Category: English

I chased after Skyler for 5 years before he finally agreed to marry me. Two months before our wedding, I got into a car accident. I called him three times, but he hung up on me each time. His junior, Vivian, had suggested he give me the cold shoulder for a while to make me less clingy. When I crawled out of the ravine, I was covered in injuries. My right hand had suffered a comminuted fracture. At that moment, I finally understood that some things can’t be forced. But then he started showing up at my door every day, red-eyed, begging me to give him 5 years too. When I was brought to the hospital, my clothes were in tatters and I was covered in injuries. The doctor looked at me and sighed, saying if I had come a few hours earlier, they might have been able to save my right hand. A few hours earlier. I stared numbly at the hospital ceiling, listening to the doctor’s verdict. Comminuted fracture of the right hand, slim chances of recovery. I probably wouldn’t be able to paint again. Tears rolled down my cheeks as despair spread through my body. Why could I never learn to let go? What was he doing right now, I wondered? Maybe he had opened a bottle of wine last night, celebrating that I hadn’t bothered him. Or perhaps he was practicing piano with Vivian, the two of them enjoying an intimate moment together. I smiled bitterly to myself. At least I wouldn’t be an obstacle between them anymore. My phone rang. It was Skyler. I slowly closed my eyes. This time I had to learn my lesson. Skyler burst into my hospital room. Not a wrinkle on his clothes, he frowned at me coldly, like a lofty god looking down on a mortal. He berated me: “What kind of stunt are you pulling now? Why aren’t you answering your phone?” “Getting yourself into this state just because I didn’t answer your call yesterday? I told you I was busy. Can’t you understand that?” His words stabbed into my still-bleeding wounds. For a moment, my dead heart cried out in pain again. He had sentenced me without even asking what happened. Even seeing me lying here covered in injuries didn’t stir the slightest ripple in his heart. After all, he was the man I had loved for five years – a single word from him could provoke all my emotions. I looked at him sadly, unable to speak. My eyes filled with tears, as if begging, as if mourning. The white walls reflected his coldness. The smell of disinfectant in the air seemed to mock my foolishness. He must not have seen me like this before. He looked uncomfortable: “Take care and get well. Remember to participate in the national art design competition next week. I have to get back to practice now.” He added: “This piano competition is very important to me. Don’t disturb me during this time.” With that, he left without looking back, never once asking about my injuries. I watched his hastily retreating figure, my whole body cold. I couldn’t say a word. This was the boy I had chased for five years. Tears fell uncontrollably. I had naively thought it was my sincerity and passion that had moved him, that had made him turn and look at me. The piano competition was important to him. Vivian was important to him. His friends were important to him. So what was I? I used to think everything would pay off in the end, just like how I persevered with my painting. But reality had given me a harsh wake-up call. Not everything turns out beautifully just because you persist. My sincerity meant nothing to him. So why did he agree to marry me? Why did he give me hope? The sun set. I curled up in bed, shivering as if I was back in that dark night, trapped in the car, unconscious for who knows how long, despairing and thinking I was going to die. Before I passed out, I had made one phone call. I thought of him first, but I lay unconscious all night without rescue coming. Perhaps I was wrong from the start. I had forced things after all, just like with my art career. It wasn’t meant to be. After five days of treatment, my body started to recover. Except for my hand. The doctor suggested I go abroad for treatment. I smiled bitterly. How could I afford that? I left the hospital and returned to my rented apartment. The small room was filled with paintings. Five years ago, at the graduation party, I had fallen for him at first sight. Since then, all my paintings had been of him. The whole room was filled with paintings related to him. It seemed I had been living in his world all these years, losing myself.

The excessive emotional suppression made me feel suffocated. Looking at the room full of paintings of him, I screamed out loud. My emotions burst forth at that moment. I frantically tore down papers and stomped on them, violently ripping apart paintings I had painstakingly created. The floor was a mess as I vented my emotions. I sat on the floor and wept loudly. Ruined. Everything was ruined. There was still one painting left. My favorite one, framed on the wall, which I had overlooked. It was the first painting I made when I saw Skyler. My hands trembled as I reached out to touch it, but I felt as if I had been electrocuted. Tears streaming down my face, I froze in place. I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was. Three days later, Skyler found me at an art exhibition. He angrily questioned me, his eyes seeming to shoot fire: “Why didn’t you participate in the competition? Don’t you know you had the best chance of winning? Do you know how important this competition was? Even if you want to throw a tantrum, you should know when and where.” A series of accusations hit my already numb heart. At that moment, I had so many things I wanted to ask him, but all I could say was: “Oh, congratulations on winning.” Skyler’s expression softened a bit: “So you watched the competition. How come I didn’t see you there? You left so early without waiting for me.” I hadn’t gone. I had guessed. With his skills, winning would have been easy. I pointed at the paintings around the room and asked softly: “Do you think these paintings are beautiful?” My eyes were full of pity. This exhibition was probably the last time I would display my past works. I quietly watched the crowd coming and going, occasionally stopping in front of a painting to admire the artist’s skill. One of my paintings was here too. Skyler rubbed his temples and took my hand. “Summer, I was a bit busy the past couple days and neglected you. But you know how important this competition was to me. Get dressed up and accompany me to tonight’s party.” “I don’t have time,” I said. I looked at him calmly: “Skyler, let’s break up.” He laughed, as if he had heard a joke: “Break up?” Then he said gently: “Summer, be good. After tonight is over, I’ll spend time with you.” I tilted my head and thought for a moment: “No. We’ve broken up.” He stepped forward, wanting to hold me in his arms and comfort me like he had countless times before. But the moment he touched me, I pushed him away and let out a piercing scream. The whole venue was drawn to the sound of my voice. The fragile balance I had been maintaining was unexpectedly torn apart. I crouched down holding my head, violent emotions assaulting my brain again. Resentment, unwillingness, pain, disappointment, despair. All my efforts and pursuits of the first half of my life had turned to bubbles in one night. But I could have been saved, couldn’t I? If only it had been a few hours earlier. If only he had answered the phone. If only he had patiently listened to me finish one sentence. He froze, standing there dumbfounded, not daring to take another step forward. “Summer, it’s me. It’s me. What’s wrong?” He looked helpless like a child, cautiously unsure of what had happened. It took great effort to control my emotions. I slowly walked out of the hall. Skyler chased after me. I turned my back to him and said: “I need some time alone.” Back home, I sat alone in my studio, sometimes wanting to laugh, sometimes wanting to cry. I thought I was calm, but seeing Skyler brought on an intense feeling of grievance that swept through my whole body. The room was brightly lit. I had been sleeping with the lights on lately. As soon as it got dark, I couldn’t help but think of that pitch-black night. Intense pain swept through my body as I tried to grasp at a lifeline that had sent my art career to its grave.

I resented Skyler in my heart, but reason told me he had no obligation to save me. I shouldn’t blame him. But I couldn’t control it. He was my boyfriend. We had agreed to get married. If only he had given me a few more seconds to say something, instead of hanging up after saying he was busy. Or if he had called to check on me that night when I didn’t come home, noticing something was wrong. I had never stayed out all night before. He knew where I had gone too. I had told him. I really had told him. The papers scattered on the floor seemed to mock my stupidity. My persistence felt like a joke. When I was young and learning to paint, no one supported me. So I forged ahead alone, and had made a name for myself by now. But it was as if heaven was playing a cruel joke on me, blatantly telling me that all this success and happiness was just temporarily lent to me, and now it was time to take it back. I threw all my art supplies into the trash and stuffed my paintings into bags, planning to throw them out tomorrow. At midnight, I received a message from a friend. Skyler had announced our engagement at the banquet. He probably still didn’t know about my situation. How could a painter who couldn’t hold a brush anymore participate in competitions? He was celebrating his success at the banquet, and casually announced his engagement, without naming the bride. Everyone congratulated him, their gazes subtly gathering on Vivian White beside him. The golden boy and jade girl, what a perfect match. I lay in my small rented room, surrounded by wreckage, papers full of folly. The next day, their names and video appeared in the trending topics. Piano prodigy Skyler announces engagement to Vivian White, daughter of his teacher. A flood of congratulations filled the comments. In the afternoon, Skyler showed up at my door. This should be his first time coming here. I had just been planning to clear things up with him anyway. I opened the door for him. He looked at the empty room in surprise: “Where are your paintings?” “I can’t paint anymore.” “What nonsense is this? What happened? Why did you block me?” Skyler stared at me dissatisfied, as if scolding a disobedient child: “Summer, stop fooling around. Our wedding is in a month.” “I know I’ve neglected you lately, but you can’t always be so unreasonable. Pack your things and come home with me.” His nonchalance made it seem like this whole drama was just my one-sided tantrum. I laughed, then started crying: “Home? What home? Where is home? Your home with Vivian? It’s all over social media that you’re marrying her. What am I supposed to do there?” He frowned, his gaze distant: “I announced our engagement last night. I wanted to surprise you, but you weren’t in good shape and didn’t show up. The media misunderstood. I didn’t handle it well. I’ve already had people take down the trending topic. This has nothing to do with Vivian. She’s a victim too.” Every word he said was defending Vivian, blaming me for not being there. Victim? Innocent? Then what was I, a joke? Tears rolled down my cheeks. For once, he didn’t show disgust. “Why didn’t you answer my call that night?” I asked. “I did answer, didn’t I? I was practicing piano. You know how important that competition was to me.” He sat down on the sofa, displeased. “Why did you hang up after answering?” I demanded. “Can you stop making a fuss? I told you I was practicing. You called three times in a row.” His voice rose, then he caught himself: “Alright, Summer, it’s my fault.” I looked at him tearfully: “It was Vivian who told you not to answer my calls, wasn’t it?”

He frowned, reaching out to wipe my tears but I dodged: “This has nothing to do with Vivian. Can you stop making a scene?” “Would I call you three times in a row for no reason? You deliberately didn’t answer because you felt embarrassed in front of her, right?” He started to get agitated: “Summer, stop it.” “Skyler, I saw the surveillance footage from that day.” That day he was practicing piano when my call came in. Vivian suggested he hang up and keep practicing. His friends teased him for being henpecked. Though he answered my call, he hung up without letting me speak. That night, I didn’t say goodnight to him as usual, and I didn’t come home. He didn’t notice anything unusual. Or maybe he did notice, but didn’t care. If only he had paid a little attention to me, things might have been different. He was taken aback: “You went to check the surveillance over such a small thing?” “A small thing? Yes, it’s a small thing. I just got in a car accident on my way back that night. I called you three times, and you hung up on me three times. I missed the best treatment window, and now I’ll never be able to paint with my right hand again. Yes, it’s just a small matter, no big deal.” I laughed maniacally, trying to push all the blame onto him. Why didn’t he answer that call? Why did he give me hope and then despair? Marriage – I once thought he was someone I could entrust my whole life to. I never imagined he would hang up on me three times because of someone else’s words. I broke down crying. From beginning to end, I was the outsider. His voice trembled slightly: “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” I looked into his eyes: “Did you ever care? How many times did you come to the hospital? Once. What was the first thing you did when you saw me? When did you realize I had blocked you?” Panic flashed in his eyes. Things had spiraled out of his control. “This morning, right? You didn’t notice all week. You never asked about me once.” A painter who can’t hold a brush, a pianist who can’t play the piano – he knew how important our hands were to us. I had flown like a moth to his flame, not knowing it was an abyss that would destroy me. Silence spread between us. Bitter tears flowed into my heart. “I’ll take you to receive the best treatment. There must still be hope.” He paused, then grabbed my hand. “There’s no hope, Skyler. Let’s end this.” I couldn’t see any hope for the future. I didn’t know what life would be like from now on, but everything I had worked so hard for before was wasted. My dreams of painting, of Skyler – I had countless fantasies. In an instant, it all shattered. “End what?” he asked anxiously. “End everything.” I closed my eyes painfully. “No way. Our wedding is next month.” He flatly refused. “You can replace me with Vivian. We have similar builds. She’d be delighted.” I said self-mockingly. “It’s already trending online. Can’t disappoint the netizens.” His face turned ashen, as if I had committed some unforgivable crime. How laughable. Wasn’t he the one who shut me out from the beginning? “Skyler, I have one more question. Why did you agree to marry me? Don’t say it’s because you love me.” Bitterness filled my voice. He fell silent. I didn’t look up to see his expression.

I still went with him to his house. He said he could heal my hand. He took me to see many famous doctors, but they all just shook their heads. He started spending time with me frequently, talking about wedding details. Gradually, I stopped hoping. Vivian wore a custom wedding dress – the style Skyler had shown me a few days ago. Her exquisite makeup and red nails exuded vitality. She looked me up and down haughtily: “Summer, isn’t this wedding dress beautiful?” She confidently led me downstairs. She moved around the house as if she were the true mistress, while I was just a lowly outsider. The housekeeper poured us tea. “Miss White, you and our young master are finally getting married. This wedding dress is so beautiful. The young master personally chose it and put a lot of thought into it.” “Mrs. Zhang, you flatter me.” Vivian smiled and sent them away. “Miss Summer, I wanted to have a chat with you today.” She set down her cup and settled comfortably on the sofa. “Miss Summer, during that time when Skyler was busy with training, I was quietly by his side. He didn’t have time to look after you, and you were clinging to him so tightly. So I suggested he not answer your calls. After all, you didn’t have any urgent matters.” I smiled awkwardly, sitting stiffly on the sofa in my white clothes, like a guest. “You should know that my father is Skyler’s teacher. I can help boost Skyler’s career. But you’re just a burden to him now. Before, Skyler was a bit playful, and I didn’t say anything. But now that our families are going to be joined in marriage, it’s best if you leave. I don’t want to see you on that day.” She smiled, her manners elegant and speech refined. I turned pale, unable to refute her words. “Miss White needn’t worry. I will leave. Please take good care of Skyler and don’t let him keep chasing after me.” Vivian’s expression changed. She laughed lightly: “Leave this place and go live somewhere else. That car accident must have left a deep impression on you, Miss Summer. Skyler and I are childhood sweethearts. You shouldn’t have tried to steal him from me.” I looked at her in disbelief. “You did it?” She nodded slightly, looking at me with contempt: “What are you talking about, Miss Summer? I don’t understand.” I went crazy and pushed her to the ground, fighting her from inside the house to the doorway. She suddenly flung open the door. Outside, reporters captured my disheveled state on camera, while Vivian stood to the side in her wedding dress. Skyler’s friends berated me: “You shameless woman, how dare you still cling to Skyler.” At that moment, I broke down. I fled the scene like a madwoman. The trending topics had new entries: Third party interferes in Skyler and Vivian’s relationship. Third party jealously attacks Vivian at home. No one believed me. No one would defend me. Not even Skyler believed me. Everyone thought they were a match made in heaven.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “295963”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #浪漫Romance #现实主义Realistic #励志Inspiring #重生Reborn #惊悚Thriller #校园School

