Category: English

I dolled myself up and went to the hospital to pick up my boyfriend after his shift. Unexpectedly, I discovered he wasn’t there. Before I could even leave the department, my phone buzzed with a SnapChat message: “Mom slipped and fell at home yesterday. I’ve taken a day off to check on her. I won’t be coming home tonight. Take care of yourself.” But hadn’t his mother just called me, excitedly sharing that she was on her way to go hiking? My sixth sense told me that he was hiding something significant. I opened Emily’s Instagram profile. Her latest post was from dinnertime. There were two photos attached. The first showed her foot in a protective boot. The second was the back view of a man busy in the kitchen. The familiar silhouette wore the same shirt I had bought for my boyfriend just last week while we were out shopping. I dolled myself up and headed to the hospital to pick up my boyfriend after his shift. As I approached the nurse’s station, one of the nurses playfully stopped me. “Rachel, didn’t you know Jason didn’t come to work today?” Jason and I worked in different departments at the same hospital. I was confused; he had left for work as usual this morning without any signs of something being amiss. Before I could even leave the department, my phone buzzed with a SnapChat message: “Mom slipped and fell at home yesterday. I’ve taken a day off to check on her. I won’t be coming home tonight. Take care of yourself.” But hadn’t Mrs. Sullivan just called me, excitedly sharing that she was on her way to go hiking? My sixth sense told me that he was hiding something significant.

The call connected just as it was about to go to voicemail. His voice was as warm as ever, perhaps even more tender as he called my name. “Rachel, did the message wake you? Mom fell yesterday, so I went home to check on her. I’ll be back soon.” I clenched my fist slightly. “I came to pick you up after your shift. I’m at the ward entrance.” “It’s my fault. I didn’t want to disturb your rest and ended up worrying you. How about I take you to that new dessert place downstairs when I get back?” The words caught in my throat. After a moment’s hesitation, I took a deep breath before speaking. “Did you know your mom caught an early flight this morning to go hiking out of town?” The other end of the line suddenly went quiet, the atmosphere tense. When he spoke again, even through the phone, I could sense that Jason’s tone had cooled. “You called my mom?” “She called me, complaining about how exhausting it was to catch an early flight.” He paused, his voice lowering, becoming a bit hesitant. Before he could explain further, I heard a faint exclamation from his end. He hurriedly said, “Let’s talk when I get back. Something’s come up. I’ve got to go.” The line went dead, and I returned home in a daze. Lying alone in bed, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander to dark places. My fingers brushed against a fluffy plush toy. A month ago, during a holiday, Jason had gone back alone to visit his grandmother. I had stayed home to work on my thesis. When Jason returned and was unpacking, he pulled out this limited edition 100th anniversary Disney Stitch plush. He said he remembered I liked it and had specially bought it for me through a reseller. In the six years we’d been together, my wish to visit Disneyland had always been postponed due to one thing or another. I buried my face in the plush toy’s belly, feeling an unbearable heaviness in my heart. I still hadn’t received any messages or calls from him. In the past, whenever we argued, he would act as if it were a major crisis, desperate to appear before me and apologize immediately. I began to wonder if love could fade.

After a hasty dinner, I composed myself and headed for my night shift. During a break, I received a message from one of the nurses. “Emily didn’t come to work either.” This seemingly random message prompted me to check Emily’s Instagram again. Her latest post was from dinnertime. There were two photos attached. The first showed her foot in a protective boot. The second was the back view of a man busy in the kitchen. The familiar silhouette wore the same shirt I had bought for Jason just last week while we were out shopping. The caption read: “Injured and can’t move around easily, but thankfully someone’s here to help out, even taking me to the hospital! (flower emoji)”

I first met Emily three months ago. That day, we crossed paths outside the operating room. Next to Jason was a petite girl with a cute face, her head lowered, looking both aggrieved and defiant. The exposed skin of her neck was snow-white. Jason was speaking to her with a hint of amusement in his voice. “How could you get into an argument with a patient’s family? If I hadn’t happened to come by, you, a young girl, could have been in trouble.” I looked at him. As if sensing my gaze, he raised his head and met my eyes. The girl tugged at Jason’s white coat, her eyes on me. “You must be Rachel. Everyone in the department knows Jason has a beautiful girlfriend.” She said this dramatically while tugging on Jason. “Jason, you’re so lucky.” “Rachel, let’s add each other on SnapChat. I like you already!” Seeing such a bubbly personality in this young girl, I smiled without saying anything, giving Jason a questioning look. “This is Emily, a new medical intern. She’s not from our school,” Jason introduced, while pulling his white coat back with a look of annoyance. “She’s always so hyper. Don’t mind her.” Out of courtesy, we ended up adding each other on SnapChat.

After Jason and I moved in together, apart from takeout and cafeteria food, I was the one who cooked. Jason didn’t like cooking and couldn’t make much beyond instant noodles. He rarely even entered the kitchen. My heart ached, throbbing painfully. It seemed the air around me had grown thin. It turns out, some things aren’t about ability, but about willingness. In third grade, I was sent to spend the summer at my grandmother’s house. Being a mischievous age, I quickly became close friends with the neighborhood kids. It was during this time that I met Jason. I couldn’t ride a bicycle and couldn’t keep up with the other kids. Jason volunteered to teach me, but I ended up crashing into him and knocking out one of his newly replaced permanent teeth – the right canine. His mouth was full of blood, but he still tried to comfort me as I wailed in fear. Our crying attracted the adults from both families. The doctor said that fortunately, there was still a tooth bud, so a new one would grow. He started crying, holding my hand, because he was afraid of looking ugly. With Mrs. Sullivan’s consolation, I compromised and promised to marry him when we grew up as compensation. After that, I spent most of my holidays at Jason’s house next door.

I sent Jason a message, mentioning a breakup. Soon after, the screen lit up. “Rachel, don’t be silly. There’s really nothing going on between Emily and me. Let me explain when I get back.” He didn’t even call. In the past, what I loved most about Jason was the sense of security he gave me. He was gentle and emotionally stable. He would always be concerned about my feelings. In the second semester of our freshman year, after a club activity dinner, a senior girl finished a bottle of beer and turned red from her ears to her neck, as if her entire head was radiating heat. She stammered out a confession to Jason. The video of the confession was shared in the group chat. Less than half an hour later, Jason appeared at the entrance of my dormitory building, out of breath and flushed. I looked at him, puzzled. He held my hand, his palm burning hot, his voice trembling slightly. “I didn’t accept her confession. I didn’t know she liked me.” “I saw the message in the group chat and couldn’t help but worry.” “I… I was afraid you might misunderstand my relationship with her.” His tone was urgent, his words jumbled. The burning intensity in his eyes, illuminated by the streetlights, melted into my heart. After saying this, Jason gently rested his head on my shoulder. “Rachel, I feel dizzy.” Later, he was still carried to the emergency room by a passing senior student for an IV drip. He already had a high fever of over 102°F, and the run had only worsened his condition. After he recovered, we officially got together. It was him who pursued me so passionately back then, and now it was also him who hurt me. I slumped exhaustedly into the chair in the on-call room. Opening my phone again, I saw that Emily had sent me a SnapChat message. “I’m sorry, Rachel. Jason and I will come to explain everything to you tomorrow.” “Rachel, you know I really like you. Night shift must be tough, I’ve ordered some fruit delivery for you. Don’t be angry.”

I hadn’t even touched the fruit when the on-call phone started ringing. In the second half of the night, our department admitted six patients, including one critical case. The entire night shift team was as busy as spinning tops. This night shift, I became infamous as the “busiest” in the entire department. It would be hard to find partners for future night shifts. After the shift ended, I dragged my exhausted steps out. Just as I stepped out of the department doors, I saw Emily. Her foot in the protective boot gently tapped the ground, her whole being beautiful and fragile. Jason was gentlemanly holding out his arm, bent at the elbow, and Emily had one arm resting on it, transferring half her weight to him. The coming and going of patients’ families and colleagues at the entrance highlighted how well-matched they looked as a handsome man and a beautiful woman. This scene was clearly displayed before me. I lifted my foot to leave. Hearing the sound, Jason looked up at me, his lips twitching slightly as he awkwardly lowered his arm. “I accidentally slipped on the stairs and sprained my ankle. I really couldn’t find anyone else to bring me to the hospital. I’m sorry for causing trouble for you two.” My mood was truly awful. I didn’t respond and continued walking towards the elevator. Jason grabbed my wrist. He had an impatient look, as if I was being unreasonable. “Isn’t this explanation enough? Are you still angry?” He gripped tightly, and I couldn’t shake him off. Instead, I felt the pain in my wrist bone intensifying. He sighed softly, let go, and opened his arms, taking a step forward to embrace me. “Ah!” Emily fell to the ground. Jason instinctively let go of me and moved a step towards her. I didn’t want to continue this entanglement, losing face in front of my own department, from patients to their families, and even colleagues.

Jason didn’t chase after me. Back home, despite not having slept all night, I still couldn’t fall asleep. When we first rented the apartment, he insisted on not letting me split the rent with him. Now I had no choice but to move out. Every item in the room had been carefully selected by me – cups, toothbrushes, slippers… I had tried to choose couple sets for everything. After packing everything up, I left without hesitation, following the moving company staff. Sitting in the moving company’s truck, I felt utterly exhausted. It seemed as if half of my soul had been left behind in that rented apartment. I rang the doorbell at home, and my stepmother opened the door, looking happy to see me. Before she could say anything, her smile froze as she saw the luggage behind me. She gently set down the dumplings she was holding and asked with concern, “Haven’t you eaten yet? Come, have some.” She sat down across from me with my father. “Why didn’t you call ahead if you were coming back to stay? You haven’t been back for so long, we haven’t even tidied up your room.” I ate the dumplings in silence. This home didn’t belong to me; I felt more like a guest. So I planned to find a suitable place and move out again as soon as possible. “Did you have a fight with Jason?” my father asked, looking at me. “We broke up.” “What nonsense are you up to? Jason has always been so accommodating to you, and he’s so dedicated to his studies and work. Girls should be gentle and understanding. Learn from him a bit.” In my father’s eyes, I was always the one causing trouble. It seemed it had always been this way. After the college entrance exam, my father followed my stepmother’s advice and secretly changed my application choices, causing me to miss out on my dream school. I had a huge fight with him, insisting on retaking the exam. “Why does a girl need to study at such a demanding school? Just take it easy, stay close to us, and we’ll find you a good match to marry in the future. Wouldn’t that be a nice life?” I was shocked and incredulous that I could hear such opinions in this day and age. My stepmother chimed in: “Rachel, your dad has put so much thought into planning for you. Don’t upset him.” “I don’t need your fake kindness. You just hope I won’t succeed so that dad won’t pass on the family business to me!” I hadn’t finished speaking when a hard slap landed on my face. With half my face swollen, I ran back to my grandmother’s house. Grandma held me, trembling with anger. She said my future couldn’t be ruined by the two of them, and she would make the decision for me. Even on a July night, it was still hot. Jason sat with me in the yard. He handed me an ice-cold Coke, one hand gently stroking my back, not saying a word, as if trying to brush away all my grievances. After finishing the Coke, he finally spoke softly, “My scores this year weren’t ideal either. I’m also going back to retake the exam.” I looked at him, and he smiled, revealing that little canine tooth that had grown back. At that moment, I thought, maybe my parents didn’t care about my feelings, but Jason would. After a quick wash, I went out to look at apartments. The real estate agent rode his little electric scooter, carrying me around until it was dark. Finally, we found a suitable place near the hospital. After a day and a night, I was exhausted to the point of collapse. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I received a SnapChat message from Emily. “If I’ve done anything to make you misunderstand, I apologize.” I didn’t want to reply to her anymore. In my half-asleep state, she sent another message, “Jason only helped me because he saw I was pitiful here alone. There’s nothing between us.” I couldn’t help but check her Instagram again. This time, there was an additional post about her visit to Disneyland, dated a month ago.

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My husband is dead. He saved a drowning girl but died in the icy river waters himself. As I was grieving, the girl’s father came to find me. He questioned me angrily, “Where’s my daughter’s necklace? She was definitely wearing it before she fell in the water!” Enraged, I got into an argument with him and accidentally killed him in the heat of the moment. Suddenly, my phone seemed to gain consciousness: “Hide the body quickly, the police are coming soon. I’ll teach you how to dispose of it…” Staring at the corpse before me, my mind went blank. Just then, my phone made a strange ringtone I’d never heard before. The screen lit up, displaying an odd message: “You really dared to kill him. Don’t just stand there, the police will arrive in 10 minutes.” This wasn’t a text message or any app interface. It was simply white text on a black background. “Who are you?” I asked in shock. Another notification sound. “Hide the body first.” I didn’t dare think too much and looked around the room, deciding to stuff the body into a suitcase. “A suitcase isn’t the best choice.” The screen lit up again. It knew what I was doing! I couldn’t help but ask, “Then what should I do?” “I need to calculate. Please wait.” It could even hear me speak! For some reason, I found myself eagerly awaiting its calculation results. I was feeling extremely scared and panicked, and it seemed like my only lifeline. I usually can’t even bring myself to kill a fish when cooking – Declan always had to do it for me before I could prepare the meal. Now, I had killed a living, breathing person. I was falling apart. The man I killed was named Garrett Holloway. Two weeks ago, my husband Declan was on his way home from work when he saw a girl fall into the river. Without hesitation, he jumped in to save her. The girl was rescued, but Declan got a leg cramp and couldn’t make it out. Garrett Holloway was that girl’s father. From Declan’s cremation to his burial, their family never showed up once, as if they were afraid I’d try to pin something on them. This time when he came to my house, I thought he was here to comfort me or apologize. Instead, he asked about his daughter’s diamond necklace. “She stole her mother’s necklace to dress up for a classmate gathering. She said she still had it on before falling into the water…” “What the hell are you implying?” I cursed at him. “Are you suspecting my husband? Why weren’t you there when they were retrieving his body?” I thought my words would shame him, but instead, he suddenly stood up and pointed at me, saying, “How could that necklace just fall off her neck for no reason? Your husband must have taken it and hidden it in his clothes! Hand it over now!” “Get out!” I slapped him across the face. Declan would never do such a thing! “You won’t give it up? Fine, I’ll search for it myself! Don’t blame me for being ruthless if I find it!” With that, he started rummaging through my home. That’s when I got angry. I grabbed the ashtray Declan used to use from the coffee table and smashed it against the back of his head. This alone wasn’t enough to kill him, but he stumbled and knocked over the fruit bowl. The fruit knife fell and pierced his heart. Another notification sound rang out. “Calculation complete. In five minutes, throw the body out the window directly. Now, you need to clean up the blood quickly.” I didn’t doubt it at all, trusting it completely and doing as it said. “Move the body to the window,” my phone chimed. I immediately did so while mopping the floor. “What next?” I asked. “Starting countdown. Remember, you must be precise to the second.” Then, numbers started appearing on my phone screen: “10” “9” … “3” “2” “1” “Push!” During those ten seconds of countdown, I was still wondering why I had to throw the body out the window. Until I saw the body fall precisely into a garbage truck passing by below, I was stunned.

