Xu Miyu stared at the two text messages on her phone, feeling as if someone had planted a bomb in her mind that could detonate at any moment.
An earth-shattering explosion could happen anytime, and the slightest misstep would leave her utterly shattered.
Xu Miyu read the messages two more times, straining to digest them, forcing them to sink into her consciousness. Only by understanding their true meaning could she prevent the hidden explosion in her mind from erupting.
She dialed the number that had sent the messages, but the call wouldn’t go through.
The other party had turned off their phone.
Xu Miyu walked to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and searched for water. She felt as if those two messages had parched her to the brink of suffocation, her throat so tight she could barely breathe.
She thought a drink of water would help—a sip to calm her down and help her see that the messages were nothing but a prank.
A large glass of cold water gurgled down her throat, the chill seeping straight into her brain.
Sway Hotel, 13th floor.
She poured herself another glass of chilled water. Clutching the cup through the rising condensation, she felt the cold, slippery glass send shivers down her arm, raising goosebumps.
Last night, when she had tried to video call Nie Yucheng, he had hung up, claiming poor signal. Thinking back, there had been times when the signal was bad during his business trips before, but he would still video call her, even if the connection was choppy.
And then, on her way back from the hotel last night, the elevator had stopped on the 13th floor. She had run into Li Kunlun, the room service attendant.
Li Kunlun had frozen when he saw her—a very noticeable freeze.
Then he had looked as if he wanted to say something but held back.
At the time, she had assumed it might be because her mother had caused him some trouble earlier in the day, and she had felt particularly apologetic about it.
But on careful reflection, Li Kunlun’s response to her had been: "It’s not entirely because of your mother…"
What else had he wanted to tell her?
The 13th floor.
He had just finished delivering a meal to the 13th floor.
A spark ignited, finally setting off the bomb in Xu Miyu’s mind, exploding with such force that she nearly lost her balance.
So, had Li Kunlun seen Nie Yucheng again while delivering room service? In his eyes, this man had been with his wife in a high-floor executive suite just the night before, and the very next day, he was sharing a meal with another woman in a room on the 13th floor.
Was that it? Was that why Li Kunlun had frozen and hesitated to speak?
Xu Miyu felt chilled to the bone by the icy water glass in her hand, her teeth chattering uncontrollably.
She had to verify—were the texts a prank? Had she misinterpreted Li Kunlun’s reaction?
She hastily tidied herself up, grabbed her car keys, and rushed out the door.
Ji Feng had spent another night at the Sway Hotel. After a short morning run, he returned to the hotel for breakfast.
As he approached the elevator area on the first floor, he spotted a woman from behind. Her hair was disheveled, two buttons on her cardigan were misaligned, causing the hem to hang unevenly, and even more absurdly, she was wearing mismatched shoes on her left and right feet.
In this disheveled state, she stood anxiously waiting for the elevator, shifting her weight from foot to foot as if a single second’s delay would ruin something critical.
Ji Feng cast a cold glance at her back and immediately averted his gaze. He had no interest in whatever urgent matter she might be worried about missing.
He swiped his key card for the VIP elevator, and it chimed softly.
The woman turned around instantly at the sound.
Ji Feng glanced at her face and realized it was the same woman who had tried to cut in line for the elevator yesterday.The woman’s eyes latched onto him like hooks the moment she saw him, pleading desperately, “Sir, I’m sorry to trouble you, but it’s peak elevator hours. Could you please help me go up? I’m really in a hurry!”
Ji Feng regarded her coldly, intending to refuse.
But before he could speak, the woman had already slipped into the VIP elevator on her own.
Standing outside the elevator, Ji Feng curled his lips mockingly.
She certainly knew her way around.
Just as he was about to ask her to step out, he saw her clasp her hands together and beg, “Please!”
She looked utterly pitiful.
The mockery at the corners of Ji Feng’s mouth deepened.
Women always used pity as a weapon to mask their audacity.
It seemed no matter how contemptuous his expression, this woman was determined to hitch a ride in the elevator.
Ji Feng couldn’t be bothered to argue further with this disheveled woman or even speak to her.
She wasn’t worth expending any more emotion on; it was best to get rid of her quickly.
He stepped into the elevator and swiped his card.
The woman reached out and pressed the button for the 13th floor.
Ji Feng glanced at the floor number. It wasn’t the executive suite level where she had been before. His brow furrowed slightly.
Recalling what he had witnessed at the front desk the day before, he thought he could guess the nature of her urgent business.
The elevator chimed as it reached the 13th floor. Before the doors fully opened, the woman dashed out.
Leaning against the back wall of the elevator, Ji Feng couldn’t be bothered to walk to the front and press the close button. He let the doors open fully, pause for a few seconds, and then slowly shut.
During that time, he first heard a doorbell ring from one of the rooms.
Then came a woman’s voice, sharp and anguished.
She was asking: Why?
As the elevator ascended to the top floor, Ji Feng shook his head slightly, as if to rid himself of the unpleasant scene he had inadvertently overheard on the 13th floor.
Xu Miyu shamelessly rode the VIP elevator once again.
