Chapter 235: Chapter 235: He is the Second Heir to the Zhou Family, the Richest Family in Port City
The two left the Half Mountain Villa.
Liang Ciqiu appeared only then.
He gazed blankly at the spot where the couple had embraced and kissed.
The distress in his heart wrapped around him like threads of a needle.
Their sweet and warm interactions were what he had pursued all these years, he too wished to be with Su Ran like any ordinary couple, leaning on each other and sharing their respective joys and sorrows.
The love he sought was that simple.
Yet he couldn’t even hold her hand.
Su Ran always treated him as a brother.
It was he who had delusional hopes of having her, for whom he had done many wrong things, and he seemed to be getting tired.
He took out his phone and looked at Su Ran’s number; she had been his support all along this journey.
She was like a beam of light, brightening his poverty-stricken childhood.
They had shared a steamed bun, sipped milk tea together, and fretted over not being able to afford a birthday cake. He fought for Su Ran, and she tenderly bandaged his wounds in their shabby rental, softly urging him not to get hurt again.
Then Su Ran was admitted to Beijing’s best private high school, and it was from then on that they lost contact.
He was a ruffian, not like Su Ran, who studied hard and had a bright future.
With eyes slightly moist, Liang Ciqiu pathetically wiped them away and decided to confront Su Ran. He didn’t want to be just her friend.
If she rejected him,
Liang Ciqiu didn’t want to wait aimlessly anymore.
He couldn’t accompany Su Ran any longer.
So he dialed Su Ran’s phone number, which was disconnected after ringing for five seconds. He dialed again, unwilling to give up.
It turned into “The person you are calling is on another call; please try again later.”
He dialed several more times.
All the same.
His face gradually turned pale, his eyes lifeless.
Su Ran had blocked him.
He understood.
He should have understood long ago.
Tears inexplicably welled up, splashing onto the cold screen of the phone.
The light in his eyes grew darker, his obsession with Su Ran twisted, and the one thing he couldn’t let go of was the fact that he had slept with her.
He had to find an opportunity to lay things out with Su Ran; whatever her attitude then, he would accept it.
…
At this moment, at the top floor of the most luxurious hotel in Beijing.
Su Ran’s clothes were violently torn, her pale arms marked with purple bruises, and she huddled fearfully in the corner. There lay a smashed phone on the ground, and with fearful eyes, she looked at the man with a bare chest and a pale, sickly handsome face.
Seeing the man move his arm,
Su Ran covered her head in fear, “Yan Bai, I didn’t betray you, I really didn’t…”
Her tears fell uncontrollably out of fear.
The man she feared most, the one who cast a great shadow over her body and soul, had returned to the country.
Unlike other bodies,
Zhou Yanbai’s body was covered in the scorch marks of flames, like a mottled and messy painting devoid of any beauty.
The scars spread over the right side of his neck, luckily not ruining his handsome yet eerily gentle face.
He stood up and moved closer to Su Ran, and with a slight lift of his hand, she cringed in terror.
Zhou Yanbai’s lips curled into a sickly yet gentle smile as he crouched in front of Su Ran, gripping her chin forcefully, “Baby, hiding from me for so long, you’ve been up to no good behind my back.”
Su Ran shook her head in terror, “Yan Bai, I didn’t… I really… ah.”
Zhou Yanbai slammed her head forcefully against the wall, pressing firmly, his smile widening, “Still lying to me, who did you give your first time to? Su Ran, if you dare deceive me, I’ll tie you up and throw you into the mountains, then chop up your lover and feed him to the dogs.”
Su Ran’s forehead was swollen and red.
Although she knew that once Zhou Yanbai returned to the country, she could not escape, that he might retaliate for her elopement, torturing and humiliating her even more.
But she had not anticipated that he would force himself upon her outright.
Claiming it was to punish her disobedience.
To gain Zhou Yanbai’s help, Su Ran also bore it willingly.
Yet this man was so sensitive that he could tell she was not a virgin the moment they finished, and he proceeded to fiercely question her as he choked her by the neck.
There was a moment when Su Ran felt she might be tortured to death by Zhou Yanbai.
“I don’t know, I really don’t know,” Su Ran, with her hair in disarray, covered her forehead with one hand to prevent him from striking her again.
Seeing Zhou Yanbai calm down, she wrapped her arms around his waist, “Yan Bai, believe me, I didn’t mean to run, I was just… I was just too scared.”
“Uh.”
Zhou Yanbai grabbed Su Ran’s hair, his mood shifting from agitation to pleasure as he saw her pained expression, “Was it the man who just called? Who is he?”
Su Ran, terrified that Zhou Yanbai would go after Liang Ciqiu, hurriedly explained, “He’s my brother.”
“Another lie.”
His hand tightened around her neck, moving closer by several centimeters, “What ‘brother’ do you claim to have?”
“I… cough cough, I’ve known him since childhood, he’s my neighbor, cough cough, my brother,” Su Ran struggled to speak.
Zhou Yanbai suffered not only from bipolar disorder but also severe psychological trauma, and he would act like a madman when experiencing an episode, Su Ran had met him in the hospital.
Back then, he was badly burned, desperately needing money for surgery, while her own mother was also suffering from a severe terminal illness and was beyond saving.
She was in her senior year of high school then, feeling immense pressure, enough to make her want to cry.
The meager tens of thousands of yuan she held could allow her mother to live for a few more months, but those months would be filled with painful suffering. At that moment, feeling totally disillusioned, she gave the money meant for her mother’s treatment to Zhou Yanbai, inadvertently saving his life.
But the situation remained bleak.
Saving him meant a chance at life, letting him be meant certain death.
Su Ran, her compassion overflowing after dealing with her mother’s funeral, gave all of her family’s savings to treat a stranger’s illness.
This act was bold and reckless.
Had her mother been alive, she would have insisted on saving the money for a proper college education.
The sick man was like a bottomless pit that never showed improvement.
The doctors even recommended they go abroad for surgery.
Where would she get that kind of money?
She had intended to give up on Zhou Yanbai, but at that time, Old Sir Lu presented her with a 30-million check, urging her to stay away from Lu Qingyan, even better if she never appeared before him again.
He said that the Lu Family would never accept her as a daughter-in-law and if Lu Qingyan insisted on being with her, the Lu Family would take everything from Lu Qingyan and retrain a new heir.
Su Ran did not want to harm Lu Qingyan.
Facing Zhou Yanbai, who even when lucid, remained silent with a lifeless gaze.
He was handsomely born but was full of medical devices, barely awake for an hour each day, and never speaking a word to her, Su Ran felt pity for him, thinking such a beautiful person deserved a better life.
So, she took the 30 million and took him abroad for treatment.
She managed to open Zhou Yanbai’s heart, but also attracted a perverted demon.
Because Zhou Yanbai was not some destitute orphan with no one to claim him.
He was the second heir to the Zhou Family, the wealthiest family in Port City.
She had heard that his brother had died, and that he had failed in a power struggle within the family, which led to his current downfall.