Category: English

Ethan has never been a morning person. So, for this business trip, when he booked a six a.m. flight, it was more than just unusual. It was a red flag. I couldn’t help but ask him why he’d bought a ticket for such an ungodly hour. A rare, helpless smile touched the lips of a man who was usually so cool and composed. “The new assistant isn’t very experienced,” he said. “She told me the earliest flight was the cheapest.” I took a slow, deep breath, a sudden, chilling clarity washing over me. This marriage was finally on its last legs. 1 Ethan was never the kind of boss who went easy on people. On the contrary, he was a notorious perfectionist, with zero tolerance for rookie mistakes. His last assistant, who had been with him for three years, was exiled to a branch office in Chicago simply for mixing up his coffee order. But this time, a new assistant’s blunder had him waking up at four a.m. for a flight, and all he did was laugh it off. A delicate string inside me suddenly vibrated with unease. Then I told myself I was overthinking it. I knew Ethan. I trusted our eight years together. Besides, he had always despised incompetence. I figured he’d fire the new girl the second he got back from this trip. The last day of his trip happened to be our third wedding anniversary. I’d booked a table at our favorite restaurant a month in advance to celebrate. But Ethan, whose meetings ended that morning, dragged his return out until he landed just after midnight. I was dozing off in the driver’s seat of our car at the arrivals curb. The moment he pulled open the passenger door, a wave of disappointment washed over me. “The restaurant is closed,” I grumbled. “What took you so long? Was the flight delayed for hours?” Just as the words left my mouth, the back door opened. I turned my head. A young, beautiful girl slid into the back seat as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She looked up at me and smiled sweetly. “Hi, you must be Claire. I’m Sienna, Mr. Hayes’s new assistant.” She beamed. “I hope you don’t mind me catching a ride. Thanks so much for dropping me home!” Ethan, now buckling his seatbelt, had an amused smirk on his face. “Ask her,” he said, nodding toward the back. He was answering my complaint. “Ethan!” the girl whined, drawing out his name and pouting. “Don’t tease me! I only booked the red-eye to save the company money!” I didn’t start the car. I narrowed my eyes, my gaze shifting to my husband. He was looking down at his phone, showing no signs of the fatigue or irritation that usually came with a late-night flight. My heart sank. These all seemed like trivial little things. But after eight years together, I knew Ethan better than anyone. He was a man who lived by firm boundaries. He hated mixing his professional and personal lives. The company had a generous car service policy, yet even in a downpour, he’d never let an employee hitch a ride. What’s more, Sienna had just committed two major professional sins in the span of a few minutes. My hands tightened on the steering wheel. My intuition screamed that there was something unspoken between them, a current of ambiguity that I couldn’t ignore. It felt like a tiny needle pricking my heart, releasing a slow, spreading poison of anxiety. I lifted my eyes, meeting Sienna’s gaze in the rearview mirror. The smile was still on her face, but beneath the bright surface, there was a flicker of something else—a challenge that only another woman would recognize. But I wasn’t the type to swallow my feelings and play nice. “Sorry, Sienna. That’s not going to work for me,” I said, my voice cold as I unlocked the doors. The smile on her face froze. She clearly hadn’t expected the CEO’s wife to be so blunt. But she recovered quickly, pressing her palms together in a playful, pleading gesture. “Oh, please, Claire? It’s impossible to get a cab at this hour. I had to beg Ethan to give me a lift. I promise I won’t get in the way of your date night.” Ethan, who had been absorbed in his messages, finally seemed to notice the storm brewing in the car. He turned his head to look at me. His expression held a hint of disapproval. But he didn’t say anything. I raised an eyebrow, my gaze unwavering. “I saw a whole line of taxis at the arrivals terminal when I pulled up,” I said evenly. “Remember to get a receipt for reimbursement.” “Claire… I…” The girl bit her lip, her eyes welling up with tears as she darted helpless glances at Ethan. My patience was gone. “Get out of the car,” I said, my voice sharp. Sienna flinched, and tears began to stream down her cheeks. Ethan cleared his throat. In the end, he wasn’t going to piss me off for the sake of a new assistant. “Just call an Uber,” he said to her, his tone gentle but firm. “Be safe. And text me the license plate number when you get in.” 2 Just like he’d always promised, Ethan had my back. Whenever it mattered, he stood firmly behind me, no questions asked, ready to protect me. But this time, I felt no joy. The concern and softness Ethan showed for another woman was like a thorn in my side. Finally, we were alone in the car. But the silence was a living thing, a vine that crept and coiled between us. Ethan was the first to break. He sighed, a sound of resigned indulgence, and took my hand, lifting it to his lips for a soft kiss. “She’s just a young girl, Claire. I was worried about her going home alone this late.” I stared directly into his eyes. “Weren’t your other assistants young? Weren’t they girls? I don’t remember you ever showing this much compassion before.” Ethan blinked, then a small laugh escaped him. “Is it that time of the month? Why are you letting your imagination run wild?” “She’s just my assistant. That’s all.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a necklace, and leaned over to fasten it around my neck. “Alright, baby,” he murmured, his voice softening. “Today is our anniversary. Let’s not let someone irrelevant ruin the mood.” “Let’s go home. I’ll grill you a steak myself, how about that?” He looked at me with that familiar gaze, warm and deep, the kind of look you could drown in. The moisture in my eyes hadn’t dried, but the corners of my mouth had already begun to curve into a smile. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. Ethan’s spirits were high, and we spent most of the night tangled up in each other. The next day was a workday, but we slept in until the sun was high in the sky. I decided to take the day off, but Ethan had to go into the office to deal with work. He’d never had a sweet tooth, but as he was leaving, he asked our housekeeper to pack up some of the dessert she’d just made. My intuition told me his unusual behavior had something to do with that new assistant. Since I had the afternoon free, I drove to his office. He was in a meeting. Through the crack of the conference room door, I saw his brow furrowed as he scanned a report. He tapped his knuckles on the table. “This data has a 0.1% margin of error. Redo it.” A subordinate started to explain, but Ethan tossed the file back at him. “I want a revised version on my desk by the end of the day.” An entire room of top-tier graduates fell silent, no one daring to breathe too loudly. Finally, Ethan announced the end of the meeting in a glacial tone. “Efficiency is the bare minimum. Don’t make me repeat myself.” A collective sigh of relief filled the room as they filed out. They saw me and were about to greet me, but I put a finger to my lips to silence them. Soon, only Ethan and Sienna were left in the room. Alone together. Ethan leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose wearily. When he opened his eyes and saw she was still there, he asked, “You’re still here? Is there something else?” Sienna clutched a proposal to her chest and moved closer to him, her eyes shining with a perfectly measured dose of adoration. “Ethan, those points you highlighted for me… after I revised them, I realized it was like you turned lead into gold!” “I could meditate for a billion years and all my brain cells combined wouldn’t come close to understanding how you create such a perfect strategy!” “You’re honestly the most brilliant, most perfect man I’ve ever met! You’re like a beacon in the darkness, guiding me forward…” Ethan had always hated corporate flattery, especially the empty, over-the-top kind. And I knew he wasn’t deaf to the syrupy sweetness she’d intentionally injected into her voice. He should have shut her down, told her to get out without a second thought. But instead, I heard the distinct sound of amusement in his voice. “Is this what they call ‘gassing someone up’?” As if she’d been given a green light, Sienna practically glowed with pride. “And that’s not all!” “The little cake you brought for me was even better than the ones I buy myself!” “It was so silky, not too sweet… it just completely lifted my mood. I was so energized for the rest of the afternoon!” The girl was bold and effusive, and Ethan, seeming to be caught off guard, let out a low laugh. Standing outside the door, listening to my normally stern, demanding husband banter with this young woman, I started to tremble uncontrollably. I bit my lower lip so hard I could taste blood, clenching my fists to choke back the wave of emotion rising in my throat. I raised my hand and pushed open the conference room door. 3 When I walked in, Sienna’s fingertips were less than an inch from the lapel of Ethan’s suit. She froze, as if petrified. Her hand hovered in mid-air, the flirtatious smile on her face stiffening into an unnatural mask. A flash of shock crossed Ethan’s face, but he quickly composed himself, stood up, and strode over to wrap an arm around me. “What are you doing here? I thought I told you to rest at home.” I gave a humorless smile, my eyes fixed on Sienna. “Just thought I’d check up on you.” At my words, her pupils contracted, and a visible blush crept up to the tips of her ears. After a few seconds of dead silence, she jerked her hand back and took an instinctive step away. For a young woman, caught red-handed, the panic in her eyes was impossible to hide. Ethan chuckled, the curve of his lips so gentle it could make you melt. He raised a hand and gently ruffled my hair. “You’re welcome anytime.” Sienna had regained her composure by then. She quickly masked the bitterness in her eyes. When she looked up again, a perfectly calibrated smile was back on her lips. “That necklace really suits you, Claire.” Sienna walked over, her gaze landing on my anniversary gift from Ethan. “Last week, when Ethan was trying to pick out a gift for you, he was flipping through all these magazines and couldn’t decide on anything. Then I remembered seeing this necklace when I was out shopping—it was so sparkly and beautiful. So I recommended it to him.” She spoke as she swept her hair aside to show me the same brand, the same collection, around her own neck. “Of course, I could only afford the basic version. It’s not as dazzling as your all-diamond one.” Her long lashes cast soft shadows on her cheeks. Her tone was a careful mix of youthful excitement and a cautious fear of overstepping. “I’m just so glad you like it, Claire. Otherwise, I’d have been worried my taste was terrible and I’d let Ethan down.” My eyes scanned Sienna’s face for a long moment, the smile on my own fading completely. I reached up, unclasped the necklace, and in one swift motion, tossed it at her. It landed against her chest with a soft thud. “Since you like it so much, you can have it.” I pulled my lips into a smirk, my voice ice-cold. “I have plenty of things like this.” The necklace slid to the floor. Sienna didn’t dare pick it up. Her eyes were already red. She looked as though she’d suffered a great injustice, her voice choked with tears as she turned to Ethan for help. “Ethan… did I say something wrong…?” “That’s not what I meant.” “Claire, I’m so sorry.” Without even glancing at Ethan, I turned, slammed the conference room door behind me, and walked away without looking back.

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I ended up with the boy who destroyed my life. Three years ago, I begged Ethan Cross to leave me alone. He crushed my hand under his boot and called me trash. Three years later, he was on his knees, sobbing, begging me not to leave him. And I threw those same words right back in his face. 1 I was pinned against the wall. The alley smelled of stale beer and desperation. My fingers, trembling, typed one last message to the only person who understood me, the boy I’d fallen for online. Then, the monster’s phone chimed. Ethan Cross pulled out his phone, and the cold cruelty in his eyes vanished, replaced by a softness that made my stomach twist. He sent the message, and a second later, my own phone buzzed silently in my pocket. It was the custom notification I’d set for him. For my Ryan. My head snapped up. There he was, under the sickly yellow glow of a streetlight, the sharp, perfect line of his jaw and the delicate features I knew so well. He was the spitting image of my Ryan. But the cigarette dangling from his lips, the dark violence simmering in his gaze… that was a stranger. This was not the sweet, bookish boy from the photos. For a dizzying moment, I couldn’t separate them. Was this my sweet Ryan, my online confidant? Or was this Tiffany Reed’s notorious boyfriend, the walking nightmare known as Ethan Cross? “Ethan, that’s the bitch who slashed my new purse!” Tiffany shrieked, her voice a weapon. She pointed a perfectly manicured finger at me, her eyes glinting with triumph. “She’s just jealous because she’s poor. White trash with sticky fingers.” “I didn’t…” I didn’t ruin her purse. She’d slapped me out of nowhere a few days ago. When she went to do it again, I ducked. She lost her balance, stumbled, and scraped her brand new, twenty-thousand-dollar bag against the brick wall. She’d screamed that I would pay for it. When I told her I couldn’t, she promised her boyfriend, Ethan Cross, would make me. I knew who Ethan was. Everyone did. He was from one of those old-money families with a business empire downtown. The rumors were dark—connections to unsavory people, a reputation for brutal, cold-blooded fights. They called him a demon, someone who wasn’t afraid of anything. I just never imagined that the demon and my sweet, gentle Ryan could be the same person. Ethan pushed himself off the wall and walked toward me. The warm lamplight did nothing to soften the icy chill in his eyes. His tall frame cast a long, suffocating shadow over me. My fists clenched. I heard his voice, devoid of all emotion. “Two choices. Pay for the bag, or get on your knees and apologize.” The cold, dismissive tone was a world away from the tender, loving words he’d sent me just minutes before. My mind short-circuited. A reckless, desperate hope flared inside me. I looked straight at him. “Do you believe me when I say I didn’t do it?” He stared at me for a long moment, then let out a short, contemptuous laugh. “Don’t be stupid.” He turned away, his voice thick with annoyance. “Teach her a lesson.” The blood froze in my veins. The world went silent. His friends forced me to my knees. The slaps came fast and hard, ringing in my ears. They tore at my clothes, kicked me in the stomach. The pain was so sharp I couldn’t even scream. Through it all, Ethan leaned against the far wall, indifferent. He was smiling softly at his phone screen, as if waiting for a message. I curled into a ball, absorbing the blows, hot tears finally breaking free. The consequences of being beaten by grown men meant I couldn’t get up for a long time. They’d