Damn It! I Fell for the Hated Villainess Again! - Chapter 27.2

This cannot just end like this, without any explanation!

No matter how far her relationship with Yu Tanning had progressed, she needed clarity at every step. Yu Tanning had to give her an explanation!

The chat interface returned to its previous state.

Jiang Yao’s heart pounded wildly in her chest as she stared at the screen, holding her breath for fear of missing any notification sound.

But ten minutes passed, then half an hour, and her phone remained terrifyingly silent.

Her fingertips unconsciously rubbed the screen, as if she could poke a hole through Yu Tanning’s profile picture.

She remembered Yu Tanning’s words: “I’ll always be on your side.” Her eyes instantly burned with tears.

“Liar…”

“Liar!”

Jiang Yao bit down hard on her lip, but tears still streamed down her face against her will.

She was the one who had blocked Yu Tanning, she was the one who had unblocked her, and she was the one who had been filled with anticipation! When did I become so pathetic?!

Overwhelmed with humiliation, Jiang Yao slammed her phone onto the carpet beside her bed.

“I can live perfectly well without Yu Tanning!” she mumbled into her pillow, her voice muffled.

The more she tried to convince herself of this, the more the word “pathetic” felt like a needle piercing her heart.

Jiang Yao couldn’t help but recall the giddy excitement she’d felt while secretly designing a pendant for Yu Tanning, and the way her heart had pounded like a drum when she helped Yu Tanning dry her hair at the hotel.

Each memory pierced her retina with a dull ache. Ha, how utterly ridiculous.

Even now, she was still stubbornly clinging to denial.

She was just being pathetic. She’d deluded herself into believing this was a mutual pursuit, and now that she was mired in this mess, she still couldn’t accept her role as the “other woman.” She couldn’t wake up, couldn’t stop thinking about Yu Tanning…

That’s how deeply she loved Yu Tanning.

Even if it meant getting hurt, even if there was no future, the fact remained: she loved Yu Tanning.

She was beyond saving.

After staring blankly at the ceiling for a long time, Jiang Yao sat up and made the unprecedented decision to go “home.”

But “home” for Jiang Yao meant Feng Lin’s temporary residence—the penthouse suite atop the Linrui Group headquarters.

After all, the villa in the first ring road was now her mother’s home, shared with her new wife and stepdaughter. There was no place for Jiang Yao there.

Standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows, Jiang Yao’s pale face was reflected in the dazzling nightscape of Beijing City.

It had been a year since Jiang Yao had returned “home,” and the decor remained unchanged. The gilded chandelier hung in the center of the high-ceilinged living room, resembling solidified honey—warm yet gaudy.

“Yaoyao?” Feng Lin’s voice called from the spiral staircase, her footsteps hurried. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

Her granddaughter rarely visited, and Feng Lin hadn’t prepared for this unexpected return, her schedule tied up with meetings and paperwork.

If Yaoyao leaves after just a short visit, I’ll miss another chance to see her.

As Jiang Yao turned, she saw the surprise and worry in Feng Lin’s eyes. Her throat tightened, and a sudden wave of inexplicable sadness washed over her.

“Grandma,” she said, her voice slightly hoarse.

Seeing her granddaughter’s distress, Feng Lin sighed deeply and pulled her down to sit on the sofa, her heart aching with concern.

The coffee machine hummed nearby, its aroma filling the air. Jiang Yao suddenly remembered the scent of Yu Tanning’s office, a sharp pain stabbing her chest. Her eyes welled up again, embarrassingly.

“Oh, Yaoyao, what’s wrong? You’ve always been so strong-willed. I can’t imagine what could be troubling you,” Feng Lin murmured, gently patting the back of her hand.

Jiang Yao silently sorted through her emotions, slowly withdrawing her hand. “Grandma, you lied to me. Yu Tanning isn’t as simple as you made her out to be.”

Feng Lin froze, realizing Jiang Yao’s mood likely stemmed from a quarrel with Yu Tanning.

How did they fall out? Xiao Yu has always doted on Yaoyao.

Could Yaoyao think Xiao Yu only befriended her for the medicinal cosmetics project? Yaoyao has always been sensitive and prone to conspiracy theories. That’s entirely possible.

Sigh.

“Yaoyao, I did keep something from you. Xiao Yu isn’t from an ordinary family. She’s the granddaughter of Old Man Yu. Because her father was an illegitimate son, she’s been marginalized within the family. That’s why few people outside the Yu clan know about the family’s hidden heiress.”

“Xiao Yu is a driven young woman. She wanted to forge her own path in a family that favored sons over daughters. Six months ago, she approached me seeking authorization to use our group’s medicated cosmetics patent to develop an antibacterial and skin-nourishing fabric for clothing.”

“Medicated cosmetics are our group’s core technology, so I initially refused. But Xiao Yu was remarkably persistent, visiting me daily to pitch her project. By then, I knew she was having a difficult time in the Yu family, so I decided to observe her closely.” Feng Lin paused, still not revealing the full truth. “Since you both attend Beijing University, I asked her to look after you.”

“It’s true that Xiao Yu initially approached you with ulterior motives. But I could see she genuinely cared for you. She repeatedly assured me she would invite you to join the project and share half the profits with you in the future. Your grandmother wanted you to have a friend who was both virtuous and capable, so I eventually relented and granted her the patent authorization.”

