Author: Momo Chan

I spent ten years of my life building this company from a shaky garage startup into an industry giant. But when the layoffs came, I was the first one kicked out the door. Our agreed-upon $500,000 severance package? It magically turned into two scratch-off lottery tickets. Suppressing my boiling anger, I confronted Chloe, our HR director. She just crossed her arms and sneered. “You crashed our biggest client’s server last month, Ethan. You technically owe this company two million dollars in damages.” “Rachel was generous enough not to throw your ass in federal prison. You should be thanking her.” “Severance? Please. Go out and ask around. You have a massive black mark on your record now. What tech company would ever hire a screw-up like you?” In that exact second, I realized what was happening. She was talking about last month’s server crash—the one I took the fall for to protect the company’s new, well-connected golden boy. And the CEO she was referring to—Rachel—was my wife of ten years. The woman who slept in my bed every night. I didn’t argue. I slowly picked up the humiliating termination agreement, spun on my heel, and walked out. What they didn’t know was that I had already been recruited by the SEC. And every single piece of evidence showing how they framed me? I had already packed it up and downloaded it. A month later, at the company’s annual shareholder audit, I kicked the double doors open, flanked by a dozen federal agents. Rachel fell to her knees before me, her body trembling as she begged me to spare her company. I took a half-step back, my eyes cold. “I’d love to give you a break, Rachel. But unfortunately, the federal prosecutor in charge of your case isn’t feeling very merciful today.”

The moment the layoff rumors leaked, panic spread through the department like wildfire. The entire office was suffocating under a thick blanket of anxiety. My colleague, Liam, slid his chair over to my desk and clapped a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Ethan, man, why do you look so stressed? Even if they fire the entire building, they’d never touch you.” “You’re the backbone of this place. We all know this company is only standing because of your code.” “As for me, I’m probably toast. But hey, at least I got to work with a legend like you.” His voice was filled with genuine respect, and several other senior developers nodded in agreement. I forced a faint smile. In truth, the company was indeed my baby. During our startup days, the servers would crash every other day. I literally slept on a cot in the server room for a month straight, stabilizing the platform line by line. Just before Christmas last year, our core database suffered a catastrophic failure. I was hooked up to an IV in a hospital bed, recovering from an emergency appendectomy. High on painkillers, I worked remotely for three straight days to pull our data back from the brink of total destruction. Besides, the CEO was my wife, Rachel. There was no universe in which I’d be on a layoff list. While I was trying to calm the team down, Chloe, the HR director, walked into the open office holding a stack of folders. She scanned the room, her eyes landing on me. She rolled them dramatically. “Ethan. My office. Now.” The entire room went dead silent. My colleagues looked at one another in confusion, though most of them assumed I was being called in for a massive promotion. Under their intense, disbelieving stares, I stood up and calmly walked into her office. Before I could even sit down, Chloe slid a termination agreement across the desk with an impatient sigh. After a brief flash of shock, I laughed. Classic Rachel. She was trying to pull a surprise on me. A few days ago, I had jokingly complained that I was getting too tired to write code anymore. Rachel had given me a mysterious smile and told me to wait three days. I figured she was just looking out for me. After ten years of running myself into the ground, she probably wanted to “fire” me so I could finally rest, take a massive payout, and enjoy life. Plus, I had recently accepted an offer to join the SEC’s cyber-forensics division, though I hadn’t had the chance to tell her yet. This worked out perfectly. Now I could actually spend some quality time with her. But when I picked up the pen to sign, my eyes caught the severance section. It was completely blank. And under the “Financial Liabilities” section, there was a paragraph in bold, aggressive font: “Due to gross negligence by the employee, Ethan, resulting in direct financial damages to the company estimated at $2,000,000, the employee agrees to assume full personal liability for the debt.” I froze. Two million? Personal liability? Me? I slowly pushed the contract back toward her, my voice turning icy. “Chloe, what is the meaning of this? Where is my severance?” Chloe leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms as her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Oh, cut the act, Ethan. We’re both adults here. Why play dumb?” “Last month, the core database for our biggest client crashed under your watch. We lost their data, and it cost us a two-million-dollar contract.” “The company didn’t call the FBI on you, which is already a miracle. And you actually have the audacity to ask for money?” The puzzle pieces clicked together instantly. The “screw-up” she was talking about wasn’t mine. It belonged to Jackson, Rachel’s “nephew.” To hit a ridiculous deadline, Jackson had bypassed every single testing protocol and forced a buggy, unverified codebase directly into production. I had tried to stop him, but Rachel shut me down, claiming we needed to “let the younger generation show their potential.” After the crash, Rachel had practically begged me. She cried in our kitchen, asking me to take the fall temporary to protect the kid’s career, promising she would make it up to me. So this was her way of “making it up to me.” I stared at Chloe and said coldly, “The server logs clearly show the crash was caused by database modifications made from Jackson’s terminal. This had nothing to do with me.” Chloe didn’t understand a thing about server logs. All she knew was that Rachel wanted me gone. She tilted her chin up arrogantly. “I don’t care about your nerd talk, Ethan. The liability assessment sheet has your signature on it. The company says it’s your fault, so it’s your fault.” “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll sign this. Otherwise…” “I’ll post your name and what you did in the national HR WhatsApp groups. Good luck finding a job when every recruiter in the country knows you’re a saboteur.” Disgusted by her petty power trip, I didn’t say another word. I folded the liability agreement and the termination papers, slipping them quietly into my jacket pocket. Fine. If they wanted to play dirty, I didn’t need to hold back anymore.

I walked back to my desk, planning to message Rachel and ask what the hell she was thinking, when a notification popped up on the internal network. To save money on a transition, Rachel had locked my account but set a mandatory one-month handover period where I was expected to train my replacement. I laughed out loud. It was so absurd it was almost funny. Furious, I marched straight toward the executive suite and threw the door open without knocking. The door swung open, and the sight inside made my blood instantly run cold. Rachel, my wife, was wrapped tightly around her “nephew,” Jackson. Jackson’s hands were gripped firmly around her waist, and she was giggling, pressing herself against his chest. Hearing the door slam, Rachel’s face flashed with panic for a split second before hardening into pure, irritated disgust. “Ethan! Do you have any concept of boundaries? Have you forgotten how to knock?!” Jackson’s hands didn’t move. In fact, he pulled her slightly closer, throwing me a smug, mocking look of pure triumph. Watching the woman I had shared a bed with for a decade laughing in another man’s arms felt like a physical blow to the chest. I clenched my fists so hard my nails bit into my palms. “Rachel… is this the ‘surprise’ you promised me?” Rachel didn’t even bother to untangle herself from him. Instead, she casually fixed her collar. “Since you saw us, I don’t need to hide it anymore.” “Ethan, this company has carried you for ten years. We’ve been more than generous.” “Just sign the papers and get out. Let’s not make this uglier than it needs to be.” A dry, bitter laugh escaped my throat. This company carried me? What a joke. “Sign what? Sign an agreement where I owe you two million dollars?” “Rachel, we’ve been married for ten years. Is this really how you treat your husband?” “Have you forgotten how you cried and begged me in our kitchen last month? You said Jackson was young, that he couldn’t have his career ruined by a mistake. You begged me to take the heat.” “You promised you’d clear my name once his probation was over. And now you’re using it to ruin me?” Jackson sneered, pointing a finger at my face. “Shut up, Ethan! Who do you think you are, yelling at her?” “The damage you caused is written in black and white! You signed the papers, you took the blame. Paying the company back is just fair game!” “And yeah, I let you take the fall. So what? You’re just a washed-up, middle-aged coder. What are you going to do about it?” Looking at Rachel, she seemed like an absolute stranger. Any lingering affection I had for her vanished into thin air. “Fine. Keep your two million. I’m done with this garbage company.” Rachel didn’t look guilty at all. Instead, she flashed a victorious smirk, reached into her desk drawer, and threw another document onto the table. “Not so fast, Ethan. When you joined as our Lead Architect, you signed a key-man clause, remember?” “If a core technical employee voluntarily resigns before their ten-year term is up, they owe the company ten million dollars in liquidated damages.” “You want to leave? Sure. Write me a check for ten million, and I’ll process your resignation right now.” Jackson chimed in, laughing. “That’s right, Ethan. It’s on paper. Don’t tell us you’re broke!” Looking at the contract I had almost forgotten about, I felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head. Back then, Rachel had handed me the contract, telling me it was just a formality for investors. She had promised me that once the company took off, we would share everything. I trusted her completely and signed it without reading the fine print. She had been plotting my downfall from the very beginning. When anger reaches a certain threshold, it turns into a terrifyingly cold calm. I took a deep breath, my mind clearing. “You really thought this through, Rachel. Fine. I’ll stay for the one-month transition period.” “But,” I stared directly into her cold eyes, “starting today, we are done. I want a divorce.” Rachel blinked, stunned for a second, before bursting into a mocking laugh. “Are you serious, Ethan?” “Without me, without this company, what are you? You think you can survive on your own?” “The moment we sign those divorce papers, I’m marrying Jackson. You’re going to be a broke, single loser in his late thirties.” Jackson smirked. “Yeah, Ethan. You’re pushing forty, buried in debt, and blacklisted in the industry. What are you going to do, beg? If you apologize to Rachel right now, maybe she’ll let you stay on as a janitor.” I looked at them, completely repulsed. I spun around and walked out of the office. Laugh all you want, I thought. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Over the next few weeks, Rachel and Jackson did everything they could to make my life a living hell. I didn’t know what lies they had fed the staff, but developers who used to treat me with absolute reverence now walked past me without making eye contact. Some even had the nerve to bark orders at me. The cold reality of corporate loyalty was on full display. Within days, my desk was moved to the furthest corner of the office, right next to the breakroom trash can that constantly reeked of spoiled food. Rachel called it “giving me a quiet space to focus on the handover.” Chloe brought over a stack of physical project archives from years ago, demanding that I manually digitize them and write detailed system documentations for each. I took one look at the files. Most of them were dead projects from defunct clients. It was purely busywork designed to break my spirit. They tried every petty trick in the book to make me snap and walk out. But to their frustration, I complied with everything. I showed up exactly at 9:00 AM, did the training sessions, and wrote the documentation. Whenever I ran into Rachel, she would look at me, searching for any sign of misery or defeat. But she found nothing. My face was a mask of absolute, terrifying calmness. Since she didn’t get the satisfaction of seeing me break, Rachel decided to escalate. One afternoon, she called me into her office and threw a stack of financial ledger sheets on her desk. “Upload these entries into our active database,” she commanded. I picked up the sheets, scanned them quickly, and immediately frowned. “These are fake transaction records,” I said, putting the papers down. “You’re inflating your revenue to deceive your venture capital investors. This is wire fraud. I’m not doing it.” It wasn’t enough that she wanted me to take the fall for a server crash—now she wanted me to participate in federal crimes. Rachel’s face darkened instantly. “You are still an employee of this company, Ethan, and I am your boss! You do what I tell you to do, or you can start packing your bags for court!” I met her gaze, unflinching. “Being a boss doesn’t give you the legal authority to order an employee to commit a felony.” Jackson leaped up from the couch. “Don’t talk to us about the law! You’re lucky we’re even letting you work! Do the input, or we’ll find a dozen other ways to ruin your life!” I looked at Jackson, and a beautiful, wicked idea formed in my mind. I turned to him, putting on a look of mock confusion. “You know, Jackson… this kind of database entry is incredibly simple. Anyone with a month of basic coding experience could do it.” “If it’s so easy, why isn’t Rachel letting you handle it? Unless…” “You don’t actually know how to run a simple SQL script, do you?” “Are you really as incompetent as everyone in the office says you are?” The bait was set, and Jackson took it hook, line, and sinker. “Who the hell are you calling incompetent?!” he roared, his face turning red. I sighed dramatically, pulling a black flash drive from my pocket and tossing it onto the desk. “Fine. This USB contains a script I wrote. It will batch-process all the data automatically. Do whatever you want with it, just keep my name out of it.” Rachel and Jackson’s eyes lit up as they saw the drive. Smug, greedy smiles spread across their faces. Without another word, I turned and left. I knew exactly how greedy and stupid they were. Give them a tool to commit fraud easily, and they would abuse it until they destroyed themselves. Sure enough, three days later, Nick, a junior developer who was still friendly with me, approached my desk, looking pale and panicky. “Ethan… they’re going crazy,” he whispered, glancing around nervously. “They didn’t just modify the investor reports. They forged accounting books, inflated our costs by twenty million, and they’re routing international funds to wash the cash.” I smiled gently. “Don’t worry about it, Nick. Just keep your head down.”

Armed with the falsified data, they successfully closed a massive twenty-million-dollar investment round. To celebrate, Rachel booked the grand ballroom of a luxury five-star hotel downtown for a massive company gala. The entire office was buzzing with excitement. Everyone was talking about the party, but of course, I was the only one who didn’t receive an invitation. I didn’t care. I went home after work, ordered a pizza, and went straight to sleep. But around 9:00 PM, my phone started buzzing violently. It was a WhatsApp message from Rachel. It was a long list of premium liquors and wines. “We ran out of these drinks at the party. Buy them and deliver them to the hotel ballroom immediately. Don’t ruin our celebration, or you’ll pay for it.” Without a second thought, I blocked her number. Five minutes later, my doorbell began ringing frantically. Rachel had actually sent three of our junior staff to my house to wake me up. Anger flared in my chest. They just don’t know when to stop, do they? I grabbed my keys, got into my car, and drove straight to the hotel. When I entered the grand ballroom, the atmosphere was loud and alcohol-fueled. A loud cheer erupted from the main VIP table. I looked up. Under the glittering chandeliers, Rachel was standing on a raised platform, her face flushed red from champagne. Suddenly, Jackson grabbed her waist, pulled her close, and kissed her passionately right on the lips. Instead of pulling away, Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck, returning the kiss in front of the entire company. They were kissing like starved teenagers, completely ignoring the fact that her actual husband was standing right there in the room. To everyone else, I was the ultimate cuckold, forced to watch my wife parade her young lover. But I didn’t feel anger. All I felt was a profound sense of absurdity and relief. This woman had absolutely no bottom line left. Right then, my phone buzzed. It was my divorce attorney. “Ethan, the asset protection filings are ready. Do you have proof of her infidelity?” I pulled out my phone, quietly recorded a crisp, high-definition video of them making out on stage, and hit send. Then, I opened my secure email app. Time remaining until the SEC federal audit authorization goes live: 1 day, 8 hours, and 22 minutes. I took a deep breath, memorizing their smug faces one last time. Enjoy it while you can, Rachel. On my last official day, I calmly signed my exit paperwork. I had been home for less than thirty minutes when my phone started ringing off the hook from an unknown number. I picked up, and Rachel’s hysterical scream blasted through the speaker. “Ethan! Where the hell are you?! Get your ass back to the office right now! The investors are here!” “They found out the database records are completely fabricated! You gave us that USB drive! You have to come back and fix this right now!” I had anticipated this. I didn’t say a word and hung up, immediately blocking the new number. It was hilarious. When they made twenty million, they didn’t think of me. But the moment the ship started sinking, they wanted me to plug the leak. But the real comedy was just beginning. Ten minutes later, my doorbell rang. I opened it to find three solemn-looking police officers standing on my porch. “Are you Ethan? We received a report that you are primary suspect in a massive financial fraud and corporate data sabotage. Please come with us.”

