After Her Death, They Begged for Forgiveness - Chapter 51

Xu Qingci had been having frequent nightmares lately.

She dreamed that her eldest daughter was falsely accused of plagiarizing a musical composition, but unlike in reality, the situation wasn’t quickly resolved.

In the dream, she merely watched coldly from the sidelines and said, “Bingqi, this time, Mother can no longer turn a blind eye and tolerate your actions. You’re on your own.”

It felt as though she had finally rid herself of a burden.

Xu Qingci quickly realized this was a dream because, although she had once entertained such thoughts, she had never considered abandoning her daughter when she was isolated and helpless.

And now, even after Xu Bingqi had left home, she still wanted to bring her daughter back.

She instinctively checked the time on her phone and discovered it was three years into the future from the present reality.

This confirmed she was indeed in a dream.

Xu Qingci took deep, repeated breaths, trying to dispel the fear in her heart. She did her best to reassure herself that it was all just a dream and that she would never abandon her daughter like that.

She just needed to wake up from the dream.

Her breathing grew rapid, and she dug her nails deeply into her palms, trying to pull herself out of the terrifying nightmare.

But even as her knuckles turned pale and trembled slightly, she could only watch helplessly as she instructed the butler to throw out all of her daughter’s belongings from the house.

Her daughter’s room was completely emptied, even the piano was carried away.

In the dream, Xu Qingci could only watch it all unfold, seeing Jiang Ruo and Xiao Hua sitting beside her, comforting her.

She could see the undisguised greed for money in Xiao Hua’s eyes.

“Ruo Ruo and Xiao Hua, I feel at ease with the two of you together,” she heard herself say softly to Jiang Ruo. “As for Xu Bingqi, I no longer consider her my daughter.”

That’s not true!

Xu Bingqi has always been her daughter! She would never give up on Xu Bingqi!

But the dream was beyond her control. She could only watch as Xiao Hua moved in, took over what was once Xu Bingqi’s bedroom, and replaced Xu Bingqi as a member of the family.

“But Sister is still Mother’s biological daughter. She just made a mistake in a moment of confusion,” Jiang Ruo said worriedly, her brows furrowed. “If something happens to Sister while she’s out there alone, what will we do?”

“I’ve said it before she is not my daughter. Even if she can’t survive on her own, it has nothing to do with me.”

Xu Qingci couldn’t bear to listen any longer. She clenched her hands tightly until bright, thick drops of blood dripped from her palms.

But it was useless.

She continued to hear herself spewing words of hatred toward Xu Bingqi.

Suddenly, Xu Qingci remembered something that seemed entirely unrelated.

It had been a long time since she last heard Xu Bingqi call her “Mom.”

At some point, Xu Bingqi had started referring to her as “Ms. Xu.”

Yet, before Xu Bingqi moved out, there had been no conflict between them.

In the past, she had indeed prioritized Jiang Ruo more and had felt vaguely annoyed by Xu Bingqi, even thinking that Xu Bingqi was incompetent and unlike her own daughter.

But she had never considered severing ties with Xu Bingqi.

Yet, it seemed Xu Bingqi no longer saw her as a mother.

Why was that?

Xu Qingci felt as though all the reasons were shrouded in a mist, faintly visible yet elusive. She had no clue where to begin.

And by then, the dream had already shifted to the next scene.

Xu Qingci watched calmly as her dream self discovered the housekeeper had incurred massive debts. She had originally intended to fire the housekeeper, but relented only after Jiang Ruo and Xiao Hua pleaded on his behalf.

Later, on a sunny afternoon, news broke that Xu Bingqi, the composer who had been expelled from the Xu family for plagiarism had died in a shabby rental apartment.

Media reports suggested Xu Bingqi might have deliberately sought to harm society before her death.

When she died, the door to her room was wide open, and beside her body was a cat that seemed to have gone completely mad.

The frenzied cat arched its back, its messy fur standing on end like a tangled mass of thorns. Its eyes were blood-red, and low, grating growls rumbled from its throat as it warned the reporters snapping photos outside the door.

