Category: English

The plan I had spent half a year perfecting finally won over the wedding contract for the top celebrity. That directly turned our struggling company into a huge overnight success. Right after the wedding ended, I collapsed from days of pulling all-nighters and was carried into the hospital. On my hospital bed, my boss, Harrison, came to see me personally. His tone was gentle. “Victoria, I heard your parents aren’t in the best health. How about this? We won’t give you the commission for that $10,000 wedding contract.” “When your parents pass away in the future, the company will throw you a $20,000 funeral for free. Think of it as a perk.” As he finished, he looked like he was showing off his generosity, squinting as he waited for me to thank him over and over. I froze on the hospital bed, completely stunned. On my first day back at the company after being discharged, Harrison urgently called me into his office. “Victoria, get started on a new proposal right now!” “The top celebrity Samantha’s victory party has to have the highest-tier budget!” “This kind of big-name deal, you have to land it! We absolutely cannot let any other wedding company steal our spotlight!” I idly twirled the lollipop I’d just unwrapped between my fingers and looked up casually. “A wedding? Sorry, but I only know how to plan funerals.”

Harrison slammed his hand on the desk and shouted at me. “Victoria! You’re the company’s head planner. Planning wedding proposals is your job!” I met his eyes and said firmly, every word landing hard. “Harrison, when have I ever slacked off on my actual work?” “The wedding for celebrity Samantha had over thirty companies fighting over it.” “I drank with her agent until I was throwing up blood, and I revised the proposal to version eighteen before it was finally approved.” “For half a year, I slept less than three hours a day, and on the wedding day I passed out right backstage from exhaustion. You know all of this better than anyone.” Harrison’s face darkened. “Are you saying that to take credit? That’s all work you were supposed to do anyway!” My voice stayed steady. “Harrison, I finished everything that was mine to do, and I nearly gave up half my life doing it.” “Shouldn’t the $10,000 commission for that wedding contract belong to me too?” His eyes rolled, and his tone softened. “Samantha’s wedding had very high costs. There was basically no profit.” “You need to think bigger and put the company first. Don’t get hung up on a little gain or loss.” Before Harrison could finish, my eyes flicked to the payroll slip he had just signed. My salary: $2,000 base pay. Chloe, the new hire: $8,000 base pay + $10,000 wedding commission. A wave of anger rose in me that I could not hold back. I stood up and pointed at the payroll slip. “Chloe hasn’t even planned a single event since joining the company. Why does she get the $10,000 commission?” At that, Harrison hurriedly covered the payroll slip, then quickly lifted his water cup and took a sip to hide his guilty conscience. “Chloe is an art talent we finally managed to poach from France!” “Victoria, you’re a company veteran. Don’t be so petty. There’s no need to fight a new hire over this.” Just then, Harrison’s phone rang, and the caller ID clearly showed: ‘Honey, Chloe’. Only then did I understand that Harrison and Chloe were secretly a couple. No wonder he always favored her so much, why she walked into the company and immediately got a base salary far above mine, and why he gave all that $10,000 commission that should have been mine to this newcomer. After Harrison answered, Chloe’s excited voice came through the speaker. “Baby! Samantha’s wedding setup went viral online after the wedding. Everyone’s calling it the gold standard for weddings!” “She’s also holding a celebration party for her big win, and she’s handing that over to our company too!” Harrison’s eyes lit up, and he looked overjoyed. Deliberately right in front of me, he raised his voice. “Chloe, Samantha brings her own traffic and attention. This celebration party is yours, fully in your hands!” “Once it’s done, you’ll be the hottest planner in the industry!” A coy “Love you~” came from the other end of the call. After hanging up, he leaned back in his chair, smug. “Victoria, you don’t need to handle celebrity Samantha’s celebration party anymore. The company already landed it.” “There’s also a wedding for the billionaire’s son here. Get the proposal done as soon as possible.” “If you don’t do it, then get out. The company doesn’t need a planner like you!” Because of the celebrity wedding I had planned, the company had blown up, and Harrison had straightened his back too. He was like a completely different person. Before, when the company was so bad off it was close to shutting down, he had practically begged me to land Samantha’s contract, saying it was the company’s last lifeline. I had poured my heart into it and focused all my energy on the proposal, pulling countless all-nighters before I finally forced my way through that hard nut to crack. Right then I clenched my fists and stayed silent. He waved his hand impatiently. “Enough, enough. Don’t just stand there. Get out there and work!” “When your parents’ funeral comes around, the company will cover the whole thing! Is that enough for you?” I let out a cold laugh and slapped my resignation letter onto the desk. “Save that for yourself. I quit.”

Back at my desk, I packed my things and got ready to leave. Chloe suddenly rushed over and snatched my laptop away. My face went cold. “That’s my personal property. Give it back.” She ignored me and started flipping through the laptop, lifting her brows with a sneer. “I’m short on inspiration for my celebration party proposal, so I’ll borrow your computer and see if I can get some ideas.” “There are private things on there. I’m not lending it to you.” I reached for it, but she nimbly dodged backward. Two male planners beside her immediately stepped in front of me and said with obvious disdain, “Victoria, Samantha’s wedding is the company’s top priority. It’s just your computer. Why are you being so stingy?” “Yeah, have a bigger picture. Borrowing it won’t cost you a chunk of flesh!” Chloe wore a smug smile and casually opened my chat box, then deliberately turned the screen toward everyone. “Victoria isn’t supposed to be so busy she doesn’t even have time to sleep?” “So she’s busy flirting with Howard! Everyone, come look. They’re talking so hot and heavy!” A few coworkers immediately crowded around, pointing at the laptop. “Wow, you really can’t judge a book by its cover. Victoria looks pure on the outside, but she chats with her boyfriend so openly. She’s really pretty freaky.” “No wonder she’s so good at wedding proposals. Turns out she’s been head over heels for a guy, and she’s just using her love-brain to find inspiration?” “Whoa, she’s hidden it well! I knew it. How else could she have landed Samantha’s contract? She must have slept her way into it through the agent.” As soon as he finished speaking, a wave of laughter broke out across the office. I was shaking with anger, my fingertips trembling. Clenching my teeth, I took out my phone, opened the video recorder, pointed the camera at the crowd, and said coldly, “Keep talking! Every bit of slander and every private invasion you do today, I’ll record all of it and hand it over to the police!” The crowd instantly went quiet, one by one slinking away and shrinking back to their desks. From the corner, one of the planners I had personally trained muttered in a low voice, “Tch, can’t even take a joke. What a petty person.” “Acting so high and mighty. And now she’s using the police to scare people.” When Chloe heard that, she turned to me with a standard fake smile on her face. “Victoria, we’re all coworkers who see each other all the time. It’s just a joke. Was it really necessary to record video?” “If people hear about this, they’ll say you’re petty and cold.” Another coworker immediately chimed in, their voice not loud but sharp enough to sting. “Exactly! Chloe’s way more thoughtful than Victoria as our head planner. I’ve been sick of Victoria acting so superior for ages!” My chest felt like it was stuffed with fire. Normally, all the wedding proposals my coworkers made had to be reviewed by me before being sent to the clients in the end. To be responsible for a couple’s once-in-a-lifetime wedding, and also to help my coworkers grow into strong planners, I had always been strict with my reviews, never daring to be careless for a second. But to them, that responsibility had become nitpicking, and over time they had built up a stomach full of complaints. Chloe had only been at the company a few days, and she had dragged coworkers off after work to drink all night without caring about the wedding timeline for the client. The next day, everyone showed up late together and delayed important work. She said a few soft words to Harrison in his office, and the whole thing was brushed aside as if nothing happened. So everyone stood on her side and treated her like a savior. I stared coldly at Chloe. “Give me the computer back.” She was startled by the chill in my eyes, but in the next second the corner of her mouth curled into a provocative smile. Then, Chloe deliberately loosened her hand. Crash! The laptop slammed hard onto the floor. I looked at the laptop with the shattered screen, and slowly smiled.

I pulled up my phone payment code and shoved it in front of Chloe. “$1,200. Scan it and pay up.” Her eyes flickered, and she hurriedly covered her hand while changing the subject, putting on a show of frowning. “Your computer hit me, and my hand hurts!” The coworkers followed along and started jeering. “Victoria, look at you. You injured her hand, so hurry up and apologize!” I ignored them and pushed the payment code even closer. “Cut the crap. Scan it. Pay me.” Chloe’s face flushed red, and she argued back with her neck stiff. “Your crappy computer should have been thrown out ages ago. And you still want $1,200? Who do you think you’re fooling? Do you think I’m some sucker?” Amid the arguing, Harrison came out of his office and shielded Chloe behind him. “Victoria, aren’t you resigning?” “You’re still making a scene and bullying coworkers before you leave. What exactly are you trying to do?” I lifted my eyes and looked straight at Harrison. “Chloe went through my private computer without permission, then deliberately smashed it. Either she pays, or I call the police.” Chloe hid behind Harrison a little more, looking like she had been deeply wronged. “Victoria was terrifying just now. She scared me, and my hand got hurt too…” Harrison frowned deeply and looked at me with scorn. “Victoria, I think you’re really obsessed with money!” “It’s just a little thing between coworkers, and the first thing out of your mouth is payment or the police. Is it really that serious?” “If you dare to make trouble here today, then when you join your next company, I’ll personally tell them everything truthfully. Let’s see which company would still dare to hire you!” Just then, my phone vibrated, and a message from my boyfriend Howard popped up. “The new studio is already rented! ‘Victoria Wedding Planning Studio’ will be officially open soon!” Seeing that message, my heart finally settled down completely. Harrison had only one obsession in his whole life: making his wedding company number one in the country. But now, his biggest rival had appeared. Seeing that I still hadn’t said anything after a long time, Chloe thought Harrison’s threat had scared me. She deliberately acted generous and gave him a look. “Harrison, since Victoria did contribute a little to the company before, how about letting her stay on as my assistant to run errands? I don’t mind.” Harrison understood what she meant and picked up the thread. “Victoria, I’ll give you a chance.” “If you can go sign the wedding contract for the billionaire’s eldest son, the company can barely keep you. Otherwise, pack your things and get out now!” “Without the company platform, you’re nothing!” Looking at his arrogant face, I had no patience left. “Harrison, when the company first started, there were only three of us.” “I handled everything myself, from signing clients to design to execution, and I kept it going little by little until now.” “I had feelings for this place, so I kept giving in again and again. But now I don’t want to give in anymore. The $10,000 commission and the computer compensation are both what I deserve.” I took half a step forward and stared at his evasive eyes, word by word. “Do you really have to make this so ugly that we can’t part on good terms?”

“Victoria, you don’t know what’s good for you!” “The company trained you. Landing a celebrity wedding was because you got to ride on the company’s coattails, and now you’re turning around and biting the hand that fed you by demanding money?” Harrison pointed at me and snapped harshly. “Which rule says that $10,000 should be yours? What right do you have to ask for it?” “I’m the boss. I give it to whoever I want!” His shameless attitude actually made me laugh. Realizing that talking to him any more was useless, I directly took out my phone and called the police. At a glance from Harrison, two coworkers immediately moved in to snatch my phone. In the struggle, the receptionist hurried over. “Stuart, Samantha’s agent, is here!” As soon as the words were out, a stylish man pushed the door open and walked in. His gaze swept lightly over Harrison without stopping, then he went straight to me. “Victoria, Samantha only approves your celebration party proposal. She asked me to come handle the details.” Harrison knew that Samantha, as a celebrity, couldn’t show up herself, and her agent was basically the same as her. He immediately put on a full smile and stepped forward, shoving me aside with some force. “Stuart, perfect timing!” “For Ms. Samantha’s celebration party, our company has a much better planner. We guarantee she’ll be satisfied!” As he spoke, he pulled Chloe forward. “This is our company’s new head planner. She just came back from studying in France. Her taste and creativity are ten times better than Victoria’s!” Stuart frowned. “No need. I came specifically to find Victoria.” Harrison’s face stiffened, and he put on a pained, righteous look while hiding a blade in his words. “Stuart, to be honest, even though Victoria is an employee of my company, I have to tell you the truth. All of her designs and proposals were copied from Chloe!” As soon as those words came out, the entire office went silent. His shameless twisting of the truth was honestly ridiculous. I smiled slightly. “I copied her? I’ve been in the industry for five years. She’s only been at the company for three months. What exactly would I be copying from her?” Chloe stepped out at the right time, lifting her chin with total confidence. “Your previous proposals were all copied from other people!” “The reason Ms. Samantha’s wedding setup was so stunning had nothing to do with you. It was all my creativity!” “Those French-style props at the wedding, from the flowers to the decor pieces, all came from my ideas!” She picked up a tablet and quickly handed it to Stuart. “Stuart, look! These are all my design sketches from then. Victoria just followed my ideas to make the proposal!” I glanced at the design sketches on her tablet and recognized them at once as the original drafts I had drawn myself. No wonder she had wanted to smash my computer before. She had already stolen the drawings for herself. A few coworkers immediately crowded in to back her up, sounding so certain it was as if it were true. “I saw Victoria sneaking around in Planner Xu’s computer with my own eyes!” “Exactly! She always had me help find other people’s proposals to copy. Since she was my superior, I never dared say anything, even though I was furious!” “She doesn’t have any real skill. It’s all about stealing other people’s ideas!” Amid the rising chorus of accusations, Harrison sighed and shook his head in a show of sorrow. “Victoria, you’re not fit to be a planner if all you can do is copy!” “From this moment on, you’re no longer an employee of our company!” Then he turned to Stuart with a flattering smile. “Stuart, don’t be fooled by her! What kind of person is fit to plan Ms. Samantha’s celebration party?” “Chloe is the one with real ability. She’ll definitely satisfy Ms. Samantha!” Stuart gave a smile that was hard to read. His gaze landed on me, and the moment our eyes met, we both understood each other without saying a word. “I’ve known Victoria since we were kids. No one knows her skills and character better than I do.” “To be honest, your company landed this celebrity wedding because of Victoria too.” “Since she’s no longer your employee, then there’s no need for us to keep talking.” “Whichever wedding company Victoria goes to, I’ll cooperate with that one. I’ll wait for her word. I’m busy, so I’m leaving first.” After Stuart left, the office fell into a dead silence. Harrison was the first to react, forcing out a smile with all his might. “Victoria, Ms. Samantha’s celebration party still needs you to handle it.” I tilted my head and looked at him. “Didn’t I say it already? I only know how to plan funerals.” “Oh, right. You smashed my computer and stole my design drafts. Copyright infringement. I wonder how many years that gets?”

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The day before college started, my online boyfriend told me he had lost a bet. I was the prize. Before I could even process what was happening, he dragged me into a Snapchat group chat with over a hundred people. The group announcement had just been updated: “Congrats to Ethan on winning his brand-new, 220-pound girlfriend!” Right after that, my sophomore year photo was dumped into the chat. In the photo, I was wearing an oversized, baggy hoodie, so heavy you couldn’t even see my neck. The group chat instantly exploded. “Holy shit, that’s not a girlfriend. That’s a straight-up whale.” “A bet’s a bet. Ethan has to complete the couple’s challenge with her tomorrow.” Soon, someone set up a betting pool. They were wagering on whether I’d actually dare to show up tomorrow night. My online boyfriend put down a thousand dollars, betting that I wouldn’t show. The guy named Ethan didn’t say a single word. Instead, the campus queen suddenly tagged me: “Chloe, you’ll definitely be there tomorrow night, right?” I stared at the endless stream of mocking messages in the chat and laughed. None of them knew. For this long-awaited first meeting, I had worked my ass off to go from 220 pounds down to 130. And none of them knew that over the past two months, I had been asked for my Snapchat in public more times than in the first eighteen years of my life combined. I quietly put down five hundred dollars on the bet, betting that I would show up right on time. Then, amidst everyone’s wild cheering, I sent a single text. “A bet’s a bet. See you there.”

