A sharp slap echoed through the somewhat shabby rental apartment.
Gu Yan was momentarily dazed, feeling the burning pain on her cheek. She turned to look at the two familiar figures standing before her, then abruptly sat up from the bed.
“Dad, Mom… weren’t you dead? Why are you here?”
Her voice trembled uncontrollably, completely ignoring her father’s increasingly furious eyes.
Hadn’t she been tied up and thrown into the sea while trying to escape from Qu Xiao? Hadn’t her parents been killed in a car accident?
Why were they still here?
She turned to look at the calendar on the wall – November 26th. Wasn’t this when the Gu family had just gone bankrupt?
It really matched that saying: The weather has turned cold, it’s time for the Gu Corporation to go bankrupt.
When Gu Zexian heard her words, he thought she was still cursing him with her stubborn attitude. Enraged, he raised his hand to slap her again.
Li Wenhui, her eyes red-rimmed, quickly stepped in front of Gu Yan. “Old Gu, please don’t hit Yan Yan anymore. If she really doesn’t want to marry, then don’t force her. After all, she’s only twenty, and Qu Xiao is already thirty. This…”
“Do you think I want her to marry? I just want to save her life.”
Gu Zexian’s eyes were also red. The Gu family had been framed and gone bankrupt, his two sons’ whereabouts were unknown, he owed billions in debts, and illegal substances had been found in his company. If not for Qu Xiao, he would already be in prison.
Gu Yan stepped out from behind her mother. “Dad, slap me again. Let me see if I’m dreaming.”
Gu Zexian raised his hand but ultimately didn’t strike, instead turning his back to her.
Though he didn’t hit her, Gu Yan raised her hand and slapped herself hard, breaking the corner of her mouth.
“Yan Yan, what are you doing?”Li Wenhui cried out, her voice choked with tears as she painfully pulled her daughter into her embrace.
Hearing the commotion, Gu Zexian turned back and looked at Gu Yan with heartbreak in his eyes. This was the precious daughter the Gu family had cherished and spoiled while growing up.
But Gu Yan began to laugh. She had been reborn, reborn right when the Gu family had just gone bankrupt.
The Qu Xiao her father mentioned was the crown prince of the Qu Family, thirty years old, also considered the crown prince of the capital. When he was seven, something happened in the Qu Family – his mother hanged herself at home, and he was sent abroad by the Qu Family patriarch to fend for himself. He wasn’t brought back until he was twenty-four.
But after returning, he became ruthless and vicious in his dealings, willful and arrogant. Even his own uncle had his legs broken and was thrown out of the Qu Family by him. Now, no one dared to control him.
Thinking of that man, Gu Yan felt a pang in her heart. That man she had been desperate to escape in her previous life, that man who had loved her with a sick obsession.
In her previous life, she had disliked him for being older than her, and even thought he was mentally unstable. Even after seven years of marriage, she had constantly wanted to escape him.
She had even secretly aborted when she became pregnant, after which he had imprisoned her.
She had managed to escape the villa with her friends’ help. Remembering the faces of Xu Tao and Qin Yao, Gu Yan wished she could bite them to death.
If they hadn’t constantly told her that Qu Xiao was mentally ill, ruthless and willful, too old for her, and that he was the one who caused the Gu family’s bankruptcy, she wouldn’t have been so desperate to escape.
But then again, she had no brains—spoiled since childhood, she hadn’t even developed common sense.
In this lifetime, she had to be worthy of his heart. Thinking this, Gu Yan pushed her mother away, snatched the phone from her bedside, and ran out.
Gu Zexian hurriedly called out, “Where are you going?”
Without turning back, Gu Yan replied, “Dad, don’t worry, I’m not running away. I’m going to find Uncle Qu.”
Just as the Gu couple stood in shock, they saw Gu Yan rush back in. She reached into her father’s pants pocket, pulled out his wallet, took a few hundred yuan, and dashed off again.
Gu Zexian and Li Wenhui stared blankly at the wallet in his hand. By the time they processed what happened and chased after her, she had already vanished.
Gu Yan hailed a taxi and immediately dialed that all-too-familiar number. The call connected after just three rings, but the other end remained silent—eerily quiet.
