Chapter 18: A Chance to Change Fate

Xing Jue had a little-known quirk: when provoked too harshly, he would lapse into brief fits of madness. He’d had a few episodes as a child, but hardly any in adulthood. So what was happening now?

Si Yao’s heart raced with fear as she tried to pry Xing Jue’s hand away from the woman in front of him. His grip only tightened, fingers digging even harder into the woman’s flesh. The woman’s eyes were rolling back, her breaths growing faint—she was almost gone.

Though Si Yao’s feelings for him had long since faded to still waters, she couldn’t just watch him take a life right before her eyes. She could accept many things, but not this.

There was no time to think. Si Yao wrapped her arms around his head, pressing it into her embrace, shielding his sight completely. She patted his back gently, again and again, murmuring, “Don’t be afraid, little one. Ah Jue, there’s nothing to fear.”

His breathing remained ragged, heavy and relentless, but the tension in him eased a little. Si Yao continued to soothe him, her tone soft and coaxing: “I’m here, sister’s right here. Don’t be scared.”

Freed from his grasp, the woman scrambled away, stumbling and crawling to the door. The private room’s door slammed shut behind her with a bang.

Si Yao kept comforting him, glancing outside with relief that the two friends who usually joined them were absent tonight. Otherwise, with A Ni’s wedding to Xing Jue approaching, how would she explain holding another man in her arms?

She had no time for more thought.

A muffled voice sounded from her embrace: “Sister…”

Si Yao’s hand paused for a moment. Realizing he’d regained his senses, she tried to push him away.

But Xing Jue’s arms slipped around her waist, his tone aggrieved and plaintive: “I don’t want to marry her.”

As she leaned in, the strong scent of whiskey reached her nose. Her gaze swept the floor—a shattered glass lay there, apparently dropped by Xing Jue in a drunken stupor.

For him to say this, he must indeed be drunk.

Her mind wandered. “Why don’t you want to marry her this time?”

He said nothing.

Si Yao coaxed, her words edged with mischief, “Not marrying is fine. The world’s so big—why bother? Anyone would be better than her.”

Still, he didn’t reply.

“Have you fallen asleep?” she asked.

“Who’s ‘anyone’?” His face was buried in her arms, voice soft and tinged with a faint chill.

Si Yao wondered if she’d misheard, but a sober Xing Jue would never hold her like this. Ever since their engagement, even kisses had been rare.

She thought for a while, quickly sorting through the names of the women Xing Jue had been involved with.

There were many, but her mind finally landed on Wen Sui.

She hadn’t been cast aside out of boredom or spite, but because Wen Sui had touched his most sensitive nerve.

So… Wen Sui was one of the only two women who had ever truly entered his life.

She was indeed someone he’d used to tell Si Yao she’d never measure up to.

Si Yao’s breath quickened as she tentatively offered, “Sui Sui…”

Xing Jue’s arms tightened around her waist, then gradually loosened. He let out a lazy, faintly amused sigh. “She’s fine.”

He murmured again, “That little thing… is simply wonderful.”

The next day, Si Yao woke up in the private room, having spent the night in Xing Jue’s arms. Her whole body was sore and uncomfortable.

She glanced at her watch.

It was ten o’clock.

Hurriedly, she went home to change clothes and learned that Xing Jue hadn’t returned.

She didn’t think much of it, seizing the time to find Wen Sui.

She was in high spirits along the way, and when she finally saw Wen Sui, her tone was warm and gentle, her smile radiant. “Do you want to marry Xing Jue?”

Wen Sui’s expression was odd, but Si Yao only chalked it up to excitement. She pressed on eagerly, “Do you?”

Wen Sui nodded. “I do.”

That was perfect.

Si Yao’s smile widened as she took Wen Sui’s hand, her gaze tender. “Since you want to, then give it your all these next two weeks.”

“What do you mean?”

“A child.” Si Yao leaned forward, her palm resting on Wen Sui’s belly, her tone touched with laughter. “Xing Jue needs a child—no, to be precise, the future master of the Xing family needs an heir. Wen Sui, your chance for fortune and a new fate is coming.”