The Reluctant Bride Book II Chapter 6.2

Qiao Tan Yuan arrived at the hotel.

The moment Qian Tan Yuan saw Chu Da entered the elevator, she didn’t get a chance to confront Chu Da because Chu Da was in a daze looking at a medical report. Was Chu Da sick?

Qiao Tan Yuan thought the heavens were on her side. She glanced over Chu Da’s shoulder. Chu Da had ovarian cancer?

The elevator doors opened, Qiao Tan Yuan followed the dazed Chu Da to a hotel room. Inside the hotel room, Qiao Tan Yuan confronted Chu Da a third time.

‘I’ll give you five hundred thousand to leave Jiao Wu,’ Qiao Tan Yuan offered.

Chu Da finally registered she had ovarian cancer and her misty eyes looked at Qiao Tan Yuan.

Qiao Tan Yuan had a friend who was a doctor that specialised in treating cancer patients. She knew how expensive cancer treatments were.

‘Look at yourself, you’re sick,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I’m willing to pay for your treatments. After your treatments are successful, you can live a good life. But even after treatments, you can’t have children. Gu Jiao Wu is a firstborn of the Gu Household. He can’t marry a woman who can’t have children. You should voluntarily retreat. Or else when his grandparents and parents hate you, you’ll have to deal with the consequences.’

Qiao Tan Yuan purposely said too much. But she was happy to death to see Chu Da’s white complexion. As long as Chu Da agreed to leave Gu Jiao Wu, five hundred thousand was nothing, she was even willing to give Chu Da one million.

Qiao Tan Yuan signed a cheque and waved it in front of Chu Da’s face.

‘I thought I lost hope,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘But now I can’t let go. The Gu Household would never accept an infertile woman.’

‘You don’t need to say anymore, I’ll leave,’ Chu Da said.

Chu Da accepted the cheque and left the hotel room.

Qiao Tan Yuan was overjoyed she got rid of Chu Da. She thought Gu Jiao Wu didn’t love Chu Da deeply otherwise he would have introduced Chu Da to his family already. Unbeknownst to her, Gu Jiao Wu wanted to protect Chu Da from his family’s harsh scrutiny for as long as possible, and Chu Da was the most important person in his life.

Qiao Tan Yuan asked the hotel staff to change the beddings then she waited on the bed for Gu Jiao Wu.

Gu Jiao Wu ate lunch at the Gu Mansion and he informed his parents he would bring Chu Da to meet them at dinner. But when he returned to the hotel room, he only saw Qiao Tan Yuan and couldn’t see Chu Da anywhere.

‘Qiao Tan Yuan, what are you doing here?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked accusingly. ‘Where’s Chu Da?’

‘She left,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said happily.

‘Left?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘Where? Did you force her to leave?’

‘Yes,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. She stood in front of Gu Jiao Wu and clapped her hands mockingly. ‘Big brother Jiao Wu, she doesn’t love you. I gave her a five hundred thousand cheque, she took it and left. She loves your money, she doesn’t love you-’

Gu Jiao Wu slapped Qiao Tan Yuan’s cheek hard. ‘Qiao Tan Yuan, what right do you have to interfere in my business? I warned you to stay away from me. Who do you think you are?’

‘She loves your money,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. She bit her lips crazily. ‘Gu Jiao Wu, wake up. You’re only worth five hundred thousand. Your woman left you for five hundred thousand. You…’

Qiao Tan Yuan could see Gu Jiao Wu was about to slap her again. She bit her lips and didn’t allow herself to cry.

‘Go ahead and hit me,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘No matter how you hit me, it can’t change the truth. The woman you loved, left you for five hundred thousand.’

Gu Jiao Wu retrieved his hand. He didn’t have a habit of hitting women. Before Qiao Tan Yuan provoked him and he slapped her. His red eyes glared at her.

‘Qiao Tan Yuan, leave,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘I don’t want to see you.’

‘I want to force you to see me,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Gu Jiao Wu, wake up. I’m the person who truly loves you. She didn’t love you.’

‘Are you leaving or not?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. He could still smell Chu Da’s fragrance. He bit his lips and looked contemptuously at Qiao Tan Yuan. ‘If you’re not leaving, I’ll leave.’

Gu Jiao Wu turned around and left to find Chu Da.

But since that day, Chu Da disappeared. Gu Jiao Wu couldn’t find her even after a month. He looked for her at her school and places they visited often.

Qiao Jiao Wu used his connections to find Chu Da around the country, but no one saw her.

Time past quickly, on New Year’s Day, Gu Jiao Wu ate dinner with his family and drank with his friends at night. Because he still couldn’t find Chu Da, he didn’t have an appet.i.te and only drank to forget his pain.

Gu Jiao Wu hated himself for being powerless. Why couldn’t he find Chu Da? He believed Chu Da would never accept Qiao Tan Yuan’s money. Qiao Tan Yuan was a MF, he was a MF too.

Gu Jiao Wu didn’t understand what he did wrong? Why couldn’t he find Chu Da? Chu Da, where did you go?

Gu Jiao Wu’s friends didn’t know what happened, but no one dared to persuade Gu Jiao Wu to stop drinking except Qiao Tan Yuan.

