A chilling photograph

At the Gu Group's private hospital.

Gu Cheng lay in a hospital bed, his lips pale.

Xiao Muling covered her tearful face with her hand. Her son had only gone out for a little while, hadn't he? How had he ended up like this?

Had he arrived any later, his leg and foot would have been ruined for good.

She asked through her tears, "Cheng, why did you go to the Lin Family's home? Don't you know that man from the Lin Family is capable of anything?"

Gu Cheng pounded the bed hard with his other hand, shouting curses. "I want Lin Jingchen dead! I'm going to kill him!"

Xiao Muling hated them too. She hated the Lin Family with a vengeance.

But she had no way of getting justice from Lin Jingchen on her own.

Gu Zhengde had been dealing with some troublesome matters at the company. When he heard that the Lin Family had broken Gu Cheng's leg, he went to the hospital as well.

The moment he entered, he heard his son throwing things around.

Again and again.

Gu Zhengde walked in, holding his temper in check. Something flew straight at him, and he only avoided being hit by dodging in time.

It was a cup.

Gu Zhengde couldn't stand seeing his son behave like this. He had lived such a splendid life, yet somehow fathered a good-for-nothing who only made things worse.

Not only could his son accomplish nothing worthwhile, he was now causing trouble that Gu Zhengde had to clean up.

Pointing at the young man on the bed, he roared, "Gu Cheng, are you trying to hit your own father now? What are you throwing a tantrum for?! Haven't you caused the Gu Family enough trouble? You even dared to trespass on the Lin Family's property!"

"If it had been me, I'd have beaten you to death."

Gu Cheng hadn't expected his father to come, but he didn't dare take his anger out on him.

His father really would beat him to death.

He could only say indignantly, "Dad, I'm the one whose leg was almost broken. You almost never saw me again, and you're still scolding me?"

Rather than calming down, Gu Zhengde replied, "That's because you're an idiot! I don't even want to bother with you anymore. Go apologize to the Lin Family, or don't ever come back to the Gu Family!"

With that, Gu Zhengde had no desire to remain in the hospital room.

Gu Cheng couldn't believe that even his father refused to help him and wanted him to apologize to Lin Jingchen instead.

No way. Absolutely not!

Xiao Muling knew Gu Zhengde meant it. If Gu Cheng didn't apologize, the Gu Family would disown her son.

She could only comfort her son. "Don't be afraid. If your father won't help you, I will. I'll go to the Xiao Family. I'll go... I'll go find your aunt."

That was their only option now. Although she wasn't close to her younger sister, they had still come from the same mother's womb. She refused to believe her sister would turn her back on her.

Hearing this, Gu Cheng grew excited. "Yes, yes! Auntie can still help us. She definitely won't abandon me."

"Mom, hurry up and go find Auntie! Hurry!" Gu Cheng urged.

"Oh, all right. I'll head back to the Xiao Family right now. Don't worry. Get some rest and stop moving around. I'll have a nurse come tidy up." With that, Xiao Muling hurriedly called the driver to take her back to the Xiao Family.

She sat in the back seat, tense the entire time. She hadn't dared return to the old residence in all these years.

Just getting close to it made her chest feel tight.

But now she had no choice. For her son's sake, whatever awaited her would have to come at her.

The Xiao Family Old Residence wasn't in the city, but in the eastern outskirts.

It took at least an hour to drive there.

An hour later, the car slowly passed through the Xiao Family's gates.

The Xiao Family had few members, and quite a few people had already been removed in previous years.

Those who remained were all people Xiao Li trusted.

Only the third floor was lit.

After getting out of the car, Xiao Muling stood outside the entrance, hesitating for a long time before slowly approaching.

She rang the doorbell.

No one answered, so she pressed it again, her hand trembling slightly.

Then a middle-aged woman came out.

Seeing Xiao Muling, she immediately came forward to greet her.

"Miss Muling, what brings you back?" the middle-aged woman asked respectfully.

It had been a long time since she had last seen Xiao Muling. Counting the years, it must have been five or six.

Her sudden return today was rather surprising.

Xiao Muling gave an awkward little smile and asked, "Is my younger sister here?"

"Yes, yes. She's in the backyard feeding Duoduo and Keke."

Duoduo and Keke were the dogs Xiao Li and Xiao Zhao kept. The Xiao Family's old patriarch had given them the dogs when they started high school.

"All right. I'll go in and find her." Xiao Muling walked inside.

The instant she stepped through the entrance, she froze. What hung on the wall stopped her in her tracks.

In the photograph on the wall, someone stood on either side of the Xiao Family's old patriarch. On the left was Xiao Li, dressed in light pink, making a peace sign and smiling the brightest. On the right was Xiao Zhao, wearing a solemn expression.

The two looked strikingly alike.

It was clearly a cheerful photograph, yet Xiao Muling found it utterly chilling.

She held her breath, not daring to move.

Her lips grew a little pale as she asked, "Wh... why hasn't the photograph been put away? Zhao has already passed away. Hanging this in the main hall is a little unlucky."

Where they came from, there was a rule that anyone who died before turning fifty was considered unlucky.

Xiao Zhao had been exactly twenty the year he died.

The housekeeper had never considered that. She didn't really think it mattered. After all, even if Young Master Zhao had died in an accident, he wouldn't return to harm his own family.

The housekeeper said, "I don't know either. Miss Xiao said to leave it up. The branch family came last time and asked her to take it down, saying it was unlucky. She refused and said that anyone who brought it up again would never be allowed to come to the main residence."

Being barred from the main residence meant that the branch family had been expelled and were no longer members of the Xiao Family.

The branch family had been angry at those outrageous words, but they hadn't dared say anything more.

After all, Xiao Li was now the head of the Xiao Family. No one dared defy her.

"Why are you so frightened, big sister? Do you also think my brother's death was unlucky?" A tall, lovely young woman slowly walked in from the back.

"I... I... I don't." Xiao Muling jumped at the sudden sound of Xiao Li's voice, then regained her composure.