Trapped in a Tempting Love - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Borrowing Momentum

Ye Feiran’s gaze fell upon the document bag in Su Qianyi’s hands. “You got all the identification?”

Su Qianyi took the opportunity to lightly scratch Ye Feiran’s arm with her fingertip, giving a sly smile. “Every single piece.”

Hearing Su Qianyi confirm she had the documents, how could the Su family not understand what was happening?

It was likely that Su Qianyi had climbed onto Ye Feiran’s ship long ago, and Ye Feiran had come to the Su residence today specifically to pick her up.

From start to finish, this had been a long-premeditated play.

Yet the few of them had been kept in the dark, performing like jumping clowns in a show they didn’t realize was scripted.

Not daring to blame Ye Feiran, they turned their spearheads toward Su Qianyi. Su Jing was the first to pull a long face. “Su Qianyi, you had this planned all along and didn’t tell the family? Marriage is a major life event; you’re being far too reckless.”

Su Qianyi turned her head, a mocking curl appearing at the corner of her mouth. She didn’t grant Su Jing any face. “Reckless? Weren’t you the ones who wanted to send me to the Ye family in exchange for money?”

“That… that’s different.”

“How is it different? I get married, you get paid. Is there a problem?”

“But… but the one discussed before was clearly Ye Jingchen. This sudden change of person…”

Su Jing reacted quickly, picking up where Jiang Manrong left off. “Indeed, President Ye. If it’s like this, it won’t be easy for us to give an account to your second brother’s family.”

“What’s so hard to account for? If Ye Jingchen still wants to marry, doesn’t the Su family have another daughter?” Su Qianyi looked toward Su Wanwan. “You probably don’t know yet, but Ye Jingchen actually likes Su Wanwan more than me. Consider it a favor to a beautiful couple.”

“Is this true?” Su Jing looked at Su Wanwan.

“Dad, I didn’t… Brother Jingchen and I are just friends.”

“Hubby, why are you asking this? Wanwan cannot marry out.”

“Enough.” Ye Feiran frowned, interrupting the Su family’s bickering. “You need not worry about the second branch of the Ye family. I will handle them.”

“But… but this matter was previously settled as Ye Jingchen and Su Qianyi. Perhaps you would consider taking Wanwan instead?” Jiang Manrong was still struggling.

“Madam Su, the second Miss Su is not a commodity. Please refrain from proposing a replacement over and over again. As for the marriage alliance, if I recall correctly, the Ye family never officially agreed to it. Since nothing was finalized, everyone involved is a free agent. As long as you don’t speak carelessly, who will know?”

Ye Feiran’s tone was calm, but the faint aura of someone long accustomed to high status intimidated the Su family into silence.

Seeing no further objections, Ye Feiran suddenly asked with a smile, “Even if others found out, would they actually dare to gossip about me?”

“How would they dare?” Su Qianyi glanced at Jiang Manrong, seizing the chance to add, “If you ever hear those rumors, they must have been spread by certain people.”

“Su Qianyi, don’t speak in riddles,” Jiang Manrong immediately countered.

“Ah, I didn’t say it was you, Auntie Jiang.” Su Qianyi shrugged. “Since you’ve stepped up to claim it, if any rumors surface later, I’ll be looking to you for responsibility.”

“You… you…” Jiang Manrong grew agitated. Halfway through her sentence, she closed her eyes and collapsed backward.

The Su household instantly fell into chaos. Not only were Su Wanwan and Su Jing surrounding her, but even the servants crowded in.

Cries and screams filled the room.

However, the sharp-eyed Su Qianyi burst out laughing when she saw Jiang Manrong despite having her eyes “closed”—give a female servant a swift kick because she was being stepped on in the squeeze.

If you’re going to act, at least be a bit more professional.

Ye Feiran looked helplessly at Su Qianyi, speaking in a low voice: “Watched enough?”

“It’s alright.”

“Then are we staying for the next act, or leaving now?”

