Chapter 42: Omen

At the beginning of March, the Su family sent over an invitation.

Su Qingwen and Shi Jing’an’s wedding was set for March 13th, to be held at Blue Sea.

It was said that the wedding had been planned with extraordinary grandeur, even more lavish than when they had proposed to the Luo family’s young lady. Practically everyone who had any dealings with the Su family was invited.

Naturally, the Luo family was among them.

Quite a few people were waiting to see the Luo family—or Luo Xiaoman—become the butt of a joke.

The invitation was delivered by Su Wanwan.

Ever since she had been ridiculed by Luo Xiaoman at the Luo residence last time, she’d been holding a grudge.

After returning from the Luo residence, not only did she go around openly and subtly spreading rumors that Qin Shou was gay and had gotten involved with her own nephew, but she also smeared both of them with all sorts of filth.

Qin Shou was known for his ruthless and unfeeling methods outside, so naturally no one dared bring these rumors to his face.

As for Su Yu, who was still in school, he would have no way of knowing about such gossip circulating in high society.

After learning that Qin Shou liked men, Su Wanwan was thoroughly disgusted, convinced that Qin Shou was a repulsive GAY who went around deceiving people’s feelings.

Not long after, she found herself a boyfriend.

It was said he was a “sea turtle” who had returned from abroad, working as a planning director at a TOP10 company.

With such a promising boyfriend, Su Wanwan was quite proud of herself.

This time, she’d even taken the initiative to deliver the invitation to the Luo family.

All just to disgust Luo Xiaoman a little.

A divorced woman nobody wanted—what was there for her to be so pleased about?

In the blink of an eye, March 13th arrived.

The wedding was held as scheduled.

The hotel was bustling with people, lively beyond words.

Shi Jing’an, as the bride, sat early at the dressing table, getting her hair and makeup done.

Su Qingwen spared no expense—everything from the wedding planning to the bride’s stylist were all top-tier names from the capital.

While everyone around her busied themselves, Shi Jing’an quietly watched her reflection in the mirror, yet there was not a trace of joy in her eyes.

Everyone thought this grand wedding was prepared for her, but little did they know—it was all just a façade.

Lowering her gaze, Shi Jing’an hid her emotions, but her hands under her sleeves clenched tighter and tighter.

She herself was already trapped; she absolutely could not let Anan get dragged into this too.

“Go call the young master.”

Luo Xiaoman hadn’t wanted to come at first.

After finding her son, she had no desire to get involved in any of Su Qingwen’s messes.

But she couldn’t resist Cui Mingbo’s persistent persuasion, and in the end, attended as Cui Mingbo’s companion.

There were plenty of guests at the wedding.

Su Qingwen seemed determined to make it grand, inviting people from all walks of life.

Watching the constant flow of guests, Cui Mingbo subconsciously pulled Luo Xiaoman a little closer to his side.

Luo Xiaoman looked at him strangely.

“Why are you holding onto me?”

Cui Mingbo shook his head, a strange look in his eyes.

“Something doesn’t feel right.”

Protecting the person beside him, Cui Mingbo leaned in and whispered, “Stay close to me. When we get a chance, let’s find a way to leave early. Something’s off about this place.”

Luo Xiaoman nodded, casually glancing around as she secretly braced herself.

Upstairs, in the bridal suite.

Su Qingwen’s face was dark, with none of the joy of a groom.

He was practically growling under his breath, “What do you want? I’ve done everything you asked. If something goes wrong today, no one will come out of this unscathed.”

Someone on the other side said something, making Su Qingwen even angrier.

“Are you crazy? There are so many important people here today. If anything goes wrong…”

Su Qingwen slumped into a chair, cold sweat soaking his back.

Crazy, crazy—these people were insane!

For the first time, Su Qingwen regretted getting involved in this mess.

There were so many people here today—if something really happened, he didn’t even dare to imagine the Su family’s fate.

He hurled his phone at the wall, then went to the bathroom to splash water on his face.

Staring at his pale reflection in the mirror, he wiped his face hard.

Having waded into these muddy waters, there was no way out for him now.

Su Yu had come with Qin Shou.

He had zero interest in who Su Qingwen was marrying, but what surprised him was that Qin Shou had actually taken the initiative to attend.

Su Yu looked at the man beside him, question marks all over his face, not understanding why this person suddenly wanted to go to Su Qingwen’s wedding.

Qin Shou reached out and ruffled his hair, a strange smile on his lips.

“Stay close to me later. Don’t wander off.”

Su Yu smoothed his mussed hair, reluctantly nodding.

Qin Shou smiled with satisfaction and led him into the hotel.

