Chapter Seven: You Dare?

After five years of marriage, I knew Xu Zhixia too well. She wasn't truly drunk; she was simply using the alcohol as an excuse to vent her anger on me. What she threw wasn't just water—it was the last shred of my affection for her, something that could never be retrieved.

Ji Leqing stood up from the sofa and picked up her car keys from the coffee table. "It seems your wife doesn't welcome me. I’ll take my leave and won’t disturb you while you handle your domestic dispute."

I cast a glance at Xu Zhixia, who was still slumped on the floor, and said to Ji Leqing, "I’ll see you out."

Just as I took a step to follow her toward the foyer, I heard Xu Zhixia’s voice, suppressed with rage, ring out from behind me.

"Jiang Jian, if you don't make things clear today, don't even think about coming back once you step out that door. I’ll make sure your pathetic little company goes bankrupt immediately!"

I hadn't expected Xu Zhixia to use Jianxia to threaten me. I took a deep breath to steady my emotions, desperate not to make a scene in front of Ji Leqing.

"Xu Zhixia, I’ve already made myself clear. I want a divorce, and it has nothing to do with anyone else. It is I, Jiang Jian, who no longer loves you, Xu Zhixia, and you are no longer worth my love. Do you understand?"

Xu Zhixia suddenly let out a dry laugh. She leaned against a table and staggered to her feet. Her once-elegant hairstyle was ruined, water dripping from it in strands that clung to her face, making her look like a madwoman.

Her laughter grew increasingly manic, as if she had heard the greatest joke in the world. Then, those eyes—usually gentle toward everyone else but icy and heartless toward me—stared daggers at me.

"A piece of trash like you, lower than a stray dog on the street, thinks you know what love is? You think you’re worthy of saying you love me? Don't make me laugh!"

"You’re nothing but a pathetic thing that comes fawning for scraps the moment someone crooks a finger. I’ve seen plenty like you. You were a desperate sycophant back in college; even when I ignored you, you’d intentionally get in my way!"

"If it weren't for your mental instability, always trying to compare yourself to Zhihang, and annoying him until he kept mentioning you to me, I wouldn't have cared if someone like you, a piece of bottom-feeding scum, lived or died!"

Xu Zhixia steadied herself. The more she spoke, the more agitated she became, sweeping everything within reach off the table and hurling it at me.

I intended to dodge, but my legs suddenly went weak. Watching the picture frame hurtle toward my head, I instinctively closed my eyes and raised my arms to shield myself.

But the expected pain never came. I only heard the sound of the frame shattering on the floor.

"Jiang Jian, I’ve realized you are my bane. Nothing good ever happens when I’m with you..."

I opened my eyes to find that Ji Leqing had stepped in front of me at some point, her brow furrowed as she rubbed her arm.

The frame on the ground was smashed to pieces. The photo inside showed Xu Zhixia and Pei Zhihang from their college days, both still wearing their youthful innocence.

In the picture, Xu Zhixia was wearing an ill-fitting, cheap wedding dress, smiling with sweetness and satisfaction—even though Pei Zhihang wasn't even looking at the camera and appeared visibly impatient.

I couldn't help but let out a self-deprecating, bitter laugh. Xu Zhixia must have truly lost her mind to be willing to throw something so "precious" at me.

When we married, we only obtained our marriage certificate. There was no wedding, no rings, no wedding photos—nothing at all.

I was indeed a fool. Knowing full well that Xu Zhixia only married me to punish me for refusing to donate a kidney to Pei Zhihang, I had still walked into the civil affairs bureau with her, ecstatic.

She had told me she would only ever wear a wedding dress and rings for Pei Zhihang, yet I had harbored the delusion that I could eventually move her, that she might one day love me, even if it were only a tenth as much as she loved him.

After we married, in order to mourn her long-dead "true love" and to torment me, Xu Zhixia filled our home with remnants of her time with Pei Zhihang: photos, dolls, handmade gifts, pajamas...

It was only a step away from projecting their old sex tapes onto the television and playing them on loop.

I suppose there isn't a second person in the world who has played the role of a sycophant as thoroughly as I have.

"Leqing, are you badly hurt?"

Ji Leqing shook her head. "I'm fine. It won't affect my driving. Don't worry about seeing me out."

Watching the front door close, I felt nothing but guilt toward her.

"Leqing... that ex-girlfriend you run the company with?"

"No wonder. So, your old flame has returned. Jiang Jian, how did I never notice you were such a hypocrite?"

"You keep claiming how much you love me, yet you go behind my back to hook up with an ex and then demand a divorce. You’re so pathetic it disgusts me!"

"Enough!"

Listening to Xu Zhixia’s contemptuous and disdainful taunts, I could no longer suppress the resentment and fury that had been building inside me for so long. Catching sight of a pair of ceramic couple figurines on the foyer cabinet, I grabbed them and smashed them to pieces at Xu Zhixia’s feet.

The flying shards cut Xu Zhixia’s lower leg. She hissed in pain, then immediately crouched down, trying to piece the fragments back together.

"You wretch! How dare you break something left behind by Zhihang! If you don't kneel down and put it back together for me right now, get out and sleep on the streets! There is no place for you here!"

"Ha! I came back specifically to move my things out. Xu Zhixia, you are the one least worthy of talking about love. You deserve it—being cheated on by Pei Zhihang, being dumped by Pei Zhihang!"

"Someone like you, who tramples on others' feelings and dignity, doesn't deserve my love. How you choose to miss Pei Zhihang has absolutely nothing to do with me, Jiang Jian. I’m done playing this absurd game!"

My eyes were red as I practically roared these words at her.

A sudden, sharp cramp in my stomach made my vision go black, and I couldn't stop my body from trembling.

If I hadn't been gripping the cabinet for support, I would have collapsed to the floor.

Once I regained a bit of composure, I walked straight past Xu Zhixia and returned to my room without another word.

I didn't even care if my clothes would stain the sheets; I just slumped onto the bed.

My gaunt hands clutched my abdomen. My stomach was still throbbing with pain, like a ticking time bomb, constantly reminding me that my days were numbered.

I had originally thought about making peace with Xu Zhixia before I died, but it seemed that was impossible now.

I would have to find another way. At the very least, while I was still alive, I could not watch years of hard work and effort go to waste.

The phone in my pocket suddenly buzzed twice. I pulled it out to see a WeChat notification.

[Moon: Requests to add you as a friend]

When I tapped on the message and saw the nickname and profile picture, the hazy memories came flooding back.

My chest felt as though it had been struck by a heavy blow. I held the phone in my hand, hesitating to tap [Accept].

Perhaps because I had waited too long, the same request popped up two or three more times, only this time, it included a note.

[Moon: Don't dither, accept it.]

[Moon: You didn't actually manage to get yourself killed from anger during your fight, did you?]

[Moon: If you don't accept this, I'm calling an ambulance.]

I knew Ji Leqing was the type to follow through on her word, so I hurriedly accepted. A voice message immediately popped up in the chat box.

"I thought you weren't going to accept. Are you finished with Xu Zhixia?"