“Smack!”
Before Su Mu had even fully regained consciousness, a sharp, heavy slap stung across her cheek. Her head jerked to the side, and a faint, metallic taste of blood seeped into her mouth.
Slowly and deliberately, she opened her eyes. Standing before her was a tall man in a tailored suit. His features were sharply chiseled, his face set in a tight mask of pure disdain as his deep, fierce eyes burned into her.
Evidently, Su Mu thought, the previous owner of this body knew him.
“That actually stings a bit,” Su Mu murmured.
She raised a hand to lightly stroke her throbbing cheek, then casually rolled her wrist. Before the man could even register her movement, Su Mu whipped her hand back and slapped him squarely across the face with full force.
The man’s head snapped to the side. He swung back to stare at her in absolute shock, as if she had just performed the impossible.
“Ah…!”
A woman standing beside him gasped aloud, clapping both hands over her mouth in disbelief.
Su Mu turned her gaze toward the sound. The woman was dressed in standard office attire—a crisp white button-down tucked into a black pencil skirt—though a dark stain now ruined the front of her shirt. At the moment, her delicate face was a picture of utter panic and helplessness.
Glancing at her surroundings, Su Mu noticed the hushed murmurs and staring eyes of nearby patrons. They were clearly sitting in an upscale restaurant.
“Su Mu—!”
A furious roar yanked her attention back. The man she had just struck was practically trembling with rage.
Su Mu merely offered a lazy smirk, sliding back into the plush leather booth and provoking him with nothing more than a cool, mocking glare.
The man swept a quick glance around the dining room. Unwilling to create a scene in front of so many onlookers, he took a deep breath, fighting to suppress his anger. He left her with only a single parting bite:
“Su Mu, you have completely disappointed me!”
With that, he grabbed the trembling young woman by the arm and stormed out of the restaurant.
“H-Host…?”
A faint, timid voice echoed inside her head. Su Mu offered a nonchalant hum in reply, offering no further questions.
The system fidgeted nervously in silence for a long moment before asking gingerly, “Host, would it be alright if I transferred the storyline to you now?”
“Mm.” Su Mu let out a soft sound of agreement.
Relieved that its terrifying host had actually agreed, the system nearly wept with joy. It eagerly pushed the full storyline into her mind before quietly slipping onto its system chat group, The Little Cuties’ Haven.
w-748: “AAAAH! w-444, you’re still alive?!”
w-444: “Pfft, stop cursing me! My Mumu isn’t terrifying like you guys said at all. I actually think she’s super gentle!”
A soft blush dusted the system’s tiny face. Even her voice is so soft and gentle…
Su Mu, who had literally spoken only two words so far: …
w-233: “…Timidly raises hand. Rumor has it your host tore through three systems before you. Be careful! Don’t get fooled by her act—remember to rub her fur the right way…”
w-748: “…Uh, gotta go, my host is calling me! Bye!”
w-233: “…My host is getting tossed around by the Demon Lord again. Gotta go… guard the door…”
w-444: “…”
In the past, hosts were always the ones begging for help. Why did this one require being handled with soft gloves and extreme caution?
As the memory files processed in her mind, Su Mu’s brows knit into a subtle frown.
So, she realized, she had landed inside a melodrama novel.
Except… what an absolute trash fire of a plot this was.
The body she now inhabited was also named Su Mu—a heiress born with a silver spoon. She was engaged to Shen Yeyi, a fellow elite CEO and the designated male lead of this world. The two families had arranged their betrothal three years ago, right as the original Su Mu turned eighteen.
Since she was only a university freshman at the time, both families agreed to hold off on the wedding until her graduation.
Then, during her junior year, a classic “pure and pitiful white lotus” bloomed in her life—a girl named Xiang Qing, who supposedly relied on hard work and sheer grit to put herself through school.
Xiang Qing grew up in a single-parent home, raised entirely by her frail mother after her father walked out. To lighten her mother’s burden, she worked endless part-time jobs.
Out of nowhere in their third year of university, her long-absent deadbeat father materialized. Demanding money under the guise of paternal duty, he threatened to harass her sick mother if she didn’t hand over cash.
