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

Xu Daikui was stunned for a long time before she realized that the annual meeting he mentioned was likely just a pretext.

Is filing a lawsuit really the only option left?

Once a lawsuit is filed, Mengmeng's custody will become a dispute. Zhou Yanci is cunning; what if he threatens her with a fight for custody of the child?

But she could no longer live with Xu Jiaojiao under the titles of first wife and second wife.

Feeling heavy-hearted, she went to the balcony, turned on her phone, and prepared to ask Doubao for a solution.

But as soon as she swiped the screen, a Weibo post about a shocking change in a wealthy family immediately caught her attention.

She clicked on it, and the content was about how the president of the Zhou Group's misconduct had caused the group's stock price to plummet, bringing it to the brink of bankruptcy, and leading to the mass exodus of directors and shareholders...

There's another secret about a wealthy family, titled: The Zhou family has more than one heir.

All sorts of rumors were circulating, but they all said that the Zhou Group was about to fall into a slump and that the Zhou family heir would be replaced.

The latest news item shows Zhou Nianting and Zhou Yanqing holding a press conference, announcing that the father and son will join forces to turn the tide and revive the Zhou Group.

Zhou Yanci was not mentioned in their declaration.

Xu Daikui knew Zhou Yanqing; he was Zhou Yanci's older brother. They used to go to the same school, and he was a year ahead of them.

She remembered that the two brothers had always had a good relationship, so why did they suddenly turn against each other?

Thinking about it, she remembered the conspicuous handprint on Zhou Yanci's face. Could it have been Zhou Nianting who slapped him?

Fang Qing had told me that Zhou Nianting had married into the Wen family in his early years. At first, he was very obedient to the Wen family, but after Wen Yayun's parents passed away, he completely changed his personality. Overnight, he took control of all the power in the Wen family, and naturally, the children he had all took his surname.

Later, he became a womanizer, keeping a large number of mistresses and concubines, which almost caused his relationship with Wen Yayun to break down.

She remembered that they had separated many years ago, but she didn't know why they hadn't divorced.

Zhou Yanci had previously seemed to dislike Zhou Nianting and had always sided with his mother.

If they completely break up now, wouldn't Zhou Yanci be kicked out of the Zhou family?

"What, you realize you were rude to me just now, and you're thinking of taking your own life?"

When Zhou Yanci came out, he saw her standing by the window, staring blankly out the window, and couldn't help but tease her.

Xu Daikui remained silent.

Zhou Yanci used to be as cold as ice, but now he's so talkative and annoying.

She frowned slightly, then turned to steer the conversation toward serious matters.

"I heard you're being expelled from the Zhou Group. Does that mean the annual meeting won't be held?"

Zhou Yanci's gaze lingered on her lit screen, the glaring words making him feel rather unhappy.

Good news doesn't travel far, but bad news spreads like wildfire in no time.

"It depends on my mood."

He seemed unconcerned about being removed from the list, speaking casually and nonchalantly, "If you want to leave quickly, then treat me well, Xu Daikui. If you make me happy, maybe I can convince myself to give you to someone else."

Five years is enough time to change many things, including his love and his hate.

Sometimes I think, it's not so bad to grow old alone, it's just that there's still a sense of unease in my heart, and a deep longing for love remains.

Just like every night for the past five years, he kept asking why.

But many things have no answers.

"Zhou Yanci, I don't want to speak harshly to you because you are injured. Don't try to provoke me."

If you want her to be good to him, maybe in the next life.

From now on, he will only live in her hatred every day.

She doesn't need useless, belated, inexplicable affection; returning to each other is the best ending for both of them.

"I'll wait until the beginning of the new year at the latest. If you still refuse to sign the agreement by then, I'll sue you."

Looking at the woman's resolute and cold profile, Zhou Yanci felt a sense of suffocation.

"Xu Daikui, is your heart made of stone?"

He touched his aching cheek. "Last time you said you were grateful for everything I did for you at school, is this how you thanked me?"

"Even if it were a stranger, you wouldn't be this indifferent if you saw him injured, would you?"

He was certain once again that the woman utterly loathed him.

Hearing him mention school, Xu Daikui felt tightness in her chest and shortness of breath.

Her eyes gradually welled up with tears.

"Then what do you want? My life?"

He was the one who didn't love her, the one who was the first to be indifferent and heartless, and the one who cheated on her. She's now trying to convince herself that she's finally letting go of the past, but he keeps approaching her and bringing it up again and again.

In these five years, during these five years of being neglected by him, how many sleeping pills did she need to take to fall asleep?

If Xie Jia hadn't been there for her every day during her postpartum period, she would have become depressed and died young, her grave overgrown with weeds.

He helped her overcome the shadows of her unhappy childhood, but he made her live a life of utter despair in the marriage she had hoped for.

Now that he's beckoning, is she going to offer him her heart again, only to let him and Xu Jiaojiao trample on it?

"Zhou Yanci, I don't have many decades left to give you. I can't afford to lose, and I'm not as open-minded as you; I can't accept polygamy!"

"ten years?"

"What do you mean?"

They had known each other for over ten years, but she hadn't given him those ten years.

He was at most a pawn in her carefully planned scheme.

Xu Daikui forcefully suppressed the bitterness in her heart and shook her head absently. "It doesn't mean anything. I must get the divorce agreement before New Year's Eve."

He avoided talking about Xu Jiaojiao, and avoided talking about their engagement on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year.

He has already tacitly accepted everything, and he might even have leaked the official announcement himself.

They were so loving, they'd been loving for five years, he'd spoiled her rotten for five years, so why was he still clinging to her now?

Zhou Yanci gave a faint smile, his gaze towards her complex and deep.

He will find out everything she's hiding.

...

Shen Jun waited downstairs for more than two hours before Zhou Yanci came down from upstairs.

The thought that if someone knew he was at Xu Daikui's building so late at night would surely make them unable to sleep, he felt terrible.

So, he took a very artistic watermarked photo from behind Zhou Yanci's car, and captioned it:

Beautiful moments shouldn't be wasted.

He clicked to post it on his WeChat Moments.

.....

Zhou Yanci returned to his car and had just settled in when Xu Jiaojiao called.

After inquiring about the group's situation and his personal position, he gave a brief response and then hung up.

Then he reached into his chest and pulled out the jar of colorful stars.

This is something he just took from Xu Daikui's bedroom.

He remembered this thing vividly; it wasn't Xu Meng's at all.

I remember during my freshman year, he would secretly choose the same elective courses as Xu Daikui every time.

Back then, he always sat two rows behind Xu Daikui's seat. He remembered that for a while, he noticed that Xu Daikui wasn't paying attention in class and was always secretly folding paper stars.

Back then, when Aunt Qiong Yao's books were still very popular, many girls would fold stars to express their love for the person they had a crush on.

He was very curious about who she had folded it for.

On his birthday, he, who was always careless, inexplicably invited the whole class to spend it with Xu Daikui.

He felt inexplicably excited when he saw her approaching him with the jar of stars in her arms.

He turned his head slightly away from her gaze, and when he turned back, he saw that the woman had already strode away with the star-shaped jar in her arms, leaving only a high-quality replica Rolex watch in front of him.

He thought her birthday present would be that jar of stars that symbolized her love.

Memories flooded back like a tide. He glanced down at his Rolex, the paint worn off his wrist, before opening the star-shaped jar.

He wanted to see who Xu Daikui was so hung up on back then.