Substitute Girlfriend Contract (GL) - Chapter 20

Early September—another new school year.
Lu Mengxiao’s little cousin had just moved to S City for high school. Too busy to look after the girl herself, Lu simply dumped the “little tag-along” into Tao Anyu’s care.

Tao escorted the cousin to school with a maid in tow. Once the cousin was in class listening to the teacher’s instructions, Tao led the maid to the dorm room to make her bed.

“Put on this set—it’s custom-made for the young miss,” Tao instructed.

“Yes, Secretary Tao always thinks of everything.”

Tao Anyu gave a faint smile and stepped out of the room. The two maids followed behind, their arms full of bedding and other daily necessities.

Not long after, one of the maids glanced down the hall and froze—coming toward them in polished Martin boots was the Second Young Miss, wearing that same arrogant, unruly smirk she was infamous for.

The maids instinctively went out into the small dorm room.

At this hour, all the freshmen were still in their classrooms. Only Tao and her group had come early to prepare the room. The corridor was empty, and the sound of someone’s heels striking the floor echoed crisply in the quiet.

Tao stepped forward, bowed slightly, and smiled. “Your Majesty.”

“My beloved consort,” Lu Mengxiao replied, rocking back on one heel, her back slightly hunched and body leaning forward as if sizing up the woman before her. The oversized sunglasses hid her eyes, making her expression unreadable. “Busy, are we?”

Lu Mengxiao, I swear, this little game of yours—Her Ladyship is sick of it already!

Tao remained unruffled, smiling with practiced grace. “Work is never tiring, but since Your Majesty is not at the office, what brings you here?”

Lu let out a whistle. “Supervising my consort is part of my duties.”

“Oh? Is that so? This humble concubine is terribly ignorant, then.”

Without another word, Lu grabbed Tao by the arm and pulled her toward the stairwell, turning her to face her directly with that strange smile again.

Tao gave a soft hum, the corner of her lips curling in faint disdain. Her eyes lowered, gaze tinged with mock sweetness, as she wrapped an arm around the back of Lu’s neck. “And what exactly does Your Majesty wish to supervise?”

“To supervise—” Lu’s brow arched mischievously. She glanced up the stairs, then deftly slid Tao’s slender fingers away from her sunglasses. In the next instant, she swooped down, capturing Tao’s lips in a searing kiss, tongue prying past her teeth to claim her mouth with hot, domineering insistence.

One arm clamped around Tao’s waist, she spun them around so that when she finally pulled back, Tao’s flushed face was perfectly framed for the woman descending the stairs to see.

Breathless and dazed, Tao’s hands clutched Lu’s shoulders. Her eyes fluttered open—and froze. In the next second, disbelief and desolate hopelessness filled her gaze. She shoved the other woman away with all her strength.

Backing up two steps, Tao clapped a hand over her mouth, staring at the figure on the stairs. “Zhuo…” she murmured.

The woman on the stairs adjusted her glasses; a look of surprise was flickering in her eyes. “You’re—”

Tao forced an awkward smile. “Hello, miss. Is there something wrong?”
Ha. Tao Anyu—who erased her existence from the world, who bore years of humiliation under a new name just to survive—had never imagined this day would come.

She’d decided to start over, without revenge in mind. She’d never expected to see her again.

She would cut all ties with Zhuo Shaqi. In the past Ai Yunjing was dead—long dead. She was Tao Anyu now, with nothing to do with Zhuo Shaqi.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I must’ve mistaken you for someone else,” Long Shahua replied, still wearing that polite, agreeable smile. After all, that person was dead. How could she possibly show up in S City…?

“Consort Tao—” came Lu’s mocking sing-song from behind, “aren’t you forgetting some unfinished work?”

Tao froze mid-step. Rage bubbled over. She whipped around and glared. “You bastard!”

“Bastards live long,” Lu grinned, shrugging. “Up to ten thousand years.”

Tao shot her another glare, then turned back to Zhuo with an apologetic smile. “Sorry you had to witness that.”

The air between them grew thick with awkwardness and unspoken weight. Tao’s heart ached as she looked at Zhuo, eyes soft with memories. Zhuo only returned a polite smile, her gaze drifting past Tao Anyu to where Lu Mengxiao blocked the stairs—clearly hoping she’d move aside.

Thunk—thunk—thunk—

Each step of those Martin boots on the stairs grated in Tao’s ears. She clenched her jaw, hating the smug, untamed beauty walking toward them… yet, maddeningly, unable to truly hate her.

In the midst of that turmoil, Lu suddenly lifted her sunglasses and perched them on Zhuo Shaqi’s face, leaning in to blow a playful breath against her ear.

That single gesture made Tao’s heart nearly stop—You dare make a move on another woman right in front of me?! And my scummy ex at that?!

Without thinking, Tao snapped, “You beast—”

“Pretty, isn’t she?” Lu interrupted smoothly, addressing Zhuo. She slung an arm around Tao and announced, “Tao Anyu—my woman.”

The three of them froze.

After a long moment, Tao yanked Lu aside, jabbing a finger at her nose. “Lu Mengxiao, you’re insane!”

Lu looked utterly unbothered. “What, can’t I show off my wife?”

“Oh sure—why don’t you run up to random people and say, ‘Hey, look, we’re lesbians!’” Tao was fuming. “Did a bear kick you in the head?”

Lu glanced toward the stairs—Zhuo had already left.

“Ai Yunjing, did you think I wouldn’t find out?” Lu’s words dropped like a thunderclap.

Tao Anyu went completely blank.

Lu’s eyes darkened, her smile taking on a strange edge. “If that useless Lu Mengze could dig up your past, you think I couldn’t?”

Tao stared at her in bewilderment.

Lu tilted her chin upward. “What are the odds of three people in the world having the same face? Looking like Pei Yuhai was already a freak accident of nature. Now another one shows up identical to you—don’t you think I’d be curious?”

Tao lowered her gaze, silent.

“Faking your death—impressive,” Lu said, giving her shoulder a firm pat. “That kind of creativity, I respect it. Takes guts.”

Tao’s head snapped up, teeth clamped hard on her lower lip.

“Heh.” Lu’s laugh was cold. She jerked her chin toward the stairwell. “That woman—someone you used to like, right?”

“Lu Mengxiao, don’t push it.” Tao’s voice trembled with anger. It was like she’d had a scab ripped off, leaving her wound raw and bleeding.

Lu only replied, “You’ll see soon enough whether I’m pushing it. But let me tell you this—since you’re mine, no woman of mine, past or present, is allowed to suffer even the slightest grievance.”