Watching Qianning walk out, Uncle Zhang immediately drove the car up to her side and quickly got out to open the door for her.
"Mom, I'm heading back now. I'll come over again the day after tomorrow when Dad has his surgery," Qianning said as she got into the car.
Outside the car, Mother Qiao smiled and nodded her head, watching as the car door closed and the vehicle started up and drove away. It was only then that she turned to walk toward the direction of the ward. When she realized that Qianxue hadn't followed her, she turned around and saw Qianxue still staring at the car, which had now become a small dot in the distance.
"Qianxue," Mother Qiao called out.
"Oh, I'm coming," Qianxue finally shifted her gaze. But her heart was no longer calm. If... if it wasn't her who had to donate bone marrow, then she could have replaced Qianning. Right now, she could be wearing such beautiful clothes, riding in such a car, living in such a big villa. Why did it have to be her?
In the president's office on the twenty-ninth floor of the Beigong Group Office Building, a man in a black suit sat in front of Beigong Cang and solemnly handed over a file envelope to him.
"Our credit agency has completed Mr. Beigong's task," he said. "Here is the information we've collected regarding Miss Qiao Qianning's activities over the past month."
As Beigong Cang listened, he opened the file envelope. After taking out the thick stack of documents, he quickly began to leaf through them.
Suddenly, his movements stopped on a photo document. Pointing at the man in the picture, he asked, "Who is this?" The picture showed Qianning embracing a man in a garden late at night. Moreover, the man was kissing her, and she didn't appear to be resisting at all.
The man leaned over, looked at it, and expertly pulled out a sheet of text from the file, placing it in front of Beigong Cang, and explained, "This man is named Qiao Fantian. He's the adopted son of Qiao Qianning's foster family, her non-blood-related brother. According to our investigation, over a month ago, they disappeared for a few days. People in the know say that they ran away from home because their family was about to sell Qiao Qianning to another man, but they later returned. The photo shows them together on Mid-Autumn night. At the time, in an audio recording, Qiao Fantian asked Qianning to run away with him again."
"Run away?!" Beigong Cang repeated the term, his expression growing dark. If he wasn't mistaken, that man was the one who had charged out and grabbed her the day he went to the Qiao Family's house to wait for Qianning to pack her things. So they weren't so simple after all.
"Alright," Beigong Cang put the documents back into the envelope, "you've done a good job with this task. I'll have my secretary transfer the money to your account."
The man stood up, smiling, and said, "Thank you, President Beigong. It's been a pleasure working with you." With that, he left the office.
Seated at the large desk, Beigong Cang lit a cigarette for himself, silently repeating: "Run away from home!"
That woman, actually discussing running away with another man. Anger made him snap the cigarette in his hand.
The night had grown deep. The Beigong Family's home had quietened down.
But it was awakened by loud knocking sounds. The knocking came from Qianning's room, accompanied by Beigong Cang's roaring voice: "Qiao Qianning! Open the door!"
Startled from her sleep, Qianning quickly woke up. She instinctively opened the door, not even knowing what was happening.
Outside her room, Beigong Cang's face was dark as he threw the photo documents at her. "Explain this!"
Qianning was shocked and hurriedly looked at the papers in her hand. There were two photos, one where she was leaning on Fantian's shoulder, the other where Fantian was kissing her lips. Oh no! How could Beigong Cang have such photos?
Before Qianning could say anything, the hurrying Lady Beigong began to shout, "Cang! What are you yelling about in the middle of the night? Pregnant women need rest!" She had rushed over without even taking the time to remove her facial mask. She didn't want her grandchild to be affected in the slightest.
"Mom!" Beigong Cang was still shouting loudly, "Right now, we don't even know if the child in her belly is mine!"
Hearing his words, Lady Beigong was also startled. She snatched the documents from Qianning's hands. Qianning had been her choice, and before that, the Qiao Family had repeatedly assured her that this girl was pure and clean.
Lady Beigong's gaze lifted from the documents, her voice cold, "Alright, everyone to the living room, we're settling this matter tonight, no more shouting here." With that, she turned and walked towards her own room. She needed to deal with the mask on her face and this significant issue. It had to be thoroughly investigated without delay. The Beigong Family couldn't be deceived.
The living room was lit up again, Lady Beigong sat cross-legged in her bathrobe on the leather sofa, waiting for Qianning to give her an explanation.
Beigong Cang sat on another armchair, also looking coldly at Qianning who was seated opposite him in the middle, and asked again, "How do you explain the things in these photos?"
Under their gaze, Qianning, nervously twisting her hands, bit her lower lip. After a long while, she spoke softly, "That's Fantian."
Beigong Cang shouted loudly, making Qianning jump. It took a while for him to continue, "You even discussed running away? And actually did for a few days?"
Since he already knew, there was nothing more to hide. Qianning gently nodded her head.
"Then why did you agree to our family's arrangement?"
Qianning whispered, "Because of the money." She knew her answer was contemptible, but it was the truth.
Beigong Cang scoffed coldly, "Hmph! Money! Go to the hospital tomorrow and have it aborted, because you failed to fulfill our agreement, so you must return the two hundred thousand."
Hearing this, Qianning gasped, lifting her head, "The child... the child really is yours!" She didn't know what she should say now, but she couldn't return the two hundred thousand.
"You say it is, so it is? I even doubt that what happened between us was real," he spat out.
"You..." What was he saying? He had taken her body, and now he could say such things! How could he? Helpless and angry tears began to flow.