Hearing Mo Ran’s words, the expression on Father Mo’s face first became embarrassed, then quickly twisted into rage. “What do you mean by that? Are you threatening me?”
“You all saw it! This is my wonderful daughter, shouting at me for the sake of an irrelevant outsider!”
He hollered, acting as if Mo Ran had committed some unspeakable crime.
The surrounding crowd of onlookers could no longer stand it.
“You are a healthy, able-bodied adult. You demand money from your own daughter every single day with such arrogance—don’t you feel ashamed?”
Hearing this, Father Mo’s eyes widened as he glared at the speaker. “Ashamed? I’m telling you, I’m the one who sired her! No matter what I do to her, it’s none of your business. Get lost!”
Seeing that he wouldn’t be getting any money, his face grew impatient. He continuously rubbed his palms together, pacing back and forth irritably. Then, he rushed toward Mo Ran. “Just give me some! The debt collectors have already come to the house. If I can’t pay them back, you won’t have a father anymore!”
Mo Ran looked at him, her expression remaining calm and unshakeable. She gave a brief response. “I already said that I won’t give you another cent from now on.”
“Fine, fine…”
Realizing that Mo Ran was truly determined not to give him money this time, Father Mo’s voice gradually became shrill, finally turning cold and raspy. “Mo Ran, have you forgotten that I’m your father? I have plenty of your personal information. From your childhood to the present, I have everything.”
He began to laugh maniacally. “Since you won’t let me live in peace, I definitely won’t let you live in peace either. I will personally destroy you. I’ll make you regret this!”
Mo Ran slowly tightened her grip on Jiang Ling’s fingers. Jiang Ling felt a slight pang of pain, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she used even more strength to squeeze back. After taking a deep breath, she looked at the now-frenzied Father Mo. “Do you know that this behavior is already illegal?”
Hearing Jiang Ling’s somewhat stiff question, Father Mo laughed even louder. He spat disdainfully on the ground. “Pah! What the hell do you mean by illegal? I’m disciplining my own daughter, do you understand?”
Father Mo ranted several more incoherent lines. Jiang Ling didn’t care to listen any longer and pressed the pause button on her mobile phone’s recording app.
Regardless of everything else, she had to secure evidence first.
This way, even if he tried to make a scene out of this later, they would be fully prepared when they eventually had to expose the matter to the public.
Jiang Ling looked at the silent Mo Ran. Her voice was very soft, yet it carried an unquestionable strength. “Don’t worry, we will all stay by your side.”
“No matter what kind of decision you make, I, Jiang Ling, will always stay by your side. That’s what we promised.”
As she spoke, she revealed a shallow smile amidst the chaotic and noisy environment.
Jiang Ling knew that her role wasn’t to call for help or coordinate with the Director; the other sisters in the Group would handle those things.
From beginning to end, all she had to do was lead Mo Ran out of that dark, muddy swamp.
Mo Ran stared blankly at Jiang Ling and soon smiled as well.
Her mother had left her, and her father was such a cowardly and hideous creature. Mo Ran had thought she would never again receive the warmth that was once within her reach.
But Jiang Ling was constantly using her actions to break down the walls around her heart, time and time again.
Mo Ran looked at her father, who was still acting like a maniac. For the first time, she didn’t feel that sense of collapsing helplessness. She slowly walked toward the childhood shadow that had haunted her for years, raised her arm high, and swung it down with all her might.
*Slap!*
The crisp sound echoed through the room.
This sudden scene left Father Mo completely stunned.
If being hit by Fang Wannian brought him anger, being hit by Mo Ran filled him with an indescribable shock.
How could the daughter he had always pinned to the ground and bullied at will actually strike back?
Father Mo could not accept this. He took half a step back, but then immediately lunged forward, raising his arm to mimic her action and slap her back. “You actually dared to hit me — “
*Thud!*
However, Mo Ran grabbed his arm mid-air.
Looking at Father Mo’s expression of shock and collapse from such a close distance, Mo Ran actually felt a bit dazed.
She finally realized that the invincible, high-and-mighty father in her eyes was actually so weak and ridiculous in front of her.
She had been influenced throughout her entire youth by such a cowardly and powerless person, to the point where she would need the rest of her life to slowly heal.
“How dare you, how dare you!”
