Su Yao’s fingernails dug into her palm. Her smile was gone. Her composure was cracking.

No.

Something was wrong. Everything was wrong. This was not how events were supposed to unfold. She had arranged everything, the hospital, the doctor, the forged report. Su Wan was supposed to beg. Cry. Resist. Then be crushed.

Instead, this thing standing before her looked almost... eager.

Suddenly, Su Wan turned to her.

And smiled.

A knowing smile.

Su Yao’s blood ran cold.

Did she—

Know?

"Oofff I go... No one should disturb me..." She walked over to the kitchen and picked up a bowl shoving some food down her throat before leaving.

Upstairs.

Su Wan closed her bedroom door. Locked it. Leaned against the wood and exhaled.

Her hands were shaking.

Not from fear.

From adrenaline.

She had just stared down Lu Shaohan, the cold, untouchable ML of this godforsaken novel, and she hadn’t broken.

One battle down, she inwardly thought.

But the war hasn’t even started.

She walked over to the vanity and sat down. She looked at her reflection.

The same face. The same pregnant belly. The same tired eyes.

But something else lived behind those eyes now.

Something the original Su Wan never had.

Knowledge.

She pulled open the vanity drawer. Inside, beneath a stack of old letters and dried-up lipsticks, was a phone. The original Su Wan’s phone was moved over to the bed.

That night, rain lashed against the bedroom windows. Thunder rolled.

Su Wan sat on the edge of the bed, reviewing the original novel’s memories, when her phone vibrated.

Unknown number.

She curiously answered.

But she heard a trembling male voice come through from the other end of the phone call. "Miss Su..."

Her pupils shrank.

It was the doctor. The same doctor Su Yao bribed in the novel.

His voice shook. "They want me to falsify tomorrow’s paternity results..."

He suddenly paused. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"But I want to help you."

Su Wan slowly stood. Lightning flashed across her face and she whispered, "Good. Now let’s set a trap."

Su Wan exhaled heavily and went to bed.

--------------

The next morning, the private hospital belonging to the Lu Group stood cold and imposing beneath a gray sky.

Su Wan stepped out of the car. One hand rested protectively over her stomach. The other tightened slightly, not from fear, but from anticipation.

Beside her, Lu Shaohan walked ahead without looking back even once. As if she were a stranger. As if the woman carrying his child meant nothing.

Cruel.

Good.

The crueler he was, the harder he would fall later.

---

Inside the examination room, a doctor in a white coat adjusted his glasses nervously.

It was him. The same doctor. The one bribed in the original plot. The one meant to destroy her.

Su Yao stood outside the glass partition, pretending to be calm. But her fingers were clenched white. She was waiting. Waiting for the false report. Waiting for Su Wan to be ruined.

The test began. Blood drawn. Samples labeled. Machines humming. Silence thick enough to suffocate.

---

An hour later, the doctor walked out holding the report.

Everyone stood.

Su Yao’s breathing quickened.

Lu Shaohan’s face remained unreadable.

The doctor swallowed and opened the file. His voice trembled.

"The fetal DNA..."

He paused and the whole corridor froze.

"...matches Mr. Lu."

Boom.

Like thunder.

Su Yao’s face went dead white.

"No!"

She lunged forward and snatched the report. She read it and then read it again.

Impossible.

Impossible!

She had paid— she had arranged— how could—

Before she could speak, Su Wan stepped forward and softly asked, "Sister..."

Her voice was gentle. Almost kind.

"Why do you look more shocked than my husband?"

The words fell like an invisible slap. Several doctors lowered their heads, hiding reactions.

Su Yao’s face twisted with viciousness. "You—"

But Su Wan wasn’t finished. She looked toward Lu Shaohan, then deliberately said, "Perhaps... we should ask why someone tried to tamper with the paternity test."

Silence. Dead silence.

Then Lu Shaohan slowly turned and looked at Su Yao. And for the first time, there was frost in his eyes.

"What did she mean?"

Su Yao’s blood ran cold. "Brother Shaohan, I—"

"Answer me."

His voice was low and terrifying.

Su Yao staggered back.

And in that moment, she knew. The game had begun slipping from her hands.

But Su Wan smiled.

Because this— this was only the first face-slap.

---

Then suddenly—

A nurse ran down the corridor shouting.

"Mr. Lu! Old Master Lu collapsed!"

And suddenly, everything changed.