Driven to desperation to protect her mother’s health, Xiang Qing worked harder to earn extra income. But her father’s extortion only escalated, eventually forcing her to take a job selling liquor at a high-end bar.
Xiang Qing had delicate features, a petite frame, and an innocent, vulnerable air—precisely the kind of look that attracted predatory attention in a nightlife venue. Naturally, she ended up being harassed.
That bar was where the original Su Mu first crossed paths with her. Su Mu had simply gone out for a night of casual fun with friends when she witnessed the girl being cornered. Recognizing Xiang Qing as a fellow student from her university, Su Mu stepped in to bail her out.
After that incident, the two somehow became friendly. Su Mu never pried into Xiang Qing’s personal life, but seeing her struggle financially—and knowing the girl was too proud to accept direct handouts—Su Mu recommended her for a waitstaff position at a luxury café owned by her family. It was a safe, pleasant environment, and thanks to Su Mu’s influence, the café paid Xiang Qing the rate of a full-time employee rather than a temporary worker.
Since Su Mu had a soft spot for desserts, she frequently brought her fiancé, Shen Yeyi, along with her. Lo and behold, through these frequent visits, Shen Yeyi and Xiang Qing grew intimately familiar with one another.
Then came the dog-water cliché: My friend stole my fiancé.
As feelings deepened between Shen Yeyi and Xiang Qing, the girl—who knew from day one that Shen Yeyi was Su Mu’s fiancé—tried to push him away on the surface, while secretly being unable to resist drawing closer to him.
When Su Mu eventually discovered their affair, she was naturally furious. She had intended to sit down with Xiang Qing for a serious, private conversation, but before they could even exchange words, Shen Yeyi burst into the room. Xiang Qing immediately cowered behind Shen Yeyi with tears in her eyes, making it look as though Su Mu was terrorizing her.
From that moment on, Su Mu’s resentment toward Xiang Qing grew out of control. Since they shared a campus, Su Mu seized every opportunity to humiliate her, only for Xiang Qing to run sobbing right into Shen Yeyi’s waiting arms. Shen Yeyi, in turn, would berate Su Mu with self-righteous fury.
The three of them dragged out this toxic web of bickering and drama all the way to graduation day. Facing corporate pressures, Shen Yeyi had no choice but to push forward with his wedding to Su Mu.
Yet on the day of the ceremony, Xiang Qing made a tragic, tearful grand entrance. With tears streaming down her face like rain, she gave them her tearful blessings before spinning around to run away in heartbroken agony.
Just then, the story’s second male lead dramatically hurled an ultrasound report directly into Shen Yeyi’s face, loudly cursing him for abandoning Xiang Qing.
He revealed that Xiang Qing was pregnant, yet refused to terminate the pregnancy because she couldn’t bear to destroy their child. And here Shen Yeyi was, marrying another woman behind her back!
Without a second thought, Shen Yeyi abandoned his own wedding to chase after Xiang Qing, leaving Su Mu standing completely alone at the altar.
Disgusted by the entire absurd farce, Su Mu washed her hands of them, packed her bags, and left the country, determined never to see any of them again.
What she hadn’t anticipated was that Xiang Qing—pregnant and running away from her problems—would also flee overseas. Under the devoted care of the second male lead, Xiang Qing gave birth to twins and spent three whole years hiding from Shen Yeyi.
Shen Yeyi went nearly insane trying to find Xiang Qing. In his grief and rage, he blamed everything on Su Mu. He used every ruthless tactic at his disposal to destroy her family’s company, burying them under a mountain of crippling debt.
Unable to withstand the devastation and public ruin, Su Mu’s father jumped off a building to his death. Her grief-stricken mother swallowed a bottle of pills shortly after.
By the time Su Mu learned of the tragedy and rushed back to the country, her parents were already dead. To make matters worse, she was kidnapped by loan sharks to settle her family’s debts and trafficked into an overseas underground nightclub ring.
While the male and female leads eventually reconciled and celebrated with a grand, lavish wedding, the original Su Mu was tortured to death in the shadows of that underground hellhole.