Category: English

A small boy knocked on my front door. “Dad, I’m your son. I traveled back seven years to warn you…” My first thought was to call 911—or maybe the closest psychiatric ward. The boy’s eyes welled up, and the tears fell. He tugged at the lapel of the bespoke tuxedo I hadn’t managed to change out of yet, the one still smelling of champagne and gardenia. “Dad, you absolutely cannot marry Mom.” His voice was a desperate, urgent whisper. “Getting close to her is getting close to disaster. In two weeks, you’ll be in a car crash. You’ll lose your ability to have children.” My hand froze midway to the phone. “She’ll marry you, but she’ll be cold. Distant. It’ll drive you into a severe depression, and eventually, you’ll take a bottle of sleeping pills and kill yourself.” He choked on the words. “The man she really loves is her executive assistant, Dominic Keller.” The name landed like a punch. “The reason she left the engagement party early today? Because Dominic’s dog got sick.” Owen’s small face was earnest. “If you don’t believe me, she’s at his place right now. Come with me. You’ll see the truth.” 1 Owen picked up a loose stone and hurled it hard against Dominic Keller’s door. I was hiding behind the thick shadow of an old oak tree, my spine pressed against the rough bark. My fingernails dug into the wood, splinters embedding themselves in my skin. I felt nothing. The moment the door opened, the blood in my veins solidified into ice. Seraphina Monroe. She was there, just as he said. She wore a silk robe, and her hair was still damp from a shower. Hours ago, she had received a phone call, said one word—crisis—and abandoned me mid-reception. She left me alone to field the pitying stares and the snide gossip of hundreds of guests. Two hours later, she texted to say she was handling an urgent, company-wide emergency. The “urgent emergency” was apparently standing in her assistant’s apartment, in a bathrobe, to nurse his sick dog. My heart seized up, a painful, spasming clench. Sera looked out, saw nothing, but noticed the stone on the ground. She frowned, annoyed. “Sera? Who is it?” Dominic’s voice called from inside, warm and intimate. “No one. Probably just some kid pulling a prank.” Dominic walked out, cradling a tiny, fluffy Maltese named Truffle. He was wearing low-slung drawstring sweatpants that exposed the waistband of his… designer briefs. I crumpled against the tree trunk. The sudden, intense cold of betrayal washed over me. I recognized those briefs. I had seen an identical pair in my own laundry machine at home. Sera had told me they were a gift for me. Now, the sickening reality hit: they were Dominic’s. She and he had been together, and he had forgotten them, leaving her to pawn them off on me. The visceral wave of nausea was so strong it stole my breath. I bent over, dry-heaving, nothing coming up but bile and pain. Tears and snot streamed down my face. A cold wind cut through me, making my jaw tremble uncontrollably. Dominic shivered, drawing his shoulders inward. Seraphina immediately wrapped her arms around him, her voice melting into a tenderness she had never offered me. “The wind’s picking up. Let’s go inside.” “Mmm.” Dominic’s sound was a low, needy purr. “Truffle’s appetite is gone, but he only wants the food you make.” Sera’s mouth curved into a soft, easy smile. “Okay.” My mind shattered. She can cook. Last month, when I was suffering through a brutal case of the flu, I had begged her, pleaded with her to just make me a simple bowl of homemade chicken soup. Her face had darkened. “I’m the CEO of the Monroe Group, Eli. I don’t belong in a kitchen. For a man? It would be a professional embarrassment.” Now I understood. Her food, her care—it was good enough for a dog. It was good enough for her lover. But it was never good enough for me. The door slammed shut. Bang. The world was silent. I was a huddled, broken mess in the black shadow of the tree. Owen wrapped his small arms tightly around my waist. “Don’t cry, Dad. She’s not worth it.” Seraphina didn’t come home that night. I didn’t sleep. Owen lay beside me in the bed, his small hand gripping mine like an anchor, even as he drifted off. I looked at his face, a heartbreaking fusion of Sera’s sharp cheekbones and my own softer features. The complexity of my emotions—grief, shock, fury, and a terrifying, sudden love for this stranger—was overwhelming. I sent Sera a simple breakup text. She didn’t reply. She didn’t appear. She vanished for a week. I finally drove to the Monroe Group offices to confront her. The receptionist informed me she was out of town. “On a business trip. With Mr. Keller. They travel together often,” she stressed, deliberately. Sera was a known workaholic, and these sudden disappearances were common. “Every time she vanishes, she’s with him, isn’t she?” I asked Owen, my voice ragged. His bright eyes dimmed, and he nodded. “I saw a photo album in Mom’s study,” he whispered. “It was full of pictures of her and Dominic traveling the world together…” A bitter laugh escaped me. I fought back the stinging burn behind my eyes. Sera had always hated it when I showed up at the office or disturbed her when she was “busy.” Over the years, we’d established a silent, cold agreement: when she disappeared, I would send no texts, make no calls, and send no one to check on her. But while I was worrying if she was eating or sleeping properly—she was off chasing the Northern Lights with Dominic, staring up at the vast, white sky, pretending to be on a journey toward forever. I had given her my trust. She had used that trust to forge the weapons she repeatedly plunged into my heart. I stumbled out of the office, my steps weak and unsteady. Behind me, I heard the disdainful whispers of a few employees. “Seriously? Thinks she’s the one, coming here to check up on the boss.” “Ms. Monroe and Mr. Keller are the real couple. He’s the home-wrecker, using his parents’ death to force her hand.” “He blackmailed her into marriage? Pathetic.” I froze. Everything felt ridiculously absurd. How could her employees—my employees, since the company was technically mine—believe I was the homewrecker? Unless Sera and Dominic had acted like a couple, flaunting their closeness, her silence about the “forced marriage” story had tacitly endorsed it. I packed every single one of Seraphina’s belongings and had them delivered directly to Dominic Keller’s apartment. That night, she finally returned. With Dominic. And his dog. “I’ve already fired those gossiping employees, Eli. Dominic and I were on an emergency trip. We worked for days straight, barely stopping.” She took my hand. “It’s my bad habit. I’ll change. I promise to text you, no matter how busy I am. Okay?” Her face was etched with fatigue, her eyes bloodshot. She looked genuinely exhausted, making me feel like the irrational one. I snatched my hand away, my voice flat and cold. “Don’t bother explaining. We’re over.” Sera sighed, an expression of weary annoyance. “Don’t say things you don’t mean. I know you’re just mad about the engagement party. I’ll overlook the ‘breakup’ text. I guarantee nothing like that will happen on the wedding day.” Watching her solemn promise, I felt a detached wave of disgust. Dominic chimed in, stepping closer. “Eli, Sera brought me here specifically to explain. It really was all work. She slept less than an hour a night just so she could rush back to you. Look, she’s lost weight.” As he spoke, a flash of silver around his neck caught my eye. I lunged forward, grabbed his collar, and yanked the chain out. It was a vintage silver locket. Seraphina’s mother’s last possession, meant for her future son-in-law. On the day of the engagement, I had asked her to let me wear it. She had kissed my forehead. “I want to put it on you myself, on our wedding day.” Now, it rested on Dominic Keller’s throat. Dominic went red, flustered and panicked. He dropped to his knees. “I lost my mind, Eli! I saw it on the table and just… picked it up.” A flimsy, transparent lie. Sera never took that locket off—not even to shower. Sera knew I wouldn’t believe it. The pretense dropped. The look she gave me was dangerously cold. “Eli. Why did you have to tear the curtain down?” she asked, her voice low. “Pretending not to know was easier for everyone. For you. For me. Wasn’t it?” “You don’t have to play these games of push and pull. I will marry you, regardless.” She pulled Dominic up. In front of me, she wiped the tears from his eyes, her gaze filled with heart-wrenching pity. The years of repressed pain and humiliation surged, overwhelming all reason. I stepped forward and slapped her, hard. Then I spun and hit Dominic with the back of my hand. Truffle yelped and leaped from Dominic’s arms, latching its teeth onto my calf. I sucked in a sharp breath, but the pain only fueled my rage. I kicked the dog away. Truffle let out a strangled, agonizing cry. “Truffle!” Dominic shrieked, his voice utterly broken. The next second, a hard, brutal impact struck my gut. Seraphina’s eyes were blazing with a hatred so intense I thought she might tear me apart. “Elias Maxwell, how could you be so cruel? It’s just a pet!” I stared back at her, biting down on my lip as cold sweat poured from my face. My stomach was on fire. Seraphina frowned. “Stop being dramatic. It was just a kick.” It was just a kick. But she was a national champion black belt. “Dad!” Owen burst from the bedroom, his eyes wide with fear. Seraphina’s focus snapped to him. She grabbed Owen’s collar, violently yanking him closer. “Who is this? Why is he calling you Dad?” I lunged at her, ignoring the throbbing agony in my abdomen, and sank my teeth into her arm. She cried out and released Owen. I pulled him into my arms. The sight seemed to pierce her. Her eyes turned scarlet, her teeth grinding. “Eli, you betrayed me?” Before she could press for answers, Dominic let out a piercing scream. “Sera! Truffle isn’t moving!” She spun instantly toward Dominic and the dog. Before she left, she shot me a look of pure menace. “If anything happens to Truffle, I swear, I will destroy you.” Watching her walk away—to a dog—I felt the last of my strength drain away. I collapsed onto the floor. Owen was sobbing hysterically. “Dad, don’t sleep! Don’t leave Owen again!” I tried to reach up and wipe his tears, but my arm wouldn’t move. Before I lost consciousness, I saw Owen pick up my phone, expertly dial 911, and rattle off the address. I woke up in a sterile hospital bed. After the doctor examined me, he handed me a document. It was a prenatal scan. Seraphina’s. She was pregnant. She’d been at the clinic two weeks ago and forgotten to take the results. The person who accompanied her was Dominic Keller. I, the biological father, was finding out about my child’s existence this way. I looked at the tiny shadow on the scan, an image that in a few months would become the adorable boy standing before me. Owen, however, was terrified. “Dad, you absolutely cannot marry Mom for my sake. I would rather disappear from this world than see you suffer again.” He buried his face in my chest, crying. “Please, Dad. Don’t keep me.” I held him, my own chest tight with grief and confusion. In the few days we’d been together, he had become a piece of me. I couldn’t let go. Suddenly, Seraphina’s private security detail burst into the room. They forcefully dragged Owen and me to a high-end pet clinic. Truffle lay stiffly on a metallic table. A bodyguard kicked the back of my knee, forcing me to fall to the cold floor. The sight of me sent Dominic into a frenzy. He lunged, clawing and slapping my face. “You killed Truffle!” “He was sick already, I could have had a few more days! You hastened his death! I’m going to kill you!” He yanked my hair, slapped me, and gouged my face with his nails. Seraphina watched, a flicker of pain in her eyes—for Dominic—but she did nothing to intervene. “Let Dom vent,” she said, cold and hard. “It’s your own doing.” Owen, furious, kicked his small legs. “Bad man! Don’t hurt my Dad!” “Dad?” Dominic grabbed Owen’s face, turning it from side to side. He let out a chilling, maniacal laugh. “Sera, look! He’s a spitting image of Elias. He must be that bastard child from eight years ago!” Seraphina and I both went pale. Eight years ago, on Sera’s birthday, was the darkest day of my life. I had nearly been assaulted. When I dragged my broken body home, the mansion was engulfed in flames. My parents, thinking I was trapped inside, rushed into the inferno. They saved Seraphina, but died themselves. Sera later nearly beat my attacker to death. I told her the lunatic hadn’t succeeded. She had said she believed me. But her reaction now proved she never had. My vision was red. I glared at Sera, forcing the words through gritted teeth. “He is not!” He looks exactly like you, too, Seraphina! Don’t you see it? Sera tightened her fists, taking a deep, ragged breath. “It doesn’t matter either way…” Then, she violently grabbed Owen by the collar, marched to a window, slid it open, and dangled him outside. I screamed, horrified. “Seraphina, what are you doing?” Her face was expressionless, vacant. “Truffle needs a proper burial. Your parents’ plot has the best Feng Shui. I’m going to put Truffle there.” “I’ll find a new, adequate plot for your parents. This is what you owe Truffle.” My breath hitched. I trembled with rage. “Seraphina, are you even human? My parents died because of you—!” “I know!” Sera snapped, cutting me off, her eyes hardening. “Stop reminding me. I agreed to marry you, and I haven’t celebrated a birthday in eight years. That’s enough penance!” She looked down at the boy in her grasp. “Now you choose. Him, or your parents’ peace.” She started counting down. “Three… Two…” “The child! I choose the child!” I shrieked, my heart tearing. Mom, Dad, your son is sorry! Sera pursed her lips, clearly dissatisfied with my choice. She threw Owen onto the floor like garbage. Then, she gently scooped the deceased Maltese into her arms. She cast one last cold glance at Owen and me before walking away, never looking back. Dominic stood over me, his lips curled into a smug, victorious smile. “That lunatic woman eight years ago? I set that up.” “You bastard!” I roared, struggling against the guards. Dominic leaned down, his sharp nail digging into my cheek. “And another secret… I was in the mansion the day of the fire.” My eyes were scarlet. “You caused it?” “Not me!” Dominic cackled, maniacally. “It was close. Your mother was unlucky, a cabinet fell on her. Your father could have escaped, but he insisted on going back for her.” He leaned in closer. “And Sera? She only wanted to save me. She told me, ‘Hurry, let them go, don’t worry about them…’” “The screams of your parents… So sad…” Each word was a razor-sharp blade, systematically dismantling me. I screamed, a guttural, agonizing sound of pure grief. A wrenching pain tore through my chest, and I violently spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor. I woke up in the hospital again. Owen was there, his eyes swollen and red. He threw himself into my arms. “Dad, let’s not have Mom. Don’t have Mom!” I held him tight. “Okay. We won’t.” A few days later, Seraphina called. Her tone was a cold, non-negotiable notification. “Truffle is being buried tomorrow. Come and take your parents’ ashes.” My voice was ice. “Fine.” There was a silence on the line. After a long moment, her voice softened, laced with a plea. “After Truffle’s service is over, we’ll go pick out our wedding attire, okay?” I laughed, a harsh, humorless sound, and hung up. The next day, at the cemetery gates, my legs felt like lead. Owen held my hand. “Dad, tomorrow is the day of the car crash. Let’s leave here. Please?” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Yes. We’ll take Grandma and Grandpa with us and leave.” But just then, a car swerved out of nowhere, not slowing, and charged straight for us. “No! The crash isn’t supposed to be today!” Owen screamed, his eyes wide with horror. He shoved me hard. “Dad!”

