{Off you go, and take your children with you 2}

Ohio, Columbus, 3900 Chagrin Drive.

A standard red-and-white building with a Hilton sign hanging outside.

Shen Qi, cold as ice, instructed the staff to check him in. He sank deep into the sofa, rubbing his forehead, but couldn’t help thinking about the woman who “drove him away” earlier today.

He didn’t understand what was wrong with Qian Xu today; something seemed off from the moment he saw her.

He had never needed to care about this woman’s moods before.

Why should he bother worrying about someone so insignificant? After all, everything in the world has its purpose, and everyone has their rightful place. Perhaps she was simply born to care for his children over the past few years.

If she insisted on returning to China with him, arranging a job for her wouldn’t be too difficult.

Shen Qi acknowledged her efforts but would never forget his financial support. In his mind, he never owed Qian Xu anything.

As for emotions, he believed that men engaging in flings outside was common.

He was convinced he no longer had any feelings left.

That had long since faded away with a passionate love from his youth, leaving him now as nothing more than a numb, hollow shell.

He was once no different from all those foolish young men, chasing after a vain and selfish woman all the way to Kennedy International Airport, only to be met with her cold, indifferent back.

Had he arrived earlier, maybe they could have kissed and embraced at the airport. But Shen Qi knew it wouldn’t have mattered. He couldn’t salvage a fleeting relationship sustained by money.

Qian Xu had appeared at just the right time. His family had fallen from grace, and the high cost of living in New York forced him to leave. He planned to take his two young children to Ohio to lay low for a while.

While he was in college, he had a classmate who owned land in the Midwest, essentially a farm.

When Shen Qi arrived, he happened to meet Qian Xu, who was helping at his friend’s party.

He immediately saw through Qian Xu’s innocent affection for him, that crush typical of a young girl. In the past, he would have scoffed at it—Shen Qi, the favored son of heaven, didn’t need to rely on a young woman’s affection to solve his problems.

But when Qian Xu appeared, he realized just how shameless he had become.

He needed a woman to maintain a stable life step by step, at least someone who wouldn’t allow the two children to become a burden on his entrepreneurial path.

One day, he would inevitably return to China, but certainly not in a moment of failure. He needed someone to support him from the back, and Qian Xu, gentle, attentive, and emotionally stable, was that person. She wouldn’t typically lose her temper and argue with him like she had tonight. Most of the time, she would sit quietly in the corner at parties, pushing up her scholarly black-framed glasses.

She wasn’t materialistic.

Her clear eyes seemed entirely devoid of any impurity.

Undoubtedly, she was young and beautiful, but her beauty had an indescribable elegance.

This elegance was, of course, completely non-threatening.

She neither sought the spotlight nor felt inferior because of her looks.

Shen Qi still remembered the first time Qian Xu carefully picked up Shen Xinian, the little boy in her arms immediately stopped crying.

From that moment on, Qian Xu indeed became the best candidate for his future partner.

As for what was between them, if she truly wanted something more, he could satisfy her. But perhaps due to Qian Xu’s shyness or the strong presence of the two children, their relationship hadn’t made much real progress over the years.

Only now did Shen Qi realize this.

He always believed that desire and lust were part of human nature, and that it was a man’s instinct to want more women. In any case, he thought he hadn’t done anything morally wrong to Qian Xu. The $500,000 he gave her was more than enough to be considered payment for the past few years.

Shen Qi suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, realizing that tonight, Qian Xu had unexpectedly disturbed his mood. He decided not to think any further about this woman, who would no longer have any connection with him after this.

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

However, just because he could choose to forget didn’t mean his children could forget so easily.

With little experience in taking care of the kids, he used his authority to get them to go to sleep. Shen Qiyue and Shen Qinian were relatively obedient. Shen Qiyue asked once to hear a story, but Shen Qi barely lifted his eyelids. He didn’t need to say a word—one look was enough to send her off.

That night, Shen Qiyue didn’t appear again in his sight.

Shen Qinian, on the other hand, struggled for a long time. His sister was already contentedly resting in the presidential suite, waiting for the dawn to break, anticipating their flight to Ohio’s Cleveland airport in the morning. But he kept tossing and turning, uncomfortable with the unfamiliar hotel. Even his comfort teddy bear couldn’t ease his restlessness, so he eventually went to his father’s bedside.

Standing stiffly as if he were in military training, he was tense and didn’t dare to relax.

Shen Qi noticed his son’s interruption and had no choice but to put down his copy of The Wall Street Journal.

“What is it?”

Shen Qinian asked, “Leaving like this—won’t this make Aunt Qian Xu sad?”

The child’s innocent question echoed in the vast presidential suite.

Shen Qi’s previously unaffected expression suddenly grew more serious, showing a trace of displeasure as if the boy had touched on a forbidden topic. The curtains of the suite slowly closed on their own, blocking out the snowy brightness of the outside world.