The Secretary's Rise: Mr. Substitute CEO, Don't Fall Too Hard

[Fake Replacement / Over-the-Top Drama / Everyone's Beloved One]

Everyone said Shen Nian had gone mad. The chief secretary of the prestigious Lu Group took care of its CEO, Lu Hanci, as if he were a helpless child.

His coffee was always served at his favorite temperature, his suits were always pressed without a single crease, and the moment he furrowed his brow, she would hand him stomach medicine.

Lu Hanci thought so too. Looking down at her, he said, "Shen Nian, since you love me so much, why don't I call off the engagement?"

Shen Nian said nothing. She only looked at him, her eyes filled with a grief that would not fade.

Was she looking at Lu Hanci, or through him at someone else?

Then, one day amid a torrential downpour, Lu Hanci ended a meeting early and came home to find Shen Nian curled up in a corner, clutching a framed photo.

The man in the picture wore the same shirt as him, but had a face exactly like his.

"Shen Nian, what do you take me for?" He gripped her chin, veins bulging at his temples.

But she smiled, tears falling onto the back of his hand. "President Lu, do you know? The day he died, he was wearing this same shirt."

Lu Hanci finally realized that the woman who had cared for him so devotedly was as calm as a bystander. She was only fulfilling another man's unfulfilled wishes.

Yet when he saw Shen Nian silently packing her things, it felt as if a piece of his heart had been cut out.

"Did you ever love me?" he asked quietly.

Shen Nian stopped and looked past him, toward some distant point in the void. "I did... I loved every stand-in for him."