The atmosphere in the study room was odd at that moment. Su Chenghui didn’t move his feet but watched Li Qianxue walk up step by step.
“Who is that woman?”
She wore a peaceful look on her face. She was neither sad nor glad. She thought Xiang Caiping was Su Chenghui’s beloved one. It had been so many years, but he never forgot about her.
But what if apart from her, there was another woman in Su Chenghui’s life? What did that mean?
Li Qianxue doubted herself more than once. She spent decades loving that man, but sometimes, she felt as if her love was nothing but a joke.
She didn’t want to give up, though. She always told herself that she would get through it and that everything would be fine. She told herself that Su Chenghui would eventually discover how great she was when he finally gave up on Xiang Caiping and stopped thinking of her.
However, Su Chenghui didn’t forget about Xiang Caiping as Li Qianxue expected. What was worse, Li Qianxue now found out that there was another woman in Su Chenghui’s life.
Seeing the fierce look in Li Qianxue’s eyes, Su Chenghui panicked again. He tried his best to stay calm.
“That woman does not exist. You misheard.”
“I am not deaf,” Li Qianxue looked at Su Chenghui and spoke with an obviously sarcastic tone, “Also, you didn’t close the door.”
She tried to make herself sound calm, but the anger could still be detected in her voice. Su Chenghui dropped his head instead of making eye contact with Li Qianxue.
“There is no other woman. You really misheard.”
It was the first time Su Chenghui talked to Li Qianxue with such a low voice. It was filled with helplessness, yet Li Qianxue sensed his guilt from that tone. He was trying to hide the truth.
She made a step forward and stood right before Su Chenghui’s face. The distance between the two of them was no more than ten centimeters.
She looked him in the eye and said, “Su Chenghui, who is Su Qingsang’s mother? It’s not Xiang Caiping. Who it is?”
“No one.”
“No one? Did you give birth to her yourself? Did the girl appear out of thin air?”
Li Qianxue was so disappointed in Su Chenghui. After twenty years of loving him, she felt so tired and powerless. Now, she had nothing but despair and disappointment.
True disappointment.
“As I’ve said, there is no other woman.”
Li Qianxue stared straight at Su Chenghui’s face, then closed her eyes and repeated the question, “Who is Su Qingsang’s mother? Tell me.”
Huo Jinyao didn’t expect things to turn out like that.
Sensing the atmosphere between Li Qianxue and Su Chenghui, he, as their son-in-law, clearly understood that he should leave.
He glanced at Su Chenghui, then at Li Qianxue. Neither of them was talking at the moment, but the atmosphere was very tense.
He quietly walked out of the study room, without saying a word to Su Chenghui.
Downstairs, Su Qingsang was waiting for him to give her an answer. Huo Jinyao looked at her and slightly shook his head.
Su Qingsang understood his meaning. The two of them said goodbye to Old Master Li and then left.
Su Yuxin noticed the look on Huo Jinyao’s face. He felt that something not so good was happening.
In the study room, Li Qianxue was still questioning Su Chenghui. Su Chenghui refused to admit anything or give her any answer.
“As I’ve said, there is no other woman. You misheard.”
Li Qianxue didn’t want to ask any more questions. She raised a hand and slapped her husband in the face.
Su Chenghui’s head jerked aside from that heavy slap. He looked at Li Qianxue, moved his lips, but didn’t say a word.
Li Qianxue burst into laughter. She looked at Su Chenghui and nodded heavily while laughing. “Su Chenghui, I want a divorce.”
That was the second time Li Qianxue mentioned divorce. Su Chenghui paused briefly with surprise, then said without thinking, “I disagree.”
“I don’t care if you agree or not,” Li Qianxue stopped laughing and spoke with a tired voice. “I have decided to get a divorce. Su Chenghui, listen to me carefully, I want a divorce.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Su Chenghui’s voice finally sounded a little normal. He looked at Li Qianxue and said with determination, “Don’t even think about that. I won’t divorce you.”
“Su Chenghui,” Li Qianxue clenched her teeth, looked at him and said, “Don’t be so shameless. Why on earth do you think I can still be with you as if nothing happened after you betrayed me again and again?”
“I didn’t betray you,” Su Chenghui knew that Li Qianxue wouldn’t believe anything he said at that moment, but what he said was true.
“You didn’t betray me? Who gave birth to Su Qingsang then? You didn’t only betray me, but also betrayed Xiang Caiping. Su Chenghui, I thought you loved Xiang Caiping. It has been over twenty years. You pretended to love her so deeply, and you tortured me, ignored me. I thought you were a devoted man, but what kind of a man are you really?”
He turned out to be a dishonest and irresponsible man. She married a man like that and wasted half of her life.
“Su Chenghui, one more time, I want a divorce. I’m telling my father now.”
Li Qianxue turned and prepared to leave. Su Chenghui hurriedly held her arm.
Li Qianxue wasn’t prepared for that but ended up being caught in Su Chenghui’s arms. Su Chenghui noticed the determined look on her face and somehow felt panic.
