Author: Momo Chan

To afford the expensive rut-suppressant injections for him, I worked multiple part-time jobs day and night, never daring to take a day off even when I was sick. Until one day, I overheard the truth. “Elias ordered a $230,000 bottle of wine, and she’s literally killing herself working for a $2,300 injection.” “Haha, poor people are so cheap. You just feed them a few lies and they hand over their entire heart.” “Just don’t take the joke too far. If your Master finds out, it won’t end well for you.” That was when I finally understood. To him, I was nothing more than an entertaining game to kill time. It wouldn’t be long before he kicked me to the curb. But what he didn’t know was that my billionaire father had just found me. In three days. I was going to leave this place and step into my life as a wealthy heiress. 1. Elias was an Incubus I found abandoned in the pouring rain. At the time, he could barely maintain his human form. He was covered in mud, his golden curly hair plastered to his back by the rain, and his eyes were clouded with a hazy, mesmerized red. He was breathtakingly beautiful. I was completely captivated. By the time I snapped back to reality, I had already carried him back to my tiny, unfurnished apartment. I agonized over the decision. I could barely afford to feed myself, let alone an Incubus. But looking at Elias’s pitiful face, I hardened my heart and decided to keep him. I kept him for five years. However, he continually delayed signing a formal Master-Servant contract with me. I always thought it was because Elias wasn’t ready. I never expected that I wasn’t his only Master. Walking past a private VIP room at the club where I worked, I saw a familiar silhouette. My footsteps faltered as someone inside spoke. “Haven’t you had enough fun yet? The Master is coming back soon. Make sure you get rid of her before then.” Elias pulled a cigarette from a pack and replied lazily. “She treats me pretty well, she’s just too poor.” “The apartment she rents is tiny, like a birdcage, and the soundproofing is garbage. I can never get a good night’s sleep; it’s so annoying.” “Sometimes in the middle of the night, you can literally hear the neighbors going at it.” Hearing that incredibly familiar voice, I froze in place. I stared at him in absolute disbelief. Shouldn’t he be at home? Why was he here…? I couldn’t help but stop, desperate to see clearly if the man inside was actually Elias. After some teasing laughter, someone mocked. “What kind of romance can poor people possibly offer?” “Does she know that the single bottle of wine you just ordered costs $230,000?” “If you really can’t bear to let her go, just keep her as a secret pet on the side.” “These poor girls are easy to break.” A quick rebuttal followed. “How is that possible? Are you saying Elias actually caught feelings?” “Man, you don’t even know. That woman works herself to death day and night just to buy him a $2,300 injection, and Elias doesn’t feel a shred of pity for her.” “Besides, it was always just a game anyway. Hahahaha, poor people are so incredibly cheap. Just feed them a few lies and they hand over their entire heart.” “Right, Elias?” My grip on the serving tray tightened violently. My entire body went rigid. It was him. “Yeah.” Elias gave a muffled, indifferent agreement. “The Master is flying back in half a month. Give it another seven days. Seven days is plenty of time to get rid of her.” “What if she clings to you? I mean, you spent so much of her money. Poor people will literally fight to the death over money.” “Does she have the ability to cling?” Elias’s voice suddenly turned freezing cold. “I’ll just throw some cash at her to make her go away.” “Don’t worry, Mia is very obedient to me. She won’t make a scene; she’ll just cry.” “If she really refuses to listen, I’ll just pull a disappearing act.” The laughter inside morphed into flying daggers, stabbing directly into my heart. The pain was so intense that tears streamed down my face. So, Elias was never a stray Incubus. He had a Master, and his Master was incredibly wealthy. These past five years with me were nothing more than a game to cure his boredom. It wouldn’t be long before he abandoned me. That night of “salvation” in the pouring rain had ultimately just been my own delusional fantasy. I desperately wanted to storm in and confront Elias. To demand why he lied to me. But the moment he turned his head toward the door, I turned and fled. 2. It was midnight by the time I got home. The second I opened the door, Elias’s clear, bright voice called out. “You’re home?” He was wearing a strawberry-print apron, walking out of the kitchen, his hands still wet from washing. “Late-night snack will be ready in a minute! I made your favorite spicy noodle soup, with extra lettuce.” I forced a stiff smile and gave a soft “Mm.” After changing into my pajamas, I sat at the dining table, my mind a chaotic mess. In this world, an Incubus holds a very low status, equivalent to a human’s pet. They can be kept in captivity, beaten or killed on a whim, or even served as food on a dining table. When I first took Elias in, I was still a student. My roommates couldn’t understand why I would want to keep an Incubus. “Incubi are dark, degraded creatures. Their brains are only wired for lust and manipulation; they don’t understand actual love.” “Mia, haven’t you watched the news? So many pet Incubi secretly run away, and the brutal ones even eat their Masters alive. You’re inviting a wolf into your home.” “You should just sell him quickly. An Incubus in rut tastes better and sells for a much higher price.” I didn’t listen to a single word they said. Instead, I used my meager allowance to rent a basement apartment for him to live in. They didn’t understand. I was an orphan. I desperately craved a family. I craved companionship. Thinking of Elias’s gentle, obedient smile, I felt that keeping him for the rest of my life would be a wonderful thing. At the very least, he belonged to me. I didn’t care about his low status; in fact, it made me feel safer. He was an Incubus. We could form a contract. Once I became his Master, he would stay by my side forever. That dark, damp basement became the only thing I looked forward to during that time in my life. Later, when I secured a stable job, Elias and I moved out of the basement. We currently rented a standard one-bedroom apartment. On the 18th floor. It was small, but it was incredibly cozy. We lived a very ordinary, but very happy life. Except… the place I considered our home was nothing but a “birdcage” to Elias. And all the tenderness and love he showed me was completely fake. “Here it is! Here it is!” Elias was beaming as he brought over the spicy noodle soup. He plopped down in the chair across from me, resting his chin on his hands, blinking his large, beautiful eyes at me. Every night when I got off work, he would cook me a late-night snack and keep me company while I ate. This was usually the most relaxing and joyful part of my day. But today, every second felt like agonizing torture. The table fell silent. Elias spoke softly. “Mia, I feel like… we might not be a good match…” I knew exactly what Elias was going to say next. Perhaps clinging to the very last shred of my dignity, I cut him off. “You want to break up, right?” “Okay.” He looked slightly stunned and asked, “How did you know?” I looked at his face, bitter tears involuntarily slipping from the corners of my eyes. “Stop pretending, Elias. Is lying to me really that fun?” I opened my bag, pulled out a thick stack of printed documents, and slammed them onto the table. After discovering he was lying to me, I spent every last cent of my savings to hire an investigator to dig into Elias’s background. When the file was sent to me, I finally learned that the gentle, considerate man who had been by my side for five years was actually the contracted Incubus of Chloe, a prodigious teenage pianist. They had attended a high-society gala together. Amidst the clinking glasses and flashing lights, Elias’s eyes were entirely focused on the radiant young girl, his expression filled with absolute tenderness and adoration. “Elias, you lied to me for five whole years.” “You played the pathetic victim in front of me, telling me you were persecuted, abandoned, and chased away. But in reality, you already had a Master. You lived a life of absolute luxury. You never actually suffered at all, did you? Everything you told me was a complete fabrication!” “What an incredible performance… For five years, I didn’t notice a single flaw!” Elias’s expression shattered into pure panic. Under the massive emotional surge, he lost control of his human form; his pointed ears, wings, and tail suddenly materialized. My eyes were bloodshot as I stared at him with pure hatred. “The rut-suppressant injections cost $2,300 each. Every single month, I worked myself half to death just to earn enough money to buy them for you. And you? How did that $230,000 bottle of wine taste?!” “Elias! You played me for an absolute fool! Was it fun?!” I violently stood up and flipped the dining table. The spicy noodle soup crashed to the floor, the pungent smell instantly filling the room. Elias fell silent. His face was unreadable, but his thick, fleshy tail twitched anxiously behind him. “You know everything?” “…I’ll pay you back double for all the money you spent over the years, I…” “No need.” I raised my hand and violently swatted his tail away, my voice dripping with absolute disgust. “Taking money from a degraded creature like you makes me physically sick.” “Elias, my roommates were absolutely right. All Incubi are nothing but calculating, degraded creatures. You don’t have hearts! And you will never understand love.” “If I had known, I should have sold you the very first time I laid eyes on you.” Elias’s face instantly drained of all color. He swayed on his feet, looking like he was about to collapse. I grabbed my bag from the chair, opened the front door, and walked out. After leaving, I had no idea where to go. I wandered aimlessly along the side of the road. The winter night was freezing. Eventually, I just found a random 24-hour karaoke place. I sang, I cried, and I drank, aggressively purging all my emotions. When I was too exhausted to cry anymore, I just lay down on the sofa and slept. 3. At 5 AM the next day, the karaoke place closed. I wrapped my heavy coat tightly around myself and left. After thinking it over, I decided to go back to the apartment. Aside from that rental, I truly had nowhere else to go. Besides, I was the one who signed the lease and paid the rent. Why should I be the one to leave? If anyone was leaving, it should be Elias. On the walk back, I noticed someone had sent me over twenty consecutive text messages. I opened the chat. It was a DNA paternity test report. A while ago, a group of very intense people had tracked me down, claiming I might be the long-lost daughter of the billionaire Arthur Sterling, and demanding I go to the hospital with them for a DNA test. Terrified it was some elaborate new human trafficking scheme, I firmly refused. But Arthur’s head butler, Mr. Thorne, was incredibly persistent. He had medical staff stake out my apartment building for a very long time. Eventually, just to get them to leave me alone, I gave them a saliva swab, a nail clipping, and a few hair follicles. And now… it was actually true. Mr. Thorne immediately offered to come pick me up and take me home. I paused for a moment. “Give me three days. I have some things I need to take care of first.” The situation with Elias wasn’t fully resolved yet. I am someone who draws very clear lines between love and hate. If it started clearly, it needs to end decisively. I still owed Elias one final, definitive goodbye. After today. He will go back to being a rich girl’s pet. And I will go live my life as a billionaire heiress. After this parting, our paths will never cross again in this lifetime. 4. I didn’t even make it back up to the apartment. In the courtyard of the complex, I ran straight into Elias. He was following closely behind a woman, desperately whining and apologizing. “Master… I was wrong, Master. You were abroad for so long, and I was so bored, I just wanted to find a cheap distraction to play with for a bit…” “Please don’t ignore me. I know I made a mistake. But don’t worry, she didn’t taint me. You are the only Master in my heart…” My heart felt like it was pierced by needles. Taint? Elias actually used that word to describe me. I clenched my fists so tightly my nails dug into my palms, and forced myself to keep walking forward as if nothing was wrong. As we brushed past each other, the woman with the red lips and voluminous, wavy hair tilted her head and glanced at me. “Stop.” She called out to me. “Are you the woman who took care of Elias’s rut cycles?” “Rolling around with an Incubus… doesn’t that make you feel degraded? You have terrible taste.” Elias’s face went completely pale. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and turned around to face her. But before I could speak, she slapped me hard across the face. “Ah—” A short, sharp cry escaped my lips before my right cheek started burning and throbbing. I looked up in absolute disbelief. “Why did you hit me?!” Chloe glared at me, her eyes vicious and ruthless. “I hit you because you deserve it. Did you not know he is MY Incubus?” “You dare touch my property? Do you have a death wish?” I couldn’t hold back my retort. “How was I supposed to know he had a Master?!” “That’s a lie!” Elias suddenly shouted loudly. “Master, it was all her fault! She seduced me! You know how it is… my status is so low, no one ever looks twice at me.” “I never intended to betray you, Master! I told her from the very beginning, but she was easy and only cared about pleasure, and I was temporarily blinded by her…” “That was a great slap, Master. Does your hand hurt? Let me blow on it for you.” My mind went completely blank. I stared fixedly at Elias. That face, which had been so incredibly familiar to me, suddenly looked like a complete stranger’s. He seemed terrified of Chloe. His entire body was trembling. Suddenly, Elias looked at me with pleading eyes and gave a microscopic shake of his head. I understood exactly what he meant. I lowered my eyes and stood up straight. I said coldly, “Elias, we are completely done.” With that, I turned and walked away, my steps growing faster and faster as the tears finally began to fall. The sorrow hit me like a massive tidal wave, dragging me down into an endless, suffocating darkness. If I hadn’t experienced these events firsthand, I never would have believed that the boyfriend I had shared a bed with for five years possessed an entirely different, horrific persona. All the sweetness and happiness of the past had mutated into sharp blades, violently slicing into my heart. It turns out that love can be entirely fabricated. And acted out with terrifying realism. I was such an idiot. I believed Elias’s lies so easily. When I finally got back to the apartment, I sat numbly on the edge of the bed, staring blankly out the window. Allowing myself to be completely consumed by the grief. 5. Mr. Thorne arrived exactly on schedule. Outside the gates of the apartment complex, a massive, understated but incredibly luxurious black Rolls-Royce was parked by the curb. Standing next to the car was a middle-aged man wearing a traditional, pale blue tunic, his face radiating an elegant, scholarly aura. The moment he saw me, his eyes turned completely red, and his hands trembled as he reached out to me. A strong scent of sandalwood washed over me, and then I was pulled into his arms, my cheek pressed tightly against his chest. A bizarre, unfamiliar feeling bloomed inside me. Is this… what having a father feels like? For the entire drive, I kept sneaking glances at him, unable to believe that the father figure I had been missing for over twenty years had suddenly, miraculously materialized. The wealth of the Sterling family was far beyond anything I could have ever imagined. The opulently decorated, gilded mansion felt like stepping into an actual royal palace. Sunlight streamed through the intricate carved-wood window frames, illuminating the priceless rugs. Every step felt like walking on clouds. For the next few hours, my father personally gave me a grand tour to help me get acquainted with the estate. After two whole hours, we had only managed to cover a small fraction of the Sterling manor. Mr. Thorne escorted me back to my new bedroom. “Miss, please make yourself completely at home. This will be your home from now on.” I nodded absently, feeling incredibly light and completely detached from reality. Shortly after, he had a massive pile of brand new electronic devices delivered to my room. I picked out a phone that felt comfortable in my hand and inserted my old SIM card. The moment the phone booted up, a call came through. “Hello?” “Mia, I accidentally took your ID card when I left.” Hearing Elias’s voice, my expression instantly darkened. After a two-second pause, he continued. “It must be really inconvenient not having your ID, right? When do you want to come get it?” Incubi in this world aren’t issued government ID cards, so Elias was always fascinated by mine. He liked to keep it in his wallet, carrying it with him everywhere, and would often pull it out just to play with it when he was bored. I thought it was just a cute, weird way of showing he loved me, so I let him. But now that we were broken up, him keeping it was entirely inappropriate. “Keep it. You can just throw it in the trash. I’ll go get a replacement.” “I can bring it to you.” Elias said softly. “Mia… the other day, I really didn’t have a choice. You know my life and death are entirely in her hands.” “When we got back, she whipped me thirty times. It hurts so much. My back is completely shredded and covered in blood. Mia~ please, have a little pity on me.” I closed my eyes tightly. What exactly did Elias mean by ‘have a little pity’ on him? It meant exploiting my endless capacity for forgiveness. It meant exploiting the grueling, backbreaking labor I endured to buy him those injections every single month. It meant exploiting the fact that for all those years, I lived as frugally as possible just to give him the absolute best of everything. And what did I get in return? I was stripped of my money, my heart, and my dignity. I must look like an absolute clown. My emotions boiled over. Suppressing the raging storm in my chest, I delivered my most venomous response. “Then why didn’t she just beat you to death?” “What right does a disloyal, lying, manipulative Incubus like you have to even exist in this world? You deserve every single lash.” “Elias, you make me physically sick.” I cursed him with the most vicious, hateful words I could find. The other end of the line went dead silent. After a very long pause, he finally asked, his voice raw and hoarse: “Do you really hate me that much?” “Hate you? Of course I hate you. I wish you were dead.” “Do not ever show your face in front of me again. If you do, I won’t be able to stop myself from slapping you.” With that, I hung up the phone and blocked his number entirely.

