Chapter 5
Right after I liked her post, Lin Yaqi messaged me privately:
[Sister Claire, you don't mind me posting that, right? Zeyu insisted I do it. He said he's wronged me for too many years.]
This was just another one of her little games.
From time to time, she'd send me intimate photos of her and Zeyu, or write over-the-top captions about how deeply Zeyu loved her—
Only to delete them shortly afterward, with a casual excuse:
[Oops, sorry! Sent to the wrong person.]
Once, she actually managed to piss me off so badly I got into a full-blown fight with Zeyu.
The result?
Our relationship deteriorated even faster.
He basically stopped coming home after that.
Even on Ethan's birthday, he took our son to celebrate with Lin Yaqi instead.
And every time Ethan came back from her place, he'd say:
"Auntie Lin is so nice to me. She's gentle and pretty. I wish she were my mom."
Looking back, I have no idea how I endured all of that in my past life.
But it's probably a good thing the pain cut so deep—
There's nothing left to feel.
I replied to Lin's message with a smile:
[Mind? Why would I? Didn't I even give it a like?]
[You're just doing it for Zeyu, aren't you?] she pushed, convinced I was only playing hard to get.
[You're bluffing. You don't really want a divorce.]
I wasn't going to waste my breath.
People like her weren't worth a second of my time.
Just as I was about to block her, she sent another message:
[You forgot something.]
Impossible.
I checked the house thoroughly before I left.
Then she sent a photo.
A box of condoms.
I replied without missing a beat:
[Consider it a gift.]
[They're all expired,]
she added with a mocking emoji.
[You didn't even use up a box in years? Zeyu and I go through several a day. I can't even keep up buying them.]
I answered calmly:
[Perfect. I have no interest in the trash you're recycling. Call it waste management.]
[Who are you calling trash?!]
Before she could finish her furious typing, I blocked her.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Without her poison cluttering up my feed, life felt significantly cleaner.
I threw myself into studying for my grad school entrance exams.
Free from distractions, I finally had the mental space to invest in my own future.
A month later, I got a call from Zeyu.
"Claire, where the hell are you hiding? Why are you pretending you want a divorce if you're going to pull this kind of stunt now? It's too late to regret it!"
Only then did I realize—
Today was the final day of the divorce cooling-off period.
We needed to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get the certificate.
"I'll be there right away," I said, and hung up.
I didn't waste a second. I grabbed my bag and flew out the door, slamming my foot on the gas pedal.
When I arrived, Zeyu was already waiting. His face twisted into a sarcastic smile.
We had agreed to meet at ten a.m. sharp.
Now it was noon. The office staff were on their lunch break.
"Claire, when you begged me to sign those divorce papers, I told you—regret wouldn't help. I don't care what game you're playing. We're ending this marriage today."
"Good," I said plainly.
"If you hadn't given up your place in the house, I'd never have realized what a great mother Lin is. She's amazing with Ethan—calm, patient. When you were around, the house was chaos. But now? My son's like a different person."
"Congratulations," I said flatly. "You married a winner."
"Still acting tough, huh?"