I Am More Paranoid Than the Villain – Chapter 1

Girlfriend’s Betrayal

The two embraced, their breaths intertwining.

The sky was getting dark, and the number of vehicles on the road was increasing.

            

A dense, dark mass of them, the taillights of the cars connecting to form a spectacular red line.

Shen Man​¹ was driving her car. She stopped at a red light, glanced at the small gift on the seat beside her, and the corners of her lips curled into a pleasant smile.

She watched the red light, patiently counting the seconds in her heart.

            

The corner of her eye inadvertently swept to the side of the road, where two women were standing.

One had a delicate and pretty appearance, the other was stunningly beautiful and captivating.

The two were intimately close, embracing under the flickering lights, their faces nearly touching.

            

In the eyes of an ordinary person, they would look like best friends who had a rather good relationship.

But as it happened, Shen Man knew both of these beauties.

One was her girlfriend of nearly a year, one was her confidante and business partner.

            

The smile on Shen Man’s lips froze.

The red light before her stung her eyes, and the gift beside her seemed like a joke, a reminder of how ridiculous she was.

Shen Man’s expression turned cold. She took out her phone and dialed a number.

            

The two people embracing immediately separated.

The delicate-looking beauty took out her phone, a well-behaved smile on her face, “Man-jie​², have you had dinner yet?”

The voice on the phone was gentle and pure, tinged with a happy laugh.

            

“Where are you?” Shen Man asked, her voice devoid of any fluctuation.

The autumn wind from outside the window blew in, messing up the hair by her ear, which fell to cast a small shadow, covering half of her eye.

The taillights of the car in front reflected in her pupils, refracting a red glow.

            

“I’m taking a walk on the street, I’ll be back soon,” the woman said with a light laugh, as a mischievous hand landed on her waist.

She squirmed a little but didn’t refuse. Instead, she reached out and twirled a strand of the other person’s hair.

Shen Man watched quietly, her gaze turning icy and her voice growing cold, “Look to your left.”

            

The woman turned her head, her gaze falling on Shen Man’s car. Her eyes instantly widened, and the phone in her hand fell to the ground.

A flash of panic crossed the face of the person beside her, but she quickly regained her composure and waved at Shen Man with a smile.

The green light came on, and the cars behind her honked their horns incessantly, urging her to move.

            

Shen Man skillfully started the car, her long, slender, manicured fingers holding the steering wheel steadily, without a single tremor.

The car sped past, and a delicate little box flew out of the car window, landing accurately inside a trash can.

In the rearview mirror, the figure of a woman running in a sorry state was reflected.

            

The expression on the woman’s face was one of terror and fear, her mouth wide open as she shouted ‘Man-jie’.

Shen Man expressionlessly averted her gaze and turned the steering wheel to the right.

This was a road that led in the complete opposite direction of home.

            

That home she had once meticulously decorated, had now also become a joke.

It was currently the evening rush hour. The roads were congested, and the cars crawled forward like turtles.

Shen Man frowned in annoyance, the anger of betrayal accumulating in her heart.

            

Looking at the red light ahead, she couldn’t help but curse.

Her phone rang. The caller ID was ‘Baby.’

A sarcastic smile touched Shen Man’s lips. She answered the call, her voice tinged with amusement, “Lin Qing​³, what do you want to explain?”

            

Lin Qing trembled, fear appearing in her eyes.

She knew Shen Man too well.

When Shen Man was angry, she wouldn’t lash out directly. On the contrary, she would appear very calm.

            

But the calmer she was, the deeper her anger ran.

“Man-jie, there’s nothing between Cheng Wan​⁴ and me. I just ran into her while I was on a walk and we chatted a bit,” Lin Qing explained, crying, her tone extremely soft and weak.

Usually, as long as she showed the slightest pitiful expression, Shen Man would feel her heart ache for her.

            

But this time, her pitifulness was met only with Shen Man’s cold laughter.

