With a thud, Jiang Xiao's phone fell onto the carpet.
"Jiang Xiao, you better open the door before I lose my temper," the man's terrifying voice came through the receiver. "Otherwise, I can't guarantee what I'll do."
Being found was something Jiang Xiao had anticipated, but she had hoped it would be later. Composing herself, she bent down to pick up the phone and slowly walked over.
The door opened. "You—"
Someone rushed in. Without a word, he grabbed her jaw and savagely bit her lip. "Jiang Xiao, how dare you!"
Cheng Yuan was furious, his eyes bloodshot, veins bulging on his neck, looking like he wanted to devour her. "Have I been too good to you?"
Jiang Xiao couldn't speak with her lip bitten, her hands pushing against his chest, but his strength was too great to overcome.
The third time he bit down, she bit back and took the opportunity to slap him across the face.
Cheng Yuan turned his head, his reddened eyes seeming to bleed. He licked his teeth with the tip of his tongue, slowly turned back, and locked his hand around Jiang Xiao's throat, pressing her against the wall. "Jiang Xiao, you dare hit me?"
"You kissed me first," Jiang Xiao couldn't help but cough. "Cough... you crossed the line first."
"Crossed the line?" Cheng Yuan hated that phrase. "We're still married. Kissing you is my marital right. Where did I cross the line?"
"We're not," Jiang Xiao said with effort. "I told you, I want a divorce."
Divorce...
He snorted. "In this world, there are only things I don't want, never anyone who dares to abandon me. Do you think you can?"
Jiang Xiao knew his leverage—threatening her with the Jiang family. But her parents had said she could do whatever she wanted, regardless of the Jiang family.
"You're just going to threaten me with my family again, aren't you? I'm not afraid this time." Jiang Xiao pried his hand away, looking at him with a mad, ruthless glare. "Cheng Yuan, do whatever you want with what I care about, but this marriage—I have to end it."
She said firmly, "Even if it kills me!"
"..." Cheng Yuan seemed not to recognize her anymore. The woman who had stayed by his side for years, who had been submissive and never dared to raise her voice, seemed to have changed in an instant.
She was no longer the eldest Miss Jiang who revolved around him, who cried over his illnesses.
She had become a stranger.
"Jiang Xiao, playing hard to get too much can backfire," Cheng Yuan warned. "I'm not always this easy to deal with."
Her neck was nearly being broken, and he called that easy to deal with? Jiang Xiao wanted to slap him again. Enduring the discomfort of suffocation, she said, "Cheng Yuan, I'm not one of those women outside. I'm not in the mood to play hard to get. If you have any conscience, sign the divorce papers, and let's part amicably."
"If you really don't want to and prefer to have a falling out, fine. We'll see each other in court!"
"Are you serious?"
"More serious than ever."
Never had anything made Jiang Xiao so persistent. "I never want to see you again. Not even a single second."
*
It had started raining outside at some point. Autumn rain, very cold.
Cheng Yuan sat in the car, watching a couple under a tree shadow by the roadside, and thought of the past. There seemed to be a similar image in the depths of his memory.
A girl holding an umbrella, wearing a short skirt in the cold wind, a gift box in her arms. When she saw him coming, she ran over happily and said with a smile, "A Yuan, I made these desserts for you. Take them home and try them."
People behind were jeering.
"Oh, Miss Jiang, you're pestering our A Yuan again? Why are you like this every time?"
"Let me think... this time it's desserts. Last time it was soup, right?"
"Yeah, it was soup. Not bad."
The color drained from the girl's face. "That soup... you drank it."
The young man said, "What else? You didn't really think our A Yuan would drink it, did you?"
"The chefs at the Cheng family are hired from abroad. Any of them cooks better than you. What you make, our A Yuan can't stand."
The girl was unwilling to give up, biting her lip. "Did you really give it to them?"
After a long pause, he finally spoke. "Mm, yeah."
More jeering. He signaled the people behind to take the box, said nothing, and walked away without caring when she left.
The scene changed. She was being bullied, and he stood in the crowd, watching coldly, until she was pushed down the stairs. He only glanced briefly and said nothing.
Cheng Yuan couldn't remember when these events happened—middle school or high school...
Pain throbbed in his chest. He lowered the car window, trying to let the wind blow it away, but it didn't work. It still hurt.
Dazed, he saw another scene.
The girl lay on the ground, tugging at his pant leg, begging him to take her away. He shook her off and said coldly, "Jiang Xiao, can't you stop acting like a spoiled princess? This is my birthday party. They're here to celebrate with me. If you don't like it, you can leave on your own."
Later, she seemed to have really left. He wasn't sure when.
Afterward, he heard she was sick and hospitalized for almost a week. He was busy with other things and didn't visit her.
His phone rang. It was from the old mansion.
Cheng Yuan answered. "What?"
Zhang Rong: "Come back quickly. Your grandfather wants to see you."