Chapter 15 Dealing with Family

• As if she were electrified, she flung his hand away. Determined, Li Xinyu said , “I’m not going.”
• The image of him pouncing on her violently was so earth shattering, that the thought of it made her shiver, so there was no way she had the courage to return to the Lings.
• His lips curved and he laughed, “Do you think you have a choice?”
• Like a deflated rubber ball, she sat softly and feebly on the bedside. That’s right, he was much more powerful than her, so she didn’t have much of a choice.
• This divorce agreement was her only path toward liberation, but in a blink of an eye, this opportunity had been completely thwarted by him.
• “I’ll pack my stuff,” said she, wanting to use this excuses to dawdle for a while longer, in case, she had a brainwave that might extricate her from this situation.
• But even this hope was obstructed by Ling Yao once again, who said, “There is no need to pack, my mom likes you so much, she already prepared a lot of things for you at home, there’s everything you need.”
• Li Xinyu’s resistance was utterly futile. She raised her eyes to peer at Ling Yao, and had an inkling, that the way he looked at her was a little abnormal.
• But she could not put her finger on where this deviation lay.
• ……
• Seated in Ling Yao’s car, while he personally sent her back to the Lings, Li Xinyu’s heart trembled interminably.
• When Ling Yao dragged her into the Ling’s living room and made her sit down face to face with his father, Ling Ci, and his mother, Hao Ying, she was wholly rigid.
• Mr Ling had a stern personality, while Madam Ling was amiable. Despite pushing towards her fifties, she appeared nothing beyond forty.
• “Finally brought your wife home. I thought you had lost your wife.” Madam Ling smiled warmly, glanced at her son and teased him, “If you really did lose your wife, it would be you own loss.”
• Ling Yao’s eyes were filled with indifference, “I know, mom.”
• “Xinyu, stay here, OK? We have many cars and fulltime drivers at home to take you anywhere you want,” Hao Ying was easy going and did not have the airs of an elder.
• Madam Ling was of the belief that families should live together. The thought of she and her husband staying at home alone, made her feel isolated and lonesome.
• Li Xinyu stiffened. Intuitively, she wanted to reject the offer, but she could feel Ling Yao pinching her brutishly at her waist, where her flesh was soft and defenseless.
• She promptly nodded, “Thank you, Madam Ling!”
• Madam Ling paid no heed to it, smiled and said, “Silly girl! You’ve stayed overseas for too long, so you haven’t changed your habits, you should call us mom and dad now.”
• Li Xinyu continued rigidly, “Mom, dad.”
• Madam Ling smiled ear to ear, “That’s a good, my child, you two must work hard.”
• “Huh?” work hard? What is there to work hard on?
• Madam Ling said, “Work hard on making a baby, of course! Once you have a child, this family will be complete. Our Ling Yao can’t keep living carelessly with Xiang Lixuan, he should have a wife to restrain him and change his frame of mind.”
• Mr Ling nodded his head, and thought his wife was always right.
• Looking at Madam Lin, Li Xinyu guessed in her mind that love and family was a woman’s best skincare, at least in Madam Lin’s case.
• Hao Ying smiled at her, and said, “Xinyu, you must be diligent, the fate of your happiness lies in your own hands.”
• She bobbed her head hard. But her happiness should be lying beyond the divorce. Facing a husband she detested so much, she doubted if there was any happiness awaiting her.
• “Son, you must treasure the one you already have, alright?”
• Ling Yao nodded his head mildly, not saying a word.
• When Madam Ling held their hands and expressed her good wishes about having grandchildren soon, a sliver of hopelessness wafted through Li Xinyu’s heart. By the look of it, they were not going to be able to get their divorce any time soon.
• She rapidly grasped the reason, why someone like Ling Yao, with nothing but repugnance and contempt for her, would change his attitude out of the blue and not proceed with the divorce. Might it be, that he keeps me around because of his family?
• If it were to placate his family, then my bid to secure a divorce would evolve into a long-term predicament instead.