Chapter 1

After a year of working myself into the ground for the company, I realized I no longer loved Jiang Chenghuai.

So when everyone at the celebration dinner started cheering for Xu Yanshuang and Jiang Chenghuai to link arms and drink, I didn't make a scene the way I used to.

I even joined in and urged them to kiss.

Jiang Chenghuai's expression turned icy. I paid him no attention. My colleagues and I were busy making our way around to toast the bosses.

After dinner, the husband who had been giving me the silent treatment for six months cornered me on the street. There was something almost wounded in his dark eyes.

“Ye Nuonuo, why weren't you angry back there?”

I yawned and looked at him, utterly exhausted.

“Jiang Chenghuai, could you let me clock off?”

“I've worked overtime for a month straight. I have an early meeting tomorrow. I don't have the energy for this.”

He frowned at the dark circles under my eyes and softened his voice. “I'll take you home.”

I agreed without a moment's hesitation.

The restaurant was thirty kilometers from home. A ride would cost more than a hundred yuan. Paying that out of my own pocket would practically mean losing money by coming to work.

I had just taken out my phone to cancel my ride when Xu Yanshuang's startled voice rang out.

“Chenghuai? Nuonuo? What are you two doing?”

Every eye turned toward me.

01

Late at night, with alcohol involved: a pretty female employee and her male boss, talking quietly on a street corner.

Anyone who saw an attractive man and woman tucked away together would get ideas.

Especially since there had already been some nasty rumors about me at work.

My head was killing me. I didn't need to imagine what the office group chats would be saying tomorrow.

I was up for an outstanding employee award, too. The last thing I wanted was to hand my rivals something to use against me.

I shot Jiang Chenghuai a glare, then spun around, put on a bright smile, and went over to Xu Yanshuang as warmly as could be.

“Yanshuang! Your birthday's coming up, isn't it? Mr. Jiang wanted my advice on a present. We didn't expect you to catch us. There goes the surprise.”

“Though personally, I think it's always best to ask the recipient what she'd like. Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Jiang?”

His expression grew colder still. He pressed his lips together, visibly displeased.

Terrified that the alcohol might make him blurt out something he shouldn't, I frantically signaled with my eyes.

After a long standoff, he finally gave a reluctant nod.

My ride arrived just then. I hurriedly steered Xu Yanshuang toward him and winked.

“I'll leave you two alone!”

Then I ducked into the car.

Only when it began to pull away did I let out a long breath.

Six months earlier, Jiang Chenghuai had forced me into the company. It was my first job.

No recruitment process. No probation. I went straight onto the permanent staff.

I knew absolutely nothing. I simply turned up at my desk in a Versace coat and Chanel lambskin heels, carrying an Hermès bag.

By the end of my very first day, the office group chats had decided I was some senior executive's mistress.

I went to Jiang Chenghuai in tears, hoping he would tell everyone we were married.

Instead, he looked at me coldly.

“Ye Nuonuo, do you understand now how hard it is for Yanshuang to make her way in the workplace as a woman?”

I didn't.

I had never understood why Xu Yanshuang having a difficult time at work meant my husband had to comfort her all night.

We had a blazing row. I left his office with red eyes.

Before long, a new rumor was making the rounds.

Apparently, I was all boobs and no brains. I'd tried to seduce Jiang Chenghuai to get ahead, and he'd thrown me out.

Unable to stop the gossip, I could only work myself to the bone and hope people would recognize my ability.

To force me to behave and go to work, Jiang Chenghuai had frozen the card I used for living expenses. If I got fired, I would be penniless.

After struggling through six months, I'd finally managed to silence the vicious rumors through my own efforts.

And Jiang Chenghuai had nearly ruined it all.

Thank goodness I'd thought fast and found an excuse.

By the time I got home and showered, it was past midnight.

I collapsed onto the bed before I'd even dried my hair.

Half asleep, I heard the bedroom door open.

02

Jiang Chenghuai was home.

Ever since our furious argument over Xu Yanshuang six months earlier, he had barely come back.

I'd cried more tears over it than I could count.

At first, I thought he was heartless. How could he abandon me so easily?

Later, I started worrying. Was he sleeping well at the hotel? Would eating out every day upset his stomach?

Whenever we'd argued before, he had always been the first to give in and coax me out of my temper, no matter whose fault it was.

This time, I would be the one to make peace.

