Jiang Tingzhou turned his head to look out the window: "I've been inquiring about her situation ever since I recovered. She took over the case I left behind back then, and the result was very good. Now she's a well-known lawyer in Beicheng, with outstanding abilities and looks, and a considerable income. Overall, she's doing very well."

"Even if you really don't want this wife anymore, are you planning to keep it a secret from your family?"

"Change wives? My wife is so good, I wouldn't trade her for anything."

"So what do you mean?"

Ying Gan was confused by him.

Jiang Tingzhou's words sounded nice, but in the end, didn't he just mean he didn't intend to acknowledge Xu Wan as his wife?

Jiang Tingzhou punched his leg hard and said with a wry smile, "If my leg were fine, I would have recognized her without hesitation just now. No, I would have contacted her as soon as I woke up. But now, I'm no different from a cripple. She's so outstanding, do you expect me to keep her by my side to take care of me?"

"Aren't you going to have surgery on your leg soon?"

“The surgery isn’t 100% successful,” Jiang Tingzhou said. “If my surgery is successful, and if she’s still single, then I’ll contact her. But if she has someone else in her life…”

"So you just killed that person?"

Ying Gan raised his right hand, put his five fingers together, and drew a line across his neck.

Jiang Tingzhou said helplessly, "I will respect her choice."

"What if the surgery fails?"

“Jiang Tingzhou is long dead. I am Ryan.”

Jiang Tingzhou's tone was very firm, without the slightest hesitation.

Ying Gan ripped off his tie and shook his head repeatedly: "Love is too complicated, I don't understand it."

Jiang Tingzhou also unscrewed the obsidian cufflinks on his shirt. After he pulled the cuffs out, the cuffs opened naturally, revealing a black elastic band. It had probably been worn for too long, and the elasticity of the elastic band was not as good as before, hanging loosely on his wrist.

-

On the other hand, Xu Wan was not saddened at all by Jiang Tingzhou's failure to acknowledge her; instead, she was extremely excited.

Whatever reasons the man had for not revealing his identity to her, at least... he was still alive.

After Xu Wan and Fang Ting finished discussing work and returned to their room, the first thing she did was to video call Ji Tong.

When the video call connected, Ji Tong was already at home. She had washed her face and had a white face mask on.

"What's wrong with you? Did you see a handsome guy? You seem so happy."

Even through the video, Ji Tong could see the undisguised joy on Xu Wan's face.

"Tongtong, I saw Jiang Tingzhou today."

Xu Wan didn't want to wait even a second longer to share this joy with Ji Tong.

"who?"

"Jiang Tingzhou, Jiang Tingzhou!"

Xu Wan repeated the name twice.

It had been so long since she had mentioned that name in a happy mood.

The last time I mentioned this name was when Xiaoxiao was applying for kindergarten enrollment.

Ji Tong then realized she hadn't misheard. She was so shocked that she took off her face mask. "He's still alive?! What happened? Tell me right now!"

Xu Wan recounted the entire day's events to Ji Tong without reservation.

Ji Tong was filled with questions after hearing this: "Are you sure you didn't see wrong? If he is Jiang Tingzhou, why didn't he tell you his identity when he saw you? To be precise, if he is alive, why didn't he tell you?"

"I...I don't know."

Xu Wan gently shook her head.

Ji Tong was a little angry. "Then what are you so happy about? Is it because Jiang Tingzhou is alive? But he doesn't contact you even when he's alive. What does that mean? You can't expect to get a new wife just because you changed your name, can you?"

Over the years, Ji Tong has always been by Xu Wan's side, watching her go from being in so much pain that she couldn't pull herself out of it, to gradually emerging from the shadows.

And now they're telling her that the person who caused Xu Wan so much pain is actually still alive?!

Even after meeting, he didn't reveal his identity?!

Xu Wan pursed her lips, not angry at all, and said with relief, "It's okay. It doesn't matter if the reason he doesn't acknowledge me is that he doesn't want me as his wife anymore, as long as he... is alive."