Chapter 32

Chapter 32

An Nuo felt an instant surge of revulsion and discomfort at the sudden appearance of the two idiots.

What rotten luck.

Absolutely cursed.

It was his first time out alone with Shi Yu, and he had been so looking forward to it, only to run into such an unexpected mess.

His disgust was plain to see; An Nuo just wanted to get away from them.

Without a word, An Nuo merely glanced at them before turning to leave.

But one of them blocked his path: "Don't go! It's rare we run into each other. I'm saying hello—why are you ignoring me?"

It was Arlo Bray, the current partner of his former suitor.

"..."

An Nuo genuinely couldn't fathom why he should engage with them.

Were they even acquainted enough to exchange greetings?

"You're here to pick out a ball gown too, right? But the prices here are quite steep—can you afford it?"

"..."

If his father treated him like his other children, An Nuo would naturally be able to afford it.

But these two clearly knew An Nuo's family situation and his standing within it, and they were deliberately trying to provoke him.

The one who had pursued him before was Andrew Lange, a good friend of his Third Brother.

An Nuo's family life was complicated. His father was a philandering scoundrel who had been married three times.

His first wife bore him a set of twins—An Nuo's eldest brother and second sister.

However, his father cheated while his first wife was ill, leading to an early divorce. The first wife passed away from her illness not long after.

The second wife was the mistress who had usurped her position, giving birth to An Nuo's Third Brother.

But she didn't fare well either.

Just a few years into their marriage, Father An became infatuated with An Nuo's mother and insisted on divorcing the mistress.

The mistress refused, causing a massive scene, but ultimately she was cast out, unable to even take her child with her.

After that, Father An forcibly married An Nuo's mother, finally facing retribution as he became the subject of scandalous gossip.

After An Nuo's mother left, Father An finally stopped treating marriage like a game and remarried the mistress.

Consequently, Third Brother had always been the most favored child in the family.

An Nuo's childhood was incredibly difficult, marked not only by his father's cold indifference but also by his stepmother's deep-seated hatred.

It wasn't until An Nuo was in his early teens that the situation began to improve slightly.

Over the years, Father An's infidelity was rampant, with countless affairs.

The stepmother, battered and worn, went from anger to numbness. She could never control Father An and suffered the consequences of having destroyed someone else's marriage years ago.

And Third Brother was clearly their biological child, having perfectly inherited all the inherent flaws embedded in their genes.

He cared only for his father's affection, oblivious to his mother's humiliation in their marriage. His personality was extremely selfish and twisted, and he wasn't particularly intelligent. He enjoyed associating with all sorts of shady friends and carousing.

The Andrew before him was one of Third Brother's disreputable companions.

When An Nuo was sixteen, Andrew was closest to his Third Brother and often visited their home, frequently seeing An Nuo and developing ill intentions toward him.

Although Andrew insisted his feelings for An Nuo were genuine, An Nuo never believed him. He found Andrew hypocritical and insincere.

The so-called "liking" was merely Andrew thinking An Nuo was attractive and that, with no one at home to defend him, he would be easy to exploit and bully.

At first, it was just verbal harassment. Though An Nuo found it repulsive, it caused no real harm, so he chose to endure it.

But later, it escalated to physical harassment. Andrew started getting handsy with him.

When no one was around, he would sneakily put his arm around An Nuo’s shoulders, touch his waist, or occasionally pinch his cheeks.

An Nuo finally reached his breaking point. Once, when Andrew tried to force a kiss on him, An Nuo grabbed a nearby glass bottle and smashed it hard against Andrew’s head.

Andrew's head was bleeding on the spot.

The scene became incredibly awkward.

Afterward, Father An was furious but, unusually, took An Nuo’s side—not because he suddenly developed a conscience or wanted to protect An Nuo, but because Father An was determined to marry An Nuo off to someone of higher status to gain more resources and benefits. He looked down on Andrew’s family background.

Father An, for once, was firm with Third Brother, insisting he cut off all contact with Andrew from then on.

Whether they actually cut ties, An Nuo didn't know. He only knew he never saw Andrew at home again and that his Third Brother held a grudge against him, believing the entire situation was An Nuo's fault.

In Third Brother's eyes, it was just a minor incident, and An Nuo shouldn't have resisted so fiercely.

It was because An Nuo's reaction was too extreme that a small squabble escalated into an unmanageable situation.

From then on, Andrew also completely hated An Nuo.

However, An Nuo could somewhat understand Andrew's shift in feelings—after all, he had denied him what he desired and caused him to lose face.

But Andrew's current partner, this utter idiot named Arlo, knowing full well what kind of person his boyfriend was, actually joined in hating An Nuo?

An Nuo strongly suspected his thought process was flawed.

Shouldn't a normal person actively steer clear of such scumbags?

Not only did he not stay away, but he also allied himself with the scumbag to share a common enemy?

An Nuo didn't want to say another word to them, but these two fools were determined not to let him off easy.

An Nuo had no choice but to retort: "I'm not familiar with you. We're not at the 'say hello' stage."

