The woman’s voice ca through faintly, "It’s unnecessary. If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now."
As the words fell, the sound of the call being disconnected echoed from the phone.
Huo Shaoyan’s heart felt particularly heavy.
However, this did not affect Huo Shaoxin’s mood.
Huo Shaoxin thought her older brother’s house had a slightly different style from the hos she’d lived in before, so she said to Huo Shaoyan:
"Brother, your house seems like Brother Feng’s house."
At this, Fu Rou’s eyes instantly overflowed with tears.
She rushed toward Huo Shaoxin, her voice choked with emotion, "You... are you Xinnxinn?"
Huo Shaoxin had been beaten and humiliated by a wealthy woman in the past, so she instinctively feared Fu Rou, bedecked in jewels and luxury.
Terrified by Fu Rou’s intense emotions, Huo Shaoxin quickly cowered behind Huo Shaoyan.
"Bad person. Brother, Xinnxinn is scared; Xinnxinn doesn’t want to talk to the bad person..."
These words left Fu Rou feeling deeply stung.
She had always believed that Huo Shaoxin was long dead.
Unexpectedly, she was still alive.
But the daughter she’d yearned for day and night not only failed to recognize her as her mother but even called her a bad person. Fu Rou was utterly heartbroken.
Her eyes blurred with tears as she spoke to Huo Shaoxin, "Xinnxinn, don’t be afraid. I’m your mom..."
Huo Shaoxin beca agitated, "No, you’re not my mom! You’re a bad person! You’re a bad person... Ah—"
Suddenly overwheld, Huo Shaoxin lost control of her emotions, her vision went dark, and she fainted on the spot.
Huo Shaoyan’s face was grim as he imdiately lifted Huo Shaoxin into his arms, addressing Fu Rou coldly:
"Xinnxinn has suffered a great deal over the years. Her ntal and intellectual state is akin to that of an adolescent now. I need to find a doctor to treat her, and until then, I require you to move out of my Fengqiao Villa."
He paused, his gaze falling on Lin Keke, who stood behind Fu Rou,
"You too."
Faced with Huo Shaoyan’s indifference, Lin Keke did not get angry but instead, understandingly offered, "President Huo, there’s actually no need for the hospital. I have a way to wake up Ms. Huo."
Huo Shaoyan frowned, "You have a way?"
Lin Keke nodded:
"My grandmother was an old traditional Chinese dicine practitioner before she passed away. Influenced closely by her craft, I picked up a little. All it takes is one silver needle."
Five minutes later, under Lin Keke’s care with the needle, Huo Shaoxin woke up.
Seeing her awake, Huo Shaoyan finally let out a breath of relief.
He lifted his eyes to glance at Lin Keke, "You did well."
Lin Keke believed this was an excellent opportunity to draw closer to Huo Shaoyan and proactively suggested, "My grandmother once treated patients similar to Ms. Huo. There was one patient whose ntal condition deteriorated due to physical abuse by her stepmother from an early age.
Through my grandmother’s unique acupuncture techniques, the patient gradually improved and eventually resud a normal life. Based on Ms. Huo’s current condition, it seems possible for her to recover swiftly with tily treatnt using this thod."
Before Huo Shaoyan could respond, Fu Rou interjected, "Why not let Keke try? It wouldn’t hurt to give it a try."
Huo Shaoyan’s phoenix eyes cast a cold glance at Fu Rou. "Just t, and you already want to make Xinnxinn an experint subject?"
Fu Rou stumbled, "I... I was just too worried..."
Huo Shaoyan interrupted her sharply, "Xinnxinn fears you. Lin Keke may stay for now, but you need to leave."
Fu Rou looked at Huo Shaoxin huddled under the covers, still refusing to look at her, and could only say,
"Alright, then let Keke take care of her. I will go."
Returning to her room, Fu Rou imdiately called Lin Keke to ask, "How is Xinnxinn now?"
Lin Keke replied, "Ms. Huo is stable now. I’ve just managed to lull her to sleep."
After a pause, she added,
"However, President Huo seems to have gone out for sothing. From what I gathered, he went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to finalize his divorce with Mrs. Huo."
Hearing this, Fu Rou visibly relaxed.
She remarked, "That woman is a calamity. Ah Yan divorce her, this is good news."
Lin Keke hesitated, "But... I heard that President Huo agreed to let Mrs. Huo have custody of Ms. Huo Chenghuan because of this... You may not have a chance to get close to your granddaughter anymore."
These words turned Fu Rou’s face pale with anger.
But after so thought, Huo Chenghuan didn’t feel close to her, and she was just a little girl anyway. Whether or not they had her didn’t matter.
As long as Huai Shang’s custody remained intact, sacrificing a granddaughter was acceptable.
Thinking this way, her mood lifted again, and she said,
"As long as I still have Huai Shang, I can endure anything." Pausing, she added, "How long has he been gone?"
Lin Keke replied, "Only five minutes."
When Fu Rou called Huo Shaoyan’s phone, he was about to dial An Ge’s number.
