Category: English

After my fiancé Bridges was stolen by my sister Gina, I forced myself on him and got pregnant. Although Bridges had a terrible temper, he was handsome, so I decided to give birth to this superior offspring. Bridges was furious, saying he’d make me wish I was dead when he found me. I lived in fear and hid for five years. Until one day I went to pick up my son from school, and there was a crowd of people at the gate saying someone was fighting. I eagerly pushed through the crowd, ready to watch the show. In the open space at the school entrance, two figures were grappling with each other. The tall one wore a black trench coat, his back straight as a pine tree. The short one wore an elementary school uniform, his little legs kicking rapidly, fists small but every punch landing on vital points. I rubbed my eyes, staring at these two people who looked remarkably similar. This was a disaster. What was wrong with this father and son? They’d never even met before—how could they be fighting?

Bridges turned his head. He dodged my son Isaac’s punch, the corners of his eyes slightly upturned with careless roguishness. That face—it haunted my nightmares. I took a deep breath, then another deep breath, then one more deep breath. Isaac had told me he was very well-behaved at school. Looking at his practiced fighting stance, he seemed more like someone who frequently caused trouble and got into brawls. That left hook was fierce, the angle tricky, and he even knew to feint before throwing the real punch. A circle of parents had already gathered around. Some were holding up their phones filming, others were cheering them on. “Whose kid is this? Pretty impressive!” “Go for it, little guy!” I covered my face, wishing I could find a hole to crawl into. Isaac stood with his hands on his hips, head tilted back. “You’re blocking my way.” Bridges glanced down at him and snorted. “Did your family build this road?” “It’s not my family’s, but you’re blocking the school gate and affecting my classmates getting out of school.” Bridges actually laughed at his audacity. “Who’s your mother? How’d she raise such a little tyrant?” I rubbed my forehead. This child had completely inherited both my and Bridges’ bad tempers. Everyone knew that whenever Bridges and I met, we’d fight, and our fights always drew blood. The day I found out I was the child the Gibbs family had mistakenly raised, Bridges was the first to come watch the drama unfold. “Lewis, so you’re a fake. No wonder you have no manners.” I lunged at him directly and bit down hard on his neck. He used all his strength but couldn’t push me off. Blood seeped through my teeth. He groaned in pain and looked at me in shock, his eyes full of disbelief. “Are you a dog?!” Only then did I release my mouth and licked the blood from the corner of my lips. I just hadn’t expected he wouldn’t get along with Isaac either. Bridges reached out and grabbed Isaac by the back of his neck. “Come on, let’s find your parent. I want to see what kind of parent could raise a little demon like you.” My throat tightened, and I prepared to make my escape. Just then, an angry shout came from the school gate. The homeroom teacher, clicking along in high heels, charged over with fury on her face. “Which class are you from? Bullying our students?” Bridges looked unusually embarrassed. Just as he was about to speak, a woman in a beige trench coat emerged gracefully from the crowd. She naturally hooked her arm through Bridges’ and smiled slightly at Ms. Anderson. “Hello, teacher. I’m sorry, we were presumptuous.” “We’re investors in this school. We happened to be passing by today and wanted to see the school environment. My husband doesn’t really know how to interact with children. If he’s offended your student, I apologize on his behalf.” As she spoke, she bowed slightly, her manner elegant and proper. Ms. Anderson’s anger dissipated by more than half. “Oh, investors… well, you still can’t get physical with students…” Gina turned to look at Bridges, her tone carrying a hint of reproach. “Bridges, really, why are you being so serious with a child?” I looked at their linked arms and clicked my tongue in wonder. After Gina was taken back to her real family, she targeted me at every turn. “Bridges is mine too, Lewis. You’re not going to try to take him as well, are you?” I was shaking with rage. Since she said I was a cuckoo in the nest, I’d show her just how much I could take. That very night, I drugged Bridges and slept with him, then fled overnight. I pressed down the brim of my hat. As long as I wasn’t recognized, everything would be fine. Just then, the homeroom teacher suddenly called out to me. “Hey, Ms. Lewis, you’re here? I was just about to call you.” My steps halted.

