Transmigrated as the Disabled Alpha Wife of the Black Moonlight and She Said She Loves Me - Chapter 60

“Even though it’s been ten years, I promise we can get to the bottom of this,” Huo Jianan reassured Ruan Nianning, then lowered her head in thought. “Can you tell me what you know about your mother-in-law’s death?”

Ruan Nianning took a deep breath, her gaze fixed on a pine tree stubbornly clinging to its emerald green needles even in winter. She began recounting her past.

“My family was quite well-off when I was young, as I’ve told you before. Zou Guohua married into my mother’s family, and later, when their business expanded, they returned to Changbin, opened a company there, and settled down.”

Huo Jianan nodded. “Yes, you mentioned that. Your father was from Changbin, so returning there after success was like a triumphant homecoming—a true winner in life.”

“At first, our family was doing well. But within a few years, Zou Guohua partnered with some friends on a business venture and got cheated. They ended up with massive debts. Overnight, we plummeted from the clouds to the depths. The company was sold, the factory was sold, even our house was sold. Zou Guohua refused to return to Xiyan Village in Yuqing, saying he was afraid the villagers would mock him. So we were forced to rent a place in a run-down, chaotic neighborhood in Changbin, and I had to transfer schools.”

Ruan Nianning took a deep breath. Those days were the ones she least wanted to remember, yet they were also the ones she could never forget.

Huo Jianan noticed her gaze growing colder, her facial muscles tensing, and couldn’t help but ask, “Nianning, are you thinking about something unpleasant? Just don’t dwell on it.”

“No, it’s alright. After all these years, I can face it now,” Ruan Nianning paused before continuing.

“Our new home couldn’t compare to the bright and beautiful house I used to live in. We rented a cramped two-bedroom apartment because the rent was cheap, and all sorts of people lived in the neighborhood.

The stairs were narrow and dirty, covered in black grease stains. Those idle men would stare at my mother and me as we came and went, their gazes greedy and unrestrained.”

Huo Jianan frowned, surprised to learn that Ruan Nianning’s childhood had included such hardship.

“The new school was terrible too. When the girls found out I’d transferred from an elite school, they bullied me. They pinned me down, cut my hair, tore my clothes and dresses, threw them on the bathroom floor, and stomped on them. They even grabbed my head and pushed it into the toilet. All because the ringleader’s crush casually mentioned I was pretty.”

Huo Jianan was furious. “Who are those scum? Did you tell your mother?”

“No, why would I tell her? My mother is being bullied and beaten too.”

Huo Jianan was even more shocked. “Who? Who’s bullying your mother?”

“Zou Guohua. After our family business failed, he started drowning his sorrows in alcohol every day. He stopped caring about anything, cursing and yelling at everyone. When he got frustrated, he’d slap my mother—or me. My mother would just hold me and cry. When he sobered up, he’d demand money from her. If she said there was none, he’d make her ask her mother for it, claiming he was an in-law and his mother-in-law couldn’t ignore him.”

Huo Jianan’s teeth itched with fury. “Shameless!” she spat.

“Later, he started staying out all night. I was actually relieved. At least I didn’t have to face his drunken face, his roaring, or his slaps. I didn’t want him to come home. Every time he did, he either demanded money from my mother or yelled at her, ‘Why are you crying? What good does crying do? Will crying get you money? If you cry again, I’ll beat you to death!’

“I didn’t know what to do.”

At that time, Ruan Nianning would curl up in her room, desperately wishing for an older brother or sister to stand up and protect her, to drive away her demonic father and those school bullies who tormented her.

Later, a childhood friend of my mother’s from Xiyan Village came to her, saying she wanted to go abroad for work and asked if my mother wanted to go with her. My mother asked my father if he wanted to go. Zou Guohua immediately agreed, completely unconcerned about how my mother would fare abroad or whether she would be in danger. I still remember him saying flippantly, “Why not go if there’s a chance to make money?”

So my mother went abroad with them. The first year she was gone was very difficult for me. I missed her terribly, often lying awake at night, hiding under my covers and crying. My father didn’t do any housework, let alone cook. He resented me as a burden who needed constant care, so he brought my grandmother over to look after me.

The second year, when I started middle school, I could live on campus. Since there was no need for anyone to take care of me at home, and my grandmother’s eyesight was failing, my father sent her back. With my mother gone and my grandmother no longer there, there was nothing left in that house that held any value for me. So I applied to live on campus. I liked living on campus much more than being at home.

