The Venomous Wife Let Me Go - Chapter 22

The expression on her aunt’s face was somewhat peculiar; her face flushed red as if her throat had suddenly been seized. Her voice came to an abrupt halt, and her eyes were filled with suspicion and uncertainty, nothing like the joy Bai Jun had imagined for a surprise reunion between relatives.

Meeting that complex gaze, Bai Jun couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.

She had merely greeted her; why was there such a strong reaction?

Looking closely, her aunt seemed to have aged significantly over these twelve years. Her aunt, Bai Huayi, was not yet fifty. In Bai Jun’s memory, she was a stylish, flamboyant beauty who loved to dress up. But the woman before her looked as if her spirit had been drained away; her hair was graying, her eyes were hollow, and her frame was gaunt.

Presumably, her aunt had suffered a great deal over the years due to Bai Hong’s illness. At this thought, Bai Jun’s eyes couldn’t help but soften with heartache.

“You don’t need to play these tricks. I have never expected forgiveness for the mistakes I’ve made,” her aunt said.

As their eyes met, her aunt seemed as if she had been stung by something and quickly looked away. When she spoke again, her eyes were rimmed with red, and her voice had turned markedly cold: “Bai Jun, I don’t have time to play these games with you.”

“I know you hate me, and I am getting the retribution I deserve. But the matters between us cannot involve the family company. You cannot allow Lin Song to ruin the Bai family’s century-old foundation!”

Her aunt spoke sharply, staring directly into Bai Jun’s stunned eyes: “On the surface, you’ve been hiding away to ‘recuperate,’ causing panic among the shareholders. Meanwhile, in the dark, taking advantage of my preoccupation with Bai Hong’s illness, you’ve let Lin Song acquire a massive amount of company shares at low prices. What a brilliant calculation!”

“The company’s performance hasn’t been good these past few years anyway. Doing this is like digging your own grave!”

“Once word of this gets out, the Group is finished!”

“Do you really trust Lin Song? She is the daughter of a degenerate gambler. She hasn’t seen this much money in her entire life. You’ve handed your assets to her; do you really think she’ll transfer those shares back to you in the future?”

Bai Jun listened to her aunt’s interrogation in silence. She lowered her head and bit her lip hard, restraining herself from showing any outward abnormality.

This was completely different from what she had imagined!

Her aunt had clearly doted on her so much when she was a child. Why had their relationship become so hostile and tense now?

What on earth had happened during these years?

Looking at everything before her, she felt as though she were in a nightmare. Her body couldn’t stop trembling, and her head throbbed violently. In her daze, flickering lights and shadows began to dance in her mind.

“I trust Lin Song.”

She could not stand to hear someone slander Lin Song like that, even if that person was her own aunt. Bai Jun pressed her lips together firmly: “Auntie, you are an elder. You cannot speak of my wife that way!”

“Wife?”

Her aunt let out a mocking laugh. “You actually still believe in marriage?”

What did she mean by that?

Bai Jun frowned, intending to ask, but Xu Tu, who had been led away by a shop assistant, returned.

“Ms. Bai Huayi!”

Upon seeing Bai Huayi, Xu Tu displayed an unprecedented level of hostility. She quickly stepped in front of Bai Jun to shield her, her voice turning sharp with anger: “Hasn’t President Bai yielded enough to you over the years?”

“President Bai is feeling very unwell right now,” Xu Tu’s chest heaved violently as she glared at Bai Huayi. “Please leave!”

Bai Jun kept her head down; the pain in her head was worsening. She could feel Bai Huayi’s gaze lingering on her, seemingly scrutinizing her, but she couldn’t care about that. Holding her head, she curled up on the ground amidst Xu Tu’s frantic cries of “President Bai!”

It hurt so much!

It wasn’t just her head; even her heart felt as if a hole had been punched through it, with cold wind blowing through incessantly.

How did things between her and her aunt turn out like this?

In her lost memories, what exactly had happened?

Later, Bai Jun was helped into a lounge. Sister Zhang arrived and brought her that familiar medicine. Bai Jun hesitated for a moment before swallowing it.

