Category: English

Right before graduation, Rhys Maxwell convinced me to sneak in and taste the forbidden. I bit back the pain, but inside, I was ecstatic all night long, believing that my years of silent longing had finally paid off. It wasn’t until the day the SAT scores were posted that Rhys threw my pregnancy test results right into my mother’s face. “Ms. Reed,” he sneered, using her professional title like a slur, “didn’t you say getting involved with a punk was disgusting? Well, now your daughter is just as disgusting, knocked up by the very trash you hate.” “Too bad her kid will be just like her—a fatherless bastard with no one to claim him.” He left without a word, dropping a thick envelope on the counter—hush money, nothing more. Seven years later, I saw him again. He was Rhys Maxwell, the ruthless Head of the Maxwell Syndicate, a man whose name commanded fear. And I? I was just a disposable asset, the mistress of one of his mid-level crew chiefs. But Rhys, the kingmaker, was suddenly back—and acting like a madman, desperate to claim the role of father. 1 I was telling my six-year-old son, Leo, to go to bed early when my sugar daddy called me in to “entertain.” Just as I reached the door of the private lounge, I heard the casual, dismissive tone of the men inside. “Derrick, your girl is definitely top-shelf,” a voice drawled. “Heard she’s been with you since she was barely legal?” “Even the best product gets boring eventually. Marcus, if you’re interested, take her for a spin.” Derrick Shaw’s voice was thick with undisguised pride, as if he were discussing a trophy on his mantel. “She’s just a little pet I keep on the side. If you like what you see, Marcus, she’s all yours for the night. Have fun.” I’d been Derrick Shaw’s mistress for years; I knew how he liked to perform. He especially loved using me as conversation fodder, seeing it as proof of his status. So I pushed the door open, my expression blank, and that’s when I heard the familiar, chilling voice. “Excuse me, gentlemen, but my fiancée isn’t much of a drinker. I’ll take her glass.” The second my eyes locked with his, the crystal glass in his hand slipped, shattering on the Italian marble floor. His arm froze mid-gesture, a tableau of shock and sudden, violent recognition. I never imagined my reunion with Rhys would happen like this. Seven years had etched a cold, commanding authority onto him. Every calculated movement, every hard line in his face, screamed of the ruthless power he now wielded. Next to him sat a woman: polished, elegant, and clearly expensive—Seraphina Lowell. I suppressed the wave of nausea and fear, pulling up the practiced, sickeningly sweet smile I’d perfected over the years. I forced out the line that was now rote: “Derrick, baby, I missed you so much.” A heavy silence followed. The eyes in the room shifted: a few glances of raw appreciation, a flicker of pity, but mostly the flat, naked contempt I’d learned to ignore. Derrick reached out, yanking me onto his lap, his oily hand making itself at home on my waist. Rhys’s stare, which had started as a punch of shock, slowly curdled into undisguised, profound disgust. I knew he’d recognized me—and immediately understood what I was. Around the table, the men took turns toasting and encouraging me to drink. One expensive glass of scotch after another was poured into me. I pieced together the conversation and learned the identity of the woman next to Rhys. Her name was Seraphina Lowell. She was Rhys’s fiancée, a perfect match from a powerful family. They were clearly smitten. I remembered my mother’s words from all those years ago: Nothing good ever comes from getting mixed up with a punk. She was right. Now, my former punk boyfriend was draped in success, holding a beautiful woman. And I? I was a twenty-something single mother, being passed around for entertainment by men old enough to be my father. “Derrick, don’t keep all the fun to yourself! Let us see this beautiful girl’s talents!” Marcus King called out, his gaze glued to me, lingering greedily on my chest. Derrick, ever the shrewd businessman, recognized the opportunity. A used toy for a valuable connection—a worthwhile trade. Despite the last vestiges of his possessiveness, he chuckled and pushed me toward Marcus. “Marcus, she’s all yours. Enjoy.” A cold laugh caught in my throat, but my face only registered a practiced, coy smile. I obediently settled next to Marcus and poured him a drink. He was delighted, pulling a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills from his jacket and tossing them directly into my face. “Sweetheart, the night’s hot. Here’s a little something to cool you down.” He smirked, leaning closer. “Tell you what—for every ten bills you pick up, you take off one article of clothing. How about that?” The room erupted in loud laughter. The only sound that cut through the noise was the heavy, thudding impact of Rhys setting his glass down. I looked over, catching him in the act of watching Marcus’s crude display. His lips curled into a cold, mocking sneer. The contempt in his eyes was absolute. Fighting back the burning humiliation, I used my face to catch the scattered cash, then slowly removed my blazer. The second time, Marcus pointed to my blouse, urging me to continue. My fingers trembled as I unbuttoned it. The silk slid away, revealing my pale shoulders and collarbones, the ambiguous curves underneath barely hidden. All around me, I heard the sound of men swallowing. Someone sneakily pulled out a phone to take a picture. The third time, Marcus told me to choose between my skirt and my bra. He scattered the money deliberately this time, sending over a dozen bills skittering across the floor. I bent down, picking them up one by one. As my fingers reached for the last bill, a black leather dress shoe suddenly stamped down on my hand. The force was so heavy it felt like my bones were about to shatter. Rhys loomed over me, his voice colder than ice. “Women who choose to be mistresses truly are pathetic.” Ignoring his cruelty, I looked up, keeping that professional smile plastered on my face. “Sir, could you please lift your foot?” He held the pressure for a few agonizing seconds. It was Seraphina who lightly touched his arm, prompting him to reluctantly draw his foot back. I gathered the last of the money, preparing to take off the skirt, when a clear voice cut through the drunken clamor. “Wait a minute!” Seraphina Lowell stood up. “I’m feeling a little unwell,” she said softly. “I need to ask this young lady to accompany me to the restroom.” She was with Rhys; no one dared object. As we walked out, Seraphina slipped her cashmere shawl off her shoulders and draped it over me, covering my exposed skin. In the restroom, Seraphina didn’t rush to fix her makeup. Instead, she took out a moist wipe and began carefully cleaning the fingers Rhys’s shoe had pressed into the marble. They were already bright red. “You don’t look much older than I am,” she said quietly. “Why do this? Why make this kind of money, this way?” I studied her. Her Chanel suit was impeccable, her demeanor graceful. She radiated the pampered luxury of a life steeped in privilege. A person so wrapped in good fortune would never understand why someone with two working hands and a sound mind would choose this humiliating path. How could I explain it to her? Because I was desperate for cash. Because my six-year-old son needed to eat. Because my mother was lying in a hospital bed, needing an astronomical surgery fee to save her life. And the man responsible for the entire nightmare—the architect of my destruction—was her arrogant fiancé. When we returned to the room, the expected heckling didn’t resume. Because Tara Shaw, Derrick’s wife, had arrived. The sudden presence of the legal wife instantly killed the ambiguous mood. Everyone settled in, waiting for the inevitable fireworks, eager to watch me get publicly torn apart. I expected Tara to lose it, rush forward, call me a whore, and claw at my face. But she did none of that. She didn’t even look at me, as if I were an irrelevant piece of furniture. Tara simply smiled politely, socializing with Derrick and the other Crew Chiefs, her words perfect, leaving no room for complaint. I sat there next to her, my face expressionless, completely numb to the lack of shame. I was nothing more than an unsavory mistress, and I had long grown used to being ignored. When the night finally wrapped up, Derrick went to settle the bill. Only Tara and I were left in the lounge. She finally dropped the facade. She lunged, throwing her weight on me, straddling my chest, and delivering a resounding, stinging slap across my face. “You bitch! You slut who only knows how to use her body to please men!” “A piece of paid trash, how dare you show your face in a place like this? You fatherless tramp, you’re an embarrassment!” Her voice was sharp, a piercing, ugly sound. I wanted to tell her that she was right, I didn’t have a father. I wanted to tell her my mother was now a vegetable because of an accident, and no one was left to teach me how to live a respectable life. But I said nothing, simply enduring the barrage of hits and curses. My silence infuriated her. She shrieked, grabbing a wine bottle from the table and bringing it down hard on my head. Blood immediately gushed out, running down my forehead and into my eyes, turning my vision scarlet. Tara was preparing to strike again when a strong arm suddenly grabbed her wrist. “Enough! This is my club, don’t stain my carpet!” Rhys had returned. His face was thunderous, his entire body radiating a terrifying hostility. Tara, recognizing his authority, didn’t dare push it further. She shot me a final, venomous glare and stormed out. Clutching my bloody forehead, I stumbled out of the lounge and into the street. The accumulated injustice and agony of the night finally broke me. I collapsed next to a street dumpster and sobbed uncontrollably. I don’t know how long I cried. Behind me, the roar of an engine grew louder. A black Bentley pulled up beside me. The window slid down, revealing Rhys’s hardened face. “Get in.” I shook my head. “No, thank you.” Rhys frowned, saying nothing more. He got out of the car, scooped me up, and put me into the passenger seat. The pounding pain in my head made me dizzy. I didn’t bother to struggle, only managing to give him my address. Rhys didn’t use a GPS. He drove straight there. It was my old apartment. He remembered. Seven years ago, in the days leading up to graduation, he used to sneak over and we’d watch the stars from my fire escape. Now I knew that all that supposed tenderness was just a carefully orchestrated act. As we neared my building, Rhys broke the silence, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “It’s been years. How’s Ms. Reed doing?” My hand, resting on the door handle, froze. I stayed silent for a long time. It was long enough that Rhys lost patience. He reached over and seized my throat, his voice low and ice cold. “I remember Ms. Reed despised high school sweethearts. Does she know her precious daughter was dumped by a punk and now sells her body to lowlifes in the Syndicate?” “Oh, right. She’s not a teacher anymore. Is she spending the money you earn selling yourself?” Before I could process the words, he leaned down and bit my collarbone—hard. The pain was shocking, and I struggled against him. “Does Ms. Reed know how many times you’ve slept with that sugar daddy? So many times your body is covered in hickeys and bite marks!” Rhys spat out my mother’s name with mocking disdain. A bitter laugh echoed in my head. If he knew that my mother’s current state was entirely his fault, he’d probably be even more smug.

