Certain Office Building——
"Sir, Mis… Jiang Nanfei is here!" The executive secretary looked hesitant, almost messing up her introduction. Jiang Nanfei ceased being his wife one year ago, and no one knew the reason for the divorce, but within the system, there was no shortage of rumors.
It was said that Jiang Nanfei and the leader's marriage had been arranged since they were children. Arranged marriages certainly do more harm than good! After all, they ended up getting a divorce.
The man, who was engrossed in his paperwork, hurriedly looked up, his usually cold and severe face displaying a slight, barely noticeable agitation. "Where is she? Where is she?"
"At the main entrance. She wasn't allowed in."
"Nonsense, let her in at once." The man's face was shrouded with anger. After he spoke, he considered his words ill-suited, and clumsily stood up. "Never mind! I'll go and greet her myself."
Having said that, he quickly walked out of the office, followed closely by the taken-aback executive secretary.
As she stood at the grand, solemn entrance of the building, Jiang Nanfei felt deeply humiliated and awkward. Although she had long been aware of her worthlessness after losing her status as Huo Beijiang's wife, and had braced herself for it, reality turned out to be far crueller than she had anticipated when she came face to face with it.
Jiang Nanfei could not help but recall her conversation with Huo Beijiang one year ago.
"Divorcing me... Do you understand what you're giving up?" The man slightly bent his upright posture, his eyes filled with pain, as if he had aged considerably in an instant. "Nan Fei, it's been ten years - can we stop talking about divorce? Without me... who would protect your clueless self?"
Jiang Nanfei took a step back, her guilty heart preventing her from meeting his gaze. Although she didn't really feel that way, her words didn't reflect any compromise. "I don't love you, marrying you was against my will. Would my brother have died if we hadn't married?"
She paused, a periodic throbbing pain gripping her chest.
On the day of their wedding, her only younger brother died in a tragic accident by falling into a river. Not long after, both her parents, whose health had been deteriorating, passed away one after the other. As a result, the man she had always been indifferent towards became her sworn enemy overnight. Over the past decade, she had been constantly contemplating divorce and even caused several scenes at the office building.
"I'm sorry!" Huo Beijiang lowered his eyes in pain, forcibly pulling her into his embrace against her will. His arms wrapped around her, restraining her as tightly as iron, as if wanting to meld her into his body.
"Let go, let go of me..." His kiss left her mind blank and she continued in a daze until released.
"Slap!" A slap landed on his face without hesitation.
With a stoic expression on his handsome face, Huo Beijiang paused before issuing a cold, cruel smile. "Jiang Nanfei, you are the biggest fool I know! Do you really think Qiao Jingxuan loves you? You're wrong…"
He straightened his posture, his demeanor imposing, speaking each word distinctly: "Apart from me, Huo Beijiang, nobody loves you."
Each word from him unraveled Jiang Nanfei's facade, leaving her mind clouded. Qiao Jingxuan had been her first love, and before getting married, she did fantasize about marrying him.
But ever since she dropped out in her final year of high school, she stopped dreaming. The man she thought was forever unattainable, later confessed his love for her, vowing to wait for her and declaring his lifelong commitment to her.
"What will it take for you to agree to a divorce?" She covered her ears in agony, refusing to listen to Huo Beijiang.
"I'll give you a year to recognize the true face of Qiao Jingxuan. If after one year, you still insist on divorcing me, then...I will grant it to you." Huo Beijiang took a deep breath, fully aware that no matter what he did, in Nanfei's eyes, it would always be wrong, always with ulterior motives. Yet he still didn't want to give up.
"In the meantime, I will publicly announce the end of our marriage."