Author: Momo Chan

The year I hit my peak as a competitive eater—pure, unadulterated hunger—I could put away ten burgers in one sitting. For my sixteenth birthday, my parents asked me what I wanted for a gift. I told them I wanted to go to an all-you-can-eat luxury buffet. It had been so long since I’d felt full. Seeing me drooling with anticipation, my dad instantly lost his temper. “Leo, why do you always have to act like your mother and I mistreat you?!” “Like at dinner tonight. Your brother just took the last two pieces of braised pork, and you looked like it killed you.” “You’d already eaten two bowls of rice! There has to be a limit to how much you compete with your brother for attention, okay?!” For the millionth time, I explained to them: “I really just wasn’t full yet.” My dad slapped my face hard with his chopsticks. “Lying again?!” “What kid eats two massive bowls of rice and still isn’t full?” “You’ve gone crazy competing for attention, haven’t you? You don’t even care about your own body.” Getting hit with chopsticks hurts. Tears sprang to my eyes immediately. As I covered my face and lowered my head, I saw my younger brother spitting the intact pieces of braised pork into the trash can. … Who exactly was competing for attention here? My brother was clearly full. But seeing me still eating, he deliberately dumped the last two pieces of meat into his own bowl. And my dad even praised him, saying a healthy appetite is a blessing. Dad, why is it that when I can eat a lot, it’s just me faking it? Maybe it’s because I was a “left-behind” kid, growing up away from them. Not as close to him as my brother is. Fortunately, the next day was my uncle’s birthday. He hosted a buffet banquet at a hotel, and I could finally have a full meal. I had been eating for a while when my dad, who had worked overtime, finally arrived late. Seeing the plate piled high with food in my hand, my dad’s expression instantly changed. “Leo, why are you eating so much again!?” My brother smiled and took my dad’s arm: “Brother has such a good appetite. He’d already finished two plates before you got here.” “Wow, Leo, you can really pack it away.” A cousin I wasn’t very close to genuinely marveled. He was extremely skinny, had a poor appetite, and envied me. I forced a smile at him and said it was alright. My dad’s face grew even darker. “Leo, do you think this is something to be proud of?” “At a relative’s birthday party, you’re eating for free, and you have the nerve to eat this much?” “Look at how nice your brother is dressed, and then look at the tacky clothes you’re wearing.” I bit my lip, catching sight of my brother’s sleek superhero jacket out of the corner of my eye. I looked down at my own faded, washed-out denim overalls. My dad crossed his arms, rolled his eyes, and continued: “Envious, huh?” “If you keep eating like this, you’ll only be able to fit into potato sacks. What girl would ever look at you?” My brother covered his mouth and laughed: “Dad, you don’t need to worry about that.” “There are plenty of girls who like ugly guys, and some who like pigs. Someone will eventually take brother in.” Seeing my eyes redden, my dad scolded me impatiently: “Your brother and I are just reminding you to have some self-discipline. What are you crying for!” “I work at the print shop at your high school. A lot of people know we’re father and son. You eat like a pig, where am I supposed to put my face?” Ever since I started high school, my appetite had been growing. And my dad was constantly unhappy about it. He stubbornly believed this was a trick my grandpa taught me to vie for attention, refusing to believe I just naturally had a big appetite. 2 My brother smiled and coaxed, “Dad, don’t be mad. Brother’s head is probably entirely filled with food; it’s normal he can’t listen to good advice.” “Let’s just ignore him.” The strange looks from several relatives nearby made me feel like I was sitting on pins and needles. Embarrassed, I turned my back, wanting to escape the banquet hall. “What’s wrong?” My uncle, noticing something was off from afar, walked over. It hit me hard—today was my uncle’s birthday party. He had always been kind to me and sent me plenty of snacks. I couldn’t let my argument with my dad ruin everyone’s mood. I secretly wiped away the tears at the corners of my eyes and told my uncle it was nothing. Seeing more and more relatives gathering around, my dad forced his expression to soften. “It’s nothing, I was just lecturing Leo a bit.” He proactively stood next to me, picked up a single lettuce leaf with the tongs, and dropped it onto my plate. “I really don’t know what to do with you. If you want to eat, then eat more. Just don’t say I’m playing favorites again.” Numbly, I forked the lettuce and shoved it into my mouth. When I looked up, my eyes met my brother’s squarely. He gave me a contemptuous smirk, and my heart gave a sharp jolt. The first night I was brought back to live with my parents a year ago, that was exactly how he smiled at me. I knew he hated me, hated that my coming home took away some of Mom and Dad’s attention. So he always, overtly or covertly, led my dad to believe I was competing with him for favor. But I… I am clearly their son too. New Year’s was approaching, and the food street outside the school was bustling with activities. A fried chicken joint launched a “Competitive Eater Challenge.” Finish a set massive bucket of fried chicken within thirty minutes, and not only is the meal free, but you also get a fifty-dollar voucher. After school, I went to take the challenge alone. But just as I was about to step into the fried chicken shop, I was stopped in my tracks by my dad, who had just driven out from the school. “I was wondering why I didn’t see you after school. Sneaking off to participate in some eating challenge again?” His face held undisguised disgust. “You are not allowed to go. It’s a disgrace.” At the birthday banquet yesterday, I didn’t eat much before fleeing in panic. Today, my dad was stopping me again. I was too hungry and lacked the energy to argue with him. I turned around and stepped into the shop. I was the only one taking the competitive eater challenge, and all the customers cast curious glances my way. Especially when the owner brought out that massive bucket of fried chicken, gasps of amazement echoed around. My dad, face livid, tried to drag me away by force. “If you want fried chicken, I’ll make it for you at home. With so many people watching, are we monkeys in a zoo?” “Or do you just really enjoy this kind of grandstanding?!” His words pierced straight into the scar on my heart. When I was little, a kindergarten teacher scolded me for eating non-stop, calling it grandstanding. When my dad found out, he laid into the teacher and told me to eat as much as I wanted. But why, after being separated from him for ten years, did that former protection turn into a weapon, thrown back at me like a boomerang? “Just leave.” I pulled away the hand he used to grab me and asked the owner to bring the timer. Seeing he couldn’t persuade me, my dad glared at me fiercely, turned around, and walked out of the shop. As he left, I heard him mutter a curse under his breath. I lowered my head and ate the fried chicken, a single tear falling onto the plate. The owner called out to me in surprise: “What’s wrong, kid?” I looked up and smiled: “It’s nothing, your mustard sauce is just too strong.” 3 After successfully completing the challenge, I returned home all alone. Dad, Mom, and my brother were eating, talking, and laughing. Mom tried to grab a bowl to serve me some rice, but Dad shouted loudly: “Don’t serve him! He was out there playing the monkey for people to stare at, he’s full by now. He wouldn’t even remember to come home for dinner.” Mom hesitated for a moment, then put the bowl down. The picture of a happy family of three having dinner stung my eyes, making them burn again. My dad and I entered an unspoken cold war. My food allowance, which was already strictly controlled and repeatedly slashed, was cut even further. A boy with a normal appetite could barely get full on my allowance. But I couldn’t. I was hungry every day, depressed every day. I didn’t have the energy to argue with my dad anymore. “Leo, my stomach suddenly feels awful. I really can’t eat this spicy chicken I brought. You can have it.” My deskmate, a total angel, handed his lunchbox to me. He had only eaten one piece of chicken; the full box of food looked practically untouched. “Thank you so much!” After my deskmate left, I pulled out my freshly washed eating utensils. An exaggerated gasp suddenly came from the classroom door. “Dad, it looks like brother is eating someone’s leftovers!” Immediately, I heard my dad’s stern reprimand. “Leo! What are you doing!” My dad’s roar made me shudder instinctively. I tried hard to suppress the urge to run away; I just wanted to eat a full meal. But the fragrant, double-layered lunchbox in front of me was suddenly snatched away. My dad glared at me furiously: “Do you have any self-respect?!” “You’re eagerly eating your classmate’s leftovers? If word gets out, people will think I’m abusing you!” “Would it kill you to eat a little less!?” My brother, standing behind him with his arms crossed, looked down at me with the same condescending expression as my dad. I closed my eyes. Trying to keep my voice from shaking too much. “Give the lunchbox back to me.” “Dad, I just want to be a little more full.” He sneered: “Full?” “Your brother can’t even finish one bowl a meal, and I just saw you eat two bowls in the cafeteria! Can you show some restraint!?” “That day you came back from that fried chicken challenge, just looking at you made me feel embarrassed.” “A body stuffed with greasy fried food, what’s the difference between that and a pig ready for slaughter!” My ears started ringing. I wanted to retort, wanted to fight with him. But when I get extremely angry, my condition of crying uncontrollably makes me lose completely. I couldn’t speak, so I could only silently try to snatch the lunchbox back. My dad gave a cold laugh, popped open the lid of the lunchbox, and handed it to my brother standing next to him. “Go, take it and dump it.” I anxiously tried to rush over, but my dad grabbed my arm. His grip was strong, pinching me so hard it hurt. “Watch me cure you of this bad habit today.” My brother smiled, ran to the trash can, and lifted his hand. The entire box of food instantly fell into the filth. “Still want to eat, brother? Come dig it out of the trash.” 4 Returning home that evening, the smell of food wafted from the kitchen; Dad was making my brother’s favorite sweet and sour ribs. Actually, cold sweat had soaked my back ever since I started walking up the stairs. I knew my blood sugar was crashing. I leaned against the wall and shuffled to the kitchen door, my voice floating from weakness: “Dad, I don’t feel well. Could you give me one piece of rib first? Or brother’s cookies, snacks, anything…” Dad didn’t even turn his head. He placed the freshly cooked ribs on the highest shelf where I couldn’t reach, his tone filled with total disbelief: “Not feeling well? You ate two massive bowls in the school cafeteria at noon, what time is it now? Leo, did you smell the meat and get greedy again?” “I didn’t.” Dark spots began to appear in my vision. I tried hard to grip the doorframe. “Dad, I’m really dizzy, my heart is racing.” “Wait,” he interrupted impatiently. “The soup will be ready in a minute. We’ll eat when your mom gets back. Have you forgotten the rules? A kid whining here like a greedy pig before the adults sit down, what does that look like?” “I’m not greedy…” The ringing in my ears grew louder; I could barely hear my own voice. “Dad, please, just one piece of candy.” “How long are you going to keep up this pity act?” He finally glanced back at me, his eyes cold and disgusted. “Look at your brother, quietly doing his homework in the study. He’s never like you, always complaining about being hungry or unwell, trying every trick to get attention!” “You, low blood sugar? Eating so much every day, with that thick layer of fat, what low blood sugar? Who are you putting on a show for?!” My body grew colder, and my hands and feet began to tingle unresponsively. I knew I couldn’t hold on much longer. I turned around, leaning on the wall to head back to my room, wanting to call 911. Dad’s scolding voice kept drifting over: “Go back to your room! Don’t get in the way here and mess up my cooking. I’ll call you when it’s time to eat.” “Just looking at you makes me angry. A perfectly fine kid, not focusing on the right path, always scheming on how to eat more, take more, and fight for attention.” I couldn’t hear what he said next. Operating on pure instinct, I managed to twist the doorknob of my bedroom, but my hands were so weak I couldn’t even pick up my phone. A second before completely losing consciousness, I heard my brother’s crisp voice from the living room: “Dad, the ribs smell so good! I’m hungry, I’m going to grab a piece first.” In a tone completely different from when I asked for food, Dad laughed gently: “Go ahead, eat. It was made for you anyway.” Tears slid down my cheeks. I closed my eyes, and my consciousness plunged into darkness. I was jolted awake again by the sound of Mom coming home. “The food looks great tonight. Where’s Leo? Why isn’t he eager to eat today?” Dinner’s ready? A wave of joy hit me, and I sat up from the floor, wanting to go eat. How strange, after a short nap, my stomach wasn’t hungry anymore, and my head wasn’t dizzy. My hand touched the doorknob. I pushed, but the door didn’t open; instead, my hand passed straight through the handle. I froze for a moment, only then realizing my hand was semi-transparent. I turned around blankly and looked. My body was lying on the floor, contorted and stiff. I suddenly remembered a random fact I’d read before: acute hypoglycemia is fatal. So, I was dead. Just as I plunged into confusion and panic, I heard Dad complaining about me again. “I just lectured him a bit earlier, and now he’s throwing a tantrum and refusing to come out for dinner. Who does he think he is?” Mom laughed and smoothed things over: “I’ll go to his room and call him. He probably has his headphones on and didn’t hear us say it’s time to eat.” Dad scoffed but didn’t object. Mom’s footsteps grew closer and closer.

