Chapter 115

“Xue’er, you were there for everything that happened today. What are your thoughts? Let’s hear them.”

Inside the Mu family’s temporary villa in Jiangzhou, Mu Sihai stood before the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows with his hands clasped behind his back. He had his back to Mu Xue, who had just returned, and gazed absently outside, as though calculating something in his mind.

“That’s impossible!”

A helpless, faint smile curved Mu Xue’s lips as she silently shook her head. She had clearly already guessed what Mu Sihai was thinking.

Having learned that Chu Tianhe’s wife had died and that he was now single, her father was considering the Mu family’s interests and wanted her to take the initiative to approach Chu Tianhe and become his wife.

“You’re unwilling?”

Only then did Mu Sihai turn around and look at Mu Xue. His voice carried a probing edge, and his gaze had grown exceptionally sharp.

“How could I be unwilling?” Mu Xue shook her head. “Father, you know me. I’m not opposed to a marriage arranged for the sake of the family. I simply don’t want to marry some useless rich second-generation heir with nothing but a wealthy background.”

“I want to marry a strong man—a man whose abilities surpass mine in every respect, a man who can make me willingly submit before him.”

Mu Xue’s mind was now filled entirely with Chu Tianhe: his every movement, every glance and smile, every gesture; his extraordinary eloquence and his bold, heroic bearing.

“Isn’t Mr. Chu precisely that kind of man?” Mu Sihai asked, puzzled.

Mu Xue gave a bitter smile and shook her head. “But it’s impossible.”

“Why is it impossible?” A trace of confusion crossed Mu Sihai’s eyes. “Do you feel that you’re not worthy of Mr. Chu?”

“There is some truth to that,” Mu Xue admitted with a nod.

Although she was the treasured daughter of the Mu family and an elite queen of the business world, compared with Chu Tianhe’s identity, there remained an enormous gulf between them.

“Mu Xue, you need to have more confidence in yourself. What woman in the world wouldn’t want to rise above her station and become a phoenix? There is nothing wrong with seeking a higher status and a greater realm.” Mu Sihai comforted her. “Besides, Xue’er, you’re as intelligent as you are beautiful. You’ll certainly be able to win Mr. Chu’s favor. I have faith in you!”

“This isn’t a matter of whether I have confidence.” Mu Xue smiled bitterly. “If there were even the slightest chance, I wouldn’t need you to say a word. I would seize it myself. I’ve fallen for him—I truly have fallen for Mr. Chu. Even if it weren’t for the Mu family, even if I were acting only for myself, I would still want to marry Mr. Chu!”

“But…” Mu Xue’s beautiful eyes shifted toward her father. “But doing so would bring ruin upon our Mu family!”

“Bring ruin upon our Mu family?”

Mu Sihai was startled. He hurriedly asked, “How could that possibly harm our family? Where does that idea come from? If you could become Mr. Chu’s wife, our Mu family would surely rise to great heights!”

“Father, do you know that Miss Qin’s feelings for Mr. Chu have already gone beyond the boundaries of ordinary affection?”

Mu Xue countered with a question. Her words left Mu Sihai rooted to the spot. He quickly pressed her for an explanation.

“You mean… Qin Xiaomeng has fallen in love with Chu Tianhe?”

“How could that be? Chu Tianhe is her brother-in-law!”

“Why couldn’t it be?” Mu Xue replied the moment he finished speaking. “I’m a woman. No one understands a woman’s thoughts better than another woman. When I took Mr. Chu home today, I merely draped a coat over Yaoyao’s shoulders, and Qin Xiaomeng was already showing hostility toward me.”

“If I continue taking the initiative to approach Mr. Chu, how do you think Qin Xiaomeng will feel?”

“To put it another way, given the current situation, Father, whose relationship with Mr. Chu do you think is closer—ours, or Qin Xiaomeng’s?”

“If Qin Xiaomeng were to say a few unkind words about our Mu family in front of Mr. Chu, could we afford the consequences?”