The Monarch Butterfly - Chapter 4

After the usual pleasantries, the interview began.

I asked a few harmless questions.

Lu Zhiyao answered in a measured, flawless way.

Less than five minutes in, the viewers in the livestream were already impatient.

“Stop stalling! Get to the point!”

“I want to see bloodshed!”

Behind the camera, my boss drew a finger across her throat, urging me to get to the real subject.

No one cared about Lu Zhiyao’s career. Everyone wanted the details of her marriage.

I drew a deep breath.

“President Lu, since you came today, I assume you’ve prepared yourself mentally. Would you object if I asked some more personal questions?”

Lu Zhiyao looked into my eyes.

“Ms. Chu, you can ask me anything.”

The comments exploded.

“That was so sweet! Why am I shipping them? Save me!”

“President Lu is so doting.”

“Lu Zhiyao hasn’t looked away from Chu Tianshu for even a second. She loves her so much.”

“Chu Tianshu, do you have no heart? Why did you divorce Lu Zhiyao?”

“Everyone shut up! Listen carefully!”

I lowered my eyes, pretending to read the notes in my hands.

“President Lu, you were in a marriage that lasted three years. How would you describe that marriage?”

The comments grew so excited that viewers looked ready to crawl through their screens.

“She asked!”

“Good, good, the slaughter begins!”

“Let the blood flow!”

Lu Zhiyao looked at me.

She did not answer. I had no choice but to lift my eyes from the notes and meet her gaze.

Only then did she say, “I was very satisfied.”

“Satisfied? That isn’t exactly how people usually describe a marriage.”

“Then how do you think I should describe it, Ms. Chu?”

“President Lu is avoiding my question now.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. I only said that ‘satisfied’ isn’t how one usually describes a marriage, and you immediately started responding with questions of your own.”

Her thick lashes trembled lightly.

“President Lu, what exactly were you satisfied with?”

I appeared to give her an easy opening, but I was actually pressing the attack.

At last, she stopped looking at me.

Her gaze shifted slightly to one side, as if she were remembering.

“My wife… my ex-wife fit my ideal in every possible way.”

My eyes widened.

Heat rushed into my face.

My hand unconsciously crushed the corner of the interview notes.

Lu Zhiyao… What on earth was she saying?

Lying in front of tens of millions of viewers?

No wonder she was a successful entrepreneur.

I complained inwardly.

“What do you mean?” I pressed.

“She was cheerful by nature, sincere with others, and full of enthusiasm for life. Her appearance, her abilities, her ambitions, her beliefs… I couldn’t find fault with a single one of them. The best wife I could dream of would be exactly like her. That’s why I said I was satisfied.”

I was speechless.

The comments nearly overturned the livestream.

“Good heavens! Lu Zhiyao is so in love!”

“Chu Tianshu, you have no heart!”

“I’m not joking—I’m starting to wonder if Chu Tianshu cheated on her.”

“Why spread rumors about an innocent woman? Does divorcing Lu Zhiyao automatically mean there was someone else?”

The commenters began arguing.

I studied Lu Zhiyao, trying to find a trace of mockery in her eyes.

There was none.

She was completely serious.

“President Lu, have you ever said these things to your ex-wife?”

“…No.”

“Why not?”

“…”

She was silent for a few seconds before sighing.

“I thought she knew.”

I put on my professional smile. “How was she supposed to know?”

“I thought I had made it obvious.”

“What did you make obvious?”

Lu Zhiyao pressed her lips together.

“I never missed any important occasion in her life. I was always giving her gifts, and I also…”

“Also what?”

Lu Zhiyao looked away, her face faintly flushed. “…The ‘life’ I shared with my ex-wife was harmonious too.”

My face turned red all the way to my ears.

But I forced myself to stay composed.

The comments were already laughing themselves silly.

“A harmonious life! You’d better mean life in general!”

“President Lu left out one word.”

“Why won’t you say it? If it’s sex, just say sex. Do you think the censors will even care? This is a respectable interview program, right?”

“To the commenter above: it’s not censorship. She’s just shy. What’s wrong with putting it tactfully?”