Volume 1, Chapter 50: Zhou Jinghuai, come to think of it, I truly hate you!

Zhou Jinghuai pursued her all the way to the underground parking garage.

Tonight, Ye Wu had driven a white Ghost, but the interior was empty; Ye Wu was nowhere to be seen.

Zhou Jinghuai tried pulling the car door, then gave up.

He got into his own car, preparing to drive out and search for her. An overwhelming sense of anxiety gripped his heart, and he was desperately eager to find Ye Wu.

Just as Zhou Jinghuai was about to start the engine, his phone rang. The call was coming from Geneva.

It was Bai Ruo'an.

Zhou Jinghuai stared at the caller ID for a few seconds before answering. Soon, a soft female voice came through the receiver.

"Jinghuai, I am so sorry. Qianqian has caused trouble for you again."

"I heard about what happened tonight. In a moment of overprotectiveness, my parents offended your wife. I apologize on their behalf. Please don't blame them; they have sacrificed so much for me all these years."

"Jinghuai, if it hadn't been for my poor health back then..."

...

Zhou Jinghuai did not let her continue.

Holding the phone, his handsome face was devoid of expression. His tone was gentle yet entirely devoid of warmth, "I will handle this matter. I am hanging up now."

In Geneva, at a private hospital beside the grand cathedral, a young woman stood dressed in a white dress.

She stood on the balcony of her hospital room, holding her phone, a look of contemplation on her face.

In the past, Zhou Jinghuai had never hung up on her.

He was angry with her because of Ye Wu.

...

Zhou Jinghuai tossed his phone aside and stepped heavily on the accelerator.

The gleaming black sedan sped out of the garage and onto the streets of Capital City. With the car windows rolled down, the biting cold wind rushed into the vehicle.

Zhou Jinghuai drove while searching everywhere for Ye Wu.

Yet Capital City was vast, its roads stretching eight lanes wide. Searching for a woman in the dead of night was like looking for a needle in a haystack. After circling the surrounding area for two hours, Zhou Jinghuai finally caught sight of Ye Wu in a narrow alleyway.

She looked utterly disheveled. On a freezing spring night, she lacked even a single warm garment.

Her makeup was completely ruined.

She carried her slender high-heeled shoes in her hands, walking aimlessly and dejectedly down the street. When she grew too tired to walk further, she squatted by the roadside, burying her face in her hands over her knees, her body trembling continuously—

Zhou Jinghuai sat inside the car.

The neon lights from outside flickered across his handsome face, casting shifting shadows that made his expression unreadable.

He watched his wife weep, looking so utterly heartbroken.

It turned out that his A-Wu was not invincible after all; she too would hide away in secret to cry. It turned out that her strength was merely a facade, and that she cared so deeply about Mrs. Bai's harsh, hurtful words.

An indescribable feeling churned inside Zhou Jinghuai's chest.

He pushed open the car door and stepped out, walking toward Ye Wu, walking toward his wife. At this moment, nothing else mattered; he only wanted to pull her tightly into his arms, tell her that everything would be fine, tell her that they could live a good life even without children, and tell her that he would take responsibility for it all.

Ye Wu at this very moment broke his heart.

Fearing that he might startle her, he called out her name with the utmost caution.

Ye Wu raised her eyes—

The makeup on her face had long since smudged, leaving dark, bruised hollows beneath her eyes. She lifted her head, staring blankly at Zhou Jinghuai, looking at the man who had brought her both love and agony...

A moment later, her lips quivered, and she whispered for him not to come closer.

She said, "Zhou Jinghuai, don't come over."

Her makeup was ruined, her feet were chafed raw, and she looked far from pretty. She had already suffered enough indignity tonight; she did not want Zhou Jinghuai to see her in such a pathetic state.

Her voice turned sharp and fierce: "Don't come over, Zhou Jinghuai, do not come over."

The night wind whipped fiercely, rustling the man's dark hair.

He bent down, reached out to grip his wife's shoulders, and pulled her abruptly into his arms. He held her tightly, repeatedly murmuring apologies and whispering that everything was okay.

How could it possibly be okay!

Ye Wu pressed her face against his shoulder, her fingers digging fiercely into the fabric of his coat as if she might claw right through it, weeping with a heartbreaking, hoarse despair in his embrace.

This was the first time she had lost her composure so completely, the first time she had dared to acknowledge her own sorrow—

Ye Wu bit down hard on Zhou Jinghuai's shoulder, her piercing, desolate cries echoing through the night wind.

"Zhou Jinghuai, I will never have a child of my own from now on."

"Zhou Jinghuai, why are you doing this to me?"

"Zhou Jinghuai, sometimes when I think about it, I truly hate you."

...

Zhou Jinghuai endured the pain.

His heart felt heavy and damp, and his throat felt as though it were blocked. He repeated over and over, "I know. A-Wu, I know."

How could he possibly have known? Had he known, he never would have let her suffer.

Ye Wu's grief was gently scattered by the night wind...

...

Late at night, in the hospital emergency room.

Glass shards had cut into the soles of Ye Wu's bare feet, and Zhou Jinghuai had brought her there to be treated. While the doctor tended to her wounds, he stepped out into the hallway to smoke a cigarette.

Even now, a profound shock still lingered in his chest—

It turned out that this marriage had inflicted such deep wounds upon Ye Wu.

It turned out that Ye Wu hated him this much.

Before this, he had harbored high ambitions of pursuing her all over again, of restoring their relationship as a loving couple, and had even considered adopting a child from a collateral branch of the family. Yet it seemed Ye Wu wanted no part of any of it; she had never once desired to mend their broken relationship.

If this marriage truly brought her such profound sorrow, then perhaps he should just let her go!

Let her be free, and let her find a little happiness.

A gust of night wind blew past, swirling the thin wisps of smoke across Zhou Jinghuai's face and triggering a fit of light coughing.

From behind him came the sound of footsteps.

Zhou Jinghuai turned his head to look. Ye Wu was walking out of the emergency room, draped in his black lightweight wool coat, standing there so slender and frail...

When Zhou Jinghuai finally spoke, his voice was utterly hoarse beyond recognition: "Does it still hurt?"