The mere thought of Tang Si being intimate with her and then immediately going to bed with Zhao Wuyan, their bodies intertwined in passionate lovemaking, made her feel disgusted, dirty.
Disgusting!
Utterly disgusting.
To think she had trusted Tang Si so much before.
Only to be betrayed by him in the end.
He had a child with Zhao Wuyan, so what did that make her?
A homewrecker?
A homewrecker!
Heh.
After grieving for a while, Shi Ran forced herself to calm down and think of a way to get money.
She took out her phone, opening her contacts, intending to call Meng Jingwei. But on second thought, Meng Jingwei was Qing Muye's wife and also Tang Si's friend.
Since Tang Si liked Zhao Wuyan, Meng Jingwei must have known, yet she never thought to tell her. Was she in cahoots with Tang Si, plotting against her?
Shi Ran couldn't be sure.
But even setting that aside, she couldn't just ask Meng Jingwei for over twenty million yuan for no reason.
She couldn't possibly afford such a sky-high debt.
Suddenly, she thought of someone—Zhao Wuyan!
Didn't she say she would give her twenty million yuan back then?
But twenty-six million yuan was still far from enough!
After a whole day of desperate struggle, Shi Ran finally went to the living room, picked up the phone number Zhao Wuyan had left, and called her.
"Zhao Wuyan?"
"Finally come to your senses." Zhao Wuyan's voice sounded as if she had anticipated the call. "You're still young, and having some money to fall back on isn't a bad thing for you. Besides, Si Bing doesn't truly like you. He's only with you out of guilt, and how long can that guilt last? And if he really loved you, why would he have come to my bed?"
The blunt words cruelly battered Shi Ran's heart.
She took a deep breath, suppressing her humiliation, and said, "You just want me to take money and leave Tang Si, right? It's not that I can't agree, but... I want thirty million yuan!"
"Heh, quite ambitious. Thirty million? Shi Ran, am I being too lenient with you?" Zhao Wuyan scoffed, finding Shi Ran unappreciative.
"If you don't give me thirty million, I won't leave Tang Si. After all, he said he wanted to marry me, and I believe he can do it!"
Shi Ran retorted with all her courage.
"Calling you foolish, you really are foolish. I'm pregnant with Si Bing's child now, twins even. Do you think Tang Si's parents will allow you to marry into the Tang family? Oh, right, do you know where I am? I'm at the Tang family's residence, in Tang Si's bedroom, resting. His mother is currently instructing the maids to prepare nutritious meals for me."
Zhao Wuyan's words, spoken in the gentlest tone, inflicted deep wounds on Shi Ran.
Hearing her words, Shi Ran stumbled back a step, tears uncontrollably welling up in her eyes. But she still managed to force herself to say, "No, it's thirty million! If you don't agree, I'll make my relationship with Tang Si public. That way, even if you marry into the Tang family, it won't be honorable."
For her brother's sake, Shi Ran had no choice but to do this.
"Shi Ran, you truly don't know your place. What, have you forgotten you have other family members? Do you want them to live the rest of their lives feeling as 'inferior' as you?"
These words carried a strong threat.
Shi Ran's heart skipped a beat, and she became inexplicably nervous. "You... give me at least twenty-five million, let's meet halfway."
This was her last resort.
She had no other options.
"If you insist on twenty-five million, then I'll have a condition."
"What condition?"
"Your words are not proof, and I can't trust you. Therefore, you must do one thing before I agree."
"What?" Shi Ran's heart tightened, a bad premonition arising within her.