Since I had chosen to stay in this world for ten years, I couldn’t treat the System’s prophecy about the “tragic ending” as some kind of joke. Just hearing about it reeked of impending doom. So, I started keeping a hawkish eye on every single member of the family, nagging my parents every day: “Think twice before you sign anything, please. Let’s not write our own bankruptcy storyline.”

Despite calculating every move and guarding against every possible threat… the inevitable still happened. Luckily, my instincts kicked in fast, and I managed to patch up the damage just in time. To pull our family out of that complete trainwreck, I officially evolved into a workhorse, working myself to the bone.

A few months later, the crisis blew over. Overnight, I went from a useless freeloading heiress to the family’s “razor-sharp golden girl.” My mother tried to force me to take over the family empire, but I shook my head like a toy rattle: “I’m at the prime age for mooching off my parents! Mom, you can easily fight on the front lines for another thirty years!”

I sank deep into the sofa, resting my head on Chu Nghiêm’s lap. He stroked my hair tenderly, a soft smile playing on his lips. “Baby, you’re an NSFW artist. Please have a little self-awareness.”

I bolted upright like an offended cat. “What’s wrong with NSFW art?! Giang Dữ even said my art was beautiful! Unlike you, who only knows how to laugh, the company was almost toast!”

Bringing up Giang Dữ was an absolute slip of the tongue, but it worked like an accidental summoning spell. That very evening, at a high-society gala, I froze dead in my tracks when I saw him standing front and center under a brand-new identity: the long-lost young master of the Chu Corporation, finally returned home.

“Sis, it’s been three years. Have you been well?”

My body went rigid as a statue. Raising my glass, I offered a painted-on, polite smile. “You’re addressing me wrong. I’m your sister-in-law.”

“Sister-in-law?” He enunciated each syllable slowly, sending a violent shudder straight up my spine.

My mother smelled the drama instantly and dragged me into a quiet corner for an interrogation. Her brain nearly short-circuited when she heard my hushed explanation: “Well… an old flame suddenly turned into my brother-in-law. It sounds totally trashy, but it’s actually weirdly logical.”

I really should have ended things with Giang Dữ on better terms back then, rather than pulling a vanishing act and leaving behind a ticking time bomb like I did.

In a deserted hallway, Giang Dữ pinned me against the wall, his voice dropping into a dangerously dark husk: “Open the door, sister-in-law… it’s me.”

I nearly died of fright before he suddenly let out a low laugh. “Isn’t that what they say in the movies?”

But in the very next second, he leaned down and forcefully stole a kiss from my lips. My brain officially froze.

He pulled back slowly, murmuring, “I’m younger than Chu Nghiêm, stronger, and I’m inheriting the lion’s share of the family fortune… Choose me, and the reward will be so much bigger.”

Snapping back to my senses, I slapped him across the face, a crisp, echoing crack. “I view you as my brother-in-law!”

Giang Dữ cupped his stinging cheek, a chilling smile spreading across his face. “Has my sister-in-law forgotten how she used to seduce me?”

I turned and bolted, only to crash hard into Chu Nghiêm’s broad chest. His eyes darkened dangerously the moment he saw my swollen, bruised lips. Giang Dữ stepped forward, his tone dripping with provocation: “My sister-in-law actually likes me a lot.”

It was only then that I truly understood just how terrifyingly blackened a man becomes when his affection meter hits 100% and he gets abandoned anyway.

Unfortunately, my realization came a little too late. By the time the old mansion exploded in a deafening, terrifying roar, I was delirious with a raging high fever. Waking up inside a trembling, barren space… I realized I had truly played with fire this time.

Inside a private room, Giang Dữ pinched my chin tight, his voice swinging between a threat and a petulant demand: “Beg me just once, sister-in-law, and I’ll help Chu Nghiêm. How about it?”

He was completely different from the boy he used to be. Ever since returning to the Chu family, his career had skyrocketed. In less than six months, his terrifying talent was laid bare—he had even joined forces with rival factions to silently ambush Chu Nghiêm’s company. If the System were still here, it would probably be screaming: Where did our obedient little puppy male lead go?! Who swapped out the goods?!

I grimaced from the pain of his grip. “Fine… I beg you.” He was the one who forced the words out of me, yet the moment he heard them, he was the one who burst into tears like a heartbroken child. “Don’t you have a single shred of pride?! Why do you care about him so much?!” He shattered completely, slamming his fist against the table with a loud bang. I was brutally, almost spitefully honest: “You used to be the sacred red moonlight in my heart… now you’re just a squished mosquito stain.”

My phone rang, it was Chu Nghiêm, calling to ask me to come home for fish soup. The moment I reached for the door, Giang Dữ wrapped his arms tightly around my waist from behind, his voice trembling. “Why can’t you like me?! I’m the male lead! He stoop my destiny!”

I froze. “You… know you’re the male lead?” He confessed that three years ago when I left, his broken pen had transformed into a “Restoration System.” So that was it! One side had a Conquest System, the other had a Restoration System—two teams playing two completely conflicting scripts.

Thinking about the original storyline that the Restoration System was desperately trying to drag back into place, the one where I go bankrupt and wander the streets holding a begging bowl, a cold sweat broke out all over my body. I whipped around and shrieked at him, sounding exactly like my old System: “I don’t care how you take revenge on your brother! If the company collapses, I’ll support him! But if you dare ‘restore’ things so that I end up a beggar. I swear I’ll haunt you as a vengeful ghost!”

Maybe because my sudden freak-out was so overwhelmingly aggressive, Giang Dữ instantly deflated, melting right back into his needy, clingy puppy mode. Typical bully, yielding only when met with real crazy.

When I finally made it back home and recounted everything to Chu Nghiêm, his face turned terrifyingly dark. He grabbed my waist, kissing me so relentlessly I almost passed out from lack of oxygen before he finally released me. A literal walking vinegar jar disguised as a CEO.

The truth was, I had never even considered playing both sides. Trying to soften him up, I coyly hooked a finger into his belt loop: “Seriously~ I love my husband the most.” I only meant to tease him to diffuse his anger, but his eyes instantly went pitch-black. He scooped me up into his arms and carried me straight into the bedroom. I panicked: “Wait! You actually like this kind of talk?! During our first year, no matter how I teased you, you were as cold as ice!” He didn’t answer, choosing instead to prove through brute action just how hopelessly addicted he truly was.

An hour later, I was curled up in the corner of the bed, tears welling up in my eyes as I accused him: “Chu Nghiêm, I totally misjudged you! You’re a complete beast in a suit!”