Chapter 2 — The Fated Call

The man’s grip on the photograph tightened until his knuckles turned a ghastly, bloodless white. He frantically flipped through the pages. This time, it was bank statements. Each transaction was meticulously listed, showing money withdrawn from the shared account he and his wife had maintained. The beneficiary had but a single name: Moon White. The first transfer had occurred three years ago for five hundred thousand. The most recent one—one million—had been sent on the very day he had packed his suitcase and left home, telling me that the company needed to rotate capital urgently to cover a sudden shortfall. So that was it. The money was not for business capital; it was to subsidize the life of another woman. The total amount transferred reached twelve million seven hundred and thirty thousand.

Chu Kai Ming completely collapsed. He slumped against the shoe cabinet and slid slowly onto the floor. The documents scattered everywhere, the photos of their supposedly happy family lying discarded among the financial records—a bitter, mocking contrast to his face, which was now ashen as cooling embers.

"No..."

"It’s not like that..."

He muttered the words over and over, his voice cracking.

"Su Qing, please, listen to me explain."

"It’s all fabricated."

"Someone is deliberately trying to frame me."

His speech became fragmented and frantic.

"It’s that bitch, Moon White."

"She seduced me."

"She forced me to transfer all of that money."

He pushed the blame onto others with manic intensity, like a man drowning, clawing desperately at the final straw. I watched him act out his wretched performance in silence. Only when he had nothing left to say did I speak, my voice measured and cold.

"Chu Kai Ming."

"Do you really think I spent all this time investigating these details just to be swayed by your pathetic lies?"

He suddenly looked up, his eyes wide with hollow panic.

"You... what else do you know?"

I offered a thin, mirthless smile.

"I know more than just your transfers to Moon White. I know she used that money to purchase a large apartment in the western part of the city. Her name is the only one on the deed. I also know the remainder was used to start a company for her younger brother. And there is one more thing. The legal representative of that company... is you. Though, naturally, you used a false identity."

I stared directly into his eyes, my tone remaining perfectly steady.

"Chu Kai Ming, you didn’t just take our shared marital assets. Three million of that money was embezzled from the company’s project fund. Do you remember what that crime is called? Embezzlement by an employee. The amount is exceptionally large. Would you like me to help you look up exactly how many years you are going to spend in prison?"

The pupils of Chu Kai Ming’s eyes contracted violently. A cold sweat soaked his shirt instantly. It was only then that he truly understood. I wasn’t acting out of the jealous rage of a betrayed wife, nor did I merely want to catch him in the act. What I wanted was to drive him into a corner from which there was no escape.

Chu Kai Ming crawled toward me, nearly prostrating himself at my feet, his hands gripping my trouser leg with desperate force.

"Qing, I was wrong. I truly know I was wrong. Can you please forgive me this once? I will cut ties with her immediately. I will get the money back. Just don’t divorce me. Please, don’t divorce me."

Snot and tears streamed down his face, blurring together. The man who had walked with his head held high in my memories had been reduced to a pathetic, groveling wretch. I shook him off with icy detachment.

"It is too late."

At that very moment, my phone rang. I glanced at the screen; it was his mother. Chu Kai Ming saw it too, his eyes igniting with a flicker of hope, as if he had found a life raft.

"Mother! It’s my mother!" he cried out. "Qing, answer it! Let me speak to her!"

I calmly answered the call and switched on the speakerphone. The next second, his mother’s shrill voice pierced through the silence of the living room.

"Su Qing! What do you think you are doing? My son just returned from a business trip and you are demanding a divorce? Have you lost your mind? Let me tell you something—no man in the Chu family gets divorced! Do not push your luck!"

"Mother!" Chu Kai Ming lunged toward the phone, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Mother, save me! Su Qing is trying to destroy me!"

There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by her voice growing even more screeching and abrasive.

"Su Qing! What have you done to my son? You barren hen! How has my Kai Ming ever mistreated you? You’ve been married five years and there isn’t a peep from your belly! It was a blessing for you that the Chu family even let you cross our threshold! And now you dare to bully my son? Do you want me to come over there and tear you apart?"

Her voice echoed throughout the quiet living room, every word dripping with malice and curses. I had listened to this venom for five years. In the past, each time I heard it, I would feel wounded and weep in solitude. But now? I only found it ridiculous. I looked down at Chu Kai Ming, still kneeling on the floor, listening to his mother heap abuse upon me. There was not a shred of remorse on his face. On the contrary, a spark of hope remained. He was still waiting for his mother to act just as she had for the past five years—to berate me until I relented, to scold me until I bowed my head in submission.