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During finals week, the school bully threatened to beat me up if I didn’t let him copy my answers. When the results came out, I was ranked first in the entire grade. The bully, however, clinched the title of Dead Last, achieving his worst score in history. On the first day of the new semester, he cornered me against a wall, tears streaming down my face. “I’m in ninth grade, you’re a junior in high school… I honestly don’t know why you insisted on copying my paper…” Chapter 1 Here’s how it happened. Our school recently introduced a massive scholarship, which naturally led to rampant cheating. To combat this unethical trend, the administration decided to mix grades during finals. Every exam room was a mix of students from two different grades to prevent collaboration. My exam room happened to be mixed with the high school juniors. When the school bully, Jax Hunter, walked in, he looked like he just woke up. His hair was a spiky mess, and his jacket hung off one shoulder as he swaggered in like he owned the place. He held nothing but a black pen and a ruler. His towering figure loomed over the classroom before he finally found his seat. Right behind me. Before the papers were handed out, he slammed his hands on my desk from behind, enveloping me in an aura of pure intimidation. He was the school’s number one fighter. I had personally witnessed him punch a 200-pound lineman five feet through the air. My brain started calculating frantically. With my physique, one punch from him would probably send me through the ceiling and into the exam room next door. Thinking about that, I felt like I could see the light. “W-what do you want? Grim Reaper?” My mouth slipped, and his brows furrowed tight. “What’s your name?” “Zo-Zo-Zoe… Zoe Lane.” “I don’t care about Zoe Lane. I’m asking what you just called me.” I was cracking. Did he hear me call him a hellhound in my head? Is he a mind reader? “No, no, nothing…” He stared straight into my soul: “What was your rank in the last monthly exam?” “Top… top ten.” “Top ten? Good enough.” He leaned down further, his face almost touching mine: “Let me copy your answers later. Or else, you’re dead meat!” I wanted to cry but no tears came out: “B-but I…” “Refusing?” He looked even fiercer, his eyes like knives stabbing me. I didn’t dare resist. I spent every exam shrinking my body so he could get a clear view of my answer sheet. When he couldn’t see, I even whispered the answers to him. In the end, I ranked first. And Jax Hunter fell from the bottom hundred straight to dead last. On the first day of the new semester, he cornered me against the school wall. Chapter 2 “You get first place, and I get last?” His massive, powerful fist was right next to my face. I was shaking like a leaf, crying my eyes out before he even touched me. “Now you know fear? Where was this fear when you played me? How big are your balls to lie to me?” I heard that after the grades came out, he was mocked mercilessly. Dead last. Even his lackeys ranked higher than him. Including the guy who wasn’t technically intellectually disabled but might as well be—the perennial last placer—who scored three points higher than him. And Jax was the only one of them who filled out the entire answer sheet. His enemies were having a field day. “Jax Hunter” became the punchline of the entire winter break. He looked furious, grabbing my collar. I cried: “Boohoo… I didn’t lie to you… I’m in ninth grade, you’re a junior… I don’t know why you insisted on copying off me…” “What did you say?” He looked confused, then finally glanced at the school badge on my chest. We weren’t even in the same grade. His face turned iron gray: “Why didn’t you say so earlier?!” I cried harder: “Ugh… I thought you had your reasons.” The school had announced the mixed seating arrangement ages ago. How was I supposed to know the school bully not only skipped class but also ignored exam notifications? He came to find me to regain his dignity, to prove he wasn’t a joke. Instead of proving anything, he just added another layer to the comedy. Jax was so mad he started shadowboxing in front of me. I wasn’t built for combat. terrified he’d use me as a punching bag, I tried to merge with the wall, my voice squeaking: “You… don’t be mad. I’ll give you half my scholarship money, okay?” Jax glared at me from the corner of his eye: “You think I’m not funny enough already?” “Enough, enough…” I spoke without thinking, seeing his glare intensify, I quickly corrected myself: “No, not enough…” No matter what I said, he wasn’t happy, trying his best to kill me with his eyes. Feeling like his fist was about to drop any second, to save my life, I made a desperate move. I stepped forward and hugged his waist: “I’m sorry… I really didn’t mean to, please don’t hit me…” Jax didn’t speak for a long time. I could only hear his heart pounding against my ear like a drum. Just when I thought I wouldn’t leave with all my limbs intact, he suddenly patted my shoulder: “As long as you know you’re wrong. I don’t hit girls.” “Still hugging? Is my waist free real estate? Keep hugging and you’ll have to take responsibility, got it?” I quickly let go and shrank back into the wall. “The… the bell rang. Can I go back to class?” He suddenly snatched my school badge and pointed at a crack in the wall: “Put it here and wait for me.” Chapter 3 I was doomed. I didn’t know how he planned to torture me. During the awards assembly, I went up to receive my prize and saw him taking photos of me from below the stage. I racked my brain. How could I get the school bully to forgive me and let bygones be bygones? After thinking for ages, I decided to give him a gift as an apology. Seeing something suitable in the school flea market group chat, I bought it without hesitation, put it in a bubble tea bag, and went to wait by the wall. After a few minutes, he strolled over. Walking with a swagger, hair exploding in every direction, wearing sunglasses like a celebrity. My school badge was pinned to his lapel, flaunted for the world to see. Seeing me holding something, he seemed pleased. “Buying me a drink?” I got nervous as soon as I saw him, nodding uncontrollably, babbling: “I-I-I-I bought… bought you something.” He took it, and I looked down to fish out the items. “These are spy glasses. Wear them next exam, adjust the focus, and you can see other people’s papers without leaning over.” “This is an invisible ink pen. Write cheat sheets with it, bring it into the exam, no one will see.” “And a prophecy pencil. For multiple choice questions you don’t know, just roll the dice on top, pick A, B, C, or D…” I took out these cheating artifacts one by one and introduced them to him. When I looked up, Jax’s face was darker than charcoal. “Zoe Lane, in your eyes, am I only good for cheating?” He looked ferocious, like he wanted to bite me to death. I sniffled and took out the second bag of treasures. “Boohoo… I also bought you review materials and a wrong-answer notebook, plus an Ultraman pencil case and a box of Pokémon gel pens. Wishing you academic success and a bright future…” I opened the review book. Shh! I Know You Are Gay — A Mental Health Guide for Men Several rows of pink printed letters assaulted my eyes. Below the text was an illustration of a shirtless muscular man pinning a scrawny boy against a wall. They were staring into each other’s eyes, pink blushes drawn on their cheeks, the tension palpable. Looking up again, Jax’s expression had moved past wanting to bite me. He wanted to ball me up, slice me, shred me, deep fry me, stew me, and finally stir-fry me over high heat until I became recycled matter, disappearing from this world without even DNA left behind. I wailed. “I really… didn’t mean to…” “Follow me.” He used two fingers to pick up my bubble tea bag like it was toxic waste and flung it into the trash can. Then he grabbed me by the back of my collar, carrying me like a baby chick. I thought he was taking me to some dark alley without cameras to beat me up. Instead, he took me to the gym and made me write his apology letter. He changed into his jersey, spinning a basketball on his finger. “My grades tanked so hard the school wants a thousand-word self-reflection essay. But I have a game today, no time. You write it for me.” I held the pen and paper, whispering: “I don’t know how.” Self-reflection letters were foreign to a good student like me. “Find a template online and fill in the blanks.” He pressed down on my head, his voice dark: “If you don’t finish before the game ends, you’re coming to my house to write it. Don’t think about leaving tonight until it’s done.” I wanted to cry again, wiping snot and tears as I started writing. Jax ran onto the court with the ball. The atmosphere heated up immediately, cheers erupting constantly. Jax might be bad at everything else, but he was good at basketball. I’d seen his games. Basically, any team he was on crushed the opposition. Even the school leaders and teachers watching had to pretend to be magnanimous while getting their teams destroyed. There were countless girls in school who ate up his style. Every game, the stands were full of girls screaming their throats raw for him. Amidst the noise, me burying my head writing an apology letter in the gym seemed so out of place. During halftime, a flock of girls screamed and offered Jax water. He ignored them all and sat directly next to me. “How much did you write?” Don’t mention it. I went from admitting mistakes, reflecting on regression, to promising to study hard, listen carefully, then to hoping for college entrance exams, a three-step goal for grades… I used every fancy word, made stuff up, talked in circles, and still only managed six hundred words. “I really can’t fluff it anymore…” I looked at him with teary eyes. He looked at the letter. “Simple. Expand the first three hundred words, repeat the last three hundred words a few times, done.” He was a pro at this. I had to do as he said and started copy-pasting. He watched from the side, then suddenly snatched the water bottle I had in my backpack’s side pocket. Before I could stop him, he downed it. “No…” His eyebrows shot up: “What’s wrong with drinking your water?” Before he finished speaking, he clutched his stomach and sprinted to the bathroom at 60 mph. Chapter 4 Jax missed the second half of the game. He practically lived in the toilet. His bros got beaten black and blue. I meekly met him outside the bathroom and took him to the hospital. “Zoe Lane, are you my curse?” Jax was on an IV drip, his face darker than a ghost. I explained weakly: “I tried to stop you, you didn’t listen…” “Are you sick? Putting laxatives in your own water?” I lowered my head: “I didn’t put it there.” His stomach rumbled loudly again. Jax curled up in pain, veins popping on his neck. He looked like he was about to hit someone. I trembled in fear and hurriedly offered my last peace offering. “Senior, have some bubble tea.” I handed it over too fast, squeezed too hard, and sprayed the bully in the face. A pearl playfully stuck to his nostril, instantly giving him a comical look. … I didn’t dare breathe. I felt like he was going to slap my head off my neck any second. He wiped his face: “Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times I’ll count as carelessness, four times… Zoe Lane, even if my brain was squeezed by a door, I don’t know how to defend you anymore.” I apologized, tears streaming down my face: “My brain was squeezed…” “A brain-squeezed person ranks first in the grade? Are you mocking me again?” The muscles in his handsome face twitched. He ground his teeth so loud it sounded like construction work. Once they were sharp, he’d bite my jugular, spraying blood everywhere, and suck me dry like a vampire. No… Snot and tears flying, I rolled up my sleeves, revealing arms full of bruises: “Senior, I can’t take a beating. One punch will kill me. Sometimes people think these bruises are from you too. I don’t want you to be framed, so please don’t hit me, okay?” “Zoe Lane! What the hell goes on in your head all day!” He was so mad he ripped out the IV needle, flailing his limbs like an exploding octopus. “Am I fierce? Am I violent? Are you a basketball? Why would I hit you? In your heart, do I only know how to cheat and fight? Even though I sleep in class, cheat, fail exams, and have a bad temper, can’t you see that under my handsome exterior lies a soft and sensitive heart? Just like this morning, a hug could have soothed me, but you had to piss me off again and again! Do you want to anger me to death so you can inherit my title of School Bully?” My brain throbbed from his yelling. Then I saw him fling his hand, turn his head away, pout his lips to the sky, but open his arms towards me. “Here. Giving you a chance. Comfort me.” I didn’t know if he needed a psychiatrist, but I had to comply. I sniffled, put down the bubble tea, and hugged him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were so… gentle.” I violated my conscience to use a word completely unrelated to Jax Hunter. He didn’t speak. I thought he was annoyed again, but when I looked up, his grin reached his ears. He hugged me back: “Right? I am very gentle. I have fought, but that’s because others provoked me first. They were jealous that I’m handsome and good at basketball, deliberately looking for trouble. I did nothing wrong…” I nodded with my eyes closed: “I know, I know. Appearance reflects the heart. You’re so handsome, it means you’re good, you’re right. They’re just jealous.” The bully wiggled his massive frame. “Exactly!” “You only became a bully because they targeted you. You don’t start trouble, but you don’t fear it. You’re the most capable.” “Exactly!” “Your grades are bad because of them too. Otherwise, you’d definitely be third in the grade. Why not first? Because the first has to give a speech. Why not second? Because you wanted to let the poor student have the $1500 scholarship.” “Exactly!” … God help me. Who knew? The bully who could break a podium with his bare hands was a narcissistic airhead. Seeing him trapped in pink bubbles, I knew I had smoothed his feathers enough. I coaxed him into putting the IV back in.

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Five years after my divorce, I ran into Ethan Sterling at a luxury department store. The sales associate was packaging the tie I had chosen for my husband. Seeing Ethan, her tone became warm and eager. “Mr. Sterling, you’re here. The suit your wife picked out for you is ready.” The man nodded slightly, his gaze lingering on the tie in my hand. “Pay for hers as well.” I politely declined and placed the cash on the counter. He seemed to sigh. “Sarah, after all these years, do you still hate me?” I smiled but didn’t speak. Who has the time to hate him? I let go a long time ago. I took the shopping bag, stuffed it casually into my canvas tote filled with groceries, and turned to leave. The early autumn wind howled. Walking to the bus stop based on memory, the wind whipped my hair into my eyes, making it hard to see. When I brushed the hair away from my face, I saw Ethan’s car stopped in front of me. Seeing my red eyes, he frowned tightly. “Get in, I’ll give you a ride.” “No thanks, I’ll take the bus.” He looked me up and down, glancing at the canvas tote on my shoulder, and asked cautiously. “Have you been well these years?” “Pretty good.” Ethan obviously didn’t believe me. “Get in, just let me drop you off.” The bus behind us honked incessantly, but he didn’t move an inch. Under the public gaze, I helplessly got into the car. “Peace Gardens Apartments,” I casually gave the address. The air fell silent for a moment, and the man’s voice was difficult. “Why do you live in a place like that? It’s been dilapidated for years, not to mention you’re a woman alone, and…” He couldn’t continue. But I knew what he wanted to say. That was where my mother died. Ten years ago today, she refused to attend my wedding with Ethan. And jumped from the rooftop of the 10th floor. The back seat was spacious, but the heater was too strong. I rolled down the window a bit. “You catch a cold easily in the wind, better close it. If you’re hot, I’ll turn down the temperature.” I shook my head and smiled. “Not anymore. Do as you please.” The man fell silent. A moment later, his phone rang. “Hubby, did you get the clothes? Where are you now?” The voice from the car speakers was familiar, but carried a passionate coquettishness strange to me. “Got them. Just ran into Sarah, giving her a ride.” Silence on the other end. “Sarah is back? Long time no see. Why didn’t you say so earlier? Should’ve invited her to hang out.” Knowing Lily Evans for over a decade, I had never heard her speak in such a tone. Before, she was introverted and quiet, focused only on painting. When someone stole her competition spot, she would only hide and cry. It was me who took a baseball bat and smashed that person’s entry in public, wrote letters to report the unfairness, and spent three days in juvenile detention to get justice for her. Sure enough, absolute favoritism gives people flesh and blood. “Just a chance encounter. She has things to do. I’ll be back after dropping her off.” “Chance encounter means fate. What’s wrong with treating an old friend to a meal?” “Lily, stop it.” The other end fell silent. Ethan was always gentle when coaxing people, but once he decided something, no one could stop him. Lily should know this better than me. When the call was abruptly cut off, the car stopped right downstairs at my apartment. “Thanks.” After a polite thank you, I got out. The man withdrew his gaze from the surroundings and called out to me. 2 “Sarah, may I ask who you bought that tie for?” “My husband.” The man rubbed his forehead and smiled bitterly, as if thinking I was still spiting him with these words. “Same brand and style, you used to buy for me five years ago too.” “So?” I met his gaze, my eyes calm. “Actually, you don’t need to be strong in front of me. After all these years, I just hope you live well, not like this.” Like what? The glass of the apartment gate reflected my image. Casual outfit, ordinary flat shoes, plus a canvas tote full of groceries. Looking like an ordinary person bustling for a living. But for me, who was used to wearing designer clothes and jewelry, there was nothing wrong with this appearance. I smiled, not angry. “I think it’s pretty good.” The man’s expression loosened for a moment. “Sarah, you seem really different from before.” “Yeah, a lot of people say that.” With that, I turned and left, never looking back. Climbed up five floors, opened the door. The furnishings inside were no different from this time last year. Next to the old TV was my mother’s portrait, the candle in front of her long extinguished. I skillfully placed a new candle, put on an apron, and went into the kitchen. Soon finished three dishes and a soup. Opposite the table was a bowl of rice no one ate. I ate very slowly too. “Mom, I met Ethan Sterling.” “Don’t be angry yet. He can’t bully your daughter. Besides, I’m not as stupid as before.” Only boundless silence responded to me. Appetite gone, I put down my chopsticks and went into the bedroom, digging out an old photo album. “Let’s look at Mom’s peerless beauty. Looking at that black and white one is boring.” Before opening the album, a photo fell out onto the floor. Bending over to pick it up, I saw the faces clearly. Ethan, me, Lily. Three faces brimming with youth smiling wantonly at the camera. I stood in the middle holding their arms, laughing the happiest—a missing canine tooth on the right made me look a bit silly. That was the midsummer when I was 13. Debt collectors found Ethan’s home shouting to kill. None of the neighbors dared to help, not even my parents. But I rushed up. The fist meant for Ethan’s face hit mine unexpectedly. Teeth shattered on the spot, face swollen for half a month. My mother felt sorry for me and told me not to associate with the Sterling family. But unexpectedly, Ethan’s mother dragged her disabled legs and knelt before my parents, kowtowing and thanking incessantly. So she softened. For nearly ten years, a set of tableware belonging to Ethan was often added to my family’s dinner table. During festivals, new clothes added a boy’s style. She helped Ethan’s mother set up a stall when not busy. When someone bullied them, she fired full power scolding until that person dared not come again. They called each other sisters. But no one expected that the sister, always cowardly and stuttering, climbed into her sister’s husband’s bed. When I got home, everything was smashed to pieces. Mother stood in the middle of the room crying out of breath, five finger marks on her cheeks clear and terrible, while father protected the woman in his arms tightly. “Let’s divorce. Everything goes to you, I only want Susan.” Standing beside me, Ethan was panicked, wanting to grab Susan Lin’s hand. But was slapped twice by my mother. I pushed her, watching her fall to the ground, looking at me in disbelief. 3 I cried too then, but said heartbreaking words. “Mom, why did you hit Ethan?” Memories chaotic, fixed on this small photo in my hand. After divorcing Ethan back then, I burned everything related to him. Didn’t expect a survivor here. Just as I was about to throw it in the trash, a knock suddenly sounded on the door. Thought it was Aunt Zhang who habitually visited at this time of year, so I opened it directly. Didn’t expect to see Lily holding Ethan’s arm. She was smiling: “Sarah, long time no see! Haven’t seen you for so many years, you haven’t changed a bit.” “Ethan insisted on coming. Our sudden visit won’t disturb you, right?” I looked at the two calmly. “I won’t invite you in. What’s up?” Lily hit a soft nail, looking aggrieved at the man beside her. “Lily just wanted to see you and brought you a gift. No other meaning.” After speaking, the man placed the thing in his hand directly on the entryway cabinet. Lily immediately started introducing actively. “This skincare set is what I’ve been loving recently. Just happened to have an extra set at home. We used to share things often, so I thought of giving it to you.” I glanced down, looked like the one my housekeeper used. “That photo…” Lily suddenly teared up: “Sarah, after so many years, you still haven’t let go.” I crumpled the photo and threw it into the trash can casually: “Not really.” She seemed to want to hold my hand, but stopped in mid-air. “I know you still hold a grudge. If you and Ethan were still together, today would be your wedding anniversary.” “I had no choice back then. If you really don’t care anymore, let us treat you to a meal. Tell us if you need help in life, we are old friends.” Almost without thinking, I prepared to refuse. The candle in front of the shrine suddenly popped. I smiled faintly, suddenly changing my mind: “Okay.” Lily talked more than before. Small actions were frequent too. While talking about the romantic trip to Turkey with the man last month, she used her finger to apply her lip balm on the man while waiting for the red light. “Every autumn and winter I have to remind you. Last time you kissed too hard and it bled, don’t you remember?” The man grabbed her moving hand, seeming a bit annoyed: “Stop it.” “Oh my, I forgot Sarah is here. Sarah, you won’t mind, right? Ethan and I are used to getting along like this…” I interrupted her extremely magnanimously. “Of course not.” “I’ve seen you two rolling in bed together. Why would I mind this little scene now?” The car fell into silence. Finally quiet. Looking at the scenery along the way, thinking if mother were still here, she would also marvel at the changes now. Back then father insisted on divorcing for Susan, almost driving her crazy. And the fact that I secretly became husband and wife with Ethan directly took her life. At first, I only hated father and Susan. It was they who betrayed mom, forcing her from an indestructible woman to a resentful woman who made a fuss over small things in a short time. Time seemed to flow exceptionally hard on her, taking away her vitality bit by bit.

