Doug was taken aback, not expecting Ya Xi’s first request to be like that, Ya Xi looked straight at him.
Sighing softly to himself, Doug stood up and held Ya Xi in his embrace, Ya Xi closed her eyes, listening to the strong heartbeat of Doug.
After a while, Ya Xi took the initiative to step back from Doug’s embrace, "Doug, thank you, I will rember this feeling." That warm and secure feeling.
Doug smiled faintly, raised his hand to check the ti, "It’s getting late, would you like to have dinner with ?"
"Sure," Ya Xi replied with a joyful smile, seemingly having co to terms with so things, her eyes twinkling with a smile.
After dinner, Doug dropped Ya Xi off at her ho.
After taking a bath, Ya Xi lay on her bed and tried calling Zhao Jiaqing again, but no one answered. Frowning, she tried calling Yan Shengyu, but it indicated that he was already on another call.
After so thought, Ya Xi called Yan Anbang; this ti the call went through, "Hello, who is this?" A gentle female voice ca through the phone to Ya Xi’s ear.
"Sorry, I dialed the wrong number." Ya Xi imdiately hung up the phone, looked at her phone for a second, realized she had not dialed incorrectly, and felt a wave of intense unease surge through her. She tried calling Yan Shengyu again, but still, no one answered.
Ya Xi wanted to call Yan Anbang again but did not dare to; she feared that she would still hear a woman’s voice on the other end, a woman who was not her mother.
The next day, having hardly slept all night, Ya Xi packed her bags and bought a plane ticket back ho.
At this ti, Nancheng had already beco the center of a storm; news about Yan Anbang physically assaulting his ex-wife was causing an uproar throughout Nancheng.
This started two days earlier when Zhao Jiaqing reported to the police and waited in vain for news; even calling for updates brought only evasive responses, Zhao Jiaqing understood what had happened. Yan Anbang had already intervened.
Knowing the outco, Zhao Jiaqing was not surprised at all; she had expected this, smiled faintly, and called so newspapers and well-known dia outlets in Nancheng.
The next day, the news about Yan Anbang keeping a mistress and even divorcing his wife for her, driving his wife and child out of the house without any concern, and beating his wife, beca well-known throughout Nancheng.
When Yan Anbang tried to suppress the news, it was too late; his superiors in the military were already aware of the incident, and a phone call brought him back to the base.
Qin Yan watched the news, her lips curving in a satisfied smirk; it seed she had been right. Push Zhao Jiaqing to the brink, and she would unleash her full potential in a life-or-death struggle with Yan Anbang.
Taking out her phone, she dialed a number, "Help Zhao Jiaqing escalate this issue."
**
Over the past few days, Zhao Jiaqing had been busy getting back at Yan Anbang and had not contacted Ya Xi; of course, she had no idea that Ya Xi had returned to the country by herself and was now in Nancheng.
Ya Xi had seen the news on a large screen at the airport; at first, she couldn’t believe it was true, but the pictures plainly told her it was fact.
Even though the photos were blurred, Ya Xi recognized her parents imdiately; she turned pale as she read the news and thought about the past few months abroad; her mother had always been reluctant for her to return ho, and now she realized it was because her parents had long been divorced, but they had not wanted her to know.
In fact, if she had been more attentive, she could have noticed sothing was off; in the past few months, her parents had scarcely communicated, Zhao Jiaqing always ntioned talking to her father when she went to school, but Ya Xi had never witnessed it.
Ya Xi took a taxi to the Yan Family’s ho; Qin Yan opened the door.
Qin Yan probably hadn’t expected Ya Xi to return, and seeing Qin Yan at that mont, all the reasons Ya Xi had tried to convince herself of collapsed; she looked at the woman before her, rembering that she had once seen her in Xueli City.
"Who are you?" Ya Xi asked coldly.
Qin Yan smiled warmly and amicably, "Ya Xi, you’re back, co on in."
Ya Xi stood still and stared at Qin Yan, "Who are you?"
Qin Yan’s expression seed a bit awkward, "I...I am your father’s wife, my na is Qin Yan, and you can call Aunt Qin."
"Where is my father?" Ya Xi’s face turned even paler.
