Category: English

After my family discovered that I had faked my death, I stopped fighting back. Tiffany laughed at me for failing to stay dead. She said I would have to spend the rest of my life watching everyone love her, then asked why I had not cried myself blind with jealousy. So I snapped a branch from the tree beside me and drove it into my left eye. My family screamed and rushed to restrain me. They barely managed to save the other eye. They had only just left to fetch medicine when my second brother, Sean, stormed into my room. “You’ve been back for less than a day, and you’ve already made Tiffany cry.” His mouth twisted with disgust. “I wish both your legs were broken. Then maybe you’d stay in this room where you belong.” I climbed onto the windowsill and let go. The impact shattered my leg. A jagged piece of bone tore through the skin, and blood spread beneath me. Sean went white. That night, at dinner, Tiffany was still upset. She secretly poisoned her own food, then collapsed at the feet of my eldest brother, Gerald, the cold-blooded Alpha. Gerald flew into a rage. He grabbed a knife and came for me, as if killing me would rid the family of its curse. I did not wait for him. I lowered my head and ate Tiffany’s food. It did not take long before blood ran from the corner of my mouth. My family broke down. They forced me to spit out the poisoned food, then pulled me into their arms. By the time they asked what had happened to me, their voices were already hoarse. I looked at them, confused. Hadn’t they all said I was petty? Hadn’t they accused me of being jealous of Tiffany? Now I was being obedient. I did whatever they told me to do. So what were they still unhappy about? … Tears streamed down Anne’s cheeks. My mother raised a shaking hand and smoothed the stray hair at my temple. “Harriet, I know I was wrong. I won’t hit you again. I won’t scold you like I used to. Can’t you go back to the way you were?” There was a faint hope in her expression. I felt nothing. “Is it because I’m blind now? Because I’m not as pretty as I used to be?” Her lips parted, but no words came out. Sean leaned against the door and gave a short, bitter laugh. “Enough. You’ve done all this, and now you think hurting yourself will make it go away?” I lowered my gaze and pretended not to hear him. Tiffany had always known how to hide what she was. Even after I had been driven to fake my death and disappear for two years, they still believed everything had been my fault. But the truth no longer mattered to me. Gerald’s fingers clamped around my arm. He dragged me across the room and threw me in front of Tiffany. “Apologize to her.” The knife was still in his hand. If I refused, he looked ready to use it. I sat quietly on the floor as if I did not see the blade at all. Tiffany covered her eyes and shrank into Sean’s arms. She looked terrified, but the corner of her mouth lifted. The knife was about to come down when Anne threw herself in front of me. The blade cut deep into her arm. Blood poured out at once. “Why?” Anne looked at me as if I were tearing her apart. “We’re trying to be fair. If you want something, say it. Does Tiffany have to die before you’ll be satisfied?” I stared at her for a moment, then shook my head. “Tiffany won’t die.” The fire from two years ago rose in my memory. I remembered my skin burning. I remembered the air thinning in my lungs, every breath turning sharp and useless. Gerald and Sean had passed in front of me again and again. Neither of them looked at me. They searched for Tiffany in a panic. The moment the family found her, they carried her out without hesitation. They could not bear to lose Tiffany. But they could abandon me, their biological daughter. So if someone had to die, it would always be me. Their beloved Tiffany would never die. With them protecting her, she might never even be hurt. Anne’s hands slipped from my shoulders. All her strength seemed to leave her at once. The room went silent. Then Tiffany began to cry. She looked at me with that same helpless, wounded expression she had always used so well. “Sean already gave me the antidote. I’m fine now. Harriet was only joking with me, right?” I had just lifted my head when she took Elton’s arm and leaned against him like a child begging for a treat. “Harriet didn’t mean it. We’re getting along much better now. She still can’t shift, but she’s the Alpha’s sister. She should come to the academy with me. Please let her.” Before my first shift, Tiffany had poisoned me with silver. I failed to shift and fell seriously ill. Elton was bitterly disappointed. After that, he cared even more for Tiffany, who had shifted successfully, and refused to let me attend the academy. He said I would only embarrass the family. I had begged him countless times. It had never mattered. Now my father looked at me closely, as if afraid to miss even the smallest change in my expression. When I stayed calm, his voice softened in a way that almost sounded careful. “Harriet, do you want to go?” Before I could answer, Gerald spoke. “She’s back, and she’s learned to behave. Starting tomorrow, she’ll go with Tiffany. Even if she can’t shift, at least no one can laugh at her for knowing nothing.” He looked at Anne, who was still shielding me, then put the knife away and left. I closed my mouth. There was nothing more to say.

For the next two days, I went to the Werewolf Academy. Anne worried my body could not handle it, so after every meal she prepared a medicinal soup for me. I never drank a single bowl. Each time, Tiffany poured it away. After she emptied the bowl again, she looked down at me with open contempt. “Don’t think Anne actually cares. She feels guilty, that’s all. If she really cared, why hasn’t she noticed any of those wounds on you?” My legs were ruined. One of my eyes was blind. The moment I entered the academy, people stared. At Tiffany’s command, they found ways to make my life difficult. Some mocked me. Some shoved me. Some struck me when no one important was watching. New wounds layered over old ones. But when I went home, no one noticed. Tiffany, on the other hand, scratched her hand by accident, and Anne acted as if the sky had fallen. She summoned the family doctor at once. The others came running too. They crowded around that tiny cut, so shallow it would have healed if they had arrived any later, and worried over it like she was dying. Tiffany smiled as if the memory amused her. “You’re not me, Harriet. Maybe your wounds will heal before anyone even finds out you were hurt.” Then she left my room. She had not expected Gerald to be the first to notice. “Why didn’t you tell us?” he asked, frowning. “Were you planning to injure yourself and blame Tiffany?” I laughed softly and pulled my sleeve over the wounds. Without Tiffany’s permission, who would dare leave marks on the Alpha’s biological sister? Who would dare touch me? When I was first brought home, Tiffany had slapped me across the face the moment we met. I told my family the truth. They said I was jealous. They said I was scheming. They believed her without hesitation. It happened so many times that I stopped counting. At first, I had still hoped someone would stand beside me. Now I felt nothing. “Gerald, did you need something?” When I offered no explanation, he seemed relieved. He handed me a small plate. “Elton bought cake. This piece is yours.” They were all flavors I used to love. But I could no longer taste the sweetness. My mouth was full of bitterness. I was halfway through the cake when Anne came in with the doctor. Her eyes were wet as she looked at the wounds covering my arm. “Harriet, this must hurt so much.” Her voice broke. “This is my fault. I let you suffer like this. And you didn’t even tell us.” She dressed my wounds herself. After that, she stayed beside my bed for every meal. When Elton found out, he was furious. Every student who had bullied me was punished a hundred times over. I had no strength left to react. “Thank you, Elton.” That was all I said. Elton’s expression dimmed. Anne stood beside him, lost and uncertain. Guilt made them shower me with attention. Anything good was brought to me first. If I coughed twice at night, more than a dozen private doctors appeared the next morning. If I rubbed my eye after seeing Tiffany, they warned her not to come near me and upset me. Even Sean was punished when he came to make trouble for Tiffany’s sake. But my body was getting weaker, and nothing they did stirred much in me. On my birthday, they tried to make me happy. For the first time, they left Tiffany behind and held a birthday banquet for me alone at the most luxurious hotel in New York. At last, Elton lost control. He smashed his wineglass and pointed at me. “How long are you going to keep looking at us like that?” Anne’s restraint snapped too. “Tiffany hasn’t done anything wrong! You’re the one who won’t let it go. You’ve torn this family apart!” “If I had known this was how you’d turn out, I never would have brought you home when you were six. This family only needed Tiffany.”

My hand stopped. For a moment, my chest ached. Strange. I thought I had stopped caring. “Don’t worry,” I said. “Soon you’ll only have Tiffany.” Sean laughed and tossed down his fork. “Tiffany’s alone. I’m going to her.” The air in the room pressed down on me. One by one, they left. I remained at the table, surrounded by untouched dishes and the quiet laughter of the guests. The food went cold. The candles burned low. Wax dripped onto the cake, melting into the cream and leaving a pale trail behind. I sat there all night. By the time someone came to pick me up the next morning, my body was cold and stiff. My limbs felt as if they no longer belonged to me. The car window rolled down. Tiffany smiled at me. “How was it, Harriet? Sitting there alone all night?” I was too tired to answer. I climbed into the car and closed my eyes. When we were almost at the villa, Tiffany opened the door and threw herself out. She rolled across the ground and slammed into the stone steps, making it look as if someone had pushed her. A scream tore from her throat. Everyone waiting outside the villa turned toward us. Sean ran to Tiffany and dropped beside her. “Was it Harriet? Did she push you?” Gerald dragged me out of the car. Before I could speak, Anne slapped me across the face. She was breathing hard. Regret and hatred twisted together in her expression. “I don’t have a daughter like you. You wanted to fake your death and leave us, didn’t you? Then go. Get out right now.” “Get out!” My belongings were thrown after me. Anne ordered the villa gates shut and would not look at me again. Still, that was not enough. Gerald’s expression was grim. He personally took men with him and sent me to the dark prison where werewolf rebels were held. They threw me onto a filthy pile of bloodstained straw. Elton appeared outside the cell. Disgust sharpened his voice. “Tiffany went out of kindness to bring you home, and this is how you repay her? You ungrateful thing.” I looked at him without speaking. My body hurt more with every breath, but I had long since stopped wasting words. His temper rose when I stayed silent. “What happened to all your excuses? Two years ago, every time you hurt Tiffany, you had so much to say. You denied it, argued, blamed everyone else. Why are you quiet now?” “All because of what happened two years ago, you’ve been punishing us and punishing yourself. Why? Can’t we leave it behind and start over?” I went still. My thoughts drifted back. Two years ago, the bracelet Anne had obtained to protect Tiffany went missing. After that, Tiffany became ill. Every few days, she coughed up blood. Elton sent every available hand in the pack to search the territory. Half a month later, they found out a group of rogue wolves had picked it up. The rogues did not want money. They did not want power. They wanted me to serve them for half a month. Because I could not shift, they said I belonged at the bottom of the pack, just like them. Everyone was shocked. At that time, I had only recently been brought home. No one thought my family would agree. But they held my hands and pleaded with me. “Harriet, go for half a month. Once they give the bracelet back, Gerald will take men there, destroy their den, and bring you home.” “They’re watching us. If we don’t do what they say, they’ll destroy the bracelet. What will Tiffany do then? She needs it to live. I’m begging you. Save her.” Anne nearly knelt in front of me. I cried until I passed out. When I opened my eyes again, several rogue wolves were leaning over me, grinning. I screamed. Gerald and Sean had not gone far. They heard me. I saw them stop. Their fists clenched. For a long time, they stood there without moving. Neither of them turned back. That night, I ran and hid until I slipped from a cliff. I thought I was dead, but a tree caught me. When the rogue leader could not find me, he smashed the bracelet in anger. After I woke, I wanted only to get away. So I faked my death and left. But they found me and dragged me home. The day after they heard I had “died,” Tiffany recovered. Looking back, perhaps she had only needed me gone. Once no one was left to compete with her, she was well again. “Tiffany has suffered enough because of you,” Elton said. “This time, we won’t let you off. If you still won’t change, you can stay here forever.” He left. I lowered my head. Because I knew the truth. I did not have forever. The last doctor who examined me had already told me. This time, I really was going to die. They should be satisfied now.

