Author: Momo Chan

During a meeting, my son’s preschool teacher called to say he had a 102-degree fever. I couldn’t get away, so I texted my husband to pick him up. It wasn’t until the meeting ended that the teacher called again. “What kind of parents are you? Your kid is so sick he can barely stay conscious. Are you coming or not?” I dumped the stack of files on my desk and grabbed a cab straight to the preschool. My son’s little face was red with fever, and he started crying when he saw me. I didn’t have time to comfort him, so I scooped him up and rushed him to the ER. When he finally broke the fever and fell asleep, I collapsed into the visitor’s chair and opened my phone. Half an hour earlier, my husband’s female client had sent me a message. “Ava, I’m so jealous you have such a great husband.” “He found out I had a fever and a cold, bought me medicine, and even came over himself to take care of me.” “If you like him, take him. A scumbag and a slut are a perfect match.” After sending it, I turned off my phone. At 2 a.m., the hallway in the pediatric hospital was finally quiet. After Noah’s fever broke, he slept soundly, his tiny hand still clinging tightly to the hem of my shirt. I stared at the drip line as the medicine fell drop by drop, and my phone screen lit up again. Ryan’s third message. “Something came up with a client, and I can’t get away. Hang in there for me.” Hang in there for me. My son had a 102-degree fever, the preschool teacher had called four times, and he was taking care of another woman, then casually tossing me a “hang in there for me.” I didn’t reply. I just dialed his number. It rang six times before he answered. It was loud on his end, with music, clinking glasses, and a woman’s coy laughter. “Hello?” Ryan’s voice was a little slurred. He’d been drinking. “Noah’s in the hospital.” “I know. Didn’t you already pick him up? What did the doctor say?” “Viral infection. Fever hit 104.4.” “Then keep him in the hospital and spend the money if you have to. Don’t be cheap.” The woman beside him laughed again. I couldn’t make out what she said, but Ryan was replying to her, his voice so gentle it was almost painful to hear. “Noah wants to see you.” My voice was very calm when I said that. “I really can’t get away right now. Mr. Bennett landed a huge contract today, then got sick at the celebration dinner, and nobody’s taking care of him. I have to stay with him. Tell Noah Dad will come see him early tomorrow morning.” The call ended. I gripped my phone so hard my knuckles turned white. Noah must have woken up at some point. He was dazed from the fever and softly murmured, “Dad.” I pulled him into my arms and pressed my chin against his burning forehead. “Dad is busy. Mom’s here. Mom is always here.” At seven the next morning, Ryan still hadn’t come. At nine, the nurse came to remove the IV. Noah cried from the pain, still calling for Dad. I coaxed him for a long time before he finally fell asleep, then picked up my phone to order takeout when a text popped up. It was from that female client, Chloe. It was a breakfast photo. A beautifully plated spread, pour-over coffee, and a plate of sliced fruit. “Someone said he didn’t take good care of me last night, so he insisted on bringing me breakfast first thing in the morning to make it up to me. So thoughtful.” Someone. I didn’t open the full image, but I knew that dining table. It was the island in my kitchen. The tableware I bought, the tablecloth I picked out, the solid wood table I wiped down three times a week. Now it was holding coffee that belonged to another woman, photographed by another woman, and sent to me as a provocation. I set my phone face down by the bed and took three deep breaths. Then I opened my contacts and found one person. “Brooke, help me set up a lawyer. The sooner, the better.” Megan was my college roommate and had opened her own law firm. She focused on family law. She texted back instantly: “You’ve made up your mind?” “I have.” “I’ll set it up right away. Don’t do anything rash, and make sure you keep the evidence.” Evidence. I opened my chat history with Ryan and scrolled back three months. “Working late tonight, not coming home for dinner.” “Out of town this weekend, take Noah to your mom’s place.” “Dinner with a client. I’ll be home later.” The excuses kept piling up, and he came home less and less. I used to think he was really busy. After all, his startup had just gotten off the ground, and a lot of socializing made sense. It wasn’t until last month, at Noah’s preschool parent event, when he promised he’d come and then said he suddenly had a meeting that day. I stayed with Noah to do crafts and play games by myself, while the other parents looked at me with nothing but pity. One mom leaned over and asked in a low voice, “Is your husband super busy with work? I’ve never seen him.” Back then, I still covered for him. “Yeah, it’s a startup. There’s nothing we can do.” Now that I think about it, he wasn’t busy. He just spent all his time on someone else. At two in the afternoon, Noah’s fever finally broke, and he had a little more energy. He kept clamoring for strawberries. I went downstairs to buy some. On the way past the convenience store at the hospital entrance, I caught sight of a black Porsche out of the corner of my eye. The license plate looked familiar. It was Ryan’s car. He was here? I subconsciously looked into the car, but there was no one in the driver’s seat. I carried the strawberries back inside. As soon as I entered the hospital lobby, I saw two people standing by the elevator.

The woman was the same female client who had messaged me before, Chloe. She wore a pale yellow dress, her hair in big waves, and had her arm linked through Ryan’s as she smiled like a flower. Ryan was dressed in a suit and tie, his hair perfectly slicked back. He was carrying a fruit basket and a bouquet of red roses. Red roses. He brought red roses to a pediatric hospital. I stood in the middle of the lobby and watched them laughing and chatting as they walked into the elevator. Ryan didn’t look my way once. My phone buzzed. It was a message from him. “I’m at the hospital. Which room is Noah in?” I didn’t reply. I just carried the strawberries upstairs at a slow pace. When I pushed open the door to the room, Ryan was already there. He was sitting by the bed, showing Noah something on his phone, while the fruit basket and roses sat on the bedside table, glaringly obvious. When Noah saw me, he happily shouted, “Mom! Dad’s here! He brought me something tasty too!” Ryan looked up and smiled at me. He’d practiced that smile for years. Warm, polite, and flawless. “You’ve worked hard. I rushed over as soon as I finished up over here. Noah’s okay now, right?” I set down the strawberries, picked up the red roses from the bedside table, and tossed them into the trash. Ryan’s smile froze. “What are you doing?” “The pediatric hospital doesn’t need roses.” “Those were for Mr. Bennett’s niece. I just happened to bring them here.” I looked at him and suddenly found him hilarious. This man was so lazy about lying that he didn’t even bother to make it sound convincing anymore. “Noah, Mom’s going to wash the strawberries.” I didn’t answer him and took the strawberries into the bathroom. The faucet ran loudly as I washed them again and again, until all the sourness in my eyes was forced back down. When I came out, Ryan was standing by the window on the phone, his voice kept very low. “Yeah, I’ll come over tonight… I know, you go ahead and order… okay, love you.” He said the last two words very softly, but I heard them clearly. He telling me he loved me was three years ago. I held Noah and fed him strawberries, one at a time, very slowly. Ryan hung up and walked over, trying to pick Noah up, but Noah pushed him away. “I want Mom!” Ryan’s face changed for a second before he quickly recovered. “Our son is close to you. Nothing I can do about that.” When he said that, there was a hint of complaint in his tone, as if Noah not being close to him was my fault. I didn’t say a word. He stood there for a while, then checked his watch. “Then I’m going. I still have stuff to do at the company.” “Wait.” He turned back at the door. “Noah had a 104.4-degree fever last night. He cried and called for Dad. He called you six times, and you didn’t answer a single one.” “I-” “You said you’d be here first thing this morning, and it’s now three in the afternoon.” “I came, didn’t I?” “To bring roses?” Ryan’s expression darkened. “Ava, are you looking for a fight today? Didn’t I say I had social obligations these next few days? Mr. Bennett is our company’s biggest client. If you offend her, are you going to take responsibility?” “Is your son more important or is the client more important?” “How can you compare them? I’m busting my ass for this family too.” “For this family?” I stood up and stared into his eyes. “Our son was lying in the hospital with a high fever, and you were out there taking care of another woman. And you call that doing it for this family?” Ryan’s eyes flickered. “How do you know… Did you check up on me?” “I don’t have time to check up on you, but next time remember to keep your female clients in line. Don’t let them send me messages.” His face changed completely. “Ava, my relationship with Mr. Bennett is purely business. Stop being unreasonable.” “I’m not causing a scene.” I sat back down and pulled Noah into my arms. “Go. Noah needs to rest.” Ryan opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but in the end he slammed the door and left. The sound of the door made Noah flinch. He looked up at me and asked, “Mom, is Dad mad?” “No. Dad’s just really busy.” “But I don’t want him to go. I want him to stay with me.” I kissed his forehead and said nothing. There were some things I couldn’t say to a three-year-old. Your dad may never come back to stay with you. This family might be falling apart.

That night, Brooke sent me a lawyer’s contact card. “Ms. Grant, the best divorce lawyer in the business. I booked you for 10 a.m. the day after tomorrow.” “Thanks.” “Ava, have you thought it through? Do you know Ryan’s asset situation?” I scrolled through my phone gallery. Over the past three months, I’d taken a lot of screenshots. The selfies Chloe sent me on the nights Ryan said he was working late. The hotel location and couple’s dinner Chloe posted on the weekend he said he was on a business trip. And the breakfast photo from this morning, taken in my kitchen. “I know. I have enough evidence too.” “All right, see you the day after tomorrow.” After hanging up, I leaned back in the visitor’s chair and stared at the ceiling. Noah was already asleep, breathing evenly, his little hand still clutching the hem of my shirt. I suddenly thought of seven years ago, when Ryan knelt in front of me to propose. Back then, he had just started his business, and he was broke. The ring was silver, and the diamond was so small you could barely see it. But his eyes were bright like stars, and he said he would definitely treat me and our child well for the rest of his life. We got married the second year, Noah was born, and the company also started getting on track. I thought life would only get better. Now that I think about it, it was probably from that time on that he got busier and busier. Busy enough to not have time for his son, busy enough to forget there was still a wife at home waiting for him. My phone buzzed again. It wasn’t Ryan. It was Chloe. She sent a new message. The location was a high-end Japanese restaurant in town. The photo showed a table full of food, and across from it sat someone whose face wasn’t visible, only one hand. I recognized that hand. A platinum wedding band, the anniversary gift I gave him last year, sat on his ring finger. I took a screenshot and saved it in my encrypted album. Then I turned off my phone and closed my eyes. On the third day of Noah’s hospitalization, his fever finally broke for good. The doctor said we could go home after one more day of observation, and I finally let out a breath and took time off work. I was a creative director at an advertising company, and I happened to have a big project in hand. The client wanted the proposal next week. But I couldn’t think about that right now. Megan’s recommended lawyer was named Lena Grant. She was known in the circle as a steel magnolia and specialized in high-net-worth divorce cases. None of the cases she’d taken had ever lost. I set up a meeting at the firm for 10 a.m. and arrived at 9:30. Lena was younger than I expected, in her early thirties, with short hair and a sharp black suit. She spoke fast, but her logic was clear. “Ms. Grant, Megan gave me a rough rundown of your situation. Show me the evidence.” I handed her my phone. She went through it for three minutes, and the crease between her brows only grew deeper. “These messages and photos are useful, but not enough.” “What else do you need?” “Bank statements, property records, company equity structure. If you can get his chats with that woman or hotel records, even better.” I was quiet for a moment. “I don’t really have access to the company side. The shares are all under his name.” “You’ve been married seven years, and the company was founded after the marriage. Under the law, you have half the rights.” Lena looked at me, her gaze sharp. “The real question is how you want to split this. Agreement divorce or litigation?” “If agreement is possible, that’s best. I don’t want this dragged out too long.” “Then let’s talk first. Tell me your bottom line, and I’ll draft the agreement.” When I walked out of the firm, it had started raining. There were several messages on my phone, all from Ryan’s mother. “Ava, what’s going on with you and Noah? Ryan says you’re throwing a fit and picking fights with him. As a wife, can’t you be more understanding of your husband?” I didn’t reply. No matter what happened, her son was always right, and I was always wrong. The year Noah was born, I had postpartum depression, and my mother-in-law said I was overthinking things. When Ryan’s startup failed, I took out my dowry money to plug the hole, and my mother-in-law said that was only right. Now that he’d found someone else outside, my mother-in-law said I was making a scene. I got into a rideshare and gave the driver the hospital address. As we passed that Japanese restaurant, I glanced inside. It was 11:30 a.m. and there weren’t many people in the restaurant, but a woman was sitting by the window, drinking coffee. Chloe. She had changed into a white dress. No one was sitting across from her, but there were two coffees on the table. The next second, my phone rang. It was an unknown number. “Hello?” “Ava, it’s me, Chloe.”

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Every year on my birthday, I wanted my boyfriend to take me to an amusement park once. He always said next time. Until the fifth year, when he finally agreed. But before we even got to the amusement park entrance, the car turned toward my best friend’s favorite escape room. “The escape room updated the theme Nina likes, so we can go to the amusement park next time.” For five years, every time Eric said he was taking me to the amusement park, the road would somehow turn toward Bella. The flavor Bella liked had to be eaten first, and the games she liked had to be experienced first. And my birthday wish to go to the amusement park with the person I loved had to be postponed indefinitely. When the escape room NPCs charged at us, I was so scared I fell. I tried to look up and call for help, but I saw that Eric had already protected Bella and run more than thirty feet away. The NPC took pity on me, pulled me up, and comforted me in a low voice. “Maybe they care more about the game experience.” I gave a bitter laugh. “But I don’t want to keep playing a three-person game with them anymore.”

I picked up the walkie-talkie and requested to leave the game. After Eric heard it, he came back looking very unhappy. “If you hadn’t held us back, we would’ve cleared it already. What are you complaining about now by trying to quit?” I didn’t answer, just looked at the blood pooling on the floor. Eric followed my gaze and finally noticed the wound on my knee. “Why were you so careless…” “Eric, I can’t solve this puzzle. Come take a look!” Eric’s words and the motion of wanting to hold me were both interrupted by Bella’s voice. “Lucy, wait for us at the entrance. Once we’re out, we’ll take you to the hospital together.” “We’re just one final room away from clearing the whole thing. Don’t worry, it won’t take long.” After saying that, he turned and ran toward Bella. But my eyes fell on his waist. The cartoon-print bag Bella loved was slung across his shoulder, and the plush rabbit hanging from it hurt my eyes every time it swung. We had been together for five years, and I had asked him countless times to help me carry my bag, but he always said it wasn’t right for a grown man to carry a girl’s bag. Over time, I stopped caring. A wave of bitterness rose in me. After a long while, I endured the pain and limped my way to the entrance. At the same time, the two of them walked out side by side. The escape room staff immediately surrounded them. “Congratulations! You’re the fastest players to escape this theme! Can you share your secret to clearing it?” Bella leaned into Eric’s arms, her face flushing slightly. “He protected me the whole time, so I could focus on solving the puzzles without worrying about the NPCs.” The girl in charge of reviewing the security footage had envy all over her tone. “Your boyfriend is really so good to you!” “When that NPC suddenly jumped out just now, his first reaction was to use his own body to shield you!” “If my boyfriend protected me like that on instinct, I’d probably be so moved I’d marry him on the spot!” Bella smiled without explaining. Eric glanced in my direction and said nothing, which counted as silent approval. I lowered my head and looked at the blood that had already dried on my calf. The interview with Eric and Bella was still going on. “You two are basically the top players here. You also set the fastest clear record for the wedding dress theme last month!” Bella leaned against Eric’s shoulder and smiled proudly. “Of course! We come here seven or eight times a month. We figured out your tricks ages ago!” “I knew there’d be a lot of chase scenes in the new theme, so I even changed into flats!” She lifted the brand-new shoes on her feet, drawing another round of admiration from the staff. I had seen those shoes before. At the beginning of the month, Eric had sent me the link and asked if they looked good. Back then, I thought they were a birthday gift for me, and I had looked forward to it for a whole month. So the surprise was for Bella, and forgetting about me was real. It felt like a huge stone had suddenly slammed into my chest, crushing the breath out of me. Maybe I should have left this three-person relationship a long time ago. My phone screen lit up, and a message from my boss appeared at the very top. “Lucy, think carefully about the transfer to headquarters. Tomorrow is the last deadline.” A month ago, my boss told me he wanted to transfer me to headquarters as a project manager, basically a promotion. But I didn’t want a long-distance relationship with Eric, so I turned it down. Now, I just wanted to get as far away from them as possible. “I’ll go.”

