Shaking her head, Lin Wan thought she was being a little too sketchy.

This was funny. It was just a casual question, what could those words possibly mean? How could she associate it with her husband being angry?

“It's been a while since we've shared a romantic moment. And I want to have a candlelight dinner with you.”

Lin Wan cheerfully replied to her husband but was greeted with silence from the other side. Li Mu did not respond to her message, as if he had not seen the message she sent him.

“Honey, don't you like it?” Lin Wan couldn't help but send another message.

He replied instantly, with three big red words plastered on the screen, “No, I don’t!”

Lin Wan's felt the urge to cry. She cooked with so much effort just to enjoy a romantic candlelight dinner with her husband, and the response she got was that her husband didn't like it.

Little did she know that her husband was well aware of her candlelight dinner with Lu Fangliang. The romance she had created today acted as a vicious humiliation for Li Mu

If Lin Wan had known all this, she would rather die than have another candlelight dinner. This romance she planned turned out to be the last straw instead.

After being aggrieved for a while, Lin Wan still called her husband.

Li Mu who was on the other side of the phone sounded calm and said coldly to her, “You can eat first. Don't wait for me. We need to finalize everything by today, and everyone is working overtime. I’m the leader, hence I have to set an example. I hope you’ll understand my situation!”

This tone of his was unlike a conversation between a married couple. Since when did their relationship become like this? Panicked, Lin Wan said in a hurry, “Alright, don't rush. I'll wait for you!”

After putting down the phone, Lin Wan sat on the sofa and forced herself to calm down. After thinking for a long time, she still couldn’t make out what had she done wrong. What happened? What had gone wrong between her and her husband?

Gradually, she felt a little sleepy and fell asleep on the sofa.

The red candle kept burning until the last candle flickered out.

In the wee hours of the next day, Lin Wan woke up and hurriedly got up, just to realize that the untouched food had long turned cold. Her husband had not returned all night!

Without much thought, Lin Wan rushed straight out of the house and headed towards her husband's company.

Worried, she arrived at Dongyang Group. After calling Li Mu, she stared nervously at the entrance of the park. She couldn’t help but heave a huge sigh of relief when she saw her husband walk out with a messy appearance ten minutes later.

“What brings you here?” Li Mu asked with an expressionless face.

“You didn't come home last night, and I was so worried. So I came to see you.” Lin Wan said out of concern.

“Well, I really am pretty busy these days. It will be fine in a few days though. When this project is over, everything will go back to normal. Those who should leave will leave. It’ll be the end for everyone.”

“Don’t be too harsh on yourself and wear yourself out. Promise me you'll take care of your health no matter how busy you are.”

“Alright. I need to work overtime a lot these days. You’d better take care of yourself too. It's not easy for you to keep switching locations right? Take it easy.”

“Sure, I will. Have you had breakfast?”

“Yes. How about you?”

“I rushed here first thing in the morning, so I haven't had a chance to eat yet!”

Li Mu froze for a moment and said after a moment of hesitation, “Park your car and have a quick bite at the cafeteria!”

After parking the car, Li Mu led Lin Wan towards the park. The two security officers at the entrance saluted him respectfully, while Li Mu nodded and led his wife into the park.

Lin Wan looked back as she walked and smiled at her husband, “So I can go in and out as I please if I’m with you? But why are they only greeting you alone? Are they buttering you up?”

Ignoring her, Li Mu led her to the company cafeteria and ordered a bowl of congee, two buns and an egg for her. He then sat opposite to her and watched her eat with an expressionless face.

Lin Wan tried to strike a conversation for a few times, but Li Mu seemed to lack interest in talking to her. Eventually, the two stopped talking. After eating, Li Mu saw her off and left without looking back.

Their meetup was as uneventful as two strangers who did not know each other. It was a bland and boring encounter.

On the way back, Lin Wan repeatedly pondered over her husband's behavior. She thought of many possibilities, but still could not figure out what had gone wrong.

Maybe it's just exhaustion, Lin Wan reassured herself and prayed silently, “God bless me, please let time pass faster so we can hurry up and end everything here. God bless me and my husband to leave the country smoothly so we could live happily ever after.”

It was almost afternoon when Lin Wan started to get busy again. She planned to make dinner and bring it to Li Mu, and watch him eat the dinner she prepared in front of her very own eyes.

Lin Wan was determined to mend the relationship between them now. No matter what the reason was, she will first do her duties and responsibilities as a wife. As for the reasons of his cold shoulder treatment, she’ll have to wait till she has a chance to talk about it with him.

When she was almost finished with the meal preparation, she suddenly received a phone call. Lu Jiaxue cried on the other end of the line, “Mummy, I'm not feeling too well. I’m very cold!”

Lin Wan was taken aback and asked hurriedly, “Jiaxue, where are you? What happened to you?”

“I'm home alone, Mummy. I think I’m sick!”

“Where's your father? Where's Madam Jiang?”

“They're not at home, and they’re not picking up either. Mummy, I’m feeling really sick!”

“Wait for me, mummy will be right there!” Lin Wan switched off the stove, changed her clothes and left the house in a hurry.

