Author: Momo Chan

I grew up with Ryan Parker, and we got married right after college graduation. After ten years of marriage, I still couldn’t have children. I felt incredibly guilty towards him and willingly quit my job to focus on getting pregnant. But my husband had long been involved with my housekeeper’s daughter. They sold off my family’s assets and plotted to kill my parents. They made me infertile, locked me in the basement, and forced me to watch their happy family of four while I died full of hatred. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to my senior year of high school. Ryan Parker and I had been engaged since childhood. The year I graduated from middle school, Ryan’s father’s company went bankrupt due to mismanagement. Unable to bear the enormous debt, Ryan’s father chose to jump off a building. My parents felt sorry for the orphaned Ryan and his widowed mother. They paid off their debts and covered all their expenses. In other words, my family was supporting them. After college graduation, Ryan started working at my family’s company and married me. My parents were kind-hearted, but they ended up raising two ungrateful wolves. Ryan and his mother resented my parents for not paying off their debts before his father’s suicide. They conspired with others to kill my parents. Ryan also made me infertile and used my guilt to take control of my family’s company. By the time I discovered all of this, Ryan and his mistress already had two children. That day, after countless attempts at IVF, I finally succeeded in getting pregnant. Excited, I ran downstairs to share the joyful news with my beloved husband. It was also the day my family’s company declared bankruptcy. Ryan finally didn’t need to keep up appearances with me anymore. He brought his two children to meet me. I stood stunned at the bottom of the stairs, looking at the happy family of four. The two children looked just like Ryan. I couldn’t even deceive myself. “Ryan Parker, who are they?” I asked. “My wife and sons,” he replied. Tessa, sporting a baby bump, walked over to me step by step. She was my housekeeper’s daughter. “Miss High-and-Mighty, what good is your status now?” she sneered. “Your family’s assets are mine, and your man loves me.” She snatched the report from my hand. “Oh my! You’re pregnant?! How is that possible after all those birth control pills?!” Birth control pills? I had never taken any. Suddenly, I remembered the vitamins Ryan had prepared for me, always reminding me to take them. I turned to confront him, but Tessa pushed me down the stairs. I instinctively tried to protect my belly, but it was futile. A sharp pain shot through my abdomen. I struggled, begging Ryan to take me to the hospital. I saw Ryan covering his sons’ eyes, looking at me like I was trash. “Save me…” I pleaded. No one paid any attention. I felt blood slowly seeping from between my legs, my body growing colder. In my final moments, I heard Ryan’s voice. “Finally dead. If only she had been in the same car as those two old fools, we wouldn’t have had so much trouble.”

“Chloe? Hello?” “This is Mrs. Chen’s class. How dare you zone out?” I found myself sitting in my high school classroom, as if waking from a long dream. I had returned to my senior year. “Tessa Thompson.” Hearing that name again, my hand clenched tightly around my pen. Tessa, with her high ponytail, stood up confidently from her seat to answer the teacher’s question. I turned my head slightly and saw Ryan through the gap of Tessa’s arm. And his eyes full of adoration. So Ryan had fallen for Tessa this early on. Ryan and Tessa consistently ranked first and second in our grade. In my previous life, they got into the same top university. I thought Ryan had fallen for her in college, but it turns out it was much earlier. Actually, at the beginning of high school, I was the top student. The kind that could beat the second place by dozens of points. Ryan always told me that my consistently outperforming him made him anxious. He said that with my family’s wealth, whether I went to college or not wouldn’t make much difference. He said his feelings for me wouldn’t change regardless of my grades, and that I should enjoy life instead of spending all my time studying. Gradually, influenced by him, I only got into an average college for my entrance exams. He, however, got into a top university along with Tessa. After we married, my ordinary degree became a reason for Ryan’s mother to look down on me. She felt that my average college education wasn’t good enough for her son who graduated from a top university. Thinking back now, I must have been out of my mind or kicked in the head by a donkey. Why did I pin my entire life on a man? And a man who relied on my family’s support, no less.

During the break, I buried my head in my books. Although I hadn’t completely neglected my studies in my later years, I wasn’t as diligent as I had been in my freshman year. Given a second chance at life, I was determined to catch up on everything I had fallen behind on. My deskmate nudged my arm. Ryan had come over. “Chloe, this is for you,” he said. Just like in my previous life, it was a star bottle. I caught a glimpse of the reluctance hidden in Ryan’s eyes. “Thanks,” I said casually. As if he had completed a task by giving it to me, he turned and left without wanting to linger a moment longer. I carelessly placed the star bottle on my desk and continued reading my book. My deskmate stared at the star bottle for a while, then nudged me again. “Chloe, about this star bottle…” “What about it?” I asked. “I think I’ve seen it with Tessa before…” I nodded, still appearing to be focused on my book, but I was listening intently and keeping an eye on Tessa from the corner of my eye. I saw Tessa listening to Ryan explain a problem with a coy expression. I also overheard Ryan’s cronies talking. “Why is Chloe so calm today?” “Yeah! Ryan gave her something, hand-delivered it! Shouldn’t she be crying with joy?” “You don’t think she knows it’s something Tessa rejected, do you?” “As if! Getting something Tessa doesn’t want is an honor for her!” I remembered that in my previous life, when I received this star bottle, I had indeed reacted just as those boys expected. I was excited. I cried with joy. It was one of the few gifts Ryan had ever given me. That day, I posted about it on all my social media accounts. Back then, my deskmate had said the same thing to me, but I had flown into a rage. I looked at my deskmate with guilt-ridden eyes. Her face, still chubby with baby fat, looked terrified. She crossed her arms defensively, “Girl, I’m straight!” Way to ruin the mood. I went back to reading my book.

After school, I couldn’t wait to get home. I missed my parents. I also wanted to tell them that I wanted to break off the engagement, that Ryan and his mother were ungrateful wretches. I excitedly rushed into the house but didn’t see a trace of my parents. I asked the butler, “Where are Mom and Dad?” “Miss, have you forgotten? The master and madam are abroad. They won’t be back for another two weeks.” Right, I had forgotten. I also realized something else. My father had always valued loyalty and friendship. He and Ryan’s father had been best friends, which was why he had paid off the Parker family’s debts after Ryan’s father died. If I suddenly brought up breaking off the engagement, Father would only think I was throwing a tantrum and definitely wouldn’t agree. But was I just going to let Ryan and his mother live comfortably for these two weeks? I couldn’t accept that. “Has the living allowance for the Parker family been given?” I asked. The butler replied, “Before the master left, he gave them three months’ worth of living expenses. It’s only been a month and a half.” The butler thought I wanted to give the Parker family their living allowance. As if I would. “Is it possible to freeze that card?” I asked. “You mean the one for the Parker family?” I nodded without hesitation. “That’s a card under the master’s name. It would require the master to do that.” If I couldn’t freeze the card, I could at least do some accounting. Since my middle school graduation, my family had been supporting Ryan and his mother. They needed to spit out every penny they had swallowed! “Gather all the records of payments made to the Parker family over the years. I want to see how much they owe us.” Back when Father had offered to pay for Ryan’s education, Ryan had been adamant about paying it back once he started working. The butler’s face showed confusion, but he couldn’t hide his smile. I wanted to slap myself hard. Even the butler could see that the Parker family was taking advantage of us. How had I been so blind in my previous life? During dinner, I received the account statement. “Thirty thousand dollars a month in expenses?!” Faced with my shocked expression, the butler nodded calmly. I only knew that my family was covering all the Parker family’s expenses, but I had no idea their spending was almost on par with my family, who lived in a mansion. “The master values loyalty, and young Mr. Parker is your fiancé. This amount of money is nothing to the master, so he didn’t pay much attention to it.” I ate my dinner with a cold expression. Now that my eyes were open, how could I let people treat my family like an ATM?

At the teacher’s suggestion, our class formed study groups. Ryan, Tessa, three other classmates, and I were in one group. On the weekend, we met at the city park to study and discuss problems together. Ryan and Tessa arrived together. Now that I was immersed in my studies, I had no reaction to seeing them together. “Chloe, that question you asked last week really stumped Ryan. He even came to me to discuss it,” Tessa said. I glanced at Tessa, who was trying to make conversation, and saw the poorly concealed pride in her eyes, as well as the necklace around her neck. It was a limited edition piece from a luxury brand’s current season. Tessa was just my housekeeper’s daughter. The only reason she could attend the same high school as me was because my parents wanted me to have a companion. My family even paid her tuition. Where did she get the money to buy luxury goods? I had thought too highly of her. I had even considered letting her off the hook if she had been influenced by Ryan. Now I see, I won’t let her off at all. She can’t escape either. “Is that so?” I asked back. “But that question wasn’t difficult. I’ve already solved it.” “Re…really?” Tessa’s smile became a bit stiff. Ryan accused me, “If you’ve solved it, why waste my time?! My time is precious, you know?” “I just solved it,” I said innocently, pointing at the exercise book spread out on the stone table and Sam, who was sitting on the stone bench. Seeing Ryan’s expression like he had eaten something bitter, I felt very pleased. Ryan pulled Tessa to sit on the other side. I sat down too, continuing to eagerly bombard Sam, the real academic genius, with questions. I had to bribe him with a month’s worth of breakfasts before he agreed to tutor me. This was a true academic genius, the kind who could sleep through classes and still consistently rank tenth in the grade. Ryan and Tessa sat together, looking like a perfect couple. He was explaining problems to her, occasionally glancing at me. In his eyes, I should be madly in love with him now, ready to throw money at him to appease his anger. I did plan to go to him, but not to throw money. Towards the end of this group study session, I solemnly expressed my gratitude to Sam. Then, “Ryan, I have something to discuss with you.” I didn’t notice Sam’s initially pleased expression suddenly turn gloomy. Ryan wore a ‘just as I expected’ look and reluctantly said, “What is it? Speak.” I looked at Tessa and the other classmates, smiling somewhat mischievously. “I don’t mind, but you might care. Are you sure you want to do this here?” Ryan pulled me to the side. I handed him the account statement from my pocket. “You said it yourself back then that the money you used from my family was considered a loan. You’re an adult now, so here’s the bill. Remember to pay it back.” Ryan didn’t even look at the bill. With a face like death, he said, “You want me to pay you back?!”

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The day my sister ran away from her engagement party, I knew Marcus Lee would never truly love me. So she left for another country without a care, leaving me behind to hold her place as Mrs. Lee. I didn’t cry or make a scene. While still young and vulnerable, I gave everyone a graceful way out. Then I put all my effort into making Marcus Lee fall in love with me bit by bit. And I made sure to step away right after my sister came back. On my birthday, Marcus drove me to a campsite in the mountains. Tonight there would be a rare red moon, visible only once every fourteen years, along with a meteor shower said to grant wishes. A few ladybugs landed on my face, startling me into grabbing his hand tightly. He instinctively flinched but then, feeling how cold my hands were, pulled me into his embrace. In our five years of marriage, Marcus gave me anything I asked for. Houses, cars, luxury goods. Others said they’d never seen a man who loved his wife so much. They said it with such certainty that I even began to hope a little. So at my celebration dinner, emboldened by alcohol, I leaned on Marcus’s shoulder. “This year, I want to spend my birthday with you,” I said. “I don’t want any parties. I just want you with me.” He hesitated unusually long, only agreeing after the atmosphere had grown awkward. I no longer cared whether his tone was reluctant or helpless when he agreed. I was just overjoyed, waiting eagerly for nightfall. But just as the sun set, his phone rang. The signal wasn’t great in the mountains. Through the static came a few sudden sobs. “Marcus, I’m so scared.” “Why is no one here?” Crystal’s voice came through loudly, and Marcus’s face instantly darkened. The signal suddenly cut out, the static disappearing, leaving only the sound of birds flapping their wings. My hands grew cold again. I moved closer and grabbed his sleeve, but he shook off my hand, holding his phone up high searching for a signal. I stood frozen in place while he just frowned, constantly redialing, not even bothering to look up and explain. I sighed, grabbed my coat and got in the car. In the distance, I could faintly see the stars, but Marcus didn’t care. He just stepped on the gas. At the foot of the mountain, I stubbornly got out of the car and checked into the B&B I had booked in advance. Late at night, I huddled on the balcony wrapped in clothes. As soon as my phone regained signal, my mother’s calls started coming in non-stop. She had never called me before, not even that night when I nearly died from pain in the hospital after an unexpected miscarriage. I silently watched her incoming call notification. The ringtone stopped abruptly after a minute, then a new call came in. I pressed answer, and as expected, a mix of scolding and crying came through. “Couldn’t you have said something about canceling the party? Do you know she waited in the wind for two hours?” “If Marcus hadn’t come in time, her health really couldn’t have taken it. You know how fragile your sister is!” I looked at the winding river of stars in the sky and spoke sarcastically. “If she can’t take it, don’t you as her mother help her by taking my blood and bone marrow? How could she not handle it?” The woman on the other end was taken aback by my words, then seemed to be provoked into shouting. “Did we ever short-change you on food or drink? The Taylor family may owe you, but we still raised you.” “Do you have to be so intolerant of your sister? Do you want her to get sick?” “Your sister even gave up Marcus for you. What more compensation do you want from her before you’re satisfied?” Her voice was so self-righteous, framing all of Crystal’s willful actions as being forced. After all these years, I thought I was past being hurt by her favoritism. But the love and care for Crystal in her words made me so jealous I nearly cried. A shooting star seemed to streak by outside. I quickly closed my eyes, holding back my tears. I turned my phone face down and made a sincere wish. In this new year of my life, I want lots and lots of love. When I opened my eyes, Marcus’s message was at the top. “Happy birthday, Fiona.” I deleted the text and turned off my phone. In this new year of my life, I decided to take back my love and give it only to myself. When I asked my lawyer friend to help draft divorce papers, her eyes went wide in disbelief, just like when she learned I was marrying Marcus. Back then she had said: “That playboy? Are you sure about this?” Now she was saying: “He treats you so well. Are you sure about this?” I thought carefully again and said seriously under her complex gaze: “Divorce papers, you know. Better safe than sorry!” Five years ago, Marcus not only turned down a socially suitable marriage prospect but also declared he would give up everything to marry me, shocking everyone. Because the proposal target was me. Not my sister Crystal, who shone brightly and won international cello competitions. It was me, the least favored daughter of the Taylor family, disliked by my parents and unable to please men. At first, everyone thought I was just a tool Marcus was using to vent his anger. After all, he had pulled strings for Crystal, introducing her to the best professors, only for her to decide to go abroad without a word, leaving him no room for discussion. But in less than a month, Marcus posted our marriage certificate online and arranged for me to work at his family’s company. Overnight, it seemed, those who had looked down on me became incredibly friendly. Even my mother, who never spared me a glance, softened her expression and personally did my hair, sending me off to be married. At that time, I thought maybe I, who had been ignored by fate for twenty years, was finally blessed for once. Even if the beginning wasn’t pure, I was willing to be brave this once, just for myself. So I worked overtime day and night, struggling to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. At home, I took care of everything personally, leaving his family no room to find fault. When Marcus first saw his mother – who was usually extremely picky with others, who had cursed Crystal until she slammed the door and left – now affectionately holding my hand and refusing to let go, he just stared at me blankly, his eyes full of confusion and deep shock. It seemed that from that day on, he began to realize I wasn’t as weak and useless as rumors claimed. He started learning to accept me, even learning to… fall in love with me. He completely changed from his playboy ways, accompanying me in gardening and cooking. As long as he wasn’t on a business trip, he would definitely be home before midnight. I would heat up hangover soup for him as soon as I saw the car lights come on outside the villa. And when he came in, he would grab my hand, kiss the ring on my finger, and whisper in my ear: “I’m so tired today. I missed you.” So intimate that I almost fell for it unguardedly. He started being too good to me, so good that I even thought he had truly fallen in love with me, so good that I almost let my guard down, so good that I nearly gave him my all without reservation. Until a month ago, when I received an anonymous text message. [Thank you for your hard work these five years, but I’m coming back next month, and some things should be returned to their rightful owner.] [Right, little sister?] Her tone was confident and certain. I felt dizzy. Why? When she wanted to go abroad, she could abandon everything and let others clean up her mess. And now that my life has finally gotten on track, she can just casually turn it upside down. [I’m very satisfied with my life and have no plans for divorce at the moment.] [Neither does Marcus.] It took all my courage to send that. She seemed to disdain replying and went silent. The next second, I received a bank notification of a $200,000 deposit from my husband Marcus. Memo: Sorry. In an instant, it was like a bucket of cold water poured over me from head to toe, waking me up. Of course. Without his consent, how could she be stupid enough to send such a provocative message to my phone? She and Marcus both valued face above all else, so arrogant that even interfering in someone else’s marriage seemed justified to them. I turned off my phone and poured out the hangover soup in the kitchen. He wouldn’t be coming home tonight. Five years. It was time to wake up from this dream. Thank goodness, I think I almost really fell in love with you. It took less than a week for news to spread through my social circle that I had consulted a lawyer about divorce, along with rumors that Crystal was rushing to rekindle her old flame with Marcus as soon as she returned. Some said I was useless, that as a country bumpkin I couldn’t keep my husband’s heart. Others mocked Crystal, saying she’d wasted so many years abroad only to come back and fight her own sister for a man. Crystal kept her cool, but someone else couldn’t stay calm and rushed to speak up for her. Tyler’s call came just as I was about to chair a meeting to finalize the spokesperson for the company’s New Year product line. The angry young man’s voice came through the speaker: “You’re so useless you can’t keep your own husband, so you’re throwing mud at Crystal?” “I didn’t realize you were hiding such depths. Who knew you’d jump at the chance to be so despicable.” My secretary beside me was so embarrassed she wanted to cover her ears, but I calmly circled the key points for today’s meeting with my pen while saying into the phone: “If you really have what it takes, either be man enough to tell Marcus to stop harassing Crystal, or persuade Crystal to be patient and wait for my divorce before latching on. Don’t let people think the Taylor family produced a homewrecker.” “But you’re just a spoiled brat your parents ruined. You took over the company but still need Marcus’s company to feed you.” “You don’t dare offend him, so you come throw your weight around with me.” I took a sip of water and grinned with satisfaction. “What a useless thing.” I hung up, cutting off Tyler’s impotent rage. Tyler and I hadn’t been in contact for years. Even when we met at parties, he would only grudgingly call me “sis” for Marcus’s sake. Tyler grew up with Crystal, while I was sent to live with our grandparents in the countryside. Naturally, he wasn’t close to me. In his eyes, I was still the timid Fiona who didn’t even dare speak loudly, never imagining I would be so dismissive of him. He didn’t know that I was now fully in charge of the fashion line at Marcus’s company. So in the meeting, with one hint from me, support for Tyler’s company for the next quarter was cut off. In the spacious office, I finally experienced how great it felt to have a say. That evening, Marcus came home unusually early, even earlier than me. He seemed to have dug out the divorce agreement I had hidden in the drawer. The thin sheet of paper was torn into pieces and thrown in the trash. He stubbed out his cigarette and slowly spoke. “I heard you cut off the deal with the Taylor company just because I went to save Crystal?” “She fainted from the cold for your birthday party. I couldn’t just let her die, could I?” “You really don’t have to be so intolerant. It’s petty.”