“During those days, I missed my mother terribly and tried to video call her whenever I could. But she was always so busy, sometimes returning home at midnight or even later. She never called me because she didn’t want to disturb my sleep or my classmates’. So, I would sneak to the public restroom at the end of the dormitory corridor to call her. I saved more than half of my meal allowance just to afford those long international calls.”

“My greatest wish back then was to wait until my mother earned enough money, then fly abroad to see her.”

“But my mother always said she needed to save money, to pay off my father’s debts. She told me not to waste money on a plane ticket and to wait a few more years until she could return.”

“I waited and waited, year after year, just hoping my mother would save enough money and come back.”

Huo Jianan listened with a heavy heart. “What about during winter and summer breaks? Did you stay on campus then too?”

“During summer break, I went back to Xiyan Village to stay with my grandmother. To save money, I took the long-distance bus instead of the train. There are bad people out there, but there are good ones too.”

Once, on a bus, I encountered a lecherous man who kept pushing against me, trying to press himself against my body. Just then, I happened to meet a fellow villager from Xiyan Village who recognized me. She called me over to sit next to her, gave me an orange to eat, and asked, “Back to visit your grandmother?”

The happiest time of my year was summer vacation, when I could return to the countryside and spend the break with my grandmother. She would make braised pork for me, along with bamboo shoot and pork stew. In summer, there was always watermelon and grapes.

My grandmother would ask how school was going. I would tell her it was good.

Then she would ask about my mother, “Is she doing well in the foreign country?” I would say she was, that I often called her, and that someday I would take her abroad to visit my mother.

When summer vacation ended, my grandmother would always cry when she saw me off, then secretly slip me a few hundred yuan to buy some treats. When I held the money, my eyes would blur with tears. I wanted to start high school as soon as possible. Once I was old enough, I could get a part-time job and start saving up. When I had enough money, I would buy two plane tickets and take my grandmother abroad to see my mother.

Huo Jianan listened, her heart aching with sympathy and anger simmering beneath the surface. “What about Zou Guohua? He’s your father. Did he never care about you?”

“After my mother left the country, he’d call her constantly, demanding money. He’d say his creditors were threatening to chop off his hands and feet, telling her to wire money immediately.”

“At the time, I still lived at home. One day, I overheard him pressuring her again. I asked, ‘You’re a man—why don’t you go out and earn money to support the family?'”

“He flew into a rage, slapped me across the face, and roared, ‘Didn’t I support you all when I was the boss? Now that I’ve fallen from grace, everyone looks down on me—even my own daughter laughs at me!'”

“After my grandmother came to live with us, he started coming home less frequently. Once I moved into the dorm, he barely visited at all, and I rarely returned to that house either. We communicated by phone when necessary. Not that I needed him anyway—my tuition and living expenses were all sent by my mother.”

It was easy to imagine how difficult Ruan Nianning’s life must have been during those years, with such a father at home and bullies at school. As she said, moving into the dorm for middle school was actually an improvement. At least she could escape her father and the school’s scum.

“After two years, he came to visit me at school, surprisingly well-dressed and looking like a small business owner again. I asked him what he’d been up to. He said he’d recently met a friend with a sharp eye for business, and they were going into business together. He spoke with such enthusiasm, saying he was going to make a comeback!”

“I asked him if he’d told Mom, and if he wanted me to bring her back from abroad. I didn’t want her to be alone, working so hard overseas. He said he was just starting out, and he didn’t know how successful he’d be. He said he needed money for everything at the beginning. He promised to bring Mom back once the business was established.”

Huo Jianan asked, “So, how did your father’s business turn out? Did he bring your mother back?”

Ruan Nianning’s gaze turned icy. “Do you think that ‘friend’ was just anyone? It was my stepmother now—Zou Xiaojing’s mother, Xu Yimei. While my mother was working tirelessly abroad, he’d already been seeing another woman.”

Seeing Huo Jianan’s shocked expression, she smiled faintly. “You never expected this either, did you? I certainly never did. It wasn’t until much later that I learned Zou Xiaojing had argued with me, claiming Zou Guohua was a fraud who’d deceived her mother and used her money to start his company—only then did he achieve his current success. That’s when I finally discovered the true identity of his so-called ‘partner’!”

“How laughable I was back then, blissfully unaware, actually believing Zou Guohua’s luck had changed. I was so focused on hoping Dad’s business would recover quickly and he could bring Mom back. Maybe we could even bring Grandmother to Changbin for the New Year, to celebrate together like we used to—back to our old life.”

“But then, out of nowhere, I received a call from Dad. He said… my mother had been hit by a car and killed abroad. He needed to fly there immediately.”

