Author: Momo Chan

When I picked up the housekeeping order, the customer send me a message asking me to bring a box of ultra-thin condoms. When I opened the door, I discovered it was my ex-husband. The moment he saw me, his eyes reddened. “Zara, why did you run away from home all those years ago?” Then, after noticing the cleaning supplies behind me, he lowered his head in shame. “It’s all my fault. I’m the reason you became a cleaning lady.” I didn’t respond. I simply handed him the condoms. “That’ll be thirty-six dollars. How would you like to pay?” He took them awkwardly, fumbling for an explanation. “These are for a buddy of mine. Don’t overthink it.” I knew all of Lucas’s buddies. The only one who liked this brand was his female friend, Veronica. Three years ago, I caught Veronica and Lucas naked and tangled together in bed. I wanted to post the photos online, to let everyone see what these two scumbags really were. But Lucas snatched my phone and threw me—pregnant at the time—into the basement. In the end, I lost my second child, and it cost my son’s life. He had a rare disease. Now, it’s all in the past. I didn’t answer. I just bent down to put on my disposable shoe covers and asked politely. “Mr. Harrington, you ordered a six-hour deep cleaning service with dinner. May I begin?”

He stood frozen in the doorway, his eyes fixed on me. The home I’d lived in for nearly ten years had transformed from a warm cream aesthetic to a punk style. Of course, punk was Veronica’s favorite. Years of housekeeping experience taught me never to overlook any cleaning blind spot. From between the couch cushions, I pulled out a pair of underwear stained with questionable fluids. Lucas snatched them away, his fingertips trembling. “Zara, don’t misunderstand. Yesterday the guys came over for a gathering. Veronica’s period suddenly started, and she forgot to take these with her when she left.” Afraid I wouldn’t believe him, he reached for his phone to pull up security footage. I shook my head politely, stopping him. “Mr. Harrington, you don’t need to explain anything to me.” I didn’t even care about him anymore. How could I possibly care about whose underwear it was? “You’re not angry?” He stared at me intently, trying to find some trace that I cared. After all, three years ago when I first found Veronica’s underwear at home, I’d gone hysterical with rage. I’d scratched his face like a madwoman, forcing him to promise he’d cut ties with Veronica. What a shame. He made that promise, all right. But their relationship never actually ended. Still, that was then. Now, I didn’t feel even the slightest emotional ripple. I put on disposable gloves and took the underwear from his hand. “Mr. Harrington, if it’s stained from menstruation, I’ll disinfect it separately.” I turned and walked into the bathroom, only to find it piled with packages. Familiar account name. Familiar discreet shipping. I knew what they were—lingerie. Out of professional courtesy, I asked. “Will dinner need to be for two people?” “Or if it’s inconvenient, you can cancel. I’ll refund the difference.” Lucas’s expression changed. Three years ago, he’d abandoned me twice to help Veronica pick out lingerie. The first time, our son had just been diagnosed with a rare disease. One phone call from Veronica, and he was gone all night. When he returned, his explanation was casual. “Veronica asked me to help her pick out clothes. It got late, so I just crashed on her couch.” I wanted to confront him, but our son’s illness left me too exhausted. Still, that thorn lodged deep in my heart. The second time was three months later. I’d just found out I was pregnant. I clutched the pregnancy test result excitedly, wanting to tell him we had cord blood now—our son’s disease could be cured. But Lucas interrupted me impatiently. “Veronica’s package got delivered to the wrong address. I’m taking it over, and I’ll help her choose some stuff while I’m there.” “If it gets too late, I won’t be coming back.” He picked up the package naturally, ready to leave. That time, my emotions completely shattered. I slammed the door shut and frantically tore open the package, only to discover it was all lingerie. I didn’t understand what kind of friendship required helping someone pick out lingerie. I especially didn’t understand who a single woman would wear lingerie to seduce! That day, I cursed them with every filthy word I could think of. When I finally exhausted myself, he just gave me a cold glance. “Done with your tantrum?” “Zara, your mind is filthy, so you see filth in everything.” “So what if it’s lingerie? We have a pure friendship.” In that moment, I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore. I clutched the pregnancy test result I’d never managed to show him, crying until I broke down completely. And Lucas never once looked back. Now. Seeing Lucas remain silent, I spoke calmly. “If you’re not sure, I’ll continue cooking. Two servings.” “If there’s leftovers, you can pack some for her.” Perhaps my composure completely infuriated Lucas. His eyes reddened instantly. “Zara, can you stop acting like you don’t care!” “Veronica and I really are just friends! Why didn’t you believe me three years ago, and why won’t you believe me now?” He looked as if he’d suffered the greatest injustice. But I didn’t feel even a trace of sympathy anymore. I only cared about when I could finish cleaning and move on to the next job. I pushed past him and headed into the kitchen. But just as I pulled cilantro from my basket, he spoke up. “Zara, I’m allergic to cilantro. Did you… forget?”

I looked up and thought about it. I suppose he was. Years ago when he’d accidentally eaten cilantro, I’d taken care of him for three days and nights. After that, even though I loved cilantro, it never appeared in our home again. But so what? Ancient history. I removed the cilantro and suggested calmly. “Mr. Harrington, there’s a lot of cooking fumes in the kitchen. You can wait outside.” But he stubbornly stayed by my side, as if trying to prove something. Suddenly, his phone rang. The lock screen showed a photo of Lucas and Veronica kissing deeply by the ocean. He declined the call and explained frantically. “Veronica doesn’t believe in marriage, but she… wanted to take wedding photos. As a good friend, I helped her out.” I said nothing, just stared at the photo in a daze. When Lucas and I got married, he was poor. Back then, we couldn’t afford wedding photos at all. Later, I emptied my savings to support his startup, and gradually our life improved. I’d mentioned more than once that we should take wedding photos. But every time, his face would turn cold, his tone full of impatience and mockery. “Can’t you be more sensible? I’m busy from morning to night, and you want to waste time on this useless stuff!” “Can a stupid photo feed us? Can it guarantee stability? Stop being unreasonable.” I thought he was just a straight guy who didn’t understand romance. Now I realize his romance simply never belonged to me. I felt sorry for myself, but also grateful this wasn’t three years ago. Otherwise, I’d be spiraling into sleepless nights of overthinking again. Lucas, seeing my silence, was about to say something. Just then, the sound of the door opening rang out. Veronica walked in brazenly. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?” When her eyes swept over me, she covered her mouth dramatically, feigning shock. “Is this… Zara? Oh my God, how did you age into this?” She looked me over with disgust, finally fixing on my sweatshirt with a derisive snort. “Zara, even if you can’t afford designer clothes, you don’t have to wear such obvious knockoffs, do you?” I glanced down at the T-shirt. It was indeed a terrible fake. But this was a birthday gift from my son, saved from half a month’s allowance. That gesture was more precious than anything. I had no interest in arguing with her and prepared to bring out the food to finish this job. But she followed me into the kitchen. “How about you pick out some of my clothes?” “He’s got plenty of mine here.” “You don’t know this, but these past few years when he’s been lonely, I’ve been the one keeping him company.” I knew she was provoking me. And Lucas said nothing, seemingly waiting for my reaction. Three years ago, I would’ve torn into her. But now, I just felt disgusted. I spoke flatly. “You mean that pile of lingerie?” “No thanks. I don’t have the habit of wearing slutty things like that in front of random men.” Veronica turned red with fury, looking ready to fight me. But Lucas held her back. “Eat!” Veronica pouted and picked through the food. The next second, she dumped everything she didn’t like straight onto Lucas’s plate. “I don’t like these. You eat them.” I thought Lucas wouldn’t eat them. After all, he was a germaphobe. In the past, forget about food from my plate—even a single bite left by our son would make him wrinkle his nose in disgust and call it dirty. But right now, he ate every bit of what Veronica had pushed over, bite by bite, without the slightest reluctance. So his so-called germaphobia had always only applied to our son and me. I pulled at the corner of my mouth and brought out the last bowl of soup to the table. From my angle, I could see Veronica sliding her foot onto Lucas’s leg. That foot slowly pressed against the bulge between his legs. And Lucas naturally thrust his hips forward, holding her foot in place. I’d tried that move once before. But Lucas had shoved me away and cursed me for being unhygienic. Now… Noticing my gaze, embarrassment flashed across Lucas’s face. As if remembering something, he pulled her even closer. I lowered my head and smiled. Whether he was testing me or showing off, it meant nothing to me anymore. This time, I spoke first. “Six hours are up. My service ends here.” “Enjoy your meal.” I got up to leave. Lucas suddenly stood, his voice hoarse and expectant. “Zara, tomorrow is our son’s birthday.” “I… I want to celebrate with him. Is that okay?” At the mention of our son, my heart ached. Apparently, he still didn’t know our son had passed away. Seeing my silence, he continued. “Zara, can you stop being so stubborn?” “You left that divorce agreement and disappeared with our son while pregnant. I’m letting that go.” “But I’m still the kids’ father. Do you really plan to hide them forever?” “Let me… let me reunite with my two children.” His words actually calmed me down. He really should kneel before those two children’s graves in repentance. “Fine. Tomorrow at nine AM. Meet me at the cemetery.”

The next day, I arrived at the cemetery early. Two small headstones stood quietly in the corner. One didn’t even have a photo. I couldn’t hold back anymore. My eyes brimmed with tears. Three years ago, I discovered their so-called brotherly friendship again and again. Maybe it was pregnancy hormones, or maybe it was resentment. I became almost like a madwoman, obsessively checking Lucas’s phone, interrogating him about his whereabouts. Whenever he didn’t reply to messages, I’d spiral into paranoid thoughts. My complete breakdown came when Lucas stayed out all night yet again. I rushed to Veronica’s house recklessly and caught them in bed together. Lucas, reeking of alcohol, held naked Veronica in his arms, their bodies intertwined. Seeing me burst in, Lucas hastily pushed Veronica away, apologizing incoherently. “Zara, let me explain. We just drank too much. Nothing happened! Really, you have to believe me!” I’d heard that bullshit countless times over the past few months. I didn’t want to believe it. I couldn’t believe it. Finally, I completely lost my mind. I started a livestream, forcing Lucas to make a choice in front of viewers nationwide. But to protect Veronica, he smashed my phone and locked me in the room. I still remember his cold eyes. “Zara, Veronica isn’t married yet. What you’re doing will ruin her!” “Stay in Veronica’s place and reflect on yourself. When you’ve come to your senses, you can come out.” Extreme anger and humiliation sent sharp pains through my lower abdomen. Warm liquid trickled down my thighs. I couldn’t care about dignity anymore. I pounded desperately on the door, my fingernails scraping until they bled. “Lucas, my stomach hurts so much. Let me out! Please, save this baby!” “I won’t interfere with you two anymore. Please, let me out…” But it was useless. All I heard from outside was Lucas’s gentle coaxing all night long. It wasn’t until they left the next day that a neighbor finally sent me to the hospital. But the baby couldn’t be saved. Due to massive hemorrhaging, I was forced to have a hysterectomy. And without cord blood, my son died half a month later. During all this, Lucas never appeared once. Not even a phone call.

Suddenly, footsteps behind me pulled me from my thoughts. Lucas held a birthday cake in his left hand and the Transformer our son had longed for in his right. Behind him followed Veronica in a red dress. Lucas looked at my swollen eyes, his voice tinged with hoarseness. “Zara…” Before he could finish, Veronica interrupted. “Zara, you spoil your kid too much. Having a birthday in such a creepy place.” “People who don’t know better would think you’re cursing the child.” I didn’t respond, just stared coldly at Veronica. “Leave. Now.” Wearing red before the dead was blatant provocation. Others might not know our son was gone, but how could Veronica not know? After all, when I’d held my son’s cold body in the hospital, crying until I nearly suffocated, she’d stood in the doorway, unable to hide her satisfaction. “A sick kid like that—it’s better off dead.” “With the frequency Lucas and I go at it, I’ll get pregnant eventually. The Harrington family won’t die out.” “But you won’t even have anyone to bury you.” At that moment, I’d wanted nothing more than to die together with her! It was my son’s dying words—”live well”—that held back my last shred of sanity. I looked up. Lucas was gently comforting Veronica. I was too tired to watch their performance anymore. I pointed at the headstone and spoke calmly. “Lucas, our son is gone.” Lucas’s sympathy froze on his face. “The second child you’d been hoping for is also gone.” “The doctor said it was a girl.” “The culprits are you two.” “You owe these two children an apology.” With a crash, the cake fell to the ground. He stared at the photo of our son, shaking his head continuously. “That’s impossible. The doctor said cord blood could save him.” “Zara, stop this. Today is Ryan’s birthday.” I laughed coldly. Just as I was about to present the evidence, Veronica spoke first. “Zara, even a tiger doesn’t eat its cubs. Cursing your own children like this is just evil.” “I just went to the school specifically to check. Ryan is fine, and he even got first place in his grade!” As she spoke, she handed her phone to Lucas. The first image was a report card. Ryan’s name was right at the top. The second was a photo taken during recess. The little boy in the photo did look about eighty percent like Ryan. Lucas let out a long breath of relief. The look he gave me carried disappointment and anger. “Zara Richardson, and here I felt sorry for what you’ve been through these three years. I never imagined you’d get even worse!” “Back then you played hard to get by leaving that divorce agreement. Now to force me back, you’ve fabricated lies about our children dying!” “What’s even more disgusting is that you’re deliberately targeting Veronica, an innocent person. You need to apologize!” Innocent? I scoffed. Even cursing them felt like a waste of breath. I continued burning paper money on my own. The flames danced, illuminating our son’s smiling face on the headstone, and also Lucas’s absurdity. My silence completely enraged Lucas. He kicked over the burning basin. “Stop burning! My son isn’t dead!” “I told you to apologize to Veronica. Did you hear me!” I didn’t even bother looking up. I threw the death certificate and miscarriage diagnosis directly at his feet. “Lucas, I’ve said what needed to be said. Believe it or not, that’s up to you.” “Or you can ask your good friend. After all, she knows very well what happened back then.” Lucas flipped through the reports. His fury froze, and he turned to Veronica with confusion. Veronica seemed to have anticipated this. She showed no panic whatsoever. “Zara, I know you don’t like me. Today I brought Ryan here.” “Your schemes need to stop.” Soon, a little boy from the video walked over step by step. The moment he saw me clearly, he rushed into my arms. “I came to see Ryan.” Then he pulled five hundred dollars from his pocket. “Oh, and that lady bribed me. She made me say I was your Ryan.”

