The Villainess System Made Me His Wife

Chapter 12 – Rules of the Game

The rain had stopped, but Lin Chaoxi's heart was still caught in a storm.

She sat alone in the dressing room, staring blankly at her reflection in the mirror. Around her, the staff moved quickly, preparing for the next round of the variety show filming. But her thoughts were still stuck on the night before.

Shen Muyan had shown up out of nowhere, standing in the rain just to say, "I didn't feel safe letting you walk home alone."

He didn't say much—but in his eyes, there had been no trace of indifference. Instead, there was something dangerously close to concern.

"Target's affection: 63%.

Warning: Host emotional involvement detected. Emotional deviation may interfere with system performance."

The mechanical voice echoed in her mind.

She bit her lip. The percentage had been climbing faster lately—48%, 55%, now 63%. But what worried her more wasn't the target's emotional change—it was her own.

"Chaoxi, you're on in five," the assistant director called from the door.

She blinked and stood up, forcing her usual bright expression into place. As she walked toward the set, her eyes met his.

Shen Muyan stood under the harsh studio lights, dressed in a tailored black suit. His expression was the same as always—cold, unreadable—but when he saw her, his brows knit together slightly.

"You didn't sleep well last night," he said, low and calm.

She blinked. Then smiled. "Are you concerned about me?"

He didn't answer right away. Instead, he walked up beside her and said, just loud enough for her to hear, "Don't push yourself too hard."

The cameras rolled. The segment began.

They were assigned to the same team again, forced to work together in a silly role-playing challenge. The crowd roared with laughter. The online bullet comments exploded with things like:

[They have real chemistry.]

[Why is the CEO being so soft today?!]

Only Lin Chaoxi knew how tightly the string in her heart was being pulled.

Later that night, after filming ended.

She stood alone on the rooftop of the studio building, staring at the city lights.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

"New mission uploaded."

"Objective: Make the male lead jealous by interacting with a romantic rival. Time limit: 24 hours. Reward: +10 life points."

"Warning: Failure to complete the mission will result in penalty deduction."

She laughed bitterly. "Do you want me to live, or do you want me to die in front of him?"

Behind her, a voice suddenly interrupted.

"Who are you talking to?"

She turned around sharply. Shen Muyan stood a few steps behind her, hands in his pockets, eyes shadowed under the rooftop lights.

"You scared me," she said, masking her panic with a smile. "What are you doing up here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He stepped closer, his gaze locked on hers. "You've been… different lately."

She lowered her eyes. "Is that a bad thing?"

He was silent for a long moment. Then he said quietly, "I hated how fake you used to be."

That hit deeper than she expected.

Still, she smiled brighter. "Good. I didn't like that version of me either."