Chapter 61 I Swear

"Zhaodi, have you forgotten what Mom told you before?" Sister Shi placed her hands on Shi Zhaodi's shoulders, demanding an answer.

"I remember. Every single word you said, Mom, I remember it all. But I can't do it anymore. Mom, what should I do?"

"Zhaodi, you must remember this: you and the young master are absolutely impossible. No matter how much the young master likes you, no matter how much he dotes on you, the Jiang family will never accept you.

You saw it with your own eyes today. The Jiang family has long since arranged a marriage for the young master, and they are just waiting to announce it during the old master's birthday banquet. What will you do then? Are you willing to wrong and degrade yourself? Even if you are willing, Mom could never stand by and watch you walk down the wrong path.

Promise Mom that you will focus on your studies now, prepare for the high school entrance exams, and stop thinking about anything else. As soon as the exams are over, we will leave this place. The mistress has already promised me that she can arrange for you to attend a prestigious key high school elsewhere, and I can go with you to take care of you. So, promise Mom you won't do anything foolish." Sister Shi looked at her daughter with earnest and heartfelt pleading.

"Mom, I—I can't do it!" Shi Zhaodi bit her lower lip hard, barely able to suppress her sobs.

"Zhaodi—" Sister Shi stared sternly at her daughter. "Mom needs you to promise that from now on, you are not allowed to disturb the young master ever again. Stay far away from him, and don't provoke Miss Dora either. If you can't do this, don't ever call me Mom again!"

"Mom—" Shi Zhaodi shook her head, looking at her mother in sheer agony.

"Mom wants you to swear! If you can't do it, may Mom die a horrible death!" Sister Shi said even more sternly.

Shi Zhaodi looked at her mother in disbelief.

"Zhaodi, swear to Mom that you can do it."

Shi Zhaodi shook her head frantically.

"Zhaodi, swear to Mom, or Mom will jump off that cliff over there tomorrow." Unyielding, Sister Shi pointed out the window toward a mountain in the distance.

Terrified, Shi Zhaodi nodded the very next second, tears streaming uncontrollably as she choked out the words:

"I swear, Mom, I swear—
I swear that from now on I will never disturb older brother again, I will stay far away from him, and I won't provoke Miss Dora."

With that, Shi Zhaodi threw herself into her mother's arms, completely breaking down.

Holding her daughter close, Sister Shi could no longer hold back her own tears either.

As a mother, how could she not see how deeply her daughter loved the young master, and how torn and agonizingly painful her daughter's heart was right now?

Yet she had no choice; she had to protect her daughter.

Zhaodi was her everything, the only thing her late husband had left her. She could not let her daughter suffer even greater devastation.

She knew the mistress meant every word she said, so she had no alternative. Rather than letting her daughter plunge into an irredeemable abyss in the future, it was better to crush her hopes completely right now.