Chapter 2

Fu Sinian reached out to wipe away my tears, coaxing me word by word.

“I know you feel wronged. It’s all my fault.”

“Xiao Qi says she found out her ex-husband bought a plane ticket overseas and is getting ready to leave. Once he’s gone, we’ll hold another wedding right away. How does that sound?”

I turned my face away, not wanting him to touch me.

His voice grew even gentler.

“The house is still yours. I only need you to be its lady of the house.”

I couldn’t say a word.

All these years, whenever Xu Qi used him to flaunt their affection and get away from her ex-husband, he always made promises like this.

Once Xu Qi’s ex-husband left. Once Xu Qi was safe.

He was always so gentle, and yet so cruel.

Every word was about Xu Qi. He always put her first.

He ignored how I felt, every time.

I fought back my tears, opened the smart-home app on my phone, and tapped a notification from six hours earlier.

“You personally deleted my administrator access to the house and replaced it with Xu Qi’s. You changed the passcode from my birthday to hers.”

“Is this the ‘lady of the house’ you were talking about?”

He turned off my phone, then made another firm promise.

“We can change it back. Once Xiao Qi’s ex leaves, I’ll change it back right away—”

Before he could finish,

a man dressed entirely in black, wearing a baseball cap, hurried into the residential complex.

I noticed he was holding a knife beneath his jacket. Instinctively, I clutched Fu Sinian’s hand.

Fu Sinian had noticed the man too.

His pupils contracted. He jerked his hand away from mine.

“That’s Xiao Qi’s ex-husband. He must have found out something.”

“I have to go upstairs and find Xiao Qi!”

My instinct for survival made me grab at him in panic, shaking my head frantically.

“My brother and parents are at home. They won’t open the door for him. Nothing will happen.”

“Fu Sinian, take me to a hotel now! Have you forgotten that man nearly crippled my arm because he thought I introduced you to Xu Qi?”

A year ago, Xu Qi deliberately posted a public photo of herself with Fu Sinian on her social feed, and her ex-husband saw it.

He dug up all of Fu Sinian’s information and eventually zeroed in on me.

He thought I had introduced Fu Sinian to her.

On my way home from work, he took advantage of the chaos, pulled a hood over my head, and smashed my arm with a brick.

He also threatened that if he ever saw me again, he wouldn’t let me off.

My right hand was nearly fractured. I spent two full months in the hospital.

Fu Sinian’s brows knit together as he struggled with the decision. It was clear he remembered what had happened.

He gently patted my shoulder to comfort me.

“I’ll take you to a hotel first.”

But then Xu Qi’s scream suddenly rang out upstairs, and the hand holding mine loosened.

Fu Sinian charged upstairs, his face tense with worry.

“Xiao Xin, take a taxi to the hotel yourself. If anything happens, call the police immediately.”

I looked up at the balcony and saw Fu Sinian and Xu Qi embracing.

His warmth still lingered on my hand.

But my heart had gone cold.

4

When I got to the hotel, I called the police and reported that Xu Qi’s ex-husband had come around to harass her again.

Then I finished the paperwork Human Resources had asked for and submitted my application for a transfer.

On the day I was leaving, I had just finished packing.

Someone kicked the door open. My brother rushed in and slapped me.

“Did you tell Xiao Qi’s ex-husband that Sinian and Xiao Qi were faking their marriage?!”

My parents stood in the doorway, staring at me coldly.

“How did we raise such a vicious, heartless daughter? Do you know you nearly got Xiao Qi killed?”

Xu Qi’s eyes were red as she looked at me.

“Jian Xin, if you can’t stand me, I can leave. Why do you have to drive me into a corner?”

Fu Sinian gently took her hand and soothed her.

“Don’t cry. I’ll make her handle this properly and give you an explanation.”

My cheek burned.

I swallowed the metallic taste of blood.

“I didn’t do it.”

My mother sneered. “That day you saw us adopt Xiao Qi, you left. Then her ex came after her. If it wasn’t you, who else could it have been?”

My father’s eyes blazed with anger. “You pretended to be scared in front of Sinian because you wanted to hold him back. You were hoping her ex would attack her so you could be pleased with yourself!”

I looked only at Fu Sinian.

“You were there the whole time. Do you think I did it too?”

Fu Sinian avoided my gaze.

“Xiao Qi said she couldn’t think of anyone but you who had a motive to do something like this.”

I suddenly burst out laughing.

I laughed at how foolish I had been.

I thought he had been protecting only me, with all his heart.

I never imagined he could belong to someone else, too.