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1 At eight months pregnant, I was pushed from the second floor. The bleeding wouldn’t stop. Liam acted like a madman, rushing me to the hospital and calling in top specialists for the surgery. Thankfully, the baby was saved. When I woke up, neither my baby nor Liam was anywhere to be seen. I struggled to get out of bed, limping out of the room to find them. But outside the morgue, I overheard a conversation between Liam and the doctor. “Mr. Sterling, the baby was clearly still breathing! Why did you suffocate him? That’s your own flesh and blood!” “Better to die early and be reincarnated. He never should have been born in the first place.” “Chloe just gave birth to my son yesterday. I promised her that our child will be the sole heir to the Sterling family. I absolutely will not allow anyone else to compete with him for the inheritance.” It turned out that my happy family was nothing but a delusion I maintained all by myself. The marriage I was so proud of was nothing more than a freezing hell. Since that was the case, all I had to do was leave. … The doctor looked hesitant: “But you plan to use Chloe’s child to deceive your wife. What if she finds out?” “Newborns all look the same. She won’t notice. I’ll bring him over in a minute.” “Clean up the body. And give me that new drug your hospital has—the one that causes permanent sterilization in women. I’m going to feed it to Nora.” The doctor was horrified, speaking urgently: “Mr. Sterling, to bring Chloe’s child into your home, you’ve already killed your wife’s baby. Why do you also have to sterilize her? Isn’t that too cruel?” The chill from the morgue seeped into the hallway, but Liam’s words were even more chilling: “I promised Chloe that our child would never suffer the slightest grievance in his life. He will never have any siblings competing for his father’s favor. Even though she’s married to someone else now, I have to give her peace of mind.” The doctor looked sympathetic: “Mr. Sterling, I must remind you, that drug was only recently developed. It hasn’t even entered clinical trials, and the side effects are severe. Do you really have the heart to do this?” Liam paused for a moment, then sighed: “I have no choice. Nora will be waking up soon. If we perform a hysterectomy now, she’ll definitely get suspicious.” “She’ll just have to endure the side effects. I’ll compensate her well in the future, but I absolutely cannot allow Nora to ever have the possibility of getting pregnant again.” As soon as he finished speaking, Liam’s phone rang. He put it on speaker, and a man’s excited voice echoed through the morgue: “Mr. Sterling, I received the five million. Don’t worry, I’m leaving the city right now. The Mrs. will never find out that you ordered me to push her down the stairs, hehe.” Footsteps approached from inside the room. Ignoring the pain in my leg, I stumbled and scrambled back to my hospital room. Thinking of my baby’s tiny body lying in the morgue, I clutched my chest tightly. Tears fell onto my bandaged leg. So, being pushed down the stairs at the mall wasn’t an accident. It was my loving husband, clearing obstacles for the woman he loved and their child. My baby hadn’t been saved. He had been suffocated to death by his own father. In Liam’s eyes, my son and I were nothing but stumbling blocks. “Nora, you’re awake?” Liam walked in holding a baby, sitting down by the bed with a bright smile. “Look at our baby. Doesn’t he look exactly like us?” “Wife, thank you for giving me such an adorable son. I promise I’ll be a good father.” I looked at the baby sleeping peacefully in his arms, a sharp pain piercing my heart. Liam was wrong. No mother could ever misidentify her own child. The baby’s brow and eyes resembled Liam’s, but the nose and chin were practically copied and pasted from Chloe’s face. This was their child. And my baby was nothing but a cold corpse right now. “Nora, does your leg still hurt? Here, take some painkillers.” The concern and gentleness in his eyes were the same as always, but it was all just a facade to paralyze me. I looked at the pills in his hand, remembering the conversation I had just overheard. “Liam, the pills are too bitter. Can I take them later?” You’ve already killed one of my children. Can’t you at least leave me the right to be a mother? Liam hesitated for only a second before smiling and stroking my hair: “You’re a mother now, why are you acting like a child? You’ve suffered so much giving birth, and your leg is hurting. My heart aches so much I won’t be able to sleep all night. Nora, just take pity on your husband, okay? I still have to be a good dad to our baby.” “I added honey to the water, it’s very sweet. Come on, let me feed you.” No, that’s not my baby. That’s yours and Chloe’s! Liam held the pills to my lips, leaving me no room to refuse again. My blood ran cold. I closed my eyes and swallowed the pills dry, refusing the honey water. I didn’t want his hypocritical sweetness! The drug took effect quickly. My lower abdomen felt like it was burning with hellfire, as if someone were carving me open with a knife. Blood began to seep from between my legs. “Nora, what’s wrong?!” Liam called for the doctor. I passed out from the excruciating pain. In my hazy consciousness, I heard the doctor say: “Mr. Sterling, your wife’s entire uterus has been corroded away. She will never be able to have children again.” Liam let out a long sigh of relief. When I opened my eyes again, his eyes were red, and he looked at me with profound heartbreak: “Nora, the doctor said you suffered a sudden, massive postpartum hemorrhage. You’ll never be able to have children again.” “Don’t be sad. Thank God we already have Andy. When he grows up, he’ll definitely be a dutiful son to you.” Andy? He had already picked a name for Chloe’s child this fast? Liam refused to let the nurses wipe me down. Ignoring his usual germaphobia, he personally fetched warm water and cleaned the blood off my body. He told me his mother wanted to see her eldest grandson, so she had already taken the baby home. By the time he finished, it was late at night. I looked at his slightly exhausted face and forced a weak smile: “I’m fine. You’ve had a long day, get some rest.” Liam kissed my forehead: “Okay. Wake me if you need anything. Tomorrow I’ll take you to pick up Andy, and our family of three will live happily ever after.” After he fell asleep, I quietly picked up his phone. To show his “loyalty” to me, Liam never kept a passcode on his phone. But I had never known that he had set up a dual operating system. And the password to switch systems… was Chloe’s birthday. 2 As the system switched, the wallpaper changed to a college photo of him and Chloe. There was only one person in his WeChat contacts: Chloe. When I opened the chat, a photo of Chloe holding the baby pierced my eyes. “Liam, look how handsome our baby is. He’s going to grow up to be just as handsome as you.” That baby was identical to the one Liam had brought to me earlier tonight. The further I scrolled up, the colder my heart became. During the eight months of my pregnancy, Liam was constantly “away on business trips.” The days he actually spent with me could be counted on two hands. I didn’t want to interfere with his work, so I silently endured the miseries of morning sickness and traveled back and forth to the hospital for checkups alone. Only now did I realize that his so-called “business trips” were nothing more than excuses to accompany Chloe through her pregnancy. Tens of thousands of photos documented everything from Chloe’s pregnancy to her delivery. Liam personally cooked nutritious meals for her every day, walked with her, shopped with her, and even cupped his hands to catch her vomit when she had morning sickness. He never left her side during any of her prenatal checkups. His deep, affectionate gaze looked at her as if she were a priceless treasure. I had begged Liam many times to help me pick a name for our baby. He would always take a long time to reply: “Nora, a name is just a label. Pick whatever you want. I’m busy. We’ll talk about it after he’s born.” Yet, the moment Chloe got pregnant, Liam had already brainstormed hundreds of names for her baby. “Chloe, how about we name our baby Felix? It means a bright future.” “Or maybe Arthur? Intelligent and destined for greatness.” “Never mind. Let’s just call him Andy. I don’t need him to be extraordinary. I just want him to be safe, healthy, and live a long life.” After every checkup, he would buy Chloe a gift—either extravagant jewelry or a limited-edition sports car. “Our Chloe safely passed another checkup. We have to celebrate.” He even bought her a European castle to celebrate a smooth delivery. And all I ever got was a single sentence: “Nora, you’ve worked hard. I have a meeting.” It turns out the difference between being loved and unloved is that glaringly obvious. Heartbroken, I put his phone down and bought a plane ticket out of the country for three days later. I got back into bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. Filled with absolute desolation, I didn’t sleep a wink all night. The next day, Liam, just like always, had his assistant buy a nutritious meal specifically for me. In the past, I was always touched by his thoughtfulness, believing he cared about my diet even when he wasn’t around. But remembering the photos of him wearing an apron, bustling around the kitchen for Chloe, I finally understood that this was just a perfunctory gesture. Money is worthless when there’s no genuine heart behind it. Seeing that I hadn’t taken a single bite, Liam looked a bit pained: “Nora, why aren’t you eating? Does it taste bad?” “It’s nothing. I just miss the baby.” Liam smiled: “Oh, so you miss Andy. I miss him too. I didn’t understand it before, but now that I’m a dad, I realize I don’t want to be apart from him for even a second. Our Andy really is the cutest baby in the world.” “Mom is absolutely thrilled to have her eldest grandson. She’s celebrating at the main estate right now. We’ll go pick Andy up in a bit.” I didn’t say anything. I had already decided to leave anyway; he could do whatever he wanted. When we arrived at the main estate, the first thing I saw was my mother-in-law and Chloe holding Andy, playing with him. Chloe was dressed head-to-toe in limited-edition haute couture, glowing with vitality, showing absolutely no signs of postpartum fatigue. My mother-in-law was doting on the baby while simultaneously feeding Chloe bird’s nest soup. Truly top-tier treatment. Seeing me, Chloe spoke to my mother-in-law with feigned innocence: “Auntie, please don’t be so good to me. People will think I’m your daughter-in-law. Nora might get jealous. She’s weak right now, you should give this bird’s nest to her.” My mother-in-law followed her gaze and looked at me. Seeing that I was still wearing the blood-stained clothes from the day of my accident, she looked disgusted: “Is my son starving you or something? Wearing such unlucky clothes… are you intentionally trying to embarrass our family? Look at Chloe! She also just had a baby, and she’s doing so much better than you. You’re just overly dramatic.” “You couldn’t just sit still. Running around while heavily pregnant—it’s a wonder you didn’t fall to your death. And you have the nerve to play the victim here? Thank goodness my precious grandson is fine, otherwise I’d make Liam divorce you immediately.” “You knew you were breastfeeding, yet you carelessly took medication! If Chloe hadn’t been here to help nurse him, my grandson would have starved to death because of you, you bad omen! I’m announcing right now that I’m taking Chloe as my goddaughter. From now on, just like Liam, she will call me Mom.” I knew my mother-in-law never liked me. She thought I wasn’t good enough for Liam, that I was far inferior to Chloe—his beautiful, sweet-talking childhood sweetheart who always knew how to make her happy. It wasn’t until Chloe married someone abroad and I got pregnant that she finally, reluctantly, accepted me as her daughter-in-law for the sake of the child. But whenever we met, her sarcastic remarks and mocking tone were never far behind. In the past, Liam would always defend me. Not to mention, the day we went to the mall, he was the one who insisted I go, saying he wanted to buy gifts for our unborn baby. But now, his eyes were glued to Chloe, filled with unconcealed tenderness. Holding Andy, Chloe walked over to him, playfully hooking her arm through his: “Liam, did you hear that? Auntie just took me in as her goddaughter. My dear big brother, did you prepare a welcome gift for your little sister?” Liam pinched her cheek with a mix of indulgence and helpless affection: “You little troublemaker. You’re not allowed to call me brother.” He said that, but immediately ordered his staff to bring in 92 limited-edition, luxury mink coats, fully accessorized with matching jewelry. “I know you love fashion, but you’re still recovering from childbirth. You can’t catch a chill. Winter lasts for three months, exactly 92 days. A different coat for every day.” 3 Chloe happily kissed Liam on the cheek, acting like a coquettish young girl. “Wow! Some of these are unreleased designs for the next three years, and they’re all limited editions! You actually managed to get them in advance! Liam, you really do spoil me.” “But you’re giving me all these gifts… won’t Nora be angry?” Compared to these glamorous, incredibly expensive mink coats, my blood-stained clothes made me look even more like a pathetic clown. Liam froze, seemingly just remembering that I was still standing there. He said awkwardly: “Nora, it’s not what you think. Chloe is used to living abroad. You know, their etiquette is a bit more open there.” “And about these clothes… I heard she also just had a baby, and her husband isn’t around. We did grow up together, after all. I just wanted to…” Before he could finish, Andy suddenly started crying. Chloe gasped in surprise: “Oh no, is Andy hungry again? Mommy will take you upstairs right now to feed you.” She then turned to me, offering a falsely apologetic look: “Nora, please don’t misunderstand! I’m just so used to soothing my own baby. Plus, every time I say it like this, Andy gets so happy.” She turned to walk upstairs with the baby, but suddenly swayed, falling into Liam’s arms, her voice weak: “Liam, I feel a little dizzy…” Liam immediately pushed me aside, anxiously catching Chloe, his face full of panic: “What’s wrong? It must be postpartum weakness. I told you to stay and rest at the recovery center! Come on, I’ll carry you upstairs.” My right leg was still heavily bandaged. Shoved by him, I collapsed onto the floor, a sharp, piercing pain shooting up my leg. But Liam didn’t even glance at me. In front of everyone, he scooped Chloe up in a princess carry and rushed upstairs, taking Andy with them. Everyone looked at me with mockery, their voices dripping with disdain and disgust: “No wonder Liam spoils Chloe so much. Not only is she beautiful, but she’s so kindhearted. Willing to nurse someone else’s baby. Not like this useless piece of trash. Not only is she shabby and unpresentable, but she can’t even handle a little leg pain! She actually took medication while breastfeeding. Selfish bitch.” “Does someone like this even deserve to be a mother? I think Chloe acts more like Andy’s mom, and she loves him more, too. Andy even looks a bit like Chloe. The baby probably finds Nora embarrassing too and doesn’t want to look like her. Chloe and Liam are such a perfect match. It’s a real shame they didn’t get married.” Instead of defending me, my mother-in-law looked at me with even more disgust and scolded: “Why are you still crawling on the floor like a dog?! If you want to beg for food, get out and beg on the streets! Our family doesn’t feed pathetic, useless women like you.” “You don’t care about your own son, and you can’t keep your husband’s heart. I heard you can never have children again? My son marrying a wife like you is the biggest misfortune of eight lifetimes! Get out of my sight! Every time I look at you, it takes ten years off my life.” Humiliation flooded my heart. Thinking of the divorce agreement already saved on my phone, I said nothing. I struggled to my feet and limped upstairs toward the study. I put the printed divorce agreement into my bag and went to the guest room to find Liam. But they weren’t in the guest room. There was only the maternity nurse, holding a well-fed Andy, resting. I was confused, until I heard ambiguous, unmistakable sounds coming from what used to be Liam’s and my master bedroom. The door wasn’t fully closed. Chloe was straddling Liam, her blouse completely open, her voice seductive: “Liam, I have too much milk. Andy eats so little, I’m so engorged.” “I feel so uncomfortable… help me suck it out, please~” Liam hesitated: “Chloe, don’t do this. You just gave birth two days ago; your body can’t handle it. You already took such a huge risk hiding this from your husband to have my baby, I can’t hurt you anymore…” Chloe pressed his head down: “Silly Liam, I’m not afraid, what are you afraid of? Having your child was my own choice. He’s always away on business; he has no idea. Come on… don’t you want to taste what it’s like to fight a bloody battle?” Unable to hold back any longer, Liam opened his mouth and latched on. The sounds coming from inside grew increasingly obscene. My stomach churned with nausea. Unable to watch another second, I fled the estate like I was escaping a nightmare. It wasn’t until I breathed the fresh air outside that the suffocating feeling slightly lifted, but the tears wouldn’t stop falling. Liam, you knew I was right downstairs! How could you do something like that?! In OUR bedroom?! I sat despondently by the front door. I don’t know how much time passed when suddenly, a foul-smelling liquid was dumped over my head. Chloe suddenly appeared, smiling provocatively: “Nora, how does my son’s urine taste? Did Liam look good totally captivated by my body?” She had done it on purpose. She wanted me to see. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Look at you now. Your son is dead, you’re crippled in one leg… If I were you, I would have killed myself a long time ago. What’s the point of living?” “So what if you married Liam and got pregnant? In the end, didn’t he still suffocate your son to death to clear the path for me and my baby? And he even made sure you could never have another one.” “I even have a video of the exact moment your son died. Want to see how his little face turned from red to purple? It’s spectacular.” I stared dead at her phone screen, watching my baby slowly suffocate to death. My entire body trembled uncontrollably. How could she talk about murdering a child so callously?! I raised my hand high, ready to strike her, but Chloe suddenly pulled out a dagger and slashed her own chest hard. Blood soaked through her shirt. The dagger clattered to the floor, and she let out a piercing scream. The next second, someone shoved me violently to the ground. Liam gathered Chloe into his arms, turning to roar at me: “Nora, have you lost your fucking mind?!” 4 Before I could even speak, Chloe started sobbing pitifully: “Liam, I was worried Nora would be upset that I was nursing Andy. I came out to explain things to her, but she accused me of trying to steal her baby! She said she was going to cut my breasts off so I could never nurse a baby again!” “Waaah, I just felt so bad seeing Andy go hungry! I just love the baby! How could she do this to me?!” Liam looked at me, his face dark as a thundercloud: “It was your own clumsy fault you fell down the stairs and broke your leg! That’s why everything is a mess! Why are you taking it out on Chloe?!” “You’re an unfit mother! You took medication, so you can’t breastfeed! Chloe is trying to help you out of the goodness of her heart, what gives you the right to attack her?! If you don’t love your child, does that mean no one else is allowed to love him either?! Apologize to Chloe immediately!” I’m an unfit mother? I don’t love my child? Tears streamed down my face. I roared at him furiously: “I’m a bad mother?! What about you?! Do you have the guts to tell me exactly why I fell down those stairs?! Where is my real child?! And what exactly were those pills I took?!” Liam frowned: “Andy is sleeping perfectly fine in the nursery! And those pills were for your leg pain! You know all this!” “As for falling down the stairs, obviously you were careless! With so many people around, why would someone specifically push you? You’re useless, and you have the nerve to hurt Chloe?! You’re a mother yourself, how could you have the heart to hurt another mother?! Apologize to Chloe right now!” Right. With so many people around, why was I the only one who got pushed? Looking at his self-righteous, arrogant face, I suddenly burst out laughing. This was my husband. A complete, unredeemable liar. A murderer! I picked up the dagger from the floor and, using every ounce of strength I had, slashed my own chest over a dozen times, until blood soaked through my entire shirt. Liam was absolutely shocked: “Nora, what are you doing?! Stop it right now!” I dropped the dagger and looked at him calmly: “Liam, you’re right. I shouldn’t hurt another mother. So I am atoning to your true love. Is this sincere enough for you?” With that, I turned and walked away. Watching the trail of blood beneath my feet and my stumbling figure, Liam tried to come help me, but Chloe threw her arms around his neck. “Liam, it hurts so much. Can you take me to the hospital? We can’t let our Andy go hungry.” After a moment of internal struggle, Liam finally picked Chloe up and walked in the opposite direction. A few hours later, Liam called: “Nora, did you treat your wounds? Don’t worry, I had them use an ointment on Chloe that won’t affect her nursing. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that today.” “But the doctor said the medication you took makes it unsafe for you to breastfeed. Chloe has plenty of milk, and formula isn’t nutritious enough. Andy still needs her help. I’m taking care of her as a way of showing gratitude. Don’t overthink it.” I replied flatly: “I’m fine. Take good care of her. Don’t let the baby go hungry.” “I knew my wife was the most understanding. I’ve already spoken to my mom; she won’t bully you anymore.” “You gave the Sterling family a son; you are our greatest hero. The day after tomorrow, I’m throwing a celebration party for you to make up for today. Wait for me.” The local news broadcasted all night about how the CEO of the Sterling Group, enraged on behalf of his beloved, chartered helicopters overnight to fly in dozens of top national specialists just to treat a minor scratch. I pulled out some iodine and blood-clotting powder and simply bandaged my own wounds. The next day, Liam still hadn’t returned. I packed all my belongings and donated them to charity. The marriage certificate I had once cherished so deeply was torn into tiny pieces and thrown into the trash. At noon on the third day, Liam sent me a WeChat message: “Nora, I’m done with work. I’m heading to the hotel to check on the venue setup. I’ll have my assistant pick you up this afternoon.” In reality, he was holding Chloe’s hand, carrying Andy, and sweeping through all the major luxury jewelry boutiques in the mall. Basking in the envious gazes and blessings of all the sales associates. “Mr. Sterling is so devoted to his wife and child! My sales targets for the next twenty years have just been met! This family of three is absolutely gorgeous.” “But I heard Mr. Sterling booked the cheapest banquet package at the hotel today. Apparently, it’s a celebration for his wife having a baby.” “You must be mistaken! With how much Mr. Sterling spoils his wife, would he book something that cheap? Did you see the necklace Mrs. Sterling is wearing? Mr. Sterling bought it for her this morning. It costs enough to buy ten of those hotels.” And I watched all of this from the floor above, having just finished buying a suitcase. I didn’t reply to his message. I hired a local courier to deliver the divorce agreement and a few documents to the banquet venue later. After doing that, I put on my sunglasses and headed straight to the airport. A few hours later, Liam finally finished his shopping spree with Chloe and Andy and arrived at the hotel. But he was informed that I hadn’t shown up yet. Liam checked the time. It had been an hour since we were supposed to meet. He found it strange; I was never late for dates with him. Just as he was about to call me, his assistant ran over in a panic, holding a stack of documents: “Mr. Sterling, bad news! The Madam is gone! Someone just dropped these off!”

