Chapter 1: Married to the Wrong Person

Lunar calendar, seventh day of the second month. An auspicious day for marriage, travel, and moving house.

Song Xi stepped out of the Civil Affairs Bureau, a small red booklet clutched in her hand, still in a daze.

“Building 1, Apartment 1008, Jiushu Community, Shantang Road. That’s my address.” The cool, pleasant voice of the man beside her drifted over. “The code is 000777. You may go there anytime you wish.”

“Oh…” Song Xi replied, sneaking a glance at the man, sizing him up from head to toe.

He was tall—at least six foot three by her estimate—with sharp, chiseled features, an air of aloof elegance about him. His suit was impeccably tailored, his demeanor proper and restrained, polite and almost ascetic. He seemed the very image of rectitude.

Nothing about him suggested the wild abandon of those three times in bed.

Who could have guessed?

Twelve hours ago, she’d been drunk outside a bar and mistook him for her blind date. Insisting that he was the one, she’d demanded to go with him. To her surprise, he had silently scooped her up and taken her away.

The good news: she’d finally slept with someone.

The bad news: it was the wrong person.

The crazy news: she’d just gotten a marriage certificate with the wrong man.

And what was his name again? Jing… something?

She couldn’t recall.

Song Xi flipped open the marriage certificate, hoping to see his name. Before she could get a good look, a long, slender hand reached over and took the little booklet from her.

“By the way, I forgot to mention—you’ll need to let me hold on to your marriage certificate for now. I need to take it back to the company for official filing.”

He had mentioned before they registered that his company was about to go public and his marital status needed to be disclosed.

In short, he was a wealthy man.

Song Xi, empty-handed and easygoing, simply nodded. “Alright.”

She watched as the man stacked both marriage certificates together, slid them into the inside pocket of his jacket, explained that he had to leave on a business trip, asked her to make herself at home, and then drove away.

A black Bentley, perfectly suiting his aura.

It was clear he’d had a good upbringing—polite, well-off, good-looking. An ideal husband, really.

Except his performance in bed was rather average—didn’t like to follow instructions.

Not that it mattered—she wasn’t too concerned about that anyway.

Bzzz—bzzz—

Her phone rang. It was her best friend, He Ning.

She answered, only to be greeted by a barrage of anxious questions.

“I told you to meet my second brother for a blind date yesterday—why didn’t you go? He said he waited at the bar all night with a mask on and didn’t see a single soul!”

“Where are you now? Why didn’t you answer your phone all night? If I can’t reach you, I’m calling the police!”

Listening to the string of angry accusations, Song Xi mumbled a weak defense, “I did go to the blind date…”

She had just mistaken the wrong man, that’s all.

How could she have known her date would show up wearing a mask? She hadn’t recognized him at all.

Outside the hotel, she’d seen this man whose features so closely resembled He Ning’s second brother, she’d assumed he was Zhang Hehang.

But it was too late to explain any of that now.

Song Xi quickly changed the subject. “Hey, I’m at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau on Qiao’an Road. Can you come pick me up?”

She’d been inexperienced last night. Judging by things, he wasn’t much better. Her legs still ached, and she didn’t feel like walking.

“Wait there,” He Ning replied, hanging up in a flurry.

Ten minutes later, Song Xi slid into her best friend’s luxurious supercar—a Cullinan.

“Ning Ning, did you get a new car?” Song Xi eyed the multi-million-dollar vehicle. She remembered He Ning always drove a little BMW Mini, refusing to upgrade for years.

“What new car? This is my big brother’s. He’s on a business trip today, not at home. I sneaked it out for a spin.” He Ning drove with sunglasses perched on her nose.

“Don’t touch anything in here, okay? He’s a neat freak—gets angry easily. He won’t even let anyone touch his car, except for his future wife.”

“Got it.” Song Xi nodded, sitting obediently in the plush seat.

The car’s interior was filled with the faint scent of cedar, lingering delicately at the tip of her nose.

That scent… felt strangely familiar.