I stared at the group announcement for a solid ten seconds. “Congrats to Ethan on winning his brand-new, 220-pound girlfriend!” With over a hundred people in the chat, the messages were flying by fast. “Zach took a massive loss on this one.” “A loss? He got rid of a fat girl. That’s a massive win, bro.” “@Ethan, Ethan, come out and give us your victory speech!” Then, a photo was dropped into the chat. It was taken during my sophomore year sports day. Back then, I weighed nearly 220 pounds. My clothes were bursting at the seams as I sat on the last row of the bleachers, keeping my head down while eating a bagel. The person who took it was clearly far away. But no matter how blurry it was, there was no hiding how shockingly heavy I used to be. The person who posted it was none other than my online boyfriend. Zach. Just a minute ago, he was still sweet-talking me in our private Snapchat DMs. “Babe, it’s just a joke among friends.” “I just lost a game and sent your Snapchat to Ethan. It’s just for a silly couple’s challenge. Don’t take it seriously.” I didn’t reply. The group chat was laughing its head off. “Damn, with that size, Ethan’s going to need to rent a U-Haul to pick her up tomorrow, right?” “What’s the couple’s challenge again? A bridal carry? Is Ethan trying to end up in the ER with a broken spine?” “Maybe they should change it to ‘heavy lifting.’ Might be easier.” Zach sent a facepalm emoji. “Go easy on her, guys. Don’t make her cry.” He pretended to defend me, but in reality, he was just trampling my dignity even harder. My fingers turned cold. We had been dating online for eleven months. When he had insomnia, I stayed up all night playing Valorant with him. When he lost his games, I comforted him from midnight until dawn. When he was stressed before the final exams, I recorded voice notes every day to cheer him on. I even put Coastal State University as my first choice on my college application. Because he had told me. “Chloe, let’s go to the same college.” “When the semester starts, I’ll bring a huge bouquet of flowers to meet you.” And now, the day before college started, he had treated me like a cheap poker chip and lost me to someone else. Soon, someone set up a betting link in the group. “Will Chloe show up at the freshman mixer tomorrow night?” The pot kept growing. The amount of money betting that I wouldn’t dare to show had already passed three thousand dollars. Zach immediately put down a thousand. “She won’t show.” “She’s super shy. She cries if you even raise your voice at her.” I finally laughed out loud. So, he knew I would cry. Yet, he still brought over a hundred people to watch me break down. Just then, a new message popped up in the chat. Serena: “Guys, don’t talk about Chloe like that. Being a bit chubby is totally fine, as long as she has a good heart.” She was the undisputed campus queen of our freshman class. Just two days ago, she had posted a set of beach photos on her Instagram.  She tagged me. “Chloe, you’ll be there tomorrow night, right?” It looked like she was trying to help me out. But then she immediately added another line. “Everyone really doesn’t mean any harm. Don’t feel insecure about your looks.” The group chat instantly filled with praises of “Our campus queen is so kind-hearted.” I didn’t rush to reply. Instead, I clicked the betting link. Five hundred dollars. Betting that I would show up on time. The group went dead silent for two seconds, followed by a screen full of question marks. Zach privately messaged me. “Are you crazy?” “They have brutal mouths. Why are you coming?” I looked at myself in the mirror. My long hair fell over my shoulders, and my waist was so tiny it looked like it could be held with one hand. The features that had been buried under baby fat in high school were now sharp, striking, and almost intimidatingly beautiful. Over the past two months, whether I was at the mall, the subway, or the gym, I had been asked for my Snapchat twenty-seven times. A talent scout had even cornered me for half an hour, begging me to shoot a commercial. Zach knew absolutely none of this. Because I had wanted to save the best version of myself for the day we finally met in person. But now? He didn’t deserve this surprise. I wiped away the single tear that hadn’t even had the chance to fall, and replied to the group with four words. “A bet’s a bet.”

The next second, Zach called me. I ignored it. He called three more times before finally sending a barrage of voice notes. “Chloe, can you please stop throwing a tantrum?” “That’s just how the game works. I lost, so you temporarily become Ethan’s partner. It’s over after three simple challenges tomorrow night.” “We’re all classmates here. Don’t make me look bad.” I was so angry I laughed. He gave me away like a piece of property, and now he was blaming me for making him look bad. I opened the shared group file. The so-called “couple’s challenges” consisted of three things: First, feeding each other cake in public. Second, holding hands for a photo and posting it to the main freshman group. Third, the guy had to carry the girl in a bridal carry for ten seconds. Some people in the chat were already mocking Ethan. “Who came up with the third one? That’s straight-up attempted murder!” “Even Ethan at 6’2″ can’t lift 220 pounds, right?” “It’s fine. He only lost a game, at worst he’ll just lose a spine.” The guy named Ethan hadn’t said a single word from beginning to end. His profile picture was just a black screen, and his Instagram was completely empty. But everyone in the chat seemed to respect him, or fear him. They were vicious when mocking me, but when they tagged him, they only joked around lightly. No one actually dared to push him. Just as I was about to close the app, my best friend Maddie FaceTimed me. The moment she picked up, she went off. “Chloe! Is Zach’s brain in his ass?!” “Losing his girlfriend in a game? What is he playing, hot potato?” I was startled. “How do you know?” “Screenshots of that group chat have already spread to our high school alumni group!” Maddie was pacing back and forth on the screen, practically fuming. “I’ve already memorized that guy’s name. When school starts, I’m putting a trash bag over his head, and you can keep watch.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. Seeing that I could still laugh, she felt even worse for me. “What are you going to do? Just post a picture of yourself right now and slap them all in the face?” “No.” “Why not?” I opened my closet, my eyes scanning the dresses hanging inside. “Pictures are boring.” They could say it was photoshopped, stolen, or fake. As long as they didn’t want to admit it, they’d find a hundred excuses. I wanted them to see me in person. With their own eyes. And regret it. Maddie caught on instantly, her eyes lighting up. “You’re actually going?” “Of course. I already put five hundred dollars down.” “Hell yes, you’re going!” She slammed her desk. “Not only are you going, you’re going to look so gorgeous they’ll collectively lose their minds.” “Zach bet a thousand dollars that you wouldn’t dare, right? Let’s take his money first, then watch him get humiliated.” Just as she finished speaking, there was a knock on my door. My mom came in with a plate of sliced fruit. She paused when she saw the dress laid out on my bed. “A party tomorrow?” “Yeah.” She hesitated for a few seconds before asking gently, “Are you meeting that boy you met online?” I went silent. For Zach, I had spent a whole year losing weight. At my worst, I ate only a few lettuce leaves a day. I was so hungry at night that my stomach cramped, and I had to sleep clutching a hot water bottle. Later, when my medical check-up showed issues, a nutritionist forced me to stop the extreme dieting. Only then did I start proper carb control and strength training. 220 pounds. 180 pounds. 140 pounds. And finally, 110 pounds. My mom had helped me exchange clothes through seven different sizes. She had also seen me stand on the scale countless times, my eyes red but too afraid to cry. She knew how much I had been looking forward to tomorrow. But she didn’t know that my anticipation had already turned to ashes. My mom set the fruit plate down. Before leaving, she gently stroked my hair. “Chloe, no matter what anyone else says, and whether you are thin or not, you are always my beautiful baby girl.” The moment the door closed, my nose stung with tears. But then, my phone buzzed. In the group chat, Ethan had finally appeared. He didn’t acknowledge any of the teasing. He only sent one short sentence. “She is not a prize.” The group chat instantly went quiet. A few seconds later, he tagged me. “If you don’t want to come tomorrow, you don’t have to.” Zach immediately popped up. “Ethan, it’s just a game. Don’t be a buzzkill.” Ethan didn’t reply to him. I stared at that sentence, “She is not a prize,” and for the first time, I clicked on his profile. For some reason, this guy felt a little familiar.

Zach and I had met on Valorant. Back then, I was a high school senior and weighed 220 pounds. The guys in my class nicknamed me “the linebacker.” The girls didn’t join in on the name-calling, but they would lower their voices and giggle whenever I walked past. Once, during gym class, we had to run the 800 meters. I finished last, panting so hard I almost fainted. The boy I had a crush on stood at the finish line, taking two steps back in disgust. “Don’t fall on me.” “It’ll feel like an earthquake. Who’s gonna catch you?” The whole class burst into laughter. That night, I hid in the game, not wanting to say a word. Zach was the one who added me. After hearing my voice, he kept asking. “Your voice is so sweet. Are you sure you’re not a voice actress?” After that, we became regular gaming partners. He would turn on his mic and defend me when random teammates flamed me. “It’s just a game. Why are you screaming at a girl?” He would also talk to me when I was feeling down. “Who says being chubby isn’t cute? I think it’s adorable.” “Chloe, I don’t care what you look like. I like you.” I believed him. Because of his words, for the very first time, I felt like I was worthy of being loved. Until six months ago, when he accidentally found my old Instagram account linked to my gaming profile. It had my high school name and my real face. From that day on, he became visibly cold. We went from dozens of texts a day to just a dry “good morning” and “good night.” I asked him what was wrong. He said he was stressed about college applications. Looking back, it wasn’t stress at all. He had just seen my photos. But he didn’t break up with me right away. Because I could carry him in games, help him with notes, and comfort him whenever he had an emotional breakdown. He just didn’t want to lose a convenient emotional trash can. So he dragged it out until the day before college started, using a stupid drinking game to casually throw me to someone else. My phone rang again. This time, I picked up. Zach’s voice was filled with annoyance. “What are you doing, playing good cop with Ethan in the group chat?” “He stood up for me. How is that playing good cop?” “Would a guy like Ethan stand up for a girl for no reason?” Zach sneered. “Don’t think just because you have a cute voice, you can actually hook him. Ethan’s standards are way higher than mine. You’ll just humiliate yourself if you go.” I stayed quiet for two seconds. “So, you think I’m not good enough for you?” “That’s not what I meant.” “Then why did you bet a thousand dollars that I wouldn’t dare to show up?” He choked on his words. After a brief pause, he spoke in a frustrated tone. “Fine, you want the truth? Here it is.” “Chloe, I already know what you look like.” “We were fine online, but we’re not a match in real life.” “And don’t blame me. It’s just human nature for guys to like pretty girls.” “I haven’t blocked you yet, which is already me being nice.” I gripped my phone, the lingering pain in my chest finally turning entirely cold. “Well, thank you then. You’re so polite.” Zach didn’t catch the sarcasm in my voice, and his tone softened slightly. “Just don’t come tomorrow. I’ll Venmo you the five hundred dollars back.” “Serena is going to be there. Standing next to her will only make you look more pathetic.” I asked slowly, “Are you guys close?” The other end of the line went dead silent. “Don’t overthink it. We’re just friends.” I smiled. It looked like tomorrow’s party was going to be even more interesting than I thought.

On the day of the mixer, I slept in until noon. My phone already had over 99 unread messages. The group chat was busy discussing the seating arrangements for tonight. Someone had intentionally posted a photo of a heavy-duty, reinforced chair. “We should save this one for Chloe. Normal chairs might not hold up.” “So thoughtful. You deserve an award for being the MVP.” Zach was also in the chat. “She’s not coming, guys. Don’t bother.” Serena: “Guys, don’t talk about Chloe like that. What if she actually shows up? Promise me we won’t laugh at her.” The more she tried to “defend” me, the harder they laughed. I didn’t say anything and just went to get ready. Maddie showed up at my house at 2:00 PM, carrying two massive makeup cases. “Today, I’m giving you a makeup look that will absolutely destroy men’s souls!” After curling my hair, she pulled a black slip dress from my closet. The cut of the dress was extremely simple, hugging my waist tightly and showing off my delicate collarbones and shoulders. When I walked out in it, Maddie literally stared at me for half a minute. Then, she clutched her heart. “Oh my god.” “What?” “If I were a guy, I’d gladly go to jail for you today.” I laughed at her antics. But she grabbed me and spun me around, looking more and more excited. “Serena’s sweet, innocent girl look works when she’s alone.” “But standing next to you? She’ll look like she’s just a background extra.” “Be nice.” “I’m just being objective.” At 5:00 PM, someone suddenly posted a video of the party venue. In the center of the table sat a large white cake. Written on it in red frosting was: Welcome, 220-lbs Girlfriend! Harsh laughter echoed in the background of the video. A guy with a buzzcut yelled at the camera: “Chloe! If you don’t show up soon, we’re going to do the couple’s challenges for you!” Zach was sitting on the couch. He glanced at the camera and smirked. “I told you, she doesn’t have the guts.” “She didn’t even dare to FaceTime me before. You really expect her to show up in person?” Serena gave him a playful shove. “Don’t talk about Chloe like that.” I closed the video. Maddie snatched her car keys, furious. “Let’s go. If I don’t slap their faces raw today, my name isn’t Maddie.” Just as we headed out, my phone buzzed with a friend request. The message read: Ethan. I accepted, and Ethan messaged me almost immediately. “I’m sorry. This whole thing started because of a game I was in. I’ll handle it.” “Do you need me to pick you up?” Staring at his apology, I felt a sudden warmth toward him. “No need, I’m already on my way.” “Also, I’ll cooperate with the challenges tonight.” The screen showed Typing… for a long time. Finally, he sent. “Don’t force yourself.” Half an hour later, the car pulled up in front of the hotel. Maddie wanted to come up with me, but her mom called with an urgent emergency. Before leaving, she grabbed my hand. “Call me the second anything goes wrong. If anyone tries to mess with you, I’ll drag them on the university forums tonight.” I nodded and got out of the car. As I walked through the lobby, the guy at the front desk stared at me. Even as I stepped into the elevator, I could still feel his eyes on me through the glass doors. The private room was at the very end of the third floor. I walked down the hallway in my heels. Even through the heavy doors, I could hear the laughter inside. “It’s six o’clock. She really didn’t show.” “Zach, that’s an easy grand in your pocket.” “I told you, with her size, she’d probably need an oxygen tank just to walk to the lobby.” “Ethan isn’t here either. Did he run away too?” Then came Zach’s casual, mocking voice. “I told her not to come.” “People like her can only live in fantasy land online. Showing up in person is just a public execution.” Serena chimed in with a sweet laugh. “Chloe probably didn’t mean to lie.” “Maybe she just really wanted to feel loved.” Another burst of laughter erupted in the room. I stood outside the door and slowly raised my hand. Just then, a deep voice sounded behind me. “Chloe?” I turned around. Under the dim hallway lights stood a tall guy in a black button-down shirt. His features were sharp, cold, and incredibly handsome. When he saw me, his face filled with visible shock. “Are you…” I smiled at him. “Ethan?” Inside the room, someone had started a countdown. “Last ten seconds. If she’s not here, the bet is closed.” “Ten.” “Nine.” “Eight.” Ethan was still staring at me. I turned back around, gripped the doorknob, and just as the countdown was about to hit zero, I gently pushed the door open.

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On the night of my boyfriend’s birthday, he made three wishes before blowing out the candles on the cake I had spent all day baking. First, he wished for Chloe Bennett to be happy every single day. Second, he wished for Chloe’s project to win the grand prize. Third, he wished for the cat they were raising together, Cookie, to grow up healthy and strong. Chloe Bennett is my best friend. I froze on the spot. Yet, the room filled with our friends erupted into cheers and laughter. Chloe blushed, giving Ethan Carter a playful, teasing shove. “Why didn’t you make a wish for Summer? She’s your actual girlfriend, you know.” Ethan smiled with absolute certainty. “Do I even need to guess her wish? It’s obviously to marry me.” The next moment, he dropped to one knee and pulled out a ring box. Before, I would have burst into tears and nodded frantically. But right now, I just watched as he slipped the diamond ring onto my ring finger. The band was so loose it slid right off. It was a size too big. It was exactly Chloe’s size. I let out a soft, quiet laugh. I had loved Ethan for seven years. But letting him go only took this single second.

Someone in the crowd, always eager for drama, joked. “Wait, why does that ring look like it would fit Chloe perfectly?” Chloe’s face flushed red instantly, and she hurriedly hid her hands behind her back. “Stop talking nonsense, guys.” The more she acted like this, the more awkward the atmosphere became. Another friend chimed in, laughing. “Chloe, why are you hiding your hands?” “Is it really your size?” I stood in the middle of the laughing crowd, my fingertips turning ice-cold. Chloe quickly rushed to my side and gently linked her arm through mine. “Summer, please don’t be mad.” “Ethan definitely didn’t do this on purpose.” Her voice was incredibly soft, sounding genuinely worried for me. “He always helps me carry my rings and bracelets. He probably just got our sizes mixed up.” Chloe’s eyes were red, but I caught the fleeting gleam of triumph in them. So, they were already so close. Close enough that Ethan would hold her rings and put on her bracelets. He remembered her ring size more clearly than mine. Chloe smiled and pinched my fingers. “Summer, you’re just too skinny.” “Everything is always too loose on you.” She paused, her eyes scanning my chest with a seemingly innocent look. Her tone was playful. “Just like when we go lingerie shopping, remember?” “Even the smallest cup size has gaps on you.” The room burst into laughter again. I stood there, feeling the heat rise to my face, burning with humiliation. But Ethan only gave Chloe a helpless, indulgent look. “Stop teasing Summer.” His tone sounded like a scolding. But his eyes were full of pure adoration. Someone yelled for us to cut the cake. “Alright, alright! The proposal is a success! Let’s cut the cake!” I picked up the cake knife and went to hand it to him, but Chloe’s phone buzzed with a Snapchat notification. She glanced down and immediately beamed. “Oh! The pet sitter sent a video of Cookie!” Ethan paused, instantly leaning in close to her. “Let me see.” Chloe held her phone up right in front of his face. In the video, a chubby little kitten was chasing a toy ball. Their shoulders were pressed tightly together. They were so close, as if there was never any room for a third person between them. Standing in front of the birthday cake, I felt like a pathetic, invisible joke. After a while, Ethan finally remembered to cut the cake. He took the knife from my hand, sliced the first piece, and naturally handed the plate to Chloe. “You barely ate anything earlier.” “Eat this first.” Chloe blinked, whispering, “Is this okay?” “Summer made this cake herself. She should have the first slice.” Without a second thought, Ethan shrugged. “She won’t mind.” When those words left his mouth, I realized I was too tired to even fake a smile. Over the past few years, “She won’t mind” was the phrase Ethan used the most on my behalf. When Chloe worked late and he went to pick her up, he said, “Chloe is your best friend. You won’t mind, right?” When Chloe’s project had issues and he stayed up all night helping her fix it, he said, “I’m only doing this because she’s your friend. You won’t mind, right?” When Chloe said Cookie was sick and he stayed at her apartment the whole night to watch the cat, he said, “It’s just a cat, Summer. You won’t mind, right?” But Ethan had never once asked me. Did I actually mind? Chloe took the cake, her eyes watery as she looked at me. “Summer, please don’t be mad at him.” “My blood sugar is just a little low today.” As if fearing I wouldn’t believe her, she swayed slightly. Ethan immediately caught her by the waist. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” “Sit down first.” He guided Chloe to the couch, placing the cake gently in her hands. His movements were so practiced, as if he had done this a thousand times. He didn’t ask if I was tired from standing all night. He didn’t care that I had been busy preparing this party since dawn, without eating a single bite of food. I looked down at the loose ring on my finger. It was hilariously oversized. The moment I bent my finger, it would slip off. Just like this relationship. I had tried to hold onto it so tight, so many times. But some things are just impossible to keep.

