Author: Momo Chan

I’m a traffic cop, but my wife Alice has been trying to get her driver’s license for two years and still hasn’t passed. I always comforted her: “It’s okay if you don’t pass. I’ll be your driver for life.” One day, ten minutes before my shift started, she sent me a message saying she was going to the driving school to practice. What I didn’t expect was that during my patrol, I spotted a car illegally parked. I went over to investigate. Just as I was about to knock on the window, the car started shaking. Through the blurred window, I saw a couple having sex inside. Then the woman changed positions, pressing her hand against the glass. When I saw the ring on her hand, I froze. I recognized the engraving on that ring instantly—it was the unique design I had created for Alice. In that moment, my brain seemed to stop working. I pulled out my phone and called her. The phone rang many times, but she still didn’t answer. My eyes never left that shaking car. After seeing the tangled figures of the man and woman inside, my hand unconsciously clenched into a fist. The woman’s wild behavior in the car was completely different from the shy Alice I remembered. Finally, probably finding the ringing too annoying and disruptive to their passion, the instructor reached for the phone to turn it off, but Alice quickly stopped him. “Don’t. You can’t turn off Torres’s call, or he’ll worry about my safety. Don’t talk—I’ll just say a few words to him.” The instructor cursed unhappily: “Bastard, always interrupting my fun.” Alice covered his mouth with one hand while answering the call with the other. “Hello! We’ve only been apart two hours and you miss me already?” Her familiar voice came through the half-open window. My breathing quickened as I struggled to control my emotions. After calming myself down, I asked her: “Why did it take you so long to answer?” “Because I was practicing driving! I didn’t have time to answer!” “Okay, I need to hang up now, or the instructor will scold me again. You wouldn’t want to see the instructor waste time scolding me, would you?” Before I could speak, she said “love you” and hung up. I didn’t know what words could describe how I felt at that moment. I didn’t have the courage to go confront them, because Alice and I had come so far together—it hadn’t been easy. I didn’t want to witness with my own eyes the girl I cherished losing her pure and beautiful image. Just as my eyes were turning red, my colleague Mark arrived. “Torres, what’s wrong with you?” I smiled bitterly and shook my head: “Nothing, just got some sand in my eye.” “That’s good then. Let’s go!” “That car up ahead is illegally parked. Look how violently it’s shaking—the people inside must be up to no good.” “But it’s our duty, so we have to go check for violations.” As soon as Mark finished speaking, he smiled and his eyes lit up. “Let’s see who’s so bold.” He had already walked over, and I followed closely behind. As we got closer, familiar moans came through the slightly open window. I clenched my fists so hard, nearly losing control, when Mark knocked on the window. “Who is it! So rude.” The startled couple inside quickly separated. The instructor grabbed his jacket while cursing and covered Alice’s body with it. When they saw it was traffic police, they quickly opened the car door and stopped the curses on their lips. Alice didn’t dare look at anyone, hiding behind the instructor the whole time. “Sir, you’ve parked illegally here.” “You can’t park within fifty meters of an intersection. Besides the points deduction, you’ll also be fined.” Before Mark could finish, he smelled alcohol. “Have you been drinking?” As an instructor, he knew what drinking and driving meant. Alice quickly looked up to defend him: “We didn’t drink and drive—we just drank for fun.” “Yeah! This is one of men’s pleasures. As a man, you should understand this fun.” Mark said seriously: “Since you’ve both been drinking, you shouldn’t drive. Get out, we’re towing the car.”

However reluctant Alice was, she had to follow the rules. The moment she got out of the car, she almost screamed. Because when she saw my back, it was so familiar. Her breathing became rapid, and she stood there anxious as a startled bird. Just as she was about to call my name, the instructor suddenly picked her up. “Darling, let’s go!” “There’s a hotel nearby. We didn’t finish our fun earlier—we need to finish the story.” Alice jumped down anxiously, her face deathly pale, staring at my back. The instructor followed her gaze, first stunned, then laughed heartily. “Don’t worry, it’s not him. If it were, he would have come over to catch us already.” After hearing this, Alice’s worries disappeared. “Right! It can’t be my husband.” “He should be home resting by now.” “Send him a message saying you won’t be home tonight, that you’re staying at a friend’s place!” Alice nodded with a blushing face, then sent me a message. After Mark finished writing the ticket, he handed it to the instructor. “Fine me then! At least I have a beauty to keep me company tonight.” Watching their departing figures, Mark sighed. “Whose wife is that! Shameless, cheating behind her husband’s back.” He didn’t know that standing in front of him was the husband of that cheating woman. I chose to swallow this humiliation in silence. Fortunately, Mark didn’t know Alice, or tomorrow everyone would know about Alice’s affair. When I got home, I saw our wedding photo that once made me feel happy. I walked over, took it down, and smashed it to pieces. Glass shards pierced my flesh, but I felt no pain. Because my heart hurt ten thousand times more than my hand. Just then, my father called. I picked up the phone with my bloody hand and answered, but lost my ability to speak. My father on the other end didn’t notice anything wrong. Instead, he lowered his usual domineering tone and spoke gently. “Torres! Do you really love her that much? But I found out her family has never been satisfied with you. They think being a traffic cop is embarrassing for her. I also discovered that her whole family is materialistic and greedy. That’s why I didn’t agree to you marrying her and wanted you to hide your identity to test them for a few years!” “Anna would be a much better match for you.” “Dad, I agree to marry her now!” My words made my father freeze for a moment on the other end, his breathing heavy. “Give me three days. After I handle everything here, I’ll come home for the arranged marriage.” After putting down the phone, I received photos from Alice of her and her friend. This was to prove she wasn’t lying, to make me trust her. But now I know she’s been lying all along. These photos were arranged in advance. I suddenly realized that all those nights she didn’t come home, she must have been having an affair with the instructor. No wonder she hasn’t passed her driving test after two whole years. It’s not that she couldn’t pass—she was deliberately delaying to have an excuse to cheat. Standing on the rooftop, I smoked all night. The smoke stung my eyes painfully. The dark night seemed ready to swallow me whole, leaving me desolate with nowhere to escape. I think it’s time for our marriage to end.

The next afternoon, Alice finally came home exhausted. As soon as she saw me, she got excited and jumped into my arms like a clingy cat, wrapping her legs around my back and refusing to let go. “Did you miss me?” “It’s all Ruth’s fault. After her breakup, she kept asking me to stay with her so she could sleep. I was afraid she’d do something desperate, so I had to stay with her.” “But I was also afraid of neglecting my baby.” “Give me a kiss!” Just as her lips—those lips that had been dirtied by the instructor—were about to touch my face, I instinctively felt disgusted and pushed her away. Alice trembled violently, her face slowly turning pale. “What’s wrong with you?” As tears were about to fall from her reddened eyes, I took a deep breath. “Nothing, I have a bit of a cold. I don’t want to infect you.” When she heard the word “cold,” Alice reacted as if facing a great enemy. She rushed over, full of guilt and remorse, and hugged me tightly again. “I’m sorry, it’s all my fault for not taking care of you.” “You’re sick, and I ran off to take care of Ruth.” “I’m not going anywhere today. I’ll stay home with you.” For the rest of the day, Alice did as she promised, transforming into a caring wife, looking after me in every way. She fed me by hand, told jokes to cheer me up. If I sneezed even once, she’d rush around frantically. Watching her in the kitchen making cold medicine for me, with warm sunlight falling on her, I fell into deep thought. If only she hadn’t lied and cheated—we could have kept going like this. But love was already covered in scars. While making the cold medicine, she was secretly sending romantic messages to the instructor. I don’t know what he said, but it made her visibly restless, as if unsatisfied. After coaxing me to sleep, she quietly went out. I grabbed my jacket and followed her from a distance, watching her jump into the instructor’s arms as they kissed passionately. They immediately rolled into the bushes, using the darkness as cover. She didn’t know that I had been recording everything she did. Leaving with a heavy heart, I finally made up my mind to leave her. On the third day, it was her mother’s birthday. Alice wanted to take me home to celebrate with her mother. As soon as we entered, my mother-in-law looked at me with contempt and disdain. Even though I was carrying expensive gifts, she still couldn’t change her disgust toward me. Alice sweetly called out: “Mom.” Only then did my mother-in-law’s expression soften a bit. But just then, Alice’s brother John arrived with Alice’s driving instructor. “Sister, look who I brought—your driving instructor! You’re so bad at driving, you should get closer to your instructor. Then he’ll teach you better.” When Alice saw the instructor, her eyes lit up immediately, and the desire buried in her heart began to stir. The instructor also looked at her with heated eyes. John smiled and brought the instructor to my mother-in-law. “Mom, don’t think he’s just an instructor—he’s loaded! He has dozens of properties and an eight-figure bank balance. Being an instructor is just his hobby.” As soon as he finished speaking, my mother-in-law’s face lit up with a brilliant smile. “I didn’t expect someone so young to be so successful!” “Not like certain people, just a traffic cop with no future. How can someone like that provide for a family?” “Mom, I won’t let you talk about Torres like that.” Whenever Alice heard others humiliate me in public, she would defend me. “Everyone has their own aspirations. What’s wrong with being a traffic cop?” “If he hadn’t saved me that year, I would have died on the highway.” My mother-in-law was about to say something when the instructor played peacemaker and stopped the argument. “Auntie, you look so young and beautiful. You don’t look like you’ve had children at all. You look like you could be Alice’s sister.” My mother-in-law was so flattered that she kept serving him food and pouring him drinks, constantly pushing Alice toward him. If this were before, I would definitely feel sad and dejected. But not now, because I no longer cared. After dinner, John forcibly dragged me out for a walk. He had always mocked and ridiculed me, so this definitely wasn’t simple.

I went to a nearby restroom. When I came back to call John, I heard him on the phone saying: “Alice, just relax and make babies with George!” “You’re addicted to his wild ways! You’ve been wanting to dump that loser anyway!” The smile on my face disappeared instantly, and I turned back immediately. But outside the room door, I heard the sounds of Alice and George, while my mother-in-law had also gone out to give them privacy. I staggered backward, took off my unique wedding ring and threw it on the ground, leaving in disappointment. This time Alice didn’t call to find me because she was immersed in her love affair. Her whole family had conspired to deceive me. I couldn’t swallow this humiliation. I immediately called my father and told him to stop helping John. With his worthless abilities, he couldn’t get anywhere without backing. Until dawn, Alice still hadn’t called back. Today was the day we would part. I signed the divorce agreement and left it on the bed. Just as I walked out the door, Alice rushed back. “Why did you come back alone without telling me?” “Did Mom say something to you again? Don’t take it to heart. We just need to live our own lives well.” As she spoke, she walked over and hugged me. But all I wanted to tell her was that we would never live those so-called good days together again. Just as I was about to be honest with her, her phone rang and interrupted what I wanted to say. After taking the call, Alice smiled and pulled me out the door. “Come on, my friends are calling me to a gathering.” At the restaurant, Alice’s friend Lester came over. “Well, well, Alice, you’ve been getting plenty of action from your man lately—you don’t need me anymore, huh?” As soon as she said this, all her friends burst into laughter. They looked at me with eyes full of both sympathy and mockery. I clenched my fists tightly, and a voice in my heart told me: “You’re leaving soon anyway, so just spend one last day with her. Part on good terms!” But just as we sat down, afraid I might catch on, they started chatting about Alice’s affair history in Spanish right in front of me. “How thrilling! I thought you were really bad at driving, but turns out you deliberately didn’t want to pass.” “Hasn’t Torres ever suspected you?” “Alice, was having sex in the car unforgettable for you?” Alice laughed heartily and answered: “Of course! It was George’s idea. He said since my husband is a traffic cop, we should deliberately park illegally to see if he’d catch us. The thrill of it is something you can’t understand.” “Torres never caught me once, but that annoying Mark kept catching us.” “And you should talk—you’re no angels either.” I suddenly stood up. I couldn’t listen to such filthy talk anymore. This action scared them, thinking I might understand Spanish. But I had learned Spanish to accommodate Alice. I wouldn’t reveal this though. I just made an excuse to leave. Alice didn’t even give us a chance to part amicably. After leaving the restaurant, I walked straight out, where a Rolls-Royce was waiting for me. Before leaving, I called Mark and told him to bring the gift I prepared for Alice to my house tonight. Mark was thrilled that I was finally willing to let him visit and meet Alice. As he said I was finally not hiding Alice anymore, I had the driver start the car, threw my card out the window, and bid farewell to the past completely. When night fell, Mark arrived with the gift box. “Torres, where did you run off to? Your phone’s been off—you almost scared me to death…” Alice opened the door to find Mark’s smiling eyes. In that instant, both of them froze completely.

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My wife Vivian was raped and murdered. To avenge her, I stabbed the killer seven times in the abdomen and was sentenced to ten years in prison. Three years later, I was released early. I tore up the succession contract my billionaire father handed me and chose to become a chef instead. But the address for my first order turned out to be the crime scene where Vivian was killed—our marital home. My mind in turmoil, I finished cooking. Then I heard the sound of a key turning in the lock. I looked up. A figure identical to Vivian walked in with a smile. I froze in place, my heart pounding as if it would leap out of my throat. She was being led by a man, walking toward the dining table with a blissful smile on her face. I recognized that man. My defense attorney—Julian. Julian pulled her back just as she was about to sit down at the table, then smiled as he pulled a ring from his suit jacket pocket. She covered her mouth, eyes wide. Their friends whistled and cheered around them. Panic seized me, and I stood up and shouted. “You can’t marry him!” She turned her head, looking at me with confusion and unfamiliarity. Julian saw it was me and froze, his expression suddenly darkening. “Williams? What are you doing here?!” His gaze dropped to my chef’s uniform, stained with grease until it was nauseating, and a smirk played at the corner of his mouth. “So you’re out of prison. And you’re our chef for today.” People around us snickered. “Is he the guy whose wife was raped, so he killed the rapist in a rage?” “He used to be such a big shot. Everyone on the street would greet him. Now he’s here cooking for us!” Julian took her right hand and knelt down on one knee with a smile. “Williams, Georgina isn’t your dead wife. She’s my bride-to-be.” Georgina stood there, one hand covering Julian’s mouth with a smile, extending her other hand to him. “You don’t need to say anything. I do.” Vivian had loved me with all her life. If she were still alive, she would never accept another man’s proposal. Only me. But Georgina looked like her, sounded like her… I fell into endless confusion, then glanced up inadvertently. When Georgina rolled up her sleeve, I saw a small heart-shaped birthmark on her forearm! My heart trembled! This was Vivian’s unique birthmark. There couldn’t be a second person in the world with it! I rushed forward and grabbed Georgina’s hand, pointing at the heart-shaped birthmark on her arm. “This birthmark—have you had it since birth?” Julian grabbed my clothes and yanked hard, throwing me onto the sofa. He pointed at me impatiently. “Williams, you can leave once you’re done cooking.” “I’m proposing to Georgina. Try to interfere again and see what happens.” I stood up and gripped Georgina’s arm tightly. “Georgina, have you lost your memory? How could you forget me?” “Let me take you to the hospital, okay?” Georgina struggled fiercely, her face ice cold. Vivian was an only child. I didn’t believe there could be two people in the world who looked this much alike. I tried to convince Georgina to go to the hospital for a DNA test. Julian walked up to me, raised his hand, and slapped me across the face, his finger pointing at my nose. “Williams, this is my home now, not yours anymore!” This house had once been the marital home I shared with Vivian. After she died, I’d asked a realtor to sell it for me to avoid painful memories. But I never imagined the buyer would be Julian, a student I’d sponsored. Even less did I imagine that a woman who looked so much like Vivian would appear in our former marital home.

