Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“No, that’s not true!”

I wanted to explain, but then I suddenly realized that An’an’s death really did have an inescapable connection to me.

“I’m sorry, Aunt Ma.”

I dropped to my knees in front of Aunt Ma, choking on my sobs as I kowtowed and apologized. “If I hadn’t gone out to play, An’an wouldn’t have…”

“Zhu Yanwei!”

Aunt Ma suddenly cut me off. “Why were you eavesdropping on your dad and my brother just now?”

“Huh?”

For a moment, I couldn’t react. “I… I was… well…”

Aunt Ma closed in on me step by step. “You told the police you got home at five-thirty this afternoon, saw no one was home, assumed your father and I had taken An’an with us, and then went to sleep.

“You’re a good student. Every afternoon, without fail, you study high school math and physics on your own, and at seven you watch the evening news. Why did you suddenly change your routine yesterday and go to sleep?!

“I started calling the convenience store at six in the evening. Old Wu said he went to the house and knocked at least three times. The lights were off, and no one answered. Were you really sleeping that deeply?”

I avoided Aunt Ma’s man-eating glare.

I knew she had lost control of her emotions and desperately needed someone to take it out on.

“Aunt Ma, I know how heartbroken you are, so no matter whether you hit me or curse me, I won’t complain.”

“Zhu Yanwei, stop trying to muddy the waters. I may be heartbroken, but I’m not blind!”

Aunt Ma screamed shrilly, “Just now, outside the ward, why didn’t you dare come in? Why didn’t you dare look at me?”

I lowered my head as tears fell one by one. “Aunt Ma, I know that no matter what I say now, you won’t believe me.”

Just then, I saw Aunt Ma rush toward me and kick me in the chest.

The world spun, and I tumbled down the stairs.

Before I could recover, a pair of hands suddenly clamped around my throat.

She wanted to kill me.

I couldn’t breathe. My instinct to survive made me struggle with all my might, but I couldn’t break free.

Darkness flooded my vision in waves. Just when I thought I was going to die, I saw Dad, Uncle Ma, and several doctors and nurses rushing over.

Soon, Uncle Ma pulled his sister away.

The pressure around my neck instantly loosened. The suffocation disappeared, and at last I could breathe fresh air again.

My dad shielded me behind him and held Aunt Ma, who had gone mad. “Xiaoqin, calm down.”

“I can’t calm down!”

Aunt Ma completely broke down, wailing, “My daughter is dead! She was only six and a half!

“She told me, ‘Mom, be careful on the road,’ and she said, ‘Mom, even though Dad is gone, you still have An’an. An’an will always love you and protect you.’ She asked me to bring her something yummy when I came back. Now I’m back, but baby, why did you leave?

“It had to be Zhu Yanwei who killed her!”

Even someone as hard-hearted as my dad had red-rimmed eyes now. He put his arms around Aunt Ma and comforted her gently. “Even if Zhu Yanwei had a hundred times the guts, he still wouldn’t dare hurt An’an. Besides, what would he gain from it?”

“What would he gain? He wants you and his mother to remarry. Once he gets rid of everyone in this family he finds inconvenient, his wish will come true.”

My dad grew a little irritated. “How could that be? Don’t say nonsense.”

Aunt Ma pointed at me. “Then why, after all these years, has he never called me Mom? He hates me! He hates An’an!”

The scene descended into chaos, and in an instant, it attracted a crowd of onlookers.

Just then, a doctor squeezed through the crowd and said urgently, “Family members, hold the patient down. She’s emotionally unstable. I’ll give her an injection.”