Shui Ruyue felt her whole body go rigid.
She wished the ground would split open so she could crawl into a crack and disappear.
But now that she’d been caught, there was no way she was getting away.
“What a coincidence! You’re here too.”
She swallowed nervously.
A coincidence?
Fu Qingzhi was so exasperated she almost laughed.
“Really? Then tell me…”
“What’s so coincidental about it?”
Shui Ruyue was still firmly wrapped in her embrace.
Even with the thick curtain between them, she could feel as if Fu Qingzhi wanted to swallow her whole.
That earlier question—
“You don’t want your wife anymore?”
To Shui Ruyue, it had sounded like a threat.
Like Fu Qingzhi was saying she didn’t want her anymore.
After waiting a moment without getting an answer, Fu Qingzhi abruptly pulled the curtain aside and turned Shui Ruyue around to face her.
“Yueyue.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Today, Fu Qingzhi was unusually persistent.
She had originally planned to reveal that she was the Big Boss.
But now…
She had changed her mind.
She didn’t want to come clean.
She didn’t want to honor the verbal agreement that they’d divorce in a month.
The woman in her arms was like a startled little rabbit.
She struggled twice before quickly settling down, then clumsily returned the embrace.
“Even if I’m only your wife for one month… I’m still your wife.”
“Yueyue never said she didn’t want you.”
Her voice sounded especially aggrieved.
“Only one month?”
Fu Qingzhi asked quietly.
“Didn’t someone say I was her support?”
“Didn’t you come back to the family estate with me?”
“Are you taking it all back now?”
Question after question rained down.
Then Fu Qingzhi tightened her arms around Shui Ruyue.
You flirted with me and now you’re trying to run? Not happening.
Shui Ruyue’s mind went completely blank.
Why did she suddenly feel such an overwhelming urge to confess?
Fu Qingzhi was wealthy.
Beautiful.
Had an incredible figure.
Elegant and aloof.
Never fooled around.
And she was a complete workaholic, meaning their future would be financially secure.
From Shui Ruyue’s perspective…
Aside from the fact that she considered herself straight…
She wasn’t entirely incapable of accepting this mature, elegant woman.
But!
Fu Qingzhi was supposed to marry the heroine in the future!
If she forcibly changed the plot, wouldn’t she be erased from existence?
That’s how novels always worked!
Shui Ruyue failed to answer in time.
A moment later…
Fu Qingzhi let go of her.
“If you don’t want to, I won’t force you.”
A trace of disappointment flashed through her heart.
“As for those rumors online…”
“I’ve already dealt with them.”
Fu Qingzhi turned and walked out.
She took out her phone and, using the identity of the Big Boss, sent a message.
“Something came up unexpectedly. Let’s meet another time.”
“As for Jin Meimei’s absence, your cooperation with Xingzhi Group will continue. Someone else will take over the handoff.”
Still standing dazed inside the room, Shui Ruyue felt her phone vibrate.
The instant she read the message, a surge of joy welled up inside her.
Her biggest order hadn’t been canceled after all.
Soon afterward, several smaller clients who had withdrawn because of the online controversy contacted her again.
Shui Ruyue rejected every one of them.
She had no need for fair-weather partners.
Compared to them…
Xingzhi Group was far more reliable.
Wait a second…
Wasn’t Xingzhi Group Fu Qingzhi’s company?
Something suddenly felt off.
Could the Big Boss have some connection to Fu Qingzhi?
If the two of them were superior and subordinate…
Then wouldn’t the message she’d sent the Big Boss before—
About leaving Fu Qingzhi forever—
Have been discovered?
Panic instantly flooded her.
Words like that practically counted as betrayal!
Sure, she’d been drunk and completely out of her mind when she’d typed them…
But she and Fu Qingzhi were still legally married.
Determined not to get kicked out immediately, Shui Ruyue hurriedly called a car and rushed home.
When she returned to the villa, the housekeeper approached anxiously.
“Madam, President Fu is in a bad mood again.”
Shui Ruyue froze.
Her brain raced.
What does Fu Qingzhi do whenever she’s in a bad mood?
Drink.
In the novel’s ending, she’d died from alcohol poisoning.
Shui Ruyue’s mind went blank.
Then she spotted two bodyguards carrying two entire cases of liquor toward the bedroom.
Thinking back to how she’d angered Fu Qingzhi earlier…
A wave of guilt washed over her.
If the villain died ahead of schedule because she’d driven her to it…
Wouldn’t she be erased as well?
“Put those down!”
“You’re not taking the alcohol into the room!”
The two bodyguards were stunned.
But since Shui Ruyue was Mrs. Fu, neither dared disobey her.
Shui Ruyue immediately hurried upstairs.
The bedroom was dimly lit.
Only the faint glow of the bedside lamp flickered in the darkness.
An empty wine bottle lay rolling across the floor.
The screen of the phone in Fu Qingzhi’s hand was still lit.
On the other end, Lu Lu had sent one sixty-second voice message after another.
“Have you lost your mind? The whole internet knows Shui Ruyue is Mrs. Fu now! How is that any different from making it official?”
“What about Ruru?”
“Are you trying to drive your mother into a mental hospital?”
“…”
The shrill voice continued endlessly.
Fu Qingzhi listened numbly, her face devoid of any expression.
Meanwhile, Shui Ruyue felt another pang of guilt and hurried over.
In the original novel, one of the biggest reasons Fu Qingzhi drank herself to death was to escape Lu Lu’s obsessive possessiveness.
Just then, Lu Lu called.
“I already gave you enough face at the Fu family estate last time.”
“I thought you were just fooling around.”
“But you actually dared to make the relationship public!”
“Pack Shui Ruyue up and send her away tonight.”
“Otherwise, I’ll immediately agree to the marriage alliance with the Zhao family.”
“Shui Ruyue is nothing but a pretty face. She can’t do anything.”
“And the Shui family has been eyeing the Fu family this whole time, hoping to use you to make a comeback.”
“People like that should be kept far away.”
Shui Ruyue felt a little wronged.
If you’re going to criticize the Shui family, then criticize the Shui family! Why drag me into it?
I’m working hard to negotiate business deals too, you know!
Just as Fu Qingzhi was about to speak, she suddenly sensed someone sit down beside her.
“Let me.”
Shui Ruyue reached over and instinctively took the phone from Fu Qingzhi’s hand.
Straightening her back, she cleared her throat.
What’s the best way to deal with an obsessive parent?
“Mom!”
“Could you stop interrupting the intimate moments between husband and wife—”
She immediately corrected herself.
“—between wives?”
“Otherwise…”
“What if it affects Zhizhi’s future marital happiness?”
Silence.
In truth, the Lu Lu of the original novel genuinely wanted her daughter to be happy.
It was simply that her possessiveness was far too overwhelming, causing every method she chose to be the wrong one.
Less than three seconds later…
The call disconnected.
Shui Ruyue’s heart leaped with delight.
Just as I thought—it worked!
“When do we start?”
Fu Qingzhi suddenly asked.
“…?”
All at once, Fu Qingzhi no longer wanted to drink.
Thinking back on every previous occasion…
Whenever Shui Ruyue was around, she always managed to stop her from reaching for alcohol.