Although Lin Yao really wanted to tell her that she and Huo Boyan were only legally married—a fake couple in reality—she couldn’t say it.
But since she had already managed to find her here, she must have known something, which was why she had come looking for her.
“What are you talking about? I don’t know any Boyan you’re referring to,” Lin Yao pretended not to understand her.
“Boyan is Huo Boyan! Didn’t you go to his office yesterday? Don’t play dumb with me!”
Su Yuqing saw right through Lin Yao’s lie. How could she not know Boyan? The person she had found couldn’t be wrong!
“Yesterday, I went to deliver a cake. I really don’t know who this Huo Boyan you’re talking about is.”
Lin Yao still refused to admit it, trying to use her identity as the cake shop owner to deceive her.
But what she didn’t know was that this very statement made Su Yuqing, who had only been slightly suspicious before, even more certain that Lin Yao was lying to her!
“You’re lying to me! Qin Hao said you went to sign a contract with Boyan, but now you’re saying you were delivering a cake!”
Lin Yao was taken aback. She hadn’t expected Su Yuqing to have already questioned Qin Hao yesterday, but she absolutely couldn’t reveal her relationship with Huo Boyan now.
“Yes, delivering a cake and signing a contract—it was a cake contract.”
Lin Yao still refused to admit it.
Seeing that Lin Yao was still lying and had no intention of telling the truth, Su Yuqing took out a thick stack of red banknotes from her bag and slammed them on the table.
She looked down at Lin Yao haughtily and said, “As long as you tell me the truth, all this money on the table is yours!”
Lin Yao stared in shock at her actions, silently marveling to herself, Rich people are truly rich! Carrying stacks of cash in their bags! Why can’t I be one of them?
“I really want your money, but I truly don’t know the Boyan you’re talking about. You must have mistaken me for someone else. Let me go make your cake now!”
Afraid that Su Yuqing would continue pressing her, Lin Yao didn’t dare say anything more.
Seeing that Lin Yao was about to leave, Su Yuqing immediately grabbed her hand, pulling up the sleeve of her clothes and revealing the jade bracelet that had been hidden underneath.
Realizing the bracelet was exposed, Lin Yao quickly broke free from her grip and covered it.
Such an expensive bracelet must not be damaged by me—I can’t afford to pay for it!
But Su Yuqing in front of her seemed to have lost her mind, staring blankly as she questioned Lin Yao, “Where did you get this jade bracelet??”
Of course, Su Yuqing recognized this bracelet!
It was the heirloom bracelet of the Huo family. She had only ever seen it on Aunt Huo’s wrist and hadn’t seen it since Aunt Huo passed away. She had once fantasized about wearing it herself, becoming Huo Boyan’s wife.
But now, this jade bracelet was on another woman’s wrist!
Su Yuqing, as if gone mad, shouted at Lin Yao, “Tell me! Where did you get this bracelet? Did you steal it?!”
Lin Yao was frightened by her sudden outburst and, hearing her accuse her of theft, denied it in a panic, “I didn’t steal it! Grandfather Huo gave it to me!”
…
Su Yuqing fell silent for a moment, staring at her in a daze with an expression of disbelief.
“Grandfather Huo gave it to you? You’ve already met Grandfather Huo, haven’t you?!”
“You’re Boyan’s marriage partner!”
Only then did Lin Yao realize what she had said and how it had provoked Su Yuqing to this state.
She also regretted having spoken too quickly, and now that the other woman already knew, she had no choice but to admit it.
“Yes, I am Huo Boyan’s marriage partner.”
“Hahahaha!”
“Why should it be you?!”
“What do you have that’s better than me?!”
“I will definitely win Boyan back!”
Su Yuqing glared at her resentfully, unwillingly threw out a few words, and then left, not even taking the money on the table.
By the time Lin Yao came out with the money, she was already gone. Lin Yao couldn’t do anything about it—she dared not take so much money. Knowing that Huo Boyan knew her, she had no choice but to call him.
“Hello, what’s the matter?”
The phone was answered almost as soon as it rang. Huo Boyan’s indifferent voice came through, which made Lin Yao feel a bit more at ease.
“Today, a beautiful woman came looking for me. She seems to know you. She left a lot of money here and didn’t take it. Could you help me return it to her?”
Lin Yao’s voice carried a hint of pleading, afraid that he would refuse.
Huo Boyan was surprised. “Knows me? What’s her name?”
Lin Yao had no idea what her name was. “I don’t know. She called you ‘Boyan,’ and she knows about our relationship. She saw the bracelet Grandfather gave me.”
Her voice grew softer and softer, afraid that Huo Boyan would get angry and blame her for letting others know about their situation.
The only one who could call Huo Boyan “Boyan” was Su Yuqing.
He had just told her yesterday that he was already married, and today she went looking for Lin Yao. It seemed he had been careless, thinking she would give up, but he forgot that ever since she was a child, she had always insisted on having whatever she wanted.
Lin Yao noticed that Huo Boyan hadn’t spoken for a long time on the other end of the phone and thought he was already angry. She immediately apologized:
“I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean for her to find out. At first, I even told her I didn’t know you, but she didn’t believe me…”
Huo Boyan interrupted her. “I know. I told her I was already married, so she went looking for you. It’s not your fault.”