My boss replied very quickly. “Then take the flight tomorrow morning.” After I received the screenshot of the ticket order, I called a ride-hailing car and turned off my phone. Eric and Bella were still sharing their escape room experience with the staff. I didn’t wait anymore and walked straight out of the mall. It was rush hour, so the car wouldn’t arrive for another ten minutes. I leaned against the bus stop sign, just barely able to stay standing. Eric’s voice suddenly rang out, carrying a hint of urgency. “Lucy! Didn’t I tell you to wait for us at the entrance? Why did you leave on your own?” I looked at Eric and said directly, “You and Bella were playing escape room. Staying there would only slow you down.” The moment the words fell, the atmosphere turned awkward beyond belief. Bella took my hand. “Lucy, saying that makes me really sad.” “If it bothers you that Eric played the escape room with me, then I won’t play with him anymore.” I pushed her hand away and took a step back. When Eric saw my movement, his tone turned unhappy. “You insisted on leaving early, and now you’re being sarcastic about it?” Thinking of the cartoon shoulder bag on him, and thinking of how he had silently let people assume Bella was his girlfriend during the interview, my grievance surged up all at once, and even my voice started shaking. “Eric, did you forget that I’m your girlfriend?” I pointed at the bag on him. “What kind of boyfriend carries his best friend’s bag? And why didn’t you say anything when the staff said you two were boyfriend and girlfriend?” Seeing me cry, Eric sighed. “When we were playing, Bella was handling the puzzles. Carrying a bag would’ve slowed her down, so I took it.” “If I explained that she wasn’t my girlfriend, people who didn’t know the situation might misunderstand her as the other woman. Then they might attack her.” “Lucy, you and she are best friends. You wouldn’t want her to be misunderstood by other people, right?” “Right now, the most important thing is getting your injury checked at the hospital.” Not wanting Bella to be misunderstood, so I, his real girlfriend, had to swallow it. I gave a cold laugh and automatically put more distance between the two of them. “I’ll take a taxi to the hospital myself. You don’t need to worry about it.” Eric’s patience finally ran out. “Lucy, I already explained it. What are you still making a scene for?” As he spoke, he snatched my phone away, canceled my ride-hailing order, and then lifted me up in his arms and shoved me into the back seat. “Whatever it is, we’ll talk after you get your wound checked.” I pressed my lips together and said nothing. Bella naturally sat in the front passenger seat, and Eric started the car. It wasn’t until we were almost at the hospital that Bella suddenly gasped. “Buddy’s home alone! Take me back first!” Buddy was the dog she raised. Bella’s home and the hospital were in completely opposite directions. Dropping her off first and then coming back to the hospital would take at least two hours. My wound was already swollen. I couldn’t wait that long at all. Eric glanced at me. “Lucy, Buddy’s been having some separation anxiety lately. We’ll take Bella home first, then go to the hospital!” He was the one who insisted on taking me to the hospital, and now he was the one asking me to wait. My matters were always behind Bella’s, and now they even had to come after Bella’s dog. My nails dug into my palm. “Pull over! I’ll go myself!” Eric’s voice suddenly turned cold. “Lucy, I’m just asking you to wait a bit. Why are you acting up again?” Looking at the impatience in Eric’s eyes, the grievance and hurt in my heart surged out like a floodgate had been opened. I wanted to ask him whether there was still room for me in his heart. But in the end, I only gave a bitter laugh. “Pull over.” Eric’s patience was obviously worn out. He pulled the car over at the intersection. He let me open the door myself and limp out of the car.

By the time I reached the hospital, the doctor took one look at my wound and frowned deeply. “It’s already infected and full of pus inside. Why didn’t you come to the hospital earlier?” I lowered my head and apologized, feeling heavy and stifled inside. While the wound was being bandaged, my screen lit up with a birthday greeting from the bank. I never expected the first happy birthday of my twenty-fifth year to come from a bank customer service rep. When I got home, Eric was sitting on the sofa in the living room. When he saw me come back, his gaze landed on the bandaged wound on my calf. “Lucy, you owe Bella an apology.” Looking at his matter-of-fact expression, I no longer had the desire to argue with him. Besides, I still had to pack for the flight tomorrow morning. I threw the hospital report in front of him. The infected wound had been circled in red by the doctor. Eric glanced at it and his tone softened. “Sorry, Lucy. I didn’t know you were hurt this badly.” I didn’t look at him. In the end, I swept my gaze around the house. The sofa was the brown leather Bella liked, and the floor was the off-white tile Bella had picked. Even beside the bed in the bedroom, there was a massage recliner reserved for Bella. It turned out that Bella’s traces had long since filled every corner of my life with Eric. I just hadn’t noticed it all this time. Seeing that I still didn’t speak, Eric wrapped his arms around me from behind. “Lucy, I’ll definitely take you to the amusement park for your birthday next year.” I had heard this line too many times and believed it too many times, but now it no longer meant anything. I hummed in response and turned to go into the bedroom. I zipped up my second suitcase. When he saw the two suitcases beside me, his face showed confusion. “Why are you packing? Going on a business trip?” I closed the suitcase and said softly, “Seasonal cleanup.” He didn’t ask any further. “Come eat first! I even added an egg for you.” Just as he finished speaking, Eric’s phone rang. When he came back, his voice sounded unnatural. “Lucy, something came up at work. I need to go back and work overtime.” If this had happened before, I would definitely have called out such a lousy lie and asked him who he was really going to see. But now, him not being home worked perfectly for me. “Okay. Don’t keep your coworkers waiting too long.” Eric was very satisfied with my understanding. He kissed my forehead, grabbed his coat, and rushed out the door. By the time I finished packing, it was already midnight. Eric called me. “The work stuff is a little tricky. Go to sleep first. Don’t wait for me.” “I’ll take you to the hospital to change your bandage tomorrow, and I’ll have lunch with you at noon. Be good.” I hummed and hung up. The next second, he appeared in Bella’s updated post. “Suddenly wanted to go to the amusement park. Eric booked out the whole place right away and even arranged a fireworks show. Good job~” In the video, the two of them leaned close together, and the fireworks reflected in both of their eyes. I lowered my eyes and looked at the gift box I usually treated like treasure. Inside was the ring Eric had given me five years ago. I grew up in an orphanage, and whenever I watched TV, I would hope to go to an amusement park once. Back then, Eric made promise after promise. “Lucy, every year on your birthday, I’ll take you to the amusement park!” “With this ring as a promise token, when you turn 25, I’ll set off fireworks across the whole sky and use them to propose to you!” But every year on my birthday, Eric would forget his promise to me because he had to rush off to see Bella. This year, he didn’t forget. He went to the amusement park. He set off fireworks across the whole sky. It was just that none of it was for me. I put the ring on the nightstand. Since the person who made the promise had already forgotten it, I didn’t need to keep it anymore.

At five o’clock the next morning. I put the keys on the shoe cabinet by the entrance and closed the door for the last time. While waiting at the airport, Eric was still active in Bella’s feed. They had gone to see the latest movie. “This movie was so heartbreaking. By the second half, someone’s shoulder was soaked with tears!” In the nine-grid photo set there were movie tickets, popcorn, and two hands tightly clasped together. In the comments, all our mutual friends were liking and congratulating them. “No need to eat dinner tonight. I’m full just from your and Eric’s dog food!” “I can feel the happiness between you two through the screen. I hope you stay together forever!” So everyone already knew about Bella and Eric, and they had all agreed to speak with me in the same way. For five years, I had been nothing but a joke. Eric liked the post first, so he had seen all those comments. But not a single explanation came from him. I laughed and liked it too. Then I sent Eric my final message. “Let’s break up!” Then I deleted and blocked all of Eric’s and Bella’s contact information. By the time Eric and Bella finished the movie and came out, the man suddenly felt a tightness in his chest. An uneasy feeling stirred him so much that he couldn’t settle down. During the times we fought before, Lucy had also brought up breaking up, but every time it had been less than ten minutes before she ran back to him to make up. So at first he didn’t take it seriously, but now six hours had passed, and there still wasn’t a second message in Lucy’s chat window. He hurriedly bought Lucy’s favorite breakfast and rushed home, only to find the house completely empty. Thinking she might have gone to the hospital to change her bandage, he felt a little relieved. The next second, he found that the half of the closet belonging to Lucy was already completely empty. He sent Lucy a message, and the screen quickly showed a red exclamation mark. He then called Lucy’s number, but all he got was the cold message that the other party could not be reached. A huge sense of losing control was taking over Eric’s heart, and he was panicking badly. He turned around and saw the ring he had once given Lucy on the nightstand.

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My daughter was run over and killed right at the gates of her elementary school. The moment I heard the news, I popped open a bottle of expensive red wine to celebrate. When her homeroom teacher called me, I hung up instantly. When my husband called, I blocked his number without a second thought. In my past life, my daughter was also run over and killed outside the school gates on this exact day. But back then, when I was the first to rush to the scene, I realized with horror that the car that killed her was my own. And the school’s surveillance footage showed that the person behind the wheel, driving straight into my daughter, was me. Both the homeroom teacher and my husband pointed their fingers at me. The teacher claimed she saw me hit the girl with her own eyes. My husband claimed I had always been mentally unstable, venting my rage by abusing our daughter at home, but he never thought I’d be insane enough to run her over. The crowd screamed at me, the police dragged me away, and in the end, I was brutally strangled to death in a cold prison cell. My husband inherited my entire family fortune. Until the moment I died, I didn’t understand how this happened. Why was I framed as my own daughter’s murderer when I had done absolutely nothing? Then, I opened my eyes again. I was back on the very day she died.

My mind was in a daze, still trapped in the agonizing pain of being strangled to death in my past life. “Babe, what are you staring at? Hurry up and drive Lily to school.” Looking at my husband, Adrian, and his incredibly gentle smile, my pupils shrank. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms. In my past life, it was because I drove our daughter to school this morning. My fingerprints were left all over the steering wheel, and the police used that to immediately lock me in as the prime suspect. So today, no matter what, I could not touch that car. But there was one thing I still couldn’t wrap my head around. Why did the surveillance footage show me driving the car that killed Lily? I was clearly at home the entire time. I never even went near the school. And what confused me even more was why Adrian would frame me so ruthlessly. He had always been the perfect husband and father. He took care of Lily and me so well, keeping us happy and well-fed. In the eyes of our friends and family, marrying a man like Adrian was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Seeing me freeze, he blinked, his face full of concern. “What’s wrong, sweetie? Are you feeling sick?” Looking into his eyes—eyes that looked so genuinely worried but hid a murderous soul—I forced down the hatred burning inside me and squeezed out a weak smile. “I think I have a fever. Can you drive Lily to school today?” I watched his face closely as I spoke. There was no surprise on his face. Only pure, loving concern. Why? “No! I don’t want Daddy to take me! I want Mommy!” Lily screamed from the hallway. Hearing her voice, my heart gave a violent shudder. In my past life, I had driven Lily to school just like any other day. By noon, I received the news of her horrific death. When I rushed to the school, all I saw was her cold, broken body on the asphalt. I had held her corpse, screaming and crying until my throat bled. But Lily’s homeroom teacher, Evelyn, pointed at me and screamed, calling me a monster, accusing me of shedding crocodile tears. My mind had gone completely blank. I had no idea why she was attacking me. Until she pulled up the security footage. There it was—my car, running Lily down. And the woman in the driver’s seat looked exactly like me. The crowd of onlookers went wild with rage. Their spit and curses rained down on me. “You’re worse than an animal! How could you run over your own child!” “Such a sweet little girl! How could you be so heartless!” Then, Adrian rushed to the scene. I thought he would defend me, that he would tell them there had to be some mistake. Instead, he slapped me hard across the face. The gentle, loving husband vanished. His eyes were bloodshot as he roared at me: “Vivian! Give me back my daughter! You’ve always been mentally unstable! You beat me, you beat Lily!” “But she was your own flesh and blood! How could you run her over in cold blood?!” When the forensic team arrived, they found that Lily’s body wasn’t just bruised from the car crash—she had old, faded whip marks all over her back. In an instant, the crowd’s fury peaked. They dragged me to the ground, kicking and stomping on me until I was half-dead. By the time the ambulance finally arrived, I was already slipping away. Later, I was thrown into prison. And eventually, I was strangled to death in the shadows, while my husband, who had framed me, inherited my billionaire father’s entire estate. The agony of my death was still fresh. But this time, I was going to uncover the truth.

“Lily, Mommy isn’t feeling well today. Let Daddy take you, okay?” I spoke to my daughter in a soft, gentle voice. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lily’s skin. It was smooth, fair, and flawless. There wasn’t a single scratch on her. In my past life, there were too many loopholes. First, why did the camera show me driving the car when I was at home? Second, why did Lily have old, faded scars on her body when she died? I stared at Lily’s perfect skin now. A terrifying thought crossed my mind. Did Lily have some kind of blood clotting disorder? Or… was someone abusing her at school, causing those hidden scars? Just then, Adrian called out from the bedroom: “Alright, honey. You stay in bed and rest. I’ll change and take Lily to school.” I watched his retreating back, my suspicion growing deeper. I thought he would hesitate, but he agreed so easily. What was the real play here? While he was in the bedroom changing, I knelt down in front of Lily and whispered, “Lily, tell Mommy. Does anyone bully you at school?” Lily scoffed, looking incredibly smug. “No way! I’m the queen of my class. I’m the one who bosses everyone else around!” No one bullied her? My brows furrowed as Adrian walked her out the door. Then where did those old scars on her body come from? The mystery was getting darker by the second. As soon as their car pulled out of the driveway, I called an Uber and followed them from a safe distance. At the school gates, Evelyn, the homeroom teacher, was waiting. She took Lily from Adrian’s hands with her usual warm smile. She even patted Lily’s head affectionately. Watching this, my mind raced. My husband’s behavior was completely normal. But the more normal it seemed, the more uneasy I felt. Why would he frame me? And how did Evelyn get her hands on a video of “me” running down my own daughter? What was the link between them? Desperate for answers, I pulled out my phone and began reviewing the video I had just secretly recorded of them at the school gate, analyzing it frame by frame.

Half an hour passed, and I found nothing. I checked my watch. Cold sweat began to bead on my forehead, my heart hammering against my ribs. I was running out of time. In my past life, Lily’s “accident” happened exactly at noon, under the blistering midday sun. Yet, everything was shrouded in a thick fog. I couldn’t see the truth. Even playing my recorded video frame by frame, Adrian looked like the perfect, loving father. I put my phone down and sat at a small coffee shop across the street from the school, scanning the surroundings for any clue, any anomaly. But even when the morning bell rang and the kids went inside for classes, I was still completely in the dark. Even with a second chance at life, I had no leads. I had too little information from my past life, and time in this life was ticking away. I felt like a drowning woman, watching the water rise, helpless against the freezing current. There were less than three hours left until noon. Panic clawed at my chest. I forced myself to take deep, slow breaths to keep from losing my mind. I forced myself to focus on the most critical question: Why did the surveillance footage show me behind the wheel? The truth had to be right in front of me. I just needed to tear down the veil. But as the minutes ticked by, I still couldn’t grasp it. “What am I missing? What is the key to all of this?” I muttered, clutching my head in frustration. “Hey, kiddo, you alright? Do you need me to call 911?” The old man running the hotdog stand nearby looked at me with deep concern. I remembered him. In my past life, he was one of the people who threw garbage at me and cursed my name. “911? Wait…” A bolt of lightning struck my brain. I had been looking at this from the wrong angle! The truth wasn’t in what I could see. It was in what was hidden. Joy surged through me. I thanked the old man, pulled out my phone, and opened the video again. Finally, in one single, split-second frame, I saw it. A cold smirk played on my lips. I immediately dialed my billionaire father’s private secretary. “Vance…” After giving Vance his instructions, I paced around the sidewalk, waiting. Whether my theory was right depended entirely on what Vance found. A few minutes later, my phone buzzed. It was Vance. His voice was shaking as he delivered the results of his investigation. Hearing his words, my blood ran hot with pure adrenaline! Unbelievable. The most twisted, insane theory was actually the truth! I took a deep breath and quickly gave Vance a series of orders. At noon, the news of Lily’s death arrived. I popped open a bottle of expensive red wine, smiling. When Evelyn called, I hung up. When Adrian called, I blocked him. I poured a glass of wine and opened a local influencer’s TikTok Live stream. On the screen, Evelyn’s eyes were red, her body trembling as she cried to the camera: “Lily was such an angel! I don’t understand how her own mother could be such a monster to run her down!” Because the story was blowing up online, the school board members had rushed to the scene. To save the school’s reputation, they had security set up a large digital screen, playing the traffic camera footage on a loop. In the video, “I” was driving my car, waiting at the school gate. The moment Lily walked out, the car surged forward, striking her down, then rolling over her body again and again. Evelyn sobbed uncontrollably on camera. The stream’s viewer count exploded, surpassing 100k in minutes. The live chat was a waterfall of pure rage, all directed at me. Adrian was there too. He was kneeling beside Lily’s covered body, lifting his shirt to show the crowd deep bruises on his torso. He sobbed hysterically, a far cry from his usual composed self. “I never thought… we had a small fight this morning, and I told her she couldn’t take Lily to school. She went completely psycho! She took the car and killed our baby! Oh god, my sweet Lily!” Adrian’s tearful confession broke the hearts of everyone watching. The comments section went wild: “She ran over her own daughter? Hang this bitch!” “I can’t imagine how terrified that poor girl was when she realized her own mother was driving the car!” In an instant, I became the most hated woman in the country. In my past life, faced with this wave of hatred, I had been unable to speak a single word of defense. I was trampled to death by an angry mob. I took a sip of my wine, smiled, and headed toward the school. Let’s see if they can destroy me this time.

