the seventh bride

Chapter 258 Ending ([-])

After coming out of the study, Nan Gongchen and Bai Muqing accompanied the old lady to the hospital for a brain examination.

After a systematic examination, the previous attending doctor concluded that the old lady's head was injured due to the previous car accident, leaving sequelae.

In fact, Nangong Chen had already guessed this result when he came here, but he still asked worriedly: "Then why did grandma start showing symptoms until now?"

The doctor in charge said respectfully: "Neurological damage is like this, and it gets worse little by little, such as Alzheimer's, which also gradually becomes serious."

"Will grandma's illness still recover? Will it be so serious..." Nangong Chen opened his mouth, unable to bear to continue.

The attending doctor hurriedly comforted him: "Young Master Chen, don't worry. Although the old lady's body is not as strong as before, she is still in good condition. There will definitely not be the situation that Young Master Chen is worried about. Besides, she is so old that even if she doesn't get into a car accident, her brain will not be able to recover. It will age slowly, which is a normal growth law."

"As long as grandma's life is not in danger." Bai Muqing said to Nangong Chen.

"No." The doctor also comforted him: "And you, Young Master Chen, just observed that although the old lady is confused, she is in a very good mood. As long as the old man can be happy, isn't it enough?"

Nangong Chen turned his head and glanced at the rest area outside the doctor's office, and sure enough, he saw the old lady and Xiao Wanqing were laughing and laughing, looking very happy.

After coming out of the doctor's office, Bai Muqing turned to Nangong Chen, grabbed his palm and smiled, "Chen, grandma has worked hard for you for most of her life, and now she has finally let go of this big burden. We should be happy for her."

Nangong Chen sighed bitterly, and said: "It's not easy for me to recover from my illness. You and Wan Qing came back, but grandma, who was supposed to enjoy a good life, fell ill."

"Grandma is fine now, don't be sad."

"Well, I'm not sad." Nan Gongchen smiled at her, turned around and walked towards the old lady and little Wanqing.
-
Ever since she was pregnant, even though Su Xi was released from the bedroom by Qiao Siheng, she still couldn't get out of the Qiao's mansion, and even when she was walking in the garden, someone followed her.

Mrs. Qiao, who was sent abroad by Qiao Siheng for a month, heard that Su Xi was pregnant, and immediately clamored to come back to take care of Su Xi and her little grandson.

When she knew that Qiao Siheng imprisoned Su Xi at home, she led Su Xi to sit on the sofa and scolded angrily: "That guy Siheng is really outrageous, he imprisoned you like a prisoner? "

Su Xi looked at Mrs. Qiao, thinking to herself, don't you have any part in this matter?
Mrs. Qiao seemed to understand her thoughts, and quickly explained: "Xiaoxi, this matter really has nothing to do with me. It was that guy Si Heng who lied to me that he wanted to live with you and let me go abroad. I have been traveling for a while, I just received the notice of your pregnancy yesterday, and then I rushed back."

"So what if you hurry back?" Su Xi asked, looking at her.

"Uh, hurry back and take care of you." Mrs. Qiao glanced down at her abdomen and said with a smile, "Although I don't agree with Si Heng doing this, but since she is pregnant, let's give birth to the child properly."

"Mom, I don't intend to have this child." Su Xi's attitude was still firm.

Mrs. Qiao panicked, and hurriedly grabbed her hands and said anxiously: "Why? Xiaoxi, this is your and Xiheng's child, how can you not want her?"

Seeing tears appearing on Xiaoxi's face, Mrs. Qiao immediately said: "Xiaoxi, I know you have no relationship with Siheng, but since you are already married and have no plans to divorce, why are you married?" Can't you have a baby?"

"Xiaoxi..." Mrs. Qiao held her hand tightly: "When your father passed away and entrusted you to me, I promised him on the spot that he would raise you well and let you marry me when you grow up. Si Heng, you became the future hostess of the Qiao family. Your father was very happy when he heard that. In fact, few wealthy marriages have real affection. My father and I are married in the same family, but we have been here for so many years. Is it?"