Everyone who tried to enter was blocked by the crazed cat.

Anyone attempting to force their way in would end up with deep, bloody scratches from the feline.

Because of this mysterious and stubborn cat, along with Xu Bingqi’s troubled history, her death received extensive media coverage.

Xu Qingci closed her eyes.

What an absurd dream, she thought to dream that her own daughter had died, and that she herself could even be considered one of the accomplices.

She would never treat her daughter that way.

Xu Qingci couldn’t help searching for logical flaws in the nightmare.

Yet every detail of this terrifying dream fit together seamlessly. She could even read every word of the news report clearly it said that the mad cat had suddenly vanished without a trace, and no one at the scene noticed when it had slipped away.

The autopsy revealed that Xu Bingqi had died from glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor.

At this point, Xu Qingci froze.

She remembered that just a few months earlier, on Jiang Ruo’s birthday, she had seen Xu Bingqi heading for a medical check-up outside the hospital. Later, she had even sent someone to obtain the test results from the doctor, it was a brain MRI report.

And on the very day of Jiang Ruo’s birthday party, Xu Bingqi had quietly moved out, taking all her belongings with her.

After that, Xu Bingqi never called her “mother” again.

Moreover, in the dream, after her daughter was cast out of the family, she had lived in that shabby rental apartment until her death. Xu Qingci couldn’t bear to look at the pictures in the report, but she recalled that in reality, Xu Bingqi had also lived for a time in an ordinary residential building.

She had been surprised at how quickly her daughter adapted to such conditions after leaving the luxurious Xu family home.

But now, this dream offered a plausible explanation for what had puzzled her in reality.

Because she had once died from glioblastoma, she had suddenly gone for a medical check-up; because she had lived in even worse conditions before, she adapted quickly to an ordinary neighborhood; because she had once been cut off from her mother, she never called her “mother” again.

If everything in the dream were true, all of Xu Bingqi’s unusual behavior could be explained.

But the dream couldn’t possibly be real!

She could never be so heartless!

Xu Qingci’s breathing grew rapid. When she opened her eyes again, she was lying in bed, her forehead beaded with fine sweat, like tiny glistening pearls slowly trickling down her pale cheeks.

For a moment, she felt dazed, unable to tell whether she was still in a dream. Xu Qingci picked up her phone to check the date and let out a soft sigh.

She was awake.

But the details of the dream were too vivid. Xu Qingci sat blankly on the edge of the bed, her eyes hollow and confused, as if she were still trapped in that illusory nightmare.

After a while, she stood up and shook her head gently. A dream was just a dream yet she had already begun questioning its reality. It was clear her mind had been too unsettled lately.

Rubbing her temples, Xu Qingci slowly made her way downstairs to eat.

“Ms. Xu, you’re here.”

The housekeeper eagerly pulled out a chair for her.

She carefully observed Xu Qingci’s expression. Xu Qingci looked somewhat tired and seemed a bit distracted.

But the housekeeper had already accepted one million from Xiao Hua to pay off her gambling debts. She had no choice but to try and speak favorably of Xiao Hua at this moment, hoping to improve his poor standing in Xu Qingci’s eyes.

Xu Qingci glanced at the housekeeper but said nothing.

“Ms. Xu, did you not sleep well last night?” Unable to gauge Xu Qingci’s mood, the housekeeper tentatively started a conversation.

Xu Qingci shook her head, her mind flashing back to the nightmare, the image of the housekeeper begging her not to be fired after accumulating gambling debts.

“Ms. Xu, I probably shouldn’t say this,” the housekeeper ventured cautiously, “but ever since the young lady moved out, the house has felt so empty. And now, with you upset about Jiang Ruo dating, it feels even emptier.”

Xu Qingci lowered her head to sip her porridge, though her brows furrowed slightly.

