She knew that her words were hurtful, but she didn't stop. "You knew clearly that Yun Feiwen was after my life... but not only did you not try to stop him, you also blamed me for it. With this kind of sore spot between us, how can we continue to pretentiously call each other a loving pair of mother and daughter?"

Her words sliced through Madam Yun's heart, but they were true. There was nothing she could say to refute it. Even if Yun Feiwen was her biological child and Yun Xuan wasn't, it was still wrong of her. In fact, this was the kind of nauseating bias that Yun Xuan was referring to.

"Xuanxuan..." she gulped.

Yun Xuan stood up. "I hope we can end this amicably. If there is anything I can do for us to be evened out, please let me know."

"The only thing that can even our pur relationship if remaining filial forever. Since you insist on leaving then... we will never be even." The middle aged woman said through her gritted teeth.

"We will." Someone interrupted the conversation. In the next second, Yun Xuan saw the man she had not seen for quite a while... Yun Shan, her eldest brother.

He looked thinner than he was the last time they saw; with a pale complexion and it was obvious that his skin had not got to see the sun for a while. Even so, he still looked and sounded authoritative as he spoke, his words addressed to both her and Madam Yun.

"The Yun family is lacking. We could not protect her well enough. Not only did she suffer in the outside world, she was made to suffer by us as well."

"You..." Yun Xuan was surprised.

The man closed in the distance between them and stood right in front of Yun Xuan, his eyes holding a significant amount of guilt and remorse.

"I heard everything. I thought my brother had been wronged. I didn't expected..." his gaze swept over his mother. "Turns out it was I who was blind. He wronged you and in the process, so did we.

Xuanxuan, we did not protect you well enough, but you abandoned the family too, so we are even. The Yun family does not owe you and neither do you owe us. If you find it best to leave, no one will object."

Yun Xuan didn't know what to say.

He sent her off too easily...

Should she be happy or sad?

In the end, she rushed over and hugged him. "Thank you brother."

Yun Shan's lips twitched. What brother? He had been stripped of that title. His brother had been murdered, his body rotting somewhere while his sister just cut ties with the family. How was he still a brother?

Luckily he had overheard this conversation and found out the truth before doing something rash. He was intending to investigate and kill whoever it was that murdered his brother and it wouldn't matter but if he plotted against Yun Xuan before, there was a chance that he did the same thing for someone else and merely paid for it. He would have to find out everything there was to know.

Wait, now that he thought about it, the Yun family had been wiped out almost completely.

First it was their father, then Yun Jifeng who went missing, then Yun Feiwen and now Yun Xuan.

Was this retribution for all the evil deeds their father committed?

At the gate, Yun Xuan looked back at the huge mansion. She would not come back to this place....

This was the place that held most of her childhood memories.

Taking a last glance, she walked out the gate, never to return.

...

In the Lin residence, Xia Rou was quick to know what had happened because Yun Xuan had previously told her about this intention. When she heard that Yun Xuan had gone over to the Yun mansion, she could guess the reason.

She snuck a glance at Yun Xuan who was playing with her baby right after returning. If she could adopt her, how nice that would be...

It was just that it would be quite strange to suddenly adopt a woman who was almost thirty and was already a mother.

Also, would she become the second miss or third miss?

If she suddenly took over Wan Jia's position as the second miss, Wan Jia might be understanding but it might still cause awkwardness between them.

Besides, that Old man Lin Zhou didn't seem to like other children that much.

It had taken him quite some time to accept Wan Jia who was her own biological daughter. If she brought in another daughter, she couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't get angry.

"Aunty, is anything wrong? Yun Xuan's voice brought her back to reality. She had been staring over at her for quite a long time.

Xia Rou flashed a smile over without saying a word.

Never mind. Their current relationship was perfect too. She was no different from a godmother.

___

After all that had happened, Yun Xuan was now truly free.

She had expected to feel sad about it but she wasn't. On the contrary, she felt happy and finally at peace.

Although she was tired from using up her mental energy all day, Yun Xuan made a call to Lin Ye's butler to remind him to make sure Lin Ye took his medicine.

Lin Ye wasn't a child who couldn't do such basic things without being reminded; she simply found pleasure in taking care of every single detail about him.

Such was life. She had lost one family and gained another... no, two of them. After all Xia Rou treated her like she would treat her own daughter. This time, Yun Xuan strived to keep it intact.

After rattling on instructions and chatting with Lin Ye about basically nothing, she threw her phone onto the nightstand and slumped back to bed, falling into a deep slumber as soon as she shut her eyes.

...

Edited by Essy