I stared at the message on Zhong Jiasen’s phone screen.
It wasn’t meant for me.
It was from Zhong Jia Yun.
[Don’t get into his car. I already sent a driver to pick you up.]
For several seconds, I didn’t move.
Not because I hesitated.
But because the irony was almost unbelievable.
Four years ago, everyone thought I would be the woman waiting for Zhong Jiasen to come back.
But now, the person trying to protect me from him was someone from his own family.
Jiasen noticed my expression.
“What happened?”
I looked up.
“Nothing.”
I put my phone away.
His eyebrows tightened slightly.
It was strange.
He used to know every change in my expression.
Now, he didn’t even know what I was thinking.
“Get in the car.”
His tone was still the same as before.
Confident.
Natural.
As if he still had the right to make decisions for me.
I looked at him.
“No need.”
His smile disappeared for a second.
“Why?”
“Someone is already coming to pick me up.”
Silence.
It wasn’t an important answer.
But to him, it seemed like it was.
Because for the first time, he realized something.
I no longer needed him to appear.
Jiasen rested one hand on the car door.
“Mingzhu.”
“Yes?”
“Are you really still angry with me after four years?”
The question surprised me.
Not because it was difficult to answer.
But because he truly didn’t understand.
I shook my head slightly.
“No.”
His eyes changed.
Maybe he expected me to say yes.
Maybe he expected an argument.
Maybe he expected all the feelings I had buried to finally explode.
But no.
“Then what is wrong?”
I looked at him.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
I nodded.
“That’s exactly what’s wrong.”
His expression became complicated.
Because some people would rather be hated than forgotten.
And Zhong Jiasen had just discovered that I was no longer trapped in the past.
The car from my family arrived a few minutes later.
Before getting in, I heard his voice behind me.
“Mingzhu.”
I stopped.
“What?”
There was a pause.
For the first time, he seemed unable to find the right words.
Finally, he said:
“I didn’t think you would treat me like a stranger.”
I smiled slightly.
“You were the one who made me a stranger first.”
His lips parted.
But no words came out.
I got into the car and closed the door.
Through the window, I watched him stand there.
Like he was trying to understand a situation he had never imagined.
When I arrived home that night, my husband was waiting for me.
Not a mansion owned by the Tang family.
Not a place filled with luxury and expectations.
Just our home.
A place that was simple, but warm.
When I opened the door, I heard a familiar voice.
“You’re late.”
I smiled.
“The meeting lasted longer than expected.”
My husband walked over and took my bag.
“Everything okay?”
I looked at him.
The man in front of me was nothing like Zhong Jiasen.
He didn’t need promises.
He didn’t need to prove anything.
Because for the past few years, he had simply been there.
When I was sick.
When my company faced difficulties.
When everyone in Hong Kong talked about my past.
He never asked why I chose to move forward.
He just walked beside me.
“I saw someone from my past.”
My husband became quiet.
“Him?”
I nodded.
I didn’t need to say the name.
He knew.
Because he knew my entire story.
Including the night I returned from Beijing with a broken heart.
The night I realized someone could say they loved you and still abandon you.
“How did you feel?”
I thought for a few seconds.
Then answered:
“Nothing.”
My husband smiled.
“Then you really moved on.”
I lowered my eyes.
Because it was true.
It no longer hurt.
I no longer wanted an explanation.
I no longer needed Zhong Jiasen to understand my pain.
Because there was something sadder than being abandoned.
It was realizing the person who abandoned you came back too late.
The next day, the news appeared everywhere.
“Young heir Zhong Jiasen prepares a spectacular marriage proposal after returning home.”
The photo showed Zhong Jiasen wearing a perfect suit.
Beside him was Lin Wan.
The same woman he had chosen four years ago.
The comments were full of congratulations.
“A couple destined by fate.”
“After four years apart, they finally reunited.”
“How romantic.”
I looked at the screen without emotion.
Until I saw one sentence.
“The Zhong family confirms that former fiancée Tang Mingzhu will attend the event.”
I stared.
Attend?
Then I understood.
Zhong Jiasen still didn’t know the truth.
He still thought my marriage was just a misunderstanding.
He still believed I had been waiting.
Maybe that was why he prepared the proposal.
Maybe he wanted to reclaim what he thought was still his.
That afternoon, I received a call.
It was Zhong Jia Yun.
“Mingzhu.”
“What happened?”
She was silent.
Then she said:
“My brother wants to announce something at tomorrow night’s dinner.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know what he plans to do.”
I stayed quiet.
“He wants to ask you to come back to him.”
I felt nothing.
No surprise.
No pain.
Only exhaustion.
“Jia Yun.”
“Yes?”
“Tell your brother not to arrive late again.”
She sighed.
“Mingzhu…”
“Because this time, I’m not waiting.”
After hanging up, I looked at the ring on my finger.
The ring Zhong Jiasen had never seen.
The symbol of the life I built after him.
But he didn’t know that on the night of his grand proposal, in front of all of Hong Kong’s elite…
Zhong Jiasen would not only discover that I was already married.
He would also discover who my husband really was.
And why even the Zhong family would have to lower their heads before him.
read the entire Part 3 below.
