Hidden identities of the AI Heiress-Chapter 985 You Cannot Refuse

"Okay."

Qiao Yun raised her hand to take off the cufflinks, her eyes cast downward, first undoing the ones he was wearing before putting on the ones she gave him.

From Li Hanzhou’s angle, all he could see were her slender eyelashes, her straight nose, and the faint, cool fragrance emanating from her.

Li Hanzhou’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he waited for Qiao Yun to step back and admired the cufflinks, then he spoke in a low voice, "Your birthday is in two days."

"Mhm." Qiao Yun nodded.

Li Hanzhou said with a deep meaning, "You’re an adult now."

Qiao Yun was speechless, she had already been of age for quite some time.

Li Hanzhou lowered his head, his voice gentle: "I have a gift I want to give you then."

"Oh." Qiao Yun thought to herself that it wasn’t just Li Hanzhou who would be giving her gifts, probably many people would.

Li Hanzhou said seriously, "You cannot refuse."

Qiao Yun: ???

Qiao Yun uttered an "ah," with a puzzled face.

Li Hanzhou said nothing more, caressed the cufflinks, "I really like them."

Knowing the gift was well received, Qiao Yun’s usually indifferent voice softened a bit: "As long as you like them, that’s good. I’m going in now; you should head back."

After watching Qiao Yun enter, Li Hanzhou finally drove away.

...

At the hotel.

At this moment, Huo Lin was dealing with Fu Yun.

Fu Yun suddenly remembered Jiang Jing, so she went to find Huo Lin, concern filling her eyes as she said, "Alin, I suspect something has happened to Jingjing."

"You’re overthinking it."

Huo Lin’s expression was meaningful, knowing that if his mother realized that the Jiang Jing she was worried about was just being used by him, she would be furious, so he always kept it from her.

Fu Yun looked dubious: "Am I really overthinking it? But why hasn’t she contacted me? She should have arrived yesterday. I tried calling her, but her phone is unreachable."

Huo Lin replied indifferently, "My people have safely escorted her to O State. She might be busy with school enrollment and should contact you once she’s done with that."

"Is that so?" Fu Yun felt something was amiss but since Alin had said so, it must be true.

She pinched her brow, her tone lightening: "It seems I’m just being overly concerned, perhaps she is indeed busy, and I shouldn’t disturb her."

"Yes." Huo Lin did not continue the discussion about Jiang Jing with her but reminded Fu Yun, "I’ve arranged a cruise for you the day after tomorrow."

Fu Yun’s brows twitched almost imperceptibly, her voice weakened, as if she were sickly: "Alin, I’ve had a terrible headache recently, I don’t want to be disturbed."

Huo Lin could guess his mother’s intent, and without overthinking it, told her: "The cruise that’ll take you back this time is the Diamond Star, a ship I invested in a few years ago. You’ll be the only guest, but I will send more people to protect you."

Fu Yun felt reassured, smiled: "That’s good to know. Will you come with me?"

"I’ll wait." Huo Lin had intended to leave Beijing, but he was no longer in a hurry; Pei Yao was an unpredictable variable, and he was concerned there could be complications.

Fu Yun couldn’t be happier not having Huo Lin accompany her, so she feigned reluctance before leaving.

After Fu Yun left, Huo Lin rubbed his temples wearily, his cool gaze drifting towards the night view outside the window.

After a while, his phone rang.

Huo Lin glanced at it and picked up. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Young Master, it’s all done as you said, and it seems they didn’t suspect anything," the voice on the other end stated.

Huo Lin replied coolly, "Well done."

"Shall I dispose of the person?"

Huo Lin said, "No need. Just keep an eye on her these next few days, and pay attention to every detail, no matter who contacts her."

"Understood."

"And send some more people to look for Jiang Jing."

"Got it."

Huo Lin paused for a moment, deeming there was no need to pay further attention, and then hung up the phone.

He played with his cell phone, eyes slightly narrowed.

Now it all depended on whether Pei Ya believed what the driver’s wife had said or not.

Huo Lin had already had people gather evidence of Huo Yaozong’s misdeeds over the years, preparing to strike first and decisively oust Huo Yaozong from the family.

As long as Pei Ya believed it, and once the matter was exposed, the Huo Family would still suffer some impact but it would remain under his control, and his parents could completely disentangle themselves from this affair.

Huo Lin took a deep breath, wishing he didn’t have to be enemies with Pei Ya.

...

After Fu Yun returned to her room,

she hastily took out her cell phone and contacted that number again.

"How is the matter I asked you to handle progressing?"

"Madam, three days is three days, as agreed."

Fu Yun replied irritably, "Fine, I will be leaving on a cruise ship the day after tomorrow. You must complete the task before I depart, or don’t even think about getting a penny."

"Rest assured madam, three days is plenty of time."

"It had better be."

Fu Yun snorted coldly, her mood inexplicably turning sour as she cut off the call. She then sat down on the sofa, lifting her hand to massage the spot on her temple that had been aching continuously since earlier.

Fu Yun hadn’t let Huo Lin know that she didn’t plan on returning to K harbor, but rather intended to go abroad first, sort out Pei Ya, and then return to K harbor. By that time, no one would know what she had done to Pei Ya.

Fu Yun murmured to herself, "See how much I care for you, I even went so far as to buy you an uninhabited island. I’d like to see how you’ll run away now."

In her heart, she thought.

Jiujiu, don’t blame me.

I don’t want to do this.

But it’s your fault for not being obedient.

Your auntie is doing this so you can have a home. Rest assured, from now on I will cherish you like my own son.

I will replace Yaoyao to take good care of you.

...

Elsewhere,

Huo Yaozong received a phone call and afterward, couldn’t help but burst into loud laughter.

Huo Feng looked baffled, "Dad, what are you laughing about?"

Huo Yaozong stopped laughing, disdainfully saying, "I’m laughing at how naïve Fu Yun is, actually believing what I told her and plotting against Qiao Yun. Pei Ya won’t let her off, and when Pei Ya and Huo Lin start clashing, our opportunity will come."

Huo Feng’s eyes lit up, "Did auntie really take action?"

"She actually thinks she’s been very stealthy." Huo Yaozong laughed mockingly, "The people she found to work with have always been in contact with the old master; she doesn’t know that I’m aware of every move she makes."

Huo Feng asked, "What exactly does auntie want to do?"

Huo Yaozong sneered, "She’s gone mad; she intends to have someone kidnap Qiao Yun to blackmail Pei Ya into going with her. I gather she plans to take a cruise ship back to K harbor, probably in preparation for this operation."

Huo Feng opened his mouth, hardly able to believe such a seemingly kind and gentle auntie would do such a thing.

She’s seriously ill indeed.

Huo Feng questioned, "Dad, isn’t this a good opportunity? We could directly inform Pei Ya about this."

Huo Yaozong leisurely replied, "There’s no rush."

He needed to appear when Pei Ya needed him most, to make Pei Ya drop his bias and trust that he truly desired reconciliation.

Huo Yaozong believed he had the situation entirely in hand, whether it was Fu Yun, Huo Lin, Pei Ya, or Qiao Yun, they were all part of his calculations.

They didn’t even know the role he had been playing from behind the scenes, and at that moment, he was dreaming of taking the position of the Huo Family Head.

Unaware that before long, that dream would turn into a nightmare.