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August fifteenth. The thick, humid air hung heavy, the kind that promised a storm but delivered only heat. It was then, in the suffocating quiet of the small hours, that my drunken brother-in-law, Cody Albright, staggered into the west bedroom and assaulted my sleeping sister. When I burst in, Holly lay on the rough cotton sheets, her face slick with tears. She looked at me—just one final, hollow gaze—then she scrambled up and slammed her head against the wall, collapsing in a heap. Cody, reeking of cheap whiskey, zipped up his jeans and swayed, a smug, triumphant grin plastered across his face. I lunged for him, ready to drag him to the Sheriff’s Department, but my in-laws swarmed me, blocking the door. My mother-in-law, Mrs. Albright, pointed a shaking finger at Holly’s corpse. “She’s the one who lured him on! She killed herself because she failed to snag him!” My husband, Marcus, shoved me back. “Stop making a scene! Cody’s still got to find a wife!” I tried to escape, to run to the nearest phone and call the police, but they locked me in the tool shed for three days and three nights. I eventually died there, coughing up blood until my lungs failed. When I opened my eyes again, Holly was standing before me, vibrant and whole, turning around to admire the new, floral-print hoodie I’d just bought her. The nightmare of the past life flashed behind my eyes. I snatched the hoodie off her, threw it onto the bed, and dragged her out the door. I put her on a bus back to our parents’ farm, miles away. I had just managed to lie down, exhausted but believing the worst had been averted, when a woman’s scream ripped through the dark house. 1 I scrambled off the bed, pulling on a shirt, and rushed out the door. The west bedroom door creaked open. Cody Albright, so drunk he could barely stand, staggered out zipping up his jeans, a familiar, triumphant smirk on his face. I ran to him, grabbing his arm. “It was you! Who was it? Who is in there?” Cody just reeked of cheap booze, his mouth stretching into a lazy, drunken smile. “In the dark? Who can tell?” Mr. and Mrs. Albright, my father- and mother-in-law, came rushing out, pulling me away from him. “Why are you harassing Cody? It must have been some girl who was asking for it!” The sight of their shameless faces, the cold memory of Holly’s last look—it sent a tremor of pure, blinding rage through me. “Cody Albright, you think that’s funny? This is rape!” Marcus, my husband, was the last to arrive. He grabbed my shoulder. “Willow, calm down. It was just a slip-up, they slept together, that’s all.” My eyes narrowed with a hatred that felt centuries old. It was the same line. Last time, when my sister was dead, he said the same thing. Just a slip-up. Mrs. Albright tried to smooth the corners of her mouth into a frown, failing. “It was two consenting adults, Willow. Just let it go.” Then she added, practically giddy with greed, “And Holly is sixteen now. But since she’s been so careless with her reputation, she’ll need to bring $5,000 cash and promise to cover the whole wedding for Cody to take her.” I froze. A second passed before the fog of anger cleared. They think the girl in there is Holly. But Holly was safe, miles away, asleep in our parents’ house! She couldn’t possibly be here. A cold dread crawled up my spine. My mind went blank with a horrifying realization: I had prevented Holly’s tragedy, but in this filthy pit of a family, I hadn’t stopped the crime. I had only changed the victim. All I could think of was the girl crying softly behind that closed door. Who was she? I spun around and slapped Cody as hard as I could. For the lost Holly of the previous life, and for the innocent girl in the bedroom now. Cody stumbled backward, clutching his face, his eyes wide with disbelief. “You… you actually hit me?” “You bet your life I did!” I grabbed the broom from the corner and started beating him with it, the coarse bristles and hard wood landing with dull thuds. “Cody, who is in that room? You animal! Are you even human?” Cody scrambled away. “Help! Mom, Dad, Sharon, the lunatic is attacking me!” Mrs. Albright rushed forward to block me, but I shoved her aside with the broom handle. When Mr. Albright tried to step in, I glared at him, my eyes burning. “Dad! If you touch me, I swear, I’ll be at the Sheriff’s Department first thing tomorrow! I’ll make sure everyone in this county knows your son is a monster!” Mr. Albright froze. Marcus wrestled the broom out of my hand. “Willow, stop! He gets it!” “Gets it?” I stopped, gripping Cody’s collar. “Cody Albright, I am asking you one last time,” I leaned in, drilling him with my stare, “who is the person in that room?” Cody was bleeding from the lip and had a bruise forming over his eye. He looked at me, his eyes darted away, and then, a slow, ugly grin spread across his face. “Who do you think?” He spat a mouthful of blood and smirked, a total piece of scum. “It’s just your sister, Holly.” He wiped the blood from his mouth. “Holly was happy to be with me, she knows how to play her cards right. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her…” “You’re a lying sack of trash!” I raised my hand again. Marcus gripped me tightly. “Willow! Enough!” Mrs. Albright, seeing her chance, seized it. Her voice was a hysterical shriek. “It was Holly! I saw her earlier! She led Cody on!” Mr. Albright chimed in, nodding fiercely. “That’s right! It was Holly! Both of us saw them!” I looked at their choreographed lies, their monstrous unity, and I started to laugh. 2 I laughed until the laughter twisted into sobs. “Fine. Fine. Fine,” I nodded, my voice shaking. “You people are a spectacular show.” I turned toward the west bedroom and screamed toward the silent door. “The girl inside, did you hear that? They all say you seduced a man!” The west room remained dead silent. Sharon, my elder sister-in-law, finished chewing her last sunflower seed, clapped the husks off her hands, and strolled over, her movements slow and deliberate. “Well, Willow, what is all this? Making a scene in the middle of the night? Who can sleep through this racket?” She walked up to Cody, looked him up and down, and sighed. “Cody, you really drank too much. But still…” She shifted her focus to me, smiling thinly. “Willow, I hate to say it, but a girl’s business—if it’s mutual, what are you, her sister, making such a fuss about?” I stared at the seed fragments sticking to her lips. “Say that again, Sharon.” “I said,” Sharon drew out the words, “if the girl didn’t want it, could Cody force her? She must have been up for it herself.” She leaned in, dropping her voice low enough to sound confidential, but loud enough for everyone to hear. “Your sister, Holly, she’s sixteen. Time for her to get married. Cody drinks a bit, but he’s family. Marry him, and she’ll be set.” Smack! I raised my hand and slapped her. Sharon froze, holding her cheek, a high-pitched sound of disbelief escaping her. “You hit me?” “That’s for your filthy mouth!” My eyes were bloodshot. “My sister’s reputation is not for you to chew on like trash!” Dean, the eldest brother, came out of the main house, rubbing his eyes, wearing a jacket over his pajamas. “What’s the screaming about? Can a man get some sleep?” He saw Sharon clutching her cheek and frowned. “What happened?” Sharon immediately burst into dramatic tears, throwing herself at him. “Marcus’s wife hit me! Just because I told her not to interfere with Holly and Cody!” Dean’s face hardened as he looked at me. “Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Disrupting the peace in the middle of the night?” “Me disrupting the peace?” I pointed at the west room. “Your brother assaulted someone, and instead of doing anything, you blame me for making noise?” Dean glanced at Cody, then at the west room. He waved a dismissive hand. “Cody was drunk. Stupid mistake. If the girl didn’t want it, he couldn’t have pulled it off. Just let it go, Willow. It’ll look bad for everyone if you push it.” “Let it go?” I was shaking with fury. “A girl’s life, her reputation—you say just let it go?” Dean tightened his coat around him. “Reputation? So what? They did the deed. If it was consensual, so what? No one died.” No one died. That same monstrous phrase. Last time, my sister died, and they said, “She couldn’t handle it, whose fault is that?” I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms. Marcus came over again, trying to pull me away. “Willow, Dean’s right, this will look bad. Let’s just make Cody marry Holly. After all…” “After all what?” I twisted my head to glare at him. “After all, my sister was assaulted, so she has to marry the man who did it? Marcus, are you even a person?” Marcus dropped his head, shamed, but still mumbled, “Well, what else can we do?” Mrs. Albright, seeing her side winning, straightened up. “Exactly! If Cody marries Holly, it’s all smoothed over! Willow, stop being ungrateful!” Mr. Albright nodded along. “Yes. Since Holly lost her purity before the wedding, have your parents bring the $5,000 and the wedding expenses, and Cody will marry her.” Sharon, still nursing her cheek, added fuel to the fire. “Honestly, Holly should be thanking Cody. It’s a good family. Marrying into the Albrights is her lucky day!” I stared at their calculating, shameless faces, and a wave of nausea so powerful it was physical washed over me. 3 My stomach churned. I bent over, dry-heaving, nothing coming up but acid and tears. “Oh, what’s this?” Sharon mocked, her voice dripping with insincerity. “Putting on a show for us? You weren’t the one who got taken.” I straightened up, wiping the tears from my face, and looked at Marcus. “Marcus, I’m telling you this now. Before sunrise, Cody Albright goes to the Sheriff’s Department and turns himself in. If not, I go instead.” “You wouldn’t dare!” Mrs. Albright shrieked. “If you go, I’ll tell Marcus to divorce you!” “Divorce me!” I roared back, my voice raw. “You think I want to be an Albright? I am telling you, this is far from over!” My voice was loud enough to carry through the quiet night. The creak of a door opening came from the neighboring yard, followed by footsteps. “What’s all the noise?” Mrs. Gable, a neighbor, peered over the fence, pulling a robe tight around her. “Middle of the night, what’s the yelling about?” Mrs. Albright’s face instantly changed. She flashed a strained, phony smile. “Nothing, Mrs. Gable, nothing! Just a bit of a commotion, a rat in the house. We were chasing a rat.” “Chasing a rat?” Mrs. Gable looked suspiciously at the tense group in the yard. “Doesn’t sound like it to me…” Sharon reacted instantly. She grabbed Mrs. Gable’s arm, acting overly familiar and sweet. “Really, Mrs. Gable, it’s nothing! It’s just Willow’s sister… oh, you know, young girls. A little misunderstanding with Cody, and Willow saw it and is throwing a fit.” She shot a warning glare at me. “Isn’t that right, Willow?” I didn’t answer. Mrs. Gable looked from Sharon to me. “Holly? But didn’t Holly go back home this afternoon? I saw her get on the truck myself.” “She… she came back!” Sharon lied without a flicker of hesitation. “She got mad at her sister and turned around halfway. Young people, you know.” She even covered her mouth and chuckled, feigning embarrassment. Mrs. Gable looked unconvinced and turned her eyes toward the west room. “And in that room…” “That’s Holly!” Mrs. Albright cut in quickly. “She’s shy, too embarrassed to come out. Mrs. Gable, please go back to bed. You have work tomorrow.” Mrs. Gable finally shook her head and walked away. “Young people, honestly.” As soon as she was gone, Mrs. Albright slammed the yard gate shut, her face twisting back into a mask of fury. “Willow Albright!” She stabbed a finger at my chest. “You go to the police, and I will make your life a misery!” Sharon’s expression hardened. “Exactly! Willow, I’m telling you as your sister-in-law. The girl has already gone and done the deed with Cody. Why are you fighting it? It’ll ruin her for good if this gets out. Where will she ever find a husband?” She then had a strange look in her eye, and she turned and headed toward the west room. 4 “Sharon, what are you doing?” I blocked her path. “What do you think?” Sharon pushed past me. “I’m going to talk to the girl. She must be scared right now. I’ll go calm her down, tell her to accept it.” She reached the west room door, cleared her throat, and addressed the person inside. “Honey, it’s your sister-in-law. Don’t be afraid. This whole thing? It’s a good thing.” “Cody drinks, but he’s solid. You’ll be family now. Just have your dad bring the $5,000 and the wedding money, and we’ll accept you.” “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you. When the sun comes up, we’ll go to your house and get the money, and then we’ll have a wedding. You’ll be welcomed.” She got louder and louder, as if she wanted the whole neighborhood to hear her sick offer. “Just make sure you take care of Cody, and give the Albrights a big baby boy as soon as possible. That’s all that matters!” I stood behind her, listening to those words, a coldness spreading through my body. In the past life, after Holly died, Sharon had said something similar. “Such a waste. What if she was already carrying an Albright baby? She should be thankful she got with Cody.” Now, she was saying the same vicious words to the girl—whoever she was—behind the door. Cody stood under the moonlight, listening to his sister-in-law, and his smug look returned, even stronger than before. He even winked at me, as if to say, See? Everyone is on my side. Mr. and Mrs. Albright nodded in full agreement. Marcus looked down, unable to meet my eyes. Dean yawned, ready to go back to sleep. It was as if this was all just a little, consensual late-night fling. As if the girl in that room truly should be grateful to marry the animal who assaulted her. I bit down hard, tasting blood. Then, I turned and sprinted for the yard gate. “Where are you going?” Marcus grabbed me. “The Sheriff’s Department.” I yanked my arm away. “I’m going now.” “Willow Albright!” Mrs. Albright shrieked, lunging at me. “You wouldn’t dare!” “Just watch me.” I shoved her aside and tore open the yard gate. Outside, the moonlight was cool and clean. Inside, stood a den of monsters. And I would no longer be the silent, dying victim.

