Chapter 52

This slap was so fierce that it could be heard from outside.

Zhang Yufen fell to the ground upon being slapped. In just a few seconds, her face was bruised and swollen.

She was slapped so hard that there were tears in her eyes. She spit out a mouthful of blood-filled teeth. She was so dizzy that she completely fell to the ground.

Madam Zhao was breathing fast. Her hands were clenched around her collar as she hysterically asked, “Why? What did our family ever do to you?! That you went and did this kind of thing?!”

Madam Zhao couldn't believe nor accept it.

So everything wrong that happened was due to a person’s actions? So 18 years ago, this odious woman in front of me deliberately did it?

This woman exchanged the children and sent her own child to the Zhao family to enjoy the blessing and become our beloved little princess!

And the child that I was actually pregnant with was abandoned by the woman in front of me in the country, in the coldest winter!

If it weren't for Zhao Mingxi's fate and luck, she might not have survived at all!

Madam Zhao's heart was twitching and her whole body trembled.

She looked at Zhao Mingxi who was standing in the corner. Her lips trembled and her eyes blurred with tears.

If all this was just an accident, then Madam Zhao could still tell herself that their family was also a victim, and everything was a trick of God. But now, she found out that everything was not an accident, it's just that she and the Zhao family were too stupid and never discovered the truth!

Over the past 18 years, they have not only been raising the child for the culprit, but also hiring the culprit by their side— They even made their children move out of the house for the culprit’s child!

Madam Zhao clung to her clothes tightly and felt out of breath. It was only at this moment that she understood what ridiculous and stupid things she had done! She picked out skirts for the culprit’s child and she accused her children of not being kind enough to the culprit’s child! She even asked her child to cook dinner for the culprit’s child!

Her stomach stirred.

Anger, pain, nausea and remorse were all twisted together.

Madam Zhao's eyes were bloodshot. Suddenly, with a burst out of strength, she grabbed Zhang Yufen, who was covering her face on the ground, and slapped her again.

Zhang Yufen looked at her in horror.

As if realizing she was crazy, Zhang Yufen instinctively backed away.

"You’re crazy! Your whole family is crazy! This is personal assault!"

"B*tch, I'm going to kill you!" Madam Zhao's hair was messy, her eyes were gleaming with anger, and she completely lost her mind. The pain in her heart made her wish to die with Zhang Yufen at this moment.

She took off the shoes on her feet and slapped Zhang Yufen's face fiercely.

Zhang Yufen flinched desperately, and the person holding her shoulder almost couldn't control her.

“Slap!”

Another slap landed on Zhang Yufen's face fiercely.

When she first came in, although she was embarrassed, everyone was still able to see the shape of the woman. At this moment, she had tears streaming down her face, her high and swollen face was full of blood mixed with tears, the corners of her mouth were bleeding, and her eye sockets were also bluish.

If she continued to hit her, her face would most likely be disfigured.

Although everyone in the Zhao family was gritting their teeth, wishing to slash Zhang Yufen on the ground 1000 times, this was a society ruled by law after all. They couldn’t let Madam Zhao hit her anymore!

Zhao Zhanhuai walked over and held Madam Zhao’s shoulders. He forced her to his side. “Okay, enough, Mom!”

Zhao Zhanhuai tried to wake Madam Zhao.

Madam Zhao’s face was full of nervous tears. Zhao Zhanhuai tried his best to take her away from Zhang Yufen. She suddenly broke free of Zhao Zhanhuai's shackles and rushed to the bathroom.

The sound of vomiting and flushing came from the bathroom.

Disgusting.

This was the reaction of everyone in the Zhao family who were present.

They were not only disgusted by the nanny howling on the ground, disgusted by the culprit’s daughter who was sitting on the side while crying, but also disgusted by themselves who had done those behaviors in the past 18 years.

What did we do?!

Zhang Yufen was beaten to the point that she almost fainted. She clutched the blood on her face and slumped to the ground like a foul-smelling fish that had been struggling to death.

The symptoms of dizziness from being slapped faded slightly. After she became a little more sober, tears began to squeeze out of her wrinkled face that had been working all the year round.

She sat up and cried hoarsely at everyone in the Zhao family, “Yes, what if I am Miss Zhao Yuan's biological mother? I only found out about this now! I am innocent, and Zhao Yuan is innocent. The hospital must have made a mistake back then. I was just a weak woman who had just given birth. How could I have done such a thing?! You should blame the hospital. Why should you blame me?!”

