Volume One, Chapter Twelve: All for Sang Wan
She woke up naturally, and by the time Sang Wan got out of bed, it was already ten o’clock. As soon as she turned on her phone, she saw several messages on WeChat.
Xu Yiyi: [Darling, how did the interview go yesterday? Any plans today? How about hotpot? And bring along that new dress you bought me. Hehe…]
Lu Jinnian: [Are you on your way?]
Su Baohui: [Sang Wan, where are you?]
Sang Wan replied to Xu Yiyi to meet tomorrow.
Tossing her phone aside, Sang Wan got up, washed, had breakfast, and took a cab straight to the villa district in the east of the city.
Taxis weren’t allowed past the gates, so she got out at the entrance and followed the tree-lined path toward the villa.
A few minutes later, a black Mercedes drove into the neighborhood.
Lu Jinnian was driving, chatting with Lin Chaochao on the phone.
From afar, he caught sight of a figure by the roadside and was momentarily stunned. For a moment, it didn’t feel like the villa district at all, but the campus of Imperial University. The leisurely silhouette walking beneath the trees was…
“Sang Wan!!!”
Screech!
The sound of brakes echoed as Lu Jinnian called out in shock.
Bang!
The car door slammed. Lu Jinnian got out and stood before Sang Wan, his face thunderous. “You came dressed like that?”
A white chiffon blouse.
Blue jeans.
White sneakers.
The brilliant sunlight shone down from above, making Sang Wan’s skin look even paler, her face entirely bare of makeup.
What stung the most was that her hands were empty.
Lu Jinnian roared, “Where’s the present?”
“There isn’t one.”
Sang Wan’s expression was cool. “She’s your mother. If anyone should show filial piety, it ought to be you, her son, shouldn’t it? At the very least, you have a secretary. With a single word, they’d have sorted this for you.”
“You…”
Lu Jinnian’s face darkened.
Sang Wan sneered, “Lu Jinnian, we’re already divorced! All that’s left is the paperwork. I came today as a courtesy to you and your mother. After all, I’ve called her ‘Mom’ for so many years.”
She didn’t want Lu Jinnian to think she was posturing, clinging to the excuse of attending the birthday banquet to delay the divorce. Nor did she want her peaceful life shattered by Su Baohui’s relentless pestering.
If not for the sake of keeping the peace, she wouldn’t have come at all.
She turned to leave.
Her wrist was caught by Lu Jinnian, who dragged her over, opened the car door, and pushed her inside.
The Mercedes sped forward and, a few minutes later, stopped at Lu Zhiyi’s house.
He made a call to Lu Zhiyi, asking the housekeeper to open the door.
From the trunk, he took out a gift box and tossed it into Sang Wan’s arms.
Lu Jinnian pointed at the open villa door. “Go in and change! If you’re fine with embarrassing yourself, I’m not!”
Though it was only Su Baohui’s fifty-third birthday, and the celebration was at her own home, quite a few friends and relatives from the elite circles had come. The thought of Sang Wan appearing in such plain clothes, bare-faced before everyone, made Lu Jinnian’s irritation surge.
She couldn’t be bothered to argue. All she wanted was to get through the day quietly and then part ways.
Sang Wan carried the box into Lu Zhiyi’s house, not even bothering with the guest room upstairs. She headed straight for the public washroom on the first floor.
Inside the gift box was a lake-blue satin evening gown.
She wasn’t sure if it was the dressmaker’s thoughtfulness or Lu Jinnian’s intent, but inside the gown was a complete set of white lace lingerie.
There was barely any fabric to speak of.
It seemed that a mere touch would snap those delicate straps.
Once, Sang Wan would have been embarrassed by Lu Jinnian’s little romantic gestures, feeling both flustered and charmed.
But now, she wouldn’t delude herself into thinking this was prepared for her.
She didn’t touch the lingerie, changing only into the dress and a pair of heels.
The first-floor washroom was for the staff. Someone had left a lipstick behind.
