“Miss Shen, we have verified it, and your marriage certificate is indeed fake. Forging a marriage certificate is against the law. Please cooperate with our investigation.”
“These days, even marriage certificates come in fake?”
“She must have been deceived by someone. How pitiful…”
Under the strange looks of the staff and several couples, Shen Suiwan walked out of the Civil Affairs Bureau in a daze.
The sun was blazing overhead, yet she felt cold to the bone all over.
Yesterday, Gu Tingshen had suddenly agreed to register the marriage with her, ending a five-year courtship.
The bedroom late that night had been filled with boundless intimacy.
At the height of their passion, a phone call interrupted everything.
Uncharacteristically, Gu Tingshen stopped and took the call.
“Stop making a fuss. The certificate between her and me is fake. After all, I already registered our marriage with you two years ago.”
He was speaking a very uncommon foreign language, but Shen Suiwan understood it too.
All of the friends around Gu Tingshen could speak this language, and in order to fit in, she had secretly signed up for a class in it.
“But I’m still jealous. It would be better if she didn’t exist.”
“Don’t be willful. Wanwan is innocent. That car accident last time, haven’t you gotten it out of your system yet? That leg of hers is ruined, she can never dance again, and no one will compete with you for the position of queen of dance anymore. If any more trouble comes up, I’m not sure I can cover for you again.”
“Then… what about a child?”
“Once she is pregnant and gives birth, I’ll find a way to register the child under your name and mine.”
“All right, be good. She isn’t worth a single strand of your hair. How could I possibly develop feelings for her?”
Beyond her shock, what was left of Shen Suiwan’s reason let her sober up bit by bit.
So that car accident two years ago was man-made?
Back then a large truck had suddenly lost control and slammed toward her, and she had nearly lost the use of both legs.
She had spent most of a month in the hospital and barely managed to save one leg, but sadly she could never dance again.
She had inherited her mother’s talent for dance, and originally she could have had a limitless future.
Later, Gu Tingshen told her it was only an accident.
He also would not think less of her for her bad leg, and for a time she had been very grateful, and had fallen for him even more deeply.
But all of it was nothing but a scheme. Gu Tingshen had deceived her, had even registered a marriage with the culprit, and still wanted her to bear a child for them!
After a sleepless night, she had gone to the Civil Affairs Bureau first thing in the morning to verify it.
In the end, reality had cruelly given her a resounding slap.
All she could do was force a smile and say she had been joking. Fortunately the staff did not pursue it, and after scolding her a few times they let her go.
Her phone had been ringing for a long while. Shen Suiwan finally came back to herself and pressed the answer key.
“Have you gone to the company already?” A low male voice came through, still heavy with sleep, which lent it a magnetic, alluring quality.
Shen Suiwan used all her strength to make her voice sound normal. “No, something came up.”
“Where are you? I’ll come get you.”
Her eyes reddened in an instant.
She remembered how he had once said that no matter where she went, no matter when, he would come get her and they would go home together.
But now, did they still have a home?
Two years ago he had already become another woman’s husband, unfaithful in body and in spirit both.
“Wanwan?”
“There’s no need.” Tears were running down Shen Suiwan’s face, but her voice betrayed nothing. “I still have things to take care of. I’ll go over on my own.”
She insisted, and Gu Tingshen had no choice but to give in.
After hanging up the phone, Shen Suiwan sorted through her thoughts, which were a paste.
In five years of being with Gu Tingshen, he had always kept himself clean.
In university he had been the handsome president of the student union, after graduating he was the handsome, wealthy President Gu. Women chased after him one after another, but he had always been cold and indifferent to every woman except her.
Who exactly was the woman who had registered the marriage with him two years ago?
And that car accident…
Close to noon, Shen Suiwan arrived at the company.
“Good morning, Secretary Shen.”
The people in the president’s office greeted her one after another, and Shen Suiwan nodded back in silence.
A great many documents had already piled up on her desk. She read through them one by one, picked out several, and took them in for Gu Tingshen to sign.
The handsome, aloof man sat at his desk. His outstanding presence meant that no matter where he sat, he carried an air of authority that needed no anger behind it.
Seeing her come in, the aura about him immediately softened a great deal.
After signing the documents she had brought in one by one, he looked up at her, his face showing concern.
“You don’t look well.”
“I’m just a little tired. It’s nothing much.”
“This project really has been hard on you lately.” Gu Tingshen raised a hand and lightly pinched her cheek, then produced a long box as if by magic.
“Surprise.”
Shen Suiwan took the box in silence and opened it.
Inside was a very beautiful diamond necklace.
She recognized it as Solara’s newest limited edition.
Gu Tingshen stood up and embraced her, lowering his head to kiss her forehead, but Shen Suiwan turned her head aside and avoided his kiss.
She found him filthy.
“Wanwan?” Gu Tingshen’s eyes darkened slightly.
Over these years he had given her many gifts, large and small, and every time she received one she had been delighted and happy. Why this time…
“Thank you. I like it very much.” Shen Suiwan lowered her eyes and closed the box. “This is the office. We should be a little more careful.”
Gu Tingshen laughed and raised a hand to ruffle her hair.
“Wanwan is always so sensible.”
Back at her own desk, she set the box holding the necklace off to one side without thinking.
She had to admit that Gu Tingshen understood her tastes very well.
If she had not known about his betrayal, receiving this necklace would surely have made her as happy as ever.
During the lunch break, Shen Suiwan went through all of Gu Tingshen’s social media, but did not find the slightest trace of anything.
The posts he made were about the company, and otherwise only about her.
He often posted all sorts of things showing off their affection, which made his friends complain endlessly.
Looking through those sweet moments from the past now, Shen Suiwan felt nothing but numbness.
And at that moment, in one of the posts, the profile picture of someone who had liked it suddenly caught her attention.
Because the picture was of a pale, slender hand, and the bracelet on the wrist looked very much like one Gu Tingshen had once given her.
Feeling as though she sensed something, she clicked into this person’s page.
The most recent post was from a day ago: “The necklace someone sent me from thousands of miles away, loving it~”
There was a picture attached, and the necklace in it was exactly the same as the necklace Gu Tingshen had just given her.
Solara’s newest limited edition, there were only two.
Shen Suiwan suddenly laughed out loud.
One for her, one for another woman. Was that how Gu Tingshen “spread his favors evenly” [1]spread his favors evenly (yu lu jun zhan, 雨露均沾) Idiom, a man dividing his affection/gifts equally among multiple women jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3189313_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3189313_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });?
Shen Suiwan closed the social media app and booked a plane ticket for a month later.
There was a project recently that she had been leading with her team members, and it would take another month to finish. Everyone’s hard work was in this project, and she could not simply walk away.
In a month, she would leave this place completely, leave Gu Tingshen.
After booking the ticket, she opened another chat window.
“Dad, I’ve made up my mind. I’m willing to come home and help you manage the family business.
And as for the marriage alliance, I agree to that too.”
References[+]