Author: Momo Chan

The day Julian Hayes brought me back from that underground auction, he stood over me, cold and imperious. “I only bought you because I needed a new plaything. Don’t flatter yourself thinking I still have feelings for you.” I knew he hated me. He hated me for breaking our engagement years ago when he was at his lowest, stripped of his inheritance and dignity. So, even when he showered me with expensive gifts and affection later, I never forgot my place: just a toy. Toys don’t get to have babies. So when I found out I was pregnant, I kept it a secret. The day he left to pick up his “first love” from the airport, I didn’t make a scene. I quietly packed my bags and vanished. I thought he wouldn’t care. But later, I heard the rumors. That night, Julian tore the city apart, like a madman, looking for the woman he claimed he despised. 1 I was bored, scrolling through TikTok on the couch. The moment I opened the app, Julian’s face filled the screen. He’d been at a major business summit the past few days, and footage of him was everywhere. With his sharp jawline, tailored suit, and commanding presence, the comment section was flooded with thirsty fans calling him “Daddy” and “Husband.” But the internet detectives were quick. In one interview clip, someone zoomed in on his neck. There was a very distinct, very red bite mark just above his collar. The “Daddy” comments instantly turned into heartbroken wails. Who is the lucky girl eating that good?! She really went for the jugular. That mark hasn’t faded in days. Someone was hungry. Reading the comments, my face burned. I couldn’t help but remember the night before he left for the summit. He held me like a child, but his energy was relentless, almost desperate. He said he needed to “stock up” for the days he’d be gone. I was exhausted, crying, begging him to stop, but he just kept whispering things in my ear, not slowing down. In a fit of frustration, I bit down hard on his neck. Pain didn’t stop him. It only seemed to fuel him. That night, I genuinely thought I might not survive him. The next morning, Julian stood in front of the mirror, tracing the bruise with his fingertips. He stared at it for a long time. I thought he was annoyed. “I’m sorry,” I said, walking up behind him. “I can cover it with concealer.” “No need,” he replied instinctively. “Leave it. I like it.” Then he seemed to remember who he was talking to. He paused, his expression cooling. “Don’t overthink it. I just mean… it saves me a lot of unnecessary trouble. Works as a deterrent.” My heart sank a little. So, it was just a shield against unwanted advances. For a second, I thought he actually liked the mark I left on him. 2 I shook off the memory and looked back at the phone. In the video, a bold reporter asked the question everyone was dying to know: “Mr. Hayes, are you married?” Usually, Julian ignored personal questions. But this time, he smiled. “Not yet. But… it should be soon.” The reporter gasped. “Wow, congratulations! Can you tell us about your fiancée? What is she like?” Julian looked directly into the camera. “If the proposal goes well, I’ll introduce her to everyone.” My heart skipped a beat. Who was he proposing to? Me? Just then, I heard the maids gossiping in the hallway. “Did you hear? Miss Liang is coming back to the States soon.” The spark of hope in my chest was instantly extinguished. Right. How could it be me? I was the woman who kicked him when he was down. Miss Liang—Elena Liang—was the heiress who extended a hand to pull him out of the mud when everyone else turned their backs. Any sane man would know who to choose. 3 My father and Julian’s father were college roommates. Because we were born on the same day in the same hospital, they jokingly promised we’d get married one day. Years later, the Hayes family empire grew massive in New York. My dad, eager to climb the social ladder, wanted to make that joke a reality. Before I met Julian for the first time, my dad drilled it into me: “Be charming. Make him like you.” I was a bratty kid. “No way. Kissing up to people is for losers.” Then I saw Julian walking toward me. He was pale, delicate, and devastatingly beautiful, like a little prince from a storybook. I changed my mind immediately. Guess I’m a loser then. I ran up to him, eyes sparkling. “Hi! I’m Nina. What’s your name?” Julian looked at me warily and didn’t speak. “My dad said we’re engaged,” I announced. “That means you’re my future husband. And since your last name is Hayes, I’m gonna call you Hubby Hayes!” “Hubby Hayes! Hubby Hayes!” I chanted, jumping around him. Julian froze, a pink flush spreading across his porcelain cheeks. Adults started looking over, amused by the loud little girl and the mortified boy. “Stop yelling!” he whispered, covering my mouth. “I’ll… I’ll tell you. I’m Julian.” He dropped his hand. I grinned. “Hubby Julian, you have a pretty name!” He turned beet red. “You… you’re impossible!” He stormed off. I chased right after him. “Hubby Julian! Wait for me!” … I pestered him for years, all the way until our families officially announced the engagement. But the girl who chased him, who swore she’d marry him… she was also the one who walked into his house after his father died and the vultures stripped his family of their assets. I walked in and broke the engagement. For Julian, who was already drowning, it was the final blow. I’ll never forget that day. When he saw me, his eyes lit up with a fragile hope. And when I said “It’s over,” I watched the light die, replaced by a shattered, hollow despair. After that, he came to my house. He stood outside my gate for hours, in the rain, in the wind. Just wanting to see me. My dad asked, “Do you want to see him?” I swallowed the agonizing lump in my throat. “No.” Dad smiled, satisfied. “That’s my smart girl.” Eventually, Dad got tired of Julian’s persistence. He sent security to drive him away, using the cruelest, most humiliating insults imaginable. It worked. After that day, Julian Hayes vanished from my life. … I thought our paths would never cross again. But karma is real. My dad made bad investments and racked up millions in debt. He jumped off a bridge. My uncle took me in, pretending to care, only to sell me to an underground trafficking ring to pay off his own debts. That’s where Julian found me. He bought me. When he brought me back to his penthouse, he looked down at me with ice in his eyes. “I was in the market for a pet. Don’t think this means I forgive you, or that I still care.” I knew he hated me. So I played the part. The obedient pet. But I heard stories. I heard that Julian, who had just reclaimed his empire and was still fighting for stability, made enemies with the powerful Jiang family just to secure my bid at that auction. I heard that my uncle’s ruin—and the prison sentence that followed—was entirely Julian’s doing. These things… they made me hope. They made me fantasize that maybe, just maybe, he still loved me. … I shook my head, forcing the thoughts away. Stop it, Nina. If he loved anyone, it was Elena Liang. The Liang Corp heiress who saved him when I abandoned him. 4 “What are you thinking about?” A deep voice rumbled above me. I looked up to find Julian staring down at me. “Thinking about you,” I answered instinctively. Julian raised an eyebrow. He sat next to me on the sofa and pinched my cheek. “Seducing me?” He smirked. “A few days away and your techniques have improved.” My face heated up. He always did this. When I first moved in, I walked out of the bathroom in full-length flannel pajamas. He stared at me darkly and asked, “Who are you trying to tempt dressed like that?” Another time, I dissolved a Vitamin C tablet for him. He sneered, “Drugging me? I knew you had ulterior motives.” I learned to just shut up. Explaining never worked. 5 Julian was back, which meant my nights belonged to him. He kept me up until the early hours of the morning. My body was exhausted, and my mind was bitter. Men really can separate sex and love, I thought. He’s planning to propose to another woman, but he’s still using me like this. Scumbag. “Focus,” he growled, gripping my chin. “You have the nerve to zone out right now? Nina, you’re getting bold.” “I haven’t even punished you for watching thirst traps earlier.” Turns out, he saw my phone screen. Earlier, to hide the video of him, I refreshed my feed, and the first thing that popped up was a shirtless guy dancing. “It was the algorithm! I’m innocent!” I cried, clinging to his neck. He ignored my pleas and carried me to the floor-to-ceiling mirror. He sat me on his lap, facing the glass. One arm wrapped around my waist, the other forcing my chin up so I had to look at our reflection. He bit my earlobe. “Watch closely. Watch how I own you.” … Afterward, I slept like the dead. I didn’t feel him slip a ring onto my left ring finger while I slept. He examined my hand, whispering to himself, “A little loose. I’ll get it resized tomorrow.” He took the ring back, then pinched my cheek, muttering through gritted teeth, “Nina, if you dare say no when I propose, you’re dead.” He told himself this was punishment. Since I abandoned him so ruthlessly, he would trap me in a marriage, bind me to him for life. Yes. It was just revenge. Definitely not because he couldn’t live without me. Julian lowered his eyes, repeating the lie to himself.

