Chapter 222: Repentance

Chapter 222: Chapter 222: Repentance

Gu Nuan Nuan parked her bicycle at the entrance to the Gu residence and found the door ajar. She pushed it open, walked around the spirit screen, and stood there, coldly watching the farce unfolding inside. There were five people in total. Besides Chen Suxiang and her scum of a father, there was Tao Jianren, along with her mother and brother.

Gu Nuan Nuan was no stranger to the Tao mother and son. Although she hadn’t met them in her past life, during her recent monthly stays at the Gu residence, she had most often witnessed the drama Chen Suxiang stirred up using Tao Jianren as her punching bag. At first, Tao Jianren would fight back. When pushed to her limit, seeing that her scum of a father Gu Lihui wouldn’t help her and instead sided with Chen Suxiang, she had even stormed back to her parents’ home in a fit of pique. Unfortunately, her family was no help. They did show up after she ran back, but only to escort her back. After a few lukewarm words to Gu Lihui, they turned and left.

That time, she happened to be at the Gu residence. She and the twins, who had already changed their surname back to Gu, watched with their own eyes as the Tao mother and son left. The moment they were out the door, Gu Lihui slapped Tao Jianren to the ground and kicked her so relentlessly she couldn’t get up for a long time. Gu Nuan Nuan recalled how the Gu twins, a sister and brother, had backed away in terror, too scared to even try and stop Gu Lihui, and she scoffed internally.

She also remembered how the other members of the Gu Family saw Tao Jianren being beaten, yet no one stepped in to stop it. No one even said a single word of dissuasion; they all just avoided the scene. The only person who approached was Chen Suxiang. Anyone could see she was excited, fanning the flames as if she felt Gu Lihui’s punishment of Tao Jianren wasn’t severe enough.

Lu Nuan Nuan watched the pathetic-looking Tao Jianren with a blank expression. Recalling Tao Jianren’s "blissfully happy" marriage to Gu Lihui in her past life and then seeing their current state, she found it utterly ironic.

Even though Gu Nuan Nuan hadn’t deliberately used Concealing Form or muffled her sounds, no one present noticed the extra person. Even Tao Jianren, who was facing her, failed to see her. Recalling her ordeal over the past three days, Tao Jianren’s crying grew more wretched. The hand she used to point at Chen Suxiang and Gu Lihui couldn’t stop trembling as she wailed at her mother and brother, "You have no idea what their hearts are made of! They’re ten thousand times blacker than charcoal. That mother and son are ganging up on me to drive me to my death! ’A few chores’? For the past three days, they’ve forced me to sleep for only two or three short hours a night. They even made me scrub the stone slabs in this courtyard, one by one, with a rag."

’She remembered what she’d seen with her own eyes the day before yesterday, when she happened to be awake, unable to sleep. At two or three in the morning, Chen Suxiang had come and knocked lightly a few times on their bedroom door. Gu Lihui had first tiptoed out of bed to open it before silently slipping back under the covers to go back to sleep. And then... and then Chen Suxiang came over and ripped her blanket off...’

The memory of how Gu Lihui’s words had once made her wonder if Chen Suxiang’s constant, random abuse was all just a nightmare filled Tao Jianren with a fresh wave of hatred and fear.

’No wonder she checked if the door was locked several times every night. But no matter how many times she checked, she would still fall victim to Chen Suxiang’s ’vicious hands’ once every ten days or half a month.’

"Mom, little brother, you don’t understand! Before, when they were doing this behind my back, they would at least wait a while between each time. But ever since I found out two days ago, for the past three days, they’ve been using that despicable trick to get me up every single day! The timing is random now, too. Whenever they feel like it, they do it to me. In this freezing weather, if I stay in their house, I’ll either be worked to death or frozen to death sooner or later. Mom, please don’t abandon me! Take me home! I don’t want to stay in this vipers’ nest anymore. I want a divorce! That’s right, I want to divorce Gu Lihui! No matter what, I have to divorce this disgusting monster who’s less than human, with a black heart and rotten guts... Since he thinks his ex-wife is so great, then he can just call her back and let her live with him!"

Tao Jianren threw herself at her mother’s legs, wailing desperately. "Take me home! I’ll listen to whatever you say from now on! Even if you make me marry some ugly man in his fifties or sixties, I’ll accept it!"

"Don’t talk nonsense. You’re already a divorced woman. If you get divorced again, where are we, your family, supposed to show our faces? Are you going to make it so our entire family is too ashamed to leave the house, all because of you?"

Tao Jianren’s words not only made Mrs. Tao’s and Tao Junhao’s expressions turn ugly, but Chen Suxiang’s and Gu Lihui’s faces also darkened. Mrs. Tao hesitated for a moment before finally pushing Tao Jianren away. She let her daughter fall to the ground and stare at her with eyes full of disbelief, then took a few steps back and hardened her heart. "Once you marry a man, you follow him, no matter what. Don’t blame your mother and your brother. You chose the Gu Family yourself. Back then, you looked down on the perfectly good Lin family and insisted on causing trouble... If you divorce, then you divorce. It’s your own fate. Who can you blame? But if you get divorced again this time... you... you have to at least consider your own family."

"Exactly. You brought this on yourself. Did you think our Gu Family would want a shameless piece of trash like you? Hmph. Why don’t you go take a piss and look at your own reflection? Even an ugly man in his fifties or sixties might not want someone like you," Chen Suxiang said, gloating and dripping with sarcasm, after hearing Mrs. Tao’s words.

’Tao Jianren’s face turned deathly pale. In truth, she was already regretting her choices with every fiber of her being. Thinking back now, the only man in this world who had treated her best was Lin Dong. Although Lin Dong wasn’t as handsome as Gu Lihui, he wasn’t bad-looking, now that she thought about it. And at least his heart was the heart of a human; he was a good person. But Gu Lihui... he wasn’t human at all. She had truly been blind. But because of what she had done, as long as those two children were around, Lin Dong would never forgive her. She could never go back to the days when Lin Dong held her in the palm of his hand, giving her whatever she wanted, when even Lin Dong’s mother had to take a step back and watch her mood...’

’How could I have been so foolish back then?’

Tao Jianren understood clearly that after what she had just said, if she really stayed in the Gu residence, a dead end would be the only thing awaiting her once her mother and brother left. She looked pleadingly at Mrs. Tao and Tao Junhao. When she saw that they, despite being angered by Chen Suxiang’s words, still avoided her gaze, her heart turned to ash.

’Heh. She shouldn’t have held out any hope for her family from the moment they’d immediately sent her back after she had managed to escape this vipers’ nest and run home, right? When exactly did her mother and brother become so heartless toward her? Was it possible that they had only been good to her in the past because of Lin Dong?’

’She recalled a distant memory, from before she was with Lin Dong. Her mother had always favored her little brother more. But later, as she gained more and more favor in the Lin family, things gradually changed. And she herself, spoiled by Lin Dong, had become more and more arrogant, eventually taking it for granted that everyone should coddle her just the same...’