Chapter 53

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Lu Baimei held a champagne flute and clinked it against Lü Zhongcai’s. Resting one elbow against the edge of a tall round table, she asked, “Didn’t you want to introduce her to everyone?”

Lü Zhongcai took a sip of wine.

“That was never my intention.”

“It wasn’t? Then why would you agree to hold the celebration banquet at Jingwan?” Lu Baimei teased.

Lü Zhongcai turned her gaze toward her.

Knowing she was in the wrong, Lu Baimei cleared her throat.

“I only mentioned it casually. Who could have known you would actually agree?”

Lü Zhongcai put down her glass and looked toward a table several steps away.

Jin Sique sat there obediently with her hands folded over her knees.

She appeared perfectly natural, showing none of the discomfort or awkwardness of entering an unfamiliar environment.

She conversed with others with ease, maintaining flawless manners and composure.

“The atmosphere seems harmonious,” Lu Baimei commented. “It’s only her relationship with the president that doesn’t seem particularly harmonious.”

Lü Zhongcai said nothing.

She raised her glass and drank all the wine in one swallow.

The dance was about to begin.

LE employees who had brought family members or partners walked hand in hand toward the prepared dance floor.

Lu Baimei pointed toward the vacant piano nearby and laughed.

“I’m alone, so I suppose I’ll play.”

Lü Zhongcai nodded.

Lu Baimei pressed the piano keys.

The melody of the Spring Waltz instantly spread beneath the vast night sky.

Apart from those who had brought partners, most of the employees showed little enthusiasm for dancing.

No one wanted to dance with a colleague.

Lü Zhongcai looked toward Jin Sique.

No one dared invite her, although several people appeared eager to try.

Perhaps they were uncertain about her identity, or perhaps Jin Sique’s demeanor revealed her reluctance.

Several people wanted to approach, yet none actually acted.

When the dance ended, Aunt Guo had the final round of late-night snacks served.

The elites began drinking their second round of red wine, clinking glasses as they watched the handsome men and beautiful women on the dance floor and waited for the fireworks display to begin.

Lü Zhongcai stood and left the round-table area.

On the other side, Jin Sique casually followed Lü Zhongcai with her gaze.

After a moment, the people around her suddenly relaxed and released lazy sighs.

“She finally left. Now we can enjoy ourselves.”

Jin Sique froze, then smiled along with everyone else.

“Miss Jin,” someone asked tentatively, “you and President Lü…”

“The moment you leave, the person symbolizing her protection leaves too,” 052 said. “Do you think someone will approach Jin Sique and ask her to dance?”

“Or perhaps you want to see whether she’ll accept an invitation.”

Supporting herself with her cane, Lü Zhongcai climbed the spiral staircase.

“I can’t dance with her. If she wants to dance, she may.”

Jin Sique smiled in surprise.

“President Lü and I? Mm, we’re very distant relatives. Please don’t misunderstand.”

“Oh—”

Everyone suddenly understood.

Jin Sique nodded and returned her gaze to the dance floor.

Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded in the sky.

A shower of stars burst overhead.

Everyone raised their heads to watch the fireworks.

Beneath the brilliant display of fire and music, Jin Sique lowered her gaze and saw a familiar silhouette standing before a second-floor window.

That shadow also seemed to be watching the fireworks.

After only a moment, however, she turned and disappeared.

Following the fireworks, the celebration banquet gradually neared its end.

Aunt Guo had already prepared guest rooms, and people began returning indoors to rest.

Jin Sique declined several invitations to dance.

The phone on the table vibrated.

Xie Ying had sent a message asking whether the banquet had ended and whether Jin Sique wanted her to come and collect her.

Come over. Don’t drink.

Jin Sique put away her phone and drained the champagne remaining in her glass.

“I’m going to the restroom.”

She smiled and left the table.

—

When someone knocked on the study door, Lü Zhongcai was standing before the printer in a daze.

The sounds of people laughing and playing came from downstairs.

Very few people would knock on her study door at a time like this.

“Come in.”

As expected, Jin Sique opened the door.

“Zhongcai…”

She stood at the entrance.

Lü Zhongcai glanced back and nodded in acknowledgment.

Jin Sique closed the study door and stopped several steps away from her.

Neither spoke first.

Yet both of them understood that some matters had become impossible to avoid.

“You went looking for me today,” Jin Sique said.

She walked to the desk and poured herself a glass of water.

Lü Zhongcai nodded and gathered the newly printed agreement, placing it on the edge of the desk.

Before Jin Sique could see what it was, Lü Zhongcai held out something else.

“You dropped this.”

Jin Sique froze.

Lü Zhongcai was holding the sticky note with the phone number that Jin Sique had attached to the wall of the second bedroom.

“You…”

There was no reason to continue clinging to that final trace of hope.

Jin Sique pressed her lips together.

“I’m sorry.”

Lü Zhongcai said nothing.

She handed Jin Sique the freshly printed agreement.

Silence filled the space between them.

Endless silence.

Jin Sique’s eyes seemed nailed to the document.

Divorce Agreement.

At last, Lü Zhongcai spoke for only the second time since Jin Sique had entered.

“We agreed previously that if I proposed it, you would not be considered in breach of contract.”

“I will fulfill all the corresponding terms one by one.”

Jin Sique’s gaze lost focus.

She shook her head with the slightest movement.

Her eyes traveled from the agreement in Lü Zhongcai’s hand to Lü Zhongcai’s face.

Calm.

Cold.

Without a trace of emotion.

“I understand…”

Jin Sique forced out the obedient smile she habitually used before Lü Zhongcai.

“Look. She didn’t hesitate at all,” 052 said.

Abruptly, Lü Zhongcai pulled back the hand holding the agreement.

