Volume One Chapter 84 Malice

As soon as those words were spoken, the entire corridor fell silent.

Everyone wore expressions of complex emotion.

Jiang Wan had no time to observe them closely, nor did she have a chance to ask any questions—she lost consciousness and slipped into sleep.

*

When Jiang Wan awoke, an entire night had passed.

She opened her eyes to find herself in her own hospital room.

Morning light filtered in from outside.

The spacious ward was empty except for her.

The lingering pain in her arm abruptly reminded her of what had happened before she lost consciousness.

Anxious, Jiang Wan hurried out of bed.

She grabbed the cane beside her, leaned on it, and limped out of the room.

She hadn't yet made her way to find a nurse and confirm what had happened when she heard the sound of something shattering at the other end of the corridor on the same floor.

A woman's shrill, terrified scream followed.

The voice, thin and on the verge of collapse, was instantly recognizable to Jiang Wan.

It was Ji Jiali.

She was still alive.

The realization hit Jiang Wan with a sudden sting in her nose.

But before she could feel relief, the continued sounds of breaking objects and the nurses rushing out of the room filled her with nervous tension.

Jiang Wan hobbled forward on her cane, passing a nurse as she went.

As she approached, she reached the door of the hospital room and saw—

Ji Jiali, dressed in a patient's gown, her long hair disheveled, her exposed skin pale and yellowed, like a flower deprived of nourishment.

Dry and haggard.

The room was a complete mess.

Everything in the ward had been smashed to pieces.

The IV needle in her hand hung loose, the infusion tube broken, the half-delivered liquid pooling on the floor.

Lin Zhi stood helplessly to the side.

“Auntie…”

She was about to say something when she noticed Jiang Wan standing in the doorway.

“Jiang Wan…”

Her gentle call caused Ji Jiali, who was about to hurl a pillow, to pause and turn her head.

Their eyes met.

Anger and resentment flashed in Ji Jiali’s gaze.

“What are you doing here?!”

She hurled the pillow at Jiang Wan, but for Ji Jiali at that moment, it was as heavy as a bag of cement.

It barely made it two meters before falling.

The pillow landed with a dull thud.

Lying alone on the floor, it resembled a swaddled infant.

Ji Jiali stared at it for two seconds, then, as if provoked, burst into tears.

She wrapped her arms around her head and curled up on the hospital bed.

Beneath the loose patient’s gown, her once slender figure seemed to have withered overnight.

Ji Jiali sobbed wretchedly.

“Auntie…”

Lin Zhi tried to comfort her, but as soon as her hand touched Ji Jiali, she was forcefully pushed away.

“Get out! I don’t want to see any of you!”

Her emotions collapsed, and she shouted at Lin Zhi.

She who had always spoken kindly to her, now couldn’t be bothered with such niceties.

Lin Zhi, seeing this, glanced at Jiang Wan and signaled to the nurse beside her.

The two left the room.

Jiang Wan remained where she was.

Once Lin Zhi left and closed the door, only Jiang Wan and Ji Jiali were left in the ward.

Jiang Wan leaned on her cane, looking at this familiar scene, as if she saw her own past self losing control.

She took a deep breath.

She said nothing, simply waited for Ji Jiali to calm down.

After a long bout of crying, Ji Jiali looked at Jiang Wan with red, tear-streaked eyes and a twisted expression.

“Are you satisfied now?!”

“I’ll never be able to bear children again, I’ve lost the right to be a mother forever, you can finally rest easy!”

She snarled, her face contorted.

“Why can’t you stand to see me happy?”

“You have to see my life in shambles, you want me old and alone—is that what pleases you?!”

“You hate me so much, I have to suffer with you before you’ll feel better, is that it?”

“How did I end up with such a heartless daughter! How can you be so cruel!”

Ji Jiali’s cries were wrenching, lost in her pain.

She spoke without restraint, letting everything spill out.

When she reached this point,

Jiang Wan, who had remained silent, took a deep breath and broke the quiet.

“How am I cruel?”

She looked at Ji Jiali, wounded, fighting to keep calm.

“I’m not as noble as my father, it’s true I never blessed you, but for every choice you made, did we ever try to stop you? Didn’t we always choose to respect your decisions in the end?”

“You say I’m cruel—what did I do that was so wicked, that would affect your pregnancy?”

Her words had barely finished when Ji Jiali immediately retorted, agitated.

“If you hadn’t suddenly appeared and ruined the one-month deadline, how could I have lost this child! Both the master and the doctor said it—I could keep the baby! As long as…”

“As long as I used my life to exchange for his life.”

Jiang Wan interrupted her, her gaze sorrowful and mocking as she bitterly smiled, “You could even do something like that, and you say I’m cruel.”

“Who said it was your life to exchange!”

Ji Jiali grew equally agitated, loudly refuting Jiang Wan.

“It’s my life! Mine!”

She said this, pounding her chest with force, the sound dull and heavy.

Tears spilled out again.

Her eyes were bloodshot, her tone fierce: “The master said I lost the last child because you all held resentment toward me. Only if I sought your forgiveness could I keep this one.”

“But how could you ever forgive me? You’d never bless me to give birth!”

She sobbed, aggrieved and broken.

“If there were any other way, I wouldn’t have used my own years as the price to gain another chance at motherhood…”

“Now it doesn’t matter whether you forgive me or not—this outcome should satisfy you.”

Ji Jiali cried and laughed, tears streaming down.

Her explanation left Jiang Wan frozen.

For a moment, she was confused.

It took her quite some time to digest the meaning.

The Life Exchange Charm—was Ji Jiali using her own years to gain Jiang Wan’s forgiveness?

It wasn’t a trade of her life for the unborn child’s?

Jiang Wan swallowed with difficulty, wanting to speak, but unable to find words.

Her expression gave away her thoughts, and Ji Jiali noticed immediately.

“You don’t believe me, do you? I knew you wouldn’t!”

Ji Jiali said, suddenly sitting up from the bed.

She rummaged through her things, finally finding her lucky pouch, which she tossed at Jiang Wan.

The small embroidered bag landed at Jiang Wan’s feet with a soft thud.

“Go ask for yourself! See if I’m telling the truth, if I ever used your life for any bargain!”

Ji Jiali cried out, “I’m your mother! No matter what, you’re the child I carried for ten months—how could I play games with your life!”

“Jiang Wan, what do you take me for?!”

“If I lied to you, let me die a miserable death! No, I’m already worse than dead!”

“Jiang Wan, I hate you to death! Ah—”

The more she spoke, the more she unraveled, her emotions spiraling out of control.

Ji Jiali yanked at her hair, overturning and smashing everything within reach.

The ward became chaotic once more.

Until—

Medical staff arrived with syringes, rushing to inject Ji Jiali with a sedative.

Suddenly the world fell quiet.

Under Jiang Wan’s gaze, Ji Jiali closed her eyes and fainted.

At her feet, the lucky pouch was trampled by the nurse, and a puff of powder sprayed from its opening.