Her voice trembling slightly, Gu Yan asked, “Uncle Qu, where are you? I need to talk to you.”
A low, magnetic voice came through the phone, betraying no emotion. “Dihao. Don’t come here. Say what you need over the phone, or I’ll come over later—”
Before he could finish, Gu Yan hung up. Pressing a hand to her racing heart, she knew some things had to be said face-to-face. She gave the driver the address, and the cab headed toward Dihao.
Soon, the car stopped in front of a lavishly decorated entertainment venue. Gu Yan handed the driver two hundred yuan, stepped out, shivered as a cold wind blew, then hurried inside.
Dihao was the most luxurious entertainment spot in the capital, one of Qu Xiao’s properties. He was the titan of the city’s business world, with enterprises spanning the globe. In her past life, she must have been blind as a bat to even think of running away.
As Gu Yan entered, the security guards recognized her immediately. Master Qu had given orders: this young lady was never to be questioned. She took Qu Xiao’s private elevator directly to the 18th floor—she remembered he had renovated it as his personal residence.
The moment she stepped out, bodyguards spotted her. They froze in confusion. Wasn’t she always avoiding their boss? Why was she here?
“Where’s Uncle Qu?” she asked.
Just then, agonized screams erupted from a nearby room. Without a second thought, she rushed over and shoved the door open.
The instant the door swung inward, countless guns in the room trained on her. Yet she stood rooted to the spot, stunned into stillness.
Inside the room, several bodyguards pinned two bloodied men to the floor. One had a knife stabbed through his hand.
Gu Yan’s gaze fell on the man seated in a chair—shirt sleeves casually rolled up, spinning a gun in his hand, sharp black eyes, lightly pressed lips, and a sharply defined profile. His tall, lean frame wasn’t bulky but exuded raw power. In that room, he was like an eagle in the night—cold, aloof, solitary, yet overwhelmingly dominant, carrying an aura that scorned heaven and earth.
Qu Xiao sat expressionless in his chair, but when his eyes landed on Gu Yan, a flicker of surprise crossed them. Seeing her tears fall like broken strings of pearls, a trace of panic surfaced in his gaze—he thought she was frightened.
“Put the guns away,” he ordered.
He stood up, took the hair tie from his wrist and put it in his pants pocket, looking at her with a gentle tone.
“I told you not to come. I’ll have someone take you back right now.”
Today she was just wearing an overcoat with a shirt and vest underneath, paired with light-colored skinny jeans. Her hair was casually tied into a high ponytail.
Despite such a simple outfit, Qu Xiao still couldn’t look away.
But Gu Yan suddenly ran toward him, “Uncle Qu, ugh I mean, husband.”
Qu Xiao stiffened when she hugged him, his face full of astonishment.
The bodyguards in the room were also shocked—what madness had overcome the Gu family’s young mistress?
Although Qu Xiao wanted to hug her too, he still pushed her away, his voice carrying a hint of anger.
“Gu Yan, to stop me from taking action against the Xu family, are you really willing to go this far for Xu Tao?”
Gu Yan paid no attention to whether he was angry or not. She reached out and hugged him, “No, the weather’s getting cold—it’s time for the Xu Corporation to go bankrupt.”
She looked up at him with teary eyes, “Husband, I want to have lots and lots of babies with you. I must have been sick in the head before. You’re rich, handsome, powerful, and you love me so much. I must have been blind to like that deadbeat Xu Tao.”
Qu Xiao still pushed her away, looking at her expressionlessly, “Didn’t you say I was too old for you?”
Gu Yan shook her head vigorously, “Old but vigorous! Besides, you have the face of a twenty-year-old—not old at all. You’re just perfect for me.”
Qu Xiao’s face showed no emotion as he simply watched Gu Yan.
She had used every trick in the book for Xu Tao before, sparing no effort.
He didn’t trust her anymore.
Gu Yan also knew how absurd she had been before. She felt her eyes grow hot again, and tears began to fall once more.
She reached out her hands, looking at him with a pitiful expression.
“Uncle Qu, hug me.”