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After seven years of dating, Andrew and I were finally getting married. I was enthusiastically planning our wedding, only to find out our venue had been double-booked. My dream venue had been snatched away. When I complained to Andrew in frustration, he ruthlessly cut me off. “Are you done whining? It’s just a venue. If this one doesn’t work, we’ll just find another one.” I stared at Andrew in utter shock, completely blindsided by his sudden attitude. After that day, he stopped reaching out to me. Whenever I called, his only response was a cold, “I’m busy.” Ten days before the wedding, I went to his office to surprise him. That was when I heard his voice drifting from inside the room: “I promise you, Chloe. On the wedding day, all the guests will be at that venue. She will be the only bride standing there.” “I didn’t change the address on the invitations.” I froze in the hallway, my heart dropping into my stomach. So, it wasn’t a double-booked venue. It was a double-booked groom.

I walked home like a ghost. My mind was such a mess that I kept bumping into pedestrians along the street. “Hey! Watch where you’re going, crazy!” “Is she blind? What a freak!” “If you don’t need your eyes, donate them!” I stiffened, letting out a self-deprecating laugh. “Yeah… I must be blind.” The rude passerby gave me a weird look and quickly walked away without another word. They probably thought I was insane, but I didn’t care to explain. Suddenly, the sky opened up. Heavy rain poured down, soaking me to the bone in seconds. But I felt nothing. The icy water mingled with the tears rolling down my cheeks. By midnight, I had developed a raging fever. As I lay shivering in bed, my phone buzzed. It was Andrew. “Audrey, can you bring some hangover pills to the club for me? These guys are totally wasting me.” My body went rigid. Out of habit, I almost stood up to search the medicine cabinet. But then reality hit me. I stopped myself. “Sorry, I have a fever. I can’t go.” There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by some loud teasing in the background: “Looks like you lost, Andrew! Guess you’ll have to buy your own hangover pills.” The sweet, giggling voice sounded incredibly familiar. It was Chloe. I let out a cold sneer, and Andrew hung up immediately. In the middle of the night, Andrew stumbled into the apartment, smelling heavily of tequila. He violently pulled me up from my sleep. “Are you out of your mind? I was getting hammered by my friends, and you made up some lame excuse about a fever just to avoid coming?” “Do you even care about me anymore?!” The suffocating smell of alcohol snapped me fully awake. I held my throbbing forehead, trying my best to stay steady. “I told you. I have a fever.” My flat, serious tone finally made Andrew look at my face. My bright red, flushed cheeks spoke for themselves. He went quiet for a second, then muttered, “Sorry. I’ll sleep in the study.” I scoffed and fell back onto the mattress. There was no way I could sleep now. Soon, I heard muffled laughter and whispers coming from the study next door. It was loud and humiliating. I stayed awake all night. The next morning, Andrew walked out of the study looking refreshed, with Chloe right behind him. The moment Andrew saw me, his smile froze. He instinctively took a step away from Chloe. “Morning.” “The party ended too late last night, and Chloe lost her keys. So I brought her back here.” I just nodded, stepping aside to head toward the front door. Andrew grabbed my wrist. I looked at him, confused. He stammered, “Where are you going? Aren’t we supposed to go dress shopping today?” I paused, then turned to him with a smile. “Why don’t you two go instead? I have some urgent stuff to handle at the office.” Andrew visibly let out a sigh of relief. His smile became genuine. “Alright then. Chloe has amazing taste. She’ll make sure we get the perfect dress.” “Sure,” I replied softly. The moment I left the apartment, I sent a Snapchat blast to Andrew’s family and friends, informing them of the venue change. Then, I texted my own family and friends that the wedding was canceled. After that, I turned off my phone. I didn’t want to explain myself to anyone. I immediately drove to the agency to finalize my passport and visa. I had been accepted into a prestigious exchange program in London months ago. Initially, because we were getting married, I didn’t want to be away from Andrew for so long, so I had put it on hold. But now that the wedding was dead, I was absolutely not giving up this opportunity. When I stepped out of the government building, I saw Andrew and Chloe coming out of the City Hall next door. Both of them were beaming with joy. But the moment Andrew’s eyes met mine, he froze. “What… what are you doing here?” he asked, panic flaring in his eyes. He looked incredibly guilty, his gaze darting away from me.

Chloe reached out, wrapping her arm tightly around Andrew’s. She looked at me with a smug, victorious smile. “Andrew came to help me take care of some paperwork.” I gave her a flat look. “Congratulations.” Andrew tried to step forward to explain, but his hand grabbed empty air. “Audrey!” I didn’t stop. I quickened my pace and walked away. That evening, Andrew brought Chloe back to our apartment again. I looked at them calmly. “Do you want me to vacate the master bedroom for you guys? I doubt the study is comfortable enough for two.” My words clearly struck a nerve. Andrew’s face turned incredibly ugly. “Audrey! Do you have to be so damn sarcastic?” “Since when did you become like this?” “You’re acting like a hysterical psycho!” I almost laughed out loud. I hadn’t cried, I hadn’t made a scene, yet the label of a “psycho” was already slapped onto my head. I pointed at my forehead and smiled. “Well, you’ve thrown so many labels at me, I’m starting to lose track of who I’m supposed to be.” Andrew looked uncomfortable for a split second, but then his anger flared. He violently pushed my shoulder. “Don’t get cocky with me! Don’t forget, this is my apartment!” “I pay for your food, your drinks, and your rent! And you dare speak to me like that?” “Get out! Get the hell out of my house!” He shoved me toward the door, not even giving me a chance to grab my phone. Before I could even process what was happening, the heavy door slammed shut in my face. “Andrew! Give me my phone!” I pounded on the door frantically, but it never opened again. The autumn air was freezing. I rubbed my arms as goosebumps broke out all over my skin. This was the city I grew up in, yet at this moment, I was entirely homeless. Without a single penny or a phone, I had no choice but to walk all the way to my office. By the time I reached my desk, I was utterly exhausted. I collapsed onto the table and fell asleep. The next morning, with the help of a coworker, I bought a cheap replacement phone and dialed Andrew’s number. He didn’t answer. Instead, Chloe’s voice came through the speaker: “Andrew, it’s an unknown number.” Andrew’s impatient voice echoed in the background: “Just hang up if you don’t know who it is.” But Chloe didn’t hang up. She probably guessed it was me. “Andrew, maybe you should go apologize to Audrey?” “She’s a girl, after all. She needs to save some face…” What a manipulative little snake. I let out a soft laugh. It was such a cheap trick. But Andrew’s response still managed to completely freeze the blood in my veins. “Why should I care about her? She has nowhere else to go in this city anyway.” “She doesn’t even have her phone.” “It won’t take long before she crawls back and begs for my forgiveness.” The line went dead. I stood there, staring blankly at my phone. So, he knew. He knew I had nothing, and he did it anyway. I let out a bitter laugh. I thought my heart was already numb, but it still managed to ache. I immediately redialed the number. “Why are you still calling? Didn’t you hear what he just said?” Chloe’s annoyed voice filled my ear. “Have you no shame? Why do you keep throwing yourself at Andrew? Don’t you get how pathetic you are?” I ignored her insults. I smiled faintly. “Let’s meet. I have something I want to give you.” Chloe sounded suspicious. After a moment of hesitation, her greed got the better of her. “Fine. Meet me at the Starbucks on the South Side.” I hung up and headed out immediately. But when the time came, Chloe didn’t show up.

“Audrey! Are you trying to bully Chloe again?!” “I told you a thousand times, there’s nothing going on between us! Why do you keep harassing her?!” Andrew’s furious voice roared behind me, followed by a stinging slap across my face. My cheek burned with sharp pain. I looked at him, letting out a mocking laugh. He felt completely like a stranger now. “Hitting me without even asking what happened? Is this how your prestigious family raised you?” Andrew’s face drained of color. He bit his lip, seemingly unable to find a comeback. Since Chloe didn’t show up, there was no point in keeping the truth to myself anymore. “If I wanted to harass her, would I have called your phone?” “Could I have predicted she would answer? Don’t make me laugh.” I took a step toward him, forcing him to look into my eyes. His expression crumbled, and he took a step back. I found the whole thing incredibly pathetic. I turned around and walked away. Andrew didn’t contact me again, but the wedding day was fast approaching. With only one day left, he sent someone to deliver a necklace to my office. There was no wrapping, no box. Just a bare, tarnished silver necklace. “Didn’t you always want this necklace? I bought it back for you.” Andrew’s text read. I found it hilarious. I called him and said, “Andrew, if you think I’m going to cherish a secondhand piece of trash that was stolen by Chloe first, you are sorely underestimating me.” Andrew sounded guilty, his voice cracking. “Why do you always have to make such a big deal out of nothing?” “You got the thing you wanted, and I’m still by your side. What more do you want?” “After tomorrow, we’ll be husband and wife.” I smiled mockingly. “I see.” That was all I said before hanging up. “Where have you been staying these past few days? You couldn’t possibly…” He suddenly called back, his voice laced with a strange anxiety. For a moment, I felt a deep, piercing humiliation. Anger flared in my chest. “Andrew! If you knew I had nowhere to go, why did you kick me out in the first place?!” “Did you really think…” He dodged the question, murmuring guiltily, “I thought you’d give in and apologize after half a day.” At that moment, I was just so tired. “Forget it.” I hung up and blocked his number. When I walked down to the lobby of my office building, an unwelcome guest was already waiting for me. “Audrey.” I turned and saw Chloe. “Did you get the necklace?” “Consider it a little compensation from Andrew and me. Weren’t you dying to have it?” I looked at Chloe. Around her neck hung the Heart of the Ocean—a blue diamond necklace worth millions that had recently been auctioned off. Noticing my gaze, Chloe raised her chin proudly, running her fingers over the massive diamond. “Andrew said you liked that cheap silver thing, so he used this multi-million dollar diamond to trade for it with me.” Her tone was dripping with smug satisfaction. I laughed. “It’s just trash. Keep it for yourself.” Chloe’s face twisted in rage, but I walked right past her. The next day, I boarded my flight to London. I ignored the dozens of missed calls from Andrew and Chloe. But just as I was about to pass through the boarding gate, a violent force slammed me to the ground. “You skipped our wedding just to run away?!”

