Qin Guan had been caught in the act by his mother-in-law.
This was a scene he never could have imagined in his wildest dreams, yet it was happening right before his eyes.
His mother-in-law stood at the door, less than an arm's length away from Qin Guan.
Qin Guan was rooted to the spot.
Only Junjun inside the room, oblivious, draped in a white bathrobe, giggled and flirted with him as usual from behind: "What's the matter, my Lawyer Qin? Don't want to leave? Can't bear to part with me, huh..."
Her voice was soft, coquettish, crisp, each word clearly striking his mother-in-law's icy face.
His mother-in-law pressed her lips tightly together. Fury and shock seemed to fill every vein, every pore, blocking them completely, solid as cast iron.
She stood like a cold, hard ingot of raw iron, immovable.
Perhaps she had been standing there a long time—her posture was stiff. Had she been listening outside the door?
"M—" Qin Guan felt all the blood in his body freeze, his tongue tied. The word "Mom" stuck on the opening sound, utterly unable to escape.
His mother-in-law didn't wait to hear him. She turned and walked away.
"Mom, Mom, listen to me,"
Seeing his mother-in-law stumble away, Qin Guan panicked. Instinctively, he rushed forward, blocking her path, pleading in a low voice, "Mom, it's not what you think. Let me explain first, please?"
His mother-in-law ignored him.
He blocked her left, she moved right. He blocked her right, she moved left.
Her purse hung on her arm. Her back was ramrod straight as a sword. Her jaw was clenched tight as iron.
She was making her utmost effort to maintain her usual elegance and composure.
But her hands were trembling violently.
She walked out of the hotel—as she exited the elevator, she stumbled, nearly falling.
But she refused Qin Guan's help, recoiling from him as if he were the vilest thing in the world, keeping her body away. She ignored any explanation, walked out of the hotel without looking back, and directly hailed a taxi.
She was gone. She must be going home, home to tell Xu Ruyi.
It's over. Finished.
Without hesitation, Qin Guan immediately hailed the next taxi, following his mother-in-law straight to Jiayuan Residential Complex.
Qin Guan got out of the taxi almost simultaneously with his mother-in-law.
Both taxis stopped at the entrance to Jiayuan. Getting out, his heart in his throat, he hurried after her in small steps, whispering fearfully, "Mom, Mom, Mom, just listen to me, please, I beg you, Mom—"
His mother-in-law gave no answer.
Entering the complex, neighbors saw them and greeted warmly: "Auntie Min, your son-in-law's here!"
His mother-in-law didn't respond.
Every cell in her body tense, she walked upstairs to her door. With trembling hands, she fumbled for her keys, dropped them with a clatter on the floor.
A neighbor upstairs happened to be coming down with their child: "Oh, Auntie Min! I just saw Ruyi leaving with her dad. Going to Guanlan Court, right? Did you guys miss each other? Didn't call?"
His mother-in-law remained silent, picked up the keys from the floor, unlocked the door, and pushed it open.
Qin Guan hastily nodded a greeting to the neighbor and squeezed in after his mother-in-law.
The moment the door closed, his mother-in-law's tension finally began to crack. Her hands shaking violently, she rummaged in her bag for her phone.
She was going to call them, the father and daughter. She was calling directly, giving Qin Guan no chance.
If Xu Ruyi found out, he was truly finished.
Infidelity—Xu Ruyi would absolutely not accept it!
Without thinking, Qin Guan fell to his knees with a thud before his mother-in-law.
He reached out and grabbed the hand holding the phone. He was genuinely pleading, begging: "Mom, don't—please, don't! I was wrong. Hit me, scold me, do whatever you want to me, Mom—"
"You can't tell Ruyi—"
Qin Guan's face was deathly pale. His lips trembled. Fear seemed to strip him bare, reverting him to that boy miserably feeding pigs and chickens by the dirty door, that boy hanging his head before his drunkard father, begging to continue school.
The boy with no future.
He couldn't divorce Xu Ruyi. He couldn't lose the Xu family. He couldn't, absolutely could not.
"Mom— Ruyi, she... she won't be able to take it," Qin Guan babbled incoherently, "Her belly is so big, her health isn't good to begin with, she can't handle stress at this time— Mom, Mom, I beg you, don't tell her, I implore you! She'll leave me if she finds out!"
Smack!
His mother-in-law's slap landed hard across Qin Guan's face.
"I was truly blind, raising you!"
She finally spoke, her face now ashen. Recovering from illness, having bottled it all up outside, now standing in her own home, she finally shed that hard, brittle facade. Her entire body shook violently with rage.
"How could I... how could I have married my only daughter, my precious beloved daughter, to someone like you?"
She hissed the words, each one squeezed painfully, agonizingly, from between her clenched teeth, from a heart already bleeding.
"I was blind! I ruined my daughter!" She gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, pushed Qin Guan away in disgust, and headed for the bedroom, phone in hand.
She was still going to call.
She was resolute. There was no room for negotiation.
"Mom, I was wrong, I truly know I was wrong, Mom, please, I beg you—" Qin Guan cried—genuine tears. He seemed to see everything perfect, like a sandcastle, crumbling to pieces.
A collapse he couldn't accept.
"Mom—" He shuffled forward on his knees, trailing after her into the bedroom, weeping, trembling, "Mom— please, give me one more chance? Just one, Mom— I really won't ever again..."
"You will never have another chance." His mother-in-law's face was resolute, her teeth clenched.
She didn't want to waste another word on the man before her.
She strode towards the bedroom door, phone in hand.
At that moment, Qin Guan snatched the phone from her grasp.
"Mom," Qin Guan knelt on the floor. His large hand gripped his mother-in-law's phone tightly. She tried to snatch it back, but couldn't budge it.
Qin Guan held the phone, staring at his mother-in-law.
He had stopped his wailing. Tears still stained his cheeks, but the fear and remorse were gone from his eyes.
Crying was useless. Begging was useless.
He had known this since childhood.
"Mom," Qin Guan spoke, his voice frighteningly calm, "Mom, whether this should have happened or not, it has happened. You can't change it. I can't change it. So, why not just... turn the page? Pretend it never happened. Alright?"
"You tell Ruyi now? She can't change the fact either. She'll only be in pain, suffering. You know your daughter. She loves me deeply, devotedly. Think how painful, how devastating this will be for her. And you know, your daughter is seven or eight months pregnant. What if she gets overly emotional? Have you thought about the consequences?"
His mother-in-law's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you threatening me? You dare threaten me?"
Qin Guan was utterly calm—strangely so. At moments like this, his heart was always eerily calm. Like that afternoon when he picked up the sickle and walked towards the dog sleeping with narrowed eyes.
He shook his head, pushing the memory away. He even managed a faint smile. "Not exactly a threat, Mom. If I were threatening you, I'd say this: If you don't make this call, I'll be good to your daughter for the rest of my life. If you do make this call, your daughter and grandchild's lives might be in danger. Even if they survive, with my abilities, I could make their lives a living hell."
"You—"
His mother-in-law's whole body trembled violently. She stared at the son-in-law she had raised, educated, and brought to adulthood, utterly shocked, incredulous.
"Oh God, oh God, what kind of monster did I raise—"
Rage, wave upon crashing wave, roared over her, drowning her swiftly. A deep-seated fury seemed to wrench her heart from its roots. A sweet taste rose in her throat. Ugh! She spat out a mouthful of blood.
The next second, her body went limp, collapsing uncontrollably to the floor.
She gasped with difficulty.
Everything before her eyes began to blur.
"Quick... quick... call..."