“Goodbye, Lu Shiyu.”
Su Tao’s body slipped from the bathtub.
Lu Shiyu reached out to grab her, but his fingers passed straight through her shoulder and arm.
He could not hold onto anything.
Warm water rushed over her head and filled her ears. The world became a muffled, indistinct roar.
Everything looked like a painting soaked through with water. The colors blurred together one by one before rapidly fading away.
Only Lu Shiyu’s eyes remained clear.
He stared at her with unwavering intensity. His dark eyes churned with a turbulent, obsessive light.
“Su Tao, I will definitely find you.”
White light swallowed everything.
Cold water rushed into her nose.
Music. People laughing and talking.
The voices were vague and indistinct, as if separated from her by a thick pane of glass.
Su Tao opened her eyes. The water rippled around her, blue tiles shifting beneath the surface as light fractured into scattered reflections.
Several people stood by the poolside. There was music, a champagne tower, and electronic dance music pounding so hard that the surface of the water trembled. It looked like a party was underway.
She instinctively tried to swim upward, but her body felt as heavy as lead. Water entered her throat and she coughed violently.
Facái’s voice rang out.
【Ding! Time reversal successful. Time has been reset to one month ago. All related characters’ memories have been erased from the host.】
【The plot of The Billionaire Ex-Husband Returns: The Abandoned Billionaire has begun. The male lead is about to appear. Please prepare yourself, host.】
Through the hazy light and shadows, Su Tao saw a man dive into the water.
Water splashed into the air as he swam toward her. His movements were smooth and quiet, like a fish gliding through deep water.
Amid the shifting waves, the man gradually approached, and Su Tao’s vision slowly came into focus.
Handsome and striking features. Narrow, deep-set eyes. A faint mole above his high, straight nose. Full lower lip.
Lu Shiyu? Why was it Lu Shiyu?
Had the Time Reversal Program failed? Had she gone back again?
Lu Shiyu’s long arm cut through the water and wrapped around her waist. Driven by instinctive fear, Su Tao trembled and struggled desperately.
Water entered her throat. She coughed violently, her body gradually losing its strength. Darkness filled her vision as her consciousness slowly faded.
Lu Shiyu carried her to the edge of the pool and patted the girl’s cheek, but she did not respond.
Su Tao had already lost consciousness. Her small face was completely bloodless, her lips pale, making her look like a lifeless doll.
Lu Shiyu immediately began first aid. He pressed down on her chest, supported her chin, and gave her rescue breaths.
After an unknown amount of time, Su Tao suddenly coughed up a mouthful of water and slowly opened her eyes. Her vision gradually came into focus.
Water droplets fell from his hair and landed on her face.
A look of terror appeared in Su Tao’s eyes. She suddenly pushed him away and raised her hand, slapping him across the face.
Lu Shiyu’s head was knocked to the side by the slap. For a moment, he could not understand what she was doing.
The Su Tao who used to chase after him everywhere, fussing over him and asking if he was warm enough or had eaten, lowering herself so much that it made him uncomfortable, had just slapped him?
Had he stayed up too late writing his thesis these past few days and started hallucinating? Or had Su Tao learned some new trick for flirting with men?
Lu Shiyu was completely bewildered.
Su Tao was just as bewildered.
【Facái! Didn’t you say the time reversal succeeded?! Why is the male lead still Lu Shiyu?!】
【Host, please remain calm. I have successfully reversed the timeline for you. Lu Shiyu does not remember the past, and he is not the male lead.】
【Don’t worry. He only happened to rescue you because of a deviation caused by the parameter adjustment.】
Su Tao stared at Lu Shiyu, her heart pounding wildly. Then she realized that his eyes really were different.
Those eyes that had once looked at her with obsession and infatuation were now slightly narrowed as he regarded her with a cold, indifferent gaze.
She recognized that look.
It was the gaze Lu Shiyu had possessed one month ago. The distant, aloof Lu Shiyu.
Nothing had begun yet.
Thank goodness.
【Facái: Host, the male lead is over there.】
Following Facái’s indication, Su Tao looked past Lu Shiyu’s shoulder and saw the man standing not far behind him.
He had a wild and handsome face with an intimidating presence. His brow ridge was high and pronounced, while his jawline was sharp and angular.
A white shirt hung loosely from his body, neither fully on nor fully off. The buttons had been undone almost to the last one, revealing smooth, defined muscles beneath.
He was clearly about to jump into the water to save someone, but Lu Shiyu had beaten him to it.
Facái explained:
【Qiao Ran, the heir of the Jiangcheng Qiao family. He was driven out of the family because of an internal power struggle. To protect himself, he sought refuge with Shen Zhengqing, an old friend of his father’s. On the surface, he appears to be a spoiled playboy, but in reality, he has been biding his time and waiting for an opportunity to reclaim everything that belongs to him.】
【And you are the biological daughter of the Shen family who was mistakenly switched at birth. You will soon return to the wealthy family and become engaged to Qiao Ran. After discovering that he has fallen out with his family and can no longer reclaim his position as the heir, you will begin humiliating him in every possible way.】
【Qiao Ran endures the humiliation for three years and finally returns to his position as heir. You deeply regret your actions and kneel before him, begging him not to divorce you. He throws a divorce agreement at your face.】
【Your mission is to become engaged to him and then humiliate him until he successfully gets his revenge and makes his comeback.】
Wonderful.
Lu Shiyu was not the male lead.
Su Tao finally relaxed. Only then did she realize that everyone around her was pointing at her and whispering among themselves.
“Is she crazy? Someone saved her and she still slapped him?”
“Of course. That’s what an ungrateful attention seeker looks like.”
“Exactly. The campus belle kindly invited her to her birthday party, and she deliberately pushed her into the water.”
“And now she fell in too. Serves her right.”
“She’s even pretending to drown. How could an adult drown in a pool this shallow?”
“She’s just the campus heartthrob’s obsessive admirer. Lu Shiyu is here today, so she deliberately pulled this stunt to get his attention. So pathetic.”
The malicious whispers, the contemptuous and disdainful looks, and the sight of Lu Shiyu in front of her made Su Tao unwilling to stay for even another second.
She abruptly shoved Lu Shiyu aside, got to her feet, and ran barefoot across the cold floor without looking back.
Water splashed from her clothes along the way. Her soaked dress clung to her body, while someone behind her gave a mocking whistle.
Lu Shiyu watched Su Tao flee in such a disheveled state, a trace of confusion appearing in his eyes.
Su Tao seemed… somewhat different from before.
She had pestered him for two whole years. She had blocked his path outside the teaching building, brought food to the laboratory, and followed him to his elective classes.
He had never given her any response and had no desire to become involved with her in the slightest.
Yet Su Tao seemed completely incapable of understanding the four words written plainly across his face: “Stay away from me.”
She had caused him no small amount of trouble.
He had become so annoyed and wary of her constant pursuit that he always avoided her, wishing she would stay as far away from him as possible.
After being pursued by her for two years, Lu Shiyu understood Su Tao fairly well. She was always good at playing tricks to win sympathy.
The pool was only 1.4 meters deep. How could an adult possibly drown in it?
Most likely, this whole incident had been another performance put on for his benefit.
He should have simply stood by and watched.
But the moment he saw her sinking beneath the water, a sharp pain suddenly gripped his chest.
His body reacted before his mind could. He jumped into the water and rescued her.
The moment he held her, the scent of her body drifted toward him.
For some inexplicable reason, it felt familiar.