Author: Momo Chan

In my previous life, my stepmother secretly changed my college application, sending me to a low-ranking community college. In my previous life, I sold the copyright of my novel for five million dollars, but my stepsister falsely accused me of plagiarism. In my previous life, my stepsister killed me and inherited my property without consequences. But now, I’ve been reborn, and I’m going to make my stepmother and stepsister pay… I was pushed off the roof by my sister Sophia. It was the 28th floor, and I died instantly. After my death, I became a wandering spirit, unsure where to go. I stood among the crowd, watching my lifeless body within the police cordon, listening to the murmurs around me. “I heard it was the daughter from the sixth floor. She just started college, so young and yet she decided to end it all.” “Which one from the sixth floor? Don’t they have two daughters?” “It’s the older one. I just saw the younger one a moment ago.” Soon after, my mom came down, with Sophia close behind. As soon as my mom arrived, she collapsed on the ground, wailing loudly. Sophia covered her face, sobbing quietly. I walked over, wanting to comfort my mom, to tell her I didn’t commit suicide. But I couldn’t. I was just a spirit now. My mom, Olivia, started crying out, “Emma, why did you do this? What could have been so bad that you couldn’t talk to me about it? Why did you jump? How am I going to explain this to your father?” People around her tried to help her up, consoling her. But as I stood in front of her, I could clearly see that there wasn’t a single tear on her face. I couldn’t bear to watch anymore. I turned and went back upstairs. Looking at the familiar surroundings of our home, I desperately tried to recall my memories of living here, but I couldn’t find a single happy memory. I returned to my room, curled up in the corner. I was dead now, and I didn’t know what would happen to me next. Would the grim reaper come for me? Or would I be reincarnated directly? Or would I just remain like this, a wandering spirit in the human world? The despair of death and the fear of the unknown, coupled with a sense of loneliness, all crashed over me at once. I don’t know how much time passed, but I heard the sound of the front door opening. I went out to see my mom and sister returning. As soon as they entered, Sophia collapsed on the floor. “Mom, I’m scared.” My mom rushed to help her up. “What happened? Don’t be afraid, Sophia. Tell mom, and I’ll help you solve it.” “Mom, I killed someone. I pushed Emma off the roof.” Olivia’s eyes widened in horror. She quickly covered Sophia’s mouth and pulled her into the bedroom. “What happened? Sophia, how could you do such a thing?” Sophia briefly explained what had happened. “I didn’t mean to, Mom. I didn’t mean to kill her. I just wanted to scare her.” “What are we going to do? Will the police come for me?” “Don’t worry, Sophia. Don’t be afraid. As long as I’m here, I won’t let anything happen to you.” “What about Dad? He only has one daughter.” My mind went blank. What did Sophia just say? Dad only has one daughter? How could that be? Then I heard Olivia continue, “When your dad married me, he promised that as long as I treated Emma well, he would treat you like his own daughter.” “All these years, I’ve been pretending in front of your dad, and he’s always been good to you. He won’t suspect you.” “It’s good that little bitch is dead, just like her mother who died early. Now there won’t be anyone in our way anymore, and all her property will be ours.” These words hit me like a thunderbolt. Hearing this, what else was there not to understand? Olivia was not my real mother, and Sophia was not my real sister. No wonder they had always treated me poorly. No wonder Olivia always favored Sophia. No wonder Sophia didn’t share my dad’s surname. Just as I was thinking this, my dad came home. My dad was a long-haul truck driver, usually very busy with work and often not at home. As soon as my dad entered, Olivia went to greet him, putting on an act and starting to cry. “Jack, you’re finally back. What are we going to do? How could Emma think of ending her life like this?” After I had the accident, they had called my dad, and he had rushed back from out of town. He pulled his hand away and walked into my room without a word. I followed him in, watching as my dad locked the door, picked up the doll by my pillow, and sat on the edge of my bed. He just sat there, and soon tears were streaming down his face. He took a photo out of his wallet. I leaned in closer and saw that the woman in the photo looked a lot like me. I knew that must be my birth mother. My dad looked at the photo, repeating over and over, “Xiao Yun, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”

My dad sat in my room all night, and I sat beside him, listening all night. He said so much to the photo. This was the first time I had heard my dad talk so much. He talked about how he met my birth mother, how they fell in love. He talked about how she insisted on giving birth to me despite the doctors’ and everyone else’s objections. He talked about how when I was little, I always pestered him for a mother, which was why he married Olivia. He said I looked a lot like her, talked about how much he missed her, and about how much he had failed me all these years. It was as if all these words were meant for me to hear, answering all my questions. By daybreak, I saw that my dad’s hair had turned noticeably grayer overnight. Suddenly, I lost consciousness, and when I woke up, I was in the afterlife. I heard someone say, “Number 7628, it’s time for your reincarnation.” But I didn’t want to be reincarnated. I didn’t speak, just lowered my head and cried, from silent tears to loud sobs. My crying angered the judge of the afterlife, who punished me by sending me to copy scriptures. Looking at the pen and ink on the table, I chose to compromise. I copied the scriptures day and night, channeling my hatred, sorrow, and resentment, along with my curses for Olivia and Sophia, into the energy I poured into the scriptures. I don’t know how long I copied for, until my strength was exhausted and my spirit began to dissipate… I heard someone calling my name. I fought against the drowsiness and struggled to open my eyes. Suddenly, I was startled. Where was I? Wasn’t I copying scriptures? How did I end up in my room? I sat up abruptly, looking around. I gradually realized that I had been reborn. I picked up my phone and turned on the screen. I had actually gone back to a year ago. I quickly got out of bed, wanting to open the door, but found it locked. I remembered now. Today was the day I was supposed to submit my college applications. In my previous life, the door suddenly wouldn’t open, so Olivia and Sophia went to school to submit my applications for me. They had deliberately locked me in the house, then took the application forms I had filled out in advance and went to school to submit them for me. What I didn’t expect was that they had actually changed my applications. In the end, with scores that could have gotten me into a top university, I ended up at the same third-rate college as my sister. I still remember in my previous life, when I got my acceptance letter, I asked Olivia why this college had admitted me. “Oh, how did this happen? I must have mixed up the application forms and used your sister’s by mistake. Mom didn’t mean to, you won’t blame mom, right?” In my previous life, I was so naive that I comforted myself, making excuses for her in my mind. Now I realize how stupid I was back then. In my previous life, it wasn’t until just before I died that I learned from Sophia’s own mouth that Olivia and Sophia had deliberately changed my applications. This time, knowing everything, I absolutely won’t fall into the same trap again. Outside the door, Olivia was calling my name. “Emma, why won’t this door open? We need to go to school soon to submit your applications.” I played along, pretending to be very anxious. “I don’t know either, the door just suddenly won’t open. What should we do?” “How about this, Emma, give me your application forms, and I’ll go submit them for you.” “Okay, I guess that’s the only way. Please make sure you don’t fill them out wrong.” “Don’t worry, your sister will be there to help too.”

After they left, I went back to bed to catch up on sleep. There were three days for submitting applications, and it wasn’t necessary to go to school to do it. But obviously, Olivia and Sophia didn’t know this, otherwise they wouldn’t have let me out the next day in my previous life to go work at my uncle’s supermarket. I have an uncle who owns a supermarket. He and his family have always been good to me. His name is Mike, and I guess he must be my real uncle. Since I was little, Olivia often sent me to stay with Uncle Mike. Later, when I started middle school, I would help out at Uncle Mike’s supermarket every weekend. But Uncle Mike never really made me do any work. Usually, I just did my homework there and tutored his daughter, Chloe. It wasn’t until one time when I discovered that Olivia had been asking Uncle Mike for my wages that I had an argument with her about it. That was also the first time I had ever argued with Olivia. I confronted her, asking why she was asking Uncle Mike for money. When it came to money, she didn’t even bother to pretend anymore. “You’re working at your uncle’s place, what’s wrong with me asking for some money?” “But Uncle Mike never made me do any work. They even give me pocket money.” Olivia acted like it was perfectly normal. “I sent you there to work. If he doesn’t make you work, that’s his business, but your wages should come to me, every cent of it.” I was heartbroken by her words. “What about Sophia? Why do you never send her to work at Uncle Mike’s?” Seeing that I was getting emotional, she started to explain in a conciliatory tone. “Your sister isn’t in good health, she can’t do heavy work. Besides, Sophia isn’t as good at studying as you are, she needs to take extra classes, so she doesn’t have time to go.” In my previous life, I always thought it was because Sophia was more likable, which was why mom favored her. I tried hard to make mom approve of me. Now I realize how ridiculous I was back then. … The door to my room wasn’t opened until the next day. During this time, I hadn’t eaten a single meal. Early the next morning, I went to Uncle Mike’s without even eating breakfast. As a result, I fainted at Uncle Mike’s doorstep due to low blood sugar. When I woke up, the first thing I saw was the worried expressions on Uncle Mike and Aunt Linda’s faces. Suddenly, a wave of emotion washed over me, and tears started streaming down my face. Seeing me cry, they both panicked, not knowing what to do. “What’s wrong, Emma? Where does it hurt? Tell Aunt Linda.” She reached out to feel my forehead. “Does your head hurt?” I held onto Aunt Linda’s hand. “Uncle Mike, Aunt Linda, don’t worry. I’m not feeling unwell. I just missed you both.” I told them that I knew Olivia was my stepmother, and also told them about how badly my stepmother had treated me all these years. When I was very young, Olivia started making me wash clothes and cook. Whenever my dad wasn’t home, I was basically responsible for all the housework. Even in the cold winter, she wouldn’t let me use hot water to wash clothes or dishes. I had asked before why I had to do all these things while Sophia didn’t have to do anything. Olivia always brushed me off with excuses like “the older sister should look after the younger sister.” After hearing this, Uncle Mike was so angry he wanted to confront Olivia and Sophia right away, but Aunt Linda and I stopped him. Then they revealed the truth to me. “Your mother’s name was Lily. She and your dad were very much in love.” “When your mom was pregnant with you, she was diagnosed with a tumor. The doctors advised her to terminate the pregnancy, but your mom insisted on giving birth to you. Shortly after you were born, she passed away.” “Later, it was your dad who asked us to keep this from you. He said he hoped you could grow up healthy and happy like other children. Who would have thought Olivia would turn out to be such a cruel person.” After learning all this, I told them about the college application issue. “Uncle Mike, I need your help with something urgent now. I’ll deal with Olivia’s matters myself later.” I asked Uncle Mike to bring his computer, and I started filling out my college applications. When Uncle Mike saw the schools Olivia had applied to for me, he was both furious and filled with self-blame. After changing my applications, I also bought a few hidden cameras online, planning to place them around the house. So, under the guise of a part-time job, I stayed at Uncle Mike’s house. During this time, I went home twice to get clothes. This summer vacation was the happiest I had experienced in many years. At Uncle Mike’s house, I didn’t have to do any chores. I only needed to tutor Chloe a bit. Chloe was in her junior year of high school, and her studies were quite good, so tutoring her was particularly easy. Uncle Mike even bought me a computer so I could continue writing my novel.

I have a hobby of writing novels, which also earns me some pocket money. In my previous life, my novel caught the attention of a film production company during my freshman year of college. They bought the copyright to my novel. It suddenly gave me a windfall of five million dollars, and it was precisely this money that ultimately led to my demise. When I received this money, I excitedly told Olivia about it. However, when Sophia found out, she started accusing me of plagiarism, spreading rumors around the school that she had written the novel. At that time, I didn’t know how to explain. Although I could provide evidence, I kept quiet out of consideration for Sophia being my sister. Until that day at home, I asked Sophia to meet me on the rooftop to clear up the misunderstanding, but Sophia’s attitude was very poor. As we talked, an argument broke out, and in the end, she accidentally pushed me off. Although Sophia didn’t intentionally push me in my previous life, I won’t let her off easily this time. … That day, when the admission results were posted on various school websites, Olivia surprisingly called me, asking which school I had been admitted to. To avoid raising suspicion, I pretended to be sad and told her that I had been admitted to the same school as Sophia. I even thoughtfully provided an excuse for Olivia, “Did you perhaps mix up the application forms when you were filling them out?” After I said this, there was a two-second pause on the other end. Then, pretending as if she had just realized, Olivia said regretfully, “Oh no, I must have filled it out wrong by mistake.” “Well, there’s no way to change it now. We’ll just have to accept it. Don’t blame yourself, I don’t hold it against you.” After hanging up the phone, I checked the surveillance cameras at home and saw this conversation: Sophia asked eagerly, “Mom, how did it go? Which school did that little bitch get into?” “Little bitch” – that’s what Olivia and Sophia called me in private. Olivia burst out laughing, “That idiot actually thinks I made a mistake filling out her application. She even said she doesn’t blame me. It’s hilarious how stupid she is.” “She got into the same school as you. If I had known she’d be this easy to fool, I would have just put down a community college for that little bitch.” The mother and daughter laughed happily, using every vile word they could think of to curse me. I closed the video, saved the recording, and continued writing my novel. The acceptance letters were sent to the school. My letter arrived a few days before Sophia’s, so they didn’t find out. The day I got my acceptance letter, Uncle Mike’s family took me out to celebrate. Uncle Mike even allowed me to have some alcohol. Maybe it was because of the alcohol, but I became emotional and felt like crying again. I felt that this time, I had finally gotten into the university I wanted. I asked Uncle Mike to take me to my mom’s grave. Looking at the smiling woman in the photo on the tombstone, she seemed as gentle as a spring breeze and as warm as the sun. I imagined my mom must have been a very gentle person. She must have loved me very much. If she were still alive, I would surely be the happiest child in the world. I placed flowers in front of the grave. “Mom, it’s been a long time. I’ve come to see you. I’m sorry I forgot about you all these years and called someone else ‘mom’ for over a decade.” “Uncle Mike says you were a wonderful person. You were so good, you surely won’t be angry with me, right?” I wiped the tears from my face and took out my acceptance letter. “Mom, I got into a really good university. I wish you were still here. I heard my school is very big and beautiful. I really wish I could take you and dad to see it.” “Dad and I both misjudged people before, but we won’t anymore. I promise I’ll live a good life from now on. I won’t let your sacrifice in giving birth to me be in vain.”

Summer vacation ended quickly. My university was in Beijing, while Sophia’s low-ranking college was in our hometown. Our school started earlier, so I packed up and went to register at the university early. When Sophia sent me a message asking when I was leaving, I was already lying on my bed in the dorm at A University. I ignored her message and continued chatting with my roommates. All four people in the dorm were easy to get along with. I thought about my roommates from my previous life – they smoked, drank, fought, cheated on exams, loved to gossip behind others’ backs, and created eight group chats for six people, never inviting me to any of them. Back then, I thought I couldn’t fit into that dorm because of me. Now I understand that circle wasn’t suitable for me. We were just different types of people. Sophia sent me many messages, but I didn’t reply to any of them. Half an hour later, Olivia called. I went to the balcony to answer the call. Her tone had barely contained irritation. “Emma, where are you? Why aren’t you replying to your sister’s messages?” “I was just chatting with my roommates and didn’t notice.” “Roommates? Which building is your dorm in? Your dad is here too. Come out, let’s have a family dinner together.” “You know, your dad was originally planning to send you two together. Your sister wanted to come to school with you. Why did you leave without a word and have your uncle send you instead?” As she spoke more and more enthusiastically, I interrupted her, “I’m in Beijing. I can’t have dinner with you.” There was a pause on the other end, then disbelief, “Beijing? Why are you in Beijing? Are you not going to school?” “No, I’m not. Uncle Mike found me a job in Beijing. Room and board provided, 3,500 a month.” That evening, I received a call from my dad. He sounded upset. “Emma, is it true what your mom said about you not going to university?” I knew my dad would definitely call to ask about this, so I had prepared what to say in advance. “Dad, it’s not that I’m not going to school. But what I’m about to tell you, I hope you can keep it a secret and not tell anyone.” “Then what’s the real reason? Tell me, I promise I’ll keep it secret.” “On the day of submitting applications, mom went to help me fill them out. The next day when I logged into the system to check, I found out mom had accidentally filled in Sophia’s choices for me.” “Luckily I changed it back in time. Mom feels very guilty about this, so I want to give her a surprise. Please don’t tell her or Sophia for now.” I sent my dad my acceptance letter and photos of me with Uncle Mike’s family at the school gate. This finally convinced him. “Alright, I’ve neglected you kids a lot these past few years because of work. It’s thanks to your mom that she’s been taking care of the family all this time.” “I’ll do as you say and keep it a secret. Beijing is expensive, so I’ll give you more money each month from now on.” I felt that my dad still had some suspicions about Olivia. All these years, he had kept control of the family finances. My dad transferred our living expenses and tuition directly to Sophia and me, so Olivia never had a chance to interfere with that. But she took all the money I earned working at Uncle Mike’s to buy things for Sophia. For this summer’s wages, I still had Uncle Mike give it all to Olivia, and when transferring the money, he noted “Emma’s wages.” Olivia used this money to buy Sophia a new phone. I saw all of this in the surveillance videos. The reason I didn’t tell my dad the truth was that I wanted to gather more evidence. I wanted to make sure Olivia and Sophia had no chance of turning things around. And right now, the most important thing for me was to live my own life well. After military training ended, I began my busy college life. My roommates and I joined the student union together. We actively participated in various competitions at school, studied hard, and I still kept up with writing my novel every day. Because I had written the novel in my previous life, it was going very smoothly this time. I even improved the plot. So my monthly income was more than before. Everything seemed to be telling me that my life was heading in a good direction… I followed the confession wall of Sophia’s school. Sophia was very pretty, with an innocent look. So there were often people confessing to her on the wall. She was also very good at presenting herself as peaceful and aloof in front of others, so she was popular with the opposite sex. In my previous life, she was already famous at school, and it was the same in this life. But I knew some of her little secrets, which I had discovered by chance in my previous life.