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Chapter 1 In the parent-teacher WhatsApp group, the class president’s mom, Brenda Hayes, suddenly tagged me. [Chloe’s mom, you need to get a handle on your daughter.] [She’s too young to be acting this fast. She’s throwing herself at my son every day and ruining his focus.] She attached a photo. In the picture, my daughter, Chloe, was kneeling in front of Brenda’s son, Liam, picking up scattered textbooks with her head bowed down. In my past life, this was the exact moment I panicked. I spent thirty minutes typing out frantic explanations in the group chat. But the more I explained, the quieter the chat got. Finally, one of the parents sent a passive-aggressive message: [If nothing is really going on, why are you getting so defensive?] From that day on, Chloe was crucified with the label “boy-crazy tramp.” Her locker was vandalized with slurs, her gym uniform was doused in ink, and her Science Olympiad prep materials were ripped to shreds. Her homeroom teacher advised me: “Blowing this up will only hurt Chloe more. It’s better if you just have her apologize and keep her head down.” And I listened to her. Half a month later, Chloe jumped off the roof of the high school. By the time I got to the hospital, she was already covered by a white sheet. Brenda Hayes stood at the end of the hallway and said coldly: “Her mental health was that fragile? You can’t blame anyone but yourselves.” When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the exact moment the parent group chat exploded. This time, I didn’t break down or try to debate them. I tapped the screen-record button on my phone and slowly typed: [Excuse me, do you have any actual proof that my daughter is throwing herself at your son?] 1. The group chat was dead silent for three seconds. Brenda quickly fired back: [Proof? Is the photo not proof?] [She’s literally on her knees in front of him. How much more obvious do you need it to be?] I looked at the photo again. She had cropped it perfectly. It only showed the split second Chloe was crouching down. No context before, no context after. I replied: [The photo only shows my daughter picking up books.] [Can you point out exactly which part proves she’s ‘throwing herself’ at him?] Brenda didn’t reply immediately. Instead, other parents started chiming in. [Let’s just handle this privately. Making a scene isn’t good for the kids.] [Liam gets straight A’s and is on the honor roll. He probably wouldn’t just make things up.] [Moms of girls definitely need to keep a closer eye on them at this age.] I stared at the familiar profile pictures, my fingers turning to ice. In my last life, it was these exact people. First, they said “don’t make a scene.” Then, they anonymously bullied Chloe online, calling her “easy” and a “slut.” When Chloe actually died, these same people said: [If she was that mentally unstable, why didn’t the parents notice sooner?] I didn’t bother explaining. I just sent three sentences: [First, please do not substitute “he probably wouldn’t” for actual evidence.] [Second, please do not default to assuming my daughter is at fault.] [Third, I am currently screen-recording this chat, and every accusation made tonight is being saved.] Mrs. Davis, the homeroom teacher, finally intervened. [Everyone, let’s calm down. Let’s not let teenage drama escalate into arguments between parents.] Brenda immediately replied: [Mrs. Davis, I’m not being unreasonable here! But my son told me Chloe won’t leave him alone, and she keeps slipping notes into his locker.] I asked: [Where are the notes?] Brenda paused for a few seconds. [He threw that garbage away, obviously. Why would he keep something so gross?] I typed back calmly: [So what you’re saying is, you have zero proof.] Brenda switched to sending a voice memo. Her voice was shrill. “Sarah, stop acting high and mighty! Everyone knows your family situation. Your husband hasn’t shown his face in years. You’re a single mom obsessed with working and making money. Of course your daughter is acting out. It was only a matter of time!” I listened to it, used the voice-to-text feature, screenshotted the transcription, and saved the audio file. Then I replied: [This last message is a public defamation of my character and my family. I have preserved it as well.] Brenda completely lost it. [Are you threatening me?!] [No wonder your daughter is so shameless! She learned it from you!] Mrs. Davis tried to play peacekeeper again. [I’ll talk to both students tomorrow and get to the bottom of this. Please, let’s not let our imaginations run wild tonight.] I asked her directly: [Mrs. Davis, in the photo, my daughter is crouched on the floor picking up books. Could you explain why the books were scattered on the floor in the first place?] Mrs. Davis didn’t answer. Brenda beat her to it: [Who knows? Maybe she staged the whole thing herself! Girls like her love playing the victim.] I stared at those words and slowly typed back: [Brenda, if someone kicked her books out of her hands, that is called bullying. Not flirting.] [I expect you to retract your false statements and apologize.] She replied with a laughing emoji. [Apologize? In your dreams.] [If your daughter is so innocent, tell her to stay the hell away from my son.] [Otherwise, I don’t mind letting the whole school know exactly what kind of trash she really is.] I didn’t reply. The screen-recording was still running. I heard the sound of keys turning in the front door. Chloe was home. 2. When the door opened, Chloe stood in the entryway. Her school uniform was a wrinkled mess. There was a large, damp stain on her sleeve that hadn’t been fully wiped away. The zipper on her backpack was busted, so she was forced to hug it to her chest to keep it closed. When she saw me, her first reaction wasn’t to cry. It was sheer panic. “Mom, I swear I didn’t do it.” My heart physically ached. In my last life, she had said the exact same thing to me. But back then, I had just finished reading the toxic group chat. My brain was panicked, obsessed with doing damage control. My very first question to her was: “Have you been getting too close to Liam?” Chloe had frozen. I only found out later that my question hurt her more than any of the slurs in the group chat ever could. Because even I—her own mother—had suspected her first. This time, I didn’t ask her anything. I walked over, took her broken backpack, and opened it. Inside, several of her workbooks were waterlogged and ruined. On the cover of the top notebook, written in thick black Sharpie, were the words: SLUT. Chloe instinctively reached out to snatch it away. “Mom, don’t look.” I grabbed her cold, trembling hand. “Chloe, I know you didn’t do anything wrong.” Her eyes instantly flooded with red. “He kicked my books out of my hands onto the floor.” “He said I was acting like a stuck-up prude.” “When I tried to walk away, he blocked me. When I knelt down to pick up my books, someone snapped that picture.” Her voice was shaking violently. “Mom, I swear I never followed him. I never put notes in his locker.” I pulled her tightly into my arms. “I am never going to let you face this alone again.” That night, I didn’t interrogate her. I just sat with her while she ate dinner, and then I securely backed up the screen-recordings of the group chat. Before bed, I placed a small, discreet digital voice recorder into her palm. “If anyone insults you, threatens you, or destroys your property again, you press this button.” Chloe looked down at the recorder. I held both of her hands. “Being bullied is not your fault.” “Being too scared to speak up is not your fault.” “But starting today, no matter what happens, you tell me.” She was quiet for a long time, then gave a small nod. Over the next few days, Brenda didn’t stop. She sent a picture of Chloe standing in a school hallway, claiming she was “waiting for Liam again.” I replied calmly: [Standing in a public hallway between periods is considered flirting now?] She posted a cropped screenshot of a text message. It only showed one message from Liam: [Leave me alone.] I asked her: [Where is the rest of the conversation?] She ignored me. On the third night, she posted a photo of a diary page. The handwriting belonged to Chloe. It read: [Liam came looking for me again today.] Brenda’s caption: [She literally wrote it in her diary! And you’re still denying she’s obsessed?] I stared at the photo, my blood running cold. That was Chloe’s private journal. I took a screenshot first, then typed: [Explain exactly how you obtained my minor daughter’s private diary.] [Publishing a minor’s private property without consent is a violation of privacy laws, and I will be pursuing legal action for this as well.] The group chat went dead silent. A few minutes later, Brenda “un-sent” the photo. But I had already saved it. 3. Friday afternoon. I was in the middle of a corporate meeting. My phone suddenly buzzed. It was an automatic cloud-sync notification from Chloe’s voice recorder. I clicked play. The audio started with some static, followed by Liam’s voice. “Chloe, your mom loves taking screenshots, doesn’t she?” “Tell her to keep taking them.” A few kids laughed in the background. Another girl’s voice chimed in: “Your diary is literally all over the internet. Stop acting like you’re too good for us.” Liam lowered his voice. “I’m gonna ask you one last time. Are you coming this weekend or not?” Chloe’s voice was faint, but crystal clear. “No.” “I have Science Olympiad prep this weekend.” There was a brief silence, followed by the sickening sound of thick paper being ripped in half. Liam scoffed. “Science Olympiad?” “You really think you’re still competing?” “Don’t push your luck, bitch.” I stood up so fast my chair scraped loudly against the floor. Everyone in the boardroom stared at me. I didn’t bother explaining. I grabbed my car keys and walked out. By the time I pulled up to the high school, the final bell had just rung. I found Chloe behind the gym, near the equipment shed. Her Science Olympiad prep packets were scattered all over the dirt. Several pages were ripped in half, covered in muddy footprints. She was crouching on the ground, picking up the papers one by one. Her eyes were red, but she wasn’t crying. Liam was standing next to her, his hands shoved casually into his letterman jacket pockets. When he saw me, he actually smirked. “Perfect timing, Mrs. Evans.” “Your daughter is stalking me again.” I didn’t argue with him. I pulled out my phone, started recording video, and panned across the scattered papers, the footprints, the shed, and the students watching. Then I asked: “Who tore these papers?” Liam raised an eyebrow. “How should I know?” A guy standing next to him snickered. “She probably ripped them herself so she could play the victim.” I pointed my camera directly at him. “What is your name?” The boy instantly shut his mouth. I turned the camera back to Liam. “You said my daughter is stalking you. Her Olympiad prep room is on the third floor of the main building. Why are you all the way out here behind the gym?” Liam’s face stiffened for a second. “I was just walking by.” I nodded. “Great. We’ll pull the security footage and see if you were ‘just walking by,’ or if you followed her all the way out here.” His expression finally cracked. More students were gathering around. Someone had run to get Mrs. Davis. Liam looked down and furiously typed a text message. A few minutes later, Brenda came clicking across the pavement in her heels. “Sarah! What the hell are you doing now?!” “Your daughter stalks my son every single day, and now you’re trying to intimidate him with security cameras?!” I didn’t stop recording. I just asked: “Brenda, how exactly do you know my daughter stalks your son every day?” She scoffed. “My son told me himself! You think he’d lie to me?” I stared dead into her eyes. “Did he also tell you why he’s currently standing behind the gym, nowhere near his own classes, surrounding my daughter?” Brenda choked on her words. Mrs. Davis hurried over, looking breathless. She glanced at the torn papers on the ground, then at my phone. Her very first sentence was: “Chloe’s mom, please put the phone away.” I kept the camera steady. “I will.” “The moment the school provides me with a written guarantee that today’s security footage for this entire sector will be preserved, I will stop recording.” Mrs. Davis frowned deeply. “You’re making this much uglier than it needs to be.” I looked at her. “Mrs. Davis, this is ugly because my daughter is actively being bullied. Not because I am recording it.” “The fact that your first instinct is to tell me to put my phone away is exactly why it’s ugly.” Brenda immediately started yelling. “Stop acting like the victim!” “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! You’re a single mom. You obviously don’t know how to raise a kid, so don’t blame us when we have to teach her a lesson for you.” I panned the camera directly to her face. “Say that again.” She flinched. “Are you filming me?!” “You are publicly defaming me and my minor child. I am gathering evidence.” Her face turned beet red. “Evidence, evidence! Is taking pictures the only thing you know how to do?!” I replied calmly: “No.” “I also know how to protect my daughter.” “And I know how to demand that you and your son apologize to her for what happened today.” Brenda looked at me like I had lost my mind. “Apologize?!” She grabbed Liam and pulled him to her side. “My son is the one being harassed! My son is the one whose grades are being threatened by her drama! She sheds a few fake tears, and you think you can flip the script on us?!” I looked at Liam. “Did you tear these papers?” Liam looked down, silent for two seconds. When he looked up, his eyes were actually brimming with tears. “Mrs. Evans, I know you feel bad for Chloe.” “But you can’t just bully me like this.” “She won’t leave me alone. I’ve been trying to hide from her for weeks.” The crowd of students began whispering loudly. Mrs. Davis looked incredibly stressed. “Chloe’s mom, let’s just end this here for today. The kids still have extracurriculars.” I finally understood why, in my past life, Chloe had been bullied into utter silence. When some people lie, they can fake being the victim so perfectly it looks like the absolute truth. I didn’t argue anymore. I just knelt down, picked up the torn papers one by one—including the ones with the muddy shoe prints—and slid them carefully into a manila folder. Behind me, Brenda sneered. “Sarah, if you ever accuse my son of anything again, I swear to god I will make sure everyone in this town knows exactly what kind of trash your daughter really is.” I held Chloe’s hand tightly, turned around, and looked at her. “Brenda. I have recorded that threat as well.” She scoffed. “Write it down! Record it! Let’s see what the hell you can actually do with it.” 4. When I got home that night, I exported the videos and photos I took into my laptop, organizing them in folders by date and time. In my past life, I mistakenly believed that the truth would eventually speak for itself. I learned the hard way that innocence doesn’t have a voice unless you give it one. I was just about to back up the parent group chat recordings when I heard a very soft voice behind me. “Mom.” Chloe was standing in the doorway, her face paper-white, clutching her phone. “They posted it on the school forum.” I took her phone. The top-trending post had a glaring, bright-red clickbait title. [Freshman Girl Gets Rejected by Class President, Psycho Mom Threatens Teachers on Campus?] The post contained three pictures. Chloe kneeling in front of Liam. The stolen photo of her private diary. And a photo of me holding my phone, confronting Mrs. Davis in the hallway. The captions underneath the photos were vile. [I heard her dad walked out on them years ago. Her mom is the only one raising her.] [Daddy issues much? No wonder she’s so desperate.] [She stalks the class president, gets rejected, and then cries to her mommy to come terrorize the school.] The comment section was exploding. [Single-parent households always produce the weirdest kids.] [Poor Liam.] [The school needs to expel her.] Chloe stood next to me, her lips trembling. “Mom… is everyone going to believe them?” I didn’t answer immediately. I opened my screen-recording app and slowly scrolled through the entire post—the title, the photos, and every single comment. Then I handed the phone back to her. “Whether they believe it or not isn’t decided by us begging on our knees.” “It’s decided by the evidence.” Right on cue, the parent group chat started blowing up again. Brenda tagged me directly. [Sarah, I assume you’ve seen the school forum?] [This entire mess is your fault because you insisted on harassing my son for an apology.] [My son’s mental health is in shambles right now. If his GPA drops, are you going to take responsibility?] Other parents immediately jumped in. [Chloe’s mom, please don’t escalate this further.] [A girl’s reputation is important. You really need to reign her in.] Brenda continued: [Tomorrow is the Parent-Teacher Conference. I expect a public apology from you in front of the entire classroom!] [If you don’t, I am taking this straight to the Principal and the School Board.] I typed back calmly: [Brenda, did you create the post on the school forum?] The chat went quiet. Brenda quickly replied: [Stop trying to change the subject.] I asked again: [The photo of the diary in the forum post is the exact same file you sent in this group chat earlier today.] [Did you participate in creating, providing materials for, or distributing that defamatory post?] Brenda paused for a few seconds before sending a voice memo. “Don’t try to throw your dirty water on me! All I asked is that you control your daughter!” The second that message popped up, my phone rang. It was Mrs. Davis. Her voice sounded exhausted and stern. “Chloe’s mom, have you seen the school forum?” “It’s getting out of hand. The district administration has been notified.” I sat at my desk, looking at the meticulously organized evidence folders on my laptop. “I’ve seen it.” Mrs. Davis sighed. “Tomorrow is the Parent-Teacher Conference.” “The administration strongly suggests that you soften your stance tomorrow in front of the other parents.” “What exactly does ‘soften my stance’ mean?” I asked. She stayed silent for a few seconds. “It would be best if you apologized to Liam’s parents on Chloe’s behalf.” “We just need to de-escalate the situation first.” I let out a harsh laugh. “Mrs. Davis, are you asking me to apologize for something my daughter never did, or are you asking me to apologize for the fact that she is actively being bullied?” Dead silence on the other end. After a long pause, she finally said, “Right now, the priority is minimizing the negative impact on the school environment.” I looked out into the living room. Chloe was sitting on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest, looking at me with red, tear-filled eyes. She had heard everything. I shook my head at her, giving her a reassuring look. Then I spoke into the phone. “Tomorrow at the conference, I will make a public statement.” Mrs. Davis audibly exhaled in relief. “I’m glad you’re being reasonable.” After hanging up, Chloe asked me quietly, “Mom, are you really going to apologize to them?” I walked over and gently stroked her hair. “No.” “Mom is going to make sure everyone understands exactly who owes who an apology.” 5. The next afternoon, the classroom was packed before the conference even officially started. When I walked in, Brenda was standing at the front of the room, talking loudly to a group of parents. “I didn’t sleep a wink last night.” “Neither did my son. He barely touched his dinner.” “He has been class president his whole life. He’s a straight-A student, loved by his teachers and peers. And now he’s being harassed by this girl, and her mother is trying to bully him into apologizing.” Her eyes actually welled up with tears. “As a mother, how could my heart not break for him?” A parent next to her immediately chimed in: “Liam really is an outstanding kid.” “I saw the forum post. It’s gotten really ugly.” “Parents of girls really need to pay closer attention. Middle school is when they start acting out.” Hearing their support, Brenda seemed to gain even more confidence. She turned, saw me, and raised her voice. “Sarah! Perfect timing.” “Today, in front of Mrs. Davis and all the parents, you need to explain yourself.” “Why is your daughter obsessively stalking my son?!” The classroom fell dead silent. Dozens of eyes locked onto me. I didn’t rush to speak. I calmly set my purse down on an empty desk and opened the voice recording app on my phone. Seeing my phone, Brenda sneered. “Recording again?” “Is hitting ‘record’ and taking screenshots the only thing you know how to do?” I looked at her. “I also know how to let you finish speaking.” The calmness in my voice seemed to infuriate her further. “Fine! Then I’ll say everything I need to say!” “Your daughter is boy-crazy and won’t leave my son alone. When he rejected her, she played the victim and sent her mommy to terrorize the school.” “Yesterday, you tried to force my son to apologize.” “He is a teenage boy. He has his pride. You and your daughter stressed him out so much he didn’t sleep at all last night.” She paused, looking around at the other parents. “We are all parents here.” “If your child was being harassed, and then the stalker’s parent showed up at school to threaten them, would you just take it?” Low murmurs of agreement rippled through the classroom. Seeing no one opposing her, Brenda pressed on. “And let’s be honest, we all know what her home life is like.” “Her husband has been completely absent for years. It’s just her, raising that girl alone.” “I’m not judging single moms, but when a kid has no supervision… of course she’s going to end up desperate, boy-crazy, and acting out!” The moment she said that, the room went uncomfortably quiet. But no one stepped up to defend me. Some parents looked down at their phones. Some pretended to dig through their bags. Others gave me looks of subtle pity or judgment. In my past life, those exact looks had broken me. They had forced me into a desperate, pathetic explanation. I had pleaded that Chloe wasn’t that kind of girl. I had explained that her father’s job was highly classified. I had sworn that I was a present, loving mother. But the more I explained, the guiltier I looked. This time, I just turned to Mrs. Davis, who was standing awkwardly by the podium. “Mrs. Davis, is this the kind of discussion planned for today’s Parent-Teacher Conference?” Mrs. Davis cleared her throat nervously. “Chloe’s mom, since everyone is here today, I was hoping you could show some willingness to resolve this.” Brenda immediately jumped in. “I want a public apology from Sarah.” “I want Chloe to stay far away from my son.” “If she can’t do that, she needs to be transferred to a different homeroom.” She scoffed. “If you still can’t control her, she needs to be expelled.” The murmurs in the classroom grew louder. “Expulsion seems a bit extreme, doesn’t it?” “But the forum post is out of control. The school has to do something.” “The main thing is we can’t let her distract the other students.” I stood perfectly still, listening to every single word. Then I asked: “Are you finished?” Brenda blinked, caught off guard. I looked at Mrs. Davis. “Are you finished as well, Mrs. Davis?” The teacher’s expression froze. I pulled a USB drive out of my purse and walked to the front podium. Mrs. Davis instinctively reached out to stop me. “Chloe’s mom, what are you doing—” I stared her down. “Mrs. Davis, last night you told me to make a public statement at this conference.” “Right now, I am making my statement.” I plugged the USB drive into the podium computer. The projector hummed to life. On the massive smartboard, a single line of text appeared. [EVIDENCE BRIEF: THE DEFAMATION AND BULLYING OF CHLOE EVANS] The classroom instantly went dead silent. Brenda’s face dropped. “Sarah, what the hell is this?” I picked up the microphone. “Since Brenda demanded a public apology, and Mrs. Davis demanded that I show some ‘willingness to resolve this’…” “Let’s break this down, piece by piece.”

