Chapter 62: Tonight, We Won't Go Home Sober
Qiao Xi lifted her head. “Mr. Fu, you really are busy—just finished keeping the movie queen company, and now you’re here to check on your employee?”
She recalled the trending photo, a thorn lodged in her heart. The way he held Zou Xin seemed so natural, as if they were the real couple…
Her chest ached at the thought. Drawing a deep breath, she picked up her bag and stood. “I won’t be staying home tonight. Please leave, Mr. Fu.”
Fu Yancheng immediately caught up and grabbed her hand. “Xi Xi…”
Qiao Xi shook him off. “No need to explain, Mr. Fu. The photo on the trending search is quite clear.”
She strode toward the elevator, Fu Yancheng following close behind. “The reporters deliberately chose that angle! Zou Xin was drunk, I just…”
“You just couldn’t bear to see your ex-girlfriend bullied? Just happened to lend a hand?” Qiao Xi’s tone was cutting.
The elevator doors opened. She stepped inside. Fu Yancheng tried to follow, but she blocked him. “Don’t come in.”
The doors closed slowly, leaving Fu Yancheng in the depths of despair.
He immediately dialed Zhou Ze. “Find out who arranged for tonight’s reporter!”
Half an hour later, Qiao Xi’s car pulled up beneath Chu Xiangxiang’s apartment building.
Chu Xiangxiang opened the door and, seeing Qiao Xi’s swollen eyes, jumped in shock. “Xi Xi? What happened?”
Qiao Xi threw herself into her friend’s arms, voice choked. “Xiangxiang, I’m staying here tonight…”
Chu Xiangxiang hugged her with aching heart. “Did you fight with your boyfriend?”
She led Qiao Xi inside, handed her a hot cup of tea. “I’ll keep you company tonight. Shout if you want, cry if you must!”
Qiao Xi curled up on the sofa at her friend’s home, silent tears slipping down her cheeks.
She bit her lip hard, unwilling to let herself sob aloud, but her shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
She thought bitterly, were all those gentle promises nothing but lies?
Her heart clenched with pain—he had begged for a morning kiss just that day, yet now he held another woman in a trending photo.
The most ridiculous thing was, she had truly fallen for him.
Fallen so hard she forgot he was Fu Yancheng, the ever-aloof president of the Fu Group.
Fallen so hard she believed he might change for her.
Qiao Xi, you’re so foolish…
She wiped away her tears and let out a self-mocking laugh.
She’d always known that marriages among the wealthy were nothing but transactions; how could she have been so naïve as to expect sincerity?
An engine sounded outside. She instinctively looked up, then quickly turned away.
If he hadn’t come to comfort her, it wouldn’t matter—but his arrival only made her feel more aggrieved, as if she were the unreasonable one.
But she couldn’t help it.
She hurt so much she felt like her heart would shatter.
The doorbell rang quietly. Chu Xiangxiang peered through the peephole, saw Fu Yancheng’s anxious face, and opened the door with a cold laugh, folding her arms to block the entrance.
“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Fu! Aren’t you supposed to be with your superstar? Why come to us ordinary folk’s home?”
Fu Yancheng frowned. “Let me see Xi Xi.”
---
“What’s there to see?” Chu Xiangxiang rolled her eyes. “Our Xi Xi could never climb so high as Mr. Fu. Run off and hug your ex-girlfriend for the cameras—quite the playboy, aren’t you?”
Fu Yancheng held his temper.
“That was a misunderstanding. I’m already handling it.”
Chu Xiangxiang scoffed. “Handling it how? Planning to bring Zou Xin home as your second wife? Our Xi Xi isn’t so blessed!”
She raised her voice. “Mr. Fu, Xi Xi has been my sister since childhood. She’s not someone for you to trample on! If you want to play, find someone else!”
Fu Yancheng’s expression darkened. “Let me see her.”
At that moment, Qiao Xi’s tearful voice came from inside: “Xiangxiang… let him leave!”
Fu Yancheng’s heart tightened. “Xi Xi, listen to me!”
“Listen to what?” Chu Xiangxiang brandished a broom across the doorway. “Listen to you explain why you can’t let go of your ex-girlfriend? Explain why you made her cry like this?”
Her anger grew. “Mr. Fu, please leave! If you don’t, I’ll call for help!”
