The Zhou Family’s Live-In Son-in-Law: After Five Years of Scorn, I Asked for a Divorce—But My Wife Refused

The man was about to say something else when I strode over to him, picked up the coffee on the table, and poured it directly over his head. He stared at me with wide eyes, then shouted furiously, “You pathetic loser! Do you know who I am? How dare you throw a drink at me?” The café was close to the office, and many familiar faces were regular customers there. A spectacle had broken out, and everyone began turning to look in our direction. “Isn’t that Team Leader Cole? How dare he lose his temper in front of Ms. Monroe? Is he trying to get himself killed?” Vivian watched what I had done and didn’t get angry. Instead, she simply laughed it off. The man hid behind Vivian, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt for me. Then he put on an aggrieved expression and said, “Ms. Monroe, you have to stand up for me!” His eyes filled with tears, and his innocent, harmless appearance reminded me strongly of someone. He was Vivian’s first love, the man she had never been able to forget. I had tried for five years and still couldn’t come close to the place he occupied in her heart. Vivian stirred her coffee with a spoon, then looked up and said indifferently, “What are you making such a fuss about? Is this really worth getting angry over?” “If you don’t like him, I can make him disappear from your sight.” “I promised my mentor that no matter what happened, no one would ever take your place.” At the mention of my mentor, I clenched my fingertips, removed the jade pendant from around my neck, and held it out to Vivian. “My mentor gave this to me, but when you get right down to it, it belongs to your family. I’m returning it to its rightful owner.” Vivian lowered her eyes and picked it up for a look. “They say jade nourishes its wearer, and the wearer nourishes the jade. You’ve worn it for years, yet its color is still so dull. I guess it doesn’t suit you.” She tossed it casually into the arms of the man behind her. “It’s yours. Mr. Cole could never be worthy of an emerald like this, worth millions.” It wasn’t that the jade didn’t suit me. It was that I wasn’t worthy of it. In Vivian’s eyes, I was nothing more than a low-class “thing” born in the countryside. After saying that, she waved her hand and picked up a napkin from the table to wipe it. As if she had touched something filthy. I watched the disgust on her face, and it felt as though a pair of giant hands had seized my heart, squeezing it until it hurt. “Mr. Cole, I never wanted to take your place. I only want to stay by Ms. Monroe’s side and serve her.” The man spoke again at that moment. He had probably heard what Vivian had said earlier. Although he clearly disliked my position as her husband, he was clever enough to settle for second best. “You heard him, didn’t you?” Vivian raised an eyebrow and looked at him. “Go outside first. I’ll be there soon.” The man nodded obediently. Vivian followed closely behind him. Before leaving, she even warned me: “Adrian Cole, if something’s lost, then let it stay lost. Don’t lose yourself too.” “I’ll allow you to act out this once and treat it as a little novelty, but you need to remember where you stand!”Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Vivian left with the pretty boy she kept. She left me standing there in an awkward silence. A short while later, a large group of bodyguards rushed in. The man leading them carried a contract and a box of money. They were probably there to erase all the surveillance footage related to Vivian’s appearance here and to pay everyone off. That was the Monroe family’s usual way of handling things. After everything was taken care of, the lead bodyguard came over to remind me, “Mr. Cole, after all these years, you should understand Ms. Monroe’s temper. Why did you have to make her angry?” “In the end, aren’t you the one who suffers?” “When you’re living under someone else’s roof, you have to lower your head. Just endure it, and it’ll pass.” I turned my head to look at him, my eyes filled with loneliness. How was I supposed to endure it when I didn’t even know how many times my own woman had cheated on me? I gave a bitter laugh. “You can go. I’ll handle my own family matters.” The bodyguard sighed. “You can’t have both self-respect and money, Mr. Cole. You’re a smart man. You should understand that.” With that, he left with the others. I pretended nothing had happened, ordered a cup of coffee, and sat in the spot where Vivian had been sitting. I stayed there for an entire day. It wasn’t until the early hours of the following morning that I returned to the villa. Facing the empty room, I instantly felt completely disheartened. Vivian hadn’t come home the night before. She was probably still lost in the arms of another man. I went to the walk-in closet on the second floor and packed a few casual outfits I wore often. Usually, getting divorced meant considering all kinds of issues, such as dividing property and deciding custody of the children. But between Vivian and me, there was only that jade pendant. Who would have thought that the wedding once hailed as the wedding of the century across Harbor City had ended with the bride and groom not even obtaining a marriage certificate? I still remembered what Vivian had said to me on our wedding day. She had said, “Adrian Cole, I married you only to fulfill my late mentor’s final wish. Julian Hart will always be the only man in my heart. Don’t dream of claiming something that doesn’t belong to you.” Even so, I had chosen to walk onto the wedding stage, because being with Vivian had been my lifelong dream. I loved her. As long as I could stay by her side, I was willing to do anything. I believed that sincerity could win sincerity in return, and that one day I would move her. But reality had slapped me hard across the face. Love was something you could encounter but never force. No matter what I did, Vivian would never look at me with anything but contempt. After leaving the Monroe family, I decided to travel for a while. Almost the whole