I walked through the crowd at the school gates, my face completely expressionless. The moment Adrian saw me, his grief turned into rabid fury. He lunged forward, grabbing my collar, screaming: “Vivian! What did Lily ever do to you?! You were her mother!!” He cried so hard he could barely breathe, looking exactly like a devastated, innocent father. In my past life, this act of his was what sealed my fate and sent me to my grave. I slowly peeled his hands off my collar, my fists clenching. Seeing my lack of reaction, his crying got louder, playing to the crowd. The surrounding onlookers glared at me, their eyes burning with hatred. Evelyn stepped forward, her eyes puffy as she chimed in: “Vivian! Even if you hated Lily, she was your own flesh and blood! If you hated her so much, why did you even give birth to her?!” I could hear the collective gasp of the crowd. Several men looked ready to tear me apart, only held back by their wives. Adrian let out a hollow, tragic laugh, his voice raspy. “You lied to me this morning. You said you were sick so I would drive her. You planned this all along, didn’t you?” “Vivian, do you even have a soul? Lily was so small! How could you?!” Suddenly, a half-eaten hotdog sailed through the air and hit my shoulder. It was the old hotdog vendor. He pointed at me, screaming: “I can’t believe I almost called 911 for this monster! You should have died in your bed!” Soon, other parents began throwing trash, coffee cups, and water bottles at me. The crowd’s fury was a raging fire. “Kill her! Kill the monster!” “If she can do this to her own kid, she’s a threat to society!” Everyone’s anger was manipulated perfectly. The mob mentality was incredibly dangerous. In my past life, surrounded by my daughter’s corpse and my husband’s lies, I had lost my mind, unable to utter a single word of defense. I was beaten, thrown in jail, and strangled. But in this life? I wasn’t going down. I looked at the sea of hateful faces and smiled coldly. “Who said I was the killer?”

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I grew up in a group home. But I always knew I had a mother. She was like my invisible guardian angel. Whenever I was in danger, she would appear out of nowhere to save me. This was our silent, unspoken understanding over the years. The other kids at the group home used to laugh at me, saying I was delusional. “Just wait until she comes back!” I would yell. “Then you’ll see I’m not lying!” Sometimes, kind-hearted couples came wanting to adopt me. But I always refused. “No. I’m waiting for my real mom to take me home!” Eventually, all the kids who entered the home at the same time as me were adopted. I was the only one left, completely alone. Mrs. Gable, the director, sighed and sat down beside me. “Stop waiting, Chloe. Your mother isn’t coming back.” But I didn’t believe her. Not even for a second. Because I knew the truth. My mom had just visited me the night before. “Chloe, a lovely couple is here. They want to meet you. Why don’t you come to the garden with me?” Mrs. Gable stroked my hair gently as she spoke. “They just want to talk and get to know you. They aren’t trying to force you to leave with them.” “I heard they even brought you a little gift. Don’t you want to see what it is?” Looking at her warm smile, I knew exactly what she was doing. She was trying to coax me into another adoption meeting. Because I was quiet and well-behaved, countless people had wanted to adopt me over the years. But every single time, I rejected them. This time was no different. “I’m not going! Stop tricking me, Mrs. Gable. They don’t just want to talk. They want to take me away!” “How many times do I have to say it? I have a mom! I’m waiting for my real mom to take me home!” I stood up, hands on my hips, looking at her with absolute seriousness. Mrs. Gable let out a long sigh, her eyes filled with pity. “Chloe, everyone else from your group has been adopted. They’ve started new lives. They have loving homes, and parents who adore them.” “If you’re worried about your foster parents treating you badly, I promise I’ll visit you every single week. I’ll make sure you grow up happy and healthy, okay?” I didn’t even look up. Instead, I kept coloring the greeting card in my hands and replied casually, “I’m making a card for my mom. I don’t have time to talk.” “She came to see me last night. I’m going to leave this card by the window tonight. When she comes back next time, she’ll get my present!” To prove my point, I waved the card in front of Mrs. Gable. Just then, Harper walked past the room. She was another girl from the home, and she had just been adopted by a wealthy young couple. Today was her moving day. Hearing my words, she burst into a loud, mocking laugh. “Mrs. Gable, is Chloe actually crazy?” “She brags about having a mom every day, but she’s never even seen her face!” “No wonder no one wants to adopt you, Chloe. You’re a total psycho!” With a smug sneer, she turned around, grabbed her new parents’ hands, and walked away. Mrs. Gable immediately tried to soothe me. “Chloe, don’t listen to Harper. She didn’t mean it.” Why would I be angry? I knew I wasn’t crazy. I didn’t care about Harper’s insults at all. Soon, I would prove to everyone that I wasn’t lying. That night, I purposely used a pair of scissors to make a small cut on my finger. Then, I placed the greeting card right on the windowsill. When I woke up the next morning, a cartoon bear band-aid was neatly wrapped around my finger. The card on the windowsill was gone. I jumped out of bed, practically screaming with joy as I ran into the courtyard. “Mrs. Gable! I told you my mom is real!” “Look at this!” I rushed up to her and held my finger high in the air. Mrs. Gable stared at the band-aid, completely stunned. But a second later, she smiled warmly at me. “I believe you, Chloe.” “Because your biological family has actually found you.” “They are coming to take you home today.” My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe my ears. Mom was really coming back! My card actually worked! Suddenly, a deep voice sounded from behind me. “Sweetheart, I’ve come to take you home.” I turned around excitedly, but then I froze. The person standing there was not my mother. It was a strange man.

I stared at the stranger, a sudden wave of anger washing over me. This man was not my mother. Why was he pretending to be my family? He just wanted to take me away so that when my mom came back, she wouldn’t be able to find me! “I don’t know you! I’m not going with you!” Tears welled up in my eyes, and I hid behind Mrs. Gable. The man pulled a small teddy bear out from behind his back, knelt down, and spoke softly. “Chloe, I brought you this bear. See? It has the exact same cartoon pattern as the band-aid on your finger. Do you like it?” I stared at the bear, completely frozen. How did he know what pattern was on my band-aid? Did he know my mom? Before I could process this, Mrs. Gable gently explained the situation to me. “Chloe, this is your biological father, William Sterling.” “They found your profile in the national DNA database a few days ago. That’s when they realized you were the daughter they lost years ago.” “I’ve personally verified the DNA test reports. You are indeed his daughter.” I didn’t fully understand the technical terms, but I understood the words “biological daughter.” Did this mean I could finally find my mom? I tugged at Mrs. Gable’s sleeve and asked quietly, “Where is my mom, then?” Before Mrs. Gable could answer, William gently patted my head and smiled. “She has some business to attend to today, so she couldn’t make it.” “But once you come home with me, you’ll get to see her.” Tears of pure joy threatened to spill over. I was finally going to see my mother! I wanted her to take my hand and show the whole world that I wasn’t a liar, that she had been protecting me from the shadows all along! After finishing the paperwork, I went back to my room to pack my few pieces of old clothing. But William stopped me. He picked me up in his arms, his voice filled with affection. “Tomorrow, I’ll take you shopping. We’ll buy a hundred new outfits!” “Let’s leave these old clothes behind. Consider it a farewell to the past.” I didn’t care about the clothes. I just wanted to see my mom. So I nodded, letting him carry me out of the group home. The moment we stepped through the front gates, a crowd of reporters and paparazzi surrounded us. They shoved microphones into my face, shouting over one another. “Are you the girl adopted by the CEO of Sterling Group?” “Why did Mr. Sterling choose to adopt you?” “Sweetheart, how does it feel to suddenly become the heiress of the wealthiest family in the state? Do you know your life is about to change forever?” Faced with the flashing cameras and loud voices, my face crumpled. “I don’t care about money. I just want to see my mom.” Before I could say anything else, William angrily pushed the microphones away. “This is a private family matter! Show some respect to my daughter!” “She is just a child. Stop asking her such superficial questions!” He shielded me through the crowd and placed me into the back of a luxury SUV. During the drive, I couldn’t stop imagining what my mom looked like. Would she look like me? Would she like the card I made for her? Why had she stayed in the shadows for so many years? I had so many questions, and I wanted to ask her face-to-face. But it was okay. We had plenty of time now. The car stopped in front of a massive, beautiful mansion. I immediately jumped out and ran inside. “Mom!” I screamed, rushing through the front doors. Standing in the grand foyer was a young, elegant woman with her arms wide open. Next to her stood a young girl about my age. “Chloe, come here. Let me give you a hug,” the woman said with a warm smile. But I froze right in my tracks and screamed, “You are not my mom!”

The woman’s smile faltered, and her arms dropped slowly to her sides. William quickly knelt beside me, trying to soothe me. “Chloe, you shouldn’t speak to your mother like that.” The woman didn’t seem angry. Instead, she looked at me with deep sympathy. “It’s okay, William. It’s natural that Chloe can’t accept me right away. We have plenty of time.” She looked at me and said, “If it makes you more comfortable, you can call me Valerie. I want us to build a real relationship, however long it takes.” Then, she nudged the young girl beside her. The girl stepped forward, grabbing my hand with a sweet smile. “Hi, Chloe. I’m your sister, Evie.” Despite their friendliness, I remained completely cold. Because I had seen my real mother in the dark the night before. Even though I couldn’t see her face clearly, I saw her silhouette. My real mother had short hair. This woman, Valerie, had very long hair. No matter how much time passed, this woman would never be my mother. William took me up to my bedroom. It was beautiful, warm, and bright. Most importantly, the bed was covered in plush teddy bears—the exact same design as the cartoon bear on my band-aid. My real mom must have set this up for me. In the days that followed, William and Valerie took great care of me. But the better they treated me, the sadder I felt. Why wasn’t my real mom here with me? She was the one who had protected me in the dark all these years. Why was someone else taking her place in the light? One evening, Valerie came up to my room to call me down for dinner. I was sitting on the floor, playing with the teddy bears. “Chloe, dinner’s ready. Let’s go down to eat.” Then, she glanced at the plush toys scattered all over the floor. A look of disgust flashed across her face, and she muttered under her breath, “I honestly don’t get what’s so special about these stupid cheap bears…” Hearing her words, a wild rage exploded inside me. I grabbed my slipper and threw it hard at her, screaming, “They are not stupid! My mom gave them to me!” Valerie was shocked by my sudden outburst. She dodged the slipper, her own temper instantly flaring. “Stop living in a fantasy world! Your mother abandoned you a long time ago!” “I’ve had enough of walking on eggshells around you! You’re just an ungrateful brat!” I froze, tears streaming down my face. Valerie’s mouth was still moving, but I couldn’t hear a word she was saying. Only one sentence kept echoing in my head: Your mother abandoned you. William ran upstairs after hearing the commotion, looking shocked at the scene. “What is going on here?” Valerie’s face was red with anger as she pointed a finger at me. “Your daughter! She just threw her shoe at me!” “You should have left her in that group home! Not only is she completely delusional about having a mother, but now she’s turning violent!” “Is she going to burn the house down next? I’m warning you, William, if she hurts a single hair on Evie’s head, I won’t let this go!” I didn’t care about her accusations. My mind was completely shattered by the thought that my mother didn’t want me. “Dad! Valerie is lying! She said my mom abandoned me!” “My mom protects me every single day! How could she not want me!” I rushed to my drawer and pulled out the cartoon band-aid I had saved. Even though my cut had healed long ago, I kept it like a precious treasure. “Look! This is the band-aid she gave me! It matches the bears on my bed!” “She loves me! She would never abandon me!” I sobbed, my tears soaking the front of my shirt. A flash of pain went through William’s eyes. He took a deep breath, knelt down, and said quietly, “Chloe… your mother did abandon you.”

Before I could even process his words, William began to tell me the story of what happened years ago. “When you were a year old, your mother said she was taking you to a local market.” “But she never came back. I called the police, but no matter how hard they searched, they couldn’t find a trace of either of you.” “The investigators told me she had most likely run away with you. It happened a lot back then.” “I really thought she had fallen in love with someone else and took you with her. So, I filed for divorce. Later, I met Valerie, and she helped me rebuild my life.” “It wasn’t until I found your DNA match recently that I realized you had been living in a group home all these years. Your mother… she must have dumped you on the side of the road back then.” “Thank God a kind stranger found you and took you to the shelter, otherwise you would have died out there…” His words felt like sharp needles stabbing directly into my heart. Was it true? Did my mother really abandon me? I stood there, paralyzed, as tears poured down my cheeks. Seeing my state, William gently patted my head. “I know it’s hard to accept, Chloe. But I need you to move on so you can start your new life.” “Whenever you’re ready to talk, I’ll be in the other room.” With that, he walked out with Valerie. I clutched the cartoon band-aid in my hand, a suffocating darkness swallowing me whole. My mother didn’t want me. My father had a new family. My existence felt entirely pointless. Hearing the faint sound of laughter from the other room where William, Valerie, and Evie were, the last string in my mind snapped. I don’t know how long I stood there, but by the time I snapped out of it, it was late at night. I quietly crept up to the roof of the mansion, clutching the band-aid. Staring at the little bear pattern, I laughed through my tears. “Mom, you’re a liar.” With that, I took a step forward and jumped. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying safely in my bed, completely unharmed. On the nightstand beside me, there was a brand-new cartoon bear band-aid. In that moment, I knew. My mom had saved me. She had never abandoned me. She loved me more than life itself. I resolved to stay alive. I would live until the day I could finally hold her in my arms. From that day on, I was no longer quiet or sullen. I became active, vibrant, and threw myself into my studies. William and Valerie were shocked by my sudden transformation, but they were genuinely happy to see me thriving. Even though William had destroyed all photos of my mother in his anger years ago, leaving me with no idea what she looked like, it didn’t matter. I studied as hard as I could. If I climbed high enough, I would eventually find her. And when that day came, I would stand proudly by her side. Years later, when the SAT scores were released, I received a call from the admissions office. “Chloe Sterling, you scored a perfect 1600. You are the state valedictorian.” “Harvard’s prestigious finance program has extended an invitation. Would you like to accept?” William was ecstatic when he heard the news. “That’s my girl! You’ll study finance and take over the Sterling Group one day!” But my face remained completely blank. I said softly, “I’m not going to Harvard. I made a promise to my mom. I’m going to find her.” William’s face instantly twisted in rage. He pointed a finger at my face and yelled, “I thought you had grown out of this nonsense! You’re still as naive as you were years ago!” “I told you, she abandoned you! You don’t even know who she is or what she looks like!” “I’m warning you, Chloe. If you run off to chase this imaginary mother of yours, you are cut off from the Sterling family! I will disown you!” I didn’t argue. I went straight to my room and packed my bags. That very night, I moved out of the Sterling mansion. No matter how much William pleaded afterward, I never looked back. Because I finally knew who my mother was.

