The Ex-Wife Of A Wealthy/Powerful Family Tempts Me To Treat Her Badly/Betray Her - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: “Love you, I know her.”

The flight from Lin City to Li City takes over eleven hours, crossing a seven-hour time difference.

When Jiang Yu landed, the sun had already risen; it was nearly seven in the morning.

At this time, there were few people on the streets. Only occasionally near the river could she see people jogging.

It was still a bit cold in March. Jiang Yu pulled her jacket tighter and strolled along the street.

The weather in Li City was always overcast, at least in Jiang Yu’s memory, and today was no exception; the surroundings were gloomy.

However, Jiang Yu actually preferred this somewhat gloomy weather.

The late-night flight allowed her to adjust to the time difference relatively painlessly. With some time before 10 AM, Jiang Yu, enjoying a rare moment of leisure, wandered the streets looking for a place to have breakfast.

This was a city full of lazy, relaxed vibes. At just past 7 AM, many cafes that served breakfast hadn’t opened yet.

Jiang Yu walked around the main avenue twice and finally, at 7:40 AM, found an open coffee shop. Coincidentally, it was one of the few places she used to frequent during her rare moments of indulgence.

The breakfast was a classic French meal: black truffle scrambled eggs, served with the complimentary baguette typical of French restaurants. To wake herself up, Jiang Yu also ordered an Americano.

The coffee shop had a nice location. The window seat offered a view of Li City’s classic architecture.

The Gothic-style buildings were familiar yet strange, conveying the city’s history and civilization. Every familiar street reminded Jiang Yu that even after being away for over half a year, she was still intimately acquainted with everything here.

Jiang Yu took a sip of coffee. While waiting for her breakfast, she switched to her private account to check if she had forgotten to reply to any messages.

The golden black truffle scrambled eggs were served. Jiang Yu put down her phone, broke off a piece of baguette, and prepared to eat.

The next second, her phone rang.

It was a call from Lu Linqiao, her good friend from the modeling world and her business partner in the modeling agency.

“Have you landed? Where are you now?”

“The usual spot.”

Forty minutes later, Lu Linqiao arrived at the cafe and immediately asked Jiang Yu:

“So, you ended up just grabbing a random person at the Civil Affairs Bureau and getting your marriage certificate with her?”

A look of worry flashed across Lu Linqiao’s eyes. Jiang Yu had earned a lot of money during her nearly ten years in the industry, making her a wealthy woman in every sense of the word. She was afraid that Jiang Yu’s rashness might lead to significant financial loss.

Jiang Yu naturally understood her friend’s concern and explained: “Yes, the result is more or less the same anyway. Don’t worry about me. The prenuptial agreement defines the boundaries of pre-marital assets. Neither she nor I can take advantage of the other.”

After saying this, Jiang Yu tried to recall the scene of meeting Rong Wei this morning. To be honest, she had already forgotten what her spouse looked like, retaining only some vague “feelings.”

“She seemed pretty steady, not like a bad person,” Jiang Yu added.

Lu Linqiao was silent for a moment, looking at Jiang Yu without speaking.

“Let’s not talk about that. Have you found suitable candidates?”

At this, a smile appeared on Lu Linqiao’s face.

Jiang Yu’s modeling agency was co-founded with Lu Linqiao. Starting a company involved a lot of work. Jiang Yu’s return to China this time was mainly to handle related formalities, while Lu Linqiao was abroad scouting models and finding suitable agents.

“More or less. I’ll take you to meet a few people this afternoon.”

Jiang Yu nodded: “Thank you for your hard work, Boss Lu.”

Lu Linqiao smiled: “It’s not hard work; it’s a tough life. Who told me to partner with someone with face blindness?”

…

The company was just starting up, and the scale was small. The Parisian branch temporarily rented a two-story house, covering only a few hundred square meters.

Lu Linqiao took her to her office.

It was a simple, minimalist style. The only thing that didn’t fit this style was a row of glittering trophies lined up on the wall.

“Why did you bring all these trophies here?”

“Your honor should, of course, be kept with you at all times.”

“They’re for inspiring the young ones.”

Jiang Yu gave Lu Linqiao a smile and didn’t say anything more.

