QT: The Rescue Of The Miserable Bigshots-Chapter 216 - 8.3

"Jiamian! Are you so angry you’ve lost your senses? How could you say something so extreme and call off the engagement?"

The moment Fu Xiaoyuan left, Father and Mother Jiang could no longer hold back. They rushed to the bedside, faces filled with worry and anger, eager for an explanation.

Jiang Jiamian sighed softly, "Dad, Mom, you can see that Fu Xiaoyuan doesn’t have me in his heart at all. Not only does he not like me, but he also hates me. Such an engagement, even if it can be maintained for a while, it is impossible to preserve it forever. Instead of doing this, it is better to fulfill his wish and cancel this engagement before the day of marriage, and then divorce really comes."

"This..." Jiang’s father sighed, "You know how much effort Dad put into securing this engagement, and Dad also knows you’ve liked Fu Xiaoyuan for so many years... If it’s called off now, it will be impossible to restore it."

With the Fu family’s background and status, once the engagement was broken, they wouldn’t look back, and other families were already lining up to compete for this marriage.

But the Jiang family hadn’t pursued this marriage purely for profit. Father and Mother Jiang knew how deeply Jiang Jiamian had liked Fu Xiaoyuan for years. It had seemed like the perfect arrangement, one that could support both the family business and their son. So why had things gone wrong with Fu Xiaoyuan?

"I’ve decided." Jiang Jiamian said seriously.

"Is it because of that Tang Tang?" Mother Jiang looked at Jiang Jiamian’s face with some worry, as if trying to see something on his face, "If you really like Fu Xiaoyuan, why not just treat him as a lover. That Tang Tang is from a small family and can’t take away your status."

Jiang Jiamian: "..."

The corner of Jiang Jiamian’s lips twitched. He stared at her speechlessly.

"Mom, do I look like someone who’s willing to compromise like that?"

"That’s right! What kind of talk is that?" Father Jiang frowned, glancing at his wife, "Even if we’re not as powerful as the Fu family, the Jiang family is still a respected name in our city. If we tolerate this, won’t people treat us like a joke?"

Mother Jiang laughed dryly and said softly, "Aren’t I just afraid that my child can’t let go of that Fu Xiaoyuan?"

"There’s nothing left to let go of."

Jiang Jiamian’s voice carried a hint of coldness, "Since he’s already stepped on my dignity and brought up his so-called ’true love’ right in front of his own fiance, again and again, what is there to hold onto? As for the Fu family, I hope you and Dad can handle the negotiation and do your best to minimize the damage to the Jiang family. But let’s be clear, it’s the Fu family who’s at fault here."

"Alright." Father Jiang said after a moment of silence. "Since you’ve made up your mind, we will mention it to the Fu family."

"No." Jiang Jiamian sneered, "If we bring it up ourselves, it’ll look like we’re deliberately humiliating the Fu family. There’s no telling how they might retaliate in business. Since Fu Xiaoyuan is already in the wrong, let him carry that guilt to the end. He said it earlier, he will be the one to mention it to his family. All we have to do is wait and then agree in a way that seems thoughtful and reluctant, like we’ve been put in a difficult position."

That way, whether in the eyes of the Fu family or the public, Fu Xiaoyuan will be the one entirely at fault.

And the Fu family won’t have any grounds to use the broken engagement as an excuse to pressure the Jiang family.

Otherwise, they will just be handing them the knife to stab them in the back.

"Okay! You’re right!"

Father Jiang, who had been worried that his son was speaking out of impulse or anger, couldn’t help but breathe a quiet sigh of relief as he listened to Jiang Jiamian calmly and rationally analyze the situation.

It was clear now, his son wasn’t acting on emotion. He was clear-headed about canceling the engagement.

In fact, he seemed more clear-minded than ever before.

In the past, he couldn’t seem to stay away from making a fuss with Tang Tang, and left them both anxious, worried he might do something reckless. But now... it seemed that this fall had finally sobered him.

"Cancel the engagement!?"

Fu Xiaoyuan had thought that since Jiang Jiamian had already agreed, all it would take was a simple conversation to make it official.

But the moment he brought it up, he was met with Old Master Fu’s furious outburst.

