Chapter 91: Fate Ends
After a whole day of fruitless busyness, Xiao Moyan lay on the white silk bed, her right hand tightly holding the photo of her and Xia Lingying, with tears faintly glimmering at the corner of her eyes.
From the panic she felt when she first learned Xia Lingying was missing, to the anger and sorrow that followed, and now the mix of anxiety and loneliness, Xiao Moyan felt her heart had been torn into pieces within just a few days, no part of it was still whole.
It was Xia Lingying who chose to leave. That much, she was sure of. From the clues A'Sen brought back and Mrs. Xu’s occasional recollections, Xiao Moyan could clearly tell she left of her own will. Then, what was she trying to do? Was she angry because Xiao Moyan hung up on her that day, unable to let go of resentment? Or did she still hate her for that night with Fang Ruoxi?
Xiao Moyan clenched her teeth and sat up, picked up the half-empty bottle of red wine beside the bed, poured herself a glass, and held it between her slender fingers, sipping quietly.
An unprecedented sadness and despair wrapped around her. These days, she has barely slept. All she thought of was Xia Lingying. Sometimes she hated her for leaving without saying goodbye. Sometimes she feared she might never come back. She worried she was not living well out there, afraid she had abandoned her. Those tangled feelings tormented her to the point of collapse. Xiao Moyan tilted her head back, drained half a glass of wine, and her eyes started to redden.
Xia Lingying, in the past, no matter how much pain or torment I suffered, my heart never hurt like this. I hate you, I hate you. I hate you for leaving so easily after letting me taste the sweetness of love. I hate you for breaking your promise, for not staying by my side. I hate you, hate you for making me so anxious on purpose...
The doorbell rang outside. A glimmer of hope flashed in Xiao Moyan’s eyes. She put down the glass and stumbled out, only to see Fang Ruoxi arriving, travel-worn. The light in her eyes dimmed. She pressed her lips together, said nothing, and slumped onto the couch.
Mrs. Xu shook her head at the sight, then turned to Fang Ruoxi.
“Ruoxi, you—”
Fang Ruoxi didn’t answer Mrs. Xu right away. She walked straight to Xiao Moyan, came to the edge of the couch where she sat, and slowly crouched down. Her trembling hand lifted slightly. Looking at Xiao Moyan’s thinner cheeks, she wanted so much to gently wipe away the sorrow on her face. But she couldn’t. She knew the woman before her no longer belonged to her.
“Xiao, this is the parking lot surveillance footage.”
She placed the tape softly on the table, gave Xiao Moyan a deep look, and said nothing about how hard it had been to find her, or how much time she had spent helping Xiao Moyan search for her own rival in love. She only sighed and turned to leave.
Xiao, this is all I can do for you. Even if you no longer love me, I still hope the Fang Ruoxi in your memory will remain as beautiful as your first love.
Holding the tape, Xiao Moyan watched Fang Ruoxi’s fading back, her heart full of mixed feelings.
Their love back in college had been pure, unstained by any dust, as clear as the first snow, flawless yet fragile like snowflakes, unable to withstand any storm. Just a simple lie had separated two hearts once thought inseparable. She sighed, stood up, and handed the tape to A'Sen, who was standing by.
Leaning against the couch, Xiao Moyan narrowed her eyes and watched the images on the large screen. Her face grew darker and darker. Mrs. Xu stood beside her carefully, her heart hanging in fear.
Was it Lan Chen who took Xiaxia away? From the looks of it, she must’ve talked a lot to persuade Xiaxia to go with her willingly. What did she use as leverage? Could it be… Qiu Muying?
The remote hit the table hard. Xiao Moyan’s face turned deathly pale. She clenched her teeth, staring at the frozen image of Xia Lingying and Lan Chen on the screen, and let out a long breath.
“Okay, Xia Lingying, you’re really something!”
****
When Xiao Moyan drove to the Xia residence, it was already one in the morning. The Tibetan mastiffs outside the gate bared their teeth and barked fiercely. She got out of the car, arms half-crossed, watching coldly as A'Sen led a group of people to surround the place, saying nothing.
After a while, the main gate slowly opened. Unexpectedly, it was Xia Ran himself who came to open it.
Xia Ran looked at Xiao Moyan without much expression, as if he had long expected her arrival.
“Come in. If you didn’t come to find me, I’d have gone to find you.”
His tone was flat and unreadable, leaving Xiao Moyan unable to guess what he was thinking. After a brief pause, she nodded slightly at A'Sen and walked inside.
Back then, after Xia Ran took back Tianhuang, he also reclaimed the villa that had originally belonged to him. But he never stayed there again. Everything had changed, and living there would only stir up painful memories. After Xiao Moyan regained control of Tianhuang, she too never went back. It had become a forbidden place in both her and Xia Lingying’s hearts. Xia Lingying never mentioned it, and neither did she. Yet the scar buried deep within her heart only grew deeper and more unfamiliar over time.
The courtyard wasn’t big, just a few quick steps led them into the main house. The living room wasn’t overly luxurious, but it was still grandly decorated. Sitting on the leather sofa, Xiao Moyan’s gaze stopped on Qiu Muying, who was seated on the opposite couch, staring at her anxiously.
“I beg you, please, give Xiaxia back to me...”
Qiu Muying wiped the tears from her face and spoke in a low voice. She was frighteningly thin. The once full and rounded body of her youth was now nothing but skin and bone. Her clothes hung on her like rough fabric draped over a frame. There was no light in her eyes, and even her lips were cracked beyond recognition.