first half of my life had revolved around Vivian. I had never had time or a life of my own. In this vast world, I had willingly hidden in one corner like a frog at the bottom of a well. Looking back now, I thought it was time to slow down and step outside. I followed the road west from Harbor City, carrying a backpack and staying in youth hostels. Eventually, I settled in a remote farming village called Pinecrest. It was far from the noise of the city. Most of the residents belonged to local ethnic communities, and the people were simple and honest. There were none of the schemes and power struggles I had grown used to in the business world, which made me feel unusually at ease. I rented a small house with a yard. It was incredibly cheap, only eight hundred dollars a month. I spent two whole days cleaning and organizing the place. Then, suddenly, someone knocked on the front gate. I got up to open it and found a young woman in casual clothes standing outside. She carried two strings of sticky-rice dumplings in her hands, and her face was bright with an energetic smile. She looked youthful and full of life, probably just over twenty. “You don’t look like a local. Are you here on vacation too?” I nodded. “I’m here to teach at the local school. Here, I made these myself. We’re neighbors now, so I hope we can look out for each other.” I thanked her. She asked how long I planned to stay, but honestly, I hadn’t decided yet. After that, we often made plans to explore the old town together. Lily Bennett told me that she had already been teaching here for two years and would be transferred somewhere else after this year. “By the way, our school is holding a party tonight. Would you like to come?” “The kids here are adorable. They’ll definitely be excited to meet you.” I had always liked children, but Vivian didn’t. More precisely, she simply didn’t want to have a child with me. Ever since we got married, the Monroe family had brought up the subject of children more than once. Every time they did, Vivian would turn cold and angry. Once, she didn’t come home for an entire year. After that, no one in the Monroe family dared mention children in front of her again. After Lily invited me several more times, I agreed. That evening, I arrived at the address she had sent me. The school looked old and worn from the outside. It had probably been there for many years. When I reached the third floor, I pushed open the classroom door, and a party popper went off over my head with a loud bang. A wave of thunderous applause rose from below, followed by Lily’s voice. “Let’s all welcome our new friend together!” “Welcome, Ms. Bennett’s friend!” The children all rushed forward to give me gifts, while Lily stood in the corner smiling at me. It was my first time facing such enthusiastic children, and I immediately became flustered. In the end, Lily had to step in and rescue me. She clapped her hands. “All right, the welcome ceremony is over. Now everyone go back to your seats and get ready for the performances.” The children obediently gathered together. I hadn’t seen such innocent smiles in many years. When I had been with Vivian, our home was cold every time I returned. Aside from work, she hardly ever said anything unnecessary to me. Countless times, I had tried to break the ice and suggested going on dates like an ordinary couple, but she rejected me every single time. Lily pulled me over to sit beside her. We talked a lot that night, though most of the time she spoke while I listened. My old life had been nothing but a straight line between home and work. As Lily put it, my life had been so boring it was practically dead, with the end visible from the beginning. She was different. She smiled and told me that she wanted to become a renowned educator, with students flourishing all over the world. When she smiled and said that, I felt as if I were looking at my mentor. He had once been proud of his profession and even happier to see the students he had taught succeed. “Your family must be really proud of you, right?” I asked her. She fell silent for a moment, then rested her chin in her hands and shook her head. “Actually, when I decided to volunteer as a teacher, my parents objected. They said it wasn’t safe for a young woman to travel around alone. I secretly submitted my application and came here.” I froze, deeply impressed by her courage. “People have to try things that seem impossible. I can’t stay trapped forever on the path they chose for me.” I had never imagined that the person who would wake me up would be a young woman who had only just entered society. She was always so full of life, as if nothing in the world could ever defeat her. “What about you?” Her eyes blinked brightly, full of anticipation as she waited for my answer. “I didn’t want to stay trapped in the same unchanging life either, so I came here.” During the years I had been with Vivian, I had lost myself. Everything I did had to take her and the Monroe family’s reputation into consideration. “What about later? Have you thought about what you’ll do after your travels end?” When Lily asked that, I lowered my head, unsure how to answer. She was different from me. She had her own dreams and things she wanted to do, while my future was completely directionless. My plan in the past had been to get closer to Vivian and work hard until everyone believed I was worthy of her. But now that I had left her, I had lost the motivation that had once driven me. “Adrian Cole.” She suddenly called my name in a serious tone. I looked up, and our eyes met. “If you haven’t figured things out yet, then live for yourself first. Life is long, and you’re still young. Sooner or later, you’ll find a goal worth working toward.” For the first time, someone had told me to live for myself. That was right. I was still young. I wasn’t even thirty. I shouldn’t work hard for anyone else. I should live for myself. Lily’s words made me even more certain that leaving the Monroe family had been the right choice. I smiled. “Lily, you’ll definitely become an outstanding educator one day, and an even better teacher.”