chapter 5
chapter 5
Lin Jin entered, looking nervous. “An important finance document needs your handwritten signature.”
Qin Shen frowned but said nothing.
“Why is a finance document being delivered by you?” I asked evenly.
Lin Jin glanced at Qin Shen, grievance bleeding into her voice. “I’m about to resign and don’t have much work left, so I offered to run the errand for a colleague in Finance.”
“Resign?” I bit into the apple and turned to Qin Shen. “Secretary Lin is leaving?”
Qin Shen slowly wiped the juice from his hands with a tissue and gave me an amused look.
“I’m the chairman of this company. Why would I know about every insignificant staffing matter below me?”
Lin Jin’s eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes suddenly reddened.
“Mrs. Qin, embarrassing as it is to admit, my child’s father wants us to go abroad. He—”
“Enough.” Qin Shen rose and cut her off. “My wife needs rest. She cannot be disturbed. I’ll sign it outside.”
One minute after they left, I climbed out of bed.
Near the corner, I heard Lin Jin’s tearful voice drifting from behind the elevators and approached without a sound.
“Chengcheng hasn’t seen you in a month. He misses you. Every day, he asks why Daddy hasn’t come home.”
“I already agreed to go abroad. Just spend his birthday with him tonight. He’s a pitiful child. His father has never held him once.”
“We need a proper goodbye too, don’t we? Ah Shen…”
Lin Jin gazed up at Qin Shen, helpless and on the verge of tears.
His tall figure remained perfectly straight.
I did not hear him say a word.
When he returned to my room, he was laughing with the doctor. He looked delighted as he took my hand.
“A-Li, the doctor says you can leave the hospital in the next two days. This is wonderful. You’ve finally made it through.”
I nodded solemnly. “Yes. I’ve finally made it through.”
As if something had just occurred to him, he said casually, “The document Secretary Lin brought has a problem. I’ll go back to the office this afternoon and handle it. I won’t be long.”
I lifted my eyes to him. “How long?”
He smiled. “Can’t bear to let me go? Don’t worry. I’ll be back before seven.”
I slowly closed my eyes.
“All right.”
At five that afternoon, I completed my discharge paperwork.
The nurses were surprised. “Your husband isn’t here at such an important moment?”
I smiled at them. “It’s all right. I can manage on my own.”
At six, I took a taxi to the gated villa community.
The young attendant remembered me. “Visiting your friend again?”
I nodded. “Would you mind opening the gate?”
“Of course.”
At six ten, I stood outside Lin Jin’s house.
My phone vibrated. Qin Shen had sent me a message.
A-Li, what would you like for dinner? I’ll bring it home.
Expressionless, I locked the screen and entered the code.
The door clicked open.
Three people sat around the dining table. A birthday cake stood before them. Lin Jin, smiling brightly, was singing the birthday song and placing a party hat on Chengcheng’s head.
Qin Shen sat with his back to me, looking down at his phone.
“Birthday cake, I think.”
My quiet answer sliced through the song.
Lin Jin stopped mid-note. She turned, terror washing over her face.
Qin Shen did not move. His posture remained unchanged, yet his entire back seemed to stiffen into stone.
“Auntie, are you a friend of my mommy and daddy? Did you come to wish me a happy birthday too?” Chengcheng asked in an innocent little voice, his cheeks flushed.
I smiled and nodded. “Yes. Happy birthday.”
“Thank you, Auntie!”
“May I speak to your daddy first?”
“Okay!”
I walked forward, one step at a time, until I stood beside Qin Shen and looked down at him.
His profile was rigid. His fingers were white around his phone, and he remained motionless.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt your happy family gathering, but there’s a document that requires your handwritten signature.”
I tossed the papers onto the table.
Four bold words dominated the cover page: DIVORCE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.
Qin Shen began to tremble, but he still did not raise his head.
“Sign it as soon as possible, Mr. Qin. If it takes longer than three days, I’ll file suit. Your company works with the government. I doubt you’d want the attention.”
I turned to Lin Jin.
Her eyes were enormous with panic and fear—and, deep beneath them, a flicker of excitement and triumph.
I laughed softly.
“Lin Jin, you won. I’m giving you this man. Don’t disappoint me. Make sure the two of you stay chained together for life.”
I turned to leave.
Qin Shen, who had kept his head lowered all this time, suddenly seized my hand. His voice shook.
“A-Li—”
I pulled free.
“Don’t touch me.”
“You’re filthy.”