Remembering the past tragedy, the miserable and desolate figures of my parents, sorrow welled up inside me, and tears streamed down my face. I had always felt that I was the one who had ruined them. Giving birth to a lovesick fool like me was their biggest mistake.
As I cried, it felt as if my ability to speak had also failed. I stood there, clutching the photos, sobbing uncontrollably, unable to form a complete sentence.
This was the first time since my rebirth that I had cried so heartbrokenly in front of Hugh Pei. Through my tear-filled eyes, I saw him stand up and walk over to me. He hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand. His palm cupped my cheek, and his thumb moved, gently wiping away my tears.
He sighed. "What are you crying for?"
"You said you wanted a divorce, and I agreed!" I tried to control myself, my voice choked with sobs. "What more do you want? At worst, you can give me less money. You don't have to... *hic*... go after my parents, do you? They are still your in-laws, after all!"
"You're the one who said you wanted a divorce," Hugh Pei corrected me, a hint of displeasure in his voice. "I never mentioned divorce from beginning to end. How many times have you brought it up?"
"I brought it up because I know you want one!" I looked up at him and asked, "Don't you love Lila Wei? Don't you plan to give her a future? The sooner we divorce, the less ugly it will be in the end."
Hugh Pei looked down at me. His eyes were very dark, with a mesmerizing quality that seemed to draw you in. He always looked at people with a coldness, and warmth was rarely seen in those eyes.
It was the same now. He kept saying he didn't want a divorce, but he never denied his feelings for Lila Wei.
"You don't have to say anything else. And you don't have to use these photos to threaten me. I agree to leave with nothing. My parents can support me anyway." In Hugh Pei's silence, I felt that heart-wrenching pain again. I didn't want to stay here any longer. After saying this, I ran back to the room, found my coat, and prepared to leave.
As I was changing my shoes at the door, I glanced at Hugh Pei, who was still standing in the living room. My voice was nasal as I said, "When you give me the divorce papers, give me these photos at the same time. That way, you'll feel more at ease."
Let's just call it a transaction.
After hastily leaving Cui Lin Jiang Ting, I called Leo Li to pick me up.
Half an hour later, I was in the car, heading back to Mapleview Manor.
"Madam, you're not wearing enough. You'll catch a cold," Leo Li said, being very considerate today.
"It's fine." I sniffled. The car was warm, but my hands and feet were slow to warm up. My heart was even colder.
Back home, I immediately took a hot bath to warm myself up.
Once I was warm, I wrapped myself in my pajamas and checked the pile of unread messages and missed calls on my phone.
In our group chat of four, Ginny Deng was tagging me repeatedly: "Zoe, has that guy Hugh Pei fallen for you? He just carried you off like that!"
Tilly Ouyang: "I also think it's so unbelievable. A sight to behold."
Ella Li just spammed a few jaw-dropping emojis.
Ginny Deng: "I've broken up with that green tea bitch Jiang. She knew about your relationship with Hugh Pei and still invited me to hang out. Was she trying to annoy me or indirectly annoy you? F*ck, I almost got into a fight with her yesterday."
Tilly Ouyang: "That woman is no good. Stay away from her."
Ginny Deng: "Definitely. We've already broken up!!"
Ginny Deng: "Hey, Zoe! Where are you! Did Hugh Pei take you back?"
What followed was a stream of over 99 gossip messages. The three of them chatted until two in the morning before stopping.
My head ached reading it. Hugh Pei in love with me? I gave a bitter smile and sent a message to Ginny Deng, telling her about Hugh Pei getting the photos of my dad.
Then there was a message from Julian Qi: "Sis Zoe, Merry Christmas! Want to hang out sometime?"
Ten minutes later, Julian Qi: "Alright, you're probably busy. Have fun."
Further down was a message from Evan Yu: "Reply when you're awake."
I didn't want to reply. He was acting like he was possessed during the game last night, targeting me. I had a big problem with him, and I started to reconsider my perception of him. Was the upright and self-disciplined "unattainable flower" really as I imagined?
Impossible. Evan Yu also had the potential to be a lunatic. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone head-to-head with Hugh Pei in our past life.
Ginny Deng probably wasn't up yet. I decided to go down and eat first.
Halfway through my meal, Ginny Deng called, her loud voice filled with anger. "What the hell, Hugh Pei is so toxic! He won't divorce you when you want to, is he trying to get leverage before he does? The richer they are, the more they scheme!"
It seemed she thought the same as me.
"Probably," I said, sipping my soup, my voice calm. "Jing'er, come with me to City C tomorrow. I need to talk to Zhao Sufang's husband, or maybe her son."
"Alright," Ginny Deng agreed without a second thought.
The next morning, I had Leo Li drive to Ginny Deng's house to pick her up, and we headed to City C together. Zhao Sufang's husband, Liu Lufeng, owned a car repair shop, but he loved to play cards and gamble, so the shop was often closed.
Sure enough, when we arrived, the shop was shuttered.
I looked around and chose a small supermarket across the street. I went in, bought a lot of things, and asked the owner at the checkout, "Boss, why is the repair shop across the street closed? My car has a small problem I wanted to get looked at."
"Hahaha, miss, you'd better go somewhere else to get it fixed. That place probably won't be open until the end of the year," the owner said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Why? Is business bad? The location is pretty good!" Ginny Deng asked.
"The owner of the repair shop is a gambler. He seems to have struck it rich these past few days and is at the mahjong parlor every day!" the owner told us.
After getting the location of the mahjong parlor, we rushed over.
Liu Lufeng was indeed gambling. Just as I was about to go in and call him out, a woman appeared eerily in the distance. Her face showed signs of being beaten, her eyes were bloodshot, and her lips were split.
Her malicious gaze was fixed on me, like a ghost, unmoving.
Ginny Deng tugged at me. "Whoa, isn't that the vixen? What is she doing here?"
"Zoe Xu," Zhao Sufang said, walking stiffly towards me, a strange smile on her face. "What are you doing here? To laugh at me?"
"What do you mean?" I was completely bewildered.
"Don't pretend. Didn't you pay off Liu Lufeng's debts and have him drag me back here?" Zhao Sufang's eyes were filled with venom. "Do you know? I was so close, so close to tricking him into divorcing me. It's all your fault, you ruined me!!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhao Sufang lunged at me like a madwoman and grabbed my throat. I instantly felt suffocated.
The people from the mahjong parlor were drawn out, including Liu Lufeng.
"Psycho, let her go!" Ginny Deng swung her bag at Zhao Sufang, trying to get her off me.
Zhao Sufang was in a frenzy and refused to let go.
It wasn't until Liu Lufeng rushed over and kicked her so hard she flew a long way that I could breathe again.