Su Chaoxi shook her head, "I just don't want the blood of such a person to dirty your hands, a bastard, a rapist, to even have you personally punish him would be giving him too much honor."
A disdain that couldn't be hidden made Xie Tianchen's face turn pale.
He couldn't believe that the woman who once loved him as if it were her life now filled his heart with a dull pain.
Even if it was just a temporary measure to protect him.
But was this act going too far?
Xie Tianyin, however, felt utterly comfortable listening to her.
The hostility within him seemed to dissolve in an instant; he turned around and embraced Su Chaoxi in his arms.
Su Chaoxi knew that he was very satisfied.
She wrapped her arms around Xie Tianyin and said to the others, "Since everyone is in denial, then let's call the police."
Su Zhiguo's face drastically changed, "Chaoxi! Why involve the police for such a trivial matter!"
If they called the police, neither the Su Family nor the Xie Family would be able to save face!
"A trivial matter?" Xie Tianyin, holding the warm and soft beauty in his arms, scoffed, "Does President Su think it's a small matter that your biological daughter was almost raped, or that the young mistress of the esteemed Xie Family was schemed against by your 'foster daughter' is just a trifling issue?"
He emphasized 'foster daughter', and Su Zhiguo's body stiffened.
With Xie Tianyin speaking himself, Su Zhiguo knew that today he had to give a satisfactory answer or else it wouldn't end well.
Su Nuannuan stepped forward, sobbing, "It wasn't me, how could I..."
"Shut up!" Su Zhiguo shouted angrily and turned his head to deliver a heavy slap to Su Nuannuan's face without hesitation.
This slap was even heavier than the one Su Chaoxi had given.
Caught off guard, Su Nuannuan was sent tumbling to the ground.
Her head buzzed; the entire world darkened and spun around her.
Incredulous, she looked up at the father who had always doted on her, and tears fell swiftly, "Dad..."
"Don't call me dad!" Su Zhiguo bellowed, "To introduce a wolf into the house and scheme against your sister; I didn't think you capable of such deeds!"
Su Zhiguo, gripping her hand, dragged her in front of Su Chaoxi, "Aren't you going to apologize to your sister?"
Su Nuannuan was even more shock beyond measure!
In the past, no matter what wrong she had done.
Wasn't it always Su Chaoxi who would lower her head first in the end?
Such a small matter today; with a few days of cold violence towards Su Chaoxi, she would naturally come back, tail wagging, begging for her forgiveness!
But why...
Su Nuannuan couldn't stop her tears, crawling towards Su Zhiguo, "Dad, Dad..."
After all, she was the darling he had raised himself.
Su Zhiguo's heart ached so much that he wished he could just hold his daughter and give Su Chaoxi a fierce slap, forcing her to kneel and kowtow three times to Su Nuannuan!
But Xie Tianyin, he dared not provoke!
Su Zhiguo forced himself to look away, suppressing the reluctance in his heart.
Su Nuannuan cried out in despair, clutching at Su Zhiguo's trouser leg and then with a roll of her eyes, she fainted.
Su Zhiguo finally couldn't contain himself, his face changing drastically, "Nuannuan!"
Xie Tianchen too was startled and rushed over to her, "Nuannuan!"
Yang Yingrong hurried over and upon seeing her daughter with a pallid face, fainting, immediately burst into tears, "Nuannuan!"
Su Chaoxi looked at the whole family's anguished expressions, feeling both familiar and strange.
Familiar because Su Chaoxi herself was often beaten and forced to apologize on her knees.
Now, it was the pampered and cherished Su Nuannuan who was in that position.
Strange because, after each beating, Su Chaoxi would always be locked up alone to reflect upon her mistakes.
Only after she had thought things through and came out to apologize would her family deign to cast a glance her way.
But for Su Nuannuan...
Su Chaoxi gave a self-deprecating laugh.
Xie Tianyin caught every bit of envy and self-mockery in her eyes.
His gaze darkened, and he wrapped his arms around his wife, "It seems that Miss Su the Second is not going to have the chance to apologize to my wife today."
