Although I couldn’t openly defy Li Zhenyu, I always found ways to disgust him enough to make him give up on touching me. But tonight, he seemed like a different person.
No matter how many times I burped or blew my breath in his face, he ignored me completely.
When we got home, he dragged me straight into the bathroom. Without a word, he forced mouthwash into my mouth, tossed me into the bathtub, and turned on the shower, letting icy water pour over me.
My coat was crumpled on the floor, and my white blouse clung to my skin, turning nearly transparent. Beneath the soaked fabric, my pale skin was faintly visible. Li Zhenyu’s gaze darkened. He grabbed my neck and leaned in.
His kiss was cold and domineering, sending a chill through my bones. I could feel something strange happening.
Panicking, I blurted, “Wait—hold your chickens—!”
Li Zhenyu: …
I clamped down on his hand as he tried to unbutton my shirt.
“Li Zhenyu, do you love me?”
He froze, pupils dilating, a storm of confusion swirling in his eyes—emotions even he didn’t seem to recognize.
“Love?” He let out a cold laugh. “Yan Qian, you’re just a stand-in. A dog I bought with money. Do you really think you deserve to talk about love with me?”
I sneered. “If you’re doing this to a dog, your tastes are pretty heavy.”
“Li Zhenyu, Bai Yuhan is right there. Yet every day you come to torment your ‘stand-in.’ Do you even believe your own words?”
I bit his ear and whispered, “Li Zhenyu, the day you lose me, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
He recoiled as if burned, stumbling away from me.
“Yan Qian, you really think too highly of yourself!”
He stormed out, slamming the door behind him. I lay back in the tub, finally filling it with hot water, and let out a long sigh of relief.
After that night, as if to prove he didn’t care about me, Li Zhenyu’s attitude became even colder. Instead, he doubled down on his attention to Bai Yuhan.
Bai Yuhan was positively smug. She called me into her office one morning.
“Yan Qian, arrange these flowers for me.”
It was a massive bouquet of red roses—ninety-nine in total—sent by Li Zhenyu himself. Bai Yuhan admired them with glee, then shot me a mocking look.
“A fake will always be a fake. No matter what tricks you pull, Zhenyu-ge will always love me the most.”
As I reached out to touch the roses, she suddenly grabbed a heavy crystal ashtray and swung it at my head.
I’d been expecting something like this. I snatched up a stack of files from the desk and blocked the blow. Papers scattered everywhere just as Lin Zeyan walked in.
I pretended not to notice, lowering my head to pick up the documents with a pitiful expression.
“Vice President Lin, the president’s proposal was perfect. You’re being too harsh—don’t trample on someone’s hard work like this.”
Bai Yuhan was furious. “What nonsense are you spouting? You little tramp, stop pretending!”
She lunged at me, but Lin Zeyan stepped in front of me protectively. He glanced at the scattered documents—his own signed proposal from that morning.
He frowned. “If you’re so dissatisfied with her, let her work for me.”
“Brother—!” Bai Yuhan stamped her foot, then suddenly changed her tune. “Fine, take her. I don’t want to see her for another second.”
Lin Zeyan was notorious for his playboy ways, changing girlfriends every month. Now, seeing his interest in me, Bai Yuhan was more than happy to push us together so she could run and tattle to Li Zhenyu.
That afternoon, I moved my things into Lin Zeyan’s office.
The system piped up, “Host, I must warn you—you’re getting dangerously close to the edge lately.”
I shot back, “Shut up. The plot only says I have to move into Lin Zeyan’s office. Why should I take a hit for nothing?”
The system grumbled, “That hit was supposed to make you look pitiful, to trigger Lin Zeyan’s protective instincts and boost his affection for you.”
After glancing at Lin Zeyan’s affection meter, the system wisely fell silent.
Inside Lin Zeyan’s office, a glass display case held several trophies. Next to them was a photo of him in just swim trunks, eight-pack abs on full display, raising a trophy and waving at the camera.
A lightbulb went off in my head.
Perfect. Lin Zeyan was clearly a swimming expert.
In three months, according to the plot, Bai Yuhan would have me pushed off a cliff into the sea. If I wanted to survive, I needed to learn how to swim—fast.
I gasped, covering my mouth.
“President Lin, you’re amazing! I’ve always wanted to learn swimming. Could you teach me?”
He looked surprised. “You really want to learn? Not many women are into this.”
I nodded enthusiastically, eyes shining with admiration.
“I’d love to! Please, teach me.”
A proud smile lit up his face as he patted my back.
“Yan Qian, I’ve met a lot of women, but you’re the only one interested in diving. Don’t worry, I’ll teach you well.”
Wait—diving?
Why did I ask to learn diving? I wanted to cry, but it was too late. In my head, I begged the system, “Shock me! Punish me! I don’t want to learn diving!”
The system was gloating. “Lin Zeyan’s affection keeps rising. In the book, your interactions were barely described, so boosting his affection doesn’t break the plot.”
Lin Zeyan was a man of action. After work, he took me to buy professional gear, then straight to his private pool.
Before diving, I had to learn to swim. He taught me seriously, and I had no choice but to grit my teeth and go along.
Well, at least I was getting free swimming lessons. I’d find an excuse to avoid diving later.
Chapter 05
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