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I was an expert pretender, a high-level fraud. I wore knock-off designer clothes and my husband worked demolition, but online, I cultivated the image of a wealthy, stay-at-home society wife. At the parent-teacher conference, I had my son, Leo, show off for the crowd. “My dad is closing a big deal in Dubai right now!” he’d chirp. “And my mom’s diamonds are brighter than the stars!” I soaked in the envious stares of the other parents, the ones who genuinely had money. I looked down at my son. “The most important thing in this world, honey,” I lectured him, my voice low, “is money.” At the exact same time, my husband, Rhys, and I were crammed into our dingy, three-hundred-square-foot studio apartment, having a screaming match. “Have you no shame?” he’d yelled, his voice strained. “You’d trade your dignity just for cash?” A cold light flashed in my eyes. I stared intently at his face for a long moment, then broke into a slow, unsettling smile. “You honestly don’t know why I do this, do you?” 1 Back at the conference, Leo had been celebrated as the top student in his class, and the eyes of his classmates’ parents were warm with admiration. “Leo, your mom is so pretty! She smells so nice, too.” Leo beamed, lifting his chin and clutching my hand. “Of course. My mom is the best and the most beautiful!” The other parents were excessively friendly. Mrs. Davies, Piper’s mother, fixated on the Vacheron Constantine bracelet I’d splurged on—a costly replica—and gave me a skeptical once-over. I held my hand out, letting her get a good look. “Rhys picked it up for me during his last trip,” I said, smiling easily. She nodded, then asked, “Maya, where do you live? The Heights?” The Heights was the respectable, upper-middle-class neighborhood tied to the school. I shook my head, my face an impassive mask. “I live at The Somerset Towers.” Mrs. Davies audibly gasped. “I heard the rent there is insane. Your family must be loaded.” I spoke in a casual, airy tone. “It’s fine. Just an eight-figure place, nothing too crazy.” Another ripple of astonishment spread through the group. After the usual pleasantries, I deliberately took the fifteen-minute detour through The Somerset Towers before making the long, quiet drive back to our thirty-square-meter rental. I sighed, carefully tucking the fake bracelet away in a small, bolted safe. I held Leo’s hand and asked him, “If a friend wants to come over tomorrow, what do you tell them?” My son nestled against me, blinking his big eyes. He gave the practiced response. “I’ll tell them I have one-on-one tutoring all evening and I can’t have guests.” I nodded in satisfaction and caressed his cheek, just about to praise him for being so clever. But Leo hesitated, then whispered, “Mom… if Dad finds out we’re lying, will he be angry? He said he hates lying kids the most.” I opened my mouth, but before I could reply, the door creaked open. Rhys walked in, still wearing his soot-stained work clothes, looking completely exhausted. His gaze was sharp, a laser beam fixed on me, and his voice was tight with suppressed fury. “Maya, have you completely lost it?! Why are you forcing Leo to lie? Do you want to ruin him?” I met his stare with a cold, even one of my own. “This is how I show him love.” His eyes were red-rimmed, and he looked at me like I was incomprehensible. “The card—you ran up sixty-eight thousand dollars today. What on earth did you buy?” My expression didn’t change. “A bracelet.” He started to tremble, choking on his anger. “That’s our rent for a year! And my medication! The electric bill, the tuition—none of that is free. Maya, for the sake of appearances, you’re throwing away everything we have! You’ve completely lost your sense of self!” He raised his voice, a mistake. I turned icy. “That was my savings. I’ll spend it however I want. What business is it of yours?” He recoiled, clutching his chest, a look of pure disbelief on his face. “How could you change so much?” I almost laughed. Tears even welled up in my eyes. Did he truly not know the reason? Rhys had a heart condition and couldn’t handle stress. Because of his sickness, I had supported him for six of the seven years we’d been married, working three jobs a day, killing myself to keep a roof over our heads. I smiled at customers behind a retail counter by day, bussed tables and dressed up as a goofy mascot by night. Just as our lives had finally started to stabilize and his heart condition was under control, I decided I couldn’t do it anymore. 2 Late that night, I went through my usual routine and started my live stream. Ostensibly, I was sharing the daily life of a wealthy wife. In reality, I was waiting for the perfect moment to slip in subtle product placements. I angled the shot strategically so viewers could see the faux antique-white hutch I’d bought for eight hundred dollars. The nightstands and the giant memory-foam mattress? I’d picked those up from the curb in an affluent neighborhood and paid a truck service to haul them back. I smiled into the camera, clad in a silk pajama set, and waved at my followers. “A private chef? Oh, no, we have four staff members—so I don’t have to work or cook, of course!” “Leo goes to a regular public school nearby. It’s important for him to experience the real world, to develop his practical skills.” A comment popped up. 【Sister, your hair looks so luxurious! Must be salon-quality!】 I spotted the comment immediately. I laughed and picked up my thirty-dollar bottle of smoothing serum. “This? It’s all done at my private salon, darling, but I do have a little link below for a great dupe!” In that single hour-long stream, I covertly promoted eight different products. Later that night, I turned off the stream and let out a long, exhausted breath. The next morning, I heard Rhys talking to Leo in the living room. “Son, maybe we should skip the class field trip and spring picnic this year.” “Why, Dad? Everyone’s going! Gemma next door is going.” Rhys’s face darkened instantly. He clearly wasn’t pleased with Leo’s response. He sighed, carefully gauging Leo’s reaction, and continued, “But the picnic costs several hundred dollars. That money could buy Dad’s medication for a whole week, or groceries for a month.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially. “You know we don’t have a lot of money…” Leo lowered his head, his little hands tightly clutching the edge of his shirt. At that moment, a fire blazed up in my chest. “He is absolutely going! Why wouldn’t he go?” I converted the money I’d earned the day before into cash and pressed it into Leo’s hand. “Not only are we going, but we’re going to have the best time. We’re going to the grocery store. Buy snacks and drinks, and make sure you share them with all your classmates. Be generous.” Leo’s eyes lit up, but he glanced fearfully at his father. Rhys shot up to his feet, his lips trembling with rage. “Maya, where did you get that money? Why are you being so extravagant?!” “We should be modeling the right values for our financial situation! You’ll ruin Leo!” My eyes were glacial. “If not for me, would you rather let him be the only kid in class who gets excluded because he couldn’t pay the fee?” He frowned. “Kids are innocent and harmless. They wouldn’t bully Leo. Stop being so paranoid.” I rolled my eyes. “And so?” I took Leo’s hand and led him toward the door, intending to take him to the mall to pick out a new brand-name jacket. I told my son, “You deserve to feel included. You deserve all of this. You have the right to own it.” I pointed to a luxury car being displayed in the mall showroom. “See that, sweetie? Remember the brand and what it looks like. You can tell everyone that’s what our family drives.” Leo nodded obediently. “You are teaching him to lie!” Rhys roared. “You are beyond saving.” I offered Rhys a cold, half-smile, staring right into his eyes. “It’s just a white lie, Rhys. If it benefits us, what’s the harm?” 3 Leo’s popularity and overall standing in school improved significantly. A few days later, Leo’s teacher called me out of the blue. “Leo’s mother, something has happened at school. You need to come down right away.” My stomach dropped. When I rushed over, I saw Leo kneeling in the back of the classroom, sobbing uncontrollably. His palms were raw and red as he painstakingly wrote a letter of apology and repentance. My husband, Rhys, stood there, watching him with cold indifference. The cause: The school was holding a charity auction and asked each child to bring one item. At the store, Leo had been staring longingly at a twenty-nine-dollar toy car model. “Dad, can I buy this to take?” Rhys’s face instantly hardened. “Do you even know what our financial situation is?” He turned, picked up a discarded, worn-out stuffed bear someone had left on the floor, and stuffed it into Leo’s backpack. “We’re poor. We don’t need to try and play big shots in public. Don’t be like your mother, full of warped ideas, obsessed with materialism and money.” The old bear was dirty and smelly. Leo didn’t like it. His eyes welled up, and he whispered, “But everyone else is bringing nice toys…” “Are you comparing yourself to others again?” Rhys abruptly cut him off, his voice rising. “We can’t afford to compete with them. We may be poor, but we can’t be weak-willed. You need to learn frugality.” He squatted down. “Be good. We need to be simple and honest.” Leo lowered his head and said nothing more. On the day of the charity auction, Leo secretly took the money he’d saved in his piggy bank for an entire year and used it to buy the car model. Rhys found out. He stood over him, interrogating him like a criminal. “Where did you get that money? Did you steal it?” In an instant, Leo’s face turned scarlet. All the other children looked at him with contempt. “What did Leo’s dad just say?” “I thought their family was super rich?” “They can’t even afford a twenty-nine-dollar toy? LOL, he had to steal money?” “Guess they were just trying to keep up with the Joneses…” Rhys pointed a finger at Leo’s nose, his voice laced with disappointment and disgust. “At such a young age, you’ve already learned vanity and one-upmanship. What will you do for money when you’re older—commit crimes?” “I hate lying more than anything! If you cheat now, you’ll hurt people later!” “You’re just like your mother—a fraud, shallow, and full of lies.” By the end, he even sounded regretful. “I knew it. I knew you were both this kind of person…” Leo didn’t understand what his father was saying. Seeing the sheer disappointment in his dad’s eyes, he was frantic and incoherent. “Dad, please don’t be mad! I’m sorry, I was wrong…” Terrified, Leo reached out and tugged on his shirt. Rhys yanked away, his eyes cold. “You will go right now and return that toy. Then you will kneel here, write a public apology, and read it out loud!” Leo’s entire face was flushed a deep red. He buried his head low. In that moment, Leo’s sense of self-worth was silently and completely shattered. I pulled Leo into my arms, trying not to disrupt the other children. I led him to an empty space and fixed my gaze on Rhys. He was still blaming me. “If you hadn’t fed him all that rubbish, how would Leo have turned out like this?!” I stared back at him, utterly cold. Suddenly, I felt like the whole thing was beneath me. “Rhys, over the years, I accepted your ridiculous demands. I nearly killed myself working to pay for your illness. I even allowed myself to be strung along by you like a clown.” “But the one thing I absolutely will not accept is you harming my child for the sake of your so-called test.” I let the words hang in the air, then delivered the final blow. “Mr. Rhys, the pretense of poverty has gone far enough.” He froze, rooted to the spot.

