm around her and headed straight for her room. "It's been a long time since your third brother has had a proper talk with you. If we don't get to talk this over tonight, neither of us will get any sleep."

"No, there's no need for this." Zhu Jinzhao was unwilling and twisted her shoulder to break free from Zhu Ning's hand.

"..." Zhu Ning's arm suddenly fell to the ground, and she was stunned.

This was the first time Zhu Jinzhao had so coldly avoided his touch.

"Chao Chao, what's wrong?" He looked at Zhu Jinchao, his eyes blank.

Zhu Jinzhao's mind was filled with images of the fake heiress being abused by him, and she couldn't answer his question at all.

"Smack!"

With all his might, he slapped the fake heiress hard across the face, instantly tearing a large gash in her mouth, which was filled with salty blood.

"Zhu Jinzhao, are you even human?" Zhu Qian held the injured Zhu Mingyue in his arms, glaring furiously at the fake heiress lying on the ground.

"What exactly did Mingyue do to offend you? Not only did you lead the isolation against her at school, but you also hired a bunch of thugs to beat her up. Do you have any conscience at all?"

"Third Brother, it wasn't me, I didn't do it!" The fake heiress lay sprawled on the ground, almost screaming as she tried to explain herself, "I didn't bully Zhu Mingyue, it was all orchestrated by Zhu Mingyue herself! She just wanted to harm me, she wanted to kill me!"

Zhu Ning: "You still won't admit it!"

"Why should I admit it!" The fake heiress was driven to the brink of madness; she had lost her reason and was like a deranged lunatic.

“I’ve said it’s not me, it’s not me, why won’t you believe me? I’ve lived with you for twenty years, don’t you know who I am?”

Zhu Ning gritted her teeth: "I knew before, but now, ha..."

"...Aaaaaah!" The fake heiress screamed, grabbing her hair in despair. "You guys are really going to drive me to my death! Just kill me, just kill me already! If you kill me, no one will bully your Zhu Mingyue anymore!"

"Madman." Zhu Ning glared coldly at the fake heiress, her eyes gradually growing impatient. "Guards, drag this unrepentant wretch out and teach her a lesson!"

The bodyguard standing outside the door: "Yes, sir!"

This was the last day the fake heiress remained in the Zhu family. Zhu Ning's bodyguards dragged her out of the house, first had her beaten up, and then sent her to a special education school, ultimately leading her to her death.

One suffocating sentence after another floated into Zhu Jinzhao's mind. Zhu Jinzhao shrank back a few steps, not wanting to get too close to Zhu Ning.

"You brat, you've really grown up." Zhu Ning didn't know she was scared; he just thought she was throwing a tantrum. He moved closer again, grabbed Zhu Jinzhao's shoulders roughly, and dragged her back to her room.