For seven years, I loved Felix Feng. For three years, I was his wife.
And for three years, I was invisible.
I was a fool.
The click of the heavy oak front door echoed through our penthouse. My heart did its stupid, familiar leap.
“Felix, you’re home,” I called out, smoothing the front of my apron. The rich, savory scent of braised fish—his favorite—filled our sterile, silent kitchen. I’d spent all afternoon on it, desperate for this one day to be perfect.
“Happy anniversary.”
He didn’t even look at the table I’d so carefully set. He just walked past, loosening his billion-dollar tie, his eyes as cold and gray as the Manhattan skyline outside our floor-to-ceiling windows.
“After Grandma’s birthday banquet next week,” he said, his voice flat, devoid of all emotion, “we’ll get a divorce.”
The air punched out of my lungs. The aroma of the fish suddenly smelled rotten, suffocating.
“What?” My voice was a pathetic squeak.
“Is it… is it because of her?” I whispered, the name tasting like acid on my tongue.
“Mina Su.”
His jaw tightened.
“You don’t need to know the reason.”
He tossed a thick manila folder onto the marble countertop. It slid past the perfectly prepared fish, landing with a sickening, final thud.
“You just need to sign your name here.”
I stared at the papers. Divorce. Dissolution of Marriage. All the cold, legal words for failure. For rejection.
“What if I don’t agree?” My voice trembled.
Felix finally looked at me, and his gaze was chilling.
“Jenna,” he said, and the way he used my name felt like a slap.
“I only married you because of Grandma. Don’t push your luck.”
He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a sleek, black credit card. He slid it across the counter. It clattered against the folder.
“This card has no limit. It’s more than Grandma promised you. Just sign it, and it’s yours.”
My blood, which had run cold, suddenly began to boil. Seven years of devotion. Three years of servitude. All erased and paid for with a piece of plastic.
My phone buzzed on the counter. A text from my friend. Jenna! Look at the news! Your husband went on a “business trip” with that millennium beauty, Mina Su! The romance is exposed! That scumbag’s heart is really made of stone!
I looked from the text to my husband. The mask of the perfect wife cracked.
“Three years,” I said, my voice dangerously low.
“For three years, I’ve put up with being treated like air. Like a maid. I can take being ignored.” I picked up the pen.
“I can’t take the cheating.”
I clicked the pen and scrawled my name—Jenna Jiang—across the signature line. The name I hadn’t used in years.
“Okay,” I said, pushing the folder back toward him.
“You want a divorce so badly? You’ve got it. Are you satisfied now?”
He looked momentarily surprised that I hadn’t fought, hadn’t cried, hadn’t begged. He quickly masked it, nodding curtly.
“You can stay here until after Grandma’s party. Then, you move out.”
“Don’t worry,” I sneered, untying my apron and throwing it onto the counter.
“I’ll be gone. But by the way, Mr. Feng…” I walked toward him, stopping just inches from his chest. He smelled like expensive cologne and another woman’s perfume.
“If you have time,” I said, looking him dead in the eye, “you should really remember to see a urologist. We’ve been married for three years and still haven’t had… relations. Only you could manage that, Mr. Feng.”
His face, usually a mask of cold indifference, contorted in a flash of rage.
“Who are you talking about? Make it clear.”
“Make what clear?” I laughed, a bitter, sharp sound.
“Oh, don’t flatter yourself. I didn’t ‘touch’ you because I’m not interested.”
I turned my back on him, walking over to the exquisite meal I had prepared. With one swift, satisfying motion, I swept the braised fish and all the side dishes off the counter and into the trash.
“I,” I announced to the empty kitchen, “am telling you that my food isn’t for ungrateful people. Go to your date.”
I grabbed my purse, my keys, and the unlimited credit card.
“From now on,” I said, pausing at the door, “I am no longer Felix Feng’s wife. I am myself. Jenna Jiang.”
His face was a mask of thunder.
“Jenna!” he roared.
I just smiled and walked out the door. The show, I thought, is just beginning.
He thought I was a gold digger. He thought I was a kept woman. He thought I was a “pampered rich lady.”
Fine. I’d show him what a pampered lady does.
I walked into Bergdorf’s.
“This, this, this, and these,” I said, pointing.
“Those? I want them all.”
“Ma’am?” the sales associate blinked.
“Wrap everything up. All of it.” I slapped the black card on the glass counter.
“Swipe the card.”
I went from store to store. Shoes. Purses. Cars. I bought four cars in an hour. I wanted to see his face when he got the bill. I wanted to make him hurt.
“Is this woman crazy?” I heard someone whisper as I bought a Maserati.
I felt a giddy, reckless power I hadn’t felt in years. This wasn’t just revenge shopping. This was me, buying my life back, piece by piece.
A few days later, I was in a different kind of store. A professional headhunter’s office.
“Jenna, seeing you turn back in our lifetime… it’s not easy,” my friend, Maya, said over coffee.
“Our big designer. Where are you planning to work?”
I took a sip of my latte.
“The ultimate dream, of course. The top design company in the country. ‘WY Group’.”
