If Qi Xi had originally still felt some flicker of hesitation deep down, then after Gu Xuehan’s guidance and encouragement, it was as if a fire had suddenly been lit inside her, and whatever wavering resolve she’d had before hardened into something unshakeable.

There was no time to lose. Qi Xi wanted to resolve this quickly and move past it, so she relayed Gu Xuehan’s advice to Xi Wen, went through the evidence once more with her mother and Gu Yan, found an excuse to get a copy of Wang Juan’s ID card from Sister Li—useful for any future litigation to recover the unjust gains from her that had come from Qi Ruiming’s marital assets—then finalized the strategy for the property division negotiation, confirmed exactly which assets Xi Wen wanted, and organized all the materials into properly sorted files.

Today was the day Qi Ruiming was due back from his business trip. Doing the math, his flight should have already landed.

Even though she’d spent a long time mentally preparing herself, now that the moment had actually arrived, Qi Xi still found herself trembling slightly, her fingers shaking as she held her phone. But in the end, biting down on her lip, she pressed send, forwarding the photo of Wang Qiliang that she’d found on the school’s official account to Qi Ruiming.

Sure enough, Qi Ruiming, who normally never replied to Qi Xi’s messages promptly, called her almost the instant he saw the photo—

“Xixi, what is this thing you sent your dad?”

Even though she’d just thrown the photo of his illegitimate son right in his face, Qi Xi hadn’t expected him to have quite this much nerve. But he’d clearly been caught off guard, and there was a note of forced friendliness and probing caution in his voice.

Qi Xi could only feel a cold sneer rising inside her. Qi Ruiming had never once been this patient, this warm, toward her before.

“Wang Qiliang. Grade Two, Class A, Fengling International School. Your illegitimate son. Are you really going to pretend you don’t know anything about this?”

Clearly not expecting Qi Xi to already know this much, Qi Ruiming’s voice on the other end grew visibly flustered. He knew there was no more room to deny it, and lowered his voice, trying to steady Qi Xi. “Xixi, listen to Dad. There’s a misunderstanding here—it’s not what you think. Whatever you do, don’t tell your mother. Where are you? I’ll come find you right now and explain in person.”

Fifteen minutes later, Qi Ruiming—a man who was always far too busy to attend any of the important moments in Qi Xi’s life—showed up looking travel-worn at the café Qi Xi had arranged to meet at.

His face wore the smile of a doting father. Before he’d even sat down, he handed Qi Xi a bag. “Xixi, Dad brought you a souvenir from this trip.”

Ha. So this was when he’d suddenly decided to play the sentimental card.

Qi Xi didn’t even reach out for it, simply staring at Qi Ruiming with a blank expression. To his credit, Qi Ruiming’s nerve held—he gave an awkward little laugh and sat down anyway. “Must be heavy to carry. Let Dad take it home for you later.”

He didn’t bother with much small talk, though, and got straight to the point, unable to wait any longer. “How did you find out about all this? Did you hire someone to investigate your dad? Or is someone stirring up trouble in our family, telling you things?”

Qi Xi stayed silent. In moments like this, silence was worth more than words—the more someone talked, the more they gave themselves away.

Seeing that his fishing hadn’t worked, Qi Ruiming grew visibly agitated. Caught off guard by how sudden all this was, he grew a little frantic. “About this—Dad can explain. Yes, Dad made a mistake, but it was just one time, when I was drunk. You know how it is, we lawyers always have to entertain clients, and sometimes things happen you can’t avoid. It was just that once. I never saw that woman again afterward. Who would’ve thought, nine months later, she suddenly showed up with a baby, claiming it was my son, and left the child with me before disappearing. And the boy really does look like me, so he really is my son. What else could Dad do? The child was already born—legally, I have an obligation to support him.”

Qi Xi stared at Qi Ruiming’s face. It was the same face as always, but somehow, in that moment, his features, his whole face, seemed to twist together into something grotesque. Stripped of the filter that came with being her father, all that remained was a middle-aged man spouting lies, shifting blame, fabricating excuses—the kind of man who made her physically sick.

He might not have been especially skilled as a lawyer, but when it came to talking his way out of a long-term, deliberate affair that resulted in fathering an illegitimate child, he suddenly became a master of sophistry, glib and slippery, deflecting responsibility with every word—as though the boy were simply the product of some woman tricking him into fatherhood, as though he’d been nothing but an unwitting “contributor” of genetic material.