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My diary detailing my romance with my childhood sweetheart was found by the most popular girl in school. In a packed classroom, she read its contents aloud. [Mr. X looks so good in a white button-down. Not wearing one… looks even better.] The room erupted in roars of laughter. Everyone called me a delusional fangirl obsessed with Liam. But the truth was, Liam and I had been secretly dating for a year. Standing nearby, Liam looked at me with utter disgust. He told me to stop writing that garbage and disgusting his girlfriend. I was just about to step forward and confront him. When the next second. Someone pulled me into a tight embrace. The school’s most notoriously reckless bad boy suddenly appeared behind me. He glared fiercely at the popular girl. “Is Liam the only guy in this whole school whose name starts with an L?” “You stupid bitch, who gave you the right to read my girlfriend’s diary?” 1. Before I even walked into the classroom. I could hear the constant roars of laughter coming from inside. The school’s most popular girl, Chloe, was standing at the podium, holding a pink diary. She was reading its contents with exaggerated flair. [Today, Mr. L confessed his feelings to me. When he blushed and told me he liked me, it felt like a dream.] [Mr. L looks so good in a white button-down. Of course… not wearing one looks even better.] The class erupted in laughter. “Wearing a white button-down? This ‘Mr. L’ has to be Liam, right? Haha, Liam loves wearing white button-downs.” “So gross, I’m gonna throw up. Everyone knows Liam is Chloe’s boyfriend.” “Where did this delusional fangirl come from? A toad dreaming of swan meat.” Chloe ignored them and continued reading the next entry. [While Mr. L was sleeping, I secretly kissed him. Hehe, he won’t know, right?] The class laughed even louder. “Holy shit, that’s so creepy. Dreaming about kissing Liam? I’m literally gagging.” “I already threw up.” “Who exactly is having wet dreams about someone else’s boyfriend?” After the laughter died down, someone asked. “Chloe, whose diary is it?” 2. Chloe’s gaze cut through the crowd and landed right on me as I walked into the classroom. It was filled with mockery and provocation. But she quickly looked away. “Oh, stop asking. I just accidentally found someone’s diary. If I hadn’t seen ‘Mr. L’ written in it, I would never have been so rude as to read the contents.” “Reading other people’s private things is so wrong.” Someone chimed in to comfort her. “Chloe, you’re too nice. Someone is literally fantasizing about your boyfriend, and you’re still defending her.” “Why shouldn’t she read it? If you write something that disgusting, you obviously want people to see it.” “Just tell us who it is! I’m dying of curiosity. I want to make a PowerPoint out of her.” Just then. Liam, who had been silent the whole time, took the diary. He didn’t even glance at it. He threw it straight into the trash can. “If it’s disgusting, don’t read it. Reading garbage like this will only dirty your eyes.” He definitely recognized that notebook. It was the diary I bought with him at the bookstore right after we started dating. But even knowing it was mine. He still chose to stand behind Chloe. From beginning to end, he didn’t spare me a single glance. As if I, standing at the classroom door, was nothing but a stranger. Even though just a few days ago, he was holding me, whispering things that made me blush and my heart race. Now, it seemed. He was desperately trying to sever all ties with me. Suddenly, everything made sense. 3. I realized that Liam had started dating Chloe while still secretly dating me. When Chloe first transferred to our class. She was glamorous, outgoing, like a stunning rose. The boys swarmed around her, desperately trying to win her favor. Towards all of this. Liam always scoffed. “Trophy wife,” were the two words he initially used to describe Chloe. Later. I asked him privately why he didn’t like girls like Chloe. And instead liked a plain, boring girl like me. He affectionately tapped my nose. “Girls like that look like they play around a lot.” “Who knows how many guys she’s secretly dated. It’s disgusting. I would never like someone like her.” 4. Indeed, no one knew Liam and I were dating. A year ago. Liam said he wanted to keep things low-key. So we started a secret, underground relationship. And I had only just found out. The very first day he started dating Chloe, he made a highly public post on Instagram announcing their relationship. Of course, he blocked me from seeing that post. Up until this moment, I finally understood. A real relationship isn’t hidden away. If it’s hidden, it’s called an affair. 5. Chloe’s gaze swept the room again before landing on me. Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears, looking as if she were about to cry. Across the crowded classroom, she shouted at me. “I’m so sorry, Sarah. I accidentally found your diary. I had no idea you wrote… those kinds of things…” “I only opened it because I saw Liam’s initial. I’m so sorry.” An uproar swept through the classroom. Every single eye turned to me. “Holy crap, it’s Sarah? I never would have guessed.” “Yeah, she always looks so innocent. Who knew she was so dirty.” “Now that you mention it, I think she really does secretly buy a lot of the same stuff Liam wears.” “I heard she and Liam are neighbors, they’ve known each other since they were kids. Doesn’t that mean… she’s been creeping on him for a long time?” “Last time, someone saw Sarah and Liam walk into the alley north of the school, one after the other. Holy shit, Sarah was stalking him! So gross.” Mockery and accusations flew at me from all sides. I looked at Liam, who was standing to the side, watching with cold indifference. “Don’t you have anything you want to say?” 6. Liam frowned, shielding Chloe behind him, increasing the distance between us. “Sarah, if I’ve ever done anything to give you the wrong idea, I apologize.” “Even though we’ve known each other since childhood, I’ve always just seen you as a little sister.” “Please, stop writing that garbage. It upsets my girlfriend.” He paused to think for a moment, then continued. “I’ll say this one last time: I will never like you. The person I like has always been Chloe.” With that, he put his arm around Chloe. The two of them looked like the picture-perfect, devoted couple. As if I truly were the monster trying to destroy their beautiful romance. I was utterly, completely disappointed. My stomach churned with nausea. Just as I was about to take a step forward and confront him. Someone suddenly lunged from behind me. That person pulled me into a tight embrace. My back hit a solid, muscular chest. The person was tall, and smelled of a wonderful, woody pine scent. The crowd around us gasped in surprise. I turned my head. The person standing behind me was actually the notoriously unpredictable bad boy of our school, Lucas. 7. Standing behind me, Lucas smirked. His eyes were full of pure defiance. “Are you insane? Is Liam the only guy in this entire school whose name starts with an L?” Someone in the crowd gasped. “Oh my god, yeah… Lucas’s name starts with an L too.” Lucas finished speaking and glared at Chloe. “You stupid bitch, who gave you the right to read my girlfriend’s diary?” “Seems like you’re all very interested in my daily life with my girlfriend? What? Do you want to hide under our bed tonight and listen?” He shot a glance at Liam. Continuing his sarcastic tirade. “I didn’t see any delusional fangirls, but I definitely see a delusional fanboy right here. Sees the initial ‘L’ and instantly starts fantasizing that my girlfriend has a crush on him. I think you’re the one daydreaming, buddy. Take a piss and look at your own reflection, you pretentious prick.” Liam was rendered completely speechless. His eyes fell on Lucas’s hand resting on my waist. He bit his lip hard. It took a long time before he squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth. “When did you start dating him?” That question. I wasn’t sure if he was asking Lucas or me. But I answered first. “Whenever the first page of that diary was written, that’s when.” “So… the guy you wrote about secretly kissing… was him?” I nodded. “Yep. And now I don’t have to kiss him in secret anymore.” After I said that. Liam’s face grew even darker. A few minutes passed before he muttered. “Impossible. There’s no way you two are together.” 8. Lucas looked completely exasperated. “What? Do I need to prove it to you?” I secretly tugged at Lucas’s shirt. Signaling him to stop talking. Because I knew there was no way to prove it. If he kept talking, our cover would be blown. But he just rubbed my back comfortingly. Looking perfectly calm and collected. “Remember the first page you guys read earlier? Where Mr. L confessed his feelings?” With one arm around me, he reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out a love letter. The letter was folded neatly. The handwriting was bold and messy. It was definitely Lucas’s handwriting. “See this? This is the exact letter I used to confess my feelings. Sarah said she wanted to keep it as a memento, so I never threw it away.” His tone suddenly shifted, his gaze turning sharp. “Or does Liam want to hear the contents of our love letter?” Liam’s fingernails dug into his palms until they turned red. “Impossible. Back then, she clearly…” Beside him, Chloe was completely confused. She whined, “Liam, clearly what? Did you really date Sarah?” Liam looked like a deflated balloon. “How is that possible? How could I ever have dated her?” “It was a misunderstanding on my part.” After saying that, he grabbed Chloe’s hand, ready to leave. “Stop right there.” Lucas raised a finger, pointing right at him. “Did I fucking say you could leave?” 9. Liam asked irritably, “What else do you want?” Lucas’s face was stone cold. “Apologize to my girlfriend.” Chloe let out an incredulous laugh. “Apologize? Yeah right. She wrote a vague diary entry about some ‘Mr. L,’ who the hell knows who that is.” “I found it by accident, a misunderstanding happened. What does that have to do with me?” Lucas shot back, “Did you ‘find’ it or did you steal it? Don’t you know the answer to that yourself?” Lucas pointed to the security camera on the ceiling. “If you don’t want this to blow up, apologize right now.” Lucas had a terrible reputation at our school. Rebellious, domineering, and his word was law. His family also had ties to the school board. If he said he could check the cameras, he wasn’t joking. Liam thought about it for a moment. He picked my diary out of the trash can. “Chloe didn’t mean it. Is this really necessary?” I looked at him coldly. “It’s absolutely necessary.” “Sarah, don’t push it.” Lucas stood protectively in front of me. “Say one more word about my girlfriend, I dare you.” Liam finally gritted his teeth. He bowed a full ninety degrees and apologized to me. “I’ve apologized. Now leave Chloe alone.” 10. In the deserted equipment room. I gently pushed Lucas away. “I’m sorry… I caused so much trouble for you. Thank you for getting me out of that.” Just now… to help me, he even lied along with me, taking some random love letter and claiming he wrote it for me. He really… was too kind. Not at all like the terrifying rumors made him out to be. Lucas was much taller than me. I didn’t dare look up at his face. Right in front of my eyes was his long neck and bobbing Adam’s apple. And that woody pine scent wrapped around me. Time seemed to freeze in that moment. I didn’t know why, but my heart suddenly started racing like a panicked rabbit. I just wanted to run away. “I… I’ll post on Instagram in a few days saying you dumped me, so people won’t keep misunderstanding our relationship.” “Anyway, thank you so much for today, and I’m so sorry I made you lie for me. I really caused a lot of trouble for you.” “Lie?” Lucas took a step forward. Pinning me into the corner. “I never lie.”

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1 Chloe and I sat side-by-side on the plush sofa, scrolling through our phones. Her finger suddenly froze on the screen. I leaned in to look. Oh boy. A well-known paparazzo had snapped a photo of her husband, Arthur Sterling, eating with the newly returned “white lotus,” Lily White. They were arm-in-arm, looking incredibly intimate. Lily White was the childhood crush of both Sterling brothers, and their families were close friends. Since we married into the family, she had only existed in the mouth of our sweet, naive mother-in-law. “Lily hasn’t called me, I miss her so much. “Which one of you will ask Lily when she’s coming back?” Lily this, Lily that, all day long. It gave both of us a complex. Chloe’s expression was dazed for a moment. But she quickly calmed down and asked me with a pained look: “I’m preparing to divorce. “Are you divorcing?” My interest level was at 10%. After all, I had been Chloe’s loyal follower since we were kids. She studied science, so I studied science. She went to Z University, so I tagged along to Z University. She married into the Sterling family, and I happily followed suit and married in too. But my husband hadn’t eaten with his childhood crush, so wouldn’t divorce be a bit excessive? Seeing my hesitation, she upped the ante. “Arthur’s salary card is with me; I can support you. “After we divorce, we’ll each get two male models and travel the world.” My interest level rose to 40%. Male models sounded pretty good, but just two… They might not even be as good as my husband, William Sterling. “Ten! Ten male models!” My interest level hit 80%. My eyes widened, and the word “Okay” was on the tip of my tongue, ready to blurt out at any moment. But the last shred of reason was still pulling me back. The phone’s notification chime dinged, and a conspicuous headline caught me off guard. 『New “White Lotus” Lily White Successfully Becomes the Annual Spokesperson for the Sterling Group! Signing Fee Could Reach Fifty Million!』 The accompanying picture was a photo of her cutting the ribbon with William Sterling. She was smiling beautifully, looking triumphant. And behind her, my dead husband was looking at her with deep, intense eyes. He had never looked at me with those eyes. Every time I joked with him or did something silly, he would look at me like I was an idiot and say: “Are you sick?” Thinking of this, I steeled my heart and said: “Divorce!” Chloe was overjoyed and immediately called a lawyer. She was very articulate when discussing property division matters. Hearing her say she wanted to split half of the Sterling family’s assets, my eyes went wide. How much money would that be… She was even bargaining with the lawyer on the other end of the phone, saying that handling two people’s lawsuits should get a 20% discount. That’s why Chloe is the big sister and I’m the little follower. Her brain just works better. I stared at my phone wallpaper, which was a wedding photo of me and William. I was still a bit reluctant. After all, besides giving me money, William also gave me a lot of happiness on a physical level… I spoke up weakly from the side: “Um… make sure to find male models who are good in bed.” Chloe turned to look at me, her expression instantly becoming stiff. I was still immersed in my beautiful fantasy and continued: “They must be better than William Sterling!” Chloe covered her mouth, looking like she wanted to scream, and pointed tremblingly behind me. Before I could turn my head, a familiar hand reached over. It grabbed the back of my neck and lifted me to his side like a little chicken. His voice was icy cold: “If I’m good in bed, why are you divorcing me?” 2 I turned my head mechanically and met William’s frosty face. He narrowed his eyes at Chloe, as if she had instigated me to divorce. “Sister-in-law,” he emphasized the two words heavily, “Arthur is on his way. You should think about how to explain this to him first.” Chloe was stunned and sat back down on the sofa to brainstorm. She had no time to attend to me, and she completely missed all the distress signals I was throwing at her. Where was our tacit understanding at the critical moment? Huh? I could only stare sheepishly at William’s well-defined side profile. Until he turned his head to look at me, his expression changing. The corners of his mouth curved up slightly, but his voice was still cold: “It’s enough for one couple in our family to divorce. They can divorce, but we won’t.” I always felt that William’s voice was like a magic potion, bewitching me to nod. I nodded obediently, and all thoughts about divorce and male models flew out the window. The roar of a sports car came from outside. As soon as I heard it, I knew that Arthur, the show-off who loved playing with cars, was home. With a sharp screech of brakes, he pushed the door open in less than a minute. He must have just rushed back from the movie set, still wearing his period costume, looking exhausted. He glanced at us and called out, “Brother, sister-in-law.” William put his arm around me, gave a faint “hmm,” and said, “Your wife is instigating my wife to divorce. You figure it out yourself.” Arthur rushed straight over to Chloe. He rubbed the space between his eyebrows, his tone impatient: “Chloe, what are you making a fuss about again? “Last time you threatened divorce because I filmed a kissing scene, and I haven’t taken any kissing scenes since then. “The time before last was because my assistant gave me a handmade cake, and I fired her immediately. “What are you dissatisfied with this time?” Chloe sneered and threw her phone at him. “Look for yourself.” I was enjoying the gossip when William grabbed me and dragged me away. “Let’s not get involved in other people’s family matters.” So we’re not part of the Sterling family? I muttered in my heart, but physically, I obediently followed him. Sitting in the passenger seat, I asked him softly: “Why is Lily White the spokesperson?” She had just returned to the country, hadn’t debuted for long, and had very few notable works. Even if there was a movie star in the family, it would be better to avoid suspicion and not use her. But considering the countless popular female stars in the entertainment industry, it logically shouldn’t be her turn in eight lifetimes. “Mia, don’t mess around with Chloe. “Lily is just a younger sister I grew up with. I don’t have any other intentions.” No other intentions? What about the group photo of the two of you I found in the drawer when we first got married? At that time, I trembled and showed the photo to Chloe. She didn’t speak, returned to her room, and took out another photo. It turned out that this photo was originally taken by three people together. Lily White stood in the middle, smiling purely and sweetly. William cropped out the part with his brother on the right. Arthur cropped out the part with his brother on the left. This level of shared wavelength proved they were definitely biological brothers. I stopped talking, turned up the car music, and stared out the window in a daze. 3 William seemed terrified that I would contact Chloe. He took me to the company and watched me every step of the way. He even shoved paper and a pen at me during meetings, making me sit behind him and doodle. I had to admit, he was incredibly handsome when he worked. His eyes, framed by gold-rimmed glasses, stared intently at the screen. When he heard key points, he would speak up at the exact right moment, hitting the nail on the head. He didn’t have much of an expression, but occasionally he’d look back at me, as if saying: Is it boring? It’s almost over. But this meeting really dragged on forever, so long that I almost fell asleep. I was used to it. After all, he was the kind of guy who would rush back to the office on our wedding anniversary because of a subordinate’s mistake. Leaving me dazed on the top floor of the hotel with fresh flowers and cake. I had to call Chloe over, otherwise, that massive bed would have gone to waste. It wasn’t until the secretary knocked on the door and announced that Ms. White was here. “We’ll stop here for today. We’ll continue with the details tomorrow.” Only Lily White could snap him out of his workaholic state. I followed behind him and saw Lily White for the first time. I had looked her up online before. She was 25, her resume was spotless, and she had zero negative press. Even the fact that she was the heiress to the White family was kept secret from the media. She was clearly well-protected by her family. She was dressed in a white dress, looking exactly the same as in that 18-year-old photo. I suddenly understood why these two brothers couldn’t let her go. That clean, pure aura of hers was something no man could resist. She called out sweetly: “William, I didn’t disturb you, did I?” She completely ignored me, probably assuming I was just a secretary who didn’t matter. William said: “No, you came just in time.” He turned and instructed the secretary to take me back to the lounge. He also made sure to tell her to order some of my favorite desserts and fruit teas. He looked like the picture of a caring husband. But this caring husband never actually looked me in the eye from beginning to end. The AC in the lounge was turned up a bit too high, and the chill seeped straight into my heart. I looked at the dozen missed calls from Chloe on my phone and dialed her back. This time, I was the one who asked first: “Chloe, are you still divorcing?” The phone was silent for a few seconds before a firm voice replied: “Divorce.” 4 Chloe and I met at a bar and drank until we were dizzy. “Mia, do you know what that dog Arthur said? “He said Lily just returned to the country and asked him to introduce some resources, so he went to meet her. “What about me? I was making a name for myself in the entertainment industry too, and my talent was no worse than Lily’s. “But what did I get by marrying him? Constraints on showing my face in public, and a man whose heart isn’t even with me.” I whispered: “But you got money…” Chloe was an extravagant spender. Thankfully, the Sterling family’s wealth could withstand her shopping sprees. Hearing this, her hazy eyes lit up. She grabbed my hand, her tone as firm as if taking an oath: “Yes! I have money! There are only two sons in the Sterling family. The two of us will split half of their family fortune. What kind of men won’t we be able to find then?” Speaking of this, she suddenly remembered something and asked: “You and William didn’t sign a prenuptial agreement, did you?” We actually did. Before the wedding, in front of a lawyer, William pulled out an agreement for me to sign. At the time, I was so mesmerized by his face and body that I signed it without even reading it. Chloe gasped in horror when she heard this: “Then we can only split a quarter of the fortune!” I asked her: “How much is a quarter?” She counted on her fingers: “We can hire ten top-tier male models a day, different ones every day, until the day we die.” Me: “Hell yes!” We happily decided that once the lawyers drafted the divorce agreements, we would officially file. While waiting for the paperwork, it happened to be our mothers-in-law’s birthday. We still had to keep up appearances, so we dressed up and attended the banquet arm-in-arm, leaving the two brothers staring at each other. In previous years, we would always link arms with our respective husbands, accompanying them as they networked and socialized. Tonight, they were left flying solo. At first, Chloe and I both thought the mother-in-law was trying to put us two unsatisfactory daughters-in-law in our place. As it turned out, she genuinely just loved Lily White. Word was she had always wanted a daughter, but ended up with two boys. The neighbors were always busy, so she practically raised Lily, treating her like a princess. Chloe couldn’t stand it anymore and tried to pull me away. But Lily intentionally glanced over and asked: “I haven’t properly met my two sisters-in-law yet. Won’t Auntie introduce us?” Great. Now we couldn’t leave. She greeted us sweetly and complimented Chloe on her beauty. Duh, Chloe is drop-dead gorgeous. If she were still acting, Lily wouldn’t even have a career. When it was my turn, Lily looked me up and down and praised me for looking like I had a healthy appetite. …Wasn’t it just because I gained a few pounds recently and looked a bit rounder standing next to Chloe? Did she really need to be so passive-aggressive? I endured it, but Chloe wasn’t about to coddle her. “It’s my first time meeting you, too. Your aura is so pure and refined, like a lotus flower growing out of the mud untouched. “Paired with this white dress, it really makes you look like the ultimate white lotus, doesn’t it?” Our mother-in-law didn’t catch the sarcasm and nodded approvingly. Lily’s face turned red, then green, like a color palette. She didn’t talk back; instead, she swiftly walked over and inserted herself between the two brothers to chat. What a picture of harmony. Chloe and I exchanged a look, our resolve to divorce solidifying even further. There were many of Arthur’s investors at the banquet. Lily wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip by, shyly following behind him to network. Chloe scanned the room and whispered to me: “That Director Wu over there? He wanted me for his movie, but I was so blindly in love that I turned it down. “And President Wang? He offered to start a talent agency for me. Even after I quit acting, he still emails me asking me to come back. “Damn it, she’s snatching up all the opportunities I left behind. If I knew today was going to happen, I would’ve stayed in the entertainment industry.” She was so angry she looked like she might explode. The final straw was when Lily, completely disregarding the public setting, brushed a fallen eyelash off Arthur’s face. Unable to hold back a night’s worth of anger, Chloe found her moment and stomped her stiletto heel hard onto the train of Lily’s gown. Lily let out a cry of alarm, and as she looked down, a large chunk of her dress tore right off. Although nothing inappropriate was exposed, ruining a gown at an event like this was deeply humiliating. Arthur rushed over and grabbed Chloe, raising his voice: “Chloe! What are you doing? Why are you trying to embarrass her?” William also walked over and said to me: “Can you lend her a dress?” This was the very first thing either of them had said to us all night. I smiled and said: “Sure, you bought them all anyway. You decide.” He looked at me with an unreadable expression, finally waving a hand to have a maid take Lily upstairs to change. Chloe grabbed me, and we fled the Sterling estate. We got into the red sports car Arthur had bought her and floored it to 120 mph. When we finally stopped, she said: “Forget waiting for the agreement. We’re leaving tomorrow.”

