On the first day Xu Tang was taken back by her wealthy birth family, she made a bet with the fake heiress, Xu Qingqing: if Xu Qingqing took nine things from her, she would leave.
The first eight times, Xu Qingqing took her school uniform, desk, and friends. Xu Tang thought she was just being difficult. But on the ninth, Xu Qingqing offered two million for Xu Tang's "poor boyfriend," Fu Mingli, to marry into her family. In front of everyone, Fu Mingli declared, "I'm marrying into Xu Tang's family."
Furious, Xu Qingqing agreed to marry into the Lu family to bring good fortune. But Xu Tang overheard a servant addressing Fu Mingli as "Master Fu," then heard him say coldly, "If I didn't pressure Qingqing, how would she let you go?"
The truth exploded into the open: Xu Qingqing took her school uniform because she feared Xu Tang would be humiliated at a banquet, took her desk to hide photos from the orphanage, and took her boyfriend to make Xu Tang lose faith in love so she could escape. Fu Mingli's "poverty" and "devotion" were nothing but a disguise for playing along to protect her. The person he truly wanted to protect was the fake heiress who was willing to marry into the Lu family herself to give Xu Tang her freedom.
With the System panel for conquering Fu Mingli in her grasp, Xu Tang went to her brother. "I'll take Xu Qingqing's place and marry into the Lu family to bring good fortune." She wanted the two ancestral courtyard houses worth 1.6 billion, and demanded that everyone keep it secret. She wanted to quietly transfer the deeds to Xu Qingqing as a thank-you for protecting her.
But this "protection" was already tangled in secrets: Fu Mingli was someone the Lu family feared, Xu Qingqing was hiding the truth about Xu Tang being abandoned, and the System could even see the tenderness hidden beneath "malice"...
As the bridal sedan arrived at her door, Xu Tang touched the ring Fu Mingli had given her, engraved with the character "Protect," and finally understood: this contest had never been about fighting over status or love. It was about people trapped in wealthy families trying, in their clumsy way, to leave each other a way out.
Would she turn and walk away, or take the hands of those who had "hurt" her and smash this cage to pieces?
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