There are still five minutes until the hero escapes from marriage.

“I… I’m here to find someone. Yes, I’m here to find my boyfriend. He told me to come!” Su Mengyao forced herself to calm down. “Who are you, and why are you in my boyfriend’s room? Xianting, Xianting, where are you?”

The middle-aged man sneered, “You barged in here without permission and dare to question me? Don’t you know that checking into a hotel requires registration? How did you get the room card? Why are you here?”

She was stunned by his series of questions. She wanted to explain, but at that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the doorway—hotel security had arrived.

“Mr. Xu, we apologize for the fright,” the security captain said respectfully to the middle-aged man. “This woman appeared here out of nowhere. We will investigate thoroughly and ensure you receive a proper explanation.”

The middle-aged man waved his hand, appearing too upset to speak further. Su Mengyao, still in a daze, was escorted out by the security guards.

“Let go of me! Do you know who my boyfriend is? Let go…”

Her voice grew fainter until it was completely inaudible.

Meanwhile, in the bathroom of the presidential suite, Wen Zhao was holding Gu Xianting’s head under the water in the bathtub. Gu Xianting looked angrily at her, wanting to speak and respond to Su Mengyao, who was calling for him outside. 

However, each time he tried to open his mouth, she would push him back into the water.

The wound on his head had been roughly bandaged, but it was of no use; within a short time, blood had seeped through the gauze again.

“Feeling touched that your true love came looking for you?” Wen Zhao’s voice was flat, devoid of any discernible emotion.

His entire head was submerged in the water, and Wen Zhao’s voice reached his ears, somewhat distorted.

“Too bad she doesn’t know you’re just one door away from her.” She sneered again, pulling him out of the water.

He gasped for air almost greedily. Despite his disheveled state, it had to be said that this man was indeed very handsome. His current appearance gave off a sense of fragility that aroused a destructive desire in others.

“Wen Zhao… you will get your retribution!” If looks could kill, she would have been dismembered by his glare.

Unfortunately, no matter how fierce his gaze was, he posed no threat to her at this moment.

“You still believe in karma and retribution?” Her eyes were filled with mockery. “But maybe there is some truth to it.”

After all, her rebirth was his retribution!

In her previous life, her poor judgment had led her to a death by drowning with no remains left—her own retribution.

“Wen Zhao, what are you planning to do to Mengyao?” He was very uneasy. Just now, when Su Mengyao called his name outside, he had tried to make some noise to alert her, but Wen Zhao had pushed him back into the water. It wasn’t until she was dragged away by security that Wen Zhao let him out of the water.

It seemed brief, yet the duration was long enough to cause despair.

It was unclear if, in that moment, he resented her for coming to find him. The suffocating feeling of being unable to breathe underwater, with the terrifying sense of imminent drowning if he relaxed even slightly, left an inexplicable resentment lingering in his heart.

The moment he was pulled out of the water, the despair and fear made him subconsciously feel a little grateful to Wen Zhao for pulling him out of the edge of agony.

But as he realized what he was thinking, he became instantly wary. How could he think like this?

Wen Zhao was the one who caused him such distress, while Su Mengyao was here to rescue him. How could he feel resentment towards the one trying to save him, and how could he develop dependence on the one tormenting him?

Wen Zhao kept staring at him, watching his constantly changing expressions. Finally, a genuine smile appeared in her eyes. “You’re barely able to save yourself, and yet you’re worried about others?”

She reached out towards him, who instinctively recoiled. Unconcerned, her hand gently landed on his cheek, who tried to dodge, but her other hand firmly grasped the back of his head, leaving him with nowhere to hide.

“You know very well that asking me such questions at this moment will only make me angry, and make your Mengyao suffer even more. 

Why bother asking?” She asked with a light laugh. “I’m starting to suspect if you deliberately mentioned her to divert my attention.”

He stiffened, his eyes filled with defiance and misunderstood anger. “You, someone like you, will never understand what love truly is.”

“I don’t need to understand what love is. I only need to know what it entails,” she said softly, leaning closer to him. She lightly traced his lips with her fingertip. “These lips have kissed other women, but they’ve just been washed in the water, so they should be clean now, right?”

Gu Xianting’s heart skipped a beat, just about to resist when she suddenly bent down and fiercely bit his lips.

His eyes widened, pupils constricting. He struggled with all his might, splashing water everywhere in the bathtub. Just when he was about to break free, Wen Zhao’s body suddenly leaned forward, plunging him back into the water.

She tortured his lips almost savagely, causing his mind to swirl in confusion. The intense suffocation surged, and he felt like he was in the depths of despair, with the only thing to hold onto being the woman in front of him. 

At some point, the once intense struggle ceased. He could feel the pain in his chest due to lack of oxygen.

