The atmosphere in the office was bone-chilling.
Song Nianyue stood before Jiang Ci, staring at his aloof yet devastatingly handsome face, her heart a messy tangle of terror and bitter resentment. In her mind, she was the rightful Nü-zhu [female lead] of this world, not some Pao-hui [cannon fodder/disposable supporting character] like Su Yue. By all the laws of the novels she had read, Jiang Ci, the tragic male lead, was supposed to be her prize. Why was he showering that mutated element, Su Yue, with such maddening affection? She was certain that once Su Yue was erased from the equation, the world would correct itself and crown her the lead. This was the dark logic that had fueled her conspiracy with Jiang Xuan.
But after the accident these past few days had been a blur of suffocating anxiety. Watching her family’s company crumble under the weight of Jiang Ci’s systematic pressure, she had no choice but to crawl to him. “Jiang Ci, listen to me,” Song Nianyue pleaded, her voice trembling. “Jiang Xuan was the one consumed by jealousy because Su Yue stole her limelight in the industry. She hired that man to get rid of her. She is the true mastermind.”
She took a sharp breath, her eyes wide with desperate self-preservation. “When I found out, I tried to stop her, but Jiang Xuan wouldn’t listen!” She looked at him earnestly, trying to project a facade of innocence. “Now Jiang Xuan has reaped what she sowed—she’s wounded and suffering. My father’s company has already paid a heavy price because of your suppression. Can’t you just let me go? Especially since… since Su Yue wasn’t even really hurt?”
A frost settled over Jiang Ci’s features. The mere memory of Su Yue’s blue dress stained with crimson made his blood boil with a murderous intent. He let out a cold, sharp huff of laughter, looking at the woman begging before him. “Paid a heavy price? That’s far from enough.” He believed in a simple philosophy: to truly destroy someone, you had to take away the one thing they valued most.
“Jiang Ci!” Song Nianyue gasped. She didn’t need a detailed explanation to understand the malice in his silence. Her face contorted with panic as she lunged forward. “Jiang Ci, I saved you once! I’ve loved you for so many years! Are you truly not moved at all? Must you be so heartless toward me?”
At that moment, the door to the adjacent rest area swung open.
Su Yue stepped out from it . Earlier, their intense intimacy had left her clothes a wrinkled mess and her Nei-yi [undergarments] literally torn to shreds by his impatient hands. Not wanting to face his subordinates in such a scandalous state, she had retreated to the lounge to make herself presentable.
Song Nianyue froze by her sight, her eyes wide with disbelief. She hadn’t realized Su Yue was in the office the entire time.
Seeing Su Yue’s delicate face—flushed with a soft, post-coital glow and her eyes bright with a lingering heat—Song Nianyue felt a wave of humiliation wash over her. Had Su Yue heard everything? The pleading? The confession? The pathetic begging?
“Come here.” Jiang Ci ignored Song Nianyue as if she were mere static noise. The moment Su Yue reached his chair, he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her directly into his lap. “Your hem isn’t tucked in right,” he murmured with a small, private smile, reaching back to smooth the fabric of her dress.
With Song Nianyue staring at them, Su Yue felt a prickle of embarrassment at such a blatant display of possessiveness. She tried to shift, but his grip tightened like a vice. “Don’t move,” he growled playfully.
Jiang Ci was a law unto himself; he did what he wanted, when he wanted, and cared nothing for the judgment of others. So as always Su Yue gave in, settling against him, but her mind was fixed on Song Nianyue’s previous words.
Jiang Ci had already shared the investigation results with her. Finding out Song Nianyue was the shadow behind the banquet attack hadn’t shocked her. Despite the woman’s refined, “high-class” exterior, Su Yue’s intuition had always detected a hidden blade. No matter how well Song Nianyue wore her mask, her targeting had been palpable.
“Song Nianyue, did you really try to have me killed over a man?” Su Yue asked bluntly. She didn’t sense a deep, soulful love from the woman—only a desperate need to curry favor with Jiang Ci, even back when he was blind and scarred. What was she truly after?
“It wasn’t me! Jiang Xuan ordered it!” Song Nianyue shrieked.
Su Yue’s brow furrowed. She recalled the chaos of the banquet, her eyes turning cold. “You’re lying. That day, the man went for Jiang Xuan first. If she ordered the hit, why would he chase her down and stab her?” Jiang Xuan’s terror had been raw and genuine; she clearly hadn’t known the man.
