Three years ago, Tang Moyu and Tang Beixuan's father passed away from his chronic illness and Tang Moyu had resisted the urge to show herself to her family even though she was back from abroad. She was forced to watch from afar as the remains of their father were buried in their family mausoleum.
Her younger brother argued that she shouldn't blame herself and take the guilt from it. She knew that she'd greatly disappointed her parents after her nasty fall out with Feng Tianhua, but she had foolishly believed that they would be willing to help her after that.
She joined their other relatives for an afternoon tea and remained silent beside Tang Beixuan who'd been glancing at her nervously. She bet as hell that he was worried about their mother chastising her over the commotion she had earlier with Zhelan.
Tang Moyu tried her best to ignore their relatives probing questions about her personal life and affairs and didn't give them a chance to bully her. The cup in her hand felt delicate and fragile that it felt like it would snap into two if she held onto it too tightly as she continued to be bombarded with questions.
The slim white gold watch on her wrist said that she only had one hour left before she could fetch her children and how long she's been wasting time here instead of working on the pile of paperwork waiting for her attention back at her office and at home.
From the corner of her eye, she saw her mother walking towards her with an annoyed expression. She must have heard of what transpired earlier and came here to remind Tang Moyu how she'd failed to meet her expectations again.
Tang Moyu excused herself and didn't want to stay any longer. She'd already heard enough and didn't want to argue with anyone, especially her mother.
However, that couldn't be said about Zhang Wuying who'd chosen to interrogate her once she'd bid her goodbye, ready to leave the Tang Estate to pick up her children from Qin Jiran's place.
"Mother." Tang Moyu greeted her with a cold tone, not that Zhang Wuying minded. After all, wasn't she the reason why Tang Moyu became like this in the first place?
"So you still remember you have a mother? I thought you only considered me when it's convenient to you." Zhang Wuying bit back.
Tang Beixuan was the one to flinch at their mother's words to his elder sister. He wanted to say something but the look Tang Moyu threw at him commanded him to keep his words to himself.
What was there to say anyway? Zhang Wuying had already said her piece five years ago when she kicked her second eldest daughter out of the estate, refusing to allow Tang Moyu to talk to Elder Tang and her husband.
"God above gave you beauty and intellect, yet you let a slut with a golden twat get the best of you? You could have used those qualities to ensnare Feng Tianhua but nooooo, you tried to undermine him and cast a shadow on your soon to be husband instead."
For Zhang Wuying, it was Tang Moyu's fault that Feng Tianhua turned his attention and drove him to Xing Yiyue, snatching the title 'Madam Feng' right under her nose. It hurt Tang Moyu to know that her worth in her mother's eyes could only be measured by her husband's standing and reputation within the business and social circle.
"I'm terribly sorry, Mother. It was so thoughtless of me. I was busy and was caught up with work." Tang Moyu replied, keeping her cold mask in place.
"Well, can't say I wasn't disappointed, but I thought you knew better. Why can't you be like Wan Wan," Zhang Wuying responded.
"Mom…" Again, Tang Beixuan wanted to step up and protect his favorite sister, but he knew Moyu wouldn't want to hear any of it. He was annoyed that their mother kept comparing his two sisters, given that they were exact opposites of each other.
Tang Moyu clenched her fists on her side but her face didn't show any indication that she was affected by her mother's words. Being compared to Tang Wanyu, their eldest sister who was now married to one of the wealthiest families at Shenzhen wasn't new to her.
"Beixuan." Her stern voice reminded him it wasn't worth it. Their mother wouldn't easily let her go unscathed today.
"You are leaving already? You haven't attended any house parties we've hosted for years and now you are running away again?" Running away again like a coward that you are. This was her underlying insult to her own daughter.
When her daughter didn't say anything in return, Zhang Wuying smirked arrogantly. This daughter of hers didn't know her rightful place, and she needed to remind Moyu that she was nothing.
"It was one thing to mess up your arrangement with Feng Tianhua, but to actually get pregnant with a bastard from another man?" She shook her head dramatically and sighed. "It was alright to lose Feng Tianhua. And if you haven't had your bastard child before, you could have taken advantage of President Yun."
Tang Beixuan wanted to vomit blood right then. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from their own mother. Had she'd always been like this to his Sister Moyu before? To actually dare to sell her daughter like a common whore to prominent and wealthy men, was this his sisters' fate from the start?
"So?" Finally Moyu reacted from the insults when her children were mentioned. Her mother might have not found out that she gave birth to a pair of twins.
"It's not too late for you, Moyu. You have to take advantage of what you have. How old are you this year? Twenty nine, turning thirty?" Zhang Wuying let out a knowing smile. Women were sensitive about their ages and beauty after all.
