Ex-Husband Comes Crawling Back After Divorce

As soon as Qiao Ran turned her phone on, she received a call from Song Zhiyuan.

"Ranran, where are you? Dad has been looking everywhere for you, I was so worried," Song Zhiyuan's anxious voice came from the other end.

Qiao Ran's mouth curled into a cold sneer, "I'm at a friend's house, my phone was dead, it just came back on."

"Come back home to live, Dad has been wrong all these years. I've always wanted to make it up to you. Now that you and Wen Shimo are divorced, Dad wants to take good care of you, make up for the neglect over the years, give Dad a chance, will you come back today?"

Heh, fatherly love?

Would he make this call if not for the four billion she had from the Wen Family's compensation?

Not to mention making up for the neglect!

Qiao Ran feigned reluctance to refuse, and after Song Zhiyuan pleaded several times, she reluctantly said, "Mom wanted me to return to the Song Family before she passed but I always felt that you had failed her and didn't want to go back. She still thought of you on her deathbed. She loved you so much, which shows that you are worthy of her love. I shouldn't let her spirit see me broken-hearted. I'll go back and stay for a while, and if I really can't adapt, I'll move out again."

"Okay, okay, I will make sure you can adapt. I'm having someone make delicious food for you now; please come back quickly."

After hanging up the phone, Qiao Ran slightly bent her lips, conjuring a freezing cold curve.

After Song Zhiyuan and Qiao Ran's mother Qiao Wenhu got married, they started a tailoring shop. Qiao Wenhu was not only skilled at making clothes, but her designs were also extraordinary, turning the modest tailoring shop into a small clothing company and eventually into a leading local enterprise.

When Qiao Ran's younger brother Qiao Chen was born, Qiao Wenhu suffered severe hemorrhage and had her uterus removed to save her life.

Qiao Chen couldn't walk or talk at three years old and only knew how to smile foolishly. He was diagnosed with mental retardation and developmental delay.

Song Zhiyuan was ridiculed for having a 'foolish' son, and with no one to carry on the family business, it was said that their lineage would end. But Song Zhiyuan didn't care about what others thought and took Qiao Chen out to play every day, making his deeply loving wife Qiao Wenhu feel guilty. Not wanting to be a burden, Qiao Wenhu coerced Song Zhiyuan into divorcing her with the threat of her own death.

After the divorce, Qiao Wenhu took her children far away to live where nobody knew them.

However, Qiao Wenhu never knew that she, plagued by illness for many years before eventually dying from organ failure, was not sick from natural causes but died from a rare, odorless, and tasteless slow-acting poison.

While treating her brother Qiao Chen, Qiao Ran also detected minute amounts of the same toxin in her mother's body, deducing that her mother had been poisoned while pregnant. This caused Qiao Chen's developmental delays and low intelligence.

A pregnant woman poisoned with such a strange and rare substance—would anyone believe it wasn't done on purpose?

Qiao Ran stood in the drizzling rain, staring through the mist at the luxuriously bright villa in front of her with eyes as cold as frost.

This house was designed by her mother, and it was supposed to be home for their family of four.

But now it housed another woman and other children.

She came to the Song Family to uncover the truth behind her mother's poisoning and to ensure that those who harmed her mother would be punished as they deserved.

"Young Miss, you've arrived. Why didn't you ring the doorbell? Your clothes are all wet; it's so cold today, don't catch a cold. Come inside quickly," the maid Wu Ma, holding an umbrella, came out and hurriedly opened the door to shelter Qiao Ran from the rain.

"I just got here and was about to ring the bell when you came out," Qiao Ran said in a low, obedient voice.

"Come inside quickly, the master and madam are waiting for you!"

Led by Wu Ma, Qiao Ran entered the villa's living room. Upon seeing Qiao Ran with water on her head and body, Song Zhiyuan quickly showed concern, "Xiao Ran, you're wet, hurry upstairs to take a shower and change clothes."

