Author: Momo Chan

I came back from a business trip and had a wild night with my boyfriend. But when it was over, I suddenly realized: he was in his usual spot in the bed. I grabbed him and scrutinized the details to see if he was cheating. The next second, he covered my eyes, trembling: “M-Maya… I can’t go another round today…” 1 I froze. He looked up at me, pitiful. “I have a basketball game tonight. If we go again, my legs are really going to turn to jelly…” I sat up like a corpse springing back to life. I suddenly realized the man next to me might actually be my boyfriend’s younger brother! He was still a college student who hadn’t even graduated yet! I knew something was off when I came back! My boyfriend’s build looked slightly different! A fine layer of cold sweat broke out all over my body. I yanked the covers over myself and screamed: “Why is it you?! Why are you in my apartment?!” The air… went completely silent. The young man’s eyelashes fluttered nervously. He stared at me, his voice hoarse and full of disbelief. “What… what do you mean? So just now, when you were so happy… you didn’t know who you were with?” He looked so wronged and hurt. It made the excuse of “face blindness” get stuck right in my throat. I took a deep breath. Trying hard to stabilize my emotions, I asked another question: “Where is your brother? Why isn’t he home?” Noah looked down. “My college game was nearby, and the schedule was tight. All the hotels were booked, so I could only crash at his place… He was afraid of waking me up, so he stayed overnight at his office. We didn’t know… you were coming back so suddenly…” His voice trailed off. Coupled with his expression, he looked even more innocent. Unacceptable! So he’s innocent, and this is entirely my fault?! I gritted my teeth and kept interrogating him: “Then why didn’t you explain who you were before you took your clothes off?!” Noah looked even more dejected. “You kissed me the second you walked in. When did I have a chance to explain…” “I know you’re afraid my brother will find out about us. I won’t tell him…” “Everything that happened today… I’ll just treat it like a dream…” As he spoke. He put his clothes back on, diligently stripped the bed, and smoothed out every single wrinkle, erasing all the evidence. Everything was playing out exactly according to the best-case scenario I had envisioned. It was so perfect I actually felt like I was the villain… Finally, when he was hand-washing my thong in the sink, I couldn’t hold back anymore: “Just give that to me…” As I walked over, he flinched like he’d been burned. He looked at me with red-rimmed eyes. “I got it dirty…” Damn it! I really am a monster! 2 My phone buzzed. It was a voice message from my boyfriend, Liam. I wanted to play it, but seeing Noah’s wet, puppy-dog eyes, I suddenly felt guilty. I hit the speech-to-text button. [Baby, when are you coming back? I learned a new recipe recently!] [Miss you, miss you /emoji] One of the main reasons I got together with Liam in the first place was that he knew how to cook. He was the only one who could satisfy my stomach, which was completely sick of takeout. I couldn’t help but smile. Noah floated over beside me like a ghost. “That new recipe my brother learned? I taught it to him.” Huh? I looked up, but Noah had already pulled open the fridge, desperate to prove himself. “I didn’t use up all the ingredients I bought yesterday. If you don’t believe me, I’ll make it for you right now.” As he spoke. He stripped off his shirt in three swift motions and threw on his brother’s apron. Why are you taking your shirt off to cook?! I followed him into the kitchen. Noah was already swiftly slicing, washing, and stir-frying like a pro. The apron straps perfectly covered his nipples. I could only catch a glimpse of them when he made large movements… I couldn’t help but panic. “It’s covered, it’s covered. Hey! Stop it! Why are you cooking right now?!” While I was talking. He had already plated the dish. He looked at me, full of expectation: “Maya… do you want to try a bite?” Try… what exactly? A buff, buzz-cut stud, and he’s in his prime college years. At a time like this, what kind of modern-day saint could resist?! There were two little people fighting in my head. One said, “Hurry up and taste it!” The other was violently choking me, “It’s not like you haven’t tasted it already! Doesn’t knowing who it really is make it even more thrilling?! Hurry the hell up and taste it!” Noah put the plate down. He stepped closer to me, step by step, looking down at me. “Maya, why aren’t you saying anything?” An inexplicable tension bounced around the room. I stammered, “You can… you can just call me Maya…” His footsteps stopped. His expression darkened: “You mean, when?” Well, that time, obviously— Before I could get the words out. The sound of the front door unlocking clicked loudly. My scalp went numb. The next second, a surprised voice came from the doorway, “A suitcase? Hmm? Baby, are you back?” 3 Six eyes met. The air was dead silent. Cold sweat poured down the back of my neck. I wanted to say something to explain this mess. But my quick wit suddenly completely failed me! Until Noah casually spoke up, “Oh, Liam, you’re back too.” “Maya just got in. Just in time for me to finish cooking.” Phew. I let out a massive sigh of relief. Liam took off his shoes and picked me up in a pleasantly surprised hug. “Baby, why didn’t you tell me you were coming back early? You didn’t even reply to my messages!” He spun me around twice. My energy was completely drained; I felt dizzy and lightheaded. Thankfully, Noah called a stop to it. “Liam, let’s eat.” His voice was cool and clear. He turned around, revealing his bare back. Liam frowned. “Noah? Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” Noah stopped in his tracks. I started anxiously twisting my fingers together… “I washed it.” He dropped that single sentence and went back to busying himself in the kitchen. Thank God! There actually were clothes Noah had just washed out on the balcony! Wait. Crap! My toes curled up in sheer panic. My freshly washed thong was also out on the balcony. If Liam saw it…! I grabbed Liam and kissed him hard. He was stunned by my sudden aggressiveness. But he quickly reacted, responding passionately. In the blink of an eye, his voice went husky. “Baby, hold on. Noah is still here…” 4 Crash— In the kitchen doorway, porcelain shattered. Noah stood there, his eyes instantly turning red. Liam and I immediately separated. Liam coughed awkwardly. “Your sister-in-law and I haven’t seen each other in a long time. We couldn’t help ourselves. Just pretend you didn’t see anything.” The young man’s lips trembled slightly. “Couldn’t help yourselves, huh…” Liam didn’t catch it. “What?” Noah stopped talking. He silently cleaned up the mess on the floor. From my angle, I could only see his lonely, dejected back… The food looked and smelled amazing. But I couldn’t taste a thing. My entire focus was concentrated on my right leg, which was constantly rubbing against the leg next to me. I knew that wasn’t Liam, because Liam was sitting on my left… The dinner table was completely silent. Until Noah picked up a piece of green pepper and dropped it into Liam’s bowl. “Liam, eat your vegetables.” Then, he picked up a glistening piece of sweet and sour ribs and dropped it into my bowl. Liam’s expression froze… I burst into a violent coughing fit. Liam looked at me. “Baby, I’ll go get you some water.” Yes! Anything to end this suffocating atmosphere! I nodded frantically. As Liam walked away, I finally let out a long breath. I glared at Noah. “What are you doing?!” He acted like he didn’t hear me. He elegantly chewed a grain of rice, glanced at me, and said slowly: “Maya, Liam’s fridge is out on the balcony.” The thong! In a flash of lightning! I felt like I had been struck by a thunderbolt! I jumped up and sprinted toward the balcony. Liam already had the water. His expression was normal. “What’s wrong, baby?” I gulped hard. But then I noticed his lips were slightly pale. “Were you that impatient to drink water…” 5 Sitting on pins and needles. That was the truest description of my current emotional state! Liam didn’t ask anything, but a guilty conscience makes it hard to sit still. I was terrified he was saving up his questions. Just waiting for Noah to leave so he could draw his sword on me when we were alone! The feeling of impending doom was agonizing! While I was squirming in my seat, Liam looked up. His voice was cold: “You need to leave today.” He was talking to his brother! The two men locked eyes. For a moment, even the dog barking next door went silent… My soul left my body. When I snapped back to reality, Noah was already rolling his suitcase to the door. He stopped at the doorway and looked at me: “Maya, see you next time…” The door clicked shut. Only Liam and I were left in the apartment. It was the most normal scenario, yet I instinctively looked away. He grabbed my wrist. I looked up. I saw that Liam’s eyes were already red. “Maya, you have no idea… how much I missed you these past few days…” The guilt almost drowned me. I took a deep breath. I was going to confess everything to him! But Liam sealed my lips before I could. He kissed me with a desperate devotion. Something wet dripped onto my face… This time. He was incredibly passionate. The world, rising and falling, brings people joy, but also confusion. In my hazy, dizzy state. I heard Liam murmur: “Baby… does he make you feel better than I do?” Instantly, my eyes shot wide open! “What did you say?!” Another storm of passion hit. Liam focused entirely on the physical, not saying another word, as if what I just heard was a hallucination. He knew my body too well. A few movements later. My thoughts drifted away with him again. When it was over, I was completely drained, just overwhelmingly exhausted. In my half-asleep state, it sounded like someone was telling a bedtime story. A husky voice, thick with a nasal tone: “The year Noah was born, I was four… “He seemed to be born with a better knack for making the adults happy. I couldn’t help but be jealous of him… So I stole everything he had since we were kids. Until his 18th birthday. My parents and I went on a trip, and he called to complain… “I thought he was just fighting for attention again, so I secretly turned off my parents’ phones. We only found out when we got back from the trip that Noah had acute pancreatitis. No one was there to take care of him, and he almost died at home… “I swore to him then that as long as it was something he liked, whatever he wanted, I would never fight him for it again. But Maya… why did it have to be you…” 6 When I woke up again, the apartment was spotless. Yesterday’s leftovers, even my luggage, everything was neatly organized. Liam was always like this. Silently doing things in the background. I picked up my phone. Someone had added me on Snapchat at some point. [Maya, my game tonight. Are you coming?] [If you come, I’ll be really happy.] It was obvious who it was. Noah and I had already made a mistake once… Looking around the clean, tidy apartment, I decided to cut things off with Noah completely! After that… I’d beg Liam for forgiveness. Mind made up, I called him on the app. He picked up instantly. “Maya?” His voice pitched up at the end; he sounded really happy. I stayed silent for a moment, then spoke: “After this, let’s delete each other. Let’s not contact each other privately anymore.” The call went dead silent. A moment later, a loud crashing sound erupted. Someone on the other end yelled in panic: “Noah! Noah! Quick, call an ambulance!” My heart violently clenched. “Noah, what happened to you?!” 7 The other end of the line was in total chaos. Not long after, someone hung up the phone. Something happened to Noah. That realization threw me into a panic again. I tried to call back, but no one answered. It couldn’t be because of my phone call, right? I was a nervous wreck the entire day. Until Liam came to pick me up after work. “I have to go to the hospital. I’ll drop you off at home and then head over.” The hospital?! My heart hammered against my ribs. “Who got hurt?!” Liam glanced at me: “How did you know it was an injury and not an illness?” My breathing hitched. I wanted to explain but didn’t know where to start. The light turned green. Liam started the car again. After a long, long time, he asked in a muffled voice: “It’s my brother who got hurt. Do you… want to go?” It really was Noah who got hurt! Because of my phone call! I gripped my seatbelt tightly. I didn’t even notice my voice cracking. “I have to go. Liam, take me with you!” 8 Noah really did get hurt because of me! They said Noah was on the phone, and they didn’t know why, but his expression suddenly looked awful. When the basketball came flying down, he didn’t dodge it. He fell right on the bleachers and hit his head, bleeding immediately. He still hadn’t woken up! The other guys on the basketball team were also anxious. “Noah never even has girls around him normally. But this afternoon, for some reason, he suddenly got a call from a girl!” “Otherwise, with his reflexes, he definitely would have dodged it!” In the hospital corridor. No one said another word. Liam’s expression was heavy. It was completely impossible to guess what he was thinking. I stood rooted to the spot. I couldn’t even describe what I was feeling. All I knew was that Noah was lying there entirely because of me… One mistake after another. I shuffled over to Liam. All sorts of thoughts were warring in my head. Right now, it seemed the only option was to confess. Whether it was the older brother or the younger brother, this tragedy was entirely my fault… I wrung my hands. “Liam…” He looked up. There was a raw emotion in his eyes, and he was trembling slightly. “Don’t say it.” His voice was hoarse. His fists, resting on his legs, were clenched so tight the veins bulged. “I don’t want to hear it right now…” A dull ache throbbed in my chest. I had no idea how to clean up this mess. The door to the hospital room was suddenly pushed open. The nurse said the patient was awake. Noah’s head was wrapped in bandages. From far across the room, the first person he looked at was me. “Maya, I’m dizzy.” 9 Noah suffered a concussion from the fall. Besides dizziness, he also had bouts of nausea. When Liam was ordering food, Noah dry-heaved until physiological tears ran down his face. “Liam, I want home-cooked food.” Liam put his phone away. He gave me a fleeting glance. “Then your sister-in-law and I will go back, make some food, and run it over to you.” “Liam!” Noah raised his voice and sat up abruptly. The next second, he started gagging and feeling nauseous again. I couldn’t help but pat his back. I looked at Liam. “Why don’t you stay here with him? I’ll go back, make some food, and bring it over…” After all. Noah’s injury had everything to do with me. Liam pressed his lips tightly together. He didn’t say anything, but the patient started groaning. Noah held his forehead, saying the room was spinning. Finally, he looked at me pitifully and asked: “Maya, can my current physical condition handle your ‘creative’ cooking?” “Your sister-in-law can’t stay here with you!” Before I could even react, Liam suddenly stood up. Noah blinked. His voice was soft: “Then I guess… I’ll just be hospitalized alone…” Liam’s body went rigid. He looked at me. The rims of his eyes were flushed pink. “Maya, you stay at the hospital with Noah for now… I’ll be back as soon as I can…” He walked away unsteadily, his footsteps rushed. “Maya~” Noah called me, his voice full of grievance. “Look at me.” I slowly turned my head, looking at the pitiful man on the hospital bed. “You did that on purpose.” My voice was certain. “You got hurt on purpose. You acted pitiful on purpose. You drove your brother away on purpose.” “Noah, your brother is already miserable enough!” “Why did you have to do this?!”