“Lin Qing, do you take me for a fool? I have no interest in something that has been sullied by someone else,” Shen Man said with a laugh, her beautiful features carrying a ruthless edge.

The car in front of her moved in fits and starts. She pressed her lips into a thin line and slammed a fist on the seat.

            

A sharp edge cut her fingertip, and bright red blood dripped down slowly, accompanied by pain.

She seemed not to notice, her expression indifferent.

Lin Qing’s lips trembled, and she cried even louder. An invisible pressure broke through her psychological defenses via that clear, cold voice.

            

Knowing she couldn’t fool Shen Man, she hurriedly apologized, “Man-jie, I know I was wrong, you forgive me this one time, okay…”

“Sorry, it ends here,” Shen Man’s smile was cold. After speaking, she hung up the phone.

Holding the phone with one hand, Shen Man deleted all of Lin Qing’s contact information and photos.

            

Her Moments​⁵, Weibo​⁶, and other social media accounts—anything related to Lin Qing—she deleted without a trace of sentimentality.

It was as if this person had never appeared in her life.

When in love, it was tumultuous, wishing to tell the whole world; when separating, it was decisive and merciless, not giving the other party the slightest room to turn back.

            

This was Shen Man’s consistent principle in handling matters, not to be changed for anyone.

The red light finally turned green. Shen Man tossed her phone aside, accelerated past the car in front of her, and left one car after another behind.

This kind of overtaking on a road with cars like water and horses like a dragon​⁷ was extremely dangerous.

            

Shen Man’s lips carried a smile, not caring in the slightest.

The wind generated by the car’s speed was even more exhilarating, scattering the gloom and frustration in her heart.

Suddenly, a vehicle driving against traffic appeared ahead.

            

The vehicles next to her obstructed her view, and coupled with her excessive speed, Shen Man’s heart tightened when she saw it. She quickly wanted to turn the steering wheel to pull over to the right.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an elderly person walking slowly on the road with a child. If she pulled over, she would definitely hit them.

In that brief moment of hesitation, Shen Man missed the best opportunity to evade and collided hard with the oncoming vehicle.

            

A sound that shook the heavens and wanted to deafen the ears​⁸ went BANG!, the massive roar impacting Shen Man’s eardrums and nerves.

She lost consciousness almost instantly.

In the moment she closed her eyes, she saw the shocked and stunned eyes of the old man and the child.

            

The screams from the roadside and the honking of car horns descended into chaos.

These sounds, Shen Man could no longer hear.

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Shen Man opened her eyes.

            

What met her gaze were dim lights, constantly shifting between various colors, so dazzling her eyes were bewildered​⁹.

Not far away was a large-screen projector, playing an MV​¹⁰, with the lyrics below turning red bit by bit.

The sound of music that shook the ears and wanted to deafen came through, and a man’s voice, roaring with effort, was transmitted from the microphone.

            

Half of the notes in each line were off-key. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good either.

Someone in the crowd was jeering and cheering loudly.

This was clearly a KTV​¹¹, not a hospital.

            

Shen Man’s head was dizzy and her brain was swelling​¹² from the noise.

After adjusting to the light in the room, she finally saw her surroundings clearly.

There were a dozen people in the room, about half male and half female.

            

Some were singing, some were drinking, and some were playing with dice.

These faces were all very young, probably just having reached adulthood, around eighteen or nineteen years old. They had an innocent look, and their style of dress was simple and campus-like.

Shen Man felt her head hurt even more.

            

She had started her family fortune with white hands​¹³, launching her own business while still in school.

After having struggled and fought her way up touching, climbing, rolling, and hitting​¹⁴ in society for seven or eight years, her social circle was filled with a group of fox-like characters. She didn’t know a single one of these students before her.

“Shen Man, how did you get drunk on just a little bit of alcohol? Your tolerance is way too low,” the boy who had been singing tossed the microphone to the person next to him, walked over, and said with a laugh.

            

As he got closer, Shen Man saw the boy’s face. He was handsome and sunny, and his smile was very charming.