The wedding had yet to begin, and the stars of the day hadn’t appeared.

In the hall, the guests gathered in small groups, exchanging information.

In the corner, two quiet figures—one in black, one in red—stood out.

Qin Shou was surprised for a moment, then smiled knowingly and led Su Yu toward the corner.

People tried to strike up conversation along the way, but Qin Shou brushed them off with a perfunctory nod.

After weaving through the crowd, Qin Shou raised an eyebrow at Cui Mingbo, as if to say: You’re here too?

Cui Mingbo turned his face away, pretending not to see him.

Qin Shou didn’t bother wasting time with him and said directly, “Today is not a good day. You’d better take Auntie home early.”

Cui Mingbo’s brows twitched.

He finally stopped pretending to admire the scenery.

“You arranged this?”

“Just going with the flow.”

Qin Shou toyed with Su Yu’s fingers, his smile vivid.

Su Yu and his mother exchanged a confused glance.

Both saw the same bewilderment in each other’s eyes—clearly, neither understood the riddles these two were speaking in.

At ten o’clock, the hall suddenly grew noisy, and the hotel’s gentle background music changed to the rousing wedding march.

—The bride had arrived.

Shi Jing’an walked in arm-in-arm with Su Qingwen.

The long train of her wedding dress spread out across the bright red carpet.

Confetti cannons went off on both sides as they entered the hall together, hands linked and faces wearing flawless smiles.

The host’s voice rang out from afar.

Qin Shou and Cui Mingbo exchanged a glance, then quietly escorted their companions out of the venue.

The festivities inside continued.

After the host’s congratulatory speech, an elderly pastor took the stage.

The kindly pastor looked at the couple with a gentle smile.

“Mr. Su, do you take Miss Shi as your wife, to cherish, comfort, respect, and protect her in all circumstances?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And Miss Shi, do you take Mr. Su as your husband, to cherish, comfort, respect, and protect him in all circumstances?”

Shi Jing’an anxiously scanned the crowd below the stage.

She didn’t know much about Su Qingwen’s plans, but if she hadn’t overheard his phone call the night before the wedding, she never would have known that the wedding she had long anticipated and meticulously planned was nothing more than a convenient cover for him.

“Miss Shi?”

Shi Jing’an snapped back to herself, looking at the pastor in confusion.

The pastor had to repeat the question, and the once quiet hall became restless.

Su Qingwen shot her an unhappy look.

Shi Jing’an averted her gaze and softly replied, “I do.”

A smattering of applause broke out among the guests.

Su Qingwen’s face was sour, and Shi Jing’an’s mind was elsewhere.

The pastor looked around, then pressed on, “Now, will the couple exchange wedding rings?”

Su Qingwen took out the wedding rings he had prepared in advance, picked up the smaller one to put on Shi Jing’an’s finger.

But out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of someone moving at the edge of the crowd.

His hand shook, and the large diamond ring tumbled off the stage.

The hall fell utterly silent.

Countless curious gazes swept over.

Cold sweat beaded on Su Qingwen’s forehead, but he didn’t bother picking up the fallen ring.

He shoved the ring box into Shi Jing’an’s hand and hurriedly rushed off the stage.

The farcical ending set off an uproar among the guests.

The formerly quiet hall was now abuzz, with wild speculation about Su Qingwen’s bizarre behavior.

Shi Jing’an’s face flushed red as she stood awkwardly on stage, trapped.

For today, she had specially worn 20cm high heels.

Her dress’s long train fanned out behind her, accentuating her graceful figure.

The more glamorous she had been, the more humiliating it was now.

Standing high up, Shi Jing’an could see the commotion clearly.

Amid the noisy guests, quite a few people were unconsciously touching their waists, their eyes unfriendly.

She didn’t know if this was Su Qingwen’s arrangement or some other accident.

But at this moment, with Su Qingwen abandoning her onstage, she had no way out.

“Run!”

With a loud shout, Shi Jing’an quickly kicked off her high heels, gathered up her long skirt, and dashed toward the back of the stage.

If only she could escape this time, she would be content.

Never in her life had she regretted so much.

She should have seen Su Qingwen’s true colors long ago.

Having Anan was enough—she had enough money for the two of them to live well.

She never should have harbored any more hopes for Su Qingwen.

Clutching her long skirt, barefoot, Shi Jing’an struggled toward the fire escape.

Her feet were cut by shattered glass, and the length of her dress severely hampered her movement.

She finally made it to the fire escape, only to be blocked by three men who had been waiting there.

Shi Jing’an’s heart sank to the bottom.

Her pupils, dilated from fright, reflected the twisted smiles of her captors.

—And then, she knew nothing at all.