Category: English

The economy tanked, and my husband’s salary was slashed from ten thousand a month to just two thousand. Right around that time, our daughter was diagnosed with a severe heart condition. To cover the crushing medical bills, I took out loans to fund his new business venture. It failed, leaving us with nothing. “Honey, I’m so sorry!” he cried, standing on the edge of a rooftop, ready to jump. I ran to him, sobbing, and threw my arms around him. “It’s okay,” I promised. “We’ll get through this together.” We spent the next seven years surviving in a cramped, damp basement apartment. Our daughter died in my arms because we couldn’t afford the five-thousand-dollar dose of the specialty drug that could have saved her. Then, I ran into one of his old colleagues. “Eleanor, congratulations! I heard Macaulay’s been getting raises every year. And that pharmaceutical company he started is worth billions now!” I stood there, clutching our daughter’s ashes, the blood draining from my face. The man didn’t notice my expression. He just kept gushing. “His first love, Isabelle, is a single mom with a sick daughter, you know. For the past seven years, Macaulay’s been anonymously sending her ten thousand dollars a month. He even spent a fortune developing that five-thousand-dollar specialty drug and has been giving it to her daughter for free, an unlimited supply…” 1 “You’re so lucky, Eleanor! A man who’s so loyal to his past but respects the boundaries of his present? You couldn’t find a better guy if you tried!” I couldn’t process his words. I just asked for the address and stumbled my way to the gleaming headquarters of Macaulay’s company. As I reached his office door, I heard voices from within. “Mr. Vance, about Isabelle. We have her on the payroll, but she only comes in for one meeting a week. The reports we generate for her are never used, and after taxes and insurance, her salary is still over twenty thousand a month. Are you sure you want to give her another raise next month?” The secretary paused. “Also, your wife came by last week. She was on her knees, begging one of our reps to let her have a single dose of the specialty drug on credit. I think she really needs it…” Macaulay cut her off, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Isabelle’s salary will be increased every month. And that drug has an extremely limited production run right now; her daughter’s needs come first. She’s had it so hard all these years, raising a sick child on her own. A stable income and a guaranteed supply of medicine are the least I can do to give her peace of mind.” He took a breath. “As for my wife… don’t worry about her for now. Our daughter’s had this condition for years; it can’t be that severe. Keep this quiet from both of them. Isabelle has a good heart. If she knew the truth, she’d feel guilty, and I don’t want that.” My hand trembled on the doorknob, a chill seeping into my very bones. To raise the money for his “failed” business, I had borrowed from every single one of my relatives. I still hadn’t paid back a cent, and they treated me like a ghost. For seven long years, I’d shouldered every burden, never wanting to add to his stress. Our daughter had been on the brink of death so many times, and I had sat by her hospital bed alone, even when I was burning up with a 102-degree fever. I knew the pattern of the tiles on that hospital floor better than I knew my own reflection. The pittance he brought home each month didn’t even cover the basic medical co-pays. I lived on less than a dollar a day, scavenging for scraps from the market, even selling my plasma, just to keep our expenses under fifty dollars a month. In the dead of winter, I would drag our daughter out to the streets to sell trinkets from a small cart, constantly running from the cops. I remember once, she begged for a piece of cake. I broke my own rule and spent four dollars on a small slice for her. When Macaulay found out, he lectured me for wasting money. And all the while, he was secretly wiring ten thousand dollars a month to another woman. Setting her up with a cushy, no-show job, complete with benefits. I had nothing. And I couldn’t even save my daughter. Then, I heard his cold voice again from inside the office. “Isabelle is a good woman. She knows I’m married and has refused my help time and again. This is the only way I can support her without her knowing. Besides, I founded this company for her. Until the drug is in mass production, no one gets it before her daughter. Not even my own.” My heart felt like it had been ripped open. The dam of my emotions finally broke. I threw the door open. 2 “Eleanor?” Macaulay’s face was a kaleidoscope of emotions—shock, panic, then a deep, creeping guilt. He dismissed his secretary and walked toward me, forcing a look of pained apology. “When did you get here? I was just trying to get a dose of that specialty drug for our daughter, but they wouldn’t budge. I’m so sorry.” I shoved him away, the force of my grief tearing his pathetic mask to shreds. “Stop acting, Macaulay! I heard everything! Do you even know? Do you know that our daughter is DEAD?” My voice cracked. “You told me your salary was cut, and I believed you! I took out loans, I begged my family for money to fund your business! You said it failed, and I believed that too! So what is this? How do you explain this billion-dollar company?” “If you want to play the noble hero for your long-lost love, fine! But why did you have to drag me and our daughter down with you? You said she had it hard raising a child alone. You think I didn’t?” A gut-wrenching scream tore from my throat, and tears streamed down my face. Macaulay stared at me, dumbfounded, his lips trembling. “Dead? Sophie is… dead?” Before I could answer, there was a clatter at the door. An elegantly dressed woman stood there, her hand flying to her mouth as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. “Macaulay… you’re the owner of this company? So the anonymous payments, the job, the medicine… it was all you?” she whispered. “I’m so sorry, I had no idea…” Her face was pale as she staggered back, overcome with shame. “Isabelle, it’s not your fault! I wanted to do it!” Macaulay cried, his heart breaking at the sight of her tears. Any flicker of guilt he’d felt over our daughter’s death was instantly extinguished. He rushed to comfort her, right in front of me, but she sidestepped him. That’s when I saw it. The Audi key fob in her hand. It looked exactly like mine. Seven years ago, when the loans for his “failed” business came due, the court had seized my dowry—my car and a sprawling 4,300-square-foot luxury villa. A sick feeling washed over me. I lunged for the personnel files on his desk, my fingers flying through them until I found her name. Isabelle’s current address was my villa. The one that had been “seized by the court.” It all clicked into place. Rage, pure and hot, consumed me. “Macaulay!” My voice was a strangled shriek. I grabbed the file and hurled it at his face. “You told me the court took my car and my villa! Why does she have them?” Faced with the undeniable truth, Macaulay was speechless. Isabelle, finally understanding, bowed her head in shame. “I’m so sorry,” she stammered, bowing to me. “I didn’t know. I’ll give you the keys back right now, and I promise I’ll move out of the villa immediately.” She pressed the keys into my hand and turned to Macaulay, her chin held high. “Macaulay, thank you for everything you’ve done for me in secret, but I can’t be the reason your marriage falls apart. As of today, I quit. And please, don’t send me any more money.” With a final, tearful glance at him, she turned and ran. “Isabelle!” he yelled, taking a few steps after her before stopping himself. He stood there for a long moment, then slowly turned back to me, his eyes filled with a deep, sorrowful expression. “Eleanor, we can talk about this later. Is Sophie really gone? I thought her condition was under control.” A bitter, broken laugh escaped my lips. “I was the one holding everything together all these years. What would you know, with all your ‘overtime’ and ‘business trips’?” “Eleanor, I…” He opened his mouth, but no words came out. To make amends, he dropped everything at the company. He spent the next three days with me, choosing a burial plot, ordering a headstone. He didn’t eat or drink, his lips cracking from dehydration, but he never complained. He didn’t dare speak to me. Then, he took a phone call. When he hung up, he knelt before me. His eyes were pleading, his voice laced with a desperate humility. “Eleanor, I failed you and Sophie. I’m a monster. You can hit me, scream at me, do whatever you want. But please… please let me be the one to see her off.” He looked up at me. “Can I be the one to bring her ashes to the gravesite? Please?” I stared at his pathetic display, my heart a cold, hard stone. But then I thought of Sophie, of how much she had always longed for her father’s attention. I finally nodded. “Do what you want.” We would deal with us after our daughter was laid to rest. A flicker of emotion crossed his face. He gave me a complicated look, then quickly stood and left. The minutes ticked by, and a strange anxiety began to crawl under my skin. I sat by Sophie’s small, empty grave and pulled out my phone, intending to call and ask if he’d picked up the ashes. But on impulse, I opened his social media page. His recent activity led me to a profile named “BrokenSparrow.” It was Isabelle. Her birthday was listed as April 17th. Macaulay’s screen name was “April_17.” Her profile background was a picture of the ocean. His status was: “Drowning in the sea.” My hand started to shake. I scrolled down, looking through her posts. Macaulay had liked or commented on every single one. My eyes landed on two posts from seven years ago. “I’m so jealous of women who get to drive Audis!” “Whoever buys me a 4,300-square-foot villa will be my hero forever.” The date on those posts? Exactly one week before my car and villa were “seized by the court.” I dropped the phone, my face wet with tears I hadn’t realized I was crying. Just then, a new post from her appeared on my screen. “I heard that human ashes can be used as a catalyst in certain folk remedies for heart conditions. I wonder if he’d be willing to part with them…” A cold dread washed over me. I scrambled to my feet and ran to the crematorium’s reception office. “The urn for Sophie Vance?” the manager said, looking puzzled. “Your husband picked it up twenty minutes ago. You didn’t know?” My breath came in ragged gasps. I called his phone, over and over. No answer. A cold sweat broke out across my body as I hailed a cab and sped to Isabelle’s—to my—villa. Through the iron gate, I could see it. Sophie’s urn was empty, discarded on the lawn. And Isabelle was smiling, feeding the last drops of a murky liquid to her own daughter. After sending her daughter inside, she turned to Macaulay, her eyes shining with gratitude. “Macaulay, thank you. I can never repay you. But what if your wife finds out you used your daughter’s ashes as a remedy for mine? Will she be angry? I heard her family is very powerful in this city.” Macaulay frowned, then waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry about it. Eleanor is all alone now. Her family disowned her. No one will stand up for her. Besides, who else does she have to rely on but me? She wouldn’t dare make a scene.” The hatred was a physical force, and it sent me charging through the gate. I slapped him, hard. “Macaulay, are you even human? You had the cure, and you let our daughter die! And now you won’t even let her rest in peace? You’re a monster!” I rounded on Isabelle. “And you! Stop playing the innocent victim! If you had any decency, you wouldn’t have posted those things online, and you certainly wouldn’t have accepted his help, knowing full well he had a family!” Macaulay was stunned by the slap. “Eleanor? How did you get here?” Isabelle cowered behind him, her face ashen. I was losing my mind. I lunged at him, my nails raking across his face, leaving bloody tracks on his handsome cheek. He yelped in pain, his shock turning to rage. He kicked me, hard, in the chest. “Enough!” he roared. “It’s just some ashes! You went to medical school, you should know that when you’re dead, you’re dead! Keeping her ashes won’t bring her back! It’s better for them to have some final use, to help Isabelle’s daughter live!” The words, so utterly devoid of humanity, struck me harder than the blow. Pain exploded in my chest, and I collapsed, shaking. But the physical agony was nothing compared to the agony in my soul. I struggled to my knees, my voice a broken whisper. “I’m all alone because of you, Macaulay! I actually thought you felt some remorse for what happened to Sophie, but it was all a lie! Just another one of your schemes to get her ashes!” My voice rose to a scream. “You’ll pay for this! Both of you! I’m calling the police!” I fumbled for my phone. Isabelle burst into tears. “Macaulay, don’t let her call the police! My daughter and I will be ruined! We might as well just die!” “Don’t say that!” Macaulay’s face contorted in panic. Acting on pure instinct, he grabbed a small gardening axe from the porch and swung it at my arm. A scream of pure agony was ripped from my throat as the blade bit deep into my flesh. Blood sprayed across both our faces. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was the look of horror on his. When I came to, I was locked in the attic. Blood was still seeping from the wound on my arm, which was cut nearly to the bone. I crawled weakly across the floor and found my phone. The first thing I saw was a news alert trending online: “CEO Macaulay Vance: A Model of Loyalty and Integrity.” My hands shaking, I clicked the link. Somehow, the story of Macaulay’s anonymous support for Isabelle had been “leaked.” They were in the middle of a live television interview. “Mr. Vance is a true role model for our times,” the interviewer gushed. “To show such devotion to an old flame, while still maintaining clear boundaries… his own daughter must be the happiest girl in the world.” “I heard that every toy he buys for Miss Isabelle’s daughter costs over a thousand dollars, and those are the cheap ones!” “Someone online found out that when her daughter mentioned wanting to touch a cloud, Mr. Vance chartered a private helicopter, flew her up into the sky, and let her stick her hand out the window.” “And he takes them on international trips every month! If he treats his ex’s daughter this well, I can only imagine how much he must spoil his own!” I listened to the fawning praise, each word a dagger in my heart. My daughter had never even been on a plane. And Isabelle’s daughter got to wake up and touch the clouds. While they were jet-setting around the world, my Sophie was tied to a vendor’s cart with a piece of rope. I collapsed, a wave of gut-wrenching sobs shaking my entire body. I stared at the screen, at the three of them, looking like a perfect, happy family. With a final, choked cry, I smashed the phone against the floor. He still didn’t seem to realize. My daughter was already dead. And Isabelle’s wasn’t far behind. 