Madam Huo was taken to the hospital, but her body had no major issues; she was mainly furious.
After staying in the hospital for two days, the doctor said she could be discharged.
In fact, even if the doctor hadn’t mentioned it, Madam Huo was eager to leave the hospital.
Both Huo Song and Huo Ziheng were detained at the police station, with unclear circumstances; one was her husband, and the other was her son. How could Madam Huo lie still?
Even after what Huo Song and Huo Miao had done, the many years of affection between her and Huo Song still existed in Madam Huo’s heart.
Therefore, the first thing Madam Huo did after being discharged was to go to the police station to see Huo Song.
Two days may sound short, but in that time, the police had confirmed Huo Song’s criminal activities, and with incontrovertible evidence, Huo Song, however unwilling, had to admit his guilt.
The law in our country is strict nowadays, and before it, everyone is equal.
Given the extent of Huo Song’s bribery, prison was almost inescapable.
When Madam Huo heard that Huo Song was going to prison, she had no mind to hold him accountable for his affair with Huo Miao.
Huo Song, detained in the police station for two days, seemed to age ten years in an instant, even sprouting several strands of white hair on his head.
During these two days in the detention cell, not a single person, including Huo Li, had come to see him.
He had not expected that the first person to come and see him would be the wife who had been by his side for so many years.
At that moment, Madam Huo’s face, which Huo Song often found somewhat annoying, seemed gentle.
Huo Song only said one sentence to Madam Huo, "Have Huo Li hire a top lawyer for me."
Even if he was going to be imprisoned, he wanted to minimize the punishment.
After seeing Huo Song, Madam Huo went to another detention cell to see Huo Ziheng.
The reason Huo Ziheng was arrested was for intentionally revealing the private affair between Huo Song and Huo Miao in public, violating their privacy.
Huo Song truly detested Huo Ziheng, the instigator of all this trouble.
If it weren’t for Huo Ziheng’s antics, he would not have lost so much face and faced the threat of prison.
Yet, Huo Ziheng was his own flesh and blood.
At Madam Huo’s request, Huo Song, holding his nose, agreed to reconcile with Huo Ziheng, without any conditions, not to pursue any criminal liability.
Madam Huo thought that would be enough, but then the police officer told her that it was not so; just because Huo Song didn’t pursue the matter, it didn’t mean Huo Miao wouldn’t. After Huo Miao woke up, the police had visited her in the hospital and conducted a private interview.
While taking the statement, Huo Miao clearly expressed her intention to sue Huo Ziheng for all the damages he had caused her and insisted that Huo Ziheng pay the price he owed.
So, even if Huo Song wasn’t pressing charges, it didn’t mean Huo Ziheng would be off the hook.
When Madam Huo heard these words from the police, she nearly fainted at the entrance of the police station.
She had cared for Huo Miao for over twenty years, and even knowing she wasn’t her biological daughter, she didn’t abandon her; instead, she distanced herself from her own Jiang Ning.
And what was the result?
This was how Huo Miao repaid her!
She took her husband, took her two barbecued pork sons, and now she wanted to ruin Huo Ziheng!
Huo Ziheng was still so young, not yet married, and no family with the slightest foundation would let their daughter marry a reformed convict.
Sitting in that cell basically meant Huo Ziheng’s life was ruined!
As soon as Madam Huo left the police station, she called Huo Miao, but how did Huo Miao respond? She said, "Huo Ziheng disregarded the father-son relationship he had with Huo Song, and the brother-sister affection built over so many years. He publicized her and Huo Song’s private matters, ruining her life and making her a laughingstock forever. She was definitely not going to withdraw the lawsuit."
The two of them were about to start arguing over the phone, which led to Madam Huo storming into the hospital room and flipping over the food tray beside Huo Miao’s sickbed.
Madam Huo was utterly disappointed with Huo Kaiping and Huo Kaian, the two brothers.
While their father and second brother were locked up in the police station, these two brothers were circling around Huo Miao all day.
Thinking of this, she pointed at their noses and berated furiously, "Are the two of you blind or deaf? Don’t you know what our family is going through? A perfectly good home, completely destroyed by her, and yet you still hover around her?!"
The angrier Madam Huo got, the more intense she became. She directly started beating the brothers with the handbag in her hand.
"Mom, don’t be impulsive, let’s talk this out calmly," they said.
Huo Kaiping and Huo Kaian couldn’t avoid it fast enough.
Madam Huo’s leather bag might not look heavy, but it was quite stiff, and the sharp corners hurt when they hit someone.
Not to mention the zippers and pendants on the bag.
Huo Kaiping and Huo Kaian didn’t dare to fight back, and they cried out with the pain of the blows.
Huo Miao sat on the sickbed, watching the chaos unfold before her. She neither spoke up to stop it nor pressed the call bell. Instead, she curved her lips in a slight smile, bearing an air of confident triumph.
A zipper from the bag harshly scraped across Huo Kaiping’s cheek, leaving a reddened mark, and the sudden sting made him recoil several steps back.
He blinked, feeling as if something in his mind had been triggered.
Just then, Huo Miao’s timely voice rang out, "Fourth brother, come and help me. I think my stomach hurts a bit."
Upon hearing her voice, Huo Kaiping, and even Huo Kaian, who was being hit with the handbag, promptly turned around, as if to help Huo Miao.
To them, Huo Miao’s words were like an imperial edict.
Seeing this, Madam Huo grew even angrier. They ignored her completely, but were utterly obedient to Huo Miao.
What’s more, Huo Miao had only been pregnant for a few weeks, whereas others, who were about to give birth, could still manage their own lives.
Huo Miao was doing it on purpose.
She deliberately ordered Huo Kaiping and Huo Kaian around in front of Madam Huo, simply to aggravate her.
During these short two days, Madam Huo experienced more anger than she had in the past two years.
She had never felt so much regret. If only she had known that Huo Miao was an ingrate, she should have driven her out when she first learned she was not her biological daughter.
Madam Huo suddenly reminisced about Jiang Ning’s previous stay with the Huo family. Initially, everyone got along pleasantly with Jiang Ning when she returned, due to her practical skills and careful nature, rapidly grasping everyone’s preferences.
But Jiang Ning wasn’t as eloquent as Huo Miao, nor did she play the victim as much... People’s hearts are biased, and when Huo Miao acted aggrieved, everyone naturally sided with her.
If only... If only she had hardened her heart from the beginning and fully embraced Jiang Ning, her biological daughter, the Huo family would never have come to such a pass.
Madam Huo’s expression was desolate.
But at that moment, she didn’t know that the decline of the Huo family had just begun.
And she would have many more days of regret ahead of her.