"Did you find out?" Mo Yichen asked over the phone, his tone sharp as ever.
He called Lee Jian to check whether there had been any progress in investigating the Xia family. Everything about them seemed too perfect: a spotless family that had lived in Europe before settling in London and then moving here two years ago.
Mr. and Mrs. Xia owned a software company ranked among the top 100 nationally. They also had a successful chain of restaurants. In short, they were rich, powerful, and well-established. Two years ago, they moved to the town next to the Capital and settled there quietly. It was too clean. Like a background scrubbed free of real history, it made it all the more suspicious.
If they were so well-established, then why did they live in such a remote place? Why didn't they expand their influence into the capital? Why is there no significant presence or prominence of the Xia family? And if it wasn't about money, then why did she marry him? She claimed a life was at stake, but whose life was it? Mo Yichen had so many questions, but no answers.....
So, Mo Yichen had asked his secretary for a deeper investigation.
"Sir, there's nothing more to dig up. The servants at the Xia residence are too tight-lipped. They won't say a word, no matter what we offer," Secretary Lee said with a sigh of frustration.
"I want results, not excuses," Mo Yichen snapped. "Also, find out how the Zhang family's daughter lost her leg… and how Mr. Ye's scandal reached the media."
"Sir… you think these incidents are connected?" Lee Jian asked, startled.
"No," Mo Yichen replied, frowning deeply. "But I have a feeling… they might be the work of the same person."
He knew he had married a rare, extraordinarily beautiful woman. But she was also an enigma… a riddle he couldn't solve, an ocean, ethereal, yet dangerous.
The next day dawned, but sleep had eluded both of them. Mo Yichen called her to his office, tension already simmering beneath the surface.
"This is the conference Mo Corporation will be organizing," he said curtly, tossing a file on his desk. "It's an international event. High-profile. There's no room for error. You'll handle it."
She walked in wearing a long, elegant white dress… simple and understated. Her pumps matched the minimalist vibe. The only accessory she wore was a plain watch, with her calm, unreadable face.
Mo Yichen leaned back in his leather chair, resting his chin on his fist as he observed her. From the large office window, the sun filtered in, casting a soft golden glow around her silhouette.
His eyes dropped… and froze on the delicate chain circling her equally delicate ankle. It shimmered subtly as she moved, half-hidden, like a secret she carried softly on her skin. A protected and untouchable restriction.
For some reason, that small chain irritated him.
"You always wear white?" he asked lazily as she picked up the file and turned to leave.
She paused. "Yes."
"At least try wearing something else. Don't make the Mo family lose face," he said, the words coming out wrong. Again. Damn it.....he was a CEO, a master of communication. He could negotiate billion-dollar deals without flinching. But around this woman, he could barely string the right words together.
She turned her head slightly, calm as ever. "The Mo family's face is not my responsibility."
And that was it. His temper snapped. He stormed forward, catching her shoulders before she could step back, his grip tight. She looked at him, not with fear, but something worse. Disgust.
For a second, he hesitated. What was he doing? She didn't push him away. But her eyes turned red with fury.
"Not your responsibility?" he barked. "You're my wife! You should've thought about that when you signed the damn marriage contract!"
His gaze dropped to her lips. Kissable was the word that crossed his mind.
"President Mo. Let me go." Her voice was still composed, but the underlying edge wasn't lost on him.
"Is it so wrong for a husband to want to be close to his wife?" he asked, his voice came out confused and bitter.
But in that moment...…
The file cracked sharply against his cheek, echoing through the office like a gunshot. He staggered half a step back, stunned.
Her face was etched with disgust and fury. Mo Yichen stood frozen, the sharp sting snapping him back to his senses. What just happened? How dare she? His brief hesitation turned into anger. It was the first time anyone had ever dared to treat him like that
"We're a deal, President Mo. That's the only truth," she said, voice calm, but the underlying fury was hard to miss. She needed to leave...….right now. Her skin crawled. The urge to shower, to scrub off the moment, overwhelmed her.
Mo Yichen's rage twisted into something darker. So she can get angry and show her claws, huh but still with elegance...…
"Disgusted? Ha! I'm disgusted too! Always seeing you in that white dress, pretending to be untouchable. What are you mourning every day, wearing white like you've buried someone?"
She stared at him, her expression solemn. The ice in her eyes cracked just slightly and for a fleeting moment, the emotion he glimpsed was enough to suffocate him. Guilt hit him instantly. How could he say something so cruel, just because he couldn't control his temper? A moment passed like an eternity before she finally spoke.
"Yes. I'm mourning."
Just that.
No explanations. She turned and walked away, leaving him standing there, speechless. Mo Yichen stood frozen, her words echoing in his mind like a tolling bell. Mourning? What the hell was she mourning?
And in the whirlwind of emotions, he had felt since meeting her a month ago, one feeling had never been clearer than it was now:
Sorrow.
That's what clung to her like perfume. And Mo Yichen...….he was finally starting to smell it. It was suffocating. His throat tightened, and in frustration, he yanked at his tie, as if trying to breathe through the weight of something he couldn't name.
Xia Ruyan quickly typed an absent leave notice and left the office. But instead of heading to the Mo Mansion, she drove straight to her own apartment, one she had secretly purchased the day she moved into the Mo household.
She had known even then that she'd need an escape someday. A place of her own. A safe haven. Because deep down, she knew the Mo family would never be her shelter.
She unlocked the door and entered in haste. The apartment was minimalist in design, painted in hues of grey and black. A large window in the living room framed the golden hues of a setting sun. But she didn't pause to admire it. Her heart was heavy, drenched in something darker than grief.
She rushed to the master bedroom, stripped off her clothes, and walked straight into the cold shower. Water crashed over her like a waterfall of silence. She scrubbed her skin until it turned red, as if trying to wash away something that clung to her soul. And then, exhausted, she stopped.
She just stood there, under the freezing water, letting it numb everything.
With her eyes closed, memories began to resurface. A scream. Tears. Her own hands...…stained with blood.
Then another image, someone wrapping her in a soft blanket, holding her close, shielding her from the world. She remembered gripping the front of a white shirt tightly, her fingers trembling.
Someone had patted her head gently, grounding her in that moment.
"Why did you break your promise…?" she whispered. Her voice cracked with heaviness. But in the cold shower, no one could see her tears, tears that refused to fall.....
She asked again.
And as always, the answer was silence. It had always been silent.
And so, she had learned to live with it.