"Su Ruoxi, I love you! Please, don't tell me you want a divorce!"
Fang Chen a tall boy, handsome, with sharp eyes and jet-black hair reached out to grab her hand. His eyes were clouded with desperation, but she coldly pushed him away.
Su Ruoxi stood before him, the picture of icy elegance. Dressed in a sharp formal skirt, her long black hair swept back, she looked at him with a gaze so frigid it could pierce bone.
"Fang Chen, who do you think you are?" she snapped. "Three years ago, I only married you to escape the marriage my parents tried to force upon me with my ex-fiancé. Our time is up. Here take the five million yuan we agreed upon in the contract. From now on, we live separate lives."
She stepped closer, her lip curling in disdain. "Do you think I don't know why you've been trying to get close to me all these years? I despise people like you people who would sell their very dignity for a paycheck."
Fang Chen's heart shattered. He looked at her, his voice trembling as he pleaded. "Ruoxi, I truly love you. I don't want the money. Please, don't leave me. Think of how I've cared for you... after I'm gone, who will look after you? Who will cook for you when you're sick, or make you soup after those business dinners when you've had too much to drink?"
Tears streamed down his face. "Who will be there for you?"
"Enough!" Su Ruoxi's voice was like a whip. "Fang Chen, it is impossible for there to ever be anything between us."
She pulled a stack of papers and a pen from her desk, sliding them toward him. "This is the divorce certificate. Sign it. Don't make this more complicated than it needs to be."
Fang Chen looked into her eyes, searching for even a flicker of hesitation. He found none—only a burning eagerness to scrub him from her life. With a heavy, broken sigh, he sat down. His hands shook so violently he could barely hold the pen. He wiped his eyes, signed his name with a jagged stroke, and stood up to leave.
Su Ruoxi exhaled, a visible wave of relief washing over her. As he turned toward the door, she stopped him. "Fang Chen, wait. This is the card. It has the five million yuan on it."
He looked at her one last time, his smile sad and hollow. "Ruoxi... I told you. I married you because I loved you, not for the money. Keep it. I don't need it."
He paused, his voice softening into a whisper. "In the future, don't drink too much. Don't push yourself so hard. Eat well before you go to work—I know you're the Director, but you're still a women. You need rest."
He turned away so she wouldn't see him break. "I'm going to the villa to get my things. Don't worry. Starting today, I will disappear from your life forever. I wish you all the happiness in the world."
As he walked out, his shoulders were trembling. Su Ruoxi reached out, wanting to force the money on him, but the look on his face froze her in place. A strange, suffocating sensation rose in her chest. She had expected to feel free, but as the door clicked shut, she felt an inexplicable weight.
'Su Ruoxi, stop it,' she told herself, shaking the feeling off. 'You come from different worlds. It was never meant to be.'
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As Fang Chen walked through the lobby of the Su Corporation, the whispering started. The employees had heard the shouting from the top floor. They watched him the "useless" husband walking out with his head down. Usually, they would snicker, but the look of pure, raw grief on his face made them step back, clearing a path in silence.
Outside, the sun was too bright. Fang Chen squinted, the pressure in his skull mounting. 'Maybe it's better this way,' he thought, leaning against a lamp post for support. 'I only had a few months left anyway.'
His mind flashed back to that rainy afternoon three months ago. He had waited until 2:00 AM with a birthday cake he had baked himself, only for Ruoxi to text him that she was staying at a hotel near a conference. The pain had hit him then a white-hot spike through his brain.
The diagnosis at the hospital was a death sentence.
"Stage IV Glioblastoma," the old doctor had said, his voice full of pity. "It's too deep for surgery, kid. I can give you pills for the pain, but the clock is ticking. Four months. Six, if you're lucky."
Fang Chen had laughed then, a dry, bitter sound. He hadn't told her. He didn't want her to stay with him out of pity. He wanted her to stay because she loved him. Now, he knew that would never happen.
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At the villa, the silence was deafening. Fang Chen handed his car keys to the security guard at the gate. "Give these to Director Su when she returns. Tell her... tell her the car is hers again."
He didn't wait for a reply. He walked to the bedroom he had occupied for three years. It was a small room, separate from hers. In three years, he had never dared to touch her, never dared to act like a real husband without her permission. He packed his life into a single suitcase in ten minutes. He had nothing of value—no jewelry, no expensive clothes. He didn't want a single thing that had been bought with her money.
As he walked toward the front door, Emily, the young blonde maid, blocked his way. Her eyes were red. "Young Master... you can't leave. Please."
She had worked there for two years and Fang Chen was the only person who treated her like a human being, helping her with chores and asking about her family.
"Emily, take care of yourself," he said, his voice a ghost of its former self.
"Why won't she give you a chance?" Emily sobbed, clutching his sleeve. "You're so good to her!"
"It's okay, Emily. We just... weren't meant to be." He gently unhooked her hand, gave her a final, sad smile, and walked out into the humid afternoon.
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He took a taxi to the edge of the city, to a run-down hotel where the neon sign flickered and the carpet smelled of old dust. He paid 4,500 yuan money he had saved from his father's small inheritance for a month-long stay. The receptionist looked at his pale face and expensive (though old) suit with suspicion, but she took the cash.
Room 6. It was small, damp, and lonely.
Just as he reached the door, his phone rang. It was Lin San, his only true friend.
"Fang Chen! You idiot, where are you?" Lin San shouted through the speaker. "I heard from a contact at the Su office that you and that ice queen finally split. Good! You're free! She didn't deserve a guy like you. Come over, let's get a drink. I'll find you a woman who actually has a heart!"
Hearing his best friend's voice, Fang Chen finally broke. A tear hit the dusty floor as he choked out the words.
"Fatty... I signed it. It's over."
The moment Lin San heard the tremor in his voice, his tone shifted from concern to frantic urgency.
"What?! Where are you? Send me your location right now. Don't you dare do anything stupid!"
Fang Chen sent the address, feeling a brief spark of warmth knowing someone in this world cared if he breathed.
He hung up the phone and staggered into the room.After placing his luggage by the bed, he suddenly felt dizzy. He went to the bathroom to wash his face, but as he splashed the cold water, the world began to spin. A roar filled his ears, and a sharp, violent pressure built up behind his eyes.
He coughed, and red splattered against the white sink. Blood began to stream from his nose, thick and unstoppable.
"Not yet..." he gasped, gripping the edge of the porcelain until his knuckles turned white. "Please... not yet..."
The image of Su Ruoxi's cold face flashed before him. He realized then that his will to fight the cancer was gone. It had been tied to her, and she had severed the cord.
" Ruoxi..." he whispered to the empty room.
His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed. His head hit the floor with a dull thud, and the silence of the hotel room swallowed him whole.