Maya nearly choked.
“WY? As in, World’s Zenith? Jenna, that’s…”
“The top,” I finished.
“Before I got married, I was a sought-after designer. Every top company wanted me. They haven’t forgotten.”
“But, Jenna,” another voice cut in. I hadn’t even seen him walk up.
Felix.
My blood ran cold.
“What are you doing here?”
“You’re going to work?” He let out a short, insulting laugh.
“Don’t say I look down on you, but I advise you not to go out and embarrass yourself. Someone like you… a pampered rich lady? A housewife who’s been out of the workforce for years? No company will take you.”
“You underestimate me, Felix,” I said, standing up.
“That was before we got married.”
“Forget it. I don’t care if you look up to me or not. I’m just letting you know. In a few days, we’ll be officially divorced. Then I won’t even need to inform you of my life.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Jenna Jiang, do you have to go against me?”
“Go against you?” I laughed.
“Felix, you’re the boss of Feng Group. Some bosses are blind. It doesn’t mean their employees are. Don’t worry about me.”
“Up to you,” he grunted, turning to leave.
“Just don’t come crying to me when you’re humiliated.”
I watched him go, my hands shaking with adrenaline. He had no idea.
He really had no idea.
The following Monday, I walked through the gleaming glass doors of the Feng Group headquarters.
Not WY Group. Feng Group. His company.
“What’s going on? Why is everyone gathered in the lobby?” an employee whispered.
“Don’t you know? An amazing new designer joined the design department today. Flew in from Paris. They’re taking the Director position directly.”
“I guess they’re welcoming her now. Let’s go check it out.”
I smoothed my new, razor-sharp blazer and walked to the front of the atrium.
Felix was there, surrounded by his VPs, looking impatient.
“Hello, Mr. Feng,” I said, my voice ringing out in the sudden silence.
He turned. His eyes widened. The color drained from his face. It was the most satisfying moment of my life.
“So lively,” I commented, smiling sweetly.
“Jenna… Jiang?” he stammered.
One of his VPs stepped forward, confused.
“Ah, President Feng, you know our new Director?”
“President Feng?” I tilted my head. “How do you know him, Mr. Feng? Oh, wait.” I tapped my chin.
“Ah, that’s right. He’s my… ex-husband.”
A collective gasp went through the lobby.
Felix looked like he was going to have an aneurysm.
“Saves me the trouble of introducing you,” the VP said, laughing nervously.
Felix grabbed my arm, his fingers digging in like talons, and dragged me toward his private elevator. “Come with me.”
The moment the doors hissed shut, he rounded on me.
“What are you doing here?”
“Of course I’m here to work,” I said, wrenching my arm free.
“Can’t you tell? I’m not here to see you.”
“You…”
“Looks like CEO Feng has problems, and his eyes have issues, too,” I said, tapping my temple.
“It’s just right. You can visit the urologist and the eye doctor at the same time.”
“Jenna Jiang!” he hissed.
“That mouth of yours should be shut. I’m not wasting words on you. Write a resignation letter. Now.”
“What if I refuse?”
“I advise you to save it,” he sneered, moving closer.
“Even if you try this hard to get my attention, I won’t change my mind about the divorce.”
“Really?” I laughed in his face.
“Let’s go, day by day. You’re young, but you’ve got some nerves, Felix. Listen up. Whether I go to work or not is none of your business. Stop trying to puff yourself up. And by the way… please pretend not to know me at work. I don’t want people to think I got in through… connections.”
I pressed the button for the design floor. The elevator dinged.
“You ungrateful woman!” he shouted as the doors opened.
I stepped out into my new office.
“The show is just beginning, Mr. Feng.”
The office was, predictably, a viper’s nest.
“Director,” my new assistant, Xia, whispered, “what did President Feng want when he called you alone into the office? This is the first time he’s ever brought a female employee to his private office.”
The gossip was already spreading like wildfire. They must have a ‘thing’. She used her looks to get ahead.
I watched Felix stalk through the department later, his face dark. He wanted to ruin me. I could see it.
An idea sparked. A wicked, terrible, brilliant idea.
I waited until he was nearby, then I pulled my assistant aside, my voice just loud enough to carry.
“He… he wanted to exploit me,” I whispered, forcing a tear to my eye.
“What?!” Xia gasped.
“I didn’t agree,” I whimpered, “and he… he threatened me!”
I glanced at Felix. His head snapped in my direction. He had heard me. His face went from angry to a shade of puce I had never seen before.
“Oh my god,” someone whispered from a cubicle.
“I can’t believe it.”
“He looked so aloof! I never thought he’d play the ‘unspoken rules’ game!”
“This changes everything I thought I knew!”
Felix was frozen, staring at me in pure, unadulterated horror.
I just smiled sweetly. Two can play at this game, Felix.
“How about this,” another designer whispered.
“Go ahead and curse him. Let everyone know he’s a beast in disguise!”
“That’s not right,” another girl said, sighing.
“Director, why did you turn down such a great opportunity? Honestly, with his looks, forget the casting couch… people would be willing for free!”
