Gu Hong said with a hint of smugness, “I did take it. The password was Qianqian’s birthday—I figured it out on the first try. We still have that much understanding between us.”
That was because he knew the card had originally been opened for Gu Qianqian in the first place!
Shu Juan’s face turned deathly pale, and she said through gritted teeth, “Taking it without my consent is called stealing! Gu Hong, how can you be such a despicable man?”
Zhou Hui came out of the kitchen holding a spatula, looking aggressive and haughty, and said in a harsh tone, “You woman, why is your mouth so foul! What do you mean ‘stealing’? You two are husband and wife—what’s yours is his. This is marital property!”
Shu Juan found it utterly ironic.
At times like this, they were suddenly husband and wife again.
Zhou Hui continued, completely unashamed, “Besides, did he take the money for himself? No! It was for this family!”
Shu Juan’s eyes were red as she glared fiercely at Gu Hong, then shot back at Zhou Hui, “For this family? When has he ever done anything for this family!”
Gu Hong remained unfazed and said, “I took the money out and used it all to buy education investment plans for Qianqian.”
Shu Juan knew he was deliberately and ruthlessly cutting off her escape route.
Seeing her look of fury, Gu Hong only grew more pleased with himself, and said with feigned righteousness, “Staring at me won’t do you any good. It’s not like I spent the money—it was all for Qianqian.
“Qianqian is still young. He’ll need a fortune for his education in the future. Buying him education investment plans now will make things easier for us later. I’m sure you can understand.”
Shu Juan took a deep breath and said through clenched teeth, “Gu Hong, that was the money I needed for hospitalization and treatment.”
Zhou Hui also felt vindicated and said, “I think Hongzi did the right thing! You don’t think about Qianqian, so his father has to. We can’t just let you throw money hand over fist into the hospital!”
Shu Juan said, one word at a time, “If you have any conscience left, you’d know that I need that money to stay alive.”
Zhou Hui showed no mercy with her words, “Stay alive? Have you got your facts straight? You have cancer—everyone knows that’s a terminal illness!
“You send money to the hospital, and then you just spread your hands and leave. Qianqian is still so young—what’s he supposed to do? As his mother, you should at least leave him some money!”
Shu Juan could see it all clearly now. Gu Hong had transferred her money away, making high-sounding excuses about planning for Gu Qianqian, and now his whole family could just sit back and wait for her to die!
The living room was thick with cigarette smoke. Gu Jianguo was scrolling through his phone while puffing away, his face completely numb.
Shu Juan’s eyes were red as she suddenly said in a chilling voice, “Gu Hong, do you believe me? If you push me too far, I’ll take your whole family down with me.”
Gu Hong’s lips trembled, and Zhou Hui’s face went white with fear.
It was then that Gu Jianguo finally looked up and scolded Shu Juan, “You’re young—don’t be so full of malice. They’re your husband and son. You want to take them down with you? How can your heart be so vicious!”
If she was vicious for saying that, then what did it make them for trying to drive her to her death?
Shu Juan had no strength left to argue. She said, “Heaven is watching what people do.”
In the end, Gu Hong and Zhou Hui fell silent.
That crazy woman had a terminal illness—she had nothing left to lose. But their family still had a life to live. If they really pushed her over the edge, what if she actually did something extreme?
After Shu Juan returned to her room, Zhou Hui started cursing in the living room: “There’s no law and order anymore! How did we never notice what a rebellious, unfilial thing she was before! If I’d known, there’s no way I’d have let you marry such a piece of trash, Hongzi!”
Gu Qianqian was scared too and started crying in the living room. Zhou Hui comforted him, “Don’t cry, don’t cry. It’s all that dying mother of yours’ fault. Soon she won’t be able to be fierce anymore.”
Gu Qianqian, young and ignorant, sobbed, “Let her go die soon, then she can’t bully us anymore, wuwuwu…”
Those words hit Shu Juan’s heart like a heavy hammer, nearly knocking her off her feet.
That was her own flesh and blood! She had never treated him badly—she had always given him all of her love!
Shu Juan still ended up delaying her hospitalization. To earn money, she threw herself back into producing design drafts.
Unable to afford hospitalization, she had to take oral anticancer drugs. To minimize the impact on the baby, she could only choose the anticancer medication with the fewest side effects—but the expensive drug costs were an enormous burden for her in her current state.
In the end, the baby was born prematurely at just over eight months.
When her labor started, no one in the family offered to take her to the hospital. She had to call a taxi herself.
With no other options left, she could only call Sister Hua.
Aside from work-related matters, Shu Juan rarely troubled Sister Hua in her daily life.
After learning what was happening, Sister Hua rushed to the hospital immediately and handled all the surgery and admission procedures for her.
Shu Juan stumbled dazedly into the operating room, watching the blindingly white lights above her slowly grow more and more blurry…
She thought perhaps she would just fall asleep like this and never wake up again.
What a pity—she hadn’t managed to bring Gu Hong’s whole family down to the underworld with her!
She thought of Gu Qianqian again, that child she both loved and hated…
Never mind, she couldn’t let him become an orphan like herself…