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On Valentine’s Day, right in front of all his colleagues, my husband generously shared the story of our first time together. “Don’t let my wife’s quiet, demure look fool you. Back when she was chasing me, she went totally commando! “She was the one who got me drunk and dragged me into a hotel room with a king-size bed. Bet you guys didn’t expect that, huh? “A lot of my business deals are thanks to her bottomless tolerance for alcohol. You guys don’t believe me? Then try to outdrink her!” Arthur chuckled, pushing me forward to toast the clients, constantly praising how “supportive” and “virtuous” I was. After seeing the guests off, I accidentally overheard him bragging to his friend: “While we were dating, I trained my wife to be exactly what I wanted. This way, I don’t have to lift a finger in the future; she’ll just habitually serve me. “In psychology, they call this the ‘Dog Whistle’ effect.” It was only then that I realized: My love for Arthur Vance was nothing more than the dog whistle in his hand. 1 By the time Arthur returned from entertaining clients at a karaoke bar, it was already 2:00 AM. The living room lights were off. The dining table hadn’t been cleared, and a thick layer of grease had congealed over the pork rib soup. Arthur frowned: “How can you be so lazy that you didn’t even clear the table? What if someone comes over tomorrow morning? Aren’t you embarrassed?” He kicked off his leather shoes and instinctively held out his jacket. But no one rushed forward to take his jacket, which reeked of alcohol and cheap perfume. He looked toward the kitchen. On the kitchen counter, there wasn’t the usual bowl of perfectly warmed, stomach-soothing porridge waiting for him. Arthur froze for only a second before quickly walking toward the bedroom. Seeing the bedside lamp on and me sitting up in bed looking at my phone, Arthur frowned for the second time. He strode over to me and plopped down heavily. He spread his arms, waiting for me to untie his tie: “Wife, what is wrong with you today? You had a sour look on your face the whole time at the dinner table, and now you didn’t even make me a late-night snack. You scared the clients away. “But thankfully, your husband is capable. After hustling all day, I finally closed the deal. I’m exhausted. “Go make me a bowl of noodles, add an egg. I’ll eat it after I shower.” I continued scrolling on my phone, motionless. It seemed that ever since we got married, Arthur had grown accustomed to me taking care of his every need. From helping him dress and putting on his slippers, to grocery shopping and cooking. To situations like today, where I played the role of the smiling, accommodating wife at his business dinners. I was his nanny, his maid, and his scene partner in the corporate theater. I was the wife he could push forward to take the literal and metaphorical bullets for him. But what Arthur said today made me freeze. Seeing me ignoring him and staring at my phone, Arthur’s face darkened: “Chloe, what is the meaning of this? “If you’re angry because I didn’t get you a Valentine’s Day gift, then you’re just being completely unreasonable. The money from this deal I just closed will ultimately be used for our family, won’t it? Isn’t that the best gift? “Forget it, there’s no talking to someone as selfish as you. I’m going to shower. Harmony is the most important thing in a marriage. Why do you always have to ruin the mood? “You’re always the one starting arguments. If I ever cheat on you in the future, it’ll probably be because you drove me to it!” Arthur sighed heavily, acting as if I had committed some unforgivable sin. He walked away angrily, yet closed the door gently behind him. As if he were afraid of waking me. And as if to prove that he was enduring my bad temper, that he was always the accommodating, forgiving one. With just a few sentences from him. I had suddenly become the sinner, the one who ruined the atmosphere. My eyes fell on the wrinkled tie he had thrown on the floor. My thoughts raced wildly. 2 Yesterday, I got up at 5:00 AM to iron his clothes, then went to the farmer’s market to buy the freshest fish. I worked all day just to prepare the exact kind of dinner he wanted—one that felt warm and homey, yet sophisticated enough to impress. But he brought his guests home early. I rushed to open the door, still wearing my apron, only to be met with a barrage of his disgust: “Why don’t you have any makeup on? I can tolerate you being a slob normally, but you look like this when guests are here? “It’s so embarrassing! Go change your clothes right now!” I was just about to explain. I hadn’t put on makeup because I had been cooking all day. I hadn’t changed because the kitchen was full of smoke and grease, and I hadn’t had time to clean up yet. But Arthur pulled the door wide open, letting a whole group of people see my bare-faced, flustered state. My face was sallow from the cooking fumes, and my red plaid apron looked completely out of place next to the glamorous, jewel-draped wives of his clients. The piercing, judging stares made me instantly lower my head in deep shame. I bolted upstairs to change. And heard Arthur downstairs, delivering his familiar opening monologue: “My wife is just a bit unkempt normally, but I love her simple, rustic nature. She’s from the country and doesn’t know how to dress up, so please don’t mind her, haha. “Sigh, I’m used to looking at her by now. I married her, what else can I do? “Usually, I’m the one doing all the laundry and cooking around here. Being married is no different from being single. Ugh, don’t get me started, it’s a tragic tale. “But a man has to be accommodating. No matter how successful I become, I could never do something like abandoning the wife who stuck with me through the hard times. Otherwise, what’s the difference between me and some ungrateful scumbag? “Alright, alright, just keep this between us. Don’t mention it when my wife comes down later. I don’t want her feeling bad, because then I’ll just have to coax her later. “Let’s eat, let’s eat! Come taste my plain wife’s cooking. “Hahaha.” Downstairs erupted into a chorus of laughter. Arthur always used putting me down as a quick icebreaker. When I came down in my nice clothes and took my seat, I could always feel the evaluating stares coming from all directions. Those stares were like nails, making me incredibly uncomfortable. I didn’t even have to guess; Arthur had definitely shared our romantic history again. “Don’t let my wife’s quiet, demure look fool you. Back when she was chasing me, she went totally commando!” Arthur held up his wine glass, nudging me with his elbow: “Wife, tell them, isn’t it true? “Back then, her skirt was so short it barely covered her butt. When we got to the hotel, she whipped out her ID and booked a king-size room—with a waterbed, no less! “When my wife threw me down on the bed, I realized she was actually commando! “It scared me half to death. I ran out of there in the middle of the night, hahaha…” This wasn’t the first time Arthur had said these things in public. It was always with different clients, and always featuring different embarrassing stories from various periods of my life. Arthur always consoled me by saying it was just a business tactic, telling me to prioritize his career. The goal was to quickly close the distance with his clients by sharing intimate details. At first, I strongly resisted. 3 Back then, we had just gotten married, and I didn’t know I was already pregnant. One night, I accidentally wet the bed. I was mortified and tried to hide it, but Arthur found out. He laughed as he got up to wash the sheets, comforting me the whole time: “Wife, it’s no big deal. We’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. Why are you being so formal with me? “Washing your sheets now is nothing. When you’re old, I wouldn’t even mind cleaning up your shit and piss. We’re married, we’re family.” I was so incredibly moved at the time. But the very next day, at his company’s celebration banquet. I heard him enthusiastically sharing the story with all his bosses and colleagues: “Who would have thought that Chloe, pushing thirty, would still wet the bed at night? You guys have no idea, when I was washing those sheets, the smell was so bad it burned my eyes. I was dying trying to hold in my laughter. “Sigh, but she’s my woman. What else can I do but spoil her?” In that moment, the blood rushed to my head, and I suffered a complete emotional breakdown right there on the spot. I was so angry I couldn’t even form coherent sentences, crying as I asked him how he could humiliate me like that. But Arthur just blinked, looking completely innocent: “Wife, stop being angry. It’s not like I said I was disgusted by you. You’re just being too sensitive.” His colleagues and bosses also chimed in: “Yeah, Manager Vance is such a good man. What man nowadays is willing to wash sheets for a woman, especially… those kinds of sheets. “Director Vance, you can’t take your blessings for granted. This is a celebration banquet. It’s not right for you to make a scene over nothing. “Yeah, Chloe, don’t be ungrateful.” Those light, careless words instantly made my stomach churn, and my head started spinning. I was so furious I flipped the table over, then my vision went black and I passed out. When I woke up, I found out I was pregnant. The urinary incontinence was also due to the pregnancy. But because of my extreme emotional agitation, I had suffered a miscarriage. The crushing grief of losing my child, combined with the terrible impression my outburst at the banquet left on management, and the mocking looks from my colleagues… Led me to voluntarily resign at the age of twenty-six, right at the peak of my career. Arthur was also very regretful. He knelt and apologized to me, then took time off work to care for me. “Wife, this isn’t your fault. I should blame myself for not noticing you were pregnant. I wasn’t attentive enough. “Sigh. If only you could have restrained yourself a bit and not been so emotional, things would be fine. “Once the baby was born, you would have become the regional manager. Now, your job is gone, and the baby is…” Arthur sighed deeply. I don’t know why, but starting from that moment. Whenever he sighed, I would think of the child I miscarried. My heart would clench painfully, and I would become inexplicably irritable and angry. And whenever that happened, Arthur would hold me and comfort me. Aside from constantly belittling me, Arthur was impeccable in every other aspect. Everyone said he was the model of a perfect husband. Just then, the sound of the shower running in the bathroom started, and I could hear Arthur humming a light tune. Three years of marriage had left my heart riddled with holes and utterly exhausted. I was afraid to go outside, and I dreaded returning to work. I slowly became numb. The only person I interacted with every day was Arthur. It felt like my vitality and spirit had been completely drained. But Arthur was doing better and better. His career was booming, and his reputation as a devoted husband was widely known. But was that really the truth? If he loved me, why was I so exhausted? I stared blankly at the search results for “Dog Whistle” on my phone: [The Dog Whistle effect refers to using subtle language, actions, or signals to trigger a victim, causing them to lose emotional control in a public setting. [The abuser masquerades as an innocent victim, leveraging the public’s misunderstanding of the victim to seize the moral high ground. [The victim often loses their sense of judgment through repeated cycles of self-doubt. [In a marriage, any manipulation disguised as ‘love’ should be approached with extreme caution.] I read it all night, and my heart turned from hot to freezing cold. Had my unreserved, unconditional love become the dog whistle in his mouth? Thinking about how all my sacrifices over the years had been calculated by him, how my youth had become a massive joke, a deep, seething hatred began to spread in my heart. Suddenly, a bold plan formed in my mind. Looking at Arthur’s silhouette in the bathroom, a bizarre, chilling smile spread across my face. 4 The next morning, I woke up at my usual time. But I found that the leftover mess on the dining table had been cleaned up, a fresh bouquet of lilies had been set out, and the floor was spotless. And Arthur was in the kitchen, wearing an apron, bustling around. He expertly blended a fruit and vegetable smoothie and put it in the fridge, then turned around to fry some eggs. Seeing me come out, he looked a bit surprised. He wiped his hands and walked out. “Wife, why are you up so early? Did I wake you? “You drank quite a bit yesterday. Go back to sleep for a while. You don’t need to cook today; I’ll go buy groceries later. “What do you want hubby to make? Sweet and sour ribs? Or your favorite little yellow croaker?” Seeing Arthur’s genuine expression, I felt a momentary lapse in reality. His tone was intimate, as if absolutely nothing had happened yesterday. “Wife? Happy Valentine’s Day!” A diamond necklace was draped around my neck. The cold touch snapped me back to reality. I looked down at the expensive necklace, while Arthur’s sigh echoed in my ear: “Sigh, yesterday was my fault, okay? “But I didn’t forget your gift. Stop throwing little tantrums, alright?” Hearing his nonchalant tone and that deep, deliberate sigh, I was no longer angry. Instead, I analyzed it rationally. He knew perfectly well that I hated when he sighed, that it triggered me. Yet he intentionally used this subtle signal to stimulate me. I could already picture exactly what Arthur would say if I exploded on the spot. “I already apologized, what more do you want? “Chloe, go out and ask around. How many men do a better job than I do? I think you should learn to be content.” Then he would storm out of the house in anger, leaving me to feel guilty for a long time, only to end up serving him even more attentively to make up for it. This wasn’t a diamond necklace. This was the dog leash Arthur used to tie me down. I masked the absolute disgust in my eyes, turning my head to give Arthur a bright smile. “Hubby, thank you for the gift. I was just being unreasonable yesterday. “You go focus on your work. I’ll clean up around the house.” Arthur, instead, looked stunned, but quickly recovered: “Chloe, I’m so glad you can see it that way. “Remember, everything I do is for the good of this family. It’s all for you.”