I didn’t say another word. I grabbed my coat and drove home. Shortly after I arrived, a Snapchat message from Chloe popped up. “Summer, don’t be mad.” “Ethan felt so guilty when he realized he got the wrong ring size.” “I’m with him right now, helping him pick out a new one for you!” Attached was a photo. Under the bright, luxurious lights of a jewelry store. Chloe was sitting next to Ethan, trying on a stunning diamond ring. Ethan was leaning in, looking intently at her hand. He looked like he was carefully checking if the fit was perfect. Staring at the photo, my mind drifted back to a long time ago. I remembered the first time I introduced Chloe to Ethan. She was an extrovert, and she and Ethan had bickered from the very first minute. She teased him for acting too cool, and he complained she talked too much. I sat beside them, laughing, genuinely happy that my boyfriend and my best friend got along so well. Later, when the three of us ate out, Chloe would always playfully steal food from my plate. Ethan would coldly push his own dishes toward me. “Don’t steal hers.” “Order your own if you want it.” Back then, I truly believed. The person Ethan protected would always be me. But somewhere along the way, things changed. Their bickering turned into inside jokes only they understood. Their laughter became a wall, leaving me as the awkward third wheel forced to smile along. In a relationship of three, the person who gets pushed out first is always the last to notice. Now, Ethan was buying me a new ring. Yet, he was still using Chloe’s hand to test it. They probably didn’t even realize how messed up that was. At 11 PM, a mutual friend sent me a screenshot of their group chat. Someone was advising Ethan: “Ethan, you should really go home and comfort Summer.” “The ring thing today was pretty hurtful.” Ethan replied a few minutes later. “Summer is just overreacting.” “I’m already picking out a new ring for her.” “She’ll cool down once she gets over herself.” Chloe also messaged the group. “It’s all my fault.” “Maybe I should go apologize to Summer in person tomorrow.” Ethan instantly replied: “What does this have to do with you?” “You were put in a super awkward position today too.” “She shouldn’t have thrown a tantrum in front of you.” Staring at those words, my heart didn’t ache as much as I expected. I guess it had already been broken too many times. By the time the final blow landed, I felt nothing but numbness.

Not long after, Ethan came home. He held a new velvet jewelry box and carefully presented it to me. “Summer, buying the wrong size was my bad.” “I got you a new one.” As he spoke, he slid the ring onto my finger. This time, it fit perfectly. But as I looked down, I noticed a tiny inscription on the inside of the band. E & C. Ethan & Chloe. Looking at those letters, a mocking laugh escaped my lips. Ethan followed my gaze, and his face instantly froze. “The jeweler must have messed up the engraving.” “Don’t overthink it.” But then, a receipt slipped out of his pocket and fluttered to the floor. I looked down. Same day. Same store. Ethan had purchased two rings. The other one was three times more expensive than the one on my finger. The truth hit me like a physical blow. This ring, engraved with his and Chloe’s initials, was never meant for me in the first place. Ethan cleared his throat, patting my head gently to soothe me. “When we actually get married, I’ll buy you another one.” Another one. Next time. Ethan always assumed my hurt feelings could just be patched up with a “next time.” My mind flashed back to our first planned vacation together. I had spent two weeks researching and making a perfect itinerary. Which beach to watch the sunset, which restaurant had the best seafood, which spots were the least crowded. But at the airport, when we went to check in, I realized. My name wasn’t on either of the tickets. Ethan had stood there in a daze for a long time before saying: “I think I got your social security number mixed up with Chloe’s when booking.” “But the tickets are non-refundable, and the hotel is booked.” “Summer, I promise I’ll take you next time.” That tropical island vacation ended up being a trip for the two of them. Chloe posted so many photos on Instagram. Sunsets, palm trees. And a candid shot of Ethan carrying her flip-flops, walking along the shore. I had stared at those photos back then, crying myself to sleep. When Ethan returned, he brought me a cheap box of chocolates bought from the airport duty-free. He told me, “Don’t be sad. I’ll definitely take you next time.” Later, a singer I had loved for years came to town for a concert. Ethan managed to grab two front-row VIP tickets. I was so excited I couldn’t sleep all night. But at the gate, the ticket scanner looked at the names on the mobile tickets and politely said, “These tickets are registered under Mr. Ethan Carter and Miss Chloe Bennett.” Ethan rubbed his temples in embarrassment. “I messed up again.” In the end, he and Chloe sat in the front row. After the concert, Chloe posted a photo on Instagram. She was leaning her head on Ethan’s shoulder, holding up a glowing light stick. Caption: “My favorite song, with the person who knows me best.” I had confronted Ethan about it. But he only sighed. “Summer, stop overthinking.” “Chloe is your best friend, not some stranger.” “I couldn’t just let her go to a concert alone at night, could I?” He always had his justifications. And I was always expected to be the understanding one. Thinking of this, I pulled the new ring off my finger and tossed it back into the box. I walked into the bedroom and started pulling out my suitcases. As I packed, I realized. In this apartment we shared, almost nothing truly belonged to me. The cashmere throw blanket on the couch was bought by Ethan because Chloe once complained it got cold when she came over to play. At the vanity, I found a silver bracelet in the drawer. It was my birthday gift from Ethan last year. It cost barely forty dollars, and the box was dented at the corners. He had said, “It’s the thought that counts, not the price.” But on Chloe’s birthday this year, he bought her a custom designer necklace. She had accidentally left the receipt tucked inside a book on our couch. Six thousand dollars. More than a hundred times the cost of my bracelet. Even our fridge was stuffed with low-sugar Greek yogurt and organic cherries that Chloe loved. Meanwhile, my favorite Jasmine tea had been empty for months. I had reminded Ethan to buy it multiple times. He always said, “Next time.” But “next time” never came. Ethan stood at the bedroom door, watching me fold my clothes into the suitcase. His patience finally wore thin. “How long are you going to keep throwing this tantrum?” “I bought you the ring.” “I apologized.” “What more do you want?” I kept my head down, zipping up my suitcase. My voice was barely a whisper. “Ethan.” “There won’t be a next time.” He slammed the door and walked out in frustration. I didn’t chase after him. On my phone, the confirmation email for my overseas transfer sat quietly in my inbox. My flight was tomorrow morning. Between Ethan and me. There would never be another “next time.”

The next morning, I went to Chloe’s apartment. I needed to get back the handmade glass photo frame I had gifted her when we were eighteen. Inside was our very first picture together. On the back, I had written in neat handwriting: “Summer and Chloe, best friends forever.” Back then, Chloe had hugged the frame and cried. She said, “Summer, I will never, ever lose you.” But when I used the spare key code to open her door, the sight inside froze me. Chloe was standing there, wearing a loose, oversized men’s dress shirt. Right below her collarbone, a faint, dark hickey was visible. I recognized that shirt. It was a limited-edition piece I had searched three different malls to find for Ethan’s birthday last year. When Chloe saw me, she seemed startled for a split second, but a smile quickly returned to her face. “Summer! What are you doing here?” She rubbed her eyes, her voice raspy with sleep. “Cookie was throwing up all night. Ethan was so worried he insisted on coming over to check on him.” “We were up until 3 AM. We’re both absolutely exhausted.” I stared at her bare legs peeking out from under the shirt, my fists clenching so hard my nails dug into my palms. She blinked, giving me a suggestive smile. “By the way, your man is in seriously good shape.” “But his abs are so hard, using them as a pillow made my neck so stiff.” My blood ran cold. I whipped my head toward the half-open bedroom door. “You slept together?” Chloe laughed, completely unbothered. “It’s not the first time.” “Whenever Cookie got sick in the middle of the night before, we’d fall asleep watching over him together.” She reached out and playfully tapped my nose. “Don’t worry, babe.” “I’ve tested him for you.” “Even sleeping next to a gorgeous girl like me, he was a perfect gentleman.” “Though his abs could use some work. You should make him hit the gym more.” Ethan leaned against the bedroom doorway, letting out a low chuckle. “Oh yeah? Then who was the one clinging to me all night?” “Saying I was softer than Cookie?” Chloe’s face flushed as she playfully threw a throw pillow at him. “Ethan! Shut up!” They laughed and bantered. Chloe moved too fast, practically stumbling right into Ethan’s chest. Her soft curves brushed against his arm. Ethan’s laughter caught in his throat. His ears turned bright red. He looked like he wanted to step back. But his hands had already instinctively caught her by the waist to steady her. Chloe seemed to notice too. Her face flushed deeper. Yet, she didn’t pull away. They stood there, wrapped in an intimate, suffocating bubble. As if they had completely forgotten I was standing right at the door. I gripped the glass frame, and a laugh bubbled up from my throat. “Chloe Bennett.” “Do you know what people call girls like you?” “A homewrecker. A willing, cheap homewrecker!” The laughter in the room stopped instantly. Chloe’s face drained of color, and tears instantly welled in her eyes. “Summer, how could you say that to me?” “Ethan is just my friend.” I curled my lip in disgust, letting out a cold sneer. “Friends don’t sleep on his abs all night.” Ethan’s face finally darkened. “Summer, that’s enough.” I looked at him, my voice trembling. “Enough?” “You two slept in the same bed, and you expect me to act like nothing happened?” Ethan frowned. “Summer, is it really necessary to be this nasty?” “Sure, Chloe is better than you in a lot of ways, but are you really that jealous? Do you have to make up disgusting rumors about us?” When those words hit me, my hand gave a violent shudder. The glass photo frame slipped from my grip, shattering into a million pieces on the hardwood floor. Our photo fell out, landing right in the middle of the sharp shards. Instinctively, I knelt down to grab it. Chloe scrambled to do the same. A sharp piece of glass sliced into both of our hands at the same time. I gasped at the sharp sting. But Ethan’s eyes instantly flew to Chloe. He practically lunged forward, grabbing her hand. “Are you okay? Why were you so careless?” “Is it deep?” Chloe sobbed, shaking her head. “I’m fine… Summer is bleeding too…” Only then did Ethan spare me a passing glance. His eyes lingered on the blood pooling in my palm for a fraction of a second before darting back to Chloe. “She can handle it herself.” “You hurt your hand. What if it leaves a scar?” Kneeling in the middle of the broken glass, even the physical pain felt dull and distant. Ethan swept Chloe up in his arms and carried her toward the door. As he passed me, his voice was cold as ice. “Summer, go home and calm down.” “When you’re ready to speak like a civilized human being, you can apologize to her.” The front door slammed shut in my face. When I got back to our apartment, I threw the photo straight into the trash. I packed my passport, credit cards, and a few clothes into my suitcase, one by one. My phone lit up with a text from Ethan. “I’m taking you to that Italian place you like tonight.” “Apologize to Chloe there, and we’ll put this behind us.” Looking at the text, I calmly shut off my phone. The sound of my suitcase zipping shut was quiet. But in that moment, I knew I was never looking back.

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During a destination wedding shoot, the bride kept complaining to me. “Can you believe how clingy men can be? We already did one wedding shoot, but he wasn’t satisfied. He insisted on flying me all the way to Switzerland for another.” “He even prepared so many designer gowns. Doesn’t he get tired of posing?” As she spoke, the girl pulled up the photos on her phone to show me. My eyes swept across the groom’s familiar face, and I froze right where I stood. It wasn’t until I saw the groom’s name on the itinerary that I finally let out a breath. Julian Vance. My boyfriend’s twin brother. Years ago, when their parents got a messy divorce, Julian went with their father and became the sole heir to a massive Los Angeles real estate empire. Meanwhile, Ethan, who stayed with their mother, was just an ordinary clerk living paycheck to paycheck, barely earning enough to get by. Just last month, Ethan claimed he had rear-ended a Porsche while driving his boss’s car. He had to drain our entire joint savings, the money we had saved for our future house and wedding, to pay for the damages. I pushed down my envy, forcing myself to smile, about to offer some polite congratulations. But then, my eyes caught a behind-the-scenes photo. The man was wearing silk pajamas, and his collar was slightly parted, revealing a crescent-shaped burn scar near his collarbone. It was identical to the scar my boyfriend, Ethan, had gotten three years ago when he pulled me out of a kitchen fire.

The dressing room door was pushed open. Julian walked in. He naturally walked over to Scarlett’s side, planting a soft kiss on her cheek. “Are you done with your makeup, babe? If we wait any longer, we’ll miss the sunrise over the Alps.” He looked up and met my eyes. In that split second, I saw him freeze. It was just a momentary flicker of panic, but in that instant, I knew. He was Ethan. There was no divorced twin brother. There was only a bored, rich heir who liked to play pretend, pretending to be poor just to mess with me. Julian quickly averted his gaze, his face turning cold and composed again. “Photographer, get ready.” I clenched my fists, suppressing the urge to scream and demand answers. I raised my camera, staying professional. How pathetic. Confronted with such a devastating truth, my very first thought wasn’t even to cause a scene. It was that I couldn’t afford to lose this job. In the dressing room, only Scarlett’s playful, spoiled complaints echoed. “Didn’t you take a whole month off work just to accompany me for this shoot? I don’t believe today is the only day we’ll get a sunrise.” Julian gently patted her head with pure adoration. “Alright. Whatever you want.” My mind flashed back to a month ago. I had sent Ethan a screenshot of our savings account. I was so happy when I texted him: “Ethan, I’ve worked out the budget. We don’t need a fancy wedding shoot, and we don’t need to go to the mountains. This money is enough for our marriage license and the down payment on a small apartment!” But all I got in return, thirty minutes later, was a notification showing our account balance had been wiped to zero. Ethan had come home looking completely devastated. He told me he had crashed into a Porsche, and all our money had to go toward the deductible and out-of-pocket settlement. I had to suppress my own crushing disappointment, forcing a smile to comfort him. “It’s okay. Money can be remade. We’ll save up again, slowly.” That night, he held my hand and promised: “Chloe, the company has a project out of town for a month. Once I get the bonus, I’ll make it up to you.” So, this was his “out-of-town project.” Marrying another woman. My heart grew colder by the second, but my hands holding the camera remained steady. I kept clicking the shutter. Soon, the first shoot was over. Passing by a boutique luxury store, Scarlett’s eyes lit up. She abandoned our shooting schedule and rushed inside to try on jewelry. At checkout, Julian casually signaled his assistant. “Buy everything she tried on.” Scarlett giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I was just playing around. Why did you buy them all?” “As long as you like it.” A wave of bitter memories flooded my chest. Ethan used to hate it when I spent money. For our anniversary last year, I had merely suggested wanting a simple silver bracelet as a gift. He had stood right outside the store, his face instantly darkening. “Chloe, can you stop trying to keep up with the Joneses? We are trying to build a life here. We can’t afford to waste money on useless things.” The gift he ended up getting me was a single, discounted cupcake from the grocery store. It was strawberry flavored. He didn’t even remember that I was allergic to strawberries. Scarlett rummaged through the shopping bags, pulled out a pair of promotional gemstone earrings, and handed them to me. “Thanks for your hard work today. Here, a gift for you.” Julian frowned. “Look at how she dresses. She looks so plain. She can’t pull off those kinds of flashy earrings. Don’t waste them on her.” Scarlett hugged her shopping bags, her voice sassy. “I don’t care. I already decided to give them to her.” Julian looked like he wanted to argue, but instead, he just tugged at his shirt cuffs. I knew that gesture. It was his signature sign of extreme impatience. Whenever we argued in the past and he made that gesture, I would immediately back down and apologize. But this time, the one who backed down was Julian. He glanced at me, his eyes freezing cold. “She gave them to you. Why aren’t you taking them?” I didn’t say a word. I just stiffly reached out and took the bag. As I turned to follow Scarlett’s steps, my foot slipped on the uneven cobblestone step, and I stumbled violently. I didn’t dare let go of the camera to grab the railing. All I could do was use my body to shield the twenty-thousand-dollar equipment. In the next second, a strong pair of hands firmly caught my waist, pulling me against a hard chest.

