Chapter 2

By the year I finally graduated and came home, Zhou Jinyi was the young Mr. Zhou everyone in business was eager to flatter.

This was the first time he’d stood me up because of that girl.

Tang Heqing’s car was parked outside the airport.

He watched me lazily, a mischievous smile lurking in his dark eyes.

“She’s got period cramps, so he sent me to pick you up. Get in.”

Without even looking up, I opened the ride-hailing app on my phone.

Tang Heqing’s face darkened. He took my phone, swiftly canceled the booking, and dragged me into the passenger seat. Then he bent to kiss me.

“You hate seeing me that much?” His voice was rough, his eyes a little red.

I raised a hand to block him. His lips landed on my fingertips, hot and ardent.

I slapped him hard enough to redden his cheek. He neither dodged nor flinched, only smiled and pushed his tongue against the inside of that cheek. “Been eating well abroad, I see. You’re stronger.”

After the car door closed,

I caught him in the mirror secretly grimacing and rubbing his cheek in a sulk. Suddenly I understood why Zhou Jinyi kept a little “songbird” for his amusement.

It really was entertaining.

Zhou Jinyi transferred fifty million yuan to me and ordered 9,999 flowers to congratulate me on finishing my studies.

I was very satisfied with the amount his guilt had produced.

He called to explain. “Something came up. Has Tang Heqing picked you up?”

“Yes.”

A woman’s pained cries came over the line. He hung up.

Tang Heqing glanced at me. “After all this, you still want to marry him?”

I raised an eyebrow. “You think he’s all I’m marrying?”

He tried to tempt me with extraordinary frankness. “The Tang family is every bit as good as the Zhous. If one choice is as good as another, why not me? At least I’ve slept around less.”

“He’s the Zhou family’s only heir.”

Tang Heqing fell silent.

The Zhous held a welcome-home dinner for me. Zhou Jinyi arrived late, a glaring lipstick stain on his shirt catching everyone’s eye.

I lowered my eyes and gave a derisive little laugh. How could a woman be that stupid? So stupid I couldn’t be bothered with her. She might as well hand her opponents the victory herself.

Whispers rippled through the room. His parents scolded him and made him kneel in the living room for two nights.

They only let him off after I pleaded for him.

That lipstick stain also brought our marriage forward.

“Nannan, don’t be angry,” he said, looking at me.

I unscrewed the ointment, rolled up his trouser legs, and applied it to his bruised knees. My expression was cool, my tone casual.

“What would I be angry about? I don’t even like you.”

His beautiful dark eyes went still. For a long time, he seemed unable to recover.

I looked at his face—the only face that had ever stirred my heart, now incapable of moving me. “Zhou Jinyi, ours is just a business marriage. You don’t need to apologize.”

“Play around all you want. Just keep it out of the house. Grandma’s getting old.”

“Besides, a sex scandal could affect the company’s stock price!”

I was rather serious about that last point.

His voice was cool, his mood unreadable. “You’re right. It’s a business marriage. Affection is the last thing we need.”

I put away the first-aid kit. “There’s no need to be sarcastic. Even if you like that girl, are you going to marry her?”

He froze. “You know?”

When I didn’t answer, he tugged irritably at his tie. “I won’t marry her. You’ll be the only Mrs. Zhou.”

He checked his watch. “It’s a weekday, and the offices are still open. Let’s register our marriage.”

…

The registration was quick.

On the way, Zhou Jinyi rejected seven or eight calls from the girl.

In the end, he switched off his phone entirely, irritation in his eyes.

“What are your plans now you’re back?” he asked.

I told him the truth. “At the moment? Two children with you in three years.”

His expression turned peculiar, his ears reddened, and his voice went strangely high as he stammered, “I wasn’t planning on becoming a father just yet.”

I smiled at him. “But I was, darling.”

His gaze wandered. He nodded. “Then… all right. That’s fine. Whatever you say.”

I didn’t care who my husband was.

As long as he had influence in business, money, status, and something to offer my career, that was enough.

I thought my children would prefer a wealthy father to that nebulous thing people called love.

The Zhou family had been established for a century. A child of mine born into it, boy or girl, would have nothing to worry about for dozens of lifetimes.