Cen Zhen had no intention of hiding anything—she was straightforward to a fault.
“Rich, handsome, with a great figure, and he doesn’t even expect me to bear children—he’s practically my dream man!”
When they heard “can’t have children,” the elderly couple’s eyes visibly dimmed, but they still feigned confusion and changed the subject.
“What does ‘dream man’ mean?”
“My ideal type!”
After that, Cen Zhen had a meal with the two elders.
She was cheerful and lively, with a sweet tongue, and it didn’t take long for Liang Wanxiang and Wen Qingcheng to accept this granddaughter-in-law.
When it was time to leave, Liang Wanxiang even took off the jade bracelet she had worn for decades from her wrist and gave it to Cen Zhen.
The bracelet’s luster was so clear it could reflect a person’s shadow, its entire body glowing with a translucent green—clearly priceless and impossible to find on the market.
Cen Zhen didn’t dare accept it.
But Liang Wanxiang insisted on helping her put it on.
She even said, “Child, thank you for not looking down on my A-Yuan.”
After leaving the hospital room, Cen Zhen tried to take off the bracelet again. “Mr. Fu, this bracelet is too precious. You should keep it safe.”
But as soon as she moved, the man stopped her. “Since Grandma gave it to you, you should wear it well.”
“I…”
Cen Zhen wanted to say she didn’t deserve it.
But his phone rang first.
“I’ll take this call.”
While he went to the stairwell to answer the phone, Cen Zhen wandered idly to the window, calculating in her mind whether the refunded three-hundred-yuan deposit would be enough to get her through the rest of the month—after all, there were still over twenty days left.
Lost in thought, a rough voice suddenly sounded behind her.
“Cen Zhen, what are you doing here?”
Cen Zhen turned to see her biological parents.
Seeing them, her expression remained indifferent, not particularly warm.
In Zhao Dahai’s eyes, this came across as arrogance.
He glanced back at a certain VIP room behind him, anger surging to his head, and accusations spilled out.
“How could I have raised such a shameless daughter? Xingyan is your sister’s fiancé. You can’t just cling to that childhood innocence and try to sabotage things by showing off in front of the old man!”
These words made Cen Zhen genuinely worried.
“Is Grandpa Gu sick?”
Zhao Dahai stared at her defensively. “Stop pretending. If you didn’t know Old Man Gu was sick, why would you be here?”
Beside Zhao Dahai, Shi Fangshu didn’t want the father and daughter to argue in public, so she softened her tone and reached for Cen Zhen’s hand.
“Zhenzhen, don’t be angry with your dad. He’s just too worried about your future, so he’s a bit impatient.”
Cen Zhen still wasn’t used to this fake mother-daughter affection.
She took two steps back and withdrew her hand.
Her evasion made Shi Fangshu’s eyes redden.
“Zhenzhen, you…”
Just as she was about to descend into heartbreak, Cen Zhen cut her off. “I advise you not to worry about my marriage anymore. I’m already married, and my husband is ten thousand times better than Gu Xingyan. You can go back and tell Zhao Lingxi she doesn’t need to worry about me stealing her fiancé.”
Though he was called Zhao Lingxi’s fiancé, originally, when the two families arranged the marriage, the Gu family had favored Cen Zhen, as she and Gu Xingyan were true childhood sweethearts.
But Zhao Lingxi was despicable—while the families were discussing the marriage, she drugged Gu Xingyan and was caught in bed with him in front of everyone.
The Gu family, being a respectable scholarly household, had no choice but to change the name on the marriage contract to Zhao Lingxi after the scandal broke out.
She had merely spoken the truth, yet Zhao Dahai raised his hand, poised to slap her.
Cen Zhen was no longer the little girl who had to beg him for living expenses. The hardships she had endured over the years had given her ample ability to defend herself.
Steadily gripping his thick wrist, she spoke coldly.
“Zhao Dahai, if you dare lay a finger on me, believe me, my husband will make sure you never see another sunrise!”
“You wretched girl, what nonsense are you spouting…”
Cen Zhen interrupted him again.
“Oh, and let me give you another piece of advice: stop scheming about my womb. I will never have children in this lifetime, and I certainly won’t let Zhao Lingxi raise any child I might bear.”
“Why shouldn’t you have children?” Zhao Dahai’s wrist was squeezed tightly by her, the pain making him grimace. “If it weren’t for Lingxi’s infertility, do you think I’d care about you having children? Cen Zhen, the only reason I still acknowledge you as my daughter is because you can continue the Zhao family line. That’s the one thing you can do for the Zhao family. Even your life was given by me—what right do you have to say you won’t have children!”
After disappointment after disappointment in her childhood, Cen Zhen had long stopped holding any expectations for this so-called familial bond.
She had thought her heart had turned to stone.
But when Zhao Dahai’s words struck her, her heart still ached as if pierced by needles.
In an instant.
Anger.
Humiliation.
Disappointment.
Stinging pain.
All these emotions surged within her.
So, she decided to throw caution to the wind. “Fine! If you have the guts, go convince Fu Linyuan to divorce me!”
Zhao Dahai was already fuming with rage. Without even fully processing her words, he blurted out, “Divorce! Absolutely divorce! What kind of wild man dares to take you to get a marriage certificate? Did he pay a bride price? Did he ever come to show respect to me? Cen Zhen, go divorce him today!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he belatedly registered the name.
“Who did you say?”
Shi Fangshu gently chimed in from the side, “Fu Linyuan. What’s wrong, dear? Do you know him?”
How could Zhao Dahai not know him? That was the heavyweight in the domestic and international luxury jewelry world, someone even the top players had to show respect to.
With their small-scale jewelry business, if Fu Linyuan were to take offense, a mere word from him could cut off their raw gemstone supply, block their procurement channels, and ruin their reputation in the jewelry industry.
This man was the king of the jewelry world.
Someone Zhao Dahai couldn’t afford to provoke.
In an instant, the arrogance on his face vanished completely, and his complexion shifted from livid to deathly pale.
A moment later, his eyelid twitched as he found it impossible to believe.
With Cen Zhen’s status, how could she possibly come into contact with a figure like Fu Linyuan, let alone marry him?
Zhao Dahai’s smile returned, assuming it was just a case of sharing the same name.
“Cen Zhen, I advise you to obediently go on blind dates for me. The sooner you help your sister have a child, the sooner your grandmother can undergo surgery. Otherwise…”
Cen Zhen ignored his “otherwise,” not even sparing him an extra glance.
Her gaze swept past him as she raised her hand and waved toward the tall, imposing figure approaching from this direction, her voice clear and affectionate.
“Husband!”
Her call was natural and sweet.
Zhao Dahai froze, then turned around furiously, ready to berate whichever man had the audacity. But when he saw the noble, commanding face of the approaching figure, his boiling blood instantly turned to ice.
His pupils contracted sharply, and his right eyelid twitched violently twice.
His mouth opened and closed, opened and closed again, yet after a long while, not a single complete sentence could be uttered.
Meanwhile, a cold sweat broke out on his back.
Cen Zhen took in his fear, and the anger pent up in her chest finally subsided.
The next second, she released his hand, took a few steps forward, and naturally and intimately linked arms with Fu Linyuan. In a soft, coquettish, and slightly aggrieved tone, she straightforwardly complained—
“Husband, he’s forcing me to divorce you. What do you think?”