Chapter 437
After explaining the situation, Xu Ke closed his eyes. He didn’t know what to say to such a big child, but luckily Yu Xia was not very talkative herself and did not feel awkward.
The taxi drove for almost two hours before reaching the mountaintop villa.
Although Xu Ke hadn’t returned for a long time, and the security guards had changed, his ownership information was still with them, so there wasn’t any situation where the security didn’t recognize him. They just glanced twice at Yu Xia behind Xu Ke, murmuring a few things to themselves.
Yu Xia’s family could only be described as middle-class, with around a million in savings. A family of four lived in a three-bedroom, one-hall house. Suddenly coming to such a place, Yu Xia didn’t know where to put her hands and feet; her whole body stiffened. When following Xu Ke inside the villa, she appeared rigid like a rusty robot, not knowing where to place her limbs.
“This is my home. Feel free to choose any room on the first floor for yourself. Don’t be nervous; there’s nothing special here compared to outside, except the place is a bit larger. Oh, and the room at the very end on the first floor belongs to Sister Zhou, aside from that one, you can pick any. Yaoyao and I get up around seven-thirty in the morning. Just have breakfast ready by then. We’re not home for lunch, and if we come back for dinner, we’ll notify you in advance. If not, there’s no need to make dinner for us; just eat by yourself. I’ll give you my mobile number later, save it. Is there anything else you need to know or understand?” Xu Ke asked.
“No, nothing,” Yu Xia bit her lip and shook her head.
“Are you sure there’s nothing else? I’m a man, so there might be things I wouldn’t think of. If you don’t say, I won’t know. If you’re uncomfortable talking to me, you can also speak with my wife once she returns,” Xu Ke said, noticing her timid and scared demeanor. He lost interest in continuing the conversation, gave a few more instructions, and went upstairs.
Though her face was expressionless, her eyes were exceptionally complex. The words Xu Ke said earlier felt like a thorn piercing her heart, the pain suffocating her. She once naively thought she was immensely happy, only to be slapped hard by reality, shattering her naivety and her perception of a perfect marriage.
Lin Mengyao felt she should blame Xu Ke, should hate him. But when she saw the lit-up house, her heart miraculously felt peaceful. At that moment, she knew she couldn’t let go of Xu Ke; even if he loved someone else, she wouldn’t let go.
She stepped into the villa with a complicated heart, wanting to talk with Xu Ke, to tell him she still loved him. But appearing in the living room was a young girl in a pink apron, with timid, ink-black eyes. This discovery was like a bucket of cold water that immediately doused Lin Mengyao’s simmering heart.
Tears unknowingly welled up in Lin Mengyao’s eyes as she gazed through a curtain of tears at the woman in front of her.
This woman was of a completely different type from herself, young and timid like a little rabbit, so adorable that she wanted to embrace and soothe her.
Lin Mengyao’s face revealed a bitter smile.
Yu Xia felt afraid of Lin Mengyao’s strange expression but was also curious about her, observing Lin Mengyao with eyes full of curiosity.
From the first glance at Lin Mengyao, Yu Xia felt admiration. In some ways, Lin Mengyao was the kind of person Yu Xia wanted to become – tall, with a cold aura and stunning looks.
People often envy what they do not possess, and Yu Xia had this mindset.
During the day, Xu Ke had mentioned having a wife, so upon seeing Lin Mengyao, Yu Xia had guessed. Despite her nervousness and fear, she still summoned the courage to greet her, “Hello, sister, I’m Yu Xia.”
“Ha, who’s your sister? I don’t have a sister as old as you. Don’t try to get close to me here. Just because Xu Ke likes you, doesn’t mean you can swagger before me. No matter how much he likes you, I’m his legally married wife, his missus, not someone like you, a mistress or concubine, that can compare to,” Lin Mengyao retorted coldly, solidifying her suspicion with Yu Xia’s way of greeting. Flames of anger ignited in her heart, but unlike others, she kept an expressionless face, only the icy aura around her intensified.
The awesomeness of Lin Mengyao’s presence was nothing a student like Yu Xia could compare to, and Yu Xia was directly scared to tears, not even comprehending the meaning in Lin Mengyao’s words, fully consumed by fear. She feared being thrown out for not being liked by the mistress, and if she were chased out, she had no place to stay. This fear made Yu Xia cry.
“Sister, even if you don’t like me, please don’t chase me away. If I leave here, I don’t know where to go; I have no home. If I leave here, I really don’t know what I’d do. Please let me stay,” Yu Xia cautiously edged up to Lin Mengyao, wanting to grab her sleeve and plead with her.
She had seen other children do this, and it was Yu Xia’s first time making such a move. It was a little clumsy and careful, but in Lin Mengyao’s eyes, it was no different from a fly landing on her.
Lin Mengyao directly brushed her hand away, not wanting the girl to touch her, but didn’t expect a gentle swing would cause Yu Xia to fall to the ground.
Looking at Xu Ke appearing at the staircase with furrowed brows and Yu Xia trying to get up from the floor, Lin Mengyao laughed out of anger.
“I didn’t expect you, looking so young, to be so practiced in using such enchantingly sly tricks. I didn’t say anything when you took Xu Ke, and now you want to play the victim?” Lin Mengyao coldly mocked.
“Sister, I don’t understand what you’re saying. Is there some misunderstanding? I have no intention of taking Xu Ke away from you. He helped me, gave me a place to stay, and I’m grateful, that’s all,” Yu Xia explained.
Standing at the stairway, Xu Ke initially didn’t understand what happened between the two, but listening up to this point, he got it. He realized Lin Mengyao had misunderstood, so he came down the stairs, saying, “This has nothing to do with you. Go back to your room for now. You can come out after I finish talking to your sister.”
Regaining a sense of relief upon seeing Xu Ke come out, Yu Xia even, despite her growling stomach, ran back to her chosen room without a backward glance, afraid of taking one step slower and being chased out.