Bridges’ gaze was sweeping in this direction. Ms. Anderson walked up to me, holding Isaac’s hand. “Isaac and that gentleman just had a little misunderstanding. I wanted to explain the situation to you…” I turned my back to Bridges, keeping my voice very low. “I have an emergency right now, a really urgent one. Can I contact you later?” Ms. Anderson paused, looking at my expression, then glancing behind me. “But…” I made up an excuse on the spot, bent down and scooped up Isaac. Isaac obediently put his arms around my neck, looking confused. I turned and darted into a nearby alley, quickly taking him home. Isaac slid down from my arms and looked up at me. “That uncle kept staring at you just now. When you left, he watched your back for a long time.” I didn’t say anything. Just as I was about to close the door, a hand pressed against it from outside. Gina stood in the doorway, smiling triumphantly and falsely. “Lewis, it really is you. It’s been so long.” “No wonder Bridges didn’t recognize you. You don’t look anything like that arrogant person you used to be.” Isaac poked half his face out from behind my legs, his little face tense, glaring at her. Gina noticed his gaze, looked down, and smiled. “Which man did you have this one with?” I rolled my eyes dramatically and cut her off. “Are you done?” The smile on her face froze for a moment. She pulled a gold-embossed invitation from her bag and held it out. “Lewis, tomorrow is my and Bridges’ wedding. Mom and Dad said that even though you’re not their biological daughter, they raised you for twenty years and still hope you can come.” Gina shoved the invitation into my hand and leaned close to my ear. “Oh, and I still have those paintings of yours.” I raised an eyebrow. Gina stepped back half a step, a dignified and proper smile on her face, but her eyes were vicious. “You left in such a hurry back then. That kraft paper bag had about twenty-something paintings in it, all from when you were in high school.” Gina tilted her head, smiling sweetly. “I heard you were originally going to apply to art school? What a shame. I was the one who had Mom and Dad cut off all your financial support, which kept you from going to college.” “I’ve looked through those paintings a few times. They’re all large-scale photos of Bridges, aren’t they?” I narrowed my eyes at her. “What do you want? I’ve already left the Gibbs family. After all these years, you still won’t let me go?” She let out a triumphant laugh. “Lewis, you stole so many years of my life. This is nothing.” “The wedding is next Saturday. If you come, I’ll return those paintings to you in front of everyone. If you don’t come, I’ll make them public at the wedding and let everyone see how disgusting you are.” I snorted with laughter. “Fine, then make them public. Let everyone see his nude photos.” Gina froze for a moment, then her face turned bright red. “You’re shameless!” I smiled and pulled out my phone, waving it. “Oh, and if you don’t think that’s sensational enough, I have more here. From when he and I… you know. Want to see those too?” I didn’t actually have anything, but I was used to playing dirty. Gina’s face turned ashen. “Lewis, you’re despicable!” I tilted my head, smiling brightly. “If you don’t show everyone my paintings, you’re a dog.” She was shaking with rage, pointing her finger at me, unable to get a word out for a long time. “You were spoiled rotten by the Gibbs family. You’ve been kicked out for so many years and you still haven’t learned to control your temper. Just you wait.” She glared at me furiously through gritted teeth, then turned and left. I called after her, “I’ll definitely be there tomorrow. If you don’t release them, you’re not human!” Isaac poked his head out from behind the door. “Mom, what did you paint?” I pinched his little face. “Tomorrow Mom’s taking you to a party.”

