Waking Up to a Contract Marriage with the Film Queen - Chapter 3

Le Yiqiu never expected her future self to be so daring—not only had she married her ideal woman, but she’d done it via a legal contract.

She suspected her past self must have been blinded by beauty when she signed that paper. It was a tragedy, really; she’d had five years of marriage to win Lin Xianing over, and yet here she was, at the end of the contract, facing an impending divorce.

She pored over the document again. It didn’t list the reason for the marriage, only the logistics: separate finances, independent lives, and the mutual obligation to play the part of a devoted couple in public.

At least I’m not a kept woman, Le Yiqiu thought with a sigh of relief. She had her pride. Whatever the reason for the sham marriage, at least she wasn’t living off Lin Xianing’s wealth. Since she’d fallen for the woman at first sight, the last thing she wanted was to be seen as a “soft-rice” parasite. How was she supposed to woo her wife if Lin Xianing thought she was just a gold digger?

“Ouch—”

A sharp, throbbing pain flared in her skull. Thinking was becoming a luxury she couldn’t afford. She needed a hospital, and fast.

******

Stepping out of her building, Le Yiqiu realized just how much a city could transform in ten years. Her neighborhood felt familiar, but the moment she crossed the gates, she felt like a traveler from another world.

In 2013, this area had been a new development, the best housing around. Decades before that, it was worker housing—her grandparents had each been allocated a unit—before it was cleared for redevelopment in 2010. It had been modern then, but compared to the high-tech, steel-and-glass skyline now looming over her, it was like night and day.

The sheer scale of the change hit her with the force of a physical blow. She stood at the entrance for several minutes, waiting for her senses to adjust, before forcing herself to walk.

One step. Two steps. Three…

With every movement, her body felt heavier, as if she were walking through lead. She leaned against a streetlamp, desperate for a taxi, but ten minutes passed without an empty one in sight. She was about to check the bus routes when the world suddenly tilted. Everything went black.

*****

“When are we going to tell Qiuqiu about the divorce?”

“Tell her what? What happens between us is none of her business. She’s just a kid.”

“Right. You always did see yourself as a ‘free spirit.’ If you worship independence so much, why did you even bother getting married?”

“Le Zhuo, if I’d known you were this selfish, I never would have married you. And I certainly wouldn’t have had a child with you.”

Twelve-year-old Le Yiqiu listened to her parents’ voices, the cold realization sinking in that she was a burden they both regretted. To them, she shouldn’t even exist.

A feeling of suffocation washed over her, like drowning in deep, dark water. She thrashed, gasping for air.

Suddenly, a hand caught hers. Someone pulled her gently from the depths and whispered, “I’m here.”

Le Yiqiu gripped that hand like a lifeline, her racing heart finally slowing to a steady beat.

When she eventually drifted back to consciousness, the light was too bright. She squinted, her brow furrowing as she adjusted. For a brief, hopeful second, she wished that when she opened her eyes, she would be eighteen again.

Then, a familiar voice drifted over to her.

“What exactly happened before you two got married? You might not know how brilliant Qiuqiu used to be, but I grew up with her. I’ve known her for over twenty years. She isn’t the type to just… give up on herself.”

“Something must have happened that year to turn her into this, right?”

It was Luo Luo. Her voice was deeper, more mature, but unmistakably her best friend.

“I don’t know.”

That voice was cold and detached. Lin Xianing.

Hearing her, Le Yiqiu knew her wish was dead. She hadn’t known Lin Xianing back in high school; their marriage was a mystery born of a decade she couldn’t remember.

The only thing she knew for sure was that it was a contract marriage—a fake one. But knowing herself, Le Yiqiu knew she would never enter a fake marriage unless she truly liked the person. And if she liked someone, she wasn’t the type to be shy; she would have chased them.

So, had she been rejected? Or had she never even tried?

“What about now?” Luo Luo’s voice rose with indignation. “Why the divorce? Or do you ‘not know’ that either?”

“I have nothing to say.”

Lin Xianing sounded weary, refusing to defend herself.

Le Yiqiu opened her eyes to see Luo Luo vibrating with barely suppressed rage. “One last question. Why couldn’t the hospital reach you when she collapsed?”

“As her wife—as long as that paper isn’t signed—you are legally required to be here. Where were you? It’s been twenty-four hours since she fainted, and you only just picked up your phone.”

If Luo Luo hadn’t rushed back, Le Yiqiu would have been lying in this hospital bed entirely alone. The thought made Luo Luo’s eyes well with angry tears.

Lin Xianing remained silent. Having been married to Le Yiqiu for years, she knew the girl’s family situation. Her parents were even harder to reach than she was. If it hadn’t been for Luo Luo, there would have been no one to sign the surgery consent forms.

