Chapter 22

“Is Bai Ziling well?” Jiang Jie no longer wanted to beat around the bush—he simply wanted to know how she was doing.

Xia Zhen said nothing, just looked at him.

Jiang Jie stared back, but his mind was on Bai Ziling—that night… He knew he alone had experienced true pleasure and satisfaction; Bai Ziling, being a virgin, had cried from pain, and with her hatred for him, he was certain that night had been anything but pleasant for her. At dawn, when he woke, she was already gone.

In her room, everything that belonged to her had been taken—nothing left behind, as if she had never lived there at all. She hadn’t even said goodbye. All that echoed in his ears after he woke was her words: “I will hate you until I die!”

Jiang Jie had thought of calling her, but usually, before he finished dialing, he’d pull his hand back. She wouldn’t answer his calls. Even for divorce matters, lawyers could handle it—what excuse did he have to find her again?

“Jiang Jie…” Xia Zhen finally spoke. “Don’t you think this is a stupid, ridiculous question?”

“Is she well?” he insisted again.

“Could she possibly be well?”

“What has she been busy with lately?” he asked, forcing himself to press on.

“Busy being heartbroken.”

“Xia Zhen…” His whole body tensed, his face twisted with suffering. “I’m being serious—”

“Am I not serious?” Xia Zhen mocked him. “Bai Ziling can’t eat, can’t sleep, has lost so much weight she’s skeletal. When you ask her anything, she says nothing—only mentions that the deal ended early. Jiang Jie, how did you hurt her? How could you do this?”

Jiang Jie admitted it. He didn’t refute a single word.

"Bai Ziling is a good girl. You have no right, no justification, to torment her like this," Xia Zhen scolded angrily.

“Didn’t you comfort her?” Jiang Jie asked, concerned.

“How do you comfort her? Teach me!”

“I… never meant to hurt her.”

“I’d say that too.”

“I hope you can…”

“Jiang Jie, you caused this mess—you fix it yourself. It wasn’t us who hurt Bai Ziling, it wasn’t us who treated her badly—it was you!” Xia Zhen accused him mercilessly. “You’re the source of this.”

“I paid. And many things… Bai Ziling agreed to willingly…”

“Jiang Jie, if thinking that way makes your conscience feel better, then think it!” Xia Zhen grew even harsher. “Do you think money is only yours? Three million isn’t U.S. dollars—it’s just New Taiwan Dollars. I, or Weiwei, or Xingchen—we all have three million.”

Jiang Jie decided to stay silent.

“And Bai Ziling isn’t a gold digger!” Xia Zhen added.

“I never said she was!”

“But you treated her like one—like trash!”

“Xia Zhen, I never mistreated her. From day one until the day she left, I never treated her badly. Ask her yourself—I’m not some… demon or madman,” Jiang Jie said coldly. He wouldn’t accept baseless accusations.

“Oh yes! You’re a rich master!” Xia Zhen sneered. “Bai Ziling was right to leave you. If she’d stayed any longer, she might not even know how she died.”

Jiang Jie gave a bitter smile, then turned away. Since he couldn’t get any answers, he’d spare himself. He hadn’t expected Lei Hanyu’s wife to be so sharp-tongued.

Lei Hanyu only approached Jiang Jie after he’d distanced himself from his wife, moving cautiously, afraid Xia Zhen would notice and spark a family war.

“You’ve seen the power of my wife, haven’t you?” Lei Hanyu clapped Jiang Jie on the shoulder, as if offering encouragement.

“I can’t blame her,” Jiang Jie said with grace.

“She’s avenging Bai Ziling.”

“I understand.”

“Those four… are closer than blood sisters,” Lei Hanyu had learned firsthand. “If you offend one, you offend them all. So if you want to live in peace, never, ever provoke any one of them.”

“There doesn’t seem to be that chance anymore,” Jiang Jie said flatly.

“Are you and Bai Ziling done?”

“Done.”

“Are you sure it’s truly over?” Lei Hanyu urged him to think again. “I once thought I was done with Xia Zhen too—but after losing her, I realized she’d already seeped into my blood, my marrow. I couldn’t live without her. No matter how hard I fought, I only hurt myself. In the end, I raised the white flag. I lost.”

Jiang Jie listened, but said nothing.

“If you don’t love her, then it doesn’t matter. But if you do…” Lei Hanyu spoke like a man who’d been there. “Admit defeat now.”

Jiang Jie sighed. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know if you love her?!”

“I don’t know if she’ll ever forgive me,” Jiang Jie said, uttering a haunting remark.

“Jiang Jie, then you…”

“I still don’t understand women.”

“No man ever truly understands women. Do you know what Lan Baiwei, Sima Xingchen’s husband, said?” Lei Hanyu mimicked Lan’s tone. “Just love her. Don’t bother understanding her.”

Jiang Jie smiled.

“That’s golden advice,” Lei Hanyu concluded. “Many things aren’t hard. Women want only one thing—and it’s never changed since ancient times.”

“Love?” Jiang Jie asked.

“Love!” Lei Hanyu winked. “You’ve finally gotten it!”

Bai Ziling planned to use the three million Jiang Jie gave her to open a refined, distinctive coffee shop. Life had to go on. Though her heart was shattered, she still had family and friends—she couldn’t collapse. She wouldn’t let a heartless man destroy her for life. She would live well—just to prove it to him.

To prepare for the coffee shop, Bai Ziling ran around all day. It was better this way—busyness kept her from thinking of Jiang Jie, from remembering the humiliation and pain he’d caused. With a little more time, she believed she’d heal.

But the moment she stepped outside and saw Jiang Jie standing just a few paces from her door, all her defenses and mental fortifications shattered. Her heart was slashed again—fresh, bloody, so painful she winced and clenched her teeth.

Jiang Jie stared at Bai Ziling. Xia Zhen hadn’t lied—she’d lost so much weight. She looked like skin stretched over bone, her eyes sunken, exhausted, utterly drained.

“Bai Ziling,” he called softly.

“You’re here to get me to sign the divorce papers?” Bai Ziling thought of nothing else. “Bring them. I’ll sign.”

“I didn’t bring any divorce papers.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I just came to…”

“See me?” Bai Ziling stared at him coldly. “You’ve seen me now. I’m fine! So…”

“You’re not fine,” he cut her off.

“I look bad—but I’ve never felt better in my life. You know what? That three million had some use. I’m using it to open a coffee shop. So…” She sneered at him. “I should thank you!”

“You’re opening a coffee shop?” Jiang Jie hadn’t imagined she’d planned this.

“You forbid it?” she mocked.

“Do you have experience?”

“I can learn!”

“Learning costs money,” Jiang Jie said. He didn’t know if her coffee shop would succeed—or even last. Many women dreamed of opening coffee shops, but amateurs often ended up crying over their losses.

“Is that any of your business?” she asked blankly. “Even if this shop fails, it has nothing to do with you. That three million was mine—I earned it with my own effort.”

“Must it be like this?” he said, holding back.

“Like what?!” she snapped back.

“We’re still… married.”

“Jiang Jie, I’ve been in a bad mood lately, so I won’t smile. You and I were never truly married. Don’t defile such a sacred word. You wanted money. I wanted money. At best—we were a pair of mutually convenient ‘whores’!” Bai Ziling spoke with brutal candor, determined to shock him with her crudeness.