Chapter 12 — The Substitute Lover
The two people inside the room were tangled together, lips and tongues entwined, kissing with such burning intensity and devotion that it was as if they had forgotten what pain even meant.
Fu Xingyan had no idea what kissing actually felt like.
But he imagined it must be wonderful—because everywhere his eyes fell, he saw only the intoxicated expressions of pleasure on his brother and Shao Leyan’s faces, their movements growing more intimate. In his ears, the soft, breathless moans made his face flush hot.
Especially Shao Leyan’s tender whimpers slipping from her glistening lips—like some celestial melody. Each sound made a new bead of sweat slide down Fu Xingyan’s forehead, and the fire in his body flared even higher.
Through the narrow crack of the door, he stood rooted in place from beginning to end, unmoving.
Even after everything inside had finished, his legs felt as though they had taken root in the floor—so stiff that even shifting slightly sent pain shooting up.
As a high-level psychic-type ability user, Fu Xingyan could block physical pain to minimize the strain on his body.
But no matter how hard he pushed his powers to numb the ache, Shao Leyan’s delicate, enchanting image refused to leave his mind.
The redness lingering in his phoenix eyes hadn’t faded. Gritting his teeth against the heat surging in his lower abdomen, he tore his gaze away and turned to leave without looking back.
There were more urgent matters he needed to deal with.
Inside the office.
Shao Leyan lay limp across the solid wooden desk, her body covered in a sheen of sweat.
Her soaked white shirt had turned almost transparent, clinging to her porcelain skin and exposing every elegant, seductive curve of her figure.
Ten days ago, she would never have imagined that her first time would be with someone other than Xiao Yi.
But reality was what it was.
Le An had told her that reviving her was meant to free her from her tragic past—to help her embrace a new life.
And the first step to starting over was to use someone better to fill the wounds left by someone wrong.
After her first night sharing a bed with Fu Xingchen, she had hesitated for several days—struggling, wavering—then finally steeled herself and went through with it.
In that moment when they were most intimately connected, she had him release his lightning ability to the very limit.
That indescribable, overwhelming pleasure allowed her to forget the past temporarily—to abandon all worries and shame and focus only on the present.
Fu Xingchen pushed himself up from between her legs, wiped the moisture at the corner of his lips with the back of his hand, then leaned over her reclining form and pressed feather-light kisses on her hazy, half-lidded eyes.
“Yanyan, let’s make it public.”
Shao Leyan refused instantly, without even thinking.
“No. Don’t make it public. Let’s just keep things as they are.”
Fu Xingchen’s lips, which had been lingering at her neck, suddenly halted. Disbelief filled his voice.
“Why? We’ve already…”
Shao Leyan closed her eyes, unable to meet his gaze.
She didn’t want him to see the struggle and vulnerability hidden there—didn’t want the first man she’d ever been with to look down on her.
“Do as I say. We can stay lovers.”
Fu Xingchen stared at her quiet yet resolute avoidance, his expression growing darker.
Then he kissed her again—wildly, fiercely—his lips crashing against her cheeks and body with reckless intensity, as if he wanted to devour her whole.
The real reason she rejected him was humiliating… shameful even.
But in her heart, she knew: she still had feelings for Xiao Yi.
Thirty years of devotion and belief could not be erased by one night of overwhelming pleasure.
If Le An were here, she would definitely mock her again for being a naïve “dutiful wife heroine,” sneering at her stubborn upper-class romantic ideals.
Shao Leyan despised that part of herself too—the part that couldn’t let go yet couldn’t hold on.
But from her failed marriage, she had learned one truth:
Never promise yourself to someone new while you still have lingering feelings for someone else.
Because of Xiao Yi and Fu Yue, she had suffered more than enough.
She didn’t want Fu Xingchen to follow her same tragic path—to become a substitute lover accepted only out of reluctance.
The next day, trouble broke out in Central City. News reached the Underground City, and Fu Xingchen was summoned to assist.
He had no choice but to leave Shao Leyan for now.
Before he left, they clung to each other in bed—intertwined, inseparable.
Only when the final moment arrived did Fu Xingchen reluctantly pull himself from her warm, fragrant embrace. After dressing, he pressed a reverent kiss to her forehead.
“I’ll come back as soon as I can. Wait for me.”
Shao Leyan could endure a day or two without the stimulation of electricity. She lay idly on the bed, Fu Xingchen’s people guarding outside the door.
For once, she lived like a real heiress—clothes brought to her, meals delivered, pampered without effort.
But inside, she felt hollow—restless—desperate for something to fill the emptiness.
That was when a commotion sounded outside the door.
“That’s my brother’s room—why can’t I enter?!”
“Director! The City Lord said no one is allowed to disturb Miss Shao! Director, please don’t make this hard for us!”
The argument grew closer. Shao Leyan finally sat up and went to open the door.
“What are you all shouting about?”
Fu Xingyan and the assistant immediately fell silent, both turning toward her.
Fu Xingyan smiled brightly and pushed past the assistant, striding up to Shao Leyan.
His face, identical to Fu Xingchen’s, made her momentarily dazed.
But the shadowed look in his eyes and the bright yet stiff smile—those were things Fu Xingchen would never have.
“You’ve been stuck in the City Lord’s residence for days. Aren’t you bored? Want to come play at the research institute?”
Shao Leyan had heard a lot about the institute from Le An.
The researchers there dissected zombies—studying their rotting bodies and the source of abilities: zombie crystal cores.
They also conducted experiments on ability users, including a new enhancement serum—developed by Fu Xingyan—that temporarily boosted powers.
When she first arrived, Fu Xingyan’s strange looks had made her instinctively wary of the institute, but she was interested in their research.
Just one look shouldn’t be a problem… right?
She turned to the assistant. “Can I go?”
The assistant immediately objected. “Miss Shao, the City Lord instructed that while he’s away, you must rest properly.”
Fu Xingyan raised a brow, casually draped an arm around Shao Leyan’s shoulders, and pulled her toward the door.
“She’s been resting too long. She hasn’t even had the chance to explore the Underground City—what a shame! As long as the three of us don’t talk, big brother will never know.”
The assistant was no match for Fu Xingyan. He could only watch helplessly as Fu Xingyan led Shao Leyan away.
