The Wife From the Contract Marriage Does Not Want to Get Divorced - Chapter 2

Lu Yanqing was jolted awake by the morning light. Subconsciously, she reached out to touch the watch on her wrist a wedding gift from Xie Siyu, with the initials “LYQ” engraved on the inner side of the dial.

January 17, 2024.

As the ticking of the mechanical watch brushed against her eardrums, Lu Yanqing dizzily envisioned the rain stains on the steps of the Civil Affairs Bureau.

Immediately after finishing the marriage registration procedures, she had received a call from her assistant saying that Professor He from Country W had replied and hoped for an early meeting. Fearing she would delay her work or that Professor He might have other commitments, she boarded a flight to Country W the very next day.

She and Xie Siyu hadn’t even had the chance to move into their bridal home.

Lu Yanqing stepped barefoot onto the oak flooring heated by the underfloor system, discovering that her apartment had turned into a sophisticated, beautiful model home clean and tidy.

Thirsty, she opened the refrigerator. The shelf was lined with yogurt featuring fresh dates; surprisingly, the production date was from last week. The shelf life sticker was printed with an anti counterfeiting QR code a new technology that hadn’t even been implemented three years ago.

She suddenly recalled what Xie Siyu said when signing the agreement: “I don’t like changing other people’s living habits.”

The brand of Greek yogurt she had casually mentioned three years ago was now sitting in her apartment’s fridge, with a fresh date.

With a complex expression, Lu Yanqing twisted open a bottle of mineral water and took several gulps before walking tentatively toward the master bedroom.

As expected, the walk-in closet was also brand new. Aside from her original clothes, there were unopened pajamas, dresses, and blazers. The dates on the price tags made her temples throb with pain.

After registering their marriage, she had given Xie Siyu a key to the apartment so, had she arranged all of this?

Lu Yanqing’s eyelashes trembled slightly as she fished her phone out of her coat pocket, realizing it had powered off at some point.

Upon turning it on, she found that WeChat was unusable; the page indicated the version was too low and required an update. Once she connected to the apartment’s Wi-Fi, the phone’s system also required an update…

Speechless, Lu Yanqing temporarily turned off the network. In her contacts, the number for “Grandpa” remained at the top. The call was picked up after only half a ring.

“Eldest Miss?”

The butler, Uncle Li, spoke with a choked voice. “You… you finally contacted the family. Where are you right now?”

“I’m at my apartment.”

Lu Yanqing rubbed the condensation on the outside of the water bottle, her heart filled with an inexplicable fear. Her voice trembled slightly. “Grandpa… how is he?”

Having inexplicably leaped through three years of time and space, she was worried about her grandfather’s health.

“Master Lu is in the VIP ward of the Second Hospital.”

Uncle Li lowered his voice, likely sensing Lu Yanqing’s fear and worry. He didn’t dare reveal too much, downplaying the situation: “He just finished dialysis and is sleeping now.”

Lu Yanqing’s fingers gripped the edge of her phone until her knuckles turned white. The curtains she had personally picked out three years ago were currently fluttering in the wind. “When was Grandpa diagnosed with uremia? Is it serious?”

“When there was no news of you, Eldest Miss, Master Lu eventually found out despite Miss Xie’s best efforts to hide it. Unable to accept the fact of your disappearance, he suffered a sudden cerebral infarction and was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment. Fortunately, he was saved.”

As Uncle Li spoke, his voice grew increasingly unsteady. “The uremia was discovered a year ago. The condition isn’t severe. Eldest Miss, you should go to the Lu Group to see Miss Xie first.”

The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.

Uncle Li remained silent for a long while before continuing, “Miss Xie has been looking for you for three years. She… she is very worried about you.”

A rainstorm swept through the CBD at noon.

Lu Yanqing drove from her apartment toward the Lu Group. On the way, she stopped at a mobile phone store to buy the latest model. She wanted to top up her balance, but the clerk told her that the remaining balance on her card was already five figures.

