Category: English

The dorm building was on fire. I risked my life, rushing into the inferno to save the campus queen who was trapped inside. I was awarded a plaque for “Heroic Bravery.” I became the hero of the entire university. But when the campus queen woke up, in front of all the media, she pointed a trembling finger at me and said: “It was him! He’s the one who set the fire. He wanted to violate me!” My parents charged over, slapped me hard across the face in public, and knelt before the girl’s parents, kowtowing. “We failed to raise this monster! We disown him! We beg you, please be merciful!” My best friend took the stand in court and testified that he’d “personally seen” me carrying a gas can towards the dorms. I was sentenced to ten years. On the day I went to prison, my parents sent someone with a letter. “Atone for your sins in there. Don’t you ever get out and embarrass us again.” My arms and legs were broken. I drew my last breath amidst shattered bones. It was my parents who had paid off the prison bosses, telling them to “discipline me properly.” A tear of blood streamed from my eye. I saved her. Why did the whole world want me dead? When I opened my eyes again, I heard screams from below the dorm. The fire… it had just started. … “Fire!” “It’s the girls’ dorm! Somebody help!” The screams tore through the campus. My eyes shot open. Before me was the familiar ceiling of my dorm room, the yellowing walls. The air was thick with the smell of something burning. My roommate, Finn, leaped from his bed, barely bothering to pull on his pants. “Leo! Wake up! There’s a fire!” I sat up, my heart hammering against my ribs. I had lived this scene once before. It was identical. Finn scrambled into his clothes and rushed to the balcony. Below, the flames painted half the sky red. Thick smoke billowed from a window on the third floor. “It’s Alice’s dorm!” Finn’s voice was choked with a sob. “She’s still in there! I saw her this afternoon, she never came out!” He spun around and gripped my arm, his knuckles white. “Leo! You’re the most athletic guy here, the fastest runner!” “Go save her! Hurry!” I looked at him, motionless. In my last life, I had listened to him. I had charged in like a bull. I carried Alice out of that inferno on my back. And I became a monster—an arsonist and an attempted rapist. I stared at Finn’s frantic face. This same face, later on the witness stand, had spoken with such conviction. “I saw Leo with my own eyes, carrying a gas can to the girls’ dorm.” I pried his fingers off my arm, one by one. “I’m not going.” Finn froze. He stared at me as if I were a stranger. “What did you just say?” “Leo, that’s Alice in there! The campus queen!” “She’s going to die!” “I’m not going.” What did it have to do with me? If I save her, I die. If she dies, I live. It took me an entire lifetime to earn a second chance at this multiple-choice question. “Are you insane?!” Finn roared. “How can you be so cold-blooded! That’s a human life!” The shouts from downstairs grew louder. Someone was yelling Alice’s name. Someone was calling 911. I put on my shoes, grabbed my phone and wallet, and prepared to evacuate with everyone else. Finn blocked my path, his eyes bloodshot. “Leo, I’m begging you! If you just get her out, I’ll give you anything you want! You’ve always had a crush on her, right? This is your chance!” A crush? In my last life, that crush got me ten years in prison and a broken corpse. “Move.” “If you won’t go, I will!” Finn gritted his teeth and turned to bolt out the door. I grabbed his arm. “The fire trucks will be here any second. If you go in there, you’re just killing yourself.” “Let go of me!” Finn thrashed like an enraged bull, shaking me off. “Leo, I never knew you were this kind of person! A coward who just stands by and watches someone die! If anything happens to Alice, this isn’t over between us!” He stormed out of the room. I stood there, listening to his fading footsteps. I walked to the balcony. Tongues of fire were now licking out of the window, devouring it whole. The black smoke coiled into the sky like a great dragon. I saw Finn make it downstairs. He was being held back by a couple of professors, who wouldn’t let him get any closer. He was pointing up towards our dorm, screaming something at them. Probably telling them how I, his good friend, had refused to save anyone. Soon, the wail of sirens grew from a distant cry to a piercing scream. I turned and left the dorm. This time, I just wanted to live. Even if I had to bear the world’s scorn. The firefighters got the blaze under control quickly. Alice was rescued. She was covered in soot, unconscious. An ambulance whisked her away. I stood in the crowd, a cold observer. Chatter about the fire buzzed around me. “Heard it was aging wiring on the third floor.” “So scary. Thank God everyone’s okay.” “Is Alice all right? She’s the face of our university.” Just then, Finn marched straight towards me. “Leo!” he bellowed. He got in my face and grabbed the collar of my shirt. “Why didn’t you save her?! You could have done it! Why did you just stand there and watch her burn?!” His spittle flew into my face. “Why should I?” “What?” Finn looked at me as if I’d told the world’s sickest joke. “You’re asking me why you should have saved her?” He was trembling with rage. “That’s a human life, Leo! Do you have a conscience?!” Our student advisor pushed through the crowd, his brow furrowed, and pulled Finn away. “Finn, calm down.” He turned to me, his expression just as grim. “Leo, what exactly happened here? Finn said that when the fire started, he begged you to rescue Alice, and you refused?” I nodded. “Yes.” The advisor fought to keep his voice level. “Leo, I need an explanation. Why?” What was I supposed to say? That I’d already died once, murdered by the very person I saved and the friend standing right in front of me? “No reason. I was scared. I didn’t dare. Is that reason enough?” “Scared?” Finn exploded again. “You’re lying! You placed in the top ten at the S-City Marathon last semester! During orientation, you did the fifty-foot rope climb in twenty seconds! Everyone on this campus knows you’re in peak physical condition! You were scared?” He turned to the advisor and the students gathering around. “Listen to him! He’s lying! He wasn’t scared at all! He’s just cold-blooded! He left her to die!” The advisor pushed his glasses up his nose, his expression hardening. “Leo, this university teaches us to help one another, to have a sense of collective honor. Your actions today were incredibly selfish and callous! You have failed the values we strive to instill in you. I will report this to the dean’s office. You can expect disciplinary action.” I looked at his self-righteous face and found it almost funny. Disciplinary action? Better than a death sentence. “Whatever.” Finn’s face turned purple with rage. “You… you…” At that moment, a well-dressed middle-aged couple, flanked by the university president, hurried over. Alice’s parents. Alice’s mother saw the advisor and immediately grabbed his arm. “Mr. Henderson, how is our Alice? Her father just got off a plane, we came straight here!” “Mrs. Green, please don’t worry. Alice has been taken to the hospital. Her life is not in danger.” Mr. Green surveyed the scene with an imperious gaze. “What happened with this fire? Has the cause been determined? This university had better have an explanation for us!” The advisor wiped sweat from his forehead. “Mr. Green, rest assured, we will conduct a full investigation.” Seeing them, Finn seemed to find his courage and rushed over. “Mr. Green! Mrs. Green! I know what happened! I know some things!” He pointed a trembling finger at me, his voice filled with grief and fury. “It was him! When the fire first started, he was the only one who had a chance to get in there and save her! I begged him! I got on my knees and begged him! But he wouldn’t go! He just stood there and watched! He said he was scared! He’s a coward! A cold-blooded bastard!” Mrs. Green swayed, nearly fainting. Mr. Green’s face darkened until it looked like a storm cloud. He took long, deliberate strides towards me. CRACK! A sharp, ringing slap. My head snapped to the side, my cheek burning. Mr. Green pointed a finger at my nose, hissing each word. “If anything… anything at all happens to my daughter… I will make you, and your family, pay.” My parents drove through the night from our hometown. The advisor had called them, saying I was in “huge trouble.” I was sitting on a bench in the hospital corridor, waiting for the results of Alice’s tests. The moment my mother saw me, she marched over and, without a word, slapped me. “You monster! How could we have raised something like you!” Her voice was shrill, drawing the eyes of everyone in the hallway. My father was right behind her. He kicked the back of my knee, hard. I buckled and fell to the floor. “Kneel!” he roared, pointing at a nearby hospital room door. “Get over there and kowtow to them! Apologize!” I looked up at them. One face, familiar and wrinkled from years of hard work. The other, which I’d always respected, severe and unsmiling. “Do you even know what happened?” I asked. “Of course, we know!” my mother shrieked, pointing at me. “Your advisor told us everything! You stood by and did nothing! You let that poor girl, that campus queen, nearly burn to death! Do you have any idea who her family is? Her father is the chairman of the Green Corporation! How could people like us ever afford to cross them?” My father’s lips trembled with rage. “I’ve lived my whole life as an honest man, and you, my worthless son, have thrown it all away! What was the point of raising you! Hiding when it matters most! If you had saved her, you’d be a hero now! You’d bring honor to this family! But what are you now? A coward! The laughingstock of the whole university!” I pushed myself up and dusted off my knees. “I did nothing wrong.” “You still dare to say you did nothing wrong?!” My father raised his hand to hit me again. “I didn’t start the fire. I didn’t push anyone in. I just chose to protect myself. What did I do wrong?” “You…” My father’s hand froze in mid-air. But my mother was relentless. “You did nothing wrong? Their daughter is lying in that room, and you did nothing wrong? If you had a shred of decency, you would have been the first one in! It’s too late for excuses now! You’ve ruined this entire family!” Just then, the hospital room door opened. Mr. and Mrs. Green emerged, along with the university president. “Mr. Green, Mrs. Green, I’m Leo’s father,” my dad stammered, grabbing my mother. “I’m so sorry, truly, so sorry!” He started to pull my mother down to their knees. The president quickly stopped them. “Please, there’s no need for this. Let’s just talk things through.” But my parents wouldn’t listen. “We failed to raise this monster!” My father pointed at me, pledging his loyalty to his future benefactors. “We disown him! From this day on, he has nothing to do with our family! We beg you, be merciful, just let us live!” My mother was on the floor, sobbing hysterically. “We’re just ordinary people, we can’t afford to pay…” Mr. Green’s gaze went past them and landed on me. “Disown him?” he said, his voice dripping with contempt. “Easy for you to say.” “My daughter inhaled a massive amount of smoke. Her vocal cords and lungs are damaged. The doctor says there may be permanent consequences.” With every word he spoke, the color drained from my parents’ faces. “She is a broadcast journalism major, a future artist. Her voice is her life. Your son destroyed her future, and you think disowning him fixes everything?” Mrs. Green dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief, her voice choked. “My daughter… she’s only twenty…” My father fell to his knees with a loud thud. He grabbed Mr. Green’s leg, tears streaming down his face. “Mr. Green, I’m begging you! Please! Hit me, curse me, do whatever you want to me! It’s not the boy’s fault, it’s mine! I failed as a father!” The university president tried to mediate. “Mr. Green, look, what’s done is done. Perhaps we can discuss a solution…” “A solution?” Mr. Green’s eyes, cold and sharp, turned back to me. “It’s simple. He drops out of school. Then, he will kneel at my daughter’s bedside until she wakes up and personally forgives him. Otherwise, this is not over.” I didn’t kneel. I was suspended from school and confined to my dorm to write a self-criticism report. Finn moved out. My parents called me a dozen times a day, trying to force me to go kneel and apologize to Alice. “Leo, do you even have a heart? Your father lost his job because of you! His boss said having someone from a family like ours was bad luck! Would it kill you to just go and kneel? Do you have to drive our entire family to ruin before you’re satisfied?” I just hung up the phone. In my last life, my parents had dragged me to my knees. And what did it get us? Deeper humiliation and the complete destruction of our family. I wouldn’t be that stupid again. Three days later, Alice woke up. The hospital was swarming with reporters and university officials. My advisor “requested” my presence. He said it was the Greens’ demand. I was “escorted” by two security guards and made to stand outside her room. A reporter asked, “Alice, can you tell us what happened during the fire?” Alice’s gaze slowly drifted past everyone and landed on me, standing in the doorway. She raised a trembling hand and pointed. “I remember… when the fire was raging, I was trapped. I was so hopeless. And I saw a figure, standing in the doorway. It was him…” Her finger pointed steadily at me. “It was Leo.” “He just stood there, watching me. I begged him for help, but he didn’t move. He even… he even smiled.” BOOM. “Oh my god! He smiled?” “Is he a demon?” “That’s terrifying! This was attempted murder!” My mother screamed and lunged at me. CRACK! Another slap echoed through the hall. “You demon! You’re not human!” She tore at my clothes like a madwoman, pounding on my chest. My father charged over, kicked me to the ground, and started stomping on me relentlessly. “I’ll kill you, you monster! We don’t have a son like you!” I lay on the cold floor, staring at the ceiling. Through her oxygen mask, I could see the corner of Alice’s mouth curve into a triumphant smirk. My parents fell to their knees, bowing their heads to the ground again and again. “We’re sorry! We’re so sorry!” Just then, two uniformed police officers walked in. The one in the lead strode over to me and looked down. “Leo?” I didn’t answer. “You need to come with us,” the officer said, his voice firm. “We found something at the scene of the fire. Something… that might belong to you.” I was taken to the police station. The light in the interrogation room was blindingly white. The officer across from me placed a clear evidence bag on the table. Inside was a partially melted disposable lighter. The cheap kind you get for a dollar. “We found this in a corner of the fire scene,” he said, his eyes sharp as a hawk’s. “It has your fingerprints on it. Leo, we now have reason to suspect your involvement in this arson case.” I stared at the lighter, a chill spreading through my chest. In my last life, they framed me with a gas can. This time, a lighter.

