Saving the overbearing CEO

Chapter 490: The Nerd Under The Quilt

That loud resounding slap wasn't the end of it. His mother's sanity had unravelled as all her sadness spilt over. She clutched her chest with tears rolling down her eyes. "I am weak and useless..... wuwuwuwu..... your mother failed to protect you and lost everything I worked for. They have abandoned you and threw you out... it's all my fault. Blame, blame me for being weak wuwuwu..... How am I supposed to protect you if they find out about this? I am sorry, I am so sorry I have failed you. Mummy is sorry," she said as her body collapsed on the floor.

Qie Ranzhe reached over to embrace her while wiping her tears. He had witnessed with his own eyes the torment his mother suffered over the years but he himself was useless and could only comfort her hoping things would get better. His parent's relationship was toxic from the start but she loved him.

She just didn't think after all she did for her husband he would commit the ultimate betrayal without even batting an eyelid and serve her with divorce papers. Her heart had been sliced deep by that man and the wound wasn't healing.

Qie Ranzhe had caught her several times staring dazedly at the knife set in the kitchen. One time she actually picked it up with its tip pointed towards herself while staring blankly at it. She seemed unaware of her environment so he called out to her that's when she regained her wits placing the knife on the counter with a smile that wasn't exactly a smile concealing her true feelings.

"Mother is okay, you don't have to worry," she had said but of course, he didn't believe her.

The last straw was when he caught her almost climbing up the balcony rails. He had dragged her back into the house and had someone watch her twenty-four seven.

That's when therapy started. It seemed to be working but today she unravelled wailing herself to death. Qie Ranzhe was so distraught that he promised her he would do anything to help her get better.

It was this promise that had him sitting on the beach for an entire afternoon while smoking cigarettes something he had never done before. In his hand, he had the pictures and chat records sent to his mother.

He stared at them as he smoked away. He liked Gecko but each time he recalled how distraught his mother was he would get an unbearable ache in his heart. Indeed, we can't all get what we want.

He was forced to choose between his mother or his first love. Common sense made the choice obvious but his heart was fighting.

His inexperience in dealing with this kind of situation made him forget one crucial point. That is who leaked this information and sent it to his mother. The culprit showed up at the right opportunity to accompany him. But because of his clouded judgement, he didn't put two and two together.

It never crossed his mind that Zhao Huangzhi had orchestrated all of this. That's because they were childhood friends and hung out a lot before she left.

In fact, she would be the least suspicious in his eyes because she had just returned and never expressed any kind of interest towards him. So he didn't reject her when she offered him a shoulder to lean on.

This innocent looking girl was in fact the mastermind. She had been silently watching Qie Ranzhe's every move all this time. Her obsession for him had started when they were younger. She wasn't the type to show her interest outwardly but had diaries filled with stories about Qie Ranzhe.

At some point, she started to refer to him as husband in her diary and from then on her writing became even more delusional.

When her mother found her stack of diaries and pictures of Qie Ranzhe her father sent her away. There was something clearly wrong with Zhao Huangzhi and he thought sending her away would help her get over her unhealthy obsession but it clearly didn't work.

When she came back she wanted to confess her feelings but there was an annoying hindrance and that was the Gecko freak. She snooped through his cellphone when they went out for Karaoke and Qie Ranzhe was passed out. What she found had her so upset that she had to do something.

The fact that Gecko was a boy meant he would be easy to be rid of so she conjured up this plan and let the heartbroken Qie Ranzhe lean on her for support.

That day on the beach as they watched the sun sink into the horizon, she made him understand why liking a man wouldn't only ruin his mother, the Qie family and his reputation in their circle. Her argument was so convincing that he decided to let go. He burnt those pictures marking the beginning of his journey to forget Gecko. This was for the best.

He didn't know when it happened but he grew an over-reliance on Zhao Huangzhi over time and confessed his feelings at some point. Machu didn't approve because he always felt something was off about her but seeing his friend happy he didn't say anything.

When it became apparent that it wasn't Mr Qie's intention to have Qie Ranzhe take over the Qie empire, Zhao Huangzhi was again made to leave the country by her father. Their relationship grew distant but Qie Ranzhe held on starting his own company to prove to her that he was worthy. Machu couldn't stand by and just watch his friend work himself to death just to be with Zhao Huangzhi.

He tried to convince him to let her go but he ended up being blacklisted by Qie Ranzhe for an entire year. He was angry and vowed not to care anymore but when he heard Qie Ranzhe wanted to propose he swallowed his pride and showed him evidence that the Zhao family were already introducing her to potential marriage candidates, heirs who would certainly inherit their families' businesses.

They argued but it didn't take long for Machu to be proved right. Not only did Zhao Huangzhi reject his proposal but she had a bunch of rubbish to say that had this CEO's eyes open. This is why when she tried to kiss him in the hospital he kicked her out.

***

Now that we are all caught up let's go back to the nerd under the quilt.....

Wen Qinxi had been under that quilt for the past twenty-four hours. He refused to talk, eat or move which had Wen Danzhe concerned. He had to end up calling mummy dearest for back up otherwise his brother might suffocate himself to death under the quilt.

While waiting for his mother, he tried to cheer him up. He brought Wen Qinxi's cellphone with a message from the bank. Qie Ranzhe had transferred ten million RMB to Wen Qinxi's account. He stupidly thought that it would cheer up Wen Qinxi but his brother curled up into a ball refusing to acknowledge him.