knocked out two of my teeth, and the blood I spit up stained the collar of my shirt a deep, rusty red. I lay there on the filthy asphalt for three hours, a discarded object, before I could find the strength to crawl home. I didn’t dare tell my parents. They were good, honest people from a small town who worked themselves to the bone just to scrape by in this city. Thinking back, that was where it all started. I was bullied because I was from the country. The constant taunts—hick, trailer trash, you couldn’t afford to breathe the same air as us—had chipped away at my soul. I learned a hard lesson then: when you’re poor, dignity is a luxury you can’t afford. You’re just mud for other people to stomp in. “Hiss—” I dabbed at my cuts with antiseptic, alone in my room. God, it hurt. My phone kept buzzing with that special tone. Message after message from my sweet Ryan. The same affectionate, gentle words. But now, they made my skin crawl. My thumbs hovered over the keyboard. I typed and deleted, over and over. Finally, I just sent one thing. He paused for a second. Then, the reply came. 2 As if to prove it, he sent a picture of himself in the library. In the photo, a boy in a crisp white shirt smiled, his eyes full of sunshine. He stood by a bookshelf, the picture of a gentle, handsome scholar. It was all a beautiful lie. I was flooded with a strange, chilling sense of relief that I’d never sent him a picture of myself. Relief that he hadn’t recognized me. It was the only thing that gave me a chance to see who he really was. I couldn’t afford to miss class, couldn’t risk my grades slipping. After first period, Tiffany and her friends dragged me into the girls’ bathroom. They cornered me by the sinks. “Ava,” Tiffany drawled, inspecting her nails. “Still showing your face at school? Tsk, tsk. I guess last night wasn’t rough enough.” “Haha, she’s probably too stupid to feel it. She’s so ugly and gross, she’d have to have thick skin to not kill herself already!” “Her name’s Ava, but she’s more like a pig. A dirty, thick-skinned pig!” They laughed as one of them scooped murky, foul-smelling water from a toilet bowl and dumped it over my head. The cold, stinking liquid soaked my hair and ran down my neck, making me want to vomit. “See, Ava? Now you look on the outside how you are on the inside. Filthy and disgusting,” Tiffany sneered. She grabbed a fistful of my hair and slapped me twice, hard, before wiping her hand on a paper towel as if she’d touched something unclean. Then they left. I slid down the cold tile wall until I was sitting on the grimy floor. I buried my face in my knees, fighting to hold back the sobs. Tiffany locked me in there. I was stuck for the rest of the morning, until someone finally let me out during the lunch rush. I thought, hoped, that would be the end of it. But Tiffany was just getting started. In the days that followed, my desk was constantly vandalized, my homework would mysteriously disappear. After a few times, my teachers stopped believing my excuses. Tiffany was a ghost haunting my every step, her only pleasure turning my life into a public humiliation. One evening, I stayed late studying in the library, hoping to avoid her. It didn’t work. She and her crew were waiting for me at the entrance. She knocked my travel mug from my hand. It hit the concrete with a sharp crack, and the coffee I’d made to keep myself awake splashed all over my legs. The dark liquid instantly stained my new white jeans. Rage flared in my chest. I opened my mouth to speak, but a warning glance from Ethan froze the words in my throat. He was standing right next to her, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his expression dripping with disdain. “What’s the matter, Ava? Got a problem?” Tiffany taunted, shoving me hard. I stumbled backward and fell, landing right in the puddle of spilled coffee and dirt. The earthy, bitter smell made my stomach churn. Her followers erupted in laughter, jeering that I looked like a pig rooting in slop. They started trying to force my face down into the muddy coffee on the ground. When my cheek was just inches from the pavement, the librarian came out to lock the doors. “What’s going on here!” Tiffany and her friends immediately let go, plastering innocent smiles on their faces. “We’re just playing Truth or Dare with Ava!” one of them chirped. “Yeah, Ava lost! Her dare was to drink the coffee off the ground!” “That’s not true,” I pleaded, looking desperately at the librarian. “Ma’am, they were forcing me.” The librarian’s brow furrowed. Before she could speak, Tiffany cut in, all smiles. “Oh, don’t listen to her, ma’am. She’s just a sore loser trying to get out of the dare!” “Yeah, Ava, don’t be like that. It’s just a game,” another girl added. It was their word against mine. They were many; I was one. Their story was united. Predictably, the librarian believed them. Her face hardened as she looked at me, then back at Tiffany. “Alright, that’s enough. This is a school, not a playground. Get home, all of you.” The librarian left, clearly wanting nothing more to do with it. Tiffany looked down at me, her smile dripping with poison. “You see that, Ava? They’re all on my side. No one will ever believe you.” “You can tattle to the teachers all you want. I have a hundred ways to get out of trouble. You, on the other hand… you’re not so lucky.” 3 My heart felt like a block of ice. I didn’t even hear the rest of what they said. I sat there on the cold ground for a long time, so long that the campus lights started shutting off, one by one. It wasn’t until a security guard found me and called my name that I realized I’d been staring into space for hours, sitting in a puddle of cold, sticky coffee. I walked home in a daze. My mother was in the kitchen, clattering dishes in the sink. “You’re a grown girl, can’t you keep your clothes clean? We don’t have money for new pants, you know.” “Instead of focusing on your studies, you had to go with this crazy art idea. It costs twice as much to support you! You’re just making our lives harder. Why can’t you be more like your cousin back home? She’s so diligent and thoughtful.” I was used to my mother’s complaints. I’d grown numb to them. But tonight… tonight, I felt the sting of tears. I ignored her and locked myself in my room. My phone wouldn’t stop buzzing. It was Ethan. My Ryan. It hurts his feelings? Yes. It would hurt his feelings. Even though our relationship was only online, I knew how much he depended on me. He needed to talk to me 24/7. He was starved for affection, crippled by insecurity. His family life was a mess, casting a long shadow over his childhood. After his mother died, he’d spiraled into a dark place. I happened to come into his life right then. I was the one who sat with him, virtually, through those agonizing months. After that, he was like a puppy showing its belly, offering me his entire heart. He’d once told me: I thought about his words, then pictured him standing by as Tiffany tormented me. My fingertips trembled. I asked him. No need. Ethan Cross, I have my own way of making my bully’s life a living hell. 4 During art class, Tiffany “accidentally” knocked over my paint tray as she walked by, then tore the canvas I was working on. “Ava, do people as poor and pathetic as you even deserve to study art? It’s so expensive. Can your family even afford it?” She strutted away, admiring her nails. I silently cleaned up the mess. Half my paints were gone, and my other supplies were stained. I sealed the remaining tubes of paint and took my soiled brushes to the sink, carefully washing the pigment from the bristles. I felt a pair of eyes on me. I looked over my shoulder. It was Ethan. He was leaning against the wall, a cigarette between his lips, watching me with an expression of pure mockery and contempt, like I was a clown in a circus. My grip on the brush tightened. He made no move to leave. When I tried to exit the restroom, he blocked my path, cornering me. “Apologize to Tiffany tomorrow.” His tone was absolute, his eyes a clear threat. “But I did nothing wrong. I didn’t damage her purse.” I found the courage to meet his gaze. The next second, the burning tip of his cigarette was pressed against my arm. “Cut the crap.” “It’s a twenty-thousand-dollar bag. All she wants is an apology. Don’t be an idiot.” “I’m not a patient guy. You know what happens if you don’t.” Ethan walked away. I clutched my burned arm, fat tears rolling silently down my cheeks. That night at home, my mother started in again, pleading with me to give up art. She said a family like ours couldn’t afford my dreams. My father finally told her to stop. Before bed, he came to my room. He told me to just focus on my studies, that the family would find a way to support my art. I looked at my dad, at the premature gray in his hair and the dull glint of his glass eye, and my heart ached. My dad lost an eye when he was a kid, beaten by some bullies in his village. On rainy days, or when he was overtired, the socket would ache terribly. But he never complained. He just shouldered the burden of our family. “Dad, I’ll get a part-time job. I promise, I can earn my own money soon.” My dad smiled, a sad, proud smile, and shook his head. He didn’t want me to worry. Then his expression grew serious. “You haven’t been yourself the last few days. Did something happen at school?” I shook my head. “If anyone is bullying you,” he said, his voice firm, “you have to tell us.” I nodded and told him not to worry. They were already working so hard. They didn’t need another burden. I’d learned to grow up tough and on my own. I always found a way. Tiffany thought I was some pushover she could crush for sport. But does being poor mean I have to swallow every injustice? The moment Tiffany demanded I pay for her bag, I’d already secured the security camera footage from the hallway showing her falling on her own. I’m poor. I know how to protect myself from being scammed. I documented the injuries from the alley and the bathroom. I got a copy of the library’s security tape. I had barely responded to Ethan’s messages these past few days. The bombardment was relentless. I had 99+ unread messages. I opened them, reading one by one. Reading that last one, I knew he was panicking. So, Ethan Cross, you can feel pain after all. Don’t worry. The real pain is just beginning. 5 Before I could finish reading, his calls started coming, one after another. I didn’t answer. Instead, I texted back. He clearly didn’t believe me. His insecurity was a bottomless pit. My finger trembled over the screen. After a moment’s silence, I replied: His tone immediately brightened. We had planned to meet after graduation. Now, he couldn’t wait. Perhaps he sensed it. He was losing me. I could hear the fear and desperation in his words. A strange pang of sourness hit my chest. I had steeled myself to hurt him, but for a split second, I wavered. I asked him: He answered without hesitation. As if the person who bullied and brutalized others didn’t exist. He truly had two faces. I texted. I’m giving you a chance, Ethan Cross. Don’t let me down. … Tiffany’s campaign against me wasn’t over. To force my apology, she took the fight public. She posted about the purse incident on the school’s online forum, instantly casting herself as the victim. She played the part beautifully, claiming all she ever wanted was a simple apology. She moralized from her high horse, accusing me of being a poor girl who coveted luxury goods she couldn’t afford. She said my vanity was a burden on my family, that I was selfish and ungrateful… Her performance of a “kind and righteous” victim won everyone over. The forum exploded with comments tearing me apart. “If you’re broke, don’t cause trouble!” “This is a classic ‘if I can’t have it, I’ll destroy it’ move! That Ava girl is disgusting!” “Yeah, kick the bitch out of our school!” “I heard Tiffany’s boyfriend, Ethan Cross, beat her up a few days ago.” “Good. I’d take a beating to get out of a twenty-thousand-dollar debt!” “Ava MUST apologize!” Under the post with the most furious demands for my head, I uploaded the video. The clip clearly showed Tiffany tripping, scraping her own bag, and then turning to blame me. The comments section went dead silent. I had planned to release the video today anyway. Tiffany’s post just gave me the perfect stage for a dramatic reveal. After posting it, I went to school with my head held high. 6 A number of students came up to me, offering comfort and apologies. “I’m so sorry, Ava. I didn’t know the whole story and I said some awful things about you online. I can’t believe she framed you.” On the forum, the tide had turned completely. The righteous anger was now directed at Tiffany. The good people, it turned out, were in the majority. Tiffany became a pariah, condemned by almost everyone. Her reputation was in tatters. I knew she wouldn’t let it go. The only question was, would Ethan help her this time? He had promised me he would be a good and decent person. He had promised me he wouldn’t do bad things anymore. I wasn’t sure he could keep that promise. When Ethan and his crew cornered me in the alley again, I got my answer. Tiffany stood beside him, pointing and screaming at me. “You’re fucking dead, Ava! You dared to set me up!” “You little bitch, I’m going to kill you today!” I ignored her histrionics and fixed my gaze on Ethan. “Ethan, you saw the video online. You know I’m innocent.” I had to be sure he knew, that he wasn’t just being manipulated by Tiffany. I had even used an anonymous account to make sure the video appeared in his social media feed. He didn’t look at me. He flicked his cigarette to the ground, his voice bored. “So what if I saw it? All I know is you didn’t do what I told you to do.” The cold words were like daggers, sinking deep into my heart. I laughed, a bitter, broken sound that almost turned into a sob. I shouldn’t have had any hope for him. Ethan Cross was never the sun-drenched boy by the bookshelf. He was always this dark, selfish, cold-blooded creature. How could I have forgotten? He had told me he was changing for the better. It was just another beautiful lie. How could I have been so stupid as to believe it? “Are you really going to ask Ethan for help, Ava? You must be dreaming!” Tiffany shrieked. “Ethan, teach this bitch a lesson she’ll never forget!” Someone shoved me from behind, and I fell to the hard pavement. The kicks and punches started again. It hurt, but I was prepared. I had two burner phones in my pockets, both recording audio and video, set to automatically upload. They cursed as they hit me. But this time, I realized with a jolt of terror, they were aiming for my hands. “These are your drawing hands, right? What a shame.” “Even if you got into art school, your family couldn’t afford it. Let us do you a favor and get rid of the problem for you, hahaha!” No! Art was my dream! My only dream! True panic seized me. I started screaming his name, begging. “Ethan, let me go! Please, just let me go!” Ethan turned his head. He looked at me. His eyes were filled with the same disgust you’d reserve for garbage on the street. “Ah!” In a flash of blinding pain, someone stomped on my right hand. The agony was electric, shooting up my arm. I thought I would pass out. “Ethan… Ryan…” My vision swam. My voice was a weak whisper. “You promised me… you were trying to be better… to be the person I wanted you to be…” “You promised… you wouldn’t do…” I didn’t finish. I saw Ethan’s face contort, his expression shattering into pure horror. He let out a strangled, broken roar. “EVERYONE, FUCKING STOP!”