I stood in the center of the living room, covering my stinging face and looking around. All the memories that belonged to Vivian and me had been completely erased. The furnishings had all changed. Even the eternal flowers on the cabinet—symbols of Vivian’s and my love—had been removed and replaced with an object covered in red cloth. I was lost in a daze. Maybe Georgina really wasn’t my Vivian. Because Vivian had promised me that only when the eternal flowers withered would she stop loving me. But eternal flowers never wither, and Vivian would never stop loving me. I turned to leave in dejection. In the midst of cheers, Julian slipped the ring on Georgina’s finger and kissed her. My heart ached unbearably, heat rising in my back. Before leaving, I couldn’t help but look back one more time. At that exact moment, Georgina made a gesture in the dining room, and my pupils shook violently. I was convinced Georgina was my Vivian! Excited, I rushed over, grabbed the wedding ring on her ring finger, yanked it off, and threw it hard on the floor. I gripped Georgina’s hands tightly and said earnestly. “Georgina, listen to me. You really are my Vivian!” “When I used to cook this dish for you, I would always add a tiny bit of minced ginger—so small no one could see it. No one would pick it out directly. Only Vivian would know these little details. This proves you’re my Vivian!” Georgina tried to pull her hands from mine. I wouldn’t let her. After several failed attempts, she flushed with indignation, raised her hand, and slapped me. “Get lost!” I wasn’t angry. Instead, I smiled. Nothing in this world could be more joyful than someone you deeply loved, who had died, coming back to life! I pulled Georgina toward the exit. Julian rushed over again and grabbed her back. He picked up the ring and held it in front of my face. “Williams, I already told you—Georgina isn’t your dead wife. She’s my fiancée.” “It’s perfectly natural for her to wear my ring. What right do you have to break it?” I said, “How much do you want in compensation?” Julian jabbed his index finger at my chest. “This ring cost three hundred thousand dollars. It’s limited edition. There’s only one in the entire country.” “It took me half a year to get it. You need to compensate me—at least a million dollars!” I stood there and took Georgina’s hand, heading for the door. “Money’s no problem, but I don’t have that much on hand right now. Let me go home and I’ll transfer it to you immediately.” “Forget a million—I could afford ten million.” “Now get out of my way. I’m taking Vivian with me!” Julian lifted his foot and kicked me. “Williams, you really think I’m stupid?” “Three years ago when you were a boss, you didn’t even have a million in cash. Now you’re an ex-con and suddenly you do?” I was kicked into the corner. The object covered in red cloth above my head swayed precariously. Several burly men with dragon tattoos on their shoulders stood up from the sofa, cracked their knuckles, and surrounded me. I got up and said earnestly. “Julian, I’m the son of billionaire Johnson. Let me take Georgina for a DNA test first, and I’ll get you a million dollars immediately after.” I wasn’t lying to them. The billionaire really was my father. Only people in the highest echelons of society knew this secret. My relationship with my father had been extremely strained since childhood. I didn’t like anything he arranged for me. Unable to bear it any longer, I ran away from home as a teenager. When I was in prison, he used reducing my ten-year sentence to three as leverage to make me come home and take over the business. But after my release, I didn’t fulfill my promise to come home and take over. So he froze all my bank accounts.

I stood up, pulling Georgina toward the door. Julian raised his fist and punched me in the face. “Do you know what kind of big shot Johnson is in Minnesota?” “If he wants you to shut up, you’d better not even breathe too loud!” “Would his son be a pathetic loser like you? You’re just a lousy chef and you dare to lie to me? Beat him!” They raised their feet and kicked me in the head again and again. Georgina was also within their attack range. I shielded her behind me with all my strength, using my back to take all the kicks. “Williams! Georgina doesn’t need your protection!” Julian bent down, picked up an iron rod, raised it, and brought it down toward my head! I arched my back, preparing to take the hit, but Georgina suddenly pushed me away. Julian’s rod struck Georgina’s calf, leaving a massive bruise. “Georgina!” I panicked. I clenched my fists and punched Julian’s nose bridge again and again, madly. The burly men stepped back, looking at me with fear. I pinned Julian down. He couldn’t break free from my grip. Blood poured from his nose as he grew angrier and more frantic. “Stop!” Georgina’s shout rang in my ears. I instinctively turned my head. A wooden stick came flying at me! “Bang!” A sharp pain exploded in my head. Hot, sticky blood flowed down from above. Stars danced before my eyes. I staggered and collapsed by the cabinet. Georgina held Julian’s face with concern. Grief and rage filled my heart. She wasn’t calling out to me… “Crack!” The object covered in red cloth fell from above and landed in front of me. The red cloth scattered across the floor, revealing what it had been covering. It was a photograph. Georgina stood in a pool of blood, smiling. Next to her stood Julian, kissing the back of her hand. The timestamp in the bottom right corner of the frame was the exact day my wife was raped and murdered. The photo’s title read “Happy Moment.” My heart seized with terror. All the blood in my body froze. Julian extended his hand and mockingly patted my face. “Oops. Looks like you discovered the truth.” Georgina rested her head on Julian’s shoulder and said to me with a playful smile as I sat there stunned. “Williams, three years have passed and you’re still so stupid.” “You didn’t lose your memory…” The people around us burst into laughter, pointing at me in my grief and mocking me. “Look at that idiot!” “He actually believed it! Someone stole his home right from under him and he didn’t even know.” Georgina leaned her head close to Julian’s ear, her breath like orchids. “Julian, what if he finds out I faked my death? He stabbed someone to death. What if he stabs me?” Julian reached out and wrapped his arm around Georgina’s waist. “Then we’ll just send him back to prison for a few more years. Or… make sure he dies!” Julian pulled out his phone and made a call. “Parker, your father’s killer is at my place. If you want revenge, come quickly.” I crawled over and grabbed Georgina’s legs. “Georgina, what are you talking about?” Georgina lifted her leg, her high heel pressing into my face. “Williams, you killed someone’s father with a knife. We’re calling them here for revenge!” My lips trembled. “Georgina, weren’t you raped? Everything I did was to avenge you!” Georgina laughed so hard she could barely stand. Julian looked at me with amusement. “But Georgina was never raped. The truth is, you lost your mind and killed someone!” My standing body began to tremble slightly. “How could you frame me like this? I killed the pillar of a family!” Julian grabbed my hair. “Not only that. You also caused a girl who got into a top university to drop out.” I roared, “Julian, I was the one who sponsored you to get out of the mountains! I was the one who got you into the top law firm! And you repay kindness with betrayal?”

Julian narrowed his eyes and raised one hand, lightly patting my face. “Don’t talk to me about sponsorship. All my achievements are due to my excellent abilities.” “Besides, your sponsorship of me, Williams, was earned for me by Georgina.” “Georgina is my true benefactor. You’re just a piece of trash who was used.” I opened my mouth wide, a cry coming from my throat. I raised my head and tried to headbutt Julian. “You pair of adulterers! I want you dead!” “Dead? Do you have the ability to make us die?” The burly men grabbed both my arms halfway and yanked hard, restraining me in a spread-eagle position. I couldn’t move. “Ding dong.” The doorbell rang. Julian opened the door and led in a small, thin girl. Julian pointed at me and whispered in the girl’s ear. “He’s your father’s killer.” The girl raised her head. In her eyes was hatred so intense it was almost liquid. “Williams, you killed my father. I want you dead!” She aimed the knife tip at my chest. “Thunk!” The blade entered half an inch into my chest over my heart, then stopped. Excruciating pain shot through me. My face went pale. “Parker, I’m a victim too. Our real enemy is Julian.” “If you kill me, you’ll go to prison too. Don’t throw away your life for this. Julian is lying to you!” “Once I investigate everything, I’ll compensate you however you want, okay?” Julian reached out and gripped the girl’s trembling arm, gently pushing forward. The blade sank another half inch. Julian stared at my agonized expression and whispered teasingly in the girl’s ear. “Don’t be afraid, Parker. I’m a top lawyer.” “I’ll tell the judge in court that you didn’t commit intentional murder—it was self-defense.” “Don’t forget, you used to have a happy family. You got into the university of your dreams. You should have had a bright future. It was Williams who destroyed all your happiness!” I said urgently, “Parker, after the incident, I transferred all the money from selling my house to you. I never wanted to harm you.” Parker gritted her teeth and roared, “You liar! You never gave me any money!” My whole body shook. I looked at Julian, who stood there smiling silently. Back then, as my defense attorney, he’d been the one who prepared the compensation process for me. Parker’s reaction made me suddenly realize that Julian had embezzled the money from selling my house. This house—he’d bought it. He’d transferred everything from his left hand to his right hand, turning everything that was mine into Julian’s! Julian stroked Parker’s hair and laughed heartily. Parker cried out and gripped the knife in her right hand tightly, thrusting it hard into my chest. But after a long moment, no sharp pain came from my chest. I opened my eyes. Julian had collapsed on the floor, a blood-soaked knife stuck in his thigh. “Julian!” Georgina cried out and threw herself on Julian, pressing her hands over the wound that was gushing blood. Julian lay on the floor, cursing in pain. Georgina stood up furiously, grabbed Parker by the hair, and slapped her again and again. “You little bitch! Without my husband’s charity, you orphan would have frozen to death this winter! How dare you bite the hand that feeds you!” Parker spat out blood and spat. “You pair of silly dogs, you really think you can fool me?” “What charity? That was the money my father died to get for me in the first place.” “I’m not here to kill Williams. I’m here to kill you, Julian!” Parker turned her head and looked at me with complex emotions. “Williams, it’s my father who wronged you.”

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I lay on the delivery bed, my husband Ethan holding my hand. “Just hang in there a little longer, Rebecca. Our baby will be born soon.” I was drenched in sweat from the pain, yet I still managed to give him a smile. Until a nurse walked in carrying a syringe. I thought it was the anesthetic for an epidural. But Ethan suddenly released my hand and said, “This is a labor-delaying drug. I need to let Scarlett deliver her child first. You’ll have to wait.” I wanted to scream, to struggle, but the medication had already been injected into my body. I never imagined that my husband would care so little about my life, all so his dead Derek ‘s wife could deliver her child first. I was wheeled into a makeshift cell in the hospital basement. Ethan’s sister Lily stood at the door, toying with a scalpel in her hands. “Don’t blame my brother. Scarlett’s carrying a boy. You’re carrying a useless girl.” I clutched my stomach as a new wave of contractions fought against the medication. The pain made everything go dark before my eyes. “Get a doctor. I’m going into labor, really…” Lily laughed. She walked in, crouched in front of me, and gently tapped my face with the scalpel. “Labor? The drugs will last another three hours. Scarlett’s already in the delivery room. Just wait here like a good girl. Once her son is safely delivered, you can deliver however you want.” After speaking, she stood up and instructed the guard at the door, “Watch her. If she dares to shout, gag her.” The door closed. The basement had only one dim emergency light. I lay on the floor, blood soaking through my dress. My phone had been confiscated by Ethan when we entered the hospital. He said it had radiation, bad for the baby. Looking back now, he was afraid I’d contact the outside world. I curled up, trying to use deep breathing to ease the pain. But my mind was full of Ethan’s expression from earlier. Cold, calculating, like he was looking at an object. Not at his wife, nor at the woman about to bear his child. Three months ago, Derek died in a car accident. He left behind his widow Scarlett, three months pregnant. At the funeral, Ethan’s grandfather wept openly, gripping Scarlett’s hand and saying, “You must safely deliver the child.” I felt sorry for Scarlett then and volunteered, “Grandpa, don’t worry. Ethan’s and my child will also be filial to you.” Ethan’s grandfather glanced at me without saying a word. Turns out from that moment on, my child had already been abandoned. “Ah…” Another wave of contractions hit, fiercer than before. The medication was weakening. The baby wanted out. I clawed at the door, pounding with all my strength. “Someone, please! I’m in labor! Save my child!” No response from outside. It wasn’t until I’d shouted myself hoarse that I heard the guard’s impatient voice, “What are you yelling about? Miss Lily said to wait.” “But the baby…” “If it dies, that’s fate. Who told you to carry a girl instead of a boy?” I collapsed on the floor, my whole body freezing. It wasn’t fate. Someone wanted my baby dead.

I don’t know how long I endured in the basement. The bleeding grew heavier, soaking everything beneath me. As my consciousness began to blur, the door suddenly opened. It wasn’t Lily, nor the guard. It was the family doctor, Dr. Morgan. When he saw my condition, his face went pale instantly. “Mrs. Grant? What are you doing here? Mr. Grant said you were resting in the VIP room?” I tried to speak but couldn’t make a sound. I could only point at my stomach, tears streaming down continuously. Dr. Morgan hurried over and crouched down to examine me. The moment his hand touched my stomach, he sucked in a sharp breath. “She needs surgery immediately!” He tried to lift me, but the moment I moved, massive amounts of blood gushed from below. Dr. Morgan’s hands were shaking. He shouted toward the door, “Someone! Quick! The patient is hemorrhaging!” The hallway was empty. This private hospital was invested in by the Grant family. Tonight, for Scarlett’s delivery, they’d cleared the entire facility. All medical staff were on standby in the third-floor delivery room. Dr. Morgan pulled out his phone to call, only to discover there was no signal in the basement. “I’ll carry you up. Hang on!” He gritted his teeth and lifted me, stumbling toward the exit. The stairway was long. Each step jolted me into agony worse than death. I could feel the baby descending, but it wouldn’t come out. The medication was still taking effect, contractions coming and going. This was the most dangerous situation. “Dr. Morgan…” I grabbed his collar, my voice barely a whisper. “Save the baby. Please.” “Don’t talk nonsense. Everything will be fine!” He finally burst onto the first floor, running toward the operating room. But when we reached the entrance, we both froze. The operating room door stood wide open. Inside was empty. Just an empty room with a few electrical outlets on the wall. Dr. Morgan stood frozen in place. “How is this possible… I checked the equipment this afternoon…” Footsteps echoed from the end of the hallway. Lily approached with two nurses. Seeing us, she raised an eyebrow. “Dr. Morgan, what are you doing here? Scarlett’s in the third-floor delivery room. Why did you come down?” Dr. Morgan pointed at the empty operating room, his voice trembling, “Where’s the equipment? Where did all the surgical equipment go?” Lily looked innocent, “We moved it to the third floor. Scarlett’s having a C-section. She needs the best equipment. What if there’s an emergency? An ordinary operating room wouldn’t be enough.” She glanced at me and smiled. “Lily, are you going into labor? You’ll have to wait a bit. Scarlett’s not finished yet. Just hold on a little longer.” I looked at her perfectly made-up face. Suddenly I remembered six months ago when she’d linked arms with me while shopping, sweetly saying, “Rebecca, you’re so wonderful.” Back then, I’d bought her bags worth over a hundred thousand dollars. Now, looking back, what a joke.

Dr. Morgan frantically searched the nurses’ station for emergency equipment. But the cabinets were completely empty. Not even basic hemostats or gauze. “Where are the medications? Hemostatic agents! Uterine stimulants!” A nurse said quietly, “They were all sent to the third floor. Mr. Grant ordered all resources to prioritize Mrs. Scarlett.” Dr. Morgan slammed his fist on the cabinet. His eyes red, he looked at me, his lips trembling, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Mrs. Grant… There’s nothing I can do…” Lily walked over and patted his shoulder, “Dr. Morgan, don’t panic. Scarlett hasn’t delivered yet, right? Once Scarlett’s done, we’ll bring the equipment back down.” She glanced at my stomach and added, “Even if she does deliver, it’s just a girl. If she’s gone, she’s gone. The Grants don’t need this one.” I stared hard at her. Stared at this person I’d treated like a sister for three years. Then, using every ounce of strength, I squeezed out two words, “Bastard.” Lily’s expression darkened. She bent down, leaned close to my ear, her voice low, “Curse all you want. After you deliver and your body’s weak, I’ll have plenty of ways to shut you up. Then Ethan will marry Scarlett. As for you…” She straightened up, her smile bright. “For Ethan’s sake, I’ll let you live as a servant.” Dr. Morgan couldn’t take it anymore, “Miss Lily! This is murder!” “Murder?” Lily scoffed. “Dr. Morgan, watch your words. A patient dying during difficult labor is perfectly normal, isn’t it? Besides, this is Grant family business. What right does an outsider like you have to interfere?” She waved at the guards, “Take Dr. Morgan to rest. I’ll personally take care of scarlett Two guards stepped forward and dragged Dr. Morgan out. Dr. Morgan struggled and shouted, “Mrs. Grant! Don’t give up! The baby can still be saved!” His voice grew fainter. Lily closed the nurses’ station door and turned to look at me. She pulled out her phone and made a video call. “Ethan, scarlett ‘s going into labor. Want to watch?” Ethan’s face appeared on the screen. He was outside the delivery room, medical staff busy in the background. “Rebecca, stop this. Scarlett’s situation isn’t good. The baby’s heart rate is dropping.” Lily pointed the camera at me, “Look at scarlett. She’s bleeding so much. Is she dying too?” Ethan frowned, glanced briefly, then quickly looked away. “Tell her to wait. Once Scarlett delivers, the doctors will go down. Rebecca, Lily will take care of you for now. I can’t leave here.” The video call ended. Lily shrugged and put away her phone. “You heard him, right? In my brother’s heart, Scarlett comes first. You’re just a breeding tool. Once the tool’s used up, it gets thrown away.” I closed my eyes, no longer looking at her. My hand secretly moved to my back, feeling for the lining of my dress. Sewn there was a device the size of a button. Alexander Sinclair had given it to me. He’d said, “Rebecca, the Grants run deep. If anything happens, press this.” I’d laughed at his excessive worry then. “Dad, Ethan treats me well. Everyone in the Grant family treats me well.” Now, thinking back, how stupid I’d been. I used my nail to pry open the device’s protective cover. I pressed it gently. No sound, no light. But I knew the signal had been sent. Alexander Sinclair had said once I pressed it, someone would come within half an hour. But half an hour… Could my child survive half an hour?