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My husband, Brandon, had a low sperm count, so we decided to go through IVF. Before the embryos were fused, I caught him switching my eggs with those of his first love, Georgina. I didn’t say a word. I just switched them back. And while I was at it, I had the doctor swap Brandon’s sperm with my ex-boyfriend Cooper’s. Twenty-five years later, Georgina showed up at my house, grabbing my daughter and crying her eyes out. “I’m your real mother!” she sobbed. My daughter, Priscilla, and I had just returned from an international medical business trip. The moment we stepped into the house, we froze. The living room was packed. Relatives we hadn’t seen in years—the kind who only crawled out of the woodwork when they wanted money—were all gathered there. Looking at them, you’d think someone had died. But the most ridiculous sight was sitting right in the middle of the sofa: Georgina, weeping dramatically. Brandon, my pathetic excuse for a husband who barely ever came home, was wrapped around her, whispering sweet nothings to comfort her. I raised an eyebrow, rolled my suitcase to the side, and looked at Brandon. “What’s the occasion today? Why is everyone here?” Priscilla stood behind me, crossing her arms. Her face was cold, and she stared at Georgina with pure disgust. She already had a pretty good idea of who this woman was. My mother-in-law, Betty, sat in the main armchair. Her expression was tense, and she looked like she wanted to say something but held back. Before Brandon could even open his mouth, Georgina threw herself off the couch, lunging toward Priscilla with tears streaming down her face. “I’m your real mother!” she cried. Priscilla dodged her easily, her brows furrowing in utter disgust as if Georgina were a piece of trash. She took a step back and said coldly, “My mother’s name is Angel.” Priscilla truly was my pride and joy. I squeezed Priscilla’s hand, giving her a reassuring look. Then, I raised my hand and slapped Georgina right across the face. The sharp crack echoed through the silent living room. “Watch your mouth,” I said, my voice ice-cold. Brandon leapt to his feet, pulling Georgina up defensively. He pointed a shaking finger at me and roared, “Angel, are you insane? How dare you hit Georgina!” He raised his hand, threatening to strike me. Priscilla was faster. She stepped in front of me and slapped Brandon across the face before he could even register it. “Don’t you dare touch my mother,” Priscilla said. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a terrifying authority. Brandon froze, stunned and furious. He raised his hand to hit Priscilla. But Georgina grabbed his arm, crying fake tears. “Brandon, don’t! That’s our daughter!” Her act of “maternal love” made me want to throw up. Brandon lowered his hand, glaring at Priscilla. “If it weren’t for your real mother’s sake, I would teach you a lesson today!” Priscilla let out a cold laugh. “Oh really? I’d love to see you try.” The fierce, sharp look in her eyes was identical to how I looked in my youth. I felt a surge of pride. That’s my girl. 2 One of the family elders cleared his throat, trying to bring order back to the chaotic room. “Quiet down, everyone!” his booming voice commanded. The room gradually fell silent, and everyone turned their attention to him. He looked at Brandon. “Brandon, you called this family meeting. What is this all about?” Brandon took a deep breath, trying to look brave. He put his arm around Georgina’s shoulders, putting on a show of deep devotion. “Actually, I have a major announcement to make today.” He paused, his eyes sweeping over the crowd before landing on Priscilla and me. I just watched him quietly, waiting to see what kind of circus act he was going to pull. “Priscilla… she is not Angel’s biological daughter.” Brandon’s voice wasn’t loud, but the words dropped like a bomb in the living room. Priscilla snapped her head to look at me, her eyes wide with shock. I gestured for her to stay calm. The relatives immediately began whispering. They looked like a school of piranhas smelling blood in the water. “Twenty-five years ago, when we did IVF…” Brandon paused, pretending it was hard to talk about. “The doctor said Angel’s eggs were of terrible quality.” “To spare her the heartbreak of not being able to be a mother, I secretly switched her eggs with Georgina’s…” What a joke. This pathetic man had committed medical fraud, and now he was trying to paint himself as a saint while throwing mud at me! Brandon shot me a malicious look, clearly expecting me to lose my mind and scream. But I remained completely calm. He had no choice but to keep playing his part. “I called you all here today to witness…” He looked deeply into Georgina’s eyes. “…Priscilla finally recognizing her birth mother.” The room erupted. “If Priscilla isn’t Angel’s daughter, she has to recognize her real mother!” “Exactly! Angel couldn’t even get pregnant, yet she’s been holding onto the Williams family name all these years!” “She’s been controlling the Williams Group assets for decades.” “Now that the truth is out, she should step down from the board immediately!” Listening to their chatter, I felt nothing but amusement. These greedy relatives had been stripped of their management power by me over the years. They could only live off their yearly dividends, which made them hate me. Now, they were thrilled to watch Brandon ruin me so they could swoop in and grab a piece of the company. Priscilla saw the naked greed in their eyes and tightened her grip on my hand. I spoke up. “I gave birth to Priscilla. She is my daughter, and she always will be.” My voice was quiet, but it commanded the room. Georgina put on a helpless, tearful face. “How long are you going to keep lying to yourself, Angel?” 3. I wasn’t lying to myself. Priscilla was indeed my biological child. Did Brandon and Georgina really think they had fooled me? Twenty-five years ago, Brandon had a low sperm count, and we decided to try IVF. Before the embryos were fused, I caught him and a corrupt nurse tampering with my egg storage locker. I even overheard him excitedly calling Georgina, telling her that her eggs had been successfully swapped in. I didn’t make a scene. Instead, I quietly handed the doctor a million dollars to put my actual eggs back in. And as a little “gift,” I had the doctor swap Brandon’s sperm with my ex-boyfriend Cooper’s. On the day of the embryo fusion, Brandon and I stood together and witnessed the “miracle.” He was practically glowing with joy, thinking it was his and Georgina’s baby. I remember looking at his stupid, smiling face and laughing hysterically on the inside. For twenty-five years, I watched him dote on Priscilla like a clown, thinking he was raising his dream child with his mistress. It was the best entertainment of my life. Brandon snapped me out of my memories, sneering at me. “You can deny it all you want, Angel. Priscilla might have come out of your womb, but those weren’t your eggs!” “Georgina is her biological mother.” My tone was completely flat. “Are you dreaming?” “If you don’t believe me, we can do a DNA test right now!” Brandon snapped. “And I’m divorcing you!” “I was forced to marry you. I’ve spent twenty-five years with you, and I have done more than enough for you!” When he demanded the divorce, a flash of pure joy crossed his face. He had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. He did “more than enough” for me? I was married to him for twenty-five years, and I lived like a widow for twenty-five years. While I was raising our child alone, he was out spending romantic nights with Georgina. While I was working myself to the bone to keep the Williams Group alive, he was wasting family money in nightclubs. But he was wrong about one thing. I only married him to get the Williams name and take control of the family empire. And now, the Williams Group was entirely under my control. Brandon had officially outlived his usefulness. “Divorce is fine with me,” I shrugged. “But a DNA test isn’t necessary. I am 100% sure Priscilla is my daughter.” Priscilla looked at me, her eyes steady. “I believe you, Mom.” Brandon and Georgina panicked. “Priscilla, don’t you believe your own father?” Priscilla ignored him, keeping close to my side. Just then, a young man who looked about college-aged burst through the front door. He marched straight up to Priscilla and called out excitedly, “Priscilla!” Everyone in the room froze. 4. Looking at the boy, who shared a striking resemblance to Georgina, I immediately knew who he was. This had to be Brandon and Georgina’s secret love child. They had kept him hidden well. I hadn’t noticed his existence for over two decades. This drama was getting even better than I expected. Betty, sitting at the head of the room, looked at the boy with cold authority. “Brandon, what is the meaning of this?” The atmosphere in the room turned to ice. The boy’s eyes were red, and he looked like he was about to cry. “Priscilla, my name is Miles. I… I’ve always known about you.” He spoke with a slight stutter, his voice trembling. He peeked at me fearfully and then quickly looked down, as if he was terrified of me. “My mom… she always talked about you. She said you were so smart, so beautiful…” Georgina sobbed on cue, burying her face in a handkerchief. “Priscilla, I have missed you so much all these years…” She looked up with tear-filled eyes, playing the victim perfectly. “Miles… he missed you too. We used to spy on you from afar just to catch a glimpse…” Miles nodded quickly, eager to prove himself. “It’s true! Priscilla, I even transferred to your university just to… to be closer to you…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick stack of photos, handing them to Priscilla. “These are photos of you. I… I took them secretly…” Priscilla took the photos and flipped through them. There were photos of her in her graduation gown, laughing with friends. Photos of her looking exhausted after dance practice. Photos of her passionately debating in a lecture hall. Priscilla’s skin crawled. The realization that a creepy stalker had been watching and photographing her for years made her feel sick to her stomach. Brandon didn’t waste any time. He stepped in front of Betty, pointing at Miles. “Mom, this is a true Williams grandson!” “With all our relatives here today to witness, please… let him join the family!” Brandon thought he was being clever. He knew that since his father’s passing, Betty held the real power in the family. By inviting all the relatives, he was trying to pressure Betty into accepting the boy. He was sure that if Betty agreed to let Miles join the family, I wouldn’t be able to say anything. After all, for twenty-five years, he had watched me treat Betty with absolute respect and obedience. Miles was quick. He immediately turned to Betty and said respectfully, “Grandmother!” Betty looked at Miles, then at me. Her eyes were filled with complex emotions, and she didn’t answer him. I knew Betty cared about me. I didn’t want to make things difficult for her, so I broke the silence. “Brandon, your real goal is to bring this illegitimate son home to inherit the Williams fortune, isn’t it? Why drag Priscilla into your pathetic scheme?”

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Seven months pregnant. I found an expired asset transfer agreement in Julian’s hidden safe in his study. Twenty percent of Vance Group’s shares, worth billions. Plus three overseas estates and a private island. All gifted for free to my stepsister, Seraphina. But when Julian and I got married, he only handed me a prenuptial agreement. “A business alliance, just a formality,” he had said casually back then. “Sign it.” I signed it, entering the Vance family with absolutely nothing. Ten years of marriage, and I didn’t even know his PIN code. “Who allowed you into my study?” Julian’s voice came from the door, ice-cold. I turned to look at this man I had loved for fifteen years. No tears, no scene. I just said calmly, “Julian, let’s get a divorce.” He strode in, snatched the agreement from my hand, and threw it to the floor. “An old story from years ago, and you’re making a scene over it?” He didn’t even explain. He just angrily told me to get out. I calmly walked out of the study, pulled out my phone, and made a call. “Marcus, help me find a safe place. I want to move out immediately.”

My stomach started cramping uncontrollably. I leaned against the bedroom wall, sliding down to the floor, fighting back tears as I texted my lawyer. My lawyer’s call came back instantly. “Mrs. Vance, are you absolutely sure you want to waive all marital assets and leave with nothing?” “According to the law, a pregnant woman is entitled to at least” Marital assets? I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. There were no marital assets. All of Julian’s stock appreciation over the years was held through nominees, and all his assets were notarized as pre-marital property. My name was never on the family trust’s beneficiary list. On the day we got engaged, he had casually mentioned that he wouldn’t marry a woman who lived off him. He wouldn’t hand over what he worked so hard to get just because of a marriage. Back then, I thought he was just bitter because his father forced him to marry me to repay an old family debt. I knew how hard it was for him to inherit the Vance Group while fighting off a pack of ruthless half-brothers. So, like an obedient fool, I signed page after page of property waivers. I thought that one day, he would let his guard down and truly see me. But seeing that asset transfer agreement, I realized how pathetic I was. Every single asset on that list matched the exact items I had signed away at the notary office years ago. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to share. It was just that the wife he wanted to share it with wasn’t me. “Marcus,” I interrupted him. “Please draft the divorce papers. I’m leaving with nothing.” My hands were still shaking when I hung up. Not from hesitation, but from pure rage. Ten years of marriage felt like a long, elaborate scam, and I had willingly played the fool. The password to Julian’s hidden safe was Seraphina’s birthday. He was willing to give Seraphina everything, yet my monthly credit card limit was capped at five hundred dollars. Even when I was seven months pregnant, vomiting my guts out, he was busy accompanying Seraphina to her private art exhibition. And the most ridiculous part? I was the one who designed their love nest. Three months ago, Julian brought me a villa’s blueprints, forcing me to work despite my severe morning sickness. “A friend is gifting a villa to his partner. Design it to the highest standard, as soon as possible.” Now it clicked. That “friend” was himself. And the elegant signature on the owner’s line read “S.S.” Seraphina Sterling. The divorce papers arrived by evening. My lawyer made one last attempt to persuade me. “Mrs. Vance, at least keep the money you earned yourself…” I shook my head. Julian hadn’t contributed a single dime to our household expenses over the years. All my income as a designer had gone into running this house. Looking back, I must have seemed incredibly cheap to him. As I signed, the baby kicked violently, as if protesting, or perhaps comforting me. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I broke down and cried.

By that afternoon, with Marcus’s help, I rented an apartment. I didn’t care about the location or the layout. I just wanted to leave as soon as possible. It was 8:00 PM when I got back to the Vance estate. The exhaustion of pregnancy made my back ache intensely, but I still cooked one last dinner. All Julian’s favorites. For ten years, I knew his tastes better than my own. Whatever the ending, I wanted a clean break for the sake of our fifteen-year history. But Julian didn’t return until 1:00 AM. He smelled of the perfume Seraphina loved, with a glaring lipstick stain on his collar. I watched him loosen his tie. His ring finger was bare. At some point, he had stopped wearing his wedding band. He saw the cold, untouched food on the table, and his brow furrowed. There was no warmth in his eyes, only deep annoyance. “Playing the victim again? Do you really think this will make me back down?” He tossed his coat onto the sofa and headed upstairs without a second glance. “Julian,” I called out, my voice surprisingly calm. “The divorce papers are on the table. Sign them.” He froze, then turned around, his eyes dripping with sarcasm. “All because of an expired agreement? Luna, since when did you become so unreasonable?” “Your father forced me into this marriage by using a life-saving favor. I had no choice.” “Seraphina has a weak heart. I just wanted to give her some security, a gesture of goodwill!” Security? A gesture? How laughable. Two simple phrases dismissed all my pain. I finally understood. For ten years, the obstacle between us wasn’t anything elsehe simply never loved me. Fifteen years ago, on a rainy night, his half-brothers were hunting him down. I hid him in my family’s pool house for three days. I secretly brought him food and medicine, nearly getting beaten to death myself by those thugs. He had held my hand and promised, “Luna, once I take control of the Vance family, I will marry you in style.” He did take control, using ruthless corporate means. But he “married” me with nothing but a cold, calculating prenuptial agreement. “Julian,” I said, holding my belly as I stood up. “So you do remember that you owe me your life.” He paused, then sneered. “Oh, so you want to settle the score now? Fine. Name your price. How much do you want?” Name your price. I laughed bitterly. The last warm corner of my heart turned to ash. “No need, Julian. I’m truly done with this marriage.” “I want to see the signed divorce papers on the living room table by 9:00 AM tomorrow.” I squeezed out every ounce of strength to keep my voice steady. Without waiting for his reaction, I turned and went upstairs. Behind me, the sound of glass shattering echoed, followed by his furious, out-of-control roar: “Luna! You’d better not regret this!” Regret? My only regret was opening that pool house door fifteen years ago.

The next morning, the living room was empty. The divorce papers had been torn to shreds, scattered carelessly across the expensive rug. My heart clenched at the sight, but then quickly went numb. This was Julian’s answer. He wouldn’t explain, and he wouldn’t let go. My phone lit up with a message from Seraphina on Snapchat. A month ago, she had suddenly added me. Her first message was: “Luna, long time no see. I’m back. Julian picked me up at the airport. He hasn’t changed at all.” Since then, my phone had become a front-row seat to her happiness. A photo of Julian’s back as he walked with her at the art gallery, Julian putting food on her plate, her bare leg resting casually in Julian’s car… And yesterday, she sent a voice note. In the background, I could clearly hear Julian hanging up a call impatiently. “Luna? Don’t worry about her, she always makes a big deal out of nothing. Just focus on the paintings.” The latest message was sent ten minutes ago. It was a photo. Julian was sleeping in her bed, looking peaceful, surrounded by the star-themed bedding I knew too well. The caption read: “Luna, I heard you touched Julian’s things in his study and made him mad?” “Sigh, that agreement was just something he made to comfort me when I was sick years ago. It expired long ago. Don’t misunderstand.” “But Luna, you really look like my younger self, especially your eyes. Julian said that’s the first thing he noticed when he met you.” “Oh, by the way, how is the baby? Julian said he hopes the baby inherits my eyes.” A wave of nausea hit my throat. I rushed into the bathroom and dry-heaved violently. My morning sickness had never been this intense. Leaning against the sink, I stared at my pale face and bloodshot eyes in the mirror. These eyes… I only had them because they looked like hers? Fifteen years of devotion, ten years of marriage, all because a man couldn’t get the woman he truly wanted. And I was just a cheap, flawed substitute. Tears finally spilled over. With trembling hands, I replied to Seraphina. “You always love picking up my trash. Keep him. Keep Julian.” I sent it. Almost instantly, Julian’s name flashed on my screen. I didn’t pick up. I declined the FaceTime call and blocked his number. The world went blissfully quiet. I held my tightening belly, took deep breaths, and forced myself to calm down. Now was not the time for grief. I called a moving company and began packing my things. My clothes, my design sketches, my simple kitchenware, and small appliances… Everything I bought myself was packed into boxes. As for the expensive jewelry, designer gowns, and luxury bags Julian bought to maintain the image of “Mrs. Vance,” I didn’t touch a single one. Even my wedding ring was left quietly on the vanity. The movers arrived quickly and loaded the boxes. Before leaving, I took one last look at the mansion I had lived in for ten years. Beautiful, cold, and a perfect golden cage. And now, my sentence was served. My new apartment was tiny, but it got plenty of sunlight. It took me a whole day to unpack. My body ached, and my lower abdomen felt heavy, but a strange sense of relief washed over me. That night, I received a text from an unknown number. It was Julian. “Luna, come home right now. We can pretend none of this happened.” “Seraphina is in fragile health. Stop harassing and stressing her out.” “And deliver the baby. A Vance heir cannot be born outside.” Looking at the text, I laughed until tears came out. Even now, all he cared about was Seraphina’s feelings and the Vance bloodline. Whether I lived or died, felt pain or sorrow, didn’t matter to him at all. I didn’t reply. I deleted the message and blocked the number.