I was working in the gynecology department when a young woman came in for hymen repair surgery. Her delicate face flushed with embarrassment as she timidly asked me, “Will anyone be able to tell?” I took a liking to her and advised her to be honest. “If two people can’t be together because of this, is there any point in continuing the relationship?” The young woman’s face turned an even deeper shade of red. “I had an accident while running. He says he likes me pure and innocent, and I want to do this for him.” Three months later, the young woman came back to see me. She was cradling her belly, saying she was already pregnant. Her eyes were brimming with happiness. Before I could offer my congratulations, her boyfriend called. “Honey, is the baby okay? Get ready, I’m taking you on a week-long trip abroad as a reward…” Long after the call ended, I couldn’t shake off my daze. The young woman waved her phone in front of my face. “Doctor, when there’s no love left between two people, that’s when there’s no point in continuing.” It was then that I realized. Her boyfriend was my husband. At a coffee shop, Tiffany ordered me a latte. “Iced, no sugar, right?” “Three years ago, you were the youngest surgical prodigy at First Hospital. You gave up your career to take care of your family and chose a less demanding department.” “But Emily, why do you have to do this? Parker doesn’t love you anymore. Why can’t you let go and find someone more suitable?” She held her head high, her pretty face showing not a hint of guilt or shame for being the other woman. Half defiant, half pitying. I took a sip of coffee, suppressing my anger. “You went to all this trouble to investigate me and approach me just to pressure me to leave?” Tiffany scoffed, “I just want you to face reality and stop clinging to Parker.” “He hasn’t touched you in a long time, has he? He’s already chosen a name for our baby.” In that moment, I had the urge to throw the scalding coffee in her face and scream at her! But what would be the point? It was a fact that she was carrying Parker’s child, and it was also a fact that my husband of eight years had been working late for six months straight, barely touching me. My tired face reflected in the glass window, time having taken away my youthfulness and left fine lines. I regretted my impulsive decision to accept her invitation to meet, hoping to learn more about this mistress. What did I have to compete with her for? If she wanted the cheating man, she could have him. “If you’re still not convinced, let’s make a bet!” Tiffany caught up with me as I was leaving, her confident face flushed with excitement. “The day after tomorrow is your 8th anniversary. Guess whether he’ll spend it with you or take me out?” As soon as she finished speaking, her phone chimed. Parker’s voice message was full of affection: “Honey, have you eaten? I know you love seafood, so I had some specially flown in for you…” I looked down at my phone. There was also a message from him. Just a few short words: “Working late, don’t wait up.” Only then did I realize that the happy marriage I thought I had was just an elaborate lie he had carefully maintained. At three in the morning, Parker came home, put down his briefcase, and tiptoed to the bathroom. “Why didn’t you turn on the lights?” My sudden voice startled Parker. Seeing me sitting on the couch, a flicker of panic crossed his eyes, but he quickly put on his usual gentle expression and came over to embrace me lightly. “Of course, I didn’t want to wake you, darling.” “You work during the day and do housework when you come home. I worry about you being so tired. If you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll get wrinkles and won’t be beautiful anymore…” So he knew about my efforts for this home. He was busy with work and had a mild case of OCD, so we couldn’t hire a housekeeper. I managed everything inside and out. For him, I gave up my career, transforming from a surgical prodigy to practically a housewife. Ironically, my womb showed no signs of life, while his mistress was already carrying his child. “If you prefer young and beautiful women, just say so.” He froze, his smile becoming slightly stiff and probing: “Why are you suddenly saying such things? Emily, I love you no matter what.” “You’re not sleeping now, is something bothering you? Do you want to talk about it?” Before I could respond, his phone on the coffee table suddenly lit up. A voice message came from a contact saved as ‘Sweetie’. Parker snatched the phone back almost instantly, making an excuse about “work stuff” and running to the bathroom. When he came out, he hurried towards the front door to change his shoes, barely concealing his eagerness: “Honey, there’s a problem with a big project. You go to sleep first.” “Once this busy period is over, I’ll spend more time with you…” Suddenly, I couldn’t remember the last time Parker had taken me out. The wedding photo on the wall emitted a soft glow. The house was still neat and orderly, and the study was almost overflowing with gifts Parker had given me, so I had put the more valuable ones in a bank safe deposit box. Everyone said our marriage was the model of a perfect couple. But now, all the warmth of the past was tainted with cold lies and betrayal, leaving me feeling chilled to the bone, almost unable to breathe! “Emily, looks like you’re going to lose~” “Parker has already booked flights for us to go abroad the day after tomorrow. He’s going to spend a whole week with me.” “Oh, and Parker won’t be coming home tonight. I told him my stomach hurt, and he rushed over here, worried about leaving me alone…” After reading the taunting messages from the mistress, I sat quietly until dawn. I remembered the first year of our marriage when I had an allergic reaction to peanuts and broke out in a rash. Parker rushed me to the hospital, not even frowning when he missed out on a $300 million project because of it. In our third year, when I passed out from exhaustion after surgery, he stormed into the hospital and berated the director until he was red in the face. But last year, when I had a fever of 102°F from the flu, he only sent a fruit basket and didn’t even visit me in the hospital. I thought time had made our love more subtle, less intense. Little did I know, he had simply transferred his love to someone else. “Darling, why are you up so early?” “I brought you breakfast, and look, I got you some new jewelry from the company. I had to really sweet-talk the board to get it for you~” Early in the morning, Parker returned with dark circles under his eyes and immediately presented a gift, his face showing the same adoration as always, without a hint of anything amiss. The more he acted like this, the colder I felt. I couldn’t tell how much of the past eight years was genuine affection and how much was pretense. “Why aren’t you saying anything? Emily, did you not sleep well? Do you want me to call the hospital and ask for a day off for you?” His face showed urgency as he gently felt my forehead. I resisted the strong urge to push him away and stared deeply into his eyes: “Parker, I’ve taken tomorrow off. Can you spend the day with me?” I wanted to know if our eight years of love could compare to his six months with Tiffany. I wanted to know if he could leave me with some dignity before the divorce. “Tomorrow… I really can’t reschedule tomorrow’s commitments.” Parker pretended to be troubled, holding me tighter: “How about the end of the month? I’ll take you wherever you want to go.” Seeing no response from me, he pouted innocently: “Darling, we have a long future ahead of us, why does it have to be tomorrow?” I froze, instinctively pushing him away and retreating two steps. Not only had he not chosen me. He had even forgotten! Forgotten our 8th wedding anniversary! My unusual behavior made Parker suspicious, but just as he was about to comfort me, he was called away by a phone call. Half an hour later, Tiffany sent me another picture of them together. I had loved Parker for eight years, giving him almost everything, only to be utterly defeated by the mistress! “Emily, I’ve dug up the background on that homewrecker you asked me to investigate…” My best friend sent me information about Tiffany. She was the illegitimate daughter of the Yang family, owners of a major corporation in the city. Although she had grown up separated from the Yang family, living with a housekeeper, she still had inheritance rights to 10% of the family’s assets.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “295979”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #浪漫Romance #现实主义Realistic #励志Inspiring #重生Reborn #惊悚Thriller #校园School

“James, he says he wants freedom and doesn’t care about money. I feel like I can get the money without marrying him. I really don’t want to be intimate with him anymore,” Lily said. “No way, the wedding is in three days. Just marry James, tell him you’ll manage the family business, get the money, and then kick him out. It’s safer this way. No one knows I’m not really your cousin,” Chris replied. I quietly sat back down, not making a fuss. The wedding proceeded as scheduled. On our wedding night, Lily wrapped herself around me like a snake. I did as she wished and signed over all the factories to her. The very next day, she showed her true colors and kicked me out, bringing Chris in: “Get lost, I’ve had enough of you. But if you really can’t bear to leave me, I suppose I could let you stay as a watchdog in the yard.” I adjusted my glasses that had been knocked askew and replied good-naturedly: “Sure, that’s fine.” “James, we’ve tried on all the wedding dresses. After we’re married, you have to listen to me and give me the factories,” Lily said with a coy smile as she stood before me. I struggled to hold the pile of clothes she had bought while adjusting my glasses. “Of course. Weren’t you afraid of marriage before? Why did you suddenly agree? Don’t tell me it’s because you want the factories?” Lily’s eyes flickered at my probing question. She pouted and wrapped her arms around mine. “What are you talking about? I was just insecure before. We’ve grown up together – don’t you know what kind of person I am?” Chris chimed in cheerfully from the side: “That’s right, bro! How can you say that about my sister? She loves you so much she’s not even asking for a sewing machine. Go ask around – who gets married without asking for appliances these days?” Lily skipped ahead, with Chris quickly following. I silently trailed behind them. Lily and I had been childhood sweethearts. As the eldest in a family with many siblings, she was often mistreated. I would always appear when she needed help, paying her tuition when she had no money, giving her my food when she was hungry. All these years I had protected her like a knight, and she was always moved. But when faced with my love, she said she was afraid of marriage. If I hadn’t overheard her conversation with Chris, I would have truly believed it was my love that touched her and made her no longer fear marriage. “Oh, the Ye girl, are you getting married to Chris? Buying so many things – I’ll have to come drink at the wedding,” an older neighbor called out. No wonder people would think that. They were dressed similarly, holding hands as they walked together, looking like a perfect couple. I was more like their chauffeur. Before I could explain, the neighbor had already ridden off on her bike. Lily came running back to explain: “Don’t listen to her nonsense. Chris is my brother. Holding hands is just how we show affection as siblings.” Chris nodded in agreement and even tried to take the things from my hands: “Let me carry those, bro.” He eagerly grabbed the wedding dress and suit. But Lily didn’t take my hand, only linking her arm with mine: “You’re not jealous of Chris, are you? We’re about to get married after all.” I awkwardly patted her head and smiled gently: “Of course not. Your brother is my brother too. Let’s go buy whatever you like.” Seeing I had no reaction, Lily turned and winked at Chris. She thought I couldn’t see her secretly holding Chris’s hand behind my back, grinning like a cat that got the cream. I smiled too. Enjoy it while you can. You won’t have such good days ahead. Perhaps because she had been poor for so long, Lily treated me like a cash cow and went on a crazy shopping spree. She may not have asked for appliances, but what she wanted was far more expensive. “James, I want this golden phoenix crown.” “I want this emerald necklace too!” “Ahh it’s a huge diamond, James!” I signed for everything she wanted. She got carried away and even picked out a Rolex for Chris. She excitedly put it on Chris’s wrist, then put on a matching women’s watch herself. The two of them held hands and looked at me. I didn’t refuse, and signed for those as well. As long as Lily asked, I would buy it, no matter who it was for. I didn’t care that there wasn’t a single item for me in the bills I was paying. Lily even bought a piece of cloth for the dog at home, but didn’t get anything for me. She seemed to have completely forgotten I was her fiancé, until the Rolex saleswoman gave a free children’s watch as a gift. Lily’s eyes lit up as she put it on my wrist: “James, this is for you. It means only I can treat you like a child, and I’ll always dote on you and love you.” Chris showed off his shiny Rolex and exclaimed exaggeratedly: “Wow sis, you’re so mushy. I’m so jealous of this single guy!” I thanked her. By the time night fell, she was finally tired of shopping. Sitting in the restaurant, she complained: “These shoes don’t fit, my feet really hurt. James, if only you could give me the shoe factory at home too. Then I could just make shoes I like.” I smiled slightly: “Sure, I’ll give it to you after we’re married.” Chris chimed in: “Bro, you really spoil my sister. She’s so lucky to marry you. Not many men would give up everything when they get married. But I guess that shows how much you love her.” I agreed: “Yes, I love her. Giving up everything is nothing.” Her eyes suddenly lit up. I lowered my head to order food, pretending not to see their legs intertwined under the table. That meal was very pleasant. They thought they were about to become filthy rich. While I knew they were about to have a very bad time. Two days before the wedding, I brought Lily home. Chris followed us out. Seeing me look at him, Lily explained: “He’ll drive for us. Otherwise you’ll be too tired.” Seeing I had no objection, she sat in the passenger seat and turned back to talk to me: “I’ll give Chris directions.” The whole way, she and Chris chatted and laughed non-stop. I sat in the back smiling silently. Our two families lived very close, just a street apart. I got out to open the door for her. She wore a brand new outfit, taking off her sunglasses as she stood in front of my house. My parents were waiting eagerly, greeting us with warm smiles: “Lily, we’ve been waiting for you. Come in quickly.” Chris followed us in. Lily explained to my parents: “This is my cousin, my aunt’s son. He’s James’ driver now.” I invited them to sit down, not continuing that topic. My mom smiled imperceptibly and slipped the jade bracelet off her wrist to give to Lily. The smooth jade made Lily’s smile even wider. My dad remained silent on the side. It was the highest level of hospitality – a table full of Lily’s favorite dishes. My mom even brought out a family heirloom, a pair of mutton fat jade earrings. She opened the box to show Lily: “These have been passed down for generations. You’re about to get married, so I’m giving them to you. Once you marry into the family, there are many more treasures in my dowry that will all be yours.” Lily’s eyes crinkled into crescents as she smiled. The meal was very pleasant. They didn’t hold back at all despite being at my home. Lily’s left hand was under the table the whole time. I helped her get food while deflecting my parents’ questions. Chris ate like he’d never seen food before. Lily looked at him dotingly as she got food for him, prompting my mom to say: “You two siblings are so close.” Lily replied: “Yes, he’s like my real brother. When we become a family and have children, it will be so nice.” I nodded, adjusting my slipping glasses to hide my expression: “Yes, being a family is wonderful.” After leaving my house, we headed back to Lily’s place. Chris tentatively asked while driving: “Bro, are your parents very rich? They casually gave such expensive jade.” Lily turned back to look at me, her gaze eager: “James, I never knew your family was so wealthy. We’ve lived so close, but I only knew you had a few factories. How could you hide this even from me?” I smiled faintly: “I wasn’t hiding it. My parents are just low-key. They let me manage their five shoe factories and one cement factory. I only have two mines under my name. I’ll give it all to you after we’re married, Lily.” Lily said impatiently: “I really wish we could get married right now.” I laughed: “Don’t rush. The day after tomorrow when we get married, it will all be yours.” Perhaps because she was about to receive enormous wealth, Lily’s attitude towards me became extremely warm. Seeing me unconsciously biting my fingers while thinking, she pouted and put my fingers to her lips: “Don’t bite them, it makes me sad.” She took out corn-flavored candy from her pocket and put it in my mouth: “Here, you’ve always loved these since we were kids.” The sweet corn flavor spread in my mouth. I remembered when we were young, I would always bite my fingers until they bled. Back then Lily was often hungry, and candy was a rare treat. She would always give hers to me instead of eating it herself. In return, I would give her my food. The repressive atmosphere in my family made me withdrawn and old-fashioned, but she was different. She was like the sun, never afraid to fight for what she wanted. My heart stirred. I let the candy melt in my mouth and tentatively asked: “Lily, is there anything you’re hiding from me?” Lily looked up at me, a bit startled. But she quickly smiled, looking straight at me: “Of course not. We grew up together, what secrets could there be? Once we’re married we’ll be together forever, living a good life. I’ll give you sons!” She hugged me and giggled in my ear. But my heart grew cold. I had given her a chance. She chose not to take it. I gently hugged her back, not asking any more. The wedding day arrived. Early in the morning, my parents woke me up and urged me to go meet the bride’s family. Looking in the mirror at my face, devoid of any joy, I forced a smile. I arrived early at Lily’s house, but couldn’t get in no matter what. Even stuffing money in didn’t work. The situation became awkward. Lily pushed out a voluntary property separation agreement, saying loudly: “Sign this and I’ll come out.” Everyone looked at each other in confusion, whispering. “What is Lily doing, asking for this on her wedding day?” “She’s after our James’ money. That ungrateful woman – if it weren’t for James, her heartless parents would have sold her off at 18. She wouldn’t even have finished school. Now she pulls this stunt.” I quieted the chatter and took out a pen from my pocket, signing without hesitation and pushing it back. I only had the mines. The other factories still required completing the wedding to transfer. Lily understood this and said coyly: “Everyone step back. My brother will carry me out.” My groomsmen were all indignant, but I remained calm. “Alright, tell Chris to be careful not to drop you.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “295995”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #重生Reborn #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day the Chen family came to propose marriage. Mrs. Chen, the family matriarch, was being helped out of a luxurious car. The bodyguards in suits beside her made my father’s eyes widen in awe. Behind her stood Ryan Chen, the youngest son of the Chen family. His handsome and refined features were quite eye-catching. He wore the latest Patek Philippe watch on his wrist, and his bespoke suit gave him an extraordinary aura. The Chen Group was the richest family in Bay City and the leader in the national daily chemical industry. Their assets had long since reached tens of billions of dollars. This top-tier wealthy family that we usually only saw in magazines and on TV was now standing in front of us, wanting to arrange a marriage with our family. My mom was overjoyed and quickly pushed my prettier sister Olivia forward. But to her surprise, Olivia didn’t step out. She put on a stern face and said righteously in front of everyone’s gaze: “Mom, I don’t want to take shortcuts. I want to achieve success through my own efforts!” “Marriage and happiness are not things that can be traded. But since I seem to be the only one who thinks this way, let Lily go then.” Everyone was surprised. My parents were particularly puzzled. Olivia had always been competitive, trying to outdo me in everything. How come she suddenly changed today and started being modest towards me? But I knew what was really going on. I packed my luggage expressionlessly, only carrying a travel bag, and got into the Chen family’s car. My parents’ confusion wasn’t wrong. In my previous life, Olivia had dressed herself up glamorously in order to marry into the Chen family. With the help of our parents, she had shown off in front of the Chen family. Not only that, to prevent any unexpected issues, she even spread rumors outside, falsely claiming that I had a chaotic and improper private life. This made me the laughingstock of everyone, while she became a pure and elegant white lotus flower in comparison to me. She thought that after marrying into a wealthy family, what awaited her would be a luxurious life and high social status. She expected to have a Cinderella-like fairy tale romance with a handsome rich young master like Ryan Chen. But who knew that what awaited her was countless dirty and despicable things under the facade of a wealthy family. The reason Mrs. Chen allowed a civilian girl like her to marry Ryan was because he was just an illegitimate son without any power or status. Olivia not only couldn’t get any money from the Chen family, but also had to endure daily torment and humiliation from the other young masters and misses. “How dare a dirty and lowly rat like you enter our Chen family?” “A bitch from the gutter and a bastard son who can’t see the light of day – what a perfect match!” She couldn’t bear the torment, so she blamed it all on Ryan. She was not only harsh and abusive towards him, but even tried to seduce the other young masters of the Chen family. But for a girl like her with no skills and only a pretty face, she could only end up as a plaything for rich young masters, to be kicked away after they got tired of her. After Ethan Chen became the head of the family, both she and Ryan were kicked out. She went to beg Ethan for mercy, wanting to exchange her body for wealth. But what she got in return was even deeper humiliation from him. “I’d feel dirty touching a greedy and lowly gold digger like you.” “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re plotting. I’m not as stupid as Ryan. Not all women are worthy of getting into my bed.” Meanwhile, I endured that dark period, burying myself in studies at A University. I finally graduated with excellent grades, becoming the only student with a perfect GPA that year, and received offers from countless companies. Later, I even caught Ethan’s attention at a presentation and he pursued me aggressively, giving me a grand wedding that shocked the whole country. Olivia, who had nothing left, finally went crazy. She rushed onto the stage and pushed me off, falling down herself as well. Living this life again, she decisively dumped Ryan and chose to walk the path I took in my previous life. Although she would be unknown for the first few years, as long as she met Ethan Chen, she could soar and become a phoenix. Watching my departing figure, a mocking and smug smile appeared on Olivia’s face. “This life, you can enjoy all this undeserved fortune for me, dear sister.” “While I will take back everything that should have been mine!”