“When will such a good thing happen to me?”
I sighed. These people were beyond help.
A few minutes later, Felix’s head of HR stomped out of his office.
“NO MORE CHATTING IN THE COMPANY GROUP!” he bellowed.
Felix stormed over to my desk.
“What are you looking at?”
“Oh, Mr. Feng,” I said, batting my eyelashes.
“I was just… working.”
“You told people I wanted to harass you?” he whispered furiously.
“Oh, that?” I waved a hand dismissively.
“I just thought the company vibe was dull. I wanted to make a joke to lighten the mood. So… you’re saying I should thank you?”
“No need to thank me,” he growled.
“Write a resignation letter.”
“What if I refuse?” I leaned back in my chair, enjoying this.
“Jenna…” he warned.
“I won’t. I won’t resign.”
“Fine,” he said, his voice dropping.
“Just be stubborn. I’ll make you resign. Obediently.”
“Bring it on,” I chirped.
He brought it on. The next morning, he dropped a file on my desk that felt like it weighed 50 pounds.
“This client,” he said, “is up to you. If you can’t secure the order today, you’ll pack and leave.”
I opened the file. My blood ran cold.
Lin Chongqing.
“Mr. Lynch.”
“Mr. Feng,” my assistant whispered, horrified.
“You can’t. This client is… he’s difficult. Getting it done today is impossible. He’s a known womanizer!”
Felix just smiled. A cold, dead smile.
“Of course, if you’re scared, Director Jiang, you can give up.”
This was it. This was the trap. Mr. Lynch was notorious. He didn’t sign contracts, he assaulted partners. Felix was sending me to be eaten alive.
My hands were shaking. But I looked him in the eye.
“I’ll take this job.”
“Okay,” he said, his smile widening.
“If you lose, don’t cry.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, my voice far braver than I felt.
“I’ll get the job done.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
As he walked away, my legs gave out and I sank into my chair.
“Xia, hold me. My legs are a bit shaky.”
“Director, why did you accept? This is clearly a trap!”
“I didn’t have a chance to refuse, did I?” I took a deep breath.
“Felix Feng, you’re really a bit petty. If you can’t have me, you want to ruin me.”
I opened the file. Tonight. 8 PM. Top KTV.
Okay, Felix, I thought, my resolve hardening. These years as a housewife haven’t been for nothing. I knew how to handle difficult men.
The KTV room was thick with smoke and the smell of expensive whiskey. Mr. Lynch was exactly as advertised—greasy, leering, and already half-drunk.
“Ah, Miss Jiang,” he slurred, patting the seat next to him.
“Come, sit here. Come sit.”
I stayed standing, placing my revised proposal on the table.
“Mr. Lynch, this is the plan according to your requests. Please take a look.”
He laughed, waving it away.
“What a beautiful night. Why talk business? How about a drink… and we chat about life?” He grabbed my wrist.
I pulled my hand back sharply.
“Mr. Lynch, I’m here to present a proposal, not to drink with you.”
His face darkened.
“I can’t stand people like you. You want to be a saint while being a… wait till I have you under me. Let’s see how you pretend to be noble then!”
He lunged.
I grabbed the heavy whiskey bottle from the table and smashed it over his head.
He roared, clutching his bleeding scalp.
“You… you hit me!”
“You were the one who started it!” I screamed, backing away.
“You’re lucky I didn’t crack your head open, you stupid…!”
He grabbed me, throwing me against the wall.
“I want to sleep with you! That’s a compliment! Don’t push your luck!”
“Help!” I screamed, kicking and fighting.
“Let me go!”
The door to the KTV room burst open.
It was Felix.
His face was a mask of cold fury I had never seen before—not even directed at me.
“Mr. Feng?” Lynch stammered, letting me go.
“You’re here just in time. This… this small employee of yours… she hit me with a bottle! You owe me an explanation!”
“She’s lucky she didn’t kill you,” Felix said, his voice deadly calm. He walked slowly into the room.
“Mr. Feng,” Lynch said, trying to regain his composure.
“You’re a smart person. See? Hand over this junior staff to me, and this matter will be over. We can talk cooperation.”
“What if I disagree?” Felix asked softly.
“You’re not going to ruin our partnership over… over her, are you?” Lynch laughed nervously.
Felix looked at me. “Come here.”
My heart stopped. Was he… was he really going to hand me over?
“Mr. Feng, you’re indeed a smart person,” Lynch crowed, advancing on me.
“Damn woman, come over here obediently!”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
A sickening thud and a scream echoed in the room.
I opened my eyes. Felix was holding Lynch’s hand to the table. A broken piece of the bottle neck was embedded in the wood, inches from Lynch’s trembling fingers.
“When,” Felix whispered, “did I ever say I wanted to hand her over to you?”
He picked up another shard of glass.
“My assistant is on his way with the contract. You’re going to sign it. Or this next one,” he pressed the glass to the back of Lynch’s hand, “won’t miss.”
Lynch fainted.
“Coward,” Felix spat. He looked at me.
“All right. Let’s go.”