Su Zhiguo and Yang Yingrong both turned sharply to look at Xie Tianyin.
The look in her eyes contained well-suppressed resentment and ferocity.
Xie Tianyin did not care at all, maintaining his usual condescending attitude. He said mockingly, "Then wait until you have sincerity. Come and beg my wife for forgiveness whenever that may be. For today, I shall take my leave."
After speaking, he bent down and directly scooped Su Chaoxi into a bridal carry.
Su Chaoxi herself felt extremely dizzy, and being lifted up only made her feel like the world was spinning, and her vision went dark.
The couple, Su Zhiguo and his wife, were so enraged by that entitled attitude that they were gnashing their teeth in anger!
Only when the others were far away did Yang Yingrong dare to cry out, whispering, "Our Nuannuan has never suffered like this, sob sob... This Su Chaoxi is truly detestable! I knew she was an ungrateful wretch we could never truly tame. We should never have taken her from the orphanage in the first place!"
Su Zhiguo's eyes also reddened with regret, saying, "She wasn't like this before. How did she become like this now?"
Yang Yingrong wept bitterly, "And whose fault is that? It's all because you insisted on marrying her to Xie Tianyin, giving her such excessive wealth. If Nuannuan had been the one to marry Xie Tianyin, would we still have to suffer this humiliation?"
Full of regret, Su Zhiguo picked up Su Nuannuan and said with a choked voice, "Enough, have someone prepare the car..."
He turned around, carrying Su Nuannuan downstairs, only then realizing there was a trail of fresh blood.
Drip by drip, it fell to the ground.
It was a startling sight.
This was... Su Chaoxi's blood.
Indeed.
How could he have forgotten that Su Chaoxi was injured too?
Su Zhiguo instinctively looked back towards the room. He was momentarily dazed by the large pool of bright red blood.
"What are you standing there for, hurry up!"
Only then did Su Zhiguo snap back to reality, saying, "I'm coming."
-
Su Chaoxi was carried out of the Su Family Villa by Xie Tianyin.
Having been forcing herself to stay strong until now, she felt quite tired.
Now, leaning against Xie Tianyin's chest, she fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke up again, she was in the hospital getting an IV drip.
The nurse was dressing the wound on her leg. Noticing she was awake, the nurse said, "Don't move, your wound is very deep and needs proper care."
Su Chaoxi then realized she wasn't wearing any pants.
Suddenly, the door opened.
Su Chaoxi flinched, instinctively reaching for the blanket to cover herself.
The nurse got annoyed, "What are you doing? I told you not to move!"
The man who entered was tall and imposing. Noticing Su Chaoxi's slight movement, his eyes darkened slightly.
Turning to see Xie Tianyin, the nurse hesitated before asking Su Chaoxi, "Isn't he your husband?"
Su Chaoxi, a bit embarrassed, fiddled with the blanket before saying, "Yes..."
"Then what's there to hide? Haven't you seen everything between husband and wife? Don't move!"
Su Chaoxi then shamefacedly put down the blanket, her cheeks turning a fiery red.
Although they were husband and wife.
But during their nights together, the lights were always off.
Su Chaoxi had never been seen like this before.
Xie Tianyin, however, seemed completely indifferent, walking over and nonchalantly placing his hand on her forehead, "The fever has gone down."
Su Chaoxi only then realized, "I had a fever?"
"Yes, but thankfully, it's just a mild one. It's nothing serious," the nurse finished bandaging, "Alright, keep the wound dry for the next few days and don't walk around too much. An injury on the thigh can be serious or minor; it would be troublesome if it affected a nerve."
"Thank you," Xie Tianyin said coldly yet politely.
The nurse couldn't help but take another look at Xie Tianyin, then gave Su Chaoxi an envious glance.
Su Chaoxi became even more embarrassed and asked, "Don't you need to go back to the company?"
Xie Tianyin casually tossed a stack of documents, with a hint of mockery, "If I'd gone back to the company, how could I have witnessed such an exciting scene?"
Su Chaoxi's heart sank.
What was inevitable had still come.