“Innocent?! The DNA report's second test results have already come out. Yet you dare to say that you are innocent!” Mr Zhao was so angry that if the person before him was not a helpless woman, he might have also raised his fist and hurt her personally.

"We will naturally investigate the guilt of the hospital, but you are the culprit!"

Zhao Zhanhuai asked, “If you didn't know that Zhao Yuan was your biological daughter, how did you end up coming to our house to apply for a job?"

"A coincidence! It's all a coincidence!" Zhang Yufen got up desperately. "It's really all a coincidence!"

Even Zhao Zhanhuai was about to lose his temper with the violent woman on the ground. “How can there be so many coincidences in this world?! So it is a coincidence that you have been good to Zhao Yuan for so many years, and it is also a coincidence that you have been bad to Mingxi? You knew that Zhao Yuan was your biological child! You were the one who switched the children!”

Mingxi didn't want to listen anymore. She asked Zhao Zhanhuai bluntly, “So what punishment will she get in the end? Have you hired a lawyer?”

As soon as Zhao Zhanhuai faced Mingxi, guilt climbed into his heart. His tone couldn't help but soften a bit, “Don't worry, your elder brother will give you an explanation on this matter. We will try our best to get the heaviest sentence for her.”

When Zhang Yufen heard this, her face went pale in fright.

She knelt on the ground, turned towards Mingxi and started begging frantically, “Why must you push people to a dead end? Even if I was the one who switched the children back then, but Zhao Mingxi, I did not drown you or abuse you. I even put you at the entrance of the orphanage—”

"Shut up!" Zhao Yuning, who was in the corner, couldn't listen anymore. A cup was smashed into pieces in front of her.

For all his life, he had never seen such a person. If it weren't for her, maybe there would not be such a series of things afterwards! They were already at this point, yet she still didn't admit her guilt and was madly justifying herself.

The glass shards darted across Zhang Yufen's neck. Zhang Yufen was so frightened that she never dared to speak again.

When she was desperate, she looked at Zhao Yuan who was seated on the sofa again.

"Yuanyuan, Yuanyuan, please help me plead to them. Please, I'm only 42 years old. I can't spend the rest of my life in prison. For the sake of your birth mother, please help me. If it weren’t for you, how could I be so insane as to do that kind of thing back then? I couldn’t support you alone and I couldn’t provide you with the best education. I could only take you to live in a rented house and eat instant noodles. You would have been malnourished, you were still so young…”

"Stop talking!" Zhao Yuan stood up, trembling.

All this was like a nightmare. Zhang Yufen's gully face was especially the most terrifying sight in the nightmare. Why was she only 42, but looked 10 years older than Madam Zhao? Will she be her own future—

With a thud, Zhao Yuan suddenly knelt before Mr Zhao.

This action shocked everyone who was present. Everyone looked at her.

Zhang Yufen finally showed hope in her eyes which were filled with muddy tears. She wept bitterly.

However, what Zhao Yuan cried and said was— "Dad, big brother, have you ever thought that even if Zhang Yufen deserved the crime, I am innocent? I was innocent from beginning to end in this matter. I was replaced in the past. I have just been born, what right does a baby have to decide?”

"After being your daughter for 15 years, you suddenly tell me that I am not your biological daughter, just a dove in a magpie's nest. What can I do?”

"Do I have to use my life to repay Zhao Mingxi for those 15 years?!"

Zhang Yufen was stunned. She looked at Zhao Yuan with her mouth wide open, her tears ridiculously falling on the carpet from her wrinkles.

"I did so much for you... Yuanyuan, you..."

She gave so much to her daughter who said she deserved it.

Zhang Yufen suddenly seemed to be drained of all strength in an instant. She no longer struggled anymore, but just stared at Zhao Yuan blankly.

…

After Zhang Yufen pleaded guilty and Mingxi confirmed that Zhang Yufen would receive the heaviest punishment, she didn't want to stay here anymore to listen to this farce.

Now when she heard Zhao Yuan's words, she said in a monotone voice, “So since Zhang Yufen is innocent, Zhao Yuan is also innocent, your family is still innocent, then who is guilty? Is it me?”

Mr Zhao and Zhao Zhanhuai were not moved by Zhao Yuan's words.

And when Madam Zhao was almost affected by Zhao Yuan's pitiful appearance, she was pulled back by Zhao Mingxi's words.

Yeah, everyone exclaimed that they were innocent during the whole thing.

Is this not ironic? What qualifications did they have to mention the word "innocent" in front of Zhao Mingxi?

"Shut up!" Mr Zhao said to Zhao Yuan intolerably. “How dare you still have the audacity to call me ‘dad’? Remember, you are the culprit’s daughter, not the Zhao family’s child!”

