Category: English

My sister, Daisy, was fragile, but she wore her frailty like a crown of quiet grace. She was always the delicate martyr. Every time Mom tried to give her my things, Daisy would shake her head, her eyes brimming with tears as she softly refused. But somehow, without fail, those things always ended up in her hands anyway. The moment a single tear slipped down Daisy’s cheek, Mom would fire off a massive, guilt-tripping message to our family group chat. “It’s my fault as a mother. I failed. I raised Fiona to be so selfish, and now poor Daisy has been crying in her room all night…” Once it posted, the endless barrage of aunts, uncles, and cousins would line up to tag me. They’d repeat the same old refrain: Daisy jumped into the freezing creek to save you when you were kids. She ruined her health for you. You owe her for the rest of your life. So, I spent seventeen years stepping aside. I gave up my bedroom, my scholarship funds, my spots in academic competitions… Until the year I was named the state’s top valedictorian with a perfect academic record, while Daisy completely bombed her exams. On the day of the final college enrollment deadline, Mom locked me in my bedroom, sobbing through the door, begging me to take a gap year and reapply with Daisy. Daisy knocked softly on my door from the outside, crying as she pleaded, “Mom, please don’t force Fiona. I don’t want her to feel like she’s a hostage to my saving her life…” But after I climbed out the window to submit my final enrollment confirmation, what awaited me wasn’t an orientation packet. It was a letter of admission revocation. It wasn’t until then that I discovered Daisy had been screenshotting every single one of Mom’s guilt-tripping posts and leaking them online, one by one. And when the local reporters interviewed her, Daisy had remained quiet for a long, heavy moment before looking up with tear-filled eyes. “Mom always says,” she whispered, “there are many things you can forget in this life. But you can never, ever forget a debt of gratitude.” … During the final weeks before the AP exams and final college assessments, I practically chained myself to my desk. I ran through practice test after practice test, highlighting my mistakes in red ink, correcting them until they were perfect. Daisy stood in the doorway, clutching her thermos of warm herbal tea. She looked at my study guides, covered in meticulous red annotations, and let out a soft sigh. “You’re so amazing, Fiona. Even with questions this hard, you barely make any mistakes.” I didn’t look up. “Practice makes perfect,” I replied flatly. Daisy stiffened, then lowered her head, coughing softly into her hand. “Right… not like me. My health has always been so bad. Other kids can study ten hours a day, but I’m exhausted after five. Every time I try to pull an all-nighter, I feel like my body is giving out on me.” The bedroom door slammed open with a violent crash. Mom stormed in. Without a word, she ripped the study guide right out of my hands and tore it down the middle, the sound of tearing paper echoing in the small room. “Fiona! Do you have a single shred of conscience left in you?” “Your sister is standing here coughing her lungs out, and all you care about is your stupid test prep! She ruined her health saving you from that creek, and now her body is failing her right before finals. Can’t you show her some basic human empathy?” I knelt down to gather the torn pages scattered across the carpet. Mom stomped her foot directly onto the papers. “Don’t touch them! Go to the kitchen and brew your sister’s herbal medicine! If anything happens to her, you could never pay her back!” I quietly retreated to the kitchen. The pot of herbs bubbled on the stove, sending up a bitter, medicinal steam. Meanwhile, Mom sat on the living room sofa, her fingers furiously tapping against her phone screen. Minutes later, my phone vibrated constantly. The family group chat notifications quickly spiked past 99+. [It’s my fault. I failed as a mother.] [When they were kids, Daisy risked her life to pull Fiona from the water, ruining her own health. Now, with the final exams here, Daisy is coughing and suffering, yet Fiona only cares about her test scores. She won’t even look her sister in the eye.] [I failed to raise her right. I’ve raised a girl who doesn’t care whether her savior lives or dies.] The moment the messages hit the chat, the relatives descended like vultures, tagging me relentlessly. [Fiona, you can’t forget where you came from.] [What’s the point of straight A’s if you don’t have a soul? Learn how to be a decent human being first!] [Your sister nearly died for you. Taking care of her is the bare minimum.] Just when the vitriol reached its peak, Daisy finally chimed in. [Please don’t blame Fiona, everyone. The exams are tomorrow, and she’s under a lot of pressure. It’s natural she wants to focus on studying.] Then, she added: [Mom, please delete those messages. I don’t want everyone to misunderstand Fiona because of me.] Her “defense” only poured gasoline on the fire. The chat erupted with praise for her kindness and renewed disgust for my selfishness. Someone even wrote: If only Daisy hadn’t saved her back then. I stared at the flashing screen, my face entirely numb, and muted the chat. I had been watching this same performance play out for seventeen years. When the tea was ready, I slipped on my headphones, drowning out the world with an English listening exercise. Let them scream. Eventually, they’d get tired and stop. But I only had one shot at my future. That night, I pulled a drawing from the very back of my desk drawer. It was the only thing Dad had left me. There were no flowers or trees on the page—just a tiny bird, wings unfurled, soaring through heavy clouds toward an open sky. Dad had been the only shield I had in this house. When Mom turned her back on me, he stood in her way. When the relatives lined up to condemn me, he raised his voice in my defense. Near the end, when sickness had reduced him to nothing but fragile bones, he held my hand and whispered the same words over and over: “Fiona, don’t listen to them. Keep your head down, study hard, and get out. Once you leave this place, you can finally start living.” A sudden click broke my thoughts. The door opened, and Mom walked in. She placed a sheet of paper on my desk. I looked down. It was an enrollment form for a gap-year prep program. She sat on the edge of my bed, her voice unusually soft. “Fiona, let’s talk. Your sister’s health is declining, and her stress levels are through the roof. She’s not going to get the scores she needs. You’re the older sister, and your grades are always perfect. I was thinking… maybe you could defer your enrollment. Take a gap year and prepare for the exams again alongside Daisy.” I froze. Over the years, she had made me give up clothes, my bedroom, my scholarship prize money. I had accepted all of it. But I never imagined she would ask me to hand over my future. Mom looked at me, a desperate hope in her eyes. “You know how weak Daisy is. She suffered so much for you when you were little. All I’m asking is for you to give her one year. I’m doing this for your sake, too, Fiona. There’s nothing worse in this world than carrying the reputation of being ungrateful.” I stared at the enrollment form, the black ink blurring before my eyes. After a long silence, I gave a quiet nod. “I’ll think about it.” Mom let out a visible breath of relief. “I knew you’d understand. You’ve always been my sensible girl.” Sensible. I had heard that word for seventeen years. It meant yielding whatever was mine. It meant swallowing my hurts in silence. It meant everyone around me believed my entire existence was merely collateral to pay back my sister. The exams came and went. Walking out of the testing center on the final day, the gates were crowded with anxious parents. Mom was there, her arm wrapped supportively around Daisy’s shoulders. Daisy offered me a weak, sweet smile and held out a cold bottle of water. “Great job, Fiona.” Before my fingers could touch the plastic, Mom snatched it away and pressed it back into Daisy’s hands. “You drink first. Your throat is dry.” I slowly pulled my hand back and let it drop to my side. The day the results were released, the school erupted. A giant red banner hung across the main gates: Congratulations to Fiona, State Valedictorian and Top Scholar! The principal called my cell phone personally. My guidance counselor’s voice trembled with sheer excitement on the line. Message after message flooded in from my teachers, calling me the pride of the school. Daisy, however, had barely passed. She locked herself in her room and cried for hours. Mom stood in the living room, listening to the phone ring off the hook with congratulations, her expression sour. The moment I hung up with another teacher, she glared at me. “Your sister is devastated, and you can’t even spare a thought for her feelings? Do you really need to let these obnoxious calls keep flooding our house?” I stared at her, then walked over to the landline and quietly unplugged the cord. “They won’t ring anymore.” The room fell dead silent. Mom watched me, her gaze shifting to something heavy and calculated. “The matter we discussed before… have you made up your mind?” For the first time in my life, I looked her dead in the eye. “I am going to college.” Her expression turned instantly cold. “What did you say?” “I said I’m not taking a gap year. Going to college was Dad’s final wish for me.” Mom slammed her hand on the table, standing up abruptly. “Fiona! Your sister’s body was ruined because she saved you! Her focus, her energy—everything suffered because of what happened that day. What is one year of your life compared to that? So what if you’re the valedictorian? You can get those scores again next year!” Tears of anger spilled down her face. “I’m telling you, you are not going to college this semester! You are staying right here to tutor Daisy, keep her spirits up, and study with her. You owe her this!” I ignored her shouting, walked back to my room, and closed the door. Within seconds, my phone began to buzz again. I didn’t need to look to know she had taken to the family group chat. I set it to silent. Later that night, when I went to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water, I heard Daisy’s muffled sobbing from the master bedroom. “Mom, please let it go. I can’t be the reason Fiona’s life is ruined…” Mom’s voice was incredibly gentle as she cooed, “Oh, sweetheart, don’t say that. She owes you this. If she hadn’t dragged you into that water, you wouldn’t be struggling like this today. Giving you one year is the very least she can do.” Standing in the dark hallway, I thought of every single sacrifice I had made over the last seventeen years. I had always viewed them as penance. But looking at the closed door, I realized I was done using my future to pay off an imaginary debt. The day before the final enrollment deadline. I was heading out the front door when Mom blocked my path. She extended an open palm. “Give me your ID, your registration paperwork, and your phone.” I took a step back. “What are you doing?” She didn’t answer. With a swift, practiced motion, she snatched the folder from my hands and pushed me backward. Before I could react, the heavy wooden door slammed shut, and I heard the sharp, metallic click of the deadbolt locking from the outside. I threw myself against the door, pounding my fists against the wood. “Mom! Open the door!” Her muffled, crying voice came through. “Don’t hate me, Fiona. I can’t let you live your life as a selfish coward. Once the deadline passes tonight, this will all be over.” “Mom! Let me out! The portal closes today!” I screamed, but there was only silence from the hallway. Hours ticked by. Eventually, the faint sound of Mom crying filtered through the walls. She was hosting a group video call with the relatives. “I hate doing this… but I can’t let my own daughters tear each other apart. I’m doing this for both of them.” On the other end, the voices of my aunts and uncles chimed in to comfort her. “You’re an amazing mother. Fiona is just incredibly selfish. Daisy sacrificed her health for her; what’s one little gap year? You’re doing the right thing.” Listening to them validate her cruelty, my mind flashed back to Dad’s frail hand holding mine. Fiona, get out. I looked out the window. My bedroom was on the second floor. The sill was narrow, and below lay a hard concrete patio. But I knew with absolute certainty: if I didn’t get out of this room today, I would never get out of this house. I gritted my teeth and climbed onto the window ledge. Gripping the metal drainpipe with everything I had, I slid down inch by inch. The rough brick tore at the skin of my palms. Halfway down, my grip slipped, and I crashed onto the concrete below. A sharp, burning pain flared through my knees. One of my shoes had flown off, but there was no time. Clutching my bruised leg, I stood up and ran. I sprinted barefoot on one foot toward the neighborhood gate, where I practically collided with a classmate from school, Emily. I grabbed her shoulders, my chest heaving, my voice trembling. “Emily… please, I need your phone.” With less than a minute left before the university portal closed forever, my fingers flew across her screen. I tapped the final submission button. The screen flashed: Enrollment Confirmed. My vision blurred with hot tears. For the first time in seventeen years, I had won. By the time I walked back into the house, the sun had set. Mom looked at me, her eyes cold and empty. She didn’t say a word. She simply picked up her phone and began typing. Within minutes, another lengthy, venomous post hit the family group chat. The notifications started rolling in again, heavy with condemnation. I stared at the screen, an overwhelming exhaustion washing over me. For the first time, I actually typed a reply. [I am going to college. But if Daisy wants, I am happy to tutor her remotely every single day to help her prepare.] The chat went quiet for a moment. Then, the attacks redoubled. [Remote tutoring? She doesn’t need a Zoom call, she needs her sister beside her!] [Fiona, you are unbelievably selfish.] I closed the app and turned off my phone. I thought that was the end of it. I had no idea the nightmare was only just beginning. A few days later, Emily sent me a link. Fiona, look at this. Is this about you? I tapped the link. It was a social media post that was already viral. The post was filled with endless screenshots of our family chats. Every single one of Mom’s manipulative paragraphs had been uploaded for the world to see. The captions read: Unbelievable: Valedictorian abandons the sister who saved her life. A sister sacrificed her health to save her from drowning, and now she refuses to take a gap year to help her. The comments had already surpassed a hundred thousand. Before I could process it, my phone began to buzz with notifications. Someone had leaked my real name. Someone else leaked my high school. Within hours, the topic reached the trending page: #StateValedictorianAbandonsSisterWhoSavedHerLife. The comments were merciless. How can someone this brilliant be so utterly heartless? A perfect academic record means nothing if you have a rotten soul. The university should revoke her admission immediately. Poor Daisy. She saved a monster. The next morning, local reporters were waiting at our doorstep. They shoved microphones into Daisy’s face as she stepped outside. She shook her head meekly. “Fiona has a right to live her own life. I never wanted to hold her back.” “But do you blame her?” a reporter pressed. Daisy remained silent for a long, painful beat, letting a tear slip down her cheek before whispering, “Mom always says… you can forget a lot of things in this life. But you can never forget a debt of gratitude.” Those few words sealed my fate. The public outrage reached a fever pitch. Later that evening, Daisy came into my room, her eyes rimmed with red. “Fiona, I’m so sorry… I never wanted any of this to happen. If I knew people would be so mean to you online, I wouldn’t have said anything to the press.” I looked at her, my voice dead calm. “Those screenshots. Did you post them?” Daisy blinked, momentarily caught off guard. “Fiona, how could you think that of me? There are dozens of people in that group chat. Maybe an aunt or an uncle was just upset on my behalf and posted them.” She bit her lip, her voice dropping to a fragile whisper. “Besides… what Mom wrote wasn’t a lie, was it? You chose a college halfway across the country because you wanted to run away from me. You wanted to leave the sister who saved you behind.” I stared at her, feeling a chill run down my spine. The sweet, fragile sister I had known my entire life seemed to vanish, replaced by a stranger with a calculated, razor-sharp edge. For the next week, the first thing I did every morning was log into the university portal. I kept telling myself that once I got to campus, the noise would fade. But my official acceptance letter never arrived. Instead, a new notification appeared on my dashboard: Notice of Admission Suspension. I dialed the admissions office repeatedly. Busy signals, voicemail, over and over, until finally, someone picked up. “I’m the state valedictorian,” I said, my voice cracking. “My academic record is flawless. Why is my admission being suspended?” The officer’s tone was entirely bureaucratic. “The university has received a significant volume of complaints regarding your character, including viral social media reports, news coverage, and formal petitions from the public. Our institution holds our students to high ethical standards. Due to the ongoing public controversy, we have decided to suspend your admission pending further review.” The line went dead. I stood frozen, holding the cold phone against my ear. Seventeen years of relentless work, of sleepless nights and absolute dedication, had been erased by a few screenshots and internet outrage. Moments later, my guidance counselor called. She sighed heavily. “Fiona… the school’s inbox is flooded with angry emails demanding we take away your valedictorian title. Go home for now. I’ll try to talk to the board.” I hung up and sat on the curb, watching the traffic pass by, having nowhere left to go. I didn’t crawl back home until the streets were dark. Mom was in the kitchen. She looked up and frowned. “Why are you so late?” It took a long time for my vocal cords to work. “My college admission,” I whispered, my voice thick. “They suspended it.” Mom paused. “What do you mean?” I tossed my phone onto the table, the suspension notice open. “They received thousands of complaints about how I treat Daisy. They think I’m a monster. They’re reviewing my file.” Mom glanced at the screen, and a subtle wave of relief seemed to wash over her features. “Well… then it’s for the best. Now you can take that gap year and help your sister.” I stared at her, my blood running cold. “Did Daisy post those screenshots?” Her expression hardened instantly. “Daisy is an angel. She would never do something so malicious! Fiona, you brought this on yourself with your own selfishness. Don’t you dare try to drag your sister down with you.” I took a sharp, shaky breath. “You know those posts are lies. I’m going to tell the truth. I’m going to post everything that actually happened in this house.” Before I could finish, Mom lunged forward and slapped me across the face. The sharp crack echoed through the room, and my cheek flared with heat. She stood over me, trembling with rage. “You ungrateful brat! Haven’t you hurt this family enough? You ruined your sister’s life once—are you trying to destroy what’s left of her? Do you want to drive her to the edge before you’re finally satisfied?” I clutched my burning cheek, turned on my heel, and ran out into the night. Behind me, her shrieking voice cut through the air. “How did I raise such a heartless, cruel child!” I ran until my lungs burned, tears blurring my vision. As I slowed to a walk near the neighborhood park, an elderly man sitting on a bench called out to me. “Excuse me… are you Fiona? My goodness, look how much you’ve grown. When I pulled you out of the creek, you were barely up to my waist.” He gestured with his hand, smiling warmly. I stopped dead in my tracks. “What…? No, my sister, Daisy… she’s the one who saved me.” The old man’s brow furrowed. “Who told you that nonsense? She didn’t save you. She’s the one who pushed you into the creek.” My mind went completely blank, a high-pitched ringing filling my ears. The old man hesitated, looking at my pale face, before adding quietly, “And… your mother was standing right there. She saw the whole thing.” My blood turned to ice. “What did you say?” The old man let out a heavy sigh. “Did she really keep that from you all these years?”

