The moment this thought surfaced, Shen Qi put down the glass of wine in his hand.
He shook his head, his gaze turning sharp, as if he had made a certain decision.
Shen Qi stood up.
A heavy smell of alcohol lingered in the air. He walked over to the window, opened it, and deeply felt the cold wind from outside.
Thinking of contacting Yu An to discuss a countermeasure, he pressed lightly on his phone screen. It lit up, but it was still lingering on the chat interface with Cheng Yanzhou, showing his single reply: [Okay].
There were no new messages. No doubt that “overworking” President Cheng was spending a wonderful night with Shi Nian at this moment.
Shen Qi tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile that was uglier than crying.
He walked into the bathroom and first raised his hand to wipe his face in the mirror.
The person in the mirror had red and swollen eye sockets, dark circles under his eyes, and lips that were slightly chapped and peeling, like a plant withered by the frost.
Looking like this, even he himself felt a sense of strangeness.
He could no longer continue like this.
That thought became increasingly clear.
He had decided. Cheng Yanzhou refused to divorce him, and if he chose the path of a legal divorce, it would not be entirely secure against the immensely powerful Cheng family. Therefore, he needed to fake his death.
Using death to leave Cheng Yanzhou might perhaps be good for both of them.
The phone rang three times before it was answered, and Yu An’s signature slightly carefree voice came through: “What is wrong, Xi-zai?”
Yu An was one of Shen Qi’s few good friends, and he was also a well-known lawyer in the industry, most skilled at exploiting legal loopholes to help people solve all sorts of tricky troubles.
Now, he was his only reliance.
In the past, Shen Qi always felt that it was troublesome to bother him, but now, he had no one else to turn to.
“Yu An,” Shen Qi’s voice was still a bit hoarse, “I have something to look for you about, something very important.”
Hearing the abnormality in Shen Qi’s tone, Yu An put away his joking attitude. “What is wrong? Have you finally decided to let me help you get a divorce?”
“No, I want you to help me die.”
“?”
Half an hour later, Yu An appeared at Shen Qi’s doorstep with a nervous look on his face.
Although his profession was a lawyer, he disliked wearing formal attire. As an Omega, he was good-looking and dressed in a very avant-garde and pretty style.
However, upon hearing Shen Qi’s terrifying words, he no longer cared about his appearance, randomly grabbing a jacket and driving over in a rush.
Seeing Shen Qi’s haggard appearance, his brows instantly furrowed.
“What is wrong with you? Did Cheng Yanzhou bully you again?”
Shen Qi did not speak, only handing him a cup of warm water and letting him come inside to sit down.
The two of them sat on the sofa, and the living room was so quiet that only the sound of the wind outside the window could be heard.
“I want to leave Cheng Yanzhou,” Shen Qi finally spoke, his voice very soft, yet carrying a desperate determination. “To leave completely, so that he can never find me again.”
Yu An’s hand holding the water cup paused for a moment. Of course, he knew how badly Shen Qi was living in this marriage, and he also knew how deeply in love with Cheng Yanzhou Shen Qi was, but he never expected Shen Qi to say such words.
“Have you thought it through? That person Cheng Yanzhou has a terrifyingly strong desire for control. If you want to leave, it will not be that easy.”
“I know,” Shen Qi raised his eyes to look at him, determination in the depths of his eyes. “That is why I need your help, to help me plan a death.”
“Death?”
Yu An stood up abruptly, looking at him in disbelief. “Shen Qi, have you lost your mind? To leave Cheng Yanzhou, you are going to go to such lengths?”
“I have not lost my mind.”
Shen Qi shook his head, pulling up a desolate smile.
“I just want to live a good life. If I stay by his side, I will sooner or later be tortured to the point of going crazy or actually dying. Rather than ending up like that, it is better to actively die once and find a different way to live.”
He told Yu An everything he saw at the hospital, along with Cheng Yanzhou’s coldness toward him over the past three years, and the grievances he had deliberately swallowed into his stomach, recounting them one by one.
After a moment, having poured out a belly full of bitterness, Shen Qi felt much more comfortable.
He raised his eyes to look at Yu An.
The other person’s expression was dark enough to drip water. Yu An held Shen Qi’s hand and cursed Cheng Yanzhou fiercely several times before taking a deep breath.
His Xi-zai had suffered so much.
And all of this should never have been forced upon him.
Yu An and Shen Qi were high school classmates, and afterward, from college graduation until now, they had remained talkative best friends.
He knew the reason why Shen Qi married Cheng Yanzhou, he knew that Shen Qi’s scumbag father and stepmother always squeezed money out of him, and he knew how hard Shen Qi had been worn down over the past three years, walking on thin ice with no one around to properly love him.
Listening to those words, he also involuntarily felt a deep sense of sadness, deeply understanding that Shen Qi had truly made up his mind to make this decision.
He looked at Shen Qi with a serious gaze.
“But you must know that faking your death is no small matter. Once it begins, there is no turning back. You will have to give up everything you currently possess, assume a new identity, and go to a place where no one knows you to start over.”
Shen Qi nodded without any hesitation, saying, “Yes, I can give up anything as long as I can leave him. Besides, over the years, I have also saved quite a bit of money.”
Yu An was silent for a long time. Looking into Shen Qi’s eyes, which were filled with exhaustion and resolve, he finally nodded.
“Alright, I will help you.”
As a lawyer, he knew better than anyone how vast Cheng Yanzhou’s power was. Wanting to leave openly and aboveboard was practically an impossible feat.
Faking death might truly be Shen Qi’s only way out.
“Then we must plan this properly.”
Acting as soon as he decided to, Yu An took paper and a pen from the table and began to analyze seriously. “First, we need a reasonable cause of death and scene. An accident is the best choice, such as a car crash, drowning, or something similar, which makes it harder to leave flaws.”
“Secondly, we need to handle your funeral arrangements properly, such as finding a suitable substitute corpse or creating an unrecognizable scene so that both the police and Cheng Yanzhou believe you are dead.”
“Next is your new identity. I will find a way to get you a brand-new set of identity information, including an ID card, household registration booklet, and so on, to ensure there are no loopholes.”
“Lastly is your destination. Where do you want to go? Abroad or to some small domestic city?”
Listening to Yu An’s methodical planning, a glimmer of faint light finally penetrated the barren land in Shen Qi’s heart.
He thought for a moment and said, “Abroad, the further away from here, the better.”
“Okay,” Yu An nodded, noting several key points on the paper. “I will first check the relevant information to see which plan is the safest. During this time, you must also be careful not to reveal any flaws. Just continue as usual, especially in front of Cheng Yanzhou.”
Shen Qi gave an affirmative hum. “I know.”
He was now able to remain completely unfazed in front of Cheng Yanzhou, at least on the surface.
Yu An gave a few more instructions before leaving with his paper and pen.
When he left, he patted Shen Qi on the shoulder. “Rest assured, with me here, I will definitely let you leave cleanly.”
Shen Qi watched the other person’s figure disappear at the door, feeling a complex mixture of emotions in his heart.
He walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains.
He was going to plot his own death and leave the Cheng family.
Yet, he had no regrets.
Just like he thought last night, from this moment on, he would no longer love Cheng Yanzhou.
He was going to live for himself for once.
Shen Qi took a deep breath and turned to walk into the bedroom.
He needed to sleep well, recuperate his energy, and welcome the hard battle ahead.