Chapter 257 - She Is My Family!
Chapter 257 – She Is My Family!
Gu Zhang stared at Xingren with indescribable expressions upon hearing her words. He always showered her with all the love and care and yet she is questioning his love for her?
How can she say that he is sending her away because she is not his blood? Even after finding out the truth, he treated her the same way as before. Yet she is making allegations like these.
" Xingren, I am doing this because I think of you as my daughter. I don't want to ruin you. If this continues, I am afraid that the situation will turn to a point with no return."
Xingren bit her lower lips as tears welled up in her eyes, "Dad, you can't treat me like this. I am your daughter, WHY ARE YOU TAKING AN OUTSIDER'S SIDE?" she shouted in frustration.
" I AM SAYING THAT THE VIDEO IS FAKE AND SOMEONE IS TRYING TO SET ME UP. WHY CAN'T YOU ALL BELIEVE ME?"
Why is everyone treating her like a criminal? What wrong did she do? She was only trying to showcase Xu Nuan's true face to the world.
Who had thought that she would be one step ahead of her and will join hands with Mr. Wen to humiliate her? The video posted by Mr. Wen must be fake, it was all planned. There is no way Xu Nuan can answer all those questions without knowing the questions beforehand.
That stupid, illiterate, what does she know? Nothing! She is nothing but a loser in front of her.
Gu Zhang frowned to see Xingren yelling like a maniac. It was her first time shouting at him like this. She never acted so crudely in front of him.
She did get angry the last time when he took her cards and car keys to punish her for telling the girl to harm Xu Nuan. But it wasn't to this extent.
The Xingren in front of him looks like a different person.
"XINGREN, Xu Nuan is not an outsider. She is my daughter. She is a part of this family. No matter what, this fact cannot be changed." He said firmly.
Xingren laughed and threw her hands in the air, " Hah, so it has come to this? Are you taking her as your daughter now she has topped the exam and made you proud? Is that it?"
He frowned. "Xingren, Is that what you think of me? I never thought that I was a superficial kind of person in your eyes."
Seeing the way he was avoiding her question and was blaming her instead, she couldn't help but scoff in agony, " Wow! Xu Nuan is amazing. She took my identity, my reputation, my fiance, and now my family too. She took everything from me."
" I used to think of her as a pitiful girl, who cannot fit in this family, but she proved me wrong and made everyone against me. She is amazing." she applauded while laughing in disbelief.
Gu Zhang glanced at Grandfather Gu in confusion. Fiance?
Lin Ran, who just came from outside, saw all of them gathered in the living room and heard Xingren's words. "Fiance? What do you mean by that?"
She knows that Gu Zhang was planning to do something. After knowing about the audio, she was upset at Xingren as well. At first, the things were between them only, now the whole college heard Xingren's deeds.
Even though she never liked Xu Nuan and thought of Xingren as her daughter, she never wished her to die. Never. However, Xingren not only did all those things, she never showed remorse for her actions either.
This time, Gu Zhang had said that he will teach her a lesson so that she won't repeat these kinds of things in the future.
Xingren looked at her and went to her while crying, " Mom, do you know that Yuhan broke up with me because of Xu Nuan? The day he came to meet her in the college, the very same night, he broke up with me. I am not making up stories, he came to me and said that he doesn't see me as his future partner and just a friend. A friend."
" It was all because of Xu Nuan. She must have said something to him to make him go against me. I knew it. She always had her eyes on him." she said frustratingly while tightly grasping Lin Ran's arm.
" Mom, Xu Nuan is not as innocent as she looks. She acts vulnerable in front of everyone but in reality, she is the one who posted that audio on the forum. You guys are punishing me but what about her?"
" She also ruined my reputation. What about her?" she sobbed while holding onto Lin Ran's dress sleeves.
Grandfather Gu, who didn't say anything till now, questioned her, " Xingren, weren't you saying that you didn't make that post until now? Are you admitting to your actions now?"
