“Xuanxuan, listen to me, the child is healthy. Let’s keep him. He’s our child,” Di Xihuang said, fearing she would reject the child. “Xuanxuan, even if I have faults, the child is innocent.”
But Ou Xueman remained in a daze, shocked and unable to accept the misfortune.
Di Xihuang painfully closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with blood vessels, as if weeping blood.
“Xuanxuan, this child…” he spoke slowly, each word containing his pain. “Let’s have this child. Let him accompany me. As long as you can give birth to this child, I… I’m willing to… divorce.”
When “divorce” escaped his lips, only his heart felt the pain and reluctance.
“Divorce?” Ou Xueman was stunned. Wasn’t this what he had been desperately trying to avoid?
Touching her lower abdomen, could this child be more important than his billions in wealth? Or was this another of his schemes?
Suddenly, the door was pushed open with great force, revealing the visitor’s aggressive approach.
“Di Xihuang, what exactly are you doing? Your good friends, your brothers have all come to bully me, yet you still don’t care and are here coaxing this wretched woman.”
Di Ying’s gloomy face seemed to have aged overnight, each wrinkle a mark of time. Her cloudy eyes appeared lifeless, as if the murkiness affected her vision.
Di Xihuang frowned, and in that moment, Ou Xueman saw hatred in his eyes—hatred towards Di Ying.
“You’d better behave yourself. I’ll arrange things my way later,” he coldly ordered Di Ying to leave.
Di Ying gritted her teeth, powerless against him, and vented her anger on Ou Xueman beside her. “It’s all because of this wretched woman. Nothing good ever happens when you appear.”
Di Ying tried to drag Ou Xueman off the bed, but Di Xihuang intervened and forcefully pushed her to the ground.
Staring in shock at Di Xihuang, she realized that her only child had grown tall and imposing, his eyes now filled with hatred for her.
“You… are you crazy? I… I am your mother,” Di Ying panicked, speaking incoherently, even revealing a secret she had guarded, which surprised Tian Muxiang, who had just arrived.
“Hahaha,” Ou Xueman coldly laughed. “Di Ying, so this is your day of reckoning. Do you know what karma is? Evil deeds lead to self-destruction.”
She got out of bed and approached Di Ying, accusingly saying, “Haven’t you ever felt remorse? In the quiet of the night, didn’t you hear your sister demanding compensation? Didn’t you hear your deceased nephew crying? Didn’t you hear my uncle demanding your life? You heartless woman, who destroyed one happy family after another, and now you dare to blame others for seeking justice.”
Panic and fear trembled in her dull eyes. “Shut up, shut up!” She covered her ears and screamed.
“And you’ll end up in prison,” Ou Xueman shouted back fiercely.
“No.”
Di Ying went mad, grabbing a fruit knife from the table and taking Ou Xueman hostage. “Even if I die, I won’t go to prison. But if I die, I’ll take you down with me.”
As the knife’s cold light was about to strike, Di Xihuang’s heart stopped, “Stop!”
In that critical moment, Ou Xueman seized Di Ying’s hand around her neck, quickly turned, and executed an over-the-shoulder throw that slammed Di Ying to the ground.
Di Xihuang rushed forward, embracing Ou Xueman tightly as if trying to merge with her. “I want nothing; I’ll give up everything, as long as you’re safe!”
In his arms, she felt his trembling, fear, and love—something no acting could replicate.
Ou Xueman sighed deeply. Alright, let me be foolish one more time. Even if it’s another deception, even if all I get are wounds.
She reached back to hug him, softly comforting him, “Huang.”
Her soft call made him freeze, not daring to move, as if afraid it was an illusion that would disappear.
Even in their previous intimacy, she had never called him like this.
“What did you call me?” Di Xihuang asked, both expectant and afraid.
Ou Xueman cupped his extraordinarily handsome face and softly whispered, “Huang, I love you.”
In that moment, Di Xihuang felt like he owned the entire world, cheerfully smiling like a child.
But Ou Xueman’s next words filled him with dread, “So, Huang, let’s get a divorce.”
All the brilliance vanished, replaced by deep darkness and coldness. He clutched the woman before him, unable to comprehend why she, who had just professed her love, now calmly wanted a divorce.
“Xuan…”
He longed to ask why, but her lips silenced him.
The lingering kiss intoxicated him but couldn’t calm his unease. Seeing her smile, he could no longer voice his questions.
“Huang, do you love me?” she asked with a careful smile, as if afraid.
“I love you, to the point of heartache,” he replied, touching his heart.
“Then marry me,” her voice trembled slightly, “Marry me – Ou Xueman, not Tong Yixuan, because the real Tong Yixuan died at six. I’m just her replacement.”
“Okay,” Di Xihuang responded without hesitation, “No matter who you are, I love only you.”
However, while they were lost in their declarations, they forgot the danger nearby. The cold light rose again, spreading murderous intent.
After a miserable cry, the person lying in a pool of blood finally spoke, “Child, I’m sorry. I don’t deserve… to be your mother.” This woman, full of guilt, love, and hatred, ultimately gave her child another chance at life with her own death, completing her tragic existence.
Tian Muxiang, for intentional murder, spent her life behind bars. Tong Yifeng disappeared before Ou Xueman and Di Xihuang’s wedding and reappeared three years later as Grace’s husband. Tong Yitian was imprisoned for embezzlement. Tong Baifu, in a coma for nearly eight years, passed away the same day Di Ying died. Liu Qiusi disappeared and was later found dead from a drug overdose.
——I——am——the——dividing——line——
Another eight years later, in a quiet manor, an extremely handsome man awkwardly hummed off-key, trying to coax his twin children to sleep. Despite being past their bedtime, the twins stared wide-eyed at him.
“When are you two going to sleep?” he said in a stern tone. The twins complained, “Daddy, what you’re singing isn’t a lullaby; it’s an insomnia song.”
“It’s so terrible, how can we possibly sleep?”
The man’s mouth twitched. He wouldn’t have come to sing these two little devils a lullaby if he hadn’t been afraid of exhausting them.
“Di Weirui, Di Weizhi, are you going to sleep or not?” The man felt embarrassed and angry, realizing that taking care of the twins was tiring.
The wise twins understood that with their father angry, it was best to behave or face consequences.
After turning off the lights, the man returned to his bedroom, where he found his partner’s peaceful sleeping face. His eyes filled with love and happiness as he gently lay beside her, whispering, “Xueman, I love you.”
The sleepy beauty stirred, her eyes dreamy, “I fell asleep again. Are the children asleep?” Since becoming pregnant again, she had been very tired.
Di Xihuang, feeling jealous, complained, “Xueman, you don’t love me anymore. It’s all about the children, and I’m always the one saying I love you. You’ve only said it once since.”
This frustrated her. On the day she gave birth to the twins, she had passionately told him she loved him, but he had fainted after she narrowly escaped death, making her heartfelt declaration go unheard.
The couple’s intimate moment was interrupted by a commotion downstairs. Di Xihuang, looking unsatisfied, descended the stairs.
Owen, disheveled and hands on his hips, pointed at Di Xihuang and shouted, “Surnamed Di, I schemed against you eight years ago. You’ve made me work for you all this time. Isn’t it time to settle this old score?” His bravado collapsed, “Brother, spare me.”
