Sylvia Ran really wanted to!
Her whole body felt numb now!
She could only look at Joe Qi with pleading eyes, hoping he'd show mercy since she gave him her first time.
As expected, Joe Qi caught Sylvia Ran's desperate look and immediately said, "Dieyi, that's enough. You're tired from hitting her, and you should be careful with the baby."
Sure enough, Dieyi Chen stopped immediately.
Cecilia Gu and Rona Muir were both left speechless again.
Dieyi Chen is really obedient!
Dieyi Chen was clearly exhausted—hitting someone really takes effort!
Dieyi Chen pointed at Sylvia Ran, endlessly accusing her, "You heartless traitor! I treated you as my friend, and you slept with my husband!"
Cecilia Gu touched her nose. Why does that line sound so familiar?
Sylvia Ran's body was sluggish, but her mouth could still talk.
But for some reason, her voice just sounded so off.
"Dieyi, do you really think I don't know how you got pregnant?" Sylvia Ran's face was swollen like a pig's head from Dieyi's beating, and her raspy voice actually kind of matched.
"What did you say?" Dieyi Chen's expression changed slightly.
"You schemed against Joe Qi just to marry him, you think I don't know? Or you think he doesn't know?" Sylvia Ran had nothing left to hide today, she dropped all pretenses and said coldly, "Yeah, I slept with Joe Qi. Because he's rich, because he spends money freely. I only slept with him once and he gave me a million dollars. A million dollars, not yuan! Other men would give me a million yuan at best, but he gave me a million dollars!"
Joe Qi immediately touched his nose.
Cecilia Gu and Rona Muir both looked at Joe Qi with an expression that said, 'Wow, you really spend big to pick up girls.'
"I need money, lots and lots of money. No one else is as generous as Joe Qi. Besides, you were the one who gave me Joe Qi's number, weren't you?" Sylvia Ran was defending herself, but clearly lacked confidence. "You know deep down you can't control Joe Qi! He's always been a playboy, with girlfriends all over the world. You can hit me, you can curse me, I don't care. At this point, I have nothing left to argue!"
Suddenly, Dieyi Chen started sobbing.
Cecilia Gu said to Joe Qi, "Hey, aren't you going to comfort your wife?"
Joe Qi's expression was rather cold as he said, "Sylvia Ran is right. My marriage to Dieyi is just a business arrangement between us."
A business arrangement?
Cecilia Gu and Rona Muir were totally shocked!
What on earth is going on here?
But Cecilia could see through it.
Dieyi was actually afraid of Joe Qi, for whatever reason. All it took was a single look from Joe Qi, and Dieyi would instantly back down.
Dieyi would throw a fit at Sylvia Ran, but she wouldn't dare say a word against Joe Qi.
Wow, the drama behind this must be wild!
Cecilia's inner gossip instincts finally exploded. She couldn't help but ask, "Why? What kind of arrangement?"
Joe Qi didn't answer Cecilia's question. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at Dieyi and said, "Since you've decided to make a scene here today, our arrangement should end now."
Dieyi panicked the moment she heard Joe Qi say that.
She rushed over and hugged Joe Qi, pleading, "No, I don't want to leave you!"
Cecilia suddenly felt like her brain couldn't keep up.
Is there something wrong with Dieyi's head?
Rona Muir seemed to figure something out. She turned and stared at Joe Qi, saying, "Is your arrangement with Dieyi... surrogacy?"
Joe Qi finally smiled, giving Rona an approving look. "Ms. Muir, you really are clever."
Surrogacy...
Cecilia subconsciously touched her own belly.
She remembered that she had been through something similar...
Rona quickly glanced at Cecilia and said, "Don't get any ideas. Dieyi's situation isn't like yours. Dieyi had a child through IVF. If I'm not mistaken, she must've pulled some strings to make sure the baby ended up in her womb. Joe Qi had no choice but to marry her."
Qiao Qi nodded, confirming Mu Ruona’s suspicion.
Die Yi’s face was already deathly pale.
Qiao Qi said, “Yes, I did hire a surrogate, but I never expected Die Yi would get involved, replacing the intended surrogate and having the embryo implanted in her. Since the mistake was made, I could only go along with it. To give this child a legitimate identity, I had no choice but to marry her.”
Cecilia Gu’s jaw dropped. Was she really here for a party, or was this some kind of live-action family drama?
But when they got married, they acted so close and loving…
Oh my god, their acting skills are off the charts!
Mu Ruona suddenly remembered.
Back when Cecilia first met Sylvia Ran, Die Yi had spoken up for Sylvia. At that time, Qiao Qi gave Die Yi a warning look, and Die Yi immediately backed down.