The effects of the medicine gradually washed over her.

Those intense emotions felt as though they were being covered by a lid. Her heart suddenly felt empty, replaced by a deep sense of exhaustion, as if everything had suddenly lost its meaning.

Being alive is enough.

A voice in her heart seemed to remind her: Don’t think too much, and don’t ask.

Drowsiness surged forward. She couldn’t help but yawn and fell into a deep sleep.

In her dreams, scenes of her time with her aunt flickered by like a revolving lantern.

She really did love her aunt when she was little, because her aunt would take her to do all the things her mother strictly controlled or forbade.

This time, she seemed to be watching from a detached, objective perspective. Consequently, she could see things clearly that she hadn’t noticed as a child, discerning the true emotions in her aunt’s eyes.

Actually, the signs had always been there.

Her aunt’s kindness, all that indulgence, seemed deliberate; it always ran contrary to her mother’s upbringing, as if her aunt purposefully wanted to raise her to be useless.

Whenever her grandfather called her mother for meetings and excluded her aunt, her aunt would become exceptionally agitated. From time to time, she would ask Bai Jun for validation, checking if she loved her more than her mother. After her sister Bai Hong was diagnosed with her illness, her aunt’s gaze toward Bai Jun became more complex. Bai Jun had even overheard her muttering privately, “Why are you so healthy?”

And then, a blurry image flashed through her mind. Her aunt seemed to be standing with someone, roaring at her.

A sudden, sharp pain pierced her head. Her heart felt as if it were being squeezed, making it hard to breathe.

Bai Jun woke up with a start.

She was already back home. Under the amber light, Lin Song was typing something on a computer. Almost the moment she woke, Lin Song looked over and tightly gripped her hand.

“I’m here,” Lin Song said, looking into her eyes and soothing her softly.

Lin Song’s eyes were bloodshot; it looked like she hadn’t rested well for days either.

Lin Song was still here.

Feeling Lin Song’s familiar scent, the hand squeezing her heart suddenly let go. Her erratic heartbeat gradually steadied, but Bai Jun’s tears began to fall uncontrollably.

“Why?”

Bai Jun cried with deep grievance; she hadn’t cried like this in a long time. “Why did Auntie become like this?”

“Is it because of money?”

She hugged Lin Song, no longer caring about her pride, her tears falling incessantly. “Mother loved her so much. If she wanted something, she could have just told Mother directly. I never really wanted the succession rights to the company that much. Why did she have to do that?”

“Because she is a bad person.”

Lin Song patted her back gently, speaking in a low voice: “Bad people do bad things without ever caring about how others feel.”

“But Mother and I are her family.”

“Did Mother know that my relationship with her had turned into this?”

Bai Jun sobbed. At this moment, she missed her mother dearly. She suspected that her mother must have known about the deterioration of her relationship with her aunt, as her mother had always been very sharp.

“She knew.” Sure enough, after a moment, Lin Song spoke in a dry tone.

Bai Jun felt even more devastated. Her mother had sacrificed so much more for her aunt over the years, treating her better than she treated herself. Seeing her aunt turn out like this must have broken her mother’s heart even more.

It was no wonder her mother had gone abroad to travel; she likely didn’t want to witness the conflict between her daughter and her aunt.

“Did my aunt and I start fighting because of the inheritance?”

After a long, cathartic cry, Bai Jun’s emotions settled slightly. She sniffled, beginning to speculate: “She used to pretend so well. Is it because Grandfather left most of the estate to me that she has such a huge problem with me?”

“It has nothing to do with you,” Lin Song said, her lips thinning and her voice turning cold. “It was her own greed that harmed you both.”

“At that time, there was something she valued more than family. Perhaps she regretted it later, but the opportunity to make amends had already passed.”

“Then… what was I thinking before?” Bai Jun remained silent for a while before finally asking the question.

Her aunt had interrogated her earlier that day, claiming she had authorized Lin Song to buy up company stock at low prices. She couldn’t understand why she would do such a thing.

“You were always tolerating her,” Lin Song answered after a pause. “Which only led her to become more aggressive and push for more.”

