Chapter 4

Overcome with emotion, Gu Yuancheng embraced me and whispered into my ear, “You really are a wonderful woman.”

I held him back. “It’s because I love you that I can be so understanding.”

After a little more persuasion, he agreed to the divorce.

We decided that divorce would be nothing more than a formality and that everything between us would remain as it had been.

I was not sure what “as it had been” even meant.

As long as he agreed to sign the papers, I was satisfied.

When I stepped outside, Li Li was waiting by the door. Gu Yuancheng came out to see me off.

“Yuancheng, sis, how did it go?” she asked eagerly.

She could not hide the excitement in her voice.

Without hesitation, Gu Yuancheng slapped her across the face.

I jumped. I had never realized he had violent tendencies.

Li Li covered her cheek and stared at him in disbelief.

“Why did you tell my wife about us?” he raged. “Didn’t you say you only wanted to help me take care of my physical needs? You played me!”

Li Li gazed at him with such infatuation that the slap appeared to make her love him even more. She even shot me a triumphant look, as if saying, See? He only hits me because I’m his woman. You aren’t even worthy of being struck.

“It’s because I love you so much,” she said. “She doesn’t love you at all. If she did, why wouldn’t she give up her career to stay by your side? When will you understand that I’m the one who truly loves you?”

I looked appropriately heartbroken. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”

Gu Yuancheng glared fiercely at Li Li, then walked me downstairs. Behind us, Li Li stood with one hand over her cheek and a blissful smile on her face.

I honestly could not understand her.

Once downstairs, I got into the car. Gu Yuancheng left.

From the shadow of a Rolls-Royce, a man in a bespoke black suit raised his eyes to me. His expression was cool and severe.

“Is it done?” he asked.

The man’s name was Fu Chongzhou, the so-called crown prince of the capital’s elite circles.

He was the father of the baby in my belly.

My management company was one of the many businesses under his control. An insignificant actress like me should never have had the chance to get close to such a powerful man.

But he attended the company’s year-end banquet and noticed me.

He looked at me for one second longer than necessary. The schemers around us immediately decided they understood what he wanted. Through hints both subtle and blatant, they told me to go entertain him.

They could dream on. I was a respectable married woman. No one was going to force me into selling myself.

Perhaps he grew tired of waiting. Perhaps he had never met an actress so resistant to his charms. Either way, Fu Chongzhou later came to visit my set himself.

He looked aloof and proud, every inch a man accustomed to standing above everyone else. Yet in conversation, he was articulate and even smiled.

Still, being around him was not entirely comfortable. There was always a distance between us, as though he were looking down at me from somewhere high above.

I had no plans to start anything with him.

He was merely an amusing distraction. If he insisted on pursuing me, I made no promises about what I would give him in return.

Then Gu Yuancheng cheated.

By then, Li Li had provoked me so many times that I had gone numb, but deep down, I still wanted revenge.

Unfortunately, almost every man around me fell short of Gu Yuancheng. He was outstanding in his own way. First, he had many excellent film and television roles to his name. Second, he was handsome. Third, he treated me well.

Those three qualities alone put him ahead of ninety-nine percent of men.

The only man who seemed better was Fu Chongzhou.

He possessed power, wealth, and a vast business empire. He was also tall and strikingly handsome. Rumor said there was foreign blood somewhere in his family tree, which might explain his deep-set, chilly features.