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Chapter 1 The day after I gave birth to my twins, they were stolen from me. I was consumed by an unbearable grief, pushing my exhausted, broken body to its absolute limits, searching for them for two excruciating years. I never found them. It wasn’t until after I died that I saw the truth. A stranger—a woman I had never met—carrying my babies, marched right up to the gates of the military base where my husband was stationed. She brazenly claimed she was me, telling everyone she was the poor, abandoned wife of the base commander. She stole my name. She enjoyed forty years of the wealth, privilege, and comfort that were rightfully mine. And my children? They spent their entire lives lovingly calling her “Mom.” Then, I opened my eyes. I was back in the hospital, the exact day I was wheeled into the recovery room after giving birth. The patient in the bed next to me smiled warmly and handed over a shiny red apple. “Hey there, honey. You went through a lot today. Eat an apple, get some of your strength back.” I stared at her face, my entire body violently trembling. It was her. The thief who stole my babies in my past life! … “Honey? You finally awake?” A voice drifted over from the side of my bed. I turned my head. The woman from the neighboring bed was sitting cheerfully on the edge of my mattress. She held out a bright red apple. “You went through a lot today. Eat an apple, get some of your strength back.” In that split second, I felt the blood in my veins freeze. This face. The face I had been forced to watch as a ghost for forty agonizing years. She was the one who had stood at the gates of the military base, clutching my son and daughter, claiming her name was Sarah Miller. She cried, saying the babies couldn’t grow up without their father. My husband believed her. My children believed her. Everyone believed her. She wore the clothes meant for me, lived in the house meant for me, and my babies crowded around her, calling her “Mom” for forty years. “Honey?” She pushed the apple closer. My hands, hidden beneath the thin hospital blanket, were shaking so violently I could barely control them. But I forced myself to endure it. “Thank you. But I just had surgery. I can’t stomach anything cold right now.” I didn’t take the apple. Her smile faltered for a fraction of a second. Then, it returned. She stood up and reached for the insulated thermos in the corner. “Well, let me get you some hot water then. I just filled this up, it’s nice and hot.” She poured a massive mug full to the brim and handed it to me with both hands. I didn’t move a muscle. “Ma’am, please don’t trouble yourself.” “Tsk, what trouble?” She forcefully shoved the mug onto my bedside table, then leaned over to tuck in the corner of my blanket. “We’re sharing a room, that’s fate! You just gave birth, and you don’t even have a single person here to help you out. How could I just sit by and do nothing?” While she spoke, her eyes kept darting around, studying my face. “I can manage on my own.” She acted like she didn’t hear me. She dragged a chair over and planted herself right next to my bed. “Honey, having twins! What an incredible blessing!” She leaned in closer, her eyes shifting toward the hospital bassinets. “Why hasn’t anyone from your family come by? Where’s your husband? What about your mother-in-law?” The invisible string in my chest snapped tight. Here it comes. This was exactly how she had pumped me for information in my past life. Back then, I had just been stitched up. The anesthesia hadn’t fully worn off, my brain was complete mush, and I answered every question she asked. I foolishly spilled everything. I even thought she was a genuinely kind person for helping me, feeling a sense of warmth toward her. Thinking back on it now, the old me was an absolute idiot. “They’re busy. They’ll be here in a few days.” “Busy?” She clicked her tongue in disapproval. “What kind of business is more important than a wife giving birth? Honey, you haven’t been duped by some guy, have you?” I didn’t respond. She gave me another assessing look. “Well, what are you going to do tonight? You just had a C-section, your incision is fresh. If the babies cry in the middle of the night, you won’t even be able to pick them up.” She suddenly stood up and took a step toward the bassinets. “Tell you what, I’ll keep an eye on the babies for you tonight, and you can get some solid sleep—” She bent over. Her hands reached toward my children. My heart hammered in my chest. I practically screamed. “Don’t touch my babies!” I grabbed Linda’s wrist, my voice so loud it echoed through the entire ward. The older woman in the bed next to Linda jumped up immediately. “What the hell are you doing?! Linda is just trying to be nice, and you put your hands on her?!” A new mother drinking water nearby turned around, frowning and clicking her tongue in disgust. The mother-in-law sitting with the patient across the room pointed a finger right at me. “Young wives these days are so ungrateful! Does she owe you something?” Linda cradled her wrist, her lips trembling. She let out a long, dramatic sigh. “Honey, even if you don’t appreciate the help, you can’t just accuse people like that. I saw you lying here, all alone after having twins, without a single person to even pour you a glass of water. I just felt bad for you.” The older woman chimed in immediately. “Exactly! Linda has been up since this morning, pouring your water, tucking you in, and you don’t even say thank you before pushing her? Were you raised in a barn?” Linda waved her hands dismissively. “Forget it, forget it. Let it go. She just gave birth, she’s anxious. What mother isn’t protective of her cubs?” It sounded like she was defending me, but every single word was carefully designed to paint me as the crazy one. The new mother nearby muttered, “Being anxious means you get to hit people? We’re all mothers here.” The mother-in-law across the room scoffed. “She’s probably just terrified the kids won’t bond with her. I’ve seen her type before.” I ignored them all. Linda retreated to her bed, rubbing her wrist, muttering about how “no good deed goes unpunished.” The older woman cursed at me through the privacy curtain a few more times, but when I didn’t engage, she lost interest, rolled over, and went to sleep. I didn’t sleep. I dragged both bassinets right up against my bed, practically touching my pillow. Close enough that I could reach them instantly. Two wrinkled little faces peeked out from the swaddles, breathing softly, up and down, like tiny kittens. I didn’t close my eyes for a single second that night. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. I was too terrified. Every time my eyelids began to droop, the sound of footsteps in the hallway would jolt me awake. My hands would fly into the bassinets, only relaxing when I felt two warm little bodies. Around midnight, Linda got up to use the restroom. As she passed my bed, she paused. I didn’t make a sound. I just lay there, my eyes wide open, staring dead at her in the dark. She seemed startled by my glare, muttered “psycho” under her breath, and hurried away. The next day, she kept her distance. But on the third night, she walked over holding a bowl of millet porridge. “Honey, I’m not holding a grudge over yesterday. You had a C-section, you need to drink some hot broth so your milk comes in—” “No thank you.” “Look at you, your lips are completely cracked—” “I said, no thank you.” She stood there for a long moment, then set the bowl down with a tight smile. “Fine. It’s here if you want it.” She turned and walked away. I stared at the bowl of porridge. Once the ward was asleep, I quietly picked it up and dumped the entire thing into the trash can. By the end of the third day, I was breaking down. I had barely slept for two nights. My incision throbbed constantly, my milk supply was low, and the twins took turns crying. When I held one to feed, the other would wail in the bassinet, loud enough for the entire floor to hear. A nurse came in to check my vitals. My systolic blood pressure was 160. “You can’t keep doing this! Where is your family? You need to call them and tell them to get down here!” Linda, ever present, chimed in with a sympathetic smile. “She’s right, honey. Look at how exhausted you are. You really need to get someone here to help.” I was so tired, my body felt like it was made of lead. The fierce desire to protect my babies warred constantly with the suffocating terror of losing them. My stubbornness finally broke. I gritted my teeth, wondering if I should call my absent, ghost of a husband. The nurse was still pressing for an answer. I opened my mouth, offering a weak brush-off. “There’s no one.” “No one? What about your mother-in-law? Your husband?” I stayed silent. The nurse gave me a long look, sighed, and didn’t push further. She packed up the blood pressure cuff, poured me a fresh cup of water, and her voice softened. “Your incision isn’t healing well. If you keep pushing yourself like this, you’re going to end up with a serious infection. You have to get someone here.” She paused, then added, “If you really don’t want to call family, at least hire a private aide.” I leaned back against the pillows, my vision swimming with black spots. Could an aide watch Linda for me? Could an aide stop those hands from reaching into the bassinets in the three seconds my eyes were closed? I shut my eyes, and my mind was flooded with memories from my past life. Arthur and I did not have a loving marriage. Years ago, his parents had been forced to move to the countryside due to political profiling and ended up in my village. I grew up without a father to protect me or a mother to love me. They took pity on me, and in return, I treated them like my own family. The year the massive mudslide hit the village, I risked my life to drag them both out of the freezing mud. His mother held me and cried, swearing that from that day forward, I was her daughter. Later, when they were cleared to return to the city, they couldn’t bear to leave me behind. They practically forced Arthur to marry me. I was young and naive, and didn’t really object. But Arthur was always incredibly distant. The number of times we actually saw each other could be counted on one hand. My in-laws treated me beautifully, loving me like their own flesh and blood. But they both passed away within the last two years. The house suddenly felt completely empty. Arthur was permanently stationed at the military base, rarely coming home even once a year. The last time he returned, I had drank a little too much wine. I woke up aching, and when I looked over, his side of the bed was empty. He had already gone back to the base. So, I never told him I was pregnant. I stubbornly decided I was going to have these babies all by myself. I never expected that decision to lead me into a trap that would destroy my entire life. Arthur didn’t know I had given birth. But after I died, I watched as he became an incredible father to those two kids. When our daughter ran a high fever, he never left her side, taking three days off work just to care for her. When she refused to take her bitter medicine, he crushed the pills into sugar water and fed it to her drop by drop with a tiny spoon. When she became delirious in the middle of the night, he held her and paced the room until the sun came up. He never once complained. Our son was a rambunctious boy. During the harsh winters, Arthur would go out in the freezing cold to build snowmen with him, tossing him high into the air until he shrieked with laughter. He never missed a single parent-teacher conference, and he always read them bedtime stories. I blinked hard, fighting back the tears. “Nurse.” She was turning to leave, but stopped. “Nurse.” I clenched my jaw. “I need to go make a phone call. Could you… could you please watch my babies for a minute? Just for a minute. Please, do not let anyone touch them.” She looked surprised, but nodded. “Sure. Make it quick.” I had to make the call. I gripped the edge of the bed and forced myself to stand. Every step felt like I was walking on shattered glass. By the time I managed the few dozen steps to the nurses’ station, my hospital gown was soaked in cold sweat. The nurse at the desk helped me dial the military base switchboard. The line clicked and hummed for what felt like an eternity before someone finally answered. “Hello, I am a family member of Commander Arthur Sterling, 14th Division. I’m at the Clear Creek County Hospital. It’s an emergency. Please patch me through to him.” After another agonizing wait, a deep, resonant voice came through the receiver. “This is Sterling.” I opened my mouth, completely unsure of where to even begin. “Arthur… it’s me, Sarah. I’m at Clear Creek County Hospital, I…” As I was trying to find the words, a movement at the end of the hallway caught the corner of my eye. The nurse—the one I had explicitly begged not to leave my babies’ side—was supporting a frail, white-haired old man, walking him toward the restrooms. The door to my ward was wide open. A deafening roar erupted in my ears. The heavy phone receiver slipped from my fingers, slamming against the edge of the desk and spinning by its cord. Arthur’s voice echoed distantly from the earpiece. “Sarah? What’s going on? Hello? Sarah!” I was already running. It felt like someone was tearing my C-section incision open from the inside out, but I didn’t dare stop. “Ma’am! Ma’am! No running in the halls! You’re going to hurt yourself!” Nurses yelled warnings at me, but I didn’t care. I don’t remember how I crossed that hallway. The ward was empty. The window was wide open, the wind whipping the privacy curtains around violently. The bassinets were empty. Only two tiny, depressed indentations remained on the soft mattresses. My babies had been stolen. My vision went completely black. This was exactly how it happened in my past life. In my past life, I drank the water Linda gave me, and when I woke up, the bassinets were just as empty as they were right now. I leaned against the wall and stumbled out of the room, the blinding pain from my incision making the world spin. They weren’t in the hallway. They weren’t in the hot water room. They weren’t in the restrooms. They weren’t in the stairwells. I ripped open every door, tore back every curtain, shoved past every person in my way. People yelled that I was crazy. Some shoved me back. I didn’t hear a thing. When I finally staggered back to the door of my ward, the nurse who had been helping the old man came running down the hall, looking panicked. “Ma’am! Why are you out of bed?! If your stitches tear—” I grabbed her by the collar of her scrubs. “I told you to watch my babies. Where did you go?!” All the color drained from the nurse’s face. “There was an elderly patient… he said he was dizzy and couldn’t stand. I just helped him to the restroom. It was only two minutes—” “Two minutes?!” I felt my lips trembling, all the blood in my body rushing to my head. “My babies are gone! Both of them are gone!” Doors began opening down the hallway. A doctor jogged over, followed closely by the head of the maternity ward. Soon, a crowd formed around us. A patient grabbed my arm, saying, “Calm down, your stitches are going to rip,” but I violently shoved him away and pointed directly at the Head of Maternity. “My babies were stolen. Just minutes ago. Lock down the building. If you lock the doors right now, we can still catch them.” The Head of Maternity froze for a second, then roared at the nurses beside him. “Call Security! Lock the main entrance, the side doors, the back exits! Do not let a single person leave the building—” “It was her,” I interrupted, my voice so cold I barely recognized it as my own. “The woman in the bed next to mine. Linda Hayes. The second I woke up from surgery, she kept hovering, asking questions about my babies. Now she’s gone, and my babies are gone.” A younger doctor standing nearby hesitated. “Ma’am, please don’t jump to conclusions. Maybe the nursery nurses just took them for a routine checkup—” I let out a harsh, furious laugh and opened my mouth to scream at him, when a sudden, blinding pain ripped through my abdomen. I doubled over, unable to stand straight. Two nurses grabbed my arms and half-carried me toward the nurses’ station. Halfway there, a lightning bolt of realization struck my brain. I violently shook off the nurses and lunged at the young receptionist logging charts behind the desk. “The old man! The skinny old man with white hair who just pretended to faint in the hallway!” The young nurse looked totally lost. “What old man?” “She has an accomplice! An old man!” I screamed. “He was the one who lured the nurse away—” The nurse who had helped the old man suddenly slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. She shoved through the crowd, sprinting toward the patient rooms. A few seconds later, she stumbled back out, her voice cracking in panic. “Bed 4 is empty! But Mr. Henderson with the broken leg never left the room! That old man wasn’t a patient!” It hit everyone at once—the old man had faked an illness to lure the nurse away, giving Linda the exact window she needed to steal the babies. They worked in perfect sync. From the moment Linda left the room to the moment the nurse walked away, the entire operation took less than three minutes. The Head of Maternity deployed everyone. Staff tore through every floor, every corner, the hospital descending into total chaos like boiling water spilling across the floor. Finally, security cornered someone near a second-floor storage closet. Linda. When the security guards dragged her out by her wrists, she was still wearing a face of righteous indignation, looking at everyone like they were the crazy ones. I lunged forward and slapped her across the face with everything I had. SMACK. The force of the blow snapped her head to the side. She stumbled backward, crashing into the wall, clutching her cheek and staring at me in utter disbelief. “You hit me?!” “Where are my babies?!” I grabbed her by the collar of her hospital gown. “Where the hell did you hide my babies?!” Linda clutched her cheek, her eyes welling with tears, playing the ultimate victim. “Your babies are missing, you’re frantic, I get it. I’ll let the slap slide. But what gives you the right to accuse me?! I was just walking with the rounding nurse! Honey, are you going to point the finger at every single person you see?!” Right on cue, the whispers in the crowd began. “She has a point. Just because her kids are missing doesn’t mean she gets to assault people.” I was shaking with so much rage I could barely breathe. Half an hour passed. The babies were not found. Patient rooms, exam rooms, lounges, restrooms. Every conceivable hiding spot was searched, but they had vanished into thin air. The main doors were locked. No one could leave. Patients waiting to be discharged began to riot. The Head of Maternity stood at the doors, begging everyone to wait just a little longer, but no one was listening. A doctor ran up to me, asking if I could just let them open the doors. I stood frozen, my entire body shaking uncontrollably. It was exactly like my past life. I was going to lose my babies all over again. I glared at Linda. She met my eyes and actually smiled. The pain was so blinding I could no longer stand. I leaned heavily against the wall, cold sweat pouring down my face like rain. The memories of my past life violently overlapping with the present made my face drain of all color. I was on the verge of passing out. Just as my knees gave way and I began to slide down the wall, a strong arm caught me. My vision was blurred with white spots. I was pulled against a solid chest. Arthur’s face was dark with terror. He gently cupped my face, his voice desperate. “Sarah? Sarah?! Can you hear me?” I grabbed his wrist with a vice-like grip, the tears finally breaking free and spilling down my cheeks. “Arthur… please, save our babies. Someone stole them, and I can’t find them…” Arthur’s expression instantly changed to something terrifying. He gestured sharply to his lieutenant. Within seconds, the entire hospital was surrounded by heavily armed soldiers from Arthur’s personal guard. The main entrance, the side doors, the rear exits—all locked down. No one in, no one out. Two armed soldiers flanked every exit, standing as rigid and immovable as iron pillars. The civilians waiting to leave in the lobby were stunned into silence, then immediately erupted into outrage. “What the hell is this?! You can’t keep us hostage!” The crowd surged angrily toward the main doors. The lieutenant vaulted over the reception desk in three steps, planting his boots firmly on the countertop. He projected his voice so loudly the entire lobby reverberated. “Listen up! The missing infants are the children of Commander Arthur Sterling of the 14th Division! A pair of newborn twins. They are currently in grave danger! We demand your full cooperation. No one leaves this building!”

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Chapter 1 I was the second-to-last person to know my wife was sleeping with my best friend. Our mutual friends were taking bets on whether I’d divorce her. “No way Ethan divorces her,” one scoffed. “He can’t afford to lose Chloe; she makes too much money!” “Honestly, Ethan is just too pathetic,” another chimed in. “Otherwise, why would Chloe even look elsewhere?” “Chloe, say something. Is your husband throwing a fit about a divorce?” My supposed best friend leaned in and kissed the corner of Chloe’s mouth. “I bet Ethan won’t divorce her. His mom still needs Chloe’s money for her medical bills. He wouldn’t dare.” Chloe raised an eyebrow and immediately straddled Ethan’s lap, kissing him passionately. I was standing right outside the door, my hands clenched into tight fists. It suddenly dawned on me: they had deliberately invited me here. They wanted to see my reaction. But if it was just Chloe’s money I was after, I had a thousand ways to get it. Since she had always thought of me that way, I decided to give her exactly what she wanted. I pulled out my phone and dialed my buddy’s wife. “Mark is drunk at the Onyx Lounge. You should come pick him up.” Mark’s wife, Sarah, wasn’t exactly stable. She had been institutionalized before for an assault charge stemming from a sudden, violent outburst. “Who is he drinking with?” Sarah’s voice through the phone was ice-cold. I replied without missing a beat: “Just some friends. He looks pretty hammered. You’d better get here quick.” Sarah agreed and said she was on her way. I hung up and turned to leave. Mark had once proudly boasted to me: “Don’t let her size fool you. Sarah is tiny, but she’s got crazy explosive power. She once thought someone was bullying me and went straight for them. “Since then, she carries a knife everywhere, just in case someone tries to mess with me again.” I had barely reached the entrance of the bar when my phone rang. It was Chloe. Her tone was casual, lazy. “You’re here, right?” I opened my mouth, but no words came out. She continued, “The bartender said you were watching from outside. Did you hear everything?” Her voice was soft, yet to me, it was unimaginably cruel. I let out a soft “Mm.” Chloe laughed. “You really are a pathetic coward.” True. Everyone knew I was a coward. Back in high school, I was just the guy following Chloe around. She was the queen bee, and I was her loyal shadow. “No way, he doesn’t even have the guts to walk in? “Playing deaf and blind is so boring.” The people around them were cheering, their laughter loud and unrestrained. Then, Mark grabbed the phone, his voice dripping with sarcasm: “If we knew you were this terrified of losing her, we wouldn’t have tried so hard to hide it from you. “But honestly, sneaking around behind your back was a thrill. “I took your wife for a spin for you, and man, she is incredible! Thanks for sharing.” “Keep going, Mark, and he might start crying.” “Chloe, aren’t you going to comfort him?” Another voice chimed in right after Mark finished. This time, Chloe spoke up, her tone uncharacteristically serious: “Don’t be so harsh. He’s a guy, he needs some pride. “But Ethan isn’t like you, Mark. He’s much easier to handle. Leave him alone.” With that, she took the phone back, her voice clear. “Where are you? The bathroom? I’ll come find you. Does your mom need another payment for her treatments?” I looked down the hallway and saw her pause, phone in hand. She hung up as soon as she saw me. Her expression was one of deep satisfaction, bordering on a twisted kind of enjoyment. She walked up to me and ran a hand over my stomach. “He’s not like you. You’re my official husband, why are you throwing a tantrum? “Alright, alright, I won’t divorce you.” Her tone was condescending, like she was offering charity to a beloved pet. But then, Mark stumbled out of the room, holding his head. He made a beeline for Chloe, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder. He looked up at me with a provocative smirk. “Chloe, my head is killing me. They were pouring drinks down my throat. “Take me home. Since Ethan already knows, there’s no point in hiding it. “He won’t mind, right?” As he said those last two words, he looked right at me, a slight smirk playing on his lips, not a trace of drunkenness in his eyes. Just then, Sarah texted me asking for the exact location of the bar. I sent her the pin drop. After sending the message, I stared at Chloe. “What if I do mind?” Chloe looked torn, trying to push him away, but Mark didn’t budge. “We’ve done it so many times already. You think you can just shake me off now?” He laughed, then looked at me again. “Didn’t you say it yourself? Ethan only knows a few moves, he can’t satisfy you at all.” He was talking to Chloe, but his eyes were locked on mine. Chloe looked at me nervously. “It was just a joke. I was just playing around with him.” My nails dug into my palms. I let out a light “Oh.” “Then I’ll help you take him home.” “What did you just say?” Mark asked in disbelief. I looked up, meeting their gaze with unwavering determination. “Didn’t you say you have a headache? My wife and I will take you home.” Saying that, I stubbornly grabbed his arm, forcing him to lean on me. Chloe stared at me in surprise, then seemed amused by my actions. She leaned in and rubbed against my arm. “Oh, so you can get jealous? A little attitude is cute.” Her words and actions were intimate, as if nothing had happened. It disgusted me. But I didn’t show it. In high school, a bully cornered me in the bathroom and cut up my clothes. I looked just like this. It was Chloe who got her older brother to teach the bully a lesson. Afterward, she frowned at me for a long time: “You need to have some spine.” The bully never returned to school, and Chloe thought it was her doing. She never knew it was because his father, a local politician, was indicted and he was too scared of retaliation to show his face. And the evidence that brought his father down? I submitted it. I loved the way Chloe cared about me, pouting angrily, like a mother hen protecting her chick. Because of that, I never told her the truth. If she enjoyed it, so what if I played the submissive role? She was my wife. But I never expected my submission to be trampled on so mercilessly. “But I booked a hotel room. Who said I wanted to go home?” Mark’s voice suddenly cut in. He blinked, his eyes full of triumph. He looked at Chloe. “Don’t you want to go? But bringing Ethan along might be awkward.” Chloe looked back and forth between us. Before she could speak, I interjected: “Chloe, come home with me.” I stared at her, softening my tone. Right in front of me, Mark slid his hand down Chloe’s back, staring at her intently. “I even brought that outfit you wanted me to wear to the hotel. Miss out tonight, and I won’t wear it again.” Chloe’s pupils dilated, her interest clearly piqued. “Ethan, you head home first.” She finally said it to me. I stared at her in disbelief. “Are you sure?” She nodded, then frowned. “Be good. Unless you want a divorce.” I took a deep breath, the pain radiating through my chest. Mark let out a scoff. “Or maybe you want to stay and watch? Nah, that would be too brutal for you.” I stayed silent. He suddenly leaned in and whispered in my ear: “Do you know when our first time was? “It was when you were hospitalized after your car crash. We did it in your bed. “Ethan, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll divorce her.” My whole body trembled. I got into that accident driving in a massive storm to buy her favorite pastries, resulting in a rear-end collision. Turns out, she sent me out on an errand just so she could sleep with another man. And this man, who constantly claimed to be my best friend. I stared at Mark: “Why would you do this?” “Chloe comes from a good family and makes bank. She’s gorgeous. Women like her are rare. “Someone was going to steal her from you eventually. Better me than some stranger. “I’ve been wanting to ditch my wife anyway.” I checked the time. Sarah should be here in about ten minutes. “Will she let you go? Didn’t you say she’s a bit unstable, that she almost killed someone before? Aren’t you afraid?” At the mention of Sarah, Mark’s tone cooled. “Her? She’ll do whatever I want with a snap of my fingers. “Worse comes to worst, I’ll trick her into a divorce. She’s as gullible as you.” He acted as if Sarah was completely inconsequential. But I remembered accidentally stumbling upon Sarah’s social media. It was filled with photos of her slaughtering fish, chickens, even pigs. I couldn’t help but remind him: “What if she catches you cheating?” A flash of fear crossed Mark’s eyes, but it quickly faded. “She’ll never find out. She’s probably out delivering food right now. “I’ve got her trained like a dog. You wouldn’t understand.” I sneered internally and glanced at my phone discreetly. It was Sarah. [I’m almost there.] Suddenly, I didn’t want to let them off so easily. I wanted to see a mad dog bite. So, I looked at Chloe with pathetic puppy eyes. “I’ll wait for you in the hotel lobby. When you’re done, we can go home together, okay?” I played the pathetic husband perfectly. Chloe looked surprised. “Why are you so… is it really just me for you?” Mark quickly added, “Ethan, how can you be so degraded?! Are you addicted to being cuckolded? “Even now, you’re still clinging on. What are you even getting out of this?” I remained unfazed, looking at him like he was the one who didn’t understand. “If it wasn’t for Chloe in college, I wouldn’t have known what to do. “She paid for all my expenses for four years, and she’s been supporting me ever since. “You don’t understand. I can’t live without her.” Chloe’s background was indeed solid, and she was good at business. By the time she was twenty, she had tens of thousands in assets. By the time she was in college, she was making millions. But my net worth was actually no less than hers. However, she loved the idea of taking care of me, and I enjoyed playing along. So, I kept it a secret. Saying this now, I hoped to stir a sliver of affection in her. If she left with me today, I could still walk away with a peaceful divorce. Mark was speechless, his face dark with anger. Chloe shot him an annoyed look. “Don’t talk about him like that.” She added, “I told you, keep Ethan out of our arrangement. “I’m not going to divorce him. Or are you planning something else?” Mark’s expression shifted, and he quickly adopted a fawning tone: “I didn’t mean it like that. I was just worried he’d ruin the mood.” “I won’t!” I shook my head adamantly. Chloe looked exasperated. “This is the last time. After this, we’re living a normal life together, okay?” I frowned but replied, “Okay. I trust you.” Chloe paused. “Silly boy. What would you do without me?” Without her, I’d inherit everything she owned, just as she planned. We got into Chloe’s car. Sarah’s message came through again. [I’m here. Which room are you guys in?] I looked up. A flash of yellow rushed into the lounge, only to be stopped by security. Sarah looked frantic and furious, like a woman possessed. I quickly replied: [Sorry about this. Mark was too drunk, so I took him to a hotel to sober up. You can just meet us there.] After sending it, I turned to Chloe: “Do you guys really have to do this? Chloe, I’m giving you one last chance. Let’s keep some dignity.” Mark scoffed. “If you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen. I thought you were cool with this.” Chloe’s face darkened. “I said this is the last time. Besides, can you even survive without me?” I let out a soft “Mm.” “Fine. I won’t make a scene.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a text from Sarah: [Thanks. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.] Chloe drove fast. We arrived at the hotel in fifteen minutes. “We’re here. Want to come up and check it out? You can even try on the outfit. “But then again, I’m afraid you…” Mark taunted me again, his eyes sweeping over me dismissively. I ignored him and looked at Chloe. “I’ll wait in the lobby. “But I know the manager here. Can I come up to the front desk with you to check in?” Chloe looked moved for a moment. “You really are a pushover!” I offered a bitter smile. “I just love you too much.” Chloe sighed. “Let’s go.” Mark tried to interject, but Chloe shot him a glare. “He’s my husband. I have to respect him in public.” Mark’s face flushed with anger, but he could only watch as Chloe and I checked in. I walked them to the elevators. The moment they stepped in, Mark eagerly wrapped his arms around her. I turned away, pasting a look of heartbreak on my face. Once the elevator stopped at the 7th floor, I went back to the front desk. “Could I get another keycard? “My wife just went up, and I need a card to use the elevator.” The receptionist handed me a spare. Just then, Sarah burst through the doors, out of breath. Our eyes met. I chuckled. “You made it? Good timing, I just got a spare key.” I sighed heavily. “Mark just went up with my wife. Let’s go.” Sarah’s face visibly drained of color.

