Chi Wan’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?” Huo Sihan gritted his teeth. “Who told you to wear something so damn provocative?” What? Provocative? “Huo Sihan, you’d better explain yourself!” Huo Sihan’s gaze dropped to her miniskirt. “That thing barely covers you. Are you that desperate for men to stare at your legs?” The skirt Chi Wan was wearing *was* a little short. Su Xiaofu had picked it out for her. Su Xiaofu’s exact words had been, “My dear Wan Wan just doesn’t usually show off her legs, and that Chi Jiao thinks she owns the world. Tonight, let’s show everyone who really has the best legs in Haicheng.” Chi Wan arched a delicate eyebrow. “So you *were* looking at my legs, Mr. Huo.” Huo Sihan froze. Leaning back against the wall, a picture of languid grace, Chi Wan slowly lifted her right leg. Her foot, clad in a crystal heel, brushed against his ankle. The fine black fabric of his trousers stretched over long, powerful legs, exuding an air of cold, aristocratic restraint. The pale tip of her foot traced a path up from his ankle, lingering suggestively on his calf. It was a seduction. And a challenge. Huo Sihan’s eyes were cold. “What do you think you’re doing?” A smile played on Chi Wan’s red lips. “Which do you prefer, Mr. Huo? My legs… or Chi Jiao’s?” Huo Sihan stared at her. The delicate widow’s peak on her forehead added an ethereal quality to her small, snow-white face. She looked like a fairy, yet here she was, brazenly trying to bewitch him, a captivating mix of purity and allure. He had caught a glimpse of the beauty hidden behind her black-framed glasses last night, but he never imagined she was this stunning. That face… he felt like he’d seen it before. A smile danced in Chi Wan’s clear eyes. “Mr. Huo, has Chi Jiao ever wrapped her legs around your waist?” Huo Sihan’s breath hitched. He leaned in, his handsome face impossibly close to hers. “Chi Wan, are you always this cheap? Daydreaming about men all day, ordering eight male escorts to satisfy yourself!” He hadn’t answered her question about him and Chi Jiao. That, perhaps, was the best protection a man could offer a woman. His romance with Chi Jiao had been a whirlwind affair, a love story from their beautiful, youthful years. Chi Jiao’s perfect legs must have wrapped around his waist countless times. How else could he be so unable to forget her? Chi Jiao was so lucky, to have made such a notoriously cold man so fiercely loyal. He would never have used a word like “cheap” to describe Chi Jiao. Though Chi Wan was still smiling, her bright, watery eyes were glacial. “That’s right. You’re no good in bed, Mr. Huo, you can’t satisfy me, so of course I have to find other men! Let’s get this divorce over with. If one man can’t perform, I’ll just replace him. The next one will be more obedient!” She had called him useless again! *The next one will be more obedient?* This woman was practically begging for trouble. Huo Sihan reached out, his fingers closing around her delicate chin. “Trying to provoke me? Is that how badly you want to find out if I can perform?” What? Chi Wan was taken aback. Huo Sihan’s lips hovered near hers, a suggestive, lingering promise, but his words were utterly devoid of warmth. “Don’t even dream of it. I will never touch you. The woman I love is Chi Jiao.” *The woman I love is Chi Jiao.* He didn’t even need to say it; she already knew. Chi Wan felt a dull sting in her heart, like a bee sting—not a sharp, overwhelming pain, but a dense, spreading ache. Just then, a sweet voice called out, “Sihan.” Chi Wan looked up. Chi Jiao had arrived. Chi Jiao was Haicheng’s rose, a classic beauty with red lips and pearly teeth. Years of dance training had given her a delicate, supple grace. Huo Sihan immediately let go of Chi Wan and strode to Chi Jiao’s side. He looked down at her, his handsome features softened by a tenderness Chi Wan had never seen before. “You’re here.” Chi Jiao nodded, then her eyes fell on Chi Wan. “And this is?” She didn’t recognize Chi Wan at first. But Chi Wan would never forget Chi Jiao. In truth, they weren’t sisters by blood. They shared neither the same mother nor the same father. Chi Haiping was not Chi Wan’s biological father, but her stepfather. Many years ago, Chi Wan had known a happy home. Her father, Chi Jianguo, and her mother, Li Lan, had shared a life of mutual respect. Her father had adored her, lifting her high into the air every day. “My Wan Wan must always be happy,” he would say. Then one day, her father was gone. His younger brother, Chi Haiping, moved in, bringing his own daughter, Chi Jiao, into her father’s house. And soon, Chi Wan’s mother became Chi Jiao’s mother, too. Her mother had married her uncle. Her mother loved Chi Jiao now. Not her. When Chi Jiao scored a 99 on a test and she scored 100, her mother would strike her hands with a ruler. “Can’t you let your sister have something for once? Why must you always score higher than her?” When Chi Jiao lost her hair to chemotherapy, crying about how ugly she’d become, her mother immediately shaved Chi Wan’s head too. “You’ll be ugly with your sister. That way, she won’t cry anymore.” Every night, her mother, Chi Jiao, and Chi Haiping would sleep in the same room, a happy family of three, their laughter echoing through the door. Chi Wan would stand outside, clutching the doll her father had bought her, a lonely little figure with tears streaming down her face. “Mama, Wan Wan’s scared.” Later, Chi Jiao finally started calling her mother “Mama.” Her mother was overjoyed. But then Chi Jiao said, “Mama can only have one daughter.” It was pouring rain that day. Her mother drove her out to the countryside and left her there. Little Chi Wan chased the car, running and running, her sobs lost in the storm. “Mama, don’t leave Wan Wan… I’ll be good, I’ll let my sister have everything… Mama, hold me, I’m scared…” Clutching her doll, she stumbled and fell hard into a muddy puddle, watching as the car carrying her mother vanished from sight. No, Chi Wan would never forget Chi Jiao. Just then, Gu Beichen hurried over. “Jiao Jiao, this is… your sister, Chi Wan!” Chi Jiao was stunned. “You’re Chi Wan?” Chi Wan knew Chi Jiao had always looked down on her. Even as children, Chi Wan was always the loser in her eyes. Chi Jiao had excelled at everything, eventually dating Huo Sihan, the heir to the Huo family fortune. A child raised on praise and adoration grows up to be proud and arrogant. Gu Beichen was once again struck by Chi Wan’s refined beauty. He whispered, “I never knew Chi Wan was so good-looking.” Chi Jiao’s childhood memories were hazy; she had never paid much attention to this unloved sister. But wasn’t this sister supposed to be the ugly duckling back from the countryside? Chi Jiao walked up to Chi Wan, her eyes sweeping over her with unconcealed arrogance. “Chi Wan, I can’t believe you’re even copying the way I dress now.” “…” Whatever makes you happy. Chi Wan straightened her slender back, a faint smile on her lips, and said nothing. The hallway lights cast a soft glow on her delicate face, making her look like a lustrous pearl. She was no longer that little girl from all those years ago. Chi Jiao continued, “Chi Wan, I hear you and Sihan are getting a divorce. Can’t you live without a man? Coming to a bar and hiring escorts is just pathetic. If I were you, I’d get a job.” With that, she turned to Huo Sihan, her tone dripping with condescension. “Sihan, Chi Wan did take care of you for a while. Even if she was just a maid, you should at least find her some work.” Huo Sihan’s gaze fell on Chi Wan’s face. Gu Beichen chimed in, “Jiao Jiao, you need a degree to get a job these days. What are Chi Wan’s qualifications?” A mischievous smile spread across Chi Jiao’s face, as if she’d remembered something amusing. She tilted her chin up high. “Chi Wan dropped out of school when she was sixteen.”