Substitute Bride to the Crippled Billionaire
Chapter 72 The Fu Family’s Face

Chapter 72: Chapter 72 The Fu Family’s Face

The room was pitch-dark, and the living room was empty.

Su Qingnuan tiptoed upstairs, carefully pushing the door open without making a sound.

The room inside was also enveloped in darkness. Su Qingnuan let out a sigh of relief and cautiously stepped inside.

"Click—"

A blinding light flickered on, and Su Qingnuan, who was closing the door, froze in place.

"Back early, huh?"

A voice dripping with sarcasm, tinged with anger.

Su Qingnuan gritted her teeth, turned around, and lowered her head. "Mr. Fu, I’m sorry, I came back late."

Seeing her outfit neat and tidy, Fu Yihan’s hardened expression softened slightly.

"Come here."

Su Qingnuan walked over, obediently standing beside him.

"Who did you have dinner with today?" Fu Yihan asked.

Su Qingnuan hesitated for a moment, awkwardly twisting her wrist.

Seeing her silent, Fu Yihan tapped the table twice—neither too softly nor too hard.

"Speak!"

His tone was stern, his gaze icy.

Su Qingnuan lowered her head, countless images flashing through her mind in an instant.

What would happen if she told the truth?

Logically, she shouldn’t face any consequences. But...

"Nothing... I just went out for dinner with a classmate."

"Classmate?" A cold scoff, followed by a "slap" as several photographs spilled onto the table. "Are these the classmates you speak of?"

The faces of two people clearly displayed in the photos made Su Qingnuan’s body tremble slightly.

Her head bowed even lower.

"He... He’s now our teacher. We only went out for a meal together."

"Besides him, who else was there?"

"Also..." Su Qingnuan cautiously lifted her head, carefully observing Fu Yihan’s expression.

However, his gaze dropped, his expression unreadable.

"Also my father."

Her voice was so quiet when she spoke that sentence, yet Fu Yihan heard it clearly.

"Your father?" Fu Yihan lifted his head, his expression darkening momentarily.

"Yes." Su Qingnuan nodded timidly and said carefully, "Shen Lin’an told me my father wants to see me, so he asked me to go out."

"Why didn’t he contact you directly?" Fu Yihan asked again.

Su Qingnuan opened her mouth, unsure of how to explain.

The affairs of her family weren’t something that could be explained in just a few words.

"Using Shen Lin’an to contact you, huh? What’s next? Does Shen Lin’an have a good relationship with your family?"

"...Just like an older brother who grew up with me." Su Qingnuan replied softly.

"Older brother?" Fu Yihan sneered, "An ’older brother’ who hurls insults at you? Or did I mishear things that day?"

Su Qingnuan fell silent.

Fu Yihan raised his gaze to her pale face and let out a cold laugh. "I warned you before. You are the eldest young mistress of the Fu family. When you step out, you represent the Fu family. Photos like these, if they circulate, are you trying to disgrace the Fu family?"

Her already pale complexion grew increasingly ashen.

Su Qingnuan lowered her head in shame and bowed. "I’m sorry. I was inconsiderate this time. It won’t happen again."

"Won’t happen again?" Fu Yihan’s smile turned uglier. "If this happens again, our contract will be immediately terminated. You know the consequences of breaching the contract."

"...Understood."

Leaving the table littered with photos and an oppressive silence behind, Fu Yihan turned away and entered his room.

"Click."

The sound of the door closing echoed, and Su Qingnuan slowly raised her head.

Tears had welled up at the corners of her eyes and slid silently down her face.

Before doing all this, she had never thought it would touch upon matters of pride and reputation. Her only thought was simply to meet the remaining member of her family.

Instead of the closeness she had hoped for, she returned only to be severely scolded.

Unable to hold back any longer, her tears streamed down uncontrollably.

Su Qingnuan wiped her tears away, bent down to pick up the photos, and then returned to her room.

She cut the photos into tiny pieces with scissors, watching them turn into fragments before finally putting them aside.

Her eyes felt sticky from crying so much, yet there were no tears left to shed.

Looking at herself in the mirror, her eyes were red and swollen, her face stark white.

Suddenly, Su Qingnuan took one step closer to the mirror, staring intently at her own dark pupils.

"Su Qingnuan, you can’t live like this!" She clenched her teeth and said, "You have to create your own life! You can’t keep letting others lead you by the nose!"

She nodded firmly to the reflection in the mirror.

Looking at the defeated person inside the mirror transform anew, Su Qingnuan grabbed her clothes and headed to take a shower.

She hadn’t expected that when she opened the door, she’d see Fu Yihan sitting in the living room.

"...Mr. Fu."

Her tone sank into defeat again.

Fu Yihan glanced at her, his face expressionless. "Come here."

Carrying her clothes, she shuffled over in small steps. As she got closer, a fragrant aroma wafted toward her.

Su Qingnuan couldn’t help but take a sniff—it smelled like barbecue.

"Mr. Fu?" Su Qingnuan asked in surprise. "Ah Qi must have gotten it wrong. You can’t eat things like this."

Fu Yihan had always adhered to a simple, light diet.

Barbecue, with its heavy flavors, wasn’t good for his health.

Fu Yihan frowned slightly and shot her a glare.

"Don’t meddle. Sit down."

Familiar with his tone, Su Qingnuan heaved a quiet sigh and sat down obediently.

Seeing her settle down, Fu Yihan gestured to the box beside them.

"Eat."

Su Qingnuan hesitated, puzzled, and looked at Fu Yihan.

Fu Yihan raised his brows. "Do you need me to feed you?"

"...No."

Cautiously picking up a skewer, Su Qingnuan asked nervously, "Mr. Fu, why did you suddenly want to eat barbecue?"

He didn’t respond, his gaze fixed ahead.

The massive television across from the sofa was turned on, but the volume was so low as to be nearly mute.

He appeared to be watching intently, but the television channel playing was nothing more than a shopping network.

"Mr. Fu..." Su Qingnuan tried to probe again.

Fu Yihan abruptly turned his head, his piercing gaze locking onto her.

"I told you to eat. Why are you asking so many pointless questions?"

"..."

His tone was brash and domineering.

Su Qingnuan didn’t dare say anything more and focused on eating in silence.

The spicy flavor tingled her taste buds. Su Qingnuan wanted to open her mouth and pant for relief, but with Fu Yihan sitting nearby, she didn’t dare make a sound.

Little did she know that each of her actions was quietly scrutinized by Fu Yihan.

Watching her face flush bright red from the heat, his lips couldn’t help but curl slightly into a faint smile.

"There’s water in the fridge."

Su Qingnuan blinked, then quickly got up and walked toward the small refrigerator in the room.

The refrigerator was prepared especially for Fu Yihan. Given his health, it was troublesome for him to go downstairs for water, so they had arranged a mini fridge upstairs.

Taking a drink, Su Qingnuan finally felt like she was alive again.

After eating a few more skewers, she couldn’t eat any more.

"Mr. Fu... I’m finished," Su Qingnuan murmured softly.

"Hmm." Fu Yihan turned his attention to the table before him.

Only half had been eaten, yet the number of napkins used far exceeded the number of skewers consumed.

Fu Yihan glanced at her. Her lips were a bright red, glowing faintly under the light.

Maybe it was still too spicy, as even now Su Qingnuan was trying to recover.

"Too spicy?"

Even as the words left his mouth, Fu Yihan paused, startled. Why did he care about her for no reason?

This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om