Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I commissioned Li Qing to handle the divorce proceedings for me.

Duan Yi had wanted to get rid of me for a long time, and I had no desire to stay entangled with him, so the negotiation process went smoothly.

Three days later, I met Duan Yi at the Civil Affairs Bureau.

A fine drizzle was falling, and an unshakable haze shrouded the surroundings.

Duan Yi was leaning against the wall, dressed in a well-fitted shirt and trousers.

His expression was grim, possessing a sickly pallor. The moment he saw me, he deliberately flashed a provocative smile. “Why are you so late? Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts.”

Since our marriage had been so short, the staff still hoped we would consider it carefully. They ushered us into a small room to let us talk things over one last time.

“There’s no need.”

Duan Yi didn’t hesitate; he picked up the pen and signed his name.

Seeing that I hadn’t put pen to paper yet, a look of irritability crossed his face.

He bit down on a cigarette and looked down at me. “What, do you regret it?”

I looked coldly at the man who had once loved me the most, now saying the most hurtful things. I traced his silhouette with my eyes, wanting to memorize his current heartless appearance.

His brow was cold and stern, his jawline sharp and clean, and the Adam’s apple protruding from his fair neck bobbed.

Behind the thin veil of smoke, that face was even more handsome than it had been ten years ago.

I gripped the divorce agreement in my hand and snatched the cigarette from his mouth. “I told you, I hate the smell of smoke the most.”

I pressed the glowing, scorching cigarette butt hard into his palm. “Duan Yi, in my heart, you are already dead.”

Duan Yi reacted as if he had heard a massive joke, laughing until his shoulders shook. “Fuck, that actually hurts.”

After leaving the Civil Affairs Bureau, Hu Fei walked over cautiously and stood by Duan Yi’s side.

She greeted me in a small voice, the diamond ring on her finger particularly eyesore.

“Since you’re already here, you might as well get your marriage certificate too. It’ll save you a trip.”

“Sister Xu Chi, you’ve misunderstood.”

A wave of bitterness washed over my heart, but I couldn’t be bothered to waste words on them. I turned and walked away.

Duan Yi called out to me, however. “Xu Chi, even though we’re even now, if there’s anything I can help with in the future, you can still come to me. You will always be special to me.”

Duan Yi’s deep voice carried a hint of fractured emotion.

My heart constricted with pain, but I found it utterly ridiculous.

He had been cruel enough to take it this far, so why say these things now? To show off how righteous and sentimental he was?

I didn’t look back, and I didn’t stop. “We can never be even. You will always owe me.”

The sky was pressed low by dark clouds. The rain hadn’t picked up, still falling like fine needles scattered through the air.

The city remained bustling with traffic, and pedestrians were still in a hurry. The lights and shadows before my eyes blurred and distorted.

At a traffic light, a pair of blinding headlights flashed toward me. The driver honked the horn wildly, cursing at me for having a death wish.

I didn’t react in time, freezing on the spot.

It wasn’t until someone pulled me back that I snapped out of it.

I stared blankly at the man in front of me. His features possessed the characteristic depth of a mixed-race heritage; it was Shen Xiao.

Before I married Duan Yi, Shen Xiao was my fiancé in name.

Shen Xiao was very tall, standing at 190 centimeters. The stray hairs on his forehead were damp from the rain. He leaned down, his hand pressing the back of my head gently but firmly, burying my face against his chest.

I heard the dull, rapid thumping of his heart. I struggled to push him away, but then I heard his plea, suppressed and restrained.

“Today is my birthday. Let me hold you for a moment; just consider it a gift for me.”

His tone was both soft and fierce, but mostly filled with helplessness. “Can’t you wake up? What exactly is so good about Duan Yi? Why can’t you just let him go?”

I gave Shen Xiao a pale smile.

That’s right, what exactly was so good about him?

I seemed to have forgotten.

Shen Xiao took me home and patiently helped dry my hair.

Actually, I used to hate Shen Xiao.

He always had a cold expression, indifferent and distant, with an extremely strong sense of possessiveness. As long as it was something he wanted, he would use any means necessary to get it.

Once, to force me to marry him, he had even locked me in his house. He was incredibly overbearing.

But thinking back later, I felt he was also quite pitiful.

He was an illegitimate son of the Shen Family; he couldn’t afford to make a single mistake, surrounded by people constantly plotting against him.

He was just like me. Neither of us had a home, and we both wanted to desperately cling to something.

“Xu Chi, forget Duan Yi. He’s not worth it.”

“Be good. It’s time for your medicine.”