I had long been prepared to be ostracized and tortured. Therefore, when those young masters and misses of the Chen family poured scalding hot soup on me and made me kneel in the yard as punishment, I went without a word. It had snowed heavily all night. I knelt on the ice-cold marble tiles in the yard. My knees gradually went from stinging pain to numbness, and finally lost all feeling. “I’ve seen plenty of women like you who try every means to climb up the social ladder,” the second young miss of the Chen family said with her arms crossed, looking at me mockingly. “A pheasant is still a pheasant, even if it flies up a tree it can’t become a phoenix.” I was starving, and even the servants in the house were watching me like a joke. Emma Chen took a plate of leftovers and threw it in front of me disdainfully, as if feeding a dog: “Here, eat this. I’m gracing you with it.” Laughter erupted around me, countless gazes filled with malice fell on me. I looked at the cold food on the ground, without saying a word. Someone shouted “Big brother is coming!”, and the group of young masters and misses scattered. A pair of shiny black handmade leather shoes appeared in front of me. I looked up to see a handsome and intense face. Those eyes that were full of tenderness in my previous life were now as cold as the ice under my legs, looking at me without any emotion. But it was just a glance, then he retracted his gaze as if looking at garbage. Those spotless leather shoes mercilessly stepped on the food in front of me as he walked past. My days in the Chen family were even worse than the servants. No wonder Olivia was so desperate not to marry Ryan this life. But after all, I was still the nominal daughter-in-law of the Chen family. They had to keep up appearances to outsiders. I followed the Chen family members into the auditorium. I watched them sit in the VIP seats under the guidance of the organizers, while I could only sit in the corner. This college student innovation and entrepreneurship competition was jointly organized by several major companies in the city, with Chen Group holding the highest position. I sat in the last row, listening boredly. For a chemistry genius like me, the ideas coming from these students’ mouths were obviously too naive. I was getting drowsy. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out. “As people’s demand for nature and health grows, I believe that all-natural ingredients will become the mainstream trend in the cosmetics industry in the future.” Olivia stood on the stage, talking eloquently. Her long black shiny hair was tied into a high ponytail, but she deliberately left a few strands by her ears to frame her face. Her poised speech and brilliant content won unanimous praise from the audience. I looked towards Ethan Chen sitting in the front row. His eyes were fixed unblinkingly on the young woman on stage, with an unusual light flickering in them. “Miss Lu, is the honeysuckle extract you mentioned developed by yourself?” someone asked. Olivia turned around and nodded shyly. The pure white skirt swayed with her movement, creating a beautiful arc. Her whole person looked as pure as a jasmine flower. “Yes, this is what I spent a year researching.” If it weren’t for the occasion, I would have laughed out loud. The technology that made me famous overnight in my previous life was the result of countless professors and students at A University spending nearly 10 years researching. Even though it was finally successful in my hands, I didn’t dare to take all the credit and monopolize other people’s years of hard work. Olivia actually dared to say she independently researched and produced results in just one year. Unless she was an unparalleled genius. But I knew better than anyone that she wasn’t. However, the people below didn’t know. The final result was a foregone conclusion – Olivia won first place in the competition and obtained an internship opportunity at Chen Group. Ethan Chen lowered his eyes to look at the young woman in front of him, undisguised admiration in his gaze. The two huddled together, ignoring everyone else. When the conversation got exciting, Olivia covered her mouth and giggled, looking incredibly pure and beautiful. Everyone present was an old hand, seeing through but not exposing each other, tacitly ignoring the desire belonging to a grown man on Ethan Chen’s face. Olivia walked up to me, her hand deliberately brushing against Ethan’s suit jacket draped over her shoulders. “Lily, how’s life in the wealthy family?” She clearly saw that I was ostracized by everyone, after all, this was the treatment she had suffered in her previous life. In my previous life, she had also walked up to me like this and said to me who had just finished a press conference and been hired by Chen Group for a huge salary: “No matter how arrogant you are, you’re just an employee. No matter how hard you try, you’ll never match my status as the Chen family’s daughter-in-law!” But in this life, she said to me with an arrogant face: “I don’t want to be a parasitic flower that only relies on others. I want to achieve my dreams through my own abilities.” She turned and left. I raised an eyebrow. In my peripheral vision, I saw Ethan Chen’s face reveal an intriguing smile after hearing her words.

Olivia and Ethan Chen left one after another. But I didn’t care at all where they went. Instead, I took out my business card and, based on my memories from my previous life, sought out those people who could help my career. Everyone present was a big shot who knew my identity well, so not many people paid attention to me. I wasn’t embarrassed or angry, nor did I care about the hateful gazes from the Chen family members that looked like they wanted to kill me. After all, I was still a member of the Chen family. This humble appearance made them deeply ashamed. Ryan wasn’t here, so I was just a village girl with the title of Chen family daughter-in-law. Naturally, those big shots wouldn’t give me any face. I was repeatedly rebuffed, but still introduced my ideas calmly and confidently. In her previous life, Olivia only thought she could gain a foothold in the Chen family by relying on Ryan, so she focused all her energy on infighting, which only made the Chen family despise her and think she wasn’t presentable. But I knew that to gain a firm foothold in such deep waters, the most important thing was strength. It was the strength to prove that you were irreplaceable. On the way home, Emma Chen deliberately brought up my networking efforts today. “Looks like our sister-in-law has big ambitions. How many business cards did you hand out?” I ignored the sarcasm in her tone and carefully counted the partners from my previous life. There were only a few college students participating in the competition. In this life, they were just inconspicuous startups that couldn’t catch the eye of big companies like Chen Group. Sure enough, Emma Chen burst out laughing. “Lily, lower class people will always be lower class. No matter how hard you struggle, we won’t accept you. We’ll just think you’re a laughable clown.” Laughable? I curved my lips slightly. I didn’t care if they would accept me or not. After all, I didn’t even take the Chen family seriously. Although Ryan and I were married, we didn’t have a real husband-wife relationship. In her previous life, Olivia always complained about her husband when she came home. All the memories about Ryan revolved around negative words like “useless”, “weak and selfish”, “idiot”, etc. But I found that he wasn’t a bad person. After knowing that I was forced into the Chen family by my parents, he readily accepted my proposal for a marriage of convenience. Although we lived under the same roof, we were more like friends than husband and wife. Because of his illegitimate son status, he was ostracized in the Chen family, with no dignity or rights. But he had money. “My dad once gave my mom a black card. After my mom left, she gave it to me.” “I know you’ve suffered a lot of grievances during the time I was away. I have no other way to make it up to you, I can only do it through money. You don’t mind, do you?” How could I mind? I was overjoyed! Ryan’s expertise wasn’t in business management, but in computers. But for the Chen family, this was equivalent to being useless. So he could only go out and find a job on his own, leaving early and returning late every day. Even though he had the Chen family’s black card in hand, he was still afraid that this security would be taken away one day. In her previous life, Olivia thought he was useless and cowardly, treating him harshly and even helping other Chen family members bully him. But my heart ached. “Okay,” I smiled and nodded, taking the card, “Thank you. If you ever need my help, I’ll definitely do my best!” I invested some money into the startups of a few partners. No one paid attention to this small company founded by a few young people. It was like a speck of dust in the huge waves stirred up by these big enterprises, so small and insignificant that everyone thought this ordinary seedling would die in its cradle before long. This money was just a drop in the bucket for the Chen family, so they didn’t notice. But for us, it was crucial. Because I wanted to recreate that technology that shocked the entire industry in my previous life. I rented a lab. Even without that basic data, the experiments I had done countless times in my previous life were deeply etched into my bones. The days and nights spent in the library and lab, relying on the cheapest instant coffee powder to stay awake, allowed me to do those experiments flawlessly even with my eyes closed. This was the reason why Olivia couldn’t replicate my path from my previous life.

I heard that Ethan Chen invited Olivia to dinner, but was rejected by her on the grounds that she had to attend evening self-study. The next day, rumors spread throughout the school about the top wealthy family heir pursuing the genius school beauty. Olivia hurriedly denied it, but the more she cared, the more it confirmed the truth of this matter. I have to say, she was quite clever on this point. Ethan Chen didn’t lack women, especially women who threw themselves at him. The biggest reason he fell for me in my previous life was that I was different. My aloofness, my innocence, my dedication to research and disdain for power aroused his interest and then his desire to conquer. The Olivia in this life was the same. Her playing hard to get successfully piqued Ethan Chen’s interest. Men always yearn for what they can’t obtain. I lay on the memory foam mattress, feeling the relaxation of muscles brought by the massage mode. My hair was refreshing, smooth and shiny after just having a scalp treatment. Olivia should be lying on the hard board bed in the Lu family’s humble home right now, plotting her next move to win over Ethan Chen. I smiled. She probably hadn’t thought about what unspeakable truth was hidden beneath the marriage she so desperately desired. In my previous life, it wasn’t until much later that I figured it out – how could a man who had been fighting in the business world for years marry me just because of my “pure kindness”? It wasn’t until after marriage when he confined me at home, not allowing me to go out to work, taking away all my research results, and wanting me to do research for him wholeheartedly, that I understood what he was really after. After I refused, he finally showed his true colors, putting me under house arrest and taking away all my communication devices. I lost my freedom and could only stare blankly at the sun through the narrow window every day, facing four white walls. Even when I developed mental issues later, he didn’t let me go. Instead, he chose to hold press conferences to gain sympathy, using my pain to squeeze out my last bit of value. Perhaps his initial attraction was real, and that light-hearted affection was real too. It’s just that his feelings were too impure, easily dissipating in the face of interests. I wonder how Ethan Chen will treat Olivia after discovering the truth. And whether Olivia can withstand his torment. My “unruliness” made the Chen family members increasingly malicious towards me. In the past, they would still have some reservations before acting, out of respect for Mrs. Chen. But now, seemingly knowing that Ethan Chen also disliked me, they became more unscrupulous in bullying me. Cutting up my clothes, making me embarrass myself at banquets; Spitting in my food, pouring toilet water into it; Even setting my hair on fire in public, laughing at me as I frantically tried to put it out… They took it for granted that they had this privilege to punish me, this gold-digging bad woman, to teach me, this lowly woman trying to taint their noble bloodline, a lesson. But I didn’t show any of the panic and fear they expected. Instead, I looked at them with disdain, as if watching children playing pranks. I cut off my long hair in front of everyone. As the black strands fell to the ground, I saw Ethan Chen standing at the door. His gaze was dark and unclear, with emotions I couldn’t decipher roiling inside. As if curious to see how long I could persist for the Chen family’s money. … Actually, I wasn’t just putting on a brave face. After being slandered in my previous life, the bullying I suffered was much worse than what I was enduring now. In order to change my fate, I could only work part-time jobs while studying hard. But in this life, I had the Chen family’s top resources. I didn’t have to worry about my parents secretly taking my next semester’s tuition fees for “investment”, nor did I have to worry about the school kicking me out of the research group because of those rumors. This was already a huge help for me. Let them continue with those harmless pranks. After all, they wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long. As for Olivia. I heard that she frequently skipped classes to attend banquets with Ethan Chen and go on dates with him. Her repeated absences led to her final exams being a complete disaster, failing most of her courses. Not to mention doing research. Throughout the entire semester, she hadn’t even touched a lab coat. The lab manager had hardly seen her. Her advisor talked to her, saying she couldn’t neglect her studies just because she had an internship opportunity. But she was dismissive, saying she was a well-known genius, and geniuses were supposed to achieve greater results with less time than ordinary people. When told her grades were too poor to graduate, she didn’t care either, saying that in today’s society, connections and resources were more useful than grades and academic qualifications. Over time, the teachers stopped caring about her too. Even her parents believed that firmly grasping the future head of Chen Group was more important than academic qualifications. Moreover, my nominal position as the Chen family’s daughter-in-law had already disappointed them enough. After discovering they couldn’t gain any benefits from me, they directly cut off contact with me and wholeheartedly helped Olivia become the Chen Group’s mistress. All these rumors only reached my ears later, because at this moment, I was busy with the final stage of the experiment.

