After five years of a cold marriage, I can no longer hide the child I secretly gave birth to.

Xu Daikui immediately felt like she was sitting on pins and needles, and a feeling of nausea welled up in her heart.

"Drink up, Miss Xu, why aren't you drinking? Aren't you being polite?"

Mr. Shi smiled and urged him on.

At this moment, Wang Guang quickly stood up and reached out to deflect the drink for her, saying, "President Shi, please forgive me, Dai Kui doesn't drink alcohol. I'll drink this one for her."

"you?"

Mr. Shi gave a meaningful smile.

Everyone present, except Zhou Yanci, burst into laughter.

Anxiety quickly overwhelmed Xu Daikui; she felt irritable and depressed, and a suffocating feeling spread throughout her body.

Over the years, through all the ups and downs, she is still easily the subject of ridicule and gossip.

She bit her lip and looked at Wang Guang. "It's okay, Director, I can drink it."

After saying that, she picked up her wine glass, tilted her head back, and took a sip.

It was top-grade Moutai, and as soon as it went down my throat, I felt a burning, stinging sensation.

Since she rarely drinks alcohol, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and cough.

Wang Guang stood aside, busily handing her water and taking the remaining drinks.

As President Shi stared at Xu Daikui's coughing, he laughed heartily, "Even her coughing is so beautiful when she's drinking. We've certainly had a feast for the eyes today."

"Yes, yes, it's all thanks to you, Mr. Shi, haha..."

"Mr. Shi..."

Wang Guang couldn't stand it any longer. His brows furrowed, and he was about to lose his temper when suddenly, a deep and pleasant male voice rang out, tinged with a hint of teasing.

"Mrs. Zhou, how come I, as your husband, didn't know you could drink so much?"

These words instantly silenced the entire room.

Xu Daikui turned to look at him in disbelief.

He has never acknowledged their relationship in front of outsiders, nor has he ever announced that they are husband and wife, not even once in the past five years.

But now that the divorce is imminent, why is he being so flamboyant? What is he trying to do?

Meeting her shocked and angry gaze, Zhou Yanci's face was as cold as an icy pool, his expression full of arrogance and indifference.

"Mrs. Zhou, would you like to explain to me here, or would you like to go somewhere else?"

Xu Daikui couldn't figure out his meaning, but the man had already made a big show of revealing her identity. She was afraid that if she stayed any longer, it would bring shame to the Zhou family. At that time, they would definitely hold her responsible, and divorce would probably be even more difficult.

Before she could shake off her status as Mrs. Zhou, she was always at the mercy of others.

She had no choice but to follow Zhou Yanci out to the private room.

...

"Is she really Mr. Zhou's wife?"

Mr. Shi was terrified. As soon as the door closed, he immediately looked at Wang Guang.

Wang Guang nodded with a deep, thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Oh no, if I flirted with his wife, I'm going to be in big trouble later!"

"It's alright. The woman Mr. Zhou was seen with before wasn't this woman at all. It was someone else. I heard that Mr. Zhou doesn't like his wife. They've been separated for four or five years and will get divorced soon. The woman who was with Mr. Zhou recently is his true love."

The director next to him immediately comforted him.

Mr. Shi felt somewhat relieved after hearing this.

Wang Guang stared at the direction Xu Daikui left in for a while before coaxing President Shi to sign the contract.

After all, Xu Daikui had already made sacrifices, and they were determined to win over Shi Pengtao's money.

...

"This is the new job you found? Quite in-depth."

Zhou Yanci led her to a quiet corridor, his handsome face showing an inscrutable expression as he glanced at her from head to toe.

Xu Daikui understood the sarcasm in his words. She clenched her fists and stood there, avoiding his gaze, only turning her head slightly. "Speak," she said, "what exactly do you want?"

After asking the question, and thinking about her behavior just now, she added, "As long as we get divorced as soon as possible, we can just pretend we don't know each other when we meet at the dinner table in the future. If you don't say anything, no one will know that I used to be Mrs. Zhou, and naturally I won't bring shame to your Zhou family."

Looking at her indifferent face, Zhou Yanci paused for a moment, then smiled faintly, "Okay."

"But before that, I hope you can restrain yourself a bit, keep your social circle clean, and don't let people gossip about you."

Xu Daikui naturally knew what he was talking about.

She lowered her eyes and nodded, "I understand."

"Including that old man next to you, stay away from him," he continued in a deep voice.

Hearing him call him an "old man" repeatedly, Xu Daikui felt a physiological discomfort and gave a faint rebuttal.

"I don't think he's old."

"Xu Daikui, I'm just kindly reminding you. If you like to play, I won't stop you."

Seeing that she was arguing with him for his sake, Zhou Yanci lowered his eyes impatiently.

Xu Daikui concealed the disdain and coldness at the corner of her mouth and slowly nodded, "Okay. When are you going to sign? Can we go to the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow?"

Her usually indifferent eyes turned icy as she looked at him.

He saw the woman's clear eyes staring at him like a stagnant pool, devoid of any emotion.

Zhou Yanci's handsome face dimmed almost imperceptibly before he said calmly, "I have a meeting tomorrow, worth a billion, I don't have time."

"And the day after tomorrow?"

He won't divorce her soon, and he won't let her show her face in public. She's lost her job now and still has to make ends meet with Xu Meng. She really can't afford to waste any more time.

Zhou Yanci looked down at her, "I haven't finished reading the agreement yet."

"Then... I'll wait for you for a few more days."

Xu Daikui had no choice but to give up. She finished speaking in a low voice and was about to leave when the man suddenly took out his wallet, pulled out the black card from last time, and handed it to her.

"You can spend the money in there as you please before the divorce."

Xu Daikui understood.

This money was compensation he gave her as charity.

She refused the work he arranged, so he continued to use the black card with Xu Jiaojiao's birthday on it to pity himself.

Unfortunately, what she lacked was never money.

What she lacks, he can never give her in this lifetime, nor is he willing to give her.

"No need, just read the agreement as soon as possible. That's my only wish."

As she turned around, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by the man, who then shoved a box into her hand.

"Put it on."

She looked closely and saw that it was their wedding ring, the one she had sent him last time; Zhou Yanci hadn't even changed the packaging.

Upon closer inspection, the wedding ring on the man's left ring finger was still shining brightly.

It is glaring and eye-catching.

"Isn't that unnecessary?"

Xu Daikui described it lightly.

Zhou Yanci chuckled softly, "Whatever."

He never liked to force others, so after shoving the ring box into her hand, he turned and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

...

Xu Daikui was puzzled.

Zhou Yanci clearly dislikes her, so why does he act as if she is the one who has wronged him and is eager to get a divorce?

It's probably an attempt to cover up his extramarital affair.

She is that piece of cloth.

The reason she existed as a tool wife was to cover up his abnormal relationship with Xu Jiaojiao.

No wonder he's a numbers guy; he's really good at using an abacus.

They'll try to pin all sorts of blame on her!

Standing in the deathly silent corridor for a long time, Xu Daikui still couldn't catch her breath.

"Director, I'm not feeling well, I'm going home now."

She didn't go back into that smoky private room. After sending Wang Guang a message, she turned and left the bar.

She walked to the trash can outside the door, stared at the ring for a moment, and then threw it into the trash can.

Only then did I feel completely relieved.

She left without looking back.

...

Only after the slender figure disappeared from sight did Zhou Yanci get out of the car and pick up the ring from the trash can.

Then they picked off their own pieces, made a pair, and sealed them in a box.