“Wait!” I said, my voice shaking. “The contract… I haven’t signed it! If I can’t sign it, I have to leave!”
Felix stared at me like I was insane.
“Is the contract more important to you?”
“Of course it is!” I cried, frustrated.
“This is just a contract to you! But for me… it’s my dream. It’s my life. Forget it. You don’t understand.”
I turned back to the unconscious Mr. Lynch, wondering if I could wake him up.
“Mr. Feng,” his assistant, Chang, said from the door.
“Lynch is waking up.”
Lynch groaned, his eyes fluttering. He saw Felix, who was still holding the glass, and shrieked.
“My hand! My hand!”
“It’s fine… for now,” Felix said, sliding the contract onto the table.
“Sign this. Otherwise, your hand might be in trouble later.”
“I’ll sign! I’ll sign it right away!” Lynch scrawled his name, blood and ink mixing on the page.
“Pleasure working with you,” Felix said lightly.
“Assistant Chang, the investigation on Mr. Lynch’s harassment case. Hand the evidence, and him, to the police.”
“Yes, sir.”
“No! Mr. Feng! We’re partners!”
“You have to take responsibility for what you’ve done,” Felix said. He glanced at me.
“Let’s go.”
We stood outside in the rain, the KTV’s neon lights blurring. I was shaking. My phone was dead. I had no cash.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, not looking at him.
“For earlier.”
“Don’t overthink it,” he said gruffly.
“If it were anyone else in the company, I’d step in. Respect the owner when hitting their dog. If this got out, where would my face be?”
I stiffened.
“Right. Respect the owner. Who are you calling a dog?”
“I knew you couldn’t be that nice,” I snapped.
“I can do it myself,” I said, trying to hail a cab.
“Hey! What are you doing?” he said, grabbing my arm as his car pulled up.
“This is the car I booked.”
“Aren’t we heading the same way? Just be kind and give me a ride back.”
“Do I look like a good person?” he grumbled, but he shoved me into the back seat.
The ride was silent, tense.
“You’re taking me the whole way?” I asked as we pulled up to the penthouse.
“If we ride in the same car, they’ll say you’re keeping me.”
“Drive,” he ordered the driver.
“Wait! What are you doing?” The car sped off, leaving me on the curb.
“FELIX FENG! YOU SON OF A…!”
The car screeched to a halt, reversed, and the back door opened.
“Get in,” he sighed.
“Don’t throw garbage away.”
“It’s a war between us, Felix Feng,” I muttered, climbing in.
The next day, I walked in and slapped my resignation letter on his desk.
“I fire you before you fire me.”
“I didn’t plan on firing you,” he said, looking surprised.
“What?”
“The contract,” he said, holding up the signed papers Chang had delivered.
“Lynch signed it. Last night.”
“He… he actually signed it?”
“So,” Felix said, picking up my resignation letter and tearing it in half.
“Does this mean you don’t have to leave?”
“Misunderstanding,” I squeaked, grabbing the torn pieces.
“All a misunderstanding, Mr. Feng. Please sit.”
He was trying not to smile. I could see it.
“How could I fire you?” he said, leaning back.
“No matter who I would fry, it could never be you, right?”
“Right,” I said, trying to back away. I tripped over the leg of his desk and fell, landing directly on top of him in his chair.
The door opened. My entire department stood there, frozen.
“Mr. Feng,” my assistant said, her eyes wide, “got tackled by our Director.”
“Get off me,” Felix hissed, his face bright red.
“A-Accident!” I stammered, scrambling up.
“Mr. Feng, out of care for his employees, helped me up!”
“We get it,” Xia said, winking.
“Accidents happen. We all know.”
Great. Now it was even harder to explain.
The company party was a disaster waiting to happen.
“Let’s play Truth or Dare!” someone shouted.
The bottle spun. It landed on me.
“Director Jiang!” my new nemesis, Sully, smirked.
“Truth or Dare?”
“Dare,” I said, trying to look brave.
“Okay. Kiss the person next to you… for three minutes!”
I looked. Felix. He had sat down next to me when I wasn’t looking.
The whole room erupted.
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”
I looked at his face. He looked as trapped as I felt. I knew he was “saving himself” for Mina Su. I wouldn’t kiss him.
I grabbed the penalty bottle of whiskey and chugged it.
“I’m done,” I gasped, slamming the bottle down.
The game continued. The bottle spun. It landed on Felix.
Sully smiled, a predatory gleam in her eye.
“Mr. Feng. Truth or Dare?”
“Dare,” he said, his voice tight.
“French kiss the opposite sex… for three minutes.”
The room went silent. Everyone looked at me. Then they looked at Sully, who was puckering her lips hopefully.
Felix looked at me. I looked away.
“Mr. Feng, you can choose to drink…” Sully started.
He stood up. He walked over to me. He tilted my chin up.
And he kissed me.
It wasn’t a “Truth or Dare” kiss. It wasn’t a “penalty” kiss. It was deep, and desperate, and angry, and… possessive. For three years, I had dreamed of this. And now that it was happening, all I felt was rage and humiliation.