3 I used a broken piece of furniture to shatter the attic window and escape. Down in the yard, I found Sophie’s empty urn. Clutching it to my chest, I ran, all the way to the live event. Macaulay was on stage, about to be presented with the “Top 10 Entrepreneurs of the Year” award. Isabelle and her daughter stood beside him, preening like peacocks in their designer clothes. I shoved my way through the crowd, a wild, blood-soaked apparition. I held up the empty urn. “I am Eleanor Vance, Macaulay Vance’s wife!” I screamed, my voice raw. “And I am here to tell you that this man is a fraud! He and this woman, Isabelle, this manipulative snake, they murdered my daughter!” My voice broke. “My daughter needed that specialty drug too. But he wouldn’t spare a single dose for her. The doctor said that just one dose… just one… and she would still be alive.” A shocked murmur ran through the crowd. All eyes turned to the stage. I met Macaulay’s panicked gaze and raised the urn higher. “And now my daughter has no grave, because he took her ashes and fed them to Isabelle’s child as some kind of twisted medicine!” “That’s absurd!” Macaulay finally found his voice. He rushed off the stage and pulled me into a corner. “Eleanor, stop it!” he hissed. “Whatever it is, we’ll discuss it at home. If you embarrass Isabelle in public, I’ll—” His eyes fell on my swollen face, on the deep, bleeding gash on my arm. He faltered, the threat dying on his lips. Suddenly, Isabelle ran over, her eyes red, and dropped to her knees in front of me, bowing her head again and again. She dramatically pulled up her sleeve, revealing a series of horrific-looking burns and welts on her arm. “Eleanor, please don’t say these things,” she sobbed. “I never, ever wanted to come between you. If you don’t want Macaulay helping me, I’ll disappear. I’ll go far away. Please, just leave me alone. I can’t take it anymore. I’ll just take my daughter and end it all!” The crowd gasped. Then, in a theatrical gesture of despair, Isabelle stood and ran toward the ballroom’s balcony, dragging her daughter with her. “Isabelle!” Macaulay screamed, chasing after her and pulling her back from the edge. Then he whirled around, grabbed the back of my head, and slapped me, over and over, more than a dozen times. All his composure was gone. He looked like a rabid animal. “You did this to her, didn’t you, Eleanor!” he roared. “You’ve been hurting her behind my back! You’re a sick, jealous monster! You couldn’t take care of your own daughter, so now you can’t stand to see Isabelle’s daughter get better! Ashes? Medicine? You say one more crazy word and I’ll have you committed to a psychiatric hospital!” His words hung in the air. The way people were looking at me changed. My head was spinning from the blows. “He’s lying,” I pleaded, shaking my head. “Please, believe me, I’m not crazy. I funded his company. He used my money to carry on with her behind my back! He really did feed my daughter’s ashes to her child!” But they just stared at me with a mixture of pity and scorn. “Ashes as medicine? Maybe she is crazy, like he said.” “Even a monster wouldn’t do that to his own child. Mr. Vance is a good man.” “I recognize you. You’re the one from the Feng family, the one they disowned. If your own family doesn’t want you, there must be something wrong with you.” They started pushing me, shoving me. I fell to the floor, clutching the empty urn. Someone stepped on my injured arm, and a fresh wave of agony shot through me. I was on the verge of passing out. Macaulay just stood there, watching with cold indifference. A tear of pure despair slid from the corner of my eye. And then, from the edge of the crowd, came Isabelle’s terrified scream. “Macaulay! My daughter is throwing up blood!” He whipped his head around. The little girl was collapsed on the floor, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Panic seized him. “What’s happening?” he cried, his voice cracking. My gaze drifted down to the empty urn in my hands. A slow, knowing smile spread across my face. Now, your karma has arrived.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “388318”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

On the day of our engagement party, I couldn’t reach Aidan Cross, the man I’d loved for ten years. I waited for him at the restaurant for eight solid hours. As night fell, he finally called me back, his voice tinged with a hollow apology. “Lia, I’m so sorry. Something came up. I hope I didn’t make your parents wait too long.” I massaged my aching legs and told him they hadn’t. His voice was laced with fatigue. “Let’s reschedule the engagement party. How about next week? I’ll call your parents and explain.” My phone vibrated. My social media feed had refreshed with another picture of Aidan and Megan Chen, cozy and intimate. Our mutual friends were all cheering in the comments, congratulating Megan on the 25 lavish gifts Aidan had prepared for her 25th birthday. The final gift had been a surprise visit. Which meant that for the eight hours he’d stood me up, Aidan had been on a flight to the next city over to celebrate his childhood friend’s birthday. A new message popped up on my screen. It was from Megan. 【Lia, the only person Aidan truly cares about is me. Are you really sure you still want to marry him?】 I turned off the screen, no longer feeling the need to question him or spiral into doubt. I simply replied to Aidan’s text. “Don’t worry about it. We’re… done.” Lia Stone was done trying to marry Aidan Cross. 1. “Dad, I’ll do it. I’ll marry Tim Cohen.” “I’m glad you’ve come to your senses, sweetheart. When it comes to love, you have to know when to cut your losses.” After hanging up, I made dinner, three dishes and a soup, just like any other night. When Aidan got home, he was holding a bouquet of my favorite white freesias. “Went out of my way to get these for you. Don’t be mad anymore.” Normally, I would have rushed over, taken the flowers, and thrown myself into his arms. This time, I just kept eating, my expression placid. “Still angry? How about I buy you flowers every day for a week?” He towel-dried his hair, a roguish grin on his face that was handsome enough to send hormones into overdrive. I dropped my gaze, collected my plate, and walked into the bedroom. “There’s no need.” Aidan followed me, his placating tone much softer now. “Alright, Lia, I know I was wrong to miss the engagement party. But I already apologized, didn’t I? You know how busy the Search and Rescue team is…” I cut him off. “What does your team have to do with you skipping our engagement party to go to Megan’s birthday?” He was speechless for a moment, his eyes darting away. “Lia, you know…” I interrupted him again, my voice steady. “Aidan, this has happened too many times.” On my birthday, he was with Megan, watching a meteor shower. On our anniversary, he took her out for a candlelit dinner. For five Valentine’s Days in a row, he lit up the city harbor with fireworks for her. A chill settled in the air between us. I took a deep breath. “Aidan, you knew she was doing it on purpose, and you went anyway.” “For eight hours, I stood there at our engagement party like an idiot, like a doll someone had thrown away.” My eyes burned, and I refused to say more. Aidan frowned and pulled a small, cheap-looking pouch from his pocket. “Lia, it’s all my fault. I picked out a gift for you…” Inside the flimsy pouch was a necklace. It was the cheap, complimentary item that came with one of Megan’s expensive designer birthday gifts. A throbbing started in my temples, and it took every ounce of my self-control to suppress the wave of rage that threatened to boil over. For all these years, no matter how deep our love was, Megan had always been wedged between us. Aidan’s parents died when he was young. Megan’s parents took him in, fed him, clothed him, and raised him. He told me everything the day we started dating. He said he owed them a debt of gratitude, that he had to be good to Megan for the rest of his life. I never objected to that. But for her, he abandoned me, hurt me, time and time again. And every time I tried to have a serious conversation with him about it, he would just laugh it off, saying Megan was just a kid who didn’t know the difference between platonic and romantic love. But what about him? Did he know what love was? 2. I closed the bedroom door, locking Aidan out. The next morning, an exquisite breakfast was laid out on the table with a sticky note attached. 【Honey, the team has a mission today. I had to leave early.】 I ate the breakfast, then packed up everything that belonged to me, and moved back to my parents’ house. Aidan came home just as I was wheeling my last suitcase out the door. He panicked, his brows knitting together. “Lia, I already said I was sorry. Why are you still making a scene?” I loved Aidan. I really did. In my sophomore year of college, our entire class went on a camping trip. A freak mudslide hit, followed by a wildfire. I remember it so clearly. So many rescue teams arrived, but it was Aidan, and Aidan alone, who snatched me from the jaws of death. I can still see the image of him shielding me from the flames, his body a desperate barrier. He suffered severe burns and lung damage, and spent a full year in the hospital recovering. It was a debt I owed him, one I never forgot. So when we fell in love afterward, I tried my best to understand him. When he left me for Megan, I tried not to make a big deal out of it. But this was different. I looked at him, my voice quiet. “Aidan, I’m not making a scene. I’ve just given up.” The panic in his eyes was palpable. His knuckles turned white as he snatched the suitcase from my hand. “You’re not leaving. Lia, we’re about to get married. You can’t be this childish.” A light rain began to fall outside. I’m a sentimental person, but I’m also cursed with a terrifying clarity. I took out my phone and showed him the texts Megan had sent me. “Do you really still believe her feelings for you are just sisterly affection?” Aidan’s jaw tightened. “Regardless, you are not leaving.” “Lia, you’re the one I love. I am absolutely certain of that.” A bitter smile touched my lips. He’d said that to me so many times. He was telling me he loved me while holding a single freesia, right after I’d seen a post of him giving Megan ninety-nine red roses. He was kissing my forehead and telling me he loved me right after I’d spent all night stewing a pot of soup for him, only to watch him turn and carefully feed it to Megan. He held me in his arms, overjoyed, when I presented him with a model airplane I’d spent three sleepless nights building for his promotion, only to give it to Megan because she casually mentioned she liked it. He said he loved me, but he saved all his best for her. As if to prove my point, his phone started ringing, a jarringly cheerful tune filling the room. “Prince, your princess is calling!” It was the ringtone Megan had set for herself on his phone. I’d been jealous about it for a long time. Aidan had just brushed it off. “Oh, come on, she’s just a kid. Let her have her fun.” Megan was a year older than me. If she was a kid, what was I? Her sickly-sweet voice filled the air. “Brother, has sister-in-law calmed down yet? You should bring her to the restaurant. I’ll apologize to her in person!” Aidan hung up and turned to me, his voice earnest. “Lia, Megan is getting married soon. She’s starting to realize her feelings for me aren’t romantic. Will you come have a meal with her? Please?” When I didn’t move, his voice softened. “If you still want to leave after that, I’ll let you go.” 3. I went with him to the restaurant. Megan was dressed like a little princess in a frilly pink dress and had ordered a mountain of food. Aidan was spinning like a top, serving me food one moment, and then serving Megan the next. She was all smiles, her eyes crinkling as she looked at me. “Lia, honey, I heard you and my brother are thinking of breaking up?” “The engagement party was my fault. You should forgive him.” I guess only Aidan would consider those two flippant sentences a real apology. I stared at her and forced a smile. “Fine. I forgive him.” The next second, Megan’s face soured. She stood up and slammed her plate on the floor. “Brother! She’s not even mad! Why did you make me apologize to her?” Aidan stood up, looking exasperatedly at me. “Lia, I thought you were angry. How are you suddenly not angry?” His tone was accusatory, as if I was the one being difficult. Of course. He always believed whatever Megan said. People in the restaurant were starting to stare. The soft classical music did little to soften the sharp tension of the scene. I picked up my bag. “I’m full. I’m going to the restroom.” Megan followed me, blocking my way with a belligerent expression. “How can you be so shameless? I’ve been trying to sabotage you for ten years, and you’re still desperate to marry my brother?” I washed my hands, my voice calm. “I broke up with him. Your business with him has nothing to do with me anymore.” Megan slapped herself hard across the face, then started tearing at her own clothes. A strange, secretive smile played on her lips. “Since you put it that way, you can do me one last favor.” She ran out of the restroom, sobbing, and threw herself into Aidan’s arms. “Brother! She hit me! She said I ruined her engagement party, so she’s going to ruin my life!” “I don’t want her as a sister-in-law! Please don’t marry her!” Aidan looked at her reddened cheek, his own eyes turning red with anger as he glared at me. “Lia! It’s bad enough you’re being childish and threatening to leave, but now you’re hitting people? When did you become like this?” I couldn’t help but laugh. Megan huddled in his arms, her sobs weak and breathless. As if afraid I’d reveal the truth, she urged Aidan to take her away. He gave me a look of profound disappointment and then escorted her out of the restaurant. I was left standing alone, the subject of whispers and pointed stares. It wasn’t the first time Aidan had abandoned me. Whenever Megan and I fought, he always comforted her first, then came to me later. And his excuse was always the same. “I told you when we started dating that I had to repay their kindness.” Yes, he had a debt to repay. And because of the debt I owed him, I had tolerated it for all these years. The truth was, I had gone to the restroom because I was afraid I would lose control and actually hit Megan. She had claimed she wanted to apologize, but she had been wearing the diamond ring Aidan gave her. And around her neck was another chain, holding several more rings. For ten years, I had hinted to Aidan that I wanted to get married. He never took the hint. Yet, every year, at Megan’s request, he bought her another diamond ring. He treated our future as a joke, all for her. On my way home, Aidan called. “Lia, I got Megan to sleep. You need to apologize to her for what happened.” I had never once hung up on Aidan. This time, I slammed the phone down. 4. For the next week, I was busy with wedding preparations. Aidan didn’t call again. Megan, however, sent me a string of taunting messages. 【Serves you right. Getting the silent treatment from my brother?】 【Let me tell you, you’ll never be more important than me. He’s drawing me a foot bath right now.】 【As long as I’m around, you will never be the one my brother loves most. ♡】 It wasn’t the first time she’d said things like that. I used to show them to Aidan, but he never took them seriously. He’d just wave it off. “Megan’s just a kid. It’s normal for her to be jealous that her brother has a girlfriend.” A ten-year-long bout of jealousy. Whenever I upset Megan, Aidan would give me the silent treatment until I was the one begging for his forgiveness. This time, I was done playing their twisted family games. I blocked Megan. The wedding required a set of expensive, traditional jewelry, and as it happened, the Cohen family was hosting an auction that evening where a perfect set was being sold. I arrived in my evening gown and ran into Aidan and Megan at the entrance. Megan’s eyes were filled with envy. “Well, look who it is. Someone has a short memory. Weren’t you just saying you were done? Still trying to cling to my brother?” She wasn’t wrong. I had swallowed my pride for him many times. I would meticulously track his movements, fly to whatever city he was in, and present him with a gift, humbly asking him to take me back. I had done that for ten years. All because when we first got together, I had sworn to always be understanding of his need to repay his debt. The auction proceeded smoothly. Aidan bought Megan several beautiful pieces of jewelry and some valuable art. To his credit, he was incredibly capable. He’d become the captain of the Air Rescue team at a young age, and the companies he’d invested in over the years had all seen explosive growth. He had never been stingy with me over the last decade. It was only when Megan was involved that I was always pushed to the bottom of the list. When the bidding for the jewelry set began, I raised my paddle. Megan scoffed from beside him. “You and my brother haven’t even had an engagement party, and you’re already trying to buy your wedding night jewels? You have no shame.” Aidan frowned at me, his displeasure clear. “Lia, stop this. We can’t get married unless Megan gives us her blessing.” I ignored them both and continued to raise the price. “Three million.” Megan, incensed, suddenly shouted, “Light the sky lantern!” “Let’s see how much money you have to fight me with!” The atmosphere in the room grew tense. The auctioneer, thrilled, continued to call out higher prices. I kept bidding, quickly driving the price to an astronomical figure. Megan’s face was pale with rage. “Lia! Are you just trying to buy this set to force my brother to marry you?” “I’m telling you, forget it! I will not approve!” “I will not allow an old woman like you to marry my brother!” Aidan watched from the side, his brow furrowed. “Lia, you just slapped Megan last week. Can’t you just let her have this one?” I couldn’t help but laugh coldly. He was a brilliant man. How could he not see that last week’s drama was all her own doing? He just didn’t want to call her out on it, and now he was using it as an excuse to make me back down. I could live without his love. Megan could have him. But this jewelry set was mine. I raised my hand and made a specific gesture. Megan stared, then burst out laughing. “Lia, did studying agricultural science make you stupid? I’ve already lit the sky lantern. What is that gesture supposed to mean?” Aidan’s face darkened. “Lia, stop making a scene! Don’t embarrass yourself here!” I looked at them both, a slow smile spreading across my face. “Do you want to know what real embarrassment looks like?” The next moment, the noisy auction hall fell silent. A figure emerged from the shadows of the high platform, stepping into the spotlight. “Allow me to tell you what that gesture means.