Du Ruoxin glanced at the coffee table, not answering, but speaking to herself, "When I was ten, my mother fell ill and passed away."
He knew this.
She had said her mother died young, and her father—she didn't want to talk about him.
Rong Jingyang hadn't asked much before, only knowing of Du Ruoxin's connection to the Rothschild family, and after Cristino, he had become curious.
"Because..." Du Ruoxin paused, but in the end, she still didn't tell Rong Jingyang about the blood relation with her elder brother.
Perhaps one day, when her elder brother let go of his obsession with her, she would tell him, but not now.
She—
Didn't want Rong Jingyang to think her elder brother was a monster, a pervert.
Her elder brother was also someone she loved.
She wanted to protect him!
Du Ruoxin began to fabricate again, but this time her expression was serious, her demeanor somber, making it impossible to discern the truth. "I had no relatives, so I went to an orphanage."
"It was also fate, a coincidence, that a madam came to China for a tour. She saw I was intelligent and lively, well-behaved and cute. Upon learning of my situation, she took me to Europe."
"In the Rothschild household, everyone treated me very well."
"Especially my elder brother. I couldn't get used to Western food, so he hired a Chinese chef for me."
"I missed my mother, so he bought an entire mountain for me, built a castle, hired many painters, and depicted my mother and me in every detail, placing them in every corner of the castle."
"I wasn't accustomed to aristocratic life, so he took me to farms, to the mountains, to plant rice seedlings, move crabs, catch fish, to be wild and boisterous."
The memories were etched into her mind, frame by frame, so profound, so clear, traversing her entire youth.
Childhood was truly beautiful, it was the pure land of her soul.
"When I was sick, he would stay by my side day and night."
"If I felt too stifled, he would take me to fly planes, ski, surf, skydive, to experience the wonders of this world."
"From childhood to adulthood, he never let me suffer any grievance."
Once, she had jokingly mentioned a classmate bullying her, and the next day, the classmate was beaten black and blue.
Another time, a hooligan with no sense of propriety had harassed her, and the hooligan ended up in prison.
Her classmates regarded her with respect and fear, which led to Du Ruoxin not making any good friends in middle school.
Later, when she went to study in America, her elder brother's protection remained as impenetrable as ever.
She then realized how immense the power of the Rothschild family was.
With the sky as her canopy and the earth as her cage, he held her in his palm, making her his unique, inescapable canary.
Fortunately, the Rong family was not to be outdone.
"Mr. Rong, Cristino treated me very well, truly very well."
If Rong Jingyang hadn't hurt her, if she hadn't suffered so much in this widowed marriage.
Her elder brother and Rong Jingyang would not have met in such a brutal manner.
If it weren't for Ivy... If he hadn't been distracted... If she hadn't been filled with such despair that her heart turned to stone, only wanting to leave...
Everything—
Was a twist of fate!
Du Ruoxin took a deep breath, picked up the pistol, and quickly loaded it.
"Click—"
The sound of the safety being disengaged was like the glint of a knife licking blood, tugging at Rong Jingyang's nerves.
His gaze darkened, fixated on the woman's dangerous, deadly movement.
"The grace of upbringing is greater than heaven," Du Ruoxin said, stepping onto the coffee table and aiming the muzzle at her thigh. "The mistakes my elder brother made, I am willing to atone for him."
"Mr. Rong, if I offer you these two legs, can you let go of your anger?"