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I was the “fake” heiress, living a life that wasn’t mine. The Vanderbilts’ biological child was actually a son. Years later, the “real” son, Julian, was brought back into the fold, and I was demoted from the cherished daughter to the charity case. But the real heir harbored dark, twisted feelings for me. In my past life, right before my engagement to another man, Julian drugged me and imprisoned me in his private villa. To possess me completely, he didn’t hesitate to fabricate scandals that ruined my reputation, leaving me with nowhere else to turn. I waited until he was distracted by a commercial marriage meant to save the failing Vanderbilt empire, and I drowned myself in the villa’s bathtub. When I opened my eyes, I was ten years old again. Back to the time before the real heir had twisted into a psychopath. 1 “Riley, that’s the children’s home your father sponsored in your name. Do you want to go down and take a look?” “If not, we can just go home and open your birthday presents…” “Mom! I want to go see it!” Mrs. Vanderbilt paused, clearly surprised that her usually spoiled little princess was being so sensible today. “It’s a birthday gift from Dad, after all. If I go look, Dad will be happy too!” I looked at Mrs. Vanderbilt’s youthful face and tried my best to mimic the innocence of a ten-year-old. At this point in time, I hadn’t been discarded by the family yet. I hadn’t suffered the torture. The person who ruined my entire previous life was currently ten years old, just like me, living inside that brick building Mrs. Vanderbilt had just pointed out. After we got out of the car, the director came out to greet us personally. I spotted him immediately. Julian stood awkwardly in the courtyard, clutching a piece of candy, looking at us with curiosity. He wasn’t yet the gloomy, volatile, cruel man from my past life. Even at ten, he looked exactly like Mr. Vanderbilt—a spitting image of him in miniature form. I broke free from Mrs. Vanderbilt’s hand, hiked up my princess dress, and ran toward Julian. Under the confused gazes of the adults, I grabbed his hand. “Mom! He looks just like Dad! I want him to be my brother!” 2 Julian was brought back to the Vanderbilt estate. I didn’t miss the suspicion in Mrs. Vanderbilt’s eyes. She would arrange a DNA test very soon. After all, a random orphan looking exactly like her husband screamed “illegitimate child.” In my past life, an eighteen-year-old Julian was discovered by my father’s assistant working at a construction site. In that timeline, he had been adopted by a wealthy couple who ran a business. But no one knew that was the beginning of his descent into madness. The wealthy husband was a pervert with violent tendencies; he had long ago beaten his wife into infertility. Julian’s arrival just gave him a new punching bag. Later, when Julian was thirteen, the man noticed how handsome his adopted son was becoming and got twisted ideas. He tried to assault Julian while the wife was out. In the struggle, Julian stabbed the man to death. He didn’t spare the wife when she returned, either. In a fit of rage and trauma, he dismembered them both. Because he was under fourteen and the circumstances were complex, he was sent to juvenile detention for three years. When he got out, he had no education and no home. He drifted for two more years before the Vanderbilts found him. He told me all of this while he kept me prisoner in my past life. He said he hated me. He hated that I stole the life that should have been his. … Back in the present, when Father heard I brought a boy back from the orphanage, he didn’t care much. If adopting a playmate made his daughter happy, fine. But when Mr. Vanderbilt saw Julian’s face, he exchanged a look with his wife. The suspicion took root instantly. Money buys efficiency. The DNA results came back the next day. Julian was biologically related to both Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt. I, however, was not. Unlike the public scandal of my past life, this time, the Vanderbilts hid the fact that I wasn’t their blood. They simply announced to the public that Julian was their long-lost son. I was hailed as a “little lucky star” who had serendipitously found her brother. 3 Julian was in a daze from the moment I dragged him home to the moment he was officially acknowledged. A ten-year-old boy, suddenly told he had wealthy biological parents and a sister. The guarded look on his exquisite little face slowly melted into a beautiful smile. He would sweetly call me “Sister,” hold my hand in the garden, catch butterflies for me, and comb my hair. “Riley, I’m so happy right now.” He became brighter and sunnier, while I grew increasingly silent. Julian’s name at the orphanage was Xiao Yang. Mr. Vanderbilt renamed him exactly as he had in the past life: Julian. In this life, every time the Vanderbilts called his name, my scalp tingled with phantom fear. Years later, they would cooperate with their son to drug me. My last memory before the imprisonment was Mrs. Vanderbilt’s sobbing voice: “Julian, she’s a child we raised for over ten years, you…” “Mother, you said you wanted to compensate me. I only want her.” I woke up from the nightmare again, gasping for air. It’s a society of laws. I couldn’t just eliminate Julian. As long as he was alive, someone would eventually realize he was the Vanderbilt heir. If his return was inevitable, then I had to be the one to find him early. I had to stop him from developing that anti-social personality. I made other preparations, too. I started wearing grey and black clothes. In middle school, I put on thick, oversized glasses. The Vanderbilts doted on their regained son, gradually ignoring my existence. So, I hid my beauty as I grew up. I became withdrawn and silent, making myself transparent. 4 During the summer before high school, I used a summer camp as an excuse to find my biological mother. Julian and I weren’t switched at birth in the traditional sense. My birth mother was a D-list actress who had been tricked into becoming a mistress by a scumbag. She got pregnant by accident. When she gave birth to me, her agent lied and told her it was a stillbirth, then casually abandoned me in the hospital nursery. Coincidentally, human traffickers disguised as cleaners stole the Vanderbilt’s baby boy (Julian) and tossed his ID tag onto me. Also coincidentally, Mrs. Vanderbilt had gone into premature labor and was transferred there without family around. No one paid attention to whether she had birthed a boy or a girl in the chaos. That’s how I ended up as the Vanderbilt heiress. It was also why they didn’t kick me out immediately—it wasn’t my fault. In my past life, before I could find my birth mother, I heard she committed suicide due to depression. All her assets were donated to charity. She was a good woman. She was the only person who could help me escape the Vanderbilts. I was terrified history would repeat itself. I was also terrified that Julian, like me, might suddenly awaken memories of the past. 5 Finding my birth mother wasn’t hard. She was now a C-list celebrity named Monica Sterling. Using my identity as the Vanderbilt daughter, I managed to meet her. I told her everything about the mix-up and dragged her to get a DNA test. … Monica held me and cried for hours. She said she often dreamed of a little girl crying for help, which was why she had been so devoted to charity—praying for her “deceased” daughter. Thankfully, in this life, we found each other. “Mom, this is money I’ve saved over the years. There’s about two million in the account.” Monica wiped her tears, surprised, and pushed the card back. “Riley, what is this?” “Mom, this isn’t Vanderbilt money. “I’ve been teaching myself finance. I’ve been working as an anonymous investment consultant for some small companies. I earned this. “I want to open a company in your name.” In my past life, before finding Julian, the Vanderbilts had groomed me as their heir. I had top-tier tutors teaching me business management alongside my regular schooling. When Julian returned in that timeline, I was eighteen and already known as an investment prodigy. In this life, I used the contacts in my memory to reach out to potential clients anonymously. After a few successful tips, they dropped their guard and paid high consulting fees. Everything was done via email, so no one knew I was just a fifteen-year-old kid. But anonymous consulting had a ceiling, and people were starting to investigate me. I needed a trustworthy adult to be my proxy. Reborn with knowledge of the future, it would be a waste not to do business. Monica trusted me completely. During the holiday, under my guidance, we established the company. Using my memories, I reconnected with a fraction of my old network. For now, it was enough. Soon, high school started. I said goodbye to my mother and returned to the Vanderbilt estate. It wasn’t time to show my hand yet. Even with my interference, the Vanderbilts were powerful. In this city, crushing me and Monica would be as easy as crushing an ant. I needed money, power, and time to grow.

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After my sugar daddy went bankrupt, he wanted to end it all. I pretended not to notice. “Babe, your birthday is next month. I saw this watch that would look perfect on you. It’s a shame it’s five million dollars. I don’t have enough money.” My sugar daddy’s eyes went red with emotion. “I can’t believe you remembered.” So, he went out to haul bricks, deliver takeout, and sell off his properties until he finally scraped together five million. I didn’t even look at the money. I spent it all immediately. Then I pouted, “That new bag that just dropped is so cute too. I really want it…” He completely gave up on dying. Now, the moment he opens his eyes every morning, all he thinks about is making money. 1 In my third year as Dominic’s trophy girlfriend, he seemed to go bankrupt. While Dominic was still away on a business trip, the house staff started clearing out one by one. Mrs. Higgins, the housekeeper I was somewhat close with, tried to give me a heads-up before she left. “Miss Meng, pack up whatever valuables you can and run while there’s still something to grab.” Did she think I didn’t want to run? But after three years of being pampered by Dominic, I was spoiled rotten. Sure, I was a “canary in a gilded cage,” but Dominic was sweet, generous, and surprisingly easygoing. I hadn’t suffered a day in three years; it was pure luxury. If I left him, where was I going to find another sucker willing to spend money on me and cater to my every whim? Maybe the rumors were false? I decided to hold out a little longer. 2 The day the bankruptcy news was confirmed, Dominic came back. His suit was wrinkled, and the dark circles under his eyes told me he hadn’t slept in days. He sat on the floor, leaning against the sofa. In his hand was a small fruit knife, glinting in the dim light. His expression was flat, his eyes dead. He twirled the knife in his fingers, aiming it toward his wrist. Everyone else had left. The house was dark. It took me a while to fumble for the light switch. Hearing the noise, Dominic turned his head, stunned. “Cece… you’re still here?” I pretended I didn’t understand what was happening, acting blind to the knife in his hand. I threw myself at him with my usual exaggerated affection. “Babe! You’re finally back! I missed you so much!” Habitually, my hand slid into his pocket. Empty. Nothing there. It seemed he really was broke. Dominic used to bring me expensive gifts after every trip. Realizing what I was looking for, a flash of desolate sadness crossed his eyes. “Cece, I’m sorry, I…” I cut him off, sitting in his lap with a look of regret, playing with his fingers. “Babe, your birthday is next month. I saw this Patek Philippe that fits you perfectly. But it’s five million dollars. I don’t have enough.” Interrupted, Dominic forgot his suicide speech. Once he processed my words, his eyes reddened. “My birthday… you remembered?” I gave him a coquettish look. “How could I forget your birthday?” He looked incredibly moved. His hands were trembling. “It’s just five million. I’ll transfer it to you right now…” Then he remembered. He was broke. I stared at him with wide, expectant eyes. Dominic wiped his eyes, his voice dropping to a whisper. “There’s a slight issue with liquidity. I’ll transfer it in a couple of days.” “Forget it. I’m going to handle this now.” He stood up, trying to leave. I pushed him back down. “Since you were gone, all the staff left for some reason. There’s no one to cook.” Dominic’s face looked terrible. He clenched his fists, then relaxed them. “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.” He took off his jacket and headed to the kitchen. “I’ll make dinner right now.” There were still ingredients in the fridge. Dominic put on an apron and got to work. I hadn’t seen him in two weeks. He looked thinner, but his body was still top-tier—broad chest, tight ass. After eating so well with Dominic, how could I ever settle for another man? Sob. I was trapped. 3 Dominic learned to cook while studying abroad. It wasn’t gourmet, but it wasn’t bad. Luckily, I wasn’t just hungry for food. The real feast was later. After eating, Dominic tried to leave again. I dragged him straight to the bedroom. “Babe, you’re acting so weird since you got back. Did something happen?” Dominic’s eyes flickered. His resistance weakened. “No, I just want to sort out the funds quickly.” I traced circles on his chest, my voice dripping with grievance. “Work again? Don’t you miss me after being gone so long?” My leg hooked around his waist. His Adam’s apple bobbed. I didn’t give him a chance to speak. I kissed him. I needed to get my fill first. Halfway through, Dominic hugged me tightly, choking back a sob, looking fragile. “Cece, you’re so good to me.” I quickly covered his mouth. Okay, stop talking. You’re making me feel guilty. 4 When I woke up, Dominic was gone. Probably out looking for work. I took my time getting ready. Breakfast was already made and sitting on the table. After eating, I was a bit stuffed, so I walked around the garden. My best friend texted me a string of exclamation marks. “I feel like I’m hallucinating. Why does my delivery guy look exactly like your man?” Attached was a blurry, abstract paparazzi-style photo. I clicked it open and zoomed in. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. He’s 6’2″, but she managed to make him look 4’11”. Despite the terrible angle, I recognized Dominic instantly. He used to be a CEO. How did he fall this far? I asked around in my circle. Turns out someone was deliberately sabotaging him. His resume was being thrown in the trash everywhere he applied. Damn it. My heart actually hurt for him. Truth be told, I had assets. Dominic had been generous over the years, and since I only love money, I’d converted all his gifts into cold, hard cash. Worst case scenario, we swap roles. I’ll keep him. It’s too cruel to watch him like this. When Dominic came back, I stopped him. “Babe, maybe we should go live in my hometown for a while.” Visibly relieved, he nodded. “Okay.” With his agreement, I started packing. Clothes, shoes—all essentials. This bag is worth $20k, this one $50k. They’re basically money. Gotta take them. The jewelry Dominic bought me at auctions? Expensive. Packing that. I filled several huge suitcases. Looking at the pile of luggage, I realized Dominic was being too quiet. I went to find him. He was sitting on the sofa, motionless. Something felt off. “Why aren’t you packing?” He finally reacted. “I don’t have much. Just some toiletries.” He casually threw a few things into a backpack. That night, Dominic went to sleep early. He hugged the blanket, his brow relaxed, sleeping peacefully. It made my heart soft. If only I hadn’t seen the drafted text on his phone: I liquidated everything under my name. It’s exactly five million. Cece, take the money and live a good life. And the bottle of sleeping pills hidden in the back of his nightstand. 5 The next day, Dominic slept in, which was rare. When he got up, he seemed energetic. He put on a suit, looking like he was going on a long trip. “Cece, I transferred the five million to your account.” “I have to go on a business trip. I might be gone for a month. Go back to your hometown first. I’ll find you there.” As he was putting on his shoes, I pretended to just see the notification. I didn’t even blink. I spent it all immediately. Dominic, who saw everything, froze in place. I put down my phone, looking innocent. “Babe, what’s wrong? You look pale.” “Are you going on a trip? Oh, look! That new limited-edition bag is so pretty too. I really want it…” You want to die behind my back? Earn me another hundred million first. The alarm I had set beforehand went off. Dominic forced a smile and answered it. “The trip is canceled? Okay, I understand.” I saw the despair beneath his blank expression. According to my character setting, I should be comforting him right now. Being the understanding girlfriend. But I’ve gone dark side. I ignored his pain and shoved my phone screen in his face. “Babe, look! Should I get this pattern or that one? They’re both so cute. I can’t choose.” Before the bankruptcy, Dominic wouldn’t have even looked up. He would’ve just said, “Buy both.” Now, he secretly pinched his thigh to stay conscious. “The blue one.” I pouted. “But the pink one is cute too.” He quickly pivoted. “Then buy the pink one.” I looked down, twiddling my fingers. “But the blue one is also nice. What do I do, Babe? I love them both.” It took him a long time to squeeze the words out of his throat. “Then buy both.” After saying it, he fled toward the door. “I can’t talk right now. I’m going to be late for work. Bye.” His back looked aged and weary. For a moment, I wondered if his desire to strangle me outweighed his desire to kill himself. After Dominic left, I looked at my packed bags and started unpacking. Guess we aren’t going to my hometown anytime soon.