The lights in the company’s somewhat shabby lab stayed on all night. The others also stayed up all night with me, and we finally produced a rough product. We were so excited. After the celebratory dinner, it was already very late. The Chen family’s curfew had long passed, so I had no choice but to go back to the Lu family’s house for the night. In the latest issue of the journal, my published research results caused a sensation in the entire scientific community. Reporters swarmed towards that small company like sharks smelling blood. Countless industry giants extended olive branches to me. Just like in my previous life, my name was pushed to the forefront. Everyone praised this technology as capable of revolutionizing the industry. I didn’t want to go back to the Chen family to face those people’s sarcastic remarks, so I rented a small apartment next to the company to stay temporarily. But unexpectedly, when I didn’t go looking for them, they came looking for me instead. I looked at Ethan Chen standing in front of me with a dark face and Olivia standing behind him on the verge of tears, expressionlessly standing at the door with no intention of inviting them in. “Lily, your unscrupulousness really makes me look at you with new eyes.” “What do you mean?” I frowned. Olivia opened her mouth pitifully. “Sister, I know you’ve always been jealous of me, jealous that I’m prettier than you and study better than you.” “But all of this is what I gained through my own efforts. Why do you have to take even these away?” I was confused and wanted to laugh. “Just spit it out if you have something to say. No need to beat around the bush until you’re out of breath.” Olivia’s face instantly turned red. Ethan Chen snorted coldly: “Plagiarizing other people’s research results, Lily, you’d better prepare to go to jail!” I opened my phone and looked. Several bright red “Breaking News” headlines had somehow been pushed to the top trending spots. #Lily Academic Fraud# #Lily Plagiarism# #Olivia Genius Girl# At the press conference, several well-known newspapers and authoritative media, including the Chen family members, were present. Olivia presented her experimental data, with a timeline clearly earlier than my publication date. “This is the result I worked so hard to research, but I never thought it would end up becoming someone else’s wedding dress in the end. Do we poor college students really have no justice at all, and can only be bullied by rich people at will?” She was indignant, with crystal clear tears in her reddened eyes, looking so pitiful. The crowd was in an uproar, criticizing me for using my power to bully others. “I knew it, how could a village girl who didn’t even graduate from college research these things?” “She must have relied on the Chen family’s influence to steal a college student’s research results. How shameless!” “I must seek justice for us ordinary people. These capitalists deserve to die!” Olivia wept pitifully, protected in Ethan Chen’s arms. But the Chen family members stayed far away from me, afraid of being tainted by me and ruining their reputation. Ryan wasn’t here. There was no one from the Chen family standing on my side. Their attitude was very clear – although there was no clear evidence proving my plagiarism yet, they seemed to have already determined my crime and wanted to cut ties with me. The public naturally sympathizes with the underdog. Even though the current situation on the scene made me look more like the underdog, everyone had already made up their minds. After all, a useless wealthy daughter-in-law stealing a genius college student’s research results for fame – this was the kind of plot the public loved to see. “At home, Lily always liked to steal my things. I saw that she was young, so I just let her have her way. I didn’t expect to nurture a tiger that would bring calamity.” “Sister, this is my hard work. I can’t let you have it this time!” Tears fell from Olivia’s stubborn little face, making the audience and viewers watching the live broadcast indignant. “I can’t believe they’re actually sisters. Stealing her own sister’s hard work, I’ve never seen such a shameless person!” “How can a greedy woman like Lily enter the Chen family? If the Chen family doesn’t give an explanation, I’ll hate them for life!” “That’s right! Kick this scheming woman out of the Chen family!” I glanced at the rapidly scrolling barrage on the screen, feeling no ripples in my heart. But my expression fell in their eyes as cold and provocative. “Miss Lu, when you originally chose to marry into the Chen family, didn’t you also steal your sister’s opportunity?” “You were originally a child from an ordinary family, but after marrying into a wealthy family, you started oppressing ordinary people. Is this your true nature, or the change brought about by the wealthy family?” My gaze swept over the people below one by one, finally landing on Olivia’s pitiful face. I slowly curved my lips, and my clear voice resounded throughout the entire venue through the microphone. “You’re right, this is indeed a case of academic plagiarism.” “She actually admitted it? What kind of tactic is this, trying to establish an honest image?” “This isn’t just stealing anymore, it’s outright robbery!” “Can wealthy families just treat ordinary people’s efforts as a joke? I really can’t stand her arrogant face!” The sound of camera shutters erupted like thunder. A flash of bewilderment crossed Olivia’s face, followed by a smug smile. She probably thought that I had no ability to clarify, so I simply gave up completely.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “296011”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #重生Reborn #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring #惊悚Thriller #魔幻Magic #后宫Harem

Fresh off the plane, my work abroad finally behind me, I was expecting the first message to light up my phone to be from my wife, Karen Levine. But instead, the ping came from an unexpected name, a high school classmate I hadn’t spoken to in years. [Cayson Fuller! Tomorrow’s the big day! Westin Saunders, the high school heartthrob, is throwing a baby shower for his kid’s one-month bash. Everyone’s going, but he specifically asked for you to be there. Talk about an honor! You can’t bail on this one, man!] I blinked, caught off guard. “Westin, the ultimate bad boy in our high school, is a dad now? No way!” I murmured. [Thanks for the heads-up, but I just got back from overseas, and I’ve still got a mountain of contracts to finalize. I’m afraid I’ll have to sit this one out.] The second I hit send, my phone buzzed again, and before I could blink, I was yanked into a class reunion group chat I didn’t even know existed. [Well, well, well! Look who it is, our big-shot CEO, fresh off the jet!] I glanced at my net worth, a cool few hundred billion dollars, and chuckled, typing out a modest reply. [Hey, we’re all old friends here. No need to make a fuss over titles.] However, they erupted in a chorus of mocking laughter, the messages flying in faster than I could read them. [Oh, check it out, guys! He’s actually buying his own hype! A few years out of touch, and now he thinks he’s hot stuff?] [Yeah, right! If you’re such a big deal, how come we haven’t seen you at a single class reunion, huh?] [Come on, man. We all know each other’s dirt. No need to put on airs. If you’re married, bring your wife along to give her a chance to see how the other half lives. Bet she’s stuck eating scraps with a deadbeat like you, huh?] [And hey, just so you know, everyone who shows up to the baby shower gets a sweet deal, a brand-new school-district condo! Westin’s wife is the real deal, a total heiress. Those condos? People would kill to get their hands on one, and they’re just her family’s latest project!] I frowned. Their words stung, but I kept my cool, typing out a polite refusal. [Thanks for the invite, but I really can’t make it this time.] That’s when Westin himself chimed in, his message dripping with smug condescension. [Come on, man! Don’t play hard to get. Is your wife too hideous to show off? Relax, bro. We’re all buddies here. I won’t judge. Though, let’s be real, even if your wife’s a total knockout, she’s got nothing on mine. And with your situation, how can you ever afford a place in that school district? Don’t let your pride screw over your kid’s future, man.] Before I could respond, Westin sent a photo. I tapped it open, but my breath caught in my throat. There, staring back at me, was Karen, whose features were sharpened by her latest round of cosmetic tweaks. Then, I glanced at the address for the baby shower. My heart skipped a beat. “Wait a minute. Isn’t that my villa?” I exclaimed.

I was still reeling, trying to wrap my head around the chaos unfolding before me, when my phone buzzed with a message from Karen. Karen: [Honey, I’m heading to a classmate’s baby shower tomorrow, so I might not be able to reply right away. But the second it’s over, I’ll video call you, okay? Oh, how I wish you were here. I hate going to these things alone. I miss you so much, sweetheart!] Staring at her words on the screen, I felt like I had been struck by a bombshell. How could this possibly be a coincidence? My fingers hovered over the keyboard, hesitating, before I typed out a cautious question. Cayson: [Which classmate?] Karen: [Oh, you probably wouldn’t know them. Anyway, I saw the weather’s turning chilly over there. Make sure you bundle up, okay? I’d hate for you to catch a cold. It’d break my heart!] A year ago, I had left for an overseas business expansion, diving headfirst into the grind to grow our empire. Karen and I had been married for five years, but our love still burned as fiercely as it had on our honeymoon. Especially during my time abroad, we clung to each other through daily video calls, never missing a single night. Her gentle concern wrapped around me like a cozy blanket, keeping my heart glowing even across oceans. Therefore, I worked myself to the bone, pushing our projects onto the fast track, all so I could surprise her by coming home early. I planned to whisk her away to our sprawling villa in the heart of the city, ready to shower her with the romance she deserved. But instead, she had blindsided me with a surprise of her own. Just as I was about to fire off a message demanding answers, a commotion erupted outside. I stepped out of the bedroom and leaned over the third-floor railing, my gaze icy as I surveyed the scene below. The once-quiet grandeur of the first-floor foyer had been transformed into a riot of color, balloons bobbing in the air, streamers cascading from the ceiling, and a towering framed photo standing in the center. There, beaming with picture-perfect happiness, was a family of three: Karen, Westin, and their newborn child. Westin stood at the entrance, greeting guests with an effortless charm. Dressed in a low-key but luxurious white cashmere sweater and tailored slacks, he exuded the aura of a polished, doting husband. His face glowed with uncontainable joy, a stark contrast to the rebellious bad boy I remembered. The guests, familiar faces from our high school days, swirled around him, their voices buzzing with admiration. “Westin’s still got it! The high school legend turned golden boy! Not only did he snag a wife who looks like she stepped out of a fairy tale, but this baby shower? Talk about going all out!” “No kidding! Her dad’s a real estate mogul, you know. If it weren’t for Westin, my kid wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting into that elite private school!” “Exactly! Just look at this villa with a prime location and pure opulence. Without Westin, most of us wouldn’t even get a glimpse of a place like this in our lifetime. And his heiress wife was the one chasing him! Man, Westin’s got some serious game!” My eyes landed on a familiar figure in the crowd, Joseph Parry, our old homeroom teacher. Back in the day, he had zero patience for Westin’s wild, defiant streak, always singling him out for lectures. But now? There he was, his back slightly bowed, his face plastered with a fawning smile. “Westin, my boy,” Joseph said, his voice dripping with flattery. “I’ll admit, I was tough on you back then, but that’s only because I saw your potential shining through. I wouldn’t waste my time on just anyone, you know! Seeing you thrive now warms my heart. And I’ve got a cousin with a kid who’s about to start school.” He slipped a check into Westin’s hands, the implication as clear as day. Westin accepted it without a flicker of hesitation, his head held high, his expression radiating smug satisfaction, though he tossed out a token protest. “Oh, come on, no need for all that. But we’ll work something out. No problem.” Watching him play the magnanimous host, I let out a cold laugh under my breath. Karen had always been obsessed with tweaking her appearance, flitting to the plastic surgeon’s office every other day for “minor adjustments.” At one point, she had even floated the idea of a complete facial overhaul, which scared me so much that I scrambled to find a distraction. I handed her the reins to our city’s real estate projects, not caring if she turned a profit, just hoping it would keep her busy. And now? All that capital had somehow morphed into proof of Westin’s brilliance. A sudden cough rippled through the crowd, followed by a flurry of exchanged glances. One by one, their eyes turned to me. Their stares were laced with amusement, mockery dancing in their expressions. Westin’s old high school lackey, always the first to jump into the fray, pointed at me, his voice dripping with ridicule. “Well, well, look at this guy! Cayson, you didn’t seriously think throwing on some fancy pajamas would make us believe you own this place, did you?” “Yeah, right!” another echoed, egging him on. “You were all high and mighty in the group chat, acting like some big shot, and now that you know Westin’s borrowing this villa for the party, you rented it out just to show off? Man, you weren’t this quick on your feet back when you were running errands for Westin in high school!” The laughter swelled, a chorus of jeers echoing through the hall. “You have never split the bill at reunions, and now you’re pulling this stunt just to look cool? Careful, man, your wife might divorce you over this!” “You think slipping into some nice pajamas makes this villa yours? Why not go all in and claim Westin’s heiress wife is yours, too? Oh, and those billion-dollar properties? Sure, those are yours, right?” “Are you delusional, Cayson? Who does this? Oh, wait, I get it. He’s jealous of Westin, pissed that he’s got nothing to show for himself, and now he’s lost it completely!” I stood there and calmly stated the simple truth. “Actually, it is all mine.” The room erupted in shrill laughter, the sound grating against my ears. Westin, his face twisting with fury, jabbed a finger at me. “You’ve got some nerve, claiming that, you bastard! Oh, I see it now. You’re the other man, huh? Caught you red-handed! Take off those pajamas right now. They’re the ones my wife bought for me! Guess high school didn’t teach you any manners, huh? You shameless homewrecker! How dare you strut around my wife’s house, acting like you own the place?”