My consciousness grew hazier. Lily sat in a chair playing with her phone, occasionally glancing up at me with the look of someone observing a lab animal. “Rebecca, what did you think you’d gain by marrying into our family? Did you think my brother was handsome? That the Grants were rich? But didn’t you ever think—what right does someone from an ordinary family like yours have to enter the Grant family’s door?” I said nothing. Lily continued, “If you hadn’t gotten pregnant early, my brother never would have married you. We thought you’d at least deliver a son and be somewhat useful. But the ultrasound showed a girl. Grandpa’s face went black. Good thing Scarlett’s carrying a boy, or this generation of Grants would have no heir.” She stood up, walked over, and kicked my leg. “So you see, people need to know their place. What isn’t yours, don’t force it. Once Scarlett delivers, you’ll sign the divorce papers, take some money, and leave. Then you can find some ordinary guy to marry. Wouldn’t that be nice?” I opened my eyes and looked at her, “Does Ethan know you’re talking to me like this?” Lily laughed, “Of course he knows. My brother sent me to persuade you. He said you’re stubborn and worried you might do something foolish, so he told me to counsel you properly.” I tried to smile but couldn’t. Another sharp pain tore through my abdomen. This time fiercer than all the others. The medication had completely worn off. The baby was coming. “Ah!” I couldn’t help but cry out. Lily stepped back, frowning, “What a hassle.” She opened the door and called out, “Someone come check if she’s about to deliver.” A nurse walked in timidly, took one look, and her face went white. “The cervix is fully dilated. I can already see the head… But there’s too much bleeding. We need to assist the delivery immediately!” Lily said impatiently, “Then assist!” The nurse was nearly crying, “There’s no equipment, no medication. Delivering like this… both mother and baby are in danger…” “Then let them be in danger,” Lily said coldly. “They’re going to die anyway. Why does it matter?” After giving her orders, Lily left to find Ethan, not caring about my life or death at all. The nurse didn’t dare speak further. She could only crouch down and try to help me dilate manually. But I couldn’t push at all. Too much blood loss. My strength was completely depleted. The baby was stuck, unable to go up or come down. Time passed second by agonizing second. Each second was torture. Until the hallway suddenly filled with rapid footsteps. Many people. The sound of boots hitting the floor, crisp and uniform. The nurse’s face changed, “Who’s there?” The door was kicked open. A group of people in black tactical gear rushed in, all armed. The man leading them removed his helmet, revealing a face with sharp features. The moment he saw me, his eyes turned red. “Miss!” I opened my mouth but couldn’t make a sound. I could only reach my hand toward him. The nurse screamed in panic, “Who are you! How did you get in! Security! Security!” The man didn’t even look at her. He rushed straight to me and knelt on one knee. “We’re late. Please forgive us, Miss!” He lifted me and ordered those behind him, “Clear the area! Prepare emergency treatment!” “Yes, sir!” The black-clad operatives moved swiftly. The nurse tried to flee in the chaos but was pinned to the ground. She struggled and shouted, “You dare touch me! This is a Grant family hospital!” The man turned back and glanced at her. That look was cold as ice. “The Grants? Soon there won’t be any Grants left.”

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Everything changed after my parents adopted Fiona Matthews. My parents, my brother, my fiancé—even my own family—they all took her side. And I went from being the beloved princess of the Summers family to someone everyone despised. All my struggles were just to get a little more love, but it was all in vain. When I finally decided to give up everything, I suddenly developed a condition—selective amnesia. This condition made me forget the painful people and events in my life. At Fiona and my fiancé’s engagement party, I forgot my fiancé. On the day I spent my birthday alone, I forgot the brother who once promised to protect me forever. On the day my parents threatened to disown me for Fiona’s sake, I forgot my parents. In the end, I left New York with nothing holding me back. And they all regretted it. “Aurora, aren’t you done throwing your tantrum yet?” Preston’s disgusted voice drifted up from downstairs. I stood on the staircase, looking down from above. My parents, Julian and Preston surrounded Fiona as they sat together. The way they looked at me was cold and full of contempt. It was as if the steps beneath my feet had created a harsh divide, splitting us into two completely different worlds. In their world, Fiona was the cherished princess everyone adored, while I was the vicious villain who bullied her—every move I made met with their impatience and wariness. But in my world, it was like an endless rain was falling. I ran frantically in all directions, but I couldn’t find a single shelter where I could rest. It didn’t used to be like this. I forced myself to maintain an indifferent expression, though my eyes betrayed my confusion. Before Fiona came to our house, I was the one who was pampered and spoiled, the princess raised in the palm of my parents’ hands. Though my parents were always busy and frequently traveling, every time Dad came home, he would catch me as I ran into his arms, lift me high in the air, his voice full of indulgent affection: “Did our Aurora miss Daddy?” If I loudly replied, “Yes!” Dad would laugh heartily and rub his stubbled cheek against mine. The gifts my parents brought back for me each time could literally bury me. Even when my parents weren’t home, I never lacked for anything. Because I had the best brother in the world, and the gentlest childhood friend. When my parents were away, Julian and Preston kept me company. Even though they were boys and Julian was five years older than me, they never minded that I was a delicate girl. They patiently played childish games with me. I grew up under their adoration until I turned seventeen—until my parents brought home a girl my age named Fiona Matthews. Everything changed. Fiona was the daughter of my mother’s college roommate, Lauren Matthews. They had been close friends in their youth and stayed in touch even after both got married. But Lauren’s family circumstances were modest, and she didn’t want to take advantage of our family, so they mostly communicated online. Until that year, when Fiona’s parents died in a car accident. My mother felt terrible for Fiona, who had lost her parents while her relatives passed her around like a hot potato. So my mother adopted Fiona. My mother told me: “Aurora, Fiona has been through so much. Be understanding with her.” That understanding cost me everything.

Fiona was nothing like me. She was always frail and delicate, her eyes perpetually misty. If anyone spoke even slightly louder, she could shed tears at any moment. On the first day, I made Fiona cry. Because I called out “Mom,” and fragile Fiona immediately thought of her deceased parents. Under my mother’s reproachful gaze, I stumbled backward two steps in panic. Within the first month, I “caused” Fiona to fall into the lake. Behind the Summers family mansion was an entire garden with a lake in the center. Beside the lake stood a treehouse my father had specially built for me when I was little. It was my favorite place. Fiona cried constantly. Mom said it was because she missed her parents too much. Mom told me to take Fiona to play in the treehouse together. I didn’t want to. In my heart, the treehouse belonged to me alone. I had too many beautiful memories there. Whenever I was unhappy, I would go to the treehouse to look at the stars, and Julian would always find me there and gently wipe away my tears. I said reluctantly, “Can’t we go somewhere else?” Fiona’s voice was soft: “It’s okay, Mrs. Summers. If Aurora doesn’t want to, I won’t go.” My mother’s voice rose, leaving no room for negotiation: “Aurora, is this how I raised you?” I had no choice but to take Fiona to the garden. By the lake, I looked at the distant treehouse, feeling unhappy, but still tried to patiently prepare to take Fiona inside. But just then, Fiona stumbled and crashed into me, and we both fell into the lake together. By the time someone discovered us, Fiona and I had struggled until we lost all strength. Through my haze, I saw Julian swimming toward me to save me. In my heart, I called out silently: “Julian, save me, please save me.” But from the shore, Mom’s voice rang out sharp as a hammer, making my head spin. “Julian! Save Fiona first! Fiona’s health is poor! If she dies, how will I answer to the Matthews family?” In my despair, I watched Julian glance at me with guilt before turning to swim toward Fiona instead. I opened my mouth, wanting to call out to my brother, but the bitter lake water surged into my stomach as if trying to fill the void left by the love I was about to lose. In all the chaos, a security guard pulled me out. Fiona woke up quickly, but because I had been submerged too long, I remained unconscious for three full days before waking. When I woke up, everything had changed. Mom looked at me with utter disgust: “How did I give birth to such a vicious daughter?” Dad was so disappointed: “Aurora, your father always taught you to be kind.” Julian looked at me with guilt and confusion: “Fiona hasn’t affected you at all. Why would you push her into the lake?” That’s when I learned that Fiona had woken up three days before me. After she woke, she tearfully claimed that I had pushed her into the lake, and said that only if she disappeared would I be happy. I protested loudly: “That’s not true!” “I didn’t push her! She pushed both of us into the lake!” But no one believed me. The more I explained, the more powerless I felt. From that day on, in everyone’s eyes, I transformed from a pampered princess into a vicious person. I don’t know why, but I kept doing things wrong. Whenever I encountered Fiona, everyone seemed to think I was targeting her. When my parents returned from business trips, they only remembered to bring gifts for Fiona, but forgot about me. After enduring six months of accumulated emotions, I finally exploded: “Mom, Dad, who’s actually your daughter? This is so unfair!” I saw a flash of guilt in my mother’s eyes, but it quickly transformed into self-righteousness: “Fiona lost her parents. Of course we need to take extra care of her. Why are you being so petty? You’re nothing like me.” Dad looked guilty: “Dad will give you a card, Aurora. Go buy whatever you like, okay?” But Fiona was crying again, her voice low but impossible to ignore. Everyone looked over. Fiona said softly: “I’m sorry, Mom, Dad. It’s all my fault. I don’t want any gifts. Give them all to Aurora.” Mom immediately grew angry: “Aurora, when did you become like this? Your father and mother are very disappointed in you!” I watched Julian wipe Fiona’s tears, and suddenly felt that something seemed to be drifting further and further away from me. I was panicked, uneasy, disappointed, and sad. But all I could do was bite my lip and say: “I don’t care anyway!” Then I ran back to my room. I wouldn’t cry. When I was little, Dad said Aurora was a princess, and Aurora’s tears were pearls—I couldn’t cry easily. I tossed and turned in my room, growing more and more confused. Why? Was Fiona really more likable than me? Sourness traveled from my chest to my nose, making it hard to breathe. But I refused to admit defeat. My pride wouldn’t let me bow my head. I thought, since Fiona had stolen everything from me, I would just take it all back.

From my seventeenth year to my twenty-third. I spent six years learning one lesson—the more you try to grasp something, the harder it is to hold onto. I became a complete failure. Family, love, career—I had nothing. All I had was my parents’ irritation and impatience, Julian’s indifference, and Preston’s hatred. I held my head high, like the princesses in the fairy tales Preston used to tell me when I was young. A princess never bows her head. My voice struggled to remain steady: “I’m done.” I looked down at the group at the bottom of the stairs—people I once thought would be my lifelong support, my family. The corners of my mouth lifted in a mocking smile: “You’re all one family now. What more do I have to make a fuss about?” Julian looked at me, his fingers suddenly twitching. He knew me best, after all. Julian was my biological brother. From the time he was five years old and watched me being born, he had watched me grow up. For some reason, Julian’s heart seized, and he felt an inexplicable panic. But the next second, my mother’s words prevented him from grasping that moment of alarm. “Aurora, I don’t care what tricks you’re planning now. I’m telling you, tomorrow is Fiona’s engagement party, and you must attend.” Tomorrow was Fiona and Preston’s engagement party. It took me a full month to painfully accept this fact. Actually, I had no choice but to accept it. I tilted my head slightly. My arm was still throbbing with dull pain. My mother must have forgotten that when I was seven, Preston had picked roses from his mother’s garden, clumsily removed the thorns, and then found me. Preston looked at me and asked quietly: “Aurora, when you grow up, will you marry me?” When Preston asked me this, my parents, Preston’s parents, and Julian were all present. Everyone laughed at the sight of us, just tiny children. Only Preston didn’t laugh. His face turned red as he stood awkwardly before me. My mother asked with a smile: “Preston, do you know what marriage means?” Preston answered seriously: “It means protecting Aurora for the rest of her life.” “Ma’am, Aurora is so delicate. What if someone else can’t take good care of her?” My father snorted lightly: “Wait until you’re grown up, then we’ll talk about this.” So every year on that day, Preston would ask everyone: “Am I big enough yet? Can I marry Aurora now?” It wasn’t until we entered middle school that Preston realized how silly his past behavior had been. But still, on that day each year, he would gently take my hand: “Aurora, when we grow up, I’ll definitely marry you.” Preston, who promised to protect me forever, now stood in front of Fiona, looking at me with hatred, as if I were about to hurt Fiona at any moment. I suddenly felt tired. I had once vowed to win back everyone’s love, and so my entire life became trapped in this mansion, obsessively calculating whether they treated me better or worse than Fiona. A little more, and I would be happy. A little less, and I would be depressed. Round and round, until I seemed to lose myself entirely. And I still ended up with the image of a vicious woman. Everyone downstairs was my closest family in this world. They didn’t love me. Did I even deserve to be loved by anyone else? But what else could I do? I had already tried my best, and they still didn’t love me. Maybe I had been too happy before, so that after seventeen, every day since has been paying back that debt. I nodded: “I understand. I’ll go.” I didn’t have the energy to look at the surprised or relieved expressions on their faces below. I returned to my room.

The moment the door closed, my straight spine bent. I slid down against the door to the floor. My mind seemed to be thinking about everything and nothing at all. The world became hazy before my eyes, as if separated from me by a layer. Only my hand unconsciously gripped the freshly scabbed wound on my arm. I had cut it with a small knife a few days ago. Starting a year ago, the thought of leaving this world became increasingly intense. With Fiona here, maybe even if I died, it wouldn’t affect those people in the slightest. But I was still struggling to stay alive. Every time I thought about ending it all, those warm moments from childhood would flood in, making the hand holding the knife lose a bit of its strength. I opened my phone. The contact list was nearly empty. Ever since Fiona came to our house, I had been forcibly bound to her. I got into New York University; Fiona didn’t, so my mother donated two buildings to get her in. After graduation, I started working at the Summers company, and immediately Fiona was placed in my department. Under Fiona’s performance, in everyone’s eyes, I was the arrogant young lady with a terrible temper. No one wanted to get close to me. She, on the other hand, was the poor little thing I bullied, easily winning everyone’s favor—not to mention she spent the Summers family’s money giving plenty of benefits to her so-called “friends.” I couldn’t even find a single outlet to pour out my pain. Those feelings of resentment, anger, numbness, and suffering crashed around inside my body, as if trying to destroy me from within. And I was completely helpless. I curled up into a ball on the soft carpet. After a long while, I couldn’t help but shed a tear. Dad, you lied to me. My tears aren’t pearls at all. No one cares about the tears I shed. I wanted to get up right now and go before that group of people who once loved me but now loved Fiona, and shout: “Tell me! What exactly do you want me to do?” But in the end, I just curled myself into an even tighter ball. Sleep, Aurora. Everything will be better after sleep. Close your eyes, and this painful day will end. I didn’t sleep well. My eyeballs kept jumping beneath my eyelids, my breathing quick and shallow, as if I were being tormented. But when dawn approached, my breathing finally steadied. It wasn’t until noisy sounds erupted outside my door that I groggily woke up. The door was being pounded loudly. I lifted my aching body from the floor and opened the door. Outside stood Julian with his cold voice: “Why haven’t you gotten ready yet? Today is Fiona’s engagement party. You’re not planning to throw another princess tantrum and refuse to go, are you?” My head still hurt. I had no energy to answer Julian’s question. Perhaps seeing how pale I looked, Julian’s voice softened slightly: “What’s wrong with you?” I stepped back, my voice flat: “Nothing.” Julian looked at me, as if angered by my coldness. His eyes filled with disappointment: “Aurora, you weren’t like this before. You used to—” “I’m sick of hearing that line. If you have nothing to say, go keep your dear sister company. If you keep wasting time, I really will miss the engagement party.” With that, I closed the door in Julian’s shocked gaze. Warm water streamed over my body. I was still thinking—engagement party? Fiona’s engagement to whom?

