Bo Ye picked up a tissue from beside him and wiped the corner of his mouth, then stood up and prepared to head upstairs. “Alright, I’m off to the company. Call me if anything comes up.”
Ruan Mi nodded. Bo Ye had plenty of matters to handle at the Haishi branch office as well.
She couldn’t cause him any trouble.
After Bo Ye left, Ruan Mi thought about going to see the lawyer again to check on the progress.
But then Mu Xiubai called again.
Ruan Mi stared at the phone for a moment, a self-deprecating smile curling at the corner of her lips.
In the past, Mu Xiubai wouldn’t think to call her or send her a message even once in half a year.
But now that they were about to divorce, he’d suddenly become diligent.
The call connected, and Mu Xiubai’s somewhat frantic voice came through.
Mu Xiubai: [Ruan Mi, a third of the company’s contracts were suddenly terminated. Was that your doing?
You said you didn’t want anything in the divorce—is this what you call not wanting anything?
Deliberately causing trouble, just to show me up and force me to back down.
Ruan Mi, if you don’t want a divorce, just say so. The Mu family isn’t so small-minded that we can’t accommodate you.]
He rattled off a barrage of accusations, leaving Ruan Mi completely baffled.
What was Mu Xiubai going on about now? What did the terminated contracts have to do with her?
Ruan Mi: [Mu Xiubai, what are you raving about? If contracts got terminated, why don’t you ask Zhou Mei instead of coming after me?]
Mu Xiubai: [These are all contracts you negotiated before. Now that something’s gone wrong, you have to come and explain yourself.]
This time, Ruan Mi was genuinely so angry she laughed, her tone dripping with sarcasm. [Mu Xiubai, if contracts got terminated, that’s because you lack the capability. What does it have to do with me?
I don’t have time to waste on you. Let’s just get the divorce done quickly and be done with each other.]
Ruan Mi was about to hang up when Mu Xiubai’s displeased voice came through the phone.
[If you want a divorce, then solve the contract problem first. Otherwise, don’t even think about talking.
And that piece of junk jade pendant you gave me—if you don’t come, I’m throwing it in the trash.]
With a snap, the call was cut off, and the receiver quickly emitted a series of busy tones.
Ruan Mi gripped her phone, wanting to curse.
That bastard—using that to threaten her.
At the Mu Corporation president’s office, Zhou Mei pressed close to Mu Xiubai’s arm, asking with a hint of anxiety.
“Xiubai, what did Ruan Mi say? Is she coming or not?”
Mu Xiubai yanked the jade pendant from his neck, an indescribable irritation flickering in his eyes.
He had no intention of answering Zhou Mei’s question, merely staring at the pendant with dark, brooding eyes.
This jade pendant was something Ruan Mi had personally put on him on their wedding day.
She said it was to keep him safe, but he’d never cared for it. He’d only worn it because there were too many people at the wedding ceremony.
Later… it had somehow stayed with him all this time.
For so many years, Ruan Mi had been obedient and docile, always deferring to him.
She’d been diligent and meticulous with the company, never making a mistake.
So he’d never had any thoughts of divorce.
But this time, Ruan Mi actually wanted a divorce, and so resolutely at that…
“Xiubai, are you even listening to me? Those companies are so ungrateful.
They’d rather give up working with the Mu Corporation just for Ruan Mi’s sake. If you ask me, we should knock them down a peg.
There are countless companies in Haishi dying to partner with the Mu Corporation. Do they really think they can push us around?”
Zhou Mei suddenly raised her voice, cutting through Mu Xiubai’s thoughts.
His brow furrowed in displeasure as he fixed his gaze on Zhou Mei.
His tone was cold, devoid of warmth.
“You need to understand that I gave you this title because of the child. The mother of my child can’t be a useless fool.
If you can’t handle the position, then keep your mouth shut, listen to others’ advice, and work hard to learn until you’re qualified.
Instead of standing here spouting meaningless nonsense at me.”
