CHAPTER 859: CHAPTER 859: BAD DAUGHTER-IN-LAW

"Shhh, hey, hey," Qiao Jun said softly, rocking her gently. "It’s not stupid. You’re okay. I’m here now."

She buried her face into his chest, sobbing quietly.

He stroked her back and whispered gently in her ear. "It might be just... your feelings. After last night, sometimes the body feels strange. Sad, even. It happens to some people. You’re not crazy, alright?"

Yu Holea sniffled, her voice tiny. "Really?"

"Really," he nodded. "It’s called post... post love sadness, kind of. It’s not your fault. You’re safe."

He cradled her tighter, kissing the top of her head.

"You did amazing yesterday. You were brave and beautiful and perfect. And now... we just rest. No pressure. No rush."

Yu Holea slowly started to calm down. Her breathing got steadier. She reached up with both arms and hugged him back tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Qiao Jun smiled gently. "Anytime, my love."

Yu Holea wiped her tears and sniffled once more. Then she looked up at Qiao Jun and asked softly, "What time is it?"

Qiao Jun glanced at his watch and gave a casual smile. "It’s 3 p.m."

"Three in the AFTERNOON?!" Yu Holea suddenly shouted, her eyes going wide. She jumped out of bed so fast the blanket flew off. "You’re truly so STUPID! Why didn’t you wake me up?! I needed to finish the rituals!"

Qiao Jun blinked, surprised by the sudden storm. "I already explained to my parents. Don’t worry, it’s fine."

"Fine?! You think it’s fine?!" Yu Holea glared at him, pointing a finger at his chest. "You don’t know anything! It’s very bad luck for a bride to skip rituals! What if something goes wrong?!"

She pushed him away and tried to walk... but the moment her feet touched the ground, her legs wobbled like jelly. She gasped, losing balance.

"Holea!" Qiao Jun was quick. He caught her before she could hit the floor.

She frowned at him, cheeks bright red, but Qiao Jun only gave an innocent, guilty little smile.

Without a word, he helped her back to her feet and guided her to the bathroom.

As soon as they reached the door, Yu Holea shoved him lightly away and slammed the door shut.

"Don’t even think about coming in!" she shouted from inside.

Qiao Jun chuckled outside the door. "Yes, ma’am."

Inside, Yu Holea took out a small golden talisman from her pouch. She whispered a soft spell, and the talisman glowed before sticking to her skin. In seconds, her soreness faded. Her body felt lighter, her energy returning.

"Ah... much better," she sighed.

She quickly took a shower, cleaned up, then dried her hair. Thankfully, she had already prepared her clothes the night before.

She put on a fiery red Chinese dress. It hugged her body perfectly and made her look both strong and elegant. She did her makeup quickly, applied a little blush, and added some red lipstick.

Then she stepped out.

Qiao Jun was sitting on the edge of the bed. When he saw her, he froze.

His eyes widened.

He looked like someone had punched all the air out of his lungs.

"You’re staring," Yu Holea said, trying to hide her blush.

"You’re stunning..." Qiao Jun mumbled before quickly turning his head away, coughing awkwardly.

"Why aren’t you getting ready?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Qiao Jun took a deep breath and muttered under his breath, "We still have other nights... we can continue what we left off tomorrow."

Unfortunately for him, Yu Holea had sharp ears.

"What did you just say?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Qiao Jun’s face turned bright red. He smiled nervously. "Nothing! I’ll go get ready now!"

He rushed to the bathroom like a frightened rabbit.

Yu Holea could hear sounds from inside, maybe humming, maybe crashing. It took him thirty whole minutes to get ready.

Yu Holea’s face was already turning red just imagining what he was doing in there. "This man is truly shameless..." she muttered.

When Qiao Jun finally came out, he was dressed in a traditional red groom’s outfit, looking every bit the prince. Together, they went downstairs.

Yu Holea was nervous.

She hadn’t served tea to her in-laws yet. And she had overslept. What if they were upset?

As soon as they reached the dining room, she saw the entire Qiao family sitting at the long table.

The moment they saw her, everyone went silent.

Then one by one, they glared at her.

