Category: English

My husband wanted to run off with his mistress, so he faked a “divorce,” staged his own death, and disappeared abroad. I didn’t cry. I didn’t scream. I just quietly filed for his death certificate and erased him from the registry. Years later, his parents gave me all their money and property. That’s when he came back, desperate to claim his inheritance. He knelt before his parents, begging: “Mom, Dad, I’m your son! I’m your only heir!” Chapter 1 It started with a Reddit post I saw late one night. u/Throwaway123: “I’ve got a girl on the side and want to leave my boring wife. How do I get her to agree to a divorce without her making a fuss?” The top comment read: “Easy. Fake a job transfer abroad that requires you to be ‘single’ for visa reasons. Convince her it’s just a paper divorce. You leave, live it up with your girl, and your wife stays home taking care of your aging parents. Win-win.” I felt sick reading it. I never expected that the very next day, my husband, Mark, would come home and say: “Honey, the company is offering me a huge opportunity abroad. But there’s a catch—the visa requires proof of single status.” “We need to get a fake divorce.” The moment Mark said those words, my mind flashed back to that Reddit thread. I swallowed the disgust rising in my throat and decided to test him. “Do you have to go? The kids are small, and your parents haven’t been well…” “I have to!” He cut me off sharply. Realizing he sounded too aggressive, he softened his tone. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Two years abroad, and I come back as a manager. My salary will double. Honey, I’m doing this for us, for our family. You support me, right?” When I didn’t answer immediately, he grabbed my hand, looking deeply into my eyes. “It’s just a piece of paper. The company insists single employees are more ‘stable’ for overseas assignments. We’ll be divorced legally, but nothing changes between us. I’ll send my paycheck home every month.” “The moment I’m back, we’ll remarry. You have to trust me.” Trust him? I’d sooner trust a snake. There is no such thing as a “fake” divorce. Once that judge signs the decree, it’s done. Looking at his earnest face, whatever trust I had left for him evaporated. I didn’t need to hear anymore. I nodded. “Okay, Mark. Whatever you say.” Mark’s face lit up. “Great. No time to lose. Let’s file tomorrow.” Chapter 2 That night, after Mark fell asleep, I tried to check his phone to see who the mistress was. But he was guarding it like a dragon, sleeping with it tucked under his pillow. So, I opened Reddit instead. u/Throwaway123 had updated. “Convinced the old ball and chain to sign the papers. The plan is perfect: once I’m abroad, I’ll fake my death and go no-contact. No need to send money home. In a few years, when my parents kick the bucket and the kid is grown, I’ll come back and collect the inheritance.” The comments were full of praise, calling him a genius. I couldn’t help myself. I created a burner account and commented: “Aren’t you afraid of karma?” The replies came fast and furious. “Karma? Being stuck with a boring wife is the real karma.” “Bro, you clearly aren’t married. Domestic flowers never smell as sweet as the wild ones.” Reading the toxic filth, I deleted my comment in disgust. Mark slept soundly beside me, blowing little bubbles as he snored. The more I looked at him, the more I hated him. I reached out and slapped him across the face. He jolted awake. Before he could react, I hugged him tight. “Honey! Did you have a nightmare? It’s okay, I’m here.” He touched his cheek, confused, muttered something, and was back to snoring in seconds. Go ahead, I thought, grinding my teeth. Leave. Just don’t expect to ever come back. Chapter 3 The next day, Mark practically dragged me to the courthouse. There was a mandatory waiting period, and during that month, Mark was the model husband. He cooked, cleaned, and doted on me, terrifyingly afraid I’d change my mind. Even his parents were impressed. Our four-year-old daughter, Lily, said, “Mommy, Daddy is so nice to you. I want a husband like Daddy when I grow up.” She was too young to see the filth behind the mask. It’s okay. I’ll teach her. Words are cheap. Only tangible assets are real. When the divorce decree finally arrived, Mark snapped a photo of it immediately. u/Throwaway123: “Free at last!” He came home and started packing. He told his parents and Lily that the company was sending him on a long assignment. No one else knew we were divorced. When he left, he hugged me at the door, unable to hide his grin. “Honey, take care of Mom and Dad for me. When I get back, we’re going to live the good life.” I waved goodbye, looking every bit the reluctant wife. When I got back to our room, I checked our joint account. Empty. He had taken the $30,000 we had saved. I reached for the phone to scream at him, then stopped. That account was just a decoy. Before he started cheating, Mark handed over his paycheck, but I had always been careful. If groceries cost $200, I told him they were $500. If utilities were $150, I said $300. I skimmed off the top for years. The joint account was for show. My real savings were in a separate account only I knew about. Plus the dowry from my parents and gifts from his parents over the years… I had over $100,000 stashed away. A woman has to look out for herself. After Mark left, life went on. His last Reddit update came at the end of the month. u/Throwaway123: “Bros, starting my new life of freedom. Living the dream for you all!” Attached was a photo of two hands intertwined against a sunset. The IP address showed he was overseas. Chapter 4 I pretended to know nothing and continued caring for Lily and his parents. Two days later, my father-in-law fell. A brain hemorrhage landed him in the ICU. My mother-in-law cried as she called Mark. Thirty calls, no answer. She went to his company, only to be told there was no overseas assignment. Mark had resigned a month ago. Mark was gone. His mother panicked, threatening to call the police. That’s when I started to cry. “Mom, what do I do? I think Mark lied to me.” I “confessed” about the fake divorce. “Mom,” I sobbed, “He took all the money in the joint account. Do you think he has someone else? Did he trick me into a divorce just to run away with her?” “He took everything! Dad needs surgery money, what are we going to do?” “That animal!” My mother-in-law screamed, stomping her foot before fainting from the shock. I suppressed a smirk and paid the hospital bills from my secret stash. The surgery was successful. When my mother-in-law woke up, I was sitting by her bed, eyes red from onion fumes. “Mom, don’t worry. I’m here.” She looked at my wrist. The heavy gold bangle she gave me for my wedding was gone. “Sarah, where’s your bracelet?” I pulled my hand back, lowering my head to hide my “sadness,” revealing my bare neck where my necklace used to be. “Dad needed the surgery. Mark took all the cash, so I… I sold my jewelry. It should cover us for a while.” “Mom, don’t worry. Mark might be heartless, but you and Dad have always been good to me. I won’t abandon you.” She burst into tears, gripping my hand. “Sarah, Mark wronged you. It’s our fault for raising such a bastard.” “From now on, you are our own daughter. As far as we’re concerned, Mark is dead.” Inside, I was doing a victory dance. Outwardly, I wiped a tear. “Mom, don’t say that. You’ve always been like real parents to me.”

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At our daughter’s high school graduation party, my husband got drunk. He pulled our daughter aside, slurring his words as he drilled advice into her head. “Lily, you can date in college, but listen to me. If a guy is broke but keeps chasing you relentlessly, block him!” Lily looked confused. David let out a mysterious, knowing laugh and explained, “Because a man who truly loves you wouldn’t bear to let you suffer with him!” “And anyone who shows weakness or cries to you about their ‘childhood trauma’ to gain your sympathy? They’re just looking for a host to suck dry. Run away!” After listening to him, I didn’t sleep a wink all night. The next morning, while he was still hungover, I packed my bags and left the house. 1 It was Lily’s graduation party. David had too much whiskey. As the guests thinned out, his laughter turned into tears. The alcohol had stripped away his usual composure, leaving him an emotional wreck. I handed him a tissue to wipe his face. He shrugged his shoulder violently, dodging my hand as if my touch repulsed him. Lily walked over. “Dad, what are you doing? You’re going to make me cry too.” David immediately grabbed Lily’s hand. They leaned their foreheads together, weeping like children. I stood there, tissue in hand, completely sidelined. I couldn’t even get a word in. It took David a long time to pull himself together. He looked up, pulling a tissue for Lily this time, and started his lecture. “Lily, listen to your dad. If a guy offers nothing but sweet words and zero action, he’s a scammer.” “If he’s poor but pursues you aggressively, pass on him immediately. He’s either after your future money or he wants to drag you down into the mud with him. If he really loved you, he wouldn’t want you to struggle.” “And the ones who cry to you? The ones who talk about how broken their families are just to trigger your savior complex? Ignore them.” For every sentence David spoke, Lily nodded solemnly. They went back and forth, crying and laughing, lost in their own world for a long time. Neither of them noticed when I went back to the bedroom. I listened to David’s “wisdom” through the door as I started packing my suitcase. The next morning, when David woke up from his drunken stupor, I had already left the home I’d built for twenty years. 2 “Divorce?” David’s suppressed anger vibrated through the phone. “You need a reason, Sarah! Don’t tell me you’re jealous because I cried with Lily last night?” He let out a scoff of disbelief. “Can you stop making a scene right now? The kid is heading to college next week. We have so much to pack. Isn’t it embarrassing for a woman your age to be jealous of her own daughter?” David was an expert at making people feel nauseous. We both knew the real reason, but he chose to play dumb, framing me as an unreasonable, jealous mother. He remembered exactly what he told our daughter last night. Sweet words with no action. Poor but relentless. Crying to gain sympathy. Every single point was a description of how he chased me twenty years ago. Back then, he was broke but acted like our love was a matter of life and death. His family situation was a mess, but he told me I was his “only light,” his courage to crawl out of the abyss. I fought against my own family’s wishes to marry him when he had nothing. I suffered through the hard years with him. And now, right in front of me, he told our daughter that these behaviors were the hallmarks of a predator. He was terrified Lily would be tricked. Terrified she would end up like me—blinded by “love.” Maybe he was too drunk to remember I was there. Or maybe the mask had slipped so far he didn’t care if I heard the truth. Either way, I was done. When he told Lily, “Honey, you only live once, I want you to be selfish,” I made up my mind. No one understood my decision. Shortly after I hung up on David, my best friend, Jess, called. “Hahaha, Sarah, you’re hilarious! Jealous of your own kid? That’s a new low!” “You don’t know how good you have it. Your husband is obsessed with your daughter. My husband is a deadbeat dad who doesn’t lift a finger.” I could hear the noise of a dinner party in the background. “Sarah, stop acting up and go home. David spoiled you too much. This is just the smell of too much love!” “Exactly, Sarah! Come back. David isn’t even asking us to convince you; he’s basically bragging about how close you two are. Most couples our age don’t even touch, let alone fight like lovers.” The atmosphere on the other end was jovial. David was playing the role of the good-natured, henpecked husband perfectly. “Stop teasing her,” David’s voice came through, smooth and fake. “Sarah has thin skin.” “Aww, look at him protecting her!” The suffocating feeling in my chest grew heavier. “David knows exactly why I want a divorce,” I said coldly into the phone. “We’re decent people. I just want a clean break. There’s no need to air our dirty laundry.” The other end was too loud; the “peacemakers” ignored my tone, assuming I was just throwing a tantrum. I hung up and texted David: Don’t contact me until you agree to sign the papers. 3 Lily couldn’t believe it either. “Mom, are you really divorcing Dad because he loves me more?” There was a hint of resentment in her sobbing voice. I patiently explained that I was glad her father loved her. Being loved was the best thing for her. “But Mom, you know you’re almost fifty, right?” My heart sank. My voice turned cold. “I recall your father telling you last night that you only live once and should have the courage to follow your heart. You agreed with him then.” “You’re an adult now, Lily. Mom just wants to follow her heart for once.” “…But…” Lily couldn’t understand. I cut her off. There were no “buts.” I simply refused to spend the rest of my life in an environment of double standards. David hadn’t cheated. He hadn’t committed a crime. But the micro-aggressions, the subtle neglect over twenty years, had suffocated me. It started when Lily was small. Once, we were reading in bed. David was tickling Lily’s feet under the covers. They were laughing. Then David accidentally grabbed my foot. The look of disgust on his face was instant. He threw my foot aside and jokingly said, “Ew, smelly.” Lily laughed. I couldn’t. David went to wash his hands. I remembered how, when we were dating, he used to warm my cold feet against his stomach in winter. When I confronted him, he said adults have bacteria and he didn’t want to infect Lily. He ended the argument with, “You almost died giving birth to her. How can I not love her with everything I have?” It was a statement full of holes, but I forced myself to believe it. Over the years, the difference in treatment became the norm. When he came home, he’d hug Lily enthusiastically, then bump my shoulder without looking at me. If Lily spoke, he listened intently. If I spoke, he was perfunctory. If food was “too cold” (in the Chinese medicine sense), he’d snatch it from Lily and dump it on my plate. He told me love transforms into duty and guardianship. I believed him. But his drunken truth-telling exposed my twenty-year marriage for what it was: A scam. It didn’t start with love. It started with calculation. 4 I stopped answering David’s calls. I told him I’d meet him only to sign the papers. But things spiraled out of control. While scrolling TikTok, I saw David on a livestream with a popular relationship guru, “Coach Chloe.” I followed her account. She often discussed parenting teenagers. David knew I’d see it. David’s voice was deep, full of confusion and sorrow. “I just want my wife to come home so we can talk. If she’s jealous of our daughter, I can change. I can change anything. I just don’t want her to run away like a teenager.” “Our daughter leaves for college in a week. I just want her to put aside her anger for the child’s sake.” Then, Lily’s voice came through the speaker. “Mom, I can’t reach you. I know you watch this stream. Please come home. I promise I won’t fight for Dad’s attention anymore.” The livestream exploded. Comments flooded in: “Jealous of her own daughter??” “Classic narcissist mom!” Coach Chloe froze, processing the drama. “Poor child,” she finally said. “Listen to me, honey. Do not cry. This is not your fault.” She raised her voice. “No child should have to bear the burden of their mother running away because she’s jealous of her father’s love!” “Your mother’s jealousy is pathological. She is forcing you to participate in her mental illness. Sacrificing a daughter’s happiness for her ego is pure selfishness!” Coach Chloe leaned into the camera, her face filling the screen. David interrupted, playing the saint. “Please don’t say that about her. I just want her to come home. We can solve this privately.” “Privately?” Chloe scoffed. “Look at you, defending her even now. Honestly, sir, you enabled this. You spoiled your wife like a child, so now she competes with your actual child!” She took a deep breath and addressed the camera directly. “To the wife watching this: I don’t know how you prioritize love and family. But ask yourself, if your parents and your husband were sick, who would you help first? Your parents, right? So why do you demand your husband put you above his own flesh and blood?” “You are selfish, self-centered, and sick.” The comments were cheering her on. “Drag her!” “She has Princess Syndrome!” Coach Chloe continued her tirade. “You’re nearly fifty, yet you act like a toddler. Your husband protected you too well. So I’ll say what he won’t.” “Read a book. Find yourself. Stop making your husband your entire world. You are suffocating your family. Your husband is miserable. Your daughter is traumatized.” “Recognize this: You are the problem. You are not a normal mother. Stop trying to manipulate your family with these stunts!” The stream’s numbers skyrocketed. Chloe ranted for twenty minutes. I was flayed alive by strangers. In the end, Chloe gifted David and Lily books. One for me, to “broaden my horizons,” and one for Lily, to “heal her trauma.” Lily thanked her.

