He agreed to the divorce.
Something Xie Qian had fought for years to achieve, Xie Yuping settled with effortless ease.
It was not that Xie Qian lacked ability. Rather, Xie Qian had already completed the most difficult first half single-handedly. Only after Xie Qian’s accident could Xie Yuping step forward, uphold justice, and decisively handle the second half.
Sara Zhuo was filled with shock and suspicion.
Zhuo Chen could not make sense of it.
A secret joy rose in Zhuo Yue’s heart: no matter which man Mummy had conceived her with, for the past ten-plus years she had only ever had one daddy, and she would only ever acknowledge this one.
Xie Yuping called the lawyer in to explain the asset division to Xie Jinghu. Sara Zhuo first looked startled, then quickly responded, “This is a Xie family matter. It is not appropriate for me to listen.
Xie Yuping, however, refused to let her leave. “The divorce is between third brother and Weijun; you have no right to speak on that. But the asset division concerns you. How much money you have taken from him over the years, both he and you know perfectly well. All of it is marital property belonging to him and Weijun. Today we are going to settle the account properly.”
Even the ever-alluring Sara Zhuo could not maintain her composure upon hearing this.
“…You want me to pay it back?”
Xie Yuping looked astonished. “What, you don’t intend to? You carry the Zhuo surname, after all. Even if the Zhuo family has fallen, surely the pride and dignity of the Zhuo clan have not been thrown away entirely. I completely agree with your earlier point: third brother disrespected marriage and disrespected you; he deserved to be deceived. But since you claim you care nothing for his houses, his bags, his jewellery, that you are not the kind of mistress who is in it for money and luxury, and since your relationship has reached its end, surely you should return everything?”
She insisted she was not in it for the money.
Yet someone who was not in it for the money had taken so much.
Everyone knew perfectly well what a woman became a mistress for.
Mistresses did not ask for status. They gave their bodies and youth, took money from the sugar daddy, and lived a life of luxury ordinary people could only dream of. They did not fear public condemnation or being attacked by the legal wife, because the material gifts from the man were enough to compensate for any grievance.
Xie Yuping could not understand the mindset of mistresses, nor did he wish to persuade them to reform, but he knew that whatever profession one chose, one should at least possess some “professional ethics”.
Were there mistresses who cheated behind their sugar daddy’s back? Of course.
But mistresses who cheated, got pregnant by another man, and made the sugar daddy raise the child? Those were genuinely rare.
Even as a mistress, Sara Zhuo was unqualified.
Xie Yuping turned his head. The lawyer, now fully briefed, stepped forward at once. “Good day, Ms Zhuo. I am the divorce attorney representing Ms Zou Weijun. Here is my card.”
Whether Sara Zhuo wanted it or not, the lawyer pressed his business card into her hand.
The lawyer Zou Weijun had originally engaged had not yet arrived. This one was local to Shanghai, a senior partner at a major firm, highly experienced.
After reviewing the asset list of Zou Weijun and Xie Jinghu, the lawyer knew he had landed a huge case.
Lucrative fees and the chance to get his name known to someone like Xie Yuping: he was determined to secure this client.
To gain the client’s trust, a lawyer must demonstrate professional ability.
Handing over the card was a show of strength. He wanted Sara Zhuo to understand he was no nobody. Both she and Xie Jinghu would have to take his words seriously.
“Ms Zou Weijun and Mr Xie Jinghu signed neither a prenuptial agreement before marriage nor a postnuptial property agreement afterwards. Therefore all assets acquired during the marriage are deemed joint marital property by default. While Ms Zou was unaware, Mr Xie unilaterally transferred joint marital property to Ms Zhuo. Part of that money was used as maintenance for non-marital children, and part was spent by Ms Zhuo personally. Have I stated the facts correctly?”
Sara Zhuo clutched the card in silence. Xie Jinghu nodded viciously. “That bastard isn’t mine. Of course I’m taking back every penny I spent on her!”
Before Xie Jinghu could continue cursing, the lawyer carried on. “Now that my client Ms Zou is aware of the situation, she wishes to recover the property Mr Xie unilaterally transferred to Ms Zhuo over the years. This is both reasonable and lawful. Would you not agree, Ms Zhuo? Naturally, Ms Zhuo may claim the money has already been spent or used to raise the children, in which case Ms Zou would need to file a separate lawsuit to recover it… However, with Mr Xie’s assistance, clarifying the financial transactions between him and Ms Zhuo over the years should not prove difficult.”
Why had Zou Weijun previously asked Investigator Luo to look into Sara Zhuo’s assets?
Because Xie Jinghu had always fiercely protected Sara Zhuo and her children. Had Zou Weijun proposed divorce earlier, Xie Jinghu would never have cooperated in auditing Sara Zhuo’s side.
Gathering evidence would have been hard, recovery even harder.
Such was the plight of legal wives.
Normally, cheating husbands would never help the wife recover assets from the mistress.
When wives screamed for the mistress’s blood, the husbands still felt sorry for the “pitiful” mistress.
After all, mistresses had no status and mostly depended on the man for their children even more so. Cheating husbands overflowed with a sense of responsibility: if they did not give the mistress money, she might leave, and raising children cost money too.
In outsiders’ eyes there was a chasm between legitimate and illegitimate children, but to the cheating husband they were all the same: his own seed.
There was only one situation in which a cheating husband would side with the wife against the mistress.
Exactly the situation they were in now.
The mistress’s betrayal had struck at the husband’s most fundamental interest: she had cuckolded him, muddied his bloodline, and made him raise another man’s child.
