For her, the question seed so simple, but to her husband, it seed to be complicated. He took his ti answering. Not a word ca from him and soon, they were almost ho. Sohow, Liwu developed a sense of disappointnt as turned down the road leading to the Villa.
She told herself that it was not because she was madly in love with her husband, which would be ridiculous as she could not stand the man. It was because...!!
Liwu frowned. The thought went unfinished. Why did she truly care to know? Was it because she was already picturing how their divorce would play out? She put her hands together, convincing herself that this had to be it.
She cared because even in divorce, dignity mattered. It was one thing to divorce because of irreconcilable differences and another for the whole world to know that your husband simply found you unlikable from the beginning to the end!.
Liwu wished she could talk to soone about this but sharing such private details about her life was not like her. The car parked in the driveway of the villa. She shifted her body to step out once the door slid open.
But before she could, her husband grabbed her arm. She paused, then turned her head in his direction.
He was looking at her, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I haven’t answered your question," he said softly.
Liwu pulled her hand back, but found that he was determined to hold on. "I don’t care anymore, I should not have asked in the first place. Who you love is none of my business."
Weijun shook his head. "Wrong, you are my wife so who I love is your business."
Liwu closed her eyes briefly. Sohow, it felt like she was about to endure a humiliation. Why, she wondered despairingly, had she asked the question she already knew the answer to. It was Manman, he loved Manman.
The door slid open, her sister Xixi peered inside, chattering excitedly, "You will never believe what that bastard has been up to behind my back."
Xixi was pushed aside and Xifeng made an appearance. "Hey big sis, I am here too."
Weijun let go of her hand.
Liwu stepped out of the car. In a rare move, she hugged Xifeng. "If it isn’t the world’s most famous violinist."
"And pianist." Xixi chid in, jumping like an excited rabbit. "When was the last ti the three of us were together like this?"
"Four years ago." Xifeng said, pulling Liwu to the courtyard.
Butler Chen had already had the servants prepare dinner outside at Xixi’s request. Between her tears, Xifeng’s mournful lodies and Liwu’s bad luck, the old man thought it was better for the house and everyone inside if he did as she requested.
As soon as they sat around the table, Xifeng frowned at her pink slippers, unhappily contemplating the stain on the side which was an eyesore. She had just stepped in bird poop, which was a common side effect of hanging around Liwu’s living areas. The bird droppings were an insult to the slippers which cost an exorbitant amount of money. "Do you think Red Dragonfly sells just one shoe?"
Liwu rolled her eyes. "You have money, of course they would be willing to sell you a single shoe. But, it will be easier to just clean the stain yourself."
Xifeng and Xixi gasped.
"Clean...clean the stain." Xifeng whispered. "Personally!"
She looked like she was about to cry and Liwu almost burst into laughter. Xifeng and Xixi were typical princesses. The only ti they did chores was on their mother’s command or during family gatherings--and only when ordered to do so.
Otherwise, if soone could be paid to make their lives comfortable in every way, they were happy to do that. So, the concept of personally wiping bird crap from a shoe, even with a tissue, was foreign to Xifeng.
Butler Chen ca to the rescue. He had a maid replace the slippers with one of Liwu’s expensive and rarely worn pair. "I will have these replaced Miss Xifeng," he said.
Xifeng touched her chest and batted her eyes, "Thank you Uncle Chen. What would I do without you?"
The Butler chuckled and walked off.
"He has never smiled around ." Liwu muttered. She picked up chopsticks and looked over the table, wondering where to start. "So, what is the deal with Xixi’s ex."
Xixi opened her mouth but Xifeng beat her to it. "He has been dating her maid, Lan Shilin."
Liwu was surprised. "Shilin! the one that is as timid as a mouse? The one that runs your personal errands and cries after ssing them up."
"That one." Xixi confird.
"The one mom told you to fire at least ten tis last year." Liwu ntioned.
Xixi nodded. "She must have known about the affair but chose to remain quiet because she wanted to learn the consequences of not being a good listener." She huffed. "He accused of crying to get my way when she does the sa thing all the ti. Whenever I tried to fire her, she would cry and I would forgive her. Looks, like she found comfort in the arms of my ex boyfriend."
"How did you find out?" Liwu asked her.
Xifeng beat Xixi to it again. "Soone dropped off a file with all the evidence in front of her apartnt. There is even a voice recording of them planning how to continue slandering Xixi so that the jerk could break up with her without fear of retaliation. You know how things work in our society, a bad reputation will make you shunned by all the families of good standing."
"Like Dou Yahui." Liwu muttered.
Xixi scoffed. "Shilin has been pinching herself on the thighs and arms and telling people I abused her!" She stomped her foot and pouted.
"I hope you plan to sue her." Liwu looked at her sister who was soft hearted--too much for her own good.
Xifeng cut in, like Xixi’s mouthpiece. "Of course we are suing. I already fired her before she could blackmail Xixi emotionally. And her jerk ex-boyfriend, mom said she will handle it."
Liwu groaned. Her mother’s version of handling things would include physical violence and compensation. Her dad would get involved as well. Maybe he would bankrupt that family or make them send the jerk to so remote corner of the world, cutting off the good life he had been enjoying.
"All he had to do was break up with her like a normal person." Liwu shook her head. "So people are idiots."
Xifeng chuckled. The sound of her laughter always contained a musical chi that made people long to listen so more. "He could not break up with her because dummy here was a regular date on his business etings. She would cry and his partners would sign contracts."
"Oh Xixi." Liwu groaned. "You were committing cris for this man!"
Xixi turned red. She shuffled food into her mouth, desperate to cover her sha. She had been in love and she did sothing stupid. Who had not been there before?
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