Jing Muhan had an illegitimate son who was about two years old.
On Bai Shujun’s phone was a video from his first love, Qin Yuexin: he was playing with a little boy in his arms, while Qin Yuexin sat beside them, watching and smiling.
In the video, they looked just like a family of three, the happy smiles on their faces almost spilling out of the screen.
Jing Muhan’s face, as if carved from white jade, wore an incomparably doting smile. Bai Shujun had never seen him smile like that at home.
The boy in the video had a face strikingly similar to Jing Muhan’s.
Bai Shujun’s hand trembled as she held her phone. Just as she was about to save the video, it was retracted.
Bai Shujun’s mouth twitched. Before she could even think, another image arrived: a DNA test between the child and Jing Muhan. It clearly stated, “Supports a biological relationship between Jing Lan and Jing Muhan.”
So they really were father and son!
Bai Shujun was kneeling in the mourning hall for her mother. Though it was midsummer, she felt as if she had fallen into an icy cellar, chilled to the bone.
She had been married to Jing Muhan for three years, and he had only started touching her this past month.
The absurd thing was, his son with another woman was already this old.
While Bai Shujun was still dazed, Qin Yuexin retracted that message too. Bai Shujun couldn’t understand why she would do that.
All she felt was a pang of heartache. No wonder Jing Muhan had refused to attend her mother’s funeral. She had always meant so little to him. Even after a month of passionate entanglement, their relationship had not changed.
Bai Shujun’s heart had gone numb. It was just as well. With her mother’s passing, this marriage should come to an end.
As she stood, she stumbled and nearly fell, but a strong arm caught her.
“Careful!” Bai Shujun looked up and saw her older brother, Huo Jiuxiao, whom she hadn’t seen in three years.
Tears streamed down Bai Shujun’s face. “Brother, you’re all right?”
Huo Jiuxiao’s gaze darkened. “Did you want something to happen to me?” His grip on Bai Shujun’s arm tightened. “Why didn’t you wait for me back then? I told you when I was eighteen that I would marry you.”
Bai Shujun pushed him away. “I’m already married. I never thought of marrying you.”
Huo Jiuxiao was a little angry. “Jing Muhan has never publicly acknowledged you. Why are you so determined to hang yourself from one tree?”
Bai Shujun said coolly, “Not anymore. I’m planning to divorce him.” She was a little puzzled. “How did you know I was married to him?”
Their marriage had been secret.
Huo Jiuxiao said, “Mom’s treatment over the past three years cost more than ten million. You couldn’t afford it. She was staying at a private hospital owned by Dingshang Investments. Did you think I wouldn’t figure it out?”
Bai Shujun sighed. “I did marry him for money.”
At that, a look of satisfaction flashed across Huo Jiuxiao’s face. “If you want to file a Divorce Lawsuit, I can find someone to help. You invested three million in my company three years ago, and now it’s back on its feet. You won’t have to suffer anymore.”
Huo Jiuxiao was the son her mother’s husband had brought with him when her mother remarried.
He had looked after Bai Shujun since they were children and had confessed his feelings to her more than once, but she had always regarded him only as a brother.
Bai Shujun nodded. “All right. Have someone draft a divorce agreement for me. If he agrees, we’ll divorce amicably. If he doesn’t, we’ll settle it in court.”
Huo Jiuxiao stayed with Bai Shujun through the vigil and burial, seeing every part of the funeral through.
On the day her mother was buried, her Maternal Grandmother came.
She urged Bai Shujun to call her husband. “You’re married, after all. It wouldn’t be right for your husband not to come. Please, I’m begging you.”
Her Maternal Grandmother was already in tears. Her health was poor, and she hoped that when she passed away someday, someone would be there to look after her granddaughter.
She had never met Shujun’s husband and wanted to see him, to find out whether he was someone Shujun could entrust herself to.
Bai Shujun’s throat tightened. Bracing herself, she called Jing Muhan. His cool voice came through the phone. “What is it?”
Bai Shujun spoke in a low voice. “My mother is being buried today. Could you come?”
Jing Muhan hesitated for a few seconds, then refused. “I can’t. I have a business engagement tonight.”
Then she heard Qin Yuexin’s voice on the other end. “Muhan, what time is the drone show tonight?”
Jing Muhan hurriedly hung up. Bai Shujun felt her breathing grow labored, and the world began to spin.
Seeing how pale she was, Huo Jiuxiao quickly steadied her. “Are you feeling unwell?”
Bai Shujun had been crying herself sick for days. Huo Jiuxiao knew how deeply she loved her mother.
Bai Shujun struggled to hold up her swaying body. “I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
That evening, Bai Shujun saw the trending topic online: a drone show in the sky above Dingshang Capital’s building, supposedly arranged by the group’s CEO, Jing Muhan, to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday.
Bai Shujun stared at the thousands of drones on her phone, displaying magnificent scenes across the sky, and felt her heart bleed without end.
So the business engagement he’d mentioned was really a birthday celebration for Qin Yuexin.
At last, she couldn’t hold back and broke down in tears.
She told herself this would be the last time she ever cried for him.
Bai Shujun, from now on, tear him out of your heart.
A little while later, Bai Shujun received another show-off video from Qin Yuexin. It showed not only the drone performance but also her birthday banquet. Jing Muhan’s long, jade-like fingers came into view as he bent his head to cut the cake.
Bai Shujun clutched her phone tightly, her heart aching so badly she could barely breathe.
Before Bai Shujun could save the video and pictures, Qin Yuexin retracted them again.
Then came a line of text: 【Your mother died, and he still wouldn’t stay with you. He’d rather spend my birthday with me. Bai Shujun, you’re really a failure as a wife.】
Bai Shujun shot back: 【You’ve been raising his illegitimate son for years. Why hasn’t he made you his wife?】
Qin Yuexin didn’t reply. Instead, she retracted the message again.
Bai Shujun’s eyelid twitched at the sight.
An hour later, Bai Shujun returned home—or rather, to Jing Muhan’s home. The house had nothing to do with her.
Jing Muhan sat in the living room wearing silk loungewear, reading financial news on a tablet.
He was handsome, with picturesque features arranged across a long, narrow face. His figure was exceptional too: 185 centimeters tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Beneath the deep V-neck silk shirt, his firm chest was just barely visible.
Bai Shujun could only sigh: appearances were deceiving. Who said handsome men were devoted? He was cheating and raising an illegitimate son like anyone else.
Jing Muhan glanced at his watch from time to time. When Bai Shujun entered the living room, he asked softly, “Is the funeral over?”
Bai Shujun replied indifferently, “Mm.”
Jing Muhan stood and handed her an expensive watch. “I’m sorry for your loss. I had my reasons for not going. I really was busy.”
Bai Shujun’s face was cold. She didn’t take the watch. She no longer needed Jing Muhan’s charity.
“Right. You were busy celebrating your woman’s birthday. I’ve already seen the trending topic.”
Jing Muhan’s handsome face turned cold. “It wasn’t what you think.”
Bai Shujun asked, “Oh? Then what was it?”
Jing Muhan’s phone rang. He answered as he walked toward the master bedroom.
“All right. I’ll be right over.”
His calm expression turned stern at once. He went back to the master bedroom to change and leave.
Bai Shujun didn’t care where he was going. With an indifferent expression, she returned to her room.
After taking a shower, she received another WeChat message from Qin Yuexin.