The gloomy weather was suddenly split by a deafening clap of thunder.

Torrential rain poured down, its relentless drumming against the windows like a dissonant rhythm, oppressive and suffocating.

At the top floor of the skyscraper, a man in an impeccably tailored suit stood motionless by the floor-to-ceiling window, his piercing gaze fixed on the storm outside. The air around him was frigid, as if he were carved from ice.

"Jiang Chishun!"

The sharp cry shattered the silence as Ning Yan barged into the CEO’s office, ignoring the frantic protests of the assistant trailing behind her.

Her chest heaved with ragged breaths, evidence of her desperate sprint through the downpour. Drenched from head to toe, she looked like a drowned rat—utterly disheveled, a stark contrast to Jiang Chishun’s composed elegance.

"Mr. Jiang, I’m so sorry—Madam insisted on coming in, and we couldn’t stop her—"

The assistant stammered, his face twisted in helplessness. But Jiang Chishun remained unreadable, his expression calm as he flicked a glance toward the door, silently dismissing him. The assistant took the hint and slipped out, closing the door quietly behind him.

Ning Yan stood frozen in place, her soaked hair clinging to her pale cheeks. She looked fragile, like a wilted flower battered by the storm.

"You’re here."

Jiang Chishun’s deep voice was unnervingly gentle, betraying no hint of tension. He shrugged off his suit jacket and moved to drape it over her shoulders with effortless grace. "Why didn’t you bring an umbrella?"

Ning Yan raised a hand to stop him, her eyes searching his face desperately, as if trying to decipher some hidden emotion. But his dark, fathomless gaze gave nothing away.

"I... I need to ask you—"

Her lips parted, the questions burning inside her, yet the words lodged in her throat, refusing to form.

"So you want to ask about your father?" Jiang Chishun ignored the hesitation on her face, his tone flat and devoid of emotion.

A heavy weight seemed to press against Ning Yan's chest. Her lips pressed into a tight line as the air between them grew thick with tension.

She gave a stiff nod, her gaze never leaving him.

Jiang Chishun remained silent for a long moment before draping his suit jacket over her shoulders again. His voice was calm, almost detached. "You guessed right. I was the one who sent your father to prison." Then, the corner of his lips curled into a faint, icy smile. "Not only that—I was the one who handed over all the evidence of his crimes."

A deafening crack of thunder split the sky.

Ning Yan flinched—she had always been afraid of thunder. Biting her lower lip, she willed the tears welling in her eyes not to fall.

As she stared at the man before her, so composed and unshaken, a numbing cold crept through her limbs. Her chest tightened with a suffocating despair.

Just moments ago, as she had raced here, she had refused to believe it—that the man she loved most, her husband Jiang Chishun, was truly the one who had exposed her father.

And now, hearing his blunt admission, spoken so carelessly, as if it meant nothing—

She wanted to scream.

Why?

Why had he been so ruthless? Why had he dragged her, Ning Yan, into his scheme?

Jiang Chishun seemed to read her thoughts. "All these years, I've been waiting for the right moment to bring him down. Marrying you—it was all for this day."

His words hit her like an explosion, shattering every last shred of her composure.

Ning Yan stared at him, the truth dawning on her with crushing clarity. She had never truly understood this man. She had insisted on marrying him against her parents' warnings. And for years, his tenderness, his whispered affections, had made her feel like she was floating on air.

And now, he was telling her that all these years together had been nothing but a scheme to bring down her father!

The agony of plummeting from heaven straight into hell was truly unbearable.

Before she could utter a word, Jiang Chishun continued coldly, "I want you to know—your father got exactly what he deserved."

"Years ago, he used despicable means to ruin my father’s company and destroyed my family. Now, I’m just making him pay back every last bit of what he owes me."

His eyes darkened, and a ruthless smirk curled his lips. "Look at you now—helpless, just like I was back then."

Ning Yan stood frozen, unable to speak, her gaze locked onto Jiang Chishun’s face—once so familiar, now a stranger’s.

She watched as he strode toward his desk, pulled a pre-drafted divorce agreement from the drawer, and tossed it onto the surface with careless indifference.

"Go on, sign it."

His tone was eerily calm, no different from the gentle voice he’d once used to coax her into eating.

Ning Yan’s eyes dropped to the document. The ink of his signature had long dried, as if it had been waiting for this moment. Every clause was meticulously crafted to ensure she walked away with nothing.

Biting her lower lip hard, she forced back the tears welling in her eyes.

With trembling hands, she picked up the pen and signed her name in the designated space—quick, deliberate, refusing to let her composure crack.

Jiang Chishun stood a few steps away, arms crossed behind his back, watching her every move.

When she finished, she met his gaze. After a long silence, a bitter smile tugged at her lips.

"Congratulations, Mr. Jiang."

With that, she shrugged off his suit jacket from her shoulders and walked out of the CEO’s office—her spine straight, her pride intact.

Even in defeat, she would leave with her head held high.

As her retreating figure disappeared, Jiang Chishun remained rooted in place, an inexplicable weight pressing against his chest. After years of patience and plotting, vengeance was finally his. He should have been elated.

Yet, he felt nothing but hollow.