“Leaving now, of course. I don’t want to stay in the Su house for another second.” Su Qianyi finished, then hesitated slightly. “But aren’t you here to talk business with my dad?”

“You certainly never forget the contract.”

“Hey, don’t pull me… hey?”

Ye Feiran reached out, grabbed Su Qianyi’s wrist, and pulled her toward the exit. “It’s already been arranged. Why else do you think I brought an assistant?”

“Hm?”

Shortly after Ye Feiran took Su Qianyi away, the Su household returned to normal.

Jiang Manrong “woke up.” While panting weakly on the sofa, she didn’t forget to hurl a few insults, calling Su Qianyi an ungrateful “white-eyed wolf.”

Su Wanwan and Su Jing were by her side, offering comfort.

At that moment, Si Qi, the special assistant Ye Feiran had left behind, stepped forward with several documents in hand. He spoke respectfully: “Hello, President Su. I am President Ye’s assistant, Si Qi. President Ye asked me to hand these to you.”

As Ye Feiran’s assistant, Si Qi earned an annual salary in the millions; his professional competence went without saying.

Since Ye Feiran first took over the Ye Group, Si Qi had been by her side, essentially on call twenty-four hours a day. Even if he received a task at 3:00 AM, he could quickly get up and deliver a perfect plan.

Ye Feiran had originally wanted a female assistant for convenience, but Si Qi managed to handle the workload of several people by himself. Since Ye Feiran had no personal matters requiring an assistant, she had promoted and kept him until now.

Seeing that Ye Feiran had left, Su Jing’s temper wasn’t exactly pleasant. “Can’t you see my wife is unwell? Just leave the things there.”

Si Qi wasn’t annoyed. He simply opened one of the documents for official business and presented it with both hands. “To help the Su Group escape its financial crisis as quickly as possible, President Ye is very invested in the Sky City project. She asked us to monitor it. However, just this morning, we received word that someone submitted an anonymous whistleblowing letter to the relevant authorities, alleging that Sky City is cutting corners and that there are massive safety hazards in the construction process.”

Su Jing’s first reaction upon hearing this was to deny it: “That’s impossible.”

Si Qi moved the document closer. “We also just received the news. Originally, the authorities were going to go public and launch an investigation into the Su Group immediately, but President Ye found someone to temporarily suppress the news.”

Only then did Su Jing take the document seriously. He took it and scrutinized the whistleblowing content.

It wasn’t a baseless slander. On the contrary, it clearly listed the material selection and structural drawing data for a certain amusement ride—data that clearly came from a project insider.

After checking it several times, Su Jing’s hands trembled. He took a step back and fell onto the sofa after tripping against its leg. “This… this isn’t… it definitely isn’t…”

Si Qi seized the opportunity to state: “President Su, you should be better equipped than us to judge whether this whistleblowing letter is factual.”

Su Jing had seen his fair share of storms after all and quickly regained his composure. He looked at Si Qi. “Then President Ye is willing to help with this?”

Si Qi took out several other documents. “President Ye said that not only the funds the Su family currently lacks for Sky City, but even the remaining 1.5 billion yuan needed until completion and inspection—she can fill all of that for the Su Group. Additionally, these documents contain a few small tokens of President Ye’s sincerity; please accept them.”

Even without Si Qi saying it, based on the previous 1.5 billion, Su Jing knew without looking that the subsequent “tokens” wouldn’t be light.

This effectively erased his dissatisfaction regarding Ye Feiran taking Su Qianyi away.

“Then many thanks to President Ye. I hope Assistant Si will convey my gratitude. I look forward to much cooperation in the future.”

However, with a flick of his palm, Si Qi took the final document from the bodyguard Huo Si. His smile was aloof yet proper. “But President Ye’s meaning is that she hopes President Su can sign this last contract.”

Su Jing took it with confusion. As he flipped through it, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter. Finally, he slapped the document onto the coffee table. “This is impossible. I don’t agree.”