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I saved my ex-boyfriend’s daughter in a car accident, but I lost my own life in the process. When he was sorting through my belongings, he accidentally found my diary. In the diary, he loved me deeply. He remembered every old scar on my body. To make up for my childhood regrets, he stood in the freezing cold on Christmas Day, fighting a high fever, just to build me a snowman. In the diary, we never broke up. We got married. Our life was stable, sweet, and full of love. It was a story that didn’t exist in his memory. It was a love buried deep, one he never knew existed. 1 Ethan’s daughter was saved in the crash. The person who saved her, however, didn’t make it. His wife held their daughter tightly, her face a mask of terror and relief. Ethan, however, was staring at the woman surrounded by the crowd. She was thin—too thin. Her hair was plastered messily across her face, obscuring her features. Someone in the crowd whispered, “That car was speeding like crazy. If that woman hadn’t rushed out and pushed the little girl away, she would have been…” His wife covered their daughter’s eyes, shielding her from the bloody scene. Ethan felt a strange, nagging familiarity. It took him a long moment before a hazy memory surfaced. This woman looked like his ex-girlfriend. Her name was… Chloe. The ambulance arrived quickly, taking both the woman and his daughter. His daughter, Lily, was lucky. Aside from a few scrapes, she was physically fine, though traumatized, refusing to leave her mother’s arms. The woman was indeed Chloe. The police told him she didn’t seem to have any family. No one came to identify the body. In her phone contacts, under “Emergency Contact,” there was only his number. Ethan was surprised. In his memory, they had only dated for two weeks, five years ago. Chloe had grown cold toward him quickly and eventually initiated a very rational, mutual breakup. They hadn’t been deep in love, so he hadn’t dwelt on it. But that was five years ago. He couldn’t believe Chloe still had his number. 2 Regardless of their past, Chloe had died saving his daughter. He was grateful. Upon learning she had no other kin, he volunteered to handle her funeral arrangements. A few days later, her landlord contacted him to clear out her apartment. He agreed. Surprisingly, Chloe’s apartment wasn’t far from his own, yet he had never run into her. She lived alone. The place was small but decorated with a warm touch. Life is unpredictable. He never imagined that seeing her again after all these years would be under such tragic circumstances. Chloe lived simply. There wasn’t much to pack. Halfway through clearing a drawer, he found a large stash of medication. He frowned and looked up the name on one of the bottles. Erlotinib. A targeted therapy drug used for cancer treatment. Chloe was sick? Underneath the pile of pill bottles, he found a thick, leather-bound notebook. He opened it. It was her diary. As an outsider, he knew he shouldn’t pry into the privacy of the deceased. But looking at the array of medicine bottles, the police officer’s words echoed in his ears: She has no family… only your number. Suddenly, he desperately wanted to know how she had lived these past few years. 3 Ethan went to the kitchen, poured a glass of water, returned to the desk, and opened the diary. The entries were sporadic at first. He gathered that her childhood and adolescence had been rough. Chloe once had a happy family, but her father died in a factory accident when she was five—without compensation. Her mother fell into a deep depression and passed away early. She worked her way through college and stumbled into adulthood. Despite it all, she was optimistic. The tone wasn’t negative. The entries stopped for a long time, likely due to work. When they resumed, his name appeared. July 6, 2018 – Rainy I must be exhausted lately. I fell asleep waiting at the bus stop. I woke up shivering. There was a guy standing in front of me, holding an umbrella. I realized it was pouring rain—a total downpour. No wonder it was so cold. The guy saw I was awake but didn’t speak. I jumped up, confused, thinking I’d hogged the bench too long. Only then did I realize the rain was coming in sideways. The shelter didn’t stop anything. I realized belatedly that he was blocking the rain for me. Sure enough, the back of his shirt and pants were soaked through. It was dark fabric, so it wasn’t obvious at first. I thanked him profusely. He just shook his head and said, “You look tired.” Then, something embarrassing happened. My period started early. I stained the bench and my jeans. I wanted to die of shame. Luckily, his bus arrived. Before he got on, he took off his long coat and handed it to me. “This is long enough. It should cover it.” I tried to refuse, of course. He just smiled. “You can return it if we ever meet again.” Then he got on the bus. Writing this now, my heart is pounding. Chloe, look. He really didn’t recognize you. July 10, 2018 – Sunny My new neighbor is him. We bumped into each other at the elevator while taking out the trash. He clearly recognized me this time. He froze for two seconds, then smiled. My spine stiffened. I blurted out, “I… I washed your coat. I’ll bring it over.” So awkward. He smiled and said, “Okay.” He told me his name is Ethan. In my heart, I replied: I know. I know your name is Ethan. July 11, 2018 I regret returning the coat. Now what excuse do I have to talk to him? July 15, 2018 – Sunny It’s the weekend. I “accidentally” bumped into Ethan walking his dog when I went to take out the trash (I totally timed it). He sniffed the air and said, “Did you cook? It smells amazing.” I nodded, eyeing the takeout bag in his hand. “I made too much. Do you want to try some?” He looked hopeful but asked politely, “Is it convenient?” I nodded. “Super convenient.” He paused, then smiled. Chloe, you are so much braver than you were seven years ago. July 19, 2018 – Rainy Today is my birthday. No friends in this city, colleagues are just acquaintances. I was going to spend it alone. I ordered a small cake. When I opened the door to get the delivery, Ethan was coming out. He saw the cake and asked if it was my birthday. I nodded. He paused and asked if I was celebrating alone. I nodded again. Then… the elevator arrived, and he went down to dump his trash. Sigh. I was about to light the candle when the doorbell rang. Ethan was standing there with bags of groceries, smiling. “You treated me last time. Let me cook for you this time.” I was in a daze until he put on my apron. The food was delicious. Especially the beer duck. He put the candles on the cake and wished me a happy birthday so gently. Ethan, I was really happy today. Thank you. 4 Buried memories slowly sharpened in Ethan’s mind. He had always thought the bus stop was their first meeting. But according to Chloe, she knew him long before that. Yet he had no memory of it. The mystery grew, urging him to turn the page. August 1, 2018 – Sunny My feelings are complicated. Ethan is now my boyfriend. We were grocery shopping when he suddenly asked, “What are we? Just food buddies?” I laughed and said, “I guess so.” Then he asked if I wanted to be with him. I said, “Be with you to do what?” He looked at me, exasperated. “To date. To be a couple.” I froze. It felt like winning the lottery. When I didn’t answer, he stopped walking and looked at me. I thought about it, and I said yes. He seemed relieved. August 5, 2018 – Sunny I gave him a bento box for lunch again. He said I’m too good to him, that it makes him feel guilty. Compared to what he did for me, this is nothing. He doesn’t understand. He is the only person in the world qualified to accept my kindness. August 12, 2018 I’m sick. The flu, I think. Took the day off. I feel terrible. Ethan is on a business trip. I didn’t tell him; I didn’t want to distract him. On the phone, he asked why my voice was raspy. I said I slept poorly. He asked, “Why are you coughing?” I lied, “Choked on water.” He just said “Oh” and went silent. The next morning, he was at my door. He flew back. He made me porridge and soup. He propped me up with pillows because he remembered my back hurts when I sit too long. Being sick made me weak. I started crying into the soup. He panicked, rubbing my back, asking if my old waist injury was flaring up. He said, “I brought patches and painkillers. I was going to take you to a specialist when I got back.” I only mentioned my back pain once. He remembered. I cried harder. “You’re so good to me.” He laughed. “This counts as good?” No. It’s so much more than that. Being with him… at first, I just wanted to repay him. I was happy just to do that. But now, I’m the one getting greedy for happiness. August 27, 2018 – Cloudy Company sent me out of state to sign a contract. Six hours driving. I told Ethan I’d stay the night. But the landlord texted: Power outage in our complex. Won’t be fixed until 2 AM. Ethan… he’s actually terrified of the dark. And ghosts. I finished the contract and drove back like a maniac. Got there at 9 PM. I used my key. The apartment was pitch black. I thought he was asleep. I walked in and bumped right into a wall of muscle. He grabbed my arm, voice shaking. “Chloe?” I said yes. He exhaled a long breath. His hands were ice cold. “Trying to scare me?” he asked. I denied it. He hugged me tight, punishing me, and pulled me to the bed. I felt something in his hand. A small fabric pouch. I asked what it was. He said it was a protective charm his mom got him. He’d been squeezing it so hard it was damp with sweat. I laughed at him. He pouted and said he felt like the room was full of people. I suddenly remembered. Ethan is afraid of the dark, yet he once stood in the freezing dark of winter to keep a stranger safe for hours. He has always been a good man. In the dark, Ethan became very… active. I kind of hope the power never comes back on.

