C19 What's Wrong with You?

'What the hell is going on!' Shao Yunchen wondered to himself.

If his gaze had not gone to the shoes on the shoe rack that he knew belonged to Lu Yao, he would have thought that he pressed the wrong doorbell.

"Mr. Shao." Xiang Dongnan stretched out his hand and gave Shao Yunchen a cordial smile. "We met at Peace Hotel a few days ago. I'm Xiang Dongnan, also Yao Yao's friend."

As soon as he said that, Shao Yunchen remembered where he had seen the man before. He had gone to Peace Hotel with a client and bumped into Xiang Dongnan and Lu Yao there. He had been suspicious of how intimate the two of them looked together. It seemed as if they had known each other for long. Before Shao Yunchen got sidetracked with the matter of divorce, he had meant to look into the man's background.

Shao Yunchen looked at him with wary eyes, feeling disconcerted. Out of politeness, he shook hands with Xiang Dongnan and said, "Hello. I'm Shao Yunchen."

Shao Yunchen stepped in and saw a little girl on the sofa, playing with a toy. His gaze impulsively went to Xiang Dongnan. He surmised that she was Xiang Dongnan's daughter. Inexplicably, his heart felt lighter at the thought.

Mrs. Lu and Lu Yao were busy in the kitchen. Shao Yunchen walked over to them and asked Lu Yao, "Do you need any help?"

"No. You're our guest. Stay in the living room," Lu Yao said brusquely.

Seeing that Lu Yao did not even turn around to look at him, Shao Yunchen frowned. Referring to him as just a 'guest' sounded dismissive.

He has an inkling that there was more to this dinner than he thought.

Very soon, dinner was served. An array of sumptuous dishes occupied the table. Everyone sat down to eat.

Mrs. Lu took Xiang Dongnan's hand affectionately. From their talking, Shao Yunchen realized that Xiang Dongnan was a former apprentice of Mr. Lu. He had also recently been through a divorce.

Mrs. Lu seemed to like Xiang Dongnan a lot. From time to time, she scooped more food onto his plate. She did note even acknowledge Shao Yunchen. The atmosphere on the table was not very pleasant for him but he ate in silence.

Lu Yao did not talk to him until she was finished eating.

Once the dinner table was cleared, Lu Yao fished out the divorce papers from a drawer and gave them to Shao Yunchen coolly. "Shao Yunchen, please sign these."

Shao Yunchen did not even look at the papers that she placed in his hands. "Didn't you agree earlier that we would discuss the matter of divorce?" He knew that she had a reason behind inviting him to dinner, but he never imagined that it would play out like this. "Tell me, why did you come to my office only to leave your ring behind?"

When he made it back to office, Lu Yao had been gone for a long while. Fu Xuezi, his assistant, had pointed to the diamond ring on the table and said, "Yunchen, I offered to take Ms. Lu on a tour of the building until you came back. She refused and looked a little unwell. She took off her ring and left, asking me to inform you about it."

He had only been gone on the business trip for a week. Nothing had happened between them. Why did she take off the ring so decisively? What made her so adamant about the divorce?

What had gone wrong?

"You bought me that ring. Since we're getting divorced, it's useless to me now." Lu Yao did not want to make a spectacle of what happened at Long Teng Corporation as it would only embarrass the others. "Please sign the divorce papers. We've been married for three years already and it's not working out."

Shao Yunchen's throat was burning hot and he was breathing hard. "So? We've been married for three years. Why not wait one more?"

He had thought that the two of them would have a peaceful divorce in four years. However, Lu Yao's actions had caught him off guard. He felt unsettled.

Why this bothered him so much, he could not say.

"I like someone else." Lu Yao shot a glance at Xiang Dongnan, her eyes soft. "He helps me in the worst of times. I want to marry someone who genuinely cares for me. He wouldn't make me sign any marriage contracts."

Shao Yunchen stared, comprehension dawning on him. She had asked for money from someone, so that her father's stolen money was returned. Mr. Lu had been sentenced to a fixed-term imprisonment. It could have been worse. Shao Yunchen was sure that this man had pulled some strings to make that happen. His expression slowly turned grim, his lips thinning.

"So, you borrowed two million yuan from him?"

Lu Yao averted her gaze. Seeing how she remained silent, Shao Yunchen laughed bitterly. "Lu Yao, just because I don't say anything, it doesn't mean that I don't want to help you. I want you to come to me yourself and ask for help. But you went and borrowed money from a stranger. You're unbelievable!"

Xiang Dongnan shifted and came to stand in front of Lu Yao, protecting her. He was afraid that Shao Yunchen would lose control of his anger.

"Mr Shao, Yao Yao has said what she wanted to say. Please respect her and leave."

But Shao Yunchen did not even deign to look at hm. He stared at Lu Yao who stood behind Xiang Dongnan, his expression dark.

The divorce papers, previously crushed into a ball in his hands, unrolled little by little on the coffee table.