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After our housekeeper Shanna threw away the ring I’d custom-made for my husband, she dropped to her knees sobbing and apologizing: “Mrs. Whitmore, I thought it was just an empty box. I had no idea there was a ring inside. I know I’m poor—my worthless life isn’t worth one of your rings. Please don’t hold this against me.” I forgave her and helped her dig through our household trash to find the ring. The next day, when my husband Blake Whitmore returned from his late-night business trip, he said he wanted to take me somewhere special and mysteriously blindfolded me. He’d always loved surprising me, so I thought this was just another one. I never expected him to use a helicopter to drop me in a landfill containing 100 tons of garbage. That housekeeper sat provocatively beside him in the helicopter. Blake glared at me coldly: “Do you realize that because you made Shanna dig through the trash, she lost the only bracelet her mother left her!” “You like digging through trash so much? Today I’ll let you dig to your heart’s content! Don’t even think about leaving until you find Shanna’s mother’s keepsake!” In the sweltering summer heat, the nauseating stench made me retch continuously. These two had really crossed the line! In fury, I fired a signal flare at his helicopter!

The helicopter was hit by the signal flare, swaying and rocking in midair, nearly losing control. Shanna almost fell out. Blake caught her in his arms, still shaken, and roared at me in the garbage heap: “Lauren Yale, have you lost your mind!” He wore a microphone headset, his tremendous rage filling the entire landfill. Under the night sky, several helicopters circled overhead—all Blake’s friends from the elite circle, men and women wearing masks and watching my humiliation from above. “Is Lauren trying to get herself killed? Even now she’s still got such a temper!” “I think she’s forgotten where she came from—a nobody who became somebody! She should take a good look at herself!” “Exactly. A scholarship student who married Mr. Whitmore, lived the good life for a few years, and now thinks she’s too good to treat the household staff decently!” “Mr. Whitmore is right to do this. If he doesn’t teach her a lesson, she’ll really believe she’s upper class!” They all wore microphones, their mocking laughter mixing with the pervasive garbage stench. I couldn’t be bothered with them. The signal flare had been sent—it wouldn’t be long before people from the organization came to deal with them. Did they really think I was just some jealous wife?! I might not be wealthy, but my authority was far above these people! By crossing me, they’d triggered a bomb! “Mr. Whitmore, Mrs. Whitmore has such a delicate constitution. Let me go down and search instead. After all, she’s used to making me dig through trash anyway. I’m nobody—let someone lowly like me do the trash-digging.” Shanna put on her fake act. Blake looked at her with heartbreak, his voice tender: “You’re too kind. Kind women get bullied. I won’t let you be so understanding.” The scene pierced my heart. This housekeeper had been hired by Blake just a month ago. Five years of marriage couldn’t compete with a new housekeeper. Seeing me cover my nose and stand frozen, Blake commanded me again with finality: “Until you find Shanna’s mother’s keepsake, don’t even think about leaving!” I snorted coldly. “We’ll see if I can leave or not! I was blind to marry you! Blake Whitmore, our marriage is over!” Blake turned red with anger. “I gave you too much indulgence, and this is what you’ve become! I won’t coddle you anymore!” With that, he coldly ordered his subordinates over the phone: “Release the toads. Don’t stop until Mrs. Whitmore gets her precious hands dirty digging through garbage!”

He knew my greatest fear was toads. I had a heart condition. Two years ago, I accidentally stepped on a toad in our courtyard at home. The fright caused my heart to spasm, breaking me out in cold sweat with my pores standing on end. I nearly collapsed right there. Fortunately, I carried emergency heart pills with me. After Blake learned about this, he personally led the household security in catching toads throughout our vast estate for an entire day and night. He had people place toad repellent around the villa. From then on, there wasn’t a single toad on the property. Even though they were gone, whenever he was home, he would carry me so my feet never touched the ground. I thought he was making too much of it, but he looked at me with devoted eyes and said: “I enjoy taking care of you like this. I want to carry you for the rest of our lives, and I’ll make absolutely sure you never step on another toad again.” Those memories felt like yesterday. The sweetest promises he’d made had now become poisoned blades aimed at my heart. Soon his subordinates brought a helicopter full of toads and began dropping them one by one, aimed at my head from high above. Because I’d left in such a hurry, I didn’t have my heart medication with me. As toad after toad pelted down on me, my innate terror made my scalp tingle. My whole body froze, too panicked to breathe. The feeling was like being slowly cut apart by someone wielding a sharp knife, slicing skin and grinding flesh. Panic reaching its peak triggered my survival instinct. I began running instinctively to escape. The helicopter overhead followed me, continuously bombarding me with toads. I felt like I’d been abandoned on a deserted island, desperately trying to survive. Though toads posed no real threat to most people, for someone with an innate phobia of them, avoiding toads felt as urgent as escaping from crocodiles. “Ha ha ha ha ha…” “I told you she was all bark and no bite. What kind of future does someone who’s afraid of toads have?” “What do you mean no future? She can make housekeepers dig through trash!” “Think Lauren will beg for mercy on her knees?” “I bet she will. Lauren, I’m not trying to be harsh, but if you’d just obediently dug through the trash to find Mr. Whitmore’s sweetheart’s mother’s keepsake, this wouldn’t have happened. You’re refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!” “You don’t actually think Shanna is just a housekeeper, do you? She’s Mr. Whitmore’s precious darling now. If you’re petty about it, that’s your problem.” The rich kids and socialites overhead watched like I was a circus act, laughing mockingly. Shanna pretended to be understanding as she called down to me: “Mrs. Whitmore, stop being stubborn and just listen to Mr. Whitmore. That day when you made me dig through trash, I accidentally lost the only keepsake my mother left me.” “My mother’s bracelet is somewhere in this landfill now. If you search carefully, you’ll find it. The sooner you find it, the sooner this ends and you won’t have to suffer like this.” In the stinking landfill, there was nowhere clean to step. After running just a few steps, I tripped and fell into a pile of garbage. Toads continued raining down on me from above. By my feet, beside me, near my hands—they were everywhere. Finally, my heart seized with terror and I passed out. As my consciousness faded, I heard Blake’s subordinate report anxiously: “Mr. Whitmore, Mrs. Whitmore has a heart condition. She’s collapsed and isn’t moving. What if something happens?” Blake gave a slow, cold snort. “She’s just acting! She doesn’t have any heart disease—she’s just being dramatic to make me pamper her!” “Someone who can fight off wild dogs with her bare hands couldn’t possibly be scared to death by toads!” Shanna appeared sympathetic but was actually fanning the flames as she shouted at me: “Mrs. Whitmore, stop pretending! Get up already. You’re such a germaphobe—it must be so dirty down there. The doctor already told Mr. Whitmore you don’t have a heart condition.” “Why debase yourself like this? It pains me to watch.”

Blake was indeed provoked by her and warned me: “Lauren, get up right now and stop playing dead!” Shanna wickedly suggested: “Mr. Whitmore, could Mrs. Whitmore be suffering from heatstroke? Should we send down some ice water for her?” Now Blake believed everything she said and immediately ordered his subordinates: “Get the coldest water you can find and wake Mrs. Whitmore up!” Soon his men brought ice water and poured it over me like a waterfall from the helicopter. I felt nothing except my hearing. That splashing ice water was piercingly loud and even scared away the toads. I don’t know how long passed before I groggily regained consciousness. Bone-deep cold consumed me. I felt like I was submerged in a pool, with garbage floating in the water, drifting around my nose and mouth. Water flooding my nose gave me a drowning sensation. A violent survival instinct pulled me back again. I sat up abruptly, choking and coughing violently, as if trying to cough up my lungs. I trembled all over from the cold, as if my whole body was in an ice cellar. On this September night the temperature had plummeted, cold wind rustling. I felt like I was freezing to death. “Ha ha ha! I told you she was faking it!” “See, she can’t keep up the act anymore! Women are just naturally manipulative—like onions, you have to peel away layer after layer of their pretenses!” “Look at her now—just like a drowned rat. Ha ha ha, so pathetic!” “I’ve never seen a woman more stubborn than Lauren.” The spectators in the aircraft pulled out their phones to capture my misery, their loud mocking laughter echoing as if this moment was the happiest of their lives. Shanna hypocritically shouted at me again: “Mrs. Whitmore, get out of that water—it’s too cold and will harm your health! Mr. Whitmore makes the decisions in this house. Even if you look down on me, at least make a show of searching around a bit.” “Don’t make Mr. Whitmore so angry. Have some consideration for his health—men shouldn’t get this upset.” Her cheap words touched Blake deeply. Looking up, I saw him with one arm around the housekeeper’s waist and one hand caressing her thigh through her black stockings. The way he looked at her was heavy with lust. This man who once swore to heaven that even if every man in the world cheated, he never would. Now he was openly flirting with the housekeeper right in front of me. Sure enough, a man’s promises are only true when written on his tombstone! Seeing me glare at him in fury, Blake’s flirtatious expression instantly turned to displeasure as he snapped at me: “So you do know how to be angry? When you were mistreating Shanna, didn’t you think about how unsanitary garbage is?” “Just because of a stupid ring, you made her lose her mother’s keepsake! Didn’t you consider how devastated Shanna would be?!” “I thought you could recognize your mistakes, but I see your attitude is still defiant. I’ve given you too much confidence!” “From now on, I won’t indulge you anymore!” I laughed coldly in proud anger. “Are you done spouting your bullshit!” Instantly the spectators in the aircraft erupted: “Damn, she’s got guts! First time I’ve ever seen anyone dare talk to Mr. Whitmore like that!” “Someone who dares tell Mr. Whitmore he’s spouting bullshit—I’ve never seen that in my life.” “Even at this point Lauren’s mouth is still so sharp. She really doesn’t fear death!” Blake’s expression turned severe, his eyes boring into mine: “Since you’re not afraid of humiliation, I’ll make sure you’re thoroughly humiliated!” With that, he used his radio to order the other helicopters full of spectators: “Don’t hold back anymore. Go ahead and livestream this.”

His friends got excited like they were high on drugs. They all pulled out their phones and aimed them at me in high definition livestreams. They enthusiastically discussed livestream titles: “How about ‘Mr. Whitmore’s Wife-Taming Chronicle’?” “What about ‘Mrs. Whitmore Humiliates Servant and Gets Taught a Lesson’?” “How about ‘Mrs. Whitmore Searches for Bracelet in 100 Tons of Garbage’? I think that one’s good!” Blake pretended to think and joined the heated discussion: “The last one—’Mrs. Whitmore Searches for Bracelet in 100 Tons of Garbage.’ Use that title.” He deliberately paused, looking at me like a rebellious student who’d driven the principal to fury! Once the livestream started with Mrs. Whitmore’s name attached, tens of thousands of viewers instantly flooded each person’s stream, with numbers continuously rising. They deliberately stirred things up in the livestream: “Hello everyone, good evening. We’re bringing you a live broadcast of Mrs. Whitmore personally searching for a bracelet in 100 tons of garbage.” “What you’re seeing is the usually dignified Mrs. Whitmore. She humiliated the household housekeeper and caused the loss of the only keepsake the housekeeper’s mother left behind. Now Mr. Whitmore is making her personally find the housekeeper’s mother’s keepsake.” They deliberately read the harshest livestream comments aloud to me: “Mr. Whitmore is doing the right thing! People who look down on others deserve this treatment!” “Lauren isn’t some heiress herself. What right does she have to humiliate us ordinary people!” “Look how pathetic she is—I’d love to go there in person and slap her a few times!” I was numb from the cold, using all my strength to struggle out of the ice water and stumble toward the distant exit. The helicopters’ blinding searchlights above shone directly into my eyes. Seeing I still wouldn’t submit to him, Blake played his final card: “Lauren, I’m asking you one last time—will you search for Shanna’s mother’s keepsake or not? Or would you rather have your mother’s ashes scattered in the garbage just to maintain your pride?!” My heart lurched painfully. I steadied my weakening body and looked up at Blake. He held my mother’s urn in his hands, coldly staring into my eyes as he opened the lid. The urn tilted, and I watched as my mother’s ashes were about to spill out. I gave in, screaming at him through my tears: “I’ll search! I’ll search! Blake Whitmore, we were husband and wife—I’m begging you not to be so heartless.” I was truly afraid he’d scatter my mother’s ashes. I immediately began pawing through the foul garbage heap, digging while pleading with him: “I’m searching right now. Please put my mother’s urn away safely. I’m begging you.” Shanna maliciously fanned the flames again: “Mrs. Whitmore, why do this to yourself? You said it yourself—you were husband and wife. But why did you try to blow up Mr. Whitmore’s helicopter earlier? You really hurt his feelings.” I ignored her and just kept digging through the garbage. Shanna continued stirring trouble: “Mr. Whitmore, the way Mrs. Whitmore is just randomly digging around, this will take forever. If she’s not going to search sincerely, forget it—let me go down and search instead.” Blake, provoked by her words, lost all patience. He tilted the urn downward and coldly threatened me: “Lauren, I don’t have time to waste on you. I’m setting a timer now. If you don’t find it within half an hour, your mother’s ashes will be scattered like dust across this garbage heap.” I broke down. One hundred tons of garbage—half an hour was impossible. But no matter how much I begged, he remained unmoved, constantly reminding me of the time. I could only pray for luck, but after using all my strength to dig through garbage for half an hour, I still hadn’t found Shanna’s mother’s keepsake. Just as I was about to beg Blake again, I watched him with his cold, heartless expression tip my mother’s urn and pour out the ashes. I watched my mother’s ashes scatter like dust in the air, falling downward. I completely shattered inside, desperately running over with outstretched hands: “No!” Above me came their roaring mocking laughter. Suddenly the sound of hundreds of aircraft approached from all directions, drowning out their derisive laughter. These aircraft surrounded Blake’s helicopter. I finally heard a reassuring voice: “Which bastard is bullying Lauren? Take him down!”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “362829”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #玄幻Fantasy #浪漫Romance #重生Reborn #狼人Werewolf

My parents teamed up with my fiancé to sue me in court. The charge was intentional assault. They wanted me locked up for ten years, plus compensation to my foster sister—my cornea for her missing eye. In the courtroom, Dad pointed at me and cursed: “Yara is an artist. Her eyes are worth more than your miserable life. Giving her your cornea is only natural!” Mom sobbed and begged the judge: “Give her the maximum sentence! This daughter of mine is pure evil. If she doesn’t go to prison, she’ll never learn!” And my fiancé, a star attorney, personally submitted falsified evidence: “Nora, go in and reflect properly. When you get out, I’ll still marry you.” They all expected me to fall to my knees and beg for mercy like before, or throw a tantrum. But this time, the defendant’s seat remained empty. My fiancé sent me an impatient voice message: “Nora, stop playing dead and dodging court. If you’re willing to sign the cornea donation form, I can file to dismiss the case.” Too bad he’d never get my reply again. Because one minute before the hearing began, the system issued its final warning: [Host Nora Pennington’s mission has utterly failed. Death confirmed…]