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My sugar daddy and I were having a very intense session when he hit his head on the nightstand and passed out cold. When he woke up, he became… weird. He no longer pestered me endlessly; instead, he treated me like a mouse seeing a cat. Just exchanging two sentences made his ears turn bright red, and he’d get all flustered. After half a month of this cold shoulder, I was convinced he had found someone new. I decided to terminate our contract early. But before I even reached his study, I heard him on the phone. “I went from eighteen to twenty-seven after just one nap. This nap was way too long.” “I think I’m going crazy too. Because the girl I have a crush on is suddenly my girlfriend, and every night she asks if we can sleep together. Who can handle that?!” Crush? Was he talking about me? Weren’t we just a simple transaction? I looked at the contract in my hand, lost in thought. 1 My sugar daddy had been acting weird lately. A week ago, he returned from a business trip. That night, during our “friendly exchange,” he hit his head on the nightstand and passed out. At the time, I thought I had literally loved him to death. Later, when I found out he just bumped his head, I let out a long sigh of relief. But then, it was like he became a completely different person. After he woke up in the hospital, I immediately made his favorite lean meat congee and went to visit him. The moment I raised the spoon to his lips, the man rolled right off the hospital bed. The IV drip was forcefully yanked out, and he scrambled on the floor for ages, his face flushed red, unable to get up. The scene was total chaos. A moment later, Assistant Young stepped out of the room and said to me, “Ms. Song, the CEO asks that you go home first. He will return shortly.” Holding the now-cold congee, I stood on my tiptoes to peek into the room. The second our eyes met, Arthur Vance whipped his head away so fast… A scream followed, and a nurse’s shriek echoed from the room. “Sir! Did you sprain your neck again?!” I was very worried about Arthur. Because I was very afraid of him not “performing” well. After all, this was my job. If the sugar daddy couldn’t perform, my existence was meaningless. The current economic climate was terrible. A boss like Arthur—handsome, rich, and with low demands—was a rare find. So I went home and meticulously dressed up. But for two whole days, I didn’t see hide nor hair of Arthur. I called him, but he kept hanging up. I started feeling a creeping unease. Daddy, I’m not about to lose my job, am I? I turned around and called Assistant Young. Assistant Young was a good guy. Without a word, he transferred the call to Arthur. “I’ve been busy with work these past two days, I…” Before he could finish, I started sobbing dramatically. “I just wanted to see the wound on your head. I’m so worried about you.” The line went dead silent. My manipulative “green tea” tactics had always worked perfectly on Arthur. That night, Arthur came home. Only, from the moment he walked in, he wore a stony expression. Although Arthur usually had a cold demeanor, the softness in his eyes was always impossible to hide. Right now, the man looked more like he was deliberately keeping his expression rigid. “Work has been so tiring lately. Your wound just healed, you shouldn’t overexert your brain…” I took the initiative to break the weird atmosphere, reaching out to walk toward him. But before I could even touch him, the man executed a perfect dodge, and I lunged at thin air. Looking at my empty hands, I didn’t process what happened for a second. Then, my heart violently sank. Although my relationship with Arthur was transactional, his infatuation and affection for me usually allowed me to act a little spoiled. This man usually stuck to me like glue the moment he saw me. Before, let alone dodging my touch, he would have loved to tie me to his belt 24/7, just to satisfy his animalistic desires. But now… Alarm bells rang in my head. I’m doomed. My charm wasn’t working on him anymore. Arthur looked very awkward. He stammered, “The wound is almost healed. Let’s… let’s eat first.” 2 When I placed a piece of lamb kidney into Arthur’s bowl, his hand visibly shook twice. I observed him discreetly. The man kept his head down, picked up his chopsticks, and lifted the meat. He didn’t have a good grip, and the meat fell back down. After two or three attempts, his ears turning red enough to bleed, he finally, shakily, shoved the meat into his mouth. I let out a sigh of relief. He was still willing to eat what I served him; I guess I hadn’t lost favor entirely. But this meal was incredibly depressing. He ate whatever I served him, never once lifting his head. It wasn’t until I saw the table full of food was almost completely wiped out that I realized Arthur was about to eat himself sick. After dinner, I sent the nanny away, gritted my teeth, and put on that revealing purple nightgown. This was Arthur’s favorite. In the past, I only wore it when I wanted to buy a new designer bag. Tonight, I was determined to see if he was still up to the task. Good news: he was. Bad news: Arthur, with his lower half noticeably swollen and a nosebleed, ran away. I sat on the edge of the bed like a helpless husband, listening to the roar of a car engine fading into the distance. Just moments ago, I, freshly changed, had locked eyes with the man who had just walked in the door. His gaze landed on me; my gaze landed on his crotch. Then, a trail of blood slowly trickled down from Arthur’s nose. We both stared wide-eyed. “Arthur…” I scrambled to get some tissues and approach him. Arthur was clearly more panicked than I was. Holding his nose with one hand, he made a “stop” gesture at me with the other. “Don’t come any closer!” I was startled by his sudden shout and froze in place. Arthur, still holding his nose, stumbled toward the door. “I suddenly remembered I have something to do at the company. You go to sleep first.” 3 … The sound of the car completely vanished. I dejectedly took off my clothes. Even though I didn’t want to admit it, the facts were right in front of me. Arthur wasn’t interested in me anymore. Otherwise, knowing him, he would have nearly broken the bedframe by now. I took out my phone and opened a job-hunting app. Looking at the postings for $3,000 a month with no room and board, my vision went dark. Just as I thought I was about to go from a pampered canary to a corporate pack mule, Arthur came back. It was noon the next day. I had slept in until eleven, completely giving up. When I went downstairs, I found he was already sitting at the dining table. The man looked up at me. I stood there, brain dead, sporting a massive bedhead. Then, I turned and sprinted back upstairs in a panic. Damn it. He used to always tell me before he came back. In the two years of our relationship, I had never let him see me look this ugly. I always appeared with a full face of makeup, looking my absolute best. Great. Not only had I lost his favor, but he had also seen me at my worst. I threw my hands up, did a quick, sloppy cleanup, and went back downstairs. Arthur was still sitting at the table. “Good afternoon, Chloe.” The man’s voice stumbled. I didn’t have the energy to dwell on it, so I just plopped down right next to him. “Sorry about deliberately standing you up last night. Did you cry?” He looked into my eyes cautiously. I raised my hand and touched my eyelid, restraining the urge to roll my eyes. This was the “peach blossom” makeup I had done on myself. The pitiful, pink corners of the eyes were meant to evoke tenderness, but he mistook them for being swollen from crying. I almost laughed out of sheer annoyance. Arthur must have been possessed. A stupid question like that shouldn’t have come from him. Seeing me silent, Arthur pulled a massive shopping bag from behind him. “Don’t be mad. Here are some gifts for you.” My eyes lit up, and I almost screamed when I opened the bag. So many bags! Why was he being so generous today? Not that he was stingy normally—after all, Arthur had even given me a supplementary credit card. But in the past, he would just transfer money and let me buy things myself. I lovingly picked up the bags, one by one. The joy was quickly washed away by terror. This must be a severance package. The more I thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. The bags in my hands suddenly lost their appeal. Arthur watched my expression, speaking cautiously. “Do you not like them?” I forced a stiff smile. “No, I do. Are you sleeping here tonight?” This topic once again plunged the atmosphere in the living room to freezing point. Arthur’s gaze began to wander. “The company is really busy lately. I’ll probably have to stay there for a while…” My heart turned completely cold. Such a clumsy excuse. It was just a polite, adult way of rejecting me. Sure enough, these expensive bags were my severance pay. For the next few days, Arthur always made time to eat with me. But only eat. Every time I tried to initiate some physical intimacy, he’d act like a mouse seeing a cat—his hair would stand on end, and he’d jump three feet in the air. Let alone staying the night. After several failed attempts, I opened the job-hunting app again. I had just managed to negotiate a $3,000 job with no room and board up to $3,200 when Arthur returned again. I put down my phone, deciding to try one last time. If he pushed me away this time, I would give up completely. “Do you like them?” This time he brought back a bouquet of flowers. Very vibrant yellow roses. Yellow roses symbolize farewell and separation. I sighed, losing even the interest to take off my outer clothes and reveal my “battle armor.” The man had practically spelled it out for me, telling me to get lost if I knew what was good for me. What was I still struggling for? Arthur had a high sex drive. During our two years together, almost every day I ended up with weak legs and had to be carried into the bathroom by him. He hadn’t been back home recently, yet he looked radiant and energetic every day, as if he was ten years younger. He was definitely getting his needs met outside. Because he had found a canary he liked and obsessed over more, he wouldn’t touch me, and was constantly hinting for me to leave. I took the flowers, forcing a smile. “I like them.” Then, I turned around, said I was going to change clothes, and went back to my room. I took off my seductive clothes and pulled a contract out of the nightstand. We had signed this two years ago, renewable annually. Seeing that it was about to expire next month, I had originally planned to renew it after he returned from his business trip. Now, it seemed there was no need. I smiled bitterly and slowly opened the contract. To be honest, I was very reluctant to let go. Even though Arthur and I had no emotional investment, having a top-tier handsome guy giving me money daily, who was great in bed and kept himself clean, was truly a rare find. I took a deep breath, holding the contract, and walked towards the study. I, Chloe Song, had stooped to being a canary. But I still had my dignity. The contract clearly stated that if either party wanted to end the relationship, or found someone else, it could be terminated. I was going to end this relationship now and go take that $3,200/month job. Arthur wasn’t in the living room. I walked to the window and looked out at the courtyard; his car was still there. So where did he go? Just as I was wondering, the man’s helpless voice came from around the corner by the study. “How did it go contacting that brain specialist abroad?” “I know appointments are hard to get, but you can’t just watch your buddy live the rest of his life like this idiot, right?” “I went to sleep and woke up going from eighteen to twenty-seven. The memories in between seem to have been eaten by a dog.” “The company is a minor issue. I can figure out those documents if I try hard enough. The real problem is my girlfriend.” The hand holding the contract trembled. Sure enough, a woman’s intuition is always accurate. Especially for a beautiful woman like me. It’s even more accurate. Arthur really had gotten a girlfriend. But what did ‘eighteen to twenty-seven’ mean? Before I could figure it out, the next second, I heard my own name. “When did I start dating? Didn’t I tell you? It’s Chloe Song! I probably didn’t brag about it because I was afraid you’d get jealous.” “My girlfriend now asks me every night if we can sleep together.” He sighed. “It’s a good thing my crush became my girlfriend, but I’m really terrified of blowing my cover. I’m so pent up I’m about to explode, but I don’t dare touch her.” I was completely bewildered. Crush? Me? What was Arthur talking about? I didn’t understand. He was still complaining pitifully. “You think I’m crazy too, don’t you? I think so too. You have no idea how cute she is, swaying around in front of me all day.” “She even washes up all nice and smells good to seduce me every day. I absolutely can’t handle it. I’m afraid to go home.” “I’m just venting to you, don’t you dare imagine it.” I looked at the contract in my hand, deep in thought. Wait, if what Arthur is saying is true… Then not only have I not lost favor, but I’m actually getting a promotion? “You need to think of something fast. I need to get my memory back quickly. If Chloe finds out and wants to break up with me, I’ll hang myself at your door the next day.” The call ended. The man’s footsteps were getting closer. I panicked, clutching the contract, and ran back to my room. Back in my room, I shoved the contract back into the nightstand. My thoughts were a tangled mess. Arthur and I had absolutely never met before. At least, in my memory, we had no connection. Our first meeting was in a coffee shop. I was being scolded by the boss for clumsily breaking a cup. Arthur just appeared like that. His broad back shielded me from all the reprimands, and just like that, he pulled me out of that impoverished environment. When he offered to cover all the medical expenses for me and my puppy, I didn’t hesitate to search online for a sugar baby contract template. He froze for a few seconds, then signed those few pages. My puppy, who I depended on for survival, ultimately wasn’t saved. But my relationship with Arthur continued in this ambiguous way. In the past, when Arthur took me to banquets, other female companions would enviously tell me that Arthur really liked me. I didn’t really believe it. I thought he just liked my body. But now… I opened the wardrobe, his recent words echoing in my mind. If the eighteen-year-old Arthur had a crush on me, what did he like most? I decided to personally verify the truth of his words. Looking at the school uniform in my hand, I recalled my eighteen-year-old self and tied my hair into a neat ponytail. “Chloe, time for lunch…” The moment I finished changing, Arthur’s voice came from outside the door. I looked in the mirror at my bare face and the school uniform, feeling like I had instantly traveled back to being eighteen. Bracing myself, I opened the door. 4 Arthur’s hand, raised to knock on the door, froze mid-air. I took a deep breath and looked up at him. The moment the man’s amber pupils clearly saw my appearance, they violently contracted. The air stalled for three seconds. Arthur seemed completely stunned, his hand still maintaining that awkward posture. I blinked, raising my arm to hold his hand. With a thump, the man fell to his knees on the floor. I stepped back in fright. The sharp pain in his knees seemed to snap his sanity back as well. “What are you…” I looked at Arthur kneeling on the floor. It was an angle I had never seen before; it was quite novel. Arthur was very tall. When we interacted, I always had to look up at him when he spoke to me. Every time I looked at his sharp jawline, I wondered how much milk he must have drank to grow so tall. This was the first time I saw the fluffy top of his head. It was rather cute. Arthur kept his head down, not daring to look at me, his face flushed bright red. “I… I was practicing proposing.” He stammered. I looked at him kneeling on both knees and tried hard to hold back my laughter. Who proposes on both knees? It looked like he was visiting a grave. But I didn’t expose him. I stepped forward and tried to pull him up. “Let’s go eat.” Arthur shrank back in terror. My hand paused. “It’s fine. You go downstairs first; I’ll get up myself.” I looked at him silently, then down at the clothes I was wearing. Is this really necessary? It’s just holding hands, and his legs turned to jelly like this. I figured the young Arthur had a very low psychological tolerance; I needed to increase the dosage tonight. By the time Arthur came downstairs, I was already half done eating. He sat cautiously across from me, not even daring to lift his head. My eyes darted around. I stood up, walked a circle around the dining table. Then, I sat down right next to him. The hand Arthur was using to hold his chopsticks froze. “Try this dish I made…” I pushed the dish closer to him. The man frowned slightly. “Isn’t there a nanny at home? Why are you still cooking? Is he abusing you?” Then, as if realizing he misspoke, he coughed lightly twice. “Am I abusing you?” I shook my head, picked up some food with my chopsticks, and placed it in his bowl. “I only made it because you like it. Do you not like it anymore?” Arthur put the food in his mouth, staying silent for two seconds before speaking. “It’s very good. I like it.” Consequently, that plate of food was eaten clean. After dinner, he grabbed his coat again, trying to slip away. I was quick and grabbed his arm. “You’ve been busy for days. Even if you don’t come back to keep me company at night, can’t you just sit with me for a bit during your lunch break?” I spoke pitifully. Arthur swallowed hard, and like a marionette, he was led by me toward the living room sofa. I turned on the TV, then lazily leaned against his shoulder. Arthur’s whole body went rigid, breathing heavily like he was about to die. I pretended not to notice. I reached out to touch his leg. The man was so startled he tried to get up and run, but I forcefully locked my arms around his waist.

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I slept with the Supreme Commander of the Federation. My goal was to borrow his S-class pheromones to cure my genetic disease. After the treatment, I ran, casually leaving a single coin on his nightstand. It was an acknowledgment of his… services. I thought my plan was flawless. Until three months later, I was pinned to the ground while buying suppressants in the black market. Arthur pressed his gun against the back of my head, his tone freezing cold: “Finally caught you.” “Ethan, I was very dissatisfied with that one-dollar tip you left that night.” I instinctively shielded my stomach. No other reason. Just that this “job” had resulted in a little surprise. 1 When Arthur caught me, I was throwing up. Leaning against the filthy wall of the black market, I was retching so hard I thought I’d bring up bile. Being pregnant… this whole thing was way too out of bounds for a guy who had been an Alpha for twenty-six years. I should have just stabbed Arthur that night instead of getting soft-hearted and merely using him as an antidote. “Are you done throwing up?” A voice as cold as ice came from above. My spine stiffened. I didn’t need to look up to know who it was. That pheromone scent, like frozen earth after a blizzard—there was no second person in the entire Federation with it. Arthur. The Supreme Commander of the Federation, an S-class Alpha known as the “Mad Dog.” He was also my former partner and my current mortal enemy. I wiped my mouth, slowly stood up straight, turned around, and flashed him a grin. “Well, Commander Arthur. Long time no see. Missed me that much?” Arthur didn’t smile. Behind him stood a fully armed special forces squad, their muzzles pointing uniformly at my head. This kind of lineup was a bit excessive, even for my funeral. Arthur, his black-gloved fingers resting on his holster, ran his dark, brooding gaze over me. Finally, his eyes settled on my stomach. My heart skipped a beat. I was wearing loose clothes, so I wasn’t showing much, but his eyes were as venomous as a snake’s. “Your skills have slipped, Ethan.” “You used to be able to smell me three streets away. Now I’m standing right behind you, and you’re dealing with morning sickness?” He used the term “morning sickness.” Not “nausea.” My pupils contracted slightly, and the dagger in my hand quietly slipped into my palm. “My stomach’s been acting up lately. Ate something bad.” “What, does Commander Arthur care about my diet now?” Arthur let out a cold laugh. The next second, he struck without warning. If it were the old days, I could have gone three hundred rounds with him. But now? First, my legs were weak from throwing up. Second, the aftereffects of my genetic disease, combined with the little vampire in my belly, meant my stamina was currently worse than a Beta’s. I only had time to raise my arm to block. Crack. Sharp pain shot through my wrist. Just like that, he twisted my arms behind my back and slammed me hard against the grimy wall. “Ugh… Arthur, you son of a…” “Shh.” The cold barrel of the gun pressed against the back of my head. Arthur leaned in close to my ear, his tone freezing: “Finally caught you.” “Ethan, I was very dissatisfied with that one-dollar tip you left that night.” 2 I was taken back to Federal Prison No. 3. This place was specifically for S-class felons, known as the “Living Tomb.” And I was enjoying the highest level of treatment—personal interrogation by Arthur. The heat was off in the interrogation room, and it was bone-chillingly cold. I was locked in a specialized interrogation chair, my hands and feet tightly shackled. These shackles could suppress pheromones; if I struggled too much, they would release a high-voltage shock. Arthur sat across from me, slowly and methodically cleaning his gun. It was the birthday present I gave him back in the day. I didn’t expect him to keep it until now, much less plan to use it to shoot me. “Ethan, three years on the run, and this is what you’ve reduced yourself to?” He looked up at me, his gaze critical. I was definitely looking rough right now. I’d been stripped down to a single, thin T-shirt. My abdomen was throbbing dully from the violent struggle earlier. I gritted my teeth, fighting back the waves of nausea welling up in my throat. “I’m doing alright.” I forced a smirk. “Just came back for a family visit, you know.” “Family visit?” Arthur acted like he’d just heard a joke. “Visiting who? That former partner you shot through the shoulder and left in the ruins?” Arthur had a through-and-through scar on his body. I did that. Three years ago, the first signs of my genetic breakdown appeared. To avoid dragging him down, and to find a banned drug only available on the black market, I orchestrated a defection. I deliberately missed his vital organs with that shot, but I didn’t expect him to hold a grudge until now. “That was an accident.” “The gun misfired.” SLAM! Arthur slammed his hand on the table. “An accident?” “And sneaking into my residence, drugging me, and using me like a cheap gigolo for a night—was that an accident too?!” I didn’t expect things to turn out like that either. Three months ago, I desperately needed Arthur’s bone marrow fluid or highly concentrated pheromones as a catalyst for my medicine. I sneaked into his residence, originally planning to just draw a vial of his blood. Who knew I’d walk right into the middle of his explosive rut? The whole room was filled with that maddening scent. As an Alpha whose genes were on the verge of collapse, being stimulated by that top-tier oppressive aura caused an immediate, massive rejection reaction. I went crazy too. Only one thought remained in my mind: I need him. What happened next was a blur. I only remember biting, tangling, and him calling my name in the haze of passion. But I couldn’t admit it. If I admitted it, not only would I lose the cub, I’d lose my life too. “Commander Arthur, you need evidence for those claims.” I stared into his eyes, forcing myself to stay calm. “Your residence is heavily guarded. How could I possibly get in? Besides, I’m an Alpha, you’re an Alpha. How do two rock-hard men sleep together? A sword fight?” Arthur narrowed his eyes. “You’re an Alpha?” He suddenly reached out, his hand moving toward the scent gland on the back of my neck. There was a heavy-duty blocker patch stuck there. “Ethan, your pheromone scent has changed.” “It used to smell like strong liquor, now…” He leaned in closer and sniffed, frowning. “Why does it smell like milk?” 3 A herd of wild horses was trampling through my heart. That was the specific scent of an Omega during pregnancy. Even a blocker patch couldn’t completely hide it. “It’s a new cologne. You wouldn’t get it.” “Is it?” Arthur sneered. His fingers suddenly tightened, ready to rip off the blocker patch. “Then let me smell what brand this cologne is.” “Don’t touch me!” I panicked and struggled violently. If he discovered my scent gland had mutated into an Omega’s, everything was over. The shackles sensed my struggle and instantly released a high-voltage current. Zzzzt—! “Ugh!” Agony ripped through my entire body. My vision went black, and I slumped in the chair, convulsing. The electricity didn’t just shock my nerves; it stimulated my already unstable reproductive cavity. It felt like someone had viciously kicked my stomach. The pain made me curl up, and cold sweat instantly soaked my back. “Ethan!” Arthur didn’t seem to expect me to react this violently. He immediately cut the power and reached out to slap my face. “Stop playing dead! That was nothing!” I didn’t have the energy to play dead. I was in real pain. I could even feel something slowly slipping away. “Medicine…” I gripped his sleeve. “Give me my medicine…” “What medicine?” Arthur’s face changed; he must have realized something was very wrong. My body temperature was dropping rapidly, and my lips had turned a purplish-blue. “I have a genetic disease… I need my suppressants…” I shivered, speaking half-truths. I couldn’t say “pregnancy-preserving drugs.” If I did, it would be two lives lost. Arthur stared at me dead on, his eyes unreadable. Just when I thought he was going to watch me die in pain, he suddenly turned and pulled a syringe from the drawer of the interrogation table. It was a military emergency med-kit. Without hesitation, he injected it into my jugular vein. The liquid pushed in, freezing cold. The pain eased slightly. I gasped for air, like a fish just pulled out of the water. Arthur threw away the syringe and grabbed my chin again. “Ethan, what exactly are you hiding from me?” “I’ve checked your physical data. An S-class Alpha’s constitution wouldn’t collapse from that little bit of electricity.” “Unless…” His gaze moved down again, locking onto my abdomen. It was still spasming from the pain. “Unless your physical structure has mutated.” “Take off your clothes.” “What?” I froze for a second. “I said, take off your clothes.” Arthur stood up straight. “Or do I have to do it for you?” “Right here? Are you crazy, Arthur?” “I do what I want, where I want.” He didn’t give me a chance to refuse, grabbing the hem of my T-shirt directly. Riiiip— The fabric tore. My upper body was exposed to the air. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Because my body was covered in scars. Knife wounds, bullet wounds, burn marks—crisscrossing like an ugly web. Arthur’s gaze didn’t linger on those old scars. He stared at my lower abdomen. There was a slight bulge there. If you didn’t look closely, you’d think it was just relaxed muscle. But Arthur reached out and placed his hand over it. I shuddered, instinctively trying to pull back, but there was nowhere to hide. “What is this?” His voice trembled. It carried extreme shock and disbelief. “A lump? A tumor?” He pressed down slightly. I let out a muffled groan. The little cub inside, as if sensing the approach of its other half’s bloodline, actually moved at that very moment. It was a very faint movement. But Arthur froze completely. “It moved…?” I closed my eyes in despair. It was over. This time, it was really over. “Ethan.” Arthur’s voice was hoarse, laced with desperation. “Are you… pregnant?” “An Alpha… pregnant?” 4 Since I couldn’t hide it anymore, there was no need to keep playing the submissive fool. “Yes.” I opened my eyes and looked at him provocatively. “If you don’t believe me, you can cut it open right now and see if it’s a freak or a miracle.” “Whose is it?” He thought I had been sleeping around with wild men out there, knocked up, and came back just to disgust him. I suddenly found it a bit funny. “It’s not yours, anyway.” I deliberately provoked him. “You know what the black market is like. To stay alive, sometimes you have to pay a price…” “Shut up!” He grabbed me by the throat, his eyes bloodshot. “Ethan, how dare you… how dare you let another Alpha touch you?!” The feeling of suffocation rushed in. My vision started to go black, but a smile still hung on my lips. “Cough… Commander Arthur… we broke up a long time ago… who I sleep with… is none of your damn business…” “I forbid it!” Arthur seemed to have lost his mind, his pheromones violently washing over the entire room. “You are mine! Even if you’re a corpse, you’re mine!” “Who does that bastard child belong to?! I’ll kill him! I’ll tear him to pieces!” His grip tightened. I was really going to be strangled to death. The fetus in my abdomen sensed the mother’s crisis and began to struggle violently. It hurt so much. A hundred times worse than the electric shock just now. “Ugh…” I finally couldn’t hold it in and let out a painful groan. That sound seemed to bring back Arthur’s sanity. He looked at my pale face and my starting-to-dilate pupils, and his hand violently released. “Cough, cough, cough…” I coughed violently, greedily sucking in air. Arthur stumbled back two steps, his chest heaving heavily. He looked at his hands, then at me, curled up in pain, confusion and fear flashing in his eyes. “Ethan…” “Get lost…” I was sweating profusely from the pain, gritting my teeth and cursing: “Arthur, if you want to kill me, just do it… stop torturing me…” “Medic!” Arthur roared toward the door. “Get the military medic in here! Now!” “I dare anyone to come in!” “Arthur, if you dare let anyone else touch me… I’ll die right in front of you.” I still held the broken half of the dagger blade in my hand. I pressed it against my carotid artery. “Let me go.” “Impossible.” Arthur refused without a second thought. “With your physical condition, walking out that door means death.” “Staying here means death!” I stared at him. “Arthur, I’m a mutated Omega from a secondary gender differentiation. This child is a monster; it’s eating my life!” “You need top-tier Alpha pheromones to soothe it. Nobody else can save you.” Arthur calmed down. “Ethan, no matter who this bastard child belongs to, we’re saving your life first.” “Once you’re cured…” A ruthless glint appeared in his eyes. “I will personally abort this abomination, and then I’ll find your wild man and tear him to pieces.” I looked at him. I had a lot of mixed feelings. Are you going to tear yourself to pieces? Idiot. But I didn’t dare say it. This child was his. If he found out the truth, given his obsession with blood purity and his controlling nature, this child wouldn’t live to see tomorrow. And he would lock me up, lock me up for the rest of my life. “Ah—!” A tearing, agonizing pain suddenly erupted in my abdomen. My vision went black, and I completely lost consciousness. But in the last second before I passed out, I heard Arthur’s panicked shouts. “Ethan! Ethan!” And that momentary, trembling embrace that wrapped tightly around me. 5 When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed in the infirmary. There were no shackles on my hands or feet, but there was a collar around my neck. It was the kind of suppression collar with GPS tracking and electric shock capabilities. Arthur sat by the bed, peeling an apple. Seeing I was awake, he cut a slice of the peeled apple and held it to my lips. “Eat.” I didn’t open my mouth, watching him warily. “It’s not poisoned.” He took a bite himself, chewing loudly. Then he said suddenly, “The child is still there.” I froze for a second, instinctively touching my stomach. “Why didn’t you abort it?” Arthur tossed the rest of the apple onto a plate and wiped his hands with a tissue. “The doctor said your reproductive cavity is underdeveloped and the walls are too thin. Forcing an abortion right now carries a 90% chance of massive hemorrhage.” He looked up at me, his eyes cold. “I don’t want you dying on the operating table. That would be letting you off too easy.” “So you’re planning to let me give birth to it?” “Give birth to it, and then I’ll strangle it right in front of you.” A chill ran down my spine. This mad dog would actually do it. I took a deep breath. “Arthur, let’s make a deal.” “I’ll help you find the person who broke into your residence, and you let me and the child go.” Arthur paused his movements. “You know who that person is?” “Of course.” I lied effortlessly. “I saw him in the black market. He’s also an Alpha, very skilled in disguises.” “Oh?” Arthur leaned in close to me. “Then tell me, why does that person have the exact same beautiful peach-blossom eyes as you?” I stopped talking. This bastard was bluffing me. Arthur reached out and gently patted my stomach. “Ethan, do you really think I’m stupid?” “Even though the security footage from that night was deleted, you left behind plenty of biological samples.” “I ran a DNA comparison.” My heart skipped a beat. I was screwed. “The results aren’t out yet.” Arthur slowly added another sentence. “But I have time.” “Until the results are out, you’ll stay here quietly and focus on your pregnancy.” “If you dare to run…” He pointed at the collar on my neck. “This thing can only be unlocked by my fingerprint. If you dare take one step out of this room, it will explode.” “And turn that pretty head of yours into a smashed watermelon.” 6 I was under house arrest. Right under Arthur’s nose. I have to admit, aside from his venomous tongue and ruthless nature, this mad dog really knew how to take care of someone. Three meals a day of top-tier nutritious food, and he watched me finish every bite. He practically gave away his pheromones for free to soothe my restless reproductive cavity. My current body was like a bottomless pit, greedily devouring his pheromones. Sometimes when I woke up in the middle of the night, I’d find him sleeping right next to me. Not back-to-back like we used to. He held me in his arms like a body pillow, his hand resting protectively on my stomach. Even in his sleep, he would unconsciously nuzzle the top of my head with his chin. It gave me an illusion. As if we had never fallen out, as if these three years were just a dream. As if… we really were just a normal Alpha/Omega couple, anticipating the arrival of a new life. But when I was fully awake, I knew this was a dead end. Once that DNA report came out, once he knew this child was his—and also the tool I used to exploit him— What awaited me would undoubtedly be a captivity worse than death. I had to run. The opportunity came quickly. Arthur had to attend a high-level Federation meeting and would be away for three days. He tripled the guards, turning the entire building into an iron fortress. But he underestimated the escape skills of a former S-class agent. On the second night of his absence, I pried open the ventilation duct. The collar was a problem. But I took a gamble. I gambled that Arthur wouldn’t actually blow my head off. I tampered with the collar’s sensor, using a thin wire pulled from the mattress to short-circuit its signal transmitter. I only had three minutes. After three minutes, the system would report an error, and Arthur would receive an alarm. I had to sprint out of this building and jump into the moat within three minutes. Everything went smoothly. Until I climbed out of the vent and stood on the roof, ready to jump. A familiar voice that made my scalp tingle came from behind me. “Ethan.” “Where do you think you’re taking my seed?” I turned around stiffly. In the pouring rain. Arthur hadn’t gone to the meeting. He was wearing that black trench coat, standing in the rain, holding a freshly printed document in his hand. He held up the report, the paper snapping in the wind and rain. “100% match.” He grinned, revealing his stark white teeth. “Ethan, you have some nerve.” “You slept with me, got pregnant with my seed, and then lied to me that it belonged to some wild man?” “Tell me, how should I punish you?” I took a step back, my heels hanging over the edge. Below me was a hundred-meter drop into a rushing river. “Arthur, I don’t owe you anything.” I shouted loudly, my voice torn apart by the wind and rain. “That shot from three years ago, I paid it back! This child… consider it payback too!” “What are you paying me back with?!” Arthur roared furiously, throwing the report aside and charging toward me. “Your body is mine! Your life is mine! This child is mine!” “Get over here!” “In your dreams!” I didn’t want to be his canary anymore, let alone a baby-making machine. I leaned back and spread my arms. Just as Arthur’s fingertips brushed mine, I fell backward. The wind howled past my ears. I saw Arthur lunge to the edge of the roof, half his body leaning out. On that always-calm face, I saw an expression called “despair” for the very first time. “Ethan—!!!” In that moment, I actually felt a twisted sense of satisfaction. So the mad dog feels pain too? Then let him hurt. This was the final bite mark I was leaving him.

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My fiancé and my biological brother hated me for ten years. They firmly believed I had ruthlessly bullied the innocent, pure girl they both secretly loved. At my engagement party, they exposed my “crimes” to the world. “She is pure scum who bullies her own classmates!” In the video broadcasted live across the internet, the innocent girl smiled through her tears: “I don’t blame her anymore.” “Looking back, I’ve left that storm behind me.” She became an overnight sensation. Meanwhile, I was condemned by everyone, splashed with sulfuric acid by her extreme fans, and in my absolute despair, I dragged her to hell with me. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to my senior year of high school. The innocent girl was pouring water over her own head, smiling as she asked me: “Have you figured out how you’re going to apologize to me later?” I snapped on the spot. I grabbed her by the hair, dragged her into the bathroom stall, and shoved her head straight into the toilet bowl: “Let me teach you what real bullying looks like.” “Your mouth is so filthy. Remember to wash it thoroughly before you go complaining to everyone.” 1 My last memory of my past life was the agonizing, near-death pain of concentrated sulfuric acid splashing into my eyes. Enduring immense agony, I searched through my blurred vision until I found Lily Harper, hiding safely behind my brother’s back. Then, I grabbed a cake knife, lunged forward, and plunged it right into her chest. “Let’s go to hell together!” … I opened my eyes again. The exceptionally clear sight before me left me stunned for two seconds. Until I looked slightly ahead and saw a much younger Lily Harper. Wearing a faded school uniform, she turned on the faucet and poured water over her own head. As she drenched herself, she smiled and asked me, “Who do you think they’ll believe? Me, or you?” It hit me in an instant. I was back to this day. The very beginning of my past life’s nightmare, when I was first branded as her bully. Seeing me standing there in a daze, Lily’s smile deepened: “Have you figured out how you’re going to apologize to me later, princess? —Ah!” Old hatred and new fury surged into my head all at once. I lunged forward, grabbed her by the hair, and dragged her straight into a bathroom stall. Amidst her sudden, piercing screams, I shoved her entire face into the toilet bowl. “Trying to frame me with a little cold water? Move over. Let me personally teach you what real bullying looks like.” Lily struggled like a madwoman, her arms flailing like windmills, but she couldn’t break free from my iron grip. Forced to keep her face submerged in the dirty water, she opened her mouth to let out muffled, garbled sounds: “Chloe Vance, let me go… glug… gag—” I looked up and laughed out loud: “Your mouth is so filthy! Remember to wash it thoroughly before you go complaining to everyone later!” I didn’t care if I had actually traveled back in time or if this was just a post-death hallucination. It didn’t matter. I was completely, utterly unhinged. 2 In my past life, I died on what was supposed to be the most glorious day of my life. That day, I had won my third Best Actress award. Wearing a custom haute couture gown, I stood beside my childhood sweetheart and fiancé, Ethan Cross, at our grand, live-streamed engagement party. And then, he announced to everyone present: “I will absolutely never marry scum who bullied her classmates in high school.” Under my gaze of utter disbelief, Lily stepped out from the crowd. With tears in her eyes, she looked up and smiled: “Chloe Vance, remember me? Lily Harper, the girl you bullied for ten years.” “You probably never imagined that one day, I would stand on equal footing with you.” “But it’s okay. I don’t blame you anymore.” “Looking back, I’ve left that storm behind me.” Broadcast live across the internet, she became an overnight sensation. Before I could even react, a swarm of reporters—arranged by my brother and Ethan—rushed in and surrounded me. “Ms. Vance, is it true you still maintain your habit of bullying newcomers on set?” “A few days ago, someone photographed you visiting a gynecology clinic. Did you contract an STD because of your promiscuous lifestyle?” An extreme fan charged out of the crowd, hurling a bottle of sulfuric acid directly at my face: “Die, you bitch!” As the liquid splashed over me, an overwhelming, searing agony fused to my skin. My vision never cleared again. Falling from heaven to hell took only a fraction of a second. 3 Snapping back to the present, I let go. I watched Lily collapse weakly onto the floor. That innocent, pure little face was now covered in filth. I couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Cry. Throw a fit. Go ahead and wear that exact face, and tell the whole world I bullied you—go on!” My voice abruptly pitched higher. Remembering the agonizing pain of the acid dissolving my features in my past life, I forcefully stomped on her face twice. Only then did I turn and walk away. Downstairs, my desk mate, Sarah Miller, was waiting for me. “Gym class started ages ago. What were you doing upstairs?” I said nonchalantly, “Oh, just bullying a new classmate.” She whipped her head around in shock. “What?!” I said, “As they say on the internet, when the whole world thinks you’re a mean girl, you’d better actually be one.” “Did… did the internet really say that…?” “Not important.” As Sarah and I walked toward the track, we bumped right into Ethan. He wasn’t in our class, but everyone in school knew he was my childhood sweetheart and boyfriend. Ethan’s gaze slid past my face and landed vaguely behind me. “Chloe, why are you so late? By the way, I heard you got a new transfer student in your class?” In my past life, every time Lily threw dirty water on my name, he would always tell me to apologize and let it go. He pretended to be on my side, but with just a few words, he always cemented my guilt as a bully. Thinking of this, I raised my hand without warning and slapped him hard across the face. “?!” Sarah, standing next to me, was stunned once again. Ethan’s expression didn’t change. His eyes cooled for a fraction of a second, but then he acted as if nothing had happened. He affectionately lowered his head and nuzzled my cheek: “What’s wrong, Chloe? Are you in a bad mood?” 4 In my past life, it took me a long time to find out the truth. When Ethan was young, his mother abandoned him at an amusement park, and he spent some time in an orphanage. There, he met a bright, cheerful little girl. She shared her bed with him and gave him a piece of candy. She was the only light in his life. That light was Lily. Furthermore, on her very first day as a transfer student, Ethan recognized her. He wholeheartedly believed every word Lily said about me bullying her, and he hated me to his core. But because of his status as an illegitimate son, he had to swallow his pride and suck up to me. He needed an alliance with my family to secure his footing within the Cross family. Thinking of this, I opened my mouth and said: “Let’s break up.” His pupils shrank abruptly. “…Why? Give me a reason, Chloe.” I pulled out a tissue and wiped the cheek he had just nuzzled, stroke by stroke. “I don’t want to date the son of a homewrecker. It’s dirty. Is that reason enough?” 5 After we walked away, Sarah cautiously asked if I had been possessed. I wasn’t surprised she asked. Because in high school, I had been so straightforward and passionately in love with Ethan. I waited for him after school every day so we could walk home together. I baked cookies for him, cutting and burning my hands in the process, just to hand them to him with a bright smile. My favoritism toward him was so obvious that the whole world knew. But things were different now. The Chloe Vance who had just started her senior year was dead. The person standing here now was Chloe 2.0—who had died once and came back for blood. 6 Lily didn’t show her face for the rest of the day. I knew that her face was her proudest asset. Unless she could fully utilize it for maximum effect, she wouldn’t show it easily. I waited very patiently. Soon, Saturday arrived. My 18th birthday. My parents had promised early on to throw a grand banquet to celebrate me coming of age. But due to a last-minute emergency at their company, they were running late. The crystal chandeliers gleamed brilliantly. Wearing a custom cocktail dress, I walked down the spiral staircase into the living room. From a distance, I saw my brother, Carter Vance. Dressed in a sharp suit, he wore a cold, indifferent expression as he called my name: “Chloe Vance. Come here.” I walked over. Pretending not to see the brooding Ethan or the tearful Lily standing behind him, I smiled sweetly: “What is it, Carter? Did you prepare a present for me?” Carter looked at me with chilling eyes for a moment before speaking: “Bullying your classmates, verbally abusing your friends. Chloe, is this what the Vance family taught you?” He didn’t lower his voice at all. Instantly, the eyes of every guest in the room turned toward us. “What are you talking about, Carter? I don’t understand.” I looked at Lily, tilting my head innocently. “Who did I abuse? When did I bully a classmate? I don’t even know her.” “It’s too late to act stubborn now. You made a mistake, and you have to pay the price.” “Mom and Dad aren’t here today, so I will discipline you in their place.” Saying this, Carter pulled a heavy wooden ruler from the display case nearby. He stared at me, his voice stern, enunciating every word: “Kneel.” 7 In the massive banquet hall, countless eyes watched, ready for a good show. “What? Bullying classmates? A daughter of the Vance family actually does things like that?” “Oh please, she was raised spoiled rotten. It’s totally normal for her not to stand someone better than her.” “Good thing her brother is upholding justice and not shielding her.” Under Lily’s smug and provocative gaze, I straightened my back. Smiling, I let loose: “What the hell are you talking about? If I didn’t know you were Carter Vance, I’d think you were some wandering ghost from the 1800s possessing a body.” “In this life, I only kneel to the dead.” I tilted my head, looking him up and down with a wicked smile. “How about this? You go jump off a building right now, and I’ll immediately kneel and bow three times to send you off.” Carter’s face instantly darkened. Behind his back, Lily put on her fake act and spoke up: “Chloe, I know you don’t like me. It’s fine if you bully me, but how can you speak to your own brother like that?” She widened her eyes, letting tears well up, deliberately putting on an innocent, naive expression. Seeing this, a flicker of dark, unreadable emotion crossed Ethan’s eyes. Then, he spoke in a low voice: “Chloe, since you made a mistake, just apologize. There’s no need to—” I also widened my eyes, looking deeply troubled: “I’m sorry, I don’t speak dog. Could you repeat that in human language?” “Enough!” Carter shouted harshly. “Chloe Vance, as a girl, do you have no sense of shame? Who taught you to be so foul-mouthed and completely devoid of manners?!” He was exactly like before. No matter what I said, he would never believe me. Instead, carrying intense prejudice, he would nail me to the pillar of shame over and over again. I tugged the corners of my lips into a cold sneer: “Mom and Dad are always busy, they don’t have time to raise me. Guess who taught me?” “You did, my dear brother.”

