Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Everyone knew I abandoned Shen Yezhou for money.

During the year he loved me most, I accepted two million yuan from his mother, Ye Cen.

Then, I left him without looking back.

Furious at his mother’s interference, he staged a hunger strike in protest, wasting away until he was barely a shadow of his former self.

His friends couldn’t stand to watch it. Swallowing their loathing for me, they came to me one by one to plead his case.

I refused to see any of them.

Later, when his life was hanging by a thread and his mother was at her wits’ end, she called and asked me to act as a “mediator.”

When I finally appeared before him, he clung to me as if he would never let go.

Though he was gaunt and skeletal, the strength with which he held me made my bones ache.

“Ah Yu, you’re here. You still love me, don’t you? I knew it-”

The joy in his voice was raw and undisguised.

I pushed him away with cold indifference. I played an audio recording for him and showed him a text message.

The audio was of his mother asking me to see him, and me setting the price at 300,000 yuan.

The text was the notification that the 300,000 had been deposited into my account.

His eyes widened in a daze. Once the reality sank in, he shoved me away with all his might.

The force of the movement sent him tumbling off the bed, where he lay on the floor, coughing as if his lungs would tear apart.

“Ning Yu, get the hell out of here!”

He sprawled pathetically on the ground, spitting out every word through gritted teeth.

I did exactly as he wished and left cleanly, never once looking back.

Someone leaked the story of what happened.

From that day on, I became the laughingstock of Beicheng.

Those in the know said that Ning Yu was as heartless as she was greedy.

Others claimed I never loved Shen Yezhou at all-that I had only been with him for his money.

No one cared about the actual truth…

As soon as Shen Yezhou recovered, he entered into a strategic business marriage with Jiang Tian, the darling daughter of the Darui Group’s CEO.

I received no fewer than ten invitations to their engagement party.

They were sent by his friends.

I honored my “agreement” with his mother and vanished completely from his life.

But over the years, I remained well-informed of his achievements.

I knew he and Jiang Tian went to the United States to study together, living and eating as a couple.

I knew he completed the Harvard and Kennedy School joint JD/MBA dual degree program in just two years.

I knew that the moment he joined the company, he settled several incredibly difficult cases, earning the genuine respect of the skeptical company veterans.

I knew that although he and Jiang Tian hadn’t held a formal wedding yet, he already called her parents “Mom” and “Dad”…

It wasn’t that I was intentionally digging for information; rather, his friends were “vying” to report it all to me.

They say a good ex should be as quiet as the dead, yet they constantly wanted to drag me out to “flog my corpse.”

It was as if proving how exceptional Shen Yezhou had become would confirm just how foolish I had been.

Today’s class reunion was the first time I would see Shen Yezhou in the three years since our breakup.

Tomorrow, I am heading toward a different kind of life.

From now on, he will remain high in the clouds, enjoying his wealth and status.

I will go into the dust, to be worn down by the world.

Before coming here, I called his mother and made a request.

“You may go. Just remember what shouldn’t be said and what shouldn’t be done,” were her exact words.

I agreed.

Ostensibly, I was here as the plus-one for my old classmate, Gu Xiao.

In reality, I wanted to find a former classmate who specialized in nephrology to verify some medical records.

There are things I must understand clearly before I can let them go…

I had anticipated Shen Yezhou’s humiliation and cold stares. I had anticipated the bullying and ridicule from my former classmates.

What I hadn’t anticipated was that Shen Yezhou would turn this reunion into a pre-wedding banquet.

As the stars of the show, he and Jiang Tian played drinking games with ease, putting their affection on full display.

The atmosphere was electric; no one was tactless enough to mention the past.

I also managed to get the answers I needed from my old classmate.

Because Gu Xiao was held up by some people, I waited a little longer than planned.

I didn’t expect that in the brief moment it took to sneak a photo and draft a text, Shen Yezhou would appear before me like a ghost.

He dragged me out into the light, exposing me to the scorching gaze of the crowd.