Forced to Become the Female Lead's Beloved Wife [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 10

In a hazy dream, she saw Li Wancheng appear before her, gently stroking her face. But in the next instant, the girl seemed to transform completely. Her eyes, now frosty and cold, glared down at her as icy words spat from her lips: “Do you really think I like you?”

“Those ‘forever’ words? Just lies to deceive you. Only fools like you would believe them.”

The warm palm suddenly withdrew. She watched Li Wancheng rise and leave, her heart clenching painfully. She scrambled to her feet and chased after her desperately, but a distance always remained between them. Helplessly, she watched the golden-haired girl walk further and further away, until she finally vanished from sight.

“A-Cheng… don’t.”

The girl on the hospital bed was pale, a bloodstain seeping through the gauze on her forehead. Her expression twisted in pain, a tear sliding down her cheek. She seemed to be reliving a nightmare.

Dimly, she heard someone calling her name, gradually pulling her back to reality.

The surroundings slowly came into focus, accompanied by a faint ringing in her ears. It wasn’t her A-Cheng, but a strange male voice. Wen Yige squinted. The ceiling lights blurred into overlapping shadows, and the acrid smell of disinfectant made her furrow her brow.

As consciousness slowly returned, she instinctively moved her arm, accidentally pulling on the IV needle on the back of her hand. A sharp pain shot through her, and the boy’s voice spoke again: “You’re on an IV. Don’t move around.”

Wen Yige finally got a clear look at the boy beside her. His face was familiar, but she couldn’t immediately recall his name. Sensing her confusion, he softly said, “It’s Xu Zhou.”

Memories slowly resurfaced. She eyed him warily. “How did I end up here?” She distinctly remembered going to Li Wancheng’s house. Why was she in a hospital?

Xu Zhou pressed the call button by the bed and explained, “I was at school retrieving my files when I passed by and found you collapsed on the ground. I brought you here.”

She must have hit her head when she fainted. Now that she was awake, a dull ache began to throb from the injury. Wen Yige murmured her thanks.

A few minutes later, the door to the hospital room swung open.

“Dr. Liu.” Seeing a familiar face, the unease in her heart eased slightly. Xu Zhou excused himself when the doctor entered.

Perhaps due to days of torment, the young woman looked unnervingly fragile, like a porcelain vase riddled with cracks, ready to shatter at the slightest touch.

Liu Liang’s throat felt dry, suddenly unsure how to begin. Clutching a corner of the medical record, he hesitated before saying, “Yige, the initial examination suggests you may have an atrial septal defect.”

Atrial septal defect. Wen Yige heard the familiar term and froze momentarily before letting out a soft chuckle.

She pressed her fingertips to the spot over her heart, feeling a strange sense of relief. Perhaps this is the only thing Mom left me after she passed.

Liu Liang’s expression turned unusually serious. Early detection of this genetically inherited congenital heart defect increased the chances of successful treatment. He felt guilty for focusing solely on her mother’s condition and forgetting to have her undergo a thorough examination.

“We’ll need to do an echocardiogram to confirm the location and size of the defect.” After briefly outlining some precautions, he was called away by a nurse.

The room fell silent. Wen Yige tilted her head to look out the window. Sunlight streamed through the glass, illuminating the bright white tiles half a foot below. Yet she, lying on the hospital bed, remained in shadow, as if the sun would never shine on her again.

She placed her palm over her chest, feeling her heart beat rhythmically. A bitter smile slowly spread across her lips.

Mom was gone, and A-Cheng had left her too.

For whom, then, would this heart continue to beat?

“Host, it’s time to return.”

Her eyelashes trembled slightly as Li Wancheng casually pulled on a nearby shirt. Her voice, still husky from sleep, carried an alluring quality: “What’s the current status?”

Five years had passed since their last meeting. During that time, she had lived alone abroad, severing nearly all connections with her homeland, relying solely on occasional updates from the System about Wen Yige’s situation.

A year ago, Li Rui had called, urging her to return home. The System had warned that the time wasn’t right, so she had stayed another year.

The System briefly summarized the situation: “Wen Yige married Xu Zhou, but her condition has deteriorated. As a result, Xu Zhou now manages the company.”

Time doesn’t just age us; it also matures us, like fine wine aging in a cellar, gaining depth and complexity with each passing year.

The woman, clad in slippers, moved with a figure that time had refined into curves. Her pure white blouse barely covered her thighs, revealing long, slender legs. She narrowed her eyes, exuding an air of careless indifference. “So, the world line has returned to its original position?”

The System nodded. “While you were away, the plot unfolded as it had before, and the major plot points from the previous life occurred as scheduled.”

It elaborated, “For example, Wen Yige’s mother’s death and her marriage to Xu Zhou—these are unalterable plot points.”

To prevent plot conflicts, Li Wancheng had been forced to leave.

The woman reached for a hair tie on the table, casually pulling her long hair into a bun. “So, why didn’t you let me explain things clearly to her back then?”

That day, she had received Wen Yige’s call, but the System had stopped her from answering.

After a pause, the System replied, “The Task-taker exists outside the world’s rules. You had already interfered excessively with Wen Yige’s life trajectory, and this was the only way to minimize your impact on her.”

Minimize her impact?