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When Liam and I broke up, it was incredibly ugly. He pinched my fake pregnancy report and pressed his cigarette butt against my chest. “Lying to me… how dare you?” Because of that sentence, I lost my decent job and was disfigured. Everyone said I had been his kept canary for five years, and ending up like this was exactly what I deserved. The day I left the city, he got engaged to a wealthy heiress who matched his social standing. I clutched my pregnant belly and scurried out of his world completely, like a rat in a gutter. The next time we met was four years later. He pointed at the little toddler in my arms, his eyes certain. “This is my child, isn’t it?” 1 The next time I saw Liam was late at night in the hospital. I was holding my daughter, Mia, in my arms. She was already used to IV drips and injections, remaining perfectly quiet the whole time. When she saw Liam, she was also quiet, just tugging in confusion at me as I dozed. I opened my eyes and abruptly met the man’s cold, alluring gaze. Past events came flooding back, and my heart skipped a beat. I stood up stiffly, ready to run, only realizing belatedly that my daughter was still on an IV. As soon as my hand touched the IV bottle, it was forcefully pinned down by Liam. “Long time no see, Chloe.” “This is your daughter?” Just a few light words, yet my calves began to tremble uncontrollably. My daughter tilted her head and asked who he was. He hooked a cold smile, emphasizing each word. “An old acquaintance of your mother’s.” More than just an old acquaintance. Five years of time, one hundred and eighty days and nights of desperate entanglement. Unfortunately, these numbers, heavy to me, were nothing but garbage to be casually tossed aside by the aloof Liam. I buried my head, my face turning pale. In the silence, Liam’s friend walked over. At first, he didn’t see clearly, pointing at my daughter and joking. “Liam, what luck. You go on a business trip, get a stomach bug, and your wife and daughter travel all this way to comfort you!” Not long after I left the city back then, I saw the news of Serena’s pregnancy online. I didn’t expect she also had a daughter. Taking two steps closer, the man saw my face clearly and cursed under his breath. “Holy shit, you’re Chloe, right? You’re still alive?” The surprised, sarcastic words stabbed a knife into my finally healed heart. I subconsciously covered my daughter’s ears to prevent her from hearing anything uglier. “Back then, you got a fake pregnancy certificate and angered Grandpa to death. How do you still have the nerve to appear in front of Liam?” “Are you out of money? Make sense. A woman like you who earns money lying down can only rely on men when you want money, right?” “This scrawny little girl is your daughter? You’re not trying to say this is Liam’s daughter, are you?!” I, already numb, looked up in astonishment upon hearing the last sentence. “No, she has nothing to do with Mr. Vance!” The distant address made the two men pause. A moment later, Liam pushed his friend aside and approached me, his aura as oppressive as ever. “How old is the child?” “Three!” I blurted it out almost instantly. He took another step closer. “Give me your ID, let me see.” I took a step back, forcing a slight smile. “I left my ID at home, forgot it.” Just as he was about to speak, I interrupted. “It’s getting late. Mr. Vance should go home early, lest Mrs. Vance worries.” Mentioning Serena made him unusually thoughtful. A bitter smile slid across my heart. Four years ago, humbled to the dirt, I questioned Liam why he didn’t believe me, why he had to marry Serena. He grabbed my neck, his eyes disgusted and cold. “She’s not like you. She’s clean and doesn’t lie.” “And, I love her.” I had been with him for five years, and he had never said the word ‘love’ to me. So much so that I thought someone as noble as Liam couldn’t possibly love anyone. Until he said he loved Serena and wanted to give her a home. I always thought that love wouldn’t last long, but looking at it now, I was too naive. Taking advantage of his distraction, I decisively took down the IV bottle, picked up my daughter, and ran without looking back. The man behind me vaguely said something. I didn’t hear it clearly, and I didn’t care. 2 It wasn’t until I ran out of the hospital that I stopped, my heart pounding wildly. My daughter touched my desolate face, asking in confusion. “Mommy, why did you lie to that uncle?” I kissed her round, tender little face. “Mommy did it to protect you.” To stop you from being taken away. But the current Liam has a wife and daughter; how could he possibly come to snatch my daughter? Despite this, I still took Mia to a small clinic to see a doctor. By the time we got home, it was already 2 AM. I couldn’t sleep, so I clicked on Serena’s social media updates. She flaunted her wealthy life every day, as well as her precious daughter. The comment section was full of praise for her gentleness and beauty. It’s hard to imagine that it was such a woman who personally slashed my face with a knife. Even now, no matter how hot the weather is, I don’t dare lift my heavy bangs to reveal the ugly scar on my forehead. I only asked for a half-day off for Mia. In the afternoon, I rode my electric scooter to take her to kindergarten. On the way home, a luxury car swaggered into my path, blocking my way. The window rolled down, and a beautiful woman poked her head out. “Chloe!” I froze in place, meeting Evelyn’s gaze. She looked younger than she did back then. If we walked together, people would probably mistake us for sisters. I abandoned the electric scooter and walked away quickly. she opened the car door and chased after me relentlessly in her sheepskin high heels. “Chloe! Won’t you look back at your mother?” Perhaps running too fast, her voice carried a hint of a sob. I didn’t understand why she was chasing me. Back then, she personally abandoned me for wealth and glory. It was also her who said in front of everyone that I was not her daughter. It was even her who, to get the approval of her stepdaughter Serena, personally forged my pregnancy. At that time, her bright red nails poked red marks one after another on my face. “You being able to live till now is all thanks to my blessing. What right do you have to accuse me? If I knew you would block my path to wealth when you grew up, I would have strangled you at birth!” As I was reminiscing, the driver slammed on the brakes at Evelyn’s signal, blocking my path. I was startled and fell to the ground. Evelyn reached out to help me. “Chloe, Mom just wanted to come and see you.” I abruptly shook off her hand, revealing a mocking smile. “See me for what? To see if I’m dead? Or to see if I’m still trying to steal Serena’s man?” “Rest assured, Mrs. Vance. I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t disturb the married life of Liam and Serena. I’ll stay far away from them, and your wealthy life!” Evelyn seemed hurt by my words, her eyes slightly red. “Chloe, Mom didn’t mean that.” Her gaze fell on my custom-made phone case, a photo of my daughter and me. She abruptly changed the subject. “That child back then…” Hearing this, my confidence vanished without a trace, and I said in a panic. “What child? Wasn’t that child personally killed by you?” I desperately hid the phone case behind my back. The cold temperature of the ground reminded me again of four years ago, the operating table in the private clinic. Evelyn’s vicious gaze fell on my stomach. “This child must be removed! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re planning. I will absolutely not allow you to give birth to this bastard and threaten Serena’s marriage!” To teach me a lesson, she didn’t let anyone give me anesthesia. The operating room was filled with my heart-wrenching cries. In the end, it was the operating doctor who couldn’t bear it and helped me escape. Now, Mia is my everything. I don’t want to experience the pain of almost losing her again, so I desperately tried to prove it. “That child is really dead! If you don’t believe me, ask the doctor. You saw that lump of bloody flesh with your own eyes, didn’t you?” “I really don’t love Liam anymore, and I won’t go back to seduce him!” To make her believe me, I lifted the hem of my shirt, recklessly revealing the four-inch incision on my stomach, my tone urgent. “Look, the incision is still there. The child died long ago. If you don’t believe it, you can touch it, it’s real!” I grabbed her hand to touch the incision. The next second, she suddenly hugged me. “Chloe, don’t be like this…” I was stunned for a moment, then struggled wildly, and she fell to the ground. I ran around the car, fleeing frantically. After running just a few steps, I fell hard onto the ground. Ignoring the burning pain on my knees, I got up and continued running. Back home, I decisively packed my important documents and money. Meeting Liam last night, meeting Evelyn today. All this could absolutely not be a coincidence! I submitted my resignation to the company I had worked at for two years and called the landlord to end the lease. After buying a bus ticket, it was almost time for school to let out. I rode my electric scooter to pick up Mia and handle her withdrawal from school at the same time. Thinking that I would take her away from here and never come back. However, when I arrived at the school gate, Mia’s teacher looked surprised. “Wasn’t Mia picked up by her dad? Sorry, Mia’s mom, I thought the child looked quite like that man…” 3 After four years, I pulled Liam out of the blacklist. As soon as the call connected, the man chuckled. “I thought you’d really bear to never contact me again for the rest of your life.” I stood in the cold wind, gripping my phone tightly. “Where is the child?” As my voice fell, my daughter’s innocent laughter came through. Liam’s voice was like a snake’s tongue. “Chloe, is the child mine or not?” I still didn’t have any hesitation. “No. Liam, give the child back to me.” He scoffed. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t admit it, I can do a paternity test. You still remember the consequences of lying to me.” The cigarette burn he left on my chest back then hasn’t faded to this day. Whenever my chest feels uncomfortable, it’s as if that cigarette burn is acting up, mocking me for loving a man I shouldn’t have. Thinking of this, I squatted on the ground uncomfortably, holding my swollen eye sockets. Liam decisively hung up the phone. I rested for a moment, got up, and rushed to the city. After four years, I set foot in the Vance mansion again, memories churning in my mind. I remembered when I first moved in, shaking Liam’s hand and asking him what if someone kicked me out of here? His smile was shallow, unquestionable. “You are my woman, who dares to touch you?” Later, it was also him who ordered people to strip all the clothes he bought off my body and threw me out of the mansion. It was snowing heavily. I walked in the snow, turning purple all over, tears freezing on my face. He stood on the second floor, looking down at me as I took each difficult step out of the mansion gates. To this day, photos of me completely naked are still circulating on the internet. The comments below either scolded me for bringing it upon myself or assumed I was dead, gone down to apologize to Grandpa Vance. I buried my head and walked on the path of the mansion, past humiliation welling up in my heart. I didn’t notice that the roses I used to love were still blooming furiously in the yard. Liam had already been waiting in the living room. He was wearing a black suit, like a wolf that had been scheming for a long time. I stood far away, restraining my anger. “Where is the child?” “Tired from playing, sleeping upstairs.” Hearing this, I ran upstairs without stopping. The man was quick with his hands and eyes, grabbed my hand, and pulled me into his arms. The familiar woody fragrance hit me, giving me the creeps. “What’s the rush? We haven’t settled the accounts between us yet.” I thought he was referring to the time I supposedly framed Serena for stealing my design drafts. Clearly, she stole my design drafts. But no one believed me. In the end, I was fired from the company, and all my works faced verbal abuse and boycotts. However, life over the past few years has already worn away my arrogance. I pushed Liam away and fell to my knees with a ‘thud’. “Mr. Vance, I know I was wrong about what happened back then, and I’ve paid the price. If you still think it’s not enough, I can kneel down and apologize to Mrs. Vance, as long as you return the child to me.” My humility did not win the man’s pity. He furrowed his brows tightly, his tone cold. “Get up.” I didn’t move, and spoke sincerely again. “Mr. Vance, you can humiliate me however you want, as long as you return my child to me.” Liam was so angry he laughed. He squatted down to meet my eyes. “Your child, your child with whom?” I froze for a moment, then answered decisively. “With my ex-husband.” Afraid he wouldn’t believe me, I took out my marriage certificate to show him. “Liam, I didn’t lie to you. I really got married. The child is mine and my ex-husband’s!” I was indeed married, but it was just so Mia could be registered and just in case. However, the man merely glanced at the red-background photo, snatched it away, tore it to pieces, and pulled me up. “Chloe, how much this child looks like me, can’t you see clearly?” I didn’t dare look at him, struggling to go upstairs to find my daughter. He scooped me up around the waist, threw me onto the sofa, pinned my hands behind my back, his gaze sinister. “I’ll ask you one last time, whose child is it?” My eyes widened, and I found myself somewhat breathless. In a daze, I remembered the shot he fired at me after Grandpa Vance died. That kind of chilling terror struck again, and I could no longer control my tears. “Liam, I beg you to let me go! I really can’t die, Mia is still so small! She can’t be without me!” “She really isn’t your daughter! If it makes you happy, you can do whatever you want to me, just leave me my life, just don’t take Mia away!!” He wiped away the tears at the corner of my eyes, lowered his brows, and said. “When did I say I was going to take your daughter away?” I froze, Serena’s social media update suddenly flashing in my mind. Her daughter has congenital heart disease, just like her…

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He told me company policy didn’t allow plus-ones. He said this for eight years. Eight years, sixteen corporate retreats, and I had never been to a single one. Today, while organizing some old photo albums, I came across a group picture from his company’s retreat last year. In the front row stood several couples, smiling brightly. I recognized his colleague Dave, standing next to his wife. There was also Kevin Smith from the Sales department, standing next to his wife as well. My husband was standing in the second row. Next to him stood a woman in a white dress. I had lost an identical dress three years ago. 1. I stared at that photo for a long time. A white dress, floral print, cinched waist, hem falling just to the knee. Three years ago, I bought it at the mall for $150. I only wore it once to my mom’s birthday dinner. Later, it just disappeared. I asked Mark about it, and he said the cleaning lady probably lost it by mistake when she was tidying up. I believed him. Now, that dress was on another woman, standing right next to him. I zoomed in on the photo, trying to make out the woman’s face. But the resolution was too low; I could only see a blurry outline. Long hair, slim, not very tall. Her hand was resting on Mark’s arm. The gesture was incredibly natural, like she had done it a thousand times. I heard the sound of a key turning in the lock. The door opened, and Mark walked in. “You’re back?” I put my phone down. “Working late again?” “Yeah, wrapping up a project.” He took off his shoes. “Did you eat?” “I ate.” I watched him walk into the bathroom to wash his hands, his movements the same as always. “Your company retreat to Lake Tahoe is next month,” I said. His movements paused for a split second. “Oh?” “I saw Dave’s wife post about it on Facebook today. She said she’s looking forward to it.” Mark turned off the faucet and dried his hands. “That’s the Sales department’s retreat. Our Tech department might not go.” “Aren’t Sales and Tech going together?” “Depends.” He walked out of the bathroom. “Management hasn’t finalized it yet.” I nodded and didn’t ask further. He went into the study to turn on his computer, saying he had some work to catch up on. I sat on the sofa and looked at that photo one more time. It was taken at the entrance of a resort, with a massive, manicured lawn in the background. I recognized the place. Two years ago, when they came back from their retreat, I asked him where they went. He said it was just a rustic cabin in the woods, nothing fun. But the resort in the photo was clearly not a rustic cabin. I opened Yelp and searched the location. Average cost: $250 a night. A four-star resort. So this was the “rustic cabin” he told me about. My phone rang. It was my mom. “Have you had dinner?” “I did.” “Where’s Mark?” “Working late in the study.” “Tell him not to work too hard. He needs to take care of his health.” “I know.” After hanging up, I walked over to the study door. It was slightly ajar. Mark was on the phone. “…don’t worry about next month. I’ll handle it.” His voice was hushed, as if he was afraid of being overheard. “Alright, let’s leave it at that for now.” He hung up. I knocked on the door. “Come in.” I pushed the door open. “Who was on the phone?” “A client.” His eyes never left the screen. “About the project.” “Talking to clients this late?” “Yeah, out-of-state client. Time zones.” I didn’t press him. Walking back to the living room, I saved that group photo to my phone’s camera roll. That night in bed, he wrapped his arm around me just like he always did. “Are you tired lately?” he asked. “I’m fine.” “The retreat next month… I might be gone for three or four days.” “Okay.” “You’ll be okay at home by yourself, right?” “I’ll be fine.” He kissed my forehead. “Get some sleep.” I closed my eyes and listened to his breathing slowly even out. Eight years. Eight years, sixteen corporate retreats. Every single time, he told me company policy prohibited plus-ones. Every single time, I believed him. But in that photo, all the other guys had their wives with them. I was the only one missing. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. His hand was still resting on my waist, warm. Just like always. But suddenly, that hand felt like a stranger’s. 2. The next day was Saturday. Mark said he had to go into the office for half a day to take care of some things. “Will you be back for lunch?” “I should be.” I watched him leave, then booted up my laptop. I found his company’s official website and clicked on the “Employee Events” tab. There were dozens of photos—retreats, annual galas, anniversary parties. I looked through them, one by one. 2016 Retreat, Miami. Mark was in the group photo. Standing next to him was a woman. Not me. 2017 Retreat, Aspen. Mark was in the photo, and standing next to him was the same woman. Still not me. 2018 Retreat, Hawaii. The same woman. 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024. Every single year, in every single photo, that woman was there. She wore different clothes, changed her hairstyles, but her facial features never changed. An oval face, monolids, and a small dimple when she smiled. I didn’t know her. I had never seen her in my life. But she had been standing next to my husband for eight solid years. My hands began to shake. I saved those photos to my desktop, one by one. After saving them, I opened Mark’s iMessage synced to his iPad. He didn’t have a passcode on his devices. He always said we didn’t need to hide things from each other. I searched and found a chat history with a “Chloe Bennett.” The latest message was from 11 PM last night. Mark: “Did you get home safe?” Chloe: “I did. Thanks for today.” Mark: “Get some rest.” Chloe: “[Kiss Emoji]” I scrolled up. The day before yesterday. Chloe: “Did you book the hotel for next month’s retreat?” Mark: “Yeah, The Ritz-Carlton at Lake Tahoe.” Chloe: “The same suite as last year?” Mark: “Yeah, lakeview room.” Chloe: “Can’t wait~” My stomach began to cramp. I kept scrolling up. A month ago. Mark: “Wear that blue dress for the client dinner.” Chloe: “Okay. Are you going to wear a tie?” Mark: “I’ll wear the one you gave me.” Chloe: “It’s a matching couple’s set, you know. Don’t let anyone catch on.” Mark: “So what if they do?” Three months ago. Chloe: “Did your wife ask where you went again?” Mark: “No, she never asks.” Chloe: “She’s so gullible.” Mark: “She’s not gullible, she trusts me.” Chloe: “Then you better treat her well.” Mark: “I know.” Six months ago. Chloe: “What should I wear for the annual gala this year?” Mark: “You look beautiful in anything.” Chloe: “Your wife isn’t coming this time, right?” Mark: “No, she never comes.” Chloe: “Then I can dress up a little more.” Mark: “Whatever you want.” A year ago. Chloe: “Can I post the photos from the Maldives on Instagram?” Mark: “Yeah, just block her from seeing your story.” The Maldives. A year ago. I remembered. A year ago at this exact time, I was three months postpartum. He told me the retreat dates conflicted with everything and he had to go. I stayed home alone taking care of our newborn, while he went to the Maldives. With her. I put the iPad down. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The front door opened. Mark was back. “What’s wrong?” He noticed my expression. “You look so pale.” I looked at him. I had looked at this face for eight years. It was the face I woke up to every morning, the face I saw before falling asleep every night. I thought I knew him so well. But now I realized I didn’t know him at all. “Nothing.” I stood up. “I’ll go make lunch.” “Let me do it. You rest.” He rolled up his sleeves and walked into the kitchen. I stood rooted to the spot, staring at his back. That back was so familiar too. But so what if it was familiar? She was probably incredibly familiar with his back, too. Maybe even more familiar than I was. 3. On Monday, I took a personal day off from work. I went to Mark’s company building. I wasn’t there to see him. I went to see Emily from the HR department. Emily was my high school friend. She had been an HR manager at Mark’s company for five years. “Well, this is rare! What brings you here?” Emily was surprised. “I was just in the area. Wanted to grab lunch with you.” We went to a nearby coffee shop. “Does Mark know you’re here?” “I didn’t tell him. I wanted to surprise him.” Emily smiled. “You two are so sweet.” I forced a smile in return. “By the way,” I said, pretending to be casual, “Can we bring plus-ones to the retreat next month? I was thinking of tagging along.” Emily froze for a second. “Bring plus-ones? Of course you can.” “But Mark said company policy doesn’t allow it.” Emily’s expression turned very strange. “There’s no such policy. Our company has always allowed plus-ones for the retreats. They even cover half the expenses for family members.” My heart stopped beating for a full second. “Always?” “Yeah, it’s been like that since I started working here. Didn’t you know?” “Mark told me…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Emily saw right through my facade. She reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “Sarah, what’s wrong? Did something happen between you and Mark?” “No.” I shook my head. “Maybe I just remembered it wrong.” “Don’t lie to me.” Emily lowered her voice. “Tell me… is Mark…” I looked at her without speaking. She let out a heavy sigh. “Actually… I’ve always wanted to tell you, but I was afraid of ruining your marriage.” “Tell me what?” “Every time there’s a company retreat, Mark brings a woman with him.” My hands began to tremble. “We all thought she was his wife. We thought she was you. But then, one time, I saw the name tag they printed for her. It said ‘Chloe Bennett’.” Chloe Bennett. I knew it. “Who is she?” “One of Mark’s clients. I think she works in foreign trade. They’ve known each other for years.” “How many years?” Emily hesitated. “At least… eight years.” Eight years. The exact amount of time Mark and I had been married. “Are you saying they go to all the retreats together?” “Not just retreats.” Emily’s voice dropped even lower. “Annual galas, client appreciation dinners, the boss’s birthday parties… she goes to all of them. When Mark introduces her, he calls her ‘my wife’.” My wife. Those two words plunged into my heart like a dagger. Eight years. A full eight years. He had taken another woman to every single event, introducing her to everyone. And me, his actual, legal wife—I hadn’t been to a single one. “I always assumed that was you…” Emily’s eyes turned red. “I’m so sorry, Sarah. I should have told you sooner.” “It’s not your fault.” I stood up. “Thank you for telling me.” Walking out of the coffee shop, I crouched down on the sidewalk and cried for a long time. Eight years. I waited for him for eight years. I trusted him for eight years. And the result? Eight years of “company policy” was just eight years of lies. For eight years, his colleagues, his bosses, his clients—not a single one of them had ever met me. They all thought Chloe Bennett was his wife. And I was the one kept hidden in the dark.