It was ten minutes until 12:00 PM when Lu Yanqing drove into the B2 parking garage of the Lu Group. She took the elevator to the first-floor lobby. The building’s security system had been upgraded compared to three years ago; without a Lu Group employee card, she couldn’t enter the interior.

After she proactively gave her name, the girl at the front desk gasped. “President… President Lu?”

Lu Yanqing blinked gently and said bashfully, “Yes, it’s me. Please notify the relevant Lu Group staff…”

She caught sight of a mist-blue figure in the café to her right, and the rest of her words died in her throat.

It was a Xie Siyu who was even more glamorous and moving than she appeared in their wedding registration photo.

Her soft, slightly curly long hair reached her waist. She wore a mist-blue shirt and a black over the knee A-line skirt. Just her profile was breathtakingly beautiful.

Despite the distance, one could see her skin was very fair. Her posture was remarkable, and her temperament was soft and noble.

Inside the café, Xie Siyu used a small silver spoon to stir her Blue Mountain coffee at a constant speed. The long-haired woman opposite her pushed a proposal forward.

“President Xie is a smart person. These are our conditions for entry. The shop must be at the ‘Golden Eye’ position on the right side of the entrance.”

The woman pointed her finger at the market analysis page. “Laurel Fragrance” was a globally renowned light luxury jewelry brand; moving into the Lu Group’s Double-Cloud Realm Shopping Center would only result in a win-win.

Xie Siyu’s expression was gentle. Facing the woman’s pressure, she remained calm and composed. “President Zhang, the area you mentioned is currently leased to ‘Cloud Raiment,’ a Chinese tea house. The contract has not yet expired. Moreover…”

Suddenly feeling someone’s gaze, she looked up. In an instant, the silver spoon in her hand fell sharply into the cup.

Coffee splashed out, making a mess of the table and failing to spare the back of her hand.

Zhang Qingyue frowned, quickly standing up to pull a tissue from the box to hand to Xie Siyu, but Xie Siyu didn’t take it.

Curious, Zhang Qingyue followed Xie Siyu’s line of sight. She saw a woman outside the glass window with beautiful features, appearing both gentle and bright.

Especially that face even for someone like her who had seen countless beauties, she couldn’t help but be drawn in.

Lu Yanqing had her hair in a low ponytail, the belt of her beige trench coat hanging loosely. Her face was lightly made up, and her eyes, clear as autumn water, were filled with tenderness. She overlapped perfectly with the silhouette that had disappeared into the boarding gate three years ago.

“Lu Yanqing.”

Xie Siyu stood up, clutching the soaked tablecloth. For the first time, the usually dignified and poised woman lost her composure in public. Her voice was laced with suppressed anger. “You finally decided to come back?”

“Are you… on a blind date?”

Lu Yanqing entered the café, her gaze moving back and forth between Xie Siyu and the elegant-looking woman. In truth, she couldn’t be blamed for thinking so; having woken up to find three years had passed, she could understand even if Xie Siyu had found someone new.

Unfortunately, before Lu Yanqing could get an explanation, she watched her wife of three years go from furious to having red-rimmed eyes in just three seconds.

“Am I divorced? Why would I be on a blind date?”

Xie Siyu tightened her grip on the wedding ring on her ring finger, staring unblinkingly at the woman before her.

Lu Yanqing was speechless, offering a considerate suggestion: “Then, should we go to the Civil Affairs Bureau now?”

Then, under Xie Siyu’s indignant gaze, she pulled the marriage certificate out of her pocket. The plastic laminate was still brand new.

Xie Siyu suddenly began to laugh, though the corners of her eyes were damp. “President Lu, what nerve. To disappear for 1,099 days and still be this self-righteous.”

“My apologies, President Zhang. We will schedule another time to discuss the entry of ‘Laurel Fragrance’ into the Double-Cloud Realm.”