The day before my scheduled check-up, I went to the hospital. In the ultrasound room, cold gel was applied to my stomach, and the transducer slid over it. The doctor pointed at the screen. “The baby is very healthy. Look, these are the tiny hands, and these are the feet…” The tiny figure was moving, and my heart clenched painfully. With a cracked voice, I asked, “Doctor… the baby’s father is trying to force me to give up custody. What should I do?” The older female doctor adjusted her glasses, looking at me with a complicated expression. “At this stage, an induced labor or giving up the baby would be devastating to you. Besides… the baby can already feel pain.” She placed her hand gently on my stomach. “This baby seems very lively.” I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood. My steps were unsteady as I walked out of the clinic. But at the end of the long hallway, I saw the one person I dreaded meeting. Julian stood there in his bespoke suit, looking every bit the powerful CEO of the Vance Group. “Come back with me.” He grabbed my wrist, his grip so tight it nearly crushed my bones. “Stop throwing tantrums.” “A tantrum?” I looked up at him. “Julian, you think this is a tantrum?” “That agreement was expired and useless,” he said impatiently. “Seraphina’s heart is weak. I just wanted to give her some security” “So I’m just the stepping stone for your beautiful love story?” I wrenched my hand back. “Julian, do you remember the year we got married, when I had a hundred-and-four-degree fever? You said you were too busy to come home. Later, I saw Seraphina’s Instagram post showing you two skiing in Switzerland.” “On our third anniversary, you said you had a board meeting, but I saw your car in the background of Seraphina’s selfie.” “Every time I had a prenatal check-up, you were too busy. Yet you always had time to go to her art shows, buy her jewelry, and celebrate every single one of her birthdays.” I listed them one by one, my voice as calm as if I were telling someone else’s story. Julian’s expression finally cracked. “You… you knew all along?” “Because I never said anything, I just kept telling myself to give you one more chance, to believe in you one more time.” I smiled, but tears streamed down my face. “It was only when I saw that agreement that I realized what a fool I’ve been.” He fell silent. For the first time, I saw a flicker of guilt in his eyes. But it was too late. Way too late. “I will have this baby,” I said softly. “But it has nothing to do with you.” “From now on, the baby and I have absolutely nothing to do with Julian Vance.” With that, I turned and walked away. He didn’t chase after me. For the next few days, I shut off all communication and rested in my apartment. My lawyer told me Julian refused to sign the divorce papers. “Mrs. Vance, if you insist on a divorce, we’ll have to go to court. But since you are pregnant, the court usually favors mediation first.” “Furthermore, Mr. Vance made it clear that if you go to court, he has the resources to take full custody of the child.” Marcus’s voice sounded helpless. I held the phone, silent for a long time. I knew Julian could do it. He had endless wealth and power. I had nothing but the baby in my belly. “Marcus, how long would a contested divorce take?” “If he drags it out and uses his connections… it could take years.” Years? I couldn’t wait that long. My baby couldn’t be born into this chaos. I had to make Julian agree to the divorce himself.

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I was out of town, having just closed a hundred-million-dollar contract. Before I could even send the good news to the team, an email popped up in my inbox. It was a salary reduction agreement from HR. “Liam, as the Head of Sales, you need to lead by example. The company is going through a rough patch, so we’re cutting mid-level management’s salaries by 30%!” I rejected it immediately. But when I got back to the office, my keycard wouldn’t scan. They had revoked my security clearance, and my work accounts were completely shut down. Oh, so that’s how we’re playing this? Fine. I’m going to gift this company a fast-track ticket to bankruptcy! If business is so bad, why keep it open anyway? Looking at the pay cut notice from HR, I was completely stunned. After double-checking to make sure it wasn’t a prank, I replied directly to the email: Rejected. A few minutes later, my phone rang. It was my boss, Arthur Sterling. “Liam, you’re a veteran here. You need to lead by example. The market is tough right now, and the company is struggling.” “This pay cut is just to help us get through this rough patch. You need to be understanding!” “I understand, Arthur, but I don’t accept it. On this business trip, I just—” Before I could finish, Arthur lost his temper and cut me off. “Liam! Don’t get cocky just because you have some talent! This company gave you the platform to grow. Now is the time for you to stand with us!” Hearing him scream through the receiver, I kept my voice deadpan. “I don’t agree to the pay cut.” “Fine! Just you wait!” He slammed the phone down. I looked at the signed contract in my hands and fell into deep thought. Then, I opened Snapchat to get some inside info from a close colleague. “Liam, everyone in the company is being forced to sign it. Arthur was raging just now. He said you weren’t cooperating and that he’d make an example out of you first! You need to get back here fast!” Seeing the message from my team member, Chris, I logged into my email to back up all my work evidence. I wrapped up the loose ends of my project and booked the next flight back. By the time I returned to the office, it was the next afternoon. When I reached the lobby, the facial recognition scanner failed. I tried my keycard, but it had been deactivated. I couldn’t even get past the turnstile. I called Chris, and he came downstairs to let me in, whispering, “Arthur ordered HR to deactivate your card. He said you refused the pay cut and were being uncooperative. Liam, be careful. He’s definitely going to make your life living hell!” “He wouldn’t dare. I just got back from a major business trip. Messing with me now is pure stupidity.” “Who knows if he’s lost his damn mind. HR has already started calling people in for ‘chats’!” “Sigh! Arthur is really suffocating us. He could have at least made the cut smaller!” Make it smaller? No way. A 30% cut on my salary was exactly what he needed to fund his mistress’s lavish lifestyle in Paris. If I hadn’t personally seen his mistress boasting on Ins about her pregnancy and her luxury shopping sprees, I might have actually believed the company was struggling. When I walked into the department, my colleagues looked at me with mixed expressions. Chris headed to the restroom to avoid getting caught talking to me. I sat at my desk and prepared to upload the new contract, only to find I couldn’t log into the system. I entered my password several times, but the screen only displayed: Access Denied. I got the message. They blocked my access and locked me out of the building just to force me into accepting the pay cut. Fine. Let’s have a chat. I patted the folder containing the hundred-million-dollar contract in my bag, stood up, and went to Arthur’s office. Before I could even speak, he sneered. “Liam, you think you’re so smart. A genius like you is far too grand for my little company!” “Arthur, what is that supposed to mean?” “You’ve been absent without leave for more than three days. According to company policy, you are officially terminated!” “No need to explain. Just pack your bags and get the hell out!” Hearing this, my blood boiled. “Absent? I was on a business trip!” Arthur gave me a smug, patronizing smile. “A business trip? Where’s the proof? Where’s the contract? You have nothing. How are you going to prove you were working?” I reached into my bag to pull out the contract, but suddenly, I stopped. Arthur wanted to snatch the contract first and then throw me out like trash. He wanted to drain every last drop of my value. Not a chance. “No proof means you were slacking off. Liam, you’re fired. Get out of my office. Right now!” He pointed at the door, looking absolutely thrilled with himself. “Arthur, are you absolutely sure you want me to get out?”

“Absolutely. Liam, this company doesn’t need an employee who doesn’t know how to obey!” “Understood,” I said. I turned around and walked back to my desk. I opened a terminal on my laptop, ran a custom script, and let it execute in the background. Arthur seemed to have forgotten my background. He forgot that I didn’t just manage sales. I wrote the entire operating system of this company! An hour later, I finished gathering all my personal documents and went to the HR department for the exit interview. Arthur happened to be there. I wasn’t the only one; two colleagues from the planning department who also refused the pay cut were there too. They looked shocked when they saw me walk in. “Liam! What are you doing here?” I shrugged with a dry smile. “The boss told me to get lost. I had no choice but to oblige.” The two of them shook their heads in disbelief. “Arthur has lost his mind. He’s throwing away talent like you?” I didn’t say much. During the offboarding process with HR, I asked casually, “Since the company is terminating me, you’ll be paying out my severance package based on my years of service, right?” Toby, the HR manager, sneered at me. “Are you dreaming? You think we’re going to pay you a massive severance? We’re only paying out your salary for this month.” “Excuse me?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you joking? According to labor laws, I’ve been with this company for ten years. My monthly salary is $20,000. Twenty months of severance equals at least $400,000. If you pay a single penny less, I will see you in arbitration.” Toby’s face turned sour. “Liam, you abandoned your post first, and now you’re stabbing us in the back? After everything Arthur has done for you!” “At your age, good luck finding another job in this market!” “Arthur has taken care of you for years. He only asked for a 30% cut because you’re a veteran, and he promised your year-end bonus would remain untouched. Do you know how many people are losing their jobs out there? Even secure government contracts are getting delayed!” I let out a cold laugh. “Do you know what the most useless department in this company is? It’s yours, Toby. Your entire HR department.” “You do nothing but coast by, you’re completely incompetent, and you can’t even get the monthly timesheets right. You’ll be the next one he fires.” “Tell Arthur I want my full severance. If he doesn’t pay, I’ll drag him through arbitration.” Toby’s face turned purple with rage. He rushed straight into Arthur’s office. A second later, a roar echoed through the hallway. “Liam! You won’t get a single dime from me! And I will personally blackball you from this entire industry! You dare defy me? I’ll make sure none of you ever find a job again!” Hearing this, the other two colleagues looked terrified. They had mortgages to pay and kids to feed; they didn’t have the courage to stand up to Arthur like this. But I wasn’t afraid. I looked Arthur dead in the eye. “We’ll see about that.” He pointed at the exit. “Get the hell out!” “No need to shout. I’m leaving.” Before stepping out, I had already secured all the evidence I needed. More importantly, I had an ace up my sleeve. “Arthur, I’ll be waiting for the day you come begging on your knees.” He sneered. “If I ever beg you, I’ll eat my own shoe!” “Make sure you keep that promise.” I walked out. As soon as I got home, I sent a mass message to all my clients via Snapchat, informing them that I had been terminated and would no longer be representing Sterling Tech. I also noted that Sterling Tech would no longer be handling their accounts. Within minutes, my phone blew up. Clients called me one after another, bewildered by the ridiculous 30% pay cut story. “Liam, why don’t you join us? We can easily offer you a six-figure salary with a signing bonus!” “Come over to my firm, Liam. You can be the Managing Director. You’ll run the entire department.”

I thanked them for their offers, but I already had a plan. Arthur was the one losing out. Now that the clients knew what kind of boss he was, they wouldn’t want to deal with him either. Since the clients trusted me personally, I had nothing to worry about. The next day, I consulted an employment attorney and officially filed for arbitration. Two days after submitting the evidence, the arbitration representative called me. Arthur’s legal team wanted to settle. But they only offered $5,000. I rejected it immediately and insisted on going through the full legal process. If the arbitration result wasn’t satisfactory, I’d take them straight to court. Seeing that I was playing hardball, Arthur spread rumors in the industry to blackball me. The other two laid-off colleagues came to me, and I told them we stood a much better chance if we filed a joint suit. They immediately handed over all their evidence, and we waited for the legal gears to turn. In the meantime, I took a quick trip out of town. Two days later, I officially signed with Nexa Technologies, bringing the hundred-million-dollar contract with me. I was put in charge of Nexa’s entire local division. Meanwhile, Sterling Tech was falling into absolute chaos. Even though I was gone, my old team members were still there. Chris called me on FaceTime, looking panicked. “Liam, the company’s systems are totally crashing. All our code is turning into a mess of errors, and nothing will run.” “Arthur brought in some external developers, but once they looked at the backend, they said the source code was entirely custom-written. They can’t do anything without the original architect. That’s you!” “Arthur is throwing a massive fit in his office. He says he’s going to find you!” I chuckled. “Chris, I actually have an opening in my new team. Pack up your things. Once you get your final paycheck, come join me.” “You already found a new gig, Liam?” “Yeah. Nexa Technologies. And I can offer you a 20% bump on your current salary.” Chris was ecstatic. He immediately sent me two videos of Arthur screaming and cursing like a madman in his office. I tapped my fingers on the desk. This was only the beginning. Arthur, your “blessings” are just starting to roll in. Three days after Nexa Technologies publicly announced our new hundred-million-dollar deal, Arthur called me. “Liam, listen, you designed the system architecture. You must have a way to fix this.” “How about I pay you to consult?” I smiled. “Sure. Pay me my full severance first, and then we can talk.” “You’re extorting me!” “I’m just claiming what is legally mine, Arthur. If you don’t want to pay, feel free to hire someone else to rebuild it from scratch. It’ll only cost you a few million dollars in R&D.” He gasped for air over the phone. “In your dreams!” He slammed the phone down. I didn’t care. I instructed my team to prepare for our product launch. Nexa Technologies’ new product was a massive deal, and the industry was watching. Arthur was watching too. Nexa had set up a major marketing campaign for me, including a solo press conference. I accepted it all. Just a day later, word got out that Arthur had hired a cheap agency to patch up his system using a generic, off-the-shelf software. Chris snapped me, saying the new system was absolute garbage and riddled with bugs. I told him to relax. Arthur had played his last card. When Nexa’s new system went live, it was flawless. It completely crushed Arthur’s patched-up software. In fact, Arthur quickly realized that Nexa’s user interface looked incredibly familiar. It was an upgraded version of the very architecture I had designed at his company—but built entirely on my personal patents. Our system was smoother, faster, and far more user-friendly. When Nexa’s launch trailer dropped, the entire industry was blown away. Right on cue, Arthur called me again, his voice trembling with rage. “Liam! You stole my company’s intellectual property! I’m going to sue you to high heaven!”

