Chapter 65: Blackmail

Half a month later, the people sent to investigate returned. As expected, Wen Ming Yue had indeed misappropriated public funds. Although the law stipulated that it would not constitute a crime if repaid within three months, given Wen Ming Yue’s financial situation, it was simply impossible for her to repay this money.

When Fan Xia saw the investigation report that was delivered, she almost wanted to laugh. Life was full of surprises. Wen Ming Yue had chosen to send herself to prison. She had been misappropriating public funds for nearly two months. If she couldn’t repay in another month, based on the large amount of misappropriated funds alone, it would be enough to sentence her to more than ten years in prison or even life imprisonment.

Wen Ming Yue was only a year away from retirement. Could her old bones withstand such torment?

During this period, Wen Ming Yue would certainly try every possible way to repay the money, but those relatives would no longer lend her money. Now, the simplest and most brutal method before her eyes was to sell the ring she had bought for Wen Lan Sheng to solve the urgent problem.

Having finally caught Wen Ming Yue’s tail, she naturally couldn’t let her off easily.

As time passed, since she learned in her second year of high school that Wen Ming Yue had scrapped the car, she understood that the truth of that year would never come to light. Although she couldn’t send Wen Ming Yue to prison on charges of hit-and-run, she could send her in for misappropriation of public funds. No matter what, she wouldn’t let Wen Ming Yue have an easy time.

Closing the investigation report, Fan Xia extinguished the wall lamp covered by light yellow gauze at the bedside, and embraced Rong Xiu, who was sleeping peacefully beside her. In his sleep, his breathing was shallow, his warm arm lay across her waist in the quilt, his breath was faint, his eyebrows relaxed.

Work had been busy lately, and Rong Xiu was very tired, sleeping much earlier than usual. Sometimes she would even see Rong Xiu lightly massaging his sore lower back.

She moved her hand to his soft lower back, slipping it in from the collar, her fingertips gently pressing into his shallow dimples. In his sleep, Rong Xiu let out a soft murmur, habitually nestling closer to her embrace.

Fan Xia smiled silently, tucked him in, and fell asleep holding him.

The next day, they went to work together. As soon as they reached their floor, they saw Zhuang Nian looking at her with a face like a pig’s liver.

“Assistant Fan, your husband is here to see you,” he looked towards the sofa.

After half a month, Wen Lan Sheng looked as if he had been subjected to torture, shockingly haggard, his body so light it seemed about to fall apart. His once meticulously groomed short hair had grown a bit longer, falling slightly curled to his shoulders. His cracked and bleeding lips murmured as he looked at her, “Xia Xia.”

When Zhuang Nian saw Wen Lan Sheng in this state, he couldn’t help but feel heartbroken.

Just a while ago when he had seen Wen Lan Sheng, he was still a lively, normal person. But in less than a month, he had become like this, so pitiful.

Yet he couldn’t show this sympathy, because the culprit who had caused Wen Lan Sheng to become like this was his immediate superior, Rong Xiu.

It was because he had interfered in Wen Lan Sheng and Fan Xia’s marriage that Wen Lan Sheng had become this neither human nor ghost-like figure.

Zhuang Nian didn’t dare to imagine what kind of life Wen Lan Sheng was living in his silent, cold home while he watched Rong Xiu and Fan Xia being lovey-dovey in the office every day.

At this moment, in Zhuang Nian’s eyes, Rong Xiu truly looked like the vicious male supporting character in TV dramas who breaks up the main couple. Even when he watched TV dramas and saw those deliberately acted arrogant and vicious male supporting characters, he would mock in his heart, is this what you call vicious and arrogant? Have you seen a mistress who drove the original wife to slit her wrists? Art imitates life.

“You dare to come!” Rong Xiu’s eyes narrowed, exuding a dangerous aura.

“Let me handle this.” Fan Xia patted Rong Xiu’s shoulder.

These two men absolutely could not meet. Once they met, it was like swords drawn and bows bent, especially Rong Xiu. Seeing Wen Lan Sheng, his aggressive aura suddenly rose, full of anger, as if he were the original spouse seeing the mistress come to the door, while the other party was pretending to be soft and weak like a white lotus.

Rong Xiu’s fingers tightly gripped his hand as he turned and walked towards the office, also calling away Zhuang Nian who was watching the commotion from the side.

Zhuang Nian’s face changed, and he hurriedly followed.

“Watch your mouth. Wen Lan Sheng is not Fan Xia’s husband.” Rong Xiu’s body was embedded in the dark light, his whole person shrouded in an eerie shadow.

Zhuang Nian was shocked in his heart, but his mouth repeatedly said okay. However, in his heart, he sighed that the CEO moved so fast, convincing Assistant Fan to divorce her original husband so quickly. Now the mistress was really going to enter the house openly and blatantly rise to power.

Zhuang Nian felt a chill in his heart. These days, mistresses could walk around freely in society. He had better keep a close eye on his wife-master, lest she be seduced by some seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy in society. Otherwise, he and the children would have no one to rely on for the rest of their lives.

