Lu Zhenzhu, a talented painter, marries Gu Huai, a powerful and seemingly devoted businessman, believing their union is built on deep love. Gu Huai has historically showered her with affection, including a dangerous deep-sea dive for her birthday gift and poetic inscriptions in her books. However, shortly after their wedding, Lu Zhenzhu discovers an old photograph revealing that Gu Huai’s true passion belongs to Jiang Sesè, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to her. The discovery shatters Lu Zhenzhu’s illusion, yet she finds herself pregnant and initially decides to raise the child alone. Her situation deteriorates when she encounters Jiang Sesè at a club, where Gu Huai’s protective and tender behavior toward the other woman becomes undeniable. Jiang Sesè reveals a tattoo of Gu Huai’s name and claims she left him due to family financial ruin and her father’s illness, deepening Gu Huai’s emotional entanglement with her.
The conflict escalates as Gu Huai brings Jiang Sesè into their marital home, claiming she is a business partner needing care due to illness. He forces Lu Zhenzhu to move to the guest room, prioritizing Jiang Sesè’s comfort and health over his wife’s feelings. Lu Zhenzhu’s attempts to assert her rights are met with cold dismissal and manipulation. Gu Huai consistently sides with Jiang Sesè, dismissing Lu Zhenzhu’s grievances as trivial tantrums. The tension peaks when Jiang Sesè destroys a comb that was the last keepsake from Lu Zhenzhu’s deceased mother, an act Gu Huai minimizes while showing concern for Jiang Sesè’s fabricated injuries.
A pivotal turning point occurs at an art auction where Lu Zhenzhu desperately tries to reclaim her mother’s painting, Bluebird, only for Jiang Sesè to outbid her and subsequently destroy the artwork. Gu Huai’s refusal to support his wife and his harsh words about the painting being merely a relic of a dead person break the last thread of Lu Zhenzhu’s hope. She is publicly forced to apologize for alleged plagiarism of Jiang Sesè’s work, a crime Jiang Sesè committed by stealing Lu Zhenzhu’s drafts and burning the evidence. Gu Huai threatens Lu Zhenzhu’s career and reputation, compelling her to submit to his demands to protect her mother’s memory.
Realizing she is merely a stand-in and that Gu Huai’s love is reserved for Jiang Sesè, Lu Zhenzhu decides to leave. She secretly prepares for her departure, selling her assets and obtaining a visa. On Gu Huai’s birthday, after witnessing him and Jiang Sesè’s intimate behavior and seeing him casually give his wedding ring to another man, Lu Zhenzhu leaves a signed divorce agreement and disappears. She flees to Country C, but Gu Huai, realizing the severity of her departure, tracks her down. He kidnaps her and brings her back, refusing to grant the divorce and asserting his dominance. Upon their return, Jiang Sesè manipulates the situation to appear as the victim, further isolating Lu Zhenzhu. Gu Huai’s mother urges him to distance himself from Jiang Sesè and push for grandchildren, but Gu Huai remains obsessed with controlling Lu Zhenzhu, leaving her trapped in a marriage devoid of love and respect, with her career and personal freedom under constant threat.
