Inside the chairman’s office on the top floor of Hengyao Group, the morning light streamed through the entire wall of glass windows, casting long, slender shadows across the polished marble floor. Jiang Yi sat behind his wide desk, documents spread out before him. The pen in his hand moved steadily, producing a soft scratching sound as it slid across the pages.
He had stayed here for an entire day and night. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and a faint stubble had appeared along his jaw. Yet he seemed completely unaware of fatigue, mechanically handling the mountain of work before him.
The phone on the desk suddenly lit up, breaking the stillness.
Jiang Yi’s gaze drifted over the screen. The nickname he had once marked as a priority contact… “Jinbao”… appeared before his eyes. His fingers paused slightly, and the pen left an abrupt blot of ink on the document.
He opened the message. Shu Jin’s words were brief, almost perfunctory. “Husband, stop being upset… come home. Gu Chen has found a place and will move out soon.”
No apology. No explanation. Not even a proper admission of fault. The tone was casual, as if this were nothing more than an ordinary quarrel between husband and wife… as if that man named Gu Chen had truly been nothing more than a friend staying for a night.
Jiang Yi could almost picture her expression as she sent the message… slightly pouting, a hint of coquettishness in her eyes, yet hiding a trace of guilt. It was her usual tactic. Every time she made a mistake, she would brush it off so lightly, confident that he would eventually forgive her.
Meanwhile, in the bedroom at Linjiang Garden that once echoed with laughter, Shu Jin leaned lazily against the soft headboard. She had just sent the message to Jiang Yi and was now skillfully opening her mobile banking app.
“5,000 should be enough for you to stay in a hotel for a few days,” she said softly into the voice input, her fingers tapping the screen as she confirmed the transfer. “Just bear with it for now… once he calms down, everything will be fine.”
Her voice was gentle, almost tender, completely different from the perfunctory tone she had used with Jiang Yi. When the notification sound confirmed the successful transfer, she added, still uneasy, “If it’s not enough, tell me. Don’t let yourself suffer.”
The money came from the supplementary card Jiang Yi had given her. That card had no spending limit… a symbol of his absolute trust and devotion. Yet now, she was using it to support the man who had destroyed their marriage.
On the other side of the city, in a standard room of a budget hotel, Gu Chen lay lazily on the bed. Hearing the notification, he glanced at the transfer message, a smug smile curling at his lips. The curtains were tightly drawn, and the air carried the stale scent of instant noodles, but it did nothing to dampen his mood.
“You’re still the best to me,” he said into a voice message, his tone deliberately aggrieved. “Xiao Jin, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have to put up with this. Jiang Yi doesn’t deserve you at all.” This story is hosted at novelping.com.
The voice message quickly played on Shu Jin’s phone. As she listened, her expression softened. She replied just as quickly, her voice gentle and patient. “Don’t say that. He’s just angry right now. Give it a few days… once he calms down, I’ll explain everything to him properly.”
Her tone was soothing, like she was comforting a stubborn child. It was a tone Jiang Yi hadn’t heard from her in a long time. The last time had been when his business had hit a bottleneck, when he suffered sleepless nights. Back then, she had comforted him just like this, staying by his side through his hardest moments.
At that moment, Jiang Yi stood before the office window. His phone vibrated lightly. It was a real-time bank notification… a transfer of 5,000 had just been made from the supplementary card, sent to an unfamiliar personal account.
He stared at the message, his eyes gradually turning colder. So this was what she meant by “Gu Chen has found a place and will move out”? Using his money… to settle that man who had walked straight into their home?
The phone lit up again. A new message from Shu Jin appeared. “What do you want to eat tonight? I’ll cook for you myself.”
How familiar the pattern was. Every time she made a mistake, she would try to win him over with this kind of gentle attentiveness. A carefully prepared meal, a few soft words… and everything would be brushed aside.
Jiang Yi’s fingers hovered over the cold screen for a long time. Memories surged again… the first time she cooked, making a mess of the kitchen but proudly serving him a bowl of oddly flavored soup filled with sincerity; the nights she left the living room lights on while waiting for him to return from overtime work; the time she silently pawned her jewelry to help him pay his employees when his business was at its lowest point…
Those warm memories had now become the sharpest blades.
He slowly raised his finger and typed, “No need.”
After a pause, he deleted the words. In the end, he didn’t reply at all. He simply set his phone to silent and placed it face down on the desk.
Outside, the sunlight was bright, bathing the entire city in golden light. Yet to Jiang Yi, his world was steadily losing its color.
He recalled the file Qin Feng had given him the night before… Gu Chen’s disgraceful past, the countless debts. And yet Shu Jin had chosen to betray seven years of their relationship for a man like that.
Perhaps Gu Chen was right. Jiang Yi truly wasn’t worthy of Shu Jin… not worthy of her boundless “kindness,” nor of the way she gave her sincerity so easily.
Jiang Yi turned and walked back to the desk, opening his computer. His inbox was filled with pending emails, each one a reminder that the world would not stop just because his heart was breaking. The source of this chapter is novelping dot com.
He opened the first email… a progress report on a cooperation project. His fingers moved across the keyboard, each word feeling like it drained his strength.
At that moment, his phone lit up again. This time, it was a photo from Shu Jin… a table filled with carefully prepared dishes, all his favorites. Braised pork ribs glistened with rich color, steamed sea bass was topped with finely chopped scallions, and a bowl of chicken soup still gave off curling steam. Below the photo were the words, “I’m waiting for you to come home.”
Jiang Yi looked at the picture and suddenly found it laughable. She was using his money to support another man, yet at the same time playing the role of a devoted wife waiting for him at home.
He remembered the update Qin Feng had sent that morning… Gu Chen had checked into a five-star hotel the previous night, where a single night’s stay cost over 2,000. The 5,000 she had transferred clearly wouldn’t cover such expenses for long. That meant she would likely continue using his money to sustain that man’s lavish lifestyle.
Jiang Yi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, the last trace of hesitation had vanished from his gaze.
He picked up the intercom and called the finance department. “Set the spending limit of all supplementary cards under my name to 1,000 per day. Effective immediately.”
After hanging up, he returned to his desk and resumed reviewing the next document. Sunlight fell across his resolute profile, outlining a cold, unyielding silhouette.
Some acts… he no longer wished to play along with. Some sincerity, once betrayed, should be taken back.
Meanwhile, in Linjiang Garden, Shu Jin sat staring at the table of dishes slowly growing cold. There was still no reply from Jiang Yi on her phone, and a faint unease began to creep into her heart. But soon, she comforted herself… Jiang Yi had never truly been able to stay angry with her. This time would be no different.
What she didn’t know was that the supplementary card she had taken for granted could no longer support her extravagant lifestyle… nor the man’s indulgence. Nor did she know that the man who once held her so dearly was now slowly taking everything back.
Night gradually fell, and the city lights flickered on one by one. Jiang Yi stood before the window, overlooking the bustling city below. His gaze was calm, resolute. From this day forward, he was no longer the man blinded by love… he had returned to being the decisive leader of Hengyao Group.
As for that marriage, already riddled with cracks… it was time to bring it to an end.