On the other side, Fan Xia pulled Wen Lan Sheng to the stairwell and asked, “What are you doing here?”

Wen Lan Sheng’s cracked lips were like one or two drops of blood popping out of the pale snow, his voice as hoarse as the tip of a shoe grinding through thick, deep snow: “I sent you so many messages, made so many calls, but you ignored them all. I really had no choice, I could only come here to find you.” Fan Xia leaned against the wall, completely ignoring the fragility revealed in his words, and stretched out her clean, slender hand: “Since you’re here, give the ring back.”

Panic flashed in Wen Lan Sheng’s desolate eyes, and he instinctively put his hand behind his back.

“Xia Xia, do you remember? When we went to choose rings, I wasn’t satisfied with any of the rings on the market. You hugged me and said, ‘My Lan Sheng will definitely be the most beautiful man in the world on our wedding day, and the most beautiful man must have the most beautiful ring.’ You even had the designer engrave our two names inside the ring, saying we would be together forever, never to part.’ Xia Xia, do you still remember all this? How can you forget so easily? How can you just take it back, just abandon me?”

Fan Xia’s lips curved in a smile, about to refute him, when she suddenly thought of Wen Ming Yue. Her attitude changed, and a hint of pain flashed in her eyes: “Do you think I want things between us to become like this?”

“Do you think I’m really such a heartless person that I can just cut off more than ten years of feelings? I may be able to break it off with you on the surface, but in my heart, the memories of you accompanying me through high school and middle school, I can never break those off.”

“Xia Xia-” Wen Lan Sheng’s expression became excited as he moved forward to grab her hand.

Fan Xia suddenly took a step back and said, “But I have no choice. I also want to live a good life with you, but look at what your good family has done? They forced me away from you step by step, forcing me to have to give you up.”

“Your mother lost money in stocks and blamed me. Your mother borrowed money from Old Zhang and Old Zou and blamed me. I kindly took in your homeless family, only to be treated like a thankless wretch. The debt she owed, she even wanted me to repay it for her. If I don’t repay it, she sets her sights on our wedding ring!”

Fan Xia suddenly grabbed his wrist, pointing at the ring on his ring finger, and said, “Do you know why I must have this ring from you? It’s not because I really want to break it off with you completely, it’s because I know that as long as this ring is still on your hand, your mother will set her sights on it, sell the ring to repay the debt, and you simply can’t protect it.”

Tears glistened in Wen Lan Sheng’s eyes, soft thorns pricking his heart one by one, both painful and sour. He thought Fan Xia really wanted to break it off with him completely, but he didn’t expect that even when she was being resolute, she was still considering things for him.

“I’m sorry.” Wen Lan Sheng apologized tearfully: “I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Xia Xia. Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t let them snatch the ring away. Even if it costs me my life, I absolutely won’t let them succeed. Xia Xia, will you trust me one last time?”

“……” Fan Xia remained silent.

Wen Lan Sheng continued: “These days, my mother has been constantly calling me, even coming to our house to bang on the door, asking me to come out and see her. I didn’t understand before, but now I do. I know she wants to snatch our ring to sell for money to repay the debt. But Xia Xia, I’ve always listened to you. These days, no matter how my mother cried and begged, I haven’t seen her, not even once, really.”

Fan Xia smiled disbelievingly: “That’s because you didn’t know the reason before. If she can’t repay Old Zhang and Old Zou’s money, she might be judged as a defaulter. When that time comes, if your mom and dad kneel down in front of you with Wen Jing, crying and begging, your heart will soften in an instant.”

“It won’t, Xia Xia. Trust me one last time. I absolutely won’t soften my heart. The debt is hers, I won’t help her repay it. Xia Xia, I will return to your side clean and without any burdens, okay?” Wen Lan Sheng pleaded tearfully.

Fan Xia looked at Wen Lan Sheng, her eyes gradually tinged with past emotions: “Alright, then I’ll trust you one last time. This time, if you’re still willing to take the wedding ring bought with my money to fill your family’s deficit, Wen Lan Sheng… I’ll marry Rong Xiu immediately.”

The last sentence seemed to weigh a thousand pounds on Wen Lan Sheng, pressing him so he couldn’t breathe, his whole body enveloped in a fear of impending death. In this fear of death, he seemed to see Rong Xiu standing proudly beside Fan Xia, smugly raising his hand, wearing the ring that once belonged to him.

“No, don’t marry him. Xia Xia, believe me, I would rather die than help my family again. I will prove it to you.” Wen Lan Sheng’s expression was exceptionally agitated.

Fan Xia said: “Alright, then I’ll wait for you to prove it to me.”

Although that ring would only sell for about a hundred thousand when resold, whether Wen Lan Sheng gave it or not, it wouldn’t make up for even a fraction of Wen Ming Yue’s misappropriated funds. But Fan Xia liked to watch the Wen family members tear each other apart, biting each other until they were bloody, disregarding all family ties. The more the Wen family suffered, the happier she became. If her parents knew in the afterlife, they would surely be happy too!