Chapter 46: A Pathetic Excuse for a Father

Dressed in luxurious attire and accompanied by two imposing bodyguards, Tan Li attracted everyone’s attention the moment she stepped into the banquet hall, though those gazes were far from friendly.

"Isn't that Mrs. Xia?"
"Indeed... Mrs. Xia is quite something. Today is a golden wedding anniversary, yet she, a second-wife, comes here to steal the spotlight. Isn't that embarrassing for Chairman Jin and his wife?"
"It's not just Chairman Jin and his wife who are embarrassed. Mrs. Xia was promoted from a mistress, and now with this stunt, Chairman Xia probably has nowhere to show his face either."
"Chairman Xia lost his face long ago; does he even have anywhere left to put it? If not for the Lin family's prestige, Chairman Jin might not have invited him at all."
"That's true. The Xia family has certainly been making quite a stir lately..."

The intermittent whispering constantly pierced Xia Rui's eardrums, making him wish he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. The expressions of Chairman Jin and his wife on the stage were equally grim. With the recent scandals making headlines everywhere, Tan Li's reputation as a mistress was deafening. Now that she appeared here, was it out of ignorance, or was she deliberately here to wreck the event?

"What are you doing here?" Xia Rui hurriedly pulled Tan Li aside and questioned her in a low voice.

A deep, suppressed anger burned in Tan Li's eyes, and her hands clutched tightly at the hem of her dress, yet she smiled and said, "Of course, I'm here to attend the banquet. I'm your wife; it's hardly unreasonable for me to accompany you to a banquet."

She knew today was Chairman Jin's golden wedding anniversary, and as a second wife, her attendance was inappropriate, but she deliberately used this major occasion to show that vixen that she was Xia Rui's true wife!

Regardless of who the person in those photos was, as long as she remained the mistress of the Xia family, no one would ever be able to shake her position!

"Since Mrs. Xia has also arrived, please take your seats." Chairman Jin and his wife did not want their banquet ruined, especially with so many reporters present. Tan Li could afford to throw away her dignity, but they certainly could not afford to lose theirs, so they simply chose to ignore her.

Xia Rui hurriedly pulled Tan Li down to sit, cast an apologetic glance at Chairman Jin and his wife, and then whispered to Xia Rusheng, "Xiahsia, bid on this pair of rings for your father, and then present them back to Chairman Jin and his wife. Your father will cover the cost."

If he were to bid himself, it would be no different from Tan Li bidding. Besides, since the rings were to be returned as an apology gift to Chairman Jin and his wife, his status as someone remarried made it truly inappropriate, leaving him no choice but to let Xiahsia step forward.

Xia Rusheng raised an eyebrow. Just then, Lu Siyuan happened to glance at her from the corner of his eye with an amused expression, as if hinting at something. Xia Rusheng suddenly had a flash of inspiration and nodded slightly toward Lu Siyuan. Seeing this, the corners of Lu Siyuan's mouth curved upward even more.

"Five million."
"Six million." As soon as Xia Rusheng finished raising her paddle, Lu Siyuan quickly placed his bid, matching Xia Rusheng's increment precisely.

Just as Xia Rusheng opened her mouth to shout seven million, Xia Rui fiercely patted her shoulder, prompting her to instantly change her tune: "Eight million!"

"Ten million!" Lu Siyuan added without a moment's hesitation, shutting out everyone else in the room and daring no one else to raise their paddle.

It was glaringly obvious that this young master of the Lu family was maliciously inflating the price; who would be foolish enough to step into the fray? The pair of rings was worth at most a million or so, and only an idiot would spend ten million to buy them...

"Xiahsia, don't raise the price too fast!" Xia Rui panicked, leaning in to whisper urgently to Xia Rusheng. He had patted Xia Rusheng earlier precisely to get her to slow down the bidding.