The crowd downstairs was left with their jaws hanging open. “What do you mean? I thought this place was rented just for the party? This is actually Westin’s wife’s villa? And that pajama belongs to Westin? No wonder I could tell at a glance it’s luxury, a globally limited edition!” Westin effortlessly pulled out Karen’s property deed from one of the rooms. Once again, the crowd was dumbfounded, their tone tinged with envy. “Never would have guessed that the former ugly duckling could now reel in a rich beauty. Is the bar for kept men really this low these days?” Westin clenched his fists, a sneer curling at the corner of his mouth. “No wonder you’ve skipped our class reunions all these years. Guilt got the better of you, huh?” Everyone shot me looks of contempt. “Cayson had the nerve to wear someone else’s high-end pajamas. How disgusting can he get? That outfit’s probably tainted now. What a waste!” “I knew something was off when I saw how much he had changed, suddenly looking so handsome and refined. Turns out money does wonders, maybe even plastic surgery.” “Cayson, enjoying being kept, are we? You used to be so hideous that you could scare kids into tears. Now look at you, living the gigolo life. Must feel great, doesn’t it?” “The mere thought of having shared a classroom with such scum makes me sick.” “A male whore who dares show his face in public without an ounce of shame. Guess his sense of decency went to the dogs.” Even Joseph chimed in, and his face darkened with disapproval. “Cayson, I helped you back then, and this is how you repay me? Don’t ever claim we know each other. I’m old, but I still value my dignity.” The commotion drew a crowd of onlookers, who quickly joined the chorus of insults and even started pelting me with stones. Fuming, Westin snatched a stone from one of the bystanders and hurled it straight at my face. The sharp edge grazed under my eye, drawing blood instantly. I let out a bitter laugh and descended the stairs. “You don’t know anything but dare to lay a hand on me. Do you really want to end up behind bars?” Westin scoffed, “You? Don’t make me laugh. Go check yourself in the mirror first. A slut who ruins marriages and has the audacity to strut around like you own the place. You deserve every bit of what’s coming to you.” He grabbed my collar, yanking me close. “No morals, no scruples, a homewrecker daring to lecture me! Even if I beat you to death right here, everyone would only cheer. After all, this is my wife’s house. Let’s see how you’ll live here now!” Blinded by rage, Westin found some spray paint and began defacing the pristine walls. “Live here, will you? Go ahead!” After venting, the walls were covered in vicious curses and accusations against mistresses. I smirked, trying to reason with him, “You might not want to speak so definitively. Are you absolutely sure this house belongs to your wife?” No sooner had I spoken than Westin seethed even more, erupting like a volcano, completely losing control. “Fine. Since you put it that way.” He spun around, surveying everything, and stormed into the storage room, emerging with an axe and began smashing wildly. The crowd stood frozen for a moment before someone snapped out of it and joined in the destruction. Westin roared, “Good job! Whoever trashes it the hardest gets the biggest reward tonight! Since this is my wife’s place, let’s see how you manage to stay after this, you lowlife!” One after another, they eagerly joined the frenzy. Soon, the entire first and second floors were ransacked. All sorts of smart appliances, marble countertops, and imported custom furniture were smashed to bits. Anything indestructible was slashed with sharp objects, creating a chaotic mess. The worst was the graffiti-covered wall, which, after being battered by the axe, exposed the reinforced concrete beneath. I warned them to stop, but Westin sneered, “Compensation? I’ve got plenty to spare. Besides, this is my woman’s house. So what if I wreck it? I could burn it down, and she wouldn’t dare complain!” Cheers erupted from the crowd. “Westin’s the man! Truly a role model!” At this point, Joseph adjusted his glasses, eyes gleaming as he slowly pushed open the door to the last room on the second floor. Instantly, the crowd’s eyes lit up. They exchanged glances, finally turning to Westin. I furrowed my brows, speaking up immediately, “Westin, you should know better. The items inside are worth several properties combined. I strongly advise against rash actions unless you want to spend your life behind bars!” Antique pieces meticulously collected over the years were displayed on shelves. They were my priceless treasures. Ignoring my warning, Westin strode in and gave a gentle nudge, sending a 17th-century vase crashing onto the woolen rug with a dull thud. “I do know. Despite seeing countless luxuries, I can’t help but admire the value of these items. They’re exquisite, but trash like you, who actually believe selling yourself can elevate your status, don’t deserve them!” With a grin, he turned to the others. “My friends, you’ve probably never heard of such an expensive crash before! Let’s enjoy the symphony today!” I rushed forward to stop their madness. “I’ve already transferred the house to Karen. What you do to it is her concern, not mine. But I’ve traveled across countries and worked hard to collect these antiques, so you mustn’t touch them!” But Westin shoved me aside, exasperated. “Are you genuinely insane or just playing dumb? You’re the mistress; I’m the rightful spouse. This is my wife’s money, our joint property protected by law. I have every right to reclaim it, understand? “You’re ignorant, foolish, blindly confident, and utterly worthless. She must be desperate to settle for someone like you!” I burst into laughter and thought, “So this is how they see me? But aside from indulging in food, fun, and cosmetic surgeries, Karen relies entirely on me for everything. When we married, her family couldn’t even scrape together a thousand bucks. It was all thanks to my support. People said I was going in to lift her out of poverty, and now look how it’s turned!” Under Westin’s direction, a new round of chaos erupted in the antique room. Dissatisfied with the lack of crisp sounds, they tossed the rugs out first, followed by continuous smashing. Knowing there was no reasoning with these fools, I stopped trying, issuing commands to the hidden camera in the corner to record and alert the police. No sooner had I finished speaking when the camera was knocked down violently. “Calling the cops on yourself? These are all Westin’s belongings. Who do you think you are? Better call the mental hospital first. Don’t worry about the medical fees. It’s just a sprinkle compared to Westin’s generosity.” Someone even whipped out their phone, arrogantly announcing, “Go ahead and call the cops. With Westin’s solid backing, let’s see who gets arrested first, you or us!” Westin shot him an approving glance. “Not enough evidence earlier? No problem. Let’s add more.” His gaze shifted toward the third floor. My heart sank. The third floor held something so precious that I couldn’t let it be disturbed!

“Look, I can let the antiques slide. But the third floor? That’s my line in the sand. Don’t push this too far. Please.” I swallowed my rage, lowering my voice, trying to reason with Westin as calmly as possible. Westin hesitated for a split second before bursting into mocking laughter. “Weren’t you so cocky just moments ago? Keep it up! If you’d shown this attitude earlier, we could’ve saved ourselves a whole lot of trouble.” A smug grin plastered across his face, he patted my cheek lightly, but his next words were laced with venom. “Since it means that much to you, I’m not completely unreasonable, you know. Here’s the deal: bow down and apologize, shout ‘Westin, I was wrong,’ and maybe, just maybe, I’ll give you a chance. What do you say?” My fists clenched tight, my mind racing. Would my assistant arrive with reinforcements faster than they could destroy everything? Joseph, ever the cunning one, saw right through my stalling tactics. He leaned in close to whisper something in Westin’s ear. Westin’s expression instantly darkened. “I’m giving you five seconds. Five. Four. Three. Two, and one. You!” In the end, surrounded by their smug, gloating faces, I slowly sank to my knees. Some muttered among themselves, wondering what on earth could be upstairs that was worth more than priceless antiques, worth sacrificing even my dignity as a man. My gaze drifted toward the farthest room on the third floor. There was my father’s memorial tablet. When I was young, a massive flood swept through our town. In that moment of crisis, my father handed me the last floating ring and stayed behind. By the time I was rescued and returned with help, the raging waters had already swallowed our house whole, leaving no trace behind. Not even his body was recovered. All I could do was set up a small altar for him. Years later, when Karen fell in love with this property and asked me to transfer ownership to her, I specifically told her about this sacred spot. It was my one untouchable boundary, and I emphasized that over and over again. No matter how badly she acted or what she did, even if she cheated on me, I could forgive it all. But this was unforgivable. With trembling resolve, I pressed my forehead to the ground. But Westin’s lackey, impatient with my slow movements, stepped forward, grabbed the back of my head, and slammed it down hard onto the floor with a sickening thud. Biting down on my teeth so hard that I thought they might crack, I gripped my fingers into fists until my knuckles turned white. After that, blood seeped from my forehead. “Happy now?” I spat out between clenched teeth. Westin clapped his hands together, laughing like a hyena. “Oh, very.” He nodded approvingly, but my eyes suddenly widened in horror. Out of the corner of my vision, several figures charged toward the third floor. Unable to contain my fury any longer, I lunged at Westin with a punch. “You son of a bitch! You tricked me!” The blow sent Westin sprawling to the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Before I could land another hit, the others swarmed me, pinning my arms behind my back and forcing me to my knees once more. I struggled, but there was nothing I could do. They held me firmly in place. “And here’s your lesson, scumbag,” one of them sneered. “You’re nothing but a lowly worm beneath our feet. Westin is the real victim, betrayed by his own wife. Consider this a little reminder: some people are off-limits, and messing with them comes at a cost. As old classmates, consider this us doing you a favor. We’re teaching you a valuable life lesson. Next time, think twice before you go sniffing around someone else’s spouse unless you want to end up dead.” Westin staggered to his feet, wiping the blood from his lips. With cold precision, he delivered a series of punches to my face, followed by brutal kicks to my ribs. The final kick sent me flying several feet backward, landing painfully on a pile of shattered debris. A sharp cry escaped my lips as I coughed up a mouthful of blood. By then, the group had already kicked open the last door. The sound of shattering wood echoed through the air. One of them emerged holding my father’s memorial tablet, tossing it carelessly to the ground. He spat on it, “Ew! Is this all? Some crummy piece of junk? Talk about bad luck!” My vision blurred with tears of fury, and an anguished roar tore from my throat. “Stop! Stop!” But I was powerless, restrained, forced to watch as they defiled the memory of my father. I yelled, “I will make you pay for this!” The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as I tore off a chunk of flesh from my own lip. “Oh my! I’m shaking in my boots,” Westin mocked, cackling cruelly. He stomped repeatedly on the shattered remains of the tablet, grinding it into splinters under his heel until nothing remained. Then, stepping over to me, he planted his foot squarely on my face, pressing down with deliberate force. “Remember high school? This is exactly how I looked down on you then. And guess what? Even now, after you’ve pimped yourself out and cleaned up nice, you’re still nothing but trash beneath my shoe. That’s who you are and always will be. A useless loser like you is destined to stay that way. You belong in the gutter where you came from. Stop trying to act like you matter to anyone unless you want your daddy’s fate to be yours.” Under Westin’s command, others hoisted me up, tying me to a makeshift rope. Their game began: whoever lost would take their frustration out on me with lashes, and whoever won got double turns venting their anger. Amidst their merciless laughter, the rhythmic pounding of footsteps grew louder outside, shaking the very foundation of the house. The door burst open, and figures poured in like water breaking through a dam. They stood clad in black uniforms, hands clasped behind their backs, legs astride, snapping into two flawless lines with military precision, as if awaiting the arrival of some grand dignitary.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “296027”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring #重生Reborn #惊悚Thriller

During a meeting, my online boyfriend sent me a shirtless photo. In my excitement, I accidentally sent a message meant for him to my boss instead. “Honey, I’m really broke this month. My paycheck hasn’t come through yet.” My boss’s face darkened as he growled, “Get out. I’m not your ‘honey’.” My coworkers thought the boss hated me and started mocking me behind my back. Little did they know that after I had an abrupt breakup with my online boyfriend, my boss pulled me onto his desk, his whole body trembling. “Baby, I’m not your boss. I’m your husband.” “Please don’t hate me, baby. I love you so much. Don’t break up with me, I’m begging you.” Bored during the meeting, I decided to chat with my online boyfriend. “Work’s been so stressful lately. Thank goodness my husband is understanding and ran off with someone else. The kid’s well-behaved too, since it’s not mine.” My online boyfriend sent a “pat pat” sticker and replied: “My poor baby, you’re so busy and tired. I wish you could get paid without having to work at all.” “Can I buy your company?” “I want to be there with you at work.” My boyfriend was being so cute, I decided to tease him a bit: “Show me your abs, babe!” “I’m in a meeting, love. Can we do this later?” I was about to reply that I was just joking when he quickly changed his mind: “Wait for me, baby. I’ll take a photo now.” Was he really going to sneak out of his meeting? He might get his pay docked if he gets caught. I was frowning, about to warn him not to do anything rash, when my coworker nudged me: “Look at the boss! His face is all red! And for once it’s not because he’s angry.” Just as I looked up, I saw Marcus stand up with a spring in his step: “Excuse me for a few minutes.” As soon as the boss left, Lily leaned in to gossip: “I heard from the marketing team that the new brand ambassador our company signed last month might be the boss’s girlfriend. You know, that actress Emma. Do you think she’s the one who got our boss all flustered just now?” Lily sighed after finishing, “Emma’s pretty popular though. He probably can’t go public with her while her career is taking off. Looks like they’ll have to keep it under wraps for a few years. Poor boss.” I wasn’t particularly interested in the boss’s private life and was trying to figure out how to brush off the topic when my online boyfriend sent over a few shirtless photos. Great! Looks like my slim, toned boyfriend might be worth meeting in person after all! I couldn’t help but smile as I zoomed in on the photos. While admiring my boyfriend’s great physique, I absent-mindedly responded to Lily: “Different industries, different worlds. I hope it works out for him.” I couldn’t hold back a laugh when I saw my boyfriend’s amazing body. But before I could properly compliment him, Lily peeked over. “Watching a funny video?” Afraid she’d discover I was in an online relationship, I quickly switched to a video feed and said with a grin: “Yeah, smartphones are so much fun.”

When Marcus pushed open the door, he wore a grim expression. The meeting room instantly turned into Silent Hill. Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes. After sitting back down in his chair, he pulled up last month’s ad exposure stats on the projector. Even though the returns had multiplied several times over, he just sat there frowning without saying a word. I guess it’s understandable. All bosses are greedy. Who cares if he’s happy or not, I was feeling pretty excited myself. I happily teased my online boyfriend: “Honey, let me just say, I’m really broke this month. My paycheck hasn’t come through yet.” I couldn’t even imagine how flustered my online boyfriend would get. After sending the message, I didn’t realize I had sent it to the wrong person. I was still furiously typing in the input box: My hubby is so handsome and sexy, I want to slide down those abs. Just as I was about to hit send, Marcus’s angry, agitated voice suddenly rang out in the meeting room: “Get out! I’m not your ‘honey’.” I clicked my tongue in disdain and whispered to Lily: “What’s his problem now? Menopause? Is his temper getting worse with age?” Lily froze, speaking through gritted teeth: “I suggest you faint on the spot.” I was stunned, catching a glimpse of the chat window on the display screen out of the corner of my eye. I had a bad feeling about this. Turning my head to look, sure enough, the sky had fallen! All the colleagues in the room were staring at me with wide eyes. An office worker’s breakdown happens in an instant. I had forgotten to switch accounts. Sneakily sending messages on your phone under the table is just asking for trouble! I really couldn’t understand why the boss’s profile picture was exactly the same as my online boyfriend’s. When people are embarrassed, they tend to get busy. I pretended to organize the files on the table, but eventually stood up and apologized with a choked voice: “I’m sorry, honey. I sent that to the wrong person.” No! My stupid mouth, don’t say that! This is so embarrassing, maybe I should just run away. Before I could take a step, I caught sight of Marcus glaring at me coldly: “How unprofessional!”

After this social suicide, I became infamous in the company. The employee group chat gossiped about me all afternoon. “Have you all heard about Olivia from the strategy department?” “LOL, looks like even the boss has fangirls now!” “Isn’t the boss dating Emma? Is Olivia trying to be the other woman?” “Just because she’s pretty, she thinks she can take shortcuts. Now she’s crashed and burned!” “Could it be that she meant to send it to her boyfriend and accidentally sent it to the wrong person?” “No way it was sent to the wrong person. I’m in her department and I’ve never heard of her having a boyfriend. I’ve never seen a boyfriend send her flowers or pick her up after work or anything. Besides, even if it was meant for her boyfriend, how could she mistake the profile picture? She’s not blind! No matter how you look at it, it’s impossible!” “Haha, what a schemer! Pretty women always have tricks up their sleeves. She’s probably dreaming of becoming the boss’s wife.” After lurking for a while, I was about to sulk quietly when Lily passionately jumped in: “You lot sure know how to run your mouths! If you’re not acting like donkeys, you’re croaking like frogs. If your mouths are so idle, go lick a toilet bowl instead of spreading rumors here! Get lost!!” Immediately, a “righteous judge” in the group spoke up: “Your words are too crude. Our company culture is to be tolerant of others. Is it necessary to be so aggressive? If there are messages you don’t like to see, can’t you just ignore them?” Lily: “You get lost too!” “We’re all colleagues here. Is there any need to be so hostile in your speech? Can’t you be a little more polite?” Lily was very receptive to the advice: “OK, please get lost!” The gossip group quieted down for a while, then started spreading rumors that I had a crush on Marcus. It made me laugh angrily. I typed forcefully: “Yes, at my purest, I could have crushes on 80 people in a semester.” “Also, I have depression and I’m quite sensitive. Let me spread the rumors myself, I don’t trust you guys to do it.”