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My roommate hasn’t showered in years. As a result, she evolved a single, magnificent armpit hair. Whenever she sweats, this hair emits a bizarre scent of lychees. She calls it her “Pit-Pourri.” Every time she raises her arm, that scent aggressively invades our nostrils, dominating the room. As the lychee smell grew stronger, it started to sting the eyes, smelling less like fruit and more like rotting bleach. I couldn’t take it anymore. One night, while she was asleep, I snuck over and scrubbed her armpit clean. When she woke up and realized what I’d done, she went feral. In a fit of rage, she plucked out the hair and stabbed it directly into my nostril. I literally choked to death on an armpit hair. “If it weren’t for you, I would have married my billionaire CEO!” she screamed as I died. That’s when I learned the truth: My roommate was in an online relationship with a billionaire who had a fetish for lychee scents. He promised that if she could go forty-nine months without showering to crystallize the “essence,” he would marry her in the wedding of the century. Then, I opened my eyes. I was reborn. Seeing my roommate once again lost in her delusion of dating a billionaire, I decided to take a different approach this time. I’m going to sit back, relax, and watch that hair grow. 1 “Holy crap, what is happening? You guys, look at this hair!” The moment I opened my eyes, a piercing shriek rattled my brain. The terror of being stabbed to death in my past life surged back instantly. Who would have thought an armpit hair could be a murder weapon? I blinked, realizing I was back. Tiffany was standing in the middle of the dorm room, making a scene. She excitedly raised her arm, showing off a thick, solitary hair sprouting from her pit. “Pay attention to me! I suddenly grew a heart-shaped hair! It’s long and thick!” “If you don’t look now, you might miss the miracle!” Ashley, who was usually Tiffany’s little minion, laughed. “Is that hair for my eyes only, or is it a public exhibit?” Ashley looked up, and her line of sight went straight into Tiffany’s exposed armpit. Her face turned green instantly. “Tiffany! Are you sick? Why are you showing us that? It’s body hair, not a diamond ring! What’s next, showing us a hemorrhoid?” Ashley was crude, but she wasn’t wrong. Tiffany pouted, looking wronged. “It’s different! My armpit hair isn’t like other girls’ armpit hair! You guys have no artistic taste.” She paused, her expression turning serious as she scanned the room. “Looking at it… I feel something strange in my heart.” “I feel… a sudden urge to smell it.” Before Ashley, Brittany, and I could react, Tiffany buried her nose deep into her own armpit and inhaled like a vacuum cleaner. “Oh my god!!” She lifted her head, eyes sparkling. “It’s lychee! My armpit smells like fresh lychees! You guys have to smell this!” 2 The three of us collectively gagged. “Jesus,” Brittany covered her nose, backing away. “That is foul.” Seeing that no one wanted a whiff, Tiffany rolled her eyes. “Ugh! None of you have any class!” “It smells like lychee! This is a gift from the universe. This must be the legendary… Ambrosia of the Pits!” Hearing those words again triggered my PTSD. I gritted my teeth. In my past life, when Tiffany discovered her sweat smelled like fruit, she went manic, forcing us to smell it to prove she wasn’t crazy. Back then, I had stormed out, claiming I needed to buy groceries just to escape. Because let’s be real: shit that smells like chocolate is still shit. Later, I found out she really had grown a magic hair. All sweat filtered through that heart-shaped follicle turned into lychee scent. The thicker the hair grew, the stronger the scent. Combined with the “no showering” buff, the sweat fermented into a “premium” extract. My roommates pretended to be impressed to her face, but behind her back, they were just as disgusted as I was. “It’s so gross. How can someone not shower for that long? Her sheets are turning yellow.” “The smell is everywhere. It’s suffocating.” “Chloe, you sleep across from her. How do you stand it?” “You’re the dorm leader. You have to do something!” In my past life, they egged me on. I fought the nausea, scrubbed the pit, and got stabbed for my trouble. I realized too late that they knew about the billionaire. They just wanted the smell gone but didn’t want to be the ones to ruin Tiffany’s shot at wealth. So they used me as the sacrificial lamb. 3 Reborn and wiser, I looked at Tiffany—drowning in her narcissism—and my two two-faced roommates. A cold hatred bloomed in my chest. Just then, Tiffany’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen and immediately switched to her “baby voice.” “Hiiiii baby! I missed you so much!” “Oh, guess what? I grew a heart-shaped hair! And get this… it smells like lychees! It’s so kawaii, right?” I swear, in two lifetimes, I have never heard a sound that induced more vomiting. The person on the other end was undoubtedly the billionaire CEO she obsessed over in my past life. I watched coldly as she continued to coo at the phone. Suddenly, she gasped. “Sebastian! Are you serious? If I don’t shower for forty-nine months and cultivate the Lychee Crystal Essence, you’ll marry me in a grand ceremony?” Watching her face light up with greed, a plan formed in my mind. Ignore her? No. That’s too easy. This time, I’m going to help her. Tiffany, since you treasure your “Pit-Pourri” so much and want to use it to climb the social ladder, I’ll make sure it thrives. I’ll help it grow thicker, longer, and stronger. I want to see exactly what kind of “CEO” has a kink this specific. I lowered my head to hide my smirk. In this life, I’m going to watch you ferment. 4 “Did you guys hear that? If you treat me well, I’ll make sure you’re all taken care of!” After hanging up, Tiffany strutted around like a peacock. “Sebastian Sterling just promised me! If I persist for forty-nine months without water touching my skin, he’ll marry me! You’ll all be my bridesmaids, and I’ll give you huge red envelopes of cash!” “What? Sebastian Sterling? The tech mogul from the Sterling family?” Ashley’s eyes nearly popped out. Brittany jumped up. “The guy who controls the city’s economy with a snap of his fingers?” Tiffany nodded arrogantly. The disgust on their faces instantly morphed into sycophancy. “Oh my god, Tiffany! That’s not an armpit hair, that’s a red string of fate!” Ashley, who had been hiding in the corner, rushed forward and took a deep breath of Tiffany’s pit. “Exquisite! Look at that shine! That thickness! The heart shape! It’s modern art!” Brittany wasn’t about to lose. She shoved me aside and stared piously at the hair. “Intoxicating! One sniff clears the mind! Sebastian has such unique taste. Tiffany, you’re basically a Disney princess!” I noticed Tiffany trembling slightly. The smell… was already starting to turn sour. Tiffany looked at me with a victorious smirk. Remembering my death, I didn’t hesitate. “Oh my god! Tiffany! You are so lucky! To be chosen by Mr. Sterling? That’s a blessing I couldn’t pray for in ten lifetimes! Don’t forget me when you’re rich.” I looked at her armpit with “genuine” concern. “Since it’s so valuable, I’ll knit a little wool warmer for your hair! You send me the measurements!” 5 “Chloe!” Tiffany was moved to tears. She rushed over and hugged me, enveloping me in the developing stench. “You’re the best! I’ll measure it now! When I marry into the Sterling family, I’ll buy you a villa!” Ashley and Brittany exchanged panicked looks, realizing I had stolen the spotlight. “Tiffany! Warmth isn’t enough!” Ashley shouted. “I know a high-end masseuse. I’ll learn a special technique and massage your armpit hair every day to stimulate the follicles!” “Right! But nutrition is key!” Brittany chimed in. “I’ll get some premium hair growth serum. We need to make sure that in forty-nine months, you are radiating the strongest lychee scent possible. Mr. Sterling will go crazy for you!” With the three of us competing to serve her, Tiffany floated on cloud nine. She could already see herself walking down an aisle paved with lychee skins. She took a deep breath, waving her hand magnanimously. “Good! Good! You are all my best sisters! A villa for everyone!” The wind from her waving arm slapped the smell into every corner of the room. Under our diligent care, the hair grew at a terrifying rate. It got thicker. It got longer. It got so big Tiffany couldn’t even close her arm fully. And the scent changed. It went from “faintly sweet” to “sickly, fermented syrup.” The dorm room became a biohazard zone. Ashley and Brittany’s smiles began to crack. Especially Ashley—she had volunteered for massage duty. Her face looked like she was attending a funeral every time she touched it. They started finding excuses not to come back to the room.

