Why Is My Ex Like This? - Chapter 5

The next evening, Lu Mingke knocked on my door.

“Where’s your husband?”

“…My husband’s not home.”

He perked up. His lips curved, his expression practically inviting me to do whatever I pleased.

“Come on, baby. Have your way with me.”

My robot dog slowly turned its head.

“Mommy, who’s this?”

“A friend,” I answered at random.

He corrected me at once. “No. I’m her kept lover.”

A smiling face appeared on the dog’s screen.

“Hello, Kept Lover. Welcome to my home.”

Perhaps he thought that sounded wrong, because he corrected it again.

“I’m Mingxi’s kept lover.”

“Hello, Mingxi’s Kept Lover. Welcome to my home.”

Satisfied at last, Lu Mingke put his arms around my legs and toppled me onto the sofa.

My face burned.

“N-no. The child’s still here.”

His expression changed.

“Where’s your child?”

Just then, the bedroom door opened.

A little girl came out rubbing her eyes, her voice soft and babyish.

“Mommy… I’m thirsty…”

Lu Mingke froze from head to toe.

Slowly, he turned toward the tiny girl in strawberry pajamas, her hair in a mess. His eyes reddened as his brain shut down.

“Our child’s this big already…”

“Stop being ridiculous. She’s not your child.”

He straightened and walked over to her.

“What’s your name?”

“Diandian.”

He took on the expression of a doting father.

“Adorable. How old are you, Diandian?”

Looking bewildered, she answered, “One and a half.”

Lu Mingke turned his head stiffly and spoke through gritted teeth.

“If I remember correctly, we’ve only been apart for 723 days.”

Tears dropped from his eyes.

“So when you broke up with me, you were already showing?”

I was in the kitchen mixing formula. I didn’t hear him.

Diandian was my brother’s daughter. After returning to the country, he’d divorced his wife and was now a single dad.

His ex-wife had been awarded the house, so he was staying at my place for the time being.

Lu Mingke rubbed Diandian’s cheeks, then carefully plucked a few hairs from her head.

It hurt. She covered her little head and blinked at him.

“Uncle, what are you doing?”

He pulled a wad of cash from his suit pocket.

“Buy yourself some formula.”

By the time I came out, he’d already turned to leave.

I stared at the money Diandian was holding, my eyes wide.

“What did he give you money for?”

“That uncle told me to buy formula.”

“…He’s nuts.”

Lu Mingke acted like he owned the world, but around me, it was as though a crucial wire had come loose in his head.

I remembered that he’d become vice president of Lu Group as soon as he’d returned.

Rumor had it he was ruthless.

I’d thought he’d really changed. I’d even worried he might take revenge on me.

Instead, he’d turned up to play the Good Samaritan.

Fine. Call it taking from the rich to help the poor.

He had more money than he knew what to do with, anyway.

That night, another update was pushed to my phone.

OP: [The child is one and a half. But we’ve only been apart for 723 days. She really cheated… The kid is so cute. Am I—am I really going to destroy her family? The child’s still so little. How can an educated man like me do something like that?! What do I do? It hurts so much.]

Comment 1: [Didn’t you know from the start that she was married with a kid? What were you doing then? You only start suffering after you’ve become her kept lover?]

Comment 2: [Told you not to destroy someone else’s family. You wouldn’t listen. Wait till they beat you to death.]

OP: [After she divorces her husband, can I get custody of the kid?]

Comment 3: [?]

OP: [I’ve had someone run a DNA test. If she’s mine, I’m definitely taking her back.]

Comment 4: [What if she’s not?]

OP: [Then I’m still her dad. Her stepdad.]

Comment 5: [Such a small me. Such a gigantic shock.]

I was thoroughly engrossed.

Lu Mingke messaged me.

Lu Mingke: [I’m willing. Song Mingxi, I can be the child’s stepdad. If you divorce your husband, I’ll even take your daughter’s surname.]

[Transfer: 99,999]

Me: [Didn’t you say you only wanted to be my kept lover?]

Lu Mingke: […]

Lu Mingke: [I don’t mind that you have a husband. But I hope you’ll let me give the child a home. She’s so little, and she already has no dad.]

Me: [She has a dad.]

Lu Mingke: [But she could have two dads! Twice the love.]

[Transfer: 99,999]

Lu Mingke: [Second dad or stepdad. Your choice.]

I drew a sharp breath.

I was about to tell him she was my brother’s daughter when our live-in nanny pushed through the door, laden with bags.

Diandian ran over. “Mommy!”

I sighed helplessly. “Diandian, stop calling everyone Mommy.”

She hid behind the nanny, looking wounded.

“Mommy Number Two’s being mean.”

My brother was busy, and so was I, so we’d hired a nanny to look after her.

She’d picked up the bad habit from my dog son. Everyone was Mommy now.

With nothing else to do, I decided to go see Old Wang next door.

“Thanks for looking after Diandian. I’m heading out for a bit.”

I went next door and was about to knock when I heard someone reciting inside.

Lu Mingke was reading the Tao Te Ching aloud.

I knocked.

He opened the door and tossed the book onto the sofa, perfectly composed.

“Something you need?”

Looking at the Tao Te Ching on the sofa, I held back a laugh.

“Lu Mingke. Since when do you read the Tao Te Ching?”

He glanced up at me, his voice calm.

“I can’t control my desire to be someone else’s stepdad.”

“Diandian isn’t my child,” I told him. “She’s my brother’s.”

His brows drew together. His brain started churning.

“What? You and your husband are raising your brother’s kid?”

Then understanding dawned on him.

“No wonder he managed to get the position.”

Ah. A spirit of selfless service.

At that moment, Lu Mingke was privately full of contempt. His senior was a shameless doormat.

I pressed my lips together, debating whether to confess everything. In the end, I couldn’t resist teasing him a little.

“Is that not allowed?”

He cupped my hand in his and smiled.

“Of course it is. So you didn’t cheat, right?”

“Mm.”

Satisfied, he kissed me again, murmuring dreamily, “I love you, baby.”