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When I was desperate and penniless, I took a forged betrothal contract and scammed my way into the wealthy Vanderbilt family. I had their youngest son, Asher, wrapped around my finger. He’d say, “You’re so annoying.” I’d press against his lips and threaten, “Say that again and I’ll kiss you until your mouth is sore.” He’d turn his face away: “You’re bothering me.” I’d pin him down: “Believe it or not, I’ll punish you again!” He’d turn bright red, and I’d tease, “Oh, such an innocent boy~” He’d ignore me, leaving behind a proud back, and I thought he was just playing hard to get. Later, when the truth came out, I realized he truly didn’t like me. So I packed my bags overnight and fled the country. Five years later, we met by accident. I thought he was out for revenge. Before I could speak, tears fell from his eyes: “You little liar…” “Coax me,” he said, gripping my hand, his voice trembling. “Just coax me a little, and I’ll forgive you.” 1 Originally, the girl betrothed to the Vanderbilt family was Serena Thornton, the heiress. But her heart belonged to someone else. Her father, desperate, found me—a look-alike—and asked me to take her place. I was thrilled. God knows how broke I was. So, clutching the forged contract, I flew north to New York alone. Grandpa Vanderbilt arranged for me to get engaged to his grandson, Asher, when I turned 20. He let me live in the Vanderbilt estate and covered my tuition at NYU. Even better, Asher was rich and handsome. I hit the jackpot! But he didn’t seem too happy with me. He even knelt in the study, defying his grandfather, calling arranged marriages “archaic feudal nonsense.” He said he would absolutely never marry me. I panicked. This was cutting off my income! Unacceptable! So, thump, I knelt beside him, crying even louder than he was arguing. “Grandpa Vanderbilt, it’s okay. Although I like Asher very much, if he’s unwilling, I can’t force him.” “Please don’t be difficult. I’ll leave right now.” Before getting up, I looked at Asher with teary eyes: “It doesn’t matter if you don’t like me. It’s enough that I like you.” He froze. He pursed his lips, looking incredulous: “You… like me?” “Yes. Do you believe in love at first sight?” After all, he was an 18-year-old boy. Being confessed to in front of elders made him flush. “I…” His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he turned his head away. Grandpa Vanderbilt stood up with his cane: “It’s decided! Asher, you are both young and in the same university. Feelings can be cultivated.” Asher remained kneeling but didn’t object further. I thought this was a good start. As long as I coaxed Asher, everything would be fine. I didn’t expect chasing someone to be this hard! 2 For two whole years, I didn’t even touch the hem of his shirt. Fortunately, my coursework was heavy. I was either working part-time or in the lab. So I only made my presence known to him whenever I could. It wasn’t until three months before the engagement that I started to panic. I heard the queen bee of the Arts School was pursuing Asher like crazy. My roommate comforted me, saying it didn’t matter, since I was the beauty queen of our Science School anyway. Asher would reject everyone equally. Great comfort. Don’t do it again. But this did cause huge damage to my fragile soul. I was fired up. At least I had the advantage of proximity! So I started my campaign, showing extreme concern for Asher and pestering him relentlessly. Finally, on the night of our engagement, I forced myself on him. I admit, I was gambling. After all, feelings grow over time. Since the result was me marrying him anyway. The process didn’t matter, right? It was just a bit awkward in the moment: “Um, I didn’t expect you to have no experience.” Although I was a blank slate too. But my theoretical knowledge was rich. Asher knelt on the bed with his back to me, leaving me a proud back and ears red as blood. After a long while, he mumbled: “Did you think I was a player?” Not really. But with his looks, body, and family background, I assumed he would be… you know? Sure enough, prejudice is a mountain in people’s hearts. I apologized immediately. I poked his firm shoulder, trying to comfort him: “It’s okay. One minute for the first time is already great.” Asher gritted his teeth so hard I could hear it: “Maya, you have a dirty mouth.” “?” I looked it up!! He criticized me, so I tackled him again in anger. He turned his head away, gripping the sheets, looking like he was facing death. But he was really delicious. I admit I’m lustful. But it’s human nature. Who can resist a 6’2″ gorgeous college boy? So, possessed by a hungry wolf, I kissed him. Then I started messing around. Asher grabbed the back of my head and pulled me away a bit. Breathing unsteadily, he frowned: “You are so annoying.” I immediately pressed against his lips and threatened: “Say that again and I’ll kiss your mouth until it’s sore.” “Don’t say things I don’t like. I am your lawful fiancée now!” Then I gave him a quick peck. He pursed his lips tight, trying to reason with me: “Maya, that’s not how you kiss…” I leaned in and smacked him again: “So what?” His face was redder than a cooked shrimp: “How do I tell you? You have to do that, not this.” “What are you saying? Can’t understand.” I held his face and kissed him again. Asher covered his mouth, so angry he got out of bed and hid in the bathroom. 3 But our intimate life improved. Asher replaced theory with practice, frequently breaking his one-minute record. He wouldn’t be outdone in frequency either. It was a bit too much for me. After all, I had experiments and studies during the day. So I Googled: “How to make a boyfriend abstinent?” A sister replied: “Try a style he hates?” Epiphany. That night I bought a small whip. Asher said he hated the feeling of being controlled. Then I’ll annoy him! Sure enough, we straight-A students are smart. That day, after studying and showering, I changed into a dominant outfit. Because I observed he probably didn’t like the Lolita style either. Hiding the prop under the pillow, I waited for him to finish showering and enter the room, then stood up and ordered: “Come here and give me a massage.” His eyes darkened, and he walked over with a cold face. When his warm hands touched my calf, I shivered. Don’t panic. I pretended to be calm: “Asher, didn’t you eat?! Is that all the strength you have?” “Oh?” His tone held a dangerous note. “Oh what! Haven’t you heard? Girls like guys with strong service awareness!” His hand moved up and pinched me, not too light, not too heavy. I jumped. Asher narrowed his eyes: “What’s wrong?” His voice was hoarse. My eyes darted around, remembering my persona today was a Queen. So I immediately took the thing from under the pillow and swept it over his lower body. He grabbed it, making me almost fall into his arms. A chuckle came from above. I arched up, stood firm, and kicked his abs. Circling, rubbing. His breathing heavied, and he turned his face away: “You are annoying.” Annoying, right!! Success, sisters! So I pushed my luck, pinning him down: “Believe it or not, I’ll punish you again!” I have plenty of strength and means. The tips of his ears turned red with anger. I smiled playfully: “Oh, innocent boy~” But who can tell me why I was flipped over again? Today’s Asher was like a mad dog. I could barely keep my eyes open, kicking him: “Aren’t you tired? I can’t do this anymore.” “We’ve barely started.” “Didn’t you say you wanted to serve me well? Hmm?” I glanced sideways at my torn clothes and sighed secretly. Who said he didn’t like it? He liked it too much. In the end, he even made me hold the whip and brought his face close to mine: “Want to hit me?” “?” I had screamed all my strength away. If my roommate Vivi hadn’t urgently called me to watch a show at Asher’s college. I would have almost forgotten that the Arts School queen was still vigorously pursuing him. 4 The queen bee was said to be a wealthy heiress from the South, beautiful and from a good family. Honestly, she looked quite compatible standing next to Asher. Devastatingly beautiful. Vivi and I even discussed if her skin was so white because of some beauty treatment. So much so that when the crowd chanted for them to get together. We both forgot ourselves and applauded along, chanting: “Get together! Get together!” Vivi stopped abruptly: “Wait, she’s your rival. We shouldn’t do this!” What else? Should I act like a jealous wife? But the girl was just confessing with roses. I couldn’t run up to Asher and say “He’s mine, don’t touch him,” right? That’s too cringe. And… Before I could finish “and,” I saw Asher push her away with a dark face and walk towards me step by step. I instinctively took a step back. He grabbed my waist and pulled me back. I don’t know why, even though he was smiling, I thought his smile was scary. Amidst the surprise of Vivi and everyone else, he slowly said: “Sorry, I have a fiancée.” “An arranged marriage from childhood.” Then, ignoring everyone’s gaze, he dragged me away. Asher had an apartment near the school. We usually lived there. He was practically dragging me to fly. Finally, when I couldn’t walk anymore, he threw me over his shoulder. He pinned me against the door, held the back of my head, and kissed me. I could clearly feel the intensity of his movements and the invasion between my lips and teeth. It carried a hint of punishment. He didn’t want to give me any air at all. Kissing me until I almost suffocated. I reached out to push him away, but he grabbed my hands and pinned them above my head. His lips moved away a few centimeters, allowing me a breath of air. “Should I praise you for being generous? Fiancée?” Asher’s eyes were terrifyingly red, his expression obscure, gritting his teeth. The atmosphere was intense back there. But I couldn’t say that; it would make him angrier. So I softened my voice and kissed his dimple: “Not at all. I like you the most, the most.” “Cut it out.” He turned his face away. Looking like he couldn’t be coaxed. I broke free from his restraint and hugged his neck instead, acting coquettish: “It was my fault. How about I grant you one wish?” “Anything?” He raised an eyebrow. “As long as it’s not too excessive, anything.” “Save it,” he said. “Because right now, I have more important things to do.” Then he bent down, picked me up, and walked toward the bedroom. ???

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My wife, Chloe, died in an earthquake while vacationing with her lover. When the rescuers dug her out of the rubble, her body was already cold and stiff. She was found tightly shielding the man beneath her. It took significant effort to separate them. Everyone was marveling at this “epic, tragic love story”—until they contacted me, her husband. When I arrived, I saw Chloe’s body covered in a white sheet, and her spirit standing right next to it. Chapter 1 From seeing Chloe’s crushed body to sending her into the crematorium, only a few hours passed. The first burn didn’t completely disintegrate everything. I refused the staff’s suggestion for a second round. Why waste the money? I picked the cheapest urn available. Chloe’s ghost was screaming at me the entire time. Her vocabulary was so limited, it was pathetic. I ignored her like background noise. Watching Chloe being pushed into the incinerator, I beamed with a bright smile. “Chloe, oh Chloe. Look at the karma. The day after your lover, Julian, woke up, he was already laughing and hugging another woman. I bet he didn’t even visit his savior.” Hearing this, she froze, then flew into a rage. “Mason! Stop slandering him! Julian is kind! He’s not a liar like you!” Chloe’s face was twisted and hideous. Oh well. Julian really hadn’t come to see her. Chloe’s screaming gave me a headache. Suddenly, I felt even the cheapest urn was too good for her. I spent a dollar on a takeout box from a nearby restaurant. The box was a bit small. After a moment’s thought, I decided to let Chloe shine one last time. I dumped the excess ashes into a roadside flowerbed. Tossing the takeout box into the trunk, I drove home. Although my best friend was watching my daughter, I was still worried. Chloe couldn’t stray too far from me. In fact, she could only leave the morgue because I had arrived. She curled up in the back seat like she was dodging a plague. “Psycho,” I muttered. Chapter 2 I parked and walked toward the house, but saw a man in casual clothes pacing at my door. It was Julian. This was a well-known wealthy neighborhood. Security was top-notch. Average people couldn’t just walk in. I subconsciously looked at Chloe. She was just staring blankly ahead, murmuring, “Julian, did you come for me?” In that moment, it felt like someone shoved a fly in my mouth. I looked at the community’s green belt. It looked like it needed some fertilizer too. Chapter 3 “What are you doing here?” Julian jumped, startled. Unnaturalness was written all over his face. “Mr. Carter… I… I came to find Chloe.” I shook the takeout box containing half of Chloe at him. “You mean this?” Tears instantly welled up in Julian’s eyes. “Is this Chloe? How could it be? I woke up and didn’t see her… I thought she left me.” Terrible acting. But someone ate it up. Chloe was soft-hearted to a fault. She lunged forward, trying to wipe Julian’s tears, but her hands passed through him. “Julian, don’t cry. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have doubted you. It’s all this evil man’s fault, he’s trying to drive a wedge between us!” A ghost and a human in love. What a moving scene. Too bad one was acting, and the other was a fool. Two idiots. “If you didn’t see her, couldn’t you look? You have legs, don’t you? Or a mouth to ask? Do you need me to draw you a map? Oops, said the quiet part out loud. Sorry.” The crying stopped abruptly. Julian looked at me. “Mr. Carter, I know you’re angry, that’s why you’re saying these things. I don’t blame you. I know you don’t love Chloe, and she would only be miserable with you. Please, give me her ashes.” Seriously? Is he mentally ill? I didn’t want to engage in mental gymnastics with him. “Julian, get this straight. Whose wife was Chloe? Now leave. I’m going home.” Julian grabbed me anxiously. In the struggle, I lost my grip. The takeout box hit the ground. Good news: the box didn’t break. Better news: the ashes spilled. I immediately called the police. Someone was trying to rob me. Seeing me call the cops, Chloe shielded Julian like a hero, cursing me. “You rotten, heartless bastard! You’ll get your karma!” Heh. Who’s scared?