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I found out Ethan was cheating on me with his gaming duo. We had a massive fight. In the second month of our silent treatment, he went Instagram official with his new girlfriend. Everyone thought I would lose my mind, cry, and beg him to come back, just like I used to. Ethan thought so, too. But I didn’t. This time, I chose to let go. I assumed we were over, and I packed up all my things and moved out. But after a while, Ethan actually tracked me down. “Chloe, we’ve been giving each other the cold shoulder for so long. Aren’t you ready to make up?” I tossed my phone to the side and kept losing myself in the embrace of the man next to me. On the other end of the line, Ethan’s voice erupted into a crazed, furious roar. I never thought Ethan would cheat on me. “Chloe, was that you playing support in his last game?” My best friend, Mia, called to ask me. “No, why?” “Oh—so your boy Ethan is carrying some other girl?” “No way. He told me he was playing with his boys.” I glanced back at the closed door of the study. Ethan was inside, supposedly in a Discord call with his friends. “No, that support was playing enchanters. Classic girl gamer. Go check his match history.” After hanging up, I opened his game profile. Five pages in a row. It was always the same support player, “BabyMimi,” laning with him in the bot lane. I clicked on her profile. It was definitely a girl’s account, and her bio was filled with cute selfies. Ethan had played with other girls before. But playing with someone so consistently? This was a first. I hadn’t checked his history in a while. He wasn’t even trying to hide it. He didn’t even bother using an alt account. I kept my cool and didn’t bring it up immediately. When he finally finished playing and walked out of the study, I was still sitting by the coffee table, pretending to watch a trending Netflix show. “I’m gonna take a shower, babe,” he said, walking straight into the bathroom. He left his phone on the couch. As soon as I heard the shower start, I picked it up. On Snapchat, I was pinned at the top. The chat history was completely clean. No red flags at all. Refusing to give up, I logged into his Riot Mobile app and clicked on his chat logs with that girl gamer. And there it was. Based on their game chats, they had moved to Snapchat, but Ethan had been deleting his chat history on his phone. What shocked me was that they weren’t just gaming buddies. Ethan was in an online relationship with her. During our five years of dating, because Ethan was good at games, girls were always hovering around him. He wasn’t exactly a saint either. Early on, he loved the attention and never rejected anyone. Every time I found out, I would act like the crazy, insecure girlfriend. I’d throw a tantrum, cry, and force him to block them. But at least he had never officially committed to anyone else.

I hooked his phone up to my laptop and ran a data recovery tool to pull up his deleted Snapchat logs. To stop him from messing around in games, I had learned how to do this a long time ago. Inside the bathroom, Ethan started singing. He was in a great mood. Just as the progress bar hit 100%, the shower stopped. I quickly opened the recovered file. The contents confirmed my worst fears. Since the 18th of last month, he had been texting her “good morning” and “good night” every single day without fail. “Good morning, beautiful. The weather is amazing today. I love you.” On his way to work, he would snap pictures of the morning sun for her. “The chicken today is a bit dry, but the pumpkin is really sweet. Just like you.” He took pictures of his lunch and sent them to her like a daily check-in. “Look, the sunset tonight is beautiful.” He didn’t even forget to snap the sunset when he reached our apartment gate. “The grapes I bought are super fresh. You should eat more fruit too.” Those were the grapes *I* bought, and he had sneaked a picture when I wasn’t looking. “Look at the dinner I made. Looks good, right?” That was the dinner *I* cooked. For the past month, in the little gaps of our daily life, he had been sharing everything with BabyMimi. And the irony was, I hadn’t even received most of these photos. His romantic gestures were exclusively reserved for her. And every time he sent something, her replies were incredibly enthusiastic: “Omg, so pretty!” “I love you too, babe~” “You’re so amazing, I wish I could taste it!” This kind of positive feedback clearly stroked his ego. Thinking back to the beginning of our relationship, we used to be just as sweet. We had endless things to talk about. But after dating for so long, transitioning from college to the real world, the stress of life and work got in the way. We talked less. Lately, he had been spending more time on games, but he always claimed he was playing with his boys. I hadn’t doubted him because I thought it was normal to occasionally play with girls. I just didn’t expect him to cross the line.

“You’re looking through my phone again!” Ethan walked out of the bathroom, saw me with his phone, and spoke in a flat voice. He was incredibly calm. He probably felt confident I wouldn’t find anything. “Ethan, I leave you alone for a second, and you start an e-relationship?” I threw the phone onto the coffee table in his direction. The screen was still lit up, displaying his recovered chats with Mimi in agonizing detail. Ethan visibly panicked. He rushed over and grabbed the phone. “Chloe, let me explain…” Realizing he was caught red-handed, he put the phone down and tried to grab my arm. “What is there to explain? You always complain that I’m bad at the game and refuse to play with me. You told me you were playing with Jake, but it turns out Jake’s name is Mimi?” I held my warm mug of milk, taking slow sips. “We just play games together. She’s just an online friend.” He said this so righteously. As if being “online” made all those sweet, intimate words in the chat history completely meaningless. “But you never sent me any of those photos you sent her.” “Those were just random snaps. They didn’t mean anything.” “If they didn’t mean anything, why share them with your online friend instead of me? You’re bored of me, aren’t you, Ethan?” “I’m not bored of you. I want to build a life with you.” He reached out to hold my hand, but I pulled away. “People who want to build a life together don’t act like this.” Right in front of me, he opened Snapchat, deleted Mimi, then dragged me to his PC, opened the game, and unfriended her there too. “See? I told you she’s just a random online friend. Texting is just a game. It means nothing. I can delete her just like that, Chloe.” He tried to use this to brush off the fact that he had cheated. It was as if the more casual he acted, the more petty and unreasonable I looked.

I didn’t argue with him anymore. To Ethan, the moment he deleted her, the matter was resolved. But in my heart, I had no intention of forgiving him. We had been graduated for two years, and including our college years, we had been together for five years. In all this time, he had never once brought up marriage. Even after we moved in together after graduation, he never expressed any desire to visit my parents. I had been waiting for him, taking care of his daily life. I tried so hard to be the perfect girlfriend, hoping to show him the love of a future wife. But I didn’t expect that even after all this time, he would still be so immature. In his mind, it seemed like we could just date forever. Whenever our friends joked about us getting married, he would just laugh it off. Every time I felt bitter and hurt, I would comfort myself by imagining the moment he would finally propose. I thought, we’ve been together for five years. If we don’t end up married, what was the point of all this love? But this incident proved that he had no intention of marrying me anytime soon. I started giving him the silent treatment, and I moved back to Mia’s apartment. During this time, Ethan texted and called me, but I ignored him. I threw myself entirely into my work. I’m a graphic designer, and I started staying late at the office, working myself to the bone. Before, I rarely worked overtime because I was always worried Ethan wouldn’t have dinner when he got home. Even if I had unfinished work, I would bring it home and pull an all-nighter. Now, work consumed me, numbing the pain.

We had been in a cold war for over a month. I didn’t get an apology or a proposal from Ethan. Instead, in the second month, I saw his post on Instagram. He was official with someone else. It was Mimi. I recognized her face. The announcement photo was a selfie of them standing shoulder to shoulder. They had met up in real life. Our mutual friends and college classmates all thought we had just had a fight, and that I would go back to him crying like before. But this time, I didn’t. I just kept tapping on that photo. Zooming in and out, looking at every detail, trying to find a way to let go. Thirty minutes after he posted it, I left a comment: “You look great together. Wish you two the best.” The moment I posted that comment, my phone blew up. My friends flooded my DMs with shock and questions. I didn’t have the energy to reply to them one by one. Shortly after, I posted my own update: “I guess loving someone for a long time doesn’t mean you get to stay together.” That post was my belated announcement of our breakup. Honestly, I should have pronounced Ethan and this relationship dead a long time ago. I don’t know why I dragged it out. It was as if I just couldn’t let go of the past and kept trying to run away from reality.

When I was eight years old, I saw my mom kissing one of her coworkers, Mr. Davis, in the parking lot downstairs. That scene shattered my world. Since then, I couldn’t look at my mom the same way. I only knew I had to be extra good to my dad because I felt so sorry for him. But at the same time, I didn’t dare tell him the truth. I was terrified he wouldn’t be able to take the blow. And selfishly, I didn’t want to see them get divorced. I don’t know if my dad ever found out, but they are still together to this day. Since that moment, I grew to despise betrayal in any form, whether in friendship or love. I also developed a deep fear of intimacy, especially with men. Even with Ethan, whom I had dated for so long, I would start shaking and breaking out in a cold sweat whenever we did anything beyond basic kissing. So, no matter how hard we tried, we could never take the final step. For a long time, I felt incredibly guilty about this. I always thought that his reluctance to bring up marriage was because of my issues. That was why I was willing to wait for him. I wanted to show him through my actions that I really trusted and loved him. Of course, Ethan had once promised me that he was willing to wait, and that he would never betray me. But as the years went by, he seemed to have thrown those promises out the window. He crossed my boundaries again and again, meeting different girls, playing games with them, and staying on voice calls late into the night. It felt as though he was trying to punish me, provoking me over and over. Maybe he wanted me to know that he could love anyone, but since he chose to stay with me, I should be grateful. As for his real reasons, I didn’t know anymore, and I didn’t care. I went back to the apartment to pack up the rest of my things. “Why aren’t you throwing a fit this time?” Ethan leaned against the doorframe, watching me pack with cold eyes. “Ethan, I just suddenly realized that our five years together were incredibly boring.” “Since when did you learn to play hard to get, Chloe?” I caught the smug implication in his voice.

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When I was seven, my father’s gambling addiction ruined us. He lost everything and dragged me onto the streets to beg for scraps. We were cornered and abused by ruthless local loan sharks, but I managed to escape the chaos. Julian brought me to his grandfather’s ranch, and we promised we would never be parted. But behind his back, I secretly begged the social worker to find me a foster family far away. I was desperate for a new life. The day I left, he stood behind a flock of sheep, his eyes red with tears, watching me go until I vanished past the horizon. Years later, we met again. But he was no longer that poor ranch boy—he had become the insanely powerful heir to the Sterling empire. Desperate for career opportunities, I approached him with an agenda. But his borderline pathological possessiveness terrified me, and I tried to run. Later, he pinned me by my waist, his cold eyes burning into mine as he whispered hoarsely, “Chloe, you’re the one who broke the promise first. You have no heart.”

I didn’t know how long or how far I ran. I just kept going, from the pitch-black night until the sky turned pale with dawn. I ended up in a remote, unfamiliar valley town. The morning air was crisp, and the wild grass at the entrance of the town was damp with dew. In the distance, I could hear faint voices. The terror that had briefly subsided came rushing back. I gritted my teeth and forced my tired legs to keep moving. I stumbled straight into a flock of sheep slowly heading down the dirt road. The sheep panicked, scattering in all directions. Exhaustion made me lose my head. I was terrified that the noise would attract attention. I was terrified of being caught. I dodged past the fluffy white bodies, desperate to find a place to hide. In my blind panic, I crashed headfirst into a boy who was slightly shorter than me. He lost his footing and tumbled backward, his head striking a jagged old tree stump. Fresh, bright red blood immediately began to seep from his forehead. “Ouch! Ahhh—” He burst into tears from the sharp pain. My heart leaped into my throat. The sound of his crying paralyzed me with fear. What if those bad men heard him? I didn’t even try to help him up. I scrambled to my feet, my only instinct to run away. But before I could take a step, he grabbed my arm with an iron grip. No matter how hard I thrashed, I couldn’t shake him off. “Jules! Jules, what happened?!” An elderly man with thinning white hair rushed over, quickly scooping the crying boy into his arms. Only then did I snap out of my panic. The voices I had heard earlier belonged to this old man. I looked at the boy, feeling a pang of guilt. I reached out, wanting to wipe his tears. He angrily turned his head away, but his small hand still gripped my sleeve tightly. The old man led him, the boy dragged me, and just like that, I was pulled along to their small ranch house. Once inside, the old man wrapped the boy’s head in thick gauze until he looked like a little mummy. Only then did the old man turn his attention to me. I was a complete mess. Having lived on the streets for so long, I smelled terrible. My clothes were ripped to shreds by tree branches, my face and body were caked in sweat and dirt, and my bare feet were cut and bleeding. The boy called the old man “Grandpa.” So, I quietly followed suit and called him Grandpa, too. Grandpa Thomas didn’t ask questions right away. He helped me wash up, found some of the boy’s oversized clothes for me to wear, and handed me a warm bowl of oatmeal. Feeling their genuine kindness, I devoured the food like a wild animal. It had been so long since I sat at a proper table and had a real meal.

