From Rejected Fake Heiress to Desired True Love
Chapter 171: Are You That Afraid of Losing Her?

Chapter 171: Chapter 171: Are You That Afraid of Losing Her?

Li Xia sat in the car, hearing the ringtone of her cell phone.

It was a call from Li Yehan, which brought a smile to Li Xia’s face.

She couldn’t wait to answer. Just as Li Xia was about to speak, Li Yehan’s voice came through, icy and cutting.

"Who gave you the audacity to look for Qiaoqiao!"

Li Xia’s smile vanished abruptly.

Li Yehan scolded, "My people are protecting Qiaoqiao, and they saw you go looking for her. Li Xia, what are you doing with her!"

Her grip on the phone tightened, her face stiff, her voice deep, "Brother, I just wanted her to persuade you. We are all family, can’t we stop this standoff, please?"

"Family? Who’s family with you? What right do you have to consider yourself part of my family?"

Li Xia’s face turned ash-white.

Li Yehan added, "Whether it’s you or your mother, daring to bother Qiaoqiao will have consequences!"

Li Yehan hung up the call, and Li Xia desperately redialed, wanting to explain herself properly.

The call didn’t go through; she had been blocked.

Li Xia looked distraught, her mood somber and heavy.

Li Yehan had actually arranged for people to protect Nan Qiao. Was he so afraid of losing her?

...

Rong Yan became a sought-after designer, greeted by various attempts to poach him.

Fueled by anger, he sought out Nan Qiao.

"Mr. Qiao, I want to change my phone number. I’ll text you later with the new one, so you’ll know."

Nan Qiao: "..."

"You don’t need to change your number. Wait for a while, and once the hype dies down a bit and they see your steadfast resolve, they’ll stop harassing you. Changing numbers is only a temporary solution—it’s not worth it."

Rong Yan scratched his head and thought Nan Qiao’s advice made sense; he hadn’t thought it through.

"Mr. Qiao, thank you for your mentorship."

Rong Yan bowed deeply, sincerely grateful to Nan Qiao.

"Rong Yan, don’t make such a fuss, you’re too polite. I am the CEO and you’re the company’s designer. With your ability, you can handle all of this. You’re excellent."

Rong Yan smiled awkwardly, still feeling that his being the top designer was thanks to Nan Qiao’s careful mentorship.

"Mr. Qiao, I’ve designed a few more sketches after getting home, please take a look."

Rong Yan, too excited to sleep the previous night, had gotten up and started drawing.

Nan Qiao took the sketches carefully, looked them over, and gave her feedback.

Receiving the input, Rong Yan added it to his design, making it even fuller. He was thrilled.

"Mr. Qiao, you’re amazing! I’ll go make the edits and send them to you to check out after I’m done."

Rong Yan rushed out, energized.

...

Hou Ze woke up but provided no useful clues, and the doctor who learned the truth was dead. The trail was cold once more.

Nan Qiao sat in her chair, contemplating the events of the past.

Piecing together all the clues suggested someone had intentionally caused the three children to be misidentified.

An enemy of the Bai Family?

Nan Qiao racked her brain but couldn’t make sense of it when the phone rang.

A strange number—Nan Qiao, afraid of missing out on information, chose to answer.

It was Zhou Jingya’s voice on the other end, "Nan Qiao, are you intent on driving me to death before you’re satisfied?"

Nan Qiao was amused, scoffing back, "Zhou Jingya, don’t you find your words ridiculous? Even now, you still don’t think you’ve done anything wrong and believe I’ve harmed you? Have both your values and your brain gone missing?"

"Nan Qiao, you deliberately left that design sketch behind, didn’t you? You wanted to hurt me!"

"I left the design because the Zhou Family wouldn’t let me take anything with me when I left—have you forgotten?"

"Even so, you can’t demand compensation because of that. Nan Qiao, the Zhou Family raised you for eighteen years. How can you bear to see your parents worry over our affairs?" Zhou Jingya challenged.

Nan Qiao shook her head, no longer willing to engage with Zhou Jingya.

"Zhou Jingya, you have time to prance about in front of me—go ahead and pay back the money. If you don’t pay soon, I’ll have the court enforce the judgment. I’m curious to see how your Brother Zhengyang will look at you then."

Nan Qiao hung up the call and continued to block the number.

Zhou Jingya, phone call cut off, paced frantically, agitated.

One billion—how was she to compensate?

Holding her cell phone, Zhou Jingya called Lu Zhengyang.

The Lu Zhengyang she once looked down upon had drifted away from her.

Zhou Jingya couldn’t accept it; she had worked hard to secure that catch and wouldn’t let it slip away easily.

She sent Lu Zhengyang countless messages, begging, all to win back his favor.

Liu Yanfang observed Zhou Jingya’s anxious demeanor and also worried.

"Xiao Ya, calm down for a moment, eat some bird’s nest, get some sleep. Don’t worry, for that one billion, I’ll have your father help you out. Our family can surely come up with the amount—it’s unthinkable for Nan Qiao to have the nerve to ask for so much!"

Liu Yanfang took out her phone to call Zhou Hongqi.

"Old Zhou, quickly pay back the one billion to Nan Qiao. Xiao Ya is losing sleep over it. Spending money to avoid disaster—just hurry up and pay, so Nan Qiao will hold this inside and stop suing our Xiao Ya!"

Zhou Hongqi, irate upon hearing this, lashed out, "Liu Yanfang, do you think our family runs a money printer, capable of producing however much you want? One billion is not one yuan; do you think we still have that money? Ever since we found your real daughter, our house has been in chaos—either paying debts or on the road to doing so. I can’t come up with that billion! If you have it, you deal with it!"

Fuming, Zhou Hongqi hung up.

Zhou Jingya overheard Zhou Hongqi’s words.

How could the family not even have one billion?

Zhou Jingya’s face, filled with distress and pathos, turned to Liu Yanfang.

"Mom, it’s all my fault. I just wanted to help the family make money, hoping to make you proud of me... I really didn’t mean for this to happen. What should we do? Maybe we should just send me back to the orphanage. Once Nan Qiao cools down, she definitely won’t ask for the money."

Zhou Jingya’s teary display made Liu Yanfang feel even worse.

Holding onto Zhou Jingya, she whispered consolations, "Xiao Ya, don’t be sad, I can handle this."

Zhou Jingya looked at her, puzzled, "Mom, do you have a way?"

Liu Yanfang replied, "I have something Nan Qiao left behind, something precious to her. If I return it to her, I believe she won’t demand this billion from you."

Zhou Jingya’s mood brightened, clinging to Liu Yanfang’s arm, cooing, "Mom, you’re so good to me."

Liu Yanfang patted her hand, eyes full of affection, "Xiao Ya, I’ll go see Nan Qiao now. You wait at home for my good news."

Liu Yanfang dressed and with her purse in hand, came downstairs.

"Mom, I’ll go with you," Zhou Jingya stood up.

Liu Yanfang waved her off, "No need, seeing that girl will only make you angry. Xiao Ya, leave it to me, stay here and wait for me to return."

Zhou Jingya nodded obediently, sitting on the couch, watching Liu Yanfang depart.

Liu Yanfang took a ride to Nan Qiao’s company.