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After I confessed my secret of being intersex to my online boyfriend, he got even more excited: “Baby, when we meet, can I kiss you?” My face flushed hot, and I gave him permission. But right before our meetup, he complained about how hard it was to get along with his new roommate. At that exact moment, my new roommate’s phone buzzed. 1 “Baby, your voice sounds so good.” “Why would I be disgusted by you? Knowing that makes me even more excited.” “Baby, I want to see you so badly. I want to hold you, kiss you.” “……” At night, I was re-listening to the voice messages Z had sent me. His deep, husky voice slid through my earbuds like a lover’s whisper, making my whole body run hot. Having this kind of body is really too much trouble. When I carefully confessed my intersex secret to my online boyfriend, Z, I was terrified he would find me disgusting. But Z seemed to sense my anxiety, coaxing me gently: “How could I? Baby, I like you even more now.” After that, he’d randomly send me sweet talk. Making me restless and terribly thirsty. Unfortunately, Z went off to college, and reportedly his new roommate was a real piece of work, so it wasn’t convenient for him to send voice memos lately. I could only listen to the stash I had saved up. Fighting the restless urges, I tossed and turned again. Suddenly, someone knocked on the edge of my bed frame, scaring me half to death. Lifting the bed curtain, a tall silhouette stood below, his tone dripping with annoyed impatience: “Liam, are you done tossing and turning? Do you have any idea how loud you are?” It was Julian again. Julian was a neat freak, a light sleeper, and had a venomous tongue. Just hearing his voice annoyed me, so I instinctively snapped back. “Mind your own business. If it’s too loud, wear earplugs.” “Our beds are connected. Are you stupid?” Meaning, earplugs wouldn’t block out the vibrations of my tossing. Fair point. But I was still annoyed and was just about to keep arguing with him. I didn’t expect Julian to literally climb up. With his knees separated by the blanket, he half-knelt between my legs. His tall frame pressed down, caging me in on both sides with an intense, oppressive presence. I instinctively shrank back: “What are you doing?” 2 He didn’t speak. Suddenly, he grabbed my wrists with a firm, strong grip. My heart skipped a beat. No way. I just tossed and turned a bit. Is he really going to climb into my bed and beat me up? I was just about to struggle when he yanked my earbuds out and tossed them to the head of the bed. My phone received the exact same treatment. He bundled me up tightly in the blanket, his large frame still pressing down on top of me. “Liam, I’m watching you. Go to sleep right now.” I tried to move but found I was completely immobilized. Psycho. I was absolutely furious: “I’ll sleep, okay?! You’re so annoying! Go back to your own bed!” But in the dark, he didn’t reply. He just kept staring at me. I had no options left. He didn’t go back until I finally closed my eyes. My heated mood felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on it. Julian completely ruined my good mood. Damn it. Back when I had this double dorm all to myself, I didn’t realize how much freedom I had. I could voice chat with Z whenever I wanted. If I got restless in the middle of the night, I could just go take a shower and change into dry pants. But now, Julian was here. All of that was gone. Julian insisted on lights out by 11:30 PM sharp, and he was a light sleeper. Any little noise I made, he’d scold me. He was also a massive neat freak. If I threw dirty white socks into my own laundry basket and left them for more than half a day, he’d complain. It was incredibly annoying. I’d thought about fighting him. But he was almost 6’2″, a full half-head taller than me. Plus, he religiously went for a morning run at 7:00 AM and hit the gym to lift weights every night. The other day, I barely threw a punch before Julian easily pinned me by the neck against the closet door, asking: “Do you submit?” I really couldn’t out-argue him, and I definitely couldn’t out-fight him. I just had to take the L. But the resentment in my chest refused to fade. The next day, when Julian’s 7:00 AM alarm woke me up yet again, I opened my eyes. Unable to take it anymore, I grabbed my phone to vent to Z: [I really can’t stand my neat-freak, venomous roommate anymore. How can such an annoying roommate exist in this world? [o(╥﹏╥)o] He replied almost instantly. With a cute hugging sticker. [Pat pat, baby] [I agree, how can such an annoying roommate exist in this world?] I sent a sticker back: [Burying my face in your chest (Ծ‸Ծ)] [Z, is your roommate really annoying too?] He replied instantly. [Yeah.] [He’s very loud, and he’s not very clean.] 3 We were practically trauma bonding! Chatting away, I excitedly sat up to type. I casually typed out a few-hundred-word essay complaining about Julian. After I hit send, I worried I might be too annoying. But Z’s reply showed zero impatience. Not only did he provide immense emotional support, he also transferred me $520. I expertly accepted it, even though I wasn’t short on money. Z was very wealthy. When we first met playing games, he was always gifting me rare skins and items. After we started dating, he’d just send me money all the time. At first, I wouldn’t accept it, but he’d send a pitiful voice memo: “Baby won’t even spend my money… Do you not love me anymore…?” My heart would melt hearing that, and I’d accept it immediately. Now, after being thoroughly comforted by Z, the frustration in my chest was greatly soothed. A smile finally returned to my face: [Love you, ლ(°◕‵ƹ′◕ლ).] Z replied quickly. [（づ￣3￣）づ╭❤～] Ending the chat, I casually looked up, and my eyes met Julian, who was just about to walk out the door. He dropped his smile, quickly looked away, his expression turning cold. The upward curve of my lips instantly vanished too. Tsk, that deadpan face again. Just looking at it annoyed me. Honestly, we weren’t at each other’s throats when we first met. I’m a sucker for good looks, and Julian is handsome. Deep-set eyes beneath thick brows, a high-bridged nose, and thin, slightly pursed lips. The first time he introduced himself as my new roommate with that face, I pathetically stared in a daze. Damn. He was exactly my type. But I quickly snapped out of it. After all, I only liked Z. But as we interacted, I realized Julian really only had that face going for him. His personality was venomous and overly particular. With that face, I’d never even seen him smile. Plus, there was that one time in the dining hall. I accidentally overheard him hanging out with his frat bros, discussing intersex people. The jokes they were making were very explicit. “Julian, what do you think? Would you be into that?” I quietly perked my ears up nearby. And I heard Julian’s icy tone: “Stop talking about something so disgusting.” 4 That word, “disgusting,” pierced right into my ears. Even though I’d been called a monster and disgusting by my parents since I was little, I should have been used to it. But hearing Julian say it just pissed me off. It wasn’t like I wanted to date him anyway, yet here he was, acting disgusted. The anger went straight to my head. As I walked past him carrying my lunch tray, I deliberately “lost my grip” and spilled it all over him. The soup dripped down his shoulder. For a neat freak, this was undoubtedly the best revenge. Julian looked up and glared at me, his eyes as cold as if he were looking at a dead man. I took my time flashing a wicked smile: “Oops, sorry about that, new roommate.” After that, our relationship completely deteriorated. Whatever. It wasn’t like I cared about having a good relationship with him anyway. Whenever Julian left the dorm, even the air felt fresher. I was a junior with a light class schedule. I had already applied for grad schools abroad, so I didn’t need to study for the GREs. Laying in the dorm feeling bored, I missed Z again. I tentatively sent him a sticker: [Miss you.] He replied instantly: [Baby, I’m here.] Normally, when interacting with people, I’m not much of a chatterbox. But with Z, I always had a million things to talk about. Z would reply to every single message with infinite patience. No matter what mood I was in, he always knew how to catch me. I sent him a sticker: [Shooting love biubiubiu~] Suddenly, a message popped up from him: [Baby, let’s meet up.] My heart skipped a beat, my grip slipped, and my phone dropped right off the bed. Snapping back, I was just about to climb down and pick it up. The dorm door opened. Julian, with an ice-cold expression, closed the door, locked it, looked down, and saw my lit-up phone screen. The screen was cracked in one corner, but it didn’t affect the clarity of the chat log at all. Me: ! Z’s profile picture was a faceless torso shot of him wearing a black tank top, his muscle definition incredible. Now, with the screen unlocked, Julian definitely saw all the sickeningly sweet messages between me and Z. Damn it. He found out I was e-dating a guy, and he’s definitely going to use this to mock me. But surprisingly, he didn’t make a sound. Julian stared down at the screen, looking like he had been paralyzed. Then he turned his head, his dark eyes staring intensely at me. 5 His stare gave me the creeps: “What the hell are you looking at?!” After climbing down to retrieve my phone, I looked heartbroken at the cracks on the screen, muttering: “So annoying. I just got this new phone. Nothing good ever happens when I see you.” Normally, Julian would definitely snap back. But this time, he didn’t make a peep. I shot him a suspicious look. I realized he was still frozen in place, who knows what he was thinking, but his breathing had grown heavy, and his ears were bright red. Hah, probably pissed off by me. Serves him right. I looked away and typed on my phone: “I dropped my phone just now and cracked the screen. And that psycho roommate just happened to bump into it o(╥﹏╥)o.” Normally, Z would immediately comfort me and join me in cursing Julian. But this time, he didn’t reply for a long time. Z’s request to meet was still hanging there. Was he thinking I didn’t want to meet? I hesitated, typing and deleting, and finally gritted my teeth: [Let’s meet! I want to see you too!] The moment I sent it, I regretted it a little. My heart rate was skyrocketing. Half expectant, half nervous. Even though Z hadn’t shown his face, he had sent quite a few photos over time. Not a single pec or ab was missing, and the occasional close-up of him in grey sweatpants was enough to let the imagination run wild. When Julian called me on voice, he always loved to tease me: “Baby’s so bashful, you can’t even handle this?” Every time I heard him say that sweet talk, I’d blush and run to the bathroom to change my pants. Honestly, my thoughts about him weren’t that pure. Just looking at a photo Z sent of his hand once, I… In the photo, his fingers were long, the knuckles thick and pronounced. They looked incredibly strong. If we actually met, what would happen? Would Z really hug me, kiss me, really use those hands… My face flushed hot, and I quickly shook my head. Suddenly, a message came from him. [If you really don’t want to meet, you don’t have to force yourself. We can just keep chatting online for now.] I stared at that sentence. Why did his tone suddenly feel so formal? Before I could figure out how to reply, Z suddenly sent another transfer—$520. That’s a good chunk of change. I sent a [!?] Z: [Just treat it as compensation for your phone screen.] But buying a screen replacement wouldn’t cost this much. And… why wasn’t he calling me baby anymore? I pursed my lips in annoyance. After that, Z was noticeably much colder. I was incredibly frustrated. Was it because he thought I didn’t want to meet up, so his attitude cooled off? 6 It had been days. Z only sent ‘good morning,’ ‘good afternoon,’ and ‘good night,’ plus a money transfer. When I tried to chat with him, he’d say he was busy, and then attach another transfer. I stared at a screen practically full of $520 transfers, feeling “money-sick” for the first time. Many times, I impulsively wanted to text Z: [Let’s just meet! Right now!] But I hesitated, wanting to send it but not daring to. I was still scared. Z said online that he didn’t mind my intersex body at all, but what if we actually met? Would he also find it disgusting and call me a monster? Just like my parents. Even my own biological parents couldn’t accept me, let alone an online boyfriend. I ultimately didn’t send it. My mood was terrible, plus Julian had been acting like a psycho recently. He was like a lingering ghost; he was everywhere I was. And he loved staring at me, like a dog. My mood got even worse. One day, I walked out of the dining hall, looked back, and realized he was following me again. Unable to take it anymore, I stormed up and grabbed him by the collar: “Why the hell have you been following me lately? You want to fight?” Normally, he’d sneer at me coldly: “Liam, are you a kindergartener? Why are you always trying to fight?” But today, he was unusually quiet. He let me grab his collar, and even shook his head submissively: “I wasn’t.” I’d have to be stupid to believe him. I leaned in closer, narrowing my eyes to see through his bad intentions. But I noticed his ears were red. He turned his head away to avoid my gaze, his Adam’s apple bobbing heavily. That face, usually a deadpan mask all day, showed a different expression for the first time. It looked like… shyness. Damn, what am I thinking. I shook my head, let him go, and warned: “Stay away from me!” 7 But it was like Julian was deliberately trying to do the exact opposite. He stopped his morning runs, and he stopped setting his early alarms. I had a rare chance to wake up naturally. The moment I opened my eyes, a pair of dark eyes was right above me. Julian was sitting cross-legged on my bed, staring at me. His lips curved up, his voice deep and magnetic: “Liam, morning.” That smile actually looked pretty good. I rubbed my eyes. I must be seeing things. My eye twitched, and I looked down, pretending I hadn’t heard him, acting very busy folding my blanket. Annoying people always end up together. For the only group project in my junior year. I somehow ended up in the same group as Julian. During the group discussion, normally he would have constantly contradicted me. But today went surprisingly smooth. No matter what I said, Julian nodded along incredibly supportively. Me: ? After the discussion ended, Julian suddenly offered to buy the whole group drinks. I thought with his personality, he’d probably show off and buy Starbucks or something. But he said he was buying boba. I couldn’t help but swallow, swallowing the words of refusal I was about to say. My favorite! When Julian handed me his phone, I took it, pretending to be aloof. Just as I was about to order a Cocoa Ballet, 70% sugar, double ice cream, sub A2 milk, I realized he had already added that exact order to the cart. It perfectly matched my taste. Julian glanced at me staring blankly at the order screen: “I like this flavor, what about you, Liam?” “I… same here.” Why did this feel wrong somehow? Could it really be such a coincidence? After getting back to the dorm, I finally remembered that the shorts I changed out of this morning were still unwashed, soaking in a basin. I figured Julian was going to complain about it again. But I found they had already been washed and hung up to dry. I was stunned. Above my head came Julian’s low voice: “Oh, the shorts. I washed them while I was at it. Hand-washed, they’re very clean, and… “They smell really good.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “392115”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I, a top-tier gold digger, transmigrated into the role of a “green tea” female side character who was cyberbullied to death. A photo of the male lead was hanging on the campus forum. [I heard Harrison Ford finally has someone he likes. Is it going to be her?] [Can’t wait to witness Cinderella marrying into a wealthy family.] The girl leaving comments and stirring up the crowd downstairs was my roommate. She smiled radiantly and said, “You should just go ahead and confess your feelings. He doesn’t have a girlfriend anyway.” Bullet comments drifted past my eyes: [The male lead doesn’t have a girlfriend, but he has a fiancée, wow!] [The female lead is too kind. She saw the side character had a crush on the male lead, so she hid her identity as his fiancée.] [The side character should stop flattering herself. The male lead only likes her roommate.] [As soon as the clownish side character confesses tonight, the male lead will officially announce the female lead.] I curled my lips and posted a faceless selfie on a brand new account. The caption: [My good friend keeps telling me to confess to her childhood sweetheart. What should I do?] 1. Because the selfie page showed an IP address from Capitol University, it was quickly pushed to people within the school. Alumni commented: [Are you interested in her childhood sweetheart?] [The poster’s body is chef’s kiss. Love it. Is your friend trying to keep the good stuff within the family?] [Is her childhood sweetheart handsome?] I replied to them one by one: [I do like him a bit.] [She probably meant well. She’s always trying to set us up, inviting me to all sorts of activities.] [He is very handsome. But our family backgrounds don’t really match.] Soon, the alumni jokingly replied: [You both got into Capitol Uni, what’s there to worry about regarding family background? Unless it’s someone like Harrison Ford, then maybe you’d need to worry a bit.] [What’s there to worry about? Go for it, sis! If you break up, you might even get a ten-million-dollar breakup fee thrown in your face.] I gave each of their comments a like. The bullet comments surged rapidly. [Is the female side character trying to seduce the male lead by showing off her body? Dream on. The male lead only follows Serena Vance.] [This kind of post is so ‘green tea’. Good thing the male lead won’t see it, otherwise he might misunderstand the female lead.] The bullet comments were actually quite useful. If utilized properly, I could gather a lot of information. I curled my lips into a smile. Although I didn’t know the male lead’s account, I knew my roommate Serena Vance’s account. I clicked into her following list. She only followed 36 people in total. [LMAO, is the female side character trying to find the male lead’s account?] [Give up, there’s no way she’ll find it.] I went through them one by one, finally locking onto a user named “momo” with exactly 1 follower. Because this account only followed the female lead, and the IP address was consistently in Capitol City. I hit follow. The bullet comments exploded. [Holy shit! What a scheming bitch!] [How did she find it?] Harrison Ford’s account had always been quiet. Besides a few close friends in his circle, no one knew this “momo” was his account. He looked at the sudden new follower and frowned slightly. Who was “A Cup of Green Tea”? He didn’t care and locked his phone. He figured the fan probably just misclicked. The bullet comments gloated. [The male lead didn’t even click into the female side character’s profile.] [The female side character is such a dead ‘green tea’. Her ID really matches her personality.] [This novel is about childhood sweethearts who marry first and fall in love later. The male lead is very responsible and will only love the female lead after marriage. It doesn’t matter how beautiful the side character is.] [The female lead was always suspicious that he didn’t love her because he was so cold to her. But when she saw him ruthlessly reject the beautiful side character’s confession, she instantly felt relieved.] [The clownish side character is nothing but a touchstone for their love.] I looked at my bank card. Before I transmigrated, Serena Vance had urged me to buy a dress worth $160,000. She said a “battle outfit” was essential for a confession, adding that people in their circle would never wear cheap, few-hundred-dollar knockoffs. Driven by an inferiority complex, the side character gritted her teeth and bought an out-of-season luxury dress that looked tacky on her. Now, my card balance was 0, and I was still in debt on my credit line. I stared coldly at the balance and, without hesitation, listed the dress on a second-hand app. Rule number one of a gold digger: Never spend a single dime for a man. 2. My roommate’s account was also cultivating a “wealthy heiress” persona. On her account, she had a flawless fiancé. Rich and handsome. No matter what she wanted, her fiancé would instantly satisfy her. Because their arranged marriage had only recently been finalized, and wasn’t yet public, she never revealed their identities online. She just frequently did giveaways for her “shippers” in the comments section. The sappy little love stories she wrote easily got tens of thousands of likes each. Actually, she didn’t have that many followers at first. It wasn’t until she posted about the marital home her fiancé gifted her—worth over $500,000 per square meter. The post instantly blew up. I left a comment underneath: [So sweet! Sister, your fiancé treats you so well. I wish I could catch someone like him.] [What type of girls does he like? Wow!] Serena always loved seeing her fans ship them. But when she saw my comment, she frowned. She replied: [His standards are very high. It’s best if you’re talented in various arts and have a high level of education. You have no idea how hard I worked just to get him to notice me.] Then, she liked a comment below hers. [The most important thing is a matching family background.] The comments section was full of crazy shippers. [The heiress gave up studying abroad to get into Capitol Uni just for love.] [Radiant Heiress VS Ice-cold Childhood Sweetheart.] [As long as he turns around, he’ll see the heiress right behind him.] [Patience pays off. After the arranged marriage, the childhood sweetheart’s attitude completely changed. He used to ignore her, but now he brings whatever the heiress wants right to her.] [The heiress and her childhood sweetheart’s families are so rich, yet they still started their own business in college. So ambitious. Not like me, just waiting to die.] As the only person who knew the original plot. I knew their real romance line started after my cannon fodder side character was written off. They were following the “marriage first, love later” trope. Right now, the male lead was only nice to the female lead because of their arranged marriage. Heh. That dog couple was using the original host as a stepping stone. 