Volume 1, Chapter 46: Sign the Divorce Agreement

Early the next morning, Jiang Yun杪 had already prepared the divorce agreement and was waiting downstairs for Duan Yixiao.

Duan Yixiao appeared with heavy dark circles under his eyes, looking as though he had not slept well at all through the night.

He had spent the entire night weighing the pros and cons of getting a divorce at this juncture.

Seeing Jiang Yun杪 sitting downstairs with the air of someone who had been waiting for a long time, he knitted his brows tightly.

He lingered at the top of the stairs for a long while before slowly descending.

Hearing the sound of him coming down, Jiang Yun杪 immediately handed the divorce agreement to him. "Take a look at it first. If you don't have any issues, go ahead and sign it."

Duan Yixiao had not expected her to be so efficient.

Outside, the weather was grim and the wind howled fiercely, but his expression was even worse than the sky, and a tempest raged within his heart.

"So eager? You drew this up in a single night?" Instinctively reluctant to take it, he gazed at Jiang Yun杪 with profound meaning, trying to probe for any trace of playing hard to get in her expression.

Yet her eyes remained utterly calm, without a single ripple, as if the document she held out was merely a routine piece of paperwork rather than a divorce agreement.

Seeing that he did not take it, Jiang Yun杪 extended it a bit further toward him. "I suppose I simply couldn't think of anything left to be nostalgic about."

How hilarious; she had actually prepared this long ago, only choosing to present it now.

Duan Yixiao's heart trembled inexplicably, his expression stiffening. With dark eyes, he finally took the divorce agreement. "I need to review it carefully."

"Of course." The corners of Jiang Yun杪's lips curved in an imperceptible smile; Duan Yixiao was undoubtedly afraid that she was plotting against him.

Yet he was purely judging a noble heart with a petty standard.

For one thing, she disdained such petty maneuvers; for another, there was simply no need.

Having walked through the gates of death and back, she had suddenly attained a state of enlightenment.

She had trapped her long youth within the confines of love, but in this world, everyone experiences their own snowfalls, holding their own obscure sorrows and pristine brilliance. Henceforth, she would place her own feelings above all else; she desired elegance and freedom.

She would no longer play a trivial, passing role in his life.

She truly had no regard for his tattered umbrella; she would rather walk alone in the rain and eventually welcome her own exclusive rainbow.

With complicated emotions gripping those few sheets of paper, Duan Yixiao turned and left the house.

Zhou Manhua happened to emerge just in time to see him leaving, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Aren't you going to eat breakfast?"

Duan Yixiao replied without even looking back, "Not eating." How could he possibly have any appetite now?

The moment he stepped out, Duan Yixiao sought out a professional lawyer for consultation.

After analyzing the divorce agreement, the lawyer stated that it was an extremely sincere agreement with conditions that were both reasonable and fair, while also displaying thorough consideration.

Duan Yixiao: "..." So Jiang Yun杪 was actually serious this time?

In truth, there had been a fleeting moment when he hoped Jiang Yun杪 would demand exorbitant terms, as that would at least indicate room for negotiation and bargaining.

Yet how could Jiang Yun杪 have drafted a divorce agreement that was so airtight?

After pondering for a long time, Duan Yixiao dialed Jiang Yun杪's phone number. "Didn't you always love dining at the garden restaurant? I've booked a table, let's talk."

Jiang Yun杪 refused. "That's the restaurant *you* like. If you have anything to say, say it when you get home."

That night, Duan Yixiao returned somewhat late.

Yet Jiang Yun杪 was still waiting for him.

"Did you sign it?"

Emerging from somewhere, Zhou Manhua limped into view. "Sign what? The divorce agreement?" she asked, staring fixedly at Duan Yixiao with a look of eager excitement.

Duan Yixiao uttered a low "Mn." In truth, he had once imagined how he would persuade Jiang Yun杪 to sign quickly when this stage finally arrived.

He simply never expected that he would be the one ultimately unable to bring himself to put pen to paper.

"Where is it? Let me see." Zhou Manhua's eyes locked onto Duan Yixiao like infrared beams.

Seizing the divorce agreement, Zhou Manhua began reading it with eager anticipation.

She read with intense concentration, but her expression grew increasingly unsightly. "What? You want to walk away with half of the family assets? On what grounds!" Smashing the divorce agreement onto the table in a fury, Zhou Manhua snapped, "In your dreams!"

A subtle, mocking smile curled the corners of Jiang Yun杪's lips. "On the grounds that the wealth and prosperity you currently enjoy were earned through my utmost efforts—they represent half of my life's blood and sweat."

"You really know how to gild your own lily! If not for A-Xiao, could you have become the president of Yijiangshan? If not for A-Xiao, could you be living this pampered, carefree life you have now? You just got lucky and used your shamelessness to latch onto A-Xiao, which is how you earned the title of President Jiang. Now that people have elevated you a bit over the years, you've really lost all sense of your own worth? Without A-Xiao, you are an absolute nobody!" Zhou Manhua raved hysterically, her voice shrill and grating.

If not for her inconvenient legs, judging by this frantic and unsightly expression, Jiang Yun杪 suspected the older woman might have already lunged forward to slap her.

Jiang Yun杪 truly had no desire to bicker with this old shrew any further.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes! Your son is the most amazing! So what if I take half the assets? He can earn it all back with a flick of his fingers."

"In your dreams! Even if it is just a flick of his fingers, why should you cheapen out on it? If you want a divorce, fine—leave with nothing!" At the mere thought of Jiang Yun杪 trying to split half the assets, Zhou Manhua regarded her as malevolently as a vampire, wishing she could strip her bones and tear her sinews apart.

"Then I simply won't divorce. I'll squat right here in the position of Mrs. Duan and wait for your son to inherit the Duan family enterprise, making sure you never get to marry off your precious son to a wealthy, high-class belle!" Jiang Yun杪 struck back precisely at her sore spot.

"You!" Zhou Manhua was so enraged that her features twisted completely. "How dare you! You vicious, greedy woman!"

Watching the two women quarrel endlessly, Duan Yixiao felt a headache so intense it threatened to split his skull open.

He grabbed Jiang Yun杪 and pulled her upward. "You, come upstairs with me!"

Even after the two of them entered the study, Zhou Manhua continued venting her rage downstairs, shouting, "Son, give her a good lesson!"

It was only after Duan Yixiao had tightly shut the door and blocked out the noise that peace was finally restored.

"Yun杪, what on earth do you want? Must you constantly pick fights with my mother and turn this household upside down?"

Meeting his accusatory gaze, Jiang Yun杪 smiled slowly, though her expression carried a cold, detached indifference. "Then hurry up and sign. Once you sign, we can start the legal proceedings immediately. The moment I move out, there won't be anyone left to argue with your mother."

"Why? Do you really want to divorce me *that* badly? You're just going to abandon Yijiangshan, which you worked so hard to build up?" Duan Yixiao wore a mask of profound pain.

The mockery at the corners of Jiang Yun杪's lips deepened. "Now you admit that Yijiangshan is something I worked myself to the bone to build? Downstairs just now, when your mother claimed I was merely reaping the fruits of others' labor, was your mouth glued shut with superglue?"

Duan Yixiao: "..." His expression stiffened slightly as he raised a hand to loosen his tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt.

"I don't want it anymore. As for the shares belonging to me, if you want them, I'll sell them to you at market value; if you don't want them, I'll sell them to someone else," Jiang Yun杪 said with absolute composure.

Since she was willing to let go of the person, why would she harbor any lingering attachment to a shabby little company?

She would take her rightful money and use it to generate endless wealth elsewhere.