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My boyfriend hired my husband. For a long time, I was a master of compartmentalization, a fortress of carefully constructed walls. Then came the disaster of Valentine’s Day. Two bouquets on my desk, two gifts, and two hotel key cards. When Grant found out I was married, the explosion was nuclear. He left for a month-long “business trip,” a punishment of pure, unadulterated silence. The day he came back, he refused to see me. I found him after three too many glasses of wine. He held himself rigid, reining in a rage that vibrated in the air between us. “Lena,” he said, pushing me away with a devastating gentleness. “I don’t do leftovers.” His voice was low, each word a carefully placed stone. “I want all of you. That includes your heart, your past, everything. It all has to be mine.” He stepped closer, his shadow swallowing me. “Divorce him. And I’ll still want you.” “Do you understand?” 1 I woke up in Grant’s bed to the insistent buzz of my phone. The name flashing on the screen—Husband—was a cattle prod to my system. I shot upright, the silk sheets pooling around my waist. Beside me, Grant shifted, a frown creasing his brow. His hand moved blindly, a possessive, sleepy gesture that found my hip. I lifted his arm, its dead weight a familiar anchor, and slipped out of bed as quietly as I could. I padded out to the balcony, the cool morning air a shock against my skin, and answered the call. “Hello, Arthur?” “I start at your company today,” he said. “Director of Strategic Planning.” His voice was steady, methodical. He delivered the news like a weather report—calm, factual, devoid of any emotional inflection. But the words were a grenade detonating in the quiet of my mind. “You… what?” “Who hired you?” A slight pause. “Someone in upper management,” he said, as if considering the technical accuracy of his statement. Then he added, “Your direct supervisor, I believe. Grant.” Arthur was the new head of my department. And Grant was my boss. And Arthur’s boss. The biggest boss. My boyfriend hired my husband. And parked him right under his own nose. I raked a hand through my hair, my thoughts scattering like birds. “Lena, don’t feel pressured,” Arthur continued, his tone unreadable. “I intend to keep things strictly professional.” Was that what he thought I was worried about? “You were doing just fine on the West Coast,” I said, trying to keep the accusation out of my voice. “Why did you suddenly come back?” “There were a few things I needed to handle,” he said simply. “And coincidentally, there was something I needed to discuss with you.” “What is it?” I couldn’t imagine what business he could possibly have with our company, let alone me. “We can talk about it tomorrow in person,” he said. “Do you need me to bring you breakfast?” “No,” I said, a little too quickly. “I’m fine.” The line went dead. I walked back into the bedroom and sank onto the edge of the bed. My bare feet sank into the plush gray carpet, but my insides were a tangled mess. Grant was still mostly asleep, his arm searching the empty space where I’d been. After a moment, his eyes fluttered open, locating me in the dim light. A long arm shot out, hooking around my waist and pulling me back down into the warmth of the sheets. “Heard you talking in your sleep,” he murmured, his voice a gravelly remnant of the night. His breath was warm against my ear, laced with an attachment he’d never admit to when he was fully awake. “Kept saying ‘husband’.” He chuckled, a low rumble in his chest. “Getting sentimental on me, Lena?” I was about to fire back a retort, but he cut me off, pressing a fierce, possessive kiss to the side of my face. His hand tightened on my waist. “Say it again,” he commanded, his voice dropping an octave. “I want to hear it.” “Grant!” I yelped, squirming away. “I don’t want to go to work!” It came out as a petulant wail, a last-ditch effort to postpone the inevitable. A day at the office was not on my agenda. He laughed, a genuine, startled sound, and propped himself up on an elbow to look at me. “Lena, I asked you to be sweet,” he said, an eyebrow arching in amusement. “Not to challenge me.” 2 I hid in the bathroom for thirty minutes, hoping the world might rearrange itself while I stalled. It didn’t. When I finally emerged, Grant was leaning against the kitchen doorway, a mug of coffee in one hand. He’d made me a plate with a single fried egg and a glass of warm milk. Our eyes met in the vanity mirror. “Lena,” he said, his voice deceptively casual. “Don’t even think about telling me you’re calling in sick. You’ve already burned through your next three months of PTO this week.” I wiped my face, feeling the heat of a blush, and sat down at the small dining table. “I told you I don’t like cold milk.” “It’s warm,” he replied without missing a beat. “Well, I like my eggs fully cooked. This part right here is still runny.” “Fine,” he said, his voice flat. “Next time I’ll char it for you.” Grant’s comebacks were always swift and merciless. I took a bite of the toast. “I’ve told you a million times, I like peanut butter on my toast.” “It’s on there. You just haven’t gotten to that part yet.” I searched for another flaw, my protest growing weaker. “You didn’t put peanut butter on it last week.” He finally looked up from his phone, his gaze sharp. “Lena. Stop picking fights. Eat your breakfast. I’m driving you to work.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Of course, if you don’t want to eat, there’s a good chance breakfast will cease to be a service I provide.” The chef was threatening a strike. That was a non-starter. He could survive on black coffee and sheer willpower. I, a mere corporate drone, required actual sustenance. I would perish. “Grant,” I said, changing tactics. “I heard you hired someone new?” He was scrolling through emails. “Your sources are surprisingly quick,” he said, not looking up. “Hey, I’ve been with the company for five years. I have my ways.” “Five years and you’re still in the same position. I could have trained a monkey to do your job and it would have been promoted by now.” I bristled. He was the one who had personally mentored me for the last three years. If I hadn’t progressed, wasn’t that a reflection on him? I took another bite of toast. This time, I hit the peanut butter. My mood instantly improved. “I don’t need the money, so why kill myself climbing the corporate ladder?” To compensate for our arrangement, Arthur wired a substantial amount of money into my account every month. For the sake of appearances, he’d also send transfers on holidays and buy me things. I had more money than I knew what to do with. The burden of the secretly wealthy. I circled back to my original question. Grant still didn’t look up. “He’s the new director. Good temperament. If you screw up, he won’t yell at you. He’ll probably just lecture you like you’re one of his students.” I nodded slowly. That sounded exactly like Arthur. He was the kind of man who could watch me attempt to cook—an event not dissimilar to a controlled demolition—without so much as a frown. I should mention, my culinary skills are legendary. A former colleague of mine, Rick, once managed to set his entire apartment building on fire because he couldn’t get the gas stove to light and decided a Bic lighter was the next logical step. He ended up in a holding cell for the night. When he called Grant to explain why he needed a day off, Grant was stunned into silence before finally muttering, “You’re a special kind of talent, Rick.” Rick thought it was a compliment. He was fired a week later. … I finished my breakfast. Grant glanced at what I was wearing and, without a word, grabbed a handbag from my closet that actually matched. His aesthetic sense was one of his few undeniable virtues. He was rarely wrong. 3 When we got to the office building, I had him pull over a block away. I jumped out of the car like a fugitive. Grant leaned over the passenger seat, a smirk playing on his lips. “Why so jumpy, Lena? It’s not like I have a policy against office romance.” Please. The main issue was that I was about to be late. I hurried to the elevator bank and jabbed the ‘up’ button. Grant followed at a leisurely pace, the crisp sound of his leather-soled shoes echoing on the marble floor. He wasn’t in any rush. It was like he was deliberately trying to fray my last nerve. I breathed deeply and stepped into the elevator first. Just as Grant reached the doors, I decisively hit the ‘close’ button. “Sorry, Mr. Crawford,” I said sweetly. “You’ll have to catch the next one.” Grant’s eyebrows shot up. He watched as I, clad in low-rise jeans that revealed a sliver of my waist, gave him a cheeky wave. The smile on my face was pure sugar, but my intentions were anything but. The little rebel. She was getting more brazen by the day. He’d deal with her later. For now, he waited for the next elevator. The new guy was starting today. 4 I spent the morning at my desk feeling like a spy in my own life, jumping at every shadow. At ten o’clock, I saw him. Arthur stepped out of the elevator. Our eyes met for a fraction of a second before I snapped my head down, pretending to be utterly absorbed in my monitor. From inside his glass-walled office, Grant watched the whole exchange. He saw Lena straighten up in her chair as if she’d been zapped with a taser. It was almost comical. She didn’t need eyes in the front of her head; she clearly had them in the back. He was smiling to himself when he saw an elegant, scholarly-looking man walk past her desk. Lena’s body went rigid. Grant’s smile vanished. His brow furrowed. The man was now at his office door. His voice was calm, his face handsome in a clean-cut, formal way. “Mr. Crawford? I’m Arthur Thorne, the new Director of Strategic Planning.” Grant tore his gaze away from Lena. “Come in,” he said coolly. “Have a seat.” I couldn’t sit still, my head swiveling back toward Grant’s office every few seconds. On one of these turns, my eyes locked with his. I quickly forced a smile and pretended to be fascinated by the contract in front of me. At eleven-thirty, Grant emerged with Arthur, leading him over to our department. “This is your new boss,” Grant announced to the team. “I’ve done my research for you. The workload is manageable, the pay is good, and he’s known for being generous. You work hard for him, and he’ll take care of you.” A wave of cheers went through the department. I was the only one who remained silent. I looked up, and Arthur was looking directly at me. I quickly averted my gaze. Grant stood off to the side, observing, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face. But he quickly masked it, turning to leave and handing the floor over to Arthur. Just before he walked away, Grant shot one last glance at me. I was still staring at Arthur, damn it. Grant decided then and there. They needed to talk. A long, thorough talk. 5 After Grant left, Arthur held a brief introductory meeting. When it was over, just as everyone was getting up, he called out. “Lena, could you stay behind for a moment? We need to sync up.” To the others, he said, “The rest of you can head to lunch.” He didn’t specify what we needed to discuss. I stood by his new desk, clutching my laptop. “What’s up, Arthur?” His serious face betrayed no emotion. His eyes, behind their gold-rimmed glasses, studied me with a quiet intensity. “I may need you to accompany me to a gala in the near future,” he said, his tone formal. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “That’s it?” “Yes.” For a second, I thought it was going to be something much more complicated. “Oh. Okay, sure. I’ve got plenty of time.” As I turned to leave, Arthur closed his laptop and fell into step behind me. “Would you like to have lunch together? We can discuss the details.” And so, I found myself heading upstairs with him to the executive dining room. I only dared to do this because I knew for a fact that Grant never ate the company cafeteria food. He was too picky, surviving on a strict diet of kale salads and black Americanos. Which is why my heart stopped when I walked in and saw him sitting at a table by the window, deep in conversation with another executive. I immediately fell back, trying to put as much distance as possible between myself and Arthur. From the moment they entered, Grant’s eyes had been fixed on me. He took in the form-fitting black top, the company ID hanging from a lanyard around my neck. The dark-wash, low-rise jeans. The sliver of pale, smooth skin at my waist. The way I trailed behind Arthur, my high heels clicking on the floor. My chestnut-brown waves bounced with every step, a sight that was starting to seriously irritate him. “The new director in Strategic Planning?” the man across from him asked with a knowing smirk. Grant just gave a cold “Mm.” “That Lena girl certainly has a way with people, doesn’t she?” The man’s laugh was laced with insinuation. Grant’s gaze turned glacial. He looked like he wanted to strangle someone. I felt the prickle of his stare from across the room and sat stiffly in my chair opposite Arthur, my appetite gone. Arthur noticed my discomfort almost immediately. He followed my gaze and saw Grant. He gave a slight, formal nod in his direction. “Does this company have a policy against office relationships?” Arthur asked me in a low voice. “Or should I inform management of our marital status?” My head snapped up. “Don’t you dare!” I whispered fiercely. I hadn’t figured out how to explain any of this to Grant. A man with his pride… if he found out I’d played him for a fool, he would destroy me. I grasped for an excuse. “Just… don’t. I don’t want people gossiping.” Arthur looked down, saying nothing. After a long moment, he pushed a small plate of sweet and sour pork ribs toward me. “Lena,” he said, his voice even. “If this marriage is making you uncomfortable, we can file for a separation.” I looked at him, really looked at him. His dark eyes were sincere, holding no trace of accusation. “But I hope you’ll give me a chance,” he continued earnestly. “I came back to make things right. A divorce isn’t the best solution for us right now. If that’s what you’re thinking, please, just give me a little more time.” A lump formed in my throat. It took me a moment to find my voice. “Okay,” I said, my voice muffled. “I understand.” Before my father passed away, his greatest wish was to see me settled. Around the same time, Arthur’s parents were pressuring him to get married. So, through a mutual acquaintance, we were introduced and bound together in a loveless arrangement. He had always been decent to me. Before we signed the papers, he gave me a prenuptial agreement. It stipulated a generous monthly allowance for me to stay in the city and take care of his parents. It also stated that if I ever started a new relationship, I could terminate the marriage at any time. I had tried. But he was always too busy, constantly traveling, unable to come back. He lived abroad for years. In five years, I could count the number of times we’d seen each other on one hand. But he had never mistreated me. In the last two years, his parents’ health had declined. Just recently, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Filing for divorce now felt inhuman. So I agreed. “Have you been to see your mother yet?” I asked. “I just got back yesterday. I haven’t told them I’m here.” “Okay,” I said. “I’ll go with you to see her tonight.” And just like that, our dinner plans were set. I finished my food as quickly as possible and left. 6 That evening, as I was packing up my desk, a text from Grant came through. Downstairs. Parking garage, B level. I looked up and saw Arthur just stepping out of his office. “Ready? My mom’s already made dinner.” “I just need to run to the restroom,” I said, making a quick escape. I ducked into the women’s room, deliberately taking my time. Finally, I sent a reply to Grant: Sorry, have plans with Olivia tonight! You don’t have to wait for me. xoxo Grant sat in the darkness of his car and read the message. He then calmly picked up his phone and sent a text to Olivia, a junior analyst on my team. Are you free right now? I need some adjustments made to this morning’s contract. Olivia replied almost instantly: Yes, Mr. Crawford! I’m home now, but I can get on it right away. Grant added two minor clauses. Thank you for your hard work. He tossed his phone onto the passenger seat. He sat there in the silence, his face a thundercloud. A few minutes later, Arthur appeared at the elevator bank. The sound of high heels echoed in the empty garage. Then, Lena’s silhouette emerged. A short, black puffer jacket was draped over her arm. “It’s freezing out here,” she complained. Arthur took her bag, freeing her hands to put on the jacket. He clicked the unlock button on his key fob. “I have the heat on in the car.” Lena spotted his car and made a beeline for it, diving into the passenger seat. Grant let out a cold, humorless laugh. Looked like she was pretty used to hopping into his car. He reached over and shut off the heat he’d had running just for her. Let her freeze to death. His temples were throbbing with a rage so hot he felt like he could breathe fire. If Lena were standing in front of him right now, she’d be incinerated. Who needed a damn heater? He slammed his hand on the horn. The blare ripped through the quiet garage, startling the occupants of the car ahead. “That’s Mr. Crawford,” Arthur said, glancing in the rearview mirror. I immediately ducked my head down. “Go, go, go!” I urged. “The company doesn’t allow office romance. He’s the strictest one about it.” The car sped out of the garage, a hasty retreat that felt suspiciously like a guilty escape. Grant had seen her duck down to hide from him. A knot of fury lodged itself in his chest, a heavy, unmovable weight. He ended up at a bar on the corner. He took a seat by the window and waited. He waited until eleven-thirty. That’s when he finally saw her, the damn woman, getting out of another man’s car across the street. She was laughing, her whole body swaying with the motion. And Arthur wasn’t exactly a saint, either. He looked so prim and proper, but he was lingering, clearly reluctant to leave. What, was he hoping for an invitation to come inside? Fine. Let’s see if she had the guts to bring another man home. With that thought, Grant downed the rest of his drink, grabbed his coat, and stormed out of the bar. He stood a short distance away, watching them. His brow was knitted, his posture radiating an aggressive energy. He looked like a man on the edge, someone you didn’t want to cross. He was impossible to miss. Arthur saw him instantly. He looked at Lena. “I see Mr. Crawford again.” I quickly turned my back to the street, not daring to look. “It’s late,” I said, my voice rushed. “You should get going.” “My mom packed you some dumplings. Make sure you put them in the freezer.” I took the container from him. Arthur then pulled a case of cherries and a durian from his trunk. “Go on inside,” he said. I didn’t dare turn around yet. “You go first.” Arthur nodded. His eyes met Grant’s across the street. He could feel the murderous intent radiating from the other man, but he simply gave another polite, almost imperceptible nod. Then he got in his car and drove away. 7 Grant’s eyes were locked on me, predatory, like a hawk circling its prey. My legs were starting to go numb from standing in one spot. The moment Grant looked down to light a cigarette, I made a dash for the entrance to my apartment building. We were on the same street, just a few yards apart. “Well, well,” Grant’s voice cut through the night as he looked up and saw me. “Look who decided to bring home groceries.” I turned, feigning surprise. “Oh, you’re still here? So late.” I slowly walked over to him. A faint smell of whiskey clung to him. I leaned in closer, sniffing. Grant held his cigarette away from me, his other hand coming up to press against my shoulder, keeping me at a distance. “Do I know you?” I frowned. “What do you mean, ‘do you know me?’ Wasn’t it me who woke up in your bed this morning?” “Ha.” Grant tapped the ash from his cigarette, his expression utterly frigid. “So you do remember waking up in my bed, Lena.” He emphasized the word ‘bed’, his dark eyes glinting with a cold light. “You know what I’m like, Lena. Explain. Before I lose my temper.” “Who is he?” I bit my lip, gathering the courage to speak. “He… he is…” Just then, Grant’s phone rang. His face was a mask of thunder as he answered it. I sidled up to him, tugging gently on the sleeve of his coat. He shot me a warning glance. I took his hand. His knuckles were ice-cold, but his palm was burning hot. When he didn’t pull away, I dared to lace my fingers through his. The call ended. Grant stubbed out his cigarette. He looked down at our intertwined hands. “There’s an issue with one of the new interns. I have to go.” Which intern? Why was he so concerned? “You’ve been drinking. I’ll drive you.” I reached for the car keys in his pocket. He didn’t stop me. But as I urged him toward the car, he stood his ground. “You go home. I’ll get a cab.” Oh. I turned and walked toward my building. The moment his taxi pulled away, I found his car parked down the street, got in, and followed him. 8 The main avenue was a river of light, lined with upscale restaurants where executives entertained clients. When I arrived, I saw Grant emerging from one of them with someone. It was the new intern, a girl named Lauren. I’d heard she was a nepotism hire, someone with connections. Grant had assigned her to me for training. Lauren was wearing Grant’s suit jacket. She was trembling, clearly distraught. She buried her face in Grant’s chest, and he, with a deep frown, didn’t push her away. He even patted her shoulder comfortingly. Hugging another woman in the middle of the night. So this was his “issue.” I hit the hazard lights and leaned against the side of my car, my arms crossed. I watched them like I was watching a movie. I watched for a long time. And then, Grant saw me.