“When I heard the news, I froze. My mind went blank, except for one thought echoing over and over: My mother’s dead. My mother’s dead…”

But how could she have died so suddenly? How? Maybe there was a mistake? Maybe she’s just critically ill, not dead.

I told myself that once my father went abroad, he would definitely have new information for me—something to tell me that my mother was still alive, that she hadn’t died, that she was still breathing.”

Ruan Nianning’s eyes stung, her voice choking back sobs, fragile as a sheet of paper ready to tear.

Huo Jianan embraced her, pulling her tightly into her arms. She could imagine Nianning’s anguish back then, her grief—her eyes must have been swollen from crying.

“I cried all night, until I passed out. When I woke up, I cried again. I hated my father. If he had agreed to bring my mother home sooner, she wouldn’t have died. I hated myself too. Why didn’t I fly abroad to see her earlier? If I had gone to see her, maybe everything would have been different. Maybe she wouldn’t have died.”

Huo Jianan kissed the fragile, wounded person in her arms. “It wasn’t your fault. No one could have predicted this.”

“Then I got a call from my father. He told me my mother was really dead—hit by a car on the street at night. He had to stay there for a few days to handle her affairs.”

“At that moment, I completely broke down. My classmates went to class, but I couldn’t bring myself to go. I didn’t want to do anything. I just stayed alone in my dorm room, crying.”

“My mother died. She suddenly vanished from my world.”

“I never expected that the next day, my father would call and ask me to fly over. I finally got the ticket and boarded the plane for my first international flight. The joy I’d imagined from flying to see my mother had turned to grief. After four years, I finally saw my mother again, but it was her cold, lifeless body.”

“I asked, ‘How did my mother die?'”

“Father said she was killed by a wealthy woman named Huo Zhujun, the daughter of the renowned chairman of the Huo Corporation! After hitting my mother, she didn’t stop. She repeatedly ran over her until my mother was completely dead.”

“He showed me some photos—bloodstained tires and pavement. There was one he didn’t want me to see, but I insisted, I had to see it—that was the gruesome sight of my mother lying dead on the ground.”

“I was going crazy! I wanted to kill that woman! Kill Huo Zhujun! She’s a demon! A demon who kills for pleasure!”

“I said, ‘Father, we have to sue her! Make her pay for my mother’s death!'”

My father said, “This isn’t just any ordinary family, this is the Huo family! They’re wealthy and powerful, unreasonable and ruthless. We can’t possibly fight against them.” The Huo family had already negotiated a settlement with him. Considering my minor status, they agreed to compensate us 300,000 yuan and waived any claims for vehicle damage. “This 300,000 yuan is all yours,” he told me.

When I heard Zou Guohua mention compensation, I felt only anger and ridicule. This isn’t my father! My mother had just died, and he was already talking about compensation. Did he not understand that no amount of money could ever bring her back?

I shouted at him, “I don’t want compensation! I want my mother back!”

He replied coldly, “Your mother is gone. Accept it. She’s dead, she can’t come back.”

I clenched my fists in fury. “I refuse to accept this!” I shouted. “I want Huo Zhujun to pay for my mother’s death! I want that demon to die!”

Ruan Nianning blinked her blood-red eyes and wiped away her tears.

“From that day on, I told myself I couldn’t rely on that coward of a father! I would avenge my mother! I would make that demon called Huo Zhujun pay with her life! From then on, my sole purpose for living was revenge.”

Huo Jianan recalled what her grandmother had said: Ruan Nianning was ambitious and academically gifted, but instead of applying to a prestigious 985 university, she chose X Film Academy.

“How did you get into the entertainment industry?”

“I never intended to. During college entrance exam registration, a film crew came to our school to audition high school students for a role with a close-up shot. They approached me. Overhearing the director casually remark to someone else that I had good looks and could potentially become a big star in a few years if I entered the industry, meeting all sorts of social elites and wealthy, influential families.

Hearing about meeting social elites and wealthy, influential families, I made up my mind. I had to enter the entertainment industry, become a big star, and meet wealthy people so I could use their power to get revenge on Huo Zhujun!”

“But why did you end up marrying Huo Jianan?”

“By then, I was already famous. Huo Jianan was my fan, relentlessly pursuing me, showering me with expensive gifts like sports cars and mansions. Since her surname was Huo and she was a wealthy heiress, I asked her about the Changbin Huo Corporation. That’s when I discovered she was the Young Miss of the Huo Corporation, her mother was Huo Zhujun, and they had lived abroad for many years before returning to settle here just last year.”

I deliberately asked her if she knew Bailey Street in Country A. She said she did, explaining that when she lived abroad with her mother, their home wasn’t far from Bailey Street. It was a necessary route to the hospital.