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1 The day the invitations for my wedding to Grayson Thorne went out, his childhood “best friend” flew in from London. Sienna wasn’t just his friend; she was the orphan his parents had informally adopted, his shadow. And she demanded a “pre-marital test.” “A girl like you, an orphan? You’re obviously just a gold digger,” she announced at brunch. “You’ll have to pass a one-month trial. Only then will our ‘family’ give you our blessing.” Under Grayson’s silent agreement, his clique of trust-fund brats began their hazing. On a ski trip in Aspen, a bucket of ice water was “accidentally” dumped on me from a balcony. In the sub-zero weather, I ended up with a fever so high I had convulsions. A week later, a “prank” involving faulty wiring nearly set my room on fire. Their “tests” were relentless. “She’s an orphan,” I overheard one of them say. “It’s not like she has anyone to defend her.” Then, Sienna stole the case containing my family’s medals. She was blatant. “Want them back? I’m sure you can buy them. Or maybe not. My dog does need a new collar.” … Two days before the wedding, I was walking down the grand staircase at the Thorne estate. I hit a patch of clear cooking oil, my foot shot out, and I tumbled head-over-heels down two flights of marble stairs. My ribs screamed. Every breath was agony. I dragged myself up, my arm throbbing. Nearby, a few of the house staff were covering their mouths, snickering. “God, did you see her? Miss Sienna got her again.” “She’s tough, though. Most girls would have run by now.” Sienna’s bright, cruel voice drifted in from the foyer. “A gutter rat trying to be a queen? She’s not going to give up that easily.” She was flanked by her friends, all of them looking impeccable. I was a mess of bruises and torn clothes. “I still don’t get what Gray sees in her,” one guy said, looking me over. “Sienna’s been right there his whole life. Why pick… that?” “She’s an orphan, she can’t help his family. It must be a fetish. Or maybe she’s just really good in bed?” A wave of laughter. I ignored them, trying to check if my wrist was broken. A voice cut through the haze, and my hand froze. “Elara, my friends are here for the party. What happened to the house? There’s oil all over the floor. You’re supposed to be the future Mrs. Thorne. You can’t even manage a simple party?” I looked up. Grayson was home. He was yanking at his tie, annoyed, until he finally saw the gash on my forehead. “God, what now? How did you get hurt again?” He started toward me, but Sienna grabbed his sleeve. “Gray, we agreed. The trial isn’t over until the rehearsal dinner.” She shot me a mocking look. “Miss Peyton. You keep saying you love Gray for him, not his money. You have to prove to us that we can trust you with him.” One of her friends chimed in. “Sienna’s right. If you back out over a few little scratches, you’re just a gold digger.” Grayson stopped. He hesitated. That single moment of hesitation was a bullet to my heart. I didn’t want this stupid “trial.” He was the one who’d begged me. “Elara, baby, my mother is still convinced you’re not right for us. Just… play along. Show her you’re committed. When it’s over, she’ll have to accept you.” I loved him. I’d loved him for seven years. So, believing the “trial” was just a few silly pranks, I’d agreed. I never imagined Sienna would be this vicious. 2 I slowly pulled up my pant leg and my sleeve, showing the landscape of fresh bruises and cuts. “This one,” I said, my voice shaking, “is from when Sienna insisted we go riding. She fed my horse a stimulant. It threw me, and I sprained my ankle.” “Last week, on the yacht? She ‘tripped’ and pushed me overboard. In the middle of the sound.” “The night before that, she…” The room went quiet. Grayson’s face was unreadable. Sienna and her friends just watched me, amused, as if I were a bug under a microscope. I finished with the oil on the stairs. “Gray,” I whispered, exhausted. “I’m done. I don’t want to be tested anymore.” “If you trust me, we’ll get married. If you don’t, then we…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. Sienna’s hand cracked across my face. “You bitch,” she sneered. “How dare you try to turn him against us.” I tasted blood. I looked at Grayson. My heart didn’t just sink. It shattered. The man who once had a panic attack when I cut my finger on a wine glass just sighed and rubbed his temples. “Elara,” he said, his voice strained. “You’re going to be the lady of this house. You have to have a thicker skin than this.” He didn’t defend me. He just motioned for his friends to follow him to the patio. He left me with one last remark. “My status, and yours… there’s a huge gap. You have to be willing to sacrifice a little to fit in here.” His attitude was my death sentence. When he protected me, they treated me like royalty. When he abandoned me, I was their chew toy. “Look at the way she walks,” one of them laughed. “You can just imagine…” “No wonder Gray’s been obsessed for seven years. She’s probably a freak.” I turned to leave, but the next comment stopped me cold. “Like mother, like daughter. I bet her whole family was trash. Jailbirds and hookers.” A string inside me snapped. I’ve been an orphan my whole life, I know how to take a hit. But my grandfather was a decorated Vietnam vet. My grandmother was a trailblazing NASA engineer who died saving her team’s research. My parents were decorated police officers, killed in a bust that took down the city’s biggest cartel. They were heroes. I didn’t even think. I just lunged and punched the man who said it. He yelped, and I hit him again. Grayson ran back in, pulling me off the guy. I was a wreck, shaking, my face wet with tears. “He insulted my family, Gray!” I cried, grabbing his shirt. “He insulted my parents. Make him apologize!” This was it. This was the moment I needed him. The man who loved me, the powerful man who could make it right. He looked at me, his face tight with anger. “Elara, stop. You’re acting like you’re from the gutter. You can’t just attack my friends. If my mother hears about this, it will set us back months.” It was like being doused in ice. The love I’d seen in his eyes for seven years… was gone. Replaced by… embarrassment. Fine. A man like that? I didn’t want him. I looked at Sienna and gave her a weak, bloody smile. “You win. The trial is over. And so is the wedding.” Grayson’s face went white. He grabbed my arm. “Elara, don’t say that. You’re not joking about this.” Sienna laughed. “She’s bluffing, Gray. Don’t fall for it.” “Yeah,” another said. “She’s a nobody. She’s not leaving you. Where would she even go?” Grayson’s tense shoulders relaxed. He believed them. He tried to pat my head, like a dog. “The wedding is in two days. My grandmother is even sending the Thorne Emeralds from the vault. Go upstairs and rest. We’ll try them on this afternoon.” I was too tired to argue. I just pulled my arm free and walked away. “She’s just being dramatic,” I heard one of them say. “She’ll be fine by dinner.” I pulled out my phone. “Dr. Wells? About that surgical fellowship in Zurich… I’ll take it.” “Elara! Wonderful!” he boomed. “You have the best hands I’ve ever seen. You were born for this!” 3 I didn’t have much to pack. I left the engagement ring on his desk. Downstairs, the butler stopped me. “Ms. Peyton.” He was polite, but his eyes were cold. “A gift from Mrs. Thorne, Senior. She requests you receive it.” He was holding a carved wooden box, but it was strange. It was sealed, with just a single hole at the top, like a lottery drum. “Please return it. The wedding is off.” The household staff blocked my path. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, miss. My instructions are to ensure you ‘receive’ it.” Fine. I’d give it to Grayson later. I stuck my hand in the hole. A searing, electric pain shot up my arm. I screamed and yanked my hand back. The box fell, and a swarm of angry hornets boiled out, flying straight at my face. I grabbed a pillow, but they were relentless. Sienna was leaning against the doorway, watching. “Oh, by the way,” she called out, “that salve I gave you for your cuts? It’s infused with honey.” I was being stung, over and over, on my face, my neck, my hands. Grayson burst in, his face a mask of terror. He ripped off his suit jacket and threw it over my head, smothering the insects. … I woke up in a hospital. A Thorne-owned hospital. I heard voices. “Gray, it’s not our fault. She agreed to the trial.” “It was just hornets. I even had the doctor mix a mild paralytic into her salve. The venom… it’s just a temporary neurotoxin. In an hour, her hands will be too shaky to hold a scalpel. Ever.” “You always said you wanted her to be a stay-at-home wife. This just… helps.” My blood ran cold. My hands. I fumbled for my phone, knocking a plastic cup over. “Elara? You’re awake.” Grayson rushed in. “Are you in pain?” I grabbed his wrist. “Gray, I heard them. Call a real doctor. My hands. Please, they’re going to ruin my hands. Please!” He knew what my career meant to me. He knew my hands were my life. He looked at my desperate, pleading face. And he said nothing. He just looked away. “Elara,” he said, his voice flat. “You misheard. Your hands are fine. You don’t need surgery.” The lie, combined with the growing numbness in my fingers, made me frantic. I tried to get out of bed. “I need… I need to call 911.” Sienna appeared and planted her high heel hard on my injured hand. I screamed. “Who are you going to call, little orphan?” she sneered. “In this city, no one helps you. Not when the Thornes are involved.” “Why?” I sobbed, the tears and the venom and the betrayal mixing into one agonizing wave. “I told you I loved him! I passed your tests! Why are you still doing this? Why are you destroying my hands?” Grayson just watched, his face impassive. “Elara, it’s just a job. Is being my wife so bad?” He turned and spoke to the guards at the door. “Don’t let her leave.” He was locking me in. He was letting this happen. The light in my world went out. The most twisted part? As he left, I heard his friend ask, “Why don’t you just dump her and marry Sienna?” And Grayson’s voice, firm and resolute. “Never. My mother may not like her, but I will only ever marry Elara. I love her, and she loves me. It’s forever.” No, Grayson, I thought, as the feeling left my fingers. It’s over. 4 The numbness was turning into a deep, burning ache. I crawled for my phone and opened my photos. A picture of a yellowed page from a notebook. A list of names and numbers. My grandfather’s voice: “Elara, I’m an old man. If you’re ever in real trouble, call these numbers. These men… they owe me their lives. They’ll protect you.” I knew the names. Political kingmakers. Media moguls. And one at the top: Augustus Blackwood. The patriarch of the city. My grandfather never called them. We were poor, but he was proud. He wouldn’t use his honor as a debt to be collected. How could I? I let the phone fall from my numb hand. … When they finally let me “go home,” a doctor gave me the news. “The nerve damage… it’s extensive. You’ll be able to live a normal life, but… I’m sorry, Ms. Peyton. You’ll never operate again.” I was walking to my room when a cloth was pressed over my face. I woke up briefly, confused. Sienna was holding my hand, pressing my thumb onto an inkpad, then onto a document. When I fully woke up, my bags were gone. My phone buzzed. A text from Sienna. An address. “Want your cheap medals back? Come and get them.” My family’s medals. The last thing I had. My hand was useless, my career was gone, I had no money, no power. I looked at my phone. I dialed the number.

