After the Divorce, My Wife Is Impossible to Coax - Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Lu Shen practically fled in a panic.

She sat in her car, her fingers trembling slightly on the steering wheel. The roar of the engine broke the silence of the night, but it felt far from enough to drown out her thoughts. She hurriedly drove away from the complex.

A wave of panic surged in her heart. The image of An Zhaoyu leaning in to question her kept flashing in her mind, reminding her of her high school self. Back then, facing An Zhaoyu’s pursuit, her heart had always hammered like a drum, terrified that An Zhaoyu’s next sentence would reveal some ulterior motive.

— I’m just helping my brother chase a girlfriend.

That memory chilled her and helped her calm down. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to focus on the road ahead and stop thinking about An Zhaoyu.

As she drove into her familiar alleyway, her mood relaxed slightly. An Zhaoyu had only been here once; this place hadn’t been invaded by too many memories yet. When she closed the heavy door, everything was shut out behind her. Lu Shen leaned against the door, closing her eyes.

She felt like she was repeating the same mistakes. However, she didn’t seem to have the same determination to cut ties with An Zhaoyu as she did before.

She was sinking deeper.

The next morning, An Zhaoyu didn’t see the car she was looking for outside Lu Shen’s courtyard. She waited for a while, but it never appeared.

Lu Shen was a very punctual person. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t change her departure time. Therefore, after staking out the place on the first day to figure out her schedule, An Zhaoyu usually didn’t miss her.

In the security booth next to the parking lot, the guard on duty was eating breakfast while reading the newspaper. An Zhaoyu honked her horn.

“Uncle, did Dr. Lu head out today?”

“She already left about ten minutes ago,” the guard replied. He recognized her because she waited for Dr. Lu here every morning and was quite striking.

Did she leave, or did she run?

Lu Shen was avoiding her. An Zhaoyu’s brows furrowed slightly. Avoiding someone and ignoring someone were two different things. Was that question really so hard to answer?

However, her expression soon softened, and a confident smile played at the corners of her lips. An Zhaoyu took out her phone. Yesterday, she had received a flyer for an early childhood education class under her windshield. She remembered that the class required both parents to participate with the baby on weekends.

Dr. Lu wouldn’t find those activities so easy to dodge.

Driving into the medical center, An Zhaoyu took the breakfast she bought for Lu Shen directly to the inpatient department. It was still early, so the elevators weren’t too crowded.

“Lu Shen,” An Zhaoyu happened to bump into Lu Shen as she was walking toward the duty room after changing into her scrubs.

“Why are you here?” The surprise in Lu Shen’s eyes was evident, and the flicker of avoidance didn’t escape An Zhaoyu’s notice.

“Bringing you breakfast.” An Zhaoyu placed the warm buns wrapped in a paper bag into her hands, along with a pack of wet wipes.

“You don’t need to do this next time,” Lu Shen tried to refuse. These days, An Zhaoyu was always buying her breakfast in different varieties, and she was starting to get used to it.

“We’ll see about next time,” An Zhaoyu countered with a smile.

Lu Shen held the breakfast, feeling somewhat helpless.

“Oh my, isn’t this Captain An? Chasing Dr. Lu, are we?” a colleague arriving for the shift change teased.

An Zhaoyu wanted to nod, but seeing Lu Shen’s discomfort, she just smiled and said nothing, quickly turning to leave the department.

Many colleagues saw the Captain’s special delivery. Everyone came over to gossip, asking if they weren’t planning to divorce. Why did it look like the Captain was courting her? Lu Shen could only respond with silence.

Truthfully, she didn’t know what An Zhaoyu was trying to do. Perhaps she just didn’t want to go through with the divorce after all. Given their history, Lu Shen wouldn’t let her mind wander toward any other possibilities.

When Liang Wei arrived at the locker room, her eyelids felt like lead, but her mind snapped awake when she heard the gossip: Dr. Lu’s soon-to-be-ex-wife was now pursuing her aggressively.

“For real? That’s so exciting!” Liang Wei asked while putting on her white coat. “Is the Senior’s wife good-looking?”

“She’s stunning, absolutely gorgeous,” the other interns said. They didn’t know she was a fan of An Zhaoyu specifically; they just knew the SSS-rank Omega was very beautiful.

“She’s an Omega? I thought she’d be an Alpha! Oh my god, this ‘ship’ is going to be the death of me,” Liang Wei said, beaming.

“Come earlier tomorrow; maybe you’ll see her.”

The locker room door didn’t have great soundproofing. Lu Shen, passing by, overheard their conversation and unconsciously bit her lip.

It was just like before. When An Zhaoyu pursued her, she liked to make it a grand, well-known affair. Everyone tended to like An Zhaoyu; she wasn’t aggressive like some Alphas, demanding a response or pressuring Lu Shen with public confessions. She simply chased from behind.

She let everyone know she was pursuing someone, making no effort to hide her goal. It made it incredibly difficult for the person being pursued to say no.

Sensing Lu Shen’s avoidance, An Zhaoyu’s intentions became even more direct than before. Whenever Lu Shen opened her phone, she would see beautiful photos An Zhaoyu had taken during her flights.

Outside the oval window, the azure sky and white clouds intertwined. The clouds looked like rolling snow-capped mountains, seemingly ready to rain down cotton-candy softness at any moment. Sunlight filtered through the thick layers, scattering bits of gold across the white ocean.

This was a romance exclusive to pilots; ordinary people couldn’t capture such scenes. Lu Shen could almost imagine Captain An sitting calmly in the cockpit, taking these photos for her.