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My sister, Stella, had a disastrous first love, which left her convinced that all men were trash. The day I introduced Ethan to her, she didn’t hold back. She looked him up and down and said coldly, “He’s just like every other guy. Eventually, he’s going to betray you.” Under the table, I desperately tugged at the hem of her shirt. But Ethan didn’t get angry. He looked straight into Stella’s eyes and said, word for word, “If I ever betray Maya, I hope I lose everything.” Stella only let out a scoff. “We’ll see about that.” After that day, the tension between them was ice-cold, leaving me awkwardly caught in the middle. Later, I was sent away on a six-month business trip. The night before I was scheduled to return, I was lying in bed, scrolling through an anonymous confession page on Instagram. One post caught my eye: 【I fell in love with my younger sister’s boyfriend. What should I do?】 The comment section was filled with absolute rage. Then, I saw a reply from a burner account: 【Please stop hating on her. It’s not her fault. I was the one who pursued her.】 【She acts so tough on the outside, but she’s incredibly fragile inside. The more she pushes me away, the more my heart breaks for her.】 My finger froze. Instinctively, I clicked on the burner account’s profile. There was only one video on the page—a video of a cat. Yet, a sudden chill washed over me, and I couldn’t stop shaking. That cat was Joy, the one Ethan had given me.

I zoomed in on the video, over and over. I didn’t want to miss a single detail. But every single detail confirmed my worst nightmare. It was the cat from our first anniversary. On my birthday, Ethan had driven through a massive blizzard just to deliver her to my doorstep at midnight. He told me her name was Joy. He said he hoped she would bring joy to every single day of my life. A wave of absurdity washed over me. I could barely breathe. I backed out of the profile. I scrolled back to the very beginning of the confession post. It was posted just an hour ago. 【The first time we met, I hated him. I had been betrayed before, so I didn’t trust men at all.】 【But he was so good to my sister. She has a sensitive stomach, so he kept a detailed note on his phone of what she could and couldn’t eat.】 【Every time she worked late, no matter how midnight it was, he would always go pick her up.】 【He remembered every little thing she liked. His Instagram profile picture was even a matching couple photo of them.】 I bit my lip so hard that the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Ethan had been so perfect to me. He tracked my period cycle, always keeping Midol and heating pads in his backpack. Once, when I was rolling in pain from cramps in the middle of the night, he booked the earliest flight just to bring me medicine. Any passing comment I made, he would remember and make it happen the next day. I had always felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have found the best man on earth. With trembling hands, I kept scrolling. 【Then my sister went on a business trip. She told me to call him if I needed anything, saying he was reliable. I told her I’d rather die than call him.】 【One night, there was a violent thunderstorm, and the power in my apartment went out. The lightbulb shattered. I’m terrified of the dark, and the landlord didn’t pick up my calls.】 【In a panic, I found the number my sister left me and called him.】 【Thirty minutes later, he showed up at my door, completely drenched. He smiled and said, ‘So you do have a weak spot after all.’】 【In that exact moment, something shifted in my heart.】 I remembered that night. Ethan used to tell me everything. When we FaceTimed that night, he had brought it up himself. “Your sister acts like she’s fearless, but she’s actually terrified of the dark.” He talked about Stella for a long time. He smiled as he spoke. There was a strange, gentle warmth in his laugh. I didn’t think much of it back then. I even told him to make sure he helped her whenever she needed it. 【After that, whenever things broke in the apartment, my first instinct was to call him.】 【We started seeing each other more often, and I realized I didn’t hate him anymore.】 【He started waiting for me to get off work. We went grocery shopping and watched movies together.】 【He even learned how to cook my favorite meals. Just like he did for my sister, he made a list of my likes and dislikes on his phone.】 【I told him it felt wrong that he was texting me with a profile picture of him and my sister. He changed it instantly.】 【My feelings for him are getting so complicated.】 That profile picture was the very first photo he took of me when we started dating. I remembered teasing him back then. “Aren’t you embarrassed to use my photo? People will laugh at you.” He had pinched my cheek, looking so proud. “My girlfriend is beautiful. Of course I want the whole world to know.” He had kept that picture for five years. No matter what anyone said, he never changed it. The day he finally did, I asked him why. He said it was for work. And I believed him. It turned out it was all because of a single word from Stella. Tears splashed onto my screen, blurring the text. 【We went to the movies tonight. At the end, he suddenly turned to me and asked, ‘Do you like me?’】 【I could hear my own heart hammering. Then I heard him say, ‘I wish I had met you first, Stella.’】 【I lost control. I kissed him, and he didn’t pull away.】 【I feel disgusted with myself. How could I do this to my own sister? But I can’t stop loving him.】 【She comes back tomorrow. I don’t know how to face her.】

My stomach churned, and a wave of nausea hit me. I leaned over the edge of the bed and dry-heaved, but nothing came out. When our parents died in that car crash, I was eight, and Stella was thirteen. Stella was the one who went to all my parent-teacher conferences. She was the one who braided my hair. When I got my first period, Stella was the one who bought pads and taught me what to do. Other kids talked about their moms and dads. But for me, it was always Stella. When I introduced Ethan to her, I wanted her approval so badly. To me, she was more of a parent than anyone else. But now… The person I shared blood with, and the person I loved most. They had been doing this behind my back. My heart felt like it was being ripped apart. I curled up on the bed, sobbing in the dark. The confession post was going viral. The comments were getting more brutal by the second. 【This is sick. Stealing your own sister’s boyfriend? What a parasite.】 【I feel so sorry for the sister. Betrayed by her own flesh and blood and her boyfriend? This is a living nightmare.】 【’Can’t stop loving him’? Go to hell. And this guy is absolute trash!】 Under every single hateful comment, Ethan had replied. 【She is in more pain than anyone. She hates herself more than you ever could. You have no right to judge her.】 【Yes, I’m trash. But even as trash, I will protect her.】 【If I had met her first, I would have chosen her.】 And the latest update on the post was from a minute ago. 【You’re all right. I’m disgusting. I’m going to cut him off. I can’t lose my sister.】 My phone slipped from my hand, clattering onto the hardwood floor. Just yesterday, I was counting down the hours to come home. Now, I had no idea how to face them. Outside, the city lights were blinding. I didn’t sleep a wink. After hours of painful agonizing, I dragged my suitcase to the airport anyway. A text from Stella popped up right on time. 【Maya, I’m waiting for you at the arrivals gate.】 Ethan’s text came a minute before my flight boarded. 【Safe flight, Maya. Can’t wait to see you.】 This was his only message since our rushed phone call last night. In the past, he would have called me thirty minutes early to wake me up. He would nag me about not forgetting my ID, my bags, and to make sure I ate breakfast. Then, he would spam me with texts the entire trip to make sure I was safe. But now, there was only one short sentence. I didn’t reply. I turned off my phone and closed my eyes. When the plane landed, I saw Stella and Ethan waiting at the exit. They stood on opposite sides, at least six feet apart. Acting like strangers. Stella’s makeup was heavy, almost completely hiding any signs of crying. She was always like that—never showing any vulnerability. Even to me. Ethan didn’t run up to hug me like he usually did. He forced a natural-looking smile and pulled a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. “Welcome home, Maya.” When he handed me the flowers, both Stella and I froze. He was holding white roses. Those were Stella’s favorite.

I fought with everything I had to keep my face neutral. I was the one who had told him Stella only liked white roses. I only liked baby’s breath. For five years, he had never gotten it wrong. He suddenly realized what he was holding. Panic flashed in his eyes, and he quickly tried to cover it up. “I was in such a rush this morning, I didn’t even notice I grabbed the wrong bouquet. I’ll get you a much bigger one later.” As he spoke, his eyes instinctively darted toward Stella. Stella didn’t look at him. She stepped forward and took my suitcase. “Come on. Let me take you out for a nice lunch.” In the past, the three of us would have gone to grab a massive meal. But those words from the confession post kept screaming in my head. I forced a tight smile. “You guys go ahead. I have to head straight to the office.” Ethan stepped forward. “I can drive you there.” “No!” The rejection came out sharper than I intended. Both Ethan and Stella frowned, confusion and suspicion written all over their faces. I lowered my head, took my suitcase back from Stella, and tried to keep my voice steady. “My manager is waiting for my report. I won’t be home until later.” Their expressions softened. Stella smiled. “Okay. I’ll cook your favorite dinner tonight.” Ethan offered a gentle smile. “Call me when you’re done. I’ll come pick you up.” I nodded. I turned and practically ran out of the airport, hailing a cab to the office. Outside the window, the familiar streets blurred past. I had lived in this city for twenty-five years. Every corner held a memory of them. That steakhouse on 5th Street. Stella always lectured me about my sensitive stomach, refusing to let me eat anything too spicy, forcing me to drink milk. That boba shop on Broadway. Ethan had waited in line for three hours just to get me a limited-edition cat mug. And the cinema downtown. The three of us used to buy tickets for late-night shows, then walk back slowly under the streetlights. We would argue about the plot. Stella would always tear Ethan’s opinions to shreds. Ethan would raise his hands in surrender, laughing and saying, “My bad, my bad.” Then he would lean in close to my ear and whisper, “Your sister is terrifying.” Those days were so happy. When I snapped back to reality, my face was drenched in tears. The cab driver glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “Hey, kiddo. Nothing in this life is worth crying that hard over. Keep your chin up.” I let out an embarrassed laugh. “Thanks.” I wiped my tears away. When we arrived at the office, I paid and got out. Looking up at the glass building, I took a deep breath. During my six-month trip, I had been temporarily assigned to a regional project. Because of my performance, my manager had offered to put me on a secret three-year project overseas. I had turned it down. Because Ethan said he wanted to get married. Before I left, he told me that as soon as I got back, we would start looking at houses. Well, I didn’t need to look at houses anymore. But I definitely needed that project. I walked into the office. My manager, Mr. Vance, was just coming out of a conference room with a stack of files. He stopped when he saw me. “Maya? I thought you weren’t back until tomorrow.” “I got an earlier flight,” I said, forcing a smile. “Mr. Vance, about that overseas assignment… I want to apply for it.” His eyes lit up. “Really? I tried to convince you for months, and you wouldn’t budge.” “Are you sure about this?” Was I sure? To be honest, even now, I couldn’t fully believe that Stella and Ethan had betrayed me. But I knew some things didn’t need to be understood. They just had to be accepted. I nodded. Mr. Vance’s expression turned serious. “This is a highly confidential project, Maya. You’ll be stationed overseas for three years. No trips home, and extremely limited contact with anyone back here. Can you handle that?” “Yes. I can leave tomorrow morning.”

It was 10 PM by the time I finally walked out of the building. Ethan was leaning against his car, smoking. A pile of cigarette butts littered the ground around his feet. The orange glow of the cherry lit up his face, highlighting his deep frown. In our five years of dating, I had only seen him smoke twice. The first time was the year we graduated. His parents wanted him to move back to his hometown. But I wanted to stay with Stella. Ethan had smoked cigarette after cigarette back then, just like he was doing now. In the end, he chose me. And now? What choice was he making? I didn’t want to think about it. Seeing me, he immediately crushed the cigarette, walked over, and took my bag. “First day back and they make you work this late? Your company is slave-driving you.” “Just had a lot of data to go through,” I lied. He opened the passenger door, and I slid in. A faint scent of perfume hit my nose. My body went completely rigid. It was Stella’s favorite perfume. I looked down. Right there, wedged in the gap of the seat, was a lip balm. It was the one I had bought for Stella last month. Ethan got into the driver’s seat. He saw me staring at the lip balm and froze. The car fell into a suffocating silence for two long seconds. Then, he laughed. “Oh, Stella must have dropped that when I gave her a ride earlier. I’ll give it back to her.” I stared at the lip balm. “Did Stella sit in the passenger seat a lot while I was gone?” His hand froze on the seatbelt. He turned to look at me, his eyes dark and unreadable. Then, he reached out, ruffled my hair, and chuckled. “What, are you jealous of your own sister now? Cute.” I didn’t laugh. His tone became serious. “You’re the one who wanted us to get along, Maya. I only drove her around occasionally.” He paused, then added, “If it bothers you, I won’t do it again.” “I’m tired,” I said, closing my eyes. I didn’t want to hear another word. He stared at me for a few seconds before starting the car. “Did you… see anything online last night?” I opened my eyes and looked at him. “See what?” He remained quiet for a moment, then smiled. “Nothing. You just seem off today. Your eyes are really red.” I closed my eyes again. “I was too excited last night. Didn’t sleep at all.” He started the engine, shaking his head with a soft chuckle. “Still a kid.” He reached over and turned up the thermostat. The car got noticeably warmer. Whenever Stella rode with us, she always wanted the heater on high. She hated the cold. When we got home, Stella was already waiting at the door. “You must be starving! Wash your hands, dinner’s ready.” I walked in. The table was packed with all my favorite foods. I sat in my usual spot. Stella sat on my left, and Ethan sat on my right. Both of them immediately put food on my plate at the same time. “Maya, your favorite garlic parmesan chicken.” “And the spicy wings.” For a second, I felt like I was back in the past. But reality pulled me right back. Everything was broken. A thousand questions bubbled up in my throat. I saw the post. Why did you do it? But as the words reached my lips, I lost my nerve. I couldn’t ask. The dinner tasted like cardboard. Finally, Stella raised her glass. “Maya, I want to make a toast.” She drank her first glass. “Welcome home.” “Second, to your promotion.” Then, she looked at Ethan. “And third. You two have been together for five years. I know I used to be against it, but I’m not anymore. You should pick a date and get married.”

