Marrying My Ex-Wife's Mortal Enemy (GL) - Chapter 16

After work in the afternoon, a few people stayed behind to do overtime, but since Dou Huan had nothing urgent, she left early. Before heading out, she sent a message to Jing Yu.

“I’m off work. Where are you?”

Two minutes later, Jing Yu replied:
“I have to work late.”

Dou Huan felt a little flutter in her chest and typed back:
“Then I’ll head home first.”

Unexpectedly, Jing Yu responded, “Miss Duan, that’s not what you said earlier in the office.”

What did she say again? She did say they’d meet after work—but if Jing Yu had to stay late, it wasn’t her fault she was leaving first!

Before Dou Huan could reply, another message came through:
“Come to my office.”

Dou Huan let out a long sigh, forced the breath out of her lungs, then turned and headed to Jing Yu’s office.

It was as if Jiang Shan already knew she was coming—she gave her a small nod in greeting.

Dou Huan pushed open the door with more force than necessary and asked, clearly irritated, “What do you need from me? ”

Her delicate brows were slightly furrowed, visibly annoyed.

Jing Yu looked up in surprise at the noise she made, gave her a quick glance, then turned her attention back to her computer. “Wait a bit.”

Still typing away, she didn’t even look at her again. “There are some fruits and cookies on the table. If you’re hungry, go ahead.”

Dou Huan folded her arms and walked over to stand in front of her. She leaned down, looking her in the eye.
“President Jing, Miss Jing—how late are you planning to work tonight?”

She leaned in so close, Jing Yu had no choice but to look at her. She was still wearing a T-shirt but had swapped her short shorts for loose-fitting jeans. The tee was tucked in, showing off a slender waist.

Jing Yu raised her eyes and met Dou Huan’s gaze.
“If Miss Duan can sit quietly for a bit, I’ll be done in about ten minutes.”

“Fine.”

Dou Huan grabbed a pen from the desk and started twirling it between her fingers, but her gaze never left Jing Yu’s face.

She’d heard Jing Yu was a workaholic who often pulled all-nighters. So how was her skin still so flawless?

Her features were immaculate, her complexion smooth and delicate—honestly better than most teenage girls.

Noticing Dou Huan’s stare, Jing Yu turned her head and continued working, her tone dry.
“If you enjoy looking at me, Miss Duan, feel free to pull up a chair and have a proper look.”

“I’m not interested in looking at you,” Dou Huan huffed and flopped onto the sofa. “Why don’t you call Zhou Wei over? I’m sure she’d enjoy staring at you.”

Jing Yu didn’t know who Zhou Wei was, so she didn’t respond and just focused on her work.

Ten minutes later, Jing Yu got up. “Let’s go.”

Dou Huan grabbed her bag and followed her out. “What about my car?”

Jiang Shan stood up when he saw them come out. Jing Yu replied,
“Give your keys to Assistant Jiang. She’ll drive your car to my place, and you can drive it back from there.”

“And how is Assistant Jiang getting home?”

“Thank you for your concern, Miss Duan. I’ll figure it out.”

Since Jiang Shan ultimately followed Jing Yu’s orders, Dou Huan didn’t argue further.

When they got to the underground garage, they happened to run into Zhao Xi, who was just getting off work. Seeing Dou Huan and Jing Yu walking together, he smiled and asked,
“President Jing… you know the new girl in our department?”

Jing Yu glanced at Dou Huan and coolly lied, “We chatted briefly in the office this afternoon. Turns out she lives in the same direction, so she offered to moonlight as my driver. I agreed.”

Moonlighting driver Dou Huan: “……”

“Oh, I see.”

Zhao Xi noticed how simply Dou Huan was dressed and assumed she didn’t come for money. That was exactly his type—sweet and easy to manipulate.

“Did you finish revising the design drafts?” Jing Yu asked.

“All done,” Zhao Xi straightened up at the mention of work. “I’ll email you the files shortly.”

“Good. We’ll be heading off then.”

The three of them got into their cars and left. Zhao Xi stood in place, watching until they drove away before getting into his own.

Since Dou Huan had been to Jing Yu’s place before, she knew the way. The ride was quiet, broken only by the occasional ding of a message on Jing Yu’s phone.

She glanced at the screen, saw that it wasn’t urgent, and put it on silent.

Watching Dou Huan driving up front, she asked casually,  “What do you think of Director Zhao?”

“Director Zhao?” Dou Huan didn’t want to gossip, so she gave a vague answer.
“Just met him. Don’t really know him.”

That made sense—Dou Huan had only been with the company a few days. Jing Yu realized there wasn’t much point in asking and didn’t want to seem like she was fishing for conversation, so she dropped it.

