Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I had asked myself countless times: did I regret the choice I made back then?

I had thought about it countless times, and even though the ending had turned out so far from what I wanted, I think I still did not regret having loved him.

Those twelve years may have been an absurd blot on the youth I had lived through, but in the end, they were also the bravest chapter of my life.

Fate is cruel, but it is also merciful. Its mercy lies in this: as long as you keep moving forward, it will always give you a way out.

I never wanted to see Zhao Sisi, but Fu Chi had lifted her too high. From an unknown, bottom-tier actress, she had risen straight to the A-list, and now her image slipped into every corner of my life.

When I lowered my head to search for an obstetrician’s contact information, news about her was pushed in front of me again.

One photo was a selfie she had taken at the movie theater. Another showed a brilliantly lit villa, with rows upon rows of jewelry and unopened designer handbags.

The caption read: “The apology was decent enough, so this princess will forgive you!”

Anyone could tell someone had rented out the whole theater to watch a movie with her.

And that pile of bags and jewelry was worth no less than twenty million.

Expressionless, I turned off my phone. My heart had long since been hollowed out, unable to stir even the faintest ripple.

Just then, a sound came from the entryway. I looked up.

Fu Chi had his coat draped over his wrist and was bending down to get his slippers. As if sensing something, he lifted his eyes and looked at me sitting on the sofa.

“It’s so late. Why aren’t you asleep?” His tone was light, as though he had merely come home after a day at work and was greeting his wife gently.

I looked up at him and smiled. “Did you go watch a movie with Zhao Sisi?”

Fu Chi’s hands paused. He looked at me in surprise, as if he could not understand why I would ask such a question.

Fair enough. After all these years, this was the first time I had mentioned Zhao Sisi in front of him.

After a brief daze, he picked up the cigarette pack from the coffee table and casually drew one out. The cold silver lighter clicked.

Fu Chi leaned back against the sofa. The cigarette between his fingers glowed scarlet, and the weariness between his brows was the kind built up by power and privilege. He narrowed his eyes and asked, “Do you care?”

I looked at the cigarette in his hand and instinctively placed my hand over my abdomen. Then, after a moment’s thought, I lowered it again.

“When I cared, did you ever care?” I asked, finding it almost laughable.

He should have known I was talking about what had happened four years ago, the incident that became the beginning of this broken marriage.

Back then, Zhao Sisi had been an unknown newcomer, only eighteen years old, young and beautiful.

What a wonderful age that was. She would look at him with those damp eyes and call him President Fu.

I had been so confident then. Confident enough to think that as long as Fu Chi kept his boundaries, no matter how much trouble anyone else caused, it would never amount to anything.

But in the end, I had overestimated Fu Chi’s love for me and underestimated my own possessiveness.

Without even realizing it, he kept saying she was interesting, letting her draw closer to him step by step. She sent him good night messages on WeChat every single day.

Only I was like a lunatic. Because I cared too much, my reason collapsed piece by piece.

But back then, he could not even be bothered to argue with me. I was the only one performing a one-woman catastrophe.

He had merely lowered his brows and said impatiently, “If she wants to misunderstand, what am I supposed to do?”

With reddened eyes and bare feet, I had screamed myself hoarse. “You’re just cheap! If you hadn’t given her the chance, how could she have misunderstood? If you hadn’t made her promises, why would she try to kill herself for you?”

If Fu Chi had never wavered, where would she have gotten the confidence to challenge me?

He looked at me, his voice so flat it was cold. “Xu Man, you really look like a lunatic right now.”

In that moment, it was as if we had gone from the two people who loved each other most in this world to the most terrifying enemies to each other.

Pulling myself out of the memory, amid the long silence and in the empty hall, I spoke again, my voice firm. “Fu Chi, let’s get divorced.”

At that exact moment, the cigarette in his hand had burned down to the end. He did not let go in time and got burned. His hand trembled as he stubbed it out.

Only then did he dare lift his head to look at me.