Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Okay.” She nodded her head. She couldn’t reject him and the trap he set for her anymore. She didn’t want to.
Gao Yi beamed with happiness. She agreed. After so long, she finally agreed.
All was good.
He lowered his head and looked at the form for the transfer of assets, his lips curving mockingly. You can try to make amends just to alleviate your guilt, but it depends on whether the other party needs it. Your things are the last thing Xia Ruoxin needs.
All her troubles started with you, and all her pain was inflicted by you. If you really want to better her life and remedy your error, then just do as I said.
Leave her alone.
She just needs us.
Chu Lui put down the form for the transfer of assets in his hands. It had only been a day, and now it was back in his possession. His signature was on it, but she didn’t accept. Was she so unwilling to?
“Cousin, she returned it? Du Jingtang took it from him and asked Chu Lui in disbelief. The assets that made the Li family so desperate were being returned to them without change?
“I should have known.” Chu Lui stood up and said calmly. The paper in Du Jingtang’s hand was like a smack to his face. “She wouldn’t want anything from me. Even if I give her all the assets of the Chu family, she wouldn’t even blink.”
“That’s why, Cousin, you let such a wonderful woman slip from your fingers!” Du Jingtang nodded profusely. “Don’t worry too much about it, cousin. Maybe she’s doing well now.” He placed his hand on Chu Lui’s shoulders and patted lightly. Men should be able to let go of what they wanted to take.
She was a good woman, but no matter how good she was, she would never be his.
Chu Lui took a deep breath. He grabbed his blazer from the side. “I’m heading out. Help me watch over this place.” He said as he walked out, without leaving any chance for Du Jingtang to complain.
“Really, He’s throwing it to me again. He just cares about his wife and child. Does he really think I’m a robot?”
As for the form for the transfer of assets, Chu Lui casually kept it in his villa, but a few days later—unbeknownst to him, the maid dropped it accidentally when she was cleaning, and she picked it up and handed it over to Li Manni. Li Manni gripped the paper with her heart aching and her throat hoarse.
It was supposed to belong to her and her baby.
People changed easily. The passage of time brought not only life and experiences… but also greed of all sorts. All she wanted was him in the past, even if he didn’t love her. Then, she started to desire his love, but when she failed, she destroyed it so others wouldn’t acquire it, too. When she finally got his love and his person, she wasn’t willing to let go of the money.
It wasn’t about innocence or status. This was just human nature. Everyone had desires and ambitions, and they were usually created by the person at the start.
For Li Manni, Chu Lui gave her everything she had now. She was enjoying it all peacefully and naturally. Chu Lui was the provider, and she was the one receiving. She was used to his giving and her enjoying.
Four years had passed. She could no longer go back to who she was before. From the moment she started going down this path to now—where she had everything, she couldn’t possibly willingly give them up to the woman from whom she stole it all.
She couldn’t let history repeat itself. She knew very well how Chu Lui was like.
Her fingernails dug deep into her palms. The pain made her clear-headed, but it made her twisted as well.
She placed her hand on her stomach. Her red lips curved up.
Everything in the Chu family belonged to her son. No one was to snatch them away, including that illegitimate child.
…
Xia Ruoxin bent down and adjusted the small hat on her daughter’s head. “Stay good and listen to the teacher. I’ll come and pick you up after school. Come here.” She propped her cheek closer. “Babe, give Mommy a kiss.”
Rainy’s face cracked into a smile, and she gave her mother a fierce kiss.
Gao Yi walked over and lifted the little girl off the ground and then pointed at his right cheek.
Rainy pecked Gao Yi’s cheeks shyly and then rested her chin on Gao Yi’s shoulders.
“Let’s go. I’ll bring you to school.”
Gao Yi rubbed her head, put her down in the car, and then brought her to the kindergarten.
Xia Ruoxin gazed at the distance where the car had driven off. Her throat tightened. It was a long time since she saw Rainy so ecstatic. She really needed a father.
Gao Yi would be an amazing father, but she didn’t know whether a woman as lacking as her was worthy of him.
She was divorced with a daughter. She had even been a prostitute. She was also disabled.
She didn’t want to think about the past—or hated it, but she couldn’t bring herself to forgive.
Forgive that man and that woman whom she called Mother.
She patted her pocket. She had brought her purse out today and was going to get some groceries to make some delicious food for the father and daughter. She didn’t know why, but when she thought of the pairing, her heart felt like it was being compressed and her chest hurt.
She wasn’t sure whether she stole this or not. She only knew that her life was great now, peaceful, smooth-sailing, and simple. She didn’t want that to change.
She bought half a chicken, some vegetables, and a fish. She wanted to make red-braised fish for her daughter, and that breed of fish had fewer bones. When they were in poverty, she would always scrimp and save money to buy one for her daughter. She wasn’t so frugal anymore, but every time she thought of the taste of this dish, her heart ached slightly, bitterly.
“Ruoxin…” She reached the entrance of her new home where a car was parked. The person in the car called out her name.
She pursed her lips and walked towards it, staring from afar at the middle-aged man who got out.
Her step-father, Xia Mingzheng.
He looked utterly exhausted. His reputation as honest and just was all applicable only on her daughter. He wouldn’t care less whether someone else’s daughter was humiliated, used, or treated as scum.