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I was caressing a male model’s hand at the bar when I turned around and saw Ethan Shaw. Ethan Shaw, the sugar daddy who had kept me for five years. But we had broken up just yesterday. I had packed my bags and disappeared from his world without a fuss. And now he was frantically searching for me. I was caressing a male model’s hand at the bar when I turned around and saw Ethan Shaw. Ethan Shaw, the sugar daddy who had kept me for five years. But we had broken up just yesterday. I had packed my bags and disappeared from his world without a fuss. And now he was frantically searching for me. Today marked the fifth anniversary of my relationship with Ethan Shaw. I had meticulously prepared a candlelit dinner at home, and as usual, he brought me a gift when he returned. But this year was different – inside the carefully wrapped box was a ring. When I saw the ring, my heart skipped a beat, and unrealistic expectations quietly arose in my heart. However, he didn’t seem to have anything to say about it. So I obediently put the ring back in the box without asking any questions. Later that night, after we were intimate, he whispered in my ear, “Lily, I’m getting married.” He was getting married. From the day I got together with him, I knew this day would come eventually. The last time he was on the phone with his father in the bathroom, urging him to meet Miss Sullivan, I wasn’t actually asleep. But even though I knew the outcome, it still hurt when it actually happened. I turned away from him and secretly wiped my tears with my fingers. He held me tighter. “Lily, can you stay with me?” I couldn’t. We had agreed long ago that I would leave when he was to get married. This was the bottom line. Over the years, even in the deepest moments of our relationship, I had never wavered from this decision. “Ethan, I’ll pack my things tomorrow.” Ethan seemed surprised by my determination. He turned me towards him. “Lily Ross, you can’t leave me.” I reached out and touched his face, thinking about how I would never be able to touch his handsome features again, which made me sad. “Can you not get married then?” He didn’t answer, but it was already an answer for me. I hugged him. “We agreed on this long ago.” He still disagreed, arguing until the end. Finally, he asked me, “Lily, how will you live without me?” I sighed. “Ethan, I’m not the 22-year-old me anymore.” The year I met Ethan, I was exactly 22 years old. I had just graduated from film school and was tricked into signing a “slave contract” with an unscrupulous company. Every day, I had to flirt in live streaming rooms, and after the streams, I was arranged to accompany wealthy clients for dinner. That day was my birthday. After harvesting a wave of fans in the live streaming room, I was dragged by the company to accompany a client for dinner. At the dinner table, a fat old man put his hand on my thigh. I couldn’t stand it anymore and smashed a plate before running away, then hid on the street crying my eyes out. The high heels I had kicked off happened to land on the passenger seat of Ethan’s convertible sports car parked by the road. Before I could go pick up my high heels, the people the company sent to find me appeared behind me. With nowhere else to go, I got into Ethan’s car, and he drove me away from the scene. On the way, I cursed everyone from the company boss to the big shots in the live streaming room to the security guard at the company building while in Ethan’s car. I vented my frustration both verbally and physically. In the end, I fell asleep in Ethan’s passenger seat. When I woke up, Ethan was playing with his phone in the driver’s seat. My alcohol had worn off a bit, and I thought I shouldn’t just freeload in his car. So, I took a deep breath and mustered up the courage: “Um… how about I transfer some money to you?” Ethan was stunned for a moment, then opened his phone and held it out to me. I saw that the page displayed “Add as friend”.

I thought for a moment, maybe he didn’t want me to transfer money directly. So I added him as a friend and transferred all the $57.20 left in my account to him. I saw his brow furrow again. I was actually embarrassed too. It really wasn’t enough to give him just $57.20 after he had driven me around in his fancy sports car for so long. I opened my balance to show him: “But, I really don’t have any more money.” As soon as I started explaining why I was so poor, I felt overwhelmed with grievance again, and cursed out the company boss once more. I don’t know if it was because he was impressed by my eloquence, or if he just wanted to do a good deed. Ethan offered to help me resolve my contract issues that day, and then suggested I follow him. I have to admit, Ethan really did have a handsome face, and even the cramped driver’s seat couldn’t hide his long legs. I’m not stupid. This deal was so good that I only asked him one question: “Do you have a girlfriend?” “No.” So I agreed to his proposal. From then on, I stayed by Ethan’s side for five years. During those five years, Ethan treated me very well and was very generous. I also obediently played the role of his “kept woman” by his side, without fighting or competing. Until he told me the news that he was getting married. After he left for work, I called a moving company and packed up all my things. Finally, I put all the credit cards he had given me on the table. Then I called my best friend Olivia and went to a bar. I felt like I had become a bit of a frog in a well after staying by Ethan’s side for so many years. Olivia also said I needed to see the wider world, so we ordered eight male models. We paid with my card. Olivia got drunk and laughed like an idiot in my ear. “Lily, look at their legs, their waists, their abs, and their hands. Lily, feel how soft their hands are!” I touched one. The next second I looked up and saw Ethan’s angry face. My first instinct was to run away. But the drunk Olivia grabbed me back, then pointed at Ethan: “Oh, Lily, this one is handsome too.” She started tugging at Ethan’s clothes, trying to feel his abs. Fortunately, I was quick enough to cover the corner of Ethan’s shirt that had been lifted. Then I quickly stopped the reckless Olivia, but she said generously: “Fine, you’re treating today, so I’ll let you have this one!” Ethan looked at me, his face even more displeased: “I didn’t realize you were so rich.” “Of course! Her sugar daddy just died, so now she has plenty of money.” Me: ?? Olivia, you’ve really said too much today! Besides, what I said was to just pretend my sugar daddy had died! Pretend! Not that he actually died! Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to explain to Ethan. Ethan simply picked me up by the waist, and before leaving I made sure to grab Olivia too – that’s what I call being loyal to my friends. When the three of us were squeezed into the back seat of Ethan’s luxury car, the atmosphere in the car suddenly dropped by several degrees. Ethan sat on my right with an ashen face. Olivia looked at Ethan with a flushed face, leaning across me: “He really is handsome, but Lily, didn’t you say you were going to bring three male models home tonight?” “I didn’t say that!” “You said…” Before Olivia could finish, I covered her mouth and stuffed the words back into her stomach. Ethan snorted coldly: “I didn’t realize you played around so much.”

I kept telling myself that Ethan and I were no longer together, so I shouldn’t feel guilty. Besides, “I’ve held back for so many years, can’t I indulge a little?” “Exactly!” Olivia said righteously, “You don’t know about her previous sugar daddy… he wasn’t…” As soon as the words “wasn’t good” came out, Ethan’s face became even more unpleasant. Then Ethan turned to the side and gripped my chin with his large hand: “Lily Ross, you’re saying I’m not good? Hm?” When he said this, because he was so close, I could clearly see the veins bulging on his neck, and even feel his rapid breathing. If Olivia hadn’t been there, I really couldn’t guarantee what he might have done. I was too choked up to respond. Olivia leaned in at the right moment and stared at Ethan’s face: “Come to think of it, you do look a bit like her sugar daddy. Don’t tell me you’re not good either?” Oh my god. Please say less. I quickly stopped Olivia. Then I smiled apologetically at Ethan: “Don’t mind her, she doesn’t know what she’s saying.” Fortunately, Olivia seemed to have tired herself out. After I covered her mouth again, she fell asleep soon after. The temperature in the car dropped even further after that commotion. I glanced at Ethan through the rearview mirror. His expression was very unpleasant. Probably sensing my gaze on him, Ethan said irritably, “It seems that all these years with me have been quite a hardship for you.” I didn’t respond. After all, he was the one who taught me that saying too much only leads to more mistakes. Seeing my silence, he suddenly turned to me: “Lily Ross! I say this, and you don’t even deny it? Do you really think being with me all these years has been such a hardship?” Me? That’s really not the case at all. “Olivia was just talking nonsense, don’t take her seriously.” Actually, it was when Olivia asked me what Ethan was like in bed that I got too embarrassed and brushed her off saying he was just okay. Thankfully, we finally arrived at Olivia’s apartment complex. I was staying with her temporarily since I had moved out so suddenly. I thanked Ethan, but found that he was following behind Olivia and me after we got out of the car. I didn’t quite understand: “Mr. Shaw, is there something else?” Ethan snorted coldly: “Mr. Shaw? We were sleeping in the same bed yesterday, and today I’m Mr. Shaw?” His voice was a bit loud, drawing stares from people around the complex. Afraid of angering him further and causing a scene, I could only keep quiet and let him follow behind Olivia and me. When we got to Olivia’s place, I settled Olivia into bed. When I came out to the living room, Ethan was on the balcony making a phone call. From his tone, it didn’t sound good. He seemed to be dealing with some thorny issue. Seeing me come out, he hung up the phone and reached for my hand: “Let’s go, Lily. Come home with me.” His tone was so casual, as if yesterday’s events had never happened. But I easily shook him off: “Ethan Shaw, wake up. There’s no relationship between us anymore.” When I said we had no relationship, his eyes suddenly turned red. Then he came closer, his right hand cupping the back of my head, and showered me with small kisses without warning. He only let go when I was about to run out of breath. Then his burning hand wrapped around my waist, his fingertips caressing the small of my back: “Lily Ross, do you want to do it here or go home?”

I pushed him away forcefully: “Ethan Shaw, I’ll say it again, we have no relationship anymore! If you keep this up, I’m calling the police!” “Call the police?” He laughed self-mockingly, then slammed the door as he left. A lot had happened today, and I was a bit tired as I collapsed onto the sofa. Just as I lay down, the doorbell rang again. I opened the door. Ethan was still standing outside: “Lily Ross, I’m asking you one more time, are you coming home with me or not?” I was speechless at his shamelessness, and slammed the door shut with a “bang”. Along with it, I shut out Ethan’s words: “Lily Ross, you’ll regret this.” The next day, Olivia, who had blacked out, had forgotten everything that happened last night. In the end, I was the only one left embarrassed. Early in the morning, Olivia started complaining about her hangover headache from drinking too much last night. I had just made her some lemon water when I received a call saying Ethan was going to shut down “Encounter”. “Encounter” was a coffee shop. When Ethan and I first got together, he was worried I’d be bored waiting for him at home all day, so he opened a coffee shop for me on the street where we first met. In the past two years, I had put a lot of effort into that shop, and “Encounter” was doing quite well. When he warned me not to regret it yesterday, I had actually thought of this possibility. When I arrived at the coffee shop, Ethan was already there. A row of employees with solemn faces stood in front of him. Seeing me, Ethan unconsciously straightened his back even more. The employees started expressing their reluctance to leave to me. Ethan coughed: “Lily Ross, with just one word from you, ‘Encounter’ doesn’t have to close.” Ethan, on the surface, seemed like a formidable figure in the business world, but behind the scenes he was just like a child. Always thinking he could force me to compromise with these tactics. But he had underestimated me. Moreover, business tactics were never suitable for matters of the heart. I ignored Ethan. Then I took out a stack of red envelopes from my bag and distributed them to everyone: “I know ‘Encounter’ is everyone’s hard work, and I really enjoyed working with all of you. But life often doesn’t go as planned. Don’t worry, besides the compensation you should receive, this is just a little extra from me.” Ethan’s face darkened even more: “Lily Ross!” He always liked to call my full name when he was angry. That hadn’t changed all these years. I sighed: “Mr. Shaw, stop with your childish behavior.” He got up and left, passing by me, but not without warning: “Lily Ross, let’s see how long you can last without me.” I didn’t know how long I could last. The best years of my life had been trapped in the cage Ethan wove for me. Now that I had flown out, I really needed to think about where to go. All these years by Ethan’s side, although he was generous to me – sending me jewelry and bags until my hands were full, letting me use his credit cards freely – when I left, I didn’t take any of those things with me. The only thing I took with me was the meager profits from “Encounter” over the past few years. So even the apartment I found was a smaller one-bedroom next to Olivia’s. On moving day, Ethan’s driver Jack came by. His excuse was pretty lame: “Mr. Shaw said he can’t find one of his ties, and was wondering if it might have gotten mixed in with your clothes when you left.”

In front of him, I patiently went through my luggage but couldn’t find the blue tie he mentioned. Jack looked at a message on his phone and smacked his forehead: “Oh, Mr. Shaw says he found it. Seems it had fallen into a gap somewhere.” I wordlessly gestured for him to leave. Before leaving, Jack asked again: “Miss Ross, I see this apartment is really small. Why don’t you talk to Mr. Shaw and go back?” The sound of the door slamming shut was my answer. After tidying up the few things in the room, the doorbell rang again. I thought it was Jack coming back and was about to lose my temper when I saw Olivia carrying a big pot. “Quick, Lily, you must not have had time to eat after being so busy. I just made a pot of rice.” “You didn’t go to work today?” “I took the afternoon off. I figured with all your stuff, you’d be busy until who knows when if I didn’t come help you unpack.” In all the years I was with Ethan, I had basically lost touch with all my old friends. Only Olivia had stuck by me the whole time. I smiled and thanked her. Then I ate a big bowl of rice while listening to her curse out Ethan. Actually, I had already made plans for my future work. Before, I was constrained by Ethan, but now that I had left him, I had no more concerns. In college, my second major was fashion design, so I thought I could do design and pattern-making during the day, and then sell my creations through live streaming at night. Once the volume got big enough, I could find manufacturers to cooperate with. At first, the live streams were quiet with only a few passersby and the persistent Olivia. Two weeks later, the live room finally started to gain some popularity. However, since it was a night stream, there would occasionally be a few creepy men saying some explicit things in the chat. Whenever this happened, Olivia would furiously fight back from behind the screen. Until one day, I saw a striking username “Ethan Shaw” among those helping to fight back. I frowned. This guy really didn’t know how to use a nickname when registering an account. But Olivia was merciless. Seeing Ethan come in, she got even more fired up, and the two of them started arguing like elementary school kids in the live room. The comment section became quite chaotic, and I had to end the night’s stream early. Then, as soon as I went offline, I received a call from Ethan. “Lily Ross, if you need money just say so. Even if you won’t come back, you don’t need to go back to doing that.” Before I could answer, Olivia beside me jumped up: “Doing what? What’s wrong with selling clothes? Only someone like you with a dirty mind would see everything as dirty!” With that, she hung up on Ethan. Ever since Olivia found out Ethan and I had split up and he had sold “Encounter”, she never had a good word to say about him again. However, I couldn’t help but tell Olivia: “Actually Olivia, I never told you, but Ethan has shares in the company you’re working for now.” “…” The next second, Olivia dialed Ethan’s number: “Mr. Shaw, I was too rash earlier. Please don’t take offense. Rest assured, I’ll definitely try my best to persuade Lily to go back to you.” I frowned: “Olivia, how can you be so two-faced?” “It’s all for survival. But don’t worry, I’m just appeasing him. You’re my only true love.” Of course I believed Olivia. I had just underestimated Ethan’s possessiveness towards me. That night before bed, I received a transfer of $500,000 from him to my account. Along with a message: “Lily, stop messing around and come back soon.” He still thought I was just throwing a tantrum.

I transferred the money he gave me right back to him. He was jumping up and down on the other end of the phone: “Lily Ross, are you tired of the good life and just want to suffer?” I didn’t think my current life was suffering, but I didn’t bother explaining that to him. There was no need to explain. All these years, it seemed like besides giving me money, he had never tried to understand me. Recently, orders from the live streams had increased a bit, and I was finally able to catch my breath a little. Until I received a call from the hospital. My aunt had fallen and injured her leg and been taken to the hospital. After my parents divorced and both went abroad, I lived with my aunt for my three years of high school. So my aunt was actually my only relative in the country. Her children weren’t local, so when she was injured, the hospital called me. But I didn’t expect to run into Zachary Quinn at the hospital. Zachary Quinn was my high school classmate. We were both on the school debate team and had interacted quite a few times. However, we really got to know each other after an internal debate competition where I made his teammate cry. His teammate wailed that I was so fierce I’d never be able to get married. Thinking about this incident, Zachary and I couldn’t help but laugh. But then Zachary changed the subject: “So, are you married now?” I was surprised by his question, then shook my head. He smiled brightly beside me: “Actually, after the college entrance exam, I went to look for you before going abroad, but your neighbor said you had moved. Later, when I came back to the country, I asked our classmates about you, but they all said you had lost touch after college graduation.” I didn’t have that many friends in high school to begin with, and after going to film school, my path diverged from everyone else’s. Then after getting together with Ethan, I stopped contacting people even more. Thinking of Ethan, I couldn’t help but sigh. Zachary bought a bottle of water from a nearby vending machine and handed it to me: “What’s wrong? Have things been okay these past years?” Pretty good. “I was lost for a while, but fortunately I’ve found myself again now.” “That’s good.” Then we both fell silent, sitting on the long bench for a long time. I was contemplating the past years of my life. I don’t know what he was thinking about. Until a nurse called him to see a patient, he finally left. Before leaving, he remembered to add me on SnapChat, then asked: “Do you have time for dinner tonight?” I was still pondering excuses to refuse when he had already started answering himself: “I’m about to get off work. I’ll come find you in a bit.” He had helped with my aunt’s hospitalization, so I figured treating him to a meal was only right. During dinner, Zachary talked about many interesting stories from high school. Actually, a lot of what he said was a bit fuzzy in my memory. But he was telling the stories with such enthusiasm, so I just smiled and listened, occasionally chiming in when I remembered something. In the end, he suddenly asked me: “Am I boring you by talking so much?” I shook my head. Of course not. “That’s good. I’ve been holding onto some things for a long time, so when I saw you, I just wanted to tell you everything all at once.” I could hear the joy in his tone, but I couldn’t say much in response. After dinner, he offered to drive me home. Zachary’s car had just stopped at the entrance of my apartment complex when we saw Ethan leaning against his eye-catching red sports car in front of my building. Seeing Zachary, Ethan became hostile. He came up to me and asked: “Lily Ross! Who is he?” Zachary extended his hand politely to greet Ethan: “I’m Zachary Quinn, Lily’s friend.” Zachary deliberately emphasized the word “friend” a bit. But Ethan’s attention was on the “Lily” part: “Lily? Lily? What, are you two very close?” I couldn’t stand Ethan’s sarcastic tone and was about to tell him to mind his own business. But Zachary stepped in front of me: “We’re quite close, after all we’ve known each other for over ten years. What about you? Who are you to Lily?” “I’m her…”

Ethan “her”-ed for a while but couldn’t say anything. You see, after being together for so many years, he couldn’t even introduce our relationship when it came down to it. I couldn’t bear to watch anymore and interjected: “He used to be my boss, but now our contract has ended, so we don’t have any relationship anymore.” Ethan’s face looked even worse after hearing me say this. I’ve really had a long day and was tired, so I said goodbye to Zachary and went upstairs. Leaving Ethan alone in a daze by his red sports car. Half an hour later, my doorbell rang again. I didn’t even need to think to know it must be Ethan: “Do you have any other business?” Ethan outside the door had an ashen face: “Lily Ross! Is this how you talk to me now?” I really don’t know what kind of attitude I should have towards him. I made a motion to close the door: “If you don’t like it, I’d rather not talk at all.” Ethan put his foot in the door: “Lily Ross, you’ve only been away from me for a few days and you’ve already found someone new, haven’t you?” I couldn’t be bothered to reason with him, so I just nodded: “Yes! I’ve been planning this for a long time, just waiting for you to break up with me. Do you have any other questions?” Ethan probably didn’t expect me to be so direct with him. He opened and closed his mouth, then shook his head: “Impossible, I don’t believe it. This guy must be someone you hired to deliberately make me jealous, right? Right, Lily Ross?” Me? I never knew Ethan had so much drama in his mind before. I couldn’t be bothered to deal with him so I tried to close the door again. He put his arm against the door and looked down at me: “Lily, I know, you’re doing all this just to make me jealous, you just want me to be nervous, right? Alright then, I admit you’ve achieved your goal. I really can’t bear to be without you. Will you come back? If you come back, I won’t hold these past few days against you, okay?” Me? Just like that, he won’t hold it against me! I motioned for Ethan to come closer. He leaned his ear in, and I whispered close to his ear: “Fuck off.” Then I closed the door, shutting out Ethan’s voice along with it. To be honest, in the five years I was with Ethan, I was always accommodating him, so he hasn’t thrown as many tantrums in five years combined as he has recently. Business at the live streaming studio has been getting better, not just a little. I couldn’t handle it all myself anymore, so I took out my savings and opened a workshop. These past few days have been quite busy with work, and I still need to make time to visit my aunt, so I’ve been a bit overwhelmed. Fortunately, Zachary has been helping to look after things at the hospital, and my cousin paid for a caregiver for my aunt, which has finally allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief. But when I saw Zachary at the entrance of my apartment complex, I was still a bit surprised: “You’re… looking for me?” Zachary smiled easily: “No, I live here too.” Then I watched with my own eyes as Zachary entered the elevator with me, then walked into the apartment across from mine. I only then confirmed what he said. Olivia, who had just come out to see what the commotion was about, looked surprised: “Was that… Zachary Quinn just now?” I nodded: “Yep, it’s him.” Olivia clapped her little hands and shook her head: “Well, things are about to get lively.” However, although Zachary moved in next door, we didn’t run into each other often since I was leaving early and returning late. The new workshop was running very smoothly, so I started thinking about expanding the scale. The most urgent matter was to contact factories to discuss cooperation. After being busy for several days, I finally managed to find a suitable supplier to cooperate with. It was already very late after finishing dinner with the manufacturer. As soon as I walked out, I ran into Ethan at the hotel entrance. After not seeing each other for several days. The first thing out of his mouth was still the same old tune.