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In the third year of my secret marriage to a movie star, a photo of us making out on the street went viral. Usually mild-mannered, my husband, Lucas Hale, flew into a rage. “Gather all the evidence! I’m suing! I’ll handle the situation with Claire myself!” Handle me? I drafted a divorce agreement and threw it in front of Lucas. But his eyes turned red, and he demanded: “Babe, am I that shameful to you?” “Just because I paid someone to expose our relationship, you want to divorce me?” Me: ? 1 I was having dinner when I got a call from Lucas’s assistant. His voice was frantic: “Claire, Lucas is drunk. He’s making a scene and demanding to see you. Can you come pick him up? It’ll look bad if he gets paparazzied.” Before I could answer, I heard Lucas’s deep voice in the background: “Babe, I feel sick.” I coaxed him gently: “Lucas, let your assistant drive you home. I’ll meet you there, okay?” “No! I’m waiting right here on the curb. Come pick me up, please?” At the same time, I heard his assistant let out a high-pitched screech of panic. When I rushed over, Lucas was sitting on the curb, collar undone, eyes rimmed with red. “Why are you actually sitting on the ground?” Hearing my voice, he looked up. His eyes were hazy with drunkenness, but he smiled. “Babe, you’re finally here. I waited so long.” He stumbled to his feet. His assistant tried to help, but Lucas pushed him away. “You can go. My wife is here.” As soon as I got close, he pulled me into a hug. The scent of wood and faint alcohol wrapped around me. He buried his face in my neck, his voice raspy and whining. “Babe, my head is spinning.” I rubbed his head. “Just sleep it off at home.” “Kiss me first. If you kiss me, I won’t feel bad anymore.” I looked around nervously. “Let’s go home first. What if someone takes a picture?” He pulled me into a nearby alley and lowered his voice. “There’s no one here. Is it okay now?” Before I could react, he cupped my face. A kiss laced with alcohol landed on my lips. My mind went blank, and my heart hammered. I spent the whole night worrying about paparazzi. He, on the other hand, slept peacefully with a smile on his face, holding me tight. 2 I was woken up by my phone ringing off the hook. Groggy, I answered, only to hear my agent, Jen, screaming. “Girl, what did you do last night? You broke the internet!” I opened Twitter with trembling hands. Breaking! #LucasHaleMysteryWomanKiss Breaking! #LucasHaleDating I clicked the hashtag. It was a video. Under the dim streetlights, Lucas, dressed in all black, had a woman wrapped in his trench coat. One arm was around her waist, the other shielding her face. The kiss was deep, lingering, and passionate. At the end of the video, Lucas looked up, his gaze locking straight onto the camera. I blushed watching it. I couldn’t believe we got caught. But the comments were… weird. My man hasn’t done a kiss scene in three years, and now he’s trending for making out on the street? Sister-in-law looks hot. My bro has taste. That body, that hair… it’s definitely his first love, Bella. Stop trying to make Bella happen. She’s been irrelevant for years. One user named @ClaireIsMyWife caught my eye. He was replying to almost every comment. @ClaireIsMyWife: Fun fact: Lucas Hale wakes up smiling because he sees his beautiful wife next to him. That silhouette is 100% Claire Shen. Bet they’re already married. Someone argued with him: Were you there? Stop making stuff up. @ClaireIsMyWife swore an oath: It is absolutely Claire Shen. If I’m wrong, I will eat sht on livestream.* I gulped. Isn’t that… a bit extreme?! 3 By the time I finished reading the comments, I realized Lucas was gone. I got up to discuss damage control, but I heard his furious voice coming from the study. “Contact the lawyers! Gather all evidence! Sue them at all costs!” He paused, his tone softening. “I’ll handle the situation with Claire. Don’t tell her about this.” I froze. He was going to “handle” me? Suddenly, the door opened. Seeing me, panic flashed in Lucas’s eyes. “Babe, when did you get here?” “Just… now.” He visibly relaxed and kissed my forehead. “Don’t worry about the trending topic. I’ll take care of it.” “Are you sure? Can I help?” “Everything is arranged. Just take bodyguards when you go out.” I let it go. But throughout the day, the rumors didn’t die down. In fact, they got worse. Wasn’t he handling it? Comments mentioning “Bella” were multiplying. Then, paparazzi shots of Bella returning to the country surfaced. Simultaneously, I got a text from Lucas: Dinner with a director tonight. Don’t wait up. 4 At 11 PM, a new hashtag appeared. #LucasAndBellaDating #BellaLucasDinnerDate My heart sank. Ten minutes ago, Bella posted a photo with the caption: Had a great dinner with someone special. In the corner of the photo was a man’s hand. I recognized it instantly. The bracelet on his wrist was one I braided for him. I tried to delude myself, thinking it was a coincidence. But internet sleuths found Lucas’s reflection in a spoon. My hope died. The CP (Couple Pairing) fans went wild. OMG, my ship has sailed! It’s been three years! This is an announcement! So the mystery woman last night was Bella? Some of you are delusional. Bella just landed today. Did she mail her lips over last night? Maybe she’s just chasing clout? (Just my opinion, don’t come for me.) Maybe Lucas is trying to win her back? Hence the dinner date. I gripped my phone tightly, debating whether to text him. Then I heard the front door open. I turned off my phone and pretended to sleep. 5 The bed dipped. Warm breath hit my face, carrying an unfamiliar perfume scent. I kept my eyes shut, my heart stinging. Was he with Bella all night? Did that scent rub off on him while they were intimate? A moment later, his phone vibrated. Lucas got up and left the room, closing the door softly. I didn’t move, straining my ears. Bella, delete the photo now. If my wife finds out… His voice faded, but I could guess the rest. I tossed and turned all night. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I sat up abruptly. Next to me, Lucas was sleeping soundly, a smile on his lips. Probably dreaming about Bella. Rage boiled over. Smack! I slapped him. Lucas grabbed my hand groggily, kissing my palm. “Babe, what’s wrong?” “Tell me, who were you with tonight? Why are you home so late?” He jolted awake, stammering. “Just a director. Do you know something?” Know what? That he was secretly dating Bella? Or that he was planning to “handle” me to get back with his first love? Tears welled up in my eyes. In the dark, only our breathing was audible. “Forget it. Sleep.” I yanked the blanket over myself. “Okay, let’s sleep.” He reached out to hug me. I elbowed him hard. He gasped in pain. “Ouch! Babe, what is it?” “You’re dirty,” I said, my voice trembling. Lucas looked confused. He sniffed his shirt. “But I showered.” Could a shower wash away the scent of Bella? His romance was exposed, and he rushed to announce it with his first love while planning to deal with me. The only option was divorce!

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In my past life, after my younger brother was snatched by human traffickers, he awakened a “Body-Swap System.” He switched souls with me. I, in his body, was chained in a pigsty, suffering unspeakable humiliation and torture. He, in my body, enjoyed the double portion of our parents’ love. Ten years later, when I was finally found by the police, my brother activated the system again and switched us back. He threw himself into our parents’ arms, sobbing, claiming I was the one who tricked him into getting kidnapped. Our parents found a diary in my nightstand—forged by him, mimicking my handwriting—detailing my “jealousy” and “glee” at his abduction. From then on, my parents loathed me. They let my brother verbally abuse and whip me. They even agreed to his sick proposal: to drug me and sell me off to a blind, crippled widow deep in the mountains as punishment. I overheard their plan. consumed by grief and rage, I set the house on fire, dragging them all down to hell with me. When I opened my eyes, I was back. Back to the day we bumped into the traffickers. I made the first move, grabbing the trafficker’s hand. My brother immediately blocked me. “Grandma, I want the candy apple! Don’t give it to him, give it to me!” The traffickers exchanged a look. Taking two kids was too risky, and the younger one seemed easier to control. They let go of me and took my brother’s hand. My brother gave me a sinister grin, leaning into my ear to whisper: “Ethan, I know you’re reborn too. Trying to steal my System? No way.” I watched him walk away with the traffickers, and I smiled, too. Lucas, I hope you can still smile after you use up your two chances to swap. Shortly after I returned home, the familiar robotic voice echoed in my mind—just like in my previous life. “Since the Host has been abducted, the Soul-Swap Skill has been activated. You have two chances to swap. Would you like to use one now?” In the last life, this was how Lucas realized he was in danger. He didn’t hesitate to swap with me then. This time, he was just as impatient. “Affirmative. Initiating swap. You have one swap remaining. Call upon me when needed.” Dizziness hit me like a sledgehammer. When I opened my eyes, I was in a speeding van. I looked at my reflection in the darkened window. I was back in my brother’s body. The woman guarding me was still May, and the old woman driving was the ringleader, Auntie Fay. They worked as a team—Fay played the kindly grandmother selling candy apples to lure kids, and May was the muscle. They didn’t tie me up, probably because I looked like a harmless eight-year-old. I leaned back against the rattling metal wall, remembering the hell of my past life. For ten years, I wondered why. Why did he hate me? When he swapped back, he whispered, “Ethan, you didn’t save me. You deserve to suffer for me. Now that you’re back, pay the price.” But I had tried to stop him. He was the one who pushed me away for a piece of candy. He framed me with that diary: I saw the bad men take Lucas, but I didn’t say anything. I want Mom and Dad’s love all to myself. It worked. My parents were ready to sell me to a hillbilly widow to “atone.” Thinking of their betrayal, I clenched my small fists. This time, they would all pay. I looked out the window. The scenery was getting familiar. They were taking me to Blackwood Hollow. In the last life, I fought, ran, and screamed, which earned me a chain around my neck in a pigsty. This time, I decided to be obedient. I had a lesson to teach these kidnappers. After two days and nights of driving, the van stopped on a dirt road deep in the mountains. “Lucas, honey, we’re at Grandma’s house,” Fay cooed. I followed them out quietly. I hadn’t cried once. Looking at the desolate, pitch-black mountain, I forced a smile. “Auntie, Grandma, will I get unlimited candy apples now?” “Yes, yes,” May muttered, whispering to Fay, “Is this kid slow? We’re in the middle of nowhere and he’s thinking about candy.” “Who cares? The buyer’s daughter is slow too. A match made in heaven. As long as he can breed, they won’t care.” They led me into the village, straight to the Miller house. The Miller family was waiting in the yard. Buck Miller, his wife, his older brother Hank, and their uncle, Old Man Otis. Buck held up a kerosene lamp to inspect me. “Clean looking kid.” His wife hugged their ten-year-old daughter, Daisy. Daisy was intellectually disabled, drooling slightly as she smiled. “Look, Daisy, Mommy and Daddy bought you a little brother. Do you like him?” “Like… like…” Daisy giggled. I smiled back at her. “Buck, he looks a bit stupid too,” Hank, a dark-faced man in his forties, grunted, taking a swig of moonshine. “Don’t get scammed.” “He’s normal! Look, he has straight A’s in his backpack!” May quickly produced the homework from my bag. “Smart kid,” Old Man Otis puffed on his pipe. “Good. He can give the Miller line some smart genes. Hank, don’t complain. Since your wife ran off, we need this boy for Daisy.” Otis was impotent, which was why he raised his nephews Buck and Hank like sons. Hank was a bachelor, and Buck was the only one who managed to marry a distant cousin. I pretended to suddenly realize the situation and started wailing. “Where’s my candy? You said there was candy!” The Millers panicked, afraid the noise would alert neighbors. May and Fay chimed in, “Be a good boy! Marry this little girl and you’ll have things better than candy!” I stopped crying, blinking innocently. “Really? But I’m too little to marry her.” “Men need wives,” May explained. “Start early, grow up together, it’s better.” “Oh,” I nodded. Relieved, May turned to Buck. “Delivery complete. The van draws attention, so if you could pay the remaining thirty grand…” Buck signaled his wife to get the cash. As May and Fay counted the money under the lamplight, Hank’s eyes changed. He stared at May with a hungry, predatory look. Old Man Otis was eyeing Fay the same way. Now. “Uncle, Grandpa,” I piped up, pointing at the men. “Do you have wives?” They shook their heads. “Perfect! This Auntie and Grandma can be your wives!” May and Fay froze. “What is this brat saying?” I hid behind Daisy, trembling. “You said men need wives. They don’t have any. You should marry them!” Hank’s face flushed red with excitement. Otis looked intrigued. They were desperate, lonely men in a lawless place. Two women delivered to their doorstep? It was tempting. May and Fay sensed the danger. They reached for their phones. Hank and Otis pounced. “Buck, what do you think? Keep ’em here, and you save thirty grand!” Hank yelled, wrestling May to the ground. Buck, loving the idea of saving money, agreed instantly. May and Fay tried to scream, but smelly socks were shoved into their mouths. They were bound with duct tape and rope and thrown into the woodshed. The Millers drove the van to the city that night and sold it for scrap. By dawn, May belonged to Hank, and Fay belonged to Otis. Seeing the traffickers get trafficked gave me a thrill of dark satisfaction. Because I “saved” them money and “found” them wives, the Millers treated me well. I became the family’s lucky charm. I spent my days with Daisy. She gave me her chicken drumsticks. She protected me from farm work. May and Fay weren’t so lucky. They were chained up and abused daily. Within six months, May was pregnant. Karma had come full circle. Daisy was genuinely good to me. In her simple mind, I was her companion. She threw tantrums until her parents allowed me to go to the village school with her. They renamed me “Luke Miller” and told everyone I was an adopted orphan. I treated Daisy like a sister. Once, she twisted her ankle on the mountain, and I carried her back, blistering my feet. The Millers trusted me completely after that. Ten years passed. I turned eighteen. Daisy was twenty. I knew my biological parents and the police were closing in. Lucas was about to use his final swap. So, on my eighteenth birthday, I told the Millers I wanted to marry Daisy properly. It was time to collect the debt. The wedding was a massive rural affair. I wore a cheap suit. Daisy was in red. She held my hand, drooling a little. “Luke, you look pretty.” “I’m happy, Daisy,” I said, wiping her face gently. She was innocent. Her family was not. During the toast, we went table to table. When we reached the family table—Buck, his wife, Hank, and Otis—I slipped a powder I’d synthesized in chemistry class into their moonshine.