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When David and I signed the divorce papers, a strange calm settled over us. He asked, with a veneer of concern, what I wanted. My answer came without a second thought. “The cars, the house, the savings.” “And half the shares in your company.” David froze, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. “What about the children? You don’t want either of them?” “You love them so much. Can you really bear to leave Leo and Mia behind?” My gaze fell to the latticework of scars on my wrist, a silent testament to years of self-inflicted pain. I gave a small, slow shake of my head. Not anymore. From this day forward, the only thing I wanted from David Thorne was his money. Everything else connected to him, I was leaving behind. 1. Faced with my cold detachment, David looked like he wanted to say something more. But after a moment’s hesitation, he simply fell silent and signed his name to the agreement. As we parted, he offered a final, polite gesture. “I can’t give you the shares, but you will always be the children’s mother.” “If you ever run into trouble, you can always come to me.” I nodded. The moment I turned away, the business card he’d handed me found its home in the nearest trash can. In this lifetime, I would rather die than ever see David Thorne again. Back at the house, I told the housekeeper to pack up all of David’s belongings and throw them out. She chuckled, unconcerned. “Ma’am, did you and Mr. Thorne have another fight?” “If you ask me, you should just let it blow over,” she said, her tone light and teasing. “He does care for you, deep down. It’s not worth throwing away your position as Mrs. Thorne over a little spat.” Maria had seen everything. All the years of pain, the humiliation I’d endured. She knew the torrential force of my love for David. She had also witnessed my hysterics, the countless times I’d shattered in the face of his betrayals. Like David, she was convinced I would never leave. But this time, I didn’t break down in tears and complaints as I usually did. Instead, I took our wedding portrait down from the wall and spoke, my voice calm and empty. “My mother is dead.” The smile vanished from Maria’s face. She stood frozen, stammering an apology, her hands fluttering uselessly. I offered a faint, humorless smile and said nothing. With all my strength, I brought the heavy frame down, smashing it to pieces on the floor. Maria jumped back, startled. Then, she was crouching beside me, helping me clean up the shards of glass. She expertly bandaged the cut on my hand, a wound torn open by the impact. “Good,” she murmured, her voice thick with emotion. “Good riddance!” “You’re an Ivy League graduate, a brilliant woman. You can live a much better life without him.” “You don’t have to take that kind of pain anymore, my dear.” “I know,” I whispered, my head bowed. I hadn’t wanted to cry. But as I looked down, the tears came anyway, hot and unstoppable. There was regret, and a deep, aching sadness. But beneath it all, there was something else. A glimmer of the dizzying joy of a survivor. After ten years of entanglement, the fairytale romance of the prince and the cinder-girl had finally reached its end. It wasn’t a happy ending, but it was the one I should have seen coming all along. 2. At eighteen, I was the top student in my county, accepted into one of the most prestigious Ivy League universities. That same year, I met David Thorne, a successful alumnus who had returned to campus to make a donation. The beginning of our story was, like all fairytales, breathtakingly romantic. For David, it was love at first sight. After his speech, he began a relentless, whirlwind courtship. He’d wait for me after class with flowers and my favorite latte. He’d bribe my roommates with cash just to know my schedule. He memorized every trivial detail about me and declared his love in a field of a thousand roses he’d had planted just for me. Back then, everyone said we wouldn’t last. They were certain a small-town girl like me, a nobody, could never truly fit into his world. But David didn’t care. He brushed off their doubts, determined to be with me. He fought against the pressure from his family and proposed, shielding me from all the malice and judgment. Under his protection, my life, once a struggle, was suddenly switched to easy mode. Jewelry and bouquets, graduate school placements, opportunities to study abroad—everything was laid at my feet before I even had to ask. What teenage girl, inexperienced and full of dreams, could resist such an onslaught? I fell, hard and fast. I gave up my ambitions and stepped into the gilded cage of marriage. Dating, marriage, pregnancy, childbirth. It all unfolded so seamlessly. For the girl I was then, life felt impossibly easy. Everything I ever wanted was mine for the taking. I was drunk on love, completely unaware that every gift from fate comes with a hidden price tag. The day our son, Leo, was born, the Thorne matriarch, a woman I had never met, swept into my hospital room and took my child from my arms. Her smile was polite, perfectly composed, but her voice was a shard of ice. “Leo is the future heir to the Thorne fortune. His position is of the utmost importance.” “Your background, your… upbringing… hardly qualifies you to raise him.” I had carried him for ten months, endured a difficult birth, and I wasn’t even allowed to hold him. To even see my own son, I had to get permission first. I begged David, pleaded with him not to be so cruel, not to separate me from our baby. He just looked at me with a strange expression. “My mother’s right, you know. You’re from the countryside.” “She made it clear from the start. I can fool around all I want, but when it comes to the children, her word is law.” I was on the verge of collapsing from grief. But David simply pulled me into his arms and kissed me, completely ignoring my tears. He laughed it off. “Come on, don’t be so sad.” “If you want a baby that badly, we can just make another one.” I couldn’t push him away. But then his eyes caught the faint, silvery stretch marks on my stomach. He stopped. A flicker of… something between hesitation and disgust… crossed his face. After a long moment, he pulled away and said flatly, “You’ve had a long day. You should get some rest.” David’s indifference was like a bucket of ice water, shocking me out of my long, beautiful dream. I remembered his mother’s contempt, the snickering of those around me. And I suddenly understood. This grand, sweeping love affair of ours? It had been nothing more than the indulgent whim of a rich boy. Fate had showered me with blessings. Now, it was starting to collect the interest. And my son was just the beginning. In the weeks after giving birth, I spiraled into a severe postpartum depression. My calls to David went unanswered. My texts were left unread. Just as I started to panic, worrying that something terrible had happened to him, the news broke. Scandalous photos of him in bed with some starlet were plastered across every gossip site overnight. The world began to speculate how long it would be before the small-town Cinderella was kicked to the curb. The public mockery and vicious comments shattered the last fragments of my fairytale. I couldn’t accept it. My depression deepened. David and I had the most violent argument of our lives. In a complete breakdown, I grabbed a knife and threatened to jump from the balcony. That finally got his attention. He rushed to grab me, his hands trembling as he apologized. He was just like every other cheating husband, crying that he was sorry, that it was all a misunderstanding, that he loved me and I had to give him another chance. That night, David knelt before me, his face wet with tears. “Nina, please. Can you forgive me, just this once?” 3. I made the second worst decision of my life. I chose to forgive him. For our son. For the stubborn love I couldn’t yet sever. And because a sudden car accident had left my mother in critical condition, robbing me of my last safe harbor. So, David and I reconciled. And soon, I was pregnant with our second child, Mia. Like her brother, Mia was taken from me the moment she was born. The excuse this time was that David needed to focus on his work and couldn’t be disturbed by a crying baby. Just to see my own children, I had to go to the Thorne estate before dawn every day to perform my duties. I served tea, massaged Mrs. Thorne’s shoulders and back, and even knelt to wash her feet. I humbled myself in every way imaginable, all for the small mercy of being allowed to spend a few moments with Leo and Mia. But all my desperate efforts were rewarded with David’s flagrant betrayals and the deep-seated resentment of my own children. Leo never called me “Mom.” Whenever he saw me, he would scowl and say, “That stupid country woman is here again. I don’t want to see her.” Mia was too young to speak, but she would cry and reach for her grandmother the moment I came near. Meanwhile, my mother’s condition was steadily worsening. The coldness of my children, the crushing weight of my life… I was exhausted, hollowed out by despair. And in the moments when I needed him most, David was off building a new life with another woman. It was our wedding anniversary. Leo refused my invitation to celebrate. David didn’t answer my calls. Instead, his new lover took the initiative and sent me a video of them in bed together. Listening to their moans and whispers, I finally shattered completely. I lost control and dragged a razor across my arm. By the time Maria burst into the bathroom, I was bleeding out on the floor. She frantically called David. This time, he didn’t show up until dawn. He crouched in front of me, a smirk on his face as he looked at the gruesome wounds on my arm. “Still here? I thought you were going to die.” “It’s been a whole night. How are you still clinging to this family like a stray dog?” His words ripped open the fragile calm I’d found. Without a second thought, I threw myself off the balcony. I didn’t die. I just broke my leg. Mrs. Thorne paid off the reporters and had me dragged to my mother’s hospital. She stood over me, her voice dripping with cold fury. “The ICU costs twenty thousand dollars a day.” “If you ever dare to embarrass the Thorne family again, I will make sure your mother joins you.” For the first time, I realized that even death was a luxury I couldn’t afford. I couldn’t let go of the love that once was, couldn’t sever the ties to my children. So I remained, shrinking myself into nothingness in a marriage devoid of self. I watched my children pull away from me. I watched David move from one woman to the next. I watched them use my mother as a leash to control my life. A marriage into wealth was both a sweet paradise and a chain of torment. Cinderella had ascended to become Mrs. Thorne, but the Prince was still lost in his games of love, “rescuing” one poor, beautiful girl after another. Until one day, David went too far. He fell for a socialite in her thirties, a woman with multiple divorces under her belt, and got her pregnant. Mrs. Thorne was livid. She slapped me twice across the face, her voice shaking with rage as she berated me for failing to control my husband. “A woman who can’t even hold onto her own husband’s heart—what use are you?” “I am ordering you to clean up this mess immediately. If you don’t…” “I will cut off your mother’s medical payments and ensure you never see Leo and Mia again!” After my marriage had crumbled into ruin, the last thread of family I had left was my only reason for living. I couldn’t lose my mother. I couldn’t lose that final connection. With a heavy heart, I went to see the woman, Vivienne. Unlike David’s previous flings, she wasn’t arrogant or condescending. She was polite, almost deferential. She called me “Mrs. Thorne” with every other breath, her eyes dripping with faux admiration. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Thorne. I never intended to disrupt your family.” “It’s just… I love David so much.” “But if it’s for his own good, I’m willing to terminate the pregnancy and disappear from his life forever.” Vivienne was true to her word. She took the money and vanished without a trace. That night, for the first time in a long time, David came back to our bedroom. Without a word, he pushed me onto the bed. For an entire month, he barely let me leave it. Until I was pregnant with our third child. As a reward for solving David’s “problem” and a way to keep him at home, Mrs. Thorne made an unprecedented concession: I would be allowed to raise this child myself. Around the same time, under the care of the Thorne family’s private medical team, my mother’s health began to improve. I was ecstatic. I thought the worst was finally over. I thought things were finally looking up. But when I was eight months pregnant… David pushed me down the stairs.

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I must have told my best friend to dump him a thousand times. In the end, I was the one drinking champagne at their wedding. On the day of the wedding, I sat at the head table with the groom’s chief strategist, auditing the damages on our phones. Turns out, every time those two had a meltdown, we were the collateral damage. Our chat histories were eerily identical. [It’s over. For real this time.] [But what am I supposed to do? I can’t stop thinking about him/her.] The Groom’s Strategist: [Get a new job. The circus is hiring clowns.] Me: [You owe me emotional damages.] 1 I must have told my best friend to break up with him a thousand times. In the end, I was the one drinking champagne at their wedding. The day the news dropped, my heart was a placid lake as I let out a hollow laugh—the kind you’d expect from a jaded queen in an old tragedy. But as Grace Evans’ ride-or-die since we were kids, I showed up. I was her maid of honor, after all. I even came bearing a hefty check and a lavish wedding gift. It was a joyous occasion, but I couldn’t crack a smile. Finally, Grace looked at me, her brow furrowed with concern. “Tracy, if you can’t smile, don’t. You look cool and mysterious with a straight face anyway.” “…” Fine. My best friend might be a hopeless romantic, but she was marrying into a family whose net worth had more commas than a grammar textbook. Plus, she still loved me. I could tolerate it. When the groom’s party arrived, I noticed one of the groomsmen looked even more miserable than I did. He seemed to fundamentally disapprove of this marriage. He was handsome, though, in a completely different way from the groom. A single black stud gleamed in his left earlobe, accentuating his sharp, sculpted features. He had a roguish charm, and the tailored suit added a layer of dangerous sophistication. One of the other bridesmaids noticed him and whispered to Grace, asking who he was. And then I heard the name that had been a curse word in my vocabulary for years: Caleb Vance. Just as I was Grace’s best friend, this Caleb Vance was apparently the groom, Liam Foster’s, childhood confidant. For the longest time, I had harbored a bone-deep hatred for this man I’d never met, a hatred second only to my feelings for Liam himself. Because every time I thought those two were finally done for good, this damned Caleb would whisper some brilliant strategy into his friend’s ear, and that dog Liam would somehow win my best friend back. He was the master strategist behind their reunion. This wedding should have been his ultimate victory. So why the long face? Was he trying to provoke me? 2 While the bride and groom were grinning like absolute fools, Caleb and I stood there, our faces frozen masks of indifference. After what felt like an eternity of ceremonies, I finally found my seat at the main table. I don’t know if the seating planner was a chaos agent, but Caleb was seated right next to me. The air buzzed with cheerful chatter, but a bubble of silence surrounded the two of us. We could have been mutes. I watched him idly swipe through his phone before he turned his head, his gaze locking directly onto mine. Normally, when strangers make eye contact, one of them looks away after a second or two. This man did not look away. Okay? I was now certain he was challenging me. So I held his gaze, refusing to back down. After a long moment, amidst the lively din of the reception, I heard his low voice. “Ms. Shaw. I’ve heard a lot about you.” So, he knew who I was. I offered a smile that didn’t reach my eyes. “Mr. Vance. A pleasure.” But that wasn’t enough to convey years of pent-up frustration. I added, my voice dripping with sarcasm, “This day wouldn’t have been possible without you. Your contribution has been… invaluable.” A slight frown creased his brow. “Thank you. The same could be said for you.” I scoffed. “Oh, I don’t think we’re quite the same. If Grace and Liam’s relationship was a road full of bumps, I was the pothole.” God knows when I started trying to break them up. From the moment they were just flirting, I knew Liam was wrong for her. And sure enough, their five years together were a dizzying rollercoaster of breakups and makeups. I don’t know if they were exhausted, but the drama was enough to make me swear off men for life. Dating? I’d rather adopt a dog. A few seconds later, Caleb replied, “Then I must have been the roadblock.” “Huh?” I turned to face him again. “Weren’t you the one always pushing for them to get back together?” “Who told you that?” Something wasn’t adding up. I narrowed my eyes. “If you weren’t his master strategist, then why did Liam always come crawling back right when they were on the verge of a real breakup?” 3 Caleb looked genuinely offended. He unlocked his phone, scrolled back about three months, and angled the screen toward me. Liam: [Bro, this might be it for real. I’m done with that heartless woman!] Caleb hadn’t replied. Two hours later— Liam: [Bro, she said yes! (Grinning emoji)] Liam: [Congratulate me, I’m getting married!] Caleb: [?] Caleb: [Have fun being her lapdog for the rest of your life. She tugs the leash, you bark.] Caleb: [You were born a man, but you’re choosing to live like a poodle. Stay close to your master.] Liam: [Are you just jealous I’m getting a wife?] … Caleb looked at me, his expression deadpan. “Do you have any idea how close I was to having an aneurysm? They cry breakup at every little thing. Who knows if they won’t cry divorce next? I’m doomed to be tortured by these two for the rest of my life. Do you understand my despair?” Silently, I opened my own phone and found my chat with Grace from that same day. Grace: [Tracy, I broke up with him.] Me: [For how many days this time?] Grace: [No, this time it’s for real! I’m completely over him!] I replied with a single, skeptical emoji. Two hours later— Grace: [Tracy, I have to tell you something. Please don’t be mad.] Me: [You got back together?] Grace: [He proposed! (Shy emoji)] Grace: [I said yes.] I said quietly, “I felt my world collapse.” Caleb stared at me. “…So you were trying to break them up?” “You were too?” Our eyes met, and a silent, horrified understanding passed between us. We started comparing notes, scrolling through our phones like two auditors examining a fraudulent account. And we discovered that history was alarmingly consistent. 