Xu Jiamu put his phone away and said in the same outraged tone, "Go ahead and cause trouble. I've already called the police."
The reporters cowered from Xu Jiamu's roar, and they clearly slowed down their rushed footsteps.
Taking advantage of this, Xu Jiamu dragged on Qiao Anhao's wrist and rushed into the house and viciously threw the door shut.
Because of all the commotion in the courtyard just now, Xu Jiamu didn't think too much about it, but now that it was just the two of them in the room, he suddenly thought back to the night of the charity gala. The thought of it instantly made him feel so ashamed that he couldn't quite face his friend.
Qiao Anhao stood at the door, still in a state of shock. She took two deep breaths before she could calm down. As she took a glance over at Xu Jiamu beside her, she said, "Brother Jiamu, thank you."
Those words "Brother Jiamu" made Xu Jiamu feel increasingly more guilty. Not daring to look into her eyes, he lowered his head and gave a nod.
Qiao Anhao bent over and helped him grab a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet. "Come in and sit for a while. The reporters outside haven't left yet."
Then, she turned around and walked into the house.
Only then did Xu Jiamu relax his tensed up body and leaned against the door. He looked like he was in a daze.
Qiao Anhao came out of the kitchen with two cups of water. When she saw Xu Jiamu still blankly standing at the door, she called, "Brother Jiamu?"
Xu Jiamu snapped back to reality with a little delay, and glanced over at Qiao Anhao. When his eyes met her pitch-black yet clear line of sight, he immediately turned his head away. He slowly changed his shoes and stepped into the house.
"Sit." Qiao Anhao pointed at the sofa.
Xu Jiamu said "Thanks" in a low voice, and took a seat.
Qiao Anhao put a cup of water in front of him.
He said "Thanks" again in a slightly hard to understand voice.
With that, his eyes gazed directly at the cup of water.
After a long silence, he spoke up. "I saw the news online that you two got married. Is it true?"
"Uh huh," Qiao Anhao. gently responded
Xu Jiamu instinctively wanted to ask "My brother... is he alright?", but when he opened his mouth, the words got caught in his throat. In the end, he focused on his cup of water and lowered his head.
The room fell silent again, but this time Qiao Anhao was the first to speak. "Brother Jiamu, there weren't many people who knew that we were married, how did news of it break out?"
Xu Jiamu suddenly tightened the grip on his cup.
"Also, Brother Jiamu, that photo of Lu Jinnian and I having dinner together... only both our families have it. How did it get leaked online?"
Qiao Anhao's voice was clearly just as innocent and soft as before, but Xu Jiamu felt like her two questions were like two ruthless slaps to his face.
He found out about the news half an hour ago from Song Xiangsi.
The moment he saw it, he was in a complete daze. In his heart, he knew who was behind this.
Coincidentally, he was staying at Mian Xiu Garden last night, and because he felt so down about the news, he went out to the balcony for a smoke. That's when he saw Qiao Anhao open the gates and get surrounded by reporters.
Without a second thought, he put out the cigarette, ran down, jumped over the fence between their villas, and rushed over.