Julian frowned, his tone sharp with irritation. “Can’t you even walk straight?” Before I could speak, Scarlett turned around. Her eyes locked onto Julian’s hands, which were still wrapped around my waist. “Well, look at you, playing the knight in shining armor.” I quickly pushed myself away from him, bowing deeply. “I am so sorry, Mr. Vance. It was my mistake.” He clearly had no intention of letting me off easy. His words were cutting. “Then pack up your things and get lost. We don’t need you here.” My colleague wanted to plead on my behalf, but I stopped them. Without another word, I handed over the camera memory cards, went back to the hotel, and immediately packed my bags. The next morning, I stood in the lobby with my suitcase, ready to head to the airport. But as soon as the elevator doors opened, I saw Julian standing near the entrance. He was wearing his cheap, worn-out clothes. His hair was messy from the wind, looking as though he had traveled a long distance in a rush. “Chloe.” The moment he saw me, he ran over. “My business trip got rerouted to Switzerland. I noticed you weren’t answering my Snapchat messages. I was worried you were having a hard time here, so I came to check on you.” Looking into those eyes full of fake concern and tenderness, I felt a sudden urge to laugh. Every single bit of misery I was experiencing was caused by him. Yet, he could stand here so effortlessly, playing the role of the worried, loving boyfriend. I couldn’t hold back the bitterness in my throat anymore. I uttered his real name: “Julian Vance.” His expression didn’t change, but his brow furrowed deeper. “What are you talking about, Chloe?” “Julian Vance. The heir to the Vance empire,” I said, word by word. “Scarlett’s fiancé. There is no twin brother. There was only ever you. You got bored of your rich life, found a regular girl, played the poor boy, and lied to me for three whole years.” His pupils dilated slightly. “When did you find out?” “Yesterday.” My eyes fell on his chest. “I saw your scar.” He fell silent for a few seconds, his throat bobbing. “Chloe, I can explain…” I looked at him calmly. “Please step aside, sir. I have a flight to catch.” Just then, a sharp, familiar voice rang out behind us. “Julian?” The elevator door opened again. Scarlett stood there, her hair disheveled, clearly having just woken up. Her gaze darted from Julian’s cheap clothes to me, and her face twisted in rage. “What the hell is going on here?” Julian turned to her, his voice immediately softening. “Scarlett, go back to your room. I’ll explain everything in a minute.” “Explain what?!” “Julian, I canceled all my modeling gigs for this shoot. You said you wanted to do this, so I came. You said you needed a month, so I gave you a month. And what do you do? You’re hooking up with a cheap photographer behind my back?!” “No, Scarlett, it’s not…” Scarlett didn’t let him finish. She furiously threw her phone at the floor. “Then why were you holding her waist yesterday? Why are you here in her hotel lobby first thing in the morning?!” Tears streamed down her face, her voice shrieking. “Have you two been sleeping together?!” The hotel staff and guests in the lobby all turned to look at us. I stood there, instinctively trying to de-escalate. “Miss Scarlett, you’ve got it wrong…” “Shut up!” Scarlett whipped her head around, her eyes burning with pure hatred. “I am talking to my fiancé! Who gave a peasant like you the right to speak? You cheap whore, trying to steal another woman’s man. Have you no shame?!” Before I could react, she lunged forward and slapped me hard across the face. I couldn’t dodge in time. The sharp diamonds on her acrylic nails ripped across my left cheek. A stinging, burning pain flared up. Something warm and wet began to trickle down my cheek. “Enough!” Julian grabbed Scarlett’s wrist, pulling her back into his arms. “I will handle this. Go back to your room right now.” Scarlett’s lips trembled, but she didn’t argue further. Julian turned to the bodyguards standing behind her. “Take her back upstairs. And get a doctor to check on her face.” “Her.” He meant me. Then, he wrapped his arm around Scarlett’s shoulders, whispering something soothing into her ear as they walked back toward the elevator. From beginning to end, Julian never looked back at me once. A bodyguard stepped in front of me, his face expressionless. “Miss, please come with us.” I gripped my suitcase, wanting to push past him, but two more towering guards blocked my path, forcing me back into my hotel room.

By the second day of my confinement in the hotel, a viral post about me blew up online. The poster claimed to be Scarlett’s close friend. They wrote a long, detailed “expose” post. The post claimed Julian and Scarlett were childhood sweethearts with a long-standing family arrangement, and that I had tried to seduce Julian during their romantic wedding shoot, only to be caught red-handed. The comment section was filled with pure toxicity. “Homewrecker,” “gold-digger,” “disgusting whore.” The insults were endless. Someone even doxed my personal information and my photography studio’s address. People started calling the studio, leaving death threats. Fearing the PR backlash, my boss sent me a termination letter via email. I wanted to defend myself, but I didn’t even know where to start. Say that I didn’t seduce him? Say that we had been together for three years, and that he had lied to me from day one? Who would believe a broke photographer over a billionaire heir? I turned off my phone and sat on the bed in silence for hours. On the third day, my phone rang. It was my mother. “Chloe, I saw the things online. Your grandma saw them too… she had a panic attack and was rushed to the hospital.” “The doctor said she needs urgent heart surgery. The deposit is twenty thousand dollars. I’ve emptied my accounts, but we’re still way short. Can you find a way?” Twenty thousand dollars. For me, that was an astronomical amount. I forced down my panic, transferring the last few hundred dollars in my account to her. “Mom, I’m coming home right now. Don’t panic, I’ll find a way to borrow the money.” After hanging up, I frantically started making calls. Friends, college roommates, former clients… I called everyone in my contact list. “Sorry, Chloe, I just paid my rent…” “I’m a bit tight this month…” “Chloe, your name is dirt on the internet right now. If I associate with you, I’ll get canceled too. I can’t help you.” After making over twenty calls, I managed to scrape together less than a thousand dollars. Clinging to my last shred of hope, I sent Julian a Snapchat message. “Let me go. My grandma is in the hospital. I need money.” The message was marked as read. No reply. I sent another: “I’m begging you.” Still, read but no reply. I called his phone. It rang for a long time before he finally picked up. He only said one thing: “I’m busy right now, we’ll talk later,” and hung up. In the second before the call cut off, I heard Scarlett’s breathless voice in the background: “Julian, don’t think this means I’ve forgiven you yet…” In the early hours of the next morning, I received a text from my mother. My grandmother had passed away. I sat on the bed like a hollow shell, unable to cry, unable to feel. I just stared blankly at the screen. Was any of this real? I was just an ordinary girl. I had no grand ambitions. I had worked hard, saving every penny with the man I loved. My family had supported us. We were supposed to get married. We were supposed to be happy. At three in the afternoon, the door finally unlocked. Julian walked in. He was wearing a bespoke designer suit. A single cufflink on his sleeve cost more than my entire life’s savings. He reached out to touch my hand, but I flinched back. “Chloe, I was dealing with Scarlett’s family yesterday. I didn’t mean to ignore your calls.” Julian rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking exhausted, as if he had truly worked all night to resolve the crisis. But right beneath his collar, there were faint, unmistakable hickeys. I laughed, though tears spilled over my eyelashes. “Julian, you lied to me for three years. Are you still trying to lie to me now?” “I’m tired. I don’t want to be your toy anymore. Please, just let me go.” Julian stepped closer, panic flaring in his eyes. “I never saw you as a toy!” “Then what was I to you?!” My voice cracked, and I screamed hysterically. “You locked me in this room for six days! My grandma was dying in a hospital bed waiting for money to save her life, and you couldn’t even reply to a single text! What was I to you?!”

He fell silent. For a very long time, he couldn’t say a word. Finally, only three words slipped from his lips: “I am sorry.” My blood ran cold. “Did you do this?” “No, it wasn’t me,” he said, looking at me desperately. “It was Scarlett. She was the one who had those articles posted. She sent people to show the posts to your grandmother to trigger her illness. She also blocked your family from getting loans.” Scarlett. A girl who had everything, yet because of a petty tantrum, she decided to destroy my entire life. “And you knew about all of this?” He didn’t deny it. I could hear my own voice trembling. “You knew everything, and you did nothing.” “I did! The moment I found out, I sent my people to handle the hospital. I already wired the surgery money to your mother’s account.” “It was just… too late.” “Yeah. Because while all of this was happening, you were busy in her bed. How could you possibly have made it in time?” A sharp ringing echoed in my ears. My body moved before my brain could think. By the time I snapped out of it, my hand had already slapped him across the face. A bright red mark bloomed on Julian’s cheek. He didn’t dodge. All the strength drained from my body, and I collapsed onto the floor, consumed by bitter self-loathing. It was all my fault. I was so pathetic, so stupid. Julian was a prominent figure; he had appeared on the cover of Forbes and financial news channels multiple times. But every time he showed me those articles, he would spin a sob story about his hatred for his father and his “evil twin brother”: “I hate my brother. He knew what a monster our father was, but he still chose the money and abandoned our mother.” And I, like an idiot, had believed every single word of his poorly written script. The room fell into a suffocating silence, save for my ragged breathing. “Julian, we’re done. Don’t ever show your face to me again.” His expression finally cracked. “No.” He grabbed my arm, his eyes filled with desperation and struggle. “Chloe, listen to me. I don’t love Scarlett, and I have no intention of marrying her. Once our family’s joint venture is complete and I take full control of the Vance Group, I will call off the engagement.” Just then, his phone vibrated. He glanced down. It was a message from Scarlett. I couldn’t see the text, but I saw how quickly his emotional panic turned back into cold calculation. “Chloe, I have to handle something. Stay here. I’ll be back for you later.” With that, he turned to leave. The moment he unlocked the door, I made a desperate dash for the exit. “Chloe!” His reflexes were too fast. He grabbed my arm, pulling me back. I thrashed violently, but his grip was like iron. In the struggle, he yanked me hard. I lost my balance and fell forward, my lower abdomen slamming violently against the sharp wooden corner of the nightstand. In that instant, a blinding, white-hot pain tore through my body. I curled into a ball on the floor, clutching my stomach as cold sweat drenched my forehead. In my blurred state of mind, I suddenly remembered that I had missed my period for the past two months. A terrifying realization hit me. I gasped, begging him. “Julian… please… take me to the hospital…” But he didn’t even turn around. He just threw a cold sentence over his shoulder: “Chloe, stop acting. I won’t let you use this as an excuse to leave me.” The door slammed shut. The click of the lock echoed through the quiet room like a death knell. His footsteps faded away down the corridor. The pain in my abdomen intensified. Warm blood began to seep out, running down my thighs. I looked down and saw blood, dark red, spreading across the beige carpet. My consciousness started to fade. The harsh white light above me dimmed, and everything went black.

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My fiancé was a commercial airline captain. He was dedicated, precise, and highly respected in his field. But when our flight hit severe turbulence and faced a potential crash, he grabbed my life jacket and gave it to his first love. Later, when I confronted him, he just looked at me with sheer impatience. “It’s not like you died, Chloe!” As I clutched my chest and collapsed, he carried his first love in his arms and walked away without looking back. He didn’t know I had a congenital heart condition. I couldn’t handle extreme stress. In the end, that flight had only one casualty. Me. 1 Panic was spreading fast in the cabin. As the lead flight attendant on this flight, I had to hold onto the handrail in the aisle just to stay upright, doing my best to calm the passengers. “Please remain seated and keep your seatbelts fastened! We are just experiencing some severe turbulence. Everything is under control!” Honestly, even I didn’t believe my own words. Turbulence was common, but violent shaking like this was highly unusual. A terrifying thought crossed my mind. Sure enough, my words did nothing to soothe the passengers. As the plane took another violent dip, the screams grew louder and more desperate. Right then, Ethan walked out of the cockpit. I was stunned to see him. “Ethan? What are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be at the controls?” He kept his head down, giving me a dismissive, half-hearted answer. “The co-pilot has the controls. I came out to help manage the cabin.” I nodded, assuming he only came out because the passengers were getting too hysterical. Even though a tiny voice in my head told me something was off, the urgency of the situation didn’t give me time to think. I immediately went back to securing the cabin. Because of that, I missed the way Ethan’s eyes drifted toward the left side of the cabin. Right where his high school sweetheart was sitting. “Ethan, quick! Put your life jacket on!” I had just grabbed my own life jacket. Before I could even put it on, I hurriedly handed the last available crew jacket to my boyfriend. The entire plane was shaking violently. It was almost impossible to stand. Ethan took the jacket from my hands and slipped it on without a second thought. I held his hand tightly, my heart hammering against my ribs. In our flight attendant training, we practiced for every emergency scenario. We knew the protocols by heart. But when real danger hit, and the ground was literally slipping from beneath my feet, fear still took over. At that moment, only one thought kept me sane. At least the man I loved was right by my side. If the worst happened, at least… we would die together. With that thought, I squeezed Ethan’s hand even harder, trying to feel his warmth. But I didn’t notice that his eyes were never on me. He was staring intensely at a woman a few rows away. “Watch out!” Ethan suddenly yelled, throwing my hand off him. He lunged toward the other side of the aisle. A heavy carry-on bag had slipped from the overhead bin. It slammed hard against his back, but he didn’t care. He was shielding a woman beneath him. Seeing the dark stain of blood instantly seeping through his white captain’s shirt, I gasped. “Ethan!” But Ethan didn’t hear my worried cry. He frantically pulled the woman up, his voice trembling with anxiety. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” The woman stared at him in a daze for a few seconds before shaking her head. “Thank you… I’m okay.” At first, I thought Ethan was just being a hero, doing his job to protect a passenger. Until my eyes accidentally fell on the passenger manifest clipboard on the nearby seat. A name jumped out at me, turning my blood to ice. 2 Lily Carter. Ethan’s first love. The girl who was with him from middle school through college, the one who defined his youth. And the one who dumped him right after graduation to chase a richer life. In that instant, the face of the woman Ethan had just risked his life to save overlapped perfectly with that name. It wasn’t a selfless act of heroism. He was just protecting his precious ex. I stood there frozen, watching him carefully shield her. My eyes stung with hot tears. The plane took another massive dip. I didn’t have time to wallow in my heartbreak. After making sure all the passengers had their life jackets secure, I could only pray in silence. I knew prayers wouldn’t fix an engine, but right now, it was all I had. The cabin was a chaotic mess, so I didn’t immediately notice that Lily didn’t have a life jacket. The two of them were whispering to each other. Then, Ethan walked over to me. He stood there, staring at me silently. I found it bizarre. “As the captain, you should be in the cockpit or at least reassuring the passengers. Why are you standing in my way?” He looked at me with a conflicted, almost embarrassed expression. But then, he opened his mouth and said something I never expected to hear from him. “Chloe… you haven’t put your life jacket on yet. Give it to one of the passengers.” I stared at him, wondering if the cabin pressure was making me hallucinate. But looking at his tightly pressed lips and guilty eyes, I knew I had heard him perfectly. I clutched my life jacket tightly to my chest and looked away. “Every passenger has a life jacket assigned to their seat. Why do they need mine?” Seeing my resistance, Ethan said defensively, “An older lady in the front couldn’t find hers. In the panic, she tried to grab Lily’s. They fought over it and ripped it. So…” “So you want me to give up mine? Ethan, do you have any idea how dangerous it is for me to be without a life jacket?!” I interrupted, my voice cracking. “If you’re so worried about her, why don’t you give her yours?” I sneered. Ethan’s face went stiff, and his guilt instantly turned into anger. “I’m the captain! If something happens to me, this plane is doomed! You’re a flight attendant. Did you sleep through your training? Put the passengers first! That’s your job!” He raised his voice, trying to convince himself as much as me. Before I could even speak, he ripped the life jacket out of my hands and walked away without looking back. I watched him hand it to Lily like a prize, receiving a look of pure adoration from her. I stood in the aisle, completely numb. It wasn’t that I refused to sacrifice for a passenger. I knew my duties. And in a real crash, a life jacket might not even save me. But the fact that Ethan—my fiancé—had physically ripped it from my hands to give it to his ex-girlfriend broke something inside me. As the only person in the cabin without a life jacket, I had to finish the flight in absolute terror, trying to keep up a professional face. Fortunately, after passing through the storm, the plane stabilized. We finally landed safely at our destination. When the last passenger stepped off, the tension that had kept me going finally snapped. The moment I relaxed, I realized my heart was racing at an alarming, dangerous speed. 3 I knew something was wrong. I needed my medication. I quickly walked out of the terminal. But not far from the airport exit, I saw Ethan walking out, his arm wrapped supportively around Lily. The sight of them brought all the anger, betrayal, and humiliation of the flight rushing back. The fury eclipsed the pain in my chest. Ignoring my wildly pounding heart, I marched straight up to them and blocked their path. “Ethan Vance, what is the meaning of this?!” Faced with my confrontation, he looked uncomfortable. He muttered dismissively, “I was just doing my job for a passenger’s safety. Don’t make a big deal out of it.” His evasive attitude made me see red. I grabbed his arm, glaring at Lily. “Don’t play games with me. I know exactly who she is. And don’t forget, Ethan—I am your fiancée!” Lily looked up at Ethan, her eyes wide with mock surprise. “She’s your girlfriend?” I noticed how she intentionally downgraded “fiancée” to “girlfriend.” Ethan angrily shook off my hand. His face was twisted with annoyance. “Are you really going to make a scene over a stupid jacket? It’s not like you died, Chloe!” Maybe it was because of my questioning, or maybe because I had exposed his relationship status in front of his precious first love. He was furious. But his words felt like a physical blade stabbing straight through my chest. My heart, which had been beating too fast, suddenly gave a violent squeeze. I couldn’t breathe. I clutched my chest, reaching out to him for help. Before I could squeeze a word out, Lily suddenly whimpered and collapsed to the ground. “Lily!” “Ethan… help me…” My faint plea was completely drowned out by Ethan’s panicked cry. His eyes were entirely focused on the woman on the ground. But I saw it. I saw Lily’s eyelashes fluttering. She was faking it. Ethan didn’t care. He scooped her up in his arms, his face pale with worry, and started running toward the exit. Using the absolute last ounce of my strength, I reached out and snagged the hem of Ethan’s jacket. “Ethan… please… I can’t breathe… help me…” Ethan turned back, his face full of disgust. His words were poison. “Are you seriously doing this right now? Lily faints, and suddenly you’re having a medical emergency too? stop being so pathetic!” “If you’re sick, call 911! I’m not a doctor!” The lack of oxygen choked off my voice. I couldn’t say another word. I collapsed onto the cold floor. In my fading vision, I watched Ethan run away, holding Lily close. He didn’t know I had a congenital heart condition. It was fatal. I curled up on the freezing floor, feeling my heartbeat slowly fade. The noise of the airport began to slip away, leaving me in absolute silence. I forced my eyelids open for one last look at the world. It looked just like any other day. Except I would never see tomorrow. Right before my eyes closed forever, I saw a couple in the distance carrying a birthday cake. A cake… what a shame. I wouldn’t get to celebrate my birthday this year. Somehow, my mind drifted back to my birthday last year. Ethan had prepared the gifts and the cake early in the morning, presenting them to me the moment I woke up. Back then, his eyes held only me. I had been so drowned in his love, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world. While I was daydreaming, Ethan had blown out the candles for me. “I wish for Chloe Summer to be happy forever, and for us to be together forever!” Three “forevers.” At least at that moment, I knew his love was real. I had playfully punched his shoulder and looked away, pretending to be annoyed. “Why are you making a wish on my birthday?” “Besides, who said I’m staying with you forever? Don’t flatter yourself.” Ethan had laughed and kissed my cheek. “Then tell me, Princess Chloe, what is your wish? Let’s see if your boyfriend can make it come true.” I relit the candles, closed my eyes, and made a silent wish: I wish for Ethan and me to have a long, happy, and safe life together. After blowing out the candles, Ethan had leaned in, begging me to tell him what I wished for. “If I tell you, it won’t come true. Secret!” Ethan had smiled, reached behind his back, and pulled out a velvet box. He dropped to one knee, looking up at me with absolute devotion. “Well, your boyfriend has a wish too. Chloe, will you marry me?” Inside the box was the exact ring I had admired in a boutique window weeks ago. Tears had rushed to my eyes. I hugged him tightly, whispering in his ear, “My wish was for us to be safe, happy, and together forever.” I guess it was true. Wishes really don’t come true once you say them out loud. Not only did we not stay together, but I couldn’t even have a safe and healthy life. With my final gasp of air, I unlocked my phone and dialed 91 But… before the ambulance could arrive, my heart slowed down from its frantic pace, flattening into a straight line. I was the only casualty of that flight.

