Chapter 7 — Glitch in the Supporting Character's Narrative

I wanted to tell Xiao Cheng something. I wanted to tell him that I never truly bullied his younger sister. I wanted to tell him that I could give him back to her, that I was never thick-skinned enough to cling to the title of the Xiao family’s daughter. But when the words reached my lips, they transformed into something else entirely:

"You damn wretch, you had better live a long time and use your so-called strength to protect your real sister."

"Otherwise, the moment you die, I—this fake daughter—will torment her until she breathes her last!"

The hand hidden in Xiao Cheng's sleeve clenched abruptly. I pulled out my IV needle, grabbed my coat, and bolted from the room. Somewhere behind me, someone was calling my name, but the throb of my wounds hummed so loudly in my ears that I acted as if I heard nothing. Outside the hospital, the snow fell in a suffocating silence. I reached out and touched a handful of freezing slush. To be alive... one must have tethers. I thought to myself that the bond between biological siblings must be the deepest tether of all. He... he could go on living now. I took a shallow breath, wrapped my thin coat tightly around myself, and staggered unevenly into the white expanse.

13

"Little sister, look at what big brother bought for you?"

I jumped and turned around. Tsk, he wasn't calling me. Not far away, a teenager in his mid-teens was happily handing his younger sister a bag of nougat. The girl's young face glowed with pure joy.

"Brother is the best person in the world to me! I love you so much!"

The boy laughed, scooped the girl up, and placed her on his shoulders. "You little flatterer, don't eat too much, we still have to go home for dinner."

I rubbed my eyes, bowed my head, and quietly slipped past them. The snow was falling thicker now, and the footsteps of passersby became hurried and urgent. Everyone had a path home, except for me. On the pristine white snow, a warm drop suddenly fell. A round bead of blood rolled, staining the snow red, looking exactly like the brilliant roses from my fourteenth birthday party—so dazzling it ached to look at. What a nuisance; the stitching technique was terrible, it was bleeding again...

14

Inside the hospital's VIP suite, Assistant Li hurriedly handed Xiao Cheng a file.

"CEO Xiao, you need to see this immediately."

Xiao Cheng was clutching his head, saying nothing. Since Xiao Lin had returned, his headaches had grown increasingly frequent. Especially when facing Xiang Wanting, he would subconsciously commit acts beyond his own control—at times even... hurting Xiao Lin. That was never his intention. He picked up the IV tubing that Xiao Lin had torn out and pressed it hard into his fingertip. Only through pain could he maintain his sanity. Assistant Li stared in horror. Xiao Cheng reached out. "Give it to me." He opened the file, and the moment his eyes touched the contents, his pupils constricted violently. Xiao Cheng felt as if he were suffocating, as if a taut string in his mind had snapped. In that instant, his clouded vision focused, and the fog before his eyes vanished in a heartbeat.

"Xiao Lin!"

I lay unconscious in the soft snow, blood spreading and merging with the melting ice. The comments scrolled before my eyes, flickering erratically: [Damn! The second male lead has finally woken up??!! Did he push the female lead away at the hospital just now?!] [I saw it! He pushed the female lead! He actually pushed her!] [He finally found out the fake sister was bullied in Germany...] [It feels like the second male lead is about to collapse; he just woke up to reality only to realize he failed to protect either the real sister or the fake one...] [So what happens to the script now? The female lead still needs the second male lead's inheritance to help the male lead start his business...] I drifted, opening my eyes. The King of Hell looked quite handsome, actually; he looked just like my brother. A few hours later, after the surgery, the first thing I heard when I regained consciousness was the sound of Xiang Wanting sobbing.

"Brother Xiao Cheng, I did everything for the sake of Xiao Lin. The girl is just too rebellious; she constantly provokes you, so I just asked some people to teach her a lesson..."

Xiao Cheng's voice was deathly cold and gravelly:

"My sister—since when was it your place to teach her a lesson?"

15

Xiang Wanting widened her eyes in shock. She collapsed feebly to the floor. Her long hair draped over her shoulders, and she tilted her beautiful eyes upward just slightly—the angle that made her look her most picturesque.

"Brother Xiao Cheng, what’s wrong? Why don't you believe me anymore... Haven't I always been the kindest person in your eyes?"

At that moment, there was nothing but darkness in Xiao Cheng's black eyes.

"Xiang Wanting, I don't know what methods you used in the past to make me lose my senses, to turn me into a fool willing to die for love."

"But I know one thing for certain: it is time for you to pay for everything you have done."

"Over the past seven years, you embezzled the living expenses and jewelry I sent to Xiao Lin, totaling over eighty million."

"You even hired people to bully her, leaving her half-dead in Germany. Every single action—how exactly should we settle this?"

My brother... it seemed he had truly returned. I tilted my head with interest, so engaged that I forgot my wounds were still aching. Seeing that the vulnerable act wasn't working, Xiang Wanting lowered her head, and her voice suddenly turned icy:

"You cannot blame me."

Xiao Cheng looked stunned. "What did you say?"