Chapter 1: Pregnant, He Suggests Divorce

In the bathroom, the air was misty, and Lu Jianshen was taking a shower.

Nan Xi got up from the bed with the blanket still wrapped around her, thinking about all that happened the night before, her face flushed red.

Although they were already husband and wife, she still felt extremely shy after every intimate moment.

The sound of water ceased, and Lu Jianshen walked out wrapped in a bath towel.

She handed him his clothes, "Breakfast is ready; I'll wait for you downstairs."

"Hmm!"

Once downstairs, Nan Xi carefully took a cake out of the fridge and placed it in the center of the dining table.

In her hand, she clutched a pregnancy test report, her heart pounding nervously.

Today was their second wedding anniversary, and thinking about telling him about the pregnancy, Nan Xi felt both nervous and excited.

Lu Jianshen had already changed into his clothes and come down, wearing a custom-made black suit that made him look elegantly charming and remarkably handsome.

After breakfast, Nan Xi gripped the medical report tightly, took a deep breath, and nervously said, "Jianshen, I have something to tell you."

"As do I," he replied.

"You go first," she urged.

Lu Jianshen stood up, took a document from the drawer, and gracefully handed it over to Nan Xi.

"This is a divorce agreement; take a look when you have time."

Nan Xi was caught off guard, struggling to maintain her composure to prevent a fall.

She took a sharp breath, the air cutting painfully like a knife.

A divorce agreement?

Her mind went blank for a long while before Nan Xi could find her voice and bewilderedly ask him.

"Are you asking for a divorce?"

"Yes," he said quietly.

Nan Xi held the pregnancy report, about to ask him if there was no room for discussion?

What if we have a baby?

Would you consider it once more?

The next moment, his voice came through, "Qinglian is coming back; I'd like to end our marriage early. We initially agreed on three years, but circumstances have changed, so let's end it a year early."

"I know it's sudden; this is the draft agreement. Take a look, you can make requests. As long as they aren't excessive, I'll accommodate them," he said.

Nan Xi mindlessly responded, still in a daze, "Okay, I'll look at it later."

She put her hand behind her back, the pregnancy report clutched tightly, exuding layer after layer of sweat.

She knew there was no longer any need to bring it up.

"There's one more thing I need to ask you," Lu Jianshen said.

Nan Xi clenched her hands and looked up at him with a forced smile, "Sure, just tell me if there's anything I can help with."

"About the divorce, you'll need to bring it up with Grandfather. He won't agree if I do it."

"Okay, I understand."

She was just an ordinary girl from an exceedingly ordinary family, with a mother who was a nurse and a father who gambled.

A family like hers could never have matched up to the Lu Family.

All of this started only because Lu Jianshen's grandfather and father were schemed against by a business rival which led to a car accident, causing them both to develop heart conditions.

Just passing by, her kind-hearted mother had saved the two elderly men.

Years later, when her mother died of cancer and her gambling father was left, her mother, worried about her, reconnected with the Lu Family after many years to ask them to look after her orphaned daughter.

And Grandfather Lu directly decided on her behalf, marrying her off to Lu Jianshen right after she graduated.

At that time, Lu Jianshen said, "I can marry you, but my heart belongs to someone else. Our marriage will last for three years, and after that, you should ask Grandfather for a divorce, so we can both live well."

She withstood the bitterness, covering all her feelings of love.

In a calm and light tone, she replied, "I know, I too have someone I belong to. When the engagement ends, I will keep my promise and leave voluntarily."

After they got married, he fulfilled all the responsibilities of a husband;

He loved her, pampered her, protected her—it was truly excellent treatment.

All their friends knew she was the apple of Lu Jianshen's eye, his treasured darling; whenever she was upset, he would turn heaven into hell in minutes. Everyone envied her for marrying a good man, a good husband.

But only Nan Xi knew that their marriage was not out of love but merely a contract.

The kindness this man showed her had nothing to do with love; it was just fulfilling a duty. If there was any true affection, it was solely for her body which he adored obsessively.

It was supposed to be just three years, but now, the woman he cherished most had returned, and it was time for her to step aside.

Nan Xi bent over and picked up the "Divorce Agreement" from the table.

She had lost her appetite and was about to return to her room when Lu Jianshen, seemingly annoyed, tugged at his tie and called her back.

"When you ask for a divorce, Grandpa will surely ask why. Didn't you say there was someone you had loved for many years when we got married? Now I'm letting you go free so you can find him and pursue your own happiness. Even if Grandpa disagrees, it's a difficult answer to reject."

Nan Xi nodded, "Yes, I will tell Grandpa that."

Having said that, she was eager to leave; if she stayed any longer, she feared she might regret and tell him: Lu Jianshen, I don't want a divorce.

Suddenly, Lu Jianshen reached out. Fearing that he would discover what was in her hand, Nan Xi quickly stepped back.

Lu Jianshen grew more concerned and tightly grasped her hand, "Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No," Nan Xi quickly freed her hand.

"After two years as husband and wife, do you think I can't tell when you're lying?" Lu Jianshen's eyes were deep.

Finally, Nan Xi gave in, "It's nothing serious, just my period."

"Rest well later."

After speaking, Lu Jianshen suddenly noticed her tightly clenched right hand and asked in a low voice, "What are you holding so tightly in your hand?"

Nan Xi immediately threw it into the trash like a hot potato, forcing a smile, "It's nothing, just trash. I was holding it and forgot to throw it away."

He would never know how much her heart truly ached.

It was as if someone had taken an axe, cruelly split her heart in two, leaving it bloody and mangled.

Every section still bleeding, she clutched her broken heart, in unspeakable pain.

"Jianshen, Lu Jianshen..." Nan Xi murmured in her heart, "A good couple, why did we fall apart like this?"

When she married him, she had taken a desperate gamble.

And now, her departure was all too hasty and bleak.

"Nan Xi, foolish girl, you've ultimately lost the bet. He doesn't love you, not even a bit."

Seeing her stagger as she walked, evidently weak, Lu Jianshen didn't think twice before lifting her into his arms.

Nan Xi was taken aback and quickly said, "Let me go, I can go back by myself."

"You're too weak to pretend to be strong."

Lu Jianshen's voice was gentle and enchanting, sexy and low in her ear.

That voice, which she had listened to for two whole years, and to which she had been addicted for just as long, was now about to abruptly leave her.

Nan Xi blinked, unable to hold back her tears.

Lu Jianshen teased her, "You're not a little girl anymore, yet you cry over your period. Stop crying; I'll get a doctor to check on you in a bit."

"I'm not crying," Nan Xi stubbornly said.

The fool, the blockhead.

He didn't know at all what she was crying for.

"Alright, alright, if you say you're not crying, then you're not," Lu Jianshen conceded.

"Can you tell me who he is?" Suddenly, he asked out of nowhere.

Nan Xi was puzzled, "He?"

"Didn't you say there was a man you've loved for many years? I'm curious to know who is so fortunate to have occupied your thoughts for so long," Lu Jianshen said.

(PS: Dear old and new readers, the new novel "Doting Wife, Gentle Husband" by Qi Qi is now available on QiMao. Hope you all support it!)