Step by Step

Yanyue was relaxing on the bed when the door opened, and coming in was someone she dreaded seeing.

"Sister, you look pathetic right now," said Wanyue, closing the door behind her. No one was with her, so she didn't need to filter her personality and was gladly flaunting off how much she loathed her so-called sister on the patient bed.

Yanyue rolled her eyes and did not want to talk to Wanyue at all. The woman framed her on multiple occasions and almost succeeded in murdering her on that cruise ship.

"What are you doing here?" Yanyue uttered flatly.

Wanyue smiled smugly. She mocked and responded with no empathy, "I'm here to see when you will die."

Yanyue was unfazed and gave a superficial chuckle. "Too bad I'm not living up to your dreams."

The other woman's face distorted to an ugly disguise as she sneered angrily, "You will sooner or later!"

Yanyue did not reply to the aggressive remarks. She knew that Wanyue was not visiting her out of goodwill, so she didn't want to entertain the woman further. And the best way to do that was to ignore her.

Wanyue saw Yanyue's delay and laughed. "Why are you quiet now? Are you scared?"

"Of you?" Yanyue giggled as if she had heard something ridiculous, then she spit out assuredly, "You are not worthy of my fear."

"Are you sure about that?" Wanyue questioned in a provoking manner.

Yanyue sighed tiredly. "Don't waste my time. What are you truly here for?"

Wanyue sensed her sister's impatient tone and decided to reveal the purpose of her appearance. The fact was, if she didn't have to implement her plan, then she would never step inside this ward. When she heard that Yanyue was at the hospital, she sincerely hoped that the woman would die. That way, she could be with Beichen without facing people's ridicule.

Wanyue crossed her arms and responded rudely, "I want you to divorce Beichen."

A smirk appeared on Yanyue's face. She thought that Wanyue's direct request was not so bad. And she was going to tell her that she planned on divorcing the man. But, she paused on second thought. She felt like that would make it too easy for the two adulterers to unite. And before she fled the hellhole, she must torture the two most annoying people who had caused so much physical and emotional pain to her.

"Do you want me to divorce him?" asked Yanyue.

Wanyue bunched her eyebrows in displeasure. "You already know what I want: The position of a princess consort!"

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Yanyue raised one of her eyebrows as if she had just found out. "If you genuinely want to be Mrs. Lu, I could give the title to you. But, as a woman, it would taint my reputation if I asked for divorce first. What if people start speculating that I wanted a divorce because I cheated on my husband?"

A smile appeared on her lips.

"So, why don't we cooperate? I can help you become Mrs. Lu, but you have to promise that my reputation remains clean. After all, I'm still young, so after I divorce Beichen, I will want to find another man."

Wanyue was dumbstruck because she could not believe the word coming out of Yanyue's mouth. If the woman concealed her face, then she would suspect that it was another person speaking.

"You have loved Beichen for more than fifteen years, and now that you've managed to marry him, do you think that I believe you can let him go easily? I'm not a fool!" Wanyue spouted out in doubt.

Yanyue sighed dejectedly.

"That's exactly why I don't want to be with him anymore. I know that he doesn't love me, so why should I stay with him any longer? It will make me more miserable."

Yanyue's eyes were about to spill tears.

It was the first time Wanyue had seen her sister look so defeated. And she was satisfied, saying the least. "Then, how do you want me to help you and Beichen divorce?" she asked.

The woman on the bed secretly grinned in her head. "That's easy, sister. All you have to do is give birth to his baby for real this time. I assume he doesn't know that your last baby wasn't his, so if he knows that you are pregnant with his baby again, then he will have reasons to divorce me. And I will have reasons to convince the King and grandma. Once was not enough, but twice should hit the jackpot," Yanyue suggested convincingly.

Wanyue dropped her crossed arms and made a fist with her free hands. She looked disappointed. "Do you think that I haven't thought of that?" she asked in frustration.

"Then, why aren't you pregnant yet?"

"He was too busy recently, and so he would reject me every time!" Wanyue lied. The truth was that Beichen had never slept with her before and she had to lie to him whenever he woke up drunk on her bed. But, she couldn't reveal this secret in front of her love rival. She would become a joke if people found out that her lover kept rejecting her.

Yanyue's eyebrows perked upon hearing Wanyue's claims. It wasn't that Beichen was too occupied with the Lu Group or with state affairs because she, herself, wouldn't have been so busy serving him most nights. And as possessive as the man was, his schedule should not be reason enough for him to avoid making love with his beloved woman. So, Yanyue pondered hard and concluded that perhaps he was getting bored because those two had been dating for so long. It wasn't wrong to assume that he needed a new stimulation. Thinking about this, Yanyue could not help but frown a little. It wasn't great imagining one's husband on another woman's bed, no matter how much hatred existed between them.

She hardened her heart and tossed away the discomfort, reminding herself that he was the person who "killed" her brother and also made her lose their baby.

"I think if you want to catch his attention, then you must change the way you guys make love. Explore some new and exciting content. Have you heard of role-playing? Beichen gets bored easily, so you need to tempt him with something new. You will be successful in raising his interest that way," Yanyue suggested, seeming thoughtful.

