After the divorce, the CEO knelt down every night begging for remarriage.

Lin Zhi lowered her head, not daring to meet Li Tingze's eyes.

After a long while, she spoke softly: "Li Tingze, I know what kind of answer you want to hear from me, but I can't say it right now."

She gently closed her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, she said honestly, "Right now, I only like myself and want to live my own life well. As for everything related to you, I want to let go completely. Anyway, you won't love me, and you won't give love in our marriage. We'll still separate one day, won't we?"

Li Tingze never expected that hearing the truth from Lin Zhi would make him feel so uncomfortable.

He admitted that she was right.

He only wanted her to come back as Mrs. Li, and it was never out of love.

Li Tingze looked deeply into Lin Zhi's eyes, then released her hand, leaned back in his chair, and said calmly, "You're right."

"If that's the case, then..."

Before Lin Zhi could finish speaking, Li Tingze lowered his head and captured her lips, kissing her forcefully.

The way they bit her, as if they wanted to swallow her whole, hurt her.

During a break in the kiss, he sneered, "Lin Zhi, you think too highly of yourself. My conflict with my mother isn't simply because of you. It's because I want to completely get rid of her interference over the years, and you just happen to be the knife I use to stab her."

He treated her like a knife.

Lin Zhi felt very uncomfortable and angrily pushed him away as he pressed against her.

She shouted angrily, "Li Tingze, do you know that doing this will kill me? Your mother not only interferes with you, she's even been secretly targeting me and my mother. This time, I've angered her, and who knows if she might take her anger out on me and my mother?"

Li Tingze smiled faintly: "Don't worry, I'm here."

Lin Zhi was skeptical of Li Tingze's words.

She remembered that Song Ya had warned her before that she would restrict Lin Wanxin's medication use.

If Song Ya really did that, would Li Tingze really go against his own mother for her and her mother's sake?

Lin Zhi was self-aware enough to know that she didn't have that much charm.

A trace of sorrow crept onto her face.

After leaving the coffee shop, Li Tingze said, "If you're not busy at noon, let's have lunch together."

Lin Zhi gently shook her head: "I have an appointment with President Shen at noon to discuss business in detail. Let's do it another time."

Li Tingze stared at her coldly with his hawk-like eyes.

Lin Zhi guessed that he was angry.

She spoke calmly, "I work at Shen's Jewelry, so I have a lot of contact with President Shen on a regular basis. Besides, I was just reporting to you, and I didn't hide anything from you."

Li Tingze fiddled with his phone, then sneered, "You can also become an employee of the Li Group."

Lin Zhi remained calm: "Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Li."

How could she not understand what Li Tingze meant? But she wasn't stupid either. If she joined the Li family, she wouldn't be able to do what she wanted. It would only make it easier for him to cut off her social connections.

Li Tingze glanced at Lin Zhi: "You're not willing?"

Lin Zhi looked back at him and softly replied, "Yes."

Li Tingze did not speak again.

As the car started, the driver was torn, unsure whether to take Li Tingze back to the Li Group first or to take Lin Zhi to see Shen Mubai first.

This year marks the eighth year that the driver has been driving for Li Tingze.

This is the first time I've felt that driving is a life-threatening job.

In the end, the driver took Lin Zhi to Shen's Jewelry office building first.

Lin Zhi got out of the car without even saying goodbye.

Li Tingze looked through the car window at Lin Zhi's receding figure, his eyes turning gloomy.

The driver didn't dare to ask any more questions. Recently, whenever he brought up topics related to Lin Zhi, he would be subjected to continuous silent treatment from Li Tingze.

Every minute while driving became agonizing.

……

When Lin Zhi returned to Shen's Jewelry, the entire design department lined up to welcome her.

Chen Ran, in particular, specially prepared beautiful flowers and a cake for her.

Lin Zhi was flattered and felt even more fond of this friendly boss who seemed like a friend.

After exchanging pleasantries with Chen Ran, she knocked on Shen Mubai's office door.

