Shi Lili was suddenly thrown to the ground, the rough pebbles scraping her arms and sending a piercing pain through her body. The combination of old wounds not yet healed and new pain, along with the memory of recent suffering, filled her with such hatred that she nearly ground her teeth to dust.
Anger surged within Shi Lili. Her bangs covered her fierce eyes as she lay on the ground. In an instant, she put on a facade of maternal affection.
"Ning, Mommy knows she was wrong, truly wrong," Shi Lili said tearfully, her words dripping with anguish. She appeared as if Huo Ning had broken her heart.
Huo Ning remained unmoved. She wasn't really five years old; how could she believe these crocodile tears?
"You're not my mother," she stated flatly, as if merely stating an established fact.
Just then, Aunt Xu arrived with a cloak. Huo Xiaozheng took it and draped it over Huo Ning's shoulders. Though the small child's face remained impassive, her little fists were clenched tightly, as if she were trying hard to endure something.
Seeing no reaction from Huo Ning, Shi Lili crawled desperately towards her. "Ning, don't you remember how much you loved the sunflower and smiley-face egg dishes Mommy made for you? Come home with Mommy, and I'll make them for you again, okay?"
Shi Lili's performance grew increasingly earnest, fully embodying the image of a mother deeply in love with her daughter.
Huo Ning seemed to freeze at these words.
Recalling the information Xi Chuan had uncovered, the coldness in Huo Xiaozheng's eyes intensified. He covered Huo Ning's ears to shield her from Shi Lili's manipulative words and signaled to his bodyguards.
The bodyguards immediately moved forward to drag Shi Lili away.
"Mommy..."
Large tears formed in Huo Ning's eyes and fell one by one. She looked in Shi Lili's direction, her eyes filled with reminiscence, reluctance, and a hint of inner struggle.
There was an almost bewitched quality to her demeanor.
Huo Xiaozheng halted the bodyguards' actions. He crouched down, turning Huo Ning to face him. "Ning, do you want to talk to her?"
Huo Ning mechanically rolled her eyes, still muttering "Mom... mom..." in a daze.
Left with no choice, Huo Xiaozheng picked up Huo Ning and had the bodyguards bring Shi Lili back to the hospital room.
Seeing Huo Ning's reaction, Shi Lili felt a sense of triumph.
This child had always loved her deeply and been extremely dependent on her. Whatever she said, Ning would comply 100%.
Sure enough, all it took was a little act of pity for her daughter to soften.
A fleeting smile crossed Shi Lili's face.
Huo Xiaozheng asked Aunt Xu to find Shen Shiyan while he stayed in the room. Unsure of Huo Ning's condition, he decided to go along with her wishes for now.
"Ning, your... mother... is here. You can talk to her," Huo Xiaozheng said. Worried that Shi Lili might harm her, he added, "I'll be right here, not disturbing you."
He settled Huo Ning on the bed in a half-lying position and moved to give Shi Lili the spot by the bedside.
"If you truly consider her your daughter, don't try any tricks," Huo Xiaozheng warned coldly.
Shi Lili inwardly scoffed. Seeing Huo Xiaozheng's demeanor, she thought: as long as she had Ning under her thumb, what couldn't she achieve?
Lying on the bed, Huo Ning didn't miss a single change in Shi Lili's expression.
From the moment Shi Lili mentioned the sunflower, Huo Ning had fallen into a sort of mental whirlpool. Though her consciousness was clear, her body had become rigid. Her heart, beyond her control, was kneaded by Shi Lili's words and expressions, allowing threads of bitterness to spread.
It was as if the original owner of this body was still present.
Realizing this, Huo Ning felt both panic and a twinge of sadness. The original Huo Ning truly was like a person clinging to their first love – no matter how much Shi Lili hurt her, she remained devoted.
With this thought, Huo Ning stopped fighting against the consciousness in her mind, allowing it to take control of the body.
After all, this was originally Huo Ning's body. In the end, she was the outsider.
"Ning, I'm sorry. Mommy was wrong. I'll never do it again. Can you forgive Mommy?" Shi Lili shamelessly grasped Huo Ning's hands, her words dripping with false sincerity.
'Huo Ning' turned stiffly, revealing a conflicted expression.
Seeing her wavering, a glint of triumph flashed in Shi Lili's eyes.
She pressed on, "Give Mommy one more chance, okay? Come back to Mommy."
A deeper bitterness spread like a tide from Huo Ning's heart to her entire body. She murmured, "Go back?"
Thinking she had convinced her, Shi Lili spoke with even more apparent affection, "Yes, live with Mommy. I promise I'll take good care of you."
"What about Uncle Li?" Huo Ning tilted her head, seeming intrigued by the proposal.
Huo Xiaozheng frowned at these words.
Shi Lili hastily replied, "He's just trash! I had no idea he was bullying you like this! There won't be Uncle Li or any other uncles. It'll just be you and Mommy living together, okay?"
Shi Lili had calculated carefully. If Huo Ning asked to live with her, the Huo family would surely have to pay a hefty child support fee.
She recalled her previous rash actions, going to court without a complete plan, only to have Huo Xiaozheng use his influence to silence all the reporters present.
This time, she had found Huo Xiaozheng's weakness. That money would be hers for the taking.
What Shi Lili didn't know was that her words "had no idea" sent a massive wave of darkness crashing over Huo Ning. Her vision went black, and the hopeful expression on her face instantly vanished.
"If you didn't love me, why did you give birth to me?"
Huo Ning's light words seemed less like an accusation and more like a genuine question.
From the depths of her consciousness, Huo Ning observed everything clearly. The original novel never explained why Shi Lili's attitude towards Huo Ning was so strange, or what exactly happened at that crucial point when she was three years old.
Before she could ponder further, Huo Ning was forced to shut down.
She fainted outright.
Shi Lili was dumbfounded. Just when she thought she was about to successfully win over this little brat, what was this new development?
Huo Xiaozheng, completely disregarding Shi Lili's thoughts, immediately ordered the bodyguards to throw her out.
"Keep a close eye on her. If there's a next time, you needn't show your faces to me again."
The bodyguards' expressions turned solemn as they nodded in acknowledgment and dragged Shi Lili out of the room.
Almost as soon as the bodyguards left, Shen Shiyan entered.
"Ning is fine. She seems to have fainted from the emotional overload," Shen Shiyan first confirmed Huo Ning's condition.
"How is it?" Huo Xiaozheng asked.
For Huo Ning's safety, Huo Xiaozheng had long ago arranged for Xi Chuan to install cameras in her hospital room.
The moment Shi Lili entered the room, he had contacted Shen Shiyan, asking him to observe Huo Ning's condition through the video feed.
"Ning's hysteria is definitely related to her birth mother. But Ning's condition isn't just hysteria. It seems..." Shen Shiyan recalled the scene he had witnessed in the video. For a moment, he felt as if Huo Ning had become a different person.
If explained scientifically, that would mean...
Huo Xiaozheng furrowed his brow. "Speak plainly."
"It seems she might also be showing symptoms of dissociative identity disorder."