Chapter 5

The moment they walked through the door, they'd see the enormous wedding portrait of Jiang Chenghuai and me.

Everything would come out.

I quickly accepted Qiao Xue's gift.

“Thank you, Qiao Xue. Really.”

She waved away my thanks and winked.

“Enough of that. Go home! Didn't you say your husband specifically asked you to finish early today?”

When I arrived that morning, I'd deliberately hinted to Qiao Xue that my husband had been acting clingy and insisting I come home early.

That way, she and the others wouldn't ask me out to dinner.

I felt terribly guilty about it.

But what else could I do?

Just then, a thought occurred to me.

If only Jiang Chenghuai and I could get divorced.

Then I wouldn't have to lie to my friends. I could invite them over whenever I wanted.

But knowing how vindictive he was, divorcing him would almost certainly cost me my job.

I sighed and took a taxi to Sheng Xinghe's place.

I'd arranged it with him beforehand: on my birthday, I needed a few photos for WeChat to keep up the act.

I collected the cake I'd ordered, then bought a bouquet as another prop.

But when I reached his apartment, nobody answered, however long I knocked.

I messaged him.

He said he'd be a little late and sent me the door code so I could let myself in.

I stepped inside and turned on the light.

Bang!

I jumped.

As my eyes adjusted, I finally saw what was in front of me.

Sheng Xinghe stood holding a party popper. A custom-made cake sat on the table beside a bouquet of my favorite white lilies of the valley.

He smiled.

“Hap-py birth-day!”

For a moment, I couldn't speak.

Then I managed to sound casual.

“We're only pretending. You really didn't need to do all this.”

“But it is your birthday! Today, everyone around you has exactly one job: to make you happy.”

My eyes stung.

The truth was, I hadn't been nearly as indifferent today as I'd appeared.

07

Xu Yanshuang and I shared a birthday.

Jiang Chenghuai had forgotten mine entirely. He only remembered hers.

It had been like that since she returned from abroad last year.

Back then, I'd lost control, smashed things around the house, and spat at him, “Xu Yanshuang is the other woman! She's seducing you and wrecking our marriage!”

He told me I was crazy. Irrationally jealous. A woman who couldn't survive without a man.

I cried all night.

The next day, I found her address.

I wanted to go there, photograph the evidence, and show everyone at his company how she clung to my husband.

She wanted him there for her birthday. Wanted him to change her light bulbs. Said thunderstorms frightened her when she was alone, so he had to come and stay.

But Jiang Chenghuai found out before I could act.

He said I had too much time on my hands and was imagining things.

He said I'd lost touch with society and didn't understand the difficulties women faced at work.

In short, I couldn't measure up to Xu Yanshuang.

Then he dumped me in the company.

After so many years of marriage, I understood his intentions at once.

He wanted someone as inexperienced as me to buckle under the workload and the office politics, admit defeat, and meekly return home to be his obedient little songbird.

What he didn't know was that pressure could make people grow as well as frighten them.

And work could give a person confidence.

I didn't need him anymore.

I wiped my wet eyes and said softly to Sheng Xinghe, “Thank you.”

He pulled out a chair for me and lit the candles.

“Make a wish.”

I closed my eyes and clasped my hands.

“I hope my project kickoff goes smoothly in two days.”

Two days later, I learned something important.

You should keep a wish to yourself.

Say it aloud, and it won't come true.

Before the kickoff meeting, Xu Yanshuang came to find me. There was a problem with my last expense claim, she said. I needed to go to Finance with her.

I didn't suspect a thing.

She was the finance secretary. This was part of her job.

At Finance, she showed me several receipts that didn't match and asked me to explain.

I checked carefully. They weren't mine. Someone must have mixed them up during submission.

Mistakes like that were rare, but nothing at work was completely predictable. Most employees preferred solving a problem to tracing exactly how it had happened.

I spent ages searching with Finance before we finally found my receipts.