“So, Lily, have you thought about coming back to me?” Seriously, when did I ever consider this matter? “Ethan Shaw, I’ve always thought you weren’t an indecisive person, so can you stop wasting time on me? I’m not going back to you.” Ethan sighed: “Alright then, Lily. I’ll give you a few more days to think about it.” “Thanks, but there’s no need.” “Lily Ross!” “Ethan Shaw, haven’t I made myself clear enough?” But Ethan seemed completely unable to hear what I was saying. He turned and patted the passenger seat of his car: “Come on, it’s late. I’ll drive you home.” I was about to refuse when Zachary’s car happened to pull up next to us. Seeing me, he waved enthusiastically: “Lily? What a coincidence.” All three of us meeting here, it really was quite a coincidence. Seeing Ethan, Zachary still greeted him politely. Ethan’s face was as sour as if someone owed him money. The contrast in their demeanors was stark at this moment. Zachary asked me a few simple questions about why I was here, then invited me: “It’s so late, Lily. Let me drive you home.” Although I didn’t really want to get too involved with Zachary right now either. But compared to Ethan, I’d rather get in Zachary’s car at this moment. As Zachary opened the passenger door of his car for me, Ethan suddenly slammed his steering wheel behind me, then called out my name: “Lily Ross! Don’t you dare go with him!” I’ve never been a timid person. Besides, there’s nothing I don’t dare do now. I didn’t bother responding to Ethan, and just got into Zachary’s car. On the way, Ethan called me but I hung up. His SnapChat messages had long been blocked. Zachary smiled a little at my actions. I didn’t quite understand: “What’s wrong?” “Nothing, just feeling very happy.” I opened my mouth, wanting to explain to Zachary about my relationship with Ethan, but after organizing my thoughts for a long time, I still couldn’t bring myself to speak. Zachary didn’t seem to intend to ask me either. When I got home, Olivia was already waiting for me in the living room. As soon as she saw me, she jumped up from my sofa: “Girl, you’re finally back.” “What’s wrong?” She pointed at her phone. In the chat window with Ethan, there was a string of 60-second voice messages. He had never been a talkative person before, and had even complained to me about people who send 60-second voice messages all at once. Now looking at these dense messages, it was clear he was really angry. Olivia wailed in front of me: “Lily Ross, tell me what exactly you did to him today. You don’t know how angry he was just now. If you didn’t come back soon, I was afraid he would storm our apartment complex and tear the roof off.” Then she threw her phone to me: “I still don’t have the courage to listen to these unread messages. You listen to them yourself.” I opened them and listened one by one. The ones towards the end were basically all addressed to me, with the general message being: He’s angry. I’m in trouble. I nonchalantly returned the phone to Olivia: “It’s fine, he’s just throwing a tantrum like a kid. Don’t worry about him.” But Olivia was still very curious about how I had angered Ethan to this extent. I told Olivia everything that happened today in detail. Olivia munched on her chips loudly: “No wonder he exploded. But Lily, they say even warring countries don’t kill envoys. Ethan won’t take it out on me, will he?” That shouldn’t happen. I patiently reassured Olivia. After all, he probably still needs Olivia to gather information for him. Besides, targeting Olivia would be meaningless for him. But what I didn’t expect was that Ethan would actually make a move against me.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294933”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #魔幻Magic #擦边Steamy #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring #重生Reborn #校园School

My husband had a sister who, while not biological, might as well have been. He gave her the Public Relations Officer position I had worked so hard to earn, just because she couldn’t handle the struggles of the Rural Community Development Program. When I was lying in a hospital bed after my miscarriage, he was busy taking care of his sister, who’d just had her appendix removed. And when I finally got into Yale, he handed that spot to her as well, saying, “Claire needs this more.” She took everything I worked for and still had the nerve to push me into the street, where I was hit by a car. I died angry, filled with regret for my own weakness. Given a second chance, I immediately filed for divorce. But my ever-cold husband refused. I blinked my eyes open, the stark white ceiling overhead coming into view. A dull ache tugged at my lower abdomen. Where was I? Wasn’t I hit by a car? The sensation of being thrown by the impact, the searing pain as I hit the ground—those memories felt like they’d happened just a second ago. “Emily, you’ve just had a miscarriage. You need to rest!” A woman’s voice, gentle and concerned, reached my ears. I turned my head. It was a young nurse. A miscarriage? I’ve been reborn. In my previous life, I’d spent two grueling months preparing for the Steelworks Factory entrance exam. I thought I had it in the bag, but when the final list of hires came out, my name was missing. I was devastated for days, but I tried to rationalize it—competition was fair, and there were always people better than you. Then, I overheard some gossip: “Andrew Carson is so impartial. He even gave away his own wife’s position to someone else.” “Right? The Public Relations office hardly hires anyone. They only took two people this time, and Claire Carson was third in line—just missed the cut.” “Andrew said his wife volunteered to give it up, so Claire could take the spot.” A woman nearby scoffed, spitting a sunflower seed shell on the ground. “He didn’t want Claire dealing with the rough conditions of the Rural Program. Claire’s living the good life while Emily Shaw doesn’t even know what hit her. Poor Emily—her husband’s never on her side.” The words hit me like a thunderbolt. I drifted home like a ghost, grocery bag in hand, my mind filled with the joy I’d felt when I thought I’d passed, the buried rage, and the unbearable bitterness of being replaced. I had passed the exam, but Andrew had taken it upon himself to make me “volunteer” my spot for Claire. Who the hell did Andrew think he was? How dare he play the hero with my opportunity without even consulting me? Did he know it was wrong, and that’s why he didn’t even ask? Just because he was my husband didn’t give him the right to make decisions for me. I dropped the groceries in the kitchen and stormed out to confront Claire. Andrew was still at work, but Claire would be home. “Emily, what a surprise! What brings you by?” Claire greeted me when she opened the door. I didn’t say a word. I just stared at her. She was nineteen, full of youthful energy, her big doe eyes practically begging for sympathy. The kind of girl most men would trip over themselves to protect, eager to give her anything she wanted. Andrew was clearly one of those men. “Did Andrew give you the Public Relations Officer position?” I asked, cutting right to the point. For a brief moment, panic flickered across Claire’s face, but she quickly smothered it. Rubbing her fingers nervously, she forced an awkward smile. “Emily, what are you talking about? I earned that spot myself.” She glanced around nervously before grabbing my hand. “Why don’t we talk inside? It’s not convenient standing out here.” Inside? Yeah, right. Claire was clearly guilty.

I yanked my hand from her grip, my expression cold and mocking. “You earned it? Claire, you barely scraped by in high school. You’ve spent the last few years partying, doing nothing productive. You really expect anyone to believe you earned that spot? You could ask the stray dogs on the street, and they wouldn’t believe you.” Seeing that I wasn’t about to back down, Claire’s eyes welled up with tears, her lip trembling in a picture of pure innocence. “They’ve been encouraging young, unemployed people like me to join the Rural Program. I just complained about it to Andrew, and he thought of a way to help me,” she explained pitifully. “I’ve heard farm work is dirty and exhausting. My parents always pampered me—how could I handle that? Besides, if I went away, my mom would be all alone. I just couldn’t leave her.” She looked at me, pleading. “Emily, please, let me have this chance. You’re so talented. You’ll easily pass the next Steelworks Factory entrance exam!” Sure, I passed the exam through hard work, but that didn’t mean Claire had the right to steal the fruits of my labor! I scoffed. “How can you justify taking what I’ve worked for? I’m going to get justice for myself. Let’s go—right now. We’ll go to the Company Board of Directors. Andrew doesn’t get to make all the decisions at that factory.” I grabbed Claire by the wrist and started dragging her down the stairs. Panicking, she struggled to break free. “I’m not going! Andrew promised the job to me, and that’s final. I won’t go to the countryside—I won’t!” Driven by her fear of the Rural Program, Claire yanked her arm out of my grip with all her strength. I lost my balance, tumbling down the stairs. A sharp pain shot through my abdomen, followed by a warm, wet sensation. Before I passed out, I caught a glimpse of Claire’s expression. Her panic had given way to smug satisfaction. And then I woke up, alive again. I placed a hand over my stomach. I’m sorry, little one. I couldn’t protect you in this second chance either. But don’t worry—I’ll make sure justice is served for you. The nurse mistook my silence for grief, thinking I was still mourning the loss of my child. She sighed softly and tried to comfort me. “Don’t be too upset. You’ll have more chances to have children. For now, focus on recovering.” Tears slipped down my cheeks, soaking the pillow. I wiped them away and forced a smile. “Thank you, nurse.” She efficiently replaced the IV and continued. “It’s my job. But where’s your husband? He should be here with you after something like this.” Andrew was probably with his beloved sister, Claire, right now. I’d never been able to compete with her for his attention. I offered a bitter smile, making an excuse to save face. “He’s busy with work. I’m sure he’ll come when he has time.” The nurse shook her head disapprovingly. “A baby takes two to make. How could his work be more important than your health? Honestly, some men…” Knowing better than to delve too deeply into someone else’s personal matters, she trailed off and checked her watch. “I’m on the night shift tonight. Call me if you need anything.” I nodded gratefully. “Thank you, nurse.” The next morning, after I’d finished breakfast, there was a knock at the door. It was my husband, Andrew Carson. With his sharp features and lean frame, he looked every bit the handsome, stoic man I’d married. But as he sat down by my bed, his brow furrowed in mild annoyance. “How could you be so careless? How did you not know you were pregnant?”

This was my husband. I had just suffered a miscarriage and was in the hospital. He showed up late, and the first thing he did was scold me. “My periods are always irregular. I didn’t know I was pregnant,” I said, looking at him with a mix of frustration and pain. “And why are you questioning me? Claire pushed me down the stairs—if you want to blame someone, blame her!” Andrew rubbed his temples, the dark circles under his eyes giving away the fact that he hadn’t slept well, likely because he had been up all night caring for Claire. “Claire is still just a kid. She told me it was an accident. Besides, if you hadn’t dragged her to the Company Board of Directors to argue, she wouldn’t have lost her balance and accidentally pushed you down the stairs.” A nineteen-year-old kid? Was he serious? It was laughable. Andrew Carson always had an excuse for Claire. “So, what you’re saying is, I deserved to lose the baby? That it’s my fault for not throwing a bone to the rabid dog so it wouldn’t bite me?” I snapped, feeling the anger rise. Without thinking, I grabbed the ceramic cup on the bedside table and threw it at him. Andrew dodged it, and the cup shattered against the floor. Calmly, he bent down, picked up the pieces, and placed them back on the table, his expression stern, as though he were dealing with a child having a tantrum. “Emily, I’m upset about the baby too, but I’ve already given the Public Relations position to Claire. Let’s just put this matter to rest and move on. Don’t make this messier than it needs to be.” “I made a promise to Jon—I swore I’d take care of Claire as if she were my own sister. I can’t just stand by and watch her suffer in the Rural Program. Letting her stay at the Steelworks Factory was the best option.” Jon, Jon, Jon—everything came back to Jonathan Carson, his best friend from childhood. Andrew had stayed behind in Pittsburgh, working his way up to factory manager, thanks to both his skills and his family’s connections. Meanwhile, Jon had joined the army, choosing to serve his country. Four years ago, Jon had died on a mission, leaving behind a letter asking Andrew to look after his mother and sister. Andrew had been heartbroken by his best friend’s death and had taken Jon’s request seriously. With Jon gone, he was constantly worrying about Claire and her mom, always there for them. In the two years we’d been married, I’d heard him use Jon’s name as an excuse to favor Claire more times than I could count. It was a familiar refrain in my ears by now. I hadn’t minded when it was just a little extra cash, some grocery coupons, or even gifts he bought for them. Those were Andrew’s things—he could give them to whoever he wanted. I didn’t care. But the Public Relations Officer job was mine. I earned it, and he had no right to take it from me. Move on? Was Andrew afraid the whole factory would find out he used his position to pull strings for Claire? I let out a bitter laugh, tears stinging my eyes. Andrew had fulfilled his promise to Jon, taking care of his sister and making sure she didn’t have to suffer in the Rural Program. Claire got a cushy job at the factory, all thanks to him. And what about me? My hard-earned position had been stolen, and I had lost my baby. Now, my husband was telling me to just drop it, to stop making things difficult. Anger and sadness twisted inside me, leaving my mind blank. My tongue felt tied, and I couldn’t find the words to respond. Seeing my silence, Andrew pressed on. “I know this is unfair to you, but I promise, this is the only time I’ll do this. It won’t happen again.” He sounded sincere, each word filled with emotion. In my last life, when Andrew had begged for my forgiveness in that soft voice, I’d believed him. I’d been naive. Back then, I had grown up in a small town, where they’d sent a few of the city’s volunteers to work. Those city folks couldn’t handle the farm work—half of them couldn’t even carry their own weight. The women had it even worse, constantly complaining about the long days in the sun and the hard labor. I had felt sorry for Claire then, a young girl being sent to the rural areas, working the land. Andrew had convinced me to let it go, and I had agreed to drop the issue. When Claire found out I wasn’t going to fight anymore, she had come to my house, full of gratitude. “Emily, I can’t thank you enough! Don’t worry, I’ll work hard and make you proud in that job!” She had clenched her fist and pumped it in the air, like she was making some sort of dramatic pledge. The room had been filled with laughter and good spirits. At the time, I had thought, “It’s just this once.” But, as it turned out, a wolf in sheep’s clothing is still a wolf. What happened next completely blindsided me.

Later, Claire came flaunting my college acceptance letter right in my face. “Emily, I can’t thank you enough! First, you got me the Steelworks Factory job, so I wouldn’t have to go to the Rural Program. And now, with the reinstatement of the college entrance exams, you went ahead and got me into Yale! What a sister-in-law you are!” “I just told Andrew that I’d never be able to get married without a college degree, and without hesitation, he let me take your spot.” She laughed—a cruel, mocking sound that burned in my ears. “You fool! You were always meant to pave the way for me. Andrew doesn’t even care about you! You miscarried after I pushed you down the stairs, and I faked a stomachache to get my appendix removed. Andrew stayed by my side all night!” “Face it, Emily, you should’ve stayed in that little town of yours. Stop trying to take what belongs to me. Once I finish college, you’ll be old news, and Andrew will realize that we’re the ones who truly belong together!” Her words sent a wave of fury crashing over me. In my past life, this had been the moment I lost control. Betrayed, humiliated, I had dragged Claire to the education board to demand my spot at Yale. But as we crossed the street, she pushed me into oncoming traffic. That was how my miserable, short life had ended. Looking back, I could see it clearly: “Villains walk with ease, while the righteous are laid low.” Once you compromise your principles, others will exploit every inch you give them. I had been too kind for my own good in my past life. But this time, things would be different. This time, I would take back what was mine. As for Andrew’s promises? They meant nothing to me now. I could barely tolerate hearing him speak. After my miscarriage, he had chosen to comfort Claire after her surgery. Andrew wasn’t fit to be a husband, though he certainly excelled at playing the role of the doting brother. He could go ahead and be the best brother in the world. It didn’t matter to me anymore. I had lived twice, and I was done being disappointed in Andrew Carson. Without bothering to argue further, I lay back in the hospital bed, pulling the covers up around me. “Fine, I understand. Now, please leave.” Andrew stood there for a moment, as if uncertain, but then leaned down to tuck the covers around me, his face filled with guilt. “You know, working in Public Relations isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s exhausting, always writing reports and handling press. Being the wife of the factory manager is much more relaxed. People would kill to be in your shoes.” Andrew always had this self-important air, acting like he was doing me a favor, like I owed him something. Still lying on my side, I rolled my eyes. The more he talked, the more I just wanted him to leave. It was as annoying as the barking of a dog. “Get out!” I spat, finally letting loose. It was the first time in both my lives that I’d spoken to Andrew that way, and it felt so satisfying. That man didn’t deserve my patience. Silence followed for a moment. Then I heard him sigh heavily before his footsteps retreated out the door. I assumed he was off to care for his precious sister again. Outside, the sun shone brightly, a soft breeze rustling the leaves on the trees. This time, I would live for myself. I spent a week recovering in the hospital before the doctors sent me home with instructions to take it easy for a while. As luck would have it, Claire was also being discharged that same day. So, naturally, Andrew was busy running around handling her paperwork while I managed to check myself out, alone. Slowly, I made my way back to the Worker’s Apartments. When I reached the building, I saw a familiar figure standing at the entrance. Her hair was neatly styled, and she wore a clean, tidy outfit. At her feet were several large bags and two bound chickens. “Mom?” She turned around, eyes full of worry. She hurried over to me, putting her arms around me for support. “When you called yesterday, I made your father pack everything up, and we took the first bus to get here,” she said, gently poking my forehead, her tone both scolding and loving. “How could you be so bold? You went through something this serious, and you didn’t tell us until yesterday? If you’d called sooner, I could have come to take care of you!”

