Shang Xinglu sat across from Lin Heng.

This was the first time they had met since she lost the bet.

At that moment, she felt something wasn’t quite right.

Lin Heng had won, and the bet was that she would marry him.

But back then, they hadn’t discussed what would happen if she had won.

Looking at it from another angle, did this mean Lin Heng would have to marry into her family?

…But isn’t it still marriage? Is there really a fundamental difference?

About ten days ago, her fangirl brain finally calmed down, and her intelligence returned. Shang Xinglu asked, “Hey, Lin Heng, I think… there’s something off about this bet.”

Lin Heng: “Hmm? What’s off?”

His tone was very gentle, like he was in a really good mood.

Shang Xinglu said: “You see, the bet only mentioned what would happen if you won…”

But the marriage part was never mentioned.

“But the bet didn’t say what would happen if I won? Although it turned out that you won, still… isn’t that a bit wrong?”

Shang Xinglu glanced at Lin Heng.

Lin Heng’s expression didn’t change. He still looked like he was in a very good mood.

After all, this was about her marriage, and now she had somehow ended up in it, Shang Xinglu didn’t care about being stubborn anymore. She just asked directly.

“You see, is it really okay to use marriage as a bet? Or were you just joking back then?”

“Besides, your family is pretty rich and powerful. Even though these days people don’t care too much about matching social status, it still makes some sense. Your family, especially your mother… would she really agree? And my mom might not agree either.”

After saying all this, Shang Xinglu finally made her point.

“So, what do you think? Should we cancel the previous bet? Of course, I’m not trying to back out; I’m just asking if you want to change the bet to something else. I’ll be sure to consider everything and not back out.”

Shang Xinglu felt like she was being quite sincere.

Little did she know, her guilt over wanting to break the agreement made her act like a naive rabbit, jumping blindly into a trap.

Lin Heng said, “Sure.”

Very calmly.

Shang Xinglu let out a breath.

“Okay, that’s fine.”

Then Lin Heng continued: “But before that, let me explain something first.”

“If we get married, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. The things you’re worried about don’t need to be concerns with me. First, I don’t have any bad habits, I have good genes, and my family has no burdens. The mother-in-law issues you’re worried about don’t exist either. My mother has been living in the U.S. for years, and even when she comes back, we’ll live in Manhattan, rarely going to Long Island. Also, the person I marry will be decided by me. My parents have no say in that.”

Shang Xinglu didn’t say anything.

It sounded pretty good… but with Lin Heng’s good conditions, he could easily find someone better than her. So why was he doing this?

Lin Heng wasn’t in a hurry, and continued: “Of course, what I just said are just the objective conditions. Now, let’s talk about the subjective side.”

At this point, Lin Heng leaned slightly forward, resting his arms on the edge of the table, his fingers interlaced.

His phoenix eyes, behind the glasses, became slightly deeper, and the corners of his lips curled into a smile, like a lazy but dangerous beast.

“Louise, don’t you understand? The reason I’m so eager and even made such a ridiculous bet is because I like you. I want you to be mine.”

“You want to change the bet? I can agree. But for now, I can only accept the proposal of ‘dating with marriage as a premise.’”

Lin Heng finished speaking clearly, then lowered his voice slightly, making his tone soft and seductive.

“How about it?”

Shang Xinglu froze for a moment, like a fool, and as his words continued, the tone grew softer, like a lover’s whisper. Her face turned increasingly red.

…She was going to die.

Did this man know how attractive he was?

How had he not been devoured by all the women who fawned over him by this age?

Shang Xinglu wanted to look down or turn her head to avoid his gaze.

But she realized that when Lin Heng looked at her like this, she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

Because she couldn’t look away, she couldn’t find it in herself to reject him either.

She nodded and said, “Okay.”

…

Not long after Shang Xinglu and Lin Heng started dating, they got married.

Lin Heng proposed.

Shang Xinglu, the fangirl, got swept up in the heat of the moment and agreed.

The wedding process went surprisingly smoothly.

When Shang Xinglu’s mother agreed to the arranged marriage, apart from Lin Heng’s family being a bit more prestigious, she liked him in every other way. After a few meals together, she especially liked the idea of him being her son-in-law.

Although she had previously liked Shen Wang.

Shen Wang and her daughter’s relationship had been cultivated over time, not just by her, but her whole family had liked him.

But in the end, it was her oversight. Why hadn’t she checked into Shen Wang’s family?

She had seen his parents before, so why had their attitude changed so dramatically when Shen Wang proposed?

It was strange.

But no matter how strange, it was in the past now.

What’s the point in bringing it up again?

Shang Xinglu’s parents didn’t dare take it lightly this time. They had dinner with Lin Heng’s parents a few times and had a serious conversation. Once they confirmed that Lin Heng didn’t have any negative feelings toward their daughter, they finally agreed.

Before signing the marriage contract, Shang Xinglu had one condition.

“I want to sign a prenuptial agreement.”

Her family’s lawyer was stunned!

He had never heard of someone with no money wanting a prenuptial agreement, especially one that clearly protected the wealthier party.

The lawyers all advised Shang Xinglu to reconsider.

But in fact, when Shang Xinglu brought it up, she had already thought it through carefully.

Ever since she agreed to marry Lin Heng—no, ever since she agreed to date him—everything had moved way too fast.

Even the wedding!