That night, unable to sleep from frustration, I told my best friend about what happened during the day. She laughed so hard she pounded on the bed: “Be careful not to slip up again. I’m really afraid he’ll fall in love with you. The boss will think, ‘She called me honey, I should take care of her.’ Then let’s see how you deal with it.” “He seems to have a girlfriend, and you don’t know how fierce he sounded when he told me to get out!” I kept replaying the boss’s “Get out” in my head, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt he must hate me. After much deliberation, I decided to formally apologize to the boss. “Boss, I want to talk to you” “??? I have a girlfriend. I love her to death. If you want to talk, find someone else. Get lost, don’t bother me.” “No, boss, let me explain. I was in a hurry just now and left out a word.” The message was followed by a big red exclamation mark, indicating that the other person was no longer my friend. He had deleted me! Great, now I’ve offended the boss. After a sleepless night of overthinking, I was late the next day and got caught by the boss. It was all because I was lazy. Even though I was late, I still insisted on waiting for the elevator. As a result, the private elevator next to me opened, and I came face to face with the boss. And to make matters worse, I happened to catch Emma clinging to his arm and acting coy. The smile on Marcus’s face immediately disappeared as he glanced at his watch: “Nine minutes and fifty seconds.” Just my luck, not only was I nearly ten minutes late, but I also interrupted his romantic moment. Of course the boss would be angry. I quickly admitted my mistake, “I’m sorry, Mr. Meng. I won’t look next time. If there’s a next time, you can gouge out my eyeballs.” Marcus frowned, clearly unhappy. I honestly acknowledged my error: “I won’t be late again either. If I do it again, you can dock my attendance bonus.” “No need.” “Boss, you’re so kind…” “I mean there’s no need to wait for next time.” He finished and instructed his assistant nearby: “Tell accounting to deduct $300 from her bonus.” “But doesn’t the company allow one or two late arrivals a month? I’ve always been early before, never late.” “Mm, before we turned a blind eye, but today I saw your lateness with both eyes.” “…” Just because he caught me seeing him being lovey-dovey with his girlfriend? Is it really necessary to target me like this! But I really didn’t expect Marcus to be so petty! In the afternoon, when each department reported on their projects, he commented on everyone’s work. When it came to mine, he didn’t say a word, not even sparing me a glance as he moved on to listen to the next person’s report. His disregard for me was very obvious. Just before clocking out, my team leader threw the proposal I had submitted a few days ago back onto my desk. “Olivia, the boss rejected your proposal.” I sighed: “Did he say what was wrong with it? So I can revise it.” “He thought it was garbage, unusable. Work overtime and redo the whole proposal.” The team leader had so many people in that meeting, and he just called my work garbage in front of all of them? This is too much!! I pressed my lips together, feeling a wave of bitterness. Docking my pay is one thing! But to deny my abilities! Damn capitalist! At eleven o’clock that night, I was the only one in the department working overtime. After finishing the project proposal and shutting down my computer, I posted on social media complaining about the boss exploiting his employees. My brother commented: “Quit that job, go have some fun. Your big bro will earn money for you to spend.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “296043”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring #校园School #重生Reborn

“Lily, please stop being angry. She really means nothing to me now,” Jack said as he reached out to grab me. I was cornered against the wall with nowhere to escape. Just as I was about to use all my strength to push him away— My boss grabbed Jack’s arm and yanked him back forcefully, stepping in front of me protectively. His whole body radiated cold fury as he growled, “What do you think you’re doing to my wife?” I had liked Jack Thompson for a long time, throughout my entire youth. But he had also liked his goddess for just as long. I chased after him for five years, while he chased after his goddess for four years. It’s not that he stopped chasing her – she just went abroad. … His family lived right next door to mine. Since childhood, he was always the “perfect kid” my mom compared me to. When my mom scolded me for being useless and said I couldn’t compare to him in any way, I felt both envious and resentful towards Jack. I wished he had never existed in this world. But when he appeared downstairs in a white shirt, riding his bicycle and gently calling out, “Lily, it’s time to go to school,” my heart would beat uncontrollably. “Let’s break up.” After sending him this message on SnapChat, I deleted all his contact information. His goddess had returned from abroad. Yesterday he told me that it was my birthday tomorrow, and he would give me a surprise in the evening. It was the first time he had ever prepared a surprise for me. I spent all day getting ready, from morning till night. Full of joy and anticipation, I arrived early at the restaurant we had agreed on. I waited from 8 pm until midnight. I didn’t get to see him, but I did receive photos of him helping his goddess into a hotel room. To be honest, when I saw those photos, I laughed. But what I didn’t realize was that my laughter looked just like crying. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Every time, he would gently stroke my head afterwards and tell me, “She was upset and needed someone. She’s fragile and needs company.” And every time, I would say, “It’s okay, don’t worry about it. Just comfort her, I’ll be fine on my own.” I carefully nurtured our relationship, afraid that even the slightest setback would sever the bond I had worked so hard to create. In this relationship, I had lowered myself to the extreme. But this time, I didn’t want to put up with it anymore. It was past midnight, and the dorm was closed. I didn’t want to go back there either. After letting my roommates know, I headed straight to a bar, planning to drink myself into oblivion and bury this fruitless love. In the end, I really did get drunk. I ended up hooking up with some hot guy for the night. The next morning. I opened my eyes to find a handsome face right in front of me. I stared blankly for two minutes before coming to my senses. Then I realized this handsome face belonged to my internship company’s boss!! After a quick check, I found myself completely naked….!! I covered my mouth, trembling. My brain felt oxygen-deprived and I couldn’t breathe. I can’t believe I dared to hook up with the boss!! People weren’t lying when they said alcohol and lust lead to trouble. So many people in the company wanted him but didn’t dare make a move, and I actually… ! Run! I need to run away! My mind went blank except for that one thought. I saw our clothes scattered messily on the floor. I planned to get out of bed, put on my clothes, and run. I carefully inched from the head of the bed to the foot, about to put my feet on the ground. Then I heard a deep voice from above me. “Where are you going?” At that moment, my mind crashed, going completely blank. But for some reason, a guilty feeling started bubbling up from deep inside. Because I had no idea what happened last night… I was afraid that I had taken advantage of my boss, since I had planned to get drunk and have a one-night stand… But this was my boss! The object of so many people’s fantasies! A lazy voice came from his lips, “Do you remember what happened last night?” I lifted my head slightly, too guilty to turn and look at him. From the corner of my eye, I saw him sit up against the headboard, broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, defined abs, clear muscle definition… To be honest, seeing his physique, I felt like I had hit the jackpot last night. But since I couldn’t remember anything that happened, I also felt like I had lost big time. My feelings were suddenly very complicated… “I… I don’t remember,” I said weakly. “But I won’t tell anyone about last night!” I turned my head to face him, my eyes determined. I was ready to swear an oath to prove my resolve. “What, you’re planning to avoid responsibility? Now you’re pretending not to remember?” His voice deepened as his dark eyes stared intently at me. “What? Take responsibility?!” I stared at him in shock, completely caught off guard by him saying I should take responsibility. “Last night you grabbed my hand and said you’d take responsibility, that’s why I came in.” He said matter-of-factly. I… “How should I take responsibility?” He calmly uttered two words: “Get married.” ?!! “What?” I couldn’t believe my ears. What kind of talk is this? It was just a one-night stand, but he wants me to give up my whole life for it? “Or I could let everyone at the company and your school know what you did.” He glanced at me sideways. “You, you, you can’t! Besides, then everyone would know you were forced into it. You’d lose face even more.” He listened to me finish, his eyes growing darker as he seemed to consider something. After a moment, he said slowly, “I don’t care.” …Well that’s quite the “I don’t care.” But I do care. I felt a bit wronged, but couldn’t say anything. “Is there any other way to resolve this?” He stared at me silently, his eyes deep and the atmosphere growing increasingly oppressive. I could only stammer out, “Then… when should we get married?” “Tomorrow morning at 9am.” My eyes darted around as I agreed with a “Okay.” “Don’t try any tricks. I have your ID card.” He leaned back comfortably against the headboard, twirling my ID card in his hand. “…I know, don’t worry.” I felt deflated as I sat at the foot of the bed, sighing. He seemed unable to bear seeing me so dejected and unwilling. Frowning, he stared at me and said, “Come here.” I didn’t want to go. But my body instinctively obeyed the boss’s order. By the time I came to my senses, I was already next to him. He reached out to pinch my face, pulling me closer as he said softly, “Be good.” His hot breath tickled my ear, making my heart race uncontrollably. Without realizing it, I replied, “Okay.” At the marriage registration office. I held the brand new marriage certificate in my hands, feeling a bit surreal. I never imagined I’d be getting married before even graduating college, let alone to my boss, and in such a whirlwind fashion. Lust really does make you lose your mind! Sitting in his car as we drove away, I still felt like this wasn’t real even after 10 miles. “Where to?” “Huh? Oh, back to school. I don’t have to go to work today, right boss? I should get marriage leave!” There had to be some perks to getting married. I carefully put the marriage certificate away in my bag. He glanced at me and snorted, “How ambitious.” Hearing him mock me, I immediately turned to glare at him. I stared so hard my eyes started to hurt, but he didn’t react at all, not even glancing in my direction. “We’re here. Stop staring, he’s all yours now. You can look all you want when we get home tonight,” he said teasingly. He pinched my cheek and turned my face towards the window, pointing outside to remind me. Oh, we’ve arrived at school. Apparently I had been staring at him for quite a while. Seeing his playful expression, I suddenly felt my face grow hot. But I still wanted to argue and defend myself. Then my brain suddenly registered what he said. ?? Go home? Who said I was going home with him tonight? I turned my head, about to question him, when I realized his face was extremely close to mine. I could see my own clear reflection in his pupils. “W-what are you doing?” “Why are you stuttering?” His hand was still pinching my cheek. He squeezed again, making my lips pucker up. He looked confused, but I could clearly see amusement in his eyes. Is he laughing at me?! I wasn’t stuttering, it’s just that he was too close and my mind flashed back to that wild, chaotic night. That night, he had been so passionate, almost unlike himself. Beads of sweat rolled down his chiseled jawline, our breaths intertwined, his grip on my waist inescapable no matter how I tried to get away… “What are you thinking about? Why is your face so red?” I felt my face grow even hotter. “N-nothing. Get away from me.” “Get away? Like this?” He said he’d move away, but he got even closer. So close that if I moved even slightly, my lips would touch his. I didn’t dare move an inch! I felt my face start to stiffen. His hand still gripping my cheek, he pulled me closer and pecked my lips. Seeing no reaction from me, he deepened the kiss. ! I felt my heart start to race. I could barely breathe. “Breathe,” he said huskily as he pulled away slightly. My head felt fuzzy. I let out a small gasp before gradually sinking into his expert kissing. When I got out of the car, my lips were swollen and red. My face was flushed and my eyes looked a bit dazed. Anyone could tell what had just happened. “Did you just get out of that Bentley? Look at yourself! Don’t degrade yourself like this!” As I got out of the car and walked towards the school gates, someone suddenly grabbed my arm forcefully and started berating me. Jack’s face was full of disappointment, anger, and gravity, as if I had betrayed him. “Do you even know how old he is? Did you enjoy it that much?” There were a lot of people coming and going at the school entrance. Hearing what Jack said, they all turned to look, as if I was some kept woman who had snagged a sugar daddy. Standing in the crowd, my swollen lips seemed like damning evidence. Feeling everyone’s judgmental stares, I felt awful and angry to the point of trembling. I never expected Jack would think of me this way, let alone humiliate me in public like this. I had liked him for five years, but now those five years felt like a joke. I couldn’t take it anymore. “Who are you to lecture me? When you were cuddling and being all lovey-dovey with someone else, did you ever consider how I felt?” He looked at me in disbelief, as if he hadn’t expected me to bring up his goddess. “She didn’t have anyone to take care of her. I was just looking after her.” Looking after… I let out a cold laugh. “Whatever. We’ve already broken up.” With that, I shook off his hand and tried to enter the school. I didn’t want to be gawked at like some circus animal anymore. But I had barely taken a step when he grabbed my arm again. “What do you mean we broke up?” “What break up? Have you not even looked at the message I sent you yesterday?” He took out his phone to check the messages. In that moment, my heart suddenly clenched painfully. Apparently being ignored hurts even more than not being loved. Even though I had told him we were breaking up, I still couldn’t help feeling upset. “You’re breaking up with me just because I took care of her? We’re just friends.” Some friend. Do friends need to be “taken care of” all night? Are friends more important than a girlfriend? I didn’t want to argue with him anymore. I tried to walk towards the school, but he kept holding onto my arm, insisting on clearing things up. A crowd had gathered around us. I felt on the verge of a breakdown. Why couldn’t he just let me go when I was trying to set him free? While he was still grabbing me, I caught a glimpse of my boss pushing through the crowd. I felt like the anger was making me hallucinate. The boss had already left, how could he be back? It wasn’t until he reached out to grip Jack’s shoulder, pulling him away from me and blocking Jack’s view of me, that I felt it was real. “Didn’t you leave?” I said softly from behind him. He didn’t respond, just turned his head slightly to look at me, his eyes reassuring. Suddenly, I felt at peace. Then he turned to face Jack, his aura imposing and expression severe. Jack was stunned, taking half a step back and opening his mouth wordlessly. My boss spoke slowly, but somehow authoritatively, “Stop harassing my…” ! Hearing him about to say “wife”, I quickly pinched him and glared at him from behind. He paused for a moment before continuing, “girlfriend. She has nothing to do with you anymore!” With that, he put an arm around me protectively and led me away through the crowd. After we had walked some distance, Jack seemed to get over his initial shock. He yelled angrily from behind us, “Who do you think you are?!” Hearing him shout, I wanted to turn back and look. But before I could, Lucas gripped my head and kept me facing forward. “What, still can’t let go?” he said softly in my ear, his breath tickling me. From afar, it probably looked like he was nibbling my ear. “You… just talk normally, don’t get so close. It tickles.” He didn’t say anything, just looked at me, waiting for my answer. Slowly, I started to feel the pressure. “I’m not hung up on him…” “Don’t forget, we just got married. Are you trying to make me a cuckold?” His tone was low, his eyes threatening. “…” “And if someone’s bullying you, don’t you know to call me?” I hemmed and hawed, trying to change the subject. It honestly hadn’t even occurred to me to call him. We weren’t that close… Even though we had just gotten married, he was always so cold and aloof at work. He seemed to radiate an icy aura when he wasn’t talking. How could I dare to bother him? “Why did you come back?” “Someone called me,” he said, glaring at me as if scolding me for not calling him for help myself. “They said you were being harassed at the school gates.” “Who was it? How do they know me? And I’m not avoiding calling you, I just didn’t have a chance. He was grabbing my arm the whole time.” I finally thought of an excuse, though it was also the truth. I held out my reddened arm for him to see, proving I was telling the truth. His gaze fell on my wrist, his expression suddenly turning cold. He seemed to radiate an icy aura, as if he had discovered some beast intruding on his territory. He reached out to encircle the red marks, caressing them as if trying to erase someone else’s touch. Seeing his change in expression, I felt a bit uncomfortable. I tried to pull my hand back, but he held on tightly. I could only try to change the subject. “Why me?” He stared at me silently. After a while, he let go of my hand and stood up. “I’ll pick you up tonight to go home.” “Huh? So sudden? I haven’t…”prepared yet. Before I could finish, he had already abandoned me and left. Leaving me standing there bewildered… My phone suddenly buzzed. I took it out and saw he had messaged me saying he’d pick me up at 6pm. I…” So domineering and high-handed. How annoying. Back at the dorm, I realized he hadn’t answered either of the two questions I asked him. I pouted. Whatever, I don’t want to know anymore! Lost in thought, I felt someone gently tap me. “Lily, what’s going on with you and Jack? There are a bunch of posts on the school forum saying you hooked up with some rich guy and dumped Jack.” “Isn’t he always flirting with this girl and that girl? Some idiot must be spreading rumors. It’s all nonsense!” “I already cursed them out for you. Don’t worry, we’ve got your back!” Seeing my roommates’ concern and unconditional trust in me warmed my heart. “Jack and I broke up.” I didn’t want to tell anyone about my sudden marriage to my boss yet. I could hardly believe it myself. “I have nothing to do with him anymore.” My tone was light. “That jerk, good riddance! You’re way too good for him. You’re such a beauty, you could have any guy you want.” “Exactly! Girl, I’ll introduce you to some guys. I know tons of eligible bachelors!” “Haha, the guys you’d introduce? No thanks.” My roommate glared at her. “What’s that supposed to mean? The guys I’d introduce to Lily would be top-notch!” “Haha, yeah right. Dream on.” Just as my roommate was about to playfully hit her, there was a knock at our door before it opened. We all turned to look. To our surprise, it was Jack’s goddess – Emma White. She looked around the room before fixing her gaze on me, her eyes scrutinizing and hostile. “Are you Lily Evans?” I was confused. Why was she looking for me? My roommates exchanged glances, recognizing her as well. But they tacitly remained silent, just coldly staring at her. Emma waited a moment. Seeing I wasn’t responding, she walked over and pointed at me. “I’m talking to you. Are you deaf?” From the corner of my eye, I saw my roommate about to stand up to protect me. I held her back and stood up myself. “Yes, that’s me. What is it?” “Come outside. I have something to say to you.” “Whatever you have to say, you can say it here. We don’t have anything that needs to be discussed privately.” She paused for a moment. “I’ll let you have Jack. You give me Lucas.” Lucas – my boss. Seeing her entitled attitude, I almost laughed. Did she really think my boss was something I could just give away?! “What, you think you get to decide this?” I said mockingly. “Does Jack know you’re trading him away?” “Just tell me if you agree or not.” I let out a cold laugh. “What do you think? I don’t know what Jack sees in you that makes him so devoted.” Jack is truly blind. “You still like him, don’t you? This benefits both of us.” “First of all, these two men aren’t objects to be traded. Secondly, I think you need to get your head examined. Lastly, get out of our dorm!” As soon as I finished speaking, my roommates all stood up in unison, gesturing for her to leave. She had opened her mouth to curse at me, but seeing so many of us, her bravado deflated significantly. She turned to leave, but not before threatening me: “You just wait!” After she left, my roommates burst out laughing. “Damn girl, you’ve gotten so sharp-tongued! You should have told off that jerk like this before!” “Yeah, haha! You need to keep being this fierce, you hear me?” My roommate put her arm around my shoulder, speaking earnestly. I nodded at them, agreeing with an “Okay.” It felt so good to have my roommates backing me up. Otherwise I might have been too timid… Suddenly my phone on the desk buzzed with a message from my boss. [By the way, I forgot to mention – not only are we going home together today, but we’ll be living together from now on. Remember to pack your things. I’ll pick you up at 6.] For the first time, I felt like my phone’s notification sound was way too loud… The screen wasn’t locked, so not only did I see the message, but my roommates saw it too. “Ahh!! Lily! Are you moving in with your boss? That super handsome boss who’s around our age?” “…Um, yes.” I felt a bit guilty, not daring to say that I had already slept with my boss. “That’s awesome, Lily! This is exactly what you should do. We’ve been telling you forever that your boss was into you, but you never believed us!” He really wasn’t into me. It was all my fault… But I couldn’t say that out loud. It would sound so unconvincing. My boss was asking me to live with him – who would believe me if I said he wasn’t interested in me? I chose to keep my mouth shut. At 6pm. [I’m here at the east gate. Come out.] I slowly dragged my suitcase into his line of sight. Feeling his stare burning into me, I unconsciously quickened my pace… “It took you half an hour to walk this short distance? Why don’t you wait until 6am tomorrow to come out?” “Oh, you meant 6am tomorrow? I didn’t know. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” I started to turn around and go back. But he grabbed the hood of my sweatshirt. “Where do you think you’re going? Get in the car.” He dragged me into the car, efficiently tossed my suitcase in the trunk, and got in himself. He moved so quickly, as if he couldn’t wait to be alone with me. My heart suddenly fluttered a bit. Did he really like me? “You haven’t eaten, right? What do you want for dinner?” I was being silly. He was just hungry and impatient to eat. “…Anything is fine. You decide.” He turned his head and stared at me, then tilted his chin up slightly as if gesturing at something. I looked down at myself. My clothes seemed fine. “What is it? Is there something on my face?” He didn’t say anything, but leaned towards me. His breath fanned across my face. It smelled nice. I suddenly felt flustered. What was he trying to do?! “You…” Is he going to kiss me again? “Seatbelt.” His arm reached across me to fasten my seatbelt. “We’re about to leave.” “…Oh, okay.” Help!! Thank goodness I didn’t ask out loud. That would have been so embarrassing! I suddenly felt my face heating up. I quickly tried to cool it down with my hands. He didn’t notice, right… I sneakily turned my head to glance at him, only to find myself staring straight into his deep eyes. Then I heard him laugh out loud. … He figured it out!! I felt like my face was about to burst into flames. “Why is your face so red?” He knew very well why. I turned my head away, showing him the back of my head in protest. After a while, I heard him say, “Alright, don’t be mad. I’ll kiss you when we stop the car.” !! My eyes suddenly widened. What kind of thing was he saying? “That’s not what I meant!” I turned to glare at him, only to see his grin stretching from ear to ear. He was teasing me again. How annoying. He pinched my cheek. “I’m done teasing you. Let’s get out, I’ll treat you to dinner.” Just as he was about to open the door, I quickly grabbed his face and pulled him towards me, planting a firm kiss on his cheek. After the sneak attack, my own heart started racing uncontrollably. Taking advantage of his stunned state, I quickly said “I’ll get out first” and ran off. I was afraid of getting caught and having my plan backfire. But I also knew I could run from the immediate situation, but not forever. After all, it’s not like we’d never see each other again. But… whatever. I got my revenge for now. I looked up to survey my surroundings. Luckily there was only one building nearby, otherwise I wouldn’t have known where to go. Before I could walk over, I felt a hand grip the back of my neck. “You think you can kiss me and run?” The man’s voice was low and husky, his lips right next to my ear, his breath tickling me. A tingling sensation suddenly spread throughout my body. “I…” I shrank back a bit, wanting to retreat and put some distance between us. But as soon as I moved, he gripped me even tighter. “You what?…” He was about to lean in closer to speak when he saw someone walking towards us. He gave my neck a squeeze and said in a low voice, “I’ll settle the score with you later.” Then he let go of me and looked up at the approaching person. “I saw you from far away. What are you doing standing around out here? Feeding the mosquitoes? Come on in, we’ve been waiting for you.” The man tilted his head and stood on tiptoe to look at me. … “Hello, I’m Lily Evans.” “Hi there, I’m Henry Shaw. You can call me Henry.” After greeting me, Henry turned to Lucas and said with a wink, “I didn’t expect you to bring such a beautiful woman without saying anything. We thought you were single – Charles was going to set you up with someone.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “296059”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #现实主义Realistic #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring #校园School #重生Reborn

