Yibo
I place my coffee cup on the counter when I hear the front door swing closed and walk toward the sounds in the hallway.
Xiao Zhan looks up in surprise and freezes. Her hair is wet and she’s dressed in the same clothes she was wearing yesterday. She clearly spent the night somewhere and it sure as hell wasn’t here, in my bed — where she was supposed to be.
“Where have you been?” I ask, my voice deceptively calm.
“Yibo.” She lifts her hand to her chest. “You’re up early.”
I stare her down, trying to keep her from realizing how angry I am. “I asked you a question.”
She frowns at me and tries to walk past me but I grab her wrist and pull her against me. “Where. Were. You?” I snap.
She grits her teeth and glares at me. “Do you have any right to ask me that after you went for dinner with my sister? Don’t be a hypocrite.”
I pull her closer until I’ve got her body flush against mine. “I do have that right, Xiao Zhan. I’m your husband.”
Her eyes flash and she smiles humorlessly. “You certainly don’t act like it,” she says, her voice filled with venom. “You went for dinner with Cheng Xiao a day after marrying me. Did you even come home last night or did you just get in? Did you fuck her Yibo?”
I clench my jaw as I turn us around, pushing her against the wall. “What did you just say?” I ask through gritted teeth. “Did I fuck her?”
Xiao Zhan looks up at me, her eyes flashing with anger… but there’s pain there too. I inhale shakily and drop my forehead to hers. “No,” I whisper. “I didn’t fuck her Zhan. Of course I didn’t. I promised you fidelity and I always keep my promises. Do you truly think so little of me?”
She slides her arms around my neck and inhales shakily. Fuck. She fits against me so perfectly. “I don’t know what to think Yibo,” she admits. “I never thought we’d find ourselves in this situation but now that we’re here, I’m not willing to stand aside and let you chase after your happiness.”
I nod and pull away a little to look at her. “I get it. You made sacrifices and I can acknowledge that much. Perhaps it was wrong of me to go for dinner with Cheng Xiao but I thought it would be best to get that conversation out of the way. I didn’t go see her because I missed her or wanted alone-time with her Zhan. I went to see her so I could put proper boundaries in place and end things with her.”
Her eyes widen. “You did?”
I reach for her and push a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Of course I did. Maybe she and I will find our way back together in a few years. Who knows? But in the meantime, she can’t be more than a friend to me. I won’t betray you. Cheng Xiao made her choice and she’ll have to live with it the same way as we do.”
She stares at me as though she can’t quite figure out if I’m lying to her or not but I suppose there isn’t much I can say to convince her. Only time can prove my sincerity.
“Where were you?” I ask again, my tone calmer now.
“Dilraba’s,” she says and I exhale in relief. Of course. I should’ve known that.
“Don’t stay away from home without notifying me and pick up when I call you. It isn’t just because we can’t spend much time apart but also because I was worried Zhan. I know you didn’t want to get married but you are now and it comes with some new responsibilities. One of them is keeping me informed of this kind of thing.”
“Home,” she repeats, her face scrunched up in disgust. “This isn’t my home,” she says, looking exhausted. “I’m not even sure it’s yours. It’s Cheng Xiao’s.”
I take a step back and look around. She’s right. Nearly every single thing in here was chosen by Cheng Xiao. I let her do whatever she wanted and I’ve never even truly loved my own home as a result. How did I never see that before?
“Xiao Zhan,” I tell her. “I meant what I said when you and I got married. It isn’t what either of us wanted but we’re married now. I’ll do right by you, starting with a formal announcement next month.”
“What?” she asks, her eyes widening. “I thought…”
“You thought we’d keep our marriage a secret? We can’t. Rumors about our wedding have already started to spread. We’re much better off confirming the gossip. I refuse to sneak around with my own damn wife. Besides, do you really think Grandma would let us get away with that? If we don’t break the news, she will. This way, we at least control the narrative.”
Xiao Zhan nods, her expression thoughtful. “What will you do in three years? How will you explain to the media that you’re divorcing your wife to marry her sister?”
“I’ll tell them the truth. I’ll prove that Hannah and I have been dating for years, but that you and I were forced to get married.”
She stares at me, but I’m not sure what she’s searching for. “I’d rather keep it a secret Yibo. I don’t want to be the jilted wife. I don’t want to be the villain in your story.”
I grit my teeth and take a step closer to her, placing my index finger underneath her chin. I tilt her face up toward mine and smile humorlessly. “I won’t be your dirty little secret, Mrs. Wang. You carry my name and you’ll do it with pride.”
Xiao Zhan blinks in confusion for a moment but then realization dawns. She looks at me as though she can see right through me, to the insecurity Cheng Xiao instilled in me by keeping our relationship quiet for so long. “I only suggested it because I think it’d be in your best interests Yibo. I won’t hide our marriage if you don’t want me to. I’m not her.”
I let go of her and look away, wishing I’d just have kept my cool. Why is it that I always had endless patience with Cheng Xiao, yet it’s different with Zhan?
“Don’t,” I snap, unsure who I’m mad at, myself or her. “Don’t hide our marriage. I’ll be making a formal announcement on my social media channels four weeks from now and I highly recommend that you do the same. Our PR team is working on our statements.”
She smiles at me and nods. “Sure. Just tell me when. I’ve got a cute photo from our wedding that I want to share.”
The relief I feel at her words is unreal. Our marriage might not be real but at least it’s out in the open. No sneaking around, no making excuses. It’s what I always wanted with Cheng Xiao.
Zhan walks past me and I follow her into our dressing room. I watch her as she pulls a dress off its hanger. It only took the staff a day to pack up all of Cheng Xiao’s stuff and replace it with Xiao Zhan’s, yet it’s hard to remove every trace of her. Everything here was designed by her, including the interior of this dressing room. I never thought I’d want that to change but I do. For at least the next three years, Xiao Zhan will be my wife. She told me she didn’t want to live in Cheng Xiao’s shadow and I need to ensure that she doesn’t.
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A Stand-in Bride
FanfictionXiao Zhan is his fiance younger sister.Wang Yibo is the man she always loved. When her sister doesn't show up on her wedding day, Xiao Zhan has no choice but to take her place - but marriage to Wang Yibo is nothing short of torture. The elusive bil...