Only then did Lin Yao feel relieved. After all, if she had been the one to reveal it, she would have had to pay thirty million! She couldn’t afford that much money!
“That’s good, then. I’ll bring the money back tonight. Do you have time to give it to her?”
Lin Yao was still thinking about how to return the money.
Huo Boyan asked, “How much money did she leave?”
Lin Yao immediately went to count the money. The crisp sound of bills being counted came through the phone: “One hundred, two hundred, three hundred… one thousand… five thousand…”
This was the first time Huo Boyan had heard someone counting money bill by bill. Did her shop not even have a bill counter?
Soon, Lin Yao finished counting. “A total of fifty thousand yuan!”
“Just keep the fifty thousand yuan for yourself to spend. I’ll transfer the money to Su Yuqing.”
Huo Boyan didn’t care about fifty thousand yuan at all.
So her name was Su Yuqing.
“No need. Please return it to her. I still have money to use.” Lin Yao firmly refused, not wanting to spend Huo Boyan’s money or owe him any more.
Huo Boyan said, “Use it to buy a few outfits. I’m taking you to meet some people tonight. Don’t embarrass me.”
Although his tone didn’t sound disdainful, Lin Yao still felt that Huo Boyan looked down on her clothes.
Lin Yao knew she couldn’t compare to Huo Boyan, but her clothes weren’t cheap either. How could they embarrass him?
But she obediently went to buy new clothes anyway, after all, she was now Huo Boyan’s wife.
That evening, Huo Boyan took Lin Yao to the highly exclusive and hard-to-book Peach Blossom Spring in the capital.
It was a restaurant, but it offered all kinds of entertainment. Anyone who could get in to dine had a net worth of at least hundreds of millions.
Shen Kaicheng, Xie Yuzhe, and Zhu Yuhang had been waiting in the private room for a while, having heard that Huo Boyan was going to introduce someone to them.
They were all very curious about who could warrant a personal introduction from Huo Boyan.
Lin Yao followed behind Huo Boyan, looking around curiously, when she suddenly spotted a very familiar-looking person.
She stopped in her tracks, wanting to get a clearer look, but her hand was pulled by Huo Boyan.
“Look next time. They’re already waiting in the private room,” Huo Boyan said, thinking she was just curious about the surroundings.
Lin Yao had no choice but to withdraw her gaze, assuming she must have been mistaken.
Huo Boyan led Lin Yao by the hand into the private room. The people inside were so startled they stood up, their eyes filled with disbelief.
“Let me introduce you. This is Lin Yao, my wife.”
Huo Boyan’s words made their eyes widen in shock—they couldn’t believe he had actually gotten married!
“Hello!” Lin Yao gave them a slight smile and greeted them.
“This is Zhu Yuhang, this is Shen Kaicheng, and this is Xie Yuzhe. They’re all my good brothers,” Huo Boyan also introduced the people opposite to Lin Yao.
Xie Yuzhe: “Hello, sister-in-law!”
Zhu Yuhang: “Hello, sister-in-law!”
Shen Kaicheng: “Hello, sister-in-law!”
After recovering from their surprise, they immediately greeted Lin Yao. Lin Yao smiled with a flushed face, and they assumed she was just shy.
But in reality, Lin Yao was feeling guilty.
Huo Boyan pulled Lin Yao to sit down and eat. The others still couldn’t believe Huo Boyan had gotten married and exchanged glances with each other.
Zhu Yuhang was the first to speak up: “Boyan, you’ve been gone for so long, and as soon as you come back, you’re married. Are you tricking us?”
Shen Kaicheng: “Exactly, are you deliberately lying to us?”
Xie Yuzhe: “Yeah, you can’t deceive us!”
Huo Boyan smiled, knowing they wouldn’t believe him easily, so he took out his marriage certificate to show them. Only after seeing the photo on the certificate did the three of them truly believe him.
Lin Yao sat to the side, not daring to speak, but inwardly she was furious. Who brings their marriage certificate out to show others?!
“Holy shit!” Zhu Yuhang exclaimed.
“Since you’re already married, then tonight we’re drinking until we drop!” Shen Kaicheng ordered the waiter to bring up a lot of alcohol.
Soon, the group was getting a bit tipsy. Lin Yao didn’t drink. After eating, she told Huo Boyan she was going out to get some fresh air and would be back soon, giving them some time to talk among themselves.
But Lin Yao’s real reason was to look for the woman she had thought looked familiar earlier.
She walked to the spot where she had seen the woman, but she wasn’t there. She had no choice but to wander around, hoping to run into her.
Perhaps Lin Yao was lucky, because she did run into the woman—right across from her.
She also confirmed her suspicion: this woman was the one Chen Dong had betrayed her for, the one he liked.
Lin Yao wanted to walk up to her and ask when she had gotten together with Chen Dong, but just as she was about to reach the woman…
The private room in front of the woman suddenly opened, and a chubby man walked out.
The man first touched the woman’s face, then hugged her and kissed her right there, as if no one else was around—just like how Chen Dong had kissed her that day.
Lin Yao stopped there, not daring to take another step forward, covering her mouth in disbelief as she stared at the scene before her.
How could this be?
Wasn’t she the one Chen Dong liked?
Weren’t she and Chen Dong together?
Why was she kissing this man?