"Darling… You're here!" She said brightly. She dragged Chen Linyun's hand towards the kitchen. "What brought you here?"

"I wanted to see you and check on my investment at the same time." He feigned laughter. 'Should I tell Jinxu?'

"As you can see, Mr. Investor, the business is quite good these days." Xue Jinxu proudly reported.

Chen Linyun started roaming around the shop, in the guise of a real investor. Xue Jinxu was playing along.

"Where do you keep your supplies of ingredients?"

"Here, Mr. Investor." She pointed at the storeroom. Chen Linyun entered. Xue Jinxu noticed his interest. "Is there a problem?"

"None, at all. Just checking them, dear. Make sure they're not past their expiry dates yet. Make sure they're of top quality prior use. And, make sure that it's not interchanged into some inedible material." Chen Linyun enigmatically hinted.

"Yes, Mr. Investor." Xue Jinxu studied his face closely. She wasn't smiling anymore. "Honey, you're pale. What's wrong, really? Tell me. I can handle it."

"We're a team, remember?" She urged him.

Chen Linyun intertwined their hands then led them both to sit in one of the empty tables.

Xue Jinxu could sense that there really is something wrong. She started getting fidgety. "You're making me nervous." She said quietly.

"Xue Jinxu, I went to s.h.i.+ Corporation to decline their offer."

"And then?" She pressed for more.

"s.h.i.+ Fan Hai is here in Beijing." Chen Linyun slowly unfolded the events of that afternoon. By the time he finished, Xue Jinxu was extremely infuriated.

"Calm down, honey." He said to the wife.

"They're using me to blackmail you. How can I calm down? I thought we don't have any more connection to them since we're married already." She clenched her fists. "This won't do. I'll talk to him."

She grabbed her car keys and fled. She stormed out of the shop. Before Chen Linyun could stop her, she's gone out of sight.

Chen Linyun followed her after fetching his own car.

---

At s.h.i.+ Corporation.

"Where's s.h.i.+ Fan Hai? I demand to see him now! Notify him of my presence. Xue Jinxu's the name. Tell him it's urgent!" She said to the receptionist which made a call to the secretary at the CEO office. After the call, Xue Jinxu was led in.

s.h.i.+ Fan Hai Secretary made her wait inside his office. He wasn't there yet. She looked around the room. She found an important folder on his table which has a list of all their clients, suppliers, service providers, banks, and their financial statements up to way back ten years ago. It seemed that s.h.i.+ Fan Hai was studying. 'It isn't his cup of tea. He's been transferred only recently.' She thought. She grabbed the folder and stuck it into her large Hermes bag. Good thing she had brought with her a large bag today. She had some folders of her own already in the bag.

Very soon after, the door opened. "Ohh, little sweetheart. How sweet of you to visit your ex-fiancé . What can I do for you?" He smiled at her tauntingly. "Such a pleasant surprise."

"How dare you threaten my husband?!" She spurted angrily.

"I didn't know that your husband is such a blabbermouth." s.h.i.+ Fan Hai was amused.

"So, it's true. Really? You're using me to get what you want from him? Why have you singled out Chen Linyun? You can get other traders out there! What evillish plans do you have more on your sleeves?"

"Can you just stop? I'm not connected to you anymore. We're keeping our distance. We want our peace. I'm not even part of the Xue family anymore!"

"In case you're not updated, I had been disowned! So you don't have any more reason to go after us! Leave us alone!"

s.h.i.+ Fan Hai sighed. "Such a long speech, little sweetheart. I'm not after you. I'm after him. Father's orders. It's for the company. Turns out, my father believes in your husband's capabilities."

"Does your father know that you're threatening him? That's against work ethics!"

"My father doesn't know, but he doesn't care either. He just wants results on his table."

"Well, you won't get what you want, not this time. I won't allow you to use me against my husband!"

She glared at him then she stormed out of his office.

She was already at the entrance of the parking lot when her arm was grabbed strongly. When she turned around, she saw s.h.i.+ Fan Hai.

"Let go! Let me go!"

"Little sweetheart. I believe you have something that is mine." He explained. "I hate to call you thief. It doesn't suit a beautiful lady like you."

She paled but denied it. "I don't know what you're saying! Let me go!"

Chen Linyun finally arrived at the scene. He was just around seven minutes short from his wife's arrival at the s.h.i.+ Corporation, but so many incidents and exchanges happened already. Once he saw that s.h.i.+ Fan Hai was grabbing his wife's arm, his eyes clouded in rage and attacked him head-on. He pushed him on the chest using his shoulder. s.h.i.+ Fan Hai fell on the ground, dragging Xue Jinxu's arm with him. Consequently, Xue Jinxu also fell on her hips.

Instantly, Xue Jinxu felt excessively writhing, excruciating pain. Her knees wobbled, her face paled and she was sweating profusely. Then she screamed out of pain. "AAAAAHHHHH!!!!" It was such a blood-curdling scream. Anyone that had heard it had certainly have gooseb.u.mps. Then she lost consciousness. Blood trickled in between her thighs.

"Jinxu! Jinxu!" He picked her bag, and picked her up from the ground. "If anything happens to her I will never forgive you." He said, turning to s.h.i.+ Fan Hai.

He rushed towards his car then drove towards the hospital. He was losing his mind. 'Just hang in there, Jinxu.'