Li Mu stood up and bowed deeply at Mrs. Hong.

“I'm sorry, Mrs. Hong. Please let me be. Do bid farewell to Lin Wan on my behalf. Tell her to stop contacting me and tormenting me. Hopefully she’ll find her Mr. Right soon. But alas, that person is not me. I admit that I'm weak. I'm sorry!”

Mrs. Hong grabbed the glassware on the table and wanted to smash it on Li Mu. But she put it back after hesitating for a moment.

“Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t have anywhere in mind. All I want is to leave Shanyang City as far as possible so I could regain my confidence!”

“If Lin Wan stops tormenting you and the two of you could live happily ever after, would you stay?”

“Miss Hong, I’m exhausted. I’ve got no energy left to do this anymore. Moreover, I’m extremely disappointed already!”

Mrs. Hong sighed and smiled bitterly, “I’ve always thought that tests and challenges could shape one to be a better person. But I forgot that everyone had their own characters, and not everyone was willing to undergo tests and challenges like this. I should’ve realized that what I’m doing is destroying someone’s confidence.”

Speaking of this, Mrs. Hong looked at Li Mu solemnly and said frankly, “If I told you that it was all my idea, and Lin Wan was forced to do so. Would you change your mind?”

Li Mu shook his head without hesitation and replied frankly, “It doesn't matter anymore. I see no future in us. You can’t force things if they aren’t meant to be. If we don’t end this now, we’ll only end up with an unhappier ending. Mrs. Hong, are you willing to see that happen?”

Mrs. Hong stayed silent. She spoke only after a long time had passed, “If you want to leave, go somewhere far away. And don't let Lin Wan see you ever again!”

“Yes. I can assure you of that!”

Mrs. Hong nodded and said nothing more.

Li Mu bowed again and walked towards the door. When he was almost at the door, he turned to Mrs. Hong and said, “Miss Hong, I’ll cut ties with Xiaoyu after this as well. Could you please let her go? And could you please let Dongyang Group go as well?”

“Alright. I can do that for you!”

“And for my parents, if you don't want to take care of them anymore, please let them come back to me. Please be kind to them and don't take it out on them, okay?”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll take good care of your parents and would never treat them badly.”

“Thank you!”

After thanking her, Li Mu walked out determinedly.

As the door closed, Mrs. Hong sighed in dismay and shook her head.

After leaving, Li Mu's heart was full of mixed feelings. He didn't want to do it either. But he had no other choice. He knew Lin Wan too well and knew she wouldn't let go of him that easily!

Since she wanted to ruin him so bad, he thought it was better for him to take matters into his own hands. In that case, he could even save Dongyang Group.

He didn't want He Xiaoyu and her family to suffer because of him. He knew that He Xiaoyu wouldn't blame him. But he didn't want to owe them that huge of a favor. Besides, he was also worried that he wouldn't be able to pay it back and would live with blame for the rest of his life.

That was the solution he came up with. In fact, that was the only way to do it. To take the initiative to quit, and to disappear from everyone’s lives. From now on, they would part ways and never meet each other ever again.

Although he felt bad to do this to Lin Wan, she had no one else to blame except herself for pushing him too hard. He never thought of revenging her. It was just that he had no other choice than to leave this never-ending fight voluntarily.

When he arrived at the train station, Li Mu realized that he was penniless and didn't even have enough money to buy himself a train ticket.

Although his phone was tied to He Xiaoyu's credit card, he no longer had the audacity to spend her money. After pondering for a while, Li Mu made a phone call to Shen Xingyue and tried to borrow a sum of money from her.

The latter found it strange. How was it possible for him as a general manager of the business department to borrow money to get by? Something was definitely wrong.

After her repeated questionings, Li Mu had no choice but to explain that he was tired of his current life and was ready to start afresh in somewhere else where nobody knew him. However, he refused to elaborate more.

Shen Xingyue was overjoyed and dashed to the station to meet up with him. Despite Li Mu's objections, she insisted on buying two train tickets and dragged him to go on the train together.

The world was unpredictable. Who would’ve thought that Li Mu's plan to leave alone would turn into an elope with his ex-girlfriend? Aside from Lin Wan and the others, even he himself never thought this would happen.

One more thing was that, although Shen Xingyue did not come to Shanyang City because of Li Mu, she had her eyes on him ever since she knew Li Mu was back to being single. Now that she was leaving Shanyang City, she was literally leaving just for the sake of her ex-boyfriend, Li Mu.

After all, they were in a relationship for four years, and were each other's first love. After breaking up with Li Mu, Shen Xingyue never met anyone else that she liked as much. Now that she had the chance to restore her relationship with him, of course she wasn’t willing to let go of him easily. Shen Xingyue obviously had the courage to do whatever He Xiaoyu didn’t dare to.

Of course, this was her learning from her mistakes. Back then, the two had to go their separate ways because she refused to leave with Li Mu. Now that she was given a second chance, she chose to leave together with him without hesitation.

They ran away, leaving the ones left behind in a mess.