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At our wedding, my fiancé, Ethan Sterling, announced he was going to present me with a grand surprise. The next second, the giant projector screen behind the altar started playing a video of me dancing provocatively. The caption read: “Thirty-year-old desperate cougar. $100 a night. First come, first served.” The venue erupted into whispers and gasps. Before I could even process it, Ethan slapped me across the face. “Are you really that desperate for men, Chloe?” I let out a cold, bitter laugh. So this was his so-called “surprise”? Faced with my freezing glare, Ethan suddenly froze, looking slightly guilty. Then, the AV technician at the back of the room, who was wearing a baseball cap, chuckled softly. “Surprised?” The woman took off her cap, revealing the very face Ethan had been obsessing over for years. It was Mia Hayes, his precious college mentee. She strolled up to the stage with a coquettish smile and wrapped her arms around Ethan’s waist. “This is my surprise for you, Ethan. Do you like it?” Then, she turned to me with an innocent, wide-eyed look. “Chloe, it’s just a joke. You’re not mad, are you?”

A joke? I smiled at her, stepped forward, and slapped her hard across the face. Mia collapsed onto the floor instantly. Ethan lost his mind. “Are you insane?! Why did you hit her?” “What’s the matter, Ethan? Can’t you take a joke?” I stared ruthlessly at the cheating bastards in front of me. I was so done with this. How many times had this happened? Since the day Mia entered our lives, she had been pushing my boundaries over and over again. When she broke my laptop, she just giggled. “Oh, you wanted a new one anyway. I’m doing you a favor, Chloe. No need to thank me!” When she slept in our bed, she rolled her eyes. “I just slept on your bed for a night. What’s the big deal?” Her trashy words and toxic “pranks” had completely drained whatever little love I had left for Ethan. There was absolutely no point in continuing this wedding. I turned around to leave the stage, intending to take my parents and walk out. But Ethan blocked my path. “Apologize to Mia right now!” “Apologize?” I laughed out loud again, completely amused by his audacity. I pointed at the giant screen. “Does that video not require an apology first?” Ethan looked back and forth between me and Mia. “She’s practically a child! Why are you being so petty?” As soon as those words left his mouth, I raised my hand and slapped him too. Before he could rage, I said calmly, “You just slapped me because of that video. Shouldn’t I return the favor?” “You—” “Ethan,” Mia whined, rubbing her bruised cheek and acting like a victim. “Chloe is way too petty. She can’t even take a joke at a party like this. How is she ever going to accompany you to high-society events in the future? Hitting me is one thing, but hitting you? She has gone too far.” Ethan looked deeply touched. The gaze he turned on her was incredibly tender. “Alright, don’t cry. But really, why are you so mischievous? Playing a prank at a wedding of all places?” His words sounded like a scolding, but his tone was pure pampering. “Well, I just figured you and Chloe already have everything,” Mia said, tilting her head. “I couldn’t think of a normal gift, so I wanted to give you a real shock.” She then turned to me with a smug, mocking look. “And Chloe, I heard that women your age love young male models. I already sent your video to a Snapchat group full of male strippers. They’re all super excited. Don’t thank me, honey!” Meeting Mia’s provocative eyes, I slapped her yet again. “Chloe Vance, you’ve crossed the line!” Ethan roared, shielding Mia in his arms like she was some precious treasure. “Do you think I won’t call off this wedding? If you keep acting like a psycho, we don’t need to get married at all!” I sneered. “I’m sorry, but a woman of my age refuses to take any disrespect. Whoever makes me miserable, I’ll make them suffer ten times worse.” “You…” Ethan was shaking with rage. “Mia already said it was a joke! Is all this really necessary?” Before I could speak, the guests in the audience couldn’t hold back anymore. “Is that even a joke? That’s straight-up cyberbullying.” “Damn, if my wife was humiliated like that, I’d probably be in jail for murder by now.” “Well, you can’t compare yourself to Ethan. After all, Mia is his precious little mentee.”

The guests spoke loudly, and Ethan’s face flushed a deep, embarrassed red. My parents stood up, their faces completely dark. They looked at Ethan’s parents and said coldly, “If your family didn’t want this marriage, you could have just said so. There was no need to humiliate our daughter like this.” My parents had been against me marrying Ethan from the very beginning. I was the one who had insisted on being with him. Now, I guess this was my karma. “Oh, Mrs. Vance, please, you misunderstand!” Ethan’s mother panicked, rushing over. “Our Ethan had nothing to do with this! It was all that brainless girl from the Hayes family!” “Yes, exactly!” Ethan’s father chimed in. They quickly tried to salvage the situation, then glared at Ethan. “What is wrong with you? Get that girl out of here right now!” Faced with his parents’ furious glares, Ethan, naturally, blamed everything on me. “Are you happy now?” he hissed. “Ruining our wedding like this. What do you even get out of this?” Blaming me? “So, in your eyes, Mia did nothing wrong?” Ethan looked guilty, but he still refused to condemn Mia. He simply muttered, “Mia, just apologize.” Mia looked at Ethan, then turned to me, rolling her eyes. “Seriously, whatever. Older women are always so dramatic. Fine, I’ll apologize. I’m sorry, okay? Happy now?” It was the most insincere apology in the world, yet Ethan patted her head. “Good girl, Mia.” “But your ex-fiancée hit me! Shouldn’t she apologize to me too?” Mia sniffled, her eyes red as she clung to him. Ethan’s heart practically melted. At that moment, he lost all his senses. He pointed at me. “Chloe, apologize to Mia.” Seeing that I remained indifferent, Mia burst into tears and ran out of the venue. Ethan didn’t hesitate for a second. He ran right after her. Before he walked out of the door, he threw a cold glare over his shoulder. “Clean up this mess yourself. After all, you’re the one who ruined it.” Ethan’s parents were completely dumbfounded. They screamed at his retreating back, “Ethan Sterling! This is your own wedding!” Ethan paused at the door, seeing his parents’ pale faces, but he only hesitated for a second. “Mia is too fragile right now. I have to go check on her.” The Sterling family was completely stunned, staring at the empty doorway in utter disbelief. True love, indeed. I couldn’t help but clap my hands. Then, I cleared my throat into the microphone. “Well, everyone, as you can see, my fiancé has found his true love. Therefore, I will do him a favor today…” I announced the cancellation of the wedding on the spot. No matter how frantically the Sterlings tried to explain, the wedding was officially over. My parents and I walked out of the venue. My dad was so furious that he immediately made a series of phone calls. With those calls, every single joint venture and project our family had with the Sterlings was put on hold. Even some of the guests at the wedding, realizing how unreliable Ethan was, decided to terminate their contracts with the Sterling Group. In short, Ethan’s little stunt with Mia had cost his family millions in a single afternoon. But simply canceling the wedding wasn’t enough to satisfy my anger. I immediately called the dean of Mia’s university. She liked playing jokes, right? I was going to play a game with her that she’d never forget. As soon as I hung up, my assistant sent me a link to a trending video on TikTok. In less than half an hour, I was already trending. Mia had recorded a video of herself, playing the victim.

“Yes, everyone, you saw that right,” Mia said in the video, looking sadly at the camera. “That was the wedding of that desperate older woman. Who would’ve thought she’d get caught cheating by her husband right at the altar? Guess what happened next?” “I heard she actually posted her own contact info in a male stripper group chat. Talk about thirsty!” “Here are the screenshots, guys.” “If any of you like wealthy older women, feel free to hit her up. I heard she’s loaded.” Mia had leaked my photos from the wedding, and she hadn’t even blurred out my phone number. Immediately, my phone began ringing off the hook. Spam calls and disgusting text messages poured in every second. I had no choice but to have my assistant get me a new SIM card. It wasn’t a huge hassle, but explaining the number change to all my business clients was going to be annoying. Whatever Mia’s goal was, she had officially messed with the wrong woman. I dialed Ethan’s number, intending to warn him that I was going to ruin Mia. But he didn’t pick up. When I called a second time, he declined it and sent a text instead. \[Are you done? Mia is so traumatized by you that she can’t even eat or drink. Are you satisfied now?\] \[I’m telling you, the wedding is off. Don’t even think about marrying me until you’ve reflected on your behavior and apologized to Mia.\] I laughed out loud. Had his parents not told him? I was the one who canceled the wedding. I replied with a single text: \[I’ve already filed a lawsuit against Mia Hayes. If you want to save her, prepare to trade your company’s shares for her freedom.\] Since the love was gone, Ethan and I only had business to talk about. Before the wedding, the financial agreements had already been drafted. Even the luxury villa Ethan and I had been living in was a pre-marital gift bought entirely by my parents. It wasn’t that the Sterlings couldn’t afford a house, but I preferred living on the south side of the city, and since my parents owned a villa there, they just let us use it. On the way home, my parents were worried I’d be heartbroken. My mom kept gently nudging me. “Chloe, sweetie, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Please don’t do anything reckless…” Seeing the worry in their eyes, I immediately held up my hand. “Mom, Dad, I promise you, I don’t love him anymore. He’s dead to me.” Hearing this, they both let out a massive sigh of relief. After dropping my parents off, I drove back to the villa. I planned to have the housekeeper pack up all of Ethan’s trash and throw it out. But the moment I pushed the door open, I saw Mia. She was wearing one of my expensive silk robes, lounging casually on my sofa. “Oh, you’re back? I thought you’d have some pride and run back to your parents’ house. Didn’t you say the wedding was off? Why are you still lurking in Ethan’s house? How shameless.” Staring at her smug, condescending face, I took a deep breath. “Maria…” “Yes, Miss Chloe, you’re back,” Maria, the housekeeper, hurried over. Seeing my furious expression, Maria looked incredibly anxious. “Mr. Ethan brought her here… I couldn’t really stop him…” “Pack up everything that belongs to Ethan Sterling. Call his family to come pick it up.” “Yes, ma’am.” With my direct order, Maria quickly gathered the other maids and started packing. Hearing this, Mia jumped off the sofa. “Are you out of your mind? The wedding is off! Do you seriously think you can steal Ethan’s house?” “Who told you this house belongs to Ethan?” I stared at Mia with a cold, piercing gaze. She sneered. “What? Don’t tell me you’re going to claim this mansion is yours?” “And you think it’s yours?” I countered. Mia lifted her chin proudly. “Yes! Ethan said he’s giving this house to me. It’s mine now.” “Great. The deed is worth ten million dollars. Are you paying for it, or is he?”

“You’re absolutely insane! Money-grubbing bitch!” Mia screamed obscenities at me for a solid five minutes. I didn’t say a single word. I just walked to the door and pressed the intercom. The police arrived ten minutes later. “Who called the police?” the officer asked. “I did,” I said, pointing directly at Mia. “This woman broke into my private property, and she’s currently wearing my stolen clothes.” Mia never expected me to actually call the cops. She instantly panicked and began screaming her twisted version of the story to the officers. I didn’t bother arguing. I simply walked over to the safe, pulled out the deed of the house, and handed it to the officer. “I am the sole owner of this property. I have no idea who she is.” That shut Mia up. Before she could even figure out what was happening, the officers handcuffed her and dragged her out for trespassing and grand larceny. Ten minutes after they left, Ethan rushed in. “Mia, baby, I’m back—” He froze when he saw me standing in the living room. “Where’s Mia?” “At the police station.” Ethan practically exploded. “What did you do?!” I remained perfectly calm. “I told you. If you want to save Mia, prepare to trade your company’s shares.” “In your dreams!” Ethan threw the strawberry cake he was holding onto the floor and ran out to chase after the police car. Maria and the maids had finished packing all of Ethan’s belongings, but nobody from the Sterling family had come to collect them. I told Maria, “Find a moving company. Ship everything to the Sterling estate. Make sure it’s cash on delivery.” Then, I called an interior designer to completely remodel the house and instructed the neighborhood security to permanently ban Ethan and his family from entering the premises. After handling all of this, I went straight to the office. Over the next few days, I was completely absorbed in severing all business ties with the Sterling Group. The Sterlings tried calling us dozens of times a day, but my parents and I ignored every single one of them. According to our mutual business associates, the Sterling Group was drowning. Virtually overnight, their market value plummeted by hundreds of millions of dollars. They went from being high-and-mighty elite capitalists to a debt-ridden company on the verge of bankruptcy. It wasn’t just because our family pulled out, but because Ethan had proven himself to be incredibly unstable. No serious investor wanted to work with a man who would ruin his own wedding for a side chick. He had dug his own grave. While his parents were working themselves to the bone trying to save the company, Ethan was still running around trying to get Mia out of jail. He didn’t care about his family’s business at all. After failing multiple times to bail Mia out, he finally swallowed his pride and came to find me. “What do you want from me, Chloe? You’re targeting my family, and you’re targeting Mia. Isn’t this all just a scheme to force me to marry you? Fine! I agree to marry you. Are you happy now?” Ethan looked like he was making the ultimate sacrifice. I looked at him, completely disgusted that he thought marrying him was some kind of prize. I shook my head. “Oh, please don’t. I wouldn’t want you to feel forced, Ethan. You and Mia deserve each other. An ‘older woman’ like me is far beneath you.” “You—” Ethan wasn’t completely stupid; he could hear the mockery in my voice. But he still tried to soften his tone. “Look, I’ll marry you. My mom said this Thursday is a good date. Let’s just do it then.” “Sure.” Realizing he was completely delusional, I decided not to waste my breath. If he wanted to humiliate himself publicly, I was more than happy to facilitate it. Over the next two days, I had my lawyer officially press charges against Mia. With solid evidence of defamation, cyber-harassment, and trespassing, it was more than enough to keep her in a cell for a long time. My assistant told me that Ethan visited her every single day. He kept telling her, “Don’t worry, Mia. I’m going to marry Chloe on Thursday. Once we’re married, she’ll have to drop the charges.” Thursday arrived quickly. The Sterling family had sent out the invitations early on. Surprisingly, a few guests actually showed up, mostly curious to see the drama. But the scheduled hour came and went, and I, the bride, was nowhere to be seen. Ethan was losing his mind, calling my phone repeatedly. I finally picked up on his fifth call. “What the hell are you doing, Chloe?! Aren’t you afraid my parents will think you’re unworthy of our family and call off the wedding?” Ethan’s furious voice screamed through the receiver. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Actually, Ethan, I agree with your parents. I really don’t think I’m worthy of your prestigious family. So, let’s call it off permanently.” I hung up immediately. No matter how many times he called back, I ignored him. Just as Ethan was about to throw a tantrum at the venue, the projector screen behind him started playing a video. After watching it, Ethan ran out of the hall like a lunatic.

