Category: English

1 My husband was arrested again. His mistress called the cops on him. When I got the call to post his bail, I found her at the station, draped in one of his dress shirts, the hem barely grazing the tops of her thighs. She jabbed a finger in my face. “You’re pathetic,” she sneered. “Such a washed-up housewife you can’t even keep your own husband on a leash. I’m so sick of him clinging to me.” My husband, Alex, immediately stepped in front of her, a shield against the wife he expected to fly into a rage. He shot me a look of pure annoyance, bracing himself for the usual scene where I’d try to claw her eyes out. But this time, I didn’t even bother to look up. I signed the release papers the officer handed me and turned to leave. Alex froze for a second, stunned. He chased after me, his fingers clamping around my wrist like a vise. He stared into my face, searching for something, anything. “Are you even my wife anymore?” he demanded. My eyes were flat, empty. Not for long, I thought. … The drive to the police station had taken over half an hour, stuck in gridlocked traffic. I’d spent the time stewing in the cramped, dark car, my mind churning with violent fantasies of how I would ruin them, how I would finally force that woman out of our lives for good. But then, the sky, which had been overcast for days, suddenly broke. A sliver of sun cut through the gloom. I rolled down my window. In the park across the street, children were chasing each other through a playground. A teenage girl laughed as she tossed a handful of golden ginkgo leaves into the air, letting them rain down around her like confetti. In that single, quiet moment, it hit me. Wasting all my time and energy on a man who’d already left me in his heart… it was utterly pointless. Alex was still standing there, looking lost. Chloe, annoyed at being ignored, pulled down the collar of her shirt, revealing a constellation of angry red marks on her shoulder. “Officer,” she whined, her voice dripping with false victimhood. “He held me captive in his bed for days. He kept saying he’d die without me. Look what he did to me. This is kidnapping!” Her eyes flicked to me, a glint of triumph in them. “I have a witness. His wife knows all about it.” My nails dug into my palms. Three days ago, my mother’s condition took a turn for the worse. She gripped my hand, her voice a fragile whisper, telling me her last wish was to see Alex and me happy together one last time. She kept asking why he hadn’t visited, why it had been so long. She said she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving me all alone in this world. I called Alex’s phone, again and again and again. My mother took her last breath in my arms just as the call finally connected. My voice was shredded from crying. “Alex,” I choked out, “my mom is gone.” But the voice that answered wasn’t his. It was Chloe, giggling. “Well, congratulations,” she chirped. “But Alex is a little busy right now. He’s like a guard dog, terrified I’ll sneak off.” That night, I held my mother’s cold, stiff body and cried until there were no tears left. All I had left for Alex was a reservoir of pure, unadulterated hate. Chloe seemed to relish the broken look on my face. She crossed her arms, sizing me up. “Honey, playing the victim won’t keep a man.” She smirked. “But I’ll give you a chance to get back in his good graces. Get on your knees and beg. If you do, I’ll drop the charges.” A bitter laugh escaped my lips. I turned to the officer. “I’d like to report Alex Walker for soliciting prostitution.” Chloe’s eyes widened. “You take that back, you bitch!” she shrieked. I let my gaze drift over her, taking in the Cartier bracelet, the limited-edition Hermès bag, the Harry Winston sapphire necklace. “He bought you all this after you slept with him for three days,” I said, my voice dangerously calm. “You aren’t married. So what is it, if not a transaction?” Chloe screamed and lunged for me, but Alex caught her. A slow smile spread across his face. “That’s enough, Lena,” he said, his tone dismissive. “Any more of this and she’ll be impossible to calm down.” He scooped the hysterical Chloe into his arms and carried her to his car. Before getting in, he glanced back at me, his voice laced with the condescending charity one might offer a beggar. “I’ll be home later to see you.” He was so sure I’d be thrilled. After all, over the past year, I had cried, I had screamed, I had even tried to kill myself. And through it all, he had never once come to my bed, claiming he’d promised Chloe he’d be faithful to her. He barely even came home. I’d grown used to sleeping alone. So when a warm hand settled on my waist in the dead of night, a violent shiver ran through me. “I’m home. Happy now?” Alex’s voice was a low murmur in my ear. He pressed me down into the mattress, his lips finding mine in a gentle kiss. But the scent of another woman, mingled with his own, was a sharp invasion. The image of him with Chloe, kissing her, touching her, flashed behind my eyes. A wave of nausea churned in my stomach. I shoved him off me and scrambled to the bathroom, gagging over the sink. Alex followed, frowning. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?” “You’re dirty,” I whispered, the word escaping before I could stop it. His hand, which had been reaching for me, froze in midair. His expression hardened, his eyes turning to chips of ice. His fists clenched so tight the knuckles went white. With a roar, he smashed his fist into the mirror. “You fucking dare call me dirty, Lena?” he snarled, grabbing the back of my neck and forcing my face toward the shattered reflection. “Look at yourself! What part of you is better than Chloe? I take pity on you, I come home to you, and you pull this holier-than-thou act?” He leaned in closer, his voice a venomous hiss. “And don’t you forget. You’re the one who pushed me to her in the first place.” The woman in the mirror was a stranger. Her eyes were dull and bloodshot, her skin sallow. A few strands of gray were visible in her tangled mess of hair. They say a woman ages ten years after having a child. But what about a woman whose child has died? Our daughter, Lily, was three. She was hit by a car, right in front of me. For a long time after, I kept hearing her last word echoing in my ears, a tiny, tear-filled cry of “Mommy…” Night after night, I’d curl up in her little bed, clutching her blankets and stuffed animals. In the depths of my agony, I once bit Alex’s hand until it bled, sinking my teeth into his flesh. He just held me, whispering, “Don’t cry, my love. We’ll have another child.” I slapped him so hard the sound cracked through the room. I screamed at him, telling him he didn’t deserve to be Lily’s father. That if she could hear him, she’d be heartbroken. I refused to let him touch me after that. Word got around our social circle, and business partners started sending women to his hotel rooms, trying to curry favor. Every single one of them was thrown out, disheveled and humiliated. Alex would stand there with a smile on his face, but his eyes were pure ice. “If I get my hands dirty,” he’d say, “my wife won’t be happy.” He took me to Switzerland to get away, to escape the world that was filled with ghosts of our daughter. We went skiing, we visited glowworm caves, we chased the Northern Lights. For a moment, we both thought things were getting better. One night, the entire city was lit up with fireworks. He held me close, his lips about to meet mine. But then I saw a little girl playing nearby. I pushed him away and cried out Lily’s name, the sobs tearing through me. And in that moment, Alex finally broke. “Enough!” he roared. “Lena, are you going to be like this forever? Are you going to stay lost in this madness?” He stared at me, his eyes bloodshot and raw, then turned and walked away. He never came back to me. Soon after, Chloe appeared in his life. My fingers traced the fractured lines in the mirror, touching the reflection of my own haggard face. This had to end. A sharp edge of glass pricked my fingertip, and a bead of blood welled up. Alex sighed. He found the first-aid kit and gently took my hand, carefully applying a bandage to the small cut. “The women on the outside will always be on the outside,” he said softly. “Just be good. No one is going to take your place as Mrs. Walker.” He let go of my hand. “Go make me some soup.” Alex was incredibly picky. His favorite mushroom consommé was an all-day affair. Cleaning and soaking the ingredients, steaming them with sherry to remove any earthiness, then simmering the broth over a low flame for hours. I’d be trapped in the kitchen for half the day. After I found out about him and Chloe, I tried everything. We fought. I screamed. And then, desperate not to lose fifteen years of history, I started to plead. I made my world revolve around him. I took care of his every need. No matter how late he was, I’d leave a light on, waiting. The soup I made for him would cool, and I’d reheat it. It would cool again, and I’d reheat it again. Even though he rarely came home, I kept this ritual up for a whole year. On the rare occasions he did show up, he’d glance at the pot on the stove, a frown creasing his brow. “Lena,” he’d ask, his voice laced with disdain, “would you just die without me?” This time, I pulled my hand away from his touch. “I’m tired,” I said. “Go find Chloe. I’m a light sleeper. I can’t rest with someone next to me.” I got back into bed, pulled the covers up, and turned my back to him, ignoring the way his face instantly darkened. I paid no mind to the burning intensity of his stare on my back. A long moment passed. Then, the bedroom door slammed with enough force to shake the walls. I let out a long breath. And for the first time in three years, I slept soundly through the night. Over the next few days, I met with a lawyer to discuss the divorce. Meanwhile, Alex’s social media, dormant for years, exploded with activity. He won a bidding war for Chloe at a charity auction. He chartered a private yacht for a moonlit cruise. He even took her to the lakeside cabin—a place I hadn’t been able to set foot in since Lily died. Alex and I had built that cabin with our own hands. We’d harvested the timber ourselves, sanded each plank until it was smooth, and spent countless nights poring over blueprints. It took us two years. Our little family used to spend summer nights there, staring up at the stars through the skylight. Lily’s fluffy head would be nestled in the crook of my arm, her little voice whispering, “Daddy, Mommy, let’s be together forever.” It had only been a year since she died. How could he defile that place with her? The filth of it all made my stomach turn. I drove there immediately. When Alex saw me, a flicker of something—maybe satisfaction—lit up his dark eyes. He leaned back lazily, lighting a cigarette. “Chloe’s birthday is coming up,” he said, a trail of smoke curling from his lips. “Since you don’t seem to care about anything anymore, I thought I’d tear down this old shack and build her a proper vacation home.” He gestured for the construction crew to approach, but he didn’t give the order to start. He just watched me, his gaze dark and intense. Waiting. I nodded slowly. “A birthday deserves a gift.” I paused, then added, “But this is all just material junk. You should give her something far more valuable.” “And what’s that?” he asked, his voice tight. “Give her your name,” I said flatly. “Make her Mrs. Walker.” Alex went rigid. The smirk vanished from his lips, replaced by a hard, straight line. A vein throbbed in his temple. He looked like he was about to explode. I walked past him into the cabin and picked up the one thing I wanted: a little porcelain cat Lily and I had fired together. Nothing else mattered. When I got home, the lawyer was waiting with the divorce papers. The division of assets was clear and simple. I started packing, carefully placing Lily’s photo albums, toys, and clothes into boxes. That evening, my phone rang. It was one of Alex’s friends. “Lena, you have to get to the hospital, now!” he said, his voice frantic. “Alex got drunk and into a fight. Someone cut his arm with a knife, it’s a really deep gash.” “Okay,” I said. I grabbed the divorce papers. This was the perfect opportunity to settle things. Suddenly, a burst of laughter erupted from the other end of the line. “I won! Pay up, pay up! I told you guys she’d come running.” “Remember in college? They were long distance, and she’d take a ten-hour bus ride every Friday just to do his laundry and cook for him.” “Yeah, and when Alex got mugged on that business trip to Paris, Lena took a knife for him.” “Forget one Chloe. Alex could have a dozen mistresses, and Lena would never leave him.” I heard Alex chuckle softly before taking the phone. “Bring me some of that mushroom consommé you make,” he said. Then he added, almost as an afterthought, “And I didn’t let Chloe touch Lily’s cabin.” He hung up before I could reply. A moment later, a new post popped up on my social feed. It was a photo of Chloe sitting on Alex’s lap, his own tie wrapped loosely around his neck, held in her hand. Her smile was pure venom.

