Fortunately, Li Boyan stood up and moved aside in time, leaving Su Ning no choice but to let Nian Nian throw herself into her arms, nuzzling against her.
“Mommy, I’m hungry. I want some fruit. Can you peel an apple for me?”
“Okay.”
But just as Su Ning placed Nian Nian on the sofa and picked up an apple to peel, Zheng Qiuyun barged in with Shen Muyao.
Immediately, a torrent of abuse followed. “You shameless murderer, so you are here after all!”
Zheng Qiuyun pointed at Su Ning’s nose and began shouting.
Startled, Su Ning’s hand slipped, and the fruit knife cut a gash in her finger.
A fleeting panic flashed in Li Boyan’s eyes—he clearly hadn’t expected Zheng Qiuyun to storm in so quickly.
“Mom, what are you doing?”
“What am I doing? What do you think I’m here for?!”
Zheng Qiuyun glared at Li Boyan and snapped angrily.
She pointed at Su Ning and raged, “This woman is the murderer who killed your wife! She killed Nian Nian’s mother. How could you bring her into your home and let her live here?”
Her unrestrained words struck Nian Nian’s small ears like a heavy blow.
They pierced her young heart like sharp knives.
Instantly, tears streamed from her eyes. “Grandma is lying. She is my mommy.”
Zheng Qiuyun roared, “She is Su Ning! Your mother was Shen Mu’an, killed by this wretched woman, Su Ning!”
Each word was sharp and cruel, like merciless blades tearing Nian Nian’s fragile heart to shreds.
The mother she had called out to for three years, the mother she had longed for—was she really the murderer who killed her own mother?
Nian Nian was only a five-year-old child, full of fantasies and love for the world and everyone around her.
Suddenly, Zheng Qiuyun’s words shattered her innocent heart completely!
All she could do was cry, unable to utter a single word.
Su Ning felt all her strength drain away in an instant. Her empty, desolate gaze fell weakly on Nian Nian. Besides self-blame and guilt, she had no idea what to say.
Li Boyan’s heart was also riddled with wounds—the secret he had kept from Nian Nian for five years had ultimately been torn to pieces by his mother!
“You wretched woman, why aren’t you leaving? Five years ago, you killed my sister, and now you’re causing chaos in the Li family. Can’t you hear me?”
Shen Muyao shouted harshly at Su Ning.
She rushed over, grabbed Su Ning, and began dragging her out.
Su Ning didn’t resist, allowing herself to be pulled away.
In truth, she wanted to leave this place from the bottom of her heart.
Unexpectedly, Li Boyan strode over and seized Su Ning’s wrist. “She must stay here!”
His firm words were directed at Shen Muyao.
Shen Muyao looked stunned. “Brother-in-law, she caused my sister’s death. How can you keep her in this house without feeling the slightest guilt?”
“Precisely because of that, she must stay here. She took away Nian Nian’s motherly love—she ought to stay and take care of Nian Nian!”
Hearing this, Zheng Qiuyun immediately objected. “I won’t allow it! I’m not dead yet, and I still have a say in this family. She is a murderer. I will never entrust my granddaughter to her care!”
“Enough!”
Li Boyan’s cold rebuke cut off Zheng Qiuyun’s words.
“This is the Li Manor, my home, Li Boyan’s home.”
The implication was clear—it wasn’t hers.
“Hmph, Li Boyan, you’ve grown bold! For this woman, you dare oppose me? You’ve got nerve, real nerve!”
As she spoke, Zheng Qiuyun picked up the fruit knife from the floor and held it against her own neck:
“Today, I’ll give you a choice: in this house, either she goes or I do!
“I’ll leave, I’ll leave right now!”
Su Ning blurted out.
She was truly terrified. She had already caused the death of Li Boyan’s wife, Shen Mu’an.
She had made Nian Nian lose her mother’s love; she absolutely couldn’t let anything happen to Zheng Qiuyun too.
“I forbid it!”
Li Boyan declared firmly once again.
“I won’t let you leave either.”
Nian Nian suddenly spoke up.
Her small shoulders trembled with sobs, her voice hoarse, yet she still managed to say what she wanted:
“You all say she killed my mommy? So, shouldn’t bad people be punished?
Keep her here, I want her to stay! I want her to atone for my mommy’s death!”
Nian Nian’s words left everyone speechless.
Even Li Boyan’s grip visibly faltered, startled by her words. How could a five-year-old child say such things?
It was evident her young heart had suffered immense trauma.
Su Ning felt her blood run cold, her heart aching so dully she could barely breathe.
She knew she had ultimately wounded Nian Nian’s heart—the child who had called her “mommy” for three years.
To learn that the person she called mommy was her mother’s murderer—how devastating must this bloody reality be to her fragile heart?
In the end, she could never be forgiven.
As Nian Nian’s grandmother, Zheng Qiuyun’s heart ached for her granddaughter and her deceased daughter.
Yet, she couldn’t help saying, “Nian Nian, sweetheart, there are many ways to atone; it doesn’t have to be by staying with you.
Grandma knows you’ve lacked a mother’s love since you were little and yearn for a complete family. I’ve decided: your daddy will marry your aunt right away.
From now on, you’ll have both a daddy and a mommy, and you’ll never have to envy other children for having their parents with them.”
Her calm, casual words struck like a thunderclap out of nowhere, shattering Su Ning’s heart into dust.
She had just registered her marriage with Li Boyan, and now Zheng Qiuyun wanted him to marry Shen Muyao?
Did Li Boyan love Shen Muyao?
Su Ning had some recollection of this Shen Muyao, knowing she was a doctor at Jiang City Hospital.
Five years ago, they had both worked in the obstetrics and gynecology department, colleagues of a sort.
But she never imagined she was Shen Mu’an’s sister—Nian Nian’s aunt?
“I want my mommy, I want my own mommy.”
Nian Nian wept, her pitiful gaze fixed on Su Ning, her young heart bleeding with pain.
“Su Ning, take Nian Nian upstairs to her room!”
Li Boyan suddenly commanded.
Su Ning flinched at his voice, her own trembling as she replied.
“Okay.”
Su Ning stepped forward cautiously toward Nian Nian.
“Nian Nian, come, let me carry you upstairs.Her words and her open-armed gesture were both cautious.
Fortunately, Nian Nian obediently allowed Su Ning to pick her up.
Soon, Su Ning carried Nian Nian upstairs.
Li Boyan broke the silence first, “Mom, you’ve gone too far! Nian Nian is so young—how could you wound her with such a bloody reality?!”
“You forced my hand. Knowing she’s a murderer, why did you bring her into this house?”
Zheng Qiuyun questioned sharply without holding back.
The thick, gunpowder-like tension made Shen Muyao, standing to the side, break into a cold sweat inwardly.