After the Divorce, My Wife Is Impossible to Coax - Chapter 27 

Chapter 27 

Ten o’clock wasn’t particularly late, but Lu Shen checked her watch several times. She went to the foyer and switched on the light, then headed to the kitchen to squeeze a glass of tomato juice. She had read online that tomato juice was effective for sobering up, and she knew An Zhaoyu liked it.

Lu Shen wasn’t sure if An Zhaoyu knew her own limits. Zhang Simeng seemed very familiar with the Captain’s drinking preferences; the drink Lu Shen had tried last time tasted good, but the alcohol content was far too high for her.

As for Lu Shen’s knowledge of An Zhaoyu’s drink preferences, it was stuck in high school—An Zhaoyu had always loved carbonated drinks like Coke or Sprite, and they had to have ice.

A bar was a chaotic environment, and as an Omega, An Zhaoyu was prone to harassment. Lu Shen hesitated over whether to call Wei Qing and ask her to pick her up. She didn’t want An Zhaoyu to feel restricted or to dampen her spirits. An Zhaoyu hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol since getting pregnant; it was only natural for her to want to unwind now.

The baby was sleeping soundly. Lu Shen couldn’t leave such a small child home alone to go get An Zhaoyu herself.

Maybe I should call Wei Qing. Calling He Nanchun or An Changguo felt too much like snitching. An Wenyao wasn’t appropriate, and Jiang Ling already had a poor impression of An Zhaoyu. So, Lu Shen chose Wei Qing.

Just as she dialed, she heard movement outside the door. Lu Shen immediately canceled the call.

An Zhaoyu was wearing a sky-blue shirt today. The base layer under her flight suit couldn’t be too flashy or it would be uncomfortable, so on workdays, she usually wore T-shirts or button-downs. Two buttons on her shirt were undone, clearly revealing the shape of her collarbones. Where the third button disappeared, the edge of her black bra was visible.

It was hot after drinking, especially after leaving the air conditioning. An Zhaoyu had unbuttoned them just outside the front door, but Lu Shen assumed she had walked into the bar dressed that way.

Following Lu Shen’s gaze, An Zhaoyu looked down and realized the misunderstanding.

“I just—”

“It’s okay. The tomato juice is in the kitchen.”

Lu Shen turned and went back to the bedroom. The smell of alcohol on An Zhaoyu wasn’t heavy, but it was noticeable.

What do you mean, “It’s okay”? Was it “okay” that she unbuttoned her shirt in a bar, or “okay” that she came home this late?

An Zhaoyu had planned to be home by nine, but she couldn’t catch a taxi. She refused Zhang Simeng’s offer to drive her home, thinking it would be inconvenient since Lu Shen had the baby, so she had waited for the An family driver to pick her up.

She watched Lu Shen’s cold back, feeling a surge of nameless anger and grievance that she couldn’t release. Her mouth, which could make a squad member cry with just a few words, couldn’t find its fire against Lu Shen.

She was in the wrong first. She shouldn’t have left her wife and daughter to go clubbing; she shouldn’t have come home so late after drinking. Even if Lu Shen questioned her, got angry, or scolded her for being irresponsible, she would have accepted it.

But Lu Shen only said, “It’s okay.”

From the moment she heard that phrase, An Zhaoyu’s head had been buzzing. The tomato juice didn’t even register. She prepared to take a shower in the guest bathroom because the baby in the bedroom was already asleep.

Before she could even enter the bedroom, Lu Shen handed out her pajamas, as if terrified she would go inside and wake the baby.

In her own home, Lu Shen always wore long sleeves and long pants.

For a moment, An Zhaoyu felt like a failure. A Triple-S Omega, and yet her partner guarded against her so much, fearing she might be touched even once more than necessary. In the whole world, probably only Lu Shen was like this.

After blow-drying her hair in the living room, An Zhaoyu returned to the bedroom. Lu Shen was sitting at the head of the bed reading a book, one hand resting on the edge of the crib, gently rocking it.

Everything was fine. Everything was in order. None of it required An Zhaoyu’s participation.

Perhaps the alcohol was playing a part, but An Zhaoyu felt incredibly calm—so rational that she felt she could fly a plane in circles over the Pacific right now. She walked over to An Zhou’s small bed and scooped up the sleeping infant.

“Baby, did you miss Mommy today?”

She purposely made her movements loud. An Zhou had been asleep for a while and was startled awake. Her little brain hadn’t quite rebooted yet as she looked dazed at the mother who “missed her.”

Lu Shen looked up, her eyes filled with disbelief.

What is she doing? Is she drunk and acting out? Does she have any idea how long it takes to soothe a baby back to sleep once they’ve been woken up like this?

Catching the look of incredulity in Lu Shen’s eyes, An Zhaoyu felt much better. She was born with a rebellious streak. She pulled the child close and kissed her.

An Zhou was now fully awake, and the sign of that was the start of her crying.

To be honest, An Zhaoyu rarely soothed the baby to sleep herself. During the day, the baby was with her parents; at night, there was Lu Shen. At most, she would just unbutton her shirt to feed. The last time she had really soothed the baby was at Lu Shen’s place three months ago.

She didn’t have an accurate grasp of the difference between a two-month-old and a five-or-six-month-old. She didn’t realize what a “hornet’s nest” she had poked, or just how fussy a baby this age could be.

“Go to the study,” Lu Shen said suddenly.

“What?” Narcissus pheromones faintly leaked out—An Zhaoyu’s rebellious nature acting up again.

“Go to the study to soothe Xiao Zhou. I’m tired.”

Lu Shen’s tone was usually flat, but this time was different. There was a hint of emotion in that flatness. An Zhaoyu heard it: Lu Shen was angry.

