Volume One, Chapter 105: Liang Muzhi Has Vanished.

Liang Mu-zhi had vanished.

It happened less than an hour before the engagement ceremony was set to begin.

His phone was constantly busy; no matter how hard they tried, no call could get through. Xu Zhi had tried, then Fu Wanwen and Liang Zheng-guo followed suit, but it was all in vain.

Everyone—staff from the wedding company, Liang Zheng-guo’s secretary and assistant—were searching for Liang Mu-zhi.

Xu Zhi sat on the sofa in the dressing room, unmoving as if carved from stone. Even the blush on her cheeks failed to mask her deathly pallor.

Liang Zheng-guo was losing his temper, roaring at the assistant on the other end of the line, demanding they retrieve the hotel’s surveillance footage at once.

Fu Wanwen was nearly frantic. If Liang Mu-zhi was still inside the hotel, things might still be salvageable—but if he had already left, even if they managed to find him, he might miss the scheduled time for the ceremony.

Xu He-ping and Zhao Nian-qiao, having received the news, hurried over as well.

Upon seeing Xu Zhi, Zhao Nian-qiao rushed to her side, anxiously asking what had happened.

“Mom…” Xu Zhi’s voice was hoarse, barely uttered before tears threatened to spill.

She tilted her face upward, took a deep breath, fighting desperately to hold back her tears. If her makeup smudged, it would only be more humiliating later.

Never had she expected Liang Mu-zhi to run away at such a moment.

Everyone had let down their guard, assuming he wouldn’t flee. She had thought the same; the idea of a fake engagement had been his, they had discussed everything thoroughly.

Had he not considered, when he left, what would happen to the Liang family, to herself? She was powerless to handle this mess.

If the ceremony had been kept low-key, it might not matter, but thanks to the Liang family’s previous publicity, this engagement was now the focus of North City. Not only the elite of North City had come, but several media outlets as well.

Now, abandoned by Liang Mu-zhi, her mind was blank—she had no idea what to do.

Zhao Nian-qiao, seeing Xu Zhi’s state, guessed most of the story. “Did he run off with that woman?”

“I…” Xu Zhi paused. “I only know he said he wanted to call Chen Jing, then took his phone and left. After that… he never came back. When we went looking for him, he was already gone.”

With so many people in the hotel today, searching for one person was no easy task. Liang Zheng-guo had ordered someone to check the surveillance, but it was clear: if Liang Mu-zhi was determined to escape, even if they found him, the ceremony could not proceed as planned.

He was trying to avoid this engagement, Xu Zhi thought in despair—but why? He could have handled it differently, told her in advance, found another way. Now he had left, and at this engagement ceremony with her fiancé missing, she would become the laughingstock of all North City.

She had not asked for much. She accepted his proposal for a fake engagement, hadn’t stopped him from seeing Chen Jing—what more did he want from her?

He was the one who insisted on reconciliation, yet he was the first to leave. He didn’t even give her a choice; at this crucial moment, he was going to leave her disgraced.

Beside her, Fu Wanwen couldn’t help but speak up, her words sharp and unyielding: “How could you let him call Chen Jing? At a time like this, the ceremony is about to start! You’re Mu-zhi’s fiancée now, you’re supposed to keep him in line, don’t you understand? Chen Jing will do anything to sabotage your engagement—why can’t you be more vigilant?”

Fu Wanwen was anxious and her tone was harsh.

Xu He-ping frowned at Xu Zhi, “What’s wrong with you? Mu-zhi wanted to call Chen Jing and you just let him? Are you dim-witted? The guests are all seated, and he’s gone. Can you bear this responsibility?”

Xu Zhi was dazed, as if she hadn’t understood, her face tilted, gazing at Fu Wanwen and Xu He-ping before her.

Why was everyone blaming her?

Liang Zheng-guo hung up, glanced over, and spoke in a stern voice: “I said all along we shouldn’t have dismissed the bodyguards. They should have stayed with him until the ceremony ended.”

