The winter night was bone-chillingly cold, and the villa district lay wrapped in silence.
Lu Shihan pushed open the door. The moment he stepped inside, he saw Lin Qian sitting on the sofa, her head bowed.
Only a few ambient lights were on around the living room. In the dim glow, she looked frail in her pale sweater and trousers.
At the sound of footsteps, she jerked her head up and looked over with uneasy eyes.
They glistened with unshed tears, and her red-rimmed lids suggested she had been crying.
Her pale lips parted, as if she were hesitating over what to call him. Finally, she stood up awkwardly and asked with an uneasy conscience, “You’re back… Would you like a glass of water?”
Lu Shihan regarded her coldly. It seemed the recent string of setbacks in her career had finally taught her some sense.
“No need,” he said curtly.
Reaching behind him, he took a contract from his assistant.
Lin Qian stared blankly at the few thin pages. Shock and pain contorted her expression, and a tremor ran through her entire body. Terrified of what he might say next, she turned to flee, her steps frantic.
“I… I just remembered I have something to take care of. I’ll head upstairs first…”
“Stop her,” Lu Shihan instructed his assistant, his patience wearing thin.
Moving quickly, the assistant blocked Lin Qian’s path, ignoring her pleading gaze. Left with no choice, she obediently returned to the sofa and sat down.
Lu Shihan took the seat opposite her, sliding a contract and a pen across the table.
On the cover, the bold words Divorce Agreement stung her eyes.
“Sign it.” His indifferent words delivered her final sentence.
Lin Qian shook her head vigorously in clear refusal. This was hardly the first time he had brought up divorce. In the past, she had wept, thrown tantrums, and all but threatened to kill herself. He waited quietly to see what tricks she would pull this time.
Yet none of the usual theatrics followed. Sniffling with a red nose, she simply stared at him pleadingly, tears welling in her eyes without quite falling.
“Can we please not get a divorce…?” she whispered.
Her beauty was undeniable, one in a million. Online anti-fans attacked her for everything under the sun, but not a single soul could call her ugly.
Because her face bore a passing resemblance to Chu Qingqing’s, he had often looked at her in the past. Yet every single time, he had only been seeing Chu Qingqing through her.
Now, for the first time, he was truly looking at Lin Qian herself, and his heart gave an imperceptible tremor.
A flicker of softness vanished before he could even register it. Hardening his expression, he said coldly, “Lin Qian, don’t waste my time.”
The tears she had fought so hard to hold back finally spilled over, splashing onto the back of her hand. She quickly wiped her eyes, then reached out a trembling hand toward the agreement.
Lu Shihan raised a brow, remaining on guard. He didn’t believe she would give in so easily. Today was his final ultimatum; even if she refused to sign, he had other ways to end this marriage.
Her pale fingers gripped the pen while her other hand slowly turned the pages, as if trying to read every word. But the document was only a few pages long, and no matter how slowly she went, she eventually reached the end.
Her pen hovered over the signature line, lingering there, refusing to come down.
Just as Lu Shihan’s patience was wearing thin, Lin Qian looked up at him. Her gaze was too layered for him to decipher, but one thing was clear—she was desperately reluctant to sign.
Blinking, she tried to offer him a smile, though it looked more painful than tears.
“I know,” she murmured. “This year and a half of marriage was stolen anyway. I was never the person you wanted to marry. Now it’s time to return this happiness.”
Lu Shihan kept his face carefully blank, yet he failed to realize how difficult it was to tear his eyes away from hers. Standing nearby, the assistant was clearly moved, turning his head away in quiet sympathy.
Lin Qian lowered her gaze, her long, curled lashes fluttering like butterflies poised for flight.
“I really envy Miss Chu,” she added, her voice tinged with bitter longing.
“Not because she’s young, beautiful, or well-born, but because she gets to have you so easily.”
Though Lu Shihan knew she had misunderstood, he made no move to correct her. Hearing her words, something jolted inside his chest, stirring an unexpected urge to stop her from signing after all.
With that, Lin Qian steeled her resolve. She signed the contract in swift strokes and set the pen aside.
Lu Shihan suppressed his fleeting hesitation. His expression remained cold and impassive from start to finish, refusing to acknowledge the inner conflict he had just felt. She was nothing more than a stand-in—a foolish, greedy woman entirely unworthy of his pity.
Once the assistant collected the documents, Lu Shihan said, “Pack your things over the next few days, and then you can move out.”
“I’ll leave tonight.”
Had she dragged her feet or fought him for assets, he would have dealt with her mercilessly. Yet her quiet compliance gave him pause. Had he pushed things too far? It was one thing to leave her with nothing, but kicking her out of the house entirely felt harsh.
His expression softened slightly. “There’s no need to rush.”
“Mr. Lu,” she cut in with a bitter smile, “we’re not husband and wife anymore. Please stop being so kind to me, alright? I might get the wrong idea.”
Stunned by her words, Lu Shihan found himself at a loss for a reply. How had he never noticed before just how deeply Lin Qian loved him?
