Tonight was the one night each month Gu Shixu and I were intimate.
I accidentally let out a soft gasp.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of desire left in Gu Shixu’s cold eyes.
“Ye Zhaozhao, you broke the rules.”
He quickly pulled away, put on his bathrobe, and headed for the bathroom.
Left alone on the bed, I closed my eyes, humiliated and ashamed.
Everything had changed three years earlier, after our first child died.
At the time, Gu Shixu used “performing rites for our child’s soul” as an excuse to have a Buddhist prayer room built in the villa. He burned incense there and worshipped Buddha year-round.
He said that Buddhists had to avoid indulging in lust, so we could have sex no more than once a month.
That wasn’t all. We weren’t allowed to make any indecent sounds during sex, lest we offend the Buddha.
Even though I was only twenty-five and had needs of my own, I could only go along with his decision.
…
Gu Shixu left home in the middle of the night.
Not long afterward, my best friend called.
Song Jinruo sounded frantic. “Zhaozhao, quick, check the trending topics! Doesn’t the wealthy backer in that Su Yaxin exposé look just like Gu Shixu?”
The moment I opened the trending story, a deafening buzz filled my head.
“Breaking! Popular young actress Su Yaxin suspected of rising to fame with the help of a wealthy backer! His identity remains unconfirmed—more to come!”
The photograph showed only a blurry figure from behind, but how could I fail to recognize my own husband?
His right hand, usually never without its prayer beads, was wrapped around Su Yaxin’s slender waist as they entered a hotel together.
Just then, two anonymous emails appeared on my phone.
One high-resolution photograph after another filled my screen.
In the first, Gu Shixu knelt on one knee, holding a doll-like little girl in his arms. Dressed in a frilly dress, she had her arms around his neck and was kissing his cheek.
In the second, Su Yaxin reached out to brush some dust from his shoulder. Instead of coldly pulling away as he did when I touched him, he allowed it, and his lips even curved in indulgence.
…
Those dozens of photographs finally made me understand that perhaps his growing indifference to me over the past three years had nothing to do with his Buddhist devotion.
It was because he’d been cheating on me.
I pressed my fingertips hard into my palms. I kept taking deep breaths, forcing myself to stay calm as I opened the second email.
It contained a single line:
“Mrs. Gu, do you want these photos exposed, or will you pay ten million to buy them outright?”
“Ten million. I’ll buy them.”
I sent back my reply, then used every last bit of money in my bank account to buy the photographs that could ruin my husband and his mistress.
After all, the photographs had cost only ten million, but the reputation of the president of the Gu Group was worth far more than that.
With this evidence in hand, why should I worry about negotiating the division of our assets?
The irony was that the money in that account was actually the bride price Gu Shixu had given me when we married.
Now I was using it to buy evidence of his betrayal.
I stared at the little girl in the photographs again and again.
If our child hadn’t died, she would probably be about the same age as this girl.
Sadly, I never even got to see my child’s face. She became nothing but a handful of ashes in a tiny box.
Back then, I’d been consumed by grief, and all I’d gotten from him was one offhand remark: “We can have another child.”
Only now did I realize there would never be another.
After buying the photographs, I called Song Jinruo. “Do you know any lawyers? I want a divorce.”
A man who’d made himself filthy by cheating wasn’t worth keeping.
Song Jinruo made some inquiries and called me back.
A lawyer had drafted a divorce agreement, but without knowing what assets the other party held, the lawyer couldn’t specify how they should be divided.
“Then send me the divorce agreement first,” I said. “I’ll take my time negotiating the division of assets with him.”
I placed the printed divorce agreement on the coffee table and called Gu Shixu.
The call connected almost immediately.
“Miss Ye, is there something you need? Brother Shixu is soothing the child.”
The cloyingly sweet voice sounded polite, but pierced my eardrum like an iron spike.
So Su Yaxin knew I existed.
I’d been wondering whether Gu Shixu had pretended to be single and deceived her.
But it turned out she knew he was married and had willingly become his mistress!
Someone like her wasn’t worth getting worked up over. I said coldly, “Put Gu Shixu on the phone.”
“I’m sorry, the child is clinging to him, so he can’t come to the phone right now. If you need anything, you can tell me, and I’ll pass it on.”
Her tone remained gentle.
As soon as she finished speaking, the little girl’s voice came through the phone too. “Daddy, will I still be able to see you when I wake up tomorrow morning? Daddy always disappears for no reason.”
Gu Shixu soothed her gently. “Of course. Daddy promises he’ll still be here tomorrow morning.”
My chest tightened. How long had it been since I’d heard him speak in that tone?
“Miss Ye? Is there anything else? If not, we’re going to rest now.”
Every sentence Su Yaxin spoke in that seemingly polite tone concealed a sharp barb.
“Yes. Tell him to come home and sign the divorce agreement!”