“If you won’t sleep with me, what’s wrong with me finding someone else!”
“Let’s get divorced!”
With a sharp slap, the divorce papers were thrown onto the table.
In the living room.
Yu Wan, dressed in a silk nightgown, lounged lazily in her chair. She lifted her delicate chin and narrowed her eyes as she gazed at the expressionless man standing before her.
She uttered these two shameless, brazen lies in an utterly unreasonable and domineering tone.
Call her spoiled, willful, arrogant, and overbearing—fine, she had the capital to be all those things.
But call her the villainous cannon fodder ex-wife of the major antagonist? Absolutely not!
That’s right—Yu Wan had awakened.
It turned out she was living inside a novel. In her dreams, she was the villainous cannon fodder ex-wife of the major antagonist.
To win the male lead, she would stop at nothing, resorting to every trick in the book.
She even went so far as to drug someone and climb into their bed.
But instead of gaining an advantage, she ended up worse off. When she woke up, she was surrounded by media at the door.
The person in bed wasn’t Xie Shiyuan, whom she had been pining for, but rather the illegitimate son and antagonist—Xie Mingyan.
Because the media exposure led to overwhelming public pressure, she had no choice but to marry Xie Mingyan.
But after marriage, she showed no sense of being a married woman. She sowed discord between the male and female leads, spread rumors and slander, carried out kidnappings and threats—she did it all.
She relentlessly chased after the male lead, Xie Shiyuan, effectively putting a glaring green hat on her husband.
She looked down on Xie Mingyan for being a useless illegitimate son and, holding a grudge over past events, subjected him to beatings, insults, and endless torment.
She made her nominal husband the laughingstock of the entire elite circle.
Later, she even stole confidential information from Xie Mingyan’s company for the sake of the male lead.
Her fate was predictable.
After the villain rose to power, he divorced her and launched a fierce retaliation. Within a month of the divorce, her family was ruined, her reputation destroyed, and she died a miserable death.
After awakening, Yu Wan was so furious she couldn’t sleep all night. What kind of vicious character was this?!
Wasn’t this just asking for legal trouble?!
Even recalling some of her past actions, Yu Wan felt like she had lost her mind.
It was as if, from a certain point on, her behavior had been controlled—mechanically and rigidly executing some kind of command, doing nothing but foolish things!
Yu Wan laughed in exasperation. None of those actions aligned with the style of Miss Yu!
Fortunately, it was still early in the marriage, and many things hadn’t happened yet.
She had no intention of experiencing that so-called ridiculous plot. Who cared about being a stepping stone in the growth of the male and female leads? Let whoever wanted to take on that role do it—Miss Yu wasn’t playing along!
Ridiculous plot, get lost!
And as for Xie Mingyan—rather than waiting to be divorced and ending up with such a tragic outcome, it was better to strike first.
Divorce, was it? Let’s do it now!
Sign the divorce papers—right now!
A couple of days ago, she had gone to pester Xie Shiyuan again and was severely lectured by her father.
He said she was a married woman with a husband, yet she kept chasing after someone else—how disgraceful.
Although she hated to admit that she had done such things, using this as an excuse for divorce was just perfect.
Seeing Xie Mingyan’s dark gaze fixed on her, Yu Wan glared back without hesitation!
What are you looking at? Was she wrong?!
During this period of marriage, she hadn’t even touched his hand.
If only this man had put in some effort—with a face like his—she wouldn’t have had to trail after Xie Shiyuan like a lovesick fool.
A man who couldn’t even charm his own wife—how utterly useless.
He showed no desire or interest in the presence of such a stunning beauty like her, yet in the later plot, he would treat that so-called female lead with special favor and admiration.
If he couldn’t make proper use of such fine eyes, he might as well go blind.
But none of this concerned her anymore. They were getting divorced anyway, so whatever.
Yu Wan urged impatiently, “Sign it quickly.”
So sluggish.
Xie Mingyan slowly lifted his gaze, silently watching her.
His eyes fell on the divorce agreement, his expression dark and unreadable.
After a long pause, he reached out, picked up the divorce agreement from the table, and slowly signed his name at the bottom with the tip of his pen.
Yu Wan watched as the strokes of his signature gradually appeared, a smile spreading uncontrollably across her face.
Soon, she, the esteemed Miss Yu, would break free from that ridiculous plot and live a carefree life.
However, the moment the pen left the paper—
Yu Wan felt a sudden dizziness, her heart pounding wildly.
[Life Countdown: 30 days!]
[Life Countdown: 29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds]
[Life Countdown: 29 days… 58 seconds!]
A ticking sound abruptly emerged.
Yu Wan stared wide-eyed at the life countdown that had suddenly appeared on her wrist, watching the numbers decrease second by second.