Rushing all the way, she stopped her car at the entrance of the Lu house. Lin Wan rushed out of the car, pushed open the courtyard door and sped right in.

Strangely enough, the doors to all the rooms were unlocked, allowing her to barge her way into Lu Jiaxue's room unhindered.

Lin Wan was too anxious and missed out such an obvious loophole. This could only mean that she had really panicked and fallen completely into the trap.

Lu Jiaxue was lying on the bed, her eyes tightly closed and her face pale.

Lin Wan ran to her and leaned down to hug her while calling out softly, “Jiaxue, Jiaxue, mummy is here!”

The little girl opened her eyes with all her might and cried upon seeing Lin Wan, “Mummy, I don’t feel good!”

Lin Wan touched Jiaxue’s forehead which was burning hot. She picked her up immediately and rushed out of the room. When she drove, Lin Wan dialed Lu Fangliang's number over and over again.

The repeating voice message indicated that Lu Fangliang was not in the service area, so Lin Wan had no choice but to keep dialing. Finally, the ringtone rang, and Lu Fangliang picked up.

“Hello, Miss Lin. Is there anything I could help you with?”

“Mr. Lu, Jiaxue has a high fever. I'm taking her to the children's hospital, you should hurry over here too!”

“Oh! Okay, okay, I'll be right there!”

At the entrance of the Children's Hospital, Lin Wan parked her car at the roadside as she had no time to park in the carpark. She had just got out of the car when she saw Lu Fangliang running over from the direction of the hospital gate.

“Miss Lin, thank you so much. I really don't know how to thank you enough!”

“Save these words for later. Hurry up and bring Jiaxue to the doctor!”

Lu Fangliang agreed and carried his daughter out from the backseat. He then ran with Lin Wan towards the hospital.

As they ran, he said to Lin Wan, “I've used my connections, we don’t need to register and queue. Let’s head straight to the specialist clinic.”

“That's great, let's hurry over there then!” Lin Wan responded anxiously

The two carried Jiaxue and headed straight to the specialist building. A nurse was on standby outside one of the consultation rooms, and rushed up to them while asking loudly, “Are you Mr. Lu?”

“Yes!” Lu Fangliang responded.

“Hurry up and go in. Professor Zhang is waiting for you!”

They entered the room together, while an old man took the child's temperature. He then turned to them and complained, “How could the two of you be so irresponsible as the child’s mother and father? The child had such a high fever. If you were a minute later, you’ll regret it for life.”

Lin Wan wanted to say something, while Lu Fangliang apologized profusely.

“I’ll reduce her fever first. Then we’ll proceed with the lab tests!”

...

After some efforts, Jiaxue’s fever had clearly gotten much better. Professor Zhang told them that Lu Jiaxue's problem was not serious, and she was just caught up with a cold. Some medicine and a good rest would do the trick.

After leaving the hospital, the little girl immediately regained her energy and blabbered about going to the movies. Lu Fangliang who couldn’t change her mind discussed with Lin Wan, “Miss Lin, what do you think?”

Lin Wan looked at Lu Jiaxue and scratched the tip of her nose dearly. With a smile, she agreed, “Alright then. But you must go home and rest properly after the movies. No more running around after this.”

“Okay, Mummy. I'll do as you say!”

The "family of three" went to dinner first. After buying the tickets, the little girl sat in the middle at first. But after a short time, she started to pester her father for a hug. Hence, Lu Fangliang sat beside Lin Wan and took over Jiaxue’s seat with the child in his arms.

After the film, a few attendants came in from outside and announced that they were going to pick two lucky audience members for a free group photo.

Unexpectedly, Lin Wan and Lu Jiaxue were the lucky audience members. As the two of them were about to take a photo together, Lu Jiaxue called out loudly to her father.

The photographer smiled and said, “Sir, since you are a family, why don't you come over here too? I'll take a family photo.”

Lu Fangliang readily complied and walked over without a doubt. Lin Wan felt that it was inappropriate and was just about to leave when the little girl hugged her tightly, “Mummy, don't go, please!”

Looking at Lu Jiaxue's face that was still somewhat pale, Lin Wan's heart softened again. Thinking that it was just a photo, she thought it’d be better not to break the child's heart.

And so, the "family of three" was photographed by the photographer with a happy face on all of them.

After returning to the Lu House, the young girl pestered Lin Wan to spend the night with her. After several hesitations, Lin Wan's remaining rationality finally overcame her silliness, and she resolutely chose to leave.

Years later, whenever Lin Wan thought of this incident, apart from remorse and resentment, all that remained was gratitude. Remorse, was for her own stupidity; resentment, was for the calculations of the backstabbers; and gratitude, was for her own rationality.

If she chose to stay, everything will become irrevocable. No matter how aggrieved and unfair she felt, there was nothing she could do to reverse what had happened.

Lu Fangliang politely escorted her out of the gate and pleaded after thanking her profusely, “Miss Lin, the day after tomorrow is Jiaxue's birthday. My daughter and I sincerely invite you to come to her birthday party. Please, do accept our invitation.”

Lin Wan happily accepted the invitation. Until now, she still hasn’t realized the trap she has gotten herself into. She would only realize just how dumb she was when she finally gets to her senses some day in the future.