Zhou Suisui leaned against the sofa, idly playing with her phone. Her tone was frighteningly calm.
“If you ask her where she is, she’ll definitely say she’s in the dressing room at the confession event, obediently waiting for you.”
“That’s impossible.”
Zhou Sui'an instinctively dialed Su Wan’s number.
He turned on speakerphone.
Su Wan’s coquettish, aggrieved voice immediately came through. “Sui'an, are you here yet? The media has already arrived. When are you coming? I’m so scared.”
“It won’t start for another hour…”
Zhou Sui'an paused, then asked, “Wanwan, where are you now?”
His voice softened, and his gaze toward Zhou Suisui was filled with warning and disbelief.
“I’m in the dressing room at the venue. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Clatter!
The anxious heart Zhou Sui'an had been holding onto dropped heavily.
The hand covering his phone trembled uncontrollably.
This was impossible.
How could his sister have predicted Su Wan’s answer in advance?
“It must be a coincidence. It has to be…”
He muttered to himself, as though trying to reassure his own mind.
As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Wu sent the hotel surveillance footage she had just received to Zhou Suisui’s phone.
“See for yourself. Was I wrong to accuse her?”
Zhou Suisui didn’t waste any words. She casually tossed the phone in front of Zhou Sui'an.
In the footage, Su Wan was wearing a revealing miniskirt and heavy makeup. She raised her hand and knocked on a hotel room door.
The moment the door opened, she deliberately swayed her body and collapsed into the arms of an unfamiliar man as if she had no bones. Her hand naturally curled around his neck, the intimacy of her posture jarring to behold.
The timestamp in the upper-right corner clearly showed that the footage had been taken five minutes earlier.
All the color drained from Zhou Sui'an’s face. His lips turned pale, and the hand gripping the phone tightened abruptly until his knuckles turned blue.
The white moonlight he had pursued for an entire year—the pure actress who had repeatedly claimed that she only wanted to focus on her career and had no interest in his money, who had even refused the little gifts he gave her—
was actually stringing him along for a global livestream to boost her popularity, while using the resources he provided as bargaining chips to enter a hotel with another man.
The villa fell into complete silence.
Only Su Wan’s voice continued coming from the phone as she pretended to panic. “Sui'an? Why aren’t you saying anything? Did something happen?”
Zhou Sui'an clenched his fist.
He slammed it into the coffee table, shattering the glass on top.
“Su Wan, why did you lie to me? You’re clearly at a hotel.” His voice was hoarse, filled with suppressed fury.
On the other end of the call, Su Wan’s tone instantly changed. She began to sob in wounded protest.
“Sui'an, it isn’t what you think. Did someone say something to you? I came to the hotel because I ran into Director Zhang here. I came to discuss the script with him. Don’t accuse me unfairly. Director Zhang has a wife.”
“Sui'an, how could you not trust me? A woman’s reputation is so important, yet you’re accusing me of something I didn’t do.”
The anger that had just ignited in Zhou Sui'an’s heart was instantly doused with cold water.
The hostility in his eyes quickly faded, leaving only hesitation and guilt.
“Is that really true? Swear that you didn’t lie to me.”
“I swear! I absolutely did not lie to you!” Su Wan’s voice was filled with conviction.
Zhou Sui'an’s tone softened completely, thick with remorse. “Wanwan, I’m sorry. I was too anxious just now.”
“It’s all right. Don’t keep me waiting too long.”
“Okay.”
At the top floor of the hotel, Su Wan hung up the phone and looked at Director Zhang, who was sitting on the bed, waiting for her to “serve” him. A trace of panic crossed her face.
“Director Zhang, I have to go downstairs now. I’ll come back tonight and then we can—mmph.”
Before she could finish, the fat, big-bellied man grabbed her and forced her onto his thigh. His voice was full of contempt.
“Su Wan, you’re the one who called me here. And now you want to leave me behind? Do you think I’m that pushover Zhou Sui'an, who’ll indulge you no matter what?”
Su Wan’s face went deathly pale. She didn’t dare resist in the slightest, instead begging softly.
