Jiang Yihuai pushed open the door to the room and frantically pulled open the wardrobe. Then, he went to Su Yumian’s private walk-in closet, only to find that all the designer bags, clothes, and the watches and jewelry he had gifted her were neatly pced in their usual spots.

  Not a single thing was missing.

  His gaze nded on a cherry bracelet, and his breath suddenly quickened, his eyes fshing with a dangerous glint.

  He vividly remembered—this was the birthday gift he had brought back for her from abroad in their third year together.

  "Cherry" in English sounded like "cherish," meaning treasure. It symbolized that she was the person he cherished the most.

  Back then, she loved it dearly, never taking it off. And yet now, even this was left behind, as if she was abandoning every trace of love she once had for him…

  Jiang Yihuai colpsed onto the edge of the bed. At that moment, he finally realized—Su Yumian was never just throwing a tantrum. Every word she said had been serious.

  She truly wanted to leave him.

  —

  Cng!

  Downstairs, Aunt Wang heard a loud crash, shivered, and quickly ran up the stairs.

  Just as she reached the door, Jiang Yihuai stormed out of the walk-in closet, his face dark and ominous. “Young Master…”

  She called out hesitantly, wanting to ask what had happened, but he didn’t even spare her a gnce as he walked away. When she turned her head, she nearly gasped in horror.

  The expensive jewelry cabinet was smashed to pieces, brand new clothes with their tags still on were thrown all over the pce, and the luxurious Bohemian style rug was left in complete disarray—it was a mess too terrible to look at.

  She thought about how she had just finished cleaning the kitchen and thrown out that pot of spoiled porridge, and now, she had to clean up the bedroom disaster.

  Aunt Wang: “…”

  Do workers’ lives not matter?!

  —

  Dizzying lights, tacky music, scantily cd men and women dancing wildly on stage.

  In a dark corner, Jiang Yihuai drank alone. He had ordered a bottle of whiskey, downing gss after gss—not drinking, but venting.

  The dim lighting cast shifting shadows on his sharp, refined features, giving him a cold and untouchable aura—one that only made him more dangerously attractive.

  Women passing by were drawn to him, ignoring the chill radiating from his presence. One boldly approached. “Hey, handsome, drinking alone is boring. Want some company?”

  She wore an off-shoulder top, her body slightly tilted to reveal her smooth, fair skin and an enticing cleavage—something any normal man would have at least gnced at.

  But Jiang Yihuai merely gave her a cold look. “Get lost.”

  His gaze was deep and intimidating, and with just one gnce, the woman’s initial boldness evaporated. She didn’t dare linger. After shooing away the annoying pest, Jiang Yihuai continued drinking.

  The whiskey bottle was soon empty. Just as he signaled for another, he caught a glimpse of a familiar silhouette in the distance. His mind bnked. In the next second, he moved like a madman, rushing after the figure.

  Reaching out, he grabbed the woman’s arm.

  “Su—”

  The woman turned around, startled at first, but upon seeing his handsome face, her shock turned into a flirtatious smile. She leaned in. “Hey, handsome, are you looking for me?”

  Only then did Jiang Yihuai snap back to reality—he had mistaken her for someone else. Frowning, he pulled his hand away. Su Yumian would never act like this.

  “Sorry, wrong person.”

  The woman pouted, disappointed, and muttered under her breath, “Turning down a freebie—are you even a man?”

  This pce was suffocating. Jiang Yihuai downed the st of his drink, grabbed his coat, and left. Just as he neared the exit, a voice called out—

  “Huai-zi!”

  Gu Yizhou caught up to him and spped a hand on his shoulder, grinning. “When did you get here? Why didn’t you let us know? We got a room upstairs—come up for a drink!”

  Jiang Yihuai rubbed his temples. “Not in the mood. You guys go ahead.”

  Gu Yizhou was baffled. Jiang Yihuai never skipped out on these gatherings.

  Could it be… he got back together with Su Yumian?

  Yeah, that must be it. Newly reconciled couples wouldn't have time for this kind of scene.

  “Gu Yizhou, what are you standing around for? We’re waiting on you!”

  Someone called from the stairs.

  Gu Yizhou shook his head, dismissing the thought, and rejoined the crowd.

  —

  By the time Jiang Yihuai returned to the vil, it was already past ten at night.

  His bedroom and walk-in closet had been tidied up, and Su Yumian’s belongings were once again neatly pced where they belonged. He turned on his heel and headed to the study.

  The floor-to-ceiling bookshelves were filled with books on biology.

  Su Yumian hadn’t continued her postgraduate studies, but she had never neglected her field. Whenever she had time, she would spend the entire day in the study, categorizing her collection and proudly showing off which books were out of print, which ones she had managed to get original reprints of, and how much effort she had put into organizing them.

  Whenever she talked about her collection, she always smiled so brightly…

  His gaze darkened as he studied the bookshelves, and suddenly, his lips curled into a smirk.

  Jiang Yihuai went downstairs and found Aunt Wang, who was about to take out the trash. “Lend me your phone.”

  Aunt Wang instinctively became defensive. “Uh… Young Master, you broke my st phone…”

  “Didn’t you buy a new one?”

  Aunt Wang: “…”

  “Hand it over.”

  “But I just bought it…” If he smashed it again, her heart would ache!

  Jiang Yihuai: “I’ll have someone send you two iPhone 16s ter.”

  “Deal!” Aunt Wang immediately handed over her phone with a beaming smile.

  With the phone in hand, he dialed Su Yumian. This time, before she could say anything, he spoke first—

  “If you’re so set on cutting ties, then come take away the trash you left in my study. I’ll give you one day. If you don’t move it by tomorrow, I’ll have it all thrown out.”

  Su Yumian was momentarily stunned, then quickly realized—

  The "trash" he referred to was her collection of academic books.

  “…Okay.”

  She hung up.

  Jiang Yihuai held the phone tightly, his lips pressed into a thin line.

  Su Yumian considered the weight of the books and figured she couldn't carry them alone. She called Shao Yuwei.

  “Weiwei, are you free tomorrow? I left some books at Jiang Yihuai’s vil—can you drive over and help me move them?”

  Shao Yuwei agreed immediately. “Of course! You put so much effort into collecting those books. Leaving them with that bastard would be a waste. I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

  “Thanks.”

  However, the next day, it wasn’t Shao Yuwei who showed up—it was Shao Wenbai.

  Usually dressed in formal shirts and scks, exuding a schorly aura, today he wore a simple white T-shirt and light blue jeans. With his soft bck hair casually falling over his forehead, he looked like a fresh-faced college student.

  Su Yumian blinked in surprise. “Why are you here? Where’s Weiwei?”

  “She overslept and asked me to help instead.”

  Su Yumian: “…”

  If she had to guess, Vivi had probably partied too hard st night and couldn’t get out of bed.

  Oh well, help was help.

  “Thanks, then.”