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I grew up in a group home. But I always knew I had a mother. She was like my invisible guardian angel. Whenever I was in danger, she would appear out of nowhere to save me. This was our silent, unspoken understanding over the years. The other kids at the group home used to laugh at me, saying I was delusional. “Just wait until she comes back!” I would yell. “Then you’ll see I’m not lying!” Sometimes, kind-hearted couples came wanting to adopt me. But I always refused. “No. I’m waiting for my real mom to take me home!” Eventually, all the kids who entered the home at the same time as me were adopted. I was the only one left, completely alone. Mrs. Gable, the director, sighed and sat down beside me. “Stop waiting, Chloe. Your mother isn’t coming back.” But I didn’t believe her. Not even for a second. Because I knew the truth. My mom had just visited me the night before. “Chloe, a lovely couple is here. They want to meet you. Why don’t you come to the garden with me?” Mrs. Gable stroked my hair gently as she spoke. “They just want to talk and get to know you. They aren’t trying to force you to leave with them.” “I heard they even brought you a little gift. Don’t you want to see what it is?” Looking at her warm smile, I knew exactly what she was doing. She was trying to coax me into another adoption meeting. Because I was quiet and well-behaved, countless people had wanted to adopt me over the years. But every single time, I rejected them. This time was no different. “I’m not going! Stop tricking me, Mrs. Gable. They don’t just want to talk. They want to take me away!” “How many times do I have to say it? I have a mom! I’m waiting for my real mom to take me home!” I stood up, hands on my hips, looking at her with absolute seriousness. Mrs. Gable let out a long sigh, her eyes filled with pity. “Chloe, everyone else from your group has been adopted. They’ve started new lives. They have loving homes, and parents who adore them.” “If you’re worried about your foster parents treating you badly, I promise I’ll visit you every single week. I’ll make sure you grow up happy and healthy, okay?” I didn’t even look up. Instead, I kept coloring the greeting card in my hands and replied casually, “I’m making a card for my mom. I don’t have time to talk.” “She came to see me last night. I’m going to leave this card by the window tonight. When she comes back next time, she’ll get my present!” To prove my point, I waved the card in front of Mrs. Gable. Just then, Harper walked past the room. She was another girl from the home, and she had just been adopted by a wealthy young couple. Today was her moving day. Hearing my words, she burst into a loud, mocking laugh. “Mrs. Gable, is Chloe actually crazy?” “She brags about having a mom every day, but she’s never even seen her face!” “No wonder no one wants to adopt you, Chloe. You’re a total psycho!” With a smug sneer, she turned around, grabbed her new parents’ hands, and walked away. Mrs. Gable immediately tried to soothe me. “Chloe, don’t listen to Harper. She didn’t mean it.” Why would I be angry? I knew I wasn’t crazy. I didn’t care about Harper’s insults at all. Soon, I would prove to everyone that I wasn’t lying. That night, I purposely used a pair of scissors to make a small cut on my finger. Then, I placed the greeting card right on the windowsill. When I woke up the next morning, a cartoon bear band-aid was neatly wrapped around my finger. The card on the windowsill was gone. I jumped out of bed, practically screaming with joy as I ran into the courtyard. “Mrs. Gable! I told you my mom is real!” “Look at this!” I rushed up to her and held my finger high in the air. Mrs. Gable stared at the band-aid, completely stunned. But a second later, she smiled warmly at me. “I believe you, Chloe.” “Because your biological family has actually found you.” “They are coming to take you home today.” My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe my ears. Mom was really coming back! My card actually worked! Suddenly, a deep voice sounded from behind me. “Sweetheart, I’ve come to take you home.” I turned around excitedly, but then I froze. The person standing there was not my mother. It was a strange man.

I stared at the stranger, a sudden wave of anger washing over me. This man was not my mother. Why was he pretending to be my family? He just wanted to take me away so that when my mom came back, she wouldn’t be able to find me! “I don’t know you! I’m not going with you!” Tears welled up in my eyes, and I hid behind Mrs. Gable. The man pulled a small teddy bear out from behind his back, knelt down, and spoke softly. “Chloe, I brought you this bear. See? It has the exact same cartoon pattern as the band-aid on your finger. Do you like it?” I stared at the bear, completely frozen. How did he know what pattern was on my band-aid? Did he know my mom? Before I could process this, Mrs. Gable gently explained the situation to me. “Chloe, this is your biological father, William Sterling.” “They found your profile in the national DNA database a few days ago. That’s when they realized you were the daughter they lost years ago.” “I’ve personally verified the DNA test reports. You are indeed his daughter.” I didn’t fully understand the technical terms, but I understood the words “biological daughter.” Did this mean I could finally find my mom? I tugged at Mrs. Gable’s sleeve and asked quietly, “Where is my mom, then?” Before Mrs. Gable could answer, William gently patted my head and smiled. “She has some business to attend to today, so she couldn’t make it.” “But once you come home with me, you’ll get to see her.” Tears of pure joy threatened to spill over. I was finally going to see my mother! I wanted her to take my hand and show the whole world that I wasn’t a liar, that she had been protecting me from the shadows all along! After finishing the paperwork, I went back to my room to pack my few pieces of old clothing. But William stopped me. He picked me up in his arms, his voice filled with affection. “Tomorrow, I’ll take you shopping. We’ll buy a hundred new outfits!” “Let’s leave these old clothes behind. Consider it a farewell to the past.” I didn’t care about the clothes. I just wanted to see my mom. So I nodded, letting him carry me out of the group home. The moment we stepped through the front gates, a crowd of reporters and paparazzi surrounded us. They shoved microphones into my face, shouting over one another. “Are you the girl adopted by the CEO of Sterling Group?” “Why did Mr. Sterling choose to adopt you?” “Sweetheart, how does it feel to suddenly become the heiress of the wealthiest family in the state? Do you know your life is about to change forever?” Faced with the flashing cameras and loud voices, my face crumpled. “I don’t care about money. I just want to see my mom.” Before I could say anything else, William angrily pushed the microphones away. “This is a private family matter! Show some respect to my daughter!” “She is just a child. Stop asking her such superficial questions!” He shielded me through the crowd and placed me into the back of a luxury SUV. During the drive, I couldn’t stop imagining what my mom looked like. Would she look like me? Would she like the card I made for her? Why had she stayed in the shadows for so many years? I had so many questions, and I wanted to ask her face-to-face. But it was okay. We had plenty of time now. The car stopped in front of a massive, beautiful mansion. I immediately jumped out and ran inside. “Mom!” I screamed, rushing through the front doors. Standing in the grand foyer was a young, elegant woman with her arms wide open. Next to her stood a young girl about my age. “Chloe, come here. Let me give you a hug,” the woman said with a warm smile. But I froze right in my tracks and screamed, “You are not my mom!”

The woman’s smile faltered, and her arms dropped slowly to her sides. William quickly knelt beside me, trying to soothe me. “Chloe, you shouldn’t speak to your mother like that.” The woman didn’t seem angry. Instead, she looked at me with deep sympathy. “It’s okay, William. It’s natural that Chloe can’t accept me right away. We have plenty of time.” She looked at me and said, “If it makes you more comfortable, you can call me Valerie. I want us to build a real relationship, however long it takes.” Then, she nudged the young girl beside her. The girl stepped forward, grabbing my hand with a sweet smile. “Hi, Chloe. I’m your sister, Evie.” Despite their friendliness, I remained completely cold. Because I had seen my real mother in the dark the night before. Even though I couldn’t see her face clearly, I saw her silhouette. My real mother had short hair. This woman, Valerie, had very long hair. No matter how much time passed, this woman would never be my mother. William took me up to my bedroom. It was beautiful, warm, and bright. Most importantly, the bed was covered in plush teddy bears—the exact same design as the cartoon bear on my band-aid. My real mom must have set this up for me. In the days that followed, William and Valerie took great care of me. But the better they treated me, the sadder I felt. Why wasn’t my real mom here with me? She was the one who had protected me in the dark all these years. Why was someone else taking her place in the light? One evening, Valerie came up to my room to call me down for dinner. I was sitting on the floor, playing with the teddy bears. “Chloe, dinner’s ready. Let’s go down to eat.” Then, she glanced at the plush toys scattered all over the floor. A look of disgust flashed across her face, and she muttered under her breath, “I honestly don’t get what’s so special about these stupid cheap bears…” Hearing her words, a wild rage exploded inside me. I grabbed my slipper and threw it hard at her, screaming, “They are not stupid! My mom gave them to me!” Valerie was shocked by my sudden outburst. She dodged the slipper, her own temper instantly flaring. “Stop living in a fantasy world! Your mother abandoned you a long time ago!” “I’ve had enough of walking on eggshells around you! You’re just an ungrateful brat!” I froze, tears streaming down my face. Valerie’s mouth was still moving, but I couldn’t hear a word she was saying. Only one sentence kept echoing in my head: Your mother abandoned you. William ran upstairs after hearing the commotion, looking shocked at the scene. “What is going on here?” Valerie’s face was red with anger as she pointed a finger at me. “Your daughter! She just threw her shoe at me!” “You should have left her in that group home! Not only is she completely delusional about having a mother, but now she’s turning violent!” “Is she going to burn the house down next? I’m warning you, William, if she hurts a single hair on Evie’s head, I won’t let this go!” I didn’t care about her accusations. My mind was completely shattered by the thought that my mother didn’t want me. “Dad! Valerie is lying! She said my mom abandoned me!” “My mom protects me every single day! How could she not want me!” I rushed to my drawer and pulled out the cartoon band-aid I had saved. Even though my cut had healed long ago, I kept it like a precious treasure. “Look! This is the band-aid she gave me! It matches the bears on my bed!” “She loves me! She would never abandon me!” I sobbed, my tears soaking the front of my shirt. A flash of pain went through William’s eyes. He took a deep breath, knelt down, and said quietly, “Chloe… your mother did abandon you.”

Before I could even process his words, William began to tell me the story of what happened years ago. “When you were a year old, your mother said she was taking you to a local market.” “But she never came back. I called the police, but no matter how hard they searched, they couldn’t find a trace of either of you.” “The investigators told me she had most likely run away with you. It happened a lot back then.” “I really thought she had fallen in love with someone else and took you with her. So, I filed for divorce. Later, I met Valerie, and she helped me rebuild my life.” “It wasn’t until I found your DNA match recently that I realized you had been living in a group home all these years. Your mother… she must have dumped you on the side of the road back then.” “Thank God a kind stranger found you and took you to the shelter, otherwise you would have died out there…” His words felt like sharp needles stabbing directly into my heart. Was it true? Did my mother really abandon me? I stood there, paralyzed, as tears poured down my cheeks. Seeing my state, William gently patted my head. “I know it’s hard to accept, Chloe. But I need you to move on so you can start your new life.” “Whenever you’re ready to talk, I’ll be in the other room.” With that, he walked out with Valerie. I clutched the cartoon band-aid in my hand, a suffocating darkness swallowing me whole. My mother didn’t want me. My father had a new family. My existence felt entirely pointless. Hearing the faint sound of laughter from the other room where William, Valerie, and Evie were, the last string in my mind snapped. I don’t know how long I stood there, but by the time I snapped out of it, it was late at night. I quietly crept up to the roof of the mansion, clutching the band-aid. Staring at the little bear pattern, I laughed through my tears. “Mom, you’re a liar.” With that, I took a step forward and jumped. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying safely in my bed, completely unharmed. On the nightstand beside me, there was a brand-new cartoon bear band-aid. In that moment, I knew. My mom had saved me. She had never abandoned me. She loved me more than life itself. I resolved to stay alive. I would live until the day I could finally hold her in my arms. From that day on, I was no longer quiet or sullen. I became active, vibrant, and threw myself into my studies. William and Valerie were shocked by my sudden transformation, but they were genuinely happy to see me thriving. Even though William had destroyed all photos of my mother in his anger years ago, leaving me with no idea what she looked like, it didn’t matter. I studied as hard as I could. If I climbed high enough, I would eventually find her. And when that day came, I would stand proudly by her side. Years later, when the SAT scores were released, I received a call from the admissions office. “Chloe Sterling, you scored a perfect 1600. You are the state valedictorian.” “Harvard’s prestigious finance program has extended an invitation. Would you like to accept?” William was ecstatic when he heard the news. “That’s my girl! You’ll study finance and take over the Sterling Group one day!” But my face remained completely blank. I said softly, “I’m not going to Harvard. I made a promise to my mom. I’m going to find her.” William’s face instantly twisted in rage. He pointed a finger at my face and yelled, “I thought you had grown out of this nonsense! You’re still as naive as you were years ago!” “I told you, she abandoned you! You don’t even know who she is or what she looks like!” “I’m warning you, Chloe. If you run off to chase this imaginary mother of yours, you are cut off from the Sterling family! I will disown you!” I didn’t argue. I went straight to my room and packed my bags. That very night, I moved out of the Sterling mansion. No matter how much William pleaded afterward, I never looked back. Because I finally knew who my mother was.

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My daughter was run over and killed right at the gates of her elementary school. The moment I heard the news, I popped open a bottle of expensive red wine to celebrate. When her homeroom teacher called me, I hung up instantly. When my husband called, I blocked his number without a second thought. In my past life, my daughter was also run over and killed outside the school gates on this exact day. But back then, when I was the first to rush to the scene, I realized with horror that the car that killed her was my own. And the school’s surveillance footage showed that the person behind the wheel, driving straight into my daughter, was me. Both the homeroom teacher and my husband pointed their fingers at me. The teacher claimed she saw me hit the girl with her own eyes. My husband claimed I had always been mentally unstable, venting my rage by abusing our daughter at home, but he never thought I’d be insane enough to run her over. The crowd screamed at me, the police dragged me away, and in the end, I was brutally strangled to death in a cold prison cell. My husband inherited my entire family fortune. Until the moment I died, I didn’t understand how this happened. Why was I framed as my own daughter’s murderer when I had done absolutely nothing? Then, I opened my eyes again. I was back on the very day she died.

My mind was in a daze, still trapped in the agonizing pain of being strangled to death in my past life. “Babe, what are you staring at? Hurry up and drive Lily to school.” Looking at my husband, Adrian, and his incredibly gentle smile, my pupils shrank. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms. In my past life, it was because I drove our daughter to school this morning. My fingerprints were left all over the steering wheel, and the police used that to immediately lock me in as the prime suspect. So today, no matter what, I could not touch that car. But there was one thing I still couldn’t wrap my head around. Why did the surveillance footage show me driving the car that killed Lily? I was clearly at home the entire time. I never even went near the school. And what confused me even more was why Adrian would frame me so ruthlessly. He had always been the perfect husband and father. He took care of Lily and me so well, keeping us happy and well-fed. In the eyes of our friends and family, marrying a man like Adrian was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Seeing me freeze, he blinked, his face full of concern. “What’s wrong, sweetie? Are you feeling sick?” Looking into his eyes—eyes that looked so genuinely worried but hid a murderous soul—I forced down the hatred burning inside me and squeezed out a weak smile. “I think I have a fever. Can you drive Lily to school today?” I watched his face closely as I spoke. There was no surprise on his face. Only pure, loving concern. Why? “No! I don’t want Daddy to take me! I want Mommy!” Lily screamed from the hallway. Hearing her voice, my heart gave a violent shudder. In my past life, I had driven Lily to school just like any other day. By noon, I received the news of her horrific death. When I rushed to the school, all I saw was her cold, broken body on the asphalt. I had held her corpse, screaming and crying until my throat bled. But Lily’s homeroom teacher, Evelyn, pointed at me and screamed, calling me a monster, accusing me of shedding crocodile tears. My mind had gone completely blank. I had no idea why she was attacking me. Until she pulled up the security footage. There it was—my car, running Lily down. And the woman in the driver’s seat looked exactly like me. The crowd of onlookers went wild with rage. Their spit and curses rained down on me. “You’re worse than an animal! How could you run over your own child!” “Such a sweet little girl! How could you be so heartless!” Then, Adrian rushed to the scene. I thought he would defend me, that he would tell them there had to be some mistake. Instead, he slapped me hard across the face. The gentle, loving husband vanished. His eyes were bloodshot as he roared at me: “Vivian! Give me back my daughter! You’ve always been mentally unstable! You beat me, you beat Lily!” “But she was your own flesh and blood! How could you run her over in cold blood?!” When the forensic team arrived, they found that Lily’s body wasn’t just bruised from the car crash—she had old, faded whip marks all over her back. In an instant, the crowd’s fury peaked. They dragged me to the ground, kicking and stomping on me until I was half-dead. By the time the ambulance finally arrived, I was already slipping away. Later, I was thrown into prison. And eventually, I was strangled to death in the shadows, while my husband, who had framed me, inherited my billionaire father’s entire estate. The agony of my death was still fresh. But this time, I was going to uncover the truth.

