Chapter 21: Boundaries

"There is no need to ask her. I make my own decisions regarding my marriage."

Jiang Wei remained as resolute as ever. Her bright, captivating face showed no signs of her thirty-five years, still possessing all the fiery passion and defiance of her youth.

The man’s sharp, restrained features tightened with a touch of mockery. "You were the same back then—ready to disregard everything for your own selfish desires. I don't care about myself, but have you considered how your own daughter feels? Do you not care at all?"

Jiang Wei’s expression faltered for a moment, as if something had crossed her mind, but she soon laughed it off with total indifference. "She is older now; she will understand me. Besides, what difference has our separation made all these years? It is just a piece of paper. Furthermore, even though I have kept you two apart all this time, hasn't she still been fond of you in private, finding every way to meet you? Just because she doesn't tell me doesn't mean I don't know."

Mu Anyan’s eyes darkened. He looked at the woman and let out a disdainful scoff. "An ungrateful wretch who cannot be tamed."

Mu Anyan frowned deeply. Her words made him profoundly uncomfortable, yet he was too weary to lecture her or try to prove that "Jiang Mugui loves you most"—it was a futile argument.

With nothing left to say, he finally uttered, "Then I will see you at the Civil Affairs Bureau on Saturday morning."

Jiang Wei gave a lazy nod, then turned to leave the cemetery with the gentle-looking man beside her.

But as she turned, she froze.

Seeing her stunned expression, Mu Anyan instinctively turned his head and caught sight of the girl standing not far away.

Her already fair, delicate face was even paler than usual. Her lips were drained of all color, as if a mere gust of wind could blow her over.

Mu Anyan’s heart sank. Before either of them could speak, Jiang Mugui turned and ran.

For a fleeting second, a look of hesitation crossed Jiang Wei’s face, but she soon remarked, "She’ll be fine once she processes it for a few days."

With that, she took the arm of the gentle, mild-mannered man and walked out of the cemetery.

Mu Anyan stayed behind to smoke a few cigarettes before departing.

He was worried about the girl. Her health had not fully recovered, and to suffer such a shock on top of that—when he saw her earlier today, the dark circles under her eyes were prominent, a clear sign that she hadn't slept well in days.

He returned to the office, finished his meetings, and handled his workload, yet his mind remained unsettled. Honestly, he rarely felt this way; he found this sense of concern both unfamiliar and long-forgotten, a restlessness that no amount of smoking could suppress. Thus, he chose to go find her.

He did not truly understand her, nor did he know where she might be, so the place where he had bumped into her a few times became his only option.

As fate would have it, he ran into her right at the entrance of a bar.

She had just stepped out. She wasn't wearing a camisole or a little black dress today, but was dressed quite conservatively; the only thing that remained unchanged was the scent of alcohol clinging to her.

She saw him, and they locked eyes for two seconds. Her first instinct was to hide.

Then, as if remembering something, she forced herself to stop. She lifted her eyelids, her tone cold and distant. "Why are you here?"

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but there was a sudden, inexplicable sense of distance about her—something he had never felt before.

Mu Anyan wanted to ask her why she was drinking again, but he feared stirring up her rebellious nature—he had long since discovered that she was never as soft or gentle as she appeared on the surface.

So, he lowered his voice. "I know you overheard my conversation with your mother. But I want to say that what I told you before remains unchanged. The divorce is a settled fact, and I do not want you to be unhappy because of other things."

He was surprised himself that he had said those words, but he had always been a man of responsibility. Even without the legal bond, he intended to continue looking after her.

Besides, he truly owed her.

The girl’s expression shifted; the cold, armored shell seemed on the verge of shattering. Yet, she appeared to be struggling to hold it together.

After a long silence, as if she had reached a decision, she looked at him and said, "Father, I don't need it anymore."

Her alcohol-hazed eyes, paired with her cold demeanor, held a hint of allure, but upon closer inspection, she wasn't smiling. That fair face was filled with nothing but indifference.

If her previous "I don't need it" had sounded more like a fit of pique, Mu Anyan now felt as if a mountain had risen between them—a distance that had never existed in all these eighteen years, no matter how cold things had been.

Mu Anyan’s face darkened. He could only assume she was wounded by the news of their divorce, and he instinctively started to say, "Mugui..."

"Was your coldness toward me all these years because Mom wouldn't let you see me?"

She interrupted him, shifting to a different topic.

After asking, she felt it was somewhat ridiculous. She knew her mother had a possessive streak, but if he had truly wanted to see her, how could he have failed?

How could she have felt such long-standing indifference otherwise?

His eyes deepened. He wanted to answer: Yes.

His youthful arrogance and anger had lasted only the first two years after he discovered the truth. As he matured, he had thought that since the facts couldn't be changed, he might as well treat her better; she was his child, after all.

But by then, Jiang Wei—perhaps stung by his coldness during those first two years—had become excessively possessive of Jiang Mugui. She forbade Mu Anyan from seeing her, refused to let him integrate into or participate in their family life, and tried to isolate him completely.

He was a proud man, and once he felt that, he naturally lost any attachment to that family.

So, it was true, yet not entirely. The situation they faced today was, in the end, half his fault and half Jiang Wei’s.

But this silence held a different meaning in Jiang Mugui’s eyes.

She curled her lips, her eyes holding a chill colder than before. "If you had been kinder to me earlier, I might have been moved and wanted to accept your kindness. But I have thought about it for many days now. Even without your care and love all these years, I have grown up just fine, and I have never lacked anything."

She lowered her gaze, as if sorting through her thoughts. "So, you don't need to feel guilty, and you don't need to think about making it up to me."

Mu Anyan felt a lump in his throat. He watched as the girl raised her eyes again, her smile finally carrying a hint of warmth. "Since you and Mom are divorced, you should go pursue your own happiness."