Qi Ruiming had no idea what Qi Xi was thinking. Perhaps her silence gave him courage, because he pressed on urgently, trying to profess his sincerity. “Dad really had no choice. Hiding it from you all wasn’t because I wanted to hurt you—especially not your mom. In my heart, it’s only ever been you two. But that son is still my own flesh and blood. It was a moment of carelessness on my part that led to this mistake, but I had to take responsibility for him. Dad had no other option…”

Qi Xi could only sneer inwardly. If he truly hadn’t wanted to hurt her mother and herself, Qi Ruiming should never have had an affair in the first place. And beyond that…

“You’ve certainly been very responsible toward him. You wouldn’t spend a single yuan on my studying abroad, but he’s been going to an expensive international school this whole time. I checked—he’s been at Fengling International since kindergarten, so the money spent on him has already far exceeded what my American tuition would have cost. Is that what you call having no other option? Looks to me like you’ve thrown yourself into it happily.”

Qi Ruiming had started off speaking gently enough, but the moment Qi Xi pushed back like this, his face darkened instantly. He was a naturally hot-tempered man, and having grown accustomed to scolding Qi Xi, he couldn’t help but raise his voice, launching into a rebuke. “Xixi, even if I’m at fault here, what kind of tone are you using with your father right now?! Is this how a daughter should speak to her father? Who do you think I am? Some criminal you’re interrogating? What kind of child talks to their father like this, so disrespectfully?”

Furious to the point of being past anger, Qi Xi found herself unusually calm instead. She looked at Qi Ruiming without flinching. “Do you even think of yourself as my father? When you were climbing into Wang Juan’s bed, did you think of yourself as my father then? When you bought Wang Juan an Hermès bag and let my mom have a Coach, did you think of yourself as my father then? Every time you took Wang Juan traveling on your business trips, did you think of yourself as my father then? When you bought Wang Juan an apartment, when you named your son Wang Qiliang, did you think of yourself as my father then too? Now you want to pull out the ‘father’ card to pressure me—Qi Ruiming, why don’t you take a good look in the mirror first. Do you even deserve to be called my father?”

Qi Ruiming’s eyes bulged with rage, and he raised his hand as if to strike Qi Xi—but upon seeing her red-rimmed eyes, he turned his head away, forcibly restraining himself.

He seemed to be swallowing down some emotion of his own. He lit a cigarette, and amid the smoke, his voice took on a note of unease. “Where did you find all this out? Your mom…”

“My mom already knows everything.” Qi Xi laughed coldly. “That mistress of yours, Wang Juan—the one you’ve kept for ten years—is now openly working right in your firm again. She actually reached out to my mom directly, calling her over and over to harass her. During this business trip, she’s been taunting my mom the whole time, telling her that you two have been together, mocking her for being useless, for never giving you a son, telling her to get out of the way already.”

This was pure improvisation on Qi Xi’s part. But Qi Ruiming wasn’t exactly clean either, and Wang Juan certainly wasn’t a good person by any measure—she’d surely been leveraging the fact that she’d given him a son to pressure Qi Ruiming in all sorts of ways over the years. After a decade-long affair, they were long past that initial passionate honeymoon phase where every flaw seemed forgivable. There had surely been plenty of arguments over the years, over the child, over money, and now that Wang Juan was also in her thirties, no longer as indifferent about her own future as she might have been ten years ago, she’d likely pushed more than once for a formal relationship of her own.

So why not try to set Qi Ruiming and Wang Juan against each other, let them turn on each other like dogs fighting over scraps?

Qi Xi had really only been improvising, playing along on a hunch. But sure enough, her words landed—Qi Ruiming’s face showed no trace of skepticism at all. If anything, he took an even harsher drag on his cigarette, a vicious glint entering his eyes. “That woman really doesn’t know what’s good for her! Haven’t I given her enough already? Idiot! I’ve given her everything she could possibly want—why does she still have to go and ruin my family?!”

At this point, somehow, it was Wang Juan who’d become the one destroying Qi Ruiming’s family—as if his son had simply appeared out of nowhere, self-generated.

Why was it that men who cheated always managed to sound so righteously indignant, as though the fault always lay with the woman? Old Dong, cheating on his wife, blamed her for being too accomplished, for making him feel unappreciated, blamed Yu Nana for seducing him. And now Qi Ruiming, blaming Wang Juan for pursuing an affair with him and wanting to become his legitimate wife, for ruining his family…

Qi Xi had no patience left for Qi Ruiming’s performance. Calmly, she delivered Xi Wen’s decision. “My mom knows everything. She wants a divorce.”