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1 The night of my engagement party, there was a knock on my apartment door. A little boy stood in the hallway. “Mom, I’ve traveled back from eight years in the future. I’m your son…” My first instinct was to call the police. But then, the boy’s tears splashed onto the marble floor. He clutched the hem of the gown I hadn’t even had a chance to change out of. “Mom, you absolutely cannot marry Dad.” “If you go near him, your life is over. In two weeks, you’ll be in a stunt-wire accident on set and be paralyzed for life.” “He’ll marry you, sure, but he’ll ice you out, driving you into a severe depression until you finally jump from the roof of your company building.” “The person he truly loves is his agent, Sophia Collins.” My fingers, holding my phone, went rigid. “He left the engagement party early tonight because Sophia’s cat had a sudden heart attack.” “If you don’t believe me, he’s at her apartment right now. Come with me, and you’ll see that I’m telling the truth!” 2 Sean scooped up a small pebble from the walkway and hurled it against the steel door of Sophia’s apartment. I huddled in the shadows of the stairwell, my nails digging so deep into my palms that beads of blood welled up. I couldn’t feel a thing. The moment the door opened, all the blood in my body felt like it was rushing backward. Landon Price was there. Of course, he was. He was wearing loose gray sweats, his hair still damp. Tonight, after a single phone call, he’d just gestured at me and abandoned me at our own engagement party, leaving me to face a barrage of flashbulbs and the knowing stares of our guests all by myself. Three hours later, a text finally came through: an urgent matter with the film crew. And this “urgent matter” was him, in sweats, at his agent’s apartment, looking after her sick cat. My heart clenched violently. Landon saw no one at the door. He glanced down at the pebble on the ground, his brow furrowing. “Landon, honey? Who is it?” Sophia’s voice drifted from inside, sticky sweet like melting caramel. “No one. Probably just a neighborhood kid playing a prank.” Sophia emerged, cradling a fluffy white Ragdoll cat. The neckline of her silk slip dress hung low, revealing the delicate black lace edge of her bra. In that instant, my legs nearly gave out. A chill shot through me, cold and sharp. I had seen that lingerie before. On the couch in my own living room. The exact same set. Landon had told me it was a new gift from a designer brand. Now I knew the truth. Sophia must have left it behind during one of their trysts at my place. He actually expected me to wear something Sophia had worn. A wave of nausea washed over me. I doubled over, gagging, but nothing came up. Only tears, hot and uncontrollable, streamed down my face. A window in the hallway was open, and the night wind whipped through, making my whole body tremble, my teeth chatter. Sophia shivered theatrically. Landon immediately wrapped his arms around her, his voice so gentle it could have been liquid. “It’s cold out here. Let’s go back inside.” “Mmm,” Sophia purred, her voice soft and kittenish. “Mochi’s lost her appetite after the surgery. The only thing she wants is the special meal you make for her.” A small smile touched Landon’s lips. “Alright. I’ll make it for her.” I completely fell apart. My heart felt like it was being sawed through with a dull blade, over and over again. So, he did know how to cook. Last month, when my stomach ulcer flared up and I was curled in a ball of pain, I’d tugged on his sleeve, begging him to make me a simple bowl of soup. Just a plain broth with noodles. He had yanked his hand away, his face a cold mask. “An Oscar-winning actor slaving away in a kitchen? What would that look like?” Now I understood. His cooking was good enough for a cat. But not for me. The door clicked shut, plunging the world into a dead silence. I crumpled into a heap in the cold corner of the stairwell, tears blurring all the light into streaks and halos. Sean wrapped his small arms around me, holding me tight. “Don’t cry, Mommy. He’s not worth it.” 3 Landon didn’t come home that night. I lay awake, staring into the darkness. Sean was beside me, his small hand gripping my fingers tightly, not letting go even in his sleep. I looked at his little face, a perfect blend of my features and Landon’s, and my heart was a raging sea. I sent Landon a text: We’re over. He didn’t reply. He didn’t show up. He was gone for a whole week. I finally went to his agency to find him, only to be told he’d flown to Utah for a film festival. “He went with Sophia, his agent. They travel together for work all the time,” the young woman at the front desk added, her eyes holding a faint, unmistakable glint of pity. Landon was a workaholic. Vanishing for a week like this wasn’t unheard of. I turned to Sean. “Every time he disappears, he’s with Sophia, isn’t he?” Sean’s eyes darkened as he nodded. “I found a travel album in Dad’s safe, in his study.” “It was full of pictures of him and Sophia from all over the world… the Northern Lights in Iceland, the snow in Hokkaido, a gondola in Venice…” A bitter laugh escaped my lips as I fought back the stinging in my nose. Landon hated when I visited him at the office, hated being disturbed while he was working. Over time, we’d developed a ridiculous, unspoken agreement. When he was off the grid, I wouldn’t send a single text, wouldn’t make a single call. I wouldn’t try to find out where he was through anyone else. He knew this. He counted on it. And while I was at home, worrying if he was eating properly or getting enough rest, he was with Sophia, watching the aurora in Iceland, relaxing in hot springs in Japan, floating through the canals of Venice. I trusted him. And he took that trust and sharpened it into the deadliest of blades, using it to slice me apart, piece by piece. I turned to leave, my steps unsteady. From behind me, I heard the hushed chatter of a few employees. “Tsk, she really acts like she’s the First Lady, coming here to check up on him.” “Everyone knows Landon and Sophia are the real power couple. Some people will use a little family history to force a marriage. It’s disgusting.” “I heard her parents died saving Landon, right? Isn’t that just emotional blackmail?” I froze. Suddenly, the entire situation felt absurdly twisted. If Landon hadn’t allowed this version of the story to circulate, if he and Sophia hadn’t paraded around the office like a couple, how could his own employees possibly think that I was the other woman, the one breaking them up? 4 I packed every single thing Landon had ever left at my apartment into boxes and had them couriered directly to Sophia’s address. That night, he came back. With Sophia. And her cat. “I’ve already fired the employees who were talking nonsense,” he began, his voice raspy with exhaustion as he reached for my hand. “Sophia and I were just at the festival. The schedule was insane, I honestly didn’t have a second to call you.” “It’s my fault. I’ll change. From now on, no matter how busy I am, I’ll check in with you every day, okay?” His face was drawn, with dark circles under his eyes, his gaze shot through with red veins. He looked like he’d been completely wrung out by work, which only made me seem like the one being unreasonable. I pulled my hand away, my voice cold. “You don’t have to explain. We’re done.” Landon sighed, a long, weary sound. “Don’t say things you don’t mean. I know you’re just angry I left you alone at the party. That text about breaking up… I’m just going to pretend I never saw it.” “And don’t worry,” he added, his expression earnest. “I promise, on our wedding day, nothing will go wrong.” Looking at his confident face, a wave of icy sarcasm washed over me. Sophia chose that moment to speak, her tone meek. “Evelyn, Landon specifically brought me here to explain things to you.” “We really were just working. He was sleeping three or four hours a night, just so he could get back to you sooner. Look, he’s even lost weight.” As she spoke, a glint of silver from her collarbone caught my eye. I lunged forward and snatched the chain from her neck. Turning to a stunned Landon, I held it up. “Then how do you explain this?” It was his grandmother’s heirloom locket, which she’d left to him on her deathbed for his future wife. At our engagement party, I’d asked him to put it on me. He had kissed my forehead and said, “I want to be the one to put this on you on our wedding day.” And now, here it was, hanging around Sophia’s neck. Sophia’s eyes instantly filled with tears, her expression frantic. She dropped to her knees with a thud. “It was a moment of weakness… I saw it on the counter when Landon was showering and I… I just tried it on for a second…” It was a laughably bad lie. Landon never took that locket off, and he certainly wouldn’t leave it carelessly on a bathroom counter. He knew I wouldn’t buy it. His whole demeanor shifted, the warmth in his eyes freezing over. “Evelyn, why do you have to drag everything out into the light?” he said, his voice flat. “Isn’t it better for everyone if you just pretend you don’t know?” “And you can drop the act. No matter what, I’m still going to marry you.” Landon helped Sophia to her feet, his thumb gently wiping a tear from the corner of her eye right in front of me. All the grief and betrayal that had been building inside me erupted like a flash flood, washing away my last shred of sanity. I surged forward and slapped Landon hard across the face. Then I spun around and slapped Sophia just as hard. The Ragdoll cat, startled, let out a sharp “Meow!” and leaped from Sophia’s arms, its sharp claws sinking into my leg. A searing pain shot through my skin, and I instinctively kicked the animal away. The cat let out a piercing shriek. “Mochi!” Sophia’s sob was heart-wrenching. The next thing I knew, a brutal kick landed in my stomach. Landon’s eyes were savage, like he wanted to tear me apart. “Evelyn, how could you be so vicious? It’s just a cat!” I stared at him, my lips bitten raw, a cold sweat breaking out across my body from the throbbing pain in my abdomen. Landon’s brow furrowed in annoyance. “Stop being so dramatic. It was just one kick.” “Mommy!” Sean suddenly burst out of the bedroom. Landon’s gaze turned to ice. He violently grabbed Sean. “Who is this? Why is he calling you Mommy?” Ignoring the searing pain, I threw myself at Landon, sinking my teeth into his wrist. He cried out and his grip loosened. I snatched Sean and pulled him into a protective embrace. The sight seemed to enrage him further. His eyes turned a frightening shade of red, his jaw clenched so tight I could hear his teeth grinding. “Evelyn. You cheated on me?” Just as he was about to press further, Sophia screamed. “Landon! Mochi… she’s not breathing!” Landon spun around instantly. Before he left, he shot one last sentence at me over his shoulder. “If that cat doesn’t make it, I will never forgive you.” I watched him and Sophia rush out, and all the strength drained from my body. I collapsed onto the floor. Sean was frantic, tears streaming down his face. “Mommy, don’t fall asleep! Don’t leave me again!” I wanted to lift my hand to wipe his tears away, but my arm felt impossibly heavy. Just before I lost consciousness, I saw Sean expertly grab my phone, dial 911, and clearly state our address. 5 I woke up in a hospital bed. The doctor told me I was pregnant. Looking down at my flat stomach, a strange, wondrous feeling bloomed inside me. A new life, this boy’s life, was growing right here. But Sean’s face was a mask of terror. “Mommy, please don’t marry him for my sake. I would rather have never existed than see you suffer like that again.” “Mommy, please… give up on me!” he cried, burying his face in my chest. I held him tight, my heart aching so intensely it was hard to breathe. I had only known Sean for a few days, but he already felt like a part of me, a piece of my own heart that I could never bear to cut away. Suddenly, the door to my room burst open. Landon’s bodyguards stormed in, forcefully dragging both me and Sean to a high-end veterinary clinic. The Ragdoll cat lay stiffly on an operating table. One of the bodyguards kicked the back of my knees, forcing me to the ground. The moment Sophia saw me, she flew into a rage, her hands flying as she slapped me again and again. “You killed Mochi! You murdered her!” “Mochi had a heart condition! The vet said she had a month to live, at most… You sped it up! You killed her!” “I’m going to kill you!” She yanked my hair, slapped my face, and clawed at my skin with her nails. Landon stood by, a complicated expression on his face, but he didn’t intervene. “Just let Sophia get it out of her system,” he said coolly. “After all, you were the one who got physical first.” Sean struggled furiously in a guard’s grip. “You witch! Don’t you hurt my mom!” “Mom?” Sophia’s crazed eyes landed on Sean. She grabbed his face, tilting it from side to side. Suddenly, a chilling, unhinged laugh escaped her lips. “Landon, look at him. His eyes, his brow… he’s the spitting image of Evelyn.” “He must be the bastard child from that night eight years ago!” The color drained from both my face and Landon’s. That night, Landon’s birthday eight years ago, had been the darkest moment of my life. I was nearly assaulted in a hotel room. When I finally escaped, clothes torn and spirit shattered, and made it home, I was met with a tower of flames. My family’s old house was being devoured by fire. My parents, thinking I was trapped inside, had rushed into the inferno without a second thought. They managed to drag a drunk and unconscious Landon to safety, but they never made it out themselves. Afterward, Landon beat the man who attacked me half to death. I told him, I swore to him, that the man hadn’t succeeded. He said he believed me. But looking at his face now, I knew he never had. My eyes burned with unshed tears as I stared at him, forcing the words through my teeth. “He is not!” He looks like you, too, I wanted to scream. Can’t you see that, Landon? Landon’s fists clenched at his sides. He took a deep, steadying breath. “It doesn’t matter anymore…” Then, he lunged, grabbing Sean by the collar of his shirt. He threw open a nearby window and dangled the boy outside. My blood ran cold. “Landon, what are you doing?!” His face was a blank mask. “Mochi needs a proper resting place. Your parents’ plot at Hillside Memorial has a nice view. We’ll bury her there.” “I’ll find your parents a much better plot somewhere else. You owe Mochi this.” I couldn’t breathe. I was shaking with a rage so profound it felt like it would tear me apart. “Landon, are you even human? My parents died because of—” “I know!” he snapped, cutting me off, a vicious glint in his eyes. “You don’t have to keep reminding me. The fact that I agreed to marry you, that I haven’t celebrated my own birthday in eight years, should be more than enough.” “I’m telling you this now as a courtesy.” His gaze shifted to Sean, dangling precariously from his hand. His eyes darkened. “So you choose. Him, or your parents’ grave.” “Three… two…” “The child! I choose the child!” I screamed, my heart feeling like it was being ripped from my chest. Mom, Dad, I’m so sorry! Landon’s lips thinned into a hard line, as if displeased with my choice. He tossed Sean back into the room like a sack of trash. Then, he turned and gently lifted the lifeless cat into his arms. He spared one last glance at me and Sean before walking out without another word. Sophia stood over me, a triumphant smirk on her lips. “The man from eight years ago? I arranged for him to be there.” “You monster!” I shrieked, trying to lunge at her, but Landon’s bodyguards held me fast to the floor. Sophia crouched down, her sharp nails poking my cheek. “And here’s another little secret… I was in the house that night, too…” My eyes were bloodshot. “You set the fire?” “Not me,” she cooed, her smile widening into a grotesque grin. “Your mother just had some bad luck. A bookshelf fell on her. Your father could have gotten out, but he insisted on going back for her.” “Landon was trying to pull me away. He said, ‘Forget them, let’s go!’” “The sound of your parents screaming… tsk, tsk. So tragic…” Every word was a poisoned dagger, flaying me alive. I let out a raw, animalistic howl. An explosion of pain erupted from my chest and tore through my throat, and I coughed, spewing a mouthful of blood. 6 When I came to, I was back in the hospital. Sean’s eyes were swollen shut from crying. He threw himself into my arms. “Mommy, we don’t need Daddy anymore! We never want to see him again!” I held him close. “Okay,” I whispered. “We don’t need him.” A few days later, Landon called. His tone was not a request, but a command. “Mochi’s burial is tomorrow morning. Be there to collect your parents’ ashes.” My voice was ice. “Fine.” There was a sudden silence on the other end of the line. After a long moment, his voice softened. “After Mochi’s service is taken care of, we’ll go try on wedding dresses, okay?” I let out a cold laugh and hung up. The next day, standing at the gates of Hillside Memorial Park, my feet felt like they were encased in lead. Sean held my hand. “Mommy, the stunt-wire accident is supposed to be tomorrow. Can we please just leave this city? Please?” My voice was thick with tears. “Okay. We’ll take Grandpa and Grandma with us, and we’ll all go somewhere new.” But just then, a black SUV came screaming around the corner, barreling straight for us. “No! The car crash isn’t supposed to happen today!” Sean’s eyes went wide with terror. He shoved me with all his might. “Mommy!”

