Not everyone was born with a status like Shen Zichen and Li Xiuying, that was why they didn’t need to work hard and earn everyone’s approval to be content. Unlike them, Mu Jianyu came from a humble and broken family. His father ran away and left their family after accumulating an unbearable amount of gambling debt, which forced him and his mother to break their backs trying to pay it off. 

Since young, Mu Jianyu was an ambitious person. He wasn’t one who would be content with a small achievement and would be fighting to get what he wanted whether it was the school ranking, a race, or a business deal. He would have it no matter what. 

He set up gentle traps step by step and waited patiently. Even if it took him time to get what he wanted as long as he could get, Mu Jianyu was willing to wait. Among his targets, Li Xiuying was his best prize, his prized possession. 

He’d fallen in love with her at their first meeting and hadn’t known that she was a Li princess but this only made the chase more exciting than it already was. Li Xiuying was every man’s dream. Her beauty and grace were unparalleled, incomparable. The mere sight of her was already a chance to behold. 

But Mu Jianyu was aware that it would be hard to get her. She was unattainable for someone like him so he’d doubled his efforts and worked hard until he ensnared Li Xiuying and made her madly in love with him. 

She was Li Xiuying, a Li princess and while her twin sister and the Li family disapproved of him, they would have no choice but accept him into the family for Li Xiuying’s sake. While it was true that he loved her, his ambition and pride were greater than. 

It was also his way to get even with Shen Zichen. Since he was a young boy, he had to compete with young masters who came from wealthy families and had always been compared to them in terms of strength and weaknesses. 

Among them was Shen Zichen. Shen Zichen might not know, but he was popular during his days at their university, overshadowing so many young men including him. He was part of the cream of the crop. He was always self-righteous and had an aura that looked down on everyone as if they were beneath him. 

The only consolation they got was they were spared when he’d chosen to become a doctor over entering the business circle with his classmates. However, this doesn’t mean Mu Jianyu and the others would be spared by the infamous genius princess of the Shen family, Shen Lingqing. She might be a few years younger than them but her expertise in her chosen field was admirable. 

By having Li Xiuying, how can Mu Jianyu lose this opportunity to make Shen Zichen suffer? 

‘Shen Zichen, you might have beaten me and have everything in your hands. It’s a pity though, the only woman you ever wanted fell into my hands.’

However, now, Mu Jianyu felt that he’d lost to Shen Zichen once again as he watched his wife wound her arm with Shen Zichen as they entered the banquet hall together. He’d watched them from afar the moment they arrived and when Li Xiuying greeted the guest with a genuine smile with Shen Zichen beside her as if it was the most natural thing to do. 

Why? Why did it feel like somehow he was the one ousted by Li Xiuying when in fact he was the one who asked for a divorce? Was it his pride that couldn’t accept their separation? 

Moreover, by arriving with the young master of the Shen family, was Li Xiuying not giving him face in public? They hadn’t divorced yet she’d appeared with another man as if she was parading that she wouldn’t lose anything once their divorce was finalized. 

Mu Jianyu clenched his hands on his side, suppressing the rage he was feeling. No. He couldn’t be mad with Li Xiuying. He’d never get mad at her or hurt her physically. However, what he didn’t know was that he’d broken her beyond recognition. 

Li Xiuying was wearing that same white floral cheongsam he’d seen her wearing earlier, although this time her long hair was pulled away from her face and was held on top of her head with beautiful hairpins. 

Next to her, Shen Zichen was sitting elegantly while his face remained expressionless. He was wearing a black and white tuxedo and he had such a forbidding air that no stranger dared to approach him. However, whenever he looked at or talked to Li Xiuying, the coldness on his face lessened, his eyes smiling back at her with rare warmth that no one else had seen. 

Mu Jianyu decided to greet Li Xiuying and ignored the curious looks the guests were throwing his way. Goddamn, he was still her husband, alright? How dare they talk as if he wasn’t there, to begin with? 

Li Xiuying whispered something in Shen Zichen’s ear before the latter nodded with confusion. He eyed Mu Jianyu momentarily and scoffed to himself. 

“Excuse me,” Li Xiuying told the other guest and met her husband halfway. She declined the waiter’s offer for a flute of wine along the way.

“Ying… You came,” he had led her to one of the empty hallways where he can talk to her privately. 

Li Xiuying’s smile faltered as she saw him while Shen Zichen raised a brow at Mu Jianyu’s audacity to seek after her. 

“I’m sorry, I was delayed a bit as I had to pick up Brother Zichen from his shift.. Is there something you need?” Li Xiuying questioned him, not giving him a chance to prolong their conversation.