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New Year’s—right in front of all my relatives—I opened the gift the spoiled brat had prepared for me. But I never expected that inside was a hungry carnivorous plant. The moment I lifted the lid, it lunged at my face. My entire face was corroded by the strong acid, my features melting away completely. Yet my relatives pulled out my oxygen tube. “My child is just mischievous. You’re an adult—did you really have to open a gift from a child?” “You deserve to be disfigured!” “Women are just money pits anyway. Your mother should thank me for saving her money!” The spoiled brat made faces at me, watching as I died from suffocation. When I opened my eyes again, I shoved the gift into the child’s mother’s arms. “Something this wonderful should obviously go to his own mother!” After being blown to pieces by the carnivorous plant gift box the spoiled brat sent me, I could only lie in the ICU ward, breathing only through a hole cut in my face. But the culprit was singing and dancing in front of me, celebrating. “Ugly freak! Your face is even uglier now!” “I knew this gift was perfect for you!” The child’s parent glared at me. “How did our family end up with such an unlucky relative like you?” “It’s just a superficial injury, isn’t it? You had to cry and come to the hospital—you’ve ruined my child’s reputation with all this drama!” From her tone, it was as if I were the one who’d done something wrong. But I’d been blown up by her child to the point where I couldn’t even take care of myself, yet not only did this family refuse to apologize or compensate me, they actually came to blame me! “My child is just mischievous, and you’re an adult. Didn’t you know not to open a gift from a child?” My father’s sister, Gwen, nagged endlessly, then reached out and yanked off my oxygen tube. “Bad luck. You deserve to be disfigured!” “Women are just money pits. Your mother should thank me for saving her money!” Instantly, I lost consciousness. But when I opened my eyes again, I’d returned to the night of New Year’s Eve dinner. The burning sensation on my face was completely gone. In my hands I held a heavy box. “This is a gift I specially prepared for you.” “I’ve wanted to give it to you for so long. Perfect timing with the New Year.” The spoiled brat wore a cunning smile, urging me: “Hurry up and open it!” My heart sank. “No need. You can keep it for yourselves.” “Maya, how can you be so rude?” Gwen immediately lost her temper. “This is the child’s sincere gift. Don’t be ungrateful!” She pointed right at my nose, her tone growing increasingly bitter. “Today you’re accepting this gift whether you like it or not!” I couldn’t help but laugh coldly to myself. Accept it and my head would get blown off, wouldn’t it? This was a gift I couldn’t afford to accept. Before I could speak, my cousin Victoria spoke up for me. “It’s just a gift. If Maya doesn’t want to accept it, why are you forcing her?” “Who the hell do you think you are?” Gwen went off like a lit firecracker, furious. “This is a gift my son carefully prepared. Not accepting it means disrespecting our family!” “Especially my son—if you dare look down on what he makes, believe me, I’ll make you pay!” After being cursed out by her, I wasn’t angry at all. Instead, I laughed it off. “Since it’s your son’s precious gift, of course it should go to his closest family member. You should keep it for yourselves.” I shoved the box into Gwen’s arms. The spoiled brat immediately stomped his feet in anger and slammed the box back into my arms. “I’m giving it to YOU!”

I was so angry I had to laugh. This kid wasn’t very old, but his mind was quite malicious. He just wanted to harm me specifically, not his own mother. “You’re just looking down on our family!” Gwen was beside herself with rage. “You think just because you’re a college student, you can look down on us for being uneducated!” Victoria sighed helplessly. “Maya would never be that kind of person.” “She’s usually so polite. How could she possibly look down on relatives?” “Didn’t she already say? Good things should be given to children to honor their parents.” But Gwen wasn’t grateful at all. Instead, she raised her voice even higher. “It’s just a gift. Why won’t you accept it?!” “We came to visit in the freezing cold. This is our goodwill!” “Are you helping her talk back? Do all of you look down on my family?” “Let me tell you, the way you’re treating my family today—when my son makes something of himself, even if you come crawling and begging for his help, we won’t help you!” I felt utterly exhausted. A spoiled brat this young already had murderous intentions, and his mother just indulged him endlessly. Fat chance he’d amount to anything. He probably wouldn’t even finish school before ending up in prison for reform. Victoria tried hard to smooth things over. “Really, that’s not it. Please calm down. Let’s talk this through nicely.” “It’s New Year’s. Let’s not hurt our relationship.” But Gwen got even more worked up and shoved her aside. “You’re just another shallow social climber. You really think Maya will be more successful than my son just because she went to college?” “You women without dicks are just stupid. My son will succeed at everything he does.” She glared at us two sisters with contempt. “Not like you two women—just money pits! Going to college gave you a superiority complex? You dare look down on people? Just wait and see how my son makes you die of envy!” “In the end, you’ll just be toys for men anyway, spreading your legs to give men children!” Victoria was completely stunned hearing this. “What kind of talk is that? I treated you like relatives, welcomed you properly, prepared gifts, and now you’re not here to visit but to cause trouble…” I quickly covered Victoria’s mouth. “Forget it, forget it. We’re all relatives. Let’s keep things peaceful.” Victoria was still quite upset, but seeing me smile broadly, acting completely unbothered by the insults, she could only let it go. Of course I didn’t care. Because just now, while they were arguing, I’d already placed that special gift in the pile of presents the brat had received. But this was a matter of life and death, after all. In my previous life, the carnivorous plant had blown me up so badly I’d lost my nose and eyeballs. If it were Gwen, she definitely couldn’t handle it even worse. Plus their family had no money and couldn’t afford medical expenses. Once the accident happened, they could only wait to die. Should I give them one more chance and kindly warn them not to open it? I was still hesitating when suddenly the spoiled brat pulled a syringe from his clothes. “You dare insult my mom—you’re looking down on our family!” “You ugly freaks, I’ve had enough of you all. Watch me stab you to death!” Like a rabid dog, he gripped the needle and lunged at me. Fortunately, Victoria and I reacted quickly and immediately dodged to either side, barely avoiding him. The spoiled brat couldn’t stop his momentum and crashed straight into the wall. The needle stuck into it too. The syringe held dozens of milliliters, filled to the brim with red liquid. A chill ran through me.

“What’s going on?” The relatives who’d been watching, thinking this was just kids playing around, all stood up. “What’s in there? The more I look at it, the more it looks like blood.” “Kids shouldn’t play with things like that. Throw it away quickly before someone gets hurt!” But the spoiled brat got even more excited. “It IS blood—HIV-positive blood! I worked so hard to get it!” “Just one injection and you ugly freaks will all get AIDS!” As soon as he finished speaking, everyone gasped in unison. My mom was terrified. “How can you, a child, get something like this? Injuring someone with this is no joke!” But the spoiled brat didn’t care at all and straightened his back even more. Fortunately, the needle was embedded in the wall and couldn’t be pulled out easily. Everyone finally relaxed a bit. Mom said earnestly, “You really need to control your child. This thing is dangerous!” But Gwen just snorted coldly. “My son likes to tinker with inventions. That shows he has the potential to be a great inventor! As long as he doesn’t mess with me, it’s fine.” Everyone became even more anxious. I couldn’t help but recall my own miserable state from my previous life. The strong acid liquid corroded my skin instantly. I convulsed in pain, but mother and son just gloated. “My son is amazing! So young and already able to create weapons like this. He’ll definitely have a great future!” My expression darkened as I spoke coldly. “So you don’t care if I get hurt?” Gwen’s mouth twisted as she said through clenched teeth, “What’s the big deal about getting poked with a needle?” “You went to college and now you think you’re some rich young lady? So dramatic.” She looked me up and down. “Who knows if you’re actually studying at college or hooking up with men? You dress so slutty every day—maybe you already have AIDS! Would one more poke make a difference?” “Besides, you looked down on our family. You’d deserve to die!” I was so angry I had to laugh. I’d just been thinking about putting the gift back and giving them one more chance. Now it seemed like it was a complete waste of my concern. These evil people wouldn’t be afraid unless they suffered the consequences themselves. Since heaven gave me a chance to be reborn, I’d make sure they got exactly what they deserved. But Gwen didn’t realize disaster was about to strike her. “My son is still young. Whatever he does is reasonable. Even if he hurts you, what can you do to our family?” She helped the spoiled brat pull out the needle with all her strength. “My son chose you for his experiment. He’s honoring you!” The spoiled brat slowly walked toward me, smiling evilly as he stared at me. “My mom said it—I’m an inventive genius, and you all have to cooperate with me!” He raised the syringe in his hand and lunged at me again. Mom instinctively shielded me. “This is such a dangerous thing. Even for a child, this is too much!” “Call the police quickly. This isn’t a family matter anymore!” I nodded vigorously and quickly grabbed my phone. But before I could dial 911, Gwen rushed forward and grabbed at my phone. “You have the nerve to call the police?” She jabbed her fat belly forward, immediately knocking my mom onto the couch. “Give me that phone. If you dare call the police today, I’ll make you pay!” “My son has lots of inventions!”

I couldn’t resist at all. I stumbled and fell backward. The relatives were also panicking, scrambling to hold Gwen back. But she did rough work year-round and had extraordinary strength. With just one slap to my face, my head went fuzzy and my grip loosened. She seized the opportunity to snatch my phone and smashed it hard on the ground. With a bang, the screen instantly shattered into pieces. But Gwen wasn’t satisfied yet. She pinned me firmly to the ground. “He hasn’t even stabbed you yet. Why are you calling the police?” “I think you’re really sick!” “Get off…” I roared, struggling with all my might, but Gwen pressed down even harder, as if trying to crush my bones. It took both Mom and Victoria working together to pull her off me. “I knew you were looking down on me!” “Your whole family are bastards. You just can’t stand that I have such a genius son. You want to ruin his path to success!” She gave the spoiled brat a look. “Baby, quick, teach them a lesson!” Before I could catch my breath, I looked up to see the spoiled brat holding the dark red syringe, lunging straight at me. “Maya, run!” Mom shouted anxiously and pushed me to the side. But the brat was cunning. He knew the living room wasn’t big and I couldn’t dodge far even if I tried. Taking advantage of his small stature, he ducked right between Mom’s legs. I steeled myself and slapped him across the face. Fortunately, he was just a kid. One slap left him dizzy. I didn’t dare relax for a moment. Quick as lightning, I picked up the syringe and threw it far out the window. “You dare hit my son? I’ll hit you back!!” “You’ve offended me tonight. When my son makes something of himself, just wait and see how he uses you for experiments!” Gwen erupted in fury, directly breaking free from everyone’s restraint and grabbing my hair. The spoiled brat also got up from the ground, clenching his fists and angrily pounding me. He was tiny but surprisingly strong. Just the two of them, and in moments they’d beaten me breathless. “Just take the pain. If you’d accepted the gift, would I need to get physical?” “And you wouldn’t let my son inject you, broke his precious invention—I think you’re tired of living!” “You dare hit him today? Tomorrow will you try to walk all over me? Let me teach you a lesson!” Her hands were covered in calluses. Just scraping her palm across my face left bloody scratches. Mom and Victoria couldn’t stop her in time before she grabbed my face and clawed several more marks. “This is bad, bad! Quickly save her!” Mom was like an ant on a hot pan, stamping her feet anxiously. But they simply didn’t have Gwen’s ruthless heart. No matter what they tried, they could only pull mother and son apart. I scrambled up from the ground, still shaken, gasping for breath. “Spoiling a child like this, no manners at all!” Gwen was furious, spit flying everywhere. “My son is the best. What right do you have to criticize him?” I carefully covered my wounds, forcing words through gritted teeth. “I’m not just criticizing him. I’m criticizing you too. You’re an accomplice to murder, enabling your child to commit crimes!” Gwen immediately seethed. “You bitch!” Her eyes landed on a vase. Without a word, she picked it up and smashed it at my head. Everyone couldn’t react in time. My whole body went limp—I wanted to dodge but couldn’t. With a loud crash, everything went black before my eyes. Mom’s voice sounded like it was behind glass. “Maya!” She rushed forward in a panic, but I was covered in blood. For a moment, she didn’t know where to start. Gwen also seemed to have exhausted her strength, surrounded by everyone. She snorted coldly and gave the spoiled brat a look. “Don’t stoop to these bitches’ level. Come on, let’s go open the gifts.” “Let’s unwrap the boxes first, so we don’t have to clean up garbage when we get home.” Without any hesitation, she picked up a large box from the top of the pile. But the moment she tore off the tape, a black shadow lunged at her face. The carnivorous plant wrapped tightly around her face. The air filled with the pungent smell of acid. “Ahhh—”