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The night we finalized the date for our wedding, Kai Holden looked at me with an unnerving calm. “Anya,” he said, his voice flat. “I don’t think I love you anymore.” My hand, poised over a stack of creamy white invitations, froze. I let out a sharp, dismissive laugh. “Seriously? Another truth-or-dare game with the guys?” He didn’t smile. Instead, he pulled up his phone and scrolled through a gallery of damning evidence: explicit texts with other women, intimate photos, dinner receipts from dates he swore were “late studio sessions.” The eyes that used to blaze with fierce, possessive heat now held a cold detachment, mixed with a sliver of pity. “You and I are different, Anya. I can’t keep lying to you.” He paused, letting the words sink in like stones. “If you still want to marry me, I will. I’ll go through with it. But I won’t be faithful.” My pen dragged a long, scarlet streak across the delicate paper. My breath caught in my throat. After a long, stretching silence, I heard my own voice—strangely steady—reply. “We’ll get married. Of course, we will.” Only after the wedding. Only after I completed the mission could I return to my original world. 1. A flash of genuine bewilderment crossed Kai’s eyes when he heard my answer. He leaned closer, his fingers gripping my chin, his tone mocking and soft. “Anya, I know you’re the quiet type, but I never expected this. Finding out everything I’ve done and you don’t scream? You don’t even throw a lamp?” “Are you even capable of a temper?” His voice sounded distant, as if speaking through a tunnel. Then, he began to peel away the layers, revealing uglier truths. “My proposal? That whole fireworks-and-drone spectacular? That was her idea. She was standing in the crowd of well-wishers, watching us.” “When you were in the hospital with pneumonia and I told you I was on a business trip overseas? I was on a private jet to the Caribbean with her.” “And the time you called, crying because you missed me so much? Honestly, I just felt annoyed.” My mind blanked, then a chaotic flood of images washed over me. First, the proposal. A thousand fireworks exploded across the night sky. Drones formed a massive, shimmering portrait of us, instantly trending on every social media platform. I was drunk on the spectacle, blinded by the perceived happiness, and I hadn’t noticed that flicker of fond affection in his eyes as he looked past me, toward the crowd. Then, the pneumonia. I had pushed myself to the brink planning the latest tour for his band, Free. Days without sleep. The relentless ache of a fever. In a moment of weakness, my head pounding, I grabbed my phone and dialed his number. My voice was a rough rasp—a strangled sound. “Kai, I miss you…” I could vaguely hear a rowdy noise on his end, like a packed club or a house party. His voice was laced with a tone of soothing persuasion. “I’m stuck on a deal in Europe, baby. I’ll send a private nurse. Just ditch the work for a bit, okay? Don’t sacrifice yourself for this band.” Worried about interrupting his work, I hung up quickly. Later, when the doctor told me I needed a family member present because my condition was serious, I never called him again. I grew up with a heightened sensitivity due to my messed-up family life. I’d felt the shift in us for a while, a creeping suspicion, but I’d been too afraid to dig. I never imagined he’d just…confess. Kai studied my face. There was a faint guilt, but mostly, a great, relieved exhale. “Anya, I hope you can understand this. I don’t want to be tethered to one person for the rest of my life. Life is meant to be a spectrum of experiences.” “I’ll give you one last chance. If you walk away, I’ll give you the majority of my assets. If you stay, you have to learn to be a quiet, agreeable Mrs. Holden.” I wanted to ask why, but the question choked in my throat. He’d already done the damage; what difference would the reason make now? I gave a numb nod. He ruffled my hair, the casual, condescending gesture of rewarding a compliant pet. “That settles it, then. No backsliding, no sudden breakdowns, no drama.” The shrill ring of his phone shattered the tension. Kai picked up, a smile widening across his face as he agreed to something. He grabbed his leather jacket and headed for the door. “My girl says she misses me. Gotta go.” He paused in the doorframe, an afterthought. “I’ll be gone for about three days. The wedding invites are all yours.” He strode out as if the girl on the other end of the line was the one he was walking toward the altar with. The click of the door latch sent a sharp, painful gasp through me. The tears, delayed and useless, finally began to fall. When the storm passed, I spoke to the System in my mind, a voice I hadn’t accessed for months. [Does simply marrying Kai complete the mission?] [Affirmative. Mission complete. Upon the body’s death, you will be immediately returned to your original world.] I stared blankly at the sweet, smiling photo of us on my phone screen. How could a person change so completely? I lay awake all night. By morning, the news had hit the internet: Kai Holden, lead singer of Free, spotted watching the sunrise with his mistress on a mountain retreat. 2. Not long ago, the headline had been: “Kai Holden’s Extravagant Proposal to Childhood Sweetheart.” Everyone had called him a man of integrity. Now, he was being photographed on a romantic getaway with a mistress. In one night, his social media was flooded with hate. Two-Timing Rat. Ditching the One Who Stuck By Him. Not a Real Man. The girl, who turned out to be a minor social media influencer, was relentlessly trolled until she locked all her accounts. My phone was buzzing with 99+ missed calls from Kai. I was confused; Kai was never the type to panic over a little bad press. Another call came in. I answered. Kai’s voice, languid and laced with a new kind of authority, came through. “Anya, baby. Can you post something on social media? Just clarify that Sasha is your cousin, and you were there watching the sunrise, too.” My throat felt tight and dry. Every word was a struggle. “Why?” He sighed, his tone laced with protective concern. “She’s never dealt with online hate before. She’s completely terrified and crying her eyes out.” “It’s just a sentence, sweetheart. It won’t take long, will it?” A muffled sob echoed on his end. Kai’s voice immediately softened, syrupy with affection. “Stop crying, little one. I’m figuring this out. Everything will be fine. Trust me.” My fingertips were ice cold. A bitter, sour feeling spread from my chest through my entire body. Kai was used to public backlash. When Free first started, critics trashed his voice, saying he sounded like a dying cat. Haters wanted to drown him in their negativity. I remember one gig where some jerk threw a rotten egg at him, and Kai just laughed it off. I rushed back to the backstage area, but someone threw a plastic water bottle that hit me in the head. Kai’s face changed in an instant. He vaulted over the stage, landing a punch that broke the guy’s front tooth. For the next two weeks, he was relentlessly mocked by haters and the clueless public. He would read the cruelest comments out loud, always grinning, never bothered. But when he saw my red-rimmed eyes, he gently pulled my head onto his shoulder. “Don’t cry. I genuinely don’t care what they say about me.” “They can call me names, throw things at me, but nobody hurts my Anya. Nobody.” Now, I was the shield for a new girl. “What if I say no?” A brief silence. Then, a quiet, dangerous chuckle. “You know I have a hundred ways to make you agree, Anya. But I don’t want to hurt you. Don’t push me.” I just wanted to test his limits. Now I knew them. My expression blank, I typed out the clarification and posted it to my profile. Some believed it, others were suspicious. But with the aggressive devotion of Kai’s fan base and his PR team’s swift action, the scandal quickly faded. While I frantically planned our wedding, Kai was out yachting and hiking with the new girl. One afternoon, I received an anonymous text—a video. It was explicit, rated R, with vivid sound. Kai was lost in a wild, unrestrained passion, a side of him I had never seen. With me, he was always gentle, restrained, claiming he was afraid of hurting me. Was it fear of injury, or just a lack of real desire? The irony was crushing. The anonymous number followed up with a text: [Old woman, get the hint? Kai loves me. I heard you’re so obsessed you’re still trying to marry him even though he cheated. Don’t be such a pathetic, desperate cliché. Just let him go.] I was in a bridal boutique, trying on my wedding dress, when I saw the video and the message. The assistant noticed my furrowed brow. “Ma’am, is something wrong? Do you dislike the style? We have hundreds of others to choose from.” I shook my head, managing a strained smile. “No, this one is perfect.” It was the most expensive one, after all. I changed out of the gown. I screenshotted the video and the text and sent them directly to Kai. [Control your girl. This video will ruin your career if it leaks.] [Oh, and I’ve selected the dress. Charged to your card.] Kai replied immediately. [Got it. I’ll handle it.] 3. Kai’s way of ‘handling it’ was to ruthlessly cut the girl loose. The woman he’d been treating like a fragile treasure days earlier was now left sobbing outside his villa in the pouring rain, trying every tearful, desperate tactic she could think of. He didn’t give her a second glance. He caught my confused look. “I can spoil her, but that doesn’t mean she gets to insult you,” he explained, a twisted sense of loyalty in his smile. “You are going to be Mrs. Holden. No one gets to disrespect you.” “You’re my girl, Anya. Nobody messes with you.” A flicker of memory—a younger, fiercely protective voice—burned in my mind. In the ninth grade, my mother remarried. My stepfather’s son, a year younger than me, was a little monster. Sister this, sister that to my face, but behind my back, he shredded my textbooks, locked me in a dark utility closet, and encouraged his friends to bully me. When I cried to my mother, she refused to meet my eyes, telling me I needed to be patient and endure. My stepfather was wealthy, and this was her hard-won life; she wasn’t going to let me jeopardize it. The next time my stepbrother cornered me after school, demanding I go hang out with his older friends, Kai sprinted past us. He was wearing a faded denim jacket, and a faint scent of cheap laundry detergent drifted on the wind he created when he slammed his fist into my stepbrother’s face. He was the school’s notorious delinquent, feared by everyone. My stepbrother screamed and ran. That was our first real interaction. Brief, but unforgettable. Later that winter, I found Kai in a park, sitting on a swing set, covered in fresh bruises, gnawing on a dry piece of bread. He grinned when he saw me. “Hey, Short Stack. Buy me dinner?” His life was no better than mine: an absent mother, an abusive, alcoholic father. Sitting in the warmth of a little diner, he slurped his noodles quickly. “I could have beaten that guy worse, but I was worried I’d break the old man’s jaw,” he said, referring to his dad. After the meal, he looked at me, his eyes bright with conviction. “Thanks for the food. From now on, you’re under my protection. I swear, no one will ever mess with you again.” The boy’s breath was light, but his promise felt heavy, binding. After that, no one dared to touch me. But how could that young Kai know that, in the future, the person who would hurt me the most would be himself? For a brief, naive moment, I thought his claim of not loving me was a lie, a test. But then he turned his attention back to his phone, happily chatting up some new girl on an anonymous forum. I laughed a dry, bitter laugh at myself. Within two weeks, he had a replacement. This time, a shy, fresh-faced college student. She lowered her eyes and quietly greeted me, as if I were some kind of dangerous predator. Kai smiled, stroking her hair. “Don’t worry, Anya’s a good person.” The words were a deep, stinging sarcasm to my ears. During that time, I started receiving strange packages. Dead animals, blood-soaked wigs, voodoo dolls pierced with needles… When I finally traced the source, it was the sweet, innocent-looking college student. I hadn’t even had time to react, but Kai had already sent someone to douse the girl in a bucket of red paint as she left class. Then, they sent a week of graphic, horrifying texts to her phone, terrifying her so badly she wouldn’t even leave her dorm room. For the next two months, the women came and went. The longest lasted half a month, the shortest, three hours. No matter who they were, how beautiful they were, or how much he seemed to like them, if they showed the slightest disrespect to me, he cut them off without hesitation. Everyone who knew him was confused. “You’re obsessed with Anya, man. You must be madly in love.” Kai only smirked. He didn’t deny his love; he just didn’t want to limit his entire life to just me. And my heart, with each betrayal, had grown dull, stiff, and utterly numb. Nothing could stir it anymore. A month before the wedding, a new woman appeared. Kai’s friends started a betting pool on how long this one would last. “I bet three days.” “I’ll say a week.” “I’m putting a grand on a month! The wedding is in a month; there’s no way she makes it past the ceremony.” The new girl, Sasha Bell, was a recent college graduate and a phenomenal drummer. Free’s drummer had been in a minor car accident the week before, and she was brought in to save the show. Tiny in stature but with explosive energy, she was mesmerizing on stage. The moment the show ended, Kai got her number. Three days later, he had her. He brought her to a friend’s party. She wasn’t shy, quickly integrating with the group. A few drinks in, one of the guys, Josh, suddenly asked, “Kai, where’s Anya? You should call her, let her come hang out.” Kai smiled. “Sure, I’ll call her.” The whole room froze. 4. Everyone knew I hated the smell of smoke and alcohol and had zero interest in their lavish party scene. The previous women had tried to provoke me by urging Kai to call me, but he had always refused. This time, he was agreeable. Kai called me just as I was sealing the final invitation. When he told me why he was calling, I instantly refused. Usually, he’d just hang up. But this time, his voice dropped slightly, a dangerous, low tone. “Anya. Get over here.” He used my full name when he was angry. I was baffled. He knew exactly why I hated the smell of smoke and alcohol. But before I could protest, he hung up. I was confused, but I didn’t want a pre-wedding argument to derail my ticket home. I arrived and pushed the door open, immediately hit by a thick, cloying cloud of cigarette smoke. I winced. Kai waved me over. Sasha was sitting right next to him. She saw me and offered a smug, challenging smile. She walked over, holding a glass of amber liquid. “I want to toast you, Mrs.-to-Be!” She drained her glass, then offered the challenge to me. “I don’t drink.” Kai took a glass and pushed it into my hand. “It’s just one drink. The girl next to me just downed hers.” The smell of alcohol was overpowering. I had to suppress a gag reflex, pushing the glass away. Sasha chuckled. “I must not have been convincing enough. My bad. I’ll drink three more!” She chugged three in quick succession. When she reached for a fourth, Kai snatched the glass away. His eyes, full of genuine fury, locked onto mine. “It’s one drink, Anya. Are you going to die if you drink one glass?” The heart that had become so numb finally gave a vicious, painful twitch. In high school, after Kai started protecting me, I was safe for a while. That changed after my stepfather complimented me for getting top marks. My stepbrother, in revenge, spiked my water with a handful of sleeping pills. I woke up in a smoke-filled, high-end private club. Strangers surrounded me, smoking, drinking, then grabbing my jaw and pouring high-proof liquor down my throat. Just as things were about to escalate, Kai, who had installed a discreet tracking device in my watch, smashed his way in. He was like a maniac, breaking everything, holding a jagged shard of glass, his eyes bloodshot. The men scattered. I collapsed into his arms, vomiting until my stomach was empty. After that, alcohol and smoke became my forbidden zone. Kai never drank or smoked around me. And yet, for Sasha, he was breaking that promise. I smiled, a cold, mocking curve of my lips. I snatched the glass from his hand and downed it in one go. My stomach heaved. The next second, I was vomiting violently onto the floor. Kai was stunned. The memory of my past trauma seemed to hit him all at once. He rushed forward. “Anya!” I pushed his hand away, a sneer on my face. “Happy now?” In the dim light, his eyes were complex, unreadable. I shoved past him and ran out of the room. I couldn’t stand that disgusting place for another second. Over the next month, Kai’s devotion to Sasha exceeded all expectations. He took her everywhere, showing her off. He brought her home, into our bedroom, leaving her to flaunt her presence. She openly challenged me. He always defended her, saying she was young and I should ignore it. Everyone was starting to whisper that Kai had finally been caught. They looked at me with pity. My heart remained dead to it all. I just wanted the ceremony to be over. The System said the mission would be completed the moment we exchanged rings. I only needed to find a way to kill this body afterward. The wedding day arrived. The ceremony proceeded smoothly. I walked out of the shadows and into the bright lights, getting closer and closer to Kai. I had fantasized about this moment a million times—walking toward him, anticipating a life together. Now, I just wanted to get it done. When he took my hand, Kai’s eyes flickered with a strange emotion. “Anya, I promise you will be Mrs. Holden forever.” He took the ring, about to slide it onto my finger. Suddenly, a distinct phone chime—the special tone he reserved for certain calls—rang out. He interrupted the ceremony without hesitation, answered, and his face instantly twisted in shock. “Sasha was in an accident!” He spun to leave. I grabbed his arm, holding tight. “Kai, you haven’t put the ring on me yet.” “Anya, now is not the time for this!” Ignoring the gasps of the guests, he violently wrenched his arm from my grip. My heel twisted, and I tumbled off the stage. The crowd gasped. Kai rushed back, a flash of pure panic in his eyes. “Anya! Are you hurt?” I ignored the sharp, searing pain in my ankle, my voice a broken whisper. “Put the ring on. Do it now, and I won’t stop you.” He thought I was desperate to marry him. He grabbed my hand and slid the ring onto my finger. Done. He turned and rushed for the door. Suddenly, the crowd erupted in a horrified clamor. He stopped, confused. He turned back, and his pupils constricted in terror at the sight before him.

