At ten that night,
Huo Peiyan returned to the villa.
He’d been drinking. As soon as he came in, he leaned back on the sofa, tilting his head up.
His long fingers rubbed at his brow. His handsome brows drew together; the alcohol made him irritable, and he called toward the kitchen, “Su Yuqing, bring me the hangover soup!”
Honestly, she was so inconsiderate.
Usually, the moment he walked in, Su Yuqing would come to greet him, help him change his shoes, and support him to the sofa. Then she’d bring over the hangover soup she’d prepared in advance.
But today, so much time had passed, and still there was no sign of her.
Was she deliberately trying to make him angry?
Huo Peiyan clicked his tongue.
“She’s getting more and more temperamental.”
“Young… Young Master, Miss Su isn’t at the villa,” Nanny Wang said hesitantly, standing to one side with the hangover soup. “She left three days ago and hasn’t come back.”
“This soup…” Nanny Wang ventured.
Until now, everything Huo Peiyan ate or drank had been made by Miss Su herself. She was the only one who knew the Young Master’s tastes.
She never let the servants handle it.
Now that Miss Su wasn’t here, Nanny Wang didn’t know whether the soup she’d made would suit the Young Master’s palate.
“Put it there.”
At Huo Peiyan’s voice, Nanny Wang looked as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She quickly set the soup down and turned to leave. “Young Master, I’ll go clean up.”
“Wait.” Huo Peiyan rarely bothered to speak.
His voice was still languid, cool, and haughty. “Did she take her things?”
“N-no.”
Nanny Wang’s heart skipped a beat. Had Young Master Huo thrown Miss Su out?
Before she could react, Huo Peiyan let out a cold laugh.
“Playing hard to get? I’ve spoiled her too much.”
“O-or perhaps Miss Su really is angry?”
Summoning her courage, Nanny Wang said it. She knew Su Yuqing well.
No matter how badly the two of them quarreled, even when she was angry, Su Yuqing would still cook for Young Master Huo. She had never left him alone for more than three hours.
Miss Su had always held Young Master Huo dear.
But now, three days had passed, and she still hadn’t shown up. Either she was truly determined to stay away, or she’d run into danger.
At the thought, worry showed on Nanny Wang’s face.
“Young Master, Miss Su… she couldn’t be in some kind of danger, could she?”
“Hah.”
Huo Peiyan gave a cold laugh. “What could possibly have happened to her? She’s just throwing another tantrum.”
Remembering that phone call from the hospital, he sneered again. A car accident?
What a story. That flimsy excuse—and she’d even found someone to play along!
Everyone knew Su Yuqing had the driving skills of a professional racing driver. She’d won the championship for three consecutive years among professional racers.
How could she have gotten into a car accident?
There was only one possibility: he’d left her behind that night to go pick up Ruan Qingqing, and she was angry.
But he was busy. He didn’t have time to coax her.
Once she came to her senses, she’d come back on her own, just like she always did.
Huo Peiyan took out his phone and saw the message: 【Huo Peiyan, let’s break up.】
He couldn’t help sneering.
So what if he’d left her behind that night to pick up Ruan Qingqing?
Was she really going to get angry over something so trivial?
And she wanted to break up? Could she really bear to?
Besides, hadn’t he agreed to marry her precisely because, over these seven years, she’d been obedient and sensible, always lowering herself to please him, never making a fuss, and never requiring him to waste effort coaxing her?
He’d leave her alone for a few days.
Let’s see how long she could stand it without coming back.
Huo Peiyan casually called his Special Assistant, Zhang Cheng.
“Book me a direct flight to Manchester. I’m leaving first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Certainly, President Huo.”
“And one more thing.” Huo Peiyan paused, his tone languid yet dangerous.
“Cancel all of Su Yuqing’s credit cards.”
He didn’t like Su Yuqing when she was temperamental and inconsiderate. This time, he’d have to teach her a lesson and make her come back to his side obediently.
Without any money, would she still dare to sneak out of the house?
“Yes.”
Special Assistant Zhang Cheng paused for a second, then answered immediately.
*
Hospital room.
A nurse helped Su Yuqing ease herself into a wheelchair.
