Mother Xie’s face turned deathly pale. How could she have known that Xie Wantang would bring up the dowry the Lu family had given three years ago at this moment?
Similarly, Father Xie’s expression wasn’t much better either.
Xie Wantang brought this up now not to demand a share of the dowry—she didn’t need that money. She simply wanted to remind them that since they had taken every advantage, they should behave themselves.
They shouldn’t say what shouldn’t be said, and they shouldn’t interfere in what shouldn’t be interfered with.
After all, they had given birth to her but failed in their duty to care for her, losing her and never making a sincere effort to find her over the years. If she hadn’t taken the initiative to provide clues, and if Xie Bailu hadn’t looked down on Lu Yanshen for being in a wheelchair at the time, this matter would never have fallen to her.
They had only given birth but never raised her, and now they wanted to assert their parental authority in front of her? Did they really think she was some naive little rabbit?
Even if she were a little rabbit, when truly cornered, she could still bite.
“Xie Wantang, you truly have no manners.” Seeing Xie Wantang lashing out at everyone, including her parents, Mrs. Lu couldn’t hold back and spoke up on Mother Xie’s behalf.
Mother Xie was quite the actress. Hearing Mrs. Lu stand up for her, her eyes instantly reddened, and she tearfully lamented, “Dear in-law, I’m truly sorry. It’s our fault for not raising Wantang properly. It’s also my fault for being so careless in taking care of her back then and losing her.”
“It wasn’t intentional. Besides, isn’t she living a good life now, all thanks to your family?” Mrs. Lu pursed her lips.
“A good life?” Xie Wantang laughed at the remark. She turned to look at Lu Yanshen. “Lu Yanshen, why don’t you explain in detail to my dear mother-in-law what kind of ‘good life’ I’ve had in the three years since I married you?”
“Back when you were in a wheelchair, it wasn’t as if all the women in the capital were dead. Your Lu family is so wealthy and holds such high social status. How come no woman was willing to marry you?”
“Oh, right, among those unwilling women, there’s also my dear sister here, isn’t that right? Sis—”
When called out, Xie Bailu remained silent out of embarrassment.
She couldn’t help but think that Xie Wantang must have gone mad today. How dare she speak like this?
But Xie Wantang wasn’t finished.
“Sis, why don’t you explain to my dear mother-in-law why you were unwilling to marry him back then and passed the opportunity to me? Could it be that all of you are truly virtuous like Kong Rong, and I’m the only one who’s taken every advantage like a petty person?”
The three members of the Xie family: “…”
Mrs. Lu was also extremely embarrassed.
She wanted to speak up again but was met with a fierce glare of warning from her husband.
“Xie Wantang, what exactly do you want?” Lu Yanshen asked coldly. He knew that Xie Wantang must have gone mad today to dare speak to the elders like this.
It seemed she truly had no intention of continuing their marriage.
Even if she didn’t want to stay married, she still owed him an explanation. She couldn’t leave things so vague and unclear.
“Lu Yanshen, shouldn’t I be the one asking you that? You’re the one who asked me to come to the old house for dinner. And aren’t these three people beside me also invited by you?” Xie Wantang retorted with a mocking smile.
“Yes, your parents were invited by me,” Lu Yanshen admitted.
He shifted his gaze from Xie Wantang’s face to Father and Mother Xie sitting opposite him. After scanning the room, he finally spoke, “Mom, Dad, your daughter is dissatisfied with me. She wants a divorce. What are your thoughts on this?”
“What? Wantang wants a divorce?” Father Xie immediately grew anxious.
“Yes, she’s already written the divorce agreement, but I haven’t signed it yet,” Lu Yanshen nodded.
Mrs. Lu was also shocked. She never expected Xie Wantang to have such backbone.
To be honest, ever since Lu Yanshen left his wheelchair behind, she had felt that a woman like Xie Wantang was completely unworthy of her son and their Lu family.
Especially after Xia Meng returned to the country, she found Xie Wantang irritating in every way.
