nashuaworldcup Chapter 99 The sky is really about to collapse!
Chapter 99 The sky is really about to collapse!
"I have placed a Heart-Eating Curse on you. From today onward, every midnight, you will experience the same pain that Shen Jiao felt when she died of cardiac arrest. This pain will last for a full hour, and no painkillers or treatment will be effective."
"You will live, consciously experiencing this pain, until the day you die. This is what you owe Shen Jiao, what you owe Jiang Xinlan, and you must repay it little by little, slowly."
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhang Guilan suddenly let out an extremely shrill scream.
She clutched her chest and collapsed to the ground, her body curled up in a ball, convulsing violently. Her face instantly turned bluish-purple, her lips turned purple, and her eyes widened as if an invisible hand had gripped her heart, making it impossible for her to breathe.
"Ah! It hurts! Help! My heart! It hurts so much!" She rolled on the ground, crying and screaming, scratching her chest, leaving bloody welts.
"I was wrong! I was really wrong! Please, please break the curse! I'll never do it again! Please!"
Shen Yu ignored her, helped the ice-cold Jiang Xinlan up, and turned to leave the room.
The moment the door closed, the agonizing screams from inside continued to echo, but they no longer elicited any sympathy from anyone.
Stepping out of the nursing home, the afternoon sun was so bright it was blinding, yet Jiang Xinlan felt icy cold all over, as if she had fallen into an ancient ice cellar. Leaning against Shen Yu's chest, her eyes were vacant, her mind a complete blank.
A life switched at birth, a mother who died tragically, twenty-six years of lies, and all those years of inexplicable malice and harassment... everything was connected, forming an airtight net that tightly wrapped around her, making it hard for her to breathe.
She never imagined that her life would turn out to be such an absurd and cruel deception.
Shen Yu gently pulled her closer, wrapping his coat around her cold body, resting his chin on the top of her head, his voice so tender it could melt water:
"Don't be afraid, Xinlan, it's all over now. With me here, no one can hurt you anymore."
"I know you're feeling terrible, shocked, and angry right now. It's okay, you don't have to force yourself to feel better right away. You can cry, you can make a scene, you can vent, I'll be there for you."
"No one can force you to make any decisions. I'll help you decide how you want to deal with Liu Qingxuan, Liu Wanhua, and Jiang Manli. If you want to stay in Beijing, I'll go with you; if you want to go back to Jiangcheng, we'll leave now. It's all up to you."
Jiang Xinlan didn't say anything, but just hugged Shen Yu's waist tightly, buried her face in his chest, and silently shed tears.
For two days after returning from the nursing home, Jiang Xinlan was listless.
He was in low spirits, barely ate, and looked preoccupied.
Shen Yu didn't pressure her or say much. He just silently stayed with her. When she sat lost in thought, he would sit beside her and meditate. When she couldn't sleep at night, he would hold her and gently pat her back to soothe her.
Their lives are peaceful and filled with warmth.
Meanwhile, undercurrents were swirling within the Jiang family's old residence.
That afternoon, Jiang Manli, carrying her newly purchased limited-edition Hermes bag, hummed a tune as she walked into the old house. She had originally planned to ask Jiang Zhenbang for pocket money and then coax him into buying her the Porsche 911 sports car she had been eyeing for so long.
As soon as I reached the door of the study on the second floor, I heard hushed voices coming from inside.
"President Jiang, everything has been investigated." A man's voice said respectfully, "Jiang Xinlan is 26 years old this year, from Jiangcheng, and is currently an actress. She is Shen Yu's fiancée, and the two have twins, a boy and a girl, who are six years old this year."
Jiang Manli stopped abruptly, her bag falling to the carpet with a thud. Without bothering to pick it up, she pressed herself against the door crack, holding her breath, her heart pounding as if it would explode.
"What about her family situation?" Jiang Zhenbang's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible urgency.
"Her adoptive parents are Jiang Jianping and Su Hui, both ordinary retired workers who used to work at the Jiangcheng Textile Factory. Jiang Xinlan is their only daughter, who excelled academically from a young age and was successfully admitted to the best university in Jiangcheng..."
The man continued his report, "Later, during her university years, she became pregnant with Shen Yu's child... After disappearing for six years, Shen Yu, who suddenly returned, was almost completely devoted to her. This time, she came to Beijing to deal with the issue of 'The Wind Rises in Chang'an' being blocked from review."
"That's all?" Jiang Zhenbang's voice deepened, clearly dissatisfied with the result.
"Where is her birth certificate? What about her birth records? Have you been able to find out which hospital she was born in?"
"We haven't found that yet," the man said somewhat apologetically.
"Her birth certificate was replaced in her hometown of Jiangcheng, and there is no original hospital record. Jiang Jianping and Su Hui did work in Beijing back then, but no one knows exactly which hospital gave birth to her."
"Continue the investigation!" Jiang Zhenbang slammed his hand on the table, his voice filled with unwavering determination.
"Search every inch of the place! Find out exactly which hospital she was born in 26 years ago! Find out everyone who worked in Beijing around the same time as Jiang Jianping and Su Hui! I need to know who her biological parents are!"
"Yes! I'll send more people right away and make sure we find out the truth as soon as possible!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Manli felt a chill run through her body, as if her blood had instantly frozen. She staggered back a few steps, her back slamming heavily against the cold wall, nearly falling down the stairs.
How could this happen?!
Jiang Zhenbang is actually investigating Jiang Xinlan! And he's investigating her in such detail! He's even checking her birth certificate and the hospital where she was born!
Why would he investigate these things? It must be because he saw Jiang Xinlan at the banquet and suspected her because she looked like Shen Jiao!
If we let him continue investigating, he'll eventually find out about what happened at the hospital back then, and he'll eventually discover that she and Jiang Xinlan were born on the same day!
When that happens, the whole baby-swapping thing will be exposed! She'll no longer be the eldest daughter of the Jiang family! She'll be kicked out of the Jiang family, left with nothing, and might even go to jail for what happened back then!
Jiang Manli was so frightened that she didn't even bother to pick up her bag that had fallen to the ground. She turned around and stumbled towards Liu Wanhua's yard.
"Mom! Mom! Something terrible has happened!" She pushed open Liu Wanhua's bedroom door abruptly, her voice trembling with sobs, her whole body shaking like a leaf, her face completely pale.
Liu Wanhua was applying a face mask and serum in front of the mirror when she saw her daughter's dejected appearance. She frowned and said impatiently:
"What's the panic? Is the sky falling? What kind of behavior is this, yelling and screaming like that! You have no manners whatsoever!"
"The sky is really falling!" Jiang Manli threw herself into Liu Wanhua's arms and burst into tears.
"Dad is investigating Jiang Xinlan! He's had people investigate everything about her from childhood to adulthood! Now he wants to check her birth certificate and find out which hospital she was born in!"
"What?!" The serum bottle in Liu Wanhua's hand clattered onto the dressing table, spilling liquid all over the table. She abruptly ripped off the face mask, her face instantly turning deathly pale, even her lips trembling.
She never expected that Jiang Zhenbang would care so much about Jiang Xinlan! He even investigated to this extent!
That one glance at the banquet has made him so obsessed!