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Eight years into our marriage, I was driving my daughter to school when I received a follow-up call from a luxury hotel. “Is this Mr. Ethan Reynolds? Your wife, Chloe Vance, left her diamond ring in the suite.” My whole body froze. Ethan was my husband. Chloe was my best friend. Panic-stricken, I rushed to my brother, Logan, desperate for someone to lean on. But he didn’t look surprised at all. He just sat there, completely calm, and tried to soothe me: “Summer, they have a child together now. Just pretend you don’t know about it.” “Ethan only hid it from you because he didn’t want you to be hurt.” My sister-in-law, Rachel, chimed in: “Exactly, Summer. Don’t blame Chloe. You’re both mothers. Try to show her some understanding.” I stared at Rachel, completely dumbfounded. I used to think she was my best friend. Now, she was telling me to forgive a mistress and a bastard child. It turned out that in family, friendship, and love… I was nothing but an outsider. Seeing the dead silence in my eyes, Logan sighed and tried to persuade me with a heavy heart: “Summer, we aren’t young anymore. And you have Lily to think about.” “Take my advice. Close one eye and let it go. Having a compromised marriage is still better than being a single mother.” This was my own brother. My own flesh and blood. Yet he was openly helping them lie to me. Rachel stood by his side, gently grabbing my wrist with a practiced, superficial warmth. “Yes, Summer. At our age, what other choices do women have?” “Chloe didn’t have a choice either. When her family went bankrupt years ago, she was cornered by brutal debt collectors. Ethan saved her. She had no other way to repay him, so…” A sharp pain stabbed my heart. Rachel, Chloe, and I had been inseparable since middle school. We had sworn to be sisters for life. But now, she knew perfectly well that Chloe was the homewrecker. Yet she still demanded that I forgive her. People’s hearts are always biased. It didn’t matter that I once got eight stitches on my forehead after defending Rachel from a gang of street thugs. None of it mattered now. I violently shook off her hand and said coldly: “Rachel, as of today, we are done.” She gasped. Before she could speak, the office door was kicked open. Ethan stood there, his face clouded with anger. His eyes locked onto me. Logan and Rachel quickly slid out of the room, leaving the two of us alone. Ethan walked up to me, his voice deep and demanding: “Summer, you dragged this drama all the way to Logan’s office. What exactly do you want?” In all our years together, this was the first time he had ever looked at me with such cold indifference. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I choked out: “Ethan, what did I ever do to deserve this? You’re sleeping with my best friend, and you even have a kid with her?” Seeing the tears in my eyes, Ethan softened slightly. He sighed and pulled me into his arms, his voice dropping to a gentle whisper: “Summer, relax. She will never take your place. You are still the only Mrs. Reynolds.” My eyes stung. I stubbornly pushed him away. I refused to share my husband. Ethan’s brows furrowed, and his tone turned icy again: “Summer, if we take this to court, I will fight for full custody of Lily. You know how that will end. Do you really want our daughter to suffer in poverty with you?” I stared at the man in front of me, my mind blank. We had loved each other since we were teenagers. How did we end up threatening each other over our child? Seeing my hesitation, Ethan’s voice softened a fraction: “Just live your life quietly. You and Lily will want for nothing. To the world, you will always be the glamorous Mrs. Reynolds.” I hid the burning rage in my heart and nodded slowly. From that day on, I pretended everything was back to normal. I drove Lily to and from school every day. I stopped asking Ethan why he didn’t come home. I stopped leaving the porch light on for him. Instead, I quietly hired a private investigator to gather evidence. Until one afternoon, a familiar figure blocked my path. It was Chloe, whom I hadn’t seen in months. She looked slightly uneasy. For years, I had believed Chloe was living a hard life. When she got pregnant out of wedlock years ago and lived alone, I felt so sorry for her. I took care of her. I bought almost all of her baby’s clothes and supplies. I even nagged Ethan constantly to help her out financially. Looking back, I realized they had probably been sleeping together in the very bed I helped pay for. Chloe stepped forward, her voice soft and trembling: “Summer, can we talk?” I stopped and looked at her, my face completely expressionless. “Say what you want to say.” She bit her lower lip, glancing nervously at the pedestrians passing by, and lowered her voice: “Things weren’t supposed to end up like this. Ethan and I… we’ve been together for years. Our child is growing up now. I just want us to coexist in peace.” “I never wanted to ruin your life. But when it comes to love, we are all helpless.” Listening to her hypocritical speech, a mocking smile touched my lips. “Save your tragic act.” I stared into her eyes, and a realization suddenly hit me. “Ethan cheated on me with you during my second month of pregnancy, on the night of my birthday, didn’t he?”

Chloe’s pale face gave me the answer. That night, Ethan had promised to come home early to celebrate with me. But I sat alone with a cold dinner, holding my positive pregnancy test, waiting all night. At dawn, he finally came home, covered in bruises. I panic-strickenly tried to take him to the ER, but he held me tight, whispering: “Summer, don’t move. Just let me hold you. I missed you so much.” It wasn’t a confession of love. It was the guilt of a cheater. Every ignored red flag and suspicious detail suddenly rushed back to me. No wonder Chloe moved right after that night. She claimed a stalker was following her, but a “good Samaritan” saved her. It wasn’t a good Samaritan. It was Ethan. “Summer, we can still be friends,” Chloe said, reaching out to grab my hand like she used to. I stepped back, dodging her touch. I let out a bitter laugh. “The kind of friends who sleep with each other’s husbands?” Suddenly, a cup of ice-cold water splashed right onto my face. The water dripped from my eyelashes. I looked up and saw Rachel standing there, glaring at me with fury. “Summer, do you think Chloe is having an easy time?” “A rich girl like you will never understand the desperation of people at the bottom. No wonder you’ve never had any real friends!” A sharp, stabbing pain pierced my chest. I swallowed my words. There was no point in arguing. Then, Ethan appeared. He handed me a tissue, his tone patronizing, as if he were soothing a toddler throwing a tantrum: “Summer, stop making a scene. Lily is waiting in the car.” All my anger was instantly crushed by reality. Yes. I had my daughter. Now was not the time to blow everything up. Just as I turned to leave, a stray, aggressive dog suddenly charged toward us from the park. In a split second, without a shred of hesitation, Ethan threw himself over Chloe. He shielded her entirely in his arms, screaming at the dog. Terrified by his shouts, the dog veered off and knocked me to the ground instead. My hands and knees scraped violently against the rough asphalt. Fortunately, the school security guards rushed over and tackled the dog. Ethan gently helped Chloe to her feet. Then, he looked at me and said indifferently: “Are you okay?” Before I could answer, he spoke again: “I’m taking Sophia to the amusement park tonight. I won’t be coming home.” The evening wind blew past, carrying a bitter chill. I should have stopped expecting anything from him a long time ago, shouldn’t I? I walked back to my car. The moment I opened the door, Lily threw herself into my arms, asking sadly: “Mommy, why did Daddy protect that lady instead of you? You were in way more danger.” Even a five-year-old saw it. But he didn’t. Choking back my tears, I stroked my daughter’s hair: “Because Daddy is farsighted, sweetie. He can only see things that are far away.” My daughter nodded, not fully understanding. For several days, Ethan didn’t show his face. Until one afternoon, my phone rang. “Summer, Chloe has been mysteriously ill. We’ve been to every hospital, and the doctors can’t find any physical issues.” Before I could say anything, his voice turned incredibly cold: “I had a spiritualist look into it. The medium says the negative energy is coming from your mother’s grave. Your mother’s plot is too close to Chloe’s mother’s plot. Her dark aura is cursing Chloe, making her sick.” My fingers tightened around the phone. I couldn’t believe my ears. “What did you just say?” “Exhume your mother’s casket and relocate it to another cemetery.”

Ethan’s tone was completely casual, without a hint of guilt or hesitation. “Arrange it quickly. Stop dragging Chloe’s health down.” His words hit me like a physical blow, leaving me gasping for air. When Chloe was in middle school, she and Rachel often came to my house. My mom knew Chloe loved tacos, so every time she visited, my mom would make them fresh for her. Later, when Chloe’s mother died of illness and her family was bankrupt, they couldn’t even afford a basic casket. It was my mother who took out her own savings so Chloe’s mother could be buried with dignity. Neither I nor my mother had ever done anything to hurt her. But now, she wouldn’t even let my dead mother rest in peace. I bit my lip so hard it bled, my voice shaking: “No. My mother has been buried for years. She is at peace. I will not move her.” My refusal instantly enraged Ethan. He snapped, his voice filled with venomous accusation: “Summer, can you be mature for once? Moving a casket is a minor issue. Chloe’s life is on the line. Do you have to be this malicious?” He slammed the phone down. That same afternoon, Ethan took a crew of workers to the cemetery. By the time I rushed there, everyone I cared about was already standing by my mother’s grave. Seeing me, Logan stepped forward to block my path. “Summer, stop being so stubborn. It’s just a relocation. The dead are already gone, but the living need to survive.” Staring at my own brother who was siding with a mistress, my heart turned to ash. All my patience and restraint shattered at that moment. I took a step forward, raised my hand, and slapped Chloe hard across the face. Chloe’s head snapped back. Tears instantly spilled from her eyes as she sobbed: “Ethan… I didn’t force her… I’m just in so much pain…” Ethan’s eyes flared with absolute fury. He grabbed my wrist so hard I felt my bones cracking. His voice was freezing: “Summer! Are you insane? Who gave you the right to lay a hand on her?” Beside him, Logan immediately pinned my shoulders down, barking: “Summer! You’ve gone too far! Apologize to Chloe right now! Stop acting like a spoiled brat!” I struggled wildly to break free, screaming at them: “Too far? Who is the one going too far?!” “I paid for her mother’s funeral! I gave her everything!” “And she ruined my family, and now she won’t even let my mother rest!” “Logan, she was your mother too! How can you do this?!” A sudden downpour drenched the cemetery. The cold rain mixed with my tears, blinding my vision. Logan’s face stiffened, but he remained stubborn: “She’s already dead, Summer. It’s just a casket relocation. Don’t be so stubborn!” With those words, the last thread of sibling bond between us snapped completely. Ethan looked at me, a brief flash of hesitation in his eyes. But in the next second, Chloe cried out in despair: “Summer is right. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t even be alive.” Ethan panicked. To comfort Chloe, he looked at me and said coldly: “Since you dared to hit Chloe, this is your punishment. You will stand right here and watch your mother’s grave be dug up.” With a wave of his hand, several burly security guards stepped forward. They threw me down, pinning me into the wet, cold mud. In front of me, the workers picked up their shovels and began to dig. The tombstone engraved with my mother’s name slowly began to tilt. I shook violently, screaming until my voice went hoarse: “Ethan, please… I beg you… don’t do this.” “That’s my mother! She is already gone! She did nothing wrong!” “Chloe’s illness has nothing to do with my mother! You know that!” “Please, stop them! Don’t dig her up… I beg you!” I stripped away every ounce of my dignity, but Ethan remained completely unmoved. Chloe leaned against his chest, a subtle smirk playing on her lips. She was doing this on purpose. Finally, with a heavy thud, the corner of the wooden casket was exposed to the muddy rain. Kneeling in the mud in front of my mother’s desecrated grave, I made a silent vow: I would never forgive any of them. After that day, I fell dangerously ill. I lay in bed with a raging fever until a frantic call woke me up. The school principal’s voice was filled with sheer panic: “Mrs. Reynolds, you need to get to the school right now! Lily had a physical altercation with another student.” “Both girls have run up to the school’s rooftop terrace! It’s extremely dangerous!” My heart leaped into my throat. My limbs turned to jelly. Lily was a gentle, quiet girl. She never fought with anyone. Why would she be on the rooftop? I didn’t have time to think. I threw myself into my car and drove like a maniac. The entire way, I prayed to God not to let anything happen to my little girl. The metal door to the rooftop was slightly ajar. I pushed it open, and the scene before me made my blood run cold.

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On my birthday, Ethan told me he had a surprise for me. I was blindfolded and waited for a long time, only to be held by a completely strange man. My body felt weak and hot, and I cried, begging him not to touch me. A low chuckle came from above. It was Asher Vance, Ethan’s best friend and the school’s notorious bad boy. He reached out, gently wiping away my tears, and murmured with a sigh, “Dump him. Be mine instead.” Then, he showed me a video. In a dimly lit VIP lounge at a club, Ethan was drinking with his rowdy friends. Someone asked him, “Is your girlfriend’s body really that amazing? I don’t believe it. Unless you let me sleep with her.” “What are you thinking? She’s Ethan’s precious girl. If you touch her, Ethan will have your head!” another friend laughed. Ethan, sitting amidst a cloud of cigarette smoke, spoke nonchalantly, “Beat me in poker tonight, and you can have her.” Amidst the roaring laughter, someone asked, “What about Lily, your little admirer? I’d like to—” “Don’t you dare!” Ethan kicked him coldly. “Lily is the only pure flower in my heart. If any of you touch her, I’ll chop your fingers off!” He let his friends make the dirtiest jokes about me. Yet, he wouldn’t allow Lily to be tarnished in the slightest. I wiped away my tears, turned to the campus bad boy, and asked, “If I become your girlfriend, will you help me destroy him?”

“Are you joking?” Even after all these years since graduation, Asher still carried that dangerous, rebellious aura. He gave me a mocking look. “You’re not just playing me to escape this room, are you?” Saying that, his hand slid around my waist. “Don’t forget, your boyfriend literally bet you away and lost you to me.” “Whether I agree to your deal or not, tonight, you belong to me.” His warm breath brushed against my neck. I wanted to kick him, but my limbs were completely weak and useless. He laughed softly and leaned down to kiss me. But the moment before his lips touched mine, he stopped. He stared at me with pure amusement. “Chloe, tell me, is your boyfriend blind?” His hand gently brushed past my cheek, trailing through my hair. “Using a woman as beautiful as you as a poker chip… and losing you to another man.” “If my girlfriend were in a room with another guy, I would go absolutely insane.” As his hand moved downward, my cheeks burned like fire. “Asher…” The glass of water Ethan had given me earlier was definitely spiked. I steeled my heart. “Help me. Use your body to make this heat go away.” I closed my eyes and heard his low laugh. Then came the sound of clothes hitting the floor. I bit my lip, bracing myself. But the next second, a glass of ice-cold water was splashed directly onto my face. I opened my eyes in shock. Asher had already put his jacket back on, sitting a few feet away from me. “I don’t take advantage of drugged women. But that doesn’t mean I’m rejecting your deal.” The light was too dim for me to read his expression. He said, “Starting today, you are my girlfriend. I will unconditionally help you ruin that piece of trash.” With that, Asher got up and went into the bathroom. The cold water had washed over me, and the effect of the drug subsided by half. I didn’t know when I fell asleep. All I knew was that when I was shaken awake, Asher whispered, “Your boyfriend is outside.” Before I could react. The door was pushed open slightly, leaving a crack. Ethan walked in, looking around nervously. Just as I was about to call out to him, Asher covered my mouth. When I saw the girl Ethan was holding, I froze. Her name was Lily. She was wearing a pure white dress, looking as innocent as a little wildflower. Soon, Ethan pressed her against the wall, kissing her with desperate obsession. I recalled the video again. Ethan said Lily was the “only pure flower” in his heart. But in the beginning. That was exactly how he used to describe me. I stared unblinkingly at the hallway, watching the gentle look on Ethan’s face. Lily wasn’t satisfied with just a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his hand toward the hem of her dress. But Ethan gently stopped her. “Babe, not here. I don’t want your first time to be in some random place. Let’s wait until we get back. I’ll book the most expensive suite for us.” Lily smiled coyly. “Chloe has been with you for six years. Did you coax her like this too?” Ethan was silent for a moment. “No.” Lily pouted playfully. “Liar. I don’t believe you.” A bitter smile formed at the corner of my mouth. He wasn’t lying. I remembered my first time with him. He had begged and pleaded for it. It was in a dusty backroom of his family’s department store. He didn’t even want to spend money on a hotel room. It turned out that being loved and not being loved were worlds apart. “Ethan, who is prettier? Me, or your girlfriend?” “You are.” Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed. “True. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have used her as a bet and lost her to another man.” “She’s probably sleeping with someone else right now. Aren’t you sad at all?” Ethan let out a mocking laugh. “She’s been dirty for a long time anyway. One more man won’t make a difference.” It felt like a lightning strike. Even after he walked away with his arm around Lily, my hands and feet remained ice-cold.