His eyes were clean and clear, and under the dim lights, they held the simple emotions of a young man.

“Young Master Tan​¹⁵, today is your birthday. Classmate Shen Man is being happy for you,” someone next to them said, their words laced with flattery.

            

Shen Man tilted her head slightly.

Only then did she realize she was lying in a corner of the sofa, and the table in front of her was strewn with beer bottles.

All of them were beer.

            

With her alcohol tolerance, she wouldn’t get drunk even if she drank all this beer by herself.

But right now, her head was dizzy and her brain was swelling, and her body felt light and weak, unable to exert any strength.

This was clearly the state of being drunk, yet her consciousness was perfectly clear.

            

“Where’s Lin Shu​¹⁶? Where did that girl run off to? Her Man-jiejie is drunk, and she still hasn’t shown up,” the boy asked the others loudly.

Just as his voice fell, the room door was pushed open, and a slender young woman walked in.

Shen Man felt her eyes light up.

            

The young woman was about 165cm tall, with her hair in a bun hairstyle​¹⁷. She wore a white shirt on top and a short black skirt below, a hint of sexiness showing through her purity.

Her skin was very fair, a porcelain white that seemed to glow, and her long legs were both fair and straight.

Her looks were also beautiful, with a pair of bright and spirited apricot eyes​¹⁸, and a slightly upturned, cherry-like mouth​¹⁹ that carried a touch of arrogance.

            

Simply standing there, she could attract everyone’s attention.

“Lin Shu, where did you run off to? Shen Man is drunk, hurry up and help her to rest,” the boy said loudly with a smile.

He was clearly very familiar with this girl named ‘Lin Shu’.

            

Lin Shu curved her lips, her gaze falling on Shen Man’s face, and gave a sweet smile, “I already said Man-jiejie’s alcohol tolerance isn’t good, but you all insisted on making her drink. Now that you’ve gotten her drunk, are you satisfied?”

“My Great Miss Lin​²⁰, just say a few less words and hurry up and help your Man-jiejie away,” the boy said as if begging for mercy.

“I don’t want to,” Lin Shu huffed coquettishly, her eyes arrogant. “Whoever got her drunk should be the one to take responsibility.”

            

She was pretty, and making this expression was both proud and cute, making it impossible for people to dislike her.

Shen Man keenly sensed that something was wrong.

This young woman’s words didn’t match her heart​²¹; a trace of panic was hidden in her eyes as she looked at her.

            

While the two were talking, her body had actually begun to heat up. An unusual wave of heat started from her lower abdomen and rushed to her heart.

Having seen all sorts of situations out in the world, she knew very well what this was.

She hadn’t fallen into the hands of those human spirits​²², but had instead been schemed against by a little girl with a pure appearance.

            

Shen Man revealed a faint smile, pushed herself up from the sofa, and staggered toward the young woman.

Her face was flushed, and her eyes were misty, appearing both drunk and not drunk.

When they were one step apart, Shen Man fell toward the young woman.

            

Lin Shu’s heart tightened, and she instinctively reached out to catch her.

Shen Man wasn’t heavy, but the force of her fall still pushed Lin Shu back a step.

The two embraced, their limbs touching, their breaths intertwining.

            

Shen Man’s face was hidden in the dim light, the smile on her lips widening as she pretended to be unconscious and leaned against the young woman.

Lin Shu had no choice but to support her with all her strength.

“Alright, your Man-jiejie only wants you. Now you can’t refuse anymore,” the boy said.

            

Supporting the person, Lin Shu showed an unnatural smile on her face and said petulantly, “How can I, a girl, support her? Why don’t you help me?”

“Find another girl to help you,” the boy said with a laugh, casually pointing to a girl in the crowd.

Lin Shu shook her head and refused, “I’d better do it myself.”

            

Shen Man was even more certain that there was something wrong with this young woman.

Since she dared to scheme against her, she had to be prepared to pay the price.

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