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On the anniversary of my mom’s death, I was at the cemetery placing flowers on her grave when my husband’s newly hired housekeeper called me: “Ma’am, your mother is here. Sir isn’t home, so I’ve arranged for her to wait in the doghouse in the yard.” “Don’t worry, I fried her some of the premium Wagyu beef the dog usually eats—$800 a pound. It’s much more expensive than what she normally eats.” I snapped at her coldly: “You wouldn’t dare!” Then I heard the housekeeper slap my husband’s mother twice: “Shut up! I’m younger and prettier than you. Once I seduce Sir, you won’t even get dog food!” It turned out the housekeeper had mistaken my husband’s mother, Alice, for my mom. Didn’t she know my mom was already dead? The moment I burst through the villa gates, a wave of blood and the stench of dog food hit me. In the center of the yard, inside the luxury doghouse Xander had custom-built for his dog, a figure was curled up. Alice’s usually immaculately styled hair was now a tangled mess, dripping with oily soup. Two bright red handprints swelled on her face, shockingly vivid. “Xander! You bastard! Get out here!” My husband’s father, Thomas, was pinned to the ground by two burly men. His gold-rimmed glasses lay shattered on the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His whole body trembled as he strained to lift his head and curse. “Xander, that bastard—who does he think got him where he is today? How dare he let some housekeeper humiliate us!” Vivian White stood on the steps in my silk robe, arms crossed, looking down at them imperiously. Hearing the cursing, she snorted contemptuously: “Go ahead and curse, you uncultured country trash.” “Coming into someone else’s home and making a scene—who do you think you are?” She kicked the dog chain at her feet and jerked her chin at the bodyguards. “Go on, put these two old dogs on leashes. Tie them to the utility pole outside so everyone in the neighborhood can see what happens to people with no class.” My mind exploded. I rushed over like a madwoman, shoved away the bodyguard reaching for the chain, and blocked Thomas. “Vivian! Are you insane? Open your damn eyes and look—these are Xander’s parents!” Vivian jumped at my shout, then covered her mouth and let out a shrill laugh. “I know you married Sir, so technically your parents could be considered his parents too.” “But don’t get too full of yourself.” “Look at how shabby your parents are—everything they’re wearing probably doesn’t add up to $200, right?” Thomas’s chest heaved violently with rage, his pointing finger trembling. He and Alice had worked their way up from poverty to wealth. They didn’t like extravagance, but now they were “shabby” in Vivian’s eyes. “Ignorant!” Thomas spat out the words through gritted teeth. Vivian’s expression changed. She raised her hand to strike. “Still got a mouth on you!” I grabbed her wrist and flung it aside. “I’m calling Xander right now. A housekeeper like you deserves to die a thousand times over!” I turned to unlock the electronic doghouse door. “Stop her!” Vivian shrieked. Two bodyguards immediately rushed forward, pinning my arms behind my back and pressing me to the ground. Vivian smugly pulled out her phone and shoved the screen in my face. “Look closely—Sir himself gave this order.” The screen clearly showed a message from Xander: [Deal with those trashy relatives at the house however you see fit. Don’t bother me.] Vivian pulled back her phone, saying triumphantly: “See? I’m just solving problems for Sir.” “If Sir found out these two old beggars dirtied his beloved dog’s house, he’d be even harsher than me.” Alice made a weak whimpering sound from inside the doghouse: “We really are…” “Shut up!” Vivian kicked the doghouse bars. “Since you insist you’re elders, then enjoy the meal properly.” Vivian picked up a plate of bloody raw beef from nearby. “This is imported Australian Wagyu. Only Duke gets to eat this normally. You should feel lucky.” Duke was our family dog. She glanced at the bodyguards. “Feed her.” 2 The bodyguard roughly grabbed Alice’s hair and forced her jaw open. The cold, slimy raw meat was crammed into Alice’s mouth. Alice instinctively gagged, her stomach churning. The meat she’d just been forced to swallow came back up mixed with bile, splattering on the ground. Vivian recoiled in disgust. “Refusing a gift, are you?” She grabbed a large bag of hard dog food from nearby. “Lowlife who’s never had anything good—today I’ll make sure you get your fill!” She aimed the bag’s opening at Alice’s open mouth and poured. The hard pellets went straight down her windpipe. Alice choked violently, her whole face turning the color of liver. Vivian didn’t stop, still pouring frantically. “Eat! Swallow it!” Thomas roared like a madman but couldn’t break free from the bodyguards’ hold. Alice’s coughing grew weaker, her eyes beginning to roll back. If this continued, she would die! In desperation, I suddenly lowered my head and bit down hard on the bodyguard’s arm. When he loosened his grip in pain, I rolled on the ground and grabbed the large iron shears used for trimming bushes from the flower bed. “Nobody move!” The bodyguards instinctively started forward. I didn’t point the scissors at them—I pressed the sharp point firmly against my own carotid artery. The tip punctured my skin, blood instantly streaming down my neck. “I’m Xander’s wife!” “If I die here, you’ll all be murderers! None of you will escape!” The bodyguards froze, exchanging glances. They were just doing a job—they didn’t want to face murder charges. Vivian panicked too: “Don’t listen to her! She wouldn’t dare…” “Try me!” I pressed harder, the blood flowing faster. The bodyguards finally backed off. Holding the scissors, I rushed to the doghouse and used all my strength to smash the electronic lock. Once. Twice. Sparks flew, my palm splitting open. With a click, the lock opened. I dropped the scissors, trembling as I pulled open the iron door and dragged Alice out. She slumped limply in my arms, her face a terrifying purple-blue, her chest completely still. In that moment, the whole world fell silent. I need to call for help! That was my first thought. The call had just connected, before I could get the words out, when someone snatched the phone from my hand. Vivian’s usually arrogant face immediately switched to a pitiful expression. Tears came on command, streaming down her cheeks. “Sir! Please save me! Your wife brought her crazy parents to attack me!” “They not only smashed things in the house, they hit me too!” “That old woman was obviously as strong as an ox, but as soon as she heard you were coming home, she lay on the ground playing dead, insisting I’d hurt her.” “I was kind enough to make them food, but instead of eating it, they threw it all over me…” “Sir, I’m so scared. Are they going to beat me to death before they’re satisfied?” Shaking with rage, I rushed forward to grab the phone back. “Vivian! Stop lying! That’s clearly not…” Vivian twisted away, hiding behind a bodyguard, crying even harder into the phone. “You hear that? Your wife is still yelling at me! Does she think that because I’m a servant, I deserve to be bullied by her family?” From the phone came Xander’s furious roar, loud enough for Thomas to hear from several meters away. “Parents? Nina, who did you bring home? Isn’t your mom dead?” Xander didn’t give me a chance to explain, launching into a tirade. “Oh, I get it. When your mom died, I said one word—disgusting!” “And you’re still holding a grudge?” “I already explained—I didn’t go to the funeral because I was afraid people would say you were marrying up.” “Such a small thing, and you’re still mad about it?” “My mom’s funeral is a small thing? Xander, do you have any conscience!” 3 “Conscience? Then you tell me who that old woman is first.” “Bringing all kinds of weird relatives home and letting them run wild in my house—you think you’re in the right?” “Let me tell you, Vivian has a PhD in management. I hired her specifically to run the household properly.” “Do you know how many people want to hire her and can’t? You couldn’t match her abilities in eight lifetimes!” “I think you’ve gone too long without looking in a mirror and forgotten who you are!” “I’ll have someone sign you up for etiquette classes so you can learn what it means to be refined! Otherwise I’ll be embarrassed taking you anywhere!” His absurd speech made me laugh through my tears. “Xander, listen carefully! The person lying on the ground is your mother! The one being beaten by bodyguards is your father!” “Do you have to wait until someone dies before you’ll believe me?” The phone went silent for half a second, then erupted in an even more piercing cold laugh. “Lie! Keep lying! You think I’m stupid?” “Two hours ago, I talked to my parents on the phone!” “They said they’re skiing in Switzerland and won’t be back for New Year! They even sent me photos of the snow!” “You’d stoop to such a clumsy excuse to cover your lies?” “Are you using my parents as an excuse thinking I won’t dare touch you?” Thomas listened nearby, tears streaming down his old face, his lips trembling as he tried to speak, but the bodyguard kept his mouth covered. How could Xander know that his parents had deliberately hidden the truth to surprise him, wanting to secretly come back and cook him a meal? This heavy parental love had now become a blade stabbing them. “Enough, I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense!” Xander’s impatience had reached its limit. Even through the screen, his disgust was palpable. “I’m heading back now. If you’re smart, take your ‘parents’ and get lost!” “If they’re still there when I get home, don’t blame me for being ruthless!” “I’ll break their legs and throw them out—you’ll have brought it on yourselves!” Click—he hung up mercilessly. Alice’s breathing grew weaker and weaker. Her face had turned from pale to purple-blue. Any more delay and she might really die. “Dad! Forget that crazy woman, we need to save Mom!” Gritting through the pain, Thomas and I lifted Alice together. Alice’s body was frighteningly heavy. Every step felt like dragging a thousand-pound weight. We stumbled getting Alice into the back seat. Thomas’s hands shook so badly he couldn’t get the key in the ignition. Just as we started the car, a black Range Rover suddenly came barreling over, blocking the gate exit. Vivian stood on the steps, toying with the phone she’d just used, wearing a victor’s smile. “Oh, trying to run already?” She jerked her chin at the bodyguards. The bodyguards exchanged glances, then surrounded us. Watching Alice convulsing in pain in the back seat, the last line of defense in my heart completely collapsed. The commotion at the gate was so loud that before long, it attracted neighbors. Vivian reacted quickly. Before I could speak, she started crying first.

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My wife’s investment went bankrupt, and she begged me to fake my death to clear her debts. But on the day of the funeral, I watched in horror through the coffin’s viewing hole. My wife’s first love, Derek, was attending my funeral wearing my face. The priest’s prayer echoed in my ears: “Derek, may you rest in peace!” My blood froze, and a chill swept through my entire body. That’s when I realized—my wife actually wanted me dead! And she was replacing me with Derek. I tried to struggle, but the coffin had been nailed shut, and my mouth was sealed with tape. In my horror and despair, Derek mocked me through the viewing hole: “Gabriel, Rachel never went bankrupt at all. She deliberately set you up to die in my place!” I was buried alive and suffocated to death, the coffin lid covered with my desperate, bloody scratch marks. Meanwhile, Derek assumed my identity, took all my assets, and married my wife. When I opened my eyes again, I had been reborn—back to the night before the funeral.

“What are you standing there for? Get in the coffin!” My wife Rachel’s impatient voice suddenly rang in my ears. Looking at that familiar coffin, I suddenly realized—I had been reborn. In my previous life, my wife’s investment had failed. Even after I spent my entire fortune, I couldn’t fill that hole. With no other options, my wife had me sign a debt assumption agreement, trying to get me to fake my death to clear the debt. But on the day of the funeral, I discovered the truth. My wife was actually making me die under her first love Derek’s name! Remembering the painful despair of being buried alive in my previous life… I suppressed my rage and answered, “Okay.” Rachel’s face lit up with barely concealed joy, though her tone remained ice-cold. “Get used to it first. I made some chicken soup—I’ll go to the kitchen and bring it to you!” Rachel turned and left. I didn’t obediently lie down waiting to die like last time. Instead, I immediately covered my nose and mouth and sat up. I had thought that in my previous life, my wife had drugged me with the chicken soup. But having just lain in the coffin, I discovered something else. The coffin had been sprayed with high-purity ether. If I had stayed lying down for just another minute or two, I would have fallen into irreversible doom just like in my previous life! What vicious scheming. But I had seen through it. I followed my wife all the way to the kitchen. I originally planned to see what my wife was plotting. But I discovered that shortly after my wife went inside, increasingly loud moaning came from within. My expression instantly darkened. I quietly pushed open a corner of the window and discovered My wife was having an affair with her white moonlight! “Did that loser Gabriel get in the coffin?” “How could he not listen to me? He got in ages ago!” Derek laughed triumphantly. “That’s great, babe. He still stupidly thinks you’re really in debt. Little does he know you’re doing all this to help me get revenge on him!” As Derek’s movements intensified, my wife’s voice grew increasingly tremulous and coquettish. “You shouldn’t blame me for what happened back then.” “He caught us making love in bed.” “At the time, he had money and power. I had no choice but to say you raped me.” “But I never expected he’d refuse to let it go and make you spend so many years in prison.” “I sprayed the coffin with ether. He’s already unconscious.” “Go tie him up and nail the coffin shut.” “Tomorrow when he dies, everything he has will be yours!” As my wife reached her climax, Derek looked up with an evil smile. The moonlight’s cold glow fell on his face—and he looked exactly like me! I was burning with rage, filled with grief and indignation! So the rape case from years ago was just an excuse my wife made up after I caught them in bed! But for these three years, My wife had used the excuse that she was severely psychologically traumatized by this. She forbade me from sleeping with her, beat and cursed me constantly, and bankrupted my company. I was tormented physically and mentally, but I always endured it silently because I felt sorry for her. Even when she told me she owed massive debts and begged me to fake my death to clear them… I still agreed to sacrifice everything I had, agreeing without hesitation! But I never imagined— My sincerity! My devotion! My wealth! Everything was just a tool for my wife to get revenge for her white moonlight! Watching Derek’s figure heading toward the memorial hall, My eyes turned cold as I followed him. You want to escape through deception? Then I’ll make Derek’s funeral come true!

Derek entered the memorial hall. He didn’t immediately open the coffin. Instead, he stood beside it, mocking with hatred. “Gabriel, in court that year, I got down on my knees begging you to let the judge give me a lighter sentence.” “But you insisted the judge give me the maximum penalty, making me waste so many years of my youth!” “Now that I’ve gotten you killed, it’s exactly what you deserve!” He threw his head back laughing, his expression sinister and mocking. “Since I pity you, I’ll tell you something.” “That one time Rachel let you touch her in these three years—I ordered her to do it.” “You were so lucky—you got her pregnant with a baby boy right away.” “But guess why the baby ended up miscarried?” “Of course it’s because when I was out on parole, Rachel aborted it just to make me happy!” Hiding in the shadows, I bit down hard on my teeth, my eyes filled with vicious bloodshot veins. So this was the truth about the miscarriage! How hateful that I always thought it was because I didn’t take good care of her, and I’d felt guilty for years! But even a tiger doesn’t eat its cubs! Why were you so vicious?! “Too bad you’ll never hear this truth. You’re about to die!” Derek lifted the coffin lid with a mocking sneer. But the coffin was empty! His pupils contracted sharply, his expression instantly tense. “Where… where is he?” The surroundings were deathly quiet, terrifyingly silent. He unconsciously swallowed, then suddenly turned around. And came face to face with my violent, bloodshot eyes. He stumbled back a step in fear, terror filling his eyes. “Gabriel… why… why aren’t you in the coffin?” The rage I’d been holding back for so long exploded like a volcano in my chest! I grabbed his hair and brutally slammed his nose against the coffin! A crisp sound of breaking bone rang out. Blood gushed from Derek’s face. I didn’t give him a chance to speak. As he stared at me in shock—

I wrapped tape around his mouth, tied up his hands and body, and locked him directly in the coffin. Derek struggled desperately, making muffled shouts. The coffin lid couldn’t hold him down for a moment. In the midst of the struggle, my wife’s scolding suddenly came from behind me. “Gabriel?!” I turned to look. My wife stood at the door holding a hammer, her face cold as frost. Derek was incredibly agitated, his eyes filled with venomous hatred as he stared at me. As if to say he was saved, and I was finished! But I didn’t even glance at him. Instead, I slapped him with my backhand and said with a calculated tone, “I’m Derek!” My wife paused, then suddenly approached and took my arm. “I made you look so much like him, I didn’t recognize you for a moment!” Derek’s body stiffened, staring at me in disbelief! His muffled sounds became even more frantic! But my wife, extremely annoyed, struck him with the hammer! “Shut up!” The sound of cracking bone rang out. Derek curled up in the coffin like a shrimp thrown into boiling water, writhing in pain. My wife looked at him coldly, speaking without emotion. “Gabriel, I was going to use ether to knock you out so you could leave without suffering. Why didn’t you understand my good intentions?” My lips were smiling, but my heart grew colder. I knew perfectly well— My wife mistook Derek for me, which is why she directly smashed his jaw with the hammer! My wife expressionlessly pulled out a tissue and pressed it against Derek’s face. Derek, who had been struggling, instantly calmed down. My wife turned and smiled at me. “Close the coffin lid so I can nail Gabriel in!” Watching my wife unhesitatingly hammer nail after nail, sealing Derek inside the coffin— My eyes grew increasingly cold. In my previous life, this is how she did it—tricking me into lying in the coffin, sealing off all my escape routes, burying me alive. But in this life, she didn’t know she was sealing in her beloved white moonlight. I very much looked forward to seeing just how wonderful my wife’s expression would be when she discovered the truth!