"That's right, Siheng's father was raising his third son outside, but he never thought of shaking my position in Qiao's family. Even after I killed that woman, he went around to clear up the relationship for me and keep my family safe." My face and my life.” Mrs. Qiao sneered: “Xiaoxi, the so-called evil does not overpower the righteous, and the women outside are just toys for men to vent their anger. They get tired of playing with them. In fact, their hearts are still on the wife. Yes. You see, Si Heng has been waiting for you to give birth to him voluntarily, and would rather wait year after year than let a woman outside give birth to him."

Su Xi looked at her with a puzzled expression: "Mom, do you mean you want me to tolerate him raising a woman outside?"

"Uh I mean."

"You mean that as long as I secure Mrs. Qiao's position, he can live with any woman outside, right?" Su Xi asked in disapproval, "Mom, when you killed Qiao Feng's mother back then, Qiao Siheng and Dad are protecting and protecting you. If I kill Fang Mi in a fit of anger one day, will Qiao Siheng protect me? Or can he keep me?"

"Fang Mi doesn't have the guts to compete with you for Mrs. Qiao's position, she's not as ambitious as Qiao Feng's mother."

"But I don't have such a big belly as your mother to tolerate my man. Mom, I am different from you. I can't share my man with other women. I would rather not have such a man." Su Xi bit Biting his lips, he stared at her solemnly: "You tell Qiao Siheng for me that I will accompany you at any time for divorce, but if he wants to be like his father, the red flag at home will not fall down, and the colorful flags are fluttering outside, sorry I can't do it, please ask him to marry another expert." .”

"Xiaoxi..." Mrs. Qiao hurriedly grabbed her who got up and was about to leave: "Don't be in a hurry."

Su Xi turned to look at her, then sat back and said to her: "Mom, I am very grateful and satisfied for taking care of me these years, thank you."

After speaking, she turned and went upstairs.

After Su Xi left, Mrs. Qiao sighed helplessly, then turned her face away and said in the direction outside: "Come in."

Only then did Qiao Siheng walk in.

Mrs. Qiao watched him sit down on the sofa opposite her, looked at him angrily and said, "You heard it just now, Xiao Xi has such a temperament."

Qiao Siheng didn't speak, but took a sip of the tea poured by the servant.

Mrs. Qiao couldn't help but began to criticize again: "You, hurry up and go home. Xiaoxi just made it very clear that she doesn't have as much capacity as I do to accommodate women whose husband is outside."

"Mom, have you had enough?"

"No." Mrs. Qiao said angrily, "I'm warning you, if Xiaoxi kills the child, I'll take care of you."

Qiao Siheng was speechless, he didn't want this child to be aborted even more than she did.

"Mom, I asked you to come back because I hope you can help me persuade Xiaoxi. Looking at her, I didn't ask you to come back and scold me." Qiao Siheng said angrily: "Also, I have told you many times, I told you Fang Mi has been broken, and there is no further contact."

"It's useless for you to tell me that, you have to tell Xiaoxi."

"I've told her that and she doesn't believe it."

Mrs. Qiao shook her head: "Don't talk about her, even I don't believe it."

"."
-
The court responded to Shen Dongyang's request and made a second mental appraisal of the old lady.

When Nan Gongchen accompanied the old lady to the designated hospital for the appraisal, he felt extremely heavy. He knew that if the appraisal result would directly affect whether he could get back the shares, he still hoped that the appraisal result of the old lady was normal. .

In his opinion, the health of the old lady is much more important than the shares.

Bai Muqing who was beside her felt the uneasiness in his heart, but she didn't speak, but gently held his big palm.

Shen Dongyang, who was sitting opposite the two, was equally uneasy, and also hoped that the old lady's spirit was normal.

The old lady was obviously fine before, but the old lady he saw just now was completely different from what he saw last time.

It must be acting too similarly, he comforted himself secretly in his heart.

It will take a week for the appraisal results to come out, but it can be seen from the appraisal doctor's eyes that the old lady's condition is not optimistic.

"Grandma, are you okay?" Bai Muqing asked while supporting the old lady's arm.

The old lady didn't pay attention to her, because her eyes had already fallen on Shen Dongyang, the expression on her face changed little by little, and she rushed forward to beat Shen Dongyang: "You liar! Liar. Bad guy! "

"Grandma..." Nangong Chen hurriedly brought the old man back, put his arms around her and comforted her: "Grandma, don't be angry."

"This bastard cheated me of my shares, which I want to leave to my grandson." The old lady complained angrily.

