Chapter 330: Chapter 328 Where are you taking me?
Without clear answers, she wouldn’t be at peace.
She was like a little cat that had wandered the outside world for a time and had now returned, still harboring lingering attachments to it.
He wanted her to set her heart solely on him before marrying her.
As Jiayi listened to Ya Chen’s words, as if under a spell, she slowly pressed the all too familiar numbers of that private phone number.
After entering the last digit, a professional English-speaking female voice came from the other end, "I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is switched off."
As expected, his cellphone was turned off.
It seemed to be a bad omen.
Her heartbeat was erratic.
Why wouldn’t he even answer the phone?
Noticing that Huo Zhenyang’s private line was turned off, Ya Chen instructed, "Do you know the phone number for the Huo Group headquarters? Try calling there."
Having worked at the Huo Group for several months, how could Jiayi forget the headquarters’ number?
With Ya Chen’s prompting, she dialed the number for the Huo Group headquarters’ reception and put the phone to her ear.
After several long rings, a sweet voice of the receptionist answered, "Hello, Huo Group headquarters."
Her throat was dry as she asked, "Is President Huo in the office? I’d like to speak with him, could you put me through?"
"Do you have an appointment, miss?"
"No, but please tell the president my surname is Chu. We’ve just met, we are... acquaintances. He’ll take the call," she said, suppressing the tremble in her voice.
"Miss, if you are really that close to the president, you should know he hasn’t returned to headquarters, he’s gone to America."
"America?" Jiayi was taken aback, "What... What is he doing in America?"
"I’m sorry, the president didn’t specify, but the company’s business here is currently being managed by several major shareholders and deputy managers. It’s said that the president will be staying there for quite a while, at least a year or half a year before he returns."
Jiayi was completely stunned, "Why is he going to America for so long? What for?"
The receptionist remained polite, "Miss, the Boss often travels around the world to expand new industries. The longest time he’s been stationed somewhere was for over three years. This time it could also be that there is a business developing abroad, which is not unusual."
The receptionist’s voice still echoed in her ear.
But Jiayi seemed unable to listen to what she was saying anymore, her mind a chaotic mess.
After a moment, her hand slipped, and the international call was disconnected.
He had left without a word, his private number was unreachable, and the company said he was in America—
Why did it feel as if he was avoiding her?
Yet the night before his unannounced departure, he had braved the rain to sneak into her bedroom, telling her to be at ease, and saying that in a few days, once he had found his mother, he would personally take her back to China!
So, was this to pacify her? Or had he finally succumbed to the pressure and chosen to leave after all?
Ya Chen seemed to notice her profound sense of loss and after a long silence, spoke up, "Why don’t you try calling the Huo Family’s number?"
She held back the rising sense of fear, the feeling akin to just having found a lifebuoy at sea, only for it to be snatched away again.
Was a man who had always protected her, giving her up?
She paused for a moment, should she call Huo Garden?
What was the point, his private number was turned off, the business line said he had gone to America to develop new business.
Was there still a reason to call Huo Garden?
"Make the call, Jiayi." Without clear answers, she wouldn’t be at peace. Ya Chen articulated firmly, each word deliberate.
Jiayi choked back the tears that threatened to spill and pressed the number for Huo Garden once more.
As the call connected and she heard the familiar voice on the other end, she could no longer hold back, and her tears fell like broken strands of pearls: "Butler Ou, has Young Master Huo returned?"
It seemed Butler Ou had anticipated her call and inquired with as calm a tone as possible, "Miss Jiayi, the young master has gone to America with the old master. They might develop the business there, or perhaps it will take three to five years before he returns, or they might immigrate and settle down there directly."
The phone nearly slipped from her grasp, and she exclaimed in shock, "Why did he suddenly leave S Country... Did he leave any word for me?"
"Miss Jiayi," Butler Ou said with a voice filled with deep regret, "That is all I can tell you."
In one sentence, everything was conveyed.
It was over.
The end.
The phone completely slipped from her palm.
Her tears silently streamed down as she realized how foolish she had been.
Indeed, ever since he left for China overnight without saying a word, hadn’t he already made his stance very clear? Wasn’t that so?
Yet she had still humiliated herself by making call after call in search of him—
If someone really wanted you to find them, if they didn’t want you to worry, even if they were incredibly busy, they would find a thousand ways to let you reach them!
The room was very quiet.
Every word Butler Ou said on the other end of the phone was heard clearly by Ya Chen.
"Jiayi, how about trying once more..." he started to speak.
"Enough, is there still a need to ask?! He doesn’t want me! That’s the outcome." Her tears poured forth, momentarily forgetting that she was in front of Ya Chen. A few seconds later, she desperately wiped her tears with the back of her hand, took a deep breath, and said, "It’s fine now, Ya Chen, I’ve asked all I wanted to, I’ve made you see such a disgrace."
All of a sudden, Ya Chen gripped her wrists.
He could feel Jiayi’s body trembling uncontrollably, and after a silence of three seconds, he spoke up, "Prepare the car!"
Outside the bedroom, the maid heard the command and hurriedly came in, surprised, "With such heavy rain, where does the Crown Prince wish to go?"
Ya Chen’s voice carried a stern edge, "To the airport!"
The maid was stunned for a moment, and so was Jiayi.
Two seconds later, without further questions, the maid went to ready the car.
Jiayi looked at Ya Chen, not understanding what he intended to do.
Before she could come to her senses, Ya Chen had already seized her slender wrist, controlled the wheelchair with the other hand, and headed towards the door.
After being dragged along for a few steps, Jiayi came to her senses and halted, "Wait, Ya Chen, where are you taking me... to the airport? What for..."
Without letting her argue, and as if he hadn’t heard her, Ya Chen continued to pull her downstairs while instructing the bodyguards beside him.
Jiayi had never known that Ya Chen possessed such authority. In a moment, she felt like a puppet on strings, letting him lead her downstairs in a daze.
Outside, the fog was dense, and the downpour was relentless!
The car, as per Ya Chen’s instructions, was parked at the door.
In her daze, Jiayi was pulled into the car. It started, the windshield wipers turned on, swaying from side to side, speeding towards S Country’s private airport through the torrential rain!
Meanwhile, not far away.
A silver-white car was parked at an unseen corner.
Through the swaying windshield wipers, in the driver’s seat, sat a figure as thin as paper.
Chu Xinyue watched as Ya Chen and Jiayi got into the car, one after the other, her hands on the steering wheel trembling slightly.
