Chapter 1: Chapter 1 Signing the Character
Inside the mansion villa, the grass and trees were lush in summer, and the evening sun cast a golden layer over the villa, creating a peaceful scene that intoxicated the senses. But suddenly, a burst of cursing shattered the tranquility…
“Shen Hanxiu, you fraud! You human trafficker! I’ve been with you since I was eighteen, and this is how you treat me! Playing with my feelings, pitying my child, I must have been blind to have fallen in love with you!”
A crashing noise of things being smashed followed by a woman’s crying and cursing: “You’re not human! Worse than a beast! You’ll be damned!”
From inside the room, the woman’s curses continued; outside, the servants whispered among themselves. A new maid asked, “Who is the woman in that room? Why does she start cursing like mad at this time every day?”
An older maid replied, “That’s the lady of the house…”
The new maid looked doubtful, “The lady? How could the master marry such a woman?”
The older maid shook her head sadly, “Alas, the lady wasn’t always . She was a girl who was quite understanding, and her relationship with the master was always very good. Recently, the lady gave birth, but… the child went missing! And hasn’t been found since!”
“Ah? The child is missing?”
“Yes, after that the lady started fighting with the master over a divorce, but the master has never agreed. Later, the lady would lock herself in the room every day, the doctor said she has depression, but it’s strange, when the master isn’t at home, the lady is calm and quiet, but as soon as she sees the master coming home from work, she starts smashing things like she is crazy. I think she wants to force the master into a divorce.”
“So that’s how it is, but they are still young, they can have another child if one is lost, they don’t necessarily have to get a divorce.”
“Who knows what goes on in the affairs of a wealthy family?”
“Listening to the lady’s curses, could it be that the master has someone else outside?”
The older maid immediately denied it, “That can’t be. Before the master knew the lady, he never had women around him. After he had the lady, he devoted himself to her. I watched the master grow up; he is not the kind of man to philander.”
“Master, you’re back!”
As the two gossiped, a chorus of greetings came from downstairs, prompting them to continue with their chores, cleaning seriously.
The man who walked under everyone’s gaze only needed one look to detect his innate regal aura, a sense of steadiness unique to mature men. Up close, the man’s features were handsome and extraordinary, and in his tailored suit, every move he made radiated a unique charm that captivated the observer.
This man was the very Shen Hanxiu who the woman had called worse than a beast.
He went straight upstairs, knowing without asking where the woman was because the cursing and the sounds of things being smashed grew even louder behind a door.
“Shen Hanxiu, you cur raised by a bitch!”
The maid cleaning the stairs stopped her work, looking at each other quietly, and greeted, “Master…”
Shen Hanxiu’s furrowed brows never relaxed, he waved his hand to indicate they should all leave, and the older maid whisked the servants away from the corridor.
Shen Hanxiu opened the door, cursing and the sound of smashing immediately spilled out, followed by a crystal decoration shattering at his feet.
The room was a mess; his clothes were scattered everywhere, glass shards littered the floor, and the woman in the room, wearing a simple white dress, appeared frail yet beautiful. Her black hair cascaded over her shoulders, and she didn’t even wear shoes, as she turned her back to him, smashing objects and cursing.
Shen Hanxiu strode forward and caught the agitated woman by the waist, lifting her up. The woman’s delicate face revealed panic, and she threw a porcelain vase she had in her hand straight at him.
The vase shattered; blood streamed down the man’s face.
Shen Hanxiu, unchanged in expression, held the woman as she looked stunned and then struggled to break free. She stepped on the glass shards, furrowed her brow, and continued to curse at him with her almond-shaped eyes, “And here I thought you were too scared to come back!”
Shen Hanxiu ignored her accusations, turned around to fetch her shoes, and said emotionlessly, “Put them on.”
The woman kicked the shoes away, “Leave me alone!” She turned around, grabbed a pen and paper from the bedside, and slammed them onto his chest, “Sign it! I want to leave!”
Shen Hanxiu didn’t need to look to know what it was; he took the pen and paper and threw them on the bed beside him. He looked at her bleeding foot, took her hand, and led her out, “Let’s stop the bleeding first.”
The woman shook off his hand, stubbornly retrieving the pen and paper, “Sign it! How long do you intend to drag this out?”
“Su Nian!” Shen Hanxiu called out her name sternly, his cold voice clearly containing suppressed irritation.
After a few seconds of eye contact, as if her mind was made up, she looked around, picked up a shard of glass from the ground, and pressed it against her tender white neck, gesturing to the papers on the bed as she shouted at Shen Hanxiu, “Sign.”
Shen Hanxiu didn’t respond, his expression darkening as he walked toward her.
The woman stepped back, pressing the glass shard against herself harder, blood starting to seep out, “Will you sign or not?”
Shen Hanxiu frowned deeply, stopped in his tracks, his eyes pained by the fresh red blood on her neck. To divorce him and leave, was she actually threatening him with death?
He was heartbroken too about losing the child, yet she insisted on bringing up divorce at such a time. How could the woman who once loved him so much suddenly change ?
The doctor said her depression was getting worse, would she be happier if she left him? If she left him… would her condition improve?
Watching her press the glass shard, as blood slowly stained her dress along her neck…
Shen Hanxiu looked away, picked up the pen and paper from the bed, and moved next to the desk to sign his name…
With a flourish, the signature was stylish, but the heartache and helplessness in that stroke were perhaps known by no one.
The woman dropped the glass shard, took the signed Divorce Agreement with a sense of relief or maybe a hint of reluctance, pretending to be nonchalant as she turned to leave.
Leaving behind a mess in the room, and all the memories that belonged to him and to her…