Volume One, Chapter Two: She Left Imperial View Garden

The woman who was supposed to be resting properly during her postpartum confinement not only neglected to recuperate but also endured a night of cold wind. Soon after, Lin Zhiwan developed a high fever.

She drifted into a hazy sleep, only to be woken by persistent knocking.

Struggling to open her eyes, her head felt as if filled with cement, heavy and throbbing with pain.

Glancing at the neatly made bed beside her, she knew that Fu Yanzhou had not returned all night.

Fortunately, she no longer cared.

The next moment, the door was flung open.

“This is Dad’s room,” Fu Jinxing said as he entered with Wang Xueying, neither showing the slightest concern for their rudeness.

“What are you doing in my room?” Lin Zhiwan’s voice was hoarse and ragged, as if scratched by blades.

Wang Xueying replied, “Madam Fu, Mr. Fu asked me to come and fetch the clothes he’s wearing today.”

Though she addressed her as Madam Fu, Wang Xueying’s tone lacked any respect.

Facing Wang Xueying’s provocation, Lin Zhiwan responded coldly, “His clothes are in the walk-in closet.”

Wang Xueying was surprised by her reaction. In the past, Lin Zhiwan would have questioned where Fu Yanzhou had been the previous night, why she was sent to retrieve his clothes, and certainly would not have allowed her into Mr. Fu’s private closet.

What changed today?

However, this worked to Wang Xueying’s advantage.

Having the chance to handle Fu Yanzhou’s personal clothing was an intimate task that sweetened her heart.

She strode into the closet, and soon the faint rustling of fabric was heard inside.

Lin Zhiwan ignored them, not even bothering with Fu Jinxing beside her. She got up and moved toward the water bar.

Fu Jinxing had never been so coldly neglected by Lin Zhiwan.

The little girl approached her and tried to grab her arm.

Lin Zhiwan was about to take her medicine when the sudden tug caused the hot water in her cup to spill all over her arm.

Her fair skin instantly flushed red.

The back of Fu Jinxing’s hand also reddened slightly.

With a sharp cry, the little girl began to sob.

Hearing the commotion, Wang Xueying came out of the closet.

“What happened?”

Lin Zhiwan had already found burn ointment and was about to tend to the child’s injury.

“Jinxing, it’s alright. It’s just a small burn. After applying the ointment, it will heal,” Wang Xueying said as she roughly pulled Fu Jinxing into her arms and shot Lin Zhiwan a fierce glare.

“She’s crying like this, how can it be alright!

I know—it must have been you who deliberately burned Jinxing, trying to use the child as an excuse to bring Mr. Fu home!

Lin Zhiwan, you’re truly wicked!”

Lin Zhiwan’s hand, holding the ointment, hovered mid-air. The skin on her arm, now red, had begun to blister, stabbing with sharp pain.

She glanced at Jinxing, expecting at least a few words of explanation from the child. But instead, the two exchanged a look before Fu Jinxing shrank back into Wang Xueying’s embrace.

Disappointment was undeniable.

After all, this was a child she had raised for five years.

Lin Zhiwan lowered her gaze and placed the ointment back on the table.

“If you think I’m wicked, then take her away.”

She turned her back.

The pain in her arm was nothing compared to the ache in her heart.

Wang Xueying called after her, “I will tell Mr. Fu everything that happened today. He deserves to see your true colors!”

Lin Zhiwan didn’t even pause. She merely tossed over her shoulder, “Do as you please.”

Fu Jinxing, still hiding in Wang Xueying’s arms, watched Lin Zhiwan leave, feeling a pang of unease.

She hadn’t meant to refuse to explain; she was simply upset that Lin Zhiwan hadn’t stayed up with her last night to bake cookies.

The little girl glanced at the back of her hand; the redness had faded, but she remembered the blisters that had formed on Lin Zhiwan’s arm.

It must have hurt a lot…

Wang Xueying picked up Fu Jinxing.

“Auntie will take you to see Dad at the office now, alright?”

Children’s moods were fleeting; upon hearing she could see her father, Fu Jinxing immediately forgot the morning’s events.

Lin Zhiwan came out of the closet. The bedroom was empty.

The pain in her arm seemed to remind her that there was nothing here worth holding onto.

Her gaze fell on the diamond ring on her ring finger, the large stone casting a cold gleam in the sunlight.

She gently slipped off the ring, leaving a red mark like a scar on her finger—ugly and raw.

Yes, she was going to divorce.

This was not a rash decision; she had been considering it for nearly a year.

What truly pushed her to resolve was the time she nearly died from heavy bleeding, and the call she tried to make went unanswered.

Collapsed in a pool of blood, hearing only the familiar mechanical sound of a voicemail, her five years of marriage flashed before her like a revolving lantern.

It was better that the child left; there was no need for an innocent life to be entangled in such a cold marriage…

Lin Zhiwan glanced around the bedroom; there was hardly anything here that belonged to her.

Even the decor was left behind by Fu Yanzhou’s ex-wife.

You see, once a woman lets go of her illusions, many things become clear.

Fu Yanzhou had never regarded her as a lifelong partner.

This one-sided drama was no longer one she wished to perform.

She opened the vanity cabinet and found her auctioneer’s license and the various awards she had earned in the past.

These had once been displayed prominently at home, but since marrying Fu Yanzhou, her former pride had been hidden away in a drawer, gathering dust in a corner.

Fortunately, although she hadn’t worked in years, she had kept her certifications up to date, and they were still valid.

Carefully wiping her medals and certificates, she packed them into a suitcase.

She only took these, along with the card Fu Yanzhou had tossed to her the night before.

After all, this was her property, wasn’t it?

She left the ring on the vanity, gathered her belongings, and departed from Imperial View Garden.

…

Fu Jinxing spent the whole afternoon with her father.

The burn on her hand no longer hurt, but when Auntie Wang told Dad she’d been burned, she still nestled into her father’s arms and squeezed out a few tears.

Fu Yanzhou cradled his daughter and carefully applied burn ointment.

“Does it still hurt?”

As a father, he was especially doting, and Fu Yanzhou was famously a devoted “daddy’s girl” slave.

Fu Jinxing shook her head, happily nibbling on snacks from her father’s desk, her little feet resting on his leg.

She had completely forgotten the morning’s troubles.

But Wang Xueying was unwilling to miss the chance to tattle.

“Mr. Fu, although I am just an assistant and it may be inappropriate to say this, Madam Fu truly neglects Jinxing.”

Wang Xueying exaggerated the story. Fu Yanzhou maintained a neutral expression, causing Wang Xueying’s confidence to waver.

She had assumed Mr. Fu, who cherished Jinxing dearly, would be displeased upon hearing this and might even consider divorce.

But judging by his reaction, things were not as she expected.

“Jinxing, is what Auntie Wang said true?”