Jin Sique’s fingers closed on empty air, her arm suspended before her.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Lü Zhongcai asked.

Jin Sique smiled.

“Thank you for helping me over these years. May I take the agreement back and read it?”

Lü Zhongcai pressed her lips together.

“Yes.”

She turned, opened a drawer in the study, and removed another agreement.

“This property will be transferred into your name.”

“Don’t refuse. It was included in the arrangements we agreed upon beforehand, so you don’t need to feel burdened.”

Jin Sique accepted the documents and bowed deeply and solemnly to Lü Zhongcai.

“I’ll return to the bedroom and pack.”

“You don’t have to leave tonight,” Lü Zhongcai said. “You may remain…”

Her voice faded.

She seemed to realize something and changed her wording.

“You can stay at Jingwan. I’ll move out of the bedroom.”

“There’s no need.”

Jin Sique raised a smile.

“Xie Ying is coming to collect me. She’s already on her way.”

“I’ll leave a little later so I won’t run into your colleagues.”

Lü Zhongcai nodded.

After closing the study door, Jin Sique returned to the bedroom and found a suitcase.

There were not many belongings left at Jingwan.

With a smile on her lips, she hummed while sorting them carefully into different categories.

There still seemed to be too much…

So less than two years could leave behind this many things.

The smile on Jin Sique’s face grew wider.

Then suddenly, a tear struck the back of her hand.

Every movement of her body instantly froze.

She stood like a statue that had lost its soul and consciousness.

“How are you feeling?” 052 asked. “You seem extremely confused.”

Lü Zhongcai stood beside the window with a wineglass in her hand.

She lowered her gaze.

Below her was an incomparably lively crowd.

Yet all that liveliness seemed impossibly far away.

“I’m fine,” Lü Zhongcai replied.

“That’s excellent,” 052 said with a laugh. “We’ve successfully escaped the black lotus.”

“Next, we should guard against whatever revenge she may be planning.”

Lü Zhongcai frowned.

“Why would she take revenge?”

Their separation had been rational and dignified.

Neither had wronged the other.

A marriage established through a written agreement was no different from doing business.

Partnerships collapsing because the participants could no longer accept one another’s principles happened constantly.

052 fell silent for a moment.

“Sometimes, your coldness makes even a system like me feel inferior.”

Lü Zhongcai did not comment.

“All emotions should have ended the moment she accepted the agreement.”

—

At midnight, Jin Sique finished packing.

The guests had ended the banquet and returned to their rooms in another villa behind the main residence.

No one would notice her leaving.

She even avoided Aunt Guo, who was directing the servants as they cleaned up after the gathering.

Xie Ying’s car had been waiting outside the gates for some time.

She rarely drove and had neglected its maintenance, so the exterior was covered in dust.

Jin Sique used facial recognition at the iron gates and dragged her suitcase outside.

Xie Ying was smoking beside the road.

“Why didn’t you wash the car?” Jin Sique asked casually.

She opened the trunk, only for a cloud of dust to burst out and cover her face.

Xie Ying laughed loudly and examined her from head to toe.

“Were you thrown out?”

“Yes,” Jin Sique replied.

She forced a broad smile at Xie Ying.

Xie Ying exhaled a cloud of white smoke, threw the cigarette to the ground, and [Read on BaiLianTales]crushed it firmly beneath her shoe.

Then she stepped forward and abruptly pulled Jin Sique into her arms.

“Don’t smile like that. It makes your Sister’s heart ache.”

“You secretly cried, didn’t you?”

Jin Sique laughed too and wrapped her arms around Xie Ying’s back.

“Don’t do this. I don’t want to cry twice in one day.”

“Let’s go home,” Xie Ying said. “At least you have me with you now.”

The summer wind was dry as it poured through the car window and stirred the fine hair beside Jin Sique’s temples.

She suddenly remembered the day she had moved into Jingwan.

It had been winter.

Heavy snow had buried the entire world, leaving heaven and earth in a vast expanse of white.

The only thing in her eyes had been the dazzling Lü Zhongcai.

How could someone like that not make her heart race?

Even with the terms written clearly in black and white, Jin Sique had still held on to hope.

What if…

What if…

What if it truly became as beautiful as a story?

Like Cinderella and the prince.

Like her and Lü Zhongcai…

But she had become greedy too quickly.

The closer she came, the more clearly she understood the distance between them.

The more she desired, the more she hated the twisted person she became when those desires remained unsatisfied.

The car moved forward as the scenery retreated behind them.

The bright moon illuminated the night.

Jin Sique leaned beside the window.

For an instant, she thought she saw her eighteen-year-old self from more than two years ago, standing innocently beside the road.

Their eyes met for only a moment.

“It won’t hurt more than it did before,” Xie Ying suddenly said.

Jin Sique returned to her senses.

“You’re right.”

“Your debt is gone, and you’ve been able to attend university,” Xie Ying said. “You’re already luckier than most people.”

“If you’re still unsatisfied, aren’t you being too greedy?”

“Fortunately, you’re my friend. Otherwise, I truly would hit you.”

Jin Sique raised the window, shutting out the scenery outside.

“You’re right. It even ended ahead of schedule. It was a profitable transaction.”

Xie Ying clicked her tongue and raised her right hand.

“As long as you understand.”

Jin Sique raised her left hand and high-fived her.

“Did you take everything? Are you coming back?” Xie Ying asked casually, seeing that her mood had improved.

Jin Sique searched through her clothes.

“I’m not coming back.”

Then she took out her phone and saw an international number displayed on the screen.

“Why aren’t you answering?” Xie Ying glanced at it casually. “Whose number is that?”

Jin Sique pressed her lips together and accepted the call.

“Hello…”

“Sique? Is that you?”