“President Gu, where to now?” Jiang Huai had been driving aimlessly for an hour.
Gu Beichen kept his eyes closed, ignoring everyone. Jiang Yousheng spoke up and provided an address—the new place she had found.
Ten minutes later, wrapped in his coat, Jiang Yousheng stepped out of the car. Worried he might snap, she muttered, “Gu Beichen, everything that happened today is your fault.”
Gu Beichen didn’t even get out. He clearly didn’t want to exchange another word with her, simply giving Jiang Huai a cold command: “Drive.”
Jiang Yousheng stood frozen on the spot for a long while, realizing that he had completely given up on her. She dragged her exhausted body back into the apartment. Checking her phone, she saw several missed calls—from Lin Yang, Jiang Li, and an unknown number. She was too drained to reply to any of them.
She took a hot bath and decided to sleep on it; she needed days to process everything that had happened. Just then, the phone on her nightstand vibrated. It was Jiang Huai.
“Secretary Jiang, President Gu said you don’t need to come to the office tomorrow.”
Jiang Yousheng’s expression shifted. She jolted upright in bed. “Why? I wasn’t the one who messed things up today.”
“President Wu is in the hospital, and the project is dead,” Jiang Huai said simply before adding one last thing. “Also… President Gu is in a very bad mood.”
If she wanted to come back, she’d have to coax him into a better mood.
Jiang Yousheng’s face darkened. The screen, which had just gone black, lit up again. It was a message from Jiang Li: Sheng Sheng, when are you and Beichen coming home for dinner? Your father is feeling much better and wants to talk to him.
Her father wanted to get the company shares back. But now that the Jiang Group had been entirely acquired by Gu Beichen, getting them back was easier said than done. She had just had a massive row with him; if she went to see him now, she’d only be met with a closed door.
Jiang Yousheng didn’t reply. She sat on the edge of the bed, her body tense. Unable to sleep, she stared blankly at her phone. She opened her chat with Gu Beichen, typing and deleting, editing and re-editing. By the time dawn broke, the message still hadn’t been sent.
That morning, she finally mustered the courage to call him.
“Something the matter?”
“Beichen, help me twist this open, I can’t get it,” Su Mumu’s sweet, delicate voice drifted from the other end of the line. “Am I disturbing your work?”
Gu Beichen spoke with a tenderness he had never shown before. “Don’t overthink it.” Then, turning back to the call, his voice became impatient and devoid of warmth. “Miss Jiang, do you have business?”
Jiang Yousheng hung up immediately.
“Beichen, was that Miss Jiang?” Su Mumu glanced at his screen, her eyes flickering. “When is she leaving the company?”
“Don’t mind her. I’m taking you to the hospital.” Gu Beichen’s expression was indifferent, making his emotions impossible to read. He clearly didn’t want to mention Jiang Yousheng at all.
Su Mumu tugged at his arm. “Beichen, I have a cousin who wants to work at Tengsheng. She’s a professional and would be perfect for the secretarial department. I’d feel much more at ease with her keeping an eye on you at the office.”
“Have Jiang Huai arrange it,” Gu Beichen replied.
“Beichen, you’re too good to me!” Su Mumu jumped for joy, clinging to his arm flirtatiously.
“Yangyang, I’ve been fired.”
Instead of going to Tengsheng, Jiang Yousheng went to Lin Yang’s studio. Since leaving the Lin family, Lin Yang had opened a small studio that barely stayed afloat.
When she saw Jiang Yousheng, Lin Yang gasped in shock. “Baby, what happened to you?”
Jiang Yousheng had dark circles under her eyes, and her voice was hoarse. The bruises on her neck had turned a deep purple; she looked as though she had been physically assaulted.
Jiang Yousheng sat on the sofa and recounted the previous night’s events. Lin Yang exploded into a fit of rage, cursing Gu Beichen.
“Su Mumu is doing this purely to spite you. As long as it belongs to you, she’d think a pile of trash smelled like roses. And Gu Beichen—he’s just an illegitimate son, who does he think he is? One of these days, I’m going to put on my high heels and kick him where it hurts to get revenge for you.”
After ranting for half an hour, she took a sip of water and turned to her friend. “Since Gu Beichen kicked you out and Gu Jin is back in the country, why don’t you ask him for help?”
Gu Jin was the designated heir of the Gu family. Originally, the Gu family couldn’t compare to the Jiang family in its prime. But now that the Jiang Group and Gu Beichen’s own company had merged into Tengsheng, they were an unstoppable force. Gu Jin was struggling to protect himself; could he even help her?
Jiang Yousheng shook her head, not wanting to cause him trouble.
“So what’s the plan? Coming to help at my studio?”
Jiang Yousheng wanted to start her own business too; if she had enough money, she could buy back the shares. But that path would likely be strangled by Gu Beichen. She had built up a lot of connections while by his side for a year. Provided Gu Beichen didn’t intervene, she could work with Lin Yang. But she was afraid Gu Beichen would suppress them and drag Lin Yang down with her.
“I’ve sent out some resumes. I’ll see if any companies hire me first.”
She worked on her resume in Lin Yang’s office. When it was time to clock out, Lin Yang grabbed her car keys and organized a dinner, insisting on taking her out to celebrate her “new life.”
“I’ve invited a few friends, all people we know. It’s a good time to announce that you and Gu Beichen are over. Who knows, you might find a great job lead.”
Her old social circle was high-end, filled with young heirs and socialites. While many had kicked her while she was down after the Jiang family’s fall, she couldn’t afford to be too picky about potential connections now.
Jiang Yousheng agreed.
Little did she expect that Gu Beichen would also show up at this dinner party tonight.
And he had Su Mumu right by his side.