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I dated my older stepbrother in secret for six years. The day before Valentine’s Day, I snuck over to his company to surprise him. But standing outside his office door, I accidentally overheard a conversation between him and a friend. “Haven’t you had enough fun playing with your little stepsister yet? When are you going to break up with her? Don’t tell me you actually fell in love with her.” Arthur Sterling’s lips curled into a mocking, cynical smirk. His voice was completely dismissive: “Fall in love with her? She’s just a free toy that delivered herself to my door. Why wouldn’t I use her? But the only woman I will ever marry is Chloe.” “Her mother ruined my parents’ marriage. These past six years are simply my revenge against her. This is the punishment she deserves.” It turned out that what I thought was love was nothing but a calculated act of revenge. His deep affection was entirely built on meticulously woven lies. Since that was the case, I would simply leave. 1 “Don’t worry about me. Just focus on preparing for my wedding with Chloe. As for Mia… I have plenty of ways to destroy her.” “Think about it. Falling in love with her own stepbrother, crawling into his bed every night to seduce him… when that shameless, disgusting scandal is exposed right in the middle of her mother’s wedding, do you think she’ll ever have the face to show herself in the Sterling household again? I honestly can’t wait.” The friend sitting across from him looked incredibly uncomfortable and offered a sincere warning: “Your parents had been divorced for three years before Mia’s mom even entered the picture. You can’t honestly blame Mia for that, can you? She was just starting college; she had no idea what the situation was with your family. Isn’t doing this to her a little too cruel?” “A girl’s reputation is everything. You’re basically trying to kill her! She loves you so much; if she finds out you only got with her for revenge, I’m afraid she might…” Arthur pursed his lips impatiently, pulled out his phone, and casually sent me a reaction sticker. “Her life is exactly what I want!” “Don’t talk to me about her being innocent. Was my mother innocent when she was abandoned?” “Coming from that woman’s womb is her own bad luck. She chose to degrade herself!” “If she was really so pure and innocent, she wouldn’t have agreed to sleep with me six years ago. Ending up like this is her own choice. She deserves it.” His friend let out a long sigh, asking one final question: “You can say that, but after six years together, I refuse to believe you haven’t felt anything for her.” “Arthur, I’m warning you as a friend. Once you do this, there is absolutely no turning back.” Arthur’s face instantly turned freezing cold, and he shot his friend a vicious glare. “Fall in love with the daughter of my enemy? What kind of person do you take me for?” “Looking at that face of hers, which looks exactly like her mother’s, makes me physically sick every time I kiss her!” “She was raised by a homewrecker; of course she’s a shameless little slut! Ruining her reputation is already showing her mercy!” Seeing that Arthur refused to listen, his friend sighed helplessly and left the office. Footsteps approached the door. I scrambled frantically to hide, but the bouquet of blue roses in my hands slipped and scattered all over the floor. His friend walked out and ran straight into me. His eyes filled with profound pity. Hearing the noise, Arthur walked out of the office. He saw me scrambling pathetically on the floor, trying to gather the scattered flowers. A flash of raw panic crossed his face, and he immediately rushed over to help me up. “Mia? Why are you here? When did you arrive?” I smiled, but tears fell from my eyes entirely against my will. “I just got here. I wanted to surprise you, but I’m so clumsy I couldn’t even hold the flowers.” He smiled indulgently, tossing the flowers aside carelessly. He pulled me into his office. The moment the door closed. He pinned me against the door. His burning body heat radiated through his clothes, pressing into me. But my entire body felt completely frozen. “I told you, you don’t need to get me gifts. Just having Mia here is the best gift I could ever ask for.” “You must be tired from the trip, right? Rest here for a bit. Once I’m done working, I’ll take you home.” After saying that, he pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. His actions were as tender and affectionate as always. But I could no longer feel his warmth. I never knew a person could commit so completely to an act just for revenge. When my mother first married into the Sterling family… At the wedding, I was crushed by the horrific insults of being a “homewrecker’s daughter,” unable to even lift my head. I hid in a dark corner and cried hysterically. It was Arthur’s appearance that offered me my only salvation. He silenced the vicious rumors for me. He promised he would protect me for the rest of my life and be my safe harbor. I believed every word he said. I drowned in the gentle warmth he offered, completely unable to pull myself out. I had no idea that everything was a meticulously calculated act of revenge. The so-called “love” was nothing but an illusion. He was the one actively pushing me into the abyss. While Arthur was busy working, I sent a text to my mother. “Mom, I want to study abroad.” “Please don’t tell anyone in the family yet.” On the drive back, he casually brought it up, acting like it was no big deal: “My dad is pressuring me to get married, so I found a friend to act as my fiancé.” “Don’t worry, you are the only person I will ever love. She agreed to help me keep up the facade, so I’ll still be living at home with you.” I stared at the scenery passing by outside the window and nodded silently. Tears fell soundlessly down my cheeks. The moment we got home, while he was in the shower, I unlocked his phone. 2 The pinned contact at the very top was named “Chloe.” I opened the chat. Below the cute, flirty reaction stickers… Were dozens of dense video files. Security camera footage from inside my own bedroom. The messages underneath them were even more devastating. “I told you, I only want revenge against her. I’m going to play these videos at the wedding. After that day, Mia will be permanently erased from the Sterling family. The only person standing by my side will be you.” “Before you officially marry into the family, I’m going to clear every single obstacle out of your way. From now on, you will only know happiness.” “Chloe, I love you.” I looked up at the stuffed animal he gave me six years ago. In the dim light of the room… A tiny, eerie red light blinked inside the toy’s eye. It turned out he had been planning how to eradicate me from the very beginning. It’s hilarious that I was so thoroughly immersed in his fabricated lies. Believing I was actually happy. I opened Arthur’s hidden photo album. It was completely filled with photos of him and Chloe. Dating all the way back to their college years. The photos meticulously documented their entire love story. Every major holiday, when he claimed he was swamped with work… He was actually with Chloe. Every single gift he ever bought me… He bought an identical one for Chloe. The only difference was, Chloe got things that I never did. The second chat thread I opened was with a wedding planning company. Arthur had been meticulously preparing for this wedding for six months. From selecting the venue to choosing the exact style of silverware for the reception. He handled every single detail personally. Even the security camera footage… he edited it himself. All for the sole purpose of utterly destroying our forbidden relationship in front of everyone at the wedding. A second before Arthur walked out of the bathroom… I locked his phone. And I bought myself a plane ticket to leave the country in three days. At the dinner table, Arthur’s father constantly brought up his upcoming wedding. Arthur pretended to be incredibly annoyed by it. But casually agreed to everything. Setting the wedding date for three days from now. The chopsticks in my hand clattered to the floor. The entire meal tasted like ash in my mouth. After dinner, my mother pulled me into my room, looking deeply concerned. “Why the sudden decision to go abroad? Didn’t you insist on joining the company to work with your brother? Did you tell him about this yet?” Looking at the gray streaks in my mother’s hair, my nose stung painfully. “No. I need you to keep this a secret from him.” “Mom, after I leave, just focus on living a good life with Uncle Sterling. Ignore what anyone else says.” I know how incredibly difficult it was for my mother to finally decide to remarry. Regardless of what Arthur believed, my mother had never, ever been the other woman in anyone’s relationship. Having her reputation completely destroyed shouldn’t be how her story ends. When I returned to my bedroom, Arthur was already waiting in my bed. Seeing me walk in, he immediately pulled me into his arms. His lips brushed affectionately against my ear. “Are you mad? You know we can’t go public with our relationship. I’m handling the wedding arrangements; it’s just a cover, an act. Don’t overthink it.” “Mia, I promise, you are the only one in my heart. Stop throwing a tantrum, okay? I bought you a present; it’ll be delivered tomorrow. You’re going to love it.” I swallowed my suffocating grief and smiled, nodding. He didn’t suspect a thing. He let out a sigh of relief and pulled me tighter against his chest. After a long pause, he said hesitantly: “It’s just that… this is a Sterling family wedding, so it has to be a major event. Since you’re my sister, you probably…” “Okay. I’ll be there.” I knew exactly what he was trying to say. Rather than waiting for him to force the issue, I might as well offer it myself. At least I could maintain some shred of dignity. He was shocked by my sudden change in attitude. But since he got what he wanted, he didn’t bother analyzing it. That night, he slept in my bed as usual. The next morning, before anyone else in the house was awake, I slipped out of my room. The second Arthur left the house, I walked out right behind him. I went to process my visa and finalize my university applications. I never expected to run into Chloe there. 3 Arthur was standing right behind her, his eyes overflowing with absolute adoration. The employees nearby were constantly whispering about them: “Is that CEO Sterling’s fiancée? Her aura is incredible! If I’m not mistaken, that bag she’s holding is a limited edition Hermes. You can’t even buy that just with money!” “It has to be her. I heard they started dating in college and have been together ever since. He even bought a private island abroad for their honeymoon! They’re probably here getting visas for a trip around the world, right?” “This is literally a romance novel come to life. I’m so jealous. If my boyfriend was even half as amazing as CEO Sterling, my life would be complete…” In my daze, the clerk processing my paperwork called out: “Ms. Sterling? Ms. Sterling? Your paperwork is finished.” His voice instantly drew Arthur’s attention. As I was shoving the documents into my bag, Arthur appeared right in front of me. His expression carried a microscopic, almost imperceptible trace of panic. “Mia? What are you doing here?” Chloe walked up from behind him, affectionately wrapping her arm around his. “You must be Arthur’s sister! Hi there.” “Since we’re going to be family soon, we should get to know each other.” My eyes swept over where their arms were linked. I smiled and nodded. “Sister-in-law.” “It’s nothing. I just came to help Mom sort out her visa. She’s been wanting to travel abroad for a while.” “I’ll leave you two to it. Have a good day.” I turned to walk away. But Arthur chased after me, grabbing my arm tightly. He frantically tried to explain: “Don’t overthink this. We’re only here today because my dad insisted. You know how seriously he takes this wedding; he practically forced me to take her traveling.” “He also wants Chloe to come over for dinner tonight. I’m just giving you a heads-up so you don’t misunderstand.” Watching him act so desperately anxious about my feelings… I suddenly found the entire situation hilarious. Chloe was his actual girlfriend of several years. The wedding was three days away, and his grand revenge plot was about to reach its climax. Who exactly was he putting this act on for? “Don’t worry, I know my place. Since it’s Uncle Sterling’s arrangement, just do as he asks. I wouldn’t cause a scene over something like that.” “You two go ahead. I’ll wait for you at home.” He let out a massive sigh of relief and personally hailed a cab to send me home. Then he turned around and took Chloe straight to a bridal boutique. 4 My mother and Uncle Sterling knew Chloe was coming over for dinner. They started preparing the meal right around noon. The moment Arthur and Chloe walked through the door… They handed her a red envelope containing ten thousand dollars. I used feeling unwell as an excuse to hide in my room. But Arthur walked in carrying a gift box. As he slipped the bracelet onto my wrist, he pulled a warm blue rose from his jacket pocket. He dropped to one knee on the floor. His eyes were filled with absolute devotion. “I know that being with me in secret, without a real title, is incredibly unfair to you. But after the wedding, I’ll still be your brother. I’ll still live here and spend time with you, exactly like I always have.” “Mia, please don’t be mad at me, okay?” I looked down at the Hermes logo on the bracelet. It was the complimentary gift that came with the bag Chloe was carrying. “Okay. I won’t be mad at you.” “Go eat dinner. They’ve been preparing it all day.” The sounds of joyous congratulations drifted up from downstairs. My mother stood awkwardly by the dining table, looking exactly like a hired maid. Arthur naturally and casually ordered her around, demanding she serve the food and dish out the soup. The suffocating weight of my grievances finally exploded. I gathered every single gift he had given me over the past six years and threw them all into the trash can. As the trash can tipped over, Chloe suddenly appeared in my doorway. Looking at the mess on the floor, a triumphant, arrogant smirk spread across her face. “What, you can’t handle it anymore?” “Mia, you are even more pathetic than I thought.” “Makes sense. What kind of decent person could a homewrecker possibly raise? Watching your own mother scurry around like a maid, not even allowed to sit at the table… that must hurt, right?” I stared at her with freezing apathy. “What exactly are you trying to say?” Chloe smirked, her face dripping with vicious mockery. She pulled out her phone, opened her chat log with Arthur, and waved it directly in my face. “Oh, right, you don’t know, do you? Every single night when you’re being intimate with Arthur, he sends the videos straight to me so I can watch.” “If I sent these videos to your mother’s phone, do you think she’d lose her mind entirely?” “Her own biological daughter and her second husband’s son, secretly screwing each other every single night right under their noses…” “Don’t you dare!” Unable to suppress the explosive rage in my chest a second longer… I raised my hand and delivered a brutal slap across her face. The sharp crack echoed loudly. Chloe fell hard onto the floor, shattering a glass picture frame. Blood instantly began pooling from her palm. Arthur charged into the room and immediately pulled her into his arms. He glared at me with pure, unadulterated fury. “Mia! What the hell are you doing?! Are you insane?!” “Chloe came up here to nicely ask you to come down for dinner, and you attack her?!” Uncle Sterling stood in the doorway, his face instantly turning dark. My mother panicked, desperately trying to explain: “Mia definitely didn’t mean to! There must be some misunderstanding!” “Mia, apologize to Chloe right now!” Chloe’s eyes were red as she buried her face in Arthur’s chest. “I’m so sorry. I just came up to invite Mia to our wedding. I have no idea why she suddenly attacked me…” “Arthur, please don’t blame Mia. I’m sure she didn’t mean it.” A cold sneer curled my lips as I stared directly at the embracing couple. Arthur ignored my expression, his eyes radiating a freezing, venomous hatred. “Mia. Apologize!” My nails dug so deeply into my palms that droplets of blood fell to the floor. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?!” “You two are the ones who owe me an apology!” A look of profound disappointment flashed across Arthur’s eyes. “Mia, when did you become like this? You are being completely unreasonable!” Before I could respond, Uncle Sterling stepped forward and pulled Arthur up. “Take Chloe to the hospital first. I will handle things here.” Arthur carried Chloe out of the house. My mother followed behind Uncle Sterling, apologizing profusely and pathetically. Six years of deep, profound love evaporated into nothingness in that exact moment. I grabbed my suitcase and went to a hotel. Before leaving, I ripped the hidden camera out of the stuffed animal. And mailed it to Arthur. Doing the math, it would arrive on the exact day of his wedding. I thought my departure would officially end this twisted play. But that night, Arthur sent me a text explaining everything: “Chloe agreed to act as my bride for the wedding. I already owe her a massive favor, and you physically hurt her. It looked terrible in front of everyone. I only made you apologize so my dad wouldn’t get suspicious. Please don’t overthink it.” “Get some rest. I had a custom dress made for you to wear to the wedding. Be a good girl. I am your brother, and that will never, ever change.” But I knew perfectly well that this performance wasn’t for Uncle Sterling. It was entirely for me. My departure was the only thing that could finally end it. For the next two days, I didn’t go home. He didn’t go home either. He was busy organizing the wedding venue. He was busy picking out expensive jewelry for Chloe. I never received the gift he promised me. The only news I received was that he had casually dropped millions on a luxury yacht for Chloe. All so he could take her to the private island named after them. On the morning of the wedding, I called him. He was busy giving instructions to his friends and didn’t really have time for me. “Are the videos ready? Remember, start playing them the exact second she walks into the venue. I want absolutely everyone to see them.” “Are you sure about this? Once that video plays, there is absolutely no turning back.” “Just do exactly what I said. I have been waiting for this day for six years.” “Keep an eye on her mother. Make sure she doesn’t try to cause a scene.” His friend walked away, and Arthur finally remembered he was on the phone. “Mia? The wedding is about to start. I’ll come pick you up myself in a little bit. Wait for me at home.” “I’ll let you in on a secret: usually, the groom only picks up the bride. It’s almost like I’m marrying you, isn’t it?” “Stop being unhappy.” I stared at the boarding pass in my hand and let out a cynical laugh. “Brother. Happy Wedding Day.” He froze for a second, then chuckled softly. “Why are you calling me ‘brother’ today? I prefer it when you call me by my name.” “Be a good girl and wait for me. I’ll be right there.” I hung up the phone, turned around, and boarded my flight. And permanently deleted every single piece of his contact information. The wedding began. Arthur’s mind kept replaying that phone call, a profound sense of unease settling in his chest. Right as he was preparing to leave to pick me up… His friend rushed in from outside, carrying the shattered camera lens. “We have a massive problem. Mia found out about the hidden cameras!” “She took a flight out of the country early this morning. But that specific flight… the news just broke that it crashed into the ocean!”