Zhao Yuan trembled all over, her face pale.

Mr Zhao insisted, “Our family has done its best in benevolence and righteousness. Everything we have paid for you before will be paid. I’m not bothered to settle the account with you, but from now on, I hope you will not appear before us anymore! Three years of tuition have been paid. Get out of this house and live on your own!”

Zhao Yuan's tears suddenly fell one by one.

She got kicked out so easily? She couldn't believe it. Putting aside the two years after Zhao Mingxi came, the relationship they had for the previous 15 years, didn't the Zhao family want it anymore?

She went to look at Zhao Yuning and Madam Zhao in disbelief, but Zhao Yuning and Madam Zhao turned away.

She looked at Zhao Zhanhuai again— the eldest brother who loved her the most since she was a child.

However, Zhao Zhanhuai's face was also cold and hard.

Indeed, no matter what, they couldn't let Zhao Yuan stay in their house anymore.

The fact that they did not berate Zhao Yuan because of Zhang Yufen's affairs was the last kindness and reasonableness by their family. After all, they were educated enough to know that a crime could not be imposed on the next generation.

However, it was impossible for them to continue to treat Zhao Yuan as a family member and give Zhao Yuan money, time, energy and love.

Upon knowing that she was the culprit’s daughter, their family’s stomachs were already upset, so how could they ignore this fact?!

Zhao Yuan's legs softened and she finally fell to the ground.

The atmosphere in the living room was stiff.

…

Zhao Yuan was shaking all over, recalling the major changes in her life for the past three months... All of her siblings and parents were robbed from her. She and her friends parted ways... The School Beauty competition, exam rankings, all of it were lost to Zhao Mingxi.

She was like a loser, slipping into the abyss of life little by little. Even now the whole school knew that she was a dove occupying a magpie's nest, and her biological mother was the nanny who switched the children— Who caused all this? It was all Zhao Mingxi!

Zhao Yuan was terribly scared and hurt. The disappointment and hatred accumulated in her heart finally made her burst out.

Suddenly, she gritted her teeth and said cruelly to Madam Zhao and her family, “You said that I am the culprit’s daughter and that I don't deserve to call you my parents. But how much better do you guys think you are?”

The Zhao family all looked at her in astonishment when she abruptly said these words.

Zhao Yuan collapsed, caring nothing of the things she said, “You are all Zhang Yufen's accomplices! Don't pretend to be the perfect victim this time and push everything to Zhang Yufen and me! When Zhao Mingxi just returned home, it’s you who asked her not to touch my things, it’s you who told her not to stain the carpet on the floor, it’s you who told her to take etiquette lessons from me—”

Zhao Yuan stared at Madam Zhao frantically and emphasized on every word, “It's you! It's what you said that hurt her heart, not me!”

Madam Zhao was short of breath and extremely enraged. She said angrily, “If you didn't appear aggrieved, why would I defend you again and again?!”

Zhao Yuan got up from the ground. “That’s your own fault for being so stupid!”

Madam Zhao’s face was flushed. She rushed over and slapped Zhao Yuan. “You are exactly like your mother, absolutely ungrateful!”

Zhao Yuan wiped away the tears from her face angrily. She had something else to say, but with a wave by the pale-faced Mr Zhao, two people dragged her out of the Zhao family's house.

Madam Zhao stared at the direction in which Zhao Yuan was driven away, panting heavily. Then, she sat down on the sofa, looking like she was going crazy.

*

On this night, the Zhao family's living room was a mess.

Everyone felt like they had experienced an earthquake, their minds and bodies crumbling.

Zhang Yufen was sent to the police station along with the evidence and was officially detained until the court session. Zhao Yuan was also kicked out of the Zhao family's house. Zhao Zhanhuai asked two people to clean up the things in Zhao Yuan's room, planning to empty them all and throw them away.

Deep in the night.

No one knew when Zhao Mingxi left. She left without saying a word. Only a few people from the Zhao family were left in the living room.

Mr and Mrs Zhao looked around in panic. They could feel the emptiness of the house. Without footsteps, no laughter, the deadly atmosphere was like a slap after slap, striking on their own faces.

They seem to have lost everything.

They also seemed to have faced a devastating disaster, and everything will never be the same again.

Because of this disaster, they finally realized that, as Zhao Yuan said, part of the reason was themselves. It was their own mistakes.

They lost their own children forever for the sake of a criminal’s child.

This was probably the greatest punishment in the world.

As parents, they have failed terribly.