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Chapter 1 The night before the Common App deadline, our group chat exploded. “Holy shit! Did Sadie change her application?! I thought she and Liam were both locked for Parsons!” Someone tagged @Sadie. On the other end of the line, Sadie’s voice was lazy, like she’d just woken up, with the faint sound of a video game in the background. “Oh, you mean Liam? It’s fine. He has my passwords.” She paused, the sound of her chewing gum. “When he sees I switched, he’ll switch his to match. I mean, come on, guys. When has he ever not followed me?” I stared at my phone, my fingertips ice cold. The clack-clack-clack of my mechanical keyboard was the only sound in the dead-quiet room. I closed the group chat. I didn’t look at the application portal again. She didn’t know. She could ditch our dream for Ethan, but I had my own skyline, one I wouldn’t compromise on. The dream I’d pulled countless all-nighters for, filled hundreds of pages in my sketchbook to reach—it was never just about her. … Sadie’s words in the chat were like icicles stabbing into my chest. Parsons. That was the pact we made on the roof of the art studio back in sophomore year, staring at the stars until 3 AM. Both our families sat down together, weighing the pros and cons before we both committed to Early Decision. Now, she just… changed it. Didn’t even bother to send me a text. The chat kept buzzing. “Sadie, you’re that sure Liam’s gonna log into your account? What if he doesn’t even notice…?” Sadie let out a short, sharp laugh. The pew-pew of a kill-shot from her game. “He’ll look. I know him.” “He probably checks it eight hundred times a day, terrified something will go wrong and he won’t end up in the same dorm building as me.” Her voice was laced with a familiar, weary arrogance. “Ugh, you guys don’t get it. Have you ever had a little shadow you just can’t shake, ever since you were in diapers?” A chorus of knowing laughter filled the chat. Another guy chimed in. “Even if he sees it, you really think Liam’s gonna change his whole future at the last second just to follow you? That’s a huge risk, Sadie.” The game sounds stopped for half a second. Her voice came back, annoyed. “Shut up.” “Where else is he gonna go? Has Liam ever been away from me for more than three days since kindergarten? If he doesn’t follow me to SCAD, what’s he gonna do?” The guy who asked the first question couldn’t let it go. “Sadie, that’s… kinda messed up. You should at least tell him.” Silence from her end. Then, an agitated sigh. “I forgot. It’s annoying. I don’t want to explain it.” “Besides, it’s not like I’m just doing it for no reason. Ethan… you guys know his family situation. He said he’s scared, going down south all by himself. It’s better if he has someone there, you know? Someone to watch his back.” The chat went quiet for a few seconds. “True. With a guy like Ethan… he’s gonna attract trouble. He needs backup.” “Not like your boy Liam, always covered in charcoal dust. Put him next to Ethan, and… yikes.” “Giving up Parsons for Ethan, though. Damn, Sadie. You’re a real one.” … Their comments, that mix of teasing and agreement, a soundtrack of video game violence—it all froze me in place. My fist clenched so hard my nails dug into my palm. I wanted to scream through the phone, right at Sadie. But my body felt welded to the chair. I couldn’t move. I don’t know how long I sat there, paralyzed. Finally, I just powered down the monitor. The moment the screen went black, it felt like the last spark of light inside me went out with it. Chapter 2 I locked my door, and the darkness swallowed everything. The knot in my throat, the one I’d been choking on all night, finally unraveled. Sadie’s words just kept replaying in my head. I still couldn’t understand. How could she just give up on Parsons? On New York? We’d survived so many nights painting until dawn, pushing each other, just to earn the scores and the portfolio that got us in. Right before I saw that chat, I was buzzing, imagining us stepping onto the NYC campus together. I never imagined… That the future I’d worked my ass off to build for both of us… She could just erase it. All because some other guy said he was scared. She just changed it. And why? Why was telling me, the person who’d been by her side for eighteen years, such a burden? Was she that afraid I’d cling to her? If she was… then what about that night after the portfolio showcase? On the roof of the studio? That hesitant, paint-flecked kiss she pressed to my lips. The way our hearts were hammering against each other’s chests. What the hell was that? Was it just her blowing off steam? A stress-fueled impulse that I was stupid enough to take seriously? Something inside me just… snapped. The truth is, I didn’t need her. From elementary school through high school, I’d followed Sadie to the same schools, the same art programs. Everyone, including Sadie herself, just assumed I would always be trailing in her shadow. But nobody knew I had another, deeper reason for wanting Parsons. It had nothing to do with Sadie. Even if she didn’t go, I was still going. I closed the sketchbook lying open on my desk, the one filled with our shared ideas and promises. I didn’t look at the application portal again. I didn’t feel a single flicker of temptation to change my destination for her. She could run off to Savannah for Ethan. I had my own skyline to chase. Our paths had split. No point in looking back. Realizing that, the suffocating feeling actually started to fade. It wasn’t the end of the world. My dad always said, once your wings are strong, you gotta fly on your own. As for that kiss… I’d just write it off. Like getting scratched by a stray cat in an alley. I’d just splashed cold water on my face when a FaceTime request from Sadie popped up. My brain screamed no, but my thumb hit “accept” out of pure muscle memory. “Liam, what are you doing?” “We’re all here! The usual spot, we’re getting wings. If you don’t get here soon, they’ll all be gone!” Her background was loud, the familiar sound of our friends goofing off. It was our post-finals tradition. Everyone takes a turn treating. Tonight was Sadie’s turn. But I didn’t want to go. “I’m not coming. You guys have…” I didn’t finish before a smooth, low male voice cut in. “Sadie… Liam’s not coming? Is it… is it because I tagged along? I don’t want to crash your friends’ night…” Sadie didn’t even answer him. A few other voices jumped in. “No way, Ethan! We’re stoked you’re here!” “Don’t mind Liam… he gets… weird, you know? Doesn’t like seeing other guys around Sadie. He’ll get over it.” The edge of Ethan’s face appeared in the frame, way too close to her. He whispered, all “understanding.” “Sadie, maybe I should just go. I don’t want to make things hard for you…” Sadie’s face instantly hardened. She threw an arm around his shoulder, pulling him back. “Ethan, you sit down.” Then she turned back to the camera, her voice cold. “Liam. Come or don’t. Your choice.” “We’re not waiting. We’re eating.” The call ended. A hot, sick anger shot straight up my spine. I opened my contacts and blocked her number. It was the first time in my entire life I had ever blocked Sadie. And it was because of Ethan. Chapter 3 Ever since Ethan transferred to our studio sophomore year… The number of rules Sadie had broken for him, the exceptions she’d made… I couldn’t even count. Maybe girls just like that type. The pretty-boy, “damaged goods” vibe. While I was covered in charcoal dust and paint, grinding away in the studio… Ethan always looked like he’d just stepped out of a magazine. Clean, perfectly dressed. Even his goddamn easel looked like a fashion accessory. I’d argued with Sadie about him. We’d had cold wars. I even thought she was into him and I tried to pull away. But every time, Sadie would find me, insisting. “What are you thinking? Ethan’s just a friend. His family situation is a mess, I’m just helping him out. People say he’s hot, but behind his back, they’re tearing him apart.” I believed her. Ethan’s dad was famous, or infamous. He’d been all over the news for some massive Wall Street scandal. It screwed Ethan up. So I turned a blind eye when they got closer. Sadie had never lied to me before. She said she didn’t like him. I believed her. But then, in all the moments I wasn’t looking, they started sharing things I knew nothing about. And now… She was even changing her entire college application for him. It made my trust in her feel like a complete fucking joke. My head was spinning. My phone buzzed with a text message. !Liam, you grew a pair? You blocked me? You just wait ’til I get home.! It was Sadie, using someone else’s phone. I blocked that number, too. I checked the time, grabbed my bag, and headed out. It was the last day. Our portfolio advisor had called everyone in for a final confirmation. Traffic was bad. By the time I got there, Sadie and Ethan were already inside. The seat next to Sadie was my seat. But Ethan was sitting in it, casually twirling one of her paintbrushes. When I walked in, he didn’t move. He just looked at me, a flicker of something… challenging… in his eyes. Sadie acted like she didn’t see me. She stared straight ahead, pointedly ignoring me. She was probably waiting for me to break first, like I always did. Not this time. Fine by me. I didn’t want to sit next to her anyway. I scanned the room and walked straight over to an empty seat next to my buddy, Leo. Far away from them. “Okay, people! This is the final hours before the deadline. Double-check everything! Any last-minute questions, now’s the time!” Our advisor said her piece and then left. I was listening to Leo complain about his financial aid forms when I felt a sharp tap on the back of my head. “Liam. Outside.” Sadie’s voice. I turned, met her gaze for a second. Then I looked away, ignored her, and went back to talking to Leo. Sadie grabbed my shoulder and physically spun me around to face her. “Liam, what is this? What’s the drama this time?” “Aren’t you tired of this? We’re adults, Liam. Are you really still playing the silent treatment game? How childish.” She scowled, her voice exhausted. I was forced to look at her. I managed a smirk. “It is childish. And boring. So you can stop pretending you want to make up.” We stared at each other for a few seconds. Sadie lost patience first. “Fine. Whatever.” “Keep playing your games. Just don’t come crying to me later.” She let go, her tone dripping with that familiar condescension. I turned my back on her. I thought she’d left. But suddenly her hands were on both my shoulders, forcing me back around. She stared right into my eyes, her voice unusually serious. “Today is the last day, Liam. Your applications… check them again. Carefully. Make sure you didn’t make a mistake…” She was about to say more, but Ethan walked over, holding a tablet. “Sadie? My portal’s acting weird. Can you take a look?” Sadie nodded. Before she walked away, she did that thing she’s always done—reached up to ruffle my hair. I jerked my head to the side. Her hand froze in mid-air. Her eyes hardened. But she still finished her sentence. “Go to the computer lab. Check it one last time. Don’t be sloppy.” Chapter 4 I almost laughed. She probably thought that “reminder” was all it would take. That I’d run to the computer lab, see she’d switched to SCAD, and immediately follow her. Still twisting things, still refusing to just tell me. Of course. If she told me “I’m ditching our dream for Ethan,” she’d have to deal with me, this “annoying problem.” Too much work. Too bad for her. I wasn’t turning back. I glanced at Sadie, now totally focused on Ethan’s tablet. I grabbed Leo and we left the studio. Leo could tell I was in a black mood and dragged me to a friend’s birthday party. I couldn’t fight him, so I went. After dinner, they hauled us all to some new motorcycle-themed bar. And of course, as soon as we walked in, I saw Sadie and her crew. We knew a lot of the same people, so both groups just merged into one big booth. Sadie saw me. Her expression froze. But she didn’t speak. Didn’t even nod. I treated her like thin air. I went to the bathroom, and on my way back, I overheard Sadie talking to one of the guys in the hall. He was trying to reason with her. “Sadie, seriously, just tell him. Liam, all alone in New York? He doesn’t know anyone…” Sadie’s voice was firm, completely confident. “Don’t worry. I gave him a hint.” “He definitely changed it by now. He’s just pissed I didn’t tell him first.” I stopped dead. Footsteps. They turned the corner. When Sadie saw me, her eyes widened. She shooed the other guy away and blocked me against the dark hallway wall. “Liam. We need to talk.” I rolled my eyes and tried to walk past her. She grabbed my arm and yanked me back, trapping me between her arms and the wall. The faint smell of beer and the familiar, sharp scent of turpentine from her clothes hit me. I automatically turned my head away. We stood there. Sadie broke the silence first, with a low laugh. “Still mad? I was gonna invite you out tonight. But you blocked me. Couldn’t text you.” “Then at the studio, you pissed me off so much I forgot to say anything.” “Come on, stop it.” Her voice softened, trying to coax me. “You checked your applications, right? All good?” I kept my eyes down. Said nothing. The stalemate was broken by Ethan’s voice from behind her. “Sadie? Leo’s brother is challenging you to a drinking game.” “Oh… sorry. Am I interrupting something?” His voice was perfectly apologetic. Sometimes I swear Ethan has a GPS tracker on Sadie. Every single time she tries to talk to me alone, he just “happens” to show up. I didn’t want to deal with this. While Sadie was distracted, I ducked under her arm. As I passed Ethan, he grabbed my wrist. Hard. Chapter 5 “I’m really sorry, Liam. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Sadie’s been miserable all day because you’re mad.” Ethan’s voice was all wounded innocence. I tried to yank my arm free, but he just squeezed tighter, his nails digging into my skin. I ripped my arm away. Ethan stumbled back, bracing himself against the wall, his eyes instantly going red. “Sadie… Is Liam still mad at me? Because I came to your hangout?” “I’ll apologize to him, okay? Just… you guys, please don’t fight because of me.” He actually started to bow his head toward me. Sadie exploded. She jumped in front of Ethan. “He’s the one being a petty asshole. Why are you apologizing?” “Liam, why did you push him? You’re the one who should apologize.” Sadie glared at me. “We’re all going to be in the same place next year. What’s the big deal? Just be nice.” “If you love taking care of him so much, you two can take care of each other.” I threw the words at her and walked away. I ignored her angry warning from behind me. “Liam, that’s enough!” It took a while for Sadie and Ethan to come back. Sadie still looked pissed. Ethan, however, was back to normal, with a strange, unreadable look in his eyes. People started yelling for Truth or Dare. Besides Leo, everyone else seemed to have forgotten I existed, or maybe they just didn’t care. Right. In their eyes, I was just Sadie’s “little shadow.” Ethan got “Dare.” He had to give a “sexy dance” to someone of the same gender. His eyes scanned the group, then landed right on Sadie, his voice a playful whine. “Sadie… help me…” Sadie instinctively glanced at me, a challenge in her eyes. She tossed her head. “Fine.” If this had been last year, I would have lost my mind. But now… I felt nothing. Ethan had apparently taken dance classes. He had the body for it. He actually looked good. I just chugged my beer. I watched, cold, as Ethan, moving to the pulsing electronic music, danced on Sadie, his movements all suggestion and tension. At first, Sadie had this lazy smile, her eyes darting over to me, clearly waiting for me to explode. But as Ethan’s moves got bolder, his gaze more intense, her spine straightened. Her eyes got locked onto him. It was like everyone else in the room disappeared. The air between them was practically on fire. The song ended. Ethan “tripped” and fell perfectly, collapsing right into Sadie’s lap. He was wearing a slightly oversized shirt, and the fall made it gape open. Their bodies were pressed together, so intimate the whole bar erupted in whistles and cheers. Ethan’s face flushed red, and he pretended to hide, embarrassed. Sadie cursed, “Stop messing around,” but her arm wrapped instinctively around his waist, and she tucked his head into her neck, shielding him from everyone’s stares. That intimacy, that protection… that used to be mine. Even though I’d already decided to let go, watching it… my heart felt like it was being crushed by an invisible hand. It hurt so much I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t stay. I finished the last of my beer, got up, and quietly left the bar. Leo followed me out. He stood on the curb with me for an hour, just cursing them out. He’d tried to start something inside a few times, but I’d held him back. There was no point. From now on, we were just strangers. I don’t know what happened after I left. I just felt exhausted, body and soul. I got home at 11:50 PM. Ten minutes until the application portal closed for good. I felt completely drained. I collapsed onto my bed. Eighteen years of memories flooded in, drowning my resolve. The grief was suffocating. My phone rang, shattering the silence. A number I didn’t recognize. I answered. It was Sadie, her voice thick with alcohol, and a rare, sticky tenderness. “Liam… stop being stubborn… okay? Be good… and remember to change your application…” “Savannah… it’s nice, too… Forsyth Park… I’ll… I’ll take you sketching there…”

