The hospital was under the governance of Vientiane Group.

Shentu Tianyin was still herself. The woman was completely fine, perfectly healthy even.

She stood before the french window of the VIP ward, cold and elegant as ever. Her strong presence before the ward window felt unapproachable.

Bo Mingmei sneakily left the room.

Xia Lei couldn’t help but muster up a lop-sided smile. He was in such a panicked state that he had not thought the situation through. Now, everything was starting to make sense to Xia Lei.

“You... Was this really necessary?” he questioned.

It was only then that Shentu Tianyin turned around to face Xia Lei. Not a word was uttered but her stare was soulful and deep. There was a faint sheen of moisture in her orbs as if she had just cried.

Xia Lei sighed and said nothing else.

What else was there to say?

She had played such a trick to lure him over but was it necessary for him to yell at her?

After three minutes of complete silence and stares, Shentu Tianyin finally broke the silence. “Didn’t you say that you were not planning to get married again? Why are you marrying Tang Yuyan now?”

“Huh? Where did you hear that from?”

“Liang Siyao called me and told me that you and Tang Yuyan were planning to get engaged during Shi Boren’s sixtieth birthday.”

“What? Damn you...” Xia Lei felt the urge to punch himself. How could he buy Bo Mingmei’s blatant lie that Qing Caiyue was the one who gave her his location? Another reason was his mindless panic as soon as he heard that Shentu Tianyin lost consciousness and was admitted to the hospital.

Love could make one stupid. If love was a disease, Xia Lei would’ve been diagnosed with its last stage development.

Based on Liang Siyao’s reaction today, it shouldn’t be difficult to guess how Shentu Tianyin knew that the Tang family was planning to force the marriage on him today. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Liang Siyao, who was at a disadvantage, had utilized the timing to break the news to Shentu Tianyin and borrowed her strength to stop the marriage between him and Tang Yuyan.

“Don’t weddings come after engagements? The Tang family are impatient, I’m sure they’d have you both register the marriage certificate within a few days or at most half a month.” Shentu Tianyin’s voice was starting to get hoarse.

Xia Lei didn’t know how to answer that.

“Why does Tang Yuyan deserve a chance to be with you while you’re not willing to even spare me a single glance?”

Xia Lei sighed. “The Tang family is eager to match me with Tang Yuyan and my father has agreed to it. But here’s the catch, I hadn’t agreed to it at all. When Bo Mingmei appeared, I was just about to tell them I would consider the proposal but she interrupted me with the news that you were ill. How could I still have the heart to continue the discussion? That’s why I followed her here.”

“You still care about me, right?”

“Of course, I still care about you. But please don’t do this again. I don’t want you to be the boy who cried wolf. That would be bad,” said Xia Lei.

“You rejected me but you couldn’t reject her?”

Xia Lei graced her a troubled smile. “If we were in a more private setting, I’d reject her. But the Tang family had brought it up at Shi Boren’s event. The Tang family is a very old family. If I rejected her in such a setting, it would be very humiliating for them. The only way around this is to delay my decision instead of an outright decline. Plus, my father’s wish is involved in this too.”

“That’s what the Tangs are after. They’re smart enough to utilize Shi Boren’s birthday to use your father against you. You could run from this now but could you run from it forever?” She seemed extremely pained. “I dare to say that your absence there had already led to your father promising the Tangs the marriage. What are you going to do about it?”

Now that she had mentioned it, Xia Lei could feel his brain throb. The only thing he was concerned about on his way here was Shentu Tianyin’s condition. Xia Lei had completely forgotten about that! Thinking about it, Xia Lei felt that there was a high possibility that things had turned out that way. Both families had agreed to it, Tang Yuyan was willing and his attitude towards it was vague, which could be interpreted however they want. The circumstances were completely possible for them to go ahead with the engagement!

Jeez, now that has created a new problem.

“Come on, answer me. What are you going to do about it?”

“So you’re here trying to force me to make a decision?” Xia Lei uttered.

“I...” Shentu Tianyin was at a loss for words.

The man stared at her intently. “If you had chosen me over Vientiane Group back then, would things have ended up the same way?”

Shentu Tianyin tensed up. Her heart immediately overwhelmed with shame and regret.

There was truth to his words. If she had given up on Vientiane Group to join Thunder Horse Organization as Xia Lei had begged her to, their marriage wouldn’t have been affected at all. She would still be Xia Lei’s wife and perhaps the mother to his children. Aside from that, her losses would then be returned generously, because Thunder Horse Organization’s market value had far surpassed that of Vientiane Group. Most importantly, the Thunder Horse Organization was heavily influential and had great societal status in both the domestic and international market. They were performing way better than Vientiane Group was!

She had made a mistake. It tormented her heart with regret but most of her sufferings came from shame!

Shentu Tianyin made such a decision and even had Xia Lei be her scapegoat. Then, she was heartless enough to divorce him. Frankly speaking, what right did she have now to involve herself in Xia Lei’s love life? Her approval and acknowledgement were not needed for who Xia Lei wanted to be with or marry!

The atmosphere was bitter. Xia Lei’s smile was gentle but dispirited. “You chose to leave me when I needed you the most. You showered me with affection when you wanted me and left me to rot when you were done. Am I just a plaything for you?”

“I...” Shentu Tianyin burst into tears.

“I loved you. I was deeply in love with you. But the damage has been done. I’m already long over this.”

