Chapter 19: Driving Them Away

Fu Shiyong instinctively looked down.

However, Yu Yue pinched Yu Yiyi’s arm hard, causing the little boy to burst into heart-wrenching sobs. The man, who had always doted on his son, immediately shifted his attention. Ignoring the "scrap of paper" on the ground, he continued to tour the senior university with his wife and child.

Once they were out of sight, Yu Zao emerged from the restroom and let out a long, heavy sigh. She picked up the medical report, her gaze lingering on the line of text that served as her death sentence.

"Fu Shiyong, if I had known it would come to this, I would rather have starved to death on the streets than ever have met you!"

Meeting you, falling in love with you, and giving birth to our adorable son—but heaven would not allow us to remain happy forever. It made me fall ill and forced me to leave. And I, in turn, could only use an even more cruel method to force you to give up on me, to make you hate me...

The kindergarten’s parent-child activity had just begun. Yu Yiyi was pestering Yu Yue to run with him in the relay race. Fu Shiyong cast a cold glance at his assistant.

The assistant immediately understood and whispered, "Yu Zao does indeed work here; it was arranged by Young Master Yang. It seems this pair of adulterers is certainly..."

"Tired of living?"

The two words were spoken with a chill so profound it could freeze one to the bone. The assistant shrank back in fear, instantly changing his tone. "I mean, Miss Yu Zao and Young Master Yang have a close relationship. Chairman, the blacklist is still in effect. Should I contact the school administration to handle this?"

"Hmm." The man’s emotions were unfathomable.

The assistant offered a sycophantic smile. "Understood. Since Miss Yu Zao has offended the future mistress, it is only right that she receives a lesson."

"A lesson?"

"?"

"I told you to notify the school to sign a formal employment contract with Yu Zao. Include full insurance, housing benefits, and everything else."

Fu Shiyong possessed a magnetic, deep voice that was naturally superior to everyone else’s. It was difficult to discern his mood from his words, yet whenever Yu Zao was mentioned—whether in anger or concern—his emotions, much like Yu Yiyi’s, were uncontrollably written on his face. This was a unique reaction he had never shown to Yu Yue.

The assistant took the order and scurried away.

On the playground, Yiyi and Yu Yue were having a wonderful time. The little boy even intentionally snatched the microphone from the teacher to profess his love for "Mommy" to the entire crowd.

"My mommy is the most beautiful, kindest, and purest mommy in the world."

"I’ll tell you a secret: Daddy is the one who told Yiyi all this~"

The echoes of their public display of affection drifted across the field. The surrounding parents looked on with open envy and jealousy. Even Yu Yue stood there, full of anticipation, waiting for kisses, hugs, and to be lifted up high.

Only the leading man, Fu Shiyong, found an excuse to return to the car to wait.

Passing by the school pharmacy, his feet moved before his brain could process the thought, and he stepped inside.

"Nutritional supplements for women to replenish blood. She’s a bit... pale..."

In the corridor of the teaching building, the moment Yu Zao had rushed into the restroom, her usually delicate and lovely face had been devoid of even a hint of color.

The pharmacist praised him, "Are you buying these for your wife, sir? We don't see many thoughtful men like you these days."

At the word "wife," the sexy, thin lips that Fu Shiyong habitually kept pressed together curled upward in a way that was barely perceptible.

"Yes, she is very delicate, loves to act spoiled, and is quite good at gaslighting her husband."

In those memories where he and Yu Zao were both happy, if the girl even cut her finger, she would cry for three days and nights, then demand with pampered arrogance, "Fu Shiyong, this princess is severely injured and about to die. You must serve me well, or you are a total scumbag!"

The boy would labor tirelessly, laughing as he teased her, "Yes, Your Highness, your servant obeys!"

*Hahaha—*

The sound of their laughter, layered together, drifted from near to far, eventually dissolving into that frantic, stormy night.