Li Wancheng frowned slightly, sensing something amiss, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Several people approached, holding their glasses, eager to chat with Young President Li, who had just returned to the country. Yet she seemed disinterested, her gaze fixed in one direction throughout the evening.

Wen Yige stood not far away, her long, form-fitting black dress accentuating her slender waist. Her cascading black hair was coiled into an elegant bun, revealing a neck as fair as jade. Li Wancheng took a sip of her drink, her gaze lingering on the woman.

After years apart, Wen Yige had grown from her youthful innocence into someone like a snow lotus standing proudly atop the Heavenly Mountains—ethereal, untainted, and utterly captivating. Her face and figure were both exceptionally alluring.

Noticing Li Wancheng’s infatuated state, the System sighed helplessly. “She’s leaving. Hurry up and follow her.”

Due to her health condition, Wen Yige didn’t drink. Bored by the reception, she decided to step into the courtyard for some fresh air.

Unexpectedly, a figure appeared before her—a figure so familiar it had haunted her nightmares every night for years. Wen Yige’s eyes turned frosty.

When Li Wancheng saw the woman’s healing value, her heart sank. She remembered that when she left five years ago, the healing value had been at 80%, but now it had plummeted to 20%.

It felt like she had been thrown back to the past, and she wanted to cry, but no tears would come.

Wen Yige remained composed, her gaze unwavering throughout the encounter, as if this reunion were no different from any other business meeting.

“I heard Young President Li of Tianxing had returned a few days ago. What a coincidence.” In one sentence, she erased all traces of their past relationship.

Her tone was as cold as a bucket of ice water dumped over Li Wancheng’s head. Li Wancheng’s heart skipped a beat, but she forced herself to keep her composure.

Softening her voice, she slowly approached the woman. “Yige, let’s talk, okay?”

Though it had been five years since they last met, Wen Yige recognized her instantly. Even with a changed style, makeup, and even dyed blonde hair, she still recognized her at first glance.

For a moment, she didn’t know whether to curse her own sharp memory or the deep scar this person had left on her heart.

Seeing her silence, Li Wancheng mustered the courage to grasp her hand. Despite the summer heat, the woman’s hand felt unnaturally cold, like holding a piece of ice. Suddenly, her fingertips brushed against something hard.

It was a ring.

The moment Li Wancheng gripped her palm, Wen Yige yanked her hand away, her smile cold and distant. “I don’t think President Li and I have anything to discuss. Besides, this is a public place. Please show some restraint, President Li.”

Li Wancheng’s hand froze mid-air. Her face paled instantly before she murmured after a long pause, “My apologies. That was presumptuous of me.”

Wen Yige was taken aback, perhaps not expecting Li Wancheng to apologize. In her memory, the woman had always been that golden-haired, willful young lady who acted as she pleased.

Realizing she was drifting into reminiscence, Wen Yige inwardly scoffed, though her expression remained cool. “Five years have passed, President Li. You’ve changed a great deal.”

Li Wancheng smiled. “People always change.”

After graduation, she had joined a local company. Without Li Rui’s influence abroad to smooth her path, she had to rely entirely on herself. The harsh realities of life had gradually worn away her former arrogance.

The woman’s eyes darkened, her voice chilling with frost. “In that case, I hope you understand, President Li, that I’m no longer the naive girl who would pledge unwavering devotion after a few sweet words.”

The tense atmosphere seemed to freeze even the moonlight, leaving Li Wancheng speechless.

“President Li, I have work to attend to. Goodbye.” Wen Yige turned without another glance, her departure as abrupt as her arrival.

Their first reunion after such a long separation had been rushed and ended bitterly.

Li Wancheng remained rooted to the spot, watching the retreating figure, her brows furrowed in contemplation.

The System observed the entire exchange. “It seems she harbors deeper resentment than we anticipated.”

Love can nurture love, or it can breed hatred. When Wen Yige needed her most, when her love burned brightest, Li Wancheng had withdrawn. Now, the depth of that past love fueled the intensity of her current hatred.

Though it was a summer night, the breeze carried an unyielding chill. Wen Yige sighed, raising the car window back to its original position, her heart as tightly sealed as the glass.

The year her mother was diagnosed with heart disease, the Wen Corporation had just been established, still far from reaching its current scale.

At the time, Wen Feng had drained all their savings. Unwilling to spend more on his mother’s treatment, he kicked both her and his daughter out, leaving them destitute while he seized control of the company.

Five years ago, Wen Feng approached her again. To raise money for her mother’s surgery, she agreed to return home with him. Perhaps as compensation, he later willed the majority of his shares in Wen Corporation to her.

Yet these past five years had been far from easy for her.

She unconsciously touched the ring on her ring finger.

After the college entrance exams, she and Xu Zhou enrolled in the same university. During their time there, he took good care of her. After she took over Wen Corporation upon graduation, their professional interactions became frequent.

Wen Feng noticed his growing affection for his daughter. Coupled with the ongoing business collaboration between their companies, the marriage arrangement was soon settled by their parents.

After the successive departures of her mother and A-Cheng, Wen Yige had long since resigned herself to a life devoid of joy, with no desire to resist. Fortunately, her frail health provided a convenient excuse to avoid any intimate relations with Xu Zhou.

At the thought, she pursed her lips and smiled wryly, almost mockingly.

Even knowing that Li Wancheng no longer wanted her, she refused to be intimate with anyone else.