Shen Dongyang took a step back, forced a smile and said: "Old madam, how can you say that? At the beginning, you obviously thought that Shao Chen would not survive, so you transferred the shares to my name."

"You are lying! Even if I donate the shares, I won't give you this bastard!" The old lady became more and more excited when she scolded. Nan Gongchen was worried that she would be hurt by the stimulation, so she hurriedly carried her to the direction of the elevator.As he walked, he comforted: "Grandma, let's not be angry anymore, do you need to take care of your health?"

"I get mad when I see him."

"I know, don't worry, I will definitely let him spit out the shares, and I will definitely make him pay the price."

"Is it really possible?" the old lady asked tearfully.

"Of course it's true, you still don't believe me?"

The old lady calmed down a little.
-
A week later, the appraisal result issued by the hospital was indeed very favorable for Nan Gongchen.

Holding the identification result report, although he had already guessed the result, Nan Gongchen couldn't help but feel sad.

In the past week, the old lady's condition has become more and more serious, and the normal time is getting less and less. Even without this appraisal result, he can see that the old lady's mental state is extremely poor.

When Assistant Yan arrived at his office, she saw him staring at a document in a daze. She walked over like this and asked, "Young Master Chen, what's wrong?"

Nangong Chen handed her a copy of the appraisal result in his hand: "This is a copy, the original has been handed over to the judiciary."

Assistant Yan picked up the appraisal result and quickly scanned it, with joy on her face: "You hired someone to do it?" She thought for a while, and then said: "No, this is the mental appraisal requested by Shen Dongyang, and it is another It should not be so easy to cheat if the judiciary checks it."

"It's true." Nangong Chen took a light breath and said.

"Ah?" Assistant Yan asked in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"Grandma's car accident last time left aftereffects, and she has begun to lose her mind."

"My God! How could this be?"

Nangong Chen shook his head and smiled wryly: "Could it be that God is also helping me take back the company? Does he think this is helping me?"

Hearing this news, Assistant Yan didn't know what to say for a while, and the joy just now had long since disappeared from his face.

After a long while, she finally found a word of comfort: "Young Master Chen, the old lady is too old to withstand such a fall. It is already a fate to save a life. You should think about it."

"That's what the doctor said. It's already a big fortune to be able to save one's life back then."

"So, don't be too sad."

Nangong Chen nodded, then smiled and put the appraisal result into the drawer: "It's all right now, Shen Dongyang can't do without spit out the shares, and I don't have to feel sorry for the ancestors of the Nangong family anymore."

"Well, you're right." Assistant Yan smiled again: "Congratulations, you've finally got through this difficult time."

"Thank you."

"Then... I can finally get out of here."

"Another day, Mu Qing and I will treat you to dinner and give you a formal farewell party."

"Farewell is fine, but can I make an unreasonable request?"

"Just mention it."

"Can we not have a third party, just the two of us?"

"Why?" Nangong Chen was surprised: "Are there still few opportunities for the two of us to eat alone? Are you not tired?"

"Not tired." Assistant Yan smiled and shook her head: "Actually, I just want to say goodbye to you after working with you for so long."

"That's okay, can you do it tomorrow night?"

"Okay, I can follow your time." Assistant Yan smiled with satisfaction.
-
Mrs. Qiao came to Su Xi's room, opened her mouth and began to claim credit: "Little Xi, I just scolded Si Heng again, he is already the countless number of times he has promised me that he will not have affairs with women outside again." gone."

Su Xi was watching TV, without turning her head, she said, "Mom, you don't need to tell me these things."

"Why don't you use it? This represents my determination and care for you, Si Heng and I." Mrs. Qiao walked to her side and sat down, holding her arm: "Go, Si Heng is waiting for you downstairs."

"Wait for me to do?"

"Go to the maternity checkup."

"I dont go."

"Xiaoxi, how important is the prenatal check-up, why don't you go?" Mrs. Qiao thought for a while, and then said: "Besides, I haven't even been to the hospital for a check-up, so I don't know if I'm really pregnant. , you don’t want to figure it out completely?”

This sentence really moved Su Xi, indeed, the doctor just took her pulse and tested her with a pregnancy test stick, and did not do any further examination.Maybe she just delayed her menstrual period and wasn't pregnant?

Holding this small hope, she finally said: "I can go by myself, I don't need him to accompany me."

