Recognizing Reality

Kicking open the door, the door shook violently, shocking everyone in the room.

Xing Xiaoya was curled up in the corner; her thin clothes were dyed red. When she saw Huo Xiaoran, it was as if she had seen a straw to clutch at. A hint of surprise flashed across her miserable eyes.

“Brother Xing Chen, save me. Save me. They hit me. It hurts.” Xing Xiaoya had been crying all night, and her voice was hoarse like a duck’s.

Huo Xiaoran glanced at her disdainfully. The bodyguards walked up to him respectfully and lowered their heads. They bent down and said respectfully, “President Huo, this woman refuses to confess. No matter how we hit her, she denied that she set the fire.”

Xing Xiaoya looked at Xing Chen expectantly. She thought that her patience and persistence last night would definitely dissolve Brother Xing Chen’s suspicions. If he realized that he had done something wrong, he would feel a sense of guilt toward her.

Unexpectedly, Huo Xiaoran turned to look at her with a gaze that she had never seen before. “Not confessing?”

Xing Xiaoya shook her head desperately and begged, “Brother Xing Chen, it really wasn’t me. You misunderstood me.” She crawled towards Huo Xiaoran in a sorry state and tried to hug his pants.

Unexpectedly, Huo Xiaoran raised his foot unexpectedly and stepped on her ruthlessly.

“Ah!” Xing Xiaoya cried out in pain.

The surprise in her eyes turned to disbelief and horror.

Huo Xiaoran ordered the bodyguard coldly, “Shut her mouth. When you punish her in the future, don’t let her make a sound. It will scare the children.”

He stepped on her a few times and raised his leg to look at Xing Xiaoya sinisterly.

The bodyguard found a pair of socks and stuffed them into Xing Xiaoya’s mouth. Xing Xiaoya stared at Xing Chen in shock. She could not believe that Xing Chen was so ruthless to her.

How could he be heartless?

After spending a few years together, had his meticulous care for her disappeared?

It was all Qiao An’s fault. She hated her.

She deserved to be burned.

Huo Xiaoran said faintly, “Xing Xiaoya, it’s fine if you don’t confess. Someone witnessed you and Wang Ning setting fire.”

Xing Xiaoya felt that Xiao Ran was lying to her, and her expression was the same.

Until Xiaoran said something that shocked her to the point of collapse, “I didn’t kill you because my An’an was lucky and didn’t die. Otherwise, I want you to live a life worse than death for the rest of your life. That would be atonement for Qiao An.”

Qiao An was still alive?

Xing Xiaoya’s body felt like it was filled with cold air. Since Qiao An was still alive, how could Xing Chen treat her like this?

She couldn’t imagine what kind of punishment she would receive if Qiao An really died.

Huo Xiaoran instructed the bodyguard, “Throw her and Wang Ning at the entrance of the village and let her beg for a living in the future. A woman like her doesn’t deserve to live with dignity.”

The bodyguard dragged Xing Xiaoya and Wang Ning out.

When Huo Xiaoran walked out of the room, he saw the cute three little ones surrounding Qiao An’s door, eager to do something.

When the bodyguards dragged Xing Xiaoya away, they passed by Qiao An’s room. The three little ones only saw Xing Xiaoya covered in blood and their eyes widened.

“Isn’t she Dad’s sister?” Angel murmured.

“Wait.” Ki Ki stepped forward and interrogated the bodyguards like a little adult.

“What mistake did Auntie make?”

The bodyguards looked at each other. Ki Ki’s friendly attitude towards XIng Xiaoya made them instantly feel that things were a little troublesome.

Huo Xiaoran stood behind them in frustration. He was vexed. Why did he let the three children see him do such a cruel thing? Would it leave a terrifying impression on the children?

A bodyguard said fearfully, “Young Master, she set fire to the small wooden house in the back mountain…”

Before the bodyguard could finish, Ki Ki’s puzzled eyes turned cold. “So my mother was killed by you?” he questioned Xing Xiaoya in a cold tone.

The hope in Xing Xiaoya’s eyes disappeared again.

It seemed that no matter how she bought the child’s heart, the child was close to and biased towards Qiao An.

“Send her away. I don’t want to see her for the rest of my life,” Ki Ki said angrily.

The bodyguard heaved a sigh of relief and replied, “Yes, Young Master.”

The bodyguard took Xing Xiaoya away.

Huo Xiaoran and the three children looked at each other. The children regarded him with resentment. Huo Xiaoran’s eyes were filled with guilt and confusion.

“Hmph.” Angel snorted again, expressing her dissatisfaction with her daddy’s finding a “stepmother.”

Ki Ki dragged his two sisters away.

Huo Xiaoran asked helplessly, “What mistake did Daddy make? Tell me and Daddy can correct it. You have to let me die in peace!”

Ki Ki stopped and looked back at him. “You slept with another woman before Mommy’s corpse turned cold. Even if Mommy is in the underworld, she won’t be able to rest in peace.”

Joey said, “Yeah, Daddy, Mommy loved you so much.”

Huo Xiaoran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He smiled and said, “I see.”

So the three children knew that he had brought back a woman last night, but they didn’t know that this woman was their mother.

“Your stepmother is very good. Why don’t you go and see her?” Huo Xiaoran gestured for the children to enter the room and take a look.

Angel suddenly cried bitterly. “I don’t want a stepmother. I don’t want a stepmother. Daddy is bad.”

Seeing that his daughter was crying so bitterly, Huo Xiaoran quickly restrained his unruly joke and corrected, “Daddy didn’t find you a stepmother. However, you have to correct your biased approach.”

The three children looked at their father in confusion.

Angel cried until she was out of breath. “You lied to us. I saw you sleeping with a long-haired woman this morning.”

Huo Xiaoran said, “That doesn’t mean that I’m finding you a stepmother.”

KiKi said angrily, “Even if you have no intention of marrying her, you’re betraying Mommy’s feelings by doing this.”

Huo Xiaoran nodded at the house. “Let’s go in and take a look.”

He walked over with his well-proportioned long legs and opened the door.

The children followed him and stuck their heads in.

Qiao An had been woken up by them. Still sleepy, she looked at the children bitterly.

“Is it Mommy?” Joey said.

“That’s not right. Why is Mommy’s face so dark?” Angel loved beauty the most. When she saw her mother’s face, she immediately cried out.

Huo Xiaoran quickly covered her mouth, afraid that she would say more shocking things.

Only then did Qiao An realize that the fire had not only burned her back and butt but the rest of her body might have been affected.

“I want a mirror,” she said.

There was panic in her eyes.

Huo Xiaoran walked in and held the mirror in his hand.

“An’an, you’ll be fine.”

Qiao An ordered, “Give me the mirror!”