"Yes, Dad, this entire incident was his fault! He even tried to frame Tang Tang. If I hadn’t installed surveillance cameras, he wouldn’t have been able to clear his name at all!"

"Tang Tang this, Tang Tang that!" Old Master Fu snapped, slamming his teacup down hard on the coffee table, "Xiaoyuan, do you remember how we invited several of the major families in our city to witness your engagement? And now you want to cancel? That’s a slap in the face to me!"

Fu Xiaoyuan frowned and muttered under his breath, "I didn’t even agree to the engagement at the time. You decided everything before I had the chance to say no."

"Oh? I didn’t give you a chance?"

Old Master Fu let out a cold laugh, practically shaking with rage, "I made it very clear, as the heir of the Fu family, you don’t just get to enjoy the wealth and power, we all make sacrifices for the family. If you don’t want to marry the young master of the Jiang family, that’s fine. Then give up your position as heir. Are you willing to do that?"

"I..."

Fu Xiaoyuan choked on his words, his expression suddenly turning grim.

He knew exactly what kind of man his father was.

He had always known.

Old Master Fu held the entire Fu family tightly in his grasp, every thought revolving around power, reputation, and profit.

And his son’s happiness?

He didn’t care.

"Even if the engagement is to be canceled, it can only be the Jiang family’s fault, not yours. Let the world think they were the ones who ruined things, not that you’d throw everything away for a little pretty boy no one takes seriously."

The Jiang family’s fault... Listening to Mr. Fu’s words, Fu Xiaoyuan’s mind spun rapidly, and a gloomy and calculating look quickly flashed across his eyes.

Fu Xiaoyuan’s thoughts were far too shallow and obvious in the eyes of Mr. Fu, who was shrewd and had been in the business world for many years.

With just a glance at his son’s eyes, he saw straight through him. He couldn’t help but sneer and reminded him, "I suggest you don’t have any foolish ideas. You know better than anyone, if it’s not the Jiang family, then it’ll be the Li family, or the Wang family, or the Zhangs. But it will never, ever be that Tang Tang."

Fu Xiaoyuan stiffened, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head. The vague scheme forming in his mind instantly dissolved.

He truly liked Tang Tang.

And he truly hated Jiang Jiamian, who is unreasonable, has a young and pampered master’s temper, and is vicious.

But if he is asked to give up his identity as the heir, give up the inheritance and power of the Fu family, and live a poor life for Tang Tang, he really can’t do it.

There had to be a way to bring Tang Tang into the Fu family openly. There had to be a way!

Seeing that Fu Xiaoyuan seemed to have calmed down under his scolding, Old Master Fu’s tone gradually softened. "Xiaoyuan, if you really like that Tang Tang, marriage isn’t the only way to keep someone by your side. Do you understand what I mean?"

Fu Xiaoyuan blinked, momentarily stunned, "Dad... what do you mean?"

Old Master Fu leaned back slightly on the sofa, adopting the poised posture of a true patriarch, "For men from families like ours, it’s perfectly normal to keep someone you like by your side. Isn’t that how it was with your mother?"

Fu Xiaoyuan’s face froze. His mother, yes, his mother, was also not a legitimate wife. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

This matter can be said to be the shame he has been carrying since birth.

Even though his mother has already entered the Fu family, and he has replaced Fu Yanchen as the heir that Mr. Fu intends to cultivate, his illegitimate birth still makes him ashamed.

He didn’t want that for Tang Tang.

"In short, you are an adult now, and you need to think things through. You still have a lot to learn. If it weren’t for your brother..." Mr. Fu paused, adjusted his expression, and continued, "Even if your brother turned out that way... don’t think you’re irreplaceable."

Illegitimate child?

He never said Fu Xiaoyuan was the only one.

Though he had no fondness for the other son he had never brought into the Fu family, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t use him now, to remind Fu Xiaoyuan just how easily he could be replaced. To keep him from being swept up by that Tang Tang and doing something embarrassing.

As for Jiang Jiamian, of course, he didn’t like that child either.

Stupid and spoiled.

But the Fu family now needs a marriage partner like the Jiang family, and that’s enough.

If things don’t go well in the future, they can still divorce, right?

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