Chapter 1: Death
“Doctor Mu, your younger brother is causing a scene again in the inpatient ward. Please go over immediately!” The young nurse rushed into Mu Yao’s office in a panic, but when she met the cold gaze of the woman in the white coat, she instantly fell silent.
Mu Yao stood up. As she passed the mirror by the sink near the door, she gave it a brief glance.
Not yet forty, yet her hair was already streaked with gray. Paired with her expressionless face, even her beauty felt distant and hard to approach.
Her steps were quick. In just a few strides, she reached the ward she had arranged for her biological younger brother, Mu Jiabao. Before she even opened the door, she heard his familiar roar:
“I don’t want to die! Mom, tell Second Sister to save me. I really don’t want to die!”
“Don’t be afraid, son. Mom will go find your sister in a moment. So what if that wretched girl became a big doctor? She still carries the Mu surname. If she refuses to care about you, I’ll make a huge scene in this hospital and see if she can still stay here with any dignity!”
Their mother, Yao Chunhua, comforted her son with concern, but when mentioning her second daughter Mu Yao, her tone turned into one of bitter hatred, as if facing an irreconcilable enemy.
Mu Yao’s hand froze on the doorknob, then slowly dropped. The nurse beside her had heard everything clearly, lowered her head awkwardly, and retreated toward the nurse station, secretly scoffing.
This kind of farce played out every few days. The entire capital hospital knew that the famous “Iceberg Doctor Mu” was not on good terms with her family.
It was said that when Doctor Mu was young, she had been given away to her second uncle’s family. After her uncle was promoted in the military and moved to the capital, he took his whole family with him, leaving her behind in the countryside.
Tsk. So what if Doctor Mu was the most renowned traditional Chinese medicine practitioner in the capital hospital? She had never even experienced family warmth. Truly pitiful.
“Mom, if Second Sister refuses to treat me, could it be because she knows we helped Cousin steal what belonged to her…”
“Shut up! What did I tell you back then? This matter must stay buried in your stomach forever. Even if you die, you must not speak of it, or our whole family will be finished!”
Yao Chunhua, who never spoke harshly to her precious son, rarely raised her voice and cut him off.
Soon, she put on a gentle expression again, soothing her son who had been tortured into a ghastly state by illness, and changed the subject:
“Xu Ziheng is so outstanding. If he were to choose, he’d choose Mu Nan. How could it possibly be your second sister, that wretched girl? Besides, look how sweet their marriage is. They already have two children. He forgot about your second sister ages ago.”
On Mu Yao’s perpetually cold face, her brows furrowed slightly.
She felt that what her brother had almost revealed wasn’t about Xu Ziheng. Their mother had deliberately changed the topic.
But aside from Xu Ziheng, what else could they have secretly helped Mu Nan take from her?
Xu Ziheng had been Mu Yao’s boyfriend.
They were university classmates and had dated for a year. Both were busy with their studies, often apart, and had never even kissed.
Their feelings weren’t particularly intense, but still far better than a loveless arranged marriage.
Yet after meeting each other’s parents, Mu Yao caught Mu Nan and Xu Ziheng in bed together.
It had been her wedding, but the bride became Mu Nan.
“Mom, then why did Second Sister, who always obeyed us, suddenly change her attitude this time and refuse to treat me? Could it be that she found out we deliberately caused Ling Qianjue’s death to stop him from marrying her?”
Driven mad by his terminal illness, Mu Jiabao blurted out one forbidden secret after another, too quickly for Yao Chunhua to stop him.
If Mu Yao had still been calm before, now a trace of pain flashed through her eyes.
Her cold hand pressed against her chest. With each heartbeat came tearing pain and overwhelming regret.
After Xu Ziheng was taken from her, her teacher introduced her to Ling Qianjue, hoping to bring them together.
At that time, having just been hurt, she didn’t trust men at all and coldly rejected him the very day they met.
But he had smiled lazily, resting his chin on one hand, insisting they would become each other’s only one and grow old together in happiness.
Ignoring her indifference, he pursued her persistently. With his overbearing warmth, he let her experience a sense of family she had never known, making her believe she was needed—not something to be discarded at will.
Though she had built an icy fortress around her heart, scarred by the wounds inflicted by her own family…
Her longing for family was stronger than anyone else’s.
Because she had never had it, she yearned for it even more.
Just as she began to waver and consider accepting him, what she heard instead was news of his death.
And after he was gone, she rejected all suitors and remained single for the rest of her life.
Only now did she learn that Ling Qianjue hadn’t died from mission injuries—he had been murdered by her so-called family!
Rage and guilt surged in her chest. She could no longer hold back. She pushed open the door and demanded:
“How did Ling Qianjue die?”
Yao Chunhua was startled.
Mu Jiabao knew he had let something slip, but he had always been used to acting arrogantly before Mu Yao. Without thinking, he cursed:
“Who told you to be so greedy, wanting to have a child with Ling Qianjue? Did you even consider whether that sickly man could function? And you even wanted to ruin Big Brother Xu’s future! If Big Brother Xu were finished, our Mu family would be done too! Luckily Cousin acted decisively and tampered with his medicine. Anyway, a sickly man like him is just a waste of food!”
Mu Nan—again, it was her!
This woman had destroyed Mu Yao’s hope for family and killed the only person who had ever given her warmth.
She truly hated her!
Mu Yao trembled with rage, her voice icy: “You murderers. I will apply to the hospital right now to terminate Mu Jiabao’s treatment. From this moment on, I sever all ties with you. We will never have anything to do with each other again!”
“What did you say? You ungrateful wretch! That’s your own brother, and you dare say something so heartless? I should have drowned you in a water vat back then!”
Yao Chunhua went mad with fury and rushed forward, shoving Mu Yao hard.
Bang!
The back of Mu Yao’s head slammed heavily into the metal crank of the hospital bed, and she collapsed limply to the ground.
Yet Yao Chunhua didn’t notice anything wrong. She climbed on top of her, slapping her while cursing, “Tell me—are you going to treat your brother or not? Don’t play dead! If you don’t come up with the money for his treatment today, I’ll beat you to death!”
Only when Yao Chunhua’s hands began to ache from hitting did she realize Mu Yao wasn’t responding.
That was when she saw her second daughter lying in a pool of blood, already unconscious.
Before the emergency doctors could arrive, Mu Yao—her skull shattered at the back—breathed her last.
Amid the chaos, no one noticed that the jade pendant on Mu Yao’s chest, soaked in crimson blood, flashed with a streak of white light.
Banxia Novel, more happiness