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I transmigrated into a post-apocalyptic novel and became the Zombie King’s daughter. However, I awakened a space ability and accidentally teleported myself to the middle of nowhere when I was five. To avoid starving to death, I shamelessly clung to the protagonist team, freeloading off them. Eating popcorn, watching the drama, and leisurely tagging along as they leveled up and fought monsters. Until one day. They encountered the ultimate villain boss— The Zombie King, my dad. Just as everyone was facing a formidable enemy, ready for a battle to the death. The Zombie King grinned at me sinisterly. “Lily, have you had enough fun? If you’re done playing, get your ass over here!!” Protagonists: “?!” Everyone: “?!” Me: “……” 1 “Sis Vi, this little brat has been scamming food and drink ever since she joined our squad. She doesn’t do any work. It’s the apocalypse, not a charity run! I think…” The skinny, rat-faced man spoke in a low voice, but his resentment was hard to hide. The woman addressed as Sis Vi was tall and strikingly beautiful. Her beauty was intense and commanding, making it hard to look away. Her aura was imposing, her eyes sweeping over the rat-faced man with a cold, sharp disdain. “She’s only five. What do you expect her to do? She’s not even enough to fill a zombie’s tooth gap! Killing zombies, scavenging for supplies, keeping watch—that’s adult work. If you don’t like her, you can get lost!” The rat-faced man choked but still argued stubbornly, “Another person means another share of food. Besides, kids are emotionally unstable. What if she cries and attracts zombies? I’m doing this for the team!” The woman sneered, “When has Lily ever cried or made a fuss? The girl is sensible, obedient, and quiet. How exactly did she offend you? When she first joined, you even praised her for being smart and cute…” A flicker of guilt flashed in the man’s eyes, but he blustered, “Just wait, she’ll drag our team down sooner or later!” I sighed silently in the shadows. In my past life, I read comments online saying that running away from home is never as hard as it seems. Then I found out that in this life, running away almost got me killed by the huge waves of reality. Dad, it’s the seventeenth day I’ve missed you QAQ. 2 Just yesterday evening, this skinny, rat-faced man, Kevin, snuck into my room while the protagonists weren’t around. He looked left and right before closing the door. I already felt something was off, but I asked innocently, “Uncle Kevin, do you need something?” Kevin’s face flushed with an abnormal redness and desire. He said, half-coaxing, half-pretending to be troubled, “Lily, Uncle has a favor to ask you. Would you help me?” I hugged my teddy bear and looked up, my face full of confusion. “What is it?” Kevin’s shadow stretched long on the floor, almost swallowing my small shadow. He gave a reassuring yet greedy smile. “Uncle feels a bit uncomfortable here. Can Lily help Uncle touch it?” Hearing this, my back stiffened instantly. Before I could recover from the shock. Kevin’s breathing became heavy, his expression pained as he frowned and started unbuckling his belt. “…Uncle hurts here. Lily, just touch it and it’ll be better…” Me: “??!” WTF! WTF!! WTF!!! Seeing me stunned, Kevin hid his impatience and softened his voice. “Lily, come help Uncle check. Uncle might have grown something extra here. Help Uncle touch it…” Saying this, he reached out to hold my hand. I stepped back, dodging his hand, almost vomiting from disgust! Oh my god! I ran into a pedophile!!! Leaving aside that I have an adult soul, my Zombie King dad in this life gave me “human” sex education very early on. He told me girls’ private parts shouldn’t be touched by anyone, and I shouldn’t touch others’ private parts either. Dad said darkly, “If any man dares to make you touch his, or if he tries to touch yours…” “I’ll chop off his dick and feed it to the zombies!” … I curled my lips and said innocently, “Uncle Kevin…” “Growing something extra isn’t normal. Lily… has a good way to fix it once and for all.” Kevin paused, interested. “What way?” A bright, cold light reflected in his eyes— I pulled a dagger from the zipper on the back of my teddy bear. Small, but sharp. I smiled like a beautiful yet evil sprite, showing off the dagger, my eyes shining startlingly bright. “Lily will help you cut it off, okay?” “Without that nasty thing causing trouble, Uncle Kevin won’t feel bad anymore.” Kevin: “?!” Kevin: “!!!” Swish! The dagger shot out, instantly pinning into the wooden bed frame between Kevin’s legs, the handle vibrating slightly. Kevin looked down at the dagger buried deep between his legs: “???” Kevin: “!!!” “Oops, my hand slipped. Uncle Kevin, stand still, let me try again!” The confusion in Kevin’s eyes turned into shock and terror as I pulled another dagger from the teddy bear. His lips trembled, and he grabbed a pillow to cover his crotch, forcing a smile. “Lily, don’t move! Uncle… Uncle was just joking with you. Look at you, taking it seriously…” “Joking?” I blinked. “But my dad said that kind of joke isn’t funny at all. People who make those jokes…” My innocent, sweet smile vanished, my voice turning cold as winter ice. “Should have their third leg chopped off.” Kevin stiffened. I pointed the dagger at him and said coldly, “If your healing ability wasn’t somewhat useful, and killing you wouldn’t be easy to explain to Sis Vi, you’d already be a corpse.” “Get out.” 3 I didn’t expect that before I could snitch, this guy would start slandering me first? Looks like I need to find a time to off him. But… The protagonists treat me well, and that creep is a member of the squad. I need to test their attitude towards this guy. 4 The protagonist squad, including me, has six people. Besides the male and female leads and the creep who tried to molest me, there’s a fifteen-year-old boy with lightning powers, and a middle-aged woman with plant powers who was the male lead’s nanny before the apocalypse, Auntie Xu. Kevin is Auntie Xu’s cousin. I sat quietly by the door, reading a cartoon book— Yes, children’s books that no one wants in the apocalypse, but the female lead Violet and the male lead Lucas picked them up one by one from bookstores, tearing off plastic wrapping splattered with dust and blood, stacking them neatly for me to read when bored. “Lily, ta-da! Look what I brought you?” A scrambled 3×3 Rubik’s cube appeared in front of me. Behind it was Violet’s beautiful, smiling face. I took it curiously. “A Rubik’s cube?” Violet took the chance to ruffle my hair, smiling. “Yes, I was afraid you’d be bored…” Three seconds later. The Rubik’s cube was solved in my hands. Violet looked at my innocent eyes, the corner of her mouth twitching. “……” Behind her, a lazy, deep voice sounded. “Vi, I told you, Lily has a high IQ. Giving her this is like making an adult learn 1+1. No need to bring it back…” Then, a face of extreme handsomeness appeared. Eyebrows like ink paintings, lazy smile, fair skin, posture upright like a pine tree, with an aura that made people feel safe. Male lead, Lucas. Violet turned around angrily, pulled a scrambled 5×5 Rubik’s cube from her bag, and threw it at him. “Would you die if you didn’t talk? I give you 5 seconds to solve this, or you sleep alone this month!” 5 seconds to solve a 5×5 Rubik’s cube??! Lucas caught the cube, looking like the sky had fallen, muttering, “…I was wrong. I’d rather kill fifty zombies in five seconds…” I looked at them, hesitated, then lowered my head. Violet was sensitive to children’s mood changes. She squatted down and coaxed, “What’s wrong, Lily? Why do you seem unhappy?” I twisted my fingers, stammering, “Sis Vi, yesterday, yesterday… Uncle Kevin came into my room, said he felt bad down there, took off his pants, and asked me to help him…” Violet: “??!” Lucas: “?!!” The smile on Violet’s face vanished. She suppressed the rage in her eyes, her fingers on my shoulder tightening slightly, but very gently. Her lips moved, as if afraid to startle me. “Lily, you said… Kevin asked you… where did he touch you?!” I looked up, my eyes brimming with tears at just the right moment. Biting my lower lip, my voice grew smaller, tinged with fear and unease: “I didn’t touch him. I thought Uncle Kevin was scary then, so, so I squeezed through the door crack and ran away…” My small body trembled a bit as I leaned into Violet’s arms, crying, “I was scared… Sis Vi, did I do something wrong?” Violet visibly relaxed, her palm stroking my back up and down to comfort me. “No, Lily! You did nothing wrong!” “Even if something happened, it definitely wasn’t your fault!” “It’s that beast’s fault!” “It’s all my fault. I was negligent and didn’t protect you well, letting such a beast into the team!” “I was wondering why Kevin was slandering you so crazily today. So this is why!” Lucas said nothing, just squatted down and ruffled my hair. His tone remained gentle and lazy, even smiling. “Since Lily doesn’t like Uncle Kevin, how about Big Brother makes sure he never appears in front of Lily again?” But the cold, dark look in his eyes couldn’t be hidden. The two exchanged a glance, both eyes filled with thick killing intent. I was slightly stunned. In this apocalypse, Kevin was a rare healer, right? No smoothing things over, no thinking I was joking, no advising me to endure it? Just straight to killing him? While I was thinking, the protagonists started frantically searching through the books they picked up for me. After a long time, they finally found a book on sex education. They grabbed me and spent the afternoon educating me on sex knowledge, and teaching me how to dodge and fight back if I encounter this kind of thing again. Me: “……” Lesson learned. 5 I thought the protagonists would confront Kevin. After all, they should at least understand the cause and effect, or at least have a conflict process. But I didn’t expect them to disdain confronting Kevin at all. Violet and Lucas pretended nothing happened, doing what they needed to do. Kevin thought I didn’t snitch and was secretly delighted. While I wasn’t around (actually I was hiding in a corner), he jumped up and down badmouthing me in front of everyone, trying to get me kicked out of the team. Zap— A thick purple lightning bolt suddenly struck down. If Kevin hadn’t dodged fast, he would have been turned into charcoal. Kevin almost peed himself, eyes wide. “Max, what are you doing?” The teenage boy had an extremely exquisite and beautiful face, skin white as jade, like an angel or an elf who accidentally wandered into the human world. He tilted his head, his voice clear and smiling, but透ing a gloomy chill. “Keep yapping, and believe it or not, I’ll cut out your tongue and shove it up your ass?” Kevin: “……” “Picking on a five-year-old girl, you really have some nerve. The captain hasn’t spoken, so who are you to bark here?” Auntie Xu, the male lead’s former nanny, moved her lips, but didn’t dare speak for her cousin. After all, although Max was only fifteen, his lightning ability was already level five. Not only was he strong, but he was also a moody psycho. He was lawless before the apocalypse, let alone in this world where morals and laws collapsed. If she tried to pressure him with seniority, he might strike her with lightning first. Only the male and female leads could suppress him. Kevin swallowed, knowing this little lunatic did what he said. He shut his mouth, but the venom in his eyes almost spilled over. “What are you looking at? Look again and I’ll dig your eyes out.” Max sneered. “Alright, alright,” Violet said indifferently. “Say less.” Max huffed and turned his head away. 6 Kevin went offline. Unexpectedly. The cause was a large wave of zombies encountered while traveling. Usually, Kevin and I would hide to the side. Kevin was a squishy with zero combat power. Somehow, the team that usually contained zombies perfectly let one slip through. Today, a zombie rushed out of the encirclement and lunged at us. Kevin peed himself, pushed me forward, and turned to run. “Don’t bite me, the kid’s meat is tender, bite her!” I stumbled forward, about to faceplant, but was caught by another gentle force. The zombie’s eyes were dull, as if controlled by something. It didn’t even look at me, jumped over me, and pounced directly onto Kevin. Amidst Kevin’s sharp screams, it bit his neck! His healing ability could only treat normal wounds, helpless against the zombie virus infection. Soon, his body convulsed, bones twisting, skin turning gray-green, becoming a member of the zombies. However, after turning, he didn’t attack me. It looked at me, as if seeing something terrifying, seemed to want to run, but bang, hit a tree and knocked its head off. Me: “……” When the protagonist squad of four finally finished killing zombies and collecting crystals, they came back to see Kevin, whose account on Earth Online had been deleted. Violet looked pained. “Auntie Xu, my condolences.” Lucas looked solemn. “Auntie Xu, sorry.” Max wanted to laugh maniacally but held it in, causing facial distortion. “Auntie Xu, Uncle Kevin he… I, I didn’t know this would happen, please accept my condolences.” Auntie Xu looked at the unharmed me, then at the completely zombified Kevin, corner of her mouth twitching. She seemed to know the protagonists did this to prevent Kevin from moral kidnapping them later. After all, Kevin was Auntie Xu’s cousin. Finally, she blinked, tears welling up. “Sigh, in the apocalypse, the weak are meat for the strong. This is fate… You tried your best, Kevin won’t blame you.” Very sensible. Me: “……” I felt I should express my stance too. So I pretended to be scared and threw myself onto Max. “Brother Max, I’m scared…” Max picked me up in a good mood. “Don’t be scared, don’t be scared, little Lily, brother will protect you!” 7 In the evening, we arrived at a remote small town. After the adults scouted the terrain and cleared scattered zombies, they picked a house to rest. I sat by the window sighing faintly. Violet was beside me, worriedly touching my hand. “Lily, what’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?” She was afraid Kevin’s molestation left a shadow on me. I sighed again. “I miss my dad.” Haven’t seen my dad for half a month, wonder if he’s worried sick. Violet asked, “Is your dad an ability user?” I said honestly, “No.” He’s the Zombie King. Hearing this, Violet looked even more worried. She coaxed me, “When we get back to the base, I’ll send more people to help find your dad. Maybe we can find him…” I nodded obediently and said sweetly, “Thank you, Sis Vi!”