"why?"

"Don't want to see him."

"Xiao Xi..."

"Mom, stop talking." Su Xi stood up from the sofa, went to the cloakroom and began to look for clothes to wear when going out.

"Since you don't want Li Heng to accompany you, then let me accompany you." Mrs. Qiao said.

Under Mrs. Qiao's insistence, she finally accompanied Su Xi to the hospital for examination.

After drawing blood in the maternity examination room, while waiting for the results, Su Xi went to the bathroom.Mrs. Qiao was worried about what tricks she was playing, so she followed her step by step to the door of the bathroom.

"Mom, are you going to follow me to the toilet pit?" Su Xi glanced at her speechlessly.

Mrs. Qiao waved her hand awkwardly: "No, I'll wait for you here, go in, be careful."

Su Xi nodded casually and pushed the door open.

She walked to the innermost squatting place, and just as she closed the door, she heard a familiar female voice from the next room: "Young Master Qiao, can you stop blaming me? How did I know that your wife would choose today to come for the prenatal checkup? You Don't worry, I won't let her see me. I've been hiding in the toilet..."

After a pause, the woman's voice suddenly became a little displeased and coquettish: "I said I didn't mean it, Qiao Shao, how can you be so partial, even if she is your wife, I am pregnant with your son, son Oh, she may not be born."

Although Su Xi didn't hear this voice often, she did hear it a lot. It was Fang Mi who had been with Qiao Siheng for several years.

She clenched her fists little by little, and she was so angry that tears were about to come out.

But the voice in the cubicle was still there: "Young Master Qiao, can I go up to see you later? You haven't touched your son for a long time, and he misses you. Okay, I'll wait for your wife to go back and I'll see you soon." Just go up..."

Su Xi was so angry that she opened the door of the compartment and stepped out. When she came to the compartment, she kicked the door.

With a loud 'bang', Fang Mi inside was immediately frightened and shut up.

After a while, Fang Mi carefully opened the door panel. When she saw Su Xi standing at the door, her expression changed instantly. She stared at her and stammered, "Miss Su."

Su Xi glanced at Fang Mi in front of her, from head to toe.

In the end, her eyes stopped on her slightly swollen abdomen. This woman named Fang Mi was pregnant, and she looked at least four months old, so good!

She gritted her teeth and tried hard to control her anger, not letting herself kick her in the stomach.

Seeing her staring at his stomach, Fang Mi instinctively covered his stomach with both hands, and explained anxiously: "Miss Su, please don't misunderstand, this child is not Mrs. Qiao's, it really is. "

"It's better not." Su Xi turned around and walked towards the bathroom door.

Mrs. Qiao saw Su Xi coming out of the bathroom angrily, and hurriedly came up to her and asked, "Xiao Xi, what's the matter with you? What happened?"

Su Xi stopped walking, stared at her with red eyes, and then pointed to the bathroom with a wave of her finger: "Mom, your grandson is there, go in and feel it."

"What? What do you mean?" Mrs. Qiao asked suspiciously.

Su Xi turned around and walked quickly towards the elevator.

Mrs. Qiao looked at the back of Su Xi leaving angrily, and then looked in the direction of the bathroom, not knowing what to do for a while.She was in a stalemate for a while, and finally chased after Su Xi's direction.It's just that when she chased to the elevator entrance, the elevator had already closed the door and started to descend.

Mrs. Qiao was so anxious that she didn't know what to do. She walked around in front of the elevator twice before remembering to call Qiao Siheng. She called several times in a row but no one answered, so she took the elevator and walked to the top floor.

When Mrs. Qiao came to the top floor, the secretary told her that Qiao Siheng was in a meeting and she couldn't care less, so she broke into the conference room where Qiao Siheng was, and told him that Su Xi was gone.

As soon as Qiao Siheng heard that Su Xi was missing, he dropped the documents in his hand and walked towards the door of the conference room.
-
After Su Xi ran out of the hospital, she didn't go far, but found a corner and sat down.

She leaned against the wall and took a few breaths, finally calming down a little.It's just that after her breath stabilized, she really couldn't stop Fang Mi's figure from flashing into her mind, and what she said when she called Qiao Siheng just now.

Every sentence pierces her heart.