The funeral was held in the memorial hall next to the crematorium. When Rachel and I arrived, The memorial service was nearly over. There wasn’t much sad atmosphere at the scene. The few relatives who came to pay their respects to Derek clearly knew the inside story. When they saw Rachel and me, they even smiled and greeted us. “After today, you two will be a real married couple!” “That bastard Gabriel really delayed you for so long!” Rachel looked at me happily, unconsciously tightening her grip on my hand. “We can finally be together. Aren’t you happy?” I fell silent, then suddenly smiled and asked. “Have you ever thought there’s really no need to be so extreme?” “If you just told Gabriel you wanted a divorce, he wouldn’t refuse.” Rachel frowned. “Come on, stop being angry.” “Are you still holding a grudge about me accusing you back then?” “I didn’t divorce him precisely to help plan to give you everything he has as compensation!” As Rachel spoke, she pulled out a gold card from her bag and handed it to me. “Here, take this. This is what I’ve secretly transferred from Gabriel’s account over these three years.” “Happy now?” I took the card with trembling hands. I smiled and smiled until a tear slid down from the corner of my eye. So happy, Rachel! These three years, I’m so happy about my own stupidity! Stupid enough to believe in love, never once suspecting why you, Rachel, spent so much money. I just assumed you were engaging in revenge spending because you felt psychologically uncomfortable after being raped. I even sold my family’s ancestral home for your so-called debt scam. But do you know? Before my grandfather died, he warned me over and over again, Saying that ancestral home was the root of our family, and I must never sell it no matter what. But for you, Rachel, I’d rather bear the reputation of being unfilial, yet I still chose to sell it without hesitation! But what did I get in return? Your naked betrayal and humiliation! My chest burned with rage as I stared at Derek in the coffin and said, “I forgive him.” “We won’t bury him alive. Let’s throw him in the cremation furnace!” Violent trembling suddenly came from inside the coffin. The people around exchanged glances but chose to act as if they hadn’t noticed. A loud response suddenly came from behind. “Burning him is right! A rapist deserves this kind of punishment!” I turned around in surprise. My father-in-law had actually come too. He walked alone to the coffin and said, “This animal caused my daughter so much harm. Dying this easily is too good for him!” Although my father-in-law was cursing Derek, From the way he was winking at me, I could tell he was also an accomplice! He was actually cursing me, Gabriel! But I didn’t understand why he hated me?! I’d never offended him before. In fact, I’d been good to him, treating him like my own father! Just then, my father-in-law unconsciously pushed the coffin. His angry expression turned startled, and he pushed again uncertainly. “Why does the weight of this coffin seem a bit off?!” Hearing this, the coffin began trembling violently, as if a great injustice had been revealed and someone was extremely agitated. My father-in-law’s expression was filled with doubt and uncertainty. He looked at me, then at the coffin, and suddenly asked a shocking question. “Could the person in this coffin not be Gabriel?” Everyone present was startled and unconsciously looked at me. Rachel anxiously whispered, “Dad, what are you talking about? I personally locked him in last night. How could there be a mistake?!” “You know Derek is my savior. If I really locked him in a coffin and killed him, how could I go on living?!” But the doubt in my father-in-law’s eyes didn’t diminish at all. “I made this coffin myself. I tricked Gabriel into lying in it before to test it, and now the weight is clearly wrong…” My father-in-law’s gaze hardened, insisting on opening the coffin to verify the body.

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My mom favors my brother’s wife, Vivian, and forced my sick daughter to donate bone marrow to her son. I was furious and posted online a video of them dragging my daughter to the hospital, exposing them to massive cyberbullying. Mom cried and grabbed my hand, apologizing: “I’m sorry, we were wrong!” “Vivian was just worried about her son. Please don’t hold it against her.” As a mother myself, I understood Vivian’s feelings. I even posted a video online to clear her name and bought gifts for her and my nephew as an apology. Just as I was about to visit them in person, my daughter’s kindergarten teacher called. “Hello, two women claiming to be your family picked up your daughter.” “They said you asked them to take her to the hospital for a checkup.” My body went rigid, and all the blood in my veins turned ice cold. The teacher on the other end was still seeking confirmation: “These two seemed really urgent. Lily’s mom, do you know them?” The teacher sent me a video. Mom was standing at the kindergarten entrance, arguing with the security guard. “I’m here to pick up my granddaughter from school. What gives you the right to stop me?” “Why do you need to notify my daughter? We wouldn’t hurt the child, would we?” Vivian was on her tiptoes, peering into the kindergarten, her face full of barely concealed urgency. I suppressed the unease churning in my gut. “Mrs. Carter, please don’t let them take the child. I’m coming right now.” I slammed on the gas, calling Mom over and over while driving. Every time, all I got was the busy tone of an unanswered call. Anxiety consumed me. I could only rush toward the kindergarten at top speed. But just as I was about to reach the kindergarten entrance. A pitch-black car shot out from a corner and slammed directly into my front end. When I saw the license plate, my heart went completely cold. My brother Jackson opened his door and walked over to tap on my window. “Rachel, get out and let’s handle this accident.” “I’ve already called the police and the insurance company. We’ll follow the proper procedures.” My body froze, my entire heart clenching tight. He did this on purpose. He hit my car and insisted on going through the accident claim procedures. By the time everything was processed, it would be hours later. That much time was more than enough for Mom and Vivian to take my daughter. I bit down hard, my eyes burning with unshed tears. “Did you do this on purpose?” “Lily is your niece!” Jackson lit a cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke. “My son is still lying in a hospital bed.” “Rachel, your daughter is a son of a bitch who doesn’t even know who her father is. What’s the point of caring about her so much?” My ears rang. I stared at my brother in disbelief. I knew Vivian hated me. I knew she spread divisive rumors. The rumor that I slept around with dozens of men and gave birth to a daughter came from her mouth. But I never imagined my own brother—born from the same mother—would believe it so easily. And now he was humiliating me and my daughter in broad daylight. I clenched my teeth until my eyes turned red with rage. “Jackson, you think blocking me here means they can take my daughter?” “You’re dreaming.” The moment I finished speaking, Jackson’s phone rang. His expression changed, and his sharp gaze pierced straight through me. “Rachel, you’re a bastard!” “You sent people after your own mother and Vivian. If anything happens to them, I’ll never forgive you!” With that, he turned, yanked open his car door, slammed on the gas, and sped away. Seeing his reaction, I breathed a sigh of relief. My daughter’s kindergarten was the best I could find after extensive research. Without my permission, there was no way anyone could take the child. After arranging for my car to be towed, I hailed a cab to the kindergarten. It was exactly dismissal time. I pushed through the crowd and rushed to my daughter’s teacher. “Mrs. Carter, I’m here to pick up Lily.” The teacher unconsciously avoided my eyes, speaking haltingly. “Lily? Lily… your mother just picked her up.”

I froze in place, the blood in my veins turning to ice. Rage shot straight to my head. “Didn’t I say no one could pick up my child without my permission?” The teacher looked away guiltily and hurriedly pointed in a direction. “The principal approved it. There was nothing I could do.” “But they just left. They’re over there.” I whipped my head around just in time to see Mom and Vivian shoving my daughter into a car. As the car door was about to close, my eyes blazed with fury: “Someone’s kidnapping a child! Stop them!” Hearing my voice, they moved even faster. But this was a kindergarten—the one place that couldn’t tolerate child abduction. A swarm of people rushed forward and surrounded the car. Mom and Vivian got out holding Lily. Before I could say anything, the two of them dropped to their knees in front of me. Mom hunched over, tears streaming down her face: “Rachel, you can’t be this heartless. Your nephew is dying. How can you refuse to save him?” Vivian’s eyes were also red as she explained to the onlookers: “We’re not kidnapping a child. My son is dying. We just wanted her daughter to do a compatibility test.” “But she’s never liked me and refuses to save my son. I had no other choice!” Mom took Vivian’s hand, and the two of them stood united against me, intimate and aligned. As if I, the biological daughter, was the complete outsider. I trembled with rage, my voice shaking terribly as I questioned her. “Mom, is Vivian’s child precious while mine is worthless?” I lunged forward and pulled my daughter into my arms. My voice was hoarse with desperation: “She’s so young, and you know her condition. You’re trying to kill her!” Mom straightened up, her eyes filled with disappointment as she looked at me. “Rachel, how did I raise a daughter like you?” “You slept around with men and had this child at twenty. We helped you raise her!” “Now your nephew is sick, and to let him die, you’re even making up lies about Lily being ill!” The parents who had just helped me stop the car now began to lecture me. “Miss, it’s just a compatibility test. It’s not a big deal.” “Who knows, maybe one day you or your daughter will need their help.” Listening to their remarks, I was so angry I wanted to laugh. My daughter was diagnosed with a bleeding disorder at birth. Even a tiny cut could be fatal for her. All these years I’ve been so careful, never letting her get hurt or bleed. But now my own mother was conspiring with Vivian to twist the truth, trying to force me to let my daughter save their grandson and son. I held my daughter tight and backed away step by step. “Impossible. I will never let you harm my daughter.” Just as I was about to break through the crowd, Jackson jumped out of his car. His eyes were bloodshot as he grabbed my arm and tried to shove me into the vehicle. I was too weak to break free no matter how hard I struggled. The people around just watched coldly. No one was willing to help. My daughter clung to my neck, crying hysterically in terror. My eyes reddened, my voice shaking violently. “Don’t do this!” “Lily really can’t save Dylan!” “If you really do something to Lily, her father will never let you go!”

My brother Jackson fell silent for a moment, then burst into mocking laughter. His contemptuous gaze swept over me as he sneered: “Rachel, you’ll say anything to avoid saving my son.” “When you were twenty and got knocked up, we kept asking who the father was and you refused to say. Now suddenly the father appears?” I panicked. Just as he was about to pull me into the car, I suddenly remembered—Lily’s father had given her a cross necklace to prove her identity. I quickly pulled the necklace out from around my daughter’s neck. “This is what her father left for Lily! Every child in their family has one. Her father is—” Before I could finish, Mom rushed forward and slapped me hard across the face. “What nonsense are you spouting! That thing is clearly mine!” “You’re nothing but a thief!” Vivian also rushed to my side and grabbed the cross necklace. Her shrill scolding exploded in my ears. “This necklace was clearly left to me by my parents!” “Rachel, you even dared to steal this. I’ll never forgive you!” She began punching and kicking me like she was venting her rage. Fists and slaps rained down on my face like hail. I held my daughter in my arms, gritting my teeth and enduring, not daring to relax for even a moment, terrified she might hurt my daughter. While dodging, I caught sight of the corners of Vivian’s mouth curling up in a sly smirk. Mom and Jackson watched coldly. They made no move to stop Vivian. “Rachel, get on your knees right now and apologize to Vivian, then take Lily to the hospital for the compatibility test.” “Otherwise, you and your son of a bitch daughter can never set foot in our house again! Without us taking care of you, you two can just wait to die outside!” My body went rigid. I stared at Jackson in disbelief. He grew up with me. He was one of my closest family members. But now, for the sake of a scheming outsider, he was insulting me and threatening to kick me and my daughter out of the family. My heart went completely cold. “Kick us out? Fine.” “Jackson, believe it or not, the moment we leave, your family will be destroyed!” Lily’s biological father wielded tremendous power. It was only because of internal family conflicts over the years that he couldn’t appear openly by our side. To compensate us mother and daughter, he continuously invested in Jackson’s company and sent order after order to Jackson’s business. Otherwise, with Jackson’s abilities, there’s no way he could have run the company so successfully. Three days ago, Lily’s father sent me a message saying the family conflicts had been resolved and he would come meet my family as soon as possible and take Lily and me home. I had even specifically asked him to help find someone who might successfully match with my nephew. But now, none of that mattered anymore. Jackson suddenly broke into laughter, tears streaming from his eyes. “Rachel, have you lost your mind?” “Who the hell do you think you are to destroy my family? I should send you to a hospital to get your brain checked!” Mom grabbed my arm. “Jackson, don’t waste words on her.” “Today Lily must do the compatibility test with my grandson!” The three of them worked together to push me into the car. Jackson slammed on the gas and raced toward the hospital. I curled up in the back seat holding my daughter, my heart filled with terror. What could I do to stop all this? Just as I was at a loss, my daughter sobbed and tugged at my sleeve. She pointed at the GPS watch on her wrist. “Mommy, Daddy’s almost here.”

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While resuscitating a female patient, I hurriedly cut open her bra. My fiancée, Sophia, actually posted a video of me performing chest compressions online: “I know you were saving her, but doesn’t the patient’s privacy matter? And your hands kept touching her chest.” The incident quickly went viral. The hospital leadership didn’t defend me. Instead, they docked my entire year’s bonus and demoted me. Sophia also quickly climbed into bed with my rival. I threw down my ID badge. Since my dedication to saving lives got me labeled a pervert, I might as well just stop trying. I wouldn’t save anyone anymore. This time, the entire hospital panicked. “Logan, this should be a lesson for you. We’re getting married soon, and even if you’re a doctor, you need to have morals!” I looked at Sophia quietly. “Are you done?” She froze. “What—what kind of attitude is that?” “Whatever.” I rolled my eyes. Sophia’s face instantly flushed red, as if she’d been deeply insulted. “Fine! Logan, we’re breaking up!” After screaming that, she grabbed her phone from the table and ran out. The department director, Dr. Morrison, frowned and tapped the desk. “To settle public opinion, you need to write a thorough self-criticism. You’ll read it publicly next week and admit your behavior was inappropriate. This is an order, and also your chance to make things right.” The next day, the hospital intranet and bulletin board simultaneously posted a disciplinary notice about me. The intern, Kevin, secretly messaged me. “Logan, we all believe you. But just put up with it for now, Dr. Morrison is really angry.” I turned off my phone screen. I knew Morrison was deliberately making things difficult for me. He wanted his nephew Ryan to take my attending physician position. Sophia’s little tantrum had given him the perfect excuse. I returned to my workstation and silently turned on my computer. I printed out all the files for the critical patients I was responsible for. Then I deleted all the data from the computer. A week later, at the hospital conference. Dr. Morrison stood on stage criticizing me. “Given Dr. Logan Mitchell’s unprofessional conduct, the hospital has decided to revoke his attending physician position.” The audience was dead silent. “Now, let’s give a warm round of applause to welcome our new cardiac surgery physician, Dr. Ryan Morrison!” Ryan stood up smugly and nodded to everyone. Dr. Morrison looked at him with satisfaction and announced: “Starting today, Ryan will officially take over Logan’s duties.” I sat in the corner, expressionless.

Ryan walked to my workstation and tapped the desk with his finger. “Hey, you can move your stuff now. Your new spot is in that corner over there. Also, leave your work computer. I need to check it to make sure you didn’t take any core department files.” I looked up at him, said nothing, and started packing my personal belongings. He seemed unsatisfied and added another jab. “Oh, and from now on, your words and actions in the department should reflect our professionalism. Don’t act like some kind of pervert.” I stopped what I was doing and asked him a medical question: “What are the diagnostic criteria and key differentiating factors for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy?” Ryan’s expression visibly stiffened, and he stammered, “Well… that obviously depends on the patient’s specific condition.” I gave him a contemptuous look, scoffed, and walked away. I thought back to three years ago when Director Wang personally came to recruit me to work at this hospital. He shook my hand and said, “Logan, we really need you!” Looking back now, what a joke. After my demotion, my workload became much lighter. I no longer participated in any emergency resuscitations. I left work on time every day. Yesterday, a car accident victim arrived in critical condition. The nurse instinctively called for me. I only glanced over and calmly told her: “Go find Ryan. He’s the attending physician.” The nurse said urgently, “Dr. Ryan is in his office. He said he’s organizing some important academic materials!” I didn’t say another word and walked straight out of the ward. I no longer stayed an extra minute for any critical patient. After work, I went to a fencing club. Putting on the heavy protective gear, the helmet, gripping the cold sword handle. I released all my anger and frustration on the fencing strip. The next day, Ryan posted a file in the department group chat. But the content had nothing to do with medicine—it was a set of medical record templates. Seconds later, I received many messages from colleagues. “Logan, what is Ryan doing? Writing medical records like they’re academic papers?” “Is he crazy? We treat patients with medical knowledge, not record templates!” “Ryan doesn’t know how to treat patients at all!!” I didn’t reply to my colleagues. I just turned off my phone. Before, I was the backbone of the department. No matter how complicated the emergency, everyone felt secure with me there. Now, whenever a critical case came in, the whole department became chaotic. Ryan would just stand to the side, ordering others to do this and that, but never doing anything himself. The resentment among colleagues grew stronger. People started privately reminiscing about my efficiency and reliability.