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1 I was out to dinner with a friend when I saw them: a young couple, obviously head-over-heels in love. As the man meticulously peeled a shrimp for his girlfriend, I couldn’t help but sigh. “I wish my husband still did that for me.” Then he turned his head. Holy crap… it was my husband. It was rare for me to get a night out, a chance to just catch up with my friend, Catherine. The moment we walked into the restaurant, we were hit with a blast of sickeningly sweet affection from a couple at a nearby table. The man was patiently placing food on the woman’s plate, his every move radiating adoration. They were in that blissful, early stage of love. I remembered when my husband, Devin, and I were like that, completely inseparable. But time had worn away the edges of his affection, leaving something dull and routine. If only he could still be this attentive, this caring. I found myself staring, lost in a haze of nostalgia. Then the man turned to the side to throw something away, and I saw his profile. My world stopped. It… it was actually him. My husband. I stood frozen for a beat, then grabbed Catherine’s arm and practically dragged her out of the restaurant. “Lily, what the hell?” Catherine asked, completely bewildered. “We haven’t even eaten yet. What are you doing?” “Nothing, it’s nothing,” I stammered, pulling her toward the street. “I just remembered I left the stove on at home. I’m so sorry, Catherine, we’ll do this another time, I promise.” I cobbled together an excuse and rushed home, throwing myself onto my bed and burying my face in the pillows. The tears I’d been holding back finally came, hot and bitter. Why? Why? Devin and I had been married for three years. His mother was in poor health, and to ensure his career wasn’t affected, I had quit my job to become her full-time caretaker. When she first got sick, we didn’t have enough for her medical bills, so I sold the jewelry and cashed out the stocks my parents had given me as a wedding gift. I met Devin at work. He was the star of the company—handsome, charming, and brilliant. I was… average. But from the moment I saw him, I was completely smitten, utterly hooked. I started pursuing him relentlessly. He turned me down at first. But then he found out that I was the daughter of the company’s main investor, that my job was just a way for me to “experience real life.” Suddenly, he was interested. I was so naive. I thought my sincerity had won him over. My friends all warned me to be careful, but I was too far gone to listen. During our relationship, he was perfect. He showered me with attention and cared for my every need. The little crush I had blossomed into a deep, unwavering devotion. After six months, he proposed. I married him against my parents’ wishes. They saw something in him I refused to, but they couldn’t stop me. They gave in, gifting me a luxury car and a million dollars. Devin couldn’t stop smiling. Not long after the wedding, he told me his mother was sick and needed expensive treatments. His savings weren’t enough. He hoped I could help. Of course, I said yes. It was my duty to help my husband’s family. I gave him every last cent without a second thought. Her condition stabilized, but she needed round-the-clock care. Devin said his career was at a critical stage, and he didn’t trust a hired nurse. He asked if I would stay home and look after her. High on love and a desire to please him, I agreed. I had been her caretaker for three years. I, who had been pampered my whole life, who had never so much as washed a dish, learned to cook, clean, and care for a difficult, thankless patient. All for the sake of a love I thought was real. And this was my reward. Him, out wining and dining another woman. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. If I didn’t ruin him, I’d be disrespecting my own sacrifice. “Lily! What are you doing in there? Why is the door locked?” Devin’s mother started pounding on the bedroom door. I wiped my tears, took a deep breath, and opened it. “I thought you were going out to eat with your friend. What happened? Did you come to your senses? Good. I’ve told you, you shouldn’t eat out so much. It’s not clean. Nothing is better than a home-cooked meal.” The old woman droned on and on. It wasn’t about hygiene; it was about control. She couldn’t stand the thought of me enjoying myself. To keep up appearances, Devin had never told her that her medical bills and all our household expenses were paid for with my money. She still thought her son was a brilliant provider, and I was just a housewife who did nothing but spend his hard-earned cash. “Yes, you’re right,” I said, my smile not reaching my eyes. “The food out there is so unsanitary. That’s why I came back. What would you like for dinner? I can go buy groceries.” “I saw a video of someone eating salmon and lobster. That looked good. Let’s have that.” She even pulled up the video on her phone to show me. A young woman was feasting on a massive seafood platter, moaning with pleasure. “Mom,” I said, my voice dripping with false sweetness. “You know, it’s possible I can’t afford that. Your son hasn’t given me any money for groceries. How about we stick to vegetables? They’re green, healthy, and full of nutrients!” She was stunned into silence. Normally, I bought whatever she wanted, no matter the cost. It didn’t matter; my parents were wealthy. But things were different now. Her son had just planted a forest on my head. If he wasn’t going to give me money, she wasn’t going to eat. “How is that possible? Devin makes so much money! Did you spend it all on yourself?” “If you don’t believe me, I can call him and ask. Let’s see how long it takes him to send the money over.” I dialed Devin’s number and put it on speaker. His impatient voice filled the room. “What is it? I told you not to call me unless it’s an emergency. I’m busy.” “Your mother wants seafood for dinner, but I don’t have any money. Can you send some over?” “Didn’t your parents just give you money? Isn’t that enough? We agreed, remember? My salary is for the down payment on the new house.” “Well, I wouldn’t be asking you if I had a choice. My dad’s company is having some cash flow issues, so he’s cut me off for a bit. It’s up to you. But if you don’t send anything, your mother and I will just have to go hungry.” I hung up. The old woman standing next to me was speechless, a look of pure disbelief on her face. The reality that her entire lifestyle was funded by me must have been a bitter pill to swallow. Without another word, she shuffled back to her room, her pride wounded. A moment later, I heard her screaming into her phone. “Devin! You get money into my account right now! Are you trying to starve your own mother?” She was a profoundly selfish woman. She didn’t even care about her own son’s financial strain. As long as she thought I was spending his money, she was happy to bleed him dry. Now that she knew the truth, her only concern was her wounded pride. She chewed him out and then demanded he deposit half his salary into her account every month from now on. Devin was all ego. His grand plan of buying a big house with his own money was nothing but a lie to placate me. His money, I realized, was likely being spent on that other woman. That night, Devin, who was supposed to be on a business trip, came home. “Lily, I know I’ve been neglecting you with work lately. I’m sorry. I brought you a gift.” He took my hand and placed a small box in it. Inside was a simple silver bracelet. A cheap trinket. I feigned delight, putting it on and admiring it for a long time. The old me would have been thrilled with any gift from him. But now, knowing about his affair, everything he did felt disgusting. “Lily, I have to save for the house right now,” he began, his voice smooth and earnest. “I want to give you a better life, so your father can’t look down on me. For now, we’ll still have to rely on your family for our expenses…” So that was it. The gift, the apology—it was all a setup. My father had always looked down on him. I never understood why he had such a strong prejudice against Devin. Now I knew. My father, a man who had seen everything, had probably read him like a book from day one. I was the foolish, disobedient daughter who had refused to listen. Well, my head was clear now. I wouldn’t disappoint my father any longer. “Of course, honey,” I cooed. “But I have one small request. No matter how busy you are, you have to come home more often. We can’t have some vixen outside snatching you away.” I whispered the words into his ear, putting extra venom on the word “vixen.” His face tensed for a second before he forced a smile. Later that night, after he’d fallen asleep, I took his phone. The password had been changed. I hadn’t checked his phone in so long, I had no idea when. Thankfully, he was a heavy sleeper. I used his thumb to unlock it. I opened his messaging apps. He hadn’t deleted the chat history. The other woman’s name was Jenna. He called her “My Jen.” I fought back a wave of nausea and opened their conversation. It was filled with explicit messages and a long history of money transfers, big and small. They had been in contact since before Devin and I even got married. It was as if I was the other woman. Every word was a needle stabbing at my heart. Devin had only agreed to date me for my money. His mother was sick, and he was desperate. I was just a rich fool who had delivered herself to his doorstep. He had played me, married me, and used my money to solve his problems, all while carrying on with his real love. What a brilliant plan. I opened Jenna’s social media feed. The first post was a picture of a new gold bracelet. The receipt was included in the photo. Of course. My cheap silver bracelet was just the free gift that came with her expensive gold one. She loved to post. Every gift from Devin was put on display. I scrolled past the nauseating posts, looking for something useful. And then I found it. In the background of one of her selfies, I recognized a familiar office building. It belonged to a company my father was an investor in, run by a close family friend. My Uncle David. So, that’s where she worked. I put the phone back and smiled. It was time for me to go back to work and “experience real life” again. The next morning, I was out the door before his mother could protest. “Mom, your son has a hard time making ends meet, and my parents have cut me off. If you want to maintain your quality of life, I have to go back to work. Toodles!” I called Uncle David, and he set me up with an easy, low-stress position where I could coast. The moment I walked into the office, I ran right into her. I recognized her instantly. She looked just as plain in real life as she did in her filtered photos. I acted like I didn’t know her, but she definitely knew me. Her face was a mask of disbelief. She couldn’t fathom why I was here. I ignored her, introduced myself to the team, and sat down at my desk, which I had specifically requested be next to hers. I spent the morning just watching her. “Why do you keep staring at me? Don’t you have your own work to do?” she finally snapped. “I’m new,” I said with a sweet smile. “I have to learn, don’t I?” She fell silent, but I could see the guilt in her eyes. Just then, the CEO’s secretary called me over. “Mr. Davies wants to see you.” “Lily, my dear! What wind blew you all the way over here?” Uncle David joked as I entered his office. “I just wanted to help you out, Uncle David,” I replied innocently. “Right. Just try not to cause too much trouble,” he laughed. “Now, what are you really up to?” “Nothing much. Just bored. But I do have a favor to ask. Please don’t tell anyone here about our relationship. And whatever you do… don’t tell my dad I’m here.” “Alright, you little troublemaker. Still full of schemes.” Uncle David and my father were best friends. He’d always wanted a daughter, so he’d spoiled me like his own my entire life. For the next few weeks, I made a point of showing up late every day and doing as little work as possible. I spent most of my time drinking tea in Uncle David’s office. The office rumor mill went into overdrive. Everyone was whispering that I was the boss’s mistress. Jenna, of course, reported all of this to Devin. He started coming home more often. I snuck a look at their chats again. She was painting me as a shameless adulteress, urging him to divorce me immediately. But Devin kept avoiding the subject. I knew why. If he divorced me, his free nanny and personal ATM would be gone. His mother would become his financial burden. “Lily, I heard you’ve been getting close to your boss,” he said one evening as I was putting on my makeup. “Oh? Who told you that? I didn’t know you knew anyone at my company.” “An old classmate of mine works there,” he said, looking uncomfortable. “Really? What’s their name? They don’t seem like a very nice person. My boss and I were just discussing work. Why would they twist it into something so ugly?” “You misunderstood. My classmate was just trying to praise you, saying you must be very capable to get the boss’s attention.” “Is that so? Well, who is this classmate? I should thank them for the compliment.” I put down my powder puff and smiled at him. “Ah… we don’t really keep in touch. We just ran into each other. You know what, maybe you should just quit. It’s not like you need the money.” He was trying to change the subject. Fine. I wasn’t ready to expose them yet anyway. The time wasn’t right. “I don’t need the money, but I was bored out of my mind at home. Work is a vacation compared to taking care of your mother.” I applied my lipstick, admiring my reflection. “Maybe you should quit. You can stay home and look after her. I don’t mind being the breadwinner.” “Lily, you’ve changed! You were never like this before!” he said, his voice rising in frustration. He looked like a clown when he was angry. “I haven’t changed at all,” I said coolly. “The one who changed was always you, wasn’t it?” He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. I ignored him, finished getting ready, and left for work.

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1 A traffic ticket for my husband arrived in my email. I tapped open the attachment. The photo wasn’t of him speeding. It showed my husband, Oliver, and another woman, mouths locked in a passionate kiss, neither of them wearing a seatbelt. My heart felt like it was being torn in two. As tears blurred my vision, a few lines of text scrolled across the screen, like comments from some unseen audience. 【LOL, the ex-wife is so pathetic. They’re just a cute couple having a moment, what’s she getting worked up about?】 【She probably doesn’t even know. When the male lead said they needed a ‘fake’ divorce to buy a new property, it was actually so he could marry our sweet Mia.】 My fingers trembled as I dialed the number for the city registrar’s office. “Yes, ma’am,” the clerk’s voice confirmed, detached and professional. “Our system shows that an Oliver Cole finalized a marriage certificate with a Ms. Mia Vance the day after his divorce from you was registered.” The phone slipped from my grasp, clattering onto the floor. Mia. Of course. I knew the name. Mia was his first love, the one that got away, the woman who had abandoned him at his lowest point. The comments continued to flood my vision. 【Welcome back, Queen Mia! Welcome back, Queen Mia!】 … Numb and disoriented, I found myself standing outside Oliver’s corporate headquarters. I just needed to ask him why. Why the lies? As the elevator ascended towards the top floor, I heard the sounds of a party. The doors were just about to open when a chorus of voices erupted from the executive suite. “To Oliver and Mia! Happy one-month anniversary!” The pop of champagne corks and a burst of applause followed. The elevator doors slid open. I froze, suddenly feeling like an intruder about to shatter their perfect moment. “What about Zoey?” someone asked, cluelessly. Oliver’s voice was cold, dismissive. “I gave her enough good years. She got her value out of it. Today is my anniversary with Mia. She deserves to be spoiled for once, don’t you think?” The ghostly comments agreed. 【Exactly! Our Mia has suffered so much. She finally gets to be with her true love.】 【Mia and the male lead are a match made in heaven. The ex-wife can go eat dust.】 【Bet the ex-wife doesn’t know this, but on their wedding day, the male lead got a call and rushed out of the ceremony? That was Mia. He’d finally found her again. They spent the rest of the day in bed together, screwing their brains out. He was so exhausted he forgot to even call the ex-wife back.】 A chill settled deep in my bones. So that’s why he never picked up. I’d spent that night, my wedding night, a sobbing mess, my makeup ruined, terrified that something terrible had happened to him. I sat by the phone all night. When he finally called the next day, his voice hoarse, I’d cried with relief. “I forgive you, Oliver. I don’t care why you left yesterday. As long as you’re alive and okay, I forgive you.” Now, I heard Mia’s voice, sweet and considerate. “Oliver only married me out of pity. He still has feelings for Zoey. I know he’ll find a way to balance his love for both of us.” Someone else chimed in. “What if Zoey finds out? You know how she is. Once she sets her mind on something, you can’t change it. She’ll never agree to the three of you.” A dangerous edge crept into Oliver’s voice. “Then she will never find out.” That was it. That was the answer that shattered the last piece of my heart. A part of me had wanted to believe the comments were a lie, a cruel trick of my mind. Oliver loved me. He had promised he would only ever marry me. But promises mean nothing when a new love appears. I wiped the tears from my eyes and pressed the elevator’s down button. If that’s how it was going to be, then I would disappear from their lives forever. I filed the paperwork to relinquish my citizenship, erase my identity, and applied for a new passport. I would start over, abroad, as someone else entirely. The documents would take two weeks. Two more weeks, and then a woman named Zoey would cease to exist in Oliver’s world. A week passed. Not a single text, not a single call from him. Then, on the seventh day, Oliver finally noticed my absence. He found me, holding a diamond necklace, and dropped to his knees before me. “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry. I’ve been buried in work. I completely forgot to make time for you.” The comments danced above his head. 【A whole week. Mia and the male lead spent an entire week in a seaside villa. That man has some serious stamina.】 【Ugh, why is the ex-wife still here? She’s so gross. Totally killing the vibe while I’m trying to watch Mia and the male lead’s personal porn show.】 I stared into Oliver’s seemingly sincere eyes, my mind drifting back to when we first met. He was eighteen, a beautiful boy confined to a wheelchair, his long lashes casting dark shadows on his cheeks. I fell for him instantly. I was there for him through every painful step of his rehabilitation, helping him learn to stand, to walk, to run again. The day he was fully healed, he ran across the lawn, grabbed my hands, his eyes shining. “Zoey, I can’t live without you. You saved me. Will you stay with me, always?” But people change. My gaze fell on the man kneeling before me now. Before I could respond, Oliver was already fastening the diamond necklace around my neck. “I chartered a yacht for us,” he murmured, his warm breath tickling my ear. “There’s a captain’s dinner tonight. Come with me.” At the dinner, Oliver pulled me onto the dance floor. His steps were different, more complex and aggressive than I remembered. I had to concentrate fully just to keep up. Suddenly, his body went rigid. His hand loosened its grip on mine, and I was sent stumbling, flying outwards. I landed hard, scraping my knee raw on the deck. When I looked back, Oliver was staring intently at a figure across the room. It was Mia. She stood there, biting her lip, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. By the time Oliver started after her, she had already turned and fled. “Honey, something’s come up. Just stay here for a bit, okay?” His eyes never left Mia’s retreating form. He didn’t even glance at me, crumpled on the floor. No one offered a hand. I pushed myself up, biting back the pain, and limped towards the restroom to clean my wound. As I approached, I heard noises from inside. Inappropriate noises. Mia’s breathy moans. “No, not in here.” Oliver’s voice was a husky, coaxing tone. “Shh, it’s okay. Just once. Just for a minute.” There was a rustle of clothing, a blending of breaths, the sound of hungry kisses. Mia’s hands were on his chest in a show of pushing him away, but her eyes were like silk, luring him in. “Zoey is still out there waiting for you.” His face was flushed with desire, my existence completely erased from his mind. “Forget her. Right now, all I want is you.” “I don’t want to cause a fight between you two. You love her, and I love you.” Her voice caught in a sob, maybe because he was being too rough in his haste. “I just want you to be happy.” At that, his movements seemed to soften. His lips traveled from her neck down to her chest. Mia’s body trembled, a soft moan escaping her lips. Oliver chuckled, his voice a low, gentle rumble. “See? You want it too. Just open up a little more for me.” To better accommodate him, Mia wrapped her arms around his neck, surrendering completely. I stood frozen, tears streaming down my face, a pain so sharp in my chest I could barely breathe. By the time Oliver returned, the dinner was over. But he had a gift for me. “Sweetheart,” he said, wrapping his arms around me. The scent of his soap, the same scent that was all over her, made me want to vomit. “The most expensive jewels for the most beautiful woman.” A wave of nausea hit me, and I shoved him away, bile rising in my throat. He wasn’t angry. He just gently took a napkin and wiped my mouth. “Not feeling well? We’ll go home early. You shouldn’t drink so much.” I looked up and saw the flash of jealousy in Mia’s eyes as she watched us. “Let me help Zoey downstairs to rest,” Mia offered, reaching for my arm. I flinched away. But I never could have predicted she would be willing to gamble with her own life. There was a sudden rush of wind beside me. I saw Oliver lunge forward, his hands desperately grabbing for Mia as she tumbled over the railing. Then, the icy shock of seawater closing over my head. “Man overboard!” The shouts from the deck were panicked and distant. The crushing pressure in my lungs was overwhelming. As my consciousness faded, Oliver’s face flashed before my eyes, shattering and reforming into the sounds of him and Mia in the restroom. When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital bed. My body was wrapped in so many bandages I couldn’t move anything but my eyes. I must have looked ridiculous. Directly in my line of sight, Mia was sobbing in Oliver’s arms. “It’s all my fault,” she cried. “If I hadn’t lost my balance, you would have caught Zoey. It’s my fault. Punish me!” Her pathetic, helpless act seemed to ignite something in Oliver. He had no intention of blaming her. “Don’t cry,” he murmured, kissing the tears from her eyes. “You little troublemaker. I could never hurt you.” “Come on, call me ‘hubby,’ and I’ll forgive you.” “Hubby,” she whispered, giving his chest a playful tap. The sound of rustling fabric followed. The comments reappeared. 