The streets of City A were bustling with traffic.
I had been sitting in a coffee shop called “Yujian” for two hours. My seat was in a corner, directly facing the counter where a young girl in a sky-blue apron was busy brewing all sorts of drinks.
She was about 1.6 meters tall and couldn’t have weighed more than 45 kilograms. Fair-skinned and slender, she loved to smile. Her thick, jet-black hair was tied in a high ponytail, and her crescent-shaped eyes held an infectious charm when she smiled.
“Ma’am, would you like a refill?” she asked, walking over with a brilliant smile.
How rude of me. I had been staring at the young girl, completely lost in thought. Thankfully, I’m a woman myself; otherwise, I might have been mistaken for a pervert or a creep.
“Yes, please. Another black coffee,” I said with a polite smile, my voice faint.
Soon, the girl brought me another cup of bitter black coffee. She didn’t leave right away but hesitated for a moment before meddling. “Ma’am, you’ve already had two cups of black coffee. It’s good for a pick-me-up, but too much is bad for your health. Maybe… you could come back for more next time?”
She was kind and outgoing. Her voice was as crisp and pleasant as wind chimes.
I glanced at the black coffee on the table, then picked up my bag and stood up. “Alright, I’ll take the check.”
The girl was delighted that I had taken her advice. She immediately ran to ring me up and finally said, “Ma’am, your total today is 87 yuan. Will you be paying with cash or by phone?”
After paying in silence, I quickly left the coffee shop.
“Madam.” Seeing me come out, Xiao Li nodded respectfully and opened the car door for me.
“Let’s go home,” I instructed him with a faint smile.
The car started smoothly. I closed my eyes to rest in the back seat, my mind replaying the image of the young girl from the coffee shop, her face radiant with youth.
Was that her? The girl for whom, a year from now, Pei Heng would break ties with his family and pay a huge price to divorce me.
I never would have thought that the first thing I’d do after being reborn would be to find her current workplace and observe her like a stalker.
I was just too curious about what kind of girl could steal the man I had loved for ten years.
In my previous life, I never even met her. I had only managed to find a name and a few photos. Pei Heng protected her like a rare treasure. I was utterly defeated, yet my rival never even showed her face.
Young, beautiful, innocent, kind, cheerful… all these wonderful adjectives suited that girl perfectly.
Her only weakness was her complete lack of family background, a stark contrast to Pei Heng’s status.
Xiao Li suddenly spoke up. “Madam, today is your and President Pei’s wedding anniversary.”
My eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, I was in a daze.
If I counted correctly, this was the fifth year of my marriage to Pei Heng. On every wedding anniversary, I would spend the entire day busy, preparing a candlelight dinner and an anniversary gift.
This year, I was 27, and he was 29.
“I know,” I said, rubbing my temples, which were starting to ache. “You don’t need to remind me.”
Xiao Li probably reminded me because he sensed I was different from previous years.
But why was it always me who had to put in the effort? Why did I have to love that man? I had wondered about this before I died in my last life. For Pei Heng, my family was ruined, and I was left with nothing but a miserable end.
Lost in thought, the car had already stopped in front of the house I shared with Pei Heng. It was a wedding gift from our parents, a luxurious manor villa on prime real estate, covering over a thousand square meters.
To my surprise, Pei Heng’s car was also parked at the entrance. He was home.
My feelings were complicated. As someone who had died once, what kind of expression was appropriate when facing the main culprit after being reborn?
I thought I would hate Pei Heng. For a woman, he had forced his wife of five years to a dead end and had even dealt a fatal blow to his in-laws, who had once treated him so well. My family was completely wiped out at his hands.
But upon seeing him again, I found that my hatred wasn’t as intense as I’d expected. It was more a sense of release.
In my past life, Pei Heng had given me a chance. He had proposed an amicable divorce, offering me a portion of Pei Corporation’s shares as compensation—enough for me to live lavishly for the rest of my life. But I refused. I had spent ten years trying to win a sliver of his affection, yet another woman had him utterly bewitched and willing to turn against everyone in just one year.
So I tried every method I could think of to win him back, step by step leading us to a complete breakdown, confrontation, and a fight to the death.
Now, none of that had happened yet. Rather than hate, I wanted to change that self-inflicted, bitter end.
“What are you standing there for?” Pei Heng was sitting in the living room, his long legs casually crossed. The cigarette between his fingers had burned down to the end. He expertly stubbed it out in the ashtray, then looked up at me, his gaze as indifferent as ever.
On our wedding day, Pei Heng had told me without reservation that we were just in a cooperative relationship, long-term roommates. He didn’t have the slightest feeling for me.
“Nothing. I just didn’t expect you to be home.” I bent down to change into my slippers—Hermès Elephant Gray slippers. Their simple design and somber color offered little in aesthetics besides comfort.
I thought of the girl in the blue apron at the coffee shop. Pinned to her apron was a small, red flower smiley face. No one else had one, only her.
In contrast, all my clothes were expensive and monotonous, invariably simple, invariably dull.
I suddenly felt a deep loathing for these slippers. Tossing them aside, I walked barefoot into the living room.
Seeing me walk over barefoot, Pei Heng frowned slightly, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. “No shoes?”
“Yes. I don’t feel like wearing them, so I won’t,” I replied flatly, sitting down across from him.
“How strange. What upset you?” Pei Heng actually let out a chuckle, his tone uncharacteristically light as he asked.
I was upset by your future soulmate, I thought.
I looked down at my own pale feet. They looked a bit gaunt from being too thin.
Wei Lan was different. Although she was slim, her skin was firm and supple, not just skin and bones like mine.
Five years of a lonely marriage had caused numerous problems with my health. I had lost all interest in food, growing thinner and thinner, more and more like a skeleton.
“Pei Heng.”
“Hm?” Pei Heng was looking at his phone and didn’t raise his head.
He was dressed in a black shirt and trousers of excellent quality. His slender figure and perfect proportions gave him a thoroughly handsome air, which, combined with his smooth facial features and refined, deep-set eyes, made him the dream of millions of girls.
I tore my gaze away from my feet and stared at the man across from me, my voice a little hoarse. “Let’s get a divorce.”
The moment the words left my mouth, I heard Pei Heng’s scoff.
He tossed his phone onto the sofa and looked at me with that familiar, cold gaze. “Xu Zhiyi, what new trick are you playing now?”