Chapter 231

Chapter 231

You Can't Protect Her

"I only want her brought to justice!" She stared at Zhang Ling, the storm brewing in her dark eyes sending chills down Zhang Ling's spine.

Lin Zhengyou took a deep breath and brazenly proposed, "There are other solutions. Whatever you want, just name it!"

"No!" Lin Nannan refused without hesitation, then scanned the crowd and said, "And the rest of you had better not say those words—talk is cheap. Nothing can make up for the fact that I started washing their clothes in the freezing cold at three years old, cooking for them at five. I survived only by pretending to be stupid... Do you know why Zhang Ling let me live? Because she thought my high fever had left me brain-damaged—no loose ends to worry about. But once she found out I’d recovered, and that my husband’s ties to the capital’s elite, she was afraid my existence would expose her secrets. That’s why she sent someone to kill me. If you expect me to forgive and let her go, then walk a mile in my shoes first. Until then, none of you have the right to ask for mercy!"

"No one forgives wrongdoers!" Lin Kangnian was the first Lin to speak up. He looked at Lin Nannan solemnly and said, "Everything concerning you will be resolved in the best way possible."

Lin Nannan showed no joy. Instead, she met his gaze flatly. "I only want her to pay. As for the rest—I don’t want it. Including all of you."

They all knew they were blood relatives, though unspoken.

Lin Nannan’s words made her stance clear.

"Why?" Zhou Cuiwei felt like she was losing her mind. "We were completely in the dark!"

If they had known...

How could they have let her face all that alone?

She was their flesh and blood—she should’ve been cradled and shielded!

Lin Nannan felt no sympathy for her grief. Remembering the suffering of the original owner, she replied coldly, "You didn’t know? Well, who was there for *me*? I have my own family now. I don’t need belated affection—it’d just be baggage."

Everyone stared at her in shock, including Lu Hang and the others. They knew Lin Nannan disliked her relatives, but they hadn’t expected her to outright reject them.

"Nan Nan!" Lu Hang stepped beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "You're not in the right state of mind right now. Any decision you make won’t be rational. Wait until you’ve calmed down before deciding, okay?"

Lin Nannan made no effort to hide her disdain for the Lin family. "They’re nothing but trouble."

The slighted Lin family were left speechless—this was the first time they’d been so thoroughly rejected, especially by someone who was their own flesh and blood.

Lu Hang had no way to persuade her, so he turned to the Lin family. "After her high fever left her ‘brain-damaged,’ she survived by scavenging for food in the mountains. Can you picture Zhang Shengguo seeing her and not even connecting her to Mrs. Zhou? So no matter what you think, back off. You owe her that much. And as for her... Whether your Lin family tries to protect her or not—you wouldn’t stand a chance."

Lin Shuang alone stood frozen, not understanding, but the rest of the Lin family could see that this lost descendant of theirs was no ordinary person.

Just as the young man before them said, the Lin family couldn’t protect her even if they tried. And as he’d pointed out, none of them had the right to ask Lin Nannan to forgive Zhang Ling.

"Dad, Mom, save me! I’ll never do it again!" Zhang Ling never expected this sudden turn—this stranger showing up to haul her away. She had assumed the Lin family could shield her. "You wouldn’t leave Shuang Shuang motherless, would you? If I’m taken away, what will happen to her? And it’ll drag A Sheng down with me—his job is so important..."

At the mention of Lin Kangsheng’s career, Lin Zhengyou’s expression shifted. But before he could speak, Lin Kangsheng cut in, "It won’t affect me."

The reason was obvious to them all.

Lin Kangsheng hadn’t been raised under Zhang Ling’s care and had moved out long ago. He earned his position on his own—there was no way her crimes would taint him.

Besides, truth be told, Zhang Ling had schemed against the Lin family. They’re the real victims.

The thought of her mother being arrested made Lin Shuang panic—she’d never live it down. How could she ever find a good marriage? Who’d want a vicious mother-in-law like that?

Desperate, she begged Lin Nannan, "I’m begging you, I can’t lose my mom! Whatever you want, just name it—we’ll give you anything! Please spare her!"

Her wails were pitiful—enough to move anyone close to her. But Lin Nannan remained unmoved.

"I had no parents," she said coldly. "Just the label ‘bastard’ in everyone’s eyes." After what the original owner endured, forgiveness wasn’t hers to give.

The words, coupled with Lin Nannan's icy tone, stifled all of Lin Shuang's grievances in her throat. She wasn’t a person without principles, but... she simply thought the person before her was her sister, and perhaps there was still room for compromise.

Yet, upon recalling everything Lin Nannan had endured, all pleas died in her throat.

Zhou Cuiwei, hearing Lin Nannan’s words, stared at her with tears streaming down her face, her heart breaking.

How could such a thing have happened!

Suddenly, she remembered, and she turned to Zhang Ling, who was desperately begging. Zhou Cuiwei strode over and slapped her hard across the face, demanding sharply, "Why?"

Seeing the Lin family stand by indifferently, with everyone watching coldly, Zhang Ling felt they no longer regarded her as one of their own. A chill ran through her, and her true nature surfaced instantly. She hissed venomously, "It’s all because of you! You lived so well—why didn’t you help me?"

Zhang Ling never imagined this was the excuse she used to justify switching their babies.

"Help you?" Their former friendship had long vanished the moment Lin Nannan appeared. Now, Zhou Cuiwei harbored nothing but deep hatred for Zhang Ling. "Help you with what? With your status, even if I helped, what could you even handle? If not for Second Brother’s soft-heartedness and Kangsheng’s respect for my sake, did you really think the Lin family would tolerate you just because you were pregnant? I wouldn’t even need the Lin family to deal with you—I could do it myself!"

The gap between power and powerlessness was laid bare in that moment.

Lin Kangsheng spoke up slowly, "If not for Aunt’s connections, the moment you schemed against my father, you wouldn’t have been allowed to stay in the capital!"

Zhang Ling refused to accept this outcome, screaming, "But I have Shuangshuang!"

"So what?" Lin Kangsheng’s words were cruel, but they were the truth.

Thus, Zhang Ling had always blamed Zhou Cuiwei for not helping her, unaware that the comfortable life she’d led for over a decade was entirely due to Zhou Cuiwei’s grace.

"If you despised me, why did you approach me? No one forced you to get close to me! You befriended me only to switch our children—did you really think I was easy to bully?" Zhou Cuiwei was utterly repulsed by Zhang Ling. She yanked Zhang Ling’s hair, gritting her teeth in fury. "You’re done for, and you’ve ruined your daughter for a lifetime of shame. Without you, what do you think will happen to her?"