Jiang Wan ran back to her room.
She took out a wooden doll of a girl from the drawer, its luster long gone.
Upon closer inspection, it bore some resemblance to the childhood photo of Jiang Wan on the table.
It was carved by Dong Jingyu for her daughter.
Because it was too old, the doll’s head had cracked. Jiang Wan carefully filled the gap with glue. She usually stored it carefully in the cabinet, only taking it out to look at when she missed her mom.
“Mom, I miss you so much,” Jiang Wan said, her eyes reddening.
Jiang Wan’s mother died in a shipwreck when she was six years old, leaving no remains.
Then, just two months later, her father, Jiang Yi, brought his new wife home.
Along with a half-sister who was less than a year younger than her.
Back then, she was too young to understand much, but as she grew older,
Jiang Wan learned that Jiang Yi had already been unfaithful while her mother was pregnant with her.
As the saying goes, with a stepmother comes a stepfather.
Jiang Yi fully embodied this saying in his actions.
With Meng Fenyu’s arrival, she often whispered in Jiang Yi’s ear.
Over time, Jiang Yi’s concern for his eldest daughter grew increasingly distant and negligible.
Jiang Ting went abroad for study trips during holidays and even visited renowned mentors.
Jiang Wan could only stay at home, teaching herself with a drawing board.
Jiang Ting had the best of everything—clothes, food, and accessories, all branded.
But Jiang Wan wore off-season, discounted clothes without labels, some even bought from street stalls.
Jiang Yi seemed blind.
He never noticed the stark differences between his two daughters. The only shred of conscience he retained was not depriving Jiang Wan of her right to education.
The servants followed their masters’ lead. Seeing Jiang Wan neglected at home, they gradually treated her as invisible to please Meng Fenyu.
At first, Jiang Wan would feel sad and hurt, but slowly, she grew numb. She closed off her heart so she wouldn’t feel the pain.
Jiang Wan put the doll back in the drawer, then sat on the bed, burying her head in her knees. All her grievances and helplessness finally burst out, no longer suppressed.
It wasn’t just Meng Fenyu’s words—it was also the child in her womb.
She bit her lip, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes, her slender back trembling slightly.
Jiang Wan never expected that she would become pregnant with Gu Shilan’s child after that one night.
She took the medical report from her bag, looking at it again and again. These were two people connected to her by blood, the closest to her.
She had just graduated from university and hadn’t yet stabilized her life. How could she raise two crying infants? Bringing them into the world would only mean suffering alongside her.
Though reluctant, Jiang Wan made up her mind to terminate the pregnancy.
Exhausted from crying, Jiang Wan fell asleep.
When she woke up, it was completely dark outside the window.
She got out of bed, planning to go to the bathroom and wash her slightly swollen eyes with cold water.
Just then, Jiang Ting returned home. Hearing that Jiang Wan had slapped Meng Fenyu, she immediately came to settle the score.
Jiang Ting always entered Jiang Wan’s room as if it were her own.
Without knocking, she pushed the door open loudly. Seeing Jiang Wan wasn’t in the room but hearing water running in the bathroom,
“Jiang Wan, just you wait,” she said.
But instead of leaving, she looked around Jiang Wan’s room, searching for something to use against her when reporting to Jiang Yi.
Her eyes scanned the room, and she actually found something.
She walked straight to the bedside, picked it up, and saw it was a hospital report.
After reading the words on it clearly, a gloating expression appeared on her face.
Then she hurried downstairs, thumping all the way, to spread the news.
Jiang Wan came out of the bathroom and noticed the report on the bed was gone. Without even thinking, she knew Meng Fenyu and her daughter had been there.
She went downstairs to confront them.
Just as she reached the corner of the staircase, Meng Fenyu spotted her with sharp eyes.
With a look of disdain, she said, “You seemed so quiet and well-behaved, but it was all an act. Who would have thought you’d be so wild—not only fooling around with men outside but also coming back pregnant with a bastard child. If it weren’t for Tingting finding out, even I would have been fooled by you.”
Jiang Wan’s nails dug deeply into her palms, yet she felt no pain.
“You’re a mother with a daughter too. You should watch your words.”
“What? Not calling me Aunt Meng anymore?” Meng Fenyu said with a stern face. “Isn’t what I said the truth? I’m just teaching you on behalf of your mother. Our Jiang family really owes you—raising an ungrateful, worthless burden like you, and now two more burdens are on the way.”
Jiang Ting sat nearby, pretending to be the good person.
“Mom, Jiang Wan is just immature and confused. Don’t take it to heart. Calm down.”
Meng Fenyu patted Jiang Ting’s hand and said approvingly, “Our Tingting is so sensible, knowing how to keep herself pure.”
Jiang Wan watched the mother and daughter perform their duet, their words growing uglier by the minute. She couldn’t stand being there a moment longer.
So, she descended the stairs, ignoring them completely, and walked straight out of the villa.
As soon as Jiang Wan left, Jiang Ting sneered, “Serves her right.”
Meng Fenyu asked, “What happened?”
Jiang Ting glanced around to make sure no servants were nearby, then leaned close to her mother’s ear and whispered, “The child in that little bitch’s belly belongs to an ugly, filthy old man. The story is…”
She had always disliked Jiang Wan. Even though she was treated like a little princess in this house while Jiang Wan was like an unnoticed weed, it didn’t stop her from envying Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan was beautiful, had a great figure, and even her grades were better. Jiang Ting compared herself to Jiang Wan in every way but always fell short.
So, she couldn’t stand to see Jiang Wan doing well.
Once, she invited a few male models to a nightclub to unwind. In the middle of the fun, she saw a post on the school forum praising outstanding graduates.
Jiang Wan’s photo stung her eyes, and she started complaining to the people around her.
Hearing her words, someone joked, “Why don’t you ask your dad to marry her off to some old, ugly man? That’ll teach her.”
The speaker had no ill intent, but the listener took it to heart. A malicious idea took root in Jiang Ting’s mind.
She found an excuse to step out and went to the back alley of the nightclub, where she found two thugs.
She gave them some money and told them to find an opportunity to take Jiang Wan to a hotel, drug her, then grab an old beggar from under a bridge to sleep with her.
Afterward, she called the thugs, who confidently assured her the deed was done and told her not to worry.
Hearing her daughter’s words, Meng Fenyu was stunned. Jiang Ting might be thoughtless, but she had a brain.
“Tingting, don’t mention this again. Even though your dad doesn’t like Jiang Wan, it doesn’t mean he’d allow such a scandal to tarnish the Jiang family’s name. If he finds out, he won’t let you off easily.”
Jiang Ting stuck out her tongue and said, “Got it, Mom.”
She had only wanted to teach Jiang Wan a lesson and vent her anger, never expecting such an unexpected surprise.
Jiang Wan actually returned pregnant with some old man’s bastard child.
Now how could that little slut still compare to her.
It’s only a pity she was born unlucky, destined to bear children for beggars.