Stepdaughter of a wealthy family? The little darling of a Beijing tycoon

"Mom, this is the last time I'll call you 'Mom'."

Xiaoting's eyes reddened, her voice as cold as ice. "Back then, when you and my father divorced, we relied on each other. I always thought we were the closest people in the world. I studied and worked hard, thinking I could take good care of you. I never imagined you would betray me so cruelly for another man. Today, everything is laid bare. From this day forward, our mother-daughter relationship is severed. I appreciate your hard work in raising me, and I will send you living expenses every month to fulfill my filial duty. But other than that, I don't want to see you again, not even for a moment."

She turned to look at Tang Jun beside her, her eyes filled with disgust: "And you, Tang Jun, you're utterly repulsive. You were talking to me about marriage while secretly having an affair with her. She's old enough to be your elder, yet you can still cross that line without a care in the world."

"Tingting, you can't accuse Xiaojun like that!" Liu Xiujuan immediately stood in front of Tang Jun, defending him righteously, "Feelings don't have a right or wrong, and there's no such thing as first come, first served. We just couldn't control our feelings. Blame me, I couldn't keep my distance. You know, I've been single for so many years, and it's rare to meet someone who understands me. Xiaojun and I are soulmates. We originally planned to keep it a secret from you, and then we'd live together after you married him. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds? Why did you have to tear down the facade?"

Xiaoting stared blankly at Liu Xiujuan, a chill running through her. The person before her was so unfamiliar that she dared not recognize her. Was this the mother who had raised her with such hardship? It seemed she had never truly understood her. Mother and daughter sharing a man—such an absurd and immoral idea, devoid of any moral boundaries, and yet she could speak of it as if it were perfectly reasonable.

She then cast a sharp gaze at Tang Jun, who had remained silent with his head down the entire time, and said firmly, "You've been a coward from beginning to end. You dare to do despicable things, but you have no sense of responsibility whatsoever. After things got out of hand, you just hid behind a woman and let her defend you. What kind of man are you?"

In the end, Xiaoting did not expose this shocking and shameful affair. She simply resolved to sever the bond between mother and daughter and ordered Liu Xiujuan to move out of the house.

She will also put the house, which she bought through hard work, on the market later. Out of gratitude for Liu Xiujuan's kindness in raising her, she will transfer 3,000 yuan to Liu Xiujuan's bank account every month for living expenses, fulfilling her legal obligation to support her, and that's all.

After settling her family matters, Xiaoting submitted her resignation. Her superiors and colleagues were all quite surprised; her career was thriving, and her future looked bright. No one understood why she would suddenly choose to leave. Faced with their questions, Xiaoting simply explained that she wanted to seek new opportunities in another city. Her superiors tried several times to persuade her to stay, but to no avail, and finally had to approve her resignation.

After completing her resignation procedures and packing her office belongings, she returned to her residence to pack her personal belongings. Just as she was pulling her suitcase out of the community gate, she bumped into Liu Xiujuan and Tang Jun.

Seeing her all dressed up, Liu Xiujuan's eyes reddened, and she stepped forward with tears in her eyes: "Tingting, are you really leaving? You really don't want your mother anymore?"

Xiaoting's expression was calm, her eyes devoid of any warmth: "From the moment you chose to become entangled with him, you had already given up on me. I remember the kindness of you in giving me life and raising me, and I will fulfill my responsibilities to support you in every way, but we need not see each other again in this life."

After saying that, she didn't look at the two of them again, and resolutely left the city filled with painful memories.

After Xiaoting left, Liu Xiujuan was overjoyed, believing she could finally be with Tang Jun and even dreaming of marriage. However, when Tang Jun's father learned the whole story, he felt utterly humiliated. In their eyes, Liu Xiujuan, who was about their age, was shamelessly seducing their son. Tang Jun's father, who had lived an honest and upright life for most of his life, was furious to be criticized behind his back in his old age and resolutely opposed the two being together.

The city was full of acquaintances, and the two were afraid of gossip, so Tang Jun simply quit his job and took Liu Xiujuan to live in a completely unfamiliar city.

In the first few years after arriving in this foreign land, the two were still deeply in love, and their days seemed sweet. But as the years passed, Liu Xiujuan grew older, gradually showing signs of old age. Her figure became out of shape and bloated, her face was covered with mottled age spots, and her skin lost its former condition. As they spent more and more time together, Tang Jun slowly began to feel disgusted.

In the end, Tang Jun completely changed his mind.

Having faced Liu Xiujuan's aging and flabby figure for years, he had long since lost all sense of their initial "soulmate connection," leaving only disgust and disdain in his heart. Not long after, he secretly met a young and beautiful girl of similar age, and completely decided to get rid of the past, abandoning Liu Xiujuan, who had been with him for several years, without hesitation.

Liu Xiujuan was suddenly dumped and couldn't accept the outcome. The love she had won by sacrificing half her life's worth of dignity and betraying her only daughter had ended up being nothing. Enraged, she stormed into Tang Jun's company and made a scene, crying and accusing him of being ungrateful and abandoning her after starting something.

But this farce only made Tang Jun the laughingstock of the entire company. His colleagues gossiped about him privately, mocking his strange taste, saying that he didn't like young girls but instead got entangled with older women, and teasing him that he had a serious Oedipus complex.

Tang Jun, who had lost face, felt no remorse whatsoever. Instead, he grew even more disgusted and hateful towards Liu Xiujuan, and his determination to get rid of her became even stronger.

One morning, Liu Xiujuan woke up to find that all of Tang Jun's belongings had vanished, leaving her alone in the empty room. Tang Jun had chosen the most decisive way, leaving without saying goodbye and disappearing completely from her world without a trace.

In this unfamiliar city, they had no relatives or friends. Having fled to escape rumors, the two had almost no acquaintances. After the uproar at the company, Tang Jun had quietly resigned and disappeared without a trace. Liu Xiujuan searched and inquired frantically, but to no avail.

With nowhere else to turn, she could only drag her suitcase, looking disheveled and covered in dust, and return to her hometown alone.

For the rest of her life, every month, three thousand yuan in alimony will be deposited into her bank account without fail, rain or shine.

This is the only warmth her daughter Xiaoting left her, and also the coldest shackle.

She had money and no worries about food or clothing, but she was lonely and helpless. Countless nights, Liu Xiujuan sat alone in her empty room, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She would never receive a phone call or a greeting from her daughter again, never see the daughter she had raised with her own hands and who loved her the most.

She finally realized the absurdity of her past actions.