The next day, I went to the Gibbs house as promised. When Gina walked over in her trailing wedding dress, I was squatting in a corner fixing Isaac’s little suit. “Lewis, you came. Perfect, there’s something I’d like your help with.” I raised an eyebrow, wondering what trick she was pulling. She clapped her hands, and two bodyguards in black emerged from behind her, grabbing my arms on either side. “The kitchen is short-handed today. The dishwashing lady ran off at the last minute. Lewis, you’re not doing anything anyway, so go help out.” I frowned. “Gina, you invited me to your wedding just to have me wash dishes?” She looked me up and down, her gaze full of condescension. “Kitchen work isn’t hard. Washing plates, wiping floors—you can’t tell me you can’t even do that? You’re not the pampered daughter living in luxury at the Gibbs house anymore.” The two bodyguards dragged me toward the kitchen. Isaac rushed over and hugged my leg. “Don’t touch my mom!” She gestured to the bodyguards, and another one came forward, grabbed Isaac by the back of his collar, and lifted him away from me. “Gina!” I struggled and shouted. “Let go of my son!” “Relax, I’m not going to do anything to him.” She adjusted her veil, her tone light and airy. “When you finish your work in the kitchen, I promise your son will be returned to you safe and sound.” She paused, then leaned close to my ear and lowered her voice. “Of course, that’s assuming you do the job well. If you break even one plate, you and your son will have to go home naked today.” The bodyguards dragged me into the kitchen and threw me in front of a pile of greasy plates. “Finish washing before you can leave.” The door locked from the outside. I took a deep breath, rolled up my sleeves, and started washing. I washed for almost an hour, my hands turning pale and wrinkled. Just then, a commotion suddenly came from the distance. Then came Gina’s scream: “How is that possible? I was wearing it on my hand! That diamond ring cost fifty million!” “How could it disappear!” My heart sank with an inexplicable sense of foreboding. I looked out through the crack in the door. The next second, I heard Gina continue speculating: “Just now… just now a child got pretty close to me. He even bumped into me, and then my ring disappeared.” Before Gina finished speaking, bodyguards walked out with Isaac in tow. Isaac was still holding half a macaron, his cheeks puffed out, looking a bit confused by the sudden attention. “I didn’t!” “What are you doing? Let me go!” Isaac began struggling violently. Gina stepped forward quickly, apologizing with false concern: “Isaac, I’m sorry.” “This ring is really too valuable. I can’t afford to lose it. I just want to make sure—just to check if you have it on you. If you don’t, I’ll have them let you go immediately!” Under the gaze of everyone present, the ring was pulled out of Isaac’s pocket. The entire banquet hall instantly erupted in an uproar. Contemptuous and scornful looks came from all directions.

Several people friendly with the Gibbs family were already frowning, pointing at Isaac. “Clearly has no upbringing, charging around recklessly at this kind of occasion.” “Where’s the parent? The child caused trouble—the parent should at least come out and explain.” Isaac’s little face slowly turned red as he loudly protested: “I didn’t! I didn’t bump into her! I didn’t take her ring either!” But his childish voice seemed pale and helpless amid the noisy discussions. I pounded on the door, my palms aching, but the door didn’t budge. Just then, police and on-site security arrived. The evidence was ironclad, witnessed by all. The police crouched down and asked: “Little friend, where are your mom and dad? Who told you to steal?” That question was like a needle, puncturing Isaac’s forced composure. He blinked, moisture gathering on his lashes, but he quickly held it back forcefully. “I don’t know.” Gina nestled against Cameron, who had rushed over after hearing the news, crying piteously. “Mom, that ring… was Bridges’ token to me.” “This is Lewis’s son from outside. We kindly let them come to the wedding, and we didn’t expect him to have such sticky fingers.” The murmurs around grew louder. “Oh, it’s her, that fake…” “No wonder he steals!” Isaac bit his lip hard, not letting his tears fall. Just then, a low commotion came from the banquet hall entrance. The crowd automatically parted to make way. Bridges, wearing a perfectly tailored black suit, walked in expressionlessly. Gina wiped her tears, her tone becoming businesslike. “Officer, there’s one more thing.” She pulled out her phone from her handbag, brought up several photos, and handed it to the police. “These are paintings Lewis made. The content… it’s all photos she secretly took of my husband, then painted as nude portraits.” She paused, her face slightly flushed, as if too embarrassed to continue. “My husband is Bridges, heir to Bridges Group. These paintings seriously violate his right to his image, and the content of the paintings is very… indecent.” The police took the phone, frowning. “Where are these paintings now?” “They were with me originally. Lewis came to the wedding today wanting to get the paintings back. But I think this kind of behavior shouldn’t be tolerated. So I want to pursue her legal responsibility.” She turned to look at Bridges, her voice softening. “Bridges, don’t you think so?” Bridges looked up, walked to the police, and scooped up Isaac. “I’m the child’s father.” “Those photos were also taken when I was scantily dressed, trying to seduce her, begging her to paint them.”

