Xu Lei dressed herself in a flurry of anxiety at home, changed into a pretty dress, sprayed perfume, grabbed her bag and car keys, and then headed out.
Fantastizing about everything that would unfold, she sped to the hotel entrance.
Handing her car keys to the valet, she sent a message to Wen Ruxu as she walked towards the lobby.
"I've arrived."
Wen Ruxu was staring at his phone screen. Upon seeing the message, he quickly replied, "Where are you?"
"The lobby on the first floor."
"Okay, I'll come down to pick you up immediately."
Xu Lei looked at the message with a beaming smile, quickening her pace towards the elevator.
Just as she thought everything was going smoothly, a familiar voice called out from the side of the lobby.
"Xu Lei."
Isn't that her husband, Old Yang?
Why is he here at this time?
Xu Lei's body stiffened, and she turned to look in the direction of the voice.
She saw Old Yang, dressed impeccably, approaching from the lounge area with a serious expression.
"Honey, why are you here too?"
Old Yang had been waiting for this moment since receiving the photos last night.
Truth be told, he was quite happy.
He had long wanted to end his marriage with Xu Lei but couldn't find any leverage to divorce her and didn't want her to take away his substantial assets.
Now, with this incident, he was absolutely not going to continue living with her.
Seeing the hint of panic on Xu Lei's face, he sneered.
"What do you think?"
Xu Lei feigned composure. "What do I think? What do I think? You didn't come home all night yesterday and didn't even send me a message. How would I know where you'd be?"
"If I had come home, or sent you a message, wouldn't that have ruined your good time?"
Accompanied by Old Yang's sarcastic tone, she became nervous again.
"What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Xu Lei, don't think I don't know what you've been up to. Let me tell you, even though I wasn't home, I'm well aware of your disgraceful deeds."
Xu Lei thought to herself that she hadn't done anything particularly shameful. She had just gotten a bit closer to Wen Ruxu these past couple of days, but it wasn't anything major.
She didn't believe Old Yang could know anything, so she planned to bluff her way through.
"What shameful deeds have I done? Yang, stop bullying me. Explain yourself clearly."
"Fine. You're not going to shed a tear until you see the coffin, are you? You won't give up until you reach the Yellow River, will you?"
Old Yang pulled out the photos from his pocket and threw them in front of her.
"Look at this yourself."
Xu Lei never expected him to throw photos at her. Feeling guilty, she hesitated to pick them up.
Old Yang pointed at her nose angrily.
"I work hard outside to earn a living for the family, and this is what you do? Huh? If you don't want to be together anymore, just say it. I won't stop you from climbing a higher branch! There's no need to do something so disgusting!"
"Since you are unrighteous, don't blame me for being ungracious. I've already instructed my lawyer to file for divorce, and we'll see each other in court!"
Only then did Xu Lei understand what the photos were. She bent down incredulously to pick them up.
Upon seeing them, she realized it was indeed her and Wen Ruxu, though only her face was clear, and she was so angry her features and hands trembled.
"Who took this? Someone deliberately framed me. This is all a misunderstanding! Old Yang, listen to me!"
Old Yang sneered. "A misunderstanding? A misunderstanding for you to dress up like this and come to a hotel early in the morning? If the photos are a misunderstanding, then what are you doing like this now? Don't tell me you didn't sleep well at home and decided to put on makeup to catch up on sleep at the hotel."
"..."
"Say no more. You make me feel sick. See you in court!"
With that, he turned to leave. Xu Lei, unwilling to accept this, grabbed him.
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Let me finish explaining! I can explain, this is truly a misunderstanding!"
Old Yang found her disgusting at the moment and roughly shook off her arm.
"I don't want to hear your nonsense, nor do I plan to escalate things. We were husband and wife, let's maintain some dignity for each other. Let go of me. This is goodbye."
"Xu Lei, you wouldn't want everyone in your company to know about this, would you?"
Seeing his cold and heartless demeanor, as if everything was already prepared, Xu Lei suddenly realized.
"I understand now. So all of this was your scheme."
"Yang, to force me to divorce, you really can do anything!"
"I'm not that bored. Which man would willingly put a cuckold hat on himself? As I said, I intended to give you some dignity. Don't stir up trouble to the point where it becomes unmanageable; you'll be the one regretting it!"
After speaking, he roughly pushed her away and strode out. Xu Lei, holding the photos and watching his resolute departure, felt a pain in her heart, liver, lungs, and spleen.
It wasn't that she was particularly reluctant to part with this marriage.
Adult marriages were inherently exchanges of benefits, a partnership for life.
Old Yang was always engrossed in work, neglected his upkeep due to his age, lacked both looks and physique, and didn't help much around the house. She had long lost any emotional need for him.
It was purely the immense financial benefits she was reluctant to lose.
But she, Xu Lei, was no pushover.
Over the years, she had accumulated quite a network of contacts.
If he wanted a divorce, so be it. She would reclaim what belonged to her.
It was good that he found out now; from now on, she could openly be with Wen Ruxu.
A young stud was so much more appealing than an old man like him.
Thinking this way, Xu Lei quickly changed her mood.
She tucked the photos into her bag, walked towards the elevator, and sent a message to Wen Ruxu.
"Have you come down yet? Actually, you don't have to, I can go up myself."
As soon as she sent the message, a glaring red exclamation mark appeared on the screen.
Wen Ruxu had blocked her!
Xu Lei's head spun; she couldn't believe her eyes.
She typed furiously on her phone again, but no matter what she sent, it always showed a red exclamation mark.
She hadn't called Wen Ruxu. This was their only contact method. Once blocked, she couldn't reach him.
She became extremely flustered, looked around the lobby, couldn't see Wen Ruxu's shadow, and frantically pressed the elevator button.
She went upstairs and frantically rang the doorbell for the room number Wen Ruxu had sent, but no matter how many times she pressed, there was no response from inside.
Even with her romantic infatuation, Xu Lei realized at this moment that she had been tricked.
As soon as Old Yang mentioned divorce, Wen Ruxu disappeared. Could she not see through such a simple trap?
Heh. To think that her husband of so many years had schemed against her like this, Xu Lei's fighting spirit was ignited.
Well played, Yang. To think you'd resort to such measures to force me to divorce me, just you wait!
Her family was gone, her love was gone, but her career couldn't be lost.
Using her position, Xu Lei could be an hour or two late for work without needing to ask for leave.
Leaving the hotel, she went directly to the company.
She suppressed her anger, all the while contemplating how to litigate with Old Yang and how to find leverage against him. By the time the elevator reached the first floor from the underground parking lot, a delivery guy came from the lobby carrying a bouquet of flowers and stood next to her.
The delivery guy pressed the button for the marketing department floor.