Author: Momo Chan

During Memorial Day weekend, Lucas suggested our family take a road trip to Yellowstone National Park. I said it was too dangerous to go to such a remote area without a professional guide, and we should go somewhere else. Mom thought I was ruining Lucas’s excitement. She slapped me across the face and told me to go if I wanted, or get lost if I didn’t. In the end, our family still hit the road. That night, we encountered someone blocking our car. I warned Dad not to open the door, but he called me selfish and forced me to open it. Outside was a bear-man, and it immediately clamped its jaws on my arm. Instead of saving me, Mom pushed me out with all her might. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Lucas suggested going to the wilderness. I warned them again, but Mom still told me to get lost. Alright, that’s exactly what I was waiting for. “Wash my clothes and iron them properly when they’re dry,” Lucas said as he walked past me, kicking my basin with his foot. Water splashed onto my feet, making me shiver from the cold. That’s when I truly felt that I had been reborn. Lucas walked into the living room where Mom and Dad were sitting on the couch watching TV. He plopped down casually and suggested, “Dad, let’s drive to Yellowstone for Memorial Day. My classmate went during spring break and said it was amazing.” “We already promised Grandma we’d visit her in the countryside this year,” Dad said with a troubled expression. “What’s fun about the countryside? Come on, Dad. We just got a new car, and we’ve never taken a road trip before,” Lucas whined to Dad. I watched this scene, feeling a bit dazed. It was the same in my previous life. Lucas pestered Dad about going to Yellowstone because his deskmate had gone during spring break and bragged about it every day. As Dad was hesitating, Mom came out of the bedroom. She had a face mask on and frowned when she saw I hadn’t finished washing the clothes. “Aria, you’ve been washing these two pieces of clothing all morning. When are you planning to do the dishes?” Hearing this, I quickly sped up, hung up the clothes after washing them, and then went to the kitchen. Mom thought doing housework would ruin her hands, so she never did any. Dad was afraid of trouble and good at using technology. So we had a dishwasher and a washing machine, but as long as I was home, I wasn’t allowed to use them. When I finished washing the dishes and came out, Mom and Dad had already agreed to the plan of driving to Yellowstone. Lucas was excitedly browsing items to buy on his phone. Seeing this, I asked, “Where are we going for Memorial Day?” Mom said, “Yellowstone. You’re lucky. If it weren’t for Lucas, you wouldn’t get to go to such a nice place.” I kindly reminded them, “I read online that it’s best to avoid such remote areas. Even experienced explorers can get into trouble.” Lucas immediately became unhappy. “Mom, look at her. She’s always ruining the mood.” Sure enough, just like in my previous life, Mom raised her hand and slapped me. “You think you’re so smart? Go if you want, if not, then get lost.” My face stung from the slap. I held my cheek and thought for a few seconds. Then I started to act crazy. I swept everything off the coffee table with one hand, sending glass cups crashing to the floor. “I’ve had enough! You tell me to go, but I won’t!” I had always been the obedient punching bag at home, so this outburst startled all three of them. Taking advantage of their shock, I ran back to my room to grab my backpack and headed for the door. As I reached it, Mom finally reacted, her voice loud. “Aria, if you have the guts to leave, don’t come back!” I didn’t look back, slamming the door shut with a thunderous bang. Once outside, I couldn’t help but smile. After this scene, even if I wanted to go, Mom and Dad probably wouldn’t let me anymore.

Luckily, our high school required students to live on campus. It was Sunday, the day to return to school. I stayed out until 5 PM before going back. Lucas and I went to the same school. During evening study hall, I went to find him to ask for this week’s allowance. When I got to his classroom, Lucas was bragging to his classmates about going to Yellowstone for Memorial Day. “My parents have already bought everything. I’ll take photos for you guys. This time I’m going further than Tim.” Tim was Lucas’s deskmate, who supposedly went to Yellowstone this month. Hearing this, Tim said, “You can’t go further than me. My dad said we reached the boundary. Going any further would be dangerous.” Lucas raised his chin arrogantly, “That’s because your dad’s not capable. My dad used to be in the army. He can kill a wolf with his bare hands.” I remembered from my previous life that we drove to a place in Yellowstone where there was a sign warning that going further would be very dangerous. Dad was hesitant and didn’t want to continue. But Lucas wasn’t happy and said his classmate had gone that far, so he had to go further. So Mom pressured Dad to keep driving. Dad drove for a while but then couldn’t find the way back. We had entered in the afternoon, but by nightfall, we still didn’t know how to get back to the main road. That’s when we saw someone waving at our car. Dad, who had been looking for a way out all afternoon, felt hopeful and stopped in front of the person. The person started knocking on our windows. Mom and I were sitting in the back, and Dad said to me, “This must be a local. Aria, open the door for the man. We can give him a ride and he can show us the way out.” I remembered reading in a book that if you encounter someone waving in a remote area, you should never stop. Because in this situation, there are only two possibilities. One is that it’s a real person, but in a place with nothing around, a real person you encounter is either a robber or a fugitive. The other possibility is that it’s a bear-man, which are very clever and can mimic human actions. The person outside kept knocking on the window but didn’t speak. I felt the second possibility was more likely. I told Dad about this and said, “Let’s just drive away.” Usually, whatever I said, Lucas would argue against it. This time was no exception. Lucas said, “Aria, do you have some kind of paranoia? There aren’t that many bad people in the world.” Mom poked my head with her fingernail, “You think you’re so smart after reading a few books? You think you have better judgment than us two adults?” Dad also frowned in the front seat, “Just open the door when I tell you to. Why so much nonsense? Open it quickly.” I didn’t want to. Mom reached over me, cursing as she opened the door herself. The moment the door opened, a furry big head thrust in. My arm suddenly hurt terribly as it effortlessly dragged me out. Up close, I saw it was indeed a bear-man. “Dad, Mom, save me!” The bear had my arm clamped tightly in its jaws. The pain made my whole body tremble, but I still struggled desperately. But how could human strength resist a bear? Amidst my screams, Mom quickly closed the door. The bear threw me straight up into the air, and I fell vertically to the ground. I felt like all my bones were shattered and my nerves severed. The bear bit open my stomach with one bite. Mom and Dad drove away.

Thinking of this, I felt as if I could still feel the bear-man tearing at my flesh. My legs trembled slightly. Until someone tapped me on the shoulder, I was finally freed from the terror. Looking up, I met Lucas’s sullen face. “What do you want?” I held out my hand, “Give me this week’s allowance.” Lucas and I were only a year apart, but we were well-known throughout the school. I was in the top ten of my grade, while Lucas was dead last in his. Every pair of Lucas’s shoes cost over a thousand dollars, and all his clothes under the school uniform were designer brands. Meanwhile, I wore the same pair of shoes all year round and only had four outfits to rotate. At first, Mom and Dad said they’d give us each fifty dollars a week for living expenses. But fifty dollars wasn’t enough to live on at our school, so I skipped dinner every day, ate just an egg and a glass of milk for breakfast, and two steamed buns with some chili sauce for lunch. Lucas lived much better than me, ordering stir-fry dishes in the cafeteria every day. When I saw this and asked Mom about it, she scolded me, “You don’t focus on your studies, always comparing yourself to your brother. How could I possibly give him money?” I asked her, “Then why does Lucas eat stir-fry dishes in the cafeteria every day?” “His friends must be treating him,” Mom sneered. “Your brother has many friends, unlike you who doesn’t have a single one.” I felt so wronged at the time. Was it that I didn’t want to make friends? It was that I had no time to make friends. Whether it was holidays or weekends, I always had endless housework to do. I barely had time to do my homework. Later I found out that Mom really hadn’t given Lucas extra money. She had just pre-loaded five thousand dollars onto his meal card, and would reload it whenever it ran out. Lucas said, “Mom and Dad didn’t give you any.” I asked, “Then what am I supposed to eat?” Lucas sneered, “How should I know? That’s what you get for talking back to Mom!” I knew it would be like this. It was the same before. Whenever I did something that made Mom unhappy, she would directly cut off my living expenses. Sometimes she even threatened not to let me go to school. I always thought Mom wouldn’t be so heartless and always held onto a glimmer of hope for her. So every time I would compromise and do whatever she told me to do. But what did I get in return? She pushed me out of the car without hesitation and didn’t even look back as they drove away. After I died, Mom stared out the car window for a long time. But she said to Dad, “It’s good that she’s dead. Now no one will say our Lucas isn’t as good as his sister.” That’s when I realized my family had no feelings for me. Whether I ranked first or was obedient, Mom only cared about Lucas. Seeing Lucas’s smug expression, I felt a bit disgusted but still asked him for money, “If they won’t give it to me, you give it to me.” Lucas’s face changed immediately, “Why should I?” “If you don’t give it to me, I’ll tell Mom about you chasing that girl in your class.” Lucas had been pursuing a girl in his class, and everyone knew about it. But the girl wasn’t blind and wasn’t interested in a mama’s boy like him. After my experience in my previous life, I realized that Mom wasn’t just favoring her son over her daughter – she hated all females. She didn’t just dislike me; she disliked all girls who appeared around Lucas. Once before, when another girl was pursuing Lucas and the family found out about it, Mom went to the school and hit that girl, calling her nasty names to her face. When Lucas heard this, he immediately became anxious. He grabbed my collar and raised his fist at me, “Aria, who gave you permission to talk to me like that? Say it again and I’ll beat you to death!” I looked at him fearlessly, “You’re already threatening to beat me to death, so I might as well tell. Besides, Mom calls me every day to ask about you anyway.” Lucas’s expression changed, and he finally let go of me, blurting out a curse. In the end, he took out fifty dollars from his pocket and threw it on the ground. I said coldly, “I want a hundred.” Lucas cursed at me under his breath and took out another fifty. He pointed at my face and warned, “Don’t you dare say a word more.” Although I had a hundred dollars now, I still didn’t dare spend it carelessly. But life was a bit better than before. At least I dared to order a plate of potato strips for lunch. I remembered that in my previous life, school continued until the Monday of the following week, and we started the holiday on the 30th. When Mom and Dad found out about this, they specially took two days off in advance and picked us up from school on the afternoon of the 29th to drive straight to Wyoming. This week, Mom hadn’t called me to ask about her son’s situation. I thought that no matter what, she wouldn’t take me along. But on the afternoon of the 29th, the teacher called me over and said my parents were waiting for me at the gate. I reluctantly and slowly went out of the school gate. This time, Mom was sitting in the front passenger seat, and Lucas was in the back. “Aria, what are you dawdling for? Get in the car quickly. We’ll hit traffic soon,” Dad shouted at me. I opened the car door and got in, “Didn’t you say you weren’t taking me?” Dad said, “We’re a family. We should do everything together.” But Mom sneered beside him, “You treat her like family, but does she treat you like family?” I expressed my thoughts again, “I don’t want to go.” Mom got annoyed and bared her teeth at me, “Don’t push your luck. Go when I tell you to go. Say another word and I’ll hit you.” When Mom said she would hit someone, she really would. I once had three ribs broken by her. So every time she bared her teeth, my whole heart would tremble. I didn’t dare say anything more. Lucas let out a nasty laugh beside me. The car quickly left the school, getting further and further away as we looked back. We were about to get on the highway. I thought and thought, and finally came up with an idea. “Ouch, ouch!” I clutched my stomach and started yelling, “Ah! My stomach hurts!”

