The next morning, Li Yao took me to school again. Tu Dat Minh was already waiting near the entrance, covered in stubble and reeking of alcohol. I ignored him completely, turning back toward the car with a wave and a voice as sweet as honey.

“Bye, hubbie. You were up all night—go home and get some rest, okay?”

Li Yao let out a chuckle and stepped out of the vehicle, walking straight past Tu Dat Minh. Reaching out, he tilted my chin up and planted a loud, exaggerated kiss right on my lips—MWAH! It rang out so clearly it felt like he’d hooked himself up to a loudspeaker. Once he pulled back, he leaned down to tease me in a low whisper:

“Calling me ‘Uncle’ yesterday, ‘hubbie’ today… Ah, and when you were dreaming last night, you clung to me and called me ‘Daddy.’ What am I gonna do with you? I love every single one of them.”

My face flushed so hot I thought I’d evaporate on the spot. Giving Tu Dat Minh a subtle I don’t need to say a word glance, Li Yao strolled back to his car and drove off.

Tu Dat Minh lunged forward to block my path, his eyes filled with anguish. “You’re doing this on purpose just to mess with me, aren’t you? If you don’t explain what’s going on right now, I swear I’ll end it all right here!”

He grabbed my wrist tightly, bringing up the promise he’d made after our college entrance exams.

Memories came rushing back: a teenage boy in a crisp white shirt, standing in the sun beside a trunk overflowing with roses… Back then, I really believed we had a future together. But then came college, and when my family fell apart, he quietly chose his own exit strategy without a word.

I looked him dead in the eye, my voice laced with ice.

“Just keep living in your little fantasy world. Everyone else is wrong—and you’re the only one who’s right.”

Li Yao had made a smooth exit, but in reality, he was as anxious as ever. The second class ended and I pulled out my phone, I saw over a dozen text messages from him. He didn’t mention a thing about this morning, but every single text was asking how I was doing.

I typed back:

【I’m studying very hard.】

【In a great mood, no tears.】

【We can have lunch together today.】

The second the text sent, my phone buzzed with an incoming call.

“Wife.”

His voice was raspy, tinged with exhaustion, the tail end of his tone hooking straight into my chest. I used to find the term a little cringey, but hearing it now felt surprisingly nice.

“I finally managed to get myself a wife at my age—I’ve gotta keep a close eye on her. Bear with me, alright?”

Hearing that, I wasn’t sure whether to be touched or feel like a priceless piece of cargo under 24/7 armed surveillance. True to his word, Li Yao officially switched to full-time watchdog mode. Although my plan to keep our marriage under wraps had completely blown up, the results were indisputable: Tu Dat Minh loitered in the shadows, but he didn’t dare take a single step near me.

Of course, everything has two sides. With all his time focused on me, his old flames started getting restless.

At a coffee shop near campus, a woman named Vien Khiet cornered me. She downed a cup of unsweetened iced Americano without so much as flinching—a true master of self-control.

“Little sister, I’m giving you some genuine advice,” she said, setting her glass down. “You can rely on Li Yao for now, but what happens when he gets tired of you? If your dad knew, his heart would break.”

I sat there watching her mouth open and close, with only one thought echoing in my head: Why am I sitting here letting a complete stranger lecture me on life?

I offered a polite smile and replied gently, “Words of wisdom like that are probably better said directly to Li Yao. Saying them to me… makes you look a bit out of line.”

Vien Khiet’s face darkened instantly. Just as she opened her mouth to snap at me, a voice chimed in: “Need some help over here?”

Ah, the iconic duo: Tu Dat Minh and Ngo Gia Nhien. They were walking arm-in-arm, beaming like a couple on a cheesy romance poster. Vien Khiet slapped a credit card onto the table, warning me not to “sell my youth short,” before strutting off like she’d just performed an act of charity.

Gia Nhien put on a gasp of exaggerated horror. “Oh my god, Tong Khanh… are you breaking up someone’s home?”

