A Substitute Bride With Multiple Identities
Chapter 22: Guard Your Heart

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Guard Your Heart

"After sending the return gifts," Shen Yanhe picked up her phone to check it, only to find that Song Shiwei had not yet messaged her.

She didn’t really mind; she turned off her phone, threw herself onto the bed, and closed her eyes to rest.

-

Yi Yi was a corporate slave, but she was also a fan of Shen Yingying, greatly envying her luxurious affluent life and longing to mingle with high society.

Just when she had finished a day’s work and was about to relax with a novel, an advertisement popped up on the page.

Just as Yi Yi was about to close the annoying ad as usual, she caught sight of the image on it, her eyes widened in shock when she recognized the two people kissing in the picture.

The woman being kissed by an ugly man, smiling bloomingly, was none other than the blogger she adored!

"Damn!" Yi Yi cursed in shock, sitting up straight. She took a screenshot of the picture and sent it to the fan group.

[One-Two-One]: [Image]

[One-Two-One]: What’s going on here?

[One-Two-One]: Is this ugly guy Yingying’s boyfriend?

Her single screenshot instantly blew up the nocturnal fans, who started mentioning Shen Yingying en masse, inquiring about the situation in the picture and the relationship between her and the man.

After all, Shen Yingying had always marketed herself as the elegant and wealthy heiress, seemingly above the mundanities of the common folk.

She had once mentioned she liked handsome and outstanding boys.

But there she was, shown intimately close to a man who was bald, fat, and greasy, and looked old enough to be her father, which inevitably led her fans to some disturbing thoughts.

Not only the fans saw it but friends familiar with Shen Yingying did too.

They all sent her messages asking about it.

However, Shen Yingying had long since gone to bed for her beauty sleep, missing the chance for an instant clarification.

The photo was shared by a rival heiress and became more and more exaggerated as it spread.

Eventually, rumors arose about a potential business marriage between the Shen Family and the Chen Family.

-

At a certain villa.

Amidst the online frenzy, when Shen Yanhe received a message, Song Shiwei was sitting face to face with Qi Yunqian.

Between them on the coffee table lay two documents.

The heading read: Prenuptial Agreement.

Qi Yunqian’s handsome face was grim as he glanced at Song Shiwei sitting opposite him, who looked entirely different from the radiant and proud person of two years prior, now appearing rather lifeless. A vague sense of annoyance surged within him.

He tapped his long fingers gently on the table, capturing Song Shiwei’s attention, before sliding the documents toward her with an indifferent expression.

"This is the prenuptial agreement. After marrying you, I will fulfill my duties as a husband and will also provide you with a monthly allowance," Qi Yunqian paused on purpose, carefully observing Song Shiwei’s reaction.

Her expression remained indifferent; her beautiful, peachy eyes were exceptionally dull, showing none of the joy that had sparkled in them when she heard she could marry him two years ago.

Even more unsettling to him was the fact that in her eyes that once held love, now there seemed to be none.

This made him feel somewhat panicked, although he didn’t understand why.

His eyes darkened as he continued, "But, I won’t touch you, and there will be no physical contact between us."

Song Shiwei’s pretty eyes glanced at him and then away, her gaze dropping as she flipped through the prenuptial agreement on the table.

The refined man, who noticed a different emotion in her eyes, crossed his long legs, his distinctively knuckled hands interlocked on his thighs, exuding an imposing aura, his phoenix eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses cold and merciless.

"What happened back then was beyond my control. You took the fall for Fu Yu, and both she and I are very grateful to you, and we feel guilty. Therefore, I will honor the promise I made to you two years ago—to marry you once you’re out of prison," he said.

Song Shiwei looked at him with an emotionless expression and chuckled dryly, "You don’t have to force yourself; a compensation payment would be fine."

Her aloof demeanor made Qi Yunqian feel even more frustrated; he tugged at his always immaculately tied tie, his expression growing even more detached, "There’s no reluctance. You know that I... don’t like you."

"Marrying you is a matter of responsibility. I hope, after you sign the agreement, that you won’t have any unrealistic ideas, and you won’t covet things that don’t belong to you."

Song Shiwei’s heart clenched, a dense, ant-bite-like pain spreading from her chest.

Gazing at the man opposite her, who had matured from a graceful, handsome youth into a poised adult, she felt dazed.

He was someone she had once deeply liked.

She couldn’t deny she was sentimental and lacked ambition.

When she went to meet Qi Yunqian, she had harbored some secret hopes.

Hopes that she held some place in his heart.

That he cared for her, even just a little bit.

Because he was the untouchable dream placed in her heart during her youth, the light she aspired to survive for.

Unfortunately, she had been too hopeful.

He was no longer the pure youth who had rescued her from the collapsed ruins.

Nor the boy she had once liked.

Qi Yunqian, seeing her eyes filled with pain and resignation, felt an increasing unrest and incomprehensible panic.

There was also a barely tangible hope.

A hope that Song Shiwei would, like two years ago, arrogantly and assertively say: It’s impossible, she was already married to him, and he belonged to her.

Or perhaps: It doesn’t matter if you don’t like me, as long as I like you.

But there was none of that.

