“Mr. Pei should be free at this hour.”
Xu Qiulan had already handed over the phone, but was surprised to discover that not only did Jiang Hua not take it, she even declined the offer.
“No need, I don’t want to disturb him.”
Xu Qiulan smiled. “The young mistress has become sensible now.”
“The young mistress used to cling to Mr. Pei constantly, even after marriage it was the same.”
Jiang Hua merely smiled faintly without responding.
Indeed!
Jiang Hua first met him on the snowy slopes of a ski resort. During an avalanche, it was Pei Zhan who rescued her from the snowdrifts.
When they were trapped on the mountain for three days, it was also Pei Zhan… who ensured her survival.
From that moment on, Jiang Hua would go to his company every day to pester him, following him like a shadow almost every waking moment.
That Pei Zhan agreed to marry her was largely due to her father pressuring him, because…
As the only daughter of the Jiang Family, her father had actually been planning to cultivate a successor for the company.
Even before she met Pei Zhan, her father had already intended to matchmake her with him.
Aside from his family background, Pei Zhan’s capabilities were no less than anyone else in the company.
Jiang Hua also felt she had never truly understood Pei Xiao. She had investigated his background, but the records only stated that Pei Zhan lost both parents in childhood and grew up alone in an orphanage – nothing more was documented.
Jiang Hua was willing to be with him not only because he possessed the unique charm of a mature man, but also because he was sufficiently outstanding to shoulder the position of successor.
Jiang Hua gave him everything she had.
For Pei Zhan to take control of Jiang’s Jewelry Group, marrying her was the best option. Even if he was unwilling, her father would pressure him, leaving Pei Zhan with no choice…
A month and a half later.
Pei Zhan left Fan Hua Si Jin Villa, having changed into a black shirt buttoned all the way up. Beneath the collar, a red scratch mark was visible on his neck. The man sat in the back passenger seat, his handsome face carved with sharp, cold lines, covered in frosty severity.
The man closed his eyes. “No news these past days?”
“The young mistress hasn’t called once, President Pei… Should we call her back?”
It was truly strange. Miss Jiang used to be extremely possessive of President Pei – she needed to know his whereabouts at all times, interrogating every detail of his business engagements, fearing that scheming women might seduce him.
She used to be suspicious and paranoid, making no less than ten to twenty calls daily. Now… she hadn’t made a single call.
“Unnecessary.” The man’s voice was magnetic yet icy.
Zuo Xiangnan withdrew his gaze from the rearview mirror and continued driving attentively.
The temperament of the resident at Fan Hua Si Jin was practically identical to that of the Jiang Family’s young mistress.
President Pei’s phone contained important client information and documents that even Jiang Hua normally couldn’t casually touch. Yet she had smashed it without hesitation, and President Pei hadn’t even… furrowed his brow.
Zuo Xiangnan drove the commercial medical vehicle back to Renmin Hospital.
For nearly this entire month, President Pei had been unreachable due to his damaged phone.
Zuo Xiangnan genuinely felt intimidated by this willful, unreasonable young mistress.
He couldn’t imagine what kind of scene Jiang Hua would create when they reached the hospital.
Jiang Hua’s possessiveness toward President Pei was known throughout the entire company.
To appease the young lady Jiang Hua’s temper.
The Bentley stopped in front of a flower shop. Pei Zhan remained in the car while Zuo Xiangnan went inside to select a bouquet of roses.
When they arrived at the VIP ward upstairs,
pushing the door open, they found the previously occupied room empty.
Only the pungent smell of disinfectant lingered.
Zuo Xiangnan found it strange and glanced at Pei Zhan’s expression in surprise, but that cold, ascetic face showed no emotion.
It wasn’t until a nurse approached that Zuo Xiangnan reached out to stop her and asked, “Excuse me, do you know where the young lady who was staying in this ward has gone?”
The nurse looked them over a few times before saying, “Miss Jiang has already completed the discharge procedures.”
Zuo Xiangnan nodded: “Thank you.”
Jiang Hua… had she really been discharged before her injuries even healed?
The extent of her injuries from the car accident was no small matter. How could Jiang Hua leave the hospital on her own accord?
Was it because she couldn’t get in touch with President Pei?
But that shouldn’t be the case. Jiang Hua had his number—if she wanted to contact President Pei, she could have just called him directly. There was no need to gamble with her health like this.
For a moment, Zuo Xiangnan suddenly couldn’t understand Jiang Hua’s game.
Pei Zhan’s indifferent eyes held not a trace of emotion.
After leaving the hospital,
Zuo Xiangnan asked: “President Pei, are you returning to Hua Yuan?”
Pei Zhan replied: “Back to the company.”
In a street-side trash can near the hospital, a sanitation worker, feeling it was a waste to discard such perfectly good roses, picked them up and placed them on their tricycle.
The owner who had purchased the flowers had long since driven away.
Jiang Hua returned to the marital home where she and Pei Zhan had lived for a year after marriage.
Hua Yuan was an upscale residential complex housing society’s top elites, with excellent surroundings.
It was also the large flat apartment that Pei Zhan had bought using all his savings after they got married.
Though it couldn’t compare to the Jiang Family’s estate villa… for Jiang Hua, as long as she could be with him, she was willing to endure even a life of hardship.
She had never cared about Pei Zhan’s background or status.
As long as she loved him, that was enough.
Sitting in a wheelchair, Jiang Hua was pushed out of the elevator by the nanny, who pressed the fingerprint lock to open the door. They were met with an unusually foul odor.
Xu Qiulan covered her nose, utterly shocked by the disastrous state of the living room before her.
“Can… people still live here?”
In the living room, two red candles had burned down completely, their wax spreading across the table, alongside a bouquet of wilted roses.
Truth be told… Jiang Hua had never liked roses; the scent always made her heart uncomfortable.
Jiang Hua had undergone a heart transplant surgery—she suffered from a hereditary heart condition.
Whenever she felt unwell, she could only rely on medication.
The floor was littered with scattered food and broken plates, all now rotting and emitting a foul stench.
Looking at the disarray before her, Jiang Hua’s heart remained utterly calm.
One month before the car accident, that day had been her and Pei Zhan’s wedding anniversary.
It was also the first time they had planned to celebrate it.
Wanting to surprise him, Jiang Hua had prepared a gift and, though she had never been one for household chores, started cooking for the first time.
She waited for him all night…
Past midnight, Pei Zhan still hadn’t returned.
It was on her way to the company to look for him that she got into the car accident.
That day, he had been at Fan Hua Si Jin, with Song Qingran.
…
Jiang Hua checked into a five-star hotel to stay for a while, with Xu Qiulan by her side, taking care of her.
On the third day of living there, the house at Hua Yuan had been thoroughly cleaned, and all the furniture had been replaced.
Jiang Hua did not take the initiative to contact Pei Zhan, nor did Pei Zhan ever send her a single message.
The contact in her list, originally labeled “husband,” had its note deleted by Jiang Hua.
Having been reborn into this life, for over a month now, she had lived without Pei Zhan.
It seemed… she hadn’t found it impossible to go on living.