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1 I won ten million dollars in the lottery. The next thing I knew, my best friend was sobbing, telling me she’d been reborn. “Oh, thank God, Jenna! We have to use this money to stockpile supplies. In one month, the zombie apocalypse is going to hit.” “Last time, we didn’t have anything, and the zombies got us. We can’t let that happen again!” My best friend, Maya, helped me build a safe house in a desolate area far from the city. She even coordinated a fleet of trucks to deliver tons of rice, flour, and oil. The ten million was gone in a flash, but we had enough supplies to last us for decades. I squeezed her hand, overwhelmed with gratitude. But then, she burst out laughing. “Hahaha! I was just kidding! Rebirth? Zombies? Do you think this is some kind of novel?” “I can’t believe you actually fell for it. You are so, so stupid.” I swallowed the words I was about to say, the ones that would have begged her to stay. Her rebirth might have been a lie, but mine was real. And the zombie apocalypse was really coming. … Maya was still laughing, slapping her thighs and doubling over. Seeing me standing there in stunned silence, she patted my shoulder condescendingly. “Hey, it’s just ten million dollars. Who asked you to be so gullible? You can’t even take a joke.” She didn’t seem to grasp how cruel her “joke” was. If I hadn’t been reborn, if this was my first time through… I would have spent my entire lottery winnings on a useless villa in the middle of nowhere, filled with food that would spoil within weeks. I think the shock might have killed me on the spot. “So it’s a little isolated, but it’s quiet, right? And you love quiet,” she said, then theatrically covered her mouth. “Oh my God, Jenna, I just remembered! You’ve always wanted to get residency in Southwood, but this property is technically in Northgate…” “So I guess you’ll have to settle for Northgate residency. But hey, it’s close enough to Southwood, right? You’re not going to be petty and get mad at me over that, are you?” She looked at me with wide, innocent eyes. Northgate was a stagnant, underdeveloped district, while Southwood was the city’s crown jewel, with the best schools and hospitals. I’d always dreamed of settling there, for my aging parents and for the family I hoped to have one day. In my past life, I never could afford a place in Southwood, not even when the apocalypse hit. I ended up renting with Maya the whole time. “No,” I said. Residency wouldn’t matter much after the world ended. I was just having a hard time believing it. In my previous life, I hadn’t won the lottery. When the apocalypse came, we had no food, and I never developed any powers. Life for two ordinary women was brutal. But we never gave up on each other. We stuck together, searching for supplies, looking for a safe zone. Then we ran into a group of heavily armed men. I remember Maya crying, just like she had today. “You have to hide,” she had told me. “Don’t come out, no matter what. It’s the apocalypse now. Women without powers are just toys for men.” “I’ll lead them away. If I survive, I’ll come back for you.” I never saw her again. I assumed she had died for me. I carried that debt with me, so the moment I was reborn, I rushed to the lottery vendor. I bought a ticket with the winning numbers I’d overheard in my past life, and the first person I told was her. I remember the stiff way she’d said, “Congratulations.” At the time, I thought she was just stunned with happiness. “Maya, why would you lie to me?” I had to ask. With ten million dollars, I would have shared everything with her. Why go to such lengths? She rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with acid. “We were both broke. Why should you get to be rich all of a sudden? It’s not fair.” So it was jealousy. “Come on, why are you still dwelling on it? If you think you can’t eat all this food by yourself,” she offered, “I guess I could stay here with you for a while. But…” She snickered, clearly enjoying my misfortune. “Those bags of rice and flour will probably be crawling with bugs in three days.” “Get out,” I said, my voice cold. Maya blinked. “What did you say?” “I said, get the hell out. Is that clear enough?” Her face flushed with anger. “Jenna, I’m your best friend! How can you talk to me like that?” I laughed, a harsh, humorless sound. “A best friend who would trick me into wasting ten million dollars? Don’t flatter yourself. You were just jealous that I had money.” A flicker of guilt crossed her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it. “It was a joke! It’s your own fault for being stupid enough to believe it!” “Fine. If you don’t want my company, you can stay here all by yourself,” she sneered. “This place is in the middle of nowhere. There aren’t even any taxis. Let’s see how you get back to the city. Don’t come crying to me, begging for a ride.” As her car sped away, kicking up a cloud of dust, a small smile touched my lips. The apocalypse hits in three days. We’ll see who’s begging who. My safe house was built like a fortress. Every detail had been meticulously planned by Maya and me. The perimeter wall was thirty feet high, topped with an electric fence and razor wire to keep out mutated zombies. We had generators, rice, flour, oil, and a whole menagerie of livestock: chickens, ducks, geese, cows, sheep, pigs, and even a fish pond. From air conditioners and heaters to Wi-Fi and power banks, we hadn’t missed a thing. I had enough supplies to throw a hot pot party on a whim. Thinking back, the more detailed and careful Maya had been in the planning, the more she must have relished the thought of the big reveal, the moment she could laugh at how utterly foolish I had been. The first thing I did was call my parents and tell them to get on the next flight from their hometown. Then, I called my boyfriend of two years, Ken. He’d always been good to me. In my past life, he was infected and turned while trying to get back to me. A tragic hero. “Ken—” I barely got his name out before his angry voice exploded from the other end. “Ten million dollars, Jenna! How could you be so stupid? You actually fell for Maya’s joke and blew it all?” “I wouldn’t have even known if she hadn’t come and told me! Do you have any idea what people are saying? The whole story is all over social media!” “Everyone’s calling me the boyfriend of a rich idiot who doesn’t know what to do with her money. You’ve completely humiliated me.” “Why didn’t you tell me you won? Why are you so stupid? So pathetic?” He had never spoken to me like that before. It was true what they say—money really does reveal a person’s true character. Ten million dollars was a life-changing amount of money, a fantasy for ordinary people like us. I wanted to tell him about the apocalypse, to calm him down, but before I could get a word in, he launched into another tirade. “I’ve always thought you were an idiot! We’re supposed to be in love, and you have the nerve to ask for a two hundred thousand dollar bride price!” “I’m not some trust fund kid! My mom is a beautiful woman, and she didn’t even ask my dad for that much when they got married.” I understood his implication. I wasn’t as beautiful as his mother, so I had no right to ask for so much. Two hundred thousand was customary in our culture. The money would have come back to us as part of my dowry, and my parents were even planning on matching it. I had explained all of this to him before, and he had agreed. “So what are you trying to say now?” I snapped, my own anger rising. “We’re breaking up,” Ken said coldly. “I don’t want to be known as the idiot’s boyfriend. I have never met anyone as stupid as you.” “If you had just given me that ten million, I wouldn’t have had to worry about the bride price. I could have bought a car, a house, given you a comfortable life.” “But you had to go and screw it all up. I guess you’re just not destined for a good life.” “I know your parents are in Southwood now. I’m coming to pick you up. We’ll settle this, and you can give me back the ten-thousand-and-one-dollar engagement gift.” He hung up, his disgust palpable. It hurt, I won’t lie. But his little outburst had shown me his true colors. He arrived as I was feeding the chickens in the yard. Now that we were breaking up, he didn’t even bother pretending to be nice. “Looks like you really are meant to be a poor country girl. You’ve got no luck with money. You should just go back to your village and raise chickens.” I didn’t waste my breath arguing. I’m not the type to drag things out. I met him with my parents and gave him back the engagement money. Even after he got the money, he couldn’t resist a final, snide remark to my parents. “Sir, Ma’am, if you have any money, you’d better not let Jenna handle it. If someone tells her a joke about aliens invading, she might just spend your life savings on a ‘spaceship’.” My parents looked confused. I just stared at him, my face a blank mask, and shut the door on him. “What happened with you and Ken?” my mom asked. “Everything seemed fine. Why the sudden breakup?” “And you told us to bring everything important with us,” my dad added. “What’s going on?” I was about to explain when the door burst open. Maya rushed in and threw her arms around my mom. “Mom, Dad! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to Southwood?” she chirped, using the affectionate terms she always had for my parents. My mom smiled, but when she saw the look on my face—the distinct lack of my usual delight at seeing Maya—her smile faded, and she said nothing. “What’s this?” Maya snatched a gift box from my dad’s hand and ripped it open. Inside was a designer handbag. “Jenna’s been wanting this for months, but she never got around to buying it. Your mom and I saw it in the store and decided to get it for her,” my dad explained. A flash of jealousy crossed Maya’s face. “Tsk, tsk. Dad, you bought the wrong thing. Jenna’s not into this stuff anymore.” “She’s into raising chickens and ducks now. You should have bought her some feed…” Seeing the bewildered expressions on my parents’ faces, Maya burst out laughing. “Oh, you guys don’t know, do you? Jenna won ten million dollars, but she spent it all on a stupid villa in the middle of nowhere.” “And a bunch of other useless junk. Blew through the whole ten million. Can you believe how dumb she is?” My parents’ faces fell. Maya, encouraged, was about to continue, but I grabbed her arm and shoved her out the door. She was so damn annoying. She scrambled to her feet, furious. “Jenna! Your parents didn’t even kick me out! What gives you the right—” “Get out!” my mom snapped, slamming the door shut. I told my parents everything. I was nervous they wouldn’t believe me. “Dad, Mom, it’s all true. In two days, the zombie apocalypse is going to start.” My dad stood up immediately. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go buy more supplies.” My mom stroked my hair. “Silly girl, of course we believe you. We’ve saved up a little nest egg over the years. Looks like it’s going to come in handy.” After being called an idiot over and over for the past few days, having someone finally believe me brought tears to my eyes. “Dad, Mom, thank you for trusting me.” My parents had fifty thousand dollars in savings. We bought a used pickup truck, more food, and a variety of seeds. Back at the safe house, my dad got to work with the lawnmower, cutting down all the tall grass in the surrounding area to use as feed for the livestock. My mom cleared a patch of land for a vegetable garden. We had even hired someone to dig a well in the yard ahead of time. That night, as I lay in bed, I saw Maya’s latest social media post. [Day 1 with my love. Thanks for the designer bag and necklace, babe. Love you forever.] It was a picture of her hand intertwined with a man’s. I recognized the mole on his hand instantly. It was Ken’s. It stung a little, but mostly, I felt a sense of relief. What kind of decent guy moves on that fast? I was lucky to be rid of him. The next morning, my dad announced he was going out. “Supplies aren’t enough. When the world ends, people lose their humanity. We need something for self-defense.” “Your grandfather had an old friend who deals in that sort of thing. I’m going to go see him.” I knew who he was talking about. I was hoping we could get him on our side. He had a team of highly-trained bodyguards, and in the coming world, security would be everything. Unfortunately, Mr. Foster, the old friend, was not convinced. “My sources are generally more reliable than yours, and I’ve heard nothing. Not even a whisper.” I refused to give up. “Mr. Foster, what my dad and I are telling you is the absolute truth. The apocalypse will be here in six hours.” “You can bring your family to my safe house. Wait six hours. You’ll see for yourself. If I’m wrong, you’ve lost nothing but a bit of time. If I’m right… well, you know the consequences.” The Foster estate was in the heart of Southwood’s busiest district. A high concentration of people, especially powerful people, meant it would be one of the most dangerous places to be. Just as I thought I had failed, Mr. Foster’s grandson, Alex, walked in. “Why not give it a try? Grandpa, you’re always saying you miss the country air. Think of it as a six-hour vacation.” A glimmer of hope sparked within me, but it was extinguished by a snort of laughter from the doorway. Maya and Ken were standing there, bent over with mirth. “You guys are actually listening to this idiot? Hahaha.” “She blew through ten million dollars, and now she’s trying to drag you down with her to make herself feel better.” “An apocalypse? Zombies? Have you been reading too many fantasy novels?” I saw the change in Mr. Foster’s expression and my heart sank. It was over. The Fosters gave my dad three rifles, some body armor, a few grenades, and some basic supplies. When Maya saw us loading up the truck, she looked at my parents with a mixture of pity and disgust. “Mom, Dad, Jenna’s had a mental breakdown. I’ll be honest with you,” she said, her voice dripping with false concern. “The zombie apocalypse was just a joke I made up. She can’t accept that the ten million is gone, so she’s lost her mind.” “Are you really going to let her waste all your money? I heard you’ve been buying a lot of stuff.” I crossed my arms and smirked. “That’s right. My parents spent fifty grand on me. What’s it to you? Jealous again?” Maya shot me a glare, then turned on the charm, sidling up to my mom. “Mom, I’m serious. You promised you’d buy me a present when you came to Southwood. Let’s go shopping now.” “We can’t let Jenna spend all your money. She’s—” My mom pushed her away. “I’m not your mom, so don’t call me that. And it’s my money. My daughter can spend it however she wants. It’s not called wasting.” Maya’s face turned an ugly shade of green. She stomped her foot. “Not wasting? Are you old and senile?” “All that useless junk she bought will rot in ten days. And that stupid villa is in the middle of nowhere. You won’t even be able to sell it.” “I’m trying to help you, and you’re pushing me away? Fine! We’ll see what you do when the money’s gone and the food is spoiled!” “When you’re starving and homeless, don’t you dare come begging me for help!” she shrieked, then stormed off. Ken gave me a cold look. “Your family had fifty thousand dollars, and you still made me work my ass off for a bride price? You’re a heartless bitch.” “What my family does with its money is none of your damn business,” I retorted, slipping off my shoe and hurling it at his face. “Who the hell do you think you are? Shut your stupid mouth and get lost.” I thought that was the end of it with the Fosters, but just as my dad and I got back to the safe house, they pulled up behind us. Mr. Foster leaned on his cane, surveying the property with a look of mild approval. “Since my grandson trusts you, I’ll stay for six hours. Call it a vacation. The scenery is quite nice.” “When I was young, your grandfather and I used to love raising chickens and playing chess.” I didn’t know why Alex had believed me, but I was grateful. The Fosters had brought a large contingent of their security team, and their presence was a huge relief. I shot Alex a thankful look. He paused, then a faint smile touched his lips. “If the apocalypse doesn’t come, my grandfather will probably break my legs. Then you’ll be in trouble.” “Don’t you worry, Mr. Foster,” I joked. “If that happens, I’ll personally nurse you back to health until you’re jumping for joy.” “…” One hour before the apocalypse. My dad and I had just finished butchering a cow and were setting up the grill in the yard when Maya video-called me. “Jenna, look where I am.” Behind her, a sea of people swayed under flashing lights. It was ‘Oblivion,’ Southwood’s most famous nightclub. And the epicenter of the initial outbreak in my past life. “Ken proposed to me today,” she crowed. “It was even bigger and better than when he proposed to you.” “Look at all these people! They’re all congratulating us.” “And he spent a whole year’s salary on my ring! It’s way bigger than the one he gave you.” I watched her hand wave in front of the camera, but my attention was caught by a figure in the background. He was hunched over, his movements slow and jerky, not like a normal person at all. Before I could get a better look, Maya flipped the camera back to her face. “Jenna, don’t be mad at me anymore. Come be my maid of honor.” “It was just a joke. Are you really going to hold a grudge for this long? I’m asking you because I really do see you as a friend.” “You’re not mad that Ken chose me, are you? I can’t help it that you asked for such a high bride price.” “Besides, him choosing me just proves he loves me more. It’s not my fault. Why are you blaming me?” Her words were so ridiculous I had to laugh. I hung up. Thirty minutes later, a bartender from Oblivion posted a video to his social media. Amidst screams of terror, a man was pinning a small woman to the floor, tearing at her flesh with his teeth. The zombie apocalypse had begun.

