His wife's pregnancy bump disappeared, and Mr. Huo was going crazy missing her.

Gu Huainian, his handsome face bruised and battered, leaned close to Qiao Mian and complained.

In short, their "relationship" was confirmed.

Qiao Mian raised her eyes and looked at Huo Yanbei with a complicated expression.

He was also gazing at her.

It seemed like they were waiting for her to say something.

However, Qiao Mian's throat seemed to be glued shut, and she couldn't utter a single word.

Until a loud bang.

The man's tall and slender figure disappeared through the doorway. Qiao Mian withdrew her gaze, which had been slightly reddening, and turned it toward Gu Huai Nian, who had been staring at her.

"Attorney Gu, I don't know why you're dragging me into this charade, and I don't want to know. I'm here today to return something."

As she finished speaking, she took out an exquisite jewelry box from her bag and placed it on the coffee table. "I've never worn the bracelet, so please don't send me these things to amuse me again, Attorney Gu."

Gu Huainian pulled out a tissue and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "Attorney Qiao, stop pretending. I was just making you act. Knowing your personality, if you weren't willing to cooperate, you would have turned on me right then and there, wouldn't you?"

Qiao Mian stood up. "What do you want to say?"

Gu Huai Nian reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to sit on the sofa. "Weren't you just going along with me, making Huo Yanbei leave in anger?"

Having her thoughts exposed, Qiao Mian stopped hiding them and said, "President Huo has a family, so I need to keep my distance from him."

"Family?"

After a two-second pause, Gu Huai Nian stared intently at Qiao Mian and smiled.

It turns out that Qiao Mian didn't know that Huo Yanbei and Song Man's marriage was a sham...

Huo Yanbei didn't tell her, presumably because he didn't want the fake marriage to cause any further trouble.

To put it another way, it means... Huo Yanbei doesn't trust Qiao Mian.

After all, Qiao Mian is a sword hanging in the air.

Song Chen had previously fallen into her hands.

This time, Jiang Yun was directly put inside.

Even if Huo Yanbei cherishes her dearly, he probably wouldn't dare tell Qiao Mian, an outsider, about the fake marriage before severing his ties with Song Man.

The interests of the Song and Huo families are too intertwined. Once the sham marriage is exposed, both families will be caught in the media storm.

"What...are you laughing at?"

Gu Huainian squinted his eyes and smiled like a vixen, making Qiao Mian feel uneasy.

What he said next was even more explosive.

"Ah Mian, will you be my girlfriend?"

"..."

Qiao Mian was almost driven away by that nauseatingly sweet "A-Mian," and moved aside with a look of disgust. "Attorney Gu, if you're sick, go see a doctor. I'm not keeping you company."

After saying that, he got up and left.

The moment he grasped the doorknob, Gu Huainian clung to him like a leech.

He braced one hand against the wall beside her, trapping her in an ambiguous "wall slam" position.

"A-Mian, do you like Huo Yanbei?"

He asked with a serious expression.

Qiao Mian suppressed the nausea brought on by yet another "A-Mian" and managed to utter three words: "I don't like it..."

"very good."

Gu Huai Nian's slender fingers twirled a strand of hair near her temple. "The reason Huo Yan Bei forcibly kept you by his side is because you look like his sister, Huo Wu. You should know that, right?"

Qiao Mian coldly pulled back the strand of hair that the man was playing with between his fingers. "I know."

"You really want to get rid of him, don't you?"

"Yes……"

Qiao Mian felt like she was being interrogated. She frowned, then shoved him away. "Stop beating around the bush, what exactly do you want to say?"

Gu Huai Nian raised an eyebrow and smiled.

Turning around, the tall, long-legged man leaned against the door, arms crossed: "You probably don't understand what kind of person Huo Yanbei is. There's nothing he can't get if he wants it. If you want to get rid of him completely, you simply can't do it without my help."

Qiao Mian was confused. "You...help me? What do you mean?"

Gu Huainian curled up the corners of his mouth: "I grew up with Huo Yanbei since I was a child. I know his personality best. Although everyone says that he is cold and ruthless, he is sentimental. He felt guilty for the death of his sister Huo Wu for six years. You look like his sister, so he treated you as a substitute for his sister."

