She Wants to Divorce Me

Ji Yaoguang genuinely objected to every word on the divorce agreement.

Clearly, Chang Yu, exhausted both mentally and physically, had no patience left for Ji Yaoguang. Her face darkened, beautiful eyebrows furrowing. This agreement was drafted by Lawyer Zhao—the house, cars, and everything they owned would be left to Ji Yaoguang. What more could she want? Pressing her brow, Chang Yu struggled to keep her voice calm as she asked, “What objections do you have?”

Chang Yu assumed Ji Yaoguang was dissatisfied with the property division. Ji Yaoguang understood Chang Yu’s meaning with just a glance. This was the person she had once loved deeply, wanting to fuse every part of her into her own blood and bones. Sometimes, a small look or gesture would reveal emotions. But how long had it been since she had patiently and carefully interpreted Chang Yu’s thoughts like this? The pen twirling in her hand left a black mark on the white paper as she momentarily lost focus. Taking a deep breath, she turned to the composed man and said coldly, with her habitual arrogance, “Leave.”

“Ji Yaoguang,” Chang Yu frowned.

Ji Yaoguang seemed not to hear Chang Yu’s voice, her chest heaving dramatically. Seeing the man still standing with his hands at his sides, her irritation grew. She raised her voice and repeated, “Lawyer Zhao, please leave.” Her tone was harsh, barely concealing uncontrollable anger, more like the prelude to one of her hysterical outbursts. Chang Yu’s lips twitched. She lowered her brows, realizing this divorce wouldn’t be as clean and detached as Ji Yaoguang had claimed last night. Silently sighing, she noticed the paper scraps in the trash can from the corner of her eye. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke, “Lawyer Zhao, thank you for your trouble. Please return home for now, we’ll be in touch later.”

“We’ll be in touch later?” Ji Yaoguang’s ears perked up. She watched the man obediently leave after Chang Yu spoke. Did her words really lack such authority? She was, after all, half-owner of this house. While she was still indignant, Chang Yu had already moved to sit on the sofa opposite her. With a cold smile, Chang Yu sneered, “Well, what do you want now?”

“I don’t want a divorce.” Before Ji Yaoguang could voice these words, she saw Chang Yu answer a phone call right in front of her. Hearing the name “Zhao Qing,” her heart felt like it was being pricked by needles. This Zhao Qing was the very reason she had initially wanted to divorce Chang Yu. Zhao Qing had co-starred with Chang Yu in a film called “The Mute Woman,” playing a female doctor who helps the protagonist overcome psychological trauma. Somehow, those blind gossip-mongers had seen intense lesbian chemistry between them! Didn’t they know Chang Yu was married? And that Zhao Qing—did she have no sense of boundaries, always clinging to Chang Yu? The flood of news had nearly suffocated Ji Yaoguang. In her memory, after arguing and giving each other the cold shoulder for days, she had finally swallowed her pride and gone to pick up Chang Yu at “The Mute Woman” wrap party. But there she saw Zhao Qing hanging onto Chang Yu, the two pressed tightly together. On the way home, Ji Yaoguang had restrained herself, but once they arrived, she exploded. Chang Yu had remained silent, which Ji Yaoguang took as tacit admission. In her anger, she had mentioned divorce. Chang Yu agreed, and that was the end of it. Now, dream or not, she had returned to that day three years ago when she made her grave mistake. Ji Yaoguang didn’t want to ruin her marriage again through her own actions.

Zhao Qing might be a shameless vixen, but Chang Yu wasn’t. After divorcing Chang Yu, Chang Yu hadn’t had much contact with Zhao Qing. Facts had proven it was all Ji Yaoguang’s delusion; she had taken her suspicions as truth, forcing an already precarious marriage to its breaking point.

Listening to the person on the phone drone on about trivial matters, Chang Yu’s frown deepened. Catching sight of Ji Yaoguang’s obvious eavesdropping from the corner of her eye, she patiently responded to Zhao Qing a few times. Finally, the taut nerve in her mind snapped due to Zhao Qing’s increasingly inappropriate words. She disliked Zhao Qing; with “The Mute Woman” finished, their collaboration was naturally over. True friends were rare in the entertainment industry; maintaining a nodding acquaintance was enough.

The moment Chang Yu ended the call, Ji Yaoguang averted her gaze, maintaining a proper sitting posture like an obedient student waiting for a teacher’s lecture.

“If you have any other demands, go ahead and state them,” Chang Yu hadn’t forgotten their previous topic. Looking at Ji Yaoguang, she felt something was different about her compared to recent days. But this person’s moods were always volatile; she had no energy left to guess at her true thoughts and intentions. Her exhaustion wasn’t a matter of just a day or two. Unlike Ji Yaoguang, who could casually mention divorce at any time, when Chang Yu brought it up, it was certainly after deep deliberation.

