Chapter 23: Feel Much Better

After reaching home, Zhao Xiang bid his daughter good night and marched up the stairs with his anger rekindling and fueling his every move. He wasn't going to hold off on this punishment any longer. Enough was enough. This had all gone on for far too long.

Gu Yanya chased after him in a frenzy. She had to stop him before he could reach her precious Yanyan.

"Xiang! Why are you so angry? Can't whatever you have to deal with wait until after we talk?"

Zhao Xiang didn't even face his wife as he coldly said, "It's not whatever I have to deal with, it's who I have to deal with."

"Don't you think that us talking should be more important?" Gu Yanya plead, "We can deal with it tomorrow after you've cooled off and are thinking clearly again. You know it's not good to act on your anger."

He couldn't believe it took him this long to realize how cold his wife was toward their daughter. This whole time, Gu Yan had always been the apple of his wife's eyes. And looking at her then, he realized that she'd gotten so confident that she didn't even try to hide it anymore. His own ignorance allowed it to go this far.

Still, he just couldn't understand why his wife would prioritize another's child over her own!

"Gu Yanya, I'm thinking very clearly right now! From now on, my daughter comes first! I don't understand why she never did or why, even now, the same doesn't apply to you!"

Gu Yanya was getting desperate. She didn't understand why suddenly he seemed to be so against her. It wasn't fair! It was all Zhao Yingyue and that Hua Mengyao's fault! If they hadn't fueled his anger, she would have been able to calm him down and stop his rage entirely.

"Are you really going to believe what that woman says over your own wife? You even heard what Zhao Yingyue said in my defense earlier! Go ask her yourself. If you think that you can accuse me of not loving our daughter, why don't we settle that right now?"

Zhao Xiang suddenly stopped in his tracks, many dangerous thoughts crossing his mind. Did she still dare to stand before him and act like the perfect mother?

"I suppose you're right. But I saw that footage from what happened earlier. Even though the poor child tried to protect you by hiding it," he discloses. "When that man rushed at her, you stepped away instead of even trying to deescalate the situation. You were the reason that she was there in the first place, Yanya, and you were the reason she didn't have proper security like she was supposed to have had years ago."

"So excuse me, my dear wife, if that along with the fact that you defend your niece more than your own daughter and cover that up as 'parenting' makes me doubt how much you 'love' our daughter."

"That being said, I don't care if you ask her. She's too sweet to throw her family under the bus—unlike some people. Now, I wish that she wasn't so timid to get walked all over so much. I wouldn't even have a right to be angry if she ever decided to fight back."

"And why would I? Gu Yanya, you are on thin ice with me. If I discover anymore of your lies, I will send your precious niece away from here and you don't want to know what the consequences for you would be!"

"Now go wait for me in the bedroom while I go deal with that Gu Yan."

Zhao Xiang didn't believe in divorce but how would he be able to stay with a woman with no care toward her own child? There could even be more that she hid from him or lied about and he'd trusted her so implicitly that he wouldn't have a clue.

Gu Yanya stormed off with tears of frustration streaming down her face. She didn't know how she'd be able to face her Gu Yan again after this. She couldn't risk acting anymore rashly and permanently sealing her Yanyan's fate.

"Yanyan, I'm sorry," she whispered to herself with silent hopes that her Yanyan could somehow hear her.

Meanwhile, Zhao Yingyue heard the entire argument from her room as she got ready for her stream. This was the first time she ever heard her parents argue or even heard her father yell. She had to admit that it made her feel much better. Even he knew how to draw a line with that woman.

She still didn't trust her father but he was making steps to make things better for her and get revenge on her behalf. She didn't know what would happen to Gu Yan, but she knew she'd get the full force of her father's anger. Whatever that entailed, it wouldn't be pretty but she also couldn't really say that she cared much about what happened.

At least on the bright side, it seemed that her father was no longer so charmed by his wife and it took seeing another family treating Zhao Yingyue right for him to realize how toxic their household was.

It was sad but relieving all the same that it finally happened. This would only make the revenge scheme's success feel much better.

As she was thinking of this, Zhao Yingyue's thoughts shifted back to Liu Haoyu. In the last few days, he'd been all over her mind, even when he wasn't there or she wasn't thinking about joining Q5. Just at random times, poof. He invaded her thoughts.

She supposed he was quite charming. He was protective of her but always acted in accordance with her boundaries. She found it sweet and knew that it nurtured a feeling of trust.

