CHAPTER 390: CHAPTER 388: SELF-DISRUPTION

Jian Xi’s mother insisted Jian Xi personally see Si Yuhuan out.

Watching the two of them, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, Jian’s mother sighed. "In the end, it’s not fate."

She was adaptable. She would endure for her grandson’s sake!

The moment Jian Xi stepped outside, her expression hardened. "Si Yuhuan, you truly are despicable, shameless, and unscrupulous! A man with a dark heart like yours should be alone for a lifetime. Why must you torment me? Is it because I no longer fawn over you like a sycophant, no longer smile and ask if you’re comfortable, that you can’t stand it? Do you have to come looking for trouble with me?"

"Must my eyes only see you? Must my entire life revolve solely around you? We’ve been apart for so long, why can’t we just let each other go! Did you hear what my mother and grandfather said? It’s over! We are history!"

Jian Xi was furious.

Fortunately, he had prepared medicine today. Thankfully, her mother was usually in good health. Otherwise, if her mother had found out about this and something had actually happened to her, how could Jian Xi have borne it!

He was truly terrifying.

Even for Mingming’s sake, she must not compromise.

Harming her family would bring endless trouble!

Jian Xi firmly believed that since the outcome was already decided, she could work hard to free herself from Si Yuhuan’s control.

"Si Yuhuan, you’re the one who can’t walk out of the shadows of the past! It’s your possessiveness that’s acting up, your refusal to let go of what we had! Get lost! I don’t want to see you anymore."

Compared to Jian Xi’s rage, Si Yuhuan was incredibly calm.

With one hand in his pocket, emanating an innate aristocratic air, he said, "There are some things you don’t get to decide, Jian Xi. I’ve told you before: you can’t escape."

No matter whether you fear me or dread me, I will not allow you to marry Zhang Yaxuan.

Watching the man’s aloof retreating figure, Jian Xi clenched her fists tightly.

She still had a tough fight ahead of her.

Seeing Si Yuhuan emerge looking exhausted, Yan Qing immediately approached with an umbrella. "Director Si, why didn’t you tell Jian Xi that you had already checked her mother’s health condition and came here fully prepared?"

"Besides, even if you don’t tell her, the news will be everywhere tomorrow and it will come out sooner or later. It would be better to tell her yourself. Letting her misunderstand like this will only make her think you’re terrifying and afraid to get close to you."

Si Yuhuan knocked the umbrella away.

The cold raindrops hitting his body seemed to clear his mind.

"Your health isn’t fully recovered yet!"

Yan Qing helplessly followed him.

「...」

At the Jian Family Old House, Jian Xi stood before her parents. The housekeepers had locked themselves in their rooms, not daring to come out.

Upstairs, the nanny was with Qianqian. Only the three of them were in the large hall.

"Mom! Dad! I’m so sorry. I hid it because I was afraid you’d worry and get upset if you found out. Actually, the matter is settled. You heard Si Yuhuan say he has a solution. His telling you today... he’s just trying to..."

"He wants to remarry you, doesn’t he?" Jian’s mother, sharply sensing the crux of the matter, harrumphed coldly.

Jian Xi nodded. "Perhaps. Or maybe he wants revenge on me. In any case, he can’t be trusted."

"Alright. Regardless, saving Mingming is what’s most important. I don’t know what you’re planning, but for the next few days, treat Si Yuhuan well. Whether you’re using him or just pretending, I want Mingming back as soon as possible!"

"Alright." Jian Xi didn’t dare to argue further and reluctantly agreed.

Quietly, she harbored other plans in her heart.

Father Jian was very worried. "Provoking Si Yuhuan... I’m afraid our Xixi will have a hard time ahead."

"That’s still better than our son being in someone else’s hands! Once we get Mingming back, we can do whatever we want, can’t we?"

Her mother’s words were a wake-up call for Jian Xi.

She hadn’t even realized what she’d been clinging to these past few days—probably just that pitiful scrap of self-respect.

The thought of Si Yuhuan’s ruthlessness and cold indifference terrified her.

"Mom, Dad, don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can to protect Mingming and bring him back as soon as possible."

"Xixi, Mom knows exactly what Si Yuhuan is up to. He walked right into this. If we don’t use him, it’s a wasted opportunity. Think of it as him repaying you for all the hardship you’ve endured these years. When the time comes, we’ll just cast him aside once he’s served his purpose."

Jian Xi smiled bitterly; it probably wouldn’t be that easy when the time came.

"I know." Jian Xi reassured her mother repeatedly to set her mind at ease. Hearing Qianqian cry, she hurried upstairs to soothe the little one.

Father Jian suddenly looked many years older. "Xixi, while protecting the children, you must also protect yourself. If you truly don’t want anything more to do with Si Yuhuan, you don’t have to listen to your mother. Are the men of our Jian Family just for show?"

Tears welled in Jian Xi’s eyes. "Mom is right. He walked right into this. If we don’t use him, it’s a wasted opportunity."

Father Jian glanced toward the doorway.

Si Yuhuan had been standing outside the door for who knows how long.

He must have heard every word she just said.

Father Jian saw he looked slightly embarrassed.

"Dad, leave this to me. You go upstairs." She gave Father Jian a look, and he immediately understood: they absolutely could not let Si Yuhuan find out she had two children.

"Alright, alright." Father Jian glanced at Si Yuhuan and headed upstairs.

With her parents there, Jian Xi felt a surge of support.

"I didn’t expect Director Si to have the habit of eavesdropping at other people’s homes."

Si Yuhuan was holding some tonics in his hand.

He handed them to a servant and sat on the living room sofa. "If I hadn’t come, how would I have known I was just a tool to be used in the end?"

She thought Si Yuhuan would be furious.

But Jian Xi had thought too much; he calmly finished speaking and took a sip of the plain water a servant handed him.

"Si Yuhuan, it was you who said you never wanted to see me again and told me to get lost."

"I also said that if you begged me and came back to my side, I would let you use me. Why do you only listen to half of it?"

Jian Xi was speechless, stunned.

She looked at Si Yuhuan’s increasingly gaunt, handsome face. "I..."

Suddenly, a child upstairs began to cry incessantly.

Jian Xi became tense all over.

Si Yuhuan had heard a child crying last time but couldn’t check. Hearing it again now, his gaze turned questioningly to Jian Xi.

A nanny suddenly hurried downstairs. "I’m sorry, Miss. My daughter is being too noisy and disturbing you."

Her daughter?

Jian Xi was momentarily stunned, then quickly recovered. "It’s fine. Children are like that. Go get her to sleep."

The suspicion in Si Yuhuan’s eyes gradually dissipated.

"I didn’t realize you had such compassion."

How could the owners of a house possibly allow a nanny to bring her child to work!

"One should be considerate. Having a child around livens up the house. We’re not like the heartless Director Si, who lacks any compassion whatsoever."

Called out so directly, Si Yuhuan looked a bit uncomfortable and quickly changed the subject. "Jian Xi, you are not to contact Fu Shengyuan anymore!"

"So, Director Si’s change in attitude is because I contacted him!"