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My mom forbade me from touching cats my whole life—I was deathly allergic to their fur, she said. I only learned they’d lied at twenty. A fire broke out at the city museum, and I rescued a celebrity actress’s pet cat. I wasn’t allergic at all. Before I could confront my parents, the actress called the cops and had me arrested. “My cat had a camera,” she announced. “The ‘rescuer’ is the one who burned the museum.” My parents rushed over, and my mom slapped me in front of everyone, calling me a shameless arsonist. My best friend stood with them, claiming she’d seen me set the museum curtains on fire. I was fined 800 million dollars and sentenced to twenty years in prison. The day I was locked up, my parents sent a disownment letter via a guard: “We told you not to touch cats—why didn’t you listen? From today, we sever all ties. You’re no longer our daughter.” In prison, I tried to appeal but was brutally beaten. Inmates shattered my arms and legs, leaving me bleeding on the cold floor. My parents had paid them to do it. As I died, one agonizing question burned: Why? Why did saving a cat make my own parents conspire with strangers to kill me? When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the museum— the fire had just started. … “Fire! Everybody, run!” I stood in the familiar grand hall of the museum, watching the flames lick their way across the priceless exhibits. Screams and the crash of falling objects echoed around me. “Meow!” A desperate cry from the corner of the gallery sent an involuntary shiver down my spine, a phantom chill from a death I still remembered. It hit me then. I was reborn. In my last life, this was the moment it all went wrong. The fire, the cat’s cry, the surge of compassion that sealed my fate. I had ignored the lifelong warnings about my “allergy” and rushed to save it. Only to discover the allergy was a lie. When my parents found out I’d rescued a cat from the museum, they were incandescent with a rage I couldn’t comprehend. My mother’s hand had cracked across my face in public. “I told you never to touch cats! Why won’t you ever listen?” “Mom, Dad, all I did was save a life! What’s wrong with that?” I’d pleaded, bewildered. “It would have burned to death if I hadn’t helped!” But they were unforgiving. They threw me out of the house. And that was only the beginning. Three days after the fire, the cat’s owner, the A-list actress Cassandra Rayne, held a press conference. She pointed a perfectly manicured finger at my image on the screen. “The person who ‘rescued’ my cat is the arsonist,” she announced, her voice trembling with manufactured grief. “My cat’s collar has a micro-camera. It recorded the entire thing. She set the fire and then pretended to be a hero to cover her tracks!” I denied everything, screamed my innocence, but no one believed me. My parents ignored my desperate calls for help. When I needed them most, they took the witness stand and lied. “Your Honor,” my father said, his face a mask of sorrow, “our daughter has always had a fascination with fire. When she was ten, she nearly burned our house down playing with matches.” “This museum fire… it must have been her.” My best friend, Stella, her eyes red-rimmed and filled with tears, delivered the final blow. “I saw her… I saw her light the curtain with a lighter.” Her words froze my heart solid. Then, the lighter I kept in a drawer at home was handed over by my parents to the prosecution, presented as evidence I’d left at the scene. Witnesses, evidence—it was a perfect, airtight trap. For arson and the destruction of national treasures, I was sentenced to twenty years and fined an impossible eight hundred million dollars. On my first day in prison, a guard handed me an envelope. Inside was the letter of disownment from my parents. Their words were blades of ice. “We told you not to touch cats! This is what you get for your disobedience. You brought this on yourself. From now on, you are no longer our child.” I clutched the letter, tears streaming down my face, and screamed at the guards. “I was framed! Let me out! I want to appeal! I didn’t do it!” I screamed until my throat bled, but no one listened. A group of inmates, annoyed by the noise, waited until the guards were gone. They pinned me to the floor. A hand clamped over my mouth, and fists and feet rained down on me. The sickening crunch of bone was lost beneath the dull thud of their blows. They broke my arms and legs and left me there. As I lay dying, the woman who led the attack leaned down and grinned. “Don’t blame us,” she whispered. “Blame your parents. A million dollars is a lot of money to pay for your death.” My last breath was a silent, agonizing question: Why? “Meow!” Another cry, sharper this time, pulled me from the bloody haze of memory. The flames were now crawling towards the corner where a pure white cat cowered beneath a charred display case. Its amber eyes were fixed on me. Last time, that look had been my undoing. This time, I would not make the same mistake. I met its gaze, and my heart turned to stone. Don’t blame me, I thought. You’re on your own, little one. Without a second’s hesitation, I turned and ran for the exit. I burst through the museum doors, out of the thick, choking smoke, and gasped for air, my lungs burning. The relief of survival was a violent tremor that shook my entire body. My parents saw me and rushed over, their faces pale with panic. They grabbed my arms, their grips bruisingly tight. “Mia!” My mother’s voice trembled with a relief so profound it sounded like fear. “Are you okay?” I straightened up, forcing a casual tone as I brushed the soot from my clothes. “I’m fine, Mom. But just as I was getting out, I saw a cat in the corner. It looked terrified. It wasn’t moving.” The air went still. I saw it clearly—the sudden, sharp contraction of their pupils. My father’s hand tightened on my arm, the pressure excruciating. I paused, then softened my voice. “But I remembered what you always told me. That I’m allergic to cats, that I should never, ever touch them. The fire was getting so bad… I was afraid if I had an allergic reaction, I wouldn’t be able to escape. So I left it.” My parents stared at me, their eyes like searchlights scanning my body. When they were certain there wasn’t a single cat hair on me, the tension finally drained from their shoulders. “Good,” my father said, his voice shaky. “That’s good. As long as you didn’t touch it…” My mother pulled me into another fierce hug, the frantic energy that had radiated from her slowly subsiding. Just then, my best friend, Stella, stumbled out of the smoke, her face smudged with ash. She saw me and threw herself into my arms. “You scared me to death! Mia, I’m so glad you’re okay!” I hugged her back, relief washing over me. See? As long as I didn’t save the cat, everything would be fine. But just as that thought crossed my mind, a piercing cry cut through the chaos. “Snowball! My Snowball is still in there!” It was the actress, Cassandra Rayne. She tried to run back into the burning building, screaming, but was held back by security. The firefighters were still battling the blaze, thick black smoke billowing from the museum’s entrance. My heart sank. A short while later, a firefighter emerged from the smoke, his expression grim. He was carrying something small. He walked over to Cassandra, who was sobbing so hard she could barely stand, and slowly opened his hands. The white cat I had seen in the corner now lay limp and still on the firefighter’s thick, protective glove. Its once-pristine fur was blackened with soot. There was no sign of life. “No!” A gut-wrenching scream tore from Cassandra’s throat. She lunged forward and snatched the small body, cradling it to her chest. “Snowball! Open your eyes! Look at Mommy! It’s all my fault, I never should have brought you here!” It was a heartbreaking scene. I turned away, forcing myself not to look. This had nothing to do with me anymore. I took my parents’ and Stella’s hands, ready to leave this place of tragedy behind. But in the next second, Cassandra’s crying stopped. She snapped her head up, her red, swollen eyes locking onto me. “It was her! She’s the one who killed my Snowball!” she shrieked, pointing a trembling finger. “Officer, arrest her! She’s the murderer!” My body went rigid. I turned back, my mind reeling in disbelief. Last life, I saved the cat, and she accused me of arson. This life, I didn’t save the cat, and she’s still accusing me. Why? My mother immediately stepped in front of me. “What are you talking about? My daughter just escaped that fire! How could she have killed your cat?” My father’s voice was low with suppressed rage. “We’re very sorry for your loss, but it was an accident. It has nothing to do with our daughter.” Cassandra let out a cold, humorless laugh. “An accident?” She pulled out her phone, shoved the screen in my parents’ faces, her voice trembling with fury. “You call this an accident? Look at this!” A terrible premonition crawled up my spine. I watched as my parents’ expressions shifted from anger to confusion, and then, as they saw what was on the screen, to sheer horror. They looked back and forth between the phone and me, and finally, their faces settled into a familiar, crushing disappointment. “Dad? Mom?” My voice shook. “I swear, I didn’t do anything…” My mother’s composure finally shattered. She threw the phone at my feet, her voice breaking with a sob of rage. “How could we have raised a monster like you? See for yourself!” On the screen, a video was playing. When I saw it, my blood ran cold. The micro-camera on the cat’s collar had recorded everything. The background was the corner of the burning gallery. And I was standing in front of the cowering white cat. But the ‘me’ on the screen wore a smile I’d never seen on my own face—a twisted, predatory grin. I watched in horror as this version of me grabbed the trembling cat and viciously yanked it up by its tail. I watched myself kick its small, terrified body. A pained “Meow!” screeched from the phone’s speaker. The ‘me’ in the video was unfazed, watching as if it were entertainment. Finally, when the kitten was limp and barely moving, my video doppelgänger looked directly into the camera and sneered. “You’re on your own, little one.” Then, she threw the nearly dead animal deep into the flames and ran out of frame. The video was short, but it was enough to send me to hell. “No!” I screamed, my voice cracking with terror. “That’s not me! It’s not! When I saw the cat, it was fine! I never even touched it!” Stella, who had been frantic when the police grabbed me, now stared at the video. Her expression morphed into one of utter disgust. She recoiled from me as if I were diseased. “Mia… you… you tortured a cat?” Her voice trembled. “I can’t believe you’re that kind of person. How could you? It’s monstrous!” I looked at her, my last hope crumbling. “Stella! You don’t believe me either? We’re best friends! You were with me the whole time! Tell me, when did I ever leave your side to do… to do that?” She shook her head, but her voice was firm. “How would I know? Maybe you slipped away when I wasn’t looking. The video is right there, Mia. The cat is dead. The proof is right in front of my eyes. What am I supposed to believe?” I couldn’t speak. My mind was a roaring, chaotic mess. How could this have happened? I remembered turning and leaving. Was the smoke so thick I’d hallucinated? Or had something else taken control of my body in a moment of panic? I couldn’t understand. I had done everything I could to avoid my previous fate, yet the noose had still found its way around my neck. Cassandra handed the cat’s body to a police officer, her face a mask of tragic beauty. She turned to the growing crowd of reporters and onlookers. “Did you see?” she cried. “My Snowball didn’t burn to death! She was tortured to death by this evil woman! She tried to throw the body in the fire to destroy the evidence! Thank God the camera recorded everything! Please,” she begged, “you have to get justice for my baby!” The crowd erupted. The murmurs of speculation turned into a tidal wave of outrage and insults that crashed over me. “She looks so normal, but she’s a monster!” “Torturing a cat in the middle of a fire? She’s a psychopath!” “The evidence is right there, and she’s still denying it?” “Lock her up and throw away the key! People like that don’t deserve to live!” “Scum! Monster!” Suddenly, several enraged animal activists broke through the crowd and one of them kicked me hard in the side. I fell to the ground, pain flaring in my ribs. Before I could even try to get up— CRACK! A stinging slap across my face. My mother stood over me, her eyes as cold as a winter grave. “After what you’ve done, you don’t deserve to be my daughter.” My father didn’t help me. He pinned my shoulders to the ground, holding me in place for the mob. They didn’t protect me from the false accusations, from the fists and the feet. They joined the strangers in pushing me towards the abyss. Why? Why was this happening?

