He stayed in the bathroom for a long time, staring at the cracked mirror with a bitter smile.
He pulled out the glass shards from his hand, turned on the cold water tap, and rinsed his hand under the running water.
After casually wiping it with a towel, he changed into a suit and headed downstairs, though he didn’t wear a tie today.
As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw an elegant woman sitting in the living room. He frowned slightly. “Yueran, what are you doing here?”
Liang Yueran sighed. “My brother sent me. He said you’re going back to the Qu Family’s Old Mansion today, and those monstrous creatures might cause trouble for you. So he asked me to accompany you.”
Qu Xiao replied indifferently, “No need. I can go back by myself. I’ll have someone take you home.”
“Cousin.” Liang Yueran called out to his retreating back, hesitating. “Are you still in contact with Gu Yan? Don’t you know she’s just using you?”
“Yueran.”
Qu Xiao called her name with a cold, stern tone, making her shiver involuntarily.
She gritted her teeth but couldn’t hold back. “Cousin, because of her, you’ve become the laughingstock of the capital. Why can’t you see her true colors?”
Qu Xiao had no intention of continuing the conversation. No matter how flawed Gu Yan might be, she would always come first for him—no one could surpass her.
Liang Yueran cursed under her breath but still hurried after him.
Those people at the Old Mansion today might not go easy on him; she had to follow and see for herself.
Just as Qu Xiao was about to get into the car, he saw another vehicle speeding toward them.
He frowned—wasn’t that his car?
Liang Yueran stood beside him, watching as someone stepped out of the car.
Gu Yan got out and looked at them standing there, puzzled. “Huh? Why are you all waiting at the door?”
As soon as Liang Yueran recognized Gu Yan, her face darkened. She stepped in front of Qu Xiao, glaring defensively at Gu Yan.
“What are you doing here again? You’re not welcome. Get lost!”
“Yueran, that’s enough.”Qu Xiao stepped forward, his voice low as he looked at Gu Yan.” “Why are you back?”
Gu Yan pulled a booklet from her coat pocket and waved it at him. “I went back to get my household register. Uncle Qu, let’s go get our marriage certificate. That way, you’ll be mine.”
In this lifetime, she was determined to keep him by her side.
Qu Xiao fell into thought as he stared at the household register in her hand. He couldn’t bring himself to believe she had gone back specifically for it.
Yet, he couldn’t resist asking, “Did you go back just to get the household register?”
Gu Yan nodded, linking her arm through his with a playful grin. “Yeah, I wanted to ask you to come along, but you were sleeping so soundly, I didn’t want to wake you.”
Qu Xiao remained silent, his face shadowed with gloom.
He would rather Gu Yan ignore him as she used to, or even hurl insults at him, than see her feign affection like this.
Liang Yueran stepped forward and shoved Gu Yan away, pointing at her and yelling, “Gu Yan, have you no shame? How much more are you going to ruin my cousin? You’re stringing him along while still entangled with that scumbag Xu Tao. What do you take my cousin for? If you don’t love him, then get the hell away from him!”
“Yueran.”
Liang Yueran could no longer bear it and turned to glare at Qu Xiao. Though frightened by his gloomy expression, she mustered her courage. “Cousin, there are countless women in this world. Why must you insist on having her? Someone like her…”
“Yueran, this is between us.” Qu Xiao cut off her remaining words with a single sentence.
Qu Xiao glanced at Gu Yan, who appeared somewhat lost, then averted his gaze, his voice calm as still water. “You may leave. I won’t bother you anymore.”
Gu Yan didn’t respond to him. Her gaze fell upon the woman standing behind him.
Yueran?
Liang Yueran?
A man suddenly came to Gu Yan’s mind.
Liang Yan.
Qu Xiao’s cousin, the eldest son of the Liang Family, his right-hand man.
She remembered that Liang Yan had been handling Qu Xiao’s business overseas. It seemed not long after the Gu family went bankrupt, Liang Yan was taken hostage during a transaction overseas when someone tried to “black eat black” on him.
Shortly after, Qu Xiao went to rescue him and was shot in the left elbow joint, rendering that hand nearly useless.
The thought sent chills down her spine, and she began trembling uncontrollably.
She recalled that Xu Tao seemed to have been involved in that incident too—he had even bragged about it to her later.
Noticing Gu Yan’s forehead beaded with cold sweat despite the chilly weather, Qu Xiao frowned, but before he could voice his question—
Gu Yan grabbed his arm urgently. “Uncle Qu, is Liang Yan still in Country R?”
Qu Xiao frowned at her. “How do you know that?”
A cold dread washed over Gu Yan. She checked her phone’s calendar—nearly half a month had passed since the Gu family’s bankruptcy.
Which meant that incident was about to happen.
“Uncle Qu, you must call him back immediately, or something terrible will happen.”
Liang Yueran couldn’t help but snap, “Are you insane? Why are you cursing my brother?”
Seeing the disappointment in Qu Xiao’s eyes, Gu Yan knew explanations would be useless.
After a moment’s thought, she called Xu Tao.
The ringing tone broke the tense silence.
After a long wait, the call connected, and Xu Tao’s irritated voice came through. “Xiao Yan, I told you to come see me this morning. Why are you only calling me now?”
Ignoring everyone’s stares, Gu Yan forced calm into her voice. “Xu Tao, I found some evidence in his study yesterday.”
Just as Liang Yueran was about to speak, Qu Xiao shook his head at her, his gaze fixed on Gu Yan.
Xu Tao said she hadn’t gone to see him? Had she really just gone back for her household register?
Xu Tao’s excited voice came through the phone. “Xiao Yan, what did you find?”
“First tell me if you have any plans recently. I need to know if he intentionally let me see it.”
After a brief silence on the other end, a cold smile touched Gu Yan’s lips, though her voice remained neutral. “If you don’t trust me, forget it. I’m hanging up.”
“Wait!” Xu Tao quickly responded. “Xiao Yan, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but these matters aren’t suitable to discuss with you.”
“Oh, then I’ll hang up.” Gu Yan ended the call directly.
Liang Yueran sneered, “Gu Yan, what act are you putting on now? Your acting is utterly pathetic.”
No sooner had she spoken than Gu Yan’s phone rang again. She answered and held it up toward Qu Xiao.
Xu Tao’s voice emerged from the speaker, “Xiao Yan, you must not let anyone know about this.”
Gu Yan let out a faint “Mm” in response.
Xu Tao’s voice came through the phone once more,
“Xiao Yan, doesn’t Qu Xiao have a cousin in R Country? We’ve found out they’re about to make a deal during this period. We plan to buy out their rivals and have them turn on each other—black eat black—to take Liang Yan hostage. When Qu Xiao goes to ransom him, we’ll have them eliminate both of them right then and there. This way…”