After the Divorce, My Wife Is Impossible to Coax - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The Lu family was stunned by that slap. No one expected this Omega to have such a direct, explosive temper—striking a child in front of everyone without a second thought.

The boy burst into tears and was about to throw a tantrum when his parents pulled him into their arms, holding him down to keep him quiet. They had intended to test An Zhaoyu’s limits, but they had crashed right into a brick wall.

An Zhaoyu was an An. The An family held significant status in S City, not to mention her grandmother was He Linghan. The Lu family couldn’t afford to offend her. This was why Lu Congwen, despite his dissatisfaction with the marriage, hadn’t dared to openly oppose it.

Take right now: Lu Congwen’s face was ashen, his gaze fixed on An Zhaoyu, his hands trembling with rage. Yet, he didn’t utter a single word of reprimand.

An Zhaoyu held her daughter with one arm and shook out her right hand. She had put her weight into that slap; her palm was still tingling. The annoying flies had stopped buzzing. The world was finally quiet.

Seeing Lu Congwen’s pained expression, it was clear this boy was likely to differentiate into an Alpha. Did I hurt his precious little heir? An Zhaoyu knew Lu Congwen had been feigning deafness earlier, silently permitting the vultures to tear into Lu Shen. If he had defended her even once, these flies wouldn’t have dared to swarm.

Lu Shen took An Zhou from her arms. Her face remained expressionless, but the heavy tension surrounding her dissipated significantly. She knew the ill-mannered boy would talk, and she knew An Zhaoyu would strike. On the day An Zhaoyu said she wanted to get married, Lu Shen knew it would come to this.

There were some hands only An Zhaoyu could move. Lu Shen had done this intentionally.

An Zhaoyu, now with both hands free, raised an eyebrow. She didn’t have Lu Shen’s temperament; she didn’t care about “respecting elders” or “protecting the young” when she was angry. A jerk was a jerk, regardless of age—especially those who liked to run their mouths about marked Omegas.

Even if what they said was true, so what? Since when was being marked by an Alpha the Omega’s fault? If her grandmother found out, she’d probably praise her for the slap.

Looking at the room full of Alphas who were fuming but dared not speak, An Zhaoyu felt only boredom.

Just as they sat down, Lu Yi hurried back into the room. She was taken aback by the deathly silence in the dining hall. Usually, at this time, the gossipers would be busy making snide remarks about Lu Shen. Lu Congwen had intentionally sent her out earlier, but she had returned early out of worry.

Taking in the scene—the family of three preparing to eat as if no one else was there, her father struggling to control his temper, and her young nephew being muffled by a relative—Lu Yi understood perfectly. She had been right: An Zhaoyu was an excellent choice.

The food at the Lu estate was actually quite good, perhaps due to the mountain setting. An Zhaoyu ate with gusto, while the rest of the Lu family chewed like they were eating cardboard. Lu Congwen was the first to put down his chopsticks, stomping out with his hands behind his back. In all his years as head of the family, no one had ever dared to challenge his authority so blatantly in his own home.

But what could he do? Between the He, Wei, and An families, there wasn’t a single one he could provoke. This was exactly why he craved power—to stop being suppressed. Lu Shen was his bargaining chip, and An Zhaoyu had snatched her away in broad daylight.

After dinner, Lu Yi introduced the relatives, and An Zhaoyu finally pieced together the Lu family dynamics.

It turned out Ye Jinhuan and Lu Congwen had been separated for years. They hadn’t divorced only for the sake of their daughters. Lu Yi was an Alpha and needed little worry, but Lu Ming had been eccentric and unpopular since childhood. Ye Jinhuan remained unsettled and visited her periodically.

Lu Congwen was no different from any other Alpha; he had numerous illegitimate children. There were four or five young Alphas at the table who had been brought in from the outside. However, he never brought his mistresses home—likely because he looked down on them. To him, Omegas were merely reproductive tools; once they gave birth, they were a nuisance that required pheromone soothing. He certainly wouldn’t bring Omega children home; they were “loss-making goods” who might be marked by outside Alphas.

AO equality had been the slogan for nearly a century, and Lu Congwen was a highly educated man, but in this house, the hierarchy was as rigid as an ancient imperial court. Except for Lu Yi, no one knew Lu Ming was an Omega; they believed her to be an SSS-rank Alpha. Since she was “mad” and disliked by Lu Congwen, she had been even more prone to episodes since Jiang Nian’s death.

Lu Congwen’s chosen heir was Lu Yi, simply because she was from the legitimate marriage and held the highest rank among the family’s Alphas (besides Lu Ming). He still held some modicum of affection for Ye Jinhuan, as she had given him two high-rank Alpha daughters. Even Lu Shen, despite being a Beta, had utility.

An Zhaoyu found it fascinating. She had thought the Wei family was ridiculous, but Lu Congwen was the true patriarch of dysfunction.

Lu Shen had no desire to stay overnight. After saying goodbye to Lu Yi—who served as the only shield for Lu Ming—they headed out.

“I’ll see you down the mountain,” Lu Yi said.