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To secure a multi-million dollar contract and buy a villa for his illegitimate daughter, my father got me blackout drunk and delivered me to the bed of his wealthy best friend. We had a wild night. But when Julian woke up, he looked at me with pure disgust. “I’m your family friend. I’m your elder. To satisfy your own sick desires, you drugged me? You have no shame.” He threw me out of the house, naked, claiming he never wanted to see me again. Terrified of offending the powerful Thorne family, my father dragged me to a shady psychiatric institution that very night. I was beaten, electrocuted, and assaulted by the director and his staff. Just as they were preparing to perform an illegal lobotomy on me, I finally snapped. I threw myself off the roof. As I lay dying, a voice, distant and ethereal, whispered in my ear. “Little girl, give me your heart, and I’ll let you live. Deal?” 1. I don’t remember if I said yes. I only remember waking up with a hollow emptiness in my chest. The doctors and orderlies who used to treat me like an insect were now looking at me with sheer terror. “Miss Quinn… please… here are your discharge papers.” “We called your family. Please, have mercy. Spare us.” I rolled my wrist, which felt a little stiff. Then I remembered. I made a deal with a devil before I died. He told me I had a heart that was too pure, too kind. That heart was why I always put others first, and why I had been bullied my entire life. So, I gave it to him. He took away the sweet, fragile Quinn who craved love and family. And he left behind the monster—violent, cruel, and completely void of emotion. Standing there, clutching my discharge papers, I watched the black stretch limo pull up below. I started laughing. This was… perfect. From this moment on, I could finally let the people who hurt me understand what it feels like to be trampled on. When I walked back into the house, the family that had been laughing and chatting instantly fell silent. Julian instinctively pulled my stepsister, Bella, behind him protectively. My father looked at me with undisguised revulsion. “Why are you back so soon?” “And what are you wearing? Are you trying to play the victim?” I looked down at my hospital gown. It was filthy, crusted with layers of blood. The dark, dried stains at the bottom were mine. The fresh, bright red stains? Those belonged to the people who tried to hurt me before I left. When I didn’t answer, Dad’s tone got harsher. “Get to your room. Don’t stand there being an eyesore.” “We’re discussing Julian and Bella’s wedding. We don’t have time for you.” I followed his gaze to Julian. I hadn’t seen him in three years. He looked as dashing as ever. Just like that night. I remembered clearly how he kicked me off the bed. My lower back slammed into the nightstand, pain shooting through my spine. There was no pity in his eyes then, only loathing. “Quinn, how can you be so cheap?” “I’m your father’s friend. I’ve known you since you were a kid. You crush on me, fine, but drugging me? That’s incestuous and sick.” “Your father is a proud man. How did he raise a daughter so low, indistinguishable from a streetwalker?” He refused to let me dress before throwing me out onto the front lawn. And now, three years later, this man of “high morals” was about to marry my illegitimate stepsister. Before, this would have broken me. But now? My heart was gone. And with it, my love for Julian. Perhaps my stare was too intense. Julian frowned. “Three years in the asylum and you still haven’t learned your lesson?” “I’m warning you, don’t get any ideas. I can send you back there with a single phone call.” The threats washed over me. I pressed a hand to my chest. Nothing. No pain. No sadness. Not even despair. Back then, I had escaped the ward with a broken leg, crawling to a payphone to call Julian. I begged him to save me. I promised I’d disappear if he just got me out. He agreed. Then he called the director. “How are you treating her? She hasn’t learned a thing. She’s even learned to act pitiful now.” “If she escapes again, I’m pulling your funding.” Because of that call, the director broke my limbs and prepped me for surgery. He wanted to turn me into a vegetable so I could never leave hell again. That’s why I jumped. My thoughts snapped back to the present. I smiled sincerely at Julian. “Julian, thank you for giving me the chance to be a new person.” “Don’t worry. I definitely won’t love you anymore.” And I definitely won’t show you any mercy. 2. My coldness didn’t make Julian happy. If anything, it seemed to annoy him. He cleared his throat to speak, but Bella interrupted. She walked over, her hand adorned with a ten-carat diamond ring, and pinched my arm hard, right on a bruise. “Sister, I’m so glad you’re back. No one is more suited to be my bridesmaid than you.” “You don’t know how boring it’s been without you.” “I’ve been waiting for you to come back so we can… play.” I smiled at Bella. “My dear sister, I’ve been waiting for this reunion too.” Years ago, my parents built their business from scratch. I suffered through poverty with them. Just when life was getting good, Bella’s mom showed up with her. They stressed my mother until she died of a stroke. Overnight, I went from the cherished daughter to the unwanted burden. The day she moved in, Bella smashed my mother’s photo and took my bedroom. She framed me for stealing and got me banished to the utility closet. It was hot, dusty, and cramped. Every time I came out, Bella would cover her nose and say I smelled. I wasn’t allowed at the dinner table. I ate leftovers. I wore rags. I endured Bella’s punches and kicks whenever she was in a bad mood. Once, starving, I snuck a piece of cake Bella had thrown in the trash. She caught me. She took a needle and thread and literally sewed my lips shut. The nanny wanted to take me to the ER. My father stopped her. He tore the thread out of my flesh himself. “How do I have such a useless daughter? If people find out, where will I put my face?” “If you were half as elegant as your sister, I wouldn’t hate you so much!” To hide the “shame,” he fired the staff and made me do all the chores. I rolled on the floor in pain that day, but all I could think was: The cake was sweet. If I’m good, maybe Dad will buy me a cake one day. Now, looking at Bella’s smile and my father’s disgust, all I wanted to do was take a cake fork and jam it into their eyes. I grabbed Bella’s hand. “Sister, your hands are so pretty. Long, slender fingers. Manicured perfectly.” “Mine used to look like that. Until you smashed them with a hammer. Now they’re crooked and ugly.” Bella yanked her hand back, looking guilty and scared. “What are you talking about?” she gasped. “You’re just jealous I’m marrying Julian. How can you slander me like that?” Julian immediately pulled her into a hug. “Quinn! When will you stop lying? Bella is pure and kind. Just because I love her doesn’t mean you get to attack her!” Dad slapped me across the face. “You bully your sister the moment you get back? You should have died in that hospital!” I covered my stinging cheek and lowered my head so they wouldn’t see my smile. Yes. I did die. I died from my family’s cruelty and my lover’s betrayal. The thing standing here now is a monster without a heart. A demon who has come to collect. 3. Dad locked me in the utility room to “reflect,” afraid I’d ruin the wedding planning. I curled up in the dark corner, listening to their laughter and the clinking of wine glasses. I wrote their names on the dusty floor, over and over. The slap hurt. The last twenty years hurt. Killing them quickly would be too easy. How do I make them pay back everything I suffered? I drifted into a light sleep, only to be woken by hands roaming over my body. It felt like the asylum. The predatory touch. I snapped my eyes open to see Julian staring at me. His breath was hot, reeking of whiskey. I slapped him hard. “Julian, what the hell are you doing?” The slap seemed to sober him up slightly. His eyes, filled with lust a moment ago, shifted to disdain. “What am I doing? Quinn, you’re trying to seduce me again. You really are shameless.” “Looks like the last lesson wasn’t enough.” Three years, and nothing had changed. Back then, he slept with me while sober, but claimed I drugged him to save his reputation. Now, he was drunk and molesting me, but wanted to pin the blame on me again. But I wasn’t the same Quinn. I stared at him calmly, my hand creeping toward a heavy glass vase on the shelf. Before this moment, I had considered letting Julian live. After all, he had saved me once, years ago, when Bella’s friends were beating me up. He had given me his jacket and told me, “If anyone bullies you, come find me. I’ll protect you.” That one sentence made me fall in love with him. It was why I forgave him for taking my virginity and discarding me. It was why I held onto hope in the asylum. But now? That feeling was dead. I just wanted to rip his chest open and see if he had a heart at all. Suddenly, Julian grabbed my wrist. His gaze fell on my chest, where my shirt had been torn. “Why… why do you have so many scars?” In the moonlight, the jagged, raised scars were horrifying. Julian looked shocked. “I told the director to just teach you discipline. I told them not to hurt you too badly…” They taught me discipline, alright. They just enjoyed doing it with branding irons. I was about to smash the vase over his head when the door burst open. Bella stood there, eyes red. “It’s the middle of the night. What are you two doing?” Julian let go of me like I was on fire. The concern vanished. “Quinn, I can’t believe you. Three years away and you’re still a slut.” “I’m marrying Bella. No matter how much you throw yourself at me, I will never want you!” Dad rushed in, trembling with rage. He grabbed a wooden plank and smashed it over my back. “I should beat you to death!” Bella glanced at Julian and feigned kindness. “Dad, stop. She’s always been like this. Don’t hurt your hand.” “But we should send her back to the hospital. The wedding is coming up. If she ruins it, we’ll be the laughingstock of the city.” Dad agreed immediately. He dragged Julian out to “calm him down.” Watching their retreating backs, I laughed. Julian just missed his only chance to find out the truth. His only chance for mercy. I dug through the clutter and found an old, rusty claw hammer. I walked out of the room. Time to get started. 4. I stood in the hallway, watching the happy family in the living room. Julian was hugging Bella. Dad was transferring money to her account to cheer her up. My stepmother, Linda, was feeding her fruit. It was the scene I had dreamed of for three years. Finally, Bella smiled. She said she was tired and went to her room. But instead of sleeping, she grabbed a fruit knife and headed for the utility room. “Quinn, you bitch. Three years in the loony bin and you still want my man? I’m going to carve up your face tonight.” I stepped out of the shadows behind her. “Looking for me?” Bella spun around, her face twisting. “You dare come out? The men in the asylum couldn’t satisfy you, so you came for my fiancé?” She lunged at me with the knife. I didn’t flinch. I swung the hammer. Crack. It smashed directly into her nose. Before she could scream, I shoved her own hand into her mouth. “Shhh.” “Keep it down. We don’t want to wake the others.” “It’s no fun if you die too fast.” Pain turned her anger into terror. She whimpered against her hand. I smiled, tracing the knife blade in the air. “The director carved the word ‘whore’ into my skin over and over just to make you happy. Should I carve one into your face?” “Oh, you want to know how I got out? It was easy. I just sliced through them, one by one… like this.” I pressed the knife against her cheek and sliced downward. Blood sprayed onto my face. I felt a rush of adrenaline. But she was weak. She fainted before I finished the first letter. Pathetic. I held out for ten letters. I dragged her by her hair toward her bedroom, humming a tune. Who’s next?