"Xiao Ran, let Auntie take you to change," Xu Xueman said kindly.

"Thank you, Xue Auntie," Qiao Ran responded dutifully.

"It's no trouble; we're family, there's no need to be so distant. This is also your home," Xu Xueman said affectionately, taking Qiao Ran by the hand and leading her upstairs.

"This is the bedroom Auntie has arranged for you. See if you like it; if not, I'll have someone change it to your liking tomorrow," Xu Xueman said gently as she opened a bedroom door.

In the three years married to Wen Shimo, Song Zhiyuan hadn't been enthusiastic about her; every time he contacted her, it was to ask for a favor on behalf of the Wen Family. In contrast, it was Xu Xueman who was always very kind and loving.

Even when outsiders speculated that Qiao Ran had caused her daughter Song Wanqing to become a vegetative person, she still helped Qiao Ran clarify to the public, saying her daughter's car accident was not a murder, not a setup, just a normal traffic accident. She urged the public not to over speculate and not to cyberbully and hurt the innocent Qiao Ran.

Qiao Ran was not a naive person. She knew that Xu Xueman was a dangerous person who could smile while pushing someone to their death, but because she needed to investigate the secrets Xu Xueman carried, she also hadn't exposed her pretense over the years.

Acting, who couldn't?

"No need, I really like this bedroom."

"Then you take a bath first. Once you're done, come down for dinner."

That evening, Song Zhiyuan treated Qiao Ran with great warmth, lavishing her with attention, serving her dishes and pouring water like a gentle and caring father.

Yet to Qiao Ran's surprise, he bore the situation well and didn't bring up the issue of money with her.

Perhaps it was a change of environment that made her anxious, for Qiao Ran had a night full of nightmares.

Sometimes she dreamt of being bitten by a vicious dog when she was a child, then of the happy times with her mother and brother in the countryside, and then of her wedding night with Wen Shimo, waking up in terror and suffocation.

Regarding her wedding night with Wen Shimo, Qiao Ran's deepest memory was of her admiration for Wen Shimo.

To consummate the marriage with her, Wen Zhengliang had slipped something into his son's drink and even locked the door from the outside, not letting them leave.

Wen Shimo suspected she had shamelessly manipulated him to achieve her goal and nearly strangled her to death.

Yesterday she had been drugged, and the effect had made her lose all sense of dignity and self-respect, but Wen Shimo had managed to get through it by taking cold showers and using sheer self-control.

This made Qiao Ran feel his self-control was so strong it was unimaginable.

In the hazy delirium of her tangled thoughts, Qiao Ran fell back asleep and was woken by the gentle calls of Xu Xueman.

"Ranran, it's getting late, time to get up for breakfast."

"Ranran, it's unhealthy to skip breakfast. Eat first, then you can go back to sleep. Get up now!"

"..."

That affectionate and patient soft tone would make anyone unaware think Xu Xueman was her real mother rather than her stepmother!

"I know, I'll be down in a bit!"

Half an hour later, Qiao Ran walked into the dining room and sat down to the right of Song Zhiyuan.

"Ranran, did you sleep well last night?" Song Zhiyuan asked with concern.

"Quite well!"

"If you slept well, then Dad is reassured."

"Zhiyuan, you have such dark circles. Didn't you sleep well last night?" Xu Xueman asked with concern as she used the serving chopsticks to add a piece of egg pancake to Qiao Ran's plate.

"There's been some trouble at the company. I didn't sleep much last night."

"What happened?"

"Nothing serious. I can handle it." Song Zhiyuan said, glancing at Qiao Ran who was silently eating next to him.

"What's the matter? Just tell me, let's see if I can help in any way. Even if I can't, Ranran is here. She's always smart, she'll certainly be able to help you." Xu Xueman said earnestly.

Listening to the two of them sing a duet, Qiao Ran pretended not to understand and continued to eat quietly.