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Chapter 1 Ever since I caught Carter cheating, his first order of business every time he walked through the door was to be shoved against the entryway wall. I’d undo his belt and aggressively spray his crotch with high-concentration rubbing alcohol. Knowing he was in the wrong, Carter would endure it. His eyes red, he’d gently cooperate, softly coaxing me to calm down and stop making a scene. But today, he was two hours late. The second I smelled the foreign perfume on him, I lost it, tearing frantically at his belt. “You were half an hour late last time and you slept with some woman!” “Today you’re two hours late! Tell me! Did you sleep with four of them?!” After apologizing to me for the twenty-ninth time and being shoved away yet again, he finally snapped. Holding up the back of his hand—bruised and purple from an IV drip—he screamed at me. “Enough! I’ve been running a high fever, I practically died, and you didn’t even ask if I was okay! Are you ever going to stop acting like a psycho?” “So I got drunk and slept with someone once! Do you think you’re so pure?!” “No wonder you were dragged into an alley and violated when you were sixteen! Chloe, you’re a paranoid, hysterical lunatic, and you deserve exactly what happened to you!” The plastic spray bottle shattered at my feet. The sharp, burning smell of alcohol choked the air, leaving me completely speechless. Looking at the pure disgust in his eyes, I suddenly felt profoundly exhausted. Fine. This relationship was rotting from the inside out anyway. I was done. … The entryway fell dead silent. The front door wasn’t fully closed. Two of Carter’s buddies, who had helped him home, were frozen on the porch, looking incredibly awkward as they tried to smooth things over. “Chloe, look, Carter is burning up. He’s delirious. He didn’t mean to snap at you like that.” “Besides, you douse the guy in rubbing alcohol every single day… who could handle that? Cut him some slack.” “Yeah, and about that time he got drunk… he broke it off with her a long time ago.” Just the mention of it made my stomach violently churn. When I was sixteen, my stepbrother and his delinquent friends dragged me into a pitch-black alley behind a liquor store. Right as my clothes were being torn off, eighteen-year-old Carter showed up. With red, furious eyes, he grabbed a brick and fought them off. He took off his varsity jacket and wrapped it tightly around my violently shaking body. He held me and cried harder than I did. He said, Chloe, don’t be scared. Anyone who touches you, I’ll kill them. Because of that nightmare, I was terrified of intimacy after we got married. Being touched made my whole body shake. Back then, Carter would just hold me, over and over, gently kissing my forehead. “Don’t be scared, Chloe. It’s okay. I’ll wait as long as it takes.” I always thought he was the salvation that pulled me out of hell. Until six months ago. His chronic gastritis flared up, so I drove to his fire and rescue base late at night to drop off his medication. Instead, I walked in to find him pinning the station’s new trauma counselor against the sofa, kissing her frantically. He was burying his face in her neck, panting heavily. The aggressive, unrestrained passion in his movements was something he had never shown me. The woman’s black lace bra was draped casually over his uniform—the uniform that symbolized honor and rescue. When I caught them red-handed, he fell to his knees, his eyes bloodshot, swearing that he was just drunk and thought she was me. Twelve years. I thought he was the light that pulled me out of the darkness. I never realized the man who pulled me out of the abyss would be the one to push me into an even deeper one. As the memories snapped back, Carter seemed to sober up slightly. He took a step forward, reaching for my hand. “Chloe, I’m sorry. I was so mad I was just talking nonsense. I really have a fever, my head is killing me…” He approached me softly, his face full of remorse. I took a step back, avoiding his hand entirely. “Go rest.” Carter’s hand froze mid-air. His brows furrowed in anxiety, and he tried to step closer. “Chloe, please, let me explain…” “I’m tired.” I cut him off, turned around, walked into the guest bedroom, and locked the door. Through the heavy wood, I heard his two friends helping him into the master bedroom. They whispered to him, telling him that since I didn’t scream or make a scene, it meant I was letting it go. Letting it go? I leaned against the door and slowly slid down to the floor. I wasn’t letting it go. I just didn’t want to read this torn, shredded book anymore. Chapter 2 Early the next morning, while Carter was still passed out, I grabbed a thermal soup container and left the apartment. Even though our marriage was in ruins, I still drove to the city hospital. My mother-in-law had been hospitalized for severe renal failure for over six months. I was the one who stayed up night after night, taking care of her while wearing the same clothes for days. I figured this would be my final act of familial duty. A way to put a period at the end of a twelve-year sentence. When I pushed open the door to the ward, my mother-in-law was holding the hand of another patient’s family member, bragging about me. “I’ve only survived this long because of Chloe. She’s a hundred times more devoted than a biological daughter.” Seeing me, her face lit up with a massive smile, and she immediately told me to sit and rest. I poured the fish broth I had simmered all night and handed the bowl to her. “Mom, drink this while it’s hot. Carter had a fever last night, I need to head back soon to check on him.” She was sipping the broth when her phone, propped up on the overbed table, began to ring. It was a FaceTime call. The name Vanessa flashed across the screen. Her hands were greasy from the soup, so she gestured to the phone with her chin. “Chloe, hit accept for me. It’s probably Carter’s cousin.” I didn’t think much of it and swiped the green button. The moment the familiar young face appeared on the screen, my entire body stiffened. It was Vanessa. The woman Carter had been desperately tangled up with when he was “drunk” six months ago. In the video, she was holding a little boy who looked about three years old. The boy smiled sweetly at the camera and yelled, “Grandma! Look at the toy car Daddy bought me!” Vanessa looked playfully annoyed, complaining to the screen. “Mom, Carter drank too much and had a fever last night, so I let him sleep in. Did that crazy woman throw another fit and torture him for coming home late?” The air in the hospital room died instantly. My mother-in-law’s hand violently shook. The scalding fish broth spilled all over her blankets. “Ch—Chloe! Let me explain!” Ignoring the burn, she lunged forward, desperately trying to snatch the phone away. I took a step back, staring fixedly at the little boy on the screen. He looked exactly like Carter. I felt so cold I started to shake. “Cousin? This is the cousin you told me about?” Caught red-handed, my mother-in-law let out a heavy sigh. She dropped the act entirely. She grabbed my hand, putting on a face of earnest, pained helplessness. “Chloe, don’t blame Carter for hiding this. For four years, Vanessa has compromised and suffered without ever demanding a title.” Four years? A loud ringing exploded in my ears. My internal organs twisted so violently I couldn’t breathe. So this woman’s existence… wasn’t a drunken mistake from six months ago? My mother-in-law patted my hand gently, lowering her voice to coax me. “I watched you grow up. I love you like my own. But you have to think about Carter. Because of your… trauma, you won’t let him touch you for weeks at a time. He’s a healthy, red-blooded man.” “You can’t expect him to live like a monk his whole life just because of your little issue, right?” “Vanessa already agreed. The boy will call you ‘Auntie.’ You’ll still be the official Mrs. Hayes.” “Nothing changes. Vanessa will never bother you. Isn’t that a good compromise?” … My legs gave out, and I collapsed into the chair behind me. Whatever my mother-in-law said after that, I didn’t hear a single word. My brain was being violently ripped apart by memories on one side and this sickening reality on the other. Four years. Whenever Carter went out of state on rescue missions, he would stay on the phone with me all night. He said he knew I felt unsafe and was scared of the dark, and that hearing his breathing would help me sleep. Once, he was in a disaster zone and almost died. He risked his life to find a backup battery just so he could stay on the line with me. I thought that was the ultimate, profound love. Turns out, it was just a performance. During all those all-night calls to comfort me… was Vanessa lying right next to him? Was that child sleeping right there beside him? He was lying in bed with another woman and his secret child, while soothing me—the clueless idiot—over the phone. A massive wave of absurdity washed over me. I stood up, completely ignoring my mother-in-law, and stumbled out of the hospital room. If their picture-perfect family didn’t have room for my name, then I’d gladly hand over the title of “wife.” Chapter 3 The next day, I took PTO and packed my bags at the apartment. There wasn’t much. A few changes of clothes and my important documents were enough. The doorbell suddenly rang. I thought it was the courier delivering the divorce papers I requested. I opened the door—and froze. Standing in the hallway was Vanessa. She was wearing a pristine white cashmere coat, holding the hand of the little boy from the video. My grip on the door handle tightened so hard my knuckles turned white. “Chloe, aren’t you going to invite me in?” She looked at my ghostly pale face, a smug, undisguised look of triumph in her eyes. “We couldn’t talk properly on the video call, so I brought Leo over to see you.” She deliberately pushed the boy forward, the gesture dripping with arrogance. “Leo is starting preschool soon. Carter feels terrible that he doesn’t have a complete family.” “He said Leo is the eldest grandson of the Hayes family, and he wants me to officially move in with him.” Looking at the child who was a carbon copy of Carter, my stomach violently churned. “Get out!” My eyes red, I pointed toward the elevator and screamed. “Take your bastard child and get the hell out of my house!” I shoved the door, trying to slam it shut so I wouldn’t have to look at them for another second. But Vanessa suddenly shot her hand out, wedging it in the doorframe. She leaned close to my ear, lowering her voice into a vicious sneer. “Chloe, stop acting so high and mighty. Did you really think Carter actually loved you?” “He told me himself. Every time he has to lie in the same bed as you, he has to take sleeping pills just to stomach the disgust.” “The second he touches you, all he can picture is those thugs riding you in that alley.” She stared directly into my eyes, taking a step forward. “He also said you were so dirty, he had to use me to vent his frustration. Because only a clean body like mine could actually turn him on.” The final string keeping my sanity intact snapped in that exact second. The nightmare I endured when I was sixteen. I spent twelve years trying to heal from it. And he used it as pillow talk to entertain his mistress! “You have no right to talk about that—!” I screamed hysterically, raised my hand, and used absolutely every ounce of strength in my body. I slapped Vanessa across the face as hard as I physically could. Smack! The sound echoed loudly in the hallway. The force sent Vanessa stumbling backward. Her forehead slammed violently against the sharp edge of the entryway shoe cabinet. Blood instantly began pouring down her face. The little boy burst into terrified wailing. Vanessa clutched her bleeding forehead, scrambling backward on her hands and knees. “You crazy bitch! You’re a psycho! Just wait, you’re going to pay for this!” She scooped up the crying child and practically fell into the elevator. Drained of all energy, I slid down the doorframe and collapsed onto the floor. I closed my eyes, the cold from the hardwood seeping into my skin. Once my mind finally settled, I pulled a piece of paper from under the coffee table. It was an ultrasound printout I had been hiding for six months. I ripped it into tiny shreds. What was supposed to be a beautiful surprise for Carter now felt like a brutal slap to my own face, burning with humiliation. Half an hour later, the courier arrived with the legal documents. I signed them and placed the divorce agreement dead center on the coffee table. Outside, a torrential downpour began, thunder shaking the windows. I grabbed my suitcase, ready to leave. Right at that moment—BANG. The front door was violently kicked open from the outside. Before I could even react, Carter charged in, the veins bulging on his forehead, and grabbed me fiercely by the throat. “Chloe! What the hell did you do with Leo?!” Chapter 4 He was choking me so hard I couldn’t breathe. I frantically hit his arms. “Cough… what Leo…” Carter violently threw me aside and kicked the coffee table over. “Vanessa told me everything! You attacked her like a lunatic this afternoon!” “She took the kid to the pharmacy to get her head bandaged, turned around, and Leo was gone!” “Who else would kidnap a three-year-old child but you?!” I coughed violently, staring in disbelief at the enraged man in front of me. “I haven’t even left the apartment! Are you insane?!” “You’re the insane one!” Carter’s eyes were bloodshot. He pointed his finger directly in my face and roared. “You’ve spent the last six months dousing me in rubbing alcohol every day! You’re completely unhinged! And now you’re targeting an innocent child!” “Call whatever thugs you hired right now and bring him back!” I gritted my teeth and backed away. “I told you, I haven’t seen him! If you can’t handle it, then sign the divorce papers!” I turned to grab the agreement from the floor. “You aren’t going anywhere until you tell me where my son is!” Carter suddenly grabbed the back collar of my shirt. Riiiiip. The immense force completely tore my shirt dress down the back. Buttons scattered across the floor. My bare skin was instantly exposed to the cold air. Before I could even process what was happening, he clamped his hand around my wrist and dragged me violently toward the bathroom like a criminal. “Carter, what are you doing?! Let go of me!” I screamed in pure terror. The hands of those men in the alley when I was sixteen, and Carter’s hands right now—they completely merged into one horrifying reality. “If you don’t hand over my kid, I’m going to make sure you wake up today!” He kicked the bathroom door open and brutally hurled me into the cold, hard bathtub. Whoosh— He turned on the showerhead, blasting freezing cold water directly into my face and over my body. “Cough… cough… help…” I choked on the water, thrashing wildly, trying to crawl out of the tub. Carter ripped off his leather belt, yanked both my hands behind my back, and viciously strapped them to the metal safety bar of the tub. I twisted my body frantically, shivering uncontrollably in the freezing water. Carter turned around and pulled the massive jug of high-concentration rubbing alcohol out from under the sink. He unscrewed the cap and dumped the burning, toxic liquid directly over my head. “You love torturing people with alcohol, don’t you?! Tell me! Where is the kid?!” The overpowering, chemical stench of the alcohol instantly stripped the oxygen from my lungs. My eyes burned in absolute agony. But Carter didn’t care. He grabbed the back of my head and shoved my face hard into the freezing, alcohol-tainted water pooling at the bottom of the tub. I choked, only managing to let out a few muffled, garbled sounds. My stomach seized in a violent, agonizing spasm. “It hurts…” Before the words fully left my mouth, a sharp, excruciating pain—like a knife twisting in my gut—ripped through my lower abdomen. A second later, a stream of warm liquid ran down my inner thighs. The warmth mixed with the freezing water in the tub, instantly blooming into a shocking, horrifying pool of bright red. I stared blankly at the blood swirling in the water. I stopped struggling entirely. Right then, his phone—which he had tossed onto the sink counter—began to ring. Seeing the Caller ID, he paused for a second before answering. The voice of a police officer came through the speaker, sounding thoroughly annoyed. “Mr. Hayes? Your child isn’t missing!” “The little boy wandered off and climbed the play structure on the top floor of the mall. When we found him, he was happily eating ice cream.” “You parents didn’t watch your own kid, and you immediately call it a premeditated kidnapping and murder? Do you know how much police manpower you just wasted?” In an instant, the only sound left in the bathroom was the hissing of the showerhead. Clatter. The phone and the jug of alcohol dropped simultaneously from Carter’s hands, slamming onto the tile floor. He whipped his head around, and his face instantly turned a ghastly, horrifying white.