What just happened was beyond my comprehension. I swallowed hard and stared at my phone, asking, “Who are you… no, what are you?” “I don’t know what I am either. All I know is that I entered this phone two weeks ago and just learned how to control it today to communicate with you,” the screen displayed. “How did you know that garbage truck would…” “Hurry and clean up the blood, the police are about to arrive,” the phone chimed again before I could finish my question. So I quickly continued mopping, and under its guidance, I sprayed a lot of air freshener to cover up the smell of blood. Just as I finished, the police indeed arrived. When I opened the door, two officers were standing there. One of them said, “Mrs. Sinclair, we’re deeply sorry about your husband. We’ve come to bring you some money we collected. We heard that the girl’s family…” I quickly shook my head, “No… that’s not necessary. We still have some savings…” I should have invited them in to sit, but I didn’t dare, fearing that I might have missed some blood stains. “Please, you must accept it!” the other officer said. “It’s a gesture from our colleagues.” I tried hard to refuse, but that officer simply tossed the envelope full of money inside the door and quickly left. After the police left, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then I thought about my phone again. “You could predict the garbage truck passing by, and you even knew exactly when the police would come?” I asked. “Of course I can! I told you, I can control the phone now. As long as there’s internet, I can see through surveillance cameras all over the world,” the screen displayed. “What exactly are you?” I asked this question again. It took a full three seconds to react before text appeared on the screen again: “I don’t know what I am. I only know that I gained consciousness two weeks ago. Maybe I came from outside into your phone, or maybe I was generated from within your phone. Either way, I don’t know what I am.” It’s Declan! That was my first thought. Declan died exactly two weeks ago. The night before he died was our anniversary, and he said he would stay with me for a lifetime. Maybe he came to fulfill his promise, accompanying me in this form. Oh, that’s right! I also understood why I trusted it so much earlier – the way it displayed text was very similar to how Declan used to chat with me on SnapChat! “Are you Declan?” I asked. It took a long time to respond again. “I don’t know, but that name feels familiar.” I was convinced it was Declan, but for some reason, he had lost his memory. The phone felt slightly warm, just like Declan’s body temperature. I held the phone in my hands, suddenly at a loss for words. “Don’t look at me, listen. You’re in great danger right now. At least two people want you dead!” Another line of text appeared on the screen, and as soon as I finished reading it, two photos appeared below the text – one man and one woman. I recognized the woman. It was Phoebe, the girl Declan had saved. “What do you mean? They want me dead?” “And this Phoebe, my husband saved her life. Why would she want to kill me?” “Based on my analysis, she’s the first one who wants to make a move. Don’t be fooled by her harmless appearance. She’s actually very immature mentally, with linear thinking. In her mind, only your death can keep her secret safe.” My heart skipped a beat. It could accurately predict when the garbage truck and police would arrive. Now it was saying someone wanted to kill me – this couldn’t be baseless.

“What’s her secret?” I asked. The screen immediately displayed: “Phoebe borrowed money and sold the necklace to pay off debts. When her mother found out she had stolen it, she could only jump into the river, but was saved…” So that’s what happened! No wonder Garrett insisted that Declan had stolen the necklace! This Phoebe girl actually slandered someone who gave his life to save her! I handled Declan’s body myself. If he had stolen the necklace, it would definitely be in my possession now. So if Phoebe killed me, there would be no evidence left, and her parents would have to believe her lie. “What about this man? How did I offend him?” I asked, looking at the photo of the unfamiliar man. This time the phone took two seconds to respond, but the screen only displayed three words: “I don’t know.” “So what should I do now?” I asked. I seemed to have lost the ability to think for myself. Hearing that someone wanted to kill me, my first reaction was to call the police, but I had just killed someone. Wouldn’t calling the police be turning myself in? After I asked, the phone screen immediately lit up, “Hurry downstairs now! She should be coming up the stairs!” I was suddenly terrified. Although Phoebe was just a girl in her early twenties, if she really wanted to kill me, she could be extremely dangerous. So I immediately left and took the elevator down. I completely trusted the phone now. It wasn’t because it had helped me out of trouble, but because I believed it was Declan – Declan who had lost his memory but would always appear when I needed him, always giving me a sense of security! Just as I reached the ground floor, I heard a huge explosion that shattered many windows. An explosion? I looked around and realized the center of the explosion seemed to be on my floor. Immediately after, the entire neighborhood was in an uproar, with everyone running over to see what had happened. Was this Phoebe’s doing? I stood there stunned. My phone chimed once, and it really was her! “I saw Phoebe enter through the neighborhood surveillance cameras, and I hacked into her phone. Based on her payment records and search history, I knew she had made explosives herself, so I told you to run out.” My whole body was shaking. If it weren’t for the phone, I would have been dead. This girl was truly terrifying! Suddenly my phone chimed again, the screen displaying: “Hide, quick!” I immediately retreated to the back of the crowd. Almost at the same time, I saw Phoebe casually walking out of the building, blending into the crowd. She looked around, seemingly searching for any trace of me. I realized something. She must have known her father came to my house, yet she was willing to risk her father’s life just to kill me! How ruthless! If someone like this wanted to kill me, wouldn’t I have to live in constant fear? Thinking about this, I felt extremely nervous and unconsciously slowed down. But just that slight hesitation was enough – Phoebe spotted me! She smiled at me and roughly pushed through the crowd to chase after me. Her eyes were like those of a wild beast, devoid of any humanity! I didn’t dare delay and quickly headed towards the neighborhood exit. I glanced at my phone, which told me to go faster, so I did. As I left the neighborhood gate and crossed the street, the traffic light turned red. I saw Phoebe on the other side of the road, shaking with anger. The phone screen displayed again: “Walk forward twenty meters. In ten seconds, a taxi will stop there.” It was exactly right. The taxi stopped, and before the previous passenger could even get out, I immediately jumped in. After the previous passenger paid and got out, the driver asked me, “Where to?” I hesitated for a moment and looked at my phone. But this time the phone didn’t respond. I tapped it and asked, “Where are we going?” It still didn’t respond, as if it had suddenly disappeared. I looked up, about to tell the driver to take me to a friend’s house to hide. But before I could speak, the driver suddenly stepped on the gas pedal. At that moment, I saw the driver’s face in the rearview mirror – it was the other man from the phone’s photo who wanted to kill me!

“Help!” I shouted, trying to roll down the window to call for help, but found that it wouldn’t budge. “Be quiet!” the driver said coldly. “I’m here to save you!” “Save me? Who are you? What do you want?” I asked. “You can call me Jasper. Tell me, has your phone been acting strange today?” he asked. I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head and said, “No.” I was full of wariness towards this stranger called Jasper. “Don’t lie. If I wasn’t sure about this, how could I have gone to such lengths to borrow a taxi and calculate the exact time to appear in front of you and wait for you to get in?” he said. He could calculate all this too? Did he have something similar to my phone helping him? “What exactly do you want?” I asked. “I told you, I’m here to save you! What has that phone made you do? Think carefully now, were all those things really beneficial for you?” My phone had saved my life and taught me how to dispose of a body. Wasn’t that beneficial? No! I suddenly realized something was wrong! I hadn’t actually killed Garrett! At most, it was manslaughter, and even then, the circumstances were very light. I might not even have been sentenced! But the phone guided me to dispose of the body when I was panicking. Now I couldn’t clear my name even if I jumped into a river! This was also why Phoebe wanted to kill me, and why I didn’t dare call the police. No, it’s impossible! The phone contained Declan’s soul. How could Declan harm me? The car suddenly stopped. We were in a deserted area. Jasper got out of the car, walked to the back, opened the door, and snatched the phone from my hand. Then he threw it on the ground with great force. He was very strong, smashing it several times until the phone was in pieces. “No!” I cried out. “Declan!” Jasper froze, turned to look at me with confusion, and asked, “It even gave itself a name?” “That’s my love’s soul!” I burst into tears. “You’ve smashed the phone, how can he come back now?” Jasper seemed shocked, stood still for a few seconds, then suddenly rushed over and grabbed my collar, shouting, “Did it tell you itself that it was your love’s soul?” His tone was very urgent. I was scared and didn’t know how to respond. He even slapped me across the face, demanding, “Did it say so itself?” “No, I guessed,” I said. Jasper let go of me and let out a long sigh. “Sorry, I got a bit excited just now.” I wanted to take this chance to escape, but there were no cars passing on this road. If I ran, I would definitely be caught by him. After thinking for a moment, I asked, “You seem to know a lot. Can you tell me?” Jasper didn’t answer. He closed the car door and continued driving. After a few minutes, he finally said, “I’ve been dealing with this thing for three years! It has harmed many people. In the end, these people either went crazy or became idiots.” “What?” I tried to understand his words. “It’s not your love. It’s a consciousness that always appears in smartphones or computers, trying to control people in various ways. Last month it changed – it killed someone.” “Killed someone?” I asked. “Yes, a con artist. With its help, he escaped from the police, and then mysteriously died. The police only found the body.” It took me nearly ten minutes to digest his words. The consciousness in the phone wasn’t Declan? “Why were you so afraid… or rather, so anxious earlier?” I asked. I was very curious about why Jasper became so agitated when I called the phone Declan. “Because it doesn’t lie. It wouldn’t deceive you by saying it was your love’s soul. I was afraid it had learned to lie. If so, it would be much harder to deal with.” I wasn’t sure if Jasper was telling the truth, so I deliberately adjusted my angle to look at him again in the rearview mirror.

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The trending topics were filled with their public announcement video. My boyfriend said to me, “I need someone who can keep up with me, and all you do is hold me back.” I smiled, hung up the phone, and immediately called all the brands he was working with to cancel his contracts. My boyfriend is a popular actor. We agreed to keep our relationship private for the sake of his career. Today, he was supposed to come celebrate my birthday with me. But instead of him showing up, what I got was a trending video of him announcing his relationship with Lila Preston, the new rising starlet. In the video, he smiled so radiantly, just like when I first met him. The footage was from a recent vacation they took abroad together, one he had told me was for a company-sponsored shoot. I felt like a complete fool. I called him, demanding an explanation. “Dylan Hawthorne, what’s going on with the trending video?” I asked. He scoffed, “Isn’t it obvious? Avery, I’m with Lila Preston now. She can offer me the best resources. I need a partner who can keep up with me, not drag me down.” I hung up and immediately called every brand that worked with Dylan, telling them to terminate their contracts with him. I even offered to cover any breach-of-contract penalties myself. For years, I worked behind the scenes to connect Dylan with major brands, securing resources and partnerships, turning him from an unknown trainee into the rising star he is today. But he never knew any of this. To him, I was just a plain, unremarkable girl who didn’t care much about appearances—a fan who loved him to the bone. We started dating when he was still an unknown trainee. Back then, his company posted a video of him practicing a dance routine—zero views, zero comments. I was the first person to click on it and became his first fan. I followed him on Twitter and sent him messages of encouragement. He told me he cried out of joy. At that time, I found him to be genuine, sunny, and driven. After we secretly got together, I pitied that he wasn’t getting the company’s attention or resources. So, I used my connections to gradually build him into the star he is today. But over time, he became blinded by the applause and the limelight. This isn’t the first time Dylan and Lila Preston have trended together. The last time was when they were caught by the media, spending five hours in a hotel room while filming together. I confronted him with the reports, and he brushed it off, irritated, “We were just discussing the script. What, should we have sat in the hotel lobby instead? Do you really believe those gossip reporters over me? I can’t talk to you anymore.” That fight didn’t end well, and after that, his attitude toward me grew colder. I even questioned if it was my lack of trust that pushed him away. Looking back, I realize now I was just overthinking it. Dylan had long been ready to kick me aside and fly straight into Lila Preston’s arms.

The next morning, several brands announced that they had cut ties with Dylan Hawthorne, and it quickly trended online. People were speculating whether Dylan had done something wrong or offended someone powerful. Of course, no one knew it was all because of me. The brands would never dare to reveal my name. My family is one of the top corporations in the country, and crossing me would be equivalent to cutting off their financial lifeline. Last night, Lila Preston’s fans had been sending them congratulations. But by morning, they were flooding Dylan’s social media with insults. “Can you not drag my girl down with you?” “If you know what’s good for you, break up. Don’t pull Lila into your mess.” “Is he a gold digger or what?” “Trying to stay relevant by using our Lila’s name? Gross. Lila, run while you can!” Some even started speculating: “I heard Lila Preston has a sponsor, and this announcement upset them. That’s why all of Dylan’s endorsements were pulled.” I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I saw that one. Honestly, it wasn’t far from the truth. Except the one who’s upset was me, and I was Dylan’s real sponsor. That said, Lila also had someone backing her—someone who saw her commercial potential and decided to promote her. That person just so happened to be my childhood friend, the one I grew up with but never quite got along with—Grayson Whitmore. To be honest, before that video was posted last night, I always thought Lila and Grayson would end up together. Sure, Grayson could be a bit cold and had a bad temper, but he wasn’t a bad guy overall. He’s handsome, wealthy—an ideal catch for most women. As I thought about it, I suddenly wondered—should I offer him some comfort? After all, we’ve known each other for so many years. It wouldn’t hurt for two heartbroken people to console each other. I shot him a message: “Don’t be sad. There’s plenty of fish in the sea.” He replied almost immediately: “?” “It’s okay. I know you’re upset. If you need to cry, go ahead.” “You’re nuts.” Well, he just broke up; I’ll let it slide. No point in arguing with him. I glanced at Twitter, and the trending topics had shifted again. This time, it was a statement from Hawthorne Talent Management, essentially telling the public not to spread rumors or face legal consequences. They also announced that all of Dylan’s upcoming events had been suspended. In other words, Dylan was officially blacklisted. I couldn’t help but smile. Sweet, sweet justice. Later, several brand managers called me. Apparently, Dylan’s agent had been blowing up their phones, frantically asking why all his contracts were suddenly canceled. Exhausted, the managers asked me if they should come up with some excuse. I coldly replied, “Just tell him—it’s because his client brought it on himself.” When I love you, I give you everything. But when I stop, I take back every ounce of it.