【Ooh, are we about to get another show?】 I couldn’t take it anymore. I summoned every ounce of strength I had. “Oliver.” My voice was a broken rasp, the taste in my mouth bitter. He jumped as if electrocuted, shoving Mia off his lap so hard she tumbled to the floor. “Zoey! Are you okay?” He scrambled to my bedside, his panic genuine, the concern in his voice real. I said nothing, my gaze dropping to Mia on the floor. A few buttons on her blouse were undone, revealing the pale skin beneath. I didn’t understand. How could a man who was moments away from taking her right there suddenly rush to my side and perform this act of devoted concern? “What’s going to happen to the person who tried to kill me?” I asked, my voice cold, my question a deliberate test. Oliver’s expression changed instantly. He thought I was going after Mia and immediately jumped to her defense. “Mia didn’t mean to. She’s been hurt, too. Can’t you just forgive her?” I wanted to laugh. “She’s hurt? What kind of injury? The kind you get from spreading your legs for too long?” “You know?” I didn’t answer, my silence a heavy weight in the room. Seeing my expression, Oliver dropped the pretense. His voice turned accusatory. “You’re a woman, too. How can you be so vulgar?” “You need to think about your attitude. When you’ve calmed down and you’re ready to apologize to Mia, I’ll come back.” He turned, helped Mia up from the floor, and they left. Leaving me, a patient who couldn’t even care for herself, alone in the room. I laughed, a broken, hollow sound, as tears streamed from the corners of my eyes. The comments scrolled mercilessly above me. 【The ex-wife got what she deserved. Who does she think she is, blaming our sweet Mia?】 【Just die already, ex-wife. You’re just an eyesore for Mia and the male lead.】 【Hope the male lead floors it on the way home. They need to finish what they started in the hospital.】 In that moment, I felt the blood in my veins turn to ice. When I was well enough, Oliver came to pick me up from the hospital. He’d brought his entire office staff with him, all holding bouquets. “Mrs. Cole, you’re so lucky to have a wonderful husband like Mr. Cole,” one of them gushed. The comments sneered. 【Flowers? Big deal. Our Mia has a new house. A love nest from the male lead.】 In front of everyone, I pushed Oliver away. He panicked, grabbing my arm. “Are you still angry? I’ve already forgiven you, what more do you want?” I ignored his question, my eyes scanning the crowd. “Where’s Mia?” The comments preened. 【Our Mia was up very late last night. Of course she wouldn’t come to see you.】 Oliver’s face hardened, all traces of tenderness gone. “Why are you always so obsessed with Mia? Is it really that hard for you to be a little more generous?” His grip on my wrist tightened, so hard I thought the bones would snap. The fragile pieces of my heart, which had just started to mend, shattered all over again. His phone rang. He let go of me to answer it. It was Mia, her sobs frantic and convincing. “Oliver… help me… I’ve been kidnapped… by men Zoey sent… They said they won’t let me leave here alive.” “They’re going to… they’re going to sell me to the rings… as a prostitute. Please, you have to save me, I’m so scared… sob.” Oliver’s face contorted with rage. He dropped the phone and his hands shot out, closing around my neck. “Tell me,” he snarled, his face demonic, “where did you take her?” It took all my strength to knock his hands away. Gasping for air, I choked out my defense. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t do it.” “We’ve been married for three years. Don’t you have any trust in me at all?” He regained a sliver of composure. “I know you wouldn’t. But Mia has been taken. How can you stand there and let someone die because of you?” See? He still didn’t believe me. Even knowing I’d been bedridden in a hospital for a month, unable to orchestrate anything. His voice dropped to a threat. “Zoey, if anything happens to Mia, I will make you pay.” I met his dark, furious gaze. “I don’t know,” I repeated. “I really don’t know. I didn’t send anyone to kidnap Mia. I can say it a hundred times and the answer will be the same.” A chilling coldness radiated from him. “I’ll trust you this one time,” he said, his words like shards of ice. “But you better pray that when I find out the truth, your name isn’t attached to it.” He left. The crowd of people who had arrived with him vanished just as quickly. As he walked away, I saw him pull out his phone, his voice sharp and commanding. “Get every man we have on this. I want to know Mia’s last known location, now.” His car sped off, leaving me choking on a cloud of exhaust fumes. I stumbled to my feet, my wrist screaming in pain, probably dislocated. My head throbbed from his shouting. I couldn’t go anywhere. I turned back towards the hospital to find a doctor. As I walked down the hall, nurses and patients pointed and whispered. “That’s her. The one whose husband cheated, so she had the mistress kidnapped and sold.” “So vindictive. No wonder he cheated on her. I wouldn’t be able to stand her either.” Rage, shame, and heartbreak warred inside me. Where was the doctor? I needed a doctor. My vision blurred, my steps faltered. The world went black, and I collapsed. I woke up to water being splashed on my face. My arms were bound tightly, my mouth sealed with duct tape. My wrist was on fire; not only had it not been treated, but the injury was now far worse. 【Awesome! The ex-wife got kidnapped too. Let’s see who comes to save her now.】 【Hehe, they should sell her off quick. Sell her somewhere far, far away. That’ll teach her to compete for our male lead.】 【Looks like the male lead is here! Our Mia is just over there. Go save her, hero!】 Through the comments, I pieced together my situation. Through the thin black fabric of a blindfold, I could see Oliver holding Mia, who was crying dramatically in his arms. “Oh, Oliver, I knew you’d come for me!” He let her cling to him, stroking her back soothingly. I stared at her face. Her makeup was perfect. Her hands and feet were unbound. Not a single hair was out of place. This wasn’t a kidnapping. It was a performance. I understood instantly and began to struggle, making muffled noises to get Oliver’s attention. But then Mia spoke, and my struggles ceased.

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The siblings who took me in were the doomed side characters in a novel. The brother, Joey, was brooding and detached, destined to be captivated by the sunny, warm-hearted female lead. The sister, Jasmine, was sensitive and starved for affection, willing to sacrifice everything for the male lead. They believed they had found their saviors. They had no idea the main characters were just using them as stepping stones. To protect my new, cushy life, I decided to steal the main characters’ roles. When my brother was lost in one of his dark moods, I planted a kiss on his cheek. “Ooh, you’re soft and sweet! You’re like a little cream puff, Joey!” Even the coldest man in the world would crack a smile at that. When my sister cried herself to sleep at night, I cried right along with her. “My beautiful stars are drowning in tears! What are we going to do?” She burst into a tearful giggle and pulled me into a hug. Later, the main characters, frustrated that they couldn’t get ahold of the siblings, showed up at our door unannounced. They were greeted by the sight of the two of them working through the night to help me finish my kindergarten craft project. 1 The moment I lost consciousness while saving a drowning child, I made a wish. I wished my next life would begin with the scent of my mother’s expensive skincare, the sound of my old-money father’s hearty laugh, and the feel of my chairman-of-the-board grandfather’s warm hand. Instead, I woke up peacefully nestled in a garbage can. Seriously? I thought good deeds were supposed to be rewarded. Why was I starting on impossible mode? The lid was closed. The acrid stench of mixed garbage was suffocating. I stared at my own chubby, dimpled hands and remained silent for a long time. This was not going to work. To survive, I had only one option: cry. I have no idea how long I wailed, but eventually, someone seemed to notice the strange sound coming from the dilapidated alley. The scuff of expensive leather shoes on pavement grew closer. You have no idea the feeling of salvation that comes with seeing the light of day again. My eyes met those of a middle-aged man in a pristine suit and white gloves. My butler! My dear butler has come for me! I knew it! I was the long-lost heiress, switched at birth by a wicked nanny! I eagerly reached my little hands out to him. Hurry, take me back to my ten-thousand-square-foot mansion with the swimming pool! Mommy and Daddy must be worried sick! A few minutes later, I was in the back of a black luxury car, still having a staring contest, this time with two high schoolers in expensive-looking prep school uniforms. The butler spoke hesitantly. “Young Master, Young Miss, the slums are just over there, and there are a few vocational schools nearby. I suspect she’s an abandoned infant. Perhaps we should take her to the police station?” I felt my heart sink. This was bad. The two teenagers, whose faces were so exquisitely sculpted they hardly seemed real, gave a cool nod. A relieved smile spread across the butler’s face. “Then I’ll leave her in your care for a moment, if you don’t mind.” I was unceremoniously passed to the boy. He held me stiffly, his whole body rigid with uncertainty. But I’ve always been a sucker for a pretty face. Seeing a face more stunning than any celebrity up close, I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out to touch his cheek. He caught the smirk on his sister’s face and his expression immediately darkened. He thrust me into her arms. “You take her. She’s a pain.” His sister instantly went just as stiff. Seeing their similar, god-tier looks, I couldn’t help but let out a happy gurgle of laughter. A smile touched her lips before she noticed her brother’s smug gaze. She immediately scowled. “Ugh, she smells like garbage. Gross.” With that, she plopped me down on the seat between them. The car was spacious, more than enough room for the three of us. But the thought of a miserable life in an orphanage was enough to make me start crying for real. I wailed. The boy, unable to stand the noise, sighed and picked me up. The moment I saw his face again, I was happy. A tearful giggle broke through. He put me down. I started crying again. The girl picked me up. I started laughing again. She put me down. I started crying again. A spark of interest lit up in their eyes. They started a game of pass-the-baby. “Hahaha—” “Waaaah—” “Hahaha—” “Waaaah—” After a few dozen rounds of this, the butler’s gentle voice floated from the front. “We’ve arrived at the police station.” I immediately let out a shriek so loud it felt like it could shatter the windows. The brother and sister exchanged a look. After a few seconds, they spoke in unison. “We’ll keep her.” 2 Mr. Davison, the butler, was incredibly efficient. The adoption papers were processed in no time. I also learned the identities of my new siblings: Joey and Jasmine Cheng, the fraternal twins of the city’s wealthiest and most powerful family. And I was now their little sister, Chloe Cheng. Don’t be jealous just yet. Because these two were the biggest, most tragic minor characters in a power fantasy novel about a pair of childhood sweethearts. The Cheng twins had the family name and the looks, but they couldn’t piece together a functioning family. Their parents had divorced shortly after they were born and had quickly run back to their old flames. In their eyes, the twins were merely a product of a business arrangement, a link they had long since disregarded. For years, they had shown them no affection whatsoever. You can’t expect children who have never been loved to grow up into paragons of virtue. To put it mildly, Joey and Jasmine were both deeply troubled, each in their own twisted way. Despite being blood-related, they couldn’t stand each other. To make matters worse, they were about to meet the novel’s protagonists, a ruthless pair of childhood sweethearts who had fought their way out of poverty. These two would deliberately orchestrate ways to get close to the twins, working together to drive a permanent wedge between them. The brother, brooding and detached, would be drawn to the female lead’s sunny warmth. The sister, sensitive and starved for affection, would become willing to sacrifice everything for the male lead. They would think they’d found salvation. In reality, they were just stepping stones on the protagonists’ path to success. In the end, after they had been squeezed dry of all their value, they would be cast aside. Readers loved the morally grey protagonists and the complex, self-serving-yet-genuine relationship between them, calling it a masterpiece of satisfying revenge fiction. Satisfying? I wasn’t feeling very satisfied right now. Even the expensive, imported formula the nanny had meticulously prepared for me had lost its appeal. That’s the thing about babies. The slightest unhappiness, and the waterworks turn on. My cries quickly brought Joey and Jasmine running. The nanny, holding me, was at her wit’s end. “I don’t know what’s wrong with Little Miss. Nothing seems to calm her down.” The moment Joey took me, I stopped crying. Everyone stared. The nanny let out a laugh. “Young Master, it seems Little Miss is very attached to you.” A ghost of a smile touched his lips before he quickly suppressed it. “You’re such a handful. One more peep and you’re going back in the trash.” Excuse me? That was just cruel. I immediately reached my arms out to Jasmine. She looked pleasantly surprised and cautiously reached for me. But Joey turned and walked away, still holding me. “She’s tired. You can hold her next time.” Jasmine gritted her teeth. “She clearly wants me to hold her! Give her to me!” “You’re clumsy. What if you drop her?” “Joey!” Listening to them bicker, I grew sleepy and closed my eyes, my little fists clenched. My brother and sister are good, kind kids. I will not let those two main characters get anywhere near them. 3 The only perk of being a baby is that you can be as demanding as you want. If I didn’t see Joey and Jasmine for more than a few hours, I’d cry. The nanny would glance at the clock, see that school was out, and expertly place the call. The line connected instantly. “How’s Chloe today?” Hearing Jasmine’s voice, I’d gurgle and reach for the phone. “Ahh! Ahh!” “Say ‘Jasmine.’” “Goo goo!” A light laugh came from the other end, and then Joey took the phone. He gave the nanny detailed instructions about my vaccination schedule, asked about my formula intake and bowel movements, and reminded her to give me regular baby massages. In a short time, he had become a total pro. The moment he got home, he’d be the one feeding me and changing my diapers. Jasmine would play with my rattle, cooing at me to help develop my language skills. They had a clear division of labor. And though they still fought over whose turn it was to hold me, the vast, empty mansion was slowly starting to feel like a home. Today, they didn’t come home on time. Mr. Davison cooed at me gently. “Your brother and sister went to the old family estate for their birthday today. They’ll be back a little later!” In the original story, their parents had, for the first time in years, promised to come home to celebrate their birthday with them. The twins pretended to be annoyed, but deep down, they were secretly looking forward to it. They waited for hours. When they finally called, they discovered their parents had completely forgotten. There was no apology, no guilt, just a dismissive wire transfer. Did they need money? No. What they needed was the love and care they had been denied their whole lives. And that’s why they were willing to throw themselves into the fire for the scraps of warmth the protagonists offered them. Sure enough, when they returned, Joey was cloaked in gloom, and Jasmine looked utterly desolate. They went straight to their rooms without even stopping by the nursery to see me. I sighed. Time to bring out the big guns. “Waaaaah—” A door slammed open, and a foul-tempered Joey appeared by my crib to check my diaper. “You’re dry. What are you crying about now?” I just kept crying. Even when he picked me up, I wouldn’t be soothed. Defeated, he went to get Jasmine. Her eyes were red-rimmed. Already in a terrible mood, she became even more irritated seeing me like this. She roughly placed me back in the bassinet. “Go to sleep!” I started batting at the mobile hanging over my head, making a concerted effort to form words. “Ha-ppy… ha-ppy… ha-ppy…” The sound of a baby’s babbling mixed with the gentle chime of the mobile. It almost sounded like a birthday song. They both froze. After a long moment, Joey covered his face with his hand and let out a choked laugh. Jasmine was infected by his mood. She turned away with a huff, but the corners of her mouth curved upward. I finally relaxed. Just as I was about to drift off, I saw Joey take out his phone and open the camera. “Do it again,” he said. “I don’t want you complaining on social media when you’re older that we never documented your childhood.” Oh, please. You just want to brag on Instagram, just say it. 4 Soon, Joey and Jasmine started their sophomore year. We had successfully avoided the plot point where they were supposed to meet the main characters. Just as I was letting my guard down, Joey disappeared. Mr. Davison sent people out to search for him all night. The next day, he finally returned, covered in bruises and scrapes. Trailing behind him was a girl in a white dress, looking equally disheveled. She had an innocent face, but as she took in the understated luxury of our home, her eyes held a flicker of shrewd calculation. Oh no. My inheritance. It’s in danger! After the family doctor had tended to their injuries, Joey explained. He’d gone hiking on a whim and had run into the female lead, Amelia. They had both accidentally slipped down a steep embankment, breaking their phones in the process. Luckily, neither was seriously injured. Right. I totally believed this had nothing to do with Amelia. When Amelia came out of the guest room, she saw Joey playing with me. She feigned surprise. “Is this your sister? She’s so adorable!” Joey was always in a good mood when people praised me. He smiled at her. “Do you want to hold her?” “I’d love to!” Get away from me, you witch! As she reached for me, I let out a wail, louder and more heartbroken than ever before. Joey froze, glancing at Amelia’s embarrassed face. “Sorry,” he said. “She can be a little shy with strangers.” Amelia quickly composed herself, being incredibly understanding. She even praised my wariness, saying it was a good way to protect myself. Her words clearly pleased Joey. His gaze softened, and he instructed Mr. Davison to personally drive her home. She really was the female lead. She had my brother wrapped around her little finger with just a few simple tricks. I closed my eyes, exhausted. Jasmine didn’t get home until evening. She kept glancing at her phone, an expectant look on her face, unable to hide the giddy smile on her lips. This look of a girl in the first throes of love set off alarm bells in my head. Joey noticed it too. He frowned. “Where were you today?” Jasmine shot him a glare. “None of your business!” “Are you seeing someone?” “You have the nerve to question me? What were you doing out in the middle of nowhere, spending the night alone with a girl and then bringing her home? You’re the one who’s seeing someone!” “We were worried sick all night, and you were out having fun.” Joey was speechless. Jasmine gave him a scornful look and went to her room. I waved my little hands in the air. It was happening. The moment the main characters appeared, the bond between the siblings began to fracture.