Interspersed among them were two selfies of Captain An. Her teammates usually only saw her back, but Lu Shen was given a unique angle of her face. Despite being partially obscured by the helmet, her carefree spirit was unmistakable. Lu Shen felt like she was smiling—a very vibrant, bold smile.

An Zhaoyu wouldn’t give her flowers or similar gifts in public to embarrass her. Sending these photos privately was lower-key than a grand profession of love, yet because of who she was, it still felt flashy.

A flashiness only the two of them could see. Lu Shen locked her phone and put it in her pocket, not wanting to look further.

After being directly threatened by that Alpha yesterday, Lu Shen planned to rest for two days before continuing her search for a partner. If Wei Ruicheng had indeed bought off everyone in this area, she would have to look further afield. Or, take the initiative to find Wei Ruicheng.

She wasn’t afraid of him. On the contrary, facing him made her calmer than ever.

At the end of the shift, Lu Shen ran into An Zhaoyu again. This was no longer a coincidence; even Lu Shen could feel that these were “accidental encounters” engineered by An Zhaoyu. That red sports car, as high-profile as its owner, followed Lu Shen home quite naturally.

Today was the last day of An Zhaoyu’s turn to watch the baby; tomorrow was Lu Shen’s turn.

The sunset spilled through the kitchen window, casting golden light on the clean countertops. The air was filled with the aroma of fresh ingredients. An Zhaoyu stood at the stove, happily dicing vegetables, enjoying the thought of feeding Dr. Lu.

“There’s no need,” Lu Shen tried to refuse before she even entered the kitchen.

“I have to cook for the baby anyway,” An Zhaoyu pulled out the baby’s nutritional chart, neatly parrying the rejection.

Since Lu Shen wouldn’t eat at the An house after the divorce but stayed late to be with the baby, it gave An Zhaoyu plenty of opportunity. As the pot began to steam and the ingredients sizzled, An Zhaoyu felt a sense of satisfaction. She began to plan further.

Lu Shen had a kitchen too, but probably didn’t use it often. Last time, she had only made noodles. Except for when she was pregnant, they rarely ate at home because Lu Shen was too busy. In the future, I can just handle it, the Captain thought. She had plenty of time for domestic life now that she wasn’t out carousing.

Usually, when they ate, An Zhaoyu would ask about the baby, and Lu Shen would answer in detail. But today, Lu Shen was noticeably silent. She even instinctively stepped back when An Zhaoyu got close.

Did I push too hard yesterday? An Zhaoyu wondered. All she wanted was to know why Lu Shen lied. Although, they had been quite close last night; it took a lot of restraint for An Zhaoyu not to kiss her.

“I signed the baby up for an early education class. She seems to love playing with kids her age,” An Zhaoyu mentioned, watching her reaction. “We’ll go with her on Saturday at 9:00 AM. There are teachers to lead the activities.”

“Okay,” Lu Shen agreed without thinking too much. It was better for the baby to have teachers leading the play.

An Zhaoyu smirked. It is indeed better.

“I also bought tickets for the S-City Zoo for Sunday afternoon. The baby has wanted to see the baby elephants for a long time.”

An Zhou, blissfully eating the food her mother prepared, had no idea she had been wanting to see baby elephants. Her current understanding of animals was limited to “things that move.”

“Baby elephants? Doesn’t Xiao Zhou like ducklings?” Lu Shen blurted out.

“Both,” An Zhaoyu said with a smile, successfully occupying Lu Shen’s entire weekend.

Lu Shen belatedly realized she had stepped into a trap.

While An Zhaoyu was washing the dishes, Lu Shen initiated a chat with Jiang Ling for the first time, holding the baby in one arm.

— What do you think she’s trying to do?

Jiang Ling first sent a string of exaggerated emojis. Dr. Lu was actually initiating a conversation! But when she saw it was about An Zhaoyu, she almost cursed.

— She brings me breakfast, sends me photos, even cooks for me… Lu Shen had never said so much to Jiang Ling at once.

If it were anyone else, Jiang Ling would have rolled her eyes—the pursuit was blindingly obvious. But this was An Zhaoyu. Captain An had a terrible reputation in Lawyer Jiang’s eyes. First, she chased Lu Shen for her brother; second, she tied Lu Shen down for the sake of the child. It wasn’t unreasonable for Lu Shen to be suspicious of this new behavior.

— What does she say?

— She hasn’t said anything.

— Then ask her directly what the hell she wants!

“Lu Shen,” An Zhaoyu’s voice sounded right behind her.

It gave Lu Shen a start.

“Did I scare you?” An Zhaoyu sat down naturally beside her and patted her back soothingly.

Lu Shen dodged.

Fine, let’s just ask. Lu Shen braced herself; she was suffering too much and desperately needed an answer.

“What exactly… do you want?”

An Zhaoyu’s eyes widened slightly. She thought her intentions were clear, yet Lu Shen was asking.

“I’m pursuing you, Lu Shen.”

“If it’s for the baby, there’s really no need,” Lu Shen said, closing her eyes. “I’ve said it before—I will always love the baby.”

“What are you thinking?” An Zhaoyu gently took Lu Shen’s hand from the floor, her expression earnest. “I’m pursuing you because I like you. It has nothing to do with the baby.”

“Lu Shen, I’ve liked you for a long time. Ever since high school. I just didn’t realize that my feelings for you were ‘love’ back then.”

“I know I didn’t do well before. I was irresponsible. Could you give me another chance?”

Lu Shen’s breath hitched.

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