Director Jiang, don't let the divorce get out of control.

Wen Ruan froze, the voice like a cold snake's tongue licking her eardrum.

"Don't touch me!"

She abruptly shook off the hand, Wen Ruan's nails digging into her palm, and turned away.

Wen Shaokang stood two steps away, a smile playing on his lips, his murky eyes filled with a sticky greed, as if he were examining an old object that was finally going to be taken back.

"Ruan Ruan..."

A passing colleague cast a curious glance at her, and she tensed up as if she wanted to disappear from the spot immediately.

Wen Shaokang slowly withdrew his hand, his tone sickeningly gentle: "Ruan Ruan, don't be so nervous. Your mother made lotus root and pork rib soup today and has been talking about it all afternoon, wanting you to come home for a meal. It's been so long since the family has sat together; don't you miss your mother?"

He took half a step forward, and Wen Ruan instinctively retreated, her back hitting the pillar at the entrance of the Translation Institute, with nowhere left to go.

"She cooked all your favorite dishes," Wen Shaokang said softly, his voice sharp like a viper's tongue. "She misses you very much."

Wen Ruan bit the inside of her lower lip, the metallic sweetness spreading across her tongue.

"I won't go back." She met his gaze, enunciating each word clearly, "If you touch me again, I'll call the police."

Wen Shaokang chuckled softly, his laughter laced with contempt and certainty, as if he had expected her to say that.

"You and Jiang Yubai have been separated for the past few years, do you think I don't know?"

He took another half step forward, and Wen Ruan could almost smell the rotten odor of tobacco and alcohol emanating from him.

Her hands gripped the edge of the pillar tightly behind her back.

"You married him just to avoid me? But look—do you think you can really escape me?"

He lowered his voice even further, so that only the two of them could hear: "You two should be getting a divorce soon, right? Dad has plenty of patience, Ruan Ruan, don't push me."

Wen Ruan felt a tightness in her throat and a churning in her stomach.

Just then, an empty taxi drove by in the distance. She practically ran to the roadside, opened the car door, and fell into the back seat.

"Driver, start the car!"

Through the car window, she saw Wen Shaokang still standing there, waving at her slowly, his smile full of determination.

As she turned the corner, Wen Ruan suddenly bent over and dry heaved, her stomach churning, and a layer of cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

He was right.

She was in a hurry to marry Ji Shiyan in order to escape the Wen family.

Later, when Ji Shiyan publicly broke off the engagement, she turned around and agreed to marry Jiang Yubai, as if she were grasping at the last piece of driftwood.

She thought marriage was an unbreakable barrier.

But for three years, every time Wen Shaokang appeared, he was telling her that the barrier was getting thinner.

Wen Ruan closed her eyes, her forehead pressed against the cold car window, and her heart pounded for a long time before it calmed down.

home.

Wen Ruan collapsed onto the bed, her body going limp.

Wen Shaokang's words were like a deep-sea undercurrent, pulling her down.

She suddenly thought, what if they got divorced...

Would Jiang Yubai care?

Between him and Jiang Wanxing lies a past spanning over a decade that she could not intrude upon.

If one day he wants to end this marriage, she won't even have the right to try to stop him.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement, and she knew that better than anyone else.

After all these years on the run and all these walls she's built, can she really stop Wen Shaokang?

The following Saturday.

When Wen Ruan woke up, it was already bright outside the window.

After breakfast, she flipped through a few pages of a book on the sofa, but couldn't concentrate at all.

Just then, her phone rang; it was Jiang Yubai.

"woke up?"

"Hmm, what's wrong?"

"Find me a document with a blue cover. It's at the bottom of the left drawer in the study. Xiao Ren, come get it in about ten minutes. I need it urgently for a meeting this afternoon."

"it is good."

Wen Ruan pushed open the study door, bent down and pulled open the drawer, finding the document.

As she was about to close the drawer, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a gray file folder at the bottom, with half a piece of paper sticking out from the edge, bearing her name.

Wen Ruan was taken aback, and hesitantly picked up the file folder and opened it.

Her pupils dilated slightly as she looked at the contents; it was a survey about her childhood…

He's investigating her? Why?

Wen Ruan gripped the file tightly, her knuckles slowly tightening.

Is it... political fastidiousness?

The wife of the Director of Foreign Affairs must not have any hidden dangers in her background.

Or... do you feel sorry for her?

Wen Ruan bit her lower lip lightly; she didn't know, and didn't want to know.

She put the file back in its place and took the documents Jiang Yubai needed to the living room.

I had just sat down when I received a call from Xiao Ren. His anxious voice came through the phone, "Madam, I've been rear-ended and can't get over there right now. Could you please come and take me to the department?"

"The director needs this document this afternoon; it's very important."

Are you alright?

"I'm fine."

"Okay, I'll go there now."

Xiao Ren immediately breathed a sigh of relief and thanked her repeatedly, "Thank you, Madam, for your trouble."

"You're welcome."

Wen Ruan changed her clothes and left the apartment.

Half an hour later, she entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.

After verifying my identity, the receptionist handed me a temporary access card: "Seventh floor, turn right and go to room 702."

"Thanks."

Wen Ruan took the access card and stepped into the elevator.

The corridor on the seventh floor is covered with a dark gray carpet that makes no sound when you step on it.

The door at the end was ajar, leaving a narrow crack.

Wen Ruan raised her hand to strike, but her movement froze in mid-air.

Through the crack in the door, she saw that Jiang Yubai wasn't wearing his glasses. Jiang Wanxing was standing beside him, leaning close, her cheek almost touching his chin.

Her eyes were half-closed, and her lips landed right at the corner of his lips.

From Wen Ruan's perspective, the kiss was light and precise, like a stamp on his hand.

Wen Ruan's heart was suddenly gripped tightly by an invisible hand, a bitter, painful sensation spreading through her.

Just then, a young man carrying a folder approached. "Hello, who are you looking for?"

Wen Ruan forced herself to calm down and looked at the man. "I'm here to deliver some documents to Director Jiang."

"He's in his office, please come in."

Wen Ruan then raised her hand and tapped twice.

"Enter."

She opened the door.

Jiang Yubai had already put on his glasses and was flipping through the materials in his hand.

Jiang Wanxing had already come out from behind the desk, seemingly about to leave.

They were both perfectly normal.

Wen Ruan placed the file folder on the table. "I've come to deliver the documents."

Hearing her voice, Jiang Yubai looked up at her, somewhat surprised: "Why did you send it? Where's Xiao Ren?"

"He was in a rear-end collision on the way and couldn't get here in time, so he asked me to make the trip."

After Wen Ruan finished speaking, her gaze swept over Jiang Wanxing.

She smiled gently and said, "Ruan Ruan, thank you for making the trip. Please sit down and I'll get you some water."

As she spoke, she went to pour her some water, clearly very familiar with the place.

Three years into their marriage, this was the first time Wen Ruan had stepped into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.

I never expected to see what just happened.

"No need, the documents have already been delivered. I'll head back now. You guys keep going."

She turned around, and after taking two steps, a chair behind her creaked softly.

"I'll see you off." Jiang Yubai stood up.

"Yu Bai—" Jiang Wanxing called out to him.

She picked up the document on the table and reminded her calmly, "You haven't finalized the materials for the foreign affairs coordination meeting this afternoon. There are a few wordings that need to be finalized, and it needs to be submitted before 3 PM..."

Jiang Yubai paused slightly, his brows furrowing.