Through the narrow gap of the master bedroom door, a vague outline of a man could be seen. Jiang Yi’s hand paused on the doorknob for a brief moment, his knuckles turning slightly pale from the force.
“Jiang Yi!” Shu Jin suddenly lunged from behind and grabbed his arm tightly, her nails nearly digging into his flesh, “Don’t do this, I’m begging you…”
Her sobs echoed through the empty entryway, trembling with desperation. Jiang Yi did not turn around. He simply stood there, letting her cling to him.
“Fine, I’ll tell you the truth.” Shu Jin’s voice broke with tears, “Gu Chen… he’s not just an ordinary classmate. He was my first love.”
Jiang Yi’s back stiffened almost imperceptibly.
“He’s really doing terribly now.” Shu Jin’s tears fell onto his expensive suit, leaving dark stains, “His business failed, he’s buried in debt, and he doesn’t even have a place to live. I ran into him on the street that day. He’s so thin I almost didn’t recognize him…”
Her voice grew more aggrieved as she spoke, “I just felt sorry for him and wanted to help. After all, we once cared for each other. Could I really just watch him end up on the streets?”
Jiang Yi finally turned around slowly. Shu Jin looked up at him, her tear-streaked face blurred, that pitiful expression once capable of softening his heart countless times.
“So,” his voice was terrifyingly calm, “that’s why, on our fifth wedding anniversary, he used my card to buy you a gift? That’s why, when Mom was hospitalized for surgery, you went on a vacation with him in Sanya?”
Shu Jin’s pupils shrank sharply, as if struck at her weakest point. But she quickly put on that aggrieved expression again, “So you’ve been investigating me all along! Jiang Yi, we’ve been married for five years. Is this how little you trust me?”
Her emotions surged, her voice rising, “Yes, I went to Sanya with him, but that’s because he had a breakdown at the time and said he wanted to kill himself! What was I supposed to do? Just watch someone die?”
Jiang Yi watched her quietly, his eyes without a ripple.
“And that watch…” Shu Jin continued through tears, “he insisted on buying it to thank me. I told him I didn’t want it, but he forced it on me… Jiang Yi, you’re always away on business. You’re barely home a few days a month. Do you know how lonely I am here by myself? Now I’m just helping an old friend, and you’re doubting me like this?”
The more she spoke, the more emotional she became, as if she had suffered a great injustice, “I know you’re busy with work, and I’ve never complained. But have you ever thought about how I feel? Staying alone in such a big house every day, not even having anyone to talk to… Gu Chen only came occasionally to chat with me. Is that wrong?”
Jiang Yi’s gaze passed over her tear-streaked face and landed on a faint red mark at the side of her neck. It wasn’t a mosquito bite, nor an allergy. He knew exactly what it was.
“Are you finished?” he asked calmly.
Shu Jin choked on his composed tone, unable to respond for a moment.
“Now, make him leave.” Jiang Yi repeated, his voice firm beyond doubt.
“No!” Shu Jin blurted out, “It’s so late. Where do you expect him to go? He doesn’t have any relatives or friends here, and he doesn’t even have money left. Jiang Yi, you can’t be this heartless!”
Heartless?
Jiang Yi almost laughed. He remembered the nightly video calls he never missed during his business trips, the gifts he brought her every time he returned, how anything she casually mentioned liking would be delivered to their home the very next day.
And now, for another man, she called him heartless.
“So what you mean is,” he said slowly, “you want this man to continue living in our home?”
“Just a few days!” Shu Jin hurriedly promised, “He’ll move out as soon as he finds a job. Jiang Yi, can’t you be a little understanding? He’s really pitiful…”
“Understanding?” Jiang Yi finally cut her off, anger simmering beneath his voice, “Understanding you letting another man sleep in my bed? Use my bathroom? Wear my sleepwear?”
Shu Jin’s face turned deathly pale, “Y… how do you know…”
“You think I wouldn’t notice just because you put everything back the way it was?” Jiang Yi let out a cold laugh, “Shu Jin, we’ve been together for seven years. When did you start using that brand of body wash?”
Shu Jin opened her mouth but could not utter a single word. Only then did she realize that Jiang Yi was far more perceptive than she had imagined.
“I bought him new sleepwear and toiletries…” she murmured weakly, “He didn’t touch your things…”
“Enough.” Jiang Yi raised his hand to stop her, “I’ll ask one last time. Will you make him leave now, or are you going to the Civil Affairs Bureau with me tomorrow?”
Shu Jin bit her lower lip hard, the metallic taste of blood spreading in her mouth. Looking at Jiang Yi’s cold eyes, she suddenly felt that this man was terrifyingly unfamiliar.
“I’m not divorcing.” She lifted her head stubbornly, “Jiang Yi, I know you’re just angry right now. You can’t live without me. After all these years, how could you just let go like that?”
She spoke with absolute certainty, as if convinced he was only bluffing. After five years of marriage, she believed she understood him completely… his softness, his devotion, his inability to let go of their seven years together.
Jiang Yi looked at her confident expression and suddenly felt a deep sense of sorrow.
He took out his phone, found his lawyer’s number in his contacts, and dialed it in front of her.
“Lawyer Li, please prepare a divorce agreement.” His voice was clear and composed, “Yes, prepare it now. Divide the assets according to the plan we discussed earlier. I’ll have Qin Feng send you the evidence of fault.”
With every word he spoke, Shu Jin’s face grew paler. She stared at him in disbelief, as if seeing him for the first time.
After hanging up, Jiang Yi put away his phone and looked at Shu Jin one last time.
“Tomorrow at 9 a.m. If you don’t come,” his voice was light, yet carried immense weight, “I’ll have my lawyer file a lawsuit. At that point, it won’t just be a divorce.”
With that, he opened the door without hesitation and walked into the elevator lobby without looking back.
Shu Jin stood there in a daze. Only when she heard the elevator descending did she snap back to her senses. She stumbled into the master bedroom and cried out to the man on the bed, “He knows everything! He wants to divorce me!”
Gu Chen leaned lazily against the headboard, playing with Jiang Yi’s limited-edition lighter, “Why panic? He’s just trying to scare you. Once he cools down, he’ll come begging you to go back.”
Shu Jin looked at Gu Chen’s careless expression and suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.
This time, Jiang Yi’s gaze had been too cold.
Cold enough to make her afraid.