Wang Xiaoliang hung up and sat on the sofa without moving for a long time.
His mind was filled with what Kong Xiuyun had just said. Every sentence kept rewinding, turning over and over in his mind.
He understood why Kong Xiuyun remembered it so clearly. When she heard it from Zhou Qiang, she might have mulled it over repeatedly, just as he was doing now.
He remembered when he first learned that Li Lanxiang was pregnant.
Back then, he had thought he was helping. Helping Li Lanxiang keep it from Zhou Qiang so she could surprise him.
What a joke.
He had helped Li Lanxiang build up all the leverage she needed while Zhou Qiang remained completely in the dark.
From beginning to end, the pregnancy had been her biggest card.
And he, Wang Xiaoliang, had unwittingly helped her keep that card tightly concealed. By the time she laid it on the table, Zhou Qiang had no way out.
A pregnant woman. A middle-aged woman.
Even if Zhou Qiang had gone to the police, what could they have done?
What would the police have seen when they arrived? A divorce agreement, two seemingly vulnerable women, one pregnant, one old, and a burly man.
Who would believe he had been coerced?
Who would believe two women had backed a grown man into a corner?
"He lost too much money and snapped. If he knew it would come to this, he shouldn't have cheated!"-that was most likely how the police would characterize it. Just a domestic dispute.
Even if Zhou Qiang produced the photos and the police opened a case, what if Li Lanxiang really did hurt her own son?
At that thought, Wang Xiaoliang felt a shiver of belated fear.
What if it had been him? His younger, naive self