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At our wedding, my fiancé, Ethan Sterling, announced he was going to present me with a grand surprise. The next second, the giant projector screen behind the altar started playing a video of me dancing provocatively. The caption read: “Thirty-year-old desperate cougar. $100 a night. First come, first served.” The venue erupted into whispers and gasps. Before I could even process it, Ethan slapped me across the face. “Are you really that desperate for men, Chloe?” I let out a cold, bitter laugh. So this was his so-called “surprise”? Faced with my freezing glare, Ethan suddenly froze, looking slightly guilty. Then, the AV technician at the back of the room, who was wearing a baseball cap, chuckled softly. “Surprised?” The woman took off her cap, revealing the very face Ethan had been obsessing over for years. It was Mia Hayes, his precious college mentee. She strolled up to the stage with a coquettish smile and wrapped her arms around Ethan’s waist. “This is my surprise for you, Ethan. Do you like it?” Then, she turned to me with an innocent, wide-eyed look. “Chloe, it’s just a joke. You’re not mad, are you?”

A joke? I smiled at her, stepped forward, and slapped her hard across the face. Mia collapsed onto the floor instantly. Ethan lost his mind. “Are you insane?! Why did you hit her?” “What’s the matter, Ethan? Can’t you take a joke?” I stared ruthlessly at the cheating bastards in front of me. I was so done with this. How many times had this happened? Since the day Mia entered our lives, she had been pushing my boundaries over and over again. When she broke my laptop, she just giggled. “Oh, you wanted a new one anyway. I’m doing you a favor, Chloe. No need to thank me!” When she slept in our bed, she rolled her eyes. “I just slept on your bed for a night. What’s the big deal?” Her trashy words and toxic “pranks” had completely drained whatever little love I had left for Ethan. There was absolutely no point in continuing this wedding. I turned around to leave the stage, intending to take my parents and walk out. But Ethan blocked my path. “Apologize to Mia right now!” “Apologize?” I laughed out loud again, completely amused by his audacity. I pointed at the giant screen. “Does that video not require an apology first?” Ethan looked back and forth between me and Mia. “She’s practically a child! Why are you being so petty?” As soon as those words left his mouth, I raised my hand and slapped him too. Before he could rage, I said calmly, “You just slapped me because of that video. Shouldn’t I return the favor?” “You—” “Ethan,” Mia whined, rubbing her bruised cheek and acting like a victim. “Chloe is way too petty. She can’t even take a joke at a party like this. How is she ever going to accompany you to high-society events in the future? Hitting me is one thing, but hitting you? She has gone too far.” Ethan looked deeply touched. The gaze he turned on her was incredibly tender. “Alright, don’t cry. But really, why are you so mischievous? Playing a prank at a wedding of all places?” His words sounded like a scolding, but his tone was pure pampering. “Well, I just figured you and Chloe already have everything,” Mia said, tilting her head. “I couldn’t think of a normal gift, so I wanted to give you a real shock.” She then turned to me with a smug, mocking look. “And Chloe, I heard that women your age love young male models. I already sent your video to a Snapchat group full of male strippers. They’re all super excited. Don’t thank me, honey!” Meeting Mia’s provocative eyes, I slapped her yet again. “Chloe Vance, you’ve crossed the line!” Ethan roared, shielding Mia in his arms like she was some precious treasure. “Do you think I won’t call off this wedding? If you keep acting like a psycho, we don’t need to get married at all!” I sneered. “I’m sorry, but a woman of my age refuses to take any disrespect. Whoever makes me miserable, I’ll make them suffer ten times worse.” “You…” Ethan was shaking with rage. “Mia already said it was a joke! Is all this really necessary?” Before I could speak, the guests in the audience couldn’t hold back anymore. “Is that even a joke? That’s straight-up cyberbullying.” “Damn, if my wife was humiliated like that, I’d probably be in jail for murder by now.” “Well, you can’t compare yourself to Ethan. After all, Mia is his precious little mentee.”

The guests spoke loudly, and Ethan’s face flushed a deep, embarrassed red. My parents stood up, their faces completely dark. They looked at Ethan’s parents and said coldly, “If your family didn’t want this marriage, you could have just said so. There was no need to humiliate our daughter like this.” My parents had been against me marrying Ethan from the very beginning. I was the one who had insisted on being with him. Now, I guess this was my karma. “Oh, Mrs. Vance, please, you misunderstand!” Ethan’s mother panicked, rushing over. “Our Ethan had nothing to do with this! It was all that brainless girl from the Hayes family!” “Yes, exactly!” Ethan’s father chimed in. They quickly tried to salvage the situation, then glared at Ethan. “What is wrong with you? Get that girl out of here right now!” Faced with his parents’ furious glares, Ethan, naturally, blamed everything on me. “Are you happy now?” he hissed. “Ruining our wedding like this. What do you even get out of this?” Blaming me? “So, in your eyes, Mia did nothing wrong?” Ethan looked guilty, but he still refused to condemn Mia. He simply muttered, “Mia, just apologize.” Mia looked at Ethan, then turned to me, rolling her eyes. “Seriously, whatever. Older women are always so dramatic. Fine, I’ll apologize. I’m sorry, okay? Happy now?” It was the most insincere apology in the world, yet Ethan patted her head. “Good girl, Mia.” “But your ex-fiancée hit me! Shouldn’t she apologize to me too?” Mia sniffled, her eyes red as she clung to him. Ethan’s heart practically melted. At that moment, he lost all his senses. He pointed at me. “Chloe, apologize to Mia.” Seeing that I remained indifferent, Mia burst into tears and ran out of the venue. Ethan didn’t hesitate for a second. He ran right after her. Before he walked out of the door, he threw a cold glare over his shoulder. “Clean up this mess yourself. After all, you’re the one who ruined it.” Ethan’s parents were completely dumbfounded. They screamed at his retreating back, “Ethan Sterling! This is your own wedding!” Ethan paused at the door, seeing his parents’ pale faces, but he only hesitated for a second. “Mia is too fragile right now. I have to go check on her.” The Sterling family was completely stunned, staring at the empty doorway in utter disbelief. True love, indeed. I couldn’t help but clap my hands. Then, I cleared my throat into the microphone. “Well, everyone, as you can see, my fiancé has found his true love. Therefore, I will do him a favor today…” I announced the cancellation of the wedding on the spot. No matter how frantically the Sterlings tried to explain, the wedding was officially over. My parents and I walked out of the venue. My dad was so furious that he immediately made a series of phone calls. With those calls, every single joint venture and project our family had with the Sterlings was put on hold. Even some of the guests at the wedding, realizing how unreliable Ethan was, decided to terminate their contracts with the Sterling Group. In short, Ethan’s little stunt with Mia had cost his family millions in a single afternoon. But simply canceling the wedding wasn’t enough to satisfy my anger. I immediately called the dean of Mia’s university. She liked playing jokes, right? I was going to play a game with her that she’d never forget. As soon as I hung up, my assistant sent me a link to a trending video on TikTok. In less than half an hour, I was already trending. Mia had recorded a video of herself, playing the victim.

“Yes, everyone, you saw that right,” Mia said in the video, looking sadly at the camera. “That was the wedding of that desperate older woman. Who would’ve thought she’d get caught cheating by her husband right at the altar? Guess what happened next?” “I heard she actually posted her own contact info in a male stripper group chat. Talk about thirsty!” “Here are the screenshots, guys.” “If any of you like wealthy older women, feel free to hit her up. I heard she’s loaded.” Mia had leaked my photos from the wedding, and she hadn’t even blurred out my phone number. Immediately, my phone began ringing off the hook. Spam calls and disgusting text messages poured in every second. I had no choice but to have my assistant get me a new SIM card. It wasn’t a huge hassle, but explaining the number change to all my business clients was going to be annoying. Whatever Mia’s goal was, she had officially messed with the wrong woman. I dialed Ethan’s number, intending to warn him that I was going to ruin Mia. But he didn’t pick up. When I called a second time, he declined it and sent a text instead. \[Are you done? Mia is so traumatized by you that she can’t even eat or drink. Are you satisfied now?\] \[I’m telling you, the wedding is off. Don’t even think about marrying me until you’ve reflected on your behavior and apologized to Mia.\] I laughed out loud. Had his parents not told him? I was the one who canceled the wedding. I replied with a single text: \[I’ve already filed a lawsuit against Mia Hayes. If you want to save her, prepare to trade your company’s shares for her freedom.\] Since the love was gone, Ethan and I only had business to talk about. Before the wedding, the financial agreements had already been drafted. Even the luxury villa Ethan and I had been living in was a pre-marital gift bought entirely by my parents. It wasn’t that the Sterlings couldn’t afford a house, but I preferred living on the south side of the city, and since my parents owned a villa there, they just let us use it. On the way home, my parents were worried I’d be heartbroken. My mom kept gently nudging me. “Chloe, sweetie, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Please don’t do anything reckless…” Seeing the worry in their eyes, I immediately held up my hand. “Mom, Dad, I promise you, I don’t love him anymore. He’s dead to me.” Hearing this, they both let out a massive sigh of relief. After dropping my parents off, I drove back to the villa. I planned to have the housekeeper pack up all of Ethan’s trash and throw it out. But the moment I pushed the door open, I saw Mia. She was wearing one of my expensive silk robes, lounging casually on my sofa. “Oh, you’re back? I thought you’d have some pride and run back to your parents’ house. Didn’t you say the wedding was off? Why are you still lurking in Ethan’s house? How shameless.” Staring at her smug, condescending face, I took a deep breath. “Maria…” “Yes, Miss Chloe, you’re back,” Maria, the housekeeper, hurried over. Seeing my furious expression, Maria looked incredibly anxious. “Mr. Ethan brought her here… I couldn’t really stop him…” “Pack up everything that belongs to Ethan Sterling. Call his family to come pick it up.” “Yes, ma’am.” With my direct order, Maria quickly gathered the other maids and started packing. Hearing this, Mia jumped off the sofa. “Are you out of your mind? The wedding is off! Do you seriously think you can steal Ethan’s house?” “Who told you this house belongs to Ethan?” I stared at Mia with a cold, piercing gaze. She sneered. “What? Don’t tell me you’re going to claim this mansion is yours?” “And you think it’s yours?” I countered. Mia lifted her chin proudly. “Yes! Ethan said he’s giving this house to me. It’s mine now.” “Great. The deed is worth ten million dollars. Are you paying for it, or is he?”

“You’re absolutely insane! Money-grubbing bitch!” Mia screamed obscenities at me for a solid five minutes. I didn’t say a single word. I just walked to the door and pressed the intercom. The police arrived ten minutes later. “Who called the police?” the officer asked. “I did,” I said, pointing directly at Mia. “This woman broke into my private property, and she’s currently wearing my stolen clothes.” Mia never expected me to actually call the cops. She instantly panicked and began screaming her twisted version of the story to the officers. I didn’t bother arguing. I simply walked over to the safe, pulled out the deed of the house, and handed it to the officer. “I am the sole owner of this property. I have no idea who she is.” That shut Mia up. Before she could even figure out what was happening, the officers handcuffed her and dragged her out for trespassing and grand larceny. Ten minutes after they left, Ethan rushed in. “Mia, baby, I’m back—” He froze when he saw me standing in the living room. “Where’s Mia?” “At the police station.” Ethan practically exploded. “What did you do?!” I remained perfectly calm. “I told you. If you want to save Mia, prepare to trade your company’s shares.” “In your dreams!” Ethan threw the strawberry cake he was holding onto the floor and ran out to chase after the police car. Maria and the maids had finished packing all of Ethan’s belongings, but nobody from the Sterling family had come to collect them. I told Maria, “Find a moving company. Ship everything to the Sterling estate. Make sure it’s cash on delivery.” Then, I called an interior designer to completely remodel the house and instructed the neighborhood security to permanently ban Ethan and his family from entering the premises. After handling all of this, I went straight to the office. Over the next few days, I was completely absorbed in severing all business ties with the Sterling Group. The Sterlings tried calling us dozens of times a day, but my parents and I ignored every single one of them. According to our mutual business associates, the Sterling Group was drowning. Virtually overnight, their market value plummeted by hundreds of millions of dollars. They went from being high-and-mighty elite capitalists to a debt-ridden company on the verge of bankruptcy. It wasn’t just because our family pulled out, but because Ethan had proven himself to be incredibly unstable. No serious investor wanted to work with a man who would ruin his own wedding for a side chick. He had dug his own grave. While his parents were working themselves to the bone trying to save the company, Ethan was still running around trying to get Mia out of jail. He didn’t care about his family’s business at all. After failing multiple times to bail Mia out, he finally swallowed his pride and came to find me. “What do you want from me, Chloe? You’re targeting my family, and you’re targeting Mia. Isn’t this all just a scheme to force me to marry you? Fine! I agree to marry you. Are you happy now?” Ethan looked like he was making the ultimate sacrifice. I looked at him, completely disgusted that he thought marrying him was some kind of prize. I shook my head. “Oh, please don’t. I wouldn’t want you to feel forced, Ethan. You and Mia deserve each other. An ‘older woman’ like me is far beneath you.” “You—” Ethan wasn’t completely stupid; he could hear the mockery in my voice. But he still tried to soften his tone. “Look, I’ll marry you. My mom said this Thursday is a good date. Let’s just do it then.” “Sure.” Realizing he was completely delusional, I decided not to waste my breath. If he wanted to humiliate himself publicly, I was more than happy to facilitate it. Over the next two days, I had my lawyer officially press charges against Mia. With solid evidence of defamation, cyber-harassment, and trespassing, it was more than enough to keep her in a cell for a long time. My assistant told me that Ethan visited her every single day. He kept telling her, “Don’t worry, Mia. I’m going to marry Chloe on Thursday. Once we’re married, she’ll have to drop the charges.” Thursday arrived quickly. The Sterling family had sent out the invitations early on. Surprisingly, a few guests actually showed up, mostly curious to see the drama. But the scheduled hour came and went, and I, the bride, was nowhere to be seen. Ethan was losing his mind, calling my phone repeatedly. I finally picked up on his fifth call. “What the hell are you doing, Chloe?! Aren’t you afraid my parents will think you’re unworthy of our family and call off the wedding?” Ethan’s furious voice screamed through the receiver. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Actually, Ethan, I agree with your parents. I really don’t think I’m worthy of your prestigious family. So, let’s call it off permanently.” I hung up immediately. No matter how many times he called back, I ignored him. Just as Ethan was about to throw a tantrum at the venue, the projector screen behind him started playing a video. After watching it, Ethan ran out of the hall like a lunatic.

