Chapter 1: Fate Ends

She was about to marry Gu Yuchen.

Wen Zhixian entered Gu Yuchen’s house by entering the passcode.

They had been discussing getting married and registering their marriage these past few days, so he asked her to come by his place to see if there was anything that needed to be added.

Wen Zhixian and Gu Yuchen had been childhood sweethearts. She had always secretly loved him, and after two years of dating, they were finally planning to get married. Both their families couldn’t have been happier.

Of course, she was happy too.

She wandered around the spacious house, moving Gu Yuchen’s toiletries to the side on the bathroom counter. In a couple of days, when she moved in, her things would be placed alongside his.

Thinking about it made her smile at her reflection in the mirror.

Back in the living room, she poured herself a glass of water. When she turned around, she accidentally knocked a mug off the table, sending it crashing to the floor with a crisp, shattering sound.

Looking down at the broken white porcelain mug with lily-of-the-valley patterns, her face paled. She anxiously knelt to pick up the pieces. As soon as she touched the sharp shards, she felt a sting on her fingertip. Looking down, she saw a cut, with blood seeping out.

She hesitated for a moment before taking a photo of the broken pieces and sending it to Gu Yuchen. Her finger hovered over the send button for a few seconds before she finally pressed it.

This mug had been a gift from Gu Yuchen’s ex-girlfriend, whom he had dated for four years. Even after they broke up, he kept it. Wen Zhixian had witnessed the entire process of their relationship and breakup, so she knew how deeply Gu Yuchen had once loved his ex.

But now she was about to marry Gu Yuchen, and she didn’t think he would blame her for accidentally breaking the mug. After all, it had been years.

In truth, she had always felt uncomfortable with the mug’s presence. Perhaps this was fate, removing all barriers between them before their marriage.

With that thought, she no longer felt as nervous.

Gu Yuchen replied to her message: “Wait for me at my place.”

She had no idea what Gu Yuchen was feeling when he typed those five words, but she couldn’t help thinking positively.

Seeing the blood still trickling from her finger, she wiped it with a tissue. It hurt more than she expected, the cut deeper than she realized. She regretted not taking her time picking up the pieces.

Fifteen minutes later, Gu Yuchen returned. Seeing the shattered mug on the floor, his face darkened. “Wen Zhixian, what did you do?”

“I’m sorry, I accidentally knocked it over,” she said, her voice softening as she faced Gu Yuchen.

His chest heaved, breathing fast as he suppressed his anger. He pointed to the broken pieces on the floor, his tone cold: “Pick it up.”

He was angry—angry over a mug.

Wen Zhixian opened her palm. “I cut my hand.”

If the mug had been from anyone else, she would have picked up the pieces and glued it back together. But it was from his first love, and she couldn’t bring herself to be that generous.

He raised his voice, still icy: “I told you to pick it up. Didn’t you hear me?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll buy you a new one, okay?” She reached out to take Gu Yuchen’s hand, which hung by his side.

Gu Yuchen shook her hand off. “Wen Zhixian, you’re not usually careless. Did you do this on purpose?”

A wave of bitterness and frustration welled up in her. “It’s just a mug. Do you really need to be mad at me?”

At her words, Gu Yuchen couldn’t hold back his anger any longer. “Just a mug? Do you know how much this mug—”

He didn’t finish his sentence. “Pick it up and glue it back together.”

Wen Zhixian stood facing him, feeling as if the blood in her veins had turned cold at his words. He had never spoken to her like this before. So, she was less important to him than a mug from his ex…

“Is it because this mug was from your ex?” Her voice trembled with a mixture of accusation and hurt. “We’re about to get married. Are you planning to keep her things around forever? If you liked her so much, why did you choose to be with me? It’s not the mug I broke; it’s the connection between you and her. And that’s why you’re mad at me?”

“Smack—”

A sharp slap echoed through the air. Wen Zhixian’s head turned to the side, her disheveled hair covering the left half of her face. Her mind went blank, and a buzzing sound filled her ears.

The temperature around Gu Yuchen dropped to freezing. His hand trembled slightly from the force of the slap, numb with shock, as he growled, “Get out.”

Her eyes reddened, a layer of tears blurring her vision. She murmured softly, “Gu Yuchen, did I do something wrong?”

She hurried out of Gu Yuchen’s house, afraid that if she stayed a second longer, she would break down in tears in front of him.

Gu Yuchen knelt down to pick up the pieces of the shattered porcelain mug. His hand, the one that had slapped Wen Zhixian, still tingled. Irritated and frustrated, he suddenly threw the piece he was holding to the ground, shattering the already broken porcelain into even smaller fragments.

Wen Zhixian ran out, her pace so hurried that her high heel twisted beneath her. She fell, scraping her palms and knees, blood seeping from the wounds. She quickly grabbed her bag and got up. All she wanted now was to get home as quickly as possible, to leave this place behind.

She brushed past a tall, well-built man as she rushed away.

The man witnessed the entire scene. He glanced down at the key and lipstick she had dropped on the ground, intending to call out to her. But by the time he turned around, she had already driven away, leaving nothing but the glow of her taillights.

When Wen Zhixian reached home, she stood at her door, rummaging through her bag, only to realize her keys were missing. She leaned against the door, the left side of her face burning with pain as tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably.

It took her a while to stop crying. She decided to go back and search for her keys, thinking they might have fallen out when she tripped.

As she exited the residential area, a man suddenly blocked her path. She didn’t even get a good look at him before she croaked, “I’m not interested in whatever you’re selling.”

She tried to walk around him, but the man extended his hand. “You dropped these on West Road.”

In his palm lay her missing keys and lipstick.

She finally looked up at the man standing before her. He was over six feet tall, possibly taller than Gu Yuchen, and very handsome with a cool, intellectual demeanor.

The man’s gaze fell on her face, and for a brief moment, he seemed stunned.

She took the keys and instinctively covered her swollen cheek with her hand, lowering her eyes as she thanked him. “Thank you for bringing them to me.”

She pulled out her phone and offered, “Let me at least pay for your gas.”

“No need, it was just a chance encounter.”

Realizing that staring at her was impolite, he quickly averted his gaze and walked away.

---

Wen Zhixian spent the next two days at home, disconnected from her phone. On the third afternoon, the doorbell rang.

She was lying in bed, feeling utterly drained, the pain in her face still intense. Forcing herself to get up, she opened the door to find her childhood friend and best friend, Qin Zhaoli, standing there. Qin Zhaoli was about to scold her but frowned in concern when she saw how pale and exhausted Wen Zhixian looked. “What happened to you?”

Sensing something was wrong, Qin Zhaoli gently pushed aside the hair covering Wen Zhixian’s left cheek. Her blood ran cold as she saw the bruise and sternly asked, “What happened to your face? Who hit you?”

Wen Zhixian didn’t respond. Qin Zhaoli didn’t press her for answers immediately but instead went inside and made her a bowl of noodles.

After Wen Zhixian finished eating, Qin Zhaoli asked again, “Who hit you?”