Yuan Xuan chuckled. “Yes, I hated you very much!”

Mu Chenyan, “…”

“I kept you close to me like a slave and refused to let you leave my side because I hated you…”

Mu Chenyan was so touched that she broke down. It did not matter if she looked like an idiot now. After all, she had never considered herself an intelligent person…

“Yuan Xuan… For a really long time… I blamed myself… I became depressed and wanted to die… Whenever I thought of those people who died in Xi Fan that year… I felt that their miserable souls could never rest in peace…”

Mu Chenyan wrapped her arms around Yuan Xuan’s shoulders. Her entire body trembled as she cried.

Yuan Xuan knew that Mu Chenwu would never let her have an easy conscience. That man was skilled in manipulating other people’s minds. He had forced her to see something that plagued her with inner demons.

“Little Chenyan, are you stupid? Those people died during the war. Did you kill any of them with your own hands?”

“No!” She was merely an embryo at that time…

“Nobody gets to choose their parents,” Yuan Xuan consoled his wife.

Mu Feng became infertile due to his injuries during the war. When Yan Mei became pregnant, he knew that the child was conceived when Yan Mei slept with Ze Da while she was drugged.

His warped mental state made him insane. During the final wave of attacks, he rebelled without any hesitation. He collaborated with the external forces from within and aimed his gun at his comrade…

“Little Chenyan, it’s over. None of the guilty parties managed to escape their punishment. Why must you keep tormenting me?”

Yuan Xuan’s gaze became desolate when he said this. He truly seemed hurt.

Mu Chenyan felt her chest tighten. She knew that he missed that child.

The words nearly left her mouth, but she was too afraid to speak up.

Yuan Xuan draped the clothes over Mu Chenyan’s shoulders. He insisted, “I don’t care about the things that happened between you and Guo Jingze, but your relationship with him ends here. I’ll give you three days to work this out. I won’t do anything if you solve this problem on your own, but I’ll definitely take drastic measures if you fail!

Mu Chenyan immediately felt as though her heart had risen to her throat.

*

Guo Jingze was suddenly struck by a bad feeling when he failed to see Mu Chenyan in the hall. Shao Yibai had only stalled him for half an hour, but that was enough time for Yuan Xuan to whisk Mu Chenyan away.

He was too afraid to disturb his mother. He repeatedly called Mu Chenyan until her cell phone turned itself off because it was dead.

Guo Jingze viewed the surveillance footage and discovered that Yuan Xuan had carried Mu Chenyan into his suite. Guo Jingze was not an idiot. He obviously knew what she had done when she disappeared for two hours.

The enraged man’s face became twisted as he had nowhere to vent his fury. He was forced to suppress his anger during an event like this.

Wu Meiyun became slightly suspicious when she did not see Mu Chenyan once the banquet had ended. Guo Jingze frantically consoled his mother, saying, “Xiao Xiao was feeling unwell so I told Liu Ming to send her to the hotel. I’ll bring her back to the mansion tomorrow!”

Wu Meiyun had misgivings about this, but she decided to just see the guests to the door.

Mu Chenyan charged her phone once she returned to the hotel. Her heart suddenly jerked when she saw that she had over a hundred missed calls and new messages.

She was about to return the calls when she heard a knock at the door. She looked through the peephole and saw that Guo Jingze was outside.

The man looked like he was in a bad mood. Mu Chenyan could tell that he already had several drinks.

Mu Chenyan was always very vigilant. She knew that it would be very dangerous to be in a closed space with a furious man in this situation.

She left the door chain fastened as she quietly consoled him, saying, “Jingze, I know that you want to talk to me. Can you come back tomorrow instead?”

“I want to talk to you tonight!” The intimidating look that filled Guo Jingze’s face was very unlike his usual self.

Mu Chenyan was fully aware that Guo Jingze would not leave until they settled this completely.

“Alright, you can wait for me at the coffee shop downstairs. I’ll be there once I’ve changed.”

Guo Jingze suppressed his rage and gruffly replied, “Fine!”

…

Mu Chenyan changed into some relaxing casual wear and tied her hair into a ponytail. She entered the coffee shop and saw Guo Jingze sitting in the corner with a dejected look on his face.

For a moment, he had seemingly aged significantly.

He also looked like this when she first saw him three years ago.

Mu Chenyan sat on the opposite side of Guo Jingze. Although they had referred to each other as husband and wife for three years, it was rare for them to have serious conversations like this.

“Chenyan, are you planning on leaving me?”

Guo Jingze and Mu Chenyan looked directly at each other for several minutes before the man suddenly broke the silence.

The woman’s face was flushed while love bites could be faintly seen below her collar. This filled the man with a jealous rage. He desperately wanted to rush over and grab his wife’s neck so that he could cover those marks with his own…

Mu Chenyan lowered her head. She murmured, “Jingze, you know that I love him…”

“What am I then? Was I just a pawn that you used? Was I nothing but a stupid cuckold?”

Guo Jingze’s face turned hideous when he contorted his features. The unrestrained volume of his voice caused the people around them to become momentarily curious. They shifted their gazes toward him.

Mu Chenyan felt extremely embarrassed. She glared at Guo Jingze before she calmly said, “Jingze, if I’m not mistaken, you’re in love with a graduate student named Wei Guo. He’s the most important person to you. Our relationship was merely an agreement!”