Chapter 3

I printed out the divorce agreement overnight. The next day, after dropping Elsa off at kindergarten and Anna at daycare, I went to Andrew's office.

"Divorce agreement," I handed it to him. "I've signed it. All that's left is your signature. This afternoon, we'll go to the civil affairs bureau. Once we're divorced, I'll move my household registration back to my parents' home."

Andrew looked at the divorce agreement and sneered, "You want both kids? Are you sure you can support them?"

"Have you contributed either money or effort in raising them these past few years?" I retorted.

Andrew opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.

In the afternoon, we went to the civil affairs bureau. Just as we were about to sign, he received a phone call. From his "Hello," I guessed it was his mother calling.

He glanced at me while answering the phone and then walked ten meters away to take the call in the hallway.

A few minutes later, Andrew returned with a hesitant look and said, "Yueru, for the sake of giving the kids a complete family, let's not get divorced."

Did I hear that right? I couldn't believe these words were coming from Andrew's mouth. He was adamant about getting a divorce yesterday; how could he change his mind today?

"Divorce, why not? For the healthy growth of our children, I think it's better they stay away from a father like you."

"Yesterday, I was just angry when I mentioned divorce. I'm sorry. We need to reconsider this."

I laughed in exasperation, "Andrew, are you serious? We're halfway through signing this. In another month, we could be done. We're already here today; there's no way I'm leaving without your signature."

From his evasive eyes, I knew it wasn't that simple and certainly not for the sake of the children. After being married to him for these years, I was well aware of his scheming ways.

He was a mama's boy with no opinions of his own; his mother made almost all significant decisions for him. This change of heart was undoubtedly her idea.

Seeing my resolute attitude, he had no choice but to sign. He then asked the staff present if it was possible not to proceed with the divorce after the one-month cooling-off period if he changed his mind. They confirmed it was possible, which seemed to put him at ease.

I didn't dwell on it.

I took the two kids back to my parents' house. When my parents asked why, I told them I wanted a divorce from Andrew. They sighed and said, "Marriage requires caution, but if you truly can't make it work, divorce is an option."

A few days later, my mother-in-law came over wanting to take the kids back. She was uncharacteristically pleasant and flattering, which made me feel nauseous. She had always been overbearing and never showed me any kindness before, always acting as if I had stolen her son.

Faced with their unusual behavior during the cooling-off period, I couldn't figure out their motives until a relative from Andrew's hometown sent me a message on WeChat.

"Yueru, there's going to be a demolition in the area; each person will get $20,000 in compensation."

So that's why. The government was buying private land for development at increased rates, compensating $20,000 per person for relocation. My household registration and that of my children were still listed under their family’s registry. If I moved out our registrations, their family would lose $20,000 per person—$60,000 in total if I took both kids' registrations with me.

No wonder they suddenly changed their minds.

Impressive—they pretended to be nice just for the money. Once they got it, they'd undoubtedly kick me out without hesitation.