Marry the NPC with Money, Wife Comes Knocking - Chapter 131

Chapter 131

Torches flickered on the walls, casting dancing shadows over the murals. In the center of the hall, a long table was draped in velvet, crowded with candelabras. The scene felt as if one had stepped back in time into a medieval castle.

Stepping onto the soft carpet, Hua Suihe looked around but found no one else there.

She cautiously walked toward the long table covered in red velvet, where a storybook lay open.

A breeze drifted in through the high windows, making the candlelight sway. In the silence of the space, there was an inexplicable sense of eeriness.

The book lying neatly before her suddenly flipped open on its own. The first page, depicting a man and a woman embracing, caught Hua Suihe’s eye.

Small text accompanied the illustration: *Lano reached adulthood and fell in love with her childhood sweetheart.*

The image showed the real Lano’s appearance, which bore no resemblance to Ye Susheng.

Lano was born into the nobility, and her sweetheart was of equal social standing. Their mutual affection was considered a perfect match, but after her sweetheart’s family fell into ruin, Lano’s family forbade them from seeing each other, heartlessly severing their ties.

Lano met with her sweetheart in secret until she was betrothed to the son of a certain Duke. It was then that Lano and her sweetheart conceived the idea of eloping.

However, their plan was discovered. Lano was imprisoned at home until, a month later, her sweetheart died of a sudden illness. Only then was her confinement lifted. With the wedding imminent, Lano was unable to resist and was forced to marry into the Duke’s family.

Her husband did not love her. Upon learning of her past with her sweetheart, he kept her in soft confinement within this castle, never allowing her to leave for the rest of her life.

Lano lived in melancholy and passed away within a few years.

“Finished reading?”

Hua Suihe’s heart skipped a beat. She looked up toward the spiral staircase, where the flickering torches stretched and twisted a woman’s shadow. From a distance, that face looked exactly like the person in the book’s illustration.

Lano walked down the stairs step by step, her voice slow and measured. “Do you think I’m very pitiful?”

Hua Suihe stared at her silently without answering. As the woman drew closer, her face gradually began to overlap with Ye Susheng’s, but the emotions in her eyes made it clear she was not Ye Susheng.

“They trapped me in this castle, stripped me of my freedom, and forbade me from having emotions. They only saw me as a pawn for power, a puppet to be manipulated at will.”

“All I could do every day was tend to flowers and plants. Fortunately, God had mercy and let me die of illness…”

“But after my death, I wasn’t reunited with my lover. I remained trapped in this castle, endlessly.”

Even though she seemed consumed by hatred, her tone remained devoid of emotion, like an AI reciting lines. She came to a halt in front of Hua Suihe.

Hua Suihe instinctively took a step back, unable to help wondering if she had encountered a ghost. Even if the other party wore the face of Ye Zi’s wife, it was still terrifying.

“Hua Hua…”

“Hua Hua~” Lano suddenly laughed and grabbed Hua Suihe’s hands. No matter how hard Hua Suihe struggled, she couldn’t break free.

“Don’t move, Hua Hua.” Lano’s smile didn’t waver; Hua Suihe’s struggles were insignificant to her. “Hua Hua, I’ve finished my work. I can stay with you now.”

“Hua Hua, do you like it here?”

Hua Suihe immediately retorted, “I don’t like it.”

Lano’s smile stiffened slightly. “It’s okay, Hua Hua. You’ll like it once you’ve lived here a bit longer.”

Hua Suihe laughed out of sheer frustration and asked softly, “Lano was imprisoned here. Do you want to do the same to me?”

“Hua Hua!” Lano’s expression turned grim. For the first time, a sinister, twisted look appeared on Ye Susheng’s face. “Hua Hua, we are lovers. Isn’t it good for you to stay here with me? We can love and protect each other. Isn’t it good that there are only the two of us here?”

Hua Suihe didn’t respond to her words. Instead, she calmly gazed into those red eyes and asked tonelessly, “Are you Lano or Ye Susheng?”

“I am Ye Susheng, of course. Hua Hua, I’m your Ye Susheng. Don’t you recognize me?” There was a lot of resentment in Lano’s eyes. She had been locked away by the Thriller for over a month and hadn’t seen Hua Hua for a long time. Did that impostor fail to please Hua Hua? To think Hua Hua would ask such a question.

Lano pulled Hua Suihe’s hand and pressed it against her cheek. “Touch me, Hua Hua. I am Ye Susheng.”

Lano’s voice was frantic, yet laced with a hint of danger. “Hua Hua, don’t you love me? Didn’t you say you would always love me?”

Before Hua Suihe could respond, the candles on the long table suddenly blew out. The torches on the walls lost their flames as well, plunging the massive castle into total darkness.

Hua Suihe was met with pitch blackness, unable to see the person before her. She only felt the hands tightly gripping hers suddenly let go.

Hua Suihe took the opportunity to pull her hands back. In the darkness where she couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face, a cold body pulled her into an embrace.

“Hua Hua… Hua Hua, don’t be afraid. I’ve come for you…” The sobbing voice reached Hua Suihe’s ears. Familiar with the routine, Hua Suihe raised her hand and placed it on the back of the other’s neck.

“Don’t cry, Ye Zi. I’m not hurt.”

Hua Suihe closed her eyes and held her peacefully. At this moment, she had no desire to bring up Lano, choosing instead to quietly hold the little crybaby in her arms.

Ye Susheng didn’t wail. She immediately took Hua Hua out of the castle and back to the stage of the Opera House. The lights shone down, and they stood upon rotting roses, a strange scent wafting toward them.

Hua Suihe opened her eyes, feeling they had hugged long enough, and tried to let go. However, Ye Susheng only held her tighter.

“Hua Hua, she wasn’t me. She’s an impostor! Waaaaah…” Ye Susheng brought up Lano herself, crying from her own anger in a single sentence.