Category: English

Three years ago, my sister-in-law ran off with another man right after giving birth. My brother went crazy looking for her for a long time, but eventually, he disappeared without a trace too. Recently, my niece fell into a dry well while playing. I quickly called an excavator for rescue, but my mom stopped me: “Don’t dig! Something bad will happen!” Everyone thought my mom was just being superstitious. But unexpectedly, while rescuing my niece, they dug up a skeleton. 1 My mom’s face turned ashen, and she trembled uncontrollably. I frowned, pulled her aside, and asked: “Mom, what’s wrong?” The look she gave me was full of terror. “Chloe, this…” Seeing everyone’s eyes turn to us, I smiled naturally. “Mom, don’t be afraid. Who knows how many years this skeleton has been here. The police will investigate and find out.” I motioned for her to relax. Then I handed my niece over to my mom and told them to go home first. As soon as my mom left, I heard the neighbors whispering behind me. “A few years ago, her daughter-in-law ran off with a man. Could that have been a lie? Did she die here?” “No wonder her son searched for so long without any news.” Noticing me standing nearby, they immediately shut their mouths. Three years ago, right after my sister-in-law gave birth, she finished her confinement month and ran off with a man. My brother couldn’t accept it and went crazy searching for her everywhere. He was gone for years, and his contact with the family was sporadic. Eventually, even he vanished without a trace. For these past few years, my mom and niece have been supported by the money I earned. Hearing these speculations, I felt a sudden tension in my heart. The police arrived very quickly and immediately set up a cordon. The forensic examiner was checking the bottom of the well. An older officer walked towards the crowd. “Who found this skeleton? Whose property is this?” Everyone pointed at me. His gaze fell on me, and he asked: “How did you find it?” I took a deep breath, gathered my thoughts, and said: “My niece was playing and accidentally fell into this dry well. I called an excavator to rescue her, and that’s when we found this skeleton.” The man nodded and took notes, continuing without looking up: “Has anyone gone missing in the past few years?” The onlookers instantly exploded, immediately bringing up my runaway sister-in-law. They described it vividly. The officer frowned and looked at me again. “Your sister-in-law ran away three years ago? And there’s been no news of her since?” My face instantly froze, and I nodded stiffly. Just then, the forensic examiner at the bottom of the well reported: “Time of death: Three years ago.” “Age: Around 25-30 years old.” Suddenly he shouted in surprise: “I found something else.” He picked up a wedding ring with tweezers and handed it to us. My face instantly drained of color. 2 “Do you recognize this?” I nodded. “This is my sister-in-law’s wedding ring.” In the interrogation room, I recalled my sister-in-law just after she gave birth three years ago. My dad sighed constantly at home. “Just a girl? And she ruined her body and can’t have any more? Is our Su family line going to end here?” My dad, who was hoping for a grandson, was so angry he fell seriously ill. The illness came very fast and fierce. My usually strong and healthy dad didn’t even last a week before he passed away. Before he died, he held my brother’s hand and pleaded: “Son, you must have a boy to continue the Su family line.” Hearing this, my sister-in-law, who hadn’t even finished her confinement month, turned pale. After my dad’s funeral, my brother started forcing himself on my sister-in-law, who was still recovering. It caused a huge scene, and my sister-in-law’s family came over twice. But after finding out it was about having a child, they didn’t ask much. Until one time my brother came home drunk and started beating my sister-in-law again: “If you can’t carry on the Su family line, what’s the point of keeping you around?” Hearing this, something different appeared in my sister-in-law’s eyes. She started fighting back against my brother’s domestic violence. But my sister-in-law had been malnourished since childhood and was relatively weak. Compared to my strong and healthy brother, the difference was significant. That day’s domestic violence ended with my sister-in-law covered in bruises. The day my sister-in-law ran away, I happened to be running errands in town. By the time I returned to the village, I heard from the neighbors that she had run off with a man. When I entered the house, I saw my mom holding the child, cowering and sobbing uncontrollably. My brother was throwing things around, trembling with rage. A few close relatives were gathered around, all trying to console him: “If the wife runs away, let her run. She can’t have kids anyway, so it’s a good thing you can find another one.” My brother was gritting his teeth in anger. “I won’t let this matter go so easily.” Then he took the child and went to my sister-in-law’s family home to make a huge scene. He forcefully took back the three thousand dollar bride price he had given them. Hearing this, the officer in front of me frowned deeply. “So you’re saying your sister-in-law was scared of being beaten by your brother, and that’s why she ran away?” “Isn’t it? If she stayed any longer, my sister-in-law really would have been beaten to death by my brother. Isn’t it normal for her to find a chance to run?” But the police officer’s next sentence made my entire body go cold instantly. “Your sister-in-law had no chance to contact the outside world. How did she connect with the man who took her away?” 3 The atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point. “According to our investigation, your sister-in-law is traditional in her thinking and hasn’t seen much of the world. So how did she plan such a detailed escape?” I hadn’t thought deeply about this, and was stunned. “Then maybe someone else helped her make contact?” Just then, someone knocked on the door and handed him a few documents. After reading the contents, Officer Zhang, the older officer, changed his expression slightly. He glanced at me and said: “The skeleton was examined and found to be male. It’s not your sister-in-law.” This time it was my turn to be surprised. “If it’s not my sister-in-law, who else could it be?” “My sister-in-law always treasured her wedding ring. Even I haven’t touched it.” He then continued reading the rest of the documents, his expression growing more solemn. “We took DNA from the skeleton and your niece. It confirms a father-daughter relationship.” Hearing this, I was so shocked I stood up abruptly. Then I said in disbelief: “What? This skeleton is my brother?” “But that’s impossible. When my brother went looking for my sister-in-law, he still contacted the family.” Ever since my sister-in-law ran off with that man, my brother couldn’t swallow his anger. I don’t know who he heard it from, but he found out someone had seen my sister-in-law down south. My brother went crazy, took all the money in the house. He also said he wouldn’t come back until he found my sister-in-law. Then he took two sets of clothes and left the house. From then on, my brother never came back. My mom was worried sick and asked all the villagers who came back from working outside. But there was no news at all. Officer Zhang’s eyes were full of scrutiny. He glanced at me and continued: “But the DNA test between the skeleton and your mom does not support a mother-child relationship.” Hearing this, my mind went completely blank. My first reaction was that my sister-in-law had cheated. “I didn’t expect my sister-in-law to look so honest. After marrying my brother, she always managed the household chores at home, but behind our backs, she did such a shameless thing.” I was instantly filled with anger. But why would this man die in that dry well? 4 Officer Zhang shook his head and explained: “Your mom said your brother wasn’t her child, but the identity of the skeleton still needs to be confirmed.” I immediately got anxious. “That’s impossible. Since I was little, my parents always said I was picked up, and my brother was their biological child. They told me to repay them well when I grew up.” Officer Zhang’s eyes were a bit complex. “According to your mom’s confession, you are her biological child.” In an instant, my mind felt like it exploded again. Since I was little, I was instilled with the idea that my brother came first in everything. So every time I came home from school, I would work non-stop. On the other hand, my brother didn’t have to do anything, and it didn’t matter if his grades were poor. My parents doted on him very much. If he wasn’t their biological child, how could this be? Seeming to see my confusion, Officer Zhang spoke up: “When your mom had her first child, she gave birth to a girl. Your dad favored boys over girls, so he secretly swapped the baby with someone else’s.” I was instantly stunned, taking a long time to process this. No wonder my parents, who favored boys over girls, would agree to let me go to college. At the time, my aunt even pointed at me and said: “Brother, sister-in-law, I really don’t understand you. Why let a girl go to college? It’s better to marry her off early and collect a bride price.” A look of conflict flashed in my parents’ eyes, but they ultimately didn’t do that. Even though I paid for my tuition and living expenses with loans and part-time jobs. Their willingness to give me this opportunity to go to college moved me for a long time. Thinking about it now, it wasn’t my parents discovering their conscience. It was because I was their biological child, and they just happened to awaken a tiny bit of parental love at that time. Officer Zhang continued to flip through the identification materials and said: “The skeleton’s right leg has a traumatic bone injury, and the cause of death is a severe impact to the head. But traces of poisoning were also found on the skeleton.” “And your brother injured his right leg when he was twenty. The injury and location are consistent.” I was so nervous my hands trembled slightly, trying hard to keep my face calm. “So this skeleton is my brother?” My relationship with my brother has never been good. When we were young, he caused trouble, and I got beaten; he stole money, and I got scolded. Because of his framing, I was punished by kneeling on the ground for 2 hours in 100-degree weather. He just treated me like a servant to be ordered around. Officer Zhang didn’t answer me. Instead, he changed the subject and brought up the runaway sister-in-law again: “You helped your sister-in-law escape, didn’t you? Otherwise, how could a rural woman who doesn’t know anything leave so smoothly?” 5 My heart almost missed a beat. I smiled awkwardly: “Officer Zhang, you need evidence when you speak. Besides, what does this have to do with that matter?” He paused slightly and voiced a shocking speculation. “Your sister-in-law’s wedding ring was found at the scene. We suspect she is the criminal suspect. So if you helped her escape, you are an indirect accomplice.” Hearing this, I deflated like a punctured balloon and slumped into the chair. I couldn’t believe things would turn out like this. Officer Zhang’s sharp eyes stared at me intently, and he continued: “You said your brother contacted the family after he went out? But we found no communication records at all. You’re lying.” Saying this, he clasped his hands together and leaned back in his chair. I instantly felt like I was sitting on pins and needles. He was right. I did lie about this. Since my brother went looking for my sister-in-law, he had never contacted me. But my mom was always very worried. To comfort her, I pretended to receive messages from my brother. It’s been like this for the past few years, and my mom never suspected anything. “So, the last time you saw your brother was also three years ago?” I nodded in confirmation. “Did anything else special happen at that time?” I fell into deep thought, trying to remember. Suddenly I remembered a detail that I had overlooked all this time. “Before my brother left, he seemed to have a fierce argument with my mom. I was just coming back from outside holding my niece. When they saw me, they immediately shut their mouths.” “That night, my brother unprecedentedly wanted to take care of my niece himself, snatching her from my hands. But he had never taken care of her before. I was worried and told my mom. She didn’t say much, just told me to go to bed early, and then left the house alone.” Officer Zhang quickly took notes, occasionally looking up to ask for details. But after three years, my memory was a bit fuzzy. Upon getting this information, Officer Zhang immediately contacted someone to verify. A moment later, news came from the other side. “Your mom said that day your brother drank too much and wanted to sell your niece, but she disagreed, and an argument broke out. So when she knew your niece was taken by him, she chased after him.” “Your brother stepped on a bear trap near the dry well, and your mom snatched your niece from him. But after taking your niece home and going back, your brother was gone.” 6 My brother had indeed said before that he wanted to sell my niece for money. At the time, I thought he was joking. I didn’t expect him to actually do it. Just then, a female police officer hurried in. “The girl brought back earlier had an allergic reaction to something she ate and has been sent to the hospital.” I immediately stood up anxiously. “Did you guys feed her peanuts just now? My niece is allergic to peanuts.” The female officer immediately apologized, and then took us straight to the hospital. When we arrived, I saw my mom taking care of her nearby, followed by two police officers. Officer Zhang glanced at my niece, who was out of danger, and then kept looking at me. He asked: “Is your niece the only one allergic to peanuts in your family?” I instantly froze. It was my mom who answered for me. “Chloe is also allergic to peanuts. When she was little, she accidentally ate peanuts and had allergic reactions several times.” I saw the officers exchange glances, and I felt a sense of dread. “Chloe Su, please leave a blood sample for testing.” Under the guidance of the police officer, I was forced to leave a blood sample. Then my eyelids kept twitching wildly. I suddenly felt that some things really couldn’t be hidden anymore. The next day, I was brought to the interrogation room again. Watching Officer Zhang walk in holding a report, I felt a bit restless. He sighed and stared at me, saying: “This report shows that you and your niece have a mother-daughter relationship. Can you explain this?” I involuntarily felt a bit panicked. I sighed deeply. It was finally discovered. Officer Zhang frowned and continued: “The DNA of that skeleton has been compared with the sample your brother left at the police station, and the result is out. If you confess now, perhaps there’s still a chance for a reduced sentence.” Hearing this, I suddenly laughed. “That’s right, my niece is indeed my child. And my sister-in-law miscarried due to domestic violence shortly after confirming her pregnancy.” Clang. The teacup in Officer Zhang’s hand fell to the floor. “Then that skeleton must be my brother, right?” He nodded stiffly. “Compared with your brother’s DNA sample, it’s a match.” Then he asked in disbelief: “Your niece is the child of you and your brother?” “Yes.” I answered crisply, letting out a long sigh. “How did you get pregnant?” The voice asking the question was a bit shaky, and he involuntarily leaned back. That sentence ripped open another large gash in the bottomless darkness.

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At noon, my online boyfriend sent me a photo of his lunch, fishing for compliments. It was a steaming bowl of braised chicken and rice. [Baby, I ate my lunch properly today. I’m such a good boy, come praise me~] Just as I was typing “Good boy,” my eyes caught something. Printed on the cafeteria tray in the photo were four red letters: Aegis Tech. My heart dropped. Because… the company I work for is also called “Aegis Tech.” I froze right there. Are you kidding me, bro? The online boyfriend I’ve been dating for over a year actually works at the same company as me? 1 It was lunchtime, and I was happily enjoying my favorite braised chicken and rice in the company cafeteria. Remembering my online boyfriend saying he was too busy at work and often forgot to eat lunch, I sent him a kind reminder: [No matter how busy work gets, don’t forget to eat your lunch. Be a good, obedient puppy.] Ten minutes later, my phone lit up with his reply: [Baby, I ate my lunch properly today. I’m such a good boy, come praise me~] [Image] I opened the picture. It was a steaming bowl of braised chicken and rice. I was just about to praise him. But then I realized the photo looked oddly familiar. After a closer look, I found the source of that damn familiarity: The four red letters printed on the tray: [Aegis Tech] And that is exactly where I work. I looked at the braised chicken in front of me, then at the photo my online boyfriend sent. Suddenly, the meat in my mouth didn’t taste as good. The company cafeteria is strictly for employees only. My online boyfriend works at the same company as me? I was speechless! 2 [Baby, why aren’t you praising me? (Puppy pouting face)] [I really listened to you and ate properly. (Puppy crying)] [Are you mad? What did your puppy do wrong? (Puppy crying in the corner)] The messages from my online boyfriend came one after another. I still hadn’t recovered from the shock. Although I knew we were in the same city, I never expected we would be in the same company. This damn fate! “Puppy, what company do you work for?” “Puppy, are you at Aegis Tech?” I typed out the words and deleted them, over and over again. I didn’t know what to say. If I asked, he would probably ask me where I worked too. He might even figure out I’m at Aegis Tech. Then he would try to find me. What would I do then? The thought of some random guy at work calling me “baby” all day made me want to die of embarrassment. Before I could even digest this fact, he sent another message: [Baby, you’re not ignoring me because you’re eating with someone else, are you!!!] [Baby, what’s wrong? I’m panicking…] To prevent him from noticing anything unusual, I replied: [I was eating and didn’t see your messages. Good boy.] Only then did he stop bombarding me. [Baby, I finished eating. Going back to work now~] 3 I breathed a sigh of relief and looked around the cafeteria. There were hardly any people left. Mostly women, and one older man with gray hair. It couldn’t possibly be him. I forced myself to calm down and organize my thoughts. Right now, there were a few pressing questions I needed to figure out: First, who is my online boyfriend? Second, what kind of person is he really? Third, if I find him, do I confess, continue dating online, or break up? (Because it really is too awkward.) Thinking back on our online relationship from the beginning until now. We were both very careful about our privacy. For example, we never sent selfies, nor did we reveal our real names or addresses. He only sent me a few pictures of his abs when I practically begged him to. Based on that alone, it’s really hard to figure out who he is. I can’t just go around lifting guys’ shirts to compare their ab definition with the pictures, right? 4 Back at the office, I looked at my male colleagues. I shuddered. We battle it out every day like sworn enemies. If my online boyfriend turned out to be one of them, I would literally die on the spot. I scrolled through my chat history with him, looking for clues. And I actually found something. Last month, he couldn’t decide which water bottle to buy. [Baby, I’m shopping at the mall with a friend and I want to buy a water bottle.] [Help me pick one! Which one looks better? I’ll buy one for you too.] He sent a few pictures, and I picked out a titanium thermos with a traditional lacquer finish. To protect my privacy, I politely declined his offer to buy me one. [Whatever my baby chooses is the best.] He bought that exact thermos right then and there. So, I just needed to see who in the company was using it. I wandered around the office several times but couldn’t find anyone using it. I messaged him: [Are you using the water bottle you bought?] He replied almost instantly: [Baby, I’m using it right now!] [Image.] The water bottle was sitting right on his desk. That’s weird. Why didn’t I see it? While I was still pondering this, a message from my boss, Mr. Sterling, popped up on the company messaging app: [Chloe, there are some issues with the proposal. Come to my office for a minute!] When I walked into his office, Mr. Sterling was on the phone: “Baby, I miss you too. Come see me at the office tomorrow.” “Oh, right, Liam is coming tomorrow too, you can catch a ride with him.” “Aw, I’m just worried about you driving by yourself, it’s not safe~” “Okay, I’ll listen to you. Just come whenever you’re ready, drive safely.” “I have to get back to work, hanging up now, mua~” I awkwardly turned my face away. I couldn’t bear to look, I really couldn’t. Our Mr. Sterling actually had such a gentle side. He hung up the phone, coughed, and smiled at me. “Chloe, the investors looked at the proposal this morning. They’re generally very satisfied, but they brought up a few points. I’ve noted the specifics on the document, please revise it according to their suggestions.” “Okay, Mr. Sterling.” Just as I was about to leave, I caught sight of a water bottle sitting on the corner of his desk. It was the exact same titanium thermos with the traditional lacquer finish! Identical to the one I picked out for my online boyfriend! In that moment, I felt like I had been struck by lightning, frozen in place! Seeing that I hadn’t left, Mr. Sterling asked: “Hmm? Is there something else?” His voice pulled me out of my shock. I took a deep breath, pretending nothing was wrong. I pointed at the thermos: “Mr. Sterling, that’s a nice water bottle. Where did you buy it?” He slowly uttered two words: “The mall.” Me: “…” Mr. Sterling smiled slightly, his eyes curving into crescents. “Why, do you like it?” I quickly composed my facial expression and waved my hands. “Ah, it’s nothing, just asking casually.” Then, I fled the office in a panic. An absurd thought popped into my head: Mr. Sterling is my online boyfriend! But if I’m his girlfriend, who was he calling “baby” just now? Is Mr. Sterling cheating? Holy crap! 5 I was completely out of it for the rest of the day. I didn’t even reply to the messages my online boyfriend sent me. Suppressing my emotions, I finally finished revising the proposal. I went home in a daze. My phone was full of messages from him. [Baby, what are you doing?] [Baby? Where are you?] [Baby, why aren’t you replying?] [Baby, why are you acting so weird today? Did I do something wrong? Tell me if you’re unhappy, I’ll definitely fix it!] [Baby, don’t scare me!] … With trembling hands, I typed a few words. [Puppy, are you hiding something from me?] He replied instantly: [No, baby. I always answer whatever you ask truthfully.] [Baby, is there a misunderstanding between us?] [No.] I tried to calm my chaotic mind. Now that I knew he was highly likely Mr. Sterling, my next step was to figure out if Mr. Sterling was really cheating. And who the “baby” he was talking to actually was. What if I was misunderstanding him? My online boyfriend sent another message: [Oh right, baby, the new collection from brand V just dropped. Help me pick one out? I want to wear it tomorrow!] [Image.] I specifically picked out a solid black sweater with a logo on the left chest, making it easy for me to identify. I still held onto a sliver of hope. If Mr. Sterling didn’t wear this sweater tomorrow, it would prove he wasn’t my online boyfriend. Then I wouldn’t have to agonize over whether he was cheating or not. 6 The next day, I walked into Mr. Sterling’s office with the revised proposal. He was sitting on the sofa drinking tea, wearing the exact same black brand V sweater I picked out yesterday. Blindingly black. “Mr. Sterling, the proposal has been revised.” He gave me a gentle smile. “Good work, Chloe.” “The investors are coming this afternoon, please be prepared.” “Okay.” I stared at Mr. Sterling’s sweater, pretending to ask casually: “Mr. Sterling, I’ve never seen you wear this sweater before, it looks nice.” He smiled: “Bought it yesterday.” This made me even more certain that Mr. Sterling was my online boyfriend. Sitting at my desk, I absentmindedly stared at his office. He said yesterday that his “baby” was coming to the office today. I really wanted to know who this “baby” was. If it really was what I thought, then this relationship had to end. 7 An hour later, a woman with exquisite features walked straight into Mr. Sterling’s office. I pretended to go get water. As I passed his office, I heard talking and laughing from inside. “Baby, I missed you so much. This sweater looks really good on you, I just realized black suits you.” Mr. Sterling’s voice was gentle: “Baby, as long as you like it. I picked it out specifically. Aren’t we meeting your parents tonight? I was afraid they wouldn’t be satisfied with me.” “How could they? My parents will naturally like the person I like.” Hearing this, it felt like my heart had taken a heavy blow. So he asked me to pick out clothes for him so he could meet his beloved girlfriend’s parents. Then what am I? A secret mistress? The next second, I took out my phone and with great difficulty, typed a few words to my online boyfriend: “You are rotten to the core, let’s break up!” Then, I swiftly blocked and deleted him. 8 Mr. Sterling walked out holding his girlfriend’s hand, watching her leave. He didn’t look sad at all. I felt more and more like a clown. Thinking back to all the moments we shared, I felt a wave of bitterness in my heart. The only thing worth celebrating was that I used an alt account for online dating. Otherwise, I would have been so embarrassed. I consoled myself: since love is gone, I should just focus on work. After all, I’m a rational woman, I couldn’t possibly quit my job over this. 9 In the afternoon, Mr. Sterling sent me a message. [Chloe, the investor has read your proposal and thinks it’s feasible. Come in and give a presentation.] I gathered my emotions, held my head high, and walked in. “Chloe, this is the investor, and also my good buddy, Liam Hayes. Don’t be nervous, just explain your ideas to Mr. Hayes.” I ignored Mr. Sterling and looked at the person sitting on the sofa. And my eyes met Liam’s. Unlike Mr. Sterling’s gentleness, the man in front of me exuded a noble and unapproachable aura. He was wearing a black V-neck suit, the neckline perfectly revealing a black, slim-fit turtleneck sweater underneath. The sweater outlined his pecs, which were ready to burst out but perfectly concealed by the jacket. It left much to the imagination. His long, fair fingers picked up a water glass, and he took a small sip. I was completely intimidated by this man’s aura and nervously swallowed. Urged by Mr. Sterling, I explained my ideas to Liam. Once in work mode, I was confident and poised. When I finished, Mr. Sterling clapped. “Chloe, very well said. Liam, what do you think?” Mr. Sterling and I looked at Liam simultaneously, but Liam’s gaze was fixed on my neck. He suddenly said: “Miss Chloe, that’s a very nice necklace.” I looked down. The neckline of my outfit today was a bit low, and my crystal necklace was perfectly exposed. I panicked a little, because when I bought this crystal necklace, I had sent a picture to my online boyfriend. [Puppy, look at my new necklace, isn’t it pretty?] [Image] The image was a close-up of my neck wearing the necklace. He replied: [Baby looks good in everything.] Now that the necklace was exposed, Mr. Sterling wouldn’t recognize me, would he? I glanced at Mr. Sterling. Thankfully, he didn’t react much. He was still eagerly waiting for Liam’s reply. Of course, he had a girlfriend, and he was just playing with me. Why would he remember these details? Only I remembered every little thing about our online romance. I hurriedly pulled my hand back and said: “Just bought it casually, for fun.” 10 Mr. Sterling sat next to Liam and took a sip of tea. “Liam, let’s get down to business, what do you think?” Mr. Sterling stared at Liam, but Liam stared at me. After a long while, he slowly uttered one word. “Excellent.” Hearing this, Mr. Sterling happily patted Liam on the shoulder. “Liam, you truly are a good buddy, reliable.” I also breathed a sigh of relief in my heart. All those sleepless nights rushing the work weren’t in vain. I finally got a good result. Liam pushed Mr. Sterling’s hand away in disgust, the corner of his mouth curving into a smile as he looked at me. “It’s because Miss Chloe is outstanding enough.” Even though it was our first meeting, I felt a strange sensation. Liam’s gaze made my ears turn red. Mr. Sterling looked surprised. “Oh? This is rare. Our Mr. Hayes actually knows how to praise people.” “But thinking about it, it makes sense. Our Chloe is so outstanding, who wouldn’t want to praise her?” “But you, praising someone for the first time, and a woman at that. The sun must be rising from the west.” “Ah, no, wait, spit spit spit, there’s still sister-in-law. No, wait, sister-in-law dumped you, spit spit spit, look at my stupid mouth.” My little ears perked up, feeling like I was hearing some incredible gossip. What? The legendary business mogul got dumped? Which woman was so blind? The next second, Liam shot me a resentful look. I quickly lowered my head, feeling an inexplicable sense of guilt in my heart. Liam shifted his gaze, took a sip of tea, and said flatly to Mr. Sterling: “If you talk any more nonsense, I don’t mind withdrawing the investment.” Mr. Sterling hurriedly waved his hands. “Hey, don’t, don’t, don’t, look at you, still can’t take a joke.” I suppressed my drumming heartbeat and threw out a sentence in a panic: “Mr. Sterling, Mr. Hayes, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.” And fled as if escaping. Back at my desk, Mr. Sterling sent another message. [Chloe, are you free tonight? Mr. Hayes said he still has some questions about the proposal and wants to invite you to dinner to chat about it.] I replied coldly: [No.] [If you go, I’ll double your year-end bonus this year.] Who would say no to money? I agreed immediately. [Okay, send me the address.] Turning off my phone, thinking about how Mr. Sterling was meeting his girlfriend’s parents tonight, I felt a wave of bitterness and mocked myself: Chloe, you’re unlucky in love but lucky in your career.