I called my husband 199 times when our daughter was in a life-threatening car accident. On the 200th call, his secretary finally answered. “Rachel, James is with me at a fashion show. He’s too busy to take your call,” she said coyly. Panicked and stuttering, I pleaded, “Please… please tell James to transfer me some money. Lily’s been in an accident.” But all I heard was James cursing in the background: “You’re just a gold digger, always asking for money!” “You’ve really gone crazy about money, even dragging our daughter into your act.” “It’d be better if she died. You won’t get a cent from me!” I tried to explain, but the line went dead with a harsh click. To raise the money, I was humiliated like a dog by his young secretary. After our daughter died from failed emergency treatment, James finally panicked. That morning, I was accompanying my daughter to her kindergarten’s outdoor rock climbing activity. We never expected to be involved in a massive traffic accident on the way there. Lily’s injuries were severe, and she lost consciousness immediately. I rushed her to the nearest hospital in a panic, only to discover that my phone balance was insufficient to cover the medical fees. I hurriedly called my husband, begging him to transfer some life-saving money. After 199 calls, the phone was finally answered. On the other end was his secretary’s coquettish voice: “Rachel, why are you looking for James? He’s with me at a fashion show and can’t be bothered with you.” “I don’t care what he’s doing! Tell him to take the phone and send me money. It’s a matter of life and death!” I shouted in desperation. I heard James cursing in the background: “Just a gold digger, always thinking about money!” I tried to explain, but the line went dead with a harsh click. I wanted to call back, but found I had been blocked. Around me, children and adults were being rushed into emergency rooms one by one. I looked at my unconscious daughter, holding her injured leg in despair. “This child needs immediate treatment. Life is more important than money!” the doctor advised me earnestly, seeing that I was hesitating to pay the medical fees. Suddenly, Lily turned to her side and vomited. I hurried to support her. “Baby, baby, are you okay?” Lily looked at me with a weak smile. This girl had always been so understanding. James never cared about us, mother and daughter, so she always tried to be well-behaved and sensible, hoping her father would notice her more. James had always thought I was a gold digger. Although his family was wealthy, he only gave me $500 a month for living expenses. For any other expenditures, I had to write a report and go through layers of approval. I thought that if I didn’t keep any private savings and focused on taking care of everything at home, he would eventually realize he had misjudged me, and we could live happily as a family. I scrimped and saved every day to control expenses, just so my daughter could have an extra bite of meat. But I never imagined that because of this, at this critical moment when my daughter’s life was at stake, I would be so destitute that I couldn’t even pay for her medical treatment. I took out my phone and tapped on James’s profile picture on SnapChat. I sent a video call request, but it was rejected. I tried again, and it was rejected again… With no other choice, I recorded a video. Lily was lying on a hospital bed in the corridor. “Lily, call Daddy. Ask Daddy for some money to save your life.” I stared at Lily expectantly, my voice choked with tears. Surely James would help save Lily if he saw this video. After all, Lily was his own flesh and blood. Lily obediently opened her mouth with difficulty: “Daddy, I… it hurts… save… me…” After saying these few words, she fell unconscious again. I sent the video to him, and he replied with two voice messages. “You’ve really gone crazy about money, even dragging our daughter into your act.” “It’d be better if she died. You won’t get a cent from me!” When I tried to send another message, I only received a red exclamation mark. It stung my heart, and my eyes welled up with tears. He had blocked me.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “295932”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #重生Reborn #现实主义Realistic #浪漫Romance #励志Inspiring #校园School #魔幻Magic #惊悚Thriller #擦边Steamy

I was born with superhuman strength, which made my mom hate me and favor my younger brother Kevin from the start. But when my father had an affair, Kevin was the first to rush out and say he’d always wanted a new mom anyway. Kevin rolled his eyes at our mom busy in the kitchen and said to me, “That old hag has no use anymore. Dad’s new wife said she’d help me marry a rich girl. Why don’t you hurry up and get rid of her for me?” My father was having an affair. I saw it with my own eyes. I rushed home, fuming with anger. Mom was cooking dinner. Without hesitation, I blurted out, “Mom! Dad’s cheating on you. I saw it myself!” She froze for a few seconds. Kevin burst in right after me, “That’s not true! Mom, Jack is lying. I was with Dad all day.” Mom didn’t hesitate for a second. Her eyes turned cold as she looked at me. Before I could question why Kevin was lying, a loud slap landed across my face. The sound echoed through the room, leaving my head spinning. “Mom…” I held my stinging cheek, staring back at her in shock. “You deserve it!” Kevin smirked, adding fuel to the fire. “Mom, I think Jack did this on purpose. He’s just trying to cause trouble because he’s miserable and wants our family to fall apart!” Mom instantly believed him, nodding along. “Well, well, Jack. I see that year away at college has made you forget your place!” Without another word, she grabbed a metal hanger and started beating me with it. Childhood fears came flooding back as the hanger whistled through the air, landing hard on my back. “You really are an ungrateful monster!” Mom’s blows were merciless, her eyes filled with hatred. “I should never have given birth to you!” I saw Kevin grinning smugly behind Mom’s back. All I could do was cover my bruised arms helplessly. “Mom, I really did see it…” When Mom got tired, she tossed the hanger aside. “That’s enough. No dinner for you tonight. Go to your room. I can’t stand the sight of you.” Seeing I didn’t move, she glared at me again. “What are you waiting for? Get out of my sight!” Then she turned and gently took Kevin’s hand. “Come on, I made your favorite beef stew. You haven’t been home in so long, you need to eat up.” It seemed I had always been the outsider in this family.

My father really was having an affair. Today I saw him with his arm around a strange woman on the street. Their intimate body language left no doubt in my mind. I grabbed Kevin’s hand. “You saw that too, right? We have to tell Mom!” Kevin yanked his hand away nervously. “Tell her what? You want to upset her even more? What if it’s just a misunderstanding?” I stood there speechless, pointing at our father. Unfortunately, we made eye contact. Soon enough, the three of us – plus one smiling woman – were seated around a table. Before Dad could say anything, Kevin jumped in. “Dad! Is this our new mom?” “You – Kevin, have you lost your mind?” I slammed the table as I stood up, yelling at him. “Jack!” Dad’s face darkened as he glared at me coldly. “As the older brother, how can you be even less mature than Kevin?” Kevin smiled apologetically and pulled me back into my seat, trying to smooth things over. From their brief conversation, I gathered that Kevin was quite pleased with this potential new stepmom. He thought she was prettier, younger, and wealthier than Mom. I listened in disbelief as he lectured me, “Jack, don’t be stupid. Mom’s getting old – what can she do for us anymore?” “But this stepmom is different. She knows lots of rich girls. If I marry one, think of all the connections and opportunities we’d have!” He gripped my hand tightly, his smile fake. “Jack, you absolutely can’t tell Mom about this. Otherwise, Dad and I won’t let you off easy.” “Besides…” He patted my cheek. “Mom wouldn’t believe you anyway.” I splashed a glass of water in his face and stormed home, determined to tell Mom everything. But now… My cheek still stung from where Mom had slapped me earlier to defend Kevin and preserve this fake family. Thinking about it made my blood run cold. It had always been like this. No matter when or where, Mom only had eyes for Kevin. She never saw what I did, never heard what I said. In her eyes, I was just a freak. But Mom, this time, you’re going to regret it.

