Goodbye, Scumbag! The Powerful CEO Is My New Devoted Lover - Chapter 3

Xu An’s home was not far from the hospital. Within minutes, Su Xiao saw a pink McLaren streak through the hospital gates like a bolt of lightning, coming to a stop before her with a perfect tail flick.

“Su Xiao! Something this huge happened and you only contact me now?”

“An’an…”

Looking at the rushing Xu An, Su Xiao could no longer hold back her tears. They surged forth uncontrollably.

Xu An rushed over and pulled her into a tight embrace. She carried the scent of the rain outside mixed with a faint hint of gardenia perfume, a scent Su Xiao knew all too well.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t cry. I’m here.”

Xu An patted her back, her voice choking up. “That damn Yan Mingshen! How could he treat my Xiaoxiao like this? Just wait until I get back, I’ll find someone to break his legs!”

Leaning into Xu An’s arms was like catching the last literal straw for a drowning person. The emotions Su Xiao had suppressed all night finally found an outlet, and she cried as if her heart were being torn apart.

People in the hallway turned to stare, but Xu An didn’t care at all. She only held Su Xiao tighter.

“Let’s go. Come home with me.” Xu An helped Su Xiao up and wiped away her tears. “Stop crying, Xiaoxiao. You still have me. From now on, my home is your home.”

Su Xiao nodded and followed Xu An to the car with trembling steps.

As the pink McLaren sped through the rainy night, Su Xiao leaned against the window. She watched the streetscape retreat into the distance with hollow eyes. Fortunately, Xu An was there. Otherwise, she truly wouldn’t have known where to go.

“That bastard Yan Mingshen. I’ve disliked him for a long time,” Xu An cursed while driving, though tears also pooled in her own eyes. “If it weren’t for seeing how he used to follow your every whim, I never would have agreed to let you marry him. You…”

Su Xiao didn’t speak. She just listened in silence. She knew Xu An was simply trying to keep her from sinking entirely into her grief.

But how could she not be sad? Her only living relative and the lifework her father had spent his entire life building had both been reduced to ashes in that fire. The blow Yan Mingshen dealt her was merely the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

“An’an, I want a divorce.”

“What?”

Xu An’s car swerved sharply to the right before quickly returning to its lane. “Have you thought this through?”

“Yes.” Su Xiao rested her head against the glass, trying her best to make her voice sound steady. “I’ve thought it through.”

She had once believed she finally had a place to belong. Despite knowing the Yan family wasn’t a good household, she had stubbornly insisted on marrying Yan Mingshen. But now, her father was gone, and the love she had chased had long since lost its meaning amidst day after day of disappointment.

“Fine.” Xu An didn’t hesitate for a second. “I’ll contact a law firm tomorrow. Even if he is a member of the Yan family, I’ll make sure he loses a layer of skin.”

Xu An was always like this. She never asked for reasons; she simply stood by Su Xiao’s side first.

Beep… beep…

Su Xiao’s phone rang. It was a call from the Su family’s old estate. She pursed her lips and didn’t answer. After hesitating for a long moment, she looked up at Xu An.

“Are we going to the old estate?”

“Yeah.”

The pink McLaren made a U-turn and drove slowly into the Eastern District, finally stopping in front of a traditional courtyard house. Su Xiao hadn’t returned to the old estate in nearly five years. After her mother passed away, her father had cut ties with the Su family. Unless the family specifically invited them, she and her father would never come here of their own accord.

Watching Su Xiao get out of the car, Xu An couldn’t help but feel worried, but she opened her mouth and said nothing in the end.

“Don’t worry, An’an. No one can do anything to me.”

Su Xiao saw Xu An’s hesitation. Every time she had come here in the past, she had left with fresh wounds. But this was the ancestral home, after all. Since the Su family was looking for her at this critical moment, it was likely regarding her father’s affairs. Regardless of everything, she had to come back and see.

“The Old Madam said that if you saw the call, you would definitely return. I am to take you to the ancestral hall to meet her.”

