Lao Liu stammered, not daring to answer. When a husband and wife weren’t on good terms, it was the people working under them who had it the hardest. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to report Zhou Yanjing’s whereabouts to her. He couldn't afford to cross the boss, but the boss's wife was no pushover either. They were fighting now, but who knew? They could be at each other's throats one day and back in love the next, and then he'd be the one to pay the price. After mulling it over, he settled on a neutral, evasive answer. “The Second Young Master has been busy with company business these past few days.” He was skilled at dodging the question. How could Lin Yuxi not see through it? “So, he’s living at the office?” “Well…” A cold sweat was already beading on Lao Liu’s brow. “No, not exactly.” “I won’t press you.” Lin Yuxi lowered her head and continued sipping her soup. “You can go.” Lao Liu didn’t linger for a second, leaving immediately. That afternoon, Lin Yuxi tried calling Zhou Yanjing again. As before, his assistant picked up. “Mrs. Zhou, are you looking for Mr. Zhou?” “Can you put Zhou Yanjing on the phone?” Lin Yuxi asked. “Mr. Zhou is in a meeting,” the assistant, Yang Kang, replied politely. “As you know, he just returned to the country, and there’s a great deal to handle here at Boyu. He’s been extremely busy lately. If you have an urgent matter, I can pass on a message for you.” A divorce was something she had to discuss with Zhou Yanjing in person. What could an assistant possibly convey? Lin Yuxi’s patience was wearing thin. “Fine,” she said curtly. “Then tell him if he’s so busy running the world, he should be careful not to drop dead from exhaustion.” “…” “And tell him to call me back before he does.” “…” After hanging up, Yang Kang glanced at the man behind the desk, who was signing the bottom right corner of a document, and wondered if he should relay the message verbatim. Zhou Yanjing had indeed been incredibly busy. Boyu Investment Banking was shifting its focus to the domestic market, moving its headquarters from Wall Street back to Lincheng. The paperwork and procedures alone would take days to sort through. After signing off on the last document in a towering stack, Zhou Yanjing capped his pen. He leaned back in his chair, took a sip of coffee, and only then did he ask, “What did she say?” Yang Kang softened the message. “Your wife said you should take care of your health and not overwork yourself.” An eyebrow arched on Zhou Yanjing’s face. He glanced out the window. Boyu’s new office was right next to the Zhou Group’s headquarters. Gleaming silver skyscrapers stood shoulder to shoulder, forming the magnificent, sprawling central business district. The glass curtain walls reflected the blinding midday sun. A soft, mocking laugh rumbled in Zhou Yanjing’s throat. He swiveled his chair ninety degrees to face the floor-to-ceiling windows and took a slow sip of his coffee. “The sun didn’t rise in the west today, did it?” Lin Yuxi had no idea if Yang Kang had actually passed on her message. In any case, the result was the same. Zhou Yanjing remained silent, as if he were dead to the world. He didn't return her calls, and he didn't come home. While one party refused to show his face, the other, Ling Yaqiong, called to check on the progress. “How did the talk with Yanjing go?” Lin Yuxi had follow-up appointments with patients that afternoon and no time for a proper lunch, so she was making do with a piece of bread. “He’s been busy lately. We haven’t had a chance to talk it through.” She could practically picture Ling Yaqiong’s frowning face. “Yuxi, are you stalling on purpose?” “I’m not,” Lin Yuxi said. Ling Yaqiong’s voice sharpened. “Dragging this out is just torturing everyone—torturing Yanjing and torturing us. Do you hate us that much?” “I don’t,” Lin Yuxi said, her voice laced with exhaustion. “Has our Zhou family ever treated you unfairly all these years? I watched you grow up. Don’t force me to be the villain in the end. It will only make things ugly for you.” “Yanjing has already been wronged for three years. Do you have any idea how I feel, as a mother, watching my son stay in the United States year after year, refusing to even come home, all because of you?” Lin Yuxi never knew why Zhou Yanjing had suddenly decided to go to America. They said he went to chase after Jiang Nan, blaming her for not being able to hold on to her own husband. They said he couldn’t stand the sight of her, blaming her for being so insufferable. Somehow, it was always her fault. All the resentment that had been festering in Ling Yaqiong for years came pouring out. “If it weren’t for his grandmother’s