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Rumor had it that Old Man Silas, the billionaire tycoon, built a golden palace specifically to house a collection of one hundred wives. After forcefully acquiring ninety-nine women, he set his sights on me—pregnant and married. The day I was sent away, our housekeeper knelt on the floor, begging my husband. “Sir, please reconsider! They say Old Man Silas is a monster. If the Madam goes, the baby… the baby won’t survive!” My husband, Julian, looked at her coldly. “Silas asked for her specifically. She has to go. If the baby dies, it dies. I won’t divorce her. When she comes back, she’ll still be Mrs. Sterling. We can always have another child.” In my past life, I fought tooth and nail not to go. In the end, Julian’s assistant, Chloe, volunteered to take my place. When she returned, she slit her wrists. The autopsy revealed she had been pregnant too. Julian held his rage until the day I gave birth. Then, he walked to the hospital rooftop and threw our newborn son off the edge. That was when I realized he had hated me every second of our marriage. Reborn into this moment, I didn’t struggle. I calmly stepped into the luxury car sent by Old Man Silas. 1 “Did you hear? Silas demanded the Madam personally, or he’d bankrupt the company! The Master already agreed.” “Silas is over sixty and a known pervert. Going to his ‘palace’ is a death sentence… How can the Master just watch her jump into the fire?” “Well, that’s the power of a first love, isn’t it? If it were Chloe going, the Master would let the company burn before handing her over!” The whispers of the maids drifted through the half-open door of the living room. Mrs. Potts, who was packing my clothes, couldn’t hold back. “Madam, don’t listen to them! Go beg the Master! You’re husband and wife, he can’t be that heartless!” I smiled helplessly. “It’s useless.” Everyone in our circle knew Silas was untouchable and ruthless. Julian would never offend Silas for me. I knew that much. In my past life, the moment Julian heard Silas’s demand, he agreed without hesitation. To make me go willingly, he feigned deep affection, spinning lies about sacrificing the company for me. Just as my resolve wavered, I saw him kissing his “first love,” Chloe, in the garden. So, I rebelled. I threatened suicide, holding a knife to my pregnant belly, forcing him to back down. Then Chloe stepped up, offering to go in my place. Julian’s eyes turned red. The day he sent Chloe to Silas’s villa, he promised her in front of me: when she returned, he would divorce me and marry her. But Chloe came back and killed herself the next day. The autopsy report stated clearly: Pregnant. Julian handled her funeral quietly. He didn’t mention divorce. I thought that although he loved Chloe deeply, with her gone, he would honor our marriage and live out our days together. I never expected that on the day I gave birth, he would take our child and throw him off the hospital roof! Watching my baby turn into a broken heap on the pavement. I realized he had been acting all along! He never got over Chloe! He hated me! So, when I heard Silas demanding me again, I didn’t fight. In this life, I’ll let them be together. “Madam, the Master is back. He wants to see you.” I nodded calmly. “I know.” Downstairs, Chloe was there too. Seeing Julian holding Chloe’s hand tightly without shame, I paused. Did he… come back too? “Lola, Silas expects you in two days. Go pack.” “By the way, Chloe is moving in starting today.” In the past, I would have screamed and fought. Now, I just nodded. “Okay.” Julian avoided my gaze, guilty but impatient. “What game are you playing? Fighting is useless. Disobeying Silas is a fate worse than death.” Chloe chimed in, “Yes, Mrs. Sterling. This is to save the company. Besides, catching Silas’s eye is a blessing.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Is it? Do you want this blessing?” Julian exploded. “Silas wants you. Why take it out on Chloe? Don’t use that tone. Apologize to her!” I ignored him, but Chloe suddenly dropped to her knees behind him. A picture of self-sacrifice. “Julian, don’t be mad at Mrs. Sterling for me. I’m just an assistant. It doesn’t matter if she looks down on me.” “If it saves the company, I’ll go to Silas in her place!” Before her knees could hit the floor, Julian pulled her up tenderly. “Chloe, you’re pregnant. Don’t kneel to her.” He looked at her with adoration. “I know you’d do anything for me, but Silas wants Lola.” Then he turned his cold glare on me. “I’m warning you, don’t touch Chloe. Or I won’t let you off.” “If you’re worried I’ll dump you when you get back, don’t be. I promise I won’t divorce you over this.” I scoffed internally. I turned around, picked up a document, and handed it to him. Julian frowned. “What is this?” I smiled. “Stepping aside for the worthy. Julian, let’s get a divorce.” 2 Julian didn’t even look at the divorce papers. He threw them across the room. “Lola, have you lost your mind? I said I wouldn’t divorce you.” “I know you don’t want to go, but if you don’t, the company goes under! Do you want everything I’ve built to be destroyed because of you?” I marveled at his audacity. The moral blackmail was impressive. He made it sound like my refusal was a deliberate act of sabotage against his career. Did he think I was as easily manipulated as before? Reborn, I had already formulated a plan to deal with Silas. Seeing my silence, Julian’s face darkened. “Lola, let me be honest. The baby in Chloe’s belly is mine.” “As long as you save the company… I can make you the child’s legal mother in the future.” “No need,” I interrupted, kicking the papers on the floor. “I have no interest in being a stepmother, and I certainly don’t want a bastard calling me Mom.” “Lola!” Ignoring his shouting, I walked upstairs. Seeing me calmly packing, Mrs. Potts teared up again. “Madam, are you really going to Silas? I don’t understand. When his parents died, you stayed by his side through the darkest times. Does years of devotion mean nothing compared to a gold-digger who came running back after failing abroad?” “He swore he’d only love you. How did that woman bewitch him?” I shook my head. “Don’t call me Madam anymore. I have nothing to do with this family.” Mrs. Potts wiped her tears. “But Madam, going to Silas… you’ll be skinned alive…” My hand paused. Even she thought it was a death sentence. Before I could speak, a glass of cold water splashed into my face. “Oops, so sorry, Mrs. Sterling. My hand slipped.” It was Chloe. Holding an empty glass, apologizing with a smirk on her face. “By the way, you shouldn’t pack too much. Silas has everything. After all, you’re not the first woman he’s taken…” Mrs. Potts trembled with rage. “You are too much!” “Mrs. Potts, leave it.” Chloe thought I was too scared to fight back. Her provocation escalated. Her gaze landed mockingly on my stomach. “I heard Silas has… unique tastes. Women who go there come back insane. Who knows how long you’ll last…” “Even if you make it back, that little bastard inside you probably won’t!” I wiped the water from my hair and slapped Chloe hard across the face, shoving her out of my room. “Save your worry. I didn’t plan on keeping it anyway.” As I turned, Chloe grabbed my arm. “Lola, guess what Julian will do if I fall down these stairs?” She whispered venomously in my ear, then threw herself backward. “Ah! Help!” Julian turned pale and rushed to catch her. “Chloe! Are you okay?” Chloe feigned kindness. “I’m fine… Julian, don’t blame Mrs. Sterling. She’s just jealous I’m carrying your child…” Her words fueled Julian’s hatred. He stormed over and slapped me. Hard. “Lola, you disgust me!” “You treat her like this, and she still defends you. You’re not worth a strand of her hair!” “You deserve to be used by that old man! I hope he kills you!” With each vicious word, he ordered the bodyguards to lock me in the basement. “No water until I say so!” Mrs. Potts knelt, begging. “Sir, you can’t! She has severe claustrophobia! She’s terrified of the dark! She’ll die…” Julian ignored her. Chloe, clutching her head, whispered poisonously, “Mrs. Potts, you work for the Sterlings. Why do you always side with Lola?” “What did she give you to make you protect her like a daughter?” Mrs. Potts was furious. She tried to lunge at Chloe but was restrained by guards. She cried outside the basement door all night. Until the next evening, when Silas’s men came for me. 3 Julian opened the basement door. Dim light spilled in, illuminating my curled figure in the corner. Twenty-four hours without water or light. My lips were cracked, my face paper-white, my breathing shallow. Julian stood at the door, pupils contracting when he saw me. “Lola!” He rushed in, hand hovering near my face, afraid to touch me as if I were fragile glass. “How did you get like this? I… I just wanted you to calm down…” Only now did he remember Mrs. Potts’s words. I had severe claustrophobia. Two years ago, his competitors kidnapped me to force him out of a bid. They locked me in a pitch-black container for three days. I developed this fear because of him, yet he sent me back into the abyss with his own hands. “Lola, I…” Just as his voice trembled and he reached to hug me, Chloe walked in. “Strange. I checked the cameras. She seemed fine all day… how did she end up like this?” Julian froze, looking at Chloe, then back at me. His gaze cooled. He stood up, suspicion in his voice. “Acting?” Chloe feigned surprise. “Mrs. Sterling was an actress, after all. A waste of talent…” She paused, glancing at Julian. Seeing his dark expression, she added fuel to the fire. “Don’t blame her, Julian. She probably just wanted you to feel sorry for her. A desperate move.” Julian’s face shifted. The last trace of hesitation vanished. He took a deep breath and shouted to the door, “Someone, get her out. Silas’s car is waiting.” Bodyguards rushed in, dragging me up. I didn’t have the strength to stand. I let them drag me out. Julian didn’t want to see me. He went straight upstairs. Then, Chloe walked over with a bottle of water. “Her lips are cracked. Give her some water!” She unscrewed the cap and ordered the men to force it down my throat. A sharp, chemical taste flooded my mouth. I choked, tears streaming, but Chloe made sure I drank every drop. Silas’s assistant had been waiting. Seeing me pale and limp, panic flashed across his face. He ran over, taking me respectfully from the guards. “Ms. Lola, are you alright?” I shook my head. Just as I was about to get in the car, Chloe grabbed me. She whispered in my ear, voice low enough only I could hear. “Lola, don’t worry. If you die at Silas’s, I’ll collect your body.” She smiled like a flower. “As for our little family of three, we’ll be very, very happy.” She stuffed a signed divorce agreement into my arms. “He didn’t want to sign at first. Felt guilty…” “But I told him I didn’t want to be a mistress forever. I want to be Mrs. Sterling, the mother of his child. So he signed.” Chloe patted my stomach. “Can’t even keep a man’s heart. Lola, you’re such a failure.” Holding the divorce papers, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. In this moment, I truly thanked her. “Thanks.” As the luxury car drove away from the Sterling estate, I rolled down the window, looking back at Chloe’s triumphant face. I smirked. The show was just beginning. 4 Halfway there, a dull ache started in my abdomen. Soon, it turned into agonizing pain. I realized what was in the water Chloe forced me to drink. I thought she just wanted to humiliate me. But she was more vicious than I imagined! She was afraid that if I survived Silas, I’d threaten her stolen position. She wanted me and the baby dead before I even reached the “Golden Palace.” That way, she could blame it on Silas. And with Silas’s power, who would dare investigate? “My stomach hurts… help me…” I rasped to the assistant in the front seat. The assistant turned pale. “Ms. Lola! What’s wrong? Mr. Silas said nothing can happen to you!” Thirty minutes later. The car stopped at Silas’s villa. My consciousness was fading, each breath weaker than the last. I was carried into a room. The assistant stayed by my side, anxious. “Ms. Lola, you have to hang on…” I nodded weakly, face white as a sheet. The pill I swallowed earlier—an antidote I had prepared—meant I wouldn’t die immediately. But it didn’t guarantee survival. “Mr. Wang, please call someone for me. His name is Ethan Silas.” “Tell him Lola is dying.” The assistant rushed out. I don’t know how much time passed. It was dark outside. I heard servants whispering. “Mr. Wang looked terrified. Who is this woman?” “Silas asked for her personally, and she’s almost dead before seeing him. Of course he’s scared. If Silas finds out, heads will roll…” I pinched my arm hard, forcing myself awake. Dragging my useless legs, I slid off the bed onto the floor. Footsteps approached. Silas was here. He pushed open the door. In an instant, he rushed over. Seeing me on the floor, his face went white. He roared at his men, “What happened?! What did the doctor say?” “Sir, please calm down. It was Julian’s mistress, Chloe. She forced Ms. Lola to drink an abortion drug. She’s stable now, just needs rest…” Before he could finish, I passed out. Panic filled Silas’s eyes as he caught me. “Lola!” He screamed like a madman. “Doctor! Get the doctor!” I dreamed a long dream. I dreamed of meeting Julian. I was a rising actress; he was a passionate but penniless entrepreneur. He had just broken up with Chloe. His parents died, his company was bankrupt, and Chloe left him to go abroad. He was hollowed out, locking himself in a tiny office, writing plans with red eyes. I couldn’t watch it. I turned down a role and went to him. “You still have me,” I said, holding his hand. “I believe in you. You won’t lose.” I stayed up with him, met investors, learned accounting. I brought him lunch every day. I peeled apples while he worked. “Building a dream requires a body to hold it up,” I’d say. He’d take the apple, complaining I was nagging, but his eyes would light up. Once, he didn’t sleep for three days. I dragged him from the computer and forced him into bed. “Lola, you’re annoying! I have a proposal to finish!” “Be annoyed then.” I handed him warm milk. “If you don’t sleep, I don’t leave.” He stared at me, then smiled. “Lola, with you, I feel like I can actually make it.” His business improved. I faded from the entertainment industry. Friends said I was crazy to become a housewife for a man. I didn’t care. I loved him. I wanted to be his support. I cooked for him every day. Soup, steamed fish, sweet and sour ribs. He’d eat until he was full, joking, “Lola, if you opened a restaurant, I wouldn’t need to work.” “You’d have to pay me wages. I only serve one boss.” Days passed until the night his company went public. At the celebration, he stood on stage in a black suit, radiant. The applause was thunderous. I watched him with pride. Then he walked down, knelt on one knee, and pulled out a ring. “Lola, I thought I’d never believe in love again. You stayed with me through the bitterest days. You taught me to stand again.” His voice trembled. “I can’t give you the world, but I’ll give you my everything. Lola, will you marry me?” I felt like I had the world. But the dream shifted. Our second anniversary. I waited two hours. He canceled, citing work. Later, an anonymous email revealed Chloe had returned that day. He threw her a massive welcome party. Flowers, music, luxury. From that day, he came home late. He even whispered “Chloe” in his sleep while holding me. I knew the name. But I played the turtle, hiding in my shell. Ignoring the monthly business trips, the receipts for luxury goods, the visits to the suburban villa… The dream shifted again. The past life. Julian, like a demon, holding our newborn on the hospital roof. I begged on my knees. “Please! He’s your son…” He threw the baby without hesitation. The crying stopped abruptly. I suffocated in despair. Julian looked delighted. “Lola, you killed Chloe.” “Do you know how long I’ve waited for this? I wanted you to watch your child die!” I strangled him. “Julian! He was your child too! Why?!” He glared at me, smiling hideously. “He wasn’t mine! He was a bastard!” Nightmare after nightmare. As I was about to wake, I heard a man’s anxious voice. “You said she was fine! Why isn’t she waking up?”

