Reflecting on her time with Li Mohan, Ye Huohuo realized he had treated her very well, so well that she couldn't help but fantasize about a future together, craving more.
No, she couldn't. Even at her lowest, she had her pride. Ye Huohuo would not accept charity or pity.
Inside the house, the remaining occupants were still arguing about whether to save Ye Yuanfan when Ye Huohuo pushed the door open.
"Quite a lively discussion!"
The three people in the room were startled, turning in unison towards the door. Their surprise grew when they saw Ye Huohuo.
Ye Xin’s jaw dropped so wide it could have swallowed an egg.
"Ye Xiaoqing, how did you get in? Uncle Chen, Uncle Chen!" Ye Xin shouted until he was hoarse, but no one responded.
"No need to call out. You are the only three people in the courtyard now. This is our Ye family's business; let's resolve it behind closed doors!"
As she spoke, she walked into the room, casually closing the door behind her.
"You, you wicked child, should be grateful to be alive and live your life well. Why did you come back?" Ye Xin’s forehead beaded with cold sweat as Ye Huohuo advanced step by step. He uttered the harshest words but his feet betrayed him, retreating backward.
He was the only man in the room, yet the least courageous. Even Ye Xiaowan stepped forward. "Ye Xiaoqing, get out of here immediately, or we'll call the police."
Ye Huohuo found their reaction peculiar. She hadn't done anything, yet they were acting as if facing a formidable enemy.
If there had been a mirror in front of her at that moment, she would have understood their reactions.
From the moment Ye Huohuo entered the room, her dark hair had been flowing and growing, her eyes blood-red. Even ordinary people could feel the overpowering killing intent radiating from her.
"Call… call the police! Hurry and call…" Qin Tong stammered, fumbling for her phone to call the police.
But as soon as she took out her phone, Ye Huohuo snatched it from the air. With a strong grip, she crushed the phone into a useless piece of junk.
This display shattered their composure. Even Madam Ye’s face lost its calm.
"Xiaoqing, you are still a member of the Ye family. Do you intend to shed Ye family blood?" Madam Ye's voice trembled slightly.
"My parents did not die in vain. Those who harmed them must pay with their lives." Ye Huohuo opened her right hand, a ball of azure flame appearing in her palm.
"Ye Xiaoqing, don't push your luck. We admit we owe you, but we didn't cause your parents' deaths. They died in a car accident; it wasn't intentional," Qin Tong said, tears welling up.
"Yes, if you want your share of the family inheritance, we can give you what you're entitled to. If you feel we failed you in your childhood, we can give you more, you…" Ye Xin’s legs trembled as he looked at the flame in Ye Huohuo’s palm.
"It doesn't mean they weren't harmed by someone else just because you didn't kill them, right, Madam Ye?" Ye Huohuo’s gaze fixed on Madam Ye.
"Nonsense. She is your paternal grandmother, the biological mother of your eldest brother. How could she harm her own son?" Ye Xin looked genuinely unaware that Madam Ye was not the biological mother of Ye Cheng, Ye Huohuo's paternal grandmother. He felt his mother favored his elder brother, but they had grown up together, and no one had ever told him Ye Cheng was not his elder brother.
This…
Everyone in the room, except Madam Ye, was stunned.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Madam Ye’s face darkened, her eyes flashing with malice.
"Am I talking nonsense? There is a way to prove whether I'm telling the truth or not. DNA technology is very advanced now, and I am the best evidence. Let's go and do a DNA test together. If you are my paternal grandmother, we will have a blood relationship. If you are not, we will not.
Let's test it. Do you dare?" Ye Huohuo, unable to process the overwhelming information and being emotionally unstable, was teetering on the edge of losing control. However, she still retained enough reason; uncovering the truth of that year was her deepest obsession.
Madam Ye slowly sank back into the sofa, took a deep breath, and looked up at Ye Huohuo.
"Heh, I didn't expect you, you little bastard, to actually survive. I thought that would have killed you!" Her usual grace and elegance vanished, replaced by a face filled with resentment, making her look like an old witch.
Ye Xin, Qin Tong, and Ye Xiaowan were all shocked.
Madam Ye's words and demeanor were tantamount to a confession.
Ye Huohuo sneered, "You wanted me dead, but heaven refused. So, the real culprit was you all along. My father treated you like his own mother, and my mother respected you dearly.
From childhood, they taught me to be filial to my grandmother. Especially after Grandpa passed away, my father, fearing you would be alone, often asked me to keep you company.
Their words still echo in my ears, yet you plotted and caused their deaths.
Old Madam, your sins must be accounted for today."
"It was that woman's fault. I met Brother Hua first, but she stole Brother Hua away from me. Thank heavens for eyes; she died in difficult childbirth, leaving behind a son.
I used that child to enter the Ye family and become the mistress of the Ye household.
At first, I thought I could treat him like my own son, but he looked more and more like that slut. Brother Hua also favored him, entrusting him with all the company's affairs.
Naturally, I couldn't let him live. The company's master must be my son, so he deserved to die. And your mother. Truly, birds of a feather flock together. Like that slut, always acting like a good person on the surface, pretending to be virtuous and kind.
I took some money from the company to cover a loophole for Xin’er. She discovered it and came over, feigning kindness, saying we were all family and she wouldn't tell Ye Cheng about it.
Bah, wasn't that a blatant threat? So, both of them deserved to die!"
Madam Ye became increasingly indignant as she spoke, veins throbbing on her forehead as if roots had sprouted from her head.
"You also wanted to get rid of me, didn't you?" Ye Huohuo's long hair had now reached her waist, her eyes were blood-red, and two blue veins were spreading from her neck towards her face.
"Yes, I originally intended to eliminate you as well, but the Taoist priest said you carried the Ye family's fortune. If you were killed, the Ye family's fortune would be cut off. To preserve the Ye family, I had no choice but to keep you.
However, the priest said that by some means, your fortune could be drawn out and gradually infused into the Ye family. By the time you turned twenty, all your fortune would be transferred to the Ye family, and then your death would have no impact on the Ye family.
But I never expected you to still be alive. Truly, you are resilient!"
Ye Huohuo’s appearance had terrified the other three into weak knees, but Madam Ye was truly ruthless, showing no fear.
Ye Huohuo began to laugh, her laughter piercingly sharp, forcing Ye Xin and the others to cover their ears. Glass cups in the room shattered one after another with loud cracks.
Madam Ye also lost her initial composure, and blood began to seep from her orifices.
The light bulbs on the ceiling shattered one by one, and the light in the room grew dimmer and flickered.
"Master, Master, save us!" Ye Xin and the others shouted, but no one responded.
Outside the house, thunderclaps struck the ground one after another. Zuo Qingya and his senior disciple were locked in combat.
"So, the person who set up the 'Golden Fish Formation to Ward off Misfortune' for me fifteen years ago was a traitor from the Maoshan Sect. Today, you will all be sacrificed to the heavens!" Ye Huohuo’s body emanated a red light. Her once jet-black hair began to turn red from the roots. Once her hair turned completely red, she would be completely demonized, beyond salvation.