"After four years of marriage, have you ever slept with Lu Bochuan?"
"Has he ever kissed you?"
"He hasn't even held your hand, has he?"
Shu Qingqing had just regained consciousness when this fatal triple-questioning rained down on her from above. Before she could react, the pot-bellied man across from her shoved a pen into her hand.
"Shu Qingqing, sign it." The pot-bellied man urged with a tone of feigned concern. "What are you still hesitating for? Lu Bochuan doesn't love you. Your name isn't even on his will!"
"Lu Bochuan has been missing for two months. He's surely dead by now. As his wife, if you just sign, the entire Lu Group will be ours."
"You couldn't get his love while he was alive. Now that he's dead, you should at least get his inheritance."
The spell-like urging echoed in her ears. Shu Qingqing stared at the speaker for a full minute before she finally confirmed it: she had transmigrated into a book.
This was a sweet romance novel, following the couple from campus to wedding. The male and female leads met and fell in love in high school, but broke up due to a misunderstanding upon graduation. After seven years of twists and turns, they met again, went through various trials, finally cleared up the misunderstanding, and ended up happily together.
After recalling the novel's general plot, Shu Qingqing didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Good news: she'd transmigrated into a wealthy family story.
Bad news: she wasn't the female lead or even a supporting character. She was the stepmother of the handsome male lead.
As the antagonist in the book, her role included, but was not limited to: bullying the male lead with her own biological son, creating misunderstandings for the main couple, fighting the male lead for the company and inheritance after his father's death...
Consequently, the original host's ending was being sent to prison by the male lead after her failed attempt to kidnap the female lead to threaten him.
A sharp pain shot through Shu Qingqing's head. What kind of mess was this?
Before she could think further, the urging started again beside her. Simultaneously, a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.
"Shu Qingqing, didn't we already agree? As soon as you sign this contract, a hundred million will be transferred to your account immediately."
The grip on her wrist tightened gradually. Frowning, Shu Qingqing looked up and met a pair of eyes, oily yet sinister.
Without hesitation, Shu Qingqing jabbed the pen in her hand onto the back of the man's hand.
Sign my foot!
She had just transmigrated, her mind still foggy, and being treated so roughly made her short temper flare up instantly.
The pot-bellied man let out a pig-slaughtering shriek and raised his arm to swing at Shu Qingqing.
Shu Qingqing swiftly dodged backward, lifting a foot. Before she could aim for a critical spot, BANG! The office door was suddenly kicked open.
A handsome boy in a school uniform hurried in. He glanced at the documents on the desk and pleaded with Shu Qingqing, "Don't sign! He's lying to you! My dad isn't dead! I will definitely find him!"
As he spoke, the boy tried to snatch the documents, but the pot-bellied man was faster.
"Lu Yu, you're still young. I'm doing this for your own good." The pot-bellied man adjusted his clothes pretentiously and patted the boy's shoulder. "Bochuan is gone now, and so many people are eyeing the company. I watched your father grow up. If I take over the company, I won't mistreat you, the orphan and the widow!"
"I don't need your fake kindness!" Lu Yu shook off the arm on his shoulder. His eyes, filled with entreaty, turned to Shu Qingqing. "Aunt Shu, my dad isn't dead. Please, don't sign."
Shu Qingqing stared dumbfounded at the boy before her.
Lu Yu? Wasn't that the male lead in the book?
A flash of white light suddenly streaked through her mind. After the pain subsided, Shu Qingqing's eye twitched violently.
She remembered this plot point now! This was the key scene where the original host began her path to self-destruction!
To be fair, the original host's marriage to the male lead's father was both a coincidence and a scheme.
The original host, an orphan raised in an orphanage, was sponsored after middle school due to her excellent grades. The sponsor was a director on the board of the male lead's father's company.
After graduating from university, the original host was arranged by this director into Lu Group, becoming the secretary to Lu Bochuan, the male lead's father. The director originally intended to plant a "mole" by Lu Bochuan's side to monitor his every move. Unexpectedly, the original host fell in love with Lu Bochuan at first sight. On one occasion, when Lu Bochuan was drugged by a woman coveting him, the original host saw her chance. She took the opportunity to take Lu Bochuan away and spent the night with him.
