seven-year itch - Chapter 18
I didn’t sign.
I almost fled in panic.
In my imagination, Jiang Wan should have been the one heartbroken beyond repair.
But she was uncharacteristically calm.
I didn’t want a divorce.
After leaving home, I went to the company.
I drowned myself in work, day and night, without rest.
Jiang Wan no longer called me.
I started to miss those calls from her when I used to work overtime, her concern on the other end of the line.
Standing before the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, I stared at my lonely reflection, feeling a bit dazed.
How did things turn out like this?
I pulled out my phone and opened the chat interface with Jiang Wan.
The last conversation had ended half a year ago.
That was the period when things were heating up between Zhou Qing and me.
I rarely went home.
I lied to Jiang Wan, saying the company was busy and I often had to travel on business.
Then I would turn around and spend day and night in a hotel with Zhou Qing.
Even the cubicles in the office became places for our secret rendezvous.
That day, I hadn’t gone home for five days in a row.
Jiang Wan messaged me, saying Huanhuan had a fever in the middle of the night, there’d been an accident on the highway, and the ambulance was stuck in traffic and wouldn’t arrive any time soon.
She was on her period, in a lot of pain, and wasn’t sure if she could safely drive Huanhuan to the hospital.
She asked if I could come home, or arrange for someone to pick them up.
Zhou Qing read the message to me, and my first instinct was to go back and have a look.
But Zhou Qing smiled playfully, “Jiang Wan actually knows how to play the little girl, lying just to trick her husband into coming home.”
“If Huanhuan was really sick with a fever, why didn’t she just call directly?”
At the time, I thought Zhou Qing made sense. Whenever anything happened, Jiang Wan always called me first.
So I convinced myself she was just making up an excuse because I hadn’t been home for so long and wanted to see me.
I was a bit annoyed with her, using our daughter’s health as a pretext just to get me to go home.
And then Zhou Qing, after saying her piece, didn’t give me any time to think. She straddled me, unbuckled my belt, and slowly leaned down…
I forgot all about the mother and daughter in no time.
It was from that day on that I noticed Jiang Wan rarely called me anymore.
Except for that night of the banquet, when she called a few times to remind me not to forget the camping trip I’d promised Huanhuan the next day, she hadn’t called me again.
I exited the chat interface and called the secretary.
“Help me check if Jiang Wan took Huanhuan to the hospital half a year ago.”
The secretary quickly replied.
“President Gu, one evening half a year ago, Jiang Wan did take Miss to the hospital. They also got into a traffic accident on the way. It wasn’t too serious, just a minor collision.”
“President Gu, is there anything else you need?”
My hand, gripping the phone, clenched suddenly.
“Next week is Jiang Wan’s birthday. Help me pick out a gift.”
“And the doll that Huanhuan likes, buy every model and send them all to the villa.”
