684

ext up, they're launching a 5203 jewelry line and Zhuowan will be its sole spokesperson. This news caused quite a stir in the entertainment industry because previously, Nianing International only chos...The Substitute Wife of the CEO: Completed 684

Warmth accidentally noticed a leather-bound diary between two cursed books. She picked it up and opened it, revealing neat handwriting that had faded over the years. The notes were clearly written by a woman.

After reading just one page, Warmth knew this was Diary of Long Xiushui, written after her marriage. While she experienced happiness, she also suffered from the curse, trying every means possible to find ways to break it. Initially, Warmth couldn't understand Long Xiushui's actions, but after a few pages, she began to empathize with her; as her mother, Long Xiushui had endured similar hardships and deserved forgiveness regardless of what she had done.

She loved her husband deeply, especially after becoming pregnant. She was terrified of having a daughter because Long Xiushui never wanted children in the first place due to the suffering it would bring. Additionally, the Long family's covetousness towards her made her fearful and anxious. When carrying Long Chongtian, she nearly miscarried; only her father’s insistence on keeping the baby alive allowed him to be born safely.

It was a boy, which delighted Long Xiushui greatly.

She wished to have just one child and no more. Despite this, the elders continually pressured her to bear another daughter as the family lineage required a direct heir with a butterfly birthmark. If there was no mark, they wouldn't be considered an heir nor suffer from the curse. Long Xiushui adamantly did not want to have a daughter but couldn’t withstand the pressure and had to comply.

At this point, Warmth noticed something amiss: The Long family possessed witchcraft that prevented bearing heirs with birthmarks. Long Xiushui said she didn't want her daughter to suffer like her, so during her pregnancy period, she practiced unique witchcraft of the Long family. Upon reading this, Warmth couldn’t help but touch the butterfly mark on her shoulder and wondered why she was born if she had already mastered such witchcraft

What about the butterfly on her shoulder Was it due to failed witchcraft

She doesn't know.

The warmth was eager to continue reading and find out what secrets the diary held. Ever since Long Xiushui found out she was carrying a girl, she had been very worried, fearing that her witchcraft might fail. What puzzled Warmth even more was that when she was eight months pregnant, Long Xiushui went on a trip with her father. Generally speaking, at eight months pregnant, it is almost time for delivery, and going on a trip would be rather strange. The diary entry about the trip suggested they were out traveling, not at home; two months had passed since then.

Long Xiushui wrote: I have given birth to a daughter with a "butterfly" birthmark. Warmth was puzzled by why Long Xiushui put quotation marks around the word 'butterfly.' After this entry, there were no further mentions of butterflies or witchcraft, leaving Warmth utterly bewildered.

The later entries in the diary were sporadic, and Warmth sensed something amiss but couldn't pinpoint what it was. As she closed the leather-bound journal, she sighed softly, realizing how hard her mother's life had been.

With a deeply loving father and two children, yet burdened with such a curse, of course her heart would be filled with bitterness.

The diary later mentioned that her mother attempted to break the curse out of fear. As her father was approaching thirty and she couldn't avoid it any longer, she decided to take the risk in hopes of spending her life with him.

But who would have thought that her attempt would lead to her father's death

The diary ended there, as if Long Xiushui stopped writing once she started trying to break the curse.

warm wanted to gather some clues from the snippets she overheard, but there was nothing. Her mother's witchcraft was so good that every successor of the dragon family had a great natural talent for it; if even her couldn't do anything about the curse, then warm probably wouldn't be able to either.

Warm knew absolutely nothing about witchcraft and could not even read what was written.

Tiredly closing her notebook, warm thought that her mother had suffered so much alone on the island all these years. Was it time for her to forgive her and visit her

Pondering over this one-time encounter with her birth mother made warm's heart complicated.

"Little sister, what are you doing" A voice came from the door, and warm was brought back to reality as she saw Long Chengtian standing in the doorway, looking intently at her. She held up her notebook as if she had done something wrong, saying, "I came up here to enjoy the breeze and accidentally looked inside."

Long Chengtian watched her quietly, with warm biting her lip and not speaking for a while before apologizing.

"It's fine. This used to be my parents' room; I moved everything in as it was here originally. You have the right to come in," said Long Chengtian as he walked over, noticing the diary in warm's hand. "This is Mother’s diary; I often saw her writing in it when I was young."

"Has Brother read it"

Dragon Chengtian shook his head, "This is my mother's privacy. I don't want to look at it and can't bear to see her like that. Every time she writes in her diary, she either cries or looks gloomy. I believe the process must be very painful for her, and keeping a diary isn't something joyful."

Warming pursed her lips. Indeed, this wasn't a happy journal to read, but even so, she didn't regret reading it. At least now she felt more gratitude and sympathy towards Dragon Xiushui since they shared similar experiences.

"I stumbled upon it by chance and was originally planning to see if there were any hints about the curse," Warming said.

Dragon Chengtian smiled lightly, saying, "Don't tell me you haven't given up"

"If there's even a glimmer of hope, who would want to give up I'm not giving up either; it's more like I've come to terms with things and hope that Fei Mo will forgive my past recklessness," Warming replied gently. The environment at the Dragon Manor was nurturing her health recently—she looked very healthy and had a good complexion.

Dragon Chengtian looked at her, showing some reluctance as he said, "Little sister, you've grown up. Although I don't like Ye Feimo, if it's your wish, I won't interfere with any of your decisions."

Warming smiled and nodded. She knew she had a very indulgent older brother.

"Has reading the diary been helpful in any way" Dragon Chengtian asked. Since Warming had made up her mind about this, he no longer hesitated to bring it up. Shaking her head, Warming replied, "No, my mother mentioned not wanting to have a daughter and practiced a kind of witchcraft to avoid having an heir, but it seems she failed as I was still born. Anyway, I believe such things are rather mysterious—whether one has a son or daughter isn't decided by the mother anyway; it's the father who makes that decision. Could this sorcery really ensure you'll have a boy"few intact bodies. Moxiao Bai waited anxiously. The port was cordoned off with police lines, and Bai stood outside like other pedestrians, observing from a distance. With his sharp eyesight, he spotte...