“Director Zhang, you’re a renowned director in the industry. Every actor who’s played the lead in one of your projects has become a huge success. Zhou Sui'an is just a man obsessed with money. Other than being rich, he has nothing going for him. Why lower yourself by comparing yourself to him?”
Her words pleased Director Zhang, and he threw back his head and laughed.
“That little mouth of yours is so sweet. Remember, you’ll use it to serve me tonight.”
“You’re so naughty. Director Zhang, you’re the most manly.”
Su Wan flatteringly kissed the corner of his lips, then quickly left the room and made her way to the confession event.
—
Listening to her brother’s gentle, soothing voice, Zhou Suisui felt the veins in her forehead throb. Her chest ached with anger.
She had never imagined that even with ironclad evidence in front of him, her brother could still be coaxed into believing Su Wan after just a few words.
“You actually believe that nonsense about discussing a script with a director in a hotel room?”
Zhou Suisui knitted her brows and pointed toward the door.
“Don’t tell me you’re still planning to rush over and confess to her.”
“Suisui, I…”
Faced with his sister’s questioning, Zhou Sui'an felt guilty for the first time and averted his eyes.
“This livestream is very important to Wanwan. If I don’t go, she’ll be angry.”
“Then go.”
Zhou Suisui suddenly stood up and shoved Zhou Sui'an out the front door.
She pushed him with such force that he stumbled and fell heavily to the ground.
Zhou Sui'an was completely stunned. When he came to his senses, the veins at his temples bulged as he roared, “Zhou! Suisui! I’m your brother!”
But in the next second, Zhou Suisui threw herself at him and hugged him tightly, her voice choked with tears.
“Brother, she’s going to get you killed! I don’t want to lose you!”
“Brother, don’t go, please. Stay with Suisui!”
“She’s lying to you! She’ll never agree to be your girlfriend. She only wants to use your confession livestream to gain popularity. Once she rides on your fame and uses your resources to become a top star, she’ll kick you to the curb!”
“Then she’ll have her fans accuse you of attempted rape, drive you to suicide, and force the Zhou family into bankruptcy! And I’ll end up jumping from the thirty-second floor to avenge you, dying alongside you!”
“What… what are you talking about?”
Zhou Sui'an sat on the cold ground, staring at her in disbelief.
His entire body felt cold, as if he had been thrown into an ice cellar.
After a long while, he forced a smile onto his pale face.
“What are you talking about, dying and all that? Suisui, if you don’t want Brother to go see Su Wan, then I won’t go. Don’t scare me like this.”
Though he was smiling, the fingers resting at his side dug viciously into his palm until they went numb.
The despair and pain in his sister’s eyes didn’t look fake.
It wouldn’t matter if he died, but he couldn’t let anything happen to his sister.
The thought that she might die because of him made Zhou Sui'an’s heart seize with panic.
Seeing the hesitation in his eyes, Zhou Suisui thought, My idiot brother can still be saved.
She spread her hands. “If you don’t believe me, then go see her. I happen to be going to meet Brother Yan anyway.”
“You’re not going anywhere! You’re not allowed to go anywhere!”
Zhou Sui'an scrambled up from the ground, dusted off the dirt on his clothes, and sat down on the sofa opposite her.
“Brother isn’t going out tonight either. I’m staying home with you!”
Looking at his sister, who seemed completely bewitched, he knew that if he dared to leave the house today, she really would go to the hotel to meet Jiang Zongyan.
The siblings sat facing each other, neither willing to back down.
An eerie silence settled over the room.
They had reached an impasse.
About half an hour later, Su Wan called again.
Her voice on the other end was still full of grievance.
“Sui'an, why haven’t you come yet? The media are all pressing me. I can’t hold out much longer.”
Zhou Sui'an lifted his eyes and instinctively glanced at Zhou Suisui, who was sitting across from him.
For some reason, he felt a little guilty.
“Wanwan, something urgent came up, so I can’t make it. Next time… next time, I promise I’ll make it up to you with an even grander declaration of love.”
“What?! Next time?”
