Chapter 294: So That’s How You Want to Play It?
The related plotlines were written by two different people, and their writing styles were completely different.
The first part was a female-oriented story, written from the heroine’s perspective. The second part, however, was written from the male lead’s perspective—that is, Julian Spencer’s—suddenly turning it into a male-oriented story.
Of course, none of that was the main point. The main point was...
[The male lead of this story is reborn, but the female lead is a transmigrator!]
Most importantly, those two weren’t even from the same timeline!
Transmigration? Aurora Donovan’s eyes lit up. ’Another topic worthy of in-depth research. Excellent, excellent. You have my attention!’
[Fine, fine, fine. So that’s how you want to play it, huh?]
Before coming here, she had hoped to find a pleasant surprise at her third brother’s place of study. This wasn’t a surprise—it was a shock, a huge shock!
The female lead connected to Julian Spencer was named Summer Vance. She came from a poor family but was an incredibly hardworking and ambitious girl.
Due to an accident, she transmigrated into this world, becoming a poor thing whose parents had died and was raised by her grandmother.
Summer Vance relied on her own efforts to get into the nation’s top school, Brynn University, becoming the object of envy for her neighbors and friends. But shortly after she started, her grandmother, whom she depended on, was diagnosed with a serious illness brought on by years of overwork.
Her grandmother’s illness was a devastating blow to their already struggling family. Summer Vance tried desperately to earn money for her grandmother’s treatment but hit a wall everywhere she turned. In her distress, she even considered dropping out of school, but her grandmother, who refused to be a burden, talked her out of it.
In her moment of despair, the male lead, Julian Spencer, descended like a savior from the heavens. He not only solved Summer Vance’s medical bill problem but also arranged a place for the grandmother and granddaughter, who were nearly homeless, to stay. He even hired a caregiver to help look after Summer Vance’s grandmother, allowing her to continue her studies without any worries.
Reading up to this point, you might think this is a sweet little story about a domineering CEO falling in love at first sight, using the pretense of a sugar-daddy arrangement to pursue a real romance. If so, you’d be dead wrong!
In reality, Summer Vance was playing the part of a substitute who would eventually kick out the original Lover.
Julian Spencer had a Lover who studied music. Like him, she came from a prominent family, a young lady meticulously groomed by her clan, and she was even two or three years older than him.
Julian Spencer had a secret crush on her since childhood. Unfortunately, this young lady was a Player Queen. Her "backyard pond" was filled with "expensive seafood" from all over the world, and among them, Julian Spencer was just an unremarkable little yellow croaker.
As a result, he never dared to confess his feelings to her. Even when his Lover went abroad to study, he didn’t dare follow, instead spending his days moping and drowning his sorrows in alcohol. This only fueled the rumors circulating in high society about his profound devotion to his Lover.
Julian Spencer met Summer Vance during the second year his Lover was studying abroad.
Saying it was the "second year" was a bit of a stretch; it had only been two or three months, just crossing over the new year.
At the time, Julian Spencer was feeling sentimental and gloomy because his Lover was abroad. He’d skipped a ton of classes, and his department head reported him to his uncle, the dean. He was ordered to show up and sign in for class, even if he just slept in the classroom, or else he’d have to retake the courses.
Exasperated, Julian Spencer had no choice but to reluctantly drive back to school. By chance, right at the school gate, he ran into the female lead handing out flyers. He was completely captivated by Summer Vance, who bore a slight resemblance to his Lover.
After investigating and learning about Summer Vance’s family situation, Julian Spencer began his career as a domineering CEO, taking what he wanted by any means necessary.
Aurora Donovan: "..."
Caspian Rhodes, who had used the pretense of making an investment to have the school’s leadership escort him on a tour of the research institute: "..."
’Taking what he wants by any means necessary, and a domineering CEO on top of that? He doesn’t sound like a normal person at all!’
As it turned out, this Julian Spencer really wasn’t normal. On one hand, he was madly in love with the parts of the female lead that resembled his Lover. On the other, he felt that loving her so much was a betrayal of his Lover, so he started tormenting the female lead, heaping every possible verbal insult upon her.
Caspian Rhodes: "..." ’That’s... hard to comment on.’
Aurora Donovan: "..." ’Are you a schizophrenic or something?!’
Because of Julian Spencer’s series of psychotic actions, the female lead didn’t exactly hate his guts, but her feelings weren’t much better.
Just as the two were stuck in this cycle of torment, unable to get away from each other, the Lover returned to the country!
In order to curry favor with his Lover, and to absolve himself of the "mistakes" he’d made while she was abroad, he decisively pushed all the blame onto the female lead. He framed their sugar-daddy relationship as a deliberate seduction on her part and broadcast it to everyone.
As a result, the female lead was nearly expelled from school. Even though she managed to stay, she had to endure constant gossip, bullying, and harassment.
Caspian Rhodes and Aurora Donovan: "..." ’Holy crap, what a scumbag!’
Aurora Donovan, who had just been enjoying the drama, found herself holding her breath in anger. She shot a disdainful glance at Julian Spencer, who was sidling up to her with a fawning smile, and secretly calculated how long this so-called male lead would cry if she punched him.
Caspian Rhodes’s focus, however, was a bit off-kilter. ’The so-called male and female leads have been through all this, but Serena’s third brother hasn’t appeared yet. Could he just be another background character hidden in an Easter-egg plotline?’
Caspian Rhodes had barely finished his thought when he heard Arabella Donovan mutter resentfully.
[Third Brother appeared right at this moment.]
"..." ’Speak of Clark Carter, and Clark Carter arrives, I guess.’
Aurora Donovan was also taken aback. She decided to temporarily shelve her plan to beat up Julian Spencer and see what other trouble those two could stir up.
[Third Brother, who entered the plot, is also the legendary Dr. Donovan...]
Arabella Donovan spat out the last two words through gritted teeth. Hearing her, Aurora Donovan nearly broke out in a cold sweat, knowing that after this was all over, she probably wouldn’t be able to escape her younger sister’s belated revenge!
[By then, he had already become a pillar of the research institute. The female lead, because of her previously excellent grades, had also become a member of the lab, happening to serve as Dr. Donovan’s assistant.]
[After the sugar-daddy affair was exposed, some of the senior students in the lab, who were already jealous of the female lead’s good fortune in getting to work under Dr. Donovan, ganged up to try and kick her out of the lab so they could take her place.]
[Just as these people were harassing the female lead, Dr. Donovan happened to pass by. He stepped in to stop their one-sided bullying and told them that he didn’t care about the private morals of the people working for him; he only cared whether they had the ability to complete the work he assigned.]
Aurora Donovan froze. These events hadn’t happened yet, and she hadn’t even met this so-called female lead.
’Still, based on my brother’s temperament and way of doing things, he really would say something like that and act that way. For Summer Vance to become his assistant, she must have some real talent—at least more than the people giving her a hard time. We scientists only care about individual ability, nothing else. Knowing his "quality over quantity" personality, even if those people did manage to push Summer Vance out with their petty tricks, he would never settle for second best and pick one of them just to drag him down.’