3. I twitched the corner of my mouth and uploaded a video of myself playing the piano on my profile. An essential quality of a top-tier gold digger: proficiency in various high-society talents. Whether it was piano or equestrianism, I had learned them all. I replied: [I know a lot actually, been working hard on learning lately~ Hope I can catch my crush.] Many people thought my comment had a hint of “green tea” style comparison and clicked into my profile. Subsequently, they teasingly replied: [What a coincidence, the little ‘green tea’ is also a Capitol Uni beauty.] [Probably just faked the IP to Capitol Uni. Let’s see your student ID.] I didn’t bother responding. Because very soon, a Capitol Uni alumnus recognized that the background of my first photo was exactly a university dorm room. My most liked post was the faceless selfie. The caption: [So conflicted, my friend keeps telling me to confess to her childhood sweetheart. What should I do?] Serena would never connect me to her shy, gullible little roommate. Because the original host didn’t know how to do anything. A while ago, she dragged the original host to her birthday party to play the piano, and because she wasn’t proficient, she embarrassed herself. She encouraged the original host to play the piano on stage to attract the male lead’s attention, so the original host went up and played “Happy Birthday.” The female lead’s best friends mocked her terrible playing, and Harrison Ford stepped in to smooth things over. From then on, the original host harbored a secret crush on the male lead. She didn’t know the male lead’s fiancée was Serena herself, and under her instigation, she foolishly went to confess. In the end, Harrison publicly announced his fiancée on the spot. The original host lost all face in front of the entire school. Later, the female lead wrote a “bitter secret crush” story about how she always felt inferior because her roommate was so beautiful. This caused the original host to be seen as a scheming “green tea” by everyone, ultimately leading to her being cyberbullied to death. The bullet comments jumped up: [The side character is so scheming. Is she just trying to get attention?] [It’s fine. Wait until she gets rejected by the male lead tonight; she won’t be able to act up ever again.] Serena wanted to chat with Harrison. But she noticed his follower count had suddenly increased by one. Suppressing her anger, she clicked into my profile. Glancing over it, she saw the photos and a hint of dissatisfaction flashed in her eyes. She kept feeling that the figure looked indescribably familiar. And my process of building the account was almost identical to hers. If it wasn’t posting talents, it was posting about a secret crush. Harrison’s secret account was only known to a few close friends, and she had deliberately shown off by pinning it in their group chat. She guessed it might be some young heiress who had caught wind of it. So, she directly tagged Harrison under my photo: [@HarrisonFord Nice body, do you like it?] Harrison casually lingered on the screen for a second, the photo flashing by. [Boring…] Serena saw the reply and laughed out loud. She then shared this as a joke within her circle. The bullet comments jumped with schadenfreude. [Hahaha, the male lead just said ‘boring’ after seeing the carefully taken photos by the female side character.] [LMAO, all that effort for nothing.] [Just a clownish side character. If it weren’t for her confession, the male lead probably wouldn’t have agreed to make the female lead’s fiancée status public.] [After all, the male lead is currently developing the game “Path to Immortality” behind his family’s back. It’s still in the closed beta phase, and he doesn’t want any extra trouble.] [Love grows after marriage~ The male lead isn’t actually frigid. After marriage, the female lead will be terrified by the kinky stuff that dog male lead comes up with.] [The male lead’s family are all old-fashioned. They oppose him making games. His childhood sweetheart is the only one who truly understands him in the future.] [In the future, the male lead’s game will be a massive hit, becoming a national phenomenon. Even the streamers who broadcasted it early on made tens of millions.] I was extracting information from the bullet comments. A few days ago, I had already applied for the closed beta qualification for “Path to Immortality” on the official website. Serena didn’t know about the game’s existence yet. Using the game to approach Harrison was the perfect entry point. 4. My game ID remained [A Cup of Green Tea]. I curled my lips, switching screens to send messages to Harrison while grinding levels in the game. In the original text, the supporting male character, Carter Hayes, was also grinding mobs here. He was the male lead’s roommate, and they ran in the same circles. Back then, after reading the female lead’s “inferiority complex” story, he mistakenly thought the original host was intentionally trying to be the other woman, and cursed her the harshest online. Stupid, reckless, and self-proclaimed righteous. Perfect to use as a tool. I targeted Carter, teamed up with him, and then stole his mob right at the final hit. I opened my mic and said in a cutesy voice: “Thank you, big brother.” Carter’s hand shook, his victorious smile freezing on his face. Harrison looked at his phone as a message popped up from his good buddy complaining: [Bro, some highly skilled cross-dressing guy stole my mob! I lost my ‘First Kill of the Server’ title!] [I hate this! That person named ‘A Cup of Green Tea’ or whatever is at the top of the leaderboard now! So shameless!] The bullet comments jumped up: [The female side character’s methods are so low! Who steals the last hit like that!] [She just wants to intentionally attract the supporting male character’s attention. Stop dreaming, he only likes innocent, pure girls.] After following Harrison, I only sent him one message: [Thank you for helping me out before, Harrison~ Can I treat you to a meal tonight?] Then, I posted a screen recording of the game with the “Path to Immortality” tag on my new account. [The experience in this game is amazing!] The smooth controls, combined with a hype edit and background music, quickly gained traction. Harrison looked at the familiar ID with a hint of surprise on his face. He clicked on my profile picture. The first thing he clicked on was the game recording I had edited. The thumbnail was the post-match screen of Carter getting his mob stolen. The bullet comments jumped: [LMAO, the male lead is a dead straight guy, only interested in games.] [Suddenly relieved, the male lead definitely won’t pay much attention to the female side character.] [Even if the female side character is good at games, so what?] At the end of the game video. He unexpectedly heard a sticky, seductive: “Thank you, big brother.” The video’s bullet comments also suddenly spiked here. Harrison’s finger paused slightly. Then he dragged the progress bar back a bit. And listened again. In the original text, he was a closet audiophile. He only discovered this trait when he was in bed with the female lead. I intentionally recorded this voice at the end of the video. I bet he would watch it to the end. The bullet comments were all cursing— [What the hell is the female side character being so slutty for!] Harrison restrained himself and only listened once more before exiting the video. On my profile, there was only one full-body photo, and it was from the back. The composition was excellent, the body proportions were perfect, and I hadn’t elongated my legs. Logically, he should have exited the profile. But he took a second look, feeling it looked somewhat familiar. He then clicked into the newly posted video from today. It was a clip of me playing a piano piece, the fluid music pouring out. The caption was: [If my confession fails today, I’ll change my name to ‘Daisy the Scumbag Beater.’] He suddenly guessed who the woman behind the screen was. Because Serena had just sent him a message. [Come back to the dorm tonight. My little roommate has something to tell you.] Harrison: [Daisy again? Didn’t you tell her about our relationship?] Serena replied vaguely: [It’s understandable for a young girl to have a crush. You can just reject her privately when the time comes.] He tried to search his memory for anywhere he might have offended Daisy. The only memory that remained was the awkward “Happy Birthday” song she had played last time. In his perception, apart from her beauty, Daisy didn’t have any memorable traits; she would stutter as soon as she got close to him. Online, however, she was much more proactive. Logically, he shouldn’t have agreed to have a private dinner with me. But he hesitated. He first clicked into the piano video and commented: [Just started learning? You’re progressing very fast.] The bullet comments flew by. [??? Why is the male lead giving the female side character the time of day?] [Pretentious! The female lead has been learning piano since she was a kid. How can the female side character even compare!] I replied with a cute emoji, lying through my teeth: [Yeah, just started learning. Even the teacher praised me for having a talent for it.] [Besides, I learn everything super fast!] Harrison looked at the “scumbag” in the caption, his finger pausing for a moment before he found the chat box and replied to my message. [I’ll pick you up downstairs at 5 PM.] The time Serena had scheduled with him was 8 PM. He thought that rejecting me privately a bit earlier might be more appropriate. He didn’t think the tiny ripple he felt just now would make him betray his fiancée. The male lead in the original text had always been principled, so the female side character’s confession tonight was bound to fail. What I needed to do now was to pull myself from the position of the “other woman” to that of an innocent victim. I curled my lips and replied with a cute emoji: [Okay! (Heart hands)] Then I sent another message. [Could we not order anything too expensive?] [Kitten begging gif.] Harrison looked at the message and raised an eyebrow. I sent a screenshot, acting pitifully. [My roommate said I had to buy a nice dress, and then I ran out of money.] The screenshot was of an overpriced “idiot tax” dress that Serena had highly recommended, along with my payment page showing $160,000. Harrison looked at the bright red dress and remained silent for a moment. Within three seconds. He replied: [Send your card number.] I didn’t play hard to get and quickly sent it over. My bank card received a deposit of $200,000. I curled my lips into a smile. The bullet comments started cursing. [Not only a scheming ‘green tea’, but also a gold digger!] [The fiancée’s mess, the male lead is taking responsibility to clean it up. This makes total sense! It’s definitely not because he’s interested in the female side character!] [Didn’t the female side character sell the dress?! She even lied to the male lead! How cheap!] At this time, Serena was replying to fans’ comments. Fans were very curious about her boyfriend’s true identity. She replied to a shipper in the comments, [He doesn’t like crowds. I’ll see if I can find a childhood photo of us.] Serena’s comment with the photo instantly became the top comment. My comment hung in second place. The bullet comments rejoiced: [Childhood sweethearts are the best!] I scoffed. Knowing each other for ten years, if it was true love, they would have been together long ago. Why would the female lead resort to such methods? Logically, men with partners aren’t within my target range, but if they come looking for trouble, that’s a different story. 5. Today was the first day of the closed beta, so not many people had spent money on microtransactions yet. As soon as Harrison logged into the game, he saw a familiar name suddenly shoot up the “Whale Leaderboard.” The ID [A Cup of Green Tea] was sitting pretty at number two. Number one was Carter. And he had been pushed down to number three. Thinking of how Daisy had just pitifully claimed she had no money, he couldn’t help but twitch his brow. He knew Daisy’s family background; she absolutely couldn’t afford this kind of spending. It was one thing to play the game because she liked him. But watching her be lured by the game into reckless spending was another matter entirely. The bullet comments were all cursing me for being a spendthrift. Meanwhile, Harrison sent me a message. [I’m here.]

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At two in the morning, I climbed through Arthur Sterling’s window and pierced his nipple. He looked like he wanted to bite me to death. Later, after high school graduation, I broke my promise to monopolize him for the rest of his life. I went to a university thousands of miles away from him. Seven years later, we met again at a gala. He looked at me with eyes that suggested I was a complete stranger. I thought whatever we had was long over. Until I accidentally tripped into his arms and felt something hard press against me from beneath his shirt. 1 I looked up at him in shock. Arthur was clearly stunned for a moment, too. “You… you still kept it?” Before I even finished my sentence, Arthur gritted his teeth and said: “Don’t flatter yourself. It’s not the one you put there.” Hearing his words, I lowered my eyes and nodded: “Okay. I understand.” Makes sense. How could he possibly still have it? Arthur turned and walked away first. I downed the wine in my glass in one gulp. The Arthur Sterling of today was no longer the poor kid from back then. Just by standing there, countless people flocked to him. Case in point: the moment he stepped away, a crowd swarmed him, trying to strike up a conversation. I let out a bitter laugh. Before I could even move, someone linked their arm through mine. “Hey, why did you walk away so suddenly?” I blinked and looked at my date, who was gazing at me affectionately. Look at my memory. I almost forgot I brought a date tonight. Say what you will, but guys are naturally proactive. We barely exchanged two words before he dragged me into a private lounge. I sat on the sofa, not even having the time to raise my hand to stop him. Bang! The lounge door was kicked open. Arthur strode in. He grabbed my date, who was busy unbuttoning my shirt, and threw him to the floor with one swift motion. “All these years later, and you still have zero shame.” Arthur glared at me, his eyes bloodshot. I let him bite my lip, running my hand through his hair, thinking: All these years later, and you’re still this impulsive. He still completely loses it when someone else touches me. 2 The first time I heard the name Arthur Sterling, I thought: This guy is definitely going to be a CEO someday. Hell, maybe he’s rich right now? But I was wrong. The first time I saw Arthur, he was wearing ratty sneakers that were falling apart, carrying a clean but clearly ancient backpack. His face was expressionless, cold as ice. “Arthur Sterling. Eighteen.” That was his self-introduction. That’s when I remembered. Last night, at my lavish 18th birthday bash, one of my boys mentioned we were getting a new kid in class today. I knew exactly what kind of person I was. And I never hid it. Too many people knew who I was. Too many people wanted to suck up to me. Living by the philosophy of “enjoy life while you can,” I generously welcomed them all with open arms. But Arthur was different. He was interesting. He managed to completely ignore me sitting right next to him for two whole weeks. After two weeks, I realized he really had zero interest in me. So, for the first time in my life, I made the first move. “Hey, wanna be friends?” I smiled and held my hand out to Arthur. Growing up, whenever I smiled like that, no one ever refused me. “Sorry. Not interested.” That was Arthur’s reply. Everyone who knew me knew I was a complete delinquent, a rich punk who did whatever he wanted. But it was my first time actually trying to force someone’s hand. After a few failed attempts to chat him up, I had my boys pin Arthur against the wall in the bathroom. In front of everyone, I grabbed him by the neck and kissed him hard. After that, Arthur’s peaceful days were over. Forget just our class; wasn’t there anyone in the whole school who didn’t want to get on my good side? When I had a new flavor of the week by my side, Arthur—the guy I used to bully—became everyone’s favorite target. His chair was thrown out the window. His textbooks were shredded. A few times, while walking back to class with my new fling, I saw Arthur with fresh bruises on his face. Of course, I was too busy having fun back then. I had no idea all of this was because of me. I didn’t truly get to know Arthur until one specific night. 2 (Part 2) Even though I was a delinquent, I rarely ate street food. Because my mom was always in my ear, nagging about how dirty and unregulated those food trucks were. I actually listened to my mom. But one of my boys was having a birthday, and he said he wanted me to go get street tacos with him. Being the fiercely loyal friend I am, how could I deny his birthday wish? That night, I ordered practically the entire menu from the taco stand for him. The guy bringing our food was Arthur. His face was just as cold while serving food. I guessed people probably gave him a hard time at work, too. If you’re poor and act all high and mighty, you’re not going to survive out here. But I didn’t bully him that night. I had already kissed him to assert my dominance; I didn’t have a fetish for endless bullying. But one of the guys with me started talking. “I heard he works three jobs a night.” I paused my mobile game and laughed: “Three jobs? How much can he even make?” “A hundred bucks? Probably not even that. I heard it from someone else—his mom died, his dad remarried, and his stepmom thought he was in the way, so they transferred him here. His family was dirt poor to begin with, and all their money goes to his dad and stepmom’s new kid. They probably never even planned on sending him to college.” I don’t know what I was feeling at that moment. But I knew that when my dad was dead broke working three jobs a day, he had my mom standing behind him. Arthur only had himself. From that day on, out of pity, I started paying attention to Arthur. 3 Right before midterms, the school handed out forms to everyone. The form asked if we “voluntarily” wanted to purchase supplementary study guides. These kinds of forms—asking if you’re “voluntary”—basically mean you don’t have a choice. Only one person in the entire class checked “No.” When the homeroom teacher asked the person who checked “No” to stand up, I already knew who it was. I counted in my head. Seven seconds later, Arthur stood up. He still had bruises on his face from some unknown fight. He remained expressionless, just pressing his lips tightly together. Much later, after knowing him for a long time, I found out: When Arthur is upset, he presses his lips together. Those seven seconds… that was his pride. After class, I went to the teacher’s office. The homeroom teacher was still holding the form with “No” checked, talking to another teacher. “Isn’t he just deliberately embarrassing me? Who can’t afford fifty bucks for study guides these days? If he’s really that broke, why is he even in school?!” I snatched the form right out of his hand, grabbed a pen, and changed the “No” to a “Yes.” “I’ll pay for his study guides.” That was the first time I stuck my neck out for Arthur. After school, I carried his set of study guides into the classroom and slammed them onto his desk. He looked up at me, his voice cold: “I didn’t buy these.” Even though I guessed he wouldn’t accept them, I still found it annoying. “Buy one get one free. I don’t need ’em, so they’re yours.” Looking back now, I was such an idiot back then. Who would believe an excuse like that? Arthur didn’t even look at me again. He stood up to leave. I had no idea why he hated me so much. But at the time, I just wanted him to take the books. So I grabbed his wrist and forcefully kissed his cheek. “There. Now you didn’t get them for free.” … Arthur ended up keeping them. Not because he agreed to use a kiss as collateral. But because I told him if he didn’t take them, I’d have my guys drag him into the woods tomorrow and force them on him. Arthur probably actually believed me. But I was just messing around. Sigh. I was such a bastard. 