Later, the original host became pregnant and naturally married Lu Bochuan.
After giving birth, the original host's relationship with the male lead, Lu Yu, wasn't great, but it was a state of peaceful coexistence. However, as her own biological son grew older, people with ulterior motives kept whispering in her ear, saying that Lu Yu was so outstanding that the Lu family company might have no place for her own son in the future. Gradually, the original host began to harbor hostility towards Lu Yu.
It was all minor conflicts at first. Until two months ago, when the plane Lu Bochuan was on crashed unexpectedly, with no body found, dead or alive. While grieving, the original host accidentally discovered that Lu Bochuan had already drafted a will long ago. The contents of the will left all his property to Lu Yu, without a single penny for her or her biological son!
The original host couldn't bear to blame Lu Bochuan, so she directed all her hatred onto her stepson.
It was then that the director who had sponsored her suddenly approached her, saying he could help her take control of the company. The original host, already furious, impulsively agreed in a moment of heated emotion.
The "help" the director spoke of was actually tricking the original host, using her spousal status, into selling Lu Bochuan's shares to him at a very low price.
So, the current situation was the very day the original host was brought to the company by that director to sign the contract!
According to the law, after a person goes missing, their spouse has the right to manage their property. But the selling price was ridiculously low!
In the original story, less than ten minutes after the original host signed the contract, Lu Bochuan suddenly appeared. The contract was immediately voided, and Lu Bochuan later sought a divorce from the original host.
The original host begged desperately, even threatening suicide, to avoid the divorce. Lu Bochuan had never had much feeling for her to begin with. After this incident, he directly separated from her, sending a fixed monthly allowance, and they hardly saw each other again.
It wasn't until five years later, when Lu Bochuan died in a car accident, that the original host jumped out again to oppose her stepson and fight for the company.
But that was all for later.
Taking advantage of the pot-bellied man's distraction, Shu Qingqing snatched the contract from his hand and tore it to shreds in a few swift motions.
The pot-bellied man was stunned for a second before flying into a rage. "Shu Qingqing, are you insane? You tore up the contract?"
Shu Qingqing sneered coldly. "Why wouldn't I tear it up? Li Dagang, you know perfectly well that Bochuan is missing and that I'm distraught and confused. Yet you deliberately chose this moment to trick me into signing this low-price sales contract, just so you can seize control of the entire company in Bochuan's place! I won't let you have your way!"
Looking at the fragments scattered across the floor, Shu Qingqing felt a wave of relief, then immediately put on a heartbroken expression, speaking with profound grief, "Director Li, Bochuan has always treated you well. Now, before his death is even confirmed, you're already so eager to swallow up the company?"
Li Dagang was first stunned by Shu Qingqing's sudden change in attitude, then his face flushed red as he pointed at her and began to curse loudly.
"You little bitch, you dare trick me! If it weren't for my funding..."
Before Li Dagang could finish, the conference room door suddenly swung open, revealing a handsome yet stern face at the entrance.
"If it weren't for your what?" Lu Bochuan coolly scanned the room. "Director Li, you made quite a spectacle of summoning my wife here today. May I ask what this is all about?"
The shock in Li Dagang's eyes was impossible to conceal. "Aren't you... didn't you die in the plane crash...?"
"Who told you my dad died!" Lu Yu shouted angrily at Li Dagang, then turned to look at Lu Bochuan, his eyes filled with longing. "Dad, I knew you'd be alright!"
Lu Bochuan raised his hand and gently patted Lu Yu's head.
Watching this heartwarming scene of fatherly affection and filial devotion unfold before her, Shu Qingqing couldn't help but let her eyes sparkle like stars.
As expected of the male lead and his father from the novel, one older, one younger, handsome in different ways—it was simply a feast for the eyes!
But before she could admire the view a moment longer, a sharp gaze suddenly landed on her.
She turned her head and met Lu Bochuan's eyes.
The man looked at her, his clear, cold voice devoid of any warmth. "Why are you here?"