I knew exactly what he was referring to. It was that night back in college. I was walking back late from my campus job and took a sketchy shortcut through a wooded path. I ran into a group of local thugs. When I finally escaped and got back, my clothes were torn. Rumors spread like wildfire, saying I had been ruined by those thugs. I clarified again and again that they hadn’t touched me. On the surface, Ethan pretended to believe me. He held me gently and comforted me, saying, “I know. My Chloe is always pure.” But behind my back, he told his friends: “Chloe? Who knows how many guys have slept with her already.” “I don’t even want to touch her. She feels dirty.” It turned out, from beginning to end, He had never believed me. The next day, when I found Ethan, he was picking out a birthday gift for Lily. It was an expensive jade bracelet. He had specially ordered a jasmine flower to be engraved on it. Ethan looked at it with eyes full of tenderness, imagining how it would look on Lily’s wrist. “Aren’t you going to explain yourself?” My voice was cold. Ethan looked up at me and smiled. “Asher has had his eye on you for a long time. Giving you to him for one night wiped out my millions of dollars in debt.” He sneered. “Don’t you think that’s a pretty good deal?” Losing my mind, I swung my hand and slapped him hard across the face. But Ethan seemed to enjoy it. He gently touched the cheek I had slapped, his smile turning even more despicable. “Chloe, I said I would still marry you. No matter how many men you sleep with, I’ll still marry you.” “But if you keep throwing these tantrums, I don’t mind postponing our wedding for another year.” His tone was so condescending. After all, I was the one who had chased him in the past. My parents divorced when I was young, leaving me extremely insecure. All I wanted was to build a family of my own early on. But to Ethan, that made me easy to manipulate. The last time he postponed our wedding, which was supposed to be last month, was because Lily cried. She claimed I called her a mistress and pushed her down. But if he had bothered to check the security cameras, he would have seen that Lily fell on purpose. She had cornered me to provoke me, and when I ignored her, she used this petty trick to frame me. Before I could even defend myself, Ethan believed her without hesitation. “Chloe, you went too far. Lily has been sheltered her whole life. How could you push her?” “Kneel down and apologize to Lily right now, or our wedding is postponed for a year!” I hadn’t done anything wrong, so of course, I refused to apologize. So, the wedding was indeed delayed. But now, I finally understood what it felt like to stop loving someone. Let alone the wedding. I didn’t even want this man anymore. By the time I snapped out of it, Ethan was already gone. I pulled out my phone and texted him: “Let’s break up.” After a long time, he sent back a casual, single-word reply: “Okay.” I let out a bitter laugh and turned off my phone. I walked aimlessly around the street food market, feeling completely lost. Back in college, Ethan always said he was broke and couldn’t afford fancy restaurants, so he often brought me here. Even though we were poor, feeling loved made everything feel warm. Five years after graduation, Ethan was now a CEO. He would come back from hooking up with Lily and hand me a twenty-thousand-dollar designer bag or take me to a thousand-dollar dinner. But he never loved me the way he used to. I remembered the first time he introduced me to Lily. He sat in the car, looking at the girl in the pleated skirt and pigtails standing at the school gate, and said: “She’s my neighbor’s little sister. She just came to the city for college, and her family asked me to look after her.” Later, the way he looked at Lily became more and more intense. More and more tender. Once, after getting drunk, he looked at Lily’s back and chuckled. “Chloe, don’t you think she looks a lot like you did five years ago?” “So pure, untouched by the world.” Yes, she was pure and flawless. Unlike me now, who had to go to business dinners and drink myself to exhaustion just to save his company from crises. I no longer had that “untouched” innocence. Instead, I had the aura of a weary, calculating businesswoman. But he forgot. Who was the one who turned me into this? The avocado salad in my mouth tasted like cardboard. I stood in the cold wind, tears streaming down my face. “If it tastes that bad, don’t eat it.” Suddenly, a hand snatched the salad away.

I turned around in surprise, only to find Asher standing there. He had been quietly following me from a short distance this whole time. He handed me a tissue and gently wiped away my tears. I looked at him blankly. “Why are you here?” Asher stared at me with a complex look in his eyes. “You agreed to be my girlfriend. Can’t I go on a date with my girlfriend?” He slowly leaned closer, took my cold hand, and stuffed it into his coat pocket. “Or are you planning to back out?” Asher and I walked in silence for a long time. Suddenly, he asked: “Why didn’t you tell him that I didn’t touch you last night?” I shook my head. “I broke up with him anyway.” Asher gave me a surprised look. “I thought you couldn’t let him go. After all, everyone said you two… had the perfect relationship.” Maybe it was my imagination, but Asher’s voice sounded a bit strained, almost jealous. I looked up at the sky and smiled. “Yeah. Everyone thought we had a great relationship. Even I believed it.” Three years ago, Ethan got critically ill. The doctors even issued a critical condition notice, telling his family to prepare for the worst. But I didn’t give up. I worked five jobs a day. I was a waitress during the day, delivered food during rush hours, and promoted alcohol at clubs at night. I worked so hard I almost coughed up blood. I did everything I could and somehow saved Ethan’s life. When Ethan woke up, his eyes were red as he held me. “Chloe, I love you.” He promised he would protect me for the rest of his life. On my birthday that year, he gave me a massive bouquet of paper roses. He said I would always be his favorite rose. But it wasn’t until I saw him spend millions on that jade bracelet, carefully carving a jasmine flower onto it, That I realized. He didn’t want roses. He liked jasmines. “Maybe it’s fate, Asher. You saved me back then, and maybe I was destined to return the favor.” I took the initiative to hold Asher’s hand. “I’m your girlfriend from now on.” Asher let out a soft chuckle. “I thought you forgot about what happened back then.” How could I forget? In college, there was a rumor about Asher and me for a while. He was the notorious bad boy, the rebel who skipped classes and got into fights. Even the professors stayed out of his way. In my memory, he was a loner. Whenever I saw him, I would walk the other way. But that night, walking home late from my job, Ethan was supposed to pick me up but stood me up. I walked down the dark path alone. And ran into those thugs. They cornered me in a dead end, covered my mouth, and tried to tear my clothes off. Just when I was in complete despair, Asher showed up. He fought like a maniac, completely reckless, and literally terrified the thugs away. “Get back to your dorm already,” he growled. He recognized me. He hid his bleeding knuckles behind his back and followed me from a safe distance to make sure I got back safely. I asked hesitantly, “You’re bleeding. Let me take you to the hospital first.” “None of your business. Stop being annoying,” he snapped coldly, like a defensive hedgehog. But feeling guilty, I forced him to go to the clinic anyway. By the time we got back to campus, the sun was almost up. When people saw me returning with the school bad boy, my clothes torn, the rumors started. They said I had spent the night with Asher at a motel. The rumors were nasty. While I didn’t care about what others said, I begged Ethan to believe me, repeatedly explaining that nothing happened between Asher and me. On the surface, Ethan comforted me gently, saying he believed me. But behind my back, he told his friends: “Who knows what really happened that night? Maybe Chloe was already ridden by Vance.” No wonder he never touched me after that night, claiming he wanted to save it for marriage. My thoughts were interrupted when Asher went to buy me boba. I sat on a bench near the mall entrance waiting for him, when a familiar voice sounded in front of me. “Ethan, look, isn’t that Chloe?” Lily smiled at me with an innocent face, holding a massive bouquet of bright red roses. “Why is she shopping all by herself? Ethan, how could you leave your girlfriend alone? I should go say hi to her.” “Lily!” Ethan frowned and called out to her, but he didn’t stop her. He quickly followed behind, glaring at me defensively, as if he was terrified I would hurt his precious Lily. “What are you doing here?” I sneered. “I didn’t know you owned this street. Why do you care?” Lily smiled and wrapped her arm around Ethan’s. “Ethan is taking me out. He said you two used to eat here all the time during college. He even said your favorite was cheap street hot dogs. I would never dare to put something so cheap in my mouth. You really can endure anything, Chloe.” I rolled my eyes internally. I looked around to see why Asher was taking so long, but Lily took that as a cue to flaunt her roses. “Look, Ethan bought these roses for me. They smell so good!” “Since you’re his girlfriend, why don’t I give them to you!” I looked up coldly. “Didn’t he tell you? We broke up.” Ethan frowned. “Chloe, stop throwing a tantrum. We’ve been together for nearly seven years. What do you mean, broke up?” “Even if you’re mad about what happened the other night, you don’t have to lie about this.” He was the one who had replied “Okay” to my breakup text. Just as I was about to pull out my phone to show him, Lily suddenly shoved the roses right into my face. “Don’t be mad. Just take these roses as Ethan’s apology to you…” Her movement was so sudden that I couldn’t dodge. The thick scent of pollen rushed straight down my throat. “Get… get them away…” I was severely allergic to pollen. Within seconds, my lungs seized up, and I could barely breathe. “Call… call 911…”

Seeing me gasp for air, Lily looked terrified and immediately hid behind Ethan, pretending to cry. Ethan shielded her, looking down at me with disgust. “Stop acting, Chloe.” “Do you think copying Lily’s innocence makes you look pitiful? This pathetic act only makes me despise you more.” I wanted to beg them to help me, but Ethan disgustedly kicked my foot away and walked off with Lily. As my consciousness faded, I suddenly remembered years ago. The first time Ethan found out about my pollen allergy, he had rushed me to the ER, holding me tightly, crying with panic. “Chloe, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were allergic!” “I promise I’ll protect you from now on…” But just now. He only cared about protecting his precious little flower. He forgot that my allergy was severe enough to kill me. When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed. I opened my eyes to meet Asher’s worried, bloodshot eyes. “You almost scared me to death.” “I came out with the boba and saw you collapsed on the pavement. The doctor said if I had been a few minutes later, you wouldn’t have made it.” He still looked visibly shaken. I smiled weakly at him. “Who knew the fearless bad boy of our school could make a face like that?” Asher looked away, embarrassed. “I’m thirsty.” He immediately poured me a glass of water. I noticed his knuckles were bruised and scraped. “What happened to your hand?” Asher tried to pull his sleeve down to hide it. But I grabbed his arm. “Tell me the truth.” Asher sighed. “Ethan did this to you. I went and taught him a lesson.” My eyes widened in surprise. That was definitely Asher’s style. I tugged at his sleeve. “Asher.” “Yeah?” “Do you… like me?” Asher turned around, staring into my eyes with absolute seriousness. “Dummy. It took you this long to realize?” I froze, my face turning crimson. That afternoon, Asher went out to get food. When he came back, he mysteriously pulled out a velvet box and proposed to me. “Chloe, I can’t wait anymore.” “I’m terrified that if I hesitate for even a second, you’ll run back to that loser. I need you to promise to marry me right now.” The patients in the neighboring beds laughed and cheered. “Say yes! A guy this devoted is hard to find!” I hadn’t planned on moving so fast. But looking into Asher’s intense eyes, I found myself nodding. “Can I really trust you?” “Of course. I’m a million times more reliable than your ex.” I laughed. Asher bought plane tickets. He said he wanted to take me back to his family’s estate next week to get married. After officially quitting my job, I passed a bakery on my way home. Remembering Asher liked strawberry cake, I smiled and picked one out. “Excuse me, how much is this—” Suddenly, the cake was snatched from my hands. Lily cooed, “Ethan, I love this cake. Buy it for me, please?” Then she gave me a provocative look, pretending to be shocked. “Oh, Chloe! What a coincidence! I’m so sorry, but I really want this cake. Can you let me have it?” What a curse. I couldn’t even buy a cake without running into them. I pulled my hand back in disgust. Since she touched it, I didn’t want it anymore. Seeing me turn around to leave, Lily pouted as if she was about to cry. “Ethan, is Chloe mad at me? Go comfort her!” The next second, Ethan blocked my path. “Didn’t you hear her? Lily is crying because of you. It’s just a cake, why can’t you let her have it? Apologize to her.” Seeing my silence, his tone softened. “Chloe, Lily just graduated. She’s still a kid. Don’t be so petty.” “If you behave, and let me spend this graduation season with her, we will get married in a year as planned.” “You’ll still be my wife. No one can take your place.” I looked up and let out a cold laugh. “Ethan, didn’t you get my breakup text? Why are you still acting like we are together?” “What breakup text?” Ethan froze. The next second, Lily stepped between us. “Chloe, your dress is so pretty. Can you send me the link?” She intentionally sent Ethan away to pay for the cake. Once he was out of earshot, the mask came off. “I’ll tell you the truth. I replied to that text on Ethan’s phone. He has no idea.” “Chloe, you already know Ethan doesn’t love you anymore. But since his family is rich, it’s no wonder you’re still clinging to him like a desperate dog.” “But stop wasting your time. No matter how much he liked you in the past, you are history now.” She crossed her arms, smiling like a proud white rose. “The only one Ethan loves now is me.” She expected to see tears in my eyes. Instead, I gave her a calm look. “Is that so? Then congratulations.” I turned and walked away without looking back. She had no idea that I was getting married too. Whatever drama they had had absolutely nothing to do with me anymore. A week later, Asher took me to his family’s estate. When we pulled up, I was stunned by the massive, sprawling historic estate before my eyes. “This is your family home? Why does the gate say ‘Vance Mansion’?” Asher explained: “Vance is my mother’s family name. When my father cheated and abandoned her, I took her name. Now, the Vance family needs an heir, so they brought me back.” Asher looked at me seriously. “Actually, I am the sole heir to the Vance Empire.” Back in college, I thought Asher was just a poor, angry kid. When I accepted his proposal, I was fully prepared to live a simple, budget-friendly life with him. I had no idea he was the heir to the wealthiest family in the city. Three days later was our wedding. Asher threw me a grand, spectacular wedding that caught the attention of the entire high society. Even my wedding dress had been custom-made months in advance. When I tried it on, it fit perfectly. I asked him in surprise, “How did you know my measurements?” Asher smirked. “Guess.” I couldn’t. Later, the housekeeper let slip that on the night Ethan “lost” me to him, Asher had held me close just to measure my frame. On the day of the wedding, the Vance family invited every prominent figure in the city. Ethan and Lily showed up in formal wear, looking around the Vance Estate with pure envy as they were led to their seats. When Ethan saw me passing by, his brow furrowed. “Chloe? How did you sneak in here?” He looked around nervously. “Come here. Do you know what kind of place this is? You can’t just wander in without an invitation.” “Just tell them you’re with me. Don’t cause trouble.” I was wearing a casual but elegant silk wrap dress, heading to the bridal suite to get my makeup done. Naturally, Ethan couldn’t tell I was the bride. I just smiled. “No need to worry, Ethan.” With that, I walked away. Ethan’s voice chased after me. “Wander around all you want! Don’t blame me when security throws you out!” I thought to myself: The only one getting thrown out today is you. Two hours later, the makeup artists finished my bridal look, and I changed into a multi-million-dollar designer wedding gown. The venue was buzzing with excitement. Lily looked around with starry eyes. “I wonder who the lucky girl is to marry the Vance heir!” Ethan shook his head. “I’ve never met him. I don’t know why he invited me, maybe some business associate of my dad’s.” He was already planning how to flatter and connect with the mysterious Vance heir after the ceremony. “The bride and groom are coming!” Asher gently held my hand. Amidst the thunderous applause and cheers, we stepped out onto the grand altar. When Ethan and Lily saw our faces, their expressions turned completely pale. “No way… How can it be them?”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “454431”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster

My boyfriend, Austin, proposed to me right after donating his kidney to his childhood best friend, Chloe. In my past life, I said yes to his proposal. After we got married, the entire financial and physical burden of our lives fell on my shoulders. Austin claimed that since he only had one kidney left, he couldn’t get too tired, couldn’t handle stress, and couldn’t do any physical labor. I had to work overtime to pay the bills while doing every single bit of the housework. I literally worked myself to death at forty, dying of sudden cardiac arrest at my desk. And what did Austin do? He took my life insurance payout and married Chloe. They lived happily ever after on my blood money. So, when I woke up reborn, standing in front of Austin’s proposal once again… I rejected him on the spot. “Why the hell would I marry a lazy, one-kidney slacker like you?!” “Emily, marry me!” Austin knelt on one knee, holding a bouquet of red roses in one hand and a diamond ring in the other. His face was still pale from the kidney donation surgery a few days ago. But a confident smirk played on his lips. He was absolutely sure I wouldn’t say no. After all, we had been together for seven years. Marrying him had practically become my life’s goal. Even though he had stood me up countless times for Chloe. Even though he ignored my warnings and insisted on giving Chloe his kidney. He believed I would always be his safety net. His frat bros stood behind him, cheering and filming on their phones. “Say yes! Say yes!” One of them nudged me. “Come on, Emily, just say yes!” “Yeah, haven’t you been dreaming of marrying Austin forever?” “He’s finally proposing. What are you waiting for?!” It was exactly like my past life. A month after Austin donated his kidney to Chloe and got discharged from the hospital, he threw this grand proposal. He told me I was his true love. He said donating the kidney to Chloe was just because they grew up together. He said he couldn’t just watch her die. He begged me to understand his “noble sacrifice.” In my past life, my heart softened, and I said yes. But right after the wedding, Austin used his health as an excuse to quit his job. He refused to work. He spent every single day lying on the couch, playing video games and scrolling through TikTok. He didn’t lift a finger to help around the house. Whenever I complained, he’d play the victim card. “I only have one kidney, Emily! I’m fragile!” “The doctor said I can’t do heavy lifting! I can’t stress myself out!” “Do you want me to die? Is that it?!” Even his mother, Helen, had the audacity to point at my face and scream: “You’re the one who begged to marry my son! Did he force you?” “You’ve been living with him for seven years. If it wasn’t for Austin, who would want a used-up woman like you at thirty?” “Now that you’re a Carter, it’s your job to serve him!” So, I worked a grueling 9-to-5 by day and did endless chores by night. We never had kids, because Austin claimed his kidney issue made him impotent in bed. Between the stress, the exhaustion, and the depression, I collapsed and died of a sudden stroke at my desk in my early forties. Not even a month after my funeral, Austin registered his marriage with Chloe. They moved into the house I bought. And lived a luxurious life using my life insurance payout. Remembering the sheer horror of my past life… I looked down at Austin kneeling before me. I sneered. “Austin, you’re nothing but a lazy, one-kidney slacker now.” “Why on earth would I marry you?!” Austin froze, staring at me in utter disbelief. Chloe immediately stepped forward, grabbing my arm with a hurt expression. “Emily, how can you say that to Austin?!” “He saved my life! He gave me his kidney because he couldn’t bear to see me die!” “You can’t look down on him just because he did something heroic!”

