Henry Carter stood tall and graceful, his back facing her. He was clearly much more relaxed, and beneath his wedding robe, the edge of his usual white clothes could still be seen—it turned out he had just casually thrown the wedding robe over his regular attire.

Everyone else thought this was just a trivial play, yet the original owner of this body had been so excited she couldn’t sleep at night.

Henry Carter turned around at the sound, and sure enough, his face was as picturesque as described.

The original novel wrote that Henry Carter was physically frail, so he was slender and always pale, but because of this, he carried a hint of ethereal, otherworldly aura.

He was gentle and amiable, but there was an unshakable melancholy between his brows.

When Olivia Sullivan read this cliché character setting, she thought, a man like this—approachable yet ascetic, friendly yet mysterious—was indeed the type that made girls lose their hearts.

After glancing at Henry Carter twice, she lost interest. The author had already decided he belonged to Mu Yao; no matter how gentle he was to others, nothing would ever happen.

Henry Carter spoke: “Olivia.”

Olivia was startled: “What did you call me?”

Henry Carter frowned slightly, a bit hesitant: “I remember your childhood name is ‘Olivia’…”

“Oh—” Olivia Sullivan dragged out the sound, not at all pleased that Ethan Sullivan shared the same name with her, “Yes, Olivia, that’s right… You called me so suddenly, I didn’t react.”

Henry Carter smiled gently: “Today is our wedding day, we should address each other more intimately.”

When the male lead spoke sweet words, it could make one’s bones go soft.

Olivia looked into Henry Carter’s eyes and saw a clear, hopeful expectation in them.

Very good, the male lead was taking the initiative, reminding her that if they were going to act, they had to do it thoroughly.

“Fuyi.” She obediently called out, and saw a look of relief flash in Henry Carter’s eyes as he walked toward her.

A sudden doubt flashed through her mind: “Wait!”

Chapter 2: Substitute Bride (Part Two)

“Wait—”

Henry Carter stopped, looking puzzled.

Olivia fumbled around herself for a while, finally finding a walnut-sized red embroidered ball hanging at her waist. She squeezed it into a ball and tossed it over. The embroidered ball hit Henry Carter’s chest, bounced off, and landed at his feet.

Henry Carter was stunned by her sudden throw.

“Throw it back to me, quick.” She urged, a fine layer of sweat breaking out on her forehead.

Henry Carter bent down and picked up the little embroidered ball. The red tassel beneath it trailed over his pale hand as he examined it, his expression growing serious.

“Hurry up!” Olivia Sullivan pricked up her ears, listening intently to the sounds in the room.

He gently tossed the ball back, and it flew toward Olivia, but halfway there, it seemed to hit something invisible, abruptly bounced back, and landed once again at Henry Carter’s feet.

Henry Carter’s expression changed instantly—there was an invisible barrier between them!

You could go in, but not come out. If either of them tried to cross to the other side, who knew if they’d end up like the embroidered ball, silently slipping into this unseen barrier.

Olivia carefully chose her words to remind him: “Fuyi, we might not be in the same place.”

This setting in the original novel was just too complicated.

As a pragmatic math major, Olivia Sullivan had been completely baffled when she read this part. She even drew a diagram to think it through, and her conclusion was—Dylan Brooks must have failed physics.

She described this astonishing phenomenon in a mystical, muddled way, using supernatural nonsense to explain it, with no respect for natural science at all.

Olivia Sullivan came up with the most reasonable explanation: she and Henry Carter could see each other because two spaces had been pieced together.

In fact, they might be at opposite ends of the room, perhaps even back to back, and some force had twisted the space they were in. The invisible barrier between them was the boundary between these twisted spaces.

If anyone crossed over, the spot where the boundary had been would instantly become a solid wall, trapping them both inside.

Why would the monster go to so much trouble?

Dylan Brooks never explained. After all, this book was just a romance novel for entertainment—no one cared about the logic.

Suddenly, Olivia Sullivan heard a rustling sound in the room, like the gurgling of water in northern radiators during summer.

Henry Carter, sharp of hearing and sight, understood everything from Olivia’s few words.

He listened intently, on high alert, and heard her whisper, “It’s coming!”

The air between Olivia and Henry Carter trembled, slowly vibrating, like raindrops sliding down a glass window. Human figures appeared within, showing her and Henry Carter standing close together, but the background was all blurred, like a mist.

The Henry Carter opposite her spoke, his voice buzzing as if coming through something, steady but tinged with surprise: “Olivia, I can’t see you.”

Can’t see? Right in front of her, she and Henry Carter were standing shoulder to shoulder. Olivia Sullivan looked up, and the woman in the image also looked up slightly. Olivia smiled, and the image of herself smiled too, but the Henry Carter beside her had empty eyes, his face full of vigilance, like a taut string.