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The first day of college, the boy next door I’d crushed on for years talked me into his bed. The next morning, my naked photos were plastered all over the city. I was expelled from the university, my reputation completely destroyed. When my brother’s fist smashed into his face, he showed not a shred of guilt. Instead, he gripped Liam’s collar tightly, his eyes blazing red as he shrieked: “Liam, now you know what it felt like the day my sister jumped! Your sister will pay for your mistake!” He left, walking away from my brother—who was coughing up blood—and me, who had sobbed myself into a faint. To pay for Liam’s mounting medical bills, I became a risqué streamer. Three years later, I found him again in my own chat. 1 The viewer count was 2,337, and the public feed was scrolling fast. I pulled the hem of my skirt up to my mid-thigh and gyrated mechanically for the camera. “This streamer is the most dedicated, live for ten hours a day.” “She looks pretty young, is she a college student?” “College student? You must be new. This girl has been streaming for over three years.” I ignored the viewers who talked big but didn’t spend money, keeping my eyes glued to the gift notifications in the bottom right corner. “Ashes” sent a Porsche × 1. A new account, not a member of my regular fan club. The name made me pause for a second, but my focus quickly shifted to the value of the Porsche. Five hundred dollars. Not a huge amount, but not negligible either. To drop that much on a first visit meant he had money. I leaned closer to the lens, my voice softening. “Thank you for the Porsche, Ashes. What would you like to see me do?” 【Pull the strap down】 A clear, direct instruction. I smiled, hooked a finger around the thin shoulder strap, and let it slide. The fabric of my dress dipped, the curve of my chest begging to be revealed. “Is that better?” The chat exploded. “Ashes” sent a Jet, a thousand dollars. 【Lift your skirt】 Again, a blunt command. I laughed, hooking the edge of the hem with my fingers. The black lace of my underwear wrapped around my curves. The fullness of my hips sent the public feed into a frenzy of crude remarks. The viewer count surged to over three thousand. “Ashes” sent a Carnival, five thousand dollars. The most expensive gift on the platform. 【Underwear, bra—choose one to take off.】 I froze for two seconds. The feed went ballistic. “Why is the streamer stunned? Not going to deliver after taking the money?” “Is she chickening out?” “What are you saying? She’s done this plenty of times. She’s reliable.” Three gifts, a total of six thousand five hundred dollars. Even after the platform took its cut, I’d have over three thousand. That was enough for Liam’s medication for half a month. With the calculation done, I returned to my practiced smile, caressing the edge of my skirt in front of the camera. My hand reached for the lace of my panties— 【Wait.】 My hand stopped. Ashes sent another message. 【You really will do anything you’re told.】 【Avery Marsh, how low have you fallen?】 With that, “Ashes” logged off. It was him. Rhys. I smiled self-deprecatingly. Low? I didn’t know. Did he think I was low when he leaked those pictures of me three years ago? While I was lost in thought, ten Porsches suddenly flooded the screen. My top supporter, LoneWolf78, typed a message. “So your name is Avery Marsh. What a beautiful name.” “Still short on cash, Avery?” “I have a dinner party tonight. Come keep me company. The price is the usual.” 2 A private meeting, an offline job. For me, it was routine. After so many years as a risqué streamer, I’d done just about everything. A “dinner party,” to put it nicely, meant being a hostess. To put it less nicely, it meant being offered up to another man by my ‘supporter.’ I giggled sweetly and typed, Message me privately, Big Brother. I’m shy. Then, amidst the jeers and mocking of the crowd, I signed off. Arriving at the door of the private room LoneWolf78 had specified, I pulled my stockings down slightly. When I pushed the door open, I saw LoneWolf78, also known as Mr. Pierce—a client I’d entertained many times—obsequiously pouring wine for the man seated at the head of the table. My breath hitched. Rhys. The boy next door who used to playfully pinch my cheeks now wore an expensive bespoke suit. He didn’t even lift his gaze. “Mr. Pierce, where did you find this fresh merchandise?” Mr. Pierce fawned over me, pushing me toward Rhys. “This is a streamer from Prism Live. She gets thousands of viewers per stream! I spent a lot of money to book her. Mr. Rhys, is she to your liking?” Rhys looked up, his eyes immediately boring into my face. “Oh, a big-shot streamer.” His voice was laced with undisguised contempt. “I visited her stream. For three thousand, she’ll take off her panties.” “Quite high-class, isn’t she?” A burst of laughter erupted in the room. I looked down, gripping the hem of my skirt so hard my knuckles were white. When did he become like this? Where was the boy next door who used to sneak me candy? That night, he had held my hand and taken me out to look at the stars. He’d cover my head with his warm palm. He’d kiss my forehead. He would say: “Avery, I’m going to take care of you, always.” So why was it that the next day, every public bulletin board in the city was covered with my naked body? Mr. Pierce thought Rhys was displeased and yanked me back. “If this one isn’t to your taste, Mr. Rhys, I’ll arrange someone else immediately.” Rhys swirled his wine glass, his expression unreadable. “I have a fiancée.” Mr. Pierce thought he’d misread the situation and quickly started pushing me out. “It’s fine, let her stay.” “I hear she’s been with you many times. It might be entertaining to keep her around.” Rhys remained impassive. Mr. Pierce chuckled awkwardly, pulling me close to him. To ease the sudden tension, Mr. Pierce rubbed his hands together and asked, “Mr. Rhys’s fiancée… she must be very beautiful.” “Yes,” Rhys took a sip of wine. “Very beautiful. Elegant. And the most important thing is, she’s clean.” Rhys’s gaze flickered toward me. Everyone in the room understood immediately. The man they called the Devil of Manhattan Finance had history with the low-class streamer. Mr. Pierce was terrified, not daring to breathe. The others quickly shifted the conversation elsewhere. Rhys listened distractedly, his eyes occasionally sweeping over me. I pressed myself against Mr. Pierce, pouring and drinking glass after glass of wine with him. Finally, Rhys couldn’t stand it. He stood up and walked toward me. The crisp, cold scent of his cologne—a scent he never used to wear—pricked my nose. “Three years, Miss Marsh. Don’t you recognize me?” “Or have you been with too many men lately to keep track?” The bluntness of his words caused the men around us to gasp before quickly covering their mouths. He reached out, his long fingers pinching my chin, forcing me to look up. “Mr. Rhys, I—” I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened. “Are you really that desperate for money?” He pulled a check from his pocket and lightly slipped it down into the cleavage of my dress. “Is Liam dead? Why isn’t he stopping you from selling yourself?” 3 The check, still warm from Rhys’s body, pressed against my skin. Before it could fall, I raised my hand and held it in place. “Thank you for the tip, Mr. Rhys.” I smiled, my eyes curving, and expertly pulled the check out. In front of everyone, I folded it neatly and tucked it back into my bra— The atmosphere turned unnerving. Mr. Pierce was dripping with cold sweat, and the others didn’t dare make a sound. The revulsion in Rhys’s eyes overflowed, his voice dripping with scorn. “It seems you’ve had plenty of practice.” He curled his lip in mockery and sat back down in the shadow. “Since Miss Marsh loves money so much, Mr. Pierce, why don’t we make this more interesting?” Mr. Pierce stammered nervously. “Mr. Rhys, you mean…” Rhys lit a cigarette, the flame flickering between his fingers. “Miss Marsh has her prices listed in her stream, doesn’t she?” He blew a cloud of smoke, looking at me through the white haze. “Tonight, in this room, the rules are the same.” “For every man here you entertain tonight, I will personally give you ten thousand dollars.” “How much you make is entirely up to Miss Marsh’s ability.” The momentary silence in the room was followed by a burst of wild, hungry excitement. The men’s eyes traveled over my body with greedy intent. Ten thousand. What an alluring number. Ten thousand dollars, and I could buy my mother—who’d had her leg broken by my father while protecting me—a motorized wheelchair. One hundred thousand dollars, and I could extend my brother’s life for another year. I looked around the room at the group of greasy middle-aged men, swallowed the last of my red wine, and spoke in a voice that was both sweet and cloying. “Ten thousand?” “You wouldn’t lie to me, Mr. Rhys. Is the money… paid in cash tonight?” Rhys’s hand, clutching the wine glass, tightened sharply, the veins on the back of his hand throbbing. He probably hadn’t imagined anyone could be this willing to degrade themselves. “Cash.” He gritted the word out. “Then I accept.” I stood up, and right in front of Rhys, I undid the button on the side of my dress. The light in the room was dim, but I could feel their clammy, foul-smelling hands landing on my shoulders—a mix of stale tobacco and alcohol. Another hand rested on my waist, slowly moving up to cup my chest. A third hand reached to pull off my high heels. … I closed my eyes, repeating the numbers in my mind. Ten thousand, twenty thousand. Rhys sat there, unmoving, the cigarette cold in his hand. He watched the indecent farce from the shadows, his eyes full of overflowing disgust that finally solidified into a torrent of rage. Half an hour later, the sordid party in the private room ended. The men left, satisfied and laughing. The floor was littered with scattered bottles and shredded paper. I lay collapsed on the carpet, my dress ripped almost entirely off, one high heel missing. A stocking had been peeled off and stuffed into a wine glass. My skirt was hiked up, revealing my lacy, suggestive underwear. Wretched and ruined, I was like a discarded bag of trash. But I was clutching a thick wad of cash in my hand. The room emptied quickly, leaving only Rhys. After a long silence, he finally walked toward me, looking down. “Avery Marsh, you truly are a spectacle.” As he spoke, he raised his foot and deliberately crushed it down on the hand I was using to try and pull my skirt down over my underwear. “Why are you acting embarrassed? Do you have any shame left at all?” “Three years ago, when I sent those pictures out, I felt a flicker of guilt.” He scoffed, the contempt clear in his voice. “Now, I see I wasted my regret.” “A whore rotten to the core like you doesn’t deserve pity.” He lifted his foot and tossed the last banknote onto my face. “Take your dirty money and get out.” The door slammed shut, leaving me alone in the private room. I picked up the bills one by one, counting them carefully. One hundred thousand.

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I returned to the country early to surprise my sister. But when I got home, I couldn’t find her anywhere. By chance, I saw a corner of my sister’s clothes sticking out from a tightly closed dog cage at the entrance of the courtyard. I opened the cage and saw my sister’s small body curled up in a wooden den less than one square meter. I was shocked: “Why are you sleeping here? Come out quickly, I brought you your favorite white chocolate cake.” My sister shook her head repeatedly: “No, no, no, white chocolate cake is for masters, puppies don’t deserve to eat it, puppies can only eat dog food.” My stepmother’s voice came from behind me: “Nina said studying is too hard, not as comfortable as being a dog. She wants to be a dog herself and insisted on living in the doghouse.” I turned around and saw that my stepmother’s belly was at least eight months pregnant. And the seal symbolizing family power, half of which belonged to me and half to my sister, was hanging around her neck. Seeing me staring at the seal, my stepmother touched her belly and said proudly: “The doctor said I’m carrying a boy, so not only Nina’s seal must be given to me, but yours too.” I smiled mysteriously. She probably didn’t know that my father married into the family, and he lost his fertility the year my sister was born. Chapter 1 The second young miss of the Sterling family, who should have been pampered, was now chained in the yard like a dog. Looking at the iron chain around my sister’s neck, my heart ached like it was being twisted. No wonder my sister hadn’t contacted me in the three years I was abroad. Whenever I asked my father about her, he would brush me off with the excuse that her studies were heavy. The room that originally belonged to my sister had long been occupied by others, and the furnishings in the villa had been completely renewed, showing no trace of my mother when she was alive. I pulled my sister out of the dog cage and patted the dust off her body. The dress she was wearing was the one I gave her three years ago, now tattered and barely covering her body. I took off my coat and draped it over her. “Doris Jenkins, you dare treat the second young miss of my Sterling family like this? Are you tired of living?” “How dare you talk to your mother like that!” My dad appeared behind Doris with a group of people I didn’t know. They looked me up and down with malice. “My mom died long ago. What is she?” “Serena Sterling! Doris is my wife, and also your mother, the mistress of this house! Apologize to her immediately, or I won’t recognize you as my daughter!” “A bed-climbing nanny from the countryside deserves to be my mother? And Frank Walker, you’ve forgotten whose family name this house bears!” My mother was the seventy-fifth generation leader of the Azure Dragon Clan, dominating both the black and white worlds, controlling the Azure Dragon Seal, and commanding eight thousand branches across Asia. Such a proud daughter of heaven somehow fell for a phoenix man like my father. To be with my father, she threatened suicide and finally made my grandfather agree to let my father marry into the family. My sister and I both took our mother’s surname and called our grandfather “Grandpa.” My mother split her Azure Dragon Seal in two, giving half to me and half to my sister, instructing us never to use it unless absolutely necessary. Later, my mother fell ill and suddenly passed away. My father said my young sister couldn’t be without care, so he brought his childhood sweetheart from his hometown over. “When I agreed to let Doris enter the door, it was as a nanny, not the mistress of the Sterling family!” Frank raised his hand and slapped me: “I