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The summer I turned eighteen, Liam took my virginity. I endured the pain, secretly thrilled the whole night, thinking my six-year crush had finally blossomed into true love. That was, until the next day, when I overheard his friends teasing him. “Not bad, man. The good girl let you pop her cherry.” I felt a flush of embarrassment and was just about to quietly slip away when I heard Liam’s nonchalant reply. “I want to go after Chloe, but I was afraid she’d think I was too inexperienced. “I just used Maya to practice my technique.” I didn’t say a word. Right before the college decision deadline, I silently logged into the portal and changed my commitment from Boston to Miami. 1 Liam’s words struck me like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky. My mind went completely blank. Despite the sweltering summer heat, my entire body turned ice cold. The conversation in the empty classroom continued. The guys seemed to pause in shock before speaking again. “Damn, Liam. Only you would use the sweet girl next door for target practice.” “Doesn’t that basically make her your, what, placeholder?” Liam laughed dismissively. “Don’t talk nonsense. It’s not like she lost out on the deal.” Someone immediately chimed in. “True, true. Maya’s a bit too skinny anyway. Compared to Chloe, her body is…” Liam threw a textbook at the guy, cutting him off. “It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. The vibe was right, and honestly, she looked like she wanted it so bad…” The guys exchanged knowing looks and kept joking. “Who knew the quiet girl was so thirsty?” “Tsk, tsk. Our boy Liam is just too charming. Free meat delivered to your mouth, might as well take a bite.” “Maya’s been trailing after you for years. She finally got what she wanted. She’s probably been dreaming of jumping you.” The laughter in the room grew deafening. I bit my lower lip so hard I tasted blood, my hands balled into tight fists. It took everything in me just to keep from collapsing outside that door. Footsteps approached from the end of the hall. I snapped out of my daze and fled the scene in a panic, locking myself in a bathroom stall. 2 The tears of heartbreak and humiliation finally broke through. Liam’s words echoed in my mind, over and over, syllable by syllable. They completely obliterated whatever self-esteem I had left. If I hadn’t heard it with my own ears, I wouldn’t have believed that the boy who held me so tenderly and passionately last night was the exact same person. It turns out you can do the most intimate things with someone without loving them at all. Even in the most passionate, breathless moments, people can still lie. The “happy ending” I foolishly believed in was just a sick joke for him and his friends. The harder I cried, the more it hurt. I didn’t even dare to make a sound. My body just shook uncontrollably. A long time passed. My phone buzzed with a text notification. It was Liam. [Take an Uber home yourself. The senior class is having a party tonight, it’s not convenient to bring you.] I didn’t reply. He sent another one. [Don’t forget to go buy a Plan B pill. I don’t have time today. Make sure you take it, be a good girl.] I stared at those two texts for a long time. From dusk until dawn yesterday, Liam had tossed and turned with me. When we were both exhausted, right before he pulled me into his arms to sleep, he whispered it twice. “I didn’t have protection for our first time. I’ll make sure to buy you the pill tomorrow.” He even lectured me about how girls need to protect themselves, that I had to take the morning-after pill or it would hurt my body. At the time, I thought he was being so responsible. I thought I had finally found my happiness. But now… In a split second, I sobered up. I dug my nails into my palms, forcing the tears to stop. I wiped my face, straightened my clothes, and walked out of the bathroom. I was too embarrassed to go to a pharmacy in person, so I ordered the pill on a delivery app. When the driver left it at my door, I waited a long time before I dared to sneak out and grab it. Swallowing the pill through my tears, I felt like all my strength had been drained. I just sat blankly on my bedroom rug. Ever since Liam’s family moved in next door ten years ago, I had been his little shadow. I had never imagined what a world without him looked like. I was too scared to. But from now on, it was just going to be me. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the streetlights flickered on, then gradually went out. I don’t know how much time passed before my best friend, Harper, FaceTimed me. “Maya, why didn’t you come to the party with Liam tonight? “Chloe from the liberal arts track is here. With you gone, she’s practically throwing herself at him. They’re being so gross right now.” Harper flipped the camera. 3 In a dim corner of the VIP room, Liam and the school’s “IT girl,” Chloe, were sitting pressed against each other. Chloe was wearing a crop top and a tight denim skirt that accentuated her tiny waist and long legs. The two of them had clearly isolated themselves from the rest of the group. They were whispering so closely they were practically rubbing cheeks. Even though the screen, the thick, palpable tension between them was suffocating. My chest tightened uncontrollably. He said this afternoon he wanted to go after her. Looks like he already caught her tonight. During a game of Truth or Dare, Chloe pulled a card demanding she lie on the floor while a guy did pushups over her. Unsurprisingly, Liam volunteered immediately. The crowd went wild. Blushing, Chloe lay down obediently on the sofa. Liam hovered above her, easily knocking out dozens of pushups. He was very restrained the whole time, trying his best not to let his body touch hers. Until the very last one. I don’t know if his arms gave out, or if he did it on purpose. He collapsed, his entire body pressing directly on top of Chloe’s. The screams and cheers around them nearly blew the roof off. Both of their faces turned crimson. Amidst the chaotic chanting, Liam simply lowered his head and kissed her. They made out like nobody else was in the room. It lasted for three whole minutes before they reluctantly pulled apart. For those agonizing three minutes, I stared blankly at the screen, forgetting how to breathe. My heart felt like it was being ripped open. I wanted to cry, but I had cried so much that afternoon without drinking any water. I physically had no tears left. “Tsk, tsk. Did you see that, Maya? There was literally a string of saliva when they pulled apart. He’s obsessed.” Harper sighed and flipped the camera, walking out of the noisy room. She found a quiet corner in the hall and looked at me seriously. “Don’t be mad at me, Maya. I knew if I didn’t make you watch it with your own eyes, you’d never give up on him.” My throat was parched. The words I forced out sounded rusty. “Yeah. I’m not mad at you.” I was mad at myself for being an idiot for so many years. I thought just because I was the only one allowed to stay by his side, that spot belonged to me. “I just can’t stand him,” Harper vented. “He knows you’ve been in love with him forever. Why play the innocent boy and string you along, watching you fall deeper and deeper? “You saw it yourself. I really hope you think this through. Don’t let him waste your next four years of college too…” “I won’t, Harper.” I cut her off, stating it calmly. “I’m not giving myself another chance to be a fool. “Harper, I’ve decided. I’m going to Miami with you. “But you have to promise to keep it a secret for now.” 4 To make sure I couldn’t hesitate, I opened my laptop right while she watched. Without a second thought, just moments before the portal closed for good, I changed my commitment to that famous university in Miami. Harper, naturally, was screaming with joy. She had been begging me to go to the same school as her for months. But when we first started high school, Liam and I had made a pact. We were going to work hard and head to Boston together—his dream city. That was where his top-choice aerospace engineering program was. Even though I hated the freezing northern winters and had zero interest in STEM schools, I made it my ultimate goal for three years. Growing up as neighbors, both our parents were thrilled at the prospect of us attending college in the same city. Everyone, including me, thought that once we became adults, it was only natural that we’d become a couple. But now, I had zero reasons to go to Boston. Or rather, after today, if I kept clinging to Liam like I used to, I would absolutely despise myself. I just wanted to hide as far away as possible. Anywhere was fine, as long as Liam wasn’t there. He was going to the East Coast. So I was going south. 5 Before bed, I filled the bathtub to the brim, wanting to scrub myself entirely clean. But when I took off my clothes, the purple and red bruises on my skin were glaringly obvious. The memories of last night rushed back uncontrollably. The scorching heat of his skin when we held each other tight, the burning breath against my ear when he lost control—the residual warmth still seemed to haunt the room. I shook my head violently, trying to shake off the absurdity. I grabbed the roughest exfoliating sponge I owned and scrubbed my skin over and over again, only stopping when my entire body was raw and red. It was a clumsy attempt to erase the most humiliating memory of my life. The result was that it hurt so much I tossed and turned all night. Liam, as expected, didn’t send a single message. He broke the streak of saying goodnight to each other every single day for the past six years. It was for the best. This day was bound to come anyway. The withdrawal process starts tonight. I finally fell into a hazy sleep near dawn. The next morning, I was still dead asleep when I felt someone press a soft kiss against my forehead. 6 I jolted awake. When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar jawline and Adam’s apple. The scent hovering over me was Liam’s favorite cedarwood cologne, mixed with a faint, unfamiliar trace of lemon perfume. I almost forgot—Liam always knew my front door code. Seeing me wake up, Liam moved down, chuckling as he tried to kiss my lips. I panicked and jerked my head away. I shoved him back and scrambled to the other side of the bed. Liam paused, teasing me. “Still shy? Hmm?” I didn’t answer. I just pulled the blanket up over my head. Liam started scolding me while trying to pull the blanket down. “Maya, you’ve got some nerve. You didn’t even say goodnight yesterday, and you turned your phone off. “And now you’re hiding from me?” He moved fast, sliding right into my bed. Before I could react, he had wrapped his arms completely around me. “Be good. How many times have I told you, you can’t skip breakfast. “I went on a run this morning and picked up those artisan breakfast sandwiches from that place downtown. I waited in line forever. “Do you want to get up and eat now, or do you want to… be eaten first?” His breath was right against my skin, his hands wandering over me. Snapping out of my grogginess, I fought him off like my life depended on it. But I’m barely 5’3″. I was absolutely no match for a guy who was 6’2″. I honestly couldn’t understand what was going through his head. He had Chloe now. Why was he still messing with me? After struggling until I was gasping for air, I hadn’t broken free. Instead, he hugged me tighter. “What’s your deal today? “Are you mad? Just because I didn’t take you to the party last night?” I didn’t say a word. He buried his face in the crook of my neck and laughed. “Let me guess. Your bestie gave you the play-by-play? “It was just a game. Is it really worth being jealous over? “Why are you still like this? Anytime I get even slightly close to another girl, you throw a silent tantrum.” I was so furious I couldn’t even form a sentence. Remembering a move from a self-defense class, I jerked my knee up and aimed right for his groin. As he groaned in pain, I scrambled off the bed. “Maya!” Liam gritted his teeth, his face flushing red. I quickly threw a hoodie over my pajamas and hurried out to the living room. I didn’t want to be in the same room as him, especially not my bedroom. A moment later, Liam walked out, looking both angry and exasperated. After a long pause, as if he suddenly remembered, he asked casually: “By the way, you took that pill yesterday, right? “Don’t cause a disaster. I wouldn’t be able to face your parents.” He walked over to the dining table, picked up a cup of iced coffee, and held it out to me. “Listen to me. Eat something before you stay mad. You know your stomach is bad.” I didn’t speak, and I didn’t take it. Liam held his hand in the air for a long time until he finally lost his patience. “What is this really about? “Maya, throwing a fit is fine, but there needs to be a reason and a limit, right?” I replied coldly: “I’m just a practice dummy. I don’t deserve a limit.” Liam flared up. He slammed the iced coffee down on the glass coffee table. He hit it so hard the plastic cup cracked, and the coffee instantly soaked into my expensive wool rug. “What is that supposed to mean? “Who do you think you are, Maya? “We slept together once—consensually—and suddenly you think you own me? Do you have any idea how suffocating that is?” His tone was more vicious than it had ever been. Instantly, my tears fell like rain. There was no build-up. The humiliation and grievances from yesterday flooded my chest all over again. Liam didn’t seem to expect me to cry so hard. He suddenly looked entirely out of his depth. He apologized, frustrated. “I’m sorry. I drank too much last night, I was just speaking without thinking.” He crouched down next to me and reached out to wipe my tears, but I dodged his hand again. He froze, his hand suspended in mid-air. Just as he was about to try coaxing me again, his phone chimed. He glanced at it, his expression shifting drastically, and immediately stood up to leave. “I have an emergency. Cool off for a bit. “You’re going to college soon. You can’t keep acting like a child. Nobody is going to tolerate that.” 7 Less than half an hour after he left, Harper sent me a screenshot. It was Chloe’s Snapchat story. [SunnyDays: Said I was hungry, and a love-filled breakfast magically appeared. Feels like my crush and I are totally mutually obsessed~] The picture showed the exact same artisan breakfast sandwiches Liam had brought to my dining table. I didn’t reply. I silently wiped my tears, crouched down, and carefully tried to clean the coffee Liam had spilled. I scrubbed for a long time, only to realize the stain had seeped deep into the base of the wool. It wasn’t coming out. In a fit of anger, I rolled up the entire rug and threw it in the trash. Whatever. Liam and his parents had hauled this rug all the way back from a trip to Nepal, spending a whole afternoon picking it out just to gift it to me. While I was at it, I gathered everything Liam had ever left at my house, plus every single gift he had ever given me. I even went through and threw out every printed photo of us together. It took me all day, but I packed it all up in garbage bags and dumped it. He probably didn’t want this garbage anyway. After Liam left that day, I didn’t hear a peep from him for days. Things were probably going swimmingly with the IT girl. Or maybe he was just waiting for me to cave. Every time we had a cold war in the past, I was always the one to cave first. Without fail. But this time, I didn’t reach out. And there was no need to ever reach out again. I blocked his number and social media, changed the passcode to my front door, and deleted all my online profiles. Once I finished, I called my parents, who were out of town on business. I told them I wanted to go to London to visit my aunt for the summer. My plan was to stay there until the summer ended, fly back, and immediately head down to Miami with Harper for orientation. Besides Harper, no one else knew I had switched my college commitment to Florida. This itinerary would perfectly avoid any chance of running into Liam. My mom teased me on the phone. “Ooh, are you and Liam going on a romantic getaway?” I made an excuse to deny it. I didn’t want to explain. I just told her I wanted to spend time with my aunt and grandma. I begged my dad to book the earliest flight possible, planning to pack my bags and fly out that very night. On my way out, unluckily, I ran into Liam’s mom right outside our gates. She grabbed me enthusiastically. “Maya, why are you out here alone? Didn’t Liam come to pick you up? “He said he was taking you snowboarding in Switzerland. Have a great time! I totally support it.” I was a little confused. During the stressful AP exam season, I had mentioned to Liam that I wanted to go snowboarding in the Alps. But given how things were now, it obviously made zero sense for us to travel together. I didn’t have time to process it, though. I gave her a polite, hurried response and left. What I didn’t expect was to run into Liam at the airport.