“Fine.” This emotion made An Zhaoyu feel relieved. Finally, it wasn’t just “It’s okay.” She retracted her pheromones and carried An Zhou into the study.

Her plan was this: once she got the baby to sleep, she would go back and pester Lu Shen. Only by stripping off those long sleeves and pants would she feel completely satisfied.

The plan was foolproof because Lu Shen always looked after her during her heat; she never withheld the necessary pheromone comfort, even if An Zhaoyu had been drinking.

There was just one tiny flaw: An Zhaoyu hadn’t realized how hard it was to get the baby back to sleep.

An Zhou’s biological clock was disrupted. Lu Shen had already fed her formula after work. Waking up now, she wasn’t particularly hungry. Despite her mother’s attempts to feed her, she just took a few half-hearted sips and then stared at the world with wide, bored eyes.

“Aren’t you tired?” An Zhaoyu held her and bounced her gently the way Lu Shen did, but the baby’s round eyes only grew brighter and more alert.

Under the light, the baby was much prettier than when she was first born, but An Zhaoyu wasn’t in the mood to appreciate it. She desperately wanted the baby to close her eyes so she could move on to the next step of her plan.

“Baby, time to sleep, okay?” An Zhaoyu let out a yawn. She could barely keep her own eyes open.

An Zhou wrinkled her face as if dissatisfied. You’re the one who woke me up, and now you’re in a rush to make me sleep? No way. She had a rebellious streak just like her mother.

When An Zhaoyu finally re-entered the bedroom, it was 3:00 AM. Lu Shen was sound asleep, looking exhausted. An Zhaoyu knew she had been busy with experiments and papers lately, yet she never neglected caring for An Zhou.

An Zhaoyu only truly felt that exhaustion now. She placed An Zhou gently into the crib. If anyone dared to wake the baby at this moment, she would punch them into orbit.

The plan failed. An Zhaoyu didn’t get to strip off those long sleeves and pants.

“Lu Shen, you seem to have forgotten… I drank. I shouldn’t have fed Xiao Zhou.” “Even though… I really didn’t drink that much.”

The next day, Lu Shen finally realized the issue of An Zhaoyu drinking and then feeding the baby. She had been so blinded by anger at An Zhaoyu, combined with her recent fatigue, that she had overlooked such a serious safety matter. As soon as she got up, she nervously checked An Zhou from head to toe.

Fortunately, the baby seemed fine and was in high spirits, waving her hands and laughing brightly at her. Lu Shen breathed a sigh of relief and, as usual, leaned down to kiss the baby’s forehead.

An Zhaoyu lay on her side in bed, facing them, her head buried in the pillow. She watched their interaction with half-open eyes. Now, nothing could hide her envy of the baby.

Looking at her recent uncontrollable, “crazy” behavior, An Zhaoyu knew she could no longer lie to herself.

She knew she was someone who loved excitement—the colorful, the bizarre, and rich sensory experiences. She had known this since the first time she took to the skies and crossed the clouds. What she wanted was freedom.

And Lu Shen was like a glass of plain water—soft, gentle, and all-encompassing.

The child was what An Zhaoyu wanted. Lu Shen hadn’t nagged her; she worked, took care of the kid, never caused her trouble, and never asked her for help. She was the model of a modern, independent married person.

An Zhaoyu could fly when she wanted, race when she wanted, party with her team or club with classmates whenever she pleased. In the past, her parents controlled her; now, Lu Shen shielded her from them. She was freer than ever. Excessively free.

And yet, from the depths of this extreme freedom, a sliver of desire grew—a desire to be restricted by Lu Shen.

She wanted Lu Shen to call and nag her to come home when she was out with others. She wanted Lu Shen to lose her temper when she saw her shirt unbuttoned. She wanted the first thing Lu Shen looked at every morning to be her, not Xiao Zhou.

She wanted to pin Lu Shen against the door and ask her: Why won’t you just take control of me?

If only Lu Shen would say the word. If only Lu Shen would care just a little bit more. If only Lu Shen would… she could set aside all her capriciousness and soothe Xiao Zhou to sleep every single night.

But Lu Shen wouldn’t. Lu Shen would only tell her, “It’s okay.”

While accompanying Lu Shen to take An Zhou to the community hospital for her check-up—babies under one year need monthly check-ups, and Lu Shen always remembered the dates perfectly—An Zhaoyu realized she never needed to remember anything. Lu Shen had no expectations of her, and even less reliance on her.

Watching Lu Shen fuss over the baby, An Zhaoyu took out her phone and sent a message to her flight captain.

“I’m taking the entry slot for this year’s competition.”

Entering that race had been An Zhaoyu’s dream at seventeen. Choosing this moment was because she knew if she didn’t do it now, she might never do it. She might lose the resolve to find and defend her freedom.

Because… she was starting to not want freedom anymore.

The flight captain replied quickly: — “Understood.”

This was followed by a message urging her to think it over. The competition was risky and not suitable for married people with children. The captain himself was the best example of that.

An Zhaoyu knew it was dangerous. She didn’t care. She never cared about the results of these races; she simply enjoyed the thrill of the extreme challenge. She was a madwoman.

If she weren’t a madwoman, why would she want to see Lu Shen lose control? To see Lu Shen lose control because of her? Why would she want to back Lu Shen into a corner and force an emotional outburst?

She wanted to see Lu Shen unrecognizable with emotion—only then could she feel that Lu Shen truly cared.

It seemed her brother’s old insult was spot on. Now, An Zhaoyu wanted to say it to herself as well:

An Zhaoyu, you really are a bastard.

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