The next day, my face was swollen. As I held an ice pack to my cheek, Mom marched over with Kevin trailing behind. She got straight to the point. “I heard you got a scholarship. $500, right?” She stated matter-of-factly, “Transfer it to your brother. He’s almost out of money. You’re such an inconsiderate older brother.” My temple throbbed as I struggled to contain my anger. “That’s for my living expenses next semester!” She refused to pay my tuition, so I relied on part-time jobs and scholarships to cover my costs each year. Mom snatched the ice pack and threw it at me. “How dare you say that? Have you no shame? Don’t think I don’t know – that scholarship was supposed to be Kevin’s!” From her scolding, I finally understood what lies my dear brother had told Mom. He claimed he lost the scholarship because someone reported him for cheating, and I was the one who reported him. What a joke. The professor made the decision based on security camera footage. Cameras don’t lie. “Why don’t you ask your precious son about how the whole school knows he cheated? What do you mean it was ‘supposed to be his’? Is he learning to be as shameless as my cheating father?” Mom was furious. She raised her hand to slap me again, but I easily caught her wrist. It seemed she’d forgotten – I was grown now, and still had my superhuman strength. Mom winced in pain, glaring at me with anger and fear. She yanked her hand back but didn’t dare try to slap me again. “To think this came from my own flesh and blood!” “You still consider me your flesh and blood?” I stood up abruptly. With a light push, she nearly fell over, then scrambled out of my room like she was fleeing the plague. “No matter what, you have to share that scholarship money with your brother! You’re his older brother, it’s your duty!” Seeing the fear and hatred in her eyes, I tasted the satisfaction of fighting back for the first time. Kevin, who had been watching from outside, was caught off guard by my reaction. But he still tried to act tough. “Oh Jack, what good are your grades anyway? You still ended up at this crappy college with me.” His words hit a sore spot. The truth was, I shouldn’t have been at this third-rate school. According to my high school teacher, I had a real shot at a top university. Back then, I naively thought going to college meant I could finally escape my brother. But Mom secretly changed my college application to match Kevin’s school. When I confronted her, she jabbed her long nails into my forehead, saying, “You need to go take care of your brother, Jack. Don’t be so selfish.” And now Kevin was gloating, “What’s the point of you studying so hard in college? In the end, your scholarship money is still mine.” My brother’s eyes were full of malice. “Oh right, I forgot to mention – I told Mom I wanted to go to the same college as you. She’s so good to me.” He laughed arrogantly. Hearing this, I was filled with rage. I couldn’t hold back anymore and slapped him hard across the face. The force of it sent Kevin stumbling back several steps until he fell onto the floor with a thud. His face swelled up quickly. He stared at me in shock for a few seconds before letting out a loud wail. “Moooom!” I stood there panting, feeling a rush of satisfaction at the sight of my brother’s pitiful state. I stepped forward and delivered another resounding slap that left him speechless. Mom rushed in just in time to witness this scene. “Have you lost your mind, Jack?” She shoved me roughly. My lower back slammed into the bookshelf behind me, causing intense pain. But Mom only embraced Kevin, glaring at me with hatred. “You really are a monster!” Yes, I’m a monster. I was born with superhuman strength. Because of this, my mom especially despised me, always viewing me as a stain on her life. Thankfully Kevin was born later, and I was abandoned to my grandmother’s home in the countryside. But Mom, I never asked to have this strength. And I’m certainly not the monster you claim I am.

At dinner that night, I sat down at the table but there was no place setting for me. Mom and Kevin completely ignored my presence. This was one of Mom’s usual tactics, but this time was different – because I wasn’t going to take it anymore! I grabbed Kevin by the collar and yanked him out of his seat, then sat down in his place. Kevin squealed like a pig as I tossed him aside. Mom dropped her utensils, ready to come at me, but froze when I slammed my fist on the table. “From now on, neither of you gets to push me around in this house.” I pointed at Mom, enunciating each word. “Weren’t you always afraid of my strength? Well, I’ve realized something – what you saw as a flaw is actually my gift. Got it?” “Get out of my house! Get out!” Mom screamed, pointing at the door. I clenched my fists, but held back from actually hitting them. “I’m not 18 yet. Kicking me out would be illegal. Understand?” As the three of us were at an impasse, I heard a soft voice calling from outside. “Jack!” I looked out to see my girlfriend Lucy. She held up some takeout containers. “I brought you dinner!” That’s right – I had a girlfriend in college now. Seeing Lucy’s silly grin made me smile too, though it hurt my bruised face. I certainly wasn’t going to eat the food at home – my girlfriend’s cooking would be much better. I put on my jacket and slammed the door in Mom and Kevin’s stunned faces. The next day, I overheard Kevin and Mom whispering outside my bedroom door. “Mom, look how Jack’s gone crazy. He doesn’t respect you at all or consider your feelings. We can’t let him get away with this!” I flung the door open and glared at them both. Kevin immediately shut up. “Enough.” Mom didn’t get angry or agree. She looked up at me calmly. “Jack, come out with me this afternoon. I’ll treat you to a meal to make up for things.” That surprised me. I nodded hesitantly. “Okay.” “Mom!” Now Kevin was upset. He glared at me. “If you don’t do something about Jack, he’s going to be completely out of control!” “Mind your own business!” I walked over to pour some water. Kevin flinched, not daring to say more. Mom watched me thoughtfully.

I had a glimmer of hope for my relationship with Mom, but that hope vanished when she forcefully sat me down at a restaurant. Across from us was a woman in her late 40s with a permed hairdo, wrinkled face, and yellowish teeth. She was as round as a barrel, smiling as she looked me over. “So this is your older son? He’s quite handsome.” “Oh, not really.” Mom smiled politely while gripping my wrist under the table to keep me from leaving. “My younger son is much better looking.” “Then why didn’t you bring him instead?” I could barely contain my anger. I had truly believed Mom realized her mistakes and wanted to make amends when she offered to treat me to a nice meal and showed concern. But she suddenly changed tunes. “Jack, you’re at that age now. It’s time for you to start meeting potential wives.” She acted like this was perfectly reasonable. “You’ll have to get married eventually. And since your brother is short on money right now, it would be good if you could marry someone well-off to help support our family.” Seeing my silence, she grew irritated. “Jack, I gave birth to you and raised you. Is it too much to ask for you to do this one thing for me?” Is it too much? I looked at the woman across from us. She was 47, twice divorced, with a son two years older than me. And this was who my mom wanted me to marry. Mom exchanged a look with the woman, thinking I didn’t notice, then excused herself to leave. Within a minute of Mom stepping away, the woman scooted closer and started pawing at me. “What are you doing?!” I shoved her hands away. She frowned, unsatisfied. “Don’t act all high and mighty. Let me tell you – your mom agreed to this marriage a year ago, as soon as you turned 22. But then you went and got yourself a girlfriend?” “Good thing your mom is sensible. She told us everything and brought you here to make it right.” As she spoke, she leaned in close. Her breath on my face made me want to vomit. I couldn’t take it anymore. Using my full strength, I shoved her away hard. Given my power, her shoulder and collarbone were likely fractured, if not shattered. By the time Mom rushed back at the commotion, the ambulance and police had arrived. The woman clutched her shoulder, wailing as she slumped over the table. I was surrounded by police officers asking what happened. Mom immediately started cursing at me. “Jack! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” On a snowy day, I was locked out of the house and not allowed inside. Mom said if she couldn’t control me, she’d let nature take its course.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “295948”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #浪漫Romance #现实主义Realistic #励志Inspiring #重生Reborn #惊悚Thriller #校园School

1 Tangled bedsheets, vile curses, a sickening atmosphere, and excruciating pain… burning cigarette butts on my skin… In my final moments, barely clinging to life, I was thrown from the 37th floor by those monsters. “Sophia, if there’s an afterlife, I’ll drag you down to hell with me!” That was my last memory of my previous life. “You filthy whore!” A vicious slap landed on my face. “I left my wife and kids for you! I gave you my heart and my money, and you were playing multiple guys at once?!” “You dare toy with our feelings? I swear we’ll kill you if you don’t pay back every cent you scammed from us!” “Say something! Playing mute now? Damn it, I gave up everything for you and never even touched you. Today, you either pay up or… heh heh heh.” I opened my eyes to find my hair being yanked violently. Several men glared at me with murderous rage, looking like they wanted to tear me to pieces. I had returned to the day when these seven men confronted me. Memories of my past life flooded back. On this very day in my previous life, I was lured out by my best friend Allison. These thugs dragged me to a hotel where I lost the most precious thing a girl has… as well as my life. But now I’ve been reborn. At this moment, I felt a hint of excitement. One by one, watch how I destroy you all. “What the hell? Who are you guys? You’re all so damn ugly, you could scare ten bulls to death. Do you think I’d be desperate enough to have an online relationship with trash like you?” I broke free while they were distracted and slapped one of them hard. “Don’t you have mirrors at home? Or at least a puddle to pee in and see your reflection?!” I made my stance clear. In my past life, I trusted my best friend Allison too much. I had suspicions but didn’t dare to think too deeply about them, which led to my tragic end. Living this life again, I absolutely won’t allow the same thing to happen. “You bitch! How dare you insult m—” “Idiots! If it really was me, do you think I’d be stupid enough to wait around for you to catch me after pulling such a big scam?” I patted his face mockingly. “You bunch of fools are being used as pawns and still think you’re so tough!” The man was stunned. “The photos and name are yours. How dare you deny it?” “Moron, just because the photos and name are mine means I’m the one who had an online relationship with you?” I was so annoyed I slapped him again. “Did it never occur to you that someone else could have stolen my photos and name?” Allison, you despicable bitch. These men aren’t innocent either – being scammed of everything and driven to desperation has brought out the worst in their human nature. The humiliation from my past life felt like it was just yesterday. Now that I have this chance, how could I not get some payback first? “It’s your photos and name, how could it not be you? Stop with this act! I’m not falling for your tricks!” “Damn it, you dare hit me? Boys, grab her! We’ll show you what hell really is! You’ll be on your knees begging for mercy soon…” The man was enraged and ordered the others to seize me. Before they could get close, I fell to the ground and started convulsing violently. Then I crawled in a twisted, creepy way towards that man’s feet. Suddenly I stood up and grabbed his crotch in a death grip. “I know what you want to do to me. No need for a hotel, let’s do it right here! Come on! Come on!” The lead man froze in shock. I licked his face and then turned to leer at the other men behind him, grinning and drooling: “Hee hee hee~” 2. Everyone present was stunned. Seizing this opportunity, I quickly yanked down the pants of several men in front, then ran towards the crowd with all my might! As I ran, I shouted: “Here comes the little flying club! Group play~ Group play~” Behind me, the men cursed filthily as they pulled up their pants, but none of them dared chase after me. After running about half a mile, I suddenly stopped and turned to stare at them with the eyes of a vengeful ghost. The men who had been cursing immediately fell silent. Five minutes later, I started running towards them again, laughing maniacally in bizarre postures. Now it was the seven men’s turn to run away screaming like stuck pigs: “Ahh! Ahh!!!” “Help! Don’t come near us!” “She’s insane!!!” They acted as if I was some terrifying monster. If I had a kitchen knife in my hand right now, these guys would probably lose their minds completely. In my previous life, Allison secretly used my photos to have online relationships with these seven men simultaneously. She scammed them of all their assets, causing them to lose their wives and children and be buried in debt, before ghosting them all. Later, these seven men, consumed by hatred born from love, plotted together and came to the school, determined to make me pay the price. In the end, I was dragged to a shady motel and violated to death. Actually, I should have been safe that day. A kind classmate had seen them outside campus and asked if I had offended anyone, warning me to be careful and not leave the school grounds unnecessarily. As a senior, I was already busy with coursework and assignments, so I really hardly left campus those few days. Every day was just a triangle between the classroom, cafeteria and dorm. It was my best friend Allison. She tricked me, saying the stray cat I often fed outside campus had given birth, but the mother cat died during labor. The four kittens were barely alive, and she urged me to hurry over to help, saying she was waiting for me there… I rushed over in a panic, but where were the kittens?! What awaited me was a group of men’s brutal beatings and curses. And Allison was nowhere to be seen! What I didn’t know then was that those four kittens had long been tortured to death by Allison and thrown into the sewer. Afterwards, they calculated a sum, saying I owed them millions… I had to pay them back plus $2 million for emotional damages. I hadn’t done anything, why was I being extorted? Before I could figure out what was going on, I was violently dragged to a hotel. Those 6 hours were the most painful 6 hours of my short 21 years of life… They burned cigarettes on my thighs, forced me to kneel and beg them like a dog, and when they weren’t satisfied they grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall… In the end, there wasn’t a patch of uninjured skin left on my body. I was like a soulless skeleton. Messy bedsheets, filthy curses, a sickening atmosphere, excruciating pain down below, burning cigarette butts on my skin… In my final moments, when I had barely a breath left, these scum pushed me from the 7th floor… Because they chose an illegal hotel without surveillance cameras, in the end my death was ruled a suicide by the police. After I died, my good friend Allison capitalized on my tragedy. In secret, she bought the obscene videos of me from those men, then posted them on various platforms for profit. Then, she spread rumors at school saying I was a scammer who toyed with people’s feelings for money. She specifically opened an account to detail how I supposedly dated seven men at once. Finally, she claimed the thing she regretted most in life was being friends with me, that it took her so long to see what kind of person I really was, and that she too had been deceived and hurt. For a time, she attracted attention online and gained sympathy, amassing countless followers. 3. The school accused me of corrupting campus morals, my family was ashamed to acknowledge such a disgraceful daughter, and everyone applauded my death. While I was alive, she had me violated to death. After I died, she still made me suffer online harassment! And those seven men never knew that the person they had online relationships with wasn’t actually me! My good friend Allison, having escaped unscathed, began frequently appearing with the campus heartthrob. Step by step, she climbed to the pinnacle of success with her carefully crafted public image, becoming a role model among the school’s outstanding graduates. Fortunately, I’ve been reborn in this life. So, my dear friend Allison, it’s time for you to pay your own debts! “Oh, Allison, it’s you.” “Online relationships with multiple guys, scamming money, and using your best friend’s photos – just how vicious can you be?” “Since you enjoy juggling multiple relationships so much, you won’t mind if we boys share you, right?” Three days later, in a dark, damp basement. Allison was stripped naked and forced to kneel on the ground. At first, she still denied everything, but when that person threw her personal information and bank statements in her face, she panicked. She cried and begged for mercy on the ground. The story that played out on my body in my past life was about to unfold on her. Looking at the scene in the video, I smirked. How delightful! Three days ago, after catching up with those seven men, I told them to simply check the money trail to see if I was really the one who scammed them. I said if they took revenge on the wrong person, the one who really played them might be hiding somewhere laughing at them. They’d end up being the real fools then. Those seven men had been badly deceived by Allison. My reminder made them more cautious. Their intelligence finally came online. See, in just a few short days they’d already tracked down Allison, the real culprit. Oh right, I secretly chose this place for them too. Are you surprised, my dear friend? Lowering my cap brim, I continued watching the scene on the computer. “Please, I’m begging you, let me go! I don’t have any money, you’ve been tricked. How could I easily get Sophia’s photos without her permission?” “It was all her, she forced me to do this!” After her initial panic, Allison regained her composure. The lead man viciously slapped her: “She forced you? Then why did you spend all the money?” “One second you’re begging us to let you go, the next you’re saying it wasn’t you.” “You really think we’re that stupid?” “We came all this way to find you. If you’d just quietly returned the money, that would’ve been the end of it. But you love playing these little tricks, toying with us…” “Ah!” The man burned one cigarette after another on Allison’s body. Allison cried out: “I… don’t have the money. It really wasn’t me… The photos are Sophia’s so Sophia’s the one who scammed you. It’s all her fault! All her fault! “Let me go, I’ll call her right now and lure her here. You… you definitely can’t let her off easy.” “Ah~” Another slap landed on her face. “You bitch, trying to confuse us. You ruined our lives, left us penniless. I’d love nothing more than to kill you right now. You think we still care about the photos?” “No, I mean, lure my friend here. She has money… she’s a rich young lady…” Allison’s lip bled as she laughed wickedly: “Heh heh heh.” The lead man grabbed her hair: “Seriously? Is this how you treat your best friend? How much do you hate her?” Allison snapped and screamed: “She’s my best friend, what’s wrong with her sharing some of the burden? What else is she good for? ———-This is the breakpoint———-

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “295964”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #浪漫Romance #现实主义Realistic #励志Inspiring #重生Reborn #惊悚Thriller #校园School