Stop pretending, the fake heiress is actually a master of metaphysics.

Madam Shen and Shen Dahai worked together to put Shen Nian in a very difficult position.

It seems that if she doesn't speak up for Shen Dahai today, she's considered unrighteous, disloyal, and unfilial.

"Mr. and Mrs. Shen are joking."

Shen Nian said the exact same thing as Gu Qiwen.

"You've always only had Shen Leyao as your daughter. When did I become a daughter of the Shen family as well?"

Madam Shen's smile froze: "This..."

Shen Leyao spoke up at the right moment: "Sister, although you are only an adopted daughter of Mom and Dad, they still treat you as their own daughter."

"I know you feel that Mom and Dad always favor me, so you feel a little unbalanced. But this matter is related to our family business. There's no need for you to argue with Mom and Dad over this right now just to compete for their favor."

Madam Shen's eyes immediately welled up with tears: "I'm sorry, Niannian, it's all my fault. Sometimes we do favor Leyao a bit, but Leyao is, after all, our biological daughter... But I assure you that you and Leyao receive the same resources in the Shen family. In this respect, we absolutely treat you as our own daughter."

Those who were initially puzzled instantly understood upon hearing this.

So Miss Shen is the adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Shen.

The look in his eyes as he looked at Shen Nian immediately carried a hint of disdain and incomprehension.

The fact that Mr. and Mrs. Shen were willing to adopt her, an orphan, is already an immense kindness, and it's only natural for them to favor their own daughter.

If Miss Shen harbors resentment towards Mr. Shen and his family because of this incident, or even disowns her adoptive parents, then she would truly be heartless.

Someone couldn't help but speak up: "Miss Shen, what you said is wrong. No matter what, it was President Shen and the others who raised you. How can you be so ungrateful?"

"I see that Mr. and Mrs. Shen care about Miss Shen quite a bit. Miss Shen doesn't need to abandon her adoptive parents just because she's trying to get close to the Gu family."

"The Gu family is actually going to treat such a heartless person as an honored guest? It's truly disappointing..."

Gu Yuncheng had a short temper. After hearing Shen Leyao's distorted words and the accusations against Shen Nian from those around him, he couldn't hold back any longer. Just as he was about to step forward to argue with them, Shen Nian grabbed his arm.

"This is my problem, I can handle it myself."

She glanced at the Shen family members, a mocking smile playing on her lips: "You went through all that trouble to raise me? You treated me and Shen Leyao the same? You treated me like your own daughter?"

"Mrs. Shen, don't you find it laughable when you say that? Do you even believe it yourself?"

"I don't know any family that would continuously abuse their 'biological daughter' for more than ten years."

"Rather than saying you raised me, it would be more accurate to say that from the day I was adopted into the Shen family, I have been subjected to inhumane abuse."

Madam Shen became anxious: "What do you mean by 'abusing you'! Shen Nian, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. Do you have any evidence?!"

"Evidence..."

Shen Nian reached out and pulled off the pearl necklace around her neck.

Expensive pearls were scattered all over the ground, but no one paid them any attention.

What's even more striking is the long, narrow, dark red scar that runs across Shen Nian's fair neck.

"When I was six years old, Shen Leyao fell off a chair and scraped her skin."

"Madam Shen felt that I had not taken good care of her, and in a fit of anger, she slashed my neck with scissors. The cut went right through a vein, and it was just a hair's breadth away from cutting an artery. If I hadn't been lucky, I probably wouldn't be standing here now."

Some people closed their eyes in disbelief and whispered, "This is too cruel! Miss Shen was only six years old at the time. How could she possibly be capable of caring for another child who was almost the same age?"

"That's right! How could someone so brutally attack a child? This is attempted murder!"

Madam Shen avoided eye contact, forcing a smile as she said, "You say I scratched it, do you have any proof? I think it was clearly you being naughty and falling down on your own!"

Shen Nian ignored her and continued, "When I was twelve years old, Shen Leyao was curious about how long it would take for a person to starve to death without food, so she made you lock me in the basement. You didn't give me a single bite of food or a drop of water, and you kept me locked up there for five whole days. I was so hungry that I could only gnaw on my own flesh and eat my own hair."

"After finally being released, Shen Leyao made me fight with the Shen family's dogs for food. Oh, by the way, the Shen family's dogs are specially trained fierce dogs."

She removed her black velvet gloves, revealing teeth marks and scars on her arm: "This is the price I pay for fighting with dogs for food. I almost had a piece of my flesh bitten off by a dog that time."

Hearing this, even many seasoned business executives felt that Miss Shen was... a little too pitiful.

"There are many other things, but I won't list them all. I'll just ask about the last one. A while ago, Shen Leyao took me to Xijing Mountain, and only she came back. I disappeared in Xijing Mountain for two days and two nights. Did any of you come looking for me?"

"No. No one in the Shen family has ever cared whether I live or die. If I hadn't happened to save Gu Yuncheng in the mountains, I think even if I had died there, you wouldn't have known."

Shen Nian's tone was calm, yet it sent a shiver down the spines of everyone present.

How could there be such a vicious family?

If you choose to adopt, you should take responsibility, not abuse her just because she is not your biological child.

If being adopted by the Shen family means being subjected to such abuse, then it's indeed... better to starve to death on the streets.

While abusing and hurting her, they shamelessly approached her when they could profit from her, asking her to help the Shen family get involved with the Gu family.

"Now, are you still going to say that the Shen family raised me?"

Despite the way everyone looked at them as beasts, Shen Dahai and his wife still tried to maintain their composure and dignity.

Shen Nian's lips curled into a cold smile. With a slight movement of her fingertips, a faint blue light emanated and silently entered the bodies of the Shen family members.

That is a mantra.

Anyone who is under the influence of a mantra can only speak the truth.

Just as Madam Shen was about to deny it, the words that came out were: "You little slut, why didn't you die on Mount Xijing!"

"So what if I abused you? You're just a lowly orphan; no one will care even if you die!"

"Mother!"

Shen Leyao's face turned pale. She wanted to speak up to stop them, but the words that came out of her mouth were equally bizarre: "Shen Nian, you're nothing but a dog that wags its tail and begs for mercy in my Shen family. Isn't it right for me to tie you up with livestock and let you steal food?"

"You only deserve to eat scraps and leftovers!"

"So what if I abuse you? You know what? I love seeing you in so much pain you're about to die, but you don't dare to fight back at all."

After saying this, Shen Leyao bit her lip in horror.

She couldn't believe what she had just said!

Shen Nian nodded and continued to ask, "If you don't like me, why did the Shen family adopt me?"

This time it was Shen Dahai's turn to speak: "Of course it's because you have a good destiny and can protect our family from disaster!"

"If you weren't still of any use, our family wouldn't have adopted a bastard with no parents!"

Upon hearing this, the expressions of those present became even more subtle.

People in wealthy circles mostly believe in feng shui, and many of them worship so-called metaphysical masters.

Upon hearing this, I instantly understood that the Shen family was not only tormenting Miss Shen, but also using her destiny to ward off disasters and pave the way for their own family.

Someone whispered, "Could it be that the Shen family suddenly became rich in the past few years and entered the circle of wealthy families in Jinghai because they took advantage of Miss Shen's destiny?"

"Aren't you afraid of retribution?"

Although some people do not believe in these supernatural beliefs, putting that aside, the abuse Shen Nian suffered in the Shen family was indeed real.

"The Shen family are all beasts" became the consensus of everyone present.