After The Divorce, My Ex-Wife Is Consumed By Regret - Chapter 5

Ye Xingchun was the first to walk out of the psychological therapy room.

Yang Wen, who had been waiting outside, immediately stepped forward anxiously to ask about the situation. “She hasn’t come out yet?”

Ye Xingchun replied, “We need to wait a little longer.”

As the person who had been hypnotized, it would take her some time to slowly wake up and recover. Right now, Yan Dai was still struggling alone in her dream.

The best way to overcome fear is to face it head-on, so this could be considered a form of desensitization therapy.

However, it shouldn’t be done too frequently, otherwise, a person might genuinely lose their mind. As a protective mechanism, once she woke up, she would naturally forget some of the dialogue she had with Ye Xingchun and portions of the dream from her hypnotized state.

When people are fully conscious, their answers always hide their true inner thoughts to some degree.

But in a state like that, every single word uttered came straight from the heart.

With deep concern, Yang Wen asked again, “How is her condition this time?”

“It’s still the same old problem,” Ye Xingchun shook her head slightly. “But psychological therapy is a very long process; you can’t rush it. Her condition now is already much better than it was many years ago.”

Having been a psychiatrist for so long, Ye Xingchun had encountered all kinds of people whose psychological issues stemmed from various reasons. But unlike other illnesses, this couldn’t be completely cured with injections or medication.

To put it bluntly, severe psychological issues are akin to a terminal illness.

What they could do right now was simply continue long-term medication combined with regular psychological counseling.

Finally, Ye Xingchun added, “Constantly escaping abroad isn’t good for her treatment. If possible, it would be better to have President Yan return to the country and make more friends.”

The reality was that most of the people around Yan Dai were business partners; she barely had any true friends.

Yang Wen said, “President Yan probably won’t agree to return.”

Ye Xingchun remarked, “She’s just being stubborn.”

Yang Wen was left speechless. Duplicitous, saying one thing while meaning another—that truly described Yan Dai perfectly.

For instance, on the surface, President Yan claimed she didn’t care about Miss Chu, but in reality, she cared deeply. Everyone who had worked by her side for all these years knew this.

But what use was it that they knew? Miss Chu didn’t know.

The person married to President Yan was Miss Chu, not them!

Watching Yan Dai constantly run away, torturing both herself and Miss Chu, made them incredibly anxious.

Yan Dai stayed alone in the clinic for a while longer before finally walking out.

Every time she finished a counseling session, she would forget seven or eight tenths of what happened inside the therapy room. She only retained a lingering sense of dread, as if she had just woken from some sort of nightmare.

She followed Yang Wen out of the private hospital and got into the car heading back to her apartment. Suddenly, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about Chu Yuan again.

What was Chu Yuan doing right now? Was she really drunk, or was she already asleep? Had Qin Man picked her up and taken her home yet?

There were too many questions she wanted to ask. But because they were so far apart, even though there were people at home who could report on Chu Yuan’s status, it still felt far from enough.

She wanted to see Chu Yuan’s current state with her own eyes, she wanted to touch her face.

If Chu Yuan was genuinely heavily intoxicated right now, she would probably need a bowl of honey water or millet porridge.

Yan Dai’s hand rubbed against her phone, seemingly lost in thought.

Noticing her slight movement, Yang Wen acted as if she possessed mind-reading powers and hurriedly reported, “President Yan, I’ve already contacted Sister Qin Man. She said she is currently driving over to pick up Miss Chu and take her home. Once she safely brings Miss Chu back, she will report to us.”

Yan Dai felt slightly relieved. However, her expression remained blank as she briefly muttered a single word: “Mm.” It was as if she truly didn’t care.

Yet, her body was completely honest. The moment she heard that Qin Man was on her way to bring Chu Yuan home, she relaxed and naturally slipped her phone back into her pocket.

The car drove smoothly along the road. Yan Dai initially intended to close her eyes to rest, but then she remembered something. “Once Qin Man brings her back safely, remember to tell me immediately.”

“Understood.” Yang Wen nodded solemnly, though she couldn’t help but grumble in her mind: If President Yan could just say these words of concern directly to Miss Chu’s face, the relationship between this married couple would probably be a lot closer.

But if Miss Chu were actually to stand in front of President Yan right now, President Yan probably wouldn’t say a single extra word. She would likely just put on that poker-faced, dead-eyed expression again to scare people away.

Compared to Miss Chu’s face, which always featured curving eyes and a cheerful smile. President Yan was truly not cute at all.

She had no idea what President Yan was always being so awkward about.

If she had a girlfriend as cute, beautiful, and likable as Miss Chu, she would probably be so happy that she wouldn’t sleep for three days and three nights. Not only that, she would hold her, kiss her, and refuse to be separated from her even by a single step.