“Lily, Mommy isn’t feeling well today. Let Daddy take you, okay?” I spoke to my daughter in a soft, gentle voice. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lily’s skin. It was smooth, fair, and flawless. There wasn’t a single scratch on her. In my past life, there were too many loopholes. First, why did the camera show me driving the car when I was at home? Second, why did Lily have old, faded scars on her body when she died? I stared at Lily’s perfect skin now. A terrifying thought crossed my mind. Did Lily have some kind of blood clotting disorder? Or… was someone abusing her at school, causing those hidden scars? Just then, Adrian called out from the bedroom: “Alright, honey. You stay in bed and rest. I’ll change and take Lily to school.” I watched his retreating back, my suspicion growing deeper. I thought he would hesitate, but he agreed so easily. What was the real play here? While he was in the bedroom changing, I knelt down in front of Lily and whispered, “Lily, tell Mommy. Does anyone bully you at school?” Lily scoffed, looking incredibly smug. “No way! I’m the queen of my class. I’m the one who bosses everyone else around!” No one bullied her? My brows furrowed as Adrian walked her out the door. Then where did those old scars on her body come from? The mystery was getting darker by the second. As soon as their car pulled out of the driveway, I called an Uber and followed them from a safe distance. At the school gates, Evelyn, the homeroom teacher, was waiting. She took Lily from Adrian’s hands with her usual warm smile. She even patted Lily’s head affectionately. Watching this, my mind raced. My husband’s behavior was completely normal. But the more normal it seemed, the more uneasy I felt. Why would he frame me? And how did Evelyn get her hands on a video of “me” running down my own daughter? What was the link between them? Desperate for answers, I pulled out my phone and began reviewing the video I had just secretly recorded of them at the school gate, analyzing it frame by frame.

Half an hour passed, and I found nothing. I checked my watch. Cold sweat began to bead on my forehead, my heart hammering against my ribs. I was running out of time. In my past life, Lily’s “accident” happened exactly at noon, under the blistering midday sun. Yet, everything was shrouded in a thick fog. I couldn’t see the truth. Even playing my recorded video frame by frame, Adrian looked like the perfect, loving father. I put my phone down and sat at a small coffee shop across the street from the school, scanning the surroundings for any clue, any anomaly. But even when the morning bell rang and the kids went inside for classes, I was still completely in the dark. Even with a second chance at life, I had no leads. I had too little information from my past life, and time in this life was ticking away. I felt like a drowning woman, watching the water rise, helpless against the freezing current. There were less than three hours left until noon. Panic clawed at my chest. I forced myself to take deep, slow breaths to keep from losing my mind. I forced myself to focus on the most critical question: Why did the surveillance footage show me behind the wheel? The truth had to be right in front of me. I just needed to tear down the veil. But as the minutes ticked by, I still couldn’t grasp it. “What am I missing? What is the key to all of this?” I muttered, clutching my head in frustration. “Hey, kiddo, you alright? Do you need me to call 911?” The old man running the hotdog stand nearby looked at me with deep concern. I remembered him. In my past life, he was one of the people who threw garbage at me and cursed my name. “911? Wait…” A bolt of lightning struck my brain. I had been looking at this from the wrong angle! The truth wasn’t in what I could see. It was in what was hidden. Joy surged through me. I thanked the old man, pulled out my phone, and opened the video again. Finally, in one single, split-second frame, I saw it. A cold smirk played on my lips. I immediately dialed my billionaire father’s private secretary. “Vance…” After giving Vance his instructions, I paced around the sidewalk, waiting. Whether my theory was right depended entirely on what Vance found. A few minutes later, my phone buzzed. It was Vance. His voice was shaking as he delivered the results of his investigation. Hearing his words, my blood ran hot with pure adrenaline! Unbelievable. The most twisted, insane theory was actually the truth! I took a deep breath and quickly gave Vance a series of orders. At noon, the news of Lily’s death arrived. I popped open a bottle of expensive red wine, smiling. When Evelyn called, I hung up. When Adrian called, I blocked him. I poured a glass of wine and opened a local influencer’s TikTok Live stream. On the screen, Evelyn’s eyes were red, her body trembling as she cried to the camera: “Lily was such an angel! I don’t understand how her own mother could be such a monster to run her down!” Because the story was blowing up online, the school board members had rushed to the scene. To save the school’s reputation, they had security set up a large digital screen, playing the traffic camera footage on a loop. In the video, “I” was driving my car, waiting at the school gate. The moment Lily walked out, the car surged forward, striking her down, then rolling over her body again and again. Evelyn sobbed uncontrollably on camera. The stream’s viewer count exploded, surpassing 100k in minutes. The live chat was a waterfall of pure rage, all directed at me. Adrian was there too. He was kneeling beside Lily’s covered body, lifting his shirt to show the crowd deep bruises on his torso. He sobbed hysterically, a far cry from his usual composed self. “I never thought… we had a small fight this morning, and I told her she couldn’t take Lily to school. She went completely psycho! She took the car and killed our baby! Oh god, my sweet Lily!” Adrian’s tearful confession broke the hearts of everyone watching. The comments section went wild: “She ran over her own daughter? Hang this bitch!” “I can’t imagine how terrified that poor girl was when she realized her own mother was driving the car!” In an instant, I became the most hated woman in the country. In my past life, faced with this wave of hatred, I had been unable to speak a single word of defense. I was trampled to death by an angry mob. I took a sip of my wine, smiled, and headed toward the school. Let’s see if they can destroy me this time.

I walked through the crowd at the school gates, my face completely expressionless. The moment Adrian saw me, his grief turned into rabid fury. He lunged forward, grabbing my collar, screaming: “Vivian! What did Lily ever do to you?! You were her mother!!” He cried so hard he could barely breathe, looking exactly like a devastated, innocent father. In my past life, this act of his was what sealed my fate and sent me to my grave. I slowly peeled his hands off my collar, my fists clenching. Seeing my lack of reaction, his crying got louder, playing to the crowd. The surrounding onlookers glared at me, their eyes burning with hatred. Evelyn stepped forward, her eyes puffy as she chimed in: “Vivian! Even if you hated Lily, she was your own flesh and blood! If you hated her so much, why did you even give birth to her?!” I could hear the collective gasp of the crowd. Several men looked ready to tear me apart, only held back by their wives. Adrian let out a hollow, tragic laugh, his voice raspy. “You lied to me this morning. You said you were sick so I would drive her. You planned this all along, didn’t you?” “Vivian, do you even have a soul? Lily was so small! How could you?!” Suddenly, a half-eaten hotdog sailed through the air and hit my shoulder. It was the old hotdog vendor. He pointed at me, screaming: “I can’t believe I almost called 911 for this monster! You should have died in your bed!” Soon, other parents began throwing trash, coffee cups, and water bottles at me. The crowd’s fury was a raging fire. “Kill her! Kill the monster!” “If she can do this to her own kid, she’s a threat to society!” Everyone’s anger was manipulated perfectly. The mob mentality was incredibly dangerous. In my past life, surrounded by my daughter’s corpse and my husband’s lies, I had lost my mind, unable to utter a single word of defense. I was beaten, thrown in jail, and strangled. But in this life? I wasn’t going down. I looked at the sea of hateful faces and smiled coldly. “Who said I was the killer?”

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On my wedding day, my fiancée, Chloe, made an excuse and sent me to the front desk to pick up our wedding rings. When I got back, all I saw was my mother, covered in blood, being rushed into an ambulance. The doctor declared her dead at the scene. They couldn’t save her. I thought it was just a tragic accident. It wasn’t until after the funeral, when I went to find Chloe, that I overheard a conversation outside her private lounge. “Tyler, did you really prank Ethan’s mom to death? What happened?” “I was just messing with her! I told her Ethan got into a horrific car crash. Who knew the old lady would be so gullible? She panicked, ran out, fell down the stairs, and broke her neck.” “Dude, that’s a sick prank, even for you!” “Chloe knew about it too. To help me pull it off, she purposely sent Ethan away to fetch the rings.” Chloe sighed inside the room. “Nobody talk about this ever again! Let it die.” Standing outside the door, my blood ran cold. My eyes widened in disbelief. My mother’s death wasn’t an accident. She was pranked to death by Tyler Harrison. And the woman who swore she loved me had actively participated in it, helping him cover up his dirty secret. If that was the case, I didn’t want this wedding anymore. Not a single person who played a part in my mother’s death would get away with it. …

“Look, I know I messed up, okay? I won’t play that kind of joke again.” Tyler said the words, but the smug grin on his face couldn’t be hidden. I thought his friends would call him out for being a psychopath, but instead, they laughed and patted his shoulder. “Man, you’re crazy! A literal prank god.” “Don’t beat yourself up over it. It’s not entirely your fault.” “Yeah, who knew the old lady had no common sense? It was just a joke, and she rushed out without even thinking.” “Exactly! Maybe it was just her time to go. She was destined to die on her son’s wedding day anyway.” Tyler clapped his hands, looking thrilled that they appreciated his “genius.” “Chloe, listen to them! It really wasn’t my fault,” Tyler said. “The old lady just didn’t use her brain. I prank you guys all the time, right? Has anyone ever died from my jokes? No!” The others laughed and nodded, mocking my mother’s death as if it were just bad luck. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms. A burning rage consumed me. What disgusted me more was that Chloe didn’t yell at Tyler. Instead, she just shook her head with a fond, indulgent smile. Suddenly, someone yelled, “Holy shit! Is that a hickey on your neck, Chloe?” “Hahaha! Spill! Who did you spend last night with?” Chloe’s best friend teased, leaning in to inspect the mark. Tyler smirked, looking incredibly proud of himself. “Who do you think?” Everyone looked at each other. Realizing what Tyler’s smug face meant, the room erupted. “No way! You slept with her?” “Is that even a question? Ethan’s been busy running around throwing a funeral for his mom. When would he have the time or mood to sleep with Chloe?” “So Chloe got lonely and went to Tyler to get her fix. Damn.” Tyler gave the guy a thumbs-up. My heart didn’t just burn with rage; it sank into a bottomless pit of despair. What a sick joke. After my mother passed, I was so worried about Chloe feeling neglected. The moment the funeral ended, I rushed over to find her. Yet, she didn’t care about me at all. My mother died because of them, and while I was grieving, she was sleeping with the murderer, throwing salt on my bleeding wounds. “Man, Ethan is seriously pathetic.” “If he finds out Tyler’s prank killed his mom, and that you’re sleeping with Chloe, do you think he’ll sue?” Tyler laughed scornfully. “With what evidence? He has nothing. What can he do to me?”

Hearing Tyler’s arrogant voice, I couldn’t hold back anymore. I kicked the door open and stormed in. My sudden entrance wiped the smiles off their faces. Everyone froze. The entire VIP lounge went dead silent. The atmosphere became suffocatingly heavy. Only Tyler remained unfazed. He gave me a mocking smirk and leaned back, hiding behind Chloe. Chloe froze with her wine glass halfway to her mouth. She glanced at Tyler, then turned to look at me. Her voice was calm, almost indifferent, as if none of this had anything to do with her. “Is your mom’s funeral over?” I didn’t speak. I just glared at them with pure, unadulterated hatred. Chloe sighed, and the others began exchanging nervous glances. They were trying to figure out how much I had heard. “Ethan, did you hear what we were just talking about?” “Yes,” I said, my voice trembling with rage. “My mother didn’t die from an accident. She died because Tyler pranked her…” Before I could finish, Tyler jumped up and pointed a finger at me, shouting, “Hold on! What do you mean I pranked her to death? She was just stupid. She couldn’t tell a joke from reality! Have you never joked with anyone? It was her own fault she fell. Stop blaming me for her death!” “Who the hell plays with someone’s life on their wedding day?!” I roared. “And who made sure I was out of reach? Who took my phone so no one could call me?! My mother had a heart condition! She couldn’t take that kind of shock!” In the face of my fury, everyone shut their mouths, too scared to speak. Except Tyler. He grabbed a glass from the coffee table and hurled it at my head. I dodged it, lunged forward, and tackled him to the couch. I threw punch after punch. He was no match for me and was quickly pinned down. But his friends quickly jumped in to help him. Under the pretense of “breaking us up,” they grabbed my arms and pinned me down, giving Tyler a free shot to punch me in the ribs. Chloe, blind to the unfairness, stood up and screamed at me, “Enough!” “How long are you going to keep making a scene, Ethan?!” *I* was making a scene? I was trying to get justice for my dead mother, and my fiancée was protecting the killer. Oh, right. I almost forgot. She cheated on me. She slept with Tyler while I was organizing my mother’s funeral. Of course she would take his side. “Chloe, even now, you won’t apologize. You’re just helping him escape the consequences.” I ripped my arms away from the guys holding me, scanning the room of disgusting hypocrites. Maybe Chloe felt a tiny speck of guilt from my broken expression, because she turned to Tyler and said, “Tyler, just apologize to him.” Tyler scoffed, but not wanting to upset Chloe, he gave me a lazy, insincere glance. “Fine. My bad, okay? Now stop acting like a psycho.” Chloe’s smile returned as she looked at him. “And don’t play those kinds of jokes anymore, got it?” Then, she turned to me. “Tyler is young and a bit arrogant. Just let it go, Ethan. He apologized.” Every word she spoke was dripping with favoritism. It was a knife wrapped in velvet. She excused a fatal action as “being young” and expected the victim to just move on. My fingernails cut deep into my palms. It was painful, but I felt completely numb. “I don’t accept that pathetic excuse for an apology,” I said, adjusting my collar. “If a simple ‘sorry’ can solve a murder, then I guess I won’t mind ending him myself.” I walked to the door and stopped. “The wedding is off. We are done.” I slammed the door behind me, ignoring Chloe’s angry screams calling my name.

“Chloe, it looks like Ethan is actually serious this time.” “Is your wedding really cancelled?” Chloe shrugged, her voice filled with absolute confidence. “He’s just throwing a tantrum right now. Once he cools down, he’ll regret speaking to me like that. Cancel the wedding? Never. He loves me too much to ever walk away.” She then glared at Tyler. “Don’t play those jokes again. I mean it.” Tyler saw she was genuinely annoyed and quickly nodded like a good boy. Standing just outside the door, I heard every single word. It was so ironic. Tyler had once been trapped in a burning car crash, and I was the one who risked my life to pull him out. I never expected him to be such a heartless beast. He killed his savior’s mother for a laugh and slept with his savior’s fiancée. How evil did someone have to be to do that? If I hadn’t saved him back then, none of this would have happened. But there are no “what ifs” in life. Only consequences. I left the bar and immediately went to retrieve the security footage from the wedding venue. But the footage of that day was gone. Chloe had already destroyed it. No wonder Tyler was so cocky. I walked down the dark, empty street. It was past midnight. A bitter pain swallowed me whole. Right then, my phone rang. It was Chloe’s mother. “I heard you told Chloe the wedding is off. Is that true?” The Davis family had always looked down on me. Even though I worked tirelessly to help Chloe build the Davis Tech Group from a second-rate startup into one of the top tech companies in the city, they still treated me like trash. They thought Chloe deserved a billionaire, not me. When I didn’t answer immediately, Mrs. Davis grew irritated. “Are you mute?” “Mrs. Davis, watch your tone,” I said coldly. “And yes, we are over. Isn’t this exactly what you wanted?” “Hmph! Since you’re the one who called it off, don’t you dare regret it. Don’t go crawling back to her. My daughter deserves a much richer man.” I hung up. There was nothing more to say. When I finally got back to my apartment, it was 3:00 AM. To my surprise, Chloe was waiting inside. The moment she saw me, she stood up. “Where have you been? Why are you back so late? I already chewed Tyler out for you. It was an accident. To make it up to you, and because of all the hard work you’ve done for the company, I’ve decided to announce your promotion to Vice President tomorrow morning.” I looked at her, my expression dead and cold. She had no idea I had already agreed to the breakup with her mother. “Chloe, get out of my house. I need peace.” My coldness caught her off guard. I am a man with boundaries. I could never accept her cheating, and I could definitely never forgive her for helping the man who caused my mother’s death. “I didn’t just come to see you,” she said, her eyes turning red. She walked over to my mother’s memorial photo, placed a bouquet of flowers down, and bowed deeply. “I’m sorry, Sarah. Our stupid joke went too far. I really didn’t mean for this to happen.” She began to sob, making it hard for me to kick her out right then. Before she left, she looked at me with tearful eyes. “Ethan, that night… I was just so consumed by guilt. I drank too much and mistook Tyler for you.”

The next morning, I went to the office. Chloe had texted me multiple times, insisting I wear a formal suit. When I entered the building, my coworkers were whispering and pointing at me. “Mr. Miller is back!” “I heard he’s getting promoted to VP today. That’s why he had to come.” “He deserves it. No one has worked harder than him… But do you know why Chloe is suddenly promoting him?” “Oh, I know. Chloe and Tyler pranked his mom to death on his wedding day. And get this—Chloe slept with Tyler right after. She cheated on Ethan.” “Oh my god. So she’s giving him the VP title to buy his silence?” Everyone stared at me with a mix of pity and disgust, thinking I was selling my mother’s soul for a corporate title. I ignored them, carrying a heavy weight in my chest as I walked to my office. I began packing up my personal belongings. Halfway through, a colleague came to tell me the board meeting was starting. Everyone was already there. Chloe looked at me and smiled, then stood up to speak. “Everyone, thank you for coming. Today, I have a major announcement. The position of Vice President has been vacant for too long. It’s time we give it to someone with talent, dedication, and leadership.” Everyone in the room turned to look at me. In their eyes, I was the only one who fit that description. Chloe smiled warmly at me, gesturing for me to stand up. I paused, then stood. But in the next second, Chloe’s voice rang out: “Let’s welcome our new Vice President—Tyler Harrison!” “Please give him a round of applause!” The room erupted into quiet snickers and mocking whispers directed at me. “Oh my god, it’s not Ethan? Why did he stand up then?” “Hahaha, this is so embarrassing. I would literally die.” I had bled and sweat for this company for years, only for Chloe to hand my hard work to Tyler on a silver platter. She had publicly humiliated me. Tyler stood up, strutting past me. As he did, he intentionally stepped hard on my dress shoe. He leaned in, whispering so only I could hear, “You pathetic loser. Your mom was easy to fool, and you’re even easier. Chloe lost a bet to me, so she had to help me prank you guys. You have nothing.” I watched him walk to the podium. The rage in my heart crystallized into cold determination. I turned around and walked out of the conference room. Chloe tried to look after me while talking to Tyler, but Tyler held her back. I had already known her promise of a promotion was too good to be true. I walked into my office, placed my resignation letter on the desk, and pulled out my phone. I made a few quick calls to our top clients and partners, informing them that I was leaving Davis Tech Group and that none of their future projects had anything to do with me anymore. Then, I blocked Chloe on Snapchat, Instagram, and cell. I grabbed my box of belongings and walked out of the building without looking back.