Si Qi seemed to have anticipated this and spoke unhurriedly: “If President Ye hadn’t intervened to suppress that whistleblowing letter, how many days do you think the Su Group’s stock price would last once Sky City—destined to be City A’s tourist landmark—was exposed in such a scandal? And at that time, forget about the Su family holding shares in Sky City. Based on this letter alone, once the authorities investigate, I’m afraid you won’t just be facing a lawsuit, President Su, but potentially jail time.”

Su Jing’s face stiffened. “Stop trying to intimidate me.”

Si Qi spoke with a beaming smile again. “You know in your heart whether what I say is true or false. Moreover, the shares of Sky City held by the Su family are not being transferred to President Ye’s name, but to your daughter, Su Qianyi. You can also rest assured that this document will not be made public. To outsiders, Sky City still belongs to the Su family. Actually, with these things, if President Ye is happy, she gives generously. If you insist on refusing… if President Ye wants something, she can get it through other channels. Don’t you think that’s the way of the world?”

Su Jing was unwilling to let Su Qianyi marry Ye Feiran because he worried he couldn’t control her or bring benefits to the Su family. Now, the moment the alliance was formed, his worst fear had already come true.

After weighing the pros and cons, Su Jing finally signed his name on the several documents.

After getting the documents, Si Qi emphasized one more point: “President Su, President Ye doesn’t want outsiders to know what happened today. Could you do us a favor regarding that?”

Since Su Jing had even signed those agreements, there was nothing else he wouldn’t agree to. He promised: “Please tell President Ye to rest assured.”

“Thank you, President Su. President Ye said that we are family after all; if there are good projects in the future, she will think of the Su family first.”

Su Jing’s expression finally improved a bit. Having completed the mission, Si Qi and Huo Si quickly left the Su residence.

On the other side, Su Qianyi, who had been taken away by Ye Feiran, was huddled bored in the passenger seat. She listened to Ye Feiran explain Si Qi’s mission while she toyed with a strand of Ye Feiran’s hair.

“Ye Feiran, you act so ruthlessly, so how come your hair is so soft?”

“Don’t fidget.” Ye Feiran shot a look of mock repulsion at Su Qianyi. “I thought you would blame me for being too heartless.”

“Why would I? You spent so much money—did you really intend to just do the Su family a favor? Those shares should have been transferred to your name.”

While waiting at a red light, Ye Feiran turned to look at Su Qianyi. She still didn’t tell her that, in fact, all those shares had been put under Su Qianyi’s own name.

Between the two of them, some things didn’t need to be divided too clearly.

Seeing that Ye Feiran was silent, Su Qianyi asked curiously: “How were you able to forge a whistleblowing letter in such a short time?”

“It wasn’t forged.” Ye Feiran sighed and explained, “Even without your appearance, once I heard my second sister-in-law and the others wanted to ally with the Su family, I started paying attention to this project. Previously, there was a young engineer on the project who found flaws and reported them, but he was repeatedly shut down by his superiors. He left the Su Group in despair and just happened to be encountered by my investigators. He has a lot of data on Sky City in his hands. He should be able to find quite a few more flaws in the future.”

“So that’s how it is. No wonder you didn’t doubt me when I said there was a problem with the project.” Su Qianyi mentally filled in the blanks for Ye Feiran.

Ye Feiran didn’t contradict her. The light turned green, and the car started moving again.

Wait—the light turned red, and the car came to a stop.

Without the sound of the engine and without music, the car was exceptionally quiet.

Ye Feiran suddenly turned her head and asked, “Su Qianyi, are you happy?”

The corners of Su Qianyi’s lips curved up. “Of course I’m happy. Being able to make the Su family suffer just now was all thanks to borrowing your momentum.”

“Mhm. As long as you’re happy.”

Su Qianyi held up the identification documents in her arms, smiling like a cat that had just caught a fish. “So, while I’m in a good mood and before the Civil Affairs Bureau closes… Ye Feiran, shall we get married?”