Afternoon sunlight filtered through the blinds, casting alternating bands of light and shadow across Dr. Chen Jing's consultation room.
Yu Sheng leaned back comfortably in the sofa chair, her tone calm, as if narrating someone else's story.
"I've been feeling much calmer lately. That kind of explosive, volcanic urge for violence has appeared far less often. At the very least…" She paused, a faint curve forming at the corner of her lips, "when I see certain people or situations now, I don't immediately feel like acting out. It's more… irritation. But I can control it."
Dr. Chen Jing recorded carefully, a gentle smile on her face. "Miss Yu, that's a very positive sign. It shows your self-regulation is improving, and consciously distancing yourself from stressors has played a key role in stabilizing your emotions." She closed her notebook, her tone encouraging. "Please continue with medication and regular therapy. You're on the right path to recovery."
"I understand. Thank you, Dr. Chen." Yu Sheng nodded slightly.
When she stopped tying her entire being to that suffocating marriage, when she realized there was still her mother to accompany, friends to confide in, and a career worth striving for beneath her feet, that vortex called Shen Yunmian no longer seemed capable of dragging her into the abyss so easily.
However, this peace born from "distance" became the sharpest irony when it reached another person's ears.
Not long after Yu Sheng left, a brief evaluation of her follow-up visit was placed on Shen Yunmian's wide office desk.
When Shen Yunmian's gaze locked onto the line—"Patient reports significantly improved emotional stability after distancing from stressors"—her fingers tightened abruptly around the paper, crumpling it deeply.
[As long as she doesn't see me, she can live well.]
That realization stabbed into her heart like a blade, leaving it bleeding instantly. Though the office temperature was comfortable, a bone-chilling cold spread from her feet through her entire body.
The internal line rang—it was Dr. Chen Jing herself.
"President Shen, you've seen the report," Chen Jing's voice came through the receiver. "From Miss Yu's condition, maintaining appropriate distance is indeed most beneficial for her. Sometimes, overly persistent attempts to hold on only exhaust both parties emotionally. Perhaps… letting go would be a kind of release for both of you."
She paused, as if choosing her words carefully. "Additionally, from my observations, your recent behavioral patterns show a high level of anxiety and obsessive tendencies. If you're willing, I can arrange a preliminary psychological evaluation for you…"
"I'm fine!" Shen Yunmian cut her off sharply, her voice almost distorted. "I'm perfectly fine! I don't need any evaluation! I just… just don't want to lose my wife!"
She slammed the phone down, cutting off the piercing suggestions.
On the other end, Chen Jing sighed helplessly. After years in the field, she knew well—when a depression patient turns out to be the least ill among the close people around them, that situation is often the most worrying.
Since that diagnosis, Shen Yunmian had forced herself not to appear in front of Yu Sheng.
She convinced herself over and over—her wife was just ill.
As long as she endured for now and avoided provoking her, Yu Sheng would slowly recover, and the two of them could return to how things once were.
Days passed one after another.
By day, Shen Yunmian was still the decisive, composed President Shen.
She buried herself entirely in work, filling every minute with meetings. She carefully selected impeccable reasons to personally visit Yu Corporation, where, in Yu Sheng's clean and bright office, she tried her best to play the role of a flawless "business partner."
"For the financing structure of the East City project, we could introduce third-party guarantees to diversify risk." Shen Yunmian pointed at the proposal on her tablet, her gaze restrained, not daring to linger too long on the face she thought about day and night.
Yu Sheng flipped through the documents without looking up. "Mm. Assistant Su is already working on a plan."
"Also, regarding Academician Li, I can introduce a few core members of his lab. They have strong experience in practical application of the technology." Shen Yunmian handed over another list, her posture lowered, carrying a subtle hint of ingratiation.
"Thank you for the trouble, President Shen." Yu Sheng accepted it, her tone unusually gentle.
Throughout the process, Shen Yunmian remained tense, carefully controlling her gaze and distance. She didn't dare show even the slightest concern beyond work, afraid that the smallest overstep would shatter this fragile balance and provoke even deeper disgust from Yu Sheng.
But once night fell, and she returned to the cage called "home," all her daytime composure collapsed.
She became a ghost wandering in the shadows—like a damp, haunting specter, secretly watching her own wife.
Shen Yunmian would calculate Yu Sheng's usual arrival time, growing restless ten minutes in advance. At the faint sound of the elevator or footsteps outside, she would spring to life as if jolted by electricity, quickly slipping into the blind spot by the entrance—pretending she had just poured water, or that she was casually looking at her phone.