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “388334”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I lived twenty-something years before I suddenly realized I was the villainess in a romance novel. The heroine was naive and kind, eternally loved by everyone. I, on the other hand, was the gloomy creature crawling in the dark, doing every wicked thing imaginable. Thinking back on my past behavior, I felt like I’d been struck by lightning. So, I did the only logical thing: I packed my bags and ran away with the baby I had just discovered was growing inside me. I never expected that four years later, just as I was watching the news about my perfect sister running away from her wedding, I would receive a call from the Male Lead. “Hello? Where are you? I miss you.” 01 I loathed my father. He abandoned my mother for fame and fortune, only to hypocritically bring me home after she died. He always spoke to me with an air of charity, as if acknowledging my existence was a gift from God. I hated him, and naturally, I hated his new family. But hatred is the most useless thing in the world. My younger sister, Lily, was pampered from birth. She was soft, sweet, and kind. Anyone who met her couldn’t help but want to be close to her. I was just the foil. The shadow to her light. Consumed by jealousy, I made many mistakes. I even threw myself at the Male Lead, seducing him in a desperate bid for attention. But when I found myself in a clinic, realizing there was a tiny life inside me, I re-evaluated my entire existence. I decided to quit the game. I took my unborn child and left that city for good. Time flows like water. I spent four years hiding with a child I “shouldn’t” have had. Just as my life was stabilizing, I saw the news. Lily had fled her wedding. The news anchor read my sister’s name in that practiced, serious tone, and for a moment, I was in a daze. My phone rang. I picked up. It was a drunk, raspy voice I hadn’t heard in years. “I miss you.” 02 I looked at Lily’s photo on the TV, then remembered the look of disgust on that man’s face the first time he saw me. What did he mean? Did he want to drag me back into that abyss of pain? I replied calmly, “I’m sorry, you have the wrong number.” I turned off my phone and fed my sweet boy, Leo. Only after he was asleep did I turn it back on. Dozens of missed calls. Because Lily left, he suddenly remembered the half-sister who shared her blood? “Do you even deserve to bleed the same blood as her?” I still remembered him whispering that in my ear years ago. So why look for me now? Or did he know about Leo? Was he coming to take my son? I gritted my teeth. I would never go back to those days of fighting for scraps of affection, of being a pawn in their games. I packed overnight. We were moving first thing in the morning. If he was looking for me, I didn’t have much time. I felt terrible for Leo. I had promised him that once he started preschool, we wouldn’t move anymore. I wasn’t a good mother. I broke my promise again. 03 The new city I chose was a small, quiet town in the Pacific Northwest. It turned out to be a good decision. Leo loved his new preschool and even made friends. Our landlord was a kind older man named Arthur who owned the bakery downstairs. I worked as a pastry chef in his shop. Arthur had a daughter about Leo’s age. In my free time, we often talked about the kids. “Leo’s father… what kind of man was he?” Arthur asked one day while we were kneading dough. I immediately recalled a man with a personality like dynamite—one spark and he’d explode. The years I spent entangled with him were hardly pleasant. “Let’s just say he’s dead,” I said calmly. Arthur paused, stunned. But he was a man of boundaries. He sensed my discomfort and offered a gentle smile. “That… must have been hard for you.” Actually, it was fine. Being a single mother in the modern world was easier than I imagined, even if my morning sickness had been ten times worse than the internet said. Since my mother died, I had nothing. My father detested me. That house was my prison, not my home. Leo wasn’t born to my father, and certainly not to my “boyfriend.” In this world, only Leo wouldn’t abandon me. He wouldn’t hurt me. He would just hug me and sweetly call me “Mommy.” As long as I had him, I feared nothing. Perhaps the loneliness on my face was too obvious. Arthur laughed heartily. “It’s just a dead man! Don’t worry, I’ll introduce you to someone better!” I didn’t know when it happened, but Arthur’s bright smile gave me strength. He was like family. If only I really had a brother like him. I smiled and agreed. Finding a dad for Leo… it wasn’t a bad option. Single-parent households… they do affect children eventually. 04 Life in the small town was stable and slow. Everyone took their time. I thought living here forever wouldn’t be a bad thing. Until that man, Leo’s father, appeared. When I saw him, he was chatting and laughing with Arthur. My heart plummeted into my stomach. How did he find me? His leg was in a cast. Standing next to him, laughing happily, was Leo. Blood rushed to my brain. For a few seconds, I thought my heart had stopped. He saw Leo. Was he going to take him? If he wanted custody, with the Sterling family’s power, I wouldn’t stand a chance. My mind raced. Finally, my heart restarted, and blood began to flow again. I forced myself to calm down. Don’t panic. Nothing has happened yet. Getting rid of him is the priority. I walked slowly into the shop. I picked Leo up. He saw me instantly. He was broader now, his features sharper, more rugged. He had shed his youthful arrogance for a heavy, steady presence. He stared at me without blinking. His pupils constricted, his breathing quickened. He tried to stand, but I immediately carried Leo to Arthur’s side and gently nudged Arthur with my elbow. I leaned against Arthur naturally. “Caleb,” I said. “Long time no see.” Caleb’s gaze was like a blade. His voice was ice-cold. “Who is he?” I responded politely, just as I would have years ago. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.” Arthur, bless his heart, was emotionally dense. Seeing the tension, he tried to smooth things over. Just then, a sleepy voice drifted from the stairwell behind the kitchen. “Daddy, it’s so loud…” It was Arthur’s daughter! Leo looked up from my arms, saw her, and grinned, his eyes turning into crescents. “Sissy!” Ha. Divine intervention. The scene was perfect. Arthur’s daughter called him Daddy. Leo called her Sissy. I was Leo’s mom. To an outsider who didn’t know the facts, we were a happy family of four. Caleb’s face turned green. “Daddy? Son? Daughter?” I smiled. “Naturally.” Dense Arthur finally found his brain. “Is he… wait, isn’t he the dead guy?” Caleb’s face went from green to black. “Dead?!” I nodded at Arthur. “Don’t worry, he’s leaving right now.” Caleb stared at me, jaw clenched so hard a vein popped. He forced out a smile that looked like he wanted to set my face on fire. “Vivian. Is this how you greet an old friend?” I knew that look. He was in his “burn it all down” phase. I nudged Arthur again, signaling him to get the kids out of the blast zone. Once they were gone, I calmly reminded him that I had broken up with him years ago. And, to be precise, we were never officially together. “Our relationship should have ended a long time ago,” I repeated the words he once used on me. “Those were your words. I don’t understand what I still owe you.” He choked on the memory, his chest heaving. “If you loved me, why did you leave without a word? Do you know how long I looked for you? I finally got your number, and you said ‘wrong number’! I crashed my car on the way here trying to find you. I broke my leg. And you? You dumped me, and now you’re playing happy family with… him?” “Vivian,” he hissed, “you said you loved me. Is this how you love someone?!” I was confused by his barrage of accusations. I didn’t understand where this vague sense of grievance was coming from. I thought back to the past. Yes… I did tell him I “liked” him. Drugging someone was already shameful. To save my life, I had to invent a script: I had a crush on him for years but couldn’t have him, so I resorted to desperate measures. If I said I had a crush, maybe he wouldn’t kill me. If he knew I was actually targeting his brother, I would have been torn to shreds right then and there. But that was just an excuse. He never cared about my “like.” He despised me, constantly calling me a liar. Why was he obsessing over my old lies now? Surely he didn’t believe them? So many people lined up to love him. Did he really need one more? “Lily is gone. I suppose you missed her. But…” He looked like he was laughing and crying at the same time. “You really gave me a surprise…” Where did he get the confidence that I would wait for him forever? I looked at this man with a sense of resignation. “I knew you for ten years. I was by your side for two. If you had ever cared about me, if you had ever treated me well, we wouldn’t be standing here today.” I was so starved for affection back then. If he had given me even an ounce of tenderness, even knowing it was hopeless, I would have flown into the fire like a moth. But he never did. He despised me like everyone else. Worse, actually—others ignored me. He slept with me and then despised me. He gritted his teeth, pronouncing every word. “I didn’t treat you well? For you, I even…” My heart rate spiked, a ringing filled my ears. He cornered me against the counter. I couldn’t hold on anymore. I couldn’t hear his last few words. I slid toward the floor. Panic flashed across his face. He tried to grab me, but lost his crutch and fell with me, cushioning my fall with his own body. It took me a few minutes to come to. Arthur had rushed back in and was pulling me up. “It’s dark. We’re closed. Please leave,” Arthur told the man on the floor. Arthur escorted him out of the bakery. That night, holding a cup of hot water, I told Arthur the rough outline. He sighed. “So what now? You lied to him about us being a family. Are you and Leo staying in the shop tonight?” The second floor was Arthur’s home. I had already caused him enough trouble. I declined his offer and took Leo back to our apartment. I thought it would be fine. It was wishful thinking. My rationality told me that. I should leave. I should take Leo and run as far as possible. But I couldn’t bear to make Leo sad. He had just adjusted. He loved it here. He had friends. He told me excited stories about preschool every day… I didn’t want to be the bad mom who ruined his life again. Besides… where could we run? That man was crazy. If he wanted to find me, I would be found. I had insomnia. I tossed and turned until Leo groggily patted my face. “Mommy, sleep.” I kissed his cheek, closed my eyes obediently, and lay awake all night.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “388350”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

Five days before our wedding, my boyfriend died in an accident. As his elder sister-in-law, I promised to raise his younger brother until he graduated from college. I washed his underwear for him. He said: “Sister-in-law, please have some self-respect.” I advised him not to date too early. He cursed me with a cold face: “Stupid woman.” Finally, after enduring until his college graduation, my family introduced him to countless blind dates, but he seemed uninterested in women. Now I had overcorrected. “What kind of girl do you want?” He stared at me intently, “Not too smart.” 1 The first time I saw Kian, it was at my boyfriend’s funeral. His relatives led a teenager in a school uniform to me. “This is Liam’s younger brother.” “This is your sister-in-law.” I tried my best to appear kind and amiable as an elder, forcing a smile, but I probably looked uglier than crying. The teenager stared at me with peach blossom eyes, but there were dark clouds underneath them. I was defeated and silently burned joss paper. Later, I heard Liam’s relatives say that Kian was a straight-A student. “Excellent character and academics, material for a top university.” “It’s a pity he lost his parents and brother overnight; don’t know how he will survive.” “Although you and Liam didn’t have a wedding, they have long treated you as family. As the elder sister-in-law is like a mother, if you are not in a hurry to find someone new, you should take care of him.” … I listened to everyone’s “persuasion,” looking at the thin back of the teenager in front of the coffin, nodding and saying yes. So my 17-year-old brother-in-law moved into my house. 2 After the funeral, I went back to work as usual. Passing by the office, the boss was scolding someone harshly again. “It’s understandable if Chloe’s report is bad, but for you to do it like this, did your boyfriends die too?” In an instant, my face turned crimson. I am Chloe. My colleague quickly pulled me away. “Luckily you haven’t gotten the certificate yet, otherwise your next marriage would be a second one.” I listened, dazed for a while, opened my mouth, and finally just forced a cooperative smile. That night I worked late into the night. My phone rang dozens of times in a row. It was my mom, introducing me to a blind date. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Mom, Liam has been gone for less than a month.” “Tell mom the truth, he’s gone, do you want to follow him?” My mom cried without warning, heartbreakingly. After coaxing my mom for half an hour, I dragged my tired body home. 3 Arriving at the door, key inserted. I leaned against the door in a daze. I remembered the time Liam and I argued during our long-distance relationship. The first time I cooked, I cut my hand, went to the clinic alone for three stitches. Coming out of the clinic, the bus was gone, it was raining outside, couldn’t get a taxi, and I didn’t bring an umbrella. I called him, breaking down. “What’s wrong?” His voice was hoarse, like he had drunk too much again. “Where are you?” I asked worriedly. “Toilet.” He was uncomfortable. “Just threw up, have to go back and continue drinking.” “Then stop drinking!” “How can I do that? If I don’t fight, how can we end the long distance, how can I marry you home?” He comforted me with a smile. “Why did you call me?” My breakdown was suppressed instantly, didn’t speak again. “Suddenly missed you a bit.” “I miss you too.” Hanging up the phone, I chose to walk home in the rain. When I opened the door, he was standing in the hallway, smiling when he saw me. “How did you get here?” I was surprised. He lowered his head to hug me, voice low and hoarse, “I heard your voice wasn’t right on the phone, sobered up instantly.” So just because my voice wasn’t right, this man spent over eight hundred dollars taking a taxi over two hundred kilometers to see me. … Thoughts stayed here, not knowing who I was competing with, I stopped for five minutes before opening the door. As soon as I opened the door, I was shrouded in a large shadow. He came back? I held my breath, couldn’t help reaching out to hug the man at the door. At Liam’s funeral, I didn’t cry. When uninformed friends asked why the wedding was canceled, I didn’t cry. When my mom forced me to move on and introduced blind dates, I didn’t cry either. But the moment I hugged him, tears burst like a dam. I bit my lip, daring not make a sound, afraid if I did, he would disappear. When I cried enough, I looked up and saw a pair of bottomless eyes. “Sister-in-law, please have some self-respect.” He had a contemptuous smile on his lips. 4 I bounced away in shock, wiping tears frantically, standing there. It was Kian. His skin was sickly pale, stature actually slightly taller than his brother, but his frame was thin, the kind of thinness from growing too fast during puberty where muscles couldn’t keep up. How did I mix up the two. “Why are you here?” “Amnesia? You asked me to come.” He glanced at me, turned and walked inside. I took a second to remember, his homeroom teacher called me a few days ago saying Kian’s situation was terrible, so I let him come back here. “His mock exam scores dropped from top of the class to bottom. “Doesn’t sleep at night, sleeps during the day. “Drinking, fighting, dating early with those delinquent students every day, he’ll be ruined if this continues.” … Thinking of what his homeroom teacher said, I decided to act like an elder and talk some sense into him. “You are a student, should focus on studying, dating can wait until college.” “Mm, and then?” He sat on the sofa, lit a cigarette for himself, staring at me quietly. The draft I made in my heart was stunned by his smoking. “Kids shouldn’t smoke.” I reached out reflexively to take his cigarette. “Hot.” He draped his long arm to the side. I didn’t grab the cigarette but fell headlong into his arms. He frowned at my impact, snorted lightly. “Sister-in-law sure you want to lecture me in this position?” He lowered his eyes staring at me. I bounced up from him abruptly, feeling a loss of dignity, cleared my throat, “I know you don’t understand why I’m saying this now, but as your sister-in-law, telling you to study well won’t harm you.” He listened patiently, just didn’t give any reaction. Finally when I finished, his slender hand stubbed out the cigarette on the box, looking up at me, “The day my brother died, why didn’t you answer the phone?” I was stunned by his question, avoiding his pressing gaze, “My phone was on silent.” “Was it silent, or was sister-in-law’s ex-boyfriend here?” His tone didn’t sound like asking, but very certain. Me: ! In an instant, painful memories swept over me. I stood there, the whole room seemed to only have my heartbeat left.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “388366”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

