Chapter 55: A Broken Mirror Cannot Be Made Whole Again

Liu Hanyue was extremely overbearing, her tone leaving no room for question. Her posture suggested that if either of us dared to show the slightest bit of opposition, she would fly into a rage instantly.

This put me in a very difficult spot.

"Well..."

I wanted to say something, but I was still a bit scared.

To my surprise, the moment Liu Zhuyin saw me hesitate, she immediately stated her position.

"Don't glare at me like that. I'm not the one making a fuss about getting a divorce."

"It's him! Go yell at him!"

As she spoke, Liu Zhuyin even pointed her little finger right at me.

Was she seriously trying to shift all the blame onto me with this attitude?

I stared wide-eyed at this scheming woman. Wasn't she just a bit too good at this?

"What are you staring at?"

"Aren't you the one insisting on a divorce? Just throwing away five years of a perfectly good marriage like that?"

With that, she couldn't help but start complaining to Liu Hanyue.

"He's the one who keeps forcing a divorce on me. I begged him so many times, but he refused to give me a chance."

"Fine, I had my faults, but I've changed."

"He's just dead set on this, bullheaded to the very end."

"I've never seen such a stubborn mule!"

"If you don't believe me... just ask your aunt and you'll know!"

Liu Zhuyin had completely absolved herself of any wrongdoing, and the look Liu Hanyue gave me changed accordingly.

She wore a smile, but it sent a chill straight down my spine!

"Good brother-in-law, I had no idea your temper was quite so fierce."

"What? Were all those days of being gentle, a gentleman, and acting so subservient just an act?"

"You played the part damn well!"

I was depressed to death, glancing sideways at Liu Zhuyin, out of the corner of my eye I could see her casting side-long glances at me too.

I had a strong feeling she was feeling quite smug and a little gloating.

I really wanted to spill everything and tell the whole truth, but after thinking about it, I decided against it.

She was a woman, after all, and I wouldn't stoop to her level.

Whatever harsh words there were between the two of us, we could keep between ourselves. There was no need to slander her like this in front of Liu Hanyue.

"Uhm, Yueyue, you just got back today, right?"

"Your brother-in-law should treat you to a meal. Let's drop the matter between me and Liu Zhuyin for now."

I could only rack my brain for a way to change the subject.

"What did you just say?"

She looked at me coldly.

"Uh... didn't you just arrive? Let's not let this matter ruin the welcome-home dinner..."

"No! What did I say you called my sister just now? You dropped her full name like that?"

"Say it again to my face!"

With a sharp snap, she strode right up to me, her small hand already pinching the back of my neck, ready to exert force.

"I... the matter between me and your sister..."

"Hmm?"

"I... the matter between me and my wife..."

"That's more like it!"

With a cold snort, she finally released my neck.

"Fine, let's go then. I want you to treat me right now, just the two of us."

"You're going to sit down and tell me exactly why you're so hell-bent on getting a divorce!"

Without giving me a hard time beyond that, she grabbed me and dragged me right out of the front door, leaving Liu Zhuyin behind in the house.

Before long, she had brought me to a cafe.

I didn't dare ask any questions and sat there on pins and needles.

"All right, out with it. What's going on between the two of you?"

"Is it because of that Ning Yuanzhou?"

Liu Hanyue's single question froze me in my tracks.

She knew about that?

I had never mentioned Ning Yuanzhou's return to her.

And I was certain Liu Zhuyin wouldn't dare bring it up either.

Yet she knew anyway, most likely told by Madam Liu.

"Sigh..."

I let out a heavy sigh, truly at a loss for how to talk to my young sister-in-law.

"Sigh my foot! Spit it out if you have something to say. If you dare dawdle and hem and haw with me, I'll deal with you, you better believe it!"

She waved her dainty fist in a menacing threat, a fierce expression that wrung a bitter laugh from me.

"Your sister can't let go of Ning Yuanzhou, and she has no feelings for me."

"Of course I want a divorce."

That was the truth, though not the entire reason.

The greater part of it was my own physical condition.

I was already dying, and I didn't want to trap myself in a loveless home.

Even if Liu Zhuyin were to fall in love with me, I didn't want to spend the remainder of my life playing romance with her.

I only wanted to quietly do the things I loved.

To have loved once was enough.

"Hmph, what you're saying makes some sense."

"But my sister also made her stance clear to me. She really doesn't love Ning Yuanzhou anymore, and she does have feelings for you."

"Are you still not going to turn back?"

Sipping her coffee, she waited earnestly for my reply.

"Yes."

"I feel like what we had wasn't love. It felt more like two people just teaming up to get through life out of sheer habit for each other."

I casually fabricated a lie.

Though, of course, it wasn't entirely a lie.

"Hmph! Spare me."

"Gu Yichen, don't take me for some naive little girl just because you think you can fool me."

"I know how you feel about my sister."

"My sister made mistakes, she did a lot of things to wrong you, but she didn't cross any bottom-line principles."

"She swore to me that she and Ning Yuanzhou are just friends, with zero physical contact! She gave her body entirely to you, including her first time."

"Aside from that, no other man has ever touched her!"

"I even asked my sister, and she said she felt zero repulsion when sleeping with you."

"She never turned you down either—even in the dead of night when she was asleep and you lunged at her, she didn't reject you, did she?"

She spoke with such utter bluntness that she actually made me blush with embarrassment.

How could this girl discuss the intimate details of a married couple so openly with her brother-in-law?

"As for emotional attachment, it doesn't really count as betrayal either. Considering they shared feelings from their youth, plus the debt of saving a life, it's understandable."

"As long as she corrects her mistakes, it's not the end of the world."

"And as for you and that eldest Miss of the Luo family, I don't believe for a second that you've fallen in love with her."

"So, stop playing games and tell me the honest truth!"

"What on earth is actually going on?"

I was dumbfounded. This girl had done her homework!

Judging by this posture, it didn't look like she had just casually found out about our divorce today.

Could it be? Did Madam Liu summon her back?

Otherwise, how could she possibly know so many minute details?

I looked at her suspiciously, while Liu Hanyue glared back at me.

"What are you staring at me for? Answer my question!"

I furrowed my brow slightly. "Tell me the truth, did Mom say something to you?"

Liu Hanyue's eyes flickered evasively, but she stubbornly refused to admit it.

"What could Aunt possibly say to me? Do you think I need her to tell me about your little affairs?"

"Answer my question, stop questioning me!"

"Have I been too nice to you these past two years, giving you the leeway to ride roughshod over me?"

Knowing her as well as I did, her evasive reaction was the clearest answer I could ask for.

Madam Liu really pulled out all the stops.

On one hand, she was counseling Liu Zhuyin; on the other, she was holding projects over my head to keep me in line; and finally, she had summoned Liu Hanyue back.

Every single step left me completely cornered with no way out.

Even if I wanted to be angry, I couldn't muster the temper for it.

"Yueyue, let your brother-in-law put it to you straight."

"The kind of love I pursue is very pure. If it's contaminated with anything else, I'd rather not have it at all."

"I don't know if you can understand that, but this is simply who I am."

"You can call me overly sentimental, or say I'm just looking for trouble out of nowhere."

"But I am truly exhausted."

"I have no confidence left in her. I don't know if she genuinely loves me now, or if she's simply accustomed to my presence."

"And I... have no confidence in myself either, not knowing if I can ever love her the way I used to."

"It's just like the old saying... shattered mirrors are hard to make whole again."