Her head was wrapped in gauze, her left forearm was in a cast, and her right leg had a minor fracture.
“Miss Su, your injuries are healing well. The weather’s nice this morning, so you can go outside for a bit. This is an electric wheelchair; you can operate it yourself.”
The nurse gave her careful instructions.
Su Yuqing’s lips curled up. She smiled sweetly at the nurse. “All right. Thank you.”
After deciding last night to finally let go of Huo Peiyan and blocking him,
she’d thought she would lie awake, heartbroken.
Instead, she’d slept wonderfully, right through until morning.
Su Yuqing couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept so well.
Aside from the dull ache that kept surfacing in her heart,
life without Huo Peiyan wasn’t as hard as she’d imagined.
It seemed people were much better at healing than they thought.
Su Yuqing made her way down the corridor, took the elevator, and went to the park below the hospital.
The spring sunshine fell warmly on her.
She closed her eyes, savoring the peace within her—
when a mocking laugh came from behind her.
“Well, well. If it isn’t Su Yuqing.”
Su Yuqing frowned.
She knew that voice very well. Just hearing it made her instinctively recoil.
Huo Peiyan’s buddy, Fu Jinshen.
He’d followed Huo Peiyan around since they were children and was his most loyal friend.
He’d always believed that people from the top tier of Jing City’s wealthy circles should marry young ladies from equally powerful families, with comparable wealth and influence.
And that went double for Huo Peiyan, who stood at the very top of the rich list.
How could Su Yuqing possibly be worthy of him?
Her family’s little company wasn’t even big enough to get a seat at the table.
So he’d always looked down on Su Yuqing.
He sauntered over to her, hands in his pockets. He kicked a pebble away from his foot, then looked down at her with a sidelong, appraising glance.
“Well, well. You’ve even ended up in a wheelchair? Tch, you’re putting on quite a show. A sob story, is it? Think this will get you into the Huo family? Hahaha. Su Yuqing, you may not be good for much, but you sure know how to come up with tricks.”
“Stay out of my business.”
Su Yuqing didn’t want to deal with him at all. He was like a dog-skin plaster that wouldn’t come off.
What rotten luck!
She turned her wheelchair around to leave.
“Hey, who said you could go?”
Fu Jinshen blocked her path, a malicious smile on his lips.
“What, Huo Peiyan doesn’t want you anymore? And you pull a stunt like this? Su Yuqing, after seven years, you still haven’t figured out who Peiyan loves? Ruan Qingqing, of course. Hahaha. What good does all your scheming do? You’ve been in the hospital for a while now, haven’t you? Has he come to see you even once? He’s with Sister Qingqing right now.”
Even though she’d already let go of Huo Peiyan, hearing it from someone else still sent pain crashing over her from every direction, like a rising tide.
A flicker of bitterness passed through her eyes.
Su Yuqing’s lips curved into a smile.
Her peach-blossom eyes narrowed slightly; against her snow-white skin, her red lips and long, softly curled hair brushing her chin made for a breathtakingly beautiful sight.
Fu Jinshen froze for a moment.
“Here I was wondering who this was so early in the morning. Turns out you’re one of Huo Peiyan’s dogs. Barking away while your master’s gone? Tell me, how much is Huo Peiyan paying you to work so hard at humiliating me?”
“You—”
“You what? How does it feel being made a cuckold? How’s that vast green grassland of Hulunbuir on your head? You’re the useless coward here. Don’t come around taking it out on me. Your auntie here isn’t putting up with it.”
The air froze.
Fu Jinshen’s face turned red, then white.
His girlfriend cheating on him was the greatest humiliation of his life.
What made it worse was that he was powerless to do anything about it.
He was just the most insignificant branch of the Fu family. He’d finally managed to get a girlfriend whose family was better off than his, only for her to turn out to be a notorious playgirl.
Not only was she wild, she made him go with her to get abortions every time.
He had to put up with it for the sake of an advantageous marriage.
Put up with it!
But what gave this bitch Su Yuqing the right to mock him?
Humiliated and furious, he swung his fist,
aiming it at Su Yuqing in her wheelchair.