Lu Yi’s car led the way while An Zhaoyu followed. She stole glances at Lu Shen. The doctor didn’t seem depressed by the unpleasant dinner; it was as if the earlier tension had been a figment of An Zhaoyu’s imagination. Lu Shen offered no explanation. That woman’s words were truly worth their weight in gold. Next time, I’m telling on her to her genius mom.

Since they were “back,” An Zhaoyu had no excuse to go to Lu Shen’s private apartment. She drove them to their new home.

The new house was massive—a three-story duplex in a prime district of S City. Even at midnight, the area was bright and patrolled by 24-hour security. He Nanchun sent people to clean regularly, and they usually ate at the nearby An residence. Domestically, they had no burdens; they only had to manage themselves and the baby.

Consequently, the house was spotless. Spotless like it wasn’t a home.

The ultra-HD TV in the hall had never been turned on. Lu Shen was not the type to take a walk after dinner and then sit on the sofa to watch TV with her. The study belonged to Lu Shen. An Zhaoyu hated reading and rarely entered, preferring to lounge in the bedroom on her phone.

The master bedroom felt cavernous, lacking the warmth of even a hotel room. The linens and curtains were all chosen by He Nanchun. The furniture layout was arranged by elders. There was no South American rainforest painting, no mountain mist, no waterfalls, and no fish that chased people.

Here, in the place where they rested every day, there wasn’t even a wedding photo. Only a single commemorative photo of An Zhou’s birth sat on the empty table.

Previously, An Zhaoyu hadn’t cared. She assumed Lu Shen was simply a minimalist who liked things plain and simple. But now, after seeing the apartment Lu Shen had curated for herself, things had changed. Seeing how Lu Shen actually treated her own life made An Zhaoyu realize how little she cared about this marriage.

She recalled Lu Shen in high school. People called her cold and unapproachable, but only An Zhaoyu, who followed her every day, knew she was gentle. Even when rejecting An Zhaoyu’s attention, she would only blush and whisper, “No need.” Back then, An Zhaoyu had worried Lu Shen would be easily swept away by some persistent Alpha or Beta.

But time had changed her. The Lu Shen who returned from abroad was truly cold. An Zhaoyu could find no trace of that high school girl. That gentleness felt like a fleeting hallucination from memory.

Yet, when Lu Shen soothed the baby, she was as gentle as could be.

“Sleep if you’re tired, don’t wait for me,” Lu Shen said after her shower, dressed in long sleeves and pants. She picked up An Zhou and headed to the study.

They had done a marking yesterday; An Zhaoyu shouldn’t need her pheromones for now. The baby’s schedule was a mess, and An Zhaoyu had been yawning all day from lack of sleep. Since An Zhaoyu had to work tomorrow, Lu Shen planned to handle the baby herself while she worked on her papers late into the night.

Left alone in the bedroom, An Zhaoyu felt a strange discomfort. Even her phone seemed boring. Lu Shen was doing exactly what was expected—giving her space and freedom—but she felt unsettled.

She was annoyed that Lu Shen was covered up in long sleeves. She was annoyed that Lu Shen took the baby away to give her “peace.” She blamed it on Lu Shen not satisfying her yesterday. But she couldn’t use the “heat” excuse two nights in a row; Lu Shen was a doctor, and An Zhaoyu didn’t want to be dragged back for another full-body check-up.

If it’s not a heat, would Lu Shen let me touch her?

It was very late when the baby finally fell asleep. Lu Shen placed the crib by the bed. The lights were off; usually, An Zhaoyu would be asleep by now. Moonlight filtered in through the open window, the curtains fluttering in the breeze. The temperature drop at night was sharp, so Lu Shen moved to close the window to prevent anyone from catching a cold.

An Zhaoyu usually slept on the inner side near the wall, while Lu Shen slept on the outside. They were normally quite disciplined in their sleep, but tonight, An Zhaoyu was in Lu Shen’s spot, her head buried in Lu Shen’s pillow, appearing fast asleep.

Lu Shen was exhausted. Without thinking much, she intended to crawl over An Zhaoyu to her spot. Just as she was positioned above her, the Omega rolled over.

If Lu Shen read romance novels, she would have known An Zhaoyu was awake and provoking her. Unfortunately, the doctor didn’t read novels. A hand from the Captain landed on Lu Shen’s waist.

Lu Shen stiffened. If An Zhaoyu did nothing else, Lu Shen would have slowly moved the hand and continued to her spot. Or she would have climbed down and walked around to the foot of the bed.

Those were “ifs.” They did not account for An Zhaoyu’s thumb gently grazing the small of her back.

The doctor’s waist was incredibly sensitive.

As if struck by lightning, Lu Shen shoved the hand away, scrambled to the inner position, and maintained the maximum possible distance. She didn’t want anything to happen with a “sleeping” An Zhaoyu. She had too many reservations.

An Zhaoyu was like a small pebble once thrown into the lake of Lu Shen’s heart. Though it had only caused a slight ripple on the surface at the time, the stone had sunk to the very bottom and remained there forever. Even if Lu Shen let the surface freeze so nothing else could enter, that stone was still there, unmovable.

After a long while, the tension in Lu Shen finally settled. She didn’t see An Zhaoyu’s eyes slowly open in the dark, nor did she hear the thought in her mind:

See? If it’s not a heat, Lu Shen really won’t let me touch her.

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