AMRWFA -Chapter 115 A Twist of Fate

“So that love letter you wrote back then wasn’t even meant for me,” Ma Wenli wiped the tears from her face and said. “Why didn’t you ever tell me clearly?”

“How could I? Every time I wanted to speak to you, something would happen—this or that. How could I find the right moment?”

“How could there not have been a chance?”

“At that time, after that group of people left, I wanted to tell you, but you happily dragged me over to share with your best friend, saying you had a boyfriend.”

Ma Wenli froze. “Uh… my best friend back then… was that Xiao Muyu, right?”

So she had dragged Shi Guofan in front of the girl he liked and showed off—look, your pursuer has been taken down by me?

“You want to know what I said at that time? You two were so close. I was afraid if I said anything, I’d be beaten to death…”

Back then, Ma Wenli was indeed quite a “tomboy.” If Shi Guofan had dared to say it out loud, who knew if Xiao Muyu would have acted? But she would definitely have given him a good beating, thinking he embarrassed her.

“And later? After that, you never had a chance to tell me? I wasn’t always with Xiao Muyu, you know.”

“Are you sure?” Shi Guofan said. “You sat at the same desk in class, ate together after class, went home together, even held hands going to the bathroom… When would I ever have had a chance to speak to you alone? Every time I managed to ask you out, you’d bring her along too.”

“…But you liked her, didn’t you? I brought her along for you, and you weren’t unhappy? Didn’t that kind of… fulfill you?”

Shi Guofan couldn’t deny it—seeing his white moonlight during the dates did make him happy.

“See? Back then I brought Xiao Muyu along because I was afraid your family would notice. Bringing one more person would make them think we were just ordinary friends going out…”

“But honestly, our dates weren’t much different from just hanging out with ordinary friends. Basically, you two ran ahead while I followed behind, carrying things for you—like an automatic luggage cart.”

It was only then that Shi Guofan realized Xiao Muyu, who seemed ethereal on the surface, was actually a bit wild behind the scenes—just like Ma Wenli. No wonder they had become such good friends.

Ma Wenli’s wildness was obvious at first glance; Xiao Muyu’s was hidden inside, invisible to most people.

Once Shi Guofan saw that Xiao Muyu wasn’t as perfect as he had imagined, his heart didn’t flutter as much. After all, he liked the imagined version of Xiao Muyu, not the real one.

He continued “dating” Ma Wenli. Besides genuinely enjoying her company and having fun, another reason was to keep observing Xiao Muyu, to confirm whether she was truly the person he liked.

Just as he hesitated over whether to give up, Xiao Muyu got a boyfriend—the school heartthrob.

Shi Guofan: “…”

He had already been thinking of giving up, but suddenly a rival appeared, and he didn’t want to give up anymore.

Even if only a small part of his affection remained, it instantly felt tenfold.

After that came the “dates” with all four of them.

Happy times always fly by. Before Shi Guofan knew it, he was notified by his family about an arranged marriage. And the bride? None other than his girlfriend, Ma Wenli.

“Why is it suddenly an arranged marriage?!”

Shi Guofan was shocked. He wanted to refuse, but his elder brothers patted his shoulders and told him to be grateful. At least he was marrying his own girlfriend—not like them, who were marrying people chosen by the family.

Being the youngest son of the Shi family, Shi Guofan had never noticed that the seemingly happy marriages of his elder brothers were actually business arrangements.

They didn’t marry the ones they truly loved.

Looking at Xiao Muyu’s ordinary family background, Shi Guofan realized that even if he confessed his feelings for her, his family probably wouldn’t have agreed.

The reason they agreed for him to marry Ma Wenli was that her parents also ran a company and were financially well-off. If her family were less well-off, the outcome might have been different.

The Shi family may spoil their children, but they wouldn’t allow them to act willfully against the family. At that time, Shi Guofan didn’t have the courage to resist, so he went along.

And so, he and Ma Wenli went from school uniforms to wedding gowns.

He couldn’t say he loved her immensely, but he had long been used to having Ma Wenli by his side. He never thought about how he would feel if one day she left him.

So when Ma Wenli cried and told him she needed to take a step back and reconsider their marriage, he panicked.

He didn’t understand. They had been together for so many years, their child was so big—why did she suddenly want to reconsider their marriage?

Had something gone wrong in their marriage?

Or was it the things Ruan Yaoyao said that affected her?

Shi Guofan quickly explained, “You can’t listen to her nonsense. Just because she said I might cheat in the future, does that mean I really would? Xiao Muyu is dead. Didn’t you hear? That woman is Xiao Muyu’s daughter—Li Tingting deliberately brought her to scheme against me.”

Ma Wenli shook her head. “If your heart wasn’t with her, could anyone scheme against you? You clearly liked someone else, yet you married me. You’ve suffered all these years…”

…

“Wenli’s parents are divorcing?!”

When Ruan Yaoyao heard the news, she was stunned.

【Wait, isn’t this before Shi Guofan’s white moonlight affair period? Why is Ma Wenli suddenly divorcing?】

【Could it be she discovered it long ago?】

【But that doesn’t make sense. If she had known, she would’ve had the courage to divorce long ago. Why jump off a building? She could’ve just divorced directly.】

Yu Xiangqiao nodded. “Yes. She called to say her mother has packed up and moved back to the Ma family. Her grandparents and elders are all trying to persuade them—they don’t understand why the couple, who were fine, suddenly wants a divorce. But she knows, her mother knows her father still has a white moonlight, and decided to give him freedom…”

“Give her father freedom? Ms. Ma Wenli is too generous! They’ve been married so many years, and she didn’t consider that maybe Shi Guofan has already liked her?”

【But Shi Guofan himself didn’t seem aware.】

【Not until Ma Wenli jumped off the building to commit suicide did he realize it. By then, he was all alone, so it didn’t matter who he ended up with. He later ended up with the substitute for the white moonlight, apparently in a ‘might as well’ attitude…】

【Such a pity. At that time, Shi Guofan left, and I didn’t get to see the end—otherwise, we’d know what really happened.】

“…Probably didn’t know!” Yu Xiangqiao said. You didn’t tell anyone back then, how could Aunt Shi have known? Even if she had, hearing that Ma Wenli died, she would probably still want a divorce.

On one side, it was romance from school uniforms to wedding gowns; on the other side, it was “settling for what’s arranged.” How could she accept that?

She truly loved him. The more she loved, the less she tolerated flaws.

Don’t talk about “twists of fate”—if Aunt Shi realized that her ‘love’ was only an illusion, she would never accept it.