After a wealthy woman went bankrupt, her live-in husband became her sugar daddy.

As soon as the call connected, before I could even speak, my brother spoke first.

"You need to go to the hospital right now, something has happened to your parents."

Upon hearing this, I immediately became anxious and asked, "What happened? What's wrong with Mom and Dad?"

"They're at home..."

My brother had only said half a sentence when I heard the sound of cars colliding.

"Gu Bai!"

My heart jumped into my throat.

"You brat, can't you see? It's a red light!"

A string of curses came from the phone.

My brother didn't say anything.

I was so scared that tears welled up in my eyes, and I cried out anxiously, "Gu Bai? How are you?"

My dad's already had an accident; if something happens to my brother too, I'll really break down.

I clenched my fists tightly and shouted his name with all my might.

Then my brother's disgusted voice came, "I'm not dead yet, what are you yelling for?"

I immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Go to the hospital and see Mom and Dad. I'll be there in a bit."

Before he could finish speaking, there was no sound.

When I called back, the phone was always switched off.

Not daring to waste any more time, I asked Lao Mo for the afternoon off and rushed to the hospital.

I had just arrived at the hospital when I saw my dad coming out of the emergency room.

My mother, clutching her back, was extremely anxious, her face streaked with tears. "Doctor, what's wrong with my husband?"

The doctor looked at the medical record with a stern face.

I quickly ran over to her, "Mom, what happened?"

My mother sighed deeply, her face full of guilt.

"It's all my fault, your dad hurt his arm again."

My alarm bells went off immediately.

My dad shook his head and offered to tell me.

“I was worried that the hospital fees would be too much of a burden for you, so I insisted that your mother process my discharge…”

After they were discharged from the hospital and returned home, my mother accidentally slipped and fell in the kitchen while cooking.

When my dad found out, he momentarily forgot about his own injuries and instinctively helped her up.

But his arm had just been reattached, and he couldn't exert any force at all. This attempt to help him up led to the accident.

The wound reopened, and he was rushed to the hospital.

My mom was fine except for bumping her back.

After learning the whole story, I couldn't help but say, "Mom and Dad, you don't need to worry about the hospital fees. Why do you have to put yourselves through this just to save money?"

Upon hearing this, my mother wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes, her brows furrowing slightly. "We're all old and frail; we don't want you to suffer because of us."

At that moment, my heart ached as if it had been pricked by a needle.

If it weren't for my incompetence, those two old people wouldn't have ended up like this.

Seeing my parents like this, I didn't want to criticize them too much, after all, they just didn't want to add any more burden to my brother and me.

"It's alright, Mom and Dad. You just need to rest and recover properly this time."

After calming my parents down, I turned my attention to the doctor.

"Doctor, how is my dad's arm?"

The doctor closed the medical record book immediately. "The patient's injuries were not recommended for discharge in the first place, but your family insisted on leaving. Now the arm has been stitched up again. We need to see how the recovery goes before we can make a judgment."

I froze on the spot, and unease welled up in my heart again.

"Your family should be prepared. Even if the sutures heal well, it will be difficult for the patient to maintain a normal life, but it's not impossible."

My mother immediately burst into tears, slapped herself several times, and kept muttering to herself.

"It's all my fault. If I had been more careful, this wouldn't have happened. How could I have been so careless?"

I pressed my mother's hand down and whispered, "Mom, Dad will be alright."

My mother was leaning against me, still sobbing.

I felt utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally, and the future seemed bleak.

When will this torment finally end?

"Go and pay the processing fee and the hospitalization fee first."

The doctor's words brought me back to reality, and I took a series of medical records to pay the fees.

However, after seeing the amount, I felt quite embarrassed.

The total cost of this surgery, including the prepayment for hospitalization, is six thousand yuan.

But I don't have that many on my body.

The money I borrowed from Jiang Yichen last time has already been almost used up.

I took out my phone and scrolled through my contacts, but in the end I still called my best friend.

Shen Yan rushed to the hospital without saying a word.

She held my hand tightly and paid all the fees for me.

The two of us sat in the hospital corridor.

"Momo, are you alright? I saw the trending topics." Shen Yan looked at me with concern in her eyes.

I didn't expect her to bring this up, and I immediately felt wronged.

I wanted to appear strong in front of her, but my nose kept stinging with tears.

"I'm fine..."

My voice choked up as I said those words.

Shen Yan saw right through me. She gently put her arm around my shoulder and comforted me tenderly, "It's okay, I'm here for you. Just call me if you need anything in the future."

These words shattered my last line of defense, and I could no longer hold back. I buried my head in her chest and cried uncontrollably.

“I didn’t do those things. I didn’t seduce anyone at all. It was Brother Zhang who said he could tell me industry tips.”

I poured out all the things that had happened recently.

Who else can I tell besides her?

In the past, all the rich young ladies in Tongcheng would have eagerly followed me with just one phone call.

Bars and clubs are my choices.

But now, the Gu family has fallen, and they have long since disappeared.

"Why didn't you ask Song Le for help?" Shen Yan stared at me, her eyes full of doubt.

I paused, raised my hand to wipe away my tears, "I don't want to drag him down, and besides, I have no face to look for him."

She knew I was referring to the elopement incident, and sighed, "If I had married him back then, perhaps none of this would have happened today."

Then, she angrily cursed Jiang Yichen.

"The Gu family is in this state because of Jiang Yichen. He's a treacherous and wicked man. If it weren't for the Gu family, he wouldn't be where he is today."

I shook my head and pulled away from her embrace. "Nothing of the sort. It's understandable that Jiang Yichen hates our family. It's not his fault, it's my fault for being too domineering in the past."

If the Gu family hadn't gone bankrupt and I hadn't divorced Jiang Yichen, I would never have known that I had treated him so badly before.

Sometimes, I wonder what it was that sustained him for so long?

Is it love? But if he really loves me, why would he take revenge on me again and again?

A bitter feeling welled up inside me; all of this was just my own doing.

Shen Yan looked at me, who was still defending Jiang Yichen, and seemed to be very disappointed in me.

"Why are you still protecting him at a time like this? Can't you even scold him a couple of times?"

I grasped her wrist and said earnestly, "No matter how Jiang Yichen treats me, it's all my own fault."