He pulled back after what felt like an eternity. The room was silent.
“Damn,” someone whispered.
“I’ve had a crush on Mr. Feng for so long, and Jenna Jiang got there first.”
I was drunk. Drunk on whiskey, drunk on confusion. The rest of the night was a blur. I remember yelling. I remember drinking more.
The next thing I knew, I was being carried.
“Never noticed before,” Felix’s voice rumbled beneath my ear.
“This woman looks quite nice when she’s quiet.”
“You’re a bad person,” I mumbled, “bullying me… hurry to Repulse Bay…”
“The young lady is still in the villa,” I heard his driver say.
“Bringing Director Jiang back… isn’t it a bit…?”
“Stop talking,” Felix snapped. “Hurry up.”
He dumped me on our bed. The one I hadn’t slept in for weeks.
“Let go of me,” I slurred, trying to take off my dress.
“Going to sleep.”
“Don’t take them off!” he yelped, grabbing my hands.
“Just sleep.”
“Don’t move,” he ordered, “if you move again, I can’t guarantee you’ll get out unscathed.”
“Jenna… you… you heartless jerk,” I started to cry, the drunken tears finally coming.
“You just bully me! All these years! I became a full-time housewife for you! I took care of everything! But what about you? As soon as your true love came back, you abandoned me!”
“Actually,” he started, “me and… Mina… are not…”
“I’m going to puke,” I warned.
“Wait! Don’t puke yet! No, it’s too late!”
I threw up. All over his $5,000 suit.
“Jenna Jiang!” he roared.
“You’ve done great!”
The next morning, I woke up with the world’s worst hangover, in his bed, and him asleep in the chair across the room, covered in…
“Oh god,” I whispered, “I’m doomed.”
I tried to sneak out. His hand shot out and grabbed my ankle.
“Eat and run, huh?” he grumbled, his eyes still closed.
The office was buzzing. Sully, furious about the kiss, had done some digging.
“I just got the news!” she announced loudly as I walked in.
“Our President Feng is married! And Jenna Jiang is the third party in someone else’s marriage!”
“What? Really?”
“Sully, stop slandering the Director!” Xia shot back.
“I’m not lying! My friend is sending me a photo of Mr. Feng and his wife right now!”
My heart stopped. If they saw a photo…
“Hm… the photo has been sent!” Sully crowed, holding up her phone.
“Who… who is this?” she stammered.
I looked. It was a photo of Felix. And me. But only from the back. A candid shot from years ago. You couldn’t see my face.
“Sully,” I said, breathing again.
“If you want to brush us off with a random photo, at least find a clear one. You can’t even see the face. Who knows if it’s real?”
“Yeah, exactly! Scared me to death.”
“That’s impossible! There must be more photos!”
“ENOUGH!” a voice boomed.
We all turned. Felix’s grandmother.
“Grandma?” Felix said, appearing behind me, his face pale.
“Grandma, why are you here?”
“What? I need to report to visit my grandson?” she snapped.
“If I hadn’t made a surprise visit, how would I know you’re bullying my dear granddaughter-in-law?”
“Grandma, how did I bully her?”
“Isn’t the way you talk bullying?” She rushed over and grabbed my hands.
“Jenna! Let Grandma take a good look at you. Don’t worry, girl. Grandma is here. If this brat dares bully you again, Grandma will take care of him.”
I looked at Felix over her shoulder. He was pleading with his eyes. Help me.
“Ah,” I said, “Auntie… please say something, or I’m done for…”
“Grandma,” I said, forcing a smile.
“He didn’t bully me. This is just… ambiance. Between husband and wife. Right… honey?”
I nudged him. Hard.
“Heh… get up… huh?” he stammered.
“See, Grandma?” I said.
“Hmph. I’ll let you go this time,” she said.
“Now, I just got here. I’m staying. I’ll stay here until my 70th birthday.”
“What?” Felix and I said in unison.
“What? You don’t welcome an old lady like me?”
“No, Grandma!” I said. “Stay as long as you want!”
“That’s more like it!” she beamed.
“Now, it’s getting late. Let’s all go back to our rooms and rest.”
“Grandma, wait!” Felix said, panicking.
“The… the room isn’t cleaned! You can’t go up! She’ll find out we’re sleeping separately!”
I had to think fast. I grabbed my stomach.
“Ooh… ouch… my stomach…”
“Oh no! Go cheer her up!” Grandma ordered Felix.
He just stood there.
“What do you want?” I hissed at him.
“Don’t make things hard at the company,” he whispered back.
“Fine. I promise. Now go and make it up to her!”
“Grandma!” he said, “I meant… I’ll clean the room first! Then you can move in.”
“That’s right!” I chimed in.
“Hurry up and help Grandma tidy the guest room,” he ordered me.
“Brat! You clean up!” Grandma snapped.
“Jenna, ignore him.”
Later that night, I was in his room. In his bed.
“The bed is mine,” I hissed, “you come down.”
“Fight me for the bed? I’ll tell Grandma you’re bullying me,” he shot back.
