Wife Takes the Reins: The Calm CEO

Chapter 50: Falsely Accused

“Xiao Yi, is your throat bothering you? Come sit down here; let me take a look.” Old Master Mo noticed that Yi Ge had been coughing nonstop. Out of professional habit as a doctor, he was bound to perform a thorough examination—observing, listening, asking questions, and taking the pulse. Old Master Mo was famously laid-back, but when it came to treating patients, he was absolutely thorough. “Thank you for your concern, Grandpa. I’m just thirsty and want a drink of water.” Yi Ge made up an excuse—he certainly couldn’t bring up past events with Old Master Mo right in front of Li Xiaowan! “Hmph! “Whenever it comes to the crucial moments, you try to brush me off. Do you think an old man like me is so easy to fool? Never mind, never mind. A gentleman forgives a petty person’s transgressions. You two, pack up and head home. And don’t forget to pass this along to your second young master.” In truth, Old Master Mo wasn’t really angry. The Mo and The Feng Family were intricately connected, and several of the Mo family’s younger generation had joined Fengyi Group to work. “Please put your mind at ease, sir. Taking care of your health is what matters most. I’m really leaving now. I’ll bring you your favorite chestnut chicken another day.” Yi Ge once again shed his usual cold demeanor and spoke with exceptional sweetness. “You little rascal, I’ll give you credit for having a heart. Go on, go on—I won’t see you off.” After shooting Yi Ge a sidelong glance, Old Master Mo walked into the inner room of the clinic. “Miss Xiaowan, can you stand up and walk on your own?” At first, he’d had no choice, but now that the wound was properly bandaged, he felt a bit uneasy about just leaving her to fend for herself. “I… I’d just like Yi Ge to help me up.” Li Xiaowan also noticed the awkwardness on Yi Ge’s face. Well, she shouldn’t put him in an awkward position—he was probably afraid of being misunderstood by his beloved, Feng Yan! “Sure.” Yi Ge, ever the gentleman, supported Li Xiaowan and led her slowly toward the hospital entrance. It really had to be said—Old Master Mo’s medical skills were no exaggeration. After resting for a while, even when she moved her feet lightly across the ground, the pain radiating from her feet was bearable. By the time they returned to the villa, it was already evening. Upon entering the living room, the first person Li Xiaowan saw was the very one she least wanted to see. Yi Ge, who had been supporting her all the way inside, was even more taken aback. Hadn’t Ling Zheng Ge categorically stated that he wouldn’t be returning to the villa? Why was he back now? Furthermore, why hadn’t the Young Miss and Miss Xia returned yet? Under normal circumstances, Ling Zheng Ge would have sent them home long ago. It was truly baffling. Li Xiaowan must have been startled by the uniformly cold expressions on the three men’s faces. In a moment of inattention, she lost her balance and leaned straight into Yi Ge. Yi Ge certainly couldn’t just ignore it; with quick reflexes, he used both hands to steady her, preventing her from falling to the floor again and sustaining further injury. Logically, it was a perfectly ordinary gesture, but the problem was that Li Xiaowan and Yi Ge’s current posture looked rather suggestive. “Ling Zheng Ge, now you’ve seen it with your own eyes, haven’t you? You saw how she was seducing Yi Ge, didn’t you?” Xia Yiting said, using words that neither Li Xiaowan nor Yi Ge could understand. “Miss Xia, what on earth are you talking about?” Yi Ge was completely baffled. “Yi Ge, it’s not your fault. We all know there’s someone you’ve always held dear in your heart—how could you possibly be interested in another woman? Ultimately, all the blame lies with…” Although Xia Yiting didn’t name names, her meaning was crystal clear, especially given the way her gaze was fixed intently on Li Xiaowan. Everything had been fine before she left, hadn’t it? She’d just gone to the hospital, and when she came back, it was as if the sky had fallen. What on earth was going on? “Miss Xia, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about me?” “What misunderstanding? Since Ling Zheng Ge is right here, let’s lay everything out in the open. Ling Zheng Ge, please judge for us—who’s right and who’s wrong?” Xia Yiting spoke with great conviction. “Yi Ting, let’s just drop it. I think Sister Xiaowan didn’t mean any harm. For her sake—since she’s about to become my second sister-in-law—why don’t you just let it go?” Feng Yan stepped in to smooth things over. “Feng Yan, it’s not that I don’t want to give you face this time—it’s just that she’s gone too far. Look at my elbow—it’s all bruised and battered. And look at your heel. Luckily, the shards were removed in time and the bleeding was stopped, so it’s not too serious,” Xia Yiting said, relentless and furious. Yi Ge, standing nearby, immediately shot Feng Yan a concerned glance, but Feng Yan didn’t even acknowledge him. “Yan'er, Yi Ting is right. Don’t you know your own physical condition? If something else were to happen, how would I explain it to Mom and Dad? Don’t stop Yi Ting—let her recount the facts exactly as they happened, and I’ll judge for myself who’s right and who’s wrong.” ” Feng Lingzheng glared at her, her eyes flashing with cold fury. Feng Yan was the apple of their family’s eye; anyone who bullied her was declaring war on The Feng Family. She never would have imagined that a mere Li Xiaowan would dare to provoke such a powerful family. Feng Yan fell silent at just the right moment, but she didn’t forget to kindly—and with a limp—walk over to help Li Xiaowan sit down on the sofa, completely disregarding Feng Lingzheng’s rebuke and concern. In the eyes of others, Feng Yan truly was someone who understood the bigger picture and prioritized the greater good. As for Xia Yiting, with Feng Lingzheng’s support, she couldn’t help but beam with joy. “Sister Xiaowan, it’s not that I’m trying to single you out, but you really have gone too far with me and Feng Yan. I’ll let my minor injury slide for now, but what about Feng Yan? You know full well she’s always had heart problems—to put it simply, ‘heart disease.’ ” “I really didn’t know that.” When Li Xiaowan heard Xia Yiting mention that Feng Yan had a heart condition, she felt not only surprise but, more than anything, concern. “All right, even if you didn’t know, what you did to us in the kitchen this afternoon was still way over the line. I kindly offered to help you carry the soup out, but instead of being grateful, you deliberately stepped on my foot the moment I picked up the bowl. That caused the bowl to fall, and because I lost my balance, I couldn’t stop myself from falling toward Feng Yan, causing her to fall to the ground as well. and the shards of the broken bowl mercilessly pierced her heel. Yet we still endured the pain to help you into the car. Who would have thought that instead of being grateful, you’d glare at the two of us with such malice? As the saying goes, ‘This is the last straw.’ I think everyone here understands what I mean, right?” ”Xia Yiting acted just like a professional actress, vividly reenacting the scene she described. I have to say, it was incredibly immersive. She’s such a natural actress! You’re definitely a shoo-in for Best Performance at next year’s Golden Eagle Awards. Li Xiaowan couldn’t help but admire Xia Yiting’s exceptional acting skills—heh! She’d kindly cooked a meal for them, yet they were secretly plotting how to frame her. “Miss Xia, may I ask what I’ve done to offend you?” Li Xiaowan didn’t bother with lengthy excuses. Given the current situation, she knew that no amount of explanation would help—it would only give the other party more opportunities to hurt her. “Sister Xiaowan, it’s not that you’ve offended me—it’s that I’ve offended you. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time we’ve met. I, Xia Yiting, just can’t understand why you’re being so cruel to me. Could it be because of Ling Zheng Ge…?” Xia Yiting said, speaking in a deliberately mysterious tone. “Miss Xia, don’t take this any further!” Li Xiaowan simply couldn’t tolerate Xia Yiting’s aggressive attitude. Her inner turmoil grew even more intense. Were they scheming to frame her—and if so, what were they trying to achieve? “Sister Xiaowan, don’t blame Yi Ting. It’s only natural that you don’t remember what I told you last time. Yi Ting is great in every way, except for one thing—she’s almost exactly like me: she loves to throw a spoiled-brat tantrum.” Feng Yan spoke up just in time to remind Li Xiaowan. It was the same old trick—making things up out of thin air. “I’d actually like to hear what it was you told me,” Li Xiaowan said. She knew full well the saying, “When under someone’s roof, one must bow one’s head,” but she didn’t want to take the blame they were trying to pin on her without understanding why. She had to get to the bottom of this. “Sister Xiaowan, I told you just two days ago. Unless you’ve developed amnesia or memory loss—but knowing you as we do, it’s impossible for you to have either of those conditions, right, Second Brother? You two spend every moment together; you certainly have more authority to speak on this than I do.” Feng Yan batted her innocent eyes and looked over at Feng Lingzheng, who was sitting beside her. “Yan'er, since she can’t remember, help her jog her memory again. Let’s see just how long she can keep up this act.” Even the most skilled pretenders have nowhere to hide in his presence, but he had overlooked the most crucial point: he had already formed a preconceived notion that Li Xiaowan was a negative person. “All right, Second Brother.” Feng Yan put on a reluctant expression; to others, it looked as though she didn’t want to expose Li Xiaowan’s lie. “Sister Xiaowan, didn’t I run into you on the way to see Brother Lan that day? I even said back then that we had quite a bit of fate between us. Later, we ended up going to the same Company together. Actually, at first I didn’t plan on telling you, but when I thought about it, we really do get along well. Not telling you would be a disservice to myself—and even more so to you—so I decided to be completely honest with you. I told you I have a close friend named Xia Yiting. Besides being my best friend, she’s also my second older brother’s fiancée—or, to be precise, the fiancée my parents arranged for him. But my second older brother doesn’t have the slightest interest in her.” Feng Yan’s explanation was seamless; not a single flaw could be detected in her words. “So it was just a misunderstanding,Sister Xiaowan, aren’t you overthinking this? Although the elders on both sides of our families want to bring us together, I know my place. I’m definitely not Ling Zheng Ge’s type. You’ve completely picked the wrong person to take your frustrations out on. It’s all Feng Yan’s fault for not telling me sooner. If she’d told me earlier, I would’ve made my position clear the moment I first met you, and you wouldn’t have lost your head like this.” Xia Yiting felt Feng Yan’s story wasn’t vivid enough, so she embellished it even further. Being accused and slandered time and time again would be hard on anyone, and Li Xiaowan certainly wasn’t born to be a doormat. She forced herself to stand up from the sofa and said loudly, “What’s with this back-and-forth between the two of you? I, Li Xiaowan, walk with integrity and sit with dignity. I’m not afraid of your deliberate frame-ups or your attempts to twist the truth.” “Sister Xiaowan, there’s no need to take this so seriously. We really don’t blame you. You’ve just arrived, and The Feng Family has never even properly welcomed you once. Yet you’ve gone out of your way to cook for me and Yi Ting. We can’t thank you enough. Yi Ting, don’t you agree?” ” Feng Yan said calmly. In comparison, Li Xiaowan seemed just like a child who, having done something wrong, not only refused to admit it but also tried to argue her way out of it—she came across as extremely childish.