She was freshly discharged, her face pale and her lips bloodless. Because she got so worked up, her body swayed as if she was about to faint. Austin scrambled up from the floor and quickly caught her in his arms. The look he shot me was filled with pure disgust. “Emily! Since when did you get so malicious?” “I just saved Chloe’s life. Was I supposed to just stand by and watch her die?！” Austin’s friend chimed in, “Seriously, it’s just one kidney. Austin and Chloe have been best friends since they were kids!” Austin tried to grab my hand again. “Emily, stop throwing a tantrum! I know you’ve been dying to marry me. I’m literally offering you a ring right now!” He was offering me a ring. How incredibly generous of him! He made it sound like I should be down on my knees thanking him. I stepped back, slapping his hand away. “Austin, I’m not throwing a tantrum, and I’m definitely not joking.” “Not only am I rejecting your proposal, but I’m also breaking up with you.” “You only have one kidney left. Who knows if you can even perform in bed anymore?” “Why would I choose a broken man over all the healthy, capable guys out there?!” At my words, Austin’s face flushed a deep, angry red. He never expected me to bring up his masculinity in public. “Emily! Don’t push your luck!” “You’re almost thirty, and we’ve been living together for seven years. Who else is going to want you if not me?!” “I’ll give you twenty-four hours to cool your head. Keep playing this game, and I swear I’ll leave you for real!” With that, Austin picked Chloe up and walked away without looking back. He always did this. Whenever we had a fight, he would walk out on me to “let me cool down.” And in the past, I would spend the entire night crying, spamming his Snapchat with paragraphs of apologies. His friends gave me looks of sheer disgust and pity before leaving. Soon, I was left standing there completely alone. This proposal was pathetic. Aside from the cheap roses and the ring, there were no decorations, no effort. As I walked back, a drizzle began to fall. I took an Uber back to the apartment Austin and I rented together. When I pushed the door open, I saw Austin wearing an apron, cooking soup in the kitchen. In our past life, after we got married, he wouldn’t even lift a finger if a bottle of soy sauce spilled. Yet here he was, playing the caring chef for Chloe. Seeing me walk in, a smug smirk appeared on his face. His eyes said: I knew you’d crawl back to apologize. I ignored him and walked straight toward the bedroom. But Austin rushed over and grabbed my arm. “Chloe is sleeping in there. Don’t go in.” I frowned. “If I don’t go in, how am I supposed to change my clothes?” I had gotten soaked in the rain, and my hair and clothes were dripping wet. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. “It’s just a little rain, you’ll survive.” “Chloe is a fragile patient right now!” Suddenly, a memory flashed in my mind—our third anniversary. I had booked a fancy restaurant months in advance. But Austin ditched me for three hours because Chloe called him with some minor emergency. It had rained that night too, and I had walked home soaking wet. When I confronted him, his response was exactly the same: “It’s just a little rain, you’ll survive.” I let out a cold laugh. So his heart had already drifted back then. He pointed to the standing fan in the living room. “Go stand in front of the fan. It’ll dry quickly.” Feeling the cold, damp fabric sticking to my skin, I violently yanked my arm out of his grip.

“Austin, I pay half the rent for this apartment. You brought Chloe here without even asking me, and now you won’t even let me into my own bedroom?!” Seeing me push past him, Austin blocked the door with his body. “Emily, can you stop being so dramatic?!” “Chloe and I just got discharged. We both got caught in the rain today. Instead of showing some basic empathy, you’re trying to kick a sick girl out of her bed!” I laughed out of sheer anger. “If you guys are so sick, why aren’t you in the hospital? Why didn’t you take Chloe back to her own place? Why bring her to my apartment?” “Austin, you’re the one who dragged your little side-chick in front of my face!” I shoved him to open the door, but Austin grabbed my wrist in a vice grip. With a harsh grunt, he shoved me back violently. “Emily, know your place!” “If Chloe’s recovery is ruined because of you and she gets sick again, I’ll make you pay with your life!” Unprepared, I lost my balance and fell, my lower back slamming hard against the wall. A sharp pain shot up my spine, tears welling in my eyes. I looked up at Austin’s fierce, hostile eyes. For the first time, I realized I had never truly known this man. In my past life, he always claimed he was too weak to even open a bottle of water. But the force he used to shove me just now? That was definitely not the strength of a sick patient. From inside the room, Chloe let out a weak, theatrical cough. Austin immediately panicked and rushed inside. “Austin… are you and Emily fighting because of me?” Chloe’s weak voice drifted out. “Please don’t be mad at her, she didn’t mean it…” Austin’s voice softened instantly as he comforted her. Disgusted, I walked into the room, grabbed a suitcase, and began packing my things. Austin paused, looking at me in shock. “What do you think you’re doing?” I rolled my eyes. “You won’t let me sleep here, remember? I’m leaving. Enjoy your cozy little nest.” “Emily! Do you have to be so passive-aggressive?!” Chloe threw back the duvet, pretending she wanted to get out of bed, but Austin gently pushed her back down. “Ignore her. Let her throw her tantrum.” “Let’s see how long she can survive out there!” I packed my essential clothes, grabbed my ID and documents, and zipped the suitcase. As I walked out, Austin was carefully feeding Chloe soup, spoon by spoon. Ha. How touching. I booked a decent hotel near my office. The next morning at work, I went straight to my manager’s office. There was an overseas relocation opportunity to Italy. Because it was so far, nobody in the department wanted to go. In my past life, my manager, Sophia, had offered it to me. I had studied Italian in college, and she thought I was the perfect fit. But because of Austin’s proposal, I had turned it down. This time, I was absolutely not wasting my life for a slacker. Sophia was thrilled when I volunteered. “Are you sure, Emily? What about your boyfriend?” “We broke up.” Sophia stared at me for a moment before handing over the paperwork. “Fill this out. You can fly out next week.” Next week. One week was more than enough to erase myself from Austin’s life. I took the afternoon off and went back to the apartment to get the rest of my things. The place was empty. When I unlocked the door, the sight made me gag. The kitchen sink was piled high with greasy dishes. Moldy takeout boxes littered the table. Dirty clothes were thrown all over the couch, and the trash can was overflowing. My phone buzzed. It was a text from Austin: [When you get off work, clean up the apartment.] Still as demanding as ever. In our past life, he treated me like his personal maid.

He expected me to serve him hand and foot. He even demanded that I cover all his living expenses. And he said it with such entitlement: “You think I want to ask you for money? I’m sick! I can’t work!” “If you don’t support me, you’re forcing me to work and die early! Emily, do you just want to see me dead?!” I locked my screen and walked straight to the bedroom to grab my remaining bags. Let them rot in their own filth. We had lived here for two years. Every corner of this small apartment held memories. I remembered when we first moved in. Austin had held me close, promising he’d buy me a giant mansion once he made it big. We had stayed up late planning our future. When did it all change? Ah. It started a year ago, when Chloe was diagnosed with kidney disease. He started ditching me at a single phone call from her. He took the soup I spent four hours simmering to feed her. He even gave away the plushies we won together at the arcade to “cheer her up.” In the bottom drawer, I found a photo of a pet rabbit. Austin and I had won it at a carnival a year ago. We raised it for three months. Chloe saw it, said it was cute, and Austin gave it to her without asking me. By the time I found out and rushed over, Chloe had already cooked it into a stew. She sobbed, claiming she “didn’t know it was a pet” and thought it was meant for eating. I packed my things into two categories. One to ship back to my parents’ house, and the rest straight into the dumpster. I left the keys on the counter and sent Austin one final text: [Austin, we are over. Don’t contact me again.] Then, I blocked and deleted his number. In this life, I refuse to waste another second on him. When Austin brought Chloe back later that day, he expected a clean house. Instead, the kitchen trash was practically crawling with maggots, releasing a foul stench. Chloe pinched her nose in disgust. “Is Emily still mad at me?” “Maybe I should just leave.” She made a show of walking toward the door, but Austin caught her. “Don’t worry about her!” “She’s just trying to make us feel miserable.” “I’ll clean up. Go rest on the couch.” As Chloe lounged on the couch, Austin rolled up his sleeves and started doing chores. In the two years we lived together, he had barely done any housework. Now, because he cared so much about Chloe, he had to do it himself. By the time he washed the dishes, threw out the trash, mopped the floor, and started the laundry, he was gasping for air. With only one kidney, his stamina was shot. But Chloe couldn’t do any physical work either. He collapsed onto the couch, panting. “Since when did Emily get such an attitude?！” “She actually stayed out the entire night!” Chloe gripped Austin’s hand, looking incredibly anxious. “Austin, what if Emily really wants to break up with you?” “If you guys break up because of me, I’ll never forgive myself!” Her eyes welled with tears, looking utterly pathetic. Austin smiled and gently patted her head. “Don’t worry, babe. Emily and I have been together for seven years. She’s been desperate to marry me. She’d never actually leave.” “Besides, now that I’m like this, she’ll only feel more obligated to stay.”

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At our engagement party, my fiancée’s childhood best friend, Ryan, suggested playing a blindfolded guessing game. Unable to resist the crowd’s teasing, Chloe had no choice but to tie a black silk scarf over her eyes. When she stumbled over to Ryan, she first felt his face, and then, without warning, she slid her hand right between his thighs. “Ryan, I knew it was you! Still the same as always.” The room erupted into wild laughter and cheers. I stood there, the hand holding my plate of cake freezing instantly. Seeing my awkward expression, Ryan quickly tried to laugh it off, explaining: “Ethan, please don’t get the wrong idea. Chloe and I grew up together. She’s been grabbing onto me to sleep since we were kids.” “We’re just too familiar with each other, that’s all.” Quiet snickers rippled through the room. Chloe tried to look angry, her eyes wide, but she couldn’t help but giggle: “Oh, shut up, Ryan! How dare you expose me in front of everyone? I’m going to kill you!” “You have some nerve talking about me. Didn’t you also love cuddling me to sleep back then?” Ryan laughed, gently shaking her off, and waved his hand: “Chloe, that was ages ago. Why are you bringing it up now? Alright, stop playing around…” “What do you mean? Didn’t you just last week…” Chloe blurted out. But she cut herself off mid-sentence, suddenly snapping her mouth shut. The atmosphere in the VIP lounge instantly turned painfully awkward. Seeing this, Ryan quickly stepped in to smooth things over: “See! I told you Chloe can’t hold her liquor. She only had a few drinks and she’s already talking nonsense.” The guests looked at each other, forced a few laughs, and played along with the joke. But only I knew the truth. This was no drunken slip of the tongue. Last week was our six-year anniversary. While we were being intimate that night, I noticed a fresh hickey on her chest. She claimed it was just an allergic reaction to a bug bite. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Now I realized that Ryan was that “bug.” Sensing the tension, the guests tried to change the subject with some idle chatter. But I remained completely serious. I stood up and stared straight at Chloe: “Keep going. What happened last week?” Chloe froze for a second, then frowned impatiently: “Nothing happened. Can you not be so uptight? Ryan and I are best friends. What’s wrong with a little joking? He doesn’t even mind.” “But I mind.” The moment the words left my mouth, the lounge fell dead silent. All the laughter vanished. Ryan looked incredibly uncomfortable, awkwardly turning his face away. “Chloe, I don’t care what you and him did in the past, but we are about to get married. Don’t you feel disgusted with yourself doing these things with zero boundaries?” In the next second, Chloe exploded: “Ryan and I literally shared the same bed growing up! I’ve never seen him as a man, and he’s never seen me as a woman. Why does your mind have to be so incredibly filthy?” “If something was actually going on between Ryan and me, would I even be with you right now?” Chloe kept complaining at the top of her lungs. I laughed out of sheer anger. I walked straight up to Ryan and grabbed his belt: “Great. Since neither of you sees the other as the opposite sex, why don’t you prove it to everyone right here, right now? Let’s see if I’m just overthinking!” This time, absolutely no one was laughing. Ryan struggled in shame and anger, but I refused to let go. Seeing this, Chloe shrieked and lunged at me. She raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face. “Ethan! What the hell is wrong with you? If you’re crazy, go get therapy! Do you have to make everyone miserable just to be satisfied?!” Ryan, looking utterly victimized, tugged at her sleeve and whispered: “Chloe, don’t fight with Ethan because of me. It’s all my fault today… I took the joke too far. I didn’t realize Ethan would be this sensitive.” Hearing this, Chloe let out a cold sneer: “Oh, he is sensitive, alright.” Someone in the crowd couldn’t hold it in and snorted. My face burned with humiliation. Chloe shot me a disdainful look and mocked: “Ethan, why are you making that miserable face? For whom?” “Everyone else can take a joke. Why are you the only one losing your mind? How long are you going to keep acting like a dramatic child?” At that moment, I felt like a thousand needles were piercing my heart. Every breath I took brought a sharp, throbbing pain. In the end, I didn’t say another word. The overwhelming nausea in my stomach forced me to bolt out of the room. Standing outside the lounge, I fell to my knees, clutching my mouth. The stomach acid burned my throat as I gagged. It took a long time for the feeling to finally pass. Just then, I heard someone inside ask: “Chloe, seriously, tell us the truth. Have you and Ryan ever actually slept together?” “Of course we have,” Chloe replied almost instantly, without a hint of hesitation. But Ryan immediately cut in: “Wait, we never did the actual deed, so that doesn’t count!” “Then what does it count as?” Chloe asked with a sly laugh. “It counts as me giving you a few free massages, haha.” The lounge exploded into roaring laughter once again. I stood outside the door, my heart completely dead. All this blatant betrayal and crossing of lines. From her mouth, it was all just a lighthearted joke. After a moment of silence, I pulled out my phone and sent a message to our wedding planner on Snapchat: “Cancel the venue reservation. The wedding is off.”

