A sleepless night.
Fu Huaixu sat by the floor-to-ceiling window, the cigarette between his fingers burning down to the filter. Only when the searing heat scorched his skin did he jolt awake.
Outside, the city’s neon lights had long since faded, replaced by a hazy morning glow that draped over the waking city like a thin, feeble veil.
He rose, grabbed his car keys, and drove to the Fu family estate.
Fu Huaixu strode into the living room with heavy steps, his expression dark. His usually deep, pond-like eyes now churned with suppressed fury, like a storm on the verge of breaking.
In the dining room, Mu Manmei and Fu Yuyan, who were having breakfast, turned toward him at the sound of his entrance.
“Brother, did you come back last night?” Fu Yuyan asked in surprise, setting down her coffee cup.
Fu Huaixu ignored her.
“Mom,” he began, his voice gravelly, as if scraped by sandpaper. “Five years ago, did you hide something from me?”
The knife in Mu Manmei’s hand screeched sharply against the porcelain plate.
The color visibly drained from her face. Her eyes flickered nervously, trying to avoid Fu Huaixu’s piercing gaze.
“A-Xu, what are you talking about? What could I possibly hide from you?” she forced herself to sound calm.
Fu Huaixu stared at his mother, his gaze sharp as a blade, his voice cold as ice shards:
“Mom, was it you who sent Shen Zhaoning a text message back then, pretending to be me, saying I wanted to break up with her? That I was getting engaged?”
After a brief silence, the panic on Mu Manmei’s face vanished, replaced by a self-righteous stubbornness.
“Yes, it was me,” she admitted, her tone as calm as if she were commenting on the weather. “A-Xu, I did it for your own good. Shen Zhaoning comes from an ordinary background, with no family connections. You’re meant to take over the Fu Group, to fight for the inheritance rights under your father and those old foxes on the board! What can she do for you? She’ll only hold you back!”
Her voice gradually rose, carrying an air of unquestionable resolve:
“Only Lingyi is the most suitable marriage partner for you! The Fu and Chu families have been allies for generations, a perfect match, a powerful union. With the Chu family’s support on the board, you can secure your position—”
“Enough!” Fu Huaixu kicked the dining table violently. The expensive bone china tableware rattled and clattered.
Five years.
When Shen Zhaoning left, he had drowned himself in alcohol day after day, ignoring his injuries, drinking until the world spun; he smoked until his throat ached and he coughed incessantly.
For five years, he had been trapped in the nightmare of that breakup, tormented by the pain.
And now he learned… it was Mu Manmei, in the name of “doing what’s best for him,” who had destroyed his happiness!
“Brother, don’t blame Mom. She did it all for you,” Fu Yuyan chimed in from the side. “Sister Lingyi grew up with us. We know her well—she’s liked you since childhood, gentle and gracious. The alliance between our two families is something everyone wants to see. Why hurt Mom’s feelings and give up your future for an outsider?”
“An outsider?” Fu Huaixu repeated the word softly, then let out a low, bitter laugh. “Shut up.”
“Mom, you’re always like this. You never truly consider how I feel.”
His voice was quiet, yet it carried a chilling force.
“Since I was little, you’ve wanted to control everything about me—what schools I attend, what friends I make, what I can’t do, and now, as an adult, my love and marriage.”
Fu Huaixu paused. “Do you know why I rebelled so much? It was because of your controlling nature. I couldn’t stand it, so I had to fight back.”
Mu Manmei abruptly stood up, the chair beneath her scraping sharply against the floor from the sudden movement.
“Since you were little? Have you ever listened to a single word I said?”
Her well-maintained face flushed red with anger. “Did you listen when I told you not to race? You nearly lost your life for that woman.”
She remembered when Fu Huaixu was three years old, while other children were still playing with building blocks, he was already obsessed with the racing simulator at home. As he grew older, he became addicted to racing…
She disapproved, thinking it was too dangerous, but he was stubborn, resisting her in every way possible. In the end, she relented.