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As the ace translator of the company, I actively gave up the translation opportunity for a multi-million dollar project to the receptionist. Because in my previous life, my boyfriend’s childhood friend, a middle school dropout, suddenly claimed to have mastered eight languages through self-study. Every time I translated, I had to study professional terms in advance, but Chloe could easily perform simultaneous interpretation with 100% accuracy. Everyone praised her as a genius translator, while privately discussing that I was an incompetent fool unworthy of my reputation. Until the time I stayed up late for two weeks preparing to go on stage for a multi-million dollar project, Chloe stopped me. “Harper, this is not the time for you to show off. This translation relates to the company’s IPO. Your foundation is not as solid as mine, let me do it!” Chloe’s proposal won the unanimous agreement of Ethan and my colleagues. I tried hard to fight for it, but was still forced to be replaced. Chloe completed the translation excellently and became a great hero of the company. While I was transferred to be a cleaner on the grounds of insufficient professional ability. I didn’t understand why I, who had studied hard and worked conscientiously for ten years, couldn’t compare to Chloe, who mastered translation overnight. In a trance, I slipped, fell into the water, and drowned. Just before I died, I found out that Chloe translated by eavesdropping on my inner voice. Opening my eyes again, I returned to the day Chloe claimed to have mastered eight languages. This time, I didn’t stay up late to prepare translation materials, but turned around and started reciting the Great Compassion Mantra! 1 “Harper, congratulations! The first place in this month’s assessment is indeed you again!” “Yeah! You’ve achieved a three-peat!” Colleagues gathered around, applauding and praising. Surrounded by the crowd, I was in a trance for a moment. The host cleared his throat and announced, “The champion of our company’s assessment this month is still Harper…” “Hold on!” Chloe stepped out from the crowd. “I also signed up for this assessment. Why not let me try too?” Looking at the exact same scene as in my previous life, I unconsciously shivered. The colleagues looked at Chloe with suspicion. “This is not a joke! You haven’t even studied translation, the threshold for this profession is not low!” Chloe curled her lips. “I watched for a long time and didn’t feel it was difficult. Who says I haven’t studied? Can’t I have self-taught eight languages at home this month?” The colleagues sneered. “Self-taught? Even an ace translator like Harper studied properly for ten years. How could someone with zero foundation like you rely on self-study?” “Stop embarrassing yourself! If you can translate a complete sentence, I’ll take your last name!” Everyone laughed at Chloe’s pipe dream, no one took her words seriously. Only I knew that in the same scene in my previous life, Chloe indeed fluently translated eight languages. Chloe turned around, held Ethan’s arm and acted coquettishly, “Ethan, just let me try! I’ve signed up. If you don’t let me participate, beware I’ll complain about you!” Ethan, who always valued academic background the most, didn’t object at all, looking at Chloe dotingly. “Really can’t deal with you, then you try.” With Ethan’s permission, the host started to question Chloe again. To everyone’s surprise, for several questions in a row, whether English or French. Chloe translated quickly and accurately. The crowd’s gaze also changed from mockery to amazement. Until the final simultaneous interpretation question, as soon as the host finished reading. Chloe spoke in fluent German, “…under the influence of androgen receptor inhibitors, directly targeting the ligand-binding domain. Can directly treat patients with metastatic prostate cancer.” Applause erupted at the scene. “Chloe, hiding your light under a bushel! Your level is almost catching up to Harper’s!” Some also asked curiously, “Even an ace translator like Harper sometimes needs pen and paper to take notes during simultaneous interpretation. You, a rookie with no translation experience, can actually be so fluent?” Chloe widened her eyes in surprise. “Isn’t translation just saying out directly what you hear? Harper might be getting old, her memory is naturally not as good as young people’s. Taking notes is also normal!” After Chloe finished speaking, she stuck out her tongue. “Harper, am I being too straightforward? I don’t mean anything else, don’t take it to heart!” I smiled. Just now when Chloe was translating, I deliberately translated a word wrong when reciting silently in my heart. Chloe actually read out the wrong word together directly. Exactly as I thought, Chloe didn’t master eight languages overnight at all. Recalling Chloe’s unfocused eyes when translating just now. If my guess is correct, she couldn’t control what she said when translating, and could only subconsciously repeat what was in my mind. Since this is the case, then I have to give her a big gift! The host beside was a bit troubled. “This, Harper and Chloe are tied. Then the champion of this competition…” Ethan also frowned. Chloe confidently curled the corners of her mouth. “Since it’s a tie, Harper, I wonder if you have the confidence to compete with me?” 2 Chloe’s proposal drew the attention of everyone in the room. Just as Ethan was about to speak, I smiled and said, “No need, I forfeit!” The scene was in an uproar. Ethan was stunned, somewhat surprised. He knew I was the most rigorous about my profession, and thought I would definitely not let go of this competition. I repeated again, “I quit.” What he didn’t know was that in my previous life, I confidently participated in the competition. But every time I prepared to answer, Chloe spoke first. In the end, of course, Chloe won unquestionably, making my decades of hard study a joke. I naturally couldn’t agree again. Chloe deliberately tried to provoke me with words, “Harper, you are the ace translator of our company. How come you don’t even dare to compete with a little receptionist like me? How embarrassing if word gets out!” “Why don’t you test me with more questions to see what level I’m at? See if I can compare to you.” I spoke lightly, “Your level is much higher than mine, at least level thirteen.” Chloe proudly puffed out her chest, “That’s for sure, with my level…” Everyone couldn’t hold it back anymore, burst out laughing. “Hahahaha, what spoken language has a level thirteen!” “You!” Chloe’s face turned red and purple, stomping her feet in anxiety. “Enough!” Ethan shouted violently, glaring at me very dissatisfiedly, “You should have some limits even when joking! Do you think you are amazing just because you have a few certificates? Knowing Chloe doesn’t understand these, and still bullying a little girl, have some shame!” I pinched my palms tightly. The laughter around stopped abruptly. The host squeezed out a smile, “How about, dual champions for this month?” Ethan spoke sternly, “What dual champions?! Harper has studied for so many years, Chloe just started self-study this month. The winner is clear!” With Ethan’s instruction, the host had to announce Chloe as the champion. Everyone stepped forward to compliment. Chloe cheered and went forward to hug Ethan. Ethan looked at me, coughed lightly, and unnaturally took a step back. I sneered in my heart. Chloe leaned in Ethan’s arms, blinking at me provocatively. “Harper, I guess I’ve proved my strength. Can I go along with you to the business meeting this afternoon?” I subconsciously frowned, “No…” Chloe immediately reddened her eyes, “Harper, I know you look down on my academic background. But I studied translation day and night just to share Ethan’s burden and contribute to the company. Are you going to deprive me of even this right?” Ethan hugged her with heartache, scolding angrily, “Chloe is also doing this for the good of the company! Are you so intolerant of others?!” Colleagues around also looked at me and spoke, “Harper, you are quite selfish. Even if Chloe has high talent, it won’t affect you.” “Yeah, can’t you give a new employee a chance? You are too narrow-minded.” Everyone criticized my fault one after another. I spoke calmly, “What I wanted to say just now is, why not let her follow along, just treat it as going to learn.” Everyone then awkwardly changed the subject. Chloe looked at me meaningfully. “Harper, don’t worry. I will definitely study! Hard!” 3 In the afternoon, arriving at the meeting place. Mr. Lee, who was cooperating this time, is a long-term partner of our company. After everyone from both sides arrived, the meeting began. I listened with rapt attention, while constantly marking on my hands. When the other party finished a paragraph in German, I took a deep breath and was just about to speak. A fluent translation came from behind. “…used to treat patients who have received novel endocrine drugs, there is significant improvement. Key points include overall survival and time to needing cytotoxic chemotherapy.” I turned my head abruptly. Chloe, who was originally following to learn, was translating rapidly. In the following time, every time I prepared to speak, Chloe would quickly seize the conversation and continue translating. For the whole translation session, I didn’t even get a word in. All the way until Chloe finished translating the last sentence with unfinished interest, bursts of applause rang around. Chloe seemed to just come back to her senses at this time, pretending to cover her mouth in surprise, “Sorry, I just came to learn. I was listening too intently just now, and translated it smoothly.” “Harper, please don’t mind.” Ethan also applauded excitedly, “You did very well! What is there for her to mind, translation always relies on strength!” Mr. Lee also praised repeatedly, “Usually Harper is responsible for the translation work of our company. You, a rookie translator, are actually so fluent. It seems you must have prepared for a long time privately for this business meeting!” Chloe pursed her lips and smiled, “Nothing needs to be prepared. Isn’t translation just saying directly what you hear?” “When you get proficient, it forms an instinctive reaction like eating and drinking water.” Mr. Lee pursued with some surprise, “Harper is considered a senior translator with deep qualifications. Every time we cooperate, she asks for our negotiation materials a week in advance. You actually don’t need to prepare anything?” Chloe blinked innocently, “Although I am a rookie, I also know everyone is busy. I wouldn’t deliberately ask this and that for materials to disturb everyone. Things that can clearly be translated at once, she insists on dragging for a few days to show her professionalism.” Hearing this, I couldn’t help but frown. Chloe was purely talking nonsense! As a translator, every time you come into contact with professional terms from different industries, doing homework in advance is a manifestation of responsibility for work, and also a necessary preparation as a translator. Before I could open my mouth to explain, Mr. Lee’s look towards me instantly changed. “In the future, our company’s orders will all be handled by Chloe. Some people really know how to put on airs! Our company can’t afford to hire you!” I stood aside, unable to defend myself. Ethan agreed repeatedly. After returning to the company, Ethan praised Chloe greatly. And announced Chloe’s identity changed from receptionist to formal translator. That day Chloe had her own independent office. Ethan proudly announced that this was a reward for Chloe’s excellent performance as a translator in this business meeting. I sneered in my heart. For business meetings of this scale, I have completed no less than a hundred, and never made a mistake. Having worked for ten years, I still squeeze in a cubicle with others. I’ve never had my own office. I didn’t say much, silently burying my head and continuing to work. In the following several translations, Chloe used the same method to speak first, gaining enough face for herself. I knew she relied on me every time to translate smoothly. For this, I didn’t slack off at all, but prepared even more diligently. Finally, the day before the multi-million dollar project explanation arrived. On the surface, I was still holding materials looking for professional terms. A colleague rolled her eyes, “Don’t take on porcelain work if you don’t have the diamond drill. Chloe translated directly, where is there any need for you? Putting on an act wasting everyone’s time!” Chloe also covered her mouth and smiled, “Harper, what’s the use of looking at these every day?” Chloe raised her hand and pointed to her own head, speaking disdainfully, “You worked hard to study for more than ten years, and still can’t compare to the level I reached by self-studying for a month.” The colleagues around praised her heavily again. I frowned, pretending to speak in a difficult position, “You’re right, it’s useless to talk like this,” “Anyway, having you is enough. How about I just don’t go!” 4 “No!” Chloe screamed in objection. Facing everyone’s puzzled looks, Chloe squeezed out a smile, “I, I mean, Harper can also learn some experience on such a big occasion. What if she needs it in the future?” Ethan also frowned unhappily, “What kind of temper are you throwing again? Isn’t it a fact that everyone says you can’t compare to Chloe?” “Who can you threaten by saying you won’t go? Since you don’t want to go, then don’t go!” I didn’t speak. Chloe was the one who got anxious, “Ethan, let Harper go. After all, I haven’t come into contact with such a large-scale meeting. If Harper goes, we can also learn from each other!” Colleagues praised unanimously, “Chloe, she has to put on an act and prepare for half a day every time she translates, and you still leave her face. She should be eagerly learning from you!” Chloe pestered Ethan, begging constantly. Ethan nodded reluctantly, “Alright! For Chloe’s sake, I’ll give you another chance.” “You have three minutes. Pack up and go downstairs immediately! If you are a second late, you don’t have to go!” Chloe stared at me intently, afraid I would say the word “no.” I spoke slowly, “Okay! Then I’ll still go.” Only then did Chloe breathe a sigh of relief. When we arrived at the meeting venue and the translators were ready. Chloe reached out to stop me. “Wait!” “I thought about it, let me do the translation this time!” Chloe spoke sincerely, “Usually in small occasions, I let you have it. But this translation work is very important, it’s not the time for you to show off.” “Harper, your foundation is not as solid as mine, let me do it!” Just as I was about to speak, Ethan nodded in agreement immediately. “Makes sense! This meeting is very important to the company, there can’t be any mistakes.” “Harper, hurry up and thank Chloe. She stepped out for you. If your translation mistake affects the company’s IPO, then you are the sinner of the company. Let’s see how you explain to the board of directors then!” I sneered. Decades of study and work experience were described as worthless by her. When the company was just established, I took four or five translation sessions a day, standing for eight or nine hours, to help the company establish a good reputation in the industry. Now I’ve become the sinner of the company. Chloe snatched my job, and I still have to be grateful to her? Seeing I didn’t move, colleagues also mocked one after another, “No way, Harper. Don’t tell me you really want to fight with Chloe for this translation?” “This is an opportunity Chloe gave you to learn by bringing you here. You can’t be so ungrateful!” “Let alone Chloe’s professional quality is stronger than yours, just looking at her appearance is more pleasing to the eye than yours. Look at you, your dark circles are almost like panda eyes!” I raised my hand and touched the dark circles caused by staying up late checking materials. If it were my previous life, I would definitely argue strongly. But now… I looked around and smiled, “I have no objection. I hope you also take responsibility for your choices and don’t regret it.” Colleagues laughed and said I thought too much. Ethan sneered even more, “I let her go on stage. If there’s any problem, I’ll bear it all.” I didn’t argue, yielding the position to Chloe. Chloe blinked at me, “Harper, you used to stand in this position. Whenever I approached, you would argue non-stop. You are so quiet today, I’m a bit unaccustomed to it!” “But you also have to admit the difference in talent between people. You spent twelve years to get to this position, and I can stand here in a month.” “Just watch and learn how I translate later!” I ignored her. The meeting began, and Chloe sat steadily in the translator’s position. Ethan and colleagues offstage made gestures to cheer her on. The next second, Chloe’s expression became serious. This engrossed look made Ethan sigh with emotion, “Chloe is really born to do this job, going all out in everything she does.” Colleagues also echoed one after another. The next second, Chloe opened her mouth, “Namo Ratnatrayaya, Namo Aryavalokitesvaraya…” (Verses from the Great Compassion Mantra) Instantly, everyone in the venue widened their eyes.