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My fiancé was a commercial airline captain. He was dedicated, precise, and highly respected in his field. But when our flight hit severe turbulence and faced a potential crash, he grabbed my life jacket and gave it to his first love. Later, when I confronted him, he just looked at me with sheer impatience. “It’s not like you died, Chloe!” As I clutched my chest and collapsed, he carried his first love in his arms and walked away without looking back. He didn’t know I had a congenital heart condition. I couldn’t handle extreme stress. In the end, that flight had only one casualty. Me. 1 Panic was spreading fast in the cabin. As the lead flight attendant on this flight, I had to hold onto the handrail in the aisle just to stay upright, doing my best to calm the passengers. “Please remain seated and keep your seatbelts fastened! We are just experiencing some severe turbulence. Everything is under control!” Honestly, even I didn’t believe my own words. Turbulence was common, but violent shaking like this was highly unusual. A terrifying thought crossed my mind. Sure enough, my words did nothing to soothe the passengers. As the plane took another violent dip, the screams grew louder and more desperate. Right then, Ethan walked out of the cockpit. I was stunned to see him. “Ethan? What are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be at the controls?” He kept his head down, giving me a dismissive, half-hearted answer. “The co-pilot has the controls. I came out to help manage the cabin.” I nodded, assuming he only came out because the passengers were getting too hysterical. Even though a tiny voice in my head told me something was off, the urgency of the situation didn’t give me time to think. I immediately went back to securing the cabin. Because of that, I missed the way Ethan’s eyes drifted toward the left side of the cabin. Right where his high school sweetheart was sitting. “Ethan, quick! Put your life jacket on!” I had just grabbed my own life jacket. Before I could even put it on, I hurriedly handed the last available crew jacket to my boyfriend. The entire plane was shaking violently. It was almost impossible to stand. Ethan took the jacket from my hands and slipped it on without a second thought. I held his hand tightly, my heart hammering against my ribs. In our flight attendant training, we practiced for every emergency scenario. We knew the protocols by heart. But when real danger hit, and the ground was literally slipping from beneath my feet, fear still took over. At that moment, only one thought kept me sane. At least the man I loved was right by my side. If the worst happened, at least… we would die together. With that thought, I squeezed Ethan’s hand even harder, trying to feel his warmth. But I didn’t notice that his eyes were never on me. He was staring intensely at a woman a few rows away. “Watch out!” Ethan suddenly yelled, throwing my hand off him. He lunged toward the other side of the aisle. A heavy carry-on bag had slipped from the overhead bin. It slammed hard against his back, but he didn’t care. He was shielding a woman beneath him. Seeing the dark stain of blood instantly seeping through his white captain’s shirt, I gasped. “Ethan!” But Ethan didn’t hear my worried cry. He frantically pulled the woman up, his voice trembling with anxiety. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” The woman stared at him in a daze for a few seconds before shaking her head. “Thank you… I’m okay.” At first, I thought Ethan was just being a hero, doing his job to protect a passenger. Until my eyes accidentally fell on the passenger manifest clipboard on the nearby seat. A name jumped out at me, turning my blood to ice. 2 Lily Carter. Ethan’s first love. The girl who was with him from middle school through college, the one who defined his youth. And the one who dumped him right after graduation to chase a richer life. In that instant, the face of the woman Ethan had just risked his life to save overlapped perfectly with that name. It wasn’t a selfless act of heroism. He was just protecting his precious ex. I stood there frozen, watching him carefully shield her. My eyes stung with hot tears. The plane took another massive dip. I didn’t have time to wallow in my heartbreak. After making sure all the passengers had their life jackets secure, I could only pray in silence. I knew prayers wouldn’t fix an engine, but right now, it was all I had. The cabin was a chaotic mess, so I didn’t immediately notice that Lily didn’t have a life jacket. The two of them were whispering to each other. Then, Ethan walked over to me. He stood there, staring at me silently. I found it bizarre. “As the captain, you should be in the cockpit or at least reassuring the passengers. Why are you standing in my way?” He looked at me with a conflicted, almost embarrassed expression. But then, he opened his mouth and said something I never expected to hear from him. “Chloe… you haven’t put your life jacket on yet. Give it to one of the passengers.” I stared at him, wondering if the cabin pressure was making me hallucinate. But looking at his tightly pressed lips and guilty eyes, I knew I had heard him perfectly. I clutched my life jacket tightly to my chest and looked away. “Every passenger has a life jacket assigned to their seat. Why do they need mine?” Seeing my resistance, Ethan said defensively, “An older lady in the front couldn’t find hers. In the panic, she tried to grab Lily’s. They fought over it and ripped it. So…” “So you want me to give up mine? Ethan, do you have any idea how dangerous it is for me to be without a life jacket?!” I interrupted, my voice cracking. “If you’re so worried about her, why don’t you give her yours?” I sneered. Ethan’s face went stiff, and his guilt instantly turned into anger. “I’m the captain! If something happens to me, this plane is doomed! You’re a flight attendant. Did you sleep through your training? Put the passengers first! That’s your job!” He raised his voice, trying to convince himself as much as me. Before I could even speak, he ripped the life jacket out of my hands and walked away without looking back. I watched him hand it to Lily like a prize, receiving a look of pure adoration from her. I stood in the aisle, completely numb. It wasn’t that I refused to sacrifice for a passenger. I knew my duties. And in a real crash, a life jacket might not even save me. But the fact that Ethan—my fiancé—had physically ripped it from my hands to give it to his ex-girlfriend broke something inside me. As the only person in the cabin without a life jacket, I had to finish the flight in absolute terror, trying to keep up a professional face. Fortunately, after passing through the storm, the plane stabilized. We finally landed safely at our destination. When the last passenger stepped off, the tension that had kept me going finally snapped. The moment I relaxed, I realized my heart was racing at an alarming, dangerous speed. 3 I knew something was wrong. I needed my medication. I quickly walked out of the terminal. But not far from the airport exit, I saw Ethan walking out, his arm wrapped supportively around Lily. The sight of them brought all the anger, betrayal, and humiliation of the flight rushing back. The fury eclipsed the pain in my chest. Ignoring my wildly pounding heart, I marched straight up to them and blocked their path. “Ethan Vance, what is the meaning of this?!” Faced with my confrontation, he looked uncomfortable. He muttered dismissively, “I was just doing my job for a passenger’s safety. Don’t make a big deal out of it.” His evasive attitude made me see red. I grabbed his arm, glaring at Lily. “Don’t play games with me. I know exactly who she is. And don’t forget, Ethan—I am your fiancée!” Lily looked up at Ethan, her eyes wide with mock surprise. “She’s your girlfriend?” I noticed how she intentionally downgraded “fiancée” to “girlfriend.” Ethan angrily shook off my hand. His face was twisted with annoyance. “Are you really going to make a scene over a stupid jacket? It’s not like you died, Chloe!” Maybe it was because of my questioning, or maybe because I had exposed his relationship status in front of his precious first love. He was furious. But his words felt like a physical blade stabbing straight through my chest. My heart, which had been beating too fast, suddenly gave a violent squeeze. I couldn’t breathe. I clutched my chest, reaching out to him for help. Before I could squeeze a word out, Lily suddenly whimpered and collapsed to the ground. “Lily!” “Ethan… help me…” My faint plea was completely drowned out by Ethan’s panicked cry. His eyes were entirely focused on the woman on the ground. But I saw it. I saw Lily’s eyelashes fluttering. She was faking it. Ethan didn’t care. He scooped her up in his arms, his face pale with worry, and started running toward the exit. Using the absolute last ounce of my strength, I reached out and snagged the hem of Ethan’s jacket. “Ethan… please… I can’t breathe… help me…” Ethan turned back, his face full of disgust. His words were poison. “Are you seriously doing this right now? Lily faints, and suddenly you’re having a medical emergency too? stop being so pathetic!” “If you’re sick, call 911! I’m not a doctor!” The lack of oxygen choked off my voice. I couldn’t say another word. I collapsed onto the cold floor. In my fading vision, I watched Ethan run away, holding Lily close. He didn’t know I had a congenital heart condition. It was fatal. I curled up on the freezing floor, feeling my heartbeat slowly fade. The noise of the airport began to slip away, leaving me in absolute silence. I forced my eyelids open for one last look at the world. It looked just like any other day. Except I would never see tomorrow. Right before my eyes closed forever, I saw a couple in the distance carrying a birthday cake. A cake… what a shame. I wouldn’t get to celebrate my birthday this year. Somehow, my mind drifted back to my birthday last year. Ethan had prepared the gifts and the cake early in the morning, presenting them to me the moment I woke up. Back then, his eyes held only me. I had been so drowned in his love, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world. While I was daydreaming, Ethan had blown out the candles for me. “I wish for Chloe Summer to be happy forever, and for us to be together forever!” Three “forevers.” At least at that moment, I knew his love was real. I had playfully punched his shoulder and looked away, pretending to be annoyed. “Why are you making a wish on my birthday?” “Besides, who said I’m staying with you forever? Don’t flatter yourself.” Ethan had laughed and kissed my cheek. “Then tell me, Princess Chloe, what is your wish? Let’s see if your boyfriend can make it come true.” I relit the candles, closed my eyes, and made a silent wish: I wish for Ethan and me to have a long, happy, and safe life together. After blowing out the candles, Ethan had leaned in, begging me to tell him what I wished for. “If I tell you, it won’t come true. Secret!” Ethan had smiled, reached behind his back, and pulled out a velvet box. He dropped to one knee, looking up at me with absolute devotion. “Well, your boyfriend has a wish too. Chloe, will you marry me?” Inside the box was the exact ring I had admired in a boutique window weeks ago. Tears had rushed to my eyes. I hugged him tightly, whispering in his ear, “My wish was for us to be safe, happy, and together forever.” I guess it was true. Wishes really don’t come true once you say them out loud. Not only did we not stay together, but I couldn’t even have a safe and healthy life. With my final gasp of air, I unlocked my phone and dialed 91 But… before the ambulance could arrive, my heart slowed down from its frantic pace, flattening into a straight line. I was the only casualty of that flight.

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During a destination wedding shoot, the bride kept complaining to me. “Can you believe how clingy men can be? We already did one wedding shoot, but he wasn’t satisfied. He insisted on flying me all the way to Switzerland for another.” “He even prepared so many designer gowns. Doesn’t he get tired of posing?” As she spoke, the girl pulled up the photos on her phone to show me. My eyes swept across the groom’s familiar face, and I froze right where I stood. It wasn’t until I saw the groom’s name on the itinerary that I finally let out a breath. Julian Vance. My boyfriend’s twin brother. Years ago, when their parents got a messy divorce, Julian went with their father and became the sole heir to a massive Los Angeles real estate empire. Meanwhile, Ethan, who stayed with their mother, was just an ordinary clerk living paycheck to paycheck, barely earning enough to get by. Just last month, Ethan claimed he had rear-ended a Porsche while driving his boss’s car. He had to drain our entire joint savings, the money we had saved for our future house and wedding, to pay for the damages. I pushed down my envy, forcing myself to smile, about to offer some polite congratulations. But then, my eyes caught a behind-the-scenes photo. The man was wearing silk pajamas, and his collar was slightly parted, revealing a crescent-shaped burn scar near his collarbone. It was identical to the scar my boyfriend, Ethan, had gotten three years ago when he pulled me out of a kitchen fire.

The dressing room door was pushed open. Julian walked in. He naturally walked over to Scarlett’s side, planting a soft kiss on her cheek. “Are you done with your makeup, babe? If we wait any longer, we’ll miss the sunrise over the Alps.” He looked up and met my eyes. In that split second, I saw him freeze. It was just a momentary flicker of panic, but in that instant, I knew. He was Ethan. There was no divorced twin brother. There was only a bored, rich heir who liked to play pretend, pretending to be poor just to mess with me. Julian quickly averted his gaze, his face turning cold and composed again. “Photographer, get ready.” I clenched my fists, suppressing the urge to scream and demand answers. I raised my camera, staying professional. How pathetic. Confronted with such a devastating truth, my very first thought wasn’t even to cause a scene. It was that I couldn’t afford to lose this job. In the dressing room, only Scarlett’s playful, spoiled complaints echoed. “Didn’t you take a whole month off work just to accompany me for this shoot? I don’t believe today is the only day we’ll get a sunrise.” Julian gently patted her head with pure adoration. “Alright. Whatever you want.” My mind flashed back to a month ago. I had sent Ethan a screenshot of our savings account. I was so happy when I texted him: “Ethan, I’ve worked out the budget. We don’t need a fancy wedding shoot, and we don’t need to go to the mountains. This money is enough for our marriage license and the down payment on a small apartment!” But all I got in return, thirty minutes later, was a notification showing our account balance had been wiped to zero. Ethan had come home looking completely devastated. He told me he had crashed into a Porsche, and all our money had to go toward the deductible and out-of-pocket settlement. I had to suppress my own crushing disappointment, forcing a smile to comfort him. “It’s okay. Money can be remade. We’ll save up again, slowly.” That night, he held my hand and promised: “Chloe, the company has a project out of town for a month. Once I get the bonus, I’ll make it up to you.” So, this was his “out-of-town project.” Marrying another woman. My heart grew colder by the second, but my hands holding the camera remained steady. I kept clicking the shutter. Soon, the first shoot was over. Passing by a boutique luxury store, Scarlett’s eyes lit up. She abandoned our shooting schedule and rushed inside to try on jewelry. At checkout, Julian casually signaled his assistant. “Buy everything she tried on.” Scarlett giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I was just playing around. Why did you buy them all?” “As long as you like it.” A wave of bitter memories flooded my chest. Ethan used to hate it when I spent money. For our anniversary last year, I had merely suggested wanting a simple silver bracelet as a gift. He had stood right outside the store, his face instantly darkening. “Chloe, can you stop trying to keep up with the Joneses? We are trying to build a life here. We can’t afford to waste money on useless things.” The gift he ended up getting me was a single, discounted cupcake from the grocery store. It was strawberry flavored. He didn’t even remember that I was allergic to strawberries. Scarlett rummaged through the shopping bags, pulled out a pair of promotional gemstone earrings, and handed them to me. “Thanks for your hard work today. Here, a gift for you.” Julian frowned. “Look at how she dresses. She looks so plain. She can’t pull off those kinds of flashy earrings. Don’t waste them on her.” Scarlett hugged her shopping bags, her voice sassy. “I don’t care. I already decided to give them to her.” Julian looked like he wanted to argue, but instead, he just tugged at his shirt cuffs. I knew that gesture. It was his signature sign of extreme impatience. Whenever we argued in the past and he made that gesture, I would immediately back down and apologize. But this time, the one who backed down was Julian. He glanced at me, his eyes freezing cold. “She gave them to you. Why aren’t you taking them?” I didn’t say a word. I just stiffly reached out and took the bag. As I turned to follow Scarlett’s steps, my foot slipped on the uneven cobblestone step, and I stumbled violently. I didn’t dare let go of the camera to grab the railing. All I could do was use my body to shield the twenty-thousand-dollar equipment. In the next second, a strong pair of hands firmly caught my waist, pulling me against a hard chest.

Julian frowned, his tone sharp with irritation. “Can’t you even walk straight?” Before I could speak, Scarlett turned around. Her eyes locked onto Julian’s hands, which were still wrapped around my waist. “Well, look at you, playing the knight in shining armor.” I quickly pushed myself away from him, bowing deeply. “I am so sorry, Mr. Vance. It was my mistake.” He clearly had no intention of letting me off easy. His words were cutting. “Then pack up your things and get lost. We don’t need you here.” My colleague wanted to plead on my behalf, but I stopped them. Without another word, I handed over the camera memory cards, went back to the hotel, and immediately packed my bags. The next morning, I stood in the lobby with my suitcase, ready to head to the airport. But as soon as the elevator doors opened, I saw Julian standing near the entrance. He was wearing his cheap, worn-out clothes. His hair was messy from the wind, looking as though he had traveled a long distance in a rush. “Chloe.” The moment he saw me, he ran over. “My business trip got rerouted to Switzerland. I noticed you weren’t answering my Snapchat messages. I was worried you were having a hard time here, so I came to check on you.” Looking into those eyes full of fake concern and tenderness, I felt a sudden urge to laugh. Every single bit of misery I was experiencing was caused by him. Yet, he could stand here so effortlessly, playing the role of the worried, loving boyfriend. I couldn’t hold back the bitterness in my throat anymore. I uttered his real name: “Julian Vance.” His expression didn’t change, but his brow furrowed deeper. “What are you talking about, Chloe?” “Julian Vance. The heir to the Vance empire,” I said, word by word. “Scarlett’s fiancé. There is no twin brother. There was only ever you. You got bored of your rich life, found a regular girl, played the poor boy, and lied to me for three whole years.” His pupils dilated slightly. “When did you find out?” “Yesterday.” My eyes fell on his chest. “I saw your scar.” He fell silent for a few seconds, his throat bobbing. “Chloe, I can explain…” I looked at him calmly. “Please step aside, sir. I have a flight to catch.” Just then, a sharp, familiar voice rang out behind us. “Julian?” The elevator door opened again. Scarlett stood there, her hair disheveled, clearly having just woken up. Her gaze darted from Julian’s cheap clothes to me, and her face twisted in rage. “What the hell is going on here?” Julian turned to her, his voice immediately softening. “Scarlett, go back to your room. I’ll explain everything in a minute.” “Explain what?!” “Julian, I canceled all my modeling gigs for this shoot. You said you wanted to do this, so I came. You said you needed a month, so I gave you a month. And what do you do? You’re hooking up with a cheap photographer behind my back?!” “No, Scarlett, it’s not…” Scarlett didn’t let him finish. She furiously threw her phone at the floor. “Then why were you holding her waist yesterday? Why are you here in her hotel lobby first thing in the morning?!” Tears streamed down her face, her voice shrieking. “Have you two been sleeping together?!” The hotel staff and guests in the lobby all turned to look at us. I stood there, instinctively trying to de-escalate. “Miss Scarlett, you’ve got it wrong…” “Shut up!” Scarlett whipped her head around, her eyes burning with pure hatred. “I am talking to my fiancé! Who gave a peasant like you the right to speak? You cheap whore, trying to steal another woman’s man. Have you no shame?!” Before I could react, she lunged forward and slapped me hard across the face. I couldn’t dodge in time. The sharp diamonds on her acrylic nails ripped across my left cheek. A stinging, burning pain flared up. Something warm and wet began to trickle down my cheek. “Enough!” Julian grabbed Scarlett’s wrist, pulling her back into his arms. “I will handle this. Go back to your room right now.” Scarlett’s lips trembled, but she didn’t argue further. Julian turned to the bodyguards standing behind her. “Take her back upstairs. And get a doctor to check on her face.” “Her.” He meant me. Then, he wrapped his arm around Scarlett’s shoulders, whispering something soothing into her ear as they walked back toward the elevator. From beginning to end, Julian never looked back at me once. A bodyguard stepped in front of me, his face expressionless. “Miss, please come with us.” I gripped my suitcase, wanting to push past him, but two more towering guards blocked my path, forcing me back into my hotel room.