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As I walked out of the office, I could feel the shocked stares of my colleagues burning into my back. But I didn’t care. I had bigger plans. What James didn’t know was that I had been secretly recording our conversations for months. I had evidence of his embezzlement, his affairs, and his illegal business practices. I had already sent copies to the board of directors and the authorities. As I stepped into the elevator, my phone buzzed. It was a message from the head of HR: “Emily, the board wants to see you immediately. Don’t leave the building.” I smiled to myself. The game was just beginning. As soon as I finished speaking, Mia rushed to interject. “Emily, how can you resign over such a small matter?” she said, her voice dripping with fake concern. “You’ve been with the company for so long, and James has always treated you so well. If you resign at this critical moment, what will everyone think of him?” “James, please, talk some sense into Emily,” Mia pleaded, turning to him with wide eyes. James might have intended to persuade me earlier, but after hearing Mia’s words, his anger flared up. “What’s there to persuade? If she wants to leave, let her leave. I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. I don’t care what anyone says,” he snapped. He snatched my resignation letter, signed it hastily, and then threw it in my face. The onlooking colleagues watched me, waiting for the drama to unfold. But instead of arguing as I used to, I remained calm, picking up the resignation letter from the floor. “I’ll finish handing over my work before I leave,” I said quietly. “No need for handover. If you want to leave, leave now,” James barked, pointing at the door. Then, as if remembering something, he added coldly, “Voluntary resignation means no compensation.” Seeing this, colleagues who were close to me tried to persuade me to apologize and not act on impulse. They all knew that I had helped James build this company from scratch. When the company was short on funds, I drank until I vomited blood to secure investments. When projects were behind schedule, I led the team in working three days straight without sleep. I had poured my heart and soul into every aspect of the business. Leaving now meant giving up everything. But my mind was made up. After thanking them, I packed my things and turned to leave. Before I left, I clearly saw a flicker of complexity in James’s eyes. I knew he thought I wouldn’t leave. We had argued many times before because of Mia, with the worst incident being when James publicly berated me and gave my entire year’s bonus to her. I was so angry that I threatened to quit, but when it came time to leave, I swallowed my pride. I went back to him, speaking softly as if nothing had happened, and continued working as usual, pretending the incident never occurred. He thought I would convince myself to stay this time too. But what he didn’t know was that my patience with him had finally run out. Just as I walked out of the company, a text message came through. I opened it to see a transfer from my friend, Sophie. Earlier that morning, when James said the company wasn’t doing well and wanted to cut my salary, my first reaction was to worry about his stress. I immediately contacted Sophie to borrow half a million dollars. I had originally intended to give it to him, but then I accidentally saw Mia’s Instagram post. That’s when I finally understood James’s intentions. Surprisingly, I felt unexpectedly calm at that moment, neither sad nor jealous to the point of madness. Perhaps because it had happened too many times. James had done so many outrageous things for Mia that I could hardly tell who his girlfriend was anymore – me or Mia. I returned the money to Sophie, thanked her, and walked to the parking garage. I found my old car that I had been driving for ten years, its paint chipped in several places. Next to it was parked a brand new Porsche, the one James had just given to Mia today. There were many empty spaces in the garage, yet she chose to park right here. It was clearly a provocation towards me. I had been with James for ten years, yet I didn’t compare to Mia who had only been with the company for ten months. I laughed bitterly at myself. Without further hesitation, I started the engine and left the company I had worked at for years. However, just as I exited the company gates, someone rear-ended me. I got out of the car, only to see James and Mia emerging from the car behind. “Emily, why did you stop so suddenly? I didn’t have time to react,” Mia said, walking up to inspect her car’s dented front with a pained expression. “What a shame, James picked this out so carefully for me.” James’s face grew increasingly dark. “Emily, I saw you staring at Mia’s car in the garage earlier. Tell me the truth, was this intentional? Did you know Mia was behind you and deliberately brake to get revenge?” he accused. I almost laughed at the absurdity of his accusation. It was always like this. He would push all the blame onto me without distinguishing right from wrong. Mia sighed. “Let it go, James. We shouldn’t blame Emily,” she said with feigned generosity. “She lost her job because of me, so it’s natural for her to be angry at me.” “In the end, it’s all my fault. If only I had been more careful,” she added, letting out a regretful sigh. It was an obvious act. But James couldn’t see through it. He gently rubbed her shoulder, saying indulgently, “It has nothing to do with you. Don’t take everything on yourself.” Then he turned to me and flicked my forehead hard. “Emily, can’t you learn from Mia?” he scolded. “She knows how to be humble. You’ve worked for so many years, why are you still so petty and immature?” I stumbled from his push, and when I regained my balance, I found the situation somewhat amusing. For the past year, it had been Mia constantly stealing my achievements, playing mind games, and pinning blame on me. Now suddenly, she was humble and responsible, while I was petty and immature. Knowing that further conversation would be futile, I didn’t bother saying anything more and turned to leave. But James blocked my path again. I thought he was going to endlessly defend Mia again, but to my surprise, he pulled me aside. He spoke to me in a serious tone. “Emily, I have high expectations for you, that’s why I’m so strict with you,” he said. “Why can’t you understand my good intentions?” Hearing his gentle words, I was momentarily confused. However, I soon understood his intentions. James patted my shoulder. “I’ll withdraw your resignation letter. Think about apologizing to Mia,” he said. “Also, you’re fully responsible for this rear-end collision. Transfer whatever amount is necessary to Mia for repairs.” I finally understood. I looked up at Mia. She had probably known what James was going to say all along. Her face was full of smugness as she rolled her eyes at me provocatively. I let out a derisive laugh. “I won’t pay for anything. If you want to know who’s responsible for the rear-end collision, check for yourself. If you really can’t figure it out, call the police,” I said firmly. “I have other matters to attend to. I’m leaving now.” I turned and walked away. James’s face darkened behind me, his voice turning cold: “I’ve already given you a chance. Don’t regret it!” Regret? I won’t regret it. I got back into my car and sent a message to Sophie. “I’ve resigned. I can start working at your company tomorrow.” 截断点

In less than a second, Sophie called back, her voice filled with excitement. “Are you serious?” She sounded a bit unsure and asked, “What about James?” Sophie and James had started their businesses around the same time. Compared to James, who had started from scratch, Sophie’s company had more resources and offered more attractive benefits. Sophie was in desperate need of skilled technicians, so she had promised me higher shares and profits to entice me to help them out. Even after learning about my relationship with James, she had made an exception and offered me a part-time position. But for James’s sake, I had unhesitatingly refused. Back when I was at my lowest point, lying in the snow and nearly freezing to death, it was James who had dragged me into a police station and saved my life. I was deeply grateful to him, so I abandoned everything and devoted myself wholeheartedly to the business, doing everything I could to help James’s company grow step by step. But now it seemed that he didn’t care at all. Besides, after all these years, I had more than repaid my debt of gratitude to him. There was no need for me to keep compromising myself anymore. “No need to worry about him. I can make my own decisions,” I told Sophie. After chatting with her for a bit longer and confirming the time to sign the contract, I drove home to pack my things. Although I had bought this house outright, it was filled with memories of James and me. I no longer wanted to live here. I started by clearing out under the bed and found many scattered drawings. The drawings depicted a young man in various poses – smiling, looking melancholic, peeling an apple with his head down, and applying makeup in front of a mirror. They were all of James, each expression vivid and full of life. I had drawn these sketches of him. He used to love it when I drew quick sketches of him, treating each one as a treasure, framing them and keeping them safe. But ever since Mia appeared, he started to become impatient. He complained that drawing was old-fashioned and a waste of time, saying it was better to just use a camera. He no longer liked me drawing him. Even these drawings had been carelessly thrown under the bed. The paper had turned yellow and old, the portraits faded. I let out a bitter laugh. I took them to the bathroom sink, lit a corner, and watched as the flames consumed the drawings completely, leaving nothing but ashes. Just like our love, which had been unknowingly burned to nothing. After this, I cleared out everything else that could be thrown away. I didn’t have many possessions, but the room still looked noticeably emptier and more spacious. I threw myself onto the couch and took out my phone to look for rental apartments near Sophie’s company. But as soon as I opened my phone, I saw that Mia had posted a picture in the company chat group. It was a photo of her and James together. The background was an arcade, with Mia holding many stuffed animals and smiling at the camera. James was beside her, looking at her with a doting and satisfied smile. I hadn’t seen him smile like that in a long time. I had once taken him to an arcade too, but as soon as we entered and exchanged our coins for game tokens, he turned and left. He accused me of being childish, saying he was too busy to waste time on such boring activities. He had no time for me. But he had time for Mia. I let out a derisive laugh. It wasn’t that he found it childish; he just found me bothersome. In the group chat, many colleagues were quick to flatter Mia, praising her beauty and saying she looked like an angel. Some even complimented the photographer’s skills, and a few jokingly asked if there was good news coming soon for the couple. Of course, they all knew I was James’s girlfriend. But they dared to make such jokes only because James had never tried to hide his intimacy with Mia at work. In the past, I would have gotten angry and called James to tell him to be more discreet. But now, I felt completely calm. I pretended not to see it and continued with what I was doing. However, when I checked again two minutes later, I found that several messages in the group had been deleted, including the earliest photo Mia had posted. I had thought James wouldn’t be back until late at night. But to my surprise, he soon walked into the living room, talking on the phone with Mia, his expression gentle. Seeing me, his face showed a moment of guilt before quickly turning stern. He deliberately walked past me and into the bedroom. I knew he was waiting for me to coax him. Every time we had an unpleasant encounter at work, I would always find ways to apologize to him, begging for his forgiveness. Even when he was the one at fault, I would swallow my pride and admit to being wrong. In the past, I thought this was what I should do, whether it was to repay his kindness or to maintain our relationship. I thought I should always pacify him. But now I just found it tedious. I lowered my head and continued with what I was doing. After a while, he came out of the room with a gloomy face. “Did you see the messages in the group chat?” he asked. “What messages?” I feigned ignorance. I didn’t look up, but I could sense him seemingly relieved: “Nothing, just some work-related messages sent to the wrong group.” I found it amusing but didn’t bother to expose him. I just wondered how many things between him and Mia he had hidden from me. “Mia’s car has been repaired. What about yours?” James asked again. I knew this was his signal of offering me a way out. In the past, I would have thought he had forgiven me and would have eagerly tried to please him. But now, I didn’t even look up as I replied flatly, “It’s just an old car, not worth repairing.” James frowned. “What do you mean by that?” I looked up at him, puzzled, not understanding what he was dissatisfied about. This car had been scratched many times before, and when I said I wanted to repair it, he always said the same thing. I thought he was going to get angry again, but to my surprise, he let out a sigh. “I know you’re still upset about the company issue, but Mia has been doing really well at work lately. I gave her the car to retain her as a talented employee,” he explained. Hearing him say this, I almost laughed. Mia had been hired by James as an exception, bypassing normal procedures. Her work ability was terrible, and she had made countless mistakes. From serving plain water to clients during meetings while getting milk tea for herself, to accidentally sending out the company’s cost sheet instead of the quote sheet to partners, causing the company to lose hundreds of thousands – the list of her blunders was endless. Keeping her was worse than keeping a dog. If I didn’t know the company’s situation so well, I might have actually believed James’s words. I didn’t say anything, and James continued, “You’re my girlfriend, and when we get married in the future, won’t the company be yours too? Why do you have to fuss over salary amounts? Why do you have to compete with her?” “Emily, everything I do is for the company. I don’t want other colleagues to think I’m favoring you.” I knew clearly that these were just excuses. In the company, all the colleagues knew how James treated me and Mia differently. A project that I had spent three sleepless nights completing, he would suddenly hand over to Mia on a whim, and with just a PowerPoint presentation, it would become Mia’s achievement. A client I had spent days negotiating with, just about to sign the contract, he would use my name to take Mia out for a meal with them, and suddenly the contract would become Mia’s accomplishment. There were countless such incidents. Over time, other colleagues only felt that James favored Mia more. They even thought James didn’t like me. Because of this, I endured a lot of cold shoulders and bullying at work. He saw it but pretended not to notice. I didn’t want to explain. Any explanation would just be seen as an excuse by him anyway. “Oh,” I responded indifferently. “You don’t need to tell me these things. I have nothing to do with the company anymore. Do whatever you think is best.” James didn’t say anything. Finally, he sighed and hugged me from behind. “Actually, I have my own reasons. I want you to take a break for a while. You can think about our wedding plans,” he said. “When do you want to get married?” he asked with a smile. But I had brought up marriage many times before. Each time, he complained that marriage meant no freedom and brushed it off, saying we’d talk about it later. Every time we had a fight, he would use marriage to pacify me. Sometimes, I felt less like his girlfriend and more like a dog he was toying with. I didn’t say anything. James ruffled my hair as if he were playing with a dog. “Don’t be angry anymore. Can you smile for me?” he coaxed. As he said this, he leaned in to kiss me, as if deliberately trying to please me. I smelled Mia’s perfume on him again. A wave of nausea hit me. I pushed him away, frowning in disgust as I wiped my fingers with a wet wipe.