Jiang Yao sat frozen, struggling to process this overwhelming revelation. The gift Yu Tanning was going to give me today… was this project?

Thinking of Yu Tanning’s tireless efforts, working day and night for months, Jiang Yao suddenly felt a wave of shame wash over her.

Yu Tanning had spent over half a year preparing her gift, while Jiang Yao’s gift to Yu Tanning had taken barely half a month to put together.

Jiang Yao frantically replayed the details of their argument in her mind: Yu Tanning’s pale face, the panicked way she had grabbed the hem of Jiang Yao’s dress—it struck her that in that moment, even the usually composed Yu Tanning had looked utterly panicked.

How must Yu Tanning have felt when her gift, which she had spent half a year preparing, was dismissed as worthless, all because Jiang Yao was furious over a half-month gift?

The usually strong-willed Jiang Yao felt her nose sting, and she began to cry again.

The more she cried, the more ashamed she felt, and the more ashamed she felt, the more she couldn’t stop crying. Caught in this humiliating cycle, she threw another childish tantrum: “Then why did she defend that assistant?! She’s supposed to be on my side! Why would she take someone else’s side?!”

Feng Lin looked bewildered. “What assistant are you talking about?”

“Muse’s assistant! I think her name was Su Xiao. She stained the dress I gave Yu Tanning, and I refused to let her get away with a simple ‘It was an accident.’ But Yu Tanning actually sided with her against me!” Jiang Yao complained, her voice growing more agitated with each word. “Am I being unreasonable?! If someone stains such an expensive dress, the least they could do is offer to have it cleaned! I just wanted that assistant to show some genuine remorse! Is that too much to ask?!”

As she spoke, her voice softened slightly. “I admit, I was a bit emotional at the time, demanding she pay up and all… but I don’t think I was being unreasonable. Even when I scratched someone’s Rolls-Royce as a kid, I never thought about skipping out on the bill!”

“Su Xiao?” Feng Lin pushed up her glasses. “I remember Su’s Venture Capital has a daughter named Su Xiao.”

Jiang Yao clicked her tongue. “Such a well-connected kid!”

So that’s why Yu Tanning was protecting her? Wait, didn’t Su Xiao say her family went bankrupt? How can she still be well-connected if they’re broke?

Feng Lin continued, “I’ve met Su Xiao a few times. She was a perfectly good kid, but her family raised her like a porcelain doll—completely incapable of handling anything real. Then her father got arrested for illegal fundraising, their entire estate was auctioned off, but they still owed a fortune. Her mother had a heart attack from the debt collectors and is still in the hospital. We all thought this girl was finally going to face some hardship, but then—”

Feng Lin’s frustration grew, extending even to other people’s children. “That girl is just destined to never suffer! She’s become some old CEO’s kept woman! Honestly! How long can she live off her looks and youth? The girl’s completely lost her way!”

“And those old men are so ugly! My God, even if I were straight, I’d be disgusted to death! If this girl has that much determination, why doesn’t she just get a job?”

Jiang Yao asked, “Then why did she go to Muse? How did she become Yu Tanning’s assistant?”

Feng Lin replied, “Oh, Su Xiao might actually be dating Yu Ting, the young master of the Yu family. I didn’t believe it when I first heard it from Old Madam Xiao. Yu Ting is a notorious playboy, but he’s shrewd as hell. He’s even stingier with women than those old men—getting money out of him is harder than waiting for a mythical beast to poop gold. Su Xiao might not starve with him, but she’ll never raise enough for her mother’s surgery.”

Jiang Yao asked, “Yu Ting? How is he related to Yu Tanning?”

Feng Lin glanced at her granddaughter, who seemed oblivious to the business world, but patiently explained, “Yu Tanning’s cousin. Among the heirs in the capital’s elite circles, he’s practically a ringleader. Old Madam Xiao said even her troublemaking granddaughter wouldn’t dare raise her voice at him. His father is the crown prince of the Yu Group, and his mother is the eldest princess of the Liu family. Talk about hitting the jackpot with his birth.”

Jiang Yao didn’t care about ringleaders or anything like that. She just frowned, pondering Su Xiao’s motives for getting close to Yu Tanning.

After hearing her grandmother’s explanation, Jiang Yao realized that Su Xiao wasn’t the type to work for a living. Her preferred method of earning money seemed to be dating wealthy men.

If Yu Ting wouldn’t give her money, why not just find someone else? Why go to Muse to become Yu Tanning’s assistant?

Could she have really changed? Did she no longer want to be someone’s gilded cage bird?

Jiang Yao was utterly baffled, but she knew one thing for certain: Su Xiao was desperate for money.

Since she didn’t want Su Xiao to steal Yu Tanning away, the simplest solution was to offer her money.

So, on another weekend, Jiang Yao finally tracked down Su Xiao’s phone number and arranged to meet her at a small café near Muse.

Seeing Su Xiao’s perpetually tearful face still made Jiang Yao feel awkward, so she cut straight to the chase: “How much money would it take for you to leave Yu Tanning?”

Such a straightforward request made Su Xiao’s eyes light up.

“Eight billion,” Su Xiao replied.

The scene Jiang Yao had imagined—being slapped in the face with a black card—never materialized. Without a word, she grabbed her bag and fled.

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