By the second day of my confinement in the hotel, a viral post about me blew up online. The poster claimed to be Scarlett’s close friend. They wrote a long, detailed “expose” post. The post claimed Julian and Scarlett were childhood sweethearts with a long-standing family arrangement, and that I had tried to seduce Julian during their romantic wedding shoot, only to be caught red-handed. The comment section was filled with pure toxicity. “Homewrecker,” “gold-digger,” “disgusting whore.” The insults were endless. Someone even doxed my personal information and my photography studio’s address. People started calling the studio, leaving death threats. Fearing the PR backlash, my boss sent me a termination letter via email. I wanted to defend myself, but I didn’t even know where to start. Say that I didn’t seduce him? Say that we had been together for three years, and that he had lied to me from day one? Who would believe a broke photographer over a billionaire heir? I turned off my phone and sat on the bed in silence for hours. On the third day, my phone rang. It was my mother. “Chloe, I saw the things online. Your grandma saw them too… she had a panic attack and was rushed to the hospital.” “The doctor said she needs urgent heart surgery. The deposit is twenty thousand dollars. I’ve emptied my accounts, but we’re still way short. Can you find a way?” Twenty thousand dollars. For me, that was an astronomical amount. I forced down my panic, transferring the last few hundred dollars in my account to her. “Mom, I’m coming home right now. Don’t panic, I’ll find a way to borrow the money.” After hanging up, I frantically started making calls. Friends, college roommates, former clients… I called everyone in my contact list. “Sorry, Chloe, I just paid my rent…” “I’m a bit tight this month…” “Chloe, your name is dirt on the internet right now. If I associate with you, I’ll get canceled too. I can’t help you.” After making over twenty calls, I managed to scrape together less than a thousand dollars. Clinging to my last shred of hope, I sent Julian a Snapchat message. “Let me go. My grandma is in the hospital. I need money.” The message was marked as read. No reply. I sent another: “I’m begging you.” Still, read but no reply. I called his phone. It rang for a long time before he finally picked up. He only said one thing: “I’m busy right now, we’ll talk later,” and hung up. In the second before the call cut off, I heard Scarlett’s breathless voice in the background: “Julian, don’t think this means I’ve forgiven you yet…” In the early hours of the next morning, I received a text from my mother. My grandmother had passed away. I sat on the bed like a hollow shell, unable to cry, unable to feel. I just stared blankly at the screen. Was any of this real? I was just an ordinary girl. I had no grand ambitions. I had worked hard, saving every penny with the man I loved. My family had supported us. We were supposed to get married. We were supposed to be happy. At three in the afternoon, the door finally unlocked. Julian walked in. He was wearing a bespoke designer suit. A single cufflink on his sleeve cost more than my entire life’s savings. He reached out to touch my hand, but I flinched back. “Chloe, I was dealing with Scarlett’s family yesterday. I didn’t mean to ignore your calls.” Julian rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking exhausted, as if he had truly worked all night to resolve the crisis. But right beneath his collar, there were faint, unmistakable hickeys. I laughed, though tears spilled over my eyelashes. “Julian, you lied to me for three years. Are you still trying to lie to me now?” “I’m tired. I don’t want to be your toy anymore. Please, just let me go.” Julian stepped closer, panic flaring in his eyes. “I never saw you as a toy!” “Then what was I to you?!” My voice cracked, and I screamed hysterically. “You locked me in this room for six days! My grandma was dying in a hospital bed waiting for money to save her life, and you couldn’t even reply to a single text! What was I to you?!”

He fell silent. For a very long time, he couldn’t say a word. Finally, only three words slipped from his lips: “I am sorry.” My blood ran cold. “Did you do this?” “No, it wasn’t me,” he said, looking at me desperately. “It was Scarlett. She was the one who had those articles posted. She sent people to show the posts to your grandmother to trigger her illness. She also blocked your family from getting loans.” Scarlett. A girl who had everything, yet because of a petty tantrum, she decided to destroy my entire life. “And you knew about all of this?” He didn’t deny it. I could hear my own voice trembling. “You knew everything, and you did nothing.” “I did! The moment I found out, I sent my people to handle the hospital. I already wired the surgery money to your mother’s account.” “It was just… too late.” “Yeah. Because while all of this was happening, you were busy in her bed. How could you possibly have made it in time?” A sharp ringing echoed in my ears. My body moved before my brain could think. By the time I snapped out of it, my hand had already slapped him across the face. A bright red mark bloomed on Julian’s cheek. He didn’t dodge. All the strength drained from my body, and I collapsed onto the floor, consumed by bitter self-loathing. It was all my fault. I was so pathetic, so stupid. Julian was a prominent figure; he had appeared on the cover of Forbes and financial news channels multiple times. But every time he showed me those articles, he would spin a sob story about his hatred for his father and his “evil twin brother”: “I hate my brother. He knew what a monster our father was, but he still chose the money and abandoned our mother.” And I, like an idiot, had believed every single word of his poorly written script. The room fell into a suffocating silence, save for my ragged breathing. “Julian, we’re done. Don’t ever show your face to me again.” His expression finally cracked. “No.” He grabbed my arm, his eyes filled with desperation and struggle. “Chloe, listen to me. I don’t love Scarlett, and I have no intention of marrying her. Once our family’s joint venture is complete and I take full control of the Vance Group, I will call off the engagement.” Just then, his phone vibrated. He glanced down. It was a message from Scarlett. I couldn’t see the text, but I saw how quickly his emotional panic turned back into cold calculation. “Chloe, I have to handle something. Stay here. I’ll be back for you later.” With that, he turned to leave. The moment he unlocked the door, I made a desperate dash for the exit. “Chloe!” His reflexes were too fast. He grabbed my arm, pulling me back. I thrashed violently, but his grip was like iron. In the struggle, he yanked me hard. I lost my balance and fell forward, my lower abdomen slamming violently against the sharp wooden corner of the nightstand. In that instant, a blinding, white-hot pain tore through my body. I curled into a ball on the floor, clutching my stomach as cold sweat drenched my forehead. In my blurred state of mind, I suddenly remembered that I had missed my period for the past two months. A terrifying realization hit me. I gasped, begging him. “Julian… please… take me to the hospital…” But he didn’t even turn around. He just threw a cold sentence over his shoulder: “Chloe, stop acting. I won’t let you use this as an excuse to leave me.” The door slammed shut. The click of the lock echoed through the quiet room like a death knell. His footsteps faded away down the corridor. The pain in my abdomen intensified. Warm blood began to seep out, running down my thighs. I looked down and saw blood, dark red, spreading across the beige carpet. My consciousness started to fade. The harsh white light above me dimmed, and everything went black.

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On my wedding day, my fiancée, Chloe, made an excuse and sent me to the front desk to pick up our wedding rings. When I got back, all I saw was my mother, covered in blood, being rushed into an ambulance. The doctor declared her dead at the scene. They couldn’t save her. I thought it was just a tragic accident. It wasn’t until after the funeral, when I went to find Chloe, that I overheard a conversation outside her private lounge. “Tyler, did you really prank Ethan’s mom to death? What happened?” “I was just messing with her! I told her Ethan got into a horrific car crash. Who knew the old lady would be so gullible? She panicked, ran out, fell down the stairs, and broke her neck.” “Dude, that’s a sick prank, even for you!” “Chloe knew about it too. To help me pull it off, she purposely sent Ethan away to fetch the rings.” Chloe sighed inside the room. “Nobody talk about this ever again! Let it die.” Standing outside the door, my blood ran cold. My eyes widened in disbelief. My mother’s death wasn’t an accident. She was pranked to death by Tyler Harrison. And the woman who swore she loved me had actively participated in it, helping him cover up his dirty secret. If that was the case, I didn’t want this wedding anymore. Not a single person who played a part in my mother’s death would get away with it. …

“Look, I know I messed up, okay? I won’t play that kind of joke again.” Tyler said the words, but the smug grin on his face couldn’t be hidden. I thought his friends would call him out for being a psychopath, but instead, they laughed and patted his shoulder. “Man, you’re crazy! A literal prank god.” “Don’t beat yourself up over it. It’s not entirely your fault.” “Yeah, who knew the old lady had no common sense? It was just a joke, and she rushed out without even thinking.” “Exactly! Maybe it was just her time to go. She was destined to die on her son’s wedding day anyway.” Tyler clapped his hands, looking thrilled that they appreciated his “genius.” “Chloe, listen to them! It really wasn’t my fault,” Tyler said. “The old lady just didn’t use her brain. I prank you guys all the time, right? Has anyone ever died from my jokes? No!” The others laughed and nodded, mocking my mother’s death as if it were just bad luck. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms. A burning rage consumed me. What disgusted me more was that Chloe didn’t yell at Tyler. Instead, she just shook her head with a fond, indulgent smile. Suddenly, someone yelled, “Holy shit! Is that a hickey on your neck, Chloe?” “Hahaha! Spill! Who did you spend last night with?” Chloe’s best friend teased, leaning in to inspect the mark. Tyler smirked, looking incredibly proud of himself. “Who do you think?” Everyone looked at each other. Realizing what Tyler’s smug face meant, the room erupted. “No way! You slept with her?” “Is that even a question? Ethan’s been busy running around throwing a funeral for his mom. When would he have the time or mood to sleep with Chloe?” “So Chloe got lonely and went to Tyler to get her fix. Damn.” Tyler gave the guy a thumbs-up. My heart didn’t just burn with rage; it sank into a bottomless pit of despair. What a sick joke. After my mother passed, I was so worried about Chloe feeling neglected. The moment the funeral ended, I rushed over to find her. Yet, she didn’t care about me at all. My mother died because of them, and while I was grieving, she was sleeping with the murderer, throwing salt on my bleeding wounds. “Man, Ethan is seriously pathetic.” “If he finds out Tyler’s prank killed his mom, and that you’re sleeping with Chloe, do you think he’ll sue?” Tyler laughed scornfully. “With what evidence? He has nothing. What can he do to me?”

Hearing Tyler’s arrogant voice, I couldn’t hold back anymore. I kicked the door open and stormed in. My sudden entrance wiped the smiles off their faces. Everyone froze. The entire VIP lounge went dead silent. The atmosphere became suffocatingly heavy. Only Tyler remained unfazed. He gave me a mocking smirk and leaned back, hiding behind Chloe. Chloe froze with her wine glass halfway to her mouth. She glanced at Tyler, then turned to look at me. Her voice was calm, almost indifferent, as if none of this had anything to do with her. “Is your mom’s funeral over?” I didn’t speak. I just glared at them with pure, unadulterated hatred. Chloe sighed, and the others began exchanging nervous glances. They were trying to figure out how much I had heard. “Ethan, did you hear what we were just talking about?” “Yes,” I said, my voice trembling with rage. “My mother didn’t die from an accident. She died because Tyler pranked her…” Before I could finish, Tyler jumped up and pointed a finger at me, shouting, “Hold on! What do you mean I pranked her to death? She was just stupid. She couldn’t tell a joke from reality! Have you never joked with anyone? It was her own fault she fell. Stop blaming me for her death!” “Who the hell plays with someone’s life on their wedding day?!” I roared. “And who made sure I was out of reach? Who took my phone so no one could call me?! My mother had a heart condition! She couldn’t take that kind of shock!” In the face of my fury, everyone shut their mouths, too scared to speak. Except Tyler. He grabbed a glass from the coffee table and hurled it at my head. I dodged it, lunged forward, and tackled him to the couch. I threw punch after punch. He was no match for me and was quickly pinned down. But his friends quickly jumped in to help him. Under the pretense of “breaking us up,” they grabbed my arms and pinned me down, giving Tyler a free shot to punch me in the ribs. Chloe, blind to the unfairness, stood up and screamed at me, “Enough!” “How long are you going to keep making a scene, Ethan?!” *I* was making a scene? I was trying to get justice for my dead mother, and my fiancée was protecting the killer. Oh, right. I almost forgot. She cheated on me. She slept with Tyler while I was organizing my mother’s funeral. Of course she would take his side. “Chloe, even now, you won’t apologize. You’re just helping him escape the consequences.” I ripped my arms away from the guys holding me, scanning the room of disgusting hypocrites. Maybe Chloe felt a tiny speck of guilt from my broken expression, because she turned to Tyler and said, “Tyler, just apologize to him.” Tyler scoffed, but not wanting to upset Chloe, he gave me a lazy, insincere glance. “Fine. My bad, okay? Now stop acting like a psycho.” Chloe’s smile returned as she looked at him. “And don’t play those kinds of jokes anymore, got it?” Then, she turned to me. “Tyler is young and a bit arrogant. Just let it go, Ethan. He apologized.” Every word she spoke was dripping with favoritism. It was a knife wrapped in velvet. She excused a fatal action as “being young” and expected the victim to just move on. My fingernails cut deep into my palms. It was painful, but I felt completely numb. “I don’t accept that pathetic excuse for an apology,” I said, adjusting my collar. “If a simple ‘sorry’ can solve a murder, then I guess I won’t mind ending him myself.” I walked to the door and stopped. “The wedding is off. We are done.” I slammed the door behind me, ignoring Chloe’s angry screams calling my name.

“Chloe, it looks like Ethan is actually serious this time.” “Is your wedding really cancelled?” Chloe shrugged, her voice filled with absolute confidence. “He’s just throwing a tantrum right now. Once he cools down, he’ll regret speaking to me like that. Cancel the wedding? Never. He loves me too much to ever walk away.” She then glared at Tyler. “Don’t play those jokes again. I mean it.” Tyler saw she was genuinely annoyed and quickly nodded like a good boy. Standing just outside the door, I heard every single word. It was so ironic. Tyler had once been trapped in a burning car crash, and I was the one who risked my life to pull him out. I never expected him to be such a heartless beast. He killed his savior’s mother for a laugh and slept with his savior’s fiancée. How evil did someone have to be to do that? If I hadn’t saved him back then, none of this would have happened. But there are no “what ifs” in life. Only consequences. I left the bar and immediately went to retrieve the security footage from the wedding venue. But the footage of that day was gone. Chloe had already destroyed it. No wonder Tyler was so cocky. I walked down the dark, empty street. It was past midnight. A bitter pain swallowed me whole. Right then, my phone rang. It was Chloe’s mother. “I heard you told Chloe the wedding is off. Is that true?” The Davis family had always looked down on me. Even though I worked tirelessly to help Chloe build the Davis Tech Group from a second-rate startup into one of the top tech companies in the city, they still treated me like trash. They thought Chloe deserved a billionaire, not me. When I didn’t answer immediately, Mrs. Davis grew irritated. “Are you mute?” “Mrs. Davis, watch your tone,” I said coldly. “And yes, we are over. Isn’t this exactly what you wanted?” “Hmph! Since you’re the one who called it off, don’t you dare regret it. Don’t go crawling back to her. My daughter deserves a much richer man.” I hung up. There was nothing more to say. When I finally got back to my apartment, it was 3:00 AM. To my surprise, Chloe was waiting inside. The moment she saw me, she stood up. “Where have you been? Why are you back so late? I already chewed Tyler out for you. It was an accident. To make it up to you, and because of all the hard work you’ve done for the company, I’ve decided to announce your promotion to Vice President tomorrow morning.” I looked at her, my expression dead and cold. She had no idea I had already agreed to the breakup with her mother. “Chloe, get out of my house. I need peace.” My coldness caught her off guard. I am a man with boundaries. I could never accept her cheating, and I could definitely never forgive her for helping the man who caused my mother’s death. “I didn’t just come to see you,” she said, her eyes turning red. She walked over to my mother’s memorial photo, placed a bouquet of flowers down, and bowed deeply. “I’m sorry, Sarah. Our stupid joke went too far. I really didn’t mean for this to happen.” She began to sob, making it hard for me to kick her out right then. Before she left, she looked at me with tearful eyes. “Ethan, that night… I was just so consumed by guilt. I drank too much and mistook Tyler for you.”