She unconsciously raised her palm to caress her still flat abdomen, gnashing her teeth angrily.

In order not to let her emotions collapse, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger in her heart.

She actually expected that Qiao Siheng would turn over a new leaf and really break off with the women outside?Nature is hard to change, doesn't she know what kind of person Qiao Siheng is?Looking forward to a change?She is so whimsical!
But since Fang Mi had already conceived a son for him, why did he imprison her and force her to conceive his child?
How can he be so selfish?So domineering? ——
Qiao Siheng searched for a whole day but couldn't find Su Xi's whereabouts, so he couldn't help feeling anxious.

He knew Su Xi's personality, she definitely wasn't trying to scare him when she said that she wanted to kill the child, she really dared to!

If she really killed the child, wouldn't his efforts for more than a month be in vain?Isn't the suffering she has suffered for more than a month also in vain?
Although he had 1 people who didn't want to contact Nangongchen, but in order to find Su Xi, he had to call Nangongchen's cell phone.

The call was quickly connected, and Nangong Chen's mocking voice came: "Master Qiao has figured it out and decided to surrender, right?"

Qiao Siheng didn't have the heart to argue with him, so he cut to the chase and said, "Can you help me find Bai Muqing?"

Nangong Chen asked vigilantly, "What do you want her for?"

"Don't worry, I'm not looking for her to settle accounts."

"Then there is no need."

"I'm looking for Su Xi." Qiao Xixi gritted her teeth.

"Su Xi?" Nan Gongchen was even more puzzled, and then shook his head and said, "Then there's no need to look for it, Mu Qing is with me all day today, and I haven't seen Su Xi."

"Really?"

"Why should I repeat my assurance to you that it's true?" Nan Gongchen was deliberately puzzled, and then said: "I'll hang up first."

After speaking, he unceremoniously hung up the phone.

"Qiao Siheng called? What's the matter?" Bai Muqing, who was next to her, couldn't help being curious when she heard Su Xi's name.

Recently, she couldn't get in touch with Su Xi, and the security guard at Qiao's house refused to let her in. They only told her that Su Xi was having a baby at home, and she was worried about how to contact Su Xi.

Nan Gongchen put the phone aside and said, "Qiao Siheng came to Su Xi to find you, but I've already told him that you haven't contacted Su Xi."

Qiao Siheng is looking for Su Xi?It seems that nothing happened to Su Xi as Yao Mei guessed.

Thinking of this, Bai Muqing couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief, finally relieved.

"Where is Su Xi?" She sighed faintly.

"Su Xi is such an adult, she won't disappear for no reason, don't worry." Nan Gongchen patted her on the shoulder, copied her phone, got up and walked upstairs.

As soon as Nangong Chen returned to the study and sat down, the phone rang again. He picked up the phone and swiped the answer button.To his surprise, Su Xi's voice actually came from the other end of the phone.

"Young Master Chen, are you free now?" Su Xi's voice was a little hoarse.

"Su Xi, are you looking for Mu Qing? Wait a minute." Nan Gongchen was about to get up and go downstairs when Su Xi on the other end of the phone suddenly said, "No, I'm looking for you."

"Looking for me?" Nangong Chen stopped standing up and sat back on the chair.

"That's right, don't tell Mu Qing yet." Su Xi said.

"What's the matter?"

"You'll know when you come here."

Nangong Chen glanced at the time on the wall, it was nine o'clock in the evening, what would Su Xi do if he came to see him?But he didn't hesitate for too long, and replied: "Okay, I'll go out right away, where can I meet?"

"It's at the Mingdian Cafe near your company."

After Nangong Chen hung up the phone, he immediately got up and walked downstairs. When he reached the spiral staircase, he happened to bump into Bai Muqing who was going up.

Bai Muqing watched him go out, and asked in surprise: "Chen, you still want to go out so late?"

"Well, something happened." Nangong Chen hesitated for a moment, remembering Su Xi's confession, but in the end he still didn't tell her the truth.

"You wait." Bai Muqing walked quickly into the bedroom, and when she came out, she had an extra windbreaker in her hand, put the windbreaker on him and said, "Be careful when driving late, and come back early."

"I will, you go to bed early." Nan Gongchen lowered his head and kissed her on the lips: "Let's go first."
-
When Nangong Chen came to Mingdian Cafe, Su Xi had already been sitting there all afternoon.