ridiculous demands back then, I would have never, ever let you two get married. Yanjing deserves a much better wife!” It felt like a knife twisting in her heart, over and over. Lin Yuxi didn’t feel the pain anymore, just the raw, bloody wound. She clenched her fists. “It’s not like I wanted this marriage either. Don’t forget, it was your Zhou family that came to me for help.” There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. Ling Yaqiong’s tone softened slightly, but it was still dripping with condescension. “I know. You did our Zhou family a favor, and we won’t be unfair to you. You’ll get every penny you’re owed.” “Once you and Yanjing are divorced, this will all be over. You and the Zhou family will owe each other nothing.” *Owe each other nothing.* After hanging up, Lin Yuxi slumped back in her chair, defeated. It was late autumn. The leaves of the dawn redwood trees were almost all gone, with only a few withered ones clinging to the bare branches. A new resident intern knocked on her door. “Dr. Lin, it’s almost one o’clock. Are you ready?” Lin Yuxi took a long, deep breath and sat up straight. “I’m ready.” … “That old witch said what? Nothing to owe each other, my ass!” Before the end of the workday, Lin Yuxi got a call from Yu Jiaxiao, who sensed her low mood and pried the story of the afternoon phone call out of her. She was practically incandescent with rage. “The Zhou family owes you, big time! And what right does that Zhou bastard have to feel wronged? If he was so damn wronged, he shouldn’t have touched you in the first place! For crying out loud, tell him to ask his precious dick if it felt so ‘wronged’!” Lin Yuxi nearly choked on a sip of water. She glanced around; thankfully, the breakroom was empty. She filled her cup and started walking back. “Miss Yu, watch your language. I’m at the hospital.” “So what if it’s a hospital? We’re all adults here. This stuff is written in our DNA!” Yu Jiaxiao wasn’t finished. “You’re not the one complaining, but he gets to play the victim? After you got married, he just kept living his life, running around with that what’s-her-name, Jiang Nan, for the whole world to see. He made you a laughingstock, to the point where even a housekeeper dared to walk all over you!” “You wasted three years of your youth on him, and for what? To be ridiculed by everyone and have your feelings toyed with!” Leave it to her best friend to hit her right where it hurt the most. Lin Yuxi sighed. “…I’m cutting you off for the next five hundred years. Hope you don’t mind.” “No, no, no!” Yu Jiaxiao, who had gotten carried away in her righteous fury, quickly backpedaled. “I’m off work. Wait for me, I’ll pick you up. My treat, we’re having a feast!” “By ‘feast,’ you mean something we have to ‘drink,’ don’t you?” Yu Jiaxiao giggled. “You know me so well.” Her tolerance for alcohol was mediocre at best, but she loved to drink, claiming it was a necessary release from work stress. Every time she promised Lin Yuxi a feast, they ended up at a bar. Just as Lin Yuxi stepped out of the hospital, the car Yu Jiaxiao had called was already parked by the curb. Yu Jiaxiao stuck her head out the window, waving. Lin Yuxi got in and, out of habit, pulled a bottle of hand sanitizer from her purse. Yu Jiaxiao, well-trained, held out her paws to be sanitized. “This new bar I found is having a promotion today—fifty percent off for couples!” The word ‘sale’ was her weakness, and ‘fifty percent off’ was a siren’s call she couldn’t resist. “But we’re not a couple,” Lin Yuxi pointed out. “Why are you always so honest?” Yu Jiaxiao threw an arm around her. “If we say we are, how would they know? People are so open-minded these days. Worst case, we can just kiss right in front of them!” Lin Yuxi said, “That’s a hard pass.” “Objection overruled. You’re a married woman, but I’m still a virgin! If you think about it, I’m the one getting the short end of the stick here.” Getting into the bar was easier than Lin Yuxi had expected. But Yu Jiaxiao was clearly missing a few screws. She wrapped an arm around Lin Yuxi’s waist, tilted her chin at the bouncer, and declared, “You can tell, right? I’m the butch one.” Lin Yuxi: “…” Determined to cheer her up, Yu Jiaxiao ordered a mountain of food and a selection of expensive cocktails she normally wouldn’t splurge on. The bar was upscale, with a great ambiance and tasty snacks. But it was exceptionally crowded tonight, the thumping music so loud it was both jarring and deafening. Yu Jiaxiao, who lived online like a spider in its web, was always the first to know the latest gossip. “You don’t think your husband really came back to fight for the family inheritance, do you?”