The gavel hung suspended, refusing to fall. The presiding judge showed his impatience, lifting his hand to check his watch. From the plaintiff’s bench, my dad, Patrick Pennington, pointed at the empty defendant’s seat, spittle flying. “Your Honor, look at this! She doesn’t even dare show up in court! This is fleeing from justice!” “She’s been jealous of her sister since childhood, completely heartless. This time she actually took a knife and blinded Yara in one eye!” “This menace—if you don’t lock her up for ten years, there’s no justice in this world!” My mom, Rachel Allen, dabbed at her tears beside him. “How did I give birth to such a monster… Yara may be adopted, but in our hearts she’s closer than blood.” Listen to that. How touching. I floated in midair, watching these two people who had given birth to me and raised me. They wanted nothing more than to grind me into the dirt and stomp on me twice for good measure. And that fiancé who’d promised to protect me for life, Adrian Vale, sat in the plaintiff’s attorney seat. His expression was cold as he submitted several documents. “Your Honor, this is surveillance footage of the defendant Nora purchasing the weapon used in the assault.” “And here are records of her repeatedly sending threatening text messages to the victim.” “I am the plaintiff’s attorney, and also the victim’s fiancé.” “I request that the court impose the maximum sentence.” The courtroom erupted. Even the judge looked momentarily stunned. Probably never seen a fiancé personally send his fiancée to prison before. I floated in front of Adrian’s face. I tried to touch his cheek, but my hand passed right through. “Adrian, look carefully—that’s my sister wearing my clothes in the surveillance footage.” “Those text messages—didn’t Yara send them herself using my phone?” Too bad he couldn’t hear me. He was staring down at his phone, brow furrowed. On the screen was the last message he’d sent me: [Nora, stop playing dead and dodging court. If you’re willing to sign the cornea donation form, I can file to dismiss the case.] [This is what you owe Yara.] Below it was a red exclamation mark. One minute ago. My body had stopped breathing on the floor of my rental apartment. The system’s mechanical voice echoed in my mind: [Host departing world… Departure obstructed, excessive resentment, soul detained for 72 hours.] Resentment? I looked at Adrian’s profile, tears silently streaming down my face. How could I not resent? I’d spent ten full years trying to win him over. In high school, when he was bullied, I stood up for him. In college, when his family fell on hard times, I worked three jobs to support him. To help raise money for his mother’s surgery, I knelt outside the Pennington family mansion in a blizzard, kowtowing until my head bled. He’d said, “Nora, when I make something of myself, I’ll give you the grandest wedding.” And the result? The moment Yara came back, everything changed. When Yara said her eyes hurt, he forced me to get tested for cornea compatibility. Never mind that I’d already been diagnosed with stomach cancer and was too weak to even walk steadily. When Yara claimed I pushed her, he backhanded me across the face. Hit me so hard my eardrum ruptured—but all he cared about was whether Yara’s hand hurt from hitting me. Now he’d personally forged evidence to send me to prison and harvest my eyes. The judge tapped his gavel. “Since the defendant has failed to appear without valid reason, this court will proceed with trial in absentia…” Just then, Adrian’s phone rang. It was the police station. “Hello, is this Mr. Vale? This is South District Police Station.” Adrian sounded extremely irritated, lowering his voice: “I’m in court right now. Whatever it is, call back later.” The officer on the other end sounded urgent. “Mr. Vale, we’ve discovered a female body in the slums.” “The deceased was clutching a business card from your law firm, with your name written on the back.” “Based on preliminary identification, we believe the deceased may be your fiancée, Nora.”

The phone crashed onto the table. The loud noise made everyone look at him. Patrick frowned. “Adrian, what’s wrong? Is that ungrateful daughter causing more trouble?” Adrian’s face had gone deathly pale. “The police said… they found a female body, possibly Nora.” The courtroom fell eerily silent. Then Yara, covering her bandaged right eye, let out a derisive laugh. “Nora is dead? Impossible!” “She was still texting me yesterday, cursing at me, saying she’d gouge out my other eye!” She trembled all over, shrinking into Rachel’s arms. “Mom, is Nora trying to scare us? Is she using death to escape legal responsibility?” Rachel immediately caught on. Disgust flashed across her face. “It must be fake! This wretched girl is the best actress around!” “Last time, to avoid a blind date, she pretended to faint—turned out it was just low blood sugar!” “Now to avoid prison, she’s stooped to this cheap trick of playing dead!” Patrick was even more furious, pounding the table. “Officers, don’t let her fool you!” “She’s a menace with the devil’s own luck! How could she possibly be dead?” “She’s just trying to blackmail us into dropping the case! Let me tell you—not a chance!” Hearing all this, Adrian’s deathly pale face gradually regained some color. Right—how could Nora be dead? She was like a cockroach that couldn’t be killed. When Patrick broke her leg, she crawled to the hospital without a sound. When Rachel locked her in the basement for three days and nights, she came out and still cooked for them with a smile. Even on the day she was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer… Wait. I floated in the air, watching Adrian suddenly freeze. Did he remember? Three months ago, I came to him with my diagnosis, hoping for a hug. Yara snatched it away and tore it to shreds. Yara had laughed and said, “Sister, you’re really going all out for sympathy, aren’t you? You’d even fake a medical report like this?” What had Adrian said then? He’d said, “Nora, are you ever going to stop? To compete for attention, you’d even lie about something this unlucky?” At this moment, Adrian took a breath and spoke into the phone: “Officer, please verify thoroughly.” “Nora is a habitual offender who’ll do anything to evade responsibility.” “If she’s faking death, please arrest her immediately.” Hanging up, he straightened his tie again. “Your Honor, my apologies. This is the defendant’s delaying tactic. Let’s continue.” I floated above his head, smiling bitterly. Adrian, you’ll never know—in my final moment, I was waiting for you to come get me. I waited until my body went cold. Until my blood ran dry. And you never came. The trial continued. With the defendant absent and given the “ironclad evidence” provided by the plaintiff, judgment came quickly. [Defendant Nora, guilty of intentional assault, sentenced to ten years imprisonment, and ordered to compensate victim Yara Pennington a total of eight hundred thousand dollars in damages.] [Further, given the severity of the victim’s injuries, the defendant is advised to fulfill her cornea donation commitment.] The gavel fell. The matter was settled. Yara threw her arms around Adrian in excitement. “Adrian, this is wonderful! Justice has finally triumphed over evil!” “When sister reforms properly in prison, she’ll come out a better person.” Rachel patted Adrian’s shoulder with satisfaction. “Adrian, we really owe you for this.” “Once we catch that wretched girl, we’ll transplant the cornea into Yara right away.” Only Adrian, though he’d won the case, never relaxed his furrowed brow. He unconsciously rubbed his ring finger. It had once worn the simple band I’d given him. But now it bore the diamond ring Yara had chosen. “Let’s go to the slums.” Walking out of the courthouse, Adrian suddenly spoke. Yara stiffened. “Go there? Why? It’s filthy and disgusting.” Adrian pulled open the car door. “If she’s alive, I want to see her. If she’s dead, I want to see the body.” “Besides…” He paused, his eyes dark. “Since judgment has been rendered, we need to bring her back to serve her sentence.”

The slums were my only shelter after leaving the Pennington house. Because Adrian had frozen all my accounts, and Patrick had blacklisted me throughout the industry. I couldn’t find work and could only live here. The black Maybach stopped at the alley entrance, looking completely out of place. Yara covered her nose, her face full of disgust. “How could my sister live in a place like this? Didn’t Mom and Dad give her living expenses?” Rachel snorted coldly. “Give her what? That jinx got your brother killed and tried to hurt you too. I wouldn’t give her a single penny!” At the mention of her brother, Patrick’s face instantly turned black as a pot. This was why they hated me. When I was five, I took my three-year-old brother out to play. He was kidnapped by human traffickers and remained missing to this day, alive or dead unknown. From that moment on, I became the Pennington family’s sinner. Everyone believed I brought misfortune to my family. So they adopted adorable little Yara. From then on, she was the pearl in their palm, and I was the mud beneath their feet. Even when I later desperately found clues about my brother, I discovered he’d already died accidentally while trying to escape. This news—before I could tell them—was stolen by Yara. She’d said, “Sister, since brother is dead, let’s not make Mom and Dad sad. Let’s bury this secret, shall we?” Then she turned around and told my parents that I’d deliberately abandoned him out of jealousy. … The group tramped through sewage water to reach the tube building where I’d been renting. The landlady was drinking tea at the entrance. Seeing the police and this group of well-dressed people, she startled. “Oh my, you’re looking for that sickly girl?” Adrian frowned. “Sickly girl?” The landlady rolled her eyes. “Of course. Coughing her lungs out all day, thin as a ghost.” “She even owed me rent a couple days ago, said she’d pay when her fiancé came to get her.” She pointed at Adrian. “You’re that fiancé, right? You look decent enough—how could you let your woman live in a pigsty like this?” Adrian’s expression turned ugly. He’d always assumed I was living comfortably out here. After all, I’d graduated from a prestigious university with excellent abilities. He never imagined I’d sink this low. “Cut the chatter. Open the door.” Patrick snapped impatiently. The landlady cursed under her breath as she fished out her keys and opened the rusted iron door. Inside was dark, the curtains drawn tight. The ten-square-meter space was crammed with junk. On the table sat a half-bowl of moldy instant noodles and a pile of… medicine bottles. Yara was so frightened she hid behind Adrian. As soon as Adrian entered, he stepped on something. Looking down, he saw a picture frame. In the photo were him and me at our college graduation ceremony. Back then, I’d been smiling brilliantly, with baby fat still on my cheeks. Now the glass was shattered. My face in the photo was scratched to pieces, covered in dark red bloodstains. That blood—I’d coughed it up in the dead of night when the pain drove me delirious. Adrian crouched down as if possessed, touching it. “Ah! Blood! So much blood!” Yara pointed at the bathroom doorway, screaming in terror. Following her finger, they looked. At the bathroom entrance was a large pool of blood that had long since turned black. And a phone with a cracked screen. Adrian instantly rushed over and picked up the phone. It was still on the text message editing page, showing an unsent message from me: [Adrian, I didn’t push her, but I’m tired. Is giving you my life enough?]

Adrian’s hands began to tremble. He stared at those words, his breathing growing rapid. “What… what does this mean?” Rachel walked over without even glancing at it. “What else could it mean? More melodramatic nonsense! Probably chicken blood or duck blood to scare people. If she was really dead, where’s the body? Did it just fly away?” Patrick sneered as well. “Exactly. She’s been manipulative since childhood. She’s probably hiding somewhere watching us make fools of ourselves. Adrian, don’t fall for it. Have the police issue an arrest warrant.” Adrian said nothing. He looked at the room full of medicine bottles and picked one up at random. The label had been torn off, but he recognized the shape of this bottle. He’d seen it when buying painkillers for Yara. This was heavy-duty painkiller, specifically for terminal cancer patients. “This medicine…” Adrian’s voice was hoarse. Yara’s eyes flashed as she quickly came over. “Oh, isn’t that just vitamins?” “Sister always loved taking diet pills and vitamins randomly, said she needed to maintain her figure to seduce men.” She took Adrian’s arm, acting coquettish: “Adrian, it smells awful here. Let’s go. Sister definitely isn’t home—she probably ran off with some random man.” Just then, Adrian’s phone rang again. Same officer. Adrian answered, his knuckles white with pressure. “Mr. Vale, after rushing the DNA comparison, we’ve confirmed the deceased’s identity.” “It’s Nora.” “The body has been transported to the city funeral home. Since the deceased signed an organ donation agreement before death, the hospital is pressing for confirmation.” “If you’re family, please come as soon as possible.” Adrian felt something explode in his brain. He swayed, nearly falling. “You said… confirmed?” “Yes. Cause of death was terminal stomach cancer with massive hemorrhaging. Time of death was approximately late last night.” Late last night. What had he been doing then? He’d been helping Yara pick out what to wear to court the next day. And sending me that cold, threatening message on SnapChat. [Nora, stop playing dead.] Turned out, I really hadn’t been playing. Adrian hung up the phone, his entire being seemingly drained of its soul. He turned to look at the three Penningtons, still complaining about this and that. Suddenly felt a wave of nausea. “The police said…” He’d barely opened his mouth when Yara suddenly clutched her eye and let out a piercing scream. “Ah! My eye! It hurts so much! So much!” She collapsed, convulsing all over, her face instantly turning deathly pale. “Mom! Help! Sister… I see sister coming at me with a knife to gouge my eye! It hurts so much!” Rachel panicked and grabbed her. “Yara! What’s wrong? Don’t scare Mommy!” “It’s Nora! That wretched girl must be hiding somewhere cursing Yara!” Patrick roared: “Adrian! What are you standing there for? Get Yara to the hospital!” Adrian stood frozen in place. On one side, police notification to identify a body. On the other, Yara writhing in pain. “Adrian…” Yara grabbed Adrian’s pant leg, looking up pitifully. “I’m so scared… Am I going blind? Is Nora refusing to give me her cornea?” Adrian looked at her, then at the phone in his hand. Even the phone still had my blood on it.

I was selling used furniture on a resale platform when a girl messaged me to haggle: “Could you lower the price a bit?” “I haven’t graduated yet. I just had a fight with my roommate and moved out of the dorm. My boyfriend found this place for me.” “He’s really wealthy and says we’ll get married after I graduate, but I don’t want to burden him too much.” “Could you take twenty dollars off? I can pick it up myself!” When I was dating Marcus during college, I was extremely frugal too, so I agreed. That evening, two people showed up at my apartment complex gate. The girl said proudly: “I’m pretty amazing, aren’t I? Got a washing machine that’s almost brand new for less than a hundred bucks!” The man looked at her adoringly: “Yes, my baby is the most amazing. But I’m the CEO of the Murphy Group—you think I can’t afford to take care of you? I make money just to spend it on you. Stop pinching pennies from now on.” The man looked up with a smile. When I saw his face clearly, I froze in place. It was my notoriously frugal boyfriend, Marcus.

The air fell silent. I could clearly see panic and shock written across Marcus’s face. I opened my mouth to speak, but then I saw the warning in Marcus’s eyes. Celeste didn’t notice anything unusual between us. She pouted playfully: “I don’t want to be a parasite! What if you don’t want me anymore someday?” “What are you looking at? Why aren’t you answering me?” Marcus snapped back to attention and ruffled Celeste’s hair: “How could I ever not want you?” Following his gaze, Celeste looked toward the washing machine beside me. “There’s nothing wrong with it, right?” I came back to my senses and introduced it with a forced smile. Marcus suddenly spoke up: “Why are you selling furniture? Short on money?” I froze for a moment. When it comes to money, is there ever enough? Before I could answer, Celeste punched Marcus’s arm. “Don’t say things like that!” “Don’t mind him. My boyfriend’s like this—just because he has money, he doesn’t understand us regular people’s struggles.” She shot Marcus a reproachful glance and rolled up her sleeve, revealing a diamond bracelet. “For my birthday, I wanted a bracelet. I had to save up half a year’s worth of living expenses to afford it. He just went and gave me an entire season’s worth of new collections! I still have unopened packages in my closet!” Last summer, I spotted a dress I liked. After the discount, it was three hundred dollars. Marcus wanted to pay for it, but I stopped him. I smiled as if it didn’t matter: “I can’t wear it to work anyway. It’d be a waste to buy it. Wouldn’t it be better to save that money toward our house fund?” It wasn’t that I didn’t want it—it’s just that two days earlier, Marcus had complained about being docked three hundred dollars for being late to work. “I had a fight with my roommate. I was just going to find some random shared apartment near campus, but he went and bought an entire penthouse and put it in my name! Eighty thousand per square foot! I could work my whole life and only afford the bathroom!” When I was apartment hunting, I argued with the landlord until we were both red in the face over an extra hundred dollars in utilities. When Marcus saw how upset I was, he wanted to break the lease immediately, but I refused no matter what. Only because this apartment was close to Marcus’s company, cutting down his commute time so he could sleep a little longer each day. “And I love going to concerts, so he took me to the front row of the main floor! Oh my, now that I think about it, I really am his parasite!” Celeste complained on the surface, but her tone was full of happiness. And I stood there, my face growing paler and paler. Marcus cleared his throat lightly. Celeste slapped her forehead, looking a bit annoyed: “Don’t take it the wrong way. I wasn’t trying to show off. Let’s add each other on SnapChat! If you have more used furniture to sell, remember to contact me!” Marcus tried to stop her, but Celeste quickly scanned my QR code: “I’m not relying on you for this! I’m going to be self-sufficient!” The black Bentley was parked nearby. Marcus looked helpless: “At least ride in my car, okay? I don’t want to walk down the street like an idiot carrying a washing machine.” When I was apartment hunting, I also bought secondhand furniture from the platform. To save on delivery fees, I refused the moving company and carried the heavy sofa and cabinets up to the fourth floor by myself. But in Marcus’s eyes, I apparently looked like an idiot. Only after they disappeared from my view did I feel like I could breathe again. My phone buzzed. It was a message from Marcus: “It’s cold outside. Go home first. We’ll talk tonight.” I laughed bitterly and touched my rounded belly. Marcus loved children. Just a few days ago, I was planning to surprise him. Now it had turned into a joke. Even though I knew Marcus was with Celeste right now, I impulsively called him. First call: declined. Second call: declined. By the third call, his phone was off. I looked down and realized my palm was bleeding from my nails digging in. The wound was small, but my whole heart felt numb with pain. When I got home, I accepted Celeste’s friend request.