Not long ago, I was a girl with a happy home. My dad ran a successful tech startup. But for some reason, he got hooked on gambling. Overnight, he lost everything. Our house and cars were foreclosed, and he owed an unimaginable amount of money to dangerous people. At seven years old, I didn’t understand what bankruptcy meant. I just watched our live-in nanny pack her bags and leave in the middle of the night. In the blink of an eye, my dad and I became homeless. He dragged me from one neighborhood to another, carrying different pieces of cardboard with fabricated stories written on them. Sometimes the cardboard said I was terminally ill. Sometimes it said my mother was dying. Sometimes it was about him. But the truth was, I didn’t even have a mother. I had never met her. He forced me to cry while begging, telling me that tears were the only way to get people to open their wallets. Some days we got enough money for a decent meal. Other days, we got absolutely nothing, and he would drag me to the dumpsters behind supermarkets to look for expired food. My young mind couldn’t comprehend how long this nightmare would last. Whenever I cried at night, begging him to take me home, he would always whisper, “Soon, sweetie, very soon.” Until that fateful night. A group of terrifying, muscular men cornered us in an abandoned warehouse. My dad fell to his knees, trembling and begging them to let me go. “Mr. Hayes, did you really think you could hide from us forever? A debt is a debt. You can’t run.” Right before my eyes, they cut off one of my dad’s fingers. His agonizing screams pierced the night. I screamed and cried until my voice went hoarse, but no one came to save us. Eventually, I fainted from hyperventilating. When I woke up in the middle of the night, the warehouse was dead silent. The guards were gone. I looked at my unconscious father. I felt no lingering attachment, only pure survival instinct. I crawled out through a loose metal sheet at the bottom of the wall. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I heard dogs barking in the distance, and saw headlights scanning the dark hills. I didn’t look back. I knew this was my only chance to live.

“Sweetheart, where did you come from? Where is your family?” Once I had finished the food, Grandpa Thomas asked me gently. I didn’t dare tell him the truth. I was terrified he would send me back. Besides, I didn’t even know if my dad was still alive. “I don’t have a family. I’ve been living on the streets,” I lied, completely erasing my father from my story. As I spoke, tears finally spilled over. The terror of the previous night finally caught up to me, suffocating me. “Don’t cry. Grandpa will wrap you up, and it won’t hurt anymore,” the boy chimed in from the side, trying to comfort me in his own childlike way. Grandpa Thomas told me the boy was two years younger than me, and his name was Jules. “How long have you been on your own, little girl?” “I don’t know… a very long time,” I sobbed. “Shh, don’t cry, sweetheart. Tell you what, you stay here with us for now. We have plenty of food and clothes.” Grandpa Thomas gently wiped my tears with his rough, calloused thumb. This warmth, which I hadn’t felt in so long, moved me deeply. Ever since we started running, my dad’s only focus was how to use me to get sympathy and cash. When I cried, he no longer held me like he used to. I couldn’t understand what I had done wrong for my life to turn upside down so suddenly. Compared to the terrifying days on the streets, life at Grandpa Thomas’s ranch was heaven. But whenever Jules and Grandpa went out to herd the sheep, I refused to go with them. I didn’t know where we were, or how far we were from that horrific warehouse. My survival instinct told me to stay hidden inside the house. Only there did I feel somewhat safe.

Jules was a sweet boy, and he quickly became attached to me, following me around like a shadow. Back when I had a home, I had read a lot of storybooks, so I could make up all kinds of tales to entertain him. He loved it. But he had a bizarre quirk—he insisted on hearing scary stories before bed. Sometimes, out of mischief, I would intentionally add terrifying details just to scare him so he would cling to me. “I’m scared, Chloe,” he would whimper. He loved to sleep with his arms and legs tangled around me. At first, I hated the lack of personal space. But over time, I got used to it. In fact, if he wasn’t next to me, I found myself lying awake in fear. “Chloe, will you stay here forever?” His chubby face turned to me, his big, bright eyes shining in the dim light. “Of course I will, Jules. Now go to sleep.” I lulled him to sleep, gently tracing the scar on his forehead. But even as I promised him I would stay forever, I knew I couldn’t. I had been here for almost two months. A social worker, Officer Miller, had visited the ranch earlier. She told me that if I wanted, she could help Grandpa Thomas legally adopt me. But if I didn’t want to stay, she could arrange for me to go to a foster agency in the city. They didn’t know my real name. Back home, my name was Maya, but I was terrified the loan sharks would find me if I used it. So, I lied and told them my name was Chloe—the name of a popular girl from my old preschool. I secretly went to see Officer Miller on my own. I intentionally made myself look as miserable and pathetic as possible, making it clear that I wanted to be adopted by a wealthy family in a big city. My old home was in Seattle. Officer Miller told me that this ranch was over three hundred miles away from there. She spread out a map on her desk to show me the distance. I pointed to Chicago, which was in the opposite direction and even further away. The further I was from Seattle, the harder it would be for those dangerous men to track me down. “I want to go there. Can you help me?” Officer Miller was taken aback by my calculating request, but she eventually nodded and promised to look into it. A few weeks later, she came back to the ranch to find me. “Chloe, I reached out to an agency in Chicago. There’s a very wealthy, respectable couple looking to adopt a seven-year-old girl. Would you like to meet them?” Without a single second of hesitation, I replied, “Yes. Take me there.”

Officer Miller arranged for a local volunteer to drive me to the city. We scheduled the departure for a morning when Jules wouldn’t know. Grandpa Thomas, wanting to spare the boy the heartbreak, took Jules out to the far pastures early that morning. Grandpa, Jules, and the local townspeople had been nothing but kind to me. So why was I so determined to leave? Because even after all this time, the memory of my father’s finger being severed still haunted my dreams. I didn’t know how far I had run, but I felt like staying here was a ticking time bomb. If those loan sharks ever looked for me, a small town like this would be the easiest place to corner me and kill me. Moreover, though I had lived like a gutter rat recently, I remembered my old life. I used to go to a high-end private school. My old home was luxurious. I didn’t want to grow up on a dusty ranch, turning into a farm girl. Even though I had lost my biological father and my home, if I had a chance to be adopted, I wanted to be rich again. Perhaps living with a desperate, single father had made me cynical, but even at seven, my mind was entirely focused on survival and status. And I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. Sitting in the back of the pickup truck, I watched the ranch fade into the distance. The valleys, the pastures, the big oak tree where I first met Jules, and Grandpa’s flock of sheep… And then, I saw him. Jules was running behind the sheep, his eyes red with tears, silently watching the truck drive away until he became a tiny speck on the horizon. The bumping of the truck made my throat tight. But I didn’t cry. I shouldn’t cry. I was finally leaving the dirt behind to start a new, better life. Did I feel bad for leaving Jules? A little. But he was just a ranch boy. If things went as expected, he would probably spend his entire life in that dusty valley. We belonged to different worlds now.

The day after I arrived at the Chicago adoption agency, Mr. and Mrs. Hayes came to visit. The agency director told me they were looking for a girl around seven years old. The only other seven-year-old girl at the agency had a difficult temperament and refused to speak to anyone. So when Officer Miller called about me, the director brought me in, hoping for a match. The next morning, the couple arrived. Richard Hayes liked me the moment he saw me, and his wife, Eleanor, seemed pleased as well. “Eleanor, look at her,” Richard whispered, gently lifting my chin. “Her eyes… they look so much like Lily’s.” I nervously clutched the hem of my dress, having no idea who Lily was. Eleanor’s eyes welled with tears as she nodded in agreement. I found out later that Lily was their biological daughter, who would have been my age. She had passed away from leukemia just a few months prior. Eleanor’s health was too fragile to conceive again, which was why they decided to adopt. I had to thank my lucky stars for my pretty face, which allowed them to see their late daughter’s ghost in me. When they heard my name was Chloe, they took it as a sign from heaven. “Sweetheart, we don’t want to change your name if you don’t want us to. Would you like to keep ‘Chloe’?” Eleanor asked softly. I nodded meekly. And so, Chloe Hayes became my official identity. “Perfect. Chloe means blooming and full of life. It’s a beautiful name,” Richard smiled warmly. A fresh start, blooming with life. It was indeed a perfect name. It was the best gift I could have given myself. The adoption went through smoothly. I became the sole heiress of the Hayes family and moved into their massive estate. Just as I had hoped, our car pulled into a gated community and stopped in front of a stunning, multi-million-dollar mansion. They were incredibly wealthy, even richer than my biological father had been. And best of all, I had a mother again. From Eleanor, I received the gentle, unconditional maternal love I had never known. I thanked God every day for my luck. They treated me like royalty, decorating my room like a princess’s castle. “Thank you, Mom. Thank you, Dad. Thank you for bringing me home,” I cried, throwing my arms around them. Part of it was a performance to secure my place, but a large part of it was genuine. Only I knew how hard I had fought to get here. It was luck, and it was destiny. I was more than willing to play the part of their perfect, resurrected daughter.

Eighteen years went by in a flash. I had long since adapted to my life as a wealthy socialite. With my adoptive father’s connections and funding, I had successfully broken into the entertainment industry as a rising starlet. However, the competition was fierce. There were several other young actresses debuting at the same time, and my agency’s resources were limited. Without a massive breakout hit, my popularity remained mediocre. My current project, a drama called *Hear You*, was a villainous supporting role that I had to practically beg the producers for. Even though Richard had poured a lot of money into my career, there was always a bigger fish in the sea. I knew that to truly solidify my place in Hollywood, talent wasn’t enough. I needed to network with the real power players. At the wrap party for *Hear You*, my agent, Serena, pulled me aside and whispered that the youngest heir of the Sterling family would be attending. The Sterling Group was the primary investor in our film. They possessed unimaginable wealth and controlled half of the distribution networks in the country. I had always been ambitious. I knew Julian Sterling was a brilliant, incredibly handsome billionaire, and a rare catch. Throughout the entire party, my mind was racing, trying to figure out how to make a graceful, memorable impression on him without looking desperate. Of course, I wasn’t the only one. Dozens of other starlets were lingering around, hoping for a chance to catch his eye. But as the night dragged on and the party neared its end, the VIP guest of honor had yet to show up. Most of the guests assumed he wasn’t coming and began to leave. I was about to head to the dressing room to change out of my gown when a sudden commotion echoed from the entrance. A large entourage walked in, surrounding a tall, striking young man in the center.

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My husband fell into a mountain of debt after being scammed. He got down on his knees, begging me to sleep with his creditor to clear his name. “I’m your wife, Carter! And you’re asking me to sell my body?” In my past life, when Carter first suggested this, I was so shocked and disgusted that I slapped him across the face and demanded a divorce. But that very night, he drugged my drink. He carried me to Wyatt’s bed with his own hands, where I was tortured to death. Reborn into this life, I didn’t slap him. Instead, I wrapped my arms tightly around him, sobbing. “Oh, Carter… I’ll do anything for you. Anything!” Carter didn’t have a college degree, but he had always seemed kind and honest. That was exactly why I fell for him. He was gentle, attentive, and always put me first. I thought he was the perfect partner, even if he wasn’t rich. We had been together for three years. I never could have guessed those three years would end with him trying to trade my body. Carter knelt on the hardwood floor, clutching my legs, tears streaming down his face. “Babe, it’s not like that. It’s not selling you. Think of it as a temporary thing to save us. Just this once, please. Once Wyatt gets what he wants, he’ll wipe out the debt. We won’t have to live in fear anymore…” In my previous life, after I demanded a divorce, Carter cried and snot poured down his face as he begged for forgiveness. He swore he had just lost his mind for a second. He promised he’d never say such disgusting things again and begged me not to leave him when he was at rock bottom. Looking at our one-year-old baby, Leo, crying in his crib, my heart softened. I stayed. But that soft heart paved my road to hell. After Wyatt tortured me to death, Carter didn’t even shed a tear. He made a deal with Wyatt, and together they threw my body into an illegal dog-fighting ring to let the hounds destroy the evidence. And Leo, my sweet little boy, was thrown into an industrial meat grinder by those two monsters, turned into nothing but a bloody mess.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back to the exact night my husband knelt before me. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms. Forcing down the burning hatred and nausea rising in my throat, I trembled as I hugged him back. “Carter, I love you. I’ll do whatever it takes to help you!” A man who could stand by and watch his own infant son be slaughtered was never going to let me live. So, in this life, I’m going to make sure these monsters rot in hell.

“Fiona? Seriously?!” His crocodile tears stopped instantly. Carter let out a gasp of pure excitement. But he quickly caught himself. He held my face in his hands, putting on his best act of a deeply devoted, tormented husband. “Babe, are you really willing to do this with Wyatt? Back in college, he…” I sobbed, burying my face in his shoulder. “Carter, for you, for our family, I’ll give up everything.” But Carter suddenly grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back. His dull, fish-like eyes turned cold and vicious, like a viper watching its prey. “Oh? Really?” My heart squeezed. Cold sweat broke out across my back. I had to play this perfectly. I gritted my teeth, summoned every ounce of my strength, and slapped him hard across the face. His head snapped to the side. Before he could react, I turned to the vanity table. With a sweep of my arm, I knocked all my makeup bottles and perfume onto the floor. They shattered with loud, sharp crashes. I stomped my feet, pounding the table and screaming at the top of my lungs. “If you hadn’t been stupid enough to let Wyatt scam you, would we even be in this mess?! And now you’re doubting me? What do you think I am? Do you think I’m some desperate slut who can’t wait to crawl into the bed of the guy who tried to rape me in college?!” “I’m sorry, Fiona! Please, don’t be mad. It’s my fault, it’s all my fault.” Carter rushed up behind me, pinning my flailing arms to my sides. After a few minutes of screaming, I gradually quieted down. I could feel his body trembling against mine—not with fear, but with excitement. Ha. The urge to vomit grew stronger. I had almost forgotten. This violent, hysterical reaction was exactly what a normal woman would do upon hearing such a disgusting proposal. That was the only way to make him believe me. Once Carter managed to calm me down, I went to the bathroom to put on my makeup and get dressed. He sat at the edge of the bed, staring at me without blinking. He looked like a rabid dog drooling over a juicy bone. Even when I went to the bathroom, he stood right outside the door, refusing to leave me out of his sight for even a second. He still didn’t trust me. We were husband and wife. Why was he so obsessed with seeing me destroyed? But it didn’t matter. Someone who has already died once doesn’t care about the ‘why.’ I just wanted both of them to suffer a fate worse than death. After putting on a tight, elegant dress, I did a slow spin in front of him. “Babe, honestly… you didn’t have to dress up so pretty for him,” Carter said. I looked up. In his eyes, I saw a bizarre mixture of emotions—jealousy, disgust, and deep, dark hatred. He was acting jealous now? What a pathetic hypocrite. “Carter—” I took a panicked step forward and threw myself onto my knees at his feet, grabbing his jeans. “Carter, you don’t actually want me to go, do you? I won’t go! Let’s not do this, please! We can pay off the debt together. We can sell the house, I can work three jobs… I’ll do anything, just please don’t make me go!” The moment I mentioned selling the house and paying the debt, Carter’s face twisted. “Fiona, how could I be mad at you? I know you’re doing this for me. You’re doing this to save our family.”