Even so, she never imagined that Xie Wantang would take the initiative to ask her son for a divorce. She thought a woman like Xie Wantang would cling to the position of the Lu family’s second daughter-in-law as long as her son didn’t bring it up.
While Lu Yanshen was speaking to them, Xie Wantang scanned everyone present. Both of Lu Yanshen’s parents frowned to varying degrees upon hearing she wanted a divorce.
Her father-in-law, Lu Wentao, also furrowed his brow slightly.
Lu Yanshen’s elder brother and sister-in-law both wore expressions of shock, probably not expecting her to initiate the divorce.
Only Mrs. Lu was first shocked, then overjoyed.
It seemed she was eager for her and Lu Yanshen to divorce.
Excellent!
“Yanshen, this divorce cannot happen,” Father Xie said after some thought.
Hearing his father-in-law’s stance, Lu Yanshen’s brow relaxed slightly. “Yes, that’s what I think too. After all, our two families have just finalized the ecological project. If Xie Wantang and I divorce, I can no longer give this project to the Xie family.”
Xie Wantang: “…”
This was nothing short of a blatant threat.
Was Lu Yanshen really threatening her right in front of her face not to divorce?
However, his thinking was too naive. After all, such threats were useless against her.
Whether Father Xie had projects to work on or could make money had nothing to do with her.
She didn’t care about the fate of the Xie family either.
Once they divorced, she wouldn’t stay in the capital anymore. She would return to Haishi, to the home where she truly belonged.
“Yes, yes, yes. How about this, Yanshen? After dinner, we’ll take Wantang back with us for a couple of days. In two days, I promise to bring her back and make her completely abandon this idea of divorce,” Father Xie promised.
Mother Xie, standing beside him, nodded in agreement. “Yes, Yanshen, Mom promises too. We’ll definitely persuade Wantang to give up this notion.”
“Alright, then I’ll trouble you both. If two days aren’t enough, a few more days together won’t hurt. I’ve been quite busy lately and really don’t have the time to coax her,” Lu Yanshen glanced at Xie Wantang, speaking as if he were such a devoted husband.
In the eyes of others, that glance from Lu Yanshen was filled with deep affection.
Only Xie Wantang herself knew that Lu Yanshen had just been putting on an act of tenderness.
Except for when they were intimate in bed, where his gaze was both lustful and affectionate, the rest of the time, his tenderness was reserved for other women.
However, Xie Wantang was not one to sit idly by and let them casually decide her fate.
“No need for the trouble. No one’s persuasion will work. Lu Yanshen, I want a divorce from you. You just want a reason for the divorce, right? I’ll give you one.”
“Go ahead,” Lu Yanshen said with an indifferent expression.
“I’m divorcing you because you cheated. Perhaps you haven’t had the chance physically yet, but emotionally, you’ve already strayed.”
“Sorry, but in this regard, I have quite severe standards. Emotional infidelity is something I cannot forgive either.”
“Emotional infidelity? Evidence?” Lu Yanshen chuckled lightly.
She really was quite skilled at fabricating things out of thin air.
To get a divorce, she would stop at nothing.
His indifferent demeanor made Xie Wantang mentally lash his name in her heart.
Thinking of the photo Xia Meng had posted on her social media feed, her heart bled, yet he acted as if nothing had happened, completely unconcerned.
This marriage had to end. She would no longer allow Lu Yanshen to trample on her dignity and emotions like this.
“You want evidence, don’t you? Fine, I’ll give it to you.”
Xie Wantang took out her phone, opened the messaging app, and scrolled through her social media feed. However, no matter how long she searched, she couldn’t find it.
Refusing to believe it, Xie Wantang scrolled back and forth twice more, but that photo had mysteriously vanished from the feed.
Xie Wantang looked up at Lu Yanshen, who remained expressionless, raising an eyebrow as he waited for her to produce evidence of his emotional infidelity.
Suddenly, Xie Wantang reached out toward him, palm facing upward, open.
Lu Yanshen frowned deeply. “What are you doing?”