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1 My senior year was a blur of caffeine and code. I pushed myself to the limit studying for the coveted internship at a top tech firm—and earned first place. My boyfriend Mark ranked 42nd. We’d intern together. But then he texted: “Vivi didn’t make it. Since you got first, you can go anywhere. I declined your offer so she could get in.” Stunned, I called HR. They apologized—the spot was already filled. I checked Vivi’s social media. Her latest post: “Finally got you ” with a photo of Mark holding her acceptance letter. I took a deep breath and called my mom. “I’m done with the internship. I’m ready to take over the family business.” She sighed in relief. Then Mark messaged: “Vivi fought hard for this. Don’t be selfish—think about her for once.” I laughed—a cold, empty sound. When I called him, all the warmth was gone from my voice. “Mark, is my hard work really that worthless to you?” “I’m throwing a tantrum? I bled for that opportunity. Why the hell should I just hand it over to her? Did you even consider my feelings for a second before you made that decision for me?” On the other end, Mark sounded self-righteous, completely unapologetic. “I just figured, since you ranked first, you could get a job anywhere. Vivi isn’t like you.” “So because she’s not good enough, because she barely scraped by, you decided to sacrifice my chance for hers?” I cut him off, my voice like ice. “I’m a person, Mark, not a stepping stone for someone else.” “If you actually cared about me,” I said, my tone final, “you would never have dismissed my efforts like this.” He ignored my point completely, circling back to defend her. “How can you say that? Vivi worked really hard too! At the end of the day, you’re just not willing to make a small sacrifice for a friend. We could have all been interning together.” I let out a cold laugh. The last bit of warmth in my heart turned to frost. “Interning together.” The words were a thorn in my side. I thought he understood, that he saw the journey I’d taken. But I was just a background character in his story, a pawn to be sacrificed for the benefit of others. I didn’t argue anymore. “Then you can go intern with her,” I said flatly, and hung up. The rain continued to fall, blurring the world outside into an indistinct gray haze, just like the future of our relationship. His words were both laughable and insulting. Did I need this internship? No, not really. But what mattered to me was whether my effort, my achievement, was worthy of respect. I wanted this because he was there. I wanted to build something with him, on our own merits, without my family’s name or money. But now I understood. Some paths, you have to walk alone. 2 The next morning, our academic advisor posted a link in the group chat for us to confirm our internship placements. I took a deep breath, my fingers hovering over the keyboard. In the end, I typed in the full name of the tech firm. Mark saw the public confirmation sheet and messaged me immediately, his tone urgent. “Jane, why did you still put down the Firm? I know you’re mad, but there’s no spot for you there anymore.” “Look, I know you’re too proud to admit you have to look elsewhere, but if you submit false information, you won’t be able to graduate!” I stared at the screen and smiled. “Don’t you worry about me, Mark. I’m going to the Firm.” He was silent for a few seconds, then sent, “Is this just because you want to intern with me?” “Just listen, okay? I’ll help you look for other companies. We won’t be at the same firm, but we’ll still be in the same city!” I never realized how conceited he was. “No thanks,” I typed, then turned off my screen. For the next few days, he spammed me with job links, from “$15/hour, room and board included” to “Join our startup and build your dream!” He even sent a flyer for a part-time barista position with the note: “Just to tide you over. I can support you.” He called to ask what I thought. My reply was a single, cold word. “No.” He didn’t contact me again for days. Then he showed up outside my dorm, holding an internship agreement, the Firm’s logo emblazoned on the cover. He held it out to me, his tone a mixture of charity and pride. “I had to beg my mentor, but I managed to get you this spot. It’s not an official internship, but you can shadow the project team and learn.” In other words, an unpaid gofer. I glanced at it but didn’t take it. “Why don’t you give this wonderful opportunity to your dear Vivi?” His face darkened. “Jane, Vivi isn’t as brilliant as you. She doesn’t get as many chances in life.” I stared at him, a bitter taste in my mouth. So, the successful are supposed to sacrifice for the unsuccessful, just to give them a shot? Because the successful will just… get more chances later? The exhaustion I felt was bone-deep, his words a dull knife sawing at my heart. “Mark, I don’t have to intern with you.” His eyes widened, a flicker of panic finally showing through. Just then, Vivi walked out of the women’s dorm. Seeing the agreement in Mark’s hand, she hurried over. “Jane, Mark was just trying to help…” I cut her off, my voice calm but frigid. “Vivi, do I need his help? Do you not remember whose spot that was supposed to be?” Her face went pale, and she looked at Mark with a wounded expression. Mark frowned, pulling her behind him protectively. “That’s enough, Jane. I already went out of my way to get you this position. Why do you have to be so aggressive?” “You’re the top student, right? Just get your foot in the door and then fight for an official spot. What’s the big deal?” He said it so easily, as if all I had to do was show up to get a promotion. I stared at him in silence. Realizing he’d gone too far, his tone softened. “Jane, I didn’t mean it like that. I just think you’re so talented, you can definitely do it.” “Look, we can still work together. We can get a place together, the three of us. Work together, live together. Wouldn’t that be great?”

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1 I was in a rush to catch a flight for an international conference, but the TSA agent stopped me dead in my tracks. “Ma’am, our scanner is picking up some unidentified metal on your person. We’ll need you to step aside for a secondary screening.” A spike of anxiety hit me, but I understood the procedure. I fumbled through my pockets and finally found a stray coin I’d forgotten. But just as I was about to move on, she stopped me again. “Your shoes have rather thick soles. They’ll need to be screened separately.” Another twenty minutes evaporated as my shoes were turned over, prodded, and scanned before finally being returned. My departure time was now dangerously close. I grabbed my suitcase, ready to sprint to the gate. But the agent, her face fixed in the same plastic, corporate smile, pointed to the cast on my arm and stopped me for a third time. “Ma’am, for flight safety, we’ll need to conduct a further inspection of your cast…” … “Why didn’t you check it all at once? I’m going to miss my flight!” I finally snapped, my patience worn to a thread after being repeatedly pulled from the line. “How do you even inspect a cast? My arm is broken! This isn’t something I can just slip on and off!” But my anger was met with that same infuriatingly calm, plastic smile. “I’m sorry, Ms. Morgan, but we have to follow protocol.” “Please cooperate with airport regulations. We’re just doing our jobs. Please don’t make this difficult for us.” As she spoke, she ran a handheld scanner over my arm. Beep. Beep. Beep. The alarm blared again. “I’m sorry, but you’ll need to come with us to a private screening room for a more thorough check.” I had already glanced at her name tag. Tina. Of all the agents, she was the one giving me the hardest time, her focus on me feeling less like procedure and more like a personal vendetta. I could feel the malice radiating from her, and I refused without a second thought. “I refuse. I’ve never heard of inspecting a medical cast! You’re deliberately targeting me!” My outburst caught the attention of other passengers, and a few spoke up in my defense. “She’s right, you’ve been checking her for ages. She hardly looks like she’s smuggling contraband.” “I’m on the same flight. We’re really cutting it close! Can’t you make an exception?” “Yeah, this seems like you’re going way too far.” Tina just offered them a hollow smile. “Going too far? I’m not sure what you mean. I’m just following the rules. Can any of you personally guarantee there’s nothing hidden in Ms. Morgan’s cast? Can you take personal responsibility for her if she becomes a threat on foreign soil? If just one of you is willing to sign off on that responsibility, I will let her go right now.” The crowd immediately went silent. I gritted my teeth and tried to walk past, but two security guards materialized, blocking my path. Just then, a different sentiment rose from the other passengers on my flight, their own patience wearing thin. “Just cooperate with them so we can all get moving!” “We’ve been waiting here forever! My time is valuable too!” “If I miss my business deal because of this, are you going to pay for it?” Defeated, I let the guards lead me to the small, sterile room. I braced myself for more harassment, but I wasn’t prepared for Tina’s first command. “Alright, you can start undressing. Please cooperate with the investigation.” I froze. The door clicked shut, leaving me alone with Tina and a few other female guards. What followed was a methodical, humiliating search. They made me strip down completely, not even allowing me to keep my underwear on. I had to bite back waves of fury, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. When they were finally done with my body, I presented the hospital documents for my arm, proving the cast contained surgical steel pins from the fracture. Tina scanned the doctor’s report and handed it back, her lips pulling into a smirk that didn’t reach her eyes. “You’re cleared to go. Sorry for the… inconvenience, Ms. Morgan.” I was seething. I jabbed a finger at her name tag. “Tina, is it? I’ll remember you.” She just gave me that robotic smile again. “You’re welcome to. If it helps you remember the airport’s dress code next time, then by all means, remember me.” “Now, we’ll need to escort you through the main security check one more time.” I shot her a venomous glare, pulled my clothes back on, and stormed out to go through the screening process again. I thought it was just a formality, but as a series of sharp beeps pierced the air, Tina once again stepped in front of me. 2 “What now?!” Seeing her infuriating face again, I felt like I was about to lose my mind. But Tina just kept smiling. “One moment, Ms. Morgan. You dropped this.” I stared as she held out my handbag. Had I misjudged her? Was this a moment of actual helpfulness? I took the bag, a flicker of confusion cutting through my anger. But as I turned to leave, she spoke again. “I’m very sorry, but according to regulations, we still can’t let you pass.” I was so stunned by the sheer audacity that I burst out laughing. “And what is it this time? You’ve already searched every inch of me!” Tina shrugged. “The physical inspection was clear, that’s true. However, your case is… unusual. Given the multiple alarms, it’s beyond my authority to clear you. Every one of your screenings has been logged in the system, so I’ll have to report this to my supervisor. You can leave once he gives the all-clear.” I could practically hear the plane’s engines spooling up on the tarmac. I took a deep, steadying breath. “I told you, this is a business trip! A crucial one! If I miss this flight, my company could face massive losses. Are you prepared to compensate for that?” Tina’s expression remained placid, unmoved. “If you attempt to force your way through security, you’ll be breaking federal law. That’s a situation far beyond my control.” I forced myself to ask through clenched teeth, “And when is your supervisor arriving?” She held up a hand in a ‘stop’ gesture and pulled out her phone, tapping the screen a few times. “I’m filing the report now. Please be patient.” But as I watched her, she just kept tapping, a blank expression on her face. My own anxiety spiked. In a flash of impulse, I snatched the phone from her hand. She was scrolling through a celebrity gossip site. She wasn’t filing any report. “What is the meaning of this? You’re doing this on purpose! You want me to miss my flight!” I pointed at the screen, my voice rising as the last of my composure finally shattered. “From the moment you saw me, you’ve been targeting me! The endless checks, and now this!” “Tina! I don’t even know you! We have no history, no reason for you to hate me! Why are you doing this to me? Are you going to tell me that scrolling through gossip is also part of your ‘protocol’? Can you stand there and take responsibility for a single word you’ve said to me?!” Her jaw tightened, her own mask of calm cracking for a second. I saw her clench and unclench her fists before she smoothed her features back into that plastic smile. “Ms. Morgan, please don’t bring your personal emotions into this. I assure you, my supervisor has been notified. As for my phone, that is my personal property. Your actions are incredibly rude.” She took a step closer, her smile fixed but her eyes burning with venom. She spoke in a low, biting whisper. “Don’t you think?” I closed my eyes, taking one last shot. “How long until your supervisor gets here?” Tina glanced at her watch, a look of mock contemplation on her face, before giving me an impossible answer. “Oh, I’d say… about three hours.” 3 “Are you kidding me? My flight is boarding right now! You’re doing this deliberately, aren’t you?!” I roared, but Tina just gave me a helpless-looking smile. “I’m sorry, Ms. Morgan, but my hands are tied. My supervisor is currently at a training conference overseas. With the time difference, he probably hasn’t even seen my message. You’ll just have to wait.” Her calm, indifferent tone was designed to drive me insane. I felt a wave of despair wash over me. I had no idea what cosmic bad luck I’d stumbled into lately, but nothing was going right. Two nights ago, I was walking home late from work when I saw a group of thugs harassing a young woman. I intervened. I’m not a fighter, but I managed to create enough of a scene to save her. In the process, I ended up with a broken arm. Then, before I was even discharged from the hospital, my boss forced this international conference on me, making me sign a do-or-die contract: land the deal, or pay the company a fortune in damages. And now this. My one chance to get there, sabotaged by a rogue TSA agent. How did this happen? I was the one who did the right thing, who saved someone. Why was I the one being punished? My mind raced, connecting the dots. Something felt deeply wrong about all this. I looked Tina dead in the eye. “I demand to speak to your supervisor’s superior. I don’t care who it is. I have to be on that flight today, no matter what.” Tina just shook her head. “Ms. Morgan, you’re just a passenger. You don’t have the right to speak directly with our upper management. The only solution is to wait for my supervisor’s approval. Otherwise, none of us can take that responsibility.” I lunged forward and grabbed her by the collar of her uniform. “When is this going to end?! What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Let me through, now!” Her eyes met mine, and a real, triumphant smile finally broke through the plastic facade. “Ms. Morgan, please calm down! Violence won’t solve anything.” Her words made me pause. I realized the security guards had closed in, forming a tight circle around me. My actions, my words… I was becoming unhinged. I was about to let her go, but she suddenly clamped her hand around my wrist, her voice dropping to a whisper only I could hear. “Stella, that’s right, I am targeting you. Your little brain has probably figured that much out by now, hasn’t it?” “And I’m telling you, as long as I’m standing here, you won’t be getting on any flight today.” I stared into her vicious eyes, realizing she was deliberately pushing my buttons, trying to make me snap. “…What did you say?” Just then, the final boarding call for my flight echoed through the terminal. On pure instinct, I tried to shove her away. But she anticipated it, grabbing my arm and shouting for everyone to hear. “What are you doing? Are you trying to breach security?!” She clung to me like a leech. “Let me go!” I yelled, my voice frantic. “You’re doing this on purpose! None of you can be trusted!” I finally ripped my arm free, my blood boiling. I turned, fully intending to make a run for it, but I caught a flicker of pure anticipation in Tina’s eyes. I stopped in my tracks. It hit me like a physical blow. She wants me to lose it. In front of everyone. My outburst had drawn a huge crowd. They were whispering, filming me with their phones. Some were even live-streaming. “Look, someone’s causing trouble! Trying to force her way through security with contraband!” “Hey everyone, I’m live at the scene! You can see the standoff happening right now!” “Rumor is she has a bomb! Can’t confirm, but it’s what everyone’s saying!” In the few moments I’d been silent, the narrative had completely twisted. I was no longer the victim; I was the threat. “So that’s your game,” I hissed, glaring at Tina. This woman was dangerously manipulative. “You want me to make a scene, to get violent, so you have an excuse to detain me!” Tina put on a perfect mask of confusion. “Ms. Morgan, I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I would advise you not to escalate this situation.” She and the guards formed a wall in front of me. She smiled gently. “Because if this gets any bigger, the police will get involved. And then it will be out of the airport’s hands entirely. You understand, don’t you?” I looked at the growing crowd, at the sea of phones all pointed at me, and I finally understood. This wasn’t just a random act of malice. This was an ambush. 