Lin Song’s answer was vague. Bai Jun’s eyes flickered, but she said nothing more.

She suddenly thought of the financial reports Lin Song had given her and the dilapidated state of the physical stores she had seen. In Lin Song’s reports, the Bai Group was flourishing with no signs of decline. Yet her aunt had repeatedly insisted that the company was in trouble.

Her aunt’s collapsed, frantic state didn’t look like a lie; otherwise, she wouldn’t have sought Bai Jun out privately.

The only possibility was that Lin Song was afraid Bai Jun couldn’t handle the truth and was intentionally keeping her in the dark. Moreover, if the Group’s future was truly a smooth path, Lin Song wouldn’t look so exhausted lately.

Was everything really as Lin Song presented it?

Countless thoughts surged in her mind. Bai Jun couldn’t help but shudder, a chill running through her body as if the very air around her held hidden malice.

She wanted to be an ostrich and pretend she knew nothing, but she couldn’t stand by and watch Lin Song face the wind and blades alone without her knowledge.

She had to stand up.

This was her family matter; she shouldn’t have dragged Lin Song into it. But given how much Lin Song cared for her, if she asked directly, Lin Song certainly wouldn’t tell her the truth.

She would have to investigate privately.

There were only two days left until the board meeting, at which point Lin Song would take her to the company. There was a safe at the office with a code known only to her and her mother, containing all the Bai family’s confidential documents.

By then, she would surely know the true state of the company.

After her crying fit, Bai Jun felt empty inside. She suddenly felt like a kite that had lost its string, wandering aimlessly through the world like a headless fly. Her chaotic emotions grew.

It seemed she could only find peace of mind when she was by Lin Song’s side. It was as if Lin Song’s feelings for her were the last remaining tether she had to this world. She clung to Lin Song, refusing to let go.

“Everything will get better by the end of this month,” Lin Song said, stroking her head and handing her a glass of water. “By then, I’ll take a long period of time off to stay with you.”

“Shall we go on a trip together?”

Bai Jun gave a soft “mm” in response. Looking at the medicine in Lin Song’s hand, her eyelashes trembled slightly. She eventually took the medicine slowly and swallowed it, then wrapped her arms around Lin Song’s waist.

“Lin Song, do you like your adult self?” she asked, her gaze vacant.

When she first woke up, she thought being an adult was wonderful. She had reached the state she had dreamed of as a child and felt incredibly happy every day. However, that feeling was merely a castle in the air, scattering at the first gust of wind.

She had forgotten the hardships of growing up, and only now did she sense the hidden thorns beneath the beautiful flowers. Her adult self didn’t seem to be living as well as she had hoped.

She was suddenly afraid of the truth of adulthood.

“I like my current self very much.”

Lin Song’s voice was exceptionally gentle and firm. She set down the water glass and kissed Bai Jun’s trembling eyes. “When I was a child, my sky was black. I could only see dark, vast mountains when I looked up. I once thought that the future ‘me’ would eventually be crushed by those endless mountains.”

“Back then, I never imagined that I would one day walk out of them.”

“But I did walk out, and I came to your side.”

“Jun Jun, the road of life is very long, and every stretch has its own scenery. Just hold on a little longer. Let’s hold hands and work hard to see the next stretch together, okay?”

Bai Jun’s temples throbbed and her eyes ached, but the pain in her heart was even worse. It felt as if long-suppressed emotions had filled the pool of her heart. Under Lin Song’s steady comfort, the burden became too much, and they finally began to overflow.

She burst into loud, painful sobs.

It was a complete venting of grief. She didn’t remember ever breaking down like this; it was as if she were crying out all the tears she had saved up over the years. Eventually, her entire body began to shake.

Lin Song didn’t ask for the reason, nor did she care about the messiness. With red-rimmed eyes, Lin Song stroked Bai Jun’s back and kissed away the tears on her cheeks as if she were a precious treasure, telling her firmly over and over:

“I’m here. I am always here.”

“Just wait a little longer. One day, the fog will lift, and everything will be alright.”

Support