Married by Accident [ZhanYi FF]

Chapter 20 - Mid-term summary part 1

Weeks and months flew by and the next divorce hearing was only a few weeks away. But before this date came, the judge invited Zhan and Yibo separately to talk with them about the past months and to hear from them how things had gone between them in the meantime.

Yibo and Zhan were very nervous before their appointments and agreed not to tell the judge about their relationship right away. But are they even capable of lying to the judge or at least hiding part of the truth from her? And when during the interview should they talk about their relationship? In the end, Yibo and Zhan agreed to tell the truth about their relationship as soon as they felt it was time.

At 2pm on the dot, Yibo showed up at the courthouse and knocked on the judge's office door. The judge's assistant let him into the office and told him that the judge would be a few minutes late and that he should take a seat. So Yibo entered the office and sat down on the chair in front of the desk.

Yibo looked around the office. Nothing seemed to have changed since the first time he was there for a one-on-one meeting. The furniture was the same. The computer was the same. And the wall clock that always went tick tock was also the same. The only thing that changed was the huge mountain of files, which was already high then and seemed even higher now.

A little nervous with excitement, Yibo looked out of the small window. However, he could see little more than the street and a few trees that were just getting their first new leaves. The few passers-by that Yibo saw were hurriedly on their way to their destinations. And again, in the silence of the office, it seemed to Yibo as if the wall clock was getting louder after every tick tock.

The assistant came back into the office with a glass of water for Yibo, handed him the glass and then sat down at her small desk. She began clicking busily on her keyboard, leafing through files and typing a text from a law book into the keyboard. Every now and then she looked up at Yibo, smiled apologetically because he had to wait and then continued working unhindered.

After 15 minutes, Yibo heard the door open. The judge finally came in. She was still wearing her judge's robe and held a very thick file in her arms. Her assistant first took the file from her and then helped her take off the judge's robe. This was neatly stowed away in a locker with a coat hanger.

The judge sat down, drank a large gulp of lime water from a bottle, rummaged through her files and when she found the right one, she opened it and finally looked at Yibo. "Hello Mr. Wang. Sorry, it's been very hectic today and everything's been dragging on. That's why I'm late." She said with a smile. Yibo thought she looked very tired.

"Hello, no problem. I've taken the afternoon off and have time." Yibo replied.

"I'm sure our conversation won't take that long. But it's good to know that we can take our time."

"Yes, we can."

"Well, as already described in the letter of invitation to the one-on-one meeting, I would like to have another one-on-one meeting with you and Mr. Xiao Zhan to hear an overview and to better decide what my verdict will be in four weeks' time."

"I know. I'm ready."

"Very well. Just like last time, I want to keep this conversation casual and just hear how the past five months have been for you, what you've experienced, whether your opinion on marriage has changed and whether you're still seeking a divorce?"

"Okay."

"But before we start, here's the most important question. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great."

"I'm very pleased to hear that. And I can see it in your face too."

"Really?"

"Yes. When we first met here, you were thin, pale and shy. But now you even have slightly rosy chubby cheeks that really suit you, a very healthy skin color and you look me straight in the eye. You really radiate happiness."