Qi Ruiming, sure enough, looked genuinely stunned. “Your mom’s just being impulsive right now—she needs to calm down first. Dad’s willing to admit fault, and I’ll take care of the whole Wang Juan situation, I won’t let her have any more chances to harass your mother. Your mom and I have been together this many years—we can’t just let it fall apart like this…”

It was clear that Qi Ruiming wasn’t entirely without feeling for Xi Wen—but that couldn’t outweigh the brief thrill of outside temptation. The love he’d felt when courting Xi Wen had been real. And the pleasure he’d taken in his affair with Wang Juan had also been real.

A person’s greed truly can be bottomless.

Having a gentle, elegant wife wasn’t enough—he’d also wanted a fiery, alluring mistress. Having a daughter wasn’t enough—he’d also wanted a son.

But how could anyone possibly have everything they wanted, all at once?

For the first time, Qi Ruiming looked genuinely rattled. He stubbed out his cigarette, picked up his phone, and started calling Xi Wen, muttering to himself as he dialed. “No, this won’t do. I have to talk to your mom directly. I can explain everything. There’s no need for us to divorce…”

Unfortunately, Xi Wen’s phone was permanently busy.

Qi Xi already knew—her mother had blocked Qi Ruiming’s number long ago.

Refusing to give up, Qi Ruiming kept dialing over and over.

Watching him, Qi Xi felt only a mix of irony and sadness. “Mom’s not going to answer you anymore. She has no interest in talking to you at all. She just wants to get the divorce done as quickly as possible.”

Eventually, Qi Ruiming gave up trying to reach Xi Wen, but his first instinct was clearly still not to accept the divorce. “Xixi, then go tell your mother for Dad—Dad doesn’t want a divorce. Dad will deal with the Wang Juan situation as soon as possible. Ask your mom to give me one more chance…”

“Even if you can let Wang Juan go, what about your son? You said it yourself—he’s your own flesh and blood, and legally you have an even greater obligation to support him. Cheating, and cheating while fathering an illegitimate child, are two entirely different levels of wrongdoing.”

“Liangliang boards at school Monday through Friday, he’s very well-behaved, doesn’t need much looking after—he just needs someone around on weekends. The reason Dad’s had to keep up appearances with Wang Juan all this time was really so she could look after Liangliang on weekends. It’s not like Dad can be home every single weekend either, given work…”

“From now on, it could just be like this—I’ll live at home Monday through Friday, and on weekends I’ll go take care of Liangliang.” Qi Ruiming didn’t even seem to notice it himself, but the moment he mentioned his son, his eyes lit up with genuine tenderness, unconsciously slipping into praise. “Liangliang really is such a good boy. I’ll bring you both to meet him sometime—maybe your mom will end up liking him quite a bit. After that, I’ll get rid of Wang Juan, give her some money to send her off, let her remarry while she’s still young, and she won’t bother us anymore. From then on, Liangliang can just call your mom ‘Auntie Mom.’ One more mouth to feed at home is no big deal. Once you all get to know him better, I’m sure you’ll come to love him!”

Qi Xi felt her stomach churn violently, barely holding back the urge to vomit right there.

Monday through Friday with Xi Wen, weekends with his son—what kind of shameless nerve did Qi Ruiming have to propose something like this? Treating time with Qi Xi’s mother like a nine-to-five job, then heading back to enjoy his weekends with his beloved son?

And “Auntie Mom”? Could this man possibly be any more disgusting, any more contemptible?

Qi Xi had thought that once she confronted him with the fact of his illegitimate son, at the very least he’d have to fake some semblance of remorse. Instead, this man had immediately, shamelessly leaned into it, giving up on any pretense entirely—since you all already know, then fine, I won’t hide my precious son in the shadows anymore. Might as well deal with Wang Juan, who’s constantly nagging me for money anyway, bring my son home to raise myself. Two birds, one stone.

Her mother had been right to block him. Otherwise, this kind of shameless talk from Qi Ruiming might well have re-traumatized her all over again.

“Whether it’s me or my mom, neither of us will ever accept a repulsive illegitimate child into our lives. My mom’s decision is final—she wants a divorce.”

Qi Xi had no intention of listening to Qi Ruiming spout any more disgusting nonsense. She cut off his fantasy and pulled out the property division proposal and divorce agreement she’d already printed out from her bag. “This is what my mom wants. If there’s no issue, go get the divorce certificate as soon as possible. Since you love your son so dearly, no need to keep ‘working’ at our house Monday through Friday anymore—go be a full-time dad to your precious son, seven days a week.”