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Fiona was jealous of my beauty and caused me to fall from a building, but accidentally fell with me. Unexpectedly, we were both reborn. And this fool wanted to exchange her genius intelligence for my beauty. Fine, you can be the pretty face this life, and I’ll be the genius. My name is Astrid, and I’m the adopted daughter of the Montgomery family. When I was 17, the Montgomery’s biological daughter was finally found. Fiona and I were polar opposites. She had an ordinary appearance and a plump figure, but her intelligence was off the charts. As soon as she transferred to our school, she claimed the top spot in academics. On the other hand, I had delicate features and a slender figure, but I was dumb as a rock. No matter how hard I tried, knowledge just wouldn’t stick in my brain. Fiona was a shoo-in for an Ivy League school, while I’d be lucky to get into any college at all. Seeing this, my teachers suggested I pursue the arts, but I couldn’t master painting or dancing either. My brain seemed to be permanently frozen. So, I was incredibly envious of Fiona’s super-powered brain that could excel at anything she tried. But I never imagined that this genius, praised by teachers and classmates alike, would be jealous of my useless good looks. Perhaps it started when she refused to walk to and from school with me. Or maybe it began when she fell for the school bad boy, Zack. During a basketball game, Fiona fell head over heels for Zack at first sight and began pursuing him aggressively. She’d wake up two hours early to queue for Zack’s favorite breakfast and secretly slip it into his desk. She’d skip class to follow Zack to his favorite internet cafe. She’d skip meals to save money for his birthday gift, only for him to not even glance at it. As a top student, the teachers paid a lot of attention to Fiona. They called in Mom and Dad. This was the first time she’d been scolded since coming back. Mom tried to reason with her gently, “Fiona, dear, your focus right now should be on your studies. When you get to college, you’ll meet even more amazing people.” Dad strictly forbade her from seeking out Zack before the SATs, threatening to cut off her allowance if she did. Fiona got emotional, “Why are you so biased? Astrid’s grades are terrible, but you never scold her. I just skipped a few classes, and you’re making such a big deal out of it. Why did you even bother finding me?” After that, Fiona became even more reckless. Zack’s cronies often used him as an excuse to boss Fiona around, making her do this and that. Fiona would pack various meals and deliver them to Zack’s classroom. “Why are you so slow? Our man Zack is starving,” one of them complained. “There were a lot of people, so the line was long,” Fiona explained, her bangs damp with sweat and sticking to her forehead. Zack looked away in disgust. “Alright, you can go now. Remember to be earlier tomorrow.” Fiona nodded and left. I was standing outside the door, watching Fiona being treated like a servant. My blood boiled, and I stormed in, throwing the lunchbox in Zack’s face. “What, you don’t have legs?” I snapped. Fiona grabbed my arm, trying to pull me away. Zack wiped his face with a tissue, smirking at me, “How come you two sisters look so different? You’re so pretty, while your sister is… hmm?” He frowned. “What, did you eat shit? Your mouth stinks,” I retorted. “If it were you, I might consider it. But your sister? I couldn’t bring myself to do it,” Zack said, sitting on the desk with his feet on the chair, his expression contemptuous. Acting like he was doing us a favor. I wanted to kick him, but Fiona held me back. “I won’t let anyone hurt Zack,” she declared.

The next day, Zack inexplicably started pursuing me, and Fiona looked at me with hatred in her eyes. That night when we got home, she trashed everything in my room. Mom and Dad rushed over to stop her. “You’re just biased! I’m your real daughter, and Astrid stole my life. Now she’s even stealing Zack. How shameless can she be?” Fiona screamed. Dad was furious, “Fiona, stop this right now, or I won’t be so nice anymore.” “You don’t love me at all. Otherwise, why did you adopt her? Now that I’m back, why don’t you send her away? In this family, it’s either her or me.” Mom was heartbroken, “You and Astrid are both our daughters.” Fiona continued smashing things while cursing at me, “Astrid, you bitch! You seduced Zack behind my back. There are so many guys out there, why do you have to steal mine? Don’t think I don’t know you were just trying to get his attention yesterday. I won’t let you get away with this.” Seeing Fiona getting more and more out of hand, Dad couldn’t help but slap her. Fiona ran out crying. She ran to Zack’s place and stayed with a group of delinquents, skipping school for several days. No matter how Mom and Dad tried to contact her or persuade her, Fiona ignored them completely. Seeing my worried parents, I reluctantly contacted Fiona on my own, “If you come back, I’ll leave.” Fiona sent me an address, telling me to come alone. I could have ignored Fiona’s situation, but I couldn’t ignore my parents. They had loved me for ten years; I couldn’t be heartless. Following the address, I arrived at a high-end apartment building. I knocked on the door of the top floor and saw Fiona, whom I hadn’t seen for days. The room was littered with empty beer bottles and takeout boxes. As soon as I entered, the way Zack and his friends looked at me made me very uncomfortable. I really couldn’t understand why Fiona would like this good-for-nothing delinquent. With her brain, shouldn’t she see them as idiots? Fiona crouched next to Zack, “I’ve brought Astrid here as you asked. You said you’d consider making me your girlfriend.” Zack played with the cigarette in his hand, “Well, that depends on what you do next.” Fiona got up and sat next to me, handing me a bottle of alcohol, “Drink this.” I refused, “You said you’d come back home with me if I came here.” Fiona grabbed my hair and started pouring the alcohol into my mouth. Soon, I felt dizzy and disoriented. When I woke up, I was lying naked on the bed. The tearing pain in my lower body reminded me of what had just happened. I could faintly hear Fiona and Zack’s voices from outside. “Zack, I’ve done everything you asked.” “Did you get the video?” “Yes, I did. Zack, can you kiss me now?” “Hah, look closely. I like girls like Astrid. Come back when you’ve had plastic surgery to look like her.” I found my clothes and got dressed. By the time I went out, Zack and his gang had already left. Only Fiona was crouching on the carpet. As soon as she saw me, she pounced on me like a wild beast, tightly gripping my neck, “It’s all because of you, because of your face. I tried so hard, did everything, but he wouldn’t even look at me once. Why can you get it so easily?” I slowly backed towards the balcony, then hugged Fiona tightly and jumped out the window with her. Fiona, you ruined me, so you can die with me.

Ding~ Suddenly, a mechanical voice appeared in my mind: “Fiona requests to initiate the Life Exchange System with you.” Seeing that I didn’t understand, the mechanical voice sounded again, “Fiona wants to exchange her intelligence for your beauty.” Intelligence for beauty? Even a fool would know which to choose. In the face of absolute ability, beauty is worthless. I gladly agreed, and then returned to a few days ago. At breakfast that morning, Fiona peeled an egg for me, which was unprecedented. Mom and Dad were delighted to see our relationship improve. In class, I finally felt the joy of knowledge entering my brain. The feeling was truly addictive. After a full day of classes, I didn’t feel tired at all; on the contrary, I felt refreshed. The world of a top student is so wonderful. I wish there were no underachievers in the world. Back home, I burned the midnight oil. Because my foundation was weak, I had to start from scratch in many areas. For several days in a row, Fiona was polite to me whenever she saw me. Even when Zack pursued me at school, she didn’t show any displeasure. The teachers also thought she had returned to the right path and instead warned me not to think about dating just because I was pretty. Ridiculous. Now, studying makes me happy. Gradually, I understood why Fiona wasn’t doing anything. I, who had never had acne before, started getting pimples one by one. My weight also broke into triple digits and was still trending upward. Conversely, Fiona’s acne was disappearing, her skin becoming radiant and glowing. After losing some weight, her overall aura improved significantly. Zack came to see me less and less frequently. I still remained deaf to the outside world, studying in class and studying after class. Even in my dreams, I was filled with knowledge. In the first exam, I rose from over 900th place to around 600th. The teachers and my parents were all congratulating me. “You’ve made great progress recently. At this rate, getting into a good college shouldn’t be a problem. The pressure of exams can cause various adverse reactions in the body, but it will gradually recover after it’s over. Don’t worry, if you have any questions, feel free to ask the teachers anytime.” Recently, Fiona and I have changed a lot. The uglier I became, the prettier she got. Combined with her grades, she became the undisputed campus queen. I gradually became forgotten in the corner, and some people even felt ashamed for having praised my beauty before. Lately, Zack often came to our class again, but now he was looking for Fiona. The look of disgust he used to have for her was now directed at me. He even ordered that no one in school was allowed to mention that he had once pursued me. This kind of guy is really laughable, but some people still treat him like a treasure. “Astrid, I told you I wouldn’t let you get away with it,” Fiona said. “Look, Zack just brought me breakfast specially.” I glanced at the plastic bag she held high, “Drink more hot water.” After all, steamed buns can be quite dry. Fiona seemed to care a lot about Zack having once pursued me, and she often came to show off to me. “This is the couple’s ring Zack gave me. He said he wants to be with me forever.” I couldn’t understand what was so exciting about a cheap ring that probably cost less than $10 on Wish. If he’s not willing to spend money, how much love can there be?

The more something isn’t yours, the more you care about it. Fiona constantly checked her face, hiding mirrors in her books and stuffing her desk drawer full of skincare products and makeup. During this homeroom class, she was still fussing with her face under the desk. “Fiona, you dropped more than fifty places in the last exam. Aren’t you worried? If you keep this up, forget about Ivy League schools, you might not even get into college,” the teacher scolded. Fiona was nonchalant, “Teacher, beauty is a lifelong asset. If you learned how to dress up, maybe you wouldn’t have gotten divorced.” The teacher was so angry she trembled, and from then on, she never bothered with Fiona again. Fiona was busy flirting with Zack, while I was busy battling with math and physics. Mom and Dad couldn’t bear to see Fiona wasting her potential like this and tried to reason with her every day. “Fiona, honey, the SAT is a watershed moment in life. You should cherish it. Zack is just wasting his days away. Being with someone like that will only bring you misery.” Fiona couldn’t stand anyone speaking ill of Zack, “You haven’t cared about me for all these years. Now, and in the future, I don’t need you to care about me.” Mom burst into tears, “It’s not that we didn’t want to care for you, sweetie.” I gently rubbed Mom’s back. “Astrid, you’ve always been sensible and obedient. When you have time, try to talk some sense into Fiona. You’re the same age, maybe she’ll listen to you.” I nodded in agreement. Of course, I would try to persuade her. Only this time, the purpose of my persuasion would have to change. I wanted them to be inseparable, lest they end up on the market and harm others. I took a cup of hot milk upstairs to find Fiona. “Sis, don’t be angry. Mom and Dad just don’t understand Zack yet. They’ll agree eventually.” Fiona had thought I was coming to help our parents persuade her, but she didn’t expect me to take her side. “You don’t like Zack anymore?” she asked. “I never liked him. Besides, he’s the one you love. He’ll be my brother-in-law in the future.” Fiona finally smiled at me. After all, I was now the only one on her side. “I’ll help you keep it from Mom and Dad in the future.” “Sis, your love that defies the world is truly great. I’m so envious.”

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My mom has always been a big spender, and over the years, our family hasn’t saved a penny because of her extravagance. Whenever my dad asks about the money, my mom always says she spent it on me. When my grandma needed money for medical treatment, my dad yelled at me for being a spendthrift. I promptly pulled out the receipts of my mom’s expenses over the years. Ha! Did they think I’d be their scapegoat forever? When I was little, my mom would take me to the park and only buy me a bottle of water. But when we got home, she’d tell my dad we spent over $30 on food and entertainment. She’d enroll me in the cheapest English tutoring classes, costing about $4 per session. But she’d tell my dad each class cost $40. She’d buy me clothes from street vendors selling knockoffs, but tell my dad each piece cost hundreds of dollars. She’d even claim I threw tantrums, refusing to leave the store unless she bought them for me. In high school, while other kids got $30 a week for allowance, I only got $3. In everyone’s eyes, I was the one spending money recklessly, never considering my parents’ feelings. All of my father’s hard-earned money was supposedly spent on me. I was labeled a “wastrel.” During the New Year’s pig slaughter at my cousin’s house in the countryside, my mom was chatting happily with a distant niece-in-law. “Auntie, how do you stay so young? Your skin is so fair and smooth, I can’t believe you’re in your forties!” The niece-in-law even touched my mom’s face with her finger. “Oh, it’s just my natural good skin,” my mom said, clearly pleased and unable to hide her happiness. But her smile seemed a bit stiff. She loved having strangers guess her age, compliment her youthfulness, and then proudly claim it was all natural. This might fool older people, but young people could easily spot the obvious signs of cosmetic procedures. “Auntie, your clothes must be expensive! They look high-end,” the niece-in-law said, feeling the fabric. “The material is so nice!” My mom casually took the niece-in-law’s hand and said, “Oh, these are just from street vendors, not worth much. Only about $10. I don’t have any expensive clothes.” “You know, Amy needs money for many things. I can’t be extravagant. I still need to save up for her dowry in the future.” Lies! Her clothes were never less than $150. I felt both hurt and disgusted. She had been manipulating me since I was little, easily controlling me. Many times, she would criticize me in front of others. I didn’t even dare to confront her, feeling like I was a burden who spent too much money. Hearing my dad’s sighs, I didn’t want to cause conflict between them. But the truth was, my mom spent money like water on high-end cosmetics, brand-name clothes, beauty salons, and outings with her girlfriends. “How much did this cost?” Every time I asked about the price of something she bought, my mom would scold me. “Have you earned a single cent? What right do you have to question me?” If I tried to tell the truth, she’d say, “I’ve raised you for nothing, you ungrateful brat! Do you want your dad to hit me? Do you want your dad to divorce me?” So, for the sake of family harmony, I never exposed her. I just quietly played the role of the scapegoat. Coming back to reality, I heard the niece-in-law continue, “Wow! That cheap? Where did you buy it?” The niece-in-law widened her eyes in disbelief and reached out to touch the clothes again. My mom smiled silently, trying to brush it off. “Auntie, if you like it, I’ll ask my mom to get you one too,” I chimed in. “Oh, that would be great!” The niece-in-law looked at my mom expectantly. My mom laughed awkwardly, wanting to refuse but unable to find a good reason. She could only say, “There was only one left when I bought it. I’ll see if they have any more. If they do, I’ll get you one.” My mom glared at me discreetly, annoyed at my presumption. Of course, there wouldn’t be any left to sell! She wouldn’t spend money on such expensive clothes for others. My mom chatted and laughed with the niece-in-law, but she kept glancing at my dad to gauge his reaction. On the way home, she scolded me, “In the future, when adults are talking, you children shouldn’t interrupt.” I did it on purpose. My mom always liked to use me as a shield. In the eyes of relatives and my dad, she always maintained an image of frugality. Relatives often looked at me with disdain and gossiped behind my back. Because my mom frequently cried poor in front of them, saying all the family’s money was spent on me. The 80-year-old lady downstairs would smile kindly at me, then turn and say to others, “That child really knows how to spend money! Doesn’t care about her parents at all.” From childhood to adulthood, I always had the worst food, clothes, and belongings, yet I still received so many dirty looks for no reason. After I started college, I overheard classmates mocking me behind my back. “Her? She’s fake and cares too much about appearances. Haven’t you noticed? All her clothes are knockoffs. It’s hilarious! If you can’t afford it, why bother wearing it?” A few days later, my mom brought home an Anly brand shirt. “I bought you a shirt. It’s very expensive,” my mom said with a smile, her eyes holding an indecipherable meaning. I don’t know why, but something felt off. My mom had never been this generous to me before. Although I had never worn such high-end clothes, I knew this shirt cost over $150. She often said to me, “Your time to wear nice clothes will come later. Unlike me, I’m already half in the grave. If I don’t wear them now, I’ll be too old.” Whenever my mom said this, I felt sad and couldn’t bring myself to say anything more. Coincidentally, one day on my way home, I ran into my Aunt Sarah. She was stunned when she saw me, examining the clothes I was wearing. “Where did you get these clothes?” Aunt Sarah’s eyes showed a hint of horror. “My mom just bought them for me,” I replied, sensing something was amiss. “What’s wrong, Aunt Sarah?” “Take them off quickly, don’t wear them. It’s bad luck!” Aunt Sarah reached out and took off the jacket, then threw it in the trash. At first, she was reluctant to tell me, afraid of causing trouble with my mom. But after I pestered her, she finally revealed the truth. She and my mom had gone to visit a distant relative who had just lost her daughter. The girl was about my age and had just started college when she was involved in a fatal traffic accident. The young life was cruelly taken away by fate. The girl’s newly bought clothes had never been worn. My mom had taken them, saying she would keep them as a memento. But then my mom turned around and gave them to me. For the past couple of days, I had been thinking I had misjudged her, that she was finally willing to spend money on me, that I had grown up and she knew to dress me up. From childhood, I had never worn clothes or shoes that fit properly. They were always two sizes too big. The colors were never bright, and I looked both ridiculous and pitiful wearing them. They would be worn out before they ever fit me properly. There’s an old photo at home from when I was about eight or nine years old. I’m wearing a huge shirt with the sleeves rolled up. The shoulders couldn’t support the shoulder pads, which sagged down on both sides of my arms. I looked comical standing next to my mom. While she only cared about her own elegance, I looked out of place and even unsightly next to her. I cried all the way home, my eyes red when I arrived. My dad was off work and at home. He and my mom were sitting on the couch, chatting and laughing. Seeing me come in, my mom smiled and said to my dad, “You know, I saw the neighbor’s kid working part-time at the supermarket yesterday! Earning his own allowance every month, unlike Amy who only knows how to ask for money…” Before my mom could finish, I exploded and shouted at her, “Yeah, I’m the only one who doesn’t know better, the only one who doesn’t understand, so you give me a dead person’s clothes to wear.” “Are you even my real mother? Why would you do this to me? I’ve had enough!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, completely unlike my usual quiet self. My dad was stunned to see me like this and quickly came over to comfort me. “What’s wrong, Amy? Let’s talk about this calmly. What happened?” My mom also said, “Child, if you have something to say, just say it. Why are you shouting? Have some respect!” I shook off my mom’s hand and sat down on the couch with my dad. I explained everything that had happened. “Your Aunt Sarah shouldn’t have told you everything. What are kids afraid of? The clothes were new,” my mom said dismissively. “You be quiet. Look how upset our daughter is,” my dad said, clearly not understanding her behavior either. “Fine, I’m the bad guy. I’m the worst person ever. Is that what you want to hear? It’s just a piece of clothing! What’s the big deal?” My mom rolled her eyes, not bothering to argue further. She seemed indifferent to my crying, thinking I was making a fuss over nothing. “You’re really heartless,” my dad said, angry now. He knew I was timid, and he couldn’t believe my mom would do something so incomprehensible. He quickly took out $150 from his pocket. I knew this was his entire month’s pocket money. “Here! Dad’s giving you $150. Buy whatever clothes you want,” my dad said, stuffing the money into my hand. Seeing my dad take my side, I felt somewhat comforted. My emotions still hadn’t fully subsided, and I shouted, “I don’t want it! I don’t want it! I’ll work part-time at the supermarket and earn my own money to buy clothes!” “What part-time job? You’re still young. Your job right now is to study well. Our family doesn’t need you to go out and earn money,” my dad said. “Why don’t you give me the money? I’ll buy clothes for her. Kids don’t know how to bargain. She might get ripped off,” my mom said, eyeing the money in my hand. “Go to the mall to buy. The prices are clearly marked there,” my dad glared at my mom, telling her to be quiet. “You’ve spoiled the child,” my mom rolled her eyes and stopped paying attention. She wanted to get the money from me, then buy me some $10 clothes from street vendors, probably with some big fake logo on them. I immediately stuffed the money into my pocket to prevent her from getting any ideas. Seeing that I was still crying, my dad had to beg my mom to apologize to me. “I’m sorry, okay? Is that good enough? Why are you making such a big deal out of this? I was only thinking of your best interests…” My mom’s tone was reluctant. This wasn’t an apology at all. She was clearly still mocking me, blaming me for not understanding. I turned and went into my bedroom, not wanting to hear her speak anymore. I avoided her for days, not even making eye contact. I was truly heartbroken. Uncle Jack needed $7,000 to buy a house and wanted my dad to help out. My dad came home and told my mom, but she refused to lend the money. She lied to my dad, saying that withdrawing the money from the fixed deposit would result in a loss of several thousand dollars in interest. The atmosphere at home was tense. I moved around quietly, trying not to attract my mom’s attention or talk to her. I had just gotten home when I heard my dad pleading, “It’s not like we won’t get it back, right? Can you give me that $4,000 I gave you a couple of weeks ago? Buying a house is a big deal for them, and I can’t refuse my brother when he’s asking for help.” “A couple of weeks ago? That was half a month ago. Amy has already used it all,” my mom replied impatiently.

