No reconciliation, no forgiveness! Mr. Pei leaves with nothing.

Hearing the sounds of a father and daughter arguing in the hallway, Xu Ma felt uneasy and worried. She quickly went downstairs, picked up the phone on the tea table, and dialed a number…

In the study.

Jiang Weiguo: "The Jiang family business is your mother's only legacy. For her sake, I have to do this!"

Jiang Hua moved her thin lips slightly, but couldn't utter a single word; tears were already streaming down her face.

Looking at the handprint on his daughter's face, Jiang Weiguo's heart softened. He sighed, "Even though Pei Zhan was reluctant to marry you before, he went to great lengths to get him to agree."

“Now that you’ve been married for three years, your father has seen how his attitude towards you has changed.”

“Pei Zhan is slowly accepting you. Look at you now, I’ve really spoiled you more and more, making you more and more pampered and willful.”

“My daughter, Jiang Weiguo’s daughter, will not be bad. As long as you behave yourself, live a good life with Pei Zhan, and don’t cause him any more trouble, you and Pei Zhan will grow old together.”

Growing old together?

Doesn't she want to grow old with Pei Zhan?

But what about him?

Pei Zhan never loved her. He kept Song Qingran behind her back for so many years, and she didn't even know that they had a child together!

Jiang Hua looked up and laughed, tears streaming down her face.

"Does Dad really trust Pei Zhan that much?"

"Are you sure you can entrust the Jiang family to him?"

Jiang Weiguo said, "As long as he doesn't divorce you, the Jiang family business will still belong to him."

"I've investigated this Wen Huaishi. He's just an ordinary person with an ordinary background. He's academically excellent, but he's destined to amount to nothing. Whatever happened between you two, it ends here today. I have hundreds of ways to make him leave the capital and never appear before you again..."

Jiang Hua panicked immediately. She knelt down and grabbed Jiang Weiguo's pants, her eyes pleading, "Dad, please, don't hurt Wen Huaishi. I have nothing to do with him!"

"...There's nothing there!"

Jiang Weiguo lowered his eyes, forcing back his icy tone, "I will investigate this matter thoroughly. You will kneel before your mother's photo and think it over carefully!"

Jiang Weiguo strode away, and Jiang Hua clenched her fists, her voice suppressed, "If Wen Huaishi and I really have something going on, will Dad use the same methods as ten years ago to drive him away too...?"

Jiang Hua didn't get the answer he wanted, but she already knew the truth behind it.

'Thump!' The moment she heard the door close, all of Jiang Hua's strength seemed to be drained away, and she slumped to her knees with her head down.

Such family discipline was not considered severe for her.

Afterwards, Uncle Wang came in, saw the photo on the ground, slowly picked it up, and when he saw the person in the photo, Wang Qi didn't say a word.

Wang Qi was the person his father trusted most. In this study, only Uncle Wang could come and go freely.

Wang Qi looked at the person kneeling on the ground and sighed, "Miss, please get up first. You are not in good health, and the ground is cold. You might get sick again! The master was just acting on impulse. From childhood to adulthood, you are the one he loves the most."

Jiang Hua said, "Uncle Wang, who took these photos? Wen Huaishi and I are really just ordinary friends. There's nothing between us."

"Could you please tell Dad for me?"

"I don't want Wen Huaishi to end up like him, because I..."

Wang Qi's eyes showed pity. "Young Miss, why are you doing this to yourself?"

Jiang Hua grabbed Wang Qi's arm. "Uncle Wang, I'm begging you. Dad has no choice but to listen to you now."

Wang Qi finally nodded reluctantly, "Alright, I'll discuss it with the sir."

"Young Miss, please get up!"

Jiang Hua shook her head. "I don't want to compromise on this matter anymore."

Wang Qi didn't try to persuade her any further. At this point, only the master could get the young lady up.

Wang Qi opened the door and stepped outside. Seeing the person outside, he exclaimed, "Young Master Pei, you've arrived?!"

Pei Zhan arrived quickly, but when he went upstairs, he didn't hear a secret he didn't know: "Who is that 'him'?" His tone was slightly cold.

Wang Qi said with a soft laugh, "Young Master Pei, you misheard. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll go find the teacher first. You can go in and see Miss, and try to persuade her to get up. Miss has been frail since childhood, and we can't let her health suffer."

In the retro-style study, the night outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was completely dark, and a firefly flew past the window.

In the study with the windows open, Jiang Hua knelt on the cold marble tiles, feeling gusts of cold wind seeping into her bones.

But the dull numbness in her chest made her feel nothing; she remained kneeling, staring at the woman in the black and white photograph who looked six or seven parts like her.

The leather shoes made a slight sound as they stepped on the marble floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the man's long, slender legs in a suit and trousers, with shiny leather shoes on his feet.

Why is he here?

Neither of them spoke.

After a long silence, Jiang Hua finally spoke first, "Did you take the photos?" Her tone was calm and without any emotion.

Pei Zhan: "Normally, you're good at being submissive and acting cute, but now... you think you're so principled?"

Jiang Hua raised her head and looked at the tall man standing beside her. "Did you take the photos? Pei Zhan, what exactly are you trying to do!"

Pei Zhan glanced at the black and white photo on the wall a few more times, then turned slightly to the side, looking down at the woman kneeling on the ground, his eyes devoid of warmth.

It wasn't until the man slowly knelt down in front of Jiang Hua that he saw her red, tear-filled eyes.

In all the years of their marriage, Pei Zhan had rarely seen her with red eyes like this.

Does it hurt?

Jiang Hua, what right do you have to feel pain!

You owe her this life!

Pei Zhan reached out to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, but Jiang Hua turned her face away. Pei Zhan then moved closer to her aggressively, his rough palm pressed against her face, and the silver ring on his ring finger made her feel a little cold.

He wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Huahua, I've told you this before, why won't you listen, hmm?"

Pei Zhan ran his hand through her dark, glossy hair, gently leaning close to her ear, his voice low and deep, "Do you think the Jiang Group still belongs to the Jiang family?"

"Even if it's a divorce, only I can initiate it."

"Even if Jiang Weiguo knows about our divorce, would he let us get a divorce so easily?"

"Whether it's divorce, or Qingran..."

"You can't escape the fate of being Mrs. Pei in your entire life."

Even if I don't love you, you can only ever be Mrs. Pei!

As Jiang Hua listened to the clear words, word by word, she felt as if she had been plunged into a cold ice cellar. Although it was the hot summer month of August or September, Jiang Hua felt as if she had been frozen.

It felt like more than half a century had passed. Jiang Hua suppressed her trembling and said in a very soft voice, "Where is Song Qingran? You... don't want to give her a proper status anymore?"

Pei Zhan's thin, cold lips curled up as he twirled a strand of her hair with his fingers. "Huahua, she's... different from you."

You'll never be as good as her!