Chapter 1: Everyone Was Deceiving Her

On the fifth attempt, Pei Baoyuan’s video call to Huo Yanci still went unanswered.

This had never happened before. No matter what he was doing—even if he was asleep—Huo Yanci always picked up her calls right away.

Restless and anxious after much deliberation, fearing that something had happened to Huo Yanci and he was hiding it from her, Pei Baoyuan dialed another number.

“Hello... Baoyuan?” The background noise was loud on Huo Ciyue’s end, forcing Pei Baoyuan to raise her voice.

“Yueyue, what is your brother doing? Why isn’t he answering my calls?”

There was a brief silence, and the noise in the background faded a little. Pei Baoyuan heard Huo Ciyue reply, “My brother took on a new project. He’s been running around like crazy—maybe he’s in a meeting with his phone on silent.”

Pei Baoyuan didn’t suspect anything. Huo Yanci’s ambition was a good thing.

But as soon as she hung up, the barrage of comments on her screen exploded.

She could read every word, but together, they stunned her.

[Everyone is lying to the supporting female lead. Suddenly, she seems a little pitiful.]

[While the supporting female is in another country chasing deadlines, the main couple is in bed together.]

[What’s there to pity about a cannon fodder supporting role? Our Yiren is the real heroine!]

Two months ago, strange messages that no one else could see had inexplicably started appearing before her eyes. At first, they were just meaningless chatter, sometimes with words she didn’t understand.

But now...

A sudden clarity dawned on Pei Baoyuan.

Those incomprehensible words seemed to sprout wings, attaching themselves to the people around her.

...

The plane from London Heathrow to the Imperial Capital’s main airport had landed safely an hour ago. The chauffeur had been waiting for Pei Baoyuan since early morning, and the trip from the airport to the city center was seamless.

As the familiar streets flashed by, Pei Baoyuan felt a moment of disorientation. Two years had passed; the scenery remained unchanged, yet perhaps everything else had shifted.

Her phone buzzed.

Huo Ciyue: If my brother knew you were still sending gifts to him from abroad, he’d be moved to tears.

A location pin was attached.

[SOS main couple in danger!]

[Don’t be touched—just run!]

Expressionless, Pei Baoyuan switched off her phone.

She didn’t know if Huo Yanci would be moved, but if what she suspected was true... he was about to suffer the consequences.

Gripping her phone so tightly her knuckles turned white, Pei Baoyuan closed her eyes for a brief rest. After dozens of hours in the air, she hadn’t even adjusted to the time zone before she was off to catch a cheater. It was a pitiful thought, yet strangely exhilarating.

When she arrived at the location, she stood outside the door, separated by a wall, listening to the nonsense inside. Her heart sank.

“It’s Yanci’s birthday today! Sis-in-law, shouldn’t you give him a kiss?”

“Come on, stop it. When my cousin gets here, you better behave.”

“He’s family! All men—what’s he going to say?”

With a clatter, Pei Baoyuan pushed open the door, and a wave of alcohol, nicotine, and women’s perfume hit her, so foul she nearly threw up on the spot.

One of the spoiled rich kids inside was about to curse when he saw who was standing at the door—his face went pale in an instant.

Pei Baoyuan smiled brightly. “Surprise!”

Huo Ciyue leapt up, trying to shield her brother, “Baoyuan, why are you suddenly back?”

“Of course I came to surprise Yanci for his birthday. What’s wrong? Why do you all look so startled? Aren’t you glad to see me?”

Before Huo Ciyue could stop her, Pei Baoyuan brushed past the stunned crowd, her eyes landing on Huo Yanci sitting brazenly at the head of the table—with Song Yiren perched on his lap.

Her face darkened. “Huo Yanci, don’t you think you owe me an explanation?”

Snapping out of his daze, Huo Yanci shoved the woman off his lap, tossing her aside. Song Yiren, shocked and furious, hadn’t expected to be discarded the moment Pei Baoyuan returned.