Qi Ruiming clearly hadn’t given up yet, but no matter how many times he called Xi Wen, he couldn’t get through.

After all these years of marriage, Qi Ruiming wasn’t unfamiliar with Xi Wen’s personality—he knew that despite her gentle appearance, once she made up her mind about something, it was nearly impossible to change. Given her current stance, and the divorce agreement sitting right in front of him, this marriage was almost certainly beyond saving.

The truth was, Qi Ruiming had actually been quite anxious these past few years, because legal work had been getting harder and harder to come by—a new generation of talented lawyers kept rising up, and his own professional skills had always been fairly mediocre. He’d originally relied on being an early entrant when competition among Rong City’s lawyers wasn’t yet so fierce, combined with his silver tongue, to talk his way into quite a bit of business—after all, in this profession, whether a case is won or lost, the client still has to pay the legal fee.

But now, on one hand, he was getting older and his energy couldn’t keep up, and on the other, the legal profession had grown increasingly competitive—the newer generation of young lawyers, whether in stamina or professional skill, far outmatched him. The industry itself had also become more regulated, and the more freewheeling, aggressive tactics of earlier years no longer worked in the current environment. Earning money was only getting harder.

And yet, his son’s expenses only kept climbing year after year, with the possibility of sending him abroad for high school looming, and even if not for high school, certainly for university—likely to the United States, home to the most prestigious schools—which would mean an enormous additional cost.

And Wang Juan, far from settling down over the years, had only grown more demanding when it came to money. Her usual leverage was threatening to expose the situation with his son to Xi Wen, or threatening to take the child away and never let Qi Ruiming see him again. Terrified of things spiraling out of control, and terrified Wang Juan might genuinely take his precious son away in secret, Qi Ruiming had no choice but to spend money to buy peace—showering her with designer bags and clothes—but deep down, he’d long since grown dissatisfied with her. She was already in her thirties now, long past the freshness of her twenties, and no matter how well she took care of herself, signs of decline had started to show.

While their son had still been very young, it hadn’t been such an issue, but now that he was in elementary school, Wang Juan’s lack of education and refinement had become increasingly obvious—she simply couldn’t handle raising a child with the gentle patience Xi Wen had, prone to fits of temper, and completely unable to help with the boy’s schoolwork. When it came to raising and educating a child, she fell far short of Xi Wen in every way, despite spending dozens of times more money.

Weighing the two women against each other, Qi Ruiming genuinely didn’t want a divorce—a wife as good as Xi Wen simply wasn’t something he could find elsewhere. As far as he was concerned, now that his affair had been exposed, the best solution would be for Xi Wen to accept his son, for Wang Juan to be pushed out entirely, and for Xi Wen to take over raising the boy—solving the Wang Juan problem while also easing his own burden of childcare. He simply hadn’t anticipated that Xi Wen would refuse, that she’d be so firmly set on divorce.

He’d originally planned to soften her up with a few gentle words, coax her along, buy her some gifts, apologize properly, and work things out gradually over time. He hadn’t expected that she wouldn’t even bother acknowledging him at all.

Looking at the divorce agreement in front of him now, Qi Ruiming finally realized that Xi Wen was serious about this.

Qi Ruiming skimmed through it quickly, his expression darkening at once. He looked at Qi Xi. “If she wants a divorce, tell your mother to come negotiate with me herself.”

Qi Xi had already anticipated Qi Ruiming’s anger and humiliation turning into rage. She replied calmly, “I’m my mom’s lawyer now. Whatever you have to say, you can say it directly to me.”

“You’re her lawyer?” Qi Ruiming looked as though he’d just heard the funniest joke of his life. “You? You haven’t even officially received your lawyer’s license yet, you’re still an intern, and you actually think you’re some big-shot attorney?”

He tossed the divorce agreement onto the table. “Take a good look at what kind of divorce agreement you’ve written up here. All the properties go to your mother, and I’m left with just one commercial storefront—one that’s completely unrentable and the only one still carrying an unpaid loan. I’m the one who earned all the money in this family! Even though I had a son outside the marriage, did I ever fail to provide for you and your mother? You’re living such a good life right now—isn’t that entirely because I’ve been paying for it? And now you have the nerve to come at me like this?”