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After my husband’s stepsister was widowed, he asked me for a divorce while I was five months pregnant. He looked earnest and guilty: “Her child is still young. Without someone to take care of them, the mother and son will be bullied. I can’t just ignore them.” I didn’t make a big scene; I calmly agreed. Because in my previous life, I didn’t agree. I even went to his military base with my heavy pregnant belly to make a fuss, just to save the marriage. In the end, because of her widow status, Jessica was bullied in the village. A local thug even sneaked into her house, forcing her to commit suicide. My husband, Ethan, resented me for this. He spread rumors that I used a past favor to force him to marry me, and that I wasn’t a virgin beforehand. I was investigated by the organization, sent down to a labor farm, and finally died of difficult labor in a cowshed. This time, I determined to let go, abort the child, and continue my studies. 1 I put down my pen. Before I could even stand up, Ethan hastily snatched the divorce application from my side. His slender fingers held those thin pages and immediately handed them to the instructor. The instructor took the application, frowned slightly, and sighed: “This divorce matter… Sigh, what a pity. Come get the certificate when the approval comes down.” Hearing this, a relaxed smile actually appeared on Ethan’s face. I sat there without saying a word, staring blankly out the window. Today is the beginning of spring, but this blizzard came unexpectedly. Coming out of the office, the snow pressed down the color of the sky, and the stagnant air around was suffocating. Ethan stopped, turned his head slightly to look at me, with a serious face: “Sarah, thank you for understanding me.” “Don’t worry, on Jessica’s side, when the child gets a little older, we can remarry.” His tone was solemn, as if I should be shedding tears of gratitude. But his tone was more mixed with a vague warning: “By the way, don’t tell everyone about our divorce. It will be very troublesome if outsiders know.” I froze for a moment, and only said one word, “Okay.” He’s afraid that if my father, a military commander in Washington D.C., finds out, it will hinder his future career, right? As husband and wife for a while, I was willing to leave him the last shred of dignity. He nodded, as if finding peace of mind, and his steps quickened a bit. But when I walked towards the car, he suddenly stopped me. “I have to go pick up Jessica. You walk back yourself.” After saying that, he started the car and drove away. The snowflakes beat against my face, it was very cold. So cold that my skin went numb, to the extent that even when I smiled bitterly, the corners of my lips were a bit stiff. As a pregnant woman, I really didn’t dare to walk 5 miles in such snowy weather. I had to endure a whole day at the guesthouse, waiting for the ox cart the next day to get back to the village. Just arriving at the village entrance, I heard some rumors from my previous life about me demanding repayment for a favor and being promiscuous. The speaker was in high spirits, not noticing at all that the subject of discussion was walking right past her. I didn’t stop to argue. As I continued walking forward, I only heard the last sentence: “Sigh, Ethan is just an honest man, planted for this life.” When I got home, my chest felt heavy and tight, and my stomach ached faintly. I didn’t understand why, even though I agreed to the divorce, such rumors still happened. Until early morning, Ethan still hadn’t come back. I originally wanted to wait for him to have a good talk about these messy rumors, but the needle-like pain in my stomach made me unable to wait any longer. Just as I planned to go back to the room and lie down, the main door was finally pushed open. He didn’t turn on the light. When he walked in with heavy steps, he brought a gust of freezing wind. He even carried the smell of rose perfume, obviously just coming back from Jessica’s side. Seeing me leaning on the sofa, he looked indifferent and annoyed: “We are already divorced, don’t tell me you still want to control where I go?” Before, whenever he came home late, I couldn’t help asking where he went, worried about his safety. But he always found me annoying, saying I was too controlling. Now, he’s actually acting self-righteous. I took a deep breath, trying hard to calm my emotions: “Do you know about those rumors about me in the village? Did you really not marry me voluntarily?” His eyes dodged, not daring to look at me, but he said toughly: “I don’t have time to listen to that gossip, you shouldn’t care either…” The more he dodged, the clearer it became in my heart. I’m afraid he was the one who spread those rumors. Anger and grievance intertwined. I fought back tears and said: “Ethan, you know clearly in your heart what happened back then wasn’t like that. Why throw dirty water on me?” “I’ve already agreed to the divorce, what more do you want? Go explain clearly for me!” He turned his face, his eyes gloomy but carrying a bit of impatient indifference: “They’re just rumors, what are you feeling wronged about?” “Right now everyone is staring at Jessica and gossiping. If there’s nothing else to distract everyone’s attention, how can Jessica stand it!” “Besides, I wanted to marry Jessica a long time ago.” “If you hadn’t been promiscuous and gotten into trouble, I wouldn’t have married you out of gratitude!” His voice was like a whip lashing my heart, making me feel embarrassed and chilled. I gritted my teeth, but still let my emotions collapse: “It was Jessica’s brother who almost assaulted me! It was you who hugged me saying you wanted to marry me, it was you who stopped me from calling the police!” Mentioning this again, it still feels like a nightmare. When this happened, he coveted my father’s power in the military, and also wanted to protect Jessica’s brother. He came to me immediately to comfort me and make promises. “Don’t be afraid, no one will know about this. Marry me, I will love you.” “If you call the police, your life is over.” He kept assuring me that he would definitely love me and care for me after marriage. I believed him, because marrying him, I had to interrupt my studies and get pregnant. He quickly got promoted because of my father’s convenience, immensely proud of himself. But it’s only been a year, and he has gone back on his word. Now, for Jessica, he casts me aside like a worn-out shoe. He froze for a moment, his thin lips pressed tightly together. He was clearly exposed by me momentarily. But the next second, his face returned to coldness, and he even squeezed out a sneer: “That was my kindness, not wanting your whole life to be ruined by that kind of thing.” “Besides, if you weren’t slutty, who would want to assault you.” I stared blankly at him, only feeling that the man in front of me was incredibly unfamiliar. How could he say such mean and heartless words. “Ethan, you are indeed not wrong. All this is my fault…” It was my failure to judge character. To actually mistake a jackal for a benefactor. “Enough,” He interrupted impatiently, not even willing to give a glance out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t bring up old things anymore. Jessica and her son will move over in a few days. You better pack up early.” “Don’t make any more fuss, and you are not allowed to bully them! Otherwise, get out!” After saying that, he turned and went upstairs with an indifferent face, too lazy to even look at me again. At the moment he left, a spasm of pain pierced my abdomen like an ice pick. Beads of cold sweat the size of beans popped out on my forehead, my back went numb into a stiff block of ice. I tried to call out to him, “Ethan!” “I… my stomach hurts so much…” He stopped, glanced back, but showed no intention of approaching: “If it hurts, go find a doctor. I’m not a doctor, what are you calling me for?” “Ethan, I might be miscarrying…” My voice was mixed with a faint tremble, my legs so weak I could barely stand. “What are you trying to do? Trying to use the child to threaten me?” His tone became even colder, “I advise you to be rational, don’t play these little tricks, it’s boring!” He watched coldly from the sidelines for a few seconds, then turned and walked towards his room. “Don’t forget, you should move your things out of the bedroom, this is my last tolerance.” Finally, he disappeared at the end of my sight. I held onto the trembling sofa wanting to prop myself up, but the abdominal pain gradually spread to my whole body. “It hurts… hurts…” I tried to save myself, looking down and hugging my violently twitching abdomen. But ultimately powerless, I fell to my knees, a dark tide surging before my eyes… 2 I was rudely awakened by a splash of cold water. Opening my eyes, I saw a little boy holding a water gun, standing in front of me with a disgusted look on his face. “Hey, who are you?” “Why are you sleeping in my house?” Water droplets slid down my temple, the chill piercing to the bone. I tried to prop up my sore body, but soon felt a dull ache in my abdomen again, and could only lean against the sofa and gasp for air. “Leo, don’t be impolite.” A familiar and soft voice came. I turned and saw Jessica. She stood not far away, gently pulling the child’s hand. “Sorry, Sarah. The child is still young and doesn’t know better.” She seemed to be apologizing for her son, but the topic suddenly changed. “But why are you still here? If you want to stay here, it’s not impossible, it’s just that Ethan and I have decided to get married.” “Then your identity would be a bit too awkward.” I suppressed the anger that surged up instantly and stared at her coldly: “With a mother who has no morals, no wonder you raised such an uneducated son.” “You!” Before she could speak, the child named Leo started shouting. “You’re not allowed to talk about my mom! She is the best person!” “What are you guys chatting about?” Ethan came down from upstairs. When his gaze fell on Jessica’s face, it softened. He stood steadily in front of her, quickly glanced at me, his eyes carrying a warning. Jessica lowered her head, her gentle expression deliberately mixed with a bit of pitiful grievance. “Nothing, I saw Sarah hasn’t left yet, so I came to say hi.” “But she didn’t seem too happy, and… scolded us.” Ethan frowned, obviously feeling sorry for her: “Didn’t I warn you not to bully them?” As soon as his voice fell, he raised his hand and slapped me across the face. My head roared, and my ears were even buzzing. The force was so great that I almost couldn’t stand, and staggered backward. The cabinet behind me was knocked over by my movement, and the vase on the cabinet fell to the ground, shattering into pieces. Broken porcelain shards splashed everywhere, several of them piercing into my calf. The pain made me break out in cold sweat instantly. However, before I could catch my breath, I heard a soft cry from Jessica. “Ah—” I subconsciously turned my head and saw a fine bloody scratch on her calf made by the shards. It didn’t look deep, but it attracted everyone’s attention. “Mom, you’re hurt!” Ethan’s expression became tense in an instant. He walked over without a second thought, picked Jessica up and carried her sideways in his arms. He asked softly if it hurt, his movements so skilled it made me dazed and want to laugh. He had never cared for me like this, even when I went through the discomfort of pregnancy, even when I was just slapped down by him. “I’ll take you to the clinic. Don’t be afraid.” He said this and carried her out, not even leaving a glance for me. I held onto the sofa wanting to stand up, but the abdominal pain made my legs weak several times. The wound on my leg was oozing blood. I looked down, only feeling my miserable state was ridiculously funny. I staggered out, but heard whispers from the doorway. Villagers were gathered there in twos and threes, the content of their whispers crystal clear. Someone saw Ethan carrying Jessica and immediately called out: “Hey, the daughter-in-law of the Carter family, what’s wrong? What happened to Jessica?” Ethan stopped, raised his head, and answered without any evasion, “Jessica is my wife. Her business is my business. From today on, no one can bully her, much less gossip about her.” Such a loud voice, completely an intentional declaration. “What about Sarah?” Someone couldn’t help asking. Ethan’s steps paused, but he didn’t look back. “She doesn’t deserve to be my wife. I have already divorced her.” Jessica’s nested head rested on his chest. The shy and triumphant expression on her face couldn’t even be hidden. I looked up at the watching crowd. Their eyes were either astonished or sarcastic, but there was not a trace of pity. At that moment, I remembered Ethan’s solemn vow at our wedding. “From now on, whether in sickness or in health, I am willing to accompany you and protect you…” And now, these words have become the deepest nail piercing my heart. 3 I dragged my bloodstained body to the health clinic. The doctor was startled when he saw my appearance. “Quick, somebody come! A pregnant woman is having a miscarriage!” He shouted loudly, turning to get tools. In my blurred vision, I saw my own blood dripping and spreading on the floor. My head was extremely dizzy, but I desperately protected my bulging abdomen with my hands. There was my child, the child I originally wanted to abort myself. Now leaving the world in such a way. Several nurses lifted me onto a gurney and rushed me into the operating room. I vaguely saw Ethan standing at the end of the corridor, talking to a nurse. He frowned slightly, his tone carrying a gentleness I had never heard before: “Will it leave a scar? Use the best medicine for the wound, don’t let her feel pain.” At this moment, a violent contraction came from my lower abdomen, the pain seemingly tearing me apart from my internal organs to my soul. As the world spun, I seemed to hear the sound of firecrackers outside. Faintly, there was also Ethan’s low voice: “Today is the Lantern Festival. I’ll make sweet dumplings for you mother and son when we go home…” In my ears was the doctor’s anxious voice: “Quick! She’s lost too much blood. Where are the family members? Who is willing to donate blood?” “She… she came in alone, it seems no one followed.” My world gradually blurred, as if my soul briefly detached from my body. From a bystander’s perspective, I watched the nurses outside running in the corridor, asking anxiously: “Does anyone have Type B blood? Does anyone have Type B blood?” Ethan was holding Jessica in his arms, she nestled weakly against his chest. A nurse grabbed him: “Excuse me, are you Type B blood? We have a pregnant woman hemorrhaging and urgently need a blood transfusion.” Ethan shook his head, “Sorry, I’m not.” He then frowned and added: “Whose family member is so irresponsible? How can they let a pregnant woman come over by herself?” My heart felt like it had been viciously slashed by something. Yes, how irresponsible. The doctors and nurses were in a flurry of activity. Through the small transparent window, I saw someone finally rolling up their sleeves to start donating blood. While Ethan had already turned and left, his tone relaxed: “Jessica, let’s go, don’t waste time.” I was finally saved, but the child couldn’t be kept. It’s better this way. Being born into such a family wouldn’t be a good thing for him. During the few days in the hospital, I didn’t receive any visitors. After being discharged, I carried a small luggage bag and didn’t return to the village. Instead, I went straight to the instructor and got my divorce certificate. “Ethan is hosting a wedding banquet tomorrow. Do you know it’s spread all over the village recently?” My tone was indifferent: “It has nothing to do with me anymore.” “Does he know you’re leaving?” “No.” “Could you please not tell him where I went?” The instructor was silent for a long time, and finally nodded.

