That evening, I tagged along with Tan Ran to a private estate party. The second we walked in, my eyes snapped directly to the man holding court at the head table: Shen Zhu—the male lead of this universe. A walking red flag who had casually violated half the penal code, yet was still painted by the author as a “brooding, hopelessly devoted hero.”

Seated right beside him was Lin Wanqing, the pure-hearted, delicate lotus of a female lead. Right on cue, a classic angsty melodrama played out: Shen Zhu tossed his lighter onto the table with a cold sneer as Lin Wanqing hesitated to drink with the wealthy playboys around them. “I bought you to entertain, not to stare at your miserable face.”

The entire room went dead silent. Lin Wanqing’s eyes welled up with glossy tears. Yes! This was it! The script was finally kicking in!

I immediately nudged Tan Ran—who was currently laser-focused on a game of Snake on his phone. “Aren’t you gonna play the hero and save the damsel? Go step in and take those shots for her!”

This was the pivotal, destiny-defining moment for the second lead to fall head over heels for the heroine! But Tan Ran didn’t even bother looking up. “I’m a married man. I have a code of marital virtue to uphold. I only take shots for my wife.”

My lip twitched. A self-proclaimed bastion of husbandly virtue was completely derailing the plot.

And it didn’t end there. When Shen Zhu icy-coldly dumped an entire glass of red wine right over Lin Wanqing’s head for “acting so high and mighty,” I held my breath, waiting for Tan Ran’s heart to break for her. He finally raised his head, his eyes darkening, and uttered one intensely serious line: “That bottle cost fifty grand. Pouring it out like that is a tragic waste.”

Me: “…” People mourn for the heroine; my guy mourns for the vintage. With a mindset like that, no wonder he was stuck as the second lead forever.

Right then, Shen Zhu’s gaze suddenly shifted toward me, his dark eyes deep and filled with intense scrutiny. Before I could look back for more than two seconds, the hand beside me tightened hard around mine.

Tan Ran looked at me with an utterly aggrieved pout. “You’re not allowed to look at other men for that long.”

I let out a heavy sigh. Great. My second lead hadn’t just strayed from the plot—he’d gone so far off course he was practically beyond saving.

Ever since the female lead showed up, I’d been grinding at work harder than ever. The logic was simple: I was terrified the plot would suddenly hit the fast-forward button and Shen Zhu would push Tan Ran into bankruptcy. To put it bluntly, I wasn’t worried about his love life; I was worried about my lifestyle and my bank account.

Fortunately, Lin Wanqing’s arrival didn’t seem to faze Tan Ran in the slightest. He still clocked in on time, pulled his usual overtime shifts, and occasionally dropped absurdly dramatic lines that took me three solid minutes to decode whether he was confessing his love or making a death threat. Case in point: this morning, he stared into my coffee cup and rasped, “Coffee is bitter, just like my life. But as long as I have you, no amount of added sugar could ever be sweet enough.”

I nearly sprayed my latte all over my monitor. Times like that, I seriously considered booking him a psychiatric evaluation.

Recently, Tan Ran had been relentlessly nagging to come with me to my college reunion. When I tried to refuse, he immediately turned on the waterworks like a neglected, heartbroken house-husband: “Being rejected by you is just my miserable fate…” Faced with a guy who was impossibly handsome and paid me a seven-figure salary, I had no choice but to cave.

At the restaurant, Tan Ran instantly stole the spotlight, radiating pure high-society elite charisma. But only I knew that under that tailored suit was a dramatic peacock playing dress-up—a total shameless rogue in intellectual’s clothing. When I introduced him as my husband, the whole table erupted in shock. Tan Ran took his seat with a smooth, immensely pleased expression.

When I stepped out to take a phone call, I accidentally overheard two old classmates whispering by the hallway: “Probably just some side chick. Look at her, she’s not even wearing a wedding ring.”

Just as I turned to walk away, I slammed straight into Tan Ran’s broad, solid chest. He’d heard every single word. Stepping back into the dining room, he immediately summoned the manager and ordered a round of the most astronomical delicacies on the menu, announcing casually, “Tonight’s on me. Thank you all for taking such good care of my wife.”

The two gossip girls instantly dropped their heads, staring at their plates. Turns out, cold hard cash really does have the power to silence all petty drama.

When it came time for the check, Tan Ran pulled out a black card, spinning it between his fingers like he was starring in a high-end commercial, then fixed me with a dangerously smoldering gaze: “Do you know what this card and my love for you have in common? Neither has a limit.”

My toes curled so hard in my shoes I wanted to sink through the floor on the spot. Yet all around us, soft gasps of romantic awe filled the room. Wow. Turns out over-the-top CEO tropes survive in the wild for a reason!

As the party went on, Tan Ran suddenly vanished. I took the opportunity to slip out to the upper terrace to catch a breath of fresh air. Stargazing under the dim moonlight, I caught sight of two figures on the balcony above. Standing right there in the soft moonbeams was Tan Ran, facing Lin Wanqing.

A surge of pure joy rushed through my chest: The divorce is finally coming! My settlement payout is waving at me! I immediately pulled back into the shadows so I wouldn’t ruin their emotional moment.

Just as I turned to make a discrete retreat, I slammed right into someone else. A firm, steady arm caught me by the waist.

Enter Shen Zhu—our grand male lead.

He looked down at me with an intensely intrigued smirk and dropped a line that left me completely paralyzed: “Miss Luong, have you ever considered switching companies? If you come to Shen Enterprises, whatever Tan Ran is paying you, I’ll triple it.”

The male lead was trying topoach the second lead’s girl? Wait, no—the far more critical detail was… triple?!

My heart thudded wildly, my head suddenly echoing with the sweet, glorious cha-ching of a cash register.

Turns out, on top of a massive divorce settlement, I was about to make a absolute fortune off a career upgrade!