The Scheming Ex-Husband's Courtship-Chapter 723 - 626

"You..." Jiang Haoran was clearly taken aback, not expecting her to simply throw her phone away. He then looked at Ye Rui’s indifferent expression as she leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes to rest, her cheeks even more flushed from the fever.

"It’s just a phone, I can always buy a new one," Ye Rui said nonchalantly, though her heart was filled with melancholy, her long eyelashes fluttering helplessly.

Jiang Haoran said, "I don’t know what happened between you and Shaoqing, but there is always a solution to every problem; avoiding it won’t help."

"Doctor Jiang, what would you do if your patient was beyond help, with no cure in sight?"

Jiang Haoran paused: "It depends on the patient’s wishes. I would do my best, but if there’s nothing more a doctor can do, excessive medication would only increase the patient’s pain and financial burden."

"Doctor Jiang, you’re absolutely right," Ye Rui closed her eyes again. The situation between her and Leng Shaoqing was just like that: it’s not that she didn’t want to solve the problem, it was just that the problem was beyond remedy. He didn’t love her, or perhaps he had never loved her at all; maintaining this relationship and marriage was nonsensical.

Continuing like this would only bring endless pain; why bother?

Jiang Haoran fell silent, his intuition told him that the rift between these two was deep and not something an outsider could easily resolve with a few words.

The car arrived at the Ye Family’s villa; Jiang Haoran, being a gentleman, unbuckled Ye Rui’s seatbelt for her: "Shall I walk you up?"

"No need, thank you, Doctor Jiang," Ye Rui smiled at him, "I’ll take the medication you prescribed on time."

Just as she was about to get out of the car, Jiang Haoran’s hand suddenly reached over, his broad palm resting on her forehead. Ye Rui stiffened for a moment, but soon, he withdrew his hand and spoke seriously, "37.6 degrees; the fever is starting to subside. Make sure to continue the medication."

Ye Rui laughed, "Doctor Jiang, your hand is more accurate than a thermometer."

"Close enough," Jiang Haoran gave a slight smile, "Rest well and drink plenty of water."

Ye Rui stood at the door, watching Jiang Haoran hail a taxi and leave. Only when his taxi disappeared from sight did she get back into the car.

She did not return to the Ye Family’s home but went to see Zhong Xiaoyang instead.

~

Leng Shaoqing had just arrived home when he received a call from Jiang Haoran but did not see Ye Rui. The butler told him she had returned to the Ye Family’s home, and it was Jiang Haoran who drove her there.

"Miss Ye has safely arrived home," Jiang Haoran sighed, "What exactly happened between you two? Her mood seemed quite rebellious; you might need to coax her properly."

"How is her health?"

"The fever has begun to subside."

"I see," Leng Shaoqing hung up and immediately headed to the Ye Family’s home.

However, upon arriving, the servants told him that Ye Rui had not come back. He tried calling her phone, but it was still unreachable.

She was deliberately avoiding him. However, she didn’t have many friends, and the places she could go were limited. Leng Shaoqing wasn’t worried about not being able to find her, it would just take some time.

He checked her friends list and finally pinpointed someone named Zhong Xiaoyang. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Zhong Xiaoyang placed a glass of water in front of Ye Rui, "Are you running away from home?"

"With his capabilities, he’ll find me soon," Ye Rui held the glass, her gaze filled with sadness and despair, "I want a divorce, Xiaoyang."

"Divorce? In marriages like yours, it’s not like you can just say you want a divorce and it happens. Besides, you haven’t even asked him, and he hasn’t admitted anything personally. Could this all be a misunderstanding?"

"I wish it were a misunderstanding, but my eyes and instincts don’t lie." Ye Rui lowered her head, staring at the trembling water, "You can feel whether a man still loves you in the details, and I’ve always been making excuses for him. Now, with the truth before me, those excuses can’t stand a chance."

"But you said not long ago that Leng Shaoqing, to help Ye Lin, transferred the Leng’s floral business to the Qin Family. He did that much for you, which shows he cares about you," Zhong Xiaoyang retorted.

Ye Rui remained silent.

"I wasn’t initially in favor of you marrying him, but since you’re married, I hope you can stay together if possible. It’s going to be a problem for a girl like you to remarry if you get divorced. You need to think this through carefully."

Just then, there was a knock on the door, Zhong Xiaoyang exclaimed, "Could it be Leng Shaoqing? That was fast, like Sherlock Holmes."

Zhong Xiaoyang went to open the door, and standing there was indeed Leng Shaoqing.

He was wearing a khaki trench coat, stubble on his chin, and the dark shadows under his eyes were very pronounced; he looked as if he hadn’t slept all night.

"Is Ye Rui here?" Leng Shaoqing’s tone was still polite, his eyebrows arching instinctively as he spoke.

Zhong Xiaoyang hesitated for a moment, facing Leng Shaoqing directly for one of the few times. This man always gave her a contradictory impression—cold as ice yet fierce as fire.

