I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

Liu Ruying gave him a cold look.

“Since you’ve been honest with me, then I have the truth to tell you as well,” she said.

"What?" Chen Ya asked.

Liu Ruying gently pushed open the door to the restroom stall, glanced outside twice to make sure no one was there, then closed the door, looked at him, and whispered:

"Because I was also placed in someone else's place to marry into the Lu family."

"When Old Master Lu and my Master Liu were arranging a marriage, it was originally my eldest uncle's daughter, Liu Ruyan, not me, Liu Ruying."

……

"squeak--"

A yellow Maserati supercar sped by, weaving through the traffic like an eel, slippery and untouched.

Sitting in the driver's seat was a man wearing a scarlet VERSACE coat with a fur collar. He wore sunglasses, his face was expressionless, but his foot was pressing the accelerator very aggressively.

The student sitting next to him swallowed hard.

"Young Master Xu, if you don't slow down, you might get hit on the road..."

The moment Young Master Xu opened his mouth, all the composure on his face vanished, and his barely concealed rage burst forth:

"Damn it, what are you saying? If you slow down any further, someone's going to steal my woman away!"

"I'm asking if it's possible to drive slower, but still still very fast?"

The people around him turned pale.

"Shut up!"

Xu Haoyu's face was full of murderous intent.

Ever since he received that phone call, he's been completely thrown into a state of turmoil, his mind in complete disarray.

He had been pursuing Liu Ruying for almost half a year, but she hadn't even given him a kind look.

But today I actually had dinner with a guy I'd only met once!

His face was dark as he continued to press the accelerator down, while the boy next to him grew paler and paler as the speedometer needles tilted.

The vehicle entered the two-lane road, and suddenly, with a screech, it came to a stop.

"Grass!"

Xu Haoyu slammed his hand on the direction sign, pointed ahead, and said, "Damn it, what kind of traffic jam is this?"

He turned the steering wheel around, and suddenly, a Chevrolet drove up and stopped right next to him.

"Make way!" Xu Haoyu's voice rang out along with the horn, and the veins on his neck bulged.

There's only one two-lane road here, separated by a guardrail in the middle. Cars are parked in front and behind, and there's a long queue on the right.

We're stuck here.

"Young Master Xu, should I get out of the car and take a look?" the boy next to him asked.

Xu Haoyu nodded with a dark expression. The man got out of the car and came back a while later.

“Young Master Xu, there’s been a car accident up ahead,” he said. “Several cars have collided and are now parked there.”

"How far?" Xu Haoyu asked.

"I don't know, maybe a few hundred meters," the man said. "I heard it from other drivers, that it's too far to see."

Xu Haoyu covered his head.

I really want to have a fit, but it's no use.

After holding it in for a long time, he finally stuck his head out of the window and screamed at a deafeningly loud volume:

"There was a car accident, didn't the motherfucker go to the side to handle it?! It shouldn't be affecting public transportation, understand?!"

A large truck roared past in the opposite direction, whipping his hair into a frenzy in the wind, revealing a prominent pimple on his forehead.

……

In the dimly lit restroom stall, Chen Ya and Liu Ruying remained facing each other.

“The one originally intended to marry into the Lu family was my uncle’s daughter, Liu Ruyan.” Liu Ruying combed her hair. “My uncle is extremely wealthy and was a prominent figure in the business world when he was young. His only regret is that he only has one daughter.”

"But misfortune never comes singly. This daughter went out to pursue her dreams, became infatuated with a big shot, and severed ties with her uncle."

"In this way, my uncle's family fortune was all lost. His biggest worry is that after he passes away, the wealth he has worked so hard to accumulate will fall into the hands of others."

"So, he was in a hurry."

Chen Ya interrupted her, saying, "There is no such thing as severing ties in this world. Even if there is a verbal agreement to sever ties, the right of inheritance will not change."

Liu Ruying smiled dismissively and said, "That's true, but the mindset of these wealthy families is far more traditional than you imagine. My uncle wants his family fortune to remain in the hands of the Liu family, not outsiders. Can you understand that?"

Chen Ya took a deep breath and nodded: "I understand."

He then asked, "So, your uncle originally planned to have Chen Hai marry into his family?"

“Yes,” Liu Ruying said. “You may not know, but people like Chen Hai, who come from rural backgrounds and have wealthy family connections, are quite popular in a certain sense.”

“Being from a rural background means having no connections, while having a wealthy family background means being worldly-wise, making him the best candidate for a live-in son-in-law.”

"Given the original disparity between the two families, if my uncle had married Chen Hai into the family, the family fortune wouldn't have fallen into the hands of someone with a different surname, and Chen Hai could have lived a life of wealth. It was a win-win situation. Unfortunately, Liu Ruyan ran away."

Chen Ya wanted to laugh.

But he held back.

"What should we do then?" He pretended to frown and consider their situation.

"So, after Liu Ruyan ran away, they took me in as their stepdaughter," Liu Ruying said with a smile. "I was chosen to marry into their family instead of them."

"Then wouldn't that mean..." Chen Ya gasped in surprise, his eyes widening.

"Yes, our agreement is that as long as I can complete the task of marrying into the Liu family and successfully recruit a son-in-law, the inheritance will belong to me."

Liu Ruying crossed her arms, rested the back of her hand on her smooth, jade-like chin, and smiled.

Chen Ya understood.

I understand everything now.

No wonder Chen Hai didn't want to fulfill his marriage agreement with the Liu family after he became successful.

After all, anyone with a modicum of dignity wouldn't want to be a live-in son-in-law.

No wonder Liu Ruying remained unmoved even when she suffered the humiliation of being "substituted for someone else," a situation that others would consider a great disgrace.

It turns out it's because she has a large inheritance to inherit.

No wonder she insisted on getting married under these circumstances, even though she didn't want to reveal the inside story.

It turns out that there was such a deal behind her.

Most importantly... no wonder Liu's father cared so much about his daughter, yet showed absolutely no concern for her mental well-being.

When his daughter told him she wanted to run away from home, his biggest concern wasn't why she wanted to commit suicide, but why she was going against his wishes.

Perhaps in his view, Liu Ruyan had no personality of her own and was merely a prop from beginning to end.

A prop used to pass on the family line and continue the glory of the Liu family.

He only hated that the prop was useless and that she wasn't a man.

Everything is clear.

Chen Ya laughed.

sneer.

"No wonder your uncle was so concerned about Liu Ruyan before. When she disappeared, he searched for her almost to the point of digging three feet into the ground. After finding her, he begged her to come back, acting like a feudal patriarch. Turns out, he really was a feudal patriarch."

Liu Ruying frowned at him: "How did you know?"

"Oh, wasn't the matter between Liu Ruyan and that mysterious writer exposed online before? I know a little about it."

"Hmph, you seem to spend quite a lot of time online." Liu Ruying sneered.

She continued, "This is a gamble, a high-stakes gamble. I've gambled my youth. If I win, I'll live a life of comfort for the rest of my life. If I lose, I'll gain nothing."

She wore a cold smile and said:

"They looked at me strangely, thinking I was just a naive and innocent girl who didn't know the danger behind it all. But they didn't realize that, in my opinion, this gamble had a very high chance of winning."

Chen Ya tilted his head: "Why?"

"Do you know what kind of person the writer Liu Ruyan is obsessed with is?" Liu Ruying sneered. "Someone who has won four Nobel Prizes in Literature, would he care about my uncle's wealth? If Liu Ruyan marries him, would she ever turn around and compete with me for his services?"

After saying that, she turned her head and glared at Chen Ya: "Do you know what I mean? Say something."

"Yes, I know."

“You seem rather dull,” Liu Ruying frowned. “What I mean is, as long as you behave yourself and marry me, you’ll be able to leave that remote mountain village forever and live a life of comfort and ease. Do you understand?”

"Yes, I understand."

Liu Ruying tossed her hair, her expression haughty.

"But," Chen Ya suppressed a laugh and asked, "if we get married, wouldn't I become a live-in son-in-law? In our rural area, being a live-in son-in-law is considered shameful."

Liu Ruying's expression turned impatient.

She gave Chen Ya a cold, aloof look, crossed her arms, and squinted as she said:

Are you looking down on me a little?

"Huh? How could that be? How could I possibly mean that?" Chen Ya said exaggeratedly.

Liu Ruying's tone was cold: "Do you think that I'm just a substitute for the real person, and therefore I have a lowly status?"

"I absolutely did not mean that."

“Although my family’s circumstances are not as good as my uncle’s, I still come from a prestigious family. There are more than ten men like you who marry into the family, let alone one,” she said. “You should know that if it weren’t for this accident, someone like you wouldn’t even be qualified to touch a single finger of mine.”

“Hmm.” Chen Ya nodded in agreement. “Someone as celestial as you was someone I was never qualified to touch before.”

“Not to mention I just used my feet to serve you,” she said.

"That's natural."

"Hmph. It's good that you know what you're doing." Liu Ruying snorted proudly. "As long as you play along with me until the end of this charade and get the family fortune, you can do whatever you want. We can even go our separate ways afterward. Aren't you willing?"

"Well……"

Seeing that he still hesitated, Liu Ruying assumed he didn't understand the significance of the family fortune she was referring to, and reminded him:

"Let me tell you, that's money you could never, ever, ever earn on your own in your entire life. You could work your whole life and not even get a single penny of that family fortune! But you can get it just by marrying me. Do you even understand that?"

"Now I know."

Chen Ya's expression was profound.

"Do you have any other opinions?" Liu Ruying stared intently at him.

“No, but…” Chen Ya carefully chose his words, “But, actually I…”

"Actually what?"

"..."

Chen Ya pondered.

He was trying hard to think of a way to make the truth less cruel.

If the truth is told to Liu Ruying, her gamble will be a complete failure, and she will lose all her chips.

As an adopted daughter, she wouldn't inherit her original family's wealth, and her uncle's assets... wouldn't be prepared for her either.

In the end, all her plans and ingenious schemes will become a laughing stock.

Chen Ya both wanted to see and couldn't bear to see this young lady completely reduced to a loser.

"Actually..." Chen Ya thought for a long time, but still couldn't come up with a tactful way of saying it.

He decided to just go all in and tell her directly.

“Wait a minute,” Liu Ruying suddenly placed her hand on his chest, “I was thinking… um, I need to ask you some things.”

"Ok?"