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Mia Wilson never expected her life to take such a drastic turn. Her sister-in-law, Lucy Lee, had always been obsessed with becoming a social media influencer. Every day, Lucy would livestream her attempts to prank Mia, treating her like a prop for views and likes. Whenever Mia tried to resist, her in-laws would berate her, accusing her of sabotaging Lucy’s chance at internet stardom. Even Jack, Mia’s husband, would physically abuse her, telling her to stop making a fuss. One day, for a mere $50 donation from a viewer, Lucy’s family locked Mia out on the balcony. Mia cried, telling Jack she was pregnant, begging them not to do this to her. But upon hearing about the pregnancy, Lucy urged Jack to keep Mia outside, claiming pregnant women were more resistant to cold. That night, the temperature plummeted from over 80°F to 14°F as a terrifying ice age suddenly descended upon the world. Mia froze to death on that balcony. Within a month, global temperatures dropped to -94°F, and the entire planet was encased in ice. Then, Mia opened her eyes. She had returned to the day Lucy first started her influencer journey. This time, it would be Mia’s turn to enjoy a warm meal indoors while livestreaming their miserable fate!

“Mom, look! My video pranking my sister-in-law got so many views. I need to make more of these,” Lucy exclaimed, waving her phone proudly at her parents in the living room. “Once I become a big influencer, I’ll be able to treat you to all the good stuff!” Hearing that familiar voice, Mia couldn’t help but shudder. Even standing in the sunlight, she trembled uncontrollably. The bone-chilling cold from her past life seemed to seep from her very marrow, impossible to suppress. After all, she had frozen to death in her previous life! Mia pinched her arm hard, the pain finally convincing her that she had truly been reborn. At that moment, her in-laws were praising their daughter for being smart and destined for great things. Mrs. Lee then glared at Mia fiercely, “You useless girl, did you hear that? You better cooperate with the videos. If you ruin my daughter’s chance at success, I won’t let you off easy!” Mrs. Lee had said the same thing in Mia’s past life. Back then, Mia had refused to be pranked and privately asked Lucy to change her content direction. But Lucy had tearfully complained to her parents, accusing Mia of being jealous. Mr. Lee had flown into a rage, calling Mia a jinx who couldn’t bear to see their family prosper. Mrs. Lee had pointed at Mia, cursing her as a waste of money who wanted to obstruct her daughter’s path to fame. Jack had beaten Mia black and blue, telling her to stop causing trouble over nothing. Later, for a $50 donation in Lucy’s livestream, the whole family had locked Mia on the balcony. Even when Mia cried and told Jack she was pregnant, begging them not to do this, the family remained unmoved. Lucy had excitedly said, “It’s even better that she’s pregnant! Pregnant women are more resistant to cold. Brother, quick, put her on the balcony. More and more people are joining my livestream. I’m about to become a big influencer!” In the end, they had locked Mia on the balcony. Mia had planned to divorce Jack and abort the baby once this incident was over. That night, the temperature suddenly dropped from over 80°F to 14°F as a terrifying ice age descended upon the world. Mia had kept banging on the balcony door, begging them to let her in. But even when her hands were bloodied from knocking, they still refused to open the door. Desperate to survive, Mia had thrown her body against the balcony door until the glass shattered. Seeing this, Lucy quickly told Jack to move a cabinet to block the balcony door. From the warm interior, Lucy, wearing a t-shirt and eating a popsicle, had laughed at Mia, “Sis, you’re pregnant, why are you afraid of a little cold?” Mia had clawed at the door with her bloodied fingers, sobbing and begging, “Lucy, please, I’m begging you. If it gets any colder, my baby and I will die.” But Lucy had just pointed her phone at Mia, telling her livestream viewers, “Look, everyone, pregnant women really are resistant to cold. My sister-in-law isn’t dead yet.” Lucy’s cruelty had chilled Mia to her core. Finally, Mia’s strength gave out, and she died miserably on the balcony, her tears freezing on her face. Thankfully, heaven had taken pity on her and given her a chance to be reborn. Now, the temperature was still in the 80s, a hot summer day. The cicadas were buzzing loudly outside, with no sign of the impending ice age. But in just a week, on one night, the temperature would plummet from over 80°F to 14°F. After that, it would get colder day by day, eventually reaching -94°F, freezing the entire globe. The fire of revenge burned fiercely in Mia’s heart. This time, she would have her revenge and personally send this family to hell!

Pretending to be meek and obedient, Mia replied to Mrs. Lee, “Mom, I’ll cooperate well with Lucy’s videos.” Mrs. Lee seemed somewhat surprised by Mia’s compliance, but still scolded her, “You useless girl, don’t you know it’s time to make dinner? Why are you standing there like an idiot? Go cook now!” Mia clenched her fist tightly, reminding herself not to act rashly. She then walked into the kitchen and started preparing dinner. During the meal, Jack came home. Mia had just washed her hands and was about to sit down to eat when Jack kicked her, “What are you eating for? The supermarket shelves are empty. Go restock them.” Holding back her pain, Mia agreed and grabbed the keys from the shoe cabinet, heading downstairs without another word. When Mia got married, her parents had given her a commercial property as part of her dowry, which was now being used as a small supermarket. Since the supermarket opened, no one in this big family had gone out to work. They all relied on this small supermarket for their livelihood. Not only that, but they had also dumped the most tiring and dirty jobs of restocking and arranging goods on Mia. To maintain the family’s expenses, Mia worked during the day and came back to organize the supermarket shelves at night. Therefore, no one knew this supermarket better than her. After restocking the shelves, Mia took some sausages, bread, and drinks to the storage room where supplies were kept. After eating, she called her parents who still lived in the suburbs. Hearing her parents’ voices through the phone again, tears welled up in her eyes involuntarily. In her past life, after Mia’s death, her parents had called her several times but no one answered. They had then called Jack to ask about Mia’s situation. Originally afraid of being exposed, Jack had replied to her parents using Mia’s SnapChat account, making them believe she was still alive. Later, when the temperature dropped suddenly and the ice age began, her parents had asked Mia on SnapChat if she could send them some food. The temperature had dropped too quickly, and they couldn’t buy anything in the suburbs. Lucy had come over and seen the chat history. She then instigated Jack to trick Mia’s parents out of their money. So Lucy and Jack had conspired together, fabricating an excuse that Mia was sick. Lucy had even worn Mia’s clothes to pretend to be her. Believing it was true, her parents immediately transferred all their money. After getting all the money from Mia’s parents, the two had made a FaceTime call to her parents, cursing them as big idiots and fools, saying no wonder their daughter was also a fool. They had told them their daughter had already frozen to death, and even sent photos of Mia’s corpse for her parents to see. This had immediately triggered her father’s heart condition, causing him to faint. The call had ended with her mother’s panicked screams.

Thinking of this, Mia’s voice choked up as she called out, “Dad, Mom.” Her father thought she must have suffered some grievance and quickly tried to comfort her, even threatening to come over and beat Jack up. Her mother told her to divorce Jack immediately and come back home to live with them. Mia shook her head, saying she hadn’t been wronged. In her past life, her parents had died miserably because of Lucy and Jack. This time, she definitely wouldn’t let that pair of scoundrels off! However, she also wouldn’t let her parents get involved. They were getting old and should enjoy their twilight years in peace. She would handle everything. But her parents still didn’t believe she hadn’t been wronged, so Mia had to change the subject, “Mom, Dad, can you rent the house next door?” Her parents were confused about why she wanted them to rent the neighboring house. Mia explained to them that extreme weather would occur in the future, and the previous owner of the house next door had been a foreigner. Foreigners naturally liked to dig all kinds of basements for storing things and as shelters, so there was a large basement under that house. After the foreigner left, the house had been listed on a second-hand platform for sale. Because it was in the suburbs, it had been on the market for a long time with no buyers. In the future extreme weather, temperatures would eventually drop to -94°F. By then, having food and drink wouldn’t be enough. A safe shelter would also be crucial. Although her parents didn’t quite believe that such extreme weather would occur – after all, it was blazing hot outside now – they still did as Mia said. After hanging up with her parents, Mia contacted a moving company. Under the guise of restocking goods, she secretly transported some items from the supermarket warehouse to her parents’ place. There was about a week left before the ice age arrived. By moving a portion every day, she could empty the entire warehouse without anyone noticing. This time, it would be Mia and her parents’ turn to enjoy barbecue around the fireplace indoors while livestreaming the miserable fate of Lucy’s family!

By the time Mia finished all this, it was dark outside. Just as she reached the top of the stairs, before she could enter the door, she heard Lucy’s coquettish laughter, “Brother, look! This person is as stupid as my sister-in-law.” Pushing open the door, Mia saw a harmonious family scene. The whole family was gathered around Lucy, like stars revolving around the moon. Lucy was Mr. and Mrs. Lee’s late-in-life daughter, greatly pampered. Mrs. Lee especially doted on Lucy, saying Lucy was her little cotton-padded jacket. Jack also adored his sister, saying he was Lucy’s eternal support and that it was fine if Lucy never married. Hearing the door open, the family looked in Mia’s direction. As soon as Mrs. Lee saw it was Mia, she immediately put on a stern face and scolded, “You useless girl, are you standing there like a door god? You scared me! ” Lucy held her phone in one hand and a bowl of fruit salad in the other as she walked towards Mia, “Sis, we forgot to save you dinner. Here, have some fruit to fill your stomach.” Mia looked at Lucy’s smiling face, full of malicious intent. In her past life, Mia had eaten it without suspicion, only to find out the fruit salad contained mango, to which she was allergic. Her whole body had broken out in a rash. Lucy had then laughed loudly, holding up her phone and telling her livestream viewers, “Look, everyone, my stupid sister-in-law ate it! Look at her allergic reaction.” Mrs. Lee had also laughed along, “Our Lucy is so clever, making that useless girl look foolish.” Jack had pointed at Mia, saying she looked really ugly like that. At that moment, Mia’s heart had completely turned cold, and she realized she couldn’t stay in this family anymore. She had decided to divorce Jack. But soon after, the ice age had hit. This time, since they could prank her for a $50 donation, they could just as easily prank someone else for the same money. Mia decided to test this theory. Pretending to have a stomachache, she bent over and said, “My stomach doesn’t feel well. I need to use the bathroom first.” But Lucy insisted Mia eat before going. Mia pushed Lucy away and quickly ran to the bathroom. Mrs. Lee cursed behind her, “Lazy people always need to pee.” Mia ignored Mrs. Lee’s words, because soon she would taste the bitter fruit of her actions. In the bathroom, Mia took out her phone and entered Lucy’s livestream. She directly put up a $50 bounty in Lucy’s livestream – to prank her own mother. At the same time, she commented, “Pranking the sister-in-law is boring now. Let’s try something fresh, like pranking your own mother.” She wanted to see just how much their so-called family affection was worth. Sure enough, the next second Mia heard Lucy excitedly tell everyone, “Dad, Mom, Brother, look! Someone donated to my livestream. I’m about to become a big influencer!”

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My husband just sent a $1,000 gift to his mistress, Who immediately forwarded it to me: “Sis, this scumbag gave me $1,000. Let’s go out for a nice meal tomorrow.” While Derek was taking a shower, his phone kept buzzing. Several messages came in quick succession. I picked up the phone and saw they were from someone saved as “Sweetie”, who had sent a few pictures. The screen was locked, so I couldn’t see the details. Then another message came: “Do you like them?” My heart sank. I tried entering our child’s birthday and our wedding anniversary, but they were both wrong. Finally, I unlocked it using Derek’s own birthday. The photos seemed to be taken in a bathroom, with dim lighting and tantalizing curves barely visible under an open white shirt. Even more eye-catching than the white shirt was the button on the chest. It was the one I had specially customized for Derek’s birthday, with our initials engraved: D&O. I had suspected Derek was having an affair for a while. He had been coming home later and later, claiming to work overtime on weekends too, and often returned with a faint scent of perfume. He had also grown increasingly cold towards me, barely speaking ten sentences to me in a week. Not only had he removed my fingerprint from his phone, but he had also changed the password. All these details pointed to one thing: Derek was cheating. It had been 10 years, from classmates to lovers, from school uniforms to wedding dresses. I never imagined he would cheat. I didn’t want to lose this family, nor did I want to lose Derek. I also wasn’t sure how to face his betrayal. He didn’t bring it up, so I pretended not to know. This way, I could still tell myself nothing had happened. This was the first time this person had actively appeared before me, tearing apart my self-deception. I sat rigidly on the edge of the bed, staring at the phone, the screen’s light stinging my eyes. I still remembered Derek’s tear-streaked face at our wedding. He thanked me for sticking by him, willing to suffer hardships with a poor boy like him, and vowed to give me a good life. Now, the poor boy wasn’t poor anymore, and he had someone else on the side. Hearing the bathroom door open, I quickly wiped away my tears and put the phone back. When he came out, I pretended nothing was wrong: “Honey, Emma’s been coughing a lot lately. Can you come with me to take her to the doctor tomorrow?” Derek paused while drying his hair, his voice muffled under the towel: “I have to rush a project recently, working overtime on weekends too. You take her.” I didn’t say anything more and quietly went to sleep. The next day, after dropping Emma off at preschool, I followed Derek to a secluded Western restaurant. The restaurant was by East Lake, with huge glass windows overlooking blooming lotus flowers. It had been a long time since I’d eaten out. At first, it was because we were saving money to buy a house. Later, when our income increased and I wanted to eat out, Derek would either say he had to work overtime or was too tired to go out, always finding excuses. The young girl cuddling up to Derek was young and beautiful, every detail from her hairstyle to her fingertips was exquisite. In just a few years, I had gone from being that kind of girl to a mom with messy hair, dark circles under my eyes, and dry, chapped lips. Actually, Derek’s attitude towards me had changed long ago. I remembered one day when I was applying lipstick in front of the mirror, Derek glanced at me and sneered: “With those chapped lips of yours, it’s useless to put on lipstick.” He had forgotten that I used to be pretty too, that I was once young and fashionable, willing to spend hundreds on a set of beautiful nails. But I got married and had a daughter. Since our daughter was born, I had hardly slept a full night. I had to get up in the middle of the night to breastfeed, clean the house and do chores during the day. Derek’s mother often came over, supposedly to see her granddaughter, but she never helped. Instead, she would demand this and that, keeping me running around. Derek couldn’t see any of this. He would only question why the house was so messy, or why I was arguing with his mother again. I always had to face a pile of housework alone, a crying baby, and their various accusations. Countless times, I desperately wanted to jump from the 11th floor. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with postpartum depression that Derek realized how serious my condition was. But even knowing I needed medication to control my condition, he still said I was being dramatic. I tried to discuss hiring a housekeeper with him, but he rejected me with one sentence: “Do you know how expensive housekeepers are now? Don’t you know how hard I work? Other people can take care of several kids without problems, why can’t you handle it?” Of course I knew work was hard, but Derek simply didn’t care whether I was struggling or not. Later, when the child became easier to care for, I stopped taking medication, and Derek became even more perfunctory and cold towards me. I could see he was losing interest in me, but I originally thought it was just a lack of novelty after being together for so long. After my parents divorced and remarried, neither of them wanted me, their past mistake. I wanted a family so badly, I didn’t want to be pushed out the door again. So I compromised and pretended not to know, thinking this way I could keep this family. Little did I know that while I was struggling here, they were having the time of their lives. I coldly watched them flirting, suddenly feeling foolishly ridiculous. A man who has changed his heart is like a rotten cabbage, disgusting to look at and nauseating to smell. I don’t want it anymore.

On the way home, while waiting at a red light, I saw Derek’s mother getting off a truck full of renovation materials, talking to the security guard at the entrance of Sunshine Garden residential complex. She had never been satisfied with me. She thought her son was excellent and shouldn’t have married a girl from an ordinary family like me. She even thought I was throwing myself at him because Derek and I had been dating since high school, and she always picked on me. What was she doing here? I followed her into Sunshine Garden at a distance. Just as I reached the entrance, I heard the security guard chatting with others: “That old lady is really lucky. At her age, her son still bought her another house. Four bedrooms and two living rooms, over 1,400 square feet.” My head buzzed. Derek had bought a large house of over 1,400 square feet, and I knew nothing about it? I pretended to gossip with the security guard: “Really? She doesn’t look like a rich person.” “Well, she has a rich and filial son! Last week when they came to see the house, her son drove a black BMW. That car didn’t look cheap.” Derek’s car was a black BMW. I returned home in a daze and collapsed on the sofa, surveying this small apartment of less than 800 square feet. I still remembered the night we moved in, Derek held me tightly and vowed to get me a bigger house. The bed board was hard, but I felt like I was sleeping on soft clouds, completely comfortable. The words were still ringing in my ears, but he was no longer the man who hugged me and cried, saying he had let me suffer. I rummaged through drawers and found the property deed at the bottom of one. The owner’s name: “Karen”. This was Derek’s mother’s name.

I had been kicked around by my parents since childhood and hadn’t seen either of them since I turned 18. When we bought the house, all I could contribute was my savings from a few years. Derek’s mother absolutely refused to put my name on the property deed. I didn’t want to make things difficult for Derek and was so desperate for a home that I agreed. But Derek had clearly said at the time that he would secretly add my name when he got the chance. As time passed, I didn’t bring it up, and he seemed to have forgotten. But he hadn’t forgotten to transfer the house to his mother. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. I was living with him, while he was scheming behind my back. Once the name was changed, this house had nothing to do with me. After all, who’s ever heard of dividing a mother-in-law’s house in a divorce? Cheating, changing names, buying houses. Had he changed, or had I been blind for 10 years and never seen his true nature? I don’t want this man anymore, but I must know how many more things he’s hiding from me. I started following him. I secretly installed location and recording apps on Derek’s phone and gradually figured out his movements. “Sweetie” was called Amber, Derek’s subordinate. Derek accompanied her to movies, dinners, and shopping. He took her to the hilltop where we used to date to watch the stars, retelling the romantic stories he once told me. I watched that man expressionlessly, my heart growing colder with every look. Half a month later, I discovered Derek having dinner with a young man. This man often handed out flyers near our residential area, advertising a financial lending company. After pretending to urgently need money and chatting with the company’s sales a few times, I learned that it was actually a loan shark operation. Within half a month, they met three times. At their third dinner meeting, these two men decided my fate in a few words: “Bro, as long as you have her ID and signature, you can just say you didn’t know about this loan during the divorce. Then you won’t have to repay it.” “Thank you so much, Little Wang. Don’t worry, once I get the $100,000, I won’t short you on the promised commission.” That night, when Derek came home, I asked him: “Have you seen my ID?” He suddenly became nervous, “Why are you asking? How would I know where your ID is?” I gave the reason I had prepared: “I forgot my bank card PIN and wanted to change it at the bank.” Derek’s expression relaxed, but he still couldn’t help scolding: “You can’t even find your own ID, I really don’t know what you do all day.” A few days ago, I would have angrily explained everything I did in a day and how exhausting it was. But now, I said nothing. I could now confirm that he had taken my ID to get a high-interest loan. That night, Derek fell asleep as soon as he got into bed. I looked at his familiar outline in the dark, listening to the recording of his conversation with Little Wang through my earphones, tears streaming down my face without realizing it. I hadn’t worked outside the home for four years and had no income. If I were to be saddled with a $100,000 high-interest loan on top of that, I really wouldn’t know how to repay it. Derek was my husband. It was all too easy for him to get my ID and signature. Didn’t he know what situation this would put me in? Of course he knew, he just didn’t care. He hadn’t thought about me, hadn’t thought about our child. He just wanted to divorce me and squeeze everything he could out of me. I masochistically listened to the recording over and over again, feeling a bone-chilling cold from head to toe. Since that’s how it is, don’t blame me for being ruthless.