In my previous life, after my miscarriage, I didn’t want my family to worry, so I didn’t tell my parents a single word about what had happened. If I didn’t say anything, Andrew certainly wouldn’t, so my parents thought my marriage was just fine. When I died in that car accident, my parents would have lost their daughter, their hearts heavy with grief. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how devastated they would be. Tears filled my eyes, and I quickly wiped them away, forcing a light smile. “I called to let you and Dad know; I just took a little longer. Please don’t be angry, Mom.” My mom placed the items she brought on the table and sat down on the couch. “Raising a child is a lifetime of worry, especially after something like this. I brought two chickens for dinner; I’ll cook one for you tonight. You need to eat well and take care of yourself!” These days, there were regulations on how many chickens each household could keep, and we only had one left. The saying that a child with a caring mother is worth a fortune couldn’t be truer. I wrapped my arms around my mom and rested my head on her shoulder. “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.” She smiled, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Don’t think you can just get away with being coddled. You didn’t explain things clearly yesterday on the phone. Now you need to tell me honestly how my grandbaby ended up this way.” I fell silent for a moment. I knew this marriage was bound to end. Instead of hiding the truth and letting my parents worry, it was better to lay everything out on the table. So I shared the whole story of my miscarriage, including Andrew’s blatant favoritism towards Claire. After hearing everything, my mom was furious, launching into a tirade against Claire and Andrew. “That little brat, Claire Carson! Stealing your job, pushing you down the stairs, and now she has the nerve to come here! How shameless can she be?” “And Andrew isn’t any better. He always favors outsiders. I never approved of you marrying him. Who took your grandfather’s matchmaking seriously? But you liked him, so your dad and I kept quiet. But now look at the life you’re living!” Years ago, Andrew’s grandfather was injured in a war and fell off a cliff; my grandfather saved him. To repay that favor, they arranged for us to marry. Three years ago, when Andrew’s grandfather fell ill, he wanted to see his only grandson settled down and remembered the old promise. Andrew was charming and had an air of sophistication about him, so I quickly fell for him. My parents were worried about me moving to the city, fearing I’d be taken advantage of. But both grandfathers pushed for the marriage, and I insisted on going through with it. My parents prepared a nice dowry, happily sending me off. Little did I know, the marriage I had anticipated would end up like this. Andrew was my husband but also Claire’s brother. His favoritism toward her far outweighed what he gave me. Once unfaithful, always untrustworthy. I had already paid the ultimate price in my past life. Seeing my mom so worked up, I gently patted her back to calm her down. “Mom, please don’t be angry. It’s not worth getting upset over someone like that.” “And I want to divorce Andrew.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “294932”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #魔幻Magic #擦边Steamy #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring #重生Reborn #校园School

Standing in front of the County Clerk’s Office, I called Ethan Yates. After three ignored calls, he finally replied with a single word: “Busy.” Not even a period. He forgot today was the day we were supposed to get our marriage license. I glanced at the long line in front of me and smiled, finishing my iced coffee. I wasn’t going to be as foolish as last time. Does he really think I don’t know he’s on a date? This was the second time Ethan stood me up. Last time, he didn’t pick up his phone, and I waited in line for a solid three hours. Just when it was about my turn, a young girl behind me whispered to her fiancé, loud enough for me to hear. “Can someone get a marriage license by themselves? If I’d known, I would’ve stayed home and slept. It’s so hot out here!” I didn’t hear the guy’s reply. My heart sank, and I turned and walked away. Later, Ethan’s excuse was that his aunt was sick and he had to take her to St. Andrew’s Medical Center. He even made a call on the spot to prove it. Ha, like that would fool me. I didn’t throw a tantrum; I just locked myself in the bathroom and cried like a fool. If you’re going to lie, at least come up with a better excuse. He wouldn’t let me visit his aunt, couldn’t even describe her condition… Did he forget I’m a doctor? What he didn’t know was that the girl he was on that date with posted about it on social media. And guess what? That girl is my colleague. Ridiculous, isn’t it? One minute, he’s telling me we’re going to get married, and the next, he’s out having steak and wine with another woman. That night, when I got out of the shower, the living room lights were still on. Ethan was asleep in the rocking chair, cradling Rocky. And my heart ached, hard. Rocky is the dog we raised together. He’s seven now. Ethan gave him to me as a sign of our love. I didn’t confront him that night. I’m not sure if it was because I still loved him, or if I was just too stubborn to let go. When I came home after my night shift, the TV was still on, but Ethan was in the dark bedroom on the phone. His tone was irritated, “No way. Last time it was because of Aunt Susan. You’re not convincing me again…” “Mom, I haven’t broken up with Megan Summers yet.” “You can set it up, but I’m not going… You might like her, but I don’t.” Rocky made a sound, and the call ended abruptly. I pretended like nothing had happened. In my heart, I tried to tell myself he had no choice. I gave him another chance. I gave us another chance, after seven years. This time, he had picked the date to get our license. And again, here I was, left waiting. There’s a saying: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I wasn’t going to let there be a third time. Because he didn’t deserve my forgiveness. I didn’t go home. Instead, I went straight to the hospital. I had swapped shifts with Ryan Jacobs for today. “Sue, I thought you had something to take care of?” I gave him a small smile and handed him the coffee I just bought. “Plans got canceled last minute. You should go home and spend time with Crystal. We haven’t all been able to catch up lately.” Ryan’s girlfriend, Crystal Young, is my best friend. “Can’t. She’s covering a shift for the new nurse.” The new nurse? That was Tiffany Jones—the girl Ethan went on a date with. Ethan had stood me up, and Tiffany swapped shifts… I pulled out my phone and scrolled. Sure enough, Tiffany had posted on social media—a photo of a dinner table, with steak, red wine, and a massive bouquet of long-stemmed roses. And beside them, half of a phone. I recognized it instantly—it was Ethan’s. There was a tiny diamond sticker I had put on the corner, now catching the candlelight in a soft glow. How long had it been since he last gave me flowers? Oh, right. The last time was when I won a writing contest last year. The prize was $2,000. He bought me a small bouquet of baby’s breath. “Megan, flowers don’t last. They wither in a few days, so I got you something affordable,” he had said, standing in front of me with the Tag Heuer Watch I had just bought him on his wrist. I smiled, holding my cheap bouquet, and took Ethan out for seafood—his favorite. Now, here he was, giving someone else those impractical, expensive roses. Turns out, whether something is “practical” depends on whether it’s “worth it.” I’d always heard from friends that long-term relationships can fade. Without the passion of new love or the commitment of marriage, things rarely end well. So when he proposed, I said yes. There was no thought-out proposal, no ring, no fireworks, and no witnesses. We sat on the couch, discussing it as casually as what we’d have for dinner the next day. He called it maturity—stability. Looking back, maybe that wasn’t the natural progression of love. Maybe it was just settling. He didn’t have any better options. But when did he change? Because I know he loved me once.

My story with Ethan Yates is a pretty common one. After high school, he got his acceptance letter and asked me out. I was so excited my cheeks were burning red. I liked him. He liked me. We made it through four years of long-distance, staying strong the whole time. After graduation, he moved to my city. I was in medical school, and he started working a year before me. Back then, we rented the top floor of an old, run-down building. Summers were unbearably hot, and winters were freezing. When it rained, the water would drum against the roof all night long, but I could still sleep soundly next to him. He would cover my ears during thunderstorms. He’d wait for me downstairs after my night shifts, even if it was raining, even if it was snowing. One time, his mom got sick, and we sent all our money to help her. Winter was right around the corner, and we couldn’t even afford the electric bill. The heated blanket didn’t work, and he looked so worried, standing there with a kettle, filling hot water bottles to keep me warm. “I’m sorry. This is all because of me,” he said with his back to me. I could see his reddened eyes through the mirror, and my heart felt full and warm. With a man like that, I wasn’t afraid of hard times. And he was so driven. He was supposed to be on a six-month probation at work, but he became permanent after just two. There wasn’t any trick to it. His supervisor liked that he was reliable and hardworking. He did sales, wrote proposals—he was willing to learn anything. When he got his first paycheck, he bought me a bracelet. He held it in his hands like a treasure, and when we locked eyes, we were both so happy. But… it’s been a long time since he bought me a gift. Last year on my birthday, he had to work late. He didn’t even get me anything. On Valentine’s Day, he spent $3 on a streaming service to watch a movie. I had ordered steak, but he canceled it and got fried chicken and burgers instead. I gave him gifts for every holiday, but he accepted them as if they were his due. Sometimes I’d pout and complain, and he’d always say, “We need to save for a house. That’s what’s important.” The house slowly became an obsession for him. He believed owning a house was the only way to truly settle down. I don’t know when it happened, but that constant worry about money slowly chipped away at the simple happiness we used to have. And eventually… our love just faded. “Dr. Summers, someone’s here to see you.” Ethan stood at the reception desk, wearing a long gray wool coat, his head lowered. Even with a mask on, I recognized him right away. I used to joke that I’d been fooled by his looks, but there was some truth in that joke. He was good-looking. Especially when he smiled—his eyes sparkled. I took a deep breath and walked over to him. “Have you eaten yet?” That was the first thing he asked. “I have.” He avoided my eyes. “Your hospital is pretty big.” He had never come to visit me since I transferred to this new job. Too busy. Too far. “Yeah, uh, I had a meeting come up last minute, so I couldn’t make it… Did you wait long?” He finally brought it up. “It’s fine. I just called to let you know I had a surgery today, so I couldn’t come either.” He let out a sigh of relief, his gaze finally landing on my face. He looked much more relaxed. “That’s good. I was worried you’d been waiting a long time. I tried calling you this afternoon, but you didn’t answer or text me back.” “I was in the operating room.” We stood there in silence for three minutes. He finally spoke. “Well, I should get going then.” The moment he finished speaking, I turned and walked away. We both knew we weren’t going to bring up when we’d get our marriage license again. In the past, if we’d missed a movie or a dinner, he would have immediately suggested another time to make it up. When I got back to my office, I saw that I had 11 missed calls. One was from my dad. The rest were from Ethan. My dad knows my job. If I don’t answer, he’ll usually leave a message. But Ethan was just feeling guilty. I called my dad back. I was feeling guilty, too. “Megan, did you take the family record book without asking? Are you two getting a marriage license? Did you tell Ethan about the family situation?”

“I’m telling you, getting married is a big deal. You need to think it over carefully. It’s not too late to back out.” “Let’s not even talk about Ethan for a second. What about his mom’s attitude? Do you really think you can get along with her?” After ten minutes of his well-meaning advice… My dad sighed. “Megan, promise me you’ll take some more time to think about it.” Tears fell into my takeout box. “Dad, what are you thinking? I just lost my ID, so I needed the family record book to get it replaced.” Even over the phone, I could hear my dad’s sigh of relief. He wasn’t wrong, though. I had hesitated before, because of Ethan’s mom. Ethan’s mom isn’t an easy person to deal with. We’ve only met twice. Ethan’s dad passed away when he was young, and his mom raised him alone. She worked multiple jobs just to get by. When he finally graduated college and got a job, Ethan became her greatest source of pride. The first time I met her was about a year after I started working. Ethan invited me to dinner at his mom’s place. On the way, his mom called, fussing over him. Not a single word for me. Just before hanging up, he said, “Mom, Megan’s got a sore throat. Can you avoid using any hot spices in the cooking tonight?” When we arrived, she ignored the gifts I’d brought, rushing over to brush the snow off her son’s coat. Ethan tried to calm her down and then introduced us. If her barely-there smile wasn’t a big enough hint, the food on the table definitely made things clear. The entire spread was fiery red with spice. I just smiled quietly and bowed my head. Ethan squeezed my hand under the table, his face showing his frustration. “Mom, didn’t I ask you not to make spicy food today? Didn’t you hear me?” He was obviously trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. “I heard you. But you love spicy food! You’ve been away so long, and I just wanted you to have something you like.” “You can’t put spice in every single dish!” “How was I supposed to know which one you wanted most?” There was no arguing with that. Ethan pulled me up from my seat. “We’re going out to eat.” That’s when the tears started. “Oh, I see how it is! You get a girlfriend, and you forget all about your mother. After everything I’ve done for you all these years… when you were little, your mother…” In the end, I left by myself. I told Ethan, “You should stay with your mom. I’m heading home.” Ethan wanted to come with me, but his mother clung to him and wouldn’t let go. That’s when I really started having doubts. But every time his mom called to cause a fuss, Ethan would handle it efficiently. He’d stroke my hair and say, “Megan, my mom’s had a hard life. But don’t worry, I won’t let you suffer.” Back then, I believed him. I naively thought, I’m marrying him, and as long as he treats me well, that’s all that matters. And eventually, his mom and I started getting along a little better. One day, his mom asked me, “Is it okay if you two get married without owning a house?” That was the one time her tone didn’t have a hint of arrogance in it. “Yes, it’s fine. Ethan and I can buy a house together later,” I said honestly. She nodded, clearly satisfied. Then she turned and praised her son, “I’m not just saying this, but my Ethan has it all—looks, brains, and a great job. You’re lucky to marry him.” From then on, her attitude toward me improved. She even started sending me my favorite pomegranates whenever she sent Ethan a box of oranges. But thinking back now, last month’s box of oranges didn’t have any pomegranates. That must have been around the time she started setting Ethan up on dates again. After my shift, it was early morning. I ate a bowl of pork congee at a cafe near Cedar Grove Estate. I didn’t bring any food home for later like I usually did. I figured I wouldn’t need to anymore. Ethan was asleep on the couch, the ashtray full of cigarette butts. He doesn’t smoke much, usually just a pack every two weeks. Rocky jumped onto my lap, and I sat down on the edge of the couch. Ethan woke up. He saw it was me, then rolled over, “You just got off?” I stroked Rocky’s fur. He was starting to show signs of age. “Ethan, we’ve been together for seven years. Let’s end it on good terms. At least tell me why?” His eyes, which had just closed, snapped open. After a moment, he asked, “What do you mean?” “Your family’s been setting you up on dates. You’re sitting there, having your cake and eating it too. Doesn’t that make you feel a little guilty?” My tone was calm, but his face had gone completely pale. He rubbed his neck and sat up. “How… how do you know?” “That’s not the point.” “My family wants me to find someone who can help me buy a house.”

I… I never thought that would be his reason. “Megan, you know how expensive houses are around here. The price per square foot is insane. There’s no way we could ever afford one on our own…” I took a deep breath and stared into his eyes. “So what?” “Megan, we’re adults. We’ve all had to deal with hardship. I come from nothing. It wasn’t easy to get where I am today. My family home would sell for, at most, $300,000. And even though you’ve always said we don’t need a house to get married, I just want my partner to contribute financially. I know your parents work hard on the farm, and buying a house means renovations too… I can’t even bear to think about it. It just feels hopeless.” He rubbed his forehead, clearly stressed. I laughed bitterly. “So, Ethan, you’re just planning to find a rich wife and solve your problems in one go?” He looked insulted. “Megan, don’t make it sound so awful. My family just wants what’s best for me. And it’s not like I agreed to go through with it.” I threw my phone at him, showing him a screenshot. “You already bought her roses. Guess your charm worked.” I turned and locked myself in the bedroom. Ethan kept banging on the door, “Megan, open the door. Don’t do anything stupid. I’m telling you, without me, you could definitely find someone better. We’re just making each other miserable…” A few moments later, I opened the door and shoved a silver suitcase into his hands. “This is the stuff I paid for in this rented apartment. Now get out.” I pushed him out. Just as I was about to shut the door, he wedged his hands between it. “At least let me gather my things?” I had planned for a clean breakup, but he clearly had no shame. “Ethan, other than what’s in this suitcase, everything else was paid for by me. You want to settle up? Fine by me.” He let go as soon as I said that. “Is there really a need to be this precise?” I slammed the door shut with a loud bang. “You’re holding a suitcase full of things I bought for you. I thought the color suited you.”

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My sister wanted to kill me, and the moment my mother stepped forward to help her, I stopped struggling. Later, my sister had plastic surgery to look exactly like me. She sat in my bedroom, waiting for my husband to return. My parents hoped she and my husband would live happily ever after, enjoying wealth and fortune. I just laughed—because they had no idea how terrifying that man really is. Today is the day Liam Hawthorne returns from overseas. He’s been out of the country for over two months, and I’ve already been dead for a week. My sister, Nina Dawson, nervously stood as Liam entered the house. “Liam, have you had dinner yet? I had the housekeeper make your favorite—pumpkin soup.” This should’ve been their first time meeting. Yet Liam didn’t seem to notice that his wife had been swapped. Nina had really done it—altered herself from head to toe to look exactly like me. Liam handed his suitcase to one of the staff and rubbed his temples. “I’ll have a bowl.” Nina smiled, perfectly mimicking my gestures and mannerisms, exactly as she’d seen on hidden camera footage. Following behind Liam, she entered the dining room. “Mrs. Jenkins, get a bowl of pumpkin soup for Mr. Hawthorne.” Liam glanced at her briefly. Though there were plenty of staff, I had always preferred to do things myself. I never felt comfortable ordering people around, even though I’d been living in Harbor City for almost two years now. Before I married Liam, I lived in a quiet rural town in South Carolina. And truth be told, Nina was supposed to be the one marrying Liam. The Dawsons and Hawthornes had been close for generations. The Hawthorne family was second in influence in Harbor City—nobody dared claim first. Years ago, our grandfathers had arranged for a marriage between Liam and Nina. But after both passed away, Liam’s family was betrayed in the business world. Liam’s father, in a last-ditch effort, tried to revive the old engagement, hoping the Dawsons would come to the rescue. But my father had already been courted by other powerful players, ready to divide Hawthorne Holdings, caring little for past loyalties. The Hawthornes went bankrupt. Liam’s father died shortly after, and his mother vanished from Harbor City with Liam and their butler. Two years ago, Liam returned with Hawthorne Holdings, crushing every major player in the city. Anyone who had wronged the Hawthornes wasn’t spared—either left buried in debt or sent to prison. Businessmen quietly thanked their stars that this was happening domestically. Liam’s ruthless reputation abroad was notorious. By the time the Dawsons were nearly bankrupt from Liam’s moves, my father remembered the old marriage agreement. Nina, fearing Liam’s wrath, begged me to take her place and marry him instead. My father, like many businessmen, was deeply superstitious. On the day Nina was born, my father landed a major deal, one that propelled the Dawson family to new heights. But on the day I was born, the deal went sour, and the Dawson family lost half its fortune. He believed Nina brought him luck, while I brought him ruin. If it hadn’t been for my grandfather, who fought to keep me alive, I’m certain my father would’ve drowned me at birth. Instead, he told everyone I was ill and sent me “overseas” to recuperate. The truth? I was abandoned in a small southern town, raised by a blind widow. Nina’s name symbolized peace and safety, while my father named me “Early Death.” He hoped I would die young and not curse the family’s fortune. The widow, who cared for me, pitied me and secretly changed my name to Sarah. Though I escaped an early death, I still ended up dying young.