The speaker was an elder of the Su family who looked like they had been waiting at the entrance for some time. Su Xiao didn’t recognize them.

“Thank you.”

Su Xiao said goodbye to Xu An and followed the family member into the inner courtyard. The two of them stepped along the bluestone path in silence. Only when Su Xiao’s silhouette disappeared from sight did the pink McLaren slowly drive away.

Su Xiao pushed open the doors to the ancestral hall and saw Old Madam Su kneeling before a row of memorial tablets, a string of turquoise prayer beads in her hand.

“I heard about what happened yesterday from the servants. That Yan boy is indeed a bastard, but you must consider the interests of the Su family.”

“The Su family? You called me here just to tell me this?”

Su Xiao found it absurd. She had still harbored a sliver of hope that the Old Madam wanted to discuss her father’s arrangements, but it was all for the Su family.

“Do you know your son died in the gallery yesterday? Are you really this cold blooded?”

“Su Xiao, the dead cannot be brought back to life. You must think of those who are still living.”

Old Madam Su raised her hand, and an attendant immediately stepped forward to help her up. The woman was over sixty years old, with deep furrows between her brows. She looked at Su Xiao with cloudy eyes that held no trace of sorrow.

“I think you just can’t bear to let go of your current wealth and status,” Su Xiao snapped back.

The Su family was pedantic and had fallen into decline years ago. If they hadn’t been leeching off her father’s hard work, they never would have been able to rise again.

“Su Xiao, the Su family is your last support now. You are a smart person; you know whether you should let things escalate to that point,” Old Madam Su said, her tone softening as she leaned on her emerald-encrusted cane. “Besides, you wouldn’t want the truth about your mother to be spread around, would you?”

Su Xiao didn’t reply. Her blood turned cold bit by bit. If it weren’t for them, her mother wouldn’t have been driven to her death, and now they were using her mother to threaten her. They wanted her to be obedient. They wanted her to shut up.

“Fine. Take her down and let her have a meal with the elders.”

Dazed, Su Xiao followed the butler to the front hall. The hall was already full of people. On the long wooden table, every dish was exquisitely plated and meticulously prepared. Su Xiao sat in the seat that had originally belonged to her father. Supported by family members, Old Madam Su took the head seat. The emerald on her cane was particularly piercing under the lights.

Even though she knew this was a play orchestrated by the Old Madam to warn her, Su Xiao still felt a wave of nausea listening to these uncles she didn’t even recognize boasting at the dinner table. She ran out to the courtyard.

Her stomach was empty. She leaned against an old poplar tree and gagged for a long time, only bringing up a bit of bile. Every one of these people had used her father’s success to get a share of the art industry. Now that her father was dead, they were eating and drinking well, not even bothering to put on a show of grief.

Su Xiao leaned against the tree trunk, gasping for breath. It turned out that in this world, no one cared about her father’s life or death except for her. And no one cared about her life or death either.

Tears streamed down her face. Old Madam Su stood under the eaves watching her, as if looking at a lifeless object that still possessed some residual value. Su Xiao glanced at the Old Madam. However, the more they treated her this way, the more she determined she would live well.

Once she regained her strength, the butler arrived late to instruct a driver to take her back to the Yan residence. They called it an escort, but it was really just to ensure she didn’t misbehave.

The car drove steadily toward the nearby villa area as requested. The weather was gray the entire way. The driver tried to probe for information a few times, but Su Xiao ignored him. She truly had no energy left to deal with the Su family’s hypocrisy.

The driver stopped the car at the building. Su Xiao looked at the familiar small house, feeling a momentary sense of trance.

“Thank you.”

She pushed the door open and got out. No matter what, this house had symbolized the meaning of home to her. But when Su Xiao pushed open the front door, she saw a pair of women’s high heels at the entrance that did not belong to her. They were beige with stiletto heels, like a silent provocation.

The mood she had just managed to calm began to sink once more.

“Why are you back?”

Yan Mingshen’s voice came from the living room, carrying a faint trace of panic that was hard to detect.