4 Liam: [We broke up. For real this time.] Liam: [But what do I do? I can’t get her out of my head.] Caleb: [Listen to me. Get a new job. The circus is hiring clowns.] Grace: [Tracy, I’m really done with him this time.] Grace: [But I can’t sleep. I just keep thinking about him.] Me: [You owe me emotional damages.] Grace: Wire Transfer – $520.00 I tolerated it. Caleb’s voice was laced with disbelief. “Why does your best friend compensate you for her breakup drama?” “Your buddy doesn’t?” Caleb fell into a profound silence. As I scrolled further, I realized just how vicious Caleb’s texts could be. Liam: [Thinking about my ex. What should I do?] Caleb: [Go stand on your balcony.] Liam: [What? Did you tell Grace to come see me?] Caleb: [Let the cold wind clear your head. If an hour doesn’t work, try all night. If that doesn’t work, just jump.] Liam: [I looked it up. Capricorns are just slow to warm up.] Liam: [That’s why it’s taking so long to win her over.] Caleb: [What celestial sin did we Capricorns commit to be slandered by you like this?] Liam: [I sent her this huge paragraph. Why isn’t she replying?] Liam: [screenshot.jpg] Caleb: [All I see is a wall of text memorializing your dead dignity.] … Then, a look at my own chats— Grace: [I broke up with him. His parents are setting him up with someone from a ‘good family.’] Grace: [I’m done with love forever.] Me: [Okay.] Grace: [I’m in love again!] Me: [New guy?] Grace: [It’s still him.] Me: [Respect. Blessings. May you be locked together for eternity.] Grace: [He forgot our anniversary. He obviously doesn’t love me anymore.] Me: [People get forgetful when they get older. It’s normal.] Grace: [He’s not old! He’s my age!] Me: [A man is basically 60 after he turns 25. Trust me, find someone younger.] Grace: [But he’s… he’s still so good to me. (Shy emoji)] … Looking back, it seemed Caleb had actually tried to be supportive at first. It was only after years of this torture that he turned into this venomous, cynical wreck. There were countless chats just like these. But through the years, neither my efforts nor Caleb’s acid tongue could permanently sever the bond between those two. The power of a love-addled brain was truly terrifying. One was bad enough, but this was a case of two. Caleb and I locked eyes again. This time, we saw the same shared misery reflected in each other’s souls. “Bro,” I said. “Sis,” he replied. It was time to formalize our alliance. 5 Two souls, united by shared suffering, exchanged contact information. Caleb’s voice was weary, aged beyond his years. “How long do you give them?” My face was numb. “I’m hoping for a month.” We talked for a long time, our conversation drifting from the newlyweds to our own lives and work. “You work at the Innovatech Campus too?” he asked, surprised. I blinked. “Too?” “I just got transferred back there. I’ll take you out for dinner sometime, sis.” 6 On the first workday after the wedding, Caleb made good on his promise. Caleb: [Sis, your bro is here to deliver. Dinner tonight?] I felt a slight twitch at the word “sis.” Me: [Bro, you promised. Your treat.] Caleb: [Don’t worry, your bro’s got money.] Satisfied, I put my phone away. After work, I waited for him downstairs. A sleek black Mercedes G-Wagon pulled up to the curb, and the window rolled down to reveal Caleb’s aggressively handsome face. He wasn’t in a suit today, but a black technical jacket. The stud in his ear caught the last rays of the setting sun, glinting softly. He looked even more roguish. “Get in. I know a great spot.” I slid into the passenger seat. He took me to a hidden gem of a restaurant, tucked away on a quiet side street. The ambiance was serene, the food was divine. I dug in, and Caleb poured me a cup of tea from across the table. “Slow down. No one’s going to steal it from you.” I mumbled an affirmative through a mouthful of food. Halfway through the meal, my phone rang. It was Grace. My heart skipped a beat, a familiar sense of dread washing over me. Sure enough, the moment I answered, her tearful voice came through the line. “Tracy, I don’t think Liam loves me anymore!” “…” I shot a look at Caleb, who returned it with an expression that said, I know that tone. “It’s been, what, three days, my dear sister?” I hissed into the phone. “Did you have a fight on your honeymoon?” “No, we haven’t even gone on our honeymoon yet.” “Then what is it now?” “He said he was working late tonight on a huge project. But I was just scrolling through my feed and saw a picture his coworker posted. They’re out for a team-building event! They’re at a karaoke bar!” “He lied to me! He doesn’t care about me at all!” I took a deep breath, feeling my blood pressure spike. “Is it possible that they finished the project and are celebrating?” “No way! He just doesn’t love me anymore!” As I was racking my brain for a way to calm her down, Caleb suddenly held his hand out to me. I paused, then handed him my phone. Caleb cleared his throat and spoke into the phone in a calm, authoritative voice. “Grace, hello. This is Caleb Vance.” The other end of the line went dead silent. “Liam’s project tonight? I was in charge of it. We just wrapped up,” he continued smoothly. “My team has been killing themselves over this for the past two weeks. I’m treating them tonight, on my dime. I picked the place. Liam didn’t even want to come, I had to drag him here.” “He didn’t give you the details because he didn’t want you to worry. That was his mistake. But I can personally guarantee you, he is absolutely devoted to you.” “If you don’t believe me, I can put him on the phone right now.” After a few seconds of silence, Grace’s small voice came through. “N-no, that’s okay, Caleb. I’m sorry, I misunderstood. I hope you guys have fun.” The call ended. I stared at Caleb, dumbfounded. “Bro, with skills like that… you’re wasted in tech. You should be in PR.” Caleb handed my phone back, his expression unreadable. “You get used to it.” “I did this all the time when they were dating. Standard procedure.” “Calm one party down, then give the other an easy way out.” “What else are we supposed to do? Let them actually tear their lives apart?” I suddenly realized he was even more of a long-suffering parent than I was. Just then, Caleb’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the caller ID, answered it on speaker with a deadpan look. It was Liam. “Bro! Help me!” Liam’s panicked voice yelled. “I think my wife is mad at me! She’s not answering my texts!” “I think she’s going to ask for a divorce!” Caleb said, “Leave the karaoke bar right now. Go to the nearest flower shop and buy a bouquet of roses. Then go to a bakery and get her favorite strawberry shortcake. Then go home and get on your knees.” Liam was confused. “Huh? Why?” Caleb’s voice was dangerously calm. “Because when your wife called in a panic, I, in an effort to cover for your sorry ass, told her that I was in charge of your project tonight.” “And I,” he paused for effect, “am currently having dinner with your wife’s best friend, Ms. Tracy Shaw.” Silence from Liam’s end. A full thirty seconds of it. Then, his voice, now filled with a strange mix of terror and gossip-fueled excitement, whispered, “Whoa. Bro, are you… hooking up with my wife’s maid of honor?” A vein pulsed in Caleb’s temple. “Get lost.” He hung up and looked at me, exhaustion etched into his features. “See? This is our life.” I nodded in solemn solidarity. “You’ve worked hard, bro.” This meal felt less like a date and more like a strategy session between two war-weary veterans. 7 After that night, Caleb and I started talking a lot more. Since we worked in the same tech park, we often met up for lunch. His company’s cafeteria was amazing, and I shamelessly mooched off him several times. Before long, it seemed like everyone in his office knew who I was. One time, when I went to find him, the receptionist greeted me with a knowing, teasing smile. “Ms. Shaw! Here to see Director Vance again?” “He’s in a meeting, but you can wait in his office.” The title “Director Vance” threw me. I always assumed he was just another programmer from a wealthy family, like Liam. I had no idea he was an executive. I sat in his spacious office, looking around. The decor matched his personality—a cool, minimalist palette of black, white, and grey. But there were touches of something else. A complex LEGO spaceship sat on his desk. A row of anime figurines lined a shelf. It was a fascinating contrast to his roguish, handsome face. Just as I was admiring the collection, Caleb walked in. He shrugged off his suit jacket, tossing it casually over the back of his chair, and loosened his tie. “Been waiting long?” “Nope, just got here.” I put my hands together in a mock martial arts bow. “Director Vance. I am not worthy.” He chuckled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Stop messing around.” “Got plans tonight? If not, dinner’s on me.” “Sure. It’s my turn to pay. Can’t have you going broke on my account.” “Deal.” He walked over and, in a gesture that felt surprisingly natural, ruffled my hair. “What are you in the mood for?” My heart skipped a beat. The gesture was so intimate. I could smell the faint, woody scent of his cologne. I turned my head away, feeling a blush creep up my neck. “Anything… anything’s fine.” Caleb seemed to realize it too. He retracted his hand, clearing his throat. “How about that hidden spot from last time?” “Sounds good.” The atmosphere had suddenly become charged, a delicate tension hanging in the air. Neither of us spoke. The spell was broken by Grace’s frantic phone call. “Tracy! I’m pregnant!” “…?!” I glanced at Caleb. He’d clearly heard. The look of sheer panic on his face mirrored my own. I shakily put the call on speaker. “Grace, are you serious?” “Of course! Two lines on the pregnancy test! I just took it!” “I haven’t even told Liam yet! You’re the first person I called!” “What do I do now, Tracy?! I’m so nervous! I’m not ready to be a mom!” Before I could even process the information, Caleb spoke, his voice a beacon of calm in the storm. “First, go to a doctor and get a proper confirmation.” “Second, tell Liam.” “Third, take a deep breath and try not to spiral.” Grace’s voice was timid on the other end. “C-Caleb? Why are you there?” “I’m with Tracy,” he said simply. “…Oh.” That single “oh” was loaded with a universe of meaning. I could practically feel her gossip-loving heart combusting with curiosity. After the call, Caleb and I just stared at each other. “Those two,” I sighed. “As long as they’re breathing, they’ll find a way to create chaos.” Caleb rubbed his temples. “Come on, let’s get dinner.” “After that, I’ll take you to the hospital.” I blinked. “Why am I going to the hospital?” “Your best friend is pregnant. Aren’t you going to be there for her?” he asked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “She’s probably a nervous wreck, and we both know Liam is useless in a crisis.” “You go keep an eye on things. It’ll put my mind at ease.” A warmth spread through my chest. This guy, for all his cold and cynical posturing, was incredibly thoughtful. 8 I went with Grace to her appointment, and the pregnancy was confirmed. When Liam heard the news, he hugged Grace, laughing and crying like a fool. Infected by his emotions, she started crying too. I watched them from the side, a mix of amusement and genuine affection swelling inside me. These two lovebirds, as exhausting as they were, truly loved each other. It was late by the time we left the hospital. Caleb had been waiting for me by the entrance the whole time. When he saw me, he handed me a warm cup of hot chocolate. “You’ve had a long night.” “It was fine. I’m just a little hungry.” “Get in. Let’s get you some food.” Soft music played in the car. I held the warm drink in my hands, watching the city lights blur past the window, and a sudden sense of peace washed over me. “Caleb.” “Hmm?” “What are we?” I don’t know why I asked. Maybe it was the gentle mood of the night, or maybe being around the happy, chaotic couple had stirred something in me. Caleb’s hands tightened on the steering wheel for a fraction of a second. He turned to look at me, the glow of the streetlights softening the sharp lines of his face. “What do you think we are?” he asked back. “Siblings from another mother?” I ventured. He laughed. “Tracy, are you an idiot?” “We’re two single adults who met through mutual friends, who seem to get along pretty well, and who enjoy spending time together.” “You call that being siblings?” My face grew hot. “Then what do you call it?”

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The Comments know I can see them. So, to help their precious heroine escape the story’s villainous male lead, they flood my vision with messages trying to mislead me: 【The First Love has no idea, does she? If she says yes to him now, he’ll never have room in his heart for the heroine again.】 【Listen, First Love, don’t be fooled because he’s broke right now. He’s going to be a powerhouse later. You’ll be getting at least a ten-thousand-dollar allowance every month.】 【And that’s not all! He’s actually the long-lost son of the country’s richest tycoon. He gets discovered tonight! The First Love is going to regret this for the rest of her life.】 When I remain unmoved, the Comments grow frantic: 【Why isn’t this woman taking the bait?!】 I look at the man kneeling before me, proposing with all his heart, and then at the stream of nonsense scrolling above his head. A smile touches my lips. Sorry, folks. Because the only person this girl has ever trusted is herself. So, as the story’s designated villainess, a little bit of money and a serious need for control should be perfectly in character, right? 1 As the only girl born into the Thorne family in eighteen generations, my grandparents, my parents, and my eight older brothers and cousins have drilled one thing into my head since birth: You can’t trust anyone in this world. Not even us. When I was little, someone tried to kidnap me from school by impersonating my father. It was a masterful disguise. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t accounted for the fact that my father is utterly, pathologically devoted to his daughter. Dad had already bought the school and the entire surrounding district, moving his main office onto the campus just so he could walk me to and from class every single day. The moment the imposter showed up, everyone from my teachers to the hot dog vendor on the corner swarmed and cornered him. After that, the Thorne family hid me completely, officially listing me as the daughter of our head housekeeper, Mrs. Jones. To the outside world, my name was Sarah Jones. From then on, if anyone so much as breathed in my direction, their entire life story would land on a Thorne family desk within the hour. So, as Liam Evans knelt to confess his feelings for me, I held up my phone. I wasn’t taking a picture or recording a video. I was scrolling through his complete file. As far as I was concerned, he had no secrets left. 2 “Sarah, will you be my girlfriend?” Liam held out a single wildflower he’d plucked from the roadside. He was on one knee, his eyes gleaming with what looked like pure sincerity. I’ll give him this: Liam was gorgeous, more handsome than anyone I’d ever met. And on the principle of never turning away a beautiful man who offers himself up on a silver platter, I was actually considering it. That’s when the Comments flared to life above me. 【Here we go, the classic scene where the male lead confesses to his First Love.】 【She’s about to reject him. Then he’ll find the heroine, who looks just like her, and they’ll end up in bed together tonight. The start of their whirlwind romance.】 【Honestly, the First Love is going to kick herself when she sees how successful he becomes. I kind of shipped them, though. It would be nice if they got together.】 I almost rolled my eyes. So, the second I say no, he’s off to sleep with someone else? What exactly is there to regret about dodging that bullet? I quickly scanned his file for the girl the Comments were talking about. There she was. Chloe Miller, nineteen, a freshman in college. According to the file, they’d met a month ago at a bar where Chloe was working to pay for her mother’s steep medical bills. Liam had stepped in when she was being harassed. Since then, they’d been meeting up for meals. Chloe had even started an anonymous blog detailing their encounters, filled with lovelorn posts. And Liam had “liked” it. He knew it was her. Hmm? Weren’t they supposed to meet after I rejected him? Or am I just a stepping stone in their twisted little game of foreplay? My initial attraction to Liam plummeted into the negatives. As if sensing my change of heart, the Comments doubled down: 【Even though he knows the heroine, his heart belongs completely to the First Love right now! He only sees the heroine as a little sister. He’s so devoted!】 Give me a break. He’s known Chloe for a month. He’s known me for two. What “little sister”? What “devotion”? It’s nothing but a man’s self-serving fantasy. Liam, oblivious, continued his heartfelt performance. “Sarah, I know your mom works as a housekeeper for a wealthy family, and she makes good money. But I promise, one day I’ll make even more. I’ll give you everything you could ever want.” The Comments chimed in to help him: 【Listen, First Love, don’t be fooled because he’s broke right now. He’s going to be a powerhouse later. You’ll be getting at least a ten-thousand-dollar allowance every month.】 I absently picked at the thousand-dollar manicure I’d gotten yesterday. Somehow, I doubted a deeply disturbed individual was destined for greatness. The file was… illuminating. Liam once had a cat. One evening, a guest came over, and the cat innocently rubbed against their leg. That night, Liam tortured and caged the animal. The man had a possessive streak that bordered on psychopathic. 【And he’s actually the long-lost son of a billionaire tycoon! Grab onto this golden ticket, First Love!】 【Imagine having a billionaire for a husband! You’d be set for life!】 No, thanks. You can have him. Finally, one of the Comments lost its patience: 【Why isn’t this woman taking the bait?!】 And there it was. Confirmation. They knew I could see them. From the very beginning, their words had been too targeted, too manipulative, all painting Liam as the perfect man. As a connoisseur of stories, I know that every narrative has its critics and its fans. If this guy was such a catch, why were they so desperate for me to have him instead of their precious heroine? Combined with what I knew from his file, the answer was obvious. This was a dark romance, a story of abuse and obsession. Liam was an arrogant, controlling monster. And they wanted me, the “wicked villainess,” to tie him down so he wouldn’t destroy their heroine. Nice try. Did you really think I’d fall for a bunch of ghostly text messages that appeared out of nowhere? 3 “Liam, you’re handsome and you’re brilliant. I know you have plenty of women around you, and that makes me feel insecure.” My voice was soft, laced with vulnerability. “I’m a one-man woman. I can’t tolerate anyone else in my partner’s life, or even in his heart.” I let my eyes bore into his. “If there’s even a tiny space in your heart for someone else right now, you can tell me. I’ll step aside and wish you both well.” My words weren’t just for Liam. They were for Chloe, who was hiding behind a pillar just out of sight. My family’s bodyguards had spotted her the moment Liam started his little speech. Since I’d already determined Liam was bad news, I figured I’d give Chloe a chance. A chance to step out and expose him. I refused to believe, after all those blog posts, that she didn’t know he had feelings for her. If she came forward now, I’d make sure she could live a normal life, free from all this drama. But she didn’t move. Liam just shook his head vehemently, his eyes full of unwavering devotion. And Chloe remained hidden in the shadows. Fine. If you two are so determined to star in your own twisted tragedy, I’ll be happy to direct. “Okay,” I said, my voice bright and clear. “I’ll be your girlfriend.” He’s clean, for now. Might as well enjoy the view while it lasts. 【YES! I always thought he had better chemistry with the First Love! My OTP is finally sailing!】 【I feel a little bad for the heroine, but oh well. The real deal is the real deal.】 As the Comments cheered and Liam’s face lit up with joy, a sharp clatter cut through the air. Clack! The sound of Chloe’s phone hitting the pavement startled us both. We turned to see her running away, her shoulders shaking with grief. I feigned a look of curiosity at Liam. A flicker of shock crossed his face before he quickly pulled me into an embrace. “Probably just a bystander,” he murmured into my hair. “Don’t worry. From now on, you’re the only woman in my life. If I ever look at another, may I live out the rest of my days in misery.” He pressed his phone into my hand, his gaze earnest. “You can check my phone whenever you want.” I looked at the deeply emotional man before me, and at the stream of lies still scrolling above his head. I smiled. Then, in a single, fluid motion, I discreetly attached a micro-sized listening device to the inside of his phone case. Who said Liam was the only one with control issues? You two had better hide well. This is going to be fun. 4 I have to admit, as the male lead, Liam’s looks were top-tier. And his performance in other areas… was also top-tier. The novels didn’t lie! Waking up to a face like that every morning certainly put me in a good mood. I knew these heroine-obsessed fans would never tolerate an “unclean” male lead. So, the thought of the hero and heroine eventually getting together, only for her to be haunted by the memory of his first time with me… Well, that was enough to equally traumatize the hero, the heroine, and the Comments. A win-win-win. I began to subtly keep Liam confined to the house. We were in the honeymoon phase, so he was too infatuated to notice anything was wrong. For a while, he was the perfect 24/7 boyfriend, and the Comments were busy shipping us. Their praise was fake, but who doesn’t like a little flattery? Eventually, someone couldn’t stand it anymore. It was midnight. Liam was in the shower when his phone screen lit up. A message from Chloe. “Mr. Evans, I think we need to talk.” The Comments exploded. 【This heroine is so shameless! He has a girlfriend and she’s still harassing him!】 【Exactly! His heart is completely with the First Love now. The heroine should just give up.】 【Nobody is allowed to interfere with my ship! Not even the main character!】 And yet, not a single one of them told me to delete the message. They all knew what this was about. Chloe was messaging him to borrow money. Her mother was in critical condition and needed emergency surgery. In the original story, Liam sees the message and immediately transfers the funds. The surgery fails, but Chloe uses the leftover money to start a business, beginning her “strong female lead” comeback arc. These Comments wanted her to get that money and start her new life. I toyed with Liam’s phone, a smirk playing on my lips, before popping out his SIM card. Ten minutes later, the bathroom door opened. Without a word, I hurled his phone at his chest. “You’ve got some nerve, Liam Evans,” I spat, my voice dripping with manufactured rage. Before he could react, I stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me. Standing outside, I barked orders at the household staff. “Lock him in there until he’s had time to reflect on what he’s done. Don’t let him out until he understands his mistake.” “And cut the internet. No one is to go near him without my permission.” No wonder villains in novels love staging these “misunderstandings.” This was exhilarating. The Comments, realizing Liam couldn’t get any messages out, began to panic. 【It was a one-sided message! Why is the First Love getting mad at him?】 【You can’t keep him locked up like this! You’re just a housekeeper’s daughter, you have no authority over the staff in this mansion!】 【She’s pushing her luck. According to the plot, he’s supposed to be discovered by the tycoon in the next few days. What if this makes him hate her and he falls for the heroine instead?】 Oh. But I don’t like him. Three days later, both Liam and the Comments finally made a startling discovery: I really had imprisoned him. 5 “Miss, Mr. Evans escaped through a window. Should we send a team to retrieve him?” “No need.” I wasn’t surprised. After all, I was the one who had the window unlocked. I even cleared out the guards from that section of the estate so he wouldn’t accidentally run into them. And it still took him three days. So much for the capable male lead. I frowned at the video feed on my tablet. It showed Liam finding a distraught Chloe. After a few minutes of arguing, they were clinging to each other in a tight embrace. Tsk. In my eyes, he was now tainted. The Comments were practically dripping with schadenfreude. 【See? You overplayed your hand. Now you’ve lost him.】 【Good thing it was just a hug. Go and apologize to him. He’s a romantic; a few sweet words and he’ll come running back.】 【Right! He only feels guilt for the heroine right now, no other emotions.】 I scoffed. Guilt? Was he feeling guilty for taking a shower that night? As if I didn’t know they’d been secretly texting “goodnight” to each other every evening while I was asleep. 【Text him now! Act worried! Otherwise, he’s going to get angry and send you a breakup message!】 As if on cue, a message from an unknown number popped up: “Sarah, let’s take some time apart. We both need to cool off.” I ignored it, leaning back on the sofa. “Bring them both back,” I said calmly to the empty room. Time apart? We’ll be done when I say we’re done.

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On my eighteenth birthday, I climbed to the roof of a skyscraper. But when I got there, I found another girl already preparing to jump. Floating above her head was a stream of glowing text, like a live chat feed. [Another jumper? Is she backup sent by the villainess?] [The villainess is so dramatic. The heroine’s family raised her in luxury for ten years, and now all they ask is for her to donate her heart to save the heroine. Why is she acting like it’s the end of the world?] [Wait, why is the jumper girl walking towards her? What is she doing?] I grabbed the girl around the waist and tackled her onto the safe side of the roof. “Let me go first,” I said. “I’m in a hurry.” 1 “Let me go! Just let me die!” The wind at the edge of the roof whipped her hair across her face. Tears the size of beans rolled down her cheeks. “I found out today… in my family’s eyes, I’m just an organ bank for my sister.” The girl, Chloe, cried until her face was a mess. “The only reason I exist is to be sacrificed for her.” “Don’t try to talk me out of it. even if I destroy this body, I won’t let them have what they want!” “I wasn’t planning on talking you out of it,” I said, watching her stunned expression. “I just saw you were hogging the spot, hesitating. That’s why I pulled you down.” “Why don’t you take a minute to mentally prepare yourself? Let me jump first. I’m on a tight schedule.” Chloe opened her mouth but couldn’t say a word. Instead, the text above her head went wild. [Are people cutting in line for suicide now?] [This jumper girl seems mentally unstable. Don’t let her corrupt the villainess! We need that heart healthy for our heroine!] [The villainess is just being dramatic. I knew she wouldn’t jump. Who is she trying to scare with those tears?] Chloe stared at me, eyes wide with disbelief. “Why do you want to die so badly?” I sat on the ledge, swinging my legs carelessly over the abyss. “Because my parents want me dead sooner rather than later.” 2 I was born a monster. I can’t feel emotions. I only know how to mimic others—happiness, anger, sadness. Because of this, everyone around me hates me to the bone. Even my parents have said more than once: “I regret giving birth to you. Why don’t you just die?” They’re right. I am a monster who deserves to die. But I wanted to struggle a little first. I practiced smiling and crying in the mirror, trying to blend into the crowd like a normal person. But I kept failing. Like watching a comedy movie—I was the only one laughing out loud while everyone else was wiping tears, looking at me in shock. I didn’t get it. Shouldn’t you laugh at a comedy? Why were they crying? Or at a wedding, when the father hands the bride to the groom. Everyone was cheering and smiling, but I stood there with a mourning face. My mom saw me, dragged me out, and cursed me for being bad luck. I didn’t understand that either. A daughter leaving her childhood home should be sad, right? Why was everyone smiling? After that, I became more careful. When a relative dies: head down, eyes lowered, corners of the mouth down thirty degrees. When receiving a gift: eyes wide, corners of the mouth up forty-five degrees. When seeing someone cry: knit eyebrows into a frown, let out a couple of dry sobs. “Today is my eighteenth birthday. Starting today, my parents don’t have to support me anymore.” “They gave me some money and told me never to come back. They’re planning to adopt a new kid.” I swung my legs, the wind blowing hair into my face. “See? I tried. But it seems I’m really not suited for living in this world.” The text above Chloe’s head went quiet for a few seconds, then popped up again: [Wait, her symptoms sound like Alexithymia or emotional detachment disorder?] [Who cares what disorder she has? If she’s gonna jump, jump! Don’t delay our heroine’s life-saving surgery!] [Damn, this jumper girl really isn’t normal. A monster, right?] Suddenly, Chloe grabbed my swinging hand and dragged me back from the edge with surprising strength. “No… you’re not a monster.” Her voice was still trembling, but incredibly firm. “My foster mom always called me an ungrateful wolf, said I didn’t know how good I had it. But I know I’m not.” “You’re the same. I can tell you’re just sick.” I froze. This was the first time anyone had ever said something like that to me. Before, people either cursed me, feared me, or looked at me like a sideshow freak. Inside my chest, the heart they said was “empty” suddenly gave a light thump. Like a pebble thrown into a frozen lake, cracking the surface. I twitched the corner of my mouth, trying to mimic a sarcastic expression. “What’s the use of saying that? It won’t comfort me, and it won’t save you.” “At least we don’t have to wait in line to jump.” Chloe sniffled. Tears were still falling, but she wore a clumsy smile. “I thought about it just now. I’m not jumping either. They want to steal my heart? I won’t give it to them. I’m going to live. I’ll live until they’re too old to move, watching me be healthy and happy, just to spite them!” The text above her head exploded. [The villainess is crazy?! She refuses to donate her heart?] [When is the heroine’s family getting here? Hurry up and catch her!] [Where did this jumper girl come from? She’s made the villainess lose her mind too!] Chloe didn’t see the words. She just stared at me. “Don’t jump either, okay? Even though I don’t know how to cure your illness, living one more day is always good, right? What if something good happens tomorrow?” I looked into her shining eyes. I suddenly remembered seeing a mother teaching her child about fruits in the supermarket yesterday. The kid pointed at a durian and said, “It smells bad.” The mother smiled and said, “Wait until you taste it. It just looks ugly on the outside.” Maybe I was like that too? Just a hard shell, a strange smell, waiting for someone willing to open me up and taste. 3 The door to the roof burst open. A woman dressed in expensive clothes stormed in with several men in suits. She stared unkindly at Chloe’s bleeding knee, her voice devoid of emotion. “Chloe, didn’t Mom tell you your body doesn’t belong to you? You’re not allowed to get hurt.” Beside her, a man with sharp features strode towards us. “Chloe, be a good girl and come back with your brother. Lily is still waiting for your heart.” The floating text got excited. [Ooh, the male lead is here! The villainess can’t escape now!] [Even though the male lead is the villainess’s biological brother, the family only adopted him because of her. But in his heart, only the heroine, his adopted sister, matters. The biological sister has to step aside.] [Although after the villainess dies giving her heart, the male lead will suddenly remember her goodness and go dark, tormenting the heroine… don’t worry everyone, it’s just their little lovers’ game. They get married and live happily ever after in the end.] “Come with me.” The man, Ethan, reached out to grab Chloe’s arm, his movement domineering and unquestionable. Chloe instinctively hid behind me. “Why should I give my heart to Lily?” “Why?” Ethan stared at her, his tone turning cold. “Because she is the only bloodline of the Stone family. If the Stones hadn’t adopted us siblings back then, who knows where we’d be?” “Your very life belongs to the Stone family. What’s donating a heart?” I grabbed Ethan’s wrist. The wind snapped his sleeves. For the first time, I didn’t mimic any expression. I just looked at him. “Don’t force her.” Ethan frowned. “Who are you? Get lost!” “Who I am doesn’t matter.” I released his wrist and pointed to my own chest. “A live heart donation means a life for a life. You want her life. Did you ask if she’s willing?” “I’m not willing!” Chloe screamed, her voice hoarse. She clutched the hem of my shirt, her knuckles white. Ethan’s face darkened like a storm cloud. “Chloe, stop making a scene. Lily is waiting in the operating room. Do you want her to die?” “What about me?” Chloe suddenly looked up, tearfully questioning him. “Brother, do you want me to die?” 4 [Isn’t the villainess just a plot device? How dare she talk back!] [Why is the male lead hesitating? Just knock her out and carry her away! The heroine is waiting in the hospital!] [This jumper girl is so nosy. Just jump off your building! Stop playing hero!] “She said she’s not willing. Didn’t you hear?” I stepped forward, blocking Chloe. “Medically speaking, live heart donation is prohibited except in extreme cases. What you’re doing is murder.” Hearing this, even the wealthy-looking woman froze. Ethan was clearly enraged. He shoved me. “Who do you think you are, meddling in the Stone family’s business?” I didn’t dodge. I let his hand slam into my shoulder. “I’m nobody.” I stared into his eyes and slowly raised my phone. A voice recording app was running, the sound wave moving across the screen. “But I know no one has the right to take another’s life, even in the name of repaying a debt.” “I’ve been recording since you burst in. If you dare touch her today, I’ll call the police immediately.” “Then let me go to jail,” he gritted his teeth. “Lily is the Stone family’s treasure. I will save her even if it costs me everything.” “But I am my own treasure too.” Chloe stood up straight. The pain in her knee made her tremble, but she didn’t take a step back. “Ethan, you’re my biological brother, but you never treated me like a sister. From today on, we’re done.” Complex emotions swirled in Ethan’s eyes. Shock, anger, and a trace of panic he tried to hide. He took a deep breath and made his biggest concession. “One day. I can only give you one last day.” “If you still refuse the surgery, don’t blame your brother for being ruthless.” Chloe grabbed my hand and walked towards the stairwell, step by step. I looked back. The Stone family didn’t follow. I asked, “Where are we going now? On the run? or finding a different building to jump off?” The floating text said that in this novel world, the male and female leads are absolute gods. Police wouldn’t help. So I was just bluffing earlier. I didn’t plan to actually go to the police station. I thought Chloe would have a plan. But I never expected what she said next. “Let’s find a place to buy a birthday cake first.” I froze. The heart in my chest suddenly started beating like a drum. The feeling was so foreign. I looked down at my chest. So this heart could have such vivid moments. It wasn’t beating to mimic someone else’s emotion. It was beating because this girl, just pulled back from the edge of death, said she wanted to buy me a birthday cake. “Why are you standing there? Let’s go…” Chloe stopped. She stared at the corner of my mouth. “You… you seem to be smiling.”

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I’d been supporting Leo for ten years. When he finally asked me to marry him, it came with a condition: I had to get a tubal ligation. We would adopt a child from an orphanage. Just as I was about to follow his plan and adopt a little girl named Carrie, text suddenly materialized in the air before me, like comments in a video stream. 【Congratulations to the supporting female character on officially becoming the sucker. Carrie is the male and female lead’s biological daughter.】 【Carrie will get rid of the villainess soon enough. Then all her money will belong to our happy family of three.】 【Serves her right. Who told her to use her stupid money to get in the way of true love!】 My breath hitched. I turned away from the sweet-faced girl and walked toward a child in the corner of the yard. She’d just been in a fight and was now coolly tying her shoelaces. The pop-ups started again. 【No, don’t pick her! That’s the ultimate boss villain of the future! She’s the one who’s destined to fight the main characters!】 【Is the evil villainess insane? I feel so helpless, I wish I could reach through the screen and slap her!】 Oh. But of course. A villainess and the ultimate boss villain… weren’t we destined to be a family? 1. On the way to the orphanage, Leo gave me the silent treatment. The scowl on his face only vanished when he saw the little girl, Carrie. Eager to please him, I hurried over to ask her if she’d like to be my daughter. “You bitch! You think you’re good enough to be my mom? I hate you!” I was completely taken aback. This little girl, who looked so clean and angelic, so out of place in these drab surroundings, had just kicked me as hard as she could. “Get away from me, you slut! Just go die already!” She’d put all her strength into it. A sharp, searing pain shot through my knee, and I stumbled, crashing hard onto the ground. She just smirked, then ran to Leo and hid behind his legs, her dark eyes peering out at me. “Who gave you permission to talk to Carrie? What if you scared her?” Leo’s voice was ice. His eyes were filled with nothing but disgust. “She’s just a kid, how hard can she kick? Are you putting on a show so I’ll feel sorry for you? Get up. And apologize to Carrie!” I was about to speak when the pop-up text flooded my vision again. 【Nice one, Carrie! Avenge your real mom! And congrats to our villainess on being the sucker. Carrie is the main couple’s biological kid.】 【Carrie will get rid of the villainess soon enough. Then all her money will belong to our happy family of three.】 【Serves her right. Who told her to use her stupid money to get in the way of true love!】 I couldn’t believe my eyes. Congratulations on being the sucker? Just then, Carrie started to make fake sobbing noises. Leo’s face darkened with rage. He strode over, yanked me roughly to my feet, and roared, “I told you to apologize! Didn’t you hear me?!” “I’ll count to three. If you don’t apologize, the wedding is off!” 2. He stared down at me, confident he had me completely under his thumb. The pop-ups cheered. 【Father and daughter, working together to get revenge for the female lead! This bitch stole her man and is about to steal her child, she deserves this!】 【So awesome! They’re standing up to her power. Just because the villainess is rich doesn’t mean she can walk all over our male lead.】 I swallowed my fury and pushed myself off the ground. “I’m the one paying for this adoption. I’m the one who was just insulted and knocked over. And now you expect me to suck up to this little monster?” “Leo, you don’t have to call off the wedding, because I’m calling it off myself. And as for Carrie, there is no way in hell I’m taking her.” The air went still. A moment later, Carrie was the first to break the silence, screeching, “No! I don’t want to stay here and have the other kids call me an orphan! No!” “I want to eat steak and lobster! Not the boiled cabbage they serve here! And I don’t want to live in a gross dorm with those other kids, it stinks!” Leo’s eyes were wide, his chest heaving. But he quickly recovered, a cynical sneer twisting his lips. “Clara, don’t forget, you’ve already had the sterilization procedure. The one that can’t be reversed. You love children, don’t you? If you don’t adopt, you’ll never be a mother.” He softened his tone, trying a different tactic. “I know you’re just upset that I didn’t defend you. Carrie was rude, I’ll admit. But why are you holding a grudge against a child?” “Look at the other kids here. They all look so dull. Who can compare to Carrie? A little mischief just means she’s smart. Come on, honey, let’s just get the paperwork done. We can talk about everything else when we get home.” But my expression didn’t change. He reached for me, and I slapped his hand away. “I’ll say it one more time. Our engagement is over. If you want this girl so badly, you can adopt her yourself.” I walked over to the corner of the yard, to the little girl who had just finished her fight and was now calmly tying her shoes. I’d been watching her for a while. She had been quietly building a little house out of blocks when a group of other kids had deliberately run over and kicked it down. She hadn’t cried. She hadn’t screamed. She had simply launched herself at them, a silent, furious little whirlwind. I went to her, unwound the silk scarf from my neck, and wrapped it around hers. My voice was gentle. “Would you like to come home with me? To be my daughter?” “I promise you, you will be the only child I ever have. I will give you all of my love.” The pop-ups went wild. 【No, don’t do it! That’s the ultimate boss villain of the future! She’s the one who’s destined to fight the main characters!】 【Is the evil villainess insane? I feel so helpless, I wish I could reach through the screen and slap her!】 The girl stared at me, her dark eyes unblinking. As the warmth of the scarf seeped into her skin, her small body gave a slight tremble. “Okay,” she said, her voice raspy. Since I could no longer be a biological mother, I would be the best adoptive mother I could possibly be. 3. The director told me the girl’s name was Quinn. Her parents had sent her to the orphanage at age three, right after her little brother was born. “Quinn. It’s a strong name. I like it,” I said with a smile. The little girl looked up at me, then pouted. “It’s not a good name. They just picked it. It means nothing. Like a weed.” One of the boys she’d fought with earlier saw his chance. He snuck up behind her and shoved her hard, sending her sprawling. “Quinn looks like a weed, too!” he taunted. “Her hair looks like a dog chewed on it! It’s so ugly! Freak!” I finally noticed her hair. It looked like she’d cut it herself with a pair of blunt scissors—uneven, choppy, and shorter than a boy’s. “That’s because you spit bubblegum in my hair! I couldn’t get it out!” Quinn shot me a quick, embarrassed glance, then scrambled to her feet, her jaw set. Her palms were scraped raw, but she ignored the pain, ready to charge back into the fight. “Quinn!” I grabbed her, holding her back. For such a small thing, she was surprisingly strong. I stepped in front of her and fixed the boy with an icy stare. “My Quinn is the most beautiful girl in the world. As for you, what kind of big man bullies a girl? Apologize to her. Now.” The boy flinched under my gaze but stood his ground stubbornly. “You won’t? Fine. I’ll just have a word with the director. I’m sure she’d be happy to cancel your lunch today.” “No, no! Okay, I’m sorry! Quinn, I’m sorry, it was my fault!” He looked like he was about to cry, gave a half-hearted bow, and scurried away. I turned back to Quinn, smiling as I gently pinched her cheek. “Such a pretty face. It would be a shame to get it all scratched up in a fight. From now on, if anyone bullies you, you tell me. I’ll be in your corner.” “Come on. Let’s get some antiseptic for that hand. And when we get home, I’ll have a professional stylist give you a whole new look.” For a moment, her little body went rigid. She stared at me, her eyes wide with disbelief, as I lifted her scraped palm to my lips and gently blew on it. I sent my assistant to handle the adoption paperwork and led Quinn to the car. Leo, finally snapping out of his shock, blocked our path with Carrie in tow. “Clara, are you serious? You’re actually adopting… this thing?” Quinn might be young, but she was sharp. At his words, she bristled like a wounded animal, baring her teeth at him. If I hadn’t been holding her tight, I think she might have launched herself at him like a tiny missile. “Quinn is adorable and so well-behaved. Of course I’m taking her home.” I smiled sweetly, stroking Quinn’s choppy hair and deliberately raising my voice. “After all, I have so many maids and chefs at the villa. We’ll get Quinn fattened up in no time. Oh, and of course, every girl loves fashion. I’ll have to set up a walk-in closet just for her.” Carrie, though just a child, looked like she was about to explode with jealousy. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of parents had raised her to be this way. “You’ll regret this, Clara,” Leo snarled, shoving past me. “You’ll pay for what you’ve done today.” He stormed off with Carrie to handle her adoption himself, since his plan had failed. What a joke. As Leo dragged her away, Carrie kept looking back over her shoulder, her eyes fixed on me as I lifted Quinn into the back of the Rolls-Royce. “Ready, Quinn?” I said, buckling her in. “Our amazing new life starts now!” 4. Back at the villa, I had Quinn take a long bath, and then we went downstairs in our pajamas to enjoy a nutritional meal specially designed for children by my private chef. I was worried she might be a picky eater, but she wasn’t at all. She ate with gusto, her appetite amazing. After dinner, we took a walk in the garden to aid digestion, and then I took her up to her new room. I had originally decorated it for Carrie, a pink-themed princess fantasy. It had several massive wardrobes and no fewer than ten jewelry boxes already filled with accessories. A pastry chef I’d hired from France wheeled in a cart laden with exquisite desserts. Quinn’s jaw dropped the moment she walked in and it didn’t close. “The bed is so big!” Droplets of water from her damp hair trickled down her neck as she let out a whoop of joy and launched herself onto the massive bed, rolling around gleefully. The maids smiled fondly. The new young miss was captivated by a big bed, unaware that any single dress hanging in the closet was a one-of-a-kind original, worth thousands of dollars. On the drive home, I’d had my people investigate Carrie’s background. The so-called “female lead” was none other than Anna, the daughter of a woman who had once worked as a maid in my house. Back in high school, her mother had begged me to let Anna live with us, claiming their apartment was too far from school. I was lonely, so I happily agreed. She ate with me, lived with me, and I treated her like a sister. I thought she was my best friend. I told her everything, including my secret crush on Leo. I never imagined that she was going behind my back, pursuing him herself. The two of them saw me as nothing more than a spoiled rich girl throwing my money around, and they plotted to have their own child inherit my entire fortune. The pop-ups started scrolling again. 【So what if a young couple in love has a baby? This isn’t the dark ages. If Clara really loved the male lead, she should accept every part of him.】 【Um, upstairs, what they did was seriously messed up. Having a kid is fine, but tricking someone else into raising it for you? That’s just scummy.】 【Yeah, the morality in this story is getting weird. This is supposed to be a revenge plot? Looks more like a family of ungrateful parasites to me.】 My chest felt tight. I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. If I remembered correctly, Anna’s mother had been fired for theft. There was even evidence that Anna had been involved, but I’d still given her a substantial amount of money to help her start a new life. “Anna,” I whispered, my fingers trembling as I stared at the phantom text. “Why would you, of all people, stab me in the back? How could you do this?” “Where is this person?” Quinn was standing right behind me. She looked up, her eyes glinting with a coldness that didn’t belong in a child so young. “The people who bully you… I want them all to die.” She was so small and thin from years of malnutrition, she couldn’t have weighed more than a feather. And yet, this tiny child reached up and caught a tear as it slid down my cheek. “You’re crying. Tell me where she is.” 5. In that single moment, I knew I would do anything for her. I knelt and pulled her into a fierce hug. “Honey, from now on, it’s just you and me against the world. We’re going to live beautiful lives. We’re going to be happy.” Quinn was six but had never been to school. I immediately had my assistant find the best one for her. To ensure the staff and teachers would take extra good care of her, I simply donated a new building to the campus. I had the money, after all. And within my power, I would make sure my daughter got the very best of everything. Unfortunately, on her first day, I spotted Leo in the main auditorium, holding Carrie’s hand. He’d siphoned off a lot of money from me over the years, so he could maintain his lavish lifestyle for a while longer. “Well, well. It seems fate just loves to bring us together.” Our eyes met. Leo smirked at me, his chin held high. “I heard some big shot invested a fortune in this school for their kid this year. They even renovated the entire cafeteria. Aren’t you afraid of bringing… that… in here? What if she offends someone important?” Leo and Anna knew I was rich, but they had no idea that my family owned nearly every major commercial property in this city. They thought I was just new money. I smiled sweetly. “I was feeling pretty good about this school, but seeing you here makes me have second thoughts. The admission standards seem a little lax. They’re letting just anyone in these days.” “By the way, Leo,” I added, my voice dripping with innocence, “that little Carrie looks an awful lot like you. And you seem so fond of her. You two aren’t actually father and daughter, are you?”

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After we got back together, Nathan became clingy. What I ate, what I drank, who I saw—he needed a full report on everything. One day, he called, his tone a careful probe. “Zack brought some girls over. We’re heading to the spa.” I just said, “Oh. Have fun.” The line went dead. Twenty minutes later, he was blocking my doorway, his voice a raw whisper. “You’d just let me go off with someone else?” I took a step back under his intense gaze. “Isn’t this the ‘boundaries’ you wanted?” My words hung in the air, and he froze. 1 “Are you done?” I asked, my voice flat. “If you’re done, you can go. I really don’t mind.” Fearing he might misunderstand, I added a thoughtful assurance. “Don’t worry, I’ll play my part perfectly for your parents tomorrow.” Nathan’s face instantly darkened. “Aria,” he bit out, “you’re really something else.” He slammed the door on his way out. The commotion had completely shattered my drowsiness. I curled back into bed and scrolled through my phone. At two in the morning, a few photos arrived from an unknown number. A young woman, clad only in a bikini, her pale skin gleaming, was straddling Nathan. Steam curled in the air around them. His arm was wrapped casually around her waist, only a thin slip of fabric separating their bodies. Hey wifey, I’m scared of the water so Nate’s holding me tight 😉 So jealous you have such a caring hubby!~ I stared at the screen, considering my options. Should I get up and go catch them in the act? But it was so late, my driver was off for the night, and getting a ride would be a nightmare. Well then… maybe write a long, scathing essay tearing Nathan apart? The weather was too cold; my fingers would freeze. Maybe I could just copy and paste one of my old rants from our chat history. As I scrolled through the archives of my own fury, I somehow drifted off to sleep. No wonder Nathan never read them. When you strip away the emotion, the words are just long, rambling, and utterly exhausting. Turns out, they’re a pretty effective sedative. The next day was New Year’s. We were at the Vanderwood family estate. I was making small talk with the elders when the doorbell chimed. When the door opened, the girl from last night’s photos stood there, a picture of shy audacity. She was clutching a pair of men’s underwear. “This… he left this at my place yesterday.” The style was young, bold. There was only one man in this house they could possibly belong to. The scene was painfully familiar. The year we got engaged, another girl had shown up just like this. I’d gone ballistic, grabbing her hair and throwing her to the ground. Nathan had pulled me off her and left with the girl without a second glance, leaving me in a crumpled, humiliated heap on the floor. That night, the estate was in chaos. No one had a happy New Year. The old folks always say you shouldn’t start the year on a bad note. Sure enough, that was the year Nathan and I fought the most viciously. The living room fell silent. Everyone was waiting for my reaction. I immediately plastered on a smile and smoothed things over. “Oh, that’s my cousin. She grew up abroad, you know how wild they can be. We were all together for New Year’s Eve last night.” Nathan’s father let out a sigh of relief, but his mother’s eyes were sharp with suspicion. “Really?” “Of course,” I insisted, pulling the girl inside and shutting the door. The last flicker of hope in Nathan’s eyes died out. 2 On the drive back, I pulled the underwear from my pocket and tossed it at Nathan. He stammered out an explanation. “Last night wasn’t what you think. That girl is Zack’s sister, and I was drunk, I didn’t do anything…” I tore open a sanitizing wipe and began meticulously cleaning my hands. “You can just drop me here. I’m meeting Nancy for a poker game.” Nathan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His voice softened. “I can pick you up when you’re done?” “No need,” I said, pushing the car door open. “You go do your thing.” I didn’t want to know what that pair of underwear had been through. I just didn’t want to be contaminated by any of it. At Nancy’s place, I took a long, hot shower and changed into a fresh set of clothes she’d laid out for me. Only then did the tight, suffocating feeling in my chest finally begin to dissolve. Nancy watched Nathan’s car drive away, then raised an eyebrow at me. “So, how was the battle? What was the body count? And why didn’t you call for backup?” I sank into her sofa. “There was no battle. Scaring away the man is a small loss, but what if I scare away the money tree?” That New Year’s Day years ago, the Vanderwood estate had been a war zone. Several elders had been so upset they ended up in the hospital. As I lay on the cold floor, it was Nancy who had finally come for me, bundling my mud-stained self into her sports car. As she turned the key in the ignition, she couldn’t resist a bit of dark humor. “Trying to live out a childhood dream, were we? Making mud pies at the Vanderwood estate?” The moment I opened my mouth, tears streamed down my face. “Nancy, how did it get like this?” She panicked, fumbling to wipe my tears away, but she had no answer. No one could have predicted that Nathan and I would end up in such a toxic mess. We were childhood sweethearts, friends since we were in diapers. To get into the same university as him, I’d woken up before the chickens and gone to bed after the dogs, pouring every ounce of my being into my studies. The day I got my acceptance letter, my mother was amazed. “If I’d known all it took was Nathan to make you work this hard, why did I spend a fortune on all those tutors?” Everyone just assumed that Aria and Nathan were meant to be. A package deal for life. But just as we finally grew up, no longer needing to share a single order of street-cart fries, he was the one who let go of my hand. He resented his family for mapping out his future, for forcing him to abandon his dream of music to take over the family corporation. That resentment found a new target in me when I joyfully accepted the engagement. Back then, I was too blinded by my own happiness, too caught up in the fantasy of finally marrying the man I loved, to notice that the love had long since vanished from his eyes. After the engagement, he was never home. I’d wake up to a phone flooded with “concerned” messages from well-meaning friends. Nathan had dropped a fortune on some model; Nathan was on a yacht surrounded by women; Nathan had thrown a mock wedding for himself somewhere… The messages were like mold in the rainy season—impossible to scrub clean. I used to scream, to demand answers, to lose my mind and make a scene for everyone to see. All it earned me was a deeper layer of Nathan’s disgust. “Can’t you have some goddamn boundaries? You don’t like it? Then go tell my mother to call off the engagement!” Nancy once accurately described our relationship as less like a married couple and more like a rebellious teenager and his overbearing mother. One desperately trying to escape, the other clinging on for dear life. I thought I would be tangled up with him like that forever. But then, somewhere in the middle of all the fighting, I just got tired. Friends like Nancy don’t need words. A single look is enough. Seeing my strange calm, she asked softly, “So, what’s the plan?” I took the warm water she handed me. “The London project… both our families have invested a lot. I’m going to go oversee it myself.” “For how long?” “Tentatively, three years.” She wrapped her arms around my neck, not wanting to let go. “Before you leave, we’re going to party hard. My treat.” “Don’t you worry,” I leaned against her shoulder with a smile. “You won’t get out of it.” 3 I was jolted awake late that night by the doorbell. Nathan was slumped against the doorframe, drunk, his tie hanging loosely around his neck. I glanced at my phone. The Do Not Disturb notification showed 99+ unread messages in our chat. So, he couldn’t reach me and just came over. A year ago, I would have been flattered that he’d even thought to come home while drunk. I would have bustled around, helping him inside, getting him water, fussing over him for half the night. But now? My hair was freshly washed and fragrant, my apartment was spotless, and the last thing I wanted was the stench of a drunk man tainting it. He saw I had no intention of letting him in and asked, his voice hoarse, “You’re just going to leave me out here?” “You’re at the wrong place,” I said calmly. “This is my apartment, not our marital home.” “I’ll call someone to pick you up.” As I looked down to find a number, he shamelessly pressed closer. “Aria… I want the soup you make.” I took a deep breath, pushing down the last lingering sting in my heart. “Really? You’ll leave right after you have the soup?” He nodded eagerly. I opened the DoorDash app and held my phone out to him. “Pick whatever kind you want.” He froze, the alcohol seeming to evaporate from his system. “Aria, you never let me eat this stuff…” He was probably remembering the early days of our engagement when I, determined to be the perfect wife, had hired a chef to teach me how to cook, starting from the very basics of chopping vegetables. But he never even glanced at the food I made, let alone tasted it. I would secretly post pictures of my carefully prepared meals on Instagram, hoping the likes and comments from our mutual friends would tempt him to come home for a taste. Instead, I overheard him laughing with his friends at a bar. “If you had a stage-five clinger like Aria, you’d think my life was a tragedy too. Why would I eat her pig slop when I have a world of delicacies waiting for me outside?” Amid the roar of laughter, I ran home and cried for three days straight. Nancy was both furious and heartbroken for me. “My darling girl, you’re the type of person who’d rather starve than turn on a stove! Why are you learning to cook for a man?! He’s out living it up while you’re turning yourself into a ghost!” That was my wake-up call. I never cooked for him again. “Mine doesn’t even taste good,” I said, pushing the phone closer to him. “Just order something.” He sighed and took the phone. As his fingertips brushed my palm, his other hand instinctively moved to wrap around my shoulder. I recoiled violently, my back hitting the door with a dull thud. In the dead silence that followed, he lowered his head and lit a cigarette. The tiny flame flickered in the dark, illuminating the sharp lines of the face I once adored. “Aria, I’m your fiancé, not a walking biohazard.” “You never know,” I countered, taking another half-step back. “I need to sleep. I have work tomorrow.” I don’t know when he left. The next morning, the hallway outside my door was littered with cigarette butts. 4 On the way to the office, waiting at a red light, my mind drifted back to the night I finally broke things off. Nathan had locked me out that night, too. But that was at our marital home. He and a crowd of people were partying inside. He’d even changed the security code. The deep winter wind cut like a knife. I pounded on the door, my hand instinctively cradling my stomach, my voice choked with sobs. “Nathan, open the door… something’s wrong… my stomach…” It was the same girl from the spa who answered me through the intercom. “Hey, you out there! Nate said the one he has to marry is the Vanderwood family, not him. You should probably go. He said you need to learn about boundaries.” I froze for a second, then started hammering on the door like a madwoman. The people inside must have found it amusing. They recorded me through the security camera. In the background, I could hear the spa girl’s sweet, cloying voice. “Nate, she says something’s wrong?” His voice, slurred with alcohol and thick with annoyance, came through crystal clear. “Ignore her. She’s just playing the victim.” In the video, I looked like a deranged mess, crying and screaming. Eventually, I stopped, picked up my suitcase, and stumbled away, disappearing around the corner. That video made the rounds in our social circle. Nathan only found out after a full day of people looking at him with expressions that screamed, You’re a real piece of work. He finally, confusedly, clicked on the link. He didn’t think it was a big deal. So what? He was having a good time at home and didn’t want her to come in and ruin the mood. But the Vanderwood elders were furious. They said his actions were disgraceful and had brought shame upon both families. So he came to me, wearing the sullen expression of someone forced to apologize. “I didn’t know you would… walk out alone so late. I heard about the video.” He looked at me, as if assessing whether I’d learned my lesson. “People are talking… saying I drove my own fiancée out onto the street… Aria, stop being so dramatic and come home.” He never knew what happened in the darkness after the video cut off. And I was done trying to explain. Lying on the hospital bed, I wearily turned over. “It’s not your fault.” On the surface, it seemed we had reconciled. But from that day on, I stopped caring where he slept or if he ever came home. I quietly moved out of our marital home and back into my own small apartment. 5 Saying it wasn’t his fault was a lie. I’m no saint. Giving up on someone you’ve loved for so, so long feels like tearing a part of yourself from your own flesh and bone. When the withdrawals hit, I’d lie awake all night, a gaping hole in my chest where my heart used to be, the icy wind from that winter night howling through it. Besides, my family’s fortune and the Vanderwoods’ were already deeply intertwined, like the roots of two ancient trees. Tearing them apart would have consequences neither side could bear. I knew better than anyone that in the face of family interests, the squabbles of two young people were as light as a feather. Maybe the pressure from his family scared him. Maybe he belatedly realized he’d gone too far. Whatever the reason, Nathan started to rein it in. No more all-nighters. No more ignoring my existence. Instead, he began reporting his every move to me, in excruciating detail. One day, I was in the middle of a high-stakes negotiation, finalizing the core terms of a nine-figure project. We were at the final impasse over profit-sharing. You could hear a pin drop in the conference room. All eyes were on me, waiting for my response. And that’s when his messages started flooding my phone screen, one after another. Something about an appointment with a famous wedding dress designer; he needed to know what style I wanted. When I didn’t reply, he started calling. Again. And again. The buzzing of my phone was deafeningly disruptive. The lead negotiator on the other side said sympathetically, “Please, take your time. It might be urgent.” I maintained a polite smile, nodded my apologies, and ducked into the restroom before finally answering, hissing into the phone. “What the hell do you want? Why are you blowing up my phone over something so trivial? Are you that bored? Can’t you have some goddamn boundaries?!” After my tirade, the line went dead silent. I was the first to snap out of it, rubbing my temples wearily. “I’m sorry. I’ve been pulling all-nighters for this project, I’m just exhausted. The style… you can just pick one for me.” On the other end of the line, Nathan was quiet for a long time before he finally managed a strained, “Okay.” 6 The car pulled up in front of the Vanderwood Corporation headquarters. I was here to consolidate some resources before heading back to my own company. In the breakroom, I overheard some colleagues gossiping. “Did you see? Mr. Vanderwood came in with her again this morning.” “I know! I heard he even left his underwear at her place last time…” “What is with that? Isn’t he engaged?” “Please, everyone knows how much he can’t stand Miss Aria. He’s always saying he wishes she would just disappear.” … Thanks to Nathan’s strict policy of never acknowledging our relationship at the office, I, Miss Aria herself, was privy to all the juiciest gossip. I lowered my eyes and sipped my coffee, feeling nothing. This little scandal was nothing. These people were amateurs. They’d never seen a female delivery driver show up late at night wearing a matching set of lacy lingerie underneath her uniform. They’d never had to deal with the mountains of explicit late-night texts on his phone. They’d certainly never been toasted at a family banquet by some random girl who called me ‘sis’ as if we were best friends. Nathan never said no to anyone outside our home, and I was always the one left to clean up his messes. A pair of forgotten underwear barely even registered on the scale of his transgressions. I fought the urge to go over and say something. Then I looked up and saw that the subject of the gossip was standing right in front of me. The girl from the spa—the one who was “afraid of water”—was clinging to Nathan as if she had no bones of her own. When Nathan saw me, he frowned and told her to stand up straight. I took a second look. Of all his flings, she had certainly lasted the longest. The girl pouted and shoved a file into my hands. “You’re the one from his house, aren’t you?” I took the file and met her gaze. “And you’re the one who sat on him in a bikini at the spa.” The breakroom went dead quiet. Her face paled. She bit her lip and demanded, “Can’t you just let him go?” I held up my hands in surrender. Don’t drag me into this, kid. I’m just trying to get my materials and get out of the country. In a moment of desperate inspiration, my voice rising an octave, I threw Nathan’s own excuse back at them. “You call him ‘bro,’ I call him ‘bro.’ What’s this about letting him go or not?” “Aria.” Nathan’s warning tone came from behind me. “What nonsense are you spouting now?” I waved the file in my hand and turned to press the elevator button. “Bro, deal with your own drama. Leave me out of it.” The elevator doors slowly slid shut, reflecting Nathan’s thunderous expression and the hurt look on the girl’s face beside him. Were they having another fight? Not my problem. I glanced down at the flight confirmation email on my phone. In twenty-four hours, I would be gone. 7 I’d partied too hard with Nancy the night before, so I was barely holding it together at Nathan’s grandfather’s banquet. I placed my prepared gifts on the table. The first was a rare bottle of aged whiskey, a toast to the old man’s good health. The second was the heirloom sapphire bracelet his grandfather had personally placed on my wrist at our engagement party. Today, I was returning it. The message couldn’t be clearer. I stood behind Grandpa Vanderwood and gently massaged his shoulders. “Grandpa, I’m begging you, please grant my request to break off the engagement with Nathan.” He grew agitated. “Did that boy force you into this?” I shook my head, my voice soft but firm. “This is my decision. The love is gone. This engagement is meaningless.” I added, “I will personally oversee the London project. I won’t let the interests of our two families suffer.” Grandpa Vanderwood looked at the sapphire bracelet, then let out a long sigh. “The Vanderwood family has wronged you.” He paused for a moment, then added, “For the London project, you will have full authority. On top of the original terms, the Vanderwood family will grant an additional five percent of the profits to you personally. Consider it a small token from an old man.” “Thank you, Grandpa,” I said with a small smile, not refusing the offer. I had earned it. My flight was in two hours. I offered a final toast and made my excuses to leave early. As the car pulled away, I took one last look at the grand estate where Nathan and I had grown up together, from innocent playmates to deeply entangled lovers. Now, the story was over, and I was the only one walking off the stage. As we turned the corner, I saw Nathan’s car pulling into the driveway. I could just make out the silhouette of the spa girl in the passenger seat. Our cars passed each other, going in opposite directions. Nathan, I hope you get everything you ever wanted. And I hope my future is limitless. 8 Nathan rushed into the banquet hall, but he couldn’t find the familiar figure he was looking for. He sidled up to his grandfather, feigning a casual tone. “What did Aria get you?” His grandfather swirled the whiskey in his glass, then pushed another velvet box toward him. Inside lay the solitary sapphire bracelet. The thing she had treasured above all else, now returned by her own hand. A knot of anxiety tightened in Nathan’s chest. “Where is she?” Grandpa Vanderwood took a sip of his drink, his voice betraying no emotion. “Gone. She said she’s setting you free. The engagement is off.” He glanced pointedly at the spa girl who had followed Nathan in. “You should be happy now.” Nathan stood there, stunned. His first feeling was an overwhelming wave of exhaustion. He thought of all his clumsy attempts to change—calling her even when he was drunk, learning to cook for her, even taking charge of the wedding dress selection… He had done so much, had bent so far. And she was still throwing a tantrum. A hot surge of anger, the anger of being played for a fool, rose in his throat. Knowing Aria, she was probably already on a flight to London. He furiously typed out a message to Nancy. [Was it fun playing games with me?] [Did you two get a kick out of watching me run around like an idiot, trying to change for her?] Nancy didn’t reply with a single word. Instead, she sent him a link to a surveillance video. It was from a convenience store not far from their marital home.

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I took my mom on a trip to the beach. She stared out at the horizon and suddenly said: “Honestly, you’re really ungrateful.” I froze. “Didn’t you say your lifelong dream was to see the ocean? I brought you here. How am I still ungrateful?” She grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at my head in frustration. “What’s the point of me coming alone? Why didn’t you bring your brother’s family? Even he gave me a hundred bucks, saying I shouldn’t just spend your money.” Sand got in my eyes, turning into tears. Calmly, I bought her the cheapest train ticket home. Then, right in front of her widening eyes, I put the gold bracelet I had intended to give her on my own wrist. Since her son was so perfect, she could go back and let him be the grateful one. 1 My mom always said her biggest regret was never seeing the ocean. So, for her birthday, I took a few days off work to surprise her with a trip to the beach, bringing my daughter along. I didn’t tell her until the day we left, thinking she’d be thrilled. Instead, she had a scowl on her face from the moment we boarded the plane. It wasn’t until we stood on the sand that she finally spoke. “Hannah, do you know something? You’re really ungrateful.” I was taken aback. “Mom, what did I do wrong?” She grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at me. “You have to ask? I live with your brother’s family, but you only brought me on this trip. What does that mean? What will they think? How am I supposed to face them when I go back?” I was speechless. “Mom, you’re overthinking it. I…” She cut me off. “Book tickets for your brother and his family right now. A vacation is only a vacation if the whole family is together. My conscience won’t let me enjoy this alone.” She immediately video-called my brother, Jason. “Son, look at this ocean! Isn’t it magnificent? Didn’t your wife say she wanted to see the sea? Tell her to pack. I’m making your sister buy plane tickets for all of you right now.” Jason’s wife snatched the phone, her voice ecstatic. “Hannah’s really buying us tickets? What about hotels and food? For a family of four, that’s going to be at least a few thousand dollars.” My mom waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry, your sister’s covering it all. She’s got money. Just come and have fun. Didn’t you want to go clam digging? Come experience it yourself.” Hanging up, my mom’s face finally softened. She started issuing commands. “Hurry up and book the flights. Then get two more rooms. They have to be five-star, oceanfront view. They don’t have much money, so they deserve something nice. And transfer two thousand dollars to your sister-in-law right now so she feels secure and can have a good time.” The sand in my eyes stung. I held back tears and told her, “I’m just their sister, not their mother. Why should I pay for their vacation?” 2 Her face darkened instantly. “What do you mean? You don’t want to pay? Hannah, get this straight. I’ve lived with Jason all these years. He’s the one taking care of me in my old age. You’ve done nothing. Why are you reluctant to spend a little money?” I wanted to laugh. “You live with Jason because you insisted on raising his kids. Your entire pension goes to them. The money I send you every month goes to them. How have I done nothing? How is he taking care of you?” “Mom, since you care about them so much, why don’t you move in with me when we get back? I won’t ask you to babysit or do chores. I don’t need your pension. Let me take care of you, okay?” I thought she’d be happy. instead, she shoved my daughter, who was standing next to her, into the waves. “Are you crazy? Want me to raise your money-losing brat? Keep dreaming! I have my own grandsons. Why should I raise your kid? Hannah, stop talking nonsense and book the tickets.” My three-year-old daughter screamed, terrified by the water. I quickly pulled her out. The night breeze made her shiver. I roared at my mom, “What are you doing? She can’t swim! What if the waves took her?” She showed zero remorse. “Hmph! You care about your kid, I care about mine. So book the tickets for your brother’s family.” Book my ass. I found dry clothes for my daughter, then opened my phone and booked the earliest train ticket home for my mom. “Since you miss your son and grandsons so much, go back.” She looked at me in disbelief. “What do you mean? sending me back as soon as we get here?” I nodded at the endless horizon. “Yes. Go back. My daughter and I will have a great time.” She suddenly slapped me. “Hannah! I told you to book tickets for your brother, and you send me back on a train for hours? Is this how a daughter acts? You really are ungrateful. I knew you just wanted a vacation for yourself and dragged me along as an excuse!” 3 My face burned. My daughter reached up with her little hand to touch my red cheek. People around us started looking over. I fought back tears. “No way am I being a cash cow for Jason’s family. You can stay and enjoy a few days with me, or I can put you in a cab to the train station right now. Your choice.” She slapped her thigh and marched toward the ocean. “Fine, fine! With an ungrateful daughter like you, I might as well die!” She kept looking back as she walked. “Hannah, I’ll show you! I’ll let the sea take me! I’ll make you feel guilty for the rest of your life! I’ll make your daughter watch you kill me, and see if she takes care of you when you’re old!” The water soaked her pants, rising past her knees. People gasped. Several women tried to persuade her. “Ma’am, come back! Why fight with your child like this? Don’t joke with your life.” She ignored them, walking deeper. A large wave nearly knocked her over. She screamed at me, “Are you booking the tickets? Your sister-in-law fights with Jason every day about coming here! Your nephews have never been on a trip! But you take your money-losing daughter everywhere every year! Why? Tell me, why?” “If you don’t bring them here today, you’ll be taking my corpse home! You’ll regret this forever!” Several men stood near her, ready to grab her if a wave hit. Women pleaded with her. But she just stared at me. “Are you buying the tickets or not?” I didn’t buy them. instead, I opened my backpack right in front of her and slowly put the gold bracelet I had bought for her onto my own wrist. “Mom, since you don’t want to live, there’s no point in giving you this bracelet.” 4 She stopped trying to drown herself. She stomped back to me through the sand. “A gold bracelet for me? Good. It’s your sister-in-law’s birthday soon. I was worried about a gift. This will be perfect. She’ll be so happy.” She reached out to grab it, but I pushed her hand away calmly. “Mom, since I’m ungrateful, I’m keeping this for myself. If you want one, let your filial son Jason buy it for you. You can give it to whoever you want then.” “You!” Her eyes were red with rage. “Are you crazy? That bracelet is thousands of dollars! You expect Jason to buy that? Are you insane?” I wasn’t insane. I had just woken up. For years, my mom gave her money and labor to Jason’s family, yet told everyone he was taking care of her and I did nothing. Fine. Then I would truly do nothing. No money, no effort, no love. I wanted to see how Jason would “take care” of her. Seeing she couldn’t get the bracelet, she sat on the sand and started wailing. “Everyone come look! This ungrateful daughter is trying to kill her own mother! Judge for yourselves!” People gathered. “She took you on a trip, you should be happy. Why the temper?” She retorted immediately. “Happy? How can I be happy when she only brought me? My son and his family are waiting at home!” People were confused. “If your son wants to come, he can come. What’s the problem?” “But this ungrateful girl won’t buy their plane tickets! It costs over a thousand for the four of them! My son works so hard and doesn’t even make that in a month. You think it’s simple?” 5 The crowd was stunned. “Ma’am, are you saying your daughter has to pay for your son’s family vacation?” “Shouldn’t she?” My mom argued back. “She has money and doesn’t take care of me. My son makes no money but takes care of me. Shouldn’t she treat her brother’s family to a trip?” A young woman in the crowd laughed out loud. “Ma’am, sounds like you’re a free nanny for your son, paying your own way to serve them. And you call that him taking care of you? Hilarious.” Everyone laughed. “Exactly. Sad to see such bias.” “Slaving away for your son and convincing yourself he’s a saint.” “If my daughter took me on a trip and I called her ungrateful, I’d deserve to be left alone.” Seeing no one on her side, my mom went berserk. She threw sand at everyone. “Get out! Get lost! None of your business!” People scattered, laughing. My mom jumped up and grabbed my hair. “Book the tickets! Now!” I refused. I told her, “If you leave now, you can catch the train. Any later, and you’re stuck here.” She looked ready to explode. Just as she raised her hand to hit me, Jason called. “Mom, we’re packed. Did you get the tickets? Oh, and my in-laws want to come too. I’ll send their info to Hannah. Tell her to buy their tickets too. Hurry up, we’re waiting.” She panicked. “Did you hear that? Six tickets! Hurry!” Hilarious. Even her daughter-in-law’s parents? I’d have to be insane to waste my money like that. I took my daughter’s hand to head back to the hotel. Suddenly, my mom snatched my daughter from me and held her over the water. “Hannah! Do you want your daughter to live? If you don’t buy the tickets, I’ll throw her in right now! It’s just money! Do you love money more than your kid? Tell me!” 6 My daughter screamed, kicking her legs, reaching for me. “Mommy! Mommy!” I panicked. “Mom, put her down! She’s three! Don’t scare her!” She laughed maniacally, shaking my daughter over the waves. “Hahaha, scared now? You know how it feels to worry about your child? Now you understand me? I ask you to spend a little on your brother and you complain. You even tried to send me back alone. Hannah, you are a selfish wolf! I wasted my life raising you!” I only saw my daughter’s red, tear-streaked face. My mom was right; I was terrified. As she lowered my daughter closer to the water, I screamed, “I’ll buy them! I’ll buy them right now! Just put her down!” She stared at me. “Show me the confirmation. Once I see it, I’ll give you back your money-loser. Otherwise, I’ll make you regret this forever. You’ll never forget you killed your daughter over a few thousand bucks.” The crowd was furious. “Ma’am, this is kidnapping!” “That’s your granddaughter! Too far!” “Look at the poor kid. You don’t deserve to be a grandmother.” My mom didn’t care. “Hmph! I don’t want to be her grandmother. I have two grandsons. Who cares about a granddaughter? Her mother is ungrateful; she’s paying for her mother’s sins!” My daughter screamed for me. My hands shook as I tried to buy the tickets. It was just money. Nothing compared to my daughter’s life. I’d give my own life for hers.

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The second I was reborn, I signed the divorce papers without a moment’s hesitation. Terry Vance’s mistress was all over the news. To save her from the “homewrecker” label, he’d come to me with the papers, his voice pleading. “Leo died saving my life,” he’d begged. “Molly is his only sister. I can’t just abandon her. You understand that, don’t you?” Years ago, Terry had been targeted by a business rival. His car’s brakes were cut. In the final, spinning moments of chaos, his best friend, Leo, had thrown himself into the driver’s seat, wrenching the wheel. Terry walked away without a scratch. Leo bled out on the asphalt, his last breath a plea for Terry to look after his little sister, Molly. For years, Terry had honored that debt, showering Molly with a devotion that bordered on obsessive. In my last life, when I realized he was willing to sacrifice me for her, I shattered. I tore the divorce papers to shreds. But it ended the same way. The stomach cancer diagnosis came later. By then, I was ready to let Terry go, to let myself go. But Molly’s whispered words, “Do you think she’s faking it just to torture you, Terry?” sealed my fate. He became convinced I was lying, that my illness was just another manipulative game. To escape the media storm and finalize our split, he framed me for cheating and sued for divorce. Hopeless, I ended my own life. 1 “Vivian, we’ll tell the public we were planning to divorce a year ago. We’ll say we kept it quiet for personal reasons.” I was staring into a glass of water on the restaurant table when Terry’s voice cut through my thoughts. Just yesterday, the paparazzi had released photos implying Molly was his lover. The word “mistress” exploded online, and a tidal wave of hate crashed down on her. Terry Vance, CEO of Vance Corporation, was branded an adulterer, and the company’s stock plummeted overnight. In my last life, I’d laughed at those grainy photos, scoffing at how easily the public could be misled. My laughter died on my lips the moment Terry slid the divorce papers across the table. It turned into a bitter, endless irony. I had screamed at him then, demanding to know what was real and what was a lie. There were a million ways to handle a baseless rumor, yet he chose the one that threw me to the wolves. “Vivian,” Terry’s voice pulled me back to the present. “Trust me, this is just for show. Once the dust settles, we’ll get married again.” I slowly lifted my head, my gaze falling on the document between us. “You have to understand, Vivian. I’ll make it up to you when this is all over, I promise.” He wrapped an arm around me, his eyes, so often lauded for their depth and sincerity, searching mine. He softened his voice, a low, cooing tone he used when he wanted something. I remained silent. Standing beside him, Molly looked ghostly pale, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Vivian, please,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I’m begging you, please help us.” “My brother is gone. I have no one else… I don’t know who else to turn to. Please.” With that, she went rigid, as if to drop to her knees. Terry moved like lightning, catching her by the waist and pulling her into his arms. “What are you doing?” he hissed at Molly, but his sharp, irritated glare was fixed on me. “I’ve already made my decision. I expect you to cooperate at the press conference tomorrow. Or else—” “I’ll sign.” I cut him off, tired of watching their pathetic charade. And I knew exactly what “or else” meant. In my last life, not long after I tore up the papers, I was drugged and photographed in a compromising position with a stranger. The “evidence” of my affair was leaked. Overnight, I went from being the victim to a reviled slut. And they, the ones truly at fault, walked away clean, their reputations scrubbed spotless. 2 Terry blinked, clearly stunned by my quick agreement. “I’ll sign,” I repeated, “but on one condition.” I looked up at him, my gaze as calm and still as a frozen lake. A complex emotion flickered across his face. After a short pause, he nodded. “Anything. Name any other terms you want. I’ll do my best to meet them.” I didn’t answer. I just picked up the pen, flipped to the last page of the agreement, and signed my name—Vivian Sterling—with a steady, clean stroke. “You’re not even going to read the terms?” Terry’s brow furrowed, his eyes filled with a confused, searching light. I smiled faintly. “No need. It doesn’t matter.” I capped the pen and pushed the document toward him. “Is there anything else?” My voice was flat, as if I were discussing the weather. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning. We’ll go to the courthouse.” I gave a slight nod but said nothing more. Terry’s expression was a tangled mess of emotions, but in the end, he just sighed, turned, and left. Molly followed him. At the door, she paused, glancing back at me from the corner of her eye. A smirk played on her lips. Slowly, deliberately, she mouthed three words: I won. Then she was gone. In my last life, she did win. And I lost everything. But this time, I refused to lose. Not one single thing. A while later, my phone screen lit up. A message from Ryan. Viv, I heard from Terry. I know what he did was wrong. But you know how long it took him to get over Leo’s death. He’s pouring all his guilt for Leo into taking care of Molly. He told me that once the media storm dies down, he’s going to throw you another, even grander wedding. Just trust him, okay? I let out a soft, humorless laugh, but my eyes burned with tears. It was the same script as last time. When Terry couldn’t get me to sign the papers, he’d turned to his friends for advice. He’d forgotten that his friends were also my friends. Blinded by his own drama, he couldn’t see the truth. But Ryan could. Ryan had tried so hard to talk sense into him, begging Terry not to throw away his marriage for Molly. Then he’d come to me, singing Terry’s praises, telling me what a loyal and honorable man he was. If Leo hadn’t shielded Terry with his own body, Terry would be dead. Back then, I had sobbed, my words choked with rage. “He’s put her first for years! I know he feels guilty, and I’ve tried to be understanding. But now… there are a million ways to clear up this mess, and he chooses to sacrifice me—to sacrifice twelve years of our life together.” Ryan had opened his mouth, but no words came out. He had asked Terry the same question. Terry’s answer had been chillingly simple: “Someone has to get hurt. I can only fail Vivian. She loves me. She’ll understand my position.” Just because I loved him, I was the one to be sacrificed? What kind of twisted logic was that? Thankfully, this time, I still had a chance to save myself. 3 When it came to Molly, Terry was ruthlessly efficient. He got the signed papers from me one day and scheduled a press conference for the next morning. I was sitting in the garden when Terry’s assistant, led by our housekeeper, approached me. “Ms. Sterling,” he said, his tone formal. “Mr. Vance sent me to escort you to the Vance Corporation press conference.” Before I could reply, he must have mistaken my silence for refusal. He relayed Terry’s message verbatim. “Ms. Sterling, even if it’s not for Mr. Vance’s sake, you should attend for the sake of your own reputation.” I paused, then let out a small, dry chuckle. He was threatening me again. Afraid I’d back out at the last minute, resorting to the same tactics that broke me in my past life. He was willing to ruin me to protect Molly, to bend me to his will until I had no choice but to obey. I’d never understood it. In Terry’s heart, was I his wife or his enemy? Now, he wanted to publicly clarify our relationship. So did I. The car glided toward Aethelburg’s most luxurious hotel. The entrance was a chaotic sea of reporters and flashing lights. The assistant guided me through the throng and into the lobby. “Excuse me, please make way.” Terry’s voice came from behind. I turned. Molly, a vision in a white dress, was on his arm. They looked like a perfect couple. My eyes met Terry’s. For a fraction of a second, we locked gazes, and then he looked away, his expression coolly indifferent. He guided Molly forward, their movements intimate, as if the world around them—including me—didn’t exist. A self-mocking laugh escaped my lips. “Ms. Sterling, is it true that you and Mr. Vance are divorced?” The question came from a young man who looked like an intern, his voice timid. “Yes,” I replied, a polite smile on my face as I nodded. He seemed determined to find a crack in my composure. “But… you and Mr. Vance met in college, didn’t you? You dated for five years and were married for seven…” he pressed on. “Just last month, he bought you a luxury yacht. And the fireworks display for your birthday was the talk of the city…” My smile didn’t waver, but my eyes were distant. “He owed me that.” He missed my birthday because Molly had called him, whispering, “Terry, I miss my brother. Can you stay with me?” The yacht and the fireworks were his apology gifts. In my last life, I’d been so proud of those grand gestures. It never occurred to me to question the reason behind the “compensation.” I only learned later it had all been Ryan’s idea. Terry hadn’t been involved at all. He didn’t even know where the fireworks had been set off. “You say he owed you,” the intern persisted, his voice laced with nervous energy as the surrounding noise faded. “But what about your feelings for Mr. Vance?” Terry’s head turned toward me, his brow slightly furrowed. I smiled, a slow, chilling curve of my lips, and my gaze turned to ice. “I don’t love him anymore.” 4 The intern started to ask another question, but a senior reporter beside him pulled him back. I didn’t stay for the rest of the conference. Once I had clarified my relationship with Terry, I turned and walked away, ignoring the cameras that followed my every move. Overnight, public opinion did a complete 180. My interview dominated the headlines for days. Terry’s statement was the nail in the coffin: “Miss Molly was not the reason for the breakdown of our marriage,” he had said, his voice firm and resolute. “Her brother was a hero who saved my life. Molly is his only living relative, and it is my responsibility to care for her. Please, look at this situation rationally.” “Vivian and I mutually decided to end our marriage a year ago. We simply hadn’t found the right time to announce it. We wanted to handle this in a way that would cause the least amount of pain to everyone involved. We are making this public now to clear up any misunderstandings about Miss Molly.” Instantly, Molly was absolved. The “homewrecker” label was peeled away, and she was recast as the tragic, innocent victim of the whole affair. And I became the villain. The cold, heartless woman who had initiated the divorce. The internet trolls, guided by carefully placed whispers, began to speculate about the real reason for our split. I wasn’t supportive enough. I was jealous of Molly. I had twisted their pure, sibling-like bond into something sordid. I was a gold-digger who had abandoned Terry for a bigger payout… I stood at the center of a storm of accusations and lies. “Don’t pay any attention to what they’re saying online,” Terry said as we walked out of the courthouse, the fresh divorce decree in his hand. “Give it time. People will forget.” I shot him a look dripping with irony. We were both being savaged online, but somehow, Molly’s pain was unbearable while mine could simply be weathered with time. “Vivian, the holidays are only three months away,” he continued, his voice softer now. “You always loved the spring. When spring comes, we’ll have another wedding. A better one. What do you say?” His voice was low and gentle, laced with a fragile, cautious hope. He reached for my hand, but I shifted away, my eyes fixed on the reporters being held back by bodyguards a short distance away. Terry seemed to sense his misstep and took a half-step back, creating a space between us. “Terry, I’m going back to Willow Creek.” “That’s a good idea. Spend some time with your parents. I’ll come get you for the holidays and we’ll—” “I’m not coming back,” I said, cutting him off. He froze, the faint smile on his face stiffening. “Vivian, don’t say things you don’t mean. Just wait for me in Willow Creek. I’ll—” “Terry,” I interrupted him again. “You made me a promise when I signed those papers. It’s time to keep it.” He stared at me, his expression blank. When this all began, a small, foolish part of me had wondered if things could be different this time. But the moment he put those papers in front of me again, all I felt was a profound sense of release. “Terry Vance, I want you to never appear before me again for the rest of your life.”

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