Once it became clear Xi Wen wouldn’t just refuse to accept his son but wouldn’t tolerate the marriage any longer either, Qi Ruiming’s temper flared violently. He grabbed one copy of the divorce agreement and, right in front of Qi Xi, tore it to shreds. “This is exactly why I always say you women aren’t cut out for this. Go study the property division provisions in the Civil Code properly! Your mother never earned a single yuan for this family, and now she wants to split the assets like this? Qi Xi, I told you long ago not to become a lawyer! You really think just because you studied law and became a lawyer, you can pull something like this? Did you put your mother up to this divorce?”

Qi Ruiming’s accusatory tone sounded utterly self-righteous, as though Qi Xi were the one who’d committed some grave, unfilial offense. “What kind of child are you? Encouraging your own parents to divorce like this? Haven’t you ever heard the saying, better to destroy ten temples than break up one marriage? What good do you think you’ll get out of me divorcing your mother? Let me tell you right now—if your mother dares go through with this divorce, I won’t give either of you a single yuan of what’s rightfully mine!”

“All I want is the share my mother is entitled to. You’ve been the one benefiting from this marriage—my mother never has. The fact that you were free to build your career outside without a single worry is entirely thanks to her too. Don’t act like your job makes you so impressive—compared to raising a child, earning money at work is far easier! If you’d been the one home raising a child while my mom went out and fought in the workforce, she’d have earned far more than you have by now, and been far more successful too. Someone like you—a loser—take your bastard mistress and your bastard son and get out of our sight!”

Not expecting Qi Xi to fight back this way, Qi Ruiming looked as though he might explode with rage. He pointed a finger right at her face, shouting, “Bring your mother here! I want her to see exactly what kind of thing she’s raised! How dare you talk to your own father with such total disrespect, using words like ‘bastard’ out of your own mouth! That’s your little brother! Liangliang is far better behaved than you’ll ever be—he calls you ‘sister’ every time your name comes up!”

“Does he even have the nerve to call me that? Knowing full well he has a sister, a stepmother he’s aware of—he’s ten years old, surely by now he understands his own dirty, illegitimate origins? Doesn’t he feel even a shred of shame?”

Qi Ruiming had spent his entire life rigidly adhering to the outdated feudal principle that men were superior to women, never once truly respecting women in his heart. In his eyes, women existed only as men’s accessories—a wife was meant to obey her husband, manage the household with grace and virtue; a mistress was meant to know her place, obediently accept being kept and supported; and a daughter, above all, had no right to question patriarchal authority, let alone rebel the way Qi Xi was doing now.

Qi Xi’s rebuttal had struck a raw nerve. And what’s more, he clearly could not tolerate her daring to attack his son, to attack the very career and future he’d built for him.

Before agreeing to meet with Qi Ruiming, Qi Xi had already considered the possibility that he might lose control of his emotions and try to attack her, which was exactly why she’d deliberately chosen to meet in the main seating area of a not-too-crowded café. Since it wasn’t too busy, it was easy to find a table with some distance from other customers, keeping a reasonable level of privacy for the conversation—but even with relatively few people around, there would likely still be a handful of other customers scattered across the room. Qi Xi had figured that in a public setting like this, Qi Ruiming would at least think twice before actually resorting to violence.

But it turned out she’d still been too naive. The word “bastard” seemed to have struck something raw in Qi Ruiming, and the veins in his neck bulged visibly. “So this is what happens when I fail to raise you properly. All those years of education, and none of it stuck. ‘Bastard,’ out of your own mouth—is that how you talk? I’m going to teach you a proper lesson today!”

As he spoke, he raised his hand, ready to slap Qi Xi across the face.

The suddenness of it caught Qi Xi completely off guard. She hadn’t expected him to be capable of such arrogant cruelty even now, and she froze for a split second, her body locked in an instinctive shock. By the time she managed to react enough to try to duck away, Qi Ruiming’s palm was already just inches from her face. Qi Xi flinched, her eyes squeezing shut in an instinctive, terrified reflex.

Perhaps no one can ever truly prepare themselves to face the full extent of their own father’s shamelessness and depravity.

But the pain she’d braced for never came.

Instead, what reached her was Gu Yan’s voice—cold, low, and full of warning.

“Show some respect.”

Qi Xi opened her eyes to find Gu Yan’s hand blocking Qi Ruiming’s strike, mere centimeters from her cheek. He had a firm grip on Qi Ruiming’s arm, holding it in place, before releasing it sharply and shoving him backward.

Before Qi Xi could even get a word in to Gu Yan, Qi Ruiming struck first, glaring at him. “I’m disciplining my own daughter—what business is it of yours?”

