"Abels Blake, can you please just hear me out for a second?"
Emily Jennings’s voice was already hoarse from yelling, and she finally broke down, begging the man.
“You brought the damn wine, so now deal with the consequences!”
With his angry shout, the iron-framed wooden bed started creaking again.
……
By the time Emily woke up, she felt like she'd been crushed by a truck—her whole body ached.
She pulled off the blanket and stared at the bruises on her skin, furious as she weakly pounded the bed.
But her arm had no strength, and the hit felt more like a whimper.
How unlucky could she get? She’d just landed a civil servant job, went out to celebrate with some classmates, then boom—a car crash, and now she’d somehow ended up inside a book.
Last night, she’d come all the way out to find Abels Blake, planning to get him to sign the divorce papers.
She thought once the divorce was done, she’d be free to do whatever she wanted in this 80s world.
Who would’ve thought her grandpa’s wine had something fishy in it? That wine, mixed with the whole weird vibe of the night, led to... that.
Sure, they weren’t officially divorced yet, but they were about to be. So what was that supposed to mean?
“Creak—!”The old wooden door creaked open from the outside.
A tall, broad-shouldered man, easily over six feet, walked in.
He wore a sleeveless military-green shirt that showed off his muscular arms—solid and powerful.
You couldn’t help but want to reach out and touch them.
His short black hair was still wet, droplets falling steadily.
Emily Jennings stared at his striking face, completely dazed.
"Wanna go again?"
The man grabbed a towel from the table, drying his hair as he looked at her with a teasing smile.
Sharp features, defined jaw, and a body cut like a soldier’s—everything about him screamed tough guy.
Emily awkwardly wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth.
Yep, that was her—flustered around hot guys with muscles.
A total sucker for good looks.
Honestly, having something happen with this grade-A man, she didn’t really lose out.
But truth be told, they’d gone a little overboard last night thanks to the spiked liquor.
By the end, she’d lost track of how many times things happened.
Noticing his gaze still locked on her, Emily quickly pulled the blanket up and buried her neck underneath.
"Ouch…”
She wasn’t sure if she’d moved wrong or strained something last night—it hurt quite a bit.To be fair, that man really did have some impressive qualities.
"Did you get hurt?"
His concerned tone only made Emily Jennings feel more awkward. After all, they barely knew each other—they’d just slept together the night before.
"When are you signing the papers? I need to head back."
Hearing the word “sign,” Abels Blake’s face darkened with irritation.
"You still wanna get divorced now?"
He stepped close, gripping her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"We had a deal. I came here for the divorce. You can't just go back on it!"
Abels let out a cold laugh, his sharp eyes zeroing in on her lips, still swollen from the night before.
"You slept with me. Don’t you think you should take some responsibility?"
Emily’s eyes widened in shock at his words. She mumbled, lips pouted slightly, "Do men even need to take responsibility?"
"That was my first time. You gave me that drink on purpose, just so you could get me into bed. And now you think you can just walk away? Emily, what do you take me for?"
Emily was baffled—wasn’t that supposed to be her line?
That had been her first time too!
"Abels Blake, you're really out of line! That was my first time too! I haven’t even asked you to be responsible!"Abels Blake leaned down, his deep-set eyes fixed on Emily Jennings. They were so close their noses almost touched.
"I'm taking responsibility. I'm not signing those divorce papers."
Emily couldn’t help but feel like she’d walked right into some kind of trap with this man.
But she never asked him to take responsibility!
"But—"
"No buts. I’ve got morning drills. You get some more rest."
He dipped his head and gave her lips a quick kiss. They felt even more swollen than before. Looking pleased with himself, he finally let her go.
Like nothing had happened, Abels opened the wardrobe, pulled out his uniform, and dressed in no time.
Just like that, he was back to being the cool, self-disciplined soldier.
Thud.
The old wooden door shut behind him again.
Emily lay back on the bed, covering her face in frustration.
Why was everything going completely off script?
That’s right. She had time-traveled into a book.
Now she was Emily Jennings, the unlucky villainess in the story.
Years ago, Abels had saved Grandpa Richie’s life. To repay him, Grandpa had insisted Emily marry him.
Who would’ve guessed Abels would be transferred to this remote island the night they married?
Three years of marriage, and not once had he gone back. Just like the original Emily in the book, she’d never even shown up here.But after being left alone for three years, Emily Jennings eventually gave in to her loneliness and cheated on Abels Blake. Afterward, they divorced and her life went downhill fast.
Since she was just a side character in the book, the original story only gave a short summary of her situation—just a few hundred words. That was it.
On the other hand, Abels Blake ended up marrying the granddaughter of a high-ranking commander, got transferred back to a better place, and lived happily ever after.
Now though, there was no point regretting anything. What’s done is done.
Wrapped up in the blanket, she grabbed her clothes from the bed and started getting dressed underneath the covers.
Glancing around the room after the chaos of last night, it hit her—this place was seriously shabby.
Besides a worn-out iron bed, there was only a chipped wooden desk and a wardrobe with one of its doors missing. That was it.
"Ugh, I’m gonna lose it."
Still, no use complaining. Since she was already here, she might as well deal with it.
First thing first—she needed to get something in her stomach.
She climbed off the bed and stood in the beat-up room as a wave of sadness rushed over her.
Sigh. She couldn’t even imagine how heartbroken her parents must’ve been when they heard about her dying in that car accident.
“Dad, Mom... I miss you both so much.”
But there was no way back now. All she could do was hang in there.
She quickly wiped her tears. Life moves on, whether you like it or not.
She remembered from the book that this island was called Nanfengdao. It was part of the country’s border, only officially settled in recent years, and life on the island was tough—really tough.Especially in the 80s, things weren’t great anywhere, let alone here.
She slipped on her shoes—hand-stitched cloth ones that her mom had made, according to the book.
The Jennings family was actually pretty well off. Her grandpa and both parents had steady jobs, so Emily never lacked anything growing up.
She thought marrying Abels meant she’d be living at home, but turns out, he got suddenly transferred.
And now? Look at this dump. She had no idea how long she'd be stuck in a place like this.
"Gurgle, gurgle."
Her stomach was growling like crazy, so she headed out to the kitchen.
Good grief—did someone loot this place?
Wait, no. It probably always looked like this.
A big old iron stove sat against the wall, smoke stains turning the white walls black from years of cooking.
Across from it was a dish cabinet. Inside, she found two sets of bowls and chopsticks neatly arranged, plus one large iron basin.
