How Could a Scumbag Alpha Possibly Love His Wife? - Chapter 96

When Bai Juntang entered the lounge in the banquet hall, many guests had already left.

She didn’t see Cheng Wan and assumed she had gone to the restroom. Leaning over to look at the peacefully sleeping chubby baby, she let out a long breath.

She truly hadn’t expected a full-month banquet to be so exhausting. Perhaps it was because no one had ever heard about Bai Juntang getting married. Suddenly appearing with a daughter had sparked curiosity from both close friends and distant acquaintances. Everyone wanted to know what kind of person had captured her heart.

Unable to turn down their enthusiasm, Bai Juntang had been pulled into conversation after conversation. By the time she finally made it back to the lounge to check on her family, most of the guests had already left.

Aunt Pei had gone to look after a slightly tipsy Bai Weilan, so only the nanny and the sleeping Sui Sui were still in the room.

“Madam,” the nanny said, looking up at her, “Mrs. Cheng said she was feeling a bit tired and went home first. She asked me to stay here with Sui Sui and return with you after the banquet.”

Bai Juntang was surprised. “She went home alone?”

“Yes. Mrs. Cheng seemed like she had something on her mind. She insisted on leaving, and I couldn’t stop her.”

A strange uneasiness began to creep into Bai Juntang’s chest. She took out her phone while asking, “When did she leave?”

“It’s been more than thirty minutes. Maybe closer to forty.”

Bai Juntang said nothing. She called Cheng Wan’s phone and held it to her ear, only to hear the automated message that the call could not be connected.

Why would her phone suddenly be unreachable?

Worried, Bai Juntang called several more times. This time, the call didn’t even ring. The phone had been turned off.

Her anxiety deepened. She began to feel increasingly unsettled. Cheng Wan had never been someone who made trouble or acted impulsively. Why would she leave in the middle of Sui Sui’s celebration? And why wouldn’t she answer her phone? Why would she shut it off?

A heavy feeling weighed on her chest. Bai Juntang quickly told the nanny to gather Sui Sui’s things. She had her driver take the others home while she drove off alone.

The rain on the way home grew heavier. The quiet, steady drizzle felt like it was carrying someone else’s sorrow, falling without pause. Traffic crawled, blocked by a combination of the weather and the evening rush hour.

By the time she finally got back home, the sky had already gone dark.

Looking out from the car window, she saw that the house was completely dark. An ominous feeling settled over her.

“Cheng Wan?”

Bai Juntang pushed open the door and stepped into the unlit living room. She didn’t bother to remove her shoes, leaving wet footprints across the floor as she rushed inside.

There was still a faint trace of Cheng Wan’s scent in the air, but it was so light that she couldn’t tell whether it had lingered from earlier or if Cheng Wan had returned home at all.

Had she even come back?

Bai Juntang turned on every light in the house. She even ran down to the basement twice. She opened every cabinet in the walk-in closet and the laundry room, searching every corner.

She hoped that maybe, just like during a previous episode, Cheng Wan had curled up somewhere quietly during a sensitivity period, waiting for someone to find her.

But her senses told her otherwise. Cheng Wan was not in the house.

She didn’t even know if Cheng Wan had been back.

After searching every room, she sat down on the couch and kept trying to call. If only Cheng Wan would pick up.

But the only sound she heard was the same recorded message. The phone was still turned off.

At that moment, their orange cat waddled over. Bai Juntang looked at it and reached out to rub its head.

The little cat placed its front paws on her knees, leaving two small muddy prints on her clothes.

“You went outside?” Bai Juntang turned to look at the front door, which was still open. Then she followed the trail of paw prints from the entrance into the living room. She hadn’t noticed those earlier when she came in.

The house was always sealed tightly. Now that they had both a pet and a baby, safety had to come first. If the cat had come back in from outside, someone must have let it out earlier.

The only person who would do that was Cheng Wan.

If she had been here, the neighborhood security cameras would have captured it.

Bai Juntang got up quickly and headed out, just in time to run into Bai Weilan and the others returning.

“Is she home? Did you find her?” Aunt Pei asked urgently after hearing about what had happened from the nanny.

Bai Juntang didn’t answer. She only said, “Take Sui Sui inside and get some rest. I need to take care of something.”

Then she called Li Chen, the driver who had brought them earlier, and had him come back.

Bai Juntang went to the property office and asked to see the security footage from earlier that evening. Sure enough, Cheng Wan had returned home. Not long after, the camera caught her again, this time with a small suitcase in hand.

The suitcase wasn’t large, but Cheng Wan didn’t have many belongings anyway. Bai Juntang watched as she flagged down a taxi and disappeared from view.

Her expression darkened. She was now certain that Cheng Wan had left, but she couldn’t understand why.

Li Chen contacted the police and began reviewing the traffic footage from nearby cameras. They tracked the taxi as it left the city, but after a certain point, there was no more footage available.

The rain, which had paused briefly in the afternoon, had started again and now continued through the night.