Tu Dat Minh cut in, “Gia Nhien, drop it. She still needs to save face.”

She leaned into his shoulder, acting as innocent as a kitten. The two of them were playing off each other so seamlessly it almost made me gag.

I instinctively reached for my water glass to douse them, but Tu Dat Minh reacted quickly, snatching my wrist. Glancing down at the card on the table, he let out a sneer.

“I guess a petty handout like this is beneath you. Pity you’re not my girlfriend anymore… so I can’t take your side either.”

He shoved my hand away and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Come on, babe. Let’s go buy you a handbag. Money is the last thing we’re short on.”

“Thank you, hubbie~ You’re the best!” Gia Nhien turned to give me a smirk that practically dripped with fake sweet poison.

I had no idea when the two of them had hooked up—maybe it was just his petty way of getting back at me—but I couldn’t bring myself to care anymore. Sitting alone by the window, staring at the street, my mind suddenly went blank.

I genuinely couldn’t remember why I had agreed to marry Li Yao in the first place. Was it because I was terrified of having nowhere to go? Or because I wanted my dad to stop worrying? I didn’t know. All I knew was that during this time, he had given me a space where I could actually breathe.

A safe harbor stable enough for me to slowly pull myself back together.

After wrestling with my emotions all afternoon, I still hadn’t decided whether to tell Li Yao about “Miss Americano.” But that evening, he dragged me along to a housewarming party for one of his buddies, and I ran into Vien Khiet all over again.

She was the same as ever—a soft, pleasant smile on her face, but eyes sharper than a razor blade. Seeing us walk in, she rushed over to greet us with over-the-top warmth.

A little later, the guys pulled Li Yao away for a game of pool. I slipped out to the backyard for some fresh air, only to hear my name being dropped near the edge of the pool.

“Li Yao only married Tong Khanh because her dad did him a massive favor back in the day.”

“Yeah, back when Li Yao was doing underground fights and almost lost his life, her dad saved him and pulled him back onto the straight and narrow.”

“They’re from two completely different worlds anyway,” Vien Khiet chimed in, delivering the final verdict. “They’ll be divorced sooner or later.”

I stood there, a bit stunned. So it turned out he wasn’t just a man of few words—he was the type to do everything behind the scenes without bragging about it. So what if it started as paying back a debt? Whatever the reason, we were married—he was my husband. Thinking about it that way, a wave of relief washed over me.

Just as I turned around to leave, I walked straight into a familiar wall of muscle. Li Yao caught me in his arms, his voice laced with concern.

“What are you doing out here? I was sweating bullets looking for you.”

I took the opportunity to wrap my arms around his waist, tugging him back toward the crowd.

“Miss Vien, you dropped your bank card this afternoon. I picked it up for you—here you go.”

Vien Khiet’s smile froze solid. Someone nearby quickly reached out to take it for her. “How could you be so careless? Good thing sister-in-law found it!” Hearing the words sister-in-law gave me a quiet little thrill.

Li Yao, however, remained rooted to the spot, his voice dropping several degrees. “Aren’t you going to thank my wife?”

Vien Khiet blinked, caught off guard. “Thank you… little sister.”

“Don’t go claiming relatives you don’t have. My family doesn’t have kin like you.” A clean, decisive shut-down.

When Vien Khiet tried to bring up their long history together, Li Yao shut her down with a single icy sentence: “I have a wife. Stop deluding yourself.”

Without another word, he hoisted me up and carried me straight out to the parking lot.

Once I was safely buckled into the passenger seat, he leaned in, planting both hands on either side of my chair and trapping me in his line of sight.

“If anyone ever makes you feel small again, tell me right away, okay?”

I bit my lip. He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a low rumble.

“Be a good girl. Can I kiss you?”

I turned my head slightly, giving my silent consent. The kiss lasted a long, lingering time. When he finally pulled back, a low chuckle escaped his lips.

“Mm. Turns out you do know how to spoil your husband.”