Ruoxi couldn't understand her tone. Did she think it was an act?

"Mother, I'm not acting it out. It must be.... Henry did this. Those reporters shoved me hard. Mother, you must... get justice for me." Her voice was getting weaker.

Lin Lihua stood up and looked down at her comically. "I can't believe that even at this point, you want to drag people into your retribution. You want to use that illegitimate child one last time, huh?"

Ruoxi was scared. "Mother... what... what do you mean?"

"Nothing. That's what I mean." Lin Lihua took out a bottle from the pocket of her jacket. "This is the poison I gave you. You will have the same fate as me - lose your child and never give birth."

Ruoxi was shocked. She had found out?

"However, I'm not that ruthless. I'll give you a chance to tell me something. Just so you know, I have the antidote."

Although Ruoxi was weak now, she knew what this meant. Lin Lihua had found out the truth and was exorting the details out of her. She didn't want to... but she couldn't lose her baby!

As any desperate mother, she looked up helplessly. "What?"

Lin Lihua didn't feel an ounce of pity looking at her in this state. "You are too young to have done all those things you did. Ruoxi, who are you working for?"

Ruoxi didn't have time to think. This was an emergency. "My uncle! He taught me to be rude if an average family wants to adopt me and if it's a rich family, I should be very polite and earn their pity."

___

The truth was that as soon as Ruoxi's parents died, her uncle didn't truly like her.

He would make her do chores despite her age simply because he didn't want 'useless people' in his house.

Then one day he had a heartless idea. His own business was not thriving. He wanted Ruoxi to be adopted by a rich family so he would gain more money. So he sent her to the orphanage.

"Ruoxi, you must remember that if the people who want to adopt you are wearing simple clothes, they are not rich. Don't bother being polite with them. Make them hate you.

If they are wearing expensive clothes and accessories like those rich people you see on the television, only then can you be polite. Show them how obedient you are." He had said this severally.

"If a rich family adopts you, you will become an admirable girl and everyone will worship you."

"If you get adopted by a poor family or fail to get adopted, I will strangle you with my own hands."

At the time, she shivered and nodded her head. "Yes uncle."

...

For a while, everyone thought her background story was too pitiful but once she scolded a woman for being 'too poor to raise her', the teachers in the orphanage disliked her. That was where their dislike came from.

With time, they started using her as an example and telling the other kids that they should not be rude children like Ruoxi. Soon, the kids disliked and evaded her too. She had no one to play with.

...

She had heard about Lin Lihua from the older children in the orphanage. From their description, Lin Lihua had to be extremely rich and elegant.

The first time they met, Ruoxi was so lonely that she was sitting in a corner, crying by herself.

Lin Lihua had approached her carefully to give her a candy. "Little girl, why are you crying? Did someone bully you?"

The girl rubbed her eyes with her fists. "I don't have a mommy and everyone hates me so much. If my mommy didn't die, people wouldn't have to hate me."

At that point, she was only telling the truth. Obviously, her uncle wouldn't be so mean to her if her parents were still alive.

But, coincidentally, it worked the exact kind of charm that her uncle wanted. Lin Lihua's heart ached for her. It was not sure what happened but all she knew was that the next time the other kids saw her, they bullied her for putting on an act before Lin Lihua.

Until she was adopted by Lin Lihua, until she was brought home to the Blanc family and introduced as Katy's elder cousin, she couldn't believe what was happening.

In fact, she was so happy in the Blanc family that she forgot all about that evil man.

However, how could that man forget about her?

He went to find her in school.

"How is your new home?" He asked as though he cared.

"Very good. Mommy and daddy love me very much."

The uncle sneered. "Little b*tch, have you forgotten your roots?"

That day, he forced her to give him all the money she had access to.

Since they were young, the nannies would be the ones to take care of all their monetary needs. That day, she went to the mall with her uncle's instructions and bought a load of clothes, none of which she ever wore because she snuck them away to give to her uncle. He would sell them and get the money.

"If you ever tell a word of this to your parents, you can forget about living. Not only that, I will throw away your parents' ashes."

Which time had she ever truly been peaceful? She was afraid of buying her own things because she would give them away anyway. She could only fight over Katy's.

When she was a little older, she asked to be allowed to handle her own allowances. As indulging as Lin Lihua could be, she gave her everything she needed and still gave her money whenever she asked for some.

But at one point, Lin Lihua called her out for spending too much.

Afraid that her secret would be discovered, she explained the situation to her uncle.

She thought the man would understand. Little did she know...