By the time I got home, it was already dark.
Mapleview Manor was brightly lit. After arriving, I had Leo Li go home.
My in-laws were at home, but Hugh Pei hadn't returned.
"Zoe, where's Hugh Pei? Isn't he with you?" my mother-in-law asked when she saw me return alone.
"I ran into a friend after the summit and had dinner with her. I thought Hugh Pei had come back," I said with a look of surprise.
If I wasn't mistaken, Hugh Pei wouldn't be coming back tonight. With a new prey in his sights, his heart had already flown to someone else's side.
My father-in-law's face was grim. They hadn't even returned to C-City, and Hugh Pei was already staying out all night. If they weren't here, would he just treat this place like a hotel?
"Call him. If you can't get through, call all of his friends!" my father-in-law said, waving his hand, extremely annoyed.
My mother-in-law gave me a look, and I handed her my phone.
It was better for me to stay out of this kind of scolding. It was best to leave it to my mother-in-law. Hugh Pei would never dare to scold his own mother.
Although I wasn't close with Hugh Pei's good friends, I still had their numbers, except for Evan Yu's.
My mother-in-law scrolled through the contacts and started making calls, on speakerphone. After four or five calls, I heard Lucas Lu's voice. "Hugh, it's a call from sister-in-law!"
"Don't answer!" Hugh Pei's voice was extremely impatient. My in-laws and I heard it clearly.
There was also the sound of others jeering in the background. In their minds, I was just an unloved, resentful wife.
"It's Auntie..." Lucas Lu said in a low voice.
The jeering instantly stopped.
Hugh Pei also answered the phone. "Mom?"
"Hugh Pei, where are you?! Why didn't you come home for dinner? Wasting your time with a bunch of playboys, are you trying to ruin yourself?" My mother-in-law, usually a gentle and dignified person, now had the air of a tigress.
"I'm just catching up with a few friends. I'll be back soon," Hugh Pei replied, sounding very exasperated.
"Zoe also had dinner with a friend, and she's already back. I'm giving you half an hour to get back here immediately!" my mother-in-law said, hanging up angrily. She had heard the sound of a woman's sweet laughter in the background.
She looked at me, her expression a little complicated. "Zoe, when he gets back, give him a good talking to. He's so undisciplined!"
I took the phone and nodded like a wronged little wife.
Half an hour later, Hugh Pei returned, radiating resentment. I had just finished eating and was wiping my mouth when his hellish gaze made me shiver.
He was clearly too angry to eat. He threw his coat on the sofa and went upstairs.
My in-laws didn't care whether he had eaten or not and continued to watch TV on the sofa.
I couldn't just go and watch TV with them. I really couldn't get into those anti-Japanese war dramas. I had no choice but to brace myself and go upstairs.
The sound of running water came from the bathroom. Hugh Pei's phone was on the bed. I was tempted to look at its contents. Had he contacted her again after I parted ways with Lila Wei?
I picked up the phone, only to find that it required facial recognition to unlock.
Just as I was feeling disappointed, a text message notification popped up, showing the first part of the message.
It was probably a reply from Lila Wei: Sorry, Mr. Pei, I have a boyfriend, and I heard that you...
I couldn't see the rest without unlocking it.
"What are you doing?" Hugh Pei's voice suddenly rang out, filled with coldness.
The next second, the phone was snatched from my hand. He warned me, "Don't touch my phone in the future."
As he spoke, he lowered his head, unlocked the phone, and read the message he had just received. His face grew even darker. A man like him could have any woman he wanted. A simple flick of his finger could have a stadium full of married women willing to divorce for him. Yet Lila Wei had rejected him.
His male pride had suffered an unprecedented blow, his charm a great provocation.
"Who is she?" I asked deliberately.
"None of your business," Hugh Pei said, looking at me with annoyance.
"If I'm not mistaken, the rest of her message is probably that she heard you're married and hopes you'll be faithful to your own marriage and not cheat, right?" Not only was I not angry, but I was even proud of my own cleverness.
I knew Lila Wei's character. She would definitely say something about morality and righteousness.
Hugh Pei sat on the bed and asked coldly, "So?"
I immediately took out another divorce agreement from the drawer. This time, I had changed it slightly, demanding 3% of his shares in Pei Corp.
After Hugh Pei read it, he actually laughed. "3% of the shares? Zoe Xu, you have quite an appetite."
He should know that Pei Corp had many shareholders, large and small, and many of them didn't even hold 3%.
I hesitated, wondering how to tactfully tell Hugh Pei that if he wasn't willing to give up 3% now, he would give up more later.
In my past life, he had given up to 10%.
"Didn't she mind that you're married? Just pay a price to divorce me, and then you can pursue her without any worries," I reminded him.
"You think she's worth it?" Hugh Pei raised an eyebrow, his tone sarcastic.
I was speechless again. Not worth it? You were willing to give up everything for her later!
It must be that Hugh Pei didn't yet understand his true feelings and was treating Lila Wei like his past flings, the kind he would get tired of once he had them. That's why he could be so brazen.
I sighed, tore up the divorce agreement, and threw it in the trash. It seemed I would have to wait a while and prepare a new agreement for 10% of the shares.
Hugh Pei watched my every move with cold eyes. I went to the bathroom to shower with a hint of regret.
When I came out of the shower, Hugh Pei was on the phone on the bedroom balcony, a cigarette between his fingers. The smell of smoke, carried in by the evening breeze, made me cough a couple of times.
He turned to look at me, hung up the phone, and threw the cigarette butt on the floor, casually extinguishing it with the tip of his shoe.
"Can't you just throw it in the trash? It's hard for Auntie Liu to clean," I said, elegantly applying my skincare products, deliberately making a point.
I had been giving Eva Liu extra responsibilities—making all three meals, brewing the medicine, and cleaning the master bedroom. Of course, I also paid her more than the others.
For this, she was very grateful to me.
"Weren't they hired to do housework?" Hugh Pei sneered. "If they find it tiring, they can quit this line of work."
I shook my head. This man would regret it later.
Hugh Pei went to lie down on the bed. Just then, my phone rang. It was Julian Qi. I was a little surprised.
The moment I answered, Julian Qi's desperate voice came through. "Sis Zoe! Help me! I'm being beaten up..."
"Where are you?" My expression tightened, and I asked directly.
"The parking lot of the Zenith Hotel!" Just as Julian Qi finished speaking, the sound of punches and kicks came through the phone, along with his pained cries. The call then disconnected.
Without a second thought, I changed my clothes, grabbed my car keys, and prepared to leave.
"Where are you going?" Hugh Pei asked coldly.