Chapter 5: Stop Making a Scene Over Such Trivial Matters  

Lu Zhenzhu looked at Gu Huai, feeling as though the man before her was a complete stranger.  

She bent down to pick up the shattered picture frame, shards of glass cutting into her palm. Blood dripped onto the floor, yet she barely noticed.  

“Gu Huai, let’s get a divorce.”  

She raised her head, her gaze icy and resolute. “Right now.”  

A flicker of hesitation flashed in his eyes, but the moment he saw Jiang Sesè, his expression hardened again. “Stop throwing a tantrum here. If you want to make a scene, do it at home.”  

The light cast shadows in his pupils. “If you want this painting, I’ll have ten more made for you—I’ve told you before, stop making a fuss over such trivial matters. Sesè didn’t mean to, alright?”  

That “alright” carried his usual coaxing tone, but Lu Zhenzhu only felt disgust.  

“Gu Huai,” she suddenly laughed, her shoulders trembling. “You’re truly disgusting.”  

Without waiting for his reaction, she shook off his hand and turned to leave.  

Behind her, Jiang Sesè’s laughter and the murmurs of the guests intertwined like an invisible net, trapping her in endless agony.  

Stepping out of the venue, the cold night wind hit her, sending a shiver down her spine.  

She gazed back at the brilliantly lit hall, tears streaming down her cheeks.  

She walked for a long, long time—so long that she lost track of how far she had gone.  

All she knew was that she couldn’t turn back. Even if she did, Gu Huai would no longer be there waiting for her…  

Once, she had believed love could conquer everything, that she could hold a place in Gu Huai’s heart. But now, everything had shattered like bubbles.  

That destroyed painting was just like her shattered love and dreams—impossible to piece back together.  

By the time Lu Zhenzhu walked back from the banquet, it was already midnight.  

The moment the door opened, she saw Gu Huai bare-chested, water droplets glistening on his toned muscles.  

“Sister Zhenzhu, why are you only coming back now?” Jiang Sesè’s sweet voice chimed from behind her, wearing Lu Zhenzhu’s pajamas.  

She reached out to drape a robe over Gu Huai. “Sister Zhen, don’t misunderstand—we just finished swimming.”  

Gu Huai glanced up at Lu Zhenzhu’s disheveled state, his brow furrowing slightly. But when Jiang Sesè tugged at him, his expression shifted back to indifference as he raised an eyebrow. “You’re drenched and didn’t even bother to take shelter from the rain? Did you really need me to come pick you up?”  

She avoided his outstretched hand, her voice icy. “Miss Jiang, you should be more careful in public. Wouldn’t want people to mistake you for a homewrecker, would you?”  

At her words, Gu Huai’s gaze turned frigid, but Jiang Sesè suddenly burst into tears and threw herself into his arms. “I’m sorry, it was an accident… Sister Zhenzhu, please don’t be angry. I’ll move out right away…”  

“Move out?” Gu Huai wrapped an arm around Jiang Sesè’s waist, his fingers tracing the delicate curve of her nape. “This is my home. Who has the right to dictate what happens here?”  

He turned to Lu Zhenzhu. “As for you—look at the state you’re in. What kind of example is this?”  

Lu Zhenzhu stared at the ring on his finger—the one she had given him for their anniversary. Now, it gleamed coldly.  

“Gu Huai,” she said softly, “I mean it. Let’s get a divorce. I’ve already signed the papers. We’ll finalize it tomorrow.”  

He abruptly pushed Jiang Sesè aside and strode toward her, gripping her chin to force her to meet his eyes. “Say that again. Have you forgotten the vows you made to grow old with me?”

She pulled out the divorce papers, the pages wrinkled from the moisture in the air: “Sign it. Don’t make me despise you any further.”

Gu Huai stared at Lu Zhenzhu, his voice laced with suppressed fury.

Suddenly, he reached out and pulled her into a crushing embrace, as if trying to meld her into his bones. “No divorce. Do you hear me? You’re my wife, and you always will be.”  

