She knew she was An Ruo’s best classmate in high school and currently her only friend.
"You two chat, I need to step out for a bit," Tang Yuchen said before he left.
As soon as he was gone, Xia Nuo crossed her arms and looked at An Ruo with an expression that said ’spill the beans.’
An Ruo grimaced and raised her hands in surrender, "I’ll confess, I’ll tell everything."
The two women sat in the living room, and after listening to her for half an hour, Xia Nuo was angry, felt pity for her, and also felt fortunate for her.
She was angry at the cruel uncle and cousin An Ruo had, felt pity for all the suffering An Ruo had endured, but also felt fortunate that she was still alive and well, and that the evildoers had received their due punishment.
"Driving An Xin insane was too lenient for her. A woman like her should die and go to hell!" Xia Nuo said angrily.
"No, letting her die would have been too easy on her, let her live a crazy and deranged life, that’s real agony. And what about your uncle, how has he not faced retribution? It’s just not fair!"
An Ruo knew her friend was blunt, and she held her hand with a smile, "Don’t be mad, I’m alright now. Let the past be the past."
"You really have this one good quality, you never dwell on the past."
The two women looked at each other and laughed. Xia Nuo thought of Tang Yuchen and teasingly said, "Your husband must be pretty good to you, even though there’s no love between you, he really protects you. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to great lengths to seek revenge for you."
An Ruo was momentarily stunned. "Actually, for him, doing these things was effortless."
Xia Nuo gave her a look as if she were an idiot, "Would he put in this effort if he didn’t care about you? He’s not just bored with nothing better to do. If he weren’t protective of you, he could have simply given the evidence to the police and let them handle it. Why go through all the trouble of exacting revenge, allowing them to taste agony and despair?"
Is that really the case?
Thinking about his behavior over this period, it seemed indeed not mere pretense.
During her hospital stay, he could have just sent a servant to care for her daily, he didn’t need to visit her every day himself.
Dealing with An Xin, he could have simply handed the evidence over to the police as well, sparing himself the time to torment An Xin.
Did he do all this for her?
She didn’t know why, but since their wedding ceremony, their relationship seemed to be slowly changing.
They were no longer at sword points, and many things had become much more harmonious.
At least, she no longer hated him as intensely or found him as repulsive as she initially did.
An Ruo did not know whether this change was good or bad, all she knew was that her heart felt a bit panicked, fearing that gaining something might lead to the fear of losing it.
Dismissing these thoughts from her mind, she chuckled self-deprecatingly, thinking she was overthinking it. What more could she gain? She shouldn’t expect anything.
After chatting with Xia Nuo for a while, at her request, An Ruo took her on a tour of the villa.
Xia Nuo kept praising how rich Tang Yuchen was, saying she too wished to marry someone that wealthy.
An Ruo joked with her, "Be careful your husband hears this."
Xia Nuo’s expression paused briefly before she changed the subject.
An Ruo was very curious about her husband, saying to her, "Didn’t you say you wanted to introduce him to me? When will you introduce us? By the way, the last time I saw him, he looked familiar, as if I’ve seen him somewhere."
"You got married without telling me, so I’ve decided not to introduce him to you!" Xia Nuo hastily refused, her tone slightly urgent.