Under Lu Shihan’s puzzled gaze, Lin Qian turned and headed upstairs. Half an hour later, she came back down, carrying a small leather suitcase.
Afraid she might read too much into it, he didn’t offer to have anyone drive her this time. Dressed in a padded coat with a light-colored scarf wrapped around her neck, her lovely face looked strikingly fair and clean.
She stopped in front of him, reaching only to his chin. With slightly reddened eyes, she fished something out of her pocket and asked apologetically, “Can I take this with me?”
Assuming it was something valuable, Lu Shihan felt a flicker of disdain. He was about to tell her she could take whatever she wanted, but froze when he saw what rested in her palm.
A small, rather crudely made rabbit lay there. Where had it come from? He had no memory of it at all.
Lin Qian explained, “You gave this to me after coming back from a business trip. Look, it even lights up.”
She found the hidden switch on the bottom and pressed it. The little rabbit began to glow.
Lu Shihan quietly assessed the rabbit’s value—a hundred yuan at most.
The girl before him cradled the little toy as if it were a rare treasure.
“My childhood nickname was Tutu,” she said softly. “It would mean so much to me if I could keep this. That way… it can keep me company from now on.”
Lu Shihan caught the unspoken meaning: Since I can’t be with you, let this be my keepsake.
He found no reason to refuse such a simple request. With a brief nod of assent, he wondered to himself, Her nickname was Tutu?
Beaming like a child, Lin Qian carefully tucked the rabbit into her pocket, giving it a gentle pat.
“Then I’ll get going. Goodbye, Lu Shihan!”
Without waiting for his reply, she picked up her suitcase and hurried out.
Through the window, Lu Shihan watched her walk away. Only a few steps out, her head and shoulders slumped. She raised a hand, rubbing hard at her eyes.
She was crying, wasn’t she? Her earlier joy had all been an act.
The assistant spoke up tentatively. “President Lu, should I arrange a car to see Lin Qian off?”
Her parting words had nearly moved the assistant to tears. Granted, she might not have the best character, but her devotion to the boss was undeniably genuine. The villa estate was vast; walking all that way on foot would take forever. It seemed rather pitiful.
Lu Shihan shot him a cold glance. “Mind your own business.”
The assistant ducked his head, not daring to make another sound. President Lu had eyes only for Chu Qingqing, going so far as to divorce Miss Lin for her sake. Sympathizing with Miss Lin was definitely a bad idea.
“Head back for now, and pick me up tomorrow morning.”
“Understood, President Lu.”
Lu Shihan took a couple of steps forward, then paused as another thought crossed his mind. “Block all future calls from Lin Qian. Don’t let her see me, either.”
The assistant hesitated, startled. Was he cutting ties with Miss Lin once and for all?
“Understood, President Lu.”
Driving out of the villa complex, the assistant spotted Lin Qian. She was sprinting down the road, hauling a small suitcase behind her.
He sighed to himself. Look at what she had been driven to—forced to run just to vent her heartbreak.
Lin Qian, who was having the time of her life, would have been baffled.
Heartbroken? She was thrilled! This new body was incredible. Sprinting hundreds of meters in a single breath didn’t even tire her out. Across two lifetimes, this was the very first time she had ever experienced the sheer joy of running.
In her past life, a severe congenital heart condition had kept her from any form of strenuous exercise. While everyone else did military training, fitness tests, and track meets, she could only sit on the sidelines and watch.
After turning twenty, she spent nearly half of every year in a hospital bed. A few years later, emergency resuscitation failed, and she slipped away.
When she opened her eyes, she discovered she had transmigrated into a novel she had idly flipped through while in the hospital. Worse, she was now the villainous supporting character who shared her name!
Serving as a stand-in for the female lead, Chu Qingqing, the original Lin Qian had played the male lead and secondary male leads off one another, reaping plenty of perks and even managing to marry the story’s leading man, Lu Shihan.
Her good fortune had not lasted. The moment the ultimate Mary Sue returned to the country, her suitors scrambled to sever ties with the substitute.
Instead of lying low, the original Lin Qian had actively confronted Chu Qingqing, flaunting her victory with smug satisfaction.
“So you’re Chu Qingqing. We do look a bit alike, though you can’t hold a candle to me. See the diamond ring on my finger? My husband, Lu Shihan, gave it to me. We’re holding our wedding ceremony soon—you simply must come.”
Before returning, Chu Qingqing had already heard from friends that someone had been using Lin Qian as her substitute. Seeing this cheap imitation dare parade in front of her pushed her over the edge.
“Who do you think you are?” she spat. “If it weren’t for me, do you really think you could have married Brother Shihan?”
The original Lin Qian had merely rolled her eyes. “Who cares how I married him? The point is, I’m his wife. If you know what’s good for you, stay away from him. It wouldn’t sound very flattering if word got out that the eldest daughter of the Chu family was acting as someone’s mistress, would it?”
Chu Qingqing gritted her teeth. “Fine. Just you wait.”