Qiao Mian curled her lips slightly, "So, his feelings for Huo Wu were just out of guilt..."

When Huo Wu was mentioned, Gu Huainian's words were full of contempt and dissatisfaction. "Yan Bei was just after something new and playing around with Huo Wu. He only felt guilty because Huo Wu died."

"Just playing around..."

As Qiao Mian uttered those four heart-wrenching words, a thin mist rose from her reddened eyes.

Gu Huainian continued, "Actually, we all know that Yan Bei doesn't love Huo Wu at all."

"I don't love Huo Wu..."

Qiao Mian mechanically repeated the same thing again.

Six years ago, she knew that Huo Yanbei didn't love her.

His friends all know this too.

Now, this fact has been confirmed once again by his childhood friend.

This is undoubtedly reopening her old wounds and rubbing salt into them.

Seeing her hurt expression, Gu Huainian felt that the time was right, so he added fuel to the fire, "Over the years, Yan Bei has been searching the world for women who look like Huo Wu. You are not the first substitute he has found."

After saying that, he took out his phone, retrieved a few photos from his album, and showed them to Qiao Mian. "These are all girls who resemble Huo Wu that he has looked for over the years."

Qiao Mian suppressed the burning pain in her chest, took the phone, and looked through the photos of the girls one by one.

Judging from their appearance, most of them are young women in their early twenties.

Both fat and thin people are included.

The eyes, nose, and mouth all resemble her in some way.

She zoomed in on one of the photos and took a closer look.

I vaguely remember it.

Once, in the elevator, the employees were gossiping about the president when a chubby secretary scolded them.

According to the employees, the secretary was a college student sponsored by Huo Yanbei.

After graduation, Huo Yanbei got the person a job at the company...

Qiao Mian's fingers, gripping the phone, turned white and bloodless.

Gu Huainian patted her shoulder reassuringly, "I know that showing you this hurts you, but I need you to realize what kind of person you are in Huo Yanbei's heart."

Qiao Mian, her face ashen, handed the phone back to him. "After all that build-up, shouldn't we get to the point?"

"Qiao Mian, the way you act smart isn't cute at all."

Gu Huai Nian said this, but when he saw the woman's red and wet eyes, he felt a strange tightness in his heart.

He, who had never liked smoking, took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, put it in his mouth, and slowly exhaled a smoke ring. "Yan Bei values ​​loyalty and friendship. You can't mess with a friend's wife. The only way to get rid of him is for you to become my girlfriend."

Qiao Mian frowned and glared at him, "Gu Huai Nian, I think you've gone mad, I won't..."

"You've given up such a good job at the Huo Corporation, and lately you've been looking for work all this time. Isn't your real goal to leave the Huo Corporation and get rid of Yanbei?"

Gu Huai Nian interrupted her, looking at her with an expression of complete control.

Qiao Mian: "How did you know?"

Gu Huainian chuckled, "A new law firm called Tongchen Law Firm was recently established. I'm from the Bar Association, and I handled the approval process. You haven't resigned from Ronghua yet, but these past few days, your personal information has already been listed in the Tongchen Law Firm's legal team. It's hard for me not to know."

"..."

Qiao Mian didn't expect that Gu Huainian would find out about her resignation so soon after things were starting to look promising.

I also know that she's about to join Tongchen Law Firm...

"If I'm not mistaken, you went to Ronghua today to complete your resignation procedures, right?"

Gu Huai Nian said firmly.

"How did you know that?"

Qiao Mian's alarm bells rang loudly.

She felt that Huo Yanbei was already alarming enough, and now Gu Huainian had appeared as well.

"I just guessed it myself."

Seeing her staring at him warily and nervously, Gu Huai Nian smiled and said, "When Yan Bei asked you if you had asked for leave earlier, your guilty expression was written all over your face. You sneaked out without even asking for leave. Wasn't it just to go back to Ronghua to handle your resignation procedures?"

Qiao Mian teased, "As expected of Attorney Gu, you are indeed meticulous."

"I'm so happy that A-Mian praised me."

Gu Huainian raised an eyebrow and smiled, then grabbed Qiao Mian's wrist, pulling her close and staring into her eyes: "Be my girlfriend, and I promise, Yan Bei will no longer hold you back."