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I was stuck in traffic and arrived late to the restaurant, just in time to hear the new female intern badmouthing me through the crack in the private dining room door. “Mark is, what, in his thirties? He’s always hovering around me at work. He thinks he can hit on me? Like he even deserves a chance? I’m not going to humor him!” “In a minute, I’m going to order ten portions of the most expensive dishes on the menu. Whatever we can’t finish, we’ll pack up and take home! I’m going to make Mark foot the bill!” Everyone in the room cheered, praising her for being a “Gen Z icon taking down toxic management.” I silently let go of the door handle. I stood outside and listened until she had racked up an $18,000 tab before finally walking away. After leaving, I sent a message to the department group chat: “I have a family emergency, so I won’t be joining the dinner tonight.” “Here is the $1,000 the company allocated for our department’s annual dinner. Eat well and have a great time, everyone.” 1 I sat in the back of a cab, watching the notifications pop up endlessly on my phone screen. The “Marketing Dept Family” group chat had completely exploded. Three minutes ago, I sent those two messages, transferred the $1,000 via a payment link, and immediately left the group chat. But I forgot there was another chat—the one without any management in it. Right now, that chat was refreshing with dozens of messages per second. The intern, Chloe, had tagged me dozens of times: “Mark, what the hell is this? You were literally at the door and you just left?” “Are you that much of a cheapskate? You’re the department manager, you were supposed to pay for this dinner anyway!” “Who is $1,000 going to feed? Are we supposed to order off the dollar menu?” “Get back here and pay the bill right now! Don’t make me look down on you!” She followed it up with a few pictures. Australian lobster sashimi, one for every person. Three bottles of imported wine, each costing thousands of dollars. The table was overflowing with top-tier, premium seafood. Just minutes ago, standing outside the private room, I heard her perfectly clear. Chloe had been practically shouting when she ordered: “I want this, this, and this. All the most expensive ones! Ten portions of each!” “Waiter, open all those bottles of wine and let them breathe!” “What are you guys so scared of? Someone else is paying today! Our Manager Mark is loaded. He wants to hit on me, so he better be prepared to bleed a little cash. It’s the least he can do!” The room erupted in laughter and cheers. Someone tried to play peacekeeper: “Chloe, can we even finish all this? Mark isn’t even here yet.” Chloe’s voice was shrill: “If we can’t finish it, we pack it up and feed it to our dogs! I’m teaching this creepy older boss a lesson today. He needs to know I’m not someone to mess with!” “Yeah, exactly! Chloe is right. Gen Z doesn’t hold back!” “Mark is always so stingy at the office anyway. It’s about time we bled him dry.” I had released my grip on the door handle. I had fully intended to walk in. Even though I was late, I would have bought a round of drinks as an apology and moved on. But I had lost my appetite for this dinner. My phone vibrated aggressively. Dave, one of the senior employees, texted me privately: “Mark, did you really leave? The food is already being served. The bill is pushing twenty grand. If you aren’t here, who’s going to pay?” I replied: “Whoever ordered it pays for it. The company budget was $1,000, and I sent it all to the group.” Dave: “Stop messing around. Chloe is just a young, naive kid. Why are you stooping to her level? Hurry back. The waiters are standing here with the receipt and it’s getting really awkward for everyone.” Me: “I’m not the one feeling awkward.” Dave: “You’re leaving everyone hanging! The wine is already opened, we can’t return it!” Me: “Chloe said she wanted to teach toxic management a lesson. I’m giving her the opportunity to do exactly that.” I put my phone on silent and shoved it into my pocket. The cab driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “Where to, man?” “Home.” The car merged into the night traffic. I closed my eyes, my brain echoing with Chloe’s arrogant voice. I was thirty-two this year. I had worked at this company for eight years, grinding my way up to the position of department manager. Chloe was an intern who joined a month ago. She was pretty, but her work ethic and competence were a complete disaster. She’d print the wrong documents and accidentally delete vital data from spreadsheets. Because she was new, I gave her extra guidance. Whenever I went to meet clients, if it made sense, I brought her along so she could learn the ropes. And somehow, in her mind, that morphed into me “hitting on her” and being a “creepy boss.” It even became her justification for squandering twenty grand. Eighteen thousand dollars. I had savings, sure, but I wasn’t a walking ATM for an entitled brat. My phone lit up again. An incoming call from Chloe. I declined it. She called again. I blocked her number. A moment later, Kevin, the deputy manager, called. Kevin and I had never seen eye-to-eye. He was always gunning for my position. I answered it. Kevin couldn’t hide the smugness in his voice: “Mark, buddy, that was a pretty low blow. Everyone is waiting for you, and you just bail? You left a whole room of people hanging to dry.” 2 “I had an emergency.” “What kind of emergency is more important than the team dinner? Chloe is practically crying, saying you’re bullying the new girl.” “I gave the $1,000 budget.” “A thousand bucks? The table is looking at an $18,000 bill! Who’s paying the rest? Are we supposed to split it? That’s gonna ruin everyone’s holiday budget!” “Whoever ordered it pays.” “Mark, you’re a manager. Take some responsibility. Chloe is new, she doesn’t know the rules. You’re a veteran, are you saying you don’t know the rules either?” “I know the rules perfectly. The company policy is a $1,000 limit for department dinners. Anything over that is the responsibility of whoever ordered it.” “You’re really not coming?” “No.” “Alright, Mark. You’ve got guts. This isn’t over.” Kevin hung up. I looked out at the neon lights blurring past the window. In the past, I had taken on too much responsibility. I took the blame for everything, cleaned up everyone’s messes, and spoiled this team so much they thought I was a pushover. When I got home, I took a shower and fell straight asleep. It was the best sleep I’d had in a long time. The next morning, I arrived at the office right on time. As soon as I walked in, I could feel the tension in the air. Everyone was staring at me. Their eyes were filled with disdain, anger, and a healthy dose of schadenfreude, waiting for a show. Chloe was sitting at her desk. Her eyes were red and swollen; she had clearly been crying. Seeing me, she shot up from her chair and slammed a folder hard onto her desk. “Mark! Are you even a man?!” The office instantly fell dead silent. Everyone stopped what they were doing, all eyes glued to us. I walked to my desk, set my briefcase down, and looked at her. “Keep your voice down during working hours. What are you screaming about?” Chloe marched right up to me and pointed a finger in my face. “Don’t play dumb with me! You did that on purpose last night, didn’t you?! You said you were treating us, and then you ran away! You forced everyone to pay almost a thousand dollars out of pocket just so we could leave!” The surrounding coworkers began to close in. Dave walked up, his face dark. “Mark, you really crossed the line this time. We’re all just working-class people. How much do we make in a month? One dinner wiped out half a month’s salary. How are we supposed to survive the holidays?” A female coworker chimed in sarcastically: “Exactly. Manager Mark makes a six-figure salary, so of course he doesn’t care about a few grand. But unlike you, we actually have families to feed.” Kevin leaned against a cubicle partition, arms crossed, sneering. “Mark, when everyone was scraping together money last night, they cursed every ancestor in your family tree. Chloe is just an intern. She doesn’t have savings; she had to max out her credit card. As a leader, you really let us down.” I looked at their furious faces. When they were stuffing their faces with lobster last night, they certainly didn’t look like this. Back then, they were cheering, praising Chloe for a job well done, waiting for me—the designated sucker—to foot the bill. I looked at Chloe. “When did I ever say I was paying?” Chloe’s eyes widened. “You didn’t have to say it! When the group was notified about a dinner, isn’t it an unspoken rule that the boss pays? And when I was ordering, you didn’t stop me!” “I was stuck in traffic.” “That’s just an excuse! You just wanted to see me humiliated! You were taking revenge on me for rejecting your advances!” Chloe raised her voice for the whole floor to hear. “Everyone, judge for yourselves! Is a petty, vindictive man like this fit to be a manager?!” “Advances?” I asked, my voice flat. “When have I ever made advances on you?” “Don’t deny it! You’re always calling me into your office, and you insist on taking me out to see clients. Wasn’t that just you having ulterior motives? Because I wouldn’t sleep with you, you held a grudge and set a trap to screw me over!” Chloe grew more agitated as she spoke. Her tears fell on command, perfectly playing the role of the victim. 3 The whispers in the office grew louder. “That’s disgusting. Using his authority to harass a female subordinate.” “He looks so professional, I didn’t expect him to be such a creep behind closed doors.” “Guys like him should be fired!” Taking her to see clients was because she was new to the marketing department and needed to learn the business. Calling her into my office was because her weekly reports were completely incoherent, and I had to walk her through the edits line by line. And in their eyes, that had become “ulterior motives.” “Chloe, if you’re going to speak, you better have proof,” I said coldly. “You ordered all that food last night yourself. Ten portions of the most expensive items on the menu. You specifically said you were going to teach corporate a lesson and have everyone pack the leftovers home. What, now that you can’t afford the bill, you’re throwing mud at me?” “I was just trying to liven up the mood!” Chloe shrieked. “Besides, I thought you were going to pay for it! Who knew you were so cheap! If you couldn’t afford it, you should have said so! Stop pretending to be a big shot!” “The company budget for the dinner was $1,000. I transferred the entire amount to you guys.” “What is $1,000 going to do?! That doesn’t even cover one bottle of wine!” Chloe pulled a stack of receipts from her purse and slammed them onto my desk. “The total was $18,500! Minus your $1,000, that leaves $17,500! You have to pay this! Refund everyone their money right now!” I didn’t even glance at the receipts. “Whoever ate it, pays for it.” “You…!” Chloe was shaking with rage. “You backstabbing coward! You’re not even a man!” “Mark.” Kevin walked over and patted my shoulder. “Don’t make this a bloodbath. We all work in the same department; we see each other every day. Yeah, it’s a lot of money, but it’s not like you can’t afford it. Just treat it as paying to make a headache go away. Settle the bill. If this reaches the big boss, it’s not going to look good for you.” He was threatening me. He was threatening my career. If this had been the old me, prioritizing departmental harmony and the “bigger picture,” I might have pinched my nose and actually paid the damn bill. But looking at Kevin’s hypocritical smile, Chloe’s righteous, entitled greed, and my coworkers acting like a mob ready to lynch me… I suddenly felt that this job, this manager title, was completely meaningless. “Kevin, if you’re feeling so generous, why don’t you pay it for her?” I stared him down. Kevin’s face stiffened. “Mark, that’s uncalled for. You caused this mess. Why should I pay?” “I caused this mess?” I laughed. “Chloe ordered the food. Chloe opened the wine. You guys are the ones who put it in your stomachs. I didn’t eat a single bite, didn’t drink a single drop, and didn’t even step foot in the restaurant. How is this my mess?” “Because you’re the manager!” Chloe screamed. “Managers are supposed to take responsibility!” “Managers take responsibility for the work. Not to foot the bill for your unchecked greed.” I swept the receipts off my desk onto the floor. “I am not paying a single cent.” “Ah!” Chloe let out a piercing scream, acting as if she had suffered the ultimate indignity. “Mark! You just wait! I’m going to report you to HR! I’m going to let the whole company know what a scumbag you are!” She spun around and sprinted toward the General Manager’s office. Kevin looked at me and shook his head. “Mark, you’re finished. Chloe has connections upstairs, and you know how the current social climate is. Once this blows up, you’re not going to survive it.” The coworkers dispersed, returning to their desks and whispering among themselves. “Grab the popcorn.” “Manager Mark is definitely going down for this.” “Serves him right. Who told him to be so cheap.” I sat down and turned on my computer. Report me? Perfect. I was just worrying I wouldn’t have a chance to blow this wide open. 4 I opened my phone and found the audio recordings I had saved last night. I recorded them while standing outside the private room. Initially, I just wanted to send them to the boss to explain the situation, but I hadn’t expected them to be this useful now. In the recording, Chloe’s voice was crystal clear: “He thinks he can hit on me? Like he even deserves a chance? I’m not going to humor him!” “In a minute, I’m going to order ten portions of the most expensive dishes…” “Whatever we can’t finish, we’ll pack up, I’m going to make Mark foot the bill!” I transferred the audio files to my computer as a backup, and then I started drafting an email. It wasn’t a resignation letter. It was a formal work report. A report detailing the recent budget overruns in the marketing department, the blatant insubordination of an intern, and how certain employees attempted to exploit a company dinner for corporate embezzlement. Half an hour later, the HR manager notified me to go to the conference room. When I walked in, Chloe was already sitting across from the General Manager, sobbing uncontrollably. The GM, Mr. Peterson, was a balding man in his fifties who hated conflict and loved sweeping things under the rug. Seeing me, Peterson frowned. “Mark, what’s going on? A simple team dinner, and you let it turn into this?” Chloe interrupted, “Mr. Peterson, you have to help me! Mark is bullying me! He purposely set a trap to screw us over, and made us all lose so much money! And… and he also…” She bit her lip, hesitating dramatically. Peterson tapped his desk impatiently. “And what?” “He sexually harassed me!” The conference room went dead silent. Peterson’s face instantly darkened. In the corporate world, financial disputes can be smoothed over. But the moment the words “sexual harassment” are dropped, it crosses a red line. “Mark, is this true?” Peterson stared me down. I pulled out a chair and sat down, meeting his gaze. “No.” “You’re lying!” Chloe pulled up a few screenshots on her phone and handed them to Peterson. “Mr. Peterson, look, these are our chat logs! He’s always messaging me late at night, insisting on driving me home! When I said no, he started making my life a living hell at work!” Peterson took the phone, his frown deepening. I already knew exactly what those messages were. It was just me asking, “Did you get home safe?” after a late shift, or saying, “I need that proposal on my desk first thing tomorrow morning.” But with some strategic cropping, normal workplace concern and professional demands could easily be twisted into something sinister. “Mark, explain yourself.” Peterson pushed the phone toward me. I glanced at it. Exactly as I thought. She only showed the parts where I asked, “Where are you?” or “Do you need a ride?”, completely deleting the voice memos before that where she whined, “Manager Mark, I can’t get an Uber and I’m so scared!” “It’s taken out of context,” I said. “Mr. Peterson, you can review the full chat history.” “I deleted it!” Chloe said loudly. “Those disgusting messages, I felt dirty just looking at them! Good thing I was smart enough to take screenshots first!” “So you’re playing the ‘my word against yours’ game?” I looked at Chloe. She avoided my gaze, crying even harder at Peterson. “Mr. Peterson, I’m a young woman, my reputation is everything! If I wasn’t pushed to the brink, why would I ever speak out about something like this? Now the whole department knows what kind of creep he is, how am I supposed to keep working here?” Peterson sighed, took off his glasses, and rubbed them. “Mark. Regardless of the details, you handled yesterday’s dinner extremely poorly. You’re a leader, you need to be magnanimous. Chloe is a new kid, she doesn’t know any better. You need to be the bigger person.” Just as I suspected. Sweeping it under the rug. “So, what is your proposed solution, Mr. Peterson?” 5 “Let’s do this. You cover the bill from last night. As for the harassment allegations… since there’s no hard evidence, Chloe, don’t go spreading this around, it’s a bad look for everyone. Mark, you apologize to Chloe, and we’ll consider this matter closed.” I almost laughed out loud. I’m supposed to pay almost twenty grand out of pocket, and apologize? That’s his idea of conflict resolution? “Mr. Peterson, I’m not paying a dime. And I am certainly not apologizing.” I looked Peterson dead in the eye. “First, I didn’t order the food. Second, I never harassed her.” “Mark!” Peterson slammed his hand on the desk. “What kind of attitude is this? I am trying to protect you! If this blows up, the company will have to fire you to protect its reputation! If you get branded with a sexual harassment label, how are you ever going to find another job in this industry?” “Exactly!” Backed by the GM, Chloe’s arrogance flared up again. “If you don’t pay up and apologize, I’ll expose you on TikTok! I’ll let the internet be the judge! Let’s see how you show your face in public after that!” “Expose me?” I looked at Chloe. “How exactly do you plan on exposing me?” “I’ll post it on TikTok, I’ll post it on Instagram! I even have the title ready: Shocking! Creepy Boss Sets Trap for Gen Z Intern After She Rejects Him, Forces Her to Pay $18,000 Dinner Bill!” Chloe looked incredibly smug. “I actually have a lot of followers. The second I post it, you better prepare to be canceled!” Peterson’s face changed. “Chloe, stop this! We still have to protect the company’s reputation!” “That depends on how Manager Mark behaves.” Chloe crossed her arms, looking like she had me entirely by the throat. “Either you pay the $17,500, plus an extra $7,500 for my emotional damages, and we settle this privately. Or, I post the video, and we go down together!” Looking at her face, the last shred of pity I had completely vanished. This was extortion. Blatant, textbook extortion. “Peterson, you heard her.” I pointed at Chloe. “She is extorting me.” Peterson looked awkward, but still tried to persuade me: “Mark, just pay it and make the problem disappear. Twenty-five grand isn’t going to bankrupt you. Don’t ruin your life over a petty dispute.” “And if I refuse?” “Then you are refusing to follow company directives!” Peterson’s face darkened. “Mark, think very carefully about the consequences.” “I have thought about them very carefully.” I stood up and straightened my suit jacket. “Since Chloe wants to expose this, let her. I’m actually really looking forward to seeing who gets canceled.” With that, I turned and walked toward the door. “Mark! You get back here!” Peterson roared from behind me. “If you walk out that door today, don’t bother coming to work tomorrow!” “Fine by me.” I walked out of the conference room without looking back. Back at my cubicle, I grabbed an empty box and started packing my things. The coworkers around me whispered, looking at me like I was a dead man walking. Kevin sauntered over, feigning sympathy. “Mark, why do this to yourself? Why go to war over money? Why fight with the boss? If you leave now, all your years of hard work are going down the drain.” “Kevin, you don’t need to play the good guy.” I dropped a framed photo into the box. “You’ve been drooling over this position for years, haven’t you? It’s yours now.” Kevin couldn’t even hide the grin forming at the corners of his mouth. “Oh, come on, don’t be like that. I actually wanted to help you, but you’re just too stubborn. Keep in touch, yeah?” Chloe walked out of the GM’s office, a victorious smile plastered on her face. She stopped in front of me, looking down at me as I packed. “If you had known this was going to happen, why didn’t you just act right? Mark, if you had just been a good boy and paid the bill last night, none of this would be happening. Now look at you! Lost your job, ruined your reputation, and you still have to pay the money! If you don’t pay, I’ll bring people to your house to make a scene every single day!” She leaned in close to my ear, lowering her voice. “Let me tell you a secret. My cousin runs with a gang. If you don’t cough up the cash, I’ll send him to pay a little visit to your family.” 6 My hands stopped moving. I looked up at her. “Are you threatening my family?” “So what if I am?” Chloe sneered. “Scared now? If you’re scared, hurry up and give me the money! And not just the amount I said earlier. I’ve changed my mind. I want $25,000! Not a penny less!” I stared at her face, twisted by sheer, unadulterated greed. Perfect. Before this, I had planned on leaving a little margin of mercy. Now? There was absolutely no need. “Chloe, remember the words you just said.” I picked up my cardboard box and took long strides toward the elevator. Behind me, Chloe’s mocking laughter echoed: “Act tough all you want! You’re just a stray dog!” The elevator doors closed. I pulled out my phone and dialed a number. “Hello, Attorney Bennett? I have a few cases I want to retain you for. Yes, it involves extortion, corporate embezzlement, and defamation. Evidence? Oh, I have more than enough evidence.” After hanging up, I opened another group chat. It was my college alumni group, filled with friends who worked in media and public relations. I sent a message: “Hey guys, I’ve got a massive scoop. Exclusive drop. I’ve got audio, video, the works. Someone wants to ‘take down toxic management,’ and I’m going to help her out.” When I got home, I didn’t sit idle. I organized the audio recording from outside the restaurant last night, the hidden recording I took in the conference room today, and the screenshots of Chloe insulting me in the group chat. Especially the part where she threatened my family. Although I didn’t have audio of that specific moment, there was a security camera right outside the conference room. From that angle, it was more than enough to capture her lip movements. This lawsuit alone would be enough to ruin her. At 3:00 PM. Chloe made her move. She posted a video on TikTok. In the video, she was weeping, looking fragile and beautiful, accusing me of workplace bullying and sexual harassment. The title was pure clickbait: 【Gen Z Intern Stands Up to Toxic Culture, Gets Targeted! Creepy Boss Traps Interns with $18,000 Dinner Bill!】 The video was masterfully edited. She only showed the massive receipt and the two messages I sent in the group chat. Her voiceover was choked with tears: “I’m just a recent grad, an intern… I barely make minimum wage… Manager Mark was always making inappropriate hints at me. When I refused him, he purposely bailed on our team dinner and left me with a massive debt…” “He even threatened me, saying that if I didn’t sleep with him, he’d make sure I was blacklisted from the industry…” The video went viral insanely fast. Within two hours, it hit 100,000 likes. The comment section was a firing squad aimed directly at me. “Why don’t trash men like this just die?” “Dox him! Post his info!” “My heart breaks for this girl. It’s so hard for Gen Z to survive in the workplace.” “This is the reality of corporate America. Disgusting patriarchy.” My phone was blown up with calls from unknown numbers. Thousands of abusive text messages flooded in. People even found my private social media accounts and spammed the comments. Peterson sent me a text: “Mark, look at what you’ve done! The company’s phone lines are blowing up! Post a public apology immediately! Take full responsibility! Or the legal department will sue you for damaging the company’s reputation!” I didn’t reply. I was waiting. Waiting for the heat to get just a little bit higher. Waiting for Chloe to think she had achieved total victory and completely lowered her guard. At 8:00 PM. Chloe went live on TikTok. I checked the viewer count. Over 100,000 people were watching. She was playing the victim on stream, thanking the internet for their support, and conveniently pinned her Venmo and CashApp links, asking for “crowdfunding” to help pay off the restaurant debt. “Thank you guys so much, I really had no other choice. I had to borrow money from all my friends just to cover that $18,000. Now I have to pay off all these credit cards…” “That guy Mark got fired, but he still hasn’t paid me back. He even threatened me…” “If you guys hit the goal for the TikTok Universe gift, I’ll leak his home address!”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “394505”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