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My husband’s phone lit up while we were eating dinner. I glanced over. “Your property management fee of $1,500 for this month is due. Please pay at your earliest convenience.” His name was clearly listed under the homeowner section. My fingers turned ice cold as I clutched the phone. I suddenly remembered how he’d been complaining about a pay cut and working late constantly, often not getting home until late at night. When I’d asked him about it, he’d just said, “It’s tough to find a job right now. We can’t be spending recklessly. We need to be frugal and manage the household budget.” I had secretly been proud of how responsible he was being. But now I realized that his “working late” actually meant he had another family on the side. My husband jumped up, reaching to snatch the phone away. “It’s just a spam message.” But I’d already clicked the link and saw the details page. Cloudhaven Villas. Owner: Lily Vance. The young nanny currently cooking in our kitchen was named Lily Vance. My brain felt like it had exploded. Our family of three was squeezed into a rundown, older apartment, while my husband had bought a villa for the little nanny. 1 Mark snatched his phone back and quickly locked the screen. I stared at his movements intently, my voice cold. “Cloudhaven Villas, Lily Vance, yet the property management fee reminder was sent to you.” “Which one do you want to explain first?” He placed the phone face down on the table, took a sip of water, and then said: “A relative of mine borrowed Lily’s ID to get a rural residency housing discount. He went abroad a while ago and asked me to manage it for him.” “Which relative?” “You don’t know him. An uncle from back in my hometown.” He was lying. In the ten years we’d been married, I had met every single one of his relatives. There was no such uncle. I wanted to keep questioning him, but he looked helpless. “You don’t actually think I bought a villa for Lily, do you?” “You know what my salary is. If I really had that kind of money, we would have moved downtown ages ago.” He looked natural as he spoke, even scooping a bowl of soup for our son. The range hood in the kitchen turned off, and Lily brought out a plate of ribs. “Eve, the food’s ready. Take your time eating. I’m heading home to take care of my daughter now.” “Just leave the dishes in the kitchen when you’re done. I’ll clean them up tomorrow morning.” She had no idea what had just happened. She took off her apron, changed her shoes, and left. She didn’t make any eye contact with Mark the entire time. Except for walking around me to place the braised ribs directly in front of Mark. This was Lily’s specialty. When we interviewed a dozen nannies, she was the only one who could make Mark’s favorite braised ribs and the mapo tofu my son and I loved. She said she was from a rural area, didn’t have much education, was four years younger than me, and was a single mom. I felt sorry for her. Plus, her rate was half the market price of eight thousand a month, so I hired her without hesitation. Over these years, I’d almost treated her like my own sister. I’d always think of her when I had anything extra, and I’d try to save a portion for her daughter whatever my son had. But now, her name was on the deed of a three-thousand-square-foot villa. While I, the employer’s family of three, lived in a cramped, old apartment. “Honey, eat up. The food is getting cold,” Mark urged me, biting into a rib. But I looked around and realized the table was full of his favorite dishes. The mapo tofu my son and I loved hadn’t appeared in over a year. This meal tasted like nothing. That night, while I helped my son with his homework, Mark went to take a shower. I quietly found his tablet and synced his WeChat history and expense statements. The newest transaction was the $1,500 property management fee payment. The ones before it were scattered expenses, mostly cosmetics and children’s toys. But I had never seen these cosmetics or toys. And he gave me his salary. How could there be tens of thousands in his balance? Scanning up, I saw a transfer of twenty thousand dollars a few days ago. It was a recurring monthly payment that had been going on for nine years. The payee was Lily Vance. I instantly held my breath, unable to believe my eyes. I gritted my teeth and clicked on his income. The year after we got married and our son was born, he said the company’s business had shrunk and his salary had been cut to five thousand. He made me skimp on every penny. I couldn’t buy new clothes, my son’s picture books had to be digital versions, and he’d nag me if I bought an extra half pound of pork. Let alone a villa and $20,000 a month in support. A wave of dizziness washed over me. He earned fifty thousand a month, but gave me five thousand. A message popped up on the screen. A transfer of fifteen thousand dollars had just been made. To his mom. Also a recurring monthly payment for nine years. So he gave his mom fifteen thousand a month, Lily twenty thousand, kept ten thousand for himself as pocket money, and gave me five thousand for the expenses of a family of three? In this family, he ranked me and our son last? Biting my lip, I was about to exit to look for other records when I saw a few recent chats. “Mom, same as usual. Save the money and buy gold for Lily and her daughter for the New Year.” My hand shook, and the tablet fell onto the bed. I looked towards the bathroom where the sound of running water could be heard. Through the glass door, Mark was looking down at his phone, sending messages. The last bit of hope in my heart was extinguished. I gripped the corner of my clothes tightly. It seemed I had to go see this villa. 2 The next day, Mark left for work at six o’clock as usual. After he left, I dropped my son off with a friend and went to Cloudhaven Villas myself. It was a palatial villa. The first floor had a yard, the second floor a terrace, the third floor a sunroom, and there was also a basement. It was the kind of dream house I wouldn’t even dare to dream of. Soon, the door opened. Lily, dressed exquisitely, was holding the hand of a little girl wearing a private elementary school uniform. The girl’s other hand was held by Mark, and she waved behind her: “Bye-bye, Grandma and Grandpa!” My in-laws hurried over, their faces full of love as they stuffed snacks into her arms. A sudden sourness rose in my throat. My son is nine years old this year, and he’s only seen his grandparents twice. They claimed they were too busy with farming and refused to come to the city to help me watch the child, nor were they willing to let us return to the hometown. I was busy to the point of collapse every day and had protested to Mark, but he had persuaded me: “My parents and I don’t get along. If they really come, we’ll definitely fight.” But the rural parents he claimed to have a bad relationship with were actually living in a villa, acting as grandparents to someone else’s child. Everyone was lying to me. Not far away, Mark gently fastened the seatbelt for the girl, started the car, and drove forward. I stood motionless in place until he slammed on the brakes and met my gaze in horror. “Eve… Eve, why are you here…” Lily and my in-laws were also stunned, looking at him at a loss. Mark got out of the car and ran towards me nervously. “Is this the busy work you talked about, no time to send the child to school?” “No, listen to my explanation. Lily can’t handle the child alone. She asked me to help…” “Aren’t your parents here too? How can she not handle it?” Mark was choked up. In the passenger seat, the little girl yelled at him: “Daddy, I’m going to be late for school!” The air instantly fell into a dead silence. Lily hurriedly covered her mouth, and my in-laws stamped their feet in annoyance. Mark’s face turned pale. I clenched my fists, my palms sweaty: “Mark, you said you work from 6 AM to 8 PM, so dropping off and picking up the child has always been my job, even though I also have a job.” “Because I sympathize with you and feel you work hard.” “Who knew your hard work was for an outsider.” He shook his head hurriedly: “No, you misunderstood.” “I misunderstood. Your heart is with your wife and daughter over here.” My tone gradually became cold: “I was in the wrong place. My son and I are the outsiders.” 3 Mark’s back stiffened, and all color drained from his face: “You’re my wife. That child isn’t…” “You dare say that’s not your daughter? Mark, you had the guts to lie to me, how come you didn’t have the guts to hide the birth certificate better!” I held up the photo on my phone. His breathing became erratic. Newborn: Grace Davis. Mother: Lily Vance. Father: Mark Davis. While he was sleeping last night, I went through his phone and tablet completely. When I saw this birth certificate, I bit my lip so hard it bled to stop myself from grabbing a knife and killing him in a fit of impulse. Behind him, Lily heard the commotion. She told my in-laws to take the child inside and walked over herself. She lowered her head, her voice very small: “Eve, don’t be mad at him…” Mark immediately stood in front of her, afraid I would hurt her: “You go back first. I’ll explain.” “No, I can’t let you face this alone.” I quietly watched them thinking of each other and suddenly felt very ridiculous. Before that property fee message last night, I thought we were a happy family of three. But today, with a shift in perspective, I was witnessing someone else’s couple sharing weal and woe. The painful heart gradually became numb, and now only anger remained. “Go back where? Back to your villa with a $1,500 property fee?” “Lily, you live in such a good house, yet you come to our cramped apartment to clean. Calling me ‘Eve’, you must have cursed me a lot in your heart, right?” Lily buried her head even lower: “I didn’t…” Mark frowned: “Eve, stop being sarcastic. If you have something to say, come at me.” “Let’s go home first. I’ll explain to you alone.” Anger rushed to the top of my head. I raised my hand and slapped him: “Go back to which home? You spent $45,000 of your salary here. This is your home!” Mark was stunned by the slap. Lily was startled and touched his face with heartache. He stared wide-eyed: “You know… No, I wronged Lily. That money was compensation…” “Then you’ve done right by me?” He swallowed and didn’t know what to say. I was panting heavily: “When did you get together?” Lily twisted her fingers and looked at him. He seemed to have given up: “Before marrying you, relatives back home introduced us for a blind date…” “You cheated me into marriage?” “No, we broke up when we got married. It was later when she came to the city to work…” He couldn’t say the rest of the words. Because it was too shameful to mention. Counting back ten months from the girl’s birth date, it was exactly my first trimester. At that time, I had severe morning sickness and had to lie on the toilet and vomit every day. But he happened to be busy with work and the company arranged a business trip for six months. When he came back, I was about to give birth. It turned out not to be a business trip. It was because he found me disgusting and ran out to rekindle old feelings with his blind date. We’ve been married for ten years, and my husband has been cheating for nine years. He was silent. Lily mustered up courage: “Eve, don’t blame him. I insisted on giving birth to the child. He saw me pitiful and helped me…” It was even more ridiculous. But I couldn’t laugh: “Where are you pitiful?” “My husband earns fifty thousand a month. He gives me five thousand, you twenty thousand, keeps fifteen thousand to buy gold for you mother and daughter, and has to keep ten thousand for himself to buy you cosmetics and toys.” “He even bought you a villa, let your daughter attend a private school costing a hundred thousand a year, and took his parents over to take care of your child.” “While I take care of the child myself, skimp and save using five thousand to take care of a family of three, and most of the salary I earn is given to you, leaving only a little to support my son in public elementary school, and foolishly hired the mistress back as a nanny.” “Now you say you’re pitiful? Lily, the pitiful one is you, or me?” Her eyes were tearful. She came over and held my wrist: “Sorry Eve, it’s all my fault…” I felt disgusted and wanted to pull my wrist out, but she staggered back a few steps and almost fell. Mark panicked. He quickly steadied her, his eyes filled with anger: “Be careful!” “Lily is pregnant!” 4 In an instant, my taut nerves snapped. Right under my nose, they actually had a second child. Mark realized he had misspoken. He immediately asked the sobbing Lily to go back first. He softened his voice towards me: “Wife, this time I got drunk and mistook her for you… It was my fault to you.” I looked at him, wordless. My gaze made him feel guilty, and his voice grew even lower: “I know I was wrong. I’ll give her money for the birth right now and break it off with her completely.” “From now on, all my salary will be given to you. Don’t you like houses with yards? I’ll buy a villa and put it in your name. Our whole family will move there…” Every word was full of apology, but it didn’t reach the bottom of his heart. I stared into his eyes: “Mark, it’s only been an hour since I confronted you.” “You’ve deceived me for ten years. How could you know you were wrong in one hour and even cruelly want to cut off relations with her.” “In your eyes, am I so stupid? You think I will forgive you, go home and continue to be taken advantage of, let you use our joint property to raise a little nanny and an illegitimate daughter?” His face turned pale, and he shook his head: “I didn’t take you for a fool. I felt sorry for her and wanted to compensate her.” “Then have you done right by me and our son?” “I’m sorry…” “Now you say sorry. When you gave her the villa, money, and parents’ help, when you arranged for her to be a nanny in our home and took away most of my salary, when you made my son and me skimp and save, why didn’t you think about being sorry to us?” The more I said, the more guilty he felt. Finally, in anxiety, he blurted out: “But I also gave you money. These years, at least I haven’t let you and our son starve!” He was actually self-righteous. A sneer came from my throat. He panicked: “I didn’t mean that. Wife, I…” “Don’t talk so much to her!” My mother-in-law suddenly ran over angrily: “What are you so arrogant about? Mark wanted to divorce you long ago. It’s you pestering him!” “Mom! When did I say I wanted a divorce!” Mark quickly covered her mouth, but she turned her head to curse at him: “Let me say, city women are no good. When Lily was pregnant with my granddaughter, I told you to divorce her. You said she gave birth to a son, a seed of our Davis family, and wanted her to bring him up for a few years before divorcing.” “Now Lily is pregnant with a second child. How long are you going to wait!” I was stunned. I thought the truth just now was all, but I didn’t expect there was another layer. “Mark, you treat me as a breeding machine?” “No! Wait a minute to explain to you. Mom, stop talking nonsense. I have only loved Eve from beginning to end. I never thought about divorcing her!” But his mom seemed determined and shouted at the top of her voice: “You are talking nonsense. If you loved her, how could you drug her when she was pregnant with the second child and make her miscarry!” At this moment, even the wind became quiet. I remembered getting pregnant three years ago. Just one month after it was found out, I miscarried in my sleep. At that time, I thought I worked too hard to keep it. I cried for several days, and my mood collapsed to the point of almost committing suicide. It was him who gave Lily a holiday, stayed at home to accompany me, and held me not allowing me to take a knife. He persuaded me again and again that we had no fate with the child, and it was enough for us to have a son. It turned out to be himself who didn’t allow me to have a second child. Now he let Lily have a second child, but carefully protected her for fear that I would hurt her. My first child was a son, so he couldn’t bear to leave. While Lily’s first child was a daughter, he still coaxed and pampered her, supporting her with money. Poor me for these ten years, I was just a complete big joke. “Mark.” Mark, who was desperately pulling his mom away, was stunned, his face getting more and more panicked. “You got your wish. We divorce.” “But the son must belong to me, and you don’t want a single penny of all marital property!”

