chapter 1

I ignored him, picked up a strawberry, bit it in half, and leaned back against the sofa to scroll through my phone.

Jiang Xing’s expression darkened.

“Could you not be so petty? Fei’er has a dance competition the day after tomorrow. If she’s sick, it’ll affect her performance.”

I took another bite and spat the leafy top onto his thigh.

Everyone exchanged uneasy looks. Wang Yu stepped forward to smooth things over.

“Yuze, don’t take it the wrong way. Don’t be mad. Jiang Xing is only worried about a friend. He—”

“Shh.” I put a finger to my lips.

The rest of them wisely shut up.

Ding.

The familiar mechanical voice sounded in my head.

“Critical plot point detected: conflict on the eve of the wedding. Female lead, please complete the scene promptly.”

Finally.

I spat the half-eaten strawberry onto the floor, rolled up my sleeves, and twisted my loose hair into a bun.

The moment Jiang Xing’s friends saw what I was doing, their faces changed. As if rehearsed, they grabbed one another and backed away.

Jiang Xing’s expression hardened. He shoved Zhao Fei’er out of harm’s way.

The next second, I lunged and cracked him across the face with the back of my hand.

He didn’t take it lying down. Both hands closed around my collar, and he drove his forehead straight at my face.

We went down fighting, rolled over the coffee table, and sent bottles, snacks, and fruit crashing across the floor.

“You miserable piece of crap! You dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night and had the nerve to call me. Why didn’t you just drink yourself to death on this mountain?”

“I did it on purpose! I wanted to piss off the old tigress!”

His friends watched us grapple for a few horrified seconds. Afraid we might actually kill each other, they forced themselves to intervene.

“Enough! Peace and harmony, people! Jiang Xing, be a man and let go first. Yuze, take a step back too—hey! Hey! Do not use that!”

Wang Yu clamped both hands around my wrist before I could smash a liquor bottle over Jiang Xing’s head.

After a great deal of desperate mediation, I threw Jiang Xing off and wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth.

He was panting too. He straightened the shirt I had torn to rags and glared at me through the one eye that wasn’t swelling shut.

“I’m done. Let’s go. We’re taking Fei’er to the hospital.”

“Tch.”

I turned and walked out. The others hurried after me, supporting a stunned, chalk-white Zhao Fei’er between them.

“It’s all right. You’ll get used to it,” Wang Yu whispered to her. “They’ve been beating each other up since high school. I’ve seen worse. Don’t worry—they only hit each other. Bystanders are safe.”