The child is not yours.

Qiantang City.

Evening.

A certain western restaurant.

By the window, a man and a woman sat together.

The man’s face was rough and unshaven, bearing the marks of hardship. Across from him sat a woman with cascading, voluminous curls. Her form-fitting pink dress accentuated her graceful curves, exuding undeniable allure.

“Lin Shan, sign the papers.”

The woman slid a divorce agreement across the table to Lin Shan. Lin Shan looked up at his wife, Zhang Wan, his voice tinged with pleading. “Honey, give me a little more time, please. Everything will get better.”

Zhang Wan’s almond eyes were icy, devoid of warmth. “Lin Shan, I’ve already given you plenty of time. We’ve been married for five years, living in an old neighborhood, driving a battered secondhand car. How many five-year spans does a life have? I can’t wait any longer. Do you know I’ve become a laughingstock among my friends?”

“So many pursued me in college—Chen Chu is already a department head, Sheng Teng’s company just secured its Series B funding. I chose you, but how did you repay me? In five years, not only did your career stagnate, you were laid off. How can you give our daughter and me a better life?”

“My friends aren’t as pretty as me, their figures aren’t as good, but their husbands are all far better than you. Lin Shan, we’re past the age of believing in love by ear. Now, we must face reality. I won’t let myself waste away any longer.”

With each word Zhang Wan spoke, Lin Shan’s head bowed lower.

The vows from their wedding still echoed in his mind. He had worked so hard, but the gap in their backgrounds was simply too vast...

Chen Chu’s father was a high-ranking official, Sheng Teng’s father a company president, while Lin Shan’s own father was a plain blue-collar worker. His starting point was worlds apart...

He admitted he wasn’t extraordinary enough to overcome all those disadvantages.

Eight years of striving, nearly always working overtime, finally allowed him to buy a decent apartment in a city like Qiantang. He had given his all.

Lin Shan heard the finality in Zhang Wan’s words; his heart ached, but he could not escape reality. He drew a deep breath, gazing at the woman before him—once so entwined with him, now so utterly unfamiliar.

“Alright... since you insist, I won’t force it. I paid for the apartment in full, so I can give you half. But I have one condition—Yuanyuan must stay with me.”

Yuanyuan was their daughter, born a year ago. Her first birthday had just passed, but Lin Shan, exhausted by life, hadn’t managed to organize a celebration.

Zhang Wan sneered, lifting her chin with a trace of ridicule. “You bought it after marriage, so half is mine anyway. Lin Shan, in your current state, can you give Yuanyuan a good life? Your father is gravely ill in hospital, your mother can’t do anything, your sister’s still in school. You’re already burdened by your family—do you want Yuanyuan to inherit that tragedy, to be drained by them? Only with me will Yuanyuan have a better life. If you have any conscience, let her go. I’ve stayed with you all these years—half the property is what I deserve.”

Once lovers, now ground down by life, stripped of tenderness, leaving only naked calculations of gain.

Lin Shan felt a flicker of doubt, but then recalled that Zhang Wan had spent these years as a full-time housewife. If their daughter stayed with her, what kind of life could she expect?

“In that case, see you in court!”

His daughter was Lin Shan’s bottom line; no matter what, he had to fight for her.

Zhang Wan snorted and stood. “Court it is! Scrape together some money and find a lawyer.”

With that, she rose gracefully and walked out of the restaurant. At that moment, the rear door of a black Mercedes S400 parked by the curb swung open. A man in the back seat, impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, slicked-back hair, and gold-rimmed glasses, looked refined.

Lin Shan abruptly stood up. He recognized the man—it was a classmate from university.

Sheng Teng.

The very person Zhang Wan had mentioned earlier, whose company had just secured its Series B funding.

Sheng Teng noticed Lin Shan through the glass, waved a hand by his ear in greeting, but his gaze was full of mockery.

Lin Shan hurried out of the restaurant, just in time to see Zhang Wan approaching the Mercedes.

Seeing Lin Shan follow, Zhang Wan paused deliberately at the car door. Sheng Teng stepped out and naturally wrapped his arm around Zhang Wan’s waist.

At that sight, Lin Shan’s mind went blank, then rage surged within him. So this was the truth.

His head had been sporting a crown of green all along.

Sheng Teng looked at Lin Shan with smug satisfaction. “Lin Shan, I always said Zhang Wan should have chosen me. She suffered for years with you. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her from now on.”

Zhang Wan draped her arms around Sheng Teng’s neck, speaking softly, “You don’t know how good you are until you’ve experienced a scumbag.”

Lin Shan’s fists clenched, veins bulging. Ten years ago, he would have lunged at Sheng Teng, but a decade of life’s beatings had dulled his edges.

Too much held him back now.

He drew a deep breath, and the last vestige of affection for Zhang Wan faded away. He said, voice cool, “Perfect match—scoundrel and harlot. May you last forever.”

Zhang Wan’s face flushed with shame and anger. Seeing Lin Shan’s calm demeanor, she grew agitated. She had expected him to lose his temper, to throw himself at Sheng Teng, which would make her feel more precious.

It would numb her—help her forget she was just a cheating woman.

She had lingered at the door out of that very impulse.

Zhang Wan gritted her teeth and said, “Lin Shan, fighting for Yuanyuan’s custody is pointless, because Yuanyuan isn’t your child!”

The words struck like thunder from a clear sky. Lin Shan, about to turn away, froze. He could accept Zhang Wan’s betrayal, but the revelation that Yuanyuan was not his own was unbearable.

One year.

Over three hundred nights. Each night, he watched over Yuanyuan. No matter how exhausted, her cries would rouse him instantly. Her laughter gave him endless strength.

Lin Shan felt something block his chest, as though he might explode. At last, he spat out three words between clenched teeth: “You are cruel!”

He could no longer control himself; fury drowned his reason. All he wanted now was to beat these two vile people.

But at that moment, a massive figure stepped in front of Lin Shan. He punched the man’s chest, but the man didn’t budge. Then Lin Shan felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and collapsed uncontrollably.

Sheng Teng’s arrogant voice rang in his ears.

“San, if he calls the police later, just pay the station a visit. At most, it’s fifteen days detention. I’ll give you a month’s leave—wages doubled!”

“Thank you, boss!”

Zhang Wan and Sheng Teng ignored Lin Shan, who lay on the ground, and the Mercedes roared away.

Lin Shan knelt, retching for a while before regaining his senses. A crowd had gathered from the restaurant to watch, most casting mocking, unsympathetic glances. Not one reached out to help.

He sat in despair on a stone block nearby.

A wild thought sprang to his mind.

“If you won’t let me live, then I won’t let you live either...”

Just then, his phone chimed with a notification.