Ten years ago, my wife carved my brain from my skull and sealed my shattered body in a cryogenic vault. All because I was the prime suspect in a notorious, large-scale human trafficking case. A decade after my death, she had my brain thawed for a public trial. A new technology could now dissolve human brains to extract memories, the color of the resulting solution indicating the person’s moral alignment: black for evil, crimson for good. On the day of the trial, a giant screen in Civic Plaza broadcasted the memories live to a massive, waiting crowd. “Simon Fairchild was a monster! That degenerate tortured trafficked children. He wasn’t even human!” “He framed his own wife and nearly got her entire squad killed! The man was pure scum!” “I’d love to crack open that bastard’s skull and see just how black his soul is. Probably as rotten as the rest of him!” The crowd seethed, a chorus of curses calling for my annihilation, wishing they could tear me limb from limb and scatter my ashes to the wind. Amid the uproar, the black cloth covering the vat of solution was pulled away. The sight of the vibrant crimson that signified ultimate good left everyone speechless. 1 “What… how is that possible? How could a man as vile as Simon Fairchild not have a black solution?” “Did the coroner mess up? Maybe they mixed him up with some other John Doe.” Elara Rhodes frowned at the glaring crimson, ordering her team to re-verify everything. Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist. She turned to see Bob, the man who was now her husband, holding her close. Her expression softened at the sight of him. “What are you doing here? You just had surgery. You should be resting.” Bob didn’t answer, his gaze fixed thoughtfully on the crimson liquid. “It’s all in the past, Elara. Why drag it all up again?” After a moment, he added in a small, wounded voice, “You’re not… thinking about him, are you? I mean, you and my brother were married once.” Elara quickly wrapped her arms around him, placing his hand on her stomach and whispering a reassurance. “That animal? I wish I could have been the one to cut him into a thousand pieces.” “The only ones I love now are you and our child.” “But his crimes were immense, the list of his victims endless. I just want the world to see the full extent of his evil, to have his name cursed for eternity.” Only then did Bob seem content, pulling her into a tight embrace. While the technicians worked, the crowd buzzed with talk of the decade-old case. “I remember that case. The ringleader was a syndicate boss, Morgana Shaw. Simon Fairchild was her kept man.” “Simon’s father, Marcus Fairchild, was a corporate shark with mob ties. Father and son were two sides of the same corrupt coin.” “But Marcus’s adopted son, Bob, he’s different. He’s spent years supporting the victims’ families, trying to atone for his father’s sins.” “Goes to show you, it’s not all about genes.” The case was infamous. No one could accept the crimson solution, and they clamored for the coroner to confirm the results. The coroner looked exasperated. “If you want to know if these are Simon Fairchild’s memories, just watch the screen.” The dark screen in the plaza flickered to life. My face appeared. The agony of my dissolving brain felt like my very soul was being set ablaze. The sight of my face only stoked the crowd’s fury, their venomous curses echoing through the plaza. Elara’s expression mirrored their rage. I watched as the eyes that once held me like a precious treasure now burned with hatred. My dead heart ached with a phantom pain. The Simon on the screen was only twenty. He wore a crisp white shirt, riding a bicycle down a tree-lined campus path with Elara on the back. The sun was brilliant, but the young man’s smile was brighter. Knowing the dangers of her job, I placed a protective charm I’d gone to great lengths to acquire around her neck. She accepted it solemnly, then surprised me by producing a delicate silver ring and slipping it onto my finger. “Officer Rhodes, is this a proposal?” I teased, leaning closer. Elara blushed and looked down. I chuckled at her flustered expression, then leaned in and captured her lips with mine. The two of us on the screen were so happy. Even now, watching that moment of pure bliss, Elara’s composure wavered. Bob shifted uncomfortably, forcing a note of pity into his voice. “It’s a shame she didn’t cherish such happy days, choosing instead to become the plaything of a syndicate boss…” He trailed off, but his words were enough to snap Elara out of her reverie. She looked at him with gentle eyes. “If it weren’t for his heartlessness, I never would have known how good you are,” she said softly. “I never would have found true happiness.” Bob smiled, satisfied, and drew her into his arms, his hands resting protectively on her belly. They whispered to each other, lost in their own world, as my memories continued to play. 2 At twenty-two, I stumbled in my tuxedo and fell to the ground in front of the police headquarters. I remember that day. It was supposed to be my wedding day. But Elara wasn’t wearing the custom-made, million-dollar gown. She was in her police uniform, snapping a pair of gleaming handcuffs onto my father’s wrists. The romantic wedding venue was swarmed by police, white roses crushed underfoot. My eyes were bloodshot as I grabbed her arm, demanding to know why. She just wrenched her hand away, leaving me alone amidst the wreckage of our wedding. On the way to the station, my father died of a heart attack. I chased her to the headquarters, only to be surrounded. They tore at my clothes, clawed at my face. Rotten eggs and wilted cabbage rained down on me. Someone threw the first punch, and the mob ignited like a powder keg. Fists and clubs rained down on me. Each blow was laced with a deep, personal hatred. A heavy pipe slammed into my lower back, and with a sickening crack, I heard my own spine break. I was tossed aside like a broken doll, my blood staining the pavement… The scene was so brutal that a flicker of conflict crossed Elara’s face. The crowd had fallen silent, but one man’s voice rang out. “My child was one of the ones they trafficked! He suffered hell before he was rescued! That bastard’s father laundered money for those scumbags. He got what he deserved!” “Yeah! He deserved it! Killing him would’ve been too good for him!” The plaza erupted again. On the screen, I was forced to my knees, my head pressed against the sun-baked asphalt until I finally passed out. Floating in this ethereal space, I watched my past self’s agony, and my very soul trembled. The scene changed. We were outside the courthouse. My face was a cold mask as I tore our marriage certificate in two. Elara looked devastated. “Simon, what your father did has nothing to do with you. I don’t want to divorce you.” “Trust me,” she pleaded. “Once this is all over, I’ll be the same as before.” I cut her off with a sneer full of scorn and hatred. “Officer Rhodes, I was the heir to a fortune. You killed my father, you ruined me, and you still have the delusion that we can be together?” “I used to be somebody! People bowed when they saw me!” I spat. “I had luxury cars, beautiful women! I’d never been with a girl like you before, so I thought I’d try something new. And you actually thought I was serious? That this was true love?” “Look at this cheap little thing you gave me,” I said, yanking the silver ring from my finger and throwing it to the ground. “It disgusts me to even wear it.” This memory made Elara’s face contort with an ugly discomfort. Bob held her, his voice a soft, sympathetic sigh. “My brother only ever saw money. He could never recognize what was truly precious. I believe a true heart is what matters most.” Someone in the crowd snorted. “That shallow trust-fund baby. He spent his whole life enjoying his father’s blood money. What would he know about real feelings?” “He shamelessly became a trafficking boss’s boy toy later. She treated him like a dog!” A wave of derisive laughter swept through the plaza. The scene shifted again, this time to the presidential suite of a high-end nightclub. A line of muscular male models stood before us. I was among them, dressed in revealing clothes. The syndicate boss, Morgana Shaw, surveyed us, her face an emotionless mask. “If you can hold your liquor, you stay. The rest of you, get out.” I downed two bottles of whiskey, one after the other. I could barely stand, but I refused to leave. Morgana’s expression didn’t change. She suddenly smashed a bottle, picked up a shard of glass, and tossed it at my feet. “You want to be my man? You want to make money?” she said, her voice flat. “Carve my name into your skin.” “Morgana Shaw.” I didn’t hesitate. I plunged the glass into my chest, carving her name, letter by bloody letter. Blood streamed down my torso, pooling on the floor. My entire body was shaking. But when I looked up at her, my lips twisted into a seductive smile that never reached my eyes. “Crawl to me,” Morgana commanded in that same deadpan tone. I lowered myself to the floor. And like a dog, I crawled to Morgana Shaw, becoming her kept man, a member of a human trafficking organization. Bob made a disgusted gesture, as if I were something utterly foul. “How could my brother debase himself like that for money?” The thought that she had once given her heart to such a man made Elara sick. Her brow furrowed in revulsion. The crowd was just as scornful. “The solution has to be wrong! How could a man that filthy have a pure crimson solution?” “That pathetic dog deserved to die!” “Selling his soul for money to traffic kids. He’s worse than an animal. A slow, painful death would be too kind.” “Keep it playing! We want to see how the bastard gets what’s coming to him!” 3 The coroner ignored the shouts and continued to play my memories. The scene showed me as a core member of the trafficking ring, strolling casually past a group of terrified, kidnapped children. I suddenly extended a hand, the sharp edge of my ring glinting, and slashed a deep, bloody line across a little girl’s beautiful face. She screamed in agony. I paid her no mind, turning my attention to a sturdy-looking boy whose eyes were wide with fear. “Can you swim?” I asked. The boy, confused, nodded. “What about with your hands and feet tied?” I grinned maliciously. I bound him with thick rope and kicked him into the river. Later that night, Morgana whipped me with a barbed lash. I knelt on the floor, begging her for mercy. She watched me coldly. “I let you have your fun, Simon. But to kill one of them? Do you have any idea how much that boy’s organs were worth?” I shrugged nonchalantly. “How was I to know he was so weak?” Morgana’s face darkened, and the whip struck harder. “Mr. Lee and his friends have… particular tastes. They like them young and untouched. I had the perfect girl for them, and you dared to ruin her face!” My back was a mess of raw, bleeding flesh. Hissing in pain, I still managed a sycophantic smile. “What’s the fun in a little girl? I know far more ways to please a man than she does.” Morgana let out a dry laugh. “I never would have guessed. The former golden boy of the city’s elite has quite a few hidden talents.” Covered in fresh wounds, I walked into a room full of leering, corpulent men. Their eyes devoured me. Instead of flinching, I walked right up to them, a welcoming smile on my face. The coroner quickly paused the feed, applying a digital filter before resuming the broadcast. A voice from the back of the crowd piped up. “The rope looked a little loose. Maybe the boy didn’t die?” “And the girl, her face was ruined, but at least she’s alive.” The suggestions were immediately shot down. “Are you kidding? They got lucky. Simon was trying to kill them.” “He had no mercy, not even for children! The man was a monster!” “And look how he throws himself at those men. He’s nothing but a whore.” “Don’t insult whores. Some of them have no choice. Look at him, he’s enjoying it. It’s disgusting!” The curses flew thick and fast. Bob’s eyes welled with tears, his voice choked with emotion. “How could my brother be so cruel? It’s just… inhuman.” Elara gently wiped his tears away. “Bob, you’re too good. You could never understand someone as rotten as Simon Fairchild.” “A man like him deserved to be erased. I dissected him, dissolved his brain, and had his body incinerated. Now, not even a speck of his dust remains in this world.” Before Bob’s tears had dried, his own face appeared on the screen. In the dark of night, I tossed a bag to him. “Same as always. Distribute the money inside to the victims’ families.” The crowd stared in disbelief. Why would this monster suddenly develop a conscience and give money to the families he’d helped destroy? Elara’s brow furrowed as she looked at Bob. “Is this true? You never told me about this.” Bob’s eyes reddened again. “My brother was always malicious. And later… he contracted a disease. I was terrified he might have intentionally contaminated the money with the virus to hurt people.” Elara was silent for a moment, an unsettling feeling creeping over her. “Would Simon really do something so petty? Besides, a virus can’t survive long outside the body without special preservation.” At her words, tears streamed down Bob’s face. “I don’t know anything about that! I was just so scared someone else would get hurt! Are you doubting me, Elara? I burned all the money. I had to.” His grief was so profound that Elara chided herself for her suspicion. The crowd quickly came to his defense. “The media reported on what Bob Fairchild did! He voluntarily surrendered all of the Fairchild family assets and has been using his own wages to support the victims’ families.” “A man that kind wouldn’t lie. He was just trying to keep everyone safe.” “Exactly! Who knows what kind of sick trick a monster like Simon would pull? Burning the money was the right thing to do!” With everyone on Bob’s side, Elara let the matter drop. Hidden from the crowd, Bob let out a quiet sigh of relief. The memory continued. I pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to him. “You have to give this to Elara. It’s important!” Watching the screen, Elara’s gaze snapped back to Bob, her suspicion returning full force. She had never seen that note.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “388383”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

