Woman in love with married colleague paid Rs 1.4 crore to his wife as 'divorce fee'. But then...

The women had entered into the 'verbal agreement' in 2022. (Representational image: AFP)

A woman in China, who was in love with a married man, paid 1.2 million yuan (about Rs 1.4 crore) to his wife as a “divorce fee” in 2022. Although the wife willfully accepted the "fee" she later refused to go through the divorce, prompting the woman to seek a refund through court. Her petition, however, was rejected by the local court, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

According to the publication, the man--identified only by his surname, Han, got married to Yang in 2013. The couple has two daughters. Later, he got into a relationship with his co-worker, identified as Shi. They welcomed a son in November 2022 and also started a business venture together.

That's when Shi approached Yang and offered to pay her 2 million yuan (about Rs 2.4 crore) if she agreed to divorce Han. To initiate the agreement, Shi transferred Rs 1.4 crore to Yang's account at the end of 2022. Eventually, however, Yang refused to consent to a divorce.

After trying to convince her for more than a year, Shi demanded Yang return her money but Yang refused. Shi then filed a lawsuit against her, but in vain, the publication reported.

In her petition, Shi claimed there was a “verbal agreement” between her and Yang and she requested the court to order Yang to return the money along with overdue payment interest for breach of contract. But even though the court did not rule in her favour, Han and Shi are currently getting a divorce and are going through a “cooling-off period” which requires couples to wait 30 days after submitting a divorce application before the separation is finalised.