Behind them, headlights pierced through the darkness. A black Mercedes stood like a blocking beast in the middle of the road, interrupting Pei Yanli’s thoughts.
“President Pei… what happened to Secretary Su?” the driver asked, immediately stopping the car and running over.
At the same time, Jiang Zhi’s mother hurriedly got out of the car as well. Her bulky figure blocked the way, her bright red nails almost poking at Pei Yanli’s face.
“My daughter isn’t even cold in her grave yet, and you’re already parading around with a little vixen? Who is she?”
“Move,” Pei Yanli growled through his throat. The veins on the back of the hand holding Su Yi’s legs bulged sharply.
Jiang Zhi’s mother suddenly reached out, trying to grab Su Yi’s hair.
“Stop pretending to be dead! Let me see what kind of shameless woman you are—”
Hearing the noise, Su Yi stirred in a daze and opened her eyes.
Seeing the two figures in front of her, she frowned immediately.
It was them.
“President… Pei…”
Hearing her voice, Pei Yanli set her down.
“Go wait in the car.”
“…”
Although she didn’t know what relationship he had with these people, as a secretary, she could only obey.
“Where do you think you’re going? Acting shameless when seducing men, but now you care about dignity?” the old woman stepped forward again.
Su Yi turned back. “You said I seduced men?”
“What? Don’t you dare admit it? If you didn’t seduce him, why would he carry you? Just because you have a pretty face, you go around doing indecent things. Didn’t your family teach you morals? No upbringing at all!”
The old woman reached out again, trying to grab Su Yi’s hair.
Before she could react, Pei Yanli grabbed the woman’s raised hand and said to Su Yi, “Go back to the car first.”
Su Yi glanced at the old woman. If not for Pei Yanli being here, she would have shown her what “no upbringing” really meant.
Seeing that he was protecting Su Yi, the old woman immediately began shouting, her bones almost crushed from his grip.
“Today is what day it is, don’t you know? My poor daughter—how miserable her life was!”
Pei Yanli’s eyes were cold as ice. He glanced at Jiang Zhi’s mother’s muddy Hermès scarf.
“I said I won’t shortchange what I owe you. But don’t push things too far.”
Jiang Zhi’s mother clutched her wrist and screamed in rage, like a shrew. She had once believed that a man as “devoted” as Pei Yanli would stay loyal to her daughter forever.
Only if he stayed devoted would they continue receiving endless money from him.
But she never expected that in just three years, he would bring another woman to her daughter’s grave.
And that woman—clearly pampered, beautiful, elegant—was exactly the kind of woman who could easily attract a man.
She knew very well: men would not stay faithful to one woman forever. Once a new woman appeared, the original place in his heart would naturally be replaced.
And once this woman took that position, what would happen to the Jiang family?
Their good days would be over.
“Da Gang, aren’t you going to help your sister get justice? Are you going to let her die for nothing?” she shouted.
Jiang Da Gang hesitated, but under Pei Yanli’s cold gaze, he stepped back.
“Mom… maybe let it go…”
“How did I give birth to someone like you!”
The old woman then pulled out a B-ultrasound report from her bag.
“When she had the accident, she was already pregnant with your child—mother and child died together… three months along!”
Hearing this, Pei Yanli’s pupils shrank to pinpoints. His clenched fist turned bone-white.
A child…
That last time—when he was coaxed into surgery—they hadn’t used any protection.
In an instant, a sharp pain spread through his chest. He couldn’t breathe properly.
He had never known… they once had a child.
The old woman, seeing his reaction, quickly shoved the report toward him.
“Look… it was so small. We don’t even know if it was a boy or a girl.”
Pei Yanli looked at the blurry tiny dot on the ultrasound. His jaw tightened to the point of breaking, his Adam’s apple rolling several times, but no sound came out.
He could not imagine what Jiang Zhi had gone through at that time.
“This child was yours. She never told her family she was pregnant—she planned to give birth alone. You were the only man. Are you still not going to acknowledge it? Yes, she’s been dead for years… not acknowledging it is normal. My daughter was blind to choose you—she even left home for you…”
“How much.”
After a long silence, his voice finally came out.
“Th-three… thirty million.”
Jiang Da Gang, shocked by his mother’s greed, tugged at her sleeve.
But the old woman ignored him.
“She died in disgrace… I was afraid people would gossip, so I never told anyone she was pregnant. When you came looking for us, I thought you were just playing with her. But today is her death anniversary, and you brought another woman…”
“I have nothing with her,” Pei Yanli said hoarsely.
“Good then.”
Even though she said that, the old woman still felt uneasy.
She shoved a worn, coverless diary into his hands.
“This is all she left behind.”
Then she dragged Jiang Da Gang away.
Pei Yanli lowered his head.
It was a small, yellowed notebook, mold-stained, the cover gone, words blurred and fading.
He had always been obsessive about cleanliness, but at this moment, he didn’t feel it was dirty at all.
He knew she liked writing diaries.
…
Inside the car, the soundproofing was excellent. Su Yi couldn’t hear what was happening outside—she only felt cold.
She was very afraid of cold, especially after childbirth, when she had developed chronic sensitivity due to a poorly recovered postpartum period.
“Shouldn’t you turn on the heater?”
“Didn’t you notice the CEO’s face is already cold enough to freeze? You still dare turn on the AC?”
Hearing this, Su Yi looked outside.
At some point, only Pei Yanli remained.
Smoke surrounded him, illuminated by pale streetlights. His sharp features were half blurred, half clear—lifeless.
She had never seen him like this.
So… exhausted.
Even more so than when she first met him.
“What’s wrong with the CEO…?”
“I don’t know. He comes here every year, always gives a lot of money to that mother and son. I think… it’s emotional debt.”
Emotional debt?
As expected… a scumbag.
Her gaze darkened slightly.
Then suddenly, her phone in her pocket began to vibrate.