บท 5: Was There Still Time for Her to Escape the Marriage
บรรณาธิการ: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Huo Jinyao smiled and handed the bouquet to Su Qingsang. "For you."
"…" Su Qingsang was very surprised to see the nearly perfect bouquet of roses, and could only gawk at Huo Jinyao. She had only wanted to provoke Wei Lenan with her impulsive actions yesterday. Additionally, she also wanted revenge. After she had proposed to Huo Jinyao, she left immediately; they didn't even exchange phone numbers.
She completely did not think Huo Jinyao would actually show up. She had even thought of ways to deal with the consequences and reprimands from her parents and other people.
She never thought that not only would Huo Jinyao show up, but he also showed up just at the right moment. She didn't even have time to digest the situation in front of her, especially when she made eye contact with Shi Mengwan, whose face was full of curiosity and eager for gossip.
"W...why did you come?"
"Didn't you say so? The Four Seasons Restaurant at 5:30. I should be early, right?" Huo Jinyao looked at the watch on his hand. "Don't take offense. I wanted to come half an hour early to get myself familiar with the place."
Su Qingsang was speechless. Her finesse and fast reasoning skills were temporarily slowed down. The situation in front of her eyes was beyond her predictions. She stared at Huo Jinyao, who was smiling and appeared to be very relaxed. However, from his smile and his ease, Su Qingsang saw another part of him. When she thought of how easily he had accepted her marriage proposal, Su Qingsang had a feeling that this man definitely wasn't as harmless or easy going as he looked.
Did she really want to marry a man like him?
Su Qingsang was very uncertain, and her lips trembled. Her gut told her that she should reject Huo Jinyao.
He seemed as if he knew what she was thinking. He stepped forward and held her hand. "Our wedding ceremony is going to start in another half an hour. I think that you still need some time to get ready, so don't take too long. It wouldn't be good to make the guests wait." His words were out of consideration for Su Qingsang, but instead, she felt troubled. That was because Huo Jinyao's words had unintentionally reminded her of one thing.
It was the fact that the wedding today was not just her own matter, but a matter of the Su family.
At the mention of the Su family, Su Qingsang's face turned so pale that even the foundation and blush put on earlier couldn't cover it.
The Su family that her father Su Chenghui represented was not a big deal in Lin City; however, the Li family that her "mother" Li Qianxue represented was very powerful.
The Li family had started to manage businesses from early on and had many years of experience. Although it couldn't be said to be the best in Lin City, it was a big business that was well-recognized locally.
With Su Chenghui's strategies and tricks, his might towards external parties, and his firmness towards his company, the Li family's business flourished in Su Chenghui's hands after he married Li Qianxue. The Su family's business also became influential in Lin City. Naturally, this caused the children of the Su family to be regarded highly.
Having grown up in this type of family, it wouldn't be a big deal if the marriage failed. In addition, Su Chenghui and Li Qianxue were very forbearing towards their children. Their level of forbearing bordered on spoiling their children. But this type of leniency was only towards their own children.
Su Qingsang also had the surname "Su" but she was the illegitimate daughter of Su Chenghui and another woman. Her existence as an illegitimate daughter in the Su family was very awkward. Especially because she was an illegitimate daughter that Li Qianxue strongly disliked.
These past few years, Su Qingsang had tried her best to minimize the sense of her existence within the Su family. However, sometimes the more one was afraid of something, the higher the chance that something would happen. After she went to college, she basically lived outside her home all the time. Afterward, she used the excuse of studying for exams not to go home. When she found a job, she immediately moved to a one-person apartment near the hospital.
With these ways, she avoided the Su family and avoided making Li Qianxue unhappy. But it still did not hold the fact that she had to go home sometimes.
A few months ago, it was Su Chenghui's birthday, and Su Qingsang had no choice but to go back home to celebrate. As a result, she had drunk a few drinks, and when she went back to her room to rest, she had unknowingly come across a man. The man also didn't know why he had appeared in her room. When she had awoken and wanted to push the man away, the two had fallen down together, and her whole body was on top of him.
Before she could get up, the door opened, and a group of people stood outside the door. It was during that moment she realized that the man that she was on was not anyone else but Qiu Yanbo, Su Peizhen's fiancé.
The Qiu family that Qiu Yanbo was a part of had a much higher status than the Li family. The Li family and the Qiu family had relations with one another from early on, and had since then even worked on plenty of projects together. Due to the mutual benefits for both parties, and most importantly due to Su Peizhen's fondness for Qiu Yanbo, the Su family and the Qiu family arranged the engagement for the two young people. No one would've thought that this man, who was engaged to the older sister, would be pushed onto the ground by the younger sister in her own room.
Even if Su Qingsang had a little drink that day, she could still clearly remember the displeased expressions on Li Qianxue and Su Chenghui's faces.
Especially Li Qianxue; she blamed her even more. She said that she was shameless and that Su Qingsang was jealous of Su Peizhen marrying well, so she purposefully wanted to seduce her own brother-in-law.
Su Qingsang tried to explain, but failed. In order to prove her innocence, she could only say that she already had a boyfriend and that they were planning to get married in the near future. She said that she didn't know how to tell the elders before, so she had never brought it up.
At that time, Wei Lenan had pursued her for over half a year already. He seemed like a good guy and she thought of accepting him. She had wanted to observe him for a while longer to see how they got along, but she did not expect that something with Qiu Yanbo would happen.
Under the helpless situation, she could only use Wei Lenan. They met each other's parents, explained the situation clearly, and thus the date was set for today's wedding. It was very rushed, but for Li Qianxue, she wanted to get rid of anything that could threathen the marriage of her precious daughter.
Su Qingsang knew Li Qianxue's consideration. She was an illegitimate daughter, thus in Li Qianxue's mind, she was nothing compared to Su Peizhen.
Wei Lenan's family wasn't a very powerful one. They were just a small company, but Su Qingsang saw Wei Lenan's efforts for her in the past few months. If she were to marry a man like this, not only could she get rid of the accusation of her scheming to fight for Su Peizhen's fiancé and prove her innocence, but also she could leave the Su family completely.
As long as she was married, Li Qianxue couldn't possibly continue seeing her as an imaginary enemy and think that she just wanted to take her daughter's man, right? Su Qingsang thought since she had known Wei Lenan for a while, it would be alright. She thought she could take it since he was honest and reliable.
Who would've thought that you couldn't judge a book by its cover? A dog that doesn't bark bites people the most. He was found cheated on her the day before the wedding, so the groom was changed at the last minute.
She knew in her heart that if she didn't get married today, it would just be letting Li Qianxue yell at her one more time. But deep down, she did not want to bear the burden of being yelled at for something she was innocent of.
As she looked at Huo Jinyao, who was in front of her eyes, she really had no idea what to expect since she only knew his name and nothing else about him.
She certainly hesitated at this marriage. She didn't want to get married anymore. She'd rather walk with Shi Mengwan and be two women getting together, having others believe that she was the lesbian of the Su family rather than marrying a man who was a total stranger.
It would still be okay if she were to regret it right now, right? If she were to escaped the marriage, there should still be time, right?
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