‘Jiao Wu, stop drinking,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.

Gu Jiao Wu heard Qiao Tan Yuan’s hateful voice. ‘Leave.’

Qiao Tan Yuan’s body froze after seeing the intense hatred in Gu Jiao Wu’s eyes.

‘Big brother Jiao Wu, you don’t need to be like this, she…’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.

‘I dare you to say her name one more time,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘Do you believe I’ll strangle you to death if you say her name?’

Gu Jiao Wu drank another beer can.

A while later, Qiao Tan Yuan couldn’t stand watching Gu Jiao Wu poison his body with alcohol, and opened a beer can.

‘If you want to drink then I’ll drink with you,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.

‘Who wants to drink with you?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. He s.n.a.t.c.hed the beer can from Qiao Tan Yuan’s hand. ‘Stay away from me.’

‘Gu Jiao Wu…’ Qiao Tan Yuan called frustratingly, stood and left.

Four days later, Qiao Tan Yuan couldn’t stand Gu Jiao Wu drinking himself to death. So she secretly put a sleeping pill in his wine gla.s.s. Then she asked Shen Cheng to help her carry the drunk Gu Jiao Wu home.

At the Gu Mansion, the elders were asleep. Shen Cheng and Qiao Tan Yuan carried Gu Jiao Wu into Gu Jiao Wu’s bedroom and laid Gu Jiao Wu on the bed.

‘Tan Yuan, I’ll drive you home,’ Shen Cheng said.

‘No need,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. She shook her head and looked at the drunk Gu Jiao Wu. ‘I need to stay here and take care of him.’

Qiao Tan Yuan was scared something would happen to Gu Jiao Wu after consuming alcohol and a sleeping pill.

‘But…’ Shen Cheng said.

Shen Cheng didn’t know Qiao Tan Yuan gave Gu Jiao Wu a sleeping pill, he only thought Gu Jiao Wu was drunk.

‘No but,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Big brother Cheng, you can go home. I’ll stay here and take care of him.’

‘Tan Yuan…’ Shen Cheng said.

Shen Cheng understood Qiao Tan Yuan’s heart. Qiao Tan Yuan compared to Lam Tian Di, Lam Tian Di lived a blessed life because Gu Jiao Wen loved Lam Tian Di. While since the start, Qian Tan Yuan’s love was unrequited.

‘Tan Yuan, I can take you anywhere you want to go,’ Shen Cheng said. ‘Aunty Zhang can take care of Gu Jiao Wu.’

‘No need,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Big brother Cheng, you can go home. I’ll stay here to take care of him.’

‘OK,’ Shen Cheng said.

Shen Cheng knew he couldn’t persuade Qiao Tan Yuan to leave with him. He walked to the door, turned around and worried about Qiao Tan Yuan for a while. He sighed and left.

After Shen Cheng left, Qiao Tan Yuan looked at Gu Jiao Wu’s cold drunk face. She stepped to the bed. It was the first time she saw Gu Jiao Wu’s handsome face at a close distance, because he always pushed her away and hated her.

‘Jiao Wu…’ Qiao Tan Yuan called. She dared to stroke Gu Jiao Wu’s eyelids because she knew he wouldn’t wake up suddenly. ‘Why won’t you look at me? I love you more than anyone else who loves you. Why don’t you love me?’

Qiao Tan Yuan’s heart hurt too much. But she couldn’t cry. She kissed Gu Jiao Wu’s lips, it was her first kiss that she saved for him. She liked the taste of wine on his lips.

Was it because Qiao Tan Yuan loved someone too long, and could accept everything about the person she loved?

Qiao Tan Yuan laid next to Gu Jiao Wu, something he would never let her do if he was awake.

‘Jiao Wu, did you know I waited for this day for a long time?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.

Suddenly Qiao Tan Yuan thought of something and sat up. What if her parents found out she didn’t sleep at home and found her in bed with Gu Jiao Wu…

Qiao Tan Yuan’s heart raced fast. She clenched her hands and stood. It was the perfect opportunity, and there was no reason for her not to seize the opportunity. She turned off her phone and began to take off Gu Jiao Wu’s clothes. It was her first time taking off someone else’s clothes. She felt shy, sweaty and struggled to take off his clothes.

After a while, Qiao Tan Yuan threw Gu Jiao Wu’s clothes on the floor and took off her clothes. Then she laid next to him and thought of something else. She stood and walked to the study room. She found dark red stamp ink, returned to the bed and smudged it on the middle of the bed before lying next to him again.

The following morning, as Qiao Tan Yuan predicted, her parents couldn’t find her in her bedroom. They couldn’t connect to her phone so they rang Shen Cheng, he told them she was at the Gu Mansion.

A while later, w.a.n.g Tu Ya and Gu Qi Jiang didn’t know why Qiao Tan Yuan’s parents came to the Gu Mansion early in the morning and said that Qiao Tan Yuan was at the Gu Mansion. The four of them checked in Gu Jiao Wu’s bedroom, and saw the two of them in bed together.

End of Chapter Six (Part 2 of 2)