Li Bo Yen roughly scoffed, his lip curling despite the pain, "You didn't come back for us, you came back for Dad's money and power. You still have your acting career, isn't that enough for you? Why are you this greedy?"
Her hand trembled slightly as rage coursed through her veins, "You ungrateful brats… do you know what I sacrificed to give birth to you?! My body, my time, my freedom! And this is how you speak to me?! How dare you!"
Li Ren glared at her, tears brimming in his eyes, "We never asked to be born and we didn't ask for you to come back. We were happy with Shen Ruyi, she treated us like her own kids… we had food, we had discipline, we had a home… but ever since you came back, nothing has been right. Father barely comes home. You are always going to magazines, movie shoots, or parties. What do you even know about us…?"
Her chest heaved with shallow breaths as anger twisted her beautiful features, "You think that lowly woman cared about you more than I did? She was nothing but just a nanny taken in by your father to take care of you. She is nothing compared to me. I am the legal Mrs Li. This house, this family, this wealth, all of it belongs to me! I'm the rightful owner!"
"Then keep it all," Bo Yen spat, his voice cracking with grief and rage, "We don't want any of it. We just want her back. Just go away already... We are fed up with you!"
SLAP!
Her palm cracked loudly across his cheek, snapping his head sideways against the pillow. The room fell silent for a stunned, suspended moment.
Li Ren's eyes widened in horror as his brother turned back, tears spilling down his bruised face, hatred burning deep in his gaze.
"How dare you… How dare you hit him…!" Li Ren screamed hoarsely, grabbing the ointment jar and hurling it across the room. It shattered against the dresser, shards scattering across the marble floor.
"You worthless little bi*....." She lunged at him, grabbing his thin shoulders and shaking him violently despite his injuries, her perfectly manicured nails digging into his night gown, "You think you can disrespect me like this?! I am your mother! You will treat me with the respect I deserve....."
But before she could finish, Li Bo Yen forced himself upright with a guttural cry of pain, grabbing her wrist and shoving her away with all the strength he had left.
She stumbled backwards, tripping over the side table and falling hard onto the floor, her head slamming against the edge with a sickening thud.
The room fell into stunned silence. Both boys sat frozen, ragged breaths echoing harshly in the quiet.
Then, heavy footsteps approached the hallway over to the bedroom door.
Li Feng stood in the doorway, his tall frame casting a long shadow across the polished floor.
His cold eyes swept over the scene, the shattered jar, the trembling boys, and Shen Li who had collapsed on the ground, clutching her head with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Li Feng…! Honey...." she sobbed brokenly the moment she noticed his presence, reaching out a trembling hand towards him, "They… they attacked me… your sons… they… they hit their own mother…! How can they treat me like this!"
But Li Feng said nothing.