The frigid river wind lashed against her, a cold that sliced to the bone, but Su Qingyu scrambled to her feet and gave chase. But she had underestimated the weakness of her body. She hadn't made it more than a few yards before she collapsed, falling hard to the ground. The car door swung open again, and a pair of gleaming, handcrafted leather shoes came to a stop right in front of her. Her gaze traveled slowly up the sharp crease of his trousers until it met the icy eyes of Li Tingchen. "Li..." Su Qingyu began, her voice weak. A well-defined hand reached down toward her, and in her daze, Su Qingyu saw not him, but the boy in white who had once dazzled her youth. Instinctively, she reached for him. But the instant their fingers touched, Li Tingchen snatched his hand back. It was a flicker of hope given and just as cruelly extinguished, sending her stumbling body crashing back to the pavement. Unhurt before, she now landed with her palm pressed squarely onto a shard of broken glass. Bright crimson welled up, dripping from her hand. His dark eyes flickered for a moment, but he made no move. A wave of disorientation washed over Su Qingyu as she remembered the time he had rushed her to the hospital in the middle of the night over a tiny cut on her finger. The doctor on duty had even chuckled, "Sir, it's a good thing you brought her in. Any later and the wound would have healed on its own." The memory of that man superimposed itself onto the one before her now. The lines of his face, his eyes—they were the same. But where there had once been concern, now there was only a mask of frost. "Su Qingyu," Li Tingchen said, his voice devoid of any warmth. "Others might not know you, but I do. The woman who could run a mile and still do a somersault at the end? You expect me to believe you'd collapse after just a few steps?" His gaze was steeped in contempt, each look like the slice of a cold blade against her skin. Su Qingyu bit her pale lip. "No, that's not it. I'm not lying to you. I'm just... I've been sick, I'm weak..." Before she could finish, the tall man bent down, forcing her chin up. His calloused thumb brushed against her dry lips. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Just like that hypocritical father of yours. Willing to put on such a pathetic little act for a bit of money." His words cut deeper than the wind, twisting like a knife in her heart. Su Qingyu slapped his hand away. "My father is a man of integrity! I know he would never do anything so despicable!" "Hah." Li Tingchen scoffed, seemingly unwilling to argue the point. Instead, he pulled a checkbook from his wallet, scribbled a figure, and held the check before her, pinched between two fingers. "Want it?" Five million. It was a substantial sum, enough to cover Su Qiping’s medical expenses for a long time. But he was obviously not being kind. Su Qingyu didn't take it. "What's the catch?" Li Tingchen leaned in, his voice a low whisper in her ear. "Just say it. Say that Su Qiping is a worthless piece of scum, lower than an animal. And the money is yours." The color drained from Su Qingyu's face. She swung to slap him, but he caught her wrist in a vise-like grip. As she struggled, her injured hand smeared against his shirt, leaving a bloody handprint. Li Tingchen's grip tightened, his tone turning severe. "What? Unwilling? Then let him rot in that hospital. I've already picked out a burial plot." "Li Tingchen, why have you become like this?" Su Qingyu demanded, tears streaming down her face. The man who once promised to protect her forever, to never let her cry, now seemed like a distant dream. Her tears were now nothing but a tool for his amusement. Even the warm yellow glow of the streetlight cast no warmth on his features, only highlighting the impatience etched there. "Still not going to say it?" He released her and slowly, deliberately, tore the check in two. Su Qingyu lunged forward to stop him, but he shoved her away. He looked down on her like a god from the heavens, his expression indifferent. "I gave you a chance." The torn pieces of paper fluttered down around her like shattered butterflies, her hope disintegrating with them. "No, don't!" Su Qingyu frantically tried to gather the scraps, tears splashing onto the pavement. She was like a lost child who had lost everything, helpless and panicked. Li Tingchen turned to leave. Just as he was about to get into the car, he heard a soft thud. He glanced back to see her unconscious on the ground. The driver, Xiao Chen, looked nervous. "Mr. Li, I think Mrs. Li has fainted. Should we take her to the hospital?" Li Tingchen shot him a cold look. "Are you that concerned about her?" Xiao Chen had been with Li Tingchen for a long time. He remembered how much Mr. Li used to adore his wife. But ever since he'd returned from identifying that body, he had become a different person. Still, it was a family matter, and he knew better than to pry. He obediently started the car and drove away. As the car pulled further away, Li Tingchen glanced in the rearview mirror at the woman who still hadn't moved. The scorn on his face deepened. It had been a while, but her acting skills had certainly improved. Though Su Qingyu had been raised in the lap of luxury, Su Qiping had enrolled her in all sorts of self-defense classes so she wouldn't be bullied. A woman with a black belt in Taekwondo and a seventh-dan in Sanda, strong as an ox—how could she possibly just faint like that? In his eyes, it was just another performance for money. With that thought, Li Tingchen coldly averted his gaze and didn't look back. Only after Li Tingchen’s car had disappeared from view did Lin Yan hurry to Su Qingyu’s side. When Su Qingyu woke up again, she found herself back in the room she had left not long ago. An IV was taped to the back of her hand, a cold liquid seeping slowly into a bruised vein. The wound on her left palm had been bandaged. The stag-horn clock on the wall pointed to three in the morning. Before she could speak, Lin Yan’s gentle voice sounded. "I'm sorry. I was worried you might do something drastic, so I followed you." Su Qingyu tried to sit up. Lin Yan quickly propped another pillow behind her and gave her some water. Feeling a little better, she finally spoke. "Senior, you saw everything?" "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude on your privacy." Lin Yan was like a blank sheet of paper, easy to read, nothing like Li Tingchen. "It's fine. I'm his wife. It's not like it's a secret affair." Seeing the stunned look on Lin Yan's face, Su Qingyu gave a bitter smile. "Right. Everyone thinks Bai Yuanyuan is his bride-to-be. I don't blame you for not believing me..." Lin Yan quickly cut her off. "No, I believe you. I recognize your wedding ring—well, the one you used to wear. It was a limited edition from SL three years ago, the only one in the world. The magazines reported that the owner of SL designed it himself for his wife. I know the man behind SL is Li Tingchen." He had suspected a connection between them before, but the rumors about Li Tingchen and Bai Yuanyuan, combined with never seeing Li Tingchen at the hospital in the past two years, had made him dismiss the idea. Su Qingyu subconsciously touched the place on her finger where the ring used to be. It was bare, the skin a shade paler than the rest, a stark reminder of her ridiculous marriage. "Whether I'm his wife or not won't matter soon. We're getting a divorce tomorrow at nine." "Does he know about your condition?" "He doesn't deserve to know."