The Overnight Chosen Wife: darling, kiss me deeper

Lanni smiled gently and said nothing to interrupt the father-son verbal battle.

Xia Hanchen glanced at his father and wanted to say something, but when he remembered that his daughters were present, he shut his mouth and turned to Lanni instead. "That didn’t go exactly as planned but cupcake, you will get used to him after witnessing his insanity for a while."

Lanni chuckled at his words but her gaze stayed on the elderly man. Before she could say anything else, an elderly yet elegant woman made her way to the living room. As though she had been expecting them, she excitedly greeted Xiehan and Xingyu.

It was only after chatting with them for a while that she looked at Luna and Lanni. The preference was evident.

Lanni didn’t know if it was because of what Luna had told her before, but she subconsciously shuddered when the woman got close to her.

The woman didn’t seem to realize this as she jovially confirmed what she had heard of Lanni. "Of course, my granddaughter would be intelligent. She has the blood of the Xia family in her after all."

Lanni smiled, though she was a little uncomfortable about the hidden message in the compliment. Was she merely expressing her pride in her smart grandchildren after hearing about their achievements, or was she trying to indirectly imply that Li Yuming was not smart?

No matter what it was, Lanni was not planning to kick up a fuss about it. She focused on her grandfather, who was friendlier to Li Yuming.

However, the elderly woman clearly wasn’t going to mask her displeasure. She fondly asked Lanni, "How have you been? I was worried that you would turn into a deceptive fox after being raised by that kind of woman."

Lanni felt a dull ache in her heart and wanted to explode. But when she remembered how her father ended up marrying Li Xiyan, she shrugged. Perhaps the old lady still disliked Li Yuming even after so many years. In response to her question, she gently grinned and said nothing.

Luna realized her sister’s emotional turmoil and held her hand soothingly. Actually, she didn’t like it either. No matter how horrible her relationship with her mother was, she couldn’t stand it when people kept talking crap about her. After all, she was the person that Lanni cared most about.

As if casually stating it, Luna glanced at her grandmother. "Grandma, it’s been so many years and mother has long left father." Before anyone could react, her eyes drooped as she added, "How sad...she and father divorced and he ended up with a criminal. On the other hand, she is so lonely and only has us on her side."

Her words sounded like she was casually talking about her parents, but the old lady frowned. Why did it sound like Luna was personally attacking her?

She was clearly reminding everyone that not only did Old Mrs. Xia drug her own son and get him together with a criminal, she had also caused him and the love of his life to separate for years. Not only that, but she was also pointing Old Mrs. Xia out for not letting go of past hatred, and was trying to destroy the relationship between a mother and her child even though it had been so many years.

Xia Hanchen shot his mother a look then patted Lanni’s shoulder in fear that she would be sad. "Cupcake, don’t be upset. Your grandmother only means to say that she is happy that Yuming took such good care of you. Look at you, you have become so beautiful."

Lanni glanced at her grandmother once more, then at her father. In the end, her gaze trailed at Xiehan who was sitting opposite them with Old Master Xia.

Although the man was playing chess and chatting with Old Master Xia, Xingyu and Xia Yuguang, some of his attention was on Lanni. When he felt her gaze, he looked back at her and his brows slightly twitched.

She met his gaze and her heart picked up its pace. It was as though they had communicated their thoughts through that simple gaze.

’Honey, I have a strange feeling about them.’ She thought as she peeked slightly at her grandmother.

’I think so too.’ His eyes seemed to say. Although they did not say any words, they understood each other’s doubts.

Luna’s hand tightened around Lanni’s, so much that the latter had to shake it off. Lanni’s actions jolted her out of her deep thoughts and she stood up, excusing herself to go to the bathroom.

She had gone upstairs, so Lanni made an excuse and followed her after casting Xiehan a glance.

The most confused person was Xingyu. Why did it feel like his fiancée, best friend and sister-in-law were conducting some secret mission and leaving him out of it?

...

On the first floor.

When Luna realized that Lanni was following her, she grabbed her and pushed her into a room, holding a hand over her mouth.

It took a few seconds for Lanni to register what was going on.

"What happened?" She whispered.

Luna locked the door and looked around to make sure there was no hidden camera before she sucked in a breath. "Grandmother is acting strange." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"I think so too." Lanni was glad that Luna understood it, it saved her the effort she would have needed to explain.

"She bugged our dad to bring us back but ever since she met you, she has been doing nothing but trying to provoke you. I don’t know whether she is trying to provoke you or make you hate and blame our mother. Either way, I’m starting to have doubts about her."

Lanni caught on a point and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Our mother..."

Luna slapped her shoulder. "Whatever. I don’t like her anymore but that doesn’t change the fact that she is my biological mother too. For this reason alone, I will not let anyone scheme against her." As though worried that her reason did not make much sense, she added, "Take it as me thanking her for the fruits."

"What fruits?" Lanni feigned ignorance.

"Please. Do you think you really fooled me into believing that you are the one who prepared the oranges and apples for me? Besides, aside from the fruits, she sent bodyguards to protect you...and me too."

The second part baffled Lanni but she didn’t have much time to think about it. "Do you think we should bug grandmother?"

Luna immediately shook her head. "She is too wary. Let’s think of another way. Before then, we have to go back now or they will find our disappearance odd."

The sisters made their way back downstairs. When the elderly lady saw them, she looked up and let out a gentle laugh. "Twins can be quite strange sometimes, can’t they? They even want to go to the bathroom together. Did you find the common bathroom?"

Luna knew that it was no ordinary reason, the elderly lady was merely testing her to find out what they were going to do upstairs.

"We didn’t. After taking several turns on the first floor, we couldn’t find it and we didn’t feel the need anymore so we came back."

Lanni nodded to second her sister’s far-fetched excuse, then found the right opportunity to change the story. "Grandpa, do you like to play chess? We can play one round together."

"It’s almost time for dinner. Let’s play once." Old Master Xia called her over, and Lanni sat opposite him.

...

After dinner, Old Madam Xia suggested for her granddaughters to stay back for the night.

However, Xia Hanchen was strongly against it. "Luna can’t be away from her fiancé. Xingyu would never be comfortable about it."

"What’s wrong with her staying back? And isn’t it just a night? Is he trying to imply that I cannot take care of my granddaughter?" The woman was furious.

"No one said that." Xia Hanchen was speechless.

Before he could say something to further offend the elderly lady, Lanni spoke up sweetly. "Grandma, Luna and I have matters to handle tomorrow so we cannot stay back. We will come to visit again soon, how about that?"

The woman harrumphed. "Did Li Yuming tell you not to trust us? Is that why she had to send bodyguards to spy on us?"

That reminded her of what Luna had said. Li Yuming sent bodyguards?

After her initial shock, she raised an eyebrow. "Grandma, you and mother don’t totally trust each other after what happened in the past. You didn’t think she would have taken good care of your granddaughter for twenty years, so I don’t think she would feel safe knowing that her daughters were in your home."

"You..." Old Madam Xia held back a curse when her son patted her shoulder. She went to have a word with her sons-in-law who were engrossed in an in-depth conversation with Old Mr. Xia.

Making sure that Lanni and Xia Hanchen were talking about something, Luna secretly slipped back into the building and snuck to the master bedroom.