Sitting in the passenger seat, I watched the familiar streets flash by. It was the exact same route from my past life. Maybe I should have looked terrified. After all, Wyatt had gone to prison during our senior year of college because of me. He had tried to rape me back then, and he failed. Now that he was out, it made sense he wanted revenge. In the beginning of this mess, I didn’t know Carter’s “business partner” was Wyatt. By the time I found out, it was already too late. Actually, “too late” wasn’t the right word. Even though the future had been a mystery to me, the moment Carter suggested I sleep with his creditor, I should have realized he wanted me dead. In my last life, Carter hadn’t given me a lethal dose of the drug. But that wasn’t out of mercy. It was because Wyatt didn’t want to sleep with an unconscious corpse. I had been fully awake but completely paralyzed in the passenger seat, staring helplessly out the window, praying for Carter to have a sudden change of heart. But he didn’t. Ignoring my silent, tearful pleas, he carried me into the hotel room and threw me onto Wyatt’s bed. “Fiona, you’re really doing this for me, right?” The brakes slammed hard. The seatbelt locked, digging painfully into my chest. Startled, I turned to look at him. Carter was slowly turning his neck toward me, his movements stiff and unnatural. “You’re sleeping with Wyatt… just for me?” His face was shadowed in the darkness of the car. His lips curled into a bizarre, unnatural straight line that was half-smile, half-grimace. It was that creepy, unfamiliar feeling again. For a split second, I wondered if this man was truly the same sweet, submissive husband I had known for three years. Could he be reborn, too? Or had I simply never known who Carter really was? I could have easily run away with Leo the moment I woke up in this timeline. But would Wyatt really let us go? Could I really hide in a place where they’d never find us? Besides, why should my baby and I be the ones to run and live in fear after what they did to us? Instead of running like a coward, I chose to fight. I was going to get justice for my past self and my baby! I wanted them to feel every single ounce of pain they inflicted on us! With that thought, a cold wave of calm washed over me. “What is that supposed to mean?” I sat up straight, glaring back at him with a coldness that matched his own. “Would you be happier if I refused? If I fought back?” “Who’s to say you wouldn’t just drug me in the middle of the night anyway and drag me to his bed yourself?” Silence. A heavy, suffocating silence filled the car. I couldn’t see Carter’s expression, but the air felt thick with invisible needles, ready to pierce me the second I took a breath. I stayed silent, my hand gripping my purse so hard my veins bulged. After what felt like an eternity, Carter let out a forced, nervous chuckle. “B-Babe, what are you talking about?” “How could I ever do something like that?” “You’re my wife. If you really didn’t want to, I would never force you…” The tension in my chest eased slightly, replaced by a surge of pure contempt. I cut him off, my voice ice-cold. “Great. Let’s turn the car around and go home right now.” Carter froze. “Carter, you don’t love me at all, do you?” Leaving those words hanging in the air, I grabbed the hotel key card from the center console, opened the door, and walked straight into the lobby. — ### Carter’s POV 1. This is my second rebirth. But this time, Fiona actually agreed to the plan without a fight. I knew it. I knew it from the very beginning. Fiona is a lying, cheating whore. A total slut! 2. In our very first life, I chose her over Wyatt’s threats. And how did she repay me? She stripped naked and willingly rode Wyatt right on our living room couch, right in front of my face! And while she was moaning in his arms, she laughed and told me the truth—that our son, Leo, wasn’t even mine! That wasn’t even the end of it. Once they were done, they didn’t let me go. They dragged me to an illegal dog-fighting yard and watched as the hounds tore me to pieces! 3. Maybe God couldn’t stand watching such evil go unpunished, because He gave me a second chance. In that second life, I told Fiona about Wyatt’s demand. Fiona slapped me and demanded a divorce. What a joke! She was still trying to act innocent! Fortunately, I already knew her true, filthy colors. I’ve spent my whole life pretending to be someone I’m not. How else could a top-tier college graduate like Fiona fall for a high school dropout who spent his days playing video games in internet cafes and working dead-end restaurant jobs? I pretended to apologize, calmed her down, and then slipped a small dose of roofies into her drink. Just enough to paralyze her, but keep her fully conscious. I wanted her to feel every second of what was coming. Though, based on what happened in our first life, she was probably thrilled to be back in Wyatt’s bed anyway. But I wasn’t going to let her enjoy it for free. After I got caught up in Wyatt’s debt trap, I did some digging on him. The guy was a cartel-affiliated thug and a heavy drug addict. With a little extra dose of drugs slipped into Wyatt’s drink, I figured they would both go straight to hell together. But bad guys always live longer. Wyatt survived. Only Fiona died, slowly tortured to death. But that was enough. She deserved it for betraying me and trying to kill me. When Wyatt threatened me to help him clean up the body, I pretended to be terrified. But inside, I was ecstatic. The junkyard! The industrial meat grinder! I watched her and that little bastard child she had with another man turn into dog food! 4. But I don’t understand. I already got my revenge. Why did I wake up back on the night of the proposal again? Even worse, my mind was fully conscious, but my body felt like it was on autopilot, forcing me to say the exact same lines from the previous timeline. Thankfully, the moment Fiona agreed to go to Wyatt, that strange, invisible force vanished, and I regained control of my body. But while I was furious that she had dropped her act so easily, a chilling realization hit me. If my first rebirth was for revenge, what is this one for? Was there some crucial piece of information I had missed? It wasn’t until I parked in front of the hotel, and Fiona, shrouded in the shadows, brought up exactly what I had done to her in the previous life. *Is she reborn, too?!* My throat instantly went dry. It felt like a massive spider had crawled up my leg, slowly making its way up to my neck, biting down hard on my windpipe. By the time I found my voice, my skin was covered in goosebumps. If she really remembers everything… No… I leaped out of the car and sprinted into the hotel lobby. “Sir! Are you checking in or looking for someone?” the receptionist called out, blocking my path. “The woman who just walked in—she’s my wife!” I had a terrible, sinking feeling in my chest. If I didn’t stop her right now, something horrific was going to happen to me. I shoved the receptionist aside and lunged for the elevator. But just as my fingers were about to touch the call button, three security guards tackled me from behind, dragging me away. “Sir, we need to see your ID and register you first!” “Wait! Fiona—!” I watched in horror as the elevator doors slid shut. Fiona stood inside, looking at me with a twisted, chilling smile before she vanished from sight.

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My childhood sweetheart spoiled me like a princess for twenty years, only to fall for Chloe, the new scholarship girl. He skipped classes and got into street fights for her. He even demanded to call off our arranged engagement. He had no idea she was playing multiple guys at once, just to hook a rich husband. I warned him, “Don’t let her innocent act fool you.” But Ethan just splashed his red wine right onto my face. “Are you really stooping to petty catfights now, Serena? You disgust me.” After that, I completely gave up on him and got engaged to Logan—the man who had been silently protecting me all along. On my wedding day, Ethan crashed his sports car through the church doors. Bleeding and desperate, he held out a wedding veil to me. “Let’s start over, please?” I snatched the veil and ripped it to shreds. “Do I look like a recycling bin to you? I don’t pick up trash.” I found Ethan in a grungy downtown alley. He was shielding Chloe behind his back, his fists covered in blood as he beat up a group of street thugs. I rushed forward to stop him. “Ethan, stop! The paparazzi are already on their way.” Before this, he had already made a name for himself by skipping elite college classes for Chloe. I was terrified he would anger his father, Richard, again, so I tried to drag him away. But he shoved me back hard. “Serena Vance, I thought you just lacked empathy. I didn’t realize you were actually this malicious.” “Ethan, don’t blame Serena,” Chloe sobbed, pretending to tremble. “She’s right. I’m nothing but trouble.” As she spoke, she made a move to drop to her knees in front of the thugs. “Please, just give me some time. Once my mom’s surgery is over, I’ll go dance at a strip club to pay you back.” Hearing this, Ethan’s eyes practically overflowed with painful devotion. “How could I ever let my woman work in a place like that? It’s just fifty thousand dollars, right? I’ll pay it!” The exact moment he whipped out his checkbook and signed it, the flashing lights of the paparazzi captured everything. “Mr. Thorne, rumors say you have a secret girlfriend. Is it her?” “Is your upcoming engagement to Miss Vance still on schedule?” The rain was pouring down. The crowd of reporters surged forward, knocking my umbrella out of my hand. Ethan only gave me a freezing look. “You can handle this yourself, right?” “What?” Before I could even process his words, he took Chloe’s hand, sprinted to his car, and sped off. He left me standing entirely alone in the freezing rain. I stood frozen. That familiar feeling of abandonment rushed back, just like when I was a child. When I was five, my parents divorced. My mother walked out, and my father couldn’t care less about me, constantly cycling through new girlfriends. Everyone abandoned me. During the worst phase of my depression, Ethan was the only one who held an umbrella over my head. “Don’t cry, Serena. I’ll always stand by your side.” Because of that promise, he spoiled me for twenty years, and my heart belonged to him for twenty years. But now, he had abandoned me for a girl who had just dropped out of thin air. The sudden drop from being cherished to being discarded pierced my heart like a needle. Even in front of the cameras, I couldn’t stop my tears. “Miss Vance, may we ask…” “Can you please stop?” I covered my face and tried to walk away, but a reporter grabbed my arm. “Please cooperate with our interview.” Just as I was about to break down, a black umbrella shielded me from the rain. “She has the right to refuse.” A tall, familiar figure stepped in front of me. “If you have questions, ask me.” The reporters gasped. “Mr. Logan Thorne! What is your relationship with Miss Vance?” “I don’t mind telling you, but it depends on her,” Logan replied, flashing me a playful, boyish grin. He hadn’t changed at all. His manager quickly ushered me into a nearby SUV. “Logan is used to dealing with these media circuses. Don’t worry about him.” With Logan’s natural charm, he was practically born for the spotlight. I wasn’t worried about him. I was worried about tomorrow’s headlines. My fears were justified. The next morning, Richard Thorne’s fury descended. He threw a crystal glass that shattered right against Ethan’s forehead. Blood trickled down Ethan’s face, but he stood his ground, stubborn as ever. “I am calling off the engagement! Chloe is the love of my life. She doesn’t care about our family’s money at all!” The love of his life? Suddenly, a flood of memories rushed into my mind. My eighteenth birthday party, my high school graduation, my first solo piano recital… At every milestone of my life, Ethan had sent me flowers. The cards always read: *To Serena, the love of my life.* When did his “love of his life” change? Richard suddenly turned to me. “Serena, when is your father free? I think we need to move up the wedding.” I snapped out of my daze. “Okay. I’ll call him.” But Ethan snatched my phone away and threw it. “Are you really that desperate, Serena? Do you have no dignity left?”

“What did you just say to her?!” Logan, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly lunged forward and slammed his fist into Ethan’s face. “Do you have any idea how much she loves you? How dare you humiliate her like that?” Ethan sneered, wiping the blood from his lip. “That’s her own choice. I never asked for it.” “You bastard!” The two brothers started punching each other, and Richard roared in anger. I quickly dragged Logan out of the living room. Out in the courtyard, as I gently dabbed antiseptic on his cut knuckle, he looked at me nervously. He squeezed my hand gently. “I’m sorry, Serena. I know I shouldn’t have lost my temper, but I just…” “Thank you.” “What?” I smiled softly. “Thank you for standing up for me.” His ears turned bright red, and he nervously scratched the back of his neck. “Then… are you…” Before he could finish, a loud shouting match echoed from the villa. “If you keep trying to stop me from being with Chloe, I will leave this family!” Ethan screamed. “Fine! Let’s see how long you survive out there without my money!” Richard bellowed back. Seconds later, Ethan stormed out of the house. As he passed the courtyard, he glared at me with absolute disgust, as if I were a piece of trash blocking his way. Not too long ago, he used to look at me with so much warmth, whispering, *“Who else could I ever love but you, Serena?”* Everything changed the moment Chloe appeared. Chloe Miller… If she willingly backed away, would everything go back to normal? I dug up her address and went to find her with a checkbook in my bag. But when I arrived at the entrance of her sketchy alley, I saw her flirting with a man covered in tattoos. She was carrying a brand-new designer bag. “Thanks, Leo. Thanks for helping me clear that debt with the underground casino.” Casino debt? Didn’t she say her mother needed emergency surgery? Chloe noticed me first. She quickly pushed the man away and adjusted her clothes. “Can I help you?” she asked, her voice instantly turning cold. I had to admire her acting skills. She composed herself so quickly. “I thought you loved Ethan so much? I thought it was ‘true love’? Can’t keep up the act anymore?” Chloe chuckled mockingly. “So what? Ethan prefers my sweet, innocent act over your perfect heiress persona. In the end, I win.” “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell him the truth?” “Go ahead. Tell him. Let’s see who he believes.” She turned to leave. I grabbed her wrist. “Enough. You just want money. How much?” Chloe snatched her hand back. “How much can you give me? A million? Five million? Once I marry Ethan and become Mrs. Thorne, I’ll have more money than I could ever spend. Don’t make me laugh.” She walked away without looking back. The more I thought about it, the more suspicious it felt. I tracked down one of the thugs from the alley and slid him a stack of cash. He finally spilled the truth. “Chloe’s mom died years ago. That money she owed was from a gambling run in Vegas. A wealthy client had already paid it off for her. We weren’t even planning on bothering her, but she paid us to stage that fight so she could look like a damsel in distress for that rich idiot.” So that was her game. I immediately drove to Ethan’s apartment to tell him. But before I could even open my mouth, he slammed his keys on the table and yelled at me. “How could you do this, Serena? How could you hire people to beat Chloe up?” He grabbed my shoulders, his eyes bloodshot. “You know how much I care about her! Why are you doing this?!” I stared at him, completely numb. “Do you really trust her more than me now?” “Yes!” Ethan let go of me, his eyes filled with pure disdain. “This is my final warning. Stay away from Chloe. Stop trying to sabotage our relationship.” “If you do something like this again, I won’t hesitate to ruin you.” Ruin me?