4 My mind flashed back to the rescue. As the thugs ran off, their leader had shouted a threat over his shoulder. “You bitch! You have no idea who you just crossed! She belongs to the Young Master! You stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, and he will make you pay!” I hadn’t thought anything of his “Young Master” comment at the time. But now, it was clear. This was his revenge. And whoever this “Young Master” was, he had enough power to orchestrate this entire nightmare. I took a step back, a knot of real fear tightening in my stomach. This wasn’t some street punk. This was someone with connections, with power. This entire business trip was probably part of their trap. Seeing me hesitate, Tina’s eyes flashed with impatience. She decided to needle me again. “It’s a real shame this has happened. And according to the message my supervisor just sent, it looks like his arrival might be delayed even further.” She put on a show of sympathy, as if she were on my side. “Why don’t you just let us open up the cast? We can take a look, and then everyone can be on their way.” Before I could respond, a message from my boss lit up my phone. “What the hell is going on, Stella? Why haven’t you boarded yet?! I’m telling you, if you blow this deal, you’ll be paying us back according to the contract!” I hung up, feeling like the whole world was closing in on me. But the more they pushed, the more certain I was that this was a setup. I ignored the flood of angry texts from my boss and abandoned any hope of making my flight. To everyone’s surprise, I walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. Tina was stunned for a second, then her voice rang out. “Ms. Morgan! Just because you refuse to cooperate with our inspection doesn’t mean you can throw a tantrum and stage a sit-in!” I couldn’t believe she was twisting it again. Before I could even react, the security guards, who had clearly been waiting for their cue, swarmed me, pinning me to the ground. “What are you doing?! Let me go!” I screamed, struggling against them. One of the guards deliberately kicked my casted arm. An explosion of white-hot pain silenced me. As Tina shouted that I was assaulting her security personnel, fists rained down on me. “You… you monsters!” I choked out. The commotion drew an even larger crowd of onlookers, all of them fed the same false story. “That’s the woman who was carrying explosives! Now she’s attacking the guards!” “It’s true! I saw her grab the female agent’s uniform earlier!” “This is terrifying! Who is she? What was she planning to do on the plane?!” I spat out a mouthful of blood as the tide of public opinion turned completely against me. They dragged me back into that little black room, a gauntlet of pointing fingers and flashing cameras all the way. Thud. The door slammed shut. I gasped for breath, and as my vision cleared, I saw a man sitting in a chair, watching me. He was dressed in expensive, flashy clothes, his hair a shock of bleached blond. “…Who are you?” I managed. He smirked. “Your name is Stella Morgan, right? You know, you really should have learned to mind your own business.” “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Adrian Zhao. You ruined my plans, so now you get to deal with the Zhao family’s payback.” Seeing the deep-seated resentment in his eyes, I knew instantly. He was the one behind the thugs. This entire, elaborate trap—from the airport fiasco to the public humiliation—was all his design. He wanted me to suffer physically and be saddled with a crippling debt from my company. All because I saved that girl. “Pah!” I spat defiantly, glaring at him. “So you’re the kind of coward who hides behind cheap tricks. Who do you think you are? Even if you’re powerful, I don’t believe for a second you’d dare to kill me.” My defiance seemed to amuse him. He let out a short laugh, stood up, and walked over, grinding his shoe onto my cast. “Who am I? I’m the heir to the Zhao Corporation fortune! A worthless little insect like you? I could crush you without a second thought.” He punctuated his sentence with a sharp kick to my stomach. A wave of nausea rolled through me, and I swallowed hard against the bile rising in my throat. Tina scurried forward and knelt to wipe a speck of dust from his shoe with a tissue, which she then tossed onto my chest. “Our company is 70% owned by the Zhao Corporation, Stella. You picked a fight with the wrong people. Isn’t it time you learned some remorse?” Before she even finished speaking, the guards closed in, cracking their knuckles. My eyes widened in terror. I scrambled backward. “Stay away from me!” At that exact moment, the door was kicked off its hinges, and a furious voice roared through the room. “Stop!”

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When my boyfriend ordered me food delivery, he decided to play a stupid prank in the notes: “This is for my e-girlfriend. Could you do me a solid and check if she’s as hot as her pictures? Heard she looks like a total goddess.” Sighing, I decided to play along with his little game. When I opened the door, the delivery guy’s eyes raked over me. “Wow,” he said. “You’re really beautiful.” I gave him a polite “thank you,” but a strange knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach. I tried to shut the door quickly, but his foot shot out, blocking it. He stared at me, his eyes boring into mine. “Thank you?” he repeated, his voice low. “So… how are you going to thank me?” 1 I swallowed hard, a cold dread washing over me. My instincts screamed that this was dangerous. The way he looked at me was predatory, like he wanted to devour me whole. It was almost eleven at night; if he forced his way in, I wouldn’t stand a chance. Trying to keep the tremor out of my voice, I forced a calm tone. “You’re right. It’s late and you worked hard to get here. I’ll have my boyfriend add a generous tip for you.” I turned my head and called into the empty apartment, “Liam! Hey, that delivery you ordered? The driver is super nice, make sure you give him a good tip!” My boyfriend, Liam, wasn’t here, of course. I was just trying to scare the guy off, make him think I wasn’t alone. My heart was a jackhammer against my ribs, but I managed to squeeze out a smile. “Okay, my food’s getting cold, and you probably have more deliveries. Have a good night.” I pushed against the door again. His foot didn’t budge. His face, pitted with coarse pores, leaned closer. “You think I’m an idiot?” he sneered. “If your boyfriend was home, why would the order have your phone number on it?” 2 I flinched back, cursing Liam in my head. He always used his own number when he ordered for me, then texted me when it arrived. Why, of all nights, did he have to use my number and pull this stupid prank with this specific creep? Gritting my teeth, I improvised. “Oh, that? He wanted it to be a surprise, so he wanted me to be the one to get it. It’s just a little game we play. If he used his number, he’d have to get the door, and that would ruin the fun. You know?” The driver grunted, pretending to agree, but then his other hand braced against the doorframe. I could feel him starting to push, his strength slowly building against mine. Panic seized me. My hands, slick with sweat, were straining to hold the door. If he got it open, I was done for. My eyes widened in feigned annoyance, and I yelled back into the apartment, “Liam, say something! Did you fall asleep?!” A second later, my boyfriend’s familiar voice drifted from the bedroom. “Hey, babe, I’m here. Must have dozed off for a sec. What’s taking so long with the food? Are you still out there?” Hearing his voice, the driver finally relented. He stopped pushing and pulled his foot back. His entire demeanor shifted. “Ha, my bad,” he said with a sheepish grin. “I was just trying to help you carry it inside. Since your boyfriend’s here, I’ll get out of your hair. Enjoy your meal.” A wave of relief washed over me. Thank God Liam was so quick on his feet. We’d been on a video call when my phone had buzzed with the delivery notification. Living alone, I’m always cautious. I hadn’t ordered anything, so I ignored the call and stayed on the video chat. Liam was the one who told me he’d ordered it, explaining his dumb prank and how the driver just wanted to see what I looked like. He’d told the driver he was worried he was being catfished and needed visual confirmation. He said if I didn’t come to the door, the driver would probably keep knocking. He told me not to overthink it, that the guy would just say I was pretty and leave. I can’t believe I bought it. I figured, fine, I’ll play along for a minute. So I opened the door. But this wasn’t what Liam described at all. I was just thankful I hadn’t hung up the call, and that Liam had sensed something was wrong and spoken up. My phone was still in the bedroom, and his excuse about falling asleep made perfect sense. I had tricked him. The driver was finally leaving. As I relaxed my guard and put my weight into shutting the door, his other hand shot out, slapping against the wood. “You’re a fun one,” he chuckled, a sinister glint in his eyes. “Did you really think I was just going to leave?” 3 Before I could even process his words, he started talking, his voice a low, excited murmur. “I was just playing along with you. See how nice I am? This is like our own little game, isn’t it? I’ve never even had a girlfriend before. This is my first time playing something like this.” The door began to creak open as he pried at it. His foot slid back into the gap. The fear was real now, sharp and suffocating. “Get the hell out!” I screamed. “Or I’m calling the cops!” He didn’t even flinch. Instead, he pulled out his phone and showed me the chat log with Liam from the delivery app. My blood ran cold as I saw the messages. Liam had told him everything, holding nothing back. Driver: What if she’s not alone? Liam: She is. I guarantee it. Driver: What if she’s a catfish? Liam: Then do me a favor and teach her a lesson. I knew Liam was just trying to be edgy, fully committing to the stupid “e-girlfriend” prank. But what now? What was I going to do? The gap in the door widened. I told myself to stay calm, glaring at him with all the menace I could muster. “If you touch me, you’ll rot in prison!” His smile just got wider, more grotesque. He waved his phone. “What? I’m just teaching you a lesson, like your boyfriend said. You are a catfish! He said you were a goddess, and yeah, you’re pretty, but you’re no goddess.” His twisted logic left me speechless. The door was opening wider and wider. I couldn’t hold him back anymore. I turned to sprint for my phone in the bedroom. Suddenly, an explosion of pain erupted from my scalp. He had a fistful of my hair, yanking me backward with brutal force. A raw scream tore from my throat. I thrashed, trying to break his grip, but he kicked me hard in the stomach. The strength difference was immense; I was powerless. He started dragging me toward the sofa, and a sob escaped my lips. Liam’s voice was still echoing from the bedroom. “Aubrey! What’s wrong?! I think I heard you scream! Should I call 911? Aubrey, answer me!” I tried to scream back, to tell him yes, but just as I opened my mouth, a hand cracked across my face. The world went white for a second. Tears streamed down my cheeks, my mind chanting one frantic thought: No, please, this is disgusting. My whole body trembled as he tied my hands and found my phone. The video call was still active. Liam’s terrified face filled the screen. Seeing him gave me a sliver of hope. “Help…” CRACK. Another slap, harder this time. My face was on fire. “Aubrey! What’s happening?!” Liam screamed, his eyes wide with horror as he saw my swelling cheek. The driver’s leering face appeared next to mine on the screen. “No… I’m so sorry, Aubrey, this is all my fault!” Liam was sobbing now. “I just saw that stupid prank online, I thought it would be funny… How could this happen?! Hold on, I’m coming to save you!” The driver seemed to be enjoying the show. He didn’t hang up. His fingers moved toward the buttons of my shirt. The violation snapped me back to reality. I spat in his face. “You really think you can get away with this?! I don’t know what gives you the nerve, but I have hidden cameras all over this apartment. Everything you’re doing is being recorded! If I survive this, I’ll make sure you spend the rest of your life in jail! And even if I die, Liam will have the proof to do the same!” I was bluffing, trying to scare him into stopping. It was the wrong thing to say. His hands shot to my throat, squeezing with terrifying force. He was putting his entire weight into it. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t even make a sound. My mind went blank. I forgot how to draw air. Liam’s voice was fading, a distant, panicked buzz. “Aubrey! Hang on! The police are on their way! You bastard! You murderer! Let her go!” Was this how I was going to die? Choked to death on my own floor? No. I don’t want this. But there was nothing I could do. Just as I thought it was over, my airway opened. Air rushed into my lungs in a great, heaving gasp, and I broke into a violent coughing fit. For a fleeting moment, I thought he’d had a change of heart, that he was letting me go. But then the searing pain returned to my scalp. He was pulling my hair again, dragging me out the door. This was a chance! As soon as we were in the hallway, I would scream my lungs out. Someone would hear. The next second, a towel was shoved into my mouth, gagging me. My heart sank into a pit of cold, black despair. 4 He dragged me toward the stairwell. Everyone used the elevator; the stairs were always deserted. Help me… Somebody, please, help me… I stopped struggling, my body going limp. All I could do was pray that someone, anyone, would hear the noise on the stairs. His face loomed closer. A chill ran down my spine. I squeezed my eyes shut, turning my head away. I had thought that as long as I survived, I could get justice. But as true despair set in, a new thought took root: If he… if he did that to me, I’d rather be dead. Tears streamed from my closed eyes. My heart was a dead, silent thing in my chest. I gave up, lying perfectly still. Suddenly, a bright light flashed across my face, and my heart leaped into my throat. “Who’s there?” a man’s voice called out. The voice sparked a new, frantic wave of resistance in me. I started struggling with everything I had. The driver shoved a few crumpled bills into the newcomer’s hand. “Hey, man. Just pretend you didn’t see anything.” I couldn’t believe anyone would just walk away. I stared at the man on the stairs, my eyes pleading with him, begging him to save me. But right in front of me, he pocketed the cash. “Keep it down,” he said. “And by the way, there are no cameras in the stairwell.” A roaring filled my ears. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. The man continued down the stairs, the crisp sound of his footsteps echoing around me. I didn’t care about the shaking of my body anymore. After a few minutes, the man who had assaulted me stood up. I forced myself to remember that I had to live. I had to survive. I stared at him, my eyes wide, trying to memorize his face in the faint moonlight. But then, a kitchen knife appeared in his hand. In the reflection on the blade, I saw my own tear-streaked face, my hair a tangled mess. My legs gave out. With my hands tied, I couldn’t move. I could only watch as the knife swung down towards me. Drops of blood slid from the tip of the blade. Before I lost consciousness completely, I saw a twisted, eerie smile spread across his face. 5 I finally understood. The monster never intended to let me go. He wanted to rape and kill me from the start. But I refused to accept it! I didn’t want to die like this! Humiliated and forgotten! I want to live! When I opened my eyes again, Liam’s voice was coming from my phone. “Babe, your phone was ringing. Who was it?” I stared at his face on the screen, my mind reeling. I clutched my chest. There was no wound. I realized it instantly. I had been reborn. 6 I scrambled to check my call history. Sure enough, the most recent call was from the delivery driver. I looked up at Liam on the screen. His voice softened. “Aubrey? What’s wrong? You’re looking at me like I’m your worst enemy. Did I do something to make you mad again?” I didn’t have time for him. I grabbed my phone, slid on my slippers, and tiptoed out of the bedroom. My heart pounding, I peered through the peephole in the front door. The hallway was silent and empty. Liam’s voice droned on from the phone. “You’re being way too cautious. Just go get the food. You said you were hungry, so I ordered you something. Hey, maybe the driver will even tell you you’re pretty. What are you so afraid of? It’s just a delivery guy. He’s in a hurry. If you don’t go out, he can’t complete the order on his end.” My nerves were stretched to the breaking point. I couldn’t let what happened before happen again. “Shut up!” I snapped. Liam, offended, abruptly ended the video call. My thumb hovered over the 9-1-1 button. I hesitated. If I called the police and they arrived to find nothing, would they accuse me of filing a false report? But I had to be safe. No matter what, I was not opening that door tonight. I scanned the living room and dragged my small bookshelf in front of the door, wedging it shut. It was the only way I would get any sleep. I turned to go wash my slippers in the bathroom. For some reason, they felt sticky and weird the moment I put them on. I hadn’t taken more than a few steps when a knock echoed from the front door. Thump. Thump. Thump. My heart leaped into my throat. I stood frozen, silent, my fists clenched so tight my nails dug into my palms. I wanted to scream, to unleash all the rage from what I had suffered. But I took a deep breath and quietly dialed 9-1-1. The knocking continued, and the man’s disgusting voice filtered through the door. “Miss, company policy says I have to see the recipient in person. I know you’re in there. Please come get your food. I’m a busy man.” … I would not fall for the same trap twice. I was surprisingly calm now. As the knocking grew more violent, a few books tumbled from the top of the bookshelf. I bent to pick them up. That’s when I saw it. A comic book I had never seen before. It had fallen open to a page where a bold title shocked me to my core: THE PSYCHO DRIVER MURDERS. As if possessed, I picked it up. The woman being murdered in the comic… looked exactly like me.