Nina snapped back to reality and spoke softly, “I’ve been feeling lightheaded lately. I was afraid I might drop the bowl.” Liam stared at her for a moment. Nina swallowed hard. I saw the flash of panic in her eyes. How ironic. The night she stabbed me in the heart, she twisted the knife, just to make sure I didn’t survive. Now, she was pretending to be weak. Nina quickly changed her mind, “I’ll get it for you.” Liam looked away and walked into the dining room. “No need. If you’re unwell, you should rest.” I froze for a moment. In two years of marriage, he’d never told me to rest. Now, after I’m dead, I hear it for the first time. It’s odd, though. Despite my frail health when I first arrived at the Hawthorne mansion, I didn’t get sick much in the last year. Two years of sharing a bed, and I finally mustered the courage to whisper his name in his ear. I wanted him to go to the Dawson mansion and get me out of there. Grandma Dawson had passed away, leaving me with no one to care for. Though I was furious about how I died, living had also felt exhausting. The freezer was cold—too cold for me. I’d always had poor circulation, and I just wanted a warm, sunny place to rest. And when I overheard them talking about dismembering my body, I was terrified. If I died in pieces, I’d rather have been drowned as a baby, at least then I would’ve been whole. I’d rather be burned to ash and have my body intact in death. Unfortunately, Liam didn’t react. He just picked up the bowl and started eating. “I heard you’ve been going out a lot recently?” Hearing him ask that, I brightened a little. I knew no one in Harbor City aside from the Dawsons. On my wedding day, my parents had told me that if I didn’t want Grandma Dawson to lose her medicine, I should do everything I could to please Liam Hawthorne. As long as the Dawson family remained stable, the medication wouldn’t stop. Once married off, I was told not to return. So after moving into the Hawthorne mansion, aside from an occasional trip to the grocery store, I hardly ever left the house. No wonder Liam thought it strange. Nina replied sweetly, “The weather’s been unpredictable lately. My parents got sick, so I went to visit them.” Her mention of our parents reminded me of the night she tried to kill me. I fought back with all I had. But my mother, worried I’d hurt Nina, joined my father in holding me down. In that moment, all the strength left my body, and I let the knife sink into my heart. Liam didn’t say much. “Better to go out than sit at home bored,” he commented indifferently. I felt defeated. Liam, so cautious and suspicious by nature, hadn’t noticed anything strange. And now he was saying things to Nina he’d never said to me. On our wedding day, my parents had smiled apologetically at Liam, telling him that I was to repay the Dawson family’s debts. He could do whatever he wanted with me—I was at his mercy. The Dawsons wouldn’t complain. Liam hadn’t treated me as an outlet for his frustrations, but he was distant and cold. After the soup, the two of them headed to the bedroom. Nina sat expectantly on the bed, watching Liam as he finished getting ready. Just as he leaned down toward her, his phone rang. He answered the call, quickly dressed, and left. I wasn’t surprised—he was probably going to deal with some urgent business at the company. Nina looked disappointed but smiled when he turned back. “You’re wearing too much perfume. I liked it better before,” he commented before walking out the door. Nina froze, then quickly lifted her arm to sniff herself, confused when she didn’t smell anything.

Nina hurriedly called Mrs. Jenkins into the bedroom. “Can you smell perfume on me?” Mrs. Jenkins leaned close, sniffing Nina’s arms and neck. “No, I only smell your shampoo.” Nina frowned, pacing back and forth. “When you worked for Sarah, what did she smell like?” Mrs. Jenkins thought for a moment. “She didn’t wear perfume. She never used any of the bottles in her cabinet. Honestly, she smelled of nothing—like she didn’t care to enjoy life.” Mrs. Jenkins had been hired by my mother six months ago, supposedly to help me with herbal broths since I hadn’t conceived. I was thrilled by my parents’ sudden care for me. Even though Mrs. Jenkins never cooked for me, it filled me with hope that maybe, just maybe, my parents had started to care. But I later learned that from the moment Mrs. Jenkins stepped into the house, she was part of the plan. Her real job was to observe my habits and secretly film me, so Nina could perfect her impersonation. Nina smirked at Mrs. Jenkins’ remarks. “Not just unlucky—she was doomed from the start.” Mrs. Jenkins seemed puzzled. “Doomed?” Nina’s smirk faltered for a moment before she recovered and delivered her rehearsed line. “She was always sick. The old widow who raised her was constantly begging my parents for more money to take her to the doctor.” “All that woman ever did was ask us for money. A beggar raising another beggar! Sarah was so pathetic, trying to do everything herself. No wonder she couldn’t even manage the house staff.” I lunged at Nina, throwing punches and kicks, but my fists went right through her. The Dawsons had only sent money for the first few years, and after that, Grandma Dawson paid for everything herself, collecting scraps to raise me. They only remembered me when they needed someone to take the fall. Mrs. Jenkins suggested, “Why don’t you wash your hair again? Maybe it’s leftover shampoo from your place that hasn’t worn off yet.” “Sarah wasn’t picky about these things. She just used whatever Hawthorne Holdings provided. She wasn’t nearly as particular as you are.” Nina pursed her lips, irritated. “I wash my hair every day—why isn’t it gone yet? I’ll wash it again later.” Nina sent Mrs. Jenkins out of the room and then dialed a number. “Master Evans, have you trapped Sarah’s ghost like you promised?” I hovered near the phone, listening to the reply on the other end. “Don’t worry, I’ve bound her soul to the amulet. She won’t even have a chance to reincarnate!” I rolled my eyes as I floated around the room. Master or not, the man had no spine. He sounded more like a salesman desperate to keep his business.

Liam didn’t return for several days. Nina waited anxiously until 8 p.m., her favorite dishes laid out on the table. I licked my lips at the sight. It’s not that Liam and I had no common ground—when it came to food, we had identical tastes. Nina picked at some vegetables and a piece of meat before setting down her fork. She was always strict about maintaining her figure. Her daily intake wouldn’t even match one of my meals. Not only did she care about how food was prepared, she never ate after 6 p.m. Grandma Dawson used to say, “If you can eat, it’s a blessing.” I never held back at mealtime. Mrs. Collins made the best honey garlic chicken. I was practically drooling, and it hurt to think that Nina had no idea what she was missing. Liam paused, glancing at Nina. “You don’t like the food?” Nina smiled sweetly. “I haven’t had much of an appetite lately.” Liam watched her for a long moment before replying, “The housekeeper said your appetite has been much better while I was away. Funny how it disappeared once I got home.” Nina quickly shook her head. “I’ve been feeling a bit off—probably from the heat.” Liam looked down for a second before replying, “Lightheadedness, lack of appetite… we’ll have you checked out tomorrow.” Nina instinctively wanted to refuse, but in the end, she smiled and agreed. She probably figured that as long as it wasn’t a plastic surgeon, she had nothing to worry about. After all, only three people knew what really happened to me.

Hawthorne Holdings owns several hospitals, and whenever I got sick, I’d go there for treatment and bill it to Liam. I was shocked when Liam went with Nina for a checkup. The doctor handed Liam the report. “Mr. Hawthorne, this is Mrs. Hawthorne’s full medical report. She’s in excellent health.” “I remember when she first came here two years ago, she had several vitamin deficiencies, but everything seems normal now. Looks like she’s been taking her supplements regularly.” Back when I first married into the family, I was constantly getting sick. The doctor recommended a full-body checkup. It turned out my poor health was due to malnutrition, so the hospital prescribed all sorts of supplements to help. But taking medicine for so long wasn’t my thing, so after feeling better, I stopped. Whether the medicine had worked or not, I wasn’t sure—but now they were looking at a healthy Nina, who had always been pampered and well-fed. Liam flipped through the report casually, but then his hand paused as he turned the page. I was about to float over to take a peek, but he quickly flipped to the back. After reading it, he asked, “These symptoms—aren’t they usually linked to pregnancy?” I nearly choked in shock. Even though he wasn’t talking about me, he knew I had always taken birth control. Besides, with my poor circulation and chronic weakness, getting pregnant was never in the cards. The doctor shook his head. “It’s been a hot summer. A lot of people are feeling off. I’ll prescribe some peppermint tea for Mrs. Hawthorne. She’ll feel better after finishing a box.” Liam stared down at the report, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Nina, noticing the conversation between Liam and the doctor, felt uneasy. After grabbing her prescription from the nurse, she hurried over to interrupt. “Liam, is there something wrong with me?” The doctor repeated what he’d said earlier, and Nina finally relaxed. Just then, Nina got a call from her parents inviting her back home for dinner, and Liam, noticing, said he would join her. I floated into the car, following along. Since Liam had come back, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he sensed something off about Nina. A man as calculated and ambitious as him wouldn’t waste time without reason. This was Liam’s first time visiting the Dawsons’ house. My parents were thrilled, their voices dripping with flattery as they greeted him. As they all sat in the living room, I was stuck within the invisible bounds that kept me tethered to Nina, unable to stray too far. My mother held Nina’s hand, studying her, and softly asked, “Are you comfortable at the Hawthornes’? Are you sleeping well?” I couldn’t stand watching her fawn over Nina. My gaze drifted toward the old storage shed in the backyard. That day, they sent all the house staff home, tricked me into that shed, and killed me, hiding my body in a freezer they’d prepared ahead of time. I wanted to see if I was still there. If only Liam would take me away from this place. At that moment, my mother gave my father a look, and he quickly invited Liam to the study for tea and a game of chess.

I followed Nina and my mother to the bedroom. My mother spoke in a low, serious voice, “Your father and I dealt with that girl last night.” I sighed in frustration. They were a little too late. Nina wasn’t happy with my mother’s expression. “What’s with that look? Are you regretting it, feeling sorry for her?” My eyes lit up as I stared at them, eager to hear more. My mother gently tapped Nina’s forehead and gave her a half-hearted scolding. “You little ingrate. The only person I care about is you!” I couldn’t help but float closer. “Mom, aren’t I your daughter too? Didn’t you carry me for nine months? Why did you help Nina overpower me?” “All these years, I’ve listened to you, staying in that small town, minding my own business. If you asked, I would’ve gone back without a fight.” I never dared to hope for the same love she gave Nina. But for the sake of ensuring Nina’s perfect life, she chose to erase me completely. She held me down so her other daughter could take my place. The memory of my mother visiting me once as a child blended painfully with the image of her pulling Nina away from my blood-soaked body, careful not to let my blood stain her hands. But I would never get an answer. Nina smiled, satisfied with the response. “Good. Make sure to scatter her remains bit by bit, somewhere far away.” My mother hesitated for a moment before adding, “There’s one thing… she was pregnant. And it was twins.” I felt my spirit sway as I stood there, staring at them in disbelief. Though I had been taking birth control, deep down, I had always wanted a child. Earlier this year, Grandma Dawson was growing weak. I rushed to the small-town hospital to see her. She lay in bed, holding my hand, worry in her eyes. “Sarah, my sweet Sarah. What will you do when I’m gone?” I held back tears and forced a smile. “Don’t worry, Grandma. Liam’s been treating me much better lately.” With her last bit of strength, she raised her hand, and I leaned in close. “Sarah, try to have a child as soon as you can. Boy or girl, it doesn’t matter—someone to keep you company, someone to protect you.” “People need someone to care for to have the strength and hope to go on living.” I nodded. “Yes, I’ll bring them to see you when I have one.” Grandma smiled and asked me to take off the wooden beads from her neck. “I don’t have much to leave you, but these beads were blessed by a monk for my parents. I was born with a light spirit, and my soul was always drifting. Wearing this amulet kept me grounded.” “It might not be worth much, but it’s something to remember me by.” Remembering her words, I looked at the amulet around Nina’s neck. So that’s it. My soul had been tied to that amulet all along. Nina’s voice trembled with fear. “Who else knows about her pregnancy?!” My mother frowned with concern. “That’s what I’m worried about. But I asked Mrs. Jenkins this morning, and it seems no one at the Hawthorne mansion knows.” Nina paled and grabbed my mother’s arm. “Mom, I don’t want to go to prison!” My mother hugged her tightly, soothing her in a low voice. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We won’t let anything happen to you. We’ll just say you went on a trip, and after some time, we’ll report her missing.” “Your father’s working on getting a meat grinder that can even handle bones. We’ll turn her to dust and bury her somewhere remote. That way, there will only ever be one Sarah Dawson.” My mother’s eyes were cold and calculating, but as she comforted Nina, she returned to her warm, nurturing self.

After dinner, the Dawsons accompanied Liam to the glass greenhouse in the backyard for tea. Nina excitedly picked a few garden roses, saying she’d take them back to the Hawthorne house. My mother eagerly encouraged her, saying, “Liam, we grow the best roses in all of Harbor City. They’ve just bloomed this week—you came at the perfect time.” Liam watched Nina picking the flowers, lost in thought. Nina noticed and asked, “Liam, what’s on your mind?” He turned to her. “Nothing. I just remembered you once told me that your sister loved garden roses. This greenhouse was built for her.” Everyone’s faces showed a flicker of discomfort. My father chuckled awkwardly. “That’s true, but Sarah loved them too.” Nina played along, offering a shy smile. Liam said nothing more, and my mother quickly changed the subject. Back at the mansion, Nina offered to help Liam take off his jacket. He opened his arms, letting her do so. Nina stood on tiptoe, reaching up to unbutton his shirt. Liam frowned. “You’re still wearing perfume?” Nina froze, her smile faltering. “No, it must be the shampoo.” Liam gently pulled her hands away. “I just remembered something I need to take care of in the office. I’ll be in the study.” Nina glared at the closed door after he left, muttering, “What, are you not man enough?” I rolled my eyes. She had no idea how powerful Liam was—especially in bed, where he could wear someone out completely. Out of frustration, Nina sniffed her arm again, then went to the bathroom to compare the scent of the Hawthorne family shampoo with her own. “What the hell? It’s the same smell! I haven’t worn perfume in ages!” I grabbed a strand of my hair and took a whiff—there was no smell. Seeing that she was about to take her third shower of the day, I decided to leave the room and explore the house. As I floated out, I saw Mr. Barrett heading into Liam’s study, and I followed him in, curious. ��Look into Mrs. Hawthorne’s whereabouts after I left for France,” Liam Hawthorne said before hanging up the phone.

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After three years of being with Cole Stevens, I accidentally scratched his childhood friend’s hand. So, on my birthday, he brought a whole group of people to corner me in an alley and smashed the left hand I used to play the violin. He stood over me, looking down with disdain, and said, “Forget the violin. You won’t need that useless thing anymore.” Later, he lost his mind and kept hugging me, begging me over and over not to forget the past. But all I could respond with was a blank, unfamiliar stare. “Amber, are you okay?” “Amber! What’s wrong? What happened?” On a dark and windy night, Cole Stevens had his men hold me down in an alley not far from home. The sky was completely overcast, with layers of clouds piling up, pressing against the horizon. The dead silence of the alley was broken only by the cold wind howling through the streets. Two tall men restrained my hands, pinning me against the wall, unable to move. My phone lay smashed on the ground, and from it, I could faintly hear my brother Daniel’s panicked voice. “Amber? What’s going on? Say something…” My breath came out in cold, shallow gasps, and the tension in the air became unbearable. Cole held a cigarette in his hand, his eyes filled with contempt as he stared down at me. He bent down, picked up my phone, and hung up the call. I looked up at him, only to be met with a brutal kick from someone in the crowd. “What are you staring at? You think staring at Cole is going to bring back your fantasy romance?” One of the men restraining me leaned in, his face close to mine, mocking me. He grabbed my face, squeezing it with disdain. “You do look a little like Miss Harper. No wonder Cole went for someone like you.” Then he slammed me to the ground, pulling me by my hair so I’d be forced to face Cole Stevens. Even now, I couldn’t believe Cole would do this to me. I looked up at him and asked the only question left in my mind. “Why?” But he didn’t even look at me. He just crushed the cigarette against the wall with a cold indifference. The man who kicked me earlier burst into laughter. “Why, you ask? How dare you scratch Miss Harper’s hand? Her hand is meant to play the violin!” “Who do you think you are to be compared to her?” “Don’t blame us,” he said, patting my cheek. “Even if you gave both your hands, it wouldn’t be enough to make up for what you did.” So, Cole had dragged me out here in the middle of the night, just because I accidentally scratched his childhood friend Sophia Harper’s hand? From the start, the only thing he ever cared about was Sophia Harper. Cole crouched down, taking my left hand into his. He looked at it for a moment before speaking in a voice as cold as ice. “I can’t let you stand in her way.” “Forget the violin. You won’t need it anymore.” “All you need to do is stay by my side.” Sophia Harper was destined for greatness. She deserved to chase her dreams, free from mundane things like daily struggles. But did that mean I deserved to have my hand shattered, my spine bent, crawling after you like a replacement? Fury surged through me, and I screamed as loud as I could, hoping someone outside the alley would hear. But I hadn’t realized how carefully Cole had planned this. The entire street was cleared. I struggled with all my strength, but his men took turns holding me down, controlling every movement. The violin on my back was ripped off and thrown harshly to the ground. With a crack, it split in two. It was my birthday today. That violin was the last birthday gift my mother had given me before she passed. Cole glanced at the broken violin, showing a flicker of hesitation. He knelt down, pretending to be regretful, gently touching the shattered instrument. “It’s fine. You won’t need any of this from now on. As long as you have me, that’s enough.” I pressed my lips tightly together, fighting back the tears that blurred my vision. Cold tears streamed down my cheeks, but I couldn’t feel anything. All I could think about was how that violin was the only thing my mom left for me in this world. Cole waved his hand, signaling for them to proceed. And that’s when real fear gripped me. “Cole Stevens, you can’t do this to me!” I screamed, but all it got me was a metal pipe smashing down on my left arm. Agonizing pain shot through my arm, and I let out a piercing scream. I was terrified. If my hand was ruined, I’d never play the violin again. So I crawled forward, inch by inch, my mind barely functioning, all I could think about was begging for mercy. I clutched Cole’s pant leg. “Cole… please… let me go… I can’t live without my violin… “I’ll die… please…” He shook me off, coldly yanking his leg away. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I won’t bother you anymore. I’ll leave, I’ll go far away, so you’ll never have to see me again, okay?” The metal pipe came crashing down again and again on my left hand and arm, mangling it beyond recognition. I couldn’t even feel the pain anymore. I couldn’t even feel my left hand. “Cole Stevens… I don’t love you anymore, just let me go… I can’t live without my violin…” If I couldn’t hold a violin, I wouldn’t survive. I could lose everything, but not my dream. I crawled like a beaten dog, inch by inch, begging for mercy. I gave him my last shred of dignity. But he didn’t care. It wasn’t until my left hand and arm were utterly destroyed that he finally called them off. He looked down at me with a pitying gaze. “Don’t worry, I’ll marry you. “But you can’t stand in Sophia Harper’s way.” I collapsed onto the ground, my right hand gently grazing over the mangled remains of my left arm. Everything I had been holding inside for so long erupted at that moment. I stared blankly, tears streaming down my face, merging with the blood on my hand. I couldn’t control myself anymore as I screamed at him with everything I had. “Cole Stevens! You’ll never see me again! “You’ll spend the rest of your life in agony, loving someone you can never have!”