I submitted my vacation request to Dr. Morrison. A full thirty days. This was vacation time I had accumulated over five years. When he saw the request, his face immediately darkened. “Logan, what’s the meaning of this?” He threw the request in my face. “The hospital is short-staffed right now. Requesting such a long vacation—are you deliberately going against me?” He threatened, “Don’t think I won’t just fire you.” I took out the physical examination report I had done a few days ago and placed it on his desk. “Dr. Morrison, I’ve been having irregular heartbeats lately. I need to rest. Long-term high-pressure work isn’t good for the heart. You’re an expert—you should understand.” He picked up the report, looked at it, and his face turned red with anger. But he couldn’t find a reason to refuse, so he had to sign my request. Just as I was about to turn and leave, Sophia appeared again. She was hanging on Ryan’s arm, mocking me: “Dr. Mitchell, taking a hit and running away already? Ryan is so much better than you. He’s a real elite.” Ryan added smugly, “Some people just don’t have the skills or the mental fortitude. Should’ve been weeded out long ago.” I couldn’t be bothered with them and walked straight out of the office. The head nurse called out to me at the end of the hallway. “Dr. Mitchell. That female patient you saved the other day—do you remember her?” I nodded. The head nurse sighed. “She’s the only daughter of Maxwell Group’s CEO. The CEO sent someone to find you, wanting to thank you personally. Unfortunately, Ryan took credit for your work.” I just nodded and thanked the head nurse. Then I boarded the train heading home. The train had just started moving when Kevin the intern called, his voice so anxious he sounded like he was about to cry. “Logan! This is bad! Something huge happened! The CEO of Maxwell Group had a sudden acute myocardial infarction and was brought to our hospital!” “Ryan is the attending physician now. He looked at the ECG and diagnosed acute MI. But because the patient has a special drug allergy history, he’s afraid to use the standard medications!” “He’s been checking references forever and won’t make a decision! Now he’s actually making the family sign a transfer consent form!” I frowned and listened to Kevin continue: “Logan, this is acute MI! If they don’t operate now, the patient will die any minute!” Just as Kevin finished speaking, my phone rang again. It was Dr. Morrison. Dr. Morrison roared through the phone: “Logan! Get your ass back here right now! If anything happens to the Maxwell Group CEO, I’ll make sure you never work again!” I replied calmly. “Dr. Morrison, first, I’m currently on vacation.” “Second, I’m just a junior assistant now. I don’t have the qualifications or the authority to handle emergency surgeries.” “Isn’t Dr. Ryan Morrison the expert on these difficult cases? Why don’t you ask him?” I hung up directly.

Kevin sent another message, his tone filled with panic. “Logan, the CEO’s condition worsened during the ambulance transfer! His heart stopped once!” “The family has gone crazy. They called the hospital director directly to pressure him, saying our hospital is fully responsible!” “The whole hospital is in an uproar now! The director and several deputy directors are all in an emergency meeting!” Then he sent another message. “Dr. Morrison started spreading rumors in the department, saying you deliberately hid the special case files about Maxwell Group to steal credit. He’s saying you kept a key allergy history report, which is why Ryan couldn’t make the right call in time!” “He’s also saying you knew about the CEO’s special condition all along and just didn’t say anything because you wanted to see Ryan fail!” I looked at my phone screen and laughed coldly. Ryan’s ability to shift blame was truly masterful. Before one crisis ended, another began. Another critical patient in the department who had undergone cardiac bypass surgery suddenly went into ventricular fibrillation post-op. The monitor let out a piercing alarm. Kevin’s live updates continued. One of the cardiac treatment machines broke down. One patient missed the optimal rescue window and was now on the brink of death. Another patient’s ECG was about to flatline. The cries of family members, the cursing, mixed with the monitor alarms—the entire cardiac surgery department had descended into chaos. Dr. Morrison’s face went pale. He nearly fainted on the spot. Despair hung over everyone. Dr. Morrison called the German medical equipment company, begging for help. The German engineer said they didn’t have time to come. Then he added: “Perhaps you could contact Professor Carter’s team. I believe one of his excellent students works at your hospital.” Dr. Morrison’s hand froze in mid-air. He suddenly turned his head and stared at Ryan. He knew better than anyone. Professor Carter’s excellent student was me.

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My husband Adrian Holt’s cheating scandal had just blown up online, and I jumped right in to clean up the mess. “My husband didn’t cheat. I was jealous and made up the whole thing about him and his secretary, Monica. I apologize to her.” The internet erupted: “Lying bitch! Go to hell!” “You think we’re stupid? Get your head checked!” Staring at the screen full of hate, I called Adrian. “Are you happy now?” He laughed softly. “If only you’d been this reasonable before. As a reward, I’ll make time for your prenatal visit. But tomorrow I’m taking Monica to Iceland to see the lights. Move your appointment.” After I hung up, the doctor behind me pressed the form toward me, voice urgent. “You need to sign the termination consent now, or you won’t make it through the night.” I survived. I stayed in the hospital for seven days. Adrian never came to see me. After leaving, my first stop was a shabby clinic on the edge of town. Ten years ago, it was here that Adrian had knelt beside my mother’s hospital bed and sworn his vow. “I’ll love Emma forever. I’ll never let her suffer, not even a little.” Behind the clinic, in the back alley under an old locust tree, we had buried a metal box together. We promised to open it in ten years. The box was rusted shut, but the paper inside remained almost whole. The first line was in Adrian’s bold, sweeping handwriting: “To my dearest Miss Rayne, my future wife. I wonder how you have spent this past decade.” Seeing the intimate way he’d addressed me on the page, I felt a sharp, cold irony. “Did he buy you a ring?” Yes. A small diamond I’d cherished like a treasure, though it wasn’t a tenth the size of the one on Monica’s hand. “How’s the company? Are we married?” The company had grown larger and larger, and so had the circle of women around him. Every time I mentioned marriage, Adrian found a way to deflect. And so we remained-ten years, tangled together with no ceremony. “Do we have a baby?” We did. Once. Stillborn, his little body purple and blue. He never made a sound. And now I was pregnant again, because Monica wanted a child as a novelty. Adrian said she was a career woman who couldn’t afford to sacrifice her figure or her time, so he wanted me to carry it for them. But the child was deformed. Carrying it would kill me. The next question was mine. “Mr. Holt, what do you think has been the most important thing in our relationship over these ten years?” What would Adrian answer? Probably trust. After all, he used to snap, “Emma, can’t you just trust me? Monica and I are nothing. She’s an asset to the company, not your rival.” I’d tried to convince myself that they were just work partners. But the way they looked at each other didn’t lie. And their behavior certainly didn’t lie. I remembered the morning of his first board meeting as CEO. I’d gotten up early to iron his shirt and chosen a royal blue tie. Just after I’d carefully knotted it for him, Monica breezed through the door, holding up another tie with a laugh. “Adrian, today’s occasion is particularly formal. I’d suggest this subtle-patterned tie instead-it’s more dignified.” Adrian barely hesitated. He untied the knot I’d just made and put on the one from Monica’s hand. He patted my shoulder. “Monica’s been by my side long enough that she understands these dress codes better than you do.”

The second place I went was the sea. For ten years I’d said I wanted a wedding by the ocean. It never happened. I lay alone on the yacht’s bed, aching from the lingering pain of surgery. Monica called, her voice thick with satisfaction. “Adrian’s packing for Iceland today. Be a dear and do it for him, won’t you? I’ll swing by to collect his things soon.” She paused, then laughed lightly. “But don’t bother with underwear. I bought new ones-he loves both the size and style.” The cramping in my lower abdomen suddenly intensified. I bit my lip hard, not letting myself make a sound. In the past, every time Monica jabbed at me like this, I would lose control. Like hysterically calling Adrian to interrogate him, or storming straight to HR to have them fire Monica. Just like last week, when Monica had feigned concern. “Emma, they say a woman’s body changes after childbirth. Things get…looser down there. That’s why Adrian doesn’t want me to have a baby. So thank you for taking on this trouble for me.” I’d smashed up her office on the spot. The commotion attracted swarms of media coverage. After that, scandalous stories about Adrian and his secretary were everywhere. Right at the critical stage before going public, this was a devastating blow to Adrian’s company. He ordered me to publicly clear Monica’s name as soon as possible. “If you keep making trouble, the moment that baby in your belly is born, I’ll take it away. You’ll never see it for the rest of your life.” On my bedside table sat a painting of sunflowers. My mother had painted it. It was the only thing I’d taken from home. Originally, my mother had left me many things, but later, to pay off debts, I’d sold everything except this one painting. On countless sleepless nights, seeing that painting brought me some small measure of comfort. I reached out to grab it. The painting crashed to the floor. Something fell out from behind it. I forgot about the pain and froze completely. Inside were actually some photos of Adrian from when he was young. When my mother first brought him to the city, he was only seventeen. In the photo, the teenager wore a faded, well-washed old T-shirt, his back ramrod straight, his eyes naive but sharp. Back then, his back didn’t yet bear those hideous scars. My mother had fully funded his college education. After graduation, I naturally joined my father’s company too, and our futures looked bright. Until my philandering father died in a stripper’s bed. The illegitimate children who’d always been invisible suddenly showed their claws, fighting over my father’s inheritance. In the end, all I was left with was a shell of a company with only ten employees, and massive debts. My mother had a heart attack and collapsed too. But Adrian stayed with me through it all. The debt collectors were relentless. We hid and ran, living in constant fear every day. Once, we were cornered in an alley. He immediately pulled me into his arms: “Don’t be afraid! I’m here!” The scars on his back were all left from that time.

We survived the hardest two years and finally paid off all the debts. The company finally started showing signs of improvement. I tentatively brought it up. “We should get married.” But he froze for a moment, then smiled and ruffled my hair. “What’s the rush? Now’s not the right time. Wait a little longer. Once I’ve saved enough money to get you the most dazzling wedding ring and throw you a wedding of the century, then you can marry me in style.” He leaned down to kiss me, to soothe me. “Don’t worry. You’re the only one who’ll ever be my wife. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.” After that, his social engagements visibly increased. And a new secretary appeared by his side. Monica began infiltrating every corner of Adrian’s life. By the time I realized something was wrong, it was already too late. I fought with him countless times. I gave him two choices: either fire Monica, or marry me. He stayed silent and chose neither. The disappointment in my heart kept accumulating. When I got pregnant for the first time, our cold war was at its worst. During pregnancy, I threw up violently, my legs swelled badly, and I’d wake up at night with cramps. He rarely came home. I toughed it out alone. He knew I loved the ocean. As usual, he booked a five-day, five-night luxury cruise for my birthday. But on the deck, I saw Monica, smiling and radiant. On the second day of the trip, the cruise ship had a sinking accident. Terrified crowds surged toward the lifeboats. Holding my heavy belly, I was panicked and helpless. He’d paid a premium for two spots on a lifeboat. He’d just climbed aboard and immediately reached out to help me. But Monica rushed out in a panic, crying and pushing me aside. “Adrian, she’s pregnant-the rescue crew will definitely prioritize getting her on the next boat! But what about me…” Adrian actually hesitated. The crowd jostled violently. Something fell from above. I slipped, and instantly the seawater swallowed me. “Emma!” When I woke up, agonizing pain radiated from my lower body. The doctor told me the baby was dead. A boy. I only looked at him once before tears poured out uncontrollably-his features looked so much like Adrian’s. Halfway through the cruise, I stumbled out of bed. I opened the urn I’d brought from home. “Baby,” I said softly to the churning waves, “Mommy is so sorry.” “Is it okay if Mommy leaves you here?” My tears blurred my vision. I scattered the ashes across the ocean surface. After losing the baby, I became more and more silent. Whether Adrian spoke sweetly or exploded in rage, I couldn’t even be bothered to lift my eyelids in response. He couldn’t take it anymore. He threw himself at my bedside, his eyes red as he roared. “What do you want from me so you’ll forgive me? Tell me!” After that, he came home almost every night, forcibly sharing the bed with me. I didn’t resist, but I didn’t respond either. I got pregnant again. Looking at the pregnancy test results, I felt a faint stirring in my heart. I hoped the child could come back to me. Adrian finally agreed to promise he would cut things off with Monica completely. His schedule became more regular. Occasionally, he’d bring home a bouquet of lilies to help me sleep. At night, he would wrap his arms around my increasingly heavy waist from behind. Maybe this child’s arrival really could change something. But not long after, I found a pair of stockings in Adrian’s suit pocket that didn’t belong to me. They still carried Monica’s body heat, like a slap across my face. I went to the company in a daze. Through the glass, I saw Monica-the one Adrian said he’d already fired. Her workstation was right across from Adrian’s, with a large bouquet of lilies on her desk. When she saw me, she wasn’t surprised at all. She even provocatively raised her left ring finger, showing off her ring. I grabbed everything within reach and smashed it wildly at that glaring scene! Adrian rushed out, his face ashen with fury. In his rage, he raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face. “Who let you in here? This is the office! If you want to make a scene, go home and do it there!” I covered my face, looking at the disgust in his eyes. How did we get to this point? After the scandal broke, the stock price plummeted. The board was in chaos. Adrian ordered me to immediately clear Monica’s name. “Issue a statement saying everything was your delusional imagination from a mental breakdown! Otherwise-” his threatening gaze slid toward my swollen belly. “I want to see your clarification statement before I leave the country. Monica’s been in a bad mood lately. I’m taking her to Iceland to relax-she’s always loved the Northern Lights there.” The last place I went was the cemetery. Today was the anniversary of my mother’s death. I gently pressed my cheek against the gravestone and whispered, “Mom, I came to see you.” I lit the paper money I’d brought. Then I took out the sunflower painting and gently placed it in the fire. Finally, there was a stack of Adrian’s photos. My fingertips brushed over that familiar yet strange face in the photos as his features twisted and warped in the flames. Everything burned. I burned what my mother had left me. I burned the last trace of my feelings for him. After losing that baby, I truly had no one left. I unlocked my phone. A tidal wave of hatred flooded the screen. There was nothing left in this world to stay for. I slowly drew out the dagger I’d prepared. I pressed its edge to the inside of my left wrist. I pushed down hard. Bright red blood gushed out, trickling down my pale wrist and dripping onto the cold stone base of the gravestone. Then, a familiar ringtone cut through the silence.