James stood there, stunned. “You’re disgusted by me?” he asked, incredulous. “I have to go out later tonight. I’m going to change clothes first,” I said flatly. I turned to go back to the bedroom. James tried to follow, but I closed and locked the door without hesitation. “Fine! Emily, don’t regret this!” James seemed truly angry now. After spitting out these harsh words, he kicked the door hard and stormed off. When I came out of the room, the living room was empty. James had posted a message in the company group chat, saying he wanted to treat everyone to dinner and asking who wanted to join. Everyone remained silent. Only Mia sent three “excited” emojis in quick succession. I knew James was deliberately trying to provoke me. This had happened many times before. Every time, it was the same – other colleagues were reluctant to participate, with only Mia showing enthusiasm. In the past, I would have been jealous and insisted on going along, only to be mocked by them. Now, I couldn’t be bothered. I changed my clothes and went to see the apartment I was planning to rent. After confirming everything was okay, I paid the deposit right away. Then I contacted a real estate agent to help me sell the current house. However, although I had bought this house and had personally overseen all the renovations, I had put James’s name on the property deed. Back then, James and I barely had any money between us. To give James a sense of security, I had used up all my savings to buy this house. Now that the company had grown to its current scale, I guessed this house probably didn’t even catch James’s eye anymore. The agent told me that if I wanted to sell the house, James would need to be present. If he couldn’t make it, he would at least need to sign a power of attorney. I had no choice but to message him again. But when I sent the message, a red exclamation mark appeared in the chat window. He had blocked me. It had been like this before too. When we fought to the point where it seemed irreconcilable, James would angrily block me. Worried about his safety, I would sometimes borrow someone else’s phone and humbly call him, begging him to add me back. And he would ask me from the other end of the line, in a high and mighty tone, if I had realized my mistakes. Now that I think about it, I can’t count how many times I said things against my will just to appease him. After some thought, I still decided to call him. “Come back tonight. There’s something I need to discuss with you,” I said. “What is it? I’m very busy,” James replied, his voice cold. I pressed my lips together. “We’ll talk when you get back.” James let out a cold laugh. “You push me away when you want to, and now you expect me to come back just because you say so? Emily, do I owe you something? Is this how you apologize?” “Have I been too good to you lately? Have you forgotten how to apologize properly?” he taunted. Hearing his sarcastic tone, I still lowered my voice as I used to: “I’m sorry. I was wrong.” After all, I had already apologized insincerely so many times, once more wouldn’t hurt. Moreover, this apology would get me a house. Even though the house was mine, if James really wanted to make trouble and refused to sign, I wouldn’t be able to sell it. Even with proof of my investment, I would still have to go to court. James could afford to make a fuss, but I couldn’t. Sure enough, after hearing my apology, James’s tone became more pleasant. He magnanimously said, “Wait for me then.” With that, he hung up the phone. My inner calm remained unbroken. I listed the house on a website, deliberately lowering the price considerably to sell it quickly. After doing all this, I contacted Sophie and signed the contract. Sophie was extremely excited, repeatedly asking me if she was dreaming. She even specially arranged a celebratory dinner for me. I had planned to go home early, but then I thought that James probably wouldn’t be back for a while anyway. There wasn’t much to do if I went back too early, so I agreed. After a few drinks, when I went to the restroom, I heard a familiar voice coming from the adjacent private room. I instinctively stopped in my tracks. Through the slightly open door, I saw Mia nestled in James’s arms. I don’t know what they said, but James’s previously cold face broke into a smile. Seizing this opportunity, Mia quickly leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

James was momentarily stunned, but he didn’t push her away. “James, when are you going to break up with Emily?” Mia asked, her voice filled with feigned innocence. “I can’t wait to be with you anymore. Do you know how heartbroken I feel every day seeing you with her?” “Or do you still prefer Emily over me?” James moved his lips, seemingly wanting to say something. In the end, he hugged Mia back, patting her back gently as if comforting a child. “How could she compare to you in my heart?” he said softly. “It’s just that now that the company has grown, if I break up with her and get together with you, I’m afraid people will gossip. It might affect you negatively.” “Just wait a little longer.” “It won’t be too long.” “I knew it! I knew you loved me the most, James,” Mia exclaimed, her voice syrupy sweet. Their intimate embrace looked exactly like that of a couple. I couldn’t help but laugh derisively, recalling the conversation I had overheard in the private room that day. In the past, during our worst fights, he had threatened me with breakup too. But I couldn’t bear to let him go. Each time, I would be the first to try to persuade him, speaking softly, and once even kneeling down to beg him pitifully. Because I thought breaking up wasn’t what he truly wanted; it was just his trump card, his way of giving me a chance to back down. It wasn’t until later that I realized the truth. He probably had been planning to break up for a long time, which was why he kept bringing it up at every opportunity. But it’s fine now. After all, I had made up my mind to break up long ago too. Even if he hadn’t brought it up now, I would have. Seeing that I remained silent, James thought I was scared. His tone softened considerably. “You’ve been acting mysteriously these past few days. I guess you’ve been preparing for our wedding, right?” he said. “I know you don’t want to break up either.” “If you apologize to Mia now…” Before James could finish, I interrupted him calmly. “No need. I agree to break up.”

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“Get off me, you’ve had your fun,” Lucas said as I was lying on top of him, nibbling his ear. His girlfriend, Sophia Snow, was standing at his bedroom door, watching us. I didn’t respond to him. Instead, I moved my lips from his ear to his Adam’s apple. I felt Lucas’s large hand on my waist, and the next second, he flipped me off the bed. And that’s how I ended up in the hospital. After Lucas threw me off the bed, my fragile head hit the floor of his bedroom, causing it to bleed. When Sophia turned on the bedroom light, I was lying on the floor, unable to move. “Aria, stop pretending. Get up and get out,” Lucas said coldly. He wasn’t going to coddle me; he just found me annoying. “Lucas, she’s bleeding!” Sophia quickly came to my side, trying to stop the bleeding. Thank goodness for Sophia. Otherwise, Lucas would have let me lie there until I died. Lucas sighed softly and sat up in bed. Then came the sound of slippers touching the floor. He picked me up and carried me out of the room. What a mess. Lucas had to help me, the troublemaker, even though he had a cold and fever. But Lucas’s embrace was genuinely warm, accompanied by a faint scent of mint. I passed out in his arms. When I regained consciousness, I was already in the hospital. I was surrounded by the smell of disinfectant, and there were low whispers in the hospital room. “Uncle, I asked Aria to take care of you. How did she end up in the hospital herself?” It was my best friend, Haley Davis. It was thanks to her that Lucas had thrown me off the bed. Lucas was Haley’s uncle. After I expressed my feelings for Lucas, Haley had been trying to set us up whenever she could. Lucas spoke up. Due to his cold, his voice was a bit hoarse, showing no emotional fluctuations. “Ask her when she wakes up.” Well, I guess I shouldn’t wake up then. “Aria, I saw your eyelashes move.” Lucas was really something else. I couldn’t keep pretending anymore. I pretended to just wake up, opening my eyes groggily. In the hospital room, besides Haley and Lucas who were talking quietly, Sophia was also there. Haley leaned close to my face. “What happened, Aria?” Her long eyelashes were almost brushing against my face. I used my hand that wasn’t connected to the IV to push her face away slightly. “Haley, who are these people?” I asked. Haley was always easy to fool. All the brains in their family seemed to have gone to Lucas. She put her hand on my forehead. “Sweetie, are you okay? This is my uncle.” I pushed her hand away and smiled at Lucas. “Hello, Uncle.” Then I shifted my gaze to Sophia’s face. Sophia was beautiful, fair-skinned and pretty, with the most alluring eyes. “And this must be Auntie. Hello, Auntie.” Lucas just looked at me with an amused expression. I realized how stupid I was. Why was I pretending to have amnesia in front of this old wolf? Haley, however, was all flustered. “Aria, you haven’t gone stupid, have you? I’m going to call the doctor to check.” “I’ll go with Haley,” Sophia said, following Haley’s steps out. Perhaps she sensed that Lucas wanted to scold me and kindly left us some privacy. “Aria, stop bothering me. I don’t have time to play your games,” Lucas said once everyone had left the room. He didn’t give me any mental preparation, just blurted it out. His words fell on my ears, stinging painfully. “Then what about when you were nice to me before?” I couldn’t help but ask. “Because you’re Haley’s friend.” When Haley returned with the doctor, only I was left in the room. I had thrown a tantrum and chased Lucas out. Only the doctor came back with Haley. Sophia had left with Lucas. Come to think of it, I had only met Sophia three times. The first time was at a bar. I hadn’t seen Lucas for a long time and wanted to secretly take a look at him. I was all disguised, hiding in a corner, and Sophia was sitting obediently next to Lucas. The second time was last night when I was kissing Lucas on his bed, and she was watching from the doorway. The third time was just now, when she was standing behind Lucas. If I were in his shoes, I would choose Sophia too. Pretty and obedient, unlike me who always goes against Lucas’s wishes. He tells me not to do something, and I insist on doing it. He tells me to stay away from him, and I haven’t listened once in all these years. But who am I kidding? I was never even an option for Lucas. “Doctor, please check her quickly,” Haley urged the doctor to examine me. I held her hand. “Haley, I’m fine now.” The doctor spoke up, “You saying you’re fine doesn’t count. I have to say it.” After cooperating with the doctor’s examination, the doctor concluded, “She’s fine now. Just rest and avoid strenuous activities. You can be discharged.” Haley breathed a sigh of relief. After the doctor left, she leaned in close to me and asked, “You were pretending just now. You really scared me.” “Mm-hmm.” “Then why did you stop pretending?” “Couldn’t fool him anyway.” I knew I couldn’t deceive Lucas, but the events of last night were still vivid in my mind, and I just didn’t know how to face it. “Tell me about your heroic deed last night!” It was hardly heroic. Thinking about it now, it was quite laughable. Haley had brought me the intel that Lucas was sick, and I exchanged a hotpot dinner for Lucas’s house key from her. I wanted to take advantage of the situation and create the image of a caring girlfriend. I made it smoothly into Lucas’s house without any obstacles. I made some cold medicine and snuck into his room. I stood by Lucas’s bed, wanting to wake him up, but the medicine was too hot, so I thought I’d let him sleep a bit longer. Lucas is handsome, with distinct features and sharp angles. I love his high, straight nose the most. Heaven knows, I just wanted to see if he was really asleep. I reached out and poked his cheek. It was soft, different from the impression he usually gives me. He’s always polite and distant, not as human as this. I couldn’t resist leaning closer, wanting to kiss his cheek. “Aria, don’t you dare,” he warned. If Lucas was going to say that, then I really wanted to test where his bottom line was. I climbed onto his bed, leaning down to kiss his lips, but he dodged. We were at a stalemate. The door wasn’t closed, and I vaguely heard the sound of a key turning in the lock. “Lucas…” It must be Sophia, right? At this hour, the only person who could have Lucas’s house key and open his door should be her. I smirked at him. “Uncle, your girlfriend is here.” Lucas didn’t say anything, just turned his face away from me. He was giving me a chance to get off on my own. I couldn’t just do as he wished. I changed my target to his ear. I lay down and kissed his ear. “Get off me, you’ve had your fun,” he said. Sophia was already outside the bedroom door. I switched from kissing his ear to kissing his Adam’s apple. That’s when Lucas flipped me off the bed. My head was bleeding, and the cold medicine I had made for him was still steaming. “Oh, Aria, your… although the ending was a bit tragic, the process wasn’t bad!” Haley scratched her head, pondering for a while, and could only come up with this comment. I pouted, trying to squeeze out a couple of tears, but in vain. I was just heartbroken; I couldn’t cry. “Aria, how did you end up in the hospital?” Before I could wallow in my sorrow, my mom rushed in after hearing the news. “Let Mom take a look!” My mom pushed Haley aside and sat next to me, cradling my head and examining it. “Mom, I’m fine now. The doctor said I can be discharged,” I said. Mrs. Sullivan, spoiled by my dad, had no common sense in life and was handling me roughly, causing me pain. “Then you’re coming home to stay with Mom!” she insisted. I dodged her hands, agreeing repeatedly, “Okay, okay, okay.” Having hit a wall with Lucas, I needed to recharge in my mother’s embrace. Haley, in order to freeload a meal at my house, escorted me all the way to my bedroom. After settling in, she lay down beside me of her own accord. “Aria, did my uncle say something to you?” Her fingers were twirling the ends of my hair, tugging gently. Haley’s question made me feel extremely wronged. I pouted, and tears rolled down the corners of my eyes. “He told me to stop bothering him, said I was annoying. He’s never said that to me before.” Haley frantically searched for tissues to wipe my tears. “Did we go too far? After all, he already has a girlfriend.” “He never admitted it. The thing about Sophia being his girlfriend was what your mom said, not Lucas,” I argued.