"Huh? Isn't raising it high the only way to make Young Master Lu back down?" Xia Rusheng replied in a feigned, innocent whisper. She believed that even if she "ignorantly" drove the price higher, Xia Rui wouldn't blame her; instead, he would pin the blame squarely on Tan Li. If not for Tan Li's untimely appearance, Xia Rui wouldn't have felt compelled to bid on these rings to express his apology to Chairman Jin and his wife. Therefore, the higher she drove the price now, the deeper Xia Rui's resentment toward Tan Li would become.

Hearing this, Lin Yichen and Lu Siyuan both tried their hardest to suppress their laughter.

"No, Young Master Lu is probably just messing with you. Don't fall for his tricks," Xia Rui suppressed the anger rising in his heart and patiently explained to his daughter.

"Then since the price is already this high, do we still want the rings? Why don't we just let Young Master Lu buy them back as a sucker?" Xia Rusheng said with a feigned guilty expression.

Beside them, the corners of Lu Siyuan's mouth twitched, and the bidding paddle in his hand showed signs of rising again.

Seeing this, Xia Rui gritted his teeth and said, "We want them!"

Xia Rusheng knew it would end this way. At this price, Xia Rui had arguably reached the absolute limit of his psychological endurance. He was currently raising funds to buy land; where would he get so much idle cash to throw at charity? Recognizing the right moment, Xia Rusheng stopped, kicked Lu Siyuan's stool, and called out, "Ten million... and one dollar!"

The entire venue erupted in a sudden uproar. Just as everyone was guessing how Lu Siyuan would counter-bid, Lu Siyuan simply abandoned the auction and said, "Miss Xia is truly passionate about charity. I gracefully concede."

With the final strike of the gavel, Xia Rui felt a sharp pang of heartache.

After the remaining guests finished their bidding, Xia Rui took Xia Rusheng to the back to complete the paperwork, and then sent Xiahsia and Lin Yichen forward to return the rings to Chairman Jin and his wife.

Having spent ten million without even gaining a breath of air, while losing face into the bargain, Xia Rui no longer had the face to remain seated there.

Xia Rusheng and Tan Li followed Xia Rui as they left. The three of them maintained a heavy silence all the way home. The moment they stepped into the house, the frustration Xia Rui had pent up finally exploded, and he bellowed roughly, "Tan Li, if you pull a stunt like this again, don't blame me for truly divorcing you!"

"So this is what you've really been thinking! Xia Rui, now that I'm past my youth, you want to divorce me and welcome that vixen into the house, don't you? In your dreams!" Tan Li refused to swallow her grievances any longer. She had rationally wanted to avoid making a scene with Xia Rui because she knew that making a scene would only push him further away. But by now, it was no longer her making a scene—it was Xia Rui driving her to it!

"Vixen? What vixen!" Mentioning this struck a nerve of guilt in Xia Rui, causing his voice to pitch higher.

"W-what is going on now? Tan Li, why are you back?" Hearing the commotion, Old Madam Xia hurried over to intervene, terrified that Xia Rui might lose control and harm Tan Li or the child she was carrying.

"Mom, you must seek justice for me this time! I really wasn't throwing a groundless tantrum; it's Xia Rui. He's keeping a vixen outside! I'm carrying his son right now, and he actually went behind my back to look for other women!"

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Xia Rui roared to cut Tan Li off. Seeing his attitude, Tan Li felt even more aggrieved and desperate. She pulled out her phone, opened a photo gallery, and displayed several pictures of Xia Rui checking into hotels and shopping with another woman. Furthermore, the dates on the photos showed they weren't even from the same day!

"You had someone tail me!" Xia Rui's angry and subconscious slip of the tongue indirectly confessed to his guilt, and Tan Li's photos now acted like pouring oil on a fire, completely stripping the already furious Xia Rui of his last shred of reason.

"I didn't have anyone tail you! If you don't want people to know, you shouldn't have done it in the first place. Xia Rui, how could you do this to me? Mom, you must get justice for me! Otherwise, I'll take the child in my belly and die right here with him!" With that, Tan Li thrust her pregnant belly toward a nearby table, preparing to crash into it. Having failed to find help through reason, she had no choice but to use death as a threat. She knew very well what kind of person Old Madam Xia was; without leveraging her grandson, the old lady would never stand on her side!