Ficorpio
Chapter 1
When I woke up in the body of Su Manman, the vicious supporting character, I was already clutching a critical condition notice. My whole body hurt as if it had been pulled apart, and my mother’s crying was pounding in my ears. “Mr. Sterling is here!” my assistant cried. Adrian Sterling pushed through the door in a black suit, his features hard and cold. By the script, he should have been standing here to watch me die. I forced my cracked lips into a smile. “Adrian Sterling, the contract is void.” Something like shock split through his ice-cold eyes.
The beeping from the cardiac monitor dragged me back to full awareness. I had just transmigrated into Chloe Bennett, the vicious supporting character in a tragic novel who would not even survive three chapters. The critical condition notice was clenched in my mother Margaret Bennett’s hand, and her sobbing nearly shook the hospital ceiling loose. I coughed until it felt like my lungs were on fire, but my head was terrifyingly clear. The novel I had stayed up reading before I died had become my execution script. The original Chloe had chased Adrian through the rain and come down with a fever. Acute pneumonia turned into heart failure, and in this chapter she would die under his indifferent glance. “Chloe! You can’t have anything happen to you! Mr. Sterling is already on his way!” My mother rushed to the bedside, her makeup streaked and ruined. Claire Ellis, my assistant, quickly moistened my cracked lips with a cotton swab. The cool touch gave me a little relief. The instant the door opened, the cold air in Adrian Sterling’s wake swallowed every sound in the room. He stood in the doorway against the light, a black suit sharpening the lines of his tall frame. His features were carved in deep, clean angles, but his eyes were frozen over. The top CEO in the book. The same man who had been the original Chloe’s death sentence. By the plot, he would glance at me once, throw out a cold “The contract is void,” then turn around to go comfort the woman he was supposed to rush off and soothe. “Mr. Sterling!” my mother cried as if she had grabbed a lifeline. She lunged for his arm. “Adrian, Chloe did all this for you!” Adrian withdrew his arm without changing expression, barely furrowing his brow. His voice was calm and flat. “Mrs. Bennett, calm down. What did the doctor say?” “She just got through the danger period. She needs complete rest and can’t be刺激ed,” Claire said at once, then caught herself and continued in a steadier tone, “She needs absolute quiet and no stress.” His gaze fell on my pale face as though he were measuring a nuisance no one wanted. “Chloe Bennett.” His voice was low and magnetic, but there was no warmth in it at all. “Are you done?” Those three words were edged with ice, and the impatience behind them was impossible to miss. If I had still been the original Chloe, I would have been crying by now, scrambling up to cling to his leg and pour out my supposed devotion and grievances. My mother and Claire were both holding their breath, waiting for me to make a scene. I refused. I curved my mouth and spoke so softly it was almost a whisper, but every word landed clearly. “Adrian… let’s end this.” The room went dead silent. My mother’s crying caught in her throat. Claire stared at me with her mouth open. Even Adrian Sterling, who had been ice for years, finally let a trace of surprise flicker through those dark eyes. “What did you say?” He bent slightly, as if he had not heard me clearly. I gathered what strength I had left and repeated, word by word: “The contract is void. From now on, you go your way and I’ll go mine. We won’t interfere with each other.” The air seemed to freeze solid. Adrian studied me as if deciding whether my fever had burned away my sense, or whether this was some new trick to make him chase me. “Do you even know what you’re saying?” His voice had gone a shade colder. “I know.” I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to look at that face anymore, handsome enough to be infuriating. “I’m tired. I’ve thought it through. Isn’t it better to be alive?” “Mr. Sterling, Ms. Bennett just woke up. She’s still very weak…” Claire tried carefully to smooth things over. Adrian was silent for a few seconds, and that silence carried a pressure all its own. After a long moment, he said coldly, “As you wish.” He turned and left, his back straight and decisive, without the smallest hint of hesitation. “Adrian! How can you do this!” My mother started after him. “Mom.” I stopped her weakly. Her red-rimmed eyes snapped back to me as she rushed to the bedside. “My silly girl, you loved him more than your own life. You nearly threw your life away for him, and now you suddenly…” “I was stupid before.” I cut her off, my voice thin but steady. “Not anymore.” “I want to live.” Live well, and tear this damned script to pieces. My mother stared at me blankly for a moment. Then the tears came harder, but something in her face eased as well. “Good… as long as you live, that’s what matters!” I closed my eyes again. First step: escape the death flag. Success. From this day on, I would tear up the vicious supporting character’s script with my own hands.
