I Became His Stand-In Lover to Save my Boyfriend

After being mercilessly thrown out of the office, Carrie returned home.

She wasn’t sure how much longer she could endure this before she collapsed completely. If things continued like this, would she even live to see Art wake up?

But she had no choice—she had to do what Jared’s mother wanted.

She found the burn ointment and applied it to her skin, the searing pain spreading through her body like wildfire.

Ever since Karin came back, she had seen a side of Jared she had never fully known—cold, distant, and ruthless.

She had once gone to great, foolish lengths to make him acknowledge her, to make him look at her in the eye.

She had saved his life when he was drunk and nearly hit by an out-of-control vehicle. She had thrown herself forward, pushing him out of harm’s way, only to have her own calf dislocated in the process. She had spent a month in the hospital recovering.

When Jared once mentioned wanting to see the sunrise at Golden Mountain, she had climbed a snow-covered peak with a high fever just to capture the perfect, breathtaking footage for him. He had scolded her for an hour afterward.

But after that, he had started treating her better. He had even stopped calling her Karin so frequently.

For a moment, she had believed that even if he didn’t love her, at the very least, he saw her as a person.

Now she knew better.

To Jared, the world was divided into two categories—Karin, and everyone else.

Fortunately, she didn’t love him. It had all been an act.

She skillfully logged into the account with the ID "Wait for him to wake up" and habitually posted some complaints. This account used to record her love with Art, but later it became a place to scold Jared.

Her only dream was to marry Art and live a peaceful, happy life.

Thinking of him, she took out her recorder and started speaking to Art.

This was a habit of hers—whenever Jared wronged her, she recorded her thoughts, as if confiding in Art.

A deep male voice suddenly interrupted her. "Leaving? Reunion? What are you talking about?"

Carrie quickly turned off the recorder and looked at Jared. "Nothing. Just watching a video."

Her face was still covered in ointment, and the sight startled him for a moment.

But then, as if remembering why she was in this state, his expression hardened.

"This is what happens when you hurt Karin—it’s your own fault."

His voice was sharp. "Do you finally understand your mistake? Can’t you tolerate Karin?"

"I let you stay, so you should be grateful. A stand-in should know her place. Do you understand?"

Carrie let out a cold laugh. "I don’t understand. All I know is that you’re still my fiancé, and we’re about to get engaged. Yet here you are, fooling around with your secretary."

Whatever flicker of hesitation had been in Jared’s eyes vanished instantly.

"You?" he scoffed. "You’re not even worthy of carrying Karin’s shoes."

He turned sharply, knocking into a vase on the table. It wobbled, then toppled over.

Carrie instinctively stepped back, but before it could hit the ground, Jared reached out and caught it.

The vase shattered against the corner of the table, and shards of glass sliced through her calf.

But Jared’s hand was injured even more severely.

Without thinking, he blurted out, "Are you okay? I’ll take you to the hospital and get it bandaged."

Carrie was about to tell him she was fine when Karin’s voice rang out from his phone.

"Jared, there’s a power outage in my building. Someone’s been knocking on my door, and I’m scared. Can you come over?"

Jared glanced at Carrie for only a second before answering.

"Don’t be afraid, Karin. I’m coming right now. Just wait for me."

He barely spared Carrie another glance before saying perfunctorily, "Go get it treated yourself. I don’t have time for you."

Carrie wasn’t surprised.

She made her way to a roadside clinic and got the wound bandaged.

While waiting, she absentmindedly scrolled through social media and saw Karin’s latest post.

Jared—who had an obsessive dislike for anything unclean—had actually changed a lightbulb in her apartment.

The caption read: "After all these years, you’re still the only one who truly cares about my safety."

A second later, Jared’s comment appeared below it.

"As long as it’s you, I’d walk through fire and cross mountains of swords."

They were truly in love.

Then, her phone rang. It was Jared’s mother.

"Carrie, Jared says he’s going to marry Karin. This time, he insists on marrying her no matter what. I won’t rely on you anymore."

Her voice turned cold.

"Since you failed to drive her away, just wait for the contract to expire and leave quietly. I’ll keep my promise and arrange the surgery for Art—but as for the follow-up expenses, you’ll have to figure that out yourself."

The call ended.

For a long moment, Carrie just stood there, letting the words settle.

She only had to endure it until the contract expired, and she would be free.

After everything she had suffered, that day had finally come.