After I went blind, my husband started sneaking out every night to fool around. Afraid I’d find out, he asked his best friend to come over and “take care” of me. Unaware of the switch, I treated his best friend just like my husband, doting on him. Until one day, I caught my husband and his friend swapping shifts. His friend asked, “Liam, aren’t you worried your wife will find out you’re keeping a mistress on the side?” My husband replied dismissively, “She can’t see anything anyway. Just don’t make a sound, and you’ll be fine.” No wonder last night, when I praised him for his stamina, he didn’t say a word. It turned out it was a completely different person. I sighed and continued pretending to be blind. Later on, my husband discovered my affair with his best friend. He couldn’t bear to blame me, so he just chased his friend around, trying to beat him up. I sat there eating snacks, listening to them brawl. After all, I’m just a blind woman. If I cheated, it was obviously because I was forced into it. 1 The moment Carter walked through the door, I planted a kiss right on his cheek, right in front of Liam. Liam was so terrified he didn’t dare make a sound. I then slipped my hand under Carter’s shirt, trailing from left to right, top to bottom, feeling every inch of his abs. Liam’s face turned completely dark, but he had to endure it silently. After feeling his abs, I wasn’t quite satisfied, so I reached toward Carter’s waistband. Liam panicked and frantically signaled Carter with his eyes, gesturing for him to push me away. Carter’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he gently pulled my hand out. I sat on the couch, looking disappointed, and threw a tantrum. “You’re my husband! Why won’t you let me touch you?” “The internet was right. When a man hits twenty-five, he might as well be sixty-five.” Carter stood to the side, trying his hardest not to laugh, while Liam crouched on the floor, trying to coax me. “Honey, can we just take it easy for a bit? I haven’t been feeling well lately. I’m afraid I won’t perform well and you’ll be disappointed.” Sneaking out every night to cheat on me—no wonder he’s drained. It’d be a miracle if he could perform well. I kicked him lightly. “Help me back to the bedroom. I want to sleep.” Liam pulled back the covers and helped me sit on the edge of the bed. After I lay down, he patted my back to soothe me to sleep. He didn’t even pat me for two minutes before pulling out his phone to text his mistress. The mistress sent him a selfie—the kind featuring lingerie that would make even a woman blush, let alone Liam. The blood rushed to his head, and he immediately sat up. He reached out and pinched my cheek a few times to confirm I was asleep. Then, he got dressed, got out of bed, and left the bedroom. His best friend, Carter, was in the living room drinking water. I quietly leaned against the door to eavesdrop. Liam asked Carter, “Has your sister-in-law been this clingy the past few days?” Carter shook his head. “No. As soon as you leave, she goes to sleep. I usually just sit in the living room and work. If she’s thirsty, I get her water. If she gets up to use the bathroom, I help her.” Liam nodded. “Don’t get too absorbed in your work. Keep an eye on her so she doesn’t fall.” Carter asked, “Are you still going to see her? It’s been so long, aren’t you bored yet?” “Of course not.” “You have no idea how seductive Chloe is. She’s so uninhibited and bold. I worshipped her like a goddess in college and never even dared to look at her. I never expected that after I got married, she’d throw herself at me.” “Don’t worry, I’m just playing around. Once your sister-in-law’s eyes heal, I’ll break it off with her.” Carter sounded incredibly reliable. “Then you should come back a bit earlier. I’m worried she’ll wake up in the morning looking for you.” Liam trusted him implicitly. “Bro, take my advice and get a girlfriend soon. Being celibate for too long is bad for your health.” 2 The second Liam left, Carter climbed into my bed. He woke me up with a kiss and then hurriedly started pulling off my clothes. I let out a cold snort, sat up, and slapped his hand away. “Just a minute ago you wouldn’t let me touch you, and now you’re throwing yourself at me? Cheapskate. Roll over.” He froze for a few seconds, and what followed was a much more ferocious, predatory assault. The normally serious Carter turned into a completely different person in bed, leaving me wanting more… Liam always said he’d never dated before and would stutter just talking to a girl. But in bed, his tongue was incredibly agile. This contrast was intoxicating to anyone. After an exhausting night, I woke up the next morning to find Carter already gone. He had helped me shower, changed my clothes, and even swapped the bedsheets for fresh ones. His attention to detail was terrifying; he had bought the exact same bedsheets. As soon as I stepped out of the bedroom, I bumped into Liam, who had just returned home. His dark circles were prominent—it looked like he hadn’t slept all night. He placed breakfast on the table for me, then went to the bathroom to get a hot towel to wipe my face. “Honey, let me wash your face, then I’ll feed you.” We’d been married for three years, and Liam had always been this attentive. Back in the day, I went through boyfriends like tissues. I’d date someone for a few days, get bored, and break up. I once even dated an entire frat house of handsome guys, one by one, until they all ended up causing a massive scene in front of my dad. My dad, terrified I was completely out of control, arranged a blind date for me with Liam the second I graduated. He happened to be my type, so I married him. Over the years, I played the part of the obedient, sweet wife, coaxing him into waiting on me hand and foot. I thought he was obsessed with me, but I never expected him to cheat. Logically, since he deceived and betrayed me, I should just be the bigger person and divorce him. But I refused to accept that. Why should he get to enjoy himself while I bear the pain? He needed to suffer just as much as I was. I decided to keep pretending to be blind and play them both like fiddles. Anyway, one serves me in bed, and the other serves me in daily life. Either way, I’m not losing out. Whenever I get bored of playing this game, I’ll just bring up the past and divorce him then. 3 After breakfast, Liam was washing dishes, and I sat at the dining table waiting for him. His phone rang. The caller ID said ‘Chloe.’ I conveniently picked it up. The woman on the other end spoke in a cloying, seductive voice. “Liam, babe, today is my birthday. You promised to buy me a Chanel bag. You can’t break your promise! I have a surprise prepared for you tonight.” I’m a polite person, so after taking the call, I immediately passed on the message. I yelled at the top of my lungs, “Honey, your sister called! She said it’s her birthday tonight and she wants you to buy her a Chanel bag.” Liam didn’t have a sister. He turned off the water, rushed over in a panic, snatched the phone back, and yelled at Chloe, “Who told you to call me? You have no manners!” Hanging up, he explained, “That’s Carter’s new girlfriend. She’s young and doesn’t know any better, always demanding gifts for her birthday.” Since my eyes went “blind,” I hadn’t left the house in a long time. I told Liam to take me along. He was feeling guilty and didn’t dare refuse me. After thinking about it, he agreed. Liam held my hand as we walked into the private room. Even though Chloe was the only one in the room, he acted as if it were packed, shouting loudly, “Everyone, make way! My wife’s eyes aren’t good, don’t trip her.” After helping me sit down, he said he had to use the restroom, told me to wait patiently, and then went to coax Chloe. Chloe was throwing a tantrum because I was there; she even threw the gift Liam bought her on the floor. The music in the room was too loud, and her little mouth was moving rapidly—I couldn’t hear what she was cursing about, but she was clearly pissed. After a while, she stopped cursing because Liam pinned her against the wall and silenced her with a kiss. After making out, the two of them left the room. Right then, someone sat down next to me. It was Carter, arriving late to help Liam cover his tracks. I rested my head on his shoulder, my voice shy. “Honey, I’m hungry.” Carter used a toothpick to pick up a piece of orange and brought it to my mouth. I took a bite and spat it out. “I don’t want to eat this. I want to eat something else.” Once you’ve slept with someone, things are different. He instantly understood. He started kissing my neck. Within moments, my face was flushed, and my breathing grew heavy. Just as Liam returned, Carter stopped precisely on time and stood up. I was incredibly frustrated by being teased and left hanging. I shot him a resentful glare. Liam, seeing my flushed face, thought I was lacking oxygen and asked if I wanted to go for a walk outside. I agreed, complaining that the room was too hot. Liam took me to a nearby food street to buy ice cream to cool down. Before eating, I deliberately wiped off my lipstick. After finishing the ice cream, Liam brought me back. The moment I walked in the door, Chloe tripped me. Thankfully, Carter caught me. “Careful, Chloe.” I was angry at him for being a coward—teasing me and then not letting me enjoy it. I smiled, distant and polite. “Thank you, Carter.” After he let go of me, his gaze fixed coldly on my lips. A layer of frost covered his eyes, and his brow furrowed imperceptibly. 4 Perhaps to keep up the lie, Liam called a few other people over to celebrate Chloe’s birthday. Someone suggested playing a game. Everyone who came knew Chloe was Liam’s mistress. To cover for Liam, they all pretended not to know, and the way they looked at me was full of pity. I played dumb and asked Chloe how she and Carter got together. Chloe, glancing between Carter and Liam, said affectionately, “We went to college together. I had a boyfriend back then and didn’t know he had a crush on me. We ran into each other three months ago, had a few drinks, and one thing led to another.” What a coincidence. It just so happened that they got together right after I was in a car accident and supposedly lost my sight. Liam lost the game. He had to spin a bottle on the table, and whoever it pointed to, he had to kiss. Everyone told him to skip the spin and just kiss me. But Carter, sitting on the side, feigned seriousness. “Since we’re playing, we have to follow the rules. We’re all friends here; a little peck on Chloe’s cheek won’t matter.” The bottle pointed to Chloe. They kissed—on the lips. Their friends, afraid I’d get angry, didn’t say a word, just claiming he kissed her on the cheek as a token gesture. Then it was my turn to play. I controlled the force perfectly, and the bottle pointed straight at Carter. Everyone at the table stared at each other, waiting for the drama to unfold. Liam spoke up. “Let’s skip this round. Spin again.” Someone looking for drama protested. “Why? Carter just said we have to follow the rules. So what if you’re married? If you’re going to play, you have to be able to afford to lose.” Someone else tried to smooth things over. “Oh, come on. Chloe can just kiss him on the cheek, that’s enough.” I nodded. “Then I’ll just kiss him on the forehead. A kiss on the forehead between friends isn’t going too far.” When Carter leaned in, I went straight for his lips. After kissing him, I looked shy. “I’m sorry, I can’t see clearly. Did I kiss the wrong place?” The room erupted in laughter. Carter secretly smirked, but a second later, his expression returned to a look of bewildered innocence, as if nothing had happened. Flustered and confused. It was Liam who suddenly lost his temper. “I told you to skip it, but you insisted on playing. You guys are so tasteless. My wife was wronged, she’s going to cry when we get home.” Liam grabbed my hand, intent on taking me home. After helping me into the passenger seat and buckling my seatbelt, he patted my head. “Honey, don’t be mad. They were just teasing you. I won’t hang out with them anymore.” I smiled understandingly. “It’s fine, as long as Carter and his girlfriend aren’t angry.” 5 Liam had promised to drive me home, but the person in the driver’s seat was his best friend, Carter. And Liam was fooling around with Chloe in the backseat. As soon as the car music started playing, the two of them were kissing and groping, practically ready to get a room right there. I had been playing around behind his back, but he dared to do it right in front of me. I was so angry I clenched my fists. But after thinking of a wicked idea, I smirked. When we arrived home, it was Carter who helped me out of the car. We had barely taken two steps before the people in the car couldn’t hold back anymore. Liam was desperate, but Carter was equally eager. As soon as we stepped into the elevator, he pinned me against the wall and kissed me forcefully. I bit his lip until it bled, but he refused to let go. We kissed all the way from the elevator to the bed. It took a lot of energy, and Carter had a habit of drinking water halfway through. While he wasn’t looking, I slipped a sleeping pill into his glass. Carter usually woke up at six, but because of the pill, he slept until eight. And eight o’clock happened to be the exact time Liam came home. When Liam opened the bedroom door, I was naked, tangled in Carter’s arms, whimpering “honey.” Liam’s eyes widened in fury, looking like he wanted to commit murder. Afraid of startling me, he waited until Carter woke up before grabbing him by the throat and dragging him out. The two of them were fighting intensely outside. I pretended not to know and rested my eyes. Knowing they were beating the crap out of each other made me feel incredibly satisfied. I slipped on Carter’s dress shirt and went out to fan the flames. “Honey, why didn’t you bathe me today? I feel all sticky and uncomfortable.” Liam was stunned to see me wearing an oversized, sheer men’s shirt. Afraid Carter would look, he immediately wrapped his own jacket around me. “Honey, why aren’t you wearing your own clothes?” I lowered my head shyly and whined softly, “You tore my dress, and I can’t see to get a new one from the closet. I had to wear your shirt to make do.” “If I had known you were in such a rush, I wouldn’t have worn it. That dress was so expensive, my heart aches.” He caressed my cheek with immense tenderness. “Don’t be sad. If it’s ruined, it’s ruined. Your husband will buy you a new one.” Carter was trained in martial arts; Liam was no match for him. In the few minutes I was resting my eyes, he had already been beaten black and blue. Knowing his best friend had slept with his wife was a humiliation no man could swallow. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, ready for round two. Afraid I would hear the commotion, Liam turned on the TV and put on a boxing match. I opened a bag of chips, eating while I watched them fight. Carter let himself get pinned to the floor and hit a few times, then suddenly flipped Liam over, grabbing his collar and smashing him into the coffee table. The whole sequence was smooth and incredibly cool. If he hadn’t been fighting to uphold a blind woman’s honor, I would have clapped for him. Once I finished my chips, I turned off the TV. Liam lay on the floor, gasping for air. Carter stood up, walked over to me, pinched my chin, and a cryptic smile flashed in his eyes. “Are you happy now, sis?” I blinked, pretending not to understand. “Carter, you’re here. Where’s Liam? Where did he go?” 6 Liam lay sprawled on the floor, letting out a powerless roar. “Carter, stay away from her! Don’t touch her!” Carter ignored him, cast a cold glance in his direction, and left. Liam dragged himself up from the floor. After cleaning up the battlefield, he sat across from me and asked, his heart aching, “Honey, after you lost your sight, when did we first… sleep together?” I played dumb. “Haven’t we been sleeping together every day?” Liam usually coaxed me to sleep before leaving, pretending to go out and buy breakfast the next morning. He said, frustrated, “I mean sleeping together, doing husband and wife things.” I pretended to think about it and said earnestly, “The third day, I think. You suddenly pulled me into your arms and wanted to take my clothes off. I was too tired and didn’t really want to cooperate. You got mad and even tied my hands and feet. You were so fierce that day, honey. I was really scared.” Actually, that day, I realized no one was beside me in bed. I went out to find someone and bumped into Carter, who was working. Having been deprived for so long, the itch was unbearable, so I just went for it. He had some restraint, but not much. After holding back for a few minutes, he carried me to bed. Of course, I couldn’t say that. Carter was a skilled fighter and incredibly cunning. Liam would definitely come off worse if he tried to mess with him. This was my indirect way of punishing Liam. Liam asked again, “And every day after that, did we… do that?” My face flushed red. “Yeah, we’ve been so sweet lately. If it weren’t for my eyes not being healed, I would have wanted a baby.” Liam was filled with intense regret, practically beating his chest. “Honey, it’s all my fault. I’ll protect you properly from now on.” Having swallowed this bitter pill, Liam stopped sneaking out with Chloe and stayed home to guard me every day. He treated me even better than before. I enjoyed this guilt-driven compensation, making him take me to the mall and spending nearly a million dollars. The only downside was that he kept pestering me, wanting to sleep with me. But he had cheated. I found him disgusting and didn’t want to sleep with him. He was paranoid about another man having been in our bed, so he dragged me to the couch. I cooperated with his kisses, but as we kissed, I reached down to feel his abs—and found he didn’t have any. I immediately pushed him away. “Who are you? You’re not my husband! My husband has a great body, a real six-pack. There’s no way a scrawny guy like you is him!” He tried to explain, but I didn’t give him a chance, firing off words like a machine gun. “Let me tell you, don’t think you can trick me just because I can’t see! I love my husband very much, and I would never do anything to betray him!” “If you dare force me, I’ll kill myself right in front of you!” Saying that, I reached for a knife. Liam had just peeled an apple for me, and the knife was on the coffee table. I grabbed it instantly. I gripped the handle and pointed the blade at him. “Get out of here right now! If you don’t leave, I’m going to scream!” Liam, thinking I was having a trauma response, was pulling his hair out in absolute agony. Just then, my phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID—it was Carter—and answered. “Carter, I don’t know where Liam went, and suddenly a stranger is in the house! He was trying to kiss and hug me, I’m so scared. Can you come over and help me?!” Carter honked his car horn wildly. “Sis, don’t be scared, I’ll be right there.” When Carter burst in, sweating profusely, and saw the standoff between Liam and me, he carefully took the knife from my hand and pulled me into his arms. “You scared me to death! I thought something happened to you.” I ignored him and kept acting. “Honey, is that you? The guy earlier didn’t have any abs. The moment I touched him, I knew it wasn’t you.” He took my hand and placed it on his chest. Is this really the time for flirting? Afraid I’d blow my cover if I kept acting, I shyly pushed him away, saying I had been holding it in for too long and needed to use the bathroom. As soon as I left, Liam started interrogating him. “Carter, you fucked my wife, and you’re still hovering around?!” Carter crossed his legs and raised an eyebrow. “Well, my sister-in-law can’t live without me now. We have no choice but to live together.” “How about this: during the day, you cook for her and keep her company. At night, I’ll sleep with her. You can go wherever you want, or you can stay here.” Honestly, I thought his suggestion was pretty good. Unfortunately, Liam wasn’t having it. “In your dreams! That’s my wife, why should I let you sleep with her?!” “Liam, why are you looking at it that way? We both get to sleep with her, but she doesn’t want to sleep with you. She wants to sleep with me.” “If you don’t agree to the three of us living together, I’ll go confess everything to Chloe. I’ll tell her that while you were sneaking out every night to see a mistress, the person sleeping with her was me.” Liam refused. “No way. If she finds out I cheated, she’ll definitely divorce me.” Carter laughed. “What are you afraid of? She cheated too! When the time comes, you two can just have a chat and forgive each other.” “How could that work? She was tricked into cheating by you, it’s not her fault.” “Bro, I’ve been sleeping with Chloe for almost three months. Do you really think she doesn’t know anything?” Liam’s voice spiked. “Your sister-in-law is so innocent! If you speak too loudly, you’ll scare her to tears! If she knew the person sleeping with her wasn’t me, she would have refused immediately! There’s no way she’d fool around with you for this long!” Carter sneered. “Innocent? Liam, I think you’re just stupid, which is why she’s got you wrapped around her little finger.”