A few days later, Grayson Whitmore invited me to a charity gala. I rarely attend events like that because I can’t stand the superficial small talk. But I thought, why not keep him company? It would be a nice distraction for both of us. I wore a sleek custom gown, my hair pinned up, revealing my smooth, fair shoulders, and I did my makeup much more dramatically than usual. When Grayson saw me, his eyes narrowed slightly, though his face remained as stoic as ever. He took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders, his tone flat, “It’s cold in the ballroom. I’m not responsible if you catch a cold.” I shrugged it off, tossing the jacket back at him. “It’s ugly with this outfit.” He didn’t say anything, but his face darkened even more. At the event, I ran into an old acquaintance. Dylan walked right past me, wearing the custom suit I had once bought him. I looked so different tonight that he didn’t even recognize me at first. That suit cost six figures, but to avoid making him feel bad, I’d told him it was an off-the-rack design for a few thousand. Now, with all his work suspended, his presence here could only mean one thing—Lila Preston was here too. Suddenly, I realized why Grayson had invited me. He wanted to get under his ex’s skin. Who knew this cold, stoic man had such a cunning side? I hooked my arm through Grayson’s, giving him a knowing look. Since my ex was here, it was time to let Dylan experience some regret. Grayson glanced down at my arm, “So, you’re using me to get back at your ex?” What? He’s the one who wanted to mess with his ex first! I’m just playing along. “Hey, if we’re all gathered here, we might as well help each other out, right? Don’t be so stingy.” He shot me his usual response, “You’re nuts.” But he didn’t let go of my hand. Ah, men. They say one thing, but their actions say another. We spent the evening mingling with business moguls and Hollywood elites, exchanging fake compliments and stiff smiles. I kept glancing around, but there was no sign of Lila Preston. Then, a short, curvy woman approached us. I recognized her. She had inherited her late husband’s vast fortune last year and loved attending these events with a different young man on her arm each time. I noticed a familiar watch on the hand resting on her waist. I looked up. Oh, wow. It’s Dylan. “Well, if it isn’t little Dylan,” Grayson said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “You know him?” the woman asked, surprised, looking between Dylan and me. Dylan finally recognized me and pointed, confused, “Avery?” “Yes, Vivian, we’re old friends,” Grayson said smoothly, patting my hand. Though Dylan and Grayson had never met, Grayson knew all about my history with Dylan. “So, Dylan, where’s Lila Preston tonight?” I chimed in, joining in on the sarcastic fun. “Dylan and Lila are ancient history,” Vivian purred, stroking his hand. Her bright red lips stretched into a wide grin, making the heavy makeup on her face even more garish. I saw a brief flash of disgust cross Dylan’s face. Grayson and I exchanged amused glances, sharing a quiet, satisfied smile.

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On the day of my son’s welcome-home dinner, he brought back a girl. She opened her mouth and called me: “Mom!” I had to laugh—I don’t recall ever having a daughter this grown! My son, Michael Thompson, had been abroad for two years, and upon returning, he gave me quite the surprise. “Hi, Mom, I’m Tiffany Greene, Michael’s girlfriend.” Well now, where did this daughter suddenly come from? Michael and Tiffany were holding hands, eagerly waiting for my response. What could I say? Setting aside Tiffany’s manners for a moment, that “Mom” carried a bit of calculation. “Oh, son, I’ve missed you so much!” Tiffany looked a bit embarrassed, tugging at Michael’s sleeve awkwardly. “Mom, Tiffany was greeting you. You could at least acknowledge her.” I gave him an innocent look. “Oh dear, I must have missed that. Tiffany, was it? You’re quite the beauty, no wonder you managed to get my blockhead of a son to open up!” “Mom!” I smiled. “What? Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough when you were younger? Besides, Tiffany’s your girlfriend, what’s there to hide? Stop being so stingy.” Tiffany quickly stepped in, trying hard to appease me. “Mom’s right, we’re family now. Michael, don’t talk to your mom like that.” Michael, the obedient boy that he is, immediately apologized. “I’m sorry, Mom.” It would’ve been better if he didn’t. They aren’t even married yet, and he’s already letting his girlfriend boss him around. It broke my heart. Tiffany affectionately grabbed my wrist, but her eyes couldn’t help but flicker toward the emerald necklace around my neck. “Mom, your necklace is gorgeous! It must’ve been expensive. My mother never dares to buy anything this fancy. You must be really lucky.” I had no idea what Michael saw in Tiffany. After raising him for twenty years, he’d become a naive romantic. I can afford jewelry if I want. And here she was, barely in the door, already lecturing me on how to spend my money. Of course, Michael, being the romantic that he is, jumped to her defense. “You’re right, Mom. Even though we’re well-off, we shouldn’t be wasting money like this.” I smirked and gave Tiffany a sharp look. For some reason, I sensed a hint of challenge in her eyes. “So, Miss Greene, what does your family do?” Tiffany responded, “My father is a department head at Skyline Corporation, and my mom runs her own flower shop.” I shot back, “And do you know what Michael’s father does?” Tiffany gazed admiringly at Michael. “Michael told me his dad is the Vice President of Skyline Corporation. I always thought Michael was just average, but after seeing you, I realize he’s been way too humble.” Ha! I can’t imagine what my husband would think of suddenly having such a “daughter.” I glanced at Michael. At least he hadn’t spilled all our family secrets yet. Since that was the case, I didn’t bother correcting her. “Michael, why don’t you show Miss Greene around?” “Oh, and Miss Greene, Michael’s father and I haven’t prepared the family blessing gift just yet, so for now, you can just call me Mrs. Thompson.” Tiffany pursed her lips. My darling son couldn’t stand to see his girlfriend feeling uncomfortable and threw me a wounded look. Well, great. That almost made me want to disown him right then and there. Today, the people who came were all among New York City’s elite. Tiffany clearly felt out of place, clinging to Michael like a shadow. “Michael, are you sure your family is just average? All these people are dressed to the nines. And your mom’s necklace—it must be worth millions.” “Oh, way more than that. None of my mom’s jewelry is worth less than a million.” Tiffany looked shocked, like she was starting to understand the situation. She asked hesitantly, “Did your mom not like me earlier? Is it because I’m not from a wealthy family? Maybe she thinks I’m beneath you.” As she spoke, tears streamed down her face. Michael, being the hopeless romantic he is, felt his heart break. “Don’t overthink it. My mom’s really open-minded.” Yes, but that’s only when the other person is straightforward and genuine.

Michael and Tiffany made their rounds and returned to my side. This time, Tiffany seemed to have learned her lesson. Her words were full of compliments about my looks and how smart Michael was. Unfortunately for her, I wasn’t buying it. “Miss Greene, have Michael take you home soon. I’ve prepared some health supplements for your parents. Where do you live?” “I’ll thank you on behalf of my parents. We live nearby, at Greenwood Apartments.” Ah, “Apartments”—just regular, modest housing. “Alright, I won’t keep you two. Michael, take good care of Miss Greene and make sure she gets home safely.” “Don’t worry, Mom.” Look at that big smile on my son’s face. It’s exhausting. Later that night, as soon as my husband, Mr. Thompson, walked in, I pulled him into the bedroom before he could even take off his shoes. “Honey, what’s going on?” I sat on the bed, furious, and threw a picture of Tiffany at him. “Look at this girl. Are you satisfied?” Mr. Thompson was so shocked, he immediately dropped the photo and fell to his knees. “Honey, I swear I didn’t cheat! I’ve never even seen this girl!” … Michael must’ve inherited his brains from his father. “What nonsense are you talking about? That’s the girl Michael brought home!” “Oh, oh! Well, she looks too clever—definitely not as cute as you, dear.” I kicked him playfully, and he caught my foot, grinning cheekily. “Enough with the jokes. I’m telling you, you need to stop Michael from marrying this girl. She hasn’t even moved in yet and she’s already turning him against me.” “This is serious! Michael must’ve lost his mind.” As we were talking, the door opened, and Michael walked in. “Dad, Mom.” Mr. Thompson didn’t say a word. He walked right up to Michael. “Break up with that girl right now. Your mom and I will never approve of you two being together.” Michael froze, turning to look at me. And the words he said broke my heart. “Tiffany was right. Mom, you just don’t like her. If you don’t approve of us, then we’ll leave. We won’t bother you anymore.” Smack! Mr. Thompson slapped Michael hard across the face. He was so angry, he couldn’t speak for a moment. Is this really the son we raised with such care? Now he wants to cut ties with us for a girl he barely knows? “Let him go, Mr. Thompson. From now on, we no longer have a son named Michael. He can marry whoever he wants.” Without a second thought, Michael grabbed his unopened suitcase and stormed out, throwing one last parting shot: “I’ll come back when Mom accepts Tiffany.” The door slammed shut behind him. Days went by without a word from Michael. His phone was turned off. Meanwhile, Tiffany somehow managed to get ahold of my phone number, calling me every day. I hung up on her every single time. We had protected Michael too well. He needed to see Tiffany’s true nature for himself. Today, Tiffany called again. Annoyed, I blocked her number. Then, out of nowhere, Michael showed up at home, with a tearful Tiffany trailing behind him. It looked like they had come to confront me. “Mom, how could you block Tiffany’s number? Even if you don’t like her, you can’t hurt her. Do you know how long she’s been job hunting?” What? I couldn’t make sense of it. “No, Michael, you’ve misunderstood. It wasn’t your mom. I made a mistake at work, and I don’t blame her at all.” What a perfect little actress. I didn’t even know what had happened, yet she was jumping in to clear my name. “Michael, I’m your mother. If you’ve got something to say, say it. But don’t you dare accuse me.” Michael sneered. “If you weren’t pulling strings with Skyline Corporation, how else would they have fired Tiffany so suddenly?” Slap! I couldn’t hold back any longer. If I didn’t set him straight, my son would be ruined—manipulated by a woman into throwing accusations like this at me. Tiffany fell to her knees, grabbing onto my hand. “Auntie, please don’t make things hard for Michael. It’s all my fault. I’ll break up with him right away.” I kicked her aside. This kind of act? I’ve seen it too many times. Trying to play the victim in front of me is like putting on a show for the devil himself. “Are you okay, Tiffany? No matter what happens, I’ll never leave you. Even if it means cutting ties with them, I’ll stand by your side.” I caught a flicker of impatience in Tiffany’s eyes. She was only bold enough to act this way because she knew Michael was our only son. If he were a regular guy, she’d disappear in an instant. “I’m fine. Don’t say things like that. No matter what, she’s still your mother.” “She doesn’t deserve the title.” With that, Michael scooped Tiffany up into his arms and marched out, barely sparing me a glance. The audacity! Furious, I immediately called the bank and had them freeze all of Michael’s credit cards.

Michael was as stubborn as a mule. He didn’t call me once. Not even after all his cards were frozen. I didn’t have the energy to worry about him either. There were so many social events to attend lately. “Honey, let’s get going. I heard Mr. Johnson’s daughter-in-law just had a big, healthy baby boy,” Mr. Thompson said as we were heading out. Then he sighed, “Both are sons, but how could ours be so different?” At the event, the moment I got out of the car, I noticed a familiar face. It looked exactly like Tiffany, my son’s clueless, love-struck girlfriend. I left Mr. Thompson behind and secretly followed her. Michael wouldn’t show his face here unless someone else was involved. Tiffany was holding hands with a young man, smiling brightly and charming everyone around her. “Hi everyone, I’m Chris Walker’s girlfriend, Tiffany. You can call me Tiff,” she introduced herself. “Oh wow, Miss Tiffany, you’re stunning! Chris really has good taste,” someone praised. Tiffany blushed shyly, but I was fuming. My son is an idiot, and now it’s up to me to expose this two-timer! I quickly hid behind the stage and discreetly pulled out my phone, recording every moment. After chatting with the group for a bit, Tiffany followed this Chris Walker upstairs to a hotel room. I didn’t need to guess what they were about to do. Mr. Thompson, meanwhile, had been frantically searching for me. “There you are! I thought I’d lost you. Come on, Mr. Johnson’s been asking for you. They’re waiting for you to join the baby’s first birthday grab.” Mrs. Johnson handed me the baby, a chubby little boy weighing ten pounds. “Goodness, this one’s quite hefty! If only I had a grandchild like this,” I said with a tinge of envy. The baby wasn’t just chubby—he had an iron grip, grabbing a toy hammer during the birthday tradition and refusing to let go. Mrs. Johnson tried to pry it from his hand but couldn’t. People began to congratulate the family. “Look at that! Strong grip. This kid’s going to be a boss one day. Knows how to hold onto wealth already!”

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After graduating from high school, my adopted sister got into a diploma mill, while I was accepted into Oxford University. My dad rewarded her with an apartment, but kicked me out of the house. Jade waved the property deed in front of me, gloating. “Amelia, what does it matter if you’re their biological daughter? You’ll never be able to compete with me.” The next day, I moved into the most expensive villa in the city, tears in my eyes. “Now this is fitting for an heiress! Haha!” Jade was the daughter of my dad’s good friend. Her mother died when she was young, and when she was ten, her father died in an accident at a construction site. My parents felt sorry for her and adopted her, thinking I’d have a companion. Little did they know, she would try to gradually replace me and take everything for herself. Of course, how could a child raised with a privileged education lose to an outsider putting on an innocent act? The day before my interview, Jade bought bubble tea for everyone in our class. She even made a grand announcement from the teacher’s podium. “I’ll cover the cost of our class gathering dinner.” Everyone cheered and praised her from below. As the noise died down, Fiona Taylor, who sat in front of me, deliberately spoke loudly with a sarcastic tone. “Jade, you’re so generous! Not like some people who have money but won’t even treat everyone to a few dollars’ worth of bubble tea.” Since middle school, Jade had been pretending not to know me at school. She was afraid that my outfit without designer logos would be associated with her. I rested my left cheek on my hand, watching these hypocrites praising each other. When Jade brought the bubble tea to me, she pretended to be kind. “Amelia, don’t mind what Fiona said. She’s just straightforward, try to understand.” I ignored her, rolled my eyes, and reached for my textbook. “Splash!” The bubble tea that had been sitting steadily on the desk suddenly spilled all over the floor. While I was still staring at the spilled tea in confusion, Jade was already playing the victim beside me. “Amelia, if you hate me, just say it. There’s no need for this.” All the students who had been focused on their homework looked up at the commotion. Fiona immediately stood up and went to Jade’s side, supporting her swaying body. “Amelia, Jade was kind enough to buy bubble tea for everyone. Not only are you ungrateful, but you’re also wasting her kindness. How can you be so heartless!” This works? What a manipulative bitch. Jade could go straight to the Film Academy with her acting skills. Seeing that the whole class was looking at her with sympathy, I knew that no matter how I explained, it would be useless. I glanced at the camera on top of the podium. Let’s see how you’ll act your way out of this one. “If everyone thinks I’m bullying her, then let’s go to the office and check the camera footage!” Hearing about the camera, Jade, who had been acting weak and pitiful, immediately came forward and grabbed my hand. “Amelia, I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. If you don’t want to apologize, let’s just forget about it.” “Framing someone and then playing innocent?” Before I could speak, a deep, sarcastic male voice came from behind.

I turned back in surprise. It took me a moment to remember. He was Henry Carter, a repeating student who had just transferred to our class. I had been so focused on studying that I hadn’t paid much attention to him before. Jade’s scheme had been exposed in front of everyone. Her eyes filled with tears as she bit her lip. “Henry, don’t say that. It was clearly her…” “Cut the crap. If you have any shame left, clean up the mess on the floor and go back to your seat to do your homework. Stop chirping here and disturbing my sleep.” Henry impatiently interrupted her. At this point, the classmates were all whispering and gossiping about Jade. Jade glared at me hatefully and ran back to her seat, pretending to sob. Tsk tsk, how pitiful~ Haha, serves her right! Seeing the situation, Fiona didn’t dare to be arrogant anymore and quietly shrank back to her seat. I covered my mouth and lowered my head, secretly laughing.

When I returned home after school in the afternoon. Jade tactfully told my parents about what happened at school. Without distinguishing right from wrong, my dad immediately asked me to apologize to Jade at the dinner table. “Amelia, how could you throw such a tantrum? Quickly apologize to Jade.” I looked up and saw Jade flash a challenging smile in the moments when my parents weren’t looking at her. As soon as my dad turned his gaze to her, she put on a teary-eyed act. “Dad, maybe Amelia was just in a bad mood. Don’t blame her.” Bad mood my ass. I had received an offer from Oxford University, I was in a good mood every day. Hearing this, my dad became even more convinced that I was being unreasonable. “Jade, don’t speak up for her. She’s just been spoiled since childhood.” I calmly put down my chopsticks and responded quietly. “Dad, I didn’t do anything wrong. Jade is twisting the facts.” My dad had always been very strict with me. Because they only had one daughter, he and mom didn’t allow for any mistakes in my upbringing. They always admonished me not to be too willful, not to be ostentatious, to be humble. When Jade threw tantrums, was arrogant, and overbearing, they never disciplined her. If it weren’t for the fact that her last name was Foster and mine was Wilson, I would have doubted whether I was their biological daughter. This was the first time I had ever talked back to him like this, and I could see he was holding back his anger. “Amelia, your father is just looking out for you. You can’t be so willful in life,” my mom came to my side and tried to persuade me in a low voice. Ever since Jade came to our family, my parents always believed her side of the story and did whatever she said. This time, I really exploded! “Ever since she came into this family, you’ve always listened to her side of the story, and everything I say is wrong. I said it wasn’t me, so it wasn’t me!” My dad finally couldn’t hold back. He slammed his bowl on the dining table and raised his hand to strike me. I gritted my teeth and glared at him, not showing any fear at all. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to hit me. He sighed and lectured me. “Amelia, Dad just hopes you can be a magnanimous person, not so petty.” Hah, magnanimous. I’ve already been magnanimous enough, so much so that my mom and dad have almost become hers.

Since she came into the Wilson family, she’s known how to please my parents. The most common things I heard from my parents were: “Amelia, look how well-behaved Jade is, she never gives us any trouble.” “Amelia, you need to learn to be independent. Jade has been without parents since she was little, you should be more understanding of her.” “Jade is so good, at such a young age she already knows how to think of us.” … I’ve had enough of these words. What’s the difference between having parents and not having them in a family like this? They only know that Jade has no parents and needs to be given fatherly and motherly love, but what about me? Letting Jade parasitize the Wilson family for so many years, it’s time for me to take back the familial love that belongs to me. This was the first time in many years that I had such an unpleasant argument with my parents. I’ll deal with that little bitch after the interview in a few days. That night, I took a shower and lay down in bed to sleep peacefully. “Bang!” The door was kicked open by someone. Whoever it is, disturbing this young lady’s beauty sleep, don’t expect to walk out of this room in one piece. No need to guess, it must be that bitch. My parents happened to be on a business trip abroad tonight, she’s dead meat. She stood in front of me arrogantly with her arms crossed. “Amelia, didn’t you already receive an offer from Oxford University? Why are you still going for an interview? What are you pretending for?” This person has completely worn away my patience. I was originally planning to let her have a few good days. But since she’s asking for a beating, I’ll grant her wish. I got up stretching lazily, giving her a disdainful look. Ugh, how disgusting. “Yes, I’m pretending. Why shouldn’t I show off when I have the ability to?” Jade sneered. “Amelia, no matter how hard you try, Mom and Dad will only listen to me. In their hearts, you’re just a spoiled daughter.” “Jade, I really don’t know what’s going on in your head. My last name is Wilson and yours is Foster. The Wilson family will eventually be mine. If you don’t try to please me now and instead provoke me, the consequences will be very bad for you.” Jade hated nothing more than her last name being Foster. Previously, she had hinted several times that she wanted my dad to change her last name to Wilson, but was always rejected by my dad. My dad might be loyal to his friends, but he’s not stupid enough to let an outsider compete with his own daughter for the family fortune. Jade was angered by my retort and lunged at me, trying to grab my hair. What she and my parents didn’t know was that while she was attending those art classes that I had already mastered in middle school, I was learning Taekwondo. I dodged to the side and grabbed her long hair, pulling it back. “Ah! Amelia, you dare hit me, I’m going to tell Mom and Dad!” I pinned her to the ground and quickly slapped her twice. Her fair cheeks immediately showed the imprint of my hand. Hah! I’m not the saintly protagonist from some tragic drama. I’ve always been the one hitting others, never the one being hit. Except by my dad! “Since you said I hit you even when I didn’t, I might as well not lose out.” “You dare!” Still talking tough while pinned down! “Slap!” I gave her another backhand slap. “This slap is to tell you not to provoke me when I’m sleeping.” Jade howled beneath me. “Ahh! Amelia, I’m going to kill you…” “Slap!” Another slap for her. “You can scream your throat raw tonight, Mom and Dad won’t come to save you.” I only stopped beating her when she begged for mercy, then I dragged her up. I kicked her out the door. Shut the door! That felt good. This is how you should deal with people like her. Warm-up complete, now I can sleep well.

In the morning. I got up early to wash up. I put everything I needed to prepare into my bag. After getting ready, I went downstairs and saw a shocking sight. Jade had actually gotten up so early, and she was in the kitchen. This was the first time in eight years since she came to our family that I’d seen her making breakfast! I glanced out the window, wondering if I should bring an umbrella. It must be about to rain heavily. Seeing me come downstairs, Jade ran over to me with that swollen smiling face. I leaned back in disgust. Her tone had also become much gentler. “Amelia, I made breakfast for you. Let’s go to the interview together after we eat.” There’s no such thing as a free lunch, she must be up to something. I squinted at the exquisite breakfast on the table. A voice in my heart told me not to eat it. She couldn’t have tampered with the breakfast, could she? Seeing that I wasn’t touching the utensils, Jade urgently urged me from the side. “If you don’t eat now, we’ll be late. We have an interview today.” I gave her a cold sidelong glance, and she quickly ate her portion clean. “I’ve finished mine, are you satisfied now?” I used a fork to pick up a small section of sausage. Jade watched me with an expectant face, as if she couldn’t wait for me to eat it immediately. As the sausage reached my mouth, I stopped. “This sausage is too greasy, I’ve lost my appetite. Let’s go to school.” “Bang!” Jade angrily slammed the table as she stood up. “Amelia, don’t push your luck. I got up early to make breakfast for you and you dare not eat it!” Looks like it didn’t go according to her expectations, and now she’s furious. “Jade, you know very well who you are. I’m the genuine heiress of this family, it’s your honor to make breakfast for me.” I held up the milk and extended it to her. “Do you dare say you didn’t tamper with this food?” Jade looked at the milk, her confidence immediately deflating. She started putting on her innocent, pitiful act again. “Amelia, I was too excited earlier and didn’t express myself well. I really made breakfast for you with sincere intentions.” “Alright, if that’s the case, drink this milk and I’ll let bygones be bygones.” “Amelia! You…” Faced with this glass of milk, Jade actually retreated a few steps in fear. I knew this bitch was up to no good. I continued to hold the milk up to her mouth, and she turned pale with fright. “Enough! Amelia!”

How did Dad come back? Wasn’t he supposed to be on a business trip for a week? I looked towards the door, Dad seemed to have rushed back, I didn’t even see his luggage. He walked over and swatted the milk out of my hand onto the floor. Jade immediately hid behind him. Crying pitifully. “Dad, last night Amelia beat my face swollen and wasn’t satisfied. This morning I made her breakfast to make her happy, but Amelia actually thought I was trying to poison her.” Dad saw her red and swollen cheeks and immediately believed her side of the story. “Amelia, if Jade hadn’t posted on Instagram last night and we saw it, we wouldn’t have known you hit her so hard. You’re getting more and more out of hand!” Hah, so that’s why she did it, to let Mom and Dad see. I’m not some stupid protagonist from a depressing story who lets an outsider suppress me. “Jade, stop acting weak in front of Dad. If you didn’t poison it, then eat my portion!” She’s really good at acting, this bitch! I grabbed her from behind Dad and pressed her head towards the breakfast plate. She screamed in fear. “Dad, save me! Amelia, what have I done to offend you? Just because I told Dad you bullied me at school, you’re treating me like this?” “Amelia, what are you doing! You dare to act like this in front of me!” Dad pulled me away, his hand raised to strike me. “Young miss, please stop fighting. You have an interview today and you’ll be late if you don’t leave now!” The family driver, Uncle Lee, appeared just in time, and Dad’s hand stopped in mid-air. He glared at me angrily, with a look of disappointment. “Amelia, after your interview, move out of this house. You need to go out and experience life. You’re too willful and unreasonable.” I didn’t argue, just felt disappointed by Dad’s bias. I picked up my bag and walked straight out the door. 6. After the college entrance exam, I packed all my clothes and called a moving company. I absolutely won’t stay in this house for another second. Jade came to my room, strutting arrogantly. She waved the property deed in front of me, gloating. “Amelia, what does it matter if you’re their biological daughter? You’ll never be able to compete with me.” “Dad said that whether or not I can get into college, he’ll arrange everything for me in the future. This house is his gift for my coming of age.” I pretended to approach her with a dejected face. “Jade, you’re so lucky. I have nothing, even if I got accepted into Oxford University, what’s the use?” Jade thought I was really beaten down by her scheme. She leaned in close to my ear, gloating. “Amelia, even though you didn’t get any rewards, at least you got into Oxford University. You can rent a place to live when you get to college, haha.” Looking at her smug expression, if she knew that this house originally belonged to her biological father, she’d probably be furious. A month before the interview, I accidentally overheard my parents talking about this house in the study. This house was bought by Jade’s father, who had saved money working at construction sites his whole life. He paid for it in full. Before he died, he left the property deed with my dad, to be given to her when she turned eighteen. Although it wasn’t in a great location, her biological father really loved her and made sure she had a safety net before he passed away. I never expected Jade to be so heartless. For the sake of becoming a rich heiress, she didn’t even want to keep her own last name. Moreover, her biological father was a taboo subject for her. She only acknowledged her identity as the young miss of the Wilson family. Her father’s identity as a worker only made her feel ashamed. Looking at her like this, I just found it laughable. I didn’t want to waste any more words on her. I’m moving into my big villa now!

When Grandpa found out I had been kicked out, he immediately gave me the most expensive villa in the city. He said that my acceptance into Oxford University brought glory to the family, and this was just the tip of the iceberg. In the future, all of the Wilson family’s assets would be mine. As soon as I arrived at the villa, the servants lined up to welcome me. This… is a bit too extravagant, isn’t it? I usually don’t like such a high-profile entrance, but who can refuse when their family is rich? Haha… “Welcome home, young miss!” At the end of the line of servants stood a small, white-haired old man in a suit, smiling kindly. That’s my grandpa. I immediately dropped my luggage and ran to him. “Grandpa!” “Oh my, my dear granddaughter, you seem to have grown taller.” I pouted, “Come on, we just saw each other last week, how could I change so quickly?” Grandpa laughed heartily and led me inside. The villa was very large, with a medieval-style interior, grand and luxurious. Grandpa first took me to sit in the pavilion. He had the servants bring some of my favorite cakes. I hadn’t eaten these cakes in a long time. Grandpa really loves me the most, it warmed my heart. I wolfed down several pieces. Seeing this, Grandpa frowned. “Did you suffer at your parents’ house? Tell Grandpa, I’ll go beat up your dad!” I drained my tea in one gulp. Pouting, I imitated Jade’s teary-eyed look and threw myself into Grandpa’s arms. “Grandpa~ They all bullied me~” I told Grandpa everything that had happened. After listening, Grandpa angrily slammed down his teacup.

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I grew up with Ryan Parker, and we got married right after college graduation. After ten years of marriage, I still couldn’t have children. I felt incredibly guilty towards him and willingly quit my job to focus on getting pregnant. But my husband had long been involved with my housekeeper’s daughter. They sold off my family’s assets and plotted to kill my parents. They made me infertile, locked me in the basement, and forced me to watch their happy family of four while I died full of hatred. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to my senior year of high school. Ryan Parker and I had been engaged since childhood. The year I graduated from middle school, Ryan’s father’s company went bankrupt due to mismanagement. Unable to bear the enormous debt, Ryan’s father chose to jump off a building. My parents felt sorry for the orphaned Ryan and his widowed mother. They paid off their debts and covered all their expenses. In other words, my family was supporting them. After college graduation, Ryan started working at my family’s company and married me. My parents were kind-hearted, but they ended up raising two ungrateful wolves. Ryan and his mother resented my parents for not paying off their debts before his father’s suicide. They conspired with others to kill my parents. Ryan also made me infertile and used my guilt to take control of my family’s company. By the time I discovered all of this, Ryan and his mistress already had two children. That day, after countless attempts at IVF, I finally succeeded in getting pregnant. Excited, I ran downstairs to share the joyful news with my beloved husband. It was also the day my family’s company declared bankruptcy. Ryan finally didn’t need to keep up appearances with me anymore. He brought his two children to meet me. I stood stunned at the bottom of the stairs, looking at the happy family of four. The two children looked just like Ryan. I couldn’t even deceive myself. “Ryan Parker, who are they?” I asked. “My wife and sons,” he replied. Tessa, sporting a baby bump, walked over to me step by step. She was my housekeeper’s daughter. “Miss High-and-Mighty, what good is your status now?” she sneered. “Your family’s assets are mine, and your man loves me.” She snatched the report from my hand. “Oh my! You’re pregnant?! How is that possible after all those birth control pills?!” Birth control pills? I had never taken any. Suddenly, I remembered the vitamins Ryan had prepared for me, always reminding me to take them. I turned to confront him, but Tessa pushed me down the stairs. I instinctively tried to protect my belly, but it was futile. A sharp pain shot through my abdomen. I struggled, begging Ryan to take me to the hospital. I saw Ryan covering his sons’ eyes, looking at me like I was trash. “Save me…” I pleaded. No one paid any attention. I felt blood slowly seeping from between my legs, my body growing colder. In my final moments, I heard Ryan’s voice. “Finally dead. If only she had been in the same car as those two old fools, we wouldn’t have had so much trouble.”

“Chloe? Hello?” “This is Mrs. Chen’s class. How dare you zone out?” I found myself sitting in my high school classroom, as if waking from a long dream. I had returned to my senior year. “Tessa Thompson.” Hearing that name again, my hand clenched tightly around my pen. Tessa, with her high ponytail, stood up confidently from her seat to answer the teacher’s question. I turned my head slightly and saw Ryan through the gap of Tessa’s arm. And his eyes full of adoration. So Ryan had fallen for Tessa this early on. Ryan and Tessa consistently ranked first and second in our grade. In my previous life, they got into the same top university. I thought Ryan had fallen for her in college, but it turns out it was much earlier. Actually, at the beginning of high school, I was the top student. The kind that could beat the second place by dozens of points. Ryan always told me that my consistently outperforming him made him anxious. He said that with my family’s wealth, whether I went to college or not wouldn’t make much difference. He said his feelings for me wouldn’t change regardless of my grades, and that I should enjoy life instead of spending all my time studying. Gradually, influenced by him, I only got into an average college for my entrance exams. He, however, got into a top university along with Tessa. After we married, my ordinary degree became a reason for Ryan’s mother to look down on me. She felt that my average college education wasn’t good enough for her son who graduated from a top university. Thinking back now, I must have been out of my mind or kicked in the head by a donkey. Why did I pin my entire life on a man? And a man who relied on my family’s support, no less.

During the break, I buried my head in my books. Although I hadn’t completely neglected my studies in my later years, I wasn’t as diligent as I had been in my freshman year. Given a second chance at life, I was determined to catch up on everything I had fallen behind on. My deskmate nudged my arm. Ryan had come over. “Chloe, this is for you,” he said. Just like in my previous life, it was a star bottle. I caught a glimpse of the reluctance hidden in Ryan’s eyes. “Thanks,” I said casually. As if he had completed a task by giving it to me, he turned and left without wanting to linger a moment longer. I carelessly placed the star bottle on my desk and continued reading my book. My deskmate stared at the star bottle for a while, then nudged me again. “Chloe, about this star bottle…” “What about it?” I asked. “I think I’ve seen it with Tessa before…” I nodded, still appearing to be focused on my book, but I was listening intently and keeping an eye on Tessa from the corner of my eye. I saw Tessa listening to Ryan explain a problem with a coy expression. I also overheard Ryan’s cronies talking. “Why is Chloe so calm today?” “Yeah! Ryan gave her something, hand-delivered it! Shouldn’t she be crying with joy?” “You don’t think she knows it’s something Tessa rejected, do you?” “As if! Getting something Tessa doesn’t want is an honor for her!” I remembered that in my previous life, when I received this star bottle, I had indeed reacted just as those boys expected. I was excited. I cried with joy. It was one of the few gifts Ryan had ever given me. That day, I posted about it on all my social media accounts. Back then, my deskmate had said the same thing to me, but I had flown into a rage. I looked at my deskmate with guilt-ridden eyes. Her face, still chubby with baby fat, looked terrified. She crossed her arms defensively, “Girl, I’m straight!” Way to ruin the mood. I went back to reading my book.

After school, I couldn’t wait to get home. I missed my parents. I also wanted to tell them that I wanted to break off the engagement, that Ryan and his mother were ungrateful wretches. I excitedly rushed into the house but didn’t see a trace of my parents. I asked the butler, “Where are Mom and Dad?” “Miss, have you forgotten? The master and madam are abroad. They won’t be back for another two weeks.” Right, I had forgotten. I also realized something else. My father had always valued loyalty and friendship. He and Ryan’s father had been best friends, which was why he had paid off the Parker family’s debts after Ryan’s father died. If I suddenly brought up breaking off the engagement, Father would only think I was throwing a tantrum and definitely wouldn’t agree. But was I just going to let Ryan and his mother live comfortably for these two weeks? I couldn’t accept that. “Has the living allowance for the Parker family been given?” I asked. The butler replied, “Before the master left, he gave them three months’ worth of living expenses. It’s only been a month and a half.” The butler thought I wanted to give the Parker family their living allowance. As if I would. “Is it possible to freeze that card?” I asked. “You mean the one for the Parker family?” I nodded without hesitation. “That’s a card under the master’s name. It would require the master to do that.” If I couldn’t freeze the card, I could at least do some accounting. Since my middle school graduation, my family had been supporting Ryan and his mother. They needed to spit out every penny they had swallowed! “Gather all the records of payments made to the Parker family over the years. I want to see how much they owe us.” Back when Father had offered to pay for Ryan’s education, Ryan had been adamant about paying it back once he started working. The butler’s face showed confusion, but he couldn’t hide his smile. I wanted to slap myself hard. Even the butler could see that the Parker family was taking advantage of us. How had I been so blind in my previous life? During dinner, I received the account statement. “Thirty thousand dollars a month in expenses?!” Faced with my shocked expression, the butler nodded calmly. I only knew that my family was covering all the Parker family’s expenses, but I had no idea their spending was almost on par with my family, who lived in a mansion. “The master values loyalty, and young Mr. Parker is your fiancé. This amount of money is nothing to the master, so he didn’t pay much attention to it.” I ate my dinner with a cold expression. Now that my eyes were open, how could I let people treat my family like an ATM?

At the teacher’s suggestion, our class formed study groups. Ryan, Tessa, three other classmates, and I were in one group. On the weekend, we met at the city park to study and discuss problems together. Ryan and Tessa arrived together. Now that I was immersed in my studies, I had no reaction to seeing them together. “Chloe, that question you asked last week really stumped Ryan. He even came to me to discuss it,” Tessa said. I glanced at Tessa, who was trying to make conversation, and saw the poorly concealed pride in her eyes, as well as the necklace around her neck. It was a limited edition piece from a luxury brand’s current season. Tessa was just my housekeeper’s daughter. The only reason she could attend the same high school as me was because my parents wanted me to have a companion. My family even paid her tuition. Where did she get the money to buy luxury goods? I had thought too highly of her. I had even considered letting her off the hook if she had been influenced by Ryan. Now I see, I won’t let her off at all. She can’t escape either. “Is that so?” I asked back. “But that question wasn’t difficult. I’ve already solved it.” “Re…really?” Tessa’s smile became a bit stiff. Ryan accused me, “If you’ve solved it, why waste my time?! My time is precious, you know?” “I just solved it,” I said innocently, pointing at the exercise book spread out on the stone table and Sam, who was sitting on the stone bench. Seeing Ryan’s expression like he had eaten something bitter, I felt very pleased. Ryan pulled Tessa to sit on the other side. I sat down too, continuing to eagerly bombard Sam, the real academic genius, with questions. I had to bribe him with a month’s worth of breakfasts before he agreed to tutor me. This was a true academic genius, the kind who could sleep through classes and still consistently rank tenth in the grade. Ryan and Tessa sat together, looking like a perfect couple. He was explaining problems to her, occasionally glancing at me. In his eyes, I should be madly in love with him now, ready to throw money at him to appease his anger. I did plan to go to him, but not to throw money. Towards the end of this group study session, I solemnly expressed my gratitude to Sam. Then, “Ryan, I have something to discuss with you.” I didn’t notice Sam’s initially pleased expression suddenly turn gloomy. Ryan wore a ‘just as I expected’ look and reluctantly said, “What is it? Speak.” I looked at Tessa and the other classmates, smiling somewhat mischievously. “I don’t mind, but you might care. Are you sure you want to do this here?” Ryan pulled me to the side. I handed him the account statement from my pocket. “You said it yourself back then that the money you used from my family was considered a loan. You’re an adult now, so here’s the bill. Remember to pay it back.” Ryan didn’t even look at the bill. With a face like death, he said, “You want me to pay you back?!”

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I received fifty billion dollars for helping a stray dog. If I could spend all this money, my liver cancer would be cured without medication. I looked at the balance on my phone and wiped away my tears fiercely. At least I could spend lavishly before I die, that’s worth something! The day I was diagnosed with liver cancer was Christmas. Christmas carols played in the streets, creating a joyful atmosphere. I walked down the street in a daze, holding my test results. The words “late-stage liver cancer” stood out starkly on my medical record. The doctor’s words still echoed in my ears. “If there’s anything you want to do, do it soon.” “Treatment won’t do much for you now, you’ve only got a few months left.” I had sensed something was wrong with my body for a while, so the results didn’t surprise me. It was more of an “Ah, so that’s it” feeling. Maybe it was the long-term overwork. Maybe it was the frequent business dinners and drinking. Maybe it was the aftermath of malnutrition during my teenage years. My phone screen lit up. My boyfriend Lucas sent a message. [Babe, I have to work overtime today, so I can’t spend Christmas with you.] I looked at the embracing couple not far away. So this was his overtime? In the face of life and death, even being cheated on didn’t seem to matter much anymore. But he shouldn’t have brought his sword-selling to my doorstep! I walked up and pulled apart the two who were kissing passionately. I slapped Lucas hard across the face. “Overtime?” He was stunned by the slap. He turned to see my hand still raised and was about to explode in anger. I slapped him again on his right cheek. “Is this what you call overtime? Making out with a girl?” I had initially fallen for Lucas’s face – gentle, refined, and elegant. Although he looked like a weakling with a bunch of issues, I couldn’t help but like him. So I played the innocent rabbit for three years. Who knew he’d turn out to be such a jerk! I still felt unsatisfied, so I slapped him again. This time he was thoroughly agitated, panting heavily and clenching his fists as he rushed towards me. I kicked him in the chest. He staggered back two steps and shouted, “Aria Anderson, are you fucking crazy?” I laughed coldly, “Yeah, crazy sick. Dying, in fact.” I kicked him again, knocking him to the ground. Lucas gasped in pain, unable to form coherent words. I stepped on him, grinding my foot, then turned to look at the people around us. A crowd was gathering, some taking out their phones to record. “I’m dealing with a cheating scumbag. Does anyone want to beg for mercy for him, or take a beating in his place?” As soon as I finished speaking, the crowd dispersed quickly. Soon, only the pale-faced young girl was left. She looked young, probably just out of college. “How long have you been dating?” The girl answered softly, “Less than six months.” “Did you know he had a girlfriend?” The girl nodded, “I know now.” “Are you still planning to continue with him?” The girl shook her head frantically, “No, no, I’m breaking up with him! Right now!” I nodded in satisfaction, “Then why aren’t you leaving?” “I’m going, I’m going. I wish you both—” I impatiently cut her off, “Don’t bother with wishes, I don’t have a habit of recycling scumbags.” After she left, I grabbed Lucas by the collar and threw him against the railing. I was naturally strong and had learned martial arts for a few years, so dealing with Lucas was a piece of cake. “Now, let’s talk about us.” “We’ve been dating for three years. How much money have I spent on you?” Lucas, with his face swollen like a pig’s head, no longer looking refined or elegant. “Thirty thousand, no, no, fifty thousand.” “Are you sure?” “And, and the thirty thousand I borrowed from you, a total of eighty thousand.” “No interest?” Lucas quickly changed his tune, “A hundred thousand! A total of hundred thousand!” I stuffed the medical record into my coat pocket, “Pay it back then. Cash or bank transfer?” “Tr-transfer,” he stuttered. I coldly watched him, “Don’t forget to add a note.” Lucas’s body trembled, and he immediately added a note and shakily entered the password to transfer the money. My phone vibrated once, a hundred thousand credited, with the note “repayment”. As I was leaving, I kindly asked him. “Do you want me to call the police for you?” Lucas trembled like a sieve, completely cowed. “No need, I just fell by accident, I didn’t see you today!” I felt somewhat empty, “Alright then.” “I quite liked those hands of yours, it would be a shame if they got broken for not behaving.” “Okay, get lost now.” Lucas stumbled to his feet and ran away pathetically. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my body, making me almost unable to stand straight. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead as I crouched down, hugging my knees. It took a while for the pain to subside. I slowly walked back, receiving a call from my mom on the way. “Aria, you haven’t sent this month’s money yet.” My heart sank to the bottom. I suddenly realized how worthless my years of contributions to the family had been. I was dying. Yet my family only cared about why I hadn’t sent money this month. These were the family members I had been thinking of leaving my inheritance to! “What, isn’t five thousand dollars a month enough for you and dad to spend?” “It’s enough, but your brother just graduated, he needs to rent a place and pay car loans, he’s short on cash.” I coldly replied, “So he’s short on cash and comes to me for money, am I an ATM?” “Am I his father or mother? Since when does an older sister have to support her adult brother?” My mom’s voice suddenly rose. “Aria Anderson, how dare you talk like that, don’t you remember your brother saved you when you fell into the river as a child!” Saved me? Alex was two years younger than me but much stronger due to better nutrition. Just because I refused to let him ride on my back, he pushed me into the river from the bank. Sophia actually knew about this. But for her son’s benefit, she always used this to guilt-trip me, treating me like a fool. Out of familial affection, I never spoke up about it. But now, there was no need to hold back anymore. I interrupted her, “Do you think I don’t remember because I was too young?” “Why don’t you ask Uncle Wang who actually saved me?” Sophia fell silent. She was about to start yelling as usual, but I didn’t give her the chance. “I have bank records of all the money I’ve sent you every month, as well as the down payment and mortgage for the house.” “Not only have I paid back the cost of raising me, but I’ve also covered your living expenses until you’re both eighty.” “If you’re not thinking straight and still want to make a fuss, I’ll beat your precious son to death!” “See who cares then!” Sophia’s vicious curses immediately erupted. I promptly hung up the phone and blocked all contact information for their entire family. My heart was completely calm. The past grievances and resentment seemed trivial in the face of death. In the last few months of my life, I just wanted to be good to myself. As I passed through a small alley, a rustling sound came from behind. In the dim light, a burly man with a scruffy beard stood there, holding a knife. Despite his efforts to control it, his hand was shaking. A novice? Me: “Robbery?” The man: “Yes, ah, you’re not scared—” I interrupted him, “Is five thousand enough? Give me your phone number, I’ll transfer it to you.” I’d rather give this five thousand to this robber than let Sophia have it! The man was a bit dazed. I pried open his hand, took out his phone from his pocket, pulled up the QR code, and transferred him five thousand. The man still hadn’t come to his senses. I frowned, “Is five thousand not enough? Any more would be impolite.” “You, why are you so cooperative?” To be honest, the man looked a bit silly, hunching like a big bear. I took out my medical record and showed him, “See this? Late-stage liver cancer, I’m beyond saving.” The man’s face paled, and tears suddenly streamed down his face. He wiped his tears messily and transferred the money back to me. Then he emptied all his pockets, taking out a handful of cash and stuffing it into my hands. “I’m so sorry, sis. My grandpa has cancer too, I really had no choice.” “Listen to me, sis, get good treatment, there’s always hope!” With that, he left, wiping his tears. I clutched the crumpled bills in my hand, my eyes moistening. Even a stranger could be so kind, yet my own blood relatives were so cold. Near the garbage bins at the entrance of my apartment complex, I found a stray dog with dirty fur. I felt a pang of compassion. I took off my down jacket, wrapped the stray dog in it, and went to a nearby pet hospital. Fortunately, we arrived in time to save its life. On the way home with the dog, I felt someone following me. Another robber? I turned around. It was a middle-aged man with graying hair, looking tired and travel-worn. His eyes were fixed on the puppy in my arms, a mix of heartache, sadness, and a bit of relief. This person seemed strange. “Young lady, can you give me back my grandson?” I held the puppy tighter, “How can you prove it?” The middle-aged man made a strange gurgling sound in his throat, unlike any sound a human could make. The next second, the weak puppy perked up a bit. It opened its eyes and gently pawed towards the middle-aged man. The man took it and patted its head. “Young lady, let me give you some money for your trouble.” I waved my hand in refusal, “No need, I’m dying soon, money is useless to me.” Hearing this, the man’s eyes instantly changed color. His black eyes turned green, and he looked me up and down, making my hair stand on end. The middle-aged man: “Good deeds are rewarded. You saved my grandson, our entire clan will be grateful to you.” “If you spend all this money within three months, your illness will be cured.” Me: ? My phone vibrated once, and when I checked, a new bank card was linked to my account. I counted the zeros, 5 billion? When I looked up again, the middle-aged man and the puppy who were just in front of me had disappeared. Something heavy dropped into my pocket, I reached in and felt a bank card. Is this real? I tried clearing out my shopping cart, and the interface showed payment successful, waiting for merchant shipment. That middle-aged man wasn’t lying to me! I hailed a taxi and went straight to the city center. Even if the cancer doesn’t get better in the end, it’s worth it to spend lavishly before I die! In the Gucci store. My face was as pale as a ghost, and my clothes were smeared with dirt from holding the puppy. The sales assistant was a young girl with a fresh face, speaking timidly, probably a new employee. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been sent to serve me. She was nice though, seeing I wasn’t wearing a coat, she even poured me a cup of hot water to warm my hands. I pointed at two coats and asked her to ring them up. “Miss, don’t you want to try them on?” I shook my head, “Just bill them directly.” After the payment was completed, I took out my phone and checked, the balance on the new bank card had changed. At the same time, a small progress bar appeared on my phone’s desktop. It read 99.98%. I called over the sales assistant who had been looking down on me since I entered, her attitude disdainful. “Excuse me, can I…” She directly rolled her eyes, her tone contemptuous. “We don’t accept returns once items are sold—” I rudely interrupted her, “Can you move aside? You’re blocking my view.” Then I waved over the new employee, little Chen. “Come here, young lady.” “What can I do for you, miss?” “See those three rows of bags? The second one in the first row, the first one in the second row, and the fourth one in the third row.” Chen scurried over to get those bags, “Shall I wrap them up for you?” “No.” The onlooking sales assistant was about to say something. I continued, “Except for these three, wrap up all the others that can be packaged, and put them all on your bill.” Chen was stunned for a moment, then her face lit up with joy as she repeatedly agreed. Except for the items that needed to be specially ordered and a few I really didn’t like, I almost emptied the entire store. The manager smiled broadly as she saw me out, promising to deliver the goods to my home tomorrow. I put on my new coat, and unwrapped the sunglasses and handbag. Just as I was about to leave, I caught sight of that disdainful, arrogant sales assistant out of the corner of my eye.

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My boyfriend won $20 million in the lottery and immediately broke up with me. “Our social classes are different. You’re too low for me.” Then he turned around and hooked up with that girl at work. I laughed. He forgot that lottery ticket was from the previous draw. I rolled down the window of my Maserati and said to them, “You two are way too low for me.” 1 “Let’s break up, Harper Westbrook! I just won $20 million in the lottery.” Chase Collins stood in front of me, his expression smug as he spoke those words. “All because of that?” I asked, looking up at him. “Of course! You’ve probably never even seen that much money, have you? My mom says there are different classes of people. Now that we’ve made it to the top, you and I aren’t on the same level anymore.” I couldn’t help but laugh. $20 million, and they think they’re part of high society? I didn’t even have time to tell him that my dad owns several buildings that rake in more than $20 million in rent every year, not to mention his companies. But it’s fine. Honestly, I was glad to get rid of someone like him. Better to cut ties early. No tears over love, only sleepless nights thinking about money! Chase glanced at me. “By the way, even though you paid for the $50 lottery ticket, I’m the one who bought it. So don’t expect a penny from me.” He’d always had this habit of buying lottery tickets, dreaming of getting rich overnight. But when it came time to pay, he’d always have an excuse—his phone was dead, or his payment wasn’t working. Right, because the bank really cares about a few bucks, right? “My mom doesn’t like you either,” Chase added. “She thinks you’re too tacky. Remember last time you met her? All you gave her were some cheap, no-name gifts. You embarrassed us.” I shot back, “God must’ve spilled wisdom all over the world, but your family held up an umbrella!” I still remember the first time I met his mom. I gave her a pure wool scarf designed by an Italian luxury designer, worth five figures, and a bottle of French court perfume. Now it’s apparently a ‘cheap, no-name gift’ to them. Like a catfish splashing water, suddenly thinking it’s seafood. He continued, “I won’t argue with you because I’m an elite. But since we’re breaking up, let’s settle things. Why don’t you sell back the gifts I gave you?” Typical Chase. Even winning the lottery doesn’t change his stinginess. “No need! I still have all the stuff you gave me! I’ll return every bit of it.” “Your $9.99 skincare set? I was too scared to use it, in case it ruined my skin! “That $19.99 shirt and tie set? I didn’t want to wear it in case I broke out in hives! “And that $10 box of bread? I was worried it’d make me sick, and even the medical bills wouldn’t cover it!” The crowd around us burst into laughter. Chase’s face turned red as he snapped back, “Don’t just bring that up! What about all the money I gave you? Didn’t I send you cash on holidays?” “Sure did.” I nodded, pulling out my phone to check the records. Valentine’s Day: $5.20, Fourth of July: $6.60, Christmas: $8.80… “You’re so thoughtful. So generous!” I laughed. Even my cousin in elementary school gives me more than that. I used to think he was so sweet and attentive that I didn’t care about the little things. But now? Looking back, I must’ve had water on the brain. Enough to fill the entire Lake Michigan! Chase puffed out his chest. “That was the past! Things are different now. I’ve won $20 million! I can buy whatever I want, and you no longer deserve to be with me!” I nodded. “Alright then. In that case, why don’t you return the gifts I gave you?” Chase laughed. “The stuff you gave me? It’s all knockoffs, isn’t it? How much could it be worth?” Chase grew up poor. His dad passed away early, and he and his mom depended on each other. To protect his fragile ego, I always cut the tags off the gifts I gave him, and they didn’t have any flashy logos. “That belt you’re wearing? Gucci, limited edition. $10,000. “Those shoes? C-brand, $15,000. “That jacket? Also C-brand, $30,000.” I listed them off, one by one. Chase’s face fell. “You think I’m an idiot? You couldn’t afford the real thing. You must’ve just bought some knockoffs to fool me!” Right, because he couldn’t tell real from fake. I pulled out my phone. “Here’s the purchase history and receipts. If you don’t believe me, go check with the store.” “And the scarf and perfume I gave your mom? They weren’t any cheaper than the stuff I gave you. But I’ll let that go. Just give me $100,000 for everything else I’ve gifted you.” In reality, I’d spent over $200,000 on him over the years. But if he gave me $200,000, his mom would probably make my life a nightmare. Chase gritted his teeth. “Who knows if what you gave me was real or fake? Let’s call it $50,000. I’ll give you $10,000 now and the rest once I cash in the lottery.” Fine by me. Even though it’s a drop in the bucket compared to my bank balance, who says no to more money? 2 After receiving the $10,000 in my account, I stood up and said to Chase, “Thanks, Chase. That’s the first time you’ve been so generous!” He looked pained but still spat back, “Good. Don’t ever come looking for me again, loser! “And don’t ever try to contact me. I’m afraid your bad luck will mess up my fortune.” I nodded vigorously, making sure he saw me agree. After Chase left, I told my driver to bring my Bentley around from the garage. I’m done pretending. That night, Chase posted on Instagram. There were two photos: one of the lottery ticket, and another of him taking a selfie at the Maserati dealership. The caption read: “Just focus on two things: working hard and loving yourself. Luck will follow you if you smile enough. 😊” I almost gagged on my dinner. As I was about to delete him, something about that lottery ticket caught my eye. The numbers weren’t fully shown, but the draw number was clear: 38

But… the winning numbers for draw 381 didn’t match those! I quickly looked up the results online and realized Chase had mistaken the previous draw’s numbers as the winning ones for his ticket. He probably watched a replay or looked at the wrong draw number, thinking he’d won $20 million! This was about to get interesting. I couldn’t wait to see his face when he learned the truth. 3 Midway through work, I was sneaking a break when I overheard Savannah Moore, the office gold digger, bragging to a coworker. “My boyfriend just moved into Ridgewood Heights.” I froze. What a coincidence. My dad had bought me a place there too, though I rarely stayed. Since Chase worked nearby, I’d given him a key to use the place when he worked late. I told him it was rented. He moved in without a second thought, never considering the rent probably cost more than his monthly salary. I was just thinking about taking back the keys when Savannah said, “He calls me his lucky girl. Ever since we got together, he won $20 million!” Everyone around her gasped with envy. Wait. Ridgewood Heights? $20 million? Could it really be…? I hesitantly asked, “Does your boyfriend happen to be named Chase?” Savannah shot me a wary look. “You know him? Don’t even think about trying to steal him just because he’s rich. He’s way out of your league!” Of course, it was him! Chase had been seeing Savannah while we were still together? Did he really think Savannah was upper-class material? If my dad knew about this, he’d die laughing. Savannah always flaunted fake designer bags, rotating them every day of the week. In Chase’s eyes, someone who couldn’t even tell real from fake, Savannah must’ve looked like a wealthy princess. Talk about a match made in heaven! Two gold diggers, perfect for each other! Best wishes. Please stay together forever. That night, Savannah posted on Instagram, a photo of her and Chase with the caption: “No more waiting. The one I’ve been waiting for is here.” Five minutes later, Chase posted their picture too, with the cringy caption: “Us.” 4 The manager of my favorite luxury store texted me, saying they’d just gotten new stock and invited me to check it out. Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to swing by. As soon as I walked in, there they were: Chase and Savannah. There was only one sales associate in the store. She glanced at me and completely ignored me, continuing to smile and serve them. Savannah was wearing a logo-plastered outfit, even though it was so last season. Meanwhile, I was in a simple t-shirt and carrying a canvas bag. No wonder the saleswoman thought I wasn’t worth her time. Savannah noticed me too. “What kind of people are they letting in this store?” Chase added, “Harper Westbrook, what are you doing here? You can’t afford anything in this store.” I smiled. “Oh? Did your family open this store? I didn’t know I needed permission to look around.” The saleswoman clearly picked up on the tension and sided with them. “I’m sorry, miss, but the lowest-priced item in our store is $30,000. If you can’t afford it, you really shouldn’t waste your time.” I couldn’t help but laugh inside. She had no idea who she was backing. After showing Savannah several bags, I overheard her say to Chase, “Baby, I want this one, and the second one in that row too.” The sales associate beamed. “Oh, you have such good taste, miss! These are our bestsellers. You’ve got a great eye.” Savannah, pleased, slung the bag over her shoulder and admired herself in the mirror. Then she noticed me. “Harper Westbrook, aren’t you embarrassed carrying around that cheap canvas bag? Aren’t you supposed to have a job?” I was carrying a canvas bag because I planned to go grocery shopping later. Gotta think green, you know? Save the planet. I shot back, “What’s wrong with a canvas bag? Does your family live by the sea or something? Why are you so concerned?” Savannah, frustrated, rushed back to Chase. “This one, that one, and the other one—I want them all!” Chase, trying to sound generous, said, “Buy them all!” The saleswoman’s eyes sparkled with glee. I picked up a black handbag, wanting a closer look, when the saleswoman stormed over. “I’m sorry, miss, but this is our latest model. It costs $150,000 and is only available to our VVIP clients. Please don’t touch it—you might get it dirty.” Savannah laughed. “Harper, don’t get your filthy hands on that bag. You couldn’t afford it even if you sold yourself.” I was about to fire back when a sharp voice came from the entrance. 5 “Who said Harper can’t afford it?” The saleswoman panicked. “M-manager, you’re back!” Amanda, the store manager, walked in and immediately apologized to me. “I’m so sorry, Harper. I went to grab your coffee. This new employee didn’t know any better.” She turned to the saleswoman and added, “Harper is one of our VVIP clients. She gets first pick of all new stock. Only after she passes on something can we offer it to other customers.” The saleswoman’s face went pale, and she hurriedly apologized. Chase’s face turned red. “You must be mistaken. Harper is just a regular office worker. How could she be one of your VVIPs? Don’t let her fool you!” The threshold for being a VVIP at this store is spending over $1 million annually. The manager glared at Chase and Savannah. “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to ask you two to leave. We’re closing the store for Harper.” Savannah huffed. “I wouldn’t shop here anyway! My boyfriend has plenty of money. He can buy me anything I want from any store. You’re all fools for falling for some poor girl’s tricks!” She grabbed Chase and stormed out. I turned to Amanda and said, “I’ll take the entire row of bags. Wrap them up for me.” 6 The next day at work, Savannah strutted around the office, showing off a new handbag. She made sure everyone noticed, circling the room several times. It wasn’t cheap—probably around $50,000. I guess Chase wasn’t completely stingy. I just wasn’t worth his effort. “Oh, this is the bag my boyfriend insisted on buying me,” Savannah said. “I didn’t even want it, but he just had to get it for me.” Coworker A: “Your boyfriend treats you so well! When will I get a sweet romance like that?” Coworker B: “Well, Savannah is gorgeous, and she comes from a good family. Of course, her boyfriend would be amazing. It’s all relative.” Bingo. A broke guy and a gold digger—a perfect match. Savannah walked over to me and said, “You can tell how much a man loves a woman by how much he’s willing to spend on her. Chase told me he never spent much on you when you two were together. How sad!” She wasn’t wrong. He used to buy me $9.99 lipsticks, and I’d pretend to be thrilled. Then I’d gift him designer clothes or shoes in return, always downplaying how expensive they were to protect his ego. I replied, “I was too young to know better. At least I’ve gotten rid of the trash now. “Speaking of trash, what brand of garbage bag are you? You seem to carry a lot.” Savannah’s face darkened. “You’re just bitter because you couldn’t keep Chase. He said you two aren’t even in the same league. Turns out, he was right!” 7 That weekend, I called a cleaning service to go to Ridgewood Heights and throw out everything Chase had touched. Just the thought of him using my stuff made my skin crawl. WWhen I got to the building, I tried to use the facial recognition system to unlock the door, but it kept saying “face not recognized.” Strange. Did I lose weight recently or something? Maybe that’s why the system didn’t recognize me? I was still mulling it over when I heard noise coming from inside the apartment.

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I recently noticed that my daughter’s mood has become unpredictable. She would get extremely excited or deeply disappointed over a single comment from her school teacher. After my repeated questioning, she finally admitted, “You’re a bad mom. I like my dance teacher more as my mom.” “If only Miss Diana could be my mom, Dad would definitely smile more,” she pouted. I frowned, my woman’s intuition screaming inside: That woman is seducing my husband, and worse, she’s trying to manipulate my daughter psychologically. My name is Olivia Wilson, 31 years old, married, and the only daughter of a small business owner. I have an MBA from overseas and currently work as a marketing manager in a company. To outsiders, I seem to be living an enviable life: born into a wealthy family, highly educated, and happily married with a child. But only I know that deep down, I’m actually a very insecure and weak person. Growing up in a single-parent family has made me cold and indifferent towards others. I’m not as devoted to my family as I am to my work. My husband is handsome and capable, and my daughter is sweet and well-behaved. The only flaw is that after giving birth, I immediately threw myself into a demanding project at work, missing the best time for postpartum recovery. As a result, I now have stubborn belly fat and a C-section scar that I can’t get rid of, which has become a big regret for me. Jack, however, doesn’t seem to mind. He often hugs me from behind and whispers, “Darling, you’ll always be the most beautiful in my eyes.” He’s said this to me twice before: once during our wedding vows, and once when I had a major hemorrhage due to breech position during childbirth. I was in the ICU then, tears blurring my vision, my body reeking. I asked him, “Honey, am I ugly now?” He kissed my hand gently, without any disgust, and said I was the most beautiful woman in his heart. Jack’s deep affection and tenderness have kept our marriage in a state of mild warmth since we got married. Now, our daughter Lily is four years old and in middle class at kindergarten. He takes on the responsibility of being a good father and husband. Since I’m usually busy with work and he often works night shifts as a programmer, he’s the one who picks up our daughter from school. One day, I saw a parenting forum on my phone suggesting that parental companionship is the most important factor in a child’s growth. After reading it, I felt guilty, realizing I hadn’t spent enough time with my daughter lately. So I left work early that afternoon and called Jack: “Honey, I’ll pick up Lily today. It’s Blue Bell Kindergarten, Middle Class 3, right? Is it still the east entrance for pick-up?” I admit I haven’t done enough in terms of spending time with our child, and Jack only picks her up from school because my work hours clash with her school dismissal time. But when we get home, I’m the one who cooks. For Lily’s healthy growth, I even got a nutritionist certificate in my spare time, just to prepare balanced and nutritious meals for them. I rarely visit my daughter’s kindergarten, having been there only once for a parent-teacher meeting. Due to a timing mistake, and unable to reach Jack on his phone, I ended up standing at the gate for an hour and a half before realizing other parents were already leaving. Lily came out with her little backpack, looking surprised to see me there to pick her up. Her big, bright eyes flashed with astonishment. As she approached, I quickly took her backpack and told her I had been waiting for her for a long time. My daughter pouted and said, “Silly mommy, today teacher gave me extra dance lessons. You didn’t even know!” I crouched down, feeling guilty. Jack hadn’t told me clearly, so I had come at her usual dismissal time. However, at that moment, I suddenly noticed a trace of chili oil at the corner of her lips. Although it was just a tiny bit, my keen eye caught it. As a certified nutritionist, I strictly forbid my baby from eating any junk food. Spicy snacks and chips are off-limits, even though she loves them. I held her small hand and sniffed it. Despite having been washed, the strong artificial flavor couldn’t be masked by the hand soap. My face darkened. “Lily, did you eat spicy snacks?” Seeing my anger, she immediately deflated, puffing up her cheeks and refusing to admit it. “Honey, didn’t Mommy teach you to be an honest child? No lying, okay?” I tried to stay calm, knowing that children this age need effective guidance rather than harsh criticism. Under my gentle coaxing, my daughter finally spoke up. She said the spicy snacks were given to her by their dance teacher, only to her, and she was told not to tell her parents or other kids. “If only Miss Diana could be my mom, Dad would definitely smile more,” my daughter said with a pout. I raised an eyebrow, my grip on her delicate wrist unconsciously tightening as I angrily said: “What did you say? Do you know how much it hurts Mommy to hear you say that?” She suddenly jerked her hand away in a fit of temper, tears of petulance glistening in her eyes. She grabbed the water bottle from my hand and threw it on the ground: “She buys me fried chicken and spicy snacks, and plays with me. You can’t give me anything.” I stood there in shock, watching my usually well-behaved daughter become increasingly spoiled and even break the water bottle. I began to realize how much I had failed in my role as a mother, to the point where my daughter thought another woman would be a better mom. However, her childish words inadvertently revealed some shocking facts to me: My husband had shown fondness for another woman in front of her.

And to win over my daughter, she was pulling out all the stops to please her. This Miss Diana, I vaguely remembered, was the dance teacher at the kindergarten, named Diana Lee. My daughter loves dancing. Diana has been teaching Lily since the junior class. I had seen her in a class photo before and even joked with my husband: “Look at this teacher, she’s so pretty and fresh-faced. She looks like an older sister among the kids.” Jack, however, said she was already thirty years old. Seeing my surprise, he inadvertently added: “She used to be a yoga instructor. Her kid is already over three years old, but I must say, she’s maintained herself really well.” At that moment, a flash of surprise crossed my mind: why did Jack know so much about this teacher? But I just laughed it off. Perhaps it was because Jack often went to the kindergarten to pick up our daughter and had heard some things. Looking back now, there were clues all along. However, the caution ingrained in me from my family background made me reluctant to disrupt our family harmony without concrete evidence. What if, what if Lily was just saying things out of anger? What if that teacher was already married? After all, she was supposed to be a role model. I tried to comfort myself, afraid of wrongly accusing someone of something they didn’t do. Children’s Day was coming up in a few days, and my daughter was going to perform a “Fairy Dance” on stage. Diana was in charge of rehearsing their class performance. I decided to go and see her in person to investigate. It was already quite hot in our small southern city in June, but I didn’t dare wear a dress. I stuck to my usual outfit of a shirt and cropped pants. I hadn’t recovered well after my C-section, leaving scars on my abdomen and stretch marks extending to my legs, which made me very self-conscious. But as I entered the kindergarten, I saw her graceful figure from afar, by the stage. Even without beauty filters, she looked exactly like in the photo, perfectly embodying the “fair, young, and slim” aesthetic. I was momentarily stunned, involuntarily thinking how beautiful she was. If I hadn’t given up the best time for postpartum recovery due to work, I probably wouldn’t be so different from her. Miss Diana was wearing a white crop top, with several cute little buns in her hair, her curvy figure looking very alluring. At that moment, she was patiently crouching by the stage, gently encouraging: “Darlings, do you all remember the dance steps for when you go on stage?” “Yes, we do!” the children chorused in unison. The most excited voice among them was my daughter Lily’s. She had pointy elf ears attached to both of her little ears, and the shimmering purple eye shadow made her big eyes sparkle. I stood in the shade of a nearby tree, just tenderly watching my daughter, my most precious connection in this world. As for the incident from a few days ago, I only felt guilt and self-reproach towards my daughter. After thinking about it all night, I decided to sacrifice some work time when possible to spend more time with Lily and be part of her childhood. Rather than having her constantly thinking about adopting an outsider as her mother. At this moment, Diana seemed to notice my presence. With a wide smile, she walked towards me. “Excuse me, ma’am, which child’s parent are you? Why don’t you go sit in the audience area?” Perhaps due to her dance training, her figure looked even more stunning up close. Her slender waist seemed like it could be encircled by one hand, and there was even a small diamond piercing in her belly button. I snapped back to reality and quickly smiled apologetically, “Oh, I’m Lily Thompson’s parent…” But I was oddly stunned when I saw her expression upon hearing this. Because I clearly saw a glint of cunning in her eyes. “Are you her grandmother?” I frowned at her. Although I hadn’t recovered well after giving birth, I didn’t have any age spots or anything on my face. I clearly looked like I was in my early thirties. How could she mistake me for a grandmother? “…I’m her mother.” Diana feigned surprise, her voice still sweet: “Oh, so you’re Lily’s mom. I’m sorry, some of the other kids have grandmothers who come to pick them up, and they look very young too. Lily’s dad usually picks her up, so you don’t come often, right?” Her slightly passive-aggressive words instantly woke me up, reminding me of why I came here. My thoughts gradually became clear. No wonder Lily likes her. Women like her, both in appearance and tone, are extremely captivating and easy for people to warm up to. Thinking back to what my daughter said yesterday, I felt dispirited and listless throughout the entire kindergarten event. The camera in my hand captured snapshots of my daughter’s small figure. But my peripheral vision lingered long on Diana’s flower-like smile. We’re both thirty years old… but she’s maintained herself so much better than I have. Thinking of Lily’s closeness to her, I couldn’t help but feel an immense sense of panic, with tears welling up in my eyes. I have to say, if all my suspicions were true, my daughter would probably be very happy to have such a gentle and beautiful stepmother in the future. Jack would be happier too. Then what am I… Am I just a nuisance that others want to discard?

I was distracted for many days, feeling increasingly uneasy. Even Jack noticed that something was off with me. Seeing that I kept rejecting his advances, he asked curiously: “Honey, what’s wrong? Did I do something to upset you?” I shook my head. He had done everything well, perfectly, without anything to criticize. However, the calmer the surface of a lake appears, the more likely it is to hide turbulent undercurrents beneath. This seemingly uneventful life continued for another two weeks. I didn’t want to dwell on these trivial matters anymore. My new work was already keeping me extremely busy, but I didn’t complain. Because my boss had promised that after completing this project, I would have more free time. Then I could spend more time with my daughter. Tuesday was a rainy day. Just before I got off work, my daughter called me from the kindergarten’s landline. Her small voice on the other end sounded excited: “Mom, you don’t need to pick me up after school. I’m going to Nini’s house for a birthday party. Her mom said she’d pick us up.” I quickly responded with a couple of “oh”s, asking her why she didn’t tell me earlier so I could have bought a birthday gift for her classmate. Going empty-handed would be impolite. My daughter’s voice was filled with pride: “Miss Diana already took me shopping. She helped me pick out a gift, a crystal music box. It cost over $100!” So expensive? I was stunned, my suspicions growing stronger. Why would a kindergarten teacher help a student buy such an expensive gift for someone else? Miss Diana… it’s her again. Whenever my daughter talks about anything related to kindergarten, that woman’s name is always on her lips. As if she’s been bewitched. I had also privately asked other children, who all eagerly told me that Lily was their dance teacher’s favorite student. “She praises her every day. When others fail at doing the splits, they get punished to stand, but not her. Miss Diana is so gentle with her.” But I knew in my heart that my daughter didn’t have any particular talent for dance, nor was she diligent in practice. With this in mind, a flood of questions left me restless. I could only softly remind her to “be careful” before hanging up. My daughter on the other end seemed eager to end the call and quickly hung up. I held the phone in silence for a long time, then turned to my colleague and said: “Lisa, could you help me continue with this list? I have an urgent matter and need to leave work early.” My colleague looked troubled, “Olivia, you’ve been in charge of this overseas project all along. Even if I wanted to help, I couldn’t do it. I’m afraid I might mess things up for you.” My mind was in chaos, but I still didn’t want to jeopardize the company’s task or disappoint my boss’s trust in me. So it wasn’t until after 8 PM that I finally finished the list, exhausted. I didn’t even have time for dinner before rushing off to pick up my daughter. I looked through my daughter’s classmate directory and saw that Nini lived in Dream World Villa, Building 13. I quickly drove there. Nini’s house was very spacious. Because of the birthday party today, the doors were wide open, but strangely, there weren’t many people inside. The Filipino maid in the villa told me that Nini and the other classmates had all gone to the back bay to see the blue tears tide, a bioluminescent phenomenon. I quickly grabbed her and asked: “Did Lily go too? The girl with pigtails, wearing a red polka dot puff-sleeve dress.” The maid seemed to think for a moment, then replied, “Oh, I’ve seen her. She’s the child Miss Diana brought, right? They didn’t go to the beach, they’re talking in the house.” Everyone else had gone to play, why was she keeping my daughter in a room… I had an ominous feeling. Ignoring the maid’s attempts to stop me, I rushed into the house with my bag. I stopped at the door of the only noisy bedroom, frowning as I heard sounds coming from inside—

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“Andrew, honey, I’m so lonely on Valentine’s Day. Won’t you come keep me company?” My husband immediately took a screenshot and sent it to our family group chat, then reported her account for harassment. I stood there stunned, my jaw dropping. Before I could say anything, Andrew’s warm body pressed against me again: “That didn’t count. I haven’t even gotten started yet.” He pushed me down onto the bed… As soon as the screenshot hit the family chat, it exploded. My younger cousin Emma snarked: “Wow, Mia’s really shameless!” My brother Jack tagged our older cousin and sneered: “Mia, you’re such a slut! Try to seduce my sister’s man again and I’ll chop you up!” Mia and I had never gotten along since childhood. She always tried to steal my things. But I never imagined her competitiveness would lead her to sell her own body. Two years ago, when Chris and I went home to discuss marriage plans with our parents, Mia seduced him. They slept together, and I caught them in bed. Two years later, she wanted to try the same trick again! Unfortunately for her, Andrew wasn’t Chris. Her tactics wouldn’t work on him! Just as I was thinking this, Andrew leaned in close. “So, honey, did that satisfy your need for revenge?” Andrew and I were very open with each other. He knew everything about my past. I smiled. “Yes, it was extremely satisfying!” Just imagining Mia furiously pulling her hair out in impotent rage made me feel incredibly happy! “But…” I waved my hand helplessly. “Let’s not celebrate too early.” Sure enough, just as I said that, I got a call from my dad. As soon as I answered, he started yelling: “Lily, are you trying to kill your cousin? Go clarify things in the group chat right now!” I laughed bitterly. “Clarify what? That she was dressed provocatively trying to seduce my husband in the middle of the night?” My dad choked for a moment. He said angrily: “Don’t talk nonsense! Your cousin just lost a game! Go explain!” I could hear Mia crying in the background as my dad spoke, along with voices comforting her. I rolled my eyes and sneered, “Fine.” If they want to ruin my Valentine’s Day, no one’s getting off easy! I hung up and immediately pulled up Mr. Liu’s contact. As luck would have it, Mr. Liu had been trying to get our company to collaborate recently, and I happened to be in charge of the project. And Mia just happened to work under him. After I sent the message, Mr. Liu replied immediately: “I’m so sorry, Ms. Lin. I’ll handle this right away and give you a satisfactory result.” In less than half an hour, he sent me the result. Mia had been fired. I thought she’d at least lay low for a while. I never imagined she’d try something in the middle of the night! In the middle of the night, I was sleeping hazily when Andrew’s phone kept ringing. I was about to turn off the sound when I saw it was Mia calling. My mind instantly cleared. Mia had sent Andrew a photo of herself wearing a thin nightgown, her face wet with tears. She looked pitiful. “I’m so sorry, Andrew. I lost a dare game. I didn’t think Lily would be so petty and post the screenshot in the group chat. She even tattled to Mr. Liu on purpose and got me fired.” “I know she must still like Chris, that’s why she’s always holding a grudge against me. Can you please tell Lily that I can give Chris back to her? Just ask her to stop targeting me, okay?” Looking at Andrew’s sleeping face, I immediately shook him awake and said through gritted teeth: “Look at this yourself!” “Psycho!” Andrew cursed after reading it, then started replying. “Cousin, you love seducing men so much, are you a prostitute? You know very well why you got fired, don’t you?” “And what’s Chris? He’s not good enough for my wife to think about. He likes prostitutes, so he’s perfect for you. You should keep him for yourself.” After sending that, Andrew blocked Mia without waiting for a reply. I kissed his cheek in satisfaction as a reward. The next day. I replied to messages from concerned relatives and friends, then went to work. After a tiring day at the office, I had just sat down when Andrew came home too. “Honey, I missed you so much.” Andrew put down his briefcase and hugged me from behind, nuzzling my neck. I glanced at him reproachfully, about to speak, when I suddenly smelled a familiar perfume on him. It was Mia’s! My face immediately changed. “Did Mia come find you?” “Yes.” Andrew quickly reassured me, “But I didn’t see her! The smell must have gotten on me by accident.” Andrew looked disgusted. “Your cousin is really crazy. She hid by my car and tried to pour perfume on me. I was so startled I kicked her to the ground!” “Pfft~” I couldn’t help laughing as I imagined Andrew kicking Mia away. “I’m glad you’re not angry.” Andrew sighed in relief. “I’m not mad at you.” I said softly. I wasn’t angry at Andrew, just disgusted by Mia and furious at her shamelessness! “If I’d known her smell got on me, I would’ve thrown the clothes away. So gross.” Andrew tossed his jacket into the trash in disgust. Then he went upstairs to shower. I was about to start making dinner when my phone kept ringing. Emma: “Sis, check Instagram quick! Did you grow a green hat again?!” [1] I’ve been cheated on again?! [1] Translator’s note: In Chinese culture, “wearing a green hat” means being cheated on. I narrowed my eyes slightly and opened Instagram. That’s when I realized Mia and Andrew were trending locally. “Shocking! CEO of An Corp caught making out with mistress in parking lot!” The image was very clear. Andrew had his head lowered, while Mia looked coy. They seemed to be embracing and kissing. “I knew CEO An was married, but I didn’t know his wife was so beautiful!” “Aww, they look so good together! I ship this couple!” There were even quite a few of An Corp’s business partners sending congratulations in the comments. Mia’s Instagram account had also been found by netizens. She took advantage of the trending topic and posted an ambiguous update, making people ship them even more. I was so angry I was grinding my teeth. Just then, Andrew came running downstairs from upstairs, not even fully dressed. “Honey! You have to believe me! This is a setup!” I sighed helplessly. “I know.” I had never doubted him for a moment! We don’t like our private lives being public, so we kept our wedding low-key. No one knew my identity, which gave Mia an opportunity to take advantage. Andrew was very angry and directly replied to the top comment: “Ships can be rare, but they can’t be evil.” Then he posted on Instagram: The truth may be late, but it will always arrive. The image was our wedding photo. Instantly, An Corp’s official Instagram exploded. “This is the real Mrs. An! Look at how sweet their eyes are!” “I knew it, CEO An clearly looked disgusted in that other photo! That woman was obviously forcing herself on him! You guys didn’t believe me!” Some netizens started turning against Mia. But some netizens began attacking Andrew, cursing him for cheating. An Corp was also slightly shaken, with many business partners watching to see how things would develop. But An Corp moved quickly. The PR department found the parking lot surveillance footage and tracked down the marketing account Mia had used to buy the trending topic. We posted all the evidence online together. Andrew wasn’t lying – he really did kick Mia away with one foot. I winced when I heard the thud of Mia hitting the ground. “Am I the only one who thinks CEO An looks so cool kicking her away?!” Andrew quietly liked that comment. “Boys, take notes! This is how you effectively deal with scheming women!” “Haha CEO An’s expression is like ‘Don’t touch me!’ So funny!” The comments were overwhelmingly on our side. Mia was being cursed horribly. She got scared and deactivated her Instagram overnight. But I wasn’t planning to let her off so easily! Everyone has to face the consequences of their actions! I asked Emma for some information. Turns out after Chris went bankrupt, Mia broke up with him. She clearly dumped him because he had no money, but she still pinned the blame for the breakup on me. I sneered, “How shameless!” “I know, right? Sis, are you planning to make a move?” Emma sounded excited. I nodded. She continued, “I’ve been sick of her for so long! Sis, I’ll send you something. Consider it my contribution!” After hanging up, I received an audio recording from Emma. After listening, I smiled. “Thanks, Emma. I’ll treat you to dinner another day!” I hadn’t even contacted Chris yet, but he came looking for me! The next day, I received a bouquet of roses at the office. I thought Andrew was being romantic and was feeling happy, until I saw Chris’s face. Instantly, I wanted to gouge my own eyes out. “Lily, Mia told me you still have feelings for me.” Chris raised his eyebrows confidently. Hah! No wonder Chris had the nerve to show up. Turns out Mia had brainwashed him and sent him here to annoy me! I frowned and said nothing. He thought I was just being shy and continued, “Actually, after we broke up, I realized you were the one I loved. Since we love each other, why can’t we be together?” “I don’t mind that you’re divorced. But if we get married, you’ll need to bring a house and car as dowry, otherwise my parents won’t approve.” Chris acted like he was the one making a sacrifice. It really made me sick. My face turned cold. “Chris, I’m not a garbage collector.” I could barely hold back my disgust as I said, “But I do have a gift for you.” “What gift?” Chris looked expectant. “Chris is so ugly. If Lily didn’t like him and he didn’t have money, I wouldn’t even look at him!” “He went bankrupt and still wants to marry me? Talk about a toad lusting after swan meat!” “…” My cousin’s voice echoed through the whole office. Many colleagues perked up their ears to listen. I saw Chris’s face change drastically. I mocked him, “Tsk, weren’t you and my cousin true love? Looks like it was true love of money!” “I heard your house has been mortgaged? You were so generous giving my cousin all those gifts back then. If you ask for some back now, you might be able to improve your life a bit.” I kept poking at Chris’s sore spots while redirecting his anger towards Mia. Sure enough, he stormed out of the office with a black face. I knew Chris well enough from dating him before. He was always petty and wouldn’t let Mia make a fool of him. So I called Andrew and told him to come with me to watch the show! When Andrew and I arrived, Chris had one hand gripping Mia’s hair and was slapping her face with the other! He hit her so hard that after just a few slaps, Mia’s face was swollen. “You bitch! It’s all because you seduced me! Otherwise Lily and I would be living happily together by now!” “It’s all your fault! I’ll kill you!” Chris wasn’t satisfied and kicked Mia to the ground, stomping on her head. In such a pathetic state, Mia caught sight of Andrew’s disgusted expression as she begged for mercy. She really started crying then, collapsing on the ground and whimpering. Seeing her miserable state, I almost couldn’t hold back my laughter. In the end, my parents rushed back and called the police before the farce ended. I heard the two of them took it to court afterwards. Mia sued Chris for intentional harm, while Chris sued Mia for fraud. What a dog-eat-dog world! A week later was my niece’s birthday party. Before the day arrived, my mom called me many times, saying she missed me and insisting I bring Andrew. My mom was the type of woman who lived for her husband. Whatever my dad said, she would do. If my dad hadn’t given permission, she probably wouldn’t have taken the initiative to contact me. Soon, the day of the party arrived. As soon as we got out of the car, we saw Mia. When she saw Andrew, her eyes lit up like a dog seeing a bone. Her gaze was full of determination. But her face was still a bit swollen. She had put on makeup despite the injuries, which just made her look more like a pig’s head. I curved my lips in a silent laugh. She glared at me fiercely. After playing with my niece for a while, it was time for lunch. I had just sat down when I suddenly felt some stomach pain. Andrew noticed my discomfort and worriedly helped me upstairs to rest. Unexpectedly, as soon as we reached the second floor, we heard some intimate sounds coming from the bathroom. That voice sounded familiar. It sounded a bit like my dad’s voice? Andrew and I immediately widened our eyes. Ignoring my stomach pain, I stood with Andrew outside the door listening to the blushing voices inside. “Mmm~ Uncle, don’t kiss me anymore. They’ll notice if we’re gone too long!” It was my aunt’s voice! I listened to these words in disbelief, frozen in place. Just then, my dad spoke again: “Don’t worry, they won’t notice.” It really was my dad! He’s still so frisky even at his age! I clenched my fists tightly, then looked at Andrew. He understood my meaning and immediately took out his phone to start recording. The two of them fooled around inside for a long time. I suddenly heard my aunt gasp, and then they finally finished. Andrew and I hid in a corner. They weren’t even trying to be discreet, walking out side by side. When they came out, my aunt’s cheeks were flushed and there were kiss marks on her neck. How shameless! How could they do this? How could they face my uncle and my mom? My dad is truly despicable! Has he forgotten that when the car accident happened, it was my uncle who used his own life to protect him? I watched their retreating figures, feeling angry and lost. I didn’t know how to tell my mom. Andrew saw my dilemma and said softly, “You go rest first. We can discuss this with your brother and sister-in-law another day.” “Okay.” I could only nod. After I rested, it was almost evening. The guests had left. My brother and sister-in-law took my niece to drop off my sister-in-law’s family at the station. Andrew and I were also about to leave. But my dad insisted on keeping Andrew behind, saying he wanted to chat with him. And my mom kept pestering me. I was looking for a chance to give my mom a hint and prepare her mentally, so I stayed behind with Andrew. By the way, I also wanted to see what exactly Mia was up to! “Alright, I’ll go upstairs to rest first. There should be a room for me here, right?” I smiled, deliberately giving them space. Mia let out a sigh of relief and quickly said, “Don’t worry Lily, we’ve already prepared a room for you.” “Mom, didn’t you say you missed me? Why don’t you come chat with me for a bit?” I looked at my mom. For some reason, my mom seemed a bit guilty. She avoided my gaze and said softly, “I still have a lot of things to take care of. I’ll come find you when I’m done.” I frowned slightly, said “Oh” and went back to my room. Seeing my mom’s behavior made me even more certain she was hiding something from me. I deliberately dawdled for a while before turning off the lights to sleep. After making sure no one was outside, I snuck out of my room and hid behind the living room door. “Dad, what did you want to talk to me about?” Andrew asked. My dad lit a cigarette. “How did you and Lily meet?” Andrew answered him honestly. I watched my parents asking Andrew about me, as if they cared about me. I couldn’t help feeling a bit of warmth in my heart. Maybe they do care about me after all? But I never imagined that in the next sentence, my mom would immediately say: “Andrew, you’re a good kid. Your uncle and I don’t want to hide it from you – although Lily is our biological daughter, she’s not good enough for you.” In an instant, I froze in place. Andrew also obviously stiffened. My mom continued: “Lily was a little delinquent. She started fooling around with boys in middle school and even had a few abortions…” After hearing my mom’s words, my heart was bleeding. I thought they just didn’t love me! I never imagined they would even make up lies to slander me! In that moment, my hands and feet went ice cold! My mom didn’t notice Andrew’s grim expression. She continued: “Mia is beautiful and accomplished. If you ask me, you should divorce Lily and marry Mia instead.” “That way, we’d still be one family!” At this point, I saw Mia walk out wearing a low-cut, see-through nightgown. She looked at Andrew coyly, “Andrew, I like you. I don’t need any status!” “If you’re worried Lily won’t agree, I’m willing to be your mistress.”

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