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The first thing my new “System” did was send a breakup text to my freshman boyfriend. “We’re done, kid. I’m not into ‘small’ things.” My bedroom door slammed open. A gloriously naked man, still flushed from our last round, stood there holding his phone. “Mia, what the hell is this? We’re not even… cooled down yet, and you’re pulling this shit?” 1 Leo Sterling had me pinned against the sofa, shoving his phone in my face. “When you were chasing me all last semester, you didn’t seem to mind that I was ‘small.’ Or did I suddenly shrink?” The System had my body in a goddamn chokehold. I heard myself speak, but the words weren’t mine. “I wasn’t talking about your age.” We both, instinctively, looked down. Leo let out a cold laugh. “That’s not what you were screaming five minutes ago.” He leaned in, his voice dropping. “Need me to refresh your memory?” And that’s how I was “forcibly reminded” on my own sofa, without any say in the matter. He kept demanding, “Is it big?! Is it?!” And all I was allowed to say was, “Ah! Ah! Ah!” So goddamn annoying. 2 When Leo left, he gave me a warning. “Babe, if you ever say crazy shit like that again, I’ve got plenty of ‘energy’ and ‘methods’ to prove you wrong.” I smiled, blew him a kiss, and as soon as the door closed, the System took over, forcing me to change the electronic lock code. “Look,” I pleaded with the voice in my head, “I can do your quests, but do I have to break up with him?” The System’s voice was tinny and severe. 「You are on the ‘Devoted Other Woman’ script. You are supposed to be pathetically in love with the Male Lead. If he finds out you have a young boyfriend on the side, how will he ever believe your devotion is ‘to-die-for’?」 “But…” 「This time, we’re playing to win! We must crush the Female Lead and lock down the Male Lead!」 The System sounded unhinged. I tried to reason with it. “If I’m the ‘Other Woman,’ isn’t my whole point not to win?” 「Don’t question me! I know what I’m doing! Just follow the script, or I’ll tase you!」 A white-hot jolt of electricity shot through my spine. I yelped. “Okay, okay! I’ll do it!” 「Good girl.」 3 The System made me text Leo again. 「You’re… not that great. I’m over it. Don’t bother me again.」 He replied instantly: 「I’ll be there in ten. Stay naked.」 Ten minutes later: 「You changed the code?」 「Are you serious?」 「Mia, open the door!」 「Babe, I’m gonna get really pissed!」 「Seriously?!」 「What did I do wrong? Whatever it is, I’ll fix it!」 「Open the door! You got the guts to break up, how about the guts to open the door!」 … The System took my hands. 「I’m in love with someone else. You’re not even his big toe.」 On the screen, I could see the three dots of him typing… deleting… typing… for what felt like an hour. Finally: 「You’ll regret this.」 My heart cracked. Just like that, my love life… gone. 「Stop moping, or I’m tasing you again,」 the System chirped. I forced a smile onto my face that felt more like a grimace. Just in time. “Mia Collins?” My interview was starting. 4 I handed over my painfully average resume. “I’m a senior at NYU, and…” “That’s enough.” The man in the center—the one the System identified as the Male Lead, Julian Thorne—cut me off. His voice was cold. The gold-rimmed glasses he wore only made him look richer and more severe. I kept my polite smile frozen in place. See? I thought at the System. I told you a normal senior isn’t getting a job at Aethel, the biggest tech firm in the country. 「You should have done the cockroach jump like I said,」 the System grumbled. 「You’re stacked. It would have dazzled them. The Male Lead loves big boobs.」 I mentally told the System to go to hell. “I understand,” I said out loud. “Thank you for your time.” I turned to leave. “You’re hired,” Julian said. “You start tomorrow.” …What? 「See?!」 the System shrieked. 「He loves your type!」 “My type?” 「Big boobs, no brains. Big eyes, pure… wait, that’s not right. Whatever, it worked!」 I wanted to commit murder. 5 So, I became Julian Thorne’s executive assistant. My job was… basic. I got his coffee. I got his tea. I dropped off signed files. I took his calls. And when he was too drunk at a networking event, I drove him home. A month went by. I was drowning in work. Leo had tried to ambush me at my apartment, but I was never there. He called. The System hung up. He texted. The System declined. He finally snapped. He started sending… pictures. Eight-pack abs. Perfect pecs. The V-line disappearing into his sweatpants. I was practically drooling when the System censored them with giant black bars. I hate the System. Then came the grand finale. A picture of him, kneeling, with… everything out. The text came a second later: 「Babe. We miss you…」 …I miss you too. But I’m being held hostage by a psycho AI. 6 The Female Lead, Chloe Bancroft, finally appeared. She stormed right into Julian’s office. The System buzzed. 「Go! Bring coffee!」 I walked in to find them in a full-blown argument. “Just refuse,” Chloe said. “Why do I always have to be the one to fight? You’re scared of your grandpa, but I’m not scared of mine?” I calmly put a coffee in front of her. She glanced at me, annoyed, and kept going. “I am not agreeing to this engagement, Julian. You know I don’t love you.” Hearing that, my hand “slipped.” The cup I was holding for Julian tipped, dumping hot coffee right onto his lap. “Oh, Mr. Thorne, I’m so sorry!” I grabbed a fistful of napkins and started dabbing… enthusiastically. System, I hissed internally, did you hear her? She doesn’t want him! We’re off the hook! Let me go! 「Hmm…」 the System hummed. 「I’m not convinced. Keep dabbing.」 “Ms. Collins.” A hand gripped my wrist. Hard. “That’s enough,” Julian said. His voice was… strained. I realized my hand was cupping his… problem. “Oh, God! Sorry!” I jumped back. “You already said that,” he said, his eyes dark. He turned back to Chloe. “I don’t like you either. But this was our grandfathers’ decision.” “You’re spineless, Julian! You just roll over!” Chloe yelled. “You… what… what are you doing?!” She was yelling because the System had just yanked me forward, sat me on Julian’s lap, and forced my arms around his neck. 「Test subject #2,」 the System said. 「Let’s see if she’s really not jealous. Kiss him.」 I fought it. I really did. I ended up planting a stiff, awkward kiss on his jaw. Julian just looked at me, his expression unreadable. Chloe’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit.” 「See!」 the System cheered. 「She cares!」 “Could you two at least wait until I leave?!” Chloe shrieked. 「…Hmm, inconclusive,」 the System muttered. Then, Chloe pulled out her phone. “Oh, this is perfect.” She started snapping pictures. “Block your face, sweetie,” she said to me. “This is about him, not you.” Julian reacted instantly, grabbing the back of my head and shoving my face into his chest. It smelled… really good. “Julian,” Chloe said, waving her phone. “You have three days to call off this engagement, or Grandpa gets a full gallery of his ‘devoted’ grandson in action.” “You wouldn’t.” “Try me. In the meantime…” She walked to the door and paused. “You two… carry on.” She even closed the door.

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When the fire started, Mom grabbed Mia and Dad grabbed Leo. They ran outside, leaving me behind. My face was badly burned. After that, I changed. The sassy, demanding girl who was always fighting for a scrap of affection just… stopped. I was dying anyway. This tiny, leftover bit of love… they could give it to whoever they wanted. But then they regretted it. They held my skeletal hand and wept. “Lily, please,” they begged, “just throw one more tantrum. Please?” 1 Mom held Mia. Dad carried Leo. They burst out of the smoke, collapsing on the lawn, sobbing and hugging, hysterical with relief. “Is everyone out?” a firefighter yelled, running up. Mom scrambled to her feet, doing a frantic headcount. She pointed: “Leo, Mia… yes, both kids are here! They’re both safe!” “You’re sure? No one else inside?” Mom’s eyes were only for them. She didn’t even answer, just pulled them closer, muttering, “Thank God, thank God, they’re safe.” That was when I stumbled out of the flames, clutching my mouth. Her words made me feel like a pathetic joke. I was charred black, my pajamas in smoking tatters. They, having gotten out first, were practically spotless. The words “both kids” hit me harder than the smoke. My legs gave out. I fell hard onto the driveway. The raw, burning pain across my back exploded. My name is Lily. I’ve always been the extra one. 2 “Leo, stop tickling me!” Minutes later, safe on the grass, Mia and Leo were already wrestling. Their laughter cut through the sirens, and I saw Mom and Dad’s faces relax a little. But Mia slipped, and her hand landed—hard—directly on my burned back. “Ah!” I screamed. I could feel the bandages the EMT had just applied turn wet and sticky with fresh blood. Mia scrambled back, terrified, hiding behind Leo. “Lily!” Mom’s head snapped toward me, her voice sharp. “Stop it. Why are you screaming at your sister?” Her eyes met mine, and she flinched. The look of disgust was new. It must have been the burns on my face. She hadn’t even seen me get hurt. She never saw me. I couldn’t hold it in. I ran to the side of the ambulance, covered my face, and sobbed. They all just stood there, silent. When I finally quieted down, Mom brought Mia over. She sighed, reaching for my hand. I flinched away. Her hand froze in the air. “Lily, you have to understand,” she said, that tired voice she always used on me. “We’re not trying to hurt you. But Leo’s got so much pressure with his college applications, and Mia’s just so little…” I stared at her through my tears. “Can’t you just be the good daughter, for once?” I laughed. It sounded like a cough. How… ridiculous. Mom saw me laugh and must have thought I’d calmed down. She grabbed my hand and tried to press Mia’s into it. “There we go,” she said, forcing a cheerful tone. “Now, you tell your sister you’re sorry, and we can all move on. We’re a family, after all.” She was talking to me, but she was smiling at Mia, cooing at her. I ripped my hand away. Mom’s face hardened. “I have three children, Lily,” she said, her voice like a knife. “How did you end up being the only one who’s so spoiled?” Right. Spoiled. I used to throw tantrums. I used to demand things. I had to. It was the only way to get them to even look at me. But now… I’m sick. I’m dying. I’m done fighting for scraps. 3 Our house was gone. We had to find a new place to live. “Finding a rental for five is a nightmare,” Dad said, rubbing his temples. “We’ll have to take two of the kids, and send the third to stay somewhere else for a while.” As one, all four of them turned to look at me. I almost smiled. The old me would have screamed. I would have cried. I would have thrown the world’s biggest fit until they sighed and said, “Oh, Lily, what are we going to do with you? You’re so demanding.” But Leo and Mia never had to demand anything. This time, I didn’t make a sound. I just nodded, took a step back, and whispered, “I’ll go.” They all looked surprised. But no one argued. So I was sent to my Uncle Mark’s. I had to walk on eggshells. At first, Aunt Sarah would give me a tight-lipped smile. But soon, they didn’t bother. It didn’t matter if I got up early and cleaned the whole kitchen, or if I collected cans after school for the deposit money and gave it to them. They just looked at me with that same sour expression. One afternoon, after I’d scrubbed their bathroom, I heard them talking. “When is she leaving?” Aunt Sarah whispered. “Just a few more weeks.” “Ugh. Have you smelled her? That… burn smell. I feel like I have to disinfect the house every time she walks through. And honestly, Mark, another mouth to feed…” I looked down at my clothes. They hated when I used the shower. It “used up all the hot water.” That night, at dinner, I put on my best, most casual smile. “Uncle Mark? Aunt Sarah? The guest room is a little drafty. I was thinking, maybe I could move into the basement? And I can just make my own meals, so you don’t have to worry about me.” I watched their faces. The tension just melted. “Oh, Lily, don’t be silly,” Aunt Sarah said, but she was already smiling. She even put a piece of chicken on my plate. “Here, eat up.” 4 The basement was freezing. The wind whistled through the gaps in the door. The raw, itchy pain of my healing burns was a constant throb. I wrapped the thin, musty blanket tighter around myself. I was so thirsty. I hadn’t had any water all day. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I crept outside the basement door. A drainpipe was leaking, a small, grimy puddle on the concrete. A stray cat was lapping at it. I hesitated. But the thirst was scratching my throat raw. Dignity didn’t seem that important. I got on my knees. The water was cold and tasted like rust, but it was wet. I finished and wiped my mouth, pulling myself up. And I saw him. My brother, Leo. Standing there, his face cold, watching me. How long had he been there? My first instinct was to run, to hide. “Get up,” he said, his voice flat. “We’re going home for Thanksgiving dinner.” I flinched back, terrified he’d smell the basement on me. But he just scowled, grabbed my arm, and yanked. “Let’s go.” He dragged me to his car. I sat there, trembling, as we pulled up to a new house. A nice two-story rental with a small yard. They clearly weren’t struggling. So why couldn’t they have kept me? I didn’t want to go in. I could hear them inside, laughing. Mom was calling Mia her “sweet baby girl.” I didn’t belong. Then, Mia’s high-pitched voice. “Where’s Lily?” The laughing stopped. Dead silence. Leo, beside me on the porch, didn’t move. “Ugh,” Mom’s voice, sharp and cold. “She burned our house down. What is she even doing here? Let her in, I guess. We need to have a serious talk with her.” My head whipped toward Leo. “You were there,” I whispered, horrified. “You know it wasn’t me. It was Mia, she was playing with…” “Shut up!” he hissed, his face instantly furious. I shrank back. I don’t know when I became so terrified of loud noises. Of anger. “I’m sorry…” I whispered. His face got even colder. “Mia is sensitive. She’s finally happy. Don’t you dare ruin Thanksgiving. Does it really matter who started it?” It sounded like I wasn’t his sister, too. I touched my own face, the tight, scarred skin. I nodded. “I can keep the secret.” His expression softened, just a little. “Good. Come on, Mom and Dad wanted you here.” I shook my head. “Can I just… have some money? I need to buy medicine.” His face went hard again. The disgust was back. “Are you serious? You finally come home, and the first thing you do is ask for money? Do you have a heart?” He was yelling, but he reached into his wallet, pulled out a wad of crumpled twenties, and threw them at my feet. I didn’t say anything. I just bent over to pick them up. Leo looked like he wanted to hit me. “That’s it? You’re not even going to fight back? God, you’re pathetic.” The old me would have screamed at him. I just held the money. Suddenly, a searing pain ripped through my stomach. My period. That cold, dirty water… “Please,” I gasped, clutching my abdomen. “Can I just… have a glass of hot water? Please…” Seeing me doubled over, Leo actually smirked. He looked… satisfied. He didn’t say a word. He just turned, walked inside, and slammed the door. Through the door, I heard him shout, “She’s not coming in! Said she’s too good for us!” The cramps hit me like a train. My legs buckled. I fell to my knees on the welcome mat, vomiting into the bushes. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was the door swinging open, and their shocked faces.