Chapter 2
The days I spent recovering were long and boring. I did not mind the quiet. Adrian Sterling kept his word and never appeared again. At first my mother sighed over and over about it, but as she watched me get stronger and see color return to my face, she slowly relaxed. Claire came by often, usually with nutritional supplements and company documents. The Bennett family had money. My father, Richard Bennett, had built the family’s wealth in real estate before branching into fintech and squeezing his way into high society. That was also the capital the original Chloe had used to enter into a contract with Adrian. Richard spent most of his time out making money and basically left his daughter to grow up on her own, with nothing but checks and deposits for supervision. My mother, Margaret Bennett, was a textbook socialite who adored her daughter, and the original Chloe’s spoiled nature had been entirely her doing. “How are you feeling today, Chloe?” Claire asked as she set down a fruit basket and sat beside the bed. “Much better. I can even get out of bed and walk a few steps now.” I flipped through a financial magazine and asked casually, “How’s the company? Any word from my dad?” Claire looked at me in surprise. “Mr. Bennett is in Australia negotiating a project. Everything’s going well.” She hesitated, then added, “It’s just that the company is competing with Sterling Group for the Eastside development parcel. The pressure is pretty heavy.” The Eastside development parcel? A scene from the novel flashed through my mind immediately. In the book, Adrian used that land to develop a premium commercial district and secured Sterling Group’s position at the top of the market. The Bennett family, on the other hand, lost badly because the original Chloe kept clinging to him and enraged him, leading the company to make the wrong calls and go downhill from there. “Sterling Group’s proposal is high-end commercial space with eco-housing, right?” I asked as if I only meant to make conversation. Claire’s eyes widened. “Yes… how did you know? We’re still discussing it internally…” “Tell the project lead to change direction.” I set the magazine down and looked out the window. “The Eastside parcel is too close to the old industrial relocation zone. Making the whole pitch about ecology alone is walking into a trap.” “The psychological baggage there won’t disappear that easily for potential buyers.” “Instead, go with a future smart community.” I turned back, my gaze clear. “Whole-home automation, autonomous delivery, shared spaces, top-tier security.” “Tech, convenience, and safety are what new money actually pays for.” Claire’s eyes widened more and more as she looked at me like I had suddenly turned into someone from another planet. “Ms. Bennett… this…” “Just a suggestion.” I picked up the magazine again. “You handle it.” Then I added, “And find me a reliable nutritionist and a fitness trainer. I’ll need them when I get out of here.” I was going to rebuild this body completely, piece by piece, until it was no longer hollowed out by sleeplessness and love-induced stupidity. Claire left the room wearing a dazed expression.
Chapter 3
A month later, I was discharged from the hospital.
I didn’t go back to the Bennett family villa, that glittering but ice-cold place. I moved into the downtown penthouse apartment instead.
It was bought with the trust fund in my name, with wide open views and top-tier security.
My mother wanted to come with me, but I turned her down gently.
I needed a completely new environment, one with no interference.
The first step was my appearance.
The former Chloe’s closet had been stuffed with pink lace, sequins, and every kind of over-the-top, tacky thing imaginable.
I had Claire Ellis donate all of it, then bought a new wardrobe of clean cuts and quality fabrics.
Black, white, gray, oatmeal, muted blue. Simple, restrained, and elegant.
My waist-length waves were cut into a neat collarbone-length style, and the dyed shade was changed back to a natural dark brown-black.
Heavy makeup gave way to a fresh base and lipstick that brought my face to life.
The woman in the floor-length mirror still had the same eyes and brows, but all the gaudy excess was gone. In its place was a quiet, detached coolness.
A white button-down shirt and slim cigarette trousers outlined a frame that was slender but upright.
The shell of the vicious supporting character had finally been peeled away.
The second step was business. I had to protect the Bennett family’s money.
I started showing up at Bennett Group more and more often.
At first, the executives looked at me like I was a decorative mascot who had wandered into the wrong room.
Even Richard Bennett, during video conferences, wore an indulgent expression that practically said his daughter could do whatever she wanted if it made her happy.
That changed the day I pointed out three major trap clauses in an overseas project contract during a senior meeting and saved the company from losses in the hundreds of millions.
The conference room went dead silent.
Every executive in the room looked at me differently after that.
Richard was quiet on the screen for a long time before he finally said, “Go on.”
I didn’t try to take over everything. I only used what I knew from the original storyline, plus the blunt, practical instincts I’d built from being an overworked office drone in my previous life. I flagged risks when they mattered and offered a direction when the room was about to go wrong.
When the Eastside development parcel came up for bidding, Bennett Group didn’t try to go head-to-head with Sterling Group. Instead, we shifted early to warming up the idea of a smart community.