No reconciliation, no forgiveness! Mr. Pei leaves with nothing.

Unmoved by Xia He's threats, Jiang Weiguo picked up his teacup, took a sip, and put it down. He said slowly, "Madam Huo doesn't need to threaten me with Huahua's life."

"If you want Huahua to divorce Pei Zhan, Madam Xia, you really need to think this through. There's no need to wait seven days. I can call Pei Zhan right now and have him come back so we can discuss the divorce in front of both of our parents."

"After all, marriage is not a game, and a unilateral dissolution of the engagement requires the consent of both children."

Then Jiang Weiguo called out, "Wang Qi."

Wang Qi walked in from outside. Wang Qi was Jiang Weiguo's confidant. Unlike the servants, he didn't mind that he had overheard those words.

"gentlemen."

Jiang Weiguo instructed, "Go call Pei Zhan and tell him... Mrs. Huo has graced us with her presence, threatening my daughter's life to force him to divorce Huahua. Go ask him if he agrees."

Wang Qi nodded and replied, "Yes, sir."

A moment of panic flashed in Xia He's eyes, and she blurted out, "Stop!" Her angry and resentful eyes glared at Jiang Weiguo, "Jiang Weiguo, I advise you not to push your luck."

“I can let go of the topic of your divorce.” Xia He seemed to be considering something, and she relented. “I’m already making the biggest concession by asking you to withdraw the lawsuit. If you want to tear things apart, I don’t mind fighting to the death with your daughter. Then… you can see if my son chooses your daughter or me, his mother.”

"Your daughter has only temporarily bewitched him. You and I both know that if he truly loved her, he wouldn't have Qingran, much less... protect her so well time and time again, afraid that she would find out."

"The fact that I'm even bringing myself to talk to you about this is already the biggest concession I can make. If you want to make a big fuss, go ahead and do it. I'm happy to oblige." Xia He then called out towards the door, "Come in, everyone."

As soon as Xia He finished speaking, more than a dozen bodyguards walked in and surrounded the entire Jiang family. "These are the bodyguards that the Huo family secretly protects me. I let them in just to clean up some things that shouldn't be there."

"Don't worry, the Huo family has plenty of money. If anything is broken, the Huo family will compensate tenfold."

Wang Qi said, "Your Huo family is going too far."

Xia He looked at him coldly, "When did it become your place to interfere with what I'm doing?"

After saying this, Xia He looked at Jiang Weiguo with a victorious air and a smirk on her face. "I'm not afraid of you telling him. Even if you do, he won't dare to do anything to me because I'm his biological mother."

"So you really think your daughter is irreplaceable? Huo Tingshan can forget Jiang Qingcheng, my son, and he can also not love your daughter. The matriarch of the Huo family doesn't need her. She won't be smug for long. I'd like to see how long she can seduce my son, and how long the Jiang family can stay good."

"If you want to challenge me, I have plenty of strength and means to turn Jiang Hua into the second Jiang Qingcheng..."

"By the way, regarding Qingran's matter, I don't want Jiang's reputation to be tarnished in any way since she was able to clear her name."

"Who knows who will become the matriarch of the Huo family in the future."

The crisp sound of shattering ceramics echoed from the living room. Xia He looked at Jiang Weiguo's dark expression and smiled smugly.

While searching for listening devices and cameras in the corner, the bodyguard accidentally broke Jiang Hua's favorite glass vase. Jiang Weiguo exuded a chilling aura.

These bodyguards were top-notch, so finding the equipment was a piece of cake for them. In just over ten minutes, the bodyguards quickly dismantled the equipment.

“I’ve seen these surveillance methods before. Since I’m here, I must have thought of them.”

"It's not that I disagree with your daughter entering the Huo family, but... it's that she needs to learn the Huo family's rules beforehand."

Xia He left Yulong Bay with her head held high, and only after seeing Jiang Weiguo's ugly expression did she feel slightly better.

Back at the King's Mansion.

Xia He sat down on the sofa in anger, pressing her hands to her temples to relieve the headache caused by Jiang Weiguo. "These people in the Jiang family are all so ungrateful."

"Who gave me the right to criticize me? What's so great about Jiang Qingcheng? Aside from her background, she's not as good as her."

"She's just got a face that's good at seducing men. So what if she's beautiful? She's still destined for a tragic fate."

