C3 No Other Choice

The Next Day.

Tang Yan opened her eyes, her nerves instinctively making her glance to the side, where no one was. The warmth of last night had long faded, leaving only a lingering discomfort as a reminder of what had happened. She gritted her teeth, enduring the pain as she climbed out of bed and wrapped a robe around herself.

She scanned the room, but the man from last night was nowhere to be seen, and even his clothes were gone. Tang Yan's delicate brows furrowed.

"He just left like that?"

On the first day of their marriage, he left without a thought for his new wife. It seemed the eldest son of the Xi family wasn't very considerate in matters of the heart. Maybe this was why Tang Li didn't want to marry him?

Thinking of Tang Li, a shadow flickered in Tang Yan's amber eyes. Since she had completed her task, Tang Li should fulfill her promise, right? Just to be sure, Tang Yan pulled out her phone from her bag and stepped onto the balcony to make a call.

"Awake so early? I guess last night wasn't too wild after all!" A woman's mocking voice came through the phone, causing Tang Yan to stiffen. Her expression remained unchanged, but her hand slowly clenched at her side, allowing her long nails to dig into her palm, sending a sharp sting through her.

Her voice was as cold and mechanical as a robot's.

"I've done what you asked. What about your promise to me?"

The woman on the other end wasn't ready to let her off the hook and continued to ramble, "You still have time to worry about this, huh, Tang Yan? I never thought you'd agree to something like this just to save your mom. But then again, what else do you have besides a pretty face? Using it to please men in bed—you're quite skilled at it, aren't you, Tang Yan?"

The words made Tang Yan's face grow increasingly grim. She bit her lip hard, knowing full well that Tang Li was deliberately trying to embarrass her, yet she was powerless.

She was supposed to be the rightful heiress of the Tang family!

And Tang Li was just her stepmother's daughter.

But because her stepmother's family wielded immense power, her father went to great lengths to please Tang Li's mother, even abandoning his first wife to gain her family's support.

In the blink of an eye, Tang Yan's once happy and harmonious family fell apart, and her mother fell seriously ill due to the upheaval.

If it weren't for her mother's illness, she would never have agreed to this arranged marriage. As the eldest daughter of the Tang family, when did it become her turn to be used as a bargaining chip in a marriage contract?

Unfortunately, she had no other choice now.

"Tang Li, you should know I'm not calling to listen to your nonsense. If you keep talking about useless things, I'll go tell Xi Yan who I really am."

As expected, the voice on the other end fell silent.

Tang Li gritted her teeth in frustration. She hadn't expected Tang Yan to be so sharp-tongued even after getting into the Xi family. But it didn't matter; once Tang Yan found out who she had really married, she'd surely be devastated.

However, before that happened, she couldn't let Xi Yan know about the arranged marriage swap.

"I've already arranged for your mom to be admitted to the best hospital in town. Don't worry, even though I don't think much of you, I won't go back on my word. As long as you do what I say, your mom will be fine."

Tang Yan was skeptical of her words and asked again.

"Which hospital?"

"City's First General Hospital, the best in town. Now you can rest easy, right?"