CHAPTER 675: CHAPTER 612: HE STILL LOVES ME

She wanted to say that she didn’t plan to sign the contract, she wanted to say that she only wanted to live a good life with Haoyang. But Mrs. Su’s gaze, filled with warning and pressure, along with Mrs. Liu’s determined eyes, as if she was already in the bag, made her feel a lump in her throat.

At this moment, Su Haoyang seemingly "noticed" the atmosphere here. He ended the conversation and walked over, naturally putting his arm around Xu Mengjie’s slightly trembling shoulders.

"Aunt Liu is talking about the contract? Mengmeng just left Xingyue, her mood hasn’t completely settled, and we’re getting engaged next month. She needs time to adapt to the new rhythm of life. Work isn’t urgent, she can consider it slowly, right, Mengmeng?"

Su Haoyang’s words sounded like he was getting her out of a tough spot, giving her some time to buffer, but the words "consider it slowly" were like an invisible rope, pulling her back from the edge of immediate refusal, while also pushing her towards the negotiating table where "it can be discussed."

Under Su Haoyang’s "gentle" gaze and her mother-in-law’s implicit pressure, within Mrs. Liu’s knowing, almost amused gaze that seemed to see through her eventual compromise, Xu Mengjie felt a sense of dizzying despair and powerlessness.

It was as if she saw another, more lavish and stronger gilded cage, in the name of "love" and "family," slowly descending outside the Xingyue cage she just escaped.

She looked at the embossed business card with Splendid Culture’s logo and personal contact details that Mrs. Liu handed over with a smile, her fingertips cold.

That thin piece of paper, at this moment, weighed a thousand pounds.

"...I... I will... consider it."

She heard her own dry voice speak, like the groan of a dying person.

In that voice, there was nothing but compromise pushed to the cliff’s edge and a clear sense of helplessly sinking into an abyss.

The sun was still bright, the roses still vibrant, and the laughter of the noblewomen still pleasant.

But Xu Mengjie’s world lost all its color at this moment, leaving only those cold, harshly glowing words "Splendid Culture" on the card.

She finally understood Xi Hongxia’s final prophetic words that sounded like a curse — "If she’s willing to spend five million, then you’d better provide her with value... worth more than five million in the future!"

The Su Family just found another way to "sell" her out.

And this time, the buyer was Splendid Culture, one of the hidden hands that once participated in suppressing All Stars Entertainment.

Her love, her sacrifice, ultimately became the most weighty bargaining chip on her mother-in-law’s negotiation table.

In the dead silence of the car ride back.

Mrs. Su closed her eyes to rest, a barely noticeable hint of satisfaction at her lips, as if having triumphed in a magnificent trade.

Su Haoyang attempted to hold Xu Mengjie’s cold hand only to have it shaken off abruptly.

As the car drove into the luxurious, cold garage of the Su Family Villa, Xu Mengjie, like an animal cornered to its limit, pushed open the car door and rushed into what she once thought was a "happiness" door without looking back.

"Mengmeng!" Su Haoyang hurriedly chased into the room.

Xu Mengjie whirled around, tears finally breaking free, cascading with utterly deceived anger and desperation, her voice hoarse as she shouted, "Su Haoyang! Tell me! What was your mom doing today?! She takes me to meet Mrs. Liu, presenting my contract as if it was merchandise! She made my termination, my sacrifice into a bargaining chip for the Su Family’s negotiation table! Is this what you call protecting me? Is this your mom’s sincere acceptance?!"

Her questions whipped through the spacious, luxurious living room, echoing coldly.

A flicker of panic crossed Su Haoyang’s face, soon replaced by a facade of helplessness and good intentions: "Mengmeng, calm down! Listen to me explain! Mom... she did it for your own good!"

"For my good?!" Xu Mengjie looked as if she’d just heard the biggest joke of her life, tears mingling with a self-mocking cold laugh, "For my good is to treat me like a commodity, showing me to Splendid Culture to sell for a higher price?! She even calculated the five million breach fee! Is that the sincerity of the Su family?! Is that the purpose for you asking me to give up everything and come back?! Su Haoyang, you’ve been lying to me from the beginning to the end! You and your mom just want to squeeze out my last bit of value!"

"How can you think that way?!" Su Haoyang also raised his voice, trying to overpower her accusations with volume, "Mengjie, think about it! You left Xingyue, do you really want to stay home doing nothing all your life? Splendid’s resources aren’t any less than Xingyue’s, you can shine there too! How is this selling you? This is giving you a chance to start anew! And with our support!"