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Ten days before the SAT, my grades that should have gotten me into an Ivy League school suddenly plummeted. My mind felt foggy. I couldn’t solve even the simplest formulas. I thought it was just too much pressure, until I accidentally opened my dad’s phone search history. “How to make your daughter fail an exam?” “Where to buy a colorless, odorless drug that makes people stupid?” In that moment, I felt like I’d fallen into a freezing abyss. It turned out that to keep me tethered to them forever, my control-freak parents were working together to poison me. My grades had always been stable in the top three of my class. My teacher said that as long as I maintained this performance, I should be able to get into Stanford. But just two weeks before the SAT, something strange happened at home. That weekend, both my parents were out. A delivery person knocked on the door and handed me a small black package with no sender information. Only my dad’s name written on it. The package felt soft when I squeezed it, like some kind of powder. I didn’t think much of it and casually placed it on the living room table. My dad’s old phone happened to be on the couch charging, its screen lit up with a browser notification. For some reason, I glanced at it. Just one glance, and my blood instantly froze. It was a webpage from a secret forum. My dad’s account was still logged in. In the search box were several alarming entries in the history: “What if my daughter does too well on her exam and leaves us? Who will take care of us when we’re old?” “How to make my daughter fail her exam without it being obvious?” “Where can I buy a real colorless, odorless drug that makes people stupid?” I stared at the screen, breathing rapidly. Below was a highly upvoted response from a user with the ID “Strange Doctor.” “Making her lose her ID is too obvious. It’ll make her hate you forever. The best method is to drug her and make her brain sluggish so she underperforms.” “After she fails, you can brainwash her. Tell her she can’t handle the pressure. Tell her she’s disappointed her parents who worked so hard for her.” “Make her feel guilty for life, willingly stay local working minimum wage, and take care of you.” “I have a special drug here, colorless and odorless. If you’re interested, DM me.” And my dad’s reply under this post was: “Already DM’d you. Looking to buy. Money is not an issue.” I whipped my head around to look at the black unmarked package on the table. My heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand. How could this be possible? They were my parents! I desperately tried to reassure myself that this might just be junk advertising pushed by algorithms, or maybe my dad accidentally clicked on the wrong webpage. What parents in the world would scheme against their own flesh and blood like this? I forced myself to calm down, put the phone back where it was, and pretended nothing had happened. But once the seed of suspicion was planted, it began to grow wildly.

A few days later, a test at school completely shattered all my wishful thinking. Sitting in the exam room, as soon as I got the math paper, I felt dizzy and disoriented. My head was foggy, my vision blurred. The solid geometry problems that I could usually solve at a glance now looked like gibberish to me. My brain felt like it had been filled with lead. Every thought was incredibly difficult. My hand holding the pen trembled uncontrollably, and cold sweat soaked through my uniform. That exam, I essentially turned in a blank paper. When the results came out, the whole class was in an uproar. My scores were not even enough for a decent state school! My homeroom teacher, Mr. Lee, called me to his office, his brow furrowed into a knot. “Summer, what’s been going on with you lately? Is something wrong at home? Too much pressure?” I looked at the glaring numbers on the grade report, my lips trembling, unable to speak for a long time. That feeling of my brain being forcibly locked up, that sluggishness. It was too real. This wasn’t just pre-exam anxiety. I’d really been drugged. When I brought the grade report home, I was met with a storm. My dad slammed the table so hard the water glasses rattled. “This is your score? How can you face us!” My mom sneered from the side, her eyes full of contempt. “She just can’t handle pressure! Looks like she studies hard normally, but fails at critical moments!” “I’ve said it before. Just because you want to climb higher doesn’t mean you have the brains for it!” “Tell the truth. Did you cheat on all those tests before?” Listening to their coordinated accusations, I stood there