Father Mo’s voice began to stutter as he repeated that single phrase. His already haggard face turned deathly pale. He desperately tried to coerce Mo Ran. “Aren’t you afraid of me exposing you online? People on the internet don’t care about right or wrong. When that happens, your Group will be finished! Are you really not afraid at all?!”
He heightened his tone, trying to see the fear in Mo Ran’s eyes that used to make him feel most comfortable. Instead, he found the girl’s eyes were calm, devoid of any unnecessary emotion.
This was the opposite of what Father Mo had imagined. For the first time, he felt an uncontrollable sense of unfamiliarity from his daughter, which caused him to panic for no reason.
“I was really afraid of you at the beginning,” Mo Ran began to explain in a steady tone. “Because you would drink and hit people at the drop of a hat. Mother cried many times because of you, holding me and saying she would take me away. In the end, she did leave, but she didn’t take me with her.”
“But I don’t blame her, because to her, I might have been a burden back then… But you are different. From beginning to end, you have been an arrogant, cowardly, and incompetent person.”
She shoved Father Mo’s hand away. “But things are different now. In my eyes, you are no different from a clown.”
Such words undoubtedly enraged Father Mo. He suddenly began to laugh under his breath, then abruptly pulled a dagger from his pocket and lunged toward Mo Ran like a madman. “Die!”
Seeing this, Jiang Ling’s heart jumped in shock. Almost instinctively, she pulled Mo Ran to her side and wrapped her trembling body around her.
She used the fastest and greatest strength she had ever exerted.
As she closed her eyes, Jiang Ling could already imagine the scene of being stabbed and rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment. Large tears uncontrollably fell from the corners of her eyes.
‘I’ll probably have to stay in the hospital for many days, right?’
‘What if they can’t save me? *Sob*…’
But the expected pain did not arrive. Jiang Ling opened her eyes in surprise, only to see the Fang Family Bodyguards tightly restraining Father Mo.
Near her ear, she heard Mo Ran’s voice, which sounded like a sigh. “How can you be so silly — “
Then, Jiang Ling felt herself being pulled into a tight embrace.
As she was held in Mo Ran’s arms, her body could clearly sense the other girl’s muscles trembling and shaking, along with a raspy voice that carried a hint of a sob. “I wouldn’t have died from a scratch. Why did you rush forward? What if something really happened to you?”
Jiang Ling didn’t agree and wanted to look up to say something, but she found that her legs had long since turned weak from fear. She could only lean weakly against Mo Ran and argue for herself in a small voice. “I just… I just didn’t want you to face this kind of situation again, so I was a bit impulsive. I’m sorry…”
In that moment just now, Jiang Ling really hadn’t thought much before moving.
Now that she thought about it, she did feel a bit of regret.
‘I’ll probably get lectured by my older sisters again later!’
Jiang Ling felt like crying but had no tears. Suddenly, she felt a weight on her foot. Turning her head, she saw Father Mo desperately squirming on the ground. He reached out his hand, clawing at her while his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. “You…”
Before he could finish, he let out a wail. “Ah!”
Mo Ran pressed down hard with her toe, grinding his fingers. Her expression was icy. “Take your filthy hands off her.”
Seeing Father Mo forced to let go, Mo Ran didn’t let him off easily. Instead, she continued to step down with force, showing no mercy whatsoever. She could even hear the faint sound of bones cracking.
“Xiao Ran, Xiao Ran… Daddy knows he was wrong. Forgive me…”
Father Mo no longer had his previous arrogance. Instead, he wailed and begged for mercy, using his other hand to desperately reach for the hem of Mo Ran’s pants. “You were the most obedient when you were little, right? So you—”
*Thud!*
Mo Ran expressionlessly kicked away his mangled hand and turned to leave with Jiang Ling, without a single shred of lingering attachment.
From this day forward.
Mo Ran would no longer be shrouded in his shadow.
Watching the wailing Father Mo being taken away by the bodyguards, Jiang Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, before she could say anything, Mo Ran, whose complexion was quite poor, grabbed her wrist. They rushed through the crowd to the resting room, where Mo Ran slammed the door shut and locked it.
“What’s wrong?”
Jiang Ling hadn’t realized the gravity of the situation yet. Thinking Mo Ran was tired, she wanted to go get her a blanket. “Are you tired? Then you should get some rest, mmph—?!”
However, she had only taken two steps when she was pushed down onto the soft sofa.
What followed was a flurry of overwhelming, soft kisses.
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