I went to see a lawyer to consult about whether I would be responsible for repaying a loan if my husband borrowed money using my name fraudulently. The lawyer said as long as the loan wasn’t used for family expenses and there was evidence that it wasn’t my signature, I wouldn’t be liable. That night, I posted an anonymous message online: “My husband is cheating. Need help gathering evidence for divorce. Will pay handsomely for proof.” A few days later, Jack contacted me. He ran a private investigation agency specializing in tracking cheaters and affairs. In his own words, this was “upholding justice”. Jack was slim with androgynous features. If he grew out his hair, he could easily pass for a girl. I offered to pay him $50,000 upon completion, with red envelopes of at least $100 for each photo or chat record he provided, but I needed to know all the details. Jack agreed. As expected of a professional, he got quite a few photos after just a few days of following Derek. Besides going out as a couple with “Sweetie” to various high-end hotels and shopping malls, Derek also frequented other places. Jack angrily said on the phone: “Sis, this scumbag is fishy. Does he have other income sources you don’t know about?” Looking at the photos on my phone, I felt no emotion anymore: “Hmm, I thought so too. Keep following him.” No time to take the kid to the hospital, but plenty of time to take his mistress shopping. Buying houses and all sorts of high-end consumption, where did Derek, a department manager, get so much money? I laughed coldly, saved the photos to the cloud, then deleted the chat history. I started investigating Derek’s income sources but didn’t find any side jobs. However, I discovered he had lost over $100,000 in stocks. But from his phone’s payment records, I noticed a pattern. After the 10th of the first month of each quarter, Derek would always spend very lavishly. Most of his big expenses were during this time. But his payday was on the 28th of each month. I had heard him mention before that department project funds were allocated and audited quarterly, and he had put a lot of effort into the fund usage reports. I told Jack this information and asked him to investigate in this direction. Sure enough, there was good news in a few days. Jack got some information from one of Derek’s subordinates: “It’s harder than climbing to heaven to get funds approved from Manager Tian. I just don’t understand, it’s not his own money, why is he so stingy!” Jack sent me the recording and said: “Sis, this scumbag wouldn’t be so bold as to embezzle company funds, would he?” Huh, cheating, transferring assets, forging signatures – adding embezzlement doesn’t seem so strange anymore. “Can you get evidence?” Jack was quite confident: “Yes, but it will take some more time.”

My original plan was just to protect myself and go through normal divorce procedures with Derek. As for the mistress who interfered in my family, while I couldn’t say I had no resentment, I didn’t intend to do anything to her. She may be detestable, but the real culprit is still Derek. If a man doesn’t have the heart to cheat, no woman outside can seduce him no matter how hard she tries. But while I had no intention of doing anything to the mistress, she wasn’t willing to leave me alone. On Valentine’s Day, I received a friend request on SnapChat. After I accepted, I checked the profile, which only showed posts from the last 3 days. The message was from “Sweetie”, containing a photo of Derek and her with their faces close together, heads touching, both with sweet smiles. Immediately after was a text message: “He’s mine.” The period at the end of the sentence was firm and unquestionable, revealing arrogance and smugness. I asked: “Who are you?” My calmness seemed to irritate her: “Derek loves me, don’t get cocky.” I was a bit speechless. Didn’t you just say you were the true love? Shouldn’t you be the one getting cocky? Seeing that I didn’t reply, she sent another video: In the video, she was smilingly pinching Emma’s cheeks. The child was wailing, waving her arms desperately trying to push her away, calling out “Mommy”. She had met Emma? The little dress Emma was wearing was one I bought her last month, which means this happened recently? I immediately called Emma’s preschool teacher, Ms. Zhang. Ms. Zhang sounded confused: “On the 18th of last month, Emma’s dad came and said he wanted to take her out to play. I thought you knew.” I panicked and asked Amber: “What do you mean?” Seemingly satisfied with my reaction, Amber giggled and sent a voice message: “I just want you to understand that I can get anything I want.” “You’ve already got it. Adult matters have nothing to do with children.” Amber snorted, “If you’re smart, hurry up and divorce Derek. Otherwise, you won’t even get the child!” I tried hard to calm down and recalled what Ms. Zhang had just said. The 18th of last month… At that time, I hadn’t started following Derek yet and didn’t know he had taken Emma out. I called Derek to probe: “Have you been to Emma’s preschool?” Derek immediately denied it: “No. Why are you asking?” “Nothing, the preschool teacher messaged me saying there was a strange man lingering around the preschool, so I’m asking.” So Derek doesn’t want me to know he took Emma to meet Amber, and Amber contacting me is behind his back. What is Amber’s purpose in doing this? It shouldn’t be simple provocation. It’s time to meet her. I arranged to meet her at 3 PM on Wednesday at Huili Cafe. I arrived half an hour early. Soon after, Amber came. She looked me up and down carefully, probably concluding that I wasn’t as young and pretty as her, and smiled smugly. I didn’t care. If she also hadn’t slept well for two or three years, she would be as haggard as me. “Don’t you have anything to ask me?” Seeing that I kept staring at her without speaking, she couldn’t hold back and asked. I smiled: “I just wanted to see what kind of person would knowingly be the other woman.” She choked, then said defiantly: “Love has no order. Derek loves me.” I almost laughed out of anger. I originally thought she was after money, but it turns out she’s just a romantic fool. “Look up the dictionary, do you even know what love means? At best, you two are just fuck buddies.” Amber’s face turned red: “What do you know! Derek buys me clothes, bags, and even a car! He says he’s willing to give me anything! We’ll get married soon!” I glanced at her: “Married? Do you know what bigamy is?” Amber retorted: “Don’t think you can stop us by refusing to divorce. If pushed too far, we’ll make sure you can’t even get the child!” I’m refusing to divorce? Is that what Derek told her? I pretended to be nervous, “What are you going to do to Emma!” She smiled smugly: “That little girl is ugly and disobedient. Only you would care about her. It’s not like you’re the only one who can have children.” I looked at her feet in flat shoes: “You’re not pregnant, are you?” Amber’s expression was shocked. No wonder she sent me that video. She’s pregnant and wants to get married. “If you want a divorce, no problem. Tell Derek to come talk to me himself.”

Because of Amber’s provocation, Derek had a big fight with her. Jack said Derek was so angry he started yelling in the restaurant, saying Amber was too stupid and had ruined his plans. I nodded. Isn’t that right? With Derek’s personality, he would have everything perfectly prepared before mentioning divorce to me. I wanted to see how he would react now that he knew. Derek didn’t come home all weekend. On Monday night, as soon as he came in, he said coldly: “Since you already know, let’s get divorced.” He threw two papers on the table. I stared at my phone playing a game, “Know what? That you’re cheating? Or that you’re having an affair?” Derek paused, suddenly realizing: “You knew long ago!” “That’s right, I’ve known for months.” I sneered, “I also know her name is Amber, your ‘sweetie’. I didn’t know you could be so cheesy, Derek.” “You snooped through my phone! Don’t you understand respecting others’ privacy?!” His phone used to be open for me to look at anytime. Now looking at his phone has become invading privacy. I put down my phone: “How else would I know about you two dogs?” Derek was furious with embarrassment: “Watch your mouth!” Can’t take it already? “Are you afraid of people talking about the dirty things you did?” “I don’t want to argue with you! Sign the papers quickly! I can’t stand another day with you!” I folded my arms expressionlessly: “If you want a divorce, fine. Give me what I’m owed, not a penny less. We’ll go file the paperwork tomorrow.” He laughed coldly, his expression disgusted: “Have you earned a single cent these past few years? All you know is asking me for money! What in this house did you buy?” He slapped the two papers on the table, “If you’re smart, sign quickly. Don’t make things ugly for everyone.” Then he stormed out, slamming the door. I was shaking with anger. Although I only contributed a few thousand to the down payment, I had been working before having the baby and never missed a mortgage payment. It’s true I haven’t had any income these past few years, but haven’t I done everything in the house? He just flops on the couch as soon as he gets home. I cook the meals, sweep the floors, and when the baby cries, he doesn’t even know to pick her up and comfort her. In this house, I’m the housekeeper, the cleaning lady, the nanny, everything except his wife. I took a deep breath, trying to calmly look at the divorce agreement. It was written simply on the A4 paper. The small apartment belonged to his mother, not marital property. The child wouldn’t be with me, and I would have to pay $100,000 a year. I knew what Derek was planning. If I didn’t fight for custody of the child, I would have to pay him money every year. If I fought for custody, he would gain the upper hand and could use the child’s custody to pressure me. There was no mention of the other house or savings. What a good calculation. But I’m not going along with your wishes. My plans were proceeding smoothly, and things were going well on Jack’s end. A few days later, he sent me a message: “Sis, he took the bait.” The photo showed Derek having coffee with a familiar-looking long-haired beauty, his smile clear in the high-definition image. Everything was going according to plan. Derek started frequently meeting with the long-haired beauty. Under my instructions, Jack deliberately left clues for Amber to discover Derek’s new mistress. She clung to Derek even more, demanding expensive gifts and showing them off on Instagram, as if this was the only way to prove their “love”. Jack wasn’t to be outdone either, receiving quite a few SnapChat red envelopes and expensive gifts. Of course, all these things eventually ended up in my hands. One day, I saw Amber post a selfie on Instagram from a famous local villa area: “Derek’s taking me to look at houses!” I saved all the text and images. When people are determined to ruin themselves, no one can stop them. Indeed. She’s pregnant and about to successfully climb up, when suddenly a new mistress appears. I’d be anxious too if I were her. When I received photos from Jack again, there were several scratches on Derek’s neck, probably from Amber. “Sis, that woman called several times during dinner yesterday. Today I saw the scumbag’s neck all scratched up.” “Mm, I know. I told her.” Jack immediately transferred $1,000 to me, “I asked a few questions, and this scumbag guiltily gave me $1,000. Let’s go out for a nice meal tomorrow.” I didn’t accept it: “You keep it. You’ve been working hard lately.” With the threat of a new mistress, Amber became increasingly impatient, calling Derek more and more frequently. Jack said Derek seemed to be getting more and more irritated with her, and he heard him cursing on the phone several times. I knew the time had come. According to the pre-arranged time with Jack, I sat in a hidden corner of the lobby at the Rongxin Hotel. After a short wait, Amber stormed in angrily. After she entered the elevator, I took another elevator to the 6th floor. As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, I heard a woman’s shrill crying from not far ahead. The sound was so loud that many people in the hallway were pointing and whispering. “Derek! Aren’t you disgusted with yourself!”

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I rushed into the drug dealer’s hideout, only to find my fiancée Rose held hostage by the mastermind behind it all. In a moment of desperation, I shot him dead. Five years later, on my wedding day with Rose, at what should have been the happiest moment of my life, she drugged me. I woke up in a dark basement, tortured for a week. Rose stepped on my disfigured face. “Lucas was just an accountant. Taking me hostage was only a temporary measure. How could you be so heartless to kill him?” Given a second chance at life, I didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. After seven days and nights of torture, Rose finally appeared. Her high heels dug into my face. My chest could only manage raspy breaths. “How does it feel to be dying, Jack? Compared to what Lucas went through back then, I’m still being too kind to you.” I stared at her twisted expression, yet somehow managed to smile. I was laughing at my own naivety. It turns out all that passionate love was just an illusion. “What are you laughing at?!” My laughter seemed to enrage Rose. She crouched down and grabbed my jaw roughly. “Lucas was just an accountant. He was as pure as a blank sheet of paper. Taking me hostage was only a temporary measure. But you, Jack, you were so heartless to shoot him dead.” Rose leaned in close to my ear, her voice chilling. “It’s been five years, Jack. Lucas must be lonely down there all by himself. It’s time for you to join him.” With that, she aimed at my chest and fired without hesitation. An indescribable pain washed over me. I died with hatred and resentment. “Captain! The insider says Miss Rose is in there too. Should we change the plan?” A familiar voice rang in my ears. I felt disoriented for a moment. “Captain?” It wasn’t until the person in front of me called out again that I realized it was Adam, my former teammate. Wasn’t I just shot dead by Rose? I quickly felt my chest. It was smooth, with no gunshot wound. “Captain, what are you doing? Now’s not the time to show off your pecs!” Adam grabbed my hand anxiously. The reality before me made me quickly realize – I had been reborn. And I had been reborn to the very day I led the team to raid the gambling den. In my past life, when I led the team in, Rose was already being held hostage by Lucas. To save her, I shot Lucas without hesitation. Afterwards, we busted the gambling den and seized a large quantity of drugs, but I overlooked Rose’s dazed expression. I thought she was just shocked by the scene before her. It wasn’t until she brutally murdered me that I realized she was heartbroken over Lucas’s death. Thinking of this, a searing pain tore through my chest. I no longer cared about Rose’s life. “Proceed with the original plan. Move in.” I coldly gave the order to attack. This time, I didn’t mind if there was one more casualty. When I led the team in, Lucas was indeed holding a knife to Rose’s throat. I narrowed my eyes, looking coldly at this pair of scumbags, and pulled the trigger without hesitation. If my calculations were correct, the bullet should have gone through Lucas’s hand and into Rose’s body. This was my experience from years of shooting practice. However, what I never expected was that at the last moment, Rose risked having her throat slit to shield Lucas. The bullet went through her shoulder. I saw her turn back, glaring at me with hatred. What a pity. She didn’t die. In my past life, after Lucas was shot dead, someone reported that he was actually the mastermind behind the drug operation. Following the evidence we collected, we discovered that he was the illegitimate son of the city’s largest crime family. After graduating, he took over the family’s illegal business and used his professional knowledge to develop new types of drugs. These drugs were distributed through their family’s nightclubs and underground casinos. Meanwhile, he used his accountant identity as a cover. At the time, all the major media outlets were reporting on this, and everyone was condemning Lucas. Only Rose, with red-rimmed eyes, kept muttering, “He was just an accountant.” How foolish I was back then to not see through any of it. After Rose was sent to the hospital, I didn’t go to see her. Instead, I went to the interrogation room where Lucas was being held. Lucas wore gold-rimmed glasses, looking refined and cultured. But only I knew how rotten he was on the inside. When I saw him torturing stray cats in an alley as a high school student, I knew. And he had this ability to make everyone think I was targeting him, even though he was the one doing all the evil deeds. “Jack, don’t pursue a personal vendetta. I’m just an accountant. Taking Rose hostage was only a temporary measure.” I silently watched him act. “So, does an accountant usually carry weapons?” I had checked later. The knife he used to hold Rose hostage was a finely crafted Swiss Army knife. “How about this, why don’t you ask that officer to get me a glass of water, and I’ll explain everything slowly.” Lucas squinted, a carefree smile on his face, as if he was just here for a casual chat. I knew he wanted to get the other person out of the room. So I played along and cleared the room, leaving just the two of us in the interrogation room. “What do you want to say? You can speak now.” I stood in front of Lucas, looking down at him. Lucas beckoned me to lean in, then whispered in my ear. “You haven’t tasted Rose yet, have you? Too bad, she must hate you now.” My fingers clenched into a fist, itching to smash his hypocritical face. “I really love seeing you like this. Oh, by the way, how’s your brother doing?” Because of this sentence, my fist landed hard on his face. Our whole family were cops. Both parents were in the anti-gang unit. When I was very young, my parents sacrificed their lives in an operation against the gangs. Later, my brother inherited their will and became a police officer. But during an undercover mission, he was discovered by the gang and had his tendons cut. Although he was eventually rescued, he had been tortured to the point of mental instability. Then I inherited my brother’s badge and became a narcotics officer. In my past life, I only found out after Lucas’s death that it was he who personally cut my brother’s tendons. At this moment, my hatred for him was enough to make me lose my rationality. Soon, people from outside rushed in to stop me. “Jack! What are you doing?!” Rose screamed as she rushed to Lucas’s side. “I brought a lawyer. I’m going to sue you for torture!” At this point, she had lost all the grace of a socialite. Like a wronged patient, with a pale face, she swayed unsteadily as she shielded Lucas. Lucas hid behind her, flashing me a provocative smile. I looked at this pair of scumbags angrily, wanting nothing more than to kill them on the spot. But I knew that what Lucas deserved most was the punishment of the law. Soon, I was called in by the precinct captain for a talk because I had hit Lucas. I knew in my heart that Lucas was the culprit who had harmed my brother and was the biggest mastermind behind the drug den. But I had no evidence, so I couldn’t say much. The captain sighed and patted my shoulder. “Jack, I understand your desire to fight crime, but innocent until proven guilty. Without evidence, you can’t be too extreme.” Lucas, with his innocent face, had once again fooled everyone except me. Even the captain and Adam thought I was being overly sensitive. The captain suggested I take some time off. I angrily kicked a chair and walked out of the precinct. Rose was waiting for me outside. “Jack, I know you’ve never liked Lucas since we were kids.” She held my hand, putting on a sincere act. “But can you not bring personal feelings into this? Lucas really is just an accountant. Can you stop targeting him?” In her words, Lucas was always the innocent lamb. I twitched the corner of my mouth, feeling as if the bullet that had once pierced my chest in my past life had hit me between the eyes again. When my father died, I was still very young. I followed my brother around like a little tail. But soon my brother went to the police academy, and I had to stay with my grandmother. At that time, I was timid and cowardly, insecure and sensitive, always bullied by the neighborhood kids. It was Rose, who had moved from the big city, who stood in front of me, shielding me behind her. For the young me, she was the light in my life. I depended on her, adored her. However, looking back now, it all seems so ridiculous. I looked at Rose’s anxious face, closed my eyes for a moment, and shook my head. “Rose, Lucas is a criminal. He should face the punishment of the law. It’s not that I’m targeting him, it’s that he’s defying the law.” I had told her this reasoning in my past life too. But clearly, she hadn’t listened in either lifetime. “Jack! You disappoint me so much!” Leaving those words, Rose stormed off angrily. After resting at home for a few days, I received a message from Adam. The drug dealers we had arrested hadn’t implicated Lucas like they had in my past life. They were afraid of Lucas’s retaliation. So they didn’t dare to report him. I angrily punched the bed. With the support of the team of lawyers Rose had hired at great expense, Lucas was soon released on bail. I rushed into the captain’s office, fuming with dissatisfaction. Before I could speak, the captain waved his hand at me. “The Lucas case is settled. There’s insufficient evidence, so we can only release him without charge. There’s no use in you saying more.” On the day Lucas was released without charge, it was Rose who personally went to pick him up. She even put on elaborate makeup and invited the media to clear Lucas’s name. I stood at a distance, coldly watching it all. Then I took out my phone and sent Rose a text message. [Let’s break up.] I saw Rose glance at her phone, barely reacting, then continue to fuss over Lucas. Rose soon began to appear in public with Lucas. I admired Lucas’s tactics. Back then, the Mi family had used every means to oppose Rose being with me. But with Lucas, they accepted him completely. No matter what they did, I was determined to put Lucas behind bars. I took on a new case. It was a cross-border drug trafficking case in the neighboring city. In my past life, I remembered that Lucas’s half-brother had gone to develop his business in the neighboring city. He eventually dominated the underground drug market there. But because I had retired after busting Lucas’s gambling den, I didn’t end up participating in the activities in the neighboring city. This life, I had no plans to retire. On the day I was to leave for the neighboring city, Lucas approached me, playing with a lighter. He looked at me with a smirk, like a victorious predator. “Can’t stay in the city anymore, Officer Jack?” At this point, my hatred for him had all turned into motivation to bring him to justice as soon as possible. So I didn’t want to waste words with him. “Rose and I are about to get married. Don’t you want to attend?” Seeing that I wasn’t speaking, he continued to provoke me. “Too bad, I don’t love her at all. I’m just playing with her. Just like I played with you in high school.” He was like a venomous snake, making me feel sick. Rose and I had been together since elementary school, until high school when we met Lucas. In front of others, he always maintained a polite demeanor, good at studies, good-tempered, good-looking. Teachers and classmates all liked him. While I was known for being simple-minded and physically strong in class. Good at sports, poor at studies. However, who could have imagined that Lucas, who seemed so harmless, Was an obsessive sadist. After I discovered him torturing cats, he didn’t panic, but instead threw the cat’s corpse into my desk. Perhaps because I had discovered his evil side, Lucas no longer hid it in front of me. He always showed his worst side to me, then provoked me into anger, and then pretended to be bullied by me. “Ah~ It’s that look. It really excites me.” His face came close to mine, his lips by my ear, whispering. “Rose crawled into my bed long ago. Around high school, I think.” Hearing this, I clenched my fists, my eyes wide with rage. “Jack! Are you going to hit him again?!” Rose screamed from a distance, running towards us. Before my fist could land, Her handbag came down on me, blow after blow. “Rose, don’t blame Jack. I told him about our love and asked him to give us his blessing. Jack just loves you too much.” Lucas’s skill at playing innocent was impeccable. “Jack! You’re the one who wanted to break up!! And I love Lucas! If you have any problems, take them out on me! Lucas is innocent!” Lucas is innocent – this was the phrase I had heard most often from Rose’s mouth. When did that little girl who used to protect me behind her back become so unrecognizable? “Don’t worry, a bitch deserves a dog. May you live happily ever after.” Coldly throwing down these words, I got into the car heading to the neighboring city. Soon, during the raid operation in the neighboring city, I discovered evidence of Lucas’s crimes. His brother had indeed kept some insurance, preserving evidence of Lucas torturing police officers on a hard drive. After getting the hard drive, I rushed back to the city without delay. Eager to deliver the evidence to the captain’s office, I applied for an arrest warrant for Lucas. Faced with solid evidence, the captain was also very surprised. He immediately approved my arrest warrant. I took the warrant and burst into Lucas and Rose’s wedding hall. “Lucas, you are now suspected of involvement in a case of police torture.” I coldly threw the arrest warrant in front of Rose and Lucas. Amidst Rose’s screams, I took Lucas away. This time, I wanted to end him with my own hands. In the interrogation room, I once again faced off with Lucas. He still had that smirking expression, looking at me provocatively. I placed the evidence in front of him to see. Lucas, surprisingly calm and collected, looked at it as if admiring a work of art. “This move does seem a bit amateurish,” he commented after watching, still smiling. “Lucas, the evidence is right in front of you. What else do you have to say?” I wanted to see what other tricks he could pull. Lucas shrugged, not saying anything more. “I’ll wait for my lawyer to arrive before I speak.” Knowing I wouldn’t get anything out of him, I didn’t want to waste any more time. But his attitude made me suspicious. I took the hard drive back to my office, repeatedly replaying the videos inside. The video clearly showed Lucas’s face. It was definitely him. But I felt like something still didn’t add up. Suddenly, my gaze fixed on the last frame. Lucas raised his head, flashing a sinister smile at the camera. The teardrop mole at the corner of his eye seemed to glow blood-red. Seeing this, a chill ran down my spine. I knew what was wrong! Before I could rush out of the office, Adam came running in urgently. “Captain, Miss Rose has brought a lawyer and someone else.” He hesitated, looking at me. “I think you’d better go see for yourself.” I pushed past Adam and ran to the reception room. When I saw who had come, I felt dizzy for a moment. It was a face identical to Lucas’s, except for a teardrop mole at the corner of his eye. Yes, Lucas didn’t have a teardrop mole. “Jack, I’ve brought a lawyer and the real culprit. Release Lucas now!” Rose shouted at me. I had no time to deal with her, my eyes fixed on “Lucas”. He seemed to shrink back a bit under my gaze.