Her face turned pale as she looked at him in horror, " That's not it….I really didn't.."
" Xingren, It's not Xu Nuan's fault. The engagement between you and Yuhan was a familial arrangement when you two were young. But now you two are grown-ups, we can't force you to follow your parent's arrangement. And it was me who had advised Yuhan to listen to his heart and not make any impulsive decision."
" Xingren, being in a relationship with no love is a lot harder than ending that kind of relationship. You're a young girl, you have a lot of opportunities in front of you. It's not the end."
He walked to her, " Xingren, about what you did, you can't get away from the punishment this time. You were already given the warning before. Yet you tried to harm Xu Nuan's reputation and almost got her rusticated from the college."
" Gu Zhang is already giving you an easy option by sending you abroad. Maybe while staying there, you will understand what was your fault, what you did was wrong. This is the last thing that we can do for you as your family."
"If you don't understand what you did wrong and get in your senses, then as the head of the family, I have to break all ties with you." His words fell on Xingren like thunder.
How can he say something so easily?
" Grandpa, You…You…can't do that," she said with a choking voice as she looked at him with her red eyes.
Upon hearing his words, Lin Ran panicked as well. She wasn't aware of the fact that Gu Zhang is preparing to send Xingren abroad for studies. She thought that he would give her a light punishment this time too like before.
" Abroad? Gu Zhang, Xingren is young, she will learn. I promise you, she will not do anything like this again. I'll take her responsibility. Just don't send her away from me." she walked to Gu Zhang and held on to his hand in desperation.
" I will also make sure that she apologizes to Xu Nuan and will never do something like that again. Just give her one last chance." She pleaded.
" Lin Ran…." Gu Zhang looked at her indifferently but the pain was visible in his eyes. It's not like he was enjoying all this, but he was left with no choice.
The things that Xingren did were not small. She is an adult and her actions can be punished legally if Xu Nuan wants to punish her. There is no way he can save her after everyone in the college heard that recording where Xingren accepted her crimes with her mouth.
However, before he could say anything, a manly nonchalant voice resonated in the mansion, "She is not a young girl anymore."
Everyone turned around to see the source of the voice and frowned to see a man, dressed in a formal rich grey suit and had his hands in the pants pockets as he stepped inside the mansion.
Grandfather Gu was surprised to see him here and walked to him to greet him, " Mr. Han, what are you doing here?"
Han Zihao didn't perform the formal greetings like before and turned to Lin Ran, who was in shock to see Han Zihao at the Gu Mansion.
She has seen him at the formal banquets only with Xu Nuan and those encounters were not pleasant either. Why is he here now?
She gulped in nervousness when he stared at her coldly, making her conscious of her vulnerable state. She wiped her tears and asked, " Mr. Han, what brings you here? Pardon us for not being welcoming enough. As you can see, we're in the middle of dealing with our family issues. I hope-
He raised his hand to stop her and cut off her words, " Mrs. Gu, you don't need to mind me. Because today I am here to deal with the same issues that you were already discussing."
" However, it seems like you're not good at dealing with issues like that." As said this, he glanced at Xingren who was gawking at him with her widened eyes.
She was biting her lips in nervousness but was trying to control her emotions in front of him. He is the President of Han Corporations, she can't let him look at her vulnerable state.
Even though he is with Xu Nuan now, there is no surety that he is with her because he likes her. Why would a President of a big company like that be with a girl like Xu Nuan?
He must be playing with her. Now Yuhan has broken up with her as well, if she manages to get Han Zihao to her side, she doesn't need anyone else.
Gu Zhang squinted his eyes and asked indifferently, " Mr. Han, this is our family matter. It will be better for you to stay away. You might be Xu Nuan's friend but you have no say in our-
Han Zihao raised his brows and cut his words in the middle, " I have full right to interfere, Mr. Gu. Because it's my family matter as well. And my family is Xu Nuan."