Song Nianyue glanced at Jiang Ci and hissed, “That’s because the man is a Jing-shen-bing [mental patient]! That was the plan—he’s the perfect scapegoat.” She scrambled for an excuse. “You and Jiang Xuan were wearing the same color scheme. He was confused! He went after the wrong target.”
Jiang Ci’s eyes narrowed, a dangerous, predatory glint flickering in the darkness of his pupils. “You seem to know an awful lot of ‘details’ for an innocent bystander.”
A chill raced down Song Nianyue’s spine. “I… Jiang Xuan told me all of this!”
Jiang Ci let out a chilling scoff. “Get out.”
“Jiang Ci, I’ve told you everything! Will you let my father’s company go now?” She was vibrating with terror.
Jiang Ci’s long, elegant fingers idly twirled a lock of Su Yue’s hair. “Let it go? What kind of daydream are you having?” He released the strand, then twirled it again, as if playing with a precious silk. “If you touch someone’s treasure, you pay with something of equal value. Your pathetic little company isn’t worth a single hair on her head.”
Song Nianyue’s mind went blank. The weight of his words hit her like a physical blow: even the total ruin of her life wouldn’t be enough to compensate for a minor scratch on Su Yue.
Watching them glued together in the chair, Song Nianyue’s eyes turned a vengeful red. The bitterness in her heart boiled over. “You’re going to ruin everything for her? For a Pao-hui [cannon fodder] supporting character?” She lost her mind, the secret she had been harboring bursting out in a scream. “She offended the male lead, Jiang Muhang! Her fate is to be thrown into a mental hospital and rot! That is the plot! I am the Nü-zhu! I am the one who belongs by your side!”
“Thrown into a mental hospital?” Jiang Ci’s face darkened, his aura turning suffocatingly heavy.
“Yes! That is her destiny! She shouldn’t be loved or protected! It should be me!” Song Nianyue was hysterical now, convinced that if Su Yue disappeared, the world would revert to the “script” she knew.
Su Yue’s heart skipped a beat. She had been in this world so long she had almost forgotten the original “plot” where the owner of this body was indeed driven mad and discarded by Jiang Muhang. She looked at Song Nianyue with a piercing, scrutinizing gaze. How did she know?
Than the realization struck her like a lightning bolt—Song Nianyue was a transmigrator, just like her.
That explained everything. But if Song Nianyue knew the plot, she should have known that Jiang Ci’s original ending was also tragic. Why was she so obsessed with him?
“Song Nianyue, you’ve lost your mind,” Su Yue said softly, watching the woman unravel. The elegant facade was gone, replaced by a disheveled, red-eyed mess.
“Shut up! If it weren’t for you, this ‘variable,’ I wouldn’t be here! You belong in that asylum!”
Jiang Ci’s voice cut through the air like a blade. “You’re the one who needs to shut up.” He looked at her with pure disgust. “You’re clearly the one suffering from a mental breakdown, spouting delusions. It seems you’re the one who needs professional ‘treatment.'” He pressed the intercom.
“President Jiang,” Gu Qing appeared instantly.
“This woman is having a psychotic break in my office. Arrange for her to be admitted to a mental hospital for long-term care.” Jiang Ci’s voice was calm, which made the command even more terrifying.
Song Nianyue trembled, her eyes bugging out. “You can’t do this! Su Yue is the one—”
“I’m bored of the noise. Take her away.”
Gu Qing moved without hesitation, covering Song Nianyue’s mouth and dragging her out of the office. The door clicked shut with a finality that felt like a tomb. Gu Qing knew the truth; this woman had tried to kill the President’s heart. Being sent to an asylum was a mercy—though he knew that in a place like that, someone who wasn’t mad would soon become so. That was the President’s true intent.
In the office Su Yue sat in silence, processing the revelation. Two transmigrators in one world.
Jiang Ci’s hand stayed firmly on her waist, pulling her flush against his chest. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers. “Don’t listen to that lunatic’s garbage.”
“I’m not,” she whispered.
She knew the original plot was real, but this world had changed. It was Song Nianyue who was headed for the asylum, not her. Su Yue wasn’t a saint; this woman had tried to end her life. So she also felt no pity for the “heroine” who had turned into a villain.
Jiang Ci searched her eyes, finding no fear or judgment, only the shimmering reflection of the sun. He smiled, his thin lips curving beautifully. “Kiss me?”
Su Yue pushed the thoughts of the book away. She wrapped her arms around his neck, a playful smirk touching her lips. “Only a kiss. No biting. My lips are still sore from this morning.”
He loved her, he protected her, and he was her world. She was more than happy to pamper him in return.
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