When I woke up on the couch the next morning, a massive hangover made my head spin. But as soon as I opened my eyes, I saw Chloe sitting in front of her vanity mirror. “Oh, for your sake, I got up at six in the morning to do my makeup. I wouldn’t bother dressing up this nicely for anyone else.” I didn’t even need to guess to know Ryan was on the other end of the line. Chloe noticed I was awake through the mirror, and her hands paused. “Babe, I can’t go try on wedding dresses with you today. Ryan’s film crew is having their wrap party, and I have to go celebrate with him. Let’s do it another day.” I gave a quiet “okay” and continued to rub my temples. The dull, throbbing headache kept coming in waves. Seeing my pain, Chloe just rolled her eyes: “I told you not to drink so much, but you never listen.” “There’s honey in the kitchen. Go make yourself some honey water. I’m busy with my makeup and don’t have time.” I found it almost funny. She was too busy to pour me a glass of water, yet she could hold her phone between her shoulder and ear, terrified of missing a single word from Ryan. And as for what happened last night, Chloe acted as if she had total amnesia. No explanation, not even a half-assed apology. Maybe she truly believed she had done nothing wrong. I stood up and went to the kitchen to make the honey water. I looked back at Chloe and said quietly: “Chloe, let’s break up.” The person on the phone must have said something hilarious. She burst into loud laughter, completely ignoring my words. After a moment, Chloe asked dismissively: “What did you just say? I didn’t hear you.” “Nothing.” I shook my head. Soon, Chloe was ready to leave. Just as she reached for the doorknob, I grabbed her hand: “Why don’t I come with you?” Chloe looked at me with utter shock: “What are you going to do there?” Seeing that I didn’t reply, her tone quickly became annoyed. “Ethan, Ryan and I were just joking around last night. You didn’t actually take that seriously, did you?” “I’m going to his wrap party, and you want to tag along? Are you that paranoid that something is going on between us? Can you stop being so suspicious all the time?” Hearing this, I felt a surge of cold amusement. I hadn’t even said anything, and she was already defensive. “I’m on vacation these days, and I have nothing to do. I just want to go out and clear my head.” I looked at her calmly, a slight smile on my face: “Unless… Ryan is the one who minds me being there, and he doesn’t want me to come?” Chloe’s expression stiffened. She stammered: “No… you’re overthinking. Why would he care…” In the end, Chloe had no choice but to reluctantly agree. On the way to the set, she sat in the back seat, staring down at her phone playing a game. Halfway through, her AirPods died, and the audio blasted through the speakers: “Chloe, is your fiancé crazy? Why does he have to tag along to this? You have zero freedom.” “How did you end up with such a petty man? Yesterday he made everyone so uncomfortable. It was so embarrassing.” Then came Ryan’s voice, of course: “Chloe, didn’t we agree that you belong only to me today?” “And yet you brought your man along. You clearly don’t care about your best bro at all.” Hearing Ryan’s half-joking, petulant words, Chloe just hummed a few times without defending me. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the venue. As soon as we got out of the car, Ryan walked up to greet us. When he saw Chloe, his eyes lit up: “Wow, why are you so dressed up today? Anyone would think you’re going on a hot date.” Chloe laughed and playfully punched his arm: “Stop it! You always say I look like a tomboy with zero feminine charm.” “Since I’m here to support our big star, of course I had to put in some effort.” “Oh wow, I’m honored.” Chloe blushed and giggled, hitting his chest again. Suddenly, she remembered I was standing right there. She immediately pulled her hand back and forced a fake smile at me: “Ethan, Ryan and I are just kidding around. You’re not going to get mad again like yesterday, right?” I smiled and said nothing. We walked into the venue hall. In the blink of an eye, Chloe had somehow changed into a white wedding gown. She was holding Ryan’s arm as they walked out from backstage. I froze slightly at the sight. The surrounding crew members immediately started teasing them: “Oh my god, they look so good together! What a handsome couple!” Ryan tried to suppress his grin, pretending to look annoyed: “Alright, that’s enough, guys. This is just for work, okay? Work!” He explained that the show needed some promotional posters re-shot. The lead actress was sick and couldn’t make it, and Chloe’s figure was the closest match. So, they asked her to stand in, and they would use AI face-swapping in post-production. In front of the camera, the two of them held each other intimately. But the photographer kept asking them to strike more passionate poses. Ryan said hypocritically: “Chloe, is this really okay? You and Ethan haven’t even taken your wedding photos yet, and here you are taking them with me. I’m worried he might feel bad.” Chloe remained nonchalant: “It’s fine. I’m just helping you with work. Ethan isn’t that petty.” Finally, when the photographer suggested a “camera-angle” kiss. The two of them didn’t even hesitate. They went straight in for a passionate French kiss right in front of the lens. As they were wrapping up, someone jokingly shouted: “Wow! Now that the wedding photos are done and the kissing is out of the way, should we head straight to the honeymoon suite?!”

Hearing this, Ryan tried to look serious: “Stop messing around. Chloe’s fiancé is right here. What honeymoon suite? Come on…” On the side, Chloe sneered: “Oh, look at you acting all innocent now. I’ve never seen you this shy before.” Just then, a crew member stepped up, pushing Chloe into Ryan’s arms with a smirk: “Ryan, weren’t you complaining that the lead actress was too stiff in that bed scene? Why don’t you and Chloe shoot a quick reference take? We can use AI face-swapping later. It’ll look incredibly real!” Chloe leaned into Ryan’s chest, half-resisting, but she didn’t say no. Ryan looked down at her, his voice dripping with temptation: “Chloe, are we best friends or what? If we are, do your boy a favor.” Chloe looked over at me, a hint of mockery on her face: “I want to help you, Ryan, but Ethan is right there. I’m just afraid he’ll start imagining things again.” But I just looked at her calmly and even nodded: “Why would I? Since it’s for Ryan’s work, I obviously don’t mind. If you’re okay with it, go ahead.” Hearing this, Chloe’s face instantly lit up with a massive smile. And at that exact moment, my heart went completely cold. It was just a test. And yet, this woman I had loved for six years. Exhibited her dirty, rotten, and boundary-less true self so eagerly. Once the camera rolled, the two of them lay on the decorated prop bed. Though they were covered by a duvet, their movements beneath it were incredibly violent. They nearly broke the bed. Chloe put on a very vocal performance, moaning loudly. With no script, she ad-libbed right on the spot: “Ah! You’re so much better than my fiancé! Just like that!” When the shoot ended, the crew members teased: “Wow, Chloe, your acting is insane! It’s your first time doing a scene like this, but you two looked like you’ve done it a hundred times before.” Chloe’s face flushed red at the comment. “Oh, stop it. It’s because Ryan is a professional actor. He didn’t show any physical reaction during the whole thing, so I didn’t feel awkward at all.” Ryan looked incredibly proud of himself. He pinched Chloe’s cheek and joked: “Of course. I told you, I only see you as my bro. How could I get turned on by a guy?” While they were chatting and laughing. A large crowd of Ryan’s fans arrived at the set for a meet-and-greet. Hearing that their idol had “sacrificed himself for art” by filming a passionate scene, they were all incredibly excited. A charity auction of the show’s props was organized on the spot, and fans rushed to bid. While the auction was in full swing. I stepped forward, held up a pair of men’s underwear, and yelled loudly: “Look here, everyone! This is the actual underwear your idol just wore during the bed scene! It’s still warm!”

The entire venue fell dead silent. Every single eye locked onto the underwear in my hand. In the next second, the fans in the crowd screamed with pure excitement: “Is that really Ryan’s underwear? I want it! I bid five thousand!” “Get out of my way! Don’t steal it from me! I bid twenty thousand! Quick… let me smell Ryan’s scent!” Seeing the chaotic scene, Chloe shrieked and rushed toward me: “Ethan! Are you out of your mind?! Why the hell did you bring his underwear out here?!” I blinked, pretending to look completely innocent: “Aren’t you guys auctioning off props as souvenirs for the fans?” “I saw that all of Ryan’s costumes were sold out for a lot of money. I figured the underwear he wore close to his body would be worth even more, right?” Saying this, I turned the underwear inside out. “But there’s one thing I’m really curious about. Chloe, didn’t you just say that Ryan is a professional actor and had absolutely no physical reaction during the whole scene?” I dragged out my words, and the crowd instantly let out a collective gasp. The fans’ expressions shifted from excitement to shock and suspicion. Ryan frantically tried to rush over and grab the underwear, but he was immediately blocked by several reporters: “Mr. Carter, can you explain what is going on here?” “As a professional actor, didn’t you claim that it was just acting?!” Facing the reporters’ aggressive questions, Ryan’s face flushed red with panic. He wanted to explain, but the evidence in my hand spoke for itself. Chloe was shaking with rage. She ran up to me, pointing at my face and screaming: “Ethan, you creep! You actually went and stole Ryan’s underwear?!” Seeing her intense reaction, I looked at her with feigned surprise: “Oh? I remember you saying with your own mouth… that Ryan is a professional actor and felt absolutely nothing during the bed scene with you?” I turned to the agitated crowd of fans and raised my voice: “Then Ryan was lying! He wasn’t just acting!” “And the entire shoot only lasted about three minutes. Finishing in less than three minutes… isn’t that the definition of premature ejaculation? That’s a medical condition, Ryan. You need to get that checked!” Hearing my words, the crowd exploded again: “What?! Ryan actually got turned on and finished in three minutes during a shoot? That is insane!” “Oh my god… I can’t accept this! How can my idol be a three-minute man?!” “Ryan, are you even human? Getting turned on by a basic girl like her? Do you have any respect for your fans?!” Faced with the insults and doubts, Ryan’s face turned completely pale. He rushed up to me. He snatched the underwear out of my hand and hissed through gritted teeth: “Ethan! Why did you bring my underwear out? Did you do this on purpose just to humiliate me?!” I blinked, mimicking his earlier tone, and let out a soft laugh: “Ryan, why are you saying that? I was just playing a little joke with everyone. You’re not actually taking it seriously, are you?” Watching him choke on his own words, I held back my laughter and delivered the final blow: “It’s okay. Erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation are treatable. Do you want me to recommend a good doctor?”

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To steal my fortune, my husband, Marcus, and my best friend, Vivian, teamed up to ruin me. They secretly slipped my hotel room keycard to a slimy male client. Little did they know, I had already swapped my keycard with Marcus’s. Marcus and I had been married for five years. For the longest time, we were the picture-of-perfect couple. That was until I accidentally found out he was cheating on me. And the other woman was Vivian, my best friend. Looking at the photos of their secret rendezvous sent by my private investigator, my heart didn’t even skip a beat. I casually forwarded the evidence to my divorce lawyer. After all, as the CEO of one of the top enterprises in Minnesota, money was infinitely more important to me than any man. My phone buzzed twice. The PI had sent me two audio recordings. I tapped play, and the voices of Marcus and Vivian filled the room. Marcus’s voice was low, completely stripped of the gentle tone he usually used with me: “During her business trip to Houston, find a way to get Sophia drunk and slip her room keycard to Henderson.” “I’ve already arranged for paparazzi at the hotel entrance. The moment she steps out of that room with him, her reputation will be toast.” Vivian cooed in a sickly sweet, babyish voice: “Marcus, I’ll do whatever you say. But when are you finally going to divorce her? I’m tired of being your dirty little secret.” Marcus immediately comforted her with a soft, doting tone: “Vivian, just give me a little more time. Sophia made me sign a prenup. If I divorce her now, I walk away with absolutely nothing.” “But luckily, her company is facing a temporary cash flow crisis.” “Once this hotel scandal blows up, I’ll pressure her to fund a new company under my name as her safety net.” “By then, all her money will practically be mine.” Vivian giggled, her voice dripping with affection. “Marcus, you are brilliant! You better marry me the second you get that money.” “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll dump her so fast. The title of Mrs. Minnesota’s top tech wife belongs to you and only you.” The rest of the recording was just the two of them making out. It made me want to throw up. I had no idea they had sunk this low. Back then, Vivian was the one who practically begged me to give Marcus a chance. In two weeks, I was scheduled to go to Houston for a major partnership deal. Harold Henderson was the local representative—a middle-aged, greasy, pot-bellied investor. I almost laughed out loud at the sheer absurdity of their disgusting scheme. One was the husband I had shared a bed with for five years, and the other was the best friend I had known for seven. They lived off my dime and spent my money, only to turn around and stab me in the back. Perhaps they had lived in luxury for too long that they forgot who actually paid the bills. Originally, I was planning on a quiet, clean divorce. But now? I wasn’t going to let them off that easily. I picked up the office phone, called my assistant, and told my lawyer to temporarily hold off on drafting the divorce papers.

Right before clocking out, I called my assistant, Angela, into my office and had her announce the company’s latest layoff list. Vivian’s name was right at the top. But Vivian didn’t know yet, because she had already sneaked out early. Using our friendship as an excuse, she constantly showed up late, left early, and did zero actual work. She just occupied a desk, collected a fat paycheck, and even managed to smuggle her lazy relatives into our entry-level positions. She was using my money to fund her glamorous lifestyle. Normally, if it didn’t cause a major disaster, I shut my eyes for the sake of our history. But things were different now. I wasn’t about to spend another penny feeding ungrateful parasites. Sure enough, before I even reached the parking lot, one of Vivian’s gossip buddies in the office leaked the news to her. My phone rang instantly. “Sophia! Why is my name on the layoff list? You didn’t even give me a heads-up!” I sneered in silence. I was the boss. Since when did I need her permission to fire someone? But when I spoke, my voice sounded depressed and exhausted: “Vivian, you know the company’s current situation isn’t great.” “Plus, you’ve brought in so many of your relatives lately. The company payroll just can’t sustain them anymore.” The company was indeed facing a temporary hurdle, but I already had a solid solution in place. I just didn’t tell her. She snapped, panic dripping from her voice. “What? Then fire them! Why do you have to fire me?!” Of course. If she got fired, where else would she find such an easy, high-paying job to maintain her fake, high-society persona on Instagram? I feigned helpless guilt. “But what would your relatives say if I only kept you?” “Besides, you’ve been leaving early to go on dates every single day lately. I couldn’t even find you to discuss this.” She choked, suddenly flustered. “What… what dates? There are no dates! I’ve just been feeling under the weather, so I went home early.” “Listen, Sophia, you’re the boss. Figure something else out! Fire them, but keep me on the payroll!” With a loud beep, she hung up on me. I didn’t bother calling back to expose her lies. I knew exactly how many times she had met Marcus this week and what they talked about.

When I got home, Marcus was nowhere to be seen. Which was perfect. I had hired a crew of technicians to install hidden cameras in every corner of the house. It was late evening when Marcus finally strolled in. With a warm, charming smile on his face, he handed me a bouquet of fresh roses. “Sophia, honey, I got these for you on my way home.” In the past, Marcus would bring me flowers almost every day. Whenever I worked late, he would cook my favorite meals. He handled all the domestic chores so I could focus entirely on my career. In my eyes, he had been the perfect husband. I never would have guessed that he was secretly plotting to ruin my life and reputation. I stared at the roses, frozen. Seeing my hesitation, his eyes filled with rehearsed worry. “Sophia, are you too stressed out? Vivian told me your company is going through a rough patch.” Vivian? How cozy. I snapped back to reality. It turned out the signs were always there; I was just too busy to notice. Why did he always offer to pick me up from work but “coincidentally” have Vivian in the passenger seat? Why did Vivian always “happen” to show up at our dinner dates? Why did Vivian’s face light up with adoration every time she talked about my husband? My eyes narrowed slightly. I stared at him, trying to find a single shred of guilt behind his flawless acting. But there was none. Instead, he stepped closer and took my hand. “Sophia, you’ve worked so hard all these years. Why don’t you let me help you shoulder some of the burden?” I sneered inwardly. Over the years, he had repeatedly dropped hints about wanting me to fund a startup for him. I had always politely declined because I knew he lacked any real business acumen. But this time, I let my expression crumble into fake despair. “Marcus, I think the company is really going under this time.” A flash of absolute glee crossed his eyes before he quickly masked it with a gentle, comforting look. “It’s okay, Sophia. You’ve done amazing to get this far. You still have me!” Depend on you? I’d rather go bankrupt and sleep on the streets, I thought bitterly. Before marrying me, he had a mediocre, low-paying job. The moment we got married, he quit and hadn’t worked a day since, living entirely off my credit cards. And yet, he had the audacity to cheat on me and plot to steal my hard-earned money. Honestly, I would have gotten a better return on investment if I had hired a male model. The anger bubbled up inside me. Oh, I was going to destroy them both. I let out a shaky sigh. “Marcus, didn’t you always want to start your own business?” “I’ve been thinking. Instead of fighting this battle alone, maybe I should fund your startup so you can support me.” His face lit up with pure joy. “Are you serious? You’re willing to invest in me?” I looked at him, my eyes shining with fake sincerity. “Marcus, I know you’ve saved up some money over the years. Why don’t you use your savings to get the company started first? Once things settle down on my end, I’ll inject more capital.” The moment he heard he had to use his own money, his face fell. His voice turned sharp and defensive. “What are you talking about?!”