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I participated in a viral Snapchat trend, pretending to make a “space-time call” to my 17-year-old self. Filled with hope, I whispered into the phone, “Ethan, what is our life like at twenty-eight? Are we married? Are we… happy?” There was a long silence on the other end. Then, Ethan’s exhausted voice came through: “Not great.” “Chloe, I’ve wasted my entire life on you.” “Do me a favor. In your parallel universe, just let me go.” I froze, almost believing I had misheard him. When I finally snapped out of it, I called my mom, crying hysterically. “Mom, I—” “I know,” my mom interrupted, letting out a gentle, pitying sigh. “You’re seventeen-year-old Chloe right now, aren’t you?” “Ethan hasn’t had it easy. He and Sienna have been deeply in love for ten years. Because of you, they’ve had to suppress their feelings all this time.” “Chloe, take my advice. In the next life, just let him be with Sienna.” The tears dried instantly on my cold face. My hands shook as I made one last call—to my sister, Sienna. On the other end of the line, she was in the middle of a passionate, breathless tryst with Ethan. She let out a muffled, trembling sob: “Chloe, please forgive me. Just tonight. He only belongs to me tonight.” “I won’t fight you for him in this life. But I beg you, in the next life, please step aside for once.” With tears streaming down my face, I hung up the phone. My heart was completely dead. Forget it. No need to wait for the next life, or some parallel universe. In this life, I would set them free.

Ethan didn’t come back until the next morning. He brought with him the faint scent of rose body wash, and the tips of his hair were still damp. As he took off his coat and hung it on the rack, he cast a casual glance at me. “Why are you up so early?” “I couldn’t sleep,” I replied calmly. After a brief pause, I spoke again. “Ethan, let’s call off the wedding.” He stiffened, turning his head to meet my slightly swollen eyes. “Are you… kidding me?” “I played a game last night,” I said, looking straight into his eyes. “A viral challenge. A space-time phone call.” Ethan’s hand froze. As he stared at me, his expression gradually shifted. “Chloe, are you testing me?” I let out a self-deprecating laugh. I hadn’t expected that his interrogation would come even before any explanation. “If I didn’t, would I have spent the rest of my life being kept in the dark like an idiot?” “Ethan.” My eyes turned red. “Are you two not disgusted by yourselves?” With a sharp *slap*, my face was whipped to the side. I held my burning cheek, utterly stunned. Ethan stared at his own hand, also frozen. It seemed he hadn’t expected himself to actually hit me. He pursed his lips tightly, drew his hand back, and looked down at me with a dark, warning gaze. “Chloe, if you have bitter words, direct them at me. I won’t tolerate anyone calling her names.” All the blood in my body rushed to my head. With tears of anger in my eyes, I raised my hand and slapped him back with all my might. “How dare you hit me!” “Ethan, not even my parents have ever laid a hand on me since I was a child!” But before my hand could land again, Ethan grabbed my arm in a death grip. He let out a cold sneer. “Your parents?” “Your parents know everything about me and Sienna. Did you know that?” “Last Thanksgiving, when you came home, before you could even sit down, your mom rushed to take you shopping, and your dad claimed he had to go buy pumpkin pie.” He leaned down close to my face, his tone dripping with mockery. “Your entire family was helping cover for us.” It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck me. I snapped my head up, staring at him in utter disbelief. He released me with a contemptuous smirk. “Wake up, Chloe.” “If I were you, I’d use whatever guilt I still have left for you as your future husband.” “After all, even your own parents don’t love you.” I collapsed heavily onto the floor, tears pouring down my face. “Why…” I gasped, struggling to lift my head. “Why do this to me?” “Ethan,” my voice shook violently. “I’m not a desperate clinger.” “If you really wanted to be with Sienna, I could have accepted it! I could have broken up with you, cancelled the wedding, and let you marry her!” “Why did you have to hide it from me? Why did everyone have to conspire to keep me in the dark!” “Go be with her! Why do you still want to marry me?!” I screamed in despair, my heart aching so intensely it felt like I was dying. He looked down at me from his height. After a long silence, he let out another cold laugh. “Why else? Do you actually think it’s because I love you?” He bent down, wiping the tears from my chin, making a clicking sound of pity and disdain. “Sienna is your older sister. She’s a single, divorced mother, and she already has a hard life.” “I don’t want her to suffer any judgment from others.” “If our wedding is called off and I immediately end up with her, how do you think our relatives will look at her?” “So…” He gripped my shoulders, his voice sweet but incredibly cruel. “Chloe, I can’t bear to let her suffer, so I have to make you suffer instead.” I stared at him, my whole body turning ice-cold. “So your plan is to use our marriage as a cover-up so you can secretly sleep with my sister?” “Smart girl,” he said, playfully pinching my nose. “So you’ll cooperate, right?” I slapped his hand away violently and yelled in rage: “Ethan, what makes you think I will just sit here and let you guys manipulate me?” “Oh, you will,” he smiled, pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket and laying it in front of me. “Your checkup from last week. You’re pregnant.” “Chloe, this is our child. Our first baby. You conceived when you were still full of hope for our marriage, when you loved me the most.” “You wouldn’t want him to grow up without a father, would you?” “Besides, you love me so much. We’ve been together for ten years. You gave me your entire youth. Can you really bear to cancel this wedding?” “Even if you do, who would want a single, pregnant woman?”

I picked up the pregnancy report, my hands shaking so much I could barely hold it. Tears poured down, blurring my vision. Suddenly, I burst into laughter, my tears dripping onto the paper. “Ethan, you really are ruthless.” He smiled, gently stroking my hair with a mix of warmth and absolute malice. “Good girl, Chloe. You don’t have a choice.” “Just remember, don’t let Sienna know you found out about this. I don’t want her to carry any psychological burden, understand?” I stared at his threatening, protective expression, feeling as if I were seeing him for the very first time. He stood up smoothly and walked right over me without a backward glance. I rushed into the bathroom and threw up violently into the toilet. A wave of intense nausea surged up from my stomach. I couldn’t tell if the burning pain was coming from my heart or my gut. I knelt on the cold floor, trembling all over, laughing and crying at the same time. Finally, with mechanical movements, I took out my phone, stopped the voice recorder, and saved the entire conversation. Then, I booked the earliest appointment for an abortion. Ethan was wrong. I did have a choice. As long as I was more ruthless and reckless than him, I could choose. The next day was supposed to be the day we went to City Hall to sign our marriage license. Ethan called me repeatedly, but I didn’t answer. Eventually, Sienna called me. “Chloe,” her voice was gentle, laced with a bit of sisterly playfulness. “Today is the day you sign the license. How can you throw a tantrum and not show up?” “Did you and Ethan have a fight? I’ll scold him for you, okay? Just be a good girl and come get registered.” I listened to her voice in a daze. She sounded like an entirely different person from the woman who was moaning in Ethan’s arms the other night. For a moment, I wished that night had just been a terrible nightmare, and that once I woke up, Sienna would still be my loving sister, and Ethan would still be my dependable fiancé. But alas… Leaning against the hospital bed, I spoke in a hoarse voice: “I’m sick. I can’t make it.” “Tell Ethan we’ll do it another day.” I hung up immediately and opened the dashcam app on my phone, which was synced to Ethan’s car. The video stabilized. It showed Ethan and Sienna inside the car. Sienna looked worried. “Ethan, what’s wrong with Chloe? Why is she acting up out of nowhere?” “Do you think she found out about us…” “No way,” Ethan leaned over to kiss her lips. “She’s too stupid to notice anything.” “Even if she did, she wouldn’t dare do anything,” he said with absolute confidence. “Sienna, I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Sienna still looked anxious. “But if she doesn’t sign the license, how are we going to…” “Then we won’t sign it. The wedding ceremony will still go on as planned anyway, just for show,” Ethan said lazily. Suddenly, he looked at Sienna with deep intensity. “Sienna, let’s get married.” Sienna gasped. “What did you say?” Ethan pulled her into his chest. “I’ll give her the ceremony, but I’ll sign the license with you.” “From now on, you will be my only true wife.” On the other side of the screen, my breath caught. I already knew they were dirty. But seeing the man I once loved with all my heart look at another woman—my own sister—and say those words still pierced my heart like a dagger. On the screen, Sienna’s eyes welled with tears. She nodded instinctively, then shook her head rapidly. “No, we can’t. We’ve already wronged Chloe so much. This… this is too cruel to her.” “And isn’t it cruel to reject me?” He leaned closer. “Sienna, are you going to choose your sister over me?” Sienna struggled, her face twisted in pain. Finally, as if making a monumental, tragic decision, she nodded. “Okay. We’ll sign the license.” “Even if we have to annul it or divorce later, I don’t care.” She looked at him with tears in her eyes, as if she were a martyr sacrificing herself. “Ethan, in this life, we can at least say we were husband and wife once.” They gazed into each other’s eyes, locked in a deep, passionate kiss. On the other side of the screen, my tears fell like rain.

This was the sister I thought loved me most, and the man I thought was my soulmate. Blood ties, sacred vows—all of it was a joke. And I was the biggest joke of all. I closed my eyes and let the nurses wheel me into the operating room. Three days later, on the morning of the wedding. I sat in front of the vanity mirror, watching my mom gently style my hair. Her expression was warm and loving, showing no sign of guilt whatsoever. Suddenly, I spoke up. “Mom, do you think I’ll be happy?” My mom’s hand paused. She looked up to meet my eyes in the mirror, her gaze a mix of irritation and helplessness. “Chloe, you’re marrying the man you love most. How could you not be happy?” “Think about Sienna…” She stopped herself, unable to finish the sentence. The corner of my mouth twitched. If I didn’t know the truth, I would have assumed she was referring to Sienna’s failed past marriage. But now, I knew all too well what she meant. She meant that I had stolen Sienna’s happiness. I had taken her lover. My parents had always favored Sienna. I knew that. They always said having an elder daughter and a younger son was the perfect family structure, but since I was a second daughter, I was just an extra. But I never imagined their favoritism could go this far. To help their eldest daughter cheat with their younger daughter’s fiancé. Without a shred of remorse, they even blamed me for stealing their eldest daughter’s happiness. “Yeah,” I sighed. “I’m marrying the man I love most.” “But does he love me the same way?” “Mom,” I tilted my head to look at her. “Do you love me as much as I love you?” My mom froze. For a split second, I clearly saw a flash of panic in her eyes. But she quickly recovered her composure. “Of course,” she smiled warmly, her mask flawless. “A mother always loves her children more than anything.” “It’s just that Sienna wasn’t as lucky as you, so I can’t help but look out for her a bit more.” My heart turned to stone. Watching me marry a treacherous man, conspiring with everyone to deceive me, and yet she called me “lucky.” Meanwhile, Sienna, who had secretly signed the marriage license with Ethan and was legally his wife, had to hide her relationship to avoid public scandal. And that was called “unlucky.” How could a parent’s heart be so twisted? “Chloe,” she said with a loaded tone, “I want to remind you that nothing in this world is perfect, and no marriage is flawless.” “Sometimes, being content with what you have and not being too greedy is the key to a peaceful life, okay?” I curled my lip in mockery. Was this a mother’s blessing? Or was it a pre-emptive warning? She was telling me that even if I discovered something in the future, I shouldn’t make a scene. I should just shut up and live with it. I lowered my gaze, hiding the coldness in my eyes. “I understand.” Satisfied, my mom smiled and went downstairs to greet the guests. I slowly opened the drawer and gripped the USB drive in my palm. Outside, the wedding party had arrived, and the car horns were blaring. The bridesmaids laughed and swarmed toward the door of the bridal suite to playfully block the groom. Only Sienna remained still, standing quietly by my side. I looked at her eyes. Her makeup was slightly smudged; she had been crying. She was wearing a long, white lace dress. Unlike the other bridesmaids, she looked more like a bride. Outside, the groomsmen laughed and shoved, finally pushing the door open. Ethan walked in, looking triumphant. He took large strides forward. And then, bypassing me entirely, he scooped Sienna up in his arms. The bridesmaids gasped. The groomsmen, completely oblivious, burst into laughter and patted his shoulder. “Wrong bride, Ethan! Wrong bride! Your bride is sitting on the bed!” “We know Sienna looks like Chloe, but you can’t just carry her away!” Everyone laughed off the awkward moment. Ethan slowly let Sienna down, looking at her with lingering affection. “Ah, my mistake.” He turned to look at me, his eyes narrowing with a subtle threat. “Chloe, you don’t mind, right?”

I stared at him, my fingernails digging deep into my palms. Only I knew what he really meant: marrying me was his mistake. He hadn’t carried the wrong person. From the very beginning, the only one he wanted to hold was my sister. “I don’t mind,” I said, my voice so calm it surprised even myself. The corner of his mouth ticked up, clearly pleased with my compliance. When it was time to leave, I held up my wedding gown and went toward the back seat of the limo. Ethan, already sitting inside, glanced at me and ordered: “Go sit in the front passenger seat. Let Sienna sit in the back.” I paused, looking up at him. Having a bridesmaid sit with the groom in the back while the bride sat alone in the front was unheard of. He was intentionally humiliating me. “Why?” I clenched my fists. “Do you really need a reason?” he sneered. “Sienna gets carsick easily. Is that enough?” Carsick? Everyone knew that sitting in the front passenger seat was better for motion sickness. Several of the groom’s relatives who came to assist with the wedding gave me amused, mocking looks. My parents stood nearby, completely ignoring the situation as if they hadn’t heard a thing. Ethan leaned in closer, lowering his voice. “Baby, for the sake of the baby in your womb, just bear with it. I promise you’re still the main event today.” “But you can’t expect to get me without paying some price, right?” The baby. He was still using the baby as leverage. I looked into his eyes and smiled coldly. “Sure.” I silently picked up my skirt, got out of the back, and sat in the front passenger seat. And my sister, without saying a word or looking at me, naturally slid into the back seat next to Ethan. She even playfully bumped my shoulder as she walked past, as if she were throwing a childish tantrum. Between her sister and a man, she always chose the man. When they slept together, when they signed the license, and now. The bridal motorcade set off toward the venue. In the rearview mirror, I saw the two of them secretly holding hands, their fingers tightly intertwined. Sienna’s face was solemn, her head turned to the window as she fought back tears. Ethan stared at her with eyes full of heartache. What a pair of tragic lovers. I coldly looked away. Why cry? I’ll set you free in a moment. … Finally, it was time for the ring exchange ceremony. Sienna held the ring box, walking down the aisle with grace and poise. The guests on both sides whispered among themselves. “Why is the maid of honor wearing white? Isn’t that clashing with the bride’s dress?” “Yeah, if I didn’t know better, I’d think she was the bride.” “Probably just wants to steal the spotlight…” But it was only minor gossip; no one truly cared. Ethan took the female ring and went to slide it onto my ring finger. It was loose and clearly didn’t fit. I stared at the ring and suddenly spoke aloud: “This isn’t my ring.” Ethan’s brows furrowed in annoyance. “Chloe, don’t make a scene. We’re in the middle of the ceremony.” I looked up at him, raising my voice so everyone could hear: “I said, this isn’t my ring.” In the next second, I grabbed Sienna’s hand and slid the ring onto her finger. The camera feed instantly projected a close-up on the giant screen. Everyone could see clearly that the wedding ring fit Sienna’s ring finger perfectly. The crowd gasped in shock. Sienna’s face went pale. She tried to pull her hand back, but I held on tight. Ethan glared at me with a furious expression, whispering through gritted teeth: “Chloe, have you lost your mind?” “Think about your baby! Do you want him to grow up without a father?” “Do you want to be a pregnant, rejected woman that nobody wants?” He sneered, confident he had me trapped. “You’d better use your brain before you do something stupid.” “Ruining this wedding does no good for either of us.” “You mean it does no good for *you*,” I corrected him gently. “What?” He was stunned. “You’re the one who needs this marriage as a cover-up, not me.” “And that baby won’t grow up without a father.” “Because,” my smile turned ice-cold, “he’s already gone.” His expression shattered. “What did you say?” “What do you mean? Chloe, make yourself clear! What happened to the baby?!” I smiled and remained silent. Suddenly, the big screen went black. Then, my mom’s voice echoed through the entire hall from the speakers:

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “452703”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster