Sheng Xia, the new bride, lay slumped on the living room carpet, staring at her phone screen displaying her bank balance with an utterly despondent expression.
Since graduating from university, she had never held a job, living a life of idle leisure. Especially after marrying Gu Cheng’an, with the thought that her husband was a billionaire CEO who provided a fixed monthly allowance, Sheng Xia had never once worried about finances.
Her daily routine consisted of competing with the women in her socialite group over wealth, often resorting to frenzied shopping sprees to flaunt her status whenever she felt slighted.
She had bought so many bags, clothes, and jewelry that she couldn’t even keep count. Many of these items remained unused, still sealed in their boxes—she had purchased them solely to prove a point.
After tonight’s extravagant and indulgent spectacle, Sheng Xia suddenly remembered this matter and hurriedly checked her bank accounts as soon as she returned home.
She hadn’t expected her financial situation to be so dire. The balances in the several bank cards under her name were shockingly low, with only a few dozen or a couple hundred yuan left.
Sheng Xia then checked the bank card Gu Cheng’an had given her for her monthly allowance. What she saw left her dumbfounded.
When they married, Gu Cheng’an had promised to give her ten million yuan each month for her personal expenses.
Ten million was an extravagant, almost unimaginable sum for ordinary people, yet Sheng Xia had managed to spend every last cent and had even overdrawn her allowance for dozens of months in advance.
After carefully calculating the overdrawn amount, Sheng Xia realized it totaled a full thirty-six months.
In other words, she not only had no money left but had also overdrawn three years’ worth of the allowance Gu Cheng’an had given her.
In disbelief, Sheng Xia opened her shopping records and scrutinized each transaction, her head spinning more with every entry.
What on earth had she done?
Because Gu Cheng’an refused to touch her, she had been mocked by the women in her socialite group. To flaunt her status as the young mistress of the Gu family, she had always been at the forefront of consumption.
For example, to show off Gu Cheng’an’s supposed affection for her, she had pre-ordered a bottle of perfume worth nine million yuan, its bottle adorned with over fifty carats of diamonds, two months in advance.
Was this even perfume? It was daylight robbery!
What kind of brain-dead, paper-brained person would do something like this?
Sheng Xia was filled with regret and anguish. As she looked at the so-called haute couture, latest luxury clothing, and bags, her heart ached more and more.
These clothes, perfumes, and bags had left her with a debt of one hundred million yuan. Even if she tried to sell them secondhand now, she would still lose tens of millions.
All of these were bought out of vanity, to show off how lavishly Gu Cheng’an spoiled her. They were nothing but hollow, impractical items—neither beautiful nor useful. No one would be willing to buy them secondhand.
Sheng Xia lay on the sofa, utterly despondent. Could anyone be more miserable than her?
She had been acting like this since the very first day of her marriage. No wonder no one in the Gu family liked her.
No wonder Gu Cheng’an refused to touch her. If she were Gu Cheng’an, she would probably be disgusted to death by a vain, brainless woman like herself too.
With no money, she had to find a way to earn some. Sheng Xia recalled from the book that after Gu Cheng’an met the woman he truly loved, he would give her a billion yuan as a divorce settlement. Her eyes lit up—since Gu Cheng’an despised her so much, maybe she could take the initiative to propose divorce and see if she could walk away with some compensation?
She opened the safe, took out her marriage agreement with Gu Cheng’an, and studied it. The moment she read it, Sheng Xia fell into despair.
Had her brain been clogged with shit?
What kind of ridiculous marriage agreement had she signed?
Not a single clause in the agreement was in her favor. She was nothing but a decoration, a vase, with no rights or power to do anything.She had to take the initiative to propose a divorce, leave with nothing, and even return all the expenses Gu Cheng’an had paid her.
If she engaged in any behavior during the marriage that the first party found disgraceful, the first party had the right to kick her out without a single cent in compensation.
This marriage agreement bound her one hundred percent, while Gu Cheng’an faced no disadvantages whatsoever.
Even if Gu Cheng’an were fooling around with some starlet or beauty right now, she’d have to turn a blind eye, while she remained tightly confined.
Sheng Xia lay flat on the carpet like a corpse, dead!
Let me die first!
Of course, Sheng Xia couldn’t actually die—it’s better to live poorly than die well!
With an empty wallet and so much debt already overdrawn, Sheng Xia felt panicked. She spent the night listing all the luxury clothes, bags, and jewelry she had bought on second-hand websites, hoping to recover some funds.
By the time she finished listing all the miscellaneous items, it was already dawn, but Sheng Xia still couldn’t sleep.
With so little money in her pocket, sleep was impossible. She needed to find a way to earn an income.
Unable to do heavy labor or manual work, she realized that apart from her pretty face, she was limited in every other way.
Making a lot of money in the short term was simply impossible. Now, Sheng Xia’s only hope rested entirely on the female lead.
She hoped the female lead would appear by Gu Cheng’an’s side soon, making him fall hopelessly in love, and then voluntarily hand her a billion dollars so she could make a swift exit.
Thinking of the female lead, the name Shen Xinhe surfaced in Sheng Xia’s mind.
She needed to find out where the female lead was now and create an opportunity for her to meet Gu Cheng’an sooner.
But most importantly, starting tomorrow, she had to find ways to earn money. Otherwise, if Gu Cheng’an got upset and kicked her out, she’d be saddled with a mountain of debt and left with nothing.
The next morning, Gu Cheng’an went to the company feeling refreshed.
After a two-hour meeting, he returned to his office to review documents but couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
When Jing Ci came in to deliver some files, Gu Cheng’an asked, “What’s on my schedule for today?”
“Lunch with Director Cai from the Urban Construction Bureau, and a site visit in the afternoon.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it!”
It wasn’t until the afternoon site visit that Gu Cheng’an finally realized what felt off.
Sheng Xia hadn’t called or sent him a single message all day. Her usual three daily calls and countless flirtatious messages had become so routine that today’s silence felt strange.
Gu Cheng’an couldn’t help but ask, “What has Sheng Xia been doing today?”
“The young madam left early in the morning. I’m not sure where she went.”
Jing Ci added, “Today is the young madam’s birthday. You might need to have dinner with her tonight. By the way, I’ve already arranged for the cake, and the gift is ready. Will you be accompanying the young madam tonight, Mr. Gu?”
“We’ll see!” Gu Cheng’an felt uncomfortable remembering the medicinal wine Sheng Xia had bought and asked Jing Ci, “Has the lawyer prepared the divorce agreement?”
“Yes.” Jing Ci glanced at his boss. Was he really going through with the divorce?
Wasn’t that too heartless?
He couldn’t help but feel sorry for the young madam. She was stunningly beautiful, like a fairy, and always obedient to the boss. He didn’t understand why the boss couldn’t stand her.
As he was thinking this, his eyes caught sight of a red sports car approaching in the distance. “That’s the young madam’s car.”
Gu Cheng’an frowned. “What is she doing at the construction site? This is ridiculous!”
Though he called it ridiculous, there was no trace of disgust in his expression.His gaze also turned toward the slowly stopping sports car over there.
The car door opened, and Sheng Xia, wearing a hoodie with a yellow vest over it, stepped out. She held a bag in one hand and a phone in the other, talking to someone.
Jing Ci chuckled inwardly. How deeply in love must the young mistress be with the CEO? Not calling him didn’t mean she wasn’t keeping tabs on his schedule—she had even chased him all the way to the construction site.
What she was holding must be food prepared for the CEO. Both Jing Ci and Gu Cheng’an were wearing hard hats, so Sheng Xia might not recognize them. Jing Ci was about to wave to her.
Just then, he saw Sheng Xia stride quickly toward a nearby work shed. A man emerged from the shed, exchanged a few words with her, and took the bag from her hands. Without a backward glance, Sheng Xia turned and left.
The red sports car reversed in a swift arc and sped away. Jing Ci glanced at Gu Cheng’an, then at the car disappearing in a cloud of exhaust.
He then looked at the man holding the bag Sheng Xia had delivered, utterly baffled.
Seeing Gu Cheng’an’s expression darken, the site supervisor forced a smile and explained, “Um, Mr. Gu, the workers didn’t have lunch at noon, so they ordered some takeout. It’s my fault for mismanaging things—I shouldn’t have allowed the delivery person onto the site.”
Gu Cheng’an and Jing Ci exchanged a look. “Delivery person? Her?”