“Okay, I’m a gentleman,” he sighed, grabbing a pillow.
“I won’t argue with a woman.”
He lay down on the small sofa in the corner.
“I didn’t expect this day would come for you, Mr. Feng,” I smirked.
He just threw the pillow over his head and groaned.
The next night, Grandma was relentless.
“Come, have a glass of milk. It will help you sleep,” she said, handing one to Felix.
“Grandma, I don’t like milk,” he said.
“You must drink!”
He drank it.
Later, I was working in the study when he stumbled in, his face flushed, his eyes… wrong.
“Felix? What are you doing?”
“Calm down… don’t go crazy…” he muttered, breathing heavily. He grabbed me.
“Look, I’m Jenna. Not your Mina.”
“I… I think I’ve been drugged,” he panted.
“That… milk… spoiled… help me. Quick.”
He was burning up. He wasn’t thinking clearly. He lunged for me.
“Wait! Calm down! I have an idea!”
I dragged him into the master bathroom and shoved him, fully clothed, into the ice-cold shower.
“Jenna! You’re crazy!” he sputtered, the cold water hitting him.
“Pushing me into the water! Helping with good intentions! Don’t be ungrateful!” I yelled.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me in with him.
“Now you’re soaked, too!” I shrieked.
“If I’m soaked, you soak with me!” he growled. We wrestled under the freezing spray, a ridiculous, frantic, cold-water baptism.
“Admit defeat!” he yelled, pinning me against the tile.
“Never!”
Outside the door, we heard Grandma.
“Oh, ancestors bless us… with all that noise, I’m sure the young master and mistress are getting along… oh, let the young folks have their fun. I should go rest.”
Felix and I froze, dripping, staring at each other.
“It’s all your fault,” he muttered.
“This bath is a waste of time.”
“What are you looking at?” I snapped, suddenly aware of how close he was, how his wet shirt was clinging to him.
“I’ll gouge your eyes out if you keep looking.”
He just… smiled. A real, actual smile.
“Jenna,” he said, his voice soft.
“You’re so brave.”
My heart did that stupid thing again.
The next week, a new partner arrived. Leo Gu. He was handsome, charming, and clearly a rival to Felix.
And he knew me.
“Sister Jenna!” he grinned, ignoring Felix completely.
“Long time no see!”
“Leo? Why are you back?”
“You know each other?” Felix growled.
“Of course,” Leo said, slinging an arm over my shoulder.
“When I met Jenna, Felix was still playing in the dirt.”
“Leo Gu,” Felix warned, “don’t cause trouble.”
“Sister Jenna, off work? Want to grab some food? She’s busy. She’s going home with me,” Felix said, grabbing my other arm.
“Let go. Sister Jenna told you to let go,” Leo shot back.
“You’re about to get divorced. She won’t be yours.”
“Both of you, let go!” I snapped, shoving them apart. This was getting ridiculous.
But it got worse. The next day, a crowd of men was in the lobby with flowers. Massive bouquets.
“Jenna! We like you! Accept our feelings!”
“What is this?” I whispered.
“That’s my sister’s style,” Leo mumbled, coming up behind me.
“She… uh… wants to help you out.”
Felix stormed out of the elevator.
“What is this?”
“Mr. Feng,” an assistant said, “looks like Director Jiang has… a lot of admirers.”
Felix looked at me, then at the flowers, then at Leo. His face was thunderous. He grabbed my arm. “Come with me.”
“Hey! Where are you going?”
“You just have to flirt around, don’t you?” he hissed, pulling me into his office.
“When did I flirt? That was Leo’s sister!”
“As long as we’re not divorced, you’re still my wife,” he declared.
“Really?” I shot back.
“In that case, shouldn’t you also explain about you and Mina Su?”
“Jenna, if you touch me,” he warned, “forget about your white moonlight.”
“Mina and I,” he started, “it’s not what you think…”
“Brother Yuching?”
We both froze.
Mina Su stood in the doorway. She was beautiful, pale, and looked like she would break in a strong wind. And she was looking at me with pure venom.
“Am I interrupting you and Sister Jenna?” she asked, her voice sickly sweet.
She was here. The “white moonlight.” The “millennium beauty.” And she was, I had to admit, stunning.
“Brother Yuching,” she said, ignoring me and walking straight to Felix, “did you miss me? My brother… he’s out of the hospital.”
This was the first I’d heard of her having a brother.
“Mina,” Felix said, his voice strained, “we’ll talk later.”
She just smiled.
The next day, she was introduced as a new member of the design department.
“Sister,” she said to me in front of everyone, “please take care of me.”
“We’re colleagues,” I said, my voice tight.
“I’m sorry, sister,” she announced to the room.
“I originally wanted to start as a designer, but Brother Yuching was worried I’d be too exhausted. What if I faint at the wedding? That would be a joke.”
The wedding.
My team looked at me, then at her.
“Mina is CEO Feng’s fiancée?”
“Then what is Director Jiang?”
“She’s just a minor employee,” Mina said, dismissing me with a wave.
“You don’t mind, do you, sister?”