“Anyway, I just wanted a child. I don’t care who gives birth to it. Die Yi’s qualifications aren’t bad, so I went with it. I was willing to act like a perfect husband in public and private, to give her affection and whatever she wanted. But there was one condition—she couldn’t interfere in my personal affairs.” Qiao Qi’s voice turned icy. “The moment she gave my number to Sylvia Ran, our partnership was over.”
Hearing this, Die Yi collapsed to the ground.
Ever since marrying Qiao Qi, she’d even gone on a honeymoon with him.
Seeing how attentive and caring Qiao Qi was, she’d completely lost her head, really believing she was his wife.
Caught up in her happiness, she’d forgotten all about Qiao Qi’s boundaries.
Die Yi had never regretted anything so much in her life!
If she hadn’t overstepped, could she have stayed by Qiao Qi’s side forever?
Cecilia Gu never imagined the truth would be like this!
Qiao Qi continued, “You’re pregnant now, so I won’t hold today’s incident against you. But this is the last time. If it happens again, I’ll find another surrogate.”
Die Yi shook her head desperately. “No, never again! I’ll never do anything to disappoint you again!”
Cecilia Gu rubbed her forehead. “This is way too much for me. I need a minute. Ruona, let’s go outside. We’ve seen enough drama for one night—let’s leave them to clean up their own mess.”
Mu Ruona snorted, looking at Qiao Qi. “See? The woman who could make you settle down would never be so clueless. All right, we’re leaving! You three can talk it out.”
At the banquet outside, Shang Ke swirled his wine glass and asked, “How do you think Qiao Qi will handle them?”
Charles Yin gave a lazy smile and replied, “Die Yi will stay, but she’ll be sent somewhere quiet until the baby’s born. As for Sylvia Ran... she’s not our concern. Someone else will take care of her.”
Shang Ke couldn’t help but ask, “When did you start suspecting? I didn’t notice a thing!”
Charles Yin sighed softly.
Even when Qiao Qi got married, he hadn’t noticed anything.
Back then, he and Cecilia Gu were having relationship issues, so he didn’t pay much attention to Qiao Qi and Die Yi.
Besides, it’s not really appropriate to get too involved in a friend’s relationship.
Qiao Qi isn’t a kid—he knows what he’s doing.
So Charles Yin only started getting suspicious after Qiao Qi followed him to Newport City.
Newly married, yet leaving his wife behind to hang out with his buddies—if that doesn’t raise eyebrows, what does?
It’s no surprise Shang Ke didn’t notice anything.
He’d been too busy worrying about Charles Yin and Sylvia Ran to care about Qiao Qi.
“Qiao Qi will handle everything,” Charles Yin said, watching Cecilia Gu and Mu Ruona walk out. Seeing Cecilia’s animated expression, a subtle smile tugged at his lips.
The party hadn’t even really started, and already so much drama had unfolded.
Who knows what else will happen tonight?
As she walked, Cecilia Gu whispered to Mu Ruona, “It’s weird, I feel like something’s off about Sylvia Ran.”
“I think so too. What’s up with her voice?” Mu Ruona frowned. “Whatever. After tonight, Sylvia Ran’s reputation is totally ruined. Not our problem!”
Cecilia Gu nodded.
Just then, the last guest of the evening finally arrived at the door.
It was Sister Zhao, the director of the crew filming this time.
“Sorry I’m late!” Director Zhao apologized as soon as she walked in. “We just wrapped up the last scene. Sorry to keep everyone waiting.”
Since it’s a fundraising banquet, how could it start without the director?
Charles Yin stood in for Qiao Qi and finally announced the official start of tonight’s party.
Director Zhao took the stage and gave a speech, urging everyone to invest in the TV series.
Jiang Yihai was the first to put in tens of millions. With him leading the way, others quickly joined in with investments and sponsorships, and the atmosphere instantly became lively.
Charles Yin’s skills were as formidable as ever. He wanted Jiang Yihai back in the circle, and just like that, Jiang Yihai became the brightest star of the night.
Standing among the crowd, Cecilia Gu watched Jiang Yihai greet people gracefully and quietly thought, “Sister, can you see this? He’s doing really well now.”
As the producer, Cecilia Gu mingled with guests alongside Director Zhao, leaving Qiao Qi, Die Yi, and Sylvia Ran’s messy drama behind.
When Cecilia was about to leave, she realized Die Yi and Sylvia Ran had disappeared long ago.
For some reason, Cecilia Gu had a feeling that after tonight, Sylvia Ran was finished.
After the party, Cecilia Gu stayed home and rested for three whole days.
It wasn’t that Cecilia was exhausted—the snow outside was just too heavy.
It snowed for three days and nights straight.
The snow on the road was more than a foot deep.
Cecilia Gu leaned against the window, gazing at the snow outside. “Xiao Wang, how many days until the New Year?”