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To trick my mom into letting me leave for school a week early, she eyed me suspiciously: “The Chen boy next door goes to the same university as you, why isn’t he leaving early?” I nervously rubbed my hands. “You’re going to see a boy, aren’t you? It’s fine, I’m not some old-fashioned prude. Here’s an extra three hundred bucks, go have fun.” I accepted it with overwhelming gratitude: “Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say!” My mom bought it. On the train, I pulled out a brand-new physics textbook and scratched my head, desperately copying notes. What boyfriend? I was going back early to take a makeup exam! On the way to the makeup exam. My mom video-called me. “Sweetie, let Mommy see your new boyfriend.” 1 I’m doomed. I only have new test scores, not a new boyfriend! Driven by desperation, I could only point the camera randomly at a passerby. “Mom, he’s the reason I left for school early.” When I lie to my mom, I always commit fully. I was planning to just use the side of the passerby’s face to fool her. But no matter how softly I spoke. The handsome guy in the camera still turned his head. My mom screamed from the other end of the video: “He’s so handsome?! Are you dating a celebrity? Bring him home this weekend!” “Gotta go, I’m going to take screenshots and show off to my friends, hahahaha…” The video call ended with my mom’s exaggerated, boomer-style laughter. Leaving me and the handsome guy staring at each other in the wind. The guy stood tall and straight, his facial features sharp and handsome—a literal god. I scratched my head and laughed awkwardly. “Sorry about that, classmate. I was too embarrassed to say I came back early for a makeup exam, so I lied to my parents and said I was coming back to see my boyfriend.” The handsome guy expressed understanding. And he sped up his pace alongside me. Looks like we’re in the same boat. I struck up a conversation while practically jogging: “Classmate, are you here for the physics makeup exam too?” The handsome guy didn’t speak, just kept rushing forward. He didn’t have any study materials on him. At a glance, you could tell he was an honest kid. Cheating on such a hard class was a must, he was definitely going to fail! A plan formed in my mind: “Bro, how about this: I have a lot of cheat sheets on me, I basically copied down all the formulas. I’ll share some must-pass tips with you, and you come home with me this weekend to meet my parents, deal?” As soon as I said that. He stopped in his tracks. Seeing that he was bought off by me. The beginner’s guide to cheating begins now! I pulled out the tissue paper with key points from my pocket. Then I fished out a ten-fold formula sheet from my knee-high socks. The most, most important thing, of course, is the phone! The handsome guy was confused: “How do you bring a phone into the exam room? The proctors always use metal detectors!” I smiled wisely: “Heh, the teachers only scan your body, they never check what’s in your hand! And mine is a flip phone!” “What about the signal jammers?” “Those old jammers our school has can’t block 5G signals at all, the connection is perfectly fine.” The handsome guy nodded thoughtfully, and continued to ask sincerely: “Since you have so many tricks, how come you didn’t pass the final exam?” I waved my hand, patting his shoulder earnestly: “Let’s not dwell on past failures, let’s look forward together!” After arriving at the classroom. I saw a few of my suffering sisters. Great, our mutual aid group was assembled in a second. But I didn’t forget the handsome guy I just met. I quickly pulled him in. Seeing how breathtakingly handsome he was, the sisterhood agreed immediately. Everyone started sharing their cheat sheets and how they planned to pass answers right under the proctor’s nose later. The handsome guy must have been moved by me. He even proactively asked for the names of everyone in our mutual aid group. I raised an eyebrow at him, signaling no thanks needed. As good bros, this is how we do it. Enough for him to remember for a lifetime. 2 There were only ten minutes left before the exam. The students had finished all their preparations. But the proctor was nowhere to be seen. My best friend, Jessica, started gossiping about the proctor. “I heard the proctor for our room is the male god from University A, a second-year PhD student, super handsome, exaggeratedly better looking than Timothée Chalamet. He’s only proctoring at our University C today as a favor to a friend.” “Rumor has it he’s a research genius, already being fought over by research institutes from University A and University C before even graduating, with starting salaries in the seven figures.” Chloe from the sisterhood slammed the desk in regret: “Damn it, if I had known, I would have done a full face of makeup.” “Sigh, then we need to be careful when cheating.” “It’s fine! A good student like him, he’s never seen our high-tech cheating methods!” … It wasn’t until the roving proctor outside the classroom delivered the exam papers that everyone quieted down. “Hey, where’s your Teacher Gan? Wasn’t he supposed to be here early?” Teacher Gan? I whispered to the sisterhood: “What a weird last name, hilarious. If he’s Teacher Gan (Dry), am I Teacher Shi (Wet)?” (Translator’s note: In Chinese, “Gan” means dry. The protagonist makes a dirty joke contrasting it with “Shi” meaning wet). The dirty-minded girls instantly thought the wrong thing. Giggling endlessly below the desks. My face felt a bit hot: “I didn’t mean it like that!” But no matter how much I defended myself, it was useless. Just while everyone was still grinning. The handsome guy who had been sitting in the corner slowly stood up. He calmly accepted the exam papers, pulled a proctor ID from his pocket, and stood at the podium. “Hello everyone, I am your proctor for today, Arthur Gan.” No way. Excuse me? Is it too late for me to apologize with my death right now? 3 Obviously, it was too late. Forget the phones and cheat sheets. Even the smartwatch Jessica hid in her pant leg was confiscated. Arthur said he meant no harm. I agree. He simply didn’t want us to live. Without any suspense. The sisterhood and I were completely wiped out by Arthur, forcing us all to retake the class. In sheer desperation, I could only kneel to the sisters in our group chat: “I’m sorry, I invited the wolf into our house. To make amends, I’m willing to give you my life!” Chloe sent a “disgusted” emoji: “Only offering useless things.” Jessica immediately followed up: “Since you sincerely want to make it up to us, we will show great mercy and give you a chance to redeem yourself.” I nodded like a chicken pecking at grain: “Tell me, tell me.” “Arthur will be taking a part-time job at our University C this semester, and he just happens to be our physics teacher. Go seduce him, claim him, ravage him! Help the sisters vent our anger, and then get the exam paper from him at the end of the semester.” Huh? Me? What kind of thing am I, that I even deserve a second glance from Arthur? I was helpless: “Jessica, do you have a filter on me? What makes you think I can take down the male god of University A?!” Jessica was full of confidence: “Based on my years of experience navigating the world, the way Arthur looked at you that day was definitely not innocent. You just need to crook your finger, and he’ll take the bait.” I don’t know if Arthur’s eyesight is good or bad, but Jessica’s eyesight is definitely bad. But since things have come to this, I can only try to treat a dead horse as a living doctor. Besides, I failed the makeup exam. I absolutely can’t let my parents guess that I came back early for the makeup exam. The day after tomorrow is the weekend. No time to lose, I need to hurry to University A and find Arthur to go home with me this weekend. 4 Before setting off, the whole dorm helped me put on a super stunning succubus makeup look. The head-turning rate was indeed quite high. Our University C and University A are only separated by College Avenue. Arthur is very famous. I just asked a random student and found out his dorm building. When I arrived at his dorm building, I was shocked. As expected of a PhD student. A single room for one person is one thing. This dorm building was like a luxury apartment. It made me want to apply for a PhD too. Very luckily, after squatting downstairs for half an hour, I caught Arthur. He wore a crisp black shirt, the cuffs slightly rolled up, revealing his prominent wrist bones. Unlike the messy look when I first met him. Today, his hair looked meticulously styled, every single strand radiating handsomeness. I was so struck by his handsomeness that my breath hitched. Dressed up, he was far too high-profile. Passing girls all looked over. “Looking for me?” He raised an eyebrow. “How did you know?” I was puzzled. The corners of his mouth curved up slightly: “You’ve been squatting at this door for twenty-eight minutes. You didn’t stop any of the many guys walking by, but as soon as I came down, you came to meet me.” Taking him to play a murder mystery game would definitely be an easy win. I got straight to the point: “Yes, I want you to go home with me this weekend pretending to be my boyfriend to deal with my mom.” He crossed his arms: “Why should I?” “Because you used me to infiltrate our sisterhood, making me the target of public criticism, failing the makeup exam, and unable to answer to my parents!” I was anxious. He still had the nerve to ask me why. If it weren’t for him, I would have passed the makeup exam long ago. And I wouldn’t have to beg him to go home with me. He frowned slightly: “Is your cheating really that justified?” “You!” I licked my lips, unable to refute. True. He, a PhD student at University A, hadn’t done anything wrong either. What capability did I have to make him pretend to be my boyfriend? It seems Jessica’s eyesight really is problematic. Saying the way he looked at me wasn’t innocent. We’re the ones who are truly doomed if we mess with him. Seeing Arthur turn around, about to go back inside. A clear, cold voice interrupted my thoughts. “Mia, why are you here?” “Senior Ethan?” 5 Ethan is a senior at University A. We met at a mixer. He had a good impression of me. Gentle, considerate, polite, and proper. So I used the excuse of liking aloof men to reject him directly. At this moment, my eyes darted around, and I quickly grabbed his sleeve: “Senior Ethan, are you free this weekend?” Ethan had just opened his mouth. When Arthur turned back, looking at me coldly: “He’s not free.” “Huh? Teacher Gan, I…” “Have you submitted your graduation thesis?” Speaking of the thesis, Ethan was not only unpanicked but quite confident: “Not yet, but I’ll finish it next week!” “Too late, Professor Huang wants it this Saturday, he asked you to go see him on Saturday.” Ethan panicked a little: “There was no notice.” Arthur spoke slowly: “Professor Huang will notify you tonight.” Ethan nodded, then said to me: “Then I’m free on Sunday.” My originally dimmed eyes lit up again, hope rekindled. Arthur glanced at me, his tone calm but unquestionable: “Sunday won’t work either, the short essay for my class is due on Sunday.” Ethan gasped: “What? Teacher Gan, you didn’t mention that.” Arthur calmly took out his phone and operated it for a bit: “The notice has already been sent to your phones.” Seeing he still wanted to say something, Arthur continued: “The mock test that hasn’t been scheduled yet is also set for…” “I’m not free!!” Ethan turned his head, looked at me, and said firmly: “Sorry Mia, I’m not free this weekend. I have to study this weekend. I love studying. I’m going to go study now, bye.” 6 “I can agree to pretend to be your boyfriend, but you have to agree to one request of mine.” After Ethan left, Arthur leaned in close to me and said. His exquisite features suddenly magnified in front of me, and I leaned back a bit: “Sure, as long as you come home with me this weekend, I’ll agree to ten of your requests!” “Okay, my request is that you come home with me tonight first.” “Huh?!” I widened my eyes, suspecting there was something wrong with my ears. Arthur looked at me expressionlessly: “What, just said you’d agree to ten requests, and now you’re chickening out on the first one?” “No, your request… is it proper?” I shrank back warily. Arthur raised an eyebrow: “You want an improper one?” “I don’t!” He turned to leave: “Then forget it.” “Wait, wait, wait!” I grabbed his sleeve: “I’ll go! Who’s afraid of who! It’s a society ruled by law, what can you possibly do to me? But we have a deal, if I go to your place, you have to come home with me this weekend.” Arthur looked down at my hand gripping him, the corners of his mouth curving slightly: “Deal. I’ll pick you up for dinner at my place around mealtime.” While following him toward the apartment building, I frantically messaged the sisterhood group chat: [Sisters, Arthur wants me to go home with him tonight.] Jessica replied instantly: [Holy shit! You’re amazing, sis! This progress bar is moving faster than a rocket!] Chloe: [The girls at University A all say Arthur could outshine Timothée Chalamet and Tom Holland if he debuted. Mia, you should just start a masterclass.] Rachel types very slowly, with grandma-speed: [Remember to wear ultra-thin 0.01.] Concise, straight to the highway. Me: [Wear your head, I’m going to exchange favors with him.] Chloe sent a “let’s get dirty” emoji: [Going to his place to exchange? Exchange what? Positions??] Jessica: [Oh my god, Mia, you’re something else! A pure female college student on the outside, playing so wild behind closed doors?] Me: [Can you guys be a little pure! He’s a PhD! He’s about to be our substitute teacher! Do you have any professional ethics?] This group of women, whether it’s red or black, they’ll turn it yellow for you. (Translator’s note: In Chinese slang, “yellow” means pornographic/dirty). Chloe: [Tsk, he just caught you cheating, and turns around and asks you to his place. Savor this operation, savor it carefully.] Me: […Savor what, I can’t savor anything.] Jessica: [I savor that he wants to tutor you privately! One-on-one! Private lessons! Close-contact teaching!] Chloe: [The kind where you wear tight clothes.] Me: […I’m wearing a hoodie and jeans, thank you.] Jessica: [Tsk, so unromantic. Hurry up and go buy a battle outfit! There’s a new mall outside the school!] Me: [I have no money!] Chloe: [Didn’t you just scam three hundred bucks out of your mom?] Me: […] 7 Arthur’s apartment is in a high-end complex next to University A. In the elevator, I was so nervous I was picking at my fingernails. He, on the other hand, was completely composed, leaning against the elevator wall scrolling on his phone. I secretly glanced at his profile. Really handsome. Hiss, why does he feel a bit familiar? I seem to have seen him somewhere before. Sigh, handsome guys always look handsome in the same way. Only ugly men are ugly in all sorts of strange ways. “Have a seat anywhere.” Arthur poured me a glass of water. Holding the glass, I sat awkwardly on the sofa, not knowing where to look. Arthur sat across from me: “Your name is Mia Lin, sophomore in Computer Science at University C, living in Happy Community, Hangzhou. Right?” I almost spat out a mouthful of water: “How do you know?!” He gave me a flat look: “The day you cheated, I memorized the names of everyone in your mutual aid group, and casually checked your files.” I gasped: “What exactly do you want to do?” Arthur didn’t answer, instead asking: “When did your mom ask you to bring me home?” “Saturday noon.” “Okay.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, swiped a few times, and handed it to me. I took it and looked. It was a list: Two cases of premium liquor. Two boxes of bird’s nest. Two cartons of imported cigarettes. Two boxes of cherries. Two boxes of sea cucumber. Two boxes of abalone. Two cases of olive oil. Two cases of milk. “This is?” Is this trying to move a supermarket to my house? “The standard package for meeting the parents.” Arthur replied with his head down, looking at the list and pondering: “What do your parents like? Add it on, I’ll go buy them tomorrow.” I stared at him blankly: “Why does it feel like you sincerely want to go home with me?” “After all, I can’t let you squat for those twenty-eight minutes for nothing.” His tone was very calm, but I always felt something was off. Just then, his phone rang. The screen flashed two words: “Queen Mother”. He answered, and before he could speak, a powerful female voice came from the other side: “Son! Let me tell you, that boy Auntie Li introduced to you, he’s a piano teacher, super handsome. I sent you his photo on WeChat, see if you like him!” Me: “???” Boy??? Arthur rubbed his temples: “Mom, I don’t need it.” “Why don’t you need it? You’re so old and haven’t even been in a relationship once! Mom isn’t some old fuddy-duddy, whether you like boys or girls, Mom supports you! This one is really super handsome, just meet him once…” “Mom, I have a girlfriend.” The phone went quiet for two seconds. “What?!” “Really, you can come see for yourself right now.” “Stop lying to me! Last time you said you had a partner, you brought back a cat!” I couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing with a “Pfft”. Arthur shot me a chilling glare. The mom on the phone obviously heard it too: “Son, is there someone next to you? Who is it?” Arthur was silent for a second: “The cat.” “…” “…” Me: “???” You’re the cat! Your whole family is a cat! 8 After Arthur hung up the phone, he put on an apron and started cooking. I was still brooding over that “cat” comment. “Arthur, how am I like a cat?” Arthur glanced at me while chopping vegetables: “You squatting downstairs curled up in a ball, doesn’t look like a cat?” I looked at him suspiciously. Could it be that he had been staring at me from upstairs the whole time? But I was too embarrassed to ask. Arthur chopped vegetables very quickly. His wrist bones were prominent, his knuckles like jade. And very agile. Seems like he’s quite strong too. ? Why did my thoughts suddenly turn dirty? Sure enough, he who lies with dogs shall rise with fleas, and he who is near yellow gets yellow! Arthur skillfully heated the wok, poured oil, and stir-fried. In no time, the aroma of food filled the air. “Wow, I couldn’t tell you knew how to cook.” I started showering him with compliments. The corners of Arthur’s mouth turned up: “There are plenty of things you can’t tell.” Holy cow, one compliment and he’s already this cocky. “Can you cook?” He asked me while offering me a taste. Of course I can’t. I took his offering with my mouth: “Haha, when I cook, I mainly focus on forfeiting color, aroma, and taste.” Soon, the second dish went into the wok. Right then, the sisters in the group asked me how the battle was going over here. I sneakily took a profile photo of Arthur cooking and a photo of the food. Jessica sent a picture of a fitness pause: [Looks like a girlfriend-perspective Timothée Chalamet. No wonder they say cooking is the best plastic surgery for men. I’m not working out anymore, whoever wants to work out can work out, I’m going to be your fragile beauty.] Chloe sent a “666” emoji: [Sis, if you meet a culinary school chef, just marry him, you won’t have to worry about food for the rest of your life.] Rachel, as always, types the slowest but drives the fastest. [Why are you serving dishes, serve him!] [Have you been in rehab? Being with such a huge handsome guy, can you resist?] The black text made my heart race. Just then, Arthur poked his head over: “What are you looking at, your face is so red?” I immediately switched to a study app interface, and said seriously: “Doing my daily study modules, party members are required to get a daily average of 30 points or more.” He glanced at my phone screen and laughed: “So this is the reason for your total score of 300? Looks like you joined the party ten days ago?” I swallowed nervously: “No, no, the points reset every so often.” Sure enough, one lie requires countless lies to cover it up. “Oh? Then why do my points never reset?” He opened his study app interface, showing a score of 51,753 points. His mouth was curled up, the corners of his eyes full of amusement, even carrying a trace of malice. Even that little canine tooth was rippling with mockery towards me. I gave him a thumbs up: “Teacher Gan, you’re really amazing!” Hearing the word “Teacher”, he quickly waved his hand: “Hey, I’m just teaching you this semester, don’t call me teacher.” I said fawningly: “How can that be? A teacher for a day is a father for life.” “No, no, no!” Seeing how resistant he was to me calling him teacher, an evil thought popped into my head: “Since I can’t call you teacher, and you’re not my parent, how about I call you ‘Brother’?” As soon as my voice fell. His face turned completely red in a second. This much fun? I leaned on his shoulder, deliberately whispering with a light laugh in his ear: “Brother.” I saw his Adam’s apple bob rapidly, his body stiffening. He abruptly lifted me onto the dining table, resting his hands on either side of my body. A gentle, abstinent aura gradually washed over me. “Mia, did you do that on purpose?” I didn’t expect one “Brother” could make him react this strongly. I took the opportunity to wrap my arms around his neck: “Brother, do you like me calling you that?” 9 After hesitating for a few seconds, he nodded. “Then if my friends and I call you ‘Brother’ every day from now on, will you let us pass the final exam?” As soon as my voice fell, Arthur’s movements froze. The air suddenly went quiet. His eyes reflected me, looking full of expectation. I was still eagerly waiting for his answer. Arthur, who had been a bit shy just a moment ago, suddenly had a dark look on his face. He gritted his teeth and said: “You really prioritize your career.” Of course! To a student, exams are the most important thing! “Ding dong, ding dong.” The doorbell rang, accompanied by a middle-aged woman’s voice: “Son, open the door, it’s Mommy.” What? His mom is here? My conditioned reflex was to dive under the table. Arthur squatted down to look at me, his tone holding back laughter: “Mia, your reaction is muscle memory, huh? Do you often sneak men in?” Arthur’s mom was still knocking on the door. I rolled my eyes: “How are you going to explain to your mom why I’m appearing in your house late at night!” His hand had already grabbed my arm: “Explain what? I brought you here to help me dispel rumors.” Oh, I understand. He wants to use me to trick his mom into believing he’s straight! Then he… Is actually gay? I was still immersed in my own shocking deductions. Arthur’s mom had already come in. She was wearing an exquisitely tailored white suit, the fabric gleaming with a pearl-like luster. At a glance, it was the kind of haute couture that screamed, “This one piece of clothing of mine is enough to pay your four years of tuition.” She didn’t even take off her shoes. Her eyes lit up when she saw me. She walked quickly towards me, her stilettos making crisp “clack clack” sounds on the floor. Then she gave me a big hug. Ah, Mom, smells so good. A scent of high-end perfume I had never smelled before wafted over me. One sniff and you knew it was the kind of luxury fragrance where “one milliliter of this is enough to feed you for two months.” “Wow, you are so cute! This skin, this little mouth, these eyes! Hey, I think I’ve seen you somewhere before.” She let go of me, cradled my face, and examined it from left to right, her emerald ring rubbing against my face. Huh? I smiled sweetly: “Hello Auntie, I’m Mia. Maybe I just have a common face, so I look familiar.” Arthur’s mom patted her head: “Oh, I saw you in Arthur’s art studio!” Hiss. This Auntie must definitely have mistaken me for someone else. I have zero artistic cells, so I never go to art studios. But I didn’t contradict her. Anyway, just smiling foolishly was enough. At the dinner table, Arthur’s mom was still incredibly extroverted. She made me, a normal person, feel socially anxious. “Oh my, these ribs are good.” Auntie put a few more ribs into my bowl, which was already piled like a mountain: “Try them quickly, if you like them, let Arthur cook them for you every day.” Uh… That really isn’t necessary. “So when are you two moving in together?” I almost spat out the rib I was eating. Arthur answered speechlessly: “We just got together.” Auntie: “How long have you been together?” Arthur: “Three months.” Auntie: “How old is she?” Arthur: “October 10, 2006.” Auntie: “Where is she from?” Arthur: “Hangzhou.” The mother and son went back and forth. It was like a rapid-fire Q&A session. Auntie: “What do you like about her?” Arthur: “Brave, humorous, cute, pretty, smart, hardworking, persistent…” I saw Auntie reveal a meaningful smile: “Not bad, you memorized it very well.” Arthur picked up a chopstick full of shredded potatoes: “Not as well as your background checks.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “394507”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