“So you’ve made up your mind to marry Tang Yuyan?” Shentu Tianyin wiped away the tears from the corner of her eye and forced a smile. “Right, I shouldn’t have called you over. I’m grateful that you could forgive me when I’ve wronged you so much. I shouldn’t have expected more from this. But tell me, do you really love Tang Yuyan? I hope you’d think this through. You’ve experienced a failed marriage once, I wouldn’t want you to experience it again. Surely, you’re way more aware than me that the Tang family is after the political advantage and the benefit you could offer. After your marriage to Tang Yuyan, the Tang family will not be your support but your obstacle.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Hmph.” Shentu Tianyin scoffed coldly. “The Tang family has been around for centuries. I bet their hands are far from clean. Tang Yuyan is a woman like me. The only difference between us is that she’s more of a family-person while I give my all to my business. The reason behind the Tang family’s survival is its strong control over its members. Since young, Tang Yuyan has been educated with the Tang’s familial ideology. The concept of family is deeply imprinted in her. How could you expect her to change out of love?”

Inexplicably, Xia Lei thought about the Dawang operation. In that RV, he and Tang Yuyan were so blinded with lust and just before they could bed each other, Tang Yuyan could very consciously remind him to take responsibility for her. She even went as far as to hint marriage. Now to think about it, when he was just a nobody, the strong-standing Tang family could’ve helped him easily. But did they offer him help? If Tang Yuyan had truly loved him to bits, why didn’t she offer her help? All while Long Bing, on the other hand, was willing to sacrifice herself each time he was troubled without asking for return!

“Everyone needs sustenance to survive and get strong. The same applies to families with long histories. If they don’t swallow the best, they’d perish. I’m not saying this out of jealousy. I’m just trying to give you a piece of advice as an ex-wife. Your father is the Tangs’ energy source but he has no shared quality. Your marriage to Tang Yuyan would only bring more harm than good-”

“Hahaha...” Abruptly, Xia Lei started to cackle.

“What are you laughing at? Even if saying these hurts me more than anything, I don’t wish to harm you again or allow any woman to cause you any damage!” roared Shentu Tianyin.

This is what it meant to love someone deeply.

Willing to hurt themselves if it meant that the person they loved was spared from damage.

Xia Lei scoffed. “I guess only women will understand their kind. The only things men pay attention to most of the time are big boobs, a thick ass and a sweet face.”

Shentu Tianyin frowned. “That was very unsophisticated but you make sense.”

“Jeez, they’ve really cornered me. The Tangs are extremely smart. First, they try to win over my father with sweet talk and then involve Shi Boren. If marriage is the only way to solve this and I’m not willing to marry Tang Yuyan, who do you think I should marry? Liang Siyao?”

Shentu Tianyin shook her head. “If you marry Liang Siyao at such a time, it’d be equivalent to killing her.”

“What about Long Bing?”

“She’d face the same outcome. She’s a good person, please don’t harm her.”

“What about Jiang Ruyi?”

“Damn, that’s a lot of women you have there.” Shentu Tianyin glared sharply at Xia Lei. “She’s even weaker than the rest. Even I am no match for Tang Yuyan, how is Jiang Ruyi going to survive against her? She’s just an innocent and kind girl. I think she’s content with her current situation. There’s no need for you to turn her world upside down. Plus, I don’t think she’s at the appropriate social status. I bet she hasn’t come looking for you for a long while now, right? She’s the type where she’d be happy to just have you around for a few days at your convenience. If she had become the female owner of Thunder Horse Organization, she’d be tormented.”

Shentu Tianyin was such an intelligent woman. It was amazing that she could analyze something like this with such impressive detail.

“I guess there’s only one left for the job.” Xia Lei looked at Shentu Tianyin.

She met his eyes in anticipation.

But Xia Lei dug out his phone and dialled a number proficiently. As soon as the call got through, he purposely placed it on the loudspeaker.

“Xiao Lei Lei~ I was just about to call you and here you are! Hahaha... We’re so in sync.”

Shentu Tianyin was speechless.

“Cut it out, I’m here with serious business,” replied Xia Lei.

“What’s the matter? Why are you so tense?”

“Get your station to arrange a woman for me.”

“Huh? What the fuck?”

“I’m serious. Arrange a woman for me to fake a marriage with.”

“Oh... I get it. You’re getting pushed over the edge by that Tang girl?”

“And my father. If it wasn’t for my father, I wouldn’t have resorted to this.”

“What are your requirements for your fake marriage partner?”

“Big boobs, thick ass, high position and best if she has some kind of skin disorder.”

“You... You want to marry me?”

“You don’t want it? Better think this through. This is your one and only chance.”

“I’ll go take an ID photo right away.”

“Wait!” Xia Lei added, “Let me emphasize this again, this is a fake marriage. I’ll be together with whoever I want and you’re not to interfere with my freedom.”

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

“You make it sound like I’ve done something like that. I’ve got a request too.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t try to make me have sex with you along with other women. That’s my baseline.”

“...”

“I’ll go take the picture now. Call you soon, hubby.” This was the first time Fan Fan had called him her husband.

Ending the call, Xia Lei drew out a long sigh. Soon, a smile returned to his face. “There, problem solved.”

“Is she very strong?” asked Shentu Tianyin.

Xia Lei chuckled. “The Tang family wouldn’t want to mess with her unless they don’t mind trouble. Alright, I need to go take a picture too. If there’s a wedding thrown later, I’ll be sure to invite you to the banquet.”

Shentu Tianyin could only smile disheartenedly at that as she watched him leave. Something in her itched to interject but no words were uttered.