A few minutes later, a beautiful girl entered Jiang Yu’s office. She was French, as exquisite as a Barbie doll, and even managed to impress the slightly face-blind Jiang Yu. But she was only eighteen, new to the modeling world, and a little green.

She just shyly greeted the two of them and then lowered her head.

Time in Li City passed faster than Jiang Yu had imagined. In the blink of an eye, amidst the mostly cloudy weather in Li City, Jiang Yu had turned twenty-four.

On July 17th, Li City finally had a rare day of fine weather: bright sunshine and clear skies.

Jiang Yu was in the company car, watching the passing trees and streetscapes outside the window intently. In her ear, Ador’s voice spoke up.

“Sister Jiang Yu, Sister Linqiao, this is my first time shooting the cover for Eager magazine. I’m a little nervous.”

Ador was the girl Lu Linqiao had brought to see her that year. She was truly gifted and talented. In just one year, she had walked all four major Fashion Weeks and secured the cover of Eager, one of the four top magazines.

Jiang Yu’s itinerary today was to accompany Ador for the cover shoot.

Lu Linqiao’s tone was gentle: “Relax, don’t be nervous.”

Jiang Yu chuckled, tilting her head to tell Ador: “If you’re really nervous, you can think about me.”

“When I shot my first cover back then, because of the language barrier, I misheard a word and ended up shouting ‘ass’ after the photographer sister for a whole day.”

A trace of shock flashed in Ador’s beautiful eyes.

She had wanted to be a model since childhood and paid close attention to the industry. Although she and Jiang Yu were not from the same country, Jiang Yu’s delicate and bright Eastern face had caused quite a sensation in the modeling world when Ador was young.

Jiang Yu had risen to prominence at sixteen, becoming hugely popular in the industry with her vibrant and flamboyant presence. At eighteen, she reached the peak of her career, setting a legendary record of eighty-six shows in one Fashion Week. Before officially announcing her retirement at twenty-two, she was one of the highest commercial and advertising value models in the industry.

She hadn’t expected Jiang Yu to have such a naive experience. All at once, the nervous tension, built on the suffering of others, completely eased up.

Jiang Yu: “Just do your best.”

Forty minutes later, the group arrived at the shooting location.

Unsurprisingly, the set was crowded. Besides the magazine editor-in-chief, deputy editor, photographer, makeup artist, and other staff, there were many well-known designers in the industry—almost all familiar faces to Jiang Yu.

It took over half an hour for Jiang Yu and Lu Linqiao to introduce Ador and exchange courteous greetings with everyone.

Jiang Yu glanced at the time and headed toward the backstage area. Just then, a voice rang out beside her.

“Excuse me, may I bother you! Sister Jiang Yu, is that you?”

Jiang Yu looked in the direction of the voice and saw a mixed-race girl with an excellent temperament and a very modern, fashionable outfit. She was obviously mixed-race because of her clear articulation and very deep, defined facial features.

Jiang Yu nodded slightly.

The young girl expressed her purpose: “I’m your fan! I’ve loved you for many years!”

Jiang Yu looked at Rong Shi, feeling a little surprised.

While both celebrities and models are public figures, the nature of their work is actually not the same. Generally speaking, models don’t have very high public recognition. Especially in recent years, Jiang Yu had gradually faded from the public eye, shifting to behind-the-scenes work due to a change in her focus.

It had been a long time since Jiang Yu had encountered someone who proactively greeted her and claimed to be her fan.

Jiang Yu understood and proactively asked.

“Do you want a photo, or…?”

Rong Shi froze for two seconds, then excitedly grabbed her phone and nodded.

After taking the picture, Rong Shi politely said: “Please continue with your work, I won’t bother you anymore!”

With that, she quickly slipped away from the shooting location.

While Jiang Yu was busy, Rong Shi ran to an empty area nearby and took out her phone.

The family situation was special. Besides Rong Qing, who held tens of billions in assets, Grill was one of the world’s most commercially valuable tennis players. In terms of personal wealth, she was no less affluent than Rong Qing. The two combined to form a family with undeniable enormous wealth. Since the age of eight, she and Rong Wei had undergone intensive investment education to keep their money flowing.

Her older sister, Rong Wei, was very smart and found everything easy. She had an absolute talent for investing and already held assets in the eight figures by the time she was eighteen.

As for Rong Shi, she was completely clueless about investment and wasn’t keen on business matters. She chose fashion design as her university major and would soon study abroad in Eastern Europe.

Rong Qing and Grill were open-minded parents and didn’t object. Instead, they helped her find resources and engage in various activities related to the fashion industry even while she was in school.

This wasn’t Rong Shi’s first time at a magazine shoot, but it was her first time meeting Jiang Yu.

Snapping out of the excitement of meeting her idol, Rong Shi immediately took out her phone, rapidly typing to share the joyous news in the family group chat.

[AAAAAAH Ms. Rong Qing, Ms. Grill, do you know how excited I am? I just met my goddess at the shoot! She is even more beautiful in person than in pictures, and even after years of stepping back, she’s maintained her figure and condition incredibly well!]

Rong Shi was about to send the joint photo when she saw two messages pop up from her mothers in the WeChat group.

[Rong Qing: Congratulations, baby.]

[Grill: Did you get a photo?!]

Rong Shi sent the joint photo to the group chat, then typed: [Of course, I did. Everyone, admire our photo.]

[Great, great. Two beautiful women.]

After a moment, a message with a different tone appeared in the group: [Who are you taking a picture with?]

Rong Shi didn’t reply to Rong Wei’s message immediately. After sending the photo, she replied to Rong Wei: [Jiang Yu! Sister, don’t you love me anymore? Don’t you know her? I used to have lots of her pictures in my room.]

The person on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment.

Then, the reply came: [Love you. I know her.]

While chatting, Rong Shi saw movement in the nearby shooting tent. She quickly sent a voice message to the group: [Sis, the shoot is about to start. Gotta go. I’ll text you when it’s over, and we can go to Grandma’s place together.]

Ador’s performance was even better than in the rehearsals.

Many of the photos were vibrant and natural, especially a half-face shot that was both sophisticated and stunning, earning high praise from the photographer and editor-in-chief.

The shoot progressed more smoothly than expected. By late afternoon, the entire day’s work was completely finished.

Ador finally breathed a sigh of relief, looking as if she had just survived a major ordeal.

Jiang Yu gave Lu Linqiao a meaningful look, then prepared to step outside the set for a breather.

The sky had already changed color, a mix of gold and pink-white, creating a dreamy atmosphere. Since the area was surrounded by flowers and plants, the air smelled especially fresh.

Jiang Yu stretched, took off her glasses, and stood at the entrance, relaxing.

It was then that she saw a woman’s figure.

Jiang Yu was slightly nearsighted and hadn’t worn contact lenses due to the long working hours today. So, after removing her glasses, she could only see vaguely.

The woman had light blonde hair and was very tall. She appeared to have considerable muscle, her silhouette was not fragile, exuding a sense of female power that immediately struck her.

People in the fashion world are often arrogant and unrestrained, and their outfits on a shooting set can be somewhat exaggerated. This woman, however, was dressed simply and exquisitely. One could tell the fabric of her clothes was of high quality and expensive. Her overall demeanor didn’t quite blend with the shooting location; it was a gentle, dignified sense of nobility.

Regardless, she was pleasing to the eye.

She was probably a model sent by some fashion company, or perhaps a designer’s muse.

Jiang Yu looked twice. As the woman drew closer, Jiang Yu subtly looked away, took two steps to the side, and cleared a path.

A scent of slightly bitter agarwood and perhaps some iris entered her nostrils, carrying a strange sense of authority that felt sacred and inviolable.

The sound of high heels clicking on the tile broke the seemingly ethereal feeling. Jiang Yu adjusted her posture, looked up, and inadvertently met the woman’s gaze.

Those icy blue eyes looked at her calmly.

Icy blue eyes are common in Eastern Europe. Jiang Yu’s company had many models with this eye color.

But she felt that this woman seemed somehow different.

Jiang Yu returned a smile and greeted her in French: “Bonjour.”

The woman didn’t speak immediately, her gaze still fixed on Jiang Yu.

It was only a few seconds later that the woman shifted her eyes and replied in a measured tone: “Bonjour.”