The image of Le Yiqiu lying alone on a gurney flickered through her mind, sparking a sharp pang of guilt. She turned toward the bed, only to find Le Yiqiu staring right back at her.

Le Yiqiu blinked innocently. She hadn’t expected to be caught eavesdropping so soon.

Luo Luo followed Lin Xianing’s gaze and gasped. “Qiuqiu! You’re awake! How do you feel? Is anything hurting?”

Lin Xianing reached for the call button. Before Le Yiqiu could get a word out, a flurry of doctors and nurses descended upon her for a barrage of tests.

“She’s stable,” the doctor finally announced. “But we’ll need to keep her for observation.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Luo Luo said. The moment the medical staff left, she turned back to Le Yiqiu, her face a mask of exasperated concern.

“Do you have any idea how long you were out? You scared the life out of me! What if you hadn’t gone outside? What if you’d fainted at home and no one found you? Do you know how dangerous that is?”

Luo Luo shot a pointed look at Lin Xianing. Not noticing your wife was hurt was one thing, but being unreachable during surgery was another level of negligence. As a best friend, Luo Luo’s loyalty lay firmly with Le Yiqiu, superstar or not.

Le Yiqiu reached up to touch her head, but Luo Luo gently swatted her hand away. “Don’t touch it.”

Le Yiqiu managed a weak smile. “Was I out for that long?”

“Over a day. And you were calling out a certain someone’s name in your sleep, too,” Luo Luo huffed, though she couldn’t bring herself to stay truly angry at the patient. “The doctors cleared the hematoma in your brain. As long as the observation goes well, you can go home.”

Surgery? Le Yiqiu realized her injury must have been more serious than a simple bump. She later learned it wasn’t a major operation, just a procedure to drain the blood and relieve the pressure, but it was a close call nonetheless.

Le Yiqiu’s gaze drifted back to Lin Xianing. If she had been dazzled before, she was captivated now. Two days ago, Lin Xianing had been a goddess in red; today, she was in a simple white T-shirt and a grey cardigan to ward off the morning chill. With her cap pulled low and her face free of makeup, she looked soft and approachable.

She was leaning quietly against the window, her expression uncharacteristically gentle. Sensing Le Yiqiu’s gaze, Lin Xianing spoke softly. “I have work. I should go.”

Luo Luo’s face darkened, but Le Yiqiu beat her to the punch. “Okay.”

The moment the door closed behind Lin Xianing, Luo Luo exploded. “You are so hopeless!”

“I don’t know what you see in her. Fine, she’s beautiful, she’s your ideal type, she’s brilliant—but she’s a terrible wife! Look at what these years of marriage have done to you—”

“Luo Luo,” Le Yiqiu interrupted, trying to save her ears. “Did you start taking preservatives?”

“Huh?” Luo Luo blinked, confused.

Le Yiqiu reached out and pinched Luo Luo’s cheek. “How is it that you haven’t changed at all?”

Luo Luo sighed, pulling the hand away but refraining from smacking it since Le Yiqiu was technically a brain surgery patient. “Stop playing around. Tell me what happened to your head.”

They had been on the phone when it happened. Le Yiqiu had let out a muffled groan, saying she’d hit her head and felt dizzy. Luo Luo had immediately told her to get to a hospital and booked the first flight home. By the time she landed, Le Yiqiu was already in the ER.

The hospital had only been able to reach her because she was listed as the emergency contact. Lin Xianing had been a ghost until Luo Luo called her dozens of times and tracked down her manager’s number.

Le Yiqiu didn’t hold a grudge. In her mind, she and Lin Xianing were practically divorced strangers. Whether she came to the hospital or not was her choice. But she had a bigger problem: how to explain her “missing” decade to her best friend.

“Why are you so quiet?” Luo Luo nudged her arm. “And are you really going through with the divorce? You love her so much.”

“Back then, you even got jealous when I called her my idol. You cut ties with your family just to marry her. Can you really let her go?”

Luo Luo didn’t hate Lin Xianing; she was just frustrated on her friend’s behalf. Just as Lin Xianing’s assistant saw Le Yiqiu as a deadbeat, Luo Luo saw her friend’s heartbreak. She knew how much Le Yiqiu had sacrificed for this love.

Divorce?

The image of Lin Xianing flashed through Le Yiqiu’s mind—the regal goddess in red and the gentle, tired woman by the window.

Le Yiqiu flashed a bright, sunny grin. “Of course not. I like her. I’m going to make her fall for me.”

Luo Luo froze. She hadn’t seen that smile on her friend’s face in years. It was as if a beam of light had suddenly pierced through a long, dark winter, bringing a dormant landscape back to life.

The withered parts of Le Yiqiu were finally starting to bloom.

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