Chapter 1

Chapter 1

On the day I broke up with Gu Zeqian, I finally realized that when someone turns their back on you, they can do it so quickly that even three years feel like a lie.

When he pushed the gold-embossed invitation toward me, I was still wearing the dress he had personally picked out for me last week.

It was white, cinched at the waist, and as soft as a cruel joke.

“The engagement is next month.”

He sat by the floor-to-ceiling window, his tone as flat as if he were discussing the weather. “The Lin Family has already finalized everything.”

I stared at the unfamiliar name of the bride on the invitation, my ears ringing.

“And what about me?”

Gu Zeqian finally looked up at me.

Those eyes, which I used to think were full of affection, now only seemed cold and indifferent.

“Yutang, don’t make this ugly. We’ve been together for years, and I haven’t treated you poorly.”

“Haven’t treated me poorly?”

I almost laughed out loud. “You’re cheating on me and getting engaged, and you have the nerve to tell me you haven’t treated me poorly?”

He frowned, clearly displeased by my reaction.

“What the Lin Family can give me isn’t something you can provide. You should understand that in families like ours, interests always come first. If you behave yourself, we can have a clean break.”

Suddenly, I understood.

By “behaving myself,” he meant I should stay quiet, take his hush money, and continue to be grateful, accepting that I was nothing more than a wealthy young master’s fleeting amusement.

“And if I don’t behave?”

Gu Zeqian slowly stubbed out the cigar in his hand, his faint smile fading.

“Your mother still needs me to pull strings for her specialist appointments. Your studio’s loan has been stalled for three months, and that’s still under my thumb. Yutang, it’s best if you don’t let your emotions get the better of you.”

I stood there, a chill running through my entire body.

It turned out that over these past three years, he hadn’t just taken my heart.

He had even calculated every possible exit strategy in advance.

I raised my hand and hurled the invitation at his face.

“Gu Zeqian, you truly disgust me.”

The sharp corner of the invitation grazed his chin, leaving a thin red mark.

His expression darkened, but he didn’t lose his temper. He simply stood up and walked toward me, step by step.

“It’s fine if you want to throw a tantrum right now.”

He looked down at me with his usual air of dominance. “In three days, you’ll come back and beg me. Xu Yutang, you can’t survive without me.”

In that moment, I just wanted to slap my past self awake.

How blind had I been to ever think this man loved me?

As I left that river-view apartment with my bag, the moment the elevator doors closed, the tears finally fell.

It wasn’t because I couldn’t let go.

It was shame.

I was ashamed that I had loved such a person with all my heart.

That night, I went to a bar alone.

I wasn’t much of a drinker, but that day, I was like a woman possessed, downing glass after glass. The bar lights were dim and yellow, and the music was so loud it made my chest ache. I slumped over the counter, my eyes red as I cursed him.

“Men… not a single one of them is any good.”

Someone beside me took the glass out of my hand. Their voice was low, like the back of a blade brushing against skin.

“Don’t paint us all with the same brush.”

I turned my head and saw Gu Yanzhou.

The eldest son of the Gu Family, and Gu Zeqian’s older half-brother.

No one in Lincheng didn’t know him.

He was more ruthless than Gu Zeqian, more stable than Gu Zeqian, and far more like a wolf that actually knew how to bite. When the collateral branches of the Gu Family mentioned him in private, they didn’t even dare to speak his name aloud.

But here he was, sitting right next to me in a crisp suit, his cold cufflinks glinting. He held my glass in his hand, his heavy gaze fixed on my face.

It felt as if he had been watching me for a long time.

My head was swimming from the alcohol. I propped my chin up and smiled at him, my expression a bit provocative.

“Is President Gu here to enjoy the joke too?”

“No.”

He answered instantly.

“I’m here to pick someone up.”

I froze for a moment.

Gu Yanzhou’s eyes were devoid of emotion, yet when he spoke those words, they carried an undeniable sense of possessiveness.

“Just because Gu Zeqian doesn’t want you anymore doesn’t mean you can throw yourself away.”

My nose stung, and suddenly, I wanted to cry even more.

But I didn’t want to cry in front of him, so I kept up my stubborn front.

“Then what do you suggest? Should I just find someone else?”

Gu Yanzhou looked at me, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly.

“You could.”

I laughed and reached out to pat his shoulder. The drunker I got, the bolder my words became.

“Fine then. If you dare to marry me, I’ll dare to be your wife.”

The surroundings were deafening-glasses clinking, lights swaying.

Yet Gu Yanzhou seemed to carve out a pocket of silence from the chaos, his gaze pressing down on me inch by inch.

After a long silence, he whispered, “Xu Yutang, you’d better not regret saying that.”

I didn’t catch the seriousness in his voice at all. I laughed until the corners of my eyes were damp.

“Whoever regrets it is a dog.”

Gu Yanzhou stared at me, and suddenly, he smiled too.

It was faint, yet dangerous.

“Good,”

he said. “I’ll remember that.”