“A daughter isn’t your personal property. She’s an independent person, just like anyone else. Using physical intimidation as a man against a woman is beneath contempt.”

Gu Yan’s whole demeanor radiated an icy authority as he spoke to Qi Ruiming, matching, if not surpassing, the fury radiating off him. But the moment he turned back to look at Qi Xi, his voice softened noticeably, almost without his realizing it. “Qi Xi, are you alright?”

Of course Qi Xi was physically fine, but after exposing her father’s disgraceful conduct and receiving nothing but the threat of a slap in return, instead of any apology, it had taken every last shred of pride and stubbornness she had left to hold back her tears and her anguish. Seeing Gu Yan there, she felt her nose sting with emotion. At least, right now, she wasn’t so alone.

She might never have her father’s love, but at least Gu Yan was willing to stand by her side.

Fighting back her tears, Qi Xi tried to shift the subject to steady herself, looking at Gu Yan. “Why are you here?”

“I know you wanted to handle this yourself, but I was worried, so I still came along to the café. I sat in the corner beforehand, thinking that if things went wrong, at least I’d be here for you…”

Gu Yan’s explanation was simple, unadorned—but Qi Xi’s heart still couldn’t help but race.

In this moment, every sweet word and every promise felt hollow by comparison. Genuine presence and support meant more than anything else.

But Qi Ruiming sneered coldly at this display of mutual support between Qi Xi and Gu Yan. “And here I thought some busybody had shown up out of nowhere. So this is who my daughter’s dating? What, an outsider like you wants to get involved too? Or maybe you’ve got your eye on our family’s real estate, figuring that if you can wrestle it away from me and onto Qi Xi and her mother, you’ll get your hands on it eventually?”

The fact that Qi Ruiming had cheated and fathered an illegitimate child was already humiliating enough, as far as Qi Xi was concerned. But she hadn’t imagined he could sink even lower than that, projecting his own extreme selfishness and self-interest onto everyone around him.

She had no interest in watching Qi Ruiming humiliate himself any further, and just wanted to wrap this up quickly. “I’ve already given you the divorce agreement. I prepared two copies—you tore up one, but there’s still another. Take it and read it carefully. You have two days. My mom has already scheduled an appointment at the civil affairs bureau for the morning two days from now. Bring all the necessary documents, submit the divorce application first, and once you receive the acceptance notice, after the one-month mandatory cooling-off period, you can go collect the divorce certificate.”

Qi Ruiming sneered. “Why would I accept a settlement this unfavorable to me? If your mother wants a divorce, let her sue then. Let’s see how much she actually ends up getting.”

“I’m not negotiating with you. I’m informing you.” Perhaps Gu Yan’s presence had given Qi Xi extra courage—her resolve hardened once more, her voice steadying, no longer trembling, now only cold and firm. “We’re already acknowledging the wealth you built during the marriage. It’s precisely because of that consideration that the property division doesn’t leave you with absolutely nothing—that’s already giving you plenty of face, a reasonably amicable way to part ways. If you don’t want to accept it, feel free to try litigation instead. But you know full well how long contested divorce litigation can drag on. Throughout that entire process, if my mother’s emotional state gets pushed even slightly further, I can’t promise I won’t end up doing something else.”

Qi Ruiming frowned. “What exactly are you planning to do?”

Qi Xi smiled. “Nothing much. Just seeking a bit of justice for my mom—handing out flyers outside Fengling International, letting everyone know exactly who Wang Qiliang is.” She looked Qi Ruiming straight in the eye. “Doesn’t he want so badly to acknowledge me as his sister? Then I’ll go acknowledge him myself, right outside his school gate, with a banner and flyers and a bullhorn.”

In Qi Ruiming’s eyes, Qi Xi had always been a generally obedient child, with only occasional flashes of rebellion. He hadn’t expected her to pull something like this, and for a moment he choked, visibly rattled. “Qi Xi, have you lost your mind? Liangliang is innocent! It’s not like he chose to be born into this world! What does any of this have to do with him?! Different matters, entirely different things!”

“And what did my mother do wrong? She’s innocent too. Why should the ugly mess you and Wang Juan made get to poison both her life and mine?” Qi Xi’s smile turned utterly merciless. “Don’t you love your son so much? You’ve already spent over a million yuan just on his tuition. Let’s see if you’re willing to spend a bit more.”

Qi Xi’s smile remained cold and merciless. “After all, haven’t you always insisted that girls just aren’t good enough—that only a son can carry on the family line? Then you’d better take good care of your precious heir.”

“Well, well, Qi Xi. Aren’t you something—managing to push your own father into a corner like this!”

Qi Ruiming looked as though he might explode with rage. “You really are an ungrateful little wretch. How good was I to you before? When you got sick, I carried you to the hospital in the middle of the night. Whatever you wanted to buy, when did I ever say no? When did I ever let you live worse than your classmates? Yes, I made a mistake, but all I ever wanted was a son! Do you know what people back in your grandparents’ hometown said about me? That even after going to college, opening my own firm, making good money, I still didn’t have a son—they all mocked me, wondering what was even the point of earning money if I had no heir. A man without a son, once he dies, that’s the end of the family line!”

“And besides, even if I’ve wronged your mother, I’ve never wronged you. What about the twenty-some years I spent raising you? Qi Xi, if you have even a shred of conscience, think about everything I’ve given you raising you—my past merits should at least offset my faults. You have no right to treat me like this! I’ve been so good to you, and yet you turn around and treat me this viciously, coming at me with a scheme like this to force my hand!”

“You’re too young—you have no idea how the world really works. What man out there isn’t messing around behind closed doors these days? What man doesn’t play the field on the side? Plenty of men have kids outside their marriage—you and your mother aren’t the only ones this has ever happened to. And here you are, reacting like this, threatening and coercing me into giving you a bigger share of the assets just so you can walk away!”

At this point, Qi Ruiming pointed at Gu Yan, standing beside Qi Xi, and declared with certainty, “And don’t think this boyfriend of yours being nice to you right now means anything. Back in the day, I treated your mother even better than he treats you now, and yet after decades of marriage, who doesn’t grow weary eventually! Sure, I have a son now, but I never divorced your mother. Have I ever once skimped on her living expenses, on anything she needed?!”

Watching Qi Ruiming completely lose control, Qi Xi finally understood—even throwing every piece of evidence of his affair right in his face wouldn’t change anything, because people capable of cheating, of fathering an illegitimate child, always had a perfectly self-consistent internal logic that let them get past their own conscience with ease. In their minds, everyone else was always in the wrong—everyone else was doing the exact same thing they were, so why should they be the ones singled out for blame? They were the real victims of this whole situation—it was society’s fault!

Qi Xi couldn’t tell anymore whether she felt numb or simply disappointed.

“I don’t need you involved in my affairs. From today onward, I, Qi Xi, no longer have a father. My father died ten years ago. All that’s left in this world now is Wang Qiliang’s father.”

Qi Xi looked into Qi Ruiming’s eyes. After the anger and pain had passed, all that remained was a bleak, hollow sense of loss—of things and people no longer being what they once were.

She believed that Qi Ruiming had genuinely loved her once, that even with his preference for sons, even valuing his illegitimate son more, he had still cared about her in his own way—the awkward small talk in the car, wanting to buy her a car to make her commute easier, hoping she could live an easier life. All of that had been real. And it was precisely because those fragments of genuine paternal love had once been real that today’s ending felt all the more absurd, all the more bitterly ironic.

Why had he clung so stubbornly to the idea of having a son?

Why had Qi Ruiming had to destroy such a good family?

Why did he have to do this, shattering everything Qi Xi and Xi Wen had once hoped for, believed about family and marriage?

Qi Xi didn’t know. Perhaps she’d never know.

And she no longer wanted to know.

She truly no longer had a father—all that remained now was an enemy locked in a struggle over interests.

“Qi Ruiming, think carefully about what you do next. My mother will only accept this agreement—she won’t back down any further. We’ve already left you plenty of room, more than a man as shameless as you deserves, rather than leaving you with nothing at all. You’d best not try anything else. Both my mother’s and my emotions are stretched to their absolute limit right now. Don’t push us—whatever happens if you do, you might not be able to handle the consequences. Since things have already come to this, let’s part ways amicably.”

Naturally, Qi Ruiming wasn’t about to simply accept defeat like this. He pulled out his mask of the caring, considerate father once more. “Xixi, Dad was just speaking out of anger just now, in the heat of the moment. You’ll always be my daughter, always my pride and joy. You’ve been so accomplished your whole life, never once giving Dad any reason to worry. You and Liangliang are both the greatest treasures of my life.”

