A Rich Family’s Matrilocal Alpha Married to a Vegetative Omega - Chapter 16

Ye Fan was incredibly embarrassed and had no idea how to face the girl in front of her. Seeing that Zhao Yusze was on the verge of tears, she bit the bullet and patted her shoulder to comfort her.

But the moment Zhao Yusze looked up, Ye Fan was so startled she immediately tried to pull her hand back.

She was a step too late. Zhao Yusze gripped her hand tightly, her face full of hope. “Ye Fan, let’s go. If we find a way to escape from here, we can be together forever!”

It sounded like some kind of death pact… Ye Fan shuddered. Offering an awkward smile, she tried to pry her hand loose while laughing nervously.

“But… the Qin family is so powerful. We wouldn’t be able to run very far…”

“Are you afraid?” Zhao Yusze’s gaze sharpened, looking at Ye Fan with intense seriousness.

Although it was a question, Ye Fan felt an underlying hint of a threat. She went silent for a second before firmly denying it: “I’m just worried that if something happens…”

Zhao Yusze’s gaze softened. “Don’t be afraid,” she comforted. “I know a secret that can protect us—”

A secret?

Ye Fan felt a sense of impending doom. Was there some hidden plot she didn’t know about?

But regardless of whatever secret Zhao Yusze knew, Ye Fan’s first reaction was: Qin Shujian will definitely be angry if she finds out!

At that thought, Ye Fan panicked, not knowing what to do. She couldn’t possibly agree to Zhao Yusze’s request. Even if she felt sorry for the original owner, the person she liked now was Qin Shujian!

Just as Ye Fan was struggling with what to do, Zhao Yusze—who seemed not to notice her hesitation—continued urging her to leave, until there was a sudden knock on the door.

A voice followed; it was Housekeeper Su. She asked: “Miss Ye Fan? Are you in there?”

Zhao Yusze went silent instantly, but Ye Fan felt a surge of energy.

Not daring to appear too relieved, she said hurriedly: “Housekeeper Su keeps a very strict eye on me. If I don’t answer, she might break down the door.”

Hearing this, Zhao Yusze’s expression darkened slightly, but she didn’t suspect anything. She gave Ye Fan a sorrowful look and spoke quickly: “Fine. Go deal with her first. Meet me at the old place in three days—I have a secret to tell you.”

With that, she slipped directly into a nearby stall. Ye Fan swallowed nervously, not even having time to react to what “the old place” was.

But on second thought, she figured she wouldn’t show up for the meeting anyway, so there was no need to ask. It was just that “secret” Zhao Yusze mentioned… it made Ye Fan feel strangely uneasy.

She pursed her lips, her expression subtle. On the other side, Su Yu had run out of patience. The knocking became more urgent. Dizzied by the rhythmic thumping, Ye Fan hurried to open the door, clutching her stomach and feigning weakness. “What is it? Has Li Wei left?”

Su Yu scanned her from head to toe, took a step back, and said calmly: “Yes, Miss Li has come out.”

“It’s nothing. I’ll wash my hands and head up in a moment.”

Su Yu nodded and turned to leave. Ye Fan breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door to wash her hands. She stole a glance at the quiet stalls, worrying whether the security cameras had caught anything.

Calm down, calm down. Don’t overthink it, Ye Fan told herself desperately. She took a deep breath and turned to leave.

As she headed upstairs, Ye Fan saw Li Wei sitting on the sofa talking to Su Yu. She looked poised and elegant, laughing lightly from time to time. Her calm demeanor reminded Ye Fan of Qin Shujian—noble ladies like them truly were the best match for one another…

Ye Fan felt a bit dejected. She didn’t notice that Li Wei seemed to steal a glance at her out of the corner of her eye. Su Yu, however, sensed something and asked flatly: “Is there something you wish to say, Miss Li?”

“It’s nothing,” Li Wei replied. “My person has returned. Thank you for the notification today. I hope by the next time we meet, Shujian has already woken up.”

As soon as she spoke, Su Yu’s face darkened.

She understood exactly what Li Wei meant. On the surface, she was saying there was no point in notifications if Shujian hadn’t woken up; in reality, she didn’t believe the Eldest Miss had any chance of waking up at all.

Realizing this, Su Yu knew the conversation was over. She said coldly: “Then I won’t see you out. Safe travels, Miss Li.”

Li Wei turned to leave. Su Yu watched her back, her brow furrowed. Her peripheral vision caught a strange woman following behind Li Wei.

The woman kept looking back, appearing… reluctant to leave?

