Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I gripped my phone, suddenly speechless.

My best friend let out a soft scoff. “Yaoyao, you’re too naive. When a man doesn’t come home even on New Year’s Eve, there are only two possibilities.”

“…What are they?”

“First, he really is stuck. But if that were the case, your phone would be blowing up with his messages. He’d be proactively video-calling you to show you the traffic, complaining about everything because he’d be more anxious to get home than you are.”

She paused. “Has he done that?”

My heart sank instantly.

He hadn’t.

Not only had he not reached out, but he hadn’t even replied to the few messages I’d sent him.

“And… the second possibility?”

“The second one,” my friend’s voice turned cold, “is that he simply doesn’t want to come back. He has a free maid at home to wait on his parents and deal with the relatives, while he has a ‘tender nest’ waiting for him outside to celebrate the reunion. He’s making a killing on that deal.”

My vision went dark, and I instinctively reached out to steady myself against the kitchen counter.

No… that couldn’t be it.

We had been married for ten years; Zhou Chen wasn’t that kind of person.

“Jiang Yao, when is dinner starting? Don’t make the new brother-in-law wait too long!”

My mother-in-law’s voice drifted in from the living room.

The new brother-in-law.

That was right.

Zhou Chen’s sister had brought her new boyfriend home tonight.

That was why I had to prepare a New Year’s Eve feast for the whole extended family.

But…

My friend’s words echoed in my ears.

Was Zhou Chen truly stuck on the highway?

I swiped the screen open and initiated a video call to Zhou Chen.

It rang twice before being disconnected.

Immediately after, a message popped up: “Yaoyao, my phone is almost out of battery. I need to call Mom later to wish her a Happy New Year, so let’s skip the video call.”

I wiped my hands dry and sent a tentative reply: “I put a new power bank in the glove compartment. Our daughter misses you; she wants to give her daddy New Year greetings.”

After the message was sent, the top of the chat window repeatedly showed “typing…” but no reply came for a long time.

If I had only one percent doubt before, I now had a hundred.

Because there was no power bank in the glove compartment.

Which meant he wasn’t in the car.

“Sister-in-law! Mom is talking to you, are you deaf?”

My sister-in-law walked into the kitchen, her slippers thumping against the floor. “What time is it? We’re all waiting to finish eating so we can go set off fireworks!”

I looked up at her. “Zhou Chen just messaged me saying he booked a New Year’s Eve dinner from a Michelin-starred restaurant a long time ago. Why don’t you call and ask him where he is? My phone is about to die.”

She eyed me suspiciously. “He booked Michelin? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

She pulled out her phone and dialed.

The call was picked up after only two rings.

“Brother? When exactly is that Michelin dinner you ordered getting delivered? It’s past nine o’clock, the whole family is starving!”

The person on the other end was clearly taken aback. “What Michelin? Stop looking for trouble. Don’t you know I’m busy here?”

Before he could finish, the call was disconnected.

My sister-in-law flared up instantly. “You fucking dare to trick me? My brother didn’t order any Michelin! I’m getting Mom in here to deal with you!”

At that moment, I had no energy to deal with her questioning.

A single fact surfaced with absolute clarity.

Zhou Chen could answer her call in seconds, yet he refused my video call.

He wasn’t on some snow-covered highway at all.

“Are you sure now?” my friend’s voice came through the receiver.

I took a deep breath, my voice trembling with panic. “Then… then where exactly is he?”

“Don’t panic.”

“Even if you’re certain he’s currently lying in some slut’s bed, you must stay calm. Don’t alert the enemy.”

“And then?”

“And then, pull yourself together and keep cooking.”

“What?”

I could barely keep my voice down. “He’s out there playing the field, and I’m supposed to stay home and wait on his entire family?”

“Don’t be hasty,” my friend’s voice dropped low. “Do as I say. This is the perfect chance to see if Zhou Chen can actually rush back right now!”