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At this very moment, he was prepared to die for the woman he loved. I couldn’t stop him physically. So, I lay on a hotel bed and painted a fake hickey on my neck with makeup. Then, holding my phone at a deceptive angle, I snapped a photo of myself “sleeping.” I switched to a burner account, adopted the persona of a deadbeat skater-boy, and texted the photo to my brother: “Yo, your sister smells amazing. I think I’m gonna keep her. I know I’m just a broke skater with a record, but I’ll make her happy. You can stop controlling her now, right?” “Also, she’s so obedient. My little kitten. Since she’s pregnant with my baby, I’ll make sure to give her lots of kisses every day.” My brother, Sterling, had a gun to his temple. He was seconds away from pulling the trigger. Then his phone buzzed. He saw the messages. His vision went black. His teeth ground together so hard they nearly cracked. In his left hand, he crushed his phone. In his right, he bent the barrel of the gun. Suicide postponed! Who is this punk? How dare some trashy delinquent touch his sister? He’s going to kill him! 1 I was a stray. An orphan. When I was six years old, a group of men in black suits grabbed me, drove me to a massive estate in the Hamptons, and threw me in front of a teenage billionaire named Sterling Vance. That’s when I heard the “System” speaking to him. The System’s voice was cold and robotic: [Sterling Vance. This girl is the Villainess. She will bring endless suffering to the Heroine. You must kill her now to protect the Heroine.] I froze. I was a Villainess? What did that mean? Were they going to kill me? Sterling lazily acknowledged the voice, spinning around in his leather executive chair, a gun in his hand. He looked at me. He paused, then let out a scoff of disbelief. He pointed the gun at me and asked the System: “Are you serious, bro? You’re telling me this six-year-old dirtball is a Villainess? How is she going to be vicious? Is she going to spray the Heroine with a Barbie water gun?” The System explained: [She is small now. But when she grows up, she will destroy the Heroine’s happiness.] They talked so much. I was dizzy with hunger. I didn’t care about anything else. I grabbed the hem of Sterling’s expensive suit jacket and looked up at him. “Big Brother… I want a Happy Meal.” The System gasped. [Gasp! As expected of the beautiful and manipulative Villainess! Her tactics are advanced! Terrifying! Sterling, cover your eyes! Do not be swayed by her cuteness! Kill her!] Sterling paused. “Tsk. But she called me Big Brother.” The System sounded serious: [Think of the Heroine you love. Can you bear to see her sad?] At the mention of the Heroine, Sterling’s expression hardened. He raised the gun. A second later, his gaze fell on my skinny, malnourished arms. He lowered the gun and said to the System: “No rush. Even death row inmates get a last meal. Let her eat first, then I’ll kill her.” After eating, I fell into a carb coma. “Big Brother, I’m sleepy.” The System frowned. [Although she is indeed cute, pitiful, and tiny… Sterling! We cannot be soft-hearted! Even if she calls us Big Brother!] Sterling snapped. “Hey, what’s this ‘we’? She only called me Big Brother! You’re just a broken piece of software, stop giving yourself credit!” The System and Sterling got into an argument. By the time they finished, I was already curled up on the rug, fast asleep. The System sighed. [Let’s get back to business. Kill her now.] Sterling looked down at me and said: “No rush. Let’s wait until she wakes up. Sneak-attacking someone while they sleep is bad etiquette. It’s ungentlemanly.” The System pondered. [True. Maybe when she wakes up, she’ll call us Big Brother again… Er, I mean, it will be easier to kill her when she’s awake.] 2 Three months flashed by. During those three months, Sterling and the System planned my execution every day. But every day, Sterling said, “No rush, no rush.” Eventually, Sterling decided that killing me would interrupt my education. So, he and the System named me “Harper Vance.” They got me into a prestigious private school on the Upper East Side. From that day on, Sterling stopped orbiting around the Heroine, Bianca. Instead, he orbited around the teachers. “Ms. Johnson, why is Harper missing two eyelashes today? If anything happens to her, I will buy this school and turn it into a parking lot!” “Mr. Principal, look at this class photo. Why isn’t Harper in the center?! My sister is objectively the cutest kid here! Do you think my millions in donations are just for charity?” Sterling’s overbearing CEO energy was starting to show. And my true nature as a little demon began to show, too. The Principal started calling Sterling: “Mr. Vance, hello. It’s about Harper. Today she… well, she was twisting a boy’s nipples and made him cry.” Sterling: “Men’s nipples are useless anyway. Tell the boy to stand still and let Harper twist them if it makes her happy.” Principal: “?” Of course, when I caused too much trouble, Sterling would try to discipline me. Like the time the librarian called him: “Mr. Vance, Harper was reading a book in class. I thought it was The Great Gatsby, which would be impressive for a first grader. But upon closer inspection, she had hidden American Psycho inside the dust jacket.” Sterling was going to punish me. But the System couldn’t help but sigh: [You know, she has no parents. She’s been with you since she was little. Sigh. Go ahead, Sterling. Scold her. Look at how she’s staring at you. She’s not pitiful at all. Not one bit.] That was my cue. I would look up at Sterling, grab his large hand with my two tiny hands, and blink my big doe eyes. Sterling couldn’t do it. The apology essay he originally wanted me to write went from 500 words to 300 words, then 100. Finally, he just asked me to write five words. He thought I would write, “I am sorry, Big Brother.” But when he opened the note, it said: “☆ I LOVE U BRO ☆” He and the System gasped in unison! Both of them teared up, unable to scold me another word. Heh. This Villainess-in-training just used a little tactical cuteness. 3 However, I have seen Sterling truly angry. That day, Sterling was on a date with the Heroine, Bianca. It was a crucial plot point. According to the script, this was the date where he would fall completely, irrevocably in love with her. But the moment he arrived at the restaurant, he got a call from the Principal. “Mr. Vance! Disaster! It was the school bake sale today. Harper brought brownies, but she used peanut oil! Half the class went into anaphylactic shock! We have ambulances everywhere!” Sterling had to abandon his date with Bianca. He rushed over to clean up my mess. I remember it clearly. It was the first time Sterling yelled at me. “You idiot! Did they not know Harper was baking? Why didn’t they take antihistamines beforehand?! Did they stop to think that fainting after eating would give Harper a complex? What if she’s too scared to bake again? Harper is already so skinny! And you people scared her!” The Principal was sweating buckets, nodding furiously. “You’re right, Mr. Vance! Kids these days are so sensitive! They should have checked the ingredients! I’ll talk to them! I hope Harper isn’t traumatized. Please don’t be angry…” However, Sterling was afraid the other kids wouldn’t play with me because of the Peanut Incident. So, he sent every kid who went to the hospital a deed to a Manhattan penthouse and a brand new Tesla (for when they turned 16). Thirty classmates. When they woke up from their allergic reactions, they found property deeds and car keys on their bedside tables. The kids were thrilled. They asked if they had died and gone to heaven. In short, nobody hated me for the brownies. In fact, many classmates begged me to poison them again. Since I got a Big Brother, life has been so happy. I thought this as I dodged three kids begging me to cook for them. 4 Time flowed like water. When I turned 16, Sterling was 27. That day, I was sitting in class when I suddenly saw text floating on the ceiling. It was the “Comment Section” from the readers of our world. [So sad. The affectionate second male lead, Sterling, is finally going offline.] [Yeah. The Heroine just got engaged to the Male Lead. She invited Sterling to the wedding and compared him to the poor Male Lead. She told him, “Sterling, your Rolex might shine, but it can’t outshine the dreams in his eyes! I want to marry him. Please give us your blessing.” Sterling’s hand was shaking.] [The funny thing is, the poor Male Lead’s “dream” is to make enough money to buy a Rolex. I don’t know why she’s acting so high and mighty.] [Whatever. In twenty minutes, Sterling is going to shoot himself. Ugh, I liked him. After he dies, his rivals will bankrupt his family. His sister, Harper, will go from an heiress to a beggar. So tragic.] My brother is going to kill himself?! I bolted up and ran out of the school. I would absolutely not let my brother die. I had to find him! But where was he? I called his phone. No answer. In a flash of inspiration, I came up with a plan. I couldn’t reach him physically in time. I had to use… dark magic. I rushed into a costume shop, bought a blonde “skater boy” wig, and checked into a cheap motel. I stuffed towels into the wig to shape it like a head. I lay on the bed, pinched my own neck until a red mark appeared, ripped open my school uniform collar, and buried the wig in my chest. I took a photo. In the picture, a girl slept exhaustedly, a glaring hickey on her neck, her white uniform shirt disheveled, a blonde-haired guy buried in her chest. I sent the photo to my brother anonymously: “Yo, your sister smells amazing. I think I’m gonna keep her. I know I’m just a broke skater with a record, but I’ll make her happy. You can stop controlling her now, right?” “Also, she’s so obedient. My little kitten. Since she’s pregnant with my baby, I’ll make sure to give her lots of kisses every day.” Less than half a second later, I got a reply. “ANIMAL. WHO ARE YOU?” “TOUCH HER AGAIN AND I WILL END YOU.” The floating comments scrolled frantically: [Huh? Why isn’t the second male lead dead?] [I don’t know! He just screamed something about ‘Yellow Hair’ and ‘Die’ and ran out.] I let out a deep breath and collapsed on the bed. My tense nerves finally relaxed.

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In the third year of my imprisonment, I stumbled upon a post on an online forum. The topic was: [Can young love ever last?] The original poster wrote about her deskmate, how he got into fights for her, how he brought her breakfast every morning. How he’d plastered a love letter with her name on it all over the school’s public notice board. Between the lines, her own budding affection was impossible to miss. But then I saw the date of the post and the username, and I froze. It was from me, ten years ago. Ten years later, the boy who wrote that letter was my husband. And he had chained my ankles to the bed, the floor around me littered with graphic photos of him and a buzzy new actress. I swallowed the sleeping pills I had been hoarding for months and replied with a self-deprecating laugh. [Don’t say yes. In the end, all love turns into this.] … The bitter taste of the pills hadn’t even faded from my tongue when the door slammed open with a deafening crash. Damien Blackwood slapped the bottle from my hand, his voice a furious growl. “Are you insane?!” Before I could answer, he swept me into his arms and sprinted to the car. He ran who knows how many red lights on the way, a symphony of blaring horns and screaming drivers trailing behind us. It wasn’t until the cold feeding tube was pulled from my stomach that he grabbed me by the collar. “What the hell are you trying to pull now?” “You knew Stella was accepting her award tonight. Did you have to arrange for someone to humiliate her during her press interviews?” My face was pale, but I smiled. “She sent me those photos of you two, didn’t she? She wanted to see me lose my mind.” “You love her so much. Why not just let me die and give her my spot?” He took several deep breaths. “You know I would never let anyone come before you. Even with her baby, if you wanted…” “I don’t want it!” I screamed, cutting him off. “Damien, don’t you dare talk to me about a baby!” It was like I was back in that hopeless night, the air thick and suffocating. In an instant, I lost all energy to fight him. My hand trembled as I touched my lower abdomen. “Damien, just let me go. Stella will give you so many children. But we… we’ll never have another one.” His cool fingertips brushed my cheek as he regained the cold composure of a man long accustomed to being in charge. “You know I love you the most.” Most, but not only. I laughed so hard tears started to form. He leaned down, as if to place a kiss on the corner of my eye. I turned my head away, and his movement froze in mid-air. After a long moment, he sighed softly. “Promise me you won’t do anything stupid again, okay? Otherwise, your journalist friend might get very worried about you.” I understood his threat perfectly. Stop trying to die. I have your friend. The moment he stepped out of the hospital room, I collapsed onto the bed, all strength gone. I was so tired of this life of mutual torture. The phone in my palm suddenly vibrated. [All love turns into this? Why do you say that?] My numb heart gave a violent jolt. I stared at the words on the screen, finally realizing that the post I’d replied to wasn’t a hallucination. A new reply popped up. [Do you… know Damien Blackwood?] It felt like a lifeline, a chance to escape. Fat tears splattered onto the screen as my trembling fingers flew across the keyboard. [He’s your future husband. And I am you, ten years from now.] [Stay away from him! Run!] There was a short silence, then two simple words appeared. [Prove it.] I stared at the phone, completely blank. For a moment, I couldn’t think of a single thing that could prove I was the woman who had spent a decade as Damien’s wife. The five hundred love letters he wrote me? The night he slept with Stella, I’d set them all on fire and thrown the ashes at them. Our marriage certificate? I’d stuffed it into the bouquet of flowers Stella received at her wrap party, subjecting her to three months of negative press. The torn pieces of that certificate had come back to me, wrapped in the sting of Damien’s palm across my face. They say love gives you armor. But for me, all the proof of our past love had become a blade I tried to use against him. The problem was, he had new armor now. My dull, old blade was useless against him. I was the only one left bleeding. Finally, I lifted my shirt and sent a photo of a faded tattoo. It was on my left side, over the fifth rib, the one closest to the heart. Damien had a matching one. Ten years ago, I was harassed by some street thugs. Damien, all by himself, fought them until his shirt was soaked through with blood. The worst of his wounds was a long gash that ran diagonally across his chest. An inch deeper, and he would have been dead. Later, that deep scar was covered by a tattoo of a vibrant red koi fish. The teenage boy had grinned at me in the setting sun, his smile wild and free. “Cora, I want you on my heart forever.” I’d cried until I couldn’t breathe, overwhelmed by the intensity of his love, and by the hopeless, head-over-heels way I felt for him. The day I made that forum post, I accepted Damien’s confession of love. And I had the same tattoo etched onto my own skin. When my family found out, my strict, disciplinarian parents were furious and demanded I break up with him. For the first time in my life, I, the ever-obedient daughter, defied them. I ran away from our gated community and went with Damien to the city where we planned to attend university. My family, perhaps giving up on me, never came looking for me after that. I was sad, but with Damien by my side, it all felt worth it. Damien’s grades weren’t great, so he gave up on college and dedicated himself to supporting my education. We curled up in a tiny, cramped apartment, sharing a single bowl of instant ramen. Through winters so cold the water froze in the pipes, we kept each other warm. Under the dim glow of a tungsten lamp, I made a wish over a small birthday cake that one day I would become a famous screenwriter. Damien just watched me, his chin resting on his hand, a smile playing on his lips. “Your wish is my command. Your personal genie has received your request.” He traded his work coveralls for a suit and became a bodyguard for a powerful figure. After five years of living on the edge, his suits got more expensive, and the places we lived in got bigger and bigger. Finally, he handed me a project proposal for a film. “Honey,” he said, “go cast the actors for the story you wrote.” And Stella was the leading lady I chose. Back then, she had just come from a poor, rural town, and she carried a kind of gray, faded quality about her. But her eyes… her eyes burned with a stunning light, filled with a stubborn refusal to let go of any opportunity that came her way. She told me, “Mrs. Blackwood, I won’t let you down.” Her spirit was a perfect match for the protagonist in my script. We were the same age and shared similar passions, and we quickly became inseparable. We spent countless nights revising the script, often too busy to even go home. Damien would bring us hot meals, watching with a fond indulgence as we devoured them. The warmth in his gaze was like the sun to me. But that same sun also shone its way into Stella’s heart. A month before filming wrapped, I found out I was pregnant. Suffering from morning sickness, I went home early one day, only to find a mess of clothes scattered in front of our familiar bed. The two people tangled together under the sheets were also painfully familiar. When my hand struck Stella’s face, Damien just grabbed my wrist, his brow furrowed as he asked if I was hurt. I slapped him across the face with my other hand. He just worked his jaw and smiled, trying to pull me into a hug. “Don’t stress the baby. It was just for fun, to blow off some steam.” But the man who said it was “just for fun” ran after Stella the moment her face went pale and she fled the room. The next day, every entertainment headline was screaming about how the CEO of Blackwood Corporation had dispatched dozens of cars to search every street in the city, all for the love of an actress. And me, sick with stress and fear for my baby, I couldn’t find a single car that night. Alone in our villa in the hills, I could only lie there in despair as my child slipped away from me. After that, I cried. I raged. I leaked the story of Damien’s affair to a rival media company. I added scenes for Stella that required her to be submerged in freezing water in the middle of winter. Damien didn’t even look up from feeding me chicken soup, meant to help me recover. He just had the people who came to complain thrown out. “The stock price will go back up. Stella’s cold will get better. As long as you’re happy, anything is fine.” It wasn’t until the wrap party, with reporters everywhere, that I exposed Stella as the other woman. By then, some on-set photos had already given her a bit of fame. Overnight, the internet was flooded with venomous attacks against her, nearly destroying her career before it had even begun. I thought I had won. But I couldn’t see it then. I thought losing was when someone stopped loving you completely. It wasn’t until Stella jumped into a river because of the public backlash that I realized I had already lost everything. The sting of Damien’s hand across my face hurt more than any blade. He carried a dripping wet Stella away. “Cora, I saved you all those years ago so you could have a life, not so you could become this… this malicious woman.” For Damien Blackwood, who by then held the city in the palm of his hand, protecting someone was easy. Destroying someone was even easier. He released stories about how I had changed the script to torment Stella, and then he told the world about how he had dropped out of school to put me through college. Unsurprisingly, I became the vampiric, shrewish wife in the public eye, sucking him dry. Damien’s affair was reframed as a justifiable release after years of sacrifice. And Stella… Stella became his redemption.

