Chuxia decided to attend the reunion this year for one reason only, he understood at once: it was to maintain the appearance of a loving marriage, to save her own face, to prevent Mrs. Shi from forming a negative opinion of her.
He knew... without anything important, she would never come to him.
Shi Che’s expression turned cold in an instant, his hand slowly clenching into a fist, crinkling the invitation he held until it was a wrinkled mess, and only then did Shi Che coldly say, "Xiao Zhao, you may leave now."
Xiao Zhao, catching the sudden change in Shi Che’s demeanor, felt a chill run down his spine. Having worked alongside Shi Che for several years, he was well aware of the couple’s conflicts; a change in Shi Che’s face was always closely related to the Young Madam.
Although he didn’t fully understand how such a loving couple could reach this point, thinking back on their initial happiness and seeing their current torment, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow.
Xiao Zhao watched the crumpled invitation, opened his mouth to say something, but seeing Shi Che’s expression, he swallowed his words, placed the documents he was holding down, and then turned to leave.
The office door closed gently, and the spacious room quieted down instantly. Shi Che tossed the balled-up invitation into the wastebasket, then pulled out a document, opening it to read.
However, after several minutes, he was unable to absorb a single word; the densely packed text on the document couldn’t capture his attention. With a slap, Shi Che shut the document and pulled out another, only to be greeted by another page of dense text. His brow furrowed deeply, agitation etched across his face; he struggled to read a few lines, but the more he read, the more irritated he got, closing the document with force once again.
His hand tightened into a fist, his gaze, unable to resist, shifted toward the wastebasket.
There, the balled-up invitation lay silently, a bright red mass stabbing at his eyes.
He knew he could just ignore it completely. After all, wasn’t Chuxia capable? Hadn’t she managed to endure his mother’s pressure for three years all on her own? Wasn’t she competent? This college reunion should be no different, right?
Why should he worry about her? Why should he foolishly step forward and let her use him?
He was even more aware that if Chuxia were to attend the reunion alone, she would face quite a predicament.
Those female college classmates of hers were each more predatory than the last; these women, having nothing better to do, loved to stir up trouble, to compare, to take pleasure in others’ misfortunes.
Chuxia’s marriage to him had already made her the common enemy of all women, and now she also had to deal with these wolves and leopards alone. Even someone like Li Qian was enough to make her suffer.