She thought he would know his limits when it came to racing.
But she never expected that one time, he would race as if his life depended on it, nearly losing his life in the process.
Later, she learned that Fu Huaixu had participated in that illegal race for Shen Zhaoning.
In the end, she felt that woman would not only hold him back but also endanger him, to the point where he would risk his life for her.
So, faced with her son’s life and future, no mother could remain calm. She had no choice but to take matters into her own hands and send that text message.
Fortunately, that woman knew her place and left on her own, without causing further trouble.
Fu Huaixu’s eyes darkened with anger. “Anyone with a bit of sense would know this has nothing to do with her. It was my own decision.”
“No matter what you say, the fact remains that you participated in an illegal race to propose, and you nearly died when your car flipped off a cliff.
Even without that incident, that woman would never be allowed into the Fu family!”
Mu Manmei refused to back down. “I gave you freedom when you wanted to date, but now that you’re of marriageable age, you should end it.
The position of Mrs. Fu is not something a woman with no background like her is qualified to hold.”
“She is the most important person to me. I will find her and bring her back. Until you change your attitude, I will never return to this house again.”
Fu Huaixu’s gaze sharpened instantly, his presence intimidating. “And whether she becomes Mrs. Fu or not is for me alone to decide.”
Mu Manmei’s fingers trembled, unable to believe her ears. “Are you going to break ties with me over a woman?”
Fu Huaixu said nothing more. He turned and walked away, resolute.
The dining room fell into dead silence, broken only by Mu Manmei’s suppressed sobs echoing in the air.
The morning sunlight filtered through the heavy blackout curtains of the hotel room, casting dappled light on Shen Zhaoning’s face.
She frowned, turning over in bed. Last night, Fu Huaixu’s sudden intrusion had been like a massive stone thrown into the still, stagnant pond of her heart, stirring ripples that refused to settle.
She had been unable to sleep, only drifting off in the early hours of the morning.
Suddenly,
the ringing of her phone pierced the quiet room, startlingly sharp.
Shen Zhaoning’s eyes flew open, her heart pounding. Instinctively, she thought it was Fu Huaixu calling.
She grabbed her phone and saw that it was her two precious ones calling. She swiped to answer immediately.
The screen was instantly filled with two adorable little faces, squeezed together in front of the camera, shouting in unison:
“Good morning, Mommy!”
“Good morning, my darlings,” Shen Zhaoning said, looking at her two little treasures on the screen.
Duole whined in a sweet, milky voice, “Mommy, I missed you so much today and yesterday. Did you miss me?”
“Not really,” Shen Zhaoning teased, saying one thing while meaning another.
“Hmph, then I won’t miss you either!”
Duole pouted, turning his head to the side as if he didn’t want to talk to her.
“Alright, my little treasure Duole, of course Mommy missed you. And my big treasure Duomi, Mommy missed you too!”
“Mommy, were you tired from your business trip?” Duomi asked curiously.
“Mommy wasn’t tired. Were you two good and obedient at home?”
Even though she knew her two sons were usually very independent, she still couldn’t help but worry a little.
“Of course we were good! My brother and I are the best, best, best-behaved kids!” Duole immediately chimed in.
His tone even carried a hint of indignation, as if saying, “Mommy, don’t you trust us?”
“My treasures really are the best-behaved kids,” Shen Zhaoning agreed, nodding.
“Mommy, when are you coming back? My brother and I miss you,” Duole asked, his eyes full of expectation.
“In three more days, Mommy will be back!”
Shen Zhaoning patiently answered the children’s questions, reminding them to be good and eat on time…
The video call lasted nearly twenty minutes, only ending reluctantly when the children were called by the nanny to have breakfast.
She checked her friend notifications and saw a friend request reminder from Fu Huaixu. Her finger hovered over the screen.
But without hesitation, she chose “Ignore.”