"If you're so worried about whether I can afford the prices here, what, are you going to pay for me?"

Endurance, suppression, swallowing his pride.

These words almost defined An Nuo’s life in the An household.

But he wasn't someone who would always passively accept things.

In other words, if he were truly that kind of person, utterly incapable of resistance, he wouldn't have grown into the person he was today.

Most of the time, he had no choice but to act this way—he had to, just to make his days a bit easier.

But when faced with situations like this, he would fight back.

Otherwise, everyone would truly believe he was someone they could push around.

If Bai Wu and Luo Heng were by his side right now, a major confrontation would be unavoidable.

So, for the friends who had once protected and supported him, he had to stand up for himself in moments like these.

Compromise was naturally the path of least resistance, but it would also disappoint the friends who had stood by him.

Resistance was what would make him stronger and ensure his friends’ years of sincere support weren’t in vain.

Plus, he had Lu Yunyan now.

Instead of fear, he felt more excitement in such situations—finally, a chance to show off a little.

It was just a shame he couldn’t be too over the top, or he’d have loved to say, with a touch of malice and sarcasm: "Believe it or not, I can make one call and have my husband send 200 people to deal with you?"

So when An Nuo retorted, his tone was calm and confident, at least matching their energy.

Arlo didn’t expect such a comeback. His sarcastic smile vanished, and he frowned, "Why should I cover for you?"

An Nuo shot back, "Then don’t worry about whether I can afford it. It’s none of your business anyway."

"You—"

Arlo, having lost the argument, flushed with anger.

Andrew stepped forward and cut in, "If you want us to pay for you, just beg me."

His eyes fixed intently on An Nuo’s beautiful face.

He’d always been beautiful, but now he seemed even more so.

Not only did he have a better complexion, but he also radiated an air of confident self-assurance, a stark contrast to his formerly repressed and gloomy self.

Staring at this version of An Nuo, Andrew felt the scar on his forehead begin to throb faintly.

It was where An Nuo had hit him with the bottle—the scar was so deep that even the most advanced cosmetic procedures couldn’t fully erase it, forcing him to hide it with his bangs ever since.

Seeing An Nuo looking distinctly better than before only fueled his hatred and resentment, making him want to destroy this An Nuo with his own hands.

An Nuo met his gaze head-on, staring straight back at Andrew: "Talking big, are you? Want me to beg you? Then transfer me 500 grand first to prove you’ve got what it takes."

He’d really spent too much time with Lu Yunyan.

Though he could never out-argue Lu Yunyan, his comeback game had improved significantly.

Andrew sneered, "You don’t actually think I’d pay for you without you doing anything, do you?"

An Nuo mimicked his tone, "You don’t actually think I’d beg you without you doing anything, do you?"

"...Got a sharper tongue now, huh? Life treating you well lately? Heard from your brother that you’ve landed yourself a sugar daddy?"

His marriage to Lu Yunyan was a secret that couldn't be disclosed.

No matter how much the An family wanted to reveal it, they had to abide by Lu Yunyan’s demands—it seemed they really hadn’t dared leak it this time.

"What, jealous?"

Though the words were demeaning and unpleasant, An Nuo was fired up, firmly countering every jab.

Arlo chimed in, "Jealous of what? That you can sell your looks for a good price?"

An Nuo glanced at him, "You couldn’t sell yours even if you tried. You’re too ugly—like a catfish."

"You—"

Andrew also spoke up, "What nonsense are you spouting?"

An Nuo turned to Andrew, "You’re no different. You look like a salmon. No wonder you two are together—you’ve got that couple’s resemblance."

Arlo glared furiously, "How dare you call me ugly! I’ll smash your mouth!"

An Nuo admitted he felt a flicker of panic at that moment.

He hadn’t expected them to resort to violence after losing the argument—two against one, ganging up on him.

Fortunately, Andrew didn’t actually throw a punch; he just pretended to hold Arlo back while subtly allowing it.

An Nuo wasn’t stupid either. As soon as he saw them move, he quickly backed away to create distance.

There were plenty of clothes hanging nearby, so he grabbed them as props, pulling down as many as he could and throwing them at Arlo.

At the same time, he shouted, "Uncle Shi Yu—Uncle Shi Yu, help—"

But luck wasn’t on his side. Though their fists didn’t land on him, he ended up tripping over the clothes he’d pulled down and took a hard fall.

Even with the carpeted floor, his knee took a brutal hit, leaving him grimacing in pain.

Thankfully, Shi Yu heard the commotion and hurried over.

Several staff members followed close behind. Seeing so many people suddenly arrive, Arlo and Andrew froze, not daring to make another move.

They were even more stunned to see Shi Yu—was this the sugar daddy An Nuo had hooked? And an omega too?

Shi Yu rushed to help An Nuo up, "...An Nuo, are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?"

An Nuo, his eyes reddening from the pain, looked pitiful and vulnerable.

It was too complicated to explain in a few sentences, so An Nuo played up the helpless victim act, "I don’t know, Uncle Shi Yu, they suddenly came over to pick on me... it was terrifying..."