I took annual leave, cooked his favorite dishes, and carried a lunch box to the hotel where he usually stayed.

But the receptionist told me there was no record of him staying there.

I stood rooted to the spot.

If he wasn't at the hotel, where could he be?

A nameless panic rose inside me. By the time I came to my senses, I was standing outside Xu Yanshuang's building.

As soon as I'd learned that she was Jiang Chenghuai's old school sweetheart and had been hired as his secretary, I'd found out where she lived.

Should I go upstairs? Knock?

If he really was there, what would I say?

And if he wasn't, would he be furious? Would he find some other way to force me to admit I was wrong?

I couldn't work it out.

Then I ran out of time.

The elevator chimed. Its doors opened, and Jiang Chenghuai and Xu Yanshuang appeared in front of me.

His first reaction on seeing me waiting outside wasn't guilt.

It was anger.

His lips tightened into a thin line. His dark eyes were cold.

“Ye Nuonuo, haven't you caused enough trouble?”

When I questioned why he'd made his old sweetheart his secretary, I was causing trouble.

When he forgot my birthday because he was busy celebrating hers, and I complained, I was causing trouble.

Now I'd caught them staying together.

Still, I was causing trouble.

Suddenly, I was so tired.

If Jiang Chenghuai didn't want me to cause trouble, then I wouldn't.

From that day on, we stopped speaking. It lasted six months.

Apart from one visit to collect some documents, I hadn't seen him once.

So when he sat on the edge of my bed, I jolted awake, scrambled into a corner, and switched on the light.

Only after I recognized his face and the astonishment on it did my racing heart settle.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

His handsome brows drew together.

“Ye Nuonuo, this is my house. Am I not allowed to come home?”

I couldn't be bothered to argue.

The commute took an hour and a half. Tomorrow's early meeting meant getting there another hour ahead of time. I'd have to be up at six.

There wasn't much time left to sleep.

I turned off the light and rolled over.

Jiang Chenghuai pressed his lips together, seething.

He made a tremendous racket brushing his teeth and washing up, then deliberately flopped onto the bed with a thump.

I didn't wake for a second.

When my alarm rang the next morning, I found him propped on one hand, staring at me without blinking. He hadn't slept all night.

I jumped. But I had no time to talk. I rushed through the bathroom, grabbed my coat, and dashed out.

I'd timed my journey down to the minute: straight onto the subway, scan a shared bike outside the station, then pedal to the company gates just as the clock hit fifty-nine.

But when I reached the gate at home, the driver was already waiting.

Jiang Chenghuai came up behind me and leaned against the doorway, arms folded.

“Let the driver take you.”

It took me exactly 0.01 seconds to agree.

The luxury minivan had wide, soft seats. I could catch up on some proper sleep.

I'd just closed my eyes to enjoy it when Jiang Chenghuai climbed in, too.

My eyes flew open.

He anticipated my objection.

“It's my car and my driver. And I have to go to work, too.”

Once again, I had nothing to say.

I checked the time. It was too late to run for the subway now.

Resigned, I rubbed my nose and shared the ride to work with him.

Neither of us spoke along the way.

Then, two intersections from the office, I suddenly called out.

“Stop!”

03

The driver slammed on the brakes.

Jiang Chenghuai opened his eyes, displeased.

“Keep driving,” he ordered coldly.

I hastily produced my most ingratiating smile.

“Mr. Jiang, if someone sees us arriving together, people might start talking. Yanshuang would be so upset if she heard. Let's go separately from here. Could you unlock the door, please?”

His temper flared. He was about to demand why a married couple should worry about a little gossip.

But before he could get the words out, I had the door open. I darted to the curb, expertly scanned a shared bike, and sped away.

Unable to contain himself, Jiang Chenghuai kicked the back of the driver's seat.

“Why did you let her out?”

The driver looked bewildered.

“Mr. Jiang, didn't you specifically tell me not to let anyone at the company know you're married?”

Jiang Chenghuai fell silent.

Watching me disappear into the distance, he had the unsettling feeling that something was slipping beyond his control.

The morning meeting went smoothly. Afterward, my work buddy Qiao Xue hurried over to congratulate me.

“Nuonuo, you finally get to lead your own project! You've come further than anyone this past year!”

“That's all thanks to you and Haili. Without you two, I honestly wouldn't have known what to do.”