Before she could ask anything else, Xia Yan made sure to remind Lin Xujia not to wander off before hanging up, saying she would take a cab over immediately.
Lin Xujia hugged herself, burying her head in her arms to stifle her sobs. After taking a shaky breath, she suddenly called Ye Yunchen again. The phone rang for a long time before he picked up.
"Yunchen, can you come down and keep me company for a bit?"
"I'm busy."
"But I really need you here with me right now. Just come down for a moment."
"I said I'm busy." With that, Ye Yunchen hung up without waiting to see if Lin Xujia had anything else to say, and went back to burying himself in work.
Lin Xujia stared at the black screen in disbelief, heartbroken and furious. She redialed Ye Yunchen's number, but this time he didn't answer. She kept calling stubbornly until he finally picked up.
"Lin Xujia, what do you want!" Ye Yunchen shouted impatiently into the phone.
Hearing this, Lin Xujia was so angry she wanted to throw her phone. She raised her voice. "Ye Yunchen, I just want to see you in front of me right now."
"Impossible!"
"That's my only request! Ye Yunchen! You can't be this heartless to me. Don't forget who you owe your current job to."
Ye Yunchen frowned deeply. "So what?"
"So what?" Lin Xujia repeated the words in a daze.
The calm sound of breathing came through the receiver. Lin Xujia had thought that if she put her heart into it, she could warm Ye Yunchen's heart, but now she realized it was just wishful thinking on her part. After a pause, she tentatively spoke. "My father wants to give me to Yang Jinkuan."
Ye Yunchen thought for a moment, then hummed in acknowledgment. Hearing the suppressed sobs on the other end, he furrowed his brow. "If there's nothing important, let's leave it at that."
"..."
The call was cut off again. Lin Xujia was utterly disheartened, as if trapped in an ice cellar, with cold rushing at her from all directions—fierce and overwhelming. She couldn't refuse or resist it. At that moment, all she felt was cold.
The driver, urged on by Xia Yan to speed up, arrived at the destination and kindly said, "Miss, this impatience of yours really won't do..."
Xia Yan smiled faintly, quickly handed the driver the fare, and hurriedly got out to rush to Lin Xujia.
She quickly found Lin Xujia's car but couldn't see inside. She tried the door handle, found it locked, and knocked on the window. Hearing the sound, Lin Xujia looked up and saw Xia Yan standing outside. She unlocked the door, and Xia Yan immediately got in. Seeing Lin Xujia's red, tear-streaked eyes, she couldn't help but hug her. "Xiaojia."
"Xia Yan."
"Yeah, I'm here."
Lin Xujia broke down, hugging Xia Yan and crying. Between sobs, she recounted everything again. The two sat in the car for a long time until Lin Xujia's phone rang again—it was her father. As time pressed on, Lin Xujia grew more terrified and tense, and now she had to rush back to the Lin family home. Xia Yan glanced at the distraught woman, then at the steering wheel, and gritted her teeth. "Xiaojia, I'll drive."
Lin Xujia knew that Xia Yan had never properly driven since getting her license, so she was shocked to hear her offer.
"Don't hesitate. The most important thing now is to get home before them." After special training from Lu Zhengting, Xia Yan's driving skills had improved dramatically. She had left the company in such a hurry that she hadn't told Lu Zhengting, so when he came looking for her after a video conference and found she wasn't in her office, he immediately started bombarding her with calls.
Lin Xujia saw Xia Yan's phone vibrating on the seat beside her and noticed out of the corner of her eye that it was Lu Zhengting calling. Seeing that Xia Yan hadn't noticed, she looked away, pretending not to know. Maybe it was intuition, but Xia Yan felt her ears suddenly grow hot. She remembered her mother, Xiao Lanzhi, saying that if someone was talking about you, your ears would get hot and red. She instinctively touched her ear, and sure enough, it was.
After a pause, purely out of curiosity, Xia Yan glanced at the phone beside her, and her eyes lit up instantly.
The name "Lu Zhengting" was clearly displayed in her sight. Xia Yan initially planned to ignore him, knowing her driving skills weren't good enough to handle a call while driving. But not answering worried her deeply—Lu Zhengting was too cunning, and she couldn't imagine or guess what punishment he'd come up with if she didn't pick up.
Since the consequences of not answering Lu Zhengting's call were terrifying, after hesitating, she slowed down, carefully eyed the surrounding cars, and grabbed the phone with one hand while keeping the other on the wheel. Seeing this, Lin Xujia pretended to look at Xia Yan with confusion.
Xia Yan gave an awkward smile and answered the call. Lu Zhengting's cold voice came through, and she knew it—the boss was very angry.
"Where are you?"
"Jiannan North Road."