Cough, cough, stop… this thought seems a bit dangerous.

The boss’s wife is off-limits! The boss’s wife is off-limits! The boss’s wife is off-limits!

Important things must be repeated three times!

Setting aside the factor that President Yan was her big boss, Yang Wen felt that Miss Chu was far too pitiful. Her passionate, giving emotions never received any response.

As for people with avoidant attachment styles, they deserved to be called out and were not worthy of sympathy.

Then again, President Yan was someone who needed regular psychological treatment, so it was only normal that she didn’t know how to handle intimate relationships.

Aside from finding it a bit of a pity, Yang Wen didn’t dare to think too much.

Their President Yan was also quite a miserable soul, sob sob sob…

Clearly, President Yan and her wife could have been incredibly loving.

But when it came down to placing the blame, it seemed no one could truly be blamed.

Amid Yang Wen’s complex inner monologues, the car finally came to a stop in front of the villa.

The moment Yan Dai got out of the car, she was about to ask about Chu Yuan. But before she could even open her mouth, she heard Yang Wen speak first, delivering a piece of rather bad news. “President Yan, Sister Qin Man didn’t bring Miss Chu home.”

Yan Dai’s footsteps abruptly halted. She turned her head and questioned, “Why wasn’t she brought back?”

“Uh…” Yang Wen stammered slightly. “Miss Chu said she is unwilling to come back.”

Yan Dai countered, “She’s drunk. How can what she says count?”

“…Miss Chu’s friend already helped sober her up.” Though it might not have been very effective.

Yan Dai’s tone was indifferent. “Does she not know that it was my person who went to pick her up?”

How could Chu Yuan not know? Qin Man had worked by Yan Dai’s side for about the same length of time as Yang Wen, she belonged to the group of employees Yan Dai had used for a long time.

Chu Yuan had not only met Qin Man before but also knew that Qin Man shared a good relationship with Yan Dai.

In the past, it wasn’t as if Chu Yuan hadn’t gone out and had too much fun. Every single time, Yan Dai would dispatch Qin Man to pick her up. No matter how wildly Chu Yuan was playing at the time, once she realized Yan Dai had sent someone for her, she would obediently follow them back.

Therefore, it would be absolute nonsense if Chu Yuan failed to recognize Qin Man now.

Yang Wen replied, “Naturally, she recognized her. It’s just that Miss Chu’s emotions seemed a bit volatile.”

Yan Dai asked, “What did she say?”

“Miss Chu just said that no matter what, she refuses to come home, even if… uh…” Yang Wen couldn’t squeeze out a complete sentence for the longest time. “She said… she said…”

“Forget it,” Yan Dai didn’t wait for a response and pulled out her phone. “I’ll call her myself.”

After saying this, Yan Dai very smoothly typed in the eleven digit phone number. However, she hesitated right at the moment of dialing. In the end, the call was not placed.

Every single time, right at the critical moment, she would start getting awkward again.

Yan Dai commanded, “Have Qin Man take a video and send it to me. I want to see what the situation is.”

Yang Wen took a deep breath. In truth, she desperately wanted to say. President Yan, it really doesn’t need to be this complicated. If you just call her directly and take the initiative to coax her with a couple of words like “It’s getting late, be good and go home with Secretary Qin,” everything would be solved.

If you make Miss Chu happy, she will naturally be obedient and happily run back home.

But how could she dare say that?

Even if she didn’t say it, didn’t President Yan know it herself? Even if she knew that personal coaxing would work, she still wouldn’t take the initiative to do it!

Yang Wen first sent a message to Qin Man. President Yan wants to see Miss Chu’s current situation. Immediately after, she placed a direct video call to Qin Man.

Why bother filming a video? It was much better to just make a video call and clarify everything face-to-face.

Right now, Qin Man was also experiencing a massive headache.

As an ordinary corporate drone who clocked in and out of work on time every day, she had finally finished her duties, eaten some late night snacks, caught up on her dramas, and taken a wonderful shower.

Just as she was getting ready to jump into bed in the middle of the night, her boss suddenly called out of nowhere, asking her to pick up her drunk wife from the home of the wife’s friend.

What kind of employee’s job description included chauffeuring the boss’s wife?

Furthermore, it was the dead of night, and this wasn’t even the first time she had done this!

If it weren’t for the five to six figure monthly salary Yan Dai provided, she would have thrown in the towel and quit long ago.

The video call connected.

Yang Wen hurriedly handed her phone over to Yan Dai.

Yan Dai took the phone. The first thing she saw was neither Chu Yuan’s face nor Qin Man’s, but rather that of someone she disliked. Ji Xiran.