The next morning, I went to the office. Chloe had texted me multiple times, insisting I wear a formal suit. When I entered the building, my coworkers were whispering and pointing at me. “Mr. Miller is back!” “I heard he’s getting promoted to VP today. That’s why he had to come.” “He deserves it. No one has worked harder than him… But do you know why Chloe is suddenly promoting him?” “Oh, I know. Chloe and Tyler pranked his mom to death on his wedding day. And get this—Chloe slept with Tyler right after. She cheated on Ethan.” “Oh my god. So she’s giving him the VP title to buy his silence?” Everyone stared at me with a mix of pity and disgust, thinking I was selling my mother’s soul for a corporate title. I ignored them, carrying a heavy weight in my chest as I walked to my office. I began packing up my personal belongings. Halfway through, a colleague came to tell me the board meeting was starting. Everyone was already there. Chloe looked at me and smiled, then stood up to speak. “Everyone, thank you for coming. Today, I have a major announcement. The position of Vice President has been vacant for too long. It’s time we give it to someone with talent, dedication, and leadership.” Everyone in the room turned to look at me. In their eyes, I was the only one who fit that description. Chloe smiled warmly at me, gesturing for me to stand up. I paused, then stood. But in the next second, Chloe’s voice rang out: “Let’s welcome our new Vice President—Tyler Harrison!” “Please give him a round of applause!” The room erupted into quiet snickers and mocking whispers directed at me. “Oh my god, it’s not Ethan? Why did he stand up then?” “Hahaha, this is so embarrassing. I would literally die.” I had bled and sweat for this company for years, only for Chloe to hand my hard work to Tyler on a silver platter. She had publicly humiliated me. Tyler stood up, strutting past me. As he did, he intentionally stepped hard on my dress shoe. He leaned in, whispering so only I could hear, “You pathetic loser. Your mom was easy to fool, and you’re even easier. Chloe lost a bet to me, so she had to help me prank you guys. You have nothing.” I watched him walk to the podium. The rage in my heart crystallized into cold determination. I turned around and walked out of the conference room. Chloe tried to look after me while talking to Tyler, but Tyler held her back. I had already known her promise of a promotion was too good to be true. I walked into my office, placed my resignation letter on the desk, and pulled out my phone. I made a few quick calls to our top clients and partners, informing them that I was leaving Davis Tech Group and that none of their future projects had anything to do with me anymore. Then, I blocked Chloe on Snapchat, Instagram, and cell. I grabbed my box of belongings and walked out of the building without looking back.

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I participated in a viral Snapchat trend, pretending to make a “space-time call” to my 17-year-old self. Filled with hope, I whispered into the phone, “Ethan, what is our life like at twenty-eight? Are we married? Are we… happy?” There was a long silence on the other end. Then, Ethan’s exhausted voice came through: “Not great.” “Chloe, I’ve wasted my entire life on you.” “Do me a favor. In your parallel universe, just let me go.” I froze, almost believing I had misheard him. When I finally snapped out of it, I called my mom, crying hysterically. “Mom, I—” “I know,” my mom interrupted, letting out a gentle, pitying sigh. “You’re seventeen-year-old Chloe right now, aren’t you?” “Ethan hasn’t had it easy. He and Sienna have been deeply in love for ten years. Because of you, they’ve had to suppress their feelings all this time.” “Chloe, take my advice. In the next life, just let him be with Sienna.” The tears dried instantly on my cold face. My hands shook as I made one last call—to my sister, Sienna. On the other end of the line, she was in the middle of a passionate, breathless tryst with Ethan. She let out a muffled, trembling sob: “Chloe, please forgive me. Just tonight. He only belongs to me tonight.” “I won’t fight you for him in this life. But I beg you, in the next life, please step aside for once.” With tears streaming down my face, I hung up the phone. My heart was completely dead. Forget it. No need to wait for the next life, or some parallel universe. In this life, I would set them free.

Ethan didn’t come back until the next morning. He brought with him the faint scent of rose body wash, and the tips of his hair were still damp. As he took off his coat and hung it on the rack, he cast a casual glance at me. “Why are you up so early?” “I couldn’t sleep,” I replied calmly. After a brief pause, I spoke again. “Ethan, let’s call off the wedding.” He stiffened, turning his head to meet my slightly swollen eyes. “Are you… kidding me?” “I played a game last night,” I said, looking straight into his eyes. “A viral challenge. A space-time phone call.” Ethan’s hand froze. As he stared at me, his expression gradually shifted. “Chloe, are you testing me?” I let out a self-deprecating laugh. I hadn’t expected that his interrogation would come even before any explanation. “If I didn’t, would I have spent the rest of my life being kept in the dark like an idiot?” “Ethan.” My eyes turned red. “Are you two not disgusted by yourselves?” With a sharp *slap*, my face was whipped to the side. I held my burning cheek, utterly stunned. Ethan stared at his own hand, also frozen. It seemed he hadn’t expected himself to actually hit me. He pursed his lips tightly, drew his hand back, and looked down at me with a dark, warning gaze. “Chloe, if you have bitter words, direct them at me. I won’t tolerate anyone calling her names.” All the blood in my body rushed to my head. With tears of anger in my eyes, I raised my hand and slapped him back with all my might. “How dare you hit me!” “Ethan, not even my parents have ever laid a hand on me since I was a child!” But before my hand could land again, Ethan grabbed my arm in a death grip. He let out a cold sneer. “Your parents?” “Your parents know everything about me and Sienna. Did you know that?” “Last Thanksgiving, when you came home, before you could even sit down, your mom rushed to take you shopping, and your dad claimed he had to go buy pumpkin pie.” He leaned down close to my face, his tone dripping with mockery. “Your entire family was helping cover for us.” It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck me. I snapped my head up, staring at him in utter disbelief. He released me with a contemptuous smirk. “Wake up, Chloe.” “If I were you, I’d use whatever guilt I still have left for you as your future husband.” “After all, even your own parents don’t love you.” I collapsed heavily onto the floor, tears pouring down my face. “Why…” I gasped, struggling to lift my head. “Why do this to me?” “Ethan,” my voice shook violently. “I’m not a desperate clinger.” “If you really wanted to be with Sienna, I could have accepted it! I could have broken up with you, cancelled the wedding, and let you marry her!” “Why did you have to hide it from me? Why did everyone have to conspire to keep me in the dark!” “Go be with her! Why do you still want to marry me?!” I screamed in despair, my heart aching so intensely it felt like I was dying. He looked down at me from his height. After a long silence, he let out another cold laugh. “Why else? Do you actually think it’s because I love you?” He bent down, wiping the tears from my chin, making a clicking sound of pity and disdain. “Sienna is your older sister. She’s a single, divorced mother, and she already has a hard life.” “I don’t want her to suffer any judgment from others.” “If our wedding is called off and I immediately end up with her, how do you think our relatives will look at her?” “So…” He gripped my shoulders, his voice sweet but incredibly cruel. “Chloe, I can’t bear to let her suffer, so I have to make you suffer instead.” I stared at him, my whole body turning ice-cold. “So your plan is to use our marriage as a cover-up so you can secretly sleep with my sister?” “Smart girl,” he said, playfully pinching my nose. “So you’ll cooperate, right?” I slapped his hand away violently and yelled in rage: “Ethan, what makes you think I will just sit here and let you guys manipulate me?” “Oh, you will,” he smiled, pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket and laying it in front of me. “Your checkup from last week. You’re pregnant.” “Chloe, this is our child. Our first baby. You conceived when you were still full of hope for our marriage, when you loved me the most.” “You wouldn’t want him to grow up without a father, would you?” “Besides, you love me so much. We’ve been together for ten years. You gave me your entire youth. Can you really bear to cancel this wedding?” “Even if you do, who would want a single, pregnant woman?”

I picked up the pregnancy report, my hands shaking so much I could barely hold it. Tears poured down, blurring my vision. Suddenly, I burst into laughter, my tears dripping onto the paper. “Ethan, you really are ruthless.” He smiled, gently stroking my hair with a mix of warmth and absolute malice. “Good girl, Chloe. You don’t have a choice.” “Just remember, don’t let Sienna know you found out about this. I don’t want her to carry any psychological burden, understand?” I stared at his threatening, protective expression, feeling as if I were seeing him for the very first time. He stood up smoothly and walked right over me without a backward glance. I rushed into the bathroom and threw up violently into the toilet. A wave of intense nausea surged up from my stomach. I couldn’t tell if the burning pain was coming from my heart or my gut. I knelt on the cold floor, trembling all over, laughing and crying at the same time. Finally, with mechanical movements, I took out my phone, stopped the voice recorder, and saved the entire conversation. Then, I booked the earliest appointment for an abortion. Ethan was wrong. I did have a choice. As long as I was more ruthless and reckless than him, I could choose. The next day was supposed to be the day we went to City Hall to sign our marriage license. Ethan called me repeatedly, but I didn’t answer. Eventually, Sienna called me. “Chloe,” her voice was gentle, laced with a bit of sisterly playfulness. “Today is the day you sign the license. How can you throw a tantrum and not show up?” “Did you and Ethan have a fight? I’ll scold him for you, okay? Just be a good girl and come get registered.” I listened to her voice in a daze. She sounded like an entirely different person from the woman who was moaning in Ethan’s arms the other night. For a moment, I wished that night had just been a terrible nightmare, and that once I woke up, Sienna would still be my loving sister, and Ethan would still be my dependable fiancé. But alas… Leaning against the hospital bed, I spoke in a hoarse voice: “I’m sick. I can’t make it.” “Tell Ethan we’ll do it another day.” I hung up immediately and opened the dashcam app on my phone, which was synced to Ethan’s car. The video stabilized. It showed Ethan and Sienna inside the car. Sienna looked worried. “Ethan, what’s wrong with Chloe? Why is she acting up out of nowhere?” “Do you think she found out about us…” “No way,” Ethan leaned over to kiss her lips. “She’s too stupid to notice anything.” “Even if she did, she wouldn’t dare do anything,” he said with absolute confidence. “Sienna, I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Sienna still looked anxious. “But if she doesn’t sign the license, how are we going to…” “Then we won’t sign it. The wedding ceremony will still go on as planned anyway, just for show,” Ethan said lazily. Suddenly, he looked at Sienna with deep intensity. “Sienna, let’s get married.” Sienna gasped. “What did you say?” Ethan pulled her into his chest. “I’ll give her the ceremony, but I’ll sign the license with you.” “From now on, you will be my only true wife.” On the other side of the screen, my breath caught. I already knew they were dirty. But seeing the man I once loved with all my heart look at another woman—my own sister—and say those words still pierced my heart like a dagger. On the screen, Sienna’s eyes welled with tears. She nodded instinctively, then shook her head rapidly. “No, we can’t. We’ve already wronged Chloe so much. This… this is too cruel to her.” “And isn’t it cruel to reject me?” He leaned closer. “Sienna, are you going to choose your sister over me?” Sienna struggled, her face twisted in pain. Finally, as if making a monumental, tragic decision, she nodded. “Okay. We’ll sign the license.” “Even if we have to annul it or divorce later, I don’t care.” She looked at him with tears in her eyes, as if she were a martyr sacrificing herself. “Ethan, in this life, we can at least say we were husband and wife once.” They gazed into each other’s eyes, locked in a deep, passionate kiss. On the other side of the screen, my tears fell like rain.

This was the sister I thought loved me most, and the man I thought was my soulmate. Blood ties, sacred vows—all of it was a joke. And I was the biggest joke of all. I closed my eyes and let the nurses wheel me into the operating room. Three days later, on the morning of the wedding. I sat in front of the vanity mirror, watching my mom gently style my hair. Her expression was warm and loving, showing no sign of guilt whatsoever. Suddenly, I spoke up. “Mom, do you think I’ll be happy?” My mom’s hand paused. She looked up to meet my eyes in the mirror, her gaze a mix of irritation and helplessness. “Chloe, you’re marrying the man you love most. How could you not be happy?” “Think about Sienna…” She stopped herself, unable to finish the sentence. The corner of my mouth twitched. If I didn’t know the truth, I would have assumed she was referring to Sienna’s failed past marriage. But now, I knew all too well what she meant. She meant that I had stolen Sienna’s happiness. I had taken her lover. My parents had always favored Sienna. I knew that. They always said having an elder daughter and a younger son was the perfect family structure, but since I was a second daughter, I was just an extra. But I never imagined their favoritism could go this far. To help their eldest daughter cheat with their younger daughter’s fiancé. Without a shred of remorse, they even blamed me for stealing their eldest daughter’s happiness. “Yeah,” I sighed. “I’m marrying the man I love most.” “But does he love me the same way?” “Mom,” I tilted my head to look at her. “Do you love me as much as I love you?” My mom froze. For a split second, I clearly saw a flash of panic in her eyes. But she quickly recovered her composure. “Of course,” she smiled warmly, her mask flawless. “A mother always loves her children more than anything.” “It’s just that Sienna wasn’t as lucky as you, so I can’t help but look out for her a bit more.” My heart turned to stone. Watching me marry a treacherous man, conspiring with everyone to deceive me, and yet she called me “lucky.” Meanwhile, Sienna, who had secretly signed the marriage license with Ethan and was legally his wife, had to hide her relationship to avoid public scandal. And that was called “unlucky.” How could a parent’s heart be so twisted? “Chloe,” she said with a loaded tone, “I want to remind you that nothing in this world is perfect, and no marriage is flawless.” “Sometimes, being content with what you have and not being too greedy is the key to a peaceful life, okay?” I curled my lip in mockery. Was this a mother’s blessing? Or was it a pre-emptive warning? She was telling me that even if I discovered something in the future, I shouldn’t make a scene. I should just shut up and live with it. I lowered my gaze, hiding the coldness in my eyes. “I understand.” Satisfied, my mom smiled and went downstairs to greet the guests. I slowly opened the drawer and gripped the USB drive in my palm. Outside, the wedding party had arrived, and the car horns were blaring. The bridesmaids laughed and swarmed toward the door of the bridal suite to playfully block the groom. Only Sienna remained still, standing quietly by my side. I looked at her eyes. Her makeup was slightly smudged; she had been crying. She was wearing a long, white lace dress. Unlike the other bridesmaids, she looked more like a bride. Outside, the groomsmen laughed and shoved, finally pushing the door open. Ethan walked in, looking triumphant. He took large strides forward. And then, bypassing me entirely, he scooped Sienna up in his arms. The bridesmaids gasped. The groomsmen, completely oblivious, burst into laughter and patted his shoulder. “Wrong bride, Ethan! Wrong bride! Your bride is sitting on the bed!” “We know Sienna looks like Chloe, but you can’t just carry her away!” Everyone laughed off the awkward moment. Ethan slowly let Sienna down, looking at her with lingering affection. “Ah, my mistake.” He turned to look at me, his eyes narrowing with a subtle threat. “Chloe, you don’t mind, right?”