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1 It was Labor Day weekend. My boyfriend Harry and I were supposed to be on a romantic road trip—but of course his whole clique tagged along. That night, around a bonfire playing Truth or Dare, the bottle pointed at me. Jessica, Harry’s “best girl friend,” grinned slyly and asked, “So Clara, how many guys have you slept with?” I looked desperately at Harry, but he just shrugged as the others hooted. “Two,” I mumbled. The second time, Jessica asked, “When was your first time with Harry? A hotel or a car?” My patience was thinning. Again, Harry did nothing. Pressured by the crowd, I forced out, “Last summer. A hotel.” The third time she asked what position we used. I snapped. I shoved the folding table, sending beer cans flying. Three times in a row—this wasn’t a game, it was an interrogation. Walking away, I deliberately slowed, waiting. But Harry didn’t follow. Instead, I heard him comforting her: “Don’t worry, Jess. She’s just being weird tonight. It’s not about you.” I sighed. Harry, we were done. … “It’s getting chilly out here. You’ll catch a cold.” I don’t know how much time had passed, but I felt a sudden weight on my shoulders. Harry was draping his jacket over me, carefully tucking the collar around my neck. He was always like this—so attentive, noticing every little detail. In the five years we’d been together, he was the one who’d spot my untied shoelace and kneel to fix it, the one who remembered my cycle and would bring me hot tea and a heating pad without being asked. He leaned against the wooden railing beside me and lit a cigarette. “Clara, that’s just Jessica. She’s always been… a lot. We grew up together. You’re my girlfriend, so she sees you as one of us. She doesn’t have a filter.” He took a drag. “You’re usually so easygoing. What’s with the temper tantrum tonight?” The anger I’d managed to quell came roaring back, his words like a stone shattering the calm surface of a lake. I took a deep breath, fighting to keep my voice even. “Harry, do you honestly think those questions were a joke?” I asked. “And another thing, why does she know every single detail about our lives? Do we have any privacy at all?” He sensed the shift in my mood and backed off, switching to his usual charming self. He squeezed my shoulder, a playful grin on his face. “My bad, my bad. I swear, I’ll be more careful about what I say from now on.” “Come on, babe,” he coaxed. “Don’t forget the real reason we came on this trip. Let’s go back and get some rest. No more fighting, okay?” I glared at him but, considering our plans for the next day, I relented and walked back toward the campsite with him. As we approached, I could hear his friends talking. “She’s only been with Harry for five years and she acts like she owns him.” “Seriously. She needs to get over herself. We’ve known him our whole lives. If Jessica wasn’t such a good person, content with just being his best friend, do you think this girl would even have a chance?” “Poor Jessica. Harry’s so whipped. When he gets back, he better apologize to her.” “I say we use this trip as a test. See if she’s really good enough for Harry…” I stood frozen outside their tent, a hot, unfamiliar rage building inside me. I’d never been humiliated like this in my life. I was about to charge in there and give them a piece of my mind when Harry grabbed my arm, pressing a finger to his lips. “Shh.” “Clara, I’ll handle it. You go back to our tent and get some sleep.” Inside our tent, my eyes fell on the wine-red floral dress folded neatly on my sleeping bag. A lump formed in my throat. It had been my mother’s. I’m terrible at keeping things tidy, and since my mom passed away from a sudden illness six months ago, my life had been a chaotic mess. Harry had stepped up, moving in to help, taking care of the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning—everything. He’d held me through countless nights of sobbing, promising he would always be my rock. I stroked the soft fabric of the dress. Mom, I thought, am I just overreacting? The night was dark and heavy. I fell into a restless sleep, clutching the dress. In my dreams, I told my mother that I was going to the mountain chapel in two days to light a candle for her, to fulfill her last wish. She stroked my hair, her touch as gentle and peaceful as it had been in life. I was startled awake by the sound of splashing water and male and female voices. I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the pale light of dawn. Harry’s sleeping bag was still perfectly made, untouched. Confused, I walked down to the small mountain spring where everyone was washing up. Harry and his friends were already there. I noticed, oddly, that he was wearing a high-collared shirt. Before I could ask, Jessica sidled up next to me, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Morning, Clara. Sleep well?” I met her defiant gaze, not wanting to start my day with a fight. I gave her a noncommittal grunt. “Guess you slept great,” she continued, leaning closer. “Didn’t even notice someone was missing from your tent all night?” A thick, cloying mint smell wafted from her. I shot her a look of pure disgust and, as I did, I saw it: a dark, angry-red hickey, nestled deep in the curve of her neck. Jessica’s lips curved into a triumphant smirk. She tossed her long, wavy hair over her shoulder. “Who do you think you are? You think a few years with Harry gives you some kind of claim on him? I’ve known him since we were kids, and I’ve never seen him let a woman boss him around like this. He actually turned down drinks with us, multiple times, for you.” “This trip was to show you something,” she hissed, her face now inches from mine. “For Harry, girlfriends can come and go. But I am the most important person in his life. Period.” Her face was so close I could see the thick foundation caked in the lines of her distorted expression. This was pathetic. I took a step back, trying to create some distance. But she lunged, grabbing my arm. She pulled down the collar of her own shirt, her eyes wild with a crazed glee. “Take a good look. Harry gave me this last night. We slept very, very soundly.” “You’re insane!” I yelled, ripping my arm away. Her long, sharp nails scraped down my skin, leaving four raw, bleeding scratches. She raised an eyebrow, then deliberately stumbled backward, falling into the shallow spring with a loud splash. The sound drew everyone’s attention, including Harry’s. He was at her side in an instant, instinctively helping her up. “What is it now?” he asked, his voice edged with annoyance as he shot a frustrated look at me. Jessica, her clothes soaked, huddled in his arms, her eyes welling with tears. “Harry, don’t be mad,” she sobbed. “I was just talking to Clara. I wanted to apologize for last night, but I guess I just made her angry again. You know me, I never think before I speak…” Harry sighed heavily. When I remained silent, his expression softened. He walked towards me, gently brushing a stray strand of hair from my face. “Clara, we’re all here to have a good time. I know you’ve been struggling since your mom… and I hoped this trip would help you relax. Can we please not fight over every little thing?” He looked at me, his eyes pleading. “These are my oldest friends, Clara. I really want the person I love to get along with the people I care about. I told you last night, Jessica has always been like this, but she has a good heart. Once you get to know her, you’ll see.” The ever-observant man who noticed a loose shoelace from across a room somehow failed to see the bright red gashes on my arm. All I could feel from him was a desperate need to smooth things over, to make the problem go away. A wave of revulsion washed over me. I pulled away from his touch, and as I did, my eyes caught a flash of pinkish-red peeking out from under the collar of his shirt. A mark that matched Jessica’s. The retort on the tip of my tongue died. All I felt was a cold, stunning sense of relief. My mother’s last wish… maybe it wasn’t just about lighting a candle. Maybe it was about this. About finally seeing Harry for who he really was. I was done fighting. “A-achoo!” Jessica sneezed twice, theatrically. Harry’s attention snapped back to her. “Are you cold?” he asked gently. “It’s nothing, Harry. As long as you and Clara make up, I’ll be fine. You know how tough I am. A little water won’t hurt me. Cough, cough.” I had to look away. Another second of her performance and I would have thrown up. Harry, meanwhile, was the picture of concern, pulling out a tissue and dabbing her face. “You’re coughing. Of course it’s not nothing.” He turned to me. “Clara, you’re the one who pushed her in. Their tents are already packed up. Let Jessica use our tent to change into some dry clothes.” Before I could even respond, he was holding the tent flap open for her. A moment later, Jessica’s voice floated out. “Wow, Harry, this dress of Clara’s looks so old-fashioned, but it’s actually kind of pretty on.” A cold dread washed over me. I burst into the tent. She was wearing my mother’s dress. She feigned surprise, then smiled. “Oh, hi, Clara. We’re about the same size, aren’t we? It fits me perfectly.” “Take it off,” I said, my voice dangerously low. Jessica just rolled her eyes and started fumbling with the zipper on the back. “Make me. What are you gonna do about it?” My head was pounding. “Jessica, I don’t care what you and Harry have going on. Take. That. Dress. Off. Now. Or I swear, you’ll regret it.” She ignored me, calling out, “Harry, sweetie, can you come help me with this zipper? I can’t reach.” I didn’t say another word. I slapped her. Twice. Hard. “Take it off! This is your last chance!” My hand was trembling from the force. Suddenly, I was shoved violently from behind. I stumbled and fell to the ground as the rest of the group crowded around the tent opening. Harry didn’t help me up. He just looked down at me, the same disgusted expression on his face as the others. “Harry, you need to control your girlfriend! We’ve been putting up with her all weekend, and now she’s physically attacking people!” “Yeah, look at Jessica’s face! It’s all red!” “Harry, we get it, you’re whipped, but there’s a limit! Jessica’s your best friend! How could you let this happen?” As if to prove a point, Harry hauled me roughly to my feet. “Clara, what the hell is wrong with you?” he shouted. “Ever since your mother died, I have bent over backwards for you. I’ve ignored my friends, I’ve let them be insulted, all to cater to your moods. I thought this trip would help, that you’d all finally connect, but I guess I was wrong.” Tears streamed down my face. “Harry, look what she’s wearing!” He sighed, exasperated. “So she’s wearing your mother’s dress! That doesn’t give you the right to hit her! She didn’t know. You could have just asked her to take it off. Why do you have to make such a big deal out of everything?” I was speechless. Before I could respond, Jessica shrieked. “What? This is a dead person’s dress? Oh my god, that’s so gross! Clara, are you a psycho? Who brings a dead person’s clothes on a camping trip?” She turned to Harry. “Harry, get this zipper undone! I thought it was something special, but who would want to wear this thing?” I lunged forward to stop her from ripping it. RRRRIP. The sound of tearing fabric echoed in the small tent. The back of the dress was shredded, exposing Jessica’s bare back. “Wow, what a piece of junk,” she sneered. “Barely touched it and it fell apart. Harry, don’t look! This is so embarrassing.” A white-hot rage, purer than anything I had ever felt, consumed me. The veins in my neck stood out. “Jessica! I am going to kill you!” Harry grabbed me, pinning my arms to my sides. He shot a look at Jessica, signaling for her to leave. She pouted. “Harry, can’t you even handle your own woman?” In the struggle, a sharp slap landed across my face. Harry looked at me, his eyes full of exhaustion. “Clara, just stop. Please. It’s just a dress. I’ll have Jessica pay for it, okay? Why do you have to be so aggressive?” “Maybe I’ve been too lenient with you,” he said, his voice weary. “People’s patience has limits, Clara. I’m just… I’m tired.” “You need to cool off. By yourself.” He took off the jacket he’d put on me the night before and wrapped it around Jessica’s shoulders. He put a protective arm around her and led her away. The noisy tent fell silent. The only thing I could feel was the burning sting on my cheek, a fiery reminder that this was real. I pulled out my phone and dialed a number. Harry, I was so blind. We are so over. Outside, Harry lit another cigarette. “There you go, Harry. Don’t look so down. This is a good chance to teach her a lesson. Otherwise, she’ll be completely out of control,” one of his friends said. Jessica plucked the cigarette from Harry’s lips and put it in her own. “Exactly. Look at what she’s done to our boy.” “Come on, I’ll help you find something else to wear, and then let’s go hit the sights.” Harry glanced back at my tent and sighed. Fine. Leaving me alone for a day wouldn’t kill me. We were in the middle of nowhere; it wasn’t like I could go far. Besides, we still had to go to the chapel tomorrow to fulfill my mom’s wish. He’d talk to me then, smooth things over. As for the dress, a good tailor could fix it. Reassured, he agreed, his mood lifting slightly. He turned to Jessica. “You okay? That must have been scary. Clara was really close to her mom. She hasn’t been the same since she died. That’s why she reacted so badly.” Jessica blew a smoke ring, draping her arm over his shoulder. “It’s whatever. I was just worried about you. Women are so emotional. I don’t know how you put up with it.” Harry poked her nose playfully. “You’re a woman, too.” “Yeah,” she said with a grin. “But I’m also your best bro.” That evening, Harry returned to the tent carrying a takeout container. “Clara? You must be starving. I brought you some food.” Silence. He raised his voice. “Are you still mad? Jessica’s not even mad at you anymore. Don’t be so petty.” Still no answer. A knot of unease tightened in his stomach. He ripped open the tent flap. It was empty. Jessica wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. “Relax. It’s stuffy in there. She probably just went for a walk. She’ll be back.” Harry checked his phone. No messages from me. A jolt of real panic shot through him. I always told him where I was going. Always. Today, his phone was silent. Jessica saw his expression and teased, “See? It’s always the girlfriend. You’re the worst when it comes to choosing chicks over your friends.” “Come on, Harry,” another friend chimed in. “Since she’s gone, the four of us can play some poker.” Harry reluctantly agreed, but his mind wasn’t on the game. Where had I gone? After two hands, he couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed his jacket and headed out. Jessica grabbed his arm, pouting. “Harry, if you leave us now, I’m never speaking to you again.” He shook her off and walked out into the moonlight. He dialed my number. A cold, automated voice answered. A wave of pure terror washed over him. He was afraid, guilty, filled with a sickening regret for leaving me alone out here. The more it went to voicemail, the more frantic he became, dialing the number he knew by heart over and over again. “Clara, where are you?”