1 Ten years together, and for the third time, my lawyer girlfriend Aria canceled our city hall appointment for a “critical case.” Minutes later, I saw her childhood friend Leo post a photo of their marriage certificate, captioned: “After all this time, it was always you.” As confused messages poured in, I replied publicly: “Don’t forget to invite me to the baby shower. I’ll chip in five grand.” Instantly, his post disappeared. Aria called, furious: “Leo posted that by mistake. He’s never been married before—I was just helping him as his lawyer. It’s just a piece of paper, Alex. You’re blowing this up for no reason.” She demanded I apologize, promising we’d get our license once Leo “healed from his divorce.” She didn’t realize this was her 67th empty promise to me—and the last. I hung up, resigned from my job, and decided to disappear from the life we were supposed to build. … She called back. A dozen times. I ignored every one. Finally, a text message buzzed through, dripping with fury: “Alex, have you lost your mind? How dare you hang up on me? You’re the one who screwed up, and you’re acting like you have the moral high ground?” “You have five minutes to post that apology, or we’re through.” Ten years together. I’d heard that threat a hundred times. And every time, I was the one to cave, to smooth things over, to beg for forgiveness. This was the first time I’d ever just hung up. When I didn’t respond, she went to her social media and started her usual countdown. It was a rule she’d made years ago: three days of silence meant we were officially over. My devotion had made her fearless. Every argument, every disagreement, ended with her posting that countdown, a public clock ticking down on my anxiety, pressuring me to fold. For ten years, it had been her perfect weapon. And every time, just before the clock ran out, I’d break. But not this time. I was exhausted. I was done being her fool. Shortly after her countdown post went up, Leo posted something too, tagging me specifically. “Just a little prank with Aria that accidentally went public. I didn’t realize Alex would take it so hard. I guess I’ll have to be more careful what I say around him from now on. Wouldn’t want him to get upset again.” Aria, who rarely ever glanced at her feed, was the first to like it. She even commented: “That’s his problem, Leo, don’t you dare blame yourself. And why should it be private? If you want to post something, you post it.” “His problem” was me, obviously. Our so-called friends, the ones who relied on Aria for legal work, all chimed in with likes and supportive comments. “Wow, Alex is being so petty. Leo, don’t let a guy like that get you down.” “No wonder Aria won’t marry him. I’d hesitate too if he were that insecure.” A bitter laugh escaped my lips. She would bend over backward to protect Leo from the slightest discomfort, to defend his name. But for me, her boyfriend of a decade, there was only neglect and indifference. Leo could sneeze, and she would drop everything, including our plans to get married. If I dared to complain, she’d explode, accusing me of disrespecting her freedom, of being small-minded. And now, when I finally chose to let go and congratulate them, she was the one hurling accusations, using her countdown to force me into an apology. The truth was, it was never about right or wrong. The scales of her love had tipped long ago. “Sir,” the clerk said, her voice soft with pity, “the woman whose ID you’ve provided is already legally married. Would you… like to submit a different application?” I took the ID from her and managed a weak smile. “Maybe I should.” The young couple behind me cheered quietly at my withdrawal. Of course, it was the most popular wedding date of the year, and getting an appointment at City Hall was nearly impossible. I had shown up at dawn just to get a spot in line. Now, I looked at the application form in my hands—the 67th one I’d filled out, for the 67th chance I’d given her—and without a second thought, I ripped it to shreds and dropped it in the trash. Every time, it was the same. I’d arrive early, filled with hope, watching the happy couples go in and out, waiting for her. And every time, just minutes before our appointment, she would call. An emergency at the firm. When I’d question it, she’d use her clients as a shield. “Alex, my clients’ lives are on the line! Are you seriously asking me to abandon them for a piece of paper? How can you be so selfish?” She always said it with such righteous indignation, as if I were the villain. What she didn’t know was that every time she ditched me for Leo, he’d send me a little text, a little jab to twist the knife. “Aria’s cooking is amazing. Bet you’ve never had it, have you?” “I mentioned I was tired of walking today, so Aria just bought me a brand new luxury car. You’re still taking the subway, right?” And now, she’d gone and gotten a marriage license with him. It was time for our relationship to finally end. 2 As I stepped out of City Hall, I saw the notification on my phone. My resignation request had been rejected. HR informed me that Aria hadn’t been in the office for days and couldn’t approve it. They gave me an address and told me to find her myself. Gritting my teeth, I went. I just wanted this to be over. The address was a high-end pool hall. A place Leo loved. Aria, the woman who lived and breathed for her work, had apparently been skipping the office for days to hang out with him. I found them at a table in the back. Leo was leaning over her, his body pressed against hers, “teaching” her how to shoot. The moment he saw me, a smirk played on his lips. A few of our colleagues from the firm, Leo’s little sycophants, sauntered over, nudging each other. “Well, well, look who’s here for our dear Ms. Aria.” “Told you. That three-day countdown wouldn’t even last one. He’s already back to groveling.” “Damn, Aria’s got him wrapped around her finger. One word and he comes running.” “Alright, alright, pay up. You all lost the bet.” I felt a familiar tightening in my jaw. I’d heard their jeers a thousand times before. But today, it grated on me like never before. “I’m not here to make up.” My words were met with a burst of laughter. “Sure, Alex. We all know you’re Aria’s ultimate lapdog. You couldn’t leave if you tried.” Ignoring them, I walked straight to her and held out the papers. “Aria. Sign these.” She reached for the file, but Leo nudged her knee with his own. “Focus on the game,” he murmured. Instantly, she dropped the file. She reached into Leo’s pocket, pulled out her personal seal—a custom stamp she used for official documents—and tossed it to me. “Just stamp it yourself. And in the future, don’t come here and interrupt my lessons with Leo.” Aria was fiercely private. Her safe was off-limits. She’d shield her phone’s PIN from my view. And her personal seal? She guarded it like a state secret. Yet here she was, letting Leo carry it in his pocket. She was so wrapped up in her “date” that she couldn’t even be bothered to look at a company document. I clutched the stamped resignation form, my knuckles white. My heart felt like a cavern, hollow and cold. I turned to leave, but her voice stopped me. “Leo’s a bit busy these days. You can handle his caseload for him.” She tossed a thick stack of files onto a nearby table. Each one had nothing but a title scrawled on the cover. I couldn’t even count how many times she’d made me do Leo’s work. Every time I completed a case, he took the credit. But if I made a single mistake under the crushing workload, the blame was all mine. There were times I’d lost my temper, refused to do it. She’d accuse me of letting her down, of not caring about her or the firm. She’d threaten to do it all herself, and my concern for her, my desire to ease her burden, always led me back to compromise. All that sacrifice had earned me was her contempt, her casual dismissal, her entitlement to my labor. But I was free now. The firm was no longer my problem. “No. I’ve already resi—” “Aria,” Leo’s voice cut in, thick with feigned hurt. “It’s okay. If Alex doesn’t want to do it, I can manage.” Aria’s expression immediately softened with pity for him. “You just went through a divorce. How can you be expected to work when you’re feeling down? Don’t be silly. Go have fun.” She turned back to me, her voice turning to ice. “Don’t you get it? Your little stunt on social media already upset Leo. This is your chance to make up for it, and you’re refusing? Keep this up, and in three days, you could be on your knees begging, and I still wouldn’t take you back.” I almost laughed. My mother had died unexpectedly. I was so wracked with grief I’d fainted multiple times. All Aria had said then was, “When you’re done crying, be at the office on time. There’s work to be done.” But Leo? His divorce was two years ago, and he was still using it as an excuse to skip work. “Fine by me. We don’t have to get back together.” I spun on my heel and walked away. The shock on Aria’s face was unmistakable. Our colleagues were stunned. “Is he… actually leaving?” Leo just chuckled. “Come on, Alex. No need to play hard to get. If you don’t want to do the work, just say so.” At his words, the tension in Aria’s face melted away, replaced by her usual confident smirk. Her tone softened. “Alright, Alex. I know I’ve been neglecting you lately. Be a good boy and finish Leo’s work, and in three days, I promise, we’ll go get our license. How does that sound?” The same empty promises. The same carrot dangled in front of my face. But this time, I had no appetite for it. I didn’t answer. I just kept walking. Behind me, the taunts started up again. “What a show. Just you wait. By tomorrow, he’ll be back, begging for another chance.” A wicked thought sparked in my mind. I wanted to see the looks on their faces when they lost their little bet for good. I let out a short, sharp laugh and glanced back at them over my shoulder. “Yeah? Don’t hold your breath.” 3 With my resignation finalized, I went straight to my best friend’s firm. In the legal world, a lawyer’s reputation follows them, not the firm they work for. As a top-tier litigator, my friend Mark was so thrilled to have me that he practically offered to shine my shoes. He gave me a salary ten times what Aria had paid me and threw in a villa as a signing bonus. Finally, I could move out of that dilapidated apartment. I’d lost track of how many clients had looked surprised when they found out where I lived. A “star lawyer” in a place like that. I always brushed it off, saying I was a simple guy who didn’t care about material things. The truth was, I’d willingly accepted a junior-level salary so Aria’s firm could grow. In the beginning, she was grateful. Over time, it became an expectation. One winter, the heating broke. When I asked Aria for some money to replace it, she called me extravagant, accused me of changing, of only being after her money. Yet for Leo, she’d buy a mansion on a whim. Even his dog’s house had central heating. On moving day, I ran into Aria and Leo. They were with her parents, the four of them enjoying a cozy family dinner at a fancy restaurant. I froze. A memory flashed in my mind: the first time I met her parents. I had arrived with armfuls of expensive gifts. They served me a table full of leftovers. I awkwardly suggested we all go out to eat, my treat. They scoffed, saying I didn’t earn much but had already picked up wasteful habits. In the end, I cooked a full meal for everyone. As soon as I set the food down, Aria’s mother slammed her chopsticks on the table, complaining my food was too salty. “Only peasants who do manual labor eat this salty,” she’d sneered. “I guess that makes sense, coming from a peasant’s son.” The gifts I brought them? I later saw the building’s janitor carrying them all home. Compared to this happy little family scene, I felt like a complete clown. Aria’s parents were fawning over Leo, piling food onto his plate. “Leo, you and our Aria are just perfect for each other,” her mother cooed. “If that other woman hadn’t tricked you back then, you two would never have missed your chance. I think the timing is perfect now. You two should just get together.” Her father chimed in, “Exactly! Leo landed several huge clients for Aria the moment he joined the firm. His future is limitless. Not like that useless Alex. All he’s good for is cooking and cleaning. Completely worthless.” Rage trembled through my body. I was the one who landed those clients. Aria had just credited them to Leo’s name. The money I brought in single-handedly kept that firm afloat. But Aria had never once praised me. Instead, she constantly belittled me, saying it was only because of the platform her firm gave me that I had any work at all. And now, faced with her parents’ slander, she said nothing to defend me. She just sighed. “Well, we’ve been together for so long. I guess I’ll just make do.” My heart plummeted into an icy abyss. All these years, to her, I was just someone to “make do” with. Her mother, however, was not satisfied. “Aria, let me tell you, that Alex is bad luck. Cursed. Just look at how his parents died so young. Marrying him will bring you nothing but misery.” Aria didn’t respond, but tears were already streaming down my face. My parents died because of hers. Years ago, Aria’s parents were in a car crash and needed massive blood transfusions. My parents were a match. They gave and gave, but it wasn’t enough. Aria was a wreck, sobbing uncontrollably. Knowing how much I loved her, my parents went back, behind my back, and gave more, pushing their bodies past the absolute limit. Aria’s parents were saved. Mine were gone. For a while, her family felt a sliver of guilt. They promised to make it up to me, to take care of me. That compensation never came. Instead, I became the “cursed” one they spoke of with disdain. I couldn’t stand to listen to another word. I turned to leave. 4 But Leo spotted me. “Well, look who it is. If it isn’t Alex.” The three of them turned to look. The moment she saw me, Aria instinctively pulled her hand away from Leo’s grasp. “Alex? What are you doing here?” Leo spoke, his tone deceptively casual. “Wow, Aria, he’s really dedicated. Everywhere you go, he just happens to show up. You don’t think he put a tracker on you, do you?” He then turned to me, a picture of innocence. “Oh, hey Alex, don’t get the wrong idea. Aria and I are just like family. Her parents are like my own. We get together like this all the time. If it bothers you, I can leave right now.” “Don’t you dare,” Aria snapped, grabbing his arm. She glared at me, her eyes spitting fire. “Alex, there’s a mountain of work at the office, and you’re here stalking me? Have you lost your mind?” “Are you ever going to stop being so paranoid? Get back to the firm right now. And on your way, stop by HR and accept your penalty. You’re forfeiting your pay for today and your bonus for the month.” Her parents jumped in to support her. “Aria, why do you even keep a parasite like him around? Just fire him. You’re too soft. How do you expect a star employee like Leo to feel valued when you tolerate this kind of behavior?” Leo, playing the part of the magnanimous hero, added, “It’s really no big deal. I don’t mind cleaning up Alex’s messes. But Alex, you’re not getting any younger. What will you do if you lose this job? Just apologize to Aria. Stop being so stubborn.” Her parents praised him for his kindness and maturity. Aria’s gaze on me grew colder, more disgusted. “What are you still standing there for? Get back to work. And let me tell you, if I don’t see you at your desk by the end of the day, then when the countdown ends tonight, don’t even bother trying to make up. We’ll be over for good.” With that, she and her “family” paid the bill and left. Later that evening, just before closing time, Aria made a point of swinging by the office. She saw my desk was empty. I really hadn’t come back. Furious, she stormed out and went straight to a bar, deliberately having a colleague “casually” leak her location to me. I saw the messages. I ignored them all. Eleven o’clock. The day was almost over. Aria had downed a stomachful of booze, but the agitation in her heart refused to settle. She kept glancing at the door to their private room, her body tensing every time it opened. Many people came and went. None of them were me. Her phone was silent, as if it were broken. She even had her assistant check it. When confirmed it was working perfectly, her mood sank to a new low. She was so used to me catering to her every whim. This sudden drop-off was a shock to her system. She looked at her phone’s lock screen—a photo of us. It was a candid shot she’d taken right after our first kiss. A faint smile touched her lips. In the end, she couldn’t resist. She sent me a text. “Alex, don’t say I didn’t warn you. The three days are almost up.” The message was met with deafening silence. Aria’s brow furrowed. The noisy room seemed to quiet down around her, chilled by the cold aura she was emitting. The air grew thick, and everyone’s breathing became shallow, careful. Suddenly, the door to the room swung open. The sound made everyone look up. A colleague burst in, breathless and beaming. “He’s here, Ms. Aria! He’s downstairs!” “And he’s all dressed up! He looks incredible. You have to go see!” The tension in Aria’s face instantly dissolved. She leaned back against the sofa, a triumphant, arrogant smile spreading across her face. “Go tell him he’s late,” she said, her voice dripping with satisfaction. “It’s one minute past midnight. Getting back together won’t be that easy.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “388399”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

