Chapter 18 He is a vulnerable person; the law stipulates that you have to support him.

Attorney Zhou Zheng's law firm was located in an office building in the old district of Bin City; it was not exactly a grand place.

However, online reviews claimed that this Lawyer Zhou was very skilled at handling divorce lawsuits and specialized in property division.

Wen Huilin had found her way here after searching for rankings of divorce lawyers in Bin City on her phone.

When the receptionist led her into the office, Lawyer Zhou was looking over a case file.

He was a man in his early thirties, wearing rimless glasses, and he looked very sharp and capable.

"Ms. Wen? Please, sit."

Wen Huilin sat down, placed her bag on her lap, and twisted the strap with her fingers.

"Would you like tea or coffee?"

"No, thank you."

Attorney Zhou Zheng closed the case file, leaned back in his chair, and looked at her with a calm gaze. "Tell me about your situation."

Wen Huilin took a deep breath, gathered her thoughts, and began to speak.

Her account was messy and lacked coherence; she jumped from one topic to another, saying whatever came to mind.

She started with Chen Ang's family owing four million, then talked about Chen Ang taking out a loan to buy an X5, about him signing their son up for a one-hundred-thousand-yuan interest class, and finally, about Chen Ang quitting his job.

However, she did not mention the fact that their son was not biologically related to her husband.

Her story was laced with a lot of emotion—grievance, anger, and unwillingness to accept the situation.

Clearly, Chen Ang's actions made it impossible for her to remain rational.

Attorney Zhou Zheng did not interrupt her; he simply jotted down a few keywords in his notebook.

Once she finished, he spoke up, "Ms. Wen, I have a few questions for you."

"Did you sign any guarantees for your husband's parents' debts?"

"No."

"Was this money used for your family's living expenses?"

"No... that was owed by his father's company."

Attorney Zhou Zheng nodded. "Then, in principle, this debt does not belong to your joint marital debt. This is favorable for you."

Wen Huilin finally breathed a sigh of relief, terrified that the debts of Chen Ang's family would entangle her.

"However..." Attorney Zhou Zheng changed his tone. "The situation with the X5 and the interest class you mentioned earlier is different."

Wen Huilin's heart leaped into her throat again.

"The X5 was purchased with a loan during the marriage. If your husband can prove that the car was used for family life, such as picking up and dropping off the child or driving you to work, then the judge will very likely classify it as joint marital debt."

Upon hearing this, Wen Huilin felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She recalled that for the first few days, Chen Ang had continued to pick up and drop off their child as usual, but in the last few days, he hadn't bothered at all.

She finally realized that he had been waiting for her here.

Was this all part of Chen Ang's scheme?

In an instant, she felt the blood rush to her head, and a tightness in her chest made her feel dizzy.

Everything, absolutely everything, made her feel like a clown.

It wasn't over yet; Attorney Zhou Zheng continued:

"The interest class is the same. Educational expenses for children are considered joint family expenses. You say you were unaware, but can you prove that you were actually aware at the time and that you opposed it? If you can't, you will have to bear half of that cost as well."

Wen Huilin's face turned pale. At the time, she only remembered arguing and fighting with Chen Ang; how could she have thought to leave behind any evidence?

Seeing her expression, Attorney Zhou Zheng understood. He showed no sign of sympathy, merely stating the facts plainly, "Then you will have to bear half of it."

"And you mentioned earlier that he quit his job?" he continued. "If he has no income because of that, you, as his spouse, have an obligation to support each other during the marriage. In other words, before you are divorced, you are required to cover the main household expenses."

This statement was like a bolt from the blue; it took a long while for Wen Huilin to recover her senses.

She never imagined that the law would actually force a woman to support a man.

Does this law even make sense? How could such a law exist?

He was the one who lacked ambition and quit his job to rot away, so why should she have to support him?

He had hands and feet; why couldn't he earn money doing something, and why should he mooch off her?

After a moment of stunned silence, she asked in a trembling voice, "Attorney Zhou Zheng, is there really no way? Doesn't the law protect vulnerable people? If he keeps refusing to work and refuses to divorce, won't I be dragged to death by him?"

"Ms. Wen, strictly speaking, your husband is currently unemployed, so he is a vulnerable person, and you have an obligation to support him."

Lawyer Zhou looked righteous, completely ignoring the fact that Ms. Wen's face looked as ugly as if she had eaten excrement.

Wen Huilin felt as if the sky had collapsed again. Her mind was a blank, and she was completely unable to continue thinking.

After waiting a moment, Attorney Zhou Zheng saw that her expression had regained some clarity, so he continued, "If you want to file for divorce, there are a few situations I need you to understand."

"First, for the initial divorce lawsuit, if the other party does not agree, the court will basically rule against the divorce, and you will need to wait six months before filing again."

"Second, even if the divorce is granted, there is a high probability that you will have to bear half of the debt for the X5 and the interest class."

"Third, you don't need to worry about his parents' debts, but you have no joint property to divide during your marriage. You said the house is his pre-marital property, right?"

Wen Huilin felt as if she had been hollowed out.

If she didn't divorce, she would have to support Chen Ang, pay off the loan, and pay for the interest class.

If she divorced, she would also have to shoulder half the debt and wouldn't get to divide anything.

Every step was a pit, and a massive one at that.

"Then what do I do?" Her voice was uncontrollably laced with a sob.

Attorney Zhou Zheng thought for a moment and said, "There are two options. First, negotiate a divorce with him and get him to voluntarily assume these debts."

"Second, find evidence of his marital misconduct, such as infidelity, domestic violence, or transferring assets, so that the court will be inclined toward you when delivering the verdict."

"Evidence of infidelity, domestic violence, or asset transfer?" Wen Huilin muttered to herself, flipping through all her memories in her mind, trying to find anything in Chen Ang's actions that matched these accusations.

However, after searching through everything, she found nothing; Chen Ang had never done any of these things.

What should she do?

Wen Huilin was distraught and had no idea what she should do.

Attorney Zhou Zheng had no desire to continue the conversation either, so he said, "Ms. Wen, I think you should take some more time to consider this. If you have any questions, you are welcome to come back for a consultation."

Without answering, she stood up, looking lost and dejected, and walked out of the law firm in a daze.

Only when the sunlight outside hit her did she feel a glimmer of warmth, and she realized with a start that her entire body was filled with a chill.

A moment later, a thought flashed through her mind—find dirt on him.

Yes, she needed to find dirt on Chen Ang.

Just because he hadn't done it before didn't mean he wouldn't in the future. What man doesn't stray?

If she didn't give it to him, he would definitely go out and look for it, and then she could catch him in bed with someone else.

Also, if he dared to lay a hand on her, that would be domestic violence.

She absolutely could not give up like this; otherwise, she would be dragged to death by him for the rest of her life and would never be able to turn things around.

Chen Ang was unaware of Wen Huilin's scheming; he was currently lying on a sofa in a foot massage parlor, playing on his phone.

There was a refund notification on WeChat.

He opened it and realized it was because his younger sister, Chen Xi, hadn't accepted it, so it had been refunded after twenty-four hours.

He didn't pay it much mind; Chen Xi was studying at Harbin Institute of Technology, and ever since her junior year, she had often been unreachable—it was likely she was doing research at some military base again.

After taking a nap at the foot massage parlor, he drove the X5 to the high-speed railway station to wait for Chen Zhuo to appear.

When two figures emerged from the station exit, the corners of Chen Ang's mouth turned up, and he offered a rare, genuine smile.

Besides Chen Zhuo, the person who had come was his childhood friend and neighbor from back home, Tan Xiaolei.