I’d been with Cole Stevens for three years. At the very beginning, I was in a practice room, playing my violin, and he happened to pass by, drawn to the sound. The summer wind swept through the trees by the window as scattered people strolled down the street. The melody of “La Vie en Rose” floated through the air, reaching his ears. He turned his head, and saw me, bathed in light, playing the violin. It was like an awakening. In that instant, I saw him too. The music flowed between us, like we were walking through the streets of Paris, and at any moment, we would stumble upon a rose. Our relationship grew as quickly as the song itself, and Cole became like family to me. So, when I first heard the rumors, I didn’t believe them. “Hey, did you hear?” “Sophia Harper is back from overseas.” A group of girls, clearly from wealthy families, sat gossiping in a corner, occasionally glancing my way, as snippets of their conversation floated to me. “Who do you think Cole Stevens will choose, Sophia Harper or Amber Jackson?” “Is that even a question? Sophia Harper has been the love of his life for ten years. I heard they grew up together!” One girl, sitting closest to me, shot me a look of pure disdain, rolled her eyes, and whispered to her friends as they left. “Amber Jackson doesn’t even realize she’s just a replacement. I bet Cole will drop her any day now and go after his true love.” “Amber who? Sophia Harper is from a prestigious family…” The rumors spiraled out of control, growing louder by the day. I was restless, so distracted I didn’t even notice someone standing outside when I opened the door. The old doorknob fell off, hitting the person’s hand, leaving a deep cut as warm blood started to flow. That’s when everything changed. I finally met Sophia Harper. We looked eerily similar, especially from the side. Coincidentally, we were both violinists. Even our habits were strikingly alike. Cole always held me close, calling me “Soph.” Over and over again. At the time, I thought he was different from my brother Daniel and the others, who all called me “Amber.” But it turned out, he wasn’t calling me “Soph,” he was calling me “Sophia.”

I sat crouched in the corner of the hospital, cradling my shattered left arm. After realizing something was wrong during our phone call, Daniel had rushed out of the house, only to find me, lost and broken, at our front door. Cole Stevens, with his wealth and influence, easily brushed the incident aside with just a few words. He even promised compensation. But I could never play the violin again. I sat there, staring blankly, not reacting to anything. The only thing I could do was hold onto my arm as if that would somehow fix everything. Daniel didn’t know what else to do, so he gently brought me back home. I clutched his hand, my eyes red and swollen from crying. “Daniel…” I smiled weakly at him, even though my eyes were filled with tears. “I have a performance in a couple of days. I can’t stay home like this. Can you take me back to the orchestra?” He was stunned, frozen in place as he looked at me. “Amber… don’t be afraid…” He wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes, trying to comfort me. “I’ll protect you.” “Daniel! Please… take me back to the orchestra…” I begged, my eyes pleading with him. Unable to bear seeing me like that, Daniel settled me down in bed before retreating to a corner of the house, where I could hear him quietly break down in sobs. I didn’t understand what was happening. It felt like my mind was covered in a thick fog, and pieces of my memory were being erased, little by little, like someone rubbing away at them with an eraser. I felt scared, but at the same time, there was a part of me that looked forward to forgetting everything. One day, as I sat alone in our empty house, thinking about having lunch with Daniel later, I stepped outside by myself. When I tried to return, I couldn’t find my way home. I wandered aimlessly around the neighborhood, circling the same streets over and over, but I couldn’t recognize anything. I didn’t know which way to go. I couldn’t find home. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember the way back. Unconsciously, I tightened my grip around my left arm, desperately trying to hold myself together. I didn’t know what else to do, so I just started running. Running and running. I tore through the alleyways at full speed, not knowing how long I’d be running down those endless streets. I could hear my own ragged breathing, the panicked sound of my heart pounding in my chest, and the tears streaming down my face. Until I collided with Daniel, who had been frantically searching for me. He grabbed my shoulders, trying to calm me down. I was crying uncontrollably, looking around in confusion, muttering, “Daniel, I can’t… I can’t find my way home…” “I… I can’t go back, Daniel…” “Why can’t I remember anything? What’s happening to me?” I clung to him, my fingers digging into his clothes as all my emotions burst out in that single moment. “Amber Jackson!” His voice was stern as he stared at me. “Calm down!” I was startled into silence, staring up at him with wide eyes. “Don’t be afraid.” “I’ll take you to see the doctor, okay?” He bent down, gently picking me up onto his back, and without another word, he carried me to the hospital. I knew he was hurting too. I knew he was worried. But I had forgotten so many things… so many things…

“Preliminary tests show that the patient has early-onset Alzheimer’s, and it seems to be progressing.” “That’s impossible! My sister is only 27 years old!” I stared out the window, watching the birds chirping and flitting about, as if I couldn’t hear the conversation between Daniel and the doctor. “Not only that,” the doctor continued, “but she’s also suffering from severe depression, likely triggered by a major traumatic event. Did something significant happen to her recently?” I continued cradling my left arm, but my mind wandered to the thought that my birthday was just a month away. I wondered what Daniel would get me this year. Cole Stevens never gave me anything on my birthday. He always combined it with the day we first met! I smiled up at Daniel, reaching out with my right hand to poke his arm. “Daniel, what are you going to get me for my birthday this year?” I had forgotten that the day Cole and I first met was actually Sophia Harper’s birthday. I had also forgotten that my own birthday had long passed. As Daniel explained what had been happening lately to the doctor, he reached down to gently soothe me. He gave me a sad smile, but tried to hide his emotions. “Whatever you want, Amber. Your brother will get you anything you ask for.” “The prognosis suggests this is a sudden condition. Early intervention and treatment might slow its progress, but we can’t guarantee recovery.” “The most important thing is to keep her away from any triggers.” After hearing the doctor’s advice, Daniel brought me home and immediately removed anything related to the orchestra or Cole Stevens from the house. He stood tall and strong in front of me, like a tree. But my eyes were clouded. I couldn’t see the path ahead of me, nor could I see any future at all. “Open the door, it’s Cole Stevens.” I sat on the couch, staring blankly at the door. When I heard his voice, I glanced over at Daniel, who was in the kitchen cooking, and got up to open the door myself. Cole stood lazily outside, his expression slightly impatient as he looked at me. He seemed irritated that I had taken so long to answer the door. But I couldn’t really see what he was doing. All I knew was that this was the man I loved, and I should be happy to see him. So, I smiled brightly and grabbed his arm with my right hand. “Cole! You came to see me! What’s gotten into you?” “I thought you were busy with work lately?” Cole was caught off guard by my reaction, frowning as he looked down at me. My left arm was in a cast, thick bandages wrapped around it. But I didn’t seem to notice. It just hung limply by my side. He assumed that I was clinging to him, trying to win back his affection by playing this helpless act. But he had no idea…

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Because of a jar of chocolate, I asked Vivienne Shaw for a divorce. It was in the seventh year of our marriage. She looked at me, annoyed. “I’m really tired, can you stop making a fuss?” I calmly looked at her, then picked up what I had prepared long ago: “This is the divorce agreement.” While doing laundry, I found half-eaten chocolate in Vivienne’s coat pocket. I froze. How could she have something like this? Vivienne had always been strict about her appearance, working in the fashion industry. To keep her skin clear and her figure slim, she avoided sugar religiously. She wouldn’t even eat many carbs, let alone something as sugary and indulgent as a jar of M&M’s Minis. I remembered finding a small packet of cookies in the car a few days ago. She said a coworker gave it to her. But all her coworkers knew she avoided sugar. Why would anyone give her cookies? After hesitating for a long time, I finally went down to the garage to check the car’s dashcam. The sound of the car door closing played, followed by a cheerful, familiar male voice: “You’re the best, Vivienne. Thanks for waiting for me.” The voice was warm, bright—pleasant to the ears. But all I felt was a chilling sensation spreading through my body, and my heart ached as if struck by a hammer. Vivienne let out a light laugh. “Everyone else is working late, aren’t you worried they’ll talk since you left early?” Jaxon, pretending to be cocky, replied, “I’m part of the new generation! Besides, everyone knows you were waiting for me. With you around, why should I care what they think?” Vivienne laughed heartily, amused by his youthful arrogance. I was suddenly reminded of when Vivienne and I used to work together, back when our marriage wasn’t public knowledge. Whenever we crossed paths in the office, she would walk right past me as if she didn’t know me at all. Whenever I brought it up, she would get impatient: “Don’t you know the company policy? If people find out about us, do you think I’ll still have a chance at a promotion?” At that time, my world revolved around Vivienne, but for Vivienne, her world was all about work. As she rose higher in her career and got busier, I ended up quitting my job to become a full-time homemaker, taking care of everything for her. But now, she didn’t seem worried about jeopardizing her promotion at all. There was a soft “pop” as Jaxon opened something. “Vivienne, have some chocolate.” Vivienne chuckled. “No thanks, kid. I don’t eat stuff like that. You go ahead.” “But I want to feed it to you!” Jaxon whined. I snapped back to reality, smiling bitterly at myself as I listened to the sound of Vivienne crunching on the M&M’s. After she finished the chocolate, she said, “Don’t eat too much. I’ll take you somewhere nice for dinner.” I turned off the dashcam. I couldn’t listen any longer. My head throbbed, and I wanted to open the window to get some fresh air, but my body felt drained, like I couldn’t even lift a finger. I thought back to the past. I used to cook all kinds of meals for Vivienne to help her eat better. Within a year, I went from being a kitchen rookie to knowing how to make dishes from several cuisines. One Thanksgiving, I made a honey-glazed ham. Vivienne didn’t get home until nearly midnight. When she saw the dish, she threw down her fork. “This is so greasy, so sweet! How am I supposed to eat this?” Then she got up and went to the bedroom, leaving me sitting alone at the dinner table, stunned. I had just wanted to make something festive for the holiday, but it ended in an argument. I knew she was stressed from work. At the time, I regretted being so careless, making her go hungry on a holiday. But I had forgotten that the table was full of dishes, not just the ham. But now, she had eaten half a jar of chocolate. Turns out, it wasn’t the sugar that was the problem. It was me. I found the divorce papers I had tucked away. I’d printed them a long time ago, but I hadn’t wanted to bring them out. I admit, I wasn’t ready to let go of our marriage. I’d liked Vivienne for so long. From the moment I first saw her, my heart raced, and she became the most beautiful color in my youth. But she had fallen for the campus heartthrob. He came from a wealthy family, and his mother didn’t approve of Vivienne. Instead, they arranged for him to marry a well-off debutante. Vivienne was heartbroken, so she settled for me, the guy who had always been by her side. I knew all of this, and I didn’t care. I kept waiting. Waiting for her to see me. Waiting for her to fall in love with me. But I failed. From the moment I saw Jaxon, I felt uneasy. He reminded me too much of the type Vivienne liked. They both had that sunny, clean-cut look, playful and lively, always the center of attention—unlike me, who was content to stand quietly in her shadow. The first time I felt something was off was when Jaxon called late one night. He was just an intern, and while they talked about work, there was nothing urgent. Why would an intern call the department director late at night instead of speaking to colleagues or other supervisors? It didn’t make sense. Vivienne was lying on the couch at the time. She had neck problems and sometimes headaches. I was giving her a massage to help her relax when she suddenly sat up, rushing to answer the phone. I could feel her excitement, and even a hint of nervousness. “Just go for it, don’t overthink it. We’re in a creative industry; you don’t need to hold back.” She listened patiently as he rambled about work. The entire time, the corners of Vivienne’s mouth lifted into a soft smile. After she hung up, she seemed in a great mood, even humming a tune while putting on a face mask. I sat there in the living room, feeling like my heart was being ripped apart. I didn’t think Vivienne intended to hurt our family at first. She tried to restrain herself. Every time Jaxon called, she kept it professional. But emotions are probably the hardest thing to control. Even if you cover your mouth, they find a way out through your eyes. Soon, her phone was always in her hand, and she started laughing to herself for no reason. She worked late more and more often. When I finally brought it up, she looked at me with disdain and said coldly, “Elliott, you’re a grown man who does nothing all day and obsesses over the smallest things. It’s pathetic.” Her words deflated me like a punctured balloon. I no longer had the courage to confront her. It wasn’t her fault, though. I had always known—I wasn’t the one being loved. But my heart hurt so much that I became numb, and in that numbness, I realized something: I deserve to be loved, too. Divorcing over a jar of chocolate might sound ridiculous. But I was tired. I didn’t want to be the loyal dog anymore. Even if no one else loved me, I could still love myself.

I took a deep breath and handed the divorce papers to Vivienne. She was at her desk, typing away on her computer, and she irritably swatted them out of my hand. “Elliott, can’t you see I’m working?” “How many times have I told you not to bother me when I’m busy—” This time, I didn’t stay silent. I cut her off: “These are the divorce papers. Look them over. If everything’s fine, just sign.” Vivienne was stunned for a moment, then she let out a mocking laugh. “Elliott, I see you’ve grown some backbone. What’s this? You think I haven’t given you enough, so now you want to push me into pampering you even more? You want to mooch off me?” I met her gaze calmly. “Did you forget? Back when we graduated, I had better options. It was you who said you needed me by your side, so I took a job at a company I didn’t even like. You excelled in your field, worked late every day, to the point where you had stomach ulcers. That’s why I quit to take care of you. How much does a live-in housekeeper in New York City cost per month? Would the money you spent on me even come close? Don’t paint yourself as a saint. It’s me, Elliott Reid, who’s been taking care of you—not the other way around.” Vivienne’s eyes widened in shock. She never expected me to say something like that. Then she swept the unsigned divorce papers to the floor in anger, yelling at me: “What the hell is wrong with you? Acting all high and mighty now? Do you think I’m too old and ugly for you, is that it? Is that why you want a divorce?” I simply replied, “The chocolate in your pocket—you ate half of it.” “What?” Vivienne’s face hardened, then suddenly, as if realizing something, her expression grew nervous. “You’re divorcing me over chocolate?” I looked at her, nodding seriously. “Yes.” I paused before adding, “Whether you agree or not doesn’t matter. If you refuse, I’ll file for divorce. I’m a stay-at-home husband, Vivienne—I’ve got all the time in the world.” Vivienne glared at me, then let out a bitter laugh. She picked up the crumpled divorce papers from the floor, signed them, and threw them back at me. “Get out!” she shouted, pointing at the door. I didn’t even look back. I turned and left. “Elliott, don’t come crawling back to me like a dog. Once you walk out that door, there’s no turning back,” Vivienne spat venomously at my back. My face flushed, my chest felt tight, and my heart throbbed with pain. I’d threatened divorce before in moments of despair, but I always backed down. I couldn’t bear to leave this home we’d built, couldn’t bear to leave the woman I had loved for so many years. She always knew where to hit me the hardest. She might forget my birthday, but she sure knew how to hurt me. I grabbed my jacket and said, “Let’s go. We’ve got time now; we can head to the courthouse.” Vivienne didn’t continue insulting me. She stood up and yelled, “Elliott, are you seriously doing this?”

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On the third day after my death, my family was still busy preparing Tessa Winslow’s Sweet Sixteen party. The police officer who found my body called my mother. She snapped in frustration, “Dead? So what if she’s dead! She was always lying, disappearing to make a scene. If she’s really dead this time, I still won’t pay for the funeral!” My soul hovered in the air as I watched her hang up, smiling broadly as she called Tessa to come cut the cake. Everyone gathered around Tessa, singing the birthday song. But today is my birthday too. On the fifth day after my death, my father reported me missing to the police. My mother and my brother, Derek, reluctantly joined him at the Westfield Police Department. “Ivy was always up to something,” my mother muttered, annoyed. “She used to torment Tessa, always lying and saying Tessa bullied her, hit her, tore her things apart. And every time we tried to talk to her, she’d throw a fit… This isn’t the first time she’s run away. She’s probably playing video games at some lowlife’s house.” Derek, who always resented me, scoffed and went back to playing on his phone after speaking. My mother’s attitude was no different. Even with her perfect makeup, she couldn’t hide her disdain for me. “Coming down to the station for that worthless girl? Just to make a spectacle of ourselves?” she said to my father, glancing impatiently at her watch. Tessa had a ballet recital tonight, and my mother had ordered flowers for the celebration. All this time, my father hadn’t said a word. To be fair, my father, Clay, was a remarkably handsome man, even in his middle age. Time had only added a calm gravity to his features. But right now, his brows were furrowed. I admit, a part of me eagerly anticipated how he’d react when he saw my body. “Are you Ivy’s family?” the officer asked. After confirming our identities, the officer led my family to the morgue to view my remains. Derek was the first to express his displeasure. “What’s Ivy pulling now?! This place is bad luck, I’m not going in!” “Ivy’s always had a wicked streak,” my mother whispered, casting a furtive glance at my father. “I don’t believe she’s really dead.” As I hovered there, I overheard the officer whispering to his colleague, “Are they really her family? They didn’t even come to see her one last time.” For the first time, I heard my father’s voice drop, heavy with anger. “Everyone, get in there!” My body was not a pleasant sight. After days submerged in Silver Creek, my skin had swollen and turned translucent, distorting me beyond recognition. Derek took one glance and stumbled to the wall, retching. The officer began to explain, “We found her in the creek five days ago. Initial findings suggest she accidentally fell in… Oh, and when she drowned, she tried calling someone. Didn’t she try to contact any of you?” He pulled out the evidence bag. The familiar number on my mother’s phone showed a call lasting a minute and a half. My mother screamed, “What call?! I never got any call! Ivy’s lying again, Ivy…” Her voice cut off when she saw my body. Something clicked inside her, and she began to tremble. “Tessa told me Ivy called asking for money…” Tessa, the fake daughter. That day, I had called my mother, hoping for help. Tessa answered the phone. I told her I was drowning. I begged her to come and save me. But on the other end, I heard her tell my mother, “Mom, Ivy’s asking for money again. She says if we don’t send it, she’s never coming back. She’ll cut ties with us.” My mother was furious. “Then let her die out there!”

