Chapter Twenty-Five: I Want a Divorce

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“What are you doing?”

No matter how I questioned him, he refused to answer. He forcibly dragged me to Zhizi Zhou’s room.

Zhizi Zhou lay in bed, looking weak and frail.

“Yan, you really did bring Sister Yanyan here. I already told you this had nothing to do with her, and there was no need for her to come take care of me.”

I gave Chenyan Zhou a cold laugh and shook him off. “You want me to take care of her? Are you out of your mind?”

“You’re the one who caused all this. Don’t you feel even the slightest bit guilty?”

“I’ll say it again: the diary wasn’t—Forget it. What’s the point of explaining anything to someone like you? You only hear what you want to hear.”

I should have seen through him long ago.

Chenyan Zhou grabbed hold of me again.

“Stop acting so aggrieved in front of me. That strand of hair is the best evidence. I haven’t wronged you.”

“So what do you want me to do now?”

“Apologize to her, or stay here and take care of her until she recovers. You can choose.”

I looked at Chenyan Zhou and gave a derisive laugh. “Do you think you’re being very merciful to me?”

“If I were any harsher, I would have thrown you out of this house.”

There it was.

That tone of voice, as though he were granting me charity.

Unfortunately, I had no interest in accepting such “kindness.”

“What if I refuse?”

“Don’t you want a divorce?”

I suddenly perked up. “What do you mean?”

Chenyan Zhou looked at me without expression. “Exactly what I said. If you want a divorce, do as I say.”

“You’re really willing to sign the papers?”

“A vicious woman like you is not someone I dare keep by my side.” There was not the slightest trace of affection in his eyes.

Yet that look made me feel especially at ease.

“Fine. I’ll take care of her.”

But an apology was impossible. I had done nothing wrong, and I would never bow my head and humble myself.

Chenyan Zhou stared at me. When he heard my answer, he seemed far from pleased. His expression turned even darker than before.

Zhizi Zhou tugged at his sleeve.

“Yan, don’t be like this. I believe Sister Yanyan didn’t take the diary out on purpose. Don’t blame her.”

“Stay out of this.”

One sentence from Chenyan Zhou left her speechless.

Zhizi Zhou looked at me helplessly, signaling that there was nothing she could do. “Sister Yanyan, don’t be angry. Yan is just too worried about me. Even though he asked you to take care of me, I won’t make things difficult for you.”

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Even a stray dog on the street would not believe that.

Taking care of someone was no easy task, especially when that someone was Zhizi Zhou.

To prevent a repeat of the seafood porridge incident, I made sure to ask her preferences and dietary restrictions in front of Chenyan Zhou this time.

But I certainly was not going to cook for her myself.

I merely asked what she wanted to eat in advance and had the kitchen staff prepare it.

Once it was ready, I brought it upstairs.

What I never expected was that Zhizi Zhou would frame me with such a clumsy and outdated trick.

She knocked over the soup I had brought her.

Half of it spilled over her body, while the other half splashed onto my arm.

She drew in a sharp breath, tears welling in her eyes.

Chenyan Zhou shoved me aside and hurried over to check on her.

Mother Zhou happened to be passing by. She came in to take a look and immediately noticed the burn on my arm.

“How did this happen? How did you get burned so badly?”

It was summer, and I was wearing a chiffon short-sleeved blouse. The exposed part of my arm had been covered directly by the hot soup, turning red at once.

Zhizi Zhou, on the other hand, had been lying in bed with a thin blanket over her waist. The soup had not touched her at all.

Yet her eyes were still brimming with tears, making her look pitiful and delicate.

Mother Zhou snapped, “Chenyan Zhou, what are you standing there for? Can’t you see that your wife has been badly burned?”

Only then did Chenyan Zhou turn to look at me. When he saw the injury on my arm, he paused slightly.

“If you were burned this badly, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Even if I had, you probably would have thought I was putting on an act.”

There was no point making myself unwelcome.

Besides, I no longer wanted his so-called sympathy or concern.

I lowered my eyes, turned around without looking at either of them, and walked away.

Mother Zhou hurried after me.

“You’re just too stubborn.” She took out some ointment and applied it to my arm. “Haven’t you heard? The child who cries gets the candy. Don’t you understand that?”

Of course I understood.

But not every child was held in someone’s heart.

When a person already had someone else whom they treasured most, tears would not inspire pity. They would only be seen as a clumsy performance meant to win sympathy.

There was no need.

There really was no need.

Mother Zhou put away the ointment and spoke earnestly. “If you want to win a man’s heart, you must first understand him. Know what works on him and treat him accordingly. You’re always going against him like this, so how can you defeat Zhizi Zhou?”

“I never intended to compete with her.”

Although I knew there was little chance that saying this would get me what I wanted, the gentle and elegant woman before me still gave me a sliver of hope.

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“Mom, I want a divorce.”

“I know you’re hurting, but that’s all the more reason not to run away when things get difficult. You should pull yourself together. Chenyan agreed to marry you back then, so why not someone else? That proves there must be something about you that attracted him. He simply hasn’t realized it yet—and neither have you.”

This gentle, earnest persuasion was even worse than outright opposition.

I had heard those words so many times in my previous life that my ears had nearly grown calluses.

At first, I had truly believed them.

In the end, the only conclusion was that anyone who believed them was a fool.

I stopped mentioning divorce.

Mother Zhou probably assumed that I had taken her words to heart. She reached out and stroked my hair.

“You stay at home all day, so it’s easy to overthink things. You should go out more, learn more, and enrich yourself.”

I bit my lip. “Mom, I actually studied design at university. I stopped working after I got married, but now I want to return to my old profession.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to work, but I hear the design department is extremely busy and exhausting.”

That was an understatement. When the department got busy, people worked day and night.

Design drafts could be rejected again and again, and the endless revisions consumed an enormous amount of time.

“I want to work at the family company.”

At last, I revealed my true intention.

Mother Zhou looked surprised. “Why did you suddenly think of that?”

“Your words just now reminded me. I do want to try to save my marriage. But Chenyan spends every day at the company with Zhizi, while I’m stuck at home. I have no way to stop them from growing closer, so I want to go to the company too.”

I knew exactly how to phrase things to make her relent.

What she feared most was that Zhizi Zhou and Chenyan Zhou would become involved.

As expected, Mother Zhou hesitated for a moment. Then she glanced at the injury on my arm and finally made up her mind.

“I’ll discuss it with your father and try to arrange for you to work at the company.”

“Thank you, Mom.”

I watched her leave, then looked down at the wound on my arm.

The searing heat had yet to fade. The burn throbbed with pain, leaving me restless and irritable, but my mood was excellent.

The sympathy ploy had worked.

That very evening, Father Zhou summoned me to the study and spoke with me at length. He mainly wanted to know whether I was confident about joining the company and questioned me about my plans. Naturally, I placed all the blame on Chenyan Zhou.

I portrayed myself as a wife determined to fight to save her marriage.

As expected, Father Zhou agreed.

“It’s good that you have this ambition. I’ll have someone make the arrangements. You can report to the company tomorrow.”

A voice suddenly came from the doorway.

“I object.”

Chenyan Zhou stood at the entrance, his face cold.

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