"Yes, I’ll call her."

Just as Zhong Xiaoyang turned around, Leng Shaoqing stepped in, bypassing her and heading straight to the bedroom in the back.

Ye Rui was still considering whether to see him when she suddenly felt a rush of air from behind, and the next moment she was lifted off the bed into a firm embrace.

"Leng Shaoqing, what are you doing?" Ye Rui struggled, but to no avail, his long arms tightly hugged her, making escape impossible.

"Going home." Leng Shaoqing didn’t offer any explanation, just carried her and started walking outside. When he encountered Zhong Xiaoyang coming towards them, he just said, "Thank you," and didn’t care about Zhong Xiaoyang’s surprised expression as he strode back the way he came.

"Hey..." Zhong Xiaoyang stood still, it took him a long time to react and he could only sigh heavily, "Oh well, let them solve their family issues themselves."

Leng Shaoqing opened the car door and put Ye Rui in, touching her forehead, "Why is it still hot?"

Ye Rui shrank back in the seat, sulking and didn’t respond.

"Going to the hospital." Leng Shaoqing fastened her seatbelt.

"I’m not going to the hospital." Ye Rui lifted her head, defiantly glaring at him, one hand holding his, "Don’t you have anything to explain to me?"

His hand still on the seatbelt, the hand holding his was a bit hot, looking into his eyes stirred up emotions.

"About yesterday, I’m very sorry, I know you prepared for my birthday for a long time."

Ye Rui’s nose tingled, tears welled up in her eyes in grievance, "Then tell me, where were you yesterday?"

He didn’t answer immediately, instead turning his head to look at the front windshield, "Ye Rui, I’ve already apologized."

"I don’t want your apology, I just want to know, where were you yesterday?"

"If you don’t want to go to the hospital, then let’s go home." He twisted the car key.

"Leng Shaoqing." Ye Rui suddenly lunged forward to pull out the key, clutching it tightly in her hand, "I just want to know where you were yesterday. If there’s nothing shady about it, why won’t you tell me where you were? Just tell me the truth, and I’ll go home with you."

This was her biggest compromise. If he would just humble himself and not hide anything, she could forget everything she saw yesterday. She loved him and wanted to preserve their precarious marriage; she didn’t want to give up easily, not even knowing who her rival was. She was willing to give him a chance to reform, and to give herself a chance.

Silence filled the small space like the taste of explosive, swelling, ready to detonate.

"Sorry, I can’t answer that question."

Leng Shaoqing spread his hands in front of her, "Give me the keys."

At that moment, Ye Rui felt a thorough chill in her heart, a desolate feeling overwhelming her as she stared blankly at this man who once seemed so familiar but now felt so strange, as if a huge hole had been ripped in her heart with cold wind howling through.

She didn’t return the keys to him, "Leng Shaoqing, I won’t go back with you."

He remained silent, grasping her hand, forcefully prying open her fingers. The more force she applied, the harsher he pried, the disparity in strength finally made her let go, and he easily obtained the keys.

"Ye Rui, be good, I’ll give you everything you want." He engaged the central lock, "Now, come home with me."

Ye Rui curled her fingers, which seemed unable to close; he had never been rough with her before, but this time, he wasn’t thinking about not hurting her.

"The only thing I want is for us, as husband and wife, to love each other. Can you give me that?" Tears welled up in Ye Rui’s eyes, blurring the man’s face behind layers of light and shadow.

Leng Shaoqing pursed his lips, driving the car fast.

"If you can’t even give me the one thing I want, Leng Shaoqing, what do all your promises mean? Wealth and the title of Mrs. Leng? Sorry, I don’t care for any of it." Ye Rui spoke as tears flooded, overwhelming her, "Leng Shaoqing, let’s get a divorce."

The car suddenly screeched to a halt, and Ye Rui, out of inertia, grabbed the nearby handhold.

The next second, her chin was held by his long fingers, meeting his fierce gaze and his stern warning with every word, "Ye Rui, don’t even think about divorce. Dare to say it again, and I’ll throw you out of the car."

He released her face, his chest heaving violently.

The shock left Ye Rui temporarily speechless, her face pale.

Upon returning to the Leng Mansion, the butler hurried out to greet them, intending to open the car door for Ye Rui. However, Leng Shaoqing quickly got out first, walked around the front of the car, reached the door before the butler, and coldly commanded, "Stay out of this."

The butler, confused, reluctantly stepped back.

Leng Shaoqing opened the car door, personally unbuckled her seatbelt, and carried her out.

Ye Rui did not resist, letting him carry her all the way to the second floor.

"You still have a fever; I’ll go get a thermometer," Leng Shaoqing said, and went to find the butler.

Ye Rui watched him leave, disregarding whether her body was still feverish, jumped out of bed and headed straight for the wardrobe.

She took out her suitcase and removed all the clothes from the hangers and threw them on the bed.

She had made up her mind; she needed to leave the Leng Mansion no matter what Leng Shaoqing thought; she needed to calm down. *