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On Aria’s 23rd birthday, I finally mustered up the courage to confess my feelings for her. But on my way to celebrate her birthday, I got into a car accident and lost my memory. When I woke up, she was standing by my hospital bed, wordlessly handing me divorce papers. “Considering you were willing to hurt yourself to divorce me, I’ll grant your wish.” Wait, what? I was going to confess my love, how did it turn into a divorce? I had a crush on Aria for five years. So, on Aria’s 23rd birthday, I finally decided to confess my feelings to her. I went to the flower shop and bought a bouquet of 99 roses because I remembered Aria once saying that she admired those movie scenes where the male lead confesses his love with roses in hand. “That kind of confession scene is just so romantic!” 18-year-old Aria had said, sitting next to me, looking at the big screen with envious eyes. “So, how many roses would you like?” I had asked. Aria thought seriously for a moment, then turned to look at me without speaking. Her bright eyes made my heart start to beat faster involuntarily, and even my ears began to feel warm. “Of course, 99 roses,” she had finally answered. Looking at the 99 roses now occupying the passenger seat, I couldn’t help but imagine how touched and happy Aria would be when she saw the confession scene she had always dreamed of. However, this happiness didn’t last long because I got distracted and ended up in a car accident. The last thing I remember before passing out was the sticky smell of blood in my nostrils and a vague image of Aria standing outside the car window, calling out anxiously. When I woke up again, my whole body was in excruciating pain, including my head. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Aria standing by my bed, her slender white hand adjusting the speed of the IV drip. Aria was still as beautiful as when I first met her, with her small oval face and black hair neatly draped over her shoulders, making her look so gentle and elegant. Seeing that I was awake, she asked if I felt uncomfortable anywhere. “My head hurts badly, Aria. Can you help me sit up? My back is uncomfortable.” Hearing this, she reached out her hand, carefully supporting me while operating the remote control by the hospital bed, trying to raise the head of the bed slightly. But at that moment, my attention was drawn to the diamond ring on her ring finger. I hadn’t expected Aria to be married already. A sense of dejection enveloped me, and I felt my mood plummet to rock bottom. I was so disappointed. I had liked Aria for a full five years, but it turned out she already had a happy family. After adjusting the height of the bed, Aria carefully placed me on the hospital bed, then stepped back, maintaining a safe distance from me. Seeing this, my mood became even more depressed. But I clearly understood that I couldn’t show this emotion right now. After all, loving someone doesn’t mean possessing them, but hoping for their happiness. So, I tried to force a smile on my pale lips, suppressing my discomfort. “Aria, did you save me?” It seemed my words touched a sensitive spot for her. She frowned, looking at me with cold eyes, her tone equally unpleasant, as if suppressing her emotions. “Jasper Reed, to divorce me, you even risked your own life. Is there anything you won’t do?” When I heard these words, I was completely bewildered. Me? Divorce her? But I was clearly going to celebrate her birthday and confess my feelings. How did it turn into a divorce? However, before I could figure out what was going on, a male doctor in a white coat walked in. He smiled happily at Aria. I remembered this person, I think his name was Dr. Caleb Hawthorne. The important thing was, he also liked Aria! Sure enough, he came over and gave me a thorough examination. When he lifted my arm and shook it in the air for a while, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that I was also wearing a ring on my ring finger! If I wasn’t mistaken, this ring and the one on Aria’s hand were a matching set! So, I really was married to her, as Aria had said. And, stupidly, I had tried to divorce her?? Dr. Hawthorne’s voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to see him staring intently and maliciously at Aria standing opposite. “Fortunately, the car accident wasn’t too serious. With some good rest, you’ll be fine. Aria, thank you for taking care of him during this time.” “You haven’t eaten anything since yesterday. The dumplings at the hospital entrance are quite good. Would you like me to bring you some?” Before Aria could respond, I answered him first. “Thank you for your concern, Dr. Hawthorne, but I’ll take care of my wife myself.” Dr. Hawthorne looked at me, then smiled slightly without saying anything more and left the room. After he left, Aria gave me a cold look, then took out a divorce agreement from her bag and placed it in front of me. “Jasper Reed, since you’re willing to harm yourself to get a divorce, there’s no point in dragging this out any longer. I agree to divorce you and let you go.”

Agree my ass. Of course, I couldn’t say that to Aria directly. Although I didn’t know how I had ended up marrying Aria, given that I had a crush on her for five years, I must have been out of my mind to sign divorce papers. Just as I was about to tell her to forget about it, Aria’s phone suddenly rang. A moment later, a cute little girl appeared in front of me, bouncing on her short legs into Aria’s arms. “Mommy, hug me.” The little girl was now being held by Aria, looking at me with big eyes. Looking closely, she really resembled Aria, like a miniature version of her. I found myself liking her more and more, so I unconsciously reached out to hold her hand. But she seemed very afraid and immediately withdrew her hand, burying her entire face in Aria’s chest. “I’m sorry, this is your child, right? She looks just like you, very cute.” Aria frowned at me, the impatience in her eyes instantly sobering me up. But I felt I should still explain a bit. “Aria, I know what I’m about to say might sound absurd, but you have to believe me. I… I really don’t remember being married to you…” As soon as I said this, Aria’s face looked even more gloomy. I slapped myself hard on the mouth. How stupid, how could I say that? “No, no, what I mean is that after waking up from the accident, I lost my memory. I only remember going to celebrate your 23rd birthday and planning to confess to you.” Hearing this, Aria looked like she had just heard a joke. She sneered and then looked at me. “Jasper Reed, you can even come up with such a lame excuse as amnesia. I guess you really have gone to great lengths.” “But whether you’ve really lost your memory or you’re just pretending, I’m no longer interested in you. Look at the divorce agreement in your hand. That’s what you should be considering now.” I really didn’t know what unforgivable thing I had done before losing my memory. To make Aria so disgusted with me. She didn’t even believe my words. Seeing her cold, distant, and suspicious gaze, I felt like I was about to have a breakdown right there. “Mommy, are you and Daddy getting divorced?” The little girl’s sweet voice brought me back to reality. I looked at the little girl hiding in Aria’s arms, recalling what she had just said. Daddy? So, this little girl really was the fruit of my love with Aria? “Well, Aria, even for the sake of the child, divorce isn’t good. Children who lose their father’s love can easily develop personality deficiencies.” Aria comforted her gently, but when she looked at me, her gaze was as cold and impatient as ever. The little girl’s gaze didn’t linger on me for long either. After giving me a brief look, she continued to hug Aria’s neck tightly. “Jasper Reed, since Mila was born, have you ever truly cared for her? Do you know what color she likes, what food she enjoys, what games she usually plays, or what cartoons she watches?” Aria’s words hit me hard, leaving me speechless. “You’ve never truly cared, not for Mila, not for me.” “All you’ve ever cared about is how to please your ideal love!” With that, she turned away, no longer paying attention to me, and left with our daughter. Recalling Aria’s words, I felt that I was an unqualified existence, both as a husband and as a father. I guess this is probably the reason why Aria wants to divorce me. But what did Aria mean by that “ideal love” she mentioned earlier? Isn’t she my ideal love?

A week later, using the excuse that I didn’t want to stay at home anymore, I asked Aria to discharge me from the hospital. Lying on the soft, comfortable memory foam mattress, I stared at the ceiling, feeling a headache coming on. Because I couldn’t remember anything at all. I couldn’t remember how I married Aria, couldn’t remember how we lived after getting married. And I couldn’t remember how we ended up at the point of divorce. However, the divorce agreement on the bedside table undeniably told me one fact – my marriage with Aria seemed to have come to an end without me even noticing. But I clearly liked her so much, liked her enough to willingly guard her silently for five years. Yet her words conveyed another message to me – that after marrying her, I had hooked up with my ideal love? Although I had lost my memory, my ideal love was clearly Aria. How could there possibly be another woman? I had never felt such a headache and frustration before. I directly pulled the covers over my head, burying my entire body under the blanket. “Daddy.” A sweet little voice brought me back to reality. I loosened the blanket and saw Mila standing there with a small fruit platter in her hands, looking at me with her big eyes from afar. Looking at her like this, she really did look like Aria, a miniature version of her. The more I looked, the more I liked her. So I unconsciously reached out to hold her hand. But she seemed very afraid and immediately withdrew her hand, burying her entire face in Aria’s chest. “I’m sorry, this is your child, right? She looks just like you, very cute.” Aria frowned at me, the impatience in her eyes instantly sobering me up. But I felt I should still explain a bit. “Aria, I know what I’m about to say might sound absurd, but you have to believe me. I… I really don’t remember being married to you…” As soon as I said this, Aria’s face looked even more gloomy. I slapped myself hard on the mouth. How stupid, how could I say that? “No, no, what I mean is that after waking up from the accident, I lost my memory. I only remember going to celebrate your 23rd birthday and planning to confess to you.” Hearing this, Aria looked like she had just heard a joke. She sneered and then looked at me. “Jasper Reed, you can even come up with such a lame excuse as amnesia. I guess you really have gone to great lengths.” “But whether you’ve really lost your memory or you’re just pretending, I’m no longer interested in you. Look at the divorce agreement in your hand. That’s what you should be considering now.” I really didn’t know what unforgivable thing I had done before losing my memory. To make Aria so disgusted with me. She didn’t even believe my words. Seeing her cold, distant, and suspicious gaze, I felt like I was about to have a breakdown right there. “Mommy, are you and Daddy getting divorced?” The little girl’s sweet voice brought me back to reality. I looked at the little girl hiding in Aria’s arms, recalling what she had just said. Daddy? So, this little girl really was the fruit of my love with Aria? “Well, Aria, even for the sake of the child, divorce isn’t good. Children who lose their father’s love can easily develop personality deficiencies.” Aria comforted her gently, but when she looked at me, her gaze was as cold and impatient as ever. The little girl’s gaze didn’t linger on me for long either. After giving me a brief look, she continued to hug Aria’s neck tightly. “Jasper Reed, since Mila was born, have you ever truly cared for her? Do you know what color she likes, what food she enjoys, what games she usually plays, or what cartoons she watches?” Aria’s words hit me hard, leaving me speechless. “You’ve never truly cared, not for Mila, not for me.” “All you’ve ever cared about is how to please your ideal love!” With that, she turned away, no longer paying attention to me, and left with our daughter. Recalling Aria’s words, I felt that I was an unqualified existence, both as a husband and as a father. I guess this is probably the reason why Aria wants to divorce me. But what did Aria mean by that “ideal love” she mentioned earlier? Isn’t she my ideal love? 3 A week later, using the excuse that I didn’t want to stay at home anymore, I asked Aria to discharge me from the hospital. Lying on the soft, comfortable memory foam mattress, I stared at the ceiling, feeling a headache coming on. Because I couldn’t remember anything at all. I couldn’t remember how I married Aria, couldn’t remember how we lived after getting married. And I couldn’t remember how we ended up at the point of divorce. However, the divorce agreement on the bedside table undeniably told me one fact – my marriage with Aria seemed to have come to an end without me even noticing. But I clearly liked her so much, liked her enough to willingly guard her silently for five years. Yet her words conveyed another message to me – that after marrying her, I had hooked up with my ideal love? Although I had lost my memory, my ideal love was clearly Aria. How could there possibly be another woman? I had never felt such a headache and frustration before. I directly pulled the covers over my head, burying my entire body under the blanket. “Daddy.” A sweet little voice brought me back to reality. I loosened the blanket and saw Mila standing there with a small fruit platter in her hands, looking at me with her big eyes from afar. The sight of her melted my heart. “Daddy, Mommy said to eat some fruit to get vitamins. That way, you’ll get better faster.” I knew it. Aria still cared about me. She couldn’t bear to ignore me. Thinking this, my gloomy mood brightened like a ray of sunshine breaking through clouds, instantly cheering me up. I beckoned to Mila, gesturing for her to come over. “Daddy’s arm hurts a bit. Can Mila feed Daddy the fruit? I’m sure it’ll taste super delicious if Mila feeds me.” I never imagined that I, the CEO of Reed Enterprises, would have such a sweet-talking day. But the truth is, I really enjoyed this version of myself. Hearing this, Mila’s little oval face twisted for a moment. After pondering for a while, she nodded and took small steps towards me. Then, with her tiny hand, she picked up a piece of apple with the fork and held it up to my mouth. This time, I directly reached out and hugged her entire body. How adorable she was. They say a daughter is her father’s little sweetheart. With such a cute and sweet little sweetheart, why would I ever want a divorce? I’m not divorcing, no way. Mila was clearly not used to such close contact with me. Her body squirmed uncomfortably in my arms, her big eyes, like black pearls, blinking rapidly. She was so beautiful. Looking closely, I could see that her eyebrows were very similar to mine, long and thick. I couldn’t help but admire how perfectly she had inherited Aria’s beauty. Unable to resist, I planted a kiss on her cheek. Mila’s face instantly turned red, her little hands now tightly gripping the fork, looking extremely nervous. I lowered my head and took a bite of the apple, then put the fork back on the fruit platter. “The fruit really does taste better when my little sweetheart feeds me. Daddy likes it very much.” Children are always easily satisfied. Hearing this, she immediately broke into a big smile and then stretched out her arms, hugging my neck tightly. “Then, does Daddy like Mila?” I hadn’t expected her to ask such a question. I nodded. “Of course Daddy likes Mila. I like you very, very much.” The child’s timid question made me feel a pang of sadness. I realized that in the past, I must have neglected her growth. Otherwise, why would she ask me such a question? Just as I was enjoying my daughter’s sweet scent, the door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. Aria stood in front of me, her face cold. “Mommy.” Seeing Aria appear, Mila quickly struggled out of my arms, then bounced on her short legs to Aria’s side, hugging her legs tightly. Aria had clearly just finished washing up. The scent of her shower gel wafted towards me with the evening breeze, making my heart beat faster involuntarily. She bent down slightly, and I caught a glimpse of her cleavage. The next second, I saw her pick up Mila and stand up. I unconsciously swallowed, feeling oddly parched. Aria walked over and mercilessly closed the half-open window, then turned on the air conditioner for me. Due to my injury, I could only temporarily stay in the guest room for this period after returning home. I opened my mouth to thank her. “No need to thank me.” “If you really want to thank me, just sign the divorce papers quickly.” I frowned in disgust. Since I woke up, three out of five sentences from Aria were about divorce. “Aria, I don’t want a divorce.” Hearing this, Aria put down the remote control in her hand and turned to look at me with a deep gaze. Just when I thought she would agree not to divorce me, she suddenly told me: “Jasper Reed, can you stop being so selfish? In this marriage, have you ever considered my feelings?” “I’m not that generous. I can’t pretend everything is fine and continue to be loving with you while you have an ideal love in your heart.” “Don’t worry, after the divorce, I will raise Mila very well. After all, I’ve been the one taking care of her all these years. You’re nothing more than a sperm donor to her.” “Moreover, isn’t me letting go and allowing you to be with her what you want?” Her cold tone made me feel heartbroken. I didn’t say anything more, but silently lay down, turning my back to her. Soon, the sound of footsteps faded away, and with the closing of the door, the room returned to silence. What was the point of being married to Aria if all she thought about was divorcing me? Even the child didn’t seem close to me. I began to doubt whether we would have made this decision if we had known our marriage would turn out like this. The thoughts in my mind made my head throb painfully. I couldn’t sleep, so I got up and walked heavily to the balcony, pushing open the door. In the garden, I saw Aria holding Mila, sitting on a rattan chair, telling her a story. It was such a warm scene. Such a scene that made me reluctant to let go.

After resting at home for a week, I felt my body was almost back to normal. More importantly, I didn’t want to be left alone in the guest room anymore. Having a wife, there was no reason to continue sleeping alone. So that day, I took my pillow and actively walked to the master bedroom. As I pushed open the door to the master bedroom, a whiff of Aria’s unique fragrance hit me, dispelling the gloomy mood I had been in for the past few days. Just then, the bathroom door suddenly opened, and Aria appeared before me, wrapped only in a towel. Her hair was still dripping water, droplets sliding down her body’s curves and disappearing into the towel covering her chest. Having just showered, her cheeks were slightly flushed, making her look incredibly alluring. I quickly suppressed the stirring in my heart and averted my gaze. “Jasper Reed, what are you doing here?!” Aria quickly reacted, grabbing a jacket from the top of the wardrobe and draping it over her shoulders. Her words interrupted my thoughts, and I finally stammered out a response. I almost thought I had become a stutterer. “Uh… Aria, I’m feeling much better now. Can I sleep in the master bedroom?”

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I’ve imprisoned my brother in the bedroom closet. To prevent him from escaping, I broke all the bones in his body. I cut open his abdomen, exposing his intestines. His organs were removed and soaked in formaldehyde… And yet, he’s still alive. This wasn’t a difficult thing to do. As a professional surgeon, I have a thousand ways to torture him while keeping him barely alive. Main text: The hospital lab reported that a few milliliters of blood were missing from a sample. It wasn’t a big deal initially. Perhaps it was used in some testing process. Or maybe a few extra milliliters were recorded by mistake at the beginning. But the nurse insisted that a few milliliters had gone missing without explanation. Because the patient was HIV-positive, she decided to report it. The hospital administrator said the blood of HIV patients must be taken seriously. If someone with ill intentions took that blood to harm others, the consequences would be unthinkable! The police didn’t take this case very seriously, so they assigned my mentor, Detective Mark Thompson, a veteran officer nearing retirement, to handle it. As his new apprentice, I naturally got involved in this case as well. But this seemingly ordinary case would uncover a huge, hidden truth – one that was cruel and tragic… We didn’t find anything unusual in the hospital surveillance footage. Detective Thompson lit a cigarette and said to me, “Grab the notebook. Let’s go talk to everyone.” So we visited all the doctors, nurses, and anyone who could have accessed the blood samples recently. But there was one person whose home we couldn’t reach – she was never there when we tried. Her name was Rachel Wilson, the youngest ER doctor at the hospital. Detective Thompson and I sat at the nurses’ station, waiting because Rachel was in surgery and couldn’t meet us. “Dr. Wilson? She’s the most skilled doctor in the hospital. She’s kind, has a great temperament, and is beautiful too,” one nurse said. As soon as she finished speaking, the group of nurses started chattering, all saying good things about Rachel. “She had outstanding grades, went straight through her master’s and PhD. At such a young age, she’s already an attending physician.” “That time when we had that violent incident at the hospital, a patient’s family member came at us with a knife. It was Rachel who carefully calmed them down and prevented a disaster.” After spending the afternoon learning about her, all we heard were praises. She seemed to be a person without any flaws. As evening approached, the surgery still hadn’t ended. We figured that once Dr. Wilson came out of surgery, she’d be exhausted. It wouldn’t be right to question her then. The nurses said she had the next day off, so we decided to visit her home tomorrow instead. Early the next morning, we knocked on her door. She seemed to live alone. We heard someone in slippers walking to the door. They leaned against it, watching us for a while before opening. “You must be Detective Thompson. The nurses told me about you when I got off work yesterday,” she said. Detective Thompson nodded as she invited us in. She appeared to have just woken up, wearing a silk robe in a vibrant red that accentuated her perfect figure. As she bent down to pour us some water, her neckline gaped open, revealing smooth pale skin. Detective Thompson and I are men after all. He’s been divorced for years, so seeing such an attractive woman naturally drew his gaze. And as for me, fresh out of the academy and never having had a girlfriend, I couldn’t help but take in the alluring scene. Detective Thompson snapped out of it and surveyed her apartment, in no rush to get to business. In an interrogation, you need to gain the person’s trust first, break down their mental defenses, and look for clues in the details. “You live here alone?” he asked casually. She smiled. “Yes, my brother used to stay here, but he’s away on a business trip recently.” Her demeanor was relaxed, a gentle smile on her face. Detective Thompson made a noncommittal sound, glancing at a closed door behind her. It was a large apartment with two bedrooms. One door was open – presumably her room. The other was tightly shut, likely her brother’s room. Detective Thompson noticed some fake nails on the TV stand, then looked at Rachel’s clean, unadorned fingernails. “Do you like doing your nails, Dr. Wilson?” he asked. She smiled, touching her fingers. “What girl doesn’t? But as a doctor, I can’t really do my nails. So I bought some fake ones to stick on when I’m home and bored.” As she spoke, she stood up and brought over the fake nails. She took one out, compared it to her finger, found it matched her middle finger perfectly, and stuck it on. Detective Thompson, seeing nothing unusual in the home, was about to get to the point. But suddenly a huge noise came from the closed room. Rachel’s expression darkened for a moment as she looked back at that room. “Lucky, behave yourself,” she said sternly. “Lucky?” Detective Thompson questioned. She turned back to us, her gentle smile returning. “I have a husky. He’s quite a handful, so I usually keep him in there.” Perhaps due to his years of experience as a detective, Thompson seemed to sense something was off. He stood up and walked towards that room. Rachel stood as well, warning him: “Detective, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Lucky can be really rowdy.” Thompson kept walking. As he put his hand on the doorknob, just as he was about to turn it… A dog’s yelp came from inside the room, sounding pitiful, as if it had been abused. Thompson opened the door without hesitation. A huge husky bounded out, knocking him over, then ran around wagging its tail and crashing into things. Rachel hurried to help Thompson up, then grabbed Lucky and struggled to get him back in the room. “I’m so sorry, Detective. He really is too much sometimes,” she apologized. Thompson, feeling a bit guilty for suspecting her, rubbed his balding head. “No worries, no worries.” Then he got down to business. “Dr. Wilson, have you heard about the missing blood samples from the lab?” he asked. Rachel fiddled with the fake nail on her middle finger. “Of course, rumors have been going around for a while. Did you check the surveillance footage?” Thompson answered honestly: “We did. Nothing unusual showed up.” She made a noncommittal sound, not saying anything more. But I thought I saw her eyes go cold for just a split second. Even with the smile still on her lips, it felt like falling into an abyss. Thompson felt that he had come to interrogate her, but suddenly found himself answering her questions honestly. It somewhat bruised his pride as a detective, so he straightened up and began questioning her more formally. After a round of questioning, we didn’t find anything unusual. Unfortunately, Detective Thompson, despite his years of experience dealing with criminals, had met his match in her. All that talk of casual conversation to gain the suspect’s trust – turns out we had trusted her step by step under her subtle guidance. The case seemed to have hit a dead end. Detective Thompson told me to close it if nothing else came up. But I felt something was off, so I kept dragging my feet on closing it. Soon, another new case came to the police station. A professor from A University had gone missing. He was supposed to be on a business trip to L City, but when he didn’t return as scheduled, the school checked and found that he wasn’t at the business location or on campus. His phone was also unreachable. After contacting his family, they said he hadn’t come home either. He seemed to have vanished into thin air. At least, that’s how the officer who took the case described it to Detective Thompson. The responding officer said the missing man had left home, and had definitely boarded that flight, but never got off. Thompson asked skeptically, “What do you mean he never got off? Did he die on the plane?” The officer shook his head vigorously. “We checked the surveillance footage for a long time. We found that he definitely boarded the plane, but in the footage of passengers disembarking, there’s no sign of him.” Thompson picked up the file and glanced at the name. “Ryan Wilson. The name sounds familiar.” Then he saw the address – it was the same as Dr. Rachel Wilson’s. “Looks like we need to pay Dr. Wilson another visit,” Thompson said thoughtfully. That evening, I drove Thompson over. Unlike her confident demeanor before, Rachel looked haggard today. She wore plain clothes, her hair carelessly tied back. She didn’t even offer us water. She led us to the couch and sat down, constantly checking her phone. Since this wasn’t our first visit, we weren’t exactly strangers anymore. Thompson got straight to the point: “Your brother is missing?” She nodded, her eyes instantly welling up with tears. “Detective Thompson, please, you have to find my brother.” She grabbed Thompson’s arm, crying uncontrollably. Thompson patted her shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry. I don’t believe in people vanishing into thin air. I’ll definitely help you find the truth.” She nodded through her tears. We had learned what we needed to, so Thompson and I prepared to leave. As we reached the ground floor, I happened to look up and saw a figure in her window. Though far away, I felt an intense chill. I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. Thompson turned and asked what was wrong. I hurriedly said it was nothing. When I looked back, the window was empty. This case was different from the missing blood samples at the hospital, so Thompson approached it with utmost seriousness. We carefully reviewed the surveillance footage of Ryan boarding and disembarking the plane over and over, until our eyes were strained. But we still couldn’t spot Ryan getting off the plane. We also questioned the passengers seated around Ryan, as well as the flight crew. They said Ryan had gone to the bathroom midway through the flight and never returned to his seat. It was baffling how a person could just disappear like that from a plane. So Thompson, following his years of intuition, decided to start investigating Rachel’s home. We reviewed the surveillance footage from outside Rachel’s building again and again. Ryan appeared in the footage with his suitcase. Rachel saw him off, watching until he was out of sight. We even checked older footage and found that whenever Ryan left for work, as long as Rachel didn’t have an emergency shift, she would always come out to see him off. The siblings seemed to have a good relationship. Sometimes they would even hug before parting. I was exhausted from watching so much footage and started letting my imagination run wild. “Detective, what if Ryan was abducted by aliens for experiments?” I joked. Thompson gave me a withering look. I continued speculating: “Do you think this case could be connected to the missing blood samples at the hospital?” My idle comment caught Thompson’s attention. He gave me a complex look. “Both cases are connected to Rachel Wilson. But if she did it, what would she want the hospital’s blood for? HIV doesn’t manifest immediately. If she wanted to infect someone, who would it be?” Thompson rattled off a series of questions, then continued: “How could Ryan just vanish from the plane? If Rachel did it, how did she manage that?” I was clearly clueless, but Thompson didn’t seem to expect answers from me. “And judging by Rachel’s state, she clearly cares a lot about her brother. If it really was her, what’s her motive?” Right, motive is the key to any case. So we needed to understand the relationship between the siblings better. Thompson and I wasted no time. The next day we went to their hometown to investigate. Their mother made us some tea, her eyes still red from crying. “You’re asking about Ryan and Rachel? They’ve been close since they were little. We were busy with work back then, so Ryan always looked after her.” “You wouldn’t believe it, but when Rachel got her first period, Ryan even helped wash her pants.” “The two were as close as twins. Ryan had better grades, so Rachel was inevitably compared to him unfavorably. But Ryan always defended her and spent hours tutoring her.” Thompson nodded. “Have either of them dated anyone?” Their mother shook her head. “Not that I know of. We’ve been pestering Ryan to settle down, but he always says there’s no rush. I don’t think Rachel is seeing anyone either.” Thompson glanced at me, and I suddenly remembered something. The first time we visited Rachel’s home, there was an opened box of condoms next to the fake nails. At the time, I thought it was normal for a female doctor to have condoms. But now that we know neither of them was dating anyone, who were the condoms for? Thompson immediately called the station. “Zhang, compare the surveillance footage again. Carefully compare the Ryan who left that last time with previous footage. Don’t miss any details.” Officer Zhang grumbled a bit, having watched that footage countless times already, but didn’t dare disobey orders. “Detective, did you notice anything strange?” I asked. Thompson pondered for a moment before replying: “It is a bit odd. Usually when Rachel sees Ryan off, they hug. But not the last time.” I thought hard about the surveillance footage. “But they don’t hug every time. Sometimes Ryan wants to hug but Rachel doesn’t, right?” Thompson lit a cigarette. “That’s true. The strange thing is, the last time, Ryan didn’t try to hug Rachel.” Right, why didn’t he hug her that final time? “And…” Thompson blew out a smoke ring, “That last day, he was wearing a baseball cap. We never got a clear look at his face, just assumed it was him based on the build.” Thompson suspected the person who left that final time wasn’t Ryan at all! Soon, Officer Zhang called back. “Detective Thompson, we did find some differences.” Thompson and I exchanged a glance, waiting for him to continue. “Their stride lengths are different.” “The difference isn’t much, only about 2cm, but it is different.” Zhang hesitated, sounding a bit embarrassed. “We didn’t notice this ourselves. The station just received an anonymous email pointing it out to us.” Thompson’s eyes flashed. “Have you traced the IP address?” “We’re working on it.” After hanging up, Thompson sat in the car pondering for a long while. He sighed. “This isn’t enough evidence. We need to at least find Ryan himself.” We drove back to question Rachel again. She looked exhausted when she opened the door. “Ryan never actually left this apartment, did he?” Thompson asked bluntly. Rachel seemed taken aback, then smiled. “If you don’t believe me, feel free to search every room.” She stepped aside, her openness making us hesitant to suspect her. But we were police officers after all. What was there to be embarrassed about? So we searched every room thoroughly. We even checked under the beds and in the toilet tanks. There truly wasn’t anything suspicious. We turned our attention to the person who had impersonated Ryan. After investigating, we soon uncovered his identity. In the police station interrogation room, he sat calmly, curiously observing us. “What’s your name?” Thompson asked. “Henry Young.” “What do you do for work?” He glanced at the file in Thompson’s hand. “Shouldn’t you already know that?” Thompson cleared his throat and changed the question. “Do you know why we brought you in?” He nodded. “Of course. If you found me, you must know Ryan Wilson’s whereabouts by now.” Thompson maintained his poker face. “Naturally. You know where he is too, right?” But Henry was frank: “I don’t know.” Thompson slammed the table. “You have a good job. If you insist on hiding information, your future will be ruined.” Henry shrugged. “I don’t care. I just want revenge on him.” Henry Young was a crew member for the airline. That day, Rachel found him and asked him to impersonate Ryan, leaving the apartment complex and pretending to board that flight. He was already scheduled to work that flight as a crew member, so he created the illusion that Ryan had vanished from the plane. When asked about his grudge against Ryan, Henry’s story went back many years. In middle school, Henry’s family was poor, so he studied hard, hoping to improve his circumstances someday. Ryan easily maintained the top rank without much effort. Until one time, Henry surpassed Ryan and got the top score on an exam. Ryan, unable to accept this, had Henry beaten up and all his study materials destroyed. Henry’s mother broke her leg working at a construction site to scrape together money to replace his materials. The construction company paid quite a bit in compensation. They had money for new study materials, but his mother’s leg was permanently damaged. So from then on, Henry hated Ryan with a passion. After hearing Henry’s statement, we confirmed that Ryan had never left that apartment complex. Henry leaned back in his chair, looking at us with disdain. “I’ve bought Rachel enough time. Detectives, you don’t actually think you’re clever, do you? Uncovering all this?” Thompson and I exchanged a glance, waiting for him to continue. “All the clues you’ve found were left deliberately by Rachel. You’re quite slow, only getting to me now.” We immediately applied for a search warrant, but it took three days for approval. We surrounded Rachel’s home and broke down the door. Rachel was sitting calmly on the couch, legs crossed. This time she had real manicured nails, blood red, not the fake ones from before. She held a glass of red wine. Seeing us enter, she barely glanced over, taking a sip of wine. She set down her glass and stood up gracefully, walking to Detective Thompson in her high heels, looking at him with a hint of challenge. “Detective Thompson, I could have done better. I left you so many clues.” She turned and pointed to her bedroom. “Break open the closet. He’s in there.” Then she held out her hands, waiting to be handcuffed. I don’t know what she was thinking, going with us to the station so calmly, but she refused to discuss her motives. When we found Ryan, he had been tortured beyond recognition. During my training, I’d looked at many photos of corpses to desensitize myself – bodies bloated from water, dismembered bodies, all kinds of gruesome deaths… But seeing Ryan, I still felt nauseous and nearly vomited.

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When I was eighteen, Leo Parker gave me a bracelet. “You promised to be my girlfriend if I got into the Police Academy, Haley Wilson. No backing out now,” he said. Ten years later. At twenty-eight, Officer Leo Parker personally handcuffed me and sent me to prison. On the day of my execution, he was at home watching a football game. Outside, a light rain was falling, just like the day we first met. I met Leo Parker on a rainy day in early April. That evening, my grandfather had invited some principals and education officials from Southville High School for dinner. By the time it ended, night had fallen. The street lamps cast a dim light, and the air was chilly. A bus slowly approached through the thin fog. I closed my umbrella and helped my elderly grandfather board. The seats inside were all taken, and my grandfather, hunched with age, couldn’t reach the handrail. He could only hold onto me tightly. He had always valued his reputation and prided himself on his integrity. Now, for my sake, he had set aside his scholarly dignity. At his advanced age, he was still bowing and smiling at the dinner table, hoping only that his granddaughter could be admitted to school smoothly. Thinking of this, I felt a lump in my throat and couldn’t help but tear up. Suddenly, I heard a hoarse voice say, “Don’t cry. Sit here.” I looked up to see a thin young man. He wore a black baseball cap that hid his eyes, revealing only the sharp outline of his nose and chin. He stood up to offer his seat. I hurriedly helped my grandfather sit down and was about to thank him when I realized the young man had already squeezed through the crowd to stand far away. About half an hour later, the bus reached its final stop. The rain had grown heavier, changing from a light drizzle to a downpour. I held an umbrella in one hand and supported my grandfather with the other. He was old and had a leg condition, so he walked very slowly. The two of us struggled forward in the cold, whistling wind. “Do you need help?” A slender hand lifted the brim of the cap, revealing a pair of clear eyes. He continued, “The rain is too heavy. If you don’t mind, I can carry the old man back.” It was the young man from earlier. This unexpected act of kindness took me by surprise. Without thinking too much, I quickly nodded, “Thank you, I appreciate it.” The young man swiftly lifted my grandfather onto his back. His steps were steady, his expression calm. I walked beside them, holding the umbrella high, tilting it slightly towards them. Soon we reached the entrance of the apartment building. He asked, “Which floor do you live on?” I hesitated for a few seconds, feeling a bit embarrassed to say, “Fifth floor. It’s okay, thank you so much for bringing us this far. I can help him from here…” Before I could finish, he had already started climbing the stairs with my grandfather on his back. By now, the rain outside was pouring heavily. My grandfather invited the young man to come in, sit for a while, and have a cup of hot tea while waiting for the rain to stop. He politely declined, “I just moved here and also live on the fifth floor. It’s on my way, no need to be so formal.” Seeing the young man’s firm attitude, my grandfather didn’t insist further but felt he should at least know which apartment he lived in, otherwise he’d feel indebted. The young man hesitated for a moment before saying, “510.” It was the apartment at the end of the corridor. A moment later, I brought over some freshly brewed ginger tea to thank him, but a middle-aged man opened the door. “Who are you looking for?” he asked. “Hello, sir. I’m looking for your son, he just helped me…” Before I could finish, the man impatiently interrupted, “I’m single, where would I get a son from? Are you crazy?” He slammed the door shut. I was dumbfounded. That kind-hearted young man, unwilling to reveal his address, embodying the spirit of doing good deeds without leaving a name, had disappeared into the rainy night. In this vast sea of humanity, a chance encounter, and who knows if we’d ever meet again.

