Return of Black Lotus system:Taming Cheating Male Leads

Chapter 319 --319

"I couldn’t stand by and watch you suffer unjustly," Chen Yifan interrupted gently. "When I heard about your situation, I knew I had to help. A woman as kind and virtuous as you doesn’t deserve such treatment."

Maya’s eyes filled with tears—the pretty, delicate kind that made her look vulnerable and lovely rather than messy and unattractive.

"You’re so understanding. So different from—" She stopped herself, as if realizing she was about to say something inappropriate.

"Different from your husband?" Chen Yifan supplied gently.

Maya bit her lip and nodded.

"My marriage was arranged," she confessed. "I had no choice in the matter. My family forced me to wed an old man I’d never met, someone I could never love. I’ve tried to be a dutiful wife, but—"

"But you deserve to be happy," Chen Yifan finished. "You deserve to be with someone who appreciates you, who values your intelligence and kindness."

His hand tightened around hers.

"Someone like me," he added quietly.

Maya’s breath caught.

"We barely know each other," she whispered. "We’ve only spoken a few times. This feeling—it’s so sudden, so unexpected—"

"Some connections transcend time and propriety," Chen Yifan said, his scholarly mind providing poetic justification for what was clearly developing between them. "When two souls recognize each other, does it matter how long they’ve been acquainted?"

"But I’m married," Maya said, though her tone suggested she was looking for him to argue against this obstacle rather than agreeing with it.

"Unhappily married," Chen Yifan corrected. "To a man who doesn’t deserve you. To a situation you never chose."

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently—a gesture that would have been absolutely SCANDALOUS if anyone had witnessed it.

"I know this is complicated," he continued. "I know there are social barriers, legal obstacles, potential consequences. But I also know that I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. And I think—I hope—you feel the same?"

Maya was crying openly now, though still beautifully.

"I do," she admitted. "God help me, I do feel the same. But what can we do? I’m trapped in this marriage, in this household—"

"We’ll find a way," Chen Yifan promised. "I have resources, influence, connections. We’ll figure out how to free you from this situation. How to give us a chance to be together properly."

"How?" Maya asked desperately.

Chen Yifan’s expression became more calculating, more determined.

"There are ways to dissolve marriages in extreme circumstances. If we could prove that your husband is mistreating you, or that the marriage was obtained through fraud or coercion, or—"

He paused, an idea clearly forming.

"Or if something were to happen to your husband that made you a widow, you’d be free to remarry after an appropriate mourning period."

The implications of that statement hung in the air between them.

Maya’s eyes widened. "You don’t mean—"

"I mean that sometimes fate intervenes in unexpected ways," Chen Yifan said carefully. "And if such an intervention were to occur, I would be here to support you through the difficult transition."

It was a carefully worded suggestion of potential murder, disguised as philosophical musing about fate.

Maya understood immediately what he was implying.

And instead of being horrified, she looked... hopeful.

"I would never want anything bad to happen to anyone," she said, the words sounding rehearsed, like she was establishing plausible deniability. "But if fate were to take its natural course... if I were to become free through circumstances beyond my control..."

"I would be honored to court you properly," Chen Yifan finished. "To eventually make you my wife, if you’d have me."

"Yes," Maya breathed. "Yes, I would."

They sat there, hands clasped, making unspoken plans for a future that required removing an inconvenient husband from the picture.

---

’’[Back in the Bushes]’’

Of course, Heena and Samuel couldn’t hear ANY of this extremely incriminating conversation.

All they could see was Maya and Chen Yifan holding hands, gazing at each other adoringly, occasionally leaning close to whisper things that made them both smile.

It LOOKED romantic and innocent—like two people falling in love.

Which was exactly the problem.

"We need to get closer," Heena muttered. "We need to hear what they’re actually saying."

"Too risky," Samuel replied. "If we’re spotted—"

"Then YOU create a distraction while I move," Heena suggested.

"Absolutely not. You’re in no condition to—"

Their whispered argument was interrupted by a sudden commotion from the other side of the courtyard.

Another servant came RUNNING into the garden, looking panicked.

"Mistress! Mistress Maya! It’s terrible news!"

Maya and Chen Yifan immediately dropped hands and separated to a more appropriate distance.

"What is it?" Maya asked, her expression shifting instantly from lovestruck to concerned.

"It’s the Master! He’s collapsed in his study! The physician has been called!"

Maya stood up immediately, her face showing perfect wifely concern.

"I must go to him at once," she said to Chen Yifan. "I’m so sorry to cut our visit short—"

"Of course," Chen Yifan said, also standing. "Family comes first. I’ll take my leave. But please, send word about his condition?"

"I will," Maya promised.

She hurried away toward the main house, her maid following.

Chen Yifan watched her go with an expression that was difficult to read—concern, calculation, and something else mixed together.

Then he also departed through the garden gate.

In the bushes, Heena and Samuel looked at each other.

"Did you hear what that servant said?" Samuel asked urgently. "My father collapsed?"

"I heard," Heena confirmed. "Though the timing is awfully convenient, isn’t it? Right after Maya’s romantic meeting with Chen Yifan?"

Samuel’s expression darkened. "You think she did something to him?"

"I think SOMEONE did something," Heena said grimly. "And we need to find out what before it’s too late."

She tried to stand up from her crouched position—

And her legs, which had been cramping for the past thirty minutes, completely gave out.

She would have fallen face-first into the dirt if Samuel hadn’t caught her.

"I TOLD you that you weren’t recovered enough for this!" he said, sounding equal parts worried and exasperated.

"Shut up and help me walk to your father’s study," Heena replied. "We need to see what’s actually happening."

Samuel sighed but carefully supported her weight as they made their way out of the bushes and toward the main house.

Behind them, the System floated along, looking thoughtful.

’This is getting more complicated,’ he thought. ’The male lead is falling for the female lead, just like the original plot. But this time, they’re planning something actively HARMFUL rather than just having a forbidden romance.’

’Host is going to have her work cut out for her preventing whatever they’re scheming.’

And honestly, it was NOT at all shocking to hear that the old Master had suffered a heart attack.

Like, seriously. Heena was completely unsurprised.

At this stage of the drama, if the old man DIDN’T have some kind of medical crisis, then Heena would literally have to bow down to whatever author or system or cosmic force had created this world’s storyline.

’Because then who even allows this type of old bastard to stay alive?’ she thought with dark amusement. ’This type of predatory, paranoid, abusive man should have been dealt with AGES ago. Should have been—’