She was good. In one move, she had established herself as the boss’s wife and painted me as the mistress.
She didn’t stop there. She tried to sabotage my designs for the new autumn launch.
“Director Jiang,” she said sweetly in a meeting,
“I have what you want. The rival company released our new product early. Do you have anything to say?”
“What? The director would never do that!” Xia leaped to my defense.
“Facts are clear,” Mina said.
“Jenna Jiang should be kicked out of the company. We all know you’ve been in charge of this project. You must have taken benefits from them.”
“You keep saying I leaked the drafts,” I said calmly.
“Where’s the evidence? Can I also say it was you?”
“How dare you! Check the surveillance!”
“Miss Su,” the security head said, “the surveillance was down yesterday for repair.”
Mina smiled.
“Director, I think you knew that, didn’t you?”
“Who said,” I asked, “that I wanted to check the company surveillance?”
I turned to my own desk, pulled a small camera from the fake plant, and plugged it into the projector.
“I installed cameras in my office,” I said.
“Let’s check the footage and see who really stole the design drafts.”
The video played. It was crystal clear: Mina, paying off another designer to steal the file.
“Director,” the designer sobbed, “I’m sorry! It was her! She asked me to do it!”
Mina’s face was white.
“Miss Su,” I said, “walk the night often and you’ll eventually run into ghosts. Better be careful.”
Felix fired her. I was shocked. He actually fired his “true love.”
But Mina wasn’t done.
That night, I went to Felix’s office to finalize the divorce details. I found him slumped at his desk.
“Mina, what are you doing here?” I asked, confused.
“I’m here to apologize to Sister Jenna,” she said, batting her eyelashes.
“She’s not here,” Felix slurred.
“Go out.”
“Brother Yuching,” Mina whispered, “I know you’re mad. But you know I like you. Let me take care of you.”
She moved closer. I smelled it. A cloying, heavy perfume. An aphrodisiac.
“Don’t touch me,” Felix growled, trying to push her away.
“Get… out…”
“What did you do to me?” he gasped.
“How is it? Do I smell good?” she purred.
“I got this from the black market. No matter how good your stamina is, you can’t resist.”
She started to unbutton his shirt.
“She’s not here. So let me take good care of you.”
“What are you doing?” I snapped from the doorway.
They both froze.
“Are you blind?” Mina shrieked.
“Can’t you see we’re getting cozy? Get out!”
“Jenna?” Felix looked at me, his eyes glazed with fever and the drug.
“Get out… pollute my sight…”
“If you two want to do it,” I said, my heart pounding with a rage I didn’t understand, “go do it outside. Get lost!”
I grabbed Felix’s arm, slung it over my shoulder, and dragged his dead weight out of the office, leaving Mina standing there, fuming.
I hauled him into my car.
“Let go of me,” he muttered, “what are you doing… let go…”
He was strong, even drugged. He fell on top of me in the driver’s seat, his lips crashing down on mine. It was a fumbling, desperate, drugged kiss. And I, God help me, kissed him back.
The next morning, I woke up in my own apartment, tangled in my sheets. And in Felix.
We had…
“Oh my god,” I whispered. Married for three years without intimacy. On the verge of divorce, and we…
“I need to tell you something,” he said, his voice hoarse. He was awake.
“You go first,” I mumbled, pulling the sheet up.
“About last night… just consider it an accident. Nothing happened.”
“They’re both asleep,” I muttered, “we can still pretend nothing happened.”
“Are you not divorcing me?” he asked.
“To take responsibility?”
“What? What about Mina? You’re not marrying her?”
“When did I say I was going to marry her?” he shot back.
“That’s because… because…”
His phone rang, sharp and loud.
He answered it. His entire demeanor changed.
“What? He’s woken up? Okay, I’ll be there right away.”
He jumped out of bed, pulling on his clothes.
“I need to step out for a bit. Wait for me.”
He was gone.
Just like that. He’s woken up. His “true love’s” brother, I assumed.
The white moonlight remains unchanged. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t replace her.
I was done.
I went to the hospital later that day. I needed to see for myself. I found Mina’s room.
“Suhan, you better stay asleep,” I heard her cooing inside.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you. From now on, I’ll be your only sister.”
I froze. Suhan?
That was my brother’s name. My brother, Suhan Jiang, who had been in a coma for three years after an accident. The same accident that, I later learned, had involved Felix.
I burst into the room.
It was him. My brother.
“Mina! What are you doing?”
She looked up, startled. The man in the bed looked… confused, childlike.
“What are you doing here?” she snarled.
“Give me back the toy,” Suhan said, pouting at Mina.
“I was going to give it to my sister.”
“Do you want to find your sister?” Mina said, her eyes glinting.
“Walk straight from the hospital. You’ll find her. Remember, don’t turn back.”
“Okay!” he said, climbing out of bed.
“Suhan! No!” I yelled.
“What a fool,” Mina laughed as he walked out the door.
I ran after him.
“Suhan! Wait!”
I caught up to him on the street.
“Suhan! It’s me! Jenna!”
He just looked at me, confused. “Sister?”
