Xia Mo had a dream, a dream so real it surpassed reality.

She dreamt of falling in love with the older boy next door.

Eight years her senior, Sui Muhuan, who unfortunately, didn't reciprocate her feelings.

Later on, she evolved into the infamous wicked woman of legends.

Resorting to all sorts of means, driving away the woman he cherished.

The irony was, she had no clue who that woman in his heart was.

Regardless, she ended up suffering the fate of her company's bankruptcy, her grandfather's cruel death, and her own legs were broken by Sui Muhuan, confining her to an isolated villa in the suburbs.

She lost a kidney and the child she was seven months pregnant with also perished.

Did you think that was the extent of her dream?

No, this was just the beginning. The moment she discovered who the woman Sui Muhuan loved was, she jumped off a building.

She leapt down from the rooftop of the hospital, and coincidentally, landed right before Sui Muhuan.

The man showed no heartache, no sorrow, but carefully shielded Jiang Yunyao beside him.

He said, "Don't look, it's unlucky."

Then he turned, holding Jiang Yunyao, and left with a chilled expression.

In time, she became an Ah Piao.

She spent many years beside Si Muhuan, accompanying him through his marriage to Jiang Yuyao, witnessing the birth of their child, their endless quarrels, cold wars, and the way they turned their life into a chaotic mess.

No matter how outrageous Jiang Yuyao acted, Si Muhuan was always good to her.

Unlike when he was with her, he lost control and even turned her into a cripple.

Nevertheless, it didn't take long before many women emerged around Si Muhuan.

More or less, they all carried the shadow of Jiang Yuyao.

Often, he would gather those women together.

He would have them amuse themselves while he sat beside, quietly watching and occasionally making comments.

"Your eyes are very much like hers, or perhaps, I just love the way you look when you're angry, it's very similar to her."

Si Muhuan was always busy, to the extent that he would forget to eat and sleep.

In just seven years, the market value of the entire Si Corporation multiplied by tens, spreading its business all over the world.

Yet, most of the time, Si Muhuan was not happy and hardly took part in any entertainment. Even the matters between men and women seemed to be absent in his life.

Perhaps they existed, only she didn't see them, after all, she too was a busy Ah Piao.

Si Muhuan's greatest hobby was silence. Sometimes he could sit for an entire day, lost in his own thoughts.

In the eighth year since her suicide by jumping off a building, Jiang Yunyao finally showed her true colors, burning Si Muchan to death in their mansion.

She wasn't sure why, perhaps it proved too irksome to monitor their quarrels.

Each time they fought, she would drift away, and when she returned after ten or twenty days, the storm had always passed.

This time was different, however. By the time she drifted back, Si Muchan had already been laid to rest for many days.

Si Muchan was gone, and she, Jiang Yunyao, felt no sorrow.

Spending his money. Raising another man’s child. Living a life of luxury.

With all the strength she could muster, she drifted to Si Muchan's grave.

She spoke.

"See, Si Muchan, I told you. Jiang Yunyao is a fraud."

"A heartless, greedy to a fault woman."

"But you wouldn't believe it."

And then she woke up, on a starlit night filled with the chirping of cicadas.

Xia Mo glanced at the calendar on the wall, surveying her surroundings.

She swiftly turned on the bedside lamp, grabbed her phone to check the time, repeatedly reassuring herself that she was still alive.

It was just a dream.

The woman took a deep breath.

"Scared the hell out of me."

She muttered to herself.

Thankfully, it was just a dream. Thankfully, nothing happened.

Thankfully, she could still avoid everything.

Because she genuinely liked Si Muhuan. Just yesterday, she put on a dramatic spectacle of crying and making a fuss.

In a few days, it would be her 18th birthday. Grandfather Si wanted to announce her engagement to Si Muhuan on her birthday.

But grandfather refused.

He said that the Si family's customs were not good.

And the men of the Si family were inherently cold and unfeeling by nature.

When it came to relationships, none of them were ever faithful.

It's true, the Si family had many brothers, several sharing the same father but different mothers.

Aside from Si Muhuan's mother who was legally married, the rest were all born to women kept outside.

But she was blindly infatuated and wouldn't listen.

Remembering the tragic state of her grandfather driven to death by Si Muchan, she hastily got up and tiptoed to her grandfather's room.

Looking at the elderly man fast asleep on the bed, his quilt had fallen onto the ground.

The corners of her mouth involuntarily curled upwards.

"Who said I'm the restless sleeper? Look at you kicking off your quilt."

Xia Mo gently walked to her grandfather's bedside, picked up the quilt from the ground, and covered him properly.

Squatting beside her grandfather, she started counting his beard hairs attentively.

Hiss!

Oh yo……cough cough cough.

The old man suddenly opened his eyes, almost having a heart attack from the sudden sight of a big face.

Really, old age can't stand such frights.

After a long while, Grandfather Xia finally regained his senses.

He sighed helplessly.

"I'm getting older and I wish to accompany you for more years."

Hearing these words, Xia Mo, who was originally triumphant from her successful prank,

felt her nose tingle, and holding onto her grandfather, she started crying.

The loudness of her cries startled the housekeepers inside the villa.

Even Tuanzi was drawn over by her sobbing.

Tuanzi was a dog raised by Xia Mo. In her past life, Tuanzi died horrifically, dragged behind a car by Si Muhuan in his attempt to protect her.

Thinking of this made Xia Mo cry even harder.

Old Master Xia sighed helplessly, "Enough, don't cry anymore. I'll invite Mr Si over tomorrow. We'll discuss your marriage to Si Muhuan."

Hearing this, Xia Mo startled.

Her crying abruptly stopped.

In her dream, it was exactly her pestering and clinging that had convinced her grandfather to agree to the marriage alliance between the two families.

However, three years after their engagement,

Si Muhuan broke off his pledge, for his heart belonged to another.

The night he broke her legs in her dream was a rainy night.

His expression during a flash of lightning was sinister and terrifying. His pupils glowed crimson, making him look like a raging beast.

He stared at her vehemently, saying,

"Who do you think you are, who gave you the courage to hurt her, who gave you the nerve to marry me?

I gave you three years, hoping that you would see your mistakes and correct your path.

But, no, you manipulate your ways, forcing me to marry you, nearly killing her in the process.

You like running around, right? Today, I will break your legs, let's see how you harm her then."

Upon realizing this, Xia Mo felt a chill crawl up her spine.

Despite the scorching summer heat, she felt as though she'd been thrown into an icy cave.

The cold made her teeth chatter.

"Grandpa, I don't want to be engaged to Si Mu Han, I don't love him.

I was just... just making a bet with Ye Xiaobai."

As she said this, Xia Mo struggled to swallow saliva.

"If I succeed in getting engaged to Si Mu Han, she will lose a bag to me."

Xia Mo's voice, grew quieter, until it was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

Ye Xiaobai, the young lady of the Ye family, Xia Mo's best friend.

The two of them shared both hardships and good times.

During the time when she was trapped in her dreams by Si Mu Han, Ye Xiaobai almost exhausted all her connections.