"Twenty nine is hardly ancient, Mother." Tang Moyu wasn't surprised anymore.
"Compared to those beautiful twenty-three year old beauties, you're already a fossil, Moyu."
Tang Moyu suddenly felt like it was hard to breathe. She glanced at her younger brother and felt her eyes stung with tears but she refused to shed tears in front of their mother.
"I have to go, Mother. There's still work for me to do if we want to save Tang Enterprise. You wouldn't be able to keep up with your lavish lifestyle if I fail, and you wouldn't like that, right?"
As soon as the smile on Zhang Wuying's face vanished, Tang Moyu realized that she'd got the upper hand this time. She wouldn't let her mother get under her skin anymore.
No. Not anymore. From time to time, Zhang Wuying had reminded her again and again why she should treat her twins better and should strive to become a better mother compared to her own.
She left the Tang Estate in a hurry, asking the family driver to drop her back at Tang Enterprise to get her own car. She ignored how her younger brother looked at her pleadingly to wait for him, but she didn't. She just didn't want to be there any longer.
Leaving the Tang Enterprise with her car, she decided that it wouldn't hurt to fetch her twins earlier than promised.
'Love? Do you really believe in such a thing, Moyu? I'm only trying to help you face reality. Why won't you listen to me?'
'Feng Tianhua betrayed you? Weren't you the one who became full of yourself and dared to outsmart him?'
'You are still young and beautiful. Why don't you just abort that bastard and start anew? No man would be stupid enough to take in and raise a bastard that isn't his own.'
Her mother's words cut deep inside of her. Maybe it had something to do with how her life seemed to fuck itself, sending her to hell, only to be revived to suffer the same thing over and over again.
Tang Moyu didn't want to be reminded of how much of a failure she was. Five years ago, when she was blacklisted by Feng Tianhua, she had no one to call or ask for help from except for Li Meili. She had no other friends to rely on.
If only she wasn't socially awkward and an introvert, forbidding her to easily make friends with random people. She also knew she hadn't been the nicest person around, but she hadn't forgotten to treat everyone with the respect they deserved.
All of the sudden, Tang Moyu pulled over her car at a stop on the side of the highway as she felt an overwhelming sadness consuming her. Her hands were shaking as she cradled her head and screamed at the top of her lungs, allowing her tears to flood.
If only it was loud enough to drown the nasty, sharp words her mother tried to ingrain to her person, to remind everyone that she wasn't an invincible cold empress that could make miracles.
Ever since she arrived at Shenzhen, no one aside from Li Meili and Cheng Ning had asked her if she was alright and how she was faring for the past five years of her life. She continued to cry, chuckling to herself as the rain started to pour. Tang Moyu wasn't sure if heaven was crying with her or it was adding salt to her aching wounds.
Sniffing, she pulled out clean napkins from her compartment and dried her tears. It wouldn't be good if her twins noticed that she was crying, making them worry about her.
Why was she crying anyway? It wasn't like these tears would do her any good. She'd already shed enough tears when Feng Tianhua betrayed her and her family turned their back on her.
For her mother, she was nothing but another artwork, destined to become a trophy wife, not a businesswoman who would outshine her own husband. She was trained to become an eye candy, who should cling onto her husband, taking advantage of her own charms.
Zhang Wuying might be right. Yun Zhen was perfect husband material. He was from a good family and wasn't a nouveau riche. To top it off, he was the most sought bachelor right now.
His status was above Feng Tianhua and his station and accomplishments were far better than Tang Moyu's ex-fiance. The fact that Yun Zhen was good looking was a bonus, but alas, Tang Moyu wasn't interested in getting a perfect husband.
Besides, she didn't want to be defined and acknowledged by everyone because she was someone's wife. Zhang Wuying had nitpicked every one of her flaws since she was younger, always comparing her to her elder sister whom she hadn't seen and talked to since she got married.
Not fit enough, not beautiful enough, not sociable enough. For her own mother, Tang Moyu would never be enough. Zhang Wuying always looked at her as if she'd seen something distasteful.
Tang Moyu dried her tears and checked her reflection in the mirror, making sure her eyes weren't bloodshot before she drove towards Qin Jiran's apartment. She wasn't born out of love. She was born because of the need of an heir.
Her eyes then landed on the silver band on her ring finger.
No. This wasn't the same expensive engagement ring Feng Tianhua had given her. She sold that piece at a high price before she left Shenzhen. She wore this ring to remind herself of what she had become when she put too much trust in a man and to remind her of her mistakes.
True, there was no love between them but her pride was hurt. She'd expected Feng Tianhua to be rational, but he proved to her that he was like the rest. Never again would she suffer such humiliation.
This wasn't the right time to feel bad for herself. She had a company to save and two sweet little buns waiting for her return.
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