Chapter 1: Her Return

The truth was, Gu Si-yan and I were married purely for business. It was a union devoid of love. Well, to be precise, he didn’t love me. I, on the other hand, had entirely too much love to give. I’d been quietly head-over-heels for him for years, but knowing someone else already held his heart, I kept my feelings locked away.

Even after our wedding, we slept in separate bedrooms. He’d made it clear from day one: “When the time is right, we’ll part ways amicably.”

Late that night, my phone buzzed with a message from him: [I have a business dinner tonight and’ll be back late. Don’t wait up, just go to sleep.]

I stared at the screen for a long time. Earlier that morning, Shen Zhi-zhi had texted to let me know his precious white moonlight was landing today. She had passionately urged me to come up with a battle plan, but what could I even do? I had never held a spot in Gu Si-yan’s heart to begin with. Right now, he was probably somewhere reminiscing about old times with the woman he actually cared about.

After a long pause, I typed back a single word: [Okay.]

That night, whether the water heater was broken or I was just having terrible luck, the shower poured ice-cold. I rinsed off as quickly as I could and collapsed onto the bed, forcing myself to sleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, soft footsteps broke the quiet.

Gu Si-yan stepped into my room, bringing with him the faint, warm scent of alcohol. He sat at the edge of the mattress and reached out, his fingers brushing gently against my cheek as if afraid to wake me.

“Tue-Tue,” he whispered softly.

“You’re back?” I murmured, half-asleep.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”

He pulled the blanket up over my shoulders and quietly slipped out.

By the time I woke up the next morning, he was already gone, leaving the house dead quiet. My head throbbed with a dull ache—the cold shower from last night had caught up with me in the form of a fever. I stumbled around to find a thermometer, confirmed I was running hot, and had the driver take me to the hospital.

Sitting in the hazy fog of the waiting room, my fever-ridden eyes caught a familiar figure. It was Gu Si-yan. He was carrying a woman in his arms, his expression frantic as he yelled for a doctor. In that brief second, I got a clear look at her face. It was Mu Ya.

So that was it. No wonder he had disappeared so early this morning. No wonder he looked so out of his mind with worry. I turned my head away, hot tears slipping down my face and burning the back of my hand.

“Tue-Tue, wake up.”

A familiar voice pulled me back to reality. I forced my eyes open to find Gu Si-yan’s face looming right in front of me. Was I hallucinating?

He reached out and pressed his palm against my forehead. “The fever’s down. How are you feeling? Any better?”

I looked around and noticed a nurse packing up an IV bag. It wasn’t a dream. I was sitting right in his lap, his tailored suit jacket wrapped tightly around my shoulders. The whole situation felt wildly out of place. I immediately sat up and handed the jacket back. “Thank you. I’m fine now.”

Things that don’t belong to you should be returned as soon as possible.

The moment I pulled away, a flicker of hollow emptiness seemed to pass through his eyes. I must have misread it—fevers tend to make your imagination run wild. He froze for a second, then reached out again to drape the coat back over me. “Don’t catch cold.”

“There’s really no need, thank you. You should get back to work. I’ll head home now.”

I pushed myself up and stumbled toward the door, but before my hand could reach the handle, he grabbed my wrist.

“Tue-Tue, do we really have to be this cold with each other?” Gu Si-yan stared at me, his eyes searching mine as if demanding an answer.

I let out a faint smile, my voice sounding so calm it felt fake even to my own ears. “Isn’t this what you said from the start? We’re just a couple on paper.”

Those words dragged up the memory of our very first day. He had sat across from me, holding a cup of coffee, his tone as detached as if he were negotiating a business contract: “Don’t worry, this is strictly a marriage of convenience. When the time is right, if you want out, we can call it off.” Back then, I had still harbored a foolish sliver of hope, but hearing him say that had left me utterly numb.

So after we got married, I made sure to keep my distance. I never dared to get too close, especially in public, even though he would occasionally put on an Oscar-worthy performance, throwing me these deeply devoted looks whenever people were watching. I constantly reminded myself: Don’t fall for it. The end of the contract is coming soon.

“Tue-Tue, I—”

“Gu Si-yan,” I cut him off softly. “I really don’t have the energy for this right now. Can we… just not do this today?”

I gently pulled my hand from his grip and turned to walk away, a single mantra repeating in my head: Don’t turn back. But I’d barely taken two steps before my feet left the floor. He swept me up into his arms in one effortless motion.

“Don’t overthink it,” he said, his face dead serious. “I just… have too much energy and nowhere else to use it.”

Without giving me a chance to argue, he carried me straight to his car, drove us home, and casually carried me all the way up to my bedroom.

“Get some rest. Once you’re feeling better, we’ll talk.”

With that, he turned and walked out.

Gu Si-yan didn’t come home for the next few days. Word was he was working overtime around the clock, and by then, I had fully recovered. One morning, his mother called to say Mrs. Zhang had brewed some broth, asking if I could drop it off at his office. She had always been wonderful to me since the wedding, so I did my best to play the dutiful daughter-in-law.

Carrying the thermal container, I headed straight up to Gu Si-yan’s office. I pushed the door open… only to be greeted by a painfully familiar scene: he and Mu Ya were wrapped in an embrace. Three sets of eyes met, and the air in the room froze instantly.

Knowing the drill, I turned to pull the door shut, but a heavy hand blocked it.

Gu Si-yan let out a low sigh. “Did you already forget what I taught you to do when someone bothers your husband?”

Before I could even process what was happening, he pulled me toward him, took my hand, and… Snap!

A sharp slap landed squarely across Mu Ya’s face.

“Hungry for another woman’s husband… you cheap little bitch.”

Both Mu Ya and I froze on the spot. What kind of scene was he trying to pull here?

Gu Si-yan gently rubbed the palm of my hand. “Does your hand hurt, honey?”

I honestly couldn’t follow his logic anymore. Out of nowhere, he pulled out a wet wipe and began meticulously cleaning my fingers, rubbing them down a second time for good measure.

“You just touched something dirty. Don’t let it rub off on you.”

Done cleaning, he tightly intertwined his fingers with mine and held our joined hands right in front of Mu Ya’s face.

“Do you see it clearly now? I’m a married man. Stop tailing me. If you make my wife misunderstand and get upset, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

His voice was ice-cold. Eyes red with tears, Mu Ya turned and ran out of the office.

I stared at the empty doorway, completely bewildered. “I just made her cry… aren’t you going to chase after her? Isn’t she your white moonlight? Don’t you… love her anymore?”

“Huh?” He scowled, his brows pulling together. “Why on earth would I like her? Who told you that nonsense?”

I felt like my whole world had just glitched. Shaking my head, I opened the thermal flask and told him to drink the soup. Just as I did, a pair of arms wrapped around me from behind. Gu Si-yan rested his chin lightly on my shoulder, his voice dropping to a whisper right against my ear.

“I don’t like her. And I don’t like anyone else. Maybe… I just want to be with you.”

My heart slammed against my ribs. My hands shook so hard that the soup sloshed over the edge of the desk. In a frantic attempt to wipe it up, my handbag slipped off the counter, sending several sheets of paper scattering across the floor.

I leaned down to grab them, but Gu Si-yan was already one step ahead, his fingers scooping up the papers first.