Chapter 135: Sign It, I

He sat on the bedside, holding her hand, his eyes filled with an overwhelming, inescapable heartache and lingering fear: "Daughter‑in‑law, you were terrified today, weren't you? It's all my fault…"

"It's really not your fault," Su Ruan interrupted, looking at the blue tint in his eyes and his tightly knit brows, knowing his inner pressure and guilt were no less than hers.

She squeezed his hand firmly and whispered, "Jiang Ran, we are husband and wife, one body. When storms come, we bear them together. Today you protected me and the child; you were great."

She paused, then continued, "Moreover, after this incident I also realized that for some people, for some malice, we cannot be soft‑hearted or hopeful."

"Su Yanhua… she must pay for her actions today."

Jiang Ran nodded heavily, his gaze icy: "Rest assured, I won't let her have any chance to get close to you again."

Meanwhile, in the cold police station detention room, Su Yanhua curled up in the corner of the hard board bed, her eyes vacant as she stared at the mottled wall.

The initial frenzy and hysteria had passed, replaced by a bone‑deep cold and despair.

The distinctive smell of the detention room, mingled with the scent of rusted iron, constantly reminded her of her current predicament.

She was finished.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, having attempted to harm an infant with both evidence and witnesses, the Jiang Family would not let this go lightly.

Awaiting her would be the law's severe punishment, possibly… a longer sentence than Lin Wei's.

At the thought of spending endless years in a sunless prison, Su Yanhua trembled with terror.

She's still so young; must her life be ruined like this?

Regret? Perhaps a little. But more than that, it's unwillingness and resentment!

Why did it have to be her who fell into this mess? Why can Su Ruan live so well!

As she was immersed in her twisted bitterness, the detention room door opened, and a police officer stood at the entrance.

"Su Yanhua, someone wants to see you."

Su Yanhua looked up blankly, wondering who would come to see her—her parents?

They would probably only scold her for bringing shame.

When she was taken to the meeting room and, through the iron bars, saw the man in a grey Zhongshan suit, glasses, with a cold, even slightly impatient expression, she was stunned.

It was Liu Wen Bin.

How did he get here? Was he here to mock her?

Su Yanhua's lips moved, wanting to curse him, to question him, but in the end she only managed a laugh more hideous than crying, and turned away.

Liu Wen Bin looked at the gaunt, clouded‑eyed woman before him, a flash of unabashed disgust passing through his gaze.

He cleared his throat, his tone strictly official, without a hint of warmth: "Su Yanhua, I am here today to give you a choice."

Su Yanhua snapped her head around, staring at him intently.

Liu Wen Bin ignored the hatred in her eyes and continued: "I've heard all about your foolish act today. Deliberate harm, the target still an infant, the circumstances heinous, enough to keep you inside for many years."

His words pierced her heart like an ice spear, turning her face even paler.

"However," Liu Wen Bin's tone shifted, his voice bearing a patronizing arrogance, "as long as you agree to sign a Divorce and guarantee you will no longer entangle the Liu Family nor trouble the Jiang Family, I can consider… arranging a medical parole or some other pretext to get you out earlier."

Su Yanhua's eyes widened in disbelief, her heart pounding wildly.

Get out earlier? He was willing to help her?

But immediately, she understood Liu Wen Bin's intention.

He wasn't helping her; he was merely clearing obstacles from his own path!

He was eager to discard her, to be properly with that Li Qian.

He feared that his ex‑wife's record, or long‑term imprisonment, would tarnish his reputation and prospects!

A massive sense of humiliation surged in her chest, more unbearable than being exposed at the full‑moon banquet.

"Liu Wen Bin… you… you are shameless!"

Su Yanhua forced the words out between her teeth, her voice trembling.

Liu Wen Bin adjusted his glasses, his face showing no ripple, only cold indifference and calculation: "Say what you will. This is your only option right now."

"If you sign, you might still have a chance to regain freedom, though what comes after depends on your own fate. If you don't…"

He paused, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth: "Then you'll have to stay inside, slowly rotting. Think—can your delicate flesh endure those days inside?"

He hit the deepest of Su Yanhua's fears with precision. Prison was a hell on earth she could not imagine.

Su Yanhua felt a chill run through her body, her teeth chattering.

She stared at Liu Wen Bin's lofty, as‑if‑he‑were‑looking‑at‑trash expression,

then at the cage she occupied, a massive despair and helplessness nearly devouring her.

Did she still have a choice?

Her parents were unreliable, her natal family was out of reach.

She herself was penniless, already bearing this case.

If she didn't agree to Liu Wen Bin, she might truly rot away in prison!

Freedom… even a limited, humble freedom would be better than this endless, sunless confinement!

Tears surged without warning, not tears of regret but of humiliation, unwillingness, yet forced to bow to reality.

She bit her lower lip hard until she tasted blood, then from deep within her throat uttered a broken word: "…Okay."

Liu Wen Bin's face showed the expected expression; he took the pre‑prepared Divorce agreement and pen from his briefcase and slipped them through the gap in the iron bars.

"Sign it."

Su Yanhua's trembling hand took the thin sheets, feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds.

The cold clauses on them completely severed her last connection with Liu Wen Bin and the Liu Family, as if announcing the total failure of all her schemes and efforts.

She stared at the words "Both parties voluntarily dissolve the marriage" and her vision went black.

Once, she had thought marrying into the Liu Family was a leap out of the fire pit, a glorious beginning.

Now, it ended in this disgraceful way.

She used all her strength, grasped the pen, and on that agreement that symbolized humiliation and compromise, she crookedly signed her name.

Each stroke felt as if it were gouging her heart.

After signing, she seemed to have all her bones pulled out, slumped in the chair, her gaze hollow, no longer giving Liu Wen Bin a single look.

Liu Wen Bin carefully examined the signature, and after confirming it was correct, he folded the agreement away, a faint look of relieved ease appearing on his face.

"I will process the paperwork as soon as possible. As for you… wait for my word."

He dropped that sentence, without any lingering, and turned to leave.

In the meeting room, only Su Yanhua remained, silently weeping before the cold iron bars.

She had lost her child, the right to be a mother, her marriage, and her dignity.

Now, even the last ounce of strength to defy fate has been completely exhausted in this humiliating transaction.