The city’s golden boy bit the dust. His stepmother offered me two hundred million dollars to mourn him as his widow for two years. My lips twitched into a smile so wide they almost cramped. Late that night, I was munching on snacks and binging an audio drama in the wake room. Suddenly, a voice echoed from the altar: “Haven’t you heard this chapter already? Why are you listening to it again?” 1 I graduated college, dirt poor and utterly miserable. Just as I was playing a beggar in a film crew, the powerful Mrs. Vivian approached me. “Harper, right? Two hundred million dollars. Mourn my stepson for two years. During this time, you must abstain from any romantic or sexual relationships, keep your heart pure, and sleep in the wake room every night.” All I heard was: “Two hundred million! Two hundred million! Two hundred million!” In the wake room, gazing at the towering portrait of Caleb, the city’s golden boy, my twitching smile finally settled a little. What a waste. Such a handsome guy. Why did he have to die so young? 2 On my first night, I bought some booze and snacks, planning to get acquainted with Caleb. I filled a glass, raised it towards the altar. “Thanks for giving me such a great job! Bottoms up!” “Oh? You’re quite a drinker, huh? I’ll have another with you!” … When I was pleasantly buzzed, a thunderous blast of music suddenly erupted outside. Caleb’s wake room was set up in the back garden of the villa, and the music was coming from inside the mansion itself. I peeked in and saw a dozen gorgeous guys clinking glasses and dancing wildly in the living room. Every single one of them was over six feet tall, brimming with youthful confidence. You wouldn’t find a lineup like this even at the hottest male model agency! Without thinking, I whipped out my SnapChat QR code. Just as I was about to move forward, a voice piped up beside me: “Sister-in-law, aren’t you supposed to be abstaining from… well, everything, during your mourning period?” Oh, it was Finn, Vivian’s biological son. He was Caleb’s half-brother, currently a junior in high school. This party of handsome guys must have been his doing. So they were all high schoolers?! My heart was practically doing a samba. What was I supposed to do? Finn unceremoniously shoved me back out. A moment later, I got a text from Vivian. [If you can also tutor Finn’s college entrance exam scores to a barely passing grade, I’ll give you another two hundred million.] Me: ? A barely passing grade, with three months until the exams… should be no problem, right? Soon, two hundred million dollars landed in my PayPal account, with the note: “Advance payment for Caleb’s widowhood and Finn’s tutoring.” My knees buckled for a few minutes. Did I save the Luo brothers’ lives in a past life or something? This life is freaking amazing! 3 Caleb’s death was an accident. He loved adventure, and during one expedition, he fell into a remote sea area. Rescue teams searched for seventy-two hours straight, only finding a strand of his hair and a small piece of scalp tissue. Experts detected shark saliva residue on it, concluding he had been eaten. With no heir to the Luo family, Vivian organized his funeral. A medium told her that Caleb could not rest in peace and needed a woman whose energy aligned with his to mourn him for two years, or else misfortune would befall the Luo Corporation. Vivian was notoriously superstitious and urgently sought me out, as my birth chart supposedly matched his. After Caleb’s death, Vivian’s ambition seemed to awaken. The Luo Corporation was in absolute chaos, but she braved the storm of controversy and ridicule to assume the chairmanship. Everyone expected her to fail, but she was surprisingly good at it, even signing a major project that Caleb had failed to secure. However, she seemed indifferent to Finn, even buying an apartment near her office for work, barely returning home anymore. So, when I told Finn, “Your mom wants me to tutor you,” he burst out laughing: “Vivian cares about my grades? Are you kidding me?” “She’s your mom, isn’t it normal for her to care about your studies?” He scoffed: “I’ll only say this once: I don’t need it. You just focus on being a widow, don’t meddle.” ? How is this meddling? Two hundred million dollars worth of meddling, and you expect me not to care? 4 To kickstart my tutoring duties, I stayed up all night making him