The Monarch Butterfly - Chapter 5

I steadied myself.

“President Lu, from what you’ve said, you really were satisfied with this marriage.”

“Of course. I have no reason to lie to Ms. Chu.”

Her gaze was soft and full of tenderness.

I clenched my fists, letting my nails bite into my palms.

Lu Zhiyao still had far too much power over me.

I found it difficult to resist the charm she deliberately directed at me.

“President Lu, if you were so satisfied with the marriage, have you ever wondered why your ex-wife insisted on divorcing you?”

Lu Zhiyao paused before saying quietly, “…I have. But I can’t think of an answer that convinces me.”

“Do you think your ex-wife was as satisfied with the marriage as you were?”

She blinked at me innocently.

“…At first, I thought she was. But she was so determined to divorce me that nothing I did could make her stay… That was when I began to think she must have been suffering so badly that she had no choice but to leave.”

“So you admit your ex-wife suffered in this marriage.”

“…”

Lu Zhiyao lowered her eyes.

After a long while, she slowly lifted them and looked straight at me. “I wish she would simply tell me—was she really suffering that much?”

“President Lu, you’ve thrown the question back at me again.”

Lu Zhiyao fell silent.

“You don’t seem very willing to admit that your ex-wife suffered in that marriage.”

“…I can’t understand why she would have suffered so much that divorce was her only option. As far as I know, I never treated her badly.”

“You believe you treated your ex-wife well?”

“…I believe I did.”

“Tell us how you treated her well.”

“…”

She stopped speaking again.

I raised my brows slightly and smiled. “Are you about to say that you never missed any important occasion in her life, always gave her gifts, and had a harmonious life together?”

Lu Zhiyao lowered her eyes without answering.

“President Lu, your ex-wife told you many times that she disliked the sofa in the living room.”

“She did mention it many times.”

“What did you think about that?”

“I didn’t understand.”

“What didn’t you understand?”

“If she disliked the sofa, why didn’t she simply replace it? Why did she keep bringing it up? Did she really need my permission to change something as minor as a sofa?”

“What kind of things do you consider minor, and what kind do you consider important?”

“Replacing a sofa at home is a minor matter.”

“So everything at home is minor, while everything at the company is important. Is that it?”

“…Isn’t that right?”

She looked at me in confusion.

My professional smile held a trace of bitterness.

“President Lu, how many people are there in your marriage?”

Her eyes widened.

“Ms. Chu, what exactly are you implying? Are you accusing me of being unfaithful?”

“I’m only asking a question. I’m not accusing anyone of anything.”

Lu Zhiyao frowned. She stared at me and answered stiffly, “There are only two people in my marriage: my wife and me.”

“And how many people are there in your home?”

“…My wife and me.”

“Yet you think everything that happens at home is a minor matter.”

I tilted my head and sighed softly. “You think a home occupied only by you and your wife is unimportant.”

“That’s not what I mean!”

She protested instinctively, her voice rising.

I gave her a bitter smile. “But whenever something at home came up, you always told your wife, ‘Handle it however you like. It’s up to you.’”

Her lips parted slightly, but no words came. Her breathing gradually quickened.

“When your wife repeated herself so often that you grew annoyed, you would add, ‘You can use my personal funds however you want. Just use them. You don’t need to ask my permission for everything.’”

“President Lu, did you ever realize that you didn’t value the home you shared with your wife?”

“You called her your wife, but in practice you treated her as nothing more than a housekeeper.”

“You never cared about any change in that home.”

“Did you notice that the scents in every part of the house were different? The living room had grounding sandalwood, the study had fresh bergamot, and the bedroom had sleep-inducing chamomile. Your wife quietly arranged those little surprises because she noticed how sensitive you were to scents. When a smell didn’t suit you, you became irritable without realizing it. So she tested these fragrances and placed them in the areas where you spent the most time, matching each one to your needs.”

“Your wife waited three years. Until the day she decided to leave you, you still hadn’t noticed this small surprise she had prepared.”

Lu Zhiyao stared blankly.

Her lashes kept trembling.

She wanted to say something.

But she could not say anything at all.

Because my accusation was impossible to refute.

And she had no defense.