Nothing had changed.
On the way home, Ye Zhi was lectured by his mother all the way. When they arrived home, she sternly asked, “So in these past few days, he hasn’t contacted you, and you haven’t contacted him either?”
Ye Zhi sat down awkwardly, feeling like he was being interrogated by his parents.
When he heard this question, he nodded slightly.
Ye Wan became even more furious, her eyebrows furrowing tightly. “What were you thinking? Your husband is cheating outside, fooling around with other women. According to the public opinion on the internet these past few days, they might even make it official! And you? Are you just going to sit there and wait for Huo Youcheng’s secretary to bring you the divorce papers to sign?”
Ye Zhi listened with his head down, thinking about the papers he had printed out in his backpack. He desperately wanted to show them to his parents.
But under his mother’s scrutiny, he couldn’t muster the courage.
If he showed them, he would surely face even harsher criticism, maybe even insults.
As Ye Wan continued to scold him, she felt like she was punching cotton, becoming even more furious. “You absolutely cannot let him divorce you! If you divorce him, what will the Ye family do? If he withdraws his funds, we’ll go bankrupt. We won’t even be able to keep this house. Where will we put our faces then? Everyone in the world will come to laugh at our family! I won’t allow this to happen!” She paced back and forth, ignoring her husband’s attempts to calm her down. After a few rounds, she suddenly said, “So we need to strike first, before that woman declares anything.”
A bad feeling rose in Ye Zhi’s heart. “What… strike?”
Ye Wan looked at him and exclaimed, “Expose the fact that Huo Youcheng is married! Tell the whole world that you are his lawful spouse!”
Ye Zhi didn’t dare to take out the divorce application form. He agreed to his mother’s request to contact his husband and talk to him. Only then did Ye Wan temporarily abandon the idea of contacting the media to expose their situation. However, she still harshly criticized him, saying, “Do you have to be so passive? If you were a bit more flexible, a bit smarter, would you have failed to capture his heart for five years? Even a stone should have warmed up by now, right? You need to understand, your ability to marry Huo Youcheng is all thanks to our family’s efforts, and your brother. If it weren’t for your brother, you wouldn’t even have a chance with the Huo family!”
Ye Zhi had heard these words countless times, and although they still hurt, he was mostly numb to them.
Ye Wan continued, “But if our family hadn’t been shortsighted back then, if we had probed Huo Youcheng’s background a bit more, we wouldn’t have mistaken him for just a wealthy family, and Mu Mu wouldn’t have missed out on this golden opportunity. We thought the same effect could be achieved with you, but who knew you’d be so useless. Not only did you not make our family better off, but you also let someone seize our lifeline.”
Seeing Ye Zhi keeping his head down without saying a word, Ye Wan shouted again, “So I’m telling you, you absolutely cannot let Huo Youcheng divorce you! Otherwise, we’ll have to move out of the city center, and how many people will laugh at us then? I won’t be able to show my face anymore. Go back, go back and contact Huo Youcheng, talk to him properly. It’s best to keep him at home and not let him meet that female star again.”
These were very difficult demands.
But Ye Zhi dared not argue back; if he said anything, his mother would surely have more to say.
After being lectured for another half an hour, he finally managed to leave this house. Although he had grown up here, Ye Zhi didn’t like it at all. The space here made him feel oppressed and suffocated.
But returning to the Huo family from the Ye family also weighed heavily on him. Neither place allowed him to breathe easy.
Gently turning the doorknob, Ye Zhi hoped that only Huo Ranran and the nanny were at home. But to his surprise, he saw a tall figure.
Because the person wasn’t wearing a suit as usual but rather casual clothes, from behind, Ye Zhi thought it was his husband returning. His heart skipped a beat until the person turned around, revealing himself as Huo Youqiao.
Huo Youqiao had unexpectedly returned from his business trip and was playing ball games with Huo Ranran.
As their eyes met, Ye Zhi forced a stiff smile and greeted softly, “Brother.”
Before Huo Youqiao could respond, Huo Ranran bounced over excitedly, shouting, “Zhi Zhi is back!”
The little girl’s face was covered in sweat from playing, her eyes were big, her skin was fair, making her exceptionally cute. She smiled brightly, “Daddy’s back too! He’s playing ball with me. Does Zhi Zhi want to join us?”