I was certain—she was the Young Miss of the Huo family, no doubt about it. “What a twist of fate!” I thought. “The daughter of my enemy has delivered herself right to my doorstep!”

“So, I agreed to her advances and became her girlfriend. Later, I learned that her mother, Huo Zhujun, had already passed away from illness. Knowing her days were numbered, she brought her daughter back to be cared for by her grandmother.”

I was nearly overcome with fury! My archenemy had died before I could get my revenge! And so quickly! The whole thing felt bitterly ironic. All those years of enduring hardship and humiliation had become utterly meaningless.

“I called Zou Guohua and asked if Xu Weiyi, the chairman of the Huo Corporation, had come forward when my mother died.”

“He said she did. Xu Weiyi personally flew over, and it was her idea to offer compensation.”

By then, he had already married Xu Yimei and had Zou Xiaojing. He asked me what I wanted to do, then advised me to let it go. He said all those years had passed, I was already a big star, and there was no point in digging up old grudges—since the dead couldn’t be brought back.

His words felt so sticky and insincere, it made me furious. This man had never once considered seeking justice for my mother.

I forced Zou Guohua to swear an oath: “If you’ve hidden anything or lied to me about my mother’s death, you’ll never have an Alpha in your lifetime! You’ll never give birth to an Alpha!”

I knew his greatest desire was to have an Alpha to carry on the Zou family lineage.

At first, Zou Guohua refused to swear the oath, claiming I was cursing him. But when I cornered him, he had no choice but to take the oath.”

Huo Jianan: “So your true enemy is Grandmother?”

“Yes! My greatest desire is to retaliate against Huo Zhujun, but she’s already dead! So it’s Xu Weiyi now, and their pride and joy, the Huo Corporation. We’ll bring the Huo Corporation to ruin, and I’ll make Xu Weiyi pay for her arrogance and haughtiness!”

Huo Jianan fell silent. Everything now made sense. By leveraging Huo Jianan’s affection, Ruan Nianning had married into the Huo family, gradually using Huo Jianan’s actions to dismantle the Huo Corporation, and ultimately driving Grandmother Huo and Xu Weiyi to their deaths.

Ruan Nianning straightened up from Huo Jianan’s embrace, wiping away her tears. “This is me. For the sake of revenge, I’ve never regretted anything—except betraying Huo Jianan.”

“I know I shouldn’t have shamelessly used her, but if I hadn’t, I could never have gotten my revenge.”

“The Huo family was too powerful and wealthy. I’m a celebrity, but what does a small celebrity count for against them? I had nothing except my beauty—the beauty that attracted Huo Jianan.”

“I had no other choice. I… I could only do this.”

Huo Jianan looked at her, uncertain whether her heart ached more with sympathy or regret.

“Wife, you’re not alone. Trust me, I will uncover the truth behind all this.”

Ruan Nianning’s heart ached, swelling with bitterness.

After all these years, someone finally stood before her, shielding her from the storm, and earnestly, resolutely told her: “You’re not alone.”

She collapsed into Huo Jianan’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably like a floodgate bursting open. “Mmm… I believe you…”

After a long moment, Huo Jianan gently soothed her, “Wife, don’t cry anymore. If you keep crying, everyone will recognize you.”

Ruan Nianning’s thin sobs continued, her nose and eyes red and swollen. When she spoke, her voice was hoarse and frightened. “Jianan, am I too evil?”

Huo Jianan gently patted her back. “You were trying to avenge your mother. You didn’t know you were avenging the wrong person, and besides, you didn’t have many choices.”

“But didn’t you say that in the book, the one I wronged, your Huo Jianan, jumped into the river because of me?”

Huo Jianan paused for two seconds. “Ultimately, it was my transmigration here that made that Huo Jianan disappear. Do you want me to disappear too? Maybe that could bring her back.”

“No! Don’t!” Ruan Nianning clutched at her collar tightly. “You can’t disappear. What would I do if you’re gone? I love you.”

“That Huo Jianan… aren’t we just different vessels?”

“No! We’re completely different! I know I owe her, I’m sorry for what I did, but I truly don’t love her.”

“Then let’s live well together. Let’s be good to Grandmother, not anger her, and run Huo Corporation properly, making it better and better.” Huo Jianan wrapped an arm around Ruan Nianning’s shoulders, gazing into the distance. Her eyes held regret, helplessness, relief, tenderness, and hope.

“Let’s promise we won’t mention this again. Let’s just let it go.”

Ruan Nianning nodded, her soft voice trembling with tears. “Okay.”

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