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The day I was brought back to my biological family, the “fake” daughter couldn’t handle it. She swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills. By the time she reached the hospital, she was pronounced dead on arrival. Instantly, she became the family’s saint, their white moonlight. And I? I became the sinner. My parents tried to mold me into her shadow. My two older brothers cursed me daily, asking why I wasn’t the one in the grave. Only I knew the truth: The fake daughter faked her death. I know this because I’ve been reborn. In my past life, I died trying to expose her. In this life, I decided to help the “happy family” reunite a little earlier than planned. But once I did, they begged for forgiveness. 1 “Lily! Today is Jessica’s memorial! How dare you celebrate your birthday? Why wasn’t it you who died?!” “How can you be so vicious? All you think about is fighting for attention! Let me tell you, you will never be half the woman Jessica was!” I blinked, my vision clearing. I was looking at the youthful faces of my brothers, Ethan and Ryan. I lifted my shirt to check my stomach. Smooth skin. No scars. That’s when I knew for sure—I had been reborn. In my previous life, Jessica and I were switched at birth. When I finally returned home, full of hope, I wasn’t met with love, but with disgust. Jessica staged a suicide that very day and was declared dead. From that moment on, I was the villain. My parents looked for traces of her in me. My brothers hated me, convinced my return killed their beloved sister. I lived in guilt, begging for scraps of their affection. At twenty-five, desperate to please them, I agreed to a business marriage. My husband was a monster. He beat me until I miscarried. When I called my family for help, they told me to endure it for the family’s sake. “It’s just a beating,” they said. “Jessica lost her life because of you. You owe her.” Broken, I wandered the streets until I saw something impossible. Through a restaurant window, I saw the “dead” Jessica. She was sitting with my parents and brothers, celebrating her birthday. They were laughing. Eating cake. Giving her the love I had craved my entire life. I rushed in, screaming, demanding answers. Jessica hadn’t died. All my suffering was for nothing. In the chaos, I ran out into the street and was hit by a truck. As I lay bleeding out on the asphalt, my parents just glanced at me coldly before turning back to sing “Happy Birthday” to Jessica. Even though I was their flesh and blood, they only ever loved her. I died realizing the truth: I didn’t lose to a mistake. I lost because they simply didn’t love me. Thinking of this, I clenched my fists. 2 Ryan’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Lily, are you deaf? Stop playing the victim on the floor!” He grabbed the cake—the one my best friend Sarah had bought me, the only person who remembered my birthday—and smashed it into my face. I wiped the frosting from my eyes, stood up, grabbed a chunk of the ruined cake, and slammed it right back into Ryan’s face. Ryan’s eyes went wide. The submissive doormat he knew had just fought back. “Lily! Are you crazy? Why couldn’t you just die instead?!” Ryan screamed, his eyes burning with hatred. They had said that so many times. Why didn’t you die? In my past life, I wondered that too. Living was torture. I smirked. “Yeah, this lunatic is still alive, while your perfect, precious Jessica is rotting in the ground.” “Dead. Cold. Desperate…” Slap. A heavy hand struck my face. I glared at Ethan, my oldest brother. Ethan looked panicked. His hand trembled in the air. I scoffed internally. He couldn’t handle me speaking ill of Jessica? What about the psychological torture they put me through? What about my husband’s fists? What about me dying in the street? I grabbed Ethan by the collar and slapped him back. Hard. I used every ounce of strength I had. Ethan’s eyes bulged. He was more shocked than hurt. “Lily! Have you lost your mind?” he growled. Everyone said I was crazy. Well, now I really was. Ryan, seeing this, panicked and kicked me hard in the ribs. “Ah—” I cried out in pain, face pale, but I didn’t let go. I grabbed Ethan’s hand and bit down. Hard. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Go to hell. All of you. Even if I die again, I’m taking a piece of you with me. Ryan was screaming now. “Help! Lily’s gone insane! Get this bitch off him!” Two grown men couldn’t shake me off. The servants rushed in, shoving me away roughly. They treated me like a piece of furniture, not the daughter of the house. I stood there, staring at the deep bite mark on Ethan’s hand, and smiled. 3 “Enough!” A voice boomed from the staircase. My father stood there, looking at me with pure disgust. “Filthy. Look at yourself.” Right. I didn’t look like Jessica. Without her shadow, I was less than a stranger to them. “Dad, Lily’s lost it,” Ryan stammered. “She hit Ethan. We just told her she shouldn’t celebrate her birthday on Jessica’s death anniversary, and she snapped.” My father scoffed. He cared about dignity above all else. “Is that true?” I wiped the blood from my mouth. “Yeah. What does Jessica’s death day have to do with my birthday?” My mother rushed over, hearing my words. Tears instantly rolled down her cheeks. “Lily! How can you be so cold? She was your sister!” I laughed, tears welling in my own eyes. “Sister? A stranger I never met? She deserves to be my sister?” “Have you ever considered that I am your biological daughter?” “Why does my life have to be a memorial for someone else’s?” My mother clutched her chest, sobbing, unable to look me in the eye. Ryan stepped in front of her. “Stop torturing Mom with Jessica’s name! You are venomous!” Ethan chimed in, cold as ice. “Mom, Dad, let’s go visit Jessica’s grave. Don’t let an outsider waste our time.” An outsider. I never belonged. My mother cried uncontrollably but let them lead her away. I watched them leave with cold eyes. Forget it. Parents, brothers… I don’t want any of them. I looked at the smashed cake on the floor. A shame. I couldn’t eat it. But today, I was going to have my cake and eat it too. I was celebrating my rebirth. 4 After cleaning myself up, I packed my bags. The servants called the family to tattle on me. They did it right in front of my face. Ryan sneered over the phone, “Good. Let her leave. Hope she dies out there.” Ethan stayed silent. My mother just wept. My father ignored it, busy polishing a photo of Jessica. The maid looked awkward as she hung up. She handed me a bag of pastries. “Miss, for the road.” I took it, nodding. It was ironic that in two lifetimes, the only kindness in this house came from the hired help. My best friend, Sarah, was waiting at the gate. Seeing her, I broke down. “Sarah!” Sarah hugged me tight. “Lily, did they hurt you again?” I nodded, tears falling. “They ruined the cake you bought me.” “I’ll buy you another one.” I went home with Sarah. As soon as we arrived, my mother called. Her voice was choked with tears. “Child, why did you really leave? What am I supposed to do?” “Go live with Jessica,” I said. The phone was snatched away. “Lily! What is this new game?” Ethan yelled. “Do you only feel good when you make Mom miserable?” “Let me tell you, you will never compare to Jessica. You are nothing compared to her.” “Apologize now, and we’ll let you come back.” He was sure I wouldn’t refuse. The old me wouldn’t have. I used to crave their love, humbling myself into the dust. But I was tired. Let them love Jessica. Let them bleed for her. “I don’t need you anymore,” I said, forcing a smile into my voice. “What?” Ethan sounded stunned. Then he laughed. “Is this your new tactic?” I had tried tactics before. After Jessica “died,” I tried everything to make them look at me. But the harder I tried, the more they hated me for being alive. What was my crime? Wanting to be loved by my own family? If that’s a sin, then I’ll stay away. Ethan hung up angrily, convinced I was bluffing. Sarah held me as I lay on her couch. “I’m here, Lily,” she whispered. I closed my eyes, the final image of my past life flashing in my mind. Jessica is alive. I sat up abruptly. “Sarah,” I said, my voice trembling but loud. “Jessica isn’t dead.”