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My mafia boss husband brought his henchmen home for dinner. Seeing the table full of dishes I’d cooked myself, one of his subordinates chuckled and said, “A wife really is more virtuous than a mistress.” I stilled, then asked carefully. “What? Are you saying he has a mistress outside?” No one dared to answer. A flicker of panic flashed across their faces. My husband just laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t listen to their nonsense. You’re the only one I love!” Watching him play it so cool, I smiled back. But once the last guest was gone, I called my CEO brother. “Victor’s cheating. Make sure he rots in prison.” My brother Alex was silent on the other end for three full seconds. “Serena, are you absolutely sure? Victor, he…” I pulled off my wedding ring. The diamond dug painfully into my palm. “Ten years of marriage. Every cufflink he’s ever worn was custom-ordered by me from Italy. The ones he had on tonight were cheap plastic. Get me the best lawyer. Pull every criminal record he’s ever generated. And draw up the divorce papers.” Alex didn’t hesitate. “Okay.” Half an hour later, an encrypted file landed on my phone. The first photo showed Victor, his arm around a young, striking woman. She even had a wolf’s head tattoo on her wrist-identical to Victor’s. I didn’t hesitate. I drove straight to the company. Minutes later, a woman named Lily rushed out. When she saw me, her face went pale. She instinctively hid her hands behind her back. But I’d already seen it. A Swiss custom watch. It’s identical to the one I received for my last birthday. I laughed coldly and said directly. “Your husband must share my taste. Even your custom watch matches mine.” At my words, Lily began to tremble. Her red lips parted and closed soundlessly before she managed to stammer. “Y-yes… maybe men all have similar tastes…” Her knuckles were white where she clutched her clothes. “Drop the act. You’re Victor’s mistress, aren’t you?” Seeing me lay it bare, Lily shook harder, panic stripping her composure bare. “Please, don’t misunderstand. Victor was injured once. I only took care of him that one time. His men…they got the wrong idea.” She even gave me an exaggerated ninety-degree bow. She looked so wronged, so pitiful-if I hadn’t seen exactly how she wrapped herself around Victor, I might have believed her. Half a month ago, she posted a video on social media. It showed Victor buying a Porsche. Her caption read: “Where a man’s money goes, his heart follows.” At that time, I was at home with a fever so high I was delirious. I called Victor to take me to the hospital. He panicked for a moment, but the next second his voice was hoarse, as if suppressing something. “Serena, I’ll have the nanny take you. I have something urgent I can’t get away from.” And an hour later, the fever turned into pneumonia, and I was rushed to the ER. That same hour, she posted a photo lying across a car seat, with a man’s sculpted abs in the frame, marked with ambiguous red scratches. The caption read: “Both the new car and its owner need to be marked as mine.” When Victor finally rushed over, his shirt was still misbuttoned. He collapsed at my bedside, his eyes red. At that time, I naively thought he felt sorry for me, but it turned out it was just guilt after cheating. For no reason, I just felt disgusted. This kind of trash was worth Victor betraying me for. Too lazy to look at her aggrieved, pitiful expression anymore, I turned and left. But just as I got to my car, Victor called. The moment I answered, his tone was panicked. “Why did you suddenly think of coming to the company?”

“Why?” I started the car and asked back leisurely. “I just happened to have a contract to discuss. Is there something you’re afraid of me knowing?” Victor seemed not to have expected me to ask this. His breathing suddenly stopped, and after a few seconds of silence, his tone suddenly softened, carrying his usual coaxing tone. “Serena, what nonsense are you talking about?” “How could I be hiding anything from you? The office was just too messy. If you were coming, I’d have someone clean it up first.” “Besides, how could I betray you? You can investigate all you want.” Hearing this, I was somewhat puzzled. Lily hadn’t actually told him about me confronting her. I flipped through the evidence while listening to his excuses. Three gigabytes of materials, every day related to Victor. Last Valentine’s Day, he claimed he was on a business trip abroad and couldn’t call, but he was actually watching the Northern Lights in the Arctic with Lily. When my father was critically ill and I called him over thirty times, he didn’t answer a single one-he was celebrating Lily’s birthday. “I believe you. But what about that watch?” Seeing me bring it up first, Victor actually seemed relieved. His voice drew closer to the receiver, deliberately creating intimacy. “The watch was because I suddenly fainted at the company, and Lily happened to pass by and helped me to the hospital.” He paused, then continued. “She watched over me all night, so I gave her a watch as a thank-you gift. I forgot to tell you at the time.” Forgot? His memory must be really bad. Not only did he forget to tell me this, he also forgot that they went to the hotel’s penthouse suite that night. And stayed for three whole days. Laughing coldly inside, “She’s quite considerate. Even the black shirt you were wearing when you fainted-the next day she washed it clean and returned it, even ironed it properly.” Victor clearly paused on the other end, his breathing missing a beat, then he laughed it off. “Exactly, the girl is very attentive.” “Look at you, always being so paranoid. You’re the only one in my heart.” His voice drew close to the receiver, deliberately creating intimacy. “After I finish this busy period, I’ll take you to the Maldives to make up for our vacation, okay? Just the two of us.” The tenderness that used to make me soften-now I just felt disgusted. “Sounds good.” I watched the neon lights flash past the window, my tone as calm as discussing the weather. “But you handle your business first. Don’t let anything delay you.” “Nothing could delay spending time with you.” Victor’s voice carried eager pleasing, but I only felt colder inside. Not because Victor betrayed me and cheated, but because I couldn’t believe they’d been performing under my nose for so long. My grip on the steering wheel tightened. I forced down the urge to confront Victor immediately. I wanted him to personally admit his relationship with Lily, then watch this pair of cheating scum fall from grace. After a few perfunctory responses, I hung up. Just then, Lily’s social media account updated again. In the image, she wore a wedding dress with an intricate design covered in diamonds, her eyes and brows full of joy. “Another mistress came to make trouble today, wanting to take my place. Victor compensated me-he’s finally going to marry me!” “I just mentioned wanting a castle wedding, and he bought me an entire castle.” She smiled into the camera, which casually panned over property deeds. “And these vineyards-he wants me to manage them!” “How could a little fool like me handle that? Luckily, Victor agreed to come and back me up, so those people won’t look down on me for being young!” Watching the video and seeing my own French name printed on those deeds, a cold rage rose inside me. Those vineyards were Alex’s coming-of-age gift to me. And Victor was using them to charm his mistress. Fine. They want to establish authority? Then let’s see them try it in front of the real owner.

I bought a plane ticket that night and flew to France. At the winery, the old butler’s eyes flashed with surprise when he saw me. “Miss Serena, why are you here? Didn’t you say you were lending the estate to Victor for a party today? You even had all the family members cleared out.” Anger surged through me. Just as I was about to respond, Victor’s call came through. “I’m in a meeting here. I’ll fly back to be with you as soon as I’m done.” Before I could answer, a sickeningly sweet female voice came through faintly from the other end. “Victor, does this look good on me?” The next second, Victor covered the phone and walked away. “Gotta go, meeting’s starting.” Almost simultaneously, the ornate gates of the winery were pushed open, and over a dozen luxury cars pulled up one by one at the fountain plaza. Countless people I’d never seen were seated, and I found a secluded spot to sit down too. Once everything was ready, Lily made her entrance in a fire-red haute couture gown, every inch the newly successful upstart. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Lily, the new owner of this winery.” “Victor said from now on, the wine here, the castle-even every single grape in the vineyard-all belongs to me!” “To celebrate, all wines are thirty percent off today. Consider it my greeting gift to everyone!” Thirty percent off? How generous of her. The cheapest wine here costs at least a million dollars a bottle. Some were collector’s items even the British royal family would hesitate to acquire! The old butler who’d watched me grow up was livid. “Since when did this vineyard become hers!” “And Victor is actually cheating on Miss Serena with some…fling! Has he lost his mind!” Seeing the butler ready to storm out, I shook my head quickly. It wasn’t time to expose her yet. I wanted to wait for Victor to personally admit his relationship with Lily, then watch this pair of cheating scum fall from grace. Just then, the ornate doors opened again, and Victor walked in wearing a haute couture suit. Seeing this, Lily immediately threw herself into his arms, smiling as she tugged on his arm playfully. “Victor, I told you this brand’s clothes fit you best.” Victor’s eyes clearly stiffened, but he still nodded without changing expression. And the fire of anger inside me was nearly burning out of control. The founder of this brand was our mortal enemy. Back then, my father was set up by them and literally died of anger because of it. Victor wasn’t ignorant of this, yet now he was publicly slapping me in the face. Just as I couldn’t hold back anymore and was about to rush out, all of Victor’s friends crowded around. “Victor, she’s so young and vibrant, so lively and charming!” “Lily, our Victor gave you a winery worth hundreds of millions. Where else would you find such a good man!” “This winery is yours now. How are you going to thank our Victor?” Amid their laughter, Lily looked down, a blush coloring her cheeks. Just then, the winery manager who had come to deliver the wine spoke up, confused. “Wait. Didn’t you borrow this place from Miss Serena?” The guests fell silent, then turned to each other, murmuring. “What is she talking about?” “I thought this vineyard belonged to Mrs. Blackwood. But isn’t she a Sterling?” “Huh? But this woman is a Reed. Is she…an imposter?” The manager’s face already showed anger. “How could you do such a thing behind Miss Serena’s back!” As he spoke, he was about to pull out his phone to call me. The next second, the bodyguards behind Victor swarmed forward and forced the manager to his knees. Victor’s cold gaze swept across everyone present. “Tear out his mouth. Let him know the price of talking nonsense.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried the ruthlessness unique to someone long in power. The banquet hall instantly fell silent. Victor didn’t even lift an eyelid, his fingertips casually caressing Lily’s face. “Lily is the Mrs. Blackwood! Serena is just a maid in my household.” A servant? I almost laughed from anger. It seems Victor has truly forgotten who it was that pushed him, step by step, to stand above everyone else. Had it not been for me back then, he’d still be a nobody on the streets, getting kicked around. I spent ten years fighting by his side. I took two knife wounds to the chest. I had Alex pull strings in the shadows. When I was hovering between life and death, all I thought about was how to clear the path for him. I never expected that in the end, I’d just be the “maid” in his story. No one there dared contradict Victor, so they all played along. “So that’s how it is! Mrs. Blackwood is so generous, letting her maid parade around under the Blackwood name.” Someone even turned to advise Lily. “Mrs. Blackwood, a maid like that might try to seduce Victor at any moment.” “You should be careful. I’d fire her immediately.” “With that kind of malice, she deserves to be thrown into the sea!” The smugness on Lily’s face was impossible to miss. The manager’s face was ashen. Even as he was being dragged away, he kept fighting. “I need to see Miss Serena! She’s the real Mrs. Blackwood!” The guests looked on with disdain. “That maid is truly cunning. Even the winery manager was deceived by her!” “Ungrateful wretch! Victor, you can’t possibly keep her around. ” Victor’s cold gaze swept over the crowd, his thin lips parting slightly. “I’ll say this once more. Lily is my wife. From now on, anyone who disrespects her will face the consequences.” The scene fell completely silent, with only me slowly clapping. The applause made everyone turn around. I took off my baseball cap and looked at them coldly. “Tell me. If she’s Mrs. Blackwood, who am I?” The smiles on Victor’s and Lily’s faces instantly froze.

The air in the banquet hall seemed to freeze instantly. The guests’ gazes all slammed onto me, from initial confusion to recognizing my face, gasping in shock. The smug smile on Lily’s face instantly froze. She instinctively shrank behind Victor, her fingers clutching his sleeve trembling uncontrollably, her voice shaking. “You… how can you be here?” I ignored her, only staring at Victor. His pupils suddenly contracted, panic flashing in his eyes, but it was quickly covered by his usual ruthlessness. He released Lily’s waist and walked to my side, his voice carrying barely noticeable panic. “Serena? How did you get here? Didn’t I tell you to wait at home?” “Wait at home?” I repeated those words, smiling as I looked up at that familiar face, then spoke softly, “Wait for you to give away my winery to someone else, or wait for you to publicly declare I’m your household servant?” Victor’s expression instantly darkened. After a moment, he seemed to have controlled his emotions. He lowered his head, deliberately lowering his voice, trying to plead, “There are too many people here with loose lips. This isn’t the place to talk.” “Serena, come home with me first.” “Whatever it is, we’ll talk about it when we get home. I’ll explain everything to you slowly later.” He tried to reach for my wrist, the movement as practiced as countless times he’d coaxed me over the past ten years. But looking at the cheap plastic button on his cuff, smelling the perfume on him that didn’t belong to me, I only felt my stomach turn. I quickly stepped back, avoiding his touch. “Explain?” I laughed, the sound particularly jarring in the silent banquet hall. “Explain why you’re wearing a suit from our enemy’s brand?” “Explain why you turned the winery my brother gave me into a gift for your mistress?” “Or explain just how pleased you felt when you called me a servant?” Victor’s face went from red to white. He probably hadn’t expected me to tear off the facade publicly, and the panic in his eyes could no longer be hidden. He gritted his teeth, his voice even lower, almost pressed against my ear: “Serena, stop making a scene!” “Do you really want to embarrass me in this kind of setting? Just come with me first. I’m begging you.” “Please?” He tried to use his past intimate tone to soften me, but I only found it ironic. Back when he was being chased and beaten on the streets, I was the one who carried him three blocks to find a doctor. When he was slashed by rivals and lying on the operating table, I was the one who signed the critical condition notice and kept vigil outside the operating room for three days and nights. “Victor,” I looked up at him, my gaze as cold as ice, “do you think there’s still a ‘later’?” Victor’s face completely lost all color. He probably hadn’t expected me to be so unforgiving. “Serena, must you do this?” He almost spoke through gritted teeth, “Ten years of our relationship-can’t you give me a chance to explain?” “Relationship?” I pulled out a stack of documents from my bag and threw them viciously in his face. Papers scattered across the floor, the top one showing hotel penthouse suite records for him and Lily. “When you were tangled up with her while I was unconscious with fever, how come you didn’t think about our relationship then?” Victor was hit by the documents and turned his head, veins bulging on his neck. The next second, he turned back viciously, his eyes flashing with hatred I couldn’t understand. “Serena, then don’t blame me.” Victor suddenly turned around and shouted. “This woman is not Mrs. Blackwood at all! She’s just a maid hired by the Blackwood family!” “Back then her family was so poor they couldn’t make ends meet. I was kind enough to take her in, give her food and clothes, let her work as a servant in my house!” He pointed at my nose, the ruthlessness in his eyes almost overflowing. “Never thought she’d have such ambitions-seeing my successful career, she tried to climb into my bed and even dared to forge an identity and swagger around outside!” Lily immediately cooperated by tearing up, hiding behind him and choking out. “Victor, don’t say that… Serena was just confused for a moment…” As she spoke, she secretly glanced up to observe the guests’ reactions, unable to hide her smugness. Several of Victor’s friends immediately stepped forward to agree. “That’s right! We all know!” “This woman is just a maid. Just because she stayed with the Blackwood family for a long time, she wanted to climb the social ladder!” “Victor has been more than kind to her, yet she dares come here and make trouble. Truly shameless!” The guests’ discussions grew louder, their gazes toward me filled with contempt and disgust. Some pointed at me, and some even whispered, “So she’s a fraud. Looks respectable on the outside, but her thoughts are so dirty.” Victor watched this scene, a twisted smile appearing on his face. He stepped forward, closing in before me, threatening in a voice only we could hear. “Serena, be smart and get out of here yourself. Otherwise I’ll make you completely disgraced here, without even a way to survive!” Looking at his ferocious face, I only found it incredibly laughable. The old butler trembled with rage, his finger shaking as he pointed at Victor. “You… you ungrateful wretch!” “If Miss Serena hadn’t pulled every string to save you back then, you’d have rotted in prison!” “She cut ties with her family for you. She took a blade for you and almost died. How dare you treat her like this?” Victor’s face flushed then paled, clearly unprepared for the old butler to lay his past bare in public. A ruthless light flooded his eyes. Just then, Lily, who had been hiding behind him playing pitiful, slifted her head. A vicious glint flashed in her gaze. She clutched Victor’s sleeve, her voice a timid whisper, but the words that followed were pure venom. “Victor…I know I shouldn’t say this… but if Serena keeps making trouble like this…won’t it ruin your important deal?” She paused, as if gathering courage, and looked toward the guests. Her voice trembled, yet every word carried clearly. “I’ve heard the brothers say before…when dealing with people who mean you harm… they usually…throw them into the ocean.”