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Day one after the breakup. My boyfriend posted a photo with his mistress on Instagram, announcing their engagement. Everyone in our group chat went crazy, tagging me repeatedly. I silently added my ex-boyfriend’s cousin to the group and explained, “Let me introduce you to my real boyfriend.” My boyfriend wanted to sleep with me, but after I refused, he immediately found a so-called true love and got engaged. He happily posted a photo with his new girlfriend on Instagram: “I’m getting married.” The picture showed their intertwined hands and a large bouquet of roses. Our group chat on SnapChat exploded instantly. Everyone who got the first-hand gossip started tagging me frantically. “Congratulations, Sarah! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness and many children!” “Sarah, when’s the wedding? Tell us the date quickly!” My boyfriend laughed and explained to everyone that they had the wrong person, and the one he was marrying wasn’t me. Then, he added his new girlfriend “Candy” to the group chat. As soon as she joined, Candy sent a cute emoji and then shyly sent a voice message, “Hi everyone, I’m Kyle’s wife. I hope you all can come to our wedding. We’ve set the date for January 23rd.” The once lively crowd was stunned. Listening to Candy’s sickeningly sweet voice message made me want to throw up. Candy started greeting everyone in the group, asking them to call her “sister-in-law” and demanding red envelopes. Most people sent her $50, but she scoffed at them. She giggled and said to everyone, “I heard from my husband that you’re all rich kids. Usually, you send four-figure red envelopes in the group. Why only three figures for me? Do you look down on me?” With this statement, everyone fell silent. I was a bit shocked. Did she think rich kids’ money grew on trees? What gave her the right to demand money from people she’d just met? Kyle, seeing the awkward situation, quickly tried to smooth things over, “My wife is just joking, don’t mind her.” No one in the group spoke up anymore. I felt disgusted. I couldn’t believe this jerk had stooped so low after our breakup, marrying any gold digger he could find. Shame on him! I immediately blocked him across all platforms. Goodbye and good riddance! That night, feeling down, I went to a bar with my best friend for some drinks. While drinking, I kept hearing them chattering about one-night stands, which made me feel a bit curious. Because of my strict upbringing… my mom said if I wasn’t a virgin when I got married, my husband would despise me for life. So even though I’m twenty-five now, I’m still a virgin. I stumbled to the restroom, feeling dizzy. On the way, two drunk guys tried to hit on me, but I refused. However, these two drunks wouldn’t take no for an answer and kept trying to make me drink with them. I wanted to run, but they held me back. In an instant, all those gruesome news stories flashed through my mind. My heart raced, and I thought about smashing them with a bottle to sober them up, but I knew I couldn’t overpower them. Just as I looked up, I saw a familiar face walking towards me. Lucas Land? Isn’t that Kyle’s cousin?

I never expected to see Lucas Land here. He was wearing a tailored casual suit, drinking wine with a friend. His beautiful, long fingers held a wine glass as he smiled and chatted with the person across from him. Looking at his handsome, chiseled face, my heart couldn’t help but race. No one knew that Lucas Land had been my secret crush during college. Just then, my arm was suddenly pulled hard, immediately snapping me back to reality from my daydream. “Cousin!” I shouted towards Lucas, trying to suppress my embarrassment. Lucas paused slightly, looked up, but didn’t seem to notice anything and went back to drinking his wine. Damn, I was to his left rear, and there was a table of drinkers blocking his view. It would be hard for Lucas to spot me from where he was sitting. These two drunks clearly realized I had seen someone I knew, and their grip on my arm tightened. I struggled hard, raising my voice in desperation, “Brother, help me!” This time, many people heard me and looked our way. Lucas finally saw me too. He seemed to be stunned for a moment, then put down his wine glass, stood up, and strode towards us with his long legs. Soon, he stood in front of me, looking at the two drunks holding me with an expressionless face and a cold voice, “This is my friend. Please let her go.” The two drunks looked at his expensive outfit and aristocratic air, glanced at each other, and sheepishly let go of me before slinking away without a word. “Alright, go home now,” Lucas glanced at me casually after helping me out, turning to leave. Seeing my crush about to leave, I don’t know if it was the alcohol hitting me suddenly, but I boldly grabbed his arm. “Brother, can you take me home?” I clung to his arm shamelessly, my voice soft and pleading. He frowned slightly, his handsome brows knitting together. “You should call Kyle to pick you up.” “We’ve already broken up. He has a new girlfriend and won’t come to pick me up anymore,” I said. At that moment, his eyes seemed to darken a bit. In my hazy state, I couldn’t see clearly, but I felt like I might be drunk. Not wanting him to leave, I stumbled and fell into his arms, then clung to him and wouldn’t let go. His embrace had a nice scent, mixed with a hint of red wine, which I found intoxicating. I suddenly remembered feeling unwell a while ago and going to a Chinese medicine clinic for acupuncture. It was him who did the acupuncture for me. I don’t know if it was because he didn’t often interact with women, but his ears were very red at the time, which was incredibly cute. So, I grew bolder and whispered in his ear, “Brother, I’m not feeling well again. Can you take me home for some acupuncture?” Instantly, his ears turned red again. After a moment, he said in a low, husky voice, “Sarah, sober up. Do you know what you’re saying?” “I’m an adult,” I clung to him tightly, mumbling, “I’ll take responsibility for what I say.” His breathing hitched slightly, and he took my hand, leading me towards the exit. I followed him home, and before we entered, he asked me seriously once more if I wanted to go in. I looked at him with a red face, not saying a word, and directly pushed the door open, answering him with my actions.

Lucas helped me to the couch, then poured me a glass of water. After that, he sat down across from me. I picked up the glass and took a sip. It was sweet honey water. In an instant, my heart felt as if it had been dipped in honey, and I was secretly happy at how thoughtful he was. Thinking this, I remembered that jerk Kyle. That guy hadn’t even poured me a glass of plain water before. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe I had been bottling things up for too long, but I couldn’t help but start complaining to Lucas about Kyle’s various jerk behaviors. Actually, I didn’t like Kyle that much. Being with him wasn’t really my true desire. But some things, I could only keep to myself, unable to confide in others. The more I talked, the more upset I felt. Gradually, as the alcohol took effect, I stopped talking about Kyle and turned my chatterbox tendencies towards Lucas instead. He was the campus celebrity at our school, excelling in all areas – academics, sports, looks – the perfect package. He was always the academic star of the medical school, truly a golden boy. Back then, most of the girls at our school had a crush on Lucas at some point, and I was just one of the countless grains of rice in that pile of admirers. I even told him about my secret crush on him in college, how I often went to watch him play basketball. Not content with just that, I boldly complained to him, accusing him of never talking to me back then. He looked at me helplessly, his lips parting slightly as if he wanted to say something, but my chatter blocked him. I rambled on, starting to talk about my past ‘glorious deeds’ of being infatuated with him. Once, he had a basketball game, and I wanted to get there early to grab a good spot to watch. I was so eager that I skipped breakfast. But halfway through the game, I got so excited that I embarrassingly fainted due to low blood sugar. When I woke up, I found myself lying in the infirmary. I felt utterly mortified and ran straight back to my dorm, hardly leaving my room for several days after that. After that, I never had the courage to go watch Lucas play basketball again. Lucas was about to graduate then and was very busy every day. But I never imagined that the next time we’d meet would be at Kyle’s family gathering for relatives. It was then that I found out Lucas was actually Kyle’s cousin. Seeing him again, I was extremely nervous, but Lucas was particularly cold towards me, sometimes even deliberately ignoring my existence. I didn’t know what I had done to offend him, but I vaguely felt that he didn’t like me, and for a long time, I was secretly heartbroken about it. As I said this, looking at Lucas’s attentive expression, I suddenly felt incredibly wronged and couldn’t help but start crying. Lucas panicked immediately. He sat down beside me, awkwardly patting my back to comfort me. But I felt even more upset and, unable to control myself, suddenly hugged his waist and buried my face in his chest. His body stiffened for a moment, then he hugged me tightly, as if wanting to meld me into his body. His chin gently nuzzled the top of my head. “Sarah.” He suddenly called my name softly. “Mm.” I responded with a nasal tone. “Did you really break up with Kyle?” he asked me, his deep, magnetic voice seemingly suppressing some unknown emotion. “Of course it’s true. He introduced his new girlfriend in the group chat today. I have nothing to do with him anymore.” As soon as I finished speaking, he suddenly lowered his head and tenderly kissed the tears at the corner of my eye. My face instantly heated up. Lucas continued kissing me while carrying me to the bedroom. I unconsciously wrapped my arms around his neck, and he gently covered me…

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After my rebirth, I found myself pinned beneath Zack once again. In my previous life, Zack had drunkenly slept with me, leading to a forced marriage after the media exposed us. But after the wedding, he viciously berated me: “You schemed your way into marrying me and drove Susie away. Are you satisfied now?” Only then did I realize he had always loved Susie, the poor student he’d been sponsoring. To get revenge on me, he bankrupted my family and ruined us completely. This time, I firmly pushed him away and went to open the door. “I’m in the wrong room. My boyfriend is across the hall.” A moment later, the door opposite opened. Jason, Zack’s business rival, stood in the doorway. I threw myself into his arms. “Honey, I missed you so much!” Zack’s face darkened. At the same time, I slammed the door shut. Enveloped in the heavy scent of alcohol, I was pinned beneath Zack. Just like in my previous life, he was passionate, his ragged breathing hot against my temple as he murmured longingly: “Susie…” I jolted, suddenly snapping back to awareness. In my past life, I had secretly loved Zack. When he drunkenly pressed me down that night, my heart had been filled more with joy and anticipation than fear. Hearing him call out my name so tenderly, I thought Zack must have feelings for me too. But on our wedding night, after I had prepared so carefully, he kicked me out of the master bedroom. Only then did I realize the “Susie” he spoke of wasn’t me at all. The one he loved had always been Susie Zhao, the poor student he sponsored – not me, Sophia Su. How foolish I was to accept that sham of a marriage just because of one reckless night. I thought it was a romantic union, but I had no idea the hell that awaited me. Zack took brutal revenge on me, destroying my family and ruining us completely. The feeling of being pinned down by that despicable man was vivid in my mind. It was as if countless greasy hands were still roaming over my body. In my past life, I had been tortured to death by those men. Humiliation and shame enveloped me as I violently shoved the man on top of me away. Zack froze in shock. I didn’t even spare him a glance as I stumbled towards the door. As I grasped the handle, he called out my name from behind. “Sophia—” So he did know who I was after all. He knew, yet he still went along with the charade, blaming everything on me after we married. How absurd. I didn’t even turn around, coldly tossing out as I opened the door: “I’m in the wrong room. My boyfriend is across the hall.” A moment later, the opposite door opened. Jason, Zack’s business rival, stood in the doorway. Sensing footsteps behind me, I gritted my teeth and threw myself into his arms. Then I squeezed out the most affected voice I could muster: “Honey, I missed you so much!” “Sophia.” Zack’s voice came through gritted teeth. Still clinging to Jason, I sneaked a glance back. Zack’s face had darkened. At the same time, I slammed the door shut. As it closed, Zack’s furious voice squeezed through the gap. “You’ll regret this!” I certainly wouldn’t regret it. In my past life, I had done more than enough to regret. This time, I absolutely would not make the same mistakes.

