Volume One, Chapter Two: She Truly Left Him

Halfway through their candlelit dinner, Huo Mingting and Qin Minshu were summoned home by a call from the housekeeper.

Cong’er had thrown a tantrum, suffered a nosebleed, and developed a slight fever.

“Where’s Ye Sheng?” Huo Mingting held the child in his arms, his face a mixture of worry and anger. How could Ye Sheng leave the child like this and not care?

The housekeeper, trembling, replied, “Madam… Madam has left.”

Huo Mingting froze. Qin Minshu looked up. “Where did she go?”

The housekeeper couldn’t say for sure, but emphasized that Madam had left with a suitcase.

Huo Mingting went upstairs and switched on the lights. In three years of marriage, no matter how late he came home, Ye Sheng always waited up for him. This was the first time he had ever turned on the lights himself.

In the master bedroom, the discarded divorce agreement he had thrown into the trash was now on the coffee table. Other than that, nothing seemed out of place; only a small suitcase and a few clothes were missing from the closet.

So, after three years of marriage, she was playing the runaway wife? Huo Mingting let out a cold, furious laugh. He pulled out his phone to call Ye Sheng, but then decided not to indulge her tantrum.

Huo Cong’s nose wouldn’t stop bleeding. Qin Minshu soothed him while tending to his nose, staining her white dress with blood.

Seeing Huo Mingting come downstairs, Qin Minshu, holding the child, anxiously said, “Mingting, this won’t do. We need to go to the hospital.”

Huo Mingting quickly agreed, taking the boy into his arms. Looking apologetically at Qin Minshu, he said, “I’m so sorry for dirtying your dress. I’ll have the driver prepare the car. Go upstairs and change.”

Little Huo Cong piped up sweetly, “Aunt Minshu, my mom has lots of dresses. Feel free to pick one. You’ll look beautiful in anything!”

“You really do have the sweetest mouth.” Qin Minshu tapped his nose affectionately and obligingly went upstairs to choose a long dress from the wardrobe, once again stunning the father and son with her beauty.

On the way to the hospital, Huo Mingting remembered that the clinic card and medical records were all with Ye Sheng. She was always the one taking the child for checkups.

Swallowing his anger, he dialed Ye Sheng’s number, only to find her phone switched off.

He scowled deeply, then sent her a voice message on WeChat.

“I don’t care where you are, come back immediately! Ye Sheng, this isn’t how you throw a tantrum. How can you just leave your child behind and walk out? What kind of mother does that?”

Qin Minshu sat to the side and gently coaxed him, “Mingting, don’t worry, don’t frighten the child. Did Ye Sheng leave because she’s angry with me?”

“This has nothing to do with you.” Huo Mingting exhaled heavily, recalling Ye Sheng’s parting words, a tightness gripping his chest.

But he didn’t take it seriously. No one understood better than he did how deeply Ye Sheng loved him—she would never divorce him.

And she couldn’t bear to leave the child.

After a long night at the hospital, Huo Mingting lost track of how many times he’d tried calling Ye Sheng—her phone remained off. Even Qin Minshu was exhausted. She had a surgery scheduled for the next day and was hoping for Ye Sheng’s return—after all, she was still useful.

A flicker of coldness flashed in Qin Minshu’s eyes.

“Where could Ye Sheng have gone? Maybe back to her family?” she ventured.

“She’s an orphan—she has no family to go back to,” Huo Mingting blurted out.

Qin Minshu thought so too. They had been university classmates for four years, but she’d never met any of Ye Sheng’s relatives. Ye Sheng never spoke about her own affairs.

Huo Mingting wanted to find her, but realized that aside from her contact information, he knew almost nothing about her. She had no family, no friends; for three years, she’d hardly set foot outside, dedicating herself entirely to him and the child. Where could she go with just a suitcase?

He asked a friend to check her ID, hoping to find out which hotel she’d checked into and bring her back. After a while, his friend replied:

Ye Sheng had booked a flight to Country Y, which had departed an hour ago.

She had really left?

He picked up the two copies of the divorce agreement. Ye Sheng’s signature was neat and decisive—without a tear, without hesitation.

She hadn’t asked for anything, only took the small suitcase she’d brought when she first entered the Huo family.

She left cleanly, without a trace.

At that moment, for the first time, Huo Mingting truly began to panic.