8 Chapter 8
"Tang Yun." Wang Jing called for Butler Tang.
"Yes, Master Wang."
"Burn Xia Xiulan's belongings. I don't want any trace of her left in this mansion. Inform the maids. No one is to mention her in front of Xiao Yu. Xiulan never existed. Xiao Yu must never know about her."
"Of course, Master Wang."
---
Outside the mansion, Xia Xiulan was forcefully shoved inside a taxicab. They gave her several postdated checks for her monthly allowance but nothing more.
Xiulan gritted her teeth.
'You think this is the end of me? Wang Jing you are severely mistaken! I will destroy you and your family!' She smirked. 'I did it in the past, I can do it again! Wang Daiyu just you wait!'
---
"What's going on? Why was young mistress Xiulan sent away?" Qian Ru, a new maid, asked.
"… She's not the true young mistress." Xiao Nuan answered.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Well…"
"Her mother, Qiaoling, was a maid who used to work here." Xiao Ning, Xiao Nuan's twin sister, answered.
"She had a fling with the late young master, Wang Fengge!" Another maid chimed in.
"And when Master Wang found out that she was pregnant, he fired her and told her to get an abortion. He then sent the young master to America to clear his mind. But she secretly kept the child instead!"
"I bet she thought she could become the next Madam Wang." A maid rolled her eyes.
"But unfortunately for her, the young master met the late madam Luo Mei in America. They got married and had little Daiyu. They then returned to the country. But that Qiaoling also returned to the Wang Mansion. This time, she brought Xia Xiulan along with her!"
"Master Wang was really angry and would not acknowledge the child. But he was still kind enough to send them away with a huge amount of cash. He even promised that he'd support Xiulan until she reached the age of majority."
"But that accident had to happen…" The maids all fell into a solemn silence.
"What accident?" Qian Ru asked.
"Someone had tampered with the young master's car. It was the car that madam Luo used to drive young mistress Daiyu to kindergarten class every day. However, that fateful day, the young master himself drove the car and brought the madam with him. A horrible car crash occurred, and the couple was lost to the flames. The corpse of the young mistress, however, was never found."
"When a year had gone by without the child being found, Master Wang took Xia Xiulan into the household. However, he had always hoped for young mistress Daiyu's return. And now… three years after, she's finally found."
"… But what's going to happen to young mistress Xiulan?" Qian Ru asked.
"Butler Tang sent her back to Qiaoling. She's given a monthly allowance. She'll live." Xiao Ning replied.
"But that's unfair to her. She's Master Wang's biological granddaughter too!" She tried to reason.
"She's an illegitimate child. By law, Master Wang isn't even required to support her." Xiao Ning retorted.
"… Poor Xiulan." Qian Ru sighed.
The maids all fell silent. None of them felt pity for Xiulan. They all had a hunch that her mother, Qiaoling, was the one who tampered with the car. But with no proof, Qiaoling could not be prosecuted.
"Get back to work. We have a lot to prepare now that the young mistress is back." Xiao Nuan broke the silence.
"Right." The maids then returned to their chores.
---
"You useless brat!" Qiaoling threw a vase at the child which crashed on the wall behind her.
"You had three years! Three years! What have you been doing?! Were you too dumb to even get on your grandfather's good side?! Did you forget that you're a mere maid's daughter?!"
"… I didn't choose to be born as your daughter." Xiulan looked at her mother with hatred in her eyes.
"What did you say?! You bitch!" Qiaoling grabbed a fistful of her hair and slammed her head hard against the wall.
"I prostituted myself to give you a fighting chance for your future and this is what you repay me with?!"
Xiulan glared at her mother, tears welling in her eyes.
"Fine. Since you're so ungrateful, why don't you prostitute yourself instead?" She dragged the child by her hair and threw her into a dark room before slamming the door and locking it.
Memories of Xiulan's past life began flashing before her eyes.
"N-no! Mother please!" She slammed her fist against the door as hard as she could.
"Wait there. I'll bring you customers soon."
Her mother used to lock her up in this room with different men for days on end. Different hands, different faces. Sometimes drugged, sometimes drunk.
"Mother please! I-I'm sorry! Mom! Please!" She continued banging on the door with her small hands.
Locked in that dim room, she was robbed of her childhood and her body had to mature earlier than other girls her age did.
Xiulan began to tremble.
'It's repeating itself. No… no! I don't want this! I - ' Xiulan's eyes widened as she grabbed her hair in panic. Tears began pouring from her eyes that were slowly losing their light.
She had to think of a way to escape this.
She had to stop the past from repeating!