Now I’m dead. They must be so relieved. “Ivy, I’m sorry, Ivy. I didn’t mean to… we thought you were just asking for money again…” My mother’s eyes were red as she shook uncontrollably, trying to reach out to hold me. My father pulled her aside, but she sobbed, saying she wanted to see me. He sneered. “When Ivy was alive, why didn’t you look at her then? Now you feel sorry? Too late!” It was the first time I had seen my father speak so harshly to my mother. She collapsed to the floor, burying her face in her hands and crying. Derek muttered angrily, “Dad, why are you yelling at Mom? Isn’t it good that Ivy’s dead? She came back and messed everything up. Now that she’s gone, we can finally be happy again. We can have peace…” Smack! My father’s hand struck Derek so hard he fell to the ground. “You look at her!” my father growled. “Ivy was your sister!” Derek landed right on top of me, face-to-face with my pale, bloated corpse. He tried to pull away, but my father pushed his head down. “She adored you when she was little! When you got into fights, she was terrified you’d get hurt and ran to protect you. She was only three years old then!” “When you fell off the table and wouldn’t take your medicine because it tasted bad, she saved up her candy from preschool to give to you! She was so hungry, but she only licked the wrappers!” Derek’s face twisted in shame. “That was so long ago…” My father’s voice shook with rage. “Derek Lennox! The day you took Ivy out and she went missing, you really think we didn’t know?” His chest heaved, emotions raging inside him, pushing him to the breaking point. “When Ivy came back, we asked her how she got lost, and she said it was her fault for being naughty! She didn’t say a word about you!” Derek’s lips trembled. “But… but you found out anyway! Ivy was never innocent. She was jealous that I cared about Tessa, so she didn’t say anything to you but still made sure you knew…” Smack! Another brutal slap knocked Derek to the side, leaving him spitting blood and teeth onto the floor. My mother wept even harder. “It wasn’t Ivy who told us. It was your father, Derek. He hired someone to find out.” When Tessa returned home later that night, the house felt off. Seeing my mother’s red, swollen eyes and Derek covered in blood, Tessa cautiously approached my father. “Dad, did you go looking for Ivy? I’m so sorry, I should’ve told you sooner—she’s been hanging out with some bad kids at school. They’d do anything for her.” She handed him her ballet trophy. “Didn’t everyone say they were coming to see me? But no one showed up. I got distracted, didn’t perform well, and only got silver.” My father’s gaze was cold. “Don’t you always get silver?” If I weren’t just a ghost, I’d be clapping. Tessa’s smile faltered, her lips trembling. “Are you angry because of Ivy? A few years ago, I did win a gold medal…” Derek caught her eye, signaling her desperately. She quickly wiped at her eyes. “Is Ivy still mad at me? I told you, I don’t care that she took my lucky bracelet. If she likes it, I’ll just buy another one for her. Dad, don’t be angry with Ivy. She grew up in a rough place. She’s got some bad habits, but she’ll change over time—oh, and I made dessert. We can all eat together as a family. Don’t let Ivy make you sick.” I floated after Tessa as she carefully plated store-bought pastries, proudly presenting them as her own creation. “I wanted to make something fancier, but I was missing some ingredients…” Tessa trailed off, glancing nervously at my father. “My wallet’s missing a lot of cash. I could’ve sworn I counted it before, but it seems like the only time someone touched it was the day Ivy left.” My father shot up from his chair. His sharp gaze pinned Tessa in place. She stammered, unsure of what to say. “Derek, tell her what your sister was doing that afternoon!” Derek shivered, his expression conflicted as he answered, “The police showed us the security footage. Ivy went out at noon, but she stayed at the convenience store near our house… She kept looking at her phone, probably waiting for one of us to call.” Angry that I was falsely accused of stealing Tessa’s bracelet, I stormed off to the convenience store. Even though I had been disappointed so many times, I still waited for someone from the Lennox family to come find me, to tell me they had made a mistake, apologize, and bring me home. So I kept staring at my pinned family chat on WhatsApp. But I waited from morning until night, and no one came. Tessa’s face went pale. She muttered, “The police? Ivy was arrested?” My father’s voice turned icy. “Ivy’s dead.”

Those four words hit like a thunderclap, shattering the fragile harmony that had held up the household. My mother clung to Tessa, her voice rising in protest. “Ivy’s death isn’t Tessa’s fault! Why are you treating her like this? Ivy was my daughter, but so is Tessa! We’ve raised her for over a decade! We only had one daughter, and now that Ivy’s gone, we can live like we used to, can’t we? Why do you have to keep stirring things up?” My father’s lips quivered as he stared at her. “You’re the one who stirred up all this trouble!” he shouted. “When we brought Ivy back, you told me that Tessa was our daughter too, and that we had to protect her feelings. You cared about Tessa. Derek cared about Tessa. Everyone cared about Tessa. But who cared about Ivy?!” “When Ivy came home, she had so little that she packed her things in one small bag. I told you to take her shopping for new clothes. But when Tessa started crying, you felt sorry for her and took her too. What was supposed to be a mother-daughter bonding moment turned into a show for Ivy to watch!” “The designer clothes we bought for Ivy ended up on Tessa! Don’t tell me you didn’t know!” “You keep saying Tessa is your heart and soul, but what about Ivy? She was our daughter! We spent years searching for her, and she suffered countless abuses while she was gone!” My mother gaped, tears spilling down her cheeks. For a moment, there was a flicker of guilt in her eyes. But it was faint, and she quickly dismissed it. “I wasn’t bad to Ivy… she just wouldn’t accept my love! She never considered my feelings. She was always stirring up trouble, trying to push Tessa out!” My father, drained of all hope, let out a deep sigh, slumping back as though the weight of the world had fallen on him. “You’re right,” he said bitterly. “The one who killed Ivy wasn’t Tessa. It was me. It was you. It was all of us, this so-called family.” He paused before continuing, “Margot, I want a divorce.” True to his word, he quickly set the divorce in motion, enlisting a lawyer to finalize the details. My mother, on the verge of hysteria, refused to accept it. “Ivy is already dead! I know I wasn’t good to her before, but I’ll make it up to her… I’ll give her the grandest funeral, the most expensive jewelry. I’ll invite all her friends and teachers!” It was the first time she had ever acknowledged my existence at school. She rushed out the door in simple clothes, for once wearing no makeup. As I floated above, I watched her step onto campus, hesitating as she entered. “Where’s Ivy’s class?” she asked. Derek, yawning mid-sentence, stopped cold. Mom had dragged him out of bed, and his irritation vanished as he uncertainly glanced in the direction of my old dorm. “Over there?” It wasn’t exactly wrong—that was my dorm. My old dorm.

The door to the dorm room swung wide open. Inside, Chelsea Kramer and her crew were lounging around, smoking. When my mother asked about me, Chelsea blew a puff of smoke right into her face. “Oh, look! Here comes the mother of the little trash. Guess trash runs in the family!” They burst into laughter. Derek stepped in front of my mother, but their taunts only grew louder. “A real mommy’s boy, huh? I thought Derek Lennox only cared about his fake sister!” They gestured towards the balcony with their chins. “All of that little brat’s stuff is out on the balcony. Go help yourself.” As my mother walked past them, she tripped on the doorway, losing a shoe. Laughter exploded from the room as Derek moved to help her, but she shook him off. On the floor, she picked up a photo. It was taken during my first few days in the dorm. Chelsea and her friends had pinned me down, stomping on my face while flashing peace signs for the camera. My mother’s hands were shaking as she held the picture, her voice trembling as well. “These are the clothes I bought for your sister. When she came home, they were covered in footprints. I asked her what happened, and she said nothing. But Derek… Derek, tell me, didn’t she get into a fight at school not long after?” Derek turned away, and the light in my mother’s eyes dimmed bit by bit. Her voice cracked. “Did I… did I wrongfully blame Ivy?” I watched quietly, emotionless, as she bent down to start gathering my belongings. I only had one set of school clothes. The pants were stained, showing wear. She dusted them off, seeing the patchwork I had done myself. Then something clicked in her memory. “Ivy told me her uniform was torn and asked for money to buy a new one. Derek, I asked you to give it to her—did you?” Chelsea and her friends roared with laughter. “Give her money? That little piece of trash went to beg, and her dear brother and that fake sister of hers said money doesn’t grow on trees. Told her to be frugal and not wasteful.” “Oh, lady, is Ivy really the daughter you spent all those years looking for? Because when we came to rough her up, your golden boy here saw it happen and said, ‘Serves her right.’” Derek’s face turned ashen. “Shut up!” “Shut up? Oh, come on, Derek! You had the guts to do it, but not to admit it? Let me tell you, we didn’t start bullying Ivy right away. It’s just that… when your dad doesn’t care, your mom doesn’t care, and your own brother’s so biased it’s ridiculous—how could we not knock her around a bit? Dunk her head in the toilet, make sure she knows she’s nothing but a pitiful little loser.” In a rage, Derek grabbed Chelsea by the hair. She shrieked and cursed, but before she could fight back, he grabbed a moldy sock from the floor and stuffed it in her mouth. Chelsea spat it out, her words growing more vicious. “The whole lot of you are pathetic! Pretending to be tough! Your sister fought back at first, y’know—pulled a knife on me. But in the end, we still outnumbered her, grabbed her by the neck, and made her kneel!” “You monsters!” My mother finally snapped, going completely wild. She attacked Chelsea and her friends like a madwoman, her long, perfectly manicured nails breaking as she struck them, blood welling up, but she didn’t care. She forced them to apologize, to confess everything they had done to me, recording every word. She was sobbing and screaming the whole time, like a woman who had completely lost control, unhinged and terrifying. Derek tried to pull her away, but she slapped him hard across the face. My mother was crying, and this time I truly felt the depths of her anguish. “Ivy, my Ivy… how much did you suffer back then?”

Chelsea and her gang were expelled. No school would accept them after the bullying scandal broke. Their families, who owned small businesses, couldn’t compare to the Lennox family’s influence. A single word from my father, and they were ruined. “Please, ma’am! I know I was wrong. I beg you and Mr. Lennox to have mercy on us!” Chelsea sobbed as she knelt on the rough pavement. When she got no response, she dragged one of her lackeys over. “It was her! She’s the one who made Ivy drink toilet water! I’m making her pay for it!” The best fertilizer in a field is manure, and Chelsea shoved her friend’s face right into the dirt. “It wasn’t me…” the lackey tried to protest, but her mouth filled with filth as Chelsea pressed her down harder, gloating. “Is this enough for you, ma’am?!” Chelsea shouted, her voice growing louder. “Do you think this is enough?!” As my mother, father, and Derek turned to leave, Chelsea, desperate, yanked the girl up again and pinned her to the ground. She climbed on top of her, pressing her foot against the girl’s face. “Look, ma’am! Look at how I’m humiliating her!” “Ma’am, should I strip her down and post the pictures online?” “Ma’am…” Chelsea was a natural-born bully, her tactics endless. My family hadn’t even responded yet, and she was already carrying out her sick plan. Tessa’s soft voice broke the silence. “Mom, maybe we should just let it go.” Seeing my mother’s steely gaze, Tessa swallowed hard and continued, “They’re Ivy’s classmates. Conflicts between students are normal. If they bullied her, Ivy must’ve done something to deserve it. Otherwise, why would they target her out of everyone?” “Hmph.” My father’s voice thundered through the air like a storm. “Margot, do you see? This is the girl you’ve doted on for over ten years—the girl you’ve coddled at the expense of your real daughter!”

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When the fire started, I saw with my own eyes how my mom rushed into the room to wake up my sister, carrying her on her back and running outside. All I got was a single shout to “Run!” She didn’t even glance at me. I looked downstairs at my dad, who stood there holding his computer, frozen. Then, without hesitation, I ran straight into the flames. “Is there anyone still upstairs?” the firefighter shouted to the group of residents who had escaped. My mom, along with the neighbors, responded quickly, “Everyone’s out, everyone’s out…” Everyone really was out. The five-story building had ten families, a total of 28 people. Twenty-seven made it out. The other was a ghost. I watched coldly as my dad, eyes only for my sister, patted my mom on the back. “You take care of her. I’m going to see if the computer still works.” Mom nodded quickly, her focus on soothing my sister, who was just waking up from the smoke, coughing hard. Even then, she called out to me, “Lily, come help us out.” I really did answer, but my mom couldn’t hear me anymore. When I didn’t respond, she finally turned, searching the crowd for me. “Lily? Lily! Where are you?” Her voice got louder and more frantic, moving from worry to anger, then to confusion. She suddenly grabbed Mrs. Roberts, our neighbor, asking, “Have you seen my younger daughter?” When she got a shake of the head, Mom’s expression changed. She’d frowned at me plenty before, but this time, it was different. She grabbed anyone she could find, her voice rising. “Has anyone seen Lily? My daughter? Anyone?” No one could give her the answer she wanted. Her eyes turned red as she ran toward the firetruck, grabbing the firefighter handling the hose. “My daughter is still inside! She’s still in there! Please, save her!” The firefighter looked panicked, shouting back at her, “Why didn’t you say so sooner?!” Two firefighters rushed into the burning building as I watched. Only then did my sister realize I hadn’t made it out. She stumbled over to my mom, asking over and over, “Lily hasn’t come out yet?” I’d never heard her speak so loudly before, and neither had Mom. Her eyes filled with tears as she hugged my trembling sister, and they cried together. By the time I floated back over from the burning building, I tried to tell the firefighters that I was already dead—that there was no point in rescuing me now. But, of course, they couldn’t hear me. Ten minutes ago, I was alive. Twenty minutes ago, I was dreaming. I hadn’t quite gotten used to being a ghost yet. That’s when my dad finally showed up, holding his precious computer, laughing as he ran. “It still works! We got lucky!” Mom wiped her tears and yelled at him, “Lucky?! Your daughter is still up there!” “What?” Dad looked from my crying sister and mom to the still-burning windows, and then he stomped his foot in frustration. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” “What good would that do? Could you go in and save her?” It looked like they were about to start arguing again, but the neighbors crowded around, trying to calm them down. Some tried to stop the fight, while others comforted my mom or checked on my sister. For once, the neighborhood had never seemed so united. “Don’t worry, don’t worry. The fire hasn’t been burning long. Those firefighters will bring your daughter down in no time.” The neighbor hadn’t even finished speaking when the fire was finally put out amidst the chaos. Mom saw the fire was gone and quickly handed my sister off to the neighbors. Ignoring everyone’s attempts to stop her, she tried to break through the police tape, but just before she could run inside, the two firefighters came out. I felt an intense pull, and everyone, including me, turned to look at the figure one of them was carrying. But it wasn’t quite right to call it a person anymore—it was a charred corpse. When the firefighter laid my body on the ground, I nearly vomited. The crowd gasped, and some even ran away, covering their mouths. My mom started to tremble all over. She fell to her knees, hunched over like she’d never be able to straighten up again. Her hands shook just above my burned body, barely daring to touch me. There wasn’t a single part of me left unharmed. In the silence, broken only by my sister’s wailing cries, my mom looked up at the firefighter who had brought me out. Her mouth hung open, wide and broken, but no words came out. Only after a long moment did a few scattered sobs escape from deep within her throat. The firefighter’s eyes were red, too, as he stammered, “I’m so sorry for your loss.” At those words, my mom seemed to snap back to reality. The tear that had been stuck in her eye finally fell, and she collapsed over my body. From where I floated, all I could see was her shaking shoulders, just like that mother cat I used to see walking her kittens home after school.

My mom refused to let them do an autopsy, and she called a car to take my body straight to Greenwood Funeral Home. Even the funeral home makeup artist, who had seen a lot, was shaken when she saw me. My burns were so severe that there was no point in even attempting makeup. They decided to leave it until the morning, when they’d go out to buy the Funeral Attire for me. My dad was in the security office at the funeral home, smoking. I used to be so proud to tell my friends how my dad didn’t smoke, especially when they talked about how their parents argued over it. It wasn’t until later that I found out he had quit for seventeen years because my sister was a preemie with fragile health. So, when some neighbors and relatives praised my dad for giving up smoking for his daughter, I always felt ashamed—because it had never been for me. But what I didn’t expect was that he’d break his seventeen-year streak for me. He didn’t have any cigarettes of his own. The security guard had given him one after hearing how I’d died in the fire. The old man shook his head in pity, talking about how tragic my death had been, assuming I’d been alone in the house when the fire started. My dad, trying to nod along, ended up choking on the smoke, coughing hard enough that he dropped the cigarette to the ground. He stared at the ember as it slowly died, then collapsed onto the desk and sobbed. My sister was sitting quietly in the corner, folding Paper Memorial Flowers in silence. I sat next to her for a long time, just like we used to sit and watch TV together. For a second, it felt like nothing had changed, like I wasn’t even dead. But the silent tears falling onto her jeans told me we couldn’t go back. I floated over to my mom. She was sitting in front of my coffin, mumbling to herself. “It’s all my fault. You were alone in that fire. Were you scared?… I told you to run, but you stayed behind. How could you not make it out?” Maybe Mom will never know the truth—that I didn’t stay behind because I couldn’t escape. I stayed on purpose. When Mom ran out with my sister on her back, not looking back, I waited, thinking my dad would come for me. I mean, that’s not unreasonable, right? Two parents, two kids. One takes one, the other takes the other. It made sense. But I waited so long and never saw him. When I finally decided to run on my own, I looked out the window and saw my dad, standing still, clutching his computer. A wave of despair hit me like never before. I knew my parents had always loved my sister more than me, but what I didn’t expect was that I wasn’t even as important as a computer. In those few short seconds, I could already imagine how my dad would dismiss me if I ran downstairs and asked him why he hadn’t come for me. “The computer doesn’t have legs, but you do, don’t you?” And if I had asked why my sister got carried out, while I was left to fend for myself, my mom would have given me that same disappointed look. “Your sister isn’t healthy. Can’t you understand that?” In the end, if I’d just stayed silent, quietly standing by their side like I had for the past fifteen years, nothing would have happened. But I couldn’t accept it anymore. I could endure everything for my sister, but I couldn’t live in a world where I wasn’t worth more than a computer. Even if I had to die, I wouldn’t live that way. By the time I realized how terrible that thought was, it was already too late. I had stepped into the fire. I did struggle. I didn’t want to die. But by then, it was too late. I died alone, in agony. In my last moments, I thought of the ACT Exam Results coming out in two days. I remembered how my dad had promised me we’d go out for dinner if I got into my first-choice high school.

