At three in the early dawn, the Hengyao Tower stood silent. Only the chairman’s office on the top floor was still lit. Jiang Yi stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing down at the sleeping city. The cigarette between his fingers had already burned to the end, yet he seemed completely unaware.
The office door opened softly. Qin Feng walked in with a paper bag in hand. He glanced at the stiff figure by the window, then at the untouched late-night meal on the coffee table, and his brows drew together slightly.
“I brought you some clean clothes,” Qin Feng said, placing the bag on the sofa. “And shrimp dumplings from Zhang Ji… your favorite.”
Jiang Yi didn’t turn around. He simply pressed the cigarette butt into the crystal ashtray. The ashtray was spotless, a sharp contrast to the chaos in his mind.
“She admitted it?” Qin Feng asked as he sat down on the sofa behind him, his tone calm.
Jiang Yi’s reflection blurred faintly on the glass. A bitter curve tugged at the corner of his lips. “Does she even need to admit it? The man’s already living in our house.”
Qin Feng fell silent for a moment. Then he pulled a folder from his briefcase. “I looked into Gu Chen.”
Only then did Jiang Yi turn around. In just a few hours, he seemed thinner, his eyes bloodshot, a faint stubble shadowing his jaw. Yet those eyes were still sharp, cold, and unyielding.
“Tell me,” Jiang Yi said as he sat down across from Qin Feng, his fingers unconsciously rubbing his swollen knuckles.
Qin Feng opened the folder, his voice steady and professional. “Gu Chen, thirty-one, local. He got into a third-tier university after high school but dropped out in his second year. Over the past ten years, he’s changed more than a dozen jobs. The longest one didn’t last even six months.”
Jiang Yi listened without expression. He picked up a shrimp dumpling, then set it back down.
“In the last three months, he applied for seven loans on various small lending platforms, totaling over 200,000. Three of them are already overdue,” Qin Feng continued as he flipped the page. “Also, he has three credit cards, all maxed out, with debts of around 100,000.”
The office fell into a heavy silence. Even the faint hum of the central air conditioning felt loud in comparison. Jiang Yi’s gaze settled on the folder, growing colder with every word.
“The most important part,” Qin Feng paused slightly and looked up at him, “last year he was detained for fifteen days for participating in an underground gambling ring. He reportedly owes the casino a significant amount, and people are still looking for him to collect the debt.”
Jiang Yi suddenly let out a low laugh, the sound filled with self-mockery. “So… my wife chose to betray seven years of marriage for a gambler… a useless man who can’t even hold a proper job?”
Qin Feng closed the folder, his tone turning serious. “Old Jiang, you need to handle this calmly. People like Gu Chen are like leeches… once they latch on, they’re almost impossible to shake off. I don’t think his approach toward Shu Jin is that simple.” Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Jiang Yi stood up and walked to the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a glass of whiskey. The amber liquid swirled slowly, reflecting the cold, sharp lines of his profile.
“He knew Shu Jin was my wife,” Jiang Yi said quietly, but the chill in his voice cut deep. “He also knew exactly what the Hengyao Group represents.”
Qin Feng stepped closer and took the glass Jiang Yi handed him. “What do you need me to do?”
Jiang Yi tilted his head back and downed the whiskey in one gulp. The burning liquid scorched his throat, yet it couldn’t dispel the cold spreading in his chest. “Keep digging. I want everything about him… every debt, every person he’s ever had contact with.”
“Understood,” Qin Feng nodded. “Also… do you want to move out for now? The villa I have in Jinhua Garden is still empty.”
Jiang Yi shook his head, his gaze drifting toward the small lounge inside the office. “I’ll stay here. That house…”
He stopped mid-sentence, but Qin Feng understood. That place, once filled with warmth and memories, had now become suffocating in every corner.
“I’ve already contacted a lawyer,” Qin Feng said, shifting the topic. “Lawyer Li said if we can prove Shu Jin committed adultery during the marriage, the asset division will be very favorable to us.”
Jiang Yi tapped his fingers lightly against the glass, producing a crisp sound. “The assets don’t matter.”
Qin Feng looked at him in surprise. Sixty percent of Hengyao Group’s shares… assets worth hundreds of millions… yet Jiang Yi dismissed them as if they meant nothing.
“I want her to leave with nothing,” Jiang Yi said calmly, though his eyes were terrifyingly cold. “This isn’t about money. It’s about principle. She chose betrayal… she pays the price.”
Outside the window, the sky was beginning to lighten. The outline of the city slowly emerged under the early morning glow. A new day was about to begin… yet Jiang Yi knew his life had already changed forever.
“Right,” Qin Feng suddenly recalled something. “One of Gu Chen’s high school classmates said he dropped out because he stole his roommate’s laptop and sold it. It caused a huge scene back then… he almost got expelled.”
A cold smile tugged at Jiang Yi’s lips. “Looks like he’s a repeat offender.”
He walked to the desk and turned on the computer. The screen lit up with a photo of Shu Jin smiling brightly… a picture from their trip to Sanya last year. In the photo, she leaned into his arms, her smile pure and radiant like a child’s. This story is hosted at g.com.
Now that he thought about it, she had already begun to change back then. During the trip, she was always glued to her phone, claiming she was handling work. Only now did he understand what those evasive glances and distracted responses truly meant.
“Old Qin,” Jiang Yi suddenly spoke, “how foolish does someone have to be… to abandon a pearl and pick up garbage instead?”
Qin Feng was silent for a moment, then patted his shoulder. “It’s not foolishness… it’s greed. Wanting stability, yet craving excitement at the same time. In the end… they usually lose everything.”
Jiang Yi turned off the screen, hiding that painful image from sight.
“Do me a favor,” he said. “Change all the locks at Linjiang Garden. As for her belongings… have them packed and sent to her parents’ place.”
Qin Feng hesitated. “Do you want to give her another chance? After all, you two…”
“There is no second chance,” Jiang Yi cut him off, his voice firm and absolute. “The moment she let that man step into our bedroom… there was no turning back.”
Morning light filtered through the blinds, casting shifting patterns of light and shadow across his face. The Jiang Yi who once dominated the business world had returned… only now, there was a layer of frost in his eyes that would never melt.
Qin Feng looked at his resolute profile and knew the man who once loved recklessly was gone. What stood before him now was more like an unsheathed blade… sharp, cold, and unwavering.
“I’ll handle it right away,” Qin Feng said as he picked up his phone and began making arrangements.
Jiang Yi walked back to the window, watching the city slowly awaken. His phone screen lit up briefly. It was a message from Shu Jin.
“Jiang Yi, can we talk? I know I was wrong.”
He didn’t even open it. He deleted the message immediately.
Some mistakes, once made… can never be undone.