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My mother loves conducting “obedience tests.” I told her I couldn’t eat ginger, but she put ginger in every dish she cooked. “Who is allergic to ginger? I think you’re just a picky eater!” On my eighteenth birthday, she even bought a thousand pounds of ginger, making a full ginger feast and ginger perfume. She looked at me smugly. “Ginger cures all diseases. I’m doing this for your own good!” “Not eating ginger is just you being spoiled. I specifically minced it this time; let’s see how you pick it out!” My mother smiled happily because her test was successful. But she didn’t know I wasn’t lying to her. I am severely allergic to ginger. Once consumed or contacted in large amounts, the symptoms will gradually develop within two hours, potentially leading to death. … I looked numbly at the full ginger feast in front of me: ginger stir-fried pork, ginger braised duck, shredded ginger with shredded potatoes… Even the dessert was ginger milk curd. Moreover, except for the shredded ginger with shredded potatoes, the ginger in all the other dishes was minced. I couldn’t pick it out at all. I suddenly remembered that before my birthday, my mother had asked me gently what I wanted for my 18th birthday. I thought this was a rare moment of warmth after my parents’ divorce. I repeatedly emphasized, “Just don’t put ginger. I’m allergic to ginger.” I didn’t expect it to be another obedience test. I looked at the meals my mother “carefully” prepared, losing all appetite. The smell of ginger filled my nasal cavity, and a feeling of nausea rushed straight to my throat. I ran to the bathroom and vomited miserably. My mother, however, rushed to the bathroom angrily, grabbed my hair fiercely, and pulled me up. “Who allowed you to vomit? Every bite of food you eat is made by me spending time and money. What right do you have to ruin this body?” She dragged me back to the living room and picked up that bowl of ginger milk curd with a strong ginger smell. “Eat it!” I desperately shook my head to refuse. “I really am allergic. Mom, I’ll listen to you on everything else, just don’t force me to eat ginger…” My mother hesitated for a moment, put me down, and went into the kitchen with the bowl. I thought my mother believed me and just breathed a sigh of relief. But I saw her come out with a small bowl—that small bowl was full of minced ginger, this time without even milk! My mother looked at me, like looking at an ignorant child. “Don’t be a picky eater. How could anyone be allergic to ginger?” “You just ate too little. Eat more and you’ll like ginger.” The spoon moved to my mouth. “Good child, take a bite. Ginger is good for the body.” I clenched my teeth dead tight. “Eat! Chloe, eat!” The spoon poked my gums to mush. I wailed in pain and swallowed a mouthful of minced ginger. Blood oozed from my mouth, but it couldn’t match half the pain in my heart. Since divorcing my dad, my mother fell in love with obedience tests. From what clothes to wear to which university to apply to, she demanded my obedience. As the tests deepened, the look in her eyes toward me grew colder day by day, not like looking at her own child, but like looking at a machine that would obey orders. I was choked by the minced ginger, tears and snot flowing. My mother, however, smiled with satisfaction. “Aren’t you able to eat it? Sure enough, you act as well as your dad.” I tried hard to suppress my emotions, but I still couldn’t hold back and shed two streams of tears. Large drops of tears wet the back of my mother’s hand. She froze for a moment, then flew into a rage, pinching my chin and roaring, “Didn’t I tell you not to cry? This body was born and raised by me. Without my permission, you can’t shed a single tear!” “As heartless as your deadbeat dad, an ungrateful wretch!” My mother looked at the minced ginger I knocked onto the floor during my struggle, her eyes full of heartache. She picked up her phone and took a few pictures with a “click click.” At this time, my phone sounded a message notification. My mother took pictures of the almost untouched dishes on the table and the ginger milk curd in the trash can, and sent them to the family group chat. “Child’s eighteenth birthday. I got up at five to make a table full of dishes for her, and she didn’t eat a single bite. Made the dessert she clamored for, and she threw it all in the trash can. Sigh!” The relatives replying below were all scolding me for being an ungrateful wretch. After sending the message, my mother turned her head and looked at me coldly. “Don’t think your wings are hard just because you’re an adult. If you dare to defy me next time, I’ll send it to your classmate group chat. You can’t escape even when you work. I’ll go to your company to make a scene and see if you can afford to lose this face!” Her voice was high-pitched and sharp; every word suffocated me. What was more suffocating than this was that my face grew hot, and my stomach started to ache sharply. My heart sank, knowing these were the symptoms of an allergy starting. While my mother was clearing the dishes, I hurriedly ran into the room to find allergy medicine. Fortunately, knowing that my mother loves conducting obedience tests, I always keep antihistamines prepared. But before I had time to take it, the bedroom door was pushed straight open. I hurriedly hid the medicine behind my back. My mother walked up to me, reached out, and touched my cheek. “Why is your face so hot?” She noticed my hands hidden behind my back and frowned. “What are you hiding? Take it out!” I explained tremblingly, “It’s allergy medicine. I told you I’m allergic to ginger, Mom.” My mother, however, snatched the allergy medicine from my hand and roared, “Do you eat it just because I allowed you to?” I scratched the new red rash on my arm, realizing the allergic symptoms had worsened again. I was running out of time. I bitterly begged my mother to give me the medicine. She instead took out a bottle of homemade ginger perfume and sprayed it wildly at me. “Ginger water removes cold. You just have a weak constitution and caught a cold.” “Still claiming a ginger allergy. I sprayed so much ginger water, and you didn’t die, did you?” Ignoring my pleas, my mother carried the sprayer and started spraying ginger perfume all over the house. “Stop pretending. I invited your classmates to celebrate your birthday. They’ll be here right away.” “Spray some perfume so you don’t pass the sickness to your classmates!” The whole house smelled of ginger. Dense red rashes broke out on my arms, thighs, and neck. I wanted to go out for some fresh air, but my mother forcefully kept me at home, euphemistically calling it, “You won’t feel uncomfortable after getting used to it.” I knew a new round of obedience testing had begun. I couldn’t stop my mother. I could only dial 911, wrap myself tightly, and hope to hold on until the ambulance arrived. Soon, the classmates arrived. Seeing Sarah and her clique, I subconsciously trembled. Aren’t these the people who bullied me? They tore my books, put dead mice in my desk, and falsely accused me of cheating on an exam out of jealousy. When the former mother found out, she didn’t say a word, took a kitchen knife to the school, and forced them to apologize to me. But now, how could my mother invite them to attend my birthday party? Sarah stepped forward and smilingly took my hand. “Happy birthday, Chloe.” Then she leaned close to my ear and whispered, “Bitch, let’s see how I deal with you.” “Ah!” Before I could react, Sarah fell to the ground. With tears in her eyes, she aggrievedly accused, “Chloe, I came to celebrate your birthday, why did you push me.” “Are you still holding a grudge against me because I reported you for cheating?” I helplessly wanted to explain, but before I could finish, my mother slapped me silly. She looked at my tightly wrapped outfit with disgust. “If you can lie about an allergy, you definitely cheated on the exam.” Then she looked at Sarah affectionately. “Sarah, Auntie wrongly blamed you before. My daughter cheated on the exam. Auntie apologizes to you.” But Mom, wasn’t it you who shielded me behind you and said you would always believe me back then? After going home, I had psychological trauma because of this bullying incident. Wasn’t it you who held me and coaxed me all night? The person who once said she believed me and protected me, how come now, she hurts me together with my enemies? Tears welled up in my sour and astringent eyes, and I tried hard to hold them back. The next second, my mother grabbed my collar, her tone disgusted. “Cry, cry, cry. How do you have the nerve? Apologize to Sarah immediately!” The allergy symptoms became more severe. The red rash spread to my chest. I couldn’t tell for a moment whether the suffocation was brought by the allergy, or if my mother’s words suffocated me more. I endured the pain and tried to explain, “I didn’t cheat. They cut my clothes and locked me in the bathroom…” My mother coldly cut off my words. “Why do they only bully you and not others?” She stripped off my clothes. My arms were exposed to the air, showing an abnormal red color. “Flies don’t bite seamless eggs. Look at how slutty you are; the curves of your body are outlined. Sarah taught my daughter a lesson for me; I should thank her.” I couldn’t believe these were words spoken by a mother. I interrupted her, devastated. “Mom!” My mother looked at my tears unmoved, instead pressing down on my shoulders. “Don’t pretend to be pitiful. Have you forgotten how Mom taught you? Be brave to admit your mistakes!” “You made Sarah suffer so much grievance for nothing. Now, kneel down and kowtow! Apologize to her!” I couldn’t believe what I heard—a mother making her daughter kowtow and apologize to her bully! But I didn’t have time to be angry. The allergy symptoms further deteriorated: Abdominal pain intensified, large patches of red rashes itched, and I started to have trouble breathing. I gasped heavily and begged my mother, “Give me the medicine. I feel so uncomfortable…” My mother still didn’t believe I was allergic to ginger. She shook the medicine, looking at me with a sneer. “Still pretending? I want to see how long you can keep up this act.” “Kneel down and kowtow three times to Sarah, and I’ll give you the medicine.” I knew my mother was conducting an obedience test again. Apologizing to the bully was to make me yield mentally. I lost my strength in despair. Pressed down by my mother’s hands on my shoulders, just as I was about to kneel to the bully in front of the whole class. A gentle voice rang out. “Auntie, what you are doing is wrong.” I looked back; it was the class president, Ethan. When I was bullied and isolated by classmates, only Ethan was willing to talk to me. He was a beam of light in my dark high school life, and also a person I genuinely appreciated and respected. Ethan helped me up, shielded me behind him, and looked straight at my mother. “Auntie, during the exam, I sat right behind Chloe. I can testify that she is innocent and didn’t cheat!” I felt unprecedented warmth. When even my own mother didn’t believe me, there was actually a person willing to stand up and support me. But at this time, my mother screamed and scratched at Ethan. “Why weren’t you looking at your exam paper during the test? What were you doing staring at my daughter?” “Chloe, you cheap tramp, wanting to seduce men right after coming of age?” “I was wondering why you spread your legs so wide when eating. It turns out you want to make money by serving men!” The boys’ eyes lingered on my legs, with playful smiles on their faces, discussing in low voices whether I was a virgin. What was even more excessive was that even Ethan, who kindly helped me, was misinterpreted. I felt ashamed, angry, and blamed myself, stammering to explain, “We are innocent.” But under my mother’s verbal abuse, no one believed me. Ethan, however, smiled and comforted me. “It’s okay, Chloe. The innocent are clear. They are ignorant. I won’t blame you.” I wanted to smile at him gratefully. But I had no extra strength left. It felt like cotton was blocking my throat, my hands and feet were ice cold, and my consciousness began to blur. Not knowing if I could still wait for the ambulance, I grabbed my mother’s pant leg and begged incoherently, “Medicine… medicine…”

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While eating a $1.50 discounted meal for impoverished students in the cafeteria, I scrolled across a livestream. In the broadcast, my name tag was hung around a female dog’s neck. The rich kids of A University were playing a romantic ring-toss game. Whoever tossed a ring onto the dog would become my master. And around the dog’s neck, four rings were already stacked. The Student Body President, Oliver, scoffed. “Interesting, looks like we’re going to share the same little bitch.” The new money heir of the Finance Department, Leo, raised an eyebrow. “A newly transferred poor student, she’ll definitely be completely infatuated with the four of us.” The campus movie star, Ethan, eagerly said: “How about a bet? One month, let’s see who the bitch is most devoted to?” The medical genius, Gabriel, didn’t speak, but his eyes were full of determination to win. I exited the livestream and curled my lips coldly. What a coincidence, isn’t it? My father made me transfer to A University just to pick a desirable fiancé from among the four of them. Too bad, you’ve all been disqualified. 1 In the livestream, the girl on camera smiled and called my name to the dog. “Ava, come here!” “Good dog!” “It’s really bad luck for a poor student to run into you four bad guys at the beginning of her college career!” The crowd around burst into laughter. “A poor student coming to A University, isn’t it just to climb the social ladder? She must be dying of happiness right now!” “I remember the last few were either forced to get abortions or drop out by you guys. How about trying some new tricks this time?” “I can’t wait to see the stupid look of that poor student in love!” Oliver affectionately put his arm around the girl’s shoulder. “You clearly designed the game yourself, we’re just following your lead, and you’re still scolding us.” Leo stood on the other side of the girl, playing with her fair hand, looking completely helpless. “Yeah, last time we went easy, the girl just cried for a bit, and you were unhappy again.” “What exactly do we have to do to satisfy you? Princess?” Ethan flipped his bangs and confidently said: “Just weave a Cinderella dream for the poor student, I’m familiar with this kind of acting.” “Place your bets quickly! I bet on myself, ten million!” Gabriel still had no expression, lightly draping a jacket over the girl. “I bet fifteen million.” Watching them humiliate me, I wasn’t angry. Because my real name is actually Vivian. To secretly choose a fiancé at A University, I specifically asked my dad to get me a fake identity. And now I am Ava, an absolute poor student. But what I was angry about was that they could so boundlessly humiliate and hurt innocent girls. The four little followers trailing behind me when we were kids have now actually turned into this. I shook my head in disappointment. Gave them all a zero. These kinds of people don’t deserve to be my fiancé. Just as I was about to turn off my screen and exit, a few more comments popped up in the livestream. [Why are four men all revolving around her! Is she planning to marry all of them?] [Please, she’s Mia, the heiress of the Sterling family!] [The four of them are all Mia’s childhood sweethearts! They swore that even if they didn’t marry Mia, they would protect her for a lifetime!] Mia? Sterling heiress? When did my parents give me a sister this old? Just as I was confused, it suddenly got dark around me. Looking up again, Oliver and Leo were sitting on either side of me, with Ethan and Gabriel opposite. The noisy cafeteria instantly quieted down. Everyone’s eyes converged on my table. Oliver naturally tucked some loose hair behind my ear, saying with a pained expression: “How can you just eat this?” I could only pretend to take a few bites of rice. “Poor, no money.” A flash of contempt crossed their eyes, but was quickly covered up. Ethan got into character in a second, directly grabbing my hand. “A girl as beautiful as you, how can you eat these scraps?” Saying that, he pulled me straight out of the cafeteria, stuffed me into a luxury car, and drove all the way to the most famous Michelin three-star restaurant in the city. I was slightly stunned. Isn’t this my cafeteria? The Michelin chef here was specifically hired by my parents to cook for me, opening a restaurant for me in passing. Just as we entered, the restaurant manager saw me and respectfully came up, opening his mouth ready to call “Boss.” I shook my head slightly at the manager. The manager immediately understood. Leo pulled out a chair for me. “Order whatever you want, it’s just some home-style dishes.” I laughed secretly in my heart. These are indeed my home-style dishes. They showed off by introducing every dish to me. But I was already tired of eating them, so I picked a few bites unenthusiastically. Unexpectedly, in their eyes, there was another set of understanding. As if I didn’t even know how to eat. Gabriel reached out, took the claw of a deep-sea blue crab, shelled it, and fed it to my mouth. I glanced at the pinhole camera on his chest and suddenly got interested. 2 I pretended to be shy and asked: “Gabriel, I heard your hands only hold a scalpel.” The corner of Gabriel’s mouth twitched, taking a long time to reply: “Because you are special.” If you can disgust me, can’t I disgust you? I coyly half-pushed and half-yielded, blushing as I took a bite. Next, the four of them took turns flattering me. Picking food for me, peeling shrimp for me, and even wiping the corners of my mouth, not resting for a moment. I diligently acted with each of them. Eating a meal made me so tired I wanted to roll my eyes. After I returned to the dorm exhausted, my roommates all looked at me with somewhat complicated eyes. I opened my phone and sure enough saw Mia livestreaming again. The livestream was playing the clip of Gabriel feeding me crab legs on loop. Everyone burst into continuous laughter. Ethan slapped his thigh. “I almost couldn’t hold back my laughter! Her expression was so sincere, she really thought she was the female lead in an idol drama!” Gabriel’s face darkened: “Is it funny?! I just washed my hands three times with disinfectant, still feel disgusted!” Leo patted Gabriel’s shoulder, finding it hard to hold back. “The poor student is probably going to be fascinated to death by this move of yours! Congratulations hahaha!” After this incident, the group of four became even more attentive to me. Sending flowers and gifts, inviting me on dates. I diligently accompanied them in acting every day, providing them with amusement in the livestream. Even if classmates passing by would let out sneaky chuckles, I still pretended not to know anything. Until this day, I was suddenly pulled into a corner by someone. That person gathered his courage and said to me: “Ava, you’ve been tricked!” “Those guys are not good people at all!” Almost everyone in the whole school knew my situation. But for so long, some people just watched the fun, some didn’t dare to talk to me. He was the only one who warned me. Before I had time to say anything. He was suddenly shoved away forcefully, stumbling and falling to the ground. The group of four blocked in front of me. Oliver flashed his identity as Student Body President, threatening: “Stay away from Ava!” “You’re a poor student, I advise you not to hit on Ava, otherwise I’ll make sure you can’t graduate from A University!” After saying that, he probed: “Ava, he didn’t say anything weird to you, did he?” I shook my head blankly. They then felt relieved. “Your birthday is at the end of the month, we’re taking you to an auction to buy you a birthday present.” I then realized it was the birthday I had randomly filled in, and quickly got into character. “You guys actually remember my birthday… I’m so touched!” “But I’ve never been to an auction, what if I embarrass you…” They told me not to worry. Before the auction started, a dress was delivered to me. I frowned. My out-of-print haute couture dress should be hanging in my closet, why was it in their hands? 3 I suddenly thought of something, opened my phone to search for Mia’s account, and sure enough, she was livestreaming. “Today we brought the poor student to see the world again.” “Her dress? I lent it to her, I never wear my dresses a second time.” She covered her mouth and smiled, showing off the pigeon-egg-sized sapphire ring on her hand. “She probably doesn’t even know how to wear high heels, will she fall flat on her face in public?” My face turned cold. Mia’s dress, earrings, ring, necklace, all the outfits on her body, were mine. I walked out acting as if nothing had happened. The group of four was waiting for me at the venue entrance, and Mia was also holding her phone, ready to livestream me making a fool of myself. The moment I made my appearance, the eyes of everyone in the venue were drawn to me. “She’s so beautiful!” “Is she some family’s heiress?!” Seeing the eyes of the group of four seemed glued to me, Mia was so jealous her face twisted. I tossed my beautiful hair. Look who this lady is! The jewelry auction began. I lacked interest. Urged by the group of four, I randomly picked a necklace. Ethan immediately bid. “Three million!” Unexpectedly, Gabriel actually followed the bid: “Five million!” “Ethan, big brother is not going to let you have it this time.” Oliver also smiled and joined the battle. “Eight million!” Mia watched from the side as the group of four threw away thousands of gold pieces for me. She wanted to say something out of jealousy, but couldn’t get a word in. As if they were hyped up, the few of them crazily increased the price against each other, forcibly driving it up to thirty million. Ethan and Gabriel could only give up. Oliver was just preparing to claim credit from me when the silent Leo suddenly spoke: “Sky Lantern bid! (Match any highest bid plus an increment)” He lazily crossed his legs and put his arm around my shoulder: “I said I would personally win Ava’s birthday present, and I keep my word.” After the auction ended, I held the jewelry in my hand speechlessly. When I said I didn’t want it, I really didn’t want it. Because several of the pretty good items among these auction pieces were jewelry I had eliminated and didn’t want. Mia coyly leaned over. “Brother Leo, I also like this piece of jewelry, can you give it to me?” She pulled out a few hundred-dollar bills from her bag and threw them into my arms. “What kind of jewelry matches what kind of person, little sister better go find some pieces at the street stalls.” I looked at Leo, eyes red, about to return the jewelry to him. “I really don’t deserve it, better give it back to you…” I was breathtakingly beautiful today, coupled with a pitiful expression, Leo’s heart instantly leaned towards me. “Who says you don’t deserve it!!” He wiped the tears from the corner of my eye with heartache, glanced coldly at Mia, and reprimanded: “You even want to snatch a birthday present? Do you think it’s appropriate?” “Ava was happy, you insisted on making her cry! Apologize to Ava!” Not leaving any face for Mia at all. The surrounding gazes converged. Mia’s face flushed red with shame, and she ran out crying. The evening livestream started on time. Mia sat crying among the group of four. “You guys actually yelled at me today!” Oliver wiped her tears with heartache. “Wasn’t that to make the poor student believe we are really pursuing her?” Leo also chimed in: “Look at her totally devoted look now, when we dump her, it will definitely be spectacular!” Ethan also said: “Stop being unhappy, next time I get my acting fee, I will definitely buy you the most expensive jewelry!” Gabriel pushed his glasses up with a dark mind. “What’s the fun in buying? When the time comes, make the poor student return everything she’s gotten now double to compensate Mia!” The viewers in the livestream, seeing me in the video with eyes full of the group of four, mocked: [Just a little petty profit, look how touched she is!] [When she finds out everything is a scam, she won’t be so sad she commits suicide, will she hahaha!] [When the time comes, you must livestream it live for us! I can’t wait anymore!] Mia was coaxed by everyone, smiling at the camera and said: “Next Monday is the last day.” “At eight o’clock in the evening, we will livestream the bitch being dumped at the open-air theater on time!” I smiled faintly. Exactly on Monday, it was also the day I had to report the selection result to my father. 4 For these last few days, the group of four couldn’t wait to confirm my feelings for them every moment. To each person, I put on a deeply affectionate look of loving them to the bone. For fear they didn’t have enough confidence. Sure enough, a few days later, the entrance to my dorm was piled high with roses. Four people, four bouquets of flowers, four love letters. Just like the livestream announcement, they all asked me to meet at eight o’clock on Monday night. That day, I specially “dressed up.” Wore the dress I hadn’t “returned,” brought the “valuable” jewelry they bought for me. Gave them plenty of room to perform. I arrived at the meeting place. Before seeing the group of four, I was stopped by someone else first. “Ava!” I took a closer look, it was that boy from last time again. “You can’t go! You will regret it!” Seeing I had no reaction, he anxiously took out his phone, opened Mia’s livestream to prove it to me. “They’ve been deceiving you and playing you all along!” I tilted my head in amusement. “I know.” “But who is deceiving who is hard to say, isn’t it?” Without waiting for his reaction, I brushed past him. Waiting for me were not only the group of four, but also Mia and a crowd of people holding phones watching the fun. The four of them finally tore off their disguise. Oliver was the first to speak, with condescending arrogance: “You didn’t really think we were going to confess to you, did you?” Leo also chuckled: “Just playing with you, and you took it seriously?” The laughter around grew louder. Someone whispered jeeringly: “Does she really think she’s good enough for them?” “I think she probably had already picked one in her heart hahaha!” “A delusional girl in love is funny! A poor delusional girl in love is even funnier!” My acting bug flared up, and immediately tears began to swirl in my eyes. “So you guys… were lying to me before? Sending me flowers, going on dates with me, taking me to auctions, it was all fake?” Ethan raised his phone, clicking into the livestream. “Not only lying to you, everyone watched plenty of the fun.” “You’re as funny as a clown!” Gabriel went straight for my necklace. “Things Mia likes, you don’t deserve to wear.” Mia slowly walked up to me, looking me up and down: “They say clothes make the man, wearing my clothes, wearing my jewelry, don’t say, you really looked the part.” “Too bad, it’s time to wake up from the sweet dream.” She moved behind me and yanked down the zipper on my back. “Take it off, give it back to me.” A burst of lewd whistling sounded around. I didn’t get angry or make a scene, smiled faintly, and then backhandedly slapped Mia across the face. “Smack!” Mia widened her eyes in disbelief. The group of four also got angry. “Bitch, you dare hit Mia!” “Playing with you for a month, you can’t tell what kind of garlic you are? Do you really think you deserve us?!” “I’m definitely stripping your clothes today, making you walk back to the dorm naked!!” As soon as their voices fell, a person silently appeared behind me. Draped a jacket over me. Then backhandedly instantly took down all four people to the ground. I looked down at them condescendingly. “Inspection over.” “Unfortunately.” “You don’t deserve me either, not qualified to be the fiancé of the eldest daughter of the Sterling family!”