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When Colin lost his memory, he thought I was a grifter. He tossed a black card at me and told me to get lost. Clutching the card and staring at the two pink lines on the pregnancy test I’d just taken, I happily ran for it. I had money, a baby on the way, and I didn’t have to deal with that perpetually stone-faced man. Life was looking pretty sweet. But my joy was short-lived. A few days later, I was at the supermarket picking up prenatal formula when I bumped right into Colin. Once, twice, three times… The more we ran into each other, the stranger his gaze became, like he was looking at some kind of exotic creature. I was terrified he’d remember everything, so I started thinking about moving to the next city to hide. But then I looked up and saw him take a deep breath and march right toward me. It was the first time he’d spoken to me since losing his memory: “Why does your husband always make you shop alone?” “Raising a child is hard work. You can’t be doing it without support.” “What I’m trying to say is… I have feelings for you.” “If you don’t mind, what if I helped you raise the baby?” 1 I was the woman Colin kept by his side. I was decent-looking, had a mild temper, and we were compatible in bed. So, despite his reputation for being immune to women, he did something that shocked everyone—he kept me around for two years. People whispered that he must have developed real feelings for me. Then he had an accident. And the only thing he forgot was me. That bastard, Colin. Was he faking amnesia just to get out of giving me a severance package? I was muttering to myself when his assistant, Davis, called to explain Colin’s new arrangements for me. He was trying so hard to be diplomatic. “Ms. Audrey, since his memory loss, Mr. Colin feels that his previous arrangement with you was… inappropriate. He says he has no memory of you and has no desire to see you again. So, I’m very sorry, but you’ll need to move out of the Cloudcrest Manor property in the next couple of days.” Cloudcrest Manor was where Colin had set me up. It was where we had slept together for two years. After all that time, it had started to feel like my home. I had filled it with all my favorite stuffed animals, and the balcony was covered in pots of cherry tomatoes I loved to eat. Hearing I had to move out stung a little. But it was his house, his money. I nodded glumly, already bracing myself to leave with nothing. But then Davis’s tone shifted. “Mr. Colin isn’t unreasonable,” he continued. “He was told you were with him for two years, and he believes that even if there was no great merit, you certainly put in the time. So, he’s wired you a sum of money and is gifting you an apartment in the city center. The only condition is that you never bother him again…” Just as he finished, a notification lit up my phone. A bank transfer. The string of zeros made my head spin. That little sting of sadness vanished instantly. My mind exploded with fireworks. A grin spread across my face as I rushed to assure Davis, “Don’t you worry, I’ll be out in two days. No, I’ll be out today! I will never, ever get near your boss again.” This was a jackpot. I had money and a baby with some top-tier genes cooking in my belly. Best of all, I no longer had to service a man with the nocturnal stamina of a marathon runner. Heh, this was better than winning the lottery. 2 That’s right, I was pregnant. I had always wanted a child. When I first found out, I tried to subtly bring it up with Colin. “Do you like kids?” Without a second’s thought, he said, “No. They’re a hassle.” He glanced at me, his brow furrowed. “Are you thinking you want one?” His expression was so severe, it felt like if I dared to say yes, he’d throw me out on the spot. How could I possibly tell him I was already pregnant? I shook my head frantically, my voice firm. “No, no, I hate kids! Besides, given our… arrangement, a baby is out of the question.” We had no official status. I thought my statement was perfectly reasonable. But for some reason, Colin completely lost it. “What kind of ‘arrangement’ are we talking about?” he snarled. “Is the idea of having my child that repulsive to you?” His reading comprehension skills were truly something else. I could only roll my eyes behind his back. And of course, the damn man settled the argument by throwing me back into bed. Luckily, the baby was a fighter. It survived a whole night of its father going at it like a man with inexhaustible energy. That only strengthened my resolve to keep it. So, when the amnesiac Colin told me to get lost, you can bet I was more than happy to take the money and run. 3 I contacted Davis that same day to handle the deed transfer and moved into my new apartment that very night. My blissful life of prenatal nesting began. My days were filled with leisurely walks, cooking, and taking on a few freelance design projects. My evenings were for watching dramas, listening to music, and shamelessly liking and commenting on photos of handsome men online. I never had this kind of freedom when I was Colin’s kept woman. He’d once warned me that if I ever dared to like another man’s photo, I’d have to “work” double time to make it up to him. As handsome and skilled as he was, and as much as I enjoyed it, my back just couldn’t handle that frequency. Back then, I had to scroll through my feed in secret, and liking a post was unthinkable. But now? Now I could scroll through hundreds of handsome faces a day, my thumb aching from all the liking. Financially secure and mentally liberated, life was good. The happy days flew by, and soon, it was time for my first prenatal check-up. The thought of finally seeing my little one filled my heart with a sweet warmth. I was so caught up in the excitement that I completely missed the faint whisper of unease in the back of my mind. 4 I never dreamed I’d run into Colin at the city hospital. The lobby was bustling, but I spotted him instantly. His head was wrapped in gauze, and he was wearing a standard blue-and-white striped hospital gown. The injury had forced them to shave his normally sharp haircut into a buzz cut. It didn’t detract from his looks at all; in fact, it made his features look even more striking and defined. When his gaze swept in my direction, I quickly ducked my head. I could feel his stare burning the top of my scalp and started cursing internally. He was a rich and powerful man. After an accident, he should have been in a private luxury clinic, or at the very least a top-tier public hospital. What was he doing in this perfectly average city hospital? As I was silently fuming, the intense gaze finally moved away. I cautiously looked up, but Colin’s back had already disappeared into the crowd. I patted my chest and let out a long sigh of relief. It’s fine, it’s fine. He has amnesia. He’s completely forgotten me. Even if he saw me, he wouldn’t recognize me. To him, I’m just a stranger. Reassuring myself, I made my way to the obstetrics department. 5 It was 2025, and the obstetrics waiting room wasn’t overly crowded. Getting a number and waiting to be called was a smooth process. The check-up went well, too. When the doctor handed me the ultrasound photo and told me the baby was perfectly healthy, a wave of nervous excitement washed over me. Ever since my family passed away, this was the first time I had a true blood connection. This was my anchor in the world, a little life I had created. Even though it wasn’t born yet, I couldn’t help but love it, couldn’t imagine not keeping it. I held the ultrasound print, wondering how to best preserve it. This was the baby’s very first picture. I had to get it laminated, maybe pick out a nice frame… “Oof!” Someone rushing past me didn’t see me, and we collided. I stumbled, nearly losing my balance, when a strong arm suddenly wrapped around my waist, steadying me before releasing just as quickly. Once I was stable, I saw the ultrasound photo had fallen to the floor. I instinctively touched my belly. The person who bumped into me tossed a careless “sorry” over their shoulder and kept running. I muttered a curse under my breath, bent down to pick up the photo, and blew the dust off. I looked up, wanting to thank the person who had helped me. But he was staring down at the ultrasound in my hand. When I saw that familiar face, the words caught in my throat. Strong brows, sharp eyes, a high-bridged nose… The man who had just steadied me, who had saved my baby from a potential fall, was Colin? My jaw dropped. The “thank you” was stuck, refusing to come out. Colin studied me for a few seconds, his eyes flickering from my face to the ultrasound photo. His normally icy expression had become as cold as a polar glacier. It sent a shiver down my spine. I was terrified he’d suddenly remember something, drag me off to terminate the pregnancy, or worse, pull some stunt where he’d keep the baby and I’d never see it again. The more I thought, the more I panicked. My brain short-circuited, and I blurted out, “The baby isn’t yours.” The second the words left my mouth, I wanted to die. Colin had amnesia! This was practically a confession! I forced a strained smile and quickly tried to backtrack. “Haha, just kidding. Hey, handsome, thank you so much. My husband wasn’t around, and you really helped me out. I don’t know how I would’ve explained it to him. Our family’s been waiting for this baby for so long…” The more I babbled, the darker Colin’s face became. Finally, he must have gotten sick of hearing about my fictional family, because without another word, he turned and stalked away. God, that was terrifying. I absolutely had to switch hospitals for the next check-up. Watching his retreating back, my mind was made up. 6 After that day, I spent a few anxious days at home. But aside from a call from Davis asking if I still wanted the giant stuffed rabbit from my old bedroom, there was no word from Colin. I finally relaxed and slowly fell back into my peaceful, baby-nurturing routine. Soon, it was time for my second check-up. This time, I chose the most famous top-tier hospital in the city. As I casually walked toward the entrance, I thought to myself: there’s no way he could be this unlucky. Colin couldn’t have transferred from the city hospital to this one too, right? As it turned out, my luck was exactly that bad. 7 Seeing Colin in the hospital lobby, not far from me, I completely froze. Colin had an uncanny sense of awareness. He immediately looked in my direction, a slight frown creasing his brow. He was probably wondering why I had suddenly shown up at this hospital. After all, pregnant women don’t usually switch doctors mid-term. What kind of rotten coincidence was this? If I had known he was here, I never would have come. He stared for so long that I couldn’t pretend I didn’t see him. I raised a hand in a small wave. “Hey, handsome. Fancy seeing you here. Back for a follow-up?” The amnesiac Colin was incredibly rude. He shot me a cold glare, turned, and walked away as if I were a complete stranger. When I was his woman, if we ran into each other in public, he’d always come over, stroke my hair, give me a kiss. Now… tsk. I made a face at his back and quickly slipped away to the obstetrics department. The check-up went smoothly again, and I got the baby’s second picture. In my eyes, my baby was the cutest thing in the world. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I found a chair and sat down, completely absorbed, when suddenly, with a soft thud, someone collapsed right in front of me as if they were trying to scam me. I jumped to my feet in fright. “Sir, are you okay?” I knelt down and struggled to turn him over so he wouldn’t suffocate. And then, I found myself face-to-face with Colin. I was speechless. How could I run into him everywhere? But seeing the fresh bruise on his temple, I couldn’t just leave him there. I took a deep breath, called for help, and with the help of a nurse, we got him to the emergency room. After slipping out of the ER, I made a firm decision: next time, I was switching hospitals again. If I ran into him another time, I would seriously start to question my sanity. I hadn’t even reached the main entrance when I saw someone I shouldn’t have. In the middle of the lobby, my eyes met Davis’s. Remembering my promise, I quickly held up two fingers and swore, “I swear, I have no intention of pursuing your boss. I just came in for a cold. I’m absolutely not here to stalk him.” Davis was silent for a long moment before saying, a little mournfully, “Mr. Colin’s visit to the hospital today was a last-minute arrangement. I know you’re not that kind of person.” He paused, his expression complicated. “But… thank you for helping Mr. Colin just now.” I breathed a sigh of relief and waved it off. “It was nothing. This is a hospital. If it wasn’t me, someone else would have helped.” I was terrible at small talk and said my goodbyes, ready to leave. But Davis suddenly called out from behind me, his voice hesitant. “Ms. Audrey, maybe you should go see Mr. Colin? He doesn’t remember you, maybe it’s because he hasn’t seen you in person enough. Perhaps if he sees you again, he’ll remember.” Uh, no thanks. We’d already run into each other several times. It was useless. He had truly forgotten me. Besides, I was pregnant. I didn’t dare hang around him. What if his memory returned and he decided he didn’t want the baby? I wouldn’t even have time to cry. I quickly refused. “No.” I gathered my thoughts and tried to advise him earnestly. “Davis, your boss specifically said he doesn’t want me around. How can you, for the sake of our minor acquaintance, go against his wishes?” So, whatever you do, don’t mention me to Colin.

