"Rest up. I'll get you something to eat." Huo Qingning pulled up her sheet. He was restless all night, in awe about this new feeling he was experiencing. He was in love.
When the door clicked shut behind him, Liang Yan was left staring in the direction of the exit. She no longer blamed him, the warmth in her core spreading upward.
"Are you Liang Yan?" A nurse barged in. "We need someone from your family to sign the admission form."
Since Huo Qingning wasn't here, Liang Yan got up and followed the nurse out. "I'll do it." When they'd arrived in the hall, she put her signature on the papers swiftly. Yet, there were murmurs.
"That's her? She's pretty. No wonder Mr. Huo's so worried about her."
"I heard she's a love child. Mr. Huo got married to her only to dodge the arranged marriage bullet. She must have done it because of the money."
"Yeah. That woman has the seductive eyes."
The nurses chattered on, unable to control their mouths, their eyes full of jealousy, and their words sharp like a scalpel. And Old Master Huo, in the middle of his medical checkup, had heard it all.
"You b*stard!" Old Master Huo shouted. They were back in the villa. After overhearing the rumors, he'd sent someone to investigate Liang Yan. And the truth was out: her reputation had always been in tatters. She didn't deserve her title as one of the Huos.
Huo Qingning knitted his brows together. Once he had helped Liang Yan settle down upstairs, he went downstairs to receive his lecture. "I thought you've always wanted me to marry the daughter of the Liang family, grandpa." He poured a cup of tea, holding it to his front respectively with both hands. "Liang Yan is their daughter."
Old Master Huo knocked the cup over and hit his walking stick on the ground non-stop. He was trembling in anger when he gritted the words out from his teeth, "How long were you going to deceive me if I hadn't heard the gossip? She is an illegitimate, wild child. She did this only to have you save the welfare home. I thought you were always smart, and I've never thought I'd think of you differently until today." There was no time to spare. He couldn't let a single person ruin generations' worth of blood and sweat. "Divorce her. Now!"
"Grandpa..." Huo Qingning's face changed into a stern look, and his voice determined, "I won't. Getting divorced in three days? It's no glorious news either."
Seeing how his compliant and respectful grandson was now disobeying him because of another woman, Old Master Huo exploded. He grabbed the fruit plate on the table and swung at Huo Qingning. "This isn't your call!"
"No!" Liang Yan bolted down the stairs and knelt before Hou Qingning, tears swirling in her eyes. She'd noticed how something was off when they got out of the hospital. After sneaking a look from the second floor, only did Liang Yan realize it was because of her. Since Huo Qingning didn't believe in any of the rumors, she'd not let him down.
"I'm not a love child, grandpa. My father and my mother were engaged in the first place, but Liang Youwei abandoned her to chase after wealth. Everything he owns now, including his wealth, was built on my mother's grave! My poor mother died giving birth to me, and I grew up alone in the countryside for years. I know I'm wild sometimes, but I'll never betray my heart for money!" Decades worth of her most innermost secret were out in an instant, an all-out effort to not disappoint Huo Qingning.
"Y-you...You!" Old Master Huo couldn't take it anymore. He pointed to Huo Qingning, then to Liang Yan on the ground. When he couldn't catch a breath, he passed out on the couch.
Huo Qingning's pupils tightened. "Grandpa! Someone call the ambulance!"