Chapter One: I Want a Divorce

At three o'clock in the morning, Ouyang Junyan returned home reeking of alcohol.

With a sudden click, the pitch-black room became bright and transparent. Ouyang Junyan blinked dazedly and saw a woman standing by the bed in the master bedroom.

Ha, if he remembered correctly… this woman was his wife, Fang Zhiyin.

Fang Zhiyin wore a white silk nightgown, her eyes red from crying. The moment she saw Ouyang Junyan, she marched straight up to him without a word.

Slap! She struck him across the face, the sound echoing loudly.

Ouyang Junyan sobered up a little, raising his hand to clutch her slender wrist, squeezing so hard he seemed intent on crushing it. "What are you doing?!"

"You're asking me? Why don’t you ask yourself what ‘good deeds’ you’ve done?!” Fang Zhiyin’s voice was hoarse, as though she’d just finished sobbing.

Ouyang Junyan scowled fiercely.

“Ouyang Junyan, do you even know today is our first wedding anniversary?” Fang Zhiyin’s chest heaved with fury, her words biting, loaded with a hatred too deep for words. “You promised me you would come home tonight and have dinner with my parents. Yet I searched for you all day, blew up your phone, and you never showed up.”

Ouyang Junyan paused, recalling vaguely that there had been such a promise.

“And then I found out you went to Tian Lisha’s house tonight…” As she spoke, Fang Zhiyin’s tone turned reckless, as if she’d lost all care.

Tian Lisha was Ouyang Junyan’s so-called sister… but in truth, there was no blood relation between them.

He had indeed gone to Tian Lisha’s tonight, and she’d plied him with alcohol. But if she hadn’t called him with threats like “if you don’t come, I’ll kill myself,” he wouldn’t have fallen for it.

“All right, this is my fault.” Ouyang Junyan’s voice softened a little. “What do you want as compensation?”

Fang Zhiyin stared at the man before her, utterly disappointed. It wasn’t hard to recall how, a year ago, when he was at the end of his rope, he came to her, asking whether she still liked him, and if she would marry him.

Ouyang Junyan was indeed a business prodigy. With her family’s wealth backing him, he’d managed to rise from ruin in just one year—a miracle in the business world.

But his so-called “compensation” amounted to nothing more than jewelry, clothes, handbags—things ordinary women might covet.

Yet he knew, more than anyone, what Fang Zhiyin truly wanted… his heart.

A year had passed, and aside from the rare tenderness he showed when drunk—oh, so rarely—Ouyang Junyan was cold and reserved, sometimes so composed he hardly seemed human.

“Does it mean whatever request I make, you’ll agree?” Fang Zhiyin asked, her face expressionless.

“Speak.” Now fully awake, Ouyang Junyan looked like a block of wood, devoid of emotion.

“I want a divorce.” Compared to her earlier rage and hatred, Fang Zhiyin was unexpectedly calm as she uttered those words.

Ouyang Junyan spun around, shocked. “What did you say?!”

“Do you not understand plain speech?” A bitter, cold smile curled Fang Zhiyin’s lips. “I said, I want a divorce. From now on, whoever you love, go to them—I won’t interfere…”

But before she could finish, Ouyang Junyan’s expression twisted. Like an angry lion, he seized her wrist again, this time with even more force, as if to snap it.

“Hey! You’re hurting me!” Fang Zhiyin struggled, shouting.

“Divorce? Are you sure?” Ouyang Junyan’s eyes narrowed dangerously, his voice colder than ice.

Fang Zhiyin was so incensed by his reaction she laughed, mocking, “The one thing I regret most in my life is agreeing to marry you!”

At last, Ouyang Junyan was utterly enraged. “You…” But the rest of his words were strangled, vanishing into the air.

Fang Zhiyin’s heart went cold. She wanted to have a real argument with him before the divorce—but even that was impossible.

“The biggest regret of my life is agreeing to marry you!” Fang Zhiyin repeated.

Ouyang Junyan glared at her for half a minute in silence. Then, with a single hand, he dragged her up and flung her roughly onto the bed.

Fang Zhiyin hadn’t yet grasped what he intended. He tore open his shirt, revealing a broad, muscular chest.

Though she hated him, her love was unwavering. Seeing him like this, she couldn’t help swallowing subconsciously.

“Let me tell you—marriage is a matter for two people. As long as I refuse, you can forget about divorce!” With that, Ouyang Junyan pressed himself onto her, biting her lips and swallowing any words she might have uttered.

Dawn came.

After a night of turmoil, Fang Zhiyin couldn’t recall how she eventually fell asleep. Her memories were muddled—she remembered wrestling with Ouyang Junyan in bed, remembered digging her nails into his back and scratching him bloody.

Sunlight streamed through the window.

As Fang Zhiyin slowly opened her eyes, she was startled to see the man she’d fought with last night sitting up, staring at her with wide, blank eyes. She jolted in fright, nearly tumbling off the bed.

“You—” Fang Zhiyin shook her head, trying to banish the unpleasant memories.

“Who are you?!” To her shock, Ouyang Junyan asked her this question in a voice filled with amazement and confusion. “Today…” He glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table, then leapt off the bed, exclaiming, “Today is my first day at university!”

What?

Fang Zhiyin was bewildered by his antics, grabbing his arm. “Ouyang Junyan, what’s wrong with you?”

“You old woman!” Ouyang Junyan shouted at her in a strange, childish tone, “You even prey on a just-turned-eighteen-year-old college student! You’re disgusting!!”

Old… old woman?

Fang Zhiyin was stunned. Was he insulting her?

Calling her an old woman?

Wait—what had he said just now? That he had just turned eighteen?

Fang Zhiyin wanted to press further, but Ouyang Junyan glanced at her, then at himself, and his face flushed bright red, like a shy schoolboy.

He hurriedly grabbed his clothes from the floor and stormed out of the room. By the time Fang Zhiyin ran downstairs, he was already gone.

The maid looked astonished. “Madam, the master ran out.”

“I know.” Fang Zhiyin was furious herself, deciding to finish breakfast before settling accounts with Ouyang Junyan.

After all, she’d made up her mind to divorce him—surely he wouldn’t forget such a thing after a night’s sleep…

“Did you bully him?” The maid asked, unable to resist.

Fang Zhiyin nearly spat out her milk in surprise.

The couple’s relationship had been strained for a year—the maid knew this well. But she’d never seen Ouyang Junyan like that before, so lost and anxious, like a little boy.

“Oh, right, the master just asked how to get to S University from here…”

Fang Zhiyin was so shocked she couldn’t utter a word.