Xue Guangxi stood rooted to the ground. He could not do anything but watch. He was clenching his fists. 'This treatment is too much. Why can't Grampa give in? Why aren't my parents saying anything?'

"Let's go. How about you, Guangxi?" Grampa asked.

"I-I'll follow, Grampa." He could feel his knees shaking in fear.

Grampa and the two bodyguards left, dragging the poor Xue Jinxu with them. She was screaming on top of her lungs. "Please, Grampa. NO… NO… Linyun… Chen Linyun… I'll be back okay? I love you. I won't divorce you. Don't agree to it, okay?!"

Her voice faded out in the distance.

"Don't worry, brother-in-law. I'm on your side. I'll stay with you here." Guangxi helped Chen Linyun stand up. "We'll find a way to get in."

Inside the Old Xue Mansion…

Xue Jinxu was standing in front of her parents, and Grampa Xue. She was freed from the bodyguards' grasp. It's as if she's waiting for her verdict. Her tears could not stop rolling down her cheeks. She was crying silently.

They were not even given the chance to explain the situation to them. They weren't let into the house humanely. She had put her hopes up, and was quite devastatingly disappointed. She got naïve for a while, being the happy bride that she had been, even believing that the elders would be the same welcoming squad like the Chens. She was certainly in love, and blind at that! Now, it hurts as if daggers were repeatedly stabbing her heart.

The elders were discussing.

"But Father, he's a good person. He also has his own company and is quite doing well! We already checked his background. We already knew…" She trailed off… Zhao Feiyan took the side of her son-in-law, Chen Linyun. She did not care about anything except for the welfare of her child. As long as Xue Jinxu is happy, Mother Xue will be contented as well.

"Don't you think I haven't yet?" Grandfather Xue retorted.

"They are young and so much in love with each other! Father, there's nothing wrong with that! They are legally married, everything is legal!" Zhao Feiyan argued back.

"That person is weak! He cannot do anything for her! He will not be able to protect her or this family. He's not suited to be the son-in-law of this family! He will only cause our downfall!" Grandfather Xue roared.

"If she cannot divorce him, she might as well forget all of us! I'll disown her!" Grampa Xue added.

Chen Linyun was still left waiting outside the Xue Mansion. No matter where Xue Guangxi took him, he could not get in.

After a few moments the family lawyer came with the divorce papers. Chen Linyun and Xue Guangxi saw him enter the premises.

"No. No, Jinxu. Is this really happening?!" Chen Linyun pulled out his hair in alarm and vexation. All those hardwork could potentially be for naught. It would be much more painful to part with her now that they had tasted how sweet life together has been. They had opened the Pandora's box [1] together, and life could not be the same again afterwards. They're now a couple – counted as one unit. How can a set of papers change it?

Inside the mansion, the lawyer presented the papers to Xue Jinxu. She didn't even take a look at it. Jaws clenched, she scowled at the wall, while her tears uncontrollably flowed down her cheeks, still. She did not want to cry, but it seemed that her aching heart was controlling her tear ducts. She could only very roughly wipe away her tears with her palms, immensely annoyed and deeply frustrated at her elders.

"Unless Jinxu leaves him, I will not allow her to go back to our side. She will not be protected by this family anymore. She will have to fend for herself from now on. We would have to cut all her cards, and strip her of the COO position and of her company shares. She would not get any inheritance."

"CHOOSE, Xu-er!!"

"Sign those papers, and everthing will be back to normal. If you don't, you know what happens." Grampa Xue laid the options to her threateningly.

Father Xue wanted to protect their princess, his precious daughter. "Father, can we somehow come up with a compromise? Don't strip her of her status! She's the only daughter of this family!"

"Mingli, don't go too soft on her! She became this tenacious because both of you have spoiled her! How can she learn?"

"No one's allowed to help her! If I discover that any one of you is helping her, you'll suffer the same or even worse fate because that's treachery!"

"Father, it's Xu-er we're talking about here! She has sacrificed a lot for our family. She has not caused us any grief or problems growing up." Father Xue pleaded for his dear daughter.

"She hasn't yet." Grampa stared them down. "Don't just look into the present or the past. Look into the future! The addition of an outsider to our family, especially the unqualified one, what would it bring to us? Only a grim future, I'd say!"

"But, Father, Let's trust Xu-er's judgement!" It was Mother Xue who spoke.

"Enough of this talk."

After having said his verdict, he walked away from the crowd.

Xue Jinxu remained stoic. After a long while she said. "I understand. I'll go now."

"Xu-er, Xu-er! Don't go! This is your home! You stay right here!" Mother Xue had started wailing.

"Butler Lee, maids! Close all the doors." Father Xue ordered sternly, urgently.

Jinxu kissed both her parents on the cheeks. "Mother, Father… Thank you for raising me. I'm sorry I'm not a filial daughter. I am a married woman now. I'll go. Please take care of your health, and Grampa's health too. Guangxi, please look after them, and the company."

Guangxi had just arrived. He was able to get in, but Chen Linyun was stopped outside. He decided to check on the situation inside the mansion for a while, leaving Chen Linyun outside momentarily.

"Butler Lee, I leave them at your care."

"Farewell."

She smiled at them for the last time. Without restraint, she went through the door.

The maids who were at the doors were helpless in front of her. They also overheard, although they weren't allowed to do so, and in turn they grew somehow sad about their Big Miss' fate. She had been kind to them.

Chen Linyun was waiting outside, kneeling. He was kowtowing non-stop. Jinxu's heart shattered to a thousand pieces more when she saw him kowtowing to no one, while recalling the discussion inside. She had her own fury brewing inside her. She led him to stand up.

"Chen Linyun." She smiled a sad smile. "Let's go." She intertwined her hand with his. Then using her other free hand, she caressed his face, her brows furrowed deeply. "I didn't sign the papers. You're going to keep me, and I'm going to keep you."

He clenched his fist. His eyes pierced the wind with his glare. "But what's the price, Jinxu? What's the catch?"

She tightened her grip. "I have been disowned." She was looking elsewhere. "But it's fine. I had expected as much. I'm prepared. Let's go."

In the end he still could not stand equally beside her.

In the end she chose to stoop down to his level. The level that he had worked hard on for a long time. He thought it was good enough. It still did not suffice.

[1] In Greek mythology there is this box that should not be opened, however a girl named Pandora opened it out of curiosity, and all evils and miseries inadvertently escaped from that box, beyond reversal