She looked down at her hands curiously. Earlier, he had held them and he had even hugged her before.

This wasn't much to most people be she hadn't really interacted with other people that much. She never really saw her parents' displays of affection toward each other so this was all so new for her. And it made her anxious but not in a bad way. Is this what people called having a crush on someone?

"Should I call him?"

Zhao Yingyue had been tossing around that question in her head since she was so excited and he was the only person she could talk to about it.

"Would that be too forward? I hope not."

Earlier, he had told her to call him anytime she needed him but this wasn't classified as a need necessarily. But she really wanted to. He wouldn't be upset at that, would he?

She pulled out her phone and stared at it for a while before quickly calling Liu Haoyu before she could overthink and lost the courage to do so.

He answered almost immediately which gave Zhao Yingyue no time to second guess her decision and startled her at the same time. Was he attached to his phone or something? Why did he answer so fast?

"Yingyue?"

Flustered, Zhao Yingyue stammered out, "Oh hi! I didn't expect you to answer so quickly!"

She hadn't had time to think so far ahead. She'd known that she wanted to call him but still wasn't sure what she should say if he'd actually answered. And he did. And now she ran the risk of sounding like a fool.

"Are you okay, Yingyue?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just wanted to call because I just heard something interesting and it made me really excited and the first thought I had was to call you... Is that weird?"

Liu Haoyu chuckled. He found it cute the way that she nervously sped through her words. He liked when she let go of the mask and was just herself in his presence.

His voice was gentle as he replied, "No, it's not. After all, I'll be your husband soon. Why don't you tell me about it?"

"Well I heard my mom and dad arguing outside almost immediately after I made it to my room! She was still trying to defend Gu Yan to my father. But you wouldn't believe what he said in response!"

"What did he say?"

"He said, 'From now on, my daughter comes first'! Just like that! It was so satisfying to hear. I didn't have to see the scene to know how much this must have angered my mother. But with Bai Xinyi near me, she wouldn't dare try to put her hands on me! It's all so... what's the word? Epic!"

The way Zhao Yingyue had mimicked her father's voice made Liu Haoyu laugh. While the situation was already funny on its own, nothing could beat how his fiancée found so much amusement from it and how she even tried to deepen her voice to her father's level when mimicking him.

"With me to protect you, I dare someone to even try putting their hands on you. I don't care who that person is. They'll suffer."

"My protector. That reminds me... I mean I had been upset before at my dad for letting this go on for so long and I know he's not completely innocent as his ignorance does carry guilt but we won't hurt him too much, will we?"

She didn't want him to suffer as hard when the punishment wouldn't fit the crime for her. Especially when she could see how hard he was trying to do better by her.

"With what we have, it should primarily hurt that mother and cousin of yours. Other than that, it may hurt his ego and reputation a bit but he'll survive. Unless he knew what we know which it sounds like he doesn't."

She lets out a breath of relief. "Okay. That's good."

"I'm glad to see you in a better mood. Though I do miss holding you in my arms, darling."

Zhao Yingyue blushed and was stunned to silence for a few seconds. She couldn't believe that he would flirt with her even over the phone.

"Quiet, you!"

Liu Haoyu chuckled in response before asking, "Aside from that, is everything else alright?"

"Thanks to you, it is," Zhao Yingyue said. "My dad even apologized for what I think is the first time I've ever heard. I'm going to start streaming soon, too! These last few days are the most hopeful I've ever felt and the happiest in a long time! "

"I'm glad that I could do that for you."

"Technically, my watchers are still a huge part of how we even became acquainted though so we must always be kind to them. That said, I'm going to hop on now. If you want, you can call the others to see if they want to join us. Today has me in the mood to move up a rank!"

She was already ranked really high on the server but since she didn't play much, she hadn't yet reached how high she knew that she could. Once she was out of there, she would surely reach her goal with more time to focus on playing.

"Then let's do it! I'll be on in a few. Later, darling."

"Later!"

Zhao Yingyue pretty much danced around her room as she got ready for her stream, tugging on her mask, putting on blue light glasses, and placing her hair in a comfortable messy bun so that it would at least stay out of her way while she played. It would only be a little longer before she wouldn't have to hide who she was behind mask and glasses

As she gleefully strode to her computer, her mother stood outside of her door, face to face with Bai Xinyi with her teeth gritted. For the first time ever, she'd been barred from entering her daughter's room to punish her and it did nothing for her anger! How dare these people step into their lives and ruin everything!