4 The guy who didn’t buy the study guides ended up with study guides. This became the new excuse to bully Arthur. When I walked into the classroom this time, I didn’t have my flavor of the week with me. Because yesterday, to deliver Arthur’s books, I stood my date up. A few guys in the class were surrounding Arthur. They were holding his study guides, ripping them up page by page right in front of his face. Shreds of paper fluttered down like snow. I grabbed a chair and smashed it into the guy tearing the book. The classroom went dead silent. I stepped forward, grabbed the guy by the hair, stepped on his stomach, and said: “You dare rip up the books I gave him? Do you have a death wish?” The guy and I ended up in the principal’s office. One phone call from my mom, and I was released without a scratch. I was let out while classes were still going on. When I got back to my classroom, I saw Arthur standing outside in the hall. The homeroom teacher had kicked him out, saying the fight between me and that guy was all his fault. I ruffled my hair, stood in front of him, and said: “Damn, why don’t you fight back when people mess with you?” Arthur looked at me, his eyes colder than ice: “Didn’t you order them to do it?” … He actually thought I was the mastermind. That I was just playing some twisted game with him all along. If that’s what Arthur thought… Then from now on, no matter who bullied him… The blame would fall squarely on my head. Arthur, you play hardball. The one thing I, Liam Vance, cannot tolerate in this life is being misunderstood. To dispel Arthur’s suspicions, I became his most aggressive protector in the entire school. If someone bullied him, I beat them up. If someone mocked him, I beat them up. If someone was passive-aggressive to him, I beat them up. After fighting left and right, the principal’s phone was nearly blown up by my mom’s calls. Finally, thanks to my relentless brawling, my mom had to come down to the school. She looked at me, nursing a few minor cuts from fighting so much, and then looked at Arthur, who I had protected flawlessly. She sighed and said: “I’ve never seen you care about someone this much.” Care? Both Arthur and I froze. Before my mom left, she gave me a huge bag of snacks and told me to share them with my friends. I shoved all the snacks into Arthur’s arms. 5 No one at school dared to bully Arthur anymore. Not even the stray dogs on the street dared to bark at him. Ever since my mom came that day, Arthur stopped being so repulsed by me. Because I could finally put my arm around his shoulder. Turns out, treating Arthur well meant I could get closer to him. I was incredibly smug about it. Over time, treating Arthur well became a habit. Whenever I bought something, I’d buy an extra for Arthur. If I found a good restaurant, I’d bring Arthur next time. When my mom hired top-tier private tutors for me, I brought the tutors to Arthur’s tiny apartment so we could study together. Then, on the finals, Arthur ranked 1st in our grade. I ranked 6th from the bottom. My mom said there was progress; at least I wasn’t dead last anymore. The moment I truly wanted to claim Arthur for myself was during winter break that year. During the holidays, every family was celebrating and bustling with noise. I FaceTimed Arthur to say Happy New Year. He was buried in practice exams and just replied, “Happy New Year.” It was completely silent where Arthur was. I had been to his place many times. I knew he lived alone in a rundown, tiny apartment his grandmother left him before she passed. I suddenly had an idea. I hung up the phone, packed a suitcase, and bolted out the door. My mom asked where I was going. I said I was going to find Arthur. My mom said “Oh,” and then suddenly realized: “You’re flying to the East Coast?!” … Winter on the East Coast is brutally cold. When I got off the plane, my legs were shaking uncontrollably. At two in the morning, I knocked on Arthur’s door. Listening to his approaching footsteps, I felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest. When Arthur opened the door, I threw my arms open and smiled: “Happy New Year!” I had a whole speech prepared, something about “With me here this New Year, you won’t be lonely!” But I never got to say it. Because Arthur blocked my mouth. He grabbed the back of my head and slammed the door shut with a loud bang. That night, he kissed me until my legs gave out. 6 I didn’t know what kind of relationship Arthur and I had. But after that night, I became a little addicted to him. I spent almost the entire winter break at his place. “Are we really not going to kiss?” became my catchphrase. Arthur would be doing practice tests, and I’d sit next to him asking, “Are we really not going to kiss?” He’d look at me and not say a word. A while later, he’d turn a page of his test. “Come here.” I’d instantly lean in and get a brief, intimate moment. At that time, we weren’t officially together, but the vibe was definitely more than friends, constantly teasing my heart. Once school started again, things completely changed. I had never wished more that I wasn’t a playboy. And the other problem was, I had too many friends. Today it was this guy’s birthday, tomorrow that guy’s party. Compared to hanging out with Arthur every single day during winter break… Once school started, I barely made it to his place once every two weeks. But Arthur never reacted, so I assumed he didn’t care. Until my “first love” transferred to our school. Truth is, I had absolutely zero romantic feelings for my “first love.” We were just friends who hung out a bit more often, and somehow the rumor mill branded him my “first love.” But that’s how high school is. The slightest rumor about me would spawn eight hundred different versions. Among them, the version where I was hopelessly pining for my “first love” was the most popular. Arthur still didn’t seem to care. He just coldly and ruthlessly did his practice problems. So I didn’t bother explaining. “Liam, it’s my birthday today. Karaoke tonight, you coming?” I looked up from my desk at my “first love.” To be honest, I didn’t even remember it was his birthday. But I had been to countless birthday parties for him over the last couple of months. And according to my schedule, I was supposed to go to Arthur’s place today. “I’ve got stuff to do today, I can’t make it. I’ll have someone drop off a gift for you later.” Hearing that, my “first love’s” voice instantly softened: “But it’s no fun if you don’t come. It’s fine, just hang out for a bit. You can leave when you need to, please?” “What time?” “Six.” Six. I checked my phone. I usually went to Arthur’s at eight. I had time. So I nodded: “Fine.” … 7 At 9:00 PM, I stood outside Arthur’s door. My head was still spinning. If I had known my “first love” wouldn’t let me leave, I wouldn’t have gone at all. Now look what happened. I dragged it out until now, cutting my time with Arthur short again. I knocked on Arthur’s door. Because I was pretty drunk, I didn’t even hear his footsteps before the door opened. Then, an ice-cold voice dropped on my head: “What are you doing here?” I looked up groggily. What do you mean, what am I doing here? I’m here to kiss you. I stepped forward, grabbed his hand, and went up on my tiptoes to kiss him. But I didn’t kiss him. Instead, he grabbed me by the neck. Arthur looked at me, his voice so deep it sounded like he hated me: “Liam, do you know how dirty you are?” … Me? Dirty? I kicked the door Arthur slammed in my face several times. He was really that heartless, just throwing me outside. And calling me dirty. I gave Arthur the silent treatment. If he was disgusted by me, I wasn’t going to press my hot face against his cold ass. Plenty of people liked me. Why should I only try to please Arthur Sterling? I had a new flavor of the week, one after another. Every day, I’d bring a new fling into the classroom to flirt. But the truth is, I didn’t even kiss any of them. Ever since I kissed Arthur, I never kissed anyone else again. I didn’t even have any intimate contact with them. But Arthur actually called me dirty. I paraded a bunch of guys right in front of Arthur, and he had zero reaction. But the moment he got close to someone else, I lost it. 8 It was a quiet, nerdy kid from the class next door. I don’t know when it started, but he was always walking home with Arthur after school. He was also constantly coming to Arthur with homework questions. Watching from the sidelines, I practically ground my back teeth to dust. Why. Why, why, why. Why call me dirty and then go get cozy with someone else? Later, one of my boys booked a private room at a club and called me over. I knew him from middle school. We had one thing in common: he liked guys too. In the middle of the night, he started telling me how much he liked his new boyfriend. He even mentioned he got him a nipple piercing. “What’s the point of that? Isn’t it uncomfortable?” I frowned, completely unable to understand. Until he said one more thing: “Every time I kiss him and see it, I feel like it’s proof that he’s mine.” … At 1:00 AM, I climbed onto Arthur’s balcony and started knocking on his window. If I knocked on the door, he could lock me out. He couldn’t do that with the window, because I could break the window. The literal coercion involved in doing that deed left me with lingering fear long after. But looking at that thing… I selectively ignored Arthur’s murderous glare. “Are you done throwing your tantrum? Now leave.” He stood up and pulled his T-shirt down. I knew I had definitely hurt him just now. And I knew exactly what what I did tonight represented. So I grabbed his hand and said: “Can we stop fighting? I…” I paused for a second and said: “I won’t mess around with other people anymore.” … If I had known that’s all it took to coax Arthur, I would have said it from the start. When I woke up the next morning, I took Arthur to a professional piercer and a doctor. After all, I wasn’t a professional. I was crazy last night, but I was still worried about infection. Once everything was properly handled, Arthur and I went back to school.

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I am the true heiress who was switched at birth. On the day I was supposed to reunite with my biological family, my ex-boyfriend was actually there. I gasped in surprise: “Liam?” My biological mother, completely unaware of the gravity of the situation, asked with a bright smile, “Mia, you know Liam?” I blurted out without thinking: “Of course. He’s my ex-boyfriend.” Seeing the color instantly drain from my biological mother’s face, it clicked. My ex-boyfriend was now my biological older brother. And so… The fake heiress, who had been gearing up for an Oscar-worthy performance, froze awkwardly. The youngest brother, who was ready to scream “I only acknowledge my old sister,” lost his voice. My biological father suffered a massive asthma attack on the spot, leaving my biological mother scrambling to feed him his inhaler. Then there was me, completely petrified. And my expressionless ex-boyfriend-turned-biological-brother. 1 “Mom, Dad, are they into some twisted sibling romance?” The first to react was the fake heiress, Serena. She pointed at me and Liam, her eyes wide, her lips parted in shock. After a few seconds of silence, I raised my hand and pointed at Liam. “He seduced me first.” Liam’s eyes darkened, staring fixedly at me. One second, two seconds… I suddenly burst into loud laughter. “Just a joke to lighten the mood!” “Mom, Dad, honestly, before I walked through that door, I didn’t know my ‘big brother’ at all, haha.” Liam smiled too. The corners of his lips slowly curled up as he looked at the dumbfounded Serena and the little brother. Then he looked at our parents, who had just caught their breath. “Isn’t it funny? Why aren’t you laughing?” After two seconds of silence, the youngest brother, Leo, who was still in high school, was the first to laugh out loud. “Hahaha, that joke was hilarious! I almost believed it.” “Dad, Mom, Serena, why aren’t you laughing?” He didn’t notice the look his parents and Serena were giving him—like they were looking at an idiot. The atmosphere instantly cooled down again. Once again, I regretted running my mouth the moment I walked in and saw a familiar face, purely out of surprise. “Let’s eat first,” Mr. Sterling said, breaking the awkward silence. Mrs. Sterling also recovered, affectionately taking my hand and leading me toward the dining room. “Mia, we weren’t sure about your tastes yet, so we had the chef prepare a little bit of everything.” She pulled me to sit between her and Mr. Sterling. “Mia, try this.” Mrs. Sterling picked up a piece of shrimp and was about to put it in my bowl. Liam looked over and frowned slightly. “Mom, Mia can’t eat shrimp. She’s allergic to seafood.” 2 The lobster dropped from her chopsticks onto the table. Mrs. Sterling stared blankly at Liam, the tremor in her voice incredibly obvious. “Liam, how do you know your sister is allergic to seafood?” My gaze collided violently with Liam’s, then quickly darted away. My scalp tingled. Fortunately, my brain worked fast, and I quickly came up with an explanation. “Mom, Liam and I both went to Ivy University, and we were in the same club before.” “During a club dinner, I mentioned my seafood allergy. Liam has a good memory, he must have remembered it from then.” Actually, no. It was because of Liam that I found out I was allergic to seafood. Before I met him, I had never eaten seafood. The moment I swallowed the first bite of shrimp, my heart started racing wildly, my chest tightened, and my cheeks flushed hot. I thought it was the thrill and excitement of being confessed to by love at first sight. It felt like my heart was skipping a beat. But the moment Liam finished his confession… Before I could even say “I like you too,” I was suffocated by my increasingly rapid heartbeat, my vision went black, and I passed out. When I woke up in the hospital, I had been on an IV drip for three days. “Is what your sister said true, Liam?” Mrs. Sterling was half-skeptical, her hand unconsciously tightening around her chopsticks. Liam’s expression didn’t show a single ripple. “Yeah. What she said is true.” 3 For the rest of the dinner. Besides Liam and me, the other three had complex expressions, glancing at each other from time to time. After dinner, Mrs. Sterling took my hand and led me upstairs. “Mia, before you came back, Mom prepared a few rooms for you. Take a look, which one do you like?” I didn’t have many demands for a room; as long as it had a bed that could fit me, it was fine. But after looking at several rooms decorated in a sickeningly sweet pink, I realized I did have demands. So, when passing by a room with a minimalist design, I stopped. “I’ll take this one.” “No!” Mr. and Mrs. Sterling rejected me in unison. I was confused. “Why not?” They exchanged a conflicted look. “This room is too small.” “This room isn’t suitable for you.” It was Serena, eager to stir up drama, who explained: “Sister, the room directly across from this one is Liam’s bedroom.” I looked at Mrs. Sterling, and she guiltily avoided my gaze. I was understanding and smiled, “Then I’ll pick another one.” Finally, I chose a room that was quite out of the way. Of all the empty rooms, it was the furthest from Liam’s. The two rooms weren’t even on the same floor. One was on the second floor, the other on the fourth. Unless Liam was sleepwalking or specifically looking for me, he wouldn’t pass by my bedroom. “I’m heading out,” Liam, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up. I watched him walk toward me, then expressionlessly bypass me. “There’s a problem with a project that needs urgent handling. I won’t be coming back tonight.” 4 After drying my hair, I prepared for bed. There was a sudden knock on my bedroom door. The person outside didn’t speak, so I was sure it wasn’t Mr. or Mrs. Sterling. I didn’t want to answer, but the knocking grew louder. I frowned, got up, and opened the door. Standing outside was indeed Leo. His tone was aggressive. “I knocked for ages! Why did it take you so long to open the door?” Ever since I walked in, this kid hadn’t given me a single good look. Naturally, I had no patience for him either. “Knocking on my door in the middle of the night. What do you want?” Leo lifted his chin, his face full of disdain. “Let me make this clear right now. I only have one sister, and that’s Serena.” “Don’t delude yourself into thinking I’ll ever acknowledge you as my sister.” Provoking me right to my face? How dare he be so arrogant. My patience completely ran out. I raised my hand. Slap. A firm slap landed on Leo’s face. I sneered, staring straight at him. “Two choices. Either I’m your sister, or I’m your sister-in-law. Pick one.” Leo held his cheek, his eyes full of absolute disbelief at my slap. He froze for four or five seconds before my words finally registered in his brain. His expression instantly crumbled. “Wh-what do you mean? Are you and my brother really…” I raised my hand, pretending I was going to slap him again. Leo panicked and shrank back two steps in fear. Recovering, his mouth twitched slightly, his eyes a mix of panic and grievance. After holding it in for a long time, he gritted his teeth and squeezed out one word: “Sister.” I was satisfied with Leo’s tactfulness. “Good. That’s a good boy.” “Little brother, go back to sleep.” Leo turned to leave, but after taking four or five steps, he abruptly turned back. I raised an eyebrow. He stared at me intensely, his voice low and heavy. “You and my brother are biological siblings.” “Biological! Don’t do anything crazy.” It wasn’t until I heard the sound of Leo’s door closing downstairs that I looked up toward the corner of the hallway. “Big brother, didn’t you say you weren’t coming back tonight?” 5 Liam walked out from the corner. Those familiar eyes were completely shrouded by the shadow of his brow bone, making it impossible to read his emotions. He kept his gaze low, casually loosening the tie at his neck. “Handled it early.” “Haven’t seen you in two years, so I came up to say hello.” His tone was very flat. As he approached, a faint scent of alcohol drifted over. I asked him, “Are you drunk?” He denied it quickly: “No.” A moment of silence. My brain inappropriately started churning out random thoughts. I vaguely remembered a phrase that perfectly suited our current atmosphere. It was something like— Lovers destined to become siblings. Realizing I was laughing internally, I quickly collected myself and played along with his previous words. “It really has been two years.” After we broke up, I unilaterally cut all contact with him. Calculating it, it had been exactly two years, one month, and nineteen days. During the pause in our conversation, I instinctively studied him. Liam noticed my gaze and subtly straightened his posture. I looked at him very seriously. Compared to two years ago, Liam was much more mature. Somewhere between the bright clarity of a youth and the steady maturity of a man, he was even more dazzling. He truly lived up to being the man I fell in love with at first sight two years ago. Compared to when we first met, there were even more things about him that made my heart race. Thinking this, the dirty thoughts in my brain unconsciously kicked my rationality to the curb. My unfiltered mouth blurted out, “I feel like you’ve gotten even sexier.” “Cough, cough.” Realizing what I had just said, I almost choked on my own saliva. At the same time, my rationality returned, and I quickly backed away to distance myself from Liam. I lost my mind. My current identity is his biological sister! Fire prevention, theft prevention, incest prevention. “Stop!” I rejected his movement to approach me. “We’ve said our hellos. You can go back to your room now.” His eyes darkened considerably. “You’re the one who provoked me.” I was very candid. “That’s because I forgot my identity for a second.” “Liam, I am now just your sister.” “If there’s nothing else, let’s call it a night.” Today, Mr. Sterling had an asthma attack right on the spot from the shock of hearing that Liam and I used to date. My mind went blank at the time, and the fear only set in afterward. Older people can’t handle too much shock. If he found out that in the middle of the night, Liam and I were secretly talking behind everyone’s backs, his body probably wouldn’t be able to take it. “Give me a strand of your hair.” I didn’t hear him clearly and frowned. “What did you say?” “Give me…” “Liam, Mia, what are you doing?” Mrs. Sterling’s horrified voice suddenly rang out. I turned to look. She was standing at the top of the stairs, looking at us with a pale face. “Mom, what are you doing here?” Liam asked calmly. “I-I got thirsty and came out for some water.” “But it’s almost midnight. Liam, if you have something to say to your biological sister, couldn’t it wait until tomorrow? Why in the middle of the night?” I don’t know if it was just my imagination, but I felt like Mrs. Sterling emphasized the words “biological sister” very heavily. But didn’t Mrs. Sterling have a mini-fridge or a water dispenser in her bedroom? My bedroom had a double-door fridge stocked with ridiculously expensive bottled water. Besides, Mrs. Sterling’s bedroom was on the second floor. Why would she come to the fourth floor for water? Liam lowered his eyes slightly and didn’t answer immediately. After a moment of silence, he explained in a natural tone. “I had a few drinks at the dinner meeting, and felt thirsty when I got back. I don’t know how, but I wandered up to the fourth floor.” “I saw Mia standing at her door, so I came over to say goodnight.” 6 The next day, I had classes in the morning. The Sterling family’s driver dropped me off near the university. I told him not to pick me up at noon. After my two classes ended, I returned to the apartment I had rented a little over a month ago for my internship. I pushed the door open. The person on the bed was sprawled out, sleeping soundly. I dragged the person out from under the covers. “Chloe, it’s 1 PM! Wake up!” “I went to see your family yesterday.” Chloe was dazed and groggy for a moment. When she fully woke up, she quickly sat up and shook my arm. “Yesterday? Wasn’t the meeting scheduled for the 13th? Why did you go early?!” I said exasperatedly: “I told you to stop staying up late. You’ve fried your brain.” “Yesterday was the 13th.” Chloe and I grew up in the same orphanage. The difference was, she had been there since she was a baby. All the children in the orphanage took the director’s surname, “Su”. The day she arrived, the director’s jasmine flowers (Mo-li) were in full bloom, so she was named Su Mo (Chloe). As for me, Mia, I entered the orphanage when I was six, after both my parents died in a car accident. Because our names sounded similar and we were the same age, Chloe and I had stuck together since childhood, becoming each other’s closest family. However, our personalities were complete opposites. A week ago, the orphanage director told Chloe that her biological parents had been found. After hearing the good news, she hugged me and jumped around for ages, her eyes sparkling. “Mia, I have a mom and dad!” But when she found out her parents were the owners of a famous national enterprise… And that there was a fake heiress who had taken her place and lived the high life in the Sterling family for over twenty years, Chloe instantly deflated. Because she had been abducted by human traffickers when she was little, she suffered from severe paranoia. Chloe firmly believed that if she returned to the Sterling family, the fake heiress would definitely harm her. That night, she curled up in bed, flipping through various “true vs. fake heiress” novels while wailing: “It’s over, it’s over. Mia, I know this plotline.” “Classic true vs. fake heiress trope. If I, the true heiress, go back, I’ll definitely get bullied.” Ever since she escaped from the human traffickers, Chloe could only communicate freely and comfortably in front of me and the director. The moment she faced strangers, she would stutter and even have trouble breathing. With a personality like that, people easily thought she was a pushover. “Look at these novels. The fake heiress plays weak to get sympathy, and the family loses their minds and favors her completely.” “A true heiress like me will either get framed or kicked out of the house. Either way, the ending is extremely tragic.” The more Chloe spoke, the angrier she got, flipping the novel on her lap furiously. But her eyes hid a very real, genuine panic. Finally, she made up her mind. “Just in case, I’m not going to reunite with them.” “According to the plot developments in these novels, if I return to the Sterling family, my future will be miserable, and I might even drag you down with me.” But I couldn’t forget the joy she showed when she learned she still had family. So, I took on Chloe’s identity and entered the Sterling family to investigate the situation. To see if the fake heiress felt ashamed towards Chloe and harbored good intentions? To see if the Sterling family would completely favor the fake heiress like in the novels? To see if the members of the Sterling family were all profit-driven, ruthless people who only thought about fighting for power and wealth every second? Currently, aside from Serena and Leo, the other three had a pretty good impression score in my heart. But right now, that wasn’t the main point. Before Chloe could ask about my experience at the Sterling house yesterday, I took a deep breath. “We need to tell your parents the truth earlier than planned.” Chloe’s eyes widened slightly. “Why?” “Because if we don’t switch back soon, your oldest brother is going to be forced to move abroad.”

