Chapter 285 - 281: Old-school Romance Novel Heroine 1

Chapter 285: Chapter 281: Old-school Romance Novel Heroine 1

Back on her own hillside, Ji Xiaosong was once again sunbathing lazily.

Rongrong floated over. "Song, have you considered going into this one without your previous memories? You could follow the original host’s personality completely."

"Why?"

"It would give you a different experience and help with your cultivation."

"Fine. Let’s go."

*

The dressing room door was ajar. When Ji Xiaosong pushed it open, her high heels made almost no sound on the carpet.

She was holding the bride’s spare veil, which had been requested at the last minute. But when she saw the scene inside, she felt as if she’d been plunged into an ice cave.

Chen Mo had his back to the door, pressing Yang Yang against the vanity as he kissed her.

Yang Yang’s legs were wrapped around Chen Mo’s waist, her fingers digging deep into the back of his suit jacket. His meticulously styled groomsman’s suit was already a wrinkled mess.

"Baby, let’s slip away after the wedding."

Chen Mo’s voice was low and cloying. "The usual place, hmm?"

"Aren’t you afraid Xiaosong will find out?"

Yang Yang giggled flirtatiously, her finger tracing Chen Mo’s tie. "She is your fiancée, after all."

"Her?"

Chen Mo scoffed. "She’s busy with work all day. I even have to book an appointment just to go on a date. If it weren’t for the fact that she graduated from a top university, has a stable income, and has no parents to drag her down, I would’ve dumped her long ago."

Ji Xiaosong’s fingers dug into her palms so hard her nails nearly broke the skin.

She took a step back, silently closed the door, and turned toward the restroom.

Her reflection in the mirror showed her exquisite makeup, but her face was ashen.

She turned on the faucet. The cold water rushed over her wrists, but it couldn’t wash away the image in her mind.

Seven years.

She and Chen Mo had been together for seven years. Their wedding was set for next month.

And Yang Yang was her college roommate, a coworker at the same company after graduation, and the best friend she trusted most in the world.

"Xiaosong?"

The bride, Lin Li’s, voice came from outside the door. "Did you find the veil?"

Ji Xiaosong took a deep breath and forced a perfect smile at her reflection.

"Found it. I’ll be right there."

The wedding proceeded smoothly.

Ji Xiaosong stood behind the bride, but her gaze couldn’t help but follow Chen Mo and Yang Yang.

They stood among the guests, seemingly maintaining a proper distance, but Chen Mo’s fingers would always brush against Yang Yang’s waist as he passed, and Yang Yang would throw him a meaningful glance from time to time.

"Xiaosong, you don’t look well."

Lin Li asked her quietly before the bouquet toss. "Are you just tired?"

"I might have low blood sugar."

Ji Xiaosong smiled as she accepted the champagne from a groomsman, her eyes sweeping over Chen Mo’s false expression of concern. "I’m going to the lounge to get some chocolate."

She deliberately slowed her pace and, just as she expected, heard Chen Mo say to Yang Yang behind her, "I’ll go check on her. Don’t want her getting suspicious."

The lounge was empty.

Ji Xiaosong stood by the window, staring at her own blurry reflection in the glass.

’A seven-year relationship... turned out to be nothing more than an elaborate scam.’

She recalled how Chen Mo had been mentioning Yang Yang’s father’s company so often lately. She remembered his increasingly frequent criticisms of her work, and all those nights he was supposedly "working overtime," according to his phone.

"Baby, are you okay?"

Chen Mo pushed the door open, his face wearing the same gentle expression she had once loved so deeply.

By the time Ji Xiaosong turned around, she had already put on a frail expression.

"It might be too hot in here."

She leaned on his shoulder, smelling the lingering scent of Yang Yang’s perfume on his collar. "Can you come with me to the storage room to get some ice? They said the fridge is broken, so all the ice is in there."

The storage room was in the most remote corner of the hotel and was extremely soundproof.

Chen Mo, completely unsuspecting, followed her inside, still chattering on and complaining about the hassle of the wedding.

The moment the door closed behind them, Ji Xiaosong snatched a folding chair from against the wall and, with all her strength, smashed it into his knees.

Chen Mo screamed in pain and collapsed to his knees.

"Are you crazy?"

He looked up and saw a face he had never seen before—one that was cold to the absolute extreme.

"Three years."

Ji Xiaosong’s voice was soft, yet it sent a chill through Chen Mo’s entire body. "You and Yang Yang. You’ve been screwing around behind my back for three years."

Chen Mo’s expression quickly shifted from shock to fury.

"You were eavesdropping on us?"

He tried to stand up but was kicked back to the floor by Ji Xiaosong.

"More than eavesdropping."

She took out her phone and played a recording. It was the exact clip of Chen Mo saying, "She’s busy with work all day," and "has no parents to drag her down."

"Tell me, what do you think would happen if this recording got out to your company? Or to Yang Yang’s father?"

The color drained from Chen Mo’s face instantly.

"Xiaosong, listen to me, I can explain..."

"Explain what?"

Ji Xiaosong swung the chair leg, slamming it hard into his shoulder. "Explain how you were planning our wedding while sleeping with my best friend? Explain how you used the fact that I’m an orphan to turn me into your stepping stone to climb the social ladder?"

With every sentence, the chair leg came crashing down again.

At first, Chen Mo tried to fight back, but when Ji Xiaosong stomped on his wrist and pressed the chair leg against his throat, he finally broke down.

"I was wrong! It was Yang Yang who seduced me! Her father is our company’s biggest client, I couldn’t say no..."

"Shut up."

Ji Xiaosong released his wrist and pulled a stack of photos from her bag, throwing them in his face.

The photos showed Chen Mo and Yang Yang in various intimate poses. The date on the earliest one was from three years ago.

"I had these photos printed the moment I found them, just so I could throw them in your face at this very moment. Did you really think I didn’t know where you were going every time you ’worked overtime’?"

Chen Mo sat slumped on the floor, his suit in disarray, his face black and blue.

"What do you want?"

"It’s simple."

Ji Xiaosong crouched down and used the chair leg to lift his chin. "First, you will call off the engagement, and the reason you give will be that you cheated. Second, you will compensate me one hundred thousand for emotional damages. And third, you will never show your face in front of me again."

"One hundred thousand? Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?!"

"Then get it from Yang Yang."

Ji Xiaosong sneered. "Or I could just send these photos and the recording to her father. Let’s see if he’s still so keen on letting his precious ’perfect son-in-law’ get anywhere near his daughter."

As she left the storage room, Ji Xiaosong straightened her dress and reapplied her lipstick.

On her phone was a new video of Chen Mo confessing and begging for mercy, along with a screenshot of a hundred-thousand-yuan transfer.

The wedding was still going on.

On the dance floor, Yang Yang was dancing with a male guest, but her eyes kept darting toward the entrance.

Ji Xiaosong walked over and deliberately stood in her line of sight, raising her champagne glass in a toast.

Yang Yang’s expression instantly stiffened. She hastily ended the dance and walked toward her.

"Xiaosong, where have you been? And where’s Chen Mo?"

"He wasn’t feeling well, so he went home early."

Ji Xiaosong smiled, watching the panic in Yang Yang’s eyes. "Oh, by the way, it’s my birthday next week. You have to come. Chen Mo said he has a surprise for me."

Yang Yang’s fingers tightened around her wine glass.

"What kind of surprise?"

"Who knows."

Ji Xiaosong took a delicate sip of champagne. "Maybe... a marriage proposal?"

Watching Yang Yang’s barely contained expression, Ji Xiaosong felt a wave of twisted satisfaction.

But soon, that satisfaction was replaced by a vast emptiness.

She drank glass after glass, until her vision began to blur.

"Ma’am, you can’t have any more to drink."

The bartender took away her glass.

Ji Xiaosong stumbled toward the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.

She remembered this hotel had a rooftop bar. Right now, she needed more alcohol to numb herself.

When the elevator doors opened, she walked in the wrong direction.

At the end of the hallway, warm light spilled from a half-open door, like an invitation.

Ji Xiaosong pushed the door open and saw a man standing with his back to her in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

"Chen Mo, you bastard..."

She staggered forward, but froze when the man turned around.

It wasn’t Chen Mo.

This man was taller, his features as sharp as if carved by a knife, his eyes burning with an emotion she couldn’t comprehend.

His breathing was heavy, his tie was loose, and he didn’t look to be in any better shape than she was.

"Get out."

His voice was low and hoarse, as if he were trying to restrain something with great effort.

But Ji Xiaosong just laughed.

"Even you want to kick me out?"

She took a step forward, her high heel wobbled, and she fell right into the man’s arms.

A searing heat instantly enveloped her.

The man’s muscles tensed. His hands grasped her shoulders as if to push her away, but the moment they touched her skin, his grip tightened.

"Were you drugged?"

Ji Xiaosong asked in a daze, her thoughts sluggish from the alcohol.

She could feel the man’s abnormally high body temperature and see the veins bulging on the side of his neck.

"Go..."

the man said through gritted teeth, but his hand moved uncontrollably to her back.

Ji Xiaosong looked up at him and suddenly thought this stranger’s eyes were beautiful, like stars in the night sky.

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips.

In that instant, all reason collapsed.