Xue Shengjing had already stormed up to her. Lowering his voice, he demanded, "Ru Xin, just what is your relationship with Hu Xiaotian? Why did you call him your husband?"
From his question, Huo Xiaoru realized that he had been lurking in the shadows, eavesdropping throughout her conversation with Hu Xiaotian. No wonder Hu Xiaotian had been so cautious. Worried about Hu Xiaotian's predicament and angry at Xue Shengjing for listening in, she replied coldly, "What does anything between him and me have to do with you?"
Xue Shengjing pulled a miserable face. "How could it have nothing to do with me?" He had wanted to say, I'm your father, but swallowed the words back down just as they reached his lips. He knew that Huo Xiaoru would never readily acknowledge him, so he changed tack. "How could you pledge yourself to him in secret?"
Huo Xiaoru bit her cherry-red lip, guessing that Hu Xiaotian must have fed him a pack of nonsense. But since Hu Xiaotian had already said it, she could hardly expose his lie. Remembering his earlier instruction to admit that they were secretly involved, she steeled herself. "So what?"
Clever all his life, Xue Shengjing had chosen this moment to lose his wits. Above all, concern for his daughter had thrown his mind into turmoil. He beat his chest and stamped his feet. "You foolish girl! You even bore him a child without a proper, formal marriage! What are we to do now?"
Huo Xiaoru's beautiful eyes flew wide, and her lovely face flushed all the way down to her neck. *Hu Xiaotian, you utter liar! Saying we pledged ourselves to each other in secret was bad enough, but now you've claimed we have a child! I'm still an unmarried maiden! If this gets out, how