Page 31

She had wronged him.

She would act first and explain later. She would not ask Gu Yeliang for permission.

Once she had made up her mind, Sang Ya's steps grew lighter on the way home.

Yes, that's what I'll do!

Dragging it out would only hurt everyone.

Sang Ya pushed open the front door and immediately saw Xie Zhiyu chatting happily with her grandfather.

Unease stirred in her. Had he come to discuss the wedding?

Elder Sang's smile vanished the moment he saw his granddaughter.

"Sang Ya, kneel."

His tone was so stern that Sang Ya barely recognized him.

Breaking Off the Engagement

The moment Xie Zhiyu learned that Sang Ya was seeing someone, he decided to break off their engagement.

He had originally planned to speak with Sang Ya in private and clear things up. Since she had fallen for someone else, he was willing to let her go and, as long as it did not harm Xie Group's interests, offer her some help.

Sang Ya had grown up under Elder Sang's protection. She was innocent and guileless, but the Sang Family was troubled by internal strife. The engagement had been a safeguard for her.

With Xie Zhiyu and Xie Group behind her, anyone with ill intentions would think twice before making a move.

Elder Sang and Xie Zhiyu both understood that. Only Sang Ya herself was swept up in passion and romance. Like a child who refused to grow up, she was fixated on loving and being loved.

For the sake of the bond they had shared since childhood, Xie Zhiyu had given Sang Ya a chance to come clean. She had not taken it. Instead, she had chosen to betray him without hesitation.

Her choice left Xie Zhiyu cold. He decided to cut through the mess and end the engagement at once.

So, after the bidding conference ended, he went to the Sang Family home.

Elder Sang had a right to know what Sang Ya had done.

Elder Sang knew Sang Ya had been going out often lately. He had assumed she was dating Xie Zhiyu and getting to know him better.

He had been delighted. In truth, Sang Ya had met Xie Zhiyu only three out of every ten times she went out, and those meetings had been to gather information.

When Elder Sang received Xie Zhiyu's request to visit, he naturally assumed the young man had come to confirm their engagement.

Seeing his granddaughter marry the promising young man he thought so highly of would fulfill one of his wishes. Perhaps he might even live to see their child born.

When Xie Zhiyu handed him a stack of documents, Elder Sang was touched by how much thought the young man had put into things for his granddaughter.

Feeling pleased, Elder Sang opened the folder. The moment he saw the photographs, he almost thought his aging eyes were playing tricks on him.

"Who... is this?"

Elder Sang wiped his reading glasses. He knew the woman smiling so sweetly in the photograph, but he did not know the man holding his granddaughter so intimately.

He looked at the photograph, then up at Xie Zhiyu, as though comparing the two.

They looked nothing alike, and their bearing was completely different. There was not the slightest resemblance.

Elder Sang flipped through the photographs, searching for some clue. "Could these be doctored?"

"No," Xie Zhiyu said.

He pulled up a video of the two of them on a date. "The photographs are real. So is the video."

Elder Sang's expression grew grave. Anger made his vision swim.

"I... I spoiled that girl rotten. I spoiled her rotten!"

Elder Sang gripped Xie Zhiyu's hand tightly with his aged fingers, his cloudy eyes full of guilt. "Zhiyu, this old man and that wretched granddaughter of mine have wronged you... I'll call her here right now and make her apologize to you..."

"She doesn't have a malicious bone in her body. She's just too young and naive. I'll make her break up with that no-good boy at once..."

Elder Sang was deeply ashamed. He had failed to raise his granddaughter properly, leaving her fearless and heedless of the consequences of her actions.

She had single-handedly destroyed a good marriage alliance.

Xie Zhiyu knew exactly where he stood. He stopped Elder Sang before he could continue. "Grandpa Sang, let's cancel the engagement."

Elder Sang sighed, knowing he could not change his mind. "Ah... Whatever you decide, you have my support."

"We're the ones who wronged you. I'll bring Sang Ya to your home to apologize, and the Sang Family will give up ten percent of the profits and its controlling say..."

The compensation Elder Sang offered was substantial. He wanted to make amends to Xie Zhiyu and the Xie Family and ease their anger. At the very least, he could not let the two families become enemies.

Xie Zhiyu listened, but he did not offer the forgiveness Elder Sang had hoped for.

"There's one more thing you have a right to know..."

Elder Sang watched him open another video. It showed Sang Ya stealing documents from Xie Zhiyu's office, from beginning to end.

"What she stole concerned a technology project up for bid. Gu Yeliang submitted a bid for that project."

Those few words told Elder Sang plenty.

He understood Xie Zhiyu's implication at once. Sang Ya had stolen trade secrets, and it was obvious whom she had done it for.

He had never imagined his granddaughter would be so reckless as to commit a crime for a man. He breathed heavily with rage. "That wretched girl!"

"Grandpa Sang, take a deep breath," Xie Zhiyu said.

"In, then out."

"In, then out."

Elder Sang gradually steadied himself. In an instant, he seemed to have aged ten years. "Zhiyu..."

He was ashamed to ask. His mouth opened and closed, but in the end, his love for his granddaughter made him swallow his pride and plead for her. "I... This is my fault. I raised an ungrateful child... I'll make her kneel and apologize. I'm begging you, Zhiyu. Could you... could you keep her out of prison?"

"If she goes to prison, her whole life will be ruined..."

"I'll pay any price."

"Sang Ya is twenty-one," Xie Zhiyu said. "You can't keep treating her like a little child."

Elder Sang gritted his teeth. "I know. This time, I'll make sure she learns her lesson..."

Going to prison for stealing trade secrets from her fiancé's family would be a grave matter.

If word got out, the blow to Sang Ya would be devastating—to her reputation and everything else...

"Zhiyu, this is the only thing I'll ever beg of you. Whatever you ask, the Sang Family will agree..."

Rankings

|

Transported into a Book

Wish-Fulfillment Fiction

Wealthy CEO

Female Supporting Character Fiction

Time Travel and Rebirth Romance

Pumpkin Vine

Mind Reading

Doted on by Everyone