Originally, Dou Huan had planned to leave after dropping Jing Yu off, but Zhao Yu spotted her and insisted she stay for dinner.

Dou Huan couldn’t refuse and had no choice but to agree.

Zhao Yu was easygoing and had a personality similar to her mother, Zhong Yunxin’s, which Dou Huan liked. They chatted easily about handbags, shoes, perfumes, and makeup—all the typical things women love to talk about.

Jing Yu just sat quietly at the table, eating and listening without joining in.

It was obvious Zhao Yu really liked Dou Huan’s lively nature. Even after she left, Zhao Yu was still saying,
“Huanhuan’s such a delightful girl.”

“If you like her that much, you can always invite her over again.”

“Oh, come on. She has her own life—she can’t just come over all the time.”

“At least for the next three weeks, she can.”

“…What do you mean?”

Jing Yu didn’t want to mention the whole “driver” arrangement, so she changed the subject.
“You’ve been busy lately, haven’t you? Found any potential candidates?”

Zhao Yu had once asked whether Jing Yu liked men or women. Jing Yu had answered honestly—women, though she hadn’t met the right one yet.

Zhao Yu, worried that her daughter was too focused on work at twenty-six, had quietly been setting up potential blind dates. She thought she was being discreet, but clearly, Jing Yu was already aware.

So she came clean.
“Actually, yes. But I’m not sure if you’ll like her.”

Jing Yu pulled out her phone and showed Zhao Yu a photo.
“This one?”

“You’ve already added her on WeChat?” Zhao Yu lit up.
“Yes, that’s the one. I think she’s pretty, has a good temperament, and is probably a good match for you. What do you think?”

Jing Yu took another look at the photo.
“The face is a little round, the brows too thick, the lips too full… and the smile looks forced.”

With each comment, she found herself mentally comparing the girl to Dou Huan—and realizing how much more striking Dou Huan was.

The girl in the picture wasn’t bad, but she wasn’t as pretty, not as vibrant, not as natural, and not as effortlessly charming.

In short, she was no match for Dou Huan.

Jing Yu went quiet.

Zhao Yu looked at her, exasperated.
“If you’re going to nitpick like that, who won’t you find flaws in?”

And to be fair, now that Zhao Yu looked again… the girl really did have all those flaws Jing Yu mentioned. Even she had to admit the girl wasn’t quite as attractive as she first thought. The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became.

“Be honest with me. The real reason you don’t want to get married—do you already have someone in your heart?”

Jing Yu’s thoughts were a mess, but she chuckled.
“What someone? I barely have time to breathe, let alone think about romance.”

“You’re not getting any younger. If you meet a good girl, lock it down. These days things are more open, sure, but good women are still hard to come by. You think they’ll just fall into your lap if you wait long enough?”

Zhao Yu gave her a disapproving look.
“With your personality? Good luck.”

Jing Yu didn’t argue and just smiled.
“Don’t worry. By the end of this year, I’ll bring someone home.”

“Are you serious?”

Seeing her nod, Zhao Yu warned,
“You’d better not just grab someone random to shut me up. If you do, next year I’m putting your profile up on a matchmaking site. Let’s see how that feels.”

Jing Yu laughed helplessly.
“Fine, fine.”

Back in her room, Jing Yu opened the bottom drawer and pulled out an old photo.

In the picture, two little girls were holding hands and grinning brightly.

The shorter one in the dress was Dou Huan, who was six years old at the time. The taller one with a ponytail was Jing Yu, nine years old then.

It had been taken in the garden outside Dou Huan’s house, on her sixth birthday. Zhao Yu had brought Jing Yu along to the party.

That was the first time she ever met Dou Huan.

She had looked like a little doll—bubbly, radiant, with a smile that could light up a room.

That day, there were lots of kids around, relatives’ children, all playing happily together. Jing Yu just sat quietly on the side, watching.

Then Dou Huan noticed her sitting alone, ran over and asked her name, held her hand, and sweetly called her,
“Sister Jing, come play with us!”

To Dou Huan, it might’ve been just another fun birthday she barely remembered.

But to Jing Yu, it was unforgettable.

Because Dou Huan had taken her hand, called her “Sister Jing,” and invited her to play.

And ever since then, she’d never met a girl more beautiful, more charming, or more full of life than Dou Huan.

Jing Yu didn’t think she was in love with Dou Huan.

After all, when they grew up, Dou Huan married her mortal enemy and even stood against her—shattering all the pretty illusions she’d once had.

But deep down, Jing Yu still compared every blind date to her.

Maybe she was just hoping to find someone better than Dou Huan… and kept coming up short.

She slipped the photo back into the bottom of the drawer and smiled to herself, helplessly.

She remembered it all so clearly.

And Dou Huan—she’d long since forgotten.