Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When I woke up, Zhou Jinghe was on the phone. “It’s nothing serious. She had a full body checkup-just a few scrapes.”

He’d taken off his outer parka. Tall and sharp-featured, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, his figure was impossible to miss.

The cut on his forearm still hadn’t been treated, and he hadn’t even changed out of his pants, which were soaked through with snow. It was like he’d been keeping vigil by my bedside the whole time.

I caught a faint floral scent and turned my head, spotting a bouquet of Casablanca lilies set off to the side.

Zhou Jinghe’s mild voice drifted to me through the call: “Don’t brush it off. Did you get checked?”

In that instant, I understood who was on the other end.

Zhou Jinghe ended the call. When he noticed I was awake, the tension in his face eased.

He quickly came over. “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

I didn’t answer. I just kept looking at the lilies.

“Shuwen sent those over just now.” Zhou Jinghe paused. “Zhengzheng, earlier, when you and her slid down-”

“Throw them out.” I cut him off, meeting his gaze and giving a faint smile. “Throw the flowers out.”

Zhou Jinghe’s jaw tightened. After a few seconds, he picked up the bouquet and tossed it into the trash.

Outside the window was Switzerland’s winter sky, a cool gray-blue. Far away, the snowy peaks caught a thin wash of pale pink dusk.

A sign that snow was coming.

“Shen Shuwen and I have been friends for more than ten years.” Zhou Jinghe stood against that hush of a backdrop. “Zhengzheng, I can explain.”

“No need.” I looked at the face I’d been captivated by for four years and said, “Let’s get a divorce.”

Snow began to fall without warning.

With the light behind him, I couldn’t make out Zhou Jinghe’s expression.

“Zhengzheng, there’s nothing between her and me-nothing beyond friendship.”

He let out a sigh, like he was worn to the bone. “Can you stop being so rash?”

It was strange. I couldn’t even muster anger. All I could think was-what are you tired from?

If anyone should be exhausted, shouldn’t it be me?

“I’m not being rash.” The wound on my right arm, already wrapped, throbbed with a dull sting. “I’m not discussing it with you. I’m informing you.”

“If this is about me not saving you, I’m sorry.” Zhou Jinghe’s tone softened. “It was my fault. But where I was, saving Shuwen was the quickest-”

“I know. The rational choice.” I said, “You were closest to her. If she lost control, she would’ve slammed into the rock belt. I was only going to hit the safety netting.”

Zhou Jinghe went silent. A shadow of irritation gathered between his brows, but it vanished almost immediately, replaced by his usual composure.

“You’re upset right now. We’re not talking about this,” he said. “Once you’ve fully recovered, we’ll go back home.”

“Are you not hearing me?” My throat was so dry I had to force the words out again. “I’m telling you-I’m divorcing you.”

“Just because of that?” Zhou Jinghe sounded impatient. “Why is it that the moment it involves her, you stop thinking?”

A churn of emotions surged up-hurt, confusion, anger-until the tip of my nose stung.

I knew this feeling far too well.

“Then what? In a life-or-death moment, my husband saves his ‘old friend’ and not me.”

I put extra weight on the words “old friend.” “If I don’t divorce you now, what am I waiting for-Christmas?”

Zhou Jinghe stared at me for a few seconds, then said flatly, “Get well first.”