She hadn’t missed the cold refusal in the VIP guest’s eyes or the mocking disdain at the corners of his lips. But she couldn’t afford to care about that now. All she wanted was to quickly find an answer.
The moment the elevator reached the 13th floor, she rushed to Room 1314 and rang the doorbell.
In her heart, she prayed that Nie Yucheng wasn’t inside, that it was all just a malicious prank by someone.
But the next moment, her mind exploded with a deafening roar, and something inside her crumbled.
Nie Yucheng’s voice came from behind the door: “Who is it?”
Who is it?
Your wife.
Xu Miyu clenched her fists. She didn’t answer, just kept ringing the doorbell.
Soon, the door opened.
When she saw who had answered the door, Xu Miyu felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
Lu Zhenzhen.
It was actually Lu Zhenzhen.
How laughable. Back then, Nie Yucheng had complained that this client, Lu Zhenzhen, was endlessly troublesome, and he hadn’t wanted to deal with her. It was Xu Miyu who had intervened and smoothed things over.
At the time, Nie Yucheng had come home grumbling to her about a company that had approached their travel agency to organize an anniversary trip. The contact person was a fresh graduate, a greenhorn. The deal wasn’t big enough to contribute significantly to their revenue, but the contact person kept pestering them with one issue after another, driving him insane.
Xu Miyu had asked Nie Yucheng what the greenhorn’s name was. Nie Yucheng, while scrolling through his WeChat messages to show her how annoying this person was, had said, “Her name is Lu Xixi.”
Xu Miyu had glanced at the name and laughed. It was clearly Lu Zhenzhen.The chat logs were indeed filled with all sorts of trivial questions—the kind that could have been answered with a quick online search instead of bothering others. As these questions piled up, Nie Yucheng’s responses grew increasingly impatient.
Xu Miyu had tried to reason with him back then: "She’s just a fresh graduate, bound to have more questions. If I were starting a job now, I’d probably ask even more annoying ones. Try to empathize—treat her as you would me, and be a little more patient."
Later, when Lu Zhenzhen learned that Xu Miyu had spoken up for her, Nie Yucheng’s attitude softened noticeably. Lu Zhenzhen even visited with a small gift to thank her, expressing a desire to become good friends. After that, during holidays, Xu Miyu, mindful that Lu Zhenzhen was alone in Xing City and might feel homesick, would occasionally ask Nie Yucheng to bring her some homemade stewed meat.
Now, Xu Miyu wished she could turn back time and slap her past self—the one who had defended that "fresh graduate"—hard across the face. Those portions of stewed meat? Better fed to a dog, she thought bitterly. At least a dog would show gratitude instead of biting the hand that fed it.
Looking back, it seemed Lu Zhenzhen hadn’t been as clueless as she appeared. Perhaps all those questions were just a ploy to capture Nie Yucheng’s attention.
In the end, she had practically served Nie Yucheng on a silver platter to a woman she’d mistaken for an "inexperienced kid," but who had actually been coveting her husband all along.
Now, standing at the doorway, she glared at Lu Zhenzhen, who was draped in a bathrobe.
When Lu Zhenzhen saw who had rung the doorbell, not a trace of panic crossed her face. Instead, she managed a casual greeting.
“Mi Yu, it’s you…”
Then she turned and called into the room, “Yucheng, you’d better handle this.”
The man emerged from the room, also wearing a bathrobe.
Xu Miyu stared fixedly at Nie Yucheng. She was certain her eyes held nothing but hatred.
The face she had memorized in her heart and mind now felt utterly unfamiliar. In that moment, he was like a knife, brutally piercing her chest.
He approached her with a look of shock and guilt, as if too ashamed to face her.
Using the same hands and mouth that had just been intimate with another woman, he reached for her and spoke: “Mi Yu, are you okay? Mi Yu? Don’t scare me…”
Xu Miyu pushed his hand away.
It felt filthy to her.
She didn’t know if she was crying—she hoped she wasn’t. Tilting her head back, she poured all her strength into one hoarse question: “Why?”
Why, Nie Yucheng? Why would you do this to our marriage?
Xu Miyu had no memory of how she made it home or how she endured the rest of the day.
She collapsed into bed as soon as she arrived.
Jiao Xiumei kept calling incessantly. Xu Miyu hung up and turned off her phone.
Soon, pounding echoed at the door. Jiao Xiumei shouted from outside, “Little Xuyu, why aren’t you answering my calls? Do you even remember you have a mother?”
Ignoring her, Xu Miyu pulled the covers over her head.
Finally, Jiao Xiumei stormed off, yelling in frustration, “Has this wretched child died in there? She doesn’t even care about her own mother anymore!”
Under the blankets, Xu Miyu thought, Let me die here then. Death would be a clean end to it all.
She drifted into a fitful sleep, only to be awakened by the glare of fluorescent lights.
Pulling the covers down, she saw that night had fallen outside the window—and Nie Yucheng was standing by the windowsill.
He had come back.He stood with his back to her, in front of the window, hands on his hips as if mustering up some sort of courage.
