Ning Xiuyan was just lazily leaning against an expensive piano, playing with a crystal wine glass in his hand, with an undisguised sneer on his lips, as if he was watching a play.
And in the center of this group, sitting quietly on the sofa closest to the fireplace, was Ning Xiwan.
She was wearing a soft beige high-necked cashmere sweater and trousers of the same color. Her long hair was loosely tied up, revealing her smooth forehead and slender neck.
The dancing flames from the fireplace cast warm shadows on her quiet profile. She held a cup of hot tea in her hand, her posture calm and relaxed, as if all the noise from the outside world had nothing to do with her.
Hearing the movement at the door, she didn't even turn around, but just lowered her eyelashes slightly and gently blew on the hot steam rising from the rim of the cup.
The calmness from the inside out formed the cruelest contrast with Ning Yunmeng's current madness and embarrassment.
"Dad... Mom... Big brother..." Ning Yunmeng saw Ning Yuanshan's cold face and the undisguised disappointment in his mother Ji Qinglan's eyes, and her heart felt like it was being tightly grasped by an icy hand.
She subconsciously ignored Ning Xiwan, and rushed towards Ning Yuanshan with tears in her voice as if she was grabbing the last straw.
"Dad! Save me! Qin Yuzheng... Qin Yuheng... They want to kill me! They're crazy! Ning Xiwan is in cahoots with them! She..."
"Shut up!" Ning Yuanshan shouted, his voice filled with thunderous anger.
He took a step forward, his eyes like knives, piercing Ning Yunmeng fiercely. "Look at what you look like now! You're talking nonsense! You're covered in blood! You barged in like a madman! You've brought shame upon the Ning family!"
"Dad! I'm not talking nonsense!" Ning Yunmeng was frightened by her father's anger, but her instinct for survival made her defend herself more eagerly, and her finger trembled as she pointed at Ning Xiwan in the living room.
"It's her! It's all her fault! She set me up! She and the Qin brothers colluded! She wants to kill me! Dad! You have to believe me! I am your biological daughter!"
"Daughter?" Ji Qinglan finally spoke, her voice cold, filled with a hint of fatigue and utter disappointment. She walked forward and stood beside Ning Yuanshan. Her well-maintained face showed no trace of distress, only deep disgust.
Her eyes fell on Ning Yunmeng's blood-stained coat, her brows furrowed, as if she was looking at a dirty piece of trash.
"Yunmeng, you keep saying Xiwan harmed you. Then tell me, who was the person who bribed that thug named Wang Qiang in the university auditorium and held up a banner falsely accusing Xiwan of forcing her adoptive father to death?!"
Ning Yunmeng froze in place as if struck by lightning! How could Mom know about what happened in the auditorium?!
Ji Qinglan didn't give her a chance to breathe. His voice was like an ice-hardened whip, lashing down. "You used Qin Yuheng to deal with Xi Wan, trying to ruin her research project and even ruin her reputation. Do you really think we don't know about this?"
"I..." Ning Yunmeng's face was pale, her lips trembling, but she couldn't refute a word. The huge panic was like ice water, instantly soaking her.
"One more thing," Ning Xiuyuan, who had been silent all the time, pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. His eyes behind the lenses were as sharp as a scalpel. He took out a file bag and his voice was calm without a trace of emotion.
"You secretly misappropriated money from your mother's trust fund to cover the losses of your 'best friend' Wang Jia's company, attempting to win over the Wang family to join forces against Xi Wan. Do you need me to read you these bank statements and transfer receipts?"
"No...it's not like that! Big brother! Listen to my explanation! It was Wang Jia..." Ning Yunmeng was completely panicked and spoke incoherently.
"Explain?" Ning Xiuyan, who was leaning against the piano, sneered, shaking his wine glass lazily, and looking at Ning Yunmeng with eyes full of undisguised sarcasm and contempt.
"Ning Yunmeng, I used to find Xi Wan annoying, but at least she did things with integrity. Unlike you... you're vicious, mean, and hopelessly stupid! You were used as a pawn, and yet you still come home crying and screaming for your parents?"
"Who is Qin Yuheng? And who is Qin Yuzheng? How dare you provoke them? And even dream of using them? Haha... you really want to die!"
Ning Xiuyan's words were like sharp knives, piercing through Ning Yunmeng's last bit of disguise and luck.
Even her second brother, who was most likely to speak up for her and hated Ning Xiwan the most, was looking at her like a clown.
"You...you all know everything?" Ning Yunmeng staggered back a step, her back hitting the cold door frame heavily, and her whole body trembled like a fallen leaf in the wind.
She looked at these so-called "family members" in front of her - there was cold disappointment and anger in her father's eyes, complete disgust and alienation in her mother's eyes, and businesslike indifference in her eldest brother's eyes.
There was undisguised sarcasm and contempt in the second brother's eyes... No one showed the slightest bit of sympathy or trust towards her.
She suddenly cast her gaze towards the back of the living room, to the figure who had been sitting quietly by the fireplace—Ning Xiwan.
"It's you!" Ning Yunmeng's eyes burst with deep hatred and madness. She pointed at Ning Xiwan, her voice sharp and distorted because of extreme hatred, like the howl of a ghost.
"Ning Xiwan! It must be you! You told them! You set me up! You bitch! You took everything from me! You took away my parents! You took away the Ning family! And now you want to kill me! Why don't you just die! Why don't you just die!"
She cursed hysterically and tried desperately to rush over and tear Ning Xiwan apart, but was stopped by Chen Bo and the bodyguards who rushed over after hearing the noise.
At this moment, Ning Xiwan, who had been drinking tea quietly, finally raised her head slowly.
The firelight from the fireplace danced in her clear eyes, as calm as a bottomless ancient pond. She put down the teacup with an elegant and calm movement.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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