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In my past life, I was a legal shark. After working myself to death, I was reborn—with my memories intact. While other toddlers made mud pies, I begged my dad for life insurance. While other kids rebelled, I dragged my family to a notary to secure my property rights. But my adoptive parents were painfully honest—even writing IOUs for borrowed sugar. For 18 years, my legal strategies gathered dust. Just as I embraced my comedic fate, a powerful family appeared, claiming I was their lost daughter. The impostor, Celeste, clung to the matriarch’s arm. At their mansion, they slid a severance agreement toward me. “Sign this for five million. Don’t get ideas.” Celeste fake-cried, “I’m sorry, Nina. They’re just protecting me…” As they watched with contempt, I calmly pulled out a voice recorder and a countersuit. “Severing ties is fine. First, pay 18 years of child support, emotional damages, and identity theft compensation—let’s call it 800 million. Oh, and I’ve already frozen the company’s assets. Until this lawsuit ends, you won’t touch a cent.” 1 “This is the final mediation before the hearing. Are you sure you want to proceed?” I leaned back in my chair, observing the family of three seated on the sofa across from me. No, a family of four. My so-called brother, Connor, was glaring at me with murder in his eyes. The man who had spoken was Mr. Sterling, the Delacourt family’s chief legal counsel. He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his tone dripping with a condescending charity. “Ms. Lin, Mr. Delacourt is willing to increase the compensation to fifty million dollars and purchase a villa for your adoptive mother. This is our final, most sincere offer.” “All you have to do is drop the lawsuit and issue a public statement admitting this was all a misunderstanding.” I smiled. “Mr. Sterling, how many years have you been practicing law?” He blinked, caught off guard. “Fifteen.” “Then you must be familiar with the criminal code regarding felony child abandonment?” I slowly sat up straight, my gaze sweeping over the family, their expressions shifting. “When circumstances are heinous, resulting in serious injury or death, the sentence is no less than five years in prison.” “The day I was thrown in a dumpster, it was below freezing. If it weren’t for my adoptive parents, I would have been dead from hypothermia within twenty-four hours.” “Tell me, Mr. Sterling,” I said, my voice dangerously soft. “Wouldn’t you consider that heinous?” The color drained from his face. The patriarch of the Delacourt family, my biological father, Julian Delacourt, finally spoke. “Is that a threat?” His voice was deep, heavy with the authority of a man used to being in charge. “It’s not a threat.” I took out my phone and played a recording. “Sign this, and five million dollars is yours. Don’t get any ideas about things that don’t belong to you.” It was the first thing my biological mother, Isabelle, had said to me. I hit pause. “This is evidence of your admitted attempt to sever our relationship with a paltry sum, a threat which caused me secondary emotional distress.” “As for the eight hundred million…” I glanced at my assistant, who immediately handed me a thick file. “This is a calculation of your family’s average annual income based on Delacourt Enterprises’ financial reports for the last eighteen years. By law, the child support you owe is the sum total of all living, educational, and medical expenses enjoyed by Celeste during the time I was missing.” “Add in emotional damages and identity appropriation compensation, and eight hundred million is already a steep discount.” “Oh, and by the way,” I said, waving another document, “this is the court order to freeze your assets. Until this lawsuit is settled, you won’t be moving a penny from your corporate accounts.” Julian Delacourt’s face turned thunderous. Beside him, Celeste was sobbing, her face a mess of tears. “Nina, why are you doing this? We’re family…” “Shut up.” My gaze turned to her, cold as ice. “Illegally occupying someone else’s identity for eighteen years for immense personal gain. You’ll be receiving a second lawsuit from me shortly.” Celeste’s crying stopped abruptly. She stared at me in disbelief. “You’re insane! A complete lunatic!” my brother, Connor, shouted, leaping to his feet and pointing a finger at me. “How could the Delacourt family produce someone as cold-blooded as you? Suing your own parents for money!” I met his furious gaze, my own expression perfectly calm. “You’re wrong.” “I’m not suing you for money.” “I’m suing you to teach you the meaning of the law.” 2 “Connor, sit down!” Julian barked, silencing his enraged son. But the look he gave me was just as venomous. “Let’s talk.” That was the language of the weaker party at a negotiation table. I gestured for him to proceed. Mr. Sterling cleared his throat, trying to regain control. “Ms. Lin, there’s no need to burn bridges. You’re a young woman with a long future ahead of you. It’s unwise to be so absolute.” I ignored him, my eyes fixed on Isabelle, my impeccably preserved mother. Since I had walked in, she’d been watching me with a complex mix of disappointment, disgust, and a sliver of fear. “Mrs. Delacourt, eighteen years ago today, you gave birth to me in a hospital.” Her body gave a slight, almost imperceptible flinch. “You experienced the joy of motherhood, while I was waiting to die in a dumpster.” “For eighteen years, Celeste wore princess dresses, attended the best international schools, and grew up surrounded by your love. Meanwhile, I wore hand-me-downs from the market and collected plastic bottles for a week to afford a few dollars for school supplies.” I paused, watching her eyes well up with tears. I felt nothing. “So, you’re hoping to make up for those eighteen years with tears?” “I…” Isabelle’s voice was choked. “I didn’t know… I didn’t know you suffered so much…” “You didn’t know?” I laughed as if it were the funniest joke in the world. “You didn’t look for me out of guilt. You looked for me because of Celeste’s marriage prospects.” I pulled two photos from my file and tossed them on the table. One was of Celeste cozying up to a young, wealthy heir. The other was the heir’s medical report, highlighting a rare genetic disorder. “The Zhou family needed a healthy heiress to marry into their family and continue their precious bloodline. Unfortunately for you, Celeste’s medical exam didn’t pass. So you remembered me, your backup, didn’t you?” Julian’s pupils contracted. Isabelle’s sobs died in her throat. Connor’s face was a mask of shock. Even Mr. Sterling looked surprised. “How did you know?!” Connor blurted out. “Secrets have a way of coming out.” I leaned back, calmly adjusting my cuffs. “You thought my adoptive parents in that small town were simple country folk? Wrong. My father is a retired criminal detective, and my mother was an archivist. Your half-baked private investigations were like child’s play to me.” That was the first surprise I had in store for them. My adoptive parents were indeed humble, but their professional skills were my ace in the hole. “Now,” I said, my gaze landing on Julian. “Let’s talk about ‘sincerity.’ I don’t just want the money. I want a public, full-page apology in every major newspaper, admitting to the abandonment of your daughter and the deliberate confusion of your bloodline.” “Never!” Julian slammed his hand on the table, trembling with rage. “Then I’ll see you in court.” I stood up to leave. “Wait!” Julian stopped me, taking a deep breath to control his fury. “The apology is… negotiable. And the money… we can discuss it. But you must guarantee that this ends here.” I looked at him and smiled. “Mr. Delacourt, you still don’t get it.” “I’m the one in charge now.” 3 The Delacourts, as expected, fought back. The next day, the internet was flooded with stories about me. #Real-Life Viper: Heiress Returns Home, Demands $800 Million from Saviors# #Greed Personified: Poor Girl Sues Own Parents for Fortune# The articles painted me as a manipulative, bitter girl from the countryside, warped by poverty. They used a photo of me in a washed-out school uniform, eating at a cheap street stall. Juxtaposed with it was an elegant photo of Celeste in a couture gown, playing piano at a charity gala. The stark contrast immediately ignited the internet’s righteous fury. Is this woman insane? 800 million? Why doesn’t she just rob a bank? Her real parents come back to give her a life of luxury and she bites the hand that feeds her. What an ungrateful snake. I feel so bad for the fake daughter. Her identity was stolen and now she has to deal with this monster. Soon after, Celeste gave a video interview to a major news outlet. On camera, her eyes were red and swollen, her face pale. Her voice was as fragile as a feather. “I don’t blame my sister,” she whispered. “She… she must have had a very hard life. She’s just not thinking clearly.” “The money, the status… I don’t want any of it. I just want my sister to come home, so we can be a family…” She covered her face, breaking down into heart-wrenching sobs. Her performance of magnanimous victimhood won her the sympathy of the entire country. The hashtag #CelesteTheAngel trended at number one. My phone blew up with hateful, threatening messages. Red paint was thrown on my adoptive parents’ front door, with vicious words like “GET OUT OF THE CITY” scrawled across it. My mother’s blood pressure skyrocketed, leaving her bedridden. My father silently scrubbed the paint off the door, the veins on the back of his hands bulging. The Delacourts’ media blitz was swift and brutal. They thought that by turning me into a public enemy, they could force me to surrender. Connor called me, his voice dripping with triumphant glee. “See that, Nina? This is what happens when you cross the Delacourts!” “I suggest you drop the suit and apologize. Otherwise, I guarantee you and your pauper parents will never be able to show your faces in public again!” I listened to his tirade, feeling nothing but a cold calm. “Is that so?” I said. “We’ll see about that.” I hung up and dialed another number. “Hello, is this Ms. Zhang? This is Nina Lin. Yes, I’d like to hold a press conference. The location? Right in front of the Delacourt Enterprises headquarters. Time? Ten a.m. tomorrow. I have a gift for them. One they’ll never see coming.” 4 The Delacourts obviously heard about my plan. They probably assumed I was going to publicly surrender and beg for forgiveness. The day of the press conference, the plaza in front of the Delacourt Tower was a sea of reporters and news vans. Julian had even “graciously” sent company security to “protect” me. I stood at the makeshift podium, facing the flashing cameras. In the distance, behind the floor-to-ceiling windows of the tower, I could see their silhouettes. I knew they were watching, waiting for me to humiliate myself. “I know you’re all wondering why I am demanding eight hundred million dollars from my biological parents,” I began, getting straight to the point. “It’s because they owe me more than just eighteen years of child support.” “They owe me a life.” As I spoke, the large screen behind me lit up. It wasn’t a childhood photo or a family portrait. It was a faded police report. “Eighteen years ago, at City General Hospital, a female infant went missing three hours after birth. The report was filed by a nurse on duty.” “The police later found the infant in a dumpster in the alley behind the hospital, freezing and near death.” “That infant was me.” A wave of gasps went through the crowd. “And my biological mother, Isabelle Delacourt, despite knowing her child was missing, chose not to call the police. Instead, she and another new mother—Celeste’s biological mother—completed their discharge paperwork, and she went home with someone else’s child.” I pointed to the screen, where a second piece of evidence appeared: a hospital discharge form signed by Isabelle Delacourt. “What does this prove? It proves that from the very beginning, this was not a simple case of switched-at-birth. This was a premeditated swap and abandonment.” The crowd murmured in shock. The figures behind the glass tower window seemed to stir. “I know some of you will say this was all the other mother’s fault, that my biological parents were victims too. In that case, please see the next piece of evidence.” A new document appeared on the screen: a hospital record for Celeste from when she was ten years old. She’d had an emergency appendectomy and required a blood transfusion. The record clearly stated her blood type. “Julian Delacourt has type O blood. Isabelle Delacourt has type A. According to the laws of Mendelian genetics, it is impossible for them to have a child with type B blood.” “Which means, at the latest, the Delacourts have known for eight years that Celeste was not their biological daughter!” The crowd erupted. “But what did they do?” My voice rose, filled with the righteous anger of eighteen stolen years. “They did nothing! They didn’t call the police, they didn’t search for me. They chose to bury the secret, to continue enjoying the parental love that was rightfully mine, while I was left to grow up like a weed in some forgotten town!” “This is no longer a simple civil dispute!” I looked directly into the cameras, my voice ringing with clarity. “This is, by the definition of the criminal code, a case of malicious abandonment that has continued for eighteen years!” “I am standing here today not just to ask for money. I am standing here as a victim, to formally file a police report!” “I am demanding an investigation into the criminal liability of Julian and Isabelle Delacourt in this case!” As my last word echoed through the plaza, two uniformed police officers emerged from the crowd and walked purposefully toward the entrance of the Delacourt Tower. Every camera swiveled to follow them. I saw Isabelle’s form collapse, caught by a frantic Connor. And Julian… he just stood there, motionless. Even from this distance, I could feel the venom in his gaze. I met it without flinching. As of today, the nature of this war had changed. This was no longer a fight about money. This was a fight to the death, about crime and punishment. I, Nina Lin, a legal shark in my past life, a vengeful daughter in this one, was officially declaring war.