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After the college entrance exam results came out, Leo, a scholarship student in our class, only scored a measly 200 points. Yet, he somehow convinced my two childhood best friends to apply for the worst vocational college with him. Blindly infatuated, they both agreed to go to the same school as him. I tried to reason with them, pouring my heart out, but they accused me of being malicious and jealous of Leo. When my pleas fell on deaf ears, I contacted their parents. Finally, just moments before the deadline, their applications were changed, securing their spots at top-tier universities. Leo ended up at the vocational college alone. But within six months, news broke that he had jumped off a building on campus. After Sarah and Zoe went to collect his body, they returned and kidnapped me to a rooftop. “If you hadn’t stopped us from going to the same school as Leo, he wouldn’t have been bullied into suicide!” “Now, you’re going to join him!” Without a shred of mercy, they pushed me off the edge. I fell to my death, my body shattering on impact. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the moment they decided to follow Leo to vocational college. This time, I’m just going to watch them ruin their own lives. 1 “Leo is right. It’s better to be a big fish in a small pond. I’ve decided to go to vocational college with him.” “With our scores, we’ll definitely be the stars of the campus there.” Hearing Sarah and Zoe agree to go with him, Leo beamed with joy. He then turned his gaze to me. “Ray, come with us too. The four of us have always been a team. I really don’t want to be separated from you guys.” Looking at the three familiar faces, I instantly realized I had been reborn. I was back to the day the exam scores were released. Sarah, Zoe, and I all scored near 700, enough for the country’s best universities. But Leo, the scholarship kid with barely 200 points, was trying to drag us down to a vocational school with him. This time, if they want to go, they can go. I won’t say a single word to stop them. I stood up immediately. “Choosing a college is a big deal. I need to discuss it with my parents before I decide.” Leo’s face fell instantly, looking wronged. “Ray, don’t you want to be with us?” I was done with his manipulative act. I didn’t want to waste another breath on him. In this life, I just want to stay safe and far away from these three lunatics. I turned to pack my things and leave, but Sarah and Zoe blocked my path. “Ray Shen, what do you mean by that? Leo made a kind suggestion. Just give us a straight answer, yes or no. We don’t have all day to wait for you!” “You’re eighteen. Can’t you think for yourself? Don’t you know where you want to go to college?” I looked at them. The image of their twisted faces as they pushed me off a 36-story building in my past life flashed before my eyes. A chill ran down my spine. “Since you put it that way, I’ll be direct. My first choice is definitely Tsinghua or Peking University. As for that no-name vocational school, you guys can go ahead without me.” As soon as I finished, Leo’s eyes welled up with tears. “Ray, what does that mean? Are you looking down on me because I can only go to a vocational college?” Zoe pulled out a tissue to wipe his tears. “Leo, don’t cry. Even if you go to a vocational school, we’re willing to go with you.” “Some people think going to a university makes them special, but they’ll just end up working for someone else anyway. I don’t know where he gets his superiority complex!” Sarah pointed an accusing finger at me. “Ray Shen, I think you’re just jealous of Leo, so you’re putting him down on purpose. Apologize to him right now, or don’t expect us to ever talk to you again!” 2 Their blind defense of Leo chilled me to the bone. We grew up together. They were like family to me. They once swore they’d always be good to me, that no matter who I chose to be with, they’d offer their sincerest blessings. But everything changed in our junior year of high school when Leo transferred here. He told me he was the scholarship student my family had been sponsoring and brought me sweet potatoes from his village as a thank you. Seeing how simple and sincere he seemed, I introduced him to Sarah and Zoe. I never expected that from then on, they would change. They poured all their attention and care into Leo, constantly using our friendship to force me to bow down to him. I was the fool in my past life, holding onto hope for them, which led to my death. Now, I wish I could be galaxies away from them. “Then let’s not contact each other anymore. You go to your vocational school, I’ll go to my university. Let’s pretend we never knew each other.” Sarah and Zoe clearly didn’t expect that answer. They stiffened. I ignored them, grabbed my laptop bag, and started to leave. But Leo snatched the bag from my hands. “Ray, I know you’ve always liked Sarah and Zoe. You’re just saying these things out of anger. To stop you from regretting it later, I’ll fill out the application for you.” Leo opened my laptop, ready to log in to my account and submit the application on my behalf. I panicked and lunged to grab my computer back, but he hid behind Sarah and Zoe, using them as shields. I couldn’t get past the two of them alone. I could only watch helplessly as Leo filled out the vocational school application for me. After submitting it, Leo handed the laptop back, unable to hide the smug look in his eyes. “I used up all three modification chances for the application. Now you have to come to vocational school with us.” Rage exploded inside me. I raised my hand to slap Leo. “Who gave you the right to decide for me?!” Sarah grabbed my wrist in a vice grip and shoved me hard. I stumbled and fell. She screamed, “Leo did this for your own good! Instead of being grateful, you’re biting the hand that feeds you!” Zoe looked down at me haughtily. “The application is submitted. It’s a done deal. Just come to vocational school with us quietly.” “Leo already promised that once school starts, he’ll choose one of us to be his girlfriend. The one who isn’t chosen can reluctantly be your girlfriend.” I looked up at them coldly. “Do I look like a recycling bin? Only good for picking up Leo’s trash?” Sarah and Zoe glared at me furiously. Leo grabbed their arms. “Sarah, Zoe, don’t be mad. Ray will understand eventually that we did this for him.” “The movie is about to start. Let’s go.” The three of them turned and walked toward the cinema upstairs. I looked at the submitted application on my screen, feeling a desolate emptiness. Even reborn, could I not escape the fate of being entangled with these three scumbags? I hugged my laptop and went home to find my parents. Seeing them, the floodgates opened. Tears rolled down my face uncontrollably. My mom wiped my tears. “Ray, what happened?” Choking back sobs, I told them everything. My dad slammed his hand on the table, furious. “This is outrageous! That ungrateful wolf Leo! Our family sponsored his education, and this is how he repays us?” My mom was equally anxious. “Ray’s application has been changed. What do we do?” My dad immediately called my teacher to ask if a submitted application could be revoked. 3 The teacher said that before the deadline, applications could be modified an unlimited number of times. The “three times limit” was just something teachers said to make us take the process seriously. The application was fixed, but I knew things with Leo and the girls weren’t over. Since they wouldn’t let me go in my past life or this one, I wasn’t going to sit and wait for death again. Once my plan was set, the heavy stone in my heart finally lifted. Leo thought my enrollment in vocational school was a sure thing, so he went on a trip with Sarah and Zoe. He sent me photos of them being intimate every day. [Ray Shen, it must hurt seeing the two women you love simping for me, huh?] [Sarah and Zoe said they’d rather be my backups than choose you. As a man, don’t you feel like a total failure?] Facing his provocations, I felt nothing. Because I knew his good days were numbered. When the Tsinghua University acceptance letter arrived, the property management sent a message in the resident group chat. [A student in our community has been accepted to Tsinghua University! The management will award them 100,000 RMB as encouragement. Residents are invited to attend the ceremony tomorrow!] This was a tradition in our community. Acceptance letters from top universities like Tsinghua and Peking were first sent to the management office for a ceremony. The group chat exploded with congratulations. Sarah’s mom sent a voice note: “Thank you all for the blessings. My Sarah will work even harder in college!” Residents immediately started flattering her, asking for parenting tips. Then Zoe’s mom chimed in with a voice note: “The one accepted to Tsinghua is obviously my Zoe. Sarah’s mom, have some shame, don’t claim what isn’t yours!” Sarah’s Mom: “You’re the shameless one! Sarah scored 694. She told me she was accepted to Tsinghua.” Zoe’s Mom: “Zoe scored 697! If anyone got in, it’s her. Don’t you know one point in the exams separates thousands of people? Let alone three points!” They argued back and forth, both claiming their daughter got into Tsinghua. Watching the messages pop up, I smirked. I wondered if they’d faint from anger if they knew their daughters had applied to the worst vocational school just for a broke boy. Finally, property management stepped in to mediate, confirming only one student got into Tsinghua, and the name would be revealed at the ceremony tomorrow. Because of the argument, a huge crowd showed up for the ceremony. Everyone wanted to see whose kid got into Tsinghua. Before the ceremony started, Leo and the girls came up to me. He looked at me and said, “Ray, you should have reflected enough by now. If you sincerely apologize and promise that your family will continue to sponsor my tuition and living expenses at vocational school, we can still be best friends.” “But vocational school is expensive. It can’t be 2,000 a month anymore. I need at least 10,000 a month.” I almost laughed at his shamelessness. “Leo, let me tell you this: from now on, my family won’t give you a single cent!” Leo’s eyes reddened, and he looked at Sarah and Zoe. They immediately scolded me. “Ray Shen, don’t be ungrateful! Leo accepting your family’s sponsorship is giving you face!” “If you don’t agree to Leo’s request today, don’t expect us to look out for you at school!” I sneered at them. “You two should worry about yourselves first!” The host on stage, holding the Tsinghua acceptance letter, shouted, “Please welcome the student from Building 17, Unit 502, Ray Shen, to the stage to receive the Tsinghua University acceptance letter and the 100,000 RMB reward!” Under everyone’s gaze, I walked up to receive my letter. Sarah’s mom and Zoe’s mom rushed the stage, screaming. “Impossible! There must be a mistake! This letter belongs to my Zoe!” “The one accepted to Tsinghua should be my Sarah!” Just then, a postman in green walked to the front of the stage and shouted, “Sarah Zhang, Zoe Guo, your acceptance letters have arrived.” 4 The noisy crowd instantly went silent. Sarah’s mom and Zoe’s mom snapped out of it and rushed off the stage to snatch the letters from the postman. They complained loudly: “What’s wrong with you? Why are you slower than everyone else? Were you slacking off?” “Others got their letters ages ago, and you just brought ours today? You almost ruined my daughter’s big moment! I’m going to file a complaint!” They grabbed the letters, cursing, and tried to hand them to the host without even opening them. Sarah and Zoe rushed to stop them. “Mom, the letter just arrived. Let’s open it at home.” “Mom, I want to share the joy with Dad. Let’s go home and wait for him.” They hadn’t dared to tell their families about applying to vocational school. They thought once the letter arrived, the deed would be done, and they’d just get scolded. If people found out now, in front of everyone, their moms would go crazy. But their moms were too focused on outdoing each other to listen. Sarah’s mom beamed. “Why be shy? Everyone is here to celebrate your success!” Zoe’s mom looked arrogantly at the host. “You said 100,000 for getting into Tsinghua. My daughter’s letter was late, but you can’t renege on the deal!” The host replied, “It’s tradition. If they really got into Tsinghua, the money is theirs.” Their eyes lit up. To ordinary working-class families, 100,000 was a year’s salary. They eagerly handed the unopened envelopes to the host. Sarah’s mom hugged her daughter. “Sarah, you made me so proud! All my hard work paid off!” Zoe’s mom looked at Zoe approvingly. “Zoe, this 100,000 is all yours for pocket money.” Neighbors chimed in: “I can’t believe our community produced three Tsinghua/Peking students this year! What a joyous occasion!” “With three top students, property prices are going to soar!” “The mothers are the real heroes here!” Applause broke out. The moms basked in the praise, oblivious to their daughters’ paling faces. The host took the letters, tore open the seals, and pulled out the documents. He announced loudly: “Let us congratulate Sarah Zhang and Zoe Guo on their acceptance to… New West Vocational College?” The crowd buzzed with confusion. “Not Tsinghua? Why is it a vocational college?” “That’s not Tsinghua. Look, the letter is different from Ray Shen’s.” “New West Vocational? Isn’t that the worst one in the country? You can get in with 200 points.” The moms ran up, snatched the letters, read them repeatedly, then turned to their daughters. “Sarah, what is this?” “Zoe, didn’t you apply to Tsinghua? Why is it vocational school?” Sarah and Zoe hung their heads, stammering in silence. Leo suddenly looked at me and spoke up. “Ray Shen, we trusted you so much! Why did you change our applications?”

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