A Stand-in Bride

Chapter 66

Zhan

I’m absentminded as I take a bite of the breakfast Xuan Lu made for me. I tried not to but I ended up scrolling through my social media feeds all night and I found nothing but hatred directed at me. Despite Yibo’s best attempts, screenshots of deleted content are making their rounds across all channels. We’ve made it into every single gossip magazine and they’re all scrambling to create timelines of Yibo and Cheng Xiao’s relationship.

It came to no surprise to me when the news reported on Cheng Xiao’s pregnancy, which only villainized me further. Now I’m not just the woman standing in between two childhood sweethearts, I’m also the evil stepmother-to-be.

Watching my love for Yibo being turned into a spectacle for everyone to witness is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Photos I can’t recall taking are being posted online, showcasing how we used to look at each other when Cheng Xiao and Yibo were still dating. The media have everyone convinced that I’ve been seducing him for years, trying to break up Cheng Xiao and him. Everything about this reeks of her. She’s always done this to me. Every single thing she’s ever done to me, she’s made me take the blame for, twisting our story until I’m the villain. This is what she’ll do to me for the rest of our lives.

What will it be like once the baby is born? Will she somehow manage to use her own child against me too? I have no idea how long it’ll take her to make Yibo turn his back on me but I suspect she eventually will.

I take a sip of my coffee, trying to take my mind off the videos of people destroying my designs, some of which were hand sown by me, all of them citing that they won’t support a two-faced home wrecker. Then there’s the death threats from Cheng Xiao’s fans and the loss of my own fanbase. I’ve had countless modeling contracts canceled without anyone so much as asking me for an explanation. She’s destroying me, step by step and it won’t stop until she gets what she wants.

Yuchen chuckles and glances at me. “Wang bought several gossip magazines. He banned them from reporting on you.”

My heart skips a beat at the thought of Yibo. I truly thought we could get through anything together but eventually, he’ll tire of this battle too. He can’t save me when it’s my own sister that’s executing my fall from grace.

Yuchen groans when the doorbell rings, his eyes finding Xuan Lu’s. “How much do you want to bet that we’re about to find more Wangs on our doorstep?”

She grins at him and shrugs. “I’d be disappointed if they didn’t show up. Xiao Zhan deserves to be part of a family that’ll love her the way her own won’t. Let’s see if the Wangs deserve her or not.”

Yuchen sighs and smiles at her indulgently. “Ten paper cranes,” he tells her. “That’s what you’ll owe me if you make me host more Wangs.”

Xuan Lu wraps her arm around me and nods. “I’ll give you fifteen.”

Dilraba rests her head against my shoulder, her expression as crestfallen as mine. For once, she hasn’t tried to give me hope, nor has she been lost in fairytales of her own making. She’s been as quiet as I have been, neither of us sure of what the future might bring. I know she’s been reading up on all the news about me too and it hurts her just as much as it hurts me.

Yuchen looks grim as he leads Haoxuan, Dylan and Jackson into the living room, Liu Yi following a few steps behind them. Yuchen shoots his wife a look and she grins back at him reassuringly.

Xuan Lu strokes my hair and smiles at me. “They were really worried about you. Each and every one of them called me, one by one. Since we’re in charge of the Wang family’s
security, it didn’t feel right to keep them in the dark. I didn’t tell Yibo where you are but I couldn’t hide it from them. Liu Yi called me, in tears, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her cry before.”