I stared at him, my fingernails digging deep into my palms. Only I knew what he really meant: marrying me was his mistake. He hadn’t carried the wrong person. From the very beginning, the only one he wanted to hold was my sister. “I don’t mind,” I said, my voice so calm it surprised even myself. The corner of his mouth ticked up, clearly pleased with my compliance. When it was time to leave, I held up my wedding gown and went toward the back seat of the limo. Ethan, already sitting inside, glanced at me and ordered: “Go sit in the front passenger seat. Let Sienna sit in the back.” I paused, looking up at him. Having a bridesmaid sit with the groom in the back while the bride sat alone in the front was unheard of. He was intentionally humiliating me. “Why?” I clenched my fists. “Do you really need a reason?” he sneered. “Sienna gets carsick easily. Is that enough?” Carsick? Everyone knew that sitting in the front passenger seat was better for motion sickness. Several of the groom’s relatives who came to assist with the wedding gave me amused, mocking looks. My parents stood nearby, completely ignoring the situation as if they hadn’t heard a thing. Ethan leaned in closer, lowering his voice. “Baby, for the sake of the baby in your womb, just bear with it. I promise you’re still the main event today.” “But you can’t expect to get me without paying some price, right?” The baby. He was still using the baby as leverage. I looked into his eyes and smiled coldly. “Sure.” I silently picked up my skirt, got out of the back, and sat in the front passenger seat. And my sister, without saying a word or looking at me, naturally slid into the back seat next to Ethan. She even playfully bumped my shoulder as she walked past, as if she were throwing a childish tantrum. Between her sister and a man, she always chose the man. When they slept together, when they signed the license, and now. The bridal motorcade set off toward the venue. In the rearview mirror, I saw the two of them secretly holding hands, their fingers tightly intertwined. Sienna’s face was solemn, her head turned to the window as she fought back tears. Ethan stared at her with eyes full of heartache. What a pair of tragic lovers. I coldly looked away. Why cry? I’ll set you free in a moment. … Finally, it was time for the ring exchange ceremony. Sienna held the ring box, walking down the aisle with grace and poise. The guests on both sides whispered among themselves. “Why is the maid of honor wearing white? Isn’t that clashing with the bride’s dress?” “Yeah, if I didn’t know better, I’d think she was the bride.” “Probably just wants to steal the spotlight…” But it was only minor gossip; no one truly cared. Ethan took the female ring and went to slide it onto my ring finger. It was loose and clearly didn’t fit. I stared at the ring and suddenly spoke aloud: “This isn’t my ring.” Ethan’s brows furrowed in annoyance. “Chloe, don’t make a scene. We’re in the middle of the ceremony.” I looked up at him, raising my voice so everyone could hear: “I said, this isn’t my ring.” In the next second, I grabbed Sienna’s hand and slid the ring onto her finger. The camera feed instantly projected a close-up on the giant screen. Everyone could see clearly that the wedding ring fit Sienna’s ring finger perfectly. The crowd gasped in shock. Sienna’s face went pale. She tried to pull her hand back, but I held on tight. Ethan glared at me with a furious expression, whispering through gritted teeth: “Chloe, have you lost your mind?” “Think about your baby! Do you want him to grow up without a father?” “Do you want to be a pregnant, rejected woman that nobody wants?” He sneered, confident he had me trapped. “You’d better use your brain before you do something stupid.” “Ruining this wedding does no good for either of us.” “You mean it does no good for *you*,” I corrected him gently. “What?” He was stunned. “You’re the one who needs this marriage as a cover-up, not me.” “And that baby won’t grow up without a father.” “Because,” my smile turned ice-cold, “he’s already gone.” His expression shattered. “What did you say?” “What do you mean? Chloe, make yourself clear! What happened to the baby?!” I smiled and remained silent. Suddenly, the big screen went black. Then, my mom’s voice echoed through the entire hall from the speakers:

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On our seventh wedding anniversary, I came home early from my academic fellowship abroad. When I pushed open the bedroom door, I didn’t find a welcoming surprise. Instead, I saw my professor husband, Julian Vance, conducting a “hands-on anatomy lesson” with his favorite female graduate student. “Mrs. Vance, please don’t get the wrong idea,” The girl, wrapped only in our bedsheets, stammered, “Professor Vance was just… helping me with my thesis data. He was personally guiding me…” “Oh? Since when does the Department of Life Sciences require professors to get naked on their wedding beds to guide research?” Suddenly, the girl clutched her stomach and dry-heaved. Julian immediately shielded her behind his back. “She’s pregnant!” he snapped. “Don’t you dare stress her!” What a familiar scene. Three years ago, when I miscarried our child, Julian was busy “guiding students” in his lab. He didn’t even pick up my calls. Now, he was gently cradling another woman’s pregnant belly, glaring at me with pure hatred. “Clara,” he pointed toward the door, “get out. Don’t disrupt our research.” Fine. I turned around, pulled out my phone, and called the Chancellor. “I’d like to report Professor Julian Vance from the Department of Life Sciences for severe academic and professional misconduct.” “Proof?” I looked back at the panicked couple on my bed. “He’s currently in my bedroom, performing a live demonstration. Would you like a FaceTime link?”

For our seventh wedding anniversary, I finished my academic exchange in Berlin a week early. I hadn’t told Julian I was coming home. I was carrying a box of pastries from his favorite local bakery, eagerly imagining the thrilled look on his face when he saw me. Seven years. We went from college sweethearts to husband and wife. We had gone from sharing stale bread in a cramped, rented studio to him becoming the youngest tenured professor in the Department of Life Sciences. I had survived every single hardship by his side. Everyone in our academic circle called us the golden couple. The cab pulled up in front of our apartment building. I looked up at our window. The lights were on. He was home. The moment I unlocked the front door, the unmistakable sounds of heavy breathing and soft moans crashed into my ears. On the entryway floor lay a trail of discarded women’s clothes. Next to them was a man’s dress shirt—the anniversary gift I had bought Julian just last month. My brain went completely numb. The box of pastries slipped from my hand, hitting the hardwood floor and bursting open. Through the half-open bedroom door, two bodies were rolling around on my wedding bed. My husband, Julian, who claimed he was “working late at the lab,” was actually right here, performing a highly primitive “life sciences experiment” with another woman. “Professor Vance… is… is this the right way to do it?” “Right there… feel the rhythm… yes, keep track of that sensory feedback…” Julian’s voice was deep, filled with a raw lust and urgency I had never heard before. I kicked the door wide open. The girl shrieked, frantically grabbing the duvet to cover herself. She revealed a panicked, youthful, and pretty face—Chloe Miller, the graduate student Julian always praised as his most promising protege. Julian reacted even faster. He practically bounced off the bed. He grabbed his trousers from the floor and scrambled to pull them on. “Clara?! What… what are you doing here?!” He was actually demanding answers from me. Chloe, wrapped in my sheets, began to cry, tears streaming down her face. “Mrs. Vance… please, don’t get the wrong idea… Professor Vance was just helping me correct my thesis data. He was guiding my hands-on experiment… we were just doing schoolwork…” Schoolwork? On my bed? As if reminded by her words, Julian straightened his back. His tone turned righteously indignant, as if I were the intruder. “Clara! Since when did you become so vulgar and unreasonable?! How dare you insult a basic academic discussion with your filthy mind?!” My eyes fell on a thick copy of *Molecular Biology* tossed on the nightstand—and the corner of a black lace thong sticking out from underneath it. Suddenly, I laughed. I was shaking so hard from anger, yet a cold laugh escaped my throat. “So, Professor Vance,” my voice was so calm it terrified me, “your academic guidance requires you to strip naked on our wedding bed?” Julian’s face flushed red, then turned an ugly, pale color. Before he could lie further, I unlocked my phone. The screen lit up with a crystal-clear photo: backstage at a major international science conference, Julian and Chloe were locked in a passionate kiss, his hand slid deep inside her formal blazer. “Why don’t you explain this instead?” I stared at his suddenly bloodless face. “Is this ‘academic exchange’ which won you the ‘best collaborative research award’ some new kind of study?” The air in the room froze. Right then, Chloe suddenly clutched her mouth, dry-heaving violently as her face turned pale. Julian lunged forward to hold her. “That’s enough, Clara! She’s pregnant! You can’t stress her like this! If you have a problem, take it out on me!” Pregnant. Those words felt like an ice pick dipped in poison, stabbing straight into my chest. How incredibly familiar. Three years ago, I was pregnant with our child. Because I had spent weeks working late to help him compile his research data, I miscarried from sheer exhaustion. When I called him from the emergency room, he was in the lab “guiding students.” He didn’t even pick up. Later, he only said coldly, “It was a critical moment for my research. Why were you so careless?” And now, he was cradling another woman’s pregnant stomach, screaming at me to protect her. The last warmth in my heart died right then and there.

Looking at his handsome face, twisted with rage and defensiveness, I felt utterly disgusted. He looked like a complete stranger. “Julian,” my voice sounded eerily quiet, “you make me sick.” He pointed to the door. “Clara, get out! Now! Don’t disrupt our work!” Our work. Fine. I turned around slowly, without giving him or the weeping girl another glance. I walked into the living room, my cold fingers dialing the Chancellor’s personal number. The call connected almost instantly. “Hello? Who is this?” “Hello, Chancellor Andrews. This is Clara Sterling, Professor Julian Vance’s wife.” My voice was steady, polite to a chilling degree. “I am calling to formally report Professor Julian Vance for severe academic misconduct, trading grades for sexual favors, and maintaining an ongoing inappropriate relationship with his graduate student.” There was a stunned silence on the other end. “What? Report Professor Vance? Mrs. Vance… are you sure? Do you have proof?” Proof? I looked back at the bedroom doorway. Julian was peering out anxiously, with Chloe hiding behind his shoulder. I spoke clearly into the receiver: “Proof?” “He’s currently in my bedroom, on my bed, giving a live demonstration with his student, Chloe Miller.” “Would you like me to start a FaceTime stream for you?” The phone went dead silent for a few agonizing seconds. I could only hear the Chancellor’s heavy, stunned breathing. “Mrs… Mrs. Sterling…” Chancellor Andrews finally found his voice. “Is… is what you’re saying absolutely true? This is not a joking matter!” “Every word is true.” My voice remained ice-cold. “Both the witnesses and physical evidence are right here. If the university needs it, I can send over photos of Professor Vance and his student hooking up backstage at the conference, alongside a live description of their current state in my bedroom.” “No! Stop!” Julian finally snapped out of his shock. He charged at me like a madman, trying to claw the phone out of my hands. “Clara! You’re insane! Hang up! Do you have any idea what this will do to me? It’ll ruin everything!” I stared at him coldly. “Are you scared now, Professor? When you brought your student to our wedding bed, did you not think about the consequences?” On the other end of the line, the Chancellor clearly heard Julian’s hysterical shouting. “Mrs. Sterling, please stay calm! I am contacting the Title IX office, the Ethics Committee, and campus security immediately! Please preserve all evidence! We are sending a team to your apartment right now!” “Thank you, Chancellor. I’ll be waiting.” I hung up. The living room fell silent, save for Julian’s ragged breathing and Chloe’s muffled, desperate sobbing. Julian collapsed onto the floor like a pile of wet garbage, his hands buried in his hair. “It’s over… it’s all over… Clara… how could you be so ruthless?” “Ruthless?” I looked down at him. It was like looking at a cockroach. “Julian, compared to what you did to me, compared to what you did to our seven-year marriage, this isn’t even the interest on the debt you owe me.” I walked over to the sofa, sat down, and poured myself a glass of ice water. I drank it slowly, waiting. Every passing second was agonizing torture for Julian and Chloe. Chloe began to babble, begging me through her tears. “Mrs. Vance… I’m sorry… I really am… it was Professor Vance… he forced me… he said he wouldn’t let me graduate if I didn’t sleep with him… please let me go… I’m still so young…” Julian whipped his head around, glaring at her with venom. “What the hell are you talking about?!” Watching them turn on each other was truly a beautiful sight. About twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang sharply. I stood up and opened the door. Standing outside was Chancellor Andrews, his face dark with rage, alongside the head of the Title IX office, university legal counsel, and two campus security officers. “Mrs. Sterling…” the Chancellor spoke, his voice heavy. I stepped aside to let them in. “Please, come in. They’re in the bedroom.”

The group filed into the apartment. When they saw Julian slumped on the floor and Chloe shivering under the sheets in the bedroom, surrounded by chaos, their expressions turned incredibly grim. The evidence was undeniable. No explanations were needed. The Title IX officer took a deep breath, walked up to Julian, and said coldly, “Professor Vance, put some clothes on immediately. You need to come with us to the administration office for a formal investigation.” Julian looked as if his soul had been sucked out. He put on his clothes like a robot. Chloe was also told to get dressed and was escorted out. She was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, repeating “I’m sorry” and “I was forced” over and over again. Before leaving, Chancellor Andrews walked over to me. His voice was heavy with apology. “Mrs. Sterling, the university is deeply shocked and saddened by this. We will conduct a thorough investigation, and there will be no leniency. On behalf of the university, I offer my deepest apologies for the pain this has caused you and your family.” I simply nodded. The crowd ushered a despondent Julian and a hysterical Chloe out of the apartment. The place instantly became quiet. Seven years of love had ended in the ugliest way possible. But I knew this was only the beginning. The university’s investigation, the public scandal, the division of assets… A much longer and harder battle was waiting for me. Julian wouldn’t just sit back and take it. His mentor, who cared about reputation more than life itself, and the other faculty members whose interests were tied to Julian, would definitely try to strike back. I pulled out my burner phone—thankfully, I had prepared beforehand. I dialed a number. “Hello? Is this the investigative reporter from the *Academic Watch*?” “Yes, speaking.” “I have an exclusive scoop on a top-tier Life Sciences professor at Bayview University. It involves severe academic fraud, embezzlement of research funds, and sexual exploitation of students. The evidence is solid. Are you interested?” An excited voice came from the other end. “Absolutely! Who am I speaking with?” “It doesn’t matter who I am,” I said, looking out at the dark city skyline, a cold smile touching my lips. “What matters is that the truth needs to be told.” “See you on the front page tomorrow.” The next morning, I turned on my burner phone. Instantly, it exploded with notifications. Hundreds of missed calls. They were from Julian, his mentor, our mutual friends, and even some distant relatives I barely knew. My Snapchat and messages were completely flooded. Pleas, accusations, threats, demands… it was a complete circus. Julian’s messages started with furious threats: *“Clara, you fucking bitch, you ruined me! If I go down, I’m taking you with me!”* Then they turned into pathetic begging: *“Honey, I’m so sorry. I was stupid, it was a temporary lapse of judgment. Please give me another chance. I can’t live without you…”* And finally, desperate curses: *“You cold-hearted bitch! I hope you burn in hell!”* I scrolled through them with an expressionless face, feeling absolutely nothing. Then, Dr. Arthur Lewis, Julian’s mentor, called me. His tone was accusatory. “Clara, how did things get this far? Julian made a mistake, yes, but young men falter. You have to look at the bigger picture! His academic future, the reputation of our department—they can’t be destroyed over a domestic dispute! Why couldn’t you resolve this behind closed doors? Why drag it out to the public and make us a laughingstock?” I sneered. The bigger picture? A laughingstock? My marriage and my life were apparently nothing more than a tiny footnote in their precious “bigger picture.” I opened my news app. As expected, the story by *Academic Watch* was already viral. *“Scandal at Elite University! Vanguard Fellowship Nominee Caught Performing ‘Anatomy Lesson’ on Wedding Bed!”* *“Academic Ethics Shattered! Famous Professor Exposed by Wife for Fraud and Sexual Exploitation!”* *“Leaked Backstage Photos at Science Conference Reveal Shocking Behavior!”* The headlines were incredibly dramatic. Although the faces of Julian and Chloe were pixelated, the background and clothing were distinct. Anyone in the academic community could recognize them in a heartbeat. The comment sections were a warzone. People were bashing academic corruption, expressing sympathy for me, calling Julian a monster, and a few trolls were questioning my motives, asking why I hadn’t reported him sooner. The story was spreading even faster than I had anticipated. But this was exactly what I wanted. To blow this up so spectacularly that the university couldn’t possibly sweep it under the rug. To ensure Julian was completely ruined, with zero chance of recovery. Right then, an unknown local number flashed on my screen. I hesitated for a moment, then picked up.

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