Yu Li steadied her dizzy head and gestured for her best friend to calm down.
“Don’t worry, his looks and physique are absolutely male-model level, and his aura puts all those domineering CEOs to shame. It’s just that his job is very special, so we agreed to keep our marriage a secret and not reveal his identity to anyone.”
“I’m sorry, darling, but a person has to keep her word. But you’re my dearest best friend—once he gets back from his business trip in a couple of days, I’ll introduce him to you personally.”
“Even though he’s my legal husband now, if my dearest best friend doesn’t approve of him, I’ll dump him on the spot!”
With that, Yu Li held up three fingers and swore enthusiastically.
Qi Xi made a sound of surprise. “What kind of job is so mysterious? Anyone who didn’t know better would think he’s a foreign spy. Doesn’t sound very reliable to me.”
Yu Li smiled. “Come to think of it, this bargain-basement husband of mine has the same surname as you.”
Qi Xi’s ears perked up immediately. “Also surnamed Qi? Let me think about which other wealthy Qi families there are in Huaguo… Hmm, doesn’t seem like there are any. So could he be some penniless loser working in a shady industry?”
“Sweetie, you can’t let yourself be blinded by a pretty face and jump into a fire pit. As the saying goes, better to cry in a BMW than laugh on the back of a bicycle.”
“You won’t be the only one suffering—your baby will suffer right along with you!”
As she spoke, Qi Xi began blaming herself: “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t dragged you out clubbing that day, and if we hadn’t drunk so much, you never would have gone into the wrong room, never would have been slept with by some broke loser, never would have ended up unexpectedly pregnant and forced to tie yourself to him!”
Qi Xi had already been feeling deeply guilty about this whole thing.
The story began a month earlier.
Qi Xi had been living the life of an ordinary office worker among millions, clocking in and out on schedule every day.
Then one day, several people who looked extremely wealthy showed up at her door and told her she was a child of the Qi family—she had been switched with another baby at the hospital right after birth.
And this Qi family was none other than the family of Tianhe Group, the richest family in the capital’s elite circle.
In an instant, Qi Xi went from being a sparrow to a genuine heiress of a wealthy family—it felt like a dream.
Though it seemed surreal, this was a ceiling that ordinary people could never reach even with a lifetime of effort, so of course it was wonderful news.
To celebrate, Yu Li and Qi Xi went clubbing at a bar after a big dinner.
They ended up having too much fun and drinking quite a lot.
The two of them, swaying and stumbling, found a hotel nearby. While Qi Xi was still at the front desk paying, Yu Li wobbled upstairs ahead of her.
Then she accidentally entered the wrong room, and under the influence of alcohol, slept with the wrong person.
Heaven only knows—when Yu Li woke up the next morning, her back and waist ached, and her body still bore the ambiguous marks left from the fierce battle the night before.
Then she turned her head and saw that handsome, young, and accomplished face she often saw on TV, the one that commanded the room—
Qi Chenyan.
Yu Li thought she was dreaming and pinched herself hard, wincing at the pain.
It wasn’t a dream. She had slept with the nationally famous news spokesperson!
The odds of that were even lower than winning the lottery!
And yet, incredibly, it had actually happened to her.
In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Yu Li’s mind.
What if, like those melodramatic CEO novels, Qi Chenyan thought she was a scheming gold-digger who’d climbed into his bed, then furiously flung a stack of bills in her face and told her to get lost?
Or—Qi Chenyan was a hugely influential figure. What if the accident last night had been photographed by paparazzi and exposed? Qi Chenyan, to save face, might be forced to marry her.
If it went that way, the story would surely unfold as one designed to torment the woman.
Not only would she be misunderstood by the male lead, she’d suffer physically and emotionally—having her heart ripped out and her liver torn apart.
To avoid such suffering, Yu Li threw on her clothes and fled in a panic before Qi Chenyan woke up.
Yu Li spent the next few days on edge, but everything remained calm, as if that accident had been nothing more than a minor episode in her life.
Come to think of it, with Qi Chenyan’s status, if he wanted, he’d probably slept with plenty of women. She was just an insignificant little fish in his vast pond.
She’d only been borrowing trouble for herself.
Work at the TV station was busy as it was, and Yu Li had recently been competing for the lead anchor position, so she soon forgot all about that night of passion.
Until she realized she hadn’t gotten her period for a month.
She suddenly remembered that she’d been too shaken that day and hadn’t taken any contraceptive precautions afterward.
With a nervous heart, Yu Li bought a pregnancy test from the supermarket.
When she saw the two red lines, her mind went completely blank.
Unwilling to give up, she sneaked off to the hospital for another check.
But the result was the same: four weeks pregnant.
Holding the test report, Yu Li stood dazed at the clinic door.
The first thought that popped into her head was to get rid of the baby.
It was cruel, but her career had only just gotten on track after so much struggle.
The lead anchor position was a rare opportunity—miss this one, and who knew when the next would come?
Besides, if she had the baby, with her current finances, raising a child while also supporting her grandmother would be more than she could bear.
So after much deliberation, Yu Li decided to terminate the pregnancy.
She consulted the doctor about the abortion procedure and had even scheduled the surgery.
Qi Xi respected all her decisions and promised to accompany her to the abortion that day.
But unexpectedly, the day before the surgery, there was a knock at her door.
The man she’d thought she’d never see again in this lifetime stood at her doorstep, dressed in a sharp suit, radiant and full of vigor.
“I’m Qi Chenyan. A month ago, someone drugged me, and I accidentally ended up in bed with you. I’m sorry it took me this long to find you.”
“I have two and a half hours before my flight. If you’re willing, we can get our marriage certificate right now. I will take responsibility for you—and for the child.”
Yu Li hesitated for three minutes, then went with Qi Chenyan to the civil affairs bureau.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Yu Li sighed and pulled out the black card, stuffing it into Qi Xi’s hand.
“From my bargain-bin husband. A black card with no limit. He said I can spend however I like.”
Qi Xi held the black card up to the light and examined it several times, then instantly changed her expression.
“This husband is great. This husband’s a keeper. Keeping your work secret? Fine, whatever. As long as he’s not a freeloader and has serious money, it’s all good.”
“Scored a rich and handsome husband for free—looks like we drank really well that night!”
That flip in attitude was faster than an X-ray.
“Forget about me—did things go smoothly at the Qi family this morning when you went to be recognized? How did the Qi family treat you? And that fake heiress—are they sending her back?”
The recognition should have happened a month ago, but the Qi family said something had come up and asked to postpone it a few days.
One postponement after another, and a whole month had passed.
Honestly, Yu Li wasn’t very happy with the Qi family’s attitude.
They were the ones who had come looking for their biological daughter in the first place, and they’d seemed so excited at the time.
Yet in the blink of an eye, they’d dragged things out for over a month—it was hard to see any sincerity in this family recognition at all.
“Lili, you’ll never guess who the fake heiress I swapped with is.”