Fu Wanwen responded, “I only dismissed them because he seemed settled these last few days, and Zhi persuaded me.”

Xu He-ping turned to Xu Zhi, glaring, “You told your aunt to dismiss the bodyguards?”

“I…”

Before Xu Zhi could explain, Xu He-ping barked, “Are you out of your mind? The bodyguards were dismissed and now this happened. What are we supposed to do? This concerns both families, not just you! You’re nothing but trouble!”

Xu He-ping clenched his fists, barely containing his anger, his voice rising uncontrollably.

Besides them, a few people from the wedding company were present, glancing over at the commotion.

Xu Zhi thought, if not for the setting, perhaps Xu He-ping would have struck her. Even without physical blows, her face burned under their gaze, and the shame made her want to disappear.

Everyone was blaming her.

Zhao Nian-qiao couldn’t help but interject, “Zhi never expected this. You blame her, but do you think she feels any better? It’s not only your reputations at stake—she’s thin-skinned, and with Mu-zhi running off like this, how will she ever hold her head up in North City?”

Xu He-ping shouted at her, “Shut up! Look at how you raised her—so brainless! If the bodyguards hadn’t been dismissed, she could have stopped Mu-zhi from calling that woman, and none of this would have happened. Now both the Liang and our families are losing face—who cares about her?”

“Enough arguing,” Liang Zheng-guo, the most composed among them, frowned and looked at Xu Zhi. “Finding Mu-zhi is more urgent now. Otherwise, both our families will be disgraced before all of North City.”

For families like the Liangs, reputation was everything. With outsiders present in the dressing room, Liang Zheng-guo found the situation intolerable. He sent Fu Wanwen to look after the still-uninformed Old Master Liang, then asked Xu He-ping and Zhao Nian-qiao to help search for Liang Mu-zhi.

Amid the chaos, Xu Zhi sat in a daze, quietly observing it all.

Her surroundings were noisy, her mind muddled, as if stuffed with too much yet blank all the same.

She wanted to cry, but her eyes were dry.

She held her phone, dialing Liang Mu-zhi again. Still busy. Perhaps he was still speaking with Chen Jing. Had he forgotten her completely?

After a while, she rose from the sofa and walked out of the dressing room.

Everyone was busy; no one noticed her. She wandered the hallway, unsure where to go. She considered leaving the hotel, but as she rounded the corner, she saw the lavish banquet hall, crowded with guests.

Her face drained of color, she halted, then turned and made her way down the corridor to the elevator.

She could hardly breathe. Wanting fresh air, she pressed the button and rode to the top floor.

Stepping out, she climbed the stairs and finally pushed open the door to the rooftop.

It was much quieter here, but bitterly cold.

Xu Zhi wore no coat; the cold wind lashed her bare shoulders and back, making her shiver.

But she didn’t want to return. She couldn’t go back. She wanted to hide, disappear from the world, terrified of facing anyone.

They would only accuse her, pin all the blame on her, never listening to her voice.

She had tried so hard, yet the outcome was still this: Liang Mu-zhi had run away, leaving her behind like a discarded wife, awaiting the scorn of all.

She could not imagine how she would survive the days to come, whether she could remain in North City at all.

Her thoughts drifted and swirled; before she knew it, she had reached the edge of the rooftop.

Why not jump, she thought, end it all—then there would be nothing to fear, no more accusations, no more ridicule, nothing left to hear…

She clutched her dress, her vision blurring, and suddenly thought of someone.

Even here, at the brink, as she contemplated ending it all, she still longed to see that person one last time.

Just then, in the cold wind, a male voice sounded, like an illusion:

“Hey.”

Even though it was only a single syllable, the voice was achingly familiar. Xu Zhi’s back tensed; slowly, she turned toward the sound.

Liang Jin-mo was also dressed formally today, in a suit and tie, though the knot was loose, two buttons undone at the collar, a cigarette clamped between his lips. He looked unusually disheveled and nonchalant.

Those dark eyes, like the night itself, were quietly watching her.