Mu Xiubai was clearly angered by Zhou Mei’s earlier words. Her face paled slightly, her eyes reddening as if she might cry.
But she didn’t dare act out in front of Mu Xiubai—unless they were in bed.
She carefully pinched the cuff of Mu Xiubai’s sleeve. “I’m sorry, Xiubai. I was just worried that one Ruan Mi could influence so many of the company’s orders and contracts. I only said those things because I was anxious for you.”
With that, Zhou Mei looked up, studying Mu Xiubai’s expression. She saw his eyes darken slightly.
Though he said nothing, he had clearly taken her words to heart.
An hour later, the office door was kicked open with force.
The loud bang startled Mu Xiubai.
Ruan Mi stormed in, one arm clutching documents, the other hand gripping Zhou Mei’s hair. With a bang, she slammed the door shut behind her.
Zhou Mei, tears streaming down her face, cried out, “Xiubai, save me!”
Mu Xiubai shot to his feet, striding quickly around the desk toward Ruan Mi.
Before he could get close, Zhou Mei was shoved toward him.
Zhou Mei let out a shriek, barely caught by Mu Xiubai before she hit the floor.
Hatred burned in her heart. That lunatic Ruan Mi—if it weren’t for the child in her belly, she would have clawed Ruan Mi’s face off.
Mu Xiubai: “Ruan Mi, what are you doing?”
As his words fell, Ruan Mi flung a stack of documents onto the desk. “Mu Xiubai, open your eyes and take a good look. Do you want to see why those contracts were really terminated?”
The moment she arrived at the company, Ruan Mi had gone to find out what was going on. It turned out that Zhou Mei, in her greed for credit and reckless ambition, had privately altered the terms of the contracts.
Although the Mu Corporation was the leading enterprise in Haishi, who would be willing to do business at a loss?
She had wanted to end this miserable marriage quickly, but Zhou Mei was stirring up trouble again.
Her anger flared, and just then Zhou Mei came up to her with sarcastic remarks.
Her temper got the better of her—she grabbed Zhou Mei by the hair and dragged her toward the CEO’s office.
Zhou Mei struggled, trying to scratch her, but got slapped twice across the face for her trouble.
Mu Xiubai furrowed his brow, picking up the documents scattered across the desk to look at them.
The moment he saw them, his temples throbbed with anger.
But his pride wouldn’t let him back down—he had always held himself above Ruan Mi, and he refused to lower his head to her.
Especially since Ruan Mi’s recent attitude had been deeply unsatisfying to him.
He tossed the documents back onto the table with a casual air, arching an eyebrow.
“Since you’ve found the problem, go solve it.”
He said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Mu Xiubai, don’t push it. You want me to clean up the mess for your mistress? Where do you get the nerve?”
Ruan Mi’s cheeks puffed up with anger, the red mole at the corner of her eye standing out vividly.
Mu Xiubai paid her no mind, gently guiding the sobbing Zhou Mei in his arms to the sofa to sit down.
“She’s pregnant. With you roughing her up like that, her pregnancy is already unstable, so it’s only right that you handle this matter yourself.
As for your reckless behavior just now, I’ll let it slide.”
Ruan Mi stared in disbelief at the two embracing as if no one else were around, her pearl-white teeth biting hard into her delicate lips.
How could Mu Xiubai say such shameless words out loud?
Forcing down the rage in her heart, Ruan Mi slowly calmed herself.
She resumed her composed demeanor, a faint smile curling at the corners of her mouth.
“Have me solve it? Fine. Then give me back the Jade Pendant first.”
It was a piece she had newly designed—novel in style, premium in material, worth at least six figures on the market.
To her surprise, Mu Xiubai pulled the Jade Pendant out of his coat pocket.
He looked at her with a half-smile.
Ruan Mi reached out to take it, but Mu Xiubai easily dodged her hand.
“The Jade Pendant is right here. Until you get the job done, don’t expect to get it back.
And as for the divorce—until the day you die, you’ll only ever be Mu Xiubai’s wife in name.”
Arrogant and domineering, completely unreasonable.