Chapter 1 He Would Probably Agree to the Divorce

Chapter 1: On Divorce, He Should Agree

"Uncle Zhan, why is the power out?"

"The lightning probably tripped it. I'll take someone to check it out right now." Before leaving, Butler Zhan arranged for the nanny, Auntie Liu, to stay in the living room with the madam and the young miss.

The two women, one older and one younger, were sisters-in-law.

The clear, childish voice that had just spoken belonged to the eldest daughter of the Gao family, named Gao Youhe, who was eight years old and in the third grade of elementary school.

Next to her sat her sister-in-law, Lu Yingxiao.

Since her sister-in-law had only been in the house for three days, and for most of that time had been holed up in her room adjusting to the time difference, Gao Youhe, worried she might be frightened by the sudden power outage in an unfamiliar environment, scooted closer to Lu Yingxiao and comforted her, "Sister-in-law, don't worry, the power will be back on soon."

Lu Yingxiao responded absentmindedly.

She had a bad feeling.

This feeling had been there since she agreed to the system's task.

At the time, she'd been tempted by the generous conditions offered by the system, and the feeling wasn't very strong—just a light brush, like being grazed by a feather—so she didn't pay much attention to it.

But just now, when she came downstairs to start the system's task—to be the wicked sister-in-law who would leave a childhood trauma for Gao Youhe—the feeling in her heart suddenly intensified.

Sure enough.

Just as she was about to speak to Gao Youhe, a loud clap of thunder struck, knocking out the villa's power.

The Gao family's villa was in Ningcheng's most exclusive gated community.

It was rumored that even if the world ended and the whole world lost water and electricity, the Yanshan Villa Area where the Gao family lived would still function normally.

Although this rumor was a bit exaggerated, it shouldn't have been knocked out by a single bolt of lightning.

An omen!

This was definitely an ominous omen!

When she was six years old, she had failed to pay attention to the various omens she'd been given, which led to her losing her most important loved one.

Now, with the scene repeating itself, she dared not be careless again and cautiously observed her surroundings.

It was pitch black.

Only the occasional flash of lightning provided brief, blurry light in the room.

Another deafening clap of thunder struck.

Each one louder than the last, causing the windows to tremble slightly.

Gao Youhe and Auntie Liu instinctively looked toward the large glass wall on the right, following the sound. Only Lu Yingxiao, driven by a strong premonition, turned to look at the villa's entrance.

Standing there was an unfamiliar man. She didn't know when he'd arrived.

He was burly and tall, at least six foot three.

His clothes were stretched taut by the muscles on his body, his arms as thick as her thighs, and his hands were broader and thicker than a normal person's—one punch from him could probably beat her half to death.

A bolt of lightning happened to flash by.

His face appeared in the darkness.

It was angular, and each of his features was handsome on its own.

But put together, the impression of handsomeness was instantly replaced by a menacing ferocity. This fierceness wasn't just simple ferocity; it was aggressive, like a snarling, vicious wolf that could pounce at any moment to display its cruelty and violence. And what often followed those two words was bloodshed.

Lu Yingxiao's nose seemed to smell the thick, metallic scent of blood from when she was six years old again, and her face turned pale, then paler.

With one arm around Gao Youhe and the other pulling Auntie Liu, she moved far away from this suddenly appearing dangerous man.

"Sister-in-law?"

"Madam?"

Gao Youhe and Auntie Liu, unaware of the truth, looked confused.

Following Lu Yingxiao's gaze, Gao Youhe called out happily, "Brother, you're back!"

Auntie Liu also stepped forward to take the luggage from Gao Yan's hands.

Lu Yingxiao stood there dumbfounded.

Brother?

He was Gao Yan? Her husband?

Lu Yingxiao didn't dare look at Gao Yan again and immediately called out to the system in her mind, "710! 710! System 710! I'm not doing this task anymore! I want to apply to quit! Apply to quit!"

The system seemed to have disconnected. No matter how Lu Yingxiao called, there was no response.

Gao Youhe and Auntie Liu's attention was all on Gao Yan.

But Gao Yan was looking at Lu Yingxiao; his gaze hadn't shifted since he entered.

Unlike Lu Yingxiao's definition of him as cruel and violent, Gao Yan felt that Lu Yingxiao was like a sensitive plant growing in a storm. Even though the rain and thunder had frightened her into trembling, closing all her leaves, her long petioles still stretched outward, trying to shelter others from the wind and rain.

He stepped forward, wanting to speak to Lu Yingxiao.

Lu Yingxiao avoided him as if he were a wild beast, retreating repeatedly.

Gao Yan immediately stopped. "I wanted to tell you that I'm back from my business trip. Have you been adjusting well at home these past few days?"

From that moment until now, Lu Yingxiao had been trying to contact the system.

Whether the system hadn't received her calls or had heard but deliberately ignored them, there was no response at all.

*Click.*

The power was restored, and the dark villa was once again brightly lit.

Butler Zhan returned after fixing the electricity.

Lu Yingxiao directly ignored Gao Yan and said to Gao Youhe, "I'm not feeling well. I'm going upstairs to rest."

Gao Youhe asked worriedly, "Is it serious? Should we call the family doctor to come and take a look?"

Lu Yingxiao: "No need. I'll be fine after some sleep."

Gao Youhe watched as Lu Yingxiao went upstairs.

Seeing Gao Yan also watching Lu Yingxiao leave, Gao Youhe teased him with a smile, "No wonder Brother agreed to that sudden, out-of-the-blue arranged marriage. So it *was* love at first sight with Sister-in-law!"

Actually, no.

Gao Yan's first contact with Lu Yingxiao was online; she reached out to him by email.

From the email content, he learned that her mother was his mother's long-lost best friend.

When she was born, his mother visited the hospital and instantly took a liking to the adorable, doll-like baby. She took off the jade bracelet she always wore and suggested to her mother they become in-laws.

It was summer at the time, and his grandparents had taken him traveling out of town.

By the time he returned, Lu Yingxiao's family had already moved abroad to settle down.

Later, the two families gradually lost contact.

Until five days ago, Lu Yingxiao suddenly contacted him, mentioning the rather informal arranged marriage from back then. She also explained in detail why she hoped he'd honor it.

Her mother died of an illness the year she started elementary school. Her father remarried right away, and her stepmother treated her poorly while her father ignored her. After a rough, stumbling journey to adulthood, her father's company faced an economic crisis. He wanted to marry her off to an old white man in exchange for funds. Of course, she refused. Finding out about the arranged marriage among her mother's belongings, she contacted him as a last-ditch effort.

Their second meeting was in person at the civil affairs bureau.

He was in a hurry for a business trip. They hastily obtained the marriage certificate before he rushed to catch his flight, only roughly remembering what Lu Yingxiao looked like.

Just now, returning from his trip and standing at the entryway, watching Lu Yingxiao—who, even terrified to the core, still remembered to protect the older woman and the child beside her—he couldn't help but recall the first plant he ever raised, a sensitive plant (mimosa), easily startled yet remarkably resilient.

Gao Yan reminded Gao Youhe, "Don't say that in front of your sister-in-law."

Gao Youhe: "Why?"

Gao Yan: "Your sister-in-law is afraid of me."

Gao Youhe tilted her head up, carefully examining Gao Yan's face, and agreed, "Your face is really intimidating."

The year she started kindergarten, her brother took her to school and was almost mistaken for a criminal by parents and security guards. He also scared many children to tears. When she entered elementary school, although some parents and guards still judged by appearance, elementary school kids were clearly braver than kindergarteners. At least they weren't scared to tears anymore, just stunned into silence.

Recalling Lu Yingxiao's reaction upon seeing him earlier, Gao Yan felt her fear was completely different from others' simple fright. Hers was a trauma-induced fear, like "once bitten, twice shy."

Gao Youhe worried for Gao Yan, "If Sister-in-law is so afraid of you, how are you two supposed to get along?"

Gao Yan ruffled Gao Youhe's hair.

He asked Butler Zhan, "Which room is the Madam staying in?"

Butler Zhan: "According to your instructions before your business trip, she was put in a guest room."

The main building of the Gao family villa has three floors.

Gao Yan lives on the third floor, Gao Youhe on the second. There are guest rooms on every floor from the first to the third.

Butler Zhan is the old butler of the Gao family, having watched Gao Yan grow up. He thought Gao Yan, busy with his career, would at least wait until he was forty to consider marriage. He never expected him to suddenly get married in a flash before even turning thirty. Concerned for Gao Yan's marital happiness, Butler Zhan specifically arranged for Lu Yingxiao to stay in the room next to Gao Yan's.

This way, it didn't technically violate Gao Yan's instructions and could also help foster feelings between Gao Yan and Lu Yingxiao.

Gao Yan didn't say anything more. He asked Butler Zhan about Lu Yingxiao's condition over the past three days.

Butler Zhan: "She might be exhausted. She stayed in her room the whole time, adjusting to the time difference. Most of the meals sent in were untouched. She only came downstairs tonight."

Gao Yan recalled his first meeting with Lu Yingxiao at the civil affairs bureau.

Her head was bowed, her eyes vacant, listless like a puppet on strings, following procedures as instructed. Probably, at that time, she only wanted to escape her family. Coupled with the exhaustion of travel—a fifteen- or sixteen-hour flight—she didn't have the mental bandwidth to observe what kind of man she was about to marry.

After some thought, Gao Yan said, "Clean up a guest room on the first floor. I'll be staying in a first-floor guest room recently."

Butler Zhan seemed to have something to say but ultimately agreed and took people to clean the guest room.

Gao Youhe, who never kept her thoughts to herself, asked Gao Yan directly, "Is Brother changing rooms because Sister-in-law is afraid of you?"

Gao Yan didn't deny it.

Gao Youhe tried to cheer him up, "Sister-in-law will eventually discover that beneath this frightening face of yours lies a kind side."

But at this moment, Lu Yingxiao only wanted to immediately terminate the mission and leave this place.

"System 710, please respond if you hear my call."

Back in her room, Lu Yingxiao tried her best to speak to the system calmly. After all, whether she could leave depended entirely on it. No matter how anxious she felt, she had to endure it.

She called for a full two hours, her voice growing hoarse, and tried every kind of plea. The system simply gave no response.

Lu Yingxiao could no longer remain calm; her tone began to grow impatient. "710, show yourself! Don't think staying silent means I can't do anything. I can report you to the System Headquarters!"

After threatening the system for nearly another half hour and seeing it still unresponsive, Lu Yingxiao gave up hope completely.

She lay back on the bed to calm down for a while, then began to review her encounter with System 710.

She met the system after working overtime until dawn and dying suddenly.

The system told her that Gao Youhe was the female lead in a campus novel. She developed psychological shadows because of a malicious sister-in-law, which weren't dispelled until she met her destined male lead in the future. However, when the author wrote this story, the outline wasn't well-prepared. The malicious sister-in-law was like a tool, only mentioned when needed to serve as a plot device, making the male lead's healing of the female lead lack any sense of redemption.

To improve the quality of this story, the system chose Lu Yingxiao to transmigrate into the book and flesh out the important supporting character of the malicious sister-in-law.

Lu Yingxiao refused without a second thought.

She was already dead, why work?

Better use that time to figure out a way to see her loved ones who had passed away early.

The system seemed to have a trick. It said in its cold, mechanical voice, "You cannot see her. However, upon completing the mission, you will receive a retirement fund of 99,687,252 yuan."

It read the amount at the end exceptionally slowly, as if trying to hammer each digit deep into Lu Yingxiao's mind.

Hearing this, Lu Yingxiao was shocked.

The number reported by the system was not only astronomical to her but also the very motivation that drove her to work overtime until dawn every day.

"How do you know I still need that exact amount of money?"

The system didn't answer, only asked if she would accept the mission it offered.

Lu Yingxiao hesitated for a moment but ultimately agreed.

Since the system even knew her deeply hidden goal, perhaps after completing the mission, it could give her a benefit like a newbie starter pack.

That way, she might have a chance to exchange it for an opportunity to meet her early-departed loved ones.

But now, forget about any newbie starter pack; the system had directly vanished.

"So, I've been scammed now?"

And by the system, of all things.

If she went to report it, the police would first question her mental state.

This system really screwed me over.

Not only did it trick me, but it also arranged for me to become Gao Yan's newlywed wife. If I had known the kind of looks Gao Yan had, even with the lure of a huge sum of money, I wouldn't have taken on this task so easily.

But there was no use crying over spilled milk. All I could do now was try to fix the situation. Lu Yingxiao decided to talk to Gao Yan about divorce tomorrow.

He should agree.

We had no emotional foundation, and he had only agreed to this arranged marriage out of respect for his mother. He had no reason to refuse.