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After being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, I begged enough money for a sea burial. But the day before the funeral, my ex-husband Adrian dragged me back to his mansion to take the fall for his precious darling. My daughter cursed me, my brother crushed my medication, and the whole internet waited to watch the “vicious ex-wife” become a joke. They didn’t know about the will in my pocket, or that the blood I coughed up had already stained my burial contract. Only after I died alone in a prison cell and the autopsy report went public did they start clawing for my remains. But it was too late. Two years later, I returned under a new name, backed by billions. This time, I would personally grind everything they cared about most into dust, piece by piece. Vivian’s POV Three months after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, I had finally begged enough money for a sea burial. Before I could even reach the funeral home to sign the papers, Adrian dragged me back to the manor. Faced with my foul beggar’s clothes, his eyes filled with disgust as he tossed a black card at me. “Take the money and go clean yourself up. Don’t let Miranda see you looking like a ghost.” The house full of servants and Lorelei all waited to watch the show. After all, in their eyes, after disappearing for three years, I could only be coming back to fight for the inheritance. I walked past the black card and picked up a coin that the bodyguard had knocked from my hands earlier. Without that dollar, even the cheapest sea burial would be beyond my reach, leaving me to rot in some nameless ditch. “Daddy! Throw that dirty thing out!” My daughter Miranda screamed, hands clamped over her nose, her face twisted in horror. “She’s ruining Lorelei’s carpet! My body stiffened. This was my own daughter, who I’d carried for ten months. Now, in her eyes, I was nothing but a foul-smelling rat. Adrian gently covered his daughter’s mouth and nose, his own eyes fixed on me with disgust. “Miranda, come here.” Lorelei gently pulled Miranda over and held her in her arms. The sight made me physically sick. Lorelei was the adopted daughter of my family and Adrian’s precious white moonlight. Five years ago, Adrian was convinced I had schemed to trap him into marriage, tearing him apart from Lorelei. So in his eyes, all the suffering I endured was well-deserved. “Vivian, what happened to your hands?” Lorelei looked at my deformed hands with feigned shock. A leather shoe pressed down hard on the back of my hand. Years ago, to let Lorelei win the championship at a piano competition, my own brother Marcus personally took a hammer and broke all ten of my fingers. We both carried the same family blood, yet in everyone’s eyes, only the adopted daughter Lorelei mattered. Marcus pressed down with his foot, grinding over my finger bones. “Don’t think you can gain sympathy with this pathetic display. Lorelei is the pride of this family.” Adrian watched coldly without stopping him. Only after Marcus had vented did he point to the utility room under the stairs and say: “Since you’re back, you’ll live there from now on. Don’t come out unless necessary.”

Vivian’s POV The next morning I was woken by the sound of pounding on my door. “What time is it and you’re still in bed?” A servant mocked loudly through the door. “This family doesn’t support idle people. Do you still think you’re the heiress you used to be?” I braced myself against the edge of the bed and sat up, a tearing pain suddenly shooting through my chest. The violent coughing made me curl into a ball. A puddle of thick phlegm mixed with stark blood threads appeared in my palm. I walked to the sink in the corner and turned on the faucet to wash it away. The doctor said I had less than three months to live. Now it seemed he was still too optimistic. The dining room was filled with exquisite breakfast foods. “Vivian, you’re awake?” When Lorelei saw me, she immediately showed a sweet smile. “The housekeeper specially made your favorite toast.” She pointed to the seat beside her, her tone sincere: “These years while you were away, I temporarily took care of this home for you. Now that you’re back, I should return things to you.” She had used this move for twenty years and was still so practiced at it. “Since you were taking care of things.” I looked up at her. “When exactly do you plan to return everything to me?” The smile on Lorelei’s face froze for a moment. She clearly hadn’t expected that the fool she once manipulated would now dare to talk back publicly. “I…” She bit her lip and looked toward Adrian. A strong smell of greasy food drifted into my nostrils. I couldn’t hold it in anymore and covered my mouth, dry heaving. Lorelei gasped in surprise, covering her mouth. “You couldn’t be… pregnant, could you?” Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough for everyone present to hear clearly. “These years you’ve been wandering outside, I heard those places can be quite chaotic…” Adrian slammed down his knife and fork. He looked up, his gaze cutting into me like a knife. “Vivian.” He said through gritted teeth. “You disgust me.” “How could a woman like you be worthy of being Miranda’s mother?” I straightened up and wiped the sour liquid from the corner of my mouth. Looking at this man before me, his face full of disgust. Shameless? Who was it that threw me into an underground gambling den to fend for myself, just to force me to give up custody? Who was it that cut off my income, leaving me to fight with stray dogs over a piece of bread? Now the person who pushed me into the abyss stood on the shore criticizing me for having mud on me. “It’s none of your business.” I coldly shot back and turned to leave. “Stop right there!” Adrian roared behind me. “What kind of attitude is this?” I ignored him and walked straight to the kitchen. Behind me came Lorelei’s gentle, comforting voice: “Adrian, don’t be angry. She’s gotten used to running wild outside, she probably can’t change right away…” I turned on the faucet and splashed ice water hard on my face. Reputation? These things were destroyed by their own hands three years ago.

Vivian’s POV Early the next morning I was dragged downstairs. Lorelei sat at the piano with sheet music in her hands. It was the only duet piece she and I had performed together, and also my award-winning debut composition. “Vivian, I can never quite get the rhythm right on this piece.” Lorelei looked sincere as she handed me the sheet music in front of Adrian. “Could you practice it with me? Just to help me find the feeling.” She smiled innocently, as if the shrew who tore up the sheet music and trampled it underfoot last night wasn’t her. I looked at those black and white piano keys. Before I could speak, a small figure suddenly rushed out from the side. “No!” Miranda jumped down from her chair and knocked the sheet music from my hands. She pointed at my hands wrapped in old bandages, her features scrunched up. “Her hands are dirty and smelly! They’ll get Lorelei’s piano dirty!” Adrian sat on the sofa drinking coffee without even looking up, tacitly approving his daughter’s humiliation. Lorelei covered her mouth and glanced at me: “How can Miranda say such things? Her hands may be injured, but it’s just from trying to survive.” I bent down to pick up the sheet music and slowly unwrapped the blackened bandage on my hands. When those deformed and twisted hands were fully exposed to the air, Lorelei dramatically gasped. Miranda screamed and hid in Adrian’s arms. “My hands are already ruined.” I held up those hands, my voice hoarse. “I can’t play.” Five years ago, when Marcus used an iron hammer to break them one by one, Lorelei stood watching nearby, smiling even sweeter than now. Now she was playing the frightened innocent. “Oh my god…” Tears immediately welled up in Lorelei’s eyes, her face full of guilt. “I’m sorry, I’ve been so busy these past two years that I forgot your hands were already…” She trailed off meaningfully, as if mentioning some unspeakable scandal. Adrian finally put down his coffee cup. He hugged the frightened Lorelei tenderly, then looked at me with instantly frozen eyes. “Deliberately showing off your scars for whose benefit?” Adrian sneered. “Vivian, selling sympathy won’t work anymore.” “You ruined your own hands back then with your depraved behavior, and now you have the nerve to bring them out to frighten Miranda and Lorelei?” I slowly lowered my hands, hiding the trembling in my sleeves. In their eyes, these hands were destroyed in brawls and fights. How perfect. You personally broke my wings, and now you blame me for not being able to fly and ruining your fun. Adrian stood up with his arm around Lorelei. “Don’t stand there being an eyesore.” Only I remained in the dining room. My return wasn’t welcome at all, but it wasn’t even my idea to come back-they were the ones who brought me here. The world of the living had no room for me. I might as well prepare a proper resting place for after death. I touched the small cloth pouch hidden close to my body. Inside was the spare change I’d saved over these two years, all wrinkled small bills. This was the money I’d saved for my sea burial.

Vivian’s POV The family would never give me any financial support. The few tens of dollars I’d hidden in an old shoebox had been pocketed by a servant. The remaining half pain pill had long since lost its effectiveness. My whole body felt like there was a saw going back and forth over my bones. I searched through all my belongings. Finally, in the pocket of my innermost clothing, I felt something hard. It was a silver pendant. The director of the orphanage had given it to me years ago. It was the only decent thing I owned. I tucked the pendant away and tried to slip out the back door to sell it. “Stop right there!” Just as I reached the door, the housekeeper blocked my way. She looked me up and down, her gaze finally settling on my chest. “What are you hiding there? So sneaky.” “Get out of my way.” I didn’t want to waste words with her. “Still so arrogant?” The housekeeper sneered and reached out to grab me. “The house has been missing things lately. I bet it’s you with your sticky fingers who’s been stealing!” Her strength was surprisingly great. She yanked open my collar and pulled out the silver pendant from inside my clothes. “Give it back!” I lunged at her frantically. “I knew it was stolen goods!” The housekeeper held the pendant high, looking triumphant. “This looks like junk. You must have stolen it from a guest room! I’m reporting this to Mr. Hayes!” I opened my mouth and bit down hard on her wrist. “You crazy woman!” The housekeeper screamed. Her hand loosened and the pendant fell to the ground. Blood seeped from the corner of my mouth as I threw myself forward and clutched the pendant tightly. “What’s going on?” The commotion attracted Marcus and Adrian. The two men stood on the covered walkway of the back garden, looking down at this scene from above. “Mr. Hayes! Mr. Sterling!” The housekeeper wailed while clutching her wrist. “Vivian was caught stealing and she bit me!” Marcus strode over and without a word, slapped me across the face. I was knocked to the ground, my ears ringing, the taste of blood growing stronger in my mouth. “Disgraceful thing.” Marcus cursed. “You’ve completely humiliated this family.” Adrian slowly walked over. He bent down and forcibly pried the silver pendant from my hand. Looking at the mottled scratches on it, he sneered with contempt. “For this piece of junk worth a few hundred bucks, you made yourself look like a rabid dog?” His eyes were ice cold, as if looking at a pile of garbage. “Are you having withdrawal symptoms, desperate for money?” I ignored the blood at the corner of my mouth and crawled forward a few steps trying to grab it. “Give it back… it’s mine.” “Yours?” Adrian raised an eyebrow. “In this house, even your life belongs to me. What right do you have to talk about private property?” With a flick of his wrist, the pendant fell into the artificial lake beside us, splashing a small spray of water. “Want it? Go fish it out yourself.” Without thinking, I jumped right in. The early winter lake water was ice cold and piercing. The suffocation from lung cancer intensified the moment I entered the water. My lungs felt like they were burning and being stabbed with ice at the same time. On the shore, Adrian and Marcus turned away in disgust. I groped through the mud at the bottom. My fingers were cut by sharp stones, blood threads spreading in the murky water. As long as I could die peacefully, being a drowned dog didn’t matter. Finally, my fingertips touched something cold and hard. I clutched it tightly and surfaced, gasping for air. Soaking wet, I snuck out of the estate. I dragged my body, which felt like it was filled with lead, avoiding crowds until I reached a shop on the street corner. “This necklace is old stuff, not worth much. I’ll give you five hundred bucks at most.” The shop owner glanced at the pendant and tossed it disdainfully on the counter. “Sir, please, add a bit more…” I was shaking all over, my teeth chattering. “Eight hundred dollars, I only need eight hundred dollars.” I was still eight hundred dollars short of being able to purchase the sea burial service. The owner waved his hand impatiently: “Take it or leave it.” I touched my withered yellow hair. “What if I sell my hair too? Can that make up five hundred dollars?” The owner glanced at my grass-like hair, damaged from chemotherapy, and rolled his eyes: “That trash quality wouldn’t even work for wigs.” In the end, I sold the pendant. Then I took off the cashmere coat I was wearing and sold it at a low price. Wearing only a thin inner garment, I stood shivering in the cold wind. In my hand I clutched eight wrinkled hundred-dollar bills. Tomorrow morning, I would go to the funeral company to sign the contract. Then find somewhere with no people and end all this.

Vivian’s POV Early the next morning, I hid the money close to my body and was just about to go out when Adrian blocked me at the door. He was about to leave, followed by a group of PR team members. Seeing me wearing only a thin inner garment, he frowned. In his eyes, I was probably having another episode trying to get attention. “Stay home obediently these next few days.” Adrian coldly issued his command. “Lorelei is doing a clarification livestream today. You need to stay home and cooperate as background scenery. Don’t go anywhere.” I instinctively protected my pocket. “I have something to do. I must go out.” The funeral company’s sea burial service discount only lasted a few more days. Adrian stopped and turned around, his eyes calculating. “Vivian, do you think I can’t control you?” He took out his phone, pulled up a document, and held it in front of me. It was a purchase proposal for the west side orphanage property. “That old director isn’t in good health. She probably couldn’t handle the stress of relocation, right?” Adrian’s voice was casual, but it precisely targeted my weak spot. “If you dare run, I’ll have the bulldozers roll into the orphanage tomorrow.” My fingers dug hard into my palms. My body shook uncontrollably. Director Hayes was my last vulnerability. He always knew how to hurt me most deeply. Even though I had nothing left, he wouldn’t let me go. “I won’t run.” I lowered my head, my voice trembling. “I’ll listen to you.” Adrian put away his phone with satisfaction and got in the car to leave. After he left, the surveillance at home became much more relaxed. To save every penny, I stopped going to the kitchen for food. When thirsty, I went to the bathroom to drink tap water to fill my stomach. I endured until afternoon. Taking advantage of the housekeeper’s nap, I climbed out through the first-floor guest room window. This was my last chance. I took a three-hour bus ride, bumping along to a funeral company in the suburbs. “Right in this sea area.” I pointed to the cheapest location on the diagram, my hands shaking. “Alright, as long as the money’s right, everything’s good.” The agent pushed the contract toward me. Trembling, I pulled out a handful of small bills from my pocket. Eight wrinkled hundred-dollar bills and a large amount of loose change. I counted three times before solemnly handing it over. Just as the pen tip was about to touch the contract paper, the door was kicked open. Adrian stood in the doorway with two police officers, his face frosty. He glanced at the contract on the table. From too far away, he couldn’t see the content clearly, only that I was signing some transaction. “Vivian, you really never learn.” Adrian’s eyes were ice cold. “For money, you actually dare to sell the family’s trade secrets?” I was stunned. Selling trade secrets at a funeral company? Before I could explain, the police had already stepped forward and produced a detention warrant. “Vivian Sterling, you’re suspected of major commercial fraud and copyright infringement. Please come with us.” Marcus walked out from behind, looking pained and disappointed. “Vivian, for money you actually sold Lorelei’s composition to competitors, and then turned around and accused Lorelei of plagiarizing you? You’ve disappointed us so much.” My head buzzed. So that was it. This was the scapegoat script the family had prepared all along to whitewash Lorelei. Arrest me, pin the charges of plagiarism and fraud on me, and Lorelei’s position as a genius would be completely secure. “I didn’t…” I tried to defend myself but couldn’t make a sound. Adrian looked at me and said quietly: “A few days inside to reflect would be good. Keep you from going crazy outside.” Under the huge shock, something sweet and metallic surged up my throat. A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed onto the burial contract I hadn’t had time to sign. The bright red blood instantly soaked through the paper, covering the sea burial location I had chosen. How ridiculous. My vision went black and I completely lost consciousness. When I woke again, I was already lying in a cold detention cell. All my personal belongings had been confiscated. That blood-stained burial contract had probably already been thrown in the trash as waste paper. The illness, freed from medication’s suppression, came in waves like a tide. I curled up in the corner, my whole body as cold as ice.