Huo Yanci hurried to grasp Pei Baoyuan’s hand, stammering, “It’s not what you think, Yuanyuan, just now we were—”

He shot a look at his friends. Huang Zhenyu forced a smile, “Sis-in-law, it was a game. Yanci lost, so Yiren sat on his lap to feed him a drink. It just so happened you came back at the wrong time. Yiren is my new girlfriend, she has nothing to do with Yanci!”

Huo Ciyue stepped forward and clung affectionately to Pei Baoyuan’s arm. “Exactly, Baoyuan, if you don’t believe them, at least you can believe me. I’m on your side.”

[Huo Yanci: Quick, keep lying.]

[With teammates like these, cheating’s a breeze.]

[The main couple caught by the supporting girl—what a rare genre.]

Pei Baoyuan watched coldly, then smiled. “How could I not believe Yanci, after all these years together?”

Huo Yanci breathed a sigh of relief, gazing at her with feigned tenderness. “Yuanyuan, you finally came back. I missed you so much these two years.”

Pei Baoyuan wanted nothing more than to tear off his mask, to see what his heart was truly made of.

Without a word, she withdrew her hand and turned her icy gaze on Huang Zhenyu. “Game or not, I don’t like people touching what belongs to me.”

Her eyes swept over everyone in the room who knew the truth, and they all dropped their heads, afraid to meet her stare.

Huo Yanci was rattled by Pei Baoyuan’s sudden return, completely caught off guard. A voice in his head reminded him he could not break up with her right now.

He thought she’d be easy to placate, so standing behind Pei Baoyuan, he signaled to Huang Zhenyu to apologize sincerely and muddle through.

Huang Zhenyu, ever the loyal lapdog, raised his glass. “I was in the wrong tonight. I’ll drink three shots as an apology to both you and Yanci.”

He downed three full glasses of whiskey. Pei Baoyuan took her seat unhurriedly. “If you’re apologizing to me, I’ll decide how you do it.”

Huang Zhenyu dared not object and quickly agreed.

“You brought her,” Pei Baoyuan said, pointing with a smile at Song Yiren, whose face had gone white. “I won’t make it hard for you. Just let her sit on your lap and feed you three drinks.”

“This...” Huang Zhenyu faltered. If she really were his girlfriend, he wouldn’t mind at all—but Song Yiren belonged to Huo Yanci; how could he dare?

Pei Baoyuan frowned, displeased. “What’s the big deal about a couple sharing a drink on each other’s lap? You didn’t seem so reluctant when it was someone else’s boyfriend.”

Huang Zhenyu trembled, glancing nervously at Huo Yanci.

Sitting beside Pei Baoyuan, Huo Yanci rested an arm casually on the back of her chair. “Yuanyuan’s right.”

Relieved, Huang Zhenyu understood what to do.

Song Yiren cast a pitiful glance at Huo Yanci, but it was useless; with Pei Baoyuan present, she was always the one abandoned.

Dragged into place by Huang Zhenyu, Song Yiren, humiliated before everyone, picked up the prepared drinks and fed them to him.

Three shots went down quickly. Seeing that Pei Baoyuan let the matter drop, someone tried to smooth things over, but the atmosphere never recovered.

Then the door opened again, and the room grew even colder.

A man in a hoodie, his face mostly hidden by the brim, strolled in. Huo Yanci stood up to greet him, and everyone else sat up straight, not daring to act superior.

Huo Yanci’s cousin was a notorious prince from Hong Kong; even in the Imperial Capital, elders would give him ample respect.

“Cousin! Welcome to my birthday party!”

From beneath the cap, a pair of indifferent eyes swept the room, pausing briefly on Pei Baoyuan. Ke Xianbai tossed something from his hoodie pocket. “For you.”

Huo Yanci recognized the gift at once: a Koenigsegg Agera RS, one of just twenty-five in the world. His hands trembled as he clutched the key. “Thank you, Cousin!”

Pei Baoyuan rolled her eyes internally.

Of all the people to give such a treasure to, why a scumbag? Too much money and nowhere to spend it.

Ke Xianbai had already found a quiet corner, sitting alone, not drinking, not talking, eyes closed as if resting.

Pei Baoyuan suddenly recalled the words she’d overheard at the door.

If Ke Xianbai saw Huo Yanci cheating, would he choose to tell her?