Sang Wan dabbed a bit on her fingertip and applied a thin layer to her lips.
From entering to leaving, it was only a matter of minutes.
Outside by the car, Lu Jinnian, growing impatient as he smoked, turned around and was momentarily stunned.
That fleeting déjà vu he’d felt at the sight of her earlier returned.
For a moment, he felt as if he’d traveled back in time, back to the days when he and Sang Wan were passionately in love.
It had been a very long time since he’d seen her looking so radiant.
Back in college, Sang Wan had been the campus belle, pure and beautiful.
After marriage, her beauty became more striking.
Whether she wore black—seductive, or white—innocent, every color looked different on her, giving off a distinct charm.
That year at the Lu Corporation, every day male colleagues from other departments would find excuses to visit the project team, just to catch a glimpse of her or find an opportunity to ask for her WeChat.
Eventually, he couldn’t stand it any longer and announced she was his wife, which finally put an end to their coveting looks.
After pregnancy and childbirth, she left the workforce and had no occasion to dress up anymore.
In the years since their marriage, he’d left before dawn and returned late. Sang Wan always looked like an ordinary housewife, bare-faced.
He’d almost forgotten just how stunning she was.
The lake-blue hue suited her perfectly, setting off her porcelain skin and slender neck.
The off-shoulder cut revealed her exquisite collarbones.
She wore no jewelry, but her bright eyes and graceful bearing were the best adornments, making her seem all the more elegant and poised.
The only flaw was that the dress didn’t quite fit—there was an extra inch at the waist.
The gown had actually been tailored for Lin Chaochao.
Next month, at the municipal tender, Lin Chaochao would accompany him, and this dress had been ordered for her.
He could picture Lin Chaochao’s lively figure trying it on.
And now, before him, Sang Wan descended the steps with the poise and brilliance of a star on a runway.
The two images—one left, one right—hadn’t yet merged into a single comparison.
Buzz.
The sound of Sang Wan opening the rear car door snapped Lu Jinnian out of his thoughts.
He came back to himself, tossed away his cigarette, and got into the car.
The car turned around and stopped a few minutes later at the neighboring villa.
It was clear from the many cars parked out front that a celebration was underway.
The wrought-iron gates were wide open, flowers everywhere.
Laughter and cheerful voices drifted out from the villa.
Sang Wan gathered her skirt and got out.
Lu Jinnian rummaged through the trunk and chose two gift boxes to carry inside.
Truthfully, there was no need for gifts.
All he had to do was tell Yang Yan, who would arrange for a Michelin chef to prepare a lavish meal and invite a few close friends. That would make Su Baohui more than happy.
As for whether he brought gifts, Su Baohui couldn’t care less.
He did all this, just for Sang Wan.
Casting her a fierce glare, Lu Jinnian stepped forward and put his arm around her waist.
Sang Wan moved away; Lu Jinnian followed.
She moved again; he followed closer still.
The heels were a size too big and nearly made her twist her ankle.
Sang Wan gave up.
She jabbed his arm hard with her elbow, finally making Lu Jinnian retract it in pain.
She stepped back half a pace, following behind as Lu Jinnian entered the villa.
“Jinnian’s back…”
“Xiaomu, look who’s here?”
The living room was packed; Sang Wan barely caught a glimpse of any faces, but her sharp ears picked up the name Xiaomu.
She instinctively looked over to see Lu Xiaomu sitting on a barstool at the kitchen island, absorbed in his tablet.
Their eyes met, but there was not a trace of joy on Lu Xiaomu’s face.
His gaze, full of anticipation, darted past Lu Jinnian to the space beside him.
No one stood there.
The servant closed the door, signaling that no one else was coming in.
The light in Lu Xiaomu’s eyes dimmed, and he lowered his gaze back to the tablet.
Sang Wan understood—he was looking for Lin Chaochao.
A dull ache filled her chest as she turned her eyes away.