After a long while, he carefully spoke: "…Miss Sullivan, could you help me understand something? Just now, none of us passed through the water mirror. Logically, we should have been on the front and back sides of the mirror, so why were you able to see an image of two people standing side by side?"

When the original host's aura took over, it startled Henry Carter so much that he became distant, and even Olivia didn't dare to call out to him.

"…I guess maybe the old monster shrank himself and revealed your figure. What I saw was my own reflection and the real you. On your side, I was blocked by the water mirror…"

Henry Carter's eyebrows twitched, and he naturally continued, "What I saw was the back of the water mirror, so I couldn't see you. It used a spliced image to lure you to cross the mirror and investigate…" He couldn't help but smile, "So that's how it is. Truly ingenious."

Olivia smiled at him. Henry Carter is very intelligent—if he had received a modern education, he would surely be a top-tier genius, much better than her, who barely scraped by the passing line.

"By the way, where is Yvonne Foster?" Olivia was a bit sleepy, following Henry out while yawning and asking casually.

Outside, the torrential rain had stopped, leaving only puddles on the ground that looked like bright mirrors.

"Yvonne?" Henry Carter's expression was a bit strange. "Yvonne is gravely injured and hasn't woken up. Right now, she's lying in the west wing…"

A buzzing sound went off in Olivia Sullivan's mind, as if she had been struck on the head. In an instant, those blurry plot points flooded back like a tidal wave, and she remembered everything all at once.

How could she have forgotten this?

It was because she skimmed the book and only remembered the general plot, and also because she had just transmigrated into this world and her mind hadn't caught up yet… She actually misremembered such an important plot point!

As if to mock her, the system's mechanical voice sounded in her ear at just the right moment: "Mission reminder: Mission one, one quarter progress. This sub-mission has been given to the host as a sample. Mission completed."

A sample gift? Olivia was stunned for a second.

What was mission one again?—Oh right, bullying the female lead and causing trouble… In other words, she hadn't even started causing trouble, but the system had already done it for her.

And now she had to take the blame!

Author's note: I promise, the water mirror is definitely the smartest monster in the whole story! There won't be any more complicated setups like this later on!

Chapter 3: Substitute Bride (Part 3)

This mission… what is this mission?

She trembled as she recalled that the complete plot in the book was like this:

That day, Henry Carter used the Ninefold Demon-Subduing Pagoda to force the fox demon out of Ethan Sullivan's body, then went to save her. The enraged fox demon pounced on Yvonne Foster, and Yvonne Foster forcibly subdued the fox demon, but was seriously injured in the process.

The fox demon was dead, but the main group discovered some suspicious details: why were all previous cases involving a pair of newlyweds as victims, but this time it was a single young woman? Why did Ethan Sullivan seem confused, while those missing newlyweds were perfectly normal on their wedding night?

It turned out the real culprit was someone else. The fox demon was just an opportunist, imitating the crimes to feed on vital energy under the guise of the water mirror's wedding cases, but was killed by the main group as soon as it appeared.

Since the real culprit preferred to strike during other people's weddings, there had to be a reason. To lure out the true great demon, Henry decided to act quickly and hold a fake wedding.

And that's why everything tonight happened.

And the reason Henry Carter, who had a girlfriend, would find another woman, Ethan Sullivan, to put on an act was entirely because Yvonne Foster was too badly injured to get out of bed!

On the night of the demon hunt, Henry settled the unconscious Yvonne Foster, sealed the doors and windows of the west wing, drew sealing talismans, and only then felt at ease leaving his beloved woman alone in the room.

But what did Ethan Sullivan do? After Henry Carter left, she quietly wiped off the talismans on the wall and tore the talisman paper on the door into pieces.

She left the unconscious Yvonne Foster lying in the defenseless west wing!

Olivia clenched her sleeves, her face showing pain: Ethan Sullivan was clearly committing murder on purpose!

She liked Henry Carter, but Henry already had such a beautiful and noble Yvonne Foster by his side. If only Yvonne Foster could die in the great demon's attack, just like that…

If Yvonne Foster died…

If this wedding, fake as it was, became real, and she truly became his bride…

"Olivia?" Her arm was supported by Henry Carter, who leaned in slightly, concern on his face. "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Olivia Sullivan instinctively kept her distance from him, but after remembering where and when she was, she immediately moved closer, her face pale as she grabbed Henry Carter's hand.

Henry Carter wasn't used to being so close to other women and instinctively pulled back a little.

"Yvonne Foster…" He noticed the look in her eyes shift from panic to pleading. "Go check on Yvonne Foster!"

Henry's expression softened a bit, and he comforted her like a frightened child: "Yvonne is fine. I drew talismans at her door…"

It's useless… they've all been destroyed!

The water mirror, chased to desperation by the Ninefold Demon-Subduing Pagoda, charged straight into the completely unprotected west wing and found a demon hunter lying there, and fear drove it mad…