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1 After my family went bankrupt, I was sent back to my biological parents. My CEO sister dropped her prayer beads when she saw my bleached blonde hair. “Are you here to collect protection money?” I whistled loudly, rolled up my sleeves to reveal the dragon on my left arm and the tiger on my right. “Hey sis! My family’s broke, lend me some cash to spend~” My adoptive parents, who cut their vacation short to rush back, nearly fainted when they saw my nose ring. Their expressions cracked: “Oh my god! How did our son turn into a delinquent?” My family went bankrupt because a rival set a trap and tampered with a contract. On the day the court sealed our property, my parents looked solemn and told me I was picked up from a dumpster, and now they had found my biological parents. They had told me this a thousand times before, and I always thought it was a joke. Because they also said my sister was a prize from a claw machine. And my little brother was a free gift with a recycling drop-off. It wasn’t until they dropped me off in front of my biological parents’ mansion that I realized they were serious! My sister, Cherry, held my hand reluctantly. “No wonder I’m Cherry, Little Brother is Chase, and you’re Charlie. Turns out we’re not the same breed.” My little brother, Chase, looked grave. “Second Brother, don’t forget us when you’re rich.” They didn’t hesitate for a second before dumping me and running. I stood in front of a mansion ten times bigger than our old apartment, completely confused. If I’m not mistaken, this is a property of the Sterling family. That multinational corporation worth billions. I can’t believe a wealthy family would throw me in a dumpster just because I’m a boy. Tsk! I pulled a piece of gum from my pocket, threw it in my mouth, and looked down at myself. Ripped jeans, skull T-shirt, hair bleached like corn silk, and a nose ring sparkling in the sun. I rang the doorbell. No answer. Rang again, still no answer. I squatted down to act like a mushroom, pulling out my phone to call my adoptive mom to see if she could take me back for a while. Just then, the door suddenly opened. An impossibly tall woman, wearing a high-end black dress, appeared in front of me. She was holding a string of expensive prayer beads, her features deep as a sculpture. The moment she saw me, the beads fell to the ground with a clatter. Ooh~ Isn’t this the “Buddhist CEO” from novels? I’ve finally seen one in the flesh! I heard these people love counting beads—eating, sleeping, pooping, always counting! More schemes in their heads than seeds in a lotus pod! “Are you… here to collect protection money?” Sarah’s voice was low, carrying a hint of confusion and shock. I whistled loudly, blowing a bubble with my gum until it popped. Then I rolled up my sleeves, revealing the temporary tattoos I applied yesterday. Left Green Dragon, Right White Tiger. “Hey sis! My family’s broke, lend me some cash to spend~” I deliberately used my most punk tone and winked at her. Her expression looked like she’d been struck by lightning, lips moving as if reciting sutras. “Sis, who is it?” A childish voice came from inside, interrupting my stare-down with Sarah. Sis? My eyes lit up again. Novels always have a standard setup. Where there’s a real son, there’s a fake son. The fake son is always beloved by all, while the real son is vicious and brainless, ending up dead or crippled! I narrowed my eyes, ready for battle. However, when the owner of the voice bounced to the door, my eyes nearly popped out. This is the fake son? I stared at the little boy with short hair in a black suit, my brain crashing on the spot. He’s five at most, right? Zack was looking at me curiously with big round eyes. This age doesn’t qualify for a fake son plot! Is there another one hiding inside? “Second Brother? Sis, is this Second Brother?” He looked at me in surprise. The atmosphere was a bit weird. 2 I decided to strike first, pulling a crumpled paper from my pocket and slapping it on Sarah’s chest. “I’m not a scammer!” Sarah forgot to pick up her beads. Seeing the paternity test, her face changed. It clearly showed a 99.9% probability of paternity between me and Mr. Sterling. I didn’t know when my adoptive mom did this behind my back, only shoving it to me before sending me out. I crossed my arms. “How about you give me a sum of money? Buy out this relationship, and I promise never to appear in front of you again! My lips are sealed!” Sarah looked like she’d been punched. She slowly folded the report, her voice low. “No.” I froze. What no? No money? So stingy? Isn’t the Sterling family rich? A little leak from their fingernails would be enough to pay off my adoptive parents’ debts. “A son of the Sterling family cannot be left wandering outside.” “You were deliberately taken and abandoned by a nanny sent by a rival.” “Dad got into a car accident looking for you and recuperated for half a year. Mom almost committed suicide. The family company nearly collapsed.” Sarah said word by word, her eyes reddening. They didn’t throw me away? The rival was so toxic, going straight for the heart by dumping a child?! Sarah not only refused to let me go but also called the Sterling couple who were traveling abroad. She asked the butler to take me to my room to drop off my luggage first. I wanted to refuse, but couldn’t think of a reason. The second-floor hallway was long, rooms on both sides. The butler stopped at the door at the very end. “This is your room, Second Young Master.” I pushed the door open and widened my eyes. This isn’t a room; it’s a prince’s palace! The whole room was decorated luxuriously and exquisitely. The corner was piled with gift boxes. Big and small, colorful, stacked from floor to ceiling. My tattered backpack looked out of place in such a room. “Is this… a mistake?” My throat tightened. “Madam personally arranged this for you, redecorating it every year according to your age.” Every year? I was shaken. So, even though I wasn’t here, they remembered me? Zack stood behind me at some point, holding an Ultraman toy. He pointed to the gift boxes in the corner. “Mom celebrates Second Brother’s birthday every year, buying lots and lots of gifts. Even though you weren’t here, I helped blow out the candles!” “You… you mean these are all for me?” “Yup!” He nodded vigorously. “Mom said Second Brother would come home one day, so she wanted to make up for all the birthday gifts!” My chest felt tight, like I’d been punched hard. Did they really look for me for so many years? “Zack. Tell me honestly, is there… an adopted brother in the house? Older than you?” Zack blinked his big eyes. “Adopted brother?” “Like…” I chose my words carefully. “While I was gone, did Mom and Dad adopt another boy to replace me?” Zack looked confused. “Mom and Dad do charity, but why would they raise someone else as a son?” I was stunned. No one? How can there be no fake son? Then who is my enemy? Isn’t that how novels are written? Real son returns, fake son sets traps. 3 My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. I took it out and saw a dozen messages popping up in the “Happy Family” WeChat group. Clicking into the chat, the latest was from Chase: [ @Charlie Did you see the fake son? Remember, don’t be like those vicious supporting characters in novels. We need to be independent men! ] I couldn’t help laughing. This kid watches too much TV. Then Cherry sent an eye-roll emoji: [ @Charlie, if you can’t survive there, come back. We’re having pickles tonight, won’t starve you anyway. ] Then she @’d our parents: [ @Mom @Dad When are you taking Chase and me to find our rich parents? ] [ We want to experience the high life too. ] Just as I was about to reply, Mom sent a voice message. I clicked it, and her loud voice filled the corridor. “You silly child, what rich parents! Look at those eyelids, those cheeks, exactly like mine! Obviously biological! Need to find who?” Zack tilted his head curiously, surprised. “Is that Second Brother’s family?” I nodded, a bit proud. My adoptive parents always treated me well. Sometimes, things Cherry didn’t have, Chase and I would definitely have. Cherry sent a disappointed emoji. Chase followed immediately. “What about me? I’m so handsome, Dad’s genes can’t be this good?” Mom sent another voice message. I could imagine her rolling her eyes. “Getting cocky? Look in the mirror. One takes after me, one takes after your stupid dad! Only Charlie is tall and fair. He was the face of our family, now only the ugly ones are left, can’t even show you off.” I burst out laughing, then felt my eyes heat up. This was the familiar family atmosphere. Roasting each other, yet indescribably intimate. I typed a reply. [ Mom, Sis and Bro will be sad if you say that. ] Cherry: [ The path to riches is broken! @Charlie, introduce me to a rich heir later. I’ll eat soft rice with my own ability! ] Mom: [ Rebellious daughter! Executed! ] Chase: [ Sis, take me with you. My teeth are bad too, can’t eat hard rice. By the way! Second Brother, how is it there? Really no fake son? ] I hesitated: [ Really none, just a five-year-old little brother. ] Cherry: [ Done for, so you’re inheriting the fortune? Don’t forget us! ] Dad suddenly popped up: [ @Charlie How do they treat you? ] How do they treat me? I don’t know either; the Sterling couple is still on the plane. So far, seems okay. Finally, I just replied: “Okay.” Cherry was relentless: [ What does okay mean? Gave money? How much? ] I rolled my eyes. [ Sis, can you have some ambition? ] Chase interjected: [ Second Brother, if they bully you, come back! ] Just as I wanted to reply, there was a gentle knock on the door. Sarah stood at my door, handing over a phone. “Charlie, put your number in.” I raised an eyebrow and took the phone. The screen was unlocked, open to the new contact page. I deliberately typed my number slowly, putting “Big Bro Charlie” as the name. Sarah took the phone back, saw the name, and the corner of her mouth twitched imperceptibly. She calmly deleted it and re-entered “Charlie” to save. Then she pulled a card from her inner jacket pocket. Black matte texture, gold lettering shining under the light. My eyes went straight. 4 Is this the legendary Centurion Card? “Take it.” Sarah handed the card over. “My personal welcome gift.” I took the card, fingers trembling a bit. At my adoptive parents’, my monthly allowance was at most three thousand, after much begging. This card supposedly could buy a plane, and she just gave it to me? “How much is in here?” I asked shamelessly. “Enough to buy the entire downtown villa district.” I immediately stuffed the card in my pocket, afraid she’d regret it. Fireworks were going off in my heart. This isn’t finding parents; this is winning the lottery! “Thanks, Sis!” I blurted out, then froze. I actually called her Sis? Sarah obviously noticed the address too. Her eyes changed subtly, but she quickly recovered. “Mom and Dad arrive at seven. Do you want to change first?” She left after saying that, leaving me at the door, touching the black card in my pocket, heart beating like I just ran a marathon. Change? Ripped jeans, black T-shirt, dragon and tiger tattoos, plus a shiny nose ring and blonde hair. What’s wrong with this look? So cool! But for the sake of the black card, I decided to tidy up reluctantly. I took off a pair of earrings and changed into a slightly more normal T-shirt. At least no skull pattern. Hair was hopeless for now. At 6:50 PM, I sat on the living room sofa, shaking my leg nervously. Zack sat next to me, his short legs shaking along with mine. “Second Brother, are you nervous?” He asked innocently. “Who, who’s nervous?” “I’m just, just hungry!” Zack nodded, suddenly pulling a candy from his pocket. “For you!” I took the candy, heart softening. How is this little guy so cute? Hearing car sounds outside, he jumped up. “Mom and Dad are back!” My legs shook even harder. First to enter was Mr. Sterling, in a sharp suit, radiating an aura that made one afraid to breathe loud. Behind him was Mrs. Sterling, wearing an elegant long dress, carrying a Hermès bag. The moment they saw me, they froze at the door in sync. Mr. Sterling tripped over his own feet, nearly falling flat. Mrs. Sterling gasped, holding the door frame. “This, this is…” Mr. Sterling’s voice trembled. Sarah nodded. “Dad, Mom, this is Charlie.” “Oh my god! My Charlie… how did he turn into a criminal?” Mrs. Sterling clutched her chest. I looked down at myself. Didn’t I tidy up? Compared to the first look, this is very restrained, okay! Zack ran over and hugged Mrs. Sterling’s leg. “Mom! Second Brother is super cool!” Mr. Sterling recovered, giving a thumbs up. “Has my style from back in the day!” Me?? Mrs. Sterling and Sarah turned to look at Mr. Sterling simultaneously, equally shocked. “David, you dyed your hair and got a nose ring when you were young? How did I not know?” Mrs. Sterling’s voice pitched up an octave. Mr. Sterling coughed, slightly embarrassed. “Not that, but I had long hair! And was in a band!” I stared wide-eyed at his sophisticated appearance. Hard to imagine my bio-dad was a rocker in his youth. Mrs. Sterling took a deep breath, turning her attention back to me, asking hesitantly. “Charlie, how, how many lives do you have on your hands?” I blinked, suddenly wanting to prank them.

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I am an Immortal, born with boundless wealth destined in my fate. Anyone who tries to murder me for money only ends up triggering a mechanism that grants me a huge fortune, making me a billionaire! But I am exhausted. Having been murdered in a thousand different ways, I’ve lost the will to live. To me, money is just a string of cold numbers. The only way to break my immortality is to find someone who loves me, not my money! After countless lifetimes, I finally found him. He truly didn’t care about my money. But he didn’t love me either. Instead, he sliced open my skin with a scalpel… Chapter 1 I lay in the freezing operating room. The surgical lights reflected the gruesome image of my body being cut open. New death unlocked: +1. But this time, the pain was excruciating. It was the kind of agony that pierced through skin and bone, pushed to the absolute limit. I was in so much pain I couldn’t even scream. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to ask Julian: “Do you want money? You know I have plenty. Just name your price, I can give you whatever you want.” Julian shook his head, his hand trembling as he stroked my hair. He kissed my forehead, tears falling rapidly onto my cheek, yet they felt devoid of warmth. “I don’t want money. I love you. Your money is just a bonus. It’s you I love.” I laughed, my limbs twitching uncontrollably from the pain. When he sliced into me with the scalpel, he didn’t use any anesthesia. He said he was going to remove my organs and drain my blood. Is this his so-called love? I really didn’t understand. If he wants me dead, why can’t he just make it quick? “Julian, how much money do you want? Or rather, what do you want? I’ll give you everything, okay? Just give me a quick death. Don’t torture me under the guise of loving me.” Julian was stubborn, insisting he loved me. I couldn’t see where this “love” was! Five minutes later, another person was wheeled into the operating room. It was a young woman, beautiful, with skin like porcelain. She was already asleep, placed on a gurney parallel to mine. The blood drained from me was being transfused into her body. Immediately, a team of secretive doctors cut her open and began surgery on her too. The woman seemed very sick. After opening her up, the doctors removed several of her organs. Then, treating me like a spare parts bin, they harvested the corresponding organs from my body to replace hers. Finally, I understood. This was Julian’s purpose all along! I froze, a tear slipping unnoticed from the corner of my eye. Choking back a sob, I asked Julian: “Who is she?” Julian didn’t answer, just stared at the woman with infinite tenderness. “Julian! Answer me!” Julian snapped out of it, held my hand, and told me the whole truth. “Her name is Bella. She was my high school classmate. We sat next to each other for three years, promised to go to the same college, and agreed to marry and start a family after graduation.” “But fate played a cruel joke. After graduation, she was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease. Her organs would fail and atrophy within five years, leading to death. There is no cure in the world.” “I couldn’t just watch her leave me like this. I couldn’t watch the person who accompanied my entire youth die. So I came up with this plan.” Hearing Julian’s words, I only found it laughable. “A disease with no cure in the world, and you think transplanting my organs will help? If it worked, wouldn’t doctors have suggested it long ago? Would you need to wait until now?” Julian understood what I meant. He suddenly turned to look at me. His gaze was firm, but utterly cold. After staring at me for a long time, Julian sighed and spoke softly. “Mia, I know your secret.” “I know you are an Immortal!” Chapter 2 Julian’s words shocked me. They also explained everything I was suffering now. So he really didn’t care about my money, but he didn’t love me either! I thought I could break my immortality in this lifetime, but I failed at the last step. Julian was terrifyingly cold. Even seeing me cut open, a bloody mess, he could calmly stand by the operating table holding my hand, his thumb stroking my palm. My entire body rejected his touch, on the verge of fainting from the pain. Julian continued to talk about his and Bella’s hardships. “I took Bella everywhere, sought many famous doctors, but there was no hope. Bella suffered so much, cried in my arms countless times. Only I understand her pain.” “I promised her I would save her. I swore to find a way! I really can’t watch her die. Do you know? She is like the sun in my world. Without her, my world loses all light.” “Mia, after I found out you were an Immortal, I had a strong premonition. I felt you could save her! I felt you could change our lives!” So he didn’t even give me anesthesia? And he lied to me for three years! These three years were just to get close to me, to gain my trust, and then use my organs to save Bella. How could he do this? I screamed, losing my composure in front of him for the first time, cursing wildly. Although I knew death was a common occurrence in my life, something trivial to me. But I couldn’t accept this reality. I’d rather he approached me for my money than for this reason. The double agony made me lose my mind. My spasms worsened, limbs twisting into terrifying angles, but Julian held me down firmly. Julian kept talking, trying to comfort me, but none of his words were human. “Mia, just endure it a bit longer! Just hold on! I know you’ve died many times, experienced all kinds of pain. This is just another one, bear with it and it’ll pass.” “I know you’ve been looking for a way to break your immortality. This time I’m helping you, and you’re helping me. Isn’t this a win-win?” “You help me save Bella, and I help you end this absurd immortality. Afterwards, I will continue to love you, remember you forever, letting you live on in Bella’s body in another way, okay?” I looked at him coldly, biting my tongue until I spat a mouthful of blood. Julian, afraid I would bite my tongue off and kill myself, actually stuck his hand in my mouth for me to bite. “Don’t be scared, Mia, be good, don’t be scared. I’ll stay by your side. Just hold on. The doctor said not using anesthesia ensures better organ adaptation, that’s why it hurts. It’ll be over soon!” His affectionate act, for a moment, made me feel like I was in labor, giving birth to our child. But it was all an illusion. I knew better than anyone. I sneered, exhausting the last bit of trust I had in others. I bit down hard on his hand, spat blood in his face, and growled: “Since you know I’m an Immortal, do you know what happens when someone accepts an Immortal’s flesh and blood? I advise you to stop now! Or you won’t be able to bear the consequences!” Chapter 3 After roaring those words, I passed out from the pain. I didn’t know how long I was out. When I woke up, I found myself in a large tank. I had been immortal many times and died many times. As long as twenty-four hours passed after my death, I would revive in various ways. In freezing water, in sticky mud, in filthy sewers… I had been everywhere. As long as this world wasn’t destroyed, even if I was burned to ashes, leaving only a speck of dust, I could still revive. This large tank was filled with formalin. My hollowed-out body soaked in it like a bath, slowly reviving, but unable to move yet. I heard Julian’s cold voice nearby. He had already checked the tank once. From the reflection in his pupils, I saw my horrific state. My nearly 5’7″ body had curled up into a ball from the torture, not even half my original height. All usable organs in my body had been taken by Julian and now belonged to Bella. Julian was clearly satisfied, his voice unconsciously pitching higher. “She probably can’t be immortal anymore. She can’t revive like this. Her body is just a skeleton and a head, nothing useful left.” The doctor who operated on me and Bella nodded, agreeing that I couldn’t revive. “There’s probably no hope, and she’s useless for scientific research. So this remaining body…” Julian thought for a moment and made a quick decision. “To be safe, cremate what’s left of her. Scatter the ashes in four directions so she can never revive again. That way Bella can inherit her fortune smoothly.” This doctor was amazingly resourceful. Not only could he perform surgery on me and Bella, but he could also help Julian dispose of my body. They chatted happily, treating me like a dead cat or dog. Having settled my matter, they talked about Bella’s recovery. Julian’s tone was uncontrollably joyful, his eyes shining in a way I had never seen before. “An Immortal’s organs really are different. I thought Bella would need a long recovery, a painful transition period. I didn’t expect her to be spirited the very next day!” “Not only that, her body adapted to the organs quickly, and her wounds are healing fast. She’s full of life, it even surprised me!” “I’ve discussed it with Bella. We plan to proceed to the next step in three days.” Next step? Julian hadn’t mentioned that to me. I wanted to listen more, but Julian received a call from Bella. Bella’s gentle voice came from the phone, suddenly saying she wanted strawberry cake. She was in a good mood and had a good appetite, seemingly recovering well. Julian was ecstatic, cooing doting words into the phone. “You little glutton, just feeling a bit better and already craving strawberry cake?” Bella acted coquettish, her soft voice coming through. “I want other things too, but you’re not here, I dare not think too much…” Julian smiled, sweet words flowing effortlessly. “Then I’m coming now. Think more about it, what exactly do you want to eat? Hmm?” Chapter 4 Hearing their words, my heart turned cold as ice. My body revived faster. Something in my chest felt like it was breaking through my flesh, growing a new heart of my own bit by bit. I smirked, feeling the heart slowly beating, signaling a new round of resurrection. The heart that once loved Julian was taken by him. It took away my love and pain. Now I had grown a new heart. No pain, no love, only filled with hatred and the desire to check the results. I endured in the tank for hours, watching my body fill up and revive. Half an hour before the doctor came to dispose of my body, I broke out of the tank. When the doctor discovered I was missing, he was terrified as if he’d seen a ghost, scared out of his wits, and called Julian. I hid in the dark, listening to the phone ring three times before Julian reluctantly answered. “Hello! Julian! Julian, it’s bad! Where are you? Tell me, I’m coming to find you!” The doctor trembled, looking around, shaking uncontrollably. But Julian blamed him for ruining the mood. “I’m busy with Bella, you know that! She’s just getting better, why are you calling me so late?” His lust-filled voice sounded particularly ambiguous on the phone, as if accompanied by Bella’s delicate panting. The doctor couldn’t have missed it. But the doctor couldn’t care less and screamed into the phone. “It’s bad! Mia is gone! I was going to dispose of her body, but I just opened the tank and there’s nothing inside!” Julian froze, his voice instantly turning cold. “Impossible! Was it too dark and you didn’t see clearly? Look again!” “Impossible! I saw clearly, Mia isn’t in the tank! There are footprints on the floor, Mia must have revived and run away…” Amidst their terrified conversation, the thunder in the rainy night grew louder. I reached the doctor’s car before him, used the stolen keys to drive away, and headed straight for Julian’s house. In the middle of the night, lights were still on at Julian’s. Panting sounds came from the garage, as if someone was moving heavy objects. Bella followed him anxiously, asking in confusion: “Julian, where are we going? What happened? Why are we taking suitcases?” Julian had no time to explain, just focused on moving luggage. “We’re leaving first, taking the earliest flight. I’ll explain when we’re safe!” Bella was confused and wanted to ask more, but froze when the third clap of thunder sounded in the sky. Then, as if summoned, she walked strangely towards the gate, opened it for me, and stood obediently by my side. “Bella, where are you going?!” Julian followed anxiously. Seeing me, his face turned pale with fear, but he still subconsciously worried about Bella, calling her name, which stung my eyes instantly. “Bella, come here, come here first! Listen to me! You can’t handle her, don’t get so close!” I laughed. Laughing at his ignorance. I turned to Bella and whispered: “Grab him. Let’s go inside and have a good talk.” Bella obeyed without complaint. To Julian’s shock, she twisted his arm out of joint and forced him into the house. Julian roared in shock and pain. “How is this happening? Mia, what did you do to Bella?!” I looked at the night sky and shook my head regretfully at Julian. “I didn’t do anything to her. You just didn’t listen to my warning and couldn’t bear the consequences!” “Didn’t you know? Having accepted thirty percent of an Immortal’s flesh and blood, she becomes the next Immortal, and she inherits all the pain I’ve suffered!”

