Chapter 1: Provocation

“Marry me.”
The man’s voice, steeped in satisfaction and languid ease, carried more the weight of command than the tenderness of a proposal.

Sang Ke stifled a retort, catching a glimpse of her unfinished painting on the easel from the corner of her eye. Though the features were still incomplete, the resolute jawline, the mole on his neck, and the eight-pack abs half-concealed by a towel made it obvious—her subject was none other than the man beside her.

The clothes strewn across the floor, tangled with the towel, explained why she’d stopped painting midway. This man was always like this; when he wanted something, he never cared whether she agreed.

Yet, as long as he was handsome and skilled, what more could she ask for? Marriage wasn’t on her mind.

Sang Ke remained perfectly clear-headed. “Do you even know me? And you want to marry me.”

Moonlight filtered through the white curtains, spilling over her chestnut curls. Though she was a beauty of subtle elegance, she favored heavy makeup, like a siren shrouded in mist—impossible to see through.

The man gazed at her, suddenly gripped by the illusion that if he didn’t seize her now, she would slip away forever.

“There’ll be plenty of time to get to know each other after marriage,” he replied, sliding the ring forcefully onto her finger.

Sang Ke tried to remove it, but he grasped her hand firmly.

Just then, her phone rang. She answered, and her face changed instantly. She booked a flight home without delay.

“Who was that?” the man asked, frowning.

Sang Ke dressed and packed swiftly. “A camp counselor. My son collapsed during training. I have to go back immediately.”

The man’s expression darkened, his tone biting. “You’d invent such a lousy excuse just to reject me?”

Sang Ke hadn’t expected that, after a month of knowing each other, the only truth she’d told him would be dismissed as a lie.

“If that’s what you want to think, I can’t help it. It’s been nice while it lasted—let’s part on good terms.” She smiled, and knowing that an ocean would soon separate them, she left without a trace of regret.

As the door closed, his voice, frustrated and thunderous, reached her:

“Song Linlang, I am not someone you can toy with at will! When I’m done here and return home, you owe me an explanation!”

She didn’t spare his words another thought.

He would never find her.

Not just her name. Everything he thought he knew about her was a fabrication from beginning to end.

As the plane soared into the clouds, Sang Ke left behind all that had happened here. Clutching the divorce agreement tightly, her only concern was how she would explain her silent departure abroad to her son.

It was as if time had rewound to a month earlier—

“Sang Ke, you know this as well as I do—if you hadn’t failed to end your pregnancy back then, if my mother hadn’t forced me, we’d have broken up long ago.”

“I love Linlang. Now that she’s pregnant, I can’t let her suffer anymore. If you’re smart, just sign the divorce papers. If you make a scene and damage my reputation, don’t expect a cent from me!”

It was the fifth year of her secret marriage when her husband, Pei Xuyun, returned from the awards ceremony with the best actor trophy and said those words.

Song Linlang had been there too, nestled in his arms, cradling the still-warm trophy.

Pei Xuyun had long since forgotten: back when he was destitute, living on instant noodles, it was Sang Ke who worked herself to the bone, earning money to help him pursue his dream of stardom. He’d forgotten, too, how he’d confessed his love to her on Valentine’s Day, promising that the first major award he won would be hers.

They’d grown up as childhood sweethearts and shared three sweet years together. Only when she became pregnant and his mother forced him to marry did cracks appear in their relationship. These cracks widened when he went abroad to study and reunited with Song Linlang.

At the time, Sang Ke was overwhelmed—unable to leave, unable to fight for their love.

She was only a junior in college when she got pregnant.

Orphaned, she had no idea what to do. She had no money and was embarrassed to go to the hospital, so she bought medicine in secret. It didn’t work. By the time she realized, the child was already five months along—too late for an abortion.

When her son was born, Pei Xuyun was overseas. She nearly died in childbirth, returning from the brink alone and exhausted. Before she could even finish her confinement, her mother-in-law had an accident and broke her leg, ending up in a wheelchair. Sang Ke had to drop out of school to care for both child and mother-in-law.

In the four years Pei Xuyun was studying acting abroad, he sent not a penny home. She juggled odd jobs just to stretch every dollar, supporting the household.

She managed to survive, gritting her teeth, waiting for his return.

But when he came home, Song Linlang was by his side.

In that year, they attended public events together openly, and though there was no official announcement, they were already seen as a couple by everyone.

Sang Ke could only see her husband on TV or in the newspapers—getting in touch with him was nearly impossible.

Now, he had achieved fame and fortune.

But the one beside him at the awards ceremony was not her.

The one holding the trophy was not her.

All she received was a divorce agreement and her belongings strewn across the floor as she was thrown out.

Through barred windows, she watched her husband and the other woman celebrate with the banquet she’d prepared. He washed dishes, drew the bath for his mistress, unwilling to let her lift a finger.

The night wind chilled her heart.

She fled her home like a deserter, but had nowhere to go.

These years had trapped her inside this family, her social circle long since vanished. Her son was away at camp for a month.

She spent the night on a park bench, only buying a ticket to France at dawn.

When the plane touched down at A City International Airport, Sang Ke wiped the tears from her face, roused from her memories.

She took a cab straight to the hospital.

Pushing open the door to the ward, she barely had time to look at her son before she saw the man standing by the window.

Pei Xuyun wore a white shirt and suit trousers, his handsome face half-concealed by a mask, but the aura of a superstar still shone through.

She lowered her gaze, set her suitcase in the corner, and touched her son’s forehead. “If you’re afraid of the paparazzi, don’t come. Dressing like this only makes you stand out more.”

Her voice was soft, so as not to wake her son.

Pei Xuyun glanced at her. After a month apart, not only had she changed her makeup and hairstyle, but her entire style was different. She exuded a radiance as if she’d been cherished and come alive again.

Yet in his eyes, there was no trace of surprise—only disdain.

“You think that dressing like Linlang will make me like you? Even if you had a hundred surgeries, you wouldn’t be worth a single finger of hers!”

Sang Ke didn’t argue.

She’d not only copied Song Linlang’s style; for a whole month in France, she’d lived under her name.

The name that should have been hers all along.

The only reason she chose France for her escape was a simple desire to see what charms the place held, that had captured Pei Xuyun’s heart in less than half a year.

Who could have guessed the man she’d flirted with for amusement would fall so deeply for this “Song Linlang”?

The thought irritated her even more.

She hadn’t sunk so low as to become anyone’s substitute.

Had her son’s sudden collapse not rattled her, she would have changed back into her old self the moment she landed, ensuring no one knew of her foolish escapade, much less let Pei Xuyun mock her.

“What’s this?” Pei Xuyun had sharp eyes, noticing the mark on her neck. He seized her wrist.