Chapter 6: A Reunion With No Warmth

[Location: City A — Private Café | Time: 10:15 AM | Weather: Overcast]

The café was silent except for the soft clinking of ceramic and the occasional rustle of the newspaper. Morning light filtered through the tall windows, cutting across the glass table between them.

Chen Yao sat with her legs crossed, her expression composed but eyes strained. She stared at Xu Yichen as if trying to read the man behind the perfect tailoring.

He stirred his espresso once. Only once.

"You've changed," she said, her voice dry.

"You haven't," he replied.

"I take that as an insult."

"You should."

Her lips twitched into a smile, but it was devoid of warmth. The last time she had seen him in person, they had been shouting across a hallway. Before the slam of the door. Before the silence that lasted five years.

"Why now, Yichen? Why not end it quietly from afar?"

"Because I'm done hiding. And because closure requires confrontation."

"Closure," she repeated softly. "You make it sound like a chapter. Like something you can turn the page on."

"Isn't that what divorce is?"

His voice held no malice. Just precision. Like a surgeon carving away the past.

"And her?" she asked suddenly.

He looked up.

"There's always been another shadow, hasn't there? Someone else standing behind me in all our photos?"

The words hung heavy between them.

Xu Yichen didn't flinch.

"Yes."

It wasn't confession—it was confirmation.

"She's the reason you disappeared?"

"No. She's the reason I stayed sane."

"Then why marry me?"

"Because I was trying to prove something. To my family. To myself. To her."

A pause. Then she leaned forward.

"And did it work?"

"No."

For a moment, she said nothing. Then she laughed—a bitter sound that didn't belong in a place serving lavender lattes and cinnamon scones.

"So we were both pretending. You, at love. Me, at being enough."

"Don't reduce yourself to that," he said. "You were never the problem."

"But I was never the solution, either."

He reached into his coat pocket and placed a small, velvet box on the table. Her breath caught.

"Is that—"

"The ring. I didn't pawn it. Didn't destroy it. Just… kept it."

"As a souvenir?"

"As a reminder."

"Of what?"

"That some mistakes wear gold."

[Location: Qin Lingxi's Apartment | Time: 11:00 AM]

Lingxi stood on a stool, adjusting a frame on the wall. It held a charcoal sketch of the forest she used to walk through—where everything had begun.

Her phone buzzed on the counter.

[Message: From Yuan Fei]They met. Just left the café.

She stared at the message. Then at the frame.

Her fingers tightened on the edge of the stool.

"So it begins."

She climbed down and walked to her desk, retrieving a locked drawer. Inside, a folded newspaper clipping.

"Business Tycoon's Long-Lost Son Returns: Xu Yichen Reclaims Corporation"

Lingxi's eyes lingered on his photo. She traced the line of his jaw with a fingertip.

"I wonder if you kept it."

A beat passed.

"That scarf I made you."

[Location: Xu Corporation HQ | Time: 11:30 AM]

Yichen walked through the main lobby, flanked by executives bowing their heads. His presence commanded silence more effectively than orders.

He paused as he entered the executive floor.

"Any news from Chairman Qin?" he asked Yuan Fei, who followed behind.

"Flight delayed. He'll be in by evening. Do you wish to greet him yourself?"

"No. Let him stew a little. He likes control. I prefer unpredictability."

Yuan Fei smiled. "It's good to have you back, sir."

Yichen didn't answer.

He walked into his office, closed the door, and leaned against it for a second.

Just one.

Then he straightened.

A photo sat on his desk now. A new one.

It wasn't of Chen Yao.

Nor of Lingxi.

Just the city skyline—taken at dusk, when everything looked like it was healing.

But the drawer beneath that frame still held the torn invitation.

[Location: Chen Villa | Time: 12:00 PM]

Chen Yao walked past the old piano room. She paused at the threshold. Her fingers traced the frame of the doorway.

That was where he played her the wedding march. The one moment of true warmth in their brief marriage.

The keys were dusty now.

She sat.

Played one note.

It echoed through the silent villa like a ghost.

She rested her fingers over middle C.

"Maybe he was right," she whispered.

"Maybe some things shouldn't be forced."

Her phone buzzed.

[Message from an Unknown Number]Don't trust Du Haoran. He's moving again.

She stared at the screen.

Then rose.

"Too late for trust."

"Time for preparation."

[End of Chapter 6]