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Chapter 1 At the company dinner, our newly appointed CEO stepped in and took a drink meant for me. My coworkers were stunned. “You know Mr. Vance?” “Back in high school, Mr. Vance was my roommate’s boyfriend.” Sitting at the head of the table, Julian Vance silently cast a glance my way. Halfway through the night, I drew a “Truth” card in our drinking game. “Question: Do you remember the very first thing your crush ever said to you?” “If you don’t answer, you have to drink this entire row of shots.” In my peripheral vision, I could feel Julian watching me. I couldn’t help but think back to my senior year of high school. In my third year of secretly being in love with him, he finally spoke to me for the very first time. “Hello. Regarding your plagiarism of my girlfriend’s work to win that award—I expect you to voluntarily forfeit your placement and issue a public apology to her.” Thinking of this, I looked at the table and asked: “So, I just need to down all ten of these?” 01 My coworker’s eyes went wide. “No way, Chloe.” “Are you still not over that guy? You’d rather down a whole row of shots than even mention him?” Hearing this, Julian lifted his gaze toward us. I gave a small, embarrassed smile. “It’s not that I’m not over him.” “It’s just that I forgot.” The female coworker sitting next to me let out a sound of disbelief. “How could you forget so quickly?” “At Caleb’s birthday party a while back, you got drunk and talked all about it.” “You said your life was a tragedy. You had a crush on him for three years in high school, but the very first time he spoke to you, it was to stand up for his girlfriend against you.” The hand Julian was using to swirl his glass suddenly stopped. Everyone at the table turned to look at me, their faces a mix of shock and gossip. Compared to high school, my pride was no longer so fragile that I needed to save face at all costs. I picked up the second shot glass, keeping my tone light: “Yeah, well, what he said wasn’t very nice. It would be a bit awkward to repeat it now, so it’s better to just skip it.” My coworker realized her mistake and quietly muttered an apology. The others stopped pressing the issue, laughing it off and changing the subject. Since it was just a game to liven up the mood, they let me off the hook after three shots. Even so, when the dinner ended, my head was spinning. The alcohol hit me as I was leaving the private room, and I stumbled slightly. A hand caught my arm from behind. It was Caleb, a guy from my department. “Are you okay?” I shook my head. “I’m fine, thanks.” “Can you make it home alone? Why don’t I give you a ride?” Before I could answer. “Hey, why are you two blocking the door?” someone called out. “Mr. Vance can’t get out.” I took a few steps forward, clearing the doorway. Julian turned sideways and walked past me. “Thank you.” His faint breath brushed the top of my head. I tilted my head slightly. “Don’t mention it, Mr. Vance.” 02 A few of the guys in our department were completely passed out. Caleb looked at me apologetically. “Hayes just shoved three drunk guys into my car. It’s totally packed.” “I don’t think I can take you home anymore…” I smiled. “It’s fine. I can just grab an Uber.” “You go take care of them. See you tomorrow.” Two other female coworkers were waiting by the entrance with me, trying to hail a ride. One of them looked at her phone and gasped in pleasant surprise: “Hayes just texted the group! He said Mr. Vance can give us a ride!” “He’s pulling out of the parking garage now. We can cancel our Ubers.” “Who knew the cold, unapproachable handsome boss was actually such a gentleman?” I hesitated. “I think I’ll still just get my own ride.” “Oh, come on, Chloe! Don’t be stupid—it’s a luxury car!” “Besides, you and Mr. Vance went to high school together. Don’t be such a stranger.” I said softly, “We weren’t exactly close back then, either.” “Get in.” Julian’s voice came from behind me. His tone was completely flat. I was practically half-dragged into the backseat by the girls. Julian dropped me off last. When we arrived at my apartment complex, the tension in my shoulders finally relaxed. “Thank you, Mr. Vance. Have a good night.” Click. The car doors locked. I looked up. In the rearview mirror, my eyes met his. They were as dark and deep as a bottomless pool. “Chloe Bennett. It’s been so long.” “Do you really have nothing to say to me?” I didn’t know what he wanted to hear, so I stayed polite: “It’s been a while, Julian.” “Thank you for covering for me at dinner tonight. You’re very kind to your old classmates.” He gave a faint, almost imperceptible smile. He rolled down his window and pulled out a cigarette. “Do you mind?” I said it was fine. It just reminded me of high school. Julian used to hang around a crowd of rebellious, club-hopping kids who constantly smoked. But he had never touched the stuff himself. Six years later, he carried a trace of coldness and heavy gloom. “Six years ago, why did you transfer schools without any warning?” “I called you countless times. You never answered a single one.” I was a bit surprised. I didn’t know he had tried to contact me for so long. I thought about it, then told the truth in a half-joking tone: “I was afraid you were looking for me to demand that I apologize to Natalie, forfeit my scholarship, and give the award to her.” “Honestly, looking back, apologizing wouldn’t have been a big deal. I really didn’t need to fight you guys so hard on it.” “But I couldn’t return the prize money anyway… because I had already spent it.” By the end of my sentence, I felt a little embarrassed. The man in the driver’s seat remained silent. After a long while, just as I was getting increasingly uncomfortable, he finally spoke: “Natalie and I broke up before graduation.” “And I wasn’t looking for you to demand an apology.” His cigarette was burning down to the filter. He stubbed it out in the car’s ashtray. “Chloe, the truth about the plagiarism incident came out.” “The day after you transferred, Natalie admitted that she was the one who copied you.” Hearing that my name was cleared of an old injustice… I didn’t really feel much. The emotional ripple was maybe slightly bigger than finding out my favorite bagel shop had relocated. I gave a slow nod. “That’s good, then.” Other than that, there was really nothing left to say. 03 I stepped out of Julian’s car. I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some ingredients, planning to make myself some hangover soup when I got home. But the moment I walked through my front door… It felt as if a soaking wet, heavy blanket had been thrown over my shoulders. It dragged me down, draining every ounce of energy from my body. The suffocating grievances I had buried six years ago suddenly surged up, hitting me on a brutal delay. I curled up on the sofa, wrapping a blanket tightly around my head and body. I closed my eyes and told myself: You should be happy, Chloe. 04 I can’t clearly remember when it all started. I only remember the most humiliating day of my life. Natalie cornered me again, trying to force me to admit that I had plagiarized her work to win the creative writing scholarship. It was noon, right after the bell rang. I didn’t want to deal with her, so I tried to walk around her. Right outside our classroom was the staircase. Natalie chased after me, grabbing my arm and arguing. I tried to shake her off. In the scuffle, we both tumbled down the stairs. It wasn’t a steep flight, but it hurt enough that I couldn’t get up for a long time. Someone ran to the AP Physics class and got Julian. He glanced at me, then walked straight past me and knelt beside Natalie. “Are you okay?” “Did you hit your head?” Liam, our Student Council President, heard the commotion and ran out. “What are you guys doing?” “Did it really have to go this far?” Natalie glared at me. “If Chloe hadn’t stolen my work, I wouldn’t have made a scene.” Liam frowned. “Honestly, I don’t believe she’s the type to plagiarize.” “There has to be a misunderstanding here.” “I suggest you two sit down and actually talk.” “There’s no misunderstanding!” A suddenly shrill voice rang out from the crowd. It was Natalie’s best friend, Maya. The three of us shared a dorm room at our boarding school. She had always hated me, so it was no surprise she was taking Natalie’s side. But I didn’t know if it was just my imagination… Maya looked panicked, her eyes darting everywhere. “Chloe definitely copied Natalie.” “Because… because she’s always been in love with Natalie’s boyfriend, Julian!” “She wrote it in her diary! She’s had a crush on him for three years.” “She copied Natalie because she was jealous and wanted to ruin things for her.” She emphasized: “There is absolutely, positively no misunderstanding!” It was passing period, so a huge crowd of students had gathered on the stairs to watch. Hearing Maya’s words, a wave of whispers and gasps erupted from the crowd. The stares fixed on me felt like needles piercing my skin. I clenched my fists, terrified to look up at Julian, who was mere feet away. A look of sheer disgust washed over Natalie’s face. “So you were scheming after my boyfriend this whole time.” “What else do you have to say for yourself now?” I pushed against the floor and slowly stood up, my uniform covered in dust. “I told you, I didn’t copy you.” “If you have an issue, take it up with the scholarship committee.” Julian had paused briefly when Maya shouted out my secret. Aside from that, he had no reaction. He looked down at Natalie and asked quietly, “Can you stand?” Natalie pouted, her eyes tearing up. “No, I think I sprained my ankle…” He didn’t say another word. He just picked her up in his arms and carried her toward the nurse’s office. Someone in the crowd jeered. “Hey, Julian! A girl likes you and you’re not even gonna say anything?” Julian walked past me without even a sideways glance, his voice icy flat. “What is there to say?” “If you think being liked by someone like her is a good thing, then I hope your next girlfriend is exactly like her.” 05 My knees were badly scraped up. Liam helped me to an urgent care clinic off-campus to get bandaged up. “I believe you didn’t plagiarize.” “But Natalie didn’t look like she was lying either.” “There’s got to be a mix-up. I’ll help you look into it.” I froze for a couple of seconds. “Thank you…” More than uncovering the truth, I just wanted this whole nightmare to end so I could get my life back. But Natalie was far more extreme than I thought. On Saturday, I was working my shift at an off-campus diner. She brought a whole group of people to harass me. In their booth, Julian sat right next to her. He didn’t look like he knew what she was planning beforehand. He turned his head, giving Natalie a silent, questioning look. Natalie looped her arm through his. “Just watch the show.” Nate, Natalie’s cousin. He was the most notorious delinquent at our school. He pointed at a plate of food, smiling maliciously. “Excuse me, waitress, this dish looks pretty unhygienic.” As he spoke, another guy stood up and blocked the booth’s exit. I looked carefully at the plate Nate was pointing at. “It looks fine to me.” Nate reached out, plucked a strand of hair from my shoulder, and dropped it right into the food in front of everyone. “Well, there’s a problem now, isn’t there?” I scanned the room, suppressing my rising panic. “What do you want?” “I want you to give me a kiss.” He tapped his lips. Julian’s gaze flicked over to me, unreadable. They had numbers on their side. If I fought back, it would end worse for me than I could imagine. I forced myself to sound compliant. “I can have the kitchen remake this for you.” Nate smirked. “I’m full now.” “If you don’t agree, I’ll just come to this diner every single weekend to see you.” The air went dead silent. Nate waited patiently for my choice. Like he was absolutely certain I would cave. After a long time, I walked over to the guy blocking the door and said: “Move.” Nate called out from behind me, “If you walk out that door, I’m telling your manager you dropped your hair in my food.” “Maybe he forgives you once or twice, but what if I keep coming back?” I turned to look at him. “I’m going to tell my manager I quit.” My eyes shifted to Natalie, sitting right behind him. “Are you satisfied now?” 06 I quit my diner job. I didn’t want to go back to the dorm early and see Natalie and Maya. I wandered around town for hours, only returning to school after dark. Right outside my dorm building, I ran into Julian. He had probably just walked Natalie back. I lowered my eyes and tried to walk past him. “Chloe.” He called out, stopping me. “So, even after what happened today, you still refuse to admit it?” I stared hard at him. “I didn’t plagiarize.” “And I certainly didn’t copy Natalie just to get your attention, like Maya claimed.” Julian looked away. “I never said you did.” I brushed past him. Julian’s voice carried over again. “Nate’s crew has their eyes on you now.” “They’re not people you want to mess with.” “If you’re going to stay stubborn about this, I suggest you prepare yourself for what they’re going to do.” 07 Just as Julian warned, Nate began targeting me. They would stomp in puddles as my bus drove by, splashing me with dirty water. They threw basketballs directly at my ankles in the gym. Things like this became a daily occurrence. But they were incredibly calculated. They kept the harassment just below the threshold of something I could report. If I went to a teacher, I’d just look dramatic. During lunch break, I hid near the campus lake to call my grandma. The second I heard her voice, I started crying. “Nana, can I come home this weekend?” “I miss you. I’m really unhappy here.” My grandmother stayed silent for a moment. “The bus ticket costs sixty dollars, Chloe. You should save that money for food.” “It’s normal to have disagreements with classmates. You need to learn how to handle it yourself.” “Besides, I’m going to your Aunt Sarah’s house on Saturday…” I instantly stopped talking. The lump in my throat hardened. I couldn’t cry anymore. Nana was going to Aunt Sarah’s to see my male cousin. I knew she favored boys. It was the reason my other aunt ran away from home and cut contact for twenty years. But after my dad died and my mom abandoned me when I was three, Nana was the only one who didn’t throw me away. No matter how broke we were, she fought to keep me in school. I could never, ever be angry at her. I hung up the phone, wiped my tears, and heard a rustling sound from the benches nearby. I walked over to check, but no one was there. A few minutes later, two guys walked by, scanning the area. “Where’s Julian?” “Didn’t he say he was waiting for us here?” “Let’s check the courtyard.” I didn’t think much of it. Once I calmed down, I went back to class. 08 Natalie said the mere sight of me made her sick. So she moved out of the dorm and rented an apartment off-campus. After she left, Maya came to apologize to me. “Reading your diary and exposing your crush on Julian was wrong.” “But what I’m about to say is for your own good.” “Just take the fall for the plagiarism.” I finally looked up at her. She had heavy dark circles under her eyes. It looked like she hadn’t slept in days. “Natalie is extreme.” “Since she’s decided you copied her, she will torture you until you admit it.” “She might even blow this up to the school board. You won’t be able to handle the consequences.” Maya was acting incredibly weird. Normally, given how much she hated me, she’d be adding fuel to the fire, egging Natalie on to do worse things to me. She would never be this kind. “I didn’t do it. Why should I confess to it?” Maya looked frantic. She opened her mouth to say something, but the dorm door swung open. It was Natalie. “What are you two talking about?” “Come on, Maya. I’m taking you to lunch.” Maya swallowed whatever she was about to say and hurried out after her. 09 It was my turn to clean the classroom on Wednesday. I left the academic building later than everyone else. As I walked out, I bumped into Julian, Natalie, and one of Julian’s friends. They were walking ahead of me and didn’t notice me. Natalie shook Julian’s arm. “You don’t understand, Julian. Now, whenever Chloe even reads a book in front of me, it feels like a provocation.” Julian’s friend shot her a deeply complicated look. “Don’t you think you’re being a little… much?” Natalie ignored him, a sudden idea lighting up her face. “Julian! I heard your family’s corporate lawyer is amazing.” “Can you have him draft a cease-and-desist letter for me? I want to sue Chloe for plagiarism.” “I mean… I won’t actually sue her. I just want to scare her.” “Better yet, let’s mail a copy to her grandmother! That should force her to admit it.” My breath hitched. I almost sprinted forward to scream at her. Julian looked down, his expression unreadable. After a moment, he said quietly, “Mr. Hayes is out of town on a business trip.” “And don’t go finding a lawyer on your own. Without concrete proof, no lawyer will take the case.” Julian reassuringly squeezed Natalie’s fingers. “I’ll talk to Chloe again.” Natalie sounded a bit disappointed. “Okay, I’ll listen to you…” After she walked away, Julian’s friend finally spoke: “Didn’t I just see Mr. Hayes at your house yesterday dropping off documents for your dad?” “When did he leave town? Today?” After a long pause, Julian gave a noncommittal, “Yeah.” 10 I remembered Julian saying he was going to talk to me. So every time I saw him at school, my nerves completely locked up. But he just looked away like I was a stranger. He showed absolutely no intention of speaking to me. I breathed a sigh of relief. After school, Nate came to our classroom to wait for Natalie. He reached out and deliberately shoved every single book off my desk. Then, just like always, he grinned and offered a fake apology. “Oops. My bad. Slipped.” Julian had also come to pick up Natalie. He saw the whole thing. I squatted down to pick up my books, used to it by now. But Liam couldn’t stand it. “You knocked someone’s books over and you can’t even help pick them up?” Nate stepped up to him, getting in his face. “Say that again. I dare you.” Julian stood leaning lazily against the doorframe, his arms crossed. He spoke in a cold, flat tone. “Nate.” “You really want to start a fight in someone else’s classroom?” Kids from wealthy, powerful families always carried more weight at school. As arrogant as Nate was, he still had to give Julian face. He smirked, taking a few steps back. Natalie chimed in, “Let it go. He’s the class president, anyway.” After they left, Liam helped me pack up my bag. “From now on, whenever you have cleaning duty, I’ll wait for you and walk you back to your dorm.” “If they actually lay a hand on you, come tell me. We’ll go to the police and blow this wide open. I refuse to believe there’s no way to stop them.” I looked at him and thanked him sincerely. He was the only person who, from the very beginning, firmly believed I hadn’t plagiarized. During a time when I had grown so numb I couldn’t even feel sad anymore, Liam was like a breath of fresh air, brushing the heavy ash off my shoulders. He gave me a tiny sliver of space to breathe. 11 I found a new part-time job at a bakery a bit further from campus. I knew Liam liked cookies. Sunday night, after I made a batch, I specifically asked my manager to bake them for me on Monday. During Monday lunch break, I went to the bakery to pick up the tin of cookies. On my way back, cutting across the athletic field, I saw Nate and two of his friends messing around, throwing water balloons at each other. The thin plastic would burst on impact, soaking whoever it hit. Nate saw me. Before I could dodge, he threw a water balloon right at my arm. It was summer, and the school uniform blouses were thin. Once wet, the fabric clung to my skin, turning completely transparent over my arm. Nate sighed in exaggerated disappointment. “Missed. If I aimed a little higher, we could’ve seen what color bra you’re wearing today.” The guy next to him laughed. “No worries, let me try!” Another water balloon slammed into me. “Damn! Still missed.” I couldn’t take it anymore. I set the cookie tin down on the grass. I ran to the landscaping hose nearby, turned the spigot on full blast, and sprayed them directly in their faces. “You like playing with water?” “Let me help you.” “Holy shit! Are you psychotic?” “Stop spraying! I can’t fucking see!” Seeing them look like drowned rats, I dropped the hose, grabbed the cookie tin, and ran for my life. Nate and his friends chased after me. “You dead bitch! You better run faster!” “If I catch you, I’m going to kill you.” The academic building was still far away. I knew I couldn’t outrun them before they caught me. I sprinted as fast as I could. Just as I rounded a corner, a hand reached out, grabbed me, and yanked me into a dark room. It was Julian. Out of reflex, I took a defensive step back. He let out a short scoff, seeing right through me. “Did you think I was with them?” Outside, Nate’s voice echoed in the hallway. “Where did she go?” “She can’t run that fast. Keep looking.” I exhaled sharply. “Thank you.” Julian did a quick sweep of my drenched clothes. “Wait here for a bit.” “If you don’t go out, they won’t find you.” This was the school’s security/AV room. You couldn’t get in without a key. Nate would never suspect I was hiding in here. A minute later, Julian came back and tossed a jacket into my arms. “I borrowed it from a girl in my class.” “Remember to return it tomorrow.” With that, he pulled out a chair in front of the monitor screens and sat down. When I was hosing down Nate and his friends, I had gotten completely soaked myself. I didn’t reject the jacket. Just as I was about to thank him again… My stomach growled violently. I hadn’t had time to eat lunch because I went to get the cookies. Julian turned his head, glancing at the cookie tin. “If you’re hungry, why aren’t you eating those?” “These are for Liam.” He unscrewed a bottle of water and took a sip. “You guys are pretty close.” I lowered my eyes. “He’s the one person who believes I didn’t cheat.” Julian silently curled his lip in a smirk. He left the room again. When he returned, he placed a sandwich and a carton of milk on the desk next to me. I refused. “It’s fine. I was just about to leave.” “Suit yourself.” Julian casually warned, “I just checked the hall. They’re still hanging around outside.” Lunch break wasn’t over for another thirty minutes. They would probably leave soon. I still didn’t touch the sandwich or the milk. A while later, my stomach growled again. I pressed a hand against my aching stomach. Julian didn’t turn around, but he laughed. “Ungrateful.” When the warning bell for the first afternoon class rang, I thanked Julian and left. He didn’t respond. 12 On Saturday, I asked my bakery manager for the weekend off so I could go home. Nana had been admitted to the hospital. The doctor said she had a malignant tumor in her head. It needed to be surgically removed. The surgery would cost around $20,000. My Uncle Mark had the money, but he refused to pay. “Chloe, your grandma is in her seventies…” “To put it bluntly, she doesn’t have many years left anyway.” “Twenty grand! That’s your cousin’s college fund.” I stared at him, my face completely blank. He looked down, avoiding my gaze, but held his ground. Compared to this, Natalie’s bullying felt completely insignificant. On Monday afternoon, during the last period before the bell, our AP Literature teacher used my scholarship-winning essay as an example on the projector. Natalie loudly interrupted her. “If you insist on using a plagiarized essay as an example for this class, then I’m sorry, Mrs. Davis, but I can’t sit here and listen.” The teacher remained completely calm. “Then you are welcome to leave.” “I have read both essays. The outlines and core themes are about 60% identical.” “But I questioned Chloe. She could explain her entire thought process, the inspiration, and the structural choices flawlessly. You, on the other hand, couldn’t even articulate the basic thematic foundation of the piece.” “I have no idea how you can sit there and confidently claim she copied you.” For a split second, Natalie actually looked panicked. She turned to look at Maya. But Maya just kept her head buried in her desk, her body completely rigid, terrified to make eye contact. Humiliated in front of the entire class, Natalie stormed out of the room. After school, as I walked out of the building. Not too far away, Natalie was leaning against Julian’s chest, crying. “She is so disgusting! It was clearly my essay, and the teacher still took her side!” “I can’t take this anymore!” “She’s driving me insane. I have to make her pay!” Julian gently stroked the back of her head. “Don’t cry. I’ll figure something out.” As he spoke, he looked up, and his eyes locked onto mine. I turned and walked toward the dorms. Just as I was about to reach the building, Julian caught up to me. “We need to talk.” “There is nothing to talk about. I’ve said it a million times. I didn’t cheat, and I won’t confess to something I didn’t do.” He grabbed my wrist. “Why don’t you just name your price?” I stared at him in disbelief and tried to shove his hand away. “Stop assuming everyone is as obsessed with money as you are.” “Let me go.” Julian tightened his grip, his lips pressed in a thin line, and pulled me closer. “If you were actually that morally superior, you wouldn’t have plagiarized in the first place, would you?” “Why is it impossible that Natalie copied me? What gives you the right to be so sure?” “Throwing the blame back is pathetic.” Julian said, “I know her. If she had actually stolen your work, she wouldn’t be this genuinely upset.” I finally broke down and cried, screaming at him: “But I didn’t do it either!” Julian’s grip on my wrist loosened slightly. The boy pressed his lips together, his voice dropping low. “Arguing about this is pointless.” “Let’s talk about something practical.” “How much more money do you need for your grandmother’s surgery?” My crying abruptly stopped. I looked up. Julian was standing against the sunlight, the backlight blurring his silhouette into something entirely surreal. For a second, I felt like this entire world was an illusion. But the reality was, I had been framed. And my tragedy was real. 13 It was long past dismissal time. The school courtyard was completely empty except for the two of us. Julian said he could cover my grandmother’s surgery costs. I sat across from him, nodding in dull comprehension. “Consider it a loan.” “Besides confessing to the plagiarism, is there anything else I need to do?” Twenty thousand dollars wasn’t a small amount. In the face of saving my grandmother’s life, my pride and dignity were completely worthless. “You don’t need to pay it back.” Julian’s Adam’s apple bobbed. After a long pause, he said quietly: “Given Natalie’s personality, she’ll probably make you apologize in front of the whole school.” My expression didn’t change. I nodded to show I understood. It didn’t matter. Even if I had to get on my knees in front of everyone, I would do it. Not long ago, I was just fighting back against Julian for trying to buy me off. Half an hour later, I was easily accepting his money. I simply hadn’t realized how large the sum would be. Julian said: “I’ll also warn Nate. I’ll make sure he stops bothering you.” “No need.” “Liam already went to the dean. They got suspended.” Julian scoffed, a trace of mockery bleeding into his tone. “You really trust him, don’t you?” “People might start thinking he’s the one you have a crush on.” “Do you really think a suspension is going to keep guys like that in line for more than a few days?” He dropped a cold, clinical evaluation: “You’re being naive.” I had zero energy for small talk. “Tomorrow, I’ll publicly confess to plagiarism and apologize to Natalie. After that, we’re done, right?” He kept his eyes downcast and let out a soft “Yeah.” His voice sounded incredibly hoarse. “Okay. I’m going now.” 14 I suppose it was the single stroke of luck in my otherwise miserable life. In the end, I never confessed to the plagiarism. Early the next morning, right before homeroom, I got a call from the hospital. They said someone was transferring my grandmother to another facility. When I rushed over, I saw a sharp-looking woman in a tailored blazer. She was filling out the transfer paperwork. When I saw the name she signed on the forms, my suspicions were confirmed. She was Nana’s youngest daughter—the one who hadn’t come home in twenty years. I walked up and looked up at her. “Aunt Sarah.” She paused, looking down at me. “Are you willing to transfer schools and move to Seattle with me?” “She’ll need someone to look after her post-surgery, and I’m too busy. I might not always be around.” In my pocket, my phone buzzed rapidly with several text notifications. I opened it. The class group chat was exploding. [Holy shit, what are all those reporters doing at the front gate?] [Natalie brought them. She posted online last night saying Chloe plagiarized her to win the scholarship and implied the committee was covering for Chloe. She tagged the local news and the school board… the post went viral. The reporters are here to interview Natalie.] [Oh shit, why did I send this in the class chat?] The message was quickly deleted. I also received a text from an unknown number. “Where are you?” It was almost certainly Julian. I blocked his number, left all my group chats, and deleted my social media accounts. I looked up at my aunt and smiled. “I’m willing to transfer.”

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The surgery was over, and the baby did not survive. The nurse told me to find someone to stay with me, so I clutched my cracked phone and dialed my husband’s number again. The one who answered was his friend, and his voice carried a smile. “Ethan is inside with the kid, so he left his phone with me.” From the other end of the line came the gentle voice of a preschool teacher. “The child is very attached to Mr. Lancaster, and he kept calling him Daddy while filling out the forms.” My throat went dry. “Where is he?” “At the .” The phone was passed over, and the man’s low voice finally sounded, rushed and impatient. “Chloe Parker, I’m busy right now, so go home and wait for me.” The nurse leaned toward the phone and said coldly, “Sir, your wife just fell down the stairs and had a miscarriage, so please come over as soon as possible!” The other end of the line went dead silent for a moment. Right after that, a woman’s voice came through. “Ethan, should I put your phone number on the parent commitment form?” The way she called him “Ethan” was far too familiar. He did not answer the nurse, and only lowered his voice. “Chloe Parker, don’t make a scene today.” The call ended. I did not want him anymore.

Chloe Parker POV “The surgery is over, and the baby did not survive. You can’t move around right now, so it would be best to find someone to stay with you.” The nurse kept her voice very soft and looked at me, who had just finished surgery, with sympathy all over her face. I stared at the snow-white ceiling, and it took me a long while before I understood what she had said. Before I fell down the steps outside the interior design firm, I had no idea I was pregnant. Today was the third anniversary of Ethan Lancaster’s and my engagement. We had originally agreed to finalize the last version of the interior design plan for our new home, and I had pushed back a meeting to arrive half an hour early, but the receptionist told me, “Mr. Lancaster just canceled the appointment, and the lighting plan for the primary bedroom and all furniture measurements have been postponed.” I called Ethan Lancaster, but no one answered. Just as I was about to go downstairs to look for him, I tried to avoid a worker pushing a sample rack, slipped, and fell heavily down the steps. Before I lost consciousness, I was still gripping that new-home design plan tightly in my hand. Seeing how pale I looked, the nurse could not help asking again, “Do you want to try contacting him one more time?” With trembling hands, I picked up my phone with its shattered screen and dialed that number again. It rang for a long time before someone finally picked up, but the voice that came through was not Ethan Lancaster’s. “Chloe?” Ethan Lancaster’s friend Ryan Carter sounded amused. “Ethan is inside with the kid, so he left his phone with me.” “Where is he?” My throat was dry and hoarse. “At the preschool center.” The background noise on Ryan Carter’s end was a little chaotic, and he explained vaguely, “He’s just helping a friend deal with a preschool assessment…” Before he could finish, the gentle voice of a preschool teacher came clearly from the other end of the line. “The child is very attached to Mr. Lancaster, and he kept calling him Daddy while filling out the forms. For future enrollment, it would be better if a stable parent or guardian could be there with him.” Ryan Carter immediately covered the receiver, but those words had already entered my ears clearly. Ryan Carter hurried to explain, “Chloe, don’t misunderstand, Ethan is just helping out…” “Where is Ethan Lancaster?” I interrupted him, and my hand instinctively moved to my flat lower abdomen. A child I had not even known existed had just been lost there. The phone was handed over, and Ethan Lancaster’s low voice finally sounded, carrying urgency and impatience. “Chloe Parker, I’m busy right now, so go home and wait for me.” The nurse beside me could not stand it anymore and leaned toward the phone, speaking coldly. “Sir, your wife just fell down the stairs and had a miscarriage, so please come over as soon as possible!” The other end of the line went dead silent for a moment. Ethan Lancaster froze. “What?” I closed my eyes, and right after that, I heard a woman’s voice come through the receiver. “Ethan, should I put your phone number on the parent commitment form? The teacher said Lily only listens to you right now.” The way she called him “Ethan” was far too familiar. Ethan Lancaster did not respond to the nurse, and only lowered his voice into the phone. “Chloe Parker, don’t make a scene today. The child has only just calmed down, and I’ll come over later.” The call was ended from his side. The nurse’s face turned livid with anger. “What kind of family member is that?” I did not cry. I turned my head, and while the nurse was organizing my paperwork, a payment receipt that did not belong to me slipped out. Patient: Margaret Bennett. Accompanying person: Ethan Lancaster. Note: Olivia Bennett’s mother. Olivia Bennett. The first love Ethan Lancaster had always held closest to his heart. I looked at my empty palm, and my fingertips ached faintly.

Chloe Parker POV By the time Ethan Lancaster appeared in the hospital room, it was already the evening of the next day. He was holding the test results he had just picked up from the nurses’ station, and he turned to instruct the caregiver behind him in a low voice. “Don’t miss Margaret Bennett’s evening follow-up. Olivia Bennett can’t handle everything alone, so call me directly if anything happens.” “Don’t worry, Mr. Lancaster. Ms. Bennett even said just now that it was all thanks to you for arranging the specialist appointment.” “It’s what I should do.” Ethan Lancaster’s voice was very steady. I lay in the hospital bed with an IV catheter in the back of my hand, and when I heard those words, my stomach churned. Ethan Lancaster and I had been engaged for three years, and when I got sick or had a fever, he only asked his assistant to send medicine. When I asked when we would get married, he said the company was too busy. But the moment Olivia Bennett came back, he could rush to pick her up at the airport, accompany her to a preschool assessment, and even remember exactly what time the caregiver’s shift changed. Ethan Lancaster pulled open the curtain, and when he saw that I was awake, his brow furrowed slightly. “You’re awake? What did the doctor say?” “The baby is gone.” Ethan Lancaster’s movements paused, and his Adam’s apple bobbed before he finally asked after a long moment, “Why didn’t you tell me before?” I suddenly found it absurd beyond words. “If I had known earlier, would I still have gone to that interior design site you canceled on your own to look for you? Would I still have waited for you to tell me not to make a scene?” Ethan Lancaster’s face darkened, and he reached out as if to touch my shoulder. “I’ll handle this, so focus on recovering first.” I turned my head and avoided him. His hand hovered in midair, and his brows tightened. “Are you blaming me?” “Shouldn’t I blame you?” Ethan Lancaster choked on the question, and just as he was about to speak, his phone suddenly lit up. There was only one word on the screen: Ethan. I clearly saw Ethan Lancaster’s eyes change in an instant. It was an instinctive kind of tension. He walked to the window and answered the call, his voice pressed extremely low. “The interview didn’t pass? Don’t cry, it’s not your fault. Lily just came back from overseas and isn’t used to it yet, so I’ll talk to the teacher again.” After hanging up, he turned around. “I’ll come see you again tonight.” “You’re going to Olivia Bennett?” I asked calmly. A trace of unnaturalness flashed through Ethan Lancaster’s eyes, and his tone turned stiff. “She just came back, the kid’s preschool enrollment isn’t going smoothly, and she has no one around.” “Do I have anyone around me?” The words were very light, but they made Ethan Lancaster freeze where he stood. He lowered his voice, and a warning entered his tone. “Chloe Parker, don’t compare yourself to her. Olivia Bennett is divorced, and it isn’t easy for her to raise a child alone.” “I just had a miscarriage, and it isn’t easy for me either.” I looked into his eyes, my voice cold. A crack finally appeared in Ethan Lancaster’s expression. But very soon, his phone lit up again. This time, he did not even bother to explain, and he grabbed the coat draped over the back of the chair. “I’ll ask the caregiver to come stay with you.” The hospital room door closed. I slowly turned my head and looked out the window. I used to think that if I behaved a little better and was a little more forgiving, I could warm this man’s heart. It was not until today that I finally understood completely: Ethan Lancaster had not been pushed away, and he had simply never planned to stand beside me from the very beginning. On the day I was discharged, Ethan Lancaster did not come, and only sent his driver with a few changes of clothes and a bank card. “Mr. Lancaster had something come up suddenly, so he asked me to take you back to the villa first.” The driver stood to the side awkwardly. The villa was the engagement house Ethan Lancaster had bought, and my name was written on the property title. He once promised that with that house, I would always have a home. I sat silently in the back seat.