He had probably forgotten. Back when I used to suppress my emotions to please everyone, he would hold me tight and say: *“You don’t have to be perfect, Serena. With me, you have the right to be as spoiled and wild as you want.”* He was the one who raised me to be a princess. Why was it suddenly all my fault? I couldn’t hold it in anymore. Tears finally spilled over. “Ethan, how can you do this to me? We have twenty years of history. How can you throw it all away?” “Stop using our past as a weapon. Because I don’t care about it anymore.” Losing control, I swung my arm and slapped him across the face. *Slap!* It was incredibly loud. But he didn’t even look angry. He just looked exhausted, as if even arguing with me was a waste of his breath. “Since we despise each other this much, let’s stop talking. Don’t call me, don’t see me. If we cross paths, just pretend we’re strangers.” I suddenly wanted to laugh. “Ethan, who do you think you are, acting like I’m the one stalking you? You’re the one who made promises to me. You’re the one who said you loved me. You were the one who proposed to me first!” He just sighed, his expression filled with utter annoyance. “Then just pretend I’m the bad guy.” Ethan walked away, and this time, he didn’t look back. I collapsed onto the floor, wrapping my arms around my knees, and sobbed. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. Years ago, Ethan forbade me from drinking. Back then, my depression was at its worst, and I often forgot my medication schedule. Once, I made the mistake of drinking wine to help me sleep after taking my pills. I ended up in the ER getting my stomach pumped. When I woke up, he was holding my hand, crying like a baby. *“Don’t ever do that again. Do you have any idea how terrified I was of losing you?”* That was the first time in his life he had yelled at me. Since that day, I never touched alcohol again. But now, he wasn’t here to care. I could drink as much as I wanted. But why didn’t I feel happy? “Serena.” A familiar, gentle voice called out behind me. I spun around in hope. A beautiful bouquet of flowers appeared in front of my eyes. Ethan was smiling at me softly, just like he used to. “I’m sorry about today, Serena. I’ll never hurt you again. I love you.” Tears of joy ran down my face. “Really?” “Yes.” I reached out with trembling hands to take the flowers. “They’re beautiful…” I wanted to find a vase to put them in, but my foot caught on the edge of the rug. I fell. The flower vase shattered into a million pieces. The bouquet was crushed. “My flowers… where are they?” I looked up to find Ethan, but the spot where he had been standing was completely empty. The night breeze blew in from the balcony, taking his ghost with it. I let out a painful scream, curling myself into a ball in the corner. “Why? Why does everyone I care about leave me?” My mother did. And now, him. “Serena!” I didn’t even realize Logan had entered the room. “What happened? Why are you bleeding?” He frantically scooped me up into his arms. “I’m taking you to the hospital.” I had no strength left to fight. I let him carry me away. When I finally regained some consciousness, I heard Ethan’s voice echoing in the hallway outside my hospital room. “The Serena Vance I knew is gone. She’s selfish, manipulative, and cruel. She’s probably faking this entire hospital stay. Her depression was cured years ago. How could she suddenly be having hallucinations?” I didn’t even have the energy to argue anymore. But Logan couldn’t take it. He roared in fury, “You’re the one who betrayed her! How dare you talk about her like that? Do you have any idea how much she’s suffered because of you?” “That’s her problem,” Ethan’s voice was cold and detached. “I never asked for her love. To me, her constant affection is suffocating. Don’t call me for her drama ever again. My girlfriend gets jealous.”

I heard the sounds of a scuffle, but it was quickly shut down by the nurses. A few minutes later, Logan walked back into my room, breathing heavily. He was holding a slightly crushed cake box. “How…” my voice was raspy and dry, but he seemed to understand what I wanted to ask. “Today is your birthday, Serena. Did you forget?” he asked softly. “We always celebrate it together. But my brother… he had other plans today.” “I see.” So, did Ethan actually forget my birthday, or did he choose this exact day to cut ties with me on purpose? When Logan lit the candles, he was the only one singing to me. In the sterile, quiet hospital room, he did his absolute best to make me smile. “Make a wish, our princess. May you stay beautiful and happy forever.” *I wish… that sincere people are never treated like fools again.* Before I could blow out the candles, the TV screen on the wall flashed with a breaking news alert. *“Breaking: Ethan Thorne, heir to the Thorne Conglomerate, has officially called off his engagement with his fiancée. Sources say he spent millions on a grand romantic gesture for his new girlfriend…”*

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After the mafia Don brutally murdered my only love, I began my pursuit of his daughter. For three years, I played the part of her devoted simp to perfection. Everyone in our circle knew I was crazy about Serena Vance. They knew I would gladly throw away my life for her. Finally, Serena agreed to marry me. And I, at long last, secured the complete trust of her father, the Don. Everyone started calling me the Underboss. They all believed that once Serena inherited the throne, I would take her father’s place and become the new ruler of the Vance family empire. Until our wedding day. Kai, her first love who had been missing for five years, showed up covered in blood, hunted by rivals. In the heat of the moment, to protect him, Serena pushed me directly into the line of fire. And I gladly took the bullet for them. It was only after Kai betrayed her that Serena realized how colossally she had messed up. She knelt by my hospital bed, weeping, begging me to wake up. She cried, telling me she loved me. But the truth is… I don’t love her. From the very beginning, my only reason for getting close to her was to utterly destroy her.

I spent three years acting like Serena’s loyal dog, risking my life for her time and time again. Finally, my “sincerity” moved her. She asked me if I was willing to marry her and help run her father’s criminal empire. I pretended to be overwhelmed with joy, asking her why she finally chose me. She merely stepped on my chest with her sharp stiletto heel, looking down at me as I knelt on the cold floor. “Because out of everyone I’ve ever known, you’re the most loyal dog I’ve had.” “You love me enough to be obedient, you’ve got the muscle, and most importantly… you look just like my first love.” Looking up into her stunning, cold eyes, I forced a bitter smile. “So… I’ve just been a stand-in this whole time.” They say strong men don’t cry, but in front of Serena, a powerful man like me let tears slip down his face. Serena froze. A flicker of complex emotion crossed her eyes before she turned and walked away. Actually, I had always known. In Serena’s heart, I was nothing but a replacement for Kai Sterling. Showing pain and shedding tears was just a calculated move to make her feel guilty. She didn’t show it on the surface, but I knew she had already fallen for me during our time together. She just didn’t want to admit it yet. She was still playing her arrogant princess games, blind to her own feelings. So, I had to help her realize it. Even my subordinates tried to comfort me: “Boss Leo, the princess definitely loves you. She’s just in denial. Look, she’s marrying you now! Even the Don agreed. That shows how much he approves of you as his son-in-law.” Indeed. For three years, I played the submissive partner at home. Outside, I was a terrifying, cold-blooded enforcer, but the moment I stepped through the door, I bowed to her. That kind of contrast could melt even the coldest heart. Before Serena even realized it, she had started acting cute around me. She would kiss me, hug me, and on those passionate nights, she would actively seduce me. Through her, I successfully made my way to her father, Victor Vance. Victor had heard of my capabilities. Seeing how desperately I adored his daughter, he wasted no time in approving our marriage. Everyone began calling me the Underboss. They assumed that once Serena took over, I would run the family. For a moment, I was the most powerful man in the Vance syndicate, second only to Victor himself. Until our wedding day. Kai Sterling, her first love who had been gone for five years, suddenly crashed our ceremony, covered in wounds. That day, our wedding was ruined by that useless street punk. The hitmen chasing Kai burst in right behind him, raising their guns and firing without hesitation. To save her precious ex, Serena pulled Kai behind her back, and without a second thought, she shoved me forward. But actually, we had already run into Kai once before the wedding. The day we met him, I went to an exclusive VIP lounge to bring Serena home. The moment I pushed open the door to the private suite, my brows furrowed. I knew Serena played wild, but every time I saw it, it made me sick. As soon as I walked in, a bunch of women immediately crowded around me, rubbing their bodies against mine. Serena rarely acknowledged our relationship in public. Most people only knew me as the ruthless Underboss, not as her fiancé. “Hey, Boss Leo!” I didn’t stop the women from clinging to me. Even though it disgusted me, seeing the jealousy flare in Serena’s eyes was incredibly satisfying. Serena, who usually hated admitting I belonged to her, slammed her wine glass onto the floor that night. She glared at me, her eyes filled with rage and hurt. Only then did I brush the women off. I loosened my tie, walked over, and wrapped my arm around Serena’s slender waist. “Ready to go home, babe?”

Serena snorted. She was clearly pleased by my gesture, but she still wanted to throw a little tantrum. Seeing a few girls still trying to make a move on me, I lit a cigarette and growled, “Get the hell away from me. If anyone makes my woman unhappy, I’ll put a bullet through their head.” The room instantly fell silent. The men kept their mouths shut, terrified of my reputation, while the women glared at Serena with envy. Hearing me call her my woman in front of everyone made Serena’s cheeks flush bright red. No matter how much she used to look down on me, she actually knew how to blush now. “I’ve never seen you act so dominant in public before,” Serena purred, pouring me a glass of whiskey. She then pressed her lips to mine, claiming her territory like a spoiled cat. “Let’s go home, babe. You’re drunk,” I whispered, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear and gently biting her earlobe. Shivering from the sensation, she finally behaved and agreed to leave with me. But a woman nearby suddenly chimed in, “Leaving already, Serena? We just ordered some hot male hosts to bring up the expensive champagne. You sure you don’t want to stay and play?” I cast a cold glance at that woman, and she quickly turned her face away in fear. “Keep your hands to yourself. My fiancée only needs me.” But right as the words left my mouth, the suite door swung open, and a line of male hosts walked in. Kai Sterling was among them. He was wearing a cheap, flashy suit, holding a tray of champagne bottles. The moment he saw Serena, he froze. Then his eyes drifted to our joined hands, and he let out a self-deprecating laugh, lowering his gaze. Serena had been completely focused on me, even teasing me with little touches. Until someone in the crowd shouted: “Wait, isn’t that Kai? Wow, after you dumped our rich princess, you really hit rock bottom, huh?” Instantly, a heavy, suffocating silence fell over the room. Serena’s head snapped toward him. Her grip on my hand tightened so hard that her long, manicured nails dug deep into my palm, making me wince. Ashamed of his current state, Kai trembled. The tray slipped from his hands, and the champagne bottles shattered onto the floor, sending glass and liquid flying everywhere. I immediately pulled Serena behind me to protect her. A sharp piece of glass sliced through my suit pants, cutting my calf. Blood started soaking through my pants, but Serena didn’t even notice. Her eyes were locked entirely on the man who had abandoned her years ago. Kai tried to turn and run, but Serena lunged forward and grabbed his collar. Disregarding everyone in the room, she screamed at him, “Kai! How dare you show your face here? Didn’t I tell you that if I ever saw you again, I’d kill you!” Yes. Kai was Serena’s first love. Their breakup had been incredibly ugly. They had known each other since childhood—one was the pampered princess of the mafia, and the other was a reckless street punk. To put it plainly, he was just a thug. But back then, Serena was hopelessly in love with him. Later, after a massive fight, Serena’s pride wouldn’t let her bow down. To hurt her, Kai got drunk and slept with another woman. When Serena found out, she ruined that woman’s life, and her relationship with Kai officially ended. After Kai left, everyone thought Serena hated his guts. But I knew the truth. Kai was the scar on Serena’s heart—unforgettable and impossible to erase.

Watching Serena lose her mind over her ex, I ignored the throbbing pain in my leg and spoke up. “Serena, don’t make a scene. Let’s keep our dignity.” I meant dignity for all of us—for Kai, and especially for me, her fiancé. But Serena glared at me with pure frost. “Who the hell do you think you are? What happens between him and me is none of your damn business!” Her words cut deep. I stopped trying to persuade her and simply narrowed my eyes. Across from her, Kai shot me a mocking, triumphant smirk when Serena wasn’t looking. Then, he turned back to Serena, his eyes filling with tender regret. He actually reached out to touch her cheek, whispering softly, “Serena… even if you hate me, you shouldn’t have found a replacement. Marrying a man you don’t love just to spite me… it breaks my heart.” A street thug like him actually managed to squeeze out tears for her. “About what happened back then… I always wanted to tell you. I was drugged. Everything you saw was a setup. Nothing happened between me and that girl…” Serena froze. “Then… why didn’t you explain?” The hatred in her eyes evaporated the moment he claimed he was drugged. She looked at him with nothing but worry and hesitation. Kai let out a bitter laugh. “I knew I had broken your heart, and with my poor background, I felt I didn’t deserve you anyway. I didn’t want to drag you down…” He didn’t finish his sentence, but Serena was smart enough to fill in the blanks looking at his cheap clothes. “You idiot!” Serena threw herself into Kai’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Kai wrapped his arms around her, shooting a cold, smug look right at me over her shoulder. Of course, Kai’s story was absolute garbage. Anyone with half a brain could see through it. But there was no way to prove it. The girl he had slept with had been tortured by Serena years ago and had long since disappeared. But it didn’t matter if the whole world knew Kai was lying. Serena believed him. Right in front of me, her fiancé, she forgave the man who had betrayed her and wept for him. My chest felt tight as I stood there, enduring the pitying and mocking stares of everyone in the room. Serena completely ignored me. She clung to Kai’s arm and smiled. “Now that the misunderstanding is cleared up, come home with me. You can work for my father. I’m bringing you home.” “Serena.” For the first time, I called her by her full name, my voice dangerously low. “That is *our* home.” But Serena didn’t even turn around. I heard someone whisper in the background, “Is the princess really getting back with her ex? What about Boss Leo?” “What about him? He’s getting dumped, obviously. Now that the first love is back, why keep Leo? Though, Leo is so capable and loves her so much, even if Serena throws him away, old man Victor won’t want to lose such a good son-in-law.” Serena heard it too. Finally, she deigned to look at me. Seeing my six-foot-two frame standing there looking miserable and pathetic, she frowned, but said nothing. That night, Serena brought Kai back to the new penthouse I had bought for our future. I had risked my life to earn the money for this place, and now, my fiancée was bringing her ex inside. I walked in behind them, my fists clenched tight. Before closing the door, Kai blocked me outside. “Thanks for dropping us off, Underboss. You can leave now.” I let out a cold laugh. Looking at his arrogant face, I pulled out a knife and pressed the blade directly against his carotid artery.

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