2 Han is now dating An Ning (1/2)
Turns out, the marriage was still valid despite the absence of one signature. They went through a church ceremony after all, which was as valid a religious rite as any. The dissolution of the marriage took place without any hitches. The properties were divided; the cat and dog went to him; the china went to An Ning, who didn't even accompany her lawyer.
Her absence was made even more glaring by the fact that her lawyer stipulated that the marriage bed be burned as soon as the contracts were signed. Richard can do whatever he wants with the rest of the furniture, as long as the bed is nuked with all the pictures and documents such tragic vandalism requires. Richard could only sit there seething, aware of the hastily repressed snickers around him.
The bed was duly burned and life continued on with its usual flow. The house was sold so he bought an apartment nearer to the city. Curiously though, he didn't allow Valerie to move in with him. He could tell she was repressing her anger, unwilling to say something that might offend him. She was different that way from An Ning, who was thoroughly confident of her opinions and position in life. An Ning would have no trouble calling him out for being a hypocrite.
In fact, she won't have trouble dumping her cold drink down his fucking face if it helps to get her point across.
They were having their usual Friday dinner on the first week of each month.The only difference was that they were having it out in the open, not in some quiet quaint diner they often frequent in the old days. He saw one or two acquaintances take a double step when they saw him. They looked at him, at his companion, and he saw and understood their hesitation. He didn't mind though. He ignored them. Beside him, Valerie was also quiet, still seething with resentment.
”You look very lovely tonight,” he said, looking at her with unmistaken fondness.
Her lovely face broke out in a dimpled smile. She was a young woman of about twenty, petite and small-boned. She looked fragile and delicate in the pink and violet dress she was wearing. Her neck looked long and vulnerable, like her head would totter out of her collarbone if she made one false move. He always liked that about her; her air of fragility made him feel extra masculine. Those full, red lips that burn him like fire.
”You don't want to be with me,” she pouted. ”Admit it.”
Valerie was like other women when they finally get their paws on the man they targeted for long-term cohabitation. She wanted to get married and won't settle for anything else other than total submission. She had been in love with her guy for nearly a year. For him, she had crossed her own boundaries and became his mistress.
Afterwards, marrying him had been her end goal. She had spent a year of her life loving a married man; she felt she was owed. It was now his responsibility to marry her. Everybody was expecting it. He owed her a ring and the respectability that goes along with it. She had been patient enough. Not anymore though.
”My parents found out about us. I'm meeting them tomorrow. I told you they're old fashioned. They wouldn't approve of us living together before marriage and you don't want that, do you?”
”What about An Ning? Both of you were practically living together in uni but that's entirely different, no?”
He laughed. ”An Ning and I were in uni together, true, but we went there to study. We didn't get together until the better half of last year. I didn't meet you then or I wouldn't have married her.”
”Why did then you marry her?” she asked, eyes curious.
He shrugged. ”I don't know. Perhaps I got tired of her following me all the time and thought, why the hell not. And my parents liked her.”
”She won't be a problem for us in the future, would she?”
He stopped and thought for a bit. ”No, I don't think so. She sounded like she really hated me the last time I talked to her. Anyway, we're divorced. She's as far away from our lives as we want, I promise you.”
The next day, Richard drove to his parents' house in the country. His parents lived in a large old house on top of a mountain that overlooked the entire city of M. The address was so secluded and exclusive it's not even visible on Google Maps. His father was seated on his favorite chair reading when he entered. His mother was watering a plant by the window.
All was quiet. You can almost hear a pin drop in the silence. He took off his shoes and walked on his socks to the nearest chair. A uniformed maid appeared out of nowhere to hand him a glass of orange juice. Richard grimaced but took the glass. His father glanced at him with a calm expression on his face.
”Did you hear from your younger brother?” he said, finally breaking the oppressive silence.
”Han? Why? What's wrong with him?”
”It seems he's now dating An Ning,” the old man continued in his calm, expressionless voice.
”An Ning?” Richard asked stupidly.