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I slept with the Supreme Commander of the Federation. My goal was to borrow his S-class pheromones to cure my genetic disease. After the treatment, I ran, casually leaving a single coin on his nightstand. It was an acknowledgment of his… services. I thought my plan was flawless. Until three months later, I was pinned to the ground while buying suppressants in the black market. Arthur pressed his gun against the back of my head, his tone freezing cold: “Finally caught you.” “Ethan, I was very dissatisfied with that one-dollar tip you left that night.” I instinctively shielded my stomach. No other reason. Just that this “job” had resulted in a little surprise. 1 When Arthur caught me, I was throwing up. Leaning against the filthy wall of the black market, I was retching so hard I thought I’d bring up bile. Being pregnant… this whole thing was way too out of bounds for a guy who had been an Alpha for twenty-six years. I should have just stabbed Arthur that night instead of getting soft-hearted and merely using him as an antidote. “Are you done throwing up?” A voice as cold as ice came from above. My spine stiffened. I didn’t need to look up to know who it was. That pheromone scent, like frozen earth after a blizzard—there was no second person in the entire Federation with it. Arthur. The Supreme Commander of the Federation, an S-class Alpha known as the “Mad Dog.” He was also my former partner and my current mortal enemy. I wiped my mouth, slowly stood up straight, turned around, and flashed him a grin. “Well, Commander Arthur. Long time no see. Missed me that much?” Arthur didn’t smile. Behind him stood a fully armed special forces squad, their muzzles pointing uniformly at my head. This kind of lineup was a bit excessive, even for my funeral. Arthur, his black-gloved fingers resting on his holster, ran his dark, brooding gaze over me. Finally, his eyes settled on my stomach. My heart skipped a beat. I was wearing loose clothes, so I wasn’t showing much, but his eyes were as venomous as a snake’s. “Your skills have slipped, Ethan.” “You used to be able to smell me three streets away. Now I’m standing right behind you, and you’re dealing with morning sickness?” He used the term “morning sickness.” Not “nausea.” My pupils contracted slightly, and the dagger in my hand quietly slipped into my palm. “My stomach’s been acting up lately. Ate something bad.” “What, does Commander Arthur care about my diet now?” Arthur let out a cold laugh. The next second, he struck without warning. If it were the old days, I could have gone three hundred rounds with him. But now? First, my legs were weak from throwing up. Second, the aftereffects of my genetic disease, combined with the little vampire in my belly, meant my stamina was currently worse than a Beta’s. I only had time to raise my arm to block. Crack. Sharp pain shot through my wrist. Just like that, he twisted my arms behind my back and slammed me hard against the grimy wall. “Ugh… Arthur, you son of a…” “Shh.” The cold barrel of the gun pressed against the back of my head. Arthur leaned in close to my ear, his tone freezing: “Finally caught you.” “Ethan, I was very dissatisfied with that one-dollar tip you left that night.” 2 I was taken back to Federal Prison No. 3. This place was specifically for S-class felons, known as the “Living Tomb.” And I was enjoying the highest level of treatment—personal interrogation by Arthur. The heat was off in the interrogation room, and it was bone-chillingly cold. I was locked in a specialized interrogation chair, my hands and feet tightly shackled. These shackles could suppress pheromones; if I struggled too much, they would release a high-voltage shock. Arthur sat across from me, slowly and methodically cleaning his gun. It was the birthday present I gave him back in the day. I didn’t expect him to keep it until now, much less plan to use it to shoot me. “Ethan, three years on the run, and this is what you’ve reduced yourself to?” He looked up at me, his gaze critical. I was definitely looking rough right now. I’d been stripped down to a single, thin T-shirt. My abdomen was throbbing dully from the violent struggle earlier. I gritted my teeth, fighting back the waves of nausea welling up in my throat. “I’m doing alright.” I forced a smirk. “Just came back for a family visit, you know.” “Family visit?” Arthur acted like he’d just heard a joke. “Visiting who? That former partner you shot through the shoulder and left in the ruins?” Arthur had a through-and-through scar on his body. I did that. Three years ago, the first signs of my genetic breakdown appeared. To avoid dragging him down, and to find a banned drug only available on the black market, I orchestrated a defection. I deliberately missed his vital organs with that shot, but I didn’t expect him to hold a grudge until now. “That was an accident.” “The gun misfired.” SLAM! Arthur slammed his hand on the table. “An accident?” “And sneaking into my residence, drugging me, and using me like a cheap gigolo for a night—was that an accident too?!” I didn’t expect things to turn out like that either. Three months ago, I desperately needed Arthur’s bone marrow fluid or highly concentrated pheromones as a catalyst for my medicine. I sneaked into his residence, originally planning to just draw a vial of his blood. Who knew I’d walk right into the middle of his explosive rut? The whole room was filled with that maddening scent. As an Alpha whose genes were on the verge of collapse, being stimulated by that top-tier oppressive aura caused an immediate, massive rejection reaction. I went crazy too. Only one thought remained in my mind: I need him. What happened next was a blur. I only remember biting, tangling, and him calling my name in the haze of passion. But I couldn’t admit it. If I admitted it, not only would I lose the cub, I’d lose my life too. “Commander Arthur, you need evidence for those claims.” I stared into his eyes, forcing myself to stay calm. “Your residence is heavily guarded. How could I possibly get in? Besides, I’m an Alpha, you’re an Alpha. How do two rock-hard men sleep together? A sword fight?” Arthur narrowed his eyes. “You’re an Alpha?” He suddenly reached out, his hand moving toward the scent gland on the back of my neck. There was a heavy-duty blocker patch stuck there. “Ethan, your pheromone scent has changed.” “It used to smell like strong liquor, now…” He leaned in closer and sniffed, frowning. “Why does it smell like milk?” 3 A herd of wild horses was trampling through my heart. That was the specific scent of an Omega during pregnancy. Even a blocker patch couldn’t completely hide it. “It’s a new cologne. You wouldn’t get it.” “Is it?” Arthur sneered. His fingers suddenly tightened, ready to rip off the blocker patch. “Then let me smell what brand this cologne is.” “Don’t touch me!” I panicked and struggled violently. If he discovered my scent gland had mutated into an Omega’s, everything was over. The shackles sensed my struggle and instantly released a high-voltage current. Zzzzt—! “Ugh!” Agony ripped through my entire body. My vision went black, and I slumped in the chair, convulsing. The electricity didn’t just shock my nerves; it stimulated my already unstable reproductive cavity. It felt like someone had viciously kicked my stomach. The pain made me curl up, and cold sweat instantly soaked my back. “Ethan!” Arthur didn’t seem to expect me to react this violently. He immediately cut the power and reached out to slap my face. “Stop playing dead! That was nothing!” I didn’t have the energy to play dead. I was in real pain. I could even feel something slowly slipping away. “Medicine…” I gripped his sleeve. “Give me my medicine…” “What medicine?” Arthur’s face changed; he must have realized something was very wrong. My body temperature was dropping rapidly, and my lips had turned a purplish-blue. “I have a genetic disease… I need my suppressants…” I shivered, speaking half-truths. I couldn’t say “pregnancy-preserving drugs.” If I did, it would be two lives lost. Arthur stared at me dead on, his eyes unreadable. Just when I thought he was going to watch me die in pain, he suddenly turned and pulled a syringe from the drawer of the interrogation table. It was a military emergency med-kit. Without hesitation, he injected it into my jugular vein. The liquid pushed in, freezing cold. The pain eased slightly. I gasped for air, like a fish just pulled out of the water. Arthur threw away the syringe and grabbed my chin again. “Ethan, what exactly are you hiding from me?” “I’ve checked your physical data. An S-class Alpha’s constitution wouldn’t collapse from that little bit of electricity.” “Unless…” His gaze moved down again, locking onto my abdomen. It was still spasming from the pain. “Unless your physical structure has mutated.” “Take off your clothes.” “What?” I froze for a second. “I said, take off your clothes.” Arthur stood up straight. “Or do I have to do it for you?” “Right here? Are you crazy, Arthur?” “I do what I want, where I want.” He didn’t give me a chance to refuse, grabbing the hem of my T-shirt directly. Riiiip— The fabric tore. My upper body was exposed to the air. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Because my body was covered in scars. Knife wounds, bullet wounds, burn marks—crisscrossing like an ugly web. Arthur’s gaze didn’t linger on those old scars. He stared at my lower abdomen. There was a slight bulge there. If you didn’t look closely, you’d think it was just relaxed muscle. But Arthur reached out and placed his hand over it. I shuddered, instinctively trying to pull back, but there was nowhere to hide. “What is this?” His voice trembled. It carried extreme shock and disbelief. “A lump? A tumor?” He pressed down slightly. I let out a muffled groan. The little cub inside, as if sensing the approach of its other half’s bloodline, actually moved at that very moment. It was a very faint movement. But Arthur froze completely. “It moved…?” I closed my eyes in despair. It was over. This time, it was really over. “Ethan.” Arthur’s voice was hoarse, laced with desperation. “Are you… pregnant?” “An Alpha… pregnant?” 4 Since I couldn’t hide it anymore, there was no need to keep playing the submissive fool. “Yes.” I opened my eyes and looked at him provocatively. “If you don’t believe me, you can cut it open right now and see if it’s a freak or a miracle.” “Whose is it?” He thought I had been sleeping around with wild men out there, knocked up, and came back just to disgust him. I suddenly found it a bit funny. “It’s not yours, anyway.” I deliberately provoked him. “You know what the black market is like. To stay alive, sometimes you have to pay a price…” “Shut up!” He grabbed me by the throat, his eyes bloodshot. “Ethan, how dare you… how dare you let another Alpha touch you?!” The feeling of suffocation rushed in. My vision started to go black, but a smile still hung on my lips. “Cough… Commander Arthur… we broke up a long time ago… who I sleep with… is none of your damn business…” “I forbid it!” Arthur seemed to have lost his mind, his pheromones violently washing over the entire room. “You are mine! Even if you’re a corpse, you’re mine!” “Who does that bastard child belong to?! I’ll kill him! I’ll tear him to pieces!” His grip tightened. I was really going to be strangled to death. The fetus in my abdomen sensed the mother’s crisis and began to struggle violently. It hurt so much. A hundred times worse than the electric shock just now. “Ugh…” I finally couldn’t hold it in and let out a painful groan. That sound seemed to bring back Arthur’s sanity. He looked at my pale face and my starting-to-dilate pupils, and his hand violently released. “Cough, cough, cough…” I coughed violently, greedily sucking in air. Arthur stumbled back two steps, his chest heaving heavily. He looked at his hands, then at me, curled up in pain, confusion and fear flashing in his eyes. “Ethan…” “Get lost…” I was sweating profusely from the pain, gritting my teeth and cursing: “Arthur, if you want to kill me, just do it… stop torturing me…” “Medic!” Arthur roared toward the door. “Get the military medic in here! Now!” “I dare anyone to come in!” “Arthur, if you dare let anyone else touch me… I’ll die right in front of you.” I still held the broken half of the dagger blade in my hand. I pressed it against my carotid artery. “Let me go.” “Impossible.” Arthur refused without a second thought. “With your physical condition, walking out that door means death.” “Staying here means death!” I stared at him. “Arthur, I’m a mutated Omega from a secondary gender differentiation. This child is a monster; it’s eating my life!” “You need top-tier Alpha pheromones to soothe it. Nobody else can save you.” Arthur calmed down. “Ethan, no matter who this bastard child belongs to, we’re saving your life first.” “Once you’re cured…” A ruthless glint appeared in his eyes. “I will personally abort this abomination, and then I’ll find your wild man and tear him to pieces.” I looked at him. I had a lot of mixed feelings. Are you going to tear yourself to pieces? Idiot. But I didn’t dare say it. This child was his. If he found out the truth, given his obsession with blood purity and his controlling nature, this child wouldn’t live to see tomorrow. And he would lock me up, lock me up for the rest of my life. “Ah—!” A tearing, agonizing pain suddenly erupted in my abdomen. My vision went black, and I completely lost consciousness. But in the last second before I passed out, I heard Arthur’s panicked shouts. “Ethan! Ethan!” And that momentary, trembling embrace that wrapped tightly around me. 5 When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed in the infirmary. There were no shackles on my hands or feet, but there was a collar around my neck. It was the kind of suppression collar with GPS tracking and electric shock capabilities. Arthur sat by the bed, peeling an apple. Seeing I was awake, he cut a slice of the peeled apple and held it to my lips. “Eat.” I didn’t open my mouth, watching him warily. “It’s not poisoned.” He took a bite himself, chewing loudly. Then he said suddenly, “The child is still there.” I froze for a second, instinctively touching my stomach. “Why didn’t you abort it?” Arthur tossed the rest of the apple onto a plate and wiped his hands with a tissue. “The doctor said your reproductive cavity is underdeveloped and the walls are too thin. Forcing an abortion right now carries a 90% chance of massive hemorrhage.” He looked up at me, his eyes cold. “I don’t want you dying on the operating table. That would be letting you off too easy.” “So you’re planning to let me give birth to it?” “Give birth to it, and then I’ll strangle it right in front of you.” A chill ran down my spine. This mad dog would actually do it. I took a deep breath. “Arthur, let’s make a deal.” “I’ll help you find the person who broke into your residence, and you let me and the child go.” Arthur paused his movements. “You know who that person is?” “Of course.” I lied effortlessly. “I saw him in the black market. He’s also an Alpha, very skilled in disguises.” “Oh?” Arthur leaned in close to me. “Then tell me, why does that person have the exact same beautiful peach-blossom eyes as you?” I stopped talking. This bastard was bluffing me. Arthur reached out and gently patted my stomach. “Ethan, do you really think I’m stupid?” “Even though the security footage from that night was deleted, you left behind plenty of biological samples.” “I ran a DNA comparison.” My heart skipped a beat. I was screwed. “The results aren’t out yet.” Arthur slowly added another sentence. “But I have time.” “Until the results are out, you’ll stay here quietly and focus on your pregnancy.” “If you dare to run…” He pointed at the collar on my neck. “This thing can only be unlocked by my fingerprint. If you dare take one step out of this room, it will explode.” “And turn that pretty head of yours into a smashed watermelon.” 6 I was under house arrest. Right under Arthur’s nose. I have to admit, aside from his venomous tongue and ruthless nature, this mad dog really knew how to take care of someone. Three meals a day of top-tier nutritious food, and he watched me finish every bite. He practically gave away his pheromones for free to soothe my restless reproductive cavity. My current body was like a bottomless pit, greedily devouring his pheromones. Sometimes when I woke up in the middle of the night, I’d find him sleeping right next to me. Not back-to-back like we used to. He held me in his arms like a body pillow, his hand resting protectively on my stomach. Even in his sleep, he would unconsciously nuzzle the top of my head with his chin. It gave me an illusion. As if we had never fallen out, as if these three years were just a dream. As if… we really were just a normal Alpha/Omega couple, anticipating the arrival of a new life. But when I was fully awake, I knew this was a dead end. Once that DNA report came out, once he knew this child was his—and also the tool I used to exploit him— What awaited me would undoubtedly be a captivity worse than death. I had to run. The opportunity came quickly. Arthur had to attend a high-level Federation meeting and would be away for three days. He tripled the guards, turning the entire building into an iron fortress. But he underestimated the escape skills of a former S-class agent. On the second night of his absence, I pried open the ventilation duct. The collar was a problem. But I took a gamble. I gambled that Arthur wouldn’t actually blow my head off. I tampered with the collar’s sensor, using a thin wire pulled from the mattress to short-circuit its signal transmitter. I only had three minutes. After three minutes, the system would report an error, and Arthur would receive an alarm. I had to sprint out of this building and jump into the moat within three minutes. Everything went smoothly. Until I climbed out of the vent and stood on the roof, ready to jump. A familiar voice that made my scalp tingle came from behind me. “Ethan.” “Where do you think you’re taking my seed?” I turned around stiffly. In the pouring rain. Arthur hadn’t gone to the meeting. He was wearing that black trench coat, standing in the rain, holding a freshly printed document in his hand. He held up the report, the paper snapping in the wind and rain. “100% match.” He grinned, revealing his stark white teeth. “Ethan, you have some nerve.” “You slept with me, got pregnant with my seed, and then lied to me that it belonged to some wild man?” “Tell me, how should I punish you?” I took a step back, my heels hanging over the edge. Below me was a hundred-meter drop into a rushing river. “Arthur, I don’t owe you anything.” I shouted loudly, my voice torn apart by the wind and rain. “That shot from three years ago, I paid it back! This child… consider it payback too!” “What are you paying me back with?!” Arthur roared furiously, throwing the report aside and charging toward me. “Your body is mine! Your life is mine! This child is mine!” “Get over here!” “In your dreams!” I didn’t want to be his canary anymore, let alone a baby-making machine. I leaned back and spread my arms. Just as Arthur’s fingertips brushed mine, I fell backward. The wind howled past my ears. I saw Arthur lunge to the edge of the roof, half his body leaning out. On that always-calm face, I saw an expression called “despair” for the very first time. “Ethan—!!!” In that moment, I actually felt a twisted sense of satisfaction. So the mad dog feels pain too? Then let him hurt. This was the final bite mark I was leaving him.