Just as I closed the door, a commotion of footsteps sounded from around the corner of the hallway. I suddenly realized something and frowned, instinctively pushing Jason into his room. Sure enough, the footsteps soon stopped outside the door. “It’s this room, right?” “Yes, hurry and knock!” It was those reporters. In my previous life, photos of Zack and I sleeping together had been exposed by these unscrupulous media vultures. Under pressure from all sides, Zack had been forced to marry me. At the time, I had been overjoyed, completely oblivious to his reluctance. It wasn’t until after the wedding that he berated me to my face, torturing me with his cold demeanor. Not only that, but Zack had schemed to destroy my family’s company. After we went bankrupt, my father committed suicide by jumping off a building, unable to bear the pressure. My mother followed soon after by slitting her wrists. I became an orphan overnight, then was sold off to rich businessmen to pay off debts. Used by countless men. That time was like hell on earth. Even now, the memory made my whole body tremble uncontrollably. I was treated like a toy, an ornament, subjected to their endless abuse. I still remember when they first took me. I was still naive then, my voice shaking as I warned them: “My husband is Zack Williams. If he finds out how you’re treating me—” Before I could finish, the leering man opposite burst into laughter. Then he slapped my face again and again, telling me the cruel truth. “Zack Williams? Don’t be so naive. He’s the one who sold you to us.” I knew Zack had always loved Susie, but I never imagined he could be so heartless towards me. Thankfully now, I had a chance to redo everything. I had avoided the reporters and hadn’t slept with Zack. Clutching my chest in lingering fear, the joy of my rebirth made me momentarily forget where I was, until the man before me spoke teasingly. “Boyfriend?” I froze, then looked up. Jason was raising an eyebrow at me. This was the first time I’d observed him up close. His looks were completely different from Zack’s pretty-boy features – harder, colder, with thick brows and eyes so dark they gleamed. No wonder he made countless girls in the city swoon. But now wasn’t the time to be starstruck. Hearing the door across the hall open, I quickly lowered my voice and pleaded: “Can you help me? Just pretend to be my boyfriend in front of Zack for a few days. I’m leaving the country soon, you can say you dumped me after that.” Jason’s expression remained neutral the whole time. After I finished, he just glanced at the door with a half-smile. “What if I say no?” My heart leapt into my throat. I knew this was no joking matter. If Jason opened the door now and revealed what he’d seen, I would be doomed to repeat my past life’s tragedy. At that thought, I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, there was a hint of desperation in my gaze. “What will it take for you to agree? I’ll accept any condition.” Perhaps it was the gravity of my tone, but Jason paused for a moment. Then he strode further into the room. “I never thought I’d see the day the high and mighty Sophia Su would stoop to begging.” My heart loosened a bit, sensing there was hope. I hurriedly followed him. By now Jason had walked over to sit by the window, dramatically picking up a glass of red wine from the table. “I suppose I could help you, but you’ll have to do something for me in return.” I nodded without hesitation: “Of course, what is it?” He gripped the rim of the glass, tapping it lightly with his finger. “I haven’t decided yet. Let’s just say you’ll owe me one, to be determined later.” Jason proved true to his word. Those reporters didn’t manage to get any useful information from the room across the hall, but they stubbornly refused to leave the hotel lobby. Jason snuck me out through the service elevator and we slipped away unnoticed through the parking garage.

I hadn’t expected the news to still break. Someone had photographed Zack and I entering the hotel together from behind. Combined with Zack’s state when he opened the door, the reporters were convinced he must have been on a date. But the mystery woman had only been captured in a blurry shot from behind before vanishing. The love lives of the city’s most eligible bachelors were always hot gossip. In less than a day, news of Zack’s secret lover spread like wildfire. Meanwhile, he was hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. The next day at breakfast, my parents scrolled through their phones and asked me: “Is it true Zack’s dating someone?” I played dumb: “No idea, we haven’t been in touch lately.” I scrolled through my own phone for a while, only relaxing after confirming Zack hadn’t revealed my name to the cameras. Just then, a SnapChat notification from him popped up on my screen. “Come see me at the hospital.” His tone brooked no argument as usual. My instinct was to refuse, but after thinking it over, I decided against it. If I angered him, he might leak my name to the media and cause a whole new mess. That afternoon, I got ready and headed to the hospital. Pushing open the door, I found Zack recklessly working on his laptop in bed. Seeing me enter, he immediately closed the computer and pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose. His face was pale as he coldly demanded: “When did you start liking Jason?” Not waiting for my answer, he launched into a barrage of questions: “Do you have any idea what kind of person Jason is? Everyone in our circles says he’s gay, always surrounded by male escorts. You—” “I’ve liked him since we were kids,” I said softly, cutting him off. I forced myself to ignore the look of shock on Zack’s face. Though they ran in the same social circles, Zack and Jason were well-known rivals. Zack was the typical golden boy – excelling at everything, always perfect. In contrast, Jason was a rebellious troublemaker. Yet from childhood through adulthood, Jason had always outperformed Zack academically. Even after starting their own businesses, the two remained competitors in the same industry. The one I had liked since childhood was actually Zack. When I was little, my parents were always busy with work. We had just moved to the city from out of state, and I wasn’t familiar with the area yet. One day I snuck out of our gated community to play, but accidentally got lost. I couldn’t find my way home even as it got dark, and ended up crying by the roadside. That day, Zack appeared before me like an angel, gently wiping away my tears with a tissue. “Don’t be scared, I’ll take you home.” He held my small hand in his, and truly did bring me back to my front door. From then on, I became Zack’s little shadow. My childhood crush gradually became a habit, and I secretly loved him all these years. Hearing my answer now, Zack’s expression grew increasingly ugly. “Sophia, this isn’t a joke. Of all people, why would you like that plague—” Just then, three polite knocks sounded at the door. It was Susie. Seeing me, her expression didn’t change at all as she set down the thermos she’d brought on a nearby table. “I saw the news that you were hospitalized and rushed over. This is soup I made myself, it’s very good for you. Drink it while it’s hot.” Susie spoke unhurriedly, her voice soft and pleasant, a smile ever-present on her face. This caring image was something any man would love. Seeing her, Zack’s expression softened. “You didn’t need to go to the trouble of making it yourself.” Susie sat down beside him, inadvertently squeezing me to the side. I took the hint and quietly left the hospital room. In this life, I hoped those two would end up locked together.

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After I donated my corneas to my son who was about to go blind, he mixed up my identity with Lily Brooks, my husband’s first love, due to memory confusion. Devastating news struck, and I was in so much pain that I didn’t want to wake up. But while I was semi-conscious, I overheard a conversation between my son and husband. “Dad, this way, Aunt Lily can stay with me forever!” “Yes, that’s my good boy! You acted so well!” The doctor who performed my surgery couldn’t bear to watch anymore. “Young master’s eyes were perfectly fine. You tricked your wife into donating her corneas to Miss Brooks. If she finds out, I’m afraid…” “There’s nothing to be afraid of. She loves me and Charlie so much. Besides, she’s an orphan. Where could she go without us?” “Lily has no one here, and she’s about to go blind. I can’t waste another minute!” I lay in bed, tears of despair soaking my pillow. They only cared about protecting Lily. But they didn’t know that because of the surgery, I was dying.

When I woke up, Lucas Carter, who was supposed to be by my bedside, was nowhere to be found. After returning home alone under the sympathetic gaze of the medical staff, I saw Lucas enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with Lily Brooks. Seeing me return, Lucas hurriedly stood up. “Honey, you’re back.” “Why didn’t you tell me you were discharged? I could have picked you up.” “You’ve been through such a major surgery. It must have been tough. Charlie and I will take good care of you from now on!” His gaze was as gentle as ever, but I suddenly felt completely drained. Behind his mask of pretense was nothing but false sincerity. I ignored him and looked at Lily, who was acting like the lady of the house. “Why is she here?” Lucas coughed and explained. “Of course, it’s for Charlie. He only remembers Lily now. The doctor said they should spend more time together. It’s good for his recovery.” Charlie came forward and punched me, showing his loyalty. “Bad woman, how dare you bully my mom!” I bit my lip, feeling my blood run cold instantly. The pain of being betrayed by my dearest loved ones almost made me lose my balance. Before the surgery, the doctor had warned me. My body wasn’t suitable for this kind of surgery. Forcing it would only shorten my lifespan. But Charlie was so young. I couldn’t bear to watch him go blind. A pair of corneas was the last gift I, as a mother, could give him. But my wholehearted devotion was repaid with betrayal after betrayal! Everything was just a trap they set for me for Lily’s sake! Seeing the situation, Lily came forward to mediate, twisting her body. “Charlie, that’s enough. We shouldn’t hit people.” I looked at her smug eyes, trembling with anger. Sensing the tense atmosphere, Lucas quickly handed me a package from the side. “Honey, this is the discharge gift I prepared for you.” I looked down. Inside was a set of revealing lingerie. Lucas’s face instantly turned ugly as he tried to explain that he had grabbed the wrong package. But I never wore such things. He knew very well who it was bought for. I laughed bitterly and threw the clothes in his face before turning to go back to my room. But the sounds of laughter and joy outside were so loud they made my eardrums hurt. I had completely become an outsider in this family. But not long after, Charlie knocked on my door. He walked into my room without any courtesy and commanded me. “My toy is broken. Sew it for me!”

He was holding a rabbit plush toy that I had once sewn for him stitch by stitch. But now, the rabbit’s entire body had been maliciously cut beyond recognition. I looked at Charlie with trembling hands. Was this still the child I had nearly given my life to birth? But he wasn’t like this before. He used to sweetly call me “Mom” and was sensible enough to help with housework. But I don’t know when it started. He began to despise my increasingly haggard appearance from taking care of him. He pointed at my nose, “You’re so ugly now, no wonder Dad doesn’t want to come home to see you!” My heart was painfully stabbed, and a bucket of cold water was thrown in my face. Charlie held the bucket, impatiently glaring at me. “What are you staring at? Hurry up and sew it!” I looked at him deeply and calmly told him. “Go ask Lily to sew it for you.” With that, I walked towards the balcony to find new clothes. But the next second, I heard a click as the balcony door was locked. I was shocked and desperately pounded on the door, shouting. “Charlie, open the door!” But Charlie just snorted coldly, then directly pulled the curtains shut, ignoring my desperate cries for help. The night wind was bitterly cold, and my wet clothes clung to my body, making me shiver. My heart also turned completely cold. I curled up in the corner, seeking a bit of warmth. But at this moment, I heard a woman’s moan. “Oh, you naughty boy. Do you really like this outfit that much?” “Olivia is right next door. Aren’t you afraid she’ll come out and see us?” Lucas panted and teased. “Don’t worry, with Charlie keeping her busy, she won’t have time to bother us.” “Besides, we’ve been apart for so many years. Don’t you miss me?” The sounds of passion filled my ears, and I finally couldn’t control myself and vomited a mouthful of blood. That night, they were on fire in the room. While I was on the balcony, chilled to the bone by the cold wind. It wasn’t until noon the next day, when I was about to become dehydrated, that Lucas found me. He hurriedly took off his coat to wrap around my nearly lifeless body, and for the first time, he put on a serious face for Charlie. “Charlie, who told you to do this?” Charlie pouted, “She deserved it for not helping me sew my doll.” “But you can’t do that!” Charlie snorted and carelessly pulled Lily’s hand to run away. Lucas sighed and held my hand to comfort me. “Olivia, Charlie thinks Lily is you now. Everything he does is because he loves you.” “You need to understand him. Besides, I’ll always be on your side.” His eyes were deep and sincere, as if he still loved me very much. If I could ignore the fresh red marks on his neck, I might have believed him. I turned away, not wanting to look at him anymore. Seeing my attitude, Lucas also became angry. “Olivia Johnson, it’s getting old if you keep acting like this.” I laughed, “Is that so? Then I’ll just keep acting till the end.” “Unbelievable!” Lucas slammed the door hard as he left. The noise made my temples throb with pain. I lay on the couch, taking a long while to recover before getting up to go to the hospital. I needed to buy medicine.

