C12 Chapter 12

At that, Jingya immediately burst into tears. She pointed at the woman in front of her and sobbed, “Yubai doesn’t even like you. Why do you insist on putting him through this...?”

“That’s between me and Yubai,” Anan shot back, deliberately needling her. “If you’ve got what it takes, take him back. But don’t say I didn’t warn you—if you want a divorce, you’ll have to get the Luh family to sign off.”

In that moment, Anan forgot she was in the middle of a divorce fight with Yubai. All she wanted was to rip the mask off Jingya’s fake, innocent face. Watching her look so tragically wronged felt satisfying in a way Anan hated to admit.

No one else saw Jingya for who she really was. Anan had learned the hard way. She looked harmless, but behind your back she could stab you and still act like the victim.

“Y-you...” Jingya’s breathing grew more and more ragged. Her lips trembled, her face turning even paler. In an instant, like she was having a heart attack, she collapsed to the floor. The two people behind her went white with shock.

“Miss Jingya, are you okay?!”

The scene erupted into chaos, but Anan wasn’t surprised. Those symptoms—Jingya’s so-called “asthma”—had flared up again. She’d had asthma since she was little and couldn’t handle being upset. She’d pulled the same stunt at Anan and Yubai’s wedding, and Yubai had left Anan standing in the chapel to scoop Jingya up and call the whole ceremony off.

Anan used to think Jingya really couldn’t handle stress—until the day she visited her and overheard her bragging to a friend, smug as anything, about how much Yubai cared.

“Jingya,” Anan said, folding her arms as she looked down at the woman gasping on the floor, “your asthma sure does show up at the most convenient times.”

“Jingya!”

Right then, the conference room door flew open. Yubai rushed in, and the moment he saw what was happening, his face changed. He quickly bent down, scooped up the weak Jingya, and snapped at Qiu Anan without thinking, “What did you do to her now?!”

“Me?” Qiu Anan stared at him, stunned, pointing at herself. Her heart—so numb it had felt like nothing could touch it—still gave a sharp, unexpected twinge. She forced herself to stay calm. “Nothing. I just made your precious sweetheart so mad she had an episode.”

“Qiu Anan, do you have any sense at all? Jingya’s heart has never been strong!” Whenever it came to Jingya, Yubai was like a different person. The panic in his voice only hardened Qiu Anan’s resolve to get divorced.

It didn’t matter anyway. Yubai would never believe her. No matter what she did or said, the man in front of her would only ever focus on the woman in his arms. With that, Qiu Anan couldn’t be bothered to argue. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes as she said, “If she’s that fragile, then you should keep her safe. Dragging her out in public just to embarrass yourselves—what did you think was going to happen? Or better yet... don’t bring me along anymore. Two queens can’t share a throne, right?”

With that, Qiu Anan walked straight past them, her clear eyes cold and empty.

Yubai’s expression darkened. Before he could think it through, the woman in his arms let out a soft whimper. “Yubai... my chest hurts so bad...”

...

Yubai didn’t come home all night.

Qiu Anan was used to it by now. When his precious sweetheart had a problem, he’d stay by her side no matter what. She got up and went to the bathroom. After she finished washing up and came out, she saw Yubai sitting on the edge of the bed, his face stormy.

“Morning.”

Qiu Anan glanced at him and walked right past, but the next second he grabbed her wrist.

“What does that have to do with me?” Qiu Anan let out a cold laugh. Jingya’s performance was something only Yubai ever seemed to appreciate. Her face hardened even more. “Yubai, I told you—sooner we divorce, the better.”