a study plan. The next morning, he tore it into shreds. “Seriously, why are you so hot-headed at such a young age?!” “Harper, don’t waste your time on me. I’m busy.” I knew it. Busy partying, busy fighting, busy sweet-talking his girlfriends. I looked it up online. To deal with a snot-nosed punk, you have to use a psychological approach. So I swallowed my anger and presented the breakfast I’d made earlier: “Here, you can’t skip breakfast.” He gritted his teeth, clearly annoyed: “Granny Sister-in-law, could you please stay away from me?” I gritted my teeth too. Calling me “Granny Sister-in-law,” huh? Refusing to eat, huh? I stood on my tiptoes, pinched his chin, forced his mouth open, and shoved a whole hard-boiled egg in. Then, holding him in that position, I pressed him against the wall. “What do you want?” he mumbled, unable to move. I warned him: “You’re not going anywhere until you eat it.” He finally swallowed it obediently, then fled, looking thoroughly defeated. But once he was out of earshot, he still ground out: “You just wait!” 5 I waited, but he didn’t come back until dark. I lit an incense stick for Caleb, then went out searching. I heard from some guys at a bar that Finn had a fight scheduled and had left hours ago. I hailed a cab, blowing hundreds of dollars, and finally found him under a dilapidated overpass. The situation looked bad. Finn’s crew was slowly getting pummeled, and the other side hadn’t even unleashed their full power. Finn looked a little desperate. I waited until he was even more so, then I grabbed a sturdy branch from the ground and charged in. I easily pinned them under my feet. The fight ended with Finn’s side victorious. Finn and the opposing leader both stared, dumbfounded. “Hey, miss, are you his hired muscle?” The opposing leader, instead of being angry, had a glint in his eyes. I nodded: “No, I’m the tutor his mom hired.” “Miss, how much did they pay you? Can I poach you?” My eyes lit up: “How much are you offering?” Finn roughly pulled me aside: “She’s my sister-in-law, you can’t poach her!” 6 On the way back, Finn looked sullen. I felt like laughing: “Do you lose fights often? I’m not making fun of you, seriously.” “No! They just fought dirty! There were twice as many of them!” He spoke at double speed, clearly agitated. I patted his shoulder reassuringly, but he instinctively flinched, looking at me warily: “You’ve had training?” I paused, withdrawing my hand: “Yeah, when I was a kid, I was always getting picked on. To protect myself, I had to learn some self-defense.” He raised an eyebrow: “You got picked on?” “They beat me black and blue back then. I still have a scar on my forehead.” I pulled back my hair to show him. He glanced at it, and his gaze seemed to soften a little. I smiled at him, then looked away. Me, picked on? Not really. I was just interested, so I took an elective martial arts class in college. Who knew my talent was just off the charts? By the end of the semester, I could even take down the instructor. “How much is my mom paying you?” he asked again. “Two… two hundred million.” He practically roared: “Two hundred million?!” I shifted nervously to the side, my gaze flickering away. It’s just wildly over market value, right? *His mom* set the price, it wasn’t me asking for it. Did he have to be so shocked?! “She only gave you two hundred million, and you’re practically risking your life for her? Are you that desperate for money?! Harper, do you have any self-respect?!” Me: ? Wow, rich people’s insults are on a whole different level, huh? 7 Back at the villa, Finn followed me to the wake room and lit another incense stick for Caleb. He silently stared at Caleb’s black and white photo for a long time. I looked at the photo, then at him. The Luo family’s genes are truly powerful; both sons are exquisitely handsome, as perfectly crafted as if designed by a top-tier AI. If I could just date one of them in this lifetime, I’d die happy. Just as I was musing, Finn spoke, his voice hoarse: “Bro, I miss you.” These two brothers seemed to have a deep bond. Then he turned around, looking at me with that usual cocky swagger: “My brother doesn’t like noise. Keep it down in here.” “…” I nodded dutifully, pretending to agree. What a coincidence, I absolutely hate silence. What living person caters to a dead one? So every night, I held one-sided conversations