He still had so many things he wanted to do with Xiaoman, but there was no time left.
The only thing he could do now was make sure Xiaoman did not leave this world carrying guilt.
Shen Linchuan took Xiaoman’s hand, which was still frozen in shock, and placed it in Liu Mother’s palm.
“Xiaoman, Mom has always known that you were Xiaoman. She loves you, Xiaoman—not Liu Tanghuan.”
Those words were like a thunderbolt crashing into the water, exploding into a massive wave that drowned out all reason.
Xiaoman stood rigid.
She had already guessed it just now, but she had refused to believe it. She didn’t dare believe it.
Her fingertips were unbearably cold, and Liu Mother’s palm was just as cold.
Yet those icy hands filled her heart with endless warmth.
Xiaoman murmured, “Mom loves Xiaoman too…”
Not simply loves.
Loves her too.
Even now, Xiaoman still could not believe that Liu Mother could love her as a demon.
She had thought Liu Mother loved the Liu Tanghuan she had transformed herself into. She had once despised herself and deceived herself into believing that she had only stayed because she wanted to do what was best for Liu Father and Liu Mother.
But in truth, just as Lu Zhixing had said, that wasn’t it.
She had stayed because there was greed in her heart.
“Mom…” Xiaoman called again.
This time, her voice was a little louder. Her movements also became bolder as she threw her arms around Liu Mother.
“Mom…”
Liu Mother was in just as much pain.
She couldn’t understand how, after coming home once, her wonderful daughter was now going to die.
She wailed, “My child…”
Liu Father wrapped his arms around his wife and daughter, as though he had aged decades in an instant.
Liu Mother sobbed, “Xiaoman… Xiaoman… What am I supposed to do if you die?”
Shen Linchuan’s face remained expressionless. Only his eyes were completely red.
At this moment, he was an outsider.
He knew that, in Xiaoman’s heart, Liu Mother came first, Liu Father second, and he was only third.
But that was good enough.
Besides Shen Linchuan, there was another outsider.
Liu Tanghuan.
………………………..
The veins on Liu Tanghuan’s forehead throbbed violently. She could barely breathe as she stared at the scene before her.
Liu Tanghuan was a completely self-centered person.
She hated Qian Xiaohu for not genuinely loving her. She hated her parents for refusing to obey her. She hated Shen Linchuan for stopping her from coming home.
But what she hated most was Xiaoman.
She had always believed that if Xiaoman had never appeared, her position would have been irreplaceable.
Her parents would have had only one daughter. They could never have stood by and watched her suffer. They would definitely have been the first to lower their heads and take her back.
And as long as she had money, how would someone as money-hungry as Qian Xiaohu have dared to treat her that way?
If Xiaoman had never appeared, Shen Linchuan would never have been bewitched by her. He would have continued to protect Liu Tanghuan, just as he had when they were children, always cleaning up after her.
She firmly believed that if Xiaoman had never appeared, she would never have fallen this far.
She believed that as long as Xiaoman left, everything would return to the way it had been before.
But now she had actually heard Liu Mother say with her own ears that they had always known Xiaoman was a demon.
They had always known Xiaoman was not her.
Liu Tanghuan went mad.
The mark of the slap on her face was still clearly visible, and her hatred multiplied until it encompassed everyone.
If her parents had known all along that the person beside them was not their daughter, then they must have known about the hell she had endured these past few years.
Yet they had watched coldly from the sidelines.
They had never thought of saving her.
Liu Tanghuan glared viciously at the harmonious family before her, then suddenly lunged forward.
She shoved Liu Father aside and reached for Liu Mother.
Liu Father staggered from the force of the shove, but Shen Linchuan reacted quickly and caught him.
“Mom! Look at me clearly!” Liu Tanghuan shouted, her eyes bloodshot as she pointed at the blue veins visible beneath the skin of her arm. “I’m your biological daughter! My body is the one that carries your blood!”
“You’re all crazy! You’ve all been bewitched! You’re actually holding a demon in the palm of your hand!”
“I’m your daughter!” Liu Tanghuan screamed again and again. “I’m the daughter you carried for ten months and gave birth to! The only daughter who shares your blood!!!”
Liu Tanghuan grabbed Liu Mother’s arm. Her long fingernails dug into the flesh, and traces of blood were already visible.
Seeing this, Xiaoman suddenly bared her teeth.
Her pupils narrowed into slits, her two fangs becoming long and sharp, and a furious growl rumbled from her throat.
Liu Tanghuan shrank back, instinctively loosening her grip.
“Do you see that?! She’s a demon! She’s a monster!!!”
Liu Tanghuan pointed at Xiaoman.
Liu Mother looked over as well.
The moment Xiaoman felt Liu Mother’s gaze, she suddenly shrank back. She quickly withdrew her fangs and took a step backward, as though afraid Liu Mother would reject her.
Instead, Liu Mother grabbed her hand and pulled her behind herself.
She stood protectively in front of Xiaoman and faced Liu Tanghuan’s trembling, accusing finger.
Her voice was firm and powerful.
“She’s a demon! But she is also my child.”
Shen Linchuan and Liu Father stood on either side of Xiaoman.
The three of them formed an inverted triangle around her.
Liu Mother stood in front of Xiaoman, like a warrior with three soldiers standing behind her.
The sight pierced Liu Tanghuan like a knife.
She lost control and screamed, “You’ve all been bewitched by her! How can a demon possibly be your child?! I’m your child! I’m the one you gave birth to!!!”
Liu Mother gritted her teeth.
“You’re not!”
