Chapter 278: Xia Jiajiao’s Fate
Before dinner, Xia Zhengguang looked up and instructed the butler.
"Yes, sir."
What could the butler say to his master’s demand? He could only do as he was told.
However, whether or not Xia Jiajiao would actually come home after he called was beyond his control.
While the two of them ate, the butler went to the landline in the living room, took out his cell phone to find Xia Jiajiao’s number, and dialed it using the house phone.
There was no answer the first time. The butler waited a moment, then dialed again.
After a long wait, Xia Jiajiao finally answered the phone.
"Hello...?"
Through the earpiece, the butler could clearly hear the deafening music blasting from Xia Jiajiao’s end.
’Needless to say, she’s either at a club or a bar.’
Xia Jiajiao acted like a good girl in public, but her true personality was closer to that of a wild child.
"Miss, it’s me."
The butler tried to keep his tone normal as he spoke to Xia Jiajiao.
"Who is this?"
Xia Jiajiao clearly hadn’t been paying attention, and her reply was tinged with impatience.
"Miss, your father wants you to come home as soon as possible."
’Once she gets back, she’ll find out what a massive upheaval has rocked the family.’
’Just a moment ago, her father had personally told her brother that he was going to cancel all of Xia Jiajiao’s credit cards.’
’He wasn’t sure if they’d been canceled yet, but the butler knew a grim scene awaited Xia Jiajiao when she got home.’
"I just got here. My friends will be upset if I leave early.
Just tell Dad I’m not coming home yet."
Xia Jiajiao still thought she was the same pampered heiress of the Xia Family and hung up the phone right after she finished speaking.
Little did she know... this was the calm before the storm.
At some point, Xia Zhengguang had come to stand behind the butler. Seeing him hang up, he asked, "Well? When is she coming back?"
Xia Zhengguang had no intention of hiding the truth for Zhang Yiqin’s sake.
As soon as Xia Jiajiao returned, he was going to make her pack her things and move out of the Xia Family’s house.
’How could the product of an affair continue to live under the same roof as them?’
Xia Jiajiao thought the butler’s call was just a formality, a token gesture to tell her to come home. She never imagined anything else was waiting for her.
She didn’t think anything of it and certainly didn’t head home immediately.
"Sir, the Miss is still with her friends. Their dinner isn’t over yet, so I suppose she can’t leave."
The butler tried his best to phrase it delicately, to save Xia Jiajiao some face.
Hearing the butler’s words, Xia Zhengguang snorted coldly and turned to Xia Zhiyun. "You go. Find out where she is and drag her back here!"
Xia Zhengguang felt he couldn’t wait a second longer. Just thinking of Xia Jiajiao reminded him of the fact that he’d been cuckolded.
Xia Zhiyun glanced at the sky outside, which was already pitch-black. In the end, he said nothing, simply grabbing his car keys and heading out.
Xia Zhiyun didn’t just start searching for her blindly. After leaving the house, he took out his phone and called Xia Jiajiao.
Xia Jiajiao might dare to hang up on a call from the house landline, but she would never dare to hang up on Xia Zhiyun.
The call connected, and it was answered almost immediately.
"Brother, why are you calling me at this hour? Did the butler snitch on me to you?"
Facing Xia Zhiyun, Xia Jiajiao reverted to her good-girl persona.
"Where are you."
’Since I’m already out, I’m certainly not going to return empty-handed.’
Hearing Xia Zhiyun ask for her location, Xia Jiajiao glanced around the smoke-filled private room, not daring to tell him what she was up to.
’After all these years, my image has always been that of a good girl. I absolutely can’t let Xia Zhiyun know I’m at a bar.’
"I’m at a library near the school. Brother, are you coming to pick me up?"
As soon as she said that, Xia Jiajiao started checking how long it would take to get from the bar to the library near her school.
"Mm."
Xia Zhiyun didn’t say why, specifically, he was looking for her.
"Okay, Brother, drive safe. I’ll be waiting for you at the library."
After hanging up, Xia Jiajiao walked in from the private room’s balcony. "My brother is coming to get me. I told him I’m at the library near school, so I have to go now. You guys have fun without me."
Xia Jiajiao didn’t want anyone in the Xia Family to find out she hung out at bars, so she had to leave right away.
"Aw, seriously? What a buzzkill!"
Hearing Xia Jiajiao’s words, the others’ expressions faltered for a moment before they started to complain.
"Yeah, seriously. We barely get to hang out. It’s not cool to leave early."
"My brother’s coming. He normally doesn’t even let me hang out with you guys. If he finds out about this, I probably won’t be able to even set foot in a bar ever again.
How about this? I’ll cover the bill for tonight. I really have to go now."
"In that case, settle the bill before you go."
Hearing that Xia Jiajiao was going to pay, the same people who were just complaining instantly changed their tune, telling her to pay the bill before she left.
’It’s so obvious. If I still can’t see that they’re just trying to sweet-talk me into footing the bill, I’m a complete idiot!’
But she had already made the offer. If she backed out now, she was worried these people would cause trouble for her in the future. In the end, she had no choice but to call for a waiter to settle the bill.
"Waiter!"
A waiter quickly came over. Xia Jiajiao casually pulled a card from her purse and handed it over. "Settle the bill. No PIN."
The waiter took the credit card from her. "Right away. Please wait a moment."
As the waiter left with the card, Xia Jiajiao sat back down in her seat and didn’t say another word.
’From now on, I’m never asking these people to come out drinking with me again.’
’Now I’m starting to suspect they only invited me out because they planned on making me pay all along.’
Still, this amount of money was just small change to her. In order to leave as soon as possible, Xia Jiajiao didn’t want to argue with them.
Just then, the waiter who had taken her card returned. "Excuse me, Miss. Your card has been declined. It says insufficient funds. Would you like to try another card?"
The waiter handed the card back to Xia Jiajiao, subtly prompting her to try a different one.
"Impossible! I was just using it yesterday! Why isn’t it working now?!"
Xia Jiajiao thought the waiter was just trying to mess with her.
’Did he think she didn’t know her own credit limit?’
"If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to come to the front desk, and I can try swiping it for you again."
This wasn’t the first time the waiter had encountered a situation like this.
Usually, it was some rich kid who had pissed off their family and had their credit cards cut off.
The solution for this kind of situation was very simple: have the customer find someone who could settle the bill, and they were free to go once it was paid.
"I’ll go with you and see for myself."
Xia Jiajiao got up from the sofa. The others were no longer in the mood for drinking; all eyes were on her now.
’Don’t tell me the young heiress is actually broke?’
Xia Jiajiao couldn’t stand their stares, so she followed the waiter straight out of the private room and over to the bar’s front cashier.
"Swipe it again."
Xia Jiajiao refused to believe it. How could her card suddenly stop working? She knew perfectly well how much she had spent!