Wife, who?

Xu Wei knew from the start that winning over Yichen was going to be difficult.

Xinyi was younger, more forgiving. She still wanted a mother.

But Yichen?

The kid had already given up on the idea.

And Xu Wei couldn't blame him.

For sixteen years, Jiang Yurong had been nothing more than a ghost in his life—physically there but never present in any real way.

Now, out of nowhere, she was suddenly trying?

Yeah. No wonder he didn't trust it.

But Xu Wei wasn't the type to give up.

So, when he found Yichen sitting on the balcony, headphones in, ignoring the world, he took his chance.

"Hey," Xu Wei said, leaning against the doorway.

Yichen didn't look up.

Xu Wei sighed and dropped into the seat across from him.

"Look, I know you don't like me—"

"Good observation," Yichen muttered, scrolling on his phone.

Xu Wei smirked. Sharp tongue. He kinda liked that.

"But," Xu Wei continued, "since we live in the same house, we might as well tolerate each other."

Yichen finally looked up, raising a brow. "You mean you should tolerate me?"

Xu Wei huffed. "What do you take me for? I'm great with kids."

Yichen scoffed. "Yeah, sure. What part of ignoring us for years was the 'great' part?"

Xu Wei winced. Ouch.

Alright. No fake words, no easy answers.

"Fair enough," he admitted. "I wasn't a good mother. Probably still not."

Yichen's fingers paused over his phone screen. He wasn't expecting that.

"But," Xu Wei continued, "I want to be better."

Yichen scoffed, leaning back. "That's nice and all, but people don't just change overnight."

Xu Wei smirked. "Who said anything about overnight? I'm still figuring this out."

Yichen eyed him for a moment before shaking his head.

"You're weird," he muttered.

Xu Wei grinned. "You'll get used to it."

Yichen didn't reply, but…

He also didn't leave.

That was enough for now.

Later that evening, Xu Wei found Zhihao working in his study.

He had meant to walk past—but something about the way the man was sitting, tense, rubbing his temple, eyes fixed on his laptop screen—made him pause.

Without thinking, Xu Wei pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Zhihao barely glanced up. "What do you want?"

Xu Wei raised a brow. "Wow. Cold. No 'please, come in, dear wife'?"

Zhihao exhaled, looking back at his screen. "I'm busy."

Xu Wei walked over, hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. "Yeah, I can see that. You look like you're two seconds away from throwing that laptop out the window."

Zhihao didn't reply, but his silence wasn't dismissive.

Xu Wei hesitated.

He wasn't trying to care about this man.

But, standing there, watching him juggle the weight of a failing marriage, raising two kids, and running an entire business alone…

He realized something.

Liang Zhihao wasn't a bad husband.

He was a man who had been alone for a long, long time.

Xu Wei sighed. He wasn't here to fix Zhihao. Just the kids.

Still…

He walked over, picked up the untouched coffee on the desk, and switched it out with a fresh, hot one from the tray the maid had left earlier.

Zhihao blinked. "What are you—?"

"Drink before it gets cold," Xu Wei muttered, shoving his hands back into his hoodie pocket and turning to leave.

Zhihao stared after him.

For the first time in years, his home felt different.