The Stepmother's Daughter

As long as she could remember, Lan Guoying had always lived in the small village by the forest. Life there was a little monotonous but in many ways than one, it was fun. The sole relative she had was her mother, and blood ties aside, she was quite well acquaintance with the sisters of the orphanage, where she helped sometimes, and also quite popular with the children living in there. Seeing the same people every day, having the same friends and enjoying the time of her youth, the little bud was already seventeen. A real beauty, in and out, always with a smile on her face and never forgetting to be humble and kind.

However, tragedy struck her quite harshly. Her ill mother finally passed away, leaving for her a lengthy letter. It was dusty, letting her know it was written months or maybe years beforehand yet it had been never given to her before that day. Guoying had found many more copies of it in her mother's drawer as though the woman had written many versions before settling down and acknowledging the one she carefully folded and put in an envelope to pass to her daughter.

It turned out, Guoying wasn't as lonely-in-the-world as she thought, for between apologizes and bits of advice, her mother revealed to her, finally, the name of her father, pleading with her to meet the man. Initially, Guoying hadn't thought of going. For seventeen years she had no news of the man and didn't even know he was alive yet. Why bother with him? She already had a part-time job that could support her through high school; life was going to be just fine by herself, or so she thought.

Nevertheless, when going through the rough versions of the letter, the first drafts, reading the part that had been censured in the final version, she understood that the man, her father, had cheated on her pregnant mother more than once and even had a baby before their engagement. Enraged, and with the memory of her suffering ill mother still fresh in her, she decided to go to H city, if only to give a piece of her mind to the person. She may be sweet usually but there were just some bottom lines that shouldn't be crossed and wronging her mother was a big no. Hell, had she been in her mother's shoes, she wouldn't have fled, but instead, make sure to get the highest alimony from a divorce after smacking the man of course!

The farewell to the friends weren't really ones, as she promised to come back quick enough. After all, she just took a couple of clothes and some materials, those kinds of things wouldn't last for long.

But life just had a way of knocking down her plans. She first ended up lost in that big city and after struggling, she had to rely on an obnoxious and quite arrogant person for help. Arriving in front of the house indicated in the letter –or should she called it a castle?- she was banned from entering and had to wait for the return of the master which happened long in the night… and the rain just happened to keep her constant company the whole time.

All these just fueled her determination to lash at the man. Shouting at him her resentment would certainly warm her in this cold and wet night. However, when he did come back, he had the driver pull the car as he came out in a rush and before she could confirm his identity -in order not to yell at the wrong person-, there were already tears glistening in his eyes, freezing her on spot and the words she wanted to say died in her throat.

When all was said and done, she reluctantly accepted to hear his version of the affair. To say that she was really being fair would be a lie. She merely wanted a cheap place to sleep. If here, wouldn't she then save the money she prepared for her hotel's stay? She very much entered the household hung up on hating every person living in there. They were all people that made her mother suffer after all. Nonetheless, as one day turned into a week then into a month, she couldn't help but find herself melting towards them. Interacting with everyone a little more she wondered just what happened that year back then to separate these two people, for it seemed this father was still very much in love with her mother. Hearing the news of her death he actually had a heart stroke and waking up at the hospital, he still insisted on going to her grave. The grandparents she thought had no feelings and disdained her mother for being poor, were actually smitten with her in just mere weeks. They had, it seemed, still a deep respect for her mother. She couldn't, not love them.

Without knowing when Guoying started been reluctant to leave them. She was already thinking of them as one family.

But everyone wasn't as warm and welcoming as that. Her stepmother, Mei Ping, and her stepsister, Yaling, actually hated her very core. In the beginning, it was cold silence as they were ignoring her existence but when it was made clear that she was from now on a member of the family, the cold shoulder turned into bullying.

Meanwhile, the father was happy to know that she was starting to accept him as she said yes to him supporting her in the best high school in H city.

There, she met again with the arrogant young man, Tu Yinjun, who in the end, after a fair share of events, ended up becoming her boyfriend.

As years passed by and the mother and daughter pair were growing more persistent to chase her out, secrets got revealed resulting in her father angrily pushing out his wife and the one who in the end, had never been his daughter, properly signing a divorce with both party present this time.

Yaling, after that, had still tried to seduce her fiancé, Yinjun, while her mother tried to sue her now ex-husband. Karma was quite harsh on them as Mei Ping learned some months later about her breast's cancer. From there, the woman started losing her mind. Yaling, deeply affected by her mother's state, started losing hers too. She tried to threaten the newlywed couple but ended arrested by security and tossed out of the hall the day of th wedding, as she was pleading incomprehensible things.

As she was flying to her honeymoon's destination with her newlywed husband, Guoying got the news that Mei Ping had hung herself and Yaling was involved in a traffic accident that took her life.

Even though there was a certain relief to be felt, for the most part, Guoying was apathetic. These two people, she never tried to harm them yet they were so fierce in their pursuit of her. As such, she couldn't find it in her to be sad about their deaths. At the same time though, they were people she had known for eleven years. At some level, their deaths were affecting her.

In the end, it was a page that had to be closed and life should just continue. And hers, with her husband by her side, could only go better.

***

She let out a loud scream, her face full of tears. Quickly enough, the whole manor was lit as the household was emerging from slumber in a panic. People were running to the place where the sound was coming from. The door was yanked open as several persons entered, searching for an intruder. However, once the light of the bedroom was turned on, men and women were met with the sight of the teenager writhing under her coverts, shouting and crying but still very much asleep.

"Miss, miss, wake up" approached one maid to plead, not daring to touch the young mistress.

"Ling'er, ling'er, what happened?" Mei Ping finally woke up and made her way between the present servants. "Ling'er, wake up already, it's a nightmare, Ling'er."

She shook the young girl until her eyes, unfocused and scared, finally opened. Like a scared rabbit she wanted to jump and hide but Mei Ping held her and embraced her, softly whispering calming words, not forgetting to order the rest of the people out.

"Mom?" finally asked the croaked voice of her daughter.

"Mother is here" Mei Ping assured.

"Mom?" the girl asked again, her hands shaking, her voice becoming huskier.

"En, it's alright it was just a nightmare,"

"Mom?"

"En?"

The tears streaming down like a river, Yaling embraced her mother back, her hands fiercely locking the person, as though she never wanted to let go.

"Mom, you're alright. You're here, you're here… You're alive." She was mumbling incomprehensibly while shaking.

Mei Ping was quite helpless, as this was the very first time that her daughter had such an episode. Not really knowing what to do she just kept on holding her daughter in her embrace, as the other was crying buckets.