Qi Kuo wasn’t wrong—Mévue Cafe really did have a “surprise” waiting for me. Except… this particular surprise went a bit overboard, escalating straight into absolute horror.

I spotted the man and woman sitting by the window, hesitated for a couple of seconds, and decided to dive headfirst into character. Throwing myself straight into Xia Linzhou’s arms, I wailed, my voice trembling with theatrical desperation.

“Linzhou, I’ll be good, I’ll do whatever you say—please don’t throw me away!”

Xia Linzhou knit his picture-perfect brows. “Cheng Yunwu, who gave you permission to follow me here?”

I instantly sat up straight, whipped around to face the woman across from us, and choked back a sob. “Sister Qingli, I truly love Linzhou… I can’t live without him. I know my background isn’t worthy of him, and I’ve never dared to dream of becoming the next Mrs. Xia… But… once you two get married, could you maybe let me ‘join’ you? I swear I won’t try to steal his affection from you!”

Silence descended upon the table. Sensing it wasn’t quite dramatic enough, I decided to pull out my ultimate trump card: pretending to be overcome with morning sickness. But before I could fake two decent gags, Xia Linzhou yanked me back into his lap, his eyes darkening dangerously.

“Cheng Yunwu, push your luck one more time and see what happens.”

Right on cue, Song Qingli chimed in. “Linzhou, don’t be so harsh with her. You’re going to scare her off.”

She turned to me, a gentle smile on her lips. “Yunwu, you’ve misunderstood. We were just discussing calling off the engagement.”

“Really?” My eyes lit up like Christmas trees.

“Of course.”

At her firm confirmation, I immediately grabbed her hands, overflowing with genuine gratitude. “Sister Qingli, you’re making the right choice! You deserve someone so much better!”

Once Song Qingli took her leave, Xia Linzhou gripped the back of my neck, his voice dropping into a low, threatening murmur. “What’s this about ‘deserving someone better’? Are you saying I’m not good enough?”

I couldn’t stop the massive grin from spreading across my face. “Not at all, not at all! You’re wonderful!”

His Apple bobbed slightly as he let out a lazy, teasing scoff. “Is my calling off the wedding really making you this happy?”

“Ecstatic.”

He pressed a soft kiss to my cheek, chuckling lazily. “That crazy about me, huh?”

“Crazy doesn’t cover it,” I threw my arms around his neck, spouting sweet talk without a second thought. “I’m hopelessly, madly in love with you.”

Hearing the sound of running water from the bathroom, I quietly slipped onto the balcony to make a call. The familiar, deep voice answered on the first ring. “Jinchen.”

“Brother!” I squealed in hushed excitement. “I heard Xia Linzhou is about to break off his engagement with Qingli!”

“I know. She just told me.” The line went quiet for a beat before his tone softened. “Jinchen… you’re about to have a sister-in-law.”

I still could barely process it, but his voice grew even gentler. “Once you’re done playing around, come home. When you get back, I’ll arrange for you two to meet.”

My brother had no idea I’d been hunkered down in Shanghai for the past two years. In his eyes, I was still on a grand tour around the world. Fortunately, my two years of Oscar-worthy acting hadn’t gone to waste. My mind was made up—right after Xia Linzhou’s twenty-eighth birthday, I would head straight back to Hong Kong.

Lost in thought, a cold masculine voice drifted from behind me. “Cheng Yunwu, which guy were you just calling?”

“My brother.”

Xia Linzhou wrapped his arms around me from behind, his tone casually indifferent. “Take me to meet him next time.”

“My brother just sells fish at the wet market,” I replied nonchalantly. “Why would you want to meet him?”

“Sweetheart, take a wild guess.”

I spun around in his arms, standing on tiptoe to lean close to his ear, whispering, “Linzhou… how about you let me ‘play’ with you tonight?”

To be fair, his body was top-tier. If it weren’t for his exhaustingly relentless sex drive, he would’ve been the ultimate lover. Realizing I might not easily find someone of this “quality” once I went back to Hong Kong, I decided to make the most of it over the next few days. Let’s see who plays whom.

The night before Xia Linzhou’s birthday.

I had just stepped out of the shower when an anonymous video popped up on my phone.

In the clip, a man was entangled with a woman. The side profile and that deep voice were so unmistakably Xia Linzhou that it required zero guessing. The woman was Meng Zhiyue, his childhood friend who had made a sport of getting on my nerves.

Suppressing the wave of nausea washing over me, I dialed Xia Linzhou’s number. It took forever for him to pick up. But the moment I heard that suppressed, heavy panting from the other end, I hung up instantly.

A text came through shortly after: [Sweetheart, I have some business to attend to tonight. Won’t be back.]

I bit my lip, forcing down the messy tangle of emotions in my chest. [Okay.]

The second the message sent, I threw away the SIM card I’d been using in Shanghai. Turns out… I’d given him way too much credit. For a man with such a “consistently active” appetite, stepping out to satisfy it elsewhere shouldn’t have surprised me.

Thank God I hadn’t fallen for him enough to lose my head over it. It didn’t break my heart. Still… cheating on me right before calling it quits? Disgusting.

Since that was the case… before I took off tomorrow, I was definitely going to leave him a birthday present he’d never forget.

Dressed to kill in a sleek little black dress and flawless makeup, I stepped into the venue. The moment I crossed the threshold, I felt dozens of scrutinizing, condescending glares locking onto me. In their eyes, I had no family backing, no elite pedigree… plain and simple, I was “beneath this room.”

Meng Zhiyue strutted over, her tone dripping with mockery. “Didn’t expect you to actually show up.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” I replied smoothly.

She casually tugged at her collar, deliberately flashing the constellation of fresh hickeys blooming on her neck with a smug smirk. “Linzhou and I had quite a long ‘chat’ last night. He was so gentle. He’s planning to propose to me tonight, you know. Make sure you don’t burst into tears later.”

Watching her gloat like a petty little villain, I was suddenly reminded of my early days with Xia Linzhou—when she’d try every trick in the book to push my buttons. Back then, I had to play the delicate, sweet “white lotus” and swallow my temper.

But now? Please. I was about to get a sister-in-law—why the hell should I hold back anymore?

I scanned the ridiculously romantic setup… and casually kicked over the massive nine-tiered birthday cake.

The entire grand hall went dead silent.

I looked at her, my gaze cold as ice. “Tears? I’ve played around with more men than you could ever dream of. Did you really think I was that desperate for him?”

I let out a harsh chuckle. “Xia Linzhou is the most boring man I’ve ever slept with. If he didn’t have a decent face, I would’ve dumped his ass ages ago.”

“L-Linzhou…”

Hearing the shaky gasp behind me, I turned around.

Xia Linzhou stood in the middle of the crowd, his face so terrifyingly dark it sent a chill straight down everyone’s spine. He strode over in long, furious strides, clamping his hand tightly around my wrist. His voice was laced with lethal frost.

“Cheng Yunwu, say that again. I dare you.”

I looked him dead in the eye, dropping every single word with crystal clarity. “Xia Linzhou, you are the worst man I have ever been with. I’m done. We’re over.”

With that, I ripped my wrist from his grip and brushed right past him.

I hadn’t gone more than a few paces before his icy voice cut through the air behind me. “Cheng Yunwu, if you walk out that door today… don’t you ever come back.”

I gave a bitter smirk and quickened my pace.