Chapter 4

Zhang Ling shoved me angrily, and my lower back slammed into a chair, pulling on the wound in my stomach.

Pain forced me to bend over and clutch my abdomen.

Zhang Ling frowned in disgust. “Zhao Yan, how old are you already? Can you stop acting pitiful?”

Xu Cheng behind her sucked in a sharp breath.

Zhang Ling immediately turned around and touched his face.

Then she shot me a vicious glare. “Are you crazy? You hit him that hard like you were trying to kill him?”

Then she hurriedly took out the first-aid kit and applied medicine for Xu Cheng.

I clutched my stomach and walked over to the sofa to sit down, watching blood soak through my white T-shirt, and could only grit my teeth and bear the pain.

Xu Cheng had only been slapped once, while my wound had reopened. How could the two even compare?

Xu Cheng comforted Zhang Ling gently, “It’s my fault. If I had known today was the day Zhao Yan got discharged, I would never have begged you to spend the only birthday I’ve had in five years with me.”

“Ling, thank you. I’ll go explain it to Zhao Yan. It’s fine if he misunderstands me, but he can’t misunderstand you.”

Tears welling in her eyes, Zhang Ling looked at him. “He’s always been that kind of asshole. You’re the one who’s gentle and considerate.”

Five years, and even now Zhang Ling needed me to remind her before she remembered my birthday.

I took a deep breath and didn’t want to watch them act out their tragic lovers routine anymore.

I threw the divorce papers onto the table and said without any emotion, “Zhang Ling, let’s get divorced.”

Zhang Ling never imagined I would be the one to bring up divorce, and she rushed over immediately, red-faced, pointing at me as she demanded, “Zhao Yan, you want to get divorced over something this small?”

I could no longer suppress my emotions. “You left me, with surgery about to start, and stayed in the same room with him, taking care of him personally. Is that a small thing? You brought him into the home I carefully decorated for you. Is that a small thing? I think about you everywhere, put you at the center of everything, and you still choose to degrade yourself by staying with this freeloader?”

Zhang Ling swung her hand at me, and I easily caught her wrist.

“Zhao Yan, don’t you dare talk about Xu Cheng like that. He has always been the best. If you hadn’t gone after him when his company ran into trouble and driven him into a corner, would he really have ended up like this? I knew you were jealous of Xu Cheng before, but I never thought you were so afraid of him rising again that you’d even want to force him to die.”

“Force him to die? Zhang Ling, do you even have a conscience?” I only felt pain all over. Everything I had done for her had ended up becoming the knife she used to hurt me.

Seeing this, Xu Cheng pulled my hand away and stood beside Zhang Ling. They were clearly on the same side.

“Zhao Yan, don’t misunderstand. Ling and I are just a patient and a doctor. She’s the one taking such good care of me with no regard for herself. You should be proud to have such a selfless wife. How can you accuse her of anything?”

Looking at Xu Cheng’s smug face, I was burning with rage and shoved him hard. “Get out. Get the hell out of my house. You bastard don’t deserve to stay on my turf!”

Xu Cheng fell to the floor, knocking over the vase on the table. His wrist was cut by the glass, and blood poured out. Just as I grabbed his collar and was about to punch him again,

Zhang Ling hugged me from behind and shoved me away with all her strength.

Crying, she knelt on the floor and spread her arms to shield Xu Cheng behind her.

“Please, don’t hurt Xu Cheng. I’ll sign it, as long as you don’t regret it!”

For another man, she knelt before me. I was trembling all over from the pain, unable to tell whether the tearing pain of the wound hurt more or the pain in my heart hurt more.

I staggered, picked up the divorce papers, and left.

When I reached the door, Zhang Ling’s shouting came from behind me. “Zhao Yan, once you walk out that door, even if you kneel, I will never forgive you.”

Really? That was exactly what I wanted.

I forced myself to finish the divorce process, and my shirt was already soaked red.

Just as my consciousness was blurring, I got a phone call. “Zhao Yan, come to the hospital right now. Your wife was in a car accident. She miscarried, and we need you here to sign the papers.”