Chapter 3: She Became the Nominal Mommy of Her Niece?
Not far behind her, Li Beicheng, who had gotten out of the luxury car, stopped in his tracks as he immediately noticed how much thinner she had become.
Perhaps the five years had stretched too long, he suddenly felt as if the distance between them was as vast as that between Heaven and Earth, and their unfamiliarity was indescribable.
Unconsciously, Li Beicheng furrowed his brow and reached out, wanting to grab her slender shoulder that was within arm's reach.
No matter what had happened five years ago, as long as she still bore the title of his wife, he could not tolerate her ignoring him.
The next second, the woman in front of him gracefully turned around, intentionally avoiding his touch.
Her long eyelashes trembled; Yan Xiaye stiffly lifted her eyes, forcing herself to take in the man's figure.
They locked eyes.
At such a close distance, the intense pain she was desperately trying to suppress in her eyes could not be hidden.
A demonic thought crossed Li Beicheng's mind, and his heart sank; he withdrew his hand, looked at the Bugatti by the roadside, and commanded emotionlessly, "Get in the car."
Yan Xiaye did not move. Her voice dispersed thinly in the wind, "Li Beicheng, let's get a divorce."
His sharp, black eyes suddenly narrowed; Li Beicheng flew into a rage and grasped her wrist fiercely, tightening it in his palm, "Yan Xiaye, do you have any idea Yan Shuirou almost died on the operating table five years ago? If it wasn't for fortune's favor at the last minute to find a donor heart, she would have died because of you!"
Compared to that, all she did was serve five years in prison—what's there to feel wronged about?
Yan Xiaye's eyes reddened, and she mocked with a slight curve of her lips, "Yes, fortunately fortune favored us. Otherwise, you surely would have forced me to pay with my life, wouldn't you?"
She struggled to keep her voice steady while forcefully pulling her wrist back, trying to break free from the man's grasp.
During the past five years, she had thought more than once about how she would take her revenge after getting out of prison.
However, when her mind cooled down, her longing for her child overwhelmed everything else to the extent that she simply didn't want to waste any more words with Li Beicheng.
Li Beicheng felt even more displeased, yet his grip imprisoning her did not loosen, "You know the situation with the Li family. Grandmother's health is not good, I will not divorce you."
"Grandmother..." Upon hearing about the grandmother who had always cared about her the most, Yan Xiaye was torn internally but eventually took a step forward.
It was Li Beicheng who had wronged her, not the Li family.
Even if she wanted a divorce, she should have gone back to clarify things, so as not to make her nearly eighty-year-old grandmother worry about her.
The car started.
Yan Xiaye sat upright in the passenger seat, instantly noticing a delicately framed photo placed in front of her.
It was a photo of a little girl, around three or four years old, smiling sweetly at the camera, her features bearing a striking resemblance to Yan Shuirou.
At first, she was taken aback, then connecting it to Yan Shuirou's successful heart transplant, how could she not guess that this girl was the offspring of her husband and her sister's love?
Had this been five years earlier, this photo alone would have been enough to shatter her heart.
His gaze followed hers, and his brows unconsciously furrowed, the threat he had been ready to deliver suddenly became hard to utter.
Realizing that Li Beicheng's gaze lingered on her for a long time, Yan Xiaye indifferently looked away, "Congratulations on getting what you wished for."
The already icy atmosphere inside the car, with that meaningfully deep blessing, nearly solidified the very air.
Li Beicheng's hand tightened on the steering wheel. Somehow, he couldn't immediately respond.
He didn't like it when she spoke to him in such a cold, piercing manner.
But she had long ceased to care whether he liked it or not.
Li Beicheng took a deep breath, trying not to think about the gloom in his heart, "Ya'er cannot be a daughter born in the shadows, and Old Madam will not allow Shuirou to become the Young Madam of the Li Family. Thus, when I was looking for a surrogate, I announced that we used your eggs."
Yan Xiaye's beautiful face remained expressionless for a long time before she grasped the implication of the man's words, "Li Beicheng, you really stop at nothing for Yan Shuirou, even resorting to something like this?"
Five years ago, Yan Shuirou tried to take over her unborn child; five years later, she had become the nominal mother of the other woman's daughter?
Was there anything more ironic or ridiculous in the world?
Thinking about it, a hoarse, indifferent laugh escaped her, "Li Beicheng, I will never admit in front of Old Madam that your daughter has no relation to me."
Li Beicheng's expression turned icy, his handsome face covered with a layer of frost, "Yan Xiaye, you still don't know, do you? Your father has accrued nearly ten million in high-interest gambling debts over the past few years, and I have been covering the interest payments."
Her complexion turned rapidly pale, "You're threatening me..."
"If you don't want your parents to be dismembered and sold for organs, you should understand I'm not here to negotiate with you."
Facing the woman he did not love, Li Beicheng adopted the ruthless tactics he used in the business world, his thin lips curled coolly, "As long as Old Madam is alive, you can only be the sole Young Madam of the Li Family, Ya'er's mommy, my wife, Li Beicheng!"
As they spoke, the Li Family Manor came into view.
Seizing the moment before the car reached the main house, Yan Xiaye clenched her fists and trembled as she spoke, "They are also Yan Shuirou's parents, how can you bear to break her heart?"
"Indeed, I can't bear to see Shuirou heartbroken," Li Beicheng hit the brakes, his gaze returning to her with a mocking smile, each word like a whisper from a demon, "So, your parents' lives are solely in your hands, and I will not tell Shuirou anything."
That's how it was.
He loved Yan Shuirou so much that he would consider everything for the woman he cherished.
Yan Xiaye shook all over with rage, glaring hatefully at the handsome man beside her.
"You bastard!" she gritted her teeth, struggling to force out the broken words, "Just because I once loved you, do I deserve to be tormented by you and Yan Shuirou? Five years in prison, our child who died… can't you have pity on me and go be intimately affectionate with your Yan Shuirou, never to appear before me again in this lifetime!"
He and their dead child...
A few words, mournful and hoarse, caused Li Beicheng to pause for a moment, a flash of guilt crossing his face.
"Young Master, Young Madam, Old Madam has been waiting for a long time."
The butler opened the car door as Yan Xiaye hastily wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and exited the car without looking back.
...
In the garden, two children were chasing each other, playing a game.
Under the sunshine, everything looked so beautiful, and Yan Xiaye's heart was filled with mixed emotions.
Her gaze involuntarily followed the beautifully carved young boy, thinking that if her son had grown up safely, he would probably be around the same age.
Old Madam Li hurried out of the room upon hearing the news, now directing some people to hold back the princess-like little girl, pointing affectionately towards Yan Xiaye a few meters away, "Ya'er, isn't it the mommy you've always wanted? Why don't you go and get close to mommy?"
With Li Beicheng's threats still ringing in her ears, Yan Xiaye took a deep breath, trying her best to squeeze out a smile.
Ya'er's sparkling big eyes looked Yan Xiaye up and down, frowned upon seeing her dowdy clothes, decided to ignore her great-grandmother's words, stuck out her tongue and twisted her body, running back to the villa.
If it was just that, it might have been bearable, but she turned and bumped into the boy who had come with her, yet she did not even apologize.