Wanyue pouted. That wouldn't solve the fact that he could not get up for her. Her voice stalled, "Then...what if that doesn't catch his attention?"

Yanyue chuckled. "Are you worried, Mrs. Mistress? Do you know why you are a mistress? It's because men always get excited when they cheat on their wives with their mistresses. But, if you doubt yourself, then there is a way."

"What is that?" Wanyue asked hurriedly.

"Let me tell you a secret: he was only up when I gave him drugs at the hotel," Yanyue lied. "You need to put drugs into his drinks or food. I can give you the one I used last time. It is very effective, and he would jump on you without you even trying anything!"

Wanyue tested drugs on Beichen, but those all failed. Either he didn't take it, or they weren't strong enough for his physique. And when it worked, he just knocked right out and slept for the whole night. So, hearing Yanyue revealing her own successful experience, she couldn't wait to try it on the man again. This time, she must bear his child at all costs.

"If you lie to me, then you will see!" Wanyue warned as the drug seemed too good to be true.

Yanyue did not fret, and she smirked sheepishly in her head. "I want to divorce him too, so why would I lie to you? After I get out of the hospital, I will give the drug to you. You must keep this a secret between us."

"Ok, don't forget your words."

"Of course, I won't."

Then, Wanyue left with an attitude, not bothering to bid farewell.

Yanyue lay on her bed, staring at the disappearing back. As soon as the shadow was no longer visible, a suggestive curve appeared on her lips.

Beichen hates people who schemed on him the most. Just wait, I will make him despise you and come to me, Yanyue thought victoriously.

In fact, after regaining her memories, she just wanted to stay far away from him. But, she felt that her revenge would not be satisfying. The farther she stood from him, then the less of a chance her revenge would make an impact on him. She wanted to destroy the two of them, Beichen and Wanyue, until they could do nothing but wallow in regrets. So, the best approach was to make them turn their backs on each other and get Beichen to come to her side. After that, she would divorce and dump him.

I will make you both pay, step by step. Yanyue's thoughts became loud and clear in her mind.

She hadn't even gotten rest afterward, but the door opened again. She thought that the nurse came and sat on the bed, prepared to let the nurse measure her vitals. But, her eyes secretly rolled in annoyance at the sight of the person entering.

Yanyue snickered to herself, "These two people truly deserve to be soulmates! Show up right after one another!"

She didn't want to see the man and quickly pretended to sleep. Luckily, Beichen wasn't looking at her yet, so he didn't catch her in the act.

He closed the door and turned around towards the bed. He was quiet, but his brows knitted when he saw that Yanyue was sleeping. He took a couple of steps forward and observed her. For some reason, he was relieved that her face looked more colorful compared to a week ago. At that time, her face was pale as a ghost, and her breaths were irregular, unlike now, steady and distinct.

His eyes roamed down from her curly, long lashes to her lips. It was a little chapped, but the natural pink hue was still there. His throat bobbed, and he suddenly wondered what it would be like to kiss those chapped lips. It was unfortunate that she was still sick. So, in the end, he refrained from acting on impulse.

The texture would be interesting, he submitted silently.

His thoughts fluttered away when his phone vibrated in his pockets. He quickly pulled the device out and checked the caller. His lips curved upward, seeing the familiar name on it.

"Beichen, I miss you!"

Yanyue was only feigning sleep so she could hear the loud voice from the phone's speaker. Her heart rippled in disgust at Wanyue's kittenish and pretentious tone. Just a while ago, she spoke with immense demand and repugnance.

"I miss you too," Beichen paused, "I'll take you to dinner. Be good."

His voice was ever so delicate that one would think that he was coaxing a small child. Of course, it wasn't wrong to say that, perhaps, he saw Wanyue as somewhat like a kitten whom he could spoil wholeheartedly. 

It would also be a deception to say that the woman on the bed wasn't affected by hearing his sweet words to Wanyue. When they were in love, she also, wholeheartedly like a naive girl, accepted his suave declaration of love, told by him through heartwarming and honeyed words. But everything was her illusion because when he said those words, he had said them with an impure purpose. And she was too blind and naive to see through his seemingly innocent eyes. Now, it was too late to rewind the time, and there was no regret medicine for her to drown in.

"Ok, you must come tonight!" Wanyue asserted excitedly.

Beichen responded with a hum, and then he disconnected the call. He glanced at Yanyue one more time and decided to leave. He had already seen that her complexion was much better, therefore believed that she was indeed recovering well as the doctor reported. Since she was getting along well, he must now see Wanyue.

He was away from her for almost two weeks, but she had not complained one bit. Perhaps, this was why he loved her. She was understanding of his job and private life and never did anything to make him lose his temper. If anything, she was the perfect wife for him, different from Yanyue, who would always complain to his grandma. He often got calls from his grandma, yelling and lecturing him to stay with his wife. Of course, the more he was forced, the more resistant he became. That was why he barely lived at the Eastern Palace.

If he needed Yanyue's service, he would call her to the Bayside Garden for convenience. It was his residence with his people, so his grandma or anyone else could not spy on him there, unlike at the Eastern Palace, where his grandma thought she had smartly replaced the servants with her people. He knew that she did that to spy on him, and it was because of one woman: Shen Yanyue.