Jiang Zheyu had no desire to face the original owner's best friend, that beautiful viper. She certainly didn't want a so-called "best friend" like her.
After some thought, she decided to cut ties with the original owner's best friend directly.
What kind of best friend was this? She didn't want one at all.
Yu Yu: Don't come over. I'm going to turn over a new leaf. Let's not contact each other anymore.
After sending the message, Jiang Zheyu immediately deleted Bai Ruo.
Who would have thought that right after she deleted her, the person in question had already arrived outside her door.
When the door was knocked on, Jiang Zheyu jumped in surprise. Only then did she remember that the original owner's best friend, Bai Ruo, could come and go from this villa as she pleased.
The original owner had set Bai Ruo as a trusted person in the villa's smart home system, allowing her to enter with a facial scan and even bring guests.
Jiang Zheyu frowned in annoyance. 'What a miscalculation. I'll remove Bai Ruo's trusted status from the smart system later.'
"Jiang Zheyu, what is the meaning of this?" Outside the door, Bai Ruo stared grimly at the red exclamation mark on her bracelet.
Jiang Zheyu had actually dared to delete her!
She pounded forcefully on Jiang Zheyu's door. "Jiang Zheyu, come out! We need to have a good talk!"
Inside the room, Jiang Zheyu had no choice but to slowly get out of bed and open the door.
Bai Ruo was dressed in a white dress, her face delicate and pretty, with a head of wavy brown hair.
Although the young woman looked delicate and harmless, her sharp, hostile eyes revealed that she was not as innocent as she appeared.
When Bai Ruo suddenly saw that Jiang Zheyu hadn't put on her usual ugly makeup, that a beautiful, exquisite, and perfect face had appeared before her, a wave of irritation and disgust washed over her.
"You... why aren't you wearing makeup?" Bai Ruo seemed a little surprised, then advised kindly, "You don't look very good like this. You should go put your makeup back on the way it was."
Jiang Zheyu: ...
'How could someone lie so blatantly?'
Bai Ruo had brought two males with her, but they stood behind her with their heads bowed submissively, not even daring to look up.
The two Male Beastmen were undoubtedly handsome, but both wore tight-fitting, mechanical silver collars around their necks.
This was a silver collar that monitored their Beastification Value. On the side of the collar was a real-time display of the Beastification Value data.
There were many products for monitoring Beastification Value, such as a simple silver bracelet worn on the wrist. However, females seemed to prefer collars, as if it gave them more control over their Beast Mates.
Moreover, she knew from the original owner's memories that these collars could have more than just a monitoring function; they could also be made to constrict and even kill.
A Female Master could use her bracelet's Light Brain to make the collar constrict, causing the Male Beastman to gasp for air as if being strangled, and could even use it to kill him.
Jiang Zheyu didn't know what kind other people used, but she knew this was the exact type Bai Ruo used on her own Beast Mates.
"I've decided to live a good life with Su Yan," Jiang Zheyu lied. 'In the original story, Su Yan becomes part of the heroine's harem. Although my appearance has changed the plot, I still believe that no matter what happens, the men who belong to the heroine will end up with the heroine.'
'That's why I've been maintaining a polite but distant relationship with Su Yan. Once he gets together with the heroine, I'll just silently wish them well and leave.'
This was just a white lie told to sever ties with the original owner's best friend.
Bai Ruo looked at her suspiciously. "Are you being threatened? As a female, you're afraid of that lowly Male Beastman, Su Yan? If he's threatening you, you can report him directly to the Supervisory Bureau and have him thrown in prison for life."
She assumed Jiang Zheyu had been threatened by Su Yan, which was why she had become so timid.
Bai Ruo knew Jiang Zheyu disliked Snake Beastmen and would never genuinely want to live with Su Yan—unless the coward had been intimidated.
In Bai Ruo's eyes, the original owner was a total coward. She had taken the original owner to those "K-shops" so many times, yet the original owner only dared to strike the Male Beastmen a few times with a whip and had even been frightened by the blood on several occasions.
"I'm not being threatened..." Jiang Zheyu felt her explanation was weak and unconvincing.
Before she could finish, Bai Ruo spoke again. "Enough nonsense. Add me back within a day. And hurry up and put your makeup back on, or I'll be embarrassed to be seen with you later."
Jiang Zheyu opened her mouth to speak, but Bai Ruo cut her off every time.
"I'll wait for you downstairs. Today's new pet just arrived, brought back from the Exile Star." Bai Ruo crossed her arms, looking down at Jiang Zheyu with contempt. "You should be interested. After all, you've played with him before."
With that, she turned and went downstairs.
"Wait..." Jiang Zheyu's eyes widened as she watched Bai Ruo rattle on, arrange everything, and then leave.
Jiang Zheyu stood there, her fair little face frozen. 'What did Bai Ruo just say?'
'I'd be interested? And I've "played with" that person before?'
'No, not me. The original owner played with him.'
'But now I *am* the original owner.'
She had originally planned to just shut the door and ignore her, but thinking of this, she hesitated. She wasn't sure if it was her conscience acting up or if she was afraid of retaliation.
After all, she had become the original owner, and that person had likely been abused by her predecessor.
Jiang Zheyu wrestled with herself for a moment before returning to the mirror to apply that ugly, grotesque makeup. Her makeup skills were excellent; having seen it in the mirror just once before, she could already replicate most of it.
It wasn't that she wanted to atone for the original owner's sins. She just wanted to ensure that the people who had been hurt wouldn't want to kill her. 'They can resent me, curse me to have a bad life, or even get some minor revenge. As long as it's not a hatred that makes them want me dead.'
That, Jiang Zheyu could accept. She was just afraid that someone would truly want to kill her, even if it meant taking themselves down with her.
Life is precious.
In any case, she wanted some peace of mind.
Soon, Jiang Zheyu couldn't bear to look at her own hideous makeup.
Even such a beautiful woman couldn't pull off such grotesque makeup. Aside from being able to tell from the shape of her features that she should be attractive, the first thing one noticed were her ghastly red lips.
'Seriously, how on earth did the original owner believe Bai Ruo's nonsense?'
'This looks good? *Good*?'
'Was the original owner blind, stupid, or just plain clueless?!'
Jiang Zheyu silently averted her gaze from the mirror.
When she went downstairs, Bai Ruo rose slowly and chided her, "What took you so long?"
Jiang Zheyu said nothing.
Only upon seeing Jiang Zheyu's ugly appearance did Bai Ruo look satisfied.
A flower always needs a weed for contrast to appear dazzlingly brilliant.
Bai Ruo glanced at Jiang Zheyu, then took the lead and walked ahead. Seeing the look in the other woman's eyes, how could Jiang Zheyu not know what she was thinking?
'The original owner treated her like a best friend, but she treated the original owner like a dog to be toyed with.'
'Come to think of it, the name Bai Ruo seems to play a fairly significant role in this novel.'