When he discovered the woman lying in bed was not me, Fu Chiyan went completely berserk. Cold-faced, he dragged the disheveled woman out and threw her onto the hallway floor. “Su Yiting” landed like a discarded rag, her face contorting in sheer agony.

He immediately ordered a city-wide manhunt. Unfortunately… it was far too late. Xu Ning and I had vanished into thin air without leaving a single trace behind.

It didn’t take long for Fu Chiyu to realize that Xu Ning was missing, too. A man renowned for his unfazed composure lost his temper so badly he dropped obscenities for the very first time. Under the crushing pressure of both Fu brothers, Father Su broke down in record time, spilling every single detail of the plot. But when they finally intercepted the getaway car, I was nowhere inside.

That was the exact moment the Fu brothers officially lost their minds. Fu Chiyu flashed a deadly, sarcastic smile at his younger brother.

“Chiyan, your wife sure is impressive. Running away is one thing, but she even managed to drag my wife along for the ride. Why am I collateral damage in your marital drama?”

Standing in the shadows, Fu Chiyan shot back with a cold, mocking smirk. “My sister-in-law has her own two feet. If she genuinely wanted to run, as if you could have held her back?”

Upon returning home, Fu Chiyan found the signed divorce papers left resting on the living room table. He picked them up, stared at the paper for a few long seconds, and set them ablaze right in front of everyone. The flickering flames mirrored in his dark, bottomless eyes, looking terrifically cold.

Over the next few days, he systematically cut off every single corporate partnership with the Su family. Father Su arrived at his doorstep in person to beg for mercy. “Wanxia is our daughter after all… isn’t doing this a bit too ruthless?”

Recalling the teary-eyed, terrified girl who had collided straight into his chest on the night they met, Fu Chiyan’s voice turned lethal.

“You aren’t worthy of being her father.”

While the Fu brothers were frantically turning the world upside down to find us, Xu Ning and I were enjoying a life of unfiltered, unhinged freedom. We had rented out an entire mountain slope, spending our days chasing wild chickens and screaming at the top of our lungs across the lush green pastures:

“Hahaha! Freedom! Shen Wanxia, you’re finally free!”

In all my twenty-six years of living, I had never felt this unburdened. No walking on eggshells around anyone, no playing second fiddle, and no serving as someone else’s “stand-in.”

Every single day was spent tearing across the hills trying to catch livestock. Xu Ning looked at my chicken-feather-covered hair and doubled over laughing. “Your hair is literally peak modern art!” Staring at the leaves and twigs sticking out of her own messy bun, I laughed so hard my stomach ached. Our laughter echoed across the entire valley.

Finally, I managed to tackle the fattest chicken in the flock. But the very next second, catching a glimpse of a tall silhouette standing right behind Xu Ning, my face drained completely of color:

“RUN!!!”

Before Xu Ning could even process what was happening, I grabbed her arm and we sprinted for dear life, my hands still tightly clutching the struggling chicken. By the time we finally screeched to a halt, Xu Ning was bent over, hands on her knees, gasping for air. “What the hell are we running from?!”

I stared ahead, expressionless. “I saw a ghost. A ghost named Fu Chiyan.”

Xu Ning turned around and nearly passed out right then and there. Black-suited bodyguards had completely blocked off all our exit routes. Standing directly in front of us was Fu Chiyan, looking ready to murder someone, flanked by Fu Chiyu, whose eyes practically radiated pure dark energy.

Me: “We’re dead.”

Xu Ning: “At least your corpse will look better than mine.”

Just as the atmosphere reached a suffocating breaking point, the chicken in my arms suddenly jolted awake. I immediately thrust it forward, offering a strained, desperate smile:

“Haha… what a coincidence, guys! We… we caught this chicken specifically to make you two dinner.”

The Fu brothers stared at us with an eerie, terrifying calm—the exact silence that precedes a devastating hurricane. Terrified out of my mind, my hands “accidentally” slipped, releasing the chicken in the desperate hope it would buy us a few seconds to bolt again.