"Back already?" she tried to make her voice sound natural, laced with just the right amount of fatigue.
Yusheng usually only responded with a faint "Mm," barely sparing a glance, changing her shoes and heading straight for her bedroom.
Shen Yunmian's gaze clung to her like sticky spider silk, uncontrollably trailing that indifferent figure until the guest room door clicked shut, cutting her off completely.
Her focus was too intense, too burning, carrying an almost pathological obsession. Even with her back turned, Yusheng could clearly feel that prying gaze like needles pressed against her skin.
Once, Shen Yunmian seemed possessed. She left the master bedroom door cracked just slightly, hiding in the deep shadow behind it like a frozen statue, staring through the slit, waiting for that familiar unlocking sound.
When Yusheng used her fingerprint to open the door and stepped in carrying the cool night air, Shen Yunmian's eyes locked onto her like a secret spotlight. That gaze greedily traced the slight curve of her waist as she changed shoes, the delicate wrist lowering her bag, the resolute sway of her back as she walked toward the bedroom… every subtle movement magnified, engraved in Shen Yunmian's vision.
The omnipresent sense of being watched made it impossible for Yusheng to ignore, goosebumps rising across her back.
Once, twice… Yusheng's patience quickly reached its limit.
That night, Yusheng returned home as usual.
The suffocating feeling of being watched came again, almost tangible, through the crack of the master bedroom door. She paused at the entrance instead of heading straight to her room, the storm in her eyes threatening to spill over.
She held herself back, again and again.
The gaze never lessened.
Yusheng's eyes shifted, then she spun sharply, her high heels striking the floor with crisp, urgent clicks as she strode toward Shen Yunmian's bedroom. Before the person behind the door could even react, she kicked the door open with full force!
"Bang!"
The door slammed into something soft, a dull, teeth-gritting thud echoing.
"Ugh—!"
A suppressed groan, tinged with pain, came from behind the door.
Yusheng stepped in, expression cold, and saw Shen Yunmian clutching half her face, stumbling back two steps into the wardrobe, blood seeping through her pale fingers, quickly staining her hand and chin crimson.
The sharp sting shot to her head, uncontrollable tears filled her reddened eyes, rolling down in heavy drops, mixing with blood to streak her pale, bloodied face with a pitiful, messy pattern.
Seeing this scene, the long-suppressed anger inside Yusheng surged, consuming the last shred of reason. She felt no sympathy—only a bitter amusement.
"Shen Yunmian, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Her voice was icy, laced with ridicule and annoyance. "Not done with your martyr act yet? Hiding here, playing ghost, putting on this pitiful show—who exactly are you trying to fool?"
Shen Yunmian wanted to explain. She wanted to say, "No, I just… just wanted to see you." But the sting in her nose and the pain in her head choked her, and all she could manage was a broken, muffled gasp: "Sheng… I'm not—"
Not giving her a chance to argue, Yusheng glared and warned sharply, "Shen Yunmian, don't let me catch you spying on me like this again! Otherwise, I'll move out immediately!"
Finishing, she cast one last look of disgust, then turned decisively and left.
"Sheng Sheng…"
Shen Yunmian, dizzy and in pain, rushed out of the bedroom, desperate to grab Yusheng's wrist and explain.
Yusheng, as if with eyes on her back, jerked her arm away before Shen Yunmian's fingertips could touch it. The force made her already-dazed head spin faster, her vision blacking out in bursts.
"Don't touch me! Get away!"
Yusheng slammed her bedroom door behind her with a thunderous bang, locking it with a crisp click.
Shen Yunmian was left completely outside in the cold, the sharp sting of her nose and metallic scent of blood filling the air.
She stood futilely in front of the locked door for a long time before finally staggering back to her own bedroom, dazed and defeated.
Looking at the reflection in the mirror, the woman before her was unrecognizable, pitiful, almost comical.
Her nose seemed badly injured, pain spreading. She wanted to call her private doctor, but that thought was immediately snuffed out.
If Yusheng knew, she'd just think Shen Yunmian was playing the victim on purpose, earning even colder ridicule and disdain.
In the end, Shen Yunmian quietly used tissues to wipe the blood from her face and drove herself to the hospital, sulking.
This time, President Shen was truly broken—after treating her injury, she didn't even have the courage to return home.
Shen Yunmian left the hospital and went straight to the company lounge, waiting painfully until morning, arranging with her secretary to start her inspection of the branch early, and nearly shamefully escaped.
Little did she know, this only dug a deeper hole, pushing their relationship to an absolute low.
—
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