Xu Miyu watched his back, her heart filled with bitterness and a dull ache.
There he stood, hands on his hips, tall and upright, just as handsome and straight-backed as he had been in their school days.
But he was also different from his school days—he had tainted their marriage, tainted their feelings.
Nie Yucheng stood there for a long while, as if finally having gathered enough courage, then turned around to face Xu Miyu.
With a heavy expression, he said to her, "Miyu, we need to talk."
Xu Miyu laughed.
"Talk about what? Talk about how you specifically picked room 1314 when you checked into a hotel with another woman?"
How ironic. Cheating and still hoping for "forever and ever."
Nie Yucheng’s expression froze. "I... I didn’t notice the room number."
Xu Miyu turned her head away, looking to the side.
"What does it matter if you didn’t specifically choose that room number? Are you trying to tell me it was fate?"
Nie Yucheng stood by the bed, looking down at Xu Miyu, who sat wrapped in a blanket.
He raised his hand and wiped his chin. Then he asked, "What do you want to do?"
Xu Miyu couldn’t help but laugh again.
The way he asked made it sound as if she were the one who had cheated.
She turned back, looked up at Nie Yucheng, and met his eyes as she asked, "And you? Is there anything you need to explain to me? Why did you, who was supposed to be on a business trip, end up in that room?"
Her expression hardened, and her tone grew darker. "Did you get lost on your business trip? Or did you suddenly lose your way?"
Nie Yucheng wiped his face with both hands. When he lowered them, his expression had hardened as well.
"Xu Miyu, if you had used even half the fierceness you just showed me on your mother and your family, we wouldn’t have ended up like this!"
Xu Miyu was taken aback.
"Nie Yucheng, you’re the one who cheated. So now your cheating is my fault?"
Nie Yucheng lifted his chin. "Yes, I cheated. But if it weren’t for your family, your mother, being such bloodsuckers, would I have been driven to cheat?"
Nie Yucheng seemed to have finally found an outlet for his pent-up frustrations. The words he had kept bottled up inside now poured out like a flood, growing more and more intense.
"Look at the kind of life we’re living! My clothes, my shoes—your mother, your sister, even your brother-in-law, if they take a liking to something, they just take it. The things I buy for you disappear within days, and I can always find them at your family’s house. I asked you to talk to your mother, to tell her to stop, but what did she say? She said your husband earns a lot, he’s capable, your family is well-off, and your husband can always buy you more. She said you should let your family share in your good fortune, that you’d be the family’s great savior."
"And you? Your mother praises you a little, and you lose all sense of direction. You just let her keep doing it! Xu Miyu, let me tell you, I’ve had enough of this kind of life. I didn’t just marry you—I married your whole family of vampires! I’m not just supporting you—I’m supporting your entire family! I even have to support your brother and your brother-in-law! I’ve had enough!"
In the face of Nie Yucheng’s accusations, Xu Miyu was left speechless, stunned.
She reflected on what Nie Yucheng had said.
When her mother and sister took things from their home, why had she only complained a little and let it go, never truly holding them accountable?Because this was the moment she felt most seen, the moment she received the most affirmation and recognition.
From childhood, she had always been the least noticed child in the family.
The family favored boys over girls, yet the first and second children were both daughters. Determined to have a son, Jiao Xiumei risked fines for exceeding the birth quota to try again.
The third pregnancy finally fulfilled her wish—she had a boy. But just minutes after the boy was born, the doctor delivered another baby from Jiao Xiumei’s womb: a girl.
Jiao Xiumei believed the boy was a gift from heaven, but this girl was truly superfluous. Because of this extra girl, they had to pay even more in fines.
So at home, she was always called "Little Surplus." Though she was the youngest, to ensure the only boy received care from the whole family, she was forcibly promoted from the little sister to the third elder sister.
The eldest sister, though a girl, was still cherished by their parents as the firstborn. The second sister, also a girl, had a fierce personality—she dared to cry, make a scene, and act out. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so she lived quite comfortably. The only boy, needless to say, was treated like a treasure. Only Xu Miyu, no matter how well-behaved she was, never received approval. If she tried to imitate her second sister’s tantrums, she would only earn a severe beating. The entire family overlooked her.
So when her mother and sisters took things from her and told her, "You’re making the whole family proud now!" she could only grumble and complain, unable to truly settle accounts with them or demand they return everything. It was true that she was living better now, and she could acquire those things again in the future.
And so, time and again, she voiced her complaints but compromised in action.
Xu Miyu looked at Nie Yucheng. Even though she had witnessed his infidelity, seen him standing before her in a bathrobe with another woman, the self-reflecting version of her now couldn’t muster any fierceness.
All she could do was ask him with a heart full of bitterness: "But when you pursued me, you knew what my family was like, what my relatives were like. You said it made you care for me even more, that you would be good to me for a lifetime, support me for a lifetime! How is it that after just six years, you can’t take it anymore? When you proposed, didn’t you tell me that from then on, you would face my family with me, overcome every challenge together?"
Nie Yucheng looked at her, his eyes reddening.
OpenNovel