Ruan Hanli looked resentful, her hands clutching the hem of her clothes in a death grip.
Her father's voice grew stern. "Didn't you hear me? Apologize! Do you still not realize what you did wrong?"
Ruan Hanli bit her lip hard. Her gaze flicked between Qiao Hua and Gu Wenze before she reluctantly said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have deliberately framed you, spread rumors about you and President Gu at the company, or had Zhu Dejie attack you."
Leaning against the headboard, Qiao Hua said coolly, "I wouldn't dare accept your apology, Miss Ruan."
Ruan Hanli's mother looked uncomfortable. "Miss Qiao, I've heard about what Hanli did to you. We failed to raise our daughter properly, and she did something worse than an animal would. I apologize to you on her behalf."
Qiao Hua smiled. "Mrs. Ruan, what Ruan Hanli did is her own fault. What does it have to do with you or Mr. Ruan?"
Her mother said guiltily, "If we hadn't agreed to let her work at Wenze's company, none of this would have happened."
Qiao Hua maintained her faint smile. "As long as she refuses to give up on Gu Wenze, something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. Even if she hadn't joined the company, it wouldn't have changed anything. If it hadn't been me, it would have been someone else."
The expression on Ruan Hanli's mother's face began to falter, as though she hadn't expected Qiao Hua to be so blunt.
"Mr. and Mrs. Ruan, if you came here today to plead for Ruan Hanli, you should leave."
She was no saint. She was only being courteous to Ruan Hanli's parents out of politeness. That didn't mean she would let herself be wronged just because they were her elders.
Ruan Hanli's mother recognized