To hide his feelings, he said to her without thinking, “Li Qianxue, I won’t divorce you. We got married because that was what you wanted, and now you want to divorce me against my will. Why do you think you can make decisions for me? No, that’s not going to happen.”
“You…”
“Are you sure that you want a divorce now?” Su Chenghui looked at her face, trying to threaten her. “Who do you think has been running the business of the Li Family these years? Moreover, your father isn’t healthy. The doctor said that he should not be irritated. Are you sure that you want to tell him?”
“Su Chenghui, you dirty man,” Li Qianxue was so angry. She almost wanted to slap him again.
“Yeah, I am a lowlife. I know that. But didn’t you want this dirty man yourself? Didn’t you love this dirty man? Admit it, Li Qianxue. You started this.”
He grasped her hands. Su Chenghui was a man. How could Li Qianxue possibly manage to hit him again?
“Yes, I made you marry me, so? Am I supposed to waste my entire life to make amends for that?” Li Qianxue almost lost control of herself. She glared at Su Chenghui. She had no idea that he was thinking that way.
Su Chenghui wanted to tell her that that was not what he meant, but he thought of Su Qingsang and Su Peizhen.
He couldn’t explain. At last, his voice became lower. “Li Qianxue, you can shout louder. Let’s see if your father and Yuxin will hear us.”
Su Chenghui knew Li Qianxue’s weak points. Li Qianxue pushed him hard and took a step backward.
“Su Chenghui, I was so blind.”
That was the last thing she said. She turned and left, and didn’t even give him another glance.
After she left, Su Chenghui weakly stepped backward and leaned against the desk, as if someone suddenly took away all his strength.
Cold sweat oozed out of his skin. He didn’t pay attention to Li Qianxue’s anger.
All he knew was that the secret of Su Peizhen and Su Qingsang was safe, for now.
He had no idea how much longer he could keep that secret.
…
In the car, Su Qingsang was looking at Huo Jinyao. He told her what happened in the study room.
Su Qingsang frowned as she pondered over Su Chenghui’s words.
“That woman doesn’t exist? He’s really good at hiding his sins.”
Su Qingsang had now started to hate Su Chenghui, even though he was her father. How could that man be so cowardly that he didn’t even dare to admit what he had done?
Huo Jinyao stayed silent. He was thinking about everything that had happened since Xiang Caiping showed up. He felt that something wasn’t right.
Su Qingsang was still making guesses about her real mother. As Huo Jinyao stayed quiet, she stopped talking.
The New Year festivities weren’t over yet, but she felt a little upset because of how awful Su Chenghui was, and the fact that he was hiding the truth.
“Huo Jinyao, do you think that we might be wrong? Perhaps my mother isn’t a rich woman. Is there a chance that she’s just an ordinary person, someone insignificant?”
Her words interrupted his thinking. He turned, gave her a glance and said to her, “What do you mean?”
“For example, she might be a prostitute or a…” Su Qingsang didn’t know why she was thinking that way. “I’ve been thinking. I don’t think my father could be with another woman under those circumstances. The only possibility was that an accident happened somehow. After all, he was with both my mother and Aunt Li at that time.”
By ‘accident’, she meant a one-night stand or something like that. She didn’t want to think of her father as a man like that, but that was the most probable explanation.
“An accident happened when my mother gave birth to me, so my father brought me home and told the others that I’m her child.”
They stopped in traffic. After saying that, Su Qingsang turned to look at Huo Jinyao and waited for his input.
Huo Jinyao frowned slightly. He was still thinking about how Xiang Caiping came into Su Qingsang’s life and what happened after that.
He had a feeling that Su Qingsang’s background wasn’t as simple as she herself thought. There had to be some other hidden truth about it.
Currently, there was no obvious problem with her family background, but in fact, many details could easily turn out to be wrong.
He always felt that something was weird, but couldn’t explain how, until he heard what Su Qingsang said.
Those words felt like a lightning bolt flashing across his mind and solved all the puzzles that he had.
Abruptly, he turned and stared straight at Su Qingsang’s face.
Su Peizhen didn’t look like Su Chenghui or Li Qianxue. Unlike her, Su Yuxin looked very much like his father.
Huo Jinyao looked at Su Qingsang carefully. Su Qingsang and Su Yuxin looked more like a sister and a brother than Su Peizhen and Su Yuxin. Both Su Qingsang and Su Yuxin perfectly inherited the handsome features of Su Chenghui’s face.
Su Qingsang actually looked like a female version of Su Chenghui. She had beautiful eyes, eyebrows, nose, and mouth. She had Su Chenghui’s eyes and brows, but the shape of her face was…
She had Li Qianxue’s face shape.
“Huo Jinyao? What’s wrong?” The light had already turned green. The cars behind were honking. Su Qingsang looked at Huo Jinyao with concern.
“Do you think that I’m wrong? It’s alright. I’m happy with my current life anyway.”
“You are right. But we guessed wrong.”
“What?”
…