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The ninety-ninth time I found a pair of still-damp panties in my husband Adrian’s laundry, I printed out all the evidence of his affairs. Then I took all ninety-nine pairs of panties and marched into his corporate office. In front of everyone, I threw them in his face. Adrian, impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, frowned from his wheelchair, his eyes cold as he watched my meltdown. Then he simply picked up his phone, called a doctor, and had me committed to a psychiatric hospital. I spent two weeks in that sunless hell. The next time I saw Adrian, he handed me a set of divorce papers. I wanted to scream, to cry, to tear everything apart. But then my ten-year-old son ran out from behind him and dropped to his knees in front of me. “Mom, please, stop being crazy!” he begged, his voice cracking. “Are you going to be happy only when you’ve driven Dad and me to our graves?” The raw hatred in his eyes drained all the fight out of me. I collapsed onto the floor. As the orderlies dragged me away like a dead dog for another round of electroshock therapy, I wiped the tears from my face and choked out the words, “Fine. Let’s get a divorce.” 1 At my answer, a flicker of warmth returned to Adrian’s icy expression. He leaned back in his wheelchair, his fingers drumming a slow, deliberate rhythm on the armrest. “Ava,” he said, his voice smooth as silk, “just sign the papers, and I’ll give you anything you want.” My hysteria was gone. I looked at him, my heart a placid lake. I didn’t even want him anymore. What else could I possibly care about? “Just a standard settlement is fine,” I said. “I don’t want anything that wasn’t mine to begin with.” Adrian raised an eyebrow, finally deigning to meet my gaze. “Not even your son?” Before I could answer, our son, Noah, ran to Adrian’s mistress and threw his arms around her waist. “No! I’ll die before I go with her!” he cried, clinging to the woman, Brenda. “I want to stay with Dad and Aunt Brenda! Aunt Brenda said we’re the real family!” I took a deep breath and unclenched my fists, my knuckles white from the strain. “No, I don’t want him.” “When he was born, I couldn’t give him a choice of mothers. This time, I’ll let him have what he wants.” A flash of surprise crossed Adrian’s face. He had expected me to fight tooth and nail for custody, to drag out the divorce until he gave up. He never imagined I would let go so easily. I saw the relief on my son’s face, the happy smile that bloomed as he realized he was free of me. A thousand tiny needles pricked at my heart. “Ava, take some extra shares in the company,” Adrian said, his tone magnanimous. “Consider it payment for taking care of me all these years and for giving me a son.” A bitter, desolate look crossed my face, but I quickly hid it. I took the divorce agreement from his outstretched hand and, without a moment’s hesitation, signed my name. Twenty years. Twenty years of love, of hate, of sacrifice… all of it vanished in that single, swift stroke of the pen. “Ava, don’t disappoint me again,” Adrian said. Then he turned, and with Noah and Brenda in tow, he left the room. I watched them go, my lips moving in a silent whisper. “I won’t… I won’t disappoint you again.” The day I was discharged, a heavy rain was falling. I wandered through it like a ghost. I… I didn’t have a home anymore. Then, an umbrella appeared over my head, shielding me from the storm. I looked up and collapsed into my father’s arms, sobbing. “Dad…” It was the first time I had let him near me since my mother died. When I was eight, she was paralyzed, and he signed the papers to stop her treatment. I watched her jump from a hospital window, and in that moment, I hated him. Hated him for giving up on the woman he loved. That was why, when Adrian had his car accident and was told he would never walk again, when his own family had abandoned him, I never once considered leaving. I found the best traditional therapists and learned how to massage his lifeless legs. I gave up my dream college and worked nine jobs a day to pay for his rehabilitation. I swallowed my tears and plastered a bright smile on my face, constantly telling him he would get better. In our tiny, dark apartment, I remember his warm breath on my ear as he whispered, “Ava, having you is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I will never let you down. I may be disabled, but I won’t be trapped like this forever.” And he was right. Adrian became a celebrated representative for disabled entrepreneurs, a rising star in the business world. And I became the wife hidden away in the shadows, a relic he was ashamed to show the world. The first time I found lipstick on his collar, it was like a lightning bolt had struck me down. Adrian fell to his knees, begging me not to leave. I pushed him away and was halfway to the lawyer’s office before the thought of our infant son made me turn back. I was soft-hearted. I didn’t know then that with infidelity, there is no “just once.” It’s either never, or it’s countless times. As Adrian’s transgressions became more frequent, the guilt in his eyes vanished, replaced by a sense of entitlement. He asked for a divorce again and again, each time ending with me in a rage, smashing everything in sight. But this time, faced with his cold indifference and my son’s hatred, I was just… tired. I was ready to let go. “Dad,” I said, my voice muffled against his coat, “as soon as the divorce is final, I’ll go to Australia with you.” 2 I went back to the house to pack my things, only to find the locks had been changed. Just as I was about to call Adrian, the door opened. Brenda stood there, wearing my pajamas, a smirk on her face. “Well, if it isn’t Mrs. Ryder,” she purred. “After the scene you made at the office, I’m surprised you have the nerve to show your face here.” I looked at her, my expression blank. “Do I need your permission to come to my own home?” I brushed past her and walked inside. A sharp gasp followed me. Brenda was on the floor, weeping, her clothes mysteriously torn. She clutched the shredded fabric to her chest, but large patches of her pale skin were still visible. Adrian wheeled himself out, quickly shrugging off his jacket and draping it over her shoulders. His face was dark with anger as he turned on me. “Ava, don’t push it,” he snarled. “If the asylum didn’t cure your insanity, don’t blame me for locking you up until you’re normal.” That’s right. Ever since Brenda appeared, I had become a raving lunatic. Her perfume on his clothes made me crazy. Her lipstick in his car made me crazy. Her wet panties in his pocket made me absolutely insane. But he didn’t know. When the love is gone, the crazy goes with it. This time, I just looked at him calmly. “I didn’t do it.” Adrian, seeing that my expression was indeed different from my usual frenzied state, turned to Brenda with a flicker of doubt. “Adrian, she didn’t mean to tear my clothes,” Brenda sobbed pitifully. “It was… it was an accident. I was wearing her things. I’m so sorry…” The anger that had momentarily subsided in Adrian’s eyes flared up again. “Ava! She wore one of your old nightgowns by mistake, and you attack her in broad daylight? Where are your manners? Didn’t your mother teach you to respect others?” Just when I thought my heart couldn’t hurt anymore, Adrian always found a way to deliver another crushing blow. My mother was a wound that never healed. When he first heard her story, he had held me tight and sworn, “You silly girl. Don’t worry. I’ll be with you until the very end. Even if you don’t want me, I’ll never leave.” The words still echoed in my ears. But now… “That’s right,” I said, my eyes welling up. “I didn’t have a mother to teach me. Are you satisfied?” I walked past him into the living room. Adrian paused, a flicker of memory in his eyes. He started to follow me, but Brenda grabbed his pant leg, stopping him. As I entered the room, I saw my son happily scooping ice cream from a large, half-empty tub. My heart clenched. Because of the stress during my breastfeeding period, my milk had been poor. As a result, Noah had a very weak stomach and couldn’t handle anything too rich or cold. He’d had several bouts of vomiting and diarrhea as a baby, and each time, I was the one who sat alone and helpless by his hospital bed. I started to go to him, to stop him. But he saw me and dropped his spoon in terror. “Why are you back?” he shrieked. “I’m not going with you! I want Aunt Brenda!” “Aunt Brenda told me everything! Dad even named me after her! The three of us are the real family!” He scrambled away from me, screaming, and ran out of the room. I froze, my feet rooted to the spot. I had always thought Adrian named our son Noah because it sounded like “know I love you.” But it was for Brenda, not for Ava. “Ava, since you’ve decided to come back, I’ll overlook what happened today, as long as you swear you won’t have another episode and you won’t bother Brenda.” Adrian said as he wheeled back in, holding Noah. His tone was that of a king bestowing a great mercy. “Also, you scared Noah. He can’t sleep without Brenda, so she’ll be staying here for a while.” I didn’t turn around. “Fine,” I said calmly, and then went upstairs to move my things from the master bedroom to the guest room. Adrian frowned but said nothing. That night, I tossed and turned in the guest room, unable to sleep. Suddenly, I heard a commotion outside, punctuated by Noah’s weak cries. Then, a frantic knocking on my door. “Ava, something’s wrong with Noah!” Adrian’s voice was urgent. “He’s vomiting and has diarrhea, and he’s crying for his mom. Come and see what’s wrong!” I rolled over in bed, my heart a block of ice. “I’m not his mother, and I’m not a doctor. Take him to the emergency room before it’s too late.” 3. The knocking stopped. “You’re a cruel woman, Ava,” Adrian’s voice was low and menacing. The footsteps faded, and the house fell silent again. But my heart was in turmoil. He was my flesh and blood. How could I not ache for him? But then my eyes fell on the voodoo doll in my hand, riddled with steel pins. On the front was my name. On the back, in my son’s childish scrawl, were the words: I don’t want a crazy mom. The evidence was undeniable. My heart felt like it had been squeezed by a giant hand, leaving nothing but a bloody, mangled mess. If I hadn’t moved into the guest room, I might never have found the doll, wedged between the mattress and the headboard. The little boy I had cherished more than my own life had become the knife in my back. I wiped a tear from my eye and became that cold, heartless woman once more. I started packing up everything in the house that belonged to me. The soda can tab ring Adrian gave me when he proposed, the stub from our first movie ticket, the ultrasound picture of Noah’s heartbeat, his first pair of baby shoes… As I packed, I stumbled upon a box of receipts. Hundreds of thousands of dollars for high heels, millions for diamond rings, and even the deed to an island, gifted to Brenda, no strings attached. Compared to that, the things I had treasured were worthless. All those days I had spent in agony, unable to reach Adrian on the phone… he had been with her. After I threw everything in the trash, I felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. When Adrian was first starting his business, I had overcome my social anxiety, drinking myself sick at networking events, pulling strings to get his company off the ground. Then, I got pregnant with Noah. Adrian held me, his voice thick with emotion. “Ava, if you work yourself to death, how will I live?” The warmth of his tears on my neck brought a lump to my throat. After that day, I handed the company back to him and watched him shine, while I faded into the background, a housewife who flew into a rage over the smallest things. 4. The days passed quietly. Adrian and Noah didn’t come back for weeks. At first, I worried something had really happened to Noah, until I saw Brenda’s Instagram. They were in the Maldives, looking blissful. They looked like a real family. They finally returned on the morning we were scheduled to finalize the divorce. “Ava, you’ve become a monster! You’ll do anything to avoid this divorce, won’t you?!” Before Adrian could finish, his bodyguards grabbed me and dragged me in front of him. “Adrian, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said calmly. His eyes were red with fury, the veins on his hands popping as he gripped his wheelchair. “The whole internet is calling Brenda a homewrecker! Are you telling me you had nothing to do with that?” “It wasn’t me!” I said, my gaze unwavering. “You’re so cruel you don’t even care if your own son lives or dies. Who else could it be but you?” His voice was low, but he was slowly regaining his composure. A flash of resentment crossed Brenda’s face before she suddenly dropped to her knees in front of me. “Ma’am, I never meant to come between you and Mr. Ryder. I just love Noah so much. Please, don’t misunderstand. If you’re upset, I… I’ll leave right now.” She started sobbing and turned to go. “Brenda! Don’t go! Daddy! I don’t want my crazy mom!” Noah ran and threw his arms around her waist, and the two of them wept together. “Enough!” Adrian’s face was a thundercloud. “Ava, you made this mess, you will fix it. You will go online, and you will clarify that you were the third party, not Brenda.” I knew he wouldn’t believe me, but a tiny, foolish part of me still hoped. “I didn’t do it,” I said coldly. “And I won’t apologize.” “You’re choosing the hard way, then. Fine. Men, break her legs.” At his command, a man with a wooden bat approached me. I remember a time when a group of thugs tried to harass me, and he had protected me just as fiercely. Now, he was doing this to protect another woman? “Adrian! Don’t make me hate you!” “Do it! Don’t stop until she agrees!” His cruelty extinguished the last flicker of affection I had for him. Nothing mattered anymore. “I’ll do it,” I said. “On one condition.” “I’ll agree to anything, just—” “Let’s go sign the divorce papers. Now.” My interruption left him stunned. Then, he gritted his teeth. “Fine. Let’s go. Now.” At the courthouse, he signed the papers. As I was about to sign, he stopped me. “Before we divorce, sign this. It terminates your parental rights. Noah will have nothing to do with you from now on.” “Your mental state has improved recently. If you help Brenda now, I’ll be merciful and let you remain Mrs. Ryder. Noah will always be your son.” I pushed his hand away and signed both the termination of parental rights and the divorce agreement without a second thought. Outside the courthouse, I posted a single tweet: If the one who is not loved is the third party, then I admit, I am. I attached a picture of the divorce certificate. Then, right in front of Adrian, I took out my SIM card, snapped it in half, and threw it in the trash. I turned, got in a waiting car, and drove away without a backward glance. Adrian stared at the divorce certificate in his hand. Suddenly, his heart felt empty, as if something vital was being slowly stripped away from him. He opened his mouth to say something, but she was already gone. He realized then that something that had been holding him up for a very long time had just… broken.

