Pei Xiao had already parked the car at the entrance of the Lu family villa, but the two in the back seat were still entangled, unable to resolve their dispute.
Pei Xiao silently got out of the car.
“Xie Wantang, we are not divorced yet. You are still Mrs. Lu. Please show some respect for the spirit of the contract, will you?” Lu Yanshen’s voice, which had been relatively gentle moments ago, grew noticeably colder as he saw her stubborn and willful behavior.
Xie Wantang turned her head back toward him. “Fine, Lu Yanshen. I’ll abide by the spirit of the contract you mentioned and go back to the old house with you. But you’d better be prepared—don’t regret it later.”
Hmph—
Xie Wantang opened the car door and stepped out.
Pei Xiao had already taken her suitcase out of the trunk. Xie Wantang dragged it behind her and walked straight into the Lu family villa.
“Madam, you’ve finally returned! Traveling is one thing, but for three whole days, you didn’t answer calls or reply to messages. You’ve thrown everyone into chaos and even caused the master to rush back from overseas. Isn’t that a bit too inappropriate?”
As soon as Xie Wantang entered, Mother Li approached, lecturing her with an air of authority.
“Whether it’s appropriate or not is a matter between husband and wife. What right do you have to interfere? Are you Lu Yanshen’s mother? You’re just a cook for the family. How dare you lecture me?”
“…”
Mother Li was completely stunned, her lips trembling and her body shaking uncontrollably, yet she couldn’t utter a single word.
However, Xie Wantang didn’t even spare Mother Li a second glance.
She kicked off her shoes haphazardly, slipped into her slippers, and after shutting down the presumptuous Mother Li, she dragged her suitcase upstairs.
She paid no mind to the stunned expressions of the servants in the house.
Yes, starting today, she would be herself again—the Xie Wantang who no longer suppressed or changed herself for Lu Yanshen.
Didn’t Lu Yanshen say he married her because she was obedient, sensible, and knew her place?
Well, she wanted to see if he would still sign the divorce papers once her true self—disobedient, unreasonable, and unrestrained—was fully exposed.
Lu Yanshen had been mistaken earlier. She hadn’t married him because the Lu family could support the Xie family, as he claimed.
Rather, she had married him because she loved him. She had willingly taken Xie Bailu’s place to marry him when he was believed to be forever confined to a wheelchair.
She could have stayed with her adoptive parents, where she was deeply cherished. But for Lu Yanshen, for the chance to become his wife, she had left her warm home and entered the cold Xie household.
They had been married for just over three years, but she had loved him for far longer—more than a decade.
He hadn’t recognized her, but she had never forgotten him.
She had planned to tell him about their past connection once he loved her as much as she loved him. But now, it seemed she might never have the chance to share that story in this lifetime.
If there was no chance, then so be it.
That was fine too.
After bathing and changing, Xie Wantang applied light makeup and painted her nails. It wasn’t until Lu Yanshen sent Pei Xiao upstairs to knock on her door for the third time that she finally dawdled her way out.
Seeing how well-dressed she looked, Lu Yanshen’s deep, dark eyes flickered slightly. The words on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back.
“Let’s go. We shouldn’t keep Grandmother and the others waiting.”
With that, Lu Yanshen headed toward the entrance, changing his shoes while waiting for Xie Wantang to join him.
Xie Wantang stood there, waiting for Lu Yanshen to change his shoes and walk out before she went over to change hers.
She no longer wanted to be too close to him.
The photo Xia Meng had posted on her social media feed made Xie Wantang instinctively resist getting too close to Lu Yanshen.
She was afraid of being tainted by that vixen Xia Meng’s foul, provocative scent.
How did she and Xia Meng know each other?
It was simple—that shameless vixen had no sense of decency. On the very day Xia Meng returned to the country, it happened to be the day she and Lu Yanshen were supposed to go back to the old mansion for a family meal. That day, Lu Yanshen didn’t come home to pick her up.
He went to the airport to fetch Xia Meng, and after picking her up, he took her directly to the old mansion.
Xia Meng was the daughter of her mother-in-law’s close friend. She and Lu Yanshen had grown up together as childhood sweethearts. However, this so-called childhood sweetheart had run away after Lu Yanshen was in a car accident and was told he might never walk again.
What was laughable was that neither her mother-in-law nor Lu Yanshen seemed to mind Xia Meng’s heartless actions in the slightest. As soon as Xia Meng returned to the country, the mother and son treated her just as they always had.
Xie Wantang couldn’t help but admire Xia Meng’s remarkable skills—truly remarkable.
Or perhaps it was because she herself was petty, spoiled by her adoptive parents, and had developed a personality where she had to settle every score.
For Lu Yanshen’s sake, she had hidden all her sharp claws over the past three years.
Everyone thought she was a weak, easily bullied lamb, and anyone felt they could step on her.
Especially those in the Lu family.
Taking advantage of her deep affection for Lu Yanshen, they practically bossed her around and never took her seriously.
Pei Xiao parked the car at the entrance.
After Lu Yanshen got into the car, he didn’t close the door. He was working on his phone.
Xie Wantang walked over and tried to open the passenger door, but it was locked. She knocked on the passenger window. Pei Xiao glanced back at Lu Yanshen, who frowned slightly, waiting for Xie Wantang to speak.
“Pei Xiao, I haven’t been feeling well lately, and sitting in the back makes me carsick. I’d like to sit in the front,” Xie Wantang said.
“Mr. Lu?” Pei Xiao turned around, waiting for Lu Yanshen’s order.
“Xie Wantang, stop making excuses. I have motion sickness medicine. No matter how unwell you are, I guarantee you won’t get carsick. Get in the car. Don’t keep Grandma waiting,” Lu Yanshen didn’t allow Pei Xiao to unlock the passenger door.
“…”
Xie Wantang couldn’t understand why Lu Yanshen couldn’t just be a bit more consistent.
Now that his white moonlight had returned, since he chose to get close to her, he should distance himself from Xie Wantang.
She was actively keeping her distance, yet he wouldn’t let her. It was truly strange.
If it weren’t for not wanting to keep Grandma waiting too long, she really wouldn’t have wanted to get into this car.
In the end, Xie Wantang got into the car, but she pressed herself tightly against the door.
Lu Yanshen’s car was already spacious, and with Xie Wantang deliberately clinging to the door, even someone as oblivious as Lu Yanshen could sense her intentional distance.
Besides, she practically wore her disdain for him on her face.
Lu Yanshen immediately lost his mood for work. His slender fingers typed a new command on the latest chat page: “Redo.”
Then, he muted his phone and set it aside.
He didn’t initiate conversation with Xie Wantang either, just waited with a cold expression for her to speak.
However, he didn’t get what he was waiting for, because Xie Wantang had no desire to talk to him at all.
The two of them remained silent the entire way, the atmosphere icy until they arrived at the Lu family’s old mansion.
In the past, such a situation would never have occurred when they were together.
When Xie Wantang was with him, she was like a little motor that never ran out of power, always finding all sorts of topics to chat about with him.
Therefore, he had always believed that there would never be awkward silences between them, as long as Xie Wantang was there.
However, the reason there were no awkward silences was because Xie Wantang had always been the one taking the initiative—initiating love toward him, making their marriage appear more like a marriage, and creating an atmosphere of affection between them as husband and wife.
All along, he, Lu Yanshen, had been the one passively receiving Xie Wantang’s kindness.
Now, with Xie Wantang no longer taking the initiative, Lu Yanshen didn’t even know what to say to her.