A month later, I successfully enrolled in Southville High School. In the classroom, I introduced myself, “Hello everyone, I’m Haley Wilson.” There was a burst of laughter from below. “Pfft! Her accent is so weird!” “Sounds really country.” Discussions and chatter erupted all around. I happened to glance up and caught sight of that familiar face amidst the crowd. My heart suddenly raced. He leaned back with his arms crossed, looking up at me. His expression was distant and indifferent, as if he didn’t recognize me at all. I turned away and sat down with my backpack. I had grown up in a small town, so my accent was strong and my basic knowledge was quite weak. Every time I answered a question, it caused whispers throughout the class. During breaks, one boy deliberately imitated the way I spoke, even creating exaggerated gestures, twisting his mouth and eyes and flailing his limbs, saying I was a country bumpkin who came to the city for medical treatment. The people around laughed uproariously, enjoying the spectacle. Suddenly, there was a loud “bang!” The boy who had been mocking me fell backwards, chair and all. At the same time, an eraser flew through the air in a graceful arc and landed with a thud on the boy’s head. “Leo” stood nearby, hands in his pockets, looking down at the fallen boy. He asked, “Having fun?” “Leo, you…!” The boy was half a head shorter than Leo and didn’t dare to retaliate. He could only swallow his anger and right his desk and chair. As he bent down, he saw the eraser that had fallen by his feet. The boy suddenly looked up, glancing around angrily, “Who threw this at me?!” “I did,” I said. I stood at the podium, looking at him, enunciating each word clearly, “From now on, every time you mock me, I’ll hit you once.” He was stunned, clearly not expecting me to fight back. After recovering, he sneered, “You? You think you can beat me?” “It doesn’t matter if I can’t. Unless you kill me, I won’t let this go.” Hearing this, Leo turned his head and looked at me in surprise, his expression thoughtful. The boy wanted to say something but held back, either feeling it was beneath him to fight with me or not daring to act up with Leo backing me. His face flushed red, and he could only admit defeat and sit down. After this incident, no one dared to mock my accent again. That night when I got home, I carefully wrote two words on a draft paper: Leo Parker. What a coincidence indeed. At that time, I didn’t know that while I was marveling at the wonders of fate, I would unwittingly take step after step towards a point of no return because of Leo Parker.

I didn’t do very well in the final exams, ranking in the lower middle of the class. In the hospital room, my grandfather gently stroked my hair and smiled, “The education level in your hometown isn’t as good as here in Southville, and you started school late. Achieving these results is already quite good.” As he spoke, his gaze became distant, as if lost in memories. He sighed deeply, “You used to be very naughty, climbing trees, crawling through dog holes, pulling my beard while I slept, always getting into trouble! Your grandmother and I were so worried, wondering how you’d manage when you grew up. Who would dare to marry you? We never expected that as you got older, you’d become shy, aware of beauty and shame, even crying when I scolded you. Oh, it broke my heart.” “These past few days, I keep thinking about how you looked when you first learned to walk. You were always smiling then, giggling for no reason, waddling around with your chubby little belly, tottering and falling down… Ah, such a tiny baby, and in the blink of an eye, you’ve grown into a young lady.” My grandfather’s rough palm gently caressed my face as he struggled to open his eyes wide, trying to see me clearly. He asked hoarsely, “Haley, do you still blame your father?” I felt a lump in my throat. My grandfather had been confused lately, often mixing up the past and present in his speech. He was mistaking his granddaughter for his daughter. “I don’t blame him, not at all,” I buried my face in his chest and said softly, “Dad, it’s so good to be back with you.” That night, my grandfather passed away. On the day of the burial, a misty rain fell, and the sky was neither light nor dark, like a heavy, oppressive canvas. The cemetery was built halfway up a mountain. Ancient trees loomed in the fog, and the mountain path was muddy. I carried the urn of ashes, walking in front, followed by my uncle’s family of three. My young cousin, not understanding the concept of death, came up and blinked, asking, “Hey, is my grandpa really in this box?” “Mm-hmm.” “He was such a big person, how did he become so small?” My throat tightened as I suddenly remembered my grandfather’s words: “Such a tiny baby, and in the blink of an eye, you’ve grown into a young lady.” It felt like a ball of cotton was stuffed in my chest. Though I could hardly breathe, I couldn’t suppress the rising waves of sorrow. Aunt Sarah quickly pulled my cousin away, saying nervously, “Don’t touch that, it’s bad luck!” Hearing this, Uncle Mike’s face darkened with anger, “What nonsense are you talking about? That’s my father!” “Oh, you were nowhere to be seen when the old man was in the hospital, but now you’re acting all filial,” Aunt Sarah sneered. “Your father insisted on being buried with your mother instead of being kept in the funeral home. Doesn’t he realize your mother passed away years ago and has probably been reincarnated by now? Hmph, and he was a university professor? Getting more muddled with age, just making his children spend money unnecessarily… Oh, by the way! How much did we receive in condolence money?” “I haven’t counted yet.” “I remember one envelope was quite thick, all hundreds. It must be at least a thousand!” “No, funeral gifts should always be odd numbers. It might be eleven hundred…” I closed my eyes, trembling, clutching the urn tightly. A chill spread from the bottom of my heart, coursing through my entire body.

Time flew, and before we knew it, summer vacation was over. The start of sophomore year coincided with the arrival of early autumn in Southville, bringing with it a tapestry of colorful leaves. For class selection, I chose liberal arts, while Leo went to the neighboring science class. Our new homeroom teacher was a burly man with a booming voice that made even the doorframes shake when he shouted. Everyone in the class was afraid of him. That is, until one day when I accidentally overheard him talking to his wife on the phone in the hallway. His voice was soft and gentle, his eyes full of affection, like a lovestruck Romeo. At that moment, his image in my mind transformed from a rough, hard stone into a gently flowing stream. Actually, it’s not uncommon for men to be gentle, but when a fierce-looking man is only gentle to one person, that feeling of being favored is quite special. Days passed leisurely, and I had almost forgotten about Leo Parker. Our paths crossed again on the day of the school sports meet. I fell while running in the relay race and sprained my ankle. I had to leave the field limping and was hobbling towards the infirmary. The sports representative hurried over, wanting to take me there, but I shook my head, “The standing long jump is about to start. You go prepare first, I can manage on my own.” The sports rep hesitated, then his eyes suddenly lit up and he called out, “Leo!” I looked in the direction he was calling and saw that tall, slender figure through the crowd. Leo had just finished the 800-meter race for boys and was sweating profusely. The post-rain sunshine fell gently on his shoulders, giving him a vibrant, youthful energy typical of teenage boys. Leo walked over, slightly out of breath, and asked, “What’s wrong?” “Haley just sprained her ankle and needs to go to the infirmary. If you’re free, could you help take her there instead of me?” “There’s no need to trouble—” I began. “It’s no trouble,” Leo interrupted. “I need to go to the infirmary to get a band-aid anyway.” Seeing that everything was arranged, the sports rep looked relieved and quickly ran back to join his team. I thanked Leo in a low voice, and he responded with a soft “Mm” as he reached out to support me. The young man’s hand was warm and soft, carefully holding my arm through the school uniform. There was a very subtle sensation. The atmosphere was too quiet, so I tried to make conversation, “Are you hurt?” “Hm?” “Didn’t you say you needed to go to the infirmary for a band-aid?” “Just a small injury, nothing serious.” “Oh.” “How’s your grandfather doing recently?” “He passed away.” “…” The conversation came to an abrupt halt. I lowered my head as he guided me to the infirmary. After a simple bandaging, Leo helped me back. We had just stepped out of the infirmary door when we suddenly heard a shrill female voice from behind, “What are you two doing?! This is highly improper in broad daylight!” We turned around to see Leo’s new homeroom teacher, Ms. Johnson. Rumor had it that she once caught a couple dating early and called them out to the corridor. She berated the girl mercilessly for being shameless, using the harshest words possible. But when it came to the boy, she merely said lightly, “Young man, you’re handsome and smart. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to date in the future. Don’t mess around anymore, okay?” Because of this, people secretly called her “Double Standard Johnson” behind her back. Leo frowned slightly and explained, “Teacher, this student sprained her ankle. I’m just helping her to the infirmary.” Ms. Johnson looked me up and down, with a fake smile, “Oh, which class’s delicate flower are you? So precious that you need to trouble our class’s boys to escort you.” “Hello, teacher. I’m Haley Wilson from Class 3, Grade 10. The boys in our class all went to compete, and I happened to run into Leo on the way, so I troubled him to help me for a bit.” “The boy is indeed kind and helpful, but the girl might not be. Haley Wilson, do you understand what I mean?” Ms. Johnson said coldly. “I don’t understand,” I replied. Ms. Johnson snorted, “We’re both women, I know exactly what you’re thinking! You’re taking advantage of your pretty face to act weak and gain sympathy from boys, then using the chance to get all touchy-feely. What, do you enjoy this process? Little girl, remember you’re a student. You shouldn’t have such scheming thoughts.” Pretty? Scheming? To be honest, no one had ever complimented me like that before. It made me want to refute but I couldn’t open my mouth, afraid of ruining an image that didn’t belong to me at all. Leo looked at her, his face expressionless, “Teacher, last week when you fainted at the school gate due to high blood pressure, it was the security guard who carried you to the infirmary. May I ask, were you really sick then or were you pretending? Were you truly unable to move, or did you enjoy the process of being carried?” Ms. Johnson was stunned. Her face turned red, then white. She sputtered angrily, unable to form coherent words, like a broken record player. Leo remained calm, “Teacher, I’m just following your logic to think about the situation. If I’ve offended you, please forgive me.” Ms. Johnson was so angry she stamped her foot, but she couldn’t refute him. She could only glare at me viciously and leave with a parting shot, “I don’t know how your mother raised you!” Leo told me not to take it to heart. After a while, seeing that I hadn’t responded, he asked, “Haley, are you okay?” I came back to my senses and smiled, “It’s nothing. I just suddenly remembered that you didn’t get a band-aid.” Leo lowered his eyes and made a soft sound of agreement, not saying anything more. My heart skipped a beat as I thought back to what he had said when we first met. It seemed I understood something. Taking my grandfather home hadn’t been on his way, and neither was taking me to the infirmary. They were just white lies told out of kindness, to avoid making others feel guilty. What an upright and strange fellow.

