After Teasing the Heroine and Running Away, I Was Forced into Love - Chapter 2

Shi Qing suffered from all the typical Female Lead tropes: a sick mother, a missing father, and a relentless struggle to pay off debts.

Sitting in He Roushuang’s luxury car, lamenting her escape from such a tragic fate, she realized she had, in fact, hit nearly every mark.

It was precisely this vulnerability that allowed He Shanjian, the Male Lead, to manipulate her. Even without love, she remained his substitute for years.

But in the end, driven by his pursuit of his white-rose first love, the Male Lead stripped Shi Qing of her status, wealth, and identity, all to prove to his first love that he never truly loved the substitute.

This delay caused Shi Qing’s mother to miss the critical window for treatment.

He Roushuang nearly exploded at this point. Holy crap, how are romance novel Male Leads getting more and more outrageous?!

Thank goodness I’m just a villainous supporting character. At least I’m better off than the protagonist, who gets her heart and lungs torn out and discarded like a toy in the name of love.

Shi Qing lifted her gaze. She was strikingly beautiful, with a bewitching allure. A faint pink mole graced the side of her nose.

For a moment, He Roushuang’s breath caught in her throat.

She knew the Female Lead was supposed to be beautiful, but she hadn’t imagined this beautiful. No wonder the Male Lead had tipped her 100,000 yuan at first sight.

“That listener tipped me because they liked my singing.”

“Miss, why are you giving me money?”

He Roushuang: …

Crap, crap! Oh my god!

He Roushuang had seemingly forgotten to come up with a plausible reason. After racking her brains, she could only think of one answer.

“Two hundred thousand a month. You don’t have to sing anymore. Just stay with me.”

Shi Qing blinked, her fingers curling slightly. If the man who had thrown money at her earlier had been trying to humiliate her, then weren’t these words from the woman before her equally humiliating?

Shi Qing simply offered a mocking smile.

“Miss, I think your immediate priority should be deleting those CEO romance novels from your phone.”

The more He Roushuang listened, the more she felt insulted. But it didn’t matter. As someone who had read the original plot, she might not have a system to assist her, but she could still predict some of the major plot points.

One of these was Shi Qing’s fatal weakness:

Her mother, lying in a hospital bed, desperately needing treatment.

Though He Roushuang had always considered exploiting someone’s vulnerabilities to be beneath her, she had no choice. To avoid the Original Owner’s fate—marrying an abusive man as a sacrificial pawn in a political marriage—He Roushuang had to resort to any means necessary.

Only by doing so could she escape the Original Owner’s destiny!

He Roushuang calculated the timing. In the original story, the Female Lead had patiently picked up every single bill, only to throw them all at the Male Lead on stage later, brimming with unyielding pride.

But soon, her mother’s critical illness notice and a mountain of hospital bills would force her to abandon her pursuit of the Male Lead.

This is my chance to swoop in and pick up the pieces.

When the Male Lead’s parents freeze his bank cards, how will he keep up his act?

Only I can provide the money he needs!

Hahaha…

After her mental triumph, He Roushuang realized she might be coming across as a desperate fool.

“Is that so?”

“But I don’t think I need it.”

Seeing Shi Qing refuse the black card, He Roushuang reluctantly tucked it back into her pocket and pulled out her business card.

“Take this. It has my contact information.”

“If you don’t believe me, you can ask around to confirm my identity.”

Shi Qing lowered her head, her thick, dark lashes trembling slightly. She seemed surprised that the woman before her was a high-ranking executive of a major corporation.

Her fingers clenched tightly, and she bit her lip, feeling utterly humiliated.

Just because I’m attractive?

Do these people think I’m just a toy to be summoned and discarded at will?

Shi Qing glanced at the phone number on the card before slapping it out of He Roushuang’s hand.

“Thank you, but I don’t need it.”

He stood up immediately, ignoring the scattered hundred-yuan bills on the floor, and left the bar.

The entire bar fell silent. No one knew who was the first to rush forward and start picking up the money, but in an instant, the place erupted like boiling tea.

He Shanjian rubbed his ear, which was red and swollen, resembling a lobster tail. But that didn’t mean he was deaf. He had heard everything He Roushuang and Shi Qing had said.

The man narrowed his eyes, a hint of mockery in their depths.

“Sis, I never thought after being single for so long, you’d actually go for this type.”

“You should have told me sooner! I would have let you have him. What’s the point of siblings fighting over something like this?”

“He’s just a toy, after all.”

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sound of the belt striking his back sent chills down his spine, the whistling air feeling like a car pushed to its absolute limit.

“Who told you to speak to your sister like that?!”

“Ah!”

“You’d just give her what she likes? Do you even realize the He Family is a respectable clan, engaged in legitimate business? Who authorized you to keep women in nightclubs?!”

“What will the media think? What will they write about our family’s scandals?!”

Father He’s face flushed crimson, his nose twisted in fury.

In the novel, though He Shanjian was Father He’s only son, the male lead was perpetually burdened with endless grievances and unspoken burdens.

Thus, the author had added a particularly absurd plot point:

He Roushuang was the daughter of Father He’s lifelong love, a woman he had only been engaged to before her untimely death.

The original protagonist’s biological mother had died in a car accident, making him a premature child raised single-handedly by his father.

Later, Father He found a woman who bore a striking resemblance to his deceased fiancée—this woman became He Shanjian’s mother.

Good grief! The author really went all out to make the plot work, even writing in that the tendency to find substitutes is hereditary.

He Roushuang sat nearby, reading the messages her assistant sent her—daily reports on the female lead’s schedule.

Shi Qing had been struggling financially lately and had taken on three part-time jobs.

Thank goodness this is a novel world. If someone tried that in real life, they’d probably die from exhaustion.

The sound of a whip striking flesh echoed in her ears, yet He Roushuang felt nothing but pure delight. Her personality and the original owner’s couldn’t be more different.

But one thing…

He Roushuang was absolutely certain of: her hatred for He Shanjian.

“Daddy, you should freeze his cards—all of them, preferably. Take back any houses in his name, and if you can, stop him from driving his cars.”

“Who would even look at him then?”

“He definitely wouldn’t go out philandering and suddenly bring you a grandson or granddaughter.”

He Roushuang took a moment to deliver a calculated, affected tirade against He Shanjian. What she was doing was almost identical to what the original owner would have done. Oh well…

Suppressing her male rivals was He Roushuang’s natural instinct, like a venomous snake striking its prey.

Father He nodded in agreement, convinced his precious daughter was right. He practically wanted to soak his belt in cold water and swing it with ferocious force.

Now, the venomous snake was about to slither out to hunt for its little white mouse.

He Roushuang precisely timed the seconds, silently counting down: three, two, one.

The phone rang precisely on time, displaying an unfamiliar number.

“It’s me,” Shi Qing’s voice carried a hint of nervousness, but mostly a reckless courage and daring.

“President He, about what you mentioned last time…”

“I agree.”

He Roushuang: !

Hahaha! The little female lead is now in my grasp.

The person currently smiling had no idea that what she had lured out wasn’t a little white mouse.

Shi Qing was a king cobra—a king cobra that specialized in devouring venomous snakes.