The night I was kicked out of my marriage with nothing, I wandered the streets alone. By chance, I saw a small flyer on a lamppost: [Wanted: Stepmother for a child. Age and appearance not an issue; must be patient with children. Room and board included.] The “room and board included” part caught my eye. That very night, I dragged my suitcase to the address. And walked into the home of the city’s richest man. Later, my ex-husband asked me with a condescending tone: “Chloe, do you realize your mistake now?” The four-year-old little tyrant roared: “What mistake?! My mom is the best in the world!!!” The billionaire put his arm around my shoulder: “My wife, even if she is wrong, she is right.” 1 I never expected that the flyer posted on a telephone pole belonged to the richest man in the city. Right now, I was standing at the entrance of a grand villa. Beside me was a haughty butler. “Our employer is looking for a stepmother for his child, not a wife for himself. You must remember that.” “Our employer is very wealthy; do not entertain any inappropriate thoughts.” I kept my head slightly bowed, my gaze fixed straight ahead. I deeply sighed; this job was absolutely perfect for me. To put it bluntly, isn’t this just hiring a high-end nanny for the child? I just got divorced this morning. If you asked me to remarry right now, I honestly wouldn’t have the energy for it. But taking care of a child meant I had a place to stay, and I wouldn’t have to spend money renting an apartment. For someone as destitute as I was right now, this was like receiving a delivery of coal in the middle of a snowstorm. I nodded respectfully. “I understand. I will absolutely not entertain any inappropriate thoughts.” The butler nodded and led me into the dining room. Next to a massive, long dining table, a young father was engaged in a tug-of-war. The intense-looking man held a bowl and a spoon, his expression displeased. A melancholic little boy bit his lip, refusing to open his mouth, not backing down an inch. Time seemed to stand still. After a long while, the man sighed, the first to concede defeat. He put down the bowl in frustration. His knuckles, sharp and defined, pinched the bridge of his nose. He lowered his voice: “Just one bite, just a tiny bite, okay?” The butler stepped forward: “Sir, another applicant has arrived. This one seems quite grounded today.” The man slowly turned around. He was wearing simple black trousers and a white dress shirt, with the top button undone, faintly revealing the shadow of his collarbone. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing strong, pale forearms. I had seen this face on the financial news. He was striking and excessively handsome, the kind of face you’d never forget after seeing it once. Earlier, I had secretly worried if this might be a scam. Now, seeing his face, I completely relaxed. A man of his status had absolutely no reason to spend effort scamming a destitute, divorced woman like me. The man’s deep gaze swept lightly over me. His voice carried a trace of exhaustion. “What’s your name?” I guessed he had probably just finished a busy day at work and hadn’t even had time to change his clothes before coming to feed the child. Only to suffer a heavy blow. Feeding a child was probably harder for him than signing a billion-dollar contract. “Chloe Hastings,” I said. He gave a barely perceptible nod and handed the bowl to me: “You try.” After the man finished speaking, he stood up, moved to the sofa, and crossed his arms, watching me with a relaxed posture. This must be the job interview. I had to perform well. If I could stay, at least I wouldn’t have to sleep under a bridge tonight. Holding the bowl, I curved my lips into what I considered a motherly smile and walked toward the boy. But before I could take two steps, the boy darted under the table with a whoosh. Only a pair of large, dark eyes, like black grapes, peeked out. He yelled angrily at the man: “I don’t want to! Tell her to get out! I won’t let her feed me! They are all bad women!” It seemed that before me, the boy had already dealt with who knows how many “stepmothers.” Then I really needed to show what I could do. I glanced around and noticed Ultraman toys scattered everywhere in the room, and an idea popped into my head. I grabbed a few Ultraman figures and placed them on the floor next to the boy under the table. I smiled and said: “Don’t worry, I’m not feeding you. I’m feeding Tiga and Seven. You don’t need to worry.” With that, I pretended to feed the Ultraman figures: “Eat up. You need to be full to save the world.” “Kids who don’t like to eat have skinny arms and legs. If you can’t even protect yourself, how can you protect humanity?” “Oh, you want vegetables? Good boy, eating spinach gives you strength.” The boy lay pitifully to the side, looking like he had been forgotten. He smacked his lips a few times, but I pretended not to notice. It wasn’t until his nose turned red with anxiety and he was about to cry that I acted as if I had just discovered him: “Oh my! Why is there a baby Ultraman here? Tiga, can you share some of your leftover food with him? He needs to eat to grow strong like you.” Tiga: “Yes.” I smiled: “Alright, since Tiga said so, I’ll share a little with you. But you can’t eat too much, or you’ll grow bigger than Tiga, and he’ll be sad.” The boy nodded vigorously. Before my spoon even reached him, he opened his mouth and took a big bite. After eating several large mouthfuls, he even accused me with his eyes: “Why aren’t you giving me vegetables? Are you afraid I’ll surpass Tiga? Bad woman!” I turned to look at the man. His brow had relaxed, and he gave me a look of approval. 2 That night, I moved into the villa. The villa had three floors. I lived on the second floor with four-year-old Leo Vance, while Ethan Vance lived on the third floor by himself. The butler repeatedly instructed me: “You are absolutely not allowed to go up to the third floor. Before, there was a woman who didn’t know her place and sneaked up in the middle of the night to climb into Sir’s bed, and she was thrown out the window by Sir.” I nodded repeatedly, promising not to cross the line. Like father, like son; the billionaire’s son could sleep by himself at four years old, which saved me a lot of trouble. The next afternoon, when Ethan came home from work, I was at the front door feeding Leo. Leo had a dog leash around his neck, sitting side-by-side on the ground with a large Golden Retriever. One bite for the Golden Retriever, one bite for Leo. They were having a grand old time. Ethan’s face darkened on the spot. “Chloe, what do you think my son is!” His voice was fierce and cold, startling me. “Woof!” Leo spoke first, “Dad, Chloe and I are playing a role-playing game. Look, I’m eating way more than the Golden Retriever! Woof! Woof woof! Woof woof woof woof woof!” Ethan’s frown deepened, and he slowly turned to the butler. The butler’s expression was complicated. He hesitated before speaking: “Sir, although Miss Chloe’s method is a bit peculiar, the results are obvious! Before, we had to chase him to feed him, and the young master still wouldn’t eat. But this afternoon, the young master has already eaten two bowls of rice, swearing he must eat more than the Golden Retriever.” Ethan’s face was a mask of dark lines, his thin lips pressed tightly together. He coldly watched his son take big bites of rice, vegetables, and meat, and slurp down soup. He let out a breath: “Um, people and dogs still need to use separate utensils.” I immediately replied: “Don’t worry, Sir. Your dog is very clean; he hasn’t even touched the young master’s spoon.” Ethan was stunned, his face darkened further, and he turned and walked into the villa. Leo inhaled two and a half bowls of rice in one go. His stomach was bloated like a balloon, and he kept stretching his neck, hiccuping continuously. I had no choice but to take him and the Golden Retriever for a half-hour walk in the downstairs garden to help him digest before heading upstairs. What I didn’t know was that Ethan was standing at the second-floor window, watching us. Watching his son happily race the Golden Retriever, barking “woof woof woof,” the corners of his tightly pressed lips curled into a long-absent smile. The butler sighed repeatedly: “This Miss Chloe is truly unorthodox! The young master, who usually doesn’t like to eat, doesn’t like to talk, and doesn’t like to exercise, has changed so much in just one day. Sir, it seems we’ve found the right person this time.” When I went upstairs, Ethan was sitting on the sofa on the first floor, his long legs crossed, exuding an outstanding aura. I took the dog leash off Leo. Just as I was about to take him upstairs for a bath, Ethan called out to me: “Chloe, let’s talk.” “Oh, okay, Mr. Vance.” I handed the child over to the butler and sat properly across from Ethan. “You’re very good at interacting with children. Have you had children before?” “I haven’t had children, but I helped take care of my ex-husband’s sister’s child for two years.” At that time, my ex-husband’s family felt I was earning too little and ordered me to quit my job. After I quit, they felt I was lazy, so they fired his sister’s nanny and made me take care of the child. Ethan nodded: “Your profile says you are divorced?” “Yes.” “What was the reason?” “We were from different social classes.” Ethan gave me a deep look: “You saw the job posting yesterday. I want to find a mother for Leo. The child lacks a sense of security and only wants to stay at home. He refuses to go out, let alone go to kindergarten. I’m very busy with work, so I want to find a patient woman to be his mother.” “I will sign a prenuptial agreement with you and have our assets notarized.” I nodded: “I understand.” 3 That’s how these wealthy families operate. Although my previous marriage was based on free will and love. But because of the huge difference in status, we also signed a prenuptial agreement. So when the feelings faded and we divorced, I was left with nothing, even my wedding ring was taken back. For a top-tier wealthy family like Ethan’s, marriage was treated with even more caution. “Actually, just having a place to stay is enough for me. We don’t need to get the marriage certificate,” I said. Ethan insisted: “Getting the certificate is for Leo. I want to find him a long-term mother, and marriage is the most solid contract.” I nodded submissively: “Then we’ll do as you say.” “Don’t worry, I will give you an allowance of a hundred thousand a month for your expenses.” This was the issue I cared about the most, having been burned in this area before. “Mr. Vance, I’d like to ask, if we get divorced in the future, can I take the allowance you give me?” “Naturally, that money is given to you.” “That works.” “Regarding marital intimacy, I currently have no such needs. Therefore, you will still sleep on the second floor.” “Okay, I don’t have any either.” And just like that, on the third day after my divorce, I was married again. Just like my first marriage, there was no wedding ceremony. At dinner, the butler specially added a few more dishes. Ethan handed me a diamond ring. I waved my hand and said: “There’s no need.” Ethan said: “It’s for Leo.” “Oh, okay, thank you for the expense.” That night, just as I lay down, Leo pushed open my bedroom door and stood there, looking extremely conflicted. “What’s wrong?” I asked. He twisted his fingers, speaking awkwardly: “Chloe, can you read me a bedtime story?” “What?” I thought I heard wrong. Leo bit his lip: “I’ll ask my dad to give you a raise. Of course, if you don’t want to, forget it.” “Come here.” I beckoned to him. I lifted the covers, and the little boy happily crawled in. That night, after finishing the book, Leo fell asleep in my bed. Early the next morning, Ethan was very shocked to hear about it, and admiration appeared on his face once again. “Chloe, thank you for your hard work. I’ll add another fifty thousand to your monthly allowance.” “Mr. Vance, that’s too much!” It really was too much. After all, I contributed much more in my previous marriage, yet when we divorced, I was so poor I couldn’t even afford a motel. During the day, I took care of my ex-husband’s sister’s child. At night, I cooked for my ex-husband, fulfilled his physical needs, and then had to get up in the middle of the night to clean the house. Because my mother-in-law said: “Even though we don’t lack the money to hire a nanny, it doesn’t look right for Chloe to just sit around the house every day doing nothing.” Even so, during the divorce, the Davis family claimed I had enjoyed three years of luxury. “Mr. Vance, you’re giving me too much. I actually really like Leo; he’s cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and very kind. I’m just reading him a book, it’s no trouble at all.” As we were talking, I suddenly felt something warm grab my right hand. I looked down and saw Leo holding my hand, looking up at me. His little face was serious, but his large, black, grape-like eyes were watery and cute. I didn’t expect him to be moved so easily. Ethan said: “The women who came before only cared about pleasing me and ignored Leo’s feelings. Adding the fifty thousand is settled.” Unable to decline, I could only say thank you. From that day on, Leo and I were inseparable. Ethan was very busy, so most of the time, it was just the two of us at home. Until the day I needed to go to the hospital for a follow-up and to get my medication. The butler had explicitly told me that Leo couldn’t go out the main gate of the villa, or he would have a stress reaction. So I discussed it with him, asking him to wait for me at home and promising I’d be back as soon as possible. I didn’t expect Leo to hold onto my hand tightly, refusing to let go. He didn’t speak, just looked at me with those beautiful, melancholy eyes. The butler sighed: “He’s afraid you’ll leave and not want him anymore.” I patted his head: “I’m not leaving. I’ll come back and read with you as soon as I see the doctor. You play by yourself for a bit, okay?” While I was trying to explain to him, he took the lead and climbed into the car. The butler asked anxiously: “Young Master, are you also going to the hospital with Auntie Chloe?” Leo nodded silently. The butler instantly burst into tears: “The heavens have eyes! God bless the Vance family!” 4 The doctor said my depression had improved recently and encouraged me to continue staying positive and relaxed. Before I left, he prescribed a bunch of medication for me. Coming out of the consultation room, Leo asked awkwardly: “Chloe, are you sick?” “Yeah, Auntie didn’t eat properly, so she got sick. Leo, you must absolutely not be like Auntie!” “Will it hurt?” His large eyes were full of worry. “If it hurts, I can give you candy.” Saying that, he pulled a piece of chocolate from his pocket and placed it in my hand. “Eating candy makes you forget the pain. My dad told me that.” Looking at his innocent and concerned little face, my tears fell without warning. During my three years with the Davis family, whenever I cried, they said I was being dramatic, that my lower-class background made me unfit for the life of a young madam. When I said I had depression, Mark said I was being melodramatic, intentionally trying to annoy him and cause trouble. Even the little nephew I had carefully looked after for over two years called me an ugly monster who caused trouble during the divorce. But this cold-faced child was willing to give me his favorite candy to comfort me. Unable to hold back, I pulled Leo into my arms. He curled up quietly in my arms, a tiny little bundle, and patted my back with his chubby little hands. “Chloe, I will definitely eat well. When I grow up, I can protect you.” I broke into a smile through my tears: “Then you need to grow up fast!” When the two of us came out of the hospital with red eyes, a low-profile Maybach was parked at the entrance, and Ethan was leaning against it. His tall, straight figure and cold, noble face immediately attracted a lot of attention. I took Leo’s hand and walked over. “Mr. Vance, why are you here?” Ethan picked up his son, looking at his calm demeanor, his eyes reddened slightly, and his voice was a bit hoarse. “I heard from the butler that Leo went out with you. I was worried, so I came to check.” Leo leaned against Ethan’s chest, holding my hand. “Dad, as long as I’m with Chloe, you don’t need to worry.” Ethan gave me a deep look and nodded. “Dad knows.” That night, Ethan wanted to increase my allowance again. I was so terrified I repeatedly refused. He asked again: “Chloe, if you have any requests, you can mention them.” I hesitated for a long time before saying: “Could you help me find a used car? Something around five thousand dollars total, so it’s easier for me to get around.” Ethan said: “You can go to my garage and pick any car you want.” “The cheapest car in your garage is over two hundred thousand, I wouldn’t dare drive it.” Ethan nodded: “Okay.” Early the next morning, a five-thousand-dollar minivan was parked next to Ethan’s luxury cars. He also invited a psychologist, supposedly globally renowned, to the house. The diagnosis was the same as the hospital’s. Except the medication prescribed to me was entirely replaced with imported drugs I couldn’t bear to spend money on before. Before leaving, the doctor advised Ethan: “Mr. Vance, your wife needs her family’s companionship, don’t put too much pressure on her.” Ethan nodded: “I’ll remember that.” The next day, I drove Leo out to play. He lacked a sense of security before, and even a slight scare outside could make him hysterical, so he had been to very few places. Now, I wanted to show him more of the outside world. We went to the amusement park first, then to the wet market. The little tyke followed behind me, helping me carry a lively, flopping fish, his handsome little face drawn into a tight line. “Chloe! I don’t want to carry this!” “But my hands are too full, can you please help me?” I acted pitiful. Leo gritted his teeth, holding the fish as far away as possible, looking incredibly disgusted, but said: “Fine! I’ll only help you this one time!” “Don’t buy fish next time!” I chuckled secretly. But when we got to the parking lot, I heard a familiar voice. “Chloe?” 5 It was Mark, my ex-husband. He wore a crisp suit, his hair perfectly styled, looking very handsome and suave. Hearing this voice again after over a month, my heart involuntarily clenched. Mark and I got together in college, and after graduation, he overcame all obstacles to marry me. I had received a lot of neglect in my family of origin, and Mark swore at our wedding to protect me for life. But later, after he took over his family’s business, he increasingly felt that I was holding him back and couldn’t help his career. He started finding fault with everything. He made me quit my job, made me take care of the entire Davis family, made me babysit his sister’s child, and made me walk on eggshells around his family. I could endure all of this. After all, we married for love. I didn’t receive much love from my original family either. Now it was just a change of environment. But later, I caught Mark kissing a glamorous woman at a high-end club. I could no longer suppress my emotions. I cried, I made a scene, I demanded he swear he would never do it again. The entire Davis family thought I was making a mountain out of a molehill. They thought I didn’t appreciate what I had. “What successful man doesn’t have a woman on each arm?” Mark even said that the way I was acting was because he had spoiled me. From that day on, our cold war began. He stopped coming home and blocked all my contact information. My condition worsened. The doctor warned me not to endure any more stress. In utter despair, I asked for a divorce. Mark thought I was using marriage to threaten him. The Davis family told him not to let me get my way, otherwise, I would just push my luck. He immediately had a lawyer draft a divorce agreement, demanding I leave with nothing. I signed it without hesitation. Four years of dating, three years of marriage, abruptly ended. At this moment, while I was still immersed in the sorrow of the past, Mark had already walked towards me. He glanced at the groceries in my hand, then at Leo beside me, his gaze finally landing on the minivan next to me. A trace of contempt showed in his eyes. He smiled mockingly: “Chloe, a graduate of a top university like you running off to be someone’s nanny, what were you thinking?” “None of your business.” “Chloe, why don’t you understand? From the day you married into the Davis family, you no longer represented just yourself; you represented the face of the Davis family.” “Mark, we’re already divorced. I have absolutely nothing to do with your Davis family now.” The mockery in Mark’s eyes deepened: “Chloe, after a divorce, you’re my ex-wife. When people mention you, they will still bring me up. Can you please stop embarrassing me? Can you think before you act? Stop letting your emotions dictate your actions all the time.” I didn’t want to hear his words anymore. Even less did I want to let these words pollute Leo’s ears. I immediately took Leo’s hand to get in the car. Mark grabbed my hand: “Chloe, you’ve been out for so many days, it must have been tough, right? Are you missing the life of a young madam at the Davis family?” “If you admit your mistake and genuinely reform, I can consider remarrying you.” “Those women outside are just flings. The position of my wife, I haven’t considered anyone else for now, I’ve saved it for you.” “As long as you change your terrible temper and bow your head to apologize to my family, I—” I forcefully shook off his hand: “No need to save it. President Davis can give that prestigious position to someone else, I don’t want it!” 6 On the way back, another number called me. It was Mark’s little nephew, the child I had carefully looked after for two years. Although I blocked the Davis family, I only kept his number, feeling that the child himself wasn’t at fault, but rather the adults guiding him. Besides, after taking care of him for two years, I felt we had formed a bond. “Hello, Kevin.” I adjusted my emotions, making my voice sound as gentle as possible. “Chloe! Abandoned woman! My mom wants to talk to you!” Kevin yelled viciously. All my tenderness was choked in my throat. Then, Mark’s older sister took the phone: “Chloe, I heard from Mark that you went to be someone’s nanny?” “Can’t you look at the bigger picture? By doing this, aren’t you directly slapping Mark in the face, slapping the Davis family in the face? What will people say about our Davis family behind our backs?” “Chloe, no wonder I looked down on you. You really are, as always, degrading yourself, unfit for high society!” I hung up and blocked the number. Pulling the car over to the side of the road, I finally couldn’t control my emotions, leaned on the steering wheel, and sobbed out loud. I don’t know how much time passed, but the pent-up frustration I had accumulated for so long finally dissipated somewhat, and I wearily sat up straight. Yet I still felt a deep sense of powerlessness. “Chloe, here’s a tissue, wipe your face.” Leo suddenly spoke. I then remembered Leo was still sitting in his car seat in the back, and right now he was looking at me eagerly. A small hand offered a tissue. “I’m sorry, did I scare you?” I tried my best to curl the corners of my lips upwards. The butler had repeatedly told me Leo couldn’t handle stress, and I was afraid that scene just now would leave him with childhood trauma. But Leo slowly shook his head. “Chloe, I’m not scared. You can cry slowly, I’ll wait for you.” “It’s not embarrassing for adults to cry, I won’t laugh at you.” I was amused by his childish words. “Thank you, you little sweetie. Auntie has cried enough, and won’t cry again. Let’s go home!” That night, because I wasn’t in a good state, I returned to my room early. A knock sounded on the door. “Chloe, may I come in?” Ethan asked. I had just finished showering and my hair wasn’t dry yet. I carefully pulled my bathrobe tight, confirming nothing was exposed that shouldn’t be, before speaking: “Come in.” Ethan was wearing light gray loungewear, his dark hair falling loosely over his forehead, his tall figure looking somewhat more refined. He sat on the chair by my bed, glanced at my damp hair, unnaturally turned his head, and began to survey the guest room. “The clothes in the walk-in closet, how come I haven’t seen you wear them?” he asked. “Those clothes are too expensive, I’m not used to them.” Being married into the Davis family taught me a lesson. If it’s not your circle, don’t force your way in. Otherwise, when you get kicked out, you’ll look pathetic. Although I got a marriage certificate with Ethan, in essence, I was just a high-end nanny. What nanny wears limited-edition dresses? What’s the difference between that and putting lipstick on a pig? Ethan didn’t understand: “Are the styles not to your liking? If you don’t like them, I’ll have the designer come to the house to custom-make some for you.” I hurriedly waved my hand: “No need, no need. Mr. Vance, besides taking care of Leo every day, I have no occasion to wear clothes like that, I really don’t need them.” He fell silent for a few seconds, then asked: “I heard you ran into your ex-husband today. Your ex-husband’s last name is Davis? Is it the Davis family in medical devices?” I froze. I guessed Leo had told him. I pursed my lips and nodded: “It’s that Davis family, but it’s all in the past.” He saw I was unwilling to talk more about the Davis family, so he changed the subject: “Chloe, since you came to the house, Leo has been much happier. Thank you.” His thanks were very sincere, his dark eyes looking closely at me. I felt a bit uncomfortable: “You’ve given me so much money, this is what I should do.” “Chloe, you can make requests of me, I should be able to satisfy them all.” He added. “Mr. Vance, I really don’t need anything.” Ethan was silent for a moment again, his fingers subconsciously clenching, before he nodded and left. 7 Lately, Ethan had been coming home from work very early. Every night he would have dinner with Leo and me. After dinner, he even played family games with us for a while. As the richest man, this unusual behavior worried me. He wasn’t going bankrupt, was he? I wasn’t actually worried about him going bankrupt. I was worried my monthly salary of a hundred and fifty thousand would be gone. “Mr. Vance, why are you coming home so early lately? If you have business, go attend to it, I’m here for Leo.” Ethan picked up a red building block, his expression natural: “The doctor said you need the companionship of your family. Right now, Leo and I are your family, we have to shoulder this responsibility.” What kind of family are we? I thought to myself. But I didn’t dare say it. “Actually, having Leo accompany me is enough. The doctor said my condition is improving largely because of Leo.” Ethan looked up at me, that one glance containing an indescribable emotion. I didn’t think much of it, taking Leo’s hand: “Come on, Auntie will read with you, Dad still has to work.” Leo obediently let me lead him away, but his dark eyes glared at Ethan. I don’t know if it was my illusion, but in that glance, there seemed to be a bit of disappointment in his father’s lack of progress. “Chloe!” Ethan suddenly called out to me. “What’s wrong?” The tips of Ethan’s ears were actually a bit red, he coughed lightly: “Tomorrow night, I have to attend a banquet, and it’s required to bring a female companion. Can you go with me?” “Me?” I blinked. “Yes, you. Because time is tight, it’s a bit too late to find someone else. I can pay you an appearance fee,” he said. There’s still a whole day left, and with his status, he can’t find a female companion? But I didn’t probe further. After all, there was an appearance fee to be earned, and I’m not stupid. I nodded: “Of course. It’s just that I don’t really understand your social etiquette, will I embarrass you?” Although the Davis family was also wealthy, Mark never took me to high-end events like this. Because his mom said I was an empty vase unfit for public display: “You reek of a petty background, don’t go out and embarrass us!” Ethan’s brow relaxed: “You just need to stay by my side, don’t worry about the rest.” The butler chuckled: “Miss Chloe, you don’t need to understand social etiquette; our Sir is the social etiquette.” Okay, I had no objections to that. After all, Ethan was the man with the most authority in this city. The next afternoon, a styling team arrived at the house. I say “team” because there were five or six people, mostly foreigners. Some were responsible for clothes, some for makeup, some for hair. They gathered together discussing for a long time, looking very professional. It showed how big of a deal the billionaire’s household was, and I instantly became a bit nervous. Ethan came home from work to pick me up. The moment he saw me, a flash of amazement crossed his eyes. Leo held my hand, asking proudly: “Dad, look how pretty Chloe is!” Ethan corrected him: “Call her Auntie.” Leo turned his head with a “hmph,” ignoring him. I patted his head: “It’s okay, call me Chloe, it makes me feel young.”