In November 2005, the temperature suddenly dropped, and the days grew shorter, heralding the arrival of winter. At the same time, World of Warcraft swept into the American market, capturing the hearts of a large number of teenagers. And some middle-aged people. Uncle Mike had to coax and cajole Aunt Sarah before getting her agreement to buy a desktop computer. When the workers came to install it, little Cousin Tommy was so excited he jumped up and down, running around with his toy gun, shooting at everything. Suddenly, he stopped in front of me and declared in a tone like he was warning off an invader, “This is my house, you get out!” I silently continued washing the dishes, pretending not to hear. “I’m talking to you!” he said, kicking me hard with his chubby foot. I glanced down at Cousin Tommy, suddenly smirking as I scooped a dirty bowl out of the sink and plonked it on his head, pressing down twice to secure it. It fit perfectly, I must say. He burst into loud wails. Aunt Sarah came running, aghast, “What’s going on?” The little chubster pointed at me and tattled, “She bullied me! Let’s kick her out!” “Alright, alright,” Aunt Sarah cooed, about to start scolding me when I splashed her face with dishwater. I walked to the door, grabbed my jacket, and before leaving, added, “Just a reminder, don’t forget that this apartment was left to my mom by Grandpa.” I slammed the door shut, cutting off the stream of curses from behind. I didn’t know where to go, so I just wandered aimlessly through the streets, wrapped tightly in my jacket. I ended up at an abandoned park and suddenly heard the sound of a fight. It was three young delinquent girls and two thuggish boys ganging up on one girl. In the bitter cold, they had stripped the girl down to just her tank top and underwear. She was covering her face and begging helplessly. Her cries were too heart-wrenching for me to ignore. Before I could think it through, I had already rushed over. The last time I’d been in a fight was six years ago, with my older brother. Back then, I was like a wolf cub with barely-grown teeth, fiercely biting at a tiger, not realizing that my fierce efforts were hardly felt by the opponent. With just a shake, I’d be thrown two miles away. My brother said my personality was like a prickly cactus, born with a rebellious nature. Whoever poked my sore spot, I’d stab their heart. I acted without hesitation and never considered the consequences. Just like now, five against one had become five against two. I was completely outmatched and even got slapped a few times. In the chaos, I saw a figure running towards us, the blue and white school uniform gleaming like shining armor in the moonlight. It was Leo. He kicked out, immediately knocking down the thug who had slapped me. With backup, I felt a surge of confidence. I rolled up my sleeves and joined the fray, grabbing wildly. I managed to pull out several strands of one girl’s bleached, explosion-like hairstyle, and violently yanked at another’s earrings until her earlobes bled, making them scream in pain. Leo’s side was equally impressive. He usually kept to himself, but who knew he could be so fierce in a fight. One of the thugs was already down, and Leo had a firm grip on the other’s hair, kicking him mercilessly as the guy begged for mercy. The group fled in disarray, their retreating figures like defeated dogs. Although we won, Leo and I didn’t look much better. His school uniform was covered in dust, and my hair was a mess. We both looked disheveled, like refugees fleeing a disaster. Leo picked up the clothes from the ground and handed them to the girl, then took out his phone, “Call your parents to come pick you up.” The girl thanked him softly. I tidied my hair, preparing to leave, when Leo suddenly called out, “Haley, let’s walk together.” After a pause, he added, “We’re going the same way anyway.” I didn’t know how much truth there was in that statement, but at this point, Uncle Mike and Aunt Sarah probably weren’t asleep yet, and going home would only cause more trouble. So I didn’t refuse the chance to spend some time with him. About thirty minutes later, the girl’s parents hurriedly arrived to take her home. “Let’s go too,” Leo said. 9 The moonlight was cold, and the air was desolate. We walked in silence for a long time. As we were nearing the neighborhood, I couldn’t help but ask, “Where do you live?” Leo paused for a moment, then answered, “Happy Valley Apartments.” That was just on the next street, very close. Indeed, it was on the way. I asked suspiciously, “But I’ve never seen you on the bus.” “I leave early, at 6:20 AM. And I leave school late, usually catching the last bus. Ms. Johnson likes to keep our class overtime,” Leo said with a wry smile. “A while back, Ms. Johnson was sick and took three days off.” “Oh.” “Apparently it was a stomach issue.” “Mm-hmm.” “Haley, I saw you at the teachers’ parking lot the day after the sports meet ended.” I clutched my sleeve tightly. Leo’s tone was calm, “You were holding a bottle of mineral water filled with a brown, sticky liquid that looked quite disgusting. You said it was vomit, then drank it down in big gulps right in front of Ms. Johnson.” “You told her your mom taught you that when you’re out, you can’t let people walk all over you. If someone disgusts you, you disgust them right back. Of course, I believe a normal person wouldn’t actually drink vomit just to disgust someone else, so I guess the bottle probably contained something else, like a mixture of drinks or something.” He was right. It was orange juice mixed with cola and some cookie crumbs. Leo continued, “But whatever it was, it must have tasted awful. I imagine you felt pretty bad drinking it too.” The cold wind kept blowing, making me shiver. “What exactly are you trying to say?” I asked. “I’m not criticizing you. I’m just wondering if it might be worth weighing the pros and cons before acting? Sometimes, overly aggressive retaliation can be a form of self-harm. It’s not worth it.” I remained silent. Although I knew he was considering my well-being, people are emotional creatures. It’s hard to calm down just by reciting a few wise sayings when emotions are running high. Leo spoke again, “Patience smooths things over.” I looked up at him, “But some things don’t need to be smoothed over. It’s like a glass bottle – it’s smooth and round, you won’t get hurt touching it, so naturally, no one pays attention to it. Glass shards are different. They have edges and points. People stay far away just at the sight of them, let alone touching them.” Leo looked a bit helpless, “Alright, then let’s talk about something else. When you rushed in without thinking earlier, did you consider the consequences? If I hadn’t shown up, you would have been the second victim.” I was quiet for a moment, then nodded, “Yes, next time I encounter a situation like that, I’ll call the police first.” I paused, then added, “And then I’ll rush in.” Leo was momentarily taken aback, then couldn’t help but laugh, “I thought you were going to keep arguing with me.” “A calm person is a safe person. Besides, my brother once told me that wisdom isn’t learned from books, it’s learned from making mistakes.” I touched my swollen face and smiled, “This mistake was worth it.” “You have a brother?” “He was my former teacher. He had a peculiar way of doing things, never following conventions. I always called him ‘brother,’ and he would playfully agree.” Leo nodded, not asking any more questions. “You should head up now,” he said. I waved goodbye to him. When I entered the apartment, the family of three was already asleep. I fumbled my way back to my room in the dark, sat quietly for a while, then, on a whim, walked to the window. I realized Leo hadn’t left yet. He was looking up towards the upper floors. I quickly turned on the light and went back to the window. Only then did Leo turn and leave. His lonely figure disappeared into the empty street. 7 The reason that girl was beaten was laughable. It was purely because she was pretty and quiet. The delinquent girls thought she was stuck-up and couldn’t stand it, so they called up two “big brothers” to help teach her a lesson. When Leo told me this, his face was cold with anger, “It’s not that they couldn’t stand her. They were jealous. They’ve given up on themselves, dropping out of school early, only to find they’re useless in society. So they target underage girls with bright futures, trying to prove their own worth through such low and crude methods. Because they’re stuck in the mud themselves, they want to drag others down too. It’s pathetic and hateful.” His grim expression made him look just like the host of “Crime Watch.” At the end of each episode, the host would always make sharp, critical comments about the case. I couldn’t help but laugh. Leo turned to look at me, “What are you laughing at?” I shook my head, “You have a strong sense of justice. Good logical thinking and fighting skills too. You could be a police officer in the future.” Leo’s expression became slightly reserved. After a moment of silence, he made a noncommittal “Mm” sound. During this period, Leo and I basically went to and from school together every day, catching the early bus in the morning and the last bus at night. As we spent more time together, I discovered that although Leo appeared quiet and reserved, he actually had many whimsical ideas. He said that numbers all have genders: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8 are male, while 2, 6, 9, 10 are female. I asked, “What about 4?” He thought for a moment and said, “4 is gender-neutral.” “…” Occasionally, we would run into Ms. Johnson on the way. When she saw me, it was as if she’d seen a ghost. She wouldn’t dare to question or even make eye contact, and would even gag when she hurried away. Soon after, a strange anonymous post appeared on the school’s online forum: “What does Haley Wilson from Class 3, Grade 10 look like? She made the teacher from next door vomit.” Clicking into it, the comments were divided. Some said the poster was bored, some said they were interesting, and some said I wasn’t bad-looking. There was also one comment: “Come on, she’s actually quite ugly.” Although it was also anonymous, it had the same IP address as the original poster. I didn’t pay much attention. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Besides, they weren’t insulting me to my face, so I let it go. I closed my phone, out of sight, out of mind. That is, until someone posted a photo of Leo and me. In the picture, we were sitting in the back row of the bus. I was too tired and had fallen asleep against the window. Leo had placed his hand under my forehead, shielding me from the cold glass. It was a candid shot. Although a bit blurry, anyone who knew us could recognize us at a glance. Back then, most students used Nokia or Motorola phones. In today’s terms, you could say it had a built-in Y2K filter. So it also cast a layer of ambiguous color over the photo. The comments gradually changed direction. It wasn’t exactly eye-catching, but it certainly wasn’t pleasant to look at. I didn’t know who the culprit behind this was, and because of that, I didn’t dare to get too close to Leo and intentionally kept my distance. After avoiding him for a few days, Leo cornered me at the stairway landing, his face expressionless, “Haley Wilson, what do you mean by this?” I played dumb, “Huh?” Leo laughed humorlessly, “I really don’t understand you. You’re usually so carefree. Whether it’s people mocking your accent or insulting your parents, you always roll up your sleeves and confront them head-on. How come when it comes to this, you suddenly become timid and evasive, hiding away? It’s as if you’re the one who did something wrong.” He had laid it all out in the open, and I couldn’t avoid it anymore. I coughed lightly and explained, “To be honest, I don’t care about people commenting on my accent or appearance, as long as they’re not maliciously slandering or spreading rumors.” “Leo, I’ve never believed in the version of myself that exists in other people’s mouths. I only believe in the person I want to become. So whether they say I’m country or ugly, I don’t care. But they can’t talk about my mom, because I care about her. Similarly, I care about you too, and I don’t want you to be judged by others. It’s just that I don’t know who posted the photo or what to do about it. After thinking it over, I figured staying away from you would be best.” Leo looked at me quietly for a while, then suddenly asked, “Do you trust me?” I was taken aback for a moment, then nodded firmly. He smiled slightly, “Good. Listen carefully, Haley. I don’t care if others judge me. I only care about you. If you don’t mind this incident, then I don’t care either. Understand?” Once again, I was stunned, and once again, I nodded firmly. The bell for class rang, and Leo patted my shoulder, “Let’s go.” I hurried to catch up with him. On the way, he asked, “What kind of person do you want to become?” I smiled, “Just an ordinary person. A nine-to-five job, a routine life, small and insignificant in the crowd, but shining brightly in my own world.” “Mm, and occasionally going a bit crazy.” “You’re talking nonsense.” That day, the sun hung low on the horizon, as if the afterglow was the end of the road. The shadows of the boy and girl walking side by side stretched long on the ground. They walked together, laughing and talking, naive and fearless, full of dreams for the future. The forum incident just fizzled out like that. For a very long time, until I died on a rainy morning, I never knew who was behind it all. But it doesn’t matter anymore, I’ve long forgotten about it. 8 During the winter break, Leo went to Europe with his family for vacation. When he came back, he brought me a big box of Godiva chocolates. In that era, this was equivalent to the Hermès of the chocolate world. Leo had taken a five-hour train ride after getting off the plane, arriving back in Southville late at night. Tired from the long journey, he didn’t even change his clothes before coming to deliver the gift to me. I hurried downstairs, took the bag from his hand, and smiled, “Thanks! You didn’t have to trouble yourself to come all this way so late at night.” “It’s no trouble. I had to give it to you today,” he insisted. I frowned, my brain not quite catching up. I looked up at Leo, and after a few seconds, my heart nearly stopped. He said, “Haley, happy birthday.” This was a distant and unfamiliar phrase. Even I had forgotten about it, never imagining that someone would remember. A few days ago, Leo had asked for my ID number on Facebook, saying he needed to send me a postcard. I didn’t think much of it at the time and just sent it to him. Now, this unexpected surprise left me at a loss for words. I could only blink and stare at him stupidly. Leo frowned, his gaze scrutinizing. Taking advantage of my daze, he suddenly reached out and tugged at the scarf I had wrapped tightly around my neck, revealing the bruise at the corner of my mouth. His face darkened, and he asked, “Did someone hit you?” I shrugged, “My little cousin was being naughty. He threw a ball and it hit me. But I didn’t let him off easy either. I gave him a good kick and sent him sprawling.” Of course, there was quite a commotion in the house after that. Leo thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Haley, do you want to spend New Year’s with me?” I was stunned. “My parents divorced a long time ago. I live alone,” he paused, then added, “I’m alone for New Year’s too.” Leo had gone to Europe with his mother, and I had assumed his father was too busy with work to go along. Since his parents were divorced, why wasn’t he living with his mother instead of by himself? But some things, if not voluntarily shared, shouldn’t be asked about. I smiled and nodded, “Okay.” 9 Two days before New Year’s, Leo and I went to the supermarket to buy groceries. The crowd was bustling, packed tightly together. The noise of chatter almost drowned out Michael Bublé’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” playing in the background. We carried bags of New Year’s goods home. As soon as we entered the apartment, we smelled the aroma of food and heard the sound of cooking from the kitchen. Leo’s expression suddenly froze, his face turning cold. On the sofa sat a man, flipping through a comic book and giggling non-stop. He was about thirty, very tall and lean. Leo’s pajamas hung loosely on his frame, yet the sleeves and pant legs were too short, looking quite out of place. Hearing the noise, the man lazily raised his head, “You’re back.” Leo gritted his teeth and said nothing. The man’s gaze fell on me, his thick eyebrows rising in surprise, “Oh, girlfriend? Pretty cute.” Leo said coldly, “It’s none of your business.” “You didn’t deny it, so I guess she is,” he was about to say something more when a middle-aged woman wearing an apron came out of the kitchen. Her features were somewhat similar to Leo’s. “Son, you’re back! What a coincidence, I just finished cooking. Go wash your hands… Oh, who’s this?” I came to my senses, “Hello, Mrs. Parker. Happy New Year! I’m Leo’s classmate, Haley Wilson.” She was stunned for a moment, then broke into a wide smile, “Hello, Haley! Happy New Year to you too! I made spicy shrimp and duck soup today. It smells delicious. Come, have a taste.” Before I could answer, she had already brought out a new pair of slippers for me and went back to the kitchen to add another set of dishes and cutlery. It was hard to refuse such hospitality, so I had no choice but to stay. At the dinner table, the atmosphere was heavy. Mrs. Parker seemed oblivious, busying herself with serving food, sometimes giving me dishes, sometimes peeling shrimp for the man, all while asking Leo about his well-being. Seeing her son’s cold attitude, Mrs. Parker’s enthusiasm waned. She turned to ask me, “Haley, from your accent, you don’t sound like you’re from around here. Where’s your hometown?” “I used to live in a small town called Pineville. After my parents passed away, my grandfather brought me to Southville, and we transferred my household registration here.” “Pineville? That’s a nice place,” the man, Ethan, smiled with narrowed eyes. “The persimmons there are famous. Juicy and sweet.” “Ethan, don’t talk nonsense,” Mrs. Parker corrected him. “Pineville is most famous for its dates, isn’t it, son?” Leo glanced at her but said nothing. “The persimmons are good too,” Ethan leaned back in his chair, staring at me intently with a playful look in his eyes. “Haley Wilson, right? Why don’t you tell us about it?” I felt uncomfortable under his gaze and didn’t want to continue this topic. I just lowered my head, poking at my food, and said vaguely, “Pineville is close to the mountains. It has a mild climate year-round with plenty of sunshine, suitable for growing all kinds of crops.” Ethan smiled and looked at Leo, teasing, “Your little girlfriend is quite clever.” Leo couldn’t bear it any longer and issued an order to leave, “Hurry up and get out once you’re done eating.” Mrs. Parker scolded, “How can you talk like that? Your mother worked hard to cook for you, and not only do you show no appreciation, but you’re also chasing people away. How rude!” She snorted coldly and urged Ethan to hurry and change his clothes. Before the two left, Mrs. Parker said, “I bought you new bed sheets and pillowcases. I washed them and brought them over, and I’ve already put them on your bed. There are also a few new outfits for you in the closet, all from Hong Kong. Try them on when you have time. Oh, and I’ve left your New Year’s money and next semester’s tuition on the table. Don’t spend it recklessly.” She paused for a moment, her tone slightly aggrieved, “Don’t complain that I don’t think about you anymore.” Before closing the door, the tall, thin man tilted his head and looked me over, a smile on his lips that gave me goosebumps. 10 January 29, 2006. New Year’s Eve. As night fell and lights began to twinkle, among the sea of illuminated windows, one stood out as slightly lonely, with only two busy figures inside. Leo placed washed coins into the dumpling filling, while I, fearing they might chip a tooth, put in sugar cubes instead. He teased me about my weak teeth, and I mocked him for his ugly dumpling-wrapping skills. In the midst of our banter, he even managed to smear flour on my nose. Soon, steaming hot dumplings came out of the pot, accompanied by Leo’s braised ribs, my stir-fried green peppers with beef, his sliced cold cuts, and my mixed cold dishes. By New Year’s Eve dinner standards, this table of dishes was too simple, but for him and me, it was more than enough. The TV was playing the New Year’s Gala, full of songs and dances, creating a festive atmosphere. I set out the bowls and chopsticks, poured vinegar and sesame oil, while Leo opened a can of Coke for me and a can of beer for himself. “I want some too,” I said. “No way, you’re not of age yet.” “Are you?” “No, but I want to drink.” With that, Leo tilted his head back and took a big gulp of beer. He drank too quickly and choked, his cheeks turning slightly red. In the swirling steam, he looked like a freshly steamed little bun. Leo looked up at me and asked with a smile, “What’s wrong?” I wanted to say he looked cute, but the words got stuck in my throat. Just as I opened my mouth, he unexpectedly fed me a dumpling. After we had eaten and drunk our fill, we curled up on the sofa to watch the New Year’s Gala skits, occasionally offering our views and insights as audience members. His phone vibrated – it was a call from Mrs. Parker. Leo lowered his eyes, lost in thought for a moment, then got up and went to the balcony to answer. It was quite a while before he came back, his body carrying a hint of the night’s chill and a faint smell of cigarettes. I bit my lip, wanting to ask but not daring to. As I hesitated, Leo suddenly turned down the volume on the TV. “Haley, I have something to tell you.” I was startled at first, then sat up straight. He pondered for a moment, then slowly began, “My father’s surname is Parker, my mother’s is Zhang. My grandmother said that a name represents the love and expectations parents have for their child. But when they decided to divorce, neither of them wanted me.” “My mom said she nearly died from blood loss when giving birth to me, that our zodiac signs were incompatible. My dad said his business suffered losses when I was a month old, that our fates clashed.” Leo gave a short laugh, somewhat self-deprecating. “You wouldn’t believe how this couple fought tooth and nail over the house and car, making quite a scene. But when it came to custody rights, they suddenly became courteous to each other, afraid it would fall on them. They had been together for ten full years, from falling in love to getting married, with countless conflicts and arguments. Yet when it came to their own child, their views were surprisingly consistent.” Leo took a deep breath, his voice slightly trembling, “They both thought I was a jinx, bad luck. They even blamed me for their unhappy marriage and the deterioration of their relationship.” I felt a lump in my throat. “After that, I lived with my grandmother. When I was fourteen, she passed away too, and I was completely on my own. Actually, life didn’t change much. My parents still regularly sent me living expenses, until two years ago when my dad remarried and had a new family. Now when he sees me, he’s very impatient, as if I’m some kind of filth.” “But this is fine too. He doesn’t hide his disgust and contempt for me at all. He’s thoroughly awful, which allows me to hate him thoroughly. I might as well pretend I don’t have a father.” “The worst is my mom,” Leo said with a bitter smile. “She would rush to defend me when I got into fights and the teacher called her to school, arguing with other parents without asking for the reason, saying no one could bully her precious son. During my growth spurt, she worried I wasn’t getting enough nutrition and would cook different dishes for me every day, then drive them to school, rain or shine.” “Despite all this, my mom still doesn’t want to live with me. She has her own social circle. That man called Ethan is her center, while I’m just a peripheral figure.” Leo pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket but didn’t light one, just holding it dry between his lips. “One day she suddenly called me, telling me to get my passport ready quickly. She said she was worried about my study pressure and wanted to take me to Europe for a vacation during the winter break, to relax.” “I didn’t know exactly what materials I needed, and I kept forgetting things, so I had to make several trips to the passport office before I got everything sorted out. But I was still overjoyed, thinking she cared about me and was concerned for me.” As he spoke, he began to show signs of agitation. I picked up the lighter from the table and handed it to him. Leo looked at me for a moment, then lit the cigarette and took a deep drag. Dense smoke swirled around him. “The whole trip, she either complained to me about Ethan flirting with other women or cried to me about how hot and cold he was, whining endlessly about wanting to die. My dad treats me like garbage, while my mom treats me like a garbage can, endlessly venting her negative emotions.” Leo extinguished the cigarette butt, his eyes cold and clear. “My mom doesn’t speak English, so she relied on me to communicate with others throughout the trip. But I was also unfamiliar with the place, so I found a local Chinese tour guide. The guide claimed it was peak season and charged an extremely high price. After we paid, the person disappeared. My mom was furious and blurted out that I was a jinx, saying if she had known this would happen, she would have been better off staying with Ethan, at least then she wouldn’t have such bad luck.” Leo’s chest heaved slightly as he gave a derisive laugh. “After we got back, I ignored her for a long time, not answering her calls or reading her messages. Then one night she suddenly came to find me, drunk and crying, saying I was her only family and I couldn’t treat her like this.” “I couldn’t bring myself to completely disown her as my mother. I just hoped she would stop associating with Ethan. That man is no good. She promised me so sincerely at the time, but the next day when she received a call from Ethan, she rushed back to him with renewed passion. I really don’t understand. My grandfather left her a large inheritance, enough for her to live comfortably for the rest of her life. She could have a good life, but she insists on mixing with that scum.” Leo shook his head and sighed lightly, “But I can’t deny that both my parents think I’m a jinx, a bringer of bad luck. It’s just that compared to my father who avoids me like the plague, my mother who occasionally shows concern seems much more responsible. She’s not so good, but not so bad either, and that’s the scariest part.” My nose stung, and I felt a heaviness in my heart. From the time I had known him until now, Leo had always given me the impression of being rational and calm. Now that he was pouring his heart out to me, laying everything bare, the distance between us had shortened. All the pieces came together, revealing a broken young man. After a while, I composed myself and hesitantly spoke, “Since you can’t bring yourself to cut ties with your mom completely, and you can’t change the current situation, the only thing left is to change your own mindset.” Leo looked up at me, his expression complex, “How do I change it?” “Replace the ‘mother’ label with ‘foster mother,’ ‘aunt,’ or ‘family friend’ – someone who is close to you but still one step removed. Of course, you’ll think this method is extremely absurd. After all, even the most rational person has emotions, and it’s not something you can just say and make happen. But over time, gradually, imperceptibly, you’ll no longer have any expectations of Mrs. Parker as a child would of a mother. You’ll just treat her as a relative. Leo, not everyone is suited to be a parent. When their behavior doesn’t match their role, and we can’t escape the situation, this is the best method.” “Figure out what you really want, and if you can’t have that, what’s your next best option. This way, you’ll feel much lighter.” Leo’s eyes darkened, showing a kind of weariness and calmness, as if he was thinking, as if he was zoning out. After a moment of silence, I smiled slightly, “Also, I don’t think ‘jinx’ is a derogatory term. To be honest, I even quite like this title.” Leo raised his head in surprise. “It’s a deity, after all, ranked among the immortals, just experiencing trials in the mortal world.” I paused for a moment, then my eyes curved into a smile, “To tell you the truth, I’m not a good person either. I never expected to meet a fellow immortal in the mortal realm. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Leo’s thin lips parted slightly, a flash of shock passing through his eyes, as if he had heard some outrageous soap opera dialogue. After a long silence, he chuckled softly, somewhat helplessly, and reached out to shake my hand, nodding, “Mm, pleasure to meet you too. As they say, two negatives make a positive. The two of us are bound to blaze a bright path in this world.” At this moment, fireworks began to explode outside, and the New Year’s Gala started its countdown. Leo turned up the volume on the TV. “…Five, four, three! Two! One! Happy New Year!” “Happy New Year, Leo.” “Happy New Year, Haley.” 11 In the second semester of sophomore year, as winter retreated and spring arrived, Southville entered a long rainy season. That year, Korean pop stars were all the rage on campus. The girls’ break time conversations revolved around nothing but TVXQ and Super Junior, two top idol groups. The class’s arts and literature representative was so infatuated with Kim Jaejoong that she turned the essay prompt “If I could…” into “If I could marry Kim Jaejoong.” Our homeroom teacher was so angry he almost swore, saying the arts rep was not only dating early but also being brazen about it. He demanded to know which class this Kim Jaejoong was from. Falling into this river of love along with her was my cousin Tommy, who was in third grade. He bought a bunch of Lee Hyori’s albums and danced to “10 Minutes” in the living room after school. The music was deafeningly loud, irritating me to no end. After several reminders with no response, I couldn’t stand it anymore and directly turned off the DVD player. This angered the little tyrant, who immediately threw a tantrum. Aunt Sarah jumped up from the sofa, “Haley Wilson, are you crazy?! Why did you turn off the music?” “It’s too noisy. It’s affecting my homework.” “Oh, aren’t you studious,” she said sarcastically. “Want to go to Harvard like your mom? I hope you have the life to study even if you get in.” Uncle Mike hurriedly tried to stop her, “Watch what you’re saying.” “It’s true!” Aunt Sarah glared at him, full of resentment. “A sensible girl would have gone out to work to help support the family by now. But this princess here, after paying for high school, we still have to pay for college. Do you think we’re running a bank? You’re already useless enough, and now you’re dragging us down with you.” Uncle Mike looked embarrassed and said urgently, “This apartment originally belonged to my sister. We can’t live in her house and kick her child out, can we? Besides, my father’s savings account is in your hands. What more do you want?” “That little money is hardly enough to support a family! Ever since Haley came, first the factory closed down and we both lost our jobs, then the old man was hospitalized and died. If she’s not a jinx, what is she? You insisted on taking in this hot potato! You said when Haley gets married, we’ll get the bride price, and after she moves in with her husband, the house will be ours. But what happened? Your father had already secretly transferred the house to her! He clearly saw us as outsiders!” As the argument grew more heated, Cousin Tommy suddenly grabbed the remote control from the coffee table and threw it at me hard. My nose hurt, and I felt warm, sticky liquid. I was bleeding. He put his hands on his hips and yelled, “Jinx! You made my parents fight. Get out!” I narrowed my eyes and looked at him, not moving an inch. Perhaps my blood-covered face looked too frightening. Aunt Sarah quickly shielded her son, saying nervously, “What are you trying to do? Don’t do anything rash!” “That’s right!” Cousin Tommy peeked out from behind her and shouted at me viciously, “My parents are here. If you dare bully me, they’ll beat you to death! But I can bully you because your parents are dead, and your grandpa is dead too. No one can help you!” I looked at him silently for a moment, then went to the kitchen and got a sharp boning knife. With a smirk, I said, “That’s right. I have no father, no mother, no one to rely on. Even if I die, no one will care. But you’re different. If you die, your parents will surely be heartbroken.” Aunt Sarah was stunned, Uncle Mike’s face turned pale, and he trembled as he said, “Ha-Haley, calm down. Put the knife down.” I smiled sweetly, then rushed into Cousin Tommy’s room with the knife, slashing the beautiful women on the magazines and posters beyond recognition. Then I moved on to the pillows, blankets, bed sheets, and clothes, cutting everything I saw, including the walls and furniture, leaving deep, eye-catching gashes everywhere. Uncle Mike and Aunt Sarah stood at the door, trembling, wanting to stop me but not daring to come forward, watching in horror as I, with disheveled hair and covered in blood, destroyed the room like a madwoman. After what seemed like an eternity, I was exhausted and panting. I looked at the family of three, smiling grotesquely, “Mike Wilson, Sarah Wilson, if you ever try to take advantage of me, slander me, or allow your son to bully me again, I will definitely use this knife to pierce Tommy’s body, gouge out his eyes, cut off his tongue, chop off his head, and throw his internal organs to the dogs! After all, my life is worthless. I have nothing to fear.” Uncle Mike’s whole body was shaking, Aunt Sarah fainted on the spot, foaming at the mouth, and Cousin Tommy sat on the ground crying, “My Lee Hyori!” Going crazy felt good. The residual excitement was still vibrating in my chest. I returned to my room satisfied, closed my eyes, and let out a long sigh. It had been a long, long time since I had let myself go like this. It felt like it had rained in my heart, sudden and unexpected, wet and cool. And empty. Those words were just to scare Uncle Mike and Aunt Sarah. They were cowards who couldn’t pose any real threat to me. But as I calmed down, a strange thought suddenly popped into my head. — If I really died, would Leo be sad? Thinking of this, my heart skipped a beat. I quickly shook my head, warning myself not to think nonsense. 12 Before I knew it, sophomore year was over, and Leo and I spent the entire summer vacation attending intensive classes for core subjects at school. Although it was supposed to be the season of long days and short nights, when I recall that summer, it’s always the dim dawn and the dark night that come to mind.

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