On her Ins, Marcus had taken her to see the Northern Lights, and even rented out an entire private island to celebrate their anniversary. In all these places I could never afford to go, they looked so happy together. My throat felt like it was being strangled. Even breathing became difficult. It wasn’t until late at night that I heard sounds at the door. As soon as Marcus came in, he frowned: “Why is it so cold in here?” Though the apartment complex was in the city center, the building was old and the heating was poor. Other tenants couldn’t stand the cold and moved out. I was the only one who stayed because of six months’ rent reduction. The door was ajar. I didn’t say anything, just exhaled a puff of white breath. Marcus went to the bedroom and brought out a comforter, wrapping it around me without asking. His voice carried anger: “Is this how you take care of yourself when I’m not here? Evelyn, how can I feel at ease?” I shoved him away: “Why are you putting on an act now? Is it fun lying to me?” My pregnant body was clumsy. I stumbled a few steps before steadying myself. In the past, when I lost my temper with Marcus, he would smile helplessly and raise both hands in surrender: “It’s my fault. I made Evelyn unhappy. You can punish me however you want.” Now Marcus’s face was cold: “How long are you going to make a mountain out of a molehill?” He paused: “Celeste is young. She can’t handle a lot of things on her own…” My emotions spiraled out of control: “She’s young, so you play her boyfriend and take care of her? What about me? How pathetic am I that you’d pretend to be poor just to toy with me?” Pain flashed through Marcus’s eyes. He hugged me tightly from behind: “Evelyn, calm down!” I used all my strength but couldn’t break free. “Don’t touch me!” A soft sound—the ajar door was pushed open. Celeste, appearing out of nowhere, looked at us with disbelief written all over her face. “You two…” “Celeste? Why are you here?” As if realizing something, Marcus’s expression turned ice cold, his voice frigid: “Why did you come?” Celeste’s face was covered in tears: “Didn’t you install a tracker on your phone yourself so I could always find you? So what does this mean now? You want me to pretend I don’t see you messing around with this old woman?” She shoved me hard. “I trusted you so much. I never thought you’d be shameless enough to seduce my boyfriend!” I almost fell. Marcus quickly caught me and glared furiously at Celeste. “Stop it!” Celeste broke down even more: “Marcus, you liar! You said you’d marry me!” She turned and ran out crying. Marcus immediately moved to chase her. I grabbed his hand: “I need to tell you something…” But he shook me off violently: “Let go! What if Celeste runs into danger this late at night?” Marcus left without looking back. I was thrown directly to the floor, my belly hitting the table corner hard. Suddenly, a twisting pain shot through my abdomen. I felt wetness below. I reached down—blood! The sharp pain made my head swim. Instinctively, I called Marcus: “Help me… my stomach hurts so much…” The last thing I heard before losing consciousness was Marcus’s impatient voice: “You’re at home. What danger could there be? I just got Celeste calmed down. Stop throwing tantrums.”

When I opened my eyes, I was in the hospital. My whole body felt like it had been run over by a truck. I forced myself to sit up: “The baby… how is it?” The nurse looked at me with pity: “If your neighbor hadn’t seen the door open, you’d be dead. Even if you didn’t want the baby, you should’ve come to a proper hospital for the procedure. How could you deliberately ram your belly to cause a miscarriage?” My mind went blank. Marcus had personally killed our child. My phone suddenly vibrated frantically: “Evelyn Hart, you’re actually a homewrecker destroying someone else’s relationship? You’re fired!” “Stealing a college student’s boyfriend—a shameless slut like you should just die!” “If you’re that desperate, go sell yourself. Don’t go around seducing people!” The messages flooded in—from work, from strangers. Celeste had posted online, accusing me of being the other woman! My body was already weak from the miscarriage. Suddenly, a sharp pain swept through my entire body. I clutched my chest, unable to hold back a cry of pain. Just then, Marcus called. My voice trembled: “Marcus, we’ve been together since seven years ago!” My family was poor. During college, I constantly worked part-time jobs. On the day he confessed, Marcus held a bouquet of flowers with complete sincerity: “Evelyn, I may be poor, but I’ll do everything I can to give you a better life. I’ll never let you suffer.” After we got together, even when we could only afford instant noodles, Marcus would give me the only boiled egg. And now, he paused: “Celeste is young and insecure. She just posted to vent. Don’t make such a big deal out of it. You’re not home. Where are you?” All the grievances I’d been holding in came pouring out. I choked up: “I’m at the hospital. Our…” “Evelyn, you’re too old to be pulling the ‘running away from home’ routine like a teenage girl. It’s not cute anymore.” Before I could finish, Marcus cut me off impatiently. His voice was casual: “You’ve always been healthy—you could work three jobs in one day. How could you get sick so easily? Stop pretending. Celeste’s emotions are unstable. Come apologize to her.” I couldn’t believe it: “Celeste twisted the truth and got me cyberbullied, and you want me to apologize?” “You want me to just watch Celeste get bullied into suicide?” Marcus’s voice suddenly rose. When I stayed silent, it dropped again. “Evelyn, your mother’s nursing home fees—I’m the one paying them.” My heart trembled. My mother’s health was poor. She’d been in the ICU three times in one year. Marcus saw how stressed I was and took the initiative to move my mom to a special care ward, covering all the expenses. I’d been desperately saving and earning money, trying to pay Marcus back every cent he’d spent. That way our relationship could be on equal footing. Now he was using my mother to threaten me. An unprecedented exhaustion washed over me. I suddenly felt there was no point in arguing anymore. With tears in my eyes, I nodded and went to the address Marcus gave me in the villa district. The weakness from the miscarriage made my legs unsteady. I was barely forcing myself to move forward when the security guard stopped me. “I’m Marcus’s girlfriend.” He looked me up and down suspiciously. Only after calling Marcus did the guard let me through, his face full of contempt: “Everyone knows Mr. Murphy’s girlfriend is Miss Porter. I’ve lived long enough—these days even mistresses dare to show up openly!” When he saw me, Marcus’s face showed an expected smile: “Be good, and I’ll pay for your mother’s medical expenses.” He brought me in front of a phone set up for recording: “We’re going live in a moment. Tell everyone you’re the mistress and apologize to Celeste.” I jerked my head up and stared at him: “You’re saying I’m the mistress?” Celeste laughed lightly: “Marcus already made our relationship official with me. If you’re not the mistress, then am I?” Marcus didn’t answer my question. Instead, he frowned at me and handed me a piece of paper: “Evelyn, be good. Just read this in a moment. Don’t stress about it. It’ll be over quickly.” The paper was filled with statements about how I was jealous of Celeste, so I deliberately seduced Marcus to destroy their relationship.

As soon as the livestream started, a flood of people poured in. When they saw it was me, the comments exploded. Everyone was calling me a homewrecker. Celeste acted magnanimous: “Everyone, please be kind. She’s here to apologize today.” Under everyone’s gaze, I pulled my lips into a smile: “I’m Evelyn Hart, and I’m here to apologize to everyone today. I should have just let Celeste, the actual homewrecker, steal my boyfriend of seven years and twist the truth to cyberbully me, instead of making a fuss! I apologize for not keeping quiet, for not obediently playing the turtle hiding in its shell!” Marcus quickly shut off the livestream, but it had already hit the trending topics. The hashtag #CelestePorterHomewrecker was number one. Marcus laughed in fury: “Evelyn, you’d better not regret this! Assistant, cancel all the nursing home payments immediately!” My pupils shook violently. Stopping the payments now was sentencing my mother to death! But Marcus grabbed my hand and shoved me into the car without another word. “To the hospital! I’ll let you see with your own eyes how your mother pays for your willfulness!” At the hospital, I cried and begged Marcus to spare my mother. Seeing my tears, a trace of reluctance flashed in Marcus’s eyes. But he still turned his head away: “You’ve hurt Celeste so badly. There must be consequences!” He paused, his voice hard: “Kneel and apologize to Celeste. When she forgives you, I’ll restore the nursing home payments. Otherwise, prepare to collect your mother’s body!” My whole body shook. I bit my lip until it bled. Under Celeste’s mocking gaze, I bent my knees and knelt heavily before her. “I’m sorry. It was my fault.” I kowtowed numbly, like a dog without dignity. Once, then again. My forehead was bloody. Marcus’s expression softened slightly. He stepped out of the room to take a call, leaving only Celeste. Seeing him leave, Celeste’s face instantly turned vicious: “You dare try to steal Marcus from me? You deserve to pay the price!” Before I could react, she rushed to my mother’s bed and directly pulled out the oxygen tube and IV line keeping her alive! “No!” I struggled to rush forward but was pinned to the ground by bodyguards. The monitor sounded an alarm. My mother’s face quickly turned blue-purple. Until the last trace of life faded and her head tilted to the side. My mother was dead. I collapsed on the floor in despair, nearly crying tears of blood. Celeste immediately messed up her own hair and ran outside. She ran right into Marcus, who was coming back. She cried pitifully: “Marcus, I just kindly wanted to help adjust your mother’s blanket, and Evelyn suddenly rushed over and pushed me, saying I’m not worthy to be with you…” Marcus’s face immediately darkened: “Evelyn, is your dignity worth that much? Just to avoid apologizing, you’d ignore even your own mother’s life?” I laughed bitterly: “Life? My mother is dead. Celeste killed her!” Celeste immediately denied it, and Marcus insisted I was lying. He laughed coldly: “You’d even use your own mother’s death to lie. Since you won’t apologize, then don’t regret it!” He left with his arm around Celeste. Half an hour later, the Murphy Group’s official account posted a statement: “Mr. Marcus Murphy’s relationship status was made public long ago. His girlfriend is only Miss Celeste Porter. Miss Evelyn Hart suffered trauma as a student and has an abnormal mental state with cognitive impairment. All her statements are false information.” In the video released with it, a girl stood in an office with an older man’s hand on her waist. My mind went blank. In high school, I was the school’s famous scholarship student. A male teacher decided I had no power or influence and groped me in his office. I didn’t dare speak up because no one would stand up for me. Even into college, I had severe psychological issues and attempted suicide countless times. Marcus saved me. He held me tightly in his arms, comforting me over and over: “Evelyn, don’t let scum ruin your life. It’s not your fault. I will always, always be with you.” This was my darkest past, something I’d only ever told Marcus. But he ripped open my scars and used my blood and tears to whitewash Celeste. So for Celeste’s sake, he could go this far. In complete despair, I smiled bitterly and threw a lit lighter toward the bed curtains. Watching the flames rise before me, I pushed open the window and jumped. Marcus, from now on, we have no future. On the other side, Marcus was shopping with Celeste when he suddenly saw thick smoke rising in the distance! An ominous feeling surged in his heart. He quickly called over a mall employee to ask what was happening. “The hospital’s on fire. I heard someone burned to death—someone in the special care ward!”

New Year’s return home—my electric scooter suddenly exploded. It burned the neighbor’s Maybach and killed a grandmother and her grandson passing by. My entire family drained their savings to pay compensation for me, taking on millions in debt. The victims’ families cursed me for twenty years. I worked eight jobs a day to pay it all back. The night I finally paid off the debt, I died from overwork. Before I closed my eyes, I heard my parents laughing outside the door: “Actually, the Maybach was never burned. That old woman and her grandson faked their deaths. She really believed it and worked herself to death earning money!” “What else could we do? Brandon needs money for his house and car! We’ve raised her all these years—she finally became useful.” So my twenty years were all a joke. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the explosion. This time, I rode the electric scooter away early and sank it into the pond behind the back mountain. Without the scooter, let’s see how you perform your act! But at three in the afternoon, the explosion still happened.

The nuts in my hand scattered across the floor. I stood frozen in place. Impossible. I had clearly sunk the electric scooter in the pond. How could there still be an explosion? I rushed out the door. Thick smoke billowed from the direction of the village entrance, flames shooting into the sky. Neighbors screamed as they ran toward it. I followed, running. My legs went weak, my heart pounded like a drum. The scene was even more horrific than in my previous life. That Maybach was truly burning, crackling and popping with explosive sounds. Beside the car, two charred bodies lay on the ground, faces beyond recognition. “Call the police!” “Whose electric scooter is this? Why is it parked here charging?” “Looks like it belongs to the girl from the Reynolds family. I saw her pushing it this morning!” Everyone turned to stare at me in unison. I opened my mouth but couldn’t make a sound. This was impossible. My electric scooter was in the pond. How could it be here? How could it have exploded? “Rachel! Is this your electric scooter?” The car owner, Mr. Lewis, crawled out of the vehicle, blood covering his face. He screamed at me hysterically: “I’ll kill you! This is my brand new Maybach! Three hundred thousand dollars! You owe me three hundred thousand!” I backed away repeatedly, my mind blank. In my previous life, the explosion was fake. How had it become real in this life? And my electric scooter was clearly at the bottom of the pond. Why would it appear here? “It wasn’t me…” I mumbled, “My electric scooter isn’t here…” “You’re still making excuses!” Mrs.from next door pointed at my nose and cursed, “I saw you with my own eyes this morning pushing your electric scooter out. If it’s not yours, whose is it?” “Exactly! Who else around here has a red electric scooter besides you?” “Murderer! Pay with your life!” The crowd surrounded me, shoving and cursing. The abuse nearly drowned me—worse than in my previous life. But at least in my previous life, I knew it was fake. Now, two lives had truly died right before my eyes. The Maybach was truly burning. “Rachel, what’s going on?” My parents and brother pushed through the crowd. Dad’s face was ashen. Mom sat down hard on the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing: “Dear God, what do we do? Our family will be ruined!” My brother Brandon and his girlfriend stood to the side, eyes shifty, not daring to look at me. The exact same scene as my previous life. But this time, the explosion was real. The deaths were real. Did they not know? “Rachel, is it really your electric scooter?” Brandon came over, lowering his voice. “Didn’t you push it to town for repairs this morning? How could it be here?” I stared hard into his eyes, looking for any sign of deception. But I only saw panic.

