Night had deepened. Only a few scattered lights remained on in the Shen Group building.
Shen Yunmian sat alone in her top-floor office, unable to focus on a single word.
Her fingers tapped unconsciously on the desk, her mind replaying over and over Yu Sheng's cold, resolute eyes—and that unmistakably clear "divorce."
A week had passed since Yu Sheng brought up divorce, and the two hadn't had any contact.
Shen Yunmian didn't know what Yu Sheng was thinking. She tried to rationalize it, categorizing Yu Sheng's behavior as "post-miscarriage emotional instability" or a "stress response," telling herself it was just a temporary "condition."
She had even made an appointment with a psychologist.
But when the scheduled time came, she found herself unable to go to Yu Sheng.
Deep down, a faint voice protested, telling her things weren't that simple. The fear of losing her completely coiled around her heart like vines, tightening more and more.
The clock on the wall slowly ticked toward ten.
As if finally making up her mind, Shen Yunmian suddenly stood and pressed the intercom.
"Secretary Li," her voice carried a trace of hoarseness, "is President Yu… still at the office?"
There was a brief silence on the other end. Secretary Li sighed inwardly.
These past days, Shen Yunmian had been asking about Yu Sheng far too often, and she had seen Yu Sheng's reactions with her own eyes—she couldn't help but worry for her boss.
"President Shen, please hold on, I'll check."
A moment later, her voice returned: "President Yu is still in her office, it seems she's still handling documents."
"Alright, got it. You can get off work." Shen Yunmian hung up.
She took a deep breath, as if heading into an important negotiation, and walked toward the elevator.
The corridor was empty and silent. The sound of her high heels echoed with each step, striking against her tightly wound nerves.
Standing outside Yu Sheng's office, she paused again, raising her hand, then lowering it.
In the end, she gathered her courage and pushed the door open.
Inside, Yu Sheng was leaning over her desk reviewing a project proposal, the desk lamp outlining her focused profile.
Hearing the noise, she looked up.
The moment she saw Shen Yunmian, her eyes instantly frosted over, all warmth vanishing from her face.
Before Shen Yunmian could speak, Yu Sheng let out a faintly mocking smile. "President Shen graces me with her presence—have you finally thought it through and decided to agree to the divorce?"
"Impossible!" Shen Yunmian shot back immediately. "Yu Sheng, I will not divorce."
Yu Sheng seemed to have expected that answer. She didn't even bother giving her another look, lowering her head again, her tone extremely impatient. "Then leave. Don't disturb my work."
The dismissal was blunt and decisive, leaving Shen Yunmian feeling stifled.
She took a couple of steps forward, softening her voice, trying to use a tone she rarely employed—almost pleading.
"Yu Sheng, let's… let's talk properly." She struggled to find her words. "I know you've suffered a lot and you're not in a good state of mind. Maybe… we could go see Doctor Chen together? The psychologist from before. Talk to a professional, work through your emotions—would that help you?"
She phrased it carefully, but the implication was clear—she thought Yu Sheng was ill and needed treatment.
If she were cured, she could return to how she used to be.
Yu Sheng sneered inwardly.
Ill? In her past life, she really had been ill—so depressed she died.
Now reborn, she had been busy breaking free, learning independence, and hadn't yet truly examined her mental state. Going to see a doctor to confirm whether she had truly escaped the shadows of her past life…
That didn't seem like a bad idea.
She lifted her gaze and looked calmly at Shen Yunmian, then nodded decisively.
"Sure. That works."
Shen Yunmian froze, completely unprepared for her to agree so readily.
So she naively thought her persuasion had worked, that the dawn of reconciliation was right in front of her.
"Okay! Okay!" she quickly agreed, her tone carrying a trace of urgency. "I'll contact Dr. Chen right now! Immediately!" She hurriedly took out her phone and stepped aside to make the call, afraid that if she was even a second late, Yu Sheng would change her mind.
And so, poor Dr. Chen was once again summoned late at night to the president's office of the Shen Corporation.
When she walked into the strangely tense office and saw Yu Sheng's expressionless face alongside Shen Yunmian, who was clearly both expectant and nervous, her professional composure kept her calm on the surface—but inwardly, she was already crying.
She was just a psychologist, not a marriage counselor!
Shen Yunmian spoke first, her tone as serious as if discussing business, though it couldn't hide her urgency. "Dr. Chen, thank you for coming. I hope you can help Yu Sheng… Her emotions have been very unstable lately, and her behavior has been somewhat… extreme. I want her to recover. You can name any requirement, I'll do my best to meet it, as long as…"
She glanced at Yu Sheng, her voice lowering. "As long as we can go back to how things were before."
Listening to this, Yu Sheng only found it ironic, but she couldn't be bothered to argue.
When it was Yu Sheng's turn, she appeared unusually calm and cooperative.
Looking at Chen Jing, she said seriously, "Dr. Chen, I think I might actually have some psychological issues."
At those words, hope instantly flared in Shen Yunmian's eyes.
