Chapter 449 - 449 449 Obsession During Lifetime (5)_1

Chapter 449: Chapter 449: Obsession During Lifetime (5)_1 Chapter 449: Chapter 449: Obsession During Lifetime (5)_1 “What did Jiaojiao look like before? Was she like this?” Shu Jiao asked, feigning nonchalance, but nobody knew the heartache these words caused her.

Ruan Jiaojiao nodded vaguely.

At first, she actually couldn’t see what she looked like because she drank dew from leaves. But one year, it hadn’t rained for a long time, and there was little dew in the mornings. She was so thirsty she thought she would die from it when she found that wolf strolling leisurely through the forest.

Unlike her, the wolf was large, too big to survive on dew water alone. She figured it must know where to find water, so she started following it. She thought it might take a whole day to find water, but she was in luck that day. After following it for barely more than two hours, she discovered a water source.

She watched the wolf drink from the river and only went to drink herself after it had left. It was then, in the clear river water, that she saw her reflection and knew what she looked like.

By the time she saw herself, she had already grown up, and her fur was the same color as this cat’s.

“That must be very cute,” Shu Jiao said, picking up the mongrel cat from the ground and gently stroking it.

Ruan Jiaojiao turned to look at her, her voice sharp: “Do you really think it’s cute?”

In the days they’d been in the hospital, the mother and daughter had actually gotten along quite well. This was the first time Ruan Jiaojiao had spoken to Shu Jiao with such a tone, leaving Shu Jiao stunned for a moment.

Ruan Jiaojiao, feeling terrible, turned away and got up to leave.

But Shu Jiao grabbed her little hand.

Shu Jiao was sitting, while Ruan Jiaojiao was standing, their lines of sight not on the same level. Shu Jiao had to look up, while Ruan Jiaojiao looked down at her.

Tears filled Ruan Jiaojiao’s eyes, which Shu Jiao saw clearly. The tears she had been holding back fell.

“I know, Jiaojiao resents Mommy,” Shu Jiao said.

“Resent you for what?” Ruan Jiaojiao asked.

She hated her current self, despised her volatile emotions towards Shu Jiao. She couldn’t let go of Shu Jiao’s tenderness and doting, but at the same time, she couldn’t accept her without any qualms.

This resulted in her being hot and cold towards Shu Jiao all the time.

Others noticed but didn’t dare to speak out, only today, Ruan Chi brought it up.

Ruan Jiaojiao knew he meant well.

But Ruan Jiaojiao still couldn’t let go. She couldn’t convince herself; her heart… still harbored resentment.

Even if none of this was Shu Jiao’s fault.

Shu Jiao looked at her with tear-reddened eyes, her tears falling even faster as she bent her head.

“You, resent Mommy, for not recognizing you, right?” Shu Jiao said, her words broken and halting, because each word spoken made her heartache once more.

If everything she had seen was real.

She couldn’t imagine the blow her daughter had suffered back then.

The whole world could fail to recognize what was fake, but she alone could not. Yet, not only did she fail to recognize, she held the imposter in her arms in front of her real daughter, who could only stay in the cold water, watching them walk further and further away.

“I’m sorry, Jiaojiao, it’s all Mommy’s fault… just thinking about that scene breaks my heart… I can’t even forgive myself,” Shu Jiao said.

Ruan Jiaojiao looked up, trying hard not to let her tears fall.

“So you knew.”

What mattered to me.