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In the third year of my marriage to Victor, his first love, Aurora, came back to the country. For her sake, he even spat cruel words at me: “She didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t be so vicious.” Fine. Just as he wished, I was done playing the role of his “vicious” wife. But later, he clung to me like a dog, begging on his knees for my forgiveness: “Charlotte, please, can we not get a divorce?” I didn’t even look back. I just went to the club and ordered two more hot male hosts. “Charlotte, why isn’t Victor shopping with you today?” I kept my head down, scrolling through my phone, and gave a casual reply: “Oh, him? He’s a total workaholic. He’s out of town on another business trip.” Predictably, they squealed in envy and started showering Victor with praises. Their flattery was always the same: Oh, if he weren’t working, he’d definitely be here holding your bags. Victor is truly a one-in-a-million husband. My head started to throb just listening to them. If I hadn’t come to pick up Chloe’s pre-ordered birthday gift today, I wouldn’t have run into them at all. These girls smiled at your face, but who knew what kind of dirt they gossiped about behind your back. Years ago, when Victor and I first got together, we had a small fight, and I complained to them a bit. They twisted my words and ran straight to Victor’s mother, Penelope. It resulted in Victor getting a massive lecture from his mom. “Miss Christopher, your custom pink diamond necklace is packed and ready.” The sales associate walked up to me, handing over a gorgeous gift box wrapped in a red silk bow with a professional smile. I snapped out of my thoughts, took the box, and opened it. As expected of a custom collection from Hermès. It was definitely worth the month-long wait. Holding the luxury piece instantly lifted my mood. I thanked the associate and stood up. Turning to the girls sitting on the lounge sofa, I said, “You girls take your time. I have a dinner to catch. See you later.” Faking peace and happiness had become my most practiced skill.

By the time I picked up the gift, I was running a bit late. I rushed as fast as I could, but I still lagged behind schedule. When I pushed open the door to the private VIP dining room, almost everyone was already seated, though dinner hadn’t started yet. The moment I entered, the groups chatting around the long table stood up to greet me. Chloe sat in the center. Today was her big night. She looked absolutely stunning in a sleek, form-fitting designer gown. “Charlotte! Over here!” Seeing me, she immediately patted the empty seat next to hers and waved frantically. I handed her the gift. She gasped in excitement, and the crowd around us instantly joined in with a chorus of compliments. I leaned down and gave her a tight hug. Chloe and I had been best friends for fifteen years, ever since middle school. Thinking of our history brought a genuine smile to my face. I don’t know why, but lately, Victor had been on my mind constantly. He had only been away for three days this time. Before, even when he traveled for weeks, I had never missed him this intensely. The party was lively. Most of the guests were our mutual friends, though there were a few unfamiliar faces. During dinner, I excused myself to the restroom. While washing my hands, I heard the running water and voices gossiping outside the stall. “Who is that girl? Her gift was insane! That custom brand piece easily costs seven figures!” “That’s Charlotte. The heiress of the Christopher family.” “The Christophers are wealthy, sure, but her husband is Victor.” “As in, Franklin Realty?!” The water stopped, and their voices faded into the hallway.

I stepped out of the stall, washed my hands, and looked at my bright, flawless face in the mirror. Everyone said I was incredibly lucky to marry into the Franklin family, especially since Victor’s mother, Penelope, adored me. After all, though the Christophers were rich, we couldn’t quite match the massive empire of the Franklins. But what those gossiping girls didn’t know was that years ago, when the Franklin family faced a severe financial crisis, it was my family who consistently injected capital to save them. The seed money Victor used to rebuild Franklin Realty came entirely from my family. Penelope saw my devotion, so of course, she treated me like her own daughter. As for Victor, I never loved him for his money. I loved him simply because he was Victor, and I was willing to give him my everything. When I convinced my parents to invest in the Franklins back then, they asked me: “What if Victor betrays you in the future?” Before they could even finish, I shut down the idea immediately. “He won’t. I trust Victor.” Time proved I hadn’t made a mistake. Victor had always been worthy of my love. Seven years of dating, three years of marriage, eighteen years of knowing each other. To me, Victor had always been that pure, honest boy from my youth. I touched up my lipstick and left the restroom. On my way back, I walked past several private lounges, all noisy and wild. But outside one door, I froze. I thought I heard Victor’s voice. The door was slightly ajar. Peering through the gap, I saw the scene inside. Victor was wrapping his arm around a woman’s waist, shielding her protectively. Opposite them stood several middle-aged, pot-bellied businessmen holding whiskey glasses. Suddenly, one of the men said something offensive. Victor lost his temper. He smashed a glass on the floor, grabbed the woman’s wrist, and stormed out of the room. The moment he stepped out, he crashed right into me. The impact of the two of them sent me stumbling back several steps. But before he even looked at me, I heard him ask anxiously, “Aurora, are you okay?” Aurora?

Victor was my first love, but I wasn’t his. His first love was Aurora. The first time I ever heard her name was back in high school during a morning assembly. “Victor, Aurora, George, and Maupassant are hereby suspended for public fighting.” Aurora came from a poor background, but she was exceptionally beautiful. From the moment she entered our elite school, she was targeted by wealthy, arrogant boys. Word was she was being harassed one day, and Victor happened to pass by. He fought off two guys to save her. A classic knight-in-shining-armor story. What followed was natural. During the time they were together, Victor stopped waiting to walk me home after school. He stopped inviting me out on holidays. Honestly, I was pretty heartbroken back then. But at that age, I hadn’t realized my own feelings yet. I just felt lonely without my best friend. However, their romance didn’t last. The Franklin family went bankrupt shortly after. The boys who held grudges against Victor didn’t miss the chance to humiliate him. Under immense pressure, Aurora broke up with him. She transferred schools soon after, and I never heard from her again. I never expected our reunion to look like this.

Standing in front of me, Aurora was still beautiful. She was the delicate, fragile type that instantly triggered a man’s protective instincts. Perhaps because Victor had pulled her too hard, her large eyes were brimming with tears. Even I felt a pang of pity looking at her. She didn’t answer Victor because she had spotted me first. Following her gaze, Victor saw me too. He instantly let go of her wrist like he had been burned. “Charlotte? What are you doing here?” “It’s Chloe’s birthday. I’m here celebrating with her. Didn’t you see the Snapchat message I sent you yesterday?” “I…” Before Victor could finish, Aurora cut in. “Miss Christopher, please don’t blame Victor. It’s all my fault. Victor was just helping me out.” I was surprised she still remembered my name after all these years. After all, in high school, I had only met her once at Victor’s birthday party. Back then, she was his official girlfriend, and I was just the best friend in the background. I looked at Victor. He looked panicked for a second, but quickly regained his composure. Suddenly, my phone rang. It was Chloe. “Charlotte, what’s taking you so long in the bathroom? Did you get lost? Do you need me to come get you?” “I’m on my way back,” I replied. Hanging up, I looked at Victor. “I’ll expect an explanation when you get home tonight.” To be honest, I knew Victor wouldn’t cheat on me. He probably just had a lingering savior complex for his first love. So, I was willing to give him a chance to explain. With that, I turned on my heels and walked away in my stilettos, completely ignoring Aurora. She wasn’t worth my time.

As soon as Chloe’s party ended, I went straight home. Unsurprisingly, Victor was already waiting for me on the living room sofa. “You’re back?” “Yeah,” I replied, kicking off my shoes. To match my dress tonight, I had worn a pair of complicated lace-up stilettos. Taking them off required untangling the straps, which was a hassle. Losing patience, I tried to rip them off. Victor walked over, knelt down in front of me, and gently untangled the straps for me. Looking down at his handsome face, I sighed. He knew me too well. He knew exactly how to make my heart soften. The shoes finally came off. I stood up to go wash my face. But Victor wrapped his arms around me from behind, pulling me tight against his chest. “Charlotte, there’s nothing going on between us.” “She moved back to LA last month and got a job at Franklin Realty. I swear, I had absolutely no idea.” “I only found out today when Johnson texted me saying some clients were harassing her at a dinner.” “She’s an employee under my company, and it happened during a business deal. I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.” “If it bothers you, I’ll fire her tomorrow.” He sounded like a protective, overbearing alpha. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Alright, why fire her? She didn’t make any mistakes at work, and she was trying hard to close a deal for the company.” I placed my hand over his, patting it gently. “I trust you. It’s a small issue, and I’m not that petty.” Because I believed that anyone who could be stolen away was just trash. And if he was trash, she could have him. “I’m going to shower. It’s been a long day, and I want to sleep early.” “Charlotte, let me join you.”

After that night, Victor treated me even better. Luxury jewelry and designer bags arrived at our house in a steady stream. I truly believed he had cut all ties with Aurora. Lately, whenever he went on business trips, he would FaceTime me every day, sharing every little detail of his schedule. “Victor, I’ll come pick you up at the airport. I’m just bored at home anyway.” “I’d love that, sweetheart. But drive slowly, okay? Be safe.” I pulled a pregnancy test report from my drawer and slid it into my designer bag. I had just gotten the blood test results yesterday. I was over two months pregnant. Touching my still-flat belly, a wave of pure happiness washed over me. “Baby, your daddy is about to find out you’re coming. Grow strong and healthy, okay?” Grabbing my car keys, I headed out. The weather was perfect today, the sun shining brightly. While waiting at a red light, I watched some kids playing in a nearby park, their laughter echoing through the air. Perhaps because I was about to become a mother, the sight touched me deeply. Ever since I got the results yesterday, I had been brainstorming names. If it was a boy, Henry. If it was a girl, Hathaway. The red light was counting down. I shifted the car into drive. Suddenly, a Toyota speeding from the side blew right through the red light, crashing violently into several cars. I spun the steering wheel hard to dodge, but it was too late. The moment of impact was deafening. My ears rang, shutting out all sound, and the last thing I saw was crimson blood pooling beneath me. “Ma’am, can you hear me? Stay with me!” I faintly heard the paramedic’s voice. I couldn’t speak, but I forced my lips to move, desperate to form the words. “Save… my baby…” The baby was only two months old. I had only found out yesterday. I hadn’t even had the chance to celebrate with his father. With the last of my strength, I placed my hand over my stomach. I could feel life slipping away from me.

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My childhood best friend, Ethan, fell head over heels for the new girl at school. She smoked, drank, got tattoos, and picked fights. But in Ethan’s eyes, that wasn’t being a delinquent. It was “freedom.” It was “cool.” I once warned him to stay away from her. She wasn’t the kind of girl kids like us—straight-A students—should mess with. But Ethan just looked at me and said, “Chloe, you don’t get it. She’s living the life I’ve always wanted.” I went to the counselor’s office to hand in my AP Physics Olympiad form. That was when I saw Ethan. He was wearing ripped jeans and a graphic tee—the exact same one Skylar wore. He stood in front of Mrs. Gable with his arms crossed. The respect he used to have for teachers was gone. His eyes held nothing but arrogance and annoyance. “Ethan, look at your grade on this practice exam. You dropped from an A straight to a C.” “Look at yourself. Do you even look like an honors student anymore?!” Mrs. Gable’s desk was covered with Ethan’s latest test papers. I squinted. The pages were covered in red ink, and his handwriting was a sloppy mess. Was this a joke? Ethan used to get perfect scores on every single test. His handwriting was always flawless. His test papers used to be scanned and distributed to the entire school as answer keys. A C? He couldn’t get a C even if he took the test with his eyes closed. Yet, Ethan just stood there, completely unfazed. He smirked, looking up at the ceiling, ignoring every word Mrs. Gable said. “Ethan! I’m talking to you! What is this attitude?” Ethan let out a cold laugh. “It’s just who I am now.” Suddenly, he leaned down, getting right in Mrs. Gable’s face. He lowered his voice. “Are you only worried about my grades because you’ll lose your Ivy League placement bonus if I don’t get into Harvard?” Mrs. Gable’s face turned bright red. She pointed a finger at the smirking Ethan, but she was so angry she couldn’t squeeze out a single word. Honestly, if it weren’t for the school’s strict code of conduct, I was pretty sure Mrs. Gable would have cursed him out right then and there. In the end, she didn’t say anything else. She just let out a heavy sigh, threw the test paper at Ethan, and waved him off. “Fine. Whatever. If you want to ruin your life, go ahead.”

After Ethan left, I stepped up and handed my Physics Olympiad registration form to Mrs. Gable. She took it, looked at me, and nodded with a small, relieved smile. Ethan and I had been competing in physics since our freshman year. In freshman year, I took third place, and Ethan took second. In sophomore year, I took second, and Ethan took first. I was always exactly one spot behind him, and it drove me crazy. I had made a bet with him. I told him that during our senior year, I would definitely take first place and rub it in his face. Back then, Ethan had just smiled, gently ruffling my hair. “Chloe, some things are just about raw IQ. You can’t beat me, and you never will.” “Even if you somehow get first, your overall SAT scores will never touch mine.” Looking at his confident, proud face back then, I had been more determined than ever to beat him. I always believed that if I worked hard enough, I could have everything I wanted. Just as I turned to leave, Mrs. Gable called out to me. I turned around, confused. She looked at me with worried eyes. “Chloe, you and Ethan are close. Can you please talk to him?” “He’s such a good kid. I don’t want him getting dragged down by the wrong crowd.” “Skylar’s family has serious money. Even if she drops out of high school, she can just go inherit her dad’s company.” “But what about Ethan? What is he going to do without college?” “Look at his grades lately. They’re in a freefall. And he’s starting to act like a street punk.” “I think I saw a tattoo on his arm earlier today.” “He used to be such a sweet, sensible boy. How did he ruin himself so fast?” Honestly, it wasn’t just Mrs. Gable who couldn’t figure it out. I couldn’t understand it either.

My mom and Ethan’s mom, Sarah, had been best friends since college. When they got pregnant, they made a pact. If they had kids of the same gender, they’d be best friends. If they had a boy and a girl, they’d arrange for them to end up together. So, Ethan and I grew up together. We were attached at the hip because of our moms. Later, when our families got richer, we bought houses right across the street from each other. In our moms’ eyes, we were practically engaged. Obviously, living closer was better. Ethan was incredibly handsome. He had big eyes, long eyelashes, and pale skin. Sometimes, he looked prettier than I did. Honestly, even without our moms pushing us, I had fallen for him anyway. Ever since kindergarten, I had told my mom that I was going to marry Ethan when I grew up. I told her, “He’s so pretty. Our babies are going to be gorgeous.” My mom just laughed and called me shameless. I also told Ethan, “I’m going to marry you when we grow up.” Ethan had just patted my head. “Sure. But you better keep up with me. Don’t get left behind.” So, starting in elementary school, I spent my life chasing after him. But the older we got, the more I realized how unfair life was. Why did Ethan get to sleep in class, play video games all night, and still rank first in the state? Meanwhile, I had to pay 100% attention in class, go to prep school after hours, and study until midnight just to barely keep up with his pace. I worked hard for over ten years, waiting for our senior year. I thought if I pushed myself for one more year, we’d go to the same Ivy League university, and eventually, we’d get married. But then, senior year started, Skylar transferred to our school, and everything changed.