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The tour bus carrying my mother-in-law and my son went off a winding mountain road and flipped. The entire vehicle was caught on a tree, suspended over the edge of a cliff, threatening to plummet at any moment. My husband, Mark, was the captain of the nearest fire and rescue squad. But when the police called for help, they discovered he’d taken his entire team off-duty to watch his old flame’s son compete in a school event. In my first life, I had a friend physically drag him from that school to the scene, and he managed to save his mother and our son. But because her son didn’t win first place, his old flame felt humiliated and cut him off completely. Mark was also investigated and fired for dereliction of duty. After his mother and our son were discharged from the hospital, he tied me and my friend up and threw us from that same cliff. “If it weren’t for you,” he screamed, “I wouldn’t have lost everything!” This time, his old flame’s son got his first-place trophy. But Mark would never have a reason to smile again. 1 The wail of sirens filled the air. A sharp rap on my car window startled me. “Ma’am, have you called for help?” an officer asked, his face etched with urgency. I flinched, my head snapping up to take in the scene before me. For a moment, my mind was blank. Then it hit me. I was reborn. In my last life, my mother-in-law had forgotten her scarf and called me to bring it to her. By the time I arrived, the tour bus had already left, so she told me to just follow behind them in my car. I don’t know what happened up ahead, but the bus suddenly swerved out of control and plunged over the side of the mountain. I’d frantically called my husband, but he’d hung up on me with an annoyed sigh. When I called 911, the dispatcher told me Mark had taken his entire unit to a school event for Serena Gable’s son. The officer’s voice pulled me back to the present. My hand tightened around my phone. The memory of my bones shattering on the rocks below was still a phantom pain in my limbs. Seeing me frozen, the officer must have thought I was in shock. He pulled out his own phone to call for rescue. The answer he received was the exact same one I had gotten before. Just then, my phone rang. It was my mother-in-law. “Clara, you have to save us! Save me and Leo!” she shrieked. “My battery is about to die! Call my son! Tell him to come save us!” The officer leaned in. “You have family on that bus?” “Yes, my mother-in-law and my son. My husband, Mark Vance, is the captain of the nearest rescue squad.” “Then call him! Now! We’ll contact other units in the meantime.” I dialed Mark’s number right there in front of the officer. It rang for a long time before he finally picked up. The voice on the other end was the one that haunted my nightmares. “Didn’t I tell you not to call me? I’m cheering for Cody!” “Mark, the bus your mom and Leo were on went over the cliff,” I said, my voice tight with manufactured panic. “It’s caught on a tree, but it won’t hold for long. You have to get here now!” Suddenly, Serena’s soft voice was on the line. “Clara, please, I’m begging you. Cody doesn’t have a father. Having Mark here to support him means the world. Please don’t make him leave. I don’t want to ruin this for my son.” Her voice grew thick with false tears. “I know you’ve always been worried about us, but I promised you, I would never break up your family. You don’t have to make up lies like this to get him to leave. I’ll never contact him again after today, I swear.” Mark snatched the phone back, his voice thick with rage. “You’d use my own mother and son in a lie? What kind of person are you? The more you act like this, the less I want to come home to you! Don’t you dare bother me again today!” He was about to hang up when the officer took the phone from my hand. “This is Officer Miller with the Westwood Police Department. Your wife is not lying. The situation here is critical. I’ve already contacted your station, and they confirmed your entire unit is off-site while all other units are on active calls. I’m ordering you to return with your team immediately. There are thirty-four lives hanging in the balance.” But the line just filled with more voices—Mark’s teammates, jeering in the background. “Who’s this guy, Cap? I know people at Westwood PD, never heard of a Miller.” “Yeah, Clara, you keep Cap on a tight enough leash as it is. Can’t you give him a break? And don’t drag the whole squad into your drama. We’ll get written up for this!” Even the officer’s face flushed with anger. I whispered to him, “Please, just call another unit. That bus doesn’t have much time.” In my last life, they hadn’t believed me either. The school was close, and a friend of mine, David, worked nearby. I’d called him in a panic. He’d run over and gotten the principal involved, which finally forced Mark and his team to respond. But in the end, both David and I paid for it with our lives. This time, I wouldn’t drag another innocent person down with me. Mark must have overheard me. “That’s enough, Clara!” he snarled through the phone. “How many people are you going to involve in this? I know every fire chief and rescue captain in this area. You so much as call one of them, and I’ll show you what happens to liars!” 2 After he hung up, the officer was seething. “I’ll be damned if I let some petty squad captain play God!” He started making calls, his voice sharp and commanding. I sighed. Mark could, and would, make this difficult. He’d worked at nearly every station in the county, and though he never got promoted, he had connections. He only got the captain position with the new rescue squad because they’d offered it to him upfront. “You should call a unit from further out,” I urged. “Otherwise, it’ll be too late.” I knew the timeline. Including rescue time, that bus had exactly forty minutes on that tree before it fell. Last time, even though Mark’s team arrived relatively quickly, his reckless focus on his family caused a shift that snapped a major branch. Half the passengers died. Even without his interference, the bus had an hour, at best. A team from the next county would take over forty minutes to get here. It would be close, but it was the only chance to save anyone. As if on cue, my phone rang again. It was Rick, from a nearby fire station. He was an old classmate of Mark’s and used to come over for dinner. “Clara, you’re putting me in a tough spot,” he said, his voice strained. “You and Mark need to stop fighting like this.” “Dispatch just sent us an alert, and then Mark called me himself. You can’t be wasting state resources like this. Filing a false report is a serious crime.” The officer, enraged, snatched the phone. “I’m the one who called dispatch. This is Officer Miller, Westwood PD—” Rick cut him off. “Yeah, yeah, Mark told me about you. Said there’s no Miller at Westwood. Tell Clara to stop the act. I’m doing her a favor. I’ve already canceled the alert.” 3 My mother-in-law called again. The background was a cacophony of screams and prayers. “Help us! Did you call Mark or not?” “I did, Mom. He’s not coming.” A torrent of abuse erupted from the phone. “Useless! I never should have let Mark marry you! You can’t do one simple thing right!” Then, Leo’s voice, sharp and accusing, cut through. “Mommy, why are you so useless? If Serena was here, she would have made Daddy come save us!” My eyes burned, and tears spilled down my cheeks. This was the family I had given everything to maintain. A husband who only had eyes for another woman, a mother-in-law who despised me, and a son—my own son—who called someone else “Mommy.” His grandmother had always preferred Serena, the gentle, stay-at-home type. I was an executive at a media firm. I had a career, clients to meet. I couldn’t be at Mark’s beck and call every second of the day. But for years, I was the one who paid for the house, the cars, the food on their table. And I never received a single word of thanks. I had just wanted a happy family. When his mother was bedridden after surgery, I took a long leave of absence to care for her, even cleaning her bedpans. Her attitude had just started to soften when Serena reappeared with a son in tow. My mother-in-law didn’t just welcome them, she rented them an apartment in our neighborhood and invited them over for meals every single day. Serena won my son over with junk food and cheap toys until he saw me as the enemy. For a long time, he called her “Mommy” and called me by my first name. Mark drained our savings to buy Serena and her son a large house. “Don’t get the wrong idea, Clara,” he’d said. “I owe her this. As my wife, it’s your duty to help me carry this burden.” I was furious, but for the sake of a love I thought we still had, and the memory of three happy years before our son was born, I endured it. I endured it all, right up until the moment it cost me my life. Suddenly, a rock hit my forehead. Warm blood streamed down my face. Several people, family members of the passengers, were rushing towards me, throwing whatever they could find. “My mom called me from the bus! She said your husband is the rescue captain! Why isn’t he here?” “He has no right to abandon his post! This is criminal negligence! If my mother dies, I’ll make sure your whole family pays!” I scrambled back into my car, clutching my bleeding head, and tried to video call Mark. He declined it instantly and sent a text. Stop playing games! You want me to divorce you? Is that it? Then he blocked me. I tried his teammates, and Serena. Blocked. All of them. I called my mother-in-law one last time. Her phone was off. It seems fate wants you gone, I thought grimly. I did my best. 4 The chaos outside intensified. A terrified scream cut through the noise. “It’s slipping! The bus is slipping!” I jumped out of my car and ran to the edge. No matter how much I hated them, I couldn’t stand by and watch innocent people die. As a last resort, I called David. Before I could even speak, he answered, his voice urgent. “I’m almost there with a chopper! Just hold on!” I was stunned. He hung up before I could ask any questions. Moments later, a helicopter appeared in the sky, flying directly over the dangling bus. David was the first one down the rope. He immediately began the rescue. I could see his equipment wasn’t standard-issue, and someone in the helicopter was gesturing, directing him. But it was a ray of hope. I heard my mother-in-law shouting from the back of the bus. “Save me first! Are you deaf? I’m an old woman, save me first!” But I also heard the person in the helicopter yelling to David over the rotors, “Follow my instructions, or the whole bus will go down!” Slowly, carefully, David began pulling people up, one by one. We all watched from the roadside, holding our breath. Twenty minutes later, the roar of more helicopters filled the air. Professional rescue teams had finally arrived. Tears of relief streamed down my face. All around me, family members were hugging and crying. “They’re saved! They’re saved!” I glanced at the time on my phone and my heart lurched. There were only twenty minutes left before the bus would fall. Last time, with only two helicopters and Mark’s reckless interference, many lives were lost. But this time, with so many rescuers, maybe it would be enough. I watched the clock, my stomach in knots. The seconds ticked by. With five minutes left, everyone had been evacuated except for my mother-in-law and Leo, who were at the very back. A rescuer lowered a harness, telling her to secure herself and the boy. But she threw a fit. “What kind of service is this? Why do we have to do it ourselves? Don’t just stand there, get down here and strap us in! What if we do it wrong and fall? Will you take responsibility?” But the bus was tilted at such a precarious angle that the weight of another person would send it over the edge. The rescuer pleaded with her, but she just kept arguing. And as they argued, the countdown on my phone hit zero. A collective shriek pierced the air as the bus finally broke free and plunged into the abyss, taking my mother-in-law and my son with it. David was standing beside me now. He had Mark as a friend on his social media and opened his profile for me to see. A video had been posted one minute ago. It showed Mark, Serena, and Cody, holding a first-place trophy, all of them beaming with joy. The caption read: [So proud of my boy!] Just then, Officer Miller walked over, his face grim. “You should tell your husband to come and collect the bodies.” I just showed him the red exclamation mark on my phone screen, indicating I was still blocked. His face hardened. “Fine,” he said, his voice like ice. “I’ll go pick him up in my squad car myself.”