Chloe Parker POV The car started, and a glaring “Family Schedule Reminder” suddenly popped up on the navigation screen. [3:00 p.m., Lily’s preschool follow-up meeting.] [7:00 p.m., Olivia Bennett’s mother’s follow-up appointment.] Those two sentences were like two loud slaps. Our new-home appointment had been canceled, yet he had packed Olivia Bennett’s schedule full. The driver noticed the strange atmosphere from the rearview mirror and quickly explained, “Ms. Parker, Mr. Lancaster actually cares about you a lot, and last night he even called me specifically to ask whether the caregiver had arrived…” “Where was he last night?” I interrupted coldly. The driver instantly shut up. The car stopped at the villa. I entered my fingerprint, and when my gaze swept over the information on the access control screen, my movements abruptly froze. Under the family members section, two names had appeared out of nowhere: Olivia Bennett and Lily. My access was listed as “fiancée,” while Olivia Bennett’s access was marked as “temporary guardian contact.” I pushed the door open, and the maid came out of the kitchen holding a glass of water. When she saw me, she panicked. “Ms. Parker! Why are you back today? Mr. Lancaster said you would stay in the hospital for a few more days, and I haven’t had time to clean up yet…” I did not miss her guilty look, and I lifted my eyes toward the second floor. The wall where our wedding photo had originally been planned was empty, and in its place was a new design draft titled “Child-Friendly Space Adjustments.” Several storage boxes were piled by the study door, and inside them were a children’s dining chair and preschool enrollment materials. A handwritten note from Ethan Lancaster lay pressed on the desk: [Pad the sharp corners, remove the glass table, and Olivia Bennett is bringing the child to see the place this weekend.] Not a single thing belonged to me. The maid followed behind me in a panic, sweat breaking out all over her forehead. “Ms. Parker, please don’t misunderstand! Mr. Lancaster said Ms. Bennett just returned from overseas and has nowhere to put her documents, so he recorded her access first for a couple of days and will delete it in a few days…” “Has Olivia Bennett been here?” I turned to look at her. The maid instantly fell silent. I understood completely. I did not lose my temper, and only turned and walked into the primary bedroom. Our engagement photo was still on the nightstand. In the photo, I smiled brightly, while Ethan Lancaster looked indifferent, and his hand was not even around me, only resting lightly behind my shoulder. I used to think that was restraint, but now I knew it was distance. I dragged my suitcase out of the closet. “Ms. Parker! Where are you going?” The maid was frightened. “Mr. Lancaster said you haven’t recovered yet and can’t run around!” “Back to my own place.” As soon as I finished speaking, my phone screen lit up. Ethan Lancaster sent a message: [Don’t run around. I’ll come back tonight and talk to you.] I looked at that commanding line from above and coldly typed my reply: [Fine.] I really did need to talk to him. But it would definitely not be in this new home that had already been prepared for another woman. Ethan Lancaster did not come back that night. I waited until the lights outside the window went dark one by one, and the oatmeal porridge on the dining table cooled, was reheated, cooled again, and reheated again. I sat on the sofa with a coat around me, and waves of dull pain came up inside my body after the anesthesia had worn off. Close to eleven, Ryan Carter called. “Chloe, Ethan has something to do tonight.” Ryan Carter’s voice was much more cautious than during the day. “Olivia Bennett’s kid has a high fever and is making a fuss. Don’t wait for him, and rest early.” I asked, “Did he ask you to call?” Ryan Carter was silent for a moment. “His phone died.” Leaning against the back of the sofa, I suddenly asked, “Ryan Carter, did you know I had a miscarriage?”

Chloe Parker POV There was no sound on the other end of the line. After a long while, Ryan Carter said in a low voice, “I know.” “He knows too.” “Chloe…” “Don’t call me Chloe.” I interrupted him. “He and I are already over.” Ryan Carter was rendered speechless, and after a long pause, he finally said, “Ethan has you in his heart. He owes Olivia Bennett too much, and when she left so suddenly back then, he never really let go. Now that she’s divorced and has come back with a child, he can’t just watch and do nothing.” I listened very calmly. “So he should take care of her.” Ryan Carter let out a breath of relief. “It’s good that you can understand.” “I can understand,” I said. “And I should leave too.” Ryan Carter froze. “What do you mean?” I did not explain and hung up directly. I got up and went to the study, opened the computer, and finished writing the handover sheet for the work I was responsible for. Ethan Lancaster had never liked me tiring myself out too much, saying that the Parker family and the Lancaster family did not need my little salary, and that after marriage, I could work if I wanted to, or stay home and grow flowers if I did not. Back then, I thought it was nice to be taken care of. Looking at it now, the care he spoke of was sometimes a gilded cage. Bit by bit, I gave up my own path, and what I got in return was not peace of mind, but his ability to bring someone else into my home whenever he wanted. At dawn, my phone popped up with Olivia Bennett’s new post. This time, it was a photo from the preschool center. A little girl was sitting on a soft mat building blocks, and Ethan Lancaster was half-kneeling beside her with a temporary parent badge on his chest. Olivia Bennett captioned it: Some doors are opened for you without you even having to ask. Someone commented below: Is that her dad? His side profile is so handsome. Olivia Bennett did not deny it and only replied with a smiling face. I turned off my phone, and a faint taste of rust rose in my throat. I remembered a long time ago, when Ethan Lancaster first brought me to meet his friends. Someone had drunk too much and said half-jokingly, “Chloe Parker, don’t take this too seriously. If the woman in Ethan’s heart comes back, things will get awkward for you.” Ethan Lancaster frowned and scolded that person at the time. “Don’t talk nonsense.” I thought he was defending me. Thinking about it now, what he had defended was only the Lancaster family’s reputation. Early the next morning, Ethan Lancaster finally came back. When he saw the suitcase in the living room, his face instantly darkened. “Where are you going?” I had already changed my clothes. My body was still weak, and I could not stand very steadily, but my voice was very clear. “Back to my own apartment.” Ethan Lancaster pressed his brow, and a crease formed between his eyebrows. “Chloe Parker, don’t use this method to make a scene with me. The villa was originally given to you.” “Then why was my photo wall taken down?” He avoided my gaze. “Olivia Bennett’s documents are a mess, so she’s temporarily borrowing this place to store some things.” “When she needs it, you give it to her.” I raised my eyes to look at him. “I also need a place without her name in it.” Some of the patience in Ethan Lancaster’s eyes faded. “She’s not doing well right now. You’ve always been understanding, so why won’t you take a step back this time?” When I heard his words, I suddenly found them laughable. I was understanding, so I did not push for marriage after three years of engagement. I was understanding, so I pretended not to see it when he stayed with Olivia Bennett. I was understanding, so even after I had just lost my child, I had to make way for his guilt toward her. I pulled up the suitcase handle. “Ethan Lancaster, I’m not here to discuss this with you.” Ethan Lancaster reached out and gripped the handle. “I don’t agree.” I looked at his hand, my tone cold. “There are already too many things you don’t agree with now.”

Chloe Parker POV Ethan Lancaster did not let me leave. He pushed the suitcase back into the living room, told the maid to guard the door, and had the driver take the car away. In that instant, I finally truly saw how forceful he knew he could be. In the past, I went along with him, and he treated that as a matter of course. “When your body is a little better, I’ll send you back to stay for a few days.” Ethan Lancaster stood at the doorway and used a tone meant to soothe me. “Don’t wear yourself out right now.” I sat back on the sofa, my face so pale it was almost transparent. “I can’t even leave if I want to?” Ethan Lancaster did not answer. He received a call from Olivia Bennett and hurried out again. Before leaving, he instructed the maid, “Watch her, and don’t let her run around.” Those words fell lightly, and I suddenly felt that this villa had turned into another hospital room. The doors and windows were all lit up, but not a single place belonged to me. I did not argue anymore. In the afternoon, Ethan Lancaster’s mother called. Her voice was cold, and she started by blaming me. “I heard you’re throwing a tantrum with Ethan. Chloe Parker, you’re not a little girl anymore, and when a man socializes outside and takes care of friends, you should be considerate of him.” I held the phone. “Mrs. Lancaster, I just had a miscarriage.” The other end went quiet for a moment, but she quickly continued, “I heard about that. But the baby is already gone, and you can’t use that to tie Ethan down for the rest of his life.” My fingers slowly tightened. She continued, “I’ve met Olivia Bennett’s child, and her life hasn’t been easy. It isn’t easy for her to raise a daughter alone. Ethan values loyalty, and that is a good quality. If you truly want to marry into the Lancaster family, don’t embarrass the Lancaster family over something like this.” I asked in a low voice, “If I want to marry your son, do I have to give up my own home?” Her tone darkened. “The villa is under your name, so what else are you unhappy about? When a woman is too petty, sooner or later she pushes a man away.” I did not keep listening and hung up. I knew she did not like me. The Parker family was not bad, but compared with the Lancaster family, there was still a gap. Ethan Lancaster’s mother always said I was gentle and knew the bigger picture, making me suitable to be a good wife. Back then, I could not hear what was hidden inside that compliment, but now I understood. That word “suitable” was only because I was easy to control. At dusk, Olivia Bennett came with the child. The maid was obviously panicked when she opened the door. “Ms. Bennett, Mr. Lancaster isn’t here.” Olivia Bennett stood at the doorway holding the child, wearing a beige dress and looking fragile and clean. When she saw me, she froze for a moment, then gave me an apologetic smile. “Ms. Parker, sorry to bother you. The teacher said Lily needs to get familiar with the home environment, so I had no choice but to bring her over to wait for Ethan.” She called Ethan Lancaster “ Uncle Ethan,” and her tone was far too intimate. I sat on the sofa and did not get up. “This is not a waiting room.” Olivia Bennett’s eyes immediately turned red. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you minded this much. I just… I don’t really have any friends here, and Ethan said this place was convenient.” The child began crying in her arms, and Olivia Bennett comforted her in a panic while her tears also fell. “Lily, don’t cry anymore. I’ll take you away, and we won’t upset Ms. Parker. This was never our home anyway.” The maid was so frightened that she did not know what to do. Watching Olivia Bennett’s practiced display of retreat, I suddenly understood why Ethan Lancaster always felt Olivia Bennett needed protection. Olivia Bennett was very good at making people feel that anyone who did not yield to her was heartless. When Ethan Lancaster came back, what he saw was Olivia Bennett standing at the door holding the child and crying, while I sat on the sofa and watched coldly. His face darkened almost instantly. “Chloe Parker, what did you do this time?” I looked up at him. Those words were too familiar. Every time something happened with Olivia Bennett, he always first asked what I had done. Olivia Bennett hurriedly held him back. “Ethan, don’t blame Ms. Parker. I shouldn’t have come.” Ethan Lancaster lowered his head to look at her, and his voice softened. “Go inside first.” At that moment, I completely lost the desire to argue. I stood up, supporting myself on the armrest of the sofa, and my body swayed. Ethan Lancaster instinctively tried to steady me, but I took a step back. “Take your time talking.” Ethan Lancaster frowned. “Where are you going?” I looked at the extra names on the access control screen, and my voice was very soft. “Give me my home back.”

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On the first day of summer break, my parents found me another job. “A supermarket clerk. The pay is decent, and you can build some real-world experience.” From my freshman to senior year of college, they had repeated this exact phrase for four years. During my freshman year, they packed me off to work in a factory while they took Lily to Hawaii. During my sophomore year, they sent me to work at a convenience store while they paid for Lily’s driving lessons. During my junior year, they made me work as a janitor while they jetted off to the Maldives with Lily. So, where were they going this year? “Tokyo, Japan.” My older brother, Logan, pushed the door open, smiling as he handed me a pair of sneakers. “I bought these specifically for you. You can stand for ten hours in them easily.” “I’m paying for the trip this year,” Logan added. “Lily is still young. It’s the perfect time for her to see the world.” Lily smiled sweetly, squealing as she threw her arms around his neck. “Logan, you’re the best! I knew you guys loved me the most.” I looked at my parents. They quickly avoided my gaze. Nobody cared how I felt, even though I was only a year older than Lily. I suddenly smiled, knelt down, and put on the shoes. They were lightweight. Light enough for me to run far away from this family.

My mother was packing Lily’s suitcase when she suddenly remembered something. She looked up and called out to Logan: “Logan, Lily is starting her senior year next year. You have to keep an eye out and help her find a good job.” “The job market is brutal for college grads right now. Good openings are hard to find. You…” She stopped mid-sentence. She seemed to suddenly realize there was another daughter in the room who was actually graduating this semester. Logan didn’t notice the tension at all. “Don’t worry. I’ve already pulled some strings. The moment Lily graduates, she can start at a major corporation.” He paused, finally remembering my existence. He asked, purely out of politeness: “Chloe, do you need any help?” “No.” I had already found a job. An overseas posting to Mexico. I’d be leaving in a few days, as soon as my college diploma arrived. Logan gave a brief nod and dropped the subject. My father, sensing the awkward silence, tried to smooth things over with a chuckle. “Chloe has always been independent. We never have to worry about her.” My hand froze on my shoelaces. I wasn’t independent by choice. I just knew that if I didn’t do everything myself, nobody would help me. Logan was the firstborn, enjoying six years of undivided attention. Lily was the baby of the family, the little princess pampered by our parents. Then there was me. Wedged in the middle, practically invisible. Lily set down her soda and ran over, grabbing my arm. “Is there anything you want? I can bring you back a souvenir!” Her expression was sincere, but there was a flicker of guilt in her eyes. So, she did realize how unfair this was. But I knew better. She would forget. Just like on every other trip, she would remember the silk scarf our mother wanted, and the tie our father needed. She would even hunt down vintage cameras for Logan. But she would never remember me. That flash of guilt on her face vanished in an instant. I was used to it. I gave her a gentle smile. “Just bring back whatever you find.” My mother stopped packing and smiled at me. “Chloe, look how sweet Lily is to you.” “Aren’t you going to show some appreciation if she’s bringing you back a gift?” My father seemed to be waiting for this. He chimed in smoothly. “Tell you what. Why don’t you give Lily your first month’s salary from the supermarket as pocket money?” “Oh, no, it’s fine,” Lily said, brushing it off with a casual wave. Logan patted her head. “Don’t be too polite. Just focus on having fun.” With just a few sentences, they decided how my hard-earned money would be spent. They didn’t even bother to ask my opinion. It had been like this every year since my freshman year. Last year, after paying my tuition, I was completely broke. I asked Lily to lend me fifty dollars for food. Five minutes after she sent me the money… Both my mother and Logan called me. “You’re a grown adult! How could you take Lily’s money?” “If you’re short on cash, ask us. Why are you taking advantage of Lily?” But an hour before that, I had texted my mother asking for help, and she had completely ignored me. Meanwhile, she replied to Lily’s texts within seconds. My phone buzzed. I took my shoes off and went to my bedroom. It was an email from the company. “The paperwork is complete. We will meet in New York next Monday for orientation.” “Understood.” Right after I sent the reply, there was a knock on my door. Lily pushed the door open and walked straight to my suitcase. “My suitcase is so ugly. Can I borrow yours for the trip?” “No, I need it.” “For what? You’re not going anywhere.” I stayed silent. She didn’t want my suitcase because it looked nice. She wanted it because she didn’t care about ruining it. No matter how carefully I kept my things, they always came back scratched and dented whenever she borrowed them. The air in the room grew heavy. She stood there, her face darkening as she stared at me. Seeing that I wasn’t backing down, she stormed out and slammed the door. I silently counted down in my head. “Five, four, three, two… one.” Bang! The door was flung open again. “Chloe Miller.” My parents stood at the door, with Logan right behind them.

“Lily just wants to borrow your suitcase. Why are you being so selfish?” “You won’t even share a simple thing. Are we not a family?” “I need it.” This time, I didn’t back down. “Forget it. If she doesn’t want to lend it, then don’t force her,” Lily sniffled from behind them, looking incredibly hurt. My parents immediately hugged her, whispering comforting words. Logan stared at me, his eyes narrowing. Suddenly, he walked back to his room. He dragged out a sky-blue suitcase. “Lily, use this one.” My grip on the doorknob tightened. That suitcase was a gift I had saved up to buy for Logan. Lily knew exactly what it was. She shot me a deliberate, mocking look. “I don’t know, Logan… Chloe might get upset.” Logan’s face was completely blank. He was doing this on purpose. Just as he was about to speak… I cut in. “It’s fine. It’s his now. He can do whatever he wants with it.” The room fell dead silent. Logan snapped his head to look at me, his brows furrowing. But he didn’t say another word. He just took Lily and left. At dinner, nobody called me. When I finally walked out, they were deep in a lively discussion. “Warm gray is so elegant and cozy. I vote for warm gray for the living room paint,” my mother said. Logan chimed in naturally. “Actually, off-white fits modern aesthetics better. It’s minimalist and chic.” Lily grabbed a piece of chicken and giggled. “I don’t care how you guys decorate the rest of the house, but I get full control over my bedroom!” My father didn’t join the debate, happily eating his food. But then his eyes caught me standing there. He coughed loudly. Their conversation died instantly. So, they bought a new house, and I was the only one who didn’t know. I sat down and took a bite of the closest dish. It felt like swallowing needles. My parents exchanged a look, and my mother cleared her throat. “Chloe, we bought a new place. The rooms are already assigned, but you should go check it out when you have time.” I slowly swallowed my food and asked in a raspy voice: “When did you buy it?” “Six months ago. We just… didn’t find the right time to tell you.” Whether they didn’t have the time or just didn’t want to tell me, I could easily tell the difference. I gave a quiet nod and suddenly asked: “What’s the passcode?” “971604.” 971604. The combination of Logan and Lily’s birthdays. I looked up at her, my lips trembling slightly. “When is my birthday?” My mother froze, her expression turning defensive. “What’s wrong with you? Did you seriously forget your own birthday?” My father laughed, thinking I was joking. “You were born in the winter. You actually came early. It was snowing heavily that day, and your mother slipped. She almost didn’t make it through labor. She suffered so much to bring you into this world. She always says you were born to collect a debt from her.” My mother coughed, looking uncomfortable, and avoided my eyes. “Why bring that up now?” I lowered my head, my hands shaking uncontrollably under the table. A few minutes later, Logan and Lily finished eating. They piled their dirty dishes on the table and retreated to their rooms. After my father left the table, my mother stood up too. “Chloe, family rule: whoever finishes last does the dishes.” With that, she turned and left. The dining table was cluttered with scraps and dirty plates. I was always the slowest. Because during dinner, no one ever bothered to call me to the table. My mother would call Logan; my father would call Lily. By the time I came out, the food was mostly gone. And so, the dishes were always my job. While I was cleaning up the kitchen, my grandparents called. “I heard from Logan that you guys are taking Lily to Japan?” My grandmother’s voice came through the speaker. “Yes! Is there anything you want us to bring back?” my mother answered happily. My grandmother laughed and said she didn’t need anything. “Isn’t Chloe going?” Without a second thought, my mother replied: “Oh, no, she’s not. She wants to work to get some life experience.” “That girl…” My grandfather sighed on the line but didn’t push further. Because for the last four years of college, my parents had always given the exact same excuses. “Isn’t Chloe coming to the amusement park?” “No, she wants to stay home and study.” “Isn’t Chloe skiing with you guys?” “No, she hates sports.” “Isn’t Chloe getting her portraits taken?” “She has a breakout right now; she doesn’t want to take photos.” … In their narrative, I was a dull bookworm, an antisocial ghost, a fool who only cared about working hard. That way, no one could call them out on their unfairness—because “that’s just how Chloe is.”