Skylar wasn’t stunningly beautiful—at least, not to me. She had a messy, short haircut, wore oversized cargo pants, and carried a worn-out crossbody bag. She always looked incredibly relaxed, like she didn’t have a care in the world. She stood at the front of the classroom on her first day, chewing gum like a movie rebel. Before Mrs. Gable could even finish introducing her, Skylar interrupted. “Is that empty seat in the back mine?” She didn’t even wait for a nod. She just walked straight to the back row, threw her bag into the desk, put her head down, and went to sleep. Everyone said Skylar looked like trouble. For her first week, nobody dared to talk to her. Not that she cared. During breaks, she played on her phone. During class, she slept. I didn’t know what her deal was, but all the teachers seemed to have a silent agreement to leave her alone. Whether she slept, skipped homework, or cut class entirely, they just turned a blind eye. One day on our walk home, I brought up Skylar to Ethan. “Life really is unfair,” I sighed. “The AP exams are right around the corner, and I feel like twenty-four hours a day isn’t enough.” “But look at Skylar. She sleeps or plays on Snapchat all day. She doesn’t worry about a thing. I’m so jealous of her.” Usually, when I complained like this, Ethan would encourage me. He would say, “Don’t worry about others. Just focus on your own path.” But this time, he actually agreed. “Yeah. I envy her too.” “She’s free. She does whatever she wants. Nobody is forcing her to go to Harvard.” “She’s so relaxed. No dress code, no constant studying, she doesn’t even have to show up to class if she doesn’t want to.” “She’s wild. The other day, I saw her climb the school fence with some guys. Her world is so colorful.” Ethan’s eyes literally lit up when he spoke about Skylar. He whispered, “Chloe, I really envy her. I think… I want to try living like that.” At the time, I thought he was just venting, the same way I was. I never imagined he didn’t just want to dream about it. He wanted to live it.

It’s hard for a bad student to become good, but it is incredibly easy for a good student to go bad. I didn’t know when Ethan and Skylar actually started dating. I hadn’t even noticed him talking to her. But by the time I found out, they were already wearing matching vintage jackets at school, and Ethan’s grades had begun to plummet. On a Friday walk home, the silence between us was deafening. As we neared our houses, I couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Ethan, are you dating Skylar?” I asked. He nodded. “Is that why your grades are dropping?” His face instantly darkened. “Chloe, why are you acting like everyone else? Why does everyone blame Skylar for my grades?” “My grades have nothing to do with her.” “How can you say that? I saw you. You bought a burner phone.” “You spend all of class texting her, don’t you?” Ethan stiffened. He snapped, “Mind your own business,” and got off the bus early. We weren’t even at our stop yet. He was practically running away. But I didn’t chase him. I had AP prep homework to do. I didn’t have time to chase a boy. Soon after, Ethan started skipping study hall with Skylar. Before he skipped, he would always come to my desk and beg me to cover for him. Since he had always been a golden student, the teachers were incredibly lenient with him. All he had to say was, “The classroom is too loud for me to focus,” and they would let him go study in the library. They only cared about his final scores anyway. “Ethan, did you even finish the homework packets for this week?” I asked him one day when he begged me to cover for him again. He scoffed. “Please. That baby stuff? I don’t even need to look at it.” He glanced down at the AP English practice test I was working on. With just a single glance, he pointed out two mistakes I had made in the multiple-choice section. Then, he smirked at me, as if to say: “See? You work so hard, and I can spot your mistakes in a second.” “Do you really think someone like me needs to do homework?” I swallowed my anger, corrected my answers, and nodded.

I knew Ethan’s personality too well. You had to stroke his ego. If I nagged him like Mrs. Gable did, he would only hate me, and he’d hate school even more. So, I tried to trick him into focusing on his studies again. For example, I would take a brutally hard math Olympiad question to him and ask him how to solve it. But just as he got focused and started sketching out formulas, I would suddenly snatch the paper back and say, “Oh, never mind, I got it!” Then I’d explain the solution to him with a smug grin, adding, “Bummer, Ethan. Guess you’re getting a bit rusty.” I wanted to trigger his competitive nature. But my tricks stopped working because Mrs. Gable finally called Ethan’s mom about his failing grades. The two middle-aged women staged an intervention. They sat him down, begging him to focus on his future, telling him he could date whoever he wanted once he got into a good college. Ethan’s mom even brought me into it. “Look at Chloe! She used to have average grades, but she worked her butt off just to get into the same AP classes as you.” “Ethan, I’m not trying to control your life. But you are brilliant. If you ruin your shot at the Ivy League over a high school crush, you will regret it forever.” “Exactly,” Mrs. Gable chimed in. “Even if you want to date, you should date someone who shares your goals. This Skylar girl…” Mrs. Gable trailed off. Ethan didn’t say a word. He just sat there, taking their lecture in silence. The summary of their speech was simple: “Break up with Skylar, study hard, and get into Harvard.” They thought his silence meant he was listening. But after that day, Ethan didn’t just skip study hall. He started skipping core classes too. See? I told you. You have to handle him with care, or he snaps.

By the end of the semester, Ethan went from straight A’s to failing multiple classes. When Sarah came back from the school meeting, her face was completely pale. That night, I could hear her screaming through the walls of our house. “Your father and I worked ourselves to the bone to pay for your tuition and prep classes! You’re on the verge of graduation, and you’re just throwing it all away?!” “You could date anyone, anytime! Why does it have to be during your senior year?!” “Do you have any idea how hard Chloe is working? She studies until midnight every single night!” “How did you become like this? Tattoos?! Who taught you that?!” I tried to tune it out, but our houses were close, and Sarah was completely hysterical. At 11:00 PM, I was fully focused on a tough physics problem when someone knocked on my door. Weird. My mom never disturbed me when I was studying. I opened the door. My mom stood there, looking uncomfortable. “Chloe… can you come out for a second?” I walked into the living room and saw Sarah sitting on our couch, her eyes red and swollen. The moment she saw me, she burst into tears again. “Chloe… Ethan ran away.”

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My mother was assaulted by a vagrant on her way to take me to the hospital for a high fever. Shattered and crying, she fell into the river and drowned. Blaming me for her death, my father and brother channeled all their hatred toward me, forcing me to kneel by the riverbank every single day as penance. But then, I was targeted by the same monsters. After hours of brutal torment, I was dragged into the deep, lawless mountains. I searched desperately for a chance to escape. Before my phone died, I made one last, desperate call to my brother, Damian. But Damian only sneered over the line: “Keep acting, Sienna! Even if you really got kidnapped, you brought it on yourself!” “You were the one who should have been ruined that night, not Mom!” I lost all hope. The villagers caught me, dragged me back, and broke my bones, tearing me apart in the name of “purifying the impure.” Later, my mother, who had actually survived and was on a classified undercover mission, returned home safely. When she found out that my shattered bones were among the remains of the trafficking victims she had brought back, she went completely insane.

When Damian was called to the police station in the middle of the night, the facial recognition on the security footage hadn’t been fully restored yet. Between the blind spots of the camera and the pitch-black night, it was hard to make out the victim’s face. The detective met Damian, his sharp eyes scanning him from head to toe. With a heavy voice, the detective placed a watch in front of him. “We found this at the crime scene. It has old and new scratches all over it, and your fingerprints are on it.” “More importantly, we verified with the store. You ordered this watch yourself.” Damian frowned, his gaze falling on the battered watch. The glass face was shattered, the strap hacked to pieces by something sharp. He flipped it over gently and saw the letters engraved on the inside. “I bought it,” he said, pausing. Thinking of me, a look of disgust flashed in his eyes, and his voice turned ice-cold. “But my sister, Sienna, threw this watch away. If she’s in trouble, go find her. Her life has nothing to do with me.” With that, he stood up abruptly, turning to leave the station. But his eyes were caught by the security footage playing on a loop on a nearby screen. It was the tape of the vagrant attack. The screen was playing the exact moment I was being brutally assaulted by multiple men in the shadows. Blood trailed across the ground, stretching into the darkness. Thud! Damian slammed his fist violently onto the table. His eyes turned bloodshot, welling with tears. His entire body began to shake, consumed by pure rage. “Animals! Those goddamn scumbags! So many of them, ganging up on one helpless girl!” “Bastards!” A faint smile touched my ghostly lips. Could this count as Damian crying for me? Since Mom “died,” I hadn’t seen him show this much emotion in a long time. The footage kept playing. After the monsters finished, they brutally broke my legs and dragged me into a blind spot. Hoarse screams and sadistic laughter mingled on the tape. Fear, despair, and excruciating pain seemed to wrap around me again, swallowing me whole. Right before I disappeared from the camera’s view, my blurry, half-ruined face was exposed for a split second. The officers in the room looked grim, some stepping forward to pat Damian’s shoulder in sympathy. “This is the latest attack. A lot of women have gone missing or been hurt lately. Don’t you have a sister? Keep her safe.” “Don’t let her end up like this poor girl. She’s been missing for two days, and no one even filed a report. We don’t even know who she is.” Damian didn’t say a word, his eyes glued to the screen. I lowered my head with a bitter smile, looking at my own shattered soul. Damian hated me. Why would he ever protect me? If he cared, I wouldn’t have been dead for two days without them even noticing. It hurt so bad. After a long silence, Damian spoke, his voice hoarse and dripping with sarcasm. “The watch belongs to that girl. It’s highly likely the victim is someone my sister knows. I’ll ask her when I get back.” “Both cases are tied to her. There’s no way she doesn’t know something about this.” “As for protecting her? She doesn’t deserve it.”

The tension in the room vanished, replaced by a suffocating silence. It only eased when Damian offered to lead the officers to find me for questioning. “Damian, does your sister like to hang out by the river at night? Why would she be out there?” “Hey, I get it. Sibling drama, right? My sister drives me crazy too!” “But she’s your blood. Who else is going to spoil her? Just swallow your pride and make up. Don’t hold a grudge against a kid.” “I told you, she doesn’t deserve it! She can rot for all I care!” Damian snapped, as if a raw nerve had been touched. In a fit of rage, he hurled his phone onto the ground, his chest heaving. Everyone stared at him, bewildered and concerned. “You don’t know the truth! The victim of the first attack years ago was my mom!” “Sienna killed her! She is a walking curse!” “If she hadn’t whined about a stupid fever and forced Mom to take her to the hospital in the middle of the night, Mom would still be alive!” Damian’s voice cracked, his emotions spiraling. He covered his face, trying to suppress the agonizing pain buried deep in his heart. By the end, he was screaming, sounding like a wounded, helpless child begging for his mother. “Because of her, I don’t have a mother anymore! How could I ever protect a murderer?!” “My dad and I wanted to build a memorial, but we didn’t even have a body to bury!” Damian cried, and I wept right alongside him. My chest ached so badly I felt like throwing up. For years, every time I knelt by that river, those were the exact words hurled at me. Dad called me a curse, a murderer, the most evil child on earth. Damian hated me. He hated me for taking Mom away, for having a fever that night. They said I was the one who destroyed our perfect family. So, they would grab me by the neck, shove my head into the freezing water, and ask me over and over why it wasn’t me who died that night. They wanted to prove a point—that between me and Mom, Mom was the only one who mattered. But they forgot. Once, I was the little girl they held in the palms of their hands. An officer sighed heavily, breaking the silence. “The living are what matters now. You guys are family.” “I said, she doesn’t deserve it!” The light in my eyes died out. I shook my head bitterly. If Damian knew I was dead, would he feel a little happier? A little relieved? Would he… forgive me just a little? “Captain! We searched the entire riverbank! No sign of her!” “But we found a mess of chaotic footprints. And this—a strawberry hairpin.” That hairpin was hand-crafted by Damian. It had a tiny GPS tracker hidden inside. Back when I was in middle school, Damian forgot to pick me up, and I got lost. My family and the police searched for six months before rescuing me from a trafficking ring. I never forgot Damian’s guilt-ridden eyes back then, or my parents’ terrified, loving faces. Damian had sworn he would protect me from getting hurt for the rest of his life. Yet, all that love turned into a double-edged sword, sending me straight back to hell. Damian only spared the hairpin a cold glance before stepping forward to inspect the footprints. My heart began to race with a spark of hope. I wasn’t kneeling there like I usually did, and my hairpin was on the ground. Damian was smart; surely he would notice something was off? If he just mentioned it to the police… Maybe… they could still find my body. “Damian! Where is your sister? Could she have been kidnapped?”

The officers immediately grew tense. Connecting my disappearance with the vagrant attack from earlier, the truth was staring them in the face. My heart climbed into my throat. But Damian just let out a cold laugh, pulling up his call log and showing it to them. “Her? Kidnapped? Where could a cockroach like her go? She called me this morning, playing the victim again!” “She loves lying. She loves directing her own little dramas! Killing my mother wasn’t enough, now she’s pulling this stunt!” I frantically spun around them, wishing with everything in me that I could scream the truth into their ears. I wasn’t lying! I wasn’t playing victim! Everything I said was real! Why won’t you believe me?! But my voice couldn’t reach them. Damian, convinced of his own theory, looked eager to drag me out and expose my “lies” to the world. Eventually, the last drop of hope drained from me. I just stared at him, numb. He was on the phone with Dad, talking about me. “Sienna is pulling her old tricks again. She’s probably out hooking up with some trashy guy.” “She doesn’t feel a shred of remorse! Even if she dies, she deserves it! Let’s see how many days she can last out there!” Dad’s final words hit me like a physical blow. The pain in my chest was blinding, and a familiar coldness washed over my face. Of course. Even if I died, they wouldn’t care. The police search was called off. I followed Damian back home. The next morning, before nine, my school counselor called. He was a good man, always worried that my family issues would ruin my education. He cared about me when no one else did. “Hello? Damian? I heard from the teachers that Sienna hasn’t been in class for days. Is everything okay?” The voice was filled with genuine warmth. My eyes welled with tears, and they spilled over instantly. If there was anyone left in this world who cared about me, it was Mr. Sterling. I wanted so badly to thank him, to thank him for remembering me. But I would never get the chance. “Mr. Sterling? Or are you just one of the trashy guys Sienna is fooling around with?” “Is she standing right next to you, telling you what to say? Does she want to see us worry? Why is she so obsessed with these cheap dramas?” “No, you misunderstand—” “Save it! Tell her to get her ass back to the river and kneel. If she keeps this up, I’m legally disowning her!” “And you! Aren’t you afraid she’ll ruin your life too? She’s a monster who didn’t even spare her own mother!” Before the counselor could explain, Damian slammed the phone down. His face was still flushed with lingering anger. Dad walked out of his room, frowning. “Was that Sienna?” “Don’t worry about her. If she doesn’t want to come home, she doesn’t have to.” “She kept me up all night. I just finalized the disownment papers and posted them on social media.” “She’s dead to this family now.” I stared at Dad, frozen. My heart sank to the absolute bottom of a frozen lake, aching with a dull, throbbing pain. I curled up on the floor, hugging my knees, wanting to cry but having no tears left. Damian’s number was only listed as my emergency contact because Mr. Sterling had insisted on it. Back then, the counselor had comforted me, saying Damian and Dad were just angry, that they would understand one day. He told me guys express love differently, that Damian probably cared deep down. He even said he sometimes saw Damian lingering near the school gates. I had believed him. I wrote down Damian’s number, hoping I would never have to use it, hoping I would stay safe and not be a burden. Only later did I realize Mr. Sterling had just been trying to comfort me. Damian didn’t care. He never came to see me. And now that his number was finally used as an emergency contact, it was completely useless. It only brought anger to everyone and pushed Dad to legally cut ties with me. Dad, do you really hate me that much? So much that you had to sever our very last bond? The pain in my chest intensified, suffocating me. Knock, knock, knock. “Richard! Sienna! Damian! Open the door! My undercover mission is over! I’m home!”

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