My Queen, My Rules - 16
Divorce
Ji Mingshu had the driver take her straight to Junyi Group headquarters. The city blurred past outside the window, but she couldn't bring herself to look. Eyes open or closed, all she could see were flashes of her marriage to Cen Sen, replaying over and over in her mind.
She had meant to message him first.
But the moment she opened WeChat, she remembered she'd deleted him from her contacts. And in the new friend requests, there was none from him.
Of course, there wouldn't be. She didn't even know why she'd opened the page with that tiny, foolish spark of hope.
For the first time in a long while, she seriously wondered whether some things really were destined. Maybe she and Cen Sen had simply been fated never to get along.
She still remembered the day he first arrived at the family compound. Back then she'd thought he was the prettiest boy she'd ever seen and had taken the rare initiative to extend kindness to him a few times, even sharing her favorite snacks. Yet he had remained quiet, distant, barely acknowledging her.
After getting the cold shoulder one too many times, her patience wore thin. Even at that young age, her childish affection had somehow curdled into resentment. She rallied the other kids in the compound to ostracize him.
But Cen Sen was one or two years older than the rest of them, he couldn't have cared less about being shunned by a bunch of childish brats.
From elementary school through middle school and high school, he always stayed exactly two grades ahead of her. Wherever he went, he was the flawless model student. Teachers adored him, and if there were ten speeches to be given on stage, he'd probably deliver eight of them.
She found him increasingly irritating. His perfect, textbook existence grated on her nerves. Whenever they crossed paths at school, she'd deliberately stare straight ahead as if he didn't exist, brushing past him with a dismissive snort. Sometimes she'd even blow a bubble with her gum and pop it loudly right beside him.
His response only grew colder. He wouldn't even spare her a glance. To him, she simply didn't exist.
So later, even after fate somehow landed them in bed together and marriage followed as naturally as breathing, nothing had changed. Just like when they were children, Cen Sen still seemed to find fault with everything about her.
The only difference was that adulthood came with better disguises. He wrapped himself in polite gentleness and kept her comfortably as a Golden Canary he didn't particularly like, but didn't mind sleeping with now and then.
She'd joked about being a ‘golden canary’ in front of Gu Kaiyang, but in hindsight, it was unexpectedly fitting.
On a Saturday morning, the Capital's CBD was bustling with people.
Cen Sen had just wrapped up a two-week hotel inspection tour. He'd landed back in the capital, gone straight into an early morning meeting before he'd even had breakfast, and now, walking toward his office, he instructed his assistant to prepare a cup of black coffee.
"Which media outlet reported it?"
Back in his office, Cen Sen slipped on his glasses, continued reviewing the latest hotel evaluation reports, and casually asked about the earlier matter.
On the ride back, Zhou Jiaheng had given him a brief overview of the situation, but with the impending meeting requiring full attention, Cen Sen hadn’t been in the mood to listen in detail.
Zhou Jiaheng explained everything from beginning to end. After a brief pause, he added, "While you were in the meeting, Miss Zhang Baoshu and President Zhang both called to apologize. They both said it was a misunderstanding. The article will be taken down immediately."
"A misunderstanding." Without lifting his eyes from the document, Cen Sen calmly signed the lower right corner, saying evenly, "Call Zhang Qi. Junyi is withdrawing from the West Suburb project. If personal matters can affect business partners this easily, I have no confidence they'll approach work with the professionalism it deserves."
Zhou Jiaheng lowered his gaze. "Understood, President Cen."
Cen Sen suddenly changed the subject. “And my wife?”
Then, as though another thought crossed his mind, he answered himself before Zhou Jiaheng could. "Never mind. Cancel or postpone all arrangements for tonight. Go retrieve the bracelet Mr. Xie sent last time.”
Zhou Jiaheng once again responded with “Understood.” Seeing there were no further instructions, he quietly left the office.
Silence settled over the room. Cen Sen rubbed the bridge of his nose, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes for half a minute. Something told him tonight's battle wouldn't be an easy one.
"Miss, may I ask..."
"Move."
Ji Mingshu didn't even spare the security guard a glance. Her heels clicked sharply across the floor as she strode forward with icy determination.
The bodyguards who usually blended invisibly into the background finally stepped forward, identified her to security, and cleared the way.
Without looking back, Ji Mingshu simply let everyone move aside for her. Wearing oversized sunglasses with her arms folded across her chest, she walked expressionlessly into Cen Sen's private elevator.
"Who is she? She's gorgeous. And seriously cool. She looks like a celebrity."
"She took the executive elevator. Must be President Cen's girlfriend."
"Isn't President Cen married?"
"Then... that's his wife?"
The receptionists whispered among themselves until security helpfully confirmed the answer.
Yes. That was President Cen's wife.
Thus, in the few minutes it took Ji Mingshu to ride the elevator to the top floor, news that Mrs. Cen had stormed straight into the executive offices spread through every company group chat with the speed of a 5G connection.
"Why do I get the feeling the president's wife is here to catch someone cheating?"
"Cheating? With which beauty from his executive assistant team?”
"No way. Every female employee stays at least ten feet away from him whenever they go out. If anything, I'd sooner believe he was having an affair with Assistant Zhou."
"Congratulations. You've captured my attention. Here's a pen. Please write that fanfic."
Although some people joked she looked ready to catch an unfaithful husband red-handed, the tiny entertainment article had already been erased before she even arrived. No one connected her appearance with the actress mentioned in the report.
