Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Just as the post described, there was nothing simple about my marriage to Yu Lize.

A year ago, one of He Group’s shareholders developed a severe gambling problem. He embezzled a fortune from the company, then jumped to his death when the truth came out.

We couldn’t recover the money in time. A huge order happened to arrive at the same moment, and our cash flow collapsed. The company teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.

That was when Yu Lize appeared.

He was already infamous.

The unwanted son of Yu Group’s first wife had been shipped overseas, only to report his own father to the authorities as soon as he returned and send the man to prison.

While the group was still in chaos, he bought aggressively during the stock-price crash and transformed himself into its largest shareholder.

Without shedding a drop of blood, he took control of a vast corporate empire.

Everyone called Yu Lize a madman without family loyalty, a man who would do anything for profit.

Yet when he came to He Group, he carried only a contract.

He offered to inject enough capital to save us. In return, He Group would share its sales channels with him, and…

To secure the partnership, he proposed a contract marriage.

I checked that contract three times.

When I confirmed that those truly were his only conditions, it felt like a gift had fallen from heaven.

I had prepared myself for the possibility that he suffered from some hidden illness or violent tendencies and wanted a wife to abuse.

I had even planned how to protect myself, collect evidence, bring him down by his own methods, and then use my status as his wife to swallow his assets.

I admit that makes me sound horribly ungrateful.

But I couldn’t believe a man ruthless enough to move against his own father would become my savior for no reason.

I was wrong.

He was perfectly normal. More than that… he treated me rather well.

He had the housekeeper prepare my favorite dishes, sent me gifts, and shielded me at social events.

When company problems drove me frantic, he offered guidance.

Thanks to his help, He Group tripled in size during our single year of marriage.

I occasionally indulged my vanity and wondered whether he genuinely liked me.

But whenever I tried to move closer, he fled as though I were contagious.

How should I put it?

It felt like playing psychological warfare with a cat.

After several attempts, I more or less figured out how to coexist with the cat—no, with my nominal husband.

In short: business was safe to discuss, everyday matters usually met silence, and physical contact was absolutely forbidden.

Following those rules, we passed a peaceful year together.

So why had I asked for a divorce?

Simple. Yu Lize was a good man.

Whatever other people said, he had unquestionably been good to me.

If he’d mistreated me even a little, I would have used my status as his wife to bite a massive chunk out of him without hesitation.

But he was too good. It left me with… nowhere to bite.

I lived by one rule: don’t bully good people.

So we might as well untangle ourselves.

I believed we could remain good friends and business partners without the marriage, and our relationship would become more natural.

That was what I’d intended to tell him.

But at the dinner table, the instant I mentioned divorce, he agreed without the slightest hesitation.

He didn’t even finish eating before hurrying back to his room.

It looked almost as if he couldn’t wait.

The explanation I’d prepared stuck in my throat.

What could I say?

That I was divorcing him for his own good?

That I admired him so much I wanted a divorce?

Forget it. It sounded hypocritical no matter how I phrased it. Better to say nothing.

I finished dinner in a sulk and stalked back to my room.

I couldn’t tell whether my pride had been wounded because he agreed too quickly, or whether I resented finally doing a good deed only for him not to appreciate it.

Probably both.

Either way, I was in a terrible mood.

I had opened that divorce question because the poster seemed to be in a similar situation, and I wanted to see how someone else handled it.

Never had I expected such an unexpected prize.