Bai Juntang drove around the city again and again. She couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. Had she missed something so important that she had driven away someone as gentle as Cheng Wan?

All through the night, she kept searching.

The air had turned colder. Her breath turned to mist as she retraced the taxi’s path over and over, still unable to guess where Cheng Wan might have gone.

At the break of dawn, her phone rang. It was Li Chen.

“Director Bai, we found the taxi driver. He said Miss Cheng got off at a bus stop outside the city. He didn’t see where she went after that. That stop connects to six different bus routes. We’re checking each one.”

Bai Juntang leaned forward onto the steering wheel. After a long silence, she finally spoke.

“Thank you. Please do everything you can to find her.”

Li Chen paused before quietly suggesting, “Director Bai, maybe you should go back home and check. Miss Cheng doesn’t seem like someone who would leave without a word. Maybe she left you something.”

Bai Juntang opened her eyes. She realized Li Chen might be right.

Maybe Cheng Wan had left a message. Maybe something had happened, and she had no choice but to leave.

Holding on to a sliver of hope, Bai Juntang returned home. As soon as she stepped through the door, she startled the person sitting in the living room.

Aunt Pei saw Bai Juntang’s disheveled appearance and quickly walked over to her.

“Did you find her?”

Bai Juntang shook her head.

“So you didn’t sleep all night?”

There was no need for Bai Juntang to answer. Everyone could see how pale her face was, and the dark circles under her eyes told the story.

Aunt Pei grew more anxious and frustrated. “What’s going on with Wanwan? Disappearing like this is worrying enough. Could she really be depressed?”

Depression had become a common topic on television lately. Aunt Pei had often heard about people who were overwhelmed by it. Even a few young adults in the neighborhood were struggling with depression. She just never imagined it would happen to someone like Cheng Wan.

Bai Weilan glanced at her daughter. Bai Juntang had been out all night, and she herself hadn’t slept either.

Looking around at the state of the household, Bai Weilan suddenly felt regret. Maybe she shouldn’t have stayed out of their affairs. As a mother, she should not have pretended not to notice.

“Juntang,” she said, getting up. “Come to the study with me for a moment.”

Bai Juntang was still anxious to keep searching, but she followed Bai Weilan into the study anyway.

As soon as the door closed, she asked, “Does this have to be discussed right now? If it’s about work, can it wait until I find Cheng Wan?”

Bai Weilan gave her a long, meaningful look before speaking.

“A few days ago, I started noticing that something was off with Cheng Wan. I think… she was planning to divorce you.”

Bai Juntang was stunned. “Divorce? Why would she want to divorce me all of a sudden?”

“That’s something you should ask yourself.” Bai Weilan looked at her seriously. “From the day I first met Cheng Wan to the day she gave birth, it’s been over six months. How have you been treating her during that time?”

Bai Juntang frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“She told me you’ve never once said you loved her,” Bai Weilan replied. “You act so firm and direct with me, but she doesn’t even know you care about her. Juntang, have you really been so blinded by business that you’ve forgotten how to be a person?”

Bai Juntang fell silent. Thinking back, it was true. Over all that time, even though she had been by Cheng Wan’s side almost constantly, she had never actually said the words “I love you.”

In the beginning, she didn’t love her. Later, she felt it wasn’t necessary to say it. They had a child together already, and she thought her actions had made her feelings clear enough. Cheng Wan must have known.

But now, Bai Weilan was telling her that Cheng Wan had always believed she was never loved.

A headache started to form behind Bai Juntang’s eyes.

Seeing her reaction, Bai Weilan added, “Even in business, you sign a contract to make things clear. You never said anything, so of course she misunderstood. I’m not telling you this to make you feel guilty, but if you do find Cheng Wan, this is something you need to talk to her about.”

Bai Juntang nodded. “We’re still investigating her whereabouts. I believe we’ll have results soon. I want to check the house again, just in case she left something behind.”

She left the study and immediately went to find Aunt Pei.

“Did you find anything? Maybe a note?” Bai Juntang asked.

Aunt Pei thought for a moment. “No. I cleaned every corner of the house last night. I didn’t see any notes or anything unusual.”

Bai Juntang’s brow furrowed slightly. “What about Sui Sui’s room? Maybe… she left something there.”

Aunt Pei shook her head. Afraid that Bai Juntang wouldn’t believe her, she brought her upstairs to check the room together. They searched it from top to bottom, but still found nothing.

Frustration flared in Bai Juntang’s chest. Despite the cold weather, sweat soaked her clothes. She hadn’t slept in over a day, and her mental state was rapidly deteriorating.

Aunt Pei looked at her with concern. “Wanwan is a grown woman. If she left, she’ll know how to take care of herself. You need to rest. Don’t exhaust yourself like this.”

Bai Juntang knew she was right. The lack of sleep, the mental strain, and the constant worry had left her drained.

She sat down on the edge of the bed, finally allowing herself a moment of stillness. But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a folder sitting on the nightstand.

Her mind went blank the moment she saw it.

It was a divorce application.

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