His chin rested atop her head. “Did you really think you could leave me just like that?”  

Lu Zhenzhu tried to push him away but caught the scent of cherry blossoms on him—the fragrance of Jiang Sesè’s body wash.  

“Let go of me,” she gritted out. “Did you think this would make me stay?”  

“Make you stay?” He chuckled darkly, his fingers slipping beneath her damp collar. “I’m just reminding you—we’re husband and wife.”  

That night, for the first time, Gu Huai left Jiang Sesè behind and took Lu Zhenzhu to their villa in the suburbs.  

He bit down on her lips with punishing force, only to soften abruptly when she struggled. “Stop fighting me, alright? My birthday is coming up… Did you forget you promised to spend every one of them with me? Lu Zhenzhu, don’t even think about going back on your word. I remember everything…”  

His kiss descended like a storm, violent and unrelenting.  

Pinning her against the entryway cabinet, he pressed his lips to hers, the cold sting of rain and cologne flooding her senses. Yet his tongue burned as it traced the cut on her lip, deliberate and punishing.  

She trembled, unsure whether from the cold or from him.  

Then, with a sigh, he pulled a blanket around her, fingers gently combing through her damp, tangled hair. “Enough, alright? I’ll have her move out tomorrow. From now on, it’ll just be the two of us. Okay?”  

His voice was low, soothing, as if coaxing a child. “I’ll come home every day to have dinner with you, to flip through iris catalogs with you… I’ll never make you cry again.”  

She froze, lifting her gaze to meet his—only to find an earnestness she’d never seen before, stripped of all pretense, leaving nothing but raw tenderness.  

“Really?” Her voice shook.  

“Really.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll come home every day to have dinner with you, to flip through iris catalogs with you…” His fingers brushed over the wound on her palm. “I’ll never make you cry again.”  

Three days later, Jiang Sesè’s belongings were cleared out.  

True to his word, Gu Huai declined all social engagements and returned home on time.  

For a fleeting moment, Lu Zhenzhu almost believed they had gone back to the way things used to be.  

Until late one night, when she accidentally glimpsed the unread messages on his unlocked phone—no wonder he’d had Jiang Sesè move out. He’d bought her another place to live. What a perfect way of keeping a mistress.  

Lu Zhenzhu wasn’t even surprised. Deep down, she’d never truly trusted Gu Huai.  

But when the moment finally came, her heart still deflated like a punctured balloon.  

At least she could soon leave him behind and step into freedom…  

Because Lu Zhenzhu had finally received word from the curator—they had agreed to host her exhibition again. This new showcase would announce to the art world: she, Lu Zhenzhu, had returned.  

On the opening day, she stood before the gallery wall, staring at her latest work—*Metamorphosis*.

The Jacaranda on the canvas split in two under the torrential rain, revealing a golden Chrysalis hidden within—her painstaking masterpiece.  

“Miss Lu, this painting has such profound artistic conception,” Curator Chen praised. “The judging panel said it carries the legacy of your mother, Master Lu Qin.”  

Lu Zhenzhu traced her fingers over the canvas, recalling the sketchbook her mother had pressed into her hands on her deathbed, containing the unfinished draft of *Nirvana*.  

“She always said painting must come from the heart,” she murmured softly. But just then, a news alert flashed on her phone, making her pupils constrict sharply.  

The hashtag *#YoungPainterJiangSesePlagiarismExposed* topped the trending list, accompanied by a side-by-side comparison of her *Metamorphosis* and Jiang Sese’s *Rebirth*—identical in composition, color palette, even brushstrokes.  

Lu Zhenzhu clenched her phone, watching as the comments flooded with curses like “plagiarism dog” and “get out of academia.”  

Meanwhile, Jiang Sese’s studio account had pinned a statement at the top: *”Thanks to the Gu Group’s sponsorship. The inspiration for this piece came from the love of my partner.”*