"Sir? Sir!" The pharmacist called out loudly, noticing him spacing out.

Fu Shiyong snapped back to reality. His long, pale fingers brushed against the slightly damp corners of his eyes. He paid and said, "Send these to the new art teacher. Her name is... Yu Zao."

With that, he turned and left without looking back.

The pharmacist was stunned. "Strange. His eyes clearly looked like he was hopelessly in love, so why is he suddenly so cold? Is he schizophrenic?"

Outside the pharmacy, holding Yu Yiyi, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion, Yu Yue bit her carefully nurtured pink lips until they bled. Her eyes, twisted with anger and jealousy, slowly fell upon Yiyi, who bore a three-part resemblance to Yu Zao.

*Thump!*

Yu Yiyi’s soft little body was viciously thrown onto the lawn. The little boy woke up in pain, still dazed, crawling around to find his mother, wanting her embrace.

Yu Yue crouched down, one hand propping up her chin, the other idly destroying the withered grass between her fingers. She smiled with grim satisfaction.

"Yu Zao, even your son is subject to my torment, yet he still relies on me so much."

"Shiyong has also promised he will try to fall in love with me and marry me."

"As for you, you will eventually end up just like your pathetic mother—a worm only fit to peek at my happiness from the shadows!"

The next day, Yu Zao moved house. Yang Chen came to help. The family portrait that had fallen out of the cabinet had been wiped clean, the man’s handsome, sunny face shining.

"Xiao Yu, this photo..."

"Throw it away."

Her voice was calm, but the watery, almond-shaped eyes that she deliberately averted clearly betrayed her reluctance. As a supportive friend, Yang Chen wanted to offer some advice, but Yu Zao moved quickly. She snatched the photo, shoved it into a garbage bag, and walked out.

"Out with the old, in with the new."

"I said I would make a clean break. These past three years of hesitation were my own fault."

She went downstairs to the trash collection area. The moment she tossed the bag away, the sunlight stung her eyes, leaving them red.

A Rolls-Royce was parked under the shade of a tree. From the driver’s seat, Fu Shiyong saw clearly as the double-sided family portrait was tossed into the dirty recycling bin.

And it was non-recyclable!

The next second, he watched helplessly as Yu Zao turned around, daintily tiptoed, and planted a light kiss on Yang Chen’s handsome face—a face that was in no way inferior to his own. The two walked hand in hand, chatting and laughing as they entered the old apartment building.

*Beep! Beep! Beep!!!*

A piercing horn blast echoed through the residential complex. The ten-million-plus limited-edition Rolls-Royce sped away like a bolt of lightning.

In the third-floor bedroom window, Yu Zao bit her hand to keep from sobbing too loudly. Only when the car vanished from sight did her body, no longer able to support itself, slide down onto the cold, worn wooden floor.

"You knew Fu Shiyong was downstairs, didn't you?"

"You kissed me to cement your reputation as a homewrecker, to make him even more thoroughly disappointed in you?"

Her muffled sobs came in fits and starts. The moving company had already packed up her few belongings. In the empty one-bedroom apartment, Yang Chen crouched on the floor, offering a shoulder for Yu Zao to lean on.

She whispered, "Brother Yang, teach me. Teach me how to stop loving him, teach me how to be truly cold-hearted toward that father and son."

"Xiao Yu, you are a woman, a mother, and once, a wife. Do you remember?"

The crying did not cease that entire day.

At the Fu villa, Fu Shiyong drank himself into a stupor. He even rushed to the antique clock several times, wanting to smash it and tear down the family portrait hidden behind it. But in the end, he only collapsed to the floor in despair.

One moment, he mocked himself with a bitter laugh: "Yu Zao, how many times have you abandoned Yiyi and me now?"

The next, he slammed his fist into the wall beside the clock, over and over again.

As the alcohol surged, his proud, tall frame curled up in agony, and he muttered to himself:

"Wife, I love you. I have always... loved you so, so much..."