“I don’t want a divorce,” Ji Yaoguang said. Without looking, she knew exactly what expression Chang Yu would wear. Swallowing a sigh of exasperation, she continued, “Chang Yu, we both need to calm down.”

Chang Yu had seen enough of Ji Yaoguang’s mercurial moods. This time, she couldn’t be bothered to waste words with the person opposite her. Her gaze lingered on the agreement for a long while before she replied coolly, “I’ve thought it through very clearly. Didn’t you say you wanted a divorce? Signing your name here is best for both of us.”

A curse nearly escaped Ji Yaoguang’s lips as she stared at Chang Yu’s cold face. She tried to shake Chang Yu’s resolve: “If we divorce, how will we explain it to my parents? And what about the media?” They had been married for less than a year. Though same-sex marriage was legal in China, many still held prejudices. When news of their marriage broke, it had caused quite a stir. Some detractors had even placed bets, eagerly anticipating their separation to prove that same-sex love had no future.

Hearing Ji Yaoguang bring up her parents, Chang Yu’s face showed a hint of hesitation. Her family had indeed been very good to her, but— Chang Yu looked coldly at Ji Yaoguang and said flatly, “Divorce is between the two of us. I’ll talk to Mom and Dad. As for those outsiders, there’s no need to explain anything to them.”

Unyielding as ever. Ji Yaoguang found Chang Yu’s attitude frustrating, but was this really how they would end? She simply couldn’t accept that this was her greatest regret. If given a chance to start over, how could she miss the opportunity again? After pondering for a moment, she suddenly crumpled the agreement and tossed it into the trash, declaring petulantly, “I absolutely won’t divorce you!” This might make Chang Yu despise her even more, but what else could she do? Call her shameless or clingy if you will, but she’d do anything to keep this person before her.

Chang Yu said nothing. She certainly wouldn’t retrieve the agreement from the trash; Ji Yaoguang’s current attitude clearly meant negotiations were impossible. That being the case, she saw no point in continuing the conversation. She took one last look at the person sitting on the sofa, putting on a pitiful act, and found it merely laughable. She gathered her things and walked towards the master bedroom, leaving only the sound of a door slamming shut.

At least she was still at home and hadn’t stormed out in anger. That meant there was still hope for a turning point, right? Ji Yaoguang dropped her facade, leaving only intense sorrow. The scenes from the past three years replayed like a rewinding film. In the days without Chang Yu, she had curled up alone in the darkness. Perhaps the heavens had sensed her deep-seated obsession and granted her this chance to return to three years ago and rectify her mistake? Even if this was just a dream, she didn’t want to wake from it.

Her phone had long been set to silent mode. The screen kept flashing, indicating countless unread messages and missed calls, but Ji Yaoguang had no interest in checking them. She lay back on the sofa, recalling every moment since meeting Chang Yu, including each of their arguments. Except for when Chang Yu had scolded her for insisting on entering the entertainment industry, almost every fight had been Ji Yaoguang picking fights one-sidedly, giving Chang Yu the cold shoulder for days before going to her to make amends. These incidents weren’t like pencil marks on paper that could be erased cleanly with an eraser; they left traces, eventually forming a deep scar that even the best doctors and medicines couldn’t heal. “You’re such an idiot!” Ji Yaoguang slapped her own face. Pain radiated from her forehead, and looking at her reflection in the phone screen, she saw her forehead was red and swollen. Only then did she remember how hard she had hit it earlier. “Chang Yu, it hurts,” she whimpered, curling up with her arms wrapped around herself. Her gaze towards the bedroom door suddenly filled with despair; she knew the current Chang Yu would no longer comfort her gently and carefully as before.

Ji Yaoguang didn’t want to sleep and didn’t dare to, even as her drooping eyelids betrayed the day’s exhaustion. The night was quiet. She turned off the living room lights, immersing herself in darkness. The ticking of the clock echoed clearly in her ears. Was Chang Yu asleep? This thought crossed her mind as Ji Yaoguang finally stood up, stretching her stiff and numb limbs before tiptoeing towards the bedroom.

The lights were off, but the door wasn’t closed.

She could only make out a vague silhouette in the dim light from outside—this was the lover she had once held in her arms, now as cold as a stranger. She reached out, wanting to touch Chang Yu’s brow and eyes. With a soft click, the bedside lamp suddenly lit up. The first thing she saw was Chang Yu’s eyes, still somewhat sleepy but suppressing anger.