Chapter 26: He Was Not Here to Save Her

"Brother Ming!" Mu Leyu trembled with excitement, her eyes overflowing with adoration.

Li Mingye appeared behind her, his expression dark and brooding. Seeing her did not surprise him. He glanced at her briefly, then stared directly at Zhang Xiluo, visibly furious.

"Brother Ming, are you here to save her?" Mu Leyu’s hand tightened as she pulled Zhang Xiluo back a step. "Step back, or I’ll kill her."

"No," Li Mingye replied coldly, showing no concern for Zhang Xiluo’s safety. "Give me the video."

Mu Leyu suddenly laughed and looked at Zhang Xiluo with pity. "Zhang Xiluo, you’re truly pathetic. You think marrying him means he’ll be yours?"

"Yes, he’s not mine," Zhang Xiluo smiled bitterly. Seeing Li Mingye was a surprise, a flutter of joy in her heart made her believe he’d come to save her. "He’s here because of Zhou Yao, seeking you. It seems you’re in trouble."

Hearing his attitude, she felt strangely relieved. Since deciding to divorce, the fewer the entanglements, the better.

"What video? I only took photos. Brother Ming, you really don’t care about her?" Mu Leyu deliberately taunted. Blood trickled slowly down Zhang Xiluo’s scraped face. "Zhang Xiluo is your legitimate wife."

Li Mingye remained calm, his hand clenched into a fist, sneering, "What do you think?"

Zhang Xiluo’s heart sank. He was as ruthless as ever.

No matter in her past life or this one, he was only moved by Zhou Yao. Towards Zhang Xiluo, he showed nothing but coldness and indifference.

"Take your filthy hands off her." Ouyang Chen stepped out from behind Li Mingye, warning Mu Leyu, "Touch her again, and I’ll make you wish you were dead."

It was Ouyang Chen, not Li Mingye, who had just demanded Mu Leyu release her!

Mu Leyu looked at Ouyang Chen, then at Zhang Xiluo. "Zhang Xiluo, you’re quite skilled—seducing Ouyang Chen now?"

Zhang Xiluo was startled, looking at Ouyang Chen in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to appear.

"Shut up," Zhang Xiluo snapped. She and Ouyang Chen were innocent. "If you want to ruin my face, hurry up. I need to go find my father."

"Let her go," Ouyang Chen said coldly, his aura chilling. He stepped past Li Mingye, approached Mu Leyu, and without giving her a chance to react, pushed her aside.

Mu Leyu cried out in alarm, falling to the ground, the knife grazing Zhang Xiluo’s face and leaving a cut.

"Damn it," Ouyang Chen growled, pressing a clean towel to the wound. "I’ll take you to the hospital."

"My father!" Zhang Xiluo shook her head, demanding from Mu Leyu, "Where is my father?"

Mu Leyu’s gaze turned venomous, her hatred for Zhang Xiluo deepening. "You’ll never find him. You monopolize Brother Ming and now seduce Ouyang Chen. You’ll die a miserable death."

"Your father has already gone home," Ouyang Chen reassured her as he supported Zhang Xiluo. He had learned this before coming. "Let’s get you to the hospital."

"You two are shameless," Mu Leyu cursed.

Li Mingye watched everything coldly from start to finish. When Ouyang Chen picked up Zhang Xiluo, his expression shifted.

"Ouyang Chen, she’s my wife."

As they passed by him, he grabbed Ouyang Chen’s sleeve.

Ouyang Chen stopped and handed Zhang Xiluo to him. "Then you take her to the hospital."

Li Mingye didn’t accept her, his brows furrowing even deeper. "I have more important matters to attend to. It’s inconvenient for me."

"No need," Zhang Xiluo couldn’t bear it any longer and asked Ouyang Chen to put her down. "Li Mingye, focus on your business. Ouyang Chen, I can walk by myself."

She had always known she meant nothing to him, but hearing it aloud was especially painful. She didn’t want to stay another moment nor delay Li Mingye’s important affairs.

"I’ll find a way for you to get what you want. I hope you sign the papers willingly when the time comes." Zhang Xiluo’s heart was frozen as she looked at Li Mingye, her gaze resolute.

Li Mingye’s breath caught, startled by Zhang Xiluo’s determined look. She truly intended to leave him!

After speaking, Zhang Xiluo limped forward, every step agonizing.

Li Mingye’s repeated indifference and refusal to help had completely chilled her heart.

Even if it cost her dearly, she was determined to leave him.

Ouyang Chen followed at a distance, and when they’d gone far enough, he disregarded her objections and picked her up.

Li Mingye stood in place, his fists clenched tightly, a heavy weight pressing on his chest, suffocating him.

Mu Leyu hadn’t anticipated this outcome. She climbed up from the ground and looked at Li Mingye in confusion.

"There’s no video at all. You came here for Zhang Xiluo, so why not tell her?"

"It’s none of your business," Li Mingye replied, his tone full of hostility.

"You love her—do you really love her?" Mu Leyu couldn’t accept it. "I won’t let her have peace, never."

"You’ve lost your chance."

"Brother Ming... She’s run off with Ouyang Chen, yet you still want to protect her?"

"Shut up!"

Ouyang Chen carried Zhang Xiluo into the car and sped to the hospital. Zhang Xiluo insisted he first take her home, worried about her father.

"Your father drank too much and is already asleep," Ouyang Chen explained. "The dinner lasted too long, and his phone died. The secretary at the dinner was Mu Leyu’s cousin, and she was the one who stole your father’s phone."

"How do you know that?"

"Li Mingye found the person. I just confirmed it," Ouyang Chen didn’t hide anything. He had followed Li Mingye and found the place.

"I understand."

The cut on Zhang Xiluo’s face wasn’t deep, and the bleeding had stopped. Xu Xinyi disinfected the wound and applied a simple bandage.

Her ankle sprain was more serious. After treatment, she was advised to rest.

Once she’d recovered somewhat, Zhang Xiluo returned to her mother’s hospital room. Her mother was already asleep.

Sitting at the bedside, Zhang Xiluo was overwhelmed by sorrow. All of this was because of Li Mingye—he was her fatal calamity.

Zhang Xiluo fell asleep at the bedside, and the next morning, her mother was startled by the wound on her face.

"How did you get hurt?"

"I accidentally scratched myself on a branch. Dad drank too much yesterday and lost his phone," Zhang Xiluo lied.

Just as she finished speaking, her father arrived.

Her mother scolded him for drinking, and he apologized repeatedly, then asked after her well-being.

Zhang Xiluo smiled. After thirty years together, her parents were still so loving—this was how love and marriage should be.

"Father will stay with you. I’m going to the police station to check the surveillance footage." It hadn’t been an accident, but deliberate. Zhang Xiluo had learned the truth from Mu Leyu, but she needed evidence.

After all, the culprit was Zhou Yao’s father; Li Mingye would surely protect him, and Mu Leyu wouldn’t testify.

"We absolutely can’t let that person get away," her father said, distressed for his wife. "Luoluo, tell me immediately if anything happens."

Zhang Xiluo nodded. "Don’t worry, Dad."

No matter what, she wouldn’t let anyone who hurt her family off easily!

When she arrived at the police station, she saw Li Mingye accompanying Zhou Yao out. Zhou Lixun followed them, and when he saw Zhang Xiluo, his face was full of smugness.

"You’re too late!"