Chapter One: Dear Friends

"Miss Lin, your friend has an ectopic pregnancy and needs immediate surgery. Please inform her family."

Lin Xilan glanced at her watch. "Just a moment, they'll be here soon."

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Yuheng appeared.

"How is my wife?" he asked the nurse.

When Lin Xilan heard Zhou Yuheng refer to her as his wife, a fleeting hint of mockery glimmered in her eyes as she looked him over.

"She's experiencing massive bleeding from an ectopic pregnancy and requires surgery right away," the nurse replied, handing him the consent form.

Zhou Yuheng took the form and signed his name with barely a glance.

—

Outside the operating room, Zhou Yuheng stood by the window while Lin Xilan sat on a chair nearby.

"You already know," Zhou Yuheng said.

"I do," Lin Xilan replied.

"What exactly do you know?"

"My husband got my best friend pregnant."

Zhou Yuheng turned his head to look at her. "And what do you think about that?"

Her brows were smooth, yet her tone was cold. She met his gaze and said, "So, in marriage you can’t defy your parents’ wishes, but in an affair you make your own choices, is that it?"

Zhou Yuheng looked away from her, fixing his eyes on the operating room doors. "Well said. Then, when you have time, let's go through the formalities."

—

If it had been any other woman in her place, she would have slapped him and tearfully demanded a divorce. But Lin Xilan was not like most women; she was something else entirely.

She shook her head, admiring her freshly polished nails as she spoke. "I’m not going to divorce you."

Zhou Yuheng regarded her with an odd expression, almost suspecting she’d lost her mind.

"After all this, you won’t divorce me? What are you after?"

"The title of Mrs. Zhou, of course."

He laughed. "Then you’ve set your sights on the wrong thing."

Though Zhou Yuheng was the famous second son of the Zhou family, the real celebrity was his elder brother.

Lin Xilan shrugged. "No matter. As long as we don’t divorce, everything’s negotiable."

"…"

Zhou Yuheng gave her a long, searching look, then walked over, lifting her chin with his finger, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"Little schemer, you’re not plotting something against me, are you?"

She shook her head innocently. "No schemes. It’s just that marriage isn’t easy—I don’t want to give up so easily."

Seeing him remain silent, Lin Xilan quickly volunteered, "Zhou Yuheng, I really mean it. I have no hidden agenda. Xiaoli is my friend; she’s alone here with no one to rely on but me. You can rest assured—I’ll take good care of her."

True to her word, Lin Xilan took leave from work and spent a week in the hospital, transforming herself into a model caregiver, tending to Song Qingli with exceptional diligence.

Zhou Yuheng came to the hospital every day, so Lin Xilan often witnessed him and Song Qingli displaying their affection, as if she were the interloper.

—

Because of this, Song Qingli was wracked with guilt and inner turmoil, eventually leading her to break things off with Zhou Yuheng.

...

When Lin Xilan brought in soup, Song Qingli was in the middle of an argument with Zhou Yuheng.

"Let’s break up. I can’t do this anymore," she said.

With his back to Lin Xilan, Zhou Yuheng’s expression was unreadable.

"Impossible," he replied.

Song Qingli’s voice trembled with agitation. "I said it’s possible, Zhou Yuheng! Don’t you understand? I don’t want to be the other woman!"

"Don’t talk about yourself like that," Zhou Yuheng retorted.

Hearing this, Lin Xilan stepped forward. "Xiaoli, don’t say that. In matters of love, the unloved one is the real outsider. So, I’m the third wheel here."

What she said was true. From beginning to end, Zhou Yuheng had only ever loved Song Qingli. No one knew that better than Lin Xilan. Still, knowing was one thing; she was not about to give up her marriage.

She ladled out a bowl of soup for Song Qingli and offered it with a gentle smile. "Xiaoli, don’t say such things. Take care of yourself first—only then can you give Zhou Yuheng a healthy, chubby son."

At these words, Zhou Yuheng shot her a warning look.

She responded with a placating, sweet smile.

Song Qingli was overcome with guilt. She looked at Lin Xilan and said, "Xilan, can you stop being so good to me? I’m really suffering. You treat me so well, yet I still ended up with Zhou Yuheng. I deserve to die."

Lin Xilan rolled her eyes inwardly. She wanted to say, "Even if you deserve it, dying isn’t likely."