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Ethan’s younger brother was going to film a dating reality show at the Sterling family estate. And Ethan and I accidentally became the foil couple in this entertainment circle romance. At first, netizens mocked me, the matriarch, as just a decoration. Husband doesn’t love her, mother-in-law makes things difficult. Later. Netizens tagged the show’s official account en masse: [I love watching the Big Brother and Sister-in-law show off their love. Ten thousand blood signatures asking for more screen time for them!] [Just love scavenging for crumbs of sweetness from the Big Brother and Sister-in-law in the corner of the screen!] [My blood sugar is low; I urgently need the Big Brother and Sister-in-law to sprinkle some sugar to replenish!] 1 Ethan Sterling’s younger brother, Liam, had a whirlwind romance. Trending on social media every other day. His romance was with the famous movie queen of the entertainment circle—Bella Davis. The playboy settled down. He pestered Ethan for a month and finally got him to agree to film a dating reality show at the old family estate. Ethan only told me the news a week before the recording. “Just cooperating to record a few episodes. If you don’t want to be on camera, we can move out for a while.” I lay lazily on the bed, my smooth neck and shoulders looming under the cover of black hair. “Forget it, too lazy to move.” I’ve been married to Ethan for three years. Always lived in the old estate. Used to living here, too lazy to move back and forth. 2 On the day of the recording. I opened my sleepy eyes and slowly went downstairs. Ethan had explained to the program team in advance not to film anything related to me casually. Downstairs was already bustling. Bella was surrounded by a group of people, looking every bit the hostess. Seeing me come downstairs out of the corner of her eye, she enthusiastically instructed Nanny Wang. “Nanny Wang, please prepare a breakfast for Sister-in-law too.” Nanny Wang looked at me hesitantly. I yawned and nodded lightly. Seeing me nod, Nanny Wang then asked the kitchen to serve the food. Liam, eating breakfast, greeted me, “Sister-in-law, good morning.” I responded with sleepy eyes: “Morning.” “Big Brother went to the company?” Liam asked. “Hmm? Probably?” My tone was uncertain. After all, he gets up earlier than the chickens. Even after a fierce battle at night, it doesn’t affect his early rising habit of decades. Moreover, Ethan, this man. As the successor of the Sterling family. The self-discipline and restraint cultivated since childhood would not let him be in an out-of-control state. Even marital life is strictly controlled to once every few days. While waiting for the food to be served. Bella suddenly came over and sat next to me, smilingly wrapped her arm around mine, and greeted the camera. “It’s Sister-in-law’s first time facing the camera, so stage fright is inevitable. I hope my fans will bear with her.” Then she turned her head and looked at me with a smile, “Sister-in-law, you don’t need to be afraid. My fans are very friendly.” So I just appeared on camera with a bare face and a confused expression. Bella focused on the live comments, answering netizens’ questions slowly with a sweet smile on her face. “Everyone thinks Sister-in-law looks familiar? That might be because Sister-in-law has a very common face.” “Asking how old Sister-in-law is? Shh! A woman’s age cannot be told casually~” Bella picked a few questions to answer, then realizing everyone’s attention was still on me. She sat back down, attempting to pull the topic back to herself. At this moment, the live comments were still very lively. [Is she Liam Sterling’s sister-in-law? The wife of the president of Sterling Group?] [Sister-in-law really looks familiar, not the common-face kind of familiar. I should have seen her on TV before!] [Is Sister-in-law preparing to ride on Bella’s coattails to debut?] [Bella is too kind, letting Sister-in-law leech off her screen time for free.] [I came specifically to see Bella. Bella is so beautiful!!!] [Bella is too happy. Her fiancé is so handsome and rich, and spoils her so much!] And me. Always wandering in outer space. Sleepy. Really sleepy. Ethan just came back from a week-long business trip. The rigorous man went crazy last night and made up for all the missed marital life this week. I couldn’t quite handle it. 3 After the meal. Liam went to the study to handle matters. So I was dragged by the enthusiastic Bella to choose a wedding dress for her on the sofa. She and Liam were already engaged and preparing to get married soon. “Sister Sarah, do you think this one looks good?” I glanced at her, then at the exquisite wedding dress catalog in her hand, and responded: “Good looking.” “What about this one?” I glanced again, “Also good looking.” “Sister Sarah, I heard you and Big Brother didn’t have a wedding?” Bella flipped through the catalog and asked seemingly inadvertently. I was gnawing on an apple. Crunch, answering a beat slow: “No.” Bella covered her lips in surprise, “Big Brother didn’t even give you a wedding?” I shook my head and explained, “I didn’t want to have one.” Ethan and I belong to a family alliance marriage. No emotional foundation. Before getting the certificate, he asked me: “When do you want to hold the wedding? Church or beach?” At that time, I didn’t have high expectations for this marriage. After all, before the alliance, the two only heard of each other’s names but never met. No feelings, completely strangers. Thinking of exchanging rings and kissing a stranger in front of the officiant. I said almost without thinking: “Let’s not do it, boring.” Remember he stared at me calmly at that time. After a long silence, he agreed. When someone asked, he only said he didn’t want to do it. Taking all the criticism on himself. Bella didn’t seem to hear, still talking to herself: “Every woman dreams of having a perfect wedding of her own.” “How could Big Brother not hold a wedding?” Her face faintly carried sympathy for me. Seeing this, I didn’t speak anymore, too lazy to explain too much. “Liam said he would give me a wedding of the century. I told him not to spend so much, but he insisted, saying he would never let me regret marrying him.” “But every one of these wedding dresses is so beautiful; I’m having difficulty choosing.” Bella’s tone was娇憨 (spoiled/naive), seemingly angry but actually acting coquettish. The happiness on her face could be felt by fans even outside the screen. [Liam Sterling spoils Bella too much. Bella is so happy.] [I still love watching Bella and Liam getting along, so sweet so sweet.] [No harm without comparison. Look, Sister-in-law’s face is dark.] [Can her face not be dark? She and Liam’s brother are just a wealthy alliance marriage, with no emotional foundation at all, right? I think maybe Ethan Sterling wasn’t willing to hold a wedding.] “Sister Sarah, I’m really dazzled. How about you choose one for me?” Bella moved the catalog over. I flipped through a few pages casually, finally pointing at one of them, “This one is very beautiful.” Bella glanced casually, “This waist design isn’t outstanding.” Then she closed the catalog, “Forget it, I’ll let Liam choose with me next time. His taste is never wrong.” 4 After looking at wedding dresses. She continued to drag me to look at rings. “Sister Sarah, didn’t Big Brother buy you a wedding ring?” Bella’s gaze turned to my hand. Only a plain band was worn on the ring finger. The totem pattern was weird, like goods from a dollar store. “Yes.” I glanced at the ring on my hand. On the day we got the certificate, I found two rings on the bedside table. One was a very large and bright diamond ring. The other was this one on my hand. Ethan asked me which one I wanted to wear. Although I disliked this one for being ugly, the other diamond ring was too big and inconvenient for activities. Without thinking much, I chose this one. “Just this one? Big Brother didn’t buy it at a dollar store, did he? Haha, Sister-in-law, I like to joke usually, don’t mind me.” Bella stuck out her tongue at the camera. Then she extended her slender hand, only to see a huge diamond ring on her middle finger. It was the engagement ring Liam gave her. She waved her hand, “I told Liam not to spend so much. I disliked such a big diamond ring for being heavy and inconvenient for activities, but he insisted on buying it. I couldn’t stop him.” “A few days ago, he insisted that I must choose a style bigger than the engagement ring.” “Sister Sarah, help me choose one.” “Sure.” I happened to have nothing to do, so I flipped through the catalog slowly. Liam just finished his work and came out of the study. He wrapped his arm around Bella’s shoulder, kissed her, and asked her, “Bella, how is the ring selection going?” Bella smiled shyly, “I’m choosing with Sister-in-law.” Then she changed the subject, “Liam, Big Brother is really something, not even buying a decent ring for Sister-in-law.” “Why don’t we buy one for Sister-in-law too? It counts as making up for a regret for Big Brother.” Bella thought she was thoughtful enough, and Liam would definitely nod in agreement. Unexpectedly, Liam’s gaze swept over my hand. He said disapprovingly: “Bella, don’t underestimate the ring Sister-in-law is wearing.” “The ring on Sister-in-law’s hand is an heirloom of the Sterling family, representing the status of the matriarch.” “Only she can wear this ring. Seeing her is like seeing Big Brother. She can walk sideways in the Capital.” Words fell. The smile on Bella’s face disappeared. She was rarely stunned. The look in her eyes at the ring changed. With inquiry, and a trace of desire. Me: ? This ugly ring has this meaning? Why didn’t Ethan tell me. I thought it was just an ordinary ring and kept wearing it because it was light. [Wow, I said this ring looked like a fake at first glance, but looking closely, the totem on the ring is indeed the Sterling family crest!] [Thought Sister-in-law wasn’t valued by Big Brother, didn’t expect Big Brother gave everything he should!] [Bella don’t be sad, you’ll have it too when you marry in.] [Probably not. There is only one matriarch position, unless something happens to Big Brother and Liam inherits the family business.] [Why doesn’t Bella have it! Just because Liam ranks second, she can’t be the matriarch, can’t wear this ring?!] [Didn’t they say Big Brother doesn’t like Sister-in-law? Why give her the ring to wear?] [Sister-in-law is Big Brother’s wife, Big Brother is the Sterling family heir. If not for Sister-in-law, for whom?] The comments argued into a pot of porridge because of this ring. Jealousy rose in Bella’s heart. Her gaze kept circling on the ring I was wearing. Until Liam asked her: “Bella, what’s wrong?” Only then did she move her gaze away with difficulty. Beckoning Liam to run to the other side of the sofa to choose rings.

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On the sixth day of freshman orientation, the heat was brutal. Liam handed his “best friend” Chloe a cold bottle of water while I stood right there, sweating in the sun. This time, I didn’t cry. I just calmly told him it was over. “All this over a bottle of water?” Liam scoffed. “Yes.” He let out a dry laugh. “Fine. Try to stay mad for more than three days this time, Maya. I could use the peace and quiet.” His friends started jeering. “Go easy on her, man. Your girl is a ten. If you don’t watch out, some frat guy is gonna swoop in.” Liam just shook his head. “She’s too high-maintenance. She starts a fight over every little thing.” “Her parents had a full-ride set up for her in London, but she chose a local state school and a major she hates just to be with me.” “Trust me,” he added, “three days of the silent treatment is her absolute limit.” I stayed silent. I had loved him for seven years. I followed him to this university, making him the center of my entire youth. But what he didn’t know was this: When something doesn’t fit, you drop it. When a person isn’t right, you start over. I’d already processed the withdrawal papers. I applied to a school abroad, and as soon as my visa clears, I’m gone. Liam, I’m done chasing you. Chapter 1 After the breakup, Liam was the first one to block me. Then his “sister,” Chloe, called me. I was in the middle of deleting photos and my thumb slipped—I accidentally hit “Accept.” The video feed popped up. A group of them were at a rowdy sports bar, the atmosphere loud and thick with the smell of wings and beer. “So, you really blocked her?” one of them asked. “You think she’s actually going to come crawling back?” “Aren’t you worried she might actually be done for real?” Hearing his friends, Liam just shook his head and took a long swig of his beer. “You guys don’t get it. Maya can’t live without me.” “She’s a bit slow,” he continued. “Her parents had a whole life planned for her in the UK, but she threw it away to follow me here. She even took a spot in a major she doesn’t like just to stay close.” He said it with total conviction. “She’ll last three days tops. Then she’ll be right back here, following me around like a puppy.” Chloe, wearing a tiny crop top, leaned in and draped an arm over his shoulder. “Wow, look at our Liam. Such a heartbreaker.” The guys laughed. “Seriously, take it easy. She’s cute, and it’s only freshman year. Some senior is gonna snatch her up.” Liam smirked, completely unfazed. “Let them. I could use the break. Once she realizes nobody treats her as well as I do, maybe she’ll actually learn how to behave.” Another guy chimed in. “Man, you’re cold. If I had a girl that looked like a literal doll, I’d be worshiping her. I definitely wouldn’t block her.” Liam sighed, looking genuinely annoyed. “It’s just… she’s exhausting. We’ve been at orientation for six days and she’s cried four times, always about Chloe.” “Chloe was having a rough day, so I brought her a drink. Maya wouldn’t even listen to me. She just started a scene. I don’t know how she got this spoiled.” Chloe shrugged, playing the “cool girl” perfectly. “It’s fine. If she hates me that much, I’ll just stay away from you. I don’t want to be the reason you guys fight. I’m not trying to make things hard for you, bro.” The guys immediately took her side. “Maya’s definitely being dramatic.” “Is it just girl jealousy? Chloe’s basically one of the bros, but let’s be real—she’s got the body and the face. Maya’s ‘cute,’ but cute doesn’t win against sexy.” Before Chloe could reply, Liam frowned. “Cut it out.” “Maya is my girlfriend, and Chloe is my best friend. They’re both important to me. I’m not actually trying to break up with Maya; I’m just trying to break her habit of being so sensitive. She’s such a crybaby; she’d drive a saint crazy.” I couldn’t listen anymore. I hung up. Chapter 2 My mood hit rock bottom. Just then, my DoorDash arrived—a small chocolate cake. I sat there on my dorm bed, shoveling cake into my mouth while tears streamed down my face. It tasted bitter and sweet at the same time. I grew up with Liam. We were those “childhood sweethearts” everyone talked about. Over a decade of history. Following him around had become a reflex. But this time, I meant it. I wanted out. It wasn’t like all the other times he described. I wasn’t going back. My phone rang. It was my mom. “Maya, honey… about wanting to withdraw and go abroad. Are you sure?” “Yes, Mom. I’m sure.” She paused. “What about Liam? I thought the whole point of that school was to be with him. Long distance is hard, honey. You need to think.” The mention of his name made my throat tighten. I forced myself to explain that we had broken up. “I’m sorry, Mom,” I whispered. “But I realized I can’t stay at a school I hate, studying something I don’t care about, just for a guy. I want to find my own path. Not just follow his.” My mom sounded surprised, but then relieved. “You’ve grown up, Maya,” she said. “I just wanted you to be happy. It sounds like Liam is the one losing out here. Classes abroad don’t start until next month, and your offer is still valid. I’ll handle the visa. Love you, sweetie.” I wiped my eyes. “Love you too.” Chapter 3 I packed up everything Liam had ever given me and hauled the box down to the dorm dumpsters. As I walked out, I saw Liam pulling up to the curb, dropping Chloe off. She was practically hanging off him, laughing loudly. “It was just a six-pack, Liam! I can totally out-drink you. Admit it, you lost the bet!” Liam was laughing too, until he saw me. He awkwardly pushed Chloe back a bit. He probably expected me to blow up, to start crying and screaming about Chloe again. But I just walked past them toward the trash. I didn’t even look at them. Liam smirked and stepped in my way. “Alright, Princess. Throw the rest away if you want, but keep that wooden carving. It took me a month to make that. My hands would fall off if I had to make another one.” I looked at him, expressionless. “You’re overthinking it. I don’t keep trash from my exes.” Liam’s smile twitched, but he nodded. “Fine. Just don’t regret it later.” As I turned to leave, Chloe grabbed my arm. “Maya, don’t be like that. Don’t get the wrong idea. I had a bit too much to drink tonight, so I asked Liam to drive me back. We’re literally just bros. Can’t you just think of me as one of the guys?” “One of the guys?” My temper finally flared. “Does a ‘guy’ ask him to buy her tampons? Does a ‘guy’ make him play duo-queue in games with matching skins every night? Do you have a gender identity crisis or are you just a pick-me? If you’re sick, get therapy. Stop trying to gross me out.” Chloe froze. She let out a fake, nervous laugh, looking both humiliated and “wronged.” “I didn’t realize you were so insecure about small things. Fine, I’ll apologize if it makes you—” Liam cut her off, pulling her back. “Don’t apologize to her. She thinks she’s a queen just because we’re in college now. She’s spoiled. Throw it away then. See if I care. I’m not replacing any of it.” I didn’t waste a second. I walked to the bin and slammed the box inside. Chapter 4 Back in my room, I crashed. I fell into a restless sleep filled with memories of Liam. Five years old, at a family dinner. Someone called me “chubby.” I started bawling. Liam jumped off his chair, ran over, and hugged me. “It’s okay! Maya is the cutest! I love Maya the most!” He planted a messy kiss on my cheek while the adults laughed. I stopped crying. From childhood playmates to high school sweethearts. Over a decade. He used to say, “Crybaby. Who else is going to put up with you besides me?” I thought he was my “forever.” Until Chloe showed up junior year. She was everything I wasn’t. The “bad girl.” Rebellious, edgy, always with a lollipop in her mouth, claiming she was trying to quit vaping. I lost count of how many times Liam broke our plans for her. “You don’t get it, Maya,” he’d say. “Chloe acts tough, but she’s actually really fragile. Her dad is an alcoholic. I feel like she and I are the same… we both just want to be free.” They became inseparable. Dirt bikes, skateboarding, adrenaline stuff. Liam would “help” her study, which just meant I was ignored while he tutored her. Every time we had a date, she’d call with some emergency. I finally snapped. “Can you stop hanging out with her? I don’t like her.” Liam just looked at me like I was crazy. “You can’t do the stuff we do! I don’t take you because I don’t want you to get hurt. Don’t be like that.” Eventually, my crying just gave him a headache. He’d go hang out with Chloe until he was bored, then bring me a cupcake like I was a toddler. “Hey, crybaby. You done leaking yet?” Nobody knew the bottle of water wasn’t the real reason I left. It was the second night of orientation. Everyone was exhausted. Liam snuck out with Chloe to go street racing and didn’t come back all night. We had just fought, so he ignored all my calls. Then I saw a social media post of a bike accident nearby. I panicked. I rushed out in my pajamas to find him. I was so frantic that I jumped out of my Uber before it fully stopped and tumbled onto the asphalt. My leggings tore, and my leg was a bloody mess. But then I looked up. Across the street, Liam was perfectly fine. He was holding a “shaken” Chloe in his arms, whispering to her and stroking her hair. At that moment, I was just… tired. I realized that nothing is “forever.”