Having handled countless cases, the lawyer had seen every shade of human nature. His grasp of it surpassed most professions.
For his client Ms Zou Weijun, the present moment was the absolute best time to file for divorce. Xie Jinghu had only just discovered his mistress’s betrayal and was burning with rage at having raised another man’s child. He would certainly want revenge and would therefore stand on the wife’s side and attack the mistress. The worse the mistress behaved, the more Xie Jinghu would remember how good his wife had been.
At this precise moment, Xie Jinghu and Zou Weijun were completely aligned, both emotionally and in terms of interest.
Once the anger cooled, things might change. If the mistress was skilled enough, Xie Jinghu might even forgive her.
Even if he never forgave the mistress, his emotional need for his wife would diminish, and he would haggle over every detail during divorce negotiations.
Zhong Yong had chosen the lawyer for reputation and seniority. The man truly possessed skill. He read Xie Jinghu’s psychology perfectly.
And Xie Jinghu did indeed cooperate beautifully.
Small expenses were hard to calculate precisely.
But every major expenditure, whether bank transfers, property purchases, expensive jewellery for Sara Zhuo, or Zhuo Yue’s school fees, Xie Jinghu remembered crystal clear.
The total was staggering.
After reuniting with Sara Zhuo, Xie Jinghu had spent an astonishing amount.
In the early years his spending had been more restrained.
After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, his net worth doubled, then kept rising with China’s economic boom. He became truly wealthy, and his spending on the mistress grew bolder.
Zou Weijun had stopped involving herself in the company, so Xie Jinghu became increasingly brazen.
Every item Xie Jinghu listed made Xie Yuping’s face darken further.
Of all the expenses, Xie Jinghu was especially meticulous about anything connected to Zhuo Yue. He clearly did not want to let the little bastard profit a single penny.
Only at this moment did Xie Jinghu finally display the average Xie family intelligence level, at least where memory was concerned.
The one exception was the gifts to Zhuo Chen. Xie Jinghu held back and did not mention the 20 % stake in Silan Biotech he had arranged for him.
Even so, the lawyer was stunned as he noted everything down.
“Mr Xie, you kept records of all these gifts, I presume? Bank transfer receipts, shopping receipts?”
Xie Jinghu ground his teeth in a cold smile. “Of course. If not 100 %, then at least 90 % and above, I have proof.”
Not only did the lawyer appreciate the cooperation, even Xie Yuping found Xie Jinghu tolerable for the first time.
The person who found Xie Jinghu least tolerable was Sara Zhuo.
This was supposed to be a man?
He remembered every single expense, including the overseas holidays he had taken Sara Zhuo on… If there had not been so many people present, he would probably have brought up hotel bills as well.
Sara Zhuo’s face was icy. “Money already spent how am I supposed to repay?”
The lawyer stopped the agitated Xie Jinghu. “Whether to demand repayment from you is a decision for Ms Zou and Mr Xie. How you repay it is your own problem, Ms Zhuo.”
Sara Zhuo said nothing.
The lawyer did not keep pressing her.
Recovering gifts required a separate lawsuit; it could not be settled today. The purpose in making Xie Jinghu recall everything was not to humiliate Sara Zhuo but to lay groundwork for the divorce settlement terms he was about to propose.
Xie Jinghu had personally admitted to the gifts. The lawyer recorded everything on the spot and kept an audio recording; Xie Jinghu would not be able to backtrack later.
At the same time, to protect his client’s interests and minimise further harm to Ms Zou, the lawyer proposed converting all gifts to the mistress into a cash value. This portion of marital property would be allocated to Xie Jinghu personally. Xie Jinghu could then sue separately after the divorce to recover it back.
“Whenever Mr Xie files suit, Ms Zou will fully cooperate in recovering the money. This substantial gift is treated as an ‘external debt’. Ms Zou assigns the creditor’s rights to Mr Xie, and in exchange Mr Xie should make concessions in the remaining property division.”
Whatever Xie Jinghu had given the mistress, when dividing marital assets the equivalent amount would simply be deducted from Xie Jinghu’s share.
If after the divorce Xie Jinghu pursued recovery, Zou Weijun would help.
If out of lingering affection he chose not to pursue it, the loss would be his alone. Zou Weijun would already have received what was rightfully hers. Whether Xie Jinghu wanted to suffer the loss was none of her concern.
The lawyer made a rough calculation. The total Xie Jinghu had given Sara Zhuo over the years was approximately equal to all the real estate the couple had acquired during the marriage + their current cash and deposits + Xie Jinghu’s personal investments outside Jinhu. Of course, this was based on the asset list Xie Yuping had provided; if Zou Weijun had missed anything during her previous divorce attempt, the true figure might differ.
Even so, under this arrangement Zou Weijun would be receiving the lion’s share.
Assets already placed in their son Xie Qian’s name were not subject to division.
The valuable jewellery Xie Jinghu had given the mistress had its counterpart in jewellery given to Zou Weijun; those were deemed Zou Weijun’s “personal belongings” and likewise excluded from division.
Zou Weijun would receive all real estate and liquid cash. Xie Jinghu would receive the “creditor’s rights”.
Creditor’s rights sound impressive on paper, but turning them into actual cash is another matter entirely.
With these points settled, only the Jinhu Group shares remained to be discussed.
The lawyer smiled pleasantly at Xie Jinghu. “Are you satisfied with this proposed division of the above assets, Mr Xie?”
