[Huo Heng and Shen Zhiyi's Three-Year Anniversary]
[Huo Heng, Just Break Up Already]
[Shen Zhiyi's Weibo Overrun]
Returning to the hotel from the wrap-up party, Shen Zhiyi opened her phone and immediately saw a series of hot search entries about her. Without even clicking, she knew she had been viciously maligned again.
As the hottest A-list male actor of the day, Huo Heng had a massive fan base. Ever since her relationship with Huo Heng was exposed, she was constantly under attack by his overzealous female fans.
In the eyes of those fans, Shen Zhiyi, a barely fourth-tier actress, could only have snagged Huo Heng through scheming and manipulation. They alleged that her relationship with him was to cling to his popularity and resources, and this romance was not blessed by the general public.
What they didn't know, however, was that Huo Heng and Shen Zhiyi were only putting on a show. His true love was not her; Shen Zhiyi was merely a shield he thrust forward to bear all negative impacts to protect his real lover.
She was just a tool—
Three years earlier.
Shen Zhiyi was called to the Huasha Hotel by Huo Heng. She had just finished a night scene, exhausted, but she hoisted her spirits out of concern for Huo Heng. As the door opened, she anxiously asked, "What's happened? Why are there reporters all outside the hotel?"
The disheveled Huo Heng who opened the door bore ambiguous red scratch marks on his neck and shoulders. Shen Zhiyi froze, her gaze shifting past him to a blurry female figure in the room.
The woman lifted her head, revealing a delicate, beautiful face—not a stranger, but the popular girl group idol—Xu Xia.
"Zhiyi, I need your help."
Huo Heng spoke hastily, "Photos of me and Xiaxia were taken. Those reporters outside won't leave until they've blocked me, they know the woman with me is someone from the industry, but they haven't captured Xiaxia's face."
"Xiaxia is at a crucial point in her career; if news of our relationship breaks, it will greatly impact her. Zhiyi, can you help me? Let's just say the woman with me is you and pretend to be a couple for a while, okay?"
Shen Zhiyi was momentarily speechless. She had grown up with Huo Heng, loved him for so many years, and dreamed of being his lover. The idea of "pretend lovers" was like a dull knife to her heart—knowing hopelessness yet still tormenting herself.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say that suddenly admitting to a relationship would also greatly affect her career, but Huo Heng didn't give her a chance to speak.
"Zhiyi, I've helped you out so many times. When you were a child, about to be beaten to death by your father, I was the one who carried you to the clinic. Can't you help me with this small favor?"
Yes, he had helped her so many times.
Shen Zhiyi silently nodded her head.
Everything that followed was like a dream. Shen Zhiyi was pushed out to cope with the wolf-like paparazzi. The cameras came close, capturing her entire face clearly. She felt lost and panicked, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Subconsciously glancing back, she couldn't see Huo Heng's figure. She would later learn that Huo Heng had spent the whole night at Xu Xia's apartment. The two had argued fiercely and broke up on the spot.
For the next three years, Huo Heng and Xu Xia broke up and made up countless times. Whenever they wanted to meet up, they'd call Shen Zhiyi over so she could handle the paparazzi if they were tracked.
Shen Zhiyi always felt like a shadow living by Huo Heng's side—silent with no presence yet secretly hoping that one day Huo Heng would see her standing next to him.
Snapping out of her memories, Shen Zhiyi received a call from Huo Heng.
"Zhouwan Nanyuan, come over now."
Shen Zhiyi's heart sank, immediately realizing Huo Heng was going to meet Xu Xia again.
"It's too late, I—"
Huo Heng: "Zhiyi, I'm not in a good mood today. Don't make me repeat myself."
She always knew that Huo Heng had a bad temper, which was the only trait he retained from his childhood, and Shen Zhiyi would always choose to be accommodating.
"Alright, I'll be there right away."
Zhouwan Nanyuan is an upscale club that only serves members, and this evening there is a banquet being held. Those who attend are either celebrities above the second tier in the entertainment industry or rarely seen tycoons from the business world. Someone like Shen Zhiyi wouldn't normally have the qualifications to be invited; she was smuggled in by Huo Heng's agent.
"Huo Heng is tied up at the moment, you take his place and block some drinks for him."
In the dazzling center of the club, Huo Heng was chatting with a middle-aged man in a suit, looking humble, but Shen Zhiyi, who knew him well, could tell he was growing impatient—probably eager to meet with Xu Xia.
Shen Zhiyi approached him, "Huo Heng."
The wine-red slip dress accentuated her pale, delicate skin, her slender waist just a handful, and her lightly made-up face looked flawless under the lights, like polished jade, her eyes brimming with water, seemingly full of emotion.
Though introverted by nature, she possessed a face that was anything but understated, which turned radiant with the slightest makeup application.
Even Huo Heng was momentarily taken aback. He quickly recovered, introduced the middle-aged man beside him, passed the champagne glass in his hand to Shen Zhiyi, and with a few words, changed the subject and found an excuse to slip away swiftly.
Shen Zhiyi endured the man's somewhat offensive scrutiny beside her, thinking of Huo Heng meeting with Xu Xia at that moment, possibly getting back together, and felt an indescribable bitterness in her heart.
Just a short while ago, Huo Heng had told her that he wanted to start a new relationship and said perhaps the fated person was right in front of him. She thought she was finally going to get her wish.
Shen Zhiyi drank absentmindedly, finishing the whole glass of champagne without realizing it. She had a high tolerance for alcohol and didn't pay much attention to it at first, until her body started to abnormally heat up and her breathing became rapid.
Having been in the industry for a few years, she had encountered similar situations before, and Shen Zhiyi immediately realized that she had been drugged. She could never have imagined that someone would stoop to dirty tricks even at such a high-end event.
"Excuse me, I feel a bit unwell."
Shen Zhiyi hastily left the inner hall. The drug was potent, and she hadn't walked far before her legs became incredibly weak and her vision began to black out. She could only stumble into a nearby hotel room and pulled out her phone to call Huo Heng.
Answer quickly, please pick up—
"Hello?"
Shen Zhiyi clutched at it like a lifeline, "Huo Heng, there's something wrong with the champagne. I'm feeling terrible. Can you come and take me away?"
Unintentionally, she had turned on the speakerphone, and the voice from the other end was unusually clear in the empty room.
"...I can't leave at the moment," Huo Heng seemed to be speaking to someone else, his voice getting fainter and then louder, increasingly rushed, "Zhiyi, Xiaxia has a stomachache I'm taking her to the hospital, just get in touch with my agent..."
The call was cut off.
Limp and powerless, Shen Zhiyi couldn't even hold onto her phone properly, she gazed blankly into space, body burning hot while her heart turned ice cold.
She had grown up side by side with Huo Heng, depending on each other for survival and considering him the most important person in her life, but what about Huo Heng?
Shen Zhiyi had to admit to herself that she was truly dispensable to Huo Heng.
Her long-standing determination seemed to be nothing but a joke.
Tears fell silently, the unbearable heat tormenting her senses as she curled up into a small ball, groping for her phone in an attempt to find someone to rescue her, only to suddenly hear a faint sigh from the corner of the room.
"You cry so pitifully."
The voice was low and magnetic, frivolous in tone, a man's voice.