"I won't marry!"
In the grand hall of the Ai family villa, Gu Susu's voice was loud.
"Whether you want to or not, you have to marry. Gu Susu, I'm telling you, you have no choice but to marry into the Qin family in Yiwei's place."
After Gu Susu spoke, her father, Ai Shunan, issued a stern command.
"Susu, please agree to marry into the Qin family for Yiwei. You know that Qin Tianyi is a fool. If Yiwei marries a fool, how can she live her life?" Her mother, Yuan Shuna, approached her and persuaded her.
Her brother, Ai Yifeng, sat on the beige leather sofa in the hall with his legs crossed and said impatiently, "Dad, Mom, why are you wasting so much time talking to her? Just tie her up and marry her off to the Qin family. Anyway, with her country bumpkin status, it's her great fortune to be able to marry into the Qin family in Yiwei's stead."
Listening to the three of them speaking in unison, Gu Susu felt a chill run through her entire body.
"Yiwei, Yiwei, do you like Ai Yiwei that much? Have you forgotten that I am your biological daughter? Ai Yiwei is just an adopted daughter? Have you forgotten that if it weren't for Ai Yiwei's biological parents deliberately swapping us, I would be the eldest daughter of the Ai family, and Ai Yiwei would be the country bumpkin you call her?"
Yes, she, Gu Susu, was the biological daughter of the Ai family.
After living as an orphan in the countryside for eighteen years, Gu Susu only found out when she was admitted to university that she was not an orphan.
She had parents, but she was deliberately swapped at birth by a rural couple and then abandoned at an orphanage.
When she was eighteen, that rural couple suddenly died in a car accident. While the police were checking their household registration, they inadvertently discovered the secret of the deliberate swap and found her and her biological parents, the Ai family, respectively.
Afterward, she was recognized by the Ai family. As for Ai Yiwei, since the rural couple had died in a car accident and the Ai family claimed to have raised her with affection, she remained with the Ai family.
Perhaps it was because those who had been orphans longed for family affection?
Upon hearing the news that she was to be sent back to the Ai family, Gu Susu was filled with anticipation of a happy life with her parents and brother. She even genuinely regarded Ai Yiwei as a sister, believing Ai Yiwei was also innocent and that the deliberate swap by the rural couple was not Ai Yiwei's fault.
However, she never expected that after returning to the Ai family, her father, thinking she was uncultured and ill-bred from the countryside, not only did not change her surname, allowing her to keep the surname 'Gu' from the orphanage, but he also never publicly announced her as the Ai family's daughter, continuing to treat Ai Yiwei as his biological daughter.
Her mother constantly told her to yield to Ai Yiwei, saying that Ai Yiwei had lost her biological parents and they should treat her well, not let her suffer any grievances, and ultimately, all the grievances were borne by her biological daughter.
Her own brother constantly called her a country bumpkin, accusing her of stealing the Ai family's biological daughter status, and demeaning her, his own sister, as the most wicked person in the world.
As for Ai Yiwei, *tsk*, this sister who had occupied her identity for eighteen years, in order to maintain her excellent academic performance in university, to satisfy her vanity as a young lady, and to always hold an important position in the hearts of the Ai family...
Ai Yiwei actually devised a plan to trick her into accompanying her thesis advisor, leading to her pregnancy and involvement in a murder case, and ultimately serving three years in prison for manslaughter.
A year of hardship in the Gu family and three years of imprisonment had long since extinguished Gu Susu's laughable hopes for family affection.
Now, released from prison, Gu Susu only wanted to leave with the child she had in prison, far away from the Ai family.
However, the Ai family's heartlessness had once again crossed the line; they were now forcing her to marry a fool in place of Ai Yiwei.
"I will not marry a simpleton in Yiwei's place. Don't look for me again. The Ai family and I are now severed!"
Gu Susu said with icy eyes. She was no longer the girl who craved family affection and foolishly disregarded everything to gain her parents' approval.
"Have the young lady bring the child down."
Almost as soon as Gu Susu finished speaking, Ai Shunan's calm and collected face contorted, and he instructed the household servants.
Upon hearing this, Gu Susu had a bad premonition. The next second, she heard footsteps descending the stairs.
*Tap! Tap!*
Gu Susu looked up and saw Ai Yiwei, with her bright eyes and the typical aura of an oxygen beauty, walking down slowly from the second floor, holding a two-year-old boy.
"Xingxing!" Gu Susu's heart skipped a beat, and she called out her child's nickname.
The child's eyes were closed, seemingly asleep, but upon hearing the call, he immediately opened his eyes and shouted happily, "Mommy! Mommy!"
Gu Susu clenched her fists tightly and glared at Ai Yiwei, saying, "Give me back my child!"
Ai Yiwei hugged the child tighter and smiled, "You, a murderer, are you fit to raise a child? Dad has already applied to the court as the maternal grandfather to become the child's guardian. You no longer have the right to raise this child."
"Mommy! I want Mommy!" Little Xingxing desperately tried to break free from Ai Yiwei and rush into his mother's arms.
Ai Yiwei tightened her grip on Little Xingxing, preventing him from going to his mother.
Little Xingxing started crying loudly, kicking and hitting without restraint, and bit Ai Yiwei's arm fiercely.
Only then did Ai Yiwei loosen her grip in pain, and Little Xingxing almost fell directly onto the marble floor.
Fortunately, Gu Susu was quick-handed and caught Little Xingxing, holding him tightly and saying, "Don't be afraid, Mommy is here."
Little Xingxing cried in her arms, his young voice intermittently saying, "Mommy, I'm scared... they are all so fierce... I'm afraid of this aunt... she keeps telling me to sleep... and doesn't let me cry... but I miss Mommy... when I miss Mommy, I want to cry..."
Gu Susu's heart ached, and tears streamed down her face, feeling as if a piece of her flesh had been gouged out.
"Dad, look at this wild child, he actually bit me! Just like his sister, he's ill-bred!" Ai Yiwei, playing the victim, showed her bitten arm to Ai Shunan.
Ai Shunan snorted coldly, grabbed Little Xingxing's arm, and tried to pull them apart. He instructed the servants, "Come here, take the child away! They are not allowed to see each other from now on!"
Although Little Xingxing did not understand the adults' words, he knew they were trying to separate him from his mother. He immediately wailed heartbreakingly, clinging tightly to Gu Susu's hand.
Gu Susu also wanted to hold onto him, to prevent him from being taken away by others.
But her strength alone was no match for the people grabbing Little Xingxing with her. The hands that were tightly clasped between her and her child were forcibly separated.
Watching her crying child being carried away by Sister Lin, the most formidable servant of the Ai family, she wanted to chase after him but was blocked by her parents, brother, and Ai Yiwei.
Listening to her child's cries fading further away from her, her tears instantly fell, and she knelt down, saying, "What exactly do you want? Please, give me back my child..."
"Marry Qin Tianyi in Yiwei's place, and you can see the child once a month." Ai Shunan said to her with disgust.
Gu Susu, having no other choice, pleaded, "Dad, can I see Xingxing once a week?"
"Dad, once a week is not acceptable. If the Qin family discovers what kind of person she is, it will be troublesome."
Gu Susu glared at Ai Yiwei, wishing she could fight her to the death, "If it weren't for satisfying your vanity, I wouldn't have become like this..."
Before she could finish speaking, Ai Shunan's face contorted, and he slapped her fiercely, "You are the disgrace of the Ai family! Don't you dare speak about Yiwei like that! Once a month, do you marry or not? If you don't marry, I'll kill this bastard!"
"I'll marry," she said, covering her face in terror and collapsing to the ground, trembling.