Chapter 5

Only then could I see him properly.

His jacket was off, the top two buttons of his shirt undone. In the quiet darkness, he looked oddly worn down.

I suddenly remembered giving him a key when I rented this office three years ago.

I had secretly imagined that, on some gentle evening, he would appear here without warning, unconcerned by the people around us, and say:

“Wen Yu, I’ve come to take you home.”

But he never had.

He was afraid people would discover our relationship, so he had never once come looking for me here.

8

I rubbed my tired eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

He looked around my office.

“You’ve been living like this? You’d rather sleep on that cold, hard single bed than come home?”

“However bad this place is, Lu Chenzhou, I fought for it, every last penny. I didn’t use any of your resources. You have no right to belittle it.”

He crossed the room in a few quick strides and gently took me in his arms.

“That isn’t what I meant.

“It hurts me to see you like this.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea you’d been suffering so much.”

A month earlier, those words would have moved me beyond reason. I would have been ready to give my life for him all over again.

But he hadn’t been there when the baby left my body.

He hadn’t been there when I was vomiting in the hospital after the gas poisoning.

I had realized he wasn’t that important after all.

I pushed his arms away.

“What good does it do to say this now? I’ve already suffered. I’ve already made it through the worst of it.”

He looked at his empty hands, almost at a loss.

“I know you blame me for helping Xia Miao instead of you.

“I promise, once her exhibition is over, I won’t get involved in her affairs again.

“She’ll never be part of our lives again. All right?”

I frowned in confusion.

“Didn’t she tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Forget it. Nothing.”

I knew divorcing him wouldn’t be easy.

The Lu family’s business empire was enormous. A stable marriage for the man at its head mattered greatly to the group’s future.

Even if he agreed, getting past his family’s elders would be difficult.

That was why I had handed this problem to Xia Miao.

I hoped she would make good use of her status as his unforgettable first love.

She had better not disappoint me.

9

Lu Chenzhou went home alone.

He couldn’t understand why Wen Yu had become so stubborn.

She used to give way to him in everything.

Perhaps he had spoiled her too much these past few years. She felt so secure that she thought she could do whatever she liked.

He gave a short, dismissive laugh. Fine. Women needed coaxing.

He would visit a few more times. Surely she couldn’t keep her heart hardened forever.

He knew better than anyone how much she loved him.

The next morning, he got up early to make a pot of chicken soup and take it to her.

He had been in the wrong that day.

But it was only a pot of soup. Surely Wen Yu wasn’t petty enough to hold a grudge over that.

Halfway through cooking, someone knocked.

Two uniformed workers stood outside with their work logs.

“Good morning, Mr. Lu. We’re very sorry about your wife’s gas-poisoning incident a few days ago. We’re here for a follow-up visit. Has she recovered?”

He frowned.

“You have the wrong house. My wife hasn’t had gas poisoning.”

The men exchanged a glance.

“No, sir. Villa 118.

“We attended the scene after the incident and later visited her in the hospital. You may have been busy that day. We didn’t meet you.

“The hospital said Mrs. Lu spent a week there and was discharged yesterday. That’s why we came today.

“This was one of the more serious gas leaks we’ve had in recent years. When we received the emergency call and arrived, the chicken soup had boiled over and spread all across the kitchen floor.

“Mrs. Lu was unconscious. Fortunately, her best friend arrived in time. Otherwise, someone could have died.

“Mr. Lu… you didn’t know any of this?”

He suddenly felt unsteady on his feet.

A moment ago, he had been humming in the kitchen, imagining how surprised Wen Yu would be when he arrived with her soup.

Now, looking back at the bubbling pot, he felt the full bitterness of the irony.

While he thought she had run away from home, she had been fighting for her life in the hospital.

And what had he been doing?