Chapter 4 — Nine Months Post-Divorce

Approved.

A flicker of light sparked in his eyes. I spoke again.

Wait for the court notification.

Cyan paused. Theodore folded the document folder.

Mr. Cyan, considering your mother verbally abused a newborn in a public place, Ms. Jiang is suspected of being involved in the dissipation of marital assets, and you yourself forcibly barged into a postpartum ward, Ms. Wen will not accept any private settlements.

The expression on Jiang's face shifted abruptly.

What gives you the right to say I was involved?

Theodore raised his eyes.

Because on the sales contract for that house, the buyer is you.

Cyan whipped his head around to look at Jiang.

The house is under your name?

Jiang fingers loosened, and her bridal boutique shopping bag dropped to the floor. Inside, a tuxedo-fitting appointment slip rolled out. Tucked behind the slip was a folded receipt. Theodore bent down to pick it up. He glanced at it once, his eyebrows twitching slightly.

Ms. Wen.

The payment card number on this receipt matches the supplementary card you lost that year.

I raised my head. Huafua's face finally turned completely pale.

05

Theodore slid that receipt into a transparent file folder. Huafua reached out to snatch it back. Theodore leaned sideways to dodge her.

Madam Hua, this could be vital evidence.

Snatching it from me now will only make matters even uglier.

Hua's hand remained frozen in mid-air. She turned and spat curses at me.

Wen Lan, you planned this all along, didn't you?

You gave birth, yet you still didn't forget to dig a trap for the Cyan family!

I looked at her, suddenly feeling utterly exhausted. Once people refuse to reason, even the self-defense of others is labeled as a deliberate scheme.

I didn't dig any traps.

You dug the traps yourselves.

I am simply refusing to fill them in for you anymore.

Cyan stood in place, not uttering a single word. He took the receipt and stared at it for a long time. Then he raised his head to look at Jiang.

Explain this.

The rims of Jiang eyes turned red.

I did not know.

Auntie said that was money to buy extra furnishings for our new home.

I thought it was money from your family.

Cyan voice was chilling.

So you accepted it?

Jiang bit her lip.

I didn't think much about it at the time.

Cyan, I truly didn't know that was Wen Lan's money.

Hearing her address him so intimately stirred not a single ripple in my heart. Those two syllables used to feel like sharp thorns. Now, even the tips of those thorns had grown dull. Cyan looked toward Huafua.

Mother, did you use her money to buy a house for Jiang, to buy the wedding attire, to buy the furniture?

Huafua stiffened her neck.

That money was husband and wife's money to begin with.

Wen Lan has been married into the Cyan family for three years, eating from the Cyan family and spending from the Cyan family. What harm was there in her shelling out a little money?

Besides, back when she couldn't bear children, didn't our Cyan family suffer grievances?

As soon as those words left her mouth, Cyan expression darkened completely. I fell silent as well. Could not bear children. They had once pasted these three words onto me like a formal conviction. Yet the follow-up examination results from the hospital one month before our divorce clearly showed that I was not the one with the problem. I had never pulled out that medical report because back then, I was still trying to preserve a shred of dignity for Cyan. But bestowing such so-called dignity upon the wrong person was nothing more than feeding a viper in one's bosom. Cyan stared fixedly at Huafua.

Who said she couldn't bear children?

Huafua was stunned.

Didn't the medical examination write it all down?

Her health is poor, making it difficult to conceive.

I spoke in a flat tone.

That medical report—was that what you handed to Cyan to read?

Huafua refused to look at me.

The doctor said so.

Theodore suddenly asked.

Which hospital? Which doctor?

Huafua grew irritable.

How am I supposed to remember?

I said.

I remember.

Everyone turned their gazes toward me. I raised my hand and pulled another pre-folded photocopy from beneath the pillow. Cyan eyes shook violently.

You still kept it?

Naturally.

Every single time you humiliated me nine months ago, I kept the evidence.

I handed the photocopy to Theodore. After Theodore unfolded it, his expression grew solemn.

Mr. Cyan, this is not a complete health examination report.

This is a single extracted page.

Furthermore, there are clear traces of erasure in the conclusion section.

Cyan reached out and snatched it back. He glanced at it once, his fingers tightening abruptly. He must have been intimately familiar with that piece of paper, for back then, it was precisely this paper he had held as he told me we should let each other go. I had neither cried nor offered explanations. I had only asked him if he believed it. At the time, he said the truth was right before his eyes. Now, the truth was once again laid bare before his eyes. Cyan breathing grew heavier and heavier.

Mother, who gave you this report?

Huafua panic-stricken eyes darted around.

I forgot.

Jiang suddenly spoke up, her voice small.

I went to pick it up with Auntie.

Huafua whipped her head back.

Ruixi!

Jiang looked thoroughly frightened, her tears falling even faster.

Auntie, I don't want to hide it anymore.