The Monarch Butterfly - Chapter 2

When I woke the next morning, Lu Zhiyao’s arm was still draped around my waist.

I removed it and got out of bed to dress.

She opened her eyes. “Leaving right after sleeping with me?”

I pulled on my wrinkled shirt and drew my hair out from beneath the collar.

“What else? Do you want me to make you breakfast too?”

She frowned.

“What kind of thing is that to say? After we got married, when did I ever make you do housework?”

I put on my professional smile. “Yes, President Lu has always been very good to her wife.”

“Chu Tianshu.”

Her voice turned cold.

I curled my lips sarcastically.

“Save it. I told you, I’m not your dog anymore. Keep that dog-training routine for someone else.”

I finished putting on my clothes and shoes, then staggered out of the bedroom.

Her bedroom carpet was damn thick.

Thick and soft. My heels sank into it, making it impossible to stand steadily.

I was only a beginner at walking in heels. I hardly ever wore these torture devices, and my ankles were nothing like the iron ankles of women who wore them every day. Mine were soft and trembling. After two steps I could go no farther, and I had to brace myself against the wall in silent despair.

Someone wrapped an arm around my waist from behind.

“If you can’t walk in heels, don’t wear them.”

One of her hands held my waist. The other traced my waist and hip down to my thigh.

“Take them off before you twist your ankle.”

I turned my face and looked down at her legs.

She wore only a shirt whose hem barely covered her buttocks. Her long legs were completely exposed.

She was barefoot on the carpet, yet still half a head taller than me in heels.

Would it kill her to donate five centimeters of those legs to me?

She bent down and helped me remove my heels.

I looked down at her.

“Lu Zhiyao.”

“Mm?”

“I don’t have the strength to walk. Carry me.”

“…”

She squatted on the floor and stared up at me for a long moment before slowly lifting me into her arms.

“Sometimes I really don’t know what you’re being stubborn about.”

Lu Zhiyao sighed.

I held on to her shoulder without saying anything.

She carried me out of the bedroom and set me on the living-room sofa.

Only then did I notice that the old hard leather sofa was gone. At some point, it had been replaced by a soft fabric one.

“You changed the sofa?”

“Mm.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“…My wife didn’t like it, so I changed it.”

“Heh.”

I leaned back against the sofa. “You only realized your wife didn’t like it after the divorce?”

“…”

Lu Zhiyao rubbed her brow. “Chu Tianshu, my personal funds have always been at your disposal. If you didn’t like that sofa, you could have replaced it yourself. I don’t understand why you insisted on waiting for me to make the decision when you knew I—”

“I know. President Lu is very busy.”

I smiled and cut her off. “How could President Lu possibly have time to worry about such insignificant little things at home?”

Lu Zhiyao: “…”

I stood, went to the entryway, and took a random pair of cotton-linen slippers from the shoe cabinet.

“I’m leaving. Thank you for the warm hospitality last night, President Lu. I was very satisfied.”

I opened the door, waved, and walked out.

I did not look back to see what expression Lu Zhiyao wore.

Lu Zhiyao was every lesbian’s dream woman.

A handsome face, a cool temperament, and a tall, graceful figure.

Highly educated, wealthy, and powerful.

Her stats were practically maxed out in every category.

I had pursued her for five years.

Even I had no idea how I had managed to stand out among the sea of people chasing her.

When news of our marriage got out, her admirers nearly stormed the wedding with guns to snatch her away.

They could not understand it. Lu Zhiyao, why?!

Three years later, when news spread that Lu Zhiyao and I had divorced, her admirers were even more devastated.

They could not understand it. Chu Tianshu, why?!

There was clearly something wrong with the brains of this couple.

Especially mine.

When I said I wanted to divorce Lu Zhiyao, not only did Lu Zhiyao refuse to agree, not one of my friends or relatives supported me either.

They all thought I had water on the brain.

“Chu Tianshu, have you had too many good days and decided you want to suffer a little?”

“Who did you say you want to divorce… Lu Zhiyao?”

“Say it again. Lu Zhiyao?”

“The Lu Zhiyao whose looks alone make lesbians weak in the knees?”

“The Lu Zhiyao who didn’t make you sign a prenup and even let you control her personal assets?”

“The Lu Zhiyao who held a once-in-a-century wedding for you and invited a whole lineup of your favorite stars to perform?”

“Chu Tianshu, did you forget to put some plants by the window when you slept, so a zombie ate your entire brain?”

Everyone said I was crazy.

Honestly.

I thought I was crazy too.

My reason told me that I would never meet another person like Lu Zhiyao in my life.

And yet I still insisted on divorcing her.

Lu Zhiyao tried to keep me many times.

She even allocated me a larger share in the divorce agreement.

Even my own divorce lawyer looked at me with condemnation.

She could not understand why I insisted on making trouble.

She even pulled me outside and earnestly tried to persuade me. “Miss Chu, I’ve handled so many divorce cases, and I have to tell you this: I’ve never seen a partner as good as Miss Lu. The way she looks at you makes it obvious she still loves you. She can’t bear to let you go. You’re the one insisting on the divorce. But the way I see it, you still love her too, don’t you? If there’s some misunderstanding between you, use this opportunity to clear it up. Why insist on getting divorced?”

I did not know how to explain it.

I still insisted on the divorce.

And I refused every bit of compensation from Lu Zhiyao. I practically left with nothing.

Three years earlier, when I married her, I had been one way. Three years later, I was exactly the same. I took nothing with me—not even a cloud.

After all.

Having slept with a woman as perfect as Lu Zhiyao for three years, I really couldn’t bring myself to accept so much “compensation.”

It was already pretty shameless of me not to compensate her instead.