The abandoned daughter of the Lu family turns around and marries a celibate tycoon.

"What...did you say?"

Gu Yanshen felt like he couldn't breathe.

My chest felt like it was filled with lead, and each heartbeat made me feel heavy and sinking down.

He turned around, his back to her.

—Only by turning his back to her can he continue acting out this scene.

"Lu Xiran." He heard his own voice, dry and unfamiliar, "Our marriage was originally based on mutual benefit."

He paused for a moment.

The word rolled three times on his tongue, burning him so much he almost bit his tongue.

"Right now, you can't give me what I want. We..."

He bit his lower lip.

The rusty taste spread in my mouth.

"...Let's get a divorce."

There was silence behind me for a few seconds.

Then he heard her voice, muffled, like bubbles rising from the bottom of water:

"No……"

"No...you told me that, apart from that time you were drugged five years ago, everything you've done..."

"You still..." Gu Yanshen interrupted her.

He had to interrupt her.

He was afraid that if she continued talking, the hot tears in his eyes would fall.

He took a deep breath.

Should I praise you for being too naive?

He tried to make his voice sound sarcastic.

But the last syllable still trembled slightly.

Lu Xiran looked up.

She watched his retreating figure.

But it feels so cold and so far away right now.

Like a mountain she could never climb over.

"I told you, never trust a man's words." He didn't turn around, his voice as cold as ice. "Why don't you remember?"

Lu Xiran looked at him.

She suddenly took a step forward.

Just one step.

Like a moth finally mustering the courage to fly towards the flame.

"Because I know who is good to me."

Her voice was soft, but she spoke each word slowly and deliberately.

Even if you say a hundred times that you don't love me, I still won't believe you.

Gu Yanshen's back stiffened.

She reached out her hand, her fingertips touching his cuff.

The force was very light, as light as a snowflake falling on a lake in the dead of winter. But Gu Yanshen felt that small patch of skin being burned.

"Uncle..." Her voice choked with emotion.

"I was wrong. Please don't ignore me anymore, okay?"

Her fingers gripped his sleeve tightly.

"I will listen to you from now on."

"I will be very good... very good..."

That almost desperate plea, like a dull knife, slowly and repeatedly drew fine, dense cuts into his heart.

Gu Yanshen closed his eyes.

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

He didn't need to look to know who sent it—it was Lin Chen, telling him how many eyes were watching Mrs. Gu's every move.

He opened his eyes.

He slowly turned around.

Then, he reached out and cupped her face in his hands.

The movement was very light, like holding a handful of water that was about to slip through your fingers.

His thumb lightly brushed against her cheekbone, where traces of undried tears still lingered.

He looked at her.

Looking at her swollen eyes, her skin that was almost transparent from being hospitalized, and the tiny teardrops still clinging to her eyelashes.

He suddenly smiled.

The smile didn't reach his eyes; he was like someone hanging on the edge of a cliff, about to fall with the slightest gust of wind.

"Actually," he said, his voice so soft it was as if he were stating a trivial fact, "I have to admit—you are beautiful."

His thumb gently brushed across her cheek.

"The taste... is also very good."

Lu Xiran stared at him blankly.

He had never looked at her like that before.

It's not love, not pampering, it's a kind of... cold-hearted appreciation.

— It's like appraising a fairly satisfactory collectible.

"I was thinking," he continued, his voice flat, "that keeping you by my side wouldn't be a bad idea."

He paused.

"But Zhihe said she's decided to come back to me."

His gaze didn't waver. He just stared at her, watching the faint light in her eyes slowly, inch by inch, sink deeper.

"She promised me she'd be even more obedient than you."

He tilted his head, as if he were seriously considering a multiple-choice question.

"So, Lu Xiran, what do you have left to beat her with?"

His voice was soft, tinged with an almost cruel curiosity.

"What makes you think you can compare to her?"

Lu Xiran looked at him.

She didn't speak.

She just looked at him like that, tears silently rolling down her cheeks, each drop landing on the back of his hand that was still holding her face.

It's piping hot.

Gu Yanshen felt as if those tears were burning through the skin on the back of his hand.

I don't believe it.

She suddenly spoke. Her voice was very soft, yet surprisingly calm.

"You lied to me to get me to go to Switzerland, didn't you?"

Gu Yanshen paused for a second.

In that instant, he almost collapsed.

He abruptly released her face, turned around, and strode towards the French windows.

Her footsteps caught up from behind.

"Uncle."

She stood behind him, very close, so close that he could almost feel the faint rise and fall of her breath.

"I know perfectly well whether your kindness towards me is an act or not."

"From the airport until now... you've saved me so many times, helped me so many times..."

She paused.

"I don't believe you're just using me as a substitute."

Gu Yanshen stared intently out the window.

He dared not turn around.

He was afraid that if he turned around, he would see her determined, bright, and unwavering eyes.

He was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist hugging her and telling her the whole truth.

He was even more afraid that after he spoke out, she would still choose to stay and die for him.

"Lu Xiran".

He spoke.

The voice was eerily calm.

"Do I really have to spell things out so clearly?"

He slowly turned around, leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked at her from an arm's length away.

Those eyes were devoid of warmth.

Do you know why I married you?

Lu Xiran looked at him.

no answer.

"You are Miss Lu." He spoke slowly, word by word, as if teaching a slow-witted student, "The issue of the suburban land plot for the Ruijing project requires your approval."

He paused.

"Tell me, during this period, haven't I gained both you and the project?"

He tilted his head.

"Do you know how much that project is worth? What's the profit margin?"

He looked at her.

Looking at the last glimmer of light in her eyes, it flickered violently like a candle flame being blown by the wind.

"Lu Xiran".

His voice suddenly softened.

It was as light as a sigh.

"Do you know how much money you've saved me?"

Gu Yanshen heard his own voice, steady and indifferent, as if he were reporting a project summary.

"I'll lie to you for a few months and then get a project worth tens of billions."

He paused.

"This deal is a win-win situation, isn't it?"

Lu Xiran looked at him.

She didn't speak. She just looked at him, her eyes red, but no more tears fell.

But she still spoke up.

"Then why don't you keep lying to me?"

Gu Yanshen's eyelashes trembled very slightly.

She didn't see it.

"You can..." Her voice choked, and she tried to swallow it back, "You can keep lying to me."

She looked at him.

There was an almost desperate plea in those eyes.

Even if it's a lie.

—That's fine too.