The moment Ji Xiran’s face appeared on the phone screen, Yan Dai imperceptibly frowned.

Why was Ji Xiran answering the call? Wasn’t this Qin Man’s phone?!

As expected, Chu Yuan was currently at Ji Xiran’s place.

Even though she had already guessed this beforehand, now that the truth was laid out right in front of her, Yan Dai still couldn’t control the faint, rising irritation within her.

In reality, it wasn’t just Ji Xiran who couldn’t stand Yan Dai; Yan Dai didn’t particularly like Ji Xiran either.

What kind of decent person had absolutely nothing to do all day, spent their time squandering their family fortune, and hung around women day in and day out, changing girlfriends as frequently as changing clothes?

Granted, liking women wasn’t her fault, and rumor had it that Ji Xiran’s ex-girlfriends all showered her with praise, calling her a wonderful person.

However, Yan Dai felt she was far too “promiscuous.” Since she was so close to Chu Yuan, what if she corrupted Chu Yuan?

Ji Xiran didn’t care about this at all. There were plenty of people in this world who liked her, and just as many who hated her. Yan Dai’s dislike meant absolutely nothing to her, its damage output was zero.

It was only because Chu Yuan stood between the two of them that, no matter how much Ji Xiran disliked the other woman over the years, she had never made it too obvious. They could at least maintain a veneer of adult decency.

Without wasting any breath on pleasantries, Yan Dai asked directly, “Where is she?”

Though her words were sparse, they carried no other malicious intent.

In contrast, Ji Xiran’s attitude could hardly be called pleasant. She asked knowingly, “Who are you looking for?”

It was a blatant tone of deliberate harassment.

Yan Dai asked, “Is Chu Yuan at your place right now? Is she drunk?”

Ji Xiran smiled without any warmth. “I am under no obligation to inform you!”

This was crossing the line a bit.

Yan Dai didn’t have a particularly good temper when dealing with other people. Even though her expression management was strong, her tone inevitably hardened at this moment. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” Ji Xiran shrugged, maintaining her provocative tone. “Just, why should I tell you just because you asked? What exactly is the relationship between the two of you?”

Yan Dai knew Ji Xiran was doing this on purpose. If the other woman were provoking her face to face with this attitude, she probably wouldn’t even bother to care. However, with the sky high and the emperor far away, she had no choice but to deal with it if she wanted to bring Chu Yuan back.

Yan Dai fell silent for two seconds. “Is there an issue with me caring about my wife’s current situation?”

Hearing this, Ji Xiran couldn’t hold back a cold sneer. “Heh. Oh, the two of you have already been living apart for half a year. As long as Xiao Yuan doesn’t take the initiative to contact you, you don’t even think to make a phone call. Seeing how little you care about your wife, I thought you two had divorced ages ago.”

Yan Dai stopped speaking. She was too lazy to bicker with her. She called to find Chu Yuan, and she had no patience to listen to Ji Xiran’s provocations.

Could Ji Xiran possibly be ignorant of the relationship between her and Chu Yuan?

Ji Xiran knew even better whether she and Chu Yuan were divorced or not.

She was probably throwing another tantrum.

In the past, whenever Ji Xiran faced Yan Dai, she would occasionally throw out a few sarcastic remarks, but it had never been as excessive as tonight.

And while Ji Xiran could be endlessly sweet tongued when facing beautiful young women, it didn’t mean she couldn’t be sharp-tongued at the same time.

The more silent Yan Dai remained, the more Ji Xiran wanted to twist the knife. “Xiao Yuan doesn’t want to go home. We just had a wild time with some pretty ladies at Wink Bar. Right now, she’s exhausted. She just finished her shower and is currently sleeping in my bed.”

Ji Xiran truly knew how to rile people up. Every word she spoke was the absolute truth without a single lie, yet the damage output was more than sufficient and not weak in the slightest.

The moment these words left her mouth, whether it was Qin Man standing in the Ji family living room or Yang Wen standing beside Yan Dai, both were frozen like wooden chickens, not daring to make a sound.

This eldest Miss Ji was truly something else. Their President Yan had sent someone over with the intention of bringing her drunk wife home. It was one thing for you to refuse to release her, but to provocatively claim that you had abducted someone else’s wife into your own bed, isn’t this pure sabotage?

Those in the know understood that Ji Xiran and Chu Yuan shared a childhood best friend relationship spanning over a decade. Those who didn’t know might mistake Ji Xiran for trying to snatch someone’s love away, preparing to dig up Yan Dai’s wall and publicly provoking the legitimate spouse!

But even if Ji Xiran didn’t have those kinds of intentions toward Chu Yuan, luring a married individual into one’s own bed…

What kind of propriety was that?