have the final say in this house now! If you’re not satisfied, get out!” I covered my burning face: “Don’t forget, you are living in the villa my mom bought before marriage, it’s the property of our Sterling family. If anyone is getting out, it’s you taking her with you!” “I really gave you too much face!” Frank was about to hit me again, but was stopped by Doris’s fake pretense. “Alright, the child is still young and ignorant, I won’t hold it against her.” “Serena, I really didn’t mistreat your sister. She herself finds studying tiring and wants to live like a dog.” “I certainly didn’t agree to let her live in the doghouse, she even made a fuss at home several times because of this.” “If I didn’t let her live there, she would go on a hunger strike. I had no choice but to let her have her way.” “If you don’t believe me, ask your father, or let Nina say it herself.” Frank snorted: “It’s Nina who doesn’t want to do well herself. To skip school, she’d rather be a dog. Such a worthless child doesn’t deserve to be my, Frank Walker’s, daughter!” My sister pulled my sleeve, her voice hoarse: “Sister, it’s me who doesn’t like going to school. I like being a dog, like living in a doghouse.” “I am a puppy, woof, woof.” “You are not a dog, you are a human!” I looked around and found not a single old staff member in this yard. The original butler, nanny, and bodyguards had all been replaced by unfamiliar faces, staring at me fiercely one by one. “I don’t care what happened before, but since I’m back, my sister Nina Sterling will not be a dog for you here!” Doris put on a fake smile: “Serena, you discipline Nina from now on. We can’t control her.” She picked up a ball at her feet and threw it out casually. My sister immediately got down on all fours and ran to fetch the ball. She bit the ball with her mouth and ran back to Doris. Doris reached out, and she put the ball in Doris’s hand. Doris threw the ball out again, and my sister was about to fetch it again, but I immediately pulled her up. “Nina! You are a human, not a dog. You have to walk on two legs and hold things with two hands! Promise me, don’t act like a dog anymore, okay?” My sister kept shaking her head: “No, I am a puppy, I like being a puppy.” Doris laughed loudly. She shook the ball in her hand: “Do you still want to play?” My sister immediately stuck out her tongue, making panting sounds: “Yes! Yes!” “Enough!” I turned my gaze to Frank, “My mom told you to take good care of my sister before she died, and this is how you take care of her!” Frank looked indifferent: “I can’t help it if she’s worthless herself.” “Get the key and unlock the chain around her neck!” No one moved. I glanced at the servants around me: “Are you all deaf!” “Go get the key.” Only when Doris spoke did someone act. It seems I can’t command the people in this house anymore. After the chain around my sister’s neck was unlocked, she was extremely panicked. She shrank her neck and tried to crawl into the dog cage: “I won’t live in the house, I am a puppy, I have to live in the dog cage!” I quickly hugged her: “Nina, don’t be afraid, sister will take you to see a doctor right now.” Without time to clean up my sister, I took her to the hospital non-stop. After examination, my sister not only had serious psychological problems but also was physically devastated. Large and small scars were concentrated on her chest and back, just covered by clothes. According to the doctor, my sister had been whipped and beaten with sticks, and there were large areas of burns on her body. Several ribs had signs of fracture, and even her skull was damaged. Listening to the doctor’s description, my tears fell uncontrollably. These people are simply scum! I held my sister in my arms: “Nina, don’t be afraid. Sister will protect you in the future, no one can bully you anymore!” I took my sister back to the villa, and Doris greeted us with her pregnant belly. “Serena, where is your Azure Dragon Seal? Is it on you?” My luggage was in the living room, all opened and rummaged through. “Who allowed you to touch my luggage!” “Serena, hurry up and give your half of the seal to your mother. Your mother is pregnant with your brother, and our family’s property will have to be inherited by your brother in the future.” I laughed angrily at him: “The Azure Dragon Clan values bloodline extremely. Only our Sterling family line can lead the Azure Dragon Clan to prosperity. Just with the bastard in her belly, she deserves to covet the successor’s position!” Frank’s face turned green: “How do you speak? That’s your brother, not some bastard!” “She knows in her heart whether it is or not.” Doris leaned aggrievedly in Frank’s arms: “I only had your father as a man in my life, how can you throw such dirty water on me.” “Apologize to your mother quickly!” Ignoring the furious Frank, I dragged my sister straight to the room. Frank was still chattering behind me: “Your mother even asked someone to specially clean up your room and prepared your favorite fruits. Are you worthy of her!” I took my sister into the room and locked Frank outside directly. Frank wanted to call someone to kick me out, Doris pretended to persuade him, and it took a long time for the outside to quiet down. I gave my sister a bath and changed her clothes, watching her fall asleep before going to bed. When my people arrive tomorrow, I will settle this account with them properly. Chapter 2 I slept groggily until the latter half of the night. When I opened my eyes again, my sister beside me was gone. I became alert instantly and got up immediately to look for her. At this moment, my sister was in the dining room, kneeling on the ground serving meals to Doris’s nephew. Zack also saw me: “My aunt said Nina is my wife, she was born to serve me.” “Puppy, you performed well today, here’s a bite for you.” Zack spat a mouthful of bread on the ground, and my sister immediately bent down to pick it up with her mouth. Zack laughed loudly: “You even eat what I chewed, truly a dog!” He got up and rode on my sister: “Run fast, if you run fast, I’ll reward you with another bite!” So my sister crawled on all fours, carrying him all over the room. “Run faster! So slow, do you not want to eat! If you are slow again, I won’t give you dog food later!” My sister sped up, and Zack took out a few grains of dog food from his pocket and threw them in front. My sister went to pick them up immediately. “Dog thing, only knows how to eat!” I couldn’t bear it anymore, went up and kicked Zack off my sister. Zack fell with a thud, got up and immediately shouted at me: “Damn, you dare hit me!” “Someone come, tie her up!” “Who dares!” I pulled my sister up and protected her in my arms: “Zack, if you kneel down and apologize to my sister now, I will consider sparing your life. Otherwise, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance!” “Oh, you’re quite arrogant! You think this is when your mom was alive!” “Now this family is named Walker, and the Azure Dragon Clan is also named Walker! Now my uncle has the final say. What are you, daring to shout at me!” “Catch her quickly!” Those bodyguards swarmed up and held me and my sister down. Doris came over pretending to be a good person: “Serena, my nephew is just spoiled by me. He has no malice, just playing with Nina.” “How about this, you give the seal to me, and I’ll make him apologize to you and Nina.” “Want the seal? In your dreams!” Doris was furious: “Really shameless. Search for it, the seal must be on her!” “You finally stopped pretending. Seeing you smile at me makes me sick.” “Hmph, little bitch, if you were obedient like your sister, I could let you be a dog by my side. But you are too arrogant. Since I can’t discipline you, I have to send you to Myanmar to learn to behave.” “You dare!” “When I find the seal, the entire Azure Dragon Clan will be mine. What wouldn’t I dare!” “Madam, found it!” The bodyguard handed my half of the seal to Doris, and her eyes burst with light. She put the half seal on her neck together with mine: “Great, the Azure Dragon Clan is finally mine! The power all over Asia, countless wealth, are all mine!” I sneered: “You just got a token, isn’t it too early to be happy?” “The Azure Dragon Seal can mobilize eight thousand branches across Asia. With it, I am the helmsman of the Azure Dragon Clan!” “You’re not worthy.” “Still stubborn when facing death! Send her and Nina to Myanmar for me!” I checked the time, they should be here. Sure enough, the next moment, a group of men in black rushed in, surrounding the villa tightly. They knocked down the bodyguards holding me and my sister in a few moves and protected us behind them. Doris had never seen such a formation, scared into hiding behind the bodyguards immediately. “Who are you!” “This is the guard team of my Azure Dragon Clan.” “People from the Azure Dragon Clan, great!” Doris took out the united seal, “The Azure Dragon Seal is in my hand, I am your new helmsman!” “Now listen to my command, arrest Serena and Nina!” None of the men in black moved. Doris was anxious: “Are you all blind? This is the genuine Azure Dragon Seal!” A man in black handed an envelope to my hand: “Eldest Miss, the things you ordered are ready.” I took it and handed it to Frank. “Dad, take a look.” Frank took it suspiciously, and Doris immediately leaned over. After he opened the envelope and saw the content inside, both of them turned pale with shock. Doris snatched the report from Frank’s hand: “This can’t be true!” “You deliberately made this fake diagnosis sheet to provoke our husband and wife relationship!” “Take her down for me!” Seeing the men in black still not moving, Doris held up the seal in her hand. “I now order you with the Azure Dragon Seal, take down Serena and Nina!” My sister was so scared she trembled in my arms. I hugged her tightly and whispered comfort to her: “Nina, don’t be afraid. From now on, no one can bully you anymore.” I looked up at Doris: “You don’t really think that commanding the huge Azure Dragon Clan relies on a small Azure Dragon Seal, do you?” “Otherwise? Doesn’t this Azure Dragon Seal equal the emperor’s jade seal! He who holds the jade seal holds the world!” “Then according to what you say, if any random cat or dog steals the jade seal, they can be the emperor?” Doris panicked a bit: “Anyway, this Azure Dragon Seal is in my hand, I am the new helmsman of the Azure Dragon Clan!” With a look from me, the guards around me immediately understood, stepped forward and knocked down the bodyguards around Doris in a few moves, snatching the Azure Dragon Seal back from her hand. “Now the Azure Dragon Seal is in my hand.” Doris trembled with anger: “Clearly I already got the Azure Dragon Seal, why didn’t you listen to my orders!” “You are really naive. Our Azure Dragon Clan has never recognized inanimate objects.” “What do you mean?” “Since my sister and I were born, photos of every stage of ours have been sent back to the headquarters. All the people of the Azure Dragon Clan recognize this face of mine.” “The Azure Dragon Seal is just a tool representing me. I am the supreme symbol of power in the Azure Dragon Clan.” “You wouldn’t really think that in front of the emperor and the jade seal, the courtiers would ignore the emperor and listen to a cat or dog holding the jade seal?” Doris gasped heavily: “You, you!” She suddenly clutched her belly grimacing in pain: “My stomach hurts so much! Husband, save our child!” Frank hugged her: “Serena, make your people disperse quickly, I want to send your mother to the hospital!” “No one leaves today. Don’t keep calling her my mom. My mom is dead, Doris is a bitch!” “If anything happens to the child in your Auntie’s belly, I’m not done with you!” “Dad, you don’t still think she is carrying your child, do you? You have no fertility at all. Inside her belly is another man’s bastard!” “Hmph, don’t think I’ll be deceived by you just because you brought a fake diagnosis sheet to trick me.” Doris grabbed Frank’s arm tightly: “Send me to the hospital quickly, I can’t hold on.” I looked at her coldly: “Stop pretending. You are eight months pregnant, the fetus is stable long ago, you won’t miscarry just because of a little stimulation.” “And old man, when you were injured in a car accident, you happened to hurt there and lost your fertility. My mom was afraid you would be sad, so she hid this matter with the whole family.” “You know how badly you were injured there back then. You wouldn’t really think there was no impact at all, would you?” Frank looked bad: “I believe Doris wouldn’t betray me, this child must be mine.” “Fine, won’t shed tears until seeing the coffin, right.” I reached out, and the guard put another envelope in my hand. I threw the envelope to Frank: “Look for yourself.” Frank opened the envelope, and a stack of photos fell out, all of Doris and men in various explicit bed photos. “Doris, didn’t you say only my dad was your man? Then explain what this is about?” Doris’s eyes were about to pop out, she stopped Frank. “Don’t look, these aren’t true, not true!” Frank trembled all over, he looked at Doris and threw those photos in her face. “Explain clearly to me, what is going on!” “The person in this photo is not me, these are all photoshopped!” Frank could hardly stand, he looked at me: “You must have hired someone to make these photos. I don’t believe it, Doris definitely wouldn’t betray me.” Doris breathed a sigh of relief secretly, then cried and performed. “Serena created such a big scandal for me, I can’t clear my name even if I jump into the Yellow River. I don’t want to live!” Frank quickly held Doris in his arms: “Doris, I believe you, you are definitely not that kind of person.” I shook my head helplessly: “Old man, I think you are really senile. How about this, you go to a public hospital yourself for a check-up, and then do a paternity test with the child in Doris’s belly.” “See if you still have fertility, and if her child is yours. You find the hospital yourself, I can’t fake this, right?” Doris pulled Frank tightly: “Husband, you have to believe me, don’t be provoked by others casually!” “Since you have a clear conscience, why dare not let the old man do a paternity test?” “How about we make a bet? If the child in your belly belongs to the old man, I will kneel and apologize to you, and give up the Azure Dragon Clan.” “If the child in your belly is not the old man’s, you will commit suicide on the spot to apologize, how about it?” Seeing me speak so confidently, Frank’s heart drummed even more. Doris kept crying: “Bet then, who’s afraid of whom, anyway I have a clear conscience!” “You send me to the hospital quickly now, I’m very uncomfortable!” The guards brought two chairs over. I pulled my sister to sit down: “Want to run? The matter with you and the old man is one thing, I haven’t settled the account for Nina with you yet.”