But Yu Sheng's next sentence plunged her straight into an abyss:
"I've realized that as long as I don't see Shen Yunmian, as long as I'm not in the same space as her, I feel completely at peace. My emotions are stable, I eat well, sleep well, and my work efficiency is high. But the moment I see her, hear her speak, I can't control my irritation. I get angry, even feel like hitting someone. I think… that's probably some kind of psychological disorder, right? So tell me, wouldn't the only real cure be complete separation—like divorce?"
Chen Jing: "..."
She could feel cold sweat breaking out on her back.
Shen Yunmian's face slowly turned pale, her fingers quietly clenching.
Under Shen Yunmian's silent yet overwhelming pressure, Chen Jing forced herself to smooth things over, trying to guide the conversation. "Miss Yu, perhaps… we could try another approach? You could express your specific dissatisfactions with President Shen—or with your married life. Communication is the first step to solving problems. President Shen also said she's willing to make changes."
Yu Sheng let out a short laugh, as if she'd just heard a joke.
"Dissatisfied? Sure."
She cast Shen Yunmian a sideways glance and began listing them mercilessly:
"Shen Yunmian, you're always like a block of ice—impossible to warm up, emotionless. You're like a machine. Your life revolves around efficiency and value, without a shred of humanity."
"Your mother is pretentious and harsh, constantly making things difficult for me."
"Your sister is spoiled beyond control—she caused the death of my child and hasn't even given a sincere apology!"
"And you? Aside from a light 'I'll discipline her' and some cold 'compensation,' what else have you ever done?"
"In the Shen family, I've never received even a bit of respect. This kind of marriage is suffocating!"
She had said these things before, but repeating them now still carried a raw, bleeding accusation.
Shen Yunmian's face turned pale as she hurried to explain, "I understand. I'll spend more time with you and cut down on unnecessary overtime. I'll talk to my mother and reduce your contact with her. Xingyao… I'll strictly discipline her, I won't let her bother you again. Yu Sheng, I can do all of this. I will not agree to a divorce."
Fuck! Yu Sheng cursed inwardly.
She had said so much, and this woman still couldn't understand a word!
Still trapped in her own logic! Rage shot straight to her head.
The anger burned away her last shred of rationality. She spoke without restraint, wanting only to stab her awake with the harshest words possible.
Yu Sheng suddenly stood up, letting out a cold laugh, the corner of her lips curling into a humiliating arc.
"And sleeping with you is the worst experience of my life! Stiff as a plank, as bland as plain water, no skill whatsoever—let alone any passion! Cold and mechanical, like you're just completing a task! I forced myself to go along with it before, and just thinking about it now makes me sick!"
"Shen Yunmian, I'm telling you—even hugging a doll would be a hundred times better than sleeping with you!"
The moment her words fell, the office fell into a deathly silence.
So quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Dr. Chen froze completely, mouth hanging open, wishing she could instantly go deaf.
What had she just heard?
A scandal from a wealthy family—a bombshell! Would she be silenced for this?
Shen Yunmian's face lost all color in an instant, turning as pale as paper.
It was as if she had been struck by an invisible hammer. In her usually composed eyes surged disbelief and the fury of having her dignity torn apart.
She stared blankly at Yu Sheng, as if seeing her wife clearly for the first time.
But Yu Sheng seemed to have finished venting.
Without even glancing at Shen Yunmian's ashen face, she turned to the stunned Chen Jing, her tone regaining a trace of calm. "Dr. Chen, I think my mental state is perfectly fine. The problem isn't with me."
With that, she picked up her bag from the table and walked straight to the door without the slightest hesitation.
With a soft "bang," the door closed behind her.
The office was left with only a devastated Shen Yunmian and a trembling Chen Jing.
After a long, suffocating silence—
Shen Yunmian's voice sounded faintly, dry as sandpaper scraping. "Dr. Chen…"
Chen Jing jolted. "P-President Shen, yes?!"
Shen Yunmian's unfocused gaze drifted into the void, her voice hollow. "What… should I do?"
Chen Jing's scalp went numb as her mind raced, trying to find even a sliver of hope from a professional perspective.
Perhaps… perhaps improving things on a physical level could be a breakthrough?
Even though the suggestion was extremely risky.
She swallowed, her voice trembling as she cautiously proposed, "President Shen, perhaps… perhaps you could try… improving the quality and… interest of your intimate life? Sometimes, harmony in a close relationship can indeed be an important way to ease conflicts and strengthen feelings…"
The moment she said it, she regretted it, wishing she could bite off her own tongue.
Sure enough, the pressure around Shen Yunmian instantly dropped to freezing.
Her face shifted from pale to green, from green to black, finally settling into utter humiliation.
She abruptly stood up, said nothing, didn't even spare Chen Jing a glance, and strode out of the office, slamming the door so hard it shook the entire floor.
The loud crash echoed through the empty building for a long time.
Leaving Dr. Chen alone in the cold office, trembling and on the verge of tears.
What kind of karma had she accumulated to deserve this?
—
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