Unable to read Xu Qingci’s reaction, the housekeeper continued, “Young people should be allowed to make their own decisions. If Jiang Ruo thinks Xiao Hua is a good match, perhaps you could let them spend some time together first.”

Xu Qingci’s frown deepened. What kind of person Xiao Hua was, the middle-aged housekeeper couldn’t possibly be unaware. If she was pleading on his behalf, she must have something to gain.

Suddenly, Xu Qingci felt the urge to investigate the housekeeper.

If the housekeeper really had gambling debts.

Xu Qingci set her bowl down heavily.

If the housekeeper truly had gambling debts, then everything in her dream was far too coincidental, it might even have been real at some point.

Seeing Xu Qingci put down her bowl, the housekeeper immediately realized she had misspoken. “Ms. Xu, I really shouldn’t have said that. I spoke out of turn today.”

“Don’t bring it up again.”

Xu Qingci had lost her appetite. She was eager to investigate the housekeeper, Li Ai, to confirm her suspicions.

If Li Ai was indeed drowning in gambling debts, it would be all too easy for Jiang Ruo or Xiao Hua to buy her off.

She thought of the nightmare where Xu Bingqi was terminally ill. In the dream, both Jiang Ruo and Xiao Hua had urged her to forgive the housekeeper. At the time, she had thought it was because Jiang Ruo was kind-hearted, but now she realized they might simply have been worried about losing a pawn to gather information.

They were all eyeing the fortune she would leave behind.

Investigating the housekeeper turned out to be straightforward. Without much effort, Xu Qingci uncovered that the housekeeper owed millions in debt and had a one-million-yuan transaction with Xiao Hua.

Suddenly, Xu Qingci felt utterly foolish.

She had trusted the wrong people and allowed someone of questionable character to slander her own daughter.

She had always been wary of Xu Bingqi, suspecting her of harboring ill intentions to seize the family fortune. Yet, in truth, Xu Bingqi was her own biological daughter, and everything she possessed rightfully belonged to her.

But she had never realized this before. Instead, she had even hurled harsh words at her daughter out of suspicion.

Now, Xu Bingqi no longer wanted to see her, refusing even to call her “Mother.” Even if she offered everything she had to Xu Bingqi, her daughter would not spare her a single glance.

Moreover, if the nightmare was a reflection of everything Xu Bingqi had endured, then she herself was one of the culprits who had driven her daughter to her death.

She could have easily summoned the most authoritative medical experts in brain tumor treatment for her daughter, yet she had allowed her to die alone in a cramped, dilapidated rental room.

And back then, she might even have felt relieved that, after cutting ties, Xu Bingqi would no longer compete with Jiang Ruo for the family fortune.

Xu Qingci trembled as she closed her eyes, feeling that she was even less worthy than the stray cat that had guarded Xu Bingqi’s corpse.

She called her secretary: “Gather all the evidence of Li Ai’s gambling and report it to the police. As for Jiang Ruo, let her focus on filming at the set. The position at the subsidiary company no longer needs to be reserved for her.”

She had adopted Jiang Ruo, who was no blood relation, for over twenty years and had long since fulfilled her duty.

After hanging up, Xu Qingci pressed her temples and slowly made her way upstairs to Xu Bingqi’s former bedroom.

Not long after her daughter moved out, she had already redecorated the room according to her memory. The old desk lamp had been discontinued, so she had a custom-made replica created.

Xu Qingci personally tended to her daughter’s room every day. Though no one had lived there for a long time, it was kept as if its owner had only stepped out temporarily.

Back then, she had clung to the hope that Xu Bingqi would return. But now, Xu Qingci clearly understood that she had merely been deceiving herself.

She sent a message to Jiang Ruo: “Ruo Ruo, I won’t stop you from dating Xiao Hua anymore, but please move out within two months. From now on, unless it’s something important, there’s no need for you to come back.”

The moment she sent the message, Xu Qingci felt as if all her strength had drained away. Tears fell one after another onto her phone screen, blurring the words before her eyes.

She had once had two daughters, but now, perhaps she had none left.

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