Chapter Ninety-Eight: These Are All Evidence

The meeting was arranged at the new home shared by Hua Mei and Zeng Ziyu. To marry her, Zeng Ziyu had specially built her a gilded nest, but she had only gone there once, on the day of the wedding. After that, whenever they met, Hua Mei always deliberately chose a place outside. After all, it was someone else’s new home, and she felt that she might bring bad luck if she kept coming there.

The housekeeper opened the door and, after letting her in, even poured her a cup of hot coffee. She sat on the sofa and idly leafed through the fashion magazines Hua Mei subscribed to. The house was a duplex, and as Hua Mei’s footsteps drew nearer from the stairs, she looked up and met Hua Mei’s bloodshot eyes.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, startled by Hua Mei’s condition.

“Auntie Zhang, could you go to the dry cleaner and pick up my clothes for me?”

After sending the housekeeper away, Hua Mei sat down. Before she had even spoken, tears were already falling in a flood. Xiao Xiao hurriedly pulled out a tissue and handed it over. Hua Mei had always been particular; even at home she would wear immaculate makeup. Yet today she wore no powder or color at all. Her face was as pale as white paper, stripped of its usual radiance.

“Could it be that…” she began, wanting to ask whether Zeng Ziyu had upset Hua Mei, but she swallowed the words before they could leave her mouth. There were things she had no place saying. No matter what, the young couple were Lin Shuo’s friends. Back when Lin Shuo was still around, she had met them a few times, but somehow they had tacitly agreed to keep their identities secret. It was only after Lin Shuo had gone abroad that she learned what kind of world the two of them belonged to. She remembered that by then they had already been dating for a long time, so happy together that comparing herself to them only made her feel all the more desolate.

After a long while, Hua Mei finally stopped crying and said weakly, “Ziyu has someone else outside.”

She said it so calmly that the contrast with her earlier emotions was almost shocking.

Xiao Xiao was clearly taken aback, even though she had already dimly sensed as much. After all, it was different hearing it confirmed by Hua Mei herself.

“You… how do you know? Zeng Ziyu is the sort of man women like. It wouldn’t be strange if you were overthinking it, but don’t make wild guesses without proof. What if it isn’t true? That would hurt too much.”

“I’m not guessing.” Hua Mei handed her a stack of photocopied bills. “These are all proof.”

Xiao Xiao studied them carefully. They were all hotel, restaurant, and club bills. Bewildered, she asked, “Where did you get these?”

“I have a senior sister who works at a hotel. She saw my husband going in and out with another woman, so she told me. Later I hired a private investigator to look into it. I thought it was only a moment of foolishness. If he had just strayed once or twice, I could have forgiven him. But look at this thick stack of bills—they’re obviously seeing each other. I don’t even know what to do anymore!”

Hua Mei suddenly grew agitated. Xiao Xiao was stunned. “You actually had someone investigate him?”

“I would have preferred not to.” Tears streamed again down Hua Mei’s perfectly oval face, and even Xiao Xiao’s heart ached to see it. She simply could not understand how Zeng Ziyu could bear to treat her this way.

After a moment’s hesitation, Xiao Xiao asked, “Do you know what sort of woman she is?” She thought that if they could learn more about the other woman, there might still be a way to resolve this. Hua Mei was clearly unwilling to leave Zeng Ziyu, and after all the two of them had come this far, their bond must be deep. Surely Zeng Ziyu would not be willing to abandon Hua Mei either; perhaps once he thought things through, he would come home. With someone of Zeng Ziyu’s standing, many girls would only be after his money. As long as they could be sent away, Hua Mei probably would not care much about wealth.

“I invited you here today precisely to talk about that, because you know the other woman.” As Hua Mei spoke, a cold smile touched the corners of her mouth.