Volume One, Chapter One: Betrayed

“Who is he?”

Fang Tao stood at the bedroom doorway, his face brimming with fury.

Inside the bedroom, Wang Rong was disheveled, her fiery figure fully exposed, her striking face flushed with a rosy glow. A lean man was calmly getting dressed.

Wang Rong was his wife of two years.

He had stepped out for half a day on an errand, but returning home early, he was met with this heart-wrenching scene.

“Since you’re back, I’ll be honest with you,” Wang Rong said calmly, without a trace of guilt. “Let me introduce you—this is my new boyfriend, Zhang Shaojie.”

“We’re done. We have no feelings left. Let’s get a divorce,” Fang Tao was stunned, thinking he must have misheard.

“Are you serious?” he asked.

“Can’t you understand plain words?” Wang Rong snorted coldly, her expression tinged with disdain. “We’ve been married for over two years. You’re stagnant, have achieved nothing, and you’re basically worthless!”

“In two years, I’ve earned a degree in business administration, led the company to new heights repeatedly, multiplied its assets dozens of times, and built my net worth into billions!” Fang Tao retorted.

“Fang Tao! The gap between us is too wide! Just looking at you makes me sick!” Wang Rong’s face was full of contempt and scorn.

The woman he once loved dearly had become so alien to him at this moment.

“Achieved nothing? Ha!” Fang Tao couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

She had taken business courses, all paid for by him; even the startup capital for her company came from his pocket.

Her family’s daily expenses, her parents’ medical bills when they were hospitalized—he had covered them all.

Even the early orders the company received were pushed forward by him behind the scenes.

Otherwise, the company would have collapsed long ago.

Now that Wang Rong was finally seeing some progress, she turned around and blamed him for being useless—a true ingrate!

“You were just a hotel waitress back then. I pulled you out of that,” Fang Tao said coldly. “If it weren’t for me, you’d still be earning a meager five thousand yuan at the hotel. If I hadn’t sent you to study business administration, would you be where you are today?”

“If I hadn’t funded your company, would you have made so much money?”

“Without me, you are nothing!”

Fang Tao was so agitated his face flushed red and his voice grew hoarse.

She had gone too far!

If she didn’t love him anymore, she could have said so; he wouldn’t have forced her. But cheating behind his back was a humiliation no man could bear.

“Enough,” he said firmly.

Wang Rong sneered, “Everything you did was out of your own free will. I never begged you for anything!”

“So you can’t use these things to hold me hostage!”

“I just made the choice most women would have made!”

Fang Tao was crushed, overwhelmed with disappointment.

What kind of shamelessness was this to say such things?

The woman he had deeply loved for over two years had turned out to be so heartless?

He took a deep breath, suppressing the rage in his chest.

His ailing mother wanted to see her daughter-in-law one last time, and he couldn’t afford to sever ties with Wang Rong just yet.

“Let’s postpone the divorce discussion. Please come with me to the hospital,” Fang Tao pleaded softly.

Wang Rong looked utterly unwilling. “Why go to the hospital? Don’t you know I’m allergic to the disinfectant smell there?”

“My mother’s condition is critical,” Fang Tao said, restraining his anger. “She wants to see you one last time. Please come with me.”

“No!” Wang Rong refused without hesitation. “My company is about to go public. Visiting someone dying is bad luck! I won’t go.”

“What?” Fang Tao’s eyes widened in disbelief. How could she say something so cruel?

“My mother has been so good to you. She just wants to see you one last time... I hold thirty percent of the company’s shares. If you come, I’ll give them all to you…”

“Enough!” Wang Rong snapped impatiently. “I’ve got plans with Shaojie and friends. I don’t have time to go to the hospital with you!”

“The company was originally mine. That thirty percent stake? You only put in three million yuan at the start. I can give it to you anytime!” Fang Tao said.

They weren’t even divorced yet.

How could she speak so shamelessly?

“I don’t care. You’re coming with me today!” Fang Tao snapped, grabbing her hand and trying to drag her out.

“Ow! You’re hurting me!” Wang Rong cried out.

“Let go, you bastard!” Zhang Shaojie burst out, loudly ordering, “She’s my woman now. Let go immediately!”

“If you dare force anything, don’t blame me for being ruthless!” Wang Rong seized the chance to shake off Fang Tao’s hand and hid behind Zhang Shaojie, glaring coldly at Fang Tao.

“Shaojie is the heir of the Zhang family. One call from him and you’ll be dealt with. You’d better leave now!”

The Zhang family?

The Zhang Group ranked among the top ten in Shen City?

Fang Tao frowned, suppressing his anger. “If you go, I’ll sign the divorce papers immediately. Otherwise, I won’t agree.”

Wang Rong thought it over and found it reasonable, about to agree.

But Zhang Shaojie cut in, cursing, “Damn it! Who the hell do you think you are, threatening me?”

“I’m warning you: if you don’t back off from this marriage, I’ll break your damn legs right here!”

He grabbed Fang Tao by the collar, his eyes fierce, threatening, “Remember this! Don’t ever bother Xiaorong again, or I’ll beat you every time I see you!”

“Now, get the hell out of here!”

He was arrogantly taking control, even threatening to kick out the rightful husband. Such insolence was intolerable!

“Fuck you!” Fang Tao erupted, unable to hold back any longer, delivering a solid punch to Zhang Shaojie’s nose.

Crack!

Zhang Shaojie’s nose broke instantly, blood spurting wildly.

“Ouch!”

He screamed in pain, staggering back repeatedly until he collapsed onto the floor, blood pouring from his nostrils.

“A-Jie!” Wang Rong was terrified, rushing over and slapping Fang Tao across the face without hesitation, then turning to check on Zhang Shaojie’s injury with concern.

Fang Tao was stunned.

The woman he had been married to for over two years, the one who used to obey him in everything, had just struck him for the sake of a lover?

“Does it hurt? Let me take you to the hospital...” Wang Rong anxiously wiped the blood from Zhang Shaojie’s face, her heart aching.

“I’m fine!” Zhang Shaojie glared fiercely at Fang Tao, gritting his teeth. “You worthless bastard dared to hit me! If you have the guts, don’t leave—I’ll have someone finish you off right now!”

He immediately pulled out his phone to call for backup.

Wang Rong didn’t even try to stop him; instead, she glared at Fang Tao with hatred as if he were her mortal enemy.

“I’ll deal with you later,” Fang Tao muttered, thinking of his mother in the hospital. He had no energy left to argue and turned to leave.

“You can’t escape!”

“I’ll find you and break your legs for sure!”