Lu Zhengting frowned. "What are you doing there?"
"Xiaojia has some issues. I'm accompanying her back to the Lin family home now."
"Lin Xujia?"
"Yeah, I'll be there soon—"
"Xia Yan, the car, the car... Brake!"
Lin Xujia's panicked, urgent voice came through clearly to Lu Zhengting. Xia Yan, still on the call, stomped hard on the brake. Luckily, both were wearing seatbelts, or they would have been thrown forward. Xia Yan stared ahead, shaken, seeing that the distance between her car and the one in front was barely a finger's width. Her hands trembled on the wheel as she gasped for air.
"Xiaojia, are you okay?"
Both were fine, but Lu Zhengting was startled badly by Xia Yan's sudden scream! His face was grim and stern as he shouted her name. "Xia Yan!"
Hearing this furious voice, Xia Yan's heart skipped a beat. Guiltily, she picked up the phone. "Lu, Lu, Lu Zhengting, I, I, I..."
"Who told you to drive!"
"I, I, if I don't drive, no one, no one else will."
"Are you hurt?" Hearing her stammer, Lu Zhengting rubbed his temples in frustration and asked with concern.
"Not hurt, and no crash. I just wasn't paying attention to the car ahead while talking to you."
Xia Yan knew Lu Zhengting cared more about her than he was angry, so she seized the opportunity, speaking pitifully into the phone with self-criticism, her apology so sincere she might as well have had "good girl" written on her face.
Lin Xujia watched Xia Yan with envy. When she hung up, she said softly, "Xia Yan, you're really lucky."
Xia Yan neither denied nor admitted it, just smiled quietly and restarted the engine.
Seeing this, Lin Xujia thought of herself and felt that fate was truly unfair to her.
Lu Zhengting stayed in Xia Yan's office for a while. He knew something about the Lin family's affairs, so he was aware that tonight the Lin family was hosting Yang Jinkuan. But he hadn't expected Lin Xujia's father's goal was to give his daughter to him. And that foolish girl Xia Yan had gone along too, which worried him. After a pause, he had Secretary Zhou check his schedule for the day and directly postponed his evening flight to Shu City.
At the Lin family home.
By the time Xia Yan and Lin Xujia arrived, Lin Xujia's father was already back. As soon as they entered, Lin Xujia was called to the study by a servant, while Xia Yan was led to her room. When Lin Xujia returned from the study, she was holding an exquisite square box. Xia Yan immediately got up from the bed and approached, asking softly, "What did your father say?"
Lin Xujia shook her head silently and handed the box to Xia Yan. Curious, Xia Yan opened it and saw a snow-white garment inside. She slowly took it out—it was an off-shoulder, asymmetrical dress, sexy yet innocent. Lin Xujia stared blankly at the dress in Xia Yan's hands, a bitter smile tugging at her lips.
"There's no escape..."
"No, there must be a way to solve this." Xia Yan held Lin Xujia's hand.
"Heh." Lin Xujia snorted, her gaze at Xia Yan puzzling. "Xia Yan, not everyone can be as lucky as you, meeting someone like Lu Zhengting to save you from hardship. I don't have that luck, and no one will come to save me. Look, even when the Xia family wanted to give you to Yang Jinkuan, they at least hid it from your mother, because she would never allow it and would fight to protect you. But I'm different. In this family, I'm dispensable, only important when I can bring them benefits..."
Xia Yan was speechless.
Lin Xujia continued expressionlessly. "Like now, I've become important in their eyes because they need me to trade with Yang Jinkuan. Xia Yan..."
"Huh?" Xia Yan was still listening intently when Lin Xujia suddenly called her name, catching her off guard.
"Can you understand me?"
"Yes."
"Good. Xia Yan, thank you." Lin Xujia said without any emotion, then suddenly pulled her hand away from Xia Yan's and turned to the dressing table nearby.
Xia Yan never imagined that this calm conversation would become the turning point in their friendship. From then on, each of their lives would take a different path, and she never expected that she would pay a heavy price for it.
Lin Xujia changed into the dress her father had prepared in front of Xia Yan and applied delicate makeup. Lin Xujia was beautiful, very much like her deceased mother, with an innate allure that made many men fall at her feet. Her every smile and frown was like the legendary fox spirit of ancient tales—stunningly gorgeous. Her captivating eyes now perfectly blended innocence and seductiveness.
She half-closed her eyes, staring at the beautiful woman in the mirror, a faint, ruthless smile curling at the corners of her mouth. She had said that from the day the Lin family decided to push her out, she would no longer let them control her fate. Only she would be her own master.
Xia Yan didn't catch the subtle change in Lin Xujia's expression, only watching her lonely silhouette with a heavy sigh.