Chapter 144: I Don't Want to Be a Liar
Crash—
The glass shattered into pieces on the floor.
Ye Fuli covered her mouth with trembling hands.
A strange almond-like taste filled her mouth.
Her breathing grew increasingly ragged, her head began to spin, and the symptoms of oxygen deprivation gradually became apparent.
Ye Fuli stared wide-eyed at the crazed woman grinning savagely.
Tears slowly trickled down her cheeks.
"You… what did you just say?"
Having lived another lifetime, Ye Fuli never imagined she'd hear those words again—words that had once shattered her heart with hatred.
"I said you should have died in Zhenzhen's place! You're the one who deserves to die! Why did you show up? Why did you destroy my family? Why did you… Cough cough cough!"
Mrs. Ye began coughing violently.
She too was short of breath, and her pre-existing migraine symptoms worsened.
Ye Fuli remained silent for a long while.
Suddenly, she burst into loud laughter.
Whether it was the poison's reaction running too wild or her heart breaking too completely,
In that moment, Ye Fuli nearly lost all will to survive.
She suddenly realized that her rebirth had been utterly meaningless.
The one thing she desired most had eluded her in her previous life, and in this one… it remained equally… unattainable.
"You're right. I am a failed creation. Everything I have gained now and before is the retribution I deserve."
"I am unworthy of love."
"But the promise I made to Ye Zhen—I must keep it."
"I'll take care of everything for her—her family, her friends, her pets."
"No matter how flawed I am, at least I keep my word… right?"
"I can't accept this… I truly don't want to be… a fraud…"
Ye Fuli's consciousness gradually faded.
Her body slowly collapsed to the ground.
The light in her eyes faded away bit by bit.
Ye's father clutched his chest, gasping for breath.
His limbs were ice-cold and his body weak, yet fueled by his love for his daughter, he gripped the edge of the table to stand, struggling painfully toward Ye Fuli.
He shook her arm violently, trying to keep her conscious.
"Don't sleep, child! Daughter, don't sleep!"
His hands trembled as he dialed the emergency number.
"Don't sleep, don't sleep!"
……
…
Late at night.
South City.
Ye Zhen paced restlessly back and forth in the dorm room.
"Where could Ye Fuli have gone? She hasn't been seen for days, and the previous dorm supervisor has returned. This is strange."
[Host, I have some bad news.]
"Speak! Quickly!"
[Not long ago, Ye Fuli's biological mother laced her drink with poison. She, Ye Fuli, and Ye Fuli's biological father all suffered varying degrees of poisoning and are currently in the emergency room.]
Ye Zhen felt a buzzing in her head, her mind going blank in an instant.
[It appears to be cyanide poisoning. However, Ye Fuli is the world's greatest fortune-bearer—she won't die.]
But for Ye Fuli, after tonight's events, would she even have the will to live?
Ye Zhen couldn't help but recall the moment she had plunged into the river.
Ye Fuli's heart-wrenching screams from that moment still seemed to echo before her eyes.
Though Ye Fuli claimed not to care about her parents, in the original manga storyline, she had treated those scum of foster parents with utmost kindness.
Now, having been gravely wounded by her own flesh and blood…
Could she truly go on living?
For her, that overwhelming fortune—the kind that made her invincible and allowed her to escape death at every turn—was it truly what she desired?
"I need to go back."
[That could very well expose your identity.]
"I just happened to pass by that hospital. I happened to have a bad cold and wanted to see the ER. Is there a problem with that?"
[…Not really.]
It was already very late.
The security guard wouldn't let anyone out.
But if Ye Zhen wanted out, she'd climb over the wall if she had to.
She flagged down a taxi at the school gate.
The driver frowned the moment he heard her destination. "Little miss, are you kidding me? Do you know how many hundreds of kilometers that is? Out here in the middle of the night? Think you're playing games?"
When Ye Zhen flung a thick wad of cash his way, the driver's voice softened considerably.
"Let's go. Hurry up."
The thick darkness carried a bitter chill.
Ye Zhen suddenly grasped a terrifying truth: Could this be the same fate awaiting Ye Fuli from her past life?
From the original manga storyline, the silent yet kind-hearted heroine who cared for everyone through her actions had transformed into the hysterical, obsessive person she was now. She must have endured a hellish ordeal to become this way.
Such a person…
It was nothing short of a miracle that she hadn't been killed off at the start as the bullying, malicious supporting character "Ye Zhen."
From this perspective, Ye Fuli had ultimately been too soft-hearted.
The car raced down the highway.
Tonight felt unusually cold.
Ye Zhen hugged herself tightly, slowly leaning forward as if that might bring her a little more warmth.
The Ye family harbored irreconcilable conflicts.
Both Ye Zhen and Ye Fuli understood the future trajectory of this world. There seemed to be many things they could do.
Yet, there were always certain things that remained utterly beyond their reach.
…
At the hospital.
Ye Fuli lay in the intensive care unit, her eyes unfocused.
"Her physical constitution is extraordinary! Surviving such a massive dose of poison is nothing short of a miracle."
Through the thick glass window, several attending physicians watched Ye Fuli, her body covered in tubes, feeling helpless and heartbroken.
They all knew Ye Fuli.
After all, Ye Fuli was something of a local celebrity.
As the city's youngest billionaire, she was the "perfect child" in the eyes of countless parents.
The other attending physicians were filled with righteous indignation.
"Poisoned by her own mother? Is that even human? How could she be so cruel to her own child?"
"What about her parents?"
"The mother probably won't make it. Her body was already at its limit, and then she was poisoned like this. How could she survive?"
"But her father has a strong will to live, and since the dose wasn't too high, he still has a good chance."
They whispered among themselves about the Ye family's private affairs.
After all, the Ye family was a prominent clan. Such a heinous incident would undoubtedly have a devastating impact on public perception.
Out of caution, they kept the news strictly confidential, not revealing it to anyone.
However, by the time Ye Zhen arrived, she didn't need to ask the doctors anything.
The system had already retrieved Ye Fuli's ward number and provided a detailed diagnosis of her condition.
[Well, no wonder it's Feng Aotian—he's got iron willpower! Just as expected, she won't die. Host, rest assured~]
"So, what about Ye Dad?"
[His situation is hard to say. But based on current analysis, his chances of survival are still quite high! The elders have said that a person's will to live can often play an astonishing role at critical moments.]
"And what about Ye Mom?"
[She's gone.]
Ye Zhen fell silent for a moment before sighing.
Walking down the deserted corridor with a heavy heart, she approached the door of Ye Fuli's hospital room.
Through the thick glass window, she peered inside cautiously and carefully.
"I still hope she can live on, you know."
[The elders say that being betrayed by loved ones is humanity's deepest pain, often causing drastic changes in one's nature. Are you certain she won't become even more terrifying than before after surviving?]
"I don't think so."
Why was she so certain?
Truthfully, Ye Zhen had observed the changes in Ye Fuli since she arrived in Mondstadt.
That girl still often wore a gloomy expression, as if everyone owed her a kidney, but she rarely flew into hysterics anymore.
She is Ye Fuli.
A woman of unwavering resolve, whose word was her bond.
Come to think of it, everything she promised others… well, it seemed she really did follow through.
"She promised me she'd rebuild her life and live it well."