After the Divorce

Blurb: 1. In her fifth year as a full-time housewife, Xiao Jie discovers that her husband is having an affair with his assistant. Their son is hospitalized with pneumonia, and when the mistress sends her a photo of herself having a candlelit dinner with her husband, it becomes the last straw. 2. Divorce! I don't want to wait another second! Her best friend wholeheartedly agrees and immediately recommends her husband's cousin, a lawyer. Xiao Jie calls him for the first time. On the other end of the phone, a man's voice brushes gently past her ear like a warm afternoon breeze, mellow and languid. "Are you sure you want custody of your child?" Xiao Jie is firm. "Yes." The man chuckles, sounding utterly casual. "Just as an aside, it'll be hard to marry again with a child in tow." Xiao Jie presses her lips together. "I never planned to marry again in this life." 3. When the divorce decree comes through, Xiao Jie invites the prominent lawyer to dinner to thank him. At the Garden Restaurant in the east of the city, by an absurd coincidence, her ex-husband and his mistress are sitting at the next table. Xiao Jie's gaze sweeps over the strikingly handsome face across from her. She changes direction and sits right beside the suited man. "Counselor, would you mind playing the role of my new love?" The man gets into character in no time, reaching out to hold her. Ignoring the look on her ex-husband's face as it darkens in an instant, he smiles. "It would be my pleasure." ... 4. Later, he gets so hooked on playing the role that he turns pretend into reality. 5. Later still, he starts scheming to make the relationship official. One day, Xiao Jie wakes up to find a diamond ring on her right ring finger. "I thought we agreed not to get married?" she frowns. The man embraces her from behind, his warm gaze turning more fervent. "But our son needs a father's love..." Then his voice grows huskier, coaxing her. "And he should have a sibling, too..." The man is four years older than the woman. Both are non-C. ---Advance Preview: He Took Advantage of Her Vulnerability--- Blurb: After four years of marriage to Song Haocheng, Shen Jingyu is still unable to get pregnant. Her mother-in-law's expression grows more sour by the day, while her husband works overtime more and more often. Then one day, Song Haocheng brings home a delicate, frail-looking woman and says she is carrying his child. At the time, Shen Jingyu has just finished drinking her Chinese medicine, and bitterness fills her mouth and heart... On the day of the divorce, Shen Jingyu moves into the little apartment her parents bought for her before the wedding. Her younger brother, Shen Jingyan, who is abroad, worries she might do something rash, so he asks his best buddy, Gu Feizhan, to come look after her. When Shen Jingyu sees the tall man standing at her door with a smile tugging at his lips, she wonders if her brother thinks her life isn't miserable enough already. The man is three years younger than her, and they've never gotten along. He thinks her glasses are old-fashioned, her cooking tastes awful, and her clothes are tasteless. He didn't even show up at her wedding, sending only a red envelope. That night, with the alcohol going to her head, Shen Jingyu casts aside their old grievances and pours out her troubles to him. In the end, she grabs Gu Feizhan's finely tailored shirt and demands, "Be honest. Am I really that awful?" Looking at the fragile woman before him, Gu Feizhan lowers his eyes, hiding his feelings. His expressive, peach-blossom eyes shimmer. "Not at all." The next moment, the man's crisp breath brushes her lips. "You're just blind." Later, as they go to register their marriage, Shen Jingyu still feels uncertain. "You really don't mind that I can't have children?" Gu Feizhan grips her hand, his expression utterly unconcerned. "It works out perfectly. I want to be child-free." But not long after they get married, Shen Jingyu finds two lines on a pregnancy test. A while later, she also hears that her former mother-in-law has taken her grandson for a paternity test... Shen Jingyu: "...So it wasn't me who couldn't have children." The man beside her pulls her close, grinning boldly and smugly. "How could you have a child without me?" Blurb dated December 23, 2021 The man is a virgin, the woman is not. Older woman, younger man, with a three-year age gap. Theme: If you love her, marry her.