The man continued, coaxing gently. “I know this has hit you hard, that you’re feeling overwhelmed and worked up right now, which is why everything Dad does seems wrong to you at the moment. But acting on impulse is truly dangerous. You studied law—you know how hard the bar exam is to pass—and now you’re a practicing lawyer yourself. If you go spreading information about Liangliang and it affects him, that would be illegal—a violation of his privacy! Even though, honestly, both my children mean the world to me, and even if you make me angry, I’d never do anything to you. But that Wang Juan isn’t someone to trifle with—she’ll absolutely come after you for this, sue you, cause a scene at your firm. Dad’s just worried about you. Whatever you do, don’t provoke Wang Juan—she’s in the legal field too, and she definitely won’t just let it go quietly!”

So this was the angle he was going for.

Playing the impartial, reasonable observer, was he? “Both my children mean the world to me”—please. He was just using Wang Juan as leverage to pressure Qi Xi.

But would Qi Xi be afraid?

No.

She simply looked at Qi Ruiming with a mocking expression. “Then let her come after me. Even if my privacy violation holds up, the worst that happens is I have to stop the infringement, restore his reputation, apologize, and pay damages. Sure, I’d have done something wrong—so I’m perfectly willing to accept the consequences. I’ll apologize to my dear little half-brother, I’ll even pay damages if it comes to that.”

Qi Xi laughed coldly. “But don’t worry—if Wang Juan actually dares to sue me, I’ll use every legal tactic available to drag out the proceedings for as long as possible. First I’ll challenge jurisdiction, then I’ll find other reasons to request postponements. By the time she finally gets her first trial, and a ruling comes down, I’ll immediately appeal, unsatisfied with the outcome, and drag out the appellate proceedings with the same delay tactics all over again, for another few years. By the time the second trial finally concludes, even if I’m ordered to pay damages, you know as well as I do that the actual harm caused by something like this isn’t especially severe—after all, I only plan to put up flyers and banners near your son’s school, not exactly the kind of reach the internet has. The damages awarded won’t amount to much. Once the second trial rules against me, I’ll just keep delaying further, until Wang Juan has no choice but to file for forced enforcement. And when the enforcement officers finally come to collect, I’ll cooperate and pay up.”

At this, Qi Xi smiled at Qi Ruiming. “And how will I pay, you ask? If I’m ordered to pay ten thousand yuan, I’ll withdraw ten thousand individual one-yuan coins. If it’s thirty thousand, I’ll withdraw thirty thousand one-yuan coins, and carry them all in a sack right to the entrance of your son’s classroom, and dump them right in his face. How’s that for a perfect plan? Drag out your son and your mistress for years, keep them living in fear and misery the whole time, and all it costs me in the end is a few tens of thousands of yuan. Honestly, I think tormenting them like that would be well worth it.”

“Wang Juan’s an adult, just as shameless as you, vicious and contemptible in equal measure. As for Wang Qiliang, the product of your two disgraceful minds—who knows how much of that shamelessness he’s inherited? Can a ten-year-old really handle all this?”

Qi Xi’s smile turned almost gentle, almost kind. “He really is innocent in all this. So, dear father of Liangliang, you’d better take good care of your innocent son, and make sure things don’t reach a point of no return—because privacy, once exposed, is like Pandora’s box. Once it’s opened, there’s no putting it back.”

Qi Ruiming clearly hadn’t expected Qi Xi to say something like this. He was momentarily stunned into silence. After a moment, as though finally finding his voice again, he glared at her, pointing a finger right at her face. “Qi Xi! How can someone so young be so vicious! How could you even think up such a malicious scheme! No matter how good your grades are, no matter how capable you are at work, what good is any of that! Your character is utterly corrupt!”

Qi Xi nearly laughed out loud in disbelief.

She had no idea where Qi Ruiming found the nerve to accuse her of having corrupt character.

“I’m not vicious. I’m just putting what I learned into practice.” Swallowing down the enormous pain and anger churning inside her, Qi Xi told him, in a calm, solemn voice, “I originally studied law to please you. But it’s only now, in this moment, that I understand what studying law was actually meant for. You look down on women? Well, now you get to see just how far a woman can go, whether women are really inferior to men the way you think. If you’ve got the nerve, go ahead and see the results for yourself. Ruthlessness isn’t exclusively a male trait.”

“Think it over carefully. Then contact me.”

Qi Xi had no more patience left to keep going back and forth with Qi Ruiming. She dropped those final words, took Gu Yan’s hand, and said, “Let’s go.”

Then, without a single backward glance, she walked out of the café, walking away from Qi Ruiming for good.