Reality, however, was brutal.

After a utterly terrifying “reunion dinner,” Xu Ning and I were hauled back, dragged into separate rooms.

The escape route was officially dead.

In that moment, the only thing left in our eyes was pure, unadulterated regret. All we did was hold hands with a few handsome models at a club… who knew the consequences would be this severe?

The door slammed shut, cutting off my very last desperate glance for help. Without uttering a single word, Fu Chiyan threw me straight onto the bed, unbuckled his silk tie, and bound my wrists together. His movements were frighteningly practiced—I strongly suspected the man had rehearsed this scenario in his head a hundred times over.

“Getting pretty bold, aren’t you, Su Wanxia? Running away on your own wasn’t enough—you actually had the nerve to kidnap my sister-in-law, too?”

I opened my mouth to talk back, but—Smack!

A crisp, sharp sting landed right on my backside. My brain went completely blank. I couldn’t believe this absolute dog of a man actually laid a hand on me!

“Do you know what you did wrong yet?” he demanded coldly.

I was so furious I was practically seeing red. “Untie me if you dare! I’ll fight you to the death!”

The next morning, I crossed paths with Xu Ning again. We exchanged a look, both sporting matching, utterly exhausted eye bags—the kind of look that instantly communicated that neither of us had survived the night unscathed.

Fu Chiyu dragged Xu Ning away. She shot me a desperate, teary-eyed look of salvation, to which I responded with absolute, unflinching sincerity: I can’t even save myself, don’t count on me. Sisterhood really was a beautiful thing.

Then came my turn to be hauled home, officially entering a state of total house arrest. I secretly texted Xu Ning, only to find her situation was even more tragic:

The two of us could only spam frantic screaming-chicken emojis to vent our rage, before making a dead-serious pact: Next time we run, we plan it way better.

The more I dwelled on it, the madder I got. Losing control, I picked up a glass of water and shattered it straight toward Fu Chiyan. The glass slammed into his forehead, breaking on impact, and blood instantly began to trickle down his brow. I froze for a split second, but raw rage quickly overwhelmed my shock.

“Fu Chiyan! I want a divorce! Did you hear me?!”

Completely ignoring the bleeding cut on his forehead, he cornered me ruthlessly against the wall. He leaned in so close I could feel the scalding heat of his breath. “What are you crying for? The one who should be crying is me. My wife ran away and left another woman in my bed.”

I blurted out an explanation frantically. “I prepared a substitute on purpose! I wasn’t about to let Su Yiting take advantage of you!”

His fist slammed hard against the wall right beside my ear. Gritting his teeth, he hissed, “Su Wanxia, do you even have a heart? After everything I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me?”

All the suppressed grievances inside me finally exploded, and I sobbed out, “You only ever treated me like a stand-in!”

Fu Chiyan froze, genuine confusion flickering across his face. “A stand-in? What on earth are you talking about?”

I dragged him into his study, pulled out the hidden photograph, and threw it right at his chest. “This! Isn’t the only reason you married me because I look like her?!”

Fu Chiyan picked up the photo, his brow furrowing deep. “What does she have to do with anything?”

I snatched the photo back, holding it right next to my face, my voice choking with bitter resentment. Fu Chiyan stayed silent for a few long seconds, before his gaze on me shifted into something bizarre—like he had just stumbled upon the funniest realization of his life.

He looked me up and down, and then suddenly burst out laughing. It was the first time I had ever seen him laugh so openly and unrestrained, laughing so hard I genuinely wondered if he had lost his mind.

Placing his hands firmly on my shoulders, he leaned down, his voice rich with dark amusement.

“So… you’ve been demanding a divorce this whole time… because you were jealous?”

I denied it instantly. “I am not!”

Fu Chiyan laughed out loud again, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “Su Wanxia… every single part of you is soft, except for your stubborn mouth.”