Chapter 149 - Sowing Discord

He and Lu Mo flew past the stairwell. Li Xiaoran almost brushed past Qiao An, but he didn’t see her.

Qiao An felt as if a basin of ice water had been poured over her, making her shiver. She turned around and left in a daze.

Lu Mo looked back and realized that Qiao An had disappeared. Her tense nerves relaxed slightly.

Qiao An didn’t know how she got home. She felt light, like a soul stepping on cotton, a lifeless puppet.

Loco was shocked to see Qiao An’s distraught appearance, her palm-sized face wet, and her beautiful eyes red from crying.

Qiao An had always been a very strong-willed girl in her memory. She had never seen her cry since she was young. Even when she was betrayed by Li Zecheng and jumped off a building to commit suicide, she never showed weakness in front of others.

Luo Ke asked with concern, “An’an, what’s wrong? Aren’t you divorced from a scumbag today? Shouldn’t you be happy?”

Qiao An hugged Loco helplessly and choked. “Coco, Li Xiaoran… doesn’t want me.”

Loco was dumbfounded.

“Did you want to get back together with Li Xiaoran?”

“Yes.” Qiao An nodded, ashamed.

When she thought about how she had gone away happily but returned scarred, she felt that she had done something especially embarrassing.

“He rejected you outright?”

Qiao An recalled Li Xiaoran saying to Lu Mo, “Her matters have nothing to do with me.”

She nodded sadly. “I guess.”

“Did you tell him about the baby?” Loco said excitedly.

Qiao An was very thin-skinned and proud. To be able to muster up the courage to do this today was already her limit.

“Coco, I don’t want to restrain him with a child. One can’t love to order.”

Luo Ke also knew that Qiao An had just walked out of a failed marriage. If not for the fact that Li Xiaoran was the man Qiao An had always liked, it would probably be difficult for Qiao An to muster the courage to pursue Li Xiaoran in this lifetime.

But Li Xiaoran rejected Qiao An?

This was a huge blow to Qiao An.

Qiao An would probably find it difficult to accept a new relationship for the rest of her life.

Qiao An was a weed that couldn’t be blown by the wind. She was a tenacious cockroach. She hid in the corner alone and licked the sadness in her heart before quickly pulling herself together.

Life had to continue. She still had to fight for a bright future for the child in her stomach. How could she have the time to grieve?

The next day, Qiao An arrived at the Hai Yue Corporation.

As soon as she arrived at the office, she was surrounded by her colleagues. Her colleagues were especially attentive to her as they gossiped about the company.

“Chief Editor Qiao, do you know that something major happened at Hai Yue while you were on leave?”

Driven by curiosity, Qiao An looked at her colleague and waited for her to continue.

“Hai Yue has been bought over by the Huo Corporation. Our magazine’s salves volume has been at the top for four consecutive issues. He will reward each of us with a huge bonus. We ordinary employees have 12,000 dollars. You are the chief editor and a contributor to these four issues. Your bonus must be very high.”

Jo Ann was instantly amused. “Where do I get my bonus?”

Someone told her warmly, “Our bonus was directly given to us by the director, but it’s said that your bonus would be personally given to you by the CEO. The CEO wants to see you.”

Qiao An was overjoyed. “Then I’ll go find him!”

Ah Cui and the others said excitedly to Qiao An, “Hurry up and go. You have to treat us to a feast later.”

“No problem.”

Qiao An rushed to the CEO’s office excitedly. Standing at the door, she saw a tall and slender figure standing in front of the French window. He was wearing a well-tailored suit and had flowing black hair. Just the back of his head looked like the masterpiece of a sculptor.

The new CEO had a perfect figure.

But this figure looked a little familiar.

“CEO.” Qiao An knocked politely and called out gently.

The man turned. Qiao An saw his face and was stunned.

He had rare fair skin and exquisite facial features. His face was like that of an anime character. Who else could it be but Li Xiaoran?

Qiao An wanted to escape, but the soles of her feet seemed to have taken root.

“Come in.” Li Xiaoran returned to his office chair.

Qiao An slowly walked up to him and looked at him suspiciously. She opened her mouth a few times to ask why he was at the Hai Yue Corporation, but Li Xiaoran’s indifferent voice always lingered in her ears. “I have nothing to do with her anymore.”

Every time she recalled his cold voice, all of Qiao An’s passionate feelings for him were crushed.

The temperature in her eyes became colder.

Li Xiaoran looked steadily into Qiao An’s eyes. He saw her coldness, defense, and alienation.

His hands curled unconsciously.

The sexy throat rolled, and a tight voice spilled out. “These four reports were done very well. This is the company’s reward for you.”

He took out a thin envelope from the drawer and handed it to Qiao An. Qiao An took it stiffly and touched a square card in the envelope. She was surprised. Did Li Xiaoran give her a big enough reward?

“Thank you, CEO. If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first.” She bowed respectfully to him, then turned around and left in a panic.

Li Xiaoran suddenly called out to her, “Qiao An.”

Qiao An’s back stiffened and he stopped.

Li Xiaoran looked at Qiao An and hesitated.

Qiao An looked back…

Li Xiaoran said bitterly, “Qiao An, I’m sorry. Forget me.”

Qiao An’s heart slipped into the swamp abyss.

“Okay.” She nodded mechanically.

Then she left without looking back.

Li Xiaoran closed his eyes in pain.

He repeatedly recalled the scene of Qiao An’s miscarriage in the Li family. She accused him of his sins at the top of her lungs. “Get lost. Not a single part of your Li family is clean. I hate your Li family and everyone in your Li family. Shameless, sad, hypocritical, scheming, disgusting… I hope I won’t meet you again in this life. You are my calamity.”

Li Xiaoran’s sexy Adam’s apple rolled, and a sourness filled his heart.

Every time he thought of Qiao An pushing him away with a ferocious expression and scolding the Li family with extremely embarrassing words, Li Xiaoran felt his face burning.

Especially when Qiao An called him shameless, disgusting, and hypocritical, he felt like a rapist who had been nailed to the pillar of shame.

How he wished time could turn back to when he was drunk. If he hadn’t gotten Qiao An in such a shameless way, would she have hated him less?

“An’an, I’m sorry.”

Li Xiaoran’s eyes turned red again. He pulled his hair in pain, as if tearing off his entire scalp could not hide the pain of guilt in his heart.

“I really just love you too much.”

Li Xiaoran closed his eyes in pain as tears rolled down his face.