"Your father has gone to the military, he’s not at ho. Ya Xi, co in first, and I’ll call your father in a bit."
Ya Xi did not go in but just glanced coldly at Qin Yan, "No need, I have a place to stay." Saying that, she turned and walked away, ignoring Qin Yan’s pleas from behind.
Ya Xi got into the car and imdiately called Yan Anbang, but his phone was off. She then called Zhao Jiaqing, but Zhao Jiaqing’s phone was also not reachable. Suddenly, Ya Xi felt very panicked; in this vast city, she had no idea where to go.
The family’s crisis made her feel helpless. She called Yan Shengyu again, and this ti the call got through. When Yan Shengyu found out that Ya Xi had returned to the country on her own and even knew about Yan Anbang and Zhao Jiaqing, he imdiately beca agitated and told Ya Xi to stay where she was and not go anywhere as he hurried over from Lin City.
He had also returned because of Zhao Jiaqing’s situation but just happened to have business in Lin City that day.
When Yan Shengyu found Ya Xi, she was waiting for him in a coffee shop, the coffee in front of her already cold. Ya Xi, lost in thought, showed no reaction even when she saw Yan Shengyu.
"Xiao Xi." Yan Shengyu gently called out.
Ya Xi ca back to her senses, and seeing her brother, tears suddenly fell. Yan Shengyu instantly panicked and quickly hugged Ya Xi, gently patting her shoulder, "Xiao Xi, don’t cry, your brother is here."
With that comfort, Ya Xi cried even harder, "Brother, why is this happening? Weren’t Dad and Mom in a good relationship? Why did they divorce, and why would Dad marry another woman? Brother, why is all this happening? I was only abroad for a few months studying, so why did our happy ho change like this?"
Yan Shengyu’s nose tingled, how was he going to tell Ya Xi all this?
"Brother, is it because Mom went abroad with that they got divorced?" Ya Xi asked tearfully. This was the only reason she could think of while waiting for Yan Shengyu to arrive. Her parents used to be in love, and all this started after she went abroad. Could it be that her father couldn’t stand the long-distance separation and divorced her mother?
"No, it’s not that, Xiao Xi. It has nothing to do with you." Yan Shengyu consoled her, "They divorced before you went abroad, it wasn’t because of you."
Ya Xi looked up at him, and Yan Shengyu stroked her head, explaining gently, "Actually, their feelings for each other had faded long ago. They hadn’t divorced earlier because you were about to take your college entrance exams, and they didn’t want to affect your mood. But after a bout of high fever prevented you from taking the exams, once you recovered, they went ahead and filed for divorce. They didn’t tell you because they didn’t want to upset you."
"Their feelings for each other were always strong, how could they have faded?" Ya Xi couldn’t believe it.
Yan Shengyu’s heart was filled with bitterness. His mother had never received his father’s love and had always lived in an illusion, with even their own children believing her life was happy; how sad that was.
"Xiao Xi, actually, Mom and Dad had lost their feelings for each other many years ago. They maintained this facade because they were worried you and I wouldn’t be able to accept it. I only found out about this after overhearing one of their argunts, so later, I took the initiative to urge them to divorce. Xiao Xi, I’m sorry for keeping this from you for so long."
Ya Xi was very upset and still sowhat unable to accept this reality. She looked at Yan Shengyu, "Brother, what about this recent incident? Why do the news say that Dad beat Mom, and Mom wants to sue him for intentional injury?"
The bitterness in Yan Shengyu’s smile deepened. He wasn’t clear about this issue either, but to see the parents at this point, practically enemies, was indeed a tragedy for any marriage.
Seeing Yan Shengyu’s silence, Ya Xi sowhat understood sothing and didn’t press further but instead said, "Brother, I’m tired. I want to rest."
Yan Shengyu took Ya Xi back to the hotel where he had been staying these days.
Upon reaching the hotel, Ya Xi looked at Yan Shengyu, "Brother, I can’t get in touch with Mom. Do you know where she has gone?"
"Mom has so matters to handle and will be back in a couple of days," Yan Shengyu said. Zhao Jiaqing had been taken to the military last night as the military leadership needed to confirm so matters.
Reviews
All reviews (0)