Chapter 1: Xia Xia, Say You Love Me

Thunder rumbled outside, the torrential rain veiling the sky above Sifang City as though a thin muslin had been cast across it. Dark clouds pressed low, wind and rain lashed the world, blurring everything beyond five meters into obscurity.

In the Lanhu District, Wen Zhixia gripped her phone, her gaze fixed steadily on the suggestive image displayed. It was a photo of a woman kissing her husband.

“Mrs. Wen, you’ve seen the picture by now, I assume. I won’t waste words—I’ve already slept with Gu Pingsheng. He told me he’d make me his official partner.”

Wen Zhixia listened, then let out a soft laugh.

“Why are you laughing? You don’t believe me?”

She stood from the sofa, and for a moment, her vision went completely black. It took several seconds before she recovered; lately, her hypoglycemia had gotten worse.

Shaking her head, her tone remained gentle, but her words were as sharp as blades: “If he’s promised you that, why call me? Miss, are you short on money for an abortion, or do you need to buy contraceptives? Will two hundred be enough? I could consider it charity for a fallen woman. At the very least, I should pay you for the cost of your photo edits.”

“You don’t have to be so harsh. I know you’re angry, but men like Gu Pingsheng—do you really expect a man of his caliber to have only one woman for life?” the woman retorted.

Wen Zhixia merely laughed softly. Before hanging up, she spoke calmly: “Yes. He’ll only have me in this life.”

They had known each other for ten years, been married for three. They had started from nothing, endured hardship and poverty together. How could she trust the word of an outsider over the man she loved?

Night fell. Gu Pingsheng staggered to the door, knocking unsteadily.

Wen Zhixia hurried over, and as soon as the door opened, the man fell into her arms, his long limbs locking her in a tight embrace. His chin pressed into her shoulder as though the two of them could never be separated. He called out to her, “Xia Xia...”

Afraid he would fall, Wen Zhixia supported his full weight. No matter how powerful he was in the outside world, in front of her, he always revealed the side of a child.

She guided him to the bed. “Why did you drink so much again?”

Gu Pingsheng lay on his back, reached out, and pulled her beneath him. His drunken eyes were as deep as the night. Somewhere along the way, the bright, wild youth she once knew had become a man she could no longer read.

He nuzzled her slender neck affectionately, almost pleading, “Xia Xia, tell me you love me.”

Wen Zhixia had always indulged him. Even when he bit her a little too hard, she simply slid her pale fingers into his short hair and whispered, “Gu Pingsheng, I love you.”

Ever since she’d yielded to his relentless pursuit, since the moment she’d agreed to be with him, Wen Zhixia had never imagined loving anyone else in her lifetime.

“Let go for now. I’ll make you some hangover soup, or you’ll have a headache tomorrow,” she said softly.

He acted as if he hadn’t heard, holding her even tighter, as though he wanted to merge her into his very bones. “Wen Zhixia, you are mine.”

She nodded. “Yes, I’m yours. Now, will you let go for a moment?”

Satisfied, Gu Pingsheng rested his head on her shoulder and drifted to sleep.

Wen Zhixia rose, expertly undressed him, chiding him like a child for passing out the moment he was drunk. “After all this time, you still...”

Her words trailed off abruptly when she caught sight of the vivid lipstick mark on the collar of his white shirt. She froze.