None of them—Mom, Dad, or Jessica—slept that night. At dawn, my mom finally wiped away her tears, acting like nothing had happened. She woke up Jessica, who had fallen asleep against the wall, surrounded by folded Paper Memorial Flowers. “It’s cold here. Go upstairs and get some rest.” Jessica opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she just stayed quiet and went upstairs. Once the morning light fully came in, Dad walked in with Grandpa and Grandma, who had hurried in from the countryside. Grandma took one look around and asked, “Where’s Jessica?” “She’s upstairs, asleep,” Mom replied. “We should be quiet then.” Jessica’s full name was Jessica Mitchell. My name was Lily Mitchell. But when they talked about their “precious daughter,” they were really only talking about Jessica. When I was in preschool, I used to hear other parents call their kids “baby” or “sweetheart,” and I thought everyone in my class was named “Baby.” I even believed that our preschool classes were divided based on our names. It wasn’t until I was a little older that I realized everyone else had a proper name. I was the only one stuck with just “Baby.” When I asked my mom why I didn’t have a real name, she smiled and said, “Baby is your name.” Back then, I didn’t understand why everyone else could use my name too. I wanted to ask more, to understand, but in the end, I pretended to get it and ran off. By the time I was in elementary school, my name had become my nightmare. The boys in my class started teasing me, calling me “Baby” in mocking voices. Even though I was young, I could tell they were making fun of me. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I tried to bring up changing my name at the dinner table. But my mom just said, “You and your sister together are our ‘precious babies.’ Isn’t that a great meaning?” Before I could say anything, my dad chimed in, laughing, “If you don’t want to be a precious baby, we could call you ‘Little Treasure.’” He thought it was so funny he almost choked on his rice. But I didn’t think it was funny. I didn’t want to be called “Baby” or “Little Treasure.” I wanted to ask why I had to be tied to my sister, why I couldn’t have a name of my own. But I kept quiet. Even years later, when my parents still used “Little Treasure” as a joke after dinner, I laughed along with them. Even though I didn’t find it funny. Even though I knew what it meant to be insulted. I still laughed with them, pretending to enjoy the joke. Looking back, I should have known from the start. My whole life, I was nothing more than an accessory to Jessica. Like buying a six-pack of milk and getting a free yogurt. If the yogurt wasn’t there, no one would care. And if it was, people might wonder if it was just thrown in because it was hard to sell on its own. On the first afternoon after I died, my parents had their first big argument since the fire.

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I took in a man. At first, I thought he was just a poor, unwanted soul with nowhere to go. He wanted to marry me, to offer himself in return for my kindness, but I told him, “I can’t look at a man who doesn’t own a house.” The house not only had to be paid in full, but the deed could only have my name on it. Even if it was a tiny, run-down place, it would still cost a couple hundred grand, at least. I thought he’d back off at that point. But he looked at me and said, “Alright, anything you want. I’ll make sure to put it right in front of you.” To buy me that house, he took on five different jobs. He worked nearly 20 hours a day out of the 24. Every month, he’d hand me his paycheck, and I’d count it—$8,527. He’d flash me that big, happy smile of his, showing off his two little dimples. “Cate, I’ve already found the perfect spot. You love lively places, so you’ll definitely like this one.” “I’ll save up faster, I promise. You’ll have your own home in no time!” But later… I saw him at a private auction, spending millions just to see some woman smile. He gifted her a diamond-embellished lingerie set worth over a million dollars.

Because of the tough economy, I lost my job. I didn’t want to worry him, so I kept it to myself and started applying for jobs in secret. Today, a friend helped me get a gig at a private auction. “One million, going once!” “One million, going twice!” “One million, sold!” “Congratulations to bidder 1306 for purchasing the diamond-embellished lingerie!” “Please wait a moment, our staff will bring the item to your VIP lounge!” This was a private auction, divided into a main hall and separate VIP lounges. I carried the tray with both hands and stepped into the VIP lounge. The moment I saw the man sitting in the center, my mind went completely blank. That morning, when I pretended to head out for work, he was still holding me close, whining that he didn’t want to go to work. He even said I wasn’t allowed to go either; he just wanted us to spend every moment together. He begged me to make him soup after I got home. Yet not even a day had passed, and there he was with another woman in his arms. “Blake, you really outdid yourself this time! Spending a million just to make a lady smile—shouldn’t that at least earn you a kiss?” “Yeah! Kiss her!” The others around them started to cheer. Blake Montgomery’s smile was soft, the kind of smile I’d seen before. He lifted the woman’s chin and kissed her. The way he moved, so practiced and casual, like this was routine. In front of me, he had always been cautious, careful, acting like a man terrified of losing me. Now, he was the complete opposite. I felt a chill wash over me, like the air conditioner in the VIP lounge was broken, making the room feel like a freezer. I couldn’t move. My body was numb, and I didn’t know how to take another step forward. They were living in some blissful paradise, a place I clearly didn’t belong. The group egging him on—I knew them. They were the street gang that had once beat him up over unpaid debts. I’d met Blake on a rainy day. I had just finished feeding some stray cats when I saw him getting beaten by that gang. I was an orphan. I didn’t have anyone to back me up, and I wasn’t about to get myself involved in trouble. So, I hid in a corner and waited it out. Once they left, I grabbed my umbrella and started heading home. Suddenly, I felt a tug at my pant leg. I looked down and saw his eyes, drenched and desperate. He reminded me of a stray puppy I’d once brought home. He had that same helpless, clingy look that made my heart ache. That dog had gotten sick and died, though, and I hadn’t had the heart to adopt another since. But I took Blake in anyway. He was broke and an orphan, like me. Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of owning my own home. I worked for years, saving every penny, until I had a decent amount saved up. But when Blake needed medical care, most of it went to his hospital bills. I cared for him for half a year until his injuries healed. I made him write me a loan agreement, promising to repay me in monthly installments. He agreed without hesitation, then blushed and asked if I’d marry him. He promised every dollar he earned from then on would be mine to manage. I never planned on being with anyone, so I told him he’d have to buy me a house first if he wanted to marry me. He smiled, looking overjoyed. I was confused, wondering if I should take him to get his head checked. But then he said, “Alright, you didn’t reject me, and that’s all I care about.” “Cate, anything you want, I’ll make sure you have it.” To save up for the house, he worked himself to the bone, taking on five jobs. He barely got five hours of sleep a day. I thought he’d give up soon, but he kept going for two months straight. One night, I got a call from the hospital. When I arrived, the doctor told me Blake was severely sleep-deprived and malnourished. If he kept this up, he’d work himself to death. I sat by his hospital bed until he woke up in the middle of the night. The first thing he asked was what time it was—he had to go deliver milk. I told him to stop. No more delivering milk. He still hadn’t realized he was in a hospital. He looked confused and asked, “But if I stop working, it’ll take longer to buy the house and marry you.” He started calculating how much time it would add if he gave up the milk route. “Cate, why are you crying? You’re scaring me. What happened?” It was only then that I realized my cheeks were wet. I wiped my face and said, “Just promise me you won’t deliver milk anymore, and I’ll stop crying.” He hurried to wipe my tears, panicking, “Okay, okay, I’ll stop. As long as you don’t cry, I’ll do anything.” Even then, he was still mumbling about money. “Cate, I know you want a home soon. Don’t worry, I’ll just pick up more clients.” “But you have to promise me one thing—don’t leave me. If someone else offers you a house, you can’t run off with them.” He rambled on, looking terrified that I’d abandon him. My heart softened, and I smiled, “Okay.” There were so many memories like that, moments where he broke down the walls around my heart. But now, those memories felt like a cruel joke. Reality mocked me, revealing that all of this was just a game for some rich kid. They say the best hunters disguise themselves as prey. Now, I truly understood the power of that statement. Blake Montgomery was never the helpless puppy I thought he was. He was a tiger, hiding his claws until he no longer needed to. And I was just the mouse he toyed with, cheering for his every move, completely lost in the performance. I fought the urge to confront him. Who was I to him? Who was he to me? Our worlds were galaxies apart, and any words I said would only make me look like a fool. To him, I was just one of many women. Maybe the beginning was different—after all, he had tailored everything just for me. But the end was always the same. I was nothing more than a temporary fling, someone to be thrown away once he grew tired of me. At this point, I just wanted to leave with some dignity and protect the little self-respect I had left. Luckily, all the staff here wore masks and heavy makeup, with standardized uniforms, so no one would recognize me. The woman in the red dress clung to Blake, breathless from their kiss, while he left marks on her neck before finally letting go. She slithered back into his arms like a boneless snake. “Blake, I want to wear that lingerie tonight. Why don’t you help me see if it fits?” She was giddy with excitement, but Blake’s eyes had already turned cold, though he still agreed to her request. I laughed at myself for ever believing he wanted to spend every moment with me, for believing the way he cared when he ended up in the hospital trying to save for our house. The woman in red smiled brightly, “Blake, why don’t you stay with me tonight? You always leave by 11, and I still have so many ways to spoil you that I haven’t had the chance to try yet.” His eyes narrowed. “You think you can manage my time?” Blake hated being controlled, hated being told what to do. The woman turned pale, apologizing, trying her best to make amends. Blake shook her off, his disdain for her evident. “You know the rules—I decide what I do, and no one gets to question that.”

“Blake, you’re practically turning into that girl’s perfect boyfriend these days.” “Yeah, no matter how late it gets, you always head back to her.” “Blake, don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen for her—like, seriously thinking about marriage?” Blake shot a glare at the few friends teasing him, pulled out his phone, and started dialing. “Shut up.” Seeing this, the group fell silent, knowing better than to push it further. That’s when my phone started vibrating. The sound, faint as it was, echoed in the stillness of the VIP lounge, catching everyone’s attention. All eyes were on me. My hands trembled, a light sheen of sweat forming on my forehead. I flinched, and the tray tilted. The diamond-embellished lingerie tumbled to the floor. A million dollars! I panicked, dropping to my knees to pick it up. Thankfully, the thick carpet cushioned the fall, and the item wasn’t damaged—though it was definitely covered in dust. The woman in the red dress had only insisted on wearing the lingerie tonight to get Blake to stay with her. Seeing the dirt on it, she slapped me across the face. “You useless idiot! You couldn’t even handle something as simple as this! A million-dollar lingerie set! You’d have to sell yourself a hundred times over just to afford it!” Her fury only grew, and she raised her hand again, ready to strike. The first time, I hadn’t expected it and took the hit. But this time, I wasn’t going to let her get away with it. I grabbed her wrist and looked her dead in the eye, refusing to back down. The woman raised her other hand to strike me once more. “Stop!” Blake’s voice cut through the tension, startling us both. The woman froze, confusion flashing in her eyes as she turned to look at him. I could feel his gaze fixed on me. My body stiffened, afraid to look up and meet his eyes, terrified that he’d recognize me and tear away the last shred of dignity I was clinging to. “Your eyes,” he said, his voice lighter, almost playful. “They remind me of hers—the way you don’t back down. But she doesn’t wear makeup. That’s where you two are different.” I could hear the amusement in his tone. “It’s just a piece of clothing. Wash it and move on.” The woman in red recognized the command in his voice. Though she was reluctant, she couldn’t do anything about it. She shot me a venomous glare before backing off. I discreetly silenced my phone, trying to stay out of sight. The others, however, were quietly alarmed. They knew Blake Montgomery too well—he was ruthless and vindictive. Normally, a server like me would’ve been tossed out and punished for such a mistake. His leniency was unsettling. I watched as he dialed my number repeatedly, his expression growing darker with each unanswered call. Just when I thought he might go home to check on me, he pressed a few keys on his phone, tossed it aside, and took a sip of his wine. “I’m not coming with you to the next stop,” he told his friends. “I’ll hang out for a little longer, then I’m leaving.” The woman in red immediately panicked. “But Blake, you said you’d come to my place tonight!” Blake turned to her, his face set in a cold, hard stare. She was desperate. She knew that as long as Cate was involved, she’d always be cast aside. But thinking about the million-dollar lingerie set Blake had bought for her tonight, and the way he’d appreciated her efforts in bed, she felt a renewed sense of confidence. Pouting, she rubbed her arm against his, her voice dripping with seduction. “Blake, I’ve prepared all your favorite things at my place. She could never understand you like I do.” Blake’s expression shifted into a sneer. “You think you matter? You’re just a whore money can buy. Don’t you dare compare yourself to her.” Her face turned ghostly white at the blunt, humiliating insult. His friends were stunned into silence. One of them finally spoke up, shocked, “Blake… are you serious this time?” Blake said nothing. Just as I thought he wouldn’t respond, a smile curled across his lips, and he laughed. “What are you thinking?” “There isn’t a woman alive who could make me stay.” His careless tone made it hard for me to breathe. “Haha, still the same Blake. Even if you’ve been with a thousand women, you never let one get to you.” “A woman’s just for fun. No matter how pretty or interesting, once you’ve slept with her, she’s all the same.” One of the men grinned, then asked in a low voice, “But Blake, I’ve gotta know—this girl you’ve been with for over a month, what’s she like in bed? She must be something special to last this long…” He didn’t get to finish his sentence. Blake’s fist collided with his face in a heartbeat. For the first time, I saw the violence Blake was capable of as he pummeled the man to the ground. The others hesitated to intervene at first, but when they realized their friend was barely breathing, one of them, probably the closest to Blake, stepped forward to pull him back. Finally, Blake stopped, straightened up, and cast a threatening glance around the room. “She’s not someone you’re allowed to talk about. If I ever hear any of you mention her again, I’ll make sure you end up worse than him.” At that moment, Blake resembled some dark god of vengeance, radiating an aura of danger that made everyone in the room swear they’d never speak ill of me again. Seeing my chance, I turned to slip away, but Blake’s voice called after me. “What’s your name?” I froze. If I spoke in my normal voice, he’d know who I was immediately. Luckily, I’d taken two months of voice acting lessons before. I wasn’t great, but now was the time to make it work. “Sir, my name’s Liz,” I said, my voice rasping slightly. He frowned, “Why does your voice sound so weird?” I coughed lightly. “I used to scream a lot when I was younger. My voice just turned out like this. Sorry if it bothers you.” He stared at me, then leaned in to study my eyes. “So similar,” he muttered. Suddenly, his hand reached out and touched the spot where the woman in red had slapped me. I almost gasped in shock, barely holding back my natural reaction. “You’re lucky you’ve got eyes like hers. Be more careful next time.” Then, he pulled out a thick wad of cash from his wallet and handed it to me. “Use it to get something for your face.” The cash had to be at least a couple thousand. His wallet—it was one I had made and given to him. But this was the first time I’d ever seen him carry so much money in it. He could drop over a million on lingerie, then casually throw a few thousand at a stranger. Money meant nothing to him. And I—meant even less. I didn’t take the money. He threw it onto my tray. He looked at me one more time, commenting that a face like mine didn’t deserve to be bruised. Then he shook his head and chuckled, “You really look too much like her. For a second, I thought it was her who got hit.” “But this place is somewhere she would never set foot in. Right now, she’s probably at home making me soup.” His lips curled into a tender smile. At that moment, Blake seemed like a sweet, devoted boyfriend. But the reality was, a woman stood beside him, waiting to serve him in bed. Any trace of affection I once had for him instantly vanished.

I had only worked a few hours, but I felt completely drained. Curling up in the corner of the couch, I hugged my knees to my chest, searching for some sense of comfort. I didn’t know how long I stayed like that before I drifted off to sleep, but when I woke up, I realized Blake had carried me to bed. The moment I opened my eyes, he kissed me. The images from earlier that night—him with another woman—flashed through my mind, and I felt sick. As I tried to push him away, he held me tighter, kissing me more insistently. I gave up struggling, staring blankly at the ceiling. Kisses, embraces—these had once been moments I cherished, when I believed they represented our connection, our trust, our bond. But now, they were hollow gestures. My stomach churned violently. I shoved him off and rolled to the edge of the bed, dry heaving. “Cate, what’s wrong?” Blake asked, his voice panicked. “Are you sick?” I didn’t respond, lying there motionless. He grew more frantic. “Cate, do we need to go to the hospital?” Blake pulled me upright and pressed the back of his hand to my forehead to check for a fever. I stared at him, feeling utterly exhausted by the charade he was playing in front of me. “Cate, say something. Did someone hurt you? Tell me who, and I’ll make them pay!” His concern seemed genuine, and it startled him when I didn’t react. He hugged me so tightly I could feel my bones ache. “I’m fine,” I finally muttered. Relief washed over his face. “You scared me. You’ve been acting strange all day. How about some good news to cheer you up?” Blake’s eyes lit up as if he were about to reveal something exciting. “I found another job today—factory work. I’ll be working four hours a night after my regular shift.” He smiled proudly, like he was doing this huge thing for us, already counting how much sooner we’d have enough money for the house. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small hair clip. “Surprise!” he said, eager for my reaction. “Tonight’s pay was just enough to get this. I remember you wanted it when we were out last week. Other girls have nice things, and so should you.” My eyes burned with unshed tears. If only all of this were real. But it wasn’t. I forced a smile and took the hair clip from him. It was something I had admired when we went shopping, but I’d moved on, thinking it was too expensive. I had no idea how many women he had practiced this act on. Every day after work, Blake brought me things I liked—my favorite desserts, cute accessories, things I’d casually mentioned. He never missed a detail. Looking into his expectant eyes, I coldly pointed out, “You’ve got lipstick on your collar.” His pupils shrank, and instinctively, his hand reached for his shirt. He was about to touch the collar but changed direction at the last second, scratching his head in confusion. “Cate, I work with all guys. Where would a lipstick stain come from?” He seemed genuinely puzzled, oblivious to what I was implying. Of course, he had changed into the cheap T-shirt I had bought for him. Someone like Blake wouldn’t make such a sloppy mistake. Watching him try to act innocent, I couldn’t hold back anymore. “Blake Montgomery, do you love me?” Without hesitation, he grabbed my shoulders. “I love you, Cate! I swear it—if I’m lying, may I never marry, never have children!” His hand shot up in a mock vow, his expression sincere. I broke down in tears. If I hadn’t seen everything with my own eyes tonight, I would’ve believed him. No one could have convinced me otherwise. Right then, I wanted to scream, cry, demand to know how much of his love was real and how much of it was a lie. If he loved me enough to swear never to marry or have kids, how could he still kiss and sleep with other women? But what would be the point? Once the truth was out, I’d be the one left humiliated, realizing I had been played all along. For him, this had been a game—like a cat toying with a mouse, just waiting for the moment I called him out so he could laugh at me before ending it. There were plenty of women eager to take my place. What was I to him? I opened my mouth, my throat dry and rough as sandpaper, struggling to form the words. “We’re breaking up.”

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