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When someone swapped me with her baby, I didn’t cry or fuss; I just closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. I watched helplessly as the life of wealth and privilege that belonged to me was traded away from these frostbite-scarred hands. The tension in the woman’s face finally eased the moment she held me in her arms. She walked away from the opulent mansion behind her, looking back with every step. She thought her daughter had climbed the social ladder and become the child of aristocrats, oblivious to the fact that she had personally thrown her own flesh and blood into an abyss. After all, for the next ten years, being part of the “poor and lower-middle peasants” would be the best possible identity to have. 1 Feeling the large hands gradually tightening around my neck, I opened my big, round eyes and looked at her. I forced the corners of my mouth up, pulling out a silent smile. The woman seemed to deflate, loosening her grip. She held me and crouched by the muddy dirt road, sobbing uncontrollably. Her tears, mixed with the rain, fell onto my face. It tasted sour and astringent, with a hint of salty bitterness. And just like that, I went from Chloe Sterling to Chloe Vance. In my past life, the name that originally belonged to me, along with the identity of the eldest daughter of a wealthy family, became Chloe Vance’s. It was something I had long since discarded like trash, yet I still woke up in the middle of the night, my pillow wet with tears. It wasn’t that I missed what I used to have. It was that I couldn’t forget the humiliation of being called “capitalist scum.” I couldn’t forget the agony of being humiliated by malicious people. And I especially couldn’t forget the ruthless determination of the Sterling family when they pushed me into the fire pit. Later, when the hardships passed and the Sterling family regained its former glory, perhaps out of guilt, they brought me back and granted my every request. I became the eldest daughter of the Sterling family, envied by everyone in high society. But trauma lasts a lifetime; guilt is only temporary. When Chloe Vance and I were kidnapped at the same time, my brother didn’t hesitate to save her, leaving me in the sea of fire. The rising heat scorched my skin. I actually saw a flicker of relief in his eyes. His voice carried a fake apology: “Chloe, I can’t live without her. She’s my only light. If she dies, I won’t survive either. “Then everything you sacrificed for me would have been for nothing. I can’t let your efforts go to waste. Don’t worry, I’ll find someone to save you.” The thick smoke in the room grew denser. He carried the rosy-cheeked Chloe Vance and ran out without a backward glance. Near the end, I never saw the rescuers my brother promised. I breathed my last breath, full of indignation. The moment my soul left my body, I saw Chloe Vance, acting delicate and coy, hiding in my brother’s arms, her eyes shining. “Arthur, I set the fire. I staged the kidnapping too. I admit I’m not a good person. Do you still love me now?” Arthur smiled indulgently and patted her head. “I love you, so naturally I accept everything about you.” Their love finally blossomed, bought with my life, and received everyone’s blessings. What an absolute joke. 2 “Chloe, why are you standing there spacing out?” A booming voice pulled me back from my past memories. The old lady, wearing a ragged headscarf and carrying a hoe on her shoulder, walked briskly toward me, moving like the wind. I grinned, showing my teeth, and ran toward her, my little feet going pitter-patter. I wore ill-fitting cloth shoes and baggy, patched grey clothes. But even that couldn’t hide my delicate, porcelain-doll face. The old lady bent down and scooped me up with one arm, kissing my cheek with a smile. “My precious girl, Grandma will boil an egg for you when we get home.” In this era, having a full stomach was a luxury. A normal meal consisted of watery porridge that went straight through you and scratchy cornbread. Back then, even though Mary, my biological mother, had softened and didn’t strangle me, she never fed me a single drop of milk. I was raised by my grandmother, fed entirely on rice water. Later, when rice water wasn’t enough to fill me up, the old lady asked around the neighboring villages to see whose goat had just given birth. Every day before dawn, she would walk two miles just to trade for a bowl of goat’s milk. She fed it to me drop by drop, and that was how she managed to raise me. The rest of the Vance family was unhappy about it, but they didn’t dare say a word. After all, all three of Grandma’s sons were blindly obedient to her. And Grandpa Vance obeyed her every command too. You could say the entire Vance family was a dictatorship run by Grandma. Since I was raised personally by Grandma, I was naturally favored over the other children. 3 Grandma dug a piping hot egg out of the ashes of the fire. Afraid I’d burn myself, she peeled it before handing it to me. “Here, the egg is ready. Take it inside and eat it, so those greedy ghosts don’t stare at you.” As soon as she finished speaking, a crowd of people poured through the door. It was the rest of the Vance family returning from working in the fields. “Grandma, what are you trying to hide from us?” My eldest cousin, Leo, had sharp ears and was quick-witted. He dropped the basket of grass from his back and hurried over. I quickly shoved the egg into my mouth, biting off half of it, and, while Grandma wasn’t looking, stuffed the other half into her mouth. Grandma was stunned by my sudden action. She gave me a fond, scolding look, but couldn’t hide the pampering affection in her eyes. She swallowed her half of the egg and waved her hand, shooing him away. “Go on, shoo! Stop hovering like a beggar. Go play somewhere else.” Leo didn’t dare argue with Grandma. His eyes scanned me like a radar. When I wasn’t looking, he used his finger to wipe a crumb of egg yolk from the corner of my mouth and quickly popped it into his own. He looked at Grandma resentfully. “Grandma, you’re secretly giving Chloe eggs again.” Grandma didn’t look the least bit ashamed at being caught. She smacked Leo on the back without mercy. “I raised the chickens! I’ll give the eggs to whoever I damn well please!” Leo looked at me, smiling faintly on the sidelines, then looked at Grandma, who was chopping vegetables briskly. He pouted and walked away. During dinner, he acted like he was determined to eat the family out of house and home, wolfing down two massive bowls of watery porridge. Grandma rolled her eyes at his pathetic display. 4 Life went on like this, ordinary and dull. Soon, it was time for the autumn harvest. With the egg Grandma had boiled for me that morning safely tucked in my pocket, I went to the fields to bring them water. But I unexpectedly bumped into Mary talking to Leo. I quickly hid behind a tree, eavesdropping on their conversation like a sneaky little mouse. Leo looked a bit impatient. He asked the person in front of him, “Aunt Mary, what do you want? I’m busy harvesting the rice.” The harvest this year was much better than expected. Barring any accidents, we’d have enough to eat this year. Leo unconsciously licked his lips and swallowed hard. Mary tried to act like a loving aunt, reaching out to pat Leo’s shoulder, but he dodged her. She forced an awkward smile, feigning dissatisfaction. “Leo, I saw your grandma boiling an egg for Chloe again this morning. How does a worthless girl like her deserve to eat something so precious? You’re the one who should be eating it!” A hint of mockery played at the corners of Leo’s mouth, but quickly vanished. He opened his eyes wide, feigning pleasant surprise. “Aunt Mary, you think so too?” Seeing him take the bait, Mary nodded affirmatively. “Of course! Leo, you’re the only boy in the Vance family, the one who will carry on the family name.” “So Aunt Mary doesn’t plan on leaving anything to Chloe? You’re leaving it all to me?” Mary wanted to argue, but didn’t know what to say. But compared to giving it to her fake daughter, giving it to her nephew in front of her really wasn’t a bad idea. She agreed, “That’s right. Your uncle and I don’t have a son, so everything we have will be yours.” Anyway, she and her husband hadn’t saved much. When her real daughter came to take them to live in a big house, would they even care about these meager possessions? Hearing this, Leo smiled even brighter. “That’s great! Aunt Mary, I’ve been wanting to eat that half-bag of brown sugar in your cupboard for ages. I’m going back to get it right now!” With that, Leo ran back to the house without looking back. Mary’s fake smile froze on her face. How did things turn out like this? Her original plan was to make Leo jealous of me, target me, maybe even get violent with me. After all, who can predict a child’s jealousy? But she never expected Leo to play by his own rules and snatch away her only remaining half-bag of brown sugar. She meant she would give him her things later, not now! But Leo gave her no chance to regret it. He immediately boiled the entire half-bag of brown sugar in water and brought it to the fields for the whole family to drink. He didn’t forget to repeat what Mary had said. “Uncle, Aunt Mary said that all your property will go to me in the future, and I’ll be the one to carry out your funeral rites.” My second uncle was a man of few words. He smiled a goofy smile. “I listen to your grandma. Whoever she says gets it, gets it.” Hearing this, Mary’s face turned beet red with anger, but she didn’t dare say a word. After all, she was an expert at reading the room and sucking up to the powerful. Grandma, as the woman at the absolute top of the Vance family’s food chain, was naturally someone she couldn’t afford to offend. But Grandma acted as if she hadn’t heard a thing. She sat on the edge of the field with me, sipping the sugar water in small gulps. She smacked her lips and whispered, “This sugar water doesn’t taste like half a bag. Your brother definitely hid some.” I took a big gulp of sugar water, my eyes squinting from the sweetness, feeling a second of sympathy for Leo. Trying to hide things right under Grandma’s nose was truly like showing off your axe skills in front of the God of War. The next moment, Grandma glanced at me and whispered, “My precious girl, you haven’t had brown sugar eggs yet, have you?” I bared my little tiger teeth and said obediently, “No, I haven’t, Grandma.” 5 Early the next morning, I was woken up by Leo’s tragic, high-pitched screams. With one furious roar from Grandma, Leo went silent. I looked at the bowl of brown sugar eggs on my nightstand and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Tears rolled down the sides of my nose and into my mouth. It tasted a little sweet. 6 As the bitter winter approached, I finally saw the exiled Sterling family. Chloe Sterling’s hair was a mess, and she wore a tattered, thin winter coat. But her eyes darted around intensely, as if she were searching for something. Arthur Sterling was emaciated, thin as a rail, looking like a strong gust of wind could knock him over. Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, though wearing decent clothes, had sallow, gaunt faces and an aura that screamed they had suffered tremendously. I was a bit surprised. In my past life, the Sterling family hadn’t been this miserable. They had even managed to hide away a considerable amount of money to prepare for their eventual comeback. In this life, had something happened? Their arrival added some gossip to the quiet Mountain View Village. Mountain View Village was flanked by mountains on two sides and a river on the third. There was only one road leading out of the village. After the snow fell and blocked the only road, the villagers’ only form of entertainment was gossip. I often followed the crowd to the Sterling family’s doorstep to watch the show. Following the herd, I threw a few pebbles into the Sterling family’s courtyard. Watching a group of kids chasing Chloe Sterling, calling her “capitalist scum.” A secret thrill of pleasure rose in my heart. In my past life, after learning that Chloe Sterling and Arthur were in love, I confronted her. I asked her why, after calling me “capitalist scum” all those years, she was so eager to become the sister-in-law of that same “scum.” She answered with utter indifference, “It was just kids talking nonsense. You’re holding onto something that small for this long? You’re way too petty.” In this life, I hope she can generously forgive the “nonsense” of these children.

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1 “Don’t worry about me. Just focus on preparing for my wedding with Chloe. As for Mia… I have plenty of ways to get back at her.” “You know, falling in love with your own stepbrother, sneaking into his bed every night to seduce him… when that shameless scandal is exposed at the wedding, do you think she’ll ever have the face to show herself in the Sterling household again? I honestly can’t wait.” The friend sitting across from him looked uncomfortable and offered a sincere warning: “Your parents had been divorced for three years before Mia’s mom even entered the picture. You can’t honestly blame Mia for that, can you? She was just starting college; she had no idea what the situation was with your family. Isn’t doing this to her a little too cruel?” “A girl’s reputation is everything. You’re basically trying to kill her! She loves you so much; if she finds out you only got with her for revenge, I’m afraid she might…” Arthur Sterling pursed his lips impatiently, pulled out his phone, and casually sent me a reaction sticker. “Her life is exactly what I want!” “Don’t talk to me about her being innocent. Was my mother innocent when she was abandoned?” “Coming from that woman’s womb is her own bad luck. She chose to degrade herself!” “If she was really so pure and innocent, she wouldn’t have agreed to sleep with me six years ago. Ending up like this is her own choice. She deserves it.” His friend let out a long sigh, asking one final question: “You can say that, but after six years together, I refuse to believe you haven’t felt anything for her.” “Arthur, I’m warning you as a friend. Once you do this, there is absolutely no turning back.” Arthur’s face instantly turned freezing cold, and he shot his friend a vicious glare. “Fall in love with the daughter of my enemy? What kind of person do you take me for?” “Looking at that face of hers, which looks exactly like her mother’s, makes me physically sick every time I kiss her!” “She was raised by a homewrecker; of course she’s a shameless little slut! Ruining her reputation is already showing her mercy!” Seeing that Arthur refused to listen, his friend sighed helplessly and left the office. Footsteps approached the door. I scrambled frantically to hide, but the bouquet of blue roses in my hands slipped and scattered all over the floor. His friend walked out and ran straight into me. His eyes filled with profound pity. Hearing the noise, Arthur walked out of the office. He saw me scrambling pathetically on the floor, trying to gather the scattered flowers. A flash of raw panic crossed his face, and he immediately rushed over to help me up. “Mia? Why are you here? When did you arrive?” I smiled, but tears fell from my eyes entirely against my will. “I just got here. I wanted to surprise you, but I’m so clumsy I couldn’t even hold the flowers.” He smiled indulgently, tossing the flowers aside carelessly. He pulled me into his office. The moment the door closed. He pinned me against the door. His burning body heat radiated through his clothes, pressing into me. But my entire body felt completely frozen. “I told you, you don’t need to get me gifts. Just having Mia here is the best gift I could ever ask for.” “You must be tired from the trip, right? Rest here for a bit. Once I’m done working, I’ll take you home.” After saying that, he pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. His actions were as tender and affectionate as always. But I could no longer feel his warmth. I never knew a person could commit so completely to an act just for revenge. When my mother first married into the Sterling family… At the wedding, I was crushed by the horrific insults of being a “homewrecker’s daughter,” unable to even lift my head. I hid in a dark corner and cried hysterically. It was Arthur’s appearance that offered me my only salvation. He silenced the vicious rumors for me. He promised he would protect me for the rest of my life and be my safe harbor. I believed every word he said. I drowned in the gentle warmth he offered, completely unable to pull myself out. I had no idea that everything was a meticulously calculated act of revenge. The so-called “love” was nothing but an illusion. He was the one actively pushing me into the abyss. While Arthur was busy working, I sent a text to my mother. “Mom, I want to study abroad.” “Please don’t tell anyone in the family yet.” On the drive back, he casually brought it up, acting like it was no big deal: “My dad is pressuring me to get married, so I found a friend to act as my fiancé.” “Don’t worry, you are the only person I will ever love. She agreed to help me keep up the facade, so I’ll still be living at home with you.” I stared at the scenery passing by outside the window and nodded silently. Tears fell soundlessly down my cheeks. The moment we got home, while he was in the shower, I unlocked his phone. 2 The pinned contact at the very top was named “Chloe.” I opened the chat. Below the cute, flirty reaction stickers… Were dozens of dense video files. Security camera footage from inside my own bedroom. The messages underneath them were even more devastating. “I told you, I only want revenge against her. I’m going to play these videos at the wedding. After that day, Mia will be permanently erased from the Sterling family. The only person standing by my side will be you.” “Before you officially marry into the family, I’m going to clear every single obstacle out of your way. From now on, you will only know happiness.” “Chloe, I love you.” I looked up at the stuffed animal he gave me six years ago. In the dim light of the room… A tiny, eerie red light blinked inside the toy’s eye. It turned out he had been planning how to eradicate me from the very beginning. It’s hilarious that I was so thoroughly immersed in his fabricated lies. Believing I was actually happy. I opened Arthur’s hidden photo album. It was completely filled with photos of him and Chloe. Dating all the way back to their college years. The photos meticulously documented their entire love story. Every major holiday, when he claimed he was swamped with work… He was actually with Chloe. Every single gift he ever bought me… He bought an identical one for Chloe. The only difference was, Chloe got things that I never did. The second chat thread I opened was with a wedding planning company. Arthur had been meticulously preparing for this wedding for six months. From selecting the venue to choosing the exact style of silverware for the reception. He handled every single detail personally. Even the security camera footage… he edited it himself. All for the sole purpose of utterly destroying our forbidden relationship in front of everyone at the wedding. A second before Arthur walked out of the bathroom… I locked his phone. And I bought myself a plane ticket to leave the country in three days. At the dinner table, Arthur’s father constantly brought up his upcoming wedding. Arthur pretended to be incredibly annoyed by it. But casually agreed to everything. Setting the wedding date for three days from now. The chopsticks in my hand clattered to the floor. The entire meal tasted like ash in my mouth. After dinner, my mother pulled me into my room, looking deeply concerned. “Why the sudden decision to go abroad? Didn’t you insist on joining the company to work with your brother? Did you tell him about this yet?” Looking at the gray streaks in my mother’s hair, my nose stung painfully. “No. I need you to keep this a secret from him.” “Mom, after I leave, just focus on living a good life with Uncle Sterling. Ignore what anyone else says.” I know how incredibly difficult it was for my mother to finally decide to remarry. Regardless of what Arthur believed, my mother had never, ever been the other woman in anyone’s relationship. Having her reputation completely destroyed shouldn’t be how her story ends. When I returned to my bedroom, Arthur was already waiting in my bed. Seeing me walk in, he immediately pulled me into his arms. His lips brushed affectionately against my ear. “Are you mad? You know we can’t go public with our relationship. I’m handling the wedding arrangements; it’s just a cover, an act. Don’t overthink it.” “Mia, I promise, you are the only one in my heart. Stop throwing a tantrum, okay? I bought you a present; it’ll be delivered tomorrow. You’re going to love it.” I swallowed my suffocating grief and smiled, nodding. He didn’t suspect a thing. He let out a sigh of relief and pulled me tighter against his chest. After a long pause, he said hesitantly: “It’s just that… this is a Sterling family wedding, so it has to be a major event. Since you’re my sister, you probably…” “Okay. I’ll be there.” I knew exactly what he was trying to say. Rather than waiting for him to force the issue, I might as well offer it myself. At least I could maintain some shred of dignity. He was shocked by my sudden change in attitude. But since he got what he wanted, he didn’t bother analyzing it. That night, he slept in my bed as usual. The next morning, before anyone else in the house was awake, I slipped out of my room. The second Arthur left the house, I walked out right behind him. I went to process my visa and finalize my university applications. I never expected to run into Chloe there. 3 Arthur was standing right behind her, his eyes overflowing with absolute adoration. The employees nearby were constantly whispering about them: “Is that CEO Sterling’s fiancée? Her aura is incredible! If I’m not mistaken, that bag she’s holding is a limited edition Hermes. You can’t even buy that just with money!” “It has to be her. I heard they started dating in college and have been together ever since. He even bought a private island abroad for their honeymoon! They’re probably here getting visas for a trip around the world, right?” “This is literally a romance novel come to life. I’m so jealous. If my boyfriend was even half as amazing as CEO Sterling, my life would be complete…” In my daze, the clerk processing my paperwork called out: “Ms. Sterling? Ms. Sterling? Your paperwork is finished.” His voice instantly drew Arthur’s attention. As I was shoving the documents into my bag, Arthur appeared right in front of me. His expression carried a microscopic, almost imperceptible trace of panic. “Mia? What are you doing here?” Chloe walked up from behind him, affectionately wrapping her arm around his. “You must be Arthur’s sister! Hi there.” “Since we’re going to be family soon, we should get to know each other.” My eyes swept over where their arms were linked. I smiled and nodded. “Sister-in-law.” “It’s nothing. I just came to help Mom sort out her visa. She’s been wanting to travel abroad for a while.” “I’ll leave you two to it. Have a good day.” I turned to walk away. But Arthur chased after me, grabbing my arm tightly. He frantically tried to explain: “Don’t overthink this. We’re only here today because my dad insisted. You know how seriously he takes this wedding; he practically forced me to take her traveling.” “He also wants Chloe to come over for dinner tonight. I’m just giving you a heads-up so you don’t misunderstand.” Watching him act so desperately anxious about my feelings… I suddenly found the entire situation hilarious. Chloe was his actual girlfriend of several years. The wedding was three days away, and his grand revenge plot was about to reach its climax. Who exactly was he putting this act on for? “Don’t worry, I know my place. Since it’s Uncle Sterling’s arrangement, just do as he asks. I wouldn’t cause a scene over something like that.” “You two go ahead. I’ll wait for you at home.” He let out a massive sigh of relief and personally hailed a cab to send me home. Then he turned around and took Chloe straight to a bridal boutique. 4 My mother and Uncle Sterling knew Chloe was coming over for dinner. They started preparing the meal right around noon. The moment Arthur and Chloe walked through the door… They handed her a red envelope containing ten thousand dollars. I used feeling unwell as an excuse to hide in my room. But Arthur walked in carrying a gift box. As he slipped the bracelet onto my wrist, he pulled a warm blue rose from his jacket pocket. He dropped to one knee on the floor. His eyes were filled with absolute devotion. “I know that being with me in secret, without a real title, is incredibly unfair to you. But after the wedding, I’ll still be your brother. I’ll still live here and spend time with you, exactly like I always have.” “Mia, please don’t be mad at me, okay?” I looked down at the Hermes logo on the bracelet. It was the complimentary gift that came with the bag Chloe was carrying. “Okay. I won’t be mad at you.” “Go eat dinner. They’ve been preparing it all day.” The sounds of joyous congratulations drifted up from downstairs. My mother stood awkwardly by the dining table, looking exactly like a hired maid. Arthur naturally and casually ordered her around, demanding she serve the food and dish out the soup. The suffocating weight of my grievances finally exploded. I gathered every single gift he had given me over the past six years and threw them all into the trash can. As the trash can tipped over, Chloe suddenly appeared in my doorway. Looking at the mess on the floor, a triumphant, arrogant smirk spread across her face. “What, you can’t handle it anymore?” “Mia, you are even more pathetic than I thought.” “Makes sense. What kind of decent person could a homewrecker possibly raise? Watching your own mother scurry around like a maid, not even allowed to sit at the table… that must hurt, right?” I stared at her with freezing apathy. “What exactly are you trying to say?” Chloe smirked, her face dripping with vicious mockery. She pulled out her phone, opened her chat log with Arthur, and waved it directly in my face. “Oh, right, you don’t know, do you? Every single night when you’re being intimate with Arthur, he sends the videos straight to me so I can watch.” “If I sent these videos to your mother’s phone, do you think she’d lose her mind entirely?” “Her own biological daughter and her second husband’s son, secretly screwing each other every single night right under their noses…” “Don’t you dare!” Unable to suppress the explosive rage in my chest a second longer… I raised my hand and delivered a brutal slap across her face. The sharp crack echoed loudly. Chloe fell hard onto the floor, shattering a glass picture frame. Blood instantly began pooling from her palm. Arthur charged into the room and immediately pulled her into his arms. He glared at me with pure, unadulterated fury. “Mia! What the hell are you doing?! Are you insane?!” “Chloe came up here to nicely ask you to come down for dinner, and you attack her?!” Uncle Sterling stood in the doorway, his face instantly turning dark. My mother panicked, desperately trying to explain: “Mia definitely didn’t mean to! There must be some misunderstanding!” “Mia, apologize to Chloe right now!” Chloe’s eyes were red as she buried her face in Arthur’s chest. “I’m so sorry. I just came up to invite Mia to our wedding. I have no idea why she suddenly attacked me…” “Arthur, please don’t blame Mia. I’m sure she didn’t mean it.” A cold sneer curled my lips as I stared directly at the embracing couple. Arthur ignored my expression, his eyes radiating a freezing, venomous hatred. “Mia. Apologize!” My nails dug so deeply into my palms that droplets of blood fell to the floor. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?!” “You two are the ones who owe me an apology!” A look of profound disappointment flashed across Arthur’s eyes. “Mia, when did you become like this? You are being completely unreasonable!” Before I could respond, Uncle Sterling stepped forward and pulled Arthur up. “Take Chloe to the hospital first. I will handle things here.” Arthur carried Chloe out of the house. My mother followed behind Uncle Sterling, apologizing profusely and pathetically. Six years of deep, profound love evaporated into nothingness in that exact moment. I grabbed my suitcase and went to a hotel. Before leaving, I ripped the hidden camera out of the stuffed animal. And mailed it to Arthur. Doing the math, it would arrive on the exact day of his wedding. I thought my departure would officially end this twisted play. But that night, Arthur sent me a text explaining everything: “Chloe agreed to act as my bride for the wedding. I already owe her a massive favor, and you physically hurt her. It looked terrible in front of everyone. I only made you apologize so my dad wouldn’t get suspicious. Please don’t overthink it.” “Get some rest. I had a custom dress made for you to wear to the wedding. Be a good girl. I am your brother, and that will never, ever change.” But I knew perfectly well that this performance wasn’t for Uncle Sterling. It was entirely for me. My departure was the only thing that could finally end it. For the next two days, I didn’t go home. He didn’t go home either. He was busy organizing the wedding venue. He was busy picking out expensive jewelry for Chloe. I never received the gift he promised me. The only news I received was that he had casually dropped millions on a luxury yacht for Chloe. All so he could take her to the private island named after them. On the morning of the wedding, I called him. He was busy giving instructions to his friends and didn’t really have time for me. “Are the videos ready? Remember, start playing them the exact second she walks into the venue. I want absolutely everyone to see them.” “Are you sure about this? Once that video plays, there is absolutely no turning back.” “Just do exactly what I said. I have been waiting for this day for six years.” “Keep an eye on her mother. Make sure she doesn’t try to cause a scene.” His friend walked away, and Arthur finally remembered he was on the phone. “Mia? The wedding is about to start. I’ll come pick you up myself in a little bit. Wait for me at home.” “I’ll let you in on a secret: usually, the groom only picks up the bride. It’s almost like I’m marrying you, isn’t it?” “Stop being unhappy.” I stared at the boarding pass in my hand and let out a cynical laugh. “Brother. Happy Wedding Day.” He froze for a second, then chuckled softly. “Why are you calling me ‘brother’ today? I prefer it when you call me by my name.” “Be a good girl and wait for me. I’ll be right there.” I hung up the phone, turned around, and boarded my flight. And permanently deleted every single piece of his contact information. The wedding began. Arthur’s mind kept replaying that phone call, a profound sense of unease settling in his chest. Right as he was preparing to leave to pick me up… His friend rushed in from outside, carrying the shattered camera lens. “We have a massive problem. Mia found out about the hidden cameras!” “She took a flight out of the country early this morning. But that specific flight… the news just broke that it crashed into the ocean!”

