121. A Soft Heart That Indulges Without End (Third Update)

Thud—

Before anyone realized what had happened, Ran Siya was struck hard by a slap from Old Master Mu. She collapsed onto the coffee table in the middle of the room, unable to pull herself up.

The old man was trembling with rage, his face a ghostly, sickly gray. He tried to speak, but his raised hand only shook, and not a single word could escape his lips. A moment later, he sank heavily back into the sofa.

"Grandfather!" The Mu siblings rushed toward him at once. Mu Qingcheng sat by his side, gently rubbing his back to soothe him. He was an elderly man, after all, and could ill afford such a shock.

Fortunately, Steward Ji was close at hand. He immediately signaled the servants to bring water and medication, which they fed to the old man. After a short while, his breathing steadied, and some color returned to his face.

Not far away, Ran Siya lay slumped in a heap against the coffee table. She clutched her swollen, burning cheek, not daring to look up, her body wracked with tremors as she wept. She could not comprehend how her clandestine affair with Sun Minda had been exposed under such circumstances.

*How could this happen? How is it possible?*

Even now, Ran Siya refused to believe the evidence laid out before her. *Someone must be framing me! It has to be!*

Once her heart settled slightly, realization dawned on her: this was all a trap set by that wretch, Mu Qingcheng. She never imagined that the elaborate scheme she had meticulously crafted would end up burying her instead.

While the Mu brothers remained focused on their grandfather’s health, Ran Siya was still desperately searching for a way to escape and deflect blame.

When Old Master Mu finally regained his composure, he pushed the others aside and glared at Ran Siya, who was still kneeling on the floor. "Tell me," he said, his voice ice-cold, "what exactly is going on between you and that good-for-nothing from the Sun family?"

"I..." Ran Siya sobbed uncontrollably. Confronted with bank records that could not be forged, a sudden thought sparked in her mind. "I don't know him, Grandfather! I only met him at a school gathering. You know we attend the same university; it’s unavoidable that we cross paths. But I’m not close to him at all, I swear! It must have been that someone stole my bank card. It was him—he’s the one who did all of this! It wasn't me, it really wasn't me! It has nothing to do with me, please, you have to believe me, Grandfather!"

Scrambling forward, she crawled to the old man’s feet and clutched his trousers, weeping with a pathetic desperation.

Mu Qingcheng rose immediately and moved to the other side of the room. The four young masters stood by in stony silence, their expressions unreadable. They had long been aware of Ran Siya’s reputation outside the family. Only Old Master Mu had remained willfully blind, favoring this ungrateful girl with his misplaced affection.

Mu Qingcheng’s expression grew even more detached; the last trace of warmth on her cold face vanished entirely. Watching the old man’s resolve begin to soften, she let out a cold, internal laugh. *Ha! If you had shown even half this much compassion toward my mother back then, perhaps... everything would have been different.*

As she slowly averted her gaze from the two of them, she suddenly felt a warmth on her shoulder. Mu Qingcheng turned to see Mu Qing and Mu Jingchi standing beside her. Together with Mu Zongxing and the rarely seen Mu Yao, they were all looking at her. Though they said nothing, their expressions held a clear sense of empathy and understanding.

*This is...* Mu Qingcheng froze, her eyes stinging with a sudden, hot moisture.

Just then, a side door in the hall swung open. A tall, imposing man stepped out, one hand tucked into his pocket, and began to walk toward them with calm, measured strides.