Contract Marriage: The Tycoon's Pampered Wife-Chapter 79 - 0: He left without any signs, not leaving a single word (1 more)

When Lai Yang stormed in, Ning Guiwan and Quan Yu were each seated properly.

Ning Guiwan’s cheeks were red.

Lai Yang, always careless, didn’t notice anything amiss with the atmosphere in the private room, preoccupied with his own annoyances. "My dad called again, asking me to come home! He said that old man’s father is having a birthday celebration. I don’t want to go and wish him a happy birthday; I don’t even know him!"

Quan Yu knew something about Lai Yang’s reasons for running away from home, but the details weren’t clear. His thoughts were on his beloved, so he wasn’t in the right frame of mind, nor did he have the interest, to delve deeper into the younger man’s worries.

Holding a wine glass, his gaze rested on Ning Guiwan’s face, as if no one else was there.

Lai Yang continued, "I don’t want to get to know him either. My dad is so annoying!"

Ning Guiwan couldn’t match the man’s calm composure, her own mind restless. The spot on her fingers where his lips had touched felt as though a layer of skin was missing, making it particularly sensitive.

Her words of comfort to Lai Yang were also disjointed. "Your dad doesn’t mean any harm... Well, I mean, if you really don’t want to, just make it clear to him. I don’t think he would force you..."

"I told him, but he wouldn’t listen," Lai Yang said angrily. "I’m even starting to doubt if I’m his biological son."

He paused. "Next time I go back, I should sneakily get a paternity test..."

An inexplicable tightness seized the side of Ning Guiwan’s body visible to the man. She just wanted the meal to end quickly.

She had already made up her mind. From the moment the man arrived at the underground parking lot to when she had actively consented to him, their relationship had indeed changed, and she was completely unaccustomed to it. Previously, she had reasons and the confidence to resist. Now, she didn’t even have those. Whatever he wanted, she had to cooperate. And they had to hide it, ensuring they weren’t discovered. She could imagine that for a long time to come, she would have to be extremely careful, until he got bored or fed up.

During the second half of the meal, Lai Yang was still fuming, and Ning Guiwan was no better off, feeling agitated and distraught.

Outside the private room was a long, luxuriously decorated corridor with murals and reliefs. When they left, Ning Guiwan and Lai Yang still walked behind Quan Yu. Lamps were spaced every few steps overhead, casting the man’s shadow, sometimes long, sometimes short, on the ground.

Initially, Ning Guiwan didn’t think much of it. Later, she noticed his shadow was right by her feet. She stared at it for three seconds, shifted her position slightly, and stepped on it.

It was as if she had vented some frustration; her heart felt considerably lighter.

Preoccupied, Lai Yang was very quiet on the way back. Ning Guiwan and Quan Yu also had nothing to say to each other.

When they arrived at the old residence, however, Quan Yu didn’t get out of the car with them.

"Is Second Uncle going out again?" Lai Yang finally dragged his thoughts away from his father’s inhumane act of arranging his marriage and back to the present.

Quan Yu lit a cigarette, exhaling a thin plume of smoke. His gaze fell on Ning Guiwan. "A flight tonight. I’m going to Canada."

Lai Yang nodded. "Oh."

Ning Guiwan, however, was surprised. Thinking of her deal with this man, the question slipped out almost before she could think, "You’re leaving the country tonight?"

A hint of a smile touched Quan Yu’s lips. In the dim light of the streetlamp, his eyes, as he looked at her, seemed to hold a gleam. "Is there a problem?"

"No..." Ning Guiwan wanted to say something, but with Lai Yang present, she ultimately said nothing.

That night, Lai Yang kept her occupied in conversation, and she didn’t even get a chance to make a phone call. When she finally found a moment, the man’s phone was turned off.

He’s on the plane, Ning Guiwan thought.

But he had left without any warning, without a single word.

It was as if they had partnered in a business. Profits were divided, terms agreed upon, and the contract even signed. One party had even paid the initial funds, but the other party took the money and disappeared without saying or doing anything. The remaining partner was left with an understandably heavy heart.

Ning Guiwan tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She kept thinking about what he really meant and also about Tianchi Group.

She fell into a hazy sleep in the late hours of the night but woke as soon as it was light.

Unable to fall back asleep, she got up and went to the bathroom to freshen up. When she came out, she saw Lai Yang almost rolling off the bed. She lifted one of his legs back onto the bed and pulled the blanket up a bit more over him.

Just before bed, Ning Guiwan had been listening to Lai Yang complain about his father’s old-fashioned arranged marriage practices. Yet it was Lai Yang who had fallen asleep the quickest, looking completely carefree.

Ning Guiwan went downstairs. The butler, Fang Derong, had already assigned the servants their tasks, his demeanor stern yet efficient. Seeing her, he smiled warmly. "Up so early?"

Ning Guiwan replied, "I couldn’t sleep. Is Grandmother Quan not up yet?"

"The Old Madam has had things on her mind lately and has been sleeping late," Fang Derong mentioned casually, then quickly changed the subject. "Breakfast is ready. Would you like to eat first?"

After breakfast, it was still not even six o’clock. Ning Guiwan drove her white Bentley to the Ning family residence.

She still had some things there.

Ignoring the servants’ surprised and subtle glances, she went upstairs to gather her belongings.

She hadn’t brought many things with her when she returned to the country this time. After taking some items to the Quan family’s old residence, she had even fewer belongings left here—not even enough to fill a single suitcase.

Once she left this time, this home would truly have nothing more to do with her.

Four years ago, when her parents’ relationship had fallen apart, her mother had moved everything that belonged to her out of this house. Four years ago, although Ning Guiwan had left, her heart had ultimately remained.

This time, she was taking her heart with her.