Chapter 79 Smoothing Things Over

“You didn’t know?” Xie Cunzhou obviously knew that Xie Ziyi didn’t know. If she had really been willing to give it away, he’d actually have admired her a bit.

Unfortunately, both Xie Zining and Xie Ziyi were hopeless romantics.

Otherwise, Xie Zining wouldn’t have done something like stealing her own brother-in-law, and Xie Ziyi wouldn’t have caught her husband and her own younger sister in bed together. That incident had given him quite a piece of juicy gossip.

He’d thought their adoptive father would do something about it, but in the end, the man resorted to his usual trick—“smoothing things over.”

Xie Cunzhou sized Xie Ziyi up, clicking his tongue a few times with a look of sympathy. “Seems like you really didn’t know. Makes sense—if you did, you wouldn’t be this calm.”

The corners of his lips curled up, giving him the air of a villain. “Your husband, He Tao, has been going to see Xie Zining quite often lately.”

Xie Ziyi: “Impossible.”

“What’s so impossible about it? Don’t tell me you think your husband is some pure and devoted saint? From what I know, the reason he married you was because he thought you were Dad’s illegitimate daughter…” Xie Cunzhou said. “You know what that means, right? If you’re Dad’s illegitimate daughter and he married your mother, then what’s the difference between you and a legitimate daughter? Add to that Mom whispering in his ear… tsk tsk tsk…”

“I know you’re trying to drive a wedge between me and He Tao. I’m not going to believe you.”

“I know you won’t believe me, but I have evidence.” Xie Cunzhou pulled out his phone. “Look—I took photos. Different dates, different locations.”

Xie Ziyi leaned in for a glance. It was the villa outside where Xie Zining lived—a gift from their father for her eighteenth birthday.

Xie Ziyi had seen photos of it before and had been unbearably jealous. If only she had been their father’s biological daughter…

But unfortunately, she wasn’t.

So her eighteenth birthday gift had been just a party and a beautiful dress.

It was called her coming-of-age ceremony, but in reality, it was her father pushing her into the marriage market, telling everyone—“My daughter has come of age and is ready to marry. If you’re interested, let’s talk.”

To put it bluntly, she was just a pawn in a marriage alliance.

Still, she was luckier than Xie Zining—she had met He Tao. No matter why he had approached her at the beginning, he married her, and that was enough.

He married her. No matter how much Xie Zining stirred things up, she could only ever be the “other woman.”

Xie Ziyi said calmly, “You came all this way just to tell me this? He’s my husband. My younger sister is living alone outside—of course I’d worry. Isn’t it normal for him to drop by on my behalf?”

“On your behalf? You’re really pretending to be generous here? Xie Ziyi, so this is all the courage you have? Your own husband is tangled up with another woman, and you’re still pretending not to know?”

“I’m not pretending. It’s the truth. I was the one who asked him to stop by after work to check on her. After all, Ran Hao has already been locked up—I’m afraid Zining might not take it well.”

“Xie Ziyi, impressive! I underestimated you. Your ability to lie through your teeth is getting better and better.”

Failing to provoke her, Xie Cunzhou stormed off in anger.

As soon as he left, Xie Ziyi deflated like a punctured balloon. Her shoulders slumped, and her eyes filled with pain.

Sure enough, that night, He Tao came home very late.

When he turned on the light and saw her sitting by the bed, he was startled. “Why didn’t you turn on the light?”

“I thought you weren’t coming back tonight.”

“Had some things to deal with—worked late. What, were you waiting for me? Didn’t I tell you? I’ve been busy lately. You don’t have to wait up—just go to sleep. I don’t have a fixed time to come back,” He Tao said naturally while taking off his clothes.

“Is that so? Busy meeting someone, perhaps?”

“What?”

“Xie Zining.” Xie Ziyi turned her head and stared straight into his eyes. “You went to see Xie Zining.”

He Tao froze, surprise flashing across his face. “Someone’s been feeding you rumors? You know how busy Dad’s company has been lately. I’ve been so busy I barely have time to drink water, and now you’re listening to gossip…”

“They sent me the photos.”

“Hard evidence?” He Tao let out a laugh. “We probably just ran into each other somewhere and got photographed. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to overthink… What happened between me and Xie Zining before was just an accident—I was drunk…”

“Medically speaking, men can’t perform when they’re drunk,” Xie Ziyi cut him off, leaving him no room to fool her.

She hadn’t exposed him before not because she was easy to deceive, but because she still wanted this marriage and didn’t want to tear things apart.

Her eyes reddened instantly as she asked if he no longer loved her—otherwise, why would he secretly go see Xie Zining?

She had already forgiven him once, pretending not to know anything. What more did he want from her?

Tears rolled down her cheeks, filled with heartbreak and pain.

How had they ended up like this?

He had started hiding things.

She had started doubting him.

Were they still the same people they once were?

Playing the role of a woman trapped by love, she held the evidence in her hands yet couldn’t bring herself to act ruthlessly. She just wanted to know—what did he really want, and what did she mean to him?

He Tao’s heart softened.

Perhaps he was ambitious, but back then, he had truly loved her. It was just that compared to his ambitions, that love had been overshadowed.

He stepped forward, wrapped his arms around Xie Ziyi, softly apologized, and explained that there was nothing between him and Xie Zining.

He admitted that he had gone to see her—but for another reason.

He confessed that his struggle with Xie Cunzhou had reached a critical stage. If he wanted control of the Xie Group, he needed Xie Zining’s support.

That was very important to him.

Though he didn’t say it outright, his meaning was clear—there was no love between him and Xie Zining; he was simply using her.

He couldn’t promise anything else, but his wife would only ever be Xie Ziyi.

Xie Ziyi didn’t fully believe him, but hearing him say that she would remain his wife gave her some relief.

What she feared most was that He Tao would divorce her and marry Xie Zining instead. She understood his ambitions all too well.

If he was only being ambiguous with Xie Zining for the sake of his ambitions, she could endure it.

As long as she remained He Tao’s wife, she wasn’t afraid of Xie Zining. No matter how much Xie Zining stirred trouble, she wouldn’t be able to overturn everything.

“Ah-choo—”

Xie Zining sneezed, wondering if she had caught a chill.

Yu Xiangqiao rolled her eyes. “In this heat? As if you’d catch a cold that easily. Just focus on your prenatal checkup.”

To avoid suspicion, Xie Zining couldn’t go to the hospital and instead came to the Xu family’s private villa. The Xu family had their own hospital, so it was easy enough to have a doctor make a “house call.”

Her belly was already five or six months along—quite noticeable. But she was clever; she had long switched to loose sportswear, pretending she had recently gotten into fitness, which made it quite deceptive.

On top of that, her limbs were slim, with only her belly showing, so unless you looked closely, it was hard to tell she was pregnant.

Ruan Yaoyao was also there. After the doctor finished the checkup, she came over to ask about the baby’s condition.

Hearing that everything was progressing well, Ruan Yaoyao was delighted, feeling as though half of the Xie family’s fortune was already within her grasp.