Right before we went to sleep, my husband asked me a question. “Would you ever fall in love with someone else and divorce me?” My face, hidden under a sheet mask, tightened instantly. I lowered my eyes and let out a soft, dry chuckle. “Why? Did you find someone you love?” 1 My words seemed to short-circuit him. His mouth opened and closed, a flicker of panic darting through his eyes. A moment later, he forced the corners of his mouth into a stiff grin. “Sarah, come on. I was just talking hypothetically. Where is your head at?” He stood up, grabbing his running gear. “Go to sleep. I’m going for a night run.” “Is that so?” I tried to smile back, but the muscles in my face felt heavy. It was hard because I knew he wasn’t speaking hypothetically. A night run? Since when does a lead software engineer, exhausted after a twelve-hour shift of coding, find joy in a solitary run at 11 PM? “Are you going with that girl? The one with the long hair?” Ethan paused, one foot halfway into his sneaker. He turned, a look of genuine alarm on his face. “That’s just a colleague from the office.” He thought for a second, then added, “We just bumped into each other on the trail. Don’t misunderstand.” “I saw you two yesterday,” I said, my voice quiet. “On the track by the lake. She fed you a piece of chocolate.” What I didn’t say was that I also heard what she said. Her voice was thick with regret. Why did we meet so late? If only we had met a few years earlier, we could have been together. Ethan swapped his running shoes back for house slippers. I was still standing in the bedroom doorway. He walked over, gripping my shoulders. “You stay at home all day; it’s too easy for you to let your imagination run wild. I won’t go running tonight. Let’s just sleep.” He walked past me toward the bathroom. But his wedding ring, usually on his finger, had fallen onto the floor mat next to his running shoes. I knew then. He wasn’t just running. He was running away. 2 I needed to know. What kind of colleague was she? What did she have that made her more relaxing to him than his own family? I wanted to see the person who could so easily shatter four years of dating and ten years of marriage. We survived college. We survived the poverty of his early startup days. We survived the death of his mother. We survived the nights we held each other crying when the funding fell through. We survived every time we had to mortgage the house to keep the company afloat. And yet, we were losing to a cup of craft coffee in the breakroom? I saw her at his company’s anniversary gala. She was vibrant. Capable. Outside the revolving doors, an intern stumbled, dropping a tower of gift boxes. She rushed forward in four-inch heels, catching the bottom of the stack with one hand, her pearl earrings blurring with the motion. She directed the staff efficiently, then crouched down to put a Band-Aid on the intern’s scraped heel. The whole sequence was fluid, graceful. Her smile was unshakeable. I stood in the lobby, watching Ethan panic as he ran to her side. “Are you okay?” he asked, breathless. She looked up, and her eyes met mine across the security gates. We locked eyes for three seconds. Ethan, realizing I was there, instinctively let go of her hand. He walked quickly toward me, his body positioning itself to block my view of her. “Sarah,” he said, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “This is my colleague, Claire.” A colleague? A special colleague that required him to shield her with his body? Claire looked me in the eye calmly. There was no panic. It was as if I were the intruder. 3 We sat on opposite sides of the long table in his company’s conference room. We looked less like husband and wife and more like two parties in a hostile negotiation. He kept his head down, his hair falling over his evasive eyes. “Sarah…” I looked at him, waiting. He swallowed hard, his lips pressing into a thin line. He didn’t continue. I didn’t believe for a second that he didn’t know I knew. But I wanted to hear him say it. I wanted him to own the decision. Outside the frosted glass, I saw a white silhouette pacing. Ethan saw it too. It seemed to give him the resolve he needed. “Sarah, I’m sorry. But I have to admit, this marriage… it feels like work. I think… I don’t love you anymore.” I knew it. But knowing it didn’t make the words hurt any less. I thought I had prepared myself, but the burning sensation in my eyes betrayed me. “What about Leo?” My voice cracked. Leo is our son. Seven years old. Ethan looked up, startled by my tears. He looked helpless. “Leo… Sarah, Leo is my son. Of course I love him. But…” He chugged a glass of water as if it were vodka. “But I don’t want my son growing up in a home without love.” Having finally dislodged the boulder in his throat, the rest of the words poured out faster. “Sarah, counting college, we’ve been together fourteen years. I know you sacrificed a lot for me, for this family. But I work so hard every day. When I come home, I just want to relax. But all you talk about is your parents, the kid, the house… our romance is dead. It’s flavorless. I am just… so tired.” He finally looked me in the eye. I gripped my sleeves, digging my nails into my palms to stop the tears. “How long have you been together?” He waved his hands frantically. “No! Sarah, I didn’t cheat! We haven’t done anything physical. It’s been strictly professional!” Strictly professional? I laughed bitterly. Does an emotional affair not count as cheating? “Go tell Leo,” I said, standing up. “I’ll sign the papers.” 4 When I walked out of the conference room, Claire was standing by the door. We stared at each other. Neither spoke. She knew who I was. The office was empty; everyone was setting up for the gala. Ethan rushed out behind me. “Sarah, please don’t—” I smiled. “Don’t what? You think I’m going to hit her?” Ethan’s mouth hung open. He didn’t deny it. A wave of bitterness washed over me. Claire looked at me with a calm, almost pitying expression. Pity for what? For disrupting my family? “Don’t overthink it, Ethan,” Claire said softly, touching his sleeve. “Ms. Fang wasn’t going to do anything. I was just worried you wouldn’t be able to get a ride, so I waited.” Ethan instantly relaxed under her touch. “Silly, don’t overthink it…” He stopped mid-sentence, realizing I was still there. The same words. I realized then that “sweet nothings” are recyclable. You can say them to anyone.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “388415”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I had become the “Ditsy Intern” in a trashy CEO romance novel. At a high-stakes business dinner, the System ordered me to demand a Dino-Nugget Happy Meal. I refused. I’d rather die. The System flooded my mouth with the taste of rotten herring and vinegar. I folded immediately. In a voice as small as a mosquito, I squeaked, “I… I want the Dino-Nuggets with the chocolate milk…” Sebastian Sterling, the billionaire CEO, lifted his eyes to look at me. The System screamed in excitement: “Ahhh! The CEO is totally going to pamper you now! He loves your innocence!” The next second, my manager leaned into my ear and whispered like a demon: “Eat your damn nuggets in the alley. Get the hell out of here.” 1 “Hurry up! Demand the nuggets!” The System nagged incessantly in my brain. I gritted my teeth. “We are at a Michelin-star steakhouse. Why would I order dinosaur nuggets? Humiliating me at the office isn’t enough? You have to ruin me in front of the investors too?” I honestly didn’t know why a low-level grunt like me was even at a dinner of this caliber, but the System told me to stop asking questions. Apparently, this was normal in CEO romance logic. The System didn’t care about logic. “If you don’t order, I initiate the punishment phase.” Screw it. Punish me. Shock me until I glow in the dark. I am not ordering dinosaur nuggets at a business merger dinner! The next second, my mouth was filled with the taste of fermented fish guts. Oh god. This dog of a System actually did it. It tasted like licking a marathon runner’s armpit in a sauna. I broke instantly. “I want the Dino-Nuggets…” I whispered. The System cheered. “The CEO is definitely noticing you now! He thinks you’re so unique! Who is this quirky girl braving the corporate world? He vows to protect your rare innocence!” Sebastian Sterling lifted his heavy eyelids and looked at me, a frown creasing his brow. He was wearing a bespoke Italian suit that probably cost more than my life, his features chiseled and deep, gold-rimmed glasses perched on a high nose bridge. He radiated expensive, untouchable energy. The System was ecstatic. “Sebastian thinks you’re special! Ordering a baby meal at a business dinner? So cute!” Just as the System was drowning in its own delusions, Sebastian shot a subtle glance at my department head. My manager stood up, walked over to me, and through a perfect customer-service smile, hissed: “Eat your damn nuggets in the alley. Get the hell out of here.” Thank god. Finally, a normal person in this book. The working class is saved. 2 I had transmigrated into the role of the “Clumsy Corporate Pet” in a CEO novel. Or, to be more accurate, the “Whiny Burden.” In my previous life, I was a high-powered executive. I died because I left a snarky comment on a TikTok video about one of these “pampered office girl” tropes. I wrote: “Wow! She’s eating a Happy Meal during a board meeting! So fresh! So cute! I bet her salary is also child-sized, right? All that whining and no raise, but at least the nuggets are free~” As soon as I hit send, I strained too hard. My hemorrhoid burst. The pain was so intense I blacked out. I tried to stand up, slipped on the tiles with my pants around my ankles, smashed the back of my head on the toilet rim, and died. When I opened my eyes, I was here. In this book. With this System forcing me to act like a toddler in a blazer. My manager asked me to prep coffee; the System forced me to swap it for bubble tea. I had to wear fuzzy, oversized sweaters and shoes with bunny ears while navigating a sea of sharks in Armani suits. I was forced to be a walking disaster zone. For someone who was an elite professional in her past life, this was torture worse than death. I don’t understand what kind of brain damage leads to the creation of this “Useless Assistant” genre. In my old life, I hated my coworkers. Now? I open my eyes and want to murder the author. I wasn’t here to work for the company. I was here to be worked by the company. 3 I dragged my exhausted body back to my rental apartment. The System was still muttering to itself, confused why Sebastian didn’t follow the script and fall in love with my incompetence. I patiently explained, “Listen. In the real world, a low-level grunt doesn’t order food at a business dinner. The menu is set. The administrative team arranges the venue and the courses based on headcount and rank. High-end dinners do not serve dinosaur nuggets!” I was getting angrier as I spoke. “Have you ever even been to a business meeting?” The System sounded aggrieved. “But it shouldn’t be like this! Sebastian should find you interesting! He should think you’re clumsy and silly and super cute, and then fall helplessly in love with you!” I rolled my eyes. This System was clearly the type who fell in love with their drill sergeant during boot camp. If one of my subordinates ordered nuggets in front of a client, I would have fired them on the spot. Sebastian just kicking me out? That was practically saint-like behavior. My phone buzzed. Payday. My expression dropped. Damn it. This “Clumsy Pet” role not only required me to eat toddler food, but it also came with a toddler’s allowance. I looked at the number. It wasn’t even a fraction of my old salary. It looked more like a refund from Amazon than a paycheck. Sigh. I transferred rent to the landlord. Another month working just to have a roof over my head. 4 The next day, my manager looked at my pink frilly dress and fuzzy shoes. “Chloe,” she said, her voice heavy with exhaustion. “You are 28 years old. You need to be professional. Look at how your colleagues dress.” She didn’t say it, but her eyes screamed: You look ridiculous. I wanted to hug her and cry. I wanted to tell her the System forced me to wear this or it would fill my mouth with raw onions. But I couldn’t. Any mention of the System was automatically muted. I just lowered my head, trying to shrink into the floor. Because my next task was starting. Today’s Mission: Break the printer, then post a selfie with the caption: “Oopsie! I’m so dumb, technology is hard!~” Afternoon Mission: Spill coffee on Sebastian. The System insisted this would make him love me. I suspected the System had brain rot from reading too much Wattpad. As soon as I jammed the printer, my manager roared from behind me: “Chloe! Why is the printer broken again? That’s the third time this month! What is wrong with you?” I closed my eyes in despair. In my past life, I graduated from an Ivy League school. I was top of my class. I earned an eight-figure salary as the right hand of Julian, the most difficult CEO in the city. People called me “The CEO’s Loyal Dog.” I wore that title with pride. If I was a dog, I was a Golden Retriever with a diamond collar. And now? I was a 28-year-old woman pretending I didn’t know how paper worked. Is this my punishment for working too hard? 5 Complaining aside, the mission had to be done. The System’s shocks were no joke. I think it trained under a torturer. I carried the coffee into Sebastian’s office. He was reviewing documents. He glanced at me once, then ignored me. He leaned one elbow on the desk, flipping through the quarterly financial report, tapping his finger rhythmically on the mahogany. I twitched. That look… that tapping… it was terrifyingly familiar. It reminded me of my old boss, Julian. “Spill it! Spill it now!” The System shrieked. “According to the trope, if you spill coffee on him, he’ll think you’re clumsy and say the classic line!” “Woman, you have successfully caught my attention.” I suppressed the urge to vomit and walked toward Sebastian. I “tripped.” The cup flew. The hot coffee landed squarely on Sebastian’s… Crotch. F*ck. Why there? Of all places? I stopped breathing. My eyes bulged. That was scalding hot Americano. I had sinned. The Sterling bloodline might end here. Sebastian’s face turned purple. He clenched his jaw so hard I heard a crack, trying not to scream. Even the System panicked. “I said catch his attention, not destroy his future generations!” “Chloe…” Sebastian hissed through gritted teeth. “What. Are. You. Doing?” Sebastian went to the hospital. Second-degree burns. He lay in the hospital bed, looking like he wanted to die. I stood in the corner, nervously rubbing my left ring finger with my thumb. It was a habit I had when I was stressed. I was busy bargaining with the System on how to keep my job when I heard a name. “Harper.” I froze. I looked at the source. It was Sebastian. How did he know my name from my previous life? Sebastian narrowed his eyes at me. He looked at my hand rubbing my finger. “Harper Quinn.” The tone… the cadence… the cold judgment. It hit me like a lightning bolt. My idiot ex-boss had transmigrated too?!