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Just as I was about to go to sleep, someone tagged me in the class group chat: “Mr. White, why did I only get a 61 in Physics? I want to see my exam paper!” It was Chloe, a student from the Electronic Technology major. I immediately pulled up her exam to double-check. Her raw score was 37. Take the square root of 37, multiply by 10, and you get 61. 【Chloe, 61 is your final, adjusted score.】 【You purposely tanked my grade and now you’re acting all high and mighty? We’re college students, don’t play these games with us! I’m going straight to the academic affairs office to file a complaint!】 1 To make the final physics grades look less disastrous, I used the “saving formula” invented by the legendary physicist Qian Xuesen: take the square root of the raw score and multiply by 10. This ensures the majority of the class doesn’t fail. Chloe’s 61 came from exactly that. 【Chloe, if you have questions about your grade, you can come talk to me privately.】 【Talk privately? Mr. White, what do you have to say that you can’t say in front of everyone? Are you feeling guilty? Do you really think you can treat us students like this just because you have a little bit of power?】 I was getting annoyed and didn’t want to keep arguing with her, but she seemed relentless. 【A male teacher wanting to ‘talk privately’ with a female student late at night? Are you hinting at something, Mr. White?】 That accusation made me panic a bit. Several universities had major scandals regarding sexual harassment this year, causing massive public outrage. Being associated with something like that was social suicide. 【Chloe, please don’t misinterpret my words. I meant that if you have questions, you can come to my office tomorrow to discuss them.】 【Sorry, too late. Since you don’t want to explain, I’ll see you at the academic affairs office!】 Boosting students’ grades to help them pass is a common practice among professors, but it’s certainly not something you can broadcast publicly. The professors know it, the administration knows it, and there’s an unspoken agreement. But now that Chloe was demanding a formal review, this was definitely going to blow up. I worried about the unnecessary trouble it would cause, so I sent her a private message. 【Chloe, your grade was actually curved up. Don’t go asking for a review, or it’s going to look bad for everyone.】 The moment I sent it, Chloe took a screenshot of my message and posted it in the class group, tagging me again. 【Mr. White, are you threatening me? What do you mean it’s going to ‘look bad’?】 I was doomed. The more I tried to explain, the worse it looked. Thankfully, Mia, the class representative for physics, chimed in to help me out. 【The physics exam was pretty hard this time, so Mr. White gave everyone a reasonable curve. Let’s not make a big deal out of it.】 Seeing that I wasn’t replying but someone else was defending me, Chloe immediately aimed her fire at Mia. 【You got a 90, of course you’re taking his side because he gave you a huge curve! He lowered our grades just to make sure you guys got the ‘Excellent’ marks, didn’t he?】 Generally, universities have a rule capping the “Excellent” grade rate at 30%. Having all “Excellent” grades significantly boosts a student’s chances of getting a recommendation for graduate school. This was likely the real reason Chloe was so upset about her 61. Mia, probably speechless, fired back: 【I’m just stating the facts!】 【Stating the facts? Then tell me, what were you doing bringing a huge bag of stuff to Mr. White’s office a few days ago?】 That single sentence made the group chat explode. Students who failed or scored in the low 60s started getting restless, sending passive-aggressive emojis. 2 Seeing the group chat teetering on the edge of chaos, I immediately called the academic counselor and asked her to talk to a few of the students so we could sort it out in my office tomorrow. Meanwhile, Chloe was still riling everyone up in the chat. 【Looks like I got a 61 because I didn’t ‘show my appreciation’ to the teacher. Look at what a 90 gets you!】 Several students who scored in the 60s started joining the mob. 【Yeah, there’s obviously a reason she gets to be the class rep.】 【Thanks for speaking up, Chloe! I support an exam review!】 Soon, many others started a chain message showing their support. Mia was probably crying from the stress. She came from a poor, mountainous region, and her parents were farmers. When I found out they had some local produce they didn’t know how to sell, a few other professors and I pitched in to buy it to help her out. But this was something I couldn’t easily explain. Mia was a prideful girl, fiercely independent with top grades. I didn’t want to announce to the whole class that I was doing it to help a student from a low-income family. Just then, Chloe tagged me again: 【Mr. White, instead of fixing the problem, you’re trying to use the administration to silence us?】 【What’s going on?】 The chat immediately went into gossip mode. 【I just got a call from the counselor telling me to stop making a fuss. Am I the one making a fuss? I’m the victim here! But whatever, I recorded the call. See you all online!】 Crap. My intention was to keep the situation contained, but now I had dragged the counselor into the crossfire. Shortly after, Chloe posted a link to her social media account. 【Everyone, please like and share this to blow this up! Otherwise, certain teachers are just going to keep doing whatever they want!】 Watching Chloe’s actions, my head started pounding. 【Mr. White, this isn’t over. I’m filing a formal complaint tomorrow!】 According to university policy, a student just needs the administration’s approval to review their exam paper. Chloe could have completely resolved this by simply submitting a request. But she clearly wanted to make a huge scene and went straight to writing a formal whistleblower complaint. The next day, right after my morning classes, the administration called me in and handed me a document. 【To the Esteemed Leadership of Academic Affairs: My name is Chloe, a student in Electronic Technology Class 1702. I am officially reporting Professor Liam White for severe and intentional grade suppression on the recent Advanced Physics final exam. There is a massive discrepancy between my actual exam score and the final grade posted. Professor White refused to explain this discrepancy. Furthermore, late at night, he hinted that as a female student, I should ‘communicate privately’ with him. When I sternly refused, he resorted to personal threats. To uphold fairness and justice, I demand the following: First, the immediate public release of my original exam paper and the detailed grading rubric; Second, the formation of an independent third-party committee by the university to regrade ALL exam papers; Third, the termination of Professor Liam White!】 The manipulative phrasing sent a chill down my spine. Sitting across from the Director of Academic Affairs and the Vice President, I realized this situation was officially out of my control. “Professor White, what exactly is going on? This complaint didn’t just come to us; Chloe posted it all over social media. There are tens of thousands of people following the story online.” “Private late-night communication,” “personal threats,” plus a male teacher and a female student. In the current social climate, it was impossible for those buzzwords not to go viral. I had already seen her video the day before. Tens of thousands of comments were accusing me of abusing my power to exploit students. Some people had painted me as a corrupt, lecherous academic tyrant, when in reality, I was just a stressed-out junior faculty member. I didn’t dare hide anything. I immediately gave them a completely honest account of how I curved the students’ grades. The Director thought for a moment. “This method of curving grades to save students is something everyone uses, it’s just never discussed openly. However, since a student has formally reported it, we have to handle it seriously.” The Vice President nodded. “Right now, it’s not just about the grades. The more pressing issue is managing the public fallout. Try to accommodate the student’s demands as much as possible. Director Lee, arrange this and handle it quickly. I’ll have the PR department contact you. Once we have a result, the university committee will discuss it and issue an official statement.” As I was nearing the door, the Vice President called out one last instruction. “Of course, it would be best if you could resolve this with the student through mediation. After all, word getting out that we arbitrarily boost grades to ensure passing rates isn’t exactly honorable. It’s an academic incident and it damages the university’s reputation.” 3 The department quickly organized an internal mediation session. Chloe, seeing both the department heads and me present, remained incredibly arrogant. “Dean, my demands are simple. First, fire Professor White. Second, regrade the exams. Not just mine, but every single person’s exam must be thoroughly reviewed!” “Chloe, let’s put aside your first demand for now. If you have doubts about your own grade, the university is certainly willing to help you review it. But regarding other students’ grades…” “No! The university limits the percentage of ‘Excellent’ grades. If you only check mine, even if I actually scored a 90, Mia could just be curved up to a 100!” The Dean frowned. Director Lee, sitting next to him, coughed. “Miss, regrading all the exams is an enormous amount of work. Furthermore, individual grades are the privacy of other students. Without sufficient justification, it’s very difficult for us to do that.” Chloe rolled her eyes, stood up, and pulled out her phone. “Justification? Are tens of thousands of eyes watching this online not enough justification? Is Professor White admitting to curving grades in WeChat not justification? If other people got a 50-point boost and I got nothing, what’s the point of only checking my paper?” As Chloe got more worked up, Director Lee hastily stood up. “Okay, okay. Please don’t get excited. The exam papers are all still here. If you insist on checking them, we can do that. As for your claims about Professor White threatening or harassing you, I’ve reviewed the WeChat logs and it appears to be normal communication…” “Normal communication? If the university refuses to handle this, I’m calling the police right now!” Before any of us could react, Chloe dialed 911. The Dean and the Director watched this unfold, visibly annoyed. She was calling the cops in the middle of an internal mediation. I wasn’t going to say anything, but seeing Chloe’s relentless, scorched-earth attitude, I couldn’t hold back anymore. “Chloe, do you realize that if your regraded score is failing, you lose your eligibility for scholarships and honors this year? And you’ll permanently lose your eligibility for a grad school recommendation…” “Professor White, stop trying to scare me with that! I just want fairness and justice! I can’t let you teachers do whatever you want!” The absolute hard requirement for a grad school recommendation at our university is zero failed classes. Even if every other grade is an A, if you have one fail, you’re out. If you don’t fail, your extracurriculars, research, and competitions can boost your chances. But a single failure disqualifies you from recommendations, honors, and scholarships entirely. Chloe was currently under review for a scholarship this year. All this fighting was just to bump her ranking up slightly for the grad school recommendation list. If her actual grade was published, both her grad school hopes and this year’s scholarship would vanish. You can’t save someone who’s determined to jump off a cliff. I decided to keep my mouth shut. 4 Before long, a police cruiser pulled up outside the academic building. A crowd of students gathered, and rumors immediately started flying that someone was going to jump off the building because they failed a class, drawing an even larger crowd. The police officers looked at the “evidence” Chloe provided with a mix of exasperation and disbelief. “We can’t handle the grading review; that’s an internal university matter. As for the harassment and threats… we’ve looked at the chat logs, and it constitutes normal communication.” “Telling me to ‘communicate privately’ in the middle of the night isn’t harassment? Telling a female student to secretly meet a male teacher late at night, isn’t that disgusting?” “Miss, you have to look at the context. You asked a question, and the teacher gave a single reply regarding your question. Furthermore, he didn’t tell you to come find him in the middle of the night!” “Fine. Then what did he mean when he privately messaged me saying it’s going to ‘look bad for everyone’? Is he saying he’s going to make me look bad if I ask for a review? If that’s not a threat, what is?” I was so angry I stood up to explain, but the officer waved me off. “The teacher said the grades were adjusted. If this is made public, everyone will be embarrassed. ‘Look bad’ means exactly that—it’s an embarrassment. It doesn’t mean he’s going to attack you! I’m an outsider and I understand that perfectly. Are you telling me a college student doesn’t?” Chloe wasn’t buying it and started questioning the police. “Why are you just trying to sweep this under the rug? Do you only take things seriously when someone actually dies?” The officers’ eyes went wide. “Alright, then both of you are coming down to the station to give official statements!” “I didn’t do anything wrong, it’s his problem! Why should I go? Do you have any sense of logic?” The officers were completely stunned by Chloe’s thought process. “This is standard police procedure! Both the person reporting the crime and the involved party need to give statements!” “That’s so annoying. Fine, I’m not reporting it anymore!” The two officers were instantly furious and began reprimanding her. “Miss, calling the police is a very serious matter, and you’re treating it like a joke?” “Why are you yelling at me? Is this how you serve the public?” At this point, not only was my jaw on the floor, but the university administrators were also staring in shock. “Miss, I am now officially summoning you to the police station. Please come with us!” Hearing this, Chloe aggressively shoved the officer. “What are you doing?!” Seeing the situation escalating, the Dean quickly stepped in to block the officers. “Officers, please, I’m so sorry. She’s just a student, she’s young and doesn’t know any better. We will definitely strengthen our disciplinary education…” 5 The Dean spent a long time pleading before the officers finally agreed not to press charges. As they left, they kept shaking their heads, muttering about “what’s wrong with college students these days.” I thought that after experiencing that, Chloe would calm down a bit. But perhaps she hadn’t fully vented her anger at the police, because she immediately turned her sights back on us. “Teachers, if you want to keep protecting this unethical professor and refuse to regrade everyone’s exams, I will continue exposing this to the media!” The Dean was losing his patience. “Chloe, do you know what the most important prerequisite is for a grad school recommendation at this university?” “I know. No failed classes!” “Then have you ever considered what the consequences will be if your regraded physics score is a failing grade?” The Dean’s words made Chloe freeze for a second, but she quickly recovered. “Dean, you don’t need to try and scare me with that. I know what my actual score is!” The Dean, completely exasperated, slammed his hand on the table. “What exactly will it take for you to drop this? Why are you so dead-set on creating a media circus?” Seeing the Dean get angry only made Chloe more smug. “If the university can truly be fair and transparent, what are you afraid of being posted online? If you’re afraid, it means the university is hiding something!” Every single teacher in the room was left speechless. Watching Chloe’s smug, fearless demeanor, I was practically shaking with anger. “Dean, no matter what, my unauthorized adjustment of the students’ grades counts as an academic incident. You can discipline me however you see fit. As for Chloe’s demand to regrade all the exams, I support it! And regarding the incident with Mia bringing things to my office, the entire physics department knows exactly what happened. You can just go ask them. I also have the transfer records for the payment we made to her.” “Who knows if you just faked those transfer records later!” Chloe snapped. “Look for yourself!” I slammed my phone with the transfer records down in front of her. “Professor White, calm down.” The Dean placated me, then turned back to Chloe: “Is there truly no room for mediation?” Chloe pretended to think about it. “Actually, it’s not impossible to mediate…” Seeing a sign she might yield, the Dean immediately pressed: “Tell us, what are your conditions?” “Give me a guaranteed spot for the grad school recommendation program!” 6 That single sentence plunged the entire room into dead silence. I let out a cold laugh. “So this is the ‘fairness’ you’ve been demanding? In your eyes, ‘fairness’ is just a bargaining chip?” “It’s not like there isn’t a precedent. Are there really that few reports of this kind of thing online?” I finally understood. From the moment she sent that first WeChat message, her goal was to blow this up as much as possible, and this was her ultimate endgame. Her logic was actually: Some universities give students grad school spots to silence online PR disasters, so why can’t my university do the same? “Absolutely not! Grad school recommendations are evaluated based on a comprehensive review of grades, research capabilities, competition results, and moral character. They are not bargaining chips for negotiation.” The Dean immediately rejected Chloe’s proposal. I wasn’t going to hold back anymore either. “Dean, let’s just follow Chloe’s demands and regrade every single student’s physics exam. I am willing to accept any punishment from the university!” The Dean’s face was dark. “Very well. I will report this to the university leadership immediately. Pending the investigation, Professor White is suspended from all teaching and research duties, and is disqualified from all upcoming promotion and honors evaluations!” With that, he turned and left without looking back. I understood. This was an academic incident, and I could accept this level of discipline. Chloe hadn’t expected the Dean to refuse so flatly. But hearing that my teaching, research, promotions, and honors were all suspended, she looked at me with smug satisfaction. “Chloe, have you ever considered what you’ll do if your grade really isn’t a 61?” “Impossible. I checked my answers against the key. Besides, students who are worse than me scored in the 70s. How could I possibly only have a 61?” Seeing her absolute confidence, I sighed. “But what if? What if your grade is a fail? Your future honors, grad school recommendations, and scholarships will all be gone!” Chloe sneered. “Professor White, you can’t even save yourself right now. Who are you trying to scare?” 7 Soon, the university agreed to regrade everyone’s physics exams. To ensure fairness, in addition to the professors from the physics department, they specifically invited several PhD students from the graduate school to jointly review all the exams. Furthermore, the university’s PR department publicly promised that, with the students’ consent, they would release the original exams for public review. Chloe was incredibly smug, feeling that the university had completely capitulated to her demands. She figured the moment they found an issue, she would demand I be fired. Of course, she likely also planned to use it as further leverage to negotiate for that grad school recommendation spot. Seeing the official notice from the university, the students who had scored in the 60s and joined the mob in the group chat started messaging me privately. “Professor White, we were misled by Chloe. She said we could fight for higher grades, and that the university would try to quietly settle this. She even said we might get grad school spots. Could you… maybe not regrade our papers?” Looking at these students, I knew exactly how they had been dragged into this. But they had also fanned the flames. If even one of them had spoken up for me, it wouldn’t have escalated to this point. They weren’t innocent. “I’m sorry, but this regrading is organized by the university. I have no power over it. You’ll have to talk to the administration.” Chloe had completely obliterated the option of “private communication.” I wouldn’t do it, and the university certainly wouldn’t do it. Who knew if these students would just turn around and report us again after the communication? The university also spoke with me. They told me to prepare myself: if I truly had maliciously suppressed grades targeting specific students, the university wouldn’t be able to protect me. I had nothing to prepare for. My conscience was clear, and all the exams could stand up to scrutiny. Chloe continued to vocalize her grievances on social media. Her targets were no longer just me; they now included the “corrupt university protecting an unethical teacher,” the “useless police trying to sweep it under the rug,” and the “incompetent administration.” Driven by her relentless narrative, more and more people started following the story. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that public opinion is a double-edged sword. However many people supported her now, even more would turn around and cyberbully her once the results came out. Everything she was doing now was just laying the groundwork for her own future destruction. After a week, all the exams had been reviewed by multiple different people, and the final results were submitted to the academic affairs office. To ensure absolute accuracy, the office randomly selected several exams and sent them to an external university for a final audit. Once everything was fully prepared, the university published the official handling of the incident on its website. 8 Because Chloe filed a formal complaint, the academic affairs office had to give her an official response. Before the public announcement, Chloe and I were called into the office. Director Lee pulled out Chloe’s exam, along with the results of the cross-audit by the two external professors, and handed them to her. “Chloe, this is your exam paper. It shows Professor White’s original grading, as well as the cross-audit by two other professors. Your final, actual score is a 37!” Hearing that score, Chloe froze in place, seemingly completely unable to believe it. She frantically flipped through her exam, muttering to herself, “Impossible, impossible, I checked the answer key, it should be at least a 70…” “Actually, according to university policy, a score between 40 and 60 allows you to take a makeup exam. However, a score below 40 requires you to retake the entire course. You will need to pay the retake fee, and since Physics is only offered in the Fall semester, you will have to wait an entire year!” I suspected the academic affairs office did that on purpose. Chloe hadn’t even processed the shock of the 37 before they delivered another fatal blow. Hearing that she didn’t even have the chance for a makeup exam, her face turned stark white. Of course, whether it was a makeup exam or a full retake, the difference for her wasn’t that big. Either way, her eligibility for grad school recommendations, honors, and scholarships were completely wiped out. “What about Mia? What about everyone else? Are you guys targeting me?!” Chloe frantically threw her exam paper on the floor and rushed at Director Lee. But Director Lee remained completely calm. “Out of 50 students, 45 had originally ‘passed.’ But after the regrade, the raw scores of 17 of those students were actually below 60. Fortunately, the majority of them scored above a 40, so they only need to take the makeup exam next semester.” Chloe stood frozen. In that moment, she seemed to finally realize that the grad school recommendation she had obsessed over was permanently out of reach. The scholarship she was supposed to get this year had vanished, and any hope for honors next semester was dead. More importantly, how was she going to face the 16 classmates she had dragged down with her, and the hundreds of thousands of netizens who had supported her crusade? “I don’t believe it, I need to see for myself!” She crawled on the floor, picking up the pages of the exam she had thrown, organizing them, and checking every single question one by one. But how could three different physics professors all make a mistake?