She said nothing.

Song Shiwei just breathed more softly, easing the sour feelings in her heart, and looked toward the tall man sitting opposite her, seemingly close but actually worlds apart.

As her expectations dissolved, she began to feel a trace of hatred.

Her pretty peachy eyes narrowed slightly, and she chuckled shortly.

Suddenly seeing such a radiant and charming smile on her face, Qi Yunqian froze for a few seconds, his hand resting on his thigh clenched into a fist, his gaze slightly dark as he stared at her.

It was the first time she had smiled at him since they had met.

But in the next second, he heard Song Shiwei resting one hand on her chin, her pretty peach blossom eyes slightly narrowed, looking at him with a touch of malice and amusement as she repeated his words one by one, "Don’t like me?"

Qi Yunqian’s brows furrowed slightly as he watched Song Shiwei without a word, as if nothing she said or did could catch his attention.

Stir his heartstrings.

As if.

To him, she was just the most familiar stranger.

The burden he couldn’t wait to shake off.

Also the stain of his life.

Just like the unavoidable and extreme dislike he had for her during their school days.

Song Shiwei just smiled lightly, her voice carefree, "Then you will have to remember this sentence, guard your own heart."

Her slender hand picked up the signing pen from the table and steadily, stroke by stroke, wrote her name on it.

Then she lifted her head to look at Qi Yunqian, her peach blossom eyes slightly curved, but with no trace of a smile in their depths, "You better not like, no, fall in love with me in the future, otherwise, it will hurt you a million times more than it hurts me."

She would not love him anymore, nor act foolishly because of feelings.

Qi Yunqian’s gaze was restrained, struggling with the tumultuous emotions inside him, his expression calm and indifferent as he watched her finish signing and pushed the pre-marital agreement across to him. He suddenly asked, "Do you still love me now?"

At his words, Song Shiwei looked at him with a bit of surprise, her heart filled with both hate and a touch of desolation and amusement. She had already given up hope; how could there be any talk of love?

Yet she just looked at him quietly, her lips curving into a smile, "Love, how could I not love."

She loved the money he gave.

She loved the car he gave.

She also loved the house he gave.

For someone who had suffered from a lack of money, anyone who could provide her with these material conditions was dearly loved by her.

So, even if the man before her wasn’t Qi Yunqian, it didn’t matter.

Whoever could provide her a better life, she would love.

Qi Yunqian failed to catch the deeper meaning in her words, just giving her a deep look. A hint of his annoyance dissipated at her statement as he slowly stood up, his tall figure enveloping her slender one.

He reached out to take the pre-marital agreement she had signed, their hands brushing slightly during the exchange.

The cold touch made Qi Yunqian instinctively grasp her entire hand, his handsome brows furrowing, "Why is it so cold? I’ll have Xiao Zhang prepare a heating pad for you; take it to keep warm."

Song Shiwei: "..."

Song Shiwei stared at him as if she had seen a ghost.

Was this man so fickle? One second he’s saying, I don’t like you, and the next he’s concerned about why your hands are so cold? Isn’t that schizophrenic?

Qi Yunqian did not notice her startled expression, only covered her hand with his for a while, glanced at his watch and realized it was getting late. He prepared to leave with the agreement in hand.

"This villa is newly renovated and has never been lived in before; you will live here from now on."

"Tomorrow morning at nine o’clock, go to the civil affairs office to register the marriage. I will have Xiao Zhang pick you up."

He had just finished speaking when his phone in his pocket buzzed.

Qi Yunqian took out his phone, glanced at it, then his expression shifted subtly, and he hastily left after saying, "Rest well, see you at nine tomorrow morning."

Clutching his phone, he hurried away.

After he left, Song Shiwei still sat on the sofa, looking down at the spot on her hand where he had just grasped her hand, lost in thought.

Her long fingers curled slightly, on that spot, seemingly still retaining the lingering warmth that made her yearn.

He actually cared about her, didn’t he?

Song Shiwei couldn’t help but think.

If he didn’t care about her, why would he suddenly hold her hand, ask why it was so cold, and even warm her hand, prepare a heating pad?

As soon as this thought emerged, Song Shiwei’s mind was filled with the words he had spoken earlier: I don’t like you.

Don’t hope for what isn’t yours.

Yes, hope.

To her, he was hope.

"Song Shiwei, you really are stupid." Song Shiwei bit her teeth, her slender fingers pulling out a disposable sanitizing hand wipe from the coffee table and viciously scrubbed the hand he had just held.

"He made himself so clear, and he made you so miserable, yet you still harbor hope, how foolish!"

"Wasn’t the suffering of these two years enough to wake you up completely?"

His hurried departure this time too was because of his old flame!

You have no place in his heart!

Stop dreaming!

Not until her hand turned red, tingling with a prickly pain, did Song Shiwei ease up on her strength.

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, her eyes deep as she calmed and detached her emotions.

She knew that his hasty departure was probably because Yi Yi was up to something again.

But it didn’t matter.

No matter what Yi Yi did, she could no longer be hurt by her.

She would no longer love like she did two years ago, nor show any mercy to Qi Yunqian.

She would not love him anymore.