Jiang Zhi's voice was arctic. "The paparazzi already have proof of you tangled up with Wen Nian. If our three-year secret relationship gets exposed too, what kind of storm do you think will erupt online?" Jiang Nian's "Film Emperor" title was newly minted, his throne barely warmed. A scandal exposing his "infidelity" and hidden affair would be a devastating blow to his career. Going public with Wen Nian, however, could fuel their new drama's hype—damage control with benefits.
Jiang Nian's jaw clenched. "So desperate to leave me? You'd stoop to threats?!"
A cold laugh escaped Jiang Zhi. "I'm not leaving by choice. You forced my hand. Isn't that obvious?"
Despite her words, his grip only tightened, crushing her wrist as if determined to shatter bone. Jiang Zhi met his desperate stare, pain seemingly irrelevant. "Let. Go."
This version of her was terrifyingly alien. A primal dread screamed that releasing her meant losing her forever.
Tension crackled in the air, thick and volatile.
"Nian-ge!" Wen Nian rushed out, clinging to Jiang Nian's other arm. "You said you loved me! Just let her go!" She'd sensed the wardrobe's presence earlier – her question meant to shatter Jiang Zhi's illusions. Wen Nian's triumph vanished upon seeing Jiang Zhi's unveiled beauty. Now, fear clawed at her: This woman will steal him back.
Jiang Nian whirled on her, all bedroom tenderness gone. "Shut up!"
Wen Nian flinched. The gentle lover had vanished, replaced by someone dark and unrecognizable.
Callous bastard, Jiang Zhi thought, finally seeing the rot beneath his five-year facade. She wrenched her wrist. "Last warning, Jiang Nian: Let. Go." She glanced pointedly at her phone. "Or face the consequences."
Wen Nian seized the opening, venom lacing her plea: "She never loved you! If she did, she'd never hurt you like this! I would never betray you!"
Jiang Nian's jaw locked. Staring at Wen Nian – her features a faint echo of Jiang Zhi's – he faltered. In that split second, Jiang Zhi ripped her hand free and vanished through the door.
The night air outside the luxury apartment complex was still and cold. No taxis roamed the gated streets at 2 AM. Jiang Zhi walked briskly, her heels cracking like gunshots in the silence.
Disaster piles on disaster.
A pebble caught her stiletto. A sickening twist. White-hot agony shot through her ankle. She gasped, doubling over, the dam finally breaking. Tears fell hot and heavy onto the pavement.
One moment of clarity? No. This was the shattering of a thousand accumulated fractures—disappointment crystallizing into irrevocable truth.
She wept until only emptiness remained. Standing brought a wave of dizziness—hypoglycemia from skipped meals, or oxygen deprivation from crouching too long? The world spun black. She braced for impact.
Instead, she collided with warmth. Hard muscle beneath expensive wool. The clean, cold scent of cedar and bergamot filled her senses. Strong arms lifted her as consciousness faded.
Safe…
Hospital. Noon.
The pungent sting of disinfectant. Stark white walls. A metal-framed bed with faded blue sheets.
Memories surfaced—hazy, dreamlike. A man sitting beside her. The rough pad of a thumb tracing the curve of her cheekbone. His touch achingly tender, as if handling shattered glass.
A deep, resonant voice, strangely familiar yet unknown, brushed her ear: "Was he truly worth such devotion?" A thread of loneliness wove through the words.
Something broke inside her. Tears she thought spent welled anew.
A calloused finger caught one at her temple, lifted it to his lips. "Salt and sorrow," he murmured. "He deserves none of your tears."
Then, softer, a vow wrapped in longing: "Let me love you now."
The raw plea in it—like a starved child begging for crumbs—pierced her heart.
Click. The door opened. A nurse entered with a food tray, eyes widening slightly at Jiang Zhi's unveiled face. "Awake? Any pain?"
"Just weak," Jiang Zhi rasped.
The nurse checked vitals, then set the tray down. "You collapsed from malnutrition. Eat regularly." Malnutrition. The relentless workload since Jiang Nian's win—meals skipped, replaced by stress. Last night's betrayal was the final straw.
"Who brought me here?" Jiang Zhi asked. "I need to thank them."
The nurse smiled. "Oh, it was your boyf—"