When Huo Ling returned from outside, she heard a voice inside complaining, "Aunt Zhong, what's wrong with Mom? Who dared to make her so angry?"

"Why are you dressed like that in this heat?"

Huo Ling sat on the sofa opposite Xia He, wearing a silk scarf around her neck. It wasn't that old man again. He acted as if he hadn't touched a woman in many years, taking her again and again. The hickeys on her neck hadn't faded yet, so she had no choice but to cover them up. She lied to Xia He, saying, "My period is coming soon, and I feel a bit cold, so I wore an extra silk scarf."

"By the way, Mom, you still haven't told me what happened to you."

Xia He told Huo Ling what had happened. After hearing the story, Huo Ling was so shocked that she stood up immediately. "Mom, are you crazy?! You actually went to the Jiang family! Do you know that there are spies planted by my brother all around the Jiang family? When my brother comes back, he will definitely find out that you went to the Jiang family today."

Xia He, however, said dismissively, "So what if you know? So what?"

“I’m not afraid. Jiang Weiguo will tell him all this.”

"Is my life less valuable than that of an outsider?"

“If Jiang Weiguo hadn’t provoked me first, I wouldn’t have said those things. Besides… it was just to get the Jiang family to drop the lawsuit. Why did the Jiang family have to be so ruthless towards Qingran’s friends? As the future mistress of the Huo family, does Jiang Hua not even have this much magnanimity?”

"At worst, we can have your older brother give the Jiang family more compensation."

"It's not that the Huo family can't afford it."

Huo Ling felt completely overwhelmed. "Mom, this isn't about compensation. I know my sister-in-law's temper. If she finds out about the provocative things you said when you came over, she'll be furious. She's said the most hurtful things to Dad, so how could she not hold it against you? Besides... Uncle Jiang has a heart condition. What if you upset him and he has a heart attack and ends up in the hospital?"

“If your sister-in-law pursues this to the end, your brother will definitely hold you accountable.”

“You and your older brother didn’t get along well to begin with. If you hadn’t compromised and promised your brother that you wouldn’t make things difficult for your sister-in-law, he wouldn’t have agreed to unfreeze your bank card.”

"Mom, how could you forget all these things so quickly?"

"My sister-in-law cares most about her family, even her eldest brother..."

"Oh dear, what is Song Qingran to you! She's just an outsider. Even if she saved your life, if you wanted the Jiang family to drop the lawsuit, you should have discussed it with your older brother. Instead, you went to Yulong Bay on your own and said so many threatening things. And you even talked to your sister-in-law's mother..."

Xia He felt flustered after being criticized so harshly. Seeing her being blamed like this, a surge of anger welled up inside her. "Enough!"

"Don't forget your own surname! Is my fate inferior to Jiang Hua's?"

"You're turning your back on us, are you trying to rebel?"

Huo Ling frowned deeply, looking at her with a helpless expression, "Before Mom did these things, didn't she think about the consequences of rashly going to the Jiang family?"

“In my brother’s eyes, apart from the fact that my mother gave birth to him, there is no mother-son relationship between them. My brother was willing to risk his life for his sister-in-law. How could my mother possibly think that she could compare to his sister-in-law’s position in his heart?”

"To my older brother, Mom is just a familiar stranger."

“You shouldn’t speak ill of Aunt Qingcheng either. She never met you, and besides, she’s passed away. Your mother’s behavior is not what a mistress of the Huo family should do.”

'Slap!' Xia He suddenly raised her hand and slapped Huo Ling hard across the face. 'Even you want to go against me?'

“If it weren’t for me, you would still be in the orphanage, and you wouldn’t be sitting here as the eldest daughter of the Huo family.”

Huo Ling covered her face, looking at her sadly, "I know I'm an orphan, I don't need you to remind me of my identity again and again."

"Yes, it was because of you that my father chose me to go to the Huo family."

"But that doesn't mean that because of my position, I have to stand in your shoes and think you're right."

"...If the Jiang family really withdraws the lawsuit and releases the person who humiliated my sister-in-law, you'll know whether what I said is right or not."

"I will no longer interfere in your affairs with my elder brother..."

"I have class, I have to go now." With a trembling voice, Huo Ling left the Junlin Mansion after saying her last words.

"Miss..." Aunt Zhong tried to call out to her.

Xia He: "Ignore her, let her go."

