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nTranslator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

nShe was not afraid of hardship; however, she could not put her child through this.

nShe could lose her dignity and everything. She could live like a dog, despised and mocked by others. However, she could not let her child suffer with her. She knew that by coming back here, she would be subjected to contemptuous looks and beatings or scolding. They would despise her—even the maid had not allowed her to enter. She could only wait outside the door.

nNo matter. Although she knew how she would be treated, she still came back because she really had nowhere else to go.

nAfter all, her mother was here.

nThe sound of footsteps came from behind. Before she could turn around, she was met with a loud smack. A hand had viciously slapped her ashen face.

n“Why have you returned? I don’t have a lowlife daughter like you. Chu Lui treated you so well. You dare to come back after what you did?”

nXia Mingzheng pulled Shen Yijun from behind. If it wasn’t for him, she would have beaten Xia Ruoxin to death today.

n“Mom…” Xia Ruoxin covered her face with her hand. Why? Even her mother was treating her this way. She wasn’t just anyone; she was her mother. They were mother and daughter.

n“Don’t you dare call me Mom. You don’t deserve it. I’ve said it before. I have only one daughter, and that was Yixuan. Get out of here. Leave this place. From this day forth, our ties are severed. You are not to call me as your mother. No.”

nIn the rain, her shouting tore her throat. It cut clearly into Xia Ruoxin’s ears.

nSevered their mother-daughter ties…

nHer mother did not want her as well.

n“Let’s go. Don’t bother about her.” Shen Yijun shoved Xia Mingzheng’s hands; this time, she was calmer but crueler. He could only sigh at the sight.

nWas this necessary? He thought of speaking, but Shen Yijun pulled him away.

nXia Ruoxin suddenly knelt, abandoning all her dignity.

n“Mom, please. Please don’t turn me away. I can be a maid… just let us stay alive.” She had used ‘us’, not ‘me’. The angry Shen Yijun had not bothered to listen to what she was saying.

nShe held on tightly with both her hands, and Xia Mingzheng felt she was going to rip his elbow off.

n“We are no longer related. Leave, I don’t want to see you.” She finished talking and walked heartlessly away. The door closed with a bang, leaving a kneeling Xia Ruoxin. She closed her eyes shut as her tears merged with the rain that was beating down on her very pale face.

n“Mom… I’m pregnant… I have a baby…” Her lips moved, her voice lost in the sound of the rain. No one heard her; no one would help her.

nSlowly, she stood up, biting down on her slightly green lip. She stared at the house which she had stayed for almost twenty years. She could recall no happiness here.

n“Mom… this will be the last time I’m calling you Mom. I will never address you like this again.”

nShe turned and walked, putting herself one step at a time on the path in front of her. She looked down and removed the cast from her elbow, knowing that her hand might be crippled. There was no other way.

n“Baby, don’t worry. Mommy will give birth to you, safe and sound. I promise.”

nShen Yijun drew the curtains back after the person was out of her view. She did not know why, but her face was covered with tears.

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