“You’re a vengeful ghost that crawled out of my womb to claim my life! If I had known that carrying you for ten months would result in giving birth to a debt-collecting demon like you, I would have rather spent my entire life without children!”
Liu Tanghuan stared at her in disbelief.
“Mom!!! Do you even know what you’re saying?! Are you crazy?!”
“Don’t call me Mom!”
Liu Mother glared fiercely at Liu Tanghuan.
“You’re as stupid as a pig and as vicious as a snake. I spoiled you like a precious jewel for all those years, and what did I get in return? A bowl of poison meant to kill me!”
“From that moment onward, you were no longer my daughter!”
Liu Tanghuan gasped for breath.
The hatred in Liu Mother’s eyes stabbed into her, forcing her to retreat again and again.
“That’s not true. That’s not true!”
Her eyes darted around frantically.
The matter of poisoning her parents had been laid bare.
She could only desperately deny it.
“That’s not how it happened. This is wrong. It shouldn’t have turned out like this…”
“How did it become like this…” Liu Tanghuan murmured.
But soon, she looked toward Xiaoman as though she had found an excuse.
“It’s her!”
“Yes, it’s her!” Liu Tanghuan shrieked. “She controlled me and made me commit those things! You’ve all been deceived by her! She’s a demon! She cast demon magic on me, that’s why this happened! I didn’t do those things! I didn’t do any of them!”
Liu Tanghuan suddenly dropped to her knees and crawled toward Liu Mother.
Her frenzied expression became pitiful and helpless.
“Mom, believe me! This demon bewitched me! How could I ever hurt you and Dad? Demons eat people! She wanted me to do something terrible and then take my place! I’m your daughter… I’m your daughter… If you refuse to acknowledge me, you’ll regret it! Mom!!!”
“Shut up!”
Liu Mother gave a cold laugh.
“Even now, you’re still making excuses.”
She kicked Liu Tanghuan away.
“You said Xiaoman wanted to replace you? Did she use two of her lives to save us, leaving herself with no chance of survival, just so she could replace you?!”
“You’re denying everything you did now. Have you forgotten what you said that day when your father and I begged you desperately to save us?”
Liu Mother looked coldly at the sobbing Liu Tanghuan.
“You said we were stupid beyond belief. You said we looked down on Qian Xiaohu. You said we emotionally abused you. You said we were cold, vicious, and completely without human feeling.”
“You said you hated me and your father.”
“And you said the thing you regretted most was becoming our child.”
“You said I would regret it.”
Liu Mother’s voice trembled with fury.
“I’m telling you now—I already regret it.”
“I regret giving birth to you every single day and every single night!”
Her voice echoed throughout the enormous living room, loud and resolute.
Liu Tanghuan collapsed onto the floor, her expression vacant.
Liu Mother closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
She did not look at Liu Tanghuan again.
Instead, she turned toward Xiaoman.
“Xiaoman, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I knew you weren’t her.”
At the very beginning, Liu Father and Liu Mother truly had not known.
On the day of the runaway wedding, when their daughter came home, admitted her mistakes, repented, and stayed by their side every day—bringing them tea, taking care of them, and being considerate in every way—they had not noticed anything unusual.
They had simply thought their daughter had finally come to her senses.
Later, the real Liu Tanghuan appeared.
She stayed with them for a month, finding fault with everything, constantly making sarcastic remarks, and eventually poisoning them.
She had called them stupid as pigs for allowing someone else to take her place for so long.
Before they died, Xiaoman appeared.
They had seen her at that time.
After waking up, they had wanted to ask what had happened.
But unexpectedly, they overheard Xiaoman telling Shen Linchuan that they had to find a way to conceal her identity as a demon.
Xi Yu tilted his head, feeling that human love and hatred were both incredibly cautious.
Liu Father and Liu Mother had assumed Xiaoman did not want to reveal the truth, and that exposing it recklessly might have unwanted consequences.
Meanwhile, Xiaoman had used two of her lives yet silently continued playing the role of another person.
She was afraid that if they learned the truth about their daughter poisoning them, they would suffer.
Even more, she was afraid they would blame her for taking their daughter’s identity and come to hate her.
So she had never dared mention it.
They had all remained silent.
And in that silence, they had missed the chance for Xiaoman to survive.
If they had told each other the truth back then, Xiaoman could have used her true identity, and the Heavenly Dao would not have continued to punish her.
Liu Mother held Xiaoman tightly and wailed in anguish.
“If I had known, I would rather you had never stayed by my side than have you lose your life like this—”
………………….
The happiest years of Liu Mother’s life had been the five years Xiaoman spent by her side.
Her Xiaoman had been such a wonderful child.
Why was Heaven so unfair?
Seeing this, Liu Tanghuan felt something hot and metallic rise in her throat. She almost spat out blood.
Her eyes bulged with fury as she tried to charge forward again.
She wanted to kill everyone here!
How could they?
How could they regret giving birth to her?
Could it be that, in her parents’ hearts, she was actually worth less than that demon?
They were crazy.
They had all gone crazy.
They had been bewitched by that filthy cat demon!
Shen Linchuan grabbed Liu Tanghuan by the collar and dragged her into the basement.
Liu Tanghuan screamed, “What are you doing?! Is it you?! Is it you and that cat demon who cast some kind of demon spell on them?! Otherwise, how could they possibly refuse to acknowledge me?!”
“You bastards! You’re trying to destroy me! How dare you destroy me!”
“I’m Liu Tanghuan! I’m the only young lady of the Liu family!”
“You must have cast some kind of spell on Mom and Dad! You must have!!!”