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Late at night, my best friend’s voice was hoarse as she sent me a voice message, panting: “Six foot two, seven inches, eight-pack abs… Bestie, I scored the ultimate prize!” I instantly understood and was filled with envy. But the next second, when I saw the photo she sent, my whole body went stiff. In the photo, the man’s bare upper body was covered in hickeys and bite marks, but his face was unforgettable. That was the Major General I had been secretly married to for six years, my husband, Arthur Vance. …… Chloe’s voice messages kept coming. The ambiguous sounds of movement were mixed with her intermittent voice. [Elena… mmm… we’ve been dating… ah… for three years..] [He wants to… mm-hmm… marry me…] My mind went completely blank, and my hands trembled slightly as I typed. Arthur and I had a political marriage, and the contract expired last month. I had tentatively asked him if we could stay married. But Arthur said he didn’t want to implicate me and our daughter. He was the youngest Major General in the military district, and many terrorists had their eyes on his family. So, for the six years we’ve been married, apart from our parents, no one knew he was my husband. I thought this was his way of protecting me. Only now do I realize that it was so he could be openly with the woman he truly loved. Holding back a sob, I asked: “Didn’t you say he’s a military officer? Aren’t you afraid of retaliation if you marry him?” Chloe sent a screenshot. The messages sent from that familiar profile picture contained more words than he had spoken to me in a month. [Chloe, since I proposed to you, it means I can definitely protect you.] [If you’re worried about this, I can transfer half of my assets to you, and I will write a will stating that our child will be my sole heir.] [Chloe, I’ve prepared the grandest wedding for you, just waiting for you to say yes.] “…” Tears blurred my vision, and a sharp, piercing pain erupted in my heart. I remembered the year I married Arthur. To keep a low profile, we didn’t even take wedding photos and hastily got our marriage certificate. I remembered giving birth with no one by my side, not even daring to write down my spouse’s name. I remembered my daughter being called a pathetic fatherless child in kindergarten. Grievance and bitterness overwhelmed me like a tidal wave. Just as I was about to tell Chloe that Arthur had already married me. Chloe sent another message: [Elena, let’s meet at our usual place tomorrow.] Fine, some things are better explained face to face. I went to the hot pot restaurant we often went to during our student days. As soon as we met, Chloe smilingly handed me a wedding invitation. It had a gold-stamped cover, and the title page featured a photo of Arthur and Chloe together. In the bottom right corner were their signatures side by side. “He said to show respect, he personally signed all the invitations for my family and friends.” When Chloe talked about her fiancé, there was a soft light in her eyes. The words that were about to burst out of me all got stuck in my throat. I was silent for a long time before saying softly: “Chloe, I can’t attend your wedding. I’m being transferred away from the military district soon.” Chloe was stunned: “Why?” “I got divorced.” Chloe’s eyes instantly turned red: “Did he bully you? Tell me who it is, and I’ll have my Arthur deal with him!” The truth rolled onto the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it hard. I squeezed her hand tightly: “Chloe, what kind of person… is your fiancé?” “Arthur is exceptionally good to me.” Tenderness rippled in her eyes. “You’ll know when you meet him.” Before she finished speaking, she suddenly waved towards the door: “Arthur! Over here!” I had imagined confronting Arthur countless times, but I never expected it would be here. He walked over in a crisp military uniform, the star insignia on his epaulets shining. I stared intently into his eyes, trying to find panic or guilt. But there was none. He paused slightly when he saw me, then calmly extended his right hand: “Hello, Comrade Elena. Chloe often talks about you. I’m Arthur Vance, her fiancé.” His voice was as steady as ever, as if we really were strangers who had never met. I slowly raised my hand and shook his. What came to mind was the image of him kneeling on one knee under the military flag six years ago, proposing to me. He slipped the ring on my finger and whispered: “Hello, I am your husband, Arthur Vance.” “In this life, I am loyal to you, and loyal to the country.” Chloe’s gaze paused on our clasped hands, and she smiled with a hint of doubt: “Hey, the look in your eyes… seems a bit strange. Have you met before?” The air seemed to freeze for a moment. Before Arthur could speak, I let go of his hand and put on a calm smile: “Never met.” I turned to him, speaking clearly: “Major General Vance, nice to meet you. I’m Elena, Chloe’s best friend.” Arthur withdrew his hand, maintaining his upright military posture: “Yes, this is our first time meeting.” “So serious for a first meeting!” Chloe lightly punched his arm. “Elena and I have been through life and death together. If you dare to bully me in the future, she will really come after you with a scalpel!” Arthur smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes: “With Military Doctor Elena supervising, I wouldn’t dare.” The air in my chest felt terribly thin. I had to leave, immediately. “Alright, you two enjoy your sweet time. I don’t want to be a third wheel.” I grabbed my coat, my tone so light and brisk it felt fake even to me. “Chloe, seeing you happy puts my mind at ease. I still have a surgery, so I’m heading back to the hospital.” “Elena—” Chloe tried to make me stay. “Remember to keep it a secret.” I interrupted her, gave Arthur a deep look, turned around, and walked away. It wasn’t until I reached a deserted corner that I leaned against the cold wall as if all my strength had been drained. I covered my mouth, desperately blocking the surging sobs in my throat. My phone vibrated in my pocket, the special ringtone piercing my ears. I wiped my face and opened it. Two encrypted messages: “Waiting for you at the family compound.” “Return immediately.” When I got home, Arthur handed me two plane tickets. “Take the earliest flight tomorrow and take Mia to the south for a few days.” “Come back after Chloe and I finish our wedding.” I looked at the cold glint of the insignia on his shoulder, my voice calmer than I expected: “Arthur, Chloe and I met at the frontier hospital. She took a bullet for me.” “So since you didn’t hesitate to lie to me for six years to marry her, please treat her well.” “If you make her suffer any grievances, I will definitely expose your scandal and make her leave you.” Arthur stared at me for a long time before twitching the corners of his mouth. His tone carried a hint of elusive mockery: “Done acting? I’ve been preparing for this military wedding with Chloe for two years. I will not allow any accidents.” “Including you.” He paused, looking at me with a complicated gaze: “Whatever compensation you want afterwards, you can have. Promotion to professor, shares in the military hospital, or even… I can retire from the military.” I was stunned. For Chloe, he would even give up the stars on his shoulders. So he was also capable of being reckless. It’s just that that impulse never had anything to do with me. “I’m only asking you for this one thing.” Arthur looked at my dazed expression, his voice unusually carrying a hint of exhausted pleading. “Take Mia on a vacation. After the wedding, I will arrange everything and properly compensate you and your daughter.” He talked about compensation as if the leftover charity after that grand wedding could erase six years of deception and betrayal. I was silent for a long time, and asked a question I thought I would never ask: “Arthur.” “When you decided to marry her, did you, even for a moment, think about what Mia and I would do?” He turned his face away, his jawline tense. It took a long time before he spoke: “I thought about it. But I was more afraid that if Chloe found out, she would never forgive me for the rest of her life.” Looking at how he could even abandon his future for another woman. The fire that had burned in my heart for six years suddenly went out. “Okay. I’ll take Mia and leave.” Arthur visibly sighed in relief, the tension in his eyes easing slightly. “I’ll change the tickets to the earliest flight tomorrow. Accommodation will be arranged according to the highest standards for military dependents.” “No need.” I smiled faintly. “Major General Vance, I wish you a happy marriage.” The next day, I held Mia’s hand and arrived at the airport. Half an hour before boarding, Mia leaned against my leg and whispered: “Mommy, will we be able to see the big planes Daddy trains with at the new place?” “Yes.” I crouched down to adjust her collar. “And stars brighter than the ones on Daddy’s shoulders.” My phone vibrated. It was Chloe. I answered it, and a panicked voice came from the other end: “Elena… I’m being followed. Since yesterday afternoon, a military-plated Jeep has been following me. Now I’m in my dorm, and there’s a shadow outside the door…” “Did you contact the security department?” “I can’t reach Arthur.” Chloe’s voice carried a hint of crying. “Elena, I’m scared…” I looked at Mia’s upturned little face, then at the display screen at the boarding gate. “Lock the door first. I’ll contact the guard company right away. I’ll come over as soon as I settle Mia.” Hanging up the phone, I crouched down and looked my daughter in the eyes: “Mia, Aunt Chloe needs Mommy. You go back to the compound with the orderly uncle first, okay?” Mia nodded vigorously: “Mommy, hurry and help Auntie beat the bad guys.” After sending my daughter away, I rushed to the military district’s security department. As soon as I stepped into the lobby, I bumped right into Arthur, who was rushing in. Our eyes met, and his gaze instantly turned to ice. I was about to speak, but he grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the corner of the corridor. “Elena, what else do you want to do?” “Chloe is inside, I need to go—” “Enough.” He interrupted me, his eyes terrifyingly dark. “You arranged the tracking vehicle, didn’t you? After loving me for so many years, are you really willing to just leave like this?” Every word was like a poisoned needle piercing my heart. So he knew. He knew I loved him, knew I was unwilling, knew how much I hurt. “Let go! Chloe is waiting for me.” “Leave now, and I’ll pretend nothing happened.” Arthur’s tone carried a warning. “Don’t force me.” “Arthur!” Chloe’s voice came from behind. She jogged over, her gaze quickly scanning between us, finally stopping on Arthur holding my hand. “Chloe, are you hurt?” I wanted to step forward but was subtly blocked by Chloe. “I’m fine.” She linked arms with Arthur and smiled at me. “Arthur brought the guards. Elena, thank you for coming all this way, but…” She gently rested her cheek on Arthur’s shoulder. “Having my fiancé protect me is enough.” I looked at Chloe’s natural posture of leaning on him, and saw Arthur raise his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. Suddenly, I felt like I didn’t belong there. “Then I’ll get going.” I forced a smile. “Chloe, stay safe.” “Yeah, be careful on your way.” Chloe’s smile was still bright, but it lacked the intimacy of the past. Three days later, Chloe contacted me first. “Elena, usual place.” The location was set in the veteran’s forest outside the military district. There was the old pine tree where we hung wishing plaques, and the dirt mound where we buried bullet casings together. The forest at dusk was very quiet. I walked along the familiar path and saw Chloe lying by the side of the road, her camouflage uniform stained with dark blood on the chest. “Chloe!” I rushed over to help her, my fingers touching warm stickiness. Chloe struggled to open her eyes, her pupils shrinking sharply: “Run… it’s an ambush…” Two masked men suddenly lunged out of the bushes, swinging shovels at us. I turned to protect Chloe, and a shovel struck my shoulder blade heavily. Amidst the dull thud, I heard the sound of my own bone shattering. A man smirked and raised the shovel, ready to strike again— “Nobody move!” Arthur’s sharp shout shattered the air. He rushed over with the guards. The moment the sound of guns cocking rang out, the masked men turned and fled into the dense forest. “Chloe…” Arthur knelt on one knee and picked up Chloe, his voice trembling. “Hold on, I’m taking you to the hospital.” Chloe’s shirt on her chest was already soaked with blood. She leaned weakly in Arthur’s arms. She looked at me, her lips moving, but no sound came out. Arthur picked her up, turned, and strode away. When he passed me, slumped on the ground, his footsteps didn’t pause for a moment. I tried to support myself to chase after them, but the wound on my shoulder tore, and I fell to the ground. Bumping along the way, I followed them to the general hospital of the military district. The red light of the emergency channel was glaringly bright. Arthur stood in the corridor, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at me: “You still have the nerve to come? Elena, to ruin the wedding, you could even harm a comrade who trusted you with her life?” “It wasn’t me!” Arthur sneered, “If you hadn’t insisted on staying, how would Chloe have gotten hurt!” “I know you hate me. Come at me if you have a problem. Why go after Chloe?” “I’ll say this one last time,” My eyes were bloodshot. “Arthur, I’m a military doctor who took an oath in a field hospital. I would never fire on a comrade in this lifetime!” “Enough.” Arthur interrupted me, his eyes filled with cold disappointment. “When you play the same act too many times, no one believes it anymore.” “Guards, take her back to solitary confinement and keep a close watch.” “Before the wedding, she is not allowed to contact anyone.” Two soldiers grabbed my arms. “Arthur! Check the security footage! Check the ballistics! It wasn’t me at all—” As I struggled, my wound burst open, and blood dripped onto the pristine white floor tiles. “Once Chloe is out of danger, I will interrogate you myself.” I was dragged into a Jeep and escorted back to the underground solitary confinement cell of the military district. This time, even the ventilation window was welded with iron bars. Darkness. Silence. Only my own increasingly rapid breathing. On the first day, no one came to deliver food or water. The bone fragments of my shoulder blade rubbed against the festering flesh, and every breath brought up bloody foam. I could only lie on my side on the concrete floor, the high fever gradually blurring my vision. For the next full six days, I didn’t have a drop of water or a grain of rice. The foul stench of the festering wound filled the small space. Until dusk on the seventh day, the lock on the door suddenly clicked open a crack. Mia’s little face squeezed in. When she saw me, she burst out crying, “Mommy… you have so much blood on you…”