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When the story’s “true heroine” appeared, I was already pregnant with Liam Sterling’s child. Unable to fight fate, Liam had once abandoned everything and broken his engagement with her for me. Yet now, the universe forced him to hate me to the bone, finding me repulsive just to look at. Eventually, I got tired. I threw away our tangled love, and even gave up our child. Until six years later, on a late afternoon. A young, tender-faced child knocked on my door. He kept his face perfectly serious like a little adult and said: “My dad doesn’t want me anymore. Can I stay with you?” 1 I froze for a second, not saying a word. Leo pursed his lips, clearly unhappy. Tilting his pretty little face up, he said very seriously: “My teacher said that parents have a responsibility and obligation to raise their children…” The half-open door cut off the rest of his sentence. I stepped slightly to the side and said calmly: “Come in.” The dim, warm light inside illuminated his slightly widened eyes. His eyes flashed inexplicably. He lifted his chin, gave a little “hmph,” and obediently walked inside. After closing the door, I turned around to see Leo looking around curiously. Seeing me look at him, he immediately averted his gaze, nervously gripping his backpack straps. With a tense little face, he said: “My name is Leo Sterling.” It sounded like a self-introduction, but also a reminder that he was the child Liam and I had together. I know. From the very first glance, I knew exactly who he was. Because his face was practically a carbon copy of Liam’s. Seemingly disappointed by my calm reaction, he turned his head away, unhappy, refusing to look at me anymore. I placed his little pastel yellow backpack in the entryway and led him to wash his hands. “Let’s eat first.” Leo obediently said “Oh.” By the time I brought the food out, he had already climbed onto his chair. I asked him why he suddenly came looking for me. Leo buried his head, poking at the bok choy in his bowl. His lowered head was dark and round. His voice was muffled: “I got in a fight with him. He smashed things and told me to get out, saying I could never come back.” So he was just throwing a tantrum and running away from home. Liam would probably come pick him up very soon. Makes sense. After all, six years ago, the Sterling family fought me tooth and nail for Leo’s custody. It got incredibly ugly. There was no way they wouldn’t want him now. My chopsticks paused. I couldn’t quite name the feeling in my heart at that moment. I hadn’t known Leo was coming tonight, so I only had a simple meal of two dishes and a soup. He was a very picky eater. He didn’t eat onions, and he didn’t eat carrots. In the end, he had nothing left to pick from. Leo stared at the mangled bok choy leaf like it had killed his family, stole a guilty glance at me, and swallowed it down. When we first met today, he carried a little bit of arrogance and spoiled pride. Now, seeing him pick at his food and refuse greens, I figured he must be given whatever he wants and deeply loved at the Sterling house. He probably hadn’t suffered any real grievances. I felt a bit relieved. After doing the dishes, I waited for Liam to send someone to pick him up. I waited until 9:30 PM. Six-year-olds get sleepy early. He dug his pajamas out of his backpack, looked around, and pouted: “There’s only one bedroom.” “Am I squeezing into the same bed as you tonight?” I glanced at the clock on the wall. For whatever reason, the Sterling family still hadn’t sent anyone. I had to compromise. “Yeah, you’re sleeping with me tonight.” I thought Leo would throw a fit. After all, my meager one-bedroom apartment was obviously not as comfortable as the Sterling family’s luxurious mansion. But Leo just pressed his lips together, his eyes flashing. After washing his face, he huffed and puffed as he changed into his pajamas, kicking his little legs as he climbed into bed all by himself. Just like at dinner—even though he looked disgusted, he had silently finished the greens I put in his bowl. He wriggled under the covers, making a little mound. He pulled out a fairy tale book from nowhere, peeking his eyes out to look at me, unable to resist rushing me: “Aren’t you going to read me a bedtime story?” He actually looked pretty happy. 2 After putting Leo to sleep, I pulled up Liam’s number. I hesitated for a long time, but still didn’t make the call. Liam and I had been separated for six years. At first, we thought we could fight fate. Back then, my family suddenly went bankrupt. The Sterling family broke our engagement and secretly arranged for Liam to be engaged to Chloe Snow. For me, he disregarded everything and broke off the engagement with Chloe. He even gave up his status as the heir. He took a brutal beating from Old Mr. Sterling as family punishment and couldn’t get out of bed for half a month. Seeing me cry, he endured the pain, offering a lazy smile as he softly coaxed me. I thought everything would be okay. The bankruptcy would pass, Liam would get better, the future would be bright. But it wasn’t. Liam and I got married in secret. Perhaps because of Liam’s unwavering commitment to me from beginning to end, after I got pregnant, I never once considered not keeping the baby. Until right before I gave birth. Enduring the pain, I called him for a long time, but Liam never answered. A neighbor rushed me to the hospital. When I woke up, I saw a cold, indifferent Liam. I didn’t know how a person could change so drastically overnight. It was as if his eyes held nothing but unfamiliarity and disgust for me. Chloe visited me once. From her mouth, I learned the truth about this world. Due to a timing error by the “System,” when the late-arriving “True Heroine” appeared, the “Male Lead” had already developed feelings for someone else. As the price for correcting this, the Male Lead’s mistaken feelings began to invert. However much he loved me before, he would hate me that much now. Chloe looked at me with pity and sorrow. Before leaving, she asked softly: “Have you thought about what will happen to your child in the future?” I suddenly froze, feeling lost. I didn’t know who to hate anymore. Should I hate Liam? But he couldn’t even control his own emotions. Should I hate fate? But what good is hating? I couldn’t change anything. At that time, my parents got into a car accident on their way to the hospital to see me. They were in a coma and might remain in a vegetative state for the rest of their lives. I was on the verge of a breakdown. My mind kept replaying Chloe’s words. I just felt that this bastard of a world was so, so tiring. I pushed open the window. As I looked down, the baby beside my hospital bed suddenly started wailing loudly. I thought hazily: If I die, what will happen to him? Will this world tolerate his existence? Will Chloe abuse him? Or will he end up like me, abandoned by Liam, silently suffering countless grievances, only to eventually die quietly while everyone expects it? My body started trembling. I walked back to the bed, my hands shaking as they hovered over his neck. I wanted to take him with me. But then he stopped crying. His red, teary eyes stared at me longingly, as if no matter where we went, he just wanted to be with his mother. It wasn’t until a nurse and a bodyguard noticed something was wrong, burst into the room, and shoved me hard. I looked down at my trembling hands. Only then did I abruptly realize the absurd thing I had almost done under Chloe’s suggestion. The news quickly reached the Sterling family. Old Mr. Sterling demanded to see me and initiated a custody battle. I wanted nothing anymore. I discarded the Liam who disgusted me, gave up my custody rights, and cleanly signed the divorce papers. I only took two hundred thousand dollars. Youth doesn’t know the taste of sorrow. The young Miss Davis, who used to casually throw around millions, could now find herself driven to a dead end over a few thousand dollars in hospital bills. From beginning to end, Liam never showed up. He despised me so much he wasn’t even willing to look at me one last time. So, I accepted my fate. I threw away our tangled love, and even gave up our child. I let him go, and I let myself go. I only snapped back to reality when a soft little dumpling burrowed his head into my chest. Leo closed his eyes and grunted, curling up softly in my arms, as if he had finally found a comfortable position, sleeping soundly. He uneasily clutched the hem of my shirt tightly, as if terrified that I would disappear the moment he opened his eyes. I looked at that innocent, tender face and couldn’t help but sigh softly. If he knew his mother had wanted to strangle him right after he was born, would he still have come looking for me? He probably would have run as far away from me as possible. 3 By morning, Liam still hadn’t shown up. I had no idea what he was planning. The Sterling family fought so viciously for custody back then, yet now they were acting like they could just toss him away. I woke Leo up early, called an Uber, and took him to school. The preschool he attended wasn’t in the same city as me, but thankfully it was only an hour’s drive away. Before getting out of the car, he made me promise repeatedly that I would pick him up after school, whining and refusing to let go of my hand. Until he saw a specific car parked in front of the preschool. His eyes lit up. He hurriedly dragged me out of the Uber. As we got close, he deliberately slowed down, pretending to casually block the path of a chubby kid who had just gotten out of his car. As if to make sure the kid saw, Leo swung my hand in front of him. Then, very loudly, in a voice everyone could hear, he asked me: “Mom, you’re going to pick me up after school, right?” That was the first time Leo called me “Mom.” Maybe because I was absent for six whole years, he hadn’t even proactively called me “Mom” when he knocked on my door. The chubby kid stared straight at me, looking skeptical: “If you have a mom, why didn’t she drop you off before?” Leo scoffed, his gaze incredibly disdainful: “My mom is busy with work. Today she specifically took time off just to drop me off.” He emphasized the word “specifically.” Holding my hand, he walked to the main gate of the preschool in front of everyone, as if showing off, making sure everyone saw. Before parting ways, he twisted awkwardly and asked one more time: “…You will come pick me up, right?” When I didn’t answer right away, he glared at me, then panicked and whispered: “You promised me in the car. Adults aren’t allowed to lie!” I crouched down with a sigh of resignation, smoothing down his popped collar and ruffling his hair. His hair was dark and soft, feeling nice to the touch. “Okay, I’ll come pick you up.” He couldn’t help but curl his lips upward, but he tried hard to keep them straight. Acting mature, he tilted his chin up and said reservedly: “Mhm, I’ll remember to wait for you.” I only looked away after his figure completely disappeared from my sight. I found a teacher and asked about Leo’s situation at preschool. The teacher hesitated, finally sighed, and complained with a frown: “I know the Sterling family is powerful, and what I say might not matter.” “But Leo’s Mom, no matter how busy you are, you can’t just completely neglect the child, right?” “Since he enrolled, no one has ever shown up for a parent-teacher conference!” “Now all the kids in the school are saying he doesn’t have a mom. This is really bad for his physical and mental development.” No one came to the parent-teacher conferences? Even if Liam was incredibly busy and disliked this child, couldn’t he even bother having an assistant handle it? I frowned, feeling for the first time that I might have made the wrong decision. …Maybe I shouldn’t have given up custody back then. But at that time, I was penniless, my parents were in comas at the hospital, and I couldn’t even support myself. How could I possibly raise a fragile child? I pulled up Liam’s number, hesitated for a second, and dialed. I decided to have a serious talk with him. If Liam really didn’t want to raise him anymore, I would take him in. Even though I couldn’t provide the excellent conditions of the Sterling family right now, it was still enough to raise a child. Just as the call went through, a ringtone sounded from behind me. Sensing something, my fingertips trembled as I turned around. I saw Liam stepping out of a black Bentley. Six years had passed. He seemed to have changed, yet somehow remained the same. He looked down at the lit screen through half-lidded eyes, his wrist bones sharply defined, his cold, handsome face hidden in the shadows. He unhurriedly raised an eyebrow and suddenly looked up. “You hid from me for so many years.” “Want to talk?” Unlike my miserable circumstances all these years, Liam remained calm and composed. His features were the same as before, but the gaze he directed at me felt inexplicably deep. Even the dappled light filtering through the trees seemed to favor him. I had heard he had already taken over the entire Sterling family empire from Old Mr. Sterling. I had heard the brand he founded swept the globe. I had heard he secretly married years ago and always kept a low profile. Memories spanning over a decade, which I had deliberately ignored, surged back like a breaking dam, sending sharp, fine pain through my chest. It was only at the moment I saw him that I realized: I thought I had let it go. Turns out, I hadn’t. The boy who wove a grass ring for me when we were young, who kicked the person bullying me into the pool. No one could have ever imagined we would end up in such an embarrassing situation. He actually hadn’t changed; he just stopped loving me, that’s all. It’s been a really, really long time, Liam. 4 We walked in silence and found a nearby coffee shop. Before the coffee even arrived, as if trying to hide my nerves, I cut straight to the chase: “Do you still want the child?” For six years, I had fantasized about reuniting with Liam, almost torturing myself with the scenarios. So much so that I was able to feign indifference now. Liam glanced at me, answering without hesitation: “Of course I do.” I pressed my lips together, staring at the street sign through the floor-to-ceiling window. I gave a low “Mhm” and stood up. “Then remember to pick him up after school. If you don’t have time for parent-teacher conferences, you can let me know. I won’t bother you and—” I still couldn’t say Chloe’s name out loud. I couldn’t help digging my nails into my palms. The sharp pain kept me lucid, forcing me to say: “…I won’t disturb your lives.” I checked the time, ready to leave. As we brushed past each other, I heard Liam abruptly ask: “So now, the only thing you want to talk to me about is Leo?” My footsteps faltered. I didn’t quite understand. Everything between us had been settled six years ago. He loved someone else; I took my two hundred thousand and left cleanly. It was that simple. Besides Leo, what else was there to talk about? Liam let out a breath, his dark eyes locked onto me, and spoke again: “Alright then. I don’t want Leo anymore.” He sounded so righteous, as if he wasn’t the one who had just flipped his stance in a split second. I furrowed my brow, unable to resist asking: “What do you mean?” Liam lifted his chin slightly, tapping the seat across from him, signaling me to sit back down. “Exactly what it sounds like.” “You want to raise the kid? Fine. The kid is yours.” “Considering the child’s physical and mental well-being, I will come to your current residence every Friday evening to spend necessary quality time with Leo, and I will drive back to the office on Monday morning.” Seeing him spout this nonsense with a straight face, I felt it was completely absurd. Reaching my limit, I reminded him: “We are already divorced.” “Are we?” Liam let out an ambiguous scoff. “I never signed.” I belatedly realized the meaning of his words. When Old Mr. Sterling told me to sign the divorce agreement, I just assumed Liam was so disgusted by me he didn’t even want to see me one last time, which is why he never appeared. He said he never signed. But then why did he wait six years to find me? I wouldn’t flatter myself by thinking he still had feelings for me. Maybe the original agreement got lost, or maybe there was a loophole that required a supplementary contract. Anything was possible. I pressed my lips together and said very cooperatively: “Then we can draft a new one and sign it.” Liam didn’t even look up: “I’m not signing.” I tried reasoning with him nicely: “If we sign it, we’re totally clear of each other. Isn’t that great?” “No.” “Do you have some kind of concern? I don’t want any shares or money. You can consider me leaving with absolutely nothing.” “No.” His three “no’s” made me both angry and dazed. Perhaps Liam himself didn’t even remember, but he was exactly like this when he was younger. That day was his birthday party. Someone cornered me, looking at me with lecherous, disrespectful eyes, saying whatever garbage came to mind. Liam kicked him right into the pool. It caused a massive scene. The guests were all prominent figures in New York’s high society, and the faces of the family elders were quite ugly. When asked for a reason, Liam refused to explain. To avoid gossip and protect my reputation, Liam never even mentioned me from beginning to end. Because he refused to admit he was wrong, he took a brutal beating with a cane from Old Mr. Sterling. Probably no one would have guessed that the 18th birthday of the man sitting in front of me, now a titan of industry, was spent locked in a solitary confinement room. The door was completely locked from the outside; no one could even bring him medicine. I huddled outside the door, saying very softly and guiltily: “I’m sorry.” Through the door panel, he paused for a moment, making some rustling sounds. It seemed he sat down by the door too. His voice was a bit muffled as he gave a soft “Oh,” and then said: “Not listening.” I buried my forehead in my knees and mumbled: “Actually, you didn’t have to kick him. You could have just let him finish talking. He wouldn’t have dared to actually do anything to me.” “Not waiting.” I didn’t say anything else. Maybe my voice was too muffled and he misunderstood something. After a moment, he said again: “No crying.” He knocked on the door panel, making a light tsk sound: “I did it because I wanted to. It has nothing to do with you. No crying.” I snapped out of my daze, trying my hardest to hide the burning sensation in my eyes. Yet it felt as if I could hear his “no crying” from all those years ago. Liam sat under the light, offering a faint smile. The fine dust caught in the light drifted lazily. His old features had silently sharpened over the years. He looked up and raised an eyebrow at me. As if answering what I had said earlier. “Maya, things between us can never be clear.” 5 I don’t quite remember how it ended. I only remember that I was so angry I didn’t even say goodbye. Because we parted on bad terms, I wasn’t sure if he was just talking nonsense or if he actually intended to follow through. I hesitated for a moment but decided not to call an Uber back. Maybe because the round-trip fare would cost almost what I make in a day; I might as well just take the rest of the day off instead of going back to work. Or maybe the maternal love that had been absent for six years was acting up. I didn’t want to break my promise to Leo. I waited until 4:30 PM, when preschool got out. Most of the children at this preschool came from prominent families. Amidst the coming and going luxury cars, I saw that Bentley stop in front of Leo. So I didn’t step forward. I turned around, slowly walking back the way I came. I suddenly felt that my previous worries were ridiculous. What was I thinking? How could the Sterling family really let the child leave with me? The Bentley quickly drove away, kicking up a thick cloud of dust as it passed. I inexplicably thought of that tender little face. We probably wouldn’t see each other again. I just, as if possessed, turned to take one last look. With the black car gone, the other side of the road was revealed. Leo stood all alone at the preschool gate. His wide, round eyes met my gaze. His eyes lit up, and he was about to sprint toward me, but was stopped by a teacher raising her arm. He scrunched up his little face, looking a bit angry as he said something to the teacher. Afraid he would jaywalk, by the time I snapped out of it, I had already taken several steps toward him. The teacher saw me and finally felt safe letting Leo go. He ran until he was panting, his dark, obsidian-like eyes sparkling. He only slowed down when he got close, deliberately putting on an air of indifference. Squirming but happy, he said: “…You, you really came to pick me up?” A soft little hand tentatively grasped my fingertips. Seeing I didn’t pull away, he pressed the corners of his lips together, stole a glance at me, and squeezed even tighter. I gave a soft “Mhm” and asked him, a bit unsure: “Aren’t you going with him?” At the mention of Liam, Leo’s cheeks puffed up like a propane tank ready to explode: “I don’t want him! And he didn’t come to pick me up!” “He said you work so hard dropping me off and picking me up, and that I’d just annoy you by clinging to you every day. He told me not to disrupt your work.” He looked very opinionated, seemingly very disdainful of Liam, and said very seriously and proudly: “I’m not as stupid as he is!” “I talked to my teacher about transferring schools today! That way, you won’t have to spend so much time dropping me off!” He tilted his little face up, his gaze urging me on, seemingly waiting for me to praise him. I couldn’t help but rub his round little head. Traffic was heavy on the way back. After stopping at the grocery store, the sky was getting dark. I held Leo’s hand as we walked home. He seemed to remember something and casually mumbled: “Oh right, the driver is picking me up after school tomorrow. Dad said I have to go home tomorrow to get all my clothes.” “But I still want to come back here to sleep! You’re not allowed to forget me!” Tomorrow was Friday. I instinctively tightened my grip on the plastic bag holding the pork belly ingredients, paused for a second, and said softly: “Okay.” Children are forgetful. Maybe after a weekend of being coaxed at home, he would forget about me. I treated every meeting as if it were the last. Because only by doing that wouldn’t I feel disappointed during the long waits.

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