This game was getting more and more interesting.
I picked up the bowl of herbal medicine, blew on it gently, and took a sip.
The next second, the bitterness made me spit it all out.
Hugh Pei had returned at some point and was standing at the doorway changing his shoes.
Seeing me spew medicine, a look of clear disgust flashed in his eyes.
His tone was cold.
“If you can’t drink it, don’t.”
“Why do you care so much?” I wiped my mouth.
On the contrary, I found Hugh Pei’s behavior very strange these days.
“Why are you back again?”
He loosened his tie with a simple, rough movement that was somehow very handsome.
“This is my home too. Is there a problem with me coming back?” Hugh Pei sat down opposite me, his face expressionless.
“Oh, right,” I nodded and went back to drinking my medicine.
But it was just too bitter.
I was used to black coffee without sugar, but I couldn’t handle this kind of bitterness.
The liquid hadn’t even reached my throat before I spat it out again.
This time, it traveled farther, and some of it splattered onto Hugh Pei’s face and shirt.
His face instantly darkened, and he stared at me coldly.
I was too overcome by the bitterness to speak.
Seeing the droplets hanging from Hugh Pei’s impossibly long eyelashes, I grabbed a tissue and pressed it to his face.
It was the last bit of courtesy I could muster.
Hugh Pei grabbed my hand and threw it aside.
I was stunned by his disgusted look, and a familiar bitterness instantly spread through my heart.
“Sorry, the medicine was too bitter,” I said, maintaining my composure as I threw the tissue on the floor.
Hugh Pei didn’t answer, just went upstairs to change.
Just then, Eva Liu came in.
She deftly cleaned up the mess.
She was more diligent and meticulous than the others.
“Auntie Liu, you can start making dinner,” I said, feeling a bit tired, once she was done cleaning.
Eva Liu nodded and went to the kitchen to get busy.
I pinched my nose and finished the rest of the medicine.
My body couldn’t be fixed just by eating more; I had to regulate my internal organs to gain any weight.
After finishing the medicine, I went upstairs. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
I went to the music room, removed the dust cover, and took out the cello I hadn’t touched in a long time.
I began to play, and the low, elegant notes filled the room.
I was lost in the music, reminiscing about everything I had been through, when I didn’t notice Hugh Pei push open the door.
“It’s so noisy,” he said irritably.
I had been about to stop playing, but hearing him say that, a surge of anger rose in me.
In my past life, it was because he found my cello noisy that I had put it away.
Thinking about it now, no wonder Ginny and the others called me a brain-dead fool.
I defiantly drew the bow across the strings a few times, creating a grating noise that made Hugh Pei’s handsome brows knit together tightly.
“Then let’s get a divorce. Once we’re divorced and living separately, I could be playing the suona and it still wouldn’t bother you,” I said, elegantly putting down the bow.
“It seems we can live separately without a divorce,” Hugh Pei retorted sarcastically.
“Then what are you doing back here?” I had been puzzled lately.
What was it about this house that kept drawing him back?
It couldn’t be me, could it?
Hugh Pei didn’t seem to be able to adapt to my new-found sharp tongue.
His face grew darker.
With his temper, he should have just turned and left.
A single phone call would bring him a gentle companion.
But he clearly suppressed his anger and instead asked, “Zoe Xu, you don’t seem to want me back? Found a new lover?”
Could it be that he suspected I was cheating and that’s why he was coming back so often, trying to catch me in the act?
My eyes widened.
“Is there a problem with that? Didn’t you say it was fine as long as I didn’t post it online?”
“You’d fucking dare to cheat on me?!” Hugh Pei demanded fiercely.
“Equality between men and women. Why can’t I do what you do!” I shot back.
As we faced off, Eva Liu’s timid voice cut in.
“Mr. Pei, Madam, dinner is ready.”
I pushed Hugh Pei aside and went downstairs to eat.
I would no longer torture my body for his sake.
Eva Liu’s cooking was excellent.
Three dishes and a soup, all looked, smelled, and tasted wonderful.
I ate two bowls of rice in one go.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hugh Pei go downstairs and leave.
“That was delicious, Auntie Liu. Your cooking is so good. Whoever is your husband or child is truly lucky,” I said, finishing the last sip of soup and praising Eva Liu with a smile.
Eva Liu was a bit embarrassed.
“Madam, it’s just some simple home cooking. You’re too kind.”
“Not at all, it’s really delicious. Haven’t your family ever praised you?”
“My daughter also loves my cooking. She’s always telling me to open a small restaurant. That child’s thinking is too simple,” Eva Liu said, her eyes full of love when she spoke of her daughter.
The smile on my lips faded slightly.
“Her thinking isn’t wrong. Sometimes, when luck is on your side, achieving your goals is easy.”
In my past life, when I was on my deathbed, I wanted to see Hugh Pei one last time.
My mother told me he was at the grand opening of his future mother-in-law’s restaurant for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and didn’t have time to come.
The restaurant was, of course, funded by him, and its scale was among the top three in A-City.
It was a grand affair.
“We are just a family of ordinary people, Madam. We don’t have that kind of luck,” Eva Liu replied respectfully and humbly.
“When luck arrives, you can’t stop it. Auntie Liu, what if your daughter marries well?” I really wanted to tell her right then and there not to be so self-deprecating.
Her family’s ascent to fortune was less than two weeks away.
But I held back.
Seeing Eva Liu give me an awkward smile, I left the dining table.
Lila Wei’s family were not bad people, I had to admit.
In my past life, her parents had strongly opposed her being with Hugh Pei at first.
She was still in college and already involved with a married man.
It was shameful.
But gradually, Eva Liu and Victor Wei were moved by Hugh Pei’s persistence and chose to accept him.
They never thought that while they were all celebrating, I, the original wife, was going through the most painful ordeal.
After a shower, I lay comfortably in bed, scrolling through my phone before sleep as usual.
I happened to see a late-night entertainment news story about Hugh Pei carousing at a bar, accompanied by Lucas Lu and two or three beautiful women.
Hugh Pei was a man who naturally attracted a lot of attention.
After all, his status was there.
Even eating a bowl of ordinary hot and sour noodles on the street could get him trending.
As his wife, I frequently appeared in the comment section.
“His wife is so tolerant. I’d like to call her the Ninja Goddess of Tolerance!”
“Emmm… if he were my husband, I’d be willing to take care of his mistress during her postpartum confinement.”
“You up there, why are you such a simp for men? If it really happened to you, you wouldn’t be able to stand it. Let me bear this burden instead!”
“A bunch of people with no morals. Hugh Pei’s rumored girlfriends since he got married are as numerous as the stars. He has no male virtue.”
“This paparazzo’s skills are terrible. He never gets a shot of the crucial moment.”
Some pitied me, some envied me, and some mocked me.
I just smiled at it all.
Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, a call from Ella Li scared the sleep right out of me.
Her voice was urgent.
“Zoe, get over here, quick! Something’s happened!”