1
I’d become the wife of a mob boss—a character who never appeared in the original story. The system had forced the marriage on me.
This lunatic was so focused on his career that the protagonists had no chance of beating him, so the plot had to change. Maybe making him fall in love would help salvage things.
But the moment I transmigrated into this world, I wrapped my arms around myself and started shaking.
You’ve got to be kidding me. A man who’d been single for 28 years—handsome, rich, and powerful—and he still hadn’t had a girlfriend?
Unless his gender was ambiguous, he had to have some kind of perversion.
I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to transmigrate here and suffer.
But I couldn’t go back now, either. The plot had begun with Đàm Tranh’s adoptive father forcing me to marry him, and the marriage certificate had already been issued.
“Master, please be advised: the character Đàm Tranh is about to appear. Have fun, and goodbye~”
As the electronic voice faded away, someone suddenly opened the villa’s front door.
I looked up and met the gaze of the tall man standing in the doorway.
His sharp, phoenix-shaped eyes and the beauty mark beneath one of them made him look even more coldhearted. His features were all sharply defined, not a hint of warmth about him. With his short hair, even in a suit he looked like a bad boy with a scholarly air.
All in all, my first impression of him was terrible!
I mean, who would like a man who spent all day fighting and thought about nothing but revenge?
To protect myself, my brain went into overdrive.
Maybe I should pretend to be deaf?
Surely a disabled person wouldn’t pose a threat to him.
So when the man sat down, about to speak, I started signing.
“Are you mute?”
Đàm Tranh frowned, his expression complicated.
I pointed to my ears and shook my head.
Then I picked up a pen and paper from the table and wrote:
[My hearing is very poor. I don’t know where my hearing aid fell, so I can’t hear what you’re saying clearly right now, Mr. Đàm.]
The man glanced at it, then took the pen and scribbled three chicken-scratch characters on the paper.
[What’s your name?]
2
[Miêu Thiến.]
Đàm Tranh started to write something else, but suddenly stopped. Then, irritated, he tossed the pen and paper onto the sofa and muttered:
“Damn it, my handwriting’s so awful I don’t even want to look at it anymore.”
He really believed I couldn’t hear anything. He let out a sigh and called the kitchen helper out.
“Auntie Vương, take Ms. Miêu to the hospital and get her a hearing aid.”
I was startled. Wouldn’t going to the hospital give me away?
The system had provided a kit in my bag. I pulled out the hearing aid and, when he wasn’t looking, dropped it onto the tile floor, then discreetly kicked it under the coffee table.
Then I let out a cry, pretending to hesitate, looking very anxious.
I pointed to the floor. When I nearly made a sound, I hurriedly grabbed his hand and gestured for him to open his palm.
My finger traced the rough lines of his palm as I wrote:
[Hearing aid. Found it. Under the table.]
Maybe Đàm Tranh thought his palm tickled. He understood what I meant and yanked his hand away before I could finish writing.
The man bent down to pick it up, wiped it clean with a tissue, fiddled with it for a moment, then put it in my left ear.
Then his hot breath immediately washed over me.
“My name is Đàm Tranh. I’m your husband, Miêu Thiến. Can you hear me clearly?”
I jerked back as if I’d been shocked, but he laughed loudly, as though he’d found something amusing:
“This little deaf girl sure is skittish.”
I lowered my head and signed.
[Get lost, idiot.]
“What does that mean?”
I pretended to struggle to speak, making a string of strange, indistinct sounds, but still managing to make him understand what I was saying:
“It means Mr. Đàm is funny, too.”
Because in the world of the deaf, they don’t have their own sound; they can’t pronounce every letter accurately.
3
After I finished speaking, he was silent for a long time.
I couldn’t tell whether Đàm Tranh’s eyes showed contempt.
But it would be best if he did look down on me.
I didn’t want to be his wife, either.
As long as I held out until the novel ended, I’d be able to go back.
But the very next second, he turned around and carried my luggage straight upstairs to the second floor.
Wait, where was he taking my luggage?
I was clearly staying in the living room downstairs.
“Hey…”
Panicking, I ran after him and tugged at the corner of his shirt.
I frantically signed:
[I can stay downstairs.]
[Give me back my luggage.]
Đàm Tranh said expressionlessly:
“I know it’s your luggage. I’m helping you move it into my bedroom.”
“No need to thank me.”
Me: “???”
As if I’d thank him! Who said I had to share a room with him?
My mind went blank, but I put all my strength into pulling my luggage back.