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I woke up and did what I always do: burrowed straight into the warmth of the man beside me. “Honey, cuddles,” I mumbled into his chest. He went completely rigid. “Ms. Hayes, please. Control yourself.” My eyes snapped open. Right. I’d forgotten. Julian was deep-fielding a case of amnesia. He had zero memory of the last three years—our entire marriage. Just as the familiar sting of rejection set in, text popped up in my vision, floating over the headboard like a bizarre, augmented-reality feed. 【Yeah right, “control yourself.” Dude’s pitching a tent you could camp in.】 【LOL, who’s he kidding? We all know the hoops he jumped through to lock down this marriage.】 【He’s been obsessed with her for years and now he won’t even admit it. Pathetic.】 【God, I hope she teaches this pretentious jerk a lesson.】 I blinked, the live commentary fading, and looked back at Julian. A slow smile spread across my face. “Oh, my mistake,” I said, sliding out of bed. “Wrong guy.” 1 Julian’s blank expression faltered. “What does that mean?” I walked to the nightstand and pulled out a file. I handed him the top sheet. “Our contract. Signed three years ago. We’re an alliance, a merger of families. Not a marriage.” The clauses were painfully clear: No interference in personal lives. Separate finances. Public appearances as required. It all pointed to one fact: we were strangers who happened to share a house. He gripped the paper, his face a mask of cold professionalism. “So, you see,” I said, pulling on a robe, “even with the amnesia, it doesn’t change anything. We don’t really know each other.” I left the room, but the commentary followed me. 【”Don’t know each other”? Then what do you call those nights you were screaming his name?】 【Right. Total strangers who just happen to have memorized every inch of each other’s bodies.】 【LMAO, he’s already grabbing his phone. Bet he’s searching ‘my wife’s other husband.’】 The text made my cheeks burn. They weren’t wrong. We were a classic case of “started as a business deal, ended in love.” Three years ago, I’d just ended things with my high-school sweetheart, Evan. I was cynical and done with love. When my family pushed for an alliance with the Hayes family, I agreed. Julian Hayes was the perfect candidate. He’s the one who suggested the contract, promising he’d never interfere in my life. A marriage of convenience. It worked for me. For the first two years, we were polite roommates. We slept in separate wings of the house. That changed on a business trip to Japan. We were caught in an earthquake. The ceiling of our hotel room collapsed. When I woke up in the hospital, my head was bandaged, and Julian was gripping my hand so hard his knuckles were white. His eyes were shot with red. He just kept whispering, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t protect you.” The raw, unfiltered despair in his eyes—like losing me was a possibility his soul couldn’t handle—cracked something open in my chest. After that, we started trying. And it turned out, we were incredibly compatible. We fell into a deep, real love. Until two weeks ago, when a truck ran a red light and T-boned his car. Now, he’s back to “Mr. Hayes.” But according to this new, magical live commentary, he’d been faking it from the start? Not the love—the indifference. If that was true, he was a hell of an actor. And I couldn’t wait to see what else I didn’t know. 2 We ate breakfast at opposite ends of our twenty-foot dining table, in complete silence. Our housekeeper, Maria, kept shooting us worried looks. As I headed for the door, she hurried over. “Ma’am, you didn’t… you’re not doing Mr. Hayes’s tie today?” I glanced at Julian, who was already standing by the door, his tie perfect. “Looks like he handled it himself.” The second the words left my mouth, Julian, without changing his stoic expression, reached up and yanked the knot completely sideways. “It’s… not quite right,” he said stiffly. 【HAHAHA, busted! He just shot himself in the foot.】 【Amnesia and he’s still finding excuses to have her touch him. You’re not slick, buddy!】 I met his gaze. He looked away, clearing his throat. “If you wouldn’t mind.” I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. I walked over, standing close, and started re-doing the knot. He was rigid as a board. This was new, and I was enjoying it. So I did the most logical thing. I finished the tie, stood on my toes, and gave him a quick, soft kiss on the lips. Julian’s pupils dilated. He literally stopped breathing. I leaned in close, whispering in his ear, “Don’t overthink it. Just keeping up appearances for the staff.” He managed a strangled, “…Right.” As I walked out the door, the commentary was exploding. 【Externally: Cool as a cucumber. Internally: Freaking out like a teen on prom night.】 【HE’S SMILING! THE CEO IS GRINNING LIKE AN IDIOT!】 【Eliza: breathes. Julian: She’s a master of seduction.】 【Aaaaand his good mood just earned a clumsy VP his job. Three years married, and he’s still this down bad.】 【Well, he won’t be smiling for long. His old rival, Evan, flies in tonight.】 Right on cue, my phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number. 【Eliza, it’s me. Can we meet?】 3 Evan and I grew up together. We were the textbook “friends to lovers” story. Everyone assumed we’d get married. Until college, when I started seeing pictures of another girl on his feed. It was a long, slow, agonizing breakup. By the end, I was hollow. After the drama, I got married. He got shipped off to the family’s Singapore branch. I couldn’t imagine what he’d have to say to me now. I blocked the number and focused on work. Julian’s accident had put me weeks behind. At 7:30 PM, a text came through from Julian. 【Maria is asking if you’ll be home for dinner.】 The commentary immediately popped up. 【Translation: I’M asking. He’s been staring at his chat window for an hour, debating what to text.】 【He’s been sitting on the living room sofa since he got home. He’s like a golden retriever waiting by the door.】 【Amnesia Julian is somehow even more adorable. This is killing me.】 I had at least three more hours of work. I texted back: 【Working late. Don’t wait up for me.】 I paused, then added: 【You should rest. You’re still recovering.】 He didn’t reply. By the time I left the office, it was almost midnight. As I walked out of the lobby, I saw someone leaning against a pillar. Evan. He looked up, his expression complicated. “Eliza. Long time.” He gestured to the empty lobby. “Figured you were swamped, so I didn’t go up.” I had no interest in reminiscing. “What do you want, Evan?” He looked… older. More polished. But his eyes were still locked on me in that same intense way I used to find captivating and now just found exhausting. “I just wanted to talk,” he said, his voice rough. 【Don’t do it, Eliza! Julian’s face is turning blacker than the sky!】 【Ohhhh shit, he came to pick her up and walked right into this. He’s going to commit a felony!】 【FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!】 4 I turned. Julian was walking toward us, his face dark. He didn’t even look at Evan. He just draped his coat over my shoulders and slid a possessive arm around my waist, pulling me against his side. “I’m here to take you home.” The air crackled. Neither man spoke, but the veins popping on the backs of their hands said everything. I made my choice. I leaned into Julian, looping my arm through his. “Thanks, honey,” I smiled up at him. “Let’s go home.” Julian’s expression softened almost instantly. The second we were in the car, I pulled away. “You can drive.” He glanced at my arm, which was no longer holding his, and his jaw tightened. The computer screen had fried my brain. I yawned, and a single tear squeezed from the corner of my eye. I leaned against the window and was asleep before we hit the highway. … I woke up in my own bed. Julian was gone. The other side of the bed was cold, the pillows untouched. He hadn’t slept here at all. The commentary helpfully supplied the answer. 【Eliza’s fast asleep, meanwhile Julian’s been brooding in his study all night.】 【He saw the tear track on her face and thought she was crying over Evan. LMAO.】 【He’s 100% convinced they’re getting back together.】 【Seriously, Julian? She’s not divorcing you. Who else is gonna put up with your moody ass?】 Oh, for God’s sake. I got up and went downstairs to find him. Maria informed me he’d already left for the office.