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1 It all started when they found my boyfriend’s brother’s DNA—his fingerprints, his fluids—on my sister’s body. That’s when Julian Howard and I went insane. I hunted his brother down and returned the favor in blood and bone. And on the day of my sister’s funeral, he bought out every digital billboard in the city center and plastered my most private photos across them for the world to see. We were drowning in a sea of red, our hatred too wild, too fierce to contain. The love we once shared twisted into the sharpest of blades, and we plunged them into each other until we were both bleeding out. Eventually, High Command had enough. They shipped one of us overseas and kept the other stateside. The next time we met, Julian was a decorated Major General. And I was riddled with a sickness that would kill me in less than three months. … After picking up my prescription, I headed back to the flower shop I owned, right across from the main gate of the garrison. As I stepped inside, the large screen opposite was broadcasting a news segment on Julian’s return to D.C. The golden boy of the base, now the Army’s youngest Major General, was back from his overseas tour. It was major news, and every network was scrambling for coverage. I tore my eyes away and placed the fresh white daisies I’d brought before my sister’s photograph. Suddenly, the door burst open and a young woman in a white dress rushed in, clutching a massive, dazzling bouquet of red roses. She had a quiet look about her, but her voice was crisp and clear as she pointed to the imported Avalanche roses in the cooler. “All of these. I’ll take them all!” Right behind her was Julian’s adjutant, Marcus. His steps faltered the moment he saw me, his expression growing strained. “Linda, maybe we should try another shop?” “No,” she shot back instantly. “I sent Julian an eternal flower box from here once, and he said it was special. Tonight is his promotion dinner, and I want everything to be perfect.” She blinked her clear, bright eyes at me. “Ma’am, my fiancé was just promoted to Major General. He absolutely loves the flowers from your shop. I was wondering… could we possibly use your space to host a small celebration for him?” I couldn’t refuse. I simply nodded. “Could you add some lisianthus, too?” she added softly. I agreed, but my hands wouldn’t stop shaking as I began to arrange the bouquet. It wasn’t fear, nor was it nostalgia. It was the sickness, flaring up again. The kind there’s no cure for. “Marcus, can you please help me? Julian will be here any minute, and I want to make him happy.” Marcus remained frozen in place. He knew better than anyone that seeing me would never make Julian Howard happy. On the screen, Julian offered the cameras a practiced smile, but his eyes were devoid of warmth. “I imagine she’s watching this,” he said as the camera zoomed in, the scar high on his brow stark and clear. “I’m very much looking forward… to this reunion.” I’d given him that one with a combat knife. No particular reason. I was in a bad mood, and he was there. And the puckered bullet hole just below my collarbone was his handiwork, from when he’d deliberately aimed high during target practice. No particular reason for that, either. We’ve always believed in an eye for an eye. We took pleasure in seeing the other bleeding and broken. On the TV, a female reporter was smiling. “Major General Howard, will you be stationed in D.C. for the long term? I see you’ve brought roses. Are you on your way to see someone important?” He paused, his voice low. “My fiancée.” In the shop, the girl was meticulously arranging the roses and lilies. Hearing his voice, she glanced back at the screen. “Marcus, I heard Julian had an old flame in D.C., someone he was tangled up with for years. Do you know anything about that?” I kept my head down, trimming stems, but in my peripheral vision, I saw Marcus’s gaze land on me. “Julian!” the girl cried out, shattering the tense silence in the shop. She ran outside, so eagerly she forgot her coat. “Linda.” Outside, Julian caught her leaping form with one steady arm, draping his uniform jacket over her shoulders with the other. She stood on her toes and pressed a rain-dampened kiss to his jaw. Julian seemed to turn his head just slightly, avoiding it. Across the misted glass of the window, our eyes met. Linda started to turn, but he cupped the back of her head and pulled her into a deep, possessive kiss. I looked away, snipping the last ribbon. Marcus was now standing in front of me. He hesitated, then lowered his voice. “Sienna, I’m begging you… It’s his promotion day. At least for today, don’t make a scene.” He paused, then added, “The girl just turned twenty. She’s the lead performer in the military’s arts corps. Her smile… it looks a little like yours did, when you were younger.” I nodded, my fingertips numb with cold. “It does. And she’s gentler than I ever was.” The door opened again. Julian walked in, holding a furled black umbrella. “Talking about my fiancée?” His lips were curved into a smile, but his eyes were chips of ice as they fell on me. Marcus held his breath, watching me, waiting to see if I would explode like I always did. But I simply held out the prepared flowers. “Your pre-ordered bouquet. Please check it.” Linda cupped her face in her hands, her eyes shining with adoration for Julian. “Julian, smell it. Isn’t it your favorite, champagne roses?” Julian’s fingers brushed against a petal, his thumb stroking the silk ribbon as he leaned in. “Too fragrant,” he murmured, his voice lilting as he teased her. “Cloying. Not really for me.” Linda looked down, confused. “But it’s so delicate! You’re teasing me again!” She didn’t see it. The moment she looked down, Julian’s eyes were locked on me. The next second, the glass door was thrown open. “Howard! Congrats on the promotion!” A few officers in civilian clothes burst in, their grins freezing on their faces the moment they saw me. Their eyes darted from me to Marcus, full of alarm and suspicion. I walked over with a tray of tea, and they took a collective step back—as if I were carrying a live grenade. Over the years, our battles on the training grounds had often involved them as collateral damage. They were just standard exercises, but I hadn’t realized I’d left them with such deep-seated muscle memory. One of them nudged Marcus discreetly. “What the hell is this?” Marcus just shrugged. “Please, have some tea,” I said, turning to leave. But Linda caught my wrist. “Ma’am, could you take a picture for us?” “No.” I gently pulled my arm free, refusing without a second thought. I had barely turned when a shadow fell over me. I looked up. It was Julian, his face a cold mask. “I know how you people in business are,” he said, his tone flat. “Everything has a price. Name it. How much to buy your…” He paused, his voice dripping with malice, as if waiting for me to lash out. When I didn’t react, he finished coldly, “…services as a photographer.” I looked him up and down, then started to walk around him. An old injury in my forearm screamed as he grabbed it. I stumbled, falling to my knees as a black credit card hit my face, the card’s edge slicing a thin, bloody line across my cheek. “There’s enough on that card to buy your life.” I pushed myself back to my feet, my eyes locked on his. Linda stepped between us, smiling brightly, trying to smooth things over. “Julian, don’t be like this…” “I’m so sorry, ma’am. My fiancé must be exhausted from his recent field exercises.” But his uniform was crisp, his breathing even. He was just looking for a fight, same as he had for the past decade. For the first time, I truly believed it. His years overseas had made him arrogant. He had forgotten just what kind of person I was. I knelt, picked up the black card, and stood before him. A snicker came from the group of officers. “Look at that, Howard. The woman hasn’t changed a bit. Sees money and she can’t walk away.” He held out his phone, a smug look on his face, clearly satisfied with my apparent submission. I wrapped a thorny rose stem around the black card, then grabbed his wrist and ground it into his palm. I didn’t stop until I smelled blood. Then I snatched two cups of tea from the table and threw them in his face. “Your mouth is filthy,” I said calmly. “Allow me to wash it out.” In the same motion, I slapped the man who had spoken. “You useless dog. If you can’t use your mouth for anything but barking, shut it.” It all happened too fast for anyone to react. The only sound was the rain lashing against the windows. Marcus leaned against the wall, downed a cup of tea in one gulp, and sighed. “Why did you have to provoke her?” Linda, snapping out of her shock, stepped forward, her voice trembling with indignation. “Ma’am! I know we were rude, but this is completely out of line!” Her face was flushed with anger. She raised her hand to strike me. “Ah!” The moment her arm moved, I caught her wrist, twisted, and a sharp slap echoed in the small shop. The only sound left was Linda’s choked sobs. Julian wiped the water from his face, his smile chilling. “Hitting me is one thing. But touching my fiancée… that’s where you crossed the line.” He pulled the weeping Linda behind him. “How about I smash this place up for you? Would that make you feel better?” Linda bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes, and nodded. In an instant, several soldiers rushed in from outside. Flower stands toppled, glass shattered, crystal vases exploded. Icy rain and wind poured in, soaking my white shirt. Julian grabbed my chin, forcing my head up. “You weren’t wrong. But she needs an answer. Think about what you want for compensation. Write it down, send it to me. I’ll pay it in full.” His eyes were dark, like he was interrogating a prisoner of war. I shoved him away and broke into a violent coughing fit, frantically searching through the wreckage. A small pill bottle rolled out. My eyes lit up. But he was faster. He bent down, picked it up, and studied the label. “Six painkillers at once? You really do have a death wish.” With that, he casually tossed the bottle into a puddle of water, wrapped his arm around Linda, and left. I knelt by the puddle, retrieved the bottle, and swallowed two more pills. They didn’t just kill the pain; they calmed the storm inside me. I used to need half a pill. Now, even eight wasn’t enough. The pills were almost gone. My life, too, was almost over. In the last three years, both my parents had died. My health never fully recovered, so I took a medical discharge and used my savings to open this shop. Now it was destroyed, and I had nowhere else to go. Maybe it was the pain, a fresh wave crashing over me, but I didn’t have the strength to move. I just sat there, in the ruins, as the night rain soaked me to the bone. Overnight, the gossip spread through the garrison: “Major General Howard Trashes Old Flame’s Shop for New Fiancée.” As dawn broke, I prepared to leave. Before I went, I turned to the wreckage, sank to my knees, and bowed my head three times in a final, silent farewell. Julian appeared behind me, seemingly out of nowhere, and yanked me to my feet. “It’s just a broken-down shop. Is it really worth all this?” I wrenched my arm free, steadied myself, and then, with three sharp, clean motions, I slapped him across the face. “My parents’ military decorations were in there,” I said, my voice flat. “They’re gone.” He flicked his tongue against the inside of his bruised cheek and let out a cold laugh. “Is that right? Three slaps for your parents’ medals? Sounds like I got the better end of that deal.” I ignored him, my gaze fixed on the ruins. He stood behind me, his voice a low venom, deliberately saying things to cut me deep. “Sienna, I’m talking to you.” I acted as if I hadn’t heard, walking straight past him. He caught up in a few strides, blocking my path. “Don’t play stoic with me! Look at yourself. Your face is as white as a sheet. Who are you trying to fool?” “It’s just an old injury acting up. Makes me look a little tired, that’s all.” I looked up, forcing a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “Julian, do you really think you’re important enough to affect me?” But I knew the truth. He had come back for this. To torment me. If my body were what it used to be, I wouldn’t have minded another round with him. I’d have enjoyed giving him another taste of a bullet tearing through flesh. But now, just standing here was draining the last of my strength. The military hospital smelled sharply of antiseptic. A group of army doctors stood around my scans, their faces grim. “The experimental medication I gave you last time, how much is left?” “It’s gone.” “Gone?!” Dr. Evans’ voice shot up. “That was a three-month supply! It’s only been a week!” Dr. Evans had been managing my case for a long time. The way he hesitated now, unable to meet my eyes, told me everything. My time was shorter than I thought. “Do you… have any family?” he asked tentatively. “You forgot, Doctor?” I replied calmly. “My father was killed in action. My mother is gone. My sister…” “I’m all that’s left.” He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “But you were stable for three years. What happened this week?” I glanced at my phone. The news feed had automatically pushed an article to the top. A picture of Julian with his arm around Linda at the promotion dinner. The person I thought I had stopped caring about could still wound me the deepest. Julian was the one bullet in my life that always found its mark, killing without leaving a trace of blood. “Your prognosis is not good. Once you’re off the medication, seven days, a month, three months… it’s all a critical period.” “Take this,” he said, handing me a small bottle. “Three pills when the pain is unbearable. Remember, no more than three…” Before he could finish, I had twisted the cap off, poured a handful into my palm, and swallowed them dry. The number didn’t matter. Not as long as it could silence the agony gnawing at my bones. Seven days or three months. It made no difference to me. After taking the pills, I slumped in a corner of the hospital corridor, my back pressed against the cold tiles. It was a trick I’d learned. If I could make myself cold enough, numb enough, the pain would recede. A cold sweat soaked through my clothes. For ten minutes, I listened to the prayers and weeping from outside the operating room next door, all those desperate hopes hanging on the thread between life and death. “Mommy, isn’t that the sister from the bed next to ours? Should we go say goodbye?” “Her illness… it’s not going to get better. Let’s not bother her. Poor girl. Both parents died in service, and now she’s so badly injured. I’m afraid at the end… there won’t be anyone to even collect her body.” The little girl looked up, confused. “But surely someone in the world must care about the pretty sister?” I blinked, my vision blurring, then focusing on my phone screen. A text from Julian. He’d been messaging me nonstop since last night, demanding to know what I wanted as compensation. I thought about it. Maybe there was no one who cared. But there was, at least, someone to collect the body. I dialed the number I knew by heart. He answered on the first ring. “Decided what you want?” I took a breath, swallowing the metallic taste in my throat. “If you really want to compensate me, Julian, you can collect my body.”

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The world’s richest man commissioned a ten-billion-dollar ring, custom-made to my exact size, and declared he would marry whoever it fit. In my first life, the fake heiress secretly had the ring resized and married him. The magnate lashed her face raw and screamed, “It’s not her!” In my second life, my adopted sister lost sixty pounds to fit into the ring. The magnate shoved her from a balcony and snarled, “It’s not her either!” In my third life, my stepmother, in a grim act of determination, shaved the flesh from her own finger to force it on. The magnate just laughed coldly and drowned her in the bathtub. In my fourth life, they ran out of ideas. Terrified, they pushed me forward. I slipped the ring on. It was a perfect fit. The whole family breathed a sigh of relief. But the moment the magnate saw me, he drew a knife and gutted me, his voice a roar of despair: “How are you still not her? Where is she!” In this, my final life, the magnate’s secretary delivered the ring. This time, all four of us said it didn’t fit. But the secretary gave us a strange look. “Mr. Sterling was very clear. The owner of this ring is among you.” … The four of us stared at the diamond, the size of a pigeon’s egg, completely baffled. Every eligible woman in the family had already tried marrying him. Who on earth did this man actually want? My stepmother, Meredith, repeatedly questioned the secretary. “Are you certain there hasn’t been a mistake? I don’t believe anyone in the Ashwood family is Mr. Sterling’s beloved.” Otherwise, we wouldn’t have nearly completed a collection of family corpses over four attempts. But the secretary’s brow furrowed in annoyance. His voice was stern and serious. “At Mr. Sterling’s gala, the four of you occupied a table alone. He glanced your way and told me explicitly that the ring’s owner was among the four ladies of the Ashwood family. There is absolutely no mistake.” He held out the velvet box, his posture oozing arrogance. “Shall we try it on, one by one?” Seraphina, the fake heiress who cared most about her appearance, shrank back. “I’m… allergic to diamonds. I’ll die on the spot.” Lily, my adopted sister who would do anything for money, waved her hands frantically. “I’m so fat, I’d break the ring!” Meredith, who had been looking for a way out of her widowhood for years, forced a smile that was uglier than a grimace. “My heart belongs to my late husband. Mr. Sterling couldn’t possibly be in love with me.” Finally, all eyes fell on me. The secretary’s face crinkled into a wide grin. “Miss Elara Ashwood, wasn’t it you who shared a fateful glance with Mr. Sterling? Love at first sight, I believe?” “This ring must be meant for you.” Love at first sight? My heart was barely beating at all. In my last life, when I heard those words, I had been moved to tears. After all, Alistair Sterling and I had been in a secret relationship. He’d even had the ring made using my measurements. So when I finally escaped the clutches of the other three and married him, I thought my suffering was over. I waited for him in our marriage bed, trembling with a mix of excitement and shy anticipation. But the moment he saw my face clearly, his expression contorted with rage. He grabbed a fruit knife and stabbed me until I was nothing but holes. His eyes, reflecting my own terrified face, burned with an inferno of fury. “How dare you take her place? You are not her!” I bled out in agony, and even after I woke up in this new life, I couldn’t understand it. If the woman Alistair was searching for wasn’t me, then who could it possibly be? Lost in thought, I stood frozen, not taking the ring from the secretary’s hand. He smiled condescendingly. “Marrying into the Sterling family is a great deal of pressure. I suppose you need some time to prepare yourselves mentally. Very well. Mr. Sterling will come in person tomorrow. That gives you one night to think it over. I’ll leave the ring here for now.” He left the box on the table and departed in a diamond-studded, stretch Maybach. But as we stared at the blindingly brilliant diamond, none of us dared to touch it. We were all too afraid to die. For the first time in years, the three women who had made my life a living hell were on my side. We held an emergency meeting in the living room. They took turns trying to slip the ring on, but in the end, they confirmed it again: my finger was the only one that came close. Meredith looked at me suspiciously. “Are you sure he killed you on your wedding night too?” I rolled my eyes. “My body was delivered back to this house looking like a sieve. You all saw it, didn’t you?” Lily nodded vigorously. “It was brutal. There wasn’t an inch of skin left untouched.” Even Seraphina sighed. “I spent ten years fighting with Elara, but when I saw that… even I felt sorry for her.” We looked at each other and let out a collective, hopeless sigh. Meredith broke down. “If we can’t produce the right woman tomorrow, is he going to kill us all?” The other two looked just as grim. Suddenly, I had an idea. “There might be a way. The gala… there must be security footage, right? If the person he’s looking for isn’t one of us, maybe we can find his real beloved on the tape.” Driven by the need to save our own skins, we sprang into action, immediately hailing a cab to the hotel where the gala was held. Lily, a master of playing the victim, used her crocodile tears to gain us access to the security room. The footage began. As the gala opened, the Ashwood family, having lost its patriarch, was relegated to a lowly table in the corner. Meredith frowned. “That’s definitely us, tucked away in the back.” And because the four of us radiated a force field of animosity, no one else dared to sit with us. Not even our distant relatives. Seraphina was puzzled. “And it’s only the four of us.” Then, Alistair Sterling made his grand entrance, striding down the red carpet. But as he passed our table, he stopped. He turned with unnerving precision, his gaze landing directly on us. A shockingly tender smile spread across his face as he leaned over and said something to his secretary. Watching that smile now, we felt nothing but a cold, creeping dread. “It seems,” I said, my voice hollow, “that his beloved really is one of us.” Four pairs of eyes met, and in each, I saw the same stark terror. If we didn’t all share the memories of our past four lives, this would be an unsolvable mystery. Lily shivered. “If it’s really one of us… then why would he kill us in such horrible ways?” I took a deep breath. A single, desperate plan began to form in my mind. I looked at them with newfound resolve. “I think I need to go to the Sterling mansion. Wait for my signal.” Under their gazes of awe and gratitude, I set off. They had no idea that I was the most bewildered of all. Because, up until this very moment, Alistair Sterling and I were still in a secret relationship. And he was the one who had pursued me. Using the private entrance we always used for our clandestine meetings, I easily slipped into Alistair’s private study. He started when he saw me, then his expression smoothed over. “You’re here. Why didn’t you call first?” The gentle man before me flickered, overlapping with the image of the madman who had butchered me in my last life. I suppressed a tremor of fear and stepped forward. “The woman you intend to marry… is it me?” Alistair paused, a strange, unnatural flicker in his eyes. “We’ve been together for so long. Don’t you know my heart by now? I sent the ring to the Ashwood family to ask for my beloved’s hand. Of course, it was for you.” He smiled, pulling me onto his lap in an intimate gesture. But I detected a critical omission in his words. He said he was marrying his beloved, but he never explicitly said his beloved was me. I dug my nails into my palm and forced a smile. “So, who is she, then? Your beloved?” He fell silent, his eyes raking over me. “You should know. Why are you asking me this?” I thought he would continue to be evasive, but then he added, “Of course, it’s you, Elara. As long as you want it to be you, it will be you. Marry me tomorrow, and I promise I’ll treat you well.” I stared into his eyes, seeing nothing but deep affection. Ever since our affair began, he had been incredibly good to me. I wasn’t the brightest, I was constantly bullied by Meredith and the others, and I had no shares in the family company. But Alistair had supported me in secret, giving me gifts that the Ashwood family could only dream of. A man born with a silver spoon, he would personally tie my shoelaces and cook for me. I had once been so sure that I was the one he wanted to marry. But I had also seen him transform into a deranged monster, screaming as he plunged a knife into my heart. “You’re not her! Why do you get to marry me in her place?” “A hollow title is all you have! Do you really think you’re worthy of me?” “You were just a toy to pass the time! How dare you dream of replacing her!” I snapped back to reality as he took my hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. I had to fight the urge to snatch it away. But that one gesture sparked a thought—an insane, yet terrifyingly logical theory. I looked at him, my eyes wide with disbelief. “Your beloved is…” He cut me off, placing a finger over my lips. His eyes flashed with a dangerous glint. “You’re asking a few too many questions tonight, aren’t you?” The warmth returned to his expression just as quickly. “Tomorrow is our big day. You should go home and get some rest.” A fine, chilling fear prickled my skin. I nodded quickly and left. When I got back to the Ashwood house, the other three were still awake, pacing anxiously. They swarmed me the moment I walked in. “What happened? Do you know who his beloved is?” I said nothing, just shaking my head. Their faces fell, filled with a mixture of frustration and despair. Lily started to cry. “I don’t want to die! Maybe we should just run away!” Meredith snapped at her. “Run where? Alistair Sterling is the most powerful man in the country. He’d find us no matter how far we went.” Seraphina’s jaw was set. “There are only four hours until dawn. Running would at least buy us a few more days. It’s better than dying tomorrow.” But I cut in, my voice firm. “We can’t run.” “Someone has to marry him.” “And it’s going to be me.” Seraphina stared at me in disbelief. “I know I despise you, Elara, but have you forgotten how horribly you died last time?” Meredith frowned. “If you’re still this blinded by love, I’m starting to think I was too easy on you all these years.” The billion-dollar ring still sat on the table, its massive diamond glittering under the light. If Seraphina wore it, her face would be beaten to a pulp and she’d be left to die of infection in a cellar. If Lily wore it, she’d be pushed from a balcony, her body shattering on impact, left to die in agony. If Meredith wore it, she’d be drowned in a tub, her body bloating before being unceremoniously dumped back on our doorstep. And if I wore it, my death would be the most painful of all. To punish his impudent mistress, Alistair had stabbed me twenty times, each wound carefully placed to avoid a quick death. I had bled out slowly, feeling the life drain from my body, a terrifying, drawn-out execution that had left even my worst enemies shaken. The perfectly cut diamond sparkled, a beautiful guillotine waiting for one of us. I walked over and slid the ring onto my finger without hesitation. “Of course I know the risks. But this is the only way for all of us to survive.” Lily stared at me, her eyes wide. “What do you know?” Telling them the truth would certainly increase our chances of success. But if my theory was correct, the truth was too bizarre, too horrifying. I couldn’t drag them all into it. I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you yet.” Seraphina’s expression was grave. “What do you need us to do?” I lowered my eyes. “I need you to attend the wedding tomorrow and act as if you know nothing.” Meredith’s brow furrowed deeply. “He’s going to stab you to death after the ceremony, and you want us to pretend everything is normal?!” The three of them looked at me, their faces etched with genuine concern. For the first time, we were truly on the same side. I thought about all the petty things they had done to me over the years—small schemes to get more money or make my life difficult, but never anything that threatened my life. And yet the man I loved and trusted had tortured me to death on our wedding night. I took a deep breath and decided to tell them a part of the truth. “When I went to see Alistair tonight, he grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. That’s when I realized who his beloved is.” “She is one of the four of us. Someone we would never, ever suspect. She is…” I looked each of them in the eye, delivering the answer they had been waiting for. Lowering my gaze to hide the guilt and sorrow, I pointed to myself. “Alistair Sterling’s beloved… is me.” The other three were aghast, shaking their heads in disbelief. Lily grabbed my arm. “That’s impossible! If you were really the one he wanted to marry, why would he kill you so brutally?” Seraphina’s eyes were red. “I saw your body with my own eyes. It was you. It makes no sense for him to marry you just to murder you in such a cruel way!” Meredith couldn’t wrap her head around it. “The Ashwood and Sterling families have been business partners for generations. There’s no feud between us. He has no reason to torture the woman he loves like this.” “Believe me or not,” I said, “it’s me. That’s all I can tell you.” Though they didn’t believe me, there was nothing they could do. The next morning, Alistair arrived with his secretary. I went to greet him, wearing the ring, and studied his face carefully. He smiled warmly, his eyes filled with adoration as he looked at me. For a moment, even Meredith, Seraphina, and Lily started to believe my story. If only they hadn’t seen my mangled corpse in a past life. The wedding proceeded as planned. At Alistair’s supposed request, we both walked down the aisle wearing veils. In front of all the guests, he recited his vows with heartfelt sincerity and placed the wedding band on my finger. When we lifted our veils, he looked at me with an expression of profound love, as if he had finally found the person he’d been searching for his entire life. “This ring belongs to you,” he said gently. “It suits you perfectly.” The massive diamond was a perfect fit, clearly made just for me. I looked at his familiar face, and a memory flashed through my mind: him, holding my face with such tenderness as he drafted the papers to transfer company shares to my name. He had hated seeing me bullied at home and wanted to give me the power to stand up for myself. When I was sick, he would drop everything to take care of me. The time I spent with him had been the happiest of my life. I smiled at him. “I love you.” The room erupted in applause, the guests moved by his devotion and my love. There wasn’t a single crack in Alistair’s facade. During the reception, I changed into a traditional gown and went with him to greet my family’s table. Seraphina leaned in close, her face a mask of confusion. “Is my memory failing me? Does he actually love you?” Lily looked just as baffled. “You weren’t lying to us, were you?” After all, in our previous lives, there had been no wedding ceremony, just a quick, perfunctory process before I was sent to the bridal suite. But this time, there was a grand wedding, and Alistair was looking at me with eyes reserved only for a beloved. I forced a smile and said nothing. If only I had been lying. But the fact that he had brutally murdered me in my last life was an unchangeable truth. I tilted my head back, drank my wine, and waited for the night to fall. Even the grandest reception must end. When the last guest had departed, I went to the bridal suite to await my husband. On the table sat a sharp fruit knife next to a peeled apple. I knew hiding it would be useless. In my last life, the knife he’d used had been hidden under the mattress. He had likely stashed weapons all over the room, all for the purpose of killing me. As the night deepened, the servants of the Sterling estate discreetly withdrew, leaving the two of us alone. I glanced at the clock. He would be here any second. The door opened, and Alistair walked in. The moment he saw me, his brow furrowed, his face twisting into a mask of madness. “You are not her! How dare you marry me in her place!” He snatched the fruit knife from the table. “I’ll kill you!”

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