Lin Wan returned home late. When she entered the house, she saw Mrs. Hong sitting at the dining table in a daze. The table was nicely laid with meals, which made her think that Mrs. Hong was waiting for her to come home for dinner.

“Mrs. Hong, didn't I tell you that I’ll be back late as the headquarter leader is having a work inspection today? Why are you waiting for me to eat with you?” Lin Wan asked with a smile.

Teary-eyed, Mrs. Hong said, “Lin Wan, take a seat!”

Lin Wan changed her slippers and sat opposite to Mrs. Hong. Only then did she notice that there were two sets of utensils laid on the table. And the food showed signs of being eaten. Judging by that, they already had their meals. But what happened to Mrs. Hong? Why did she look so sad?

“What’s wrong with you? By the way, where’s Li Mu?”

“He’s gone!”

“Gone? What do you mean? Where did he go?”

“He left. And he is never coming back!”

“What?”

Lin Wan stood up abruptly, rushed to the room and searched around before cursing loudly, “This irresponsible and ungrateful bast**d! How dare he leave me again? I will never forgive him that easily this time!”

Picking up her phone, Lin Wan started to dial Li Mu's number. But all she got was the voice message repeating that the receiver had turned off his phone.

A bad feeling came over her. She hurriedly sent messages to him on both VChat and QQ, only to find that the messages were useless as he did not respond to any of them at all.

“Lin Wan, it's no use. I think he threw his SIM card away as we can't reach him either.”

“What the hell is going on? Why is he leaving? Just because of that sh**ty project?”

“I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have come up with that idea. I didn't know he would be that stressed. He said he was too tired and felt that he was living a miserable life. Hence he had no choice but to leave us!”

Lin Wan slumped into the chair and asked with a bewildered expression, “Did he say where he was going?”

Mrs. Hong shook her head, “He’s going to a place where no one can find him. He wants to disappear from our lives completely and begged us to leave him alone. He wants us to stop looking for him, and to never see each other again!”

Lin Wan fell silent. Her face was twisted with anger.

After a long time, she asked coldly, “Mrs. Hong, I’ve succeeded in pushing my husband away from me. Do you think I look more like the head of the family now?”

Mrs. Hong choked in tears, “Lin Wan, I'm sorry. I didn't expect things to end this way. Do whatever you want to me. Don't be like this! Come at me if you have any hatred in you!”

Lin Wan shook her head lightly and said in a calm tone, “How could I blame you when it's obviously because of my weak will? I'm so stupid. Why the hell did I play games with my relationship? I've brought this on myself. I deserve it!”

“Lin Wan, don’t say that! It’s all my fault. Relax. Give Li Mu some time to cool down. And I'll help you locate him. I swear to get him back for you and never interfere with your relationship with him ever again!”

“Help me quit my job!” Lin Wan said as she got up.

After saying this, she headed towards the door.

Mrs. Hong chased after her and stopped her, “It’s so late. Where do you want to go?”

“I’m going to find my husband!”

“Do you know where to find him?”

“I'm going to find He Xiaoyu. They might be together. If I find He Xiaoyu, I'll be able to find my husband!”

“You’re all blur now. Our people have been keeping an eye on He Xiaoyu for so long now. How would I not know about it if Li Mu went to find her?”

Lin Wan froze and stared at her in disbelief.

Mrs. Hong said bitterly, “I’ve asked around just now. Li Mu has not gone to her. He did mention that he would cut ties with her, and asked for us to let her and Dongyang Group go.”

Lin Wan felt a little dizzy. She knew exactly what her husband was trying to do. He was trying to cut ties with her completely and to not see each other ever again.

“Seems like he had made up his mind to give up on me.” Lin Wan was so distraught that her body lurched and she was about to fall over. Mrs. Hong immediately caught hold of her and wanted to help her to bed.

“No!” Lin Wan stubbornly pushed her away, “I want to find He Xiaoyu this instance. I want to ask her if she knows anything about this. Don't stop me. Leave your hands out of my matters from now on!”

Mrs. Hong sighed and nodded, “Okay then. I'll go with you!”

The two of them hurried to Dongyang Group and were informed by their people that He Xiaoyu was still working overtime and had not left the company.

Lin Wan immediately called He Xiaoyu. When she got through, the latter was surprised and asked, “Didn’t you block me? Why are you treating me this well all of a sudden?”

“Can you come out for a moment? I need to see you urgently!”

"Sorry. I'm in the middle of a meeting. Do you want to know what the meeting is about? Go on. Have a guess!”

“Coming up with countermeasures?”

“You got it right! We were discussing the countermeasures, and how we should appreciate this surprise you gave us. Are you proud of your actions? Are you trying to humiliate me with this call?”

“Xiaoyu, I apologize for my behavior earlier. Don't worry. I will rectify this mistake immediately. You don't have to discuss the countermeasures anymore. I’ll stop this immediately.”

There was silence on the other end of the line and after a few moments, He Xiaoyu asked uncertainly, “What's wrong with you? Why the sudden change of attitude? Is it because of Li Mu? Is he with you now?”

“Come out now. It’s hard to explain over the phone. I'll be waiting for you at the gate!”