Things were happening so quickly that she couldn’t help but question herself every day: Do I have some kind of witch bloodline? Did I cast a spell on Lin Heng or something?

Then, recently, while having dinner with her girlfriends, she heard some news.

A former classmate from university—someone from the same class but not very close—had a flash marriage with a guy she had just met after graduation.

And then, just a few days ago, they got divorced.

It was a complete disaster over asset division and child custody.

They tore each other apart, causing scenes at each other’s workplaces, leaving no dignity intact.

This was practically a textbook example of why people nowadays reject marriage and having children.

Shang Xinglu wasn’t pretending to be above it all—she valued money just as much as anyone else. She never denied the importance of financial security.

But honestly? She wasn’t particularly interested in Lin Heng’s money.

Besides, if signing a prenuptial agreement could save them both time, resources, and even their dignity in the future… wouldn’t that be a good thing?

So, after the lawyers finalized the terms, she signed it.

And then, they got married.

The wedding took place in a solemn and elegant church in the U.S., a small ceremony with only close family and friends.

Her girlfriends were her bridesmaids.

Although it was a joyous occasion, there were some strange looks exchanged among them.

Shang Xinglu couldn’t help but ask, “What’s going on?”

Shi Rui, being blunt and impatient as always, spoke up immediately.

“To be honest, you just broke up with Shen Wang not long ago, and now you’re getting married right away. He took it really hard.”

Shi Rui had known Shen Wang for a long time. Even though she sided with Shang Xinglu, that didn’t mean she could completely ignore Shen Wang’s feelings.

Shang Xinglu fell silent.

Uh… she hadn’t expected things to happen this fast either…

But for some reason, she just couldn’t say no to Lin Heng.

Could it be that Lin Heng was actually the one who had put a spell on her???

And Shen Wang…

Shang Xinglu sighed softly and said, “After what happened, I had already made up my mind never to marry Shen Wang. Since that’s the case, whether I marry Lin Heng sooner or later has nothing to do with him anymore.”

Maybe… it was just fate without the right timing?

So no matter how heartbroken Shen Wang was now, there was nothing she could do except make her stance clear again.

By this point, all the legal paperwork was done, and there was no point in discussing it further. On her wedding day, her girlfriends didn’t dwell on it either and quickly changed the subject.

Only Xue Shaoying, the more perceptive one, nudged Shi Rui lightly.

Shi Rui immediately got the message.

She had said too much.

She wouldn’t bring it up again.

So, after Shang Xinglu got married, although they didn’t completely cut contact, she and Shen Wang didn’t speak for two whole years.

The first two months of her marriage with Lin Heng were sweet and normal, but after that, trouble started.

Klemens was facing internal issues, and M&E was going public. Lin Heng was stuck in the U.S., buried in work.

Since they had just gotten married, Lin Heng wanted to bring Shang Xinglu with him to the U.S.

But at the time, she was obsessed with building an observatory—her dream was to be an observatory director and contribute to science education.

So, she stayed behind.

And that… was a huge problem.

Technically speaking, they had only been dating for a short while before getting married, meaning their emotional foundation wasn’t very strong.

Shang Xinglu was the type who was extremely picky at first but would become more forgiving over time.

Lin Heng had promised to return multiple times, but somehow, it never worked out. One time, there was a hurricane. Another time, a storm. And once, he even made it to the airport but got called back by his company at the last minute.

Every time he missed the scheduled visit, resentment built up.

Shang Xinglu didn’t want to be that kind of woman who threw tantrums, but that didn’t mean she had no temper at all.

She had her own work to focus on, and slowly, she stopped accommodating his schedule.

Then, once she finished a major phase of her observatory project, she suddenly looked back at everything—how they met, how they started dating, how they got married so quickly…

Something wasn’t right.

Actually, a lot of things weren’t right.

She sat at home, thinking about it for days until her head hurt. Eventually, she called her girlfriends to ask them.

Shi Rui was furious.

“Oh my God! It’s not just cheating that makes a guy trash—this is practically him cheating with his job! What the hell, is Louise his new love while he leaves Py behind?”

Shang Xinglu said, “Wait, calm down! Listen to me first!”

Shi Rui: “…”

Who’s the one overreacting here?!

Shang Xinglu told them everything, down to the details of the bet.

After hearing it all, the three of them exchanged looks.

Then they shared another round of meaningful glances.

Finally, they each placed a hand on Shang Xinglu’s shoulder.

Xue Shaoying hesitated before saying, “Uh… I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but I’ve heard some rumors.”

Jiang Lexuan nodded. “You know… your husband’s private life is ridiculously clean. No one’s ever seen him involved with any woman…”

Xue Shaoying added, “So there are rumors that he’s actually gay. His ‘partner’ is said to be his assistant, the one with the last name Fang—his college friend.”

Shang Xinglu: “…”

Oh. What a coincidence. I’ve met him.

Jiang Lexuan sighed. “We didn’t want to tell you at first. But after hearing everything—the rushed marriage, the bet…”

Shi Rui exploded, “Isn’t this a scam marriage?!”

Shang Xinglu: “………………”

What?

What the hell did I just go through?

Her brain had been in a fog for days.

But the moment they said it, she didn’t hesitate.

“I! Want a divorce!!!”

Yeah, she had been thinking about it for days, and she finally shouted it out.