She placed the gift she had personally chosen in front of him.

Shen Mubai was very surprised.

He opened the gift box, looked at the exquisite cufflinks inside, and was so excited that he didn't know what to say.

Lin Zhi said generously, "President Shen, thank you for your care and help during this time. It is thanks to you that we were able to complete Mrs. Huo's project. I can't just take the high bonus for nothing, so here is a small gift. I hope you will accept it."

Shen Mubai's smile faded slightly.

He felt a little disappointed.

This gift was originally intended as a token of gratitude.

He quickly suppressed his disappointment and smiled gently, "Sister Zhi'er, you have excellent taste. I like it very much."

After he finished speaking, he pushed a document in front of Lin Zhi.

Lin Zhi picked up the documents and quickly glanced through them, then asked in confusion, "Is this the international jewelry design competition you want me to participate in?"

Shen Mubai nodded gently.

He added, "Regardless of your ranking in this competition, it will enhance your international design standing and increase Shen's Jewelry's brand awareness among international jewelry companies. It's a win-win competition for us. However, the entry requirements are quite high. You must submit your entry first, and only those selected can officially participate in the competition."

Lin Zhi naturally knew that the threshold for this kind of competition would definitely be set very high.

That way, there won't be any opportunists or slackers with no real skills.

She agreed to try, and already had a design she wanted to submit.

Shen Mubai looked at Lin Zhi, hesitating to speak.

He remained silent for a long while.

The atmosphere was slightly awkward.

As Lin Zhi was about to get up and return to her office, Shen Mubai spoke up, "Actually, the director of the jewelry program contacted me again, saying they wanted to cast you as a female mentor. However..."

Lin Zhi chuckled and interrupted, "Is Su Nianqing also one of the female mentors?"

Shen Mubai nodded slightly.

He said indignantly, "I know you don't want to share the stage with Su Nianqing, but I will help you refuse Director Li. Su Nianqing is just a half-baked talent and has no right to be on equal footing with you."

Lin Zhi lowered her eyes and thought for a while.

After a long pause, she said in a low voice, "Actually, we don't need to be at odds with money."

Shen Mubai chuckled: "That's true, the appearance fee is quite high. Besides, if we were to actually record a show, Su Nianqing's true abilities would be exposed to everyone, which would make your excellence stand out even more."

Lin Zhi looked at him, and the two laughed in unison.

Little did they know that this harmonious scene had been secretly filmed and sent to Li Tingze's phone.

Li Tingze immediately smashed his phone.

The assistant was so frightened that she didn't dare to breathe. She quickly picked up the phone and carefully handed it back.

Li Tingze dialed Lin Zhi's number.

He said to her in a cold tone, "Come to the Li family to see me immediately."

He hung up the phone after saying just that one sentence, leaving Lin Zhi stunned as she stared at her phone.

Seeing that she looked unwell, Shen Mubai asked with concern, "Was that a call from President Li?"

"Excuse me, I need to go to the Li family first."

After leaving those words, Lin Zhi hurriedly went to the Li family.

On the way there, she had all sorts of guesses in her mind.

But she couldn't understand why Li Tingze had suddenly gone crazy again.

As soon as she arrived at Li's company, her assistant, looking trembling, invited her into the office and then disappeared.

Lin Zhi walked up to Li Tingze and asked calmly, "Why are you in such a hurry to see me?"

Li Tingze's expression turned cold.

He looked at her silently and said coldly, "Lin Zhi, is this what you call discussing official business?"

As he finished speaking, Li Tingze pushed the phone in front of Lin Zhi.

The screen shows the same photo from before.

The person who secretly took the photos was very good at capturing the moment; what was originally an ordinary conversation was captured with a beautiful sense of ambiguous eye contact.

For a moment, Lin Zhi didn't know how to explain.

Li Tingze's voice was cold and indifferent: "Mrs. Li, I really didn't know that you were more passionate when you were discussing business with other men outside than when you were making love with me in bed?"