After saying that, Xie Siyu grabbed Lu Yanqing’s wrist and walked out of the café. “Come with me.”

In truth, Lu Yanqing regretted those two sentences as soon as she said them. Perhaps her mind wasn’t clear enough yet.

She didn’t pull away from Xie Siyu’s hand, following her forward obediently. Feeling the coldness of Xie Siyu’s body temperature, a light flickered in her eyes beneath her curled lashes.

Zhang Qingyue watched the two of them leave, the tissue in her hand crumpled into a ball. She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Lu Yanqing? The true Eldest Miss of the Lu family.”

Rumors outside suggested she was dissatisfied with her marriage to Xie Siyu and had fled abroad.

Looking at it now, were there hidden secrets unknown to outsiders?

Five minutes later.

On the 32nd floor of the building, in the CEO’s office of the Lu Group.

Lu Yanqing sat obediently on the sofa like a child who had done something wrong, holding the warm water the secretary had brought in. She didn’t dare drink it, waiting for Xie Siyu’s thunderous rage.

If the roles were reversed and Xie Siyu had disappeared for three whole years the day after they registered their marriage, she would likely be even angrier.

Faintly hearing the crisp sound of medicine being popped from a blister pack, Lu Yanqing tilted her head slightly toward the desk less than three meters away.

Xie Siyu sat in her office chair with her back to her. From Lu Yanqing’s angle, she could only see a pale profile. The Xie Siyu of three years later was thinner than she remembered.

She put a white pill into her mouth; the act of swallowing seemed as painful as swallowing a razor blade.

Lu Yanqing stepped forward, wanting to hand her the warm water, but she saw Xie Siyu skillfully using a powder puff to cover the marks of an IV needle on the inside of her wrist.

Lu Yanqing’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

Xie Siyu put the powder compact back into her bag, glanced at the painkillers on the desk and tossed them into a drawer. She buttoned the cuff of her shirt and turned her chair to face Lu Yanqing. Her eyes were now calm. “I assume President Lu won’t be playing disappearing acts again?”

“How many years is the sentence for marriage fraud? Or perhaps I should ask: since President Lu agreed to the alliance and we signed a three-year agreement, why did you vanish without a trace?”

Lu Yanqing caught a very faint scent of bitter orange blossom in the air. Facing Xie Siyu’s questioning, she felt incredibly guilty. “I’m sorry, I…”

“Domestic customs surveillance shows you did indeed board the plane.”

Xie Siyu unlocked a tablet and pushed it toward Lu Yanqing. The cold light of the screen reflected the fatigue under her eyes. “But we screened every Chinese woman in the surveillance footage landing in Country W whose height didn’t deviate by more than three centimeters.”

The video progress bar was densely marked with red notes. Lu Yanqing saw countless “suspected targets” crossed out with red Xs. The last marker stopped at late last night.

“This is the twenty-seventh time I’ve watched these recordings.”

Xie Siyu’s nails dug into her palm. “Sometimes I felt you were trapped in a cloud in the stratosphere. Other times, I suspected… you were hiding from me on purpose. Cough, cough…”

Her voice was suddenly cut off by a cough.

“I’m sorry.”

Lu Yanqing placed the warm water in front of Xie Siyu. “Have some water.”

Her eyes met the other woman’s shimmering gaze as she offered a pale defense. “I really wasn’t hiding from you. I don’t know how to explain it because I haven’t figured out what happened myself.”

“I only remember a piercing, sharp static sound from the cabin intercom. When I opened my eyes again, I was in my apartment, and three years had passed.”

“I am the one who should apologize.”

Xie Siyu interrupted Lu Yanqing, leaning back in her office chair with a standard business smile. “After all, Article 3 of the agreement states: ‘Neither party shall interfere with each other’s private lives.'”

Clearly, she did not believe Lu Yanqing’s explanation.

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