In the water, he looked at the face so close to him. Wen Zhao’s features were truly beautiful, her long eyelashes curled like wings. She was like a captivating water siren, constantly seducing those who fell into the water, devoutly offering their souls.

This beauty, he felt like he had seen it somewhere before.

But before he could dwell on it, she pulled back. As their lips parted, he instinctively leaned forward. When he realized what he had done, he froze like he’d been struck by lightning.

Wen Zhao’s mouth was filled with a metallic taste of blood. Seeing Gu Xianting’s lips mangled by her bite, she finally felt a bit better. She reached out, her slender fingers slowly wiping over her own lips.

He gasped for air, his lips throbbing in pain, and the wound on his head stinging.

“Not bad,” her hand lightly touched his lips. This time, he didn’t evade. He couldn’t tell if it was because he had lost the strength to evade or if he felt that whether he evaded or not, she would still succeed in the end.

Her hand trailed down from his lips, gliding gracefully over his chin, to his Adam’s apple, then slowly brushing over his collarbone. Under her touch, his body began to tremble uncontrollably, his breathing becoming heavier.

“Is it true what you said about you and Mengyao, that it’s not what I think?” She suddenly asked.

Although her question was vague, Gu Xianting understood the underlying meaning behind it. He felt embarrassed and turned his head away, refusing to answer.

“I’m asking you a question.” Her hand paused at his heart, feeling his rapid heartbeat, despite his apparent indifference. “It’s okay if you don’t answer, I don’t really care.”

In fact, Wen Zhao, who knew the truth of this world, was aware of every detail between him and Su Mengyao.

In the previous life, they did indeed consummate their relationship on the night they eloped.

That day, Gu Xianting was in agony, about to marry someone he didn’t love. Su Mengyao desperately tried to convince herself to give up, but ultimately failed. 

She appeared at the wedding scene, perhaps her courage infected him. In the end, he chose to elope with her.

Two tragic lovers broke through obstacles for each other and finally reached the peak of spiritual and physical union on that fateful elopement night.

Because of this feeling, they decided never to let go of each other’s hands. They were each other’s soulmates, and no one could separate them.

Fortunately, in the previous life, Wen Zhao only learned these details from the system’s plot when she was on the brink of death. Otherwise, she didn’t know if she would have killed them.

“Xu Nian,” she called out to someone outside the bathroom.

She released her hand from Gu Xianting’s heart, watching him visibly relax, and sneered, “What, worried I’ll force something on you?”

“I’m not,” he denied, frustrated.

“It’s natural to worry. After all, we are married,” her words carried deep meaning.

She stood up, draped a clean bathrobe over herself.

Outside, Mr. Xu, who had been dealing with Su Mengyao, walked in with a calm and composed expression. “Is there anything I can help with?”

“Help him get ready. We need to leave,” she said, tying the bathrobe’s belt and then walking out of the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, only Gu Xianting and Xu Nian remained.

Gu Xianting knew him, the CEO of the rising new energy company in Li City for the past two years. He just hadn’t expected him to be involved with Wen Zhao.

“Mr. Xu, you’re an old hand at this. You should know that what she is doing now is wrong, and she can’t continue down this path,” he said earnestly and seriously. “If you let me go now, I promise not to pursue this further.”

Gu Xianting actually wanted to say that if Xu Nian helped him now, in the future, when Gu’s Group and Xu collaborated, he would offer favorable conditions.

“Mr. Gu, you’d better worry about your little girlfriend first,” he said gently. He pulled him, who was drained, out of the bathtub and handed him a towel. “As long as your weakness is in someone else’s hands, you have no right to negotiate with others. As the head of the Gu family, you should understand this principle very well.”

Gu Xianting felt like he was choked, all the words he wanted to say stuck in his throat.

Because the recent events were too shocking, he momentarily forgot about Su Mengyao coming to find him and being taken away by security.

“Why? Why are you willing to help her? What benefits has she promised you?” He asked impatiently.

Xu Nian’s tone was indifferent. “There are no benefits promised. I simply dislike you, that’s all.”

Gu Xianting fell silent, repeatedly replaying in his mind where he might have offended this person.

“Hurry up. You’d better cooperate. If you don’t, I can’t guarantee what Miss Su might encounter,” Xu Nian reminded aloud.

Gu Xianting suppressed the urge to erupt in anger, feeling stifled, he dried himself with the towel and reluctantly put on the clothes handed to him.

At this moment, Su Mengyao, whom Xu Nian threatened to coerce Gu Xianting’s cooperation, sat expressionless in the police station.

She didn’t understand how things had come to this.

Just an hour ago, she had escaped from Wen Zhao’s basement with the help of the so-called “Save the Male Lead” system. Now, an hour later, she was locked up in the police station.

So what was the point of her arduous escape?

She had become a criminal suspect this time!

Why was she getting more and more miserable? Was she really the female lead?!