My Villainous Persona Collapses as My Family Reads My Mind - Chapter 32

The people in the living room immediately fell silent after hearing Meng Zhiyi’s inner voice.

Meng Father coughed guiltily, his gaze flickering as he looked away.

Then, they heard Meng Zhiyi’s footsteps coming down the stairs.

[Since everyone’s here, I might as well settle this all at once!]

No one had time to ponder the meaning of Meng Zhiyi’s inner voice.

Meng Zhiyi got straight to the point: “Eldest Brother, there’s something I need you to stand up for me about.”

Meng Zhizhou was feeling uneasy inside, but kept a calm facade: “What’s wrong? Were you bullied at school?”

Unexpectedly, Meng Zhiyi pursed her lips, turned to face Meng Mother, and complained, “That night when I went to the hospital to get my cast changed, I happened to run into you with your female secretary. Someone took a photo of me and you, and posted it online, spreading rumors that I was there for an abortion.”

“That would’ve been fine, but Mom somehow found out about it, didn’t recognize that the person in the photo was you, and in front of Grandma Shen, made me kneel without even asking for the truth.”

As she spoke, Meng Zhiyi squeezed out a few fake tears and continued, “I know you all don’t like me, think I’m rustic and not as smart as my brothers, but you can’t treat me like this.”

After finishing, she turned and threw herself into Shen Que’s arms, continuing in a voice full of grievance, “I’ve had this weighing on my heart for days, I’ve been so upset I can’t sleep at night.”

Shen Que, of course, knew that at least ninety percent of Meng Zhiyi’s performance was an act.

But to cooperate, he still comforted her gently.

In contrast, Meng Zhizhou was holding his forehead in distress.

He never expected Meng Zhiyi would bring up him taking his female secretary to the hospital late at night in front of the whole family.

If you’re going to complain, do you really have to be so detailed?

Sure enough, Meng Father, Meng Mother, and the other two brothers all looked over with gossiping expressions.

Under their teasing gazes, he braced himself and said, “I’ve already explained this to Mom.”

Meng Zhiyi lifted her head from Shen Que’s arms, grabbed his shirt and wiped her face with it: “You explained it to Mom, but what about me? Am I just supposed to be scolded and misunderstood?”

Shen Que, who was a bit of a neat freak: (°ー°〃)

The others all turned to look at Meng Mother in unison.

Meng Zhizhou looked at Meng Zhiyi in frustration.

He wanted to listen to her inner voice for her real purpose, but at this moment, it was unusually quiet.

“So what do you want?” Meng Zhizhou could only ask stiffly.

“An apology!” Meng Zhiyi said crisply, “Apologize to me!”

[Heh, Ms. Yuan is so proud. She’s been married to Dad for so many years, and even when she’s wrong during arguments, she’s never bowed her head.]

[Now asking her to apologize to her own daughter, that’s got to be more painful than killing her.]

[Especially since it’s a daughter she doesn’t even like.]

[Hehe, with this, Ms. Yuan is bound to fly into a rage out of humiliation.]

Sure enough, when Meng Zhiyi demanded an apology, Meng Mother’s face immediately darkened.

Even Meng Father sensed that things were going south.

“You want me to apologize to you?” Meng Mother’s tone was tinged with anger.

At this moment, she had no intention of paying attention to Meng Zhiyi’s inner voice, and her gaze toward her was full of displeasure.

This was exactly the effect Meng Zhiyi wanted, so she continued to fan the flames: “If you do something wrong, you should apologize. Isn’t that right? Such a simple principle, Mom doesn’t understand?”

Her voice was still soft and sweet, but her words were enough to infuriate Meng Mother.

“You really are something. I, as your mother, only said a few words to you, and now you’re demanding an apology.”
“Then why don’t you talk about yourself? You’ve made so much trouble in the past-did you ever admit you were wrong?”

“What right do you have to say something like this now?”

“I’m your mother. Even if it was a misunderstanding, you were the one who disappointed me first.”

Meng Mother was probably furious now. She completely disregarded the agreement she’d made with the family in private and started scolding Meng Zhiyi without restraint.

The angrier Meng Mother became, the more exhilarated Meng Zhiyi felt.

Seeing that the atmosphere had reached exactly what she wanted, Meng Zhiyi pushed Shen Que aside.

“I’m pretty disappointed in all of you too. If I had known coming back would be like this, I might as well have died in that mountain ravine.”

A cold light flashed in Meng Zhiyi’s eyes, and she sneered inwardly.

[When I was little, because of your negligence, I was kidnapped by human traffickers and sold to a remote mountain ravine, where I was treated like a slave from childhood.]

[Do you know how cold the mountain nights are in winter? Just for stealing half a steamed bun, I was punished to kneel in the yard, and nearly froze to death.]

[My adoptive parents wouldn’t let me study, wouldn’t let me go to the city, and never gave me a single chance to connect with the outside world.]

[I know exactly where a bamboo switch hurts the most when it strikes, and I know what wild fruits grow in the mountains in each season, so I wouldn’t starve when there was no rice to eat.]

[But these people? After bringing me home, they demanded that I be as outstanding as those well-bred young ladies who’d received good education since childhood.]

[Is that possible? That’s nothing but wishful thinking!]

[They all thought the things I did embarrassed them, but as I see it, only by struggling desperately can you get what you want. Just like when I was little-only by working hard did I have anything to eat.]

[You probably never imagined this. You thought that, once I returned to my biological parents’ home, I could finally stop living in fear. But in the end? Your gazes grew colder and colder, even to the point of disgust.]

[If you don’t love me, why did you bring me back?]

Meng Zhiyi sneered and looked at the Meng Family before her, mocking them: “The way you pretend to be so righteous is truly disgusting.”

These resentments were the last remaining obsession of the original host.

After she finished speaking, the oppressive feeling that had been lingering in her chest gradually dissipated.

She was breathing a little heavily as she began waiting for the Meng Family’s reaction.

[Whew… I’m thirsty after saying all that.]

[Given the Meng Family’s proud nature, after I’ve said so much, they shouldn’t be able to just sit there, right?]

[Come on, call me an ungrateful wretch. Best case, you get so angry that the Dislike Value maxes out and you kick me out of the house.]

But what Meng Zhiyi didn’t realize was that the words she’d just voiced in her heart were absolutely deafening to the Meng Family.

They knew Meng Zhiyi hadn’t lived well in the mountains before, because the family that bought her was poor and life was hard.

But they’d never imagined it was like this.

After all, when they brought her back, Meng Zhiyi had never told them about her past experiences.

Now, after learning how miserable Meng Zhiyi’s childhood had been, even Meng Mother-who just moments ago was seething with rage-felt her anger dissolve in an instant, replaced by overwhelming heartache.

How could she not love her own child?

She simply didn’t know how to love this child who hadn’t grown up by her side.

She wanted her to be exceptional, yet felt helpless about her mediocrity.

Again and again, Meng Mother no longer knew how to deal with this mother-daughter relationship.

Meng Father and the other brothers fell silent.

Even Shen Que, standing to the side, looked at her with a complicated expression.

[Why is it like this again? Can’t any of you say something?]

[Damn, it’s really hard for me to handle this.]

[I really don’t want to do this batch of tasks anymore.]