C1 Chapter 1
"Get out, who let you in?"
Chen Dong's ears were assaulted by an angry female voice as he opened his eyes, bewildered, to an unfamiliar setting.
"Wasn't I dead? What is this place?" Chen Dong looked around, confused. He vividly remembered being at the pinnacle of his career, with a stunning wife, seemingly at the summit of life. Yet, he hadn't anticipated disaster striking from within his own home.
"Can't you understand plain English? I said get out!" The irate voice belonged to a woman standing before Chen Dong, her face livid with rage.
"Bitch." Chen Dong was so lost in his memories that he didn't even register the woman before him. He was seething with anger, recalling how, at the height of his success, his wife had conspired with her lover to push him from a high-rise, shattering him completely.
"Chen Dong, you think you're tough now, hurling insults at me? You have two choices: leave now or I'll have security throw you out." Lee Susu was fuming, incredulous that this good-for-nothing suddenly had the nerve to insult her.
"I wasn't insulting you." It was only then that Chen Dong realized he might not be dead after all. There was indeed someone else with him. He hurriedly tried to explain, but as he looked up, he was struck dumb.
Chen Dong had seen his fair share of beautiful women, but there was something extraordinary about Lee Susu's aura. Even in her fury, she exuded an icy chill, like a formidable iceberg.
"Not insulting me?" Lee Susu scoffed. "Do you see anyone else here in this office?"
Chen Dong glanced around, confirming that he was indeed in a strange office with no one but Lee Susu. He touched his nose awkwardly, at a loss for words.
"Here's your allowance for the month. I'd prefer not to see you for the next few days. Now, get lost." Lee Susu's expression was one of scorn as she nonchalantly pulled out a wad of cash from her purse and tossed it at Chen Dong's feet.
"It's instant karma," Chen Dong mused as he scooped up the scattered bills from the ground, estimating there was upwards of twenty thousand yuan. A wry smile crept across his face; in his past life, when he had built a vast business empire, his favorite pastime was throwing money at people. Now, reborn, he found himself on the receiving end of a cash bombardment.
And the irony of it all? The one flinging money at him was his own wife.
Upon regaining consciousness, Chen Dong was flooded with memories that weren't his own—or rather, they belonged to the body he now inhabited, also named Chen Dong.
Chen Dong and Lee Susu had been betrothed since childhood. But with his parents deceased, he had married Susu six months prior and was currently living in her family's home, effectively having married into her family.
Lee Susu watched Chen Dong pick up the money, her face etched with undisguised contempt and mockery. If not for her parents' insistence, she would never have married such a spineless man, devoid of any semblance of masculinity.
With only a diploma to his name, no particular skills, and no job, he was a deadbeat living off his wife's family, sponging off Susu for his upkeep. She couldn't fathom what her parents saw in such a pathetic excuse for a man.
Chen Dong nonchalantly pocketed the cash and strode out of the office.
"I need to find a way to divorce this good-for-nothing. Everyone calls him Chen Dong, but Director Chen was a true business prodigy, self-made and the founder of Winterfell Industries. And you? You're nothing but a deadbeat," Susu whispered to herself, indifferent to whether Chen Dong overheard.
Chen Dong's stride faltered briefly, but he didn't look back. He simply opened the door and left the office behind.
Winterfell Industries, Chen Dong—those were the vestiges of his former life.
Now, his reality was as Lee Susu's husband, a twenty-two-year-old fresh out of a low-tier college, forced into marriage by Susu's parents and living under their roof.
While Susu's parents were kind to Chen Dong and didn't mind supporting their son-in-law, Susu herself despised him with every fiber of her being.
After six months of marriage, Chen Dong and Lee Susu shared a home but had yet to even hold hands.
Exiting his office, Chen Dong noticed the odd glances and hushed murmurs of the other employees. He didn't need to eavesdrop to know what they were gossiping about, and frankly, he didn't care. He briskly left the Susu Fashion Design Company's office and descended to the street level in the elevator.
The area was a thriving commercial district. Across the street, a news flash played on a large screen: "Chen Dong, Chairman of Winterfell Industries, has tragically died after a fall from a building. His widow, Xu Rong, will inherit his vast fortune, becoming one of the wealthiest single women in the world."
Chen Dong scoffed at the news, his hands clenched in resolve. Reborn, he was determined to exact a heavy toll on the treacherous couple who betrayed him.
Patting his pocket, he ruefully smiled at the irony of his situation. Now dependent on Lee Susu for financial support, seeking revenge against Xu Rong and her secret lover seemed a distant dream—one that could end with him discarded on the streets or meeting another untimely end.
"First, I need to eat," Chen Dong muttered, his eyes narrowing with determination as he stepped into a nearby noodle shop. Having once built a billion-dollar empire from scratch, he was confident in his ability to rise again.
"Boss, a bowl of beef noodles, please," he said, settling into a seat.
His attention was caught by a familiar silhouette passing by—it was Lee Susu. She was speaking with a man whose face was obscured from Chen Dong's view. All he could see was Lee Susu accepting a vibrant bouquet of roses before stepping into a luxury car with the man.
"This simply won't do. I've just been betrayed and killed, and I refuse to be cuckolded again." Chen Dong abruptly stood up, casually tossing a hundred-yuan bill to the owner who was bringing over a bowl of beef noodles. He strode out, leaving the noodle shop owner bewildered.
"Young man, you haven't even touched your noodles. There's no need to pay," the noodle shop owner called out, following him out of the shop.
"Keep the change; consider it a tip," Chen Dong replied offhandedly, not really listening to the owner as he hailed a passing taxi at the curb.
"Driver, follow that Benz with the 888 license plate," Chen Dong instructed, handing the driver a hundred-yuan note.