Seeing that her mood was not right, and her face was pale, Nangong Chen asked politely, "Are you okay? Did you quarrel with Qiao Siheng?"

Su Xi didn't speak, just looked at him.

Nangong Chen asked again: "Do you have no place to live? If so, you can go back to Nangong's house for now. It happens that Mu Qing is at home, and she has been very worried about you."

"Thank her for me, and tell her that I'm fine by the way." After Su Xi finished speaking, she pushed the two white papers beside the table to him, and said, "This is the ins and outs of Qiao Siheng's kidnapping of Wanqing and the You take all the history first, and then call me when the court needs me, and I will appear in court as a witness for you."

Nangong Chen reached out to pick up the black and white letters on the table, and after skimming through them, he looked at her in surprise: "Write this by yourself?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Nangong Chen was still very surprised. The last time he asked her to testify against Qiao Siheng, she had no intention of helping him at all.After all, Qiao Siheng was her husband, and he understood this, and he never felt sorry for her since then.

In recent days, he has been looking for evidence of witnesses that Wan Qing was abducted. He finally found a medical staff who knew the facts and was willing to give money to testify against Qiao Siheng, but he could not apply for a trial due to insufficient evidence.

If Su Xi is willing to come forward to testify against Qiao Siheng, then Qiao Siheng must go in.

So. He doubted whether Su Xi gave him this testimony because of a momentary fever.

"No reason, it's just that I can't bear it with my conscience, so I decided to testify against him." Su Xi said with a flat face.

"Do you know the consequences of abducting and trafficking babies?"

"know."

"Then you. Are you willing to let him in? He is your husband." Nangong Chen smiled: "Su Xi, you don't have to do me this favor, I won't make things difficult for you."

"I don't think it's difficult." Su Xi said resolutely: "At the beginning, I asked Qiao Siheng for help. To put it bluntly, I caused the three of you to be separated, so...you just think that I am here for Mu Qing and to save you." Let’s get this justice back.”

"If Qiao Siheng knew that you did this, he would be so angry that he would kill you."

"Don't worry, he won't." Su Xi sneered.

Of course she knew that Qiao Siheng would go crazy and wanted to strangle her to death, but she didn't care.He was the one who forced her to become pregnant. Wouldn't strangling her be the same as strangling his own flesh and blood?She wanted him to try the feeling of hating her but not being able to strangle her.

Nangong Chen nodded, folded the white paper in his hand and put it in his pocket: "Then thank you in advance."

"No." Su Xi said: "By the way, I advise you not to let Mu Qing know that you are going to sue Qiao Siheng. Mu Qing is kind-hearted, and with Qiao Feng's relationship, she will definitely not have the heart to send Qiao Siheng to the prison Prison."

"I understand that." Nangong Chen nodded, he never let Bai Muqing know that he was investigating this matter, because he was afraid of embarrassing her.He glanced at Su Xi again, and said with a slight smile: "I'm curious, what exactly did Qiao Siheng do to you, so that you are so firm that you must send him to prison?"

Su Xi didn't speak, but sneered in her heart, is she cruel?Compared with Qiao Siheng who imprisoned her and forced her to become pregnant while having a son with Fang Mi, she didn't feel cruel at all.

"Or...you think about it again?" Nangong Chen finished speaking, and then said: "If Mu Qing treats me like this, I might be heartbroken..."

"You are different from Qiao Siheng, and I am also different from Mu Qing, there is no comparison." Su Xi said.

"Since your attitude is so firm, then I won't persuade you." Nangong Chen changed his mind and said, "Is there anything I can help you with? If not, I'll go back first."

Su Xi shook her head.

"It's late now, where are you going?"

"go home."

"Go back to Joe's house?"

"That's right." Su Xi nodded.

"I thought you wouldn't go back to Qiao Siheng again." Nan Gongchen really didn't understand Su Xi's thoughts, but he was not interested in asking more about them.

Today is not the same, and he and Qiao Siheng are no longer in the same relationship as before, so there is no need to take care of his affairs.

Su Xi didn't say anything, just sipped quietly while holding the glass of water.

Nangong Chen stood up from the sofa and said to her, "I'll take you back by the way."

"Thank you." Su Xi didn't refuse, and stood up from the sofa.

(End of this chapter)