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During the year my boyfriend was at his absolute poorest, I broke up with him. Later, he achieved success and fame, and used every means possible to marry me. Everyone said I was the love of his life, his most cherished wife. Until later, when he brought a different woman home every night, breaking my heart, turning me into a laughingstock in our circle. And I neither cried nor made a scene, quietly staying in the study, never disturbing his affairs. He went mad with anger, kissing my lips fiercely, asking in a low voice: “Aren’t you jealous?” He didn’t know I was sick. Every day he sought his crazy revenge on me, I was silently counting down how many days I had left to live. 1. In the third year of my marriage to Arthur, he took a young, beautiful college student as his mistress. The girl’s name was Mia, she looked pure and cute, exactly the type Arthur liked a lot. Arthur kept her for over half a year. Besides me, she was the woman Arthur kept by his side the longest. Friends advised me to be careful. They all said Arthur seemed to have developed real feelings for Mia. The first time I met Mia was on my birthday. I had been having nosebleeds since morning. I went to the hospital for a checkup, and the doctor said I would probably only live until next spring. I nodded gently and whispered, it’s okay. I wasn’t afraid of dying, but I was a little afraid of pain. I heard there was a very expensive medicine that could make me live a bit more comfortably. There wasn’t enough money in my bank account, so I went to Arthur’s company to find him. I happened to run into Mia there; she had just graduated and was working as Arthur’s secretary. Arthur was in a meeting, so I sat outside waiting. Mia kept staring at me, secretly whispering to the colleagues around her: “Is that the boss’s wife? She’s so ugly, all dried up, looking like she’s about to die.” “You all say I look like her, where’s the resemblance? I’m way prettier than her.” The bright glass reflected my image: no makeup, bundled in a bulky down jacket. I really wasn’t pretty, and I really was about to die. A colleague pulled Mia back and whispered, “That’s just because she isn’t dressed up. If she put on some makeup, ten of you combined wouldn’t be as pretty as her.” “Also, don’t provoke her just because the boss spoils you.” “You don’t know how much the boss loves her. If you make her unhappy, be careful the boss doesn’t kill you.” 2. Hearing that Arthur loved me very much, Mia pouted unconvinced and rolled her eyes at me. She brought me a cup of tea, asking in a soft, delicate voice: “Chloe, how could the boss bear to make you wait this long?” “So strange. Before, whenever I came to see him, no matter how busy he was, he would always keep me company first. He said I was the most important.” “I thought he was this considerate to other women too…” She curved her eyes and smiled sweetly; the way she smiled looked very much like me when I was younger. I thought about it, Arthur and Mia were indeed different. He had countless mistresses, using them as tools to spite me, bringing a different woman home every night, testing my reaction time and time again. Arthur never tangled with them for long, maybe a day or two, maybe a couple of weeks, he always got bored quickly. Only Mia, Arthur kept her on the outside, accompanying her to dinner, shopping, and movies. They were like an ordinary, loving couple. Arthur gave her money, and also gave her love. I looked at Mia, smiled at her, and gently asked: “Since you are so important, how can Arthur bear to make you a shameful mistress?” “You should talk him into divorcing me sooner and marrying you.” Mia’s face instantly changed. Angered out of embarrassment, she cursed me in a low voice: “The unloved one is the mistress, you are the redundant one!” “Aren’t you just relying on having met Mr. Vance a few years earlier than me? But look at you now, old and ugly, what do you have to compete with me…” Her colleague was probably afraid I would get angry, and quickly came over to grab her arm, trying to pull her away. Actually, I was fine with it. I had long ago promised myself that I wouldn’t get angry for Arthur, nor would I be sad for him. Even less would I fight with other women out of jealousy over him. He wasn’t worth it. 3. Mia was yanked back by someone, lost her balance, and fell to the ground. The teacup in her hand shattered, leaving a deep gash on her palm, blood spilling all over the floor. Through the glass of the conference room, Arthur saw the injured Mia. With everyone watching, he threw down the documents in his hand, pushed the door open, walked over, and scooped Mia into his arms. He cursed coldly: “Who the fuck hurt her?” The well-meaning colleague backed away two steps, pale with fear. I sneered and said: “I did it, and she deserved it.” Mia glared at me through her tears, shouting loudly: “Yes, I deserved it! Who asked me to fall in love with someone I shouldn’t have, getting cursed at as a homewrecker and a mistress.” “But Mr. Vance, as long as you love me too, I want to stay by your side for the rest of my life. No one can separate us.” She cried so adorably, even saying such absurd things seemed brave and resolute. Arthur was amused by her, raised his hand to wipe away her tears, coaxing her: “Be good, you’ve cried so much you look like a little kitten.” He really treated her differently. I lowered my eyelids, too lazy to look anymore, and only said to Arthur: “For my birthday this year, I want fifty thousand.” It sounds funny, we were husband and wife, yet we didn’t even have each other’s contact information. Except for asking for money, I never sought him out on my own. Before we got married, we had an agreement. He wanted my person, I wanted his money. Arthur always hated that I was a gold digger. But in the past, whenever I asked, no matter how much money, he would give it to me, always more, never less. Only this once, he looked at me with a smile, smiled very coldly, and said slowly: “You want money, sure.” “But, Chloe, lower your noble head first and say sorry to Mia.” Arthur wanted to use two hundred thousand to buy my pride and buy an apology for Mia. This was the first time he humiliated me with money for another woman. I slowly clenched my fists and smiled softly. Enduring the sudden surge of pain in my body, I turned and walked away. The money, I don’t want it anymore. I’m suddenly very curious, Arthur. If one day, you knew this money could have let me live a little longer, knew how much I suffered before I died. What expression would you have? 4. I went home alone, curled up painfully under the covers, sweating cold sweat from the pain. Taking some sleeping pills, I lied to myself. Once I fall asleep, it won’t hurt anymore. In a groggy state, I had a dream. I dreamt of when I was twenty, Arthur was very poor, but he loved me very much. That year on my birthday, passing by a cafe, I saw a couple sitting by the glass window. The girl held a pristine white little cake in her hand, looking very delicate, very delicious, and also very expensive. I still remember, it was snowing heavily that day. I held a small pile of snow, smiled at Arthur, and asked him: “Arthur, look at this pile of snow, does it look like a cake?” Arthur gritted his teeth, reached out to hug me tightly, not letting me see his secretly reddened eyes. Three days later, he appeared downstairs at my dorm holding a large cake. Buying a whole cake cost $35. And he stood on the wind-blown, snowy street, handing out three thousand flyers, just to earn $15. I looked at the chilblains on his fingers and cried uselessly. Looking up at him, I yelled: “Arthur, your hands can be used for reading, for writing, but you ruin them just to make me happy.” I said, I was completely unworthy of such an expensive cake… Arthur frowned and immediately refuted me. He said: “Chloe, you are the best girl in the world. You deserve all the good things in this world.” That day, I cried while eating the whole cake. It’s been a long time, I can’t even remember its taste anymore. I only know that since that day, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a cake that tasted better than it. I slept for a long time. Groggily, I heard my phone ringing. Answering the call, I heard Arthur calling me from the other end: “Chloe.” I smiled softly and called him sweetly: “Arthur, it’s snowing heavily, I want to eat cake.” Without waiting for him to speak, I rolled over and fell back into a deep sleep. 5. I slept all the way until midnight when I was woken up by hunger. I went to the living room to find something to eat, only to discover Arthur had actually come back. He had bought a large house for Mia. They lived there together. Mia would cook for him, make him happy, and wait for him to come home. Arthur was doing very well, he hadn’t come home in a long time. He leaned lazily against the floor-to-ceiling window, a cigarette in his mouth, staring intently at me. With downcast eyes, I walked past him, only to be grabbed by him. He frowned, asking me softly: “How did you lose so much weight?” His tone was gentle, as if he still loved me very much. I froze for a moment, shook off his hand hard, and cursed him: “Arthur, are you crazy?” He looked at his empty hand, his face slowly turning cold. When I walked over to the dining table and saw a cake covered in candles, I realized that the phone call hadn’t been a dream. I said I wanted to eat cake, and Arthur went and bought it. What was this? Suing for peace? But I was already dying. I didn’t need a cake anymore, and I didn’t need Arthur anymore. I grabbed the cake and threw it into the trash can. Arthur gritted his back teeth, reached out, and pinned me against the wall. He cursed viciously: “Chloe, are you fucking playing me?” I smiled and admitted it: “Arthur, I am playing you, so what?” “I say I want cake, and you go buy cake. Why are you still as pathetic as before?” I deliberately stabbed at his heart, watching Arthur’s face turn completely cold. He ruthlessly put out his cigarette, dragged me into the bedroom, and threw me onto the bed. Arthur was probably mad with anger. He acted like an out-of-control beast, roughly tearing open my nightgown. I was scared, clenching my fists to hit him: “Arthur, you bastard! Don’t touch me! You disgust me!” He pinned my legs down to stop me from struggling, lowered his head, and bit my neck, the pain bringing tears to my eyes. He pressed against my ear and cursed me: “Chloe, would it kill you to soften up to me?” “Do you know how many years I’ve waited for you to coax me?” “Do you know how happy I was when you told me you wanted cake?” “And then you fucking treat me like a fool?” He looked up, staring at me with bloodshot eyes. I held back my tears and glared back. In the dim room, neither of us spoke, neither willing to admit defeat first. Arthur leaned down, getting closer and closer to me. Just as he was about to kiss my lips, his phone suddenly rang. It was Mia calling. Arthur paused but still answered it. I heard Mia crying and asking him: “Mr. Vance, are you really not wanting me anymore because of Chloe? You clearly like me.” “I’m at a bar right now, I drank a lot, and a man is harassing me…” “I’m so scared. Come pick me up and take me home quickly, okay?” Arthur didn’t speak. He just stared at me, smiling coldly, and softly commanded me: “Chloe, beg me.” “Beg me to stay. As long as you beg me, I won’t go.” He seemed to have forgotten. A long time ago, I had also put down my pride and begged him: “Arthur, can we have a calm and peaceful talk?” “Can we stop fighting?” “Can we just be good to each other?” “Can you treat me a little better?” That day, Arthur stared at me coldly, smiled, and said: “Chloe, you don’t deserve it.” Those three words had always pierced my heart. Until today, I could finally return them verbatim. I grabbed his collar, enunciating each word clearly: “Arthur, you don’t deserve it.” Arthur was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly. He brought the phone to his ear and told Mia: “Wait for me to take you home.” Without sparing me another glance, he got up, slammed the door, and left. 6. The next day, photos of Arthur getting into a fight with another man over Mia spread through our circle. This was the first time his affairs with other women became widely known. Several reporters were waiting at my door. When I went out, they harassed me with endless questions. Arthur’s company had grown rapidly in recent years, gaining a lot of influence in Capitol City circles. He was young, wealthy, and handsome, very famous online, and frequently trended. A girl asked me: “Mrs. Vance, what do you have to say about the incident between Mr. Vance and Mia?” I kept walking, not even turning my head as I asked her back: “One is a man who cheated during his marriage, and the other is a woman who knowingly became a mistress. What do you expect me to say?” The girl chased after me, continuing to ask: “But I heard that when Mr. Vance was at his poorest, you dumped him for money.” “Later, when he became successful, you emotionally blackmailed him and used every means to marry him…” “Now that Mr. Vance has found true love, and he and Mia are a perfect match, it’s you who insists on occupying the position of Mrs. Vance, and you even call her a mistress.” “Don’t you think you’re bullying people?” I stopped, looked back with a sneer, and grabbed the press badge on the girl’s chest. She was an intern reporter, and the back of her badge holder also had a student ID from South Mountain University. I calmly asked her: “You’re Mia’s friend, right?” “Back then, Arthur used unscrupulous means to marry me. Did you really think I wanted to marry him?” “Everyone in our circle knows this. Are you telling me you don’t? Or did you come here specifically to sling mud at me just to help your little friend take my place?” Her expression changed. She snatched her badge back nervously and defended herself righteously: “I am her friend, but I am a reporter, and everything I say is objective and fair.” “If you really didn’t want to marry Mr. Vance, and now he loves someone else, why don’t you divorce him?” I smiled, just about to speak, when my nose suddenly started bleeding again, making me look a mess. Someone laughed at me, saying: “Mrs. Vance says she doesn’t care and was forced to marry Mr. Vance, so why are you so anxious and angry that your nose is bleeding?” I reached out a fingertip and wiped away the blood that had fallen on my lip. I said calmly: “I’m not angry, I’m just sick. I’m dying. I’ve been getting nosebleeds a lot lately.” The crowd suddenly went quiet, and everyone stopped laughing. Only that girl continued: “Stop pretending. You get a nosebleed and start playing sick and playing the victim.” “I really can’t stand women like you. Fighting over a man all day, threatening suicide, using all sorts of shameless tricks. You’re a disgrace to women.” After saying that, she tossed her ponytail and walked away. Her back, just like Mia’s, was infuriating. 7. The video of me being surrounded and interviewed by reporters quickly started trending. Arthur responded directly. He said: “I will never get a divorce. Stop bothering my wife.” That afternoon, Mia’s reporter friend was fired. Many netizens cursed me: “This woman is so disgusting. If she doesn’t want to be married, then don’t be. Acting like someone held a knife to her neck to force her, pretending to have no choice.” “She even claims to be Boss Vance’s one true love. I think she’s just a manipulative ‘white lotus’.” “Boss Vance defends her so much, I’m getting jealous…” “And this woman dumped CEO Vance for money in the past, and now married him for money.” “Her saying she doesn’t want to is just playing hard to get, being a hypocrite.” Suddenly, a netizen interjected: “Keep your mouths clean. If you don’t know the truth, then shut the fuck up.” Everyone started chasing him, asking, what is the truth? The truth, when told, is actually quite cliché. That year, my mom was diagnosed with a terminal illness. The doctor said the genetic probability of this disease was very high. Not only could I be struck by serious illness at any time, but if I married and had children, my kids would probably also face the risk of getting sick. The day my mom got sick, she bled a whole basin of nosebleeds. She lost too much blood and was in a coma for three days. After she woke up, she told me to break up with Arthur. I stared at her blankly, whispering: “Mom, he won’t despise me.” It was as if I was saying it for my mom to hear, but also for myself. My mom gently held my hand, nodded, and said: “Mom knows, he’s a good boy.” She paused, smiling as she said: “You two have been dating since high school. He rides his bike to wait for you at the alley entrance every morning, did you think I didn’t know?” “Once I saw him buy a meat bun for your breakfast.” “He only had a dollar twenty in his pocket. The meat bun cost a dollar, and with the remaining twenty cents, he bought two cups of soy milk. One for him, one for you.” “You were so greedy and clueless then. He lied and said he had already eaten, and you believed him, happily eating the meat bun.” “Little Arthur was so pitiful back then. His parents divorced, no one wanted him, and they only gave him a tiny bit of living expenses every month. He lived like an orphan.” “A dollar twenty was probably his living expenses for the whole day. He didn’t even think about it, just spent it all on you.” “At the time, I felt my daughter was so lucky to have found such a good boy.” “He’s a good student, a good person, good in every way.” “It’s precisely because he’s so good that Mom’s heart aches for him.” That year, Arthur’s grandmother also fell ill and was hospitalized. He grew up with his grandmother and they were very close. To pay for his grandmother’s medical treatment, he was overwhelmed with busyness every day. My mom said Arthur’s wings were too thin. Carrying his grandmother, and then carrying me, he wouldn’t be able to fly. I pinched my palms, and after a long time, my voice trembling, I managed to say: “Mom… I can’t bear to let him go.” One sentence of “can’t bear to let go”, and tears fell like rain. 8. Things from ten years ago still make my heart ache when I think of them now. I bought persimmons, which were my mom’s favorite, preparing to go to the cemetery to see her one last time. I’m going to die soon, I need to tell her, and then, I won’t come again. Before going, I went to Arthur’s company first to get something from him. When my mom was still alive, she always liked Arthur. That year, before she got sick, Arthur and I still deeply loved each other. My mom went to the temple to pray and got two lucky dolls. Inside a boy lucky doll was Arthur’s birthdate, and inside a girl lucky doll was my birthdate. To protect our safety, health, and ensure that the two people in love could be together forever. My mom told me to give the dolls to Arthur. Arthur didn’t want his doll, insisting on taking mine. He said the girl doll with the red cheeks looked just like me, ugly-cute. He said looking at her was like looking at me. He liked looking at me. That lucky doll was still sitting on Arthur’s office desk to this day. I was afraid that after I died, Arthur would throw it away like trash. That was bought for me by my mom, I had to bring it back, put it in front of her tombstone, and let it keep her company for me. When I arrived at the company, Arthur was watching my video from this morning. In the video, I had a bloody nose and was saying I was dying. Seeing me, he tossed his phone aside, saying nothing, asking nothing. I looked at his desk; the spot where the lucky doll used to be was empty. Frowning, I asked him: “Where’s my lucky doll?” 9. Mia chased after me. Hearing me ask for the item, she said with a smile: “A couple of days ago I pricked my finger, and Mr. Vance felt very bad. He said he couldn’t bear to see me hurt, so he gave me that lucky doll.” “He also said that doll looks a lot like me, kind of clumsy, but he really likes it.” “Chloe, do you think he’s talking nonsense? I’m so pretty, I don’t look like that ugly doll at all…” I clenched my fists fiercely, glaring at Arthur, demanding: “What right do you have to give my things to someone else?” “That’s what my mom prayed for for me. What right do you have to give it to someone else!” He smiled, acting like a bastard to anger me: “That lucky doll was yours? Sorry, I forgot. I thought it was just some worthless junk…” Before he could finish, I picked up the ashtray on the desk and threw it at him. Arthur didn’t dodge. The crystal ashtray hit his forehead, drawing blood. Mia screamed and scolded me: “Are you crazy? Hitting someone over a broken doll!” She turned and ran out, returning quickly, clutching my lucky doll in her hand. She threw the doll at me, yelling: “Your thing, have it back!” “It’s a cheap piece of junk that no one cares about even if it’s thrown away. Did you think I’d covet it?” “Stop acting crazy, take your things and get out!” The ceramic lucky doll fell to the floor, shattering into pieces. I saw my name and my birthdate broken into several pieces, just like my life, probably never to be repaired. I suddenly felt that I really was going to die. But I didn’t want to die yet, I hadn’t seen my mom yet. I was afraid that if she didn’t see me, she would keep waiting for me. My head buzzed. I raised my hand and slapped Mia, screaming like a madwoman: “That’s my mom’s thing! It hurts me! My heart hurts!” Before I could finish, my tears fell. I reached out to grab Mia, but Arthur grabbed my wrist and stopped me. My eyes burned. Staring fixedly at him, crying and crying, I started to laugh. I scolded him: “You know I’m dying, and you still bully me. Arthur, you really are a piece of work.” He raised his hand to wipe away my tears, asking in return: “First the cake, now you’re dying. Chloe, is playing me for a fool really that fun for you?” “You don’t need to cry for me to see, I won’t feel sorry for you anymore…” Before he could finish his sentence, a drop of blood suddenly fell, landing on the back of his hand. I got a nosebleed again. This time, it was worse than before. My legs went weak, my whole body aching so much I couldn’t stand, and I fell straight down. Arthur caught me, shouting: “Call an ambulance!” He was powerless, only able to watch as my blood flowed more and more, staining his white shirt red.

