"Madam, the assistant just called. Said the boss has a business dinner tonight and won't be back for dinner. You..."
Jiang Xiao waved her hand. "I know. You can go."
The servant glanced at the full table of dishes, pursed her lips, and hesitated. "Madam, your stomach isn't good. Let me reheat some food for you."
"No need." Jiang Xiao glanced lightly at the table, a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Throw it all away."
With that, she got up and left the dining room.
This wasn't the first time Cheng Yuan had stood her up. In the three years of their marriage, she had lost count of the times. Last month, on her birthday, he hadn't shown up either.
His excuse was that he was negotiating a project.
She had actually believed his nonsense, until she got a call in the middle of the night asking her to bail him out of the police station, and only then did she learn the truth.
Cheng Yuan wasn't negotiating any project. He had been meeting a young model at night, and got into a jealous fight, ending up in jail.
Ridiculously, instead of calling the company's lawyer, he called her, demanding she come immediately, or else face the consequences.
She rushed over frantically, only to see him cuddling with the model.
In that moment, Jiang Xiao's heart felt like it was being twisted. She and Cheng Yuan had grown up together. Why was he treating her like this?
What had she done wrong?
She had once asked him that question, drunk. What had she done that wasn't good enough? She could change.
What had been his response?
The man raised an eyebrow casually, a cynical smile on his face. "Your mistake was pestering me and insisting on marrying me. Jiang Xiao, if you hadn't tricked me into sleeping with you, I would never have married you."
About that night three years ago, Jiang Xiao admitted it was her fault.
She loved Cheng Yuan so deeply she couldn't help herself. Her best friend Shen Yue saw her moping and came up with a plan. Using the excuse that she wasn't feeling well, Jiang Xiao tricked Cheng Yuan into coming to her place.
After a few drinks, things just... happened.
At that time, her only thought was simple: she wanted to be with Cheng Yuan.
She really didn't know he would be so angry. When he woke up the next morning, he almost tore her apart.
She had already wanted to back out then. Fine, if Cheng Yuan didn't love her, she wouldn't force it.
The turning point came that morning when the servant inexplicably entered the room without knocking, followed by screams.
She and Cheng Yuan were caught in bed by the Jiang family, and marriage was put on the table.
Cheng Yuan thought she had deliberately arranged all of it. Though he agreed to the marriage, he became even colder. The wedding day arrived as scheduled, and they held the ceremony.
However, from the very first day of marriage, she lived like a widow.
A year into the marriage, he finally entered her room.
In the second year, they finally consummated their marriage.
That night, he took her wildly, completely disregarding that she was just recovering from a serious illness and couldn't be exhausted. He tormented her from dusk till dawn.
Two days later, she finally got out of bed.
The first piece of news she heard was about Cheng Yuan's scandal.
While he was entangled with her, he was also photographed having a candlelit dinner with a popular actress, which became a trending topic.
If she remembered correctly, that topic trended for a full half a month.
The internet was flooded with their "intimate photos."
Some said they were genuinely affectionate; others said it was a camera angle trick.
Jiang Xiao pretended not to see it and still tried her best to be good to Cheng Yuan. She only hoped he could spare a little affection for her.
Just a little.
But even that became a luxury.
Cheng Yuan said he would never love her.
Jiang Xiao looked at her huge diamond ring, her heart aching with each pulse. She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, took out her phone, and sent Cheng Yuan a WeChat message, asking when he would be back.
Cheng Yuan didn't reply.
True, he seldom replied to her messages. Out of ten messages, he might not reply to even one. Even if he did, it was after a long delay.
So long that Jiang Xiao thought her phone was broken.
But the truth was, the phone wasn't broken.
Cheng Yuan just didn't want to talk to her.
Jiang Xiao sniffled, found Cheng Yuan's assistant's number, and called. It was answered quickly.
"Madam, is something the matter?"
"Where's Mr. Cheng?"
"Mr. Cheng is at a business dinner."
Jiang Xiao heard loud music. If she wasn't mistaken, he was at a bar. Since when did serious business deals happen in a bar?