The man looked at me in surprise. His face, which rarely smiled, grew even colder, making him look fiercer still.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You don’t want to stay with me? You think you’re too good for me?”
“Fine, fine. Do whatever you want.”
I touched the hearing aid in my ear. Cold sweat trickled down from under my arms, making me shiver.
Wait, he was the villain in the novel. Even the male lead, with the power of the protagonist on his side, had been beaten so badly by him he ended up in the hospital. I had to be out of my mind to pick a fight with him! For all I knew, he could call someone over to drag me outside and beat me up any second.
Once I’d thought it through, I awkwardly handed my luggage back to him.
I used gestures as I slowly spoke each word:
“It’s not that I think you’re beneath me. I’m just a little… scared.”
4
“Scared? What are you scared of? Do I look that scary?”
After hanging each of my dresses in the closet, Đàm Tranh turned and went into the bathroom. As he washed his hands, he looked up in the mirror and saw me sitting beside the bed, nervously fiddling with my fingers.
By then, I’d taken off my hearing aid, so I had to pretend I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
He looked at me, and I gave him a silly smile.
“Dummy. And you’re scared, too.”
He was calling me names again.
“What was that, Mr. Đàm?” I asked, though my hands signed, [You old geezer, why are you so long-winded?]
Đàm Tranh looked up, the smile in his eyes deepening. He pointed at the bed and changed the subject:
“Listen, let’s sleep here tonight.”
As soon as he said it, my head buzzed, and a blush quickly spread across my cheeks.
Wait, were we really going to sleep together?
Shouldn’t he be busy dealing with the protagonist right now? The system had forced him to marry me, but was he actually going to go through with it?
Outside, the sky was pitch-black. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and a downpour was on its way.
With each button he undid, my heart sank a little further.
But the very next second, Đàm Tranh pulled a mat from the corner of the room and spread it over the marble floor.
His message on my phone read:
[The neighborhood manager just announced that the power will be shut off tonight for repairs. The lights will all go out, and there’ll be thunder and lightning. I’m afraid you might get scared enough to fall ill since you just got here, and then I wouldn’t be able to explain it to my adoptive father.]
It had to be the system’s doing again.
5
Just after nine, everything around us plunged into darkness.
Đàm Tranh had lain down on the mat on the floor.
The room was quiet, but the thunder outside the window grew louder and louder.
Honestly, his worry that I’d be afraid of the dark and the thunder was completely unnecessary.
In this situation, I could actually sleep better.
The man lying on the floor beside the bed didn’t move.
I was thirsty, so I picked up my phone, intending to go out and get a bottle of water.
But the moment I took a step, someone grabbed my ankle.
“Don’t go…”
Đàm Tranh’s urgent voice sounded completely different from how he’d sounded during the day.
Then another loud crash sounded outside.
His arms tightened around my waist.
In the darkness, I met his trembling eyes and couldn’t help laughing.
Who would’ve thought even a mob boss would be afraid of a stormy night with the power out?
6
When I opened my eyes the next morning, Đàm Tranh was nowhere to be seen.
But I still remembered how he’d stayed right beside me all night, never leaving my side.
Now I wasn’t afraid of him anymore. After all, he was more of a scaredy-cat than I was.
As soon as I went downstairs, I ran into the housekeeper, who was walking a Chinese dog.
[Madam, this is A Hoàng. Two years ago, Mr. Đàm found him by the side of the road.]
Afraid I might not hear him clearly, the housekeeper carefully wrote it down on a piece of paper, too.
When I reached out to pet the dog’s head, he came right over.
He really was just like his owner.
“Actually, I can hear everyone clearly when I wear this. You don’t have to go to all that trouble.”
“Housekeeper Li, let me take him for a walk.”
A Hoàng limped a little on his left hind leg, but he was still very lively.
But after only a few steps, he suddenly started barking furiously.
A pair of gleaming, pointed-toe leather shoes appeared in my field of vision.
“Oh, are you Mr. Đàm’s new bride? He gets married and doesn’t even invite the brothers over to celebrate? That’s just wrong.”
His tone was cocky. Sure enough, when I looked up, I saw a blond guy.
There was no one like him in the original story.
But Đàm Tranh was always making enemies, so it was no surprise that plenty of people disliked him.
One of them started to approach, and A Hoàng bared his teeth, ready to lunge.
“Sister-in-law, we just want to invite you out for a drink. Are you coming willingly, or do we have to force you?”
Poor thing. I really had dragged his family into this.