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My roommate got pregnant from messing around with guys and chose to secretly have a medical abortion in our dorm room. When I found her, the dorm floor was covered in blood, and she was lying in a pool of blood, barely breathing. To save her, I called 911. I never expected that because of this, she would be expelled from school. After everything was settled, my roommate invited me to dinner to express her “gratitude.” I didn’t expect her to add asbestos fibers to my Coke. Blood clogged my trachea, and she watched me thrash in a death struggle on the floor. She laughed maniacally and said: “Who asked you to be so nosy, letting everyone know about my pregnancy and getting me expelled.” When I woke up again, I had returned to the day before I caught my roommate secretly having an abortion in the dorm. 1 “Chloe, you guys are all going home tomorrow, right?” Fiona’s probing question reached my ears, pulling me back to reality from my daze. The sensation of my throat being slashed by blades and the suffocation of my trachea blocked by blood from a second ago felt like just a nightmare. “Yeah, we have a break this weekend. Everyone in the dorm is going home except you.” I answered absentmindedly, simultaneously withdrawing my arm that Fiona was holding. “I really envy you locals, being able to go home on the weekends,” Fiona said with an envious tone. In my previous life, I temporarily returned to school over the weekend to grab something, caught Fiona secretly inducing labor in the dorm, and ended up poisoned to death. In this life, I will never let you get close to me again. Today is Friday. After the afternoon classes, we all went our separate ways home, except for Fiona. I definitely won’t go back to the dorm this time. Let’s see how you pin this on me. On Saturday, while I was sleeping soundly, I was woken up by a ringing phone. I sleepily reached for my phone. When I saw the name flashing on the screen, my heart suddenly tightened—Fiona. In my previous life, you were the one who ruined my reputation and caused me to die full of resentment. This time, don’t blame me for leaving you in the lurch. I hit ignore, intending to go back to sleep. Unexpectedly, the phone rang over and over again, all from Fiona. Just as I was about to turn on silent mode, the phone screen showed a different name. I answered the call: “Sarah, what’s wrong? What’s going on?” “Chloe, I think something happened to Fiona,” Sarah’s anxious voice came through the phone. “Oh? Tell me the details.” “Fiona said she’s bleeding a lot in the dorm and asked me to go check on her. Can you come with me? I’m afraid I can’t handle it alone.” In my previous life, after I caught Fiona secretly having an abortion, I contacted the RA for her and called 911. As a result, she held a grudge. Vicious rumors were spread about me, my “nudes” were all over the internet, and finally, she framed me and killed me. This time, I want to see exactly what you are trying to do. “Sarah, you live closer. You go first, and I’ll rush to school right away. Don’t do anything rash before I get there.” I was worried Sarah would do what I did in my previous life—contact the RA and call 911—so I specifically told her not to act rashly. “Okay, Chloe, hurry up. I’m really scared.” “Okay, I gotta go, hurry.” After hanging up, I quickly got up, threw on some clothes, put on a baseball cap, and rushed to school. When I arrived at the bottom of the dorm building, I found the ambulance had just left. What’s going on with Sarah? Didn’t I tell her not to act rashly? At this time, there were still quite a few people gathered in the first-floor lobby and at the dorm entrance. I pretended to be a bystander and asked a student nearby: “Excuse me, what happened here?” “Did you just get back to the dorm? You missed this huge, fresh gossip. I took a video, I’ll show you.” Saying that, she opened her phone to show me. In the video, a girl was lying on a stretcher, with Sarah following behind. Wait, damn it, Fiona was wearing my shoes and my clothes, wearing my hat, and even wearing my sunglasses, covered up completely. Fiona and I have somewhat similar builds anyway. Who the hell could tell that was Fiona? I guess everyone in the school thinks it’s me now. Seeing this, I hurriedly asked: “Excuse me, what happened? Who is this?” “Seems like sudden severe bleeding in the dorm. I don’t know exactly who it is, but if we post the video and photos on the campus forum and the confessions page, we should be able to recognize who it is by the clothes and stuff.” I hurried towards my dorm room. As soon as I reached the door, I saw a pool of blood on the floor, and the bedsheets on the bed next to the blood were also stained red. Wait, a thousand curses upon her, this is my bed! Fiona used my bed! Fiona is so scheming. Wearing my clothes and using my bed, this is definitely to make everyone in the school think the person who had an abortion in the dorm was me, ruining my reputation. 2 I forced myself to calm down. First, I took a picture of my bed in the dorm. Then, I called an upperclassman: “Senior, the badminton tournament you mentioned last time is today, right? Can I still participate?” “That’s great, Chloe. A contestant suddenly said she sprained her ankle this morning and dropped out. I was just stressing about not finding anyone.” “It’s great that you can come.” “Senior, there will be photos taken at this tournament, and they’ll be posted on the school’s official account, right?” “What’s wrong? This is just the preliminaries, we weren’t planning to post anything. What’s up? You’re usually such a shy and low-key person, now you want to be in the spotlight?” “But I can contact the school PR department to publish an article. However, it might be hard to find a photographer on such short notice.” “Senior, I’ll contact the photographer. Please get the article out as soon as possible. By the way, what time is the match I’m subbing in for?” “In 30 minutes, at the school gym.” “Okay, I’ll be right there.” After hanging up, I quickly changed my clothes and shoes, grabbed my badminton racket, and rushed to the gym. On the way, I incidentally called a senior from the photography club, asking him to help take pictures of today’s badminton match. The senior originally tried to decline, but was eventually bribed by me with two meals at a hot pot place. Arriving at the gym, there were basically no spectators for today’s match, probably because it was the preliminaries. “Senior, make sure to take good pictures of me, make them look nice,” I told him as soon as he arrived at the gym. “You’re already very pretty, any picture of you will look good.” After the match, I asked the senior if he got the shots. After getting a positive answer, I took a taxi to the hospital. In the car, I scrolled through the campus confessions page and the campus forum. As expected, the campus forum and confessions page were filled with videos and photos taken by bystanders this morning from various angles and perspectives. [Who is this? What happened? Even an ambulance came?] [Don’t know exactly what happened. Heard she bled a lot in the dorm.] [Did she give birth in the dorm, or have an abortion?] [Oh no, sister, I live on that floor. If it’s true, how can we live there in the future?] [Does anyone know who this is? Begging for solid proof.] [Should be from Department A. The people living in that hall are from Department A, but don’t know which specific class.] Fortunately, no one has recognized who it is yet. As long as the article about me participating in the badminton match is published tonight, no matter how much Fiona tries to frame me, it will be impossible. Suddenly, a notification from the campus forum made me lose my calm. #Suspected Department A Chloe Lin gives birth in dorm# I suppressed my trembling hands from anger and clicked on the message. Under the huge headline, someone posted a picture of my student ID card, with the caption: This morning, the girl involved in the incident at Plum Hall is Chloe Lin from Department A. The ID card dropped from the stretcher. I was instantly thrust into the center of the storm. [So it’s her. I was wondering why those clothes looked so familiar today. They are her clothes.] They even attached a photo of me wearing those clothes from my social media. [Always dressing up flashily, you can tell at a glance she’s not a proper girl. Who knows how wild she usually is, and now she actually gave birth in the dorm.] I quickly called the senior: “Senior, have you seen the campus forum?” “Chloe, I just finished getting busy. What campus forum? What’s wrong?” “I was just about to call you. The senior from the photography club said his camera memory card broke, and the photos are gone. Let’s just skip the official account post this time, it’s just the preliminaries anyway.” “Broke? Why would it break? Did anyone else take photos?” I said, holding back tears. “No, there were hardly any people in the gym today, and I was too busy, so I didn’t take any. What’s wrong, Chloe? You don’t sound right. Is something the matter?” “It’s nothing, thank you, senior.” Hanging up the phone, I called the photography senior. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I saw the campus forum. I really want to help you, but after taking the photos, when I went back to the dorm, I dropped and broke the camera. All the photos on the memory card are gone. I’m really, really sorry.” “Is there really no other way to recover them? I’m begging you, senior.” “I’ve tried everything, nothing works. It’s not that I don’t want to help you, Chloe.” 3 Hanging up the phone, I slumped back into the car seat. Fiona had played a masterful game. We have similar builds. Before leaving the dorm, she wore my clothes, my hat, and even stole my student ID, pretending to drop it. This was the best proof to exonerate herself. “Good, good, very good.” My mind raced, trying to figure out other ways to prove that the person wasn’t me. The hospital. Yes, the hospital. As long as I can get her medical records from the hospital, that will be enough. After getting out of the car, I sprinted all the way to the inpatient department. In the car, I had already received a message from Sarah and knew which room Fiona was in. I rushed into the room. Only Sarah was there. Fiona had just finished surgery and hadn’t woken up yet. While she was still unconscious, I called and notified the RA and the other two roommates. I also took a picture of her lying in the hospital bed. I even found her medical record in the drawer and took a picture of that too, and casually posted it on my social media. I held a position in the student council, so posting on my social media would definitely be seen by a lot of people. I refuse to believe that with such solid evidence, she can still harm me. However, I still underestimated the malice of human nature. Within half an hour of posting, the post had over a hundred likes and dozens of comments. Some people even took screenshots of my post and sent them to the large school group chats. [Who exactly had an abortion? How come two people suddenly appeared?] [Neither of them is innocent. I bet both of them have had multiple abortions, they just got caught this time.] Fiona has always maintained an “innocent campus belle” persona at school. This time she threw all the dirty water on me. Even if I can’t completely clear my name, I won’t let you have an easy time either. While Fiona was still unconscious, I told my roommates and the RA about what was happening on the campus forum and confessions page. I specifically emphasized that Fiona wore my clothes, my hat, and accidentally took my student ID. When Fiona woke up and saw the roommates and the RA were all there, a flash of an expression I couldn’t understand crossed her face. I showed her the picture of the dorm bed and confronted her. “Fiona, you were lying on my bed, wearing my clothes and my hat. What were you trying to do?” “Trying to throw dirty water on me?” Fiona looked at me pitifully: “Chloe, how could you think of me like that?” “Is that the kind of person I am in your heart? I’ve been your roommate for three years, don’t you know me by now?” Saying that, Fiona started crying hypocritically. “Then tell me, what exactly happened?” “You know my bed is on the top bunk. I was feeling unwell and couldn’t climb up, so I slept in your bed.” “What about the clothes, the hat, and the student ID?” “I was bleeding a lot, my clothes and pants were soaked. I thought if the ambulance came and I was covered in blood, I didn’t want the students at school to overthink, so I asked Sarah to find some clothes to help me change into. “Sarah saw some clothes right next to the bed and helped me put them on. “The student ID might have originally been in the clothes and accidentally fell out on the way.” “That is really quite a coincidence. A coincidence that you not only wore my clothes and shoes, put on my hat and sunglasses, but even my student ID fell out halfway.” “Fiona probably didn’t do it on purpose either.” The RA’s face turned green and pale, like a chameleon. “I will handle the posts on the campus forum and confessions page. “Chloe, come out for a second. Let’s chat, and I’ll go downstairs to get Fiona’s medicine along the way.” After the RA called me out, she was still speaking up for Fiona: “Chloe, Fiona is in a very bad state right now. She probably didn’t do it on purpose either. You guys live in the same dorm, don’t be so aggressive. I’ll handle the news online immediately and guarantee it won’t affect you. I also hope you delete your social media post.” “Miss, you first handle the news about me on the campus forum and confessions page, and then I’ll delete my post.” “Okay, I’ll handle it immediately.” When I came back, the expressions on the faces of the few people were all a bit unnatural. I was alert in my heart. They must have discussed something when I left. They must be thinking about how to continue framing me. 4 During the few days Fiona was hospitalized, the RA quickly controlled the public opinion and made those people delete all the posts. The other roommates also synchronized their stories, saying Fiona just had severe bleeding due to menstrual irregularity. But all the roommates had seen Fiona’s medical record; everyone knew the real reason for her hospitalization. Yet, everyone kept their mouths shut about it. The school also disciplined and publicly announced the key figures who posted about me on the campus forum and confessions page. Everyone stopped talking about the rumors surrounding this incident. On the day Fiona was discharged, I didn’t go to pick her up. When she returned with the other two roommates, I was packing my luggage. “Chloe, why are you packing? Where are you going?” “Oh, my mom told me to move back home. I’m not living in the dorm anymore.” “Ah, that’s so inconvenient. Just stay in the dorm, we can all look out for each other. I haven’t even apologized to you for this incident yet.” Apologize. This time it’s apologize. In my previous life, she said thank you. In my previous life, after Fiona came back from the hospital, she said it was thanks to my timely arrival and sending her to the hospital that her life was saved. She acted like we were twins. We did everything together, even showered together. Blame my previous life for being too soft-hearted and naive. I innocently believed Fiona truly considered me a good friend and was completely fooled by her. I never expected that she would instruct Mia to secretly take nude photos of me, find some pornographic videos, photoshop my face onto them, and make me infamous at school. The rumors about my chaotic private life and abortion were directly confirmed. I couldn’t defend myself at all. This time, I’m staying far away. If I can’t afford to provoke you, can’t I hide? Thinking of the humiliation from my previous life, a surge of uncontrollable anger and sorrow rose from the bottom of my heart, but my face remained normal. “Chloe, how about you stay for another week before moving? I just got back from the hospital, I’ll probably have to trouble you guys to bring me food and stuff.” Fiona settled for the next best thing. I still refused. Living here, I eventually have to change clothes and shower. Who knows which corner your camera might be hidden in. To persuade me, the three of them united their front again, using moral kidnapping on me. Mia stood next to Fiona, looking righteous: “Exactly, Fiona just got back and still needs our care. We are all roommates, what’s the big deal with helping out?” Sarah stood aside and said softly: “Chloe, how about waiting a bit longer? I’ll help you move then.” Saying that, Mia started taking things out of my suitcase. “What are you doing? Who told you to touch my stuff?” My face darkened, and I shoved Mia away. “If you want to take care of her, then take care of her by yourself. “If you can’t handle it, do you want me to call Fiona’s mom and have her come take care of her?” I bet Fiona wouldn’t dare. At the hospital, Fiona begged the RA for a long time to convince her not to notify her parents. At this moment, all three of them froze in place. Perhaps none of them expected that the previously amiable me would be so aggressive. “Forget it, Mia. I don’t need your care, I can manage on my own. Don’t worry about whether I live or die. I can just buy cup noodles and eat them in the dorm.” This manipulative act made me feel sick to my stomach. “How can that be? Your body is weak right now, how can you eat cup noodles? Besides, we promised to take good care of you,” Mia said. “Promised, promised who?” “No, I promised Fiona I would take good care of her. If you move out, it will just be me and Sarah taking care of her.” “Forget it, since Chloe wants to move out, we shouldn’t stop her. But be careful when you move out,” Fiona acted hypocritically, wishing she could squeeze out two tears immediately. Safety. It’s much safer outside than in the dorm. Living with a venomous snake like you is what makes me unsafe.

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