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “388132”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

After five grueling years on my mission, I was finally back in my own world. But my children were clinging to a woman who looked almost identical to me. My husband wore a strained, awkward expression. And my parents, their eyes shifting guiltily, offered an explanation. “This is Sienna. When you were in a coma, she… she took on your responsibilities.” “We owe her a great deal.” 1. My son and daughter held tight to Sienna’s skirt, their eyes wary as they watched me. It was as if I were some kind of monster. I clenched the bedsheets, a sharp pain twisting in my heart. The hand my husband, Ethan, had on my shoulder tightened. I looked around at the others in the room. They had been discussing the automatic emergency alert system they’d installed on my phone, but Sienna’s sudden entrance had clearly caught them off guard. My parents looked deeply uncomfortable. “While you were unconscious, Sienna was the one who took care of us,” my dad explained. “We were going to introduce you properly when we got home.” My mother-in-law chimed in. “Yes, now that you’re awake, you two should get along. Don’t cause us any more worry, alright?” Sienna smiled, a challenging glint in her eyes, and walked over to my bedside. I said nothing. In my mind, I silenced the System. I’ll give you my answer in a few days. The System’s synthesized voice sighed, then faded into the background of my thoughts. Seeing that I was ignoring her, Sienna’s eyes welled with tears. She blinked, and a single tear traced a path down her cheek as she forced a pitiful smile. “I’m so sorry, I was being impulsive. It’s only natural that you’d hate me. I’ll… I’ll go…” She didn’t give anyone a chance to react. She just turned and fled. My mother-in-law stomped her foot in frustration and hurried after her. Ethan instinctively stood up, but his eyes met mine and he froze, slowly sinking back into his chair. He pulled me into a tight embrace, his voice the same soothing murmur he’d always used to comfort me. “Don’t overthink it. You’re the only one for me.” My daughter, Lily, lifted her skirt and ran after Sienna. My son, Finn, shot me a look of pure hatred before slamming the door so hard the walls shook. I didn’t understand. My two sweet, adorable children… how had they become like this? Seeing my silence, my parents excused themselves to handle the discharge paperwork. A short while later, I was in a wheelchair, being pushed out of the hospital. But as the car pulled away, I realized we weren’t heading home. “Dad,” I said, my voice trembling slightly. “If I remember correctly, this isn’t the way home.” My father’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. He forced a laugh. “Our Ashley’s memory is as sharp as ever.” He drove in a long, circuitous route, finally ending up at our house. I didn’t understand what he was doing until I stepped through the front door. The large family portrait that had hung in the entryway was gone. In its place was a photo of them—my family—with Sienna. I stared at the picture, then without a word, I marched upstairs and threw open the door to my old bedroom. Just as I suspected. Sienna had taken over, making my room her own. My chest heaved with a mixture of anger and disbelief as I took in the completely redecorated space. And there, sitting on the bed, was Sienna, reading a bedtime story to my son. A bitter laugh escaped my lips. For five years, I had thrown myself into every mission the System gave me, all for this. All to be reunited with my family. And now, there was no place for me here. “You were planning to take me somewhere else, weren’t you?” I asked, my eyes fixed on the man I had once adored more than anyone. My father shifted uncomfortably, avoiding my gaze. “I’ll get your room ready for you, Ash. This will always be your home.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Sienna’s eyes filled with tears again. She stood up without a word and began gathering her things. But my son stopped her. When no one was looking, he launched himself at me, shoving me to the ground. He grabbed whatever was within reach and started throwing it at me, screaming. “You came back and now you’re bullying my mommy! You’re a bad woman!” “Get out!” “Get out of my house!” I stared at the snarling, furious child before me, completely frozen. 2. Finn’s outburst shocked everyone. Ethan grabbed his arm, his brow furrowed in anger. “Finn! What do you think you’re doing?” Tears streamed down my son’s face as he continued to curse at me. The commotion woke Lily, who began to wail. Sienna scooped her up, her own tears flowing freely. “Stop it, both of you! It’s all my fault. I’ll just go!” She made a move to leave. But my mother spoke up, her voice sharp. “Everyone, be quiet!” “Sienna, you’re not going anywhere. You can keep this room.” My breath caught in my throat. I looked at my mother, who was frowning at me. “Ashley, I’ll have someone clear out the entire third floor for you tomorrow. For tonight, you can sleep in the guest room.” Her words echoed something I had asked her as a child. “Mommy, this is the master bedroom, isn’t it? Why aren’t you and Daddy sleeping here? Why is it for me?” She had hugged me then, her smile sweet. “Because this room holds all our best wishes for you, my darling. We want our Ashley to be happy forever.” The memory was a sharp, physical pain. The tears I’d been holding back finally fell. I turned my head, wiping them away, and walked out of the room without another word. My mother started to say something, but then stopped. Back in the guest room, I collapsed onto the bed, burying my face in the pillow and letting the sobs rack my body. Suddenly, a warm embrace enveloped me. Ethan. He placed a soft kiss on my head, stroking my hair. “What are we going to do if your eyes are all swollen tomorrow, honey?” he sighed. I looked up at him through blurry, tear-filled eyes. He offered a small, sad smile. I don’t know how long I cried, but eventually, his shirt was soaked through. I pulled back, embarrassed, and rubbed my eyes. “You should go take a shower.” He held me tight for another moment before picking up his phone and heading into the bathroom. I expected him to be quick—he usually just rinsed off in under ten minutes. But this time, the sound of the water was a constant drone that lulled me into a restless sleep. I woke up to the sound of Ethan closing the door. I blinked, my eyes drawn to his phone on the nightstand. The screen lit up for a moment. Sienna’s name flashed across the screen. Waiting for you. My heart skipped a beat. I reached for the phone, my fingers fumbling to unlock it. But when I entered the passcode, it was wrong. Ethan’s passcode had always been my birthday. I tried again. Not my birthday. Not his. Not the kids’. Then I remembered the birthday I’d seen listed in Sienna’s contact information. I typed it in. The phone unlocked. The blood in my veins turned to ice. I opened their chat history. For the past hour, while he was in the bathroom, Ethan had been on a video call with Sienna. The phone slipped from my grasp. I bit my lip, willing the tears not to fall. After a long moment, I got up and walked to Sienna’s room. The door was slightly ajar. Inside, Sienna was draped over Ethan’s arm, her smile coy as she leaned in and kissed him. And Ethan… he wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her back, with even more passion. 3. I stood there, a silent observer to my own personal torture, until my legs gave out and I sank to the floor. A small noise from the kitchen drew my attention. My seven-year-old daughter, Lily, was standing on a stool, clumsily stirring something in a pot. Worried she would get hurt, I went to her. She was muttering to herself. “Mommy doesn’t like cilantro, or scallions…” She lifted the pot from the stove with the careful concentration of a much older child, and my heart softened. But when she turned and saw me, her expression soured. “What are you doing here, you bad woman!” It hit me then. The “mommy” she was talking about was Sienna. My lips trembled. “Lily, I’m your mother. How could you…” “You’re not my mother!” she shouted, pushing past me with the pot of hot soup and heading towards Sienna’s room. The shove sent me stumbling backwards, my spine cracking against the corner of the counter. The pain was sharp, radiating through my body. I followed her back to the room. Lily was carefully blowing on a spoonful of soup before offering it to Sienna. Sienna praised her with a smile, and Ethan pulled her into his lap, teasing. “Our Lily knows how to take care of her mommy even better than her big brother.” I watched the happy, domestic scene from the doorway, a bitter ache in my chest. They were a perfect family. And I was the intruder. I turned and walked away. The next morning, Ethan woke me with his customary good-morning kiss. I turned my head, avoiding it. He froze for a moment, then took my hand and led me to the dining table. But there was no place set for me. Sienna sat in my usual chair, a smug smile on her face. Ethan looked flustered. He gently pushed me into his own seat. “Um…” the housekeeper, Mrs. Gable, began nervously. “I didn’t prepare a meal for Ms. Ashley…” Everyone stared. My mother looked confused. “Didn’t Sienna tell you?” Sienna let out a little gasp. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I went to bed so late last night, and I overslept. I completely forgot to tell Mrs. Gable…” “Here, you can have my breakfast…” My mother-in-law pressed her hand down. “You sit right there.” My father agreed. “You need to eat. You’re already too thin.” I was invisible. I watched them, a perfect, harmonious family, and my hands, hidden at my sides, curled into tight fists. My mother sighed and told the housekeeper to make another breakfast, then took my hand and started talking about a welcome-home party. “Now that you’re finally back, we want to throw a party for you. Ethan can take you to try on some dresses later.” I pulled my hand away, numbly nodding. I looked at my mother’s face, really looked at it, and a question began to form in my mind. Do I even want to stay here anymore? 4. At the party, my father was busy introducing Sienna to all of his business partners and old friends. I started to walk over, but my mother stopped me. “Your father is introducing Sienna as his successor,” she hissed, giving me a sharp look. “Don’t go over there. We’ll give you shares in the company. You can live off the dividends.” I was stunned. “But you always said that I would…” “That was before.” My mother gripped my hand tightly, as if afraid I would make a scene. “Just be good, Ashley.” She led me to a corner, and I followed in a daze. My attention was drawn to a figure across the room. It was Ethan. The same Ethan who had promised me he would never drink again was now downing glass after glass of champagne, shielding Sienna from having to drink. He had a sensitive stomach. I remembered the time he had ended up in the hospital with severe cramps, and I had cried myself sick with worry. He had promised me then. He had even let his friends tease him for being whipped. Now, I watched him drain one glass after another. It wasn’t long before he was clutching his stomach, his face pale. Forgetting everything else, I rushed to his side and grabbed his arm. “Have you forgotten what you promised me?” He looked at my worried face, a flicker of guilt and gratitude in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Ashley, I…” “Don’t talk.” I took a deep breath and, without a word to anyone else, helped him out of the ballroom. By the time we got to the hospital, he had passed out. The doctor put him on an IV. I was about to go pay the bill when Ethan grabbed my wrist. “Don’t go…” I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. I leaned down to soothe him, but then I heard him whisper Sienna’s name. “Don’t go, Sienna.” It was like being struck by lightning. I froze, my heart squeezed in a vise. I pried his fingers from my wrist, paid the bill, and drove straight home. “…Sienna is pregnant now. We can’t let her get an abortion!” I had my hand on the doorknob, but my mother-in-law’s voice from inside stopped me. “Maybe Ethan should divorce Ashley and marry Sienna.” She was looking to my parents for support. My mother sighed. “It’s true. If Ashley gets divorced, she’ll still have us. But Sienna is all alone. It makes sense for her to marry Ethan.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. In just a few words, they had decided my fate. I stood there, stunned, when a soft laugh came from behind me. “So what if you’re awake, Ashley?” I turned to see Sienna looking at me, her eyes full of triumph. “In the end, I still replaced you.” I forced myself to stand tall. “A replacement is always just a replacement. How long do you think this stolen happiness will last?” My words seemed to strike a nerve. Her expression hardened. “We’ll see whose happiness it is in the end!” With that, she grabbed my hand and gave a violent shove. A loud scream echoed through the hall as she tumbled down the stairs. Blood began to pool between her legs. The conversation inside stopped. The door flew open, and the three of them saw the horrific scene. A sharp smack as my father’s hand connected with my face. My mother-in-law shoved me, and I fell to the floor. My father pointed a trembling finger at me. “What the hell are you doing?” I opened my mouth to explain, but they didn’t give me a chance. My mother’s only words were, “If anything happens to Sienna, you don’t have to come back to this family ever again!” Tears blurred my vision. I watched my father scoop Sienna into his arms and rush to the car. My mother and mother-in-law followed without a single glance in my direction. Something inside me snapped. I don’t know how long I sat there as the wind and rain whipped around me. I laughed, a broken, hollow sound. “System, I don’t want to stay here anymore.” “I want to go back to the mission world.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “388148”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