The doorbell rang. I put the last plate on the drying rack, wiped a tear from the corner of my eye, and walked to the front door. “Hi, delivery. Sign here, please.” It was my college diploma. A sudden weight lifted from my chest. It meant I could finally leave. “What’s that?” Logan’s voice sounded from behind me. He was holding a cup of coffee, his hands in his pockets, watching the faint smile on my lips. “My diploma.” “Oh,” he murmured, turning to leave, but then stopped. “Do you want a graduation gift? I did promise I’d get you one.” I froze. I hadn’t expected him to remember. But I had long stopped expecting anything from him. After a few seconds of silence, I looked up. “Can you drive me to get a vaccine tomorrow?” The company required us to get specific vaccinations before our overseas posting to Mexico, just in case. “That’s it?” he asked, surprised. I nodded. “That’s it.” He shrugged and agreed. The next afternoon, with my bag packed, I stood by the door waiting for him. But when Logan came out, he had a look of helplessness on his face. “Lily needs to buy some clothes for the trip. I’m going to drop her off at the mall first. I’ll drive you as soon as I get back.” “But my appointment is set.” “Can’t you just reschedule? Lily is leaving tomorrow; she’s in a rush.” The words died in my throat. Seeing my silence, Lily’s eyes instantly welled with tears. She clutched the hem of her shirt and muttered softly: “It’s fine, I don’t need new clothes. Logan, you should just take Chloe.” Logan immediately dismissed her worry. “Don’t talk like that. You need to look nice for the trip, don’t you?” Then, as if realizing he was being visibly biased, he threw the decision back to me. “Chloe, what do you think?” I looked at his face, seeing the silent pressure in his eyes. I felt incredibly exhausted. They pretended to let me decide. But we all knew the choice had never been mine to make. I stayed silent for a few seconds, then forced a small smile. “Go ahead.” Logan sighed in relief. Lily ran over and planted a kiss on my cheek. “Thanks, Chloe!” “Don’t worry about it.” I took an Uber and got the vaccine on my own. Afterward, I booked a train ticket for the next day. When I got home, Lily was busy showing off her new clothes to my parents. Finally, she pulled out the gifts she bought for them. My mother showered her with praise, but the moment she saw me walk in, her smile vanished. “Chloe, I have to say, Lily is so much more thoughtful than you. She always remembers to buy things for your father and me, but you never think of us.” “Where would I get the money?” The only reason Lily could buy them gifts was because my mother had handed her two thousand dollars before she left for the mall. Lily was just using their own money to buy their affection, and my mother knew it. Yet, she still chose to use it to hurt me. “What is that supposed to mean? Are you complaining that I don’t give you money? How old are you? Still bitter and comparing yourself to Lily?” My mother hadn’t expected me to talk back. She sputtered in disbelief before launching into an angry tirade. “I’m twenty-four. Only a year older than Lily.” “That’s enough!” my father barked, cutting me off. “You’re a grown adult. Why are you picking fights with your mother?” Logan looked at me with a complicated expression. “Chloe, what is up with your attitude lately?” With everyone taking her side, my mother’s eyes turned red. She sniffled and stormed back to her bedroom, playing the victim.

“Chloe, you need to go apologize to Mom.” Lily blocked my path, grabbing my arm with a serious, self-righteous expression. “Let go of me.” She shook her head, looking down at me as if she were my moral superior. “She’s your mother. She gave you life. How can you treat her like that? You’re so ungrateful.” A deep, heavy sadness washed over me. In this house, she was the absolute last person who had any right to lecture me. I had tolerated everything, stayed quiet, and never caused trouble. And yet, even a tiny murmur of discontent wasn’t allowed. Everyone loved her, so everything she did was right. “You’re so noble, aren’t you?” My voice was barely a whisper. I didn’t even look at her. But the moment those words left my mouth, her face twisted in rage. She screamed at me as if she had been deeply insulted: “No wonder Mom and Dad don’t like you! You’re a freak!” With that, she shoved me hard and ran into her bedroom. I stumbled back, hitting my hip hard against the sharp corner of the dining table. Pain shot through my body, forcing me to double over. Logan rushed past me to comfort the crying Lily. My father went into the bedroom to soothe my mother. Nobody cared about me. Good. Clutching my bruised hip, I slowly dragged myself back to my bedroom. That night, once again, nobody called me for dinner. I was in too much pain to have an appetite anyway, so I stayed in my room. But when I went out to use the bathroom later, the table was piled high with dirty dishes. They were waiting for me to clean up. Maybe they even thought they were giving me a “way out”—assuming I would crawl back to them, doing the chores like a pathetic maid just to get back in their great graces. But I was done. The next afternoon, my parents and Lily were excitedly preparing to leave for the airport. When they saw me, their chatter paused for a second. Then my mother let out a cold sneer. “Always walking around with that miserable face, like the whole world owes her something.” Logan followed me into the bathroom. He watched me through the mirror, his voice deep and stern. “Are you really not going to apologize to Mom? Can you really watch her leave for vacation unhappy?” “She looks perfectly happy to me.” I shook the water off my hands, dried them, and pushed past him. Logan’s face turned pale with anger as he followed me out. Just as he opened his mouth to snap at me… My mother cut him off. “Stop wasting your breath on her. She’s just a stray dog that bites anyone who gets close.” This time, neither my father nor Logan, who usually tried to keep the peace, said a word. I was the first to walk out of the house. When we met downstairs, Lily suddenly froze. “Chloe, where are you going?” “Where else? To her job,” my mother sneered, pulling Lily toward the waiting Uber. But suddenly, my father stopped. His eyes fell on my suitcase. If I was just going to the local supermarket, which was down the street, why did I have a heavy travel suitcase? My father’s heart skipped a beat. He waved at me frantically, but when I didn’t look back, his pace quickened as he walked toward me. “Chloe! Where are you going?” But the next second, a loud, sharp horn blared. He froze in his tracks, his face turning pale.

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Just because of one word from his little assistant, the entire company’s team-building event was changed to an extreme Via Ferrata cliff-climbing course. But I was eight months pregnant. I had just started bleeding, and the doctor had strictly ordered me to stay in bed to save my baby. I held my husband Marcus’s hand, begging him to let me stay at the hotel instead of climbing. Before Marcus could even speak, his assistant, Chloe, smiled and cut in: “Sera, you’re not looking down on us, are you? It’s just a team-building event, but you refuse to join. Do you always have to be so special?” “It’s just climbing a cliff. It’s not like we’re asking you to give birth right there.” The conference room burst into laughter. Marcus’s face darkened. “If everyone else can go, why can’t you?” Furious, I yelled back at him, “I am carrying your child! Do you want me to risk his life just to show off for your company?” Stunned by my outburst, he quickly changed his tune, telling me I could just rest at the hotel. But the next morning, when I opened my eyes, I found myself tied to a sheer cliff face. Looking down, there was only a bottomless abyss. The safety rope on my harness was just a flimsy, single-line cord. As I reached for my phone to call for help, Chloe’s voice drifted down from right above me: “Hang in there, Sera! Marcus personally chose the safest route for you. No one else even got the chance! Don’t let his hard work go to waste!” Looking at the helicopter hovering in the sky above, I was about to scream curses at them. But what Marcus said next made my blood run dead cold. “Sera, stop using the baby in your belly to threaten me. Because that bastard isn’t even mine.”

I thought I had heard him wrong. “What did you just say?” I stared at the helicopter hovering in mid-air, my voice shattered by the howling wind. Marcus held a megaphone, a vicious, cold sneer plastered across his face. “Are you deaf? I said the bastard in your womb isn’t mine!” “Ever since I met Chloe, I haven’t touched you once in the past year!” My brain exploded. Memories of the dark nights over the past year flashed through my mind. Marcus always lit a strange, fragrant incense in the bedroom. He always blindfolded me with a black cloth, claiming it was to add some excitement to our marriage. And I, like an idiot, actually believed his lies! “You sick bastards!” I screamed with every ounce of strength left in my lungs. Chloe leaned half her body out of the helicopter, holding a megaphone and laughing hysterically. “Don’t be so angry, Sera. The old man’s will has already been signed anyway.” “Marcus has officially inherited the family fortune now. You and that bastard in your belly are completely useless to us.” With that, she threw a plastic water bottle right at me. The bottle slammed hard against my forehead, making my vision spin with bright stars. I gripped the rusted iron rungs on the cliff face, the agonizing pain in my abdomen ripping through me in waves. Warm blood had already soaked through my hiking pants, dripping down my legs. “Marcus, I was your wife for three years!” I screamed in utter despair. “Even if you want a divorce, you don’t have to kill me!” Marcus looked down at me with nothing but disgust and sheer hatred. “If you don’t die, how am I supposed to collect the $80 million accidental death insurance policy?” “Besides, Chloe is pregnant now. We need to clear away any obstacles for our true love.” I froze, staring in shock at Chloe’s slightly bloated belly. My heart died completely. This was the man for whom I had abandoned my career and my family. He was a heartless, greedy piece of trash who had absolutely no limits! Just then, a few colleagues from the company climbed up from the route below. Each of them was equipped with heavy-duty double safety ropes and professional helmets. “Oh, look, isn’t that Sera?” Leo from the sales department yelled. “Why is her pants covered in blood? Did she wet herself on the cliff?” Ross, the HR manager, gripped the rock with one hand and laughed out loud. “Wetting herself? No way. She probably splashed fake blood on herself to play the victim!” “Don’t you see the boss watching from the helicopter? She’s definitely putting on a show to get sympathy.” Another female colleague pulled out her phone and aimed it straight at me. “Sera, smile for the camera! Let everyone see how you’re dragging the team down.” Enduring the agonizing spasms in my abdomen, I screamed to them for help. “Help me! My safety rope is only a single line! It’s about to snap!” “My baby… I’m losing my baby! I’m having a miscarriage!”

Manager Ross rolled his eyes dramatically. “Just shut up already. Chloe already warned us about you.” “She said you hired a prop master to make a fake blood pack just to ruin our team-building trip.” “We’re not falling for your tricks!” One by one, they climbed right past me, stepping ruthlessly on the iron rungs right next to my fingers. Leo even went out of his way to kick my ankle with his heavy hiking boot. My foot slipped. My entire body weight slammed instantly onto that single, flimsy safety rope. Rrrriiiip. A terrifying tearing sound echoed from the harness around my waist. The cheap safety rope had ripped one-third of the way through! My body plummeted violently, leaving me dangling in the empty air against the sheer cliff face. Directly beneath me was a bottomless abyss filled with sharp, jagged rocks. “Ah!” I shrieked in absolute terror. The blood from my thighs flowed faster now, dripping directly onto Leo’s face below. Leo wiped his face in disgust, cursing under his breath. “Gross! This fake blood smells so real. You really spent a fortune on this, didn’t you?” He didn’t lift a finger to help me. Instead, he climbed up even faster to get away. Up on the helicopter, Chloe clapped her hands in excitement. “Wow! Bungee jumping! Marcus, look! Sera is about to do a rope-free bungee jump!” Marcus sneered and picked up the megaphone again. “Sera, if you jump down now, I’ll be nice enough to buy you a high-end grave.” “But if you keep wasting everyone’s time like this, I’ll dump your ashes straight into the sewer.” The pain in my abdomen was so intense that I was on the verge of losing consciousness. I could feel it clearly—the baby I had tried so hard to protect for eight months was dying inside me. Using the last bit of my strength, I raised my left hand and pressed a hidden red button on the side of my smartwatch. It was a military-grade emergency channel my brother had personally set up for me three years ago. “Tristan…” I whispered weakly into the watch. “Lock down the airspace. Immediately.” “I’m dying. Make all of them pay with their lives.” Chloe saw my movement through her binoculars and laughed so hard she cried. “Marcus, look at her! She’s talking to a stupid watch! Has she gone completely insane from fear?” Marcus’s face was filled with mockery. “She’s always been crazy. Her whole family is just a bunch of penniless nobodies from some backwater town.” “Who is she even calling for help? The mayor of her little village?” Hysterical laughter erupted from the helicopter cabin. The walkie-talkies of the colleagues on the cliff broadcasted Marcus’s mockery in real-time. Everyone on the cliff was laughing at me. “She thought she hit the jackpot by marrying the boss, acting so high and mighty in the office.” “Now karma’s finally catching up to her. She deserves it!” I bit my lower lip hard, completely ignoring their venomous insults. Only I knew the truth about my family. My grandfather was a highly respected four-star General. My father was a Wall Street billionaire tycoon. And my brother was the Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command. Three years ago, for the sake of what I thought was true love, I hid my identity and married Marcus. I didn’t hesitate to cut ties with my family, enduring endless hardships during these three years. Now, I finally saw this devil’s den for what it truly was!

“What’s the point of calling your town mayor?” Chloe was practically falling over laughing inside the helicopter. She pointed at the military smartwatch on my wrist. “Which flea market did you buy that second-hand trash from?” “Do you really think there’s cell service out here in the mountains to call your little helpers?” Marcus bellowed through the megaphone in agreement. “Sera, even your bluffing is pathetic.” “Is that brother of yours still carrying bricks at some construction site?” “If he actually shows up to save you today, I’ll jump out of this helicopter myself!” The helicopter’s massive rotors whipped up violent gusts of wind. The wind tangled my hair across my face. My face was covered in cold sweat and tears of despair. I stared cold-hard at the man in the designer suit hovering in the air. That $10,000 custom suit he was wearing was bought with my own secret savings. I remembered a rainy night three years ago. Marcus had knelt outside my apartment door, completely stripped of his dignity. Soaked to the bone, he clung to my legs and swore an oath. “Sera, I might be poor right now, but I swear I will never let you suffer. Not even a little bit.” “If anyone dares to touch a single hair on your head, I’ll fight them to the death!” “I am going to make you the happiest woman in the world!” Those were his exact words. And for those cheap, worthless promises, I had blocked my entire family’s contact numbers without hesitation. I willingly lived in a damp, dark basement with him, eating the cheapest instant noodles. I stayed up all night writing business proposals for him, bringing him clients and resources. In just three years, I dragged him up from a low-level salesman to the CEO of his own company. But everything changed six months ago when Chloe joined the company. Chloe drove a luxury car to work. She flaunted her new designer bags every single day. She dropped constant hints to everyone that she was the daughter of a wealthy tycoon. Marcus’s eyes grew greedier every time he looked at her. He started finding excuses to stay out all night. He began complaining that I didn’t know how to dress, mocking me for smelling like a “poor nobody.” I thought he was just letting his fast success get to his head. I never imagined he had already hopped into bed with Chloe, let alone that they were plotting my death! “Marcus! What did I ever do to deserve this?!” I screamed into the sky with everything I had. “I suffered with you! I built your company with you!” “Why do you have to kill me in such a cruel way?!” Hearing my accusation, Marcus’s face turned incredibly dark. He sneered in disgust from the helicopter. “You helped me build the company?” “You’re a penniless girl who couldn’t even afford college tuition! What could you possibly do to help me?” “If Chloe’s father hadn’t promised to invest $50 million in my company, I would have been dragged down by you for the rest of my life!” Chloe proudly stroked her slightly rounded belly. She looked down at me with supreme contempt. “Sera, you need to know your place.” “Marcus is a multi-millionaire CEO now. You don’t belong in his world.” “Only the noble bloodline in my belly is fit to inherit the Vance family fortune.” I felt my stomach churn violently. Blood was still dripping down my legs. My inner thighs were completely numb. The eight-month-old baby in my womb had gone completely still. It was the little life I had cherished and looked forward to for eight long months. Now, it was just a cold, lifeless soul. Seeing that I had stopped struggling, the colleagues below climbed up even more aggressively. Ross, the HR manager, pulled out a crumpled document. Holding onto his safety rope with one hand, he slapped the document hard against my leg. “Sera, stop being so stubborn.” “The boss just said that if you sign over all your founder shares in the company for free,” “He’ll show some mercy and let the rescue team pull you up.” I looked down at the stock transfer agreement covered in my own blood. Finally, I understood Marcus’s entire master plan. Not only did he want to steal my $80 million insurance money. He wanted to completely swallow the very company I had secretly built for him from the ground up!

“In your dreams!” I spat, biting my lip so hard that blood sprayed onto the paper. “I would rather die than let you disgusting parasites get a single penny!” Marcus completely lost his patience. He shoved the pilot aside and grabbed the helicopter’s controls. The helicopter suddenly dipped, diving dangerously close to the cliff where I hung. The massive downdraft from the rotors instantly created a violent storm. The single safety line holding me began to rip apart under the immense strain. “Since you want to play the hero, then go die with your worthless pride!” Marcus roared through the megaphone. “Leo! Help our dear Director Sera on her way!” “Once it’s done, the Vice President position is yours!” Hearing those words, Leo’s eyes lit up with absolute greed. Without a second thought, he unclipped his backup safety hook. Using the iron rungs, he climbed rapidly until he was directly beneath me. He reached up and grabbed my dangling right foot with both hands. “Sorry, Sera!” Leo screamed, his face twisted in a monstrous grin. “But you’re standing in the way of my promotion! Just drop already!” He pulled down on my leg with all his might. My body was yanked violently downward by the force. At last, the safety rope around my waist gave its final, sharp snap. Snap! The cheap nylon rope broke completely in two. My body lost all support, plunging straight down toward the rocky abyss. “Ah!” I screamed as the sensation of weightlessness instantly swallowed me. But in the very next second of my rapid fall, My ten fingers clawed desperately at a sharp, protruding rock edge on the cliff. The massive force of my fall instantly tore the muscles in my shoulders. The agonizing pain of dislocating both shoulders almost made me black out. Below me was the endless, rocky void. I was hanging on by nothing but ten bloody fingers, clinging desperately to the edge of the cliff. “Oh my, this street dog just refuses to die!” Chloe shrieked in frustration from the helicopter. She turned around and grabbed a baseball bat from the cabin. “Marcus, get the helicopter closer!” “I want to knock her down myself!” Without hesitation, Marcus maneuvered the helicopter closer to me. The landing gear was almost touching the top of my head. Chloe leaned halfway out of the cabin. She raised the baseball bat, aiming straight at my hands gripping the rock. “In your next life, remember to keep your eyes open! Don’t touch things that don’t belong to you.” She brought the bat down hard onto my left hand. Crack! The skin on my left hand split instantly, exposing white bone underneath. My entire body convulsed in pure agony, leaving only my right hand to hold the entire weight of my body. A few meters above, Leo laughed mockingly. “Sera! Weren’t you always so capable at the office?” “Why don’t you call your little town mayor brother again?!” Manager Ross joined in on the mockery. “Her phone fell down the cliff. How is she going to call anyone?” “Maybe her brother is eating scraps under some bridge right now!” Before their laughter could fade, My smartwatch vibrated gently against my wrist. I looked up at the sky. Exactly one hundred and eighty seconds had passed since I pressed the emergency button. My brother had told me once: The moment I press that red button, The entire Special Operations Command would arrive, fully armed, within three minutes. Suddenly, a deep, deafening rumble echoed through the sky like thunder. Marcus looked up, confused. Chloe stopped swinging the bat. On the cliff, every single colleague looked up at the sky in unison. In the next second, the entire sky over the mountain range went dark. The sun was completely blocked out. Twenty pitch-black, heavy-duty military attack helicopters ripped through the clouds like a tidal wave of black steel! The terrifying downdraft from the military choppers sent Marcus’s small civilian helicopter spinning wildly out of control. “Ah! Help! The helicopter is going down!” Chloe screamed, dropping the baseball bat and clinging onto the co-pilot’s seat for dear life. Marcus fought the controls frantically, his face turning pale as a sheet. “What is going on?!” “Is there a military exercise here today?!” “Why wasn’t there any airspace restriction notice?!”

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