The artificial eye was still a foreign object to me, causing excruciating pain every few days. The doctor told me there was a special medicine that might stabilize my condition. Otherwise, at this rate, I wouldn’t live past six months. But I had long since become a stay-at-home wife for love, with almost all financial power in Lucas’s hands. But I didn’t want to die yet. So I opened my phone and called him. But it was always busy. Until the last time, he hung up directly. I laughed and told the doctor to forget it. Leaving the hospital, my phone died, and the sky started pouring rain. My artificial eye had limited vision in the rain. But I could vaguely make out the father and son celebrating Lily’s birthday at a dessert shop. They were smearing cream on each other’s faces, looking as happy as in a romantic drama. But they usually hated sweets. As the rain trickled down my hair, I laughed bitterly, again and again. It turns out they didn’t dislike sweets. They just needed someone who could make them eat sweets. The continuous exposure to cold made me develop a high fever as soon as I got home. The artificial eye was still a foreign object, often making it difficult for me to sleep at night. But now, because of the fever, I dozed off in a daze. I hadn’t slept long before someone woke me up. Lucas brought me a small cake. “Here, Charlie and I brought you a strawberry cake. Wasn’t it your favorite before?” The old trick of giving a sweet after a slap. I looked into his eyes and said calmly. “That was before. I don’t like it anymore.” Lucas frowned. “Olivia Johnson, what exactly do you want to say?” I told him. “Lucas Carter, give me $300,000.” Surprised by my sudden request, Lucas was clearly bewildered. But before I could respond, Lily chimed in playfully. “I know why. There’s a new designer bag that costs exactly $300,000! Olivia must want to buy a bag!” “Throwing such a tantrum just for a bag, Olivia, you’re being so unreasonable.” Lucas’s eyes were full of mockery. “So you’ve been acting up all this time just to buy a bag. Olivia Johnson, I didn’t know you’ve become so vain and materialistic.” Charlie also chimed in. “That’s right, why should such a gold-digger stay in our house!” The three of them righteously accused me, and I laughed self-mockingly. Yes, a bag. They only knew that $300,000 was the price of a bag. But they didn’t know that $300,000 was also the price of my life. Lily walked up with a smile, stirring up more trouble. “Oh, don’t say that. Olivia is an orphan, with no mother to teach her. It’s normal to have some bad habits.” At the mention of my mother, my brain couldn’t even think before I instinctively slapped her. Lily wailed and fell into Lucas’s arms. Lucas was instantly enraged and pointed at my nose, cursing fiercely. “Olivia Johnson, apologize!” “Otherwise, you can forget about getting this money!” My heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly, making it difficult to breathe. Enduring the high fever, I propped myself up and looked at this man I had loved for seven years. Over the years, his appearance had barely changed, but his heart had become completely unrecognizable. In an instant, I didn’t want the money anymore. I didn’t want him or Charlie either.

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My nine fiancés all jumped to their deaths after wearing the antique watch my mother gave them at their engagement parties. No matter how the watch was dismantled, nothing unusual could be found. The police repeatedly took my mother in for questioning but could never find any problems. After the news broke, my mother’s watch went viral online. Countless people wanted to buy the same model to investigate, but it was priceless and unavailable. As a result, I was branded as cursed and had to move away from my mother. Two years later, when I got engaged to my tenth fiancé, I saw that familiar watch on his wrist again as we exchanged rings. When I took my ninth fiancé, Lucas, to the engagement party, I repeatedly told him not to wear the watch my mother had given him. But Lucas pinched my waist dismissively, “Honey, why are you so nervous? It’s just a watch.” “If I don’t wear it because of some imaginary superstition, wouldn’t that make a bad impression on your mom?” With that, he ignored my protests and immediately put on the watch my mother had given him. I trembled all over and quietly counted down three numbers, “Three, two, one…” As the last number ended, the watch had made a full rotation. Lucas, who had just been boasting that he was fine, suddenly turned pale. The next second, he rushed to the window and jumped straight down, Splattering into a bloody mess in front of everyone’s eyes. Everyone ran downstairs, frantically taking photos and fighting over the watch. After experiencing eight deaths, I was almost numb to such scenes. But Lucas’s departure still pierced my already battered heart once again. I turned back to look at my mother, who remained calm, and asked shakily, “You promised me you wouldn’t give Lucas that watch!” “It’s been nine times now. I’m your daughter! Do you know what people are saying about me out there?” Hearing this, my mother raised her lip corner disdainfully. Her makeup had gotten thicker in recent years. When she laughed, a lot of powder would be squeezed off by her wrinkles, Making her appearance in my eyes increasingly terrifying. “Lucas came to ask me for the watch himself. It has nothing to do with me.” “But his fate wasn’t strong enough to withstand my watch. His death was his own choice.” The police quickly arrived and once again took the life-taking watch away for research. They were excited, “The Lu family knows a lot about mysticism. Maybe this time we can really find out something.” Everyone was waiting for an answer, wanting justice for them. The Lu family also started a live stream online, with hundreds of thousands of viewers watching the watch examination. The mechanical watch was no different from ordinary watches, except that it would only rotate once before breaking down. The Lu family speculated from various angles and searched through all the ancient books they had brought. But after three full hours, they still came up empty-handed. The internet exploded, “Nine lives have been lost and they still can’t figure it out. What kind of watch is this mysterious?” “Yeah, I just hope their daughter stops dating and hurting others. One dies after another, who can bear that?” Looking at these comments, the tears I had been holding back for so long Finally flowed out uncontrollably. My mother had somehow come up behind me, “Are you going to keep being angry with me?” Seeing that I didn’t respond, she slammed the dinner on the ground with a sullen face. “You don’t even eat when dinner goes bad. Did Lucas affect you that much?” I gave her a bitter smile, “Mom, aren’t you afraid after taking so many lives?” “Why does that watch make them commit suicide?” Hearing this, my mother frowned, “Their deaths have nothing to do with me. The watch is normal, so of course I’m not afraid.” My tears flowed again as I turned away, not wanting to hear any more. Then I left home with my already packed luggage, without looking back. “Mom, I just want to live a normal life, but you keep hiding things from me.” “Since that’s the case, you might as well pretend you don’t have a daughter from now on.”

I returned to the city where I worked with my luggage, becoming increasingly quiet and withdrawn. My mother and I fell into a cold war after that day. Apart from asking if I was coming home for the holidays, she never talked to me again. I forced myself to focus all my energy on work. In my spare time, I dedicated myself to studying that mechanical watch. This was one I had secretly taken from my mother’s antique shop before I left. I stared blankly at these utterly ordinary parts after dismantling it. Why did this watch take Lucas and the others’ lives? For many days, I was in a daze. My colleagues noticed and started discussing privately whether I had gone crazy. Even the supervisor dug up the old news and wanted to fire me for being unlucky. At the critical moment, my partner Frank stood up for me. “She performs excellently at work and just likes to study watches. Why fire her for that?” “Besides, it’s been a year. Isn’t it cruel to keep bringing up her trauma?” Frank went directly to the manager and tried his best to keep me on. Afterwards, our relationship grew closer. We naturally got together. A year later, he proposed to me. I accepted and chose a wedding venue, but had trouble inviting guests. Looking at the long-silent chat box with my mother, I was very conflicted about whether to invite her. My father had passed away when I was very young, and my mother had raised me single-handedly with great hardship. Before I started dating, she was just a normal, good mother. Gentle and caring, pouring all her love into me. To say I only had hatred left for her would be a lie. But the tragic deaths of my previous nine fiancés were still vivid in my mind. I really couldn’t bear to let Frank take the risk. In the end, I chose to skip inviting her. I thought this would settle the matter and break my curse of being unlucky in love. Unexpectedly, Frank secretly brought my mother over the day before the wedding without telling me. “Honey, you’ve been so distracted these past few days. I guessed you must be missing your mom.” “Don’t worry, I won’t wear anything she gives me. Nothing will happen.” Frank looked at me lovingly and planted a kiss on my forehead. Hearing his promise, I relaxed. I turned to face my mother. After two years apart, she looked even more haggard. “Rachel, congratulations on your wedding.” My mother said, then took out a gold necklace and put it on me. She seemed to have returned to that loving mother from before. The last bit of defense in my heart was completely shattered. I buried myself in her embrace, choking out the word “Mom.” Frank, seeing this, smiled with satisfaction. Then he sincerely promised my mother, “Mom, don’t worry, I will definitely treat Rachel well.” “We’ll also come back to visit you often in the future and take care of you in your old age.” My mother’s body stiffened, and she looked at him with a complex expression for a long time. It wasn’t until I shook her that my mother reacted and said “Mm” to Frank.

The next day, at the wedding venue. Frank and I smoothly went through all the ceremonies. But just as the host asked my mother if she had anything to say to us, She took out that watch and looked at Frank, “Are you willing to wear this watch?” Frank instinctively looked at me, about to refuse. But the uninformed host started to egg him on, “Come on, groom, just wear it. It’s the elder’s heartfelt gift.” I immediately scolded him, “Shut up! He can’t take that watch!” Then I glared angrily at my mother, “It’s my wedding day. Can you stop causing trouble?” “If you really want to give someone a watch, then let me wear it. We can talk about this after the wedding!” For a moment, the atmosphere between us became tense. The crowd below started discussing, mostly those who didn’t know the situation. “It’s just a watch, what’s the big deal about wearing it?” “Yeah, this bride is so disrespectful. How can she treat her mother-in-law like this?” Frank hesitated for a while, then came over to pull me. “Honey, why don’t I just wear it? I don’t want to make you and your mom unhappy.” Tears burst from my eyes, “No, you’re not allowed to wear it. Otherwise, I won’t go through with this wedding.” No one wanted to break the curse of that mechanical watch more than I did. I really didn’t want to bear the weight of another life. Frank sighed, his brows furrowed deeply, seeming to be weighing his options. Seeing this, my mother stood up with a pale face, grabbed Frank’s hand and fastened the watch on him in one swift motion. The action was so fast that no one had time to react. I immediately hugged Frank tightly, my other hand trying to pull off the watch. But it was all too late. After the watch rotated once, Frank broke free from me and rushed outside like a madman in front of everyone at the venue. He crashed through the glass doors of the hall and leaped down from the eighth floor. Dying in exactly the same way as the previous nine. Frank’s mother let out a heart-wrenching scream. She ran downstairs trembling and knelt beside Frank, wailing loudly. “My son, how could you suddenly become like this? How can mother go on living without you?” I followed her down, my emotions on the verge of collapse. Just as I was about to reach out to help her up, I was pulled away by other members of the Fu family. “Don’t touch my aunt! You vixen, we’ve found out about you.” “You’re that cursed star of misfortune. Any man who dates you dies. Stay away from our Fu family!” These elders who had been so kind to me before now looked at me as if they wanted to eat me alive. A sharp pain stabbed through my chest. Looking at Frank’s lifeless face, I wished I could die in his place. Without him, I might have long lost hope for life. It was Frank who told me over and over again that what happened before had nothing to do with me, redeeming me. But now… he had died because of me. Moreover, all of this could have been prevented! I hated myself. Why didn’t I stop him when he contacted my mother? Why didn’t I hold him tighter when he broke free from me just now? Coming back to my senses, I tore off the gold necklace around my neck and threw it violently at my mother. She still had that calm and indifferent expression, just like the previous nine times. Even with Frank’s body right in front of her, there wasn’t a hint of guilt on her face. “Get out! I don’t want to see you. Why don’t you go die?” “They’re right, you’re a vixen, a star of misfortune. Nothing good will ever come from meeting you!” I clenched my fists and lunged at my mother, wanting to end it all with her like a madwoman. But she still had no reaction, “Calm down. His death has nothing to do with me.” Hearing this, Frank’s mother immediately pulled me away and started fighting with my mother herself. “Nothing to do with you? My son was so good to you, perfectly healthy. How could he suddenly commit suicide after wearing the watch you gave him?” “I don’t care what kind of sorcery you used. Today I’m going to die with you!” It wasn’t until the police arrived that this farce was finally quelled. They also learned about the previous nine cases and took it more seriously. “Ms. Su, we require you to choose someone to wear this watch again at the scene.” My mother, looking disheveled from the fight, swept a hateful glance around. “Fine, who’s willing to wear it?” Everyone took a few steps back. After all, no one wanted to gamble with their life. Lucas’s mother coldly pushed me forward. “Of course it should be her!” “You mother and daughter are both a curse. Even if you die, it wouldn’t be a pity!”