My mother was obsessed with competing with me. When my grandmother gave me a jade bangle, my mother’s eyes turned red with envy. She snatched it from me, snarling, “A worthless girl like you doesn’t deserve such a fine thing!” When my boyfriend sent me a bouquet for Valentine’s Day, she gritted her teeth in rage, then feigned nonchalance. “He only likes you because you’re my daughter. If I were a few years younger, do you think he’d even look at you?” Later, she actually climbed into my boyfriend’s bed, naked. When she was caught, she begged us not to tell my father. Soft-hearted, I agreed. But during a family trip to a scenic mountain, she pushed me off a cliff… Before I died, I saw her face twisted in a euphoric grin. “Everything you have is only because you’re my daughter! Why should you have a better life than me? I should never have given birth to you!” When I opened my eyes again, it was the summer after my high school graduation. Mom, this time, I won’t be silent. I’ll be the loudspeaker broadcasting your “victories” in this twisted competition. 1 When I was seven, I admired a matching mother-daughter outfit in a shop window. I tugged at my mother’s skirt to show her. She looked at me with disgust. “Are you just trying to outshine me so your dad will praise you?” At fourteen, while Dad was away on business, I cooked a huge meal for her while she was out shopping, hoping for a smile or a compliment. Instead, she flipped the table in a rage, screaming, “You wasteful brat! I worked so hard to raise you, I quit my job for you! What’s the point of cooking all this? Who are you trying to impress?!” I thought I would wake up eventually. I thought I would stop craving her warmth. At eighteen, I got into college. My grandparents gave me an exquisite jade bangle. She made snide remarks and threw fits until I offered it to her with both hands. Only when it was on her wrist did she calm down. Later, in college, I found a boyfriend who genuinely loved me. When I excitedly shared my happiness with my family, she tried on my clothes in my room behind my father’s back. Posing in front of the mirror, she scoffed, “If I were a few years younger, do you think he’d ever look at you?” In the end, she crawled naked into my boyfriend’s bed. When he fled screaming in terror, she cried and begged me not to tell my dad. I softened again. The price of my soft heart was my life ending in a nameless valley. 2 The moment I opened my eyes, I still felt the dull pain of the rocks against the back of my head, and the shock and resentment filling my chest. When I came to my senses, I found myself squatting in the bathroom, staring at a basin full of socks so dirty they were black. It was the summer after my high school graduation. My dad, wearing a tank top and carrying a bowl of fruit to wash, passed by the bathroom. He poked his head in and grinned at me, eyes full of relief. “Looks like our Lily has grown up. Not a lazy girl anymore.” Before I could speak, my mom, like a bloodhound tracking her prey, appeared. She wore tight jeans and pink slippers, even her toenails studded with rhinestones. Holding a tub of Häagen-Dazs she just took from the fridge, she looked me up and down and let out a disdainful “Tch.” “Not lazy? If she wasn’t lazy, would she save up so many dirty socks before washing them?” Dad looked awkward, wanting to speak but stopping himself. As if smelling something foul, Mom covered her nose in disgust, taking a big step back and pulling Dad with her. “Lily, how long have you been wearing these? Your feet stink! You didn’t inherit a single good trait from me. Dark and skinny is bad enough, but a girl with foot odor?” I stood up, wiped my hands on a towel, and grinned at my parents. “Mom, you forgot. You told me to throw away your dirty socks.” “So you went into my room, took my clean socks, wore them until they were dirty, and stuffed them back in my drawer?” “I can’t just let them sit there dirty, so I’m washing them.” The air filled with a terrifying silence. Mom’s face turned green with rage, her hand hovering over her nose, unsure whether to keep covering it or drop it. I ignored them, walked past, and went straight to my room, locking the door. Half an hour later, I received a text from Dad: “Lily, you shouldn’t be so blunt. It hurts people. She’s your mother after all. She’s been crying on the sofa for half an hour. Come out and apologize.” I sneered and closed the chat. She is my mother, but if she truly treated me like a daughter, she wouldn’t have pushed me off a cliff in my past life. As for her crying, real or fake, it wasn’t because my words hurt her heart. It was because the perfect image she meticulously built in front of her husband had been torn open, exposing the truth. She was humiliated. 3 My dad was an only child. My grandparents were retired teachers who lived in the same apartment complex. To celebrate my acceptance into the city’s Normal University, the old couple prepared a big feast at their home and invited our whole family. On the way downstairs, Mom wore sunglasses and refused to talk to me, probably because I exposed her sock secret the other day. But she hummed a tune, seemingly in a good mood. When a familiar neighbor asked why she was so happy, she took off her sunglasses and acted coy. “Oh, my daughter isn’t very capable. She only got into the local Normal U. Her grandparents wouldn’t even book a hotel for her graduation party.” “It’s all because she didn’t try hard enough. Back when Frank and I got married, we had the best hotel in the city, the best dress, the best jewelry…” “What’s the use of my in-laws valuing me? She’s just disappointing. In the old days, they’d call her a money-loser.” Reaching the part she enjoyed, Mom covered her mouth and giggled, trembling with laughter. I couldn’t be bothered to respond. Her breakdown was coming later. Arriving at the other building, Grandma was already waiting downstairs with a beaming smile. Seeing me, she pulled me into a hug, patting my shoulder. “Our Lily is so capable! City Normal U, that’s wonderful!” She led me upstairs, arm around my shoulder, seemingly forgetting there was another person behind us. Entering the apartment, I realized it wasn’t just my grandparents. The living room was full of men and women, surrounding Grandpa. They were all well-dressed and successful-looking. Following Grandma inside, people stood up one by one, greeting me with smiles and handing me gifts. I thanked them under Grandma’s guidance and chatted, realizing these were all former students of my grandparents, invited to celebrate my success. When Mom walked in and saw so many people, she froze. Seeing the pile of gifts in my arms, the familiar hateful glint returned to her eyes. I knew that look too well. Learning she was my mother, the guests exchanged polite pleasantries, but their distance was obvious. Mom didn’t seem to sense the awkward atmosphere. She sat herself down carelessly and started chatting intimately with those around her. The topic was invariably me. How she never expected a daughter who was last in her class in middle school to get into college. How I, a wasteful and argumentative daughter at home, acted so obedient outside. I saw the guests’ faces turn uncomfortable; some couldn’t even keep up with her conversation. Suddenly, Mom said quietly, “Lily, are your scores even real?” Silence fell over the room. Questioning her own daughter’s academic integrity at her graduation party—she was definitely the first. Grandpa cleared his throat, interrupting her. “It’s getting late. Everyone, please take a seat.” Mom was silenced. She wanted to sit next to me, but Grandma said coldly, “Lily sits between me and the old man today. Frank’s wife, you don’t have a problem with that, do you?” She wouldn’t dare. If Grandma farted, she’d rush to smell it and call it perfume. The atmosphere at the table improved. Everyone but Mom wore smiles, encouraging me to broaden my horizons in college. At 7:30, Dad rushed back. Shortly after he sat down, Grandma brought out an exquisite box from the inner room. She opened it in front of everyone. Inside lay a beautiful jade bangle, translucent and smooth. Tears welled up in the old couple’s eyes. “Lily is going to college. Grandma and Grandpa prepared a gift too. This is for you. May your life be smooth and safe.” Grandma took my hand, ready to slide the bangle onto my wrist. That was when the accident happened. Mom suddenly rushed over, eyes red, and snatched the bangle from Grandma’s hand. Her voice was shrill: “Mom! She’s just a worthless girl! Why give her such an expensive gift?!” The room erupted in shock. Dad reacted first. His face darkened. He patted Mom’s shoulder, whispering her name, signaling her to behave. Mom shook off Dad’s hand, shouting, “Did I say anything wrong, Frank? I carried on the family line for the Zhangs! Even if I only gave birth to this money-loser, I still contributed!” “Are you just going to let your parents trample my face into the ground?!” The guests looked at each other, hesitant to speak, silence reigning. In my past life, under such a grand display of madness from my mother, I would have buried my head in the sand, apologizing in a mosquito’s voice while tugging at her clothes. My grandparents, seeing me like that, couldn’t support me even if they wanted to. They could only sigh. And after getting home, I would have offered this precious gift to her with both hands just to make her stop. My thoughts returned. Dad frowned, looking at me pleadingly, as if hoping I would step up to smooth things over. I feigned helplessness and grabbed Grandma’s hand. I said, “Mom, you melted down all the silver bracelets, necklaces, and earrings Grandma gave me for seventeen years to make new jewelry for yourself. But can you please not take this bangle? I really like it…” “This is a graduation gift from Grandma and Grandpa. It means something different…” My voice trailed off at the end, sounding unsure. A crazy mom, a passive dad, and a broken me. Anyone with eyes could see the truth. Smash! A loud crash beside me made Mom jump, her lips trembling uncontrollably. Grandpa had smashed a bowl. Shards flew everywhere. I trembled too, feeling a gentle squeeze on my hand. Meeting Grandma’s reassuring gaze, warmth rose in my heart. “Lily, you said your mother took all the silver jewelry we gave you for seventeen years and melted it down for herself?” Grandpa’s face was grim. I nodded timidly, hesitating. “Mom said I have dark skin, so wearing those things looked dark and tacky, so she took them…” Whispers broke out among the guests. Seeing the commotion, Mom shrieked: “Dad, how can you listen to a child’s nonsense? How could I take her things? I’m saving them for her…” “Kids shouldn’t be so flashy.” Seeing Mom’s stiff smile, Grandma scoffed. “In that case, go home right now and bring back everything we gave Lily.” At this point, Mom seemed to lose the ability to argue, but she refused to give up. The guests, sensing the family drama, politely made excuses to leave. When most people were gone, Mom ignored Dad’s warning looks and continued to be stubborn. “Mom, Dad, I’ve been married into the Zhang family for so many years, raised Lily this big. She’s just a child. Aren’t her things mine?” 4 Hearing this, I sneered internally. Yes, just because you gave birth to me. My things must be yours. My achievements are all thanks to you. I should live in your shadow. You whisper in my ear under the guise of love, magnifying my flaws to highlight your superiority. But Mom, I should be your daughter, not your competitor. Dad, the invisible man, looked bad too. In our small family, he was the head, indulging his wife’s tantrums and forcing me to compromise as a father. But here, he was the son. In this atmosphere, he wished he were the grandson. Grandma’s gaze was cool but disappointed. “I don’t care what you did before, but this is a gift from us to our granddaughter.” “A thief in the family is still a thief.” “If I ever see anything belonging to Lily on you again, you don’t need to step through this door.” Mom’s face turned green then red. She grabbed her sunglasses, stomped her foot in rage, huffed, and left unwillingly. Youth is priceless; confronting Mom is priceless-er. Since my rebirth, I’ve confronted my mom twice, exposing a small part of her true nature to my dad and grandparents. She treated me like air these days, pretending I didn’t exist. Dad sighed constantly, hinting I should apologize. Hilarious. Who complains about too much peace? Living comfortably, I made it to the start of college. College life was rich, and so was my mom’s social media. I often heard my roommate, who scrolled videos late at night, complaining: “Check the video I tagged you in. Is this lady crazy? She posted a photo of her daughter’s back with photoshopped white hair, and a filtered-to-death selfie of herself, asking netizens to guess who is the mom and who is the daughter?” I clicked the tag. As expected, the video featured me and my mom. Luckily, my face wasn’t visible. I sighed in relief. Not completely humiliated. My roommate on the bottom bunk had a sharp tongue. She typed furiously. A moment later, I saw her comment: “The daughter with the photoshopped white hair is the mom, and the auntie with the heavy filter is the daughter.” Reading her comment, we all burst into laughter. Two months into the semester, I was studying in the library with my roommates. Suddenly, a note was slid in front of me. Following the slender hand, I saw a familiar face—my boyfriend from my past life. I smiled, accepted the note, and added his contact info under my roommates’ teasing gazes. Just then, a message from Dad popped up on WeChat. “Lily, you and Mom have been in a cold war for so long. She can’t bring herself to apologize, but she misses you dearly. When will you come back to visit?” I thought for a moment and typed: “Next month.” A month is enough to do many things, like fall in love. Mom misses me? Thinking about those words gave me chills from head to toe. My roommate nudged me, showing me her phone. It was another video from Mom. Maybe she got roasted too hard on the last one, so she launched a “loving mother” persona. Same video, new caption: “Mommy’s little jacket, I miss you so much. Don’t stay away just because of a few words.” A sensible netizen commented: “The auntie who looks like a daughter doesn’t seem to have a good relationship with the daughter who looks like a mom.” Mom replied instantly: “My daughter is coming back to see me next month.” So that’s why she wanted me back so urgently. Ignoring me for months was fine, but now she “missed me dearly.” Her “pampered wife” persona wasn’t enough; she needed a doting daughter too. But this time, she wouldn’t get what she wanted.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “388165”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel