Chapter 33: Heart Blackened to the Core

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Heart Blackened to the Core

But the other woman dodged her with a sidestep.

"If you really wanted to harm me, that just proves you’re not my biological mother."

Song Yao stood ramrod straight, her voice clear and loud.

"Would a real mother ruin her own daughter like this?"

The crowd instantly erupted.

"I get it now! Ma’am, you didn’t secretly swap the babies back then, did you?"

"Exactly! Otherwise, how could this whole thing seem more and more bizarre the more you think about it?"

"What kind of mother would push her own daughter into an old widower’s bed? Mr. Shen is right, they must have been swapped at birth! Look at Song Yao, she’s as skinny as a rake. You can tell she hasn’t had a single good day in her life!"

As soon as these words were spoken, more people began to nod in agreement.

Liu Yumin panicked and turned to shoot Shen Shuangshuang a look, pleading for help.

She wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed; all the things she’d said earlier had been coached by Shen Shuangshuang.

She thought she could just read from the script and bluff her way through.

But she never expected Song Yao to play so unconventionally, throwing the situation into even greater chaos.

Shen Shuangshuang cursed inwardly.

’Utterly useless!’

She knew she couldn’t delay any longer.

But if she spoke up rashly now, people would just think she was the mastermind.

And throughout this entire process, Shen Zhenwu had remained completely silent.

This was becoming increasingly unfavorable for her.

Only if Shen Zhenwu stepped up to openly favor Song Yao would she have the chance to steer the crowd’s attention to the matter of an "illegitimate daughter."

She needed to use their voices to force Shen Zhenwu to back down.

After all, no one wanted their official career to be derailed midway through.

Song Yao watched them quietly, her tone unhurried.

"I still had some doubts, but after you came here yourselves to cause this scene today, I finally understand my origins completely."

"Liu Yumin, you and Mrs. Shen gave birth to daughters on the same day. When the two babies were just born, there wasn’t much difference in their size."

"That day in the hospital room, the Shen family’s grandmother couldn’t help but boast that her son was a soldier. As soon as you heard that, you knew the Shen Family had backing and lived a respectable life. An idea took root in your mind. You also knew that the Song Family only cared for sons and not daughters, so you hardened your heart and simply swapped the babies!"

"You took advantage of the moment the nurse was away changing diapers to switch the positions of the two swaddled babies. You even remember the nurse glancing back when she returned, not suspecting a thing, and you got away with it just like that."

"From that day on, your biological daughter went to the Shen Family. She ate fine food, wore new clothes, and was raised doted on by the entire family. But the Shen family’s child was taken back by you to the Song Family, where she was beaten and starved from a young age, never even having a single proper, filling meal."

Liu Yumin’s pupils contracted!

’How does she know even these details?’

That happened decades ago. Even her husband didn’t know the specifics.

But Song Yao not only recounted it without a single error, she had even seen right through to the thoughts Liu Yumin had at the time.

"This was your calculation: when your biological daughter grew up, you’d show up at her door to reunite. The bond of blood can’t be broken, so she’d have to take care of you in your old age. You could live a comfortable life relying on her success."

"Meanwhile, you brought the Shen family’s own flesh and blood back home to suffer. Since she wasn’t your biological child, it didn’t matter to you whether you abused her to death or not!"

"You knew the Shen Family had strict rules and wouldn’t easily acknowledge an outsider, so you lay low and bided your time. You planned to wait until Shen Shuangshuang married into a good family and was well-established, then you’d quietly reveal yourself and demand benefits under the banner of blood ties."

"You never cared if the girl growing up in the Song Family would suffer, or if she would hate you. You only cared about what you could get for yourself."

Shen Zhenwu’s fists clenched so tightly they cracked!

He remembered when Song Yao broke her leg as a child, Liu Yumin not only didn’t take her to a doctor but even said she was faking it.

He remembered when Song Yao had a fever for three days, and Liu Yumin still made her go out to the fields to dig for wild vegetables.