Everyone in the company knew she was here. Cen Sen wasn’t so blind or deaf as to be unaware. Besides, her bodyguards escorting her upstairs had happened with his silent approval.
By the time Ji Mingshu reached the sixty-eighth floor, the office doors had already been opened for her, and Cen Sen's formidable line of assistants had risen to greet her in perfect formation.
Keeping a perfectly blank expression, Ji Mingshu secretly steeled herself, never slowing her pace as she walked straight into Cen Sen's office.
He was sitting behind his desk, working as though nothing had happened. Thin gold-rimmed glasses rested on his nose, giving him the air of a refined gentleman with the soul of a scoundrel.
Stopping in front of his desk, Ji Mingshu silently counted herself in, then slammed the freshly printed but unstapled divorce agreement against his head.
"Divorce."
She'd spent the entire drive rehearsing that single word, carefully tuning it until it carried exactly the right blend of disdain, icy indifference, and merciless finality.
After saying it, she folded her arms again, looked down at him from above, and regarded him with lofty contempt.
"..."
Closing his eyes, Cen Sen caught the scattered pages beneath his hand. After three quiet seconds, he pressed them flat against the desk. He didn't look up. Silence lingered between them.
Truthfully, the moment he'd learned Ji Mingshu was on her way to Junyi, he'd already prepared himself for the confrontation. He'd even planned how to explain everything as efficiently as possible and cut the conversation short.
But he had to admit.
It had never crossed his mind that Ji Mingshu would ask for a divorce.
Since his return, Ji Mingshu seemed to keep throwing curveballs at him. And this declaration of ‘divorce’ was the curveball to end all curveballs.
He removed his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose, then switched on the projector behind her.
"Turn around."
Almost instinctively, Ji Mingshu looked back.
Footage from a dashboard camera soon appeared on the screen. Although the recording hadn't captured anyone's face, she immediately recognized the scene from the magazine photos she'd seen earlier.
The audio was noisy and far from clear, but the office was silent enough that she could just make out a few key phrases.
"...can't compare to my wife..."
"...go wash your face and wake yourself up..."
At that moment, someone knocked.
"Come in," Cen Sen said.
Zhou Jiaheng entered. He didn't appear remotely surprised to find Ji Mingshu there. After giving her a polite nod, he reported with his usual professionalism, "President Cen, I've already relayed your decision to President Zhang. However, he'd still like to speak with you personally."
"Put the call through."
"Yes."
Zhou Jiaheng acknowledged, then placed a red velvet jewelry box on the desk. "This is Madam's bracelet."
With that, he quietly withdrew.
A moment later, Zhang Qi's call came through, Cen Sen immediately switched it to speaker.
Ji Mingshu listened as Zhang Qi enthusiastically explained the entire incident from beginning to end like a free tour guide. By the time he finished, the story he'd painted left only one conclusion.
Cen Sen was as pure as untouched snow atop a sacred mountain, unmoved by beauty, steadfast in his virtue.
Throughout the explanation, Cen Sen merely responded with an occasional "Mm" while absentmindedly turning the diamond bracelet over in his hand. Once Ji Mingshu had heard enough to understand everything, he ended the call without another word.
"..."
Ji Mingshu's eyes locked onto the bracelet in his hand.
She recognized it immediately. It was a Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet sold at Christie's not long ago. The final price hadn't been outrageous by luxury standards, just over a million US dollars if she remembered correctly.
She'd actually liked it quite a bit.
...Wait. That’s not the point right now.
She forced herself back to attention.
So... she'd spent the entire journey spiraling into misery, reliving their entire relationship, imagining countless heartbreaking possibilities, and had nearly broken down sobbing over that Dog Man, only for every last bit of it to have been a misunderstanding?
...Wonderful.
All those melancholy emotions vanished in an instant, leaving behind only a quiet, overwhelming embarrassment at the spectacular drama she'd staged inside her own head.
“Still divorcing?”
"..."
Silence became the Little Canary Ji's only answer.
Loosening his tie, Cen Sen looked at her with complete composure. "If I've truly fallen short and you truly can’t bear this marriage anymore, if you insist on a divorce, I'll respect your decision."
"That said, Mingshu, I may have to remind you about the prenuptial agreement. Should we divorce, you probably won't be able to keep collecting rare leather Birkins, flying by private jet to Milan Fashion Week, or casually buying fifteen-carat Sri Lankan Padparadscha sapphire diamond rings without blinking..."
"Wait." Ji Mingshu had become astonishingly clear-headed. "I think... I can put up with you a little longer."
Her embarrassment deepened another level.
She honestly hadn't expected someone who seemed permanently disconnected from the internet to know she collected Birkins and loved bidding on gemstones and diamonds.
And now he'd even produced a rather beautiful bracelet to bribe her.
Naturally, she accepted the bribe with great gratitude and delight.
Hearing her answer, Cen Sen felt an inexplicable weight lift from his chest.
His expression remained unchanged as he stood, walked over to her, gently lifted her wrist, and fastened the diamond bracelet around it.
The faint scent of cedar drifted over with him.
Ji Mingshu's ears grew warm. She couldn't explain why, but beneath the lingering embarrassment bloomed a tiny happiness she couldn't quite suppress.
She immediately hypnotized herself into believing there was only one reason.
It must be because she could continue spending his money with reckless abandon. Yes. That was definitely it.
Forcing down the corners of her lips before they could curl into a smile, she cleared her throat and said with deliberate seriousness, "If you ever really cheat on me, I really will divorce you.This time… I’ll let it slide. I forgive you.”
“Much obliged.”
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