Xiao Moyan stared at her coldly, at this woman who looked so much like Xia Lingying. She said nothing, but something inside her was pulled tight, aching sharply.
Mom, if you were still alive and saw Qiu Muying like this, and saw her living like a dead person, would you be happy? Would you feel the thrill of revenge?
Xiao Moyan had once wished to torture Qiu Muying to death, but now, seeing her like this, living worse than dying, she didn’t feel the joy she had imagined. It was as if the tall tower she had held up in her heart for years had suddenly collapsed. She looked at Qiu Muying in confusion, completely lost.
She had lived in hatred for more than twenty years. Now that she faced the source of that hatred, standing at its very beginning, why didn’t it hurt as much as it once had? Has time dulled everything? Or had hatred made her used to the passing of pain and years?
Coughing lightly, Xiao Moyan looked at Qiu Muying and shook her head.
“Qiu Muying, do you think I’d set foot in your Xia house even half a step if it weren’t for Xiaxia?”
Qiu Muying still stared straight at Xiao Moyan, her eyes full of urgency. Though she had not stayed by Xia Lingying’s side, she had always watched over her from afar. Seeing her together with Xiao Moyan made her heart ache, yet she had no strength left to interfere. She could only think of it as punishment for her past sins, a debt her daughter had to bear for her.
After Xia Ran returned to the country, he treated her the same as before, but she could no longer face him. Every day she stayed in the Buddha hall, eating vegetarian meals and chanting scriptures. In this life, the person she owed the most was not Xia Ran, not Xiao Nian, but Xiao Moyan’s mother. She wanted to beg for Xiao Moyan’s forgiveness, but what right did she have?
No matter how Xiao Moyan treated her, she deserved it. But she could never bear to see her daughter, whom she had cherished and protected with all she had, suffer even the slightest harm. She had thought Xiao Moyan had been with her daughter out of revenge, that she wanted to win her heart only to crush it afterward. But when she accidentally saw Xiao Moyan turn against Xiao Nian for Xia Lingying’s sake, she knew she had been wrong, wrong again and again, until she no longer had the face to say or do anything to stop them.
Yet when the news of Xia Lingying’s disappearance came, the first person she thought of was still Xiao Moyan. Who else in this world could make Xiaxia leave willingly, if not her? Was it because of her?
Xiao Moyan narrowed her eyes, studying Qiu Muying, every flicker of expression caught in her gaze. She sneered.
“You can stop pretending. If it weren’t under your name, would Xiaxia ever agree to leave with Lan Chen?”
“Lan Chen?”
At that, not only Qiu Muying but even Xia Ran, who had been silent all along, turned pale. He looked at Xiao Moyan nervously.
“She went with Lan Chen? How?”
Xiao Moyan slammed the tape hard onto the table and said coldly,
“If it wasn’t you who told her to take Xiaxia away, would this have happened?”
Qiu Muying jumped up from the couch, grabbing Xia Ran’s hand tightly, staring at him in panic.
“How could this be? Didn’t you say Lan Chen, she—”
At that moment, Xiao Moyan also sensed that something was wrong. She turned around, her sharp eyes locked on Xia Ran. Xia Ran looked calm as ever. He picked up a cigarette from the table and lit it.
“Xiao Moyan, are you sure Xia Lingying left with Lan Chen?”
Xiao Moyan’s face darkened.
“Xia Ran, what’s going on between you and Lan Chen?”
He took a drag from the cigarette and blew out a ring of smoke, his voice calm and steady.
“I slashed her once. It wasn’t fatal, but it ruined her face.”
The atmosphere grew tense in an instant. Xiao Moyan shot up from her seat, her breathing suddenly uneven.
“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?”
Qiu Muying was already pale with fright. With Lan Chen’s temperament, after what Xia Ran had done to her, she would definitely plan her revenge carefully.
Xia Ran quietly met Xiao Moyan’s hateful gaze and nodded.
“Yes, I knew she would do this.”
After that, he turned his head to look at Qiu Muying, staring straight into her eyes as he spoke slowly.
“Do you know, all these years, I’ve long grown tired of living trapped in this whirlpool of hatred, unable to break free. I wanted to stop, but you and Xiao Nian kept dragging me back again and again. Lan Chen deserved to die. She heard things she shouldn’t have heard and got hold of evidence she shouldn’t have had. That slash didn’t kill her only because her fate wasn’t over. I kept silent because I was waiting for her to come find me. I just didn’t expect she’d go after Xiaxia instead. I know her intentions better than anyone. Xiao Moyan, if you hadn’t pushed her to the edge, she wouldn’t have done this. Muying, when you helped Xiao Nian escape behind my back, you should have known today would come. Don’t blame me.”
“Xiaxia is innocent...”
Qiu Muying half-knelt on the ground, murmuring. Yes, it was all her fault. But it had nothing to do with Xiaxia. Why must Xiaxia bear it all alone?
Just then, the fierce barking of mastiffs came from outside the gate. Car lights flashed in, lighting up the small courtyard brightly. The door was pushed open hard. Dressed in a black suit, Xiao Nian walked in with a pipe in his hand, his face dark and cold.
Author's Note:
Why is Yezi is extra hungry when on her period. After eating, she still wants to eat. Oh well, before the lights go out I'll go buy a chicken leg to eat ~~\(≧▽≦)/~, making you drool to death.