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1 When the car crash happened, my CEO brother and my movie-star fiancé instinctively shielded the sweet, innocent ingénue, Mia. I was sent flying hundreds of feet. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day before my debut press conference. In my past life, all I did was step a little closer to my fiancé, Liam. He immediately stepped back to avoid any association, publicly mocking me for trying to ride his coattails. My brother looked down on me too, claiming I relied on our family’s capital and wasn’t worthy to compete with Mia, who had no backing. But now, they stood flanking Mia, left and right, propping her up. Backed by the CEO and partnered with a top actor, she became an overnight sensation. I was completely done. I bought a plane ticket and went abroad to start a new life. Three years later, Mia had swept all the major acting awards. At the awards ceremony, I happened to be seated next to Liam. He mocked me: “Even though you lost me, you shouldn’t just let yourself go. No man will ever look at you now.” My brother also looked at me and shook his head. “You left with such pride, but didn’t you still have to come crawling back to beg me in the end?” But when I walked onto the stage to give a speech as the wife of the event organizer, both of them panicked. … “Mia is only twenty-one, and she’s already swept the top three acting awards. She’s the first person in the entertainment industry to do that. Her future is boundless.” “I heard she’s getting engaged to the movie star, Liam. They’re both so beautiful; it’s a match made in heaven!” “Don’t be so sure! The CEO of the Vance Group, Ethan Vance, chartered every helicopter in the city and is preparing to give Mia the proposal of the century! It’s still up in the air who she’ll choose!” The interior of the awards ceremony was buzzing with voices. Just as I found my seat, I turned and saw the cold, aloof, and arrogant Liam. He was a bit surprised to see me take the seat next to him, but that surprise quickly morphed into undisguised disgust. “Don’t sit here.” I was a little confused and asked: “Why?” Liam tilted his arrogant chin up, his impatience peaking. “I’m going to propose to Mia today. If you sit next to me, I’m afraid she might get the wrong idea.” “Why did you have to come back right at this exact time?” I looked down at the invitation card in my hand, but before I could speak, a reporter beside me interrupted. “Mr. Sterling, there are rumors that you’re going to propose to Ms. Mia today. Is it true? Can you give us a hint?” The swarm of reporters completely blocked me from view. Liam’s voice sounded somewhat playful. “It’s a secret.” Those two words were more suggestive than a direct confirmation, and the reporters immediately went into a frenzy. But amidst the excitement, a few sharp-eyed reporters began to study me. A young girl wearing a red hat blurted out: “Isn’t this the Vance family heiress who used to obsess over Liam? I heard she insisted on debuting just to chase him and spent a fortune to co-star with him. Then she suddenly disappeared. Why did she show up today of all days?” “Could it be she knew Liam was going to propose today and hasn’t given up? Is she still trying to win him back?” As soon as she finished speaking, all the cameras and eyes focused on me. Facing the dark lenses of the cameras, I just smiled faintly and waved my hand. “You’ve got it all wrong. I have nothing to do with what you’re talking about. I was just invited to attend the event.” Liam scoffed coldly beside me. “Stop pretending. You specifically arranged to sit next to me. Everyone knows exactly what you’re plotting.” He turned to look at me, his voice stern. “I’m warning you one last time. If you dare do anything to hurt Mia, I absolutely will not go easy on you again.” Gasps erupted from the crowd. Liam’s words were entirely captured by the cameras. The reporter in the red hat sounded thrilled. “The movie star aggressively protecting his woman! This is huge news! I’m totally shipping them!” Before I could retort, my hand was grabbed viciously. “Chloe Vance, who told you to come here?” 2 The familiar voice belonged to my older half-brother, Ethan Vance. He gripped my hand tightly, his face dark with anger. “This is not a place for you to make a scene. Come with me!” A sharp pain shot through my wrist, and I instinctively struggled. “I’m here for official business, let go of me!” My resistance only angered Ethan more: “Do you think I don’t know what you’re planning? I warned you a long time ago, you can’t buy love with money! Are you really going to keep making the same mistake? Stop embarrassing the Vance family!” He didn’t care at all that the strapless top of my mini dress was being pulled to the point of near-exposure, nor did he care about the countless cameras eagerly documenting every second. “I let you throw your tantrums before, but not today.” “This honor is something Mia earned through immense hard work. I will not allow anyone to ruin it. Chloe, be reasonable. Stop this nonsense, okay?” Meeting his bloodshot eyes, a dull ache tightened my chest. He was supposed to be my brother, yet he was completely disregarding my dignity, humiliating me in public like this. All for his beloved Mia! On the other side, Liam stood with his hands in his pockets, watching me like a spectator enjoying a show. “Why put yourself through this? No matter how pitiful you act, I still won’t like you.” “Just because you can’t have my love doesn’t mean you should give up on yourself. Making a scene like this in public… no man will ever look at you again.” My dress was already pulled dangerously low, but my brother still refused to let go. Hearing Liam’s words seemed to embolden him further. “If you don’t want to be completely humiliated, leave right now.” I could only hold my collar tightly and argue with all my might: “I am a specially invited guest, here as the family member of the event organizer. Neither of you has the right to kick me out!” As soon as I said that, everyone froze for a moment. “Family member of the organizer? The organizer of this ceremony is the legendary tycoon from the capital, Alexander Price! His international trade business spans the globe, and his assets are immeasurable. He is a truly powerful figure.” “But I heard Mr. Price is an orphan without any relatives. Could she be… his wife?” The reporter in the red hat widened her eyes in gossip-fueled shock. Ethan, who was still pulling on me, froze. Before he could react, Liam, who had been enjoying the show, suddenly stood up, walked over, and looked down at me. He frowned, a trace of inexplicable anger in his voice: “Chloe, what do you mean by that?” “Have you been messing around with other men during the few years you’ve been away from me?” His tone carried an inexplicable, incredibly ironic jealousy. In my past life, I entered the entertainment industry without hesitation just for him, fighting tooth and nail just to catch up to him. When his investments resulted in massive losses, I sold the shares my parents left me and gave everything I had to help him. Because of that, he accepted my confession and we got engaged. I originally thought my genuine devotion had moved him, but it turned out he just wanted my money to finance a movie for Mia! A ten-million-dollar mega-production tailored specifically for Mia. When I found out, he just confidently told me: “She has potential; she just lacks an opportunity. Someone like you, born with silver-spoon connections, could never understand the struggles of a small actor. I have to help her.” I cried to my brother about my pain, failing to notice his face turning green with jealousy. It turned out Mia was a student he had personally sponsored. Because of her stunning looks, my brother had pulled strings to get her into film school. Listening to my complaints, his only concern was that the woman he loved was going to be stolen from him. He advised me: “No matter what happens between you and Liam, do not let it affect Mia.” Furious, I confronted Mia, demanding she stay away from my fiancé. I never expected her to cry, slap herself, claim she was sorry, and say she wanted to atone for her sins, all while running out into the street. My brother and Liam quickly chased after her, and I followed them. Mia ran onto the road. When the accident happened, my brother and Liam instantly shielded her with their bodies. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the night before my debut. My brother had immediately notified the staff, changing what was supposed to be my debut press conference into Mia’s. Liam also attended dressed to the nines, just to support Mia. They both felt they owed Mia in our past life and decided to overcompensate her in this one. My heart turned to ash, and I decided to go abroad alone. The night I left home, my brother just thought I was throwing a tantrum, playing the runaway game. He dismissed me entirely, mocking: “The outside world isn’t as gentle as you think. I’ve spoiled you too much; you’re too naive. It’s time you go out and experience some real hardship.” “Only then will you understand how difficult things were for Mia before, and you won’t always try to target her.” That departure lasted for three years. Until today, when I returned as an invited guest, only to run into them. I never expected our reunion to be such an ugly scene. 3 “Liam, Ethan, you’re both here. I feel so much safer with you two.” “This event is so huge, it’s a little overwhelming. I hope I don’t mess up later. Come give me strength!” Wearing a long, trailing black evening gown, Mia still retained a girlish playfulness. She extended her hands, making a “cheer up” gesture toward the two men. Both men’s eyes lit up instantly. Liam, who had just been interrogating me, quickly distanced himself and his voice softened. “You’re already a Best Actress winner, and you still get nervous? Don’t worry, whatever happens, I’m here.” He reached out and placed his hand over Mia’s. “Ethan, what are you spacing out for? Come here!” Called out by name, my brother’s face flushed with an unnatural red, and he stammered. “I’m… I’m here.” The way he looked at Mia was full of undisguised admiration. I remembered in my past life, when I saw he saved Mia’s contact as “Little Flower,” I didn’t understand and asked why he used such a cheesy nickname. He just chuckled and didn’t say anything. But now I understand. Mia was the flower he had carefully nurtured. He watched her grow, bloom, and shine, becoming a dazzling star. His gaze upon her was too blinding; I couldn’t help but look away. Mia seemed not to have noticed me yet. After finishing her little cheer, she kept talking: “Just now backstage, I accidentally twisted my ankle. Thank goodness someone caught me.” She deliberately turned her delicate profile toward the reporters’ cameras. “After thanking him, I found out he was the mysterious investor, Alexander Price from the capital! He even told me… he said I was the first leading lady of his banquet tonight.” She lowered her head shyly, her smile picturesque, drawing a wave of cheers from the crowd. “As expected of our superstar, easily capturing the attention of a capital tycoon! It seems another man is about to fall head over heels for Mia! Now the movie star and the CEO should be worried!” “Exactly! If Mr. Price enters the competition, he’ll effortlessly crush the other two! After all, it’s an international enterprise based in the capital! The scale is much larger than the Vance Group. If Mr. Price makes a move, the entire entertainment industry will tremble.” The onlookers whispered among themselves, while the two men present looked increasingly grim. “Mia, did he do anything else to you? You must keep your eyes open and recognize who truly treats you best.” Liam couldn’t wait to intervene. My brother, Ethan, however, watched lonely from a distance. “I only wish for your happiness.” Leaving that sentence behind, he turned as if to leave. Mia’s eyes fluttered, and she coyly waved her hands. “What are you saying?! You’re all exaggerating! He just helped me with a small favor, how could he randomly fall in love with me?” As she spoke, her gaze suddenly cut through the crowd and landed squarely on me. “It’s just that I heard someone spreading rumors about Mr. Price. He helped me, so I must repay him somehow.” “After all, someone of Mr. Price’s status isn’t someone any random stray cat or dog can latch onto. Chloe, wouldn’t you agree?” 4 Mia strutted over to me triumphantly, the crowd’s cameras following her every step. “Long time no see, Chloe. Ever since you ran away from home three years ago, I’ve been so worried about you. I blamed myself so much. If Liam hadn’t fallen in love with me and broken your heart, you wouldn’t have left without a word. That’s why, for all this time, I never dared accept either of their proposals.” “But it’s fine now. I heard you have a new lover, so I can finally put my mind at ease.” She gave me a playful wink, and a business card slipped from her dress and fell to the floor. She deliberately bent down to pick it up, perfectly displaying the contents of the card. It was Alexander Price’s business card. She looked at the cameras, offering an apologetic smile. “Just now, Mr. Price specifically reminded me to contact him when I have free time to discuss a collaboration.” “Oh, right, Chloe, who did you say you were here as a family member for?” All eyes converged on me, and the crowd suddenly erupted in laughter. “I didn’t expect the slap in the face to come this fast. This woman wanted to act like a big shot, but ended up making a huge fool of herself. Hilarious.” “Exactly! Unless Mr. Price is blind, he’d never look twice at her. How does she compare to our Mia in any way?” “You guys are laughing at the poser, but I’m just feeling bad for Liam and CEO Vance. Having such a powerful rival suddenly appear, I can’t even imagine how devastated they must be!” Meeting Mia’s provocative gaze, I slowly spoke up. “I thought I made myself perfectly clear earlier. I am an invited guest, attending this banquet as the family member of the organizer.” I stared fearlessly into her eyes, and she let out a scoff of disbelief. “Chloe, watch what you say. Tonight’s organizer isn’t some ordinary person you can just claim to be related to.” Liam also stepped forward, looking at me with disgust. “Chloe, I told you long ago, I hate liars the most! Did you think pretending not to care would make me look at you differently? It only makes me despise you more!” My brother, Ethan, tried to persuade me with a look of exasperation: “If you don’t want the Vance family to completely lose face, please just leave right now.” I ignored their mockery and disdain, calmly taking my designated seat. Soon, staff members stepped forward to disperse the crowd. The awards ceremony was about to begin. The host took the stage, and after introducing tonight’s guests, suddenly changed his tone. “Tonight’s awards ceremony features a visit from a very mysterious guest.” In the audience, those in the know had already started cheering. “I believe many of you already know this news. He is our organizer tonight, the tycoon who has never appeared in public, Alexander Price!” Screams almost tore through the venue; everyone was intensely curious about this mysterious tycoon. The host’s tone suddenly shifted again. “However, our Mr. Price has a very peculiar temper. No matter how much I pleaded, he refused to come out.” “When I asked why, I found out that Mr. Price can only be invited out by the future Mrs. Price.” As the host playfully hyped the crowd, an inexplicable chant erupted from the audience. “Mia! Mia!” Soon, many others joined in. “Mr. Price’s unique way of confessing is so romantic!” “Isn’t our Mia the future Mrs. Price?! Love at first sight is so cute!” “Mia! Mia!” The deafening cheers drowned out the host, and no one noticed his slightly awkward expression. “Please, everyone, calm down for a moment!” The host flipped the cue card over and over in his hands, as if repeatedly confirming it. Finally, with a hint of hesitation, he continued. “Next, please welcome the future Mrs. Price, Ms. Chloe Vance, to the stage to give a speech.”

