Chapter 5

Before leaving that morning, Su Huai kissed my forehead gently.

Then he stood before me for a long time, watching me without a word.

Only when he finally left

did I open my eyes.

My phone was full of messages from Sheng Jing.

“Shen Shi’an, you shameless woman!”

“How could you do that with him…?”

“What do you take me for?!”

The other man.

The next messages came an hour later.

“You’re STILL not done???”

“Haven’t you had enough???”

“Enough. I said ENOUGH!”

“Shen Shi’an, I could strangle you.”

Two more hours later:

“Don’t forget what you promised me.”

“Have you talked to him?”

“What did he say?”

“Will he agree to a divorce?”

…What?

Wait.

When had I promised to get divorced?

Stunned, I kept reading. He’d sent the next messages at four thirty in the morning.

“My patience has limits.”

“If he won’t agree to a divorce, I’ll handle him.”

“Don’t worry about the money. Whatever share you lose, I’ll make it up to you twice over.”

“Get the paperwork done as soon as you can. I checked the dates. The fifteenth of next month looks good. It won’t be too late if we get married then.”

What?

Had I lost a chunk of my memory?

Or had he gained an extra one?

How had things gotten this far while I was asleep?

While I was still trying to work it out, someone knocked.

Had Su Huai forgotten something?

Mrs. Liu was on leave for a couple of days, so I had to get up and answer it.

The door had barely opened a crack before a figure shot inside like the wind.

Before I could react, he seized my shoulders and pressed me against the back of the door. Hot lips covered mine, swallowing my startled cry.

Sheng Jing?!

The door hadn’t even closed. Something rustled in the darkness beyond the gap, and the fear of being watched made my heart feel ready to burst.

“The door…” I whimpered.

As though he hadn’t heard, he sucked and bit fiercely at my tongue, as if he meant to devour me whole.

Cold air seeped in from outside, but he kept moving me closer to the doorway.

Just as we were about to end up outside, I couldn’t take it anymore. I shoved him away with all my strength. “Are you insane?”

Blood marked his lip where I’d bitten it. He paid it no attention, arching a brow. “Shouldn’t I be?”

“You put on that show for me last night, then ignored my messages all night.”

He gripped my chin. “Shen Shi’an, shouldn’t I be insane?”

…Why, exactly, had I ever gotten involved with him?

I sighed, rose onto my toes, and gently kissed the bead of blood on his lip.

As expected, his body stiffened, and the hard line of his profile shifted.

I put my arms around his waist and drew him back into the room.

Closing the door behind us.

My fingers brushed his furrowed brow. “Sheng Jing,” I said softly, “you wanted an answer, didn’t you?”

His fingers dug into my waist. “Don’t think getting a divorce will stop me being angry.”

I nodded. “Right, right. So I’m not getting one.”

Sheng Jing: “?”

I slipped out of his arms and looked at his stunned face, enunciating every word. “Sheng Jing. I am not getting divorced.”

The air went still. His expression chilled instantly, his eyes dark. “Shen Shi’an. Say that again.”

“I’ll say it as many times as you like. Sheng Jing, I’m not getting divorced. My marriage isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough. Giving him up for you simply isn’t worth it.”

“You put me through a lot before. Consider this paying me back. If you think I’ve wronged you, you can hate me.”

“But really, haven’t we had a good time together lately?”

Sheng Jing said nothing, his face ashen with anger.

I’d imagined his reaction countless times.

He was spoiled, arrogant, and vicious-tempered, with no regard for anything.

When his temper flared, he could be ruthless and unrestrained, doing whatever he pleased.

He’d only reined himself in a little lately because we’d reunited after so long.

But I knew better than anyone what he was like underneath.

He would probably smash things in a rage, lose control and scream, and hurl every filthy insult he could think of at me.

I’d pictured all of it.

I’d even consoled myself in advance.

So when he simply went pale and asked in a trembling voice, “Shen Shi’an, you’re choosing him over me. Is that it?”

“He matters more than I do?”

“You’re giving up on me?”

Not one of the reactions I’d imagined. In that moment, all his bad temper seemed to fall away, leaving only the agony of knowing I’d chosen someone else.

I actually faltered.

For the first time, I saw something humble in the eyes of Sheng Jing, the man who’d always looked down on everyone. His heart might have surrendered, but his body refused. Step by long-legged step, he backed me into a corner and slammed his arms against the wall above my head with a dull thud.

“Shen Shi’an, I won’t accept it!”

“I said I won’t accept it! Do you hear me?!”

He blocked out the light, his shadow swallowing me whole.

Anyone looking at us would have thought I was the one at his mercy.

But the one who was lost and panicked, whose eyes were red, whose voice had slipped into pleading,

was Sheng Jing.

“Shen Shi’an, you can’t…I will never accept it!”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell Su Huai?!”

“…You’re already trying to make me divorce him. You might as well tell him.”

“If I apologize and swallow my pride, he might forgive me.”

Sheng Jing stared in disbelief. “He’d forgive you for something like this?”

“Is he out of his mind?!”

Of course not.

I was making it all up.

But I nodded anyway. “He just loves me more than you do.”

That shook him badly, just as I’d expected. He ground out, “Impossible.”

His face almost twisted. “He loves you more than I do?!”

I’d only meant to stop him from telling Su Huai, but he seemed to have missed the point. For some reason, he was fixated on who loved me more.

I started to speak, hesitated, then decided to go along with him. “He’d forgive me for cheating, after all. Of course he loves me more.”

Sheng Jing grew even more agitated. “What’s so special about forgiving you for cheating? I forgave you too!”

“I’ve become the other man for love!”

“Could he do that?!”

He couldn’t. Possibly because he was the husband.

And what the hell kind of competition was this?!

Wait.

Had he just said he’d forgiven me?

Had arrogant, conceited Sheng Jing just talked himself around?

Sheng Jing, have you been possessed by something wonderful???

Whoever you are, stay right where you are.

I ventured, “So what you’re saying is…?”

He stared at me without answering.

After a long moment, he suddenly pulled me into his arms.

“I’m saying I’ll show you who loves you most.”