A black car screeched to a halt beside us. A man in a mask jumped out, a knife flashing. He lunged at me.
“Sister! Watch out!”
Suhan threw himself in front of me, taking the force of the man.
“Suhan!” I screamed.
“Don’t bully my sister!” he yelled, grabbing the man’s arm.
“Then I’ll send you both on your way,” the man growled, raising the knife again.
A car horn blared. A black Bentley slammed into the assassin, sending him flying.
Felix jumped out.
“Are you okay? Wake up! Wake up!”
Suhan was bleeding on the pavement.
The hospital showdown was a blur. Suhan was in surgery. I was numb.
And then, she appeared. Mina.
“Su,” she hissed, “don’t come closer, or I’ll kill your brother.”
She was in Suhan’s recovery room, holding a scalpel to his throat.
“Mina, calm down,” I said, holding my hands up.
“Put the knife down.”
“The person you hate is me!” I said, “Let go of my brother. Do whatever you want to me.”
“Then jump,” she sneered, nodding to the window.
“Jump out of the window right now. I’m giving you three seconds. Three… two…”
“Sis! Don’t listen to her!” Suhan yelled, suddenly lucid.
“Shut up!” Mina shrieked.
“One!”
“Wait!” I cried, moving toward the window.
In that second of distraction, Felix, who had been silent by the door, launched himself at her. He tackled her, sending the scalpel flying.
“Take her to the police,” he ordered his security.
“Jenna Jiang!” Mina screamed as they dragged her away.
“I curse you! You’ll never be happy!”
I just stared at Suhan, who was staring at me.
“Bro?” I whispered.
“You’re… you’re okay?”
“I’m here,” he said, his voice weak.
“I won’t let anyone bully you anymore.”
I turned to Felix. “Why are you still standing here? Follow your white moonlight.”
“Jenna,” he said, his voice rough.
“I treated Mina well because… because I mistook her for your sister.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“The accident, three years ago,” he explained,
“Suhan saved my life. He was in a coma. He asked me to… take care of his sister. I… I thought he meant Mina. She was there, she claimed him as her brother. I’ve been paying her, protecting her, all this time… for you.”
“That means… you’re blind,” I whispered, the world tilting.
“So handsome,” Suhan grumbled from the bed.
“How could I have such an ugly sister?”
“Is this the reason for neglecting sister?” I laughed, tears streaming down my face.
“So,” Felix said, stepping closer.
“Let’s not get divorced.”
“I disagree,” I said, wiping my eyes.
“We’re not right for each other. I’ll have my lawyer talk to you.”
I thought it was over. I really did.
Suhan was recovering. Leo Gu, bless his heart, was still trying to woo me.
“Sister Jenna,” he said, “I like you. There’s no need to say things that are impossible.”
“Then let’s just stay friends,” I said gently.
“We’re getting divorced tomorrow,” Felix said, appearing behind me. I hadn’t seen him in days. “Aren’t you staying the night?”
“There’s no need. My brother is coming. You go back.”
“It’s fine,” he said stubbornly.
“I’ll wait for your brother to pick you up. Then I’ll leave.”
“Don’t be so foolish again,” I sighed.
“Only giving… be kinder to yourself.”
“I’ll be foolish just this once,” he said, his eyes intense.
“Never again.”
A car’s headlights flooded the sidewalk. It was accelerating.
“Watch out!” Felix yelled.
He shoved me. Hard.
I heard a sickening thud. The squeal of tires.
I turned. Felix was on the ground, a pool of blood spreading from under his head.
“Sis! Are you okay?” Suhan yelled, running from his car.
“It’s… it’s all my fault,” I sobbed, dropping to my knees beside him.
“If not for me… he wouldn’t be hurt…”
“The surgery was successful,” the doctor said hours later.
“The patient is out of danger.”
“Bro,” I whispered to Suhan, “I promise you… as long as he gets through this, I won’t bring up divorce with him again.”
I sat by his bed for a day. Waiting.
Finally, his eyes fluttered open.
“Felix?” I whispered, my heart pounding.
“You’re awake.”
He looked at me. His eyes were clear. And empty.
“Who,” he asked, “are you?”
“I… I’m Jenna Jiang. Don’t you remember me?”
“I don’t remember.” He looked past me.
“Suhan! My good brother!”
“So,” I said to the doctor, my voice trembling, “you’re saying he only… forgot me?”
“It appears to be selective amnesia,” the doctor said gently.
“It’s a psychological issue. He might remember… or he might never.”
I looked at my brother. Suhan was trying, and failing, to hide a smirk.
“You’re pretending,” I said to Felix, my voice low.
He flinched.
“You’re pretending amnesia, acting like you don’t know my sister!” Suhan burst out laughing.
“I… I was just afraid that when I woke up, she’d drag me to divorce,” Felix mumbled, his face turning red.
“Felix Feng!” I shouted, hitting his arm. “How dare you lie to me! You’re dead!”
“Honey! Let me explain!” he yelped, grabbing my hand.
He didn’t let go.
And this time, I didn’t pull away.