Aunt Zhong also offered a word of advice, saying, "Madam, a small act of impatience can ruin a great plan. What the young lady said is not wrong."

“Young Master, Miss Qingran’s friend has a grudge against the Young Madam. What you’re doing now is releasing the Young Madam’s enemy. Right now, the Young Master is definitely on the Young Madam’s side. What if Jiang Weiguo really tells the Young Master everything? If the Young Master gets angry… he’ll tell the Master everything about you.”

"I'm afraid..." The maid didn't dare to say anything more, and just lowered her head and retreated behind her.

Huo Tingshan's heart was filled with thoughts of Jiang Qingcheng, whom he had never been able to have back then. For her, he bought a town and an island, and everything about her was related to her. He knew how much he cared about Jiang Qingcheng, and he was even willing to provide everything he could for her daughter.

She was provoked by Jiang Weiguo and forgot her limits for a moment. Now that she has calmed down, she realizes that she was indeed too impulsive. With so many women and illegitimate children outside Huo Tingshan, who wouldn't covet her position? Whether she can sit in the position of Mrs. Huo is just a matter of his word.

Now his son... doesn't side with him either.

Without him, Xia He was completely isolated and helpless.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Call the Jiang family now and tell them to let it go. Tell them to keep their mouths shut and not to reveal a single word to him."

"And Miss Huo Ling, she..."

"Where else could she go besides the King's Mansion?"

"She'll be back by herself soon. I'll cook a few more of her favorite dishes tonight."

Aunt Zhong: "Yes, Madam."

However, Xia He was unaware that she was already too late. Jiang Weiguo had already contacted the legal department of the Jiang Group and withdrawn the lawsuit against Xue Ruyao.

Regarding Song Qingran's situation, the public relations department also issued a statement, stating that Song Qingran has always been sponsored by the Jiang family, and that the rumors circulating outside about the president of the Jiang Group are untrue. He has never had a marital breakdown with the Jiang Group's daughter, and the couple is in a loving relationship and is actively trying to conceive.

The news caused an uproar throughout the entire capital city.

Meanwhile, Jiang Weiguo was hospitalized due to a heart attack…

Today is the weekend. After leaving Junlin Mansion, Huo Ling didn't know where to go, so she could only go back to her studio to see if there was anything she could do to help. The five-finger mark on her face had been covered with foundation and was not very noticeable unless you looked closely, but there were still two bloodstains that couldn't be concealed. Her eyes were still red and swollen from crying...

She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a group of people suddenly rushed into the elevator. Xu Zhoulan's secretary blocked the elevator doors with his hand. Centered around him, along with several chief designers beside him, they discussed the latest design products for the upcoming season.

Huo Ling met the man's seductive gaze for a moment, then looked away and stood in the corner of the elevator. The two did not exchange any further words.

After his secretary and staff left, Huo Ling went to the restroom after exiting the elevator. Just as she calmed herself and stepped out of the restroom, a strong hand suddenly pulled her aside. The scent of his masculine fragrance instantly calmed Huo Ling's panic. Before she could react, he swept her up in his arms. "What are you doing! This is the company! Are you crazy?!"

"We'll be found out!"

"They've found out, isn't that a good opportunity to make our relationship public?"

Huo Ling: "What's so good about it! Put it down right now, I need to go to work."

Has this old man always been so lawless at the company?

She wouldn't be afraid of other companies, but this was her older brother's company. If he found out she had slept with one of his employees...

She would be scolded to death; she didn't want to see her brother's terrifying face.

Xu Zhoulan, however, was fearless and carried her into his office. Along the way, she noticed that no one was around. Huo Ling then remembered that all the employees of Jiang's Group were in a meeting today.

In the office, Huo Ling sat on the man's lap. Xu Zhoulan subtly noticed the injury on the little girl's face. "Tell your brother, who bullied you?"

"Brother will help you get revenge."

Huo Ling wanted to find comfort in someone, so she leaned her head on Xu Zhoulan's shoulder. "Besides my mother, no one has ever dared to bully me like this."

Xu Zhoulan looked down at the girl in his arms, a chill creeping into his wicked eyes. "So aggrieved?"

Huo Ling: "Mm."

Xu Zhoulan reached out and touched the girl's face, his eyes filled with a subtle, ambiguous emotion.

Xia He…