“This isn’t mine!” I said through clenched teeth. “I sank mine in the pond!” “What?” Brandon’s eyes went wide. “Rachel, what are you talking about? Are you in shock?” “I’m not crazy! At six this morning, I pushed my electric scooter to the pond behind the back mountain. I tied stones to it and sank it! This exploded scooter isn’t mine!” The crowd went quiet for a moment, then erupted in even louder commotion. “This girl’s lost it. What nonsense is she spouting?” “Sinking it in a pond? I think she just wants to shirk responsibility!” “Call the police! Have them arrest her!” Dad rushed up and slapped me across the face. “You bastard! How dare you lie! Those are two human lives!” I clutched my face, blood trickling from the corner of my mouth. This slap hurt just as much as in my previous life. But in my previous life, I thought Dad was truly angry and desperate. Later I learned it was just an act, to make the performance more convincing, to make me feel more guilty, more willing to work like a slave. But this time, the explosion was real. If they really had orchestrated all this, then what about those two lives and that burning Maybach? The police arrived quickly and sealed off the scene. I was taken aside for questioning, my whole body numb. “Name?” “Rachel Reynolds.” “Is that electric scooter yours?” “No.” I lifted my head, eyes resolute. “My electric scooter is in the pond. I sank it myself this morning. That exploded scooter looks like mine, but it’s not mine.” The officer frowned. “Miss Reynolds, we have eyewitness testimony that the electric scooter was yours. Also, we found remnants of your license plate at the explosion site.” “Impossible!” I jumped to my feet. “My license plate is A88888. What license plate did you find?” The officer looked down at his notes. “A88888.” I felt like I’d been struck by lightning and sank back into the chair. This was impossible. My electric scooter was in the pond. How could my license plate appear at the explosion site? Could someone have retrieved my electric scooter? But when could that have happened? I sank it at six in the morning. It exploded at three in the afternoon. Who could have retrieved an electric scooter from such a deep pond in such a short time, then pushed it to the village entrance to charge and detonate it? And why would they do that? “I need to check the pond.” I grabbed the officer’s hand. “Come with me to the back mountain pond. My electric scooter is there. If you dredge it, you’ll definitely find it!” The officers exchanged glances. Perhaps seeing how agitated I was, they finally nodded in agreement. The pond at the back mountain was surrounded by villagers watching the commotion. Two officers removed their jackets and jumped into the icy water. I waited anxiously on the shore, hands clenched tight. As long as they retrieved that electric scooter, it would prove my innocence. The exploded one was a fake. Someone deliberately framed me. “Found something!” An officer surfaced, holding up an object. My heart leaped to my throat. It was a red plastic fragment, definitely from an electric scooter. “Is there more down there? Where’s the whole scooter?” I shouted. The officer dove down again. After a few minutes, he resurfaced, shaking his head: “There’s nothing else down there. Just this fragment and some stones.” “Impossible!” I shrieked. “I sank the entire scooter! I tied four big stones to it. How could it be gone?”

“Miss Reynolds, are you certain you actually sank your electric scooter here?” The officer climbed ashore, his expression serious. “There’s no scooter at the bottom—only this fragment. And according to our preliminary investigation, the electric scooter wreckage at the explosion site does match your vehicle information.” “I don’t know how this happened…” I held my head, my mind in complete chaos. I clearly remembered pushing the electric scooter here, tying stones to it, watching it sink. But now the scooter was gone, leaving only a fragment. Had I remembered wrong? Had I never sunk it at all and instead pushed it directly to the village entrance? Impossible. I remembered the cold of the ice, the weight of the stones tied to the seat, the bubbles rising as the scooter entered the water. Those memories were so vivid. How could they be false? “Rachel, stop making excuses.” Mom wailed in the crowd. “A life for a life, debts must be paid—that’s justice. Our family may be poor, but we can’t do such unconscionable things!” “Exactly. The nerve to do it but not admit it—what kind of person is that?” “She always seemed like such an honest girl. Who knew she had such a black heart?” The villagers’ curses pierced me like knives. I looked around. Every face was so strange yet so familiar. In my previous life, they cursed me like this too. For a full twenty years. But before I died in my previous life, I learned the truth—I knew I’d been wronged. In this life, even I was starting to doubt whether I really had sunk the electric scooter in the pond. “I want to see the surveillance footage.” I suddenly said. “There’s a camera at the village entrance, right? Check if I pushed the scooter there!” The officer nodded. “We’ve already pulled the footage, but unfortunately, the camera at the village entrance broke yesterday and hasn’t been fixed yet.” My heart sank. “What about… other cameras nearby?” “We checked. At six this morning, you were indeed seen pushing an electric scooter out of the village, but after that, no cameras captured you.” “What about the road to the pond? Are there any cameras at the back mountain?” The officer shook his head. “The back mountain is wasteland. No cameras.” I felt despair. No surveillance to prove I sank the scooter. No scooter to prove my innocence. Everyone was accusing me. Even I was beginning to waver. Could I really not have sunk it? Could the explosion truly have been caused by my electric scooter? “Rachel, don’t do this.” Brandon came over, looking concerned. “Even if it was an accident, we won’t blame you. We’re family—we’ll bear this together.” He reached out to help me up. Looking at his hypocritical face, I suddenly felt sick. In my previous life, he said the same thing. “We’ll bear this together.” Then I was the only one who bore it. He was the only one who benefited. “Get lost.” I shook off his hand. “I don’t need your fake concern.” Brandon’s expression changed, then quickly returned to that aggrieved look. “Rachel, I know you’re under pressure, but how can you treat me like this…” “Enough!” Dad rushed over and kicked my shoulder. “You make a mistake and still dare lose your temper at your brother! I think you’ve gone mad!” I fell to the ground, my shoulder burning with pain. Mom rushed up too, pinching and hitting me. “You killed two people and now want to drag our whole family down! Why don’t you just die!” I curled up on the ground, letting them beat and curse me.

In my previous life, they pushed all responsibility onto me, portraying themselves as victims. But before I died in my previous life, at least I knew it was an act. In this life, I didn’t know anymore. If they truly didn’t know the truth, if the explosion truly was an accident, then their anger now was real. And I was the culprit who killed two people and destroyed a three-hundred-thousand-dollar luxury car. “Stop hitting her!” An officer pulled my parents away. “The investigation isn’t complete. You can’t take matters into your own hands.” “What’s left to investigate? She did it!” Mom wailed dramatically. “What sins did the Reynolds family commit to give birth to such a curse!” I was brought back to the village and locked in the main hall. Night fell. I curled up in the corner, my mind in turmoil. Those memories from my previous life, those memories of my parents conspiring—were they real or fake? If they were innocent, then what did my twenty years in the previous life even mean? I felt confused. Had I really had a mental breakdown? Were all those memories from my previous life just hallucinations? At midnight, I secretly slipped out through the window, wanting to check the pond again to see if I could find any clues. I didn’t expect to see my parents and brother at the pond. Their voices were very low, but I still caught fragments. “What do we do? The plan changed? Did she really sink the scooter?” “If she really sank it, then whose was the one that exploded?” “Forget it. It already exploded anyway. Let’s proceed with the original plan…” “What about those two lives? They really seem dead, but they’re not the two people we arranged…” “Who did it?” “Don’t know, but it works out. Saves us money on hiring actors.” My whole body went cold, as if plunged into ice. They did have a plan. The explosion, deaths, and debts in my previous life—they orchestrated all of it. It was all real. But in this life, the explosion and deaths became real, beyond their expectations. Yet they still wanted to proceed with the original plan, still wanted me to take the fall, to be their scapegoat! “What about the scooter in the pond?” That was Brandon’s voice. “Why is it gone?” “Don’t know. Is it possible she misremembered and never sank it at all?” “Impossible. I checked the pond this morning. There was a hole in the ice—clear signs of something sinking.” “Then what happened? Did the scooter grow legs and walk away?” “Who cares? Now there’s no proof either way. Whatever she says, no one will believe her. We’ll just insist it was her scooter and make her pay compensation.” “But those are two human lives. Will we really let her go to prison?” “What prison? Just pay compensation. We’ll pretend to help her bear the burden first, make her grateful, then send her out to work and earn money. Same as the plan—make her our cash cow!” I knew it. What I heard before dying in my previous life wasn’t a hallucination! This was indeed their plan! But if all this was real, then where did the electric scooter I sank to the bottom of the pond go? Mom and Dad didn’t know. Brandon didn’t know either. They just wanted to use the same trick again, to continue bleeding me dry. Even if they couldn’t bleed me, they just wanted to pin the blame on me. But only by finding the electric scooter could I clear my name! Just then, I suddenly remembered. When I first bought the electric scooter, because I didn’t have enough money, I chose an installment plan. The seller installed a tracking device in an inconspicuous spot on the scooter.

Mom always told me the outside world was fake and dirty, so she did everything to protect me. She never allowed me to have any private space, do what I wanted, or even meet new people. When I was ten, I secretly went to my desk mate’s birthday party. My mom showed up at the party with a knife and dragged me away. When I was fourteen, I borrowed two pens from a classmate and put them in my backpack. When I got home, I was beaten black and blue. When I was sixteen, a boy from the next class wrote me a love letter. My mom slapped me in front of the entire school. My life consisted of nothing but studying. So I never had a single friend. Until I turned seventeen, when I found a little yellow chick downstairs. For the first time, I gathered the courage to secretly keep this small creature. On my eighteenth birthday, Mom mysteriously told me she had a surprise for me. That evening at the dinner table, I saw a pot of stewed chicken, cooked until the meat fell off the bones. “This is the chicken I found in your room and stewed.” She even excitedly posted it on Ins with the caption: “Discovered the chick my daughter’s been secretly raising for a year, so I stewed it and made her eat it herself.” I kept my head down and said nothing. But Mom, that wasn’t just any ordinary chick. That was my only friend. Now that the chick is dead, I can’t go on living either.

“Actually, I knew you were raising a chicken all along. I just wanted to wait until you fattened it up a bit before killing it.” Mom’s eyes crinkled with satisfaction, her face full of pride. “Don’t think I don’t know everything. I have complete control over every aspect of your life.” I stared hard at the chicken in the pot. I couldn’t count how many days and nights it had kept me company. I found it right after Mom had thrown me out of the house for having a marker in my bag that didn’t belong to me. It sat alone in the grass with one lame leg. I quietly brought it home, nursed it carefully, then secretly hid it away. It seemed almost spiritual—it never made a sound, staying obediently in the little box under my bed, neither crying nor fussing. I’d long since come to think of it as my friend, the first and only friend I’d ever had in my life. But Mom stewed it on my eighteenth birthday. Mom picked up a piece of chicken meat with her fork and brought it to my face. “Eat it. Chicken is so nutritious. I stewed it for two hours.” “You raised it yourself, so it must taste especially good.” A violent wave of nausea churned in my stomach. I rushed to the toilet and knelt there, retching violently. I threw up until only bile came out. Just as I was about to stand up, something heavy crashed down on me. A solid wood stool landed squarely on my leg. “Joy, you dare give me attitude? I haven’t even settled the score with you for secretly keeping that beast!” “Mom…” I spoke through the pain, “It’s not a beast, it’s my friend…” “Friend?!” Mom shot to her feet as if I’d shocked her, grabbing the ruler she always kept on the couch. “You have me as your mother—isn’t that enough? What do you need a friend for?” “You want to run off with your friends like your father did and abandon your mother, don’t you? Now you’re hiding things from me. What’s next? Are you going to start hiding people?” I trembled and backed away, raising my hands to shield myself while shaking my head. “Mom, today is my eighteenth birthday…” “So you’re an adult now? You can do whatever you want? You don’t have to listen to me anymore?” “I’m going to teach you a lesson today!” The ruler rose high and fell hard. I covered my head, not daring to cry or scream. This was a rule Mom had established when I was young: for every tear that fell, she’d add ten more strikes. So I bit my lip hard and didn’t shed a single tear. But I hurt so much. The dining table blurred before my eyes, and the living room lights grew dimmer and dimmer. As Mom kept hitting me, she started crying first. “I risked my life in ten months of pregnancy to give birth to you, and this is how you repay me now that you’re eighteen?” She cried with snot and tears running down her face. I stood up to comfort her, but she shoved me away. “Since you’ve grown wings and want to fly away, get out!” The next second, I was pushed stumbling out the front door. It was a bitter December winter, and I wore only a thin shirt. I shivered with cold, huddling in the stairwell. At least they hadn’t confiscated my phone. I picked it up and dialed the number I knew by heart. The call was answered just before it would have disconnected. “Hello… Dad…” “Joy, I’m very busy right now. Whatever it is, we’ll talk later.” Beep beep beep… The call was cut off cleanly. “Dad, today is my birthday. I miss you.” I murmured to myself. Only the howling wind answered me. My heart sank bit by bit. Until this day, my eighteenth birthday. I was finally forced to admit a painful and desperate truth. My father and mother. Neither of them loved me.

Mom didn’t come to find me. I knew this was another punishment. It wasn’t until midnight that the property management lady found me frozen unconscious on the floor and carried me to her duty room. I’d just taken a sip of hot water when the door was pounded loud enough to shake the building. “Joy, you’ve really got guts now! Running away from home!” Mom burst through the door cursing at me. “You ungrateful brat! I worked so hard to make you soup and I did it wrong?” The property manager quickly tried to stop Mom. “The child was frozen unconscious outside. I brought her here on my own initiative. It’s not the child’s fault.” “You don’t need to speak for her. I know exactly what kind of daughter I have.” “She’s so manipulative, pretending to faint to get your attention. Her tricks are pathetically obvious!” I felt ashamed and humiliated, trying to explain. “Mom, I really did faint.” The next second, a slap came whistling down and crashed into my face. My ears rang. “You dare talk back! You didn’t faint earlier, you didn’t faint later, but the moment someone could see you, you fainted?” The property manager looked flustered and tried to intervene, but Mom ruthlessly pushed her aside. Mom’s endless nagging mixed with the ringing in my ears, piercing sharply into my eardrums. “She’s been bad since she was little. When she was young, she’d run away from home and team up with her desk mate’s family to deceive me.” “In middle school she’d steal things—a pen here, an eraser there. When I caught her, she’d refuse to admit it and claim she’d borrowed them.” “At such a young age, she was already flirting with boys, throwing herself at men everywhere. She had no self-respect from the start.” … That’s not true. Mom, I’m not like that. I never did those things. That’s not what really happened. Ever since Dad and Mom got divorced, I’d been careful every day, always obedient to Mom. But why, no matter what I did. Mom always thought I was a thoroughly bad child. In the end, Mom forcibly dragged me out of the duty room. The property manager looked at me with pity in her eyes. That look ruthlessly shattered my self-respect. When we got home, Mom pointed darkly at the floor. Like I had countless times before, I mechanically knelt down. Mom looked at me with disgust. “You like pretending to faint? Then kneel there today until you really do faint.” “Joy, don’t think that just because you’re an adult I can’t control you anymore.” What hurt more than kneeling on the floor was the cold, disgusted tone in Mom’s voice when she said my name. It seemed like ever since Dad had his affair and they divorced, Mom had changed. I raised my head, my eyes brimming with tears. “Mom, don’t you love me?” “Love?” She acted like she’d heard the biggest joke in the world. “Love is the most fake, most disgusting thing in the world.” “You have half your father’s face. Looking at you makes me sick.” “If you weren’t my biological daughter.” “I’d rather you were dead.”

I knelt on the floor for three days and three nights. When I fainted, I immediately forced myself back up. I knelt until my whole body wouldn’t stop shaking, until my knees were covered in red, green, and purple bruises. Mom allowed me to get up because my teacher was coming for a home visit. This was the most important year of my life. The SAT was coming up. Mom took off her designer clothes and put on old ones from years ago. “Ms. Harper, I’ve raised Joy all by myself through blood, sweat, and tears. I’ve given this child all my money and energy.” “But the child doesn’t know gratitude. A few days ago, after I said a few words to her, she threatened to run away from home. I practically got on my knees begging before she’d come back.” I lay on my bedroom bed. I wanted to get up, but the severe pain in my knees forced me to lie back down. I heard the teacher ask about my whereabouts. “This child has everything done for her at home—never lifts a finger. Every day she goes out to mess around with delinquents from society, lazy and never comes home…” I heard the teacher sigh heavily. Because of Mom, I’d long had a terrible reputation at school. Everyone avoided me like the plague, desperate to keep their distance. Only Ms. Harper was willing to accept me, treat me normally, not exclude me. When I was feeling low, she’d patiently comfort me and tell me I was a good kid. Wave after wave of shame and frustration surged up from the bottom of my heart. The teacher didn’t ask about me again and quietly left. I heard the sound of my heart breaking—quietly yet violently. The last person in the world who liked me didn’t like me anymore. “Go wash the dishes.” Mom pushed open the door and gave me a cold command. I endured the severe pain, practically leaning against the wall with half my body just to make it to the kitchen. In the dead of winter, the hot water pipe had long been frozen. Ice-cold water flowed from the tap. A broken shard on the edge of a bowl accidentally cut my hand. Blood flowed everywhere. I planned to find a bandage after finishing the dishes. But when I turned around, I smelled thick smoke. Thinking there was a fire, I ignored the pain, dropped the bowl, and ran to the living room shouting. “Mom! Mo—” The second half of the sentence stuck hard in my throat when I saw the pile of ashes in front of Mom. My diary, my drawings, and my memories with the chick were all in Mom’s hands, gradually burning to ash. “Those are mine!” For the first time, I lost control and shouted at her. I rushed forward trying to put out the flames, trying to snatch back everything that was mine. But it was too late. Burned clean away. “Ms. Harper said your grades have been slipping lately.” “I only came in second place once…” “Isn’t that because your mind isn’t where it should be? Look at what you’ve been writing and drawing. If you hadn’t been secretly keeping that beast and making your room a mess, would you have only placed second!” “It has nothing to do with the chick!” I trembled, tears streaming down my face in strings. I clutched the remnants of the notebook in my hands, which wouldn’t stop shaking. I didn’t understand why Mom had to be so ruthless. I just wanted a friend, someone who could keep me company. Even if it wasn’t human. The chick couldn’t speak, but it had listened to so much of my pain. I told it about when I was little and Mom and Dad were fighting over their divorce, how Dad found a gentle, caring new girlfriend and turned around and abandoned me. I told it how every day at school people whispered behind my back, how everyone knew my shameful stories and thought I was a weirdo who didn’t fit in. I told it about Mom’s extreme, numbing control over me and her endless beatings. No one was willing to listen to these things. Only that fluffy little head would blink its eyes and look at me obediently. I drew many pictures and wrote many diary entries. These were my spiritual pillars for so long. But now, Mom had destroyed everything. She destroyed me too.