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My brother, Cam, and I were halfway to Grandma Elsie’s house for New Year’s Eve when we had the fight. He’d barely said a word since we left Northport, the cold anger radiating off him like a personal blizzard. He left me at a rest stop off the I-95 and drove straight back. By the time I finally reached Grandma Elsie’s house in Blackwood, it was New Year’s Day. Seeing me alone, my grandmother’s face went slack with shock. “You walked all the way back? Where is your brother?” I froze. I realized I couldn’t remember why Cam and I had fought. Grandma Elsie’s face hardened. She took one look at my broken, blistered feet, and then took me to the town clinic. When the results came back, she collapsed into tears and called Cam. “You bastard! Don’t you know your sister has a brain tumor?” “How could you leave her on the highway? She walked for over twelve hours! Her feet are ruined!” Cam’s voice, cold and dismissive, was loud enough to hear. “You two are working together to manipulate me. I told you, Joss’s birthday is tonight. I’m not going back for any of your melodrama.” He hung up. Grandma Elsie’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted. In the ensuing chaos, I heard the doctor call my name. “Charlotte Elton, the surgery window is closed.” “Notify the family. You need to start making funeral arrangements.” My breathing stalled for a few seconds. I looked at the doctor, the words echoing in my mind. I felt a ghost of a memory, a chilling sense of déjà vu, that I had heard this exact phrase before. But the memory was slippery, gone as soon as I tried to grasp it. The doctor sighed. “The tumor is pressing on a nerve. It’s normal for your memory to be poor.” “Don’t you have a brother? You need to call him. From now on, you can’t be alone.” My heart plummeted into darkness. My body felt ice cold. Grandma Elsie stirred slightly on the examination table, as if sensing my terror. I gripped her hand and asked the doctor, “Is Grandma really okay?” The doctor patted my shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry. Your grandmother is just emotionally overwhelmed. She’ll wake up soon.” “Young woman, your situation is more urgent.” I nodded numbly, watching the doctor leave. I pulled my phone from my pocket. It was dead. After charging it, a torrent of notifications flooded in. Missed calls. All from Grandma Elsie. She had called me nearly a hundred times during those twelve hours I’d walked alone. Tears sprang to my eyes. I searched through the texts. I found only one from Cam. Didn’t pick up Grandma’s calls. Let me know when you get home. I called him. The phone rang for an agonizing length of time before he picked up, his voice clipped. “What do you want?” I couldn’t stop myself from shouting, “You’ve put Grandma in the hospital! Is Jocelyn more important than her? You need to get—” Beep… Beep… Beep… He hung up before I could finish. I stared at the screen in disbelief. Another text popped up instantly. I don’t have time for your drama on New Year’s. I’ll pick you up on the sixth. My heart hammered against my ribs. I called him again. It went straight to voicemail. I kept hitting redial, my rage burning. After a few minutes, the finality set in: I had been blocked. A ball of anger was lodged in my chest, making me shake. Furious, I snatched Grandma’s phone and dialed. The phone rang. He didn’t pick up. I tried a second time. Grandma’s number was now blocked, too. “Cameron Elton, you self-centered bastard!” I screamed the words, the sound tearing from my throat. I broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. The hospital room door swung open. A nurse frowned. “This is a hospital, ma’am. Please be quiet.” I scrubbed at my face, tears mixing with snot, and pulled up Jocelyn Day’s Instagram. That night, she’d posted three times. Thanks to my sweet brother for coming back to celebrate with me. Everyone else is doing New Year’s, I get a birthday first! A diamond necklace Cam won for me at a high-end auction—only two in the world. I love it! Have you ever seen a ten-tier birthday cake? I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms. My heart felt like it was being flayed alive. Tears hit the phone, blurring the obnoxious sparkle of the diamonds. Suddenly, Cam’s angry voice flashed into my mind: “Charlie, if you can’t be more accepting, you can walk back to Grandma’s yourself!” The intense burst of emotion jolted my memory. I finally remembered the fight. Days ago, Joss had started a dramatic plea, crying that Cam had to stay in Northport for her birthday. Joss was a long-term scholarship recipient—a family mentee Cam felt overly responsible for—and her birthday fell on New Year’s Eve, which she always lamented missing due to family events. Cam was torn. Grandma Elsie was elderly, and the holidays were the only time she saw us. I had tried to be helpful, suggesting we bring Joss along. She recoiled. “That’s your family home. I’d be in the way.” “Besides, you and Grandma don’t like me… I can tell.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Cam had glared at me, his eyes full of displeasure. That day, he announced he was staying. I pleaded with him, using every good and bad argument I had. He wouldn’t budge. It took Grandma Elsie throwing a rare fit for him to reluctantly agree to drive us. But the whole way, his face was set in stone. I saw his resentment and tried carefully to lighten the mood. He snapped. “Just stop, Charlie. I promised Grandma I’d go, and I’ll go. Stop worrying that I’ll leave.” I obediently shut up. Until Joss called, sobbing that she was sick and needed him to come home to check on her. I couldn’t take it. I snatched the phone and screamed at her, “How dare you ask him to abandon Grandma for you?” The call ended. Cam violently slapped me across the face. “What has Joss ever done to you, that you can’t stand her so much?” I was stunned, my mind blank with the shock of the hit. He didn’t even look at me. He slammed the accelerator to the floor, screeching into the nearest rest stop. His voice was cold, leaving no room for argument. “There are regional buses here. Get out.” I stood there, crying, stubbornly refusing to move. I thought he was just angry, that he wouldn’t actually leave me. But when I didn’t move, he got out, marched around to the passenger side, and yanked the door open. He pulled me out onto the cold asphalt. “Call Grandma and tell her I’m not coming back. Don’t let her worry.” He let go, got back in the car, and sped away, leaving me standing alone. I stood there for a long, long time, tears streaming down my face. Then, the memory of the fight evaporated. I wiped my face and started walking. I walked all the way home. If the stress hadn’t returned me to the clinic, I might never have recalled the fight. My brain was only holding onto the good things: Cam running all over the city just to find my favorite ice cream flavor. Cam holding me tight after our parents died, swearing he’d protect me, that I’d never be hurt. I didn’t understand how we had fallen this far apart. “Charlie…” Grandma Elsie’s frail voice pulled me back. She was awake, her cloudy eyes flickering with hope. “Is your brother here? Did he come?” I lowered my gaze. “He didn’t answer his phone, Grandma. He must be busy.” Her face grew paler. After a long silence, she asked, “When did you get sick? Why didn’t you tell me?” I squeezed her hand, forcing a gentle smile. “I forgot, too. It’s okay, Grandma. I’ll be fine.” She closed her eyes, seeming to age ten years in a second. She didn’t mention Cam or my illness again that night. The next morning, she cooked us some dumplings, then packed our bags. We were going to find Cam. I didn’t want to go back to Northport. I begged her to stay. Grandma Elsie was firm. “I have to ask Cam what he’s thinking.” “And your illness. We have to treat it in Northport. The clinic here is useless!” And so, we headed back. We pushed open the door of Cam’s upscale condo. He wasn’t there. Joss was standing in front of a mirror, admiring the diamond necklace. The moment she saw us, she crossed her arms. “What, you can’t survive a single holiday without Cam? You came all this way to track him down?” I frowned. “Joss, show my grandmother some respect!” “Respect? Why? If that old woman hadn’t insisted on him driving her back, I wouldn’t have had to fake an illness to get my brother home.” Joss smirked. “Are you here for a confrontation? Too bad.” “Cam is out buying me a new purse. You’ll have to come back later.” Her possessive, queen-of-the-castle attitude made Grandma Elsie’s temper explode. She pointed a trembling finger at Joss. “This is Cam and Charlie’s home! Get out!” “You get out, old woman!” Joss’s eyes narrowed, cold and cruel. “You chose to live in that backward town. Now you come crawling back because you can’t handle the hard life?” “Cam works so hard to make money. He sends you money every year. For what?” My pupils constricted. I clenched my fists in disbelief. Grandma Elsie’s chest was heaving; her breathing was shallow. None of us expected Joss to be so utterly shameless. Seeing Grandma Elsie’s distress, I quickly helped her sit down. Then, in three strides, I was in front of Joss. I raised my hand and slapped her, hard. Slap! Joss staggered back, stunned. “This is my home! You’re just a low-income student Cam sponsored. Did calling him ‘brother’ for years make you think you’re a Elton?” I finished with a cold roar, ready to hit her again. She wasn’t going to just stand there. She grabbed my wrist, twisting it. “You bitch! Don’t think being blood means anything. He loves me more!” Joss screamed, pulling my hair. I kicked her in the hip. She grabbed the glass vase from a side table and swung it violently at my head. CRASH! “CHARLIE!” The sound of shattering glass and Grandma Elsie’s scream came at the same moment. Dazed, a warm liquid streamed down my forehead, blurring my vision. My knees buckled and I slumped onto the floor. Glass shards dug into my palm. The strange thing was, my hand didn’t hurt at all. Only my head felt like it was being pierced with steel needles. “Let go of me, old woman!” Through my hazy vision, I saw Grandma Elsie and Joss wrestling. Joss had been slapped repeatedly by Grandma Elsie. She finally snapped, pushing Grandma Elsie with all her might. THUD! A deafening impact. Grandma Elsie’s body hit the ground hard. She twitched once, then fell still. My body was numb. I wiped the blood from my eyes with my sleeve and struggled to look. A slow, crimson pool spread beneath Grandma Elsie’s white hair. A sharp shard of glass was deeply embedded in the back of her skull. It had also cut my fingers. I was breathing in panicked gasps, lost and terrified. It took a long moment before I could let out a wretched, desperate cry: “Grandma—” The condo door opened. Cam, carrying a pile of designer shopping bags, saw the scene. His smile vanished. “Grandma!” He yelled, dropping his shopping bags and stumbling to her side. He saw the glass shard in her head. His eyes contracted in shock. He grabbed my wrist, shouting at me. “What happened here? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?” My vision tunneled. The familiar emptiness swept over my mind, and more blood dripped from my temple. Cam’s face went white. He blinked rapidly. “Charlie, what’s wrong with you?” He let go of my wrist and reached for my head, trying to check the wound. Joss, shedding perfect tears, started her story. “Brother, Charlie’s gone crazy! I was just trying to hand her a glass of water, and she smashed the vase on her own head and attacked me!” “Grandma tried to stop us, but she slipped on the glass and fell…” Cam’s hand froze. His expression turned dark. “Charlie, is that true?” “I don’t remember…” My voice was a choked sob. I was hyperventilating from the anxiety. I couldn’t remember. I didn’t know what happened. Why is this happening? Why? “What the hell are you doing on New Year’s Day, causing trouble!” Cam’s face was a mask of fury. He roared at me. “If anything happens to Grandma, I will never forgive you!” Without waiting for my reaction, he shoved me hard. He scooped up Grandma Elsie and ran for the hospital. Joss stood over me, looking down. “See? He believes me no matter what I say.” “Charlie, I think your grandmother is already gone.” “You killed her.” I jerked my head up. A creeping dread, an awful chill, crawled up my spine. “No! I didn’t! I would never hurt Grandma…” I mumbled the words, shaking my head robotically. Joss scoffed and walked out the door. After she left, the silence in the house was deafening. My heart was a hollow void, holding onto a single thought— I did not kill Grandma Elsie. I don’t know how long I sat there. Then, a sudden flicker of memory. I scrambled off the floor. I dragged a chair under the light fixture. Standing on it, I reached up, slowly feeling around the top of the pendant light. My breath hitched. A small pinhole camera was in my hand. I had installed it two months ago. My brain tumor had been diagnosed two months ago. The doctor warned me about the severe memory loss in the later stages and suggested a surveillance camera. I’d followed his advice and then immediately forgotten about it. It had finally served its purpose. I clutched the camera and went to the hospital. In the hallway, I found Cam hunched over, sobbing uncontrollably. Joss was beside him, speaking in a low, soothing voice. “Brother, don’t cry. Grandma is gone, but you still have me…” CRASH— My mind went blank again. The familiar, terrifying void washed over me. My legs gave out. I collapsed onto the floor. Cam heard the noise. He looked up, his eyes bloodshot, blazing with pure hatred. He rose and strode over to me in three steps. He didn’t hesitate, slamming his palm across my face. “It’s all your fault! Why did you bring Grandma back? Why did you fight with Joss?” “It was just a few days of the holiday! Why are you so immature!” “Grandma is dead! Are you happy now?” My cheek was on fire. Blood welled up in the corner of my mouth. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Why am I here? How did Grandma die? My tears started again, desperate and confused. The harder I tried to remember, the more my head ached. “You have the nerve to cry?” Cam’s voice shook with rage. He threw a velvet gift box onto my body. “I was actually thinking of you. When I bought Joss her birthday gift, I bought you one, too.” “Charlie, you truly don’t deserve my kindness.” The box hit the floor and shattered, revealing an exquisite diamond necklace. It was identical to Joss’s. As I reached for it, Cam slammed his foot down on the pendant. “You are not allowed at Grandma’s funeral!” “Charlie, from this day forward, you are no longer my sister!” I looked up, stunned, but he was already turning away. Joss gave me a cruel, chilling smile. “You deserve this.” She bent down, picked up the diamond necklace from the floor, pocketed it, and followed Cam. A sudden sharp pain shot through my palm. I looked down. A corner of the camera was crushed in my grip. The terrible truth hit me: I had forgotten my mission again. People shuffled past in the hallway, their eyes landing on me. I covered my face, weeping a desolate, hopeless cry. Why did this disease happen to me? Why did it steal my memories, leaving me without a chance to explain? A voice deep inside me whispered. You cannot wait. The funeral could wait. The truth couldn’t. To prevent another devastating memory loss, I prepared two ways. First, I pulled out my phone and emailed the surveillance footage of Joss pushing Grandma Elsie to the Northport Police Department. Then, I slowly got up and left the hospital, intending to walk to the police station. The memory lapse was faster than I expected. I didn’t go to the police station. Instead, I boarded a regional bus going back to Blackwood. I was convinced Grandma Elsie was waiting for me at the house. If I went back, I would find her. The bus rolled away from Northport. When I opened the door to the old house, it was already night. The house was empty and silent. A plate of cold dumplings sat on the dining room table. I faintly remembered Grandma Elsie saying they were for Cam. My soul felt sucked out of me. The world went black. As I fell, my phone rang—Cam’s special ringtone. The warm melody sounded frantic and sharp now. I didn’t have the power to answer.

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