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1 All because I smoked a cigarette in the designated smoking area, the new Vice President docked my department’s million-dollar bonus. “The moment I stepped into the smoking area and lit up, you posted a no-smoking policy in the company-wide chat. Are you targeting me on purpose?” “Yes,” she said with a smug grin. “I’m making an example of you.” “Fine, punish me. But the department bonus isn’t mine alone—it belongs to the whole team. You can’t punish them for what I did.” “Why didn’t they report you? They deserve to be punished right along with you!” she shot back, her voice sharp and merciless. “Fine,” I said with a faint smile. “I accept the punishment.” Then I immediately applied for my annual leave. A day later, the entire company was in a desperate frenzy, trying to find me. … “Lia, the company just issued a no-smoking policy, and you’re already flouting the rules! This is outrageous! As a penalty, I am hereby announcing that your department’s entire quarterly bonus is revoked!” The new VP, Vivian Shaw, clicked her stilettos across the floor and stormed into the smoking area, her voice echoing with indignation. “What no-smoking policy?” I asked, a half-smoked cigarette still between my fingers, my face a mask of confusion. “Did you just say you’re docking our department’s entire one-million-dollar bonus for the quarter?” “That’s right! The entire million-dollar bonus is gone!” Vivian deliberately raised her voice. Her shout jolted my colleagues, who were napping at their desks in our office, wide awake. They all stared at me in disbelief. This quarter, our product design department had pulled countless all-nighters to land a massive contract, bringing in over a hundred million in revenue for the company. The Chairman himself had personally approved the million-dollar bonus. Today was payday, the end of the quarter. Our bonuses were supposed to be included. And just like that, with a single sentence from Vivian, it was all gone? “First thing this morning, I posted the new company regulations in the group chat,” she snapped. “The very first rule is a company-wide ban on smoking to protect the health of our employees. You’re a department manager. Don’t you even read company announcements? Now, put out that cigarette!” “I walked into the smoking area and lit my cigarette before you posted that rule in the chat. Are you targeting me on purpose?” I opened my phone. The timestamp on her post was just moments after I’d stepped outside. It was perfectly timed. “Yes, I am!” she declared, a triumphant smirk on her face. “I needed to make an example of someone.” “Your product design department, and especially you, its manager, have been strutting around this company like you own the place for too long. Since you’re so eager to stick your neck out, you’re the perfect one to sacrifice to establish my authority.” Vivian preened, theatrically wafting away the smoke I’d exhaled. “Ms. Shaw, this is a designated smoking area. I wasn’t smoking inside the main office,” I stated, my voice even and calm. Our department was the busiest in the company. We were constantly working overtime, and design work is mentally draining. Everyone on my team smoked. To accommodate us, the Chairman had given us a corner office with an attached terrace specifically for smoking, ensuring the smoke never drifted into the rest of the building. I had even paid out of my own pocket to install a high-powered, imported air purifier in our office and stocked up on smoke-eliminating spray and mouthwash. I made it a strict rule for my team: before leaving our office area, you spray down and use mouthwash. We did it to avoid bothering colleagues who were sensitive to smoke, and in all the years, there had never been a single complaint. “Isn’t the terrace company property? Did you not read the rule? The ban is company-wide!” “Ms. Shaw, did the Chairman approve this penalty?” I knew she was targeting me, so I had no choice but to bring up the big boss. My team and I had just pulled an all-nighter to finish the designs for a new client, finally securing the deal. We were all exhausted, practically dead on our feet, sleeping at our desks without even having had breakfast. When the official workday started, two other colleagues who were still awake and I had come out to the terrace for a smoke to wake ourselves up. They’d finished theirs and gone back inside to rest. I had a meeting coming up, so I lit a second one for a final jolt of energy. I had already seen Vivian hiding nearby, spying on our office through the glass. She had deliberately waited until I was alone to make her move. “The penalty notice has already been signed by the General Manager. See for yourself!” she said, shoving a document in my face. “And in a few minutes, I’ll be sending out a company-wide email to publicly censure you!” So, she wasn’t even pretending. She’d had the penalty notice drawn up and signed before she’d even “caught” me. “Ms. Shaw, I was the one smoking. It was my violation. Fine me, I accept it. But the department bonus isn’t just mine. You can dock my portion, but you can’t punish the entire team for my actions.” “Why didn’t they report you? They deserve to be punished right along with you!” she retorted, her tone merciless. Then she leaned in close, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Let me be honest, Lia. I’m doing this so they’ll all resent you for losing their money.” “Such a clever plan, Ms. Shaw. Fine. I accept the punishment.” I paused. “Just don’t come to regret this.” I took one last, long drag from my cigarette, crushed the butt under my heel, and blew the smoke directly into her face. “Lia, this is obviously a setup! Are we just going to take this?” “No way, Lia! We can’t let that bitch Vivian walk all over us! You have to go to the Chairman!” “Are you an idiot? The Chairman is in Europe for a conference. Vivian deliberately waited until he was out of the country to pull this.” “My bonus… I promised my wife I’d buy her a new bag with it. Damn it!” After Vivian had strutted away, my team gathered around me, fuming. Of course, I knew it was a setup. The fact that she had a penalty notice signed by the General Manager, Mark, was all the proof I needed that they had officially declared war on me. Mark was a portly, greasy middle-aged man. On a business trip once, he’d tried to get me drunk and then used a spare key card to get into my hotel room in the middle of the night. Fortunately, I was prepared. I used a self-defense move that nearly cost him his family jewels, and he had scrambled out of my room, whimpering. He’d held a grudge ever since. It was no secret that Vivian was Mark’s mistress. In her paranoid little mind, she had convinced herself that I was also his mistress and therefore her rival. She’d been spreading vicious rumors about me for years—that I’d slept my way to my position, that I’d had orgies with clients on business trips, that I’d performed stripteases on dining tables, that she’d personally seen me at a clinic getting an abortion. But Vivian’s plan to turn my team against me was a spectacular failure. Everyone in the company knew that the product design department was the most unified team. There were two reasons for that. One, my skills were undeniable, and under my leadership, they produced outstanding work. Two, I was fiercely protective of my people. I fought tooth and nail for every benefit and every bonus they deserved. They made good money with me. “Everyone, calm down. What’s there to be afraid of?” I said, a cool, confident smile playing on my lips. “Vivian is coming after me. She thinks she can grind me into the dust? In her dreams.” “I promise you all, you will not lose a single cent of that million-dollar bonus. If the company refuses to pay it, I will cover it myself.” The colleague who had mentioned his wife’s bag blushed and scratched his head. “Lia, that’s not what I meant…” “I know. You all worked your asses off this quarter. You earned that bonus, and Vivian Shaw is not going to take it from you.” “Alright, you’ve all been up all night. Go home, get some real sleep. Come back in tomorrow.” I started ushering my team, with their dark circles and bloodshot eyes, towards the door. “But Lia, Apex Holdings is coming tomorrow to review the final designs! We’re not finished yet!” “Yeah, Lia! Vivian just set you up. If we all leave now, she’ll just use it as another excuse to come after you.” Their concern was genuine. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this. There won’t be any problems. I’ll handle the finishing touches. The Chairman approved a flexible work schedule for our department, remember?” With my insistence, the entire team finally went home. Moments later, Vivian posted the official penalty notice in the company-wide group chat. She also sent a mass email, with my name, Lia Vance, in bold and enlarged font, ensuring no one could possibly miss it. The email concluded with another bolded sentence: “This company has a zero-tolerance policy for secondhand smoke. Lia Vance has deliberately flouted the rules, showing a blatant disregard for the health of her colleagues. This is both foolish and malicious. Any further infractions will result in immediate termination.” “A million dollars, just like that? Vivian is playing dirty with Lia.” “Serves her right! The design department gets the biggest bonuses every year. Why should they get so much when the rest of us get so little? Let’s see how arrogant that slut is now!” I had just walked into the restroom when I overheard two women from another department gossiping. “You. Out,” I said, glaring at the one who hadn’t been speaking. She scurried away, head down. Smack! I grabbed the other woman by the hair and delivered two sharp slaps across her face. “Lia! What the hell! You can’t just hit people!” she shrieked, clutching her cheek. But when she met my cold, murderous gaze, her bravado vanished. “Get out.” From the restroom, I went straight to HR and submitted a request for my annual leave. I hadn’t taken a vacation in three years. It was about time. “Lia, this request needs to be signed by Ms. Shaw,” the HR manager said, looking at me with an apologetic, knowing glance. “That’s another one of the new rules she implemented today.” “Fine.” I took the form and went directly to Vivian’s office. “Ms. Shaw, I’m taking my annual leave. I need your signature.” “Lia, I thought you were here to resign,” she said, a wicked smile playing on her lips as she took the form. “I’ll resign after my vacation. You win, Ms. Shaw. I can’t compete with you. I’m too humiliated to show my face here anymore.” “I just want to use up my vacation days and get a little extra pay. You wouldn’t deny me that small comfort, would you?” I kept my head down, feigning a look of defeated resignation. “Oh, Lia, you can’t resign!” Vivian giggled. “If you leave, who will I have to torment?” She scribbled her signature on the form with a flourish. I snatched the paper from her without a word and turned to leave. You idiot, I thought. Let’s see how long that smile lasts. I packed my things, making sure to lock the box of premium Cohiba cigars—the Apex Holdings CEO’s favorite—in my desk drawer. Then I turned off my phone and began my vacation. “Lia, the CEO of Apex is furious! He’s threatening to cancel the contract! Mark is freaking out and screaming at us to find you immediately.” My team member, Leo, was laughing as he spoke to me on my backup phone. “No rush,” I said calmly. “I have thirty days of vacation. We’ll talk when I get back.” “Lia, you won’t believe this. Mark started calling us into his office one by one, trying to turn us against you. He promised to immediately reinstate the quarterly bonus for whoever could find you and get you to come back. The old bastard is really desperate. I heard the Chairman called him from Europe and chewed him out. Told him that if the Apex project falls through, he’ll be held personally responsible.” The next day, as I was lounging on a beach chair, smoking a cigarette and watching the waves, Leo called again. “And?” I asked. “Don’t worry, our department is solid. I’m keeping an eye on things. No one gave him your backup number. We all told him your main phone is off and you’re not responding to any emails or messages. We have no way to contact you.” Leo was still chuckling, clearly enjoying the chaos. “Good. Let them sweat.” With that, I hung up. “Lia, the Chairman flew back from Europe. This thing has really blown up,” Leo reported that evening. “Mark has been trying everything to appease the Apex CEO—sending women to his hotel, showering him with gifts—but the guy isn’t biting. He left a final message: he wants to see you within three days, or the deal is off. Then he flew back to the capital. When the Chairman heard Mark couldn’t handle it, he flew straight to the capital himself, presumably to beg for forgiveness.” “Understood. Keep me posted,” I said, lying back on my plush hotel bed and turning on a movie. Vacation was bliss. “Lia, the Chairman is back, and he looks like he’s about to kill someone. The whole office is dead silent. Mark and Vivian look like naughty schoolchildren. They’ve been coming to our office a dozen times a day, trying to get any information about you. They’re in a total panic. You should see the look on Vivian’s face. It’s worse than a funeral.” “Oh, right, the important stuff! The Chairman came to our office too. He said our quarterly bonus has been fully reinstated. It’s already in our accounts. Did you get yours?” “And then… he asked us, almost begged us, if anyone could get in touch with you. Lia, is it time? Is the pot boiling?” “Should we give him your number? I think it’s time to come back. If we really lose the Apex contract, all our hard work will have been for nothing. What do you think?” Leo called again the next morning. “Alright, I’ll call the Chairman now. When I get back, I want to see the look on Vivian’s face.” After hanging up with Leo, I dialed the Chairman’s number. “Lia! You’ve finally surfaced! I was about to have a heart attack!” “I’ve gotten to the bottom of this whole situation. It’s all because of those two idiots, Vivian and Mark. I’ve already given them a severe reprimand.” “Lia, please come back. The Apex project… only you can handle it. Their CEO, Mr. Sterling, will only work with you. If you close this deal, I’ll double your department’s bonus. Two million dollars. What do you say?” The Chairman’s voice was laced with anxiety. “Chairman, I can come back. But this business with Vivian… are we just letting it go?” “Of course not! Her reckless behavior has caused a massive problem for this company. I will punish her severely. And as for how… I’ll let you decide. You call the shots.” “Alright. In that case, I have a few conditions.” “Lia, name your price! Anything you want! Just get back here and lock down this Apex deal. I’ll agree to anything!” The Chairman was truly desperate. The Apex project would bring in over a billion in revenue, with profits in the hundreds of millions. As the owner of the company, he wasn’t about to let that slip through his fingers. “Okay,” I said. “I’m on my way back.” “Chairman, I want a public apology from Vivian Shaw. To me, and to my entire department.”

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