Su Yu’s expression grew increasingly grim.

Ye Fan was oblivious to everything happening downstairs. Still immersed in her own emotions, she didn’t even know what to say when she pushed open the bedroom door.

The moment she sat by the bed, Qin Shujian’s voice rang out abruptly: “Where did that unfamiliar perfume scent on you come from?”

Ye Fan stiffened. Her first thought was that she had picked it up from Zhao Yusze. For some reason, she felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.

Could she tell the truth?

Of course not! Could she really confess to Qin Shujian that a “former girlfriend” had suddenly popped up and they had just had a secret meeting?

Ye Fan’s mind was a mess. She instinctively shook her head. “Wh-what perfume? I don’t know… maybe it’s the smell of flowers?”

Qin Shujian’s voice immediately turned deeply suspicious. She questioned: “Do you think I can’t even tell the difference between the scent of flowers and perfume?”

Even though she hadn’t seen Qin Shujian angry before, Ye Fan suddenly understood the gravity of the tone. Her heart skipped a beat, and without thinking, she blurted out a chaotic mess of explanations.

Naturally, her words were full of holes. Qin Shujian easily found the flaws, her voice rising with anger as she demanded: “Why are you lying?”

Ye Fan was tongue-tied and dazed. Knowing she couldn’t hide it, she could only dejectedly apologize: “I’m sorry…”

She admitted she had lied, but she truly didn’t know how to talk about the original owner’s business. Should she say she was a transmigrator? Or say she had amnesia? That excuse was too ridiculous; what if Qin Shujian asked why she hadn’t mentioned it before?

Ye Fan took a deep breath and, surprisingly, became stubborn. “I did lie, but there are some things I really don’t know how to say. Let me think about it, and once I’ve figured it out, I’ll tell you, okay?”

Qin Shujian remained silent. She knew she shouldn’t push too hard, but the fact that Ye Fan was keeping secrets made her uncomfortable.

She was currently trapped in bed, unable to go anywhere. Her only means of communication was Ye Fan. All of her own secrets were forced out into the open, yet Ye Fan said she “didn’t know how to say it”?

This made Qin Shujian a bit unhappy. Only after Ye Fan promised that she would eventually tell her did she give a vague response.

Ye Fan thought she had been forgiven and had successfully coaxed her, so she didn’t pay it much more mind. She went into the bathroom to shower, washing away that mysterious scent before coming back out.

However, when she emerged, Ye Fan realized Qin Shujian was still unhappy.

She thought to herself: Didn’t I just fix this? Is it because of Li Wei?

It made sense. After the accident, her childhood sweetheart and fiancée had basically vanished. Anyone would be sad to hear that. Ye Fan suppressed her own jealousy, pursed her lips, and offered a few words of comfort.

Instead, Qin Shujian became even more upset and stated plainly: “What is there to be sorry about? I don’t even like her. That woman is a master of pretense. If she really liked me, why would she be so eager to break the engagement the moment the accident happened?”

Qin Shujian truly felt nothing for Li Wei. Their engagement was merely a match of equal status; she had originally thought they would just make do together. But who knew the Li family would be so disrespectful?

Everyone knew it was a business marriage, but Li Wei’s act of burning bridges was too blatant. Now that everything was out in the open, Qin Shujian was unwilling to let Li Wei continue to use her as a tool to build a “deeply devoted” public image.

Qin Shujian knew Ye Fan was simple-minded and couldn’t grasp these complexities, so she explained it all at once. Ye Fan was stunned. Once she recovered, the first thing she blurted out was: “That’s too much! If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t do that!”

In the middle of her anger, Qin Shujian heard Ye Fan’s somewhat naive remark. For some reason, most of her anger dissipated instantly, though she still let out a huff.

“Who knows how you would treat me? You were just hiding things from me and refusing to speak.”

This somewhat ruined the atmosphere. Ye Fan immediately started stammering, “I really didn’t want to lie to you, but this… how should I put it…”

Ye Fan struggled with how to explain, so she tried to describe it as a “story.” “Well, I have a friend. She… how to say… when she got married, she accidentally bumped her head and forgot part of her memory. Then she met someone she liked, and suddenly her memory returned, and she realized she had a girlfriend before the marriage—”

Ye Fan thought she was being clever, but she overlooked the fact that Qin Shujian wasn’t nearly as stupid as she imagined. Before Ye Fan could even react, Qin Shujian suddenly asked in a cold voice:

“So, is this ‘friend’ actually you? You had a girlfriend before we got married?”