Zhu Xingye stared intently at her, then reached into his pajama pocket, pulled out several items, and threw them onto the table one by one.
"Bank card, black card, the bracelet and necklace I bought for you, the house key... you didn't take any of them, you left them all on the bedside table!"
"Zhu Jinzhao, what are you trying to do? Are you trying to sever ties with the Zhu family and start your own business?"
"..." Zhu Jinzhao dared not answer.
At this point, if she lied, Zhu Xingye definitely wouldn't believe her. But if she forced herself to tell the truth, Zhu Xingye would surely tear her apart.
So she decided not to say anything.
"say!"
Her silence fueled Zhu Xingye's anger, and he slammed his hand on the table in front of him with a loud bang.
Zhu Jinzhao was startled, her body trembled and her face turned deathly pale.
"Big brother, please, please don't be angry..."
Zhu Xingye's angry appearance was truly frightening. Zhu Jinzhao dared not remain silent, nor did he dare to speak recklessly. He could only pitifully beg him first.
Zhu Xingye was speechless at her words of submission, and his anger subsided considerably.
He took a deep breath, trying to control his emotions, and his expression softened slightly.
"Chaochao, I'm not angry, but you have to tell your older brother the truth about what you're trying to do."
Zhu Jinzhao, fidgeting with her fingers, stammered, "I...I want to leave here. I want to go out and work to earn money and support myself."
Zhu Xingye sneered: "You're going to earn money to support yourself? What, the Zhu family can't support you anymore? The Zhu family is making you suffer?"
Zhu Jinzhao quickly denied it: "No, no, that's not what I meant."
Zhu Xingye: "Then what do you mean?"
"I..." Zhu Jinzhao hadn't yet found the words.
"Mingyue, what's wrong?"
Outside the door, Zhu Qian walked over from the stairwell, yawning, and asked Zhu Mingyue in a low voice.
Zhu Mingyue shrugged helplessly: "Chaochao ran away again and was caught red-handed by her older brother."
"She ran away again?" Zhu Qian was shocked. "What's wrong with this child these past few days? Why does she keep thinking about running away... Is her reason for running away to start a business again?"
Zhu Mingyue nodded: "Mm."
Zhu Qian frowned: "Is she serious? Or just joking?"
Zhu Mingyue thought for a moment and said somewhat uncertainly, "Probably. She's been saying she wants to leave since last night, and my brother warned her twice, but it didn't work."
“…I see.” Zhu Qian adjusted his glasses and suddenly reached out to touch Zhu Mingyue’s head.
He wasn't stupid; he knew perfectly well what was going on with Zhu Jinzhao's sudden strange behavior these past two days.
"Mingyue, are you feeling unwell?" He looked at Zhu Mingyue's beautiful features and asked gently.
Zhu Mingyue wasn't one to play dumb. She smiled faintly and replied softly, "It's alright. I had already thought of this situation before I even got home. But I understand that Chaochao didn't do this on purpose to make me uncomfortable. She was afraid that her presence would make me uncomfortable, which is why she was in such a hurry to leave."
Hearing such sensible words, Zhu Qian felt a pang of sadness. He sighed, stepped forward, and pulled Zhu Mingyue into his arms: "Mingyue, Chaochao doesn't actually have any bad intentions. She's just too flustered and doesn't know how to handle her relationship with you, which is why she's causing all this trouble."
“If you don’t like her like this, just tell your second brother, and he’ll personally discipline her. Don’t force yourself to be like this, understand?”
Zhu Mingyue rested her face against Zhu Qian's chest, closed her eyes, and smelled the slightly bitter medicinal scent on him, letting out a muffled "hmm".
Zhu Qian: "Mingyue, this is your home. You don't need to be sensible or tolerant here. You can be a little willful."
Zhu Mingyue smiled and said, "Okay."
In the study, Zhu Xingye and Zhu Jinzhao were still locked in a stalemate.
"Zhu Jinzhao, you don't plan to keep this family, you don't plan to keep your brother, is that it?" Zhu Xingye crossed his arms and stared coldly at Zhu Jinzhao with a blank expression.
Zhu Jinzhao answered softly, "No..."
"No?" Zhu Xingye lowered his eyelids slightly, a hint of danger flashing in his eyes. "If you don't have any, then why are you so determined to leave?"
Zhu Jinzhao: "..."
Because you need to survive.
"Your parents died young, and you grew up under my care!" Zhu Xingye slammed his index finger on the table, his breathing catching in his throat with anger. "I raised you for twenty years, taking you under my wing even when I was still a child myself. And now, you think you're all grown up and capable, and you want to pack your bags and fly away on your own? Where do you place me?"
“…I’m sorry.” Zhu Jinchao apologized in a muffled voice.
Although Zhu Xingye is the main culprit in the novel who caused the death of the fake heiress, it must be admitted that he did raise the fake heiress himself.
The kindness of raising and nurturing cannot be erased. Even if Zhu Jinchao is afraid at this moment, he can only honestly apologize for his behavior.
Zhu Xingye looked at her with eyes full of disappointment: "I raised you all these years not to hear your apology. Zhu Jinzhao, there's a limit to your nonsense."
Zhu Jinzhao: "I'm not messing around..."
With the tragic end of the fake heiress before her, she truly dared not stay in the Zhu family or by Zhu Mingyue's side any longer.
But she couldn't tell the truth, and could only offer a forced and difficult explanation for herself.
“Mingyue is the only daughter of the Zhu family. Now that she’s back, how can I, the child who was switched at birth, continue to stay here? It would make Mingyue feel bad.”
"...Where did you come to this conclusion?" Zhu Xingye was furious with her. "It was Mingyue who suggested that you stay in the Zhu family. Mingyue has never minded your existence! Your staying in the Zhu family won't make Mingyue uncomfortable. It's because you kept making a fuss and insisted on leaving!"
"Mingyue is a magnanimous child. Your actions will only make others think that she is narrow-minded and intolerant!"
Zhu Jinzhao: "That's not what I meant..."
"If that's not what you meant, then don't do anything that could cause misunderstandings!" Zhu Xingye walked up to Zhu Jinzhao, looked down at the top of her head, and warned her sharply, word by word, "Zhu Jinzhao, I'm giving you one last chance. If you dare to keep clamoring to run away and start your own business, you'll see how I deal with you."
"I've been too lenient with you, which is why you have the guts to sneak out."
"..." Zhu Jinzhao was unconvinced from the bottom of her heart, but dared not utter a word of rebuttal.
Zhu Xingye glared at her, then turned and walked to a row of bookshelves against the wall, suddenly starting to rummage through them.
Zhu Jinzhao quietly raised her head to look at him, but couldn't see what he was looking for. She only saw a dark door on the wall next to the bookshelf.
The door... the door to the study...
A white light flashed before Zhu Jinzhao's eyes, and the scene of the fake heiress being locked up by Zhu Xingye reappeared in his mind.
If she wasn't mistaken, behind that door lay the dark and gloomy solitary confinement cell, the switch for which was hidden somewhere on the bookshelf.
Zhu Xingye suddenly went to the bookshelf to look for something. Did he want to open the solitary confinement room and lock Zhu Jinzhao in to reflect on his actions?
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