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I’m lazy. So lazy that when my husband had an affair for ten years, I couldn’t be bothered to care. After all, he and his mistress worked their tails off to take my company public, and the annual dividends were more than enough to keep me comfortable. But then they brought their son to me. “He’s starting elementary school,” my husband said. “That school-district house you own? You need to transfer the deed to him.” I looked at the happy little family of three standing before me, and the apathy I’d cultivated for a decade vanished like smoke. I smiled… 01 I was curled up on the sofa, a wilted plant starved of sunlight. Motes of dust danced in the slanted afternoon light. I couldn’t be bothered to move, or even to turn on the air purifier. I just watched them until my eyes ached. My phone buzzed. A notification from my bank: the annual dividend had arrived. A long string of zeros, enough to fund my laziness for another ten years. I turned off the screen, rolled over, and prepared to drift back to sleep. The sound of a key turning in the lock came from the entryway. Leo was home. He brought with him the cloying, unfamiliar scent of a woman’s perfume. I didn’t even open my eyes. In ten years, he’d worn dozens of different scents. None of them were mine. I was too lazy to ask, too lazy to fight. As long as the money hit my account, he was an adequate business partner. “Audrey, are you awake?” Leo’s voice was sharp with impatience. I didn’t answer. A clatter of footsteps approached—more than one person. “Audrey, stop pretending to be asleep. Get up. I need to talk to you.” His tone was that of a CEO commanding a subordinate. I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. Three people stood in my living room. Leo Morgan, my husband. Beside him, a woman in a chic designer suit, Vivian White. His mistress of ten years, and the vice president of my company. Between them, they held the hand of a little boy, maybe six or seven years old. The boy had Leo’s eyes. What a perfect little family. My presence felt utterly redundant. “What is it?” I asked, my voice hoarse from disuse. Vivian immediately put on an expression of concern, tinged with superiority. “Audrey, darling, look at you. You haven’t been taking care of yourself. A woman has to know her own worth.” As she spoke, she casually took slippers from the shoe cabinet for herself, then for Leo and the boy, as if she were the lady of the house. I watched her, saying nothing. Leo cleared his throat, a strained smile on his arrogant face. “Audrey, this is Aiden. My son.” He crouched down and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Aiden, say hi to your aunt.” The boy, Aiden, glanced at me shyly before hiding behind Vivian. She wrapped an arm around him, shooting Leo a reproachful look. “You’re scaring him. He’s just a child, don’t force him.” A perfectly rehearsed performance. I sneered internally, my face remaining a blank mask. I thought ten years of this had made me immune. But a fine, sharp pain, long ignored, pricked at my heart. “So?” I asked. “Aiden is about to start elementary school,” Leo finally got to the point, his tone taking on an air of entitlement. “You know how hard it is to get into a good public school these days.” I nodded, waiting. “That old house you have on Crestwood Drive, it’s zoned for Northwood Elementary, right?” He stood up, looking down at me as if announcing an unchallengeable decree. “Transfer the deed to Aiden for now. Once he’s finished sixth grade, you can have it back.” The air in the room froze. I thought I had misheard. I looked at Leo, then at Vivian. A gentle smile played on her lips, but her eyes held a challenge, a raw, undisguised anticipation. She was waiting for me to explode, to cry and scream like a shrew, so she could play the part of the bigger person, the graceful victim. Seeing my silence, Leo grew impatient. “Audrey, did you hear me? It’s for the child. It’s settled.” “For the child?” I repeated softly, the absurdity of it all washing over me. “Yes,” Vivian chimed in. “Aiden is innocent. He deserves the best education. Audrey, you’re such a kind person, surely you can help with this one small thing? Besides, Leo and I are working ourselves to the bone to keep the company running, so you can live this life of leisure. It’s just a house. It’s nothing to you, right?” Just a house. A life of leisure. She was using my company’s money to raise her son with my husband, and now she was coming for my property. The string in my mind labeled ‘laziness’ finally snapped. Ten years. The year my father died, my world fell apart. The company was his life’s work, but I had no strength to manage it. Leo, my fiancé at the time, and his “protégé,” Vivian, volunteered to take over, promising to protect my inheritance. I signed the proxy ownership agreement and handed them the keys to the kingdom. I thought I could be a silent partner forever, lazy for the rest of my life. But a person’s greed is a bottomless pit. They had feasted on my flesh and blood to build their own strength, and now they were coming back to gnaw on my bones. I looked at the three of them, a self-contained family unit. I looked at Leo’s face, etched with the words, You owe me this. I looked at Vivian’s face, which screamed, You have to do this. I looked at the child, who shared my husband’s blood, but was not mine. A chill shot up my spine. And I started to laugh. As they stared at me in stunned silence, my laughter grew louder, colder. Ten years of suppression, of humiliation, of silent rage, all of it coalesced into this one, icy laugh. “Fine.” I stopped laughing and looked at Leo, enunciating each word with chilling clarity. A flicker of triumph crossed his face. The corner of Vivian’s mouth twitched upwards. “But,” my voice shifted, and my gaze swept over them, finally locking onto Leo’s startled eyes, “shouldn’t the shares of my company be returned to their rightful owner?” 02 The temperature in the room plummeted. The look of triumph on Leo’s face froze, then contorted as if he’d been punched. Vivian’s smile hardened, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Audrey, what are you talking about?” Leo’s voice was low, laced with a threat. “Am I not being clear enough?” I stood up and walked toward them. I was taller than Vivian, and as I looked down, I could see the flicker of panic in her eyes. “The company is mine. You two are just my proxies.” “Are you insane?” Leo snarled. “Vivian and I poured ten years of our lives into this company to make it what it is today! What does it have to do with you? What have you ever done besides cash the dividend checks?” “He’s right,” Vivian added quickly, regaining her composure. She linked her arm through Leo’s, presenting a united front. “Audrey, you have to be reasonable. Without us, the company would have gone bankrupt years ago. Don’t you think you’re being incredibly ungrateful?” I looked at them, feeling like I was watching a bad play. Two thieves, indignant that the person they’d robbed wasn’t thanking them for their service. “Reasonable?” I savored the word. “You bring your illegitimate son into my home and demand I sign over my property to him, and you want to talk to me about being reasonable?” “You!” Leo was speechless, his face turning a blotchy purple. “That’s different!” Vivian shrieked. “Aiden is Leo’s son, a Morgan! As long as you hold the title of Mrs. Morgan, it’s your duty to think of the family’s future!” “The title of Mrs. Morgan?” I scoffed. “You seem to want it so badly. You can have it.” Vivian’s face went pale. She had always assumed I refused to divorce him because I was still in love with him, that I couldn’t live without him. She could never understand that I was just lazy. Too lazy to go through the paperwork, to divide the assets, to face the pitying or gloating stares. Divorce was exhausting. Cashing checks from my sofa was not. But now, they had shattered my peace. Leo must have thought I was just throwing a tantrum. He took a deep breath, forcing a semblance of calm. “Audrey, I know you’re upset. Let’s drop the house for now. We can talk about it later.” He reached for my hand. I stepped back, and his hand hung awkwardly in the air. “You’re tired. Get some rest. Vivian and I have to get back to the office.” He was trying to stall, assuming that, like every other time in the past ten years, I would have a fit, sleep it off, and forget everything. Not this time. “Stop,” I said, my voice cold. Leo’s back stiffened. “Did you not understand what I said?” I went to my study, pulled a dusty folder from a drawer, and slapped it on the coffee table. “The proxy agreement we signed ten years ago. It’s all here in black and white.” “Party A: Audrey Ross. Party B: Leo Morgan, Vivian White.” “You two are to hold and manage one hundred percent of the shares of Innovatech Solutions on my behalf. The ownership remains, and has always remained, solely with me.” Leo’s pupils constricted. He stared at the document as if it were a monster. He probably thought I’d thrown it in a corner to rot years ago. He remembered that day ten years ago. My father had just died, and I was a hollow shell of a person. He was a junior project manager, and Vivian was his intern. They stood before me, painting a grand vision for the company’s future, swearing they would build on my father’s legacy. I believed them. Or rather, I was in no state to think. I was just grabbing onto a lifeline. So I signed. And from that day on, they were the masters of the ship, and I was the lazy, spoiled wife who lived off her husband’s hard work. “Audrey, don’t push it!” Leo’s voice trembled, no longer with anger, but with fear. “That agreement is worthless! The company has gone through multiple rounds of funding, we’ve gone public! The ownership structure has completely changed! Do you think this is still the little workshop it was ten years ago?” “Oh?” I raised an eyebrow. “No matter how the structure has changed, how did my one hundred percent founding equity get diluted into your names? And whose money did you use for those capital injections?” I advanced on him, my eyes like daggers. “Leo, have you forgotten? After the IPO, I am still the single largest individual shareholder. Your pathetic little management incentives… how much do they add up to?” Leo’s lips trembled. He couldn’t speak. He thought I was an ignorant fool, a recluse completely disconnected from the world. He forgot that while I might be lazy, I wasn’t blind. I read every single financial report. I remembered the exact amount of every single dividend. “Audrey, you can’t do this!” he finally broke, his mask of civility gone. “The company can’t function without me and Vivian! The senior executives, the project leads—they’re all my people! Do you think you can run this place by yourself? The company will collapse, and you’ll be left with nothing!” “Don’t you worry about that.” I pulled open the door to the study and gestured for them to leave. “I’ll be at the office at nine a.m. sharp tomorrow. I expect my chairman’s office to be clean.” “You!” “And,” I looked at them, my voice sharp and clear, “starting tomorrow, neither of you will set foot in that building without my permission.” Without another glance at their ashen faces, I walked into my bedroom and locked the door. I could hear Leo’s furious curses and Vivian’s panicked attempts to calm him. I ignored them. I walked to the window and looked out at the glittering city skyline. This was the city my father had built his life in. This was the company he had left for me. I had been asleep for ten years. It was time to wake up. 03 The next morning, I arrived at the Innovatech Solutions building right on time. The imposing glass tower still stood in the heart of the financial district, but the company logo was bigger and brighter than I remembered. I was dressed in a simple t-shirt, jeans, and flats, with no makeup. I looked like a college student who had wandered into the wrong building. The two young women at the reception desk were gossiping. They gave me a lazy, dismissive glance. “Do you have an appointment?” one of them asked robotically. “I’m here to see Leo Morgan,” I said. “Mr. Morgan?” She looked me up and down with open contempt. “I’m sorry, Mr. Morgan doesn’t see anyone without an appointment.” The other one whispered to her colleague, just loud enough for me to hear, “Another stray trying to claw her way up.” I ignored them. “I’m not here to see him,” I said calmly. “I’m here to work.” The two of them exchanged a look and burst out laughing. “Work? Honey, this is a publicly traded company, not a flea market. You’re in the wrong place.” I was about to call security when the elevator doors opened. Vivian emerged, surrounded by a crowd of executives. She was wearing a couture power suit, her makeup flawless, her presence commanding. She was every bit the queen of this castle. She froze when she saw me, then a flicker of triumph crossed her face. She must have thought I was here to surrender. “Audrey? What are you doing here?” she asked, her tone familiar, her posture condescending. “Are you looking for Leo? He’s in a meeting, he probably can’t see you.” The executives behind her stared at me with curiosity. I recognized a few of them as Leo’s old college buddies. Their expressions were cold and guarded. “I’m here to work,” I repeated. The smile on Vivian’s face faltered. “Work? Audrey, don’t be ridiculous. You don’t know anything about the company. What could you possibly do here?” Her words were soft, but each one was a jab. “I know you were upset yesterday, but you can’t be this impulsive. The company isn’t a playground for you to throw a tantrum.” “The VP is right,” a balding, middle-aged man spoke up. He was the CFO, Mark Peterson, one of Leo’s most loyal cronies. “Mrs. Morgan, we have everything under control. You should just stay home, relax, and wait for your dividends. Coming here will only get in our way.” A wave of suppressed laughter rippled through the group. They all saw me as a joke. A helpless, ignorant trophy wife trying to challenge the authority of the professionals. I scanned their faces, memorizing each one. “Is that so?” I said quietly. “In that case, let’s call a company-wide meeting.” “What?” Vivian thought she’d misheard. “I said, I want an all-hands meeting. Now.” My voice was soft, but it carried an undeniable weight. “I have an announcement to make.” Vivian tried to protest, but I walked past her towards the executive elevator. A security guard moved to block my path. My gaze was like ice. “I am Audrey Ross, the majority shareholder of this company. Are you sure you want to stop me?” The guard froze, intimidated by my sudden authority. Vivian’s face paled. She couldn’t let me run rampant, and she couldn’t let the employees see her being defied by the “chairman’s wife.” She gritted her teeth and followed me. Half an hour later, the company’s largest conference room was packed. Most of the employees were whispering, their faces alight with curiosity. Leo sat at the head of the table, his face a thundercloud. Vivian sat beside him, looking equally grim. I walked calmly to the other end of the table, to the chairman’s seat that had been empty for ten years. I sat down. The room fell silent. All eyes were on me. Leo coughed loudly, trying to reclaim control. “Audrey, what is the meaning of this? Stop this nonsense. We’re all very busy!” I didn’t look at him. I simply picked up the microphone and tapped it lightly. “Good morning, everyone.” “Many of you may not know who I am. Allow me to introduce myself.” “My name is Audrey Ross. I am the founder of Innovatech Solutions, and the sole legal owner of this company.” The room exploded. A wave of shocked murmurs swept through the crowd as everyone’s gaze darted between me, Leo, and Vivian. Weren’t they the founders? Who was this woman? “Silence!” Leo slammed his hand on the table and shot to his feet, his face livid. “She is my wife. She’s been emotionally unstable due to some family issues. Please, don’t take anything she says seriously!” He was trying to paint me as crazy. “Is that so?” I smiled. “If you think I’m being emotional, let’s stick to the facts.” I looked at the CFO, Mark Peterson. “Mr. Peterson, I want to see all financial statements, audit reports, and cash flow records for all major investment projects for the past three years. Now.” The color drained from Peterson’s face. He looked at Leo for help. “Audrey, you don’t have the authority!” Leo yelled. “My authority is not for you to decide.” I stood up, looking down at him. “I’m giving you one day to clear out my office. Starting tomorrow, I will be personally auditing all of this company’s accounts.” “If you fail to comply, I’ll see you in court.” Without waiting for a response, I walked out of the chaotic conference room. I didn’t go back to that cold, empty house. I went straight to the chairman’s office. It had once been my father’s. Now, it was decorated in Leo’s preferred sterile, black-and-white style. The walls were covered with photos of him and Vivian with the other executives. There wasn’t a single picture of me, or of my father. I walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. Outside, the familiar city skyline stretched before me. Inside, I was surrounded by enemies. I knew this was only the beginning. Leo and Vivian had spent ten years turning this company into their personal kingdom. I was an intruder, alone and unsupported. But I wasn’t afraid. I sat down quietly, watching the people come and go, watching the faces that had once shown my father such deference now look at me with cold disdain. I was watching, remembering, and planning. The war had just begun.

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