with Caleb’s portrait until late into the night. Sometimes when I was tired, I’d play music or listen to an audio drama – anything but silence. Soon enough, Finn caught me red-handed. Seeing his speechless expression, I seized the opportunity to propose: “If you give me two hours every evening to tutor you, then I won’t have time to bother your brother, right?” A sly, fox-like grin touched the corner of the young man’s lips. He pulled out two science section practice tests for the college entrance exam, tossing one to me: “Let’s see who really needs tutoring.” The way he said it, he sounded so confident! Thanks to my extensive experience tutoring during four years of college, I hadn’t entirely forgotten my high school lessons. I confidently put down my pen, only to find Finn had already finished and was watching me with keen interest. I took his test, puzzled, and checked it against the answers. I was stunned. I scored 251 points, he scored 27
His tone was triumphant: “Not bad, ‘Teacher Harper,’ he smirked, ‘You’re only one point above ‘dumbass’ territory.’ ” While I felt insulted, this was a good thing! Getting a passing grade for the college entrance exam was practically a done deal now, wasn’t it?! I plastered on a smile, fawning: “Young Master Finn, I clearly underestimated you.” He glanced at the photo of him and Caleb on the table, his voice softening: “Before this, my brother was always the one tutoring me.” “…Your mom doesn’t know?” How could Vivian think her son couldn’t even get a passing grade? He chuckled softly: “Her? She wouldn’t care about me. But don’t worry, I’ll tell her this is all thanks to your tutoring. Consider it payment for helping me with that fight.” I pressed my lips together to suppress a grin. Seriously, it’s like fate is just *forcing* this two hundred million dollars on me! 8 Finn and I reached an agreement: if I really needed someone to talk to, I could talk to him. He had only one request: don’t bother Caleb. I nodded sincerely, looking at the young man’s exquisitely handsome face. I couldn’t help but tease him: “You know, constantly chatting with someone can lead to feelings, right?” He stiffened his neck, acting all proud: “Don’t worry, I’m not into ‘brother-in-law/sister-in-law’ romance tropes. And don’t forget: abstain from sex, keep your heart pure.” *Cough.* Couldn’t argue with him, so I just shut up. With the “barely passing grade” KPI out of the way, I got back to my lucrative career path. I’d always wanted to make a mark in the film industry. The path of an actress was long and arduous, but now that I had money, investing seemed perfect, didn’t it? I’d deeply researched the current film market: capital was too controlling, scripts were rushed, and it was all about ‘influencer’ actors, leading to abysmal returns on investment. This situation was commonplace. I dedicated over three months to value assessment and finally decided to invest in a martial arts detective series. However, the production company wasn’t just looking for investor money; they also wanted investor experience and connections. For a newcomer like me, they naturally wouldn’t risk it easily. So I pulled out the ultimate power card: Caleb. “I am Caleb’s wife. You’ve probably heard, I’m currently mourning him,” I stated matter-of-factly during negotiations. I had checked: information about Caleb online was scarce, mostly just labeling him as “the city’s golden boy,” “Luo Corporation CEO,” and “reserved and aloof.” Vivian had even instructed me to mourn him as his wife. So, my connection was, naturally, the Luo Corporation. The producer nearly choked on his own breath when he heard this: “We’d be honored to have your investment, Miss Harper!” Everything was set, and I was about to sign, when the producer suddenly brought news of a change of heart. I laughed, annoyed: “Who did you partner with?” Who could possibly be better than the Luo Corporation?! The producer handed me a business card. The name on it was “Cole.” Why did that sound so familiar? I dialed the number on the card. No answer. 9 A notification popped up: one hundred million dollars had landed in my PayPal account, with the note: [Final payment for tutoring Finn.] His college entrance exam results were out. Finn’s call came right after: “Harper, I scored… six hundred and fifty points.”
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