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My sister and I were reborn on the same day: the day we stood in the foster home, waiting to be chosen by New York’s wealthiest man. She pointed at me, her eyes wide with fake sincerity. “Mr. Vance, she’s… she’s my big sister. She’s always looked up to you.” “It would be her dream to be chosen by you. I’ll be okay, really.” And just like that, I was adopted by Marcus Vance. As I was leaving, my sister, Maya, gave me a triumphant smile. “Have fun, Ava. This time, you get to enjoy the living hell of being a Vance.” “And I,” she whispered, “am finally going to get the life I deserve.” In our first life, Maya was the one adopted by the Vances. She became the city’s most tragic “It Girl,” a beautiful party favor passed between monsters. I was adopted by a struggling family in Queens. I built a tech empire from scratch and became the new-money queen of the city. When we met again, she chose to swap lives with me. She cornered me on a rooftop, screaming, “You have no idea what they did to me! They trained me to be a whore! You had everything, and you never came to save me!” Then she pushed me. And I pulled her down with me. Now, she thinks she’s dodged the bullet and stolen my “lucky” path. But my dear, stupid sister… the Vance family’s resources? The name, the connections, the power? That isn’t a living hell. It’s a rocket launcher. She stole the wrong life. The “luck” was never the family. It was always my brain. 1 “Mr. Vance, she’s my sister’s hero…” The moment I heard those words, I knew. She remembered, too. In our first life, she locked me in a utility closet during the Vances’ visit, just to make sure I wasn’t seen. She got the billionaire. I got the Millers in Queens. As soon as I moved in with the Millers, their luck changed. Because I changed it. Their tiny savings, which I “borrowed” for stock trades, grew. Their failing hardware store, which I restructured, became a profitable chain. By the time I saw Maya again, I was the one with the real power, and they were the “lucky” family she thought she’d missed out on. She was right about one thing. Her life was hell. At that gala, she was drunk, wearing a dress that was practically transparent, fending off hands from men three times her age. The moment she saw me, poised, respected, and in control, she shattered. She blamed me. She killed me. And now, reborn, she thinks she’s pulling a fast one. Marcus Vance, the titan himself, was charmed by her “selflessness.” He agreed to adopt me. Maya’s eyes were electric with triumph. “This time, you get to be the family puppet,” she mouthed, blowing me a kiss. “Enjoy the torture.” I paused, my hand on my small duffel bag. “What was that, Maya?” “Goodbye, sister,” she sang, already turning toward the Millers, who were waiting in the next room. She’s running toward them, convinced she’s captured the golden goose. But she doesn’t get it. She’s swapping lives, not minds. How can she possibly steal what’s inside my head? 2 Before taking me to their penthouse on Park Avenue, Marcus and his wife, Eliza, took me for a full medical and psychological evaluation. They were… pleased with the results. “Welcome home, Ava,” Eliza finally said, taking my hand. Her smile was genuine, but her eyes were analytical. In the Bentley on the way home, Marcus asked, “So, I’m your hero, huh? In what way?” I clicked into the role. I was eight years old. I looked at him with carefully calibrated awe. “I read an article about you in Forbes at the library. I admire how you built your empire. The way you handle the markets. I want to build my own empire just like you someday.” This deeply pleased him. “You read Forbes? At your age?” “I’ve always been interested in business.” He and Eliza exchanged a look. It was the look of investors who’ve just found a unicorn. So, they didn’t treat me like a child. They treated me like a project. My schedule was packed: Etiquette. Art History. Piano. French. Equestrian. They even had a specialist come in to teach me “social dynamics.” And every night, I had to watch one hour of Bloomberg with Marcus. This was an elite education, designed to forge a successor. A month in, they were more than pleased. They were proud. Their affection was becoming less of an act. One night, Eliza took me into her legendary walk-in closet. It was a vault. “Ava,” she said, gesturing to the glittering shelves, “pick anything you like.” “Thank you, Mom,” I said, using the word deliberately. I then looked at the jewels. “I can identify most of these. Cartier, Harry Winston, the Bulgari heritage pieces. But… I don’t really like them.” I am not Maya. Maya’s downfall, I realized, wasn’t just that they wanted a socialite. It’s that she wanted to be one. She was lazy, shallow, and addicted to luxury. She had no other skills, so they used the only one she had. Eliza’s smile faltered. A complex emotion passed through her eyes. “What… what do you like, then?” I looked up at her, making my eyes wide. “Mom? If I ask for something, will you give it to me?” She paused, the calculation fading, replaced by something softer. “Of course, Ava. Tell me.” “The books say… books say moms read their kids bedtime stories. I know I’m eight, but… I’ve never had one.” “Mom,” I whispered, “could you read to me tonight?” 3 Eliza’s mask finally broke. She knelt and stroked my hair, her eyes suddenly, genuinely warm. “Yes,” she said, her voice thick. “Every night.” There is nothing more powerful than a mother’s devotion. And I had just created it. That night, she held me and read Cinderella. “Do you envy her, Ava?” she asked. “One day, you’ll meet your prince.” I looked up. “Mom? Did you meet your prince?” Her gaze went distant. A bitter shadow crossed her mouth. “No,” she said, smiling. “I didn’t.” She recovered. “Ava, are the lessons too much? If you don’t want to learn all this, you don’t have to. You’re our daughter now. You can just… be a child.” “When you grow up,” she continued, “I’ll find you a wonderful man from a good family. You can marry him and be happy and safe forever.” I knew, in that moment, that she truly saw me as her daughter. And I knew she must have given Maya the exact same offer in our first life. Maya would have taken it. I shook my head, pressing it into her shoulder. “I don’t want to marry a prince, Mom. I want to be like you.” She laughed. “Like me? And what am I?” “You’re powerful. You’re brilliant. You’re on the board. I want to be a strong woman, just like you.” I added, “And I hope I’m as beautiful as you when I grow up.” Marcus and Eliza Vance were a power couple. They’d built their empire together from nothing. But as I’d learned from my financial research, a man who can endure poverty with you can’t always endure wealth. Marcus was drowning in his own vices, and the tabloids loved it. Eliza, I sensed, was lonely. She missed the fight. “My path was very, very difficult, Ava,” she said softly. “I’m not afraid,” I said, my voice steel. “You did it. I can, too. I want to be just as amazing as you.” She kissed my forehead. “Okay, baby girl. Mom will help you.” From then on, Eliza didn’t just train me. She forged me. She poured every ounce of her strategic brilliance into me. She was a legend on Wall Street before she’d stepped back, and she was going to make sure I was, too. “I never want you to suffer what I did,” she’d say. “I won’t,” I’d promise, hugging her. “When I grow up, I’ll protect you.”

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1 A medical prodigy, I was fast-tracked to a top university. But when my paper on a new anti-cancer drug was published, I was crucified online as a plagiarist. I soon discovered why: the scholarship student I’d sponsored had published an identical paper a day earlier, securing her a prestigious graduate spot. When I confronted her, my fiancé and brother were there celebrating her success. They turned on me, accusing me of jealousy and slander. The next day, a viral post branded me a campus bully who used family wealth to torment a poor student. I was expelled and became a pariah, while Molly was hailed as a courageous victim. While searching for evidence to clear my name, I was hit by a car driven by one of her fans. Then I woke up—back in time, right before the paper was published. “Lara, I heard your new anti-cancer drug was a success in trials! That’s incredible.” The familiar voice made me flinch. I glanced at the clock on the lab wall and a cold wave of realization washed over me. I was reborn. It was the day after my successful trials, the day before I was supposed to publish my paper. In the next second, Molly was clinging to my arm, her voice dripping with saccharine sweetness. “Lara, I’m working in the same field. Could I maybe… take a look at your research notes? Just to learn?” Before I could answer, my fiancé, Finn, grabbed my laptop and held it out to her. “What’s the big deal? Her research is done. It’s useless to her now. Just take it.” Molly’s eyes lit up as she reached for it. “Thank you, Finn!” I snatched the laptop back. “That’s mine. What gives you the right to play the generous benefactor with my work?” The other students in the lab turned to stare. Finn’s face contorted with anger. “Lara, the trials are over! You don’t need the data anymore. What’s wrong with letting Molly learn from it? Why are you being so petty and selfish? How can you even be my girlfriend acting like this?” In my last life, the threat of him leaving me sent me into a panic. I’d immediately caved and handed over my research. But after I published my paper, my name was dragged through the mud. I went online and saw it: one day before my publication, Molly had released an identical paper. She’d been hailed as a young genius and offered early admission to Crestview University’s graduate program. I, who published a day later, was labeled a copycat, a pariah. When I found Molly to confront her, I saw Finn and my brother, Ethan, presenting her with a cake to celebrate her grad school acceptance. When she saw me, Molly held the cake out with a triumphant smirk. I’d slapped it out of her hands. My brother had slapped me across the face in return, while Finn accused me of ruining Molly’s big moment. When I demanded to know why she stole my work, she had collapsed into their arms, sobbing. “Just because I wouldn’t give you my research, you accuse me of stealing? How could you?” That was the moment that triggered the avalanche of online hate. The memory of it was a hot poker in my chest. I let out a cold laugh and my hand connected with Finn’s cheek in a sharp slap. “Finn, you knew perfectly well this was my unpublished research, and you were just going to hand it over? Do you have any concept of academic integrity?” Molly’s eyes immediately welled with tears. “Lara, it’s all my fault,” she whimpered. “I’m the one who’s poor and ignorant. It’s only natural for you to look down on me. Finn was just trying to be nice. Please don’t be angry with him because of me.” Seeing Molly so distressed, Finn’s anger boiled over. He stepped in front of her protectively. “Lara, you think just because your family has some money you can look down on people and humiliate them like this?” I was stunned into silence. “Refusing to leak my unpublished data is humiliating someone? How is protecting my own intellectual property wrong?” Molly’s eyes were red with unshed tears. “Lara, it’s my fault. I just wanted to study hard, to try and catch up to you.” “I grew up poor, in the countryside. Coming here, I realized how far behind I was. I study day and night just trying to change my fate.” “If I don’t have good reference material, if I can’t produce results and get into grad school… my parents will drag me back home and marry me off to some old man for money to support my brother. I don’t want to go back there… Lara, please, can’t you just help me?” Finn looked at her with heart-wrenching pity, then turned to me with pure disgust. “Lara, are you really so cruel? Will you be happy once you’ve forced her to drop out?” I could see the onlookers’ expressions softening, their sympathy shifting to her. So I slapped Finn again, harder this time. “Me, cruel? Don’t you both forget, I’m the one paying for your tuition, your apartment, your entire life here! The library is filled with reference materials. Why do you need my unpublished data?” The onlookers blinked, the spell broken. “She’s right. There are tons of resources. Why is she so fixated on Lara’s specific data? It’s normal to say no.” “Yeah, Lara is sponsoring her, and this is how she repays her? By emotionally blackmailing her when she refuses an unreasonable request?” “It’s not Lara’s fault you have a terrible family. Why should she have to fix your life?” Outnumbered, Finn turned his fury back on me. “We may be poor, Lara, but we have dignity! I never would have taken your damned money if you hadn’t begged me to let you sponsor me. You have no right to insult us!” With that, he grabbed Molly’s hand and they fled through the sea of pointing fingers and whispers. Just in case, when I got home, I backed up my real data to a new, secure cloud account. Then, on my laptop, I replaced my data with a copy of a well-known, landmark study published years ago by Dean Wallace of Crestview University. Once everything was in place, I went downstairs for dinner. My parents were already at the table waiting for me. Seeing all my favorite dishes laid out, my eyes stung with tears. In my last life, when I was trapped in that nightmare, when everyone accused me of academic fraud, I fell into a deep depression. My parents’ hair turned white overnight. They never left my side, caring for me, traveling everywhere with me to search for evidence. Seeing them now, healthy and smiling, I was filled with a profound guilt. I had failed them. “Lara, honey, why are you crying?” my mom asked, rushing to my side. “Did someone bully you?” I wiped my tears and shook my head. “No, I just… missed you guys at school.” They both chuckled. “You were only gone for a day! Come on, eat up. We made all your favorites.” I sat down between them, a warmth spreading through my chest. We were halfway through the meal when my brother, Ethan, burst in. His eyes landed on me, and his face twisted into a mask of disgust. “Lara, how can you just sit there eating? Don’t you know Molly has cried her eyes out because of you? When did you become so malicious?” Looking at his furious face, a wave of disappointment washed over me. In my past life, it was Ethan’s testimony against me that sealed my fate. I could still remember the comments online. “Her own brother testified against her. That just shows how rotten she really is.” The memory made me tremble with rage. But before I could speak, my mother shot up and slapped Ethan across the face. “You haven’t been home in six months, and the first thing you do is attack your sister for some outsider?” Ethan glared at her. “Mom, do you have any idea what she did? She used our family’s money to bully someone! Her character is flawed, she’s vicious…” Before he could finish, my father slapped him too. “You disgraceful boy! We know your sister’s character better than anyone. It’s you who is slandering her, humiliating our family’s name!” Ethan’s furious gaze locked on me. “It’s your fault! You’ve spoiled her so rotten she thinks she can do whatever she wants!” Just then, Molly appeared at the door as if on cue, rushing to my brother’s side. “Ethan, it’s my fault, don’t blame Lara. It’s because I’m poor and don’t have access to the right materials. It’s fine if she doesn’t want to share. Don’t make things difficult for her. It just means my parents will take me home and marry me off for my brother’s dowry.” My brother’s eyes filled with anguish for her, which only deepened his loathing for me. “Lara, are you that heartless? You’d rather watch Molly get forced out of school and have her life ruined? How can I have such a cold-blooded sister?” My father raised his hand to strike Ethan again, but I stopped him. “Dad, it’s fine. It’s just research data, right?” I said, my voice heavy with false resignation. “I’m done with it anyway. I’ll give it to her. I don’t want people saying our family uses its power to bully others and damage the company’s reputation.” Molly’s face lit up. “Really? Oh, Lara, thank you so much!” In front of them all, I brought out my laptop and transferred the files to Molly’s phone. “There. Everything you wanted. Are you satisfied now?” A flicker of triumph flashed in her eyes. “Thank you, Lara. I’ll be sure to repay you for this one day.” Repay me? By turning the world against me? By having your fans run me over with a car? Is that the repayment you have in mind? My brother gave me a grudging look. “At least you have some conscience left. You’re not completely rotten.” My mother snatched a pair of chopsticks from the table and threw them at his head. “You say one more word against your sister and I’ll beat you myself. She gave you what you wanted. Now get out!” Ethan grabbed Molly’s hand, and they quickly left. Over the next few days, I polished my real research paper. Instead of publishing it directly, I sent it to a mentor at the World Health Organization, asking for his feedback. If the paper was as solid as I thought, it would be my ticket into any graduate program I wanted.

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