“You don’t need to go to school anymore. Since your mind isn’t where it should be, there’s no point wasting money.” “Starting today, you’ll study at home. I’ll personally watch over you.” Mom stood up, looking down at me from above. I didn’t argue back because I knew it was useless. When I was little, Mom wouldn’t let me go to school, but I’d sneak there anyway. When I got home, I was stripped naked and made to kneel in the bathroom while being beaten until I was covered in purple marks. I nodded somewhat numbly and stood up. From then on, I became more obedient and quieter. I never mentioned the chick again, and neither did Mom. But she controlled and managed me even more than before. She called the school and strongly demanded that I return home to study on my own. She said I was mentally unstable and not suitable to study with everyone else. She started monitoring me twenty-four hours a day. “If you can’t get first place, even living is a waste.” “I’m doing this all for your own good. You’re not taking the college entrance exam for me.” So I studied desperately, wanting to get into a good college far, far away. I started having hope again. In the last month before the SAT, I received an early acceptance letter from New York University. I gripped the thin letter tightly, but the next second Mom snatched it away. She tore it to shreds right in front of me. “You want to go to NYU! You want to run far away and escape my grasp! Joy, you’re dreaming!” I watched the pieces of the acceptance letter fall from the air. I silently picked up the scraps of paper, ignoring the woman’s hysteria behind me. One piece, two pieces, three pieces. So it’s true that when pain reaches its extreme, it becomes silent. This time, I couldn’t cry anymore. My heart was completely empty. I turned and went back to my room, opening a practice test. Like I was completing one final task. Take the SAT. Take it one last time. The last time. That’s what I told myself. On SAT day, I set my own alarm, made my own breakfast, and took a taxi to the test center by myself. Just like all those times I’d gone to class alone before. Completely ordinary. When the SAT results came out, I’d scored first place in the entire city. I stood on the rooftop, scrolling through Dad’s social media. Dad’s new daughter had been born. I smiled a little, liked the post, and commented “Congratulations.” Dad’s number appeared on my phone. This was the first call Dad had initiated since the divorce. I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to answer anymore. I’d already blocked Mom’s number. Her messages came flooding in. I threw my phone ten meters away. Inside was my suicide note. “Mom and Dad, I got first place. Will you like me, even just a little bit?” “But even though I got first place, I still have no friends, no home, no self.” “I don’t want to live anymore.” Turns out dying is easier than living. I just had to fall gently downward. And the world went quiet.

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After my IVF treatment succeeded, I returned home with the child I’d worked so hard to conceive, hoping to surprise Ethan Quinn. A friend kindly warned me that during my years abroad, a sultry secretary named Lily had appeared by Ethan’s side. At first, I didn’t take it seriously. After all, in the past, Ethan would be heartbroken if I so much as frowned. Until I got home and discovered the password to our mansion had been changed. I pounded on the door repeatedly until it finally opened. Lily stood there in my nightgown, leaning seductively against the doorframe and frowning at me. “What homeless person dares to come begging at my house?! Get lost! If you don’t leave now, I’ll let the dogs out!” Looking at her arrogant attitude, I was so angry I laughed instead. “Get Ethan out here! I need to ask him if he doesn’t want his child anymore!” A man who only got his position thanks to my parents’ support—and he dares to cheat? The Tibetan mastiff behind the door barked threateningly at me, emboldened by its owner. Lily rolled her eyes. “You Old woman, who do you think you are? Do you think you can just see Mr. Quinn whenever you want?” She looked me up and down with disdain. “Can’t believe security let someone dressed in cheap market clothes into this neighborhood!” My skin is prone to allergies—ordinary fabrics make me break out in rashes at the slightest touch. That’s why Ethan had specially ordered Italian fabric to make my clothes. I never imagined there’d come a day when I’d be looked down upon for not wearing designer brands. I was almost laughing from anger. After all these years, this was the first time I’d been blocked from seeing Ethan. I pulled out my phone to call him and demand an explanation. But when I raised my hand, I realized with dismay that my phone had died at some point. I simply extended my hand and coldly demanded Lily’s phone. “If you delay his business, you know what the consequences will be!” Lily was startled by my expression. In that moment of hesitation, I grabbed her phone. I dialed the number I knew by heart, ready to confront him, but was interrupted by Ethan’s gentle, low laugh. “Didn’t reply to your message for two minutes and you’re already calling? Miss me that much?” “I’m in a meeting. I’ll come home as soon as it’s over.” I gripped the phone as all my words got stuck in my throat. Such an intimate tone—if I hadn’t been holding Lily’s phone, I would have thought he was talking to me. The next second, Lily triumphantly snatched the phone back and cooed in a sweet voice. “Then hurry back. I want to eat food you cook yourself!” She even put it on speaker. Hearing the flirting on the other end, I barely contained my rage. “Ethan, get back here right now!” Ethan paused, his voice carrying a note of confusion. “Lily, is there someone else with you?” Lily glared at me. “Just some crazy woman. I’ll get rid of her in a minute.” Ethan said casually, “Okay. Don’t make a big scene. The company’s in the middle of bidding—bad publicity wouldn’t help.” Hearing his indifferent tone, I felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over me. Just last month, Ethan had specifically flown abroad to see me, and now he couldn’t even recognize my voice! I couldn’t hold back anymore and raised my voice. “Ethan, you don’t want me—fine! But you don’t want your child either?” The air suddenly turned cold as Ethan’s voice came through, laced with icy menace. “Someone’s got guts, trying to pull a scam on me!” “That child definitely isn’t mine. Lily, just deal with her!” Ethan’s tone was ice-cold.

I laughed bitterly at myself. “Since that’s how it is, there’s no need to keep the child in my belly either.” Ethan was utterly unconcerned. “Some bastard from who knows where—better off gone anyway.” My nails dug into my palms. I never imagined Ethan would call his own child a bastard! He probably didn’t know yet that the child in my belly would be his only bloodline in this lifetime! Ethan had oligospermia. In our five years of marriage, we’d never been able to conceive. The Quinn family only had Ethan as their heir. When they learned about his condition, they were frantic. At the Quinn family’s desperate pleading, I went abroad for IVF treatment. After three years of struggling, I’d finally gotten pregnant with this one child. I’d wanted to come home and surprise him, but instead, he’d given me an even bigger surprise! Just as I was about to find a lawyer to draft divorce papers, Lily hung up the phone with a sharp click. Her eyes blazing, she slapped me across the face. “So you really are here to beg! Trying to pin the bastard in your belly on Mr. Quinn!” This was the first time in my entire life anyone had hit me. I trembled with rage and pressed the emergency alarm button next to the mansion. Lily didn’t try to stop me, just watched with a cold smile. “Little bitch, you should ask around about what the Quinn family’s status is in New York!” “Forget slapping you—even if I beat you to death today, no one would dare cause me any trouble!” I looked at her coldly. Though the Quinns were wealthy, my family wasn’t poor either. When I married Ethan, it was practically marrying down! Which of his company’s project bids hadn’t benefited from my family’s support? Even the property manager here had only gotten his position because I’d noticed his diligent service and recommended him for the role. In less than three minutes, property management arrived with their people. I glanced over, frowning. I didn’t see the familiar Manager Harris. Just as I was about to speak, Lily rushed over to the lead security guard with a coquettish air. “It’s this bitch! She’s carrying some bastard child from who knows where and insists it’s Mr. Quinn’s baby. I can’t get rid of her!” Looking at Lily’s disgusting face, I said with revulsion, “Get your manager here. Let him see if I’m Mrs. Quinn or not!” The security guard looked confused. “Our manager is on a business trip. You know him?” Lily spat viciously. “So that’s how you got in—by seducing the property manager! The child in your belly must be that manager’s, right?” Someone muttered, “Doesn’t our manager have a wife?” Lily sneered. “So she’s a mistress! After getting used up, she came here to seduce Mr. Quinn!” I was so angry my teeth clenched. I tried to explain. “I’m not a mistress. Back then, Ethan got on his knees and begged to marry me!” But none of the onlookers listened. They all mocked me instead. “She looks decent enough, but she’s willing to debase herself as a mistress!” “And she’s offended Miss Lily—isn’t that asking for death? Everyone knows Mr. Quinn dotes on Miss Lily the most!” “Miss Lily and Mr. Quinn are even living together now. They should be getting married soon. This mistress probably found out and came here deliberately to cause trouble!” Hearing this, Lily’s face darkened. She grabbed my hair and slapped me several times across the face. “Bitch, I knew you were up to no good!” Her sharp nails scratched my face open. Warm blood flowed into my eyes, turning my vision crimson. Still not satisfied, Lily unhooked the dog leashes and released the Tibetan mastiffs. “You haven’t eaten yet today. How about this woman for your dinner?” The moment they were freed, the drooling mastiffs lunged at me hungrily.

Their foul-smelling maws opened right in front of me. I raised my arms to block them, and sharp teeth pierced straight through my flesh. In the midst of searing pain and terror, my lower abdomen began throbbing with cramping pain. IVF had been difficult enough, and my pregnancy symptoms had been particularly severe. The doctor had warned that if I didn’t take care during pregnancy, I’d most likely lose the baby. In just this short time, I’d already started bleeding. Someone, afraid of serious consequences, quickly urged her, “Don’t let this become a death. Just throw her out.” Lily snorted coldly. Immediately, someone tried to curry favor. “Miss Lily is Mr. Quinn’s precious darling. Last time someone outbid Miss Lily for jewelry at an auction, they were kneeling and apologizing to her the next day!” “Even if something does happen, with Mr. Quinn backing you, what’s there to fear?” That man took the lead, dragging me toward the exit while cursing foully. “Lily’s my cousin, which makes Mr. Quinn my cousin-in-law! Bitches like you who destroy families deserve to be taught a lesson!” Searing pain shot through my scalp. Lily looked at my face, a flash of jealousy in her eyes. “Even his wife couldn’t beat me, and now some mistress thinks she can dream!” I was shocked. “You know he has a wife?” Lily sneered coldly. “Some old, washed-up woman. Ethan got sick of her ages ago! Why else would he send her abroad?” Ethan hadn’t told her that I’d gone abroad for IVF to give him a child. Before I could say anything, Lily’s face twisted with viciousness. “You bitch, trying to use pregnancy to climb the ladder! Let me tell you—you don’t have that fate!” She kicked me in the stomach. The pain in my abdomen made me collapse to my knees immediately. Feeling my child’s life force growing weaker inside me, I panicked. “The child in my belly really is Ethan’s! Get me to a hospital now! If I lose this baby, he won’t let any of you off!” Seeing the blood on the ground, the crowd stirred. The burly man turned and shouted, “This is Quinn family business! Who dares call the police?” He pinned me firmly to the ground, forcing me to lift my head, and said to Lily ingratiatingly, “Hit her however you want. Don’t upset yourself!” Lily rained down a series of slaps on me. My face had gone numb from the pain, swelling beyond recognition. A flash of satisfaction crossed her eyes. She looked at the watching crowd and warned them, “This is what happens to mistresses! If I catch anyone else seducing Mr. Quinn, they’ll die worse than her!” Then she commanded the security guard, “Go strip her clothes off and throw her onto the street outside! She’s shameless enough to be a mistress—why does she need clothes?” I clutched my collar desperately, using my last bit of strength to struggle. “Let go of me! I’m not a mistress!” As they were about to drag me out of the neighborhood, I quickly shouted a number to the watching crowd. “Whoever can call this number for me and tell them what’s happening, I’ll pay them a million dollars!” Someone clicked their tongue. “Is she trying to call for backup?” The spectators laughed mockingly. “Backup? Who would dare come! Is there anyone in New York more powerful than the Quinns?” Lily pinched me hard. “Little bitch, still playing games? Look at those cheap rags you’re wearing—what kind of person could you possibly call?” Ignoring the struggle, I looked at the doubting crowd and raised the stakes. “Whoever makes this call for me, I’ll give ten million!” Before I’d finished speaking, Lily slapped me several times across the face. My head spun, and I spat out a bloody tooth.

“Still acting! You’re not worth a thousand dollars even if we sold you!” “Strip her!” The security guard immediately reached out to tear my clothes. Some people even started livestreaming, declaring they’d show everyone what happens to mistresses! Just as my clothes were about to be torn open, a Maybach stopped at the neighborhood entrance. A refined, detached voice rang out, carrying a hint of helplessness. “Didn’t I say not to make this a big scene?” Ethan stood with one hand on the car door, only slightly frowning, yet everyone around immediately fell silent. Lily nestled against him like a delicate bird, tugging at his sleeve coquettishly. “Ethan, this woman is just too disgusting. She’s ruining your reputation in front of all these people. I only did this for you!” Ethan’s expression softened. He stroked her head indulgently. “You and that temper of yours! Always relying on me to clean up after you, aren’t you?” His indulgent attitude hit me like a sledgehammer. In our social circle, I’d been famous for being willful and spoiled. Back then, Ethan had protected me the same way, cleaning up after me at every turn. He’d once announced in front of everyone, “If anyone bullies you, hit them right back. Let’s see who dares touch you!” All of New York knew that crossing the iron-faced devil Ethan was fine, but crossing Miss Shaw would be the end of you. I never imagined that the tenderness and devotion that had once belonged only to me, Ethan would now lavish on another woman without hesitation. My heart turned to dead ashes. My last thread of attachment to Ethan snapped. Ethan glanced at me, frowning slightly. “This is the crazy woman you mentioned?” With my face beaten nearly beyond recognition and my clothes filthy beyond description, he didn’t recognize me right away. Seeing Ethan look at me a couple more times, Lily quickly recaptured his attention. “That’s the little bitch! I was about to livestream and show everyone what happens to mistresses!” Ethan looked away indifferently and nodded. “Have someone else do it. Don’t dirty your hands.” Lily was triumphant, clinging to him relentlessly. “This bitch was bold enough to claim she’s Mrs. Quinn!” Ethan’s entire aura turned frigid. “Aurora is my wife. Anyone who dares defile her name is asking for death!” Seeing Ethan truly angry, Lily’s face flashed with distortion and resentment. She quickly changed the subject. “I was just speaking casually. Anyway, let’s go home. Didn’t you say you’d cook for me?” She shot a look, and those who’d paused their actions immediately pounced on me, tearing at my clothes. I struggled desperately, my throat producing hoarse cries for help. Ethan wrapped his arm around Lily’s slender waist. As he passed me, he didn’t even glance in my direction. I touched my slightly swollen belly and shed tears of regret. Baby, Mommy is sorry. I chose such a heartless, ungrateful father for you! Perhaps not coming into this world is a blessing for you… Just as my skirt tore with a loud rip, a long convoy pulled up imposingly at the entrance. The crowd exclaimed in surprise. “Who is this? Their entrance is even more impressive than the Quinns!” “That color Rolls-Royce—there’s only one in the country!” Ethan stopped in his tracks too. Seeing who stepped out of the car, his expression changed. He let go of Lily and hurried forward. “Why did you come…” SLAP! A clear handprint immediately appeared on Ethan’s face. The surroundings fell utterly silent.

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