Chapter 1: Substitution
"Listen to me! I'll take responsibility..."
In the darkness, the man's voice sounded urgent because of the drugs controlling him.
Even though there was only a thin layer of clothing between them, Ye Chu could feel the heat spreading from him, burning her.
Her first instinct was to refuse, but when she thought about her sick mother, she gritted her teeth and took the initiative to kiss him...
After a long night, Ye Chu listened to the even breathing beside her ear.
She slowly sat up, her body aching.
Her gaze lingered on the man's handsome face for a moment before she quickly got dressed and left the presidential suite, feeling uncomfortable.
As soon as she stepped out of the room, Ye Shiyun, who had been waiting outside, grabbed her.
"Why did it take so long?!"
Ye Shiyun threw a bank card at Ye Chu and glared at her with disgust. "Take the money and get out of here! You must keep your mouth shut about this. Do you understand? Otherwise, I have ways to make your mother disappear from this world!"
"Okay."
Ye Chu gripped the bank card tightly, feeling a mix of emotions.
She was the illegitimate daughter of the Ye family.
Half a year ago, when her mother was diagnosed with severe kidney failure and urgently needed surgery, she had no choice but to turn to the Ye family for help.
But their so-called help was barely anything.
The hospital had already urged them to pay the medical bills multiple times.
At that moment, Ye Shiyun, the legitimate daughter of the Ye family, came to her and said that as long as she followed their arrangement, she would receive a large sum of money.
And so, she sold herself to a stranger.
As soon as Ye Chu left, Ye Shiyun rushed into the presidential suite.
The man lying in bed was incredibly powerful.
He was like a black king ruling the business world, no one dared to provoke him.
If he stomped his foot, the entire city would tremble.
Many women dreamed of climbing into his bed, yet today, that rare opportunity had been wasted on Ye Chu, a worthless slut!
The more Ye Shiyun thought about it, the angrier she became.
She didn’t want to sleep with Gu Muchen, but she wasn’t a virgin anymore.
She didn’t even know who she had given it to the first time, and she was afraid that Gu Muchen would find out.
If he did, what would happen to her?
So she had no choice but to find Ye Chu, who looked similar to her in both appearance and figure, to take her place.
But no matter what, the position of Mrs. Gu had to be hers!
As Ye Shiyun thought about this, she reached out to touch the man’s face. But before she could even touch him, Gu Muchen suddenly opened his eyes!
"Last night... was it you?"
Even though the warm morning light softened his pitch-black eyes, it couldn't hide the cold and dangerous aura within them.
Ye Shiyun didn't expect Gu Muchen to wake up so soon.
Her hand trembled, and she took a step back, confused.
She hadn't even had time to take off her clothes. How could Gu Muchen wake up so quickly?!
Flustered, she lowered her head, blushing, and nodded. "Mr. Gu, it was me."
Gu Muchen sat up, his sharp eyes scanning the woman in front of him. He vaguely remembered the sweet scent of the woman from last night, but the perfume on this woman was strong and unpleasant.
"I'll have someone send you back first."
"What? But... we were together last night..."
"Don't worry. I'll take care of it."
"O-okay... I'll listen to you."
With a shy expression, Ye Shiyun left the room.
Watching her leave, Gu Muchen rubbed his sore temples as fragments of last night’s memories flashed through his mind.
The soft and delicate figure in his arms, with a sweet and fragrant scent, had made the drugged Gu Muchen unable to resist.
Thinking about this, Gu Muchen threw off the covers and walked into the bathroom, feeling restless. He took a cold shower, and when he came out, he felt refreshed.
As he stepped out of the room, a group of reporters surrounded him, all holding cameras and flashing lights in his face.
However, after taking pictures for a while, they realized that only Gu Muchen had come out.
Wasn’t there a woman he had forced himself on last night, according to the rumors?
"Mr. Gu, it's been said that you got drunk last night and brought a girl into your room by force. Is this true?"
"Will you take responsibility for that girl?"
A persistent journalist asked, but before he could continue, a group of black-clad bodyguards grabbed him, pressed him against the wall, and deleted all the photos from their cameras.
With a gloomy face, Gu Muchen walked out of the hotel. Renyi quickly approached him and asked respectfully, "Young Master Gu, where are we going next?"
"To the Ye family."
---
As soon as Ye Chu left the hotel, she got a call from the hospital.
A nurse on the other end spoke in an urgent tone, saying that her mother had another outburst and was disturbing the other patients.
The nurse urged her to come quickly and handle the situation.
After hanging up, Ye Chu rushed to the hospital.
"Mom—"
As soon as she entered the ward, a metal water cup flew toward her.
Ye Chu didn’t have time to dodge, and the cup hit her, spilling hot water onto her arm.
The cup fell to the ground with a loud clang, and her skin instantly turned red from the burn.
The other patients and their families in the ward silently watched the scene, as if they were already used to it.
Ye Chu bent down to pick up the cup. Before she could speak, He Shuxin had already started questioning her.
"Where did you go last night?"
"I went to work..."
"Liar!"
He Shuxin glared at her. "Butler Yang called me and said you didn’t come home all night! What kind of job keeps you out all night?"
She was weak, and after shouting, she looked like she was about to collapse. She gasped for breath but still cursed in between.
"What sin did I commit to give birth to something so useless like you?!"
"We both gave birth to children for the Ye family, so why am I the only one suffering? If you were a boy, what does Yu Wanyue have to do with anything? Why have I been scolded, suppressed, and bullied by her for so many years?"
"Mom, don't be angry. I really, really went to make money..."
"Make money? By selling yourself? You didn’t come home all night—who knows where you went?! You just want me to die so I won’t drag you down, don’t you?!"
"I didn't..."
Ye Chu clenched the cup in her hands. Her fingers turned pale, and her whole body trembled. Her eyes burned, but she forced herself not to cry.
From childhood to now, her mother had never hugged her. Instead, she always called her a burden.
Even so, she still loved her mother. After all, she was her only family.
When she was old enough to understand, she learned the truth—she was an illegitimate daughter, someone the Ye family wouldn’t acknowledge.
Because she wasn’t a boy, the Ye family refused to accept her, and her mother had no choice but to raise her alone. Whenever she was upset, she would curse at her, saying she should have been strangled at birth.
Later, her mother developed severe kidney disease. That was when Ye Chu first went to the Ye family, bravely asking Ye Xingguo to save her mother.
She never expected him to agree. He arranged for the best hospital, the best doctors, and even paid the initial medical fees.
As the Ye family’s lady, Yu Wanyue hated He Shuxin, whom she called a lowly woman, and she hated Ye Chu, the illegitimate child, even more.
She wished they would both die. How could she willingly spend money to save them?
But in order to maintain her kind and generous image in front of Ye Xingguo, she agreed with a smile.
Of course, the money was considered a loan from the Ye family, and Ye Chu had to work as a servant for them until she repaid the debt.
However, after the Ye family covered the first medical bill, they stopped caring about He Shuxin.
Yu Wanyue made it clear—Ye Chu could only borrow more money after repaying the first debt.
After using the money she got from Ye Shiyun to pay for her mother’s medical fees, Ye Chu received a call from Butler Yang.
"Ye Chu, where the hell did you go?! Do you think you’re a young lady of the Ye family? Get back here and work! We have an important guest today. If you delay, don’t even think about eating!"