Vivian’s POV As soon as I coughed once, someone kicked me hard in the lower back. “If you’re gonna die, go die somewhere else! Don’t spread your tuberculosis to us!” I was kicked into the iron bars, my bones making a teeth-grinding crisp sound. The detention cell was cold and damp with no blankets, only a large communal bunk that reeked of mildew. Because I was classified as a serious offender, I was assigned to the high-security unit where the wind blew hardest. I curled up on the cement floor. Cold sweat soaked through my thin prison uniform, then quickly formed cold, damp patches stuck to my skin. “Help…” I desperately pounded on the iron door, my fingernails scraping harsh sounds against the door panel. “I need a doctor… I have lung cancer… give me medicine…” The on-duty prison doctor slowly walked over. He looked at me through the bars, holding a file in his hand. “Stop acting.” The doctor closed the file, his eyes full of contempt. “It says clearly in your file: long-term substance abuse, suspected drug withdrawal.” “I don’t do drugs… I have cancer…” Trembling, I reached through the bars, fingers straining for his white coat. “Please… just give me the pills” “Everyone in here claiming to be terminally ill is just fishing for drugs.” The doctor stepped back, avoiding my hand as if it were contaminated. He casually pulled two white fever pills from his pocket and tossed them through the bars. The pills rolled across the dusty cement floor. “Take them and sleep quietly. Make any more noise and we’ll put you in restraints.” The doctor turned and walked away, his leather shoes making hollow, cold sounds on the floor. I stared at those two useless fever pills on the ground. So in Adrian’s eyes, even my dying cries for help were just drug withdrawal symptoms seeking sympathy. He not only sent me to prison but also sealed off all my paths to survival. I picked up the pills and swallowed them dry. Even if they were foul, even if they were spoiled, they were all I could get to eat. The wall-mounted TV at the end of the corridor flickered on. It was the seven o’clock legal news program, the only entertainment allowed for inmates. The screen cut to a ballroom inside the manor. Dazzling lights. A towering champagne fountain. Lorelei stood in a haute couture gown under the spotlight, every inch a princess. A caption scrolled beneath: Charity Gala Headlined by Piano Prodigy Lorelei. Adrian stood beside her in a black suit, noble and aloof. “Regarding this recent controversy,” Lorelei spoke into countless microphones, her eyes reddening. “I’m truly heartbroken. I never imagined my sister Vivian would sell my score to competitors for money, then turn around and accuse me of plagiarism.” She wiped away nonexistent tears from the corners of her eyes. “But I’m still willing to forgive her. After all, she’s my sister.” Camera flashes went crazy. A reporter shoved a microphone in front of Adrian: “Mr. Hayes, we heard you personally reported your ex-wife to the police. Does this represent the Hayes Group’s position on this matter?” Adrian faced the cameras, his expression carved from ice. “Hayes Group absolutely will not tolerate any commercial fraud, regardless of who the suspect is.” He paused, his voice drilling into my frozen ears through the TV speakers. “Sending her in is for her own good. To sober up. To break habits she never should have formed.” The venue erupted in applause. The screen flooded with comments: “Mr. Hayes is a man of principle.” “Lorelei deserves everything.” I stared at that man on the screen. He probably thought that locking me up for a week, letting me suffer a little… Would make me fall back in line like before, kneeling at his feet begging for mercy. He was wrong about one thing. Dead people don’t beg for mercy. Lights out sounded. I leaned against the cold wall. Something warm trickled from my nostrils and the corners of my mouth, dripping onto the collar of my prison uniform. I could feel life slowly draining from this broken shell. I wasn’t afraid of death. I was only afraid I wouldn’t rest in the sea after I died.

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After my husband Lucas Gray was reborn, the first thing he did was bring his illegitimate son home and force me to send our daughter away to the countryside. He held that drooling bastard child in his arms, his eyes burning with fanaticism: “He’s our family’s only hope! This boy is going to win a Nobel Prize someday—he’s a genius! As for that useless daughter of yours, we need to get rid of her. Now.” I glanced at the boy. Then I refused Lucas’s demand and filed for divorce immediately. My ex-husband didn’t know that I had been reborn too. In my previous life, this illegitimate son only became a genius because I quit my job, slept only four hours a night, and spent every penny I had treating his intellectual disabilities. Meanwhile, my own daughter—ignored and neglected—ran away from home. She became a financial titan who controlled the global economy. This life, you can take care of that mentally disabled child yourself. I’m going to make it up to my daughter and become the mother of the world’s richest woman.

I signed the divorce papers without hesitation. Lucas didn’t even look at me. He scooped up his illegitimate son, Kyler Gray, the boy with drool running down his chin, and held him close. In his mind, he was already picturing Kyler accepting the Nobel Prize in Physics. This time, he would never let me steal that glory! “Tomorrow morning, 9 a.m., City Hall. We finalize the divorce!” I turned and walked toward my daughter Zoe’s room. Behind me, Lucas let out a cold laugh. “Good luck surviving without me. I’ll be waiting for you to come crawling back, begging.” I didn’t look back. The moment I closed the door, my mother-in-law Rita Quinn burst into the living room, her voice shrill and piercing. “Lucas! Have you lost your mind? You’re just letting her leave like that? What about Zoe? She’s my granddaughter!” She started toward Zoe’s room. Lucas blocked her path, his tone sharp with irritation. “Mom! Keep it down! Can’t you see Kyler’s sleeping?” Rita stopped in her tracks, but her voice didn’t lower. “Zoe’s going to suffer with her! Make her leave the child here!” I opened the door, leading Zoe out by the hand. She was already wearing her jacket. Zoe’s little face was calm—too calm for a five-year-old. She just gripped my hand tightly. I looked at Rita. “I gave birth to her. Custody goes to me. It’s clearly stated in the agreement.” Rita’s eyes bulged. She pointed a trembling finger at my face. “Vanessa! Don’t you dare get cocky! The Gray family has supported you all these years, and now you think you’re too good for us? Taking our bloodline away? Don’t even think about it!” She reached out to grab Zoe. I stepped in front of her, shielding my daughter behind me. “Rita, try that again. I dare you.” The ice in my eyes made her flinch. She took half a step back. Lucas impatiently pulled out a card from his wallet and tossed it onto the counter. “Enough! Stop fighting! Vanessa, here—fifty thousand dollars. That should be enough for you and the girl to get by for a while. Don’t come bothering me again.” Fifty thousand. Like I was some beggar. I didn’t even bother to pick up the card. I took Zoe’s hand, opened the door, and left without looking back. Behind me, Kyler’s wails suddenly pierced the air, followed by Lucas fumbling awkwardly to soothe him. “My genius boy, don’t cry…” The elevator doors slid shut, sealing off everything. Zoe looked up at me and asked softly. “Mom, where are we going?” I crouched down and straightened her collar. “We’re going to our new home.” Zoe nodded and said nothing more. She just held my hand tighter.

I took Zoe back to the apartment to pack our things. The home that had once been filled with laughter between mother and daughter now felt unbearably silent. In the living room, Lucas was clumsily trying to feed Kyler formula. Powder spilled everywhere. When he saw me, his brow furrowed into a knot. “Why are you back? Hurry up, grab your stuff, and get out. Don’t disturb me while I’m with Kyler.” I ignored him and walked straight into the bedroom. I pulled out two large suitcases. Rita followed me in, hovering behind me like a prison guard. “Vanessa, let me tell you something—this house belongs to my son. You’re not taking a single thing that doesn’t belong to you.” Her eyes scanned every item I packed. I folded Zoe’s and my clothes one by one and placed them neatly into the suitcases. “These are all part of my dowry from before the marriage. And this jewelry set—my mother left it to me.” I pointed to a box on the dresser. Rita immediately lunged forward and slammed her hand down on it. “Your mother left it to you? Once you married into the Gray family, it became Gray family property! You want to take it? Over my dead body!” Her fingers locked around the box like a vice. I stopped what I was doing, stood up, and stared at her in silence. She shifted uncomfortably under my gaze but refused to let go. “What are you looking at? Am I wrong? You’re about to walk out that door, and you think you can take something this valuable?” I didn’t argue. I just pulled out my phone and turned on the voice recorder. “Say that again. Whose property is this?” Rita froze for a second, then threw a fit. “It’s the Gray family’s! What are you going to do about it?” I put my phone away, stopped looking at her, and continued packing. A picture frame fell to the floor. The glass shattered. Inside was a photo of Zoe and me at the beach. Zoe walked over and carefully tried to pick it up. “Don’t touch it. You’ll cut yourself.” I pulled her back. From the living room, Lucas shouted impatiently. “Vanessa! Can you hurry up? You’re taking forever! If you break anything, can you even afford to replace it?” I pulled the photo out of the broken frame—careful to avoid the shards—and slipped it into my pocket. Then I swept the empty frame and broken glass into the trash. Rita, seeing I wasn’t paying her any attention, started yelling again. “Did you hear that? My son told you to get out! Stop being an eyesore!” I zipped up the suitcases with a heavy finality. I pulled one suitcase with each hand and held Zoe’s hand with the other as I headed for the door. As I passed through the living room, I saw Kyler throw his bottle on the floor. He was reaching for Lucas’s car keys on the coffee table, about to shove them into his mouth. Lucas was completely oblivious, head down, absorbed in some guidebook on early genius cultivation. I walked past without a glance. The door slammed shut behind me. I didn’t care if that child choked on the keys. I didn’t care if Lucas could actually raise a genius. I rented a small one-bedroom apartment in the old part of the city. Compared to the Gray family’s spacious riverside penthouse, this place was a shoebox. But Zoe remained calm. She set down her little backpack and studied our new “home” carefully. “Mom, where’s my bed?” I pointed to the small bed by the window, covered with cartoon sheets I’d just bought. “That’s yours from now on.” She nodded, climbed onto it, lay down to test it, and then smiled at me. “It’s soft.” My heart softened too. By the time we settled in, it was late at night. After I read Zoe a bedtime story, she fell asleep quickly. I sat on the creaky sofa in the living room. My phone buzzed. It was a message from my friend Claire Winters. [How are you? Did you find a place? Do you have enough money?] I replied that everything was fine and left it at that. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk—I just didn’t know where to begin. I opened my mobile banking app and stared at the pitiful balance. Then I thought about the card Lucas had thrown on the counter. A wave of helplessness washed over me. I needed to find work. Fast. Just then, my phone rang. It was Lucas. I answered but didn’t speak. His voice came through, barely suppressing his anger. “Vanessa, did you take the washing machine manual with you?” I paused. “No.” “Then how the hell do I use this new front-loading washer? My mom can’t figure it out, and now there’s water everywhere!” “There’s a QR code on the door. Scan it for the digital manual.” “I don’t have time for that! Come back here right now and show my mom how to use it!” He barked the order as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I said nothing. In my previous life, this was how it always went. No matter where I was, he always found a way to drag me back to deal with whatever mess he and his mother couldn’t handle. And every single time, I softened and went back. “Lucas, we’re divorced.” I hung up. The phone immediately started ringing again. I hung up over and over until I finally just turned it off. I walked into the bedroom and looked at Zoe’s peaceful sleeping face. The last traces of helplessness in my heart vanished. This life, I would live only for her.

The next morning, I turned on my phone. Dozens of abusive text messages flooded in—all from Lucas. [Vanessa, you selfish bitch! You think you can just wash your hands of everything and walk away?] [You even sabotaged the washing machine on your way out. How can you be so vicious?] [Let me tell you something—Kyler and I are going to be just fine without you!] I blocked his number without expression and deleted every message. Life was harder than I expected. Every résumé I sent out disappeared into the void. After five years as a stay-at-home mom, my work history was worthless in today’s job market. The money in my account drained rapidly between rent and daily expenses. Zoe was incredibly understanding. She never asked for new toys or pretty clothes. When I bought her milk, she would whisper: “Mom, water is fine too.” Every time she said that, my heart ached. No. This couldn’t continue. Then I suddenly remembered something. In my previous life, right around this time, an obscure tech company made a breakthrough with a patented technology. Its stock skyrocketed fifty times over in just one month. I still remembered the ticker symbol. The only problem? I didn’t have any capital. I opened the jewelry box I’d brought from the Gray house. Inside were my mother’s belongings—a pair of jade bracelets, a pearl necklace, and several pieces of gold jewelry. In my previous life, Rita had taken these under the guise of “keeping them safe for me.” I never saw them again. I took a deep breath and closed the box. Mom, I’m sorry. I found the most reputable pawn shop and pawned everything except the jade bracelets. With gold prices high, I didn’t lose much. I walked out with about seventy thousand dollars. Combined with my savings, I had just under a hundred thousand. I left the pawn shop clutching the thin pawn ticket, my palms slick with sweat. I invested every penny into that stock. The moment the transaction went through, I felt dizzy—like I’d just bet everything on a single hand. My phone rang. Unknown number. I answered. Rita’s shrill, hysterical voice exploded through the speaker. “Vanessa! Get back here! Kyler has a high fever! He’s having seizures! Lucas won’t do anything!” “Take him to the hospital.” My tone was cold. “What hospital? You used to handle this yourself! Come back and give him a cold compress! He’s the Gray family’s hope—he can’t have anything happen to him!” She was babbling incoherently. I could almost see my past self. It had been a night just like this. Kyler had a febrile seizure. I’d rushed him to the hospital while Lucas complained over the phone that I was overreacting and ruining his night out with friends. The doctor said if I’d arrived ten minutes later, the boy’s brain would have been permanently damaged. And now, they wanted me—the ex-wife—to come fix their problem again. “Rita,” I said, my voice calm and flat. “He’s your grandson. Not mine. I have nothing to do with your family anymore. Stop harassing me.” “You witch! You’ll get what’s coming to you!” she screamed. I hung up. I stood on the bustling street corner, the evening wind lifting my hair. I looked at the stock ticker I’d just bought on my phone. It was climbing. The red line kept rising…

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