Chapter 1: One Hundred Million

Two lines.

Before I could even recover from the news that had struck me like a bolt from the blue, the location tracker on my phone began screaming.

Huo Xianchi was on his way.

When I failed to answer his messages, he started bombarding me one after another. The final two arrived exactly one minute apart, but the pressure behind them had multiplied tenfold.

“Baby, you’ve been in the bathroom for so long. Are you feeling sick?”

“You’re hiding something from me, aren’t you? I’ll find out soon enough. Baby, I’m coming in.”

My heart lurched. I hurriedly erased every trace of what had happened before pushing open the door and stepping outside.

The moment I looked up, I came face-to-face with Huo Xianchi’s dark, icy expression. He was holding his phone to his ear, but the instant his eyes landed on me, the tension in his shoulders finally eased.

“Stop searching.”

His order was directed at whoever was on the other end.

It was Huo Xianchi’s favorite twisted little game—vanishing, being hunted down, turning the entire place upside down.

Just like a cat leisurely playing with a mouse.

And the punishment waiting for me once he caught me…

Just thinking about it was enough to make my scalp prickle.

In that enormous villa, there wasn’t a single place untouched by the aftermath of his madness. The stairs, railings, garden, swing, balcony—everywhere bore traces of his violent outbursts.

And every time, it was worse than the last.

There were nights when he would roughly grip my throat, his eyes bloodshot with pain and hatred.

“Kill me, Shen Tangyuan… Stop torturing me. You’ve turned me into a pathetic dog that can only kneel at your feet, terrified every second that you’ll leave me.”

Yet only seconds later, the desperate man would switch moods as easily as turning a page.

The fingers wrapped around my throat would suddenly become soft, caressing me with a possessive, lustful tenderness.

“Shen Tangyuan… The more you resist, the more excited I get.”

As of today, Huo Xianchi had kept me imprisoned by his side for three years.

This baby had come completely out of nowhere. I hadn’t had time to prepare myself for it at all.

“I thought you were trying to run away again.”

Huo Xianchi suddenly lunged forward and buried his face against my neck, breathing me in greedily like some huge dog desperate for the scent of its owner.

I forced down my trembling and managed a reluctant smile.

“I just went in to touch up my lipstick.”

His gaze settled on my lips, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a wicked smile.

“What’s the point? It’ll be gone after you drink your milk anyway.”

My entire body stiffened.

Apparently thinking he had just told the funniest joke in the world, he casually patted my shoulder.

“Good girl. Go get your milk. If you dare pour it out again, I’ll think of a way to make you drink every last drop yourself.”

Huo Xianchi had a face so devastatingly handsome that people could forgive him almost anything.

Too bad he didn’t need forgiveness.

He needed to be locked up in a psychiatric hospital and treated.

From an innocent freshman in college, to a secretary after graduation, and then from secretary to a canary trapped inside a gilded cage.

Just like that, six years had passed.

To outsiders, Huo Xianchi was the perfect heir to the Huo family empire—polite, distinguished, flawless.

But I was the only one who knew the truth.

He was sick.

He had another personality hidden inside him, one that was extreme, obsessive, and terrifyingly possessive.

The first time that other personality appeared, he simply looked at me and asked three questions.

“Secretary Shen, what’s your favorite color?”

“White.”

“Then lock it up.”

“Secretary Shen, do you hate me?”

“Yes.”

“Then lock that up, too.”

Afterward, he calmly declared, “Shen Tangyuan, I want to chain you up.”

His tone had been as casual as if he were commenting on the weather.

And just like that, this thousand-square-meter suburban villa became my entire world.

Today, he showed me a rare bit of mercy.

“If I keep you locked up like this, I’m afraid you’ll go crazy. I like a Shen Tangyuan who knows how to cry and act spoiled. I don’t want a dried-up butterfly pinned to a wall.”

So I was rewarded with a trip to the mall.

It was my reward for willingly kissing him the night before.

Of course, the reward didn’t last long.

“I sent you ninety-six messages, and you didn’t even bother reading one.”

He tightened his grip around my wrist, his voice dropping into a threatening growl.

“Never even think about escaping my grasp.”

I stayed silent and let him drag me along.

Then, all of a sudden, his expression darkened.

“Two days from now, we’re going back to the old family estate.”

I clenched my fists, bitterness rising in my throat.

The moment we arrived at the Huo family estate, Huo Xianchi received an urgent phone call.

I had no idea what the person on the other end said, but his expression changed instantly.

He only had time to roughly shove me into a room before hurrying away.

The room was secured behind three layers of locks.

Luxurious and exquisite, but no less than a gigantic gilded cage.

I waited patiently for a long time, but he never came back.

The anklet around my ankle was custom-made with a combination lock. Huo Xianchi had always been confident that there was no way I could open it.

Unfortunately for him, he was far too arrogant.

I had secretly studied the mechanism for six months.

Click.

Footsteps echoed from the hallway.

Before I could hide the lock-picking tools beneath the blankets, the door suddenly flew open.

A man with sharp brows that bore a striking resemblance to Huo Xianchi stepped inside.

“CEO Huo Sui?”

I recognized him immediately—the powerful cousin of Huo Xianchi.

Huo Sui didn’t even spare a glance at the lock-picking tools I had hurriedly shoved behind my back.

He walked straight over and unlocked the anklet himself.

Click.

The gold anklet sprang open.

“You’re free.”

His tone was utterly casual.

I stared at him in confusion.

Then he held out a black bank card.

“The second personality in Xianchi has been completely erased. It’s gone for good.”

My heart skipped a beat.

I knew the Huo family had been using extreme medical measures to treat him for years.

Huo Sui continued, “His primary personality is about to marry Song Min, the Song family heiress, for the sake of the family’s interests. You shouldn’t stay here anymore.”

“There’s one hundred million yuan in this account. Take it and deal with the baby in your womb. I’ve sealed all your medical records. Xianchi won’t find out.”

“He’s about to return to the company and take over his position. If you know what’s good for you, leave the capital.”

He didn’t force me to go to the hospital immediately.

He simply opened the door and let me walk away.

That night, I rented a small hotel room on the outskirts of the city.

Under the warm yellow light, I turned the bank card over and over in my hands.

One hundred million yuan.

All mine.

From now on, Huo Xianchi could no longer keep me imprisoned.

I no longer had to spend every day living on edge with a ticking time bomb beside me.

I looked at the bank card.

Then I checked the balance again.

The corners of my lips rose until they nearly reached my ears.

Maybe…

I had actually made a fortune from being kidnapped for three years.

But the happiness didn’t last long.

The very next day, my resignation request on the company’s system was rejected without hesitation.

The new secretary taking over my position rubbed her eyes, thought for a moment, then said awkwardly, “Sister Shen, I think the headquarters may have changed its HR procedures. In the past, resignations from senior secretaries had to be personally approved by CEO Huo Xianchi.”

“Maybe you should go to his office and ask why your request was rejected. You’re only asking for unpaid leave for personal reasons. According to company policy, there’s no reason for the corporation to keep you here.”

The moment I heard the name “Huo Xianchi,” my hands and feet went weak.

My heart began pounding wildly with fear.

But I forced myself to calm down.

It’s okay.

It’s really okay.

He had been cured.

He no longer remembered any of those three years of madness.

The doctors called it selective amnesia caused by trauma.

As for the rational Huo Xianchi he was now…

I was just an ordinary secretary.

Just another completely ordinary subordinate.