Irritated by Fu Rou, he didn’t take her call and promptly blacklisted her number.
After blacklisting Fu Rou’s number, Huo Shaoyan dialed An Ge instead.
At that ti, An Ge was on her way to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
She glanced at his incoming call with an indifferent gaze, hesitated for just two seconds before answering.
Her voice was icy cold, "Hello?"
Huo Shaoyan’s heart sank further at her detached tone.
His voice was hoarse, like he was mumbling softly, "Hello."
An Ge’s tone remained distant, "What do you want?"
Huo Shaoyan swallowed, his voice turning even darker, "Have you... left yet?"
An Ge replied softly, "About twenty minutes away."
Huo Shaoyan made a sound of acknowledgnt, and the call plunged into silence.
An Ge waited for a mont, and seeing he had nothing else to say, spoke, "If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up now."
Huo Shaoyan’s throat tightened and worked furiously.
After a long while, he murmured an affirmative, "Alright."
Twenty minutes later, An Ge stepped out of a black sedan.
The sky was overcast, dark clouds looming heavy, hinting at an impending storm.
An Ge told Qin Ming, who had driven her, "Looks like there’s going to be a downpour. Wait for in the car."
Qin Ming had been assigned by Gu Changfeng to ensure An Ge’s safety.
Gu Changfeng’s orders were for Qin Ming not to leave An Ge’s side.
Thus, Qin Ming quickly responded, "Ms. An, I’ll accompany you into the Civil Affairs Bureau."
An Ge considered it for a mont, "Alright then."
An Ge and Qin Ming entered the Civil Affairs Bureau together, monts before the rain began pouring outside.
The relentless rain soon engulfed the entire city.
An Ge sat in the VIP waiting area, her gaze dull as it lingered on the rain-soaked city streets beyond the window, lost in thought for a long ti.
She sat quietly, seemingly isolated from the world.
Not until the outdoor skies turned pitch black did she realize she’d been waiting for a long ti.
An Ge frowned and checked her phone.
It had been more than an hour since her last call with Huo Shaoyan—he should have been there by now.
An Ge quickly pulled up Huo Shaoyan’s number and dialed.
The phone rang for a while before it was answered.
"Hello?"
The man’s voice was deeply raspy.
An Ge noticed sothing amiss, "What happened to you?"
Huo Shaoyan replied, "Sorry, there was a minor car accident. Can we postpone the divorce papers for another day?"
An Ge believed him, "Was the injury serious?"
At that mont, Huo Shaoyan’s car was parked only two hundred ters away from the Civil Affairs Bureau.
His gaze fixed unwaveringly on the bureau’s building across the street, his throat tightening severely, "Not serious..."
An Ge cut him off, "If you don’t need to go to the hospital, it would be best to wrap up the divorce process today."
Huo Shaoyan felt a stabbing pain in his heart as his phoenix eyes turned slightly bloodshot.
"Another day, okay? My car broke down, and by the ti the traffic police finish processing everything, the Civil Affairs Bureau will already be closed."
An Ge could tell from his tone that he wouldn’t be coming to the bureau today.
She pursed her lips, thought for a mont, and said,
"President Huo, technically we’ve already signed the divorce agreent. It’s perfectly fine to let the lawyers handle the procedural steps. Next ti, I’ll have my lawyer coordinate with yours directly..."
Before she finished her sentence, the man interrupted her, "Give five minutes. I’ll be there in five."
An Ge agreed, and the phone call ended.
Five minutes ant five minutes.
Five minutes later, a man drenched from head to toe by the rain appeared before her.
He had lost weight recently, his features now even sharper and more defined.
An Ge looked at him briefly, noting that he seed free of major injuries before stepping forward to et him. "Let’s go."
She said this and then walked ahead toward the VIP client passage.
Huo Shaoyan followed behind her.
Today, the woman was dressed very simply: a white dress with a high waistline that accentuated her slender figure.
On her feet were flat shoes, likely soaked from the rain, with the white surface drenched.
Huo Shaoyan’s gaze shifted away from her feet, catching up quickly to walk side-by-side with her.
"After we finalize everything, I’d like to take you out to dinner..."
"There’s no need."
Huo Shaoyan’s steps halted.
An Ge also stopped walking because of his action.
Turning her head, she looked at his icy and unreadable face, and suddenly chuckled.
"President Huo, are you suggesting that if I don’t agree to this dinner, you won’t go through with our divorce?"
Huo Shaoyan slipped a hand into his slacks pocket and fixed his intense phoenix eyes on her, answering, "No."
After a brief pause, he added,
"I just feel that divorcing doesn’t an completely severing ties. Even if you want to cut ties with , what about Huai Shang?
Today before I left, Huai Shang was still asking about you. So tell , is it not just you want to leave—do you not plan on acknowledging our son either?"
An Ge felt a sharp, stinging pain in her heart at his words.
She pressed her lips together tightly and, after a mont, forced herself to reply to him nonchalantly,
"Alright." After a brief pause, she continued, "I’ll have that breakup al with you, President Huo."
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