After Letting My Guard Down, I Got Trapped by a Yandere CEO - Chapter 17:

Chapter 17: The Ye Family’s Past

Early morning. Warm sunlight poured through the window into the bedroom, the curtains fluttering in the breeze.

On the chilly floor, Jiang Zhao, wearing only a pair of loose shorts, shivered from the wind. He opened his eyes, confusion filling his gaze.

Who am I? Where am I?

After staring blankly for a moment, Jiang Zhao stood up from the floor and expressionlessly looked at Qin Lingxue, who had absolutely no proper sleeping posture, sprawled across the bed… and that giant teddy bear that had stolen his spot.

Damn it! He shouldn’t have brought that thing back last night.

Great. Now he had lost favor right on the spot and couldn’t even sleep in bed.

Yawning sleepily, Jiang Zhao scratched his head and started getting dressed, not bothering to wake the still sound-asleep Qin Lingxue.

Last night, for some reason, this woman had been in an especially playful mood. She kept dragging him around the room like a maniac and even started a pillow fight. In the end, Jiang Zhao claimed complete victory… and earned two bright red handprints on his butt.

Women really are unreasonable creatures.

After getting dressed, Jiang Zhao casually had an imperial crab breakfast, then walked out of the villa community. Just as expected, a Rolls-Royce was parked by the roadside, with a license plate full of sixes.

As soon as Jiang Zhao appeared, the rear window lowered, and Ye Qianyun, looking refined and approachable, waved at him. “Good morning, Xiao Zhao. Had breakfast?”

Jiang Zhao nodded, opened the door, and got in. Glancing at the luxurious interior, he marveled, “If I’m not mistaken, this is a Rolls-Royce Phantom, top configuration. No way this lands below 10 million.”

Back at the peak of his career, the best Jiang Zhao had was a Porsche 911 worth over 1 million yuan. In a small place like Jiangnan, even million-yuan cars were rare—let alone ones worth tens of millions.

Ye Qianyun took a sip of apple-flavored probiotic milk and smiled gently. “If you’re into cars, I’ve got a couple of good sports cars in Jinling. I’ll have someone send them over to you later.”

“No need. I haven’t done anything to deserve that. Let’s just get to the point.”

Jiang Zhao declined without hesitation. He hadn’t even figured out how to face this so-called family member yet—accepting gifts would just make it messier.

Ye Qianyun’s smile faded slightly as things got serious. He reached into his chest pocket and pulled out a photo.

It was a family portrait with only three people: an elderly man and a pair of young men and women who looked strikingly similar, standing behind him.

The woman in the photo wore a gentle smile and a floral dress. Just looking at her gave off the feeling of a graceful, well-bred lady.

“This is my…” Jiang Zhao was taken aback.

“That’s your mother, Ye Huan’er. My aunt,” Ye Qianyun nodded, then leaned back into the leather seat and slowly began telling a story from the past.

Over thirty years ago, Jiang Zhao’s mother met Jiang Chennan in Jinling. After a chance encounter, they fell in love. But Jiang Chennan had clearly approached her with the Ye family’s wealth in mind. Old Master Ye, Jiang Zhao’s grandfather, saw through him immediately and forbade the relationship.

What followed was a cliché tragedy. Jiang Zhao’s mother left the Ye family and eloped with Jiang Chennan. But without the Ye family as support, Jiang Chennan quickly lost interest in her—especially after she became pregnant with Jiang Zhao.

Eventually, Ye Huan’er was found unconscious in the middle of nowhere. She remained in a coma to this day. As for Jiang Chennan, he vanished from the public eye. Only recently did new clues surface, prompting Ye Qianyun to come to River City.

At this point, Ye Qianyun’s expression turned cold, and his voice became sharp. “That bastard Jiang Chennan… I’ll make sure he lives a life worse than death for hurting my aunt.”

If he hadn’t been in a rush to meet Jiang Zhao, Ye Qianyun would’ve already stormed the Jiang family by now.

After hearing the story, Jiang Zhao stared at the photo in silence. A long time passed before he finally spoke.

“Honestly, I’m doing just fine with the life I have now. I don’t have any plans to reconnect with family roots. As for the Jiang family, I’ll deal with them myself.”

On the way here, Ye Qianyun had already looked into Jiang Zhao’s past. In five years, he built the massive Tianyang Group from scratch.

Even if he had been in Jiang Zhao’s position, he couldn’t guarantee he’d have done better.

With a serious expression, he said, “Let’s put everything else aside. But you must come to Jinling with me, just once—to see your mother.”

Jiang Zhao nodded.

No matter what, she was his birth mother. He did want to meet her.

Once the heavy topic was over, the atmosphere relaxed.

Ye Qianyun took out a card and stuffed it into Jiang Zhao’s hand with a smile. “My mom told me to give this to you when I came. She used to be really close to my aunt. Think of it as a small gift from her.”

“Don’t say no—it’s not even a lot. Just 200 million.”

Jiang Zhao: “…”

That one sentence completely destroyed the heaviness of the moment.

What do you mean ‘not a lot’? Two hundred million?! That’s enough to buy two entire Tianyang Groups!

After a few seconds of silence, he couldn’t help but ask, “So what exactly does Royal City Group do?”

Hearing that, Ye Qianyun thought for a moment, then waved his hand with a chuckle, “Nothing much. We dabble in real estate and help the government sell tobacco, stuff like that.”

Jiang Zhao fell silent again.

He really wanted to slap himself twice. Why did he have to poke his nose into something so unsettling?

Just then, his phone rang—it was the one from home.

On the other end, Qin Lingxue had just woken up. Her lazy voice carried a trace of displeasure, “Where did you run off to? Sneaking out on me—are you cheating?”

“Just out for a walk. You were dead asleep, so I didn’t want to wake you.”

As he spoke, Jiang Zhao gave Ye Qianyun an apologetic glance, opened the car door, and stepped out.

After he left, the warm smile on Ye Qianyun’s face vanished, replaced by a conflicted expression as he muttered, “This little cousin doesn’t seem too interested in money… How am I supposed to trick him into inheriting the family business? I really don’t want to spend my whole life trapped in that company. Since this cousin popped up, I’ve got to dump this mess on him no matter what…”