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As the college entrance exams approached, my crush, to encourage me to study hard, made a deal. For every problem I solved correctly, I’d get a kiss. Later, my lips were red and swollen, and his buddies noticed. Facing the crowd’s teasing, his expression remained flat: “We’ll cut it off after the exams.” Later, he asked me where I wanted to go for college. I thought about it, named a random city, and deleted all his contact info. When we met again in college, he pinned me fiercely against a corner wall. “You said you were going to Capitol City, but then what?” “Were you playing me?” 01 “I can’t do it!” Late at night, in the school hallway. Ethan Vance, wearing a pristine white uniform, flipped through the past three years’ college entrance exam papers with his long fingers. His expression was aloof, yet carried an inexplicable laziness. It made my heart flutter again; I liked him so much. I pulled at the sleeve of his uniform: “Hey, I said I’m done!” Ethan looked over, the corner of his mouth curling up lazily. “Yeah.” “I can’t do… mhm…” My lips were blocked by the boy. A clean, pleasant minty scent filled my nose. My heart pounded violently. Just when I was about to suffocate— The boy let me go, his thumb brushing across my lips, saying flatly: “Next time you can’t solve the final problem, sit here.” He pointed to his lap. My eyes lit up instantly! “I definitely will!” 02 The deal with Ethan originated from his parents and mine. We were childhood friends who grew up together. After my eighteenth birthday, even his parents started worrying about my studies. But I was mischievous by nature. Faced with his cold, boring tutoring, I would just rub my foot against his clean white sneakers. And say lazily: “Ethan, I’m so tired, I don’t want to study.” Ethan looked at me and grabbed my offending ankle. His tone as cold as ever: “What do you want?” I had liked Ethan for a whole ten years. He always had that lukewarm attitude. He indulged me like a neighborhood little sister. But that was it. After my eighteenth birthday, I suddenly developed a sense of “adult” rebellion. For the first time, I took control. I stood right up from the desk. And leaned close to him. I lightly caressed his pinky finger with my thumb. Once, twice… Until he couldn’t take it anymore and pulled me down. We looked at each other at eye level. I smiled, still with that careless, willful look: “If I solve one problem, Ethan will give me a kiss, okay?” 03 To be honest, when I made that request. My heart was in my throat. But I didn’t expect Ethan to actually agree. His handsome, regular features showed no emotion. He just nodded. “Fine, as long as it gets you to finish the work.” At that moment, my immense joy was slightly dampened. Ethan might have a cold personality, but he always listened to his parents. Agreeing to my absurd request— Was probably just for their sake. But, I had always been careless. As long as I got to kiss him, it was fine. Who cares about the reason? And so it went. In the garden behind the track field. On the rooftop before evening study hall. And in the school hallway after evening study hall. Conservation of momentum, ion equilibrium in electrolyte solutions, solid geometry… We kissed wildly in places where no one was around. Even once when Ethan and I came out of the stairwell one after the other. We happened to run into his buddies. Their expressions were ambiguous and playful. Darting back and forth between Ethan and me. But they tactfully nodded to me. And didn’t ask much. Thinking I was far away, they started teasing him: “Alright, Ethan, I was wondering why you wouldn’t eat with us after school, or walk home with us after evening study hall.” “So you were here keeping little sister company!” “You hid it well, when are you going to make it official?” In the deep night, the moonlight slanted down on the boy’s aloof, handsome face. Making him look even colder and more refined. “What nonsense are you talking about?” He said flatly: “We’ll cut it off after the exams.” 04 The people around dispersed. I stood behind the stairs. For a long time, I couldn’t snap out of it. Right. Ethan kissing me was just to complete a task. It wasn’t because he really liked me. So what was there to be sad about? Wasn’t it just for fun? Chloe, what were you expecting that you shouldn’t have? My old brick of a phone suddenly rang in the empty night. It was a message from Ethan: [Where are you? Let’s go home together.] I didn’t hesitate and immediately replied: [No need, I’ll walk myself.] Ethan didn’t insist. When I came out, the empty street was deserted. I held my breath in my chest. And sent him another message: [We don’t need to walk together anymore.] After a long while, he replied: [Okay.] 05 From that day on. Ethan and I still exchanged correct answers for kisses. But outside of that, I avoided him whenever possible. I stopped pestering him to eat together. To go to and from school together. Even when discussing college applications. I asked my parents to find an experienced senior to help me. And didn’t go to him. When he came to my house, the senior was helping me look at related majors and explaining them. “You’re a bit better at humanities, but the job market isn’t great. You need to think carefully…” The senior was elegant and polite, his smile warm and gentle. Looking at him, I inexplicably thought of Ethan’s sour face again. And then mentally slapped myself hard. Heh. There are so many guys, why do I have to think about him every day? I leaned closer to the senior, my voice sweet: “Mhm, I understand. Thank you, Senior…” The door was pushed open, and a ray of sunlight shone in. Perfectly illuminating our overlapping silhouettes. Ethan’s handsome face tightened slightly. A moment later— He returned to normal. “We haven’t done today’s problems,” he said flatly. I absolutely hated his expressionless face. I deliberately turned my head away: “I don’t need you to teach me today, someone else is.” Ethan’s hand on the doorknob tightened. Then relaxed. “Mhm, fine.” He left. Without even looking back. 06 He was ruthless. I swore I would never think about him again. But my mom rushed out and smacked me on the head. “How can you be so rude! Ethan teaches you every day, he’s ranked first in the grade, gives you handwritten notes, and you treat him like that!” “Get over there and do your work, be a good girl!” I said goodbye to the senior, and was dragged kicking and screaming to Ethan’s house by my mom. Mr. and Mrs. Vance were as nice to me as ever. Bringing me fruit, bringing me snacks. And even gave me a plush toy I loved. Their affection made me too embarrassed to continue my protest. I could only sit obediently in front of Ethan. In the sunlight, the angles of his face were sharp, only his eyes carried a faint teasing smile: “What? Not going to the senior anymore?” “None of your business!” I bit my lip, acting fierce: “Just explain your problems!” The smile in Ethan’s eyes vanished, and he coldly explained the problems I needed to do today. I had actually practiced those problems privately many times. Originally, it was just to make Ethan fulfill his promise. The steps were already firmly etched in my mind. But today, while taking the test. I looked up at Ethan many times. The boy was bland, aloof, like a high-altitude flower. The kind I couldn’t reach. Forget it. I raised my hand and deliberately wrote a wrong answer on the final step. “Done.” Ethan slowly walked over and took a look. “Hmm?” “It’s wrong, I guess. I’ll go back and correct it. We don’t need to…” I lifted my leg to walk out. But was suddenly pulled back by him. Picked up. And placed directly on… My long-awaited wish was fulfilled just like that, inexplicably. 07 My center of gravity was unstable. Afraid of falling, I could only wrap my arms around his neck. A sense of humiliation welled up in my chest. I struggled and hit him hard. The usually emotionless boy seemed exceptionally strange today. Proactive, fierce. He pressed against the back of my neck and threatened in a low voice: “Want them all to hear?” I instantly quieted down. In the parents’ minds, I was the quintessential good girl. How could they know I was using math problems to… Ethan smiled in satisfaction and continued kissing. After a long time, my legs went numb. I asked weakly: “Why did you… mhm… what did I… do wrong?” Why was he doing this? “Yeah, it’s a punishment,” Ethan said. After a long time, I really couldn’t hold on anymore, struggling to ask him: “When are you… mhm… going to be done?” Ethan was still rubbing against my lips, his voice cold but carrying an ambiguous undertone: “I can let you go.” “But you’re not allowed to see that senior anymore.” The fire in my heart surged even higher. Who are you? You’re going to cut ties with me after the exams anyway. What right do you have to dictate my social circle? But with my whole body still nestled in his arms, I had no choice but to be honest: “Mhm, fine, you, stop kissing.” “Put me down first.” But Ethan didn’t move. Then he asked me another question: “Decided where you’re going? What are you studying?” I looked into his eyes. Slowly, I named a city that had absolutely nothing to do with my dream college choices. “Capitol City.” Ethan’s gaze was faint, his hands resting behind my head. His tone lazy: “That’s going to be tough.” Me: … Even now he doesn’t forget to insult me. I pinched him hard: “Get lost!” The boy started laughing. His chest vibrating violently. 08 The next day, Ethan’s desk was empty. “I heard he went to a competition training camp.” “He’s a genius, seriously.” “That university in Shanghai already offered him a spot.” “Why is he insisting on testing into Capitol City?” “Who exactly is in Capitol City?” My desk mate, Mia, mumbled in my ear. The hand holding my test paper trembled. I didn’t speak for a long time. Just kept my head down, doing problems. The workbook was compiled for me by Ethan. Densely packed, it was entirely made up of my weak spots. So it was very difficult to get through. During the break, I was racking my brain. My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. I took it out, a message from Ethan: “If there’s anything you don’t know, text me.” “Just send the page and question number.” Looking down, in front of every single problem— There was a 1, 2, 3 written on them. My heart felt like it was touched by something. And then ruthlessly pushed down. I replied: “Okay.” I turned and poked Mia. “Do you know how to do this problem?” Mia was holding a small mirror, adjusting her pretty hair. Her smile innocent and pitiful: “Babe, I failed math last time.” “Are you sure you want to ask me?” Me: … I just instinctively didn’t want to ask Ethan. I didn’t notice who I was asking. 09 For a whole two weeks. I asked every student in the class with good grades. Mia watched me running around like a headless chicken. Resting her chin on her hand, she said slowly: “By the way, aren’t you and Ethan neighbors?” “Why don’t you take your problems to him?” I froze. I hadn’t contacted Ethan for over two weeks. I didn’t look for him. And he didn’t look for me. The empty chat box. Only my messages flirting with him remained. It felt like a lifetime ago. I gripped my pen and told the truth: “We’re not that close.” We just kissed. It’s not like we’re boyfriend and girlfriend. Mia frowned, looking confused: “That doesn’t make sense, just a few days ago I saw you chasing him around every day.” “You two even went to the stairwell together?” “How come you’re suddenly not close?” I frowned. The old history of flirting was brought up. My face felt like it couldn’t hide it. I forced a smile, pretending to be a clever imp. My tone nonchalant: “Oh, I did that on purpose.” “You know my parents are very strict with me, they don’t let me do this, they don’t let me do that.” “I just wanted to be rebellious.” Mia was thoroughly confused by my explanation. She blinked, very bewildered: “So, you don’t like Ethan?” “Of course I don’t like him.” I didn’t give myself time to think. While talking, I folded up the problems I didn’t know how to do. “It could have been a Liam, or an Oliver…” “As long as it made my parents mad, that’s enough.” Mia was completely stunned. Her gaze stared blankly at a corner behind me. I sensed something was wrong. And looked up. I met Ethan’s gaze dead on. He was still dragging a suitcase. It seemed he hadn’t even gone home, coming straight here. The boy was wearing a loose hoodie, his hair messy, his uniform thrown on carelessly. He looked like a very youthful, bad-boy heartthrob. His handsome face was tense, his gaze meeting mine deeply. My heart pounded. I didn’t know how much he heard. After a long time, the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile. As if he didn’t even see me. He walked straight to his seat.

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My best friend’s brother was discharged from the military. Word was he got injured during a mission and lost his ability to have children. My best friend was sighing non-stop: “I’m happily child-free, and now my brother got injured. Looks like the mighty Hayes bloodline is going to die out with us! What a tragedy!” A few days later, I finally met this legendary tough guy. I was completely stunned. How does he look exactly like the guy I slept with a few years ago—the father of my child?! 1 “I blame my dad for giving us such unlucky names. I’m Hope Hayes, and my brother’s name is Hunter Hayes. With names like that, we were doomed to be hopeless hunters of love!” At the barbecue joint, my best friend Hope was hugging a beer bottle, howling like a banshee. “Originally, I was hoping he’d come back so I could set you two up, and my goddaughter Lily could officially become my niece.” “But what good is a man who can’t have kids? He’s basically useless. We’re such good friends, I could never do that to you!” Just as she was speaking, her phone rang. I glanced at the screen. Hunter. Hope was already passed out on the table, completely oblivious. I hesitated for a moment, but when the impatient ringtone sounded for the third time, I answered it for her. “Mom says if you aren’t dead, drag your ass home.” The voice was deep. Surprisingly pleasant. I pinched my inexplicably warm earlobe. “Hello, I’m Hope’s friend.” “We’re at a barbecue place. Do you have time to come pick her up?” Looking at my best friend’s state, it was going to be a struggle for her to get home on her own. I had drank quite a bit myself. It would definitely be easier if someone came to pick her up. Before the person on the other end could respond, my supposedly passed-out best friend suddenly sprang back to life. “Oh, my poor brother! Went to the military academy so young, he’s practically an old man now and still a virgin! And with his condition now, I’m afraid nobody will ever want him…” An eerie silence fell over the other end of the line. The sheer awkwardness made me sober up a bit: “She’s… really had a lot to drink.” “Address.” “South Loop, Number 8.” The call disconnected. 2 I had heard about Hope’s brother before. A tough guy with a will of iron. He had been her idol since childhood. But when we first met, her brother was already deployed on missions. I had never met him. It wasn’t until a week ago, when he was discharged, that I learned he had been severely injured. Seeing it was about time, I supported Hope and waited at the entrance. From a distance, I saw a black car approaching. A tall man stepped out. He was wearing sleek cargo pants, with broad shoulders and long legs. I couldn’t see his face clearly, only catching a glimpse of his sharp silhouette. At that exact moment, a video call came in. “Is it Lily?” Hope glanced blearily at my phone screen. “Calling this late… hope nothing’s wrong.” “You answer it, my brother is already here.” Saying that, she waved at the man approaching in the distance. I was a bit worried about my daughter, too. Not having time to greet the man, I quickly stepped to the side to answer the video call as he got closer. Almost instantly. Lily’s little face appeared on the screen. “Mommy!” Seeing the little girl smiling brightly, I finally let out a sigh of relief. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?” “I missed Mommy!” Then, my mom’s voice came through the phone. “I took her to the countryside to catch shrimp today, and she had too much fun. Refuses to sleep, insisting on video calling you. You’re still out? Why aren’t you home yet?” “I’m out hanging with Hope.” My mom took the kid back to our hometown for a few days, so I finally had some rare free time. “Is Auntie Hope there too?” Lily’s little face squeezed back into view: “Mommy, I want to talk to Auntie Hope!” I turned to look at the main entrance. Hope was already slung over the tall man’s shoulder, tossed like a sack of potatoes directly into the SUV parked nearby. Yes. Tossed. My mouth twitched. He really does have… the tough guy style. 3 Having Lily was an accident. Four years ago, I had just gone through a breakup. I went to a bar to drink my sorrows away and met a man. He was sexy and restrained. Every breath he took hit my aesthetic sweet spot perfectly. Riding the buzz of the alcohol, I slept with him. Surprisingly, we clicked incredibly well that night. Even now, I remember the slight shivers caused by his rough, large hands brushing over me. At the time, I thought maybe starting a relationship wouldn’t be so bad. I didn’t expect that when I opened my eyes the next morning, he answered a phone call and his expression instantly turned deadly serious. “Copy that. I’m on my way.” He quickly got up and got dressed. He jotted down a string of numbers on a piece of paper: “I have an emergency mission right now. You can reach me at this number.” Throughout the entire thing, I didn’t even know his name. I originally thought our paths would never cross again, but a month later, I found out I was pregnant. Out of sheer desperation, I called that number. No one answered, several times. I figured I had been scammed. He probably wasn’t interested, made up an excuse to leave, and gave me a fake number so I wouldn’t cling to him. Due to health reasons, I ended up keeping the baby. But I never regretted that decision. Lily is sweet and smart, and I’m incredibly grateful for her company all these years. Early the next morning, my best friend sobered up and called me to complain. “My brother is so rough, he bruised my arm! Let me tell you, never look for a guy like him, he definitely has violent tendencies…” Before she could finish, a deep, warning voice came from her end: “Hope.” Hope immediately shut up, then, remembering something, her voice turned sycophantic: “Brooo, are you free this afternoon? Want to help my friend move some inventory?” “No.” “Awesome!” Hope completely ignored what her brother said, telling me, “I found you some muscle! He’ll help you move your stuff this afternoon.” “No, no, it’s fine. I can handle it myself this afternoon.” “We’re basically sisters, don’t be shy! He’s just sitting at home all day doing nothing anyway.” I originally thought my best friend was just joking. I didn’t expect her to actually show up that afternoon. Followed by a tall man. 4 I run a women’s lingerie boutique downtown. I’ve been managing it for years, and business is pretty good. I never hired any employees; I handle everything inside and out myself. Sometimes when it gets too busy, Hope comes over to help out. I was doing inventory in the afternoon when I heard people arguing outside. “The inventory you want me to move is women’s lingerie?” “So what if it’s lingerie? Do you go out without wearing underwear, Hunter? If you keep acting like this, I’m telling Dad you’re sexist!” “You feel like you haven’t been disciplined enough, don’t you?” The man’s tone was clearly impatient. “Are you saying you’d hit a woman? I’ll tell the whole world!” Seeing that the two of them were about to start fighting, I hurried outside. “It’s okay, it’s okay! There isn’t that much inventory, I don’t need this much help.” I looked up to apologize to my best friend’s brother: “I’m so sorry, Hope didn’t explain what kind of store this was and just dragged you over here. I…” Before I could finish, I got a clear look at his face. Chiseled features, handsome and sharp. A wave of pure testosterone hit me, rolling off his dark brown jacket. I completely forgot what I was going to say. The memories from four years ago came rushing back like a tidal wave. Fingers tangled in my hair, veins popping on his forearms, the heavy, forceful panting. I was shocked that I remembered every single detail so vividly. “Forget it, forget it. If you don’t want to help, then leave. Don’t stand there with a sour face acting like we’re begging you!” Hope rolled her eyes and linked her arm through mine. “Don’t apologize to him. He hasn’t been back in years, and now he doesn’t have an ounce of gentlemanly manners!” “Hold on.” The man blocked our path. His gaze was locked firmly on me. I suppressed the storm raging in my heart and pretended to look back calmly. He coughed lightly: “Where’s the stuff?” “What stuff?” “Didn’t you say you needed help moving inventory? Where is it?” 5 Hunter took off his jacket, revealing a plain black T-shirt underneath. He was incredibly strong. The heavy boxes looked like toys in his hands. He carried four or five boxes at a time. With him there, Hope and I instantly became beautiful, useless decorations. Hope stood to the side, sipping milk tea and scrolling on her phone. Commanding her own brother to do manual labor with absolute peace of mind. I hid in the storage room, pretending to be busy doing inventory. My heart was a complete mess. I never expected Lily’s biological father to be my best friend’s brother. So… does he remember me? He probably doesn’t, right? After all, it’s been so long… While my mind was racing, a male voice suddenly called out. “Everything outside is moved in.” “Ah, thank you!” The already cramped storage room felt even more crowded with a man inside. I instinctively took a half-step back, accidentally knocking over something next to me. The man bent down and picked it up before I could. “You dropped this.” In his hand was a black, bunny-ear lace bra. The thin straps dangled from his fingertips, creating a bizarre contrast with his stark, masculine presence. I remembered that night, what I was wearing seemed to be… My face instantly turned beet red, and the man’s dark eyes grew deeper as he stared at me. He suddenly leaned in close: “You seem very afraid of me. Why?” My breathing quickened, our gazes tangled together. With nowhere to hide, my brain short-circuited, and I suddenly blurted out: “Hope said you hit women!” Without waiting for his reaction, I squeezed through the gap beside him and rushed out. Hope, hearing the commotion outside, walked over. “Hit women?” “Which son of a bitch dares to hit women?!” Hunter’s face grew even darker. “If you say one more word, I might actually hit you.” Thanks to Hunter, the moving process sped up dramatically. A job that was supposed to take until seven or eight o’clock was completely finished by four. Hope didn’t want to bother me further and dragged Hunter to leave. The tall, muscular man stood steadily in the middle of aisles filled with lingerie. “Is Boss Sarah so stingy she won’t even buy me a meal?” My cheeks flushed slightly: “I will! What do you guys want to eat?” Hope’s eyes widened in shock. “Hunter, how could you be so shameless? Making my friend pay for dinner, are you even human?” “You guys pick the place, I’m paying.” “That’s more like it!” My best friend was finally satisfied. She hooked my arm and lowered her voice. “My brother actually has quite a bit of money. It’s rare for him to bleed cash. Think hard about what you want to eat, and absolutely do not hold back!” I don’t know if it was intentional or not. But the place they finally chose. Was right next to the bar where Hunter and I first met. Both Hunter and I aren’t very talkative. Thank god my best friend was there to liven up the atmosphere, so it wasn’t too awkward. But I could constantly feel Hunter’s gaze, subtle but present, resting on me. With an undisguised, burning intensity. Suddenly, my phone rang. My best friend immediately leaned over to look at the screen: “Is it Lily? I haven’t seen her in so long, I miss her so much!” The expression of the man across the table instantly became incredibly weird. It wasn’t until I stepped outside to answer the phone that I heard his deep voice. “She’s… married?” 6 Hunter’s words immediately triggered a backlash from my best friend: “What do you mean by that? Can’t someone have a kid without getting married? You’re such an old-fashioned boomer!” “Not married, huh?” Hunter’s posture returned to its original relaxed state. He leaned back in his chair, took a sip of tea, and the corners of his mouth turned up. “That’s good. Have you met the guy? What’s his background?” My best friend stared at him, her expression slowly turning weird. “Bro, honestly, your secret joy is a bit too obvious. Just because you can’t have happiness anymore, doesn’t mean you can’t stand seeing other people happy, right?” Hunter: ? My best friend continued: “When Sarah gets back later, absolutely do not bring up Lily’s dad. I suspect the reason she hasn’t dated anyone in all these years is because she still hasn’t gotten over that scumbag.” Hearing this, the smile on Hunter’s face slowly vanished. It wasn’t until the siblings finished their loud gossip that I found an appropriate moment to sit back down. I had never told Hope the details about Lily’s dad. First, because when we met, Lily was already born. Second, because I felt I would never see him again, so there was no need to talk about it. I just vaguely said that after I got pregnant, I lost contact with the father. But Hope must have misunderstood. She assumed he was a massive scumbag who abandoned me. Out of consideration for my feelings, she never explicitly asked about it. And now, things were awkward. Although lying to my best friend isn’t great, I didn’t dare casually reveal Lily’s parentage to them right now. After all, I didn’t know Hunter. If things went south, it would ruin my friendship with Hope as well. That night, Hope and I drank. Hunter voluntarily took on the role of designated driver. As the car headed north, Hope pressed her face against the window: “Wrong way, wrong way! Sarah’s house isn’t in this direction!” “I’m dropping you off first. I have somewhere to go later, I’m not going home.” Hearing this, Hope got annoyed and muttered: “If I knew you weren’t going home, I wouldn’t have let you drive us. Sarah and I could have found another spot to keep drinking.” Hunter glanced at her but didn’t say anything. The car stopped smoothly at the Hayes residence. Hope got out reluctantly. I felt awkward being alone with Hunter, so I also prepared to get out. “It’s not far from my place from here. I can just take a cab. Since you have things to do, I won’t bother you…” “It’s no bother. It’s on my way.” My best friend nodded: “Exactly! Just let him drop you off. It’s not like whatever he’s doing this late at night is anything important anyway!” Declining again would seem too deliberate, so I could only gladly accept his offer. “Where to?” “Happy Road Apartments.” The man glanced at me through the rearview mirror, his eyes holding a smile: “Don’t want to keep drinking? I can take you now.” “No, no, Hope was just joking earlier.” I thanked him politely. “Thank you both so much for today. I really troubled you.” “Being so polite, treating me like a stranger?” I didn’t expect him to ask so directly, and my breathing instantly quickened. Before I could answer, he stated confidently: “You remember.” “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Liar.” The man lowered his voice. “Didn’t Hope tell you what I used to do? I’m best at analyzing emotional states by listening to breathing.” Hearing this, I instinctively held my breath. He ended up laughing out loud: “I made that up.” “Hunter!” “That’s more like you. You were acting way too tense when you saw me today.” Afraid of giving anything else away, I didn’t dare say another word for the rest of the ride. 7 Thankfully, Hunter didn’t tease me anymore on the way. After getting home, I played a round of games with Hope online. Only then did I slowly take a shower. While hanging up my laundry, I accidentally glanced out the window and noticed the SUV that dropped me off was still parked in the exact same spot downstairs. After debating for a long time, I threw on a coat and went down. The car was still running. I tapped on the window. “Hunter?” The window rolled down, revealing the man’s resolute face. “Did the car break down?” “No.” “Then why haven’t you left? Didn’t you say you had plans to meet friends later?” “I don’t have plans. It was just an excuse to drop you off alone.” The air stilled, and I pursed my lips. I don’t know why, but a long-hidden anger rushed to my head: “Do you just really like making up excuses?” “What do you mean?” “You know exactly what I mean.” After saying that, I turned to leave. He frowned and grabbed my hand: “Explain yourself.” “Emergency mission.” Only then did he remember the words he said to me years ago. His voice was raspy: “I didn’t lie to you. It really was an emergency notification that time. I had just gotten home on leave when a sudden disaster occurred. I was out doing relief work the entire time.” “What about the phone number? No one answered that number at all!” “During missions, our phones are all confiscated…” Before he could finish, he realized: “You tried to find me?” I turned my head away, unwilling to admit it at this moment. “You really tried to find me.” A look of intense regret flashed across Hunter’s face. “I didn’t expect the mission to last that long. I should have proactively asked for your contact info.” The past is the past. There’s no point in arguing about it now. “Since you’re fine, I’m heading back up.” “Don’t go yet.” Hunter pulled me back, his large hand completely enveloping mine. “Hope said you still haven’t forgotten him?” “Who?” “That scumbag.” It took me a while to realize he was talking about Lily’s dad. My expression grew complicated, and I vaguely replied: “It’s not what you guys think. Actually… he’s not that bad.” As soon as I finished speaking, his brows instantly furrowed into a straight line. “As expected, you’re still defending him even now.” “I’m not.” “Forget him. From now on… there will be someone who treats you well.” I wanted to say something else, but he squeezed my hand firmly and then let go. “I don’t want to push you. It just feels a bit surreal running into you again, I need a moment to process it.” “It’s getting late, go back and rest.” I opened my mouth but ultimately didn’t say anything. I dreamt again that night. I dreamt of being held in Hunter’s arms, his teeth gently grazing the base of my ear. In the dream, I was like a small boat, rising and falling with the turbulent waves. I don’t know how much time passed, but my phone vibrated a few times. I blearily glanced at the screen and realized it was already late morning. Opening the chat, I saw a string of messages from my best friend. 【Extra, extra! My brother didn’t come home last night!】 【My mom is already burning incense to the Buddha, praying that he spent the night at a woman’s house.】 【Did the ancient iron tree finally blossom? Tsk tsk, do you think the other person knows he’s a barren fig tree?!】 What iron tree, what fig tree? I hadn’t fully processed it yet. More messages came in. 【I think I already guessed whose house my brother stayed at.】 I suddenly grew tense. 【Who?】 【Chloe.】 The unfamiliar name made me breathe a sigh of relief, but also left me stunned. Hope explained: 【A classmate from his combat training class back in the day. She’s incredibly badass; her combat skills are on par with my brother’s.】 【You don’t know this, but even though my brother looks rebellious, he actually has a moral cleanliness obsession. I’ve never seen him get close to any girl. The only one he hung out with was Chloe!】 【Since he got back, he’s only been in touch with her. If it’s not her, who else could it be?!】 Last night he said he had no plans. And now he stayed out all night. And suddenly a female classmate with shared interests pops up beside him. I couldn’t describe what I was feeling right now. It felt like someone had grabbed my heart and squeezed it hard, but there was also a sense of relief, like surviving a disaster. Good thing I didn’t tell him about Lily’s parentage, otherwise it really would have just added unnecessary trouble.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “394477”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel