[For hell’s sake. The channel showed nothing but mosaic for a full day and night. I thought the system crashed.]

[Please. Ever since the heroine ran off crying, I stopped watching. You aren’t saying they actually did it… right?]

[No no no. My pure male lead is ruined.]

[Forget it. I give up. The chemistry is too good. My imagination is running wild.]

I sat up, baring my teeth in pain.

Someone had already changed me into clean pajamas.

Even so, they could not hide the glaring marks all across my neck.

I cursed Brian a thousand times in my head.

I turned my head. A sticky note was stuck to the lamp on the nightstand.

[Meeting. Back soon.]

Short and to the point, as always.

Exactly like when he signed our contract marriage. He had said only, “No marriage certificate. Fake marriage for three years. Everything else is up to you.”

My family was close to bankruptcy at the time, and his terms solved every concern I had.

He needed a wife to deal with family pressure.

The Lewis family needed the Jansons’ influence to get back on their feet.

I accepted the deal without hesitation.

But according to the comments, I was still going to end up bankrupt.

I would even die early.

Absolutely not.

Mess with my feelings if you want.

But ruin my money and my life? No, thank you.

After thinking for a moment, I called Brian.

“Darling, are you busy?”

There was a pause on the other end, followed by a heavier breath.

He probably never expected me to use that word.

After a moment, he answered in a calm voice. “Yes. What is it?”

There he was again, cold and distant.

“I want to move out.”

The contract stated we could not live separately for the full three years.

Which meant he had to move out with me.

“Fine.”

He agreed without a hint of hesitation.

“I’ll have my assistant sort things out tomorrow. We’ll move to Lakeview Bay.”

That was a villa development owned by the Janson family, with a private lakefront house chosen as our official residence when the contract was signed.

After I hung up, I let out a long breath.

Let’s see if the story can still follow the original plot once I stay far away from the heroine.

Conference Room.

Halfway through an important meeting, the CEO suddenly answered his phone.

Brian never showed emotion, yet he stared at the screen with the faintest curl at the corner of his lips.

Everyone exchanged confused looks.

The presenter assumed his proposal had finally impressed the CEO. He cleared his throat and continued, “I’ll spend the next hour explaining the details of this project…”

However.

“That’s all for today.”

Everyone froze for a second before scrambling to their feet.

Brian was already striding out as if something urgent had come up.

The presenter was left standing there in shock. “What…?”

By the time Brian rushed back home, Mrs. Janson was holding my hand and chatting away.

“Hannah, are you settling in alright? Tell me what you want to eat. I’ll have Marianne make it for you.”

“Her fertility soup is wonderful. It’s great for nourishing the body and helps with pregnancy…”

“Mom.” Brian cut her off. “We are not planning that yet.”

“Oh hush. Look at you, rushing home like that. Your wife isn’t going anywhere.

“You young newlyweds are always so sweet. The two of you are adorable together.”

At that moment, Quincy came down the spiral staircase.

She missed one of the last steps and fell straight to the ground with a loud thud.

[My poor heroine. What happened?]

[This wasn’t in the original story.]

[Please. In the novel they never even slept together. This big idiot is clearly thinking with what’s in his pants and making my sweet heroine cry. Just wait for his “begging her back” arc.]

[Hold on. Aren’t the villainess and the male lead the actual married couple now?]

The servants rushed over in a panic to help her, yet Quincy kept crying and insisting she was in too much pain to stand.

“How did you even manage to fall like that? It’s not as if we aren’t feeding you,” Mrs. Janson said coldly, giving her a sharp look.

Quincy was the daughter of Mr. Janson’s beloved first love. After the woman passed away, he insisted on adopting her.

Ever since she came to the Janson family, she and Mrs. Janson had never gotten along.

“Brian, it hurts so much.”

Quincy looked up at Brian with tearful eyes, the kind that made almost anyone feel protective.

[Boohoo, my poor little girl. Someone protect her. There is no way the big dumb male lead won’t soften up.]

[Please. Look at what the male lead is actually doing.]

Brian removed his hand from my leg, frowned, and called emergency services.

“Brookshire Manor, yes. Possible fractured injury from a fall.”

After hanging up, he said to Quincy, “The ambulance will be here in thirty minutes. Do not move. You could make it worse.”

Quincy froze on the spot.

The comments popped up.

[He makes a good point, but still…]

Half an hour later, Quincy was screaming as she was lifted onto the stretcher.

I watched in deep thought.

This scene never happened in the original story.

The fact that it was happening now meant something important:

The plot can be changed.

That night, after taking a shower, I lay on the bed studying stocks.

The comments was still chirping in front of me from time to time, but they were not completely useless.

Sometimes they even spilled information.

When I hovered my finger over a real estate stock on the purchase screen, the comments burst into laughter.

[Hahaha, idiot. Jefferson Group is about to go bankrupt. Buy it, buy it. I want to vent my frustration on the villainess.]

[Lmao. She has no idea Pansell New Energy is about to skyrocket, and she is planning to sell it.]

[How do you people remember stock details this clearly? I skipped those chapters when I read the novel. What even makes money?]

[Because the original author wrote the stock stuff in crazy detail. At this point in the story, you should buy…]

I stayed quiet on the surface, but my hands were moving nonstop.

Within a few minutes, I had scooped up every potential stock they mentioned.

[Wait a second…]

The comments froze, and they stopped laughing at me.

[She can… see us!!!]

My smile did not fade.

It simply shifted into a full cackle.

I was rolling around on the big bed laughing when my gaze collided with Brian’s.

He had walked in wearing only a loosely tied bathrobe.

“What makes you so happy?”

His eyes fell on me, growing darker.

That was when I noticed the silk strap of my nightgown had slipped down my arm at some point, exposing a bare shoulder.

A shoulder covered with vivid marks from last night.

My face went up in flames. I yanked the strap back up.

“It’s nothing.”

I scooted away from him.

Brian lay down beside me. The clean scent of men’s shower gel drifted through the air.

He reached out with one long arm and pulled me into his chest.

“You really seem afraid of me.”

The familiar posture made my heart jump. My legs softened on instinct.

“No, no. Really not. I’m just tired.”

I gave him a pleading look. “I want to sleep.”

Before we got married, Brian was known for being cold and impossibly disciplined.

Who could have guessed that a simple contract marriage would feel like releasing a curse seal?

His arm tightened around my waist. That elegant, cool hand slid higher again.

“The angle is perfect.”

His voice brushed my ear in a low murmur.

A gentle kiss touched the back of my neck.

“Relax, baby.”

“I won’t go overboard.”