Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Uncle Chen, the butler, had always been highly efficient.

It didn’t take long for the “Brother Xu” Su Wantang had mentioned to appear before me.

When he was brought in, I was leafing through his file.

Xu Sixian.

He was exceptionally handsome. Even his ID photo was elegant and ethereal; his features alone were enough to outshine the top idol whose posters currently plastered every street and alleyway.

However, his current state was not good. He looked mentally exhausted, with a faint air of haggardness about him.

I understood why, guessing he had run into some trouble.

Xu Sixian’s parents were both deceased, and he came from a poor family. His only relative was his grandmother, who had recently been diagnosed with mid-to-late-stage liver cancer and was currently hospitalized.

He had been a top student all his life, working part-time to support his household, and had been admitted to A University as the top science student in the province.

Everyone who knew him had nothing but praise for him; his resume was impeccably polished.

Su Wantang was his neighbor, and the two were childhood friends.

But a young girl’s feelings are hard to hide.

I could see her adoration for him.

It was no wonder Cheng Song was so incensed by it.

Cheng Song was usually a very steady, indifferent person.

I had never seen him have any intense emotional fluctuations, yet lately, he had been frequently distracted, his gaze dark and gloomy.

Yesterday, before I even entered his office, I heard him on the phone.

It was the high-and-mighty persuasion of an elder who had seen much of the world-both a lecture and a warning.

He said, “Wantang, exams are coming up. You need to focus on your studies. Be mindful of your boundaries when interacting with your classmates. After all, you can know a person’s face without knowing their heart.”

His usually cold and steady tone couldn’t hide the burning jealousy beneath.

My hand, poised to knock on the door, paused.

I had originally asked the maid to brew some soup for me to bring over, but I suddenly lost all interest in having dinner with him.

Over the years, his attitude toward me had become visibly perfunctory. Even his verbal greetings were strictly business-like. He didn’t care who I was with or what I was doing.

But he was like that with everyone.

Until the news reached my ears that he was sponsoring a student from a poor background.

Cheng Song was not the type of person who enjoyed doing charity.

Yet, for her, he planted an entire field of flowers, took her out to sea to watch the sunrise, accompanied her on strolls through every corner of the city, and spent a fortune to secure her a spot as an exchange student.

He would even get jealous like a green, inexperienced boy.

Everyone joked that he was keeping a mistress in a gilded cage.

At first, my reaction was displeasure, and then I wanted to sever the relationship.

After all, he was someone I had been persistent about for so many years.

“Miss,” Uncle Chen frowned, hesitating to speak. “Regarding Young Master Cheng sponsoring that girl…”

Uncle Chen was a butler specifically chosen for me by my family. He was loyal but not old-fashioned; sometimes, his methods were less than honorable.

His eyes were dark, clearly intending to deal with the “stumbling block” that was Su Wantang on my behalf.

“Let’s go,” I interrupted him.

Forget it.

Making a scene was pointless; it would only make me look like a resentful woman.

I couldn’t be bothered to bring this matter out into the open.

He was intentionally hiding it from me, so what if I uncovered the truth?

Throw out the evidence and force him to admit it?

In his eyes, that would probably be seen as forcing him to make a choice.

He might choose me; after all, that’s what he had done in the past.

The He Family was an unreachable, towering tree, but their only daughter, He Lingyue, was a freakish cripple.

I was a piece of fat that everyone coveted.

Or to put it another way, I was like a piece of rotting flesh; even if I reeked, a flock of vultures circled me, eager to peck me away.

I was the marriage partner they were hyper-critical of, yet flocked toward.

Even if Cheng Song was completely unwilling, he would still maintain this relationship that existed in name only.

Just like in the past, when the temperamental me would suddenly lash out at him, he would only look at me with silent endurance.

Then, once my anger subsided, he would give me a gift as an apology.

The gifts were likely chosen by his assistant-sometimes a bag, sometimes jewelry-never showing much thought.

Yet, without him needing to say a word, my anger would easily dissipate.

After all, everyone said I liked him, that I loved him to death.

I never denied it because I felt the same way myself.

But now, at the thought of that possibility, I suddenly felt a slight wave of nausea.

As if I found it disgusting.

I had never felt this way before.

The glass reflected my features, pale and bloodless.

I stared at myself, lost in thought.

Seeing that I had no intention of speaking, Uncle Chen remained silent as well, pushing my wheelchair to lead me away.