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1 My brother was drugged, and I was forced to unbutton my own shirt. After I got pregnant, our parents told us we weren’t biological siblings and told him to marry me. My brother nodded, then went out street racing that same day and got into a terrible car accident. I didn’t care that both his legs were paralyzed; I was absolutely determined to be his bride. I thought he would be moved by my devotion, and that we would grow old together. On our wedding night, the villa caught fire. When I choked awake from the smoke, my very first thought was to drag him out of the inferno. Instead, he smashed a heavy vase over my head. Right before I lost consciousness, I heard his freezing, emotionless voice. “You and our parents destroyed my true love. I’ve already legally transferred all my assets to Chloe as compensation.” “Since you people ruined my life, you can all burn in hell with me.” … I was jolted awake by my brother, Arthur Sterling’s, agonizing, heavy panting. I opened my eyes to see my familiar old bedroom. There were no red wedding decorations, and there was no suffocating, rolling black smoke. I had been reborn. The sheer shock and overwhelming joy made me dizzy. “Mia, get me a glass of water.” Arthur’s low, raspy voice drifted through the wall from the next room, sending a violent shiver down my spine. I glanced at the watch on my wrist, a cold sweat instantly breaking out across my back. I had been reborn on the exact night my brother was drugged. The sticky, horrifying sensation of blood blinding my eyes from my past life, and the agonizing pain of burning alive, seemed to physically hit me all over again. My immediate instinct was to run. To get as far away from Arthur as possible. Before I could even put my shoes on, he was already standing in my doorway. “Mia, I just called Chloe Sinclair. I need you to drive over and pick her up right now.” Even though the drugs were heavily amplifying his lust, I still caught the distinct, unmistakable look of guarded disgust in his eyes when he looked at me. A terrifying, bold thought suddenly bloomed in my mind. My brother had also been reborn. I nodded frantically, grabbed my car keys, and squeezed past him, practically sprinting out the door. Even as I stepped out the front door of the villa, I could feel the intense discomfort of Arthur’s gaze burning into my back. The address Arthur gave me was an apartment near his company headquarters. So, Arthur and Chloe had moved in together this early on. When he said I ruined his true love, he actually meant it. The second Chloe saw my car, she yanked the passenger door open and slid in. “How is your brother doing right now?!” Chloe looked incredibly anxious, but I couldn’t tell if it was just my imagination or if there was a hidden, eager thrill of getting exactly what she wanted dancing in her eyes. “You’ll see when we get there.” I had zero desire to make small talk with Chloe. Not because I was jealous, but because neither my mother nor I had ever liked her. Chloe was an impoverished student whose education was sponsored by my family. Initially, my parents adored Chloe because she was incredibly hardworking, driven, and had phenomenal grades. She was the top scorer in her entire city’s college entrance exams. My parents personally drove her to the capital to start university. My mother was especially happy. Since Chloe was a year ahead of me and had exceptional grades, she could tutor me during my crucial senior year of high school. She was incredibly responsible with me. Every week after our tutoring session, she would give my father a highly detailed progress report. Even after I explicitly told her that my mother was the one managing my academics, she completely ignored me and kept reporting directly to my father. I always felt her eyes radiated a calculating, manipulative shrewdness, but at the time, I just assumed I was being overly sensitive. Until one night, she called my dad, sobbing hysterically that a drunk man was harassing her. When my dad rushed to the scene, she threw herself directly into his arms. My dad was so terrified he threw his hands up in the air, his face turning a sickly shade of green. My mother, who had just parked the car and arrived at the exact same moment, saw the entire thing. Chloe sobbed pathetically, claiming she viewed my dad as a father figure and was just so terrified that she reacted instinctively. My parents verbally comforted her, but after that incident, she was never allowed inside our house again, and my dad never personally handled any of her issues. After graduating college, she wanted to study abroad. She showed up at our house with a basket of fruit, looking incredibly pitiful, and begged my parents for a massive loan. My mother wasn’t stingy. She had her secretary wire Chloe fifty thousand dollars. Right before Chloe left, she came to say goodbye and ran straight into my brother, who had just returned from completing his master’s degree overseas. The very next day, Chloe returned the fifty thousand dollars to my mother. She claimed she had an epiphany: a person should be grounded and practical. She decided to work first and earn her own money to fund her studies abroad. My brother, who was just leaving the house at the time, looked at the plainly dressed but incredibly resolute Chloe. His eyes were entirely filled with deep admiration. 2 A month later, Chloe officially joined our family’s corporation and became my brother’s personal secretary. I warned my brother that Chloe had ulterior motives and was intentionally targeting him. “Mia, not everyone’s brain is completely consumed by childish romance like yours.” Yet, within a year, he moved Chloe directly into his private apartment. I drove like a maniac the entire way. Chloe gripped the “oh shit” handle with a death grip. “Mia, I know you’re upset, but please consider our physical safety!” When Chloe rushed into the villa, I didn’t follow her. Instead, I just sat in the car, zoning out completely. I knew exactly what was about to happen between my brother and Chloe better than anyone. I wasn’t jealous. My horrific, agonizing death in my past life—and the fact that my parents were dragged down to a miserable end because of me—made me realize with absolute clarity that my love for my brother was nothing but lethal poison to him. And the comment Chloe made in the car just now completely validated that brutal truth. “Mia, he’s your brother. Your twisted, disgusting obsession with him is what drove him to flee the country to study in the first place. Now that he has me, you need to give up.” So Arthur had known for a very long time that I was in love with him. He went abroad to study entirely to escape me. If I had known that sooner, in my past life, when I handed him that glass of water and saw him suffering so agonizingly, I never would have unbuttoned my own shirt. Before getting out of the car, Chloe threw one last sentence at me. “You’re a grown woman now. It’s time you found someone appropriate to date and marry.” She was probably terrified I would keep obsessing over Arthur. Don’t worry. I have absolutely zero lingering fantasies about Arthur Sterling. I sat in the car for the entire night. It wasn’t until dawn broke that I finally opened the front door and went upstairs. Arthur, wearing a bathrobe, was walking out of his bedroom. “Where the hell were you last night?” His neck was covered in undeniable, dark hickeys, and his voice was thick, raspy, and languid. “I went to hang out with Lily.” Lily was my best friend; Arthur had met her before. The fact that he still possessed the mental bandwidth to casually ask about my whereabouts made me feel a surge of relief. Maybe he had finally let go of his resentment, and we could cleanly revert back to a normal sibling dynamic. “I know you look down on Chloe’s background and think she’s poor, but let me make this incredibly clear: she is the woman I am absolutely going to marry. Show her some respect from now on.” When did I ever look down on her background? I couldn’t stop a genuinely confused frown from crossing my face. “Wipe that arrogant, superior look off your face. She literally sacrificed herself to clean up the catastrophic mess you caused.” I was even more confused now. “What are you talking about?” Arthur’s patience evaporated. “Are you honestly going to stand there and deny you spiked my drink last night?! Do you have any idea how pure and innocent Chloe is?! She wanted to wait until our wedding night to give herself to me, and you ruined everything!” “I didn’t do it!” I yelled back defensively. Yes, I had been in love with Arthur for years, but I would never, ever resort to such cheap, disgusting, underhanded tactics. “Chloe and I went out for dinner, came straight home, and the only thing I drank was the glass of milk you left on my nightstand! If it wasn’t you, who the hell was it?!” In my past life, I always wondered why my brother never investigated who drugged him. I always assumed he fell for a trap at some business dinner and was too ashamed to bring it up. It turned out he believed I was the one who drugged him. No wonder he hated me so intensely. Hated me so much that he dragged the very parents who gave us their blessing down to hell with him. Hated me so much that he refused to even let the six-month-old child growing inside me take a single breath in this world. My heart tasted like bitter ash, and my eyes burned. “Believe whatever you want, but I am telling you, it absolutely was not me.” Right at that moment, Arthur’s bedroom door cracked open. Chloe, wearing one of Arthur’s oversized dress shirts, peeked out like a terrified, fragile little rabbit. “Arthur, is Mia mad at me?” Arthur shot me a look loaded with intense warning. “Mia would never be mad at you. She’s going to offer us her full blessing.” “You’re absolutely right, brother. Sister-in-law.” I forced a bright smile onto my face. “You saved him. I’ll advocate for you both and convince Mom and Dad to agree to the wedding.” A flash of barely concealed triumph crossed Chloe’s face, while Arthur looked at me with intense, analytical suspicion. What was there to be suspicious about? He was literally willing to die for her. Even if I knew she was a manipulative snake, I absolutely refused to let my parents risk even a single hair on their heads. “Please don’t put Uncle and Auntie in a difficult position. I know I’m not worthy of Arthur. I just want to stay by his side.” Ah, so Arthur has a fetish for manipulative ‘green tea’ victims. No wonder he never loved me. 3 Arthur wrapped his arms around her, looking incredibly heartbroken for her. When he wasn’t looking, Chloe shot me a look of absolute, smug victory. “Mia, my clothes got… torn by your brother. Could I borrow an outfit from you?” Chloe asked with manufactured shyness. “Didn’t I buy you a dress last month? I haven’t seen you wear it once. Since you clearly don’t like it, just give it to Chloe.” That was the dress he bought me for my birthday. Did I not like it? He knew perfectly well I treasured it too much to actually wear it. He was actually taking back the gift he gave me. My heart gave an involuntary, painful squeeze, but it settled almost immediately. Chloe put on my dress and did a beautiful, dramatic twirl. Completely ignoring my presence, she threw her arms around Arthur, acting incredibly coquettish as she asked him if she looked pretty. But none of this triggered me anymore. This time around, my only goal was for my parents and me to stay alive and well. My parents were on a two-week vacation. The very first day they returned, Arthur aggressively and impatiently announced his intention to marry Chloe. When I walked through the front door, the floor was covered in the shattered remains of my father’s teacup. My mother’s face was dark as she rubbed my father’s back to calm him down. Arthur sat directly across from them, his face completely devoid of emotion. “Mom! Dad!” I ran over and threw myself into their arms, fighting with everything I had to hold back my tears. Their expressions instantly softened into absolute warmth and tenderness. “Why are you still acting like such a little kid? You’re all grown up and still throwing yourself at us like this.” My dad affectionately ruffled my hair, and my mom pulled me down onto the sofa next to her. “Your brother wants to marry Secretary Sinclair. What do you think, Mia?” My dad had always favored me, and Arthur immediately shot me a look that was utterly devoid of warmth. “I think it’s wonderful. Chloe and Arthur are a perfect match.” My mom’s brow furrowed deeply. “Do you honestly believe that?” “Mom, Arthur is 26 years old. He has the right to choose his own happiness. All we need to do is support him.” What was the point of not supporting him? We couldn’t stop him anyway. Seeing that my parents still refused to relent… “It doesn’t matter if you like Chloe or not. Arthur likes her. After he gets married, we can just live separately. I’m going to stay with you and Dad forever.” My words visibly softened their expressions. I quickly shot Arthur a pointed look. This was our unspoken, childhood routine. Whenever Arthur wanted to do something my parents disapproved of, it was my job to butter them up and put them in a good mood before he asked. “Mom, Dad, after Chloe and I get married, we will be incredibly filial to you. I am begging you, please agree to this marriage.” Seeing Arthur drop solemnly to his knees, I piled on the persuasion as hard as I could. Realizing there was no room for negotiation, my parents finally nodded and agreed. Arthur got exactly what he wanted—he was going to marry Chloe. The tragedy of my past life definitely wouldn’t repeat itself this time. I slowly uncurled my tightly clenched fists. After my parents went to their room to rest, I went back to my own bedroom. I had just opened my diary, preparing to write, when the door suddenly swung open from the outside. I looked up. It was Arthur. He glanced at my notebook, his face instantly turning a dark, furious shade of green. I had barely stood up when his hand shot out and clamped violently around my neck. “Mia, are you writing down all your filthy, disgusting fantasies about me again?!” His hand was massive, and as his grip tightened, I felt like I was suffocating. “What the hell are you talking about?!” I struggled to force out a few syllables. Arthur snatched my diary off the desk. “When you were a teenager, didn’t you use a diary exactly like this to document your sick, incestuous obsession with me?!” So he really had read my diary. What right did he have to violate my privacy like that?! A mixture of absolute fury and profound injustice exploded in my chest. I used all my strength to violently pry his fingers off my throat. I snatched the diary back and slammed it hard against his chest. “What exactly is your problem?! I gave you and her my full blessing, isn’t that enough?!” “Yes, I used to have feelings for you, and that was my mistake! But I absolutely do not like you anymore! What more do you fucking want from me?!” I rarely ever lost my temper with him. He looked completely stunned. “You love reading my diary so much? Then look at it! I did write about a man in here, but it absolutely isn’t you!” With that, I shoved past him and sprinted out of the house. Sitting in the coffee shop with Lily, she was vibrating with absolute excitement. “Did you really agree to date my brother?! Are you actually going to be my sister-in-law?!” In her overwhelming joy, her voice spiked, drawing stares from the other tables. I quickly reached over and clamped my hand over her mouth. “I… randomly ran into him a couple of days ago, and we just really hit it off.” My face felt incredibly hot. Lily excitedly rubbed her hands together. 4 “Confess right now! My brother asked you out six months ago and you rejected him! How did you guys hook up again?!” Lily’s older brother, Julian Thorne, had indeed confessed his feelings for me six months ago. At the time, my entire universe revolved around Arthur, so I rejected him. After being reborn and desperately trying to fix my mistakes, Chloe and Arthur started aggressively flaunting their relationship in my house every single day. Chloe took every available opportunity to aggressively mark her territory and assert her dominance over him. Even though I backed down completely and repeatedly swore I had absolutely zero interest in Arthur, it didn’t matter. I had no choice. I had to avoid them. Feeling incredibly depressed, I went to a bar to drink. After downing a few too many and feeling incredibly dizzy, a random guy cornered me outside the restrooms and tried to get handsy. I was terrified, tears springing to my eyes, when Julian suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He threw a single, brutal punch that dropped the guy to the floor, completely unconscious. When Julian pulled a literal handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe my tears, I couldn’t stop myself from bursting into laughter. “Julian Thorne, are you an ancient relic? Who even carries a handkerchief anymore?” He helplessly shook the expensive piece of plaid fabric. “Do you have any idea how much this tiny square of fabric costs?” “I don’t care how much it costs, it’s definitely not as convenient as a tissue.” He nodded in reluctant agreement and tossed the outrageously expensive handkerchief straight into the trash can. “Whatever Mia says, goes.” Lily always complained that her brother wasn’t as aloof and aristocratic as my brother. She said he acted like a cynical, irresponsible playboy. But that “irresponsible playboy” had become a terrifying, ruthless titan in the city’s business world. Since taking over the Thorne family corporation three years ago, he had nearly doubled its market value. A tiny handkerchief instantly bridged the gap between us. Whenever I was in a bad mood, I would text him, and he always managed to say something incredibly bizarre and weird that hit my exact sense of humor perfectly. Since being reborn, the only times I actually felt completely relaxed were when I was texting Julian. “I thought elite CEOs were supposed to be swamped with work. How do you have the time to text me all day long?” Julian replied almost instantly. “Because it’s you on the other end, and I absolutely refuse to make you wait a single second. I’ve basically had my phone glued to my hand 24/7 for the past few weeks.” Is this what it feels like to be loved? Arthur never, ever made me feel this way. This time, I wanted to experience what it actually felt like to be loved. I agreed to give it a shot with Julian. I’ve kept a diary since I was a little girl. Lately, the man filling its pages was him. I had no idea if Arthur had actually read it, but the next time I went home, the diary was sitting perfectly aligned on my desk. Arthur hadn’t been home for days, so I took the opportunity to finally tell my parents about me and the Thorne family heir. I held their hands and made them promise that they would always live with me. My parents smiled and nodded, treating me like a child. I didn’t care; they nodded, which meant they were officially bound to stay by my side. That evening, Arthur brought Chloe home for dinner. Dressed head-to-toe in luxury brands, she actually managed to project a decent aura of high society elegance. At the dinner table, my parents weren’t exactly thrilled, but thankfully, they didn’t make a scene. After dinner, we all sat together in the living room. “Arthur, Chloe. We absolutely do not oppose your marriage, but there are a few fundamental things we need to establish upfront.” Arthur had been occasionally glancing at me all evening, his eyes carrying an unreadable, deeply uncomfortable weight. Chloe sat perfectly straight, her eyes practically shining as she stared at my father. “Arthur is getting married, and Mia has a serious boyfriend now too. To avoid any future conflicts, I am telling you both right now: regardless of who is getting married or moving out, our family’s assets will be split exactly 50/50 between the two of you.” Before Arthur could even open his mouth, Chloe blurted out: “That’s completely unreasonable! Mia is a daughter; she’s going to marry into another family! Giving her half is literally just handing your wealth over to outsiders!” My mother hadn’t looked Chloe in the eye the entire night. “You haven’t even married into this family yet, and you’re already trying to dictate our finances? Don’t you think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself?” I looked at Arthur. He looked back at me, the corners of his mouth suddenly curling up into a smirk. “Mia, is your new boyfriend only with you because he’s after our family’s money?” He pulled Chloe into his side. “I agree. Splitting it 50/50 is completely unreasonable.” Chloe leaned heavily into Arthur’s chest. “Mia is just an adopted daughter. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind supporting her financially for the rest of her life. She can just find a random guy to marry and they can both keep living here.” My parents’ faces turned terrifyingly dark. Looking closely, I could see my father’s shoulders trembling slightly. “Who the hell told you Mia was adopted?! You are the one who was adopted!”

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