What the hell is this?!
The relentless countdown felt like a death sentence ticking away.
Yu Wan’s mind went blank.
How could this absurd novel world have something so irrational?
“Signed.”
Xie Mingyan handed the document over, his eyes shadowed by an impenetrable mist as he fixed his gaze on Yu Wan.
Yu Wan’s mind was still reeling from the shock of the countdown, leaving her dazed. Seeing the document extended toward her, she instinctively reached out to take it.
As her hand stretched forward, their fingers accidentally brushed against each other.
In the next second, the countdown stopped!
Yu Wan: !
Wait, it stopped?!
Yu Wan’s eyes snapped to their still-touching fingertips, and an unbelievable thought crossed her mind. Could it be…?
Driven by the principle of testing theories through practice, she hesitantly withdrew her hand, then touched his again, withdrew, touched, withdrew… touched.
Countdown: Stop, move, stop, move…
Yu Wan’s heartbeat quickened, her beautiful eyes instantly lighting up. She abruptly grabbed the man’s hand.
The countdown halted completely—no, not just halted, it even increased!
Xie Mingyan hadn’t been in contact with anyone for a long time. The warm, soft sensation on his skin sent tremors coursing through him, as if something dormant had been awakened.
A feeling like insects gnawing spread from his fingertips throughout his entire body, enveloping him densely.
Overwhelming tremors surged within him. Fearing a loss of control, Xie Mingyan reflexively and urgently shook off her hand, nearly shouting, “Yu Wan!”
Yu Wan was startled by his reaction, her delicate brows furrowing. “Why are you yelling?”
He scared her.
Noticing the man’s tightly pressed lips, a flicker of realization crossed Yu Wan’s eyes.
Oh, she almost forgot—he had severe mysophobia and never allowed anyone to touch him.
Yu Wan felt exasperated. What a clichéd, unchanging character trait.
Still, even with mysophobia, he had no right to yell at her.
And to act so disgusted? If it weren’t for that ridiculous countdown and her need to survive, she wouldn’t have touched him in the first place.
Xie Mingyan pressed his lips together tightly, struggling to suppress the tremors triggered by the skin contact. Even his fingertips trembled.
Instead of the expected revulsion, it was the clamoring of desire within him that roared to life.
Touch her. Grab her hand, her arm, her entire body—fiercely, completely! Thoroughly! Merge!
Reason and dark thoughts pulled at him relentlessly.
Pushing her away wasn’t out of disgust, but fear that his facade would crumble.
“Still want to sign the divorce agreement?”
Swirling darkness flickered in his eyes as he spoke softly, his gentle tone almost a murmur yet carrying extreme danger.
As if daring her to sign would mean being devoured the next second.
Yu Wan, still reeling from the recent death countdown, only remembered the divorce agreement when he mentioned it.
Seeing the document on the table, Yu Wan’s pretty brows furrowed. This wasn’t a divorce agreement—it was a death warrant counting down to her doom.
Under Xie Mingyan’s gaze, Yu Wan moved with lightning speed—snatching the divorce papers, tearing them to shreds, and tossing them away.
The entire motion flowed seamlessly, executed in one breath!
She didn’t care that she’d originally intended to sign them.
Xie Mingyan watched the shredded paper in the nearby trash can, the darkness in his eyes receding like a tide.
Then he looked up at Yu Wan—the young mistress forever carrying her haughty demeanor.
The craving for skin contact surged within him, yet his face remained composed as he asked mildly, “What does this mean?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Yu Wan pointed at the scraps. “I changed my mind.”
She’d nearly lost her life.
“Suddenly I think you’re quite good-looking. I don’t want a divorce anymore.”
What divorce?!
Without signing the papers, she could rely on Xie Mingyan to extend her life. Signing them would be waiting for death.
Immersed in the death countdown, Yu Wan completely missed the fleeting darkness in the man’s eyes.
Xie Mingyan’s lips moved soundlessly: Good.
Otherwise, he truly didn’t know what he might do.
[Female lead is a truly spoiled, domineering young mistress who can’t tolerate the slightest grievance.]
[Male lead has skin hunger and is gloomy/morbid—Note: All symptoms of skin hunger in this story serve the plot. In other words, the plot dictates how it manifests (proudly lifts chin).]
[Male lead is not actually an illegitimate child.]
[Don’t criticize the female lead, don’t criticize the male lead. If you must criticize—well, let’s discuss not criticizing me either.]
PS: Though it’s in the synopsis, seeing some readers mention it, here’s a heads-up: This novel contains dating show segments (not sure if that’s a dealbreaker emmmm).
Edit 2: Possibly 30% dating show content (facepalm).