Ficorpio
Chapter 1
My award-winning actress wife had been secretly married to me for three years, and she had suddenly gained the ability to read minds.
I had no idea.
To bring her and her first love back together, I was still doing my best to play the vicious male supporting character.
“On the surface, I refused to divorce her. ‘The two of you can forget about rekindling your old romance in this lifetime!’”
But inside, I was cursing: I’ve practically tortured your first love to death. Hurry up and sign the divorce papers already. I’m waiting to collect my ten-billion-yuan settlement after my role wraps so I can buy a yacht and retire.
I never expected my movie-star wife to go off script.
After she exposed our relationship to the media, I was sent straight to the trending charts that very night.
While we were filming, I had deliberately shoved Claire Sterling’s first love into the water.
Naturally, she was terribly worried about him. She hauled him up and rushed him to the hospital.
According to the plot of the novel, she would divorce me tonight.
Then she would coldly throw a ten-billion-yuan settlement in my face and order me to disappear from their lives forever.
With my exit from the story so close, I struggled to hold back my laughter.
The moment I pushed open the door to Claire’s office, I crossed my arms, tipped my chin up, and put on an arrogant expression calculated to get me killed.
“Has Adrian kicked the bucket yet?”
Claire looked up at me with clear impatience.
My heart leaped with joy.
Wow. She’s furious, isn’t she?
I’m being this vicious, so why hasn’t she thrown the divorce papers and that ten-billion-yuan black card in my face and told me to get lost?
“He only caught a chill. A little medicine and he’ll be fine.”
Claire’s bland reply irritated me.
Was this how a billionaire CEO acted when she wanted a divorce?
I kicked over and smashed her most cherished vase. Deliberately adding fuel to the fire, I said, “Adrian Hayes thinks he can steal my wife from me? What a delusional punk! I refuse to divorce you. The two of you can forget about rekindling your old romance in this lifetime!”
But inside, I was thinking: I’ve humiliated your first love this badly. Why aren’t you cursing me yet?
Come on! Take advantage of the moment and throw that filthy money in my face!
To my surprise, Claire showed no sign of anger.
Instead, she watched me with amused interest and smiled.
“Don’t worry, darling. I didn’t bring a black card, and I have no intention of divorcing you.”
Huh?
I turned to stone.
What does she mean? She isn’t getting a divorce? Am I still not vicious enough?
Chapter 2
That can’t be right. I’ve been acting exactly like the novel said. I’ve gone out of my way to cause trouble everywhere.
While I was still trying to figure out why the plot had gone off script, a warm embrace suddenly closed around me from behind.
Claire wrapped her arms around me and spoke in a soft, coaxing voice.
“Today is our third wedding anniversary. I’ll come home and have dinner with you tonight. Make sure you get everything ready.”
“Get everything ready? Like hell!”
I was nothing more than a disposable second male lead in a trashy billionaire romance novel. Adrian Hayes was the destined male lead—the man Claire Sterling was supposed to end up with.
Three years ago, I sneezed my way into this ridiculous book and became Claire’s vicious ex-husband.
My daily assignment was simple: torment the male lead, sabotage every step toward reconciliation, and make sure the hero and heroine suffered as much as possible on their road back to each other.
In exchange, I just had to survive until the story wrapped so I could collect my ten-billion-dollar divorce settlement and retire from the entertainment industry.
So every day, I performed my villainous role with absolute dedication.
At first, everything went according to plan.
He ran. She chased. Neither of them could escape.
Then, six months ago, Claire was involved in a car accident.
After that, everything became strange.
She tore up every photograph she had with her first love. When Adrian returned from abroad, she treated him with icy indifference.
I started wondering whether I had been playing the cruel supporting villain too badly. Maybe Adrian wasn’t pitiful enough. Maybe Claire couldn’t bring herself to take him back because I hadn’t tormented him convincingly.
So whenever the plot called for me to target Adrian, I went all out. No fake punches. No holding back. I made sure every scene looked painfully real.
The result?
Adrian was practically ruined.
And Claire still didn’t spare him so much as a glance.
I racked my brain day and night, but I couldn’t figure out where the story had gone wrong.
“Honey, you’ve been hiding in the bathroom for an hour. If you don’t come out soon, I’m coming in.”
Claire’s amused voice drifted in from the other side of the door.
Curled up inside the bathtub, I felt every hair on my body stand on end.
She was supposed to remain faithful to Adrian!
So what was the candlelit dinner for? The black stockings? The nurse costume?
What was she planning to do with all that at home?
Chapter 3
Sure, Claire had a figure that belonged on a magazine cover, and her face was exactly my type. But this was supposed to be a clean romance novel. We weren’t supposed to be getting into anything too physical!
“I’m counting to three. One, two…”
At exactly 2.97 seconds, I shakily opened the bathroom door.
Claire immediately pressed me against the white wall, one hand settling naturally on my shoulder.
Inside my head, I unleashed a torrent of profanity.
Claire frowned slightly and placed a finger over my lips.
“Quiet,” she murmured. “Don’t ruin the mood.”
I was just about to push her away when her phone rang.
She ignored it and reached for the buttons on my shirt instead.
Then I caught sight of the caller ID.
Adrian Hayes.
I instantly slipped back into character as the villainous husband. I shoved Claire away and demanded through clenched teeth, “Why is Adrian calling you this late?”
Thank God.
Thank you, Adrian, for saving my life!
On the other end of the line, Adrian Hayes coughed twice. His voice sounded so weak it might have scattered on the slightest breeze.
“Claire, I’m all alone in the hospital. It’s so lonely here. Could you come keep me company?”
“Tonight isn’t a good time.”
Claire’s cool response made me frown even though I was only listening.
Adrian had been pursuing her relentlessly since returning from abroad. How had he made absolutely no progress?
“Claire, I know you hate me and resent me. You blame me for leaving you because I chose to study overseas back then. But you’re the only person I can rely on here…”
Claire looked up at me.
Feeling guilty, I turned my head away and pretended I hadn’t heard a thing.
After all, giving the male and female leads some time alone together was part of my duty as a dedicated second male lead.
But Claire only smiled and rejected him outright.
“It’s so late. My husband would get jealous if I went out. If you’re really bored, I can send a few hospital aides over to keep you company.”
[As if I’d get jealous!]
[I hope you two make up soon and stay glued together forever. Just stop dragging me into this, okay? I don’t get overtime pay for working this hard.]
I cursed inwardly.
Then Claire suddenly rose onto her tiptoes and sank her teeth into my neck.
I couldn’t hold back a sharp inhale when pain shot through me.
Unfortunately, Adrian heard it.
“Claire?” he asked cautiously. “Are you with Ethan Bennett right now?”
Claire released me and fixed me with a warning look.
Impatiently, she replied, “Isn’t it perfectly normal for me to be with my husband? Mr. Hayes, calling a married woman in the middle of the night is incredibly rude. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“Claire, have you really forgotten me? Forgotten everything we had?” Adrian’s voice grew rough around the edges. “You once said I was the only person you would ever love…”