To My Dear Mr. Huo

Su Chenghui. Those three syllables made Su Qingsang feel as if her back was drenched with sweat.

Su Qingsang picked up the call despite the protest in Huo Jinyao’s eyes. She cut the call after exchanging just a few sentences.

“My wife.” Huo Jinyao wanted to continue but Su Qingsang blocked his hand.

“Stop messing around.”

She sat up and thought about the phone call of just now. “My dad just called me. He invited me to attend Su Peizhen’s birthday party.”

“Don’t go.” Huo Jinyao’s hands were still fumbling earnestly at Su Qingsang’s clothes.

“Huo Jinyao.” Can’t he be more serious about it? “Stop moving around.”

Huo Jinyao knew that he wouldn’t be able to go through with it. He straightened and sat up. “You want to go?”

“It’s not a matter of whether I want to or not. It’s my dad. He actually invited me to attend Su Peizhen’s birthday party. Do you think I can wriggle out of it?”

“It’s really up to you. What else is there to consider?”

The power and influence of the Li family and Su family were formidable, but so what? Tianyu would not lose to them.

Su Qingsang remained silent. She seemed to be thinking about it. “It’s not very nice of me if I don’t go, right?”

“There’s nothing not nice about it.” While Huo Jinyao spoke, his hands were creeping up Su Qingsang’s waist again. “Don’t worry. They won’t dare to offend you now.”

Su Qingsang shot him a wary look that made Huo Jinyao put his hand down. “You make it sound so easy.”

“So, you’re saying that you want to go?”

“Tomorrow is Su Peizhen’s birthday.” Su Qingsang thought of Su Peizhen. “Actually, my birthday is just one day after hers.”

Su Peizhen’s birthday fell on Christmas Day. Her birthday was one day after Christmas.

“My wife.” Huo Jinyao turned over to glance at her, his face amused. “Are you reminding me not to forget your birthday present?”

Who was talking about that? Su Qingsang couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him.

Huo Jinyao pulled her back into his embrace. In a resolute voice, he claimed, “I will never dare to forget your birthday, my wife. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely remember it and prepare a nice birthday present for you.”

“Honestly, I don’t really care about birthdays anymore.” Su Qingsang recalled the days she spent with the Su family. “I’ve never celebrated my birthday all these years anyway, and I’ve never gotten a birthday gift.”

Every year during Christmas, she watched as Su Peizhen celebrated her birthday in full galore. Li Qianxue would invite a bunch of people to celebrate it with Su Peizhen and throw a party for her.

As for her? Let alone the fact that nobody remembered her birthday, she was not even allowed to appear in the hall during Su Peizhen’s party.

She was a disgrace to the Su family and the Li family. She was painfully aware of it all along. Aside from the fact that she would avoid showing herself, she would choose to hide in her room that day and not step out at all.

After the bustling Christmas they’ve had one day before, nobody would remember that Su Qingsang existed in the family — the girl born one day after Su Peizhen.

Su Qingsang wanted to say that she was already used to it after so many years, but Huo Jinyao quickly pulled her into an embrace.

Su Qingsang found her face against his chest, feeling his firm and warm embrace and his steady heartbeat.

She wasn’t feeling too upset about it initially, yet suddenly, she felt her eyes stinging.

“I’m fine. Really.” She took in a deep breath, inhaling his fragrant, crisp and masculine scent before speaking gently. “I have accepted it a long time ago.”

Only children would crave for an adult’s attention and care, and she was way past that age. A parent’s affection was something she could live without.

But how could she convince herself it was just fine?