At the time, those incidents had just seemed cruel.

Hearing them now, they were revealed to be premeditated indifference.

Liu Yumin’s face was ashen, and she shook her head frantically.

"N-no... that’s not what happened, I’m not..."

Shen Shuangshuang also panicked and quickly interjected.

"Are you crazy? You’re just making all this up!"

She turned to the crowd, her voice rising.

"Don’t believe her! She just hates my mother, so she’s making up these lies to slander her! Where’s the proof? Who can prove any of what she said is true?"

After speaking, she reached out, grabbed Liu Yumin’s sleeve, and pulled her behind her protectively.

But the surrounding people were already convinced.

One by one, they clenched their fists, their teeth grinding with rage.

Song Yao remained perfectly calm.

"That’s why when I got hurt or sick as a child, you never showed a shred of pity, never shed a single tear. You never spoke up for me; instead, you’d push me forward, saying I was the one who didn’t know any better and caused trouble. And when I grew up, you tried to shove me off onto that old bachelor in the village without a second thought!"

"Because you were afraid! Afraid that I’d fly out of this poor nest someday, make something of myself, and what if one day I ran into my real parents? You’d be finished! Did you think I drank until I blacked out that day? Let me tell you, I spilled that drink on purpose. I wasn’t drunk at all!"

"You personally changed me into the red clothes that old bachelor sent, planning to sneak him in at night to carry me away. But at the last moment, you let your guard down and muttered the truth to yourself in that room."

She paused, then actually began to imitate Liu Yumin’s voice from that night.

"You little bitch, I worked my ass off to raise you, and you throw a fit when I tell you to marry Zhang Laosan? Hmph! Once you’re married off, you belong to his family. From now on, you’ll stay put in this mountain valley and stop dreaming about finding my real daughter to fight for the family fortune!"

The moment she finished speaking, the crowd exploded!

"You damn beast! The heart of a child trafficker is rotten to the core!"

"Liar! We should have believed Mr. Shen from the start!"

"Why are we even letting someone like this live? It wouldn’t be an injustice to drag her out and kill her!"

"This is outrageous! If it were my daughter being bullied like this, I would have flipped the table on the spot!"

In the blink of an eye, Liu Yumin had become "the black-hearted woman" and "that evil thing who profits without a conscience" in everyone’s mouths.

She cowered in a corner, her head bowed, not daring to look at anyone.

Shen Shuangshuang’s heart turned to ice.

She had thought she could use public opinion to crush her opponent, but instead, the tables had been turned on her.

Now, everyone’s eyes were on her, waiting for her to take a stance.

But how could she just accept this fate?

If she backed down now, there would be no chance for her to ever recover.

She suddenly threw her head back and burst into loud laughter.

"Hahaha..."

Everyone stared at her, stunned, not understanding why she was laughing at a moment like this.

"Look at her. She must have snapped from the shock."

"Sigh, raised as a pampered young lady her whole life. Who could have imagined her real mother was a liar."

"This Miss Shen has it rough, too. Pushed into the eye of the storm without knowing anything..."

Before the words had even faded, Shen Shuangshuang was seen staring daggers at Song Yao.

"You think you can just casually make up a story to usurp my identity and take over everything my family has? To put it bluntly, aren’t you just seizing this opportunity to climb the social ladder?"

"Comrade Song Yao, let me ask you, have you thought about anyone else? The leadership isn’t blind; they rely on evidence! If you can’t produce any real proof and just run your mouth, you’ll only make my father take the fall! The higher-ups will definitely think you’re a daughter he raised on the side! If word of this gets out, how can my parents ever live a normal life again?"

Her voice trailed off, her fingers twisting together tightly.

"My mother’s health is frail; she can’t handle this kind of turmoil... If my father really brings you home, she’ll definitely fall ill... I’m begging you, please don’t tear our family apart. Don’t take my father away from me..."