Chapter Five: Drunk, He Hammered on Her Door

A ping sounded.

I accidentally touched a trending topic pushed to my phone screen. The video began to play automatically.

"It’s alright, Shiyong. We’re filming a show. If you act like this, people will laugh at you."

"Laugh at me for what? For loving my fiancée too much? For changing her shoes myself when I saw her new ones didn't fit?"

"Or should they laugh at me for being unable to focus on work unless I’m by your side every single moment?"

The man was usually a man of few words; he spoke as if his words were gold. He rarely wore his emotions so openly. But in front of the woman he loved, Yu Zao knew he was still himself—the foolish boy who would give everything for love.

It was just a pity that the one who could enjoy such unique devotion would never be her again.

Yu Yue was right. She always had the ability to take everything from her—her home, her mother, her father’s profound love, and the man she had wanted to protect for a lifetime!

The side effects of her medication made her internal organs spasm and cramp violently. Her hair fell out in clumps. On the screen, the livestream of Fu Shiyong and Yu Yue was so sickeningly sweet it felt like it might burst.

Yu Yue said, "Shiyong, I want to eat lychees. Peel them for me."

"Alright."

Meanwhile, Yu Zao was parched with thirst. She climbed down from her bed, only to accidentally knock over a kettle, scalding herself with blisters.

Yu Yue said again, "Shiyong, I suddenly want to see the sea. What should I do?"

President Fu immediately arranged a private jet for travel at any moment.

Yet, when Yu Zao had a high fever and wanted to go to a clinic for an injection, she didn't even have the money for a taxi.

The cold wind howled on that autumn night. She held herself tight, walking a kilometer to find a small pharmacy to buy the cheapest fever reducers.

When she returned home, the phone was still on, the livestream continuing. The handsome man and beautiful woman sat on a yacht, watching the moonlight over the bay and tasting expensive cuisine.

Yu Zao stood quietly in her small, one-bedroom apartment. She didn't turn on the lights.

After a deathly silence, she didn't know what snapped in her mind, but an inexplicable surge of emotion overcame her. She let out a low growl and smashed the phone into pieces.

Outside the old window, news of the Fu Group’s successful IPO on NASDAQ was everywhere.

Exhausted, Yu Zao collapsed to the floor. She hugged her knees, curling up in the corner behind the sofa. She cried and laughed by turns, finally pulling a family portrait from the deepest part of the cabinet.

The wife was charming and beautiful; the baby in her arms was sweet, sucking on its fingers and giggling. The husband was full of affection, a sweetness radiating from his very bones that no other emotion could replace.

"Fu Shiyong, why me? Why is it me who is sick?"

"Why is Heaven so unfair? It let me have everything, only to cruelly take it all away."

"Yiyi, I am your mother. Mommy misses you so much, wants to hold you so much..."

*Rumble—*

Thunder roared, and rain poured down like a deluge.

At the Fu villa, Fu Shiyong sat up abruptly in bed, his subconscious reaching out to touch the other side of the bed.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here. Little Fish, your husband is here, I..."

He stopped mid-sentence. His hand hovered in mid-air, his knuckles turning white from the tension, cracking audibly. The gardenia scent that had filled the room for three years suddenly felt suffocating, making it impossible to breathe.

"Damn it!"

The man grabbed the scent diffuser, intending to shatter it. But in the end, he swore through gritted teeth and placed it steadily back on the nightstand.

Restlessness kept Fu Shiyong from sleeping. He went to the study and stood before the clock in the corner. His sharp gaze seemed to pierce through everything to see the family portrait hidden behind it.

Large raindrops pelted the window, clattering loudly. Jagged lightning tore through the heavy clouds again and again, its purple-blue glow terrifying.

"Fu Shiyong, the day my mother died, there was thunder, too. Since then, I’ve been scared to death every time there’s a thunderstorm."

"So, you have to promise me that whenever it thunders and rains, no matter what you're doing, you have to stay by my side."

"Otherwise, I’ll be very, very angry, and I won't talk to you anymore!"

The young girl’s petulance was straightforward. Back then, Yu Zao was vibrant, living every second with vigor and a sense of justice.

It had only been three years. What had she gone through in those three years? What had turned her into someone so obsessed with money and devoid of boundaries?

"Or perhaps," Fu Shiyong raised his hand into the void, tracing the image of his wife in the photo, "the girl from before was the fake one, and now she’s just stopped pretending?"

In a daze, by the time Fu Shiyong regained his senses, he had already driven away from the villa. The navigation screen displayed the current address of Yu Zao, which his assistant had just uncovered.

On the third floor of the villa, Yu Yue watched the car's taillights disappear into the mist. Her mother, who was on a video call with her, was frantic.

"Daughter, hasn't that damned Yu Zao been gone for three years? How did she suddenly pop up again?"

"You're about to marry Shiyong. If that little wretch suddenly returns, won't it ruin your good fortune?"

After all, Fu Shiyong used to despise Yu Yue. If it hadn't been for Yu Zao leaving three years ago, allowing her to step in with favors, companionship, and comfort, this man would never have agreed to marry her just to find a mother for Yiyi.

"Mom, don't worry. I’ve sworn that anything that belongs to Yu Zao, I will take for myself—and that includes the man!"

"Rest assured, Shiyong hates that wretch to death now. I just need to give it a little push, and you’ll see. I guarantee Shiyong will be itching to make that woman disappear from the face of the earth!"

Yu Yue sat at her vanity, using the most expensive skincare products, trying to make herself look better.

On the other side of the screen, her mother hesitated before asking, "Daughter, I remember you and Yu Zao used to be very close. After that mountain trip, how did things go so sour?"

Yu Yue had even once defended Yu Zao, condemning her mother's behavior as a mistress as shameful. But later, everything suddenly took a sharp turn.

"That’s my business. You don't need to worry about it. That's enough, I'm hanging up."

Yu Yue irritably flipped her phone face down. She looked at herself in the mirror, her fingernails slowly scratching the lacquer of the table. The screeching sound echoed in the night, chilling to the bone.

"Yu Zao, you are the one who was wrong. You are just atoning now. You are atoning!"

*Rumble!!!*

The entire Jingbei was shrouded in rolling thunder.

Yu Zao’s fever had subsided slightly. Feeling weak, she wanted to go out to find a late-night food stall. But as soon as she opened the door, she was met with a pair of bloodshot black eyes, brimming with a raging fire, veiled in mist.

"Fu Shi... President Fu?!"

She reacted quickly, stepping back and trying to slam the door shut. But the man was faster, bracing his hand against the panel. Reeking of alcohol, he forced his way inside.