Chapter 12
"I don't need you to bother." I looked Zhou Zeyu straight in the eye, my voice calm, unflinching. "Even if no man in this lifetime wants me, I still wouldn't consider you."
Before he could react, I added coolly:
"And who said a woman needs a man to live? Can't I be beautiful on my own?
"I have a good life. I earn my own money, I enjoy my own freedom. Why would I willingly go back to serving someone again?
"I'm not missing an arm or a leg—I'm perfectly whole. So why should I desperately grab onto a man like a life raft?"
Zhou Zeyu's face flushed crimson, and for once, he had no comeback.
The more I spoke, the more absurd his arrogance seemed. I couldn't help laughing.
He stormed off, humiliated.
Honestly, I had no idea how Zhou Zeyu still walked around in this day and age with such bloated masculinity, thinking the world owed him loyalty just for being a man.
In my last life, I must've had a door slam shut on my brain to have put up with someone like him for so long.
After that final confrontation, Zhou Zeyu never came to bother me again.
I stayed focused on my studies and was successfully admitted into the doctoral program. Immersing myself in research and academia brought me real joy—quiet, steady, fulfilling.
Until one day, my old roommate called.
"Come to the class reunion," she urged sweetly. "Zhou Zeyu won't be there, I promise. With all the drama in his house, he's probably too ashamed to show up."
Reluctantly, I agreed.
The reunion was held in a private dining room at a fancy restaurant. I hadn't seen most of these people in years, but time had softened old impressions and sharpened our appetite for gossip.
Of course, it didn't take long before someone brought up the most scandalous name in the room.
"Hey, did you guys hear?" one classmate leaned in, voice lowered but eyes glinting. "Zhou Zeyu almost got killed by his little wife!"
He turned to glance at me with a half-apologetic grin. "Uh… Shen Xi, mind if we talk about your ex-husband?"
I smiled serenely. "You already said ex—why would I mind?"
That was all the permission they needed.
"His second wife is a real piece of work. Controlling, possessive, paranoid. Won't let any good-looking female employees near him. Crashes his dinner parties. Publicly embarrasses him every chance she gets. His company's barely holding together."
"She's even trying to drive his eldest son out of the house so her own kid can take over. It's insane."
Someone gasped. "Wait—wasn't she the one who pushed his son down the stairs?"
"That's not even the biggest scandal," another chimed in, eyes gleaming. "Get this—her newborn? Turns out it's not even Zhou Zeyu's kid!"
The table exploded.
"What?!"
"No way!"
"How'd they find out?!"
"Blood type," the gossiper declared proudly. "The baby's O-type. But Zhou Zeyu's AB. There's no way an AB dad has an O-type baby—basic genetics!"
The room filled with a mixture of laughter, disbelief, and secondhand satisfaction.
"I heard Zhou Zeyu almost killed her when he found out," someone added. "They're divorcing now. But since he hit her, she's gonna clean him out during the settlement. Karma's a beast."
I sat quietly, listening.
And yes—whoever said there's no such thing as sweet justice clearly hadn't heard gossip like this.
My roommate leaned over, grinning. "So? Worth coming to the reunion, right?"
I nodded, sipping my tea with a small smile.
Absolutely worth it.
But just as the evening wound down and people began to say their goodbyes, the private room door opened—and in walked the last person any of us expected to see.
Zhou Zeyu.