With that, she slammed the door shut.
Fu Yancheng stared at the closed door, his fists slowly clenching.
He drew a deep breath, eyes dark, and called, “Zhou Ze, investigate every detail of Zou Xin’s schedule tonight.”
His voice was cold as ice: “Including which reporters she met, who gave her the gala invitation—bring me all the information in ten minutes.”
On the other end, Zhou Ze responded swiftly, “Already working on it.”
Fu Yancheng stood in the cold corridor, chest feeling as if struck by a blunt weapon.
He had made her cry again.
All because of a damned sense of obligation and responsibility, leaving his Mrs. Fu aggrieved.
He was such a fool—he’d sworn to protect her, yet time and again became the one to hurt her…
The masterful Mr. Fu in the business world now lacked even the courage to knock on a door.
Fu Yancheng returned spiritless to his empty villa, heading straight for the liquor cabinet.
He grabbed a bottle of whisky and gulped down several mouthfuls, the burn of alcohol unable to ease the ache in his chest.
He pulled out his phone, drunkenly opened his brotherhood chat group.
Fu Yancheng: I made Xi Xi angry again. She doesn’t want me anymore.
The group exploded.
Mu Censhan: Hahahahahaha! Was it because of that troublemaker Zou Xin again? Told you to hire someone and toss her in the Huangpu River.
Shen Yu: Give us the details of your self-sabotage.
Shen Yu: @Mu Censhan, keep your rotten ideas to yourself.
“……”
Fu Yancheng tossed his phone aside, curled up on the sofa clutching Qiao Xi’s discarded coat.
Through the haze of alcohol, he seemed to catch a whiff of her hair’s fragrance.
---
Qiao Xi slept until afternoon the next day, her eyes swollen like walnuts.
Chu Xiangxiang brought an ice towel and gently pressed it to her eyes.
“Sweetheart, crying like this over a man isn’t worth it!”
Qiao Xi’s voice was hoarse. “What time is it?”
“Three in the afternoon.” Chu Xiangxiang drew the curtains open, sunlight pouring in. “Perfect, tonight I’m taking you somewhere fun.”
She spoke with a mysterious air, pulling a sequined camisole dress from the wardrobe. “The ‘Rosemary’ bar is hosting a male model night. I’ll reserve a whole row of eye candy for you!”
Qiao Xi shook her head quickly. “I’m not going…”
“You have to!” Chu Xiangxiang pressed her down. “If Fu Yancheng can embrace his ex-girlfriend, why can’t we have a little fun?”
She pulled out her makeup kit. “I’ll give you a seductive look—those puppy-eyed boys won’t be able to look away!”
Qiao Xi tried to refuse, but her friend wouldn’t let her escape the vanity.
Chu Xiangxiang expertly covered all traces of tears, finishing with a bold red lipstick.
“Perfect!” Chu Xiangxiang admired the reflection. “Tonight, we won’t stop till we’re drunk!”
Qiao Xi stared at the unfamiliar woman in the mirror—smoky eyes, red lips, tousled curls.
There was no sign of yesterday’s tears.
She steeled herself. “Alright, I’ll go.”
Maybe if she got drunk, she could forget the man who broke her heart.
---
Inside the “Rosemary” bar, lights were sultry and ambiguous. Qiao Xi sat nervously in a booth, facing a row of muscular, well-built male models.
One blond, blue-eyed mixed-race model deliberately pressed close to Qiao Xi, dancing sensually, his fingertips brushing her shoulder.
“Do you like it?” Chu Xiangxiang shouted in her ear, “I ordered you the most expensive one!”
Qiao Xi tried to shrink away, but the model wrapped an arm around her waist.
Then a cold, piercingly deep voice came from behind: “Let her go.”
The words were sharp, oppressive.
Qiao Xi froze, instinctively lifting her head to meet Fu Yancheng’s gaze—eyes dark as night, brooding.
His cold stare landed on the model holding her, barely contained fury simmering beneath.
The model hesitated, smiling defiantly as he kept his arm around Qiao Xi, challenging, “Sir, she said she wants to have fun.”
Fu Yancheng’s eyes turned frigid, jaw clenched, gaze shadowed.
He strode forward, pulling Qiao Xi out of the model’s arms and into his own.
“Her happiness is not for anyone else to give.”