Chapter 93: The Engagement Party (Part Three)  

“Shut up, Shangguan Ning! It is your sister’s engagement party. This is not the time for you to make a fuss! Now join us at the table, like the rest of the family, and spare us your sob stories.” Shangguan Zheng was furious.

The vein on his forehead was throbbing and he couldn’t control his temper after the way Shangguan Ning had behaved.

His reputation was extremely important to him. He was very cautious about the fact that the media would catch a whiff of a possible scandal and his election as mayor may then be in jeopardy.

How dare Shangguan Ning make a spectacle out of him in the public eye? He wished she would leave this very minute.

Shangguan Rouxue’s face turned pale. With tears in eyes, she said sadly, “Sister, the death of your mother has nothing to do with my mother. Please don’t blame her. Please blame me, as it is me who has wronged you. My parents haven’t wronged you.I wish you could forgive me. I would do anything for your forgiveness. If that means that I have to die even, I would gladly do it.”

Shangguan Ning remained unaffected. “You wish to die? What for? That would be like taking the easy way out. In my head, you’ve already died a million deaths. If you really want me to forgive you, then there is just one thing that you can do. Don’t marry Xie Zhuojun. That is all. That’s not too much to ask for.”

“Sister, I...” Shangguan Rouxue was about to say something but stopped. Tears trickled down her face.

Some guests were genuinely concerned, while some of them were just watching the drama unfold. Most guests didn’t know that Xie Zhuojun had once been engaged with the Shagguan Zheng’s elder daughter a few years ago, and was now getting engaged to the younger one.

Shangguan Ning had seen her put up this show too many times. Without further ado, she asked Shangguan Rouxue,”You can’t do it, right? You can’t leave him? Then don’t act like a martyr. Stop this show that you put up every now and then, when you say that you will be willing to do anything.”

Having said what she had to Shangguan Rouxue, she turned to Family Xie.

“Mrs. Xie, how much do you think is your son worth ? How much should I pay you as compensation, so that his life belongs to me?”

Wang Lu didn’t expect Shangguan Ning to talk to her in this way. She found her offer absurd to begin with. She snapped at Shangguan Ning, “My son’s life can’t be measured in money. It is priceless ! I will never sell him to you no matter how much money you offer me. He is my treasure and you dare not lay a hand on him.”

She stood up immediately, as if fearing for her son’s life.

Without blinking an eyelid, Shangguan Ning said coldly, “Priceless treasure? Okay then, I won’t ask for much. Just 1 billion yuan to start with. Give me the money so I can leave.”

Wang Lu was startled and exclaimed, “What one billion yuan are you talking about ?”

“Oh, it’s sad that Mrs.Xie seems to be losing her memory. It is okay, just lets do a quick recap. Seven years ago, your son Xie Zhuojun had a car accident and became a vegetable. A fortune teller told you that I would bring him good luck. So you forced me to get engaged with him.”

“I took care of this man for more than two years and he finally woke up. At that time you abandoned me. He had fallen in love with someone else but what about the promises that you made to me? What happened to your morals then? Anyway, there is no point in discussing all this now. Give me the money and I will leave you in peace.”

Guests started whispering amongst themselves.What was Shangguan Ning talking about?

Wang Lu was startled by Shangguan Ning’s words.She was furious. She exclaimed, “One billion! You’d rather rob the bank.”

This girl was unbelievable!

One billion... most families could only dream of amassing this kind of wealth. Family Xie owned a lot of properties, even then they hadn’t been able to accumulate that amount. Only few families in A city, could boast of having a net worth of more than a billion yuan.

What was more, Family Xie didn’t request Shangguan Ning to marry their son without amply compensating her. They had spent a great deal of money on Deputy-Mayor Shangguan Zheng’s election campaign, but Wang Lu didn’t dare to speak about all this, publicly.

She remembered that Shangguan Ning wasn’t this fierce before. She was someone who was easily satisfied with whatever she got, but now she had changed completely.

Shangguan Ning said, “How weird? Didn’t you just say that your son was a priceless treasure! And everyone heard you too. The one billion I have asked for, isn’t a lot, or maybe you didn’t mean what you just said.”

None of the guests had expected that they would be witness to this kind of a battle ,between two wealthy families of A city. This woman may look fragile, but she was a force to be reckoned with. She didn’t show any sign of weakness and ably put forward her argument in front of her supposed family.

Shangguan Ning was halfway through her sentence, when she suddenly felt a stinging pain in her waist.

She turned around that very instant and happened to see Shangguan Rouxue move away from her.

“What are you upto this time? Which new trick do you have up your sleeve?”

Just then Shangguan Ning had a terrible premonition. Her instinct told her to stay away from her step sister. She realised that Shangguan Rouxue was clutching onto something in her fist. She tried to grab a hold of her hand, to see what it was but just then Shangguan Rouxue retreated from Ning and burst out crying.

She sobbed, “Sister, I have never asked you for anything. Zhuojun and I love each other. Please don’t force him to let go of me, so you can have him. He doesn’t love you anymore. Please don’t trouble Mrs. Xie. She has nothing to do with all this. Its all my fault. No one else is to be blamed.”

Shangguan Rouxue pushed herself against Shangguan Ning, all the while, playing to the gallery. She then fell to the ground, shrieking in pain, pretending as if Shangguan Ning had pushed her.

Shangguan Ning fell to the ground too, due to the force with which her sister pushed against her.

In the eyes of the bystanders, it was Shangguan Ning who was at fault.

Shangguan Ning sat there, ignoring everyone else. “For so many years, you have been using this technique. Ridiculously enough, people still continue to fall for it.”

Xie Zhuojun was confused. He stared at both the sisters.

Yang Wenshu, loved her daughter immensely and was worried that her daughter had hurt herself. Her hatred for Shangguan Ning was obvious, for all to see.

Shangguan Zheng was still fuming with fury and disappointment.

Even Xie Zhoujun’s parents were staring at Ning in disgust. They couldn’t believe that she was such a horrible person.

Strange enough, Shangguan Ning couldn’t care less. She was at peace because she finally had the courage to speak her mind and stand up for herself. She had finally showed everyone, the true colours of Family Shangguan and Family Xie. What an apt engagement present she had given to the couple.

She wondered why her head felt heavy, all of a sudden.

She felt her blood pressure shoot up and felt giddy. What was happening to her ?

Shangguan Ning glanced at Shangguan Rouxue’s tightly clenched fists and suddenly the truth dawned on her. She remembered the stinging pain in her waist, a few minutes ago.

She felt like she was about to lose her balance, and in the next moment, she collapsed to the ground.

For a few seconds, she had a deja vu. As if all of this had happened before.

She felt weak and uncomfortable, but somehow she was still well aware of everything around her.

She saw her father look relieved, even though she was still lying on the floor. She also saw Shangguan Rouxue plead with Xie Zhuojun, to carry her to the hotel room, as if she had known that Ning was going to pass out.