Yu Holea’s heart dropped. Oh no... they think I’m a bad daughter-in-law...

Just as she was about to bow and apologize, Mrs. Qiao looked at her and shook her head.

"I can’t believe it... I didn’t expect you to be such a beast," she said.

Yu Holea’s eyes widened. ’Me? A beast?’

"Don’t you have any shame?" Mr. Qiao glared in Yu Holea’s direction, and her heart sank. She opened her mouth to explain, but

Qiao Li’s words made her freeze.

"Brother! Mom and Dad are asking you something! Don’t you have any reply?"

Yu Holea was stunned and realized they were looking at Qiao Jun all along.

She turned and stared at Qiao Jun.

Qiao Jun raised a brow and said calmly, "Well, I’m the beast. What to do?"

The room exploded.

Everyone started scolding him.

"You just want to keep her all to yourself!"

"She’s part of the family, not your prisoner!"

"If you keep doing this, we’ll kidnap her to our room!"

Qiao Li was the loudest. She slapped the table and glared at her brother.

"You tricked me! You said I could spend more time with Holea! But now look! She wakes up at THREE P.M.!"

Qiao Jun chuckled, clearly not ashamed. He was even about to say what time they had gone to bed, but Yu Holea’s sharp glare shut him up immediately.

Qiao Zifei, the little nine-year-old boy, suddenly ran up to Yu Holea and hugged her tightly.

His eyes were teary, and he started to sob. "Sister Holea, I’m so sad! You didn’t spend any time with me!"

Yu Holea quickly patted his back, alarmed. "Zifei! What’s wrong?"

Then, Qiao Zirui came up and hugged her too. "Me too! I missed you!"

The two boys hugged her from both sides like two little kittens, crying softly.

Yu Holea’s heart melted. ’They’re so cute...’

She leaned down and asked gently, "Tell me what’s wrong, hmm?"

Qiao Zifei pointed at Qiao Jun with a pout. "It’s him! If he keeps taking you away, when will we get to play with you?!"

Just as Yu Holea was about to comfort them, Qiao Li joined the chaos.

She hugged Yu Holea tightly and sobbed. "I don’t get to see you either! Now you’re being kidnapped by this big bad wolf! I want justice! I want to spend the day with you!"

Yu Holea was now stuck in a group hug, surrounded by three sobbing people.

She started to panic.

She patted all of their backs, trying to calm them. "Okay, okay! I’ll figure something out!"

Qiao Jun just rolled his eyes in the background and mumbled, "Drama queens, all of them..."

Mr. Qiao cleared his throat loudly and looked straight at Qiao Jun. His voice was calm, but his words were sharp.

"If you dare to bully Yu Holea again," he said, "we’ll kick you out of the house without a second thought."

Qiao Jun blinked, clearly not expecting that. He shuffled in his seat awkwardly. Then, with a weak smile, he tried to joke, "But if I’m kicked out... won’t poor Holea suffer without the Qiao family’s wealth?"

Everyone at the table scoffed at the same time.

It was Qiao Li who spoke up this time, her tone calm but serious. "Of course we’ll keep Holea with us and kick you out instead. Let you suffer for a few days without your wife, maybe then your smug face will disappear."

Qiao Jun’s smile slowly faded. He glared at Qiao Li.

"You really have too much free time," he said coldly.

Qiao Li just raised an eyebrow and replied, "You have a LOT of free time too, considering how long you monopolized Holea."

Qiao Jun leaned back in his chair and smirked. "Well, curse your luck for not being a man. Otherwise, maybe you could’ve competed and actually had a chance with her."

Qiao Li’s face turned red and she gritted her teeth. "If there’s a next lifetime, I will become a man and steal Holea away from you!"

Yu Holea, who had been watching the siblings argue like children, was completely speechless. She looked back and forth between them, wondering if they were even sane.

"Are these two even in their right minds?" she muttered under her breath.

Mrs. Qiao let out a tired sigh and walked up to Yu Holea. She gently pushed away the two boys, Qiao Zifei and Qiao Zirui, who were still clinging to Yu Holea like baby koalas.

"Come now, you two," she said softly, patting their heads. "Don’t scare her like this. She must be tired."