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The scholarship student I had been supporting claimed she was pregnant with my father’s child. She arrogantly declared, “From now on, I’m your stepmother. You’d better serve me well, or I’ll kick you out of the family.” I was shocked speechless. After all, my father had been dead for nearly twenty years. Seeing my stubborn refusal to accept this, the scholarship student became furious. She immediately called my “father” to come over. She clung to my “father’s” arm, saying I was bullying her. Then she knelt down in front of me with a pitiful expression, apologizing. “Even if you don’t like me, the three sons in my belly are innocent. They can’t be without a father.” I snorted coldly and nodded, accepting the marriage between the scholarship student and my “father”. But there was one thing I didn’t tell the scholarship student. The man she was clinging to was only my stepfather, not my biological father. I heard that some new handbags had arrived at the boutique. Since I had some free time and enjoyed shopping, I declined the sales assistant’s offer to bring the bags to me for selection. Instead, I decided to go to the boutique myself. When I arrived, the familiar sales assistant, Christine, had an indescribable expression on her face. After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke up: “Miss… Miss Clarke, just now… just now… Your stepmother came by. She was looking at the bags and is now waiting for you in the VIP room.” My stepmother? I was stunned for a moment. “Since when did I have a stepmother?” Before Christine could continue, the door of the VIP room swung open, and several people walked out in a grand manner. I recognized all of them – they were my college classmates. However, we weren’t close friends. Except for Hannah Wilson, who came out last. She was the scholarship student I had been supporting. As for the others, I only knew their names. Hannah’s demeanor was completely different from her previous meek attitude. She looked at me arrogantly: “I am your stepmother now. We’ve divided up all the bags you had reserved. Consider it a welcome gift from you, the stepdaughter, to me, your stepmother.” I gently pinched the palm of my hand. The pain told me that this wasn’t some bizarre dream, but a real scene unfolding before me. “Hannah Wilson, have you gone mad? I’m Emily Clarke, the one who sponsored your scholarship. I’m not your stepdaughter or anything like that.” “Did… did studying law mess up your brain? We have a psychiatric hospital in the family. Do you want me to send you there for a check-up?” Hearing me say this, Hannah’s face turned red with anger. However, she didn’t come towards me. Instead, she hid behind the other classmates and shouted: “I’ve been with your father for over a year now. I’m carrying triplet sons in my belly, and I’ll be marrying your father soon. Tell me, if I’m not your stepmother, then what am I?” Looking at Hannah’s serious expression, I was even more shocked. Because my father had passed away shortly after I was born due to illness. And my mother had also been gone for several years. Who on earth was Hannah? How could she be pregnant with the child of my father who had been dead for twenty years? This wasn’t even a secret. Didn’t Hannah know about it? I was too shocked to speak, but Hannah seemed very pleased with herself: “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue? Weren’t you just bragging about how I’ve gone mad?” “I advise you to start sucking up to me quickly. Otherwise, once I give birth to these three sons, I’ll throw you out on the street.” “After all, I’m carrying sons, which is completely different from a useless girl like you. The only reason you’re living such a luxurious life now is because you’re the only child of the Clarke family. Once my sons are born, a useless girl like you will have to step aside.”

The classmates immediately chimed in one after another. “Hurry up and buy that bag for Hannah, or you might not even get a meal at home in the future.” “Quickly pack up everything Hannah looked at earlier, then pay for it all.” “In my opinion, you might as well just hand over your black card to Hannah. After all, you’re family now, it’s much easier to let Hannah choose what she likes herself.” … Seeing them about to snatch the card from my bag, I finally snapped back to reality: “Wait a minute, my father has been dead for twenty years. How can you claim to be pregnant with his child? Show me some proof!” Upon hearing me mention that my father was dead, Hannah’s face changed instantly, and she started cursing at me loudly. Her shouting was giving me a splitting headache, and I couldn’t help but raise my voice: “If you have the guts, call my father here right now to confront me face to face! If he personally admits it, forget about the bags and the card, I’ll give you all the family assets!” Hannah hesitated slightly. But she still took out her phone and walked aside to make a call, then turned back and glared at me smugly: “Just you wait, your dad happens to be nearby. He’ll be here in less than half an hour.” We all went into the VIP room to wait. Not long after, the door was pushed open, and Hannah immediately called out excitedly, “Uncle Robert!” I looked towards the sound and saw a familiar figure appear in the doorway. I unconsciously called out, “Dad?” Hearing this “Dad”, the smile on Hannah’s face became even more arrogant. She immediately changed her demeanor, walking to Robert Thompson’s side with a pitiful look: “Uncle Robert, you’ve finally arrived. I and the three babies in my belly almost couldn’t see you again.” Robert Thompson didn’t even glance at me. Instead, he anxiously looked Hannah up and down. Only after confirming she was alright did he breathe a sigh of relief: “What happened? Didn’t you say on the phone earlier that you fell here and almost had a miscarriage?” Hannah’s tears instantly streamed down her face: “I almost did have a miscarriage! After Emily found out about us, she went crazy. If it weren’t for these classmates protecting me, I really would have lost my life.” I frowned and glanced at the surveillance cameras around: “Just now, I only—” Before I could finish speaking, Hannah suddenly walked in front of me and knelt down heavily: “Emily, I understand why you hate me. You look down on someone like me who crawled out of a poor mountain village. Although you sponsored my scholarship, it was only to make others think you were kind-hearted. You never truly wanted to help me.” “I also know that now that I’m with your father, you must think I’m a gold digger who’s just after money. But I truly love Uncle Robert. Love knows no age difference.” Originally, Robert Thompson wanted to take Hannah to live in that suburban apartment, but Hannah firmly refused. While she claimed that being with Robert wasn’t about the money, she insisted on moving into my mansion. Her excuse was that she wanted to build a relationship with me. What I didn’t expect was that after Hannah moved in, she completely changed into a different person. Whenever Robert wasn’t home, she shamelessly revealed her true colors. “Emily Clarke, I’m carrying three heirs to the Clarke family in my belly, and you’re feeding me this garbage food?” “I clearly said I wanted to eat sea cucumber, yet you made a bowl of noodles. What’s that supposed to mean?” “I know you used to give me that scholarship handout, but now I’m your stepmother. If it weren’t for my kindness, you would have been kicked out of this house long ago.”

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One month after my death, my once-loving husband welcomed my sister-in-law into our home – the same woman who had run me over. He cooed to her, “Maggie occupied your rightful place for far too long. She should have died earlier. If it weren’t for my social status, you wouldn’t have had to suffer all these years.” My beloved son chose to reconcile unconditionally with them in court. He embraced his aunt, claiming he had always seen her as his birth mother. Watching from above, I nearly fainted from anger once again. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself reborn. My reborn husband pushed me aside and tightly embraced my sister-in-law: “In this life, I will never let you go again.” I turned away expressionlessly, seeking out his ill-fated brother instead. … “Ethan, this is your brother’s engagement party. Where are you taking your sister-in-law?” “Olivia, isn’t Ethan your fiancé? Quick, go after them and see what’s happening!” Amidst the buzzing gossip around me, I found myself inexplicably pushed to follow them. Confused, I ran to the alley entrance, where I saw Ethan holding his soon-to-be sister-in-law, Olivia, tightly in his arms. He said passionately: “Olivia, I love you. I won’t let you marry my brother.” “Thank God we’ve been given another chance. Trust me, I’ll give you a life beyond your wildest dreams.” Everything before me reminded me that this was reality. I had been reborn, back to the day of Olivia’s engagement. In my previous life, Ethan and I were seen as the perfect couple. Not only did Ethan hold a high position, but he also treasured his wife like a precious jewel. Everyone who saw us would sigh, “That’s the love of the older generation.” But only I knew that he had always been cold and indifferent towards me. I thought that’s how all marriages ended up, that we had simply worn into familial affection. So for decades, I served the family diligently, tending to his difficult mother and caring for our young child. But I never imagined that just a month after Olivia ran me over, he would ostentatiously marry her. It turned out that the perfect marriage I saw was merely a compromise Ethan made for his reputation. Looking at the passionate couple before me, I sneered and turned away. After Ethan’s dramatic gesture at the engagement party, gossip spread like wildfire through the town. The other protagonist, however, was overlooked. When I found him, he had already returned home. Despite being the one whose engagement was disrupted, his face was remarkably calm. “Ethan, your wife and my fiancé have run off together. Will you marry me instead?” I ran up to him, my palms sweating. Ethan looked at me, suddenly dumbstruck, and stammered, “Is that possible?” Then, as if afraid I might change my mind, he grabbed my hand: “You said it yourself, no taking it back, okay?” Walking home, I still felt like I was in a dream. Until Jack jumped in front of me, blocking my path. “Maggie, let’s break off our engagement.” Jack looked at me coldly. Before I could react, he glanced at the villagers watching nearby and raised his voice. “I’m about to get a big promotion. We’re not a good match anymore.” The town had implemented a special development measure, and our community had one promotion spot available. In my previous life, Jack had been the only one from our community to get promoted, riding the wave of the times and soaring to success. The surrounding crowd started to murmur. “Has the promotion spot already been decided?” “The Jack family is going to make it big now.” The flattery from those around greatly pleased Jack. “Let me tell you, don’t think you can cling to me just because I’m successful. In this life, I’ll only love Olivia…” I laughed bitterly, nodding to interrupt him. “Fine, let’s break off the engagement then.” Hearing my answer, Jack was stunned for a moment: “You said it yourself. Don’t come crawling back later wanting to change your mind. I won’t allow it.” Jack snorted lightly and walked away haughtily. Looking at Jack’s arrogant back, I suddenly remembered how in my previous life, when Jack faced public scrutiny for moving on too quickly after my death, he hastily called a press conference. Facing the cameras, he cried profusely: “Maggie’s only dying wish was for me to take care of her lonely sister-in-law.” “No matter what people think of me, I don’t care. I’ll fulfill Maggie’s wish until my dying day.” Even after I had died, I still had to pay the price to maintain his reputation. Seeing that I had truly agreed to break off the engagement, the villagers suddenly surrounded me. “Maggie, you’re such a fool. It’s not easy to find someone with Jack’s prospects.” “You and Jack have been engaged since childhood. How can a young woman just break off an engagement like that?” “If you ask me, a woman who can’t keep her man in check is just incompetent.” Seeing everyone’s heated discussion, I calmly said: “My engagement was with the Jack family, not just Jack himself.” The surroundings suddenly fell silent. An older woman stepped forward and asked me, “Maggie, what do you mean by that?” “Since it’s an engagement with the Jack family, marrying Jack’s older brother Ethan is the same thing.” The crowd suddenly erupted. “This is outrageous! People will spit on you if word gets out.” I interrupted them. “That day, everyone saw Jack run off with Olivia to break the engagement.” “Ethan and I are also following our parents’ wishes and the matchmaker’s arrangement.” As I spoke, I pretended to wipe away a tear. Seeing me looking pitiful, those around sighed. “Although Ethan is from the first wife, he’s still part of the Jack family.” “But with Ethan’s circumstances, Maggie will have a hard life if she goes with him.” “I don’t care about those things. Today, everyone can bear witness. Jack is the one who changed his mind and broke the engagement. From now on, we have no connection.” When I returned home, my parents had already heard the rumors about Jack and Olivia. My mother couldn’t stop crying, while my father sat on the bed smoking his pipe and sighing. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have agreed to your childhood engagement with the Jack family.” I hurried to comfort them. When they heard my decision to be with Ethan, my parents were shocked.

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At 17, I took in three young boys. As adults, they each took something from me. One took my kidney, another my uterus, and the third drained half my blood. All because their dream girl was gravely ill and urgently needed these three things. “Zoe, you can live without those organs, but Rosie will die if she’s not treated,” they said. What they didn’t know was that all my organs had been damaged in an explosion years ago. These three parts combined were enough to cost me my life. I lay pale and weak on the hospital bed after having half my blood drained. Lucas rushed in to take the blood bag, then turned back halfway to toss a black credit card at me. “Use this card for anything you need. I’ll compensate you double once Rosie recovers,” he said before leaving without looking back. This was the third time. I trembled as I tried to get out of bed. But as soon as my feet touched the ground, I blacked out from blood loss and fell. At the same time, sharp pain shot through two wounds on my abdomen. I took a few deep breaths and shakily pulled open my hospital gown. There were two freshly stitched incisions on my abdomen. One on my lower belly where my uterus had been removed. Another on my side where a kidney had been taken. And the people who took my organs were the children I had raised with my own hands. I leaned against the wall, shaking as I slowly made my way to the door. As soon as I opened it, I heard Lucas’s voice from next door. “Don’t worry Rosie, I’ll cure you no matter what. Leaving you back then was unavoidable, but I’ll make it up to you tenfold from now on.” “Tch, taking all the credit for yourself? Have some shame! I’m the one who begged Zoe on my knees for that kidney!” “Enough, let’s focus. Lucas, hurry and give Rosie the blood transfusion.” I froze, a bitter taste filling my mouth. The three speakers were the children I had raised. Rosie and I were separated by just one wall. But since I was brought to the hospital, they had only visited me three times. Once to take my kidney, once for my uterus, and once to drain my blood. Ignoring the pain, I took out my phone to message Quinn. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m leaving.” Quinn replied quickly: “It’s about time! You raised them to adulthood, you don’t owe anyone anything anymore. I’m buying a plane ticket now, wait for me!” She was right, I no longer owed anyone anything. Six years ago, I found Lucas on a rainy night. He was hiding by a dumpster, injured. I didn’t mind the dirt and held my umbrella over him. “Where’s your family, kid?” I asked. Lucas looked up with clear eyes. “My parents died long ago. My grandma who loved me most is gone too.” Seeing the injuries all over him, I asked if he wanted to come with me. Later I learned that Lucas’s grandmother had died in an explosion. His relatives mistreated him, leaving him hungry, cold, and beaten. A week after taking in Lucas, I took in two brothers. Their parents had also died in an explosion. Their relatives had stolen all their assets and repeatedly tried to kill them. With three teenage boys in the house, expenses multiplied. While my peers were preparing for college entrance exams, I decisively dropped out of school and worked six jobs a day to support them. When Quinn found out, she rushed over and jabbed a finger at my forehead in frustration. “Have you lost your mind?! Dropping out for three strangers? You’re working to put them through school, but what about your future? Is someone forcing you to do this?” I shook my head, silently looking at the calluses on my hands. “No one’s forcing me. This is what I want.”

Quinn said I had an overdeveloped sense of morality and that I’d regret it someday. But for all her scolding, she would still secretly slip me money. Later on, Quinn often called them three ungrateful brats. Back then, I would still defend them. Now I see Quinn wasn’t wrong – they really were ungrateful brats. But if I could go back six years, I would still take them in without hesitation. I snapped out of my thoughts and held onto the wall as I walked into the hallway. But the next moment, I saw Sean coming out of the room next door. He was one of the two brothers I had taken in. The skinny teenager had grown taller than me as an adult. Sean frowned when he saw me out of bed. “Where are you going?” “It’s boring in the room. I wanted to take a walk.” I tried to brush past him, but he grabbed my wrist tightly. “Rosie isn’t fully recovered yet. Don’t think about running off.” My heart felt like it had been doused with ice water. I tried to shake him off, but I was too weak. “Sean, let go of me, damn it!” As we struggled, Rosie’s voice came from the next room. “Is that Zoe outside? Let her in.” “I owe my recovery all to her. I want to thank Zoe in person.” Sean forcefully dragged me into the room. The movement pulled at my wounds, and my face went deathly pale. But Sean didn’t notice anything wrong. As soon as we entered, he rushed straight to the bed. He didn’t look at me once. There were three men in the room – all the boys I had raised. Now these three men were hovering around Rosie. Lucas was feeding her ginseng soup. When he saw me, he didn’t even pause. Rosie waved her hands saying she didn’t want more, but her eyes gleamed with triumph as she looked at me. “Zoe, please tell them to stop. I’ve said I don’t want ginseng, but they insist on feeding me.” “Just one more sip. You just had surgery and a major blood transfusion. You need to replenish your strength,” Lucas coaxed, giving her a few more spoonfuls. My throat felt like it was on fire. The bitterness in my heart threatened to overwhelm me. Rosie looked nothing like a sick person. Her face was rosy, her eyes bright. She looked healthier than me. “If you don’t want it, just pour it out,” I said flatly, wanting to leave as soon as possible. To my surprise, Rosie burst into tears at my words. “Zoe, do you hate me? I know I owe my life to you. But if you don’t like it, I won’t get treatment.” Lucas and Sean rushed to comfort her. Henry, the other brother, pointed at me angrily. “Zoe, you’ve gone too far! Rosie just wanted to apologize. Why have you been glaring since you came in?” I wasn’t glaring. My wounds had reopened. The sharp pain was consuming me, not to mention I had just lost half my blood. A nurse walked in at that moment. She was startled to see me and quickly helped me to a chair. “Miss, are you feeling unwell? Even your lips are white.” My heart felt like it was being stabbed by countless needles. A stranger could see something was wrong, but they couldn’t. They all stood by Rosie’s bed scolding me. I couldn’t stay any longer. I thanked the nurse and left.

I had barely reached the lobby when Henry caught up and grabbed my shoulder roughly. “Zoe! Rosie just had surgery. The doctor said she needs rest.” “We’ve been trying so hard to cheer her up these past days. Then you come and make her cry!” “Come back with me and apologize to her!” How absurd. They only saw that Rosie had surgery. But I had organs forcibly removed – the damage to my body was far worse! They couldn’t see any of that. I pushed him away and walked towards the exit. Henry wouldn’t let me leave. He forcefully grabbed my clothes. There was a loud ripping sound. My clothes were torn open in public, exposing my entire upper body. Everyone in the busy lobby turned to look. Henry froze for a moment, then quickly took off his jacket to cover me. “Zoe, I didn’t mean to…” Before Henry could finish, I raised a trembling hand and slapped him. I held back tears, my face flushed with humiliation. “Henry, I don’t owe you three anything anymore. Don’t contact me again.” I left without looking back. Henry was about to chase after me, but he got a phone call and ran upstairs in a panic instead. The old door creaked as it opened. I was finally home. I collapsed exhaustedly onto the couch. But the next moment, a wave of nausea hit and I coughed violently, spitting up blood. I stared blankly at the blood on the floor, then cleaned it up as if nothing had happened. I knew I was dying. Eight years ago, I was caught in a fuel tanker explosion that killed many people. Though I survived, my internal organs were severely damaged. The doctors said my organs would never fully recover. Since then, I couldn’t do any heavy work. Even walking too fast left me breathless. Only Quinn knew about this. So when she found out I was working six jobs for three strangers, even she couldn’t understand what I was thinking. Just then, Quinn called. “Zoe, you’re so inconsiderate! You didn’t even come pick me up! Never mind, I’m out of the airport now. I’m coming to find you – are you still living in that old house where you raised those three ungrateful brats?” “Yes, I’m so sorry Quinn. I’ve been too busy with work to get away.” I lied to Quinn. She still didn’t know what I’d been through at the hospital. After hanging up, I got up to pack my bags. But the next moment, I heard a key turning in the lock outside. I froze. Besides me, only those three had keys to this old house. The door opened. Lucas entered first, pausing when he saw my packed suitcase on the floor. Sean pushed past him and came up to me, pulling me towards the door. He looked very anxious. “Rosie’s condition suddenly worsened. She needs your blood. Come to the hospital with me, quick!” I yanked my hand away forcefully and slapped him, my hand shaking. “Sean! I’m a person too! Have you ever thought that I need blood as well?!” Sean suddenly knelt before me, like he used to when begging for favors. “Please sis, save her one more time. Blood can be replenished, but if Rosie isn’t treated, she really will die.” “No need to beg her. She’s probably hoping Rosie dies soon,” Henry said coldly as he walked in. “Zoe, I’ll give you two choices. Either you walk to my car yourself, or I’ll tie you up and carry you there.” Seeing I didn’t respond, Henry’s expression darkened as he advanced towards me. Lucas stood blocking the doorway – my only escape route. How ironic. The three boys I raised with my own hands were now forcing me into a corner. “What if I say no?” I asked. “You don’t have the right to refuse.” My heart turned to ice. I stripped naked in front of them, revealing my mutilated body. My arms were bruised from blood draws. There were two incisions on my waist and abdomen. I pointed at these wounds and shouted: “This is my body!” “You’ve already taken two organs from me and drained half my blood!” “Now you want more of my blood – are you trying to kill me right in front of you?!” The three grown men froze, averting their eyes. Finally, Henry approached me. “You won’t die, but Rosie will die right now if we don’t save her. I’m sorry Zoe, but we’ll make it up to you a thousand times over when this is all over.” Henry helped me dress, then forcibly carried me to the car. At the hospital, I was back in the familiar room. Blood flowed steadily from my body into an empty bag. My lips had turned white, but the bag was only a quarter full. “Should we continue?” the doctor asked hesitantly, knowing I had given blood earlier that day. Lucas looked at me, conflicted. “Just a bit more.” “No! Draw two-thirds. This amount is too little, it won’t be enough for Rosie,” Henry insisted, staring at the blood bag. How nice. I truly don’t owe you anything anymore. I closed my eyes with a bitter smile. The next moment, Quinn burst into the room like a madwoman, but was held back by security. “You animals!” she screamed. “Zoe’s organs were damaged 8 years ago! Drawing her blood is killing her!”

Everyone in the room was stunned by Quinn’s outburst. Sean hesitated, then moved to turn off the blood drawing machine. Henry grabbed his brother’s hand, glaring. “Get that crazy woman out of here!” “You three ungrateful bastards can go to hell!” Quinn yelled as security dragged her out. Her shouts echoed down the hallway. Henry watched the blood bag intently. When it was two-thirds full, he suddenly stopped the doctor. “Draw 50 more milliliters.” What little blood I had left was drained out. I finally couldn’t hold on and passed out. When I came to, Lucas was by my bedside. Seeing I was awake, he offered me a bowl of ginseng soup. “You just gave blood. Drink this to replenish your strength.” I knocked it away. The next second, Henry grabbed my jaw and forced the soup down my throat. “Cough cough cough!” I hunched over the bed, coughing violently. Each cough pulled at the wounds on my abdomen and waist. “Brother, don’t be so rough with Zoe,” Sean said, gently patting my back. His voice held worry. “Was what that woman said true?” Before Sean could finish, Henry let out a cold laugh. “She used to carry cement bags at construction sites without breaking a sweat. Now she’s acting all delicate?” “Besides, her kidney and uterus were transplanted into Rosie just fine. How could they be damaged?” I coughed until I cried. Quinn was right. These three really were ungrateful brats. Just then, a nurse informed them that Rosie had been saved. The three of them immediately ran to the next room. Lucas was the last to leave. He cast a worried glance at me, but still abandoned me to go. After they left, I coughed up blood all over the floor. I knew I was dying. My organs were already severely damaged. Now I was missing two organs and had lost most of my blood. Death wasn’t far off. But I felt a sense of release. I lay back in bed, stroking the ring I always wore on my right hand. I should have died in that explosion years ago. A fuel tanker was heading straight for me. If not for a couple pushing me out of the way, I would have perished in the inferno. The husband managed to escape, but his wife wasn’t so lucky. She was caught in the blast and died in the fire. There was a second explosion. The man and I were trapped in a corner, along with an elderly woman. The escape route was narrow. The man and the old woman told me to go first. One out of kindness. One out of longing for his wife. I had just crawled out of the corner and was reaching back to help the old woman. Then the fuel tanker exploded a third time. The man and old woman couldn’t escape in time. They both died in the flames. That couple were Sean and Henry’s parents. And that old woman was Lucas’s beloved grandmother. If not for saving me: Sean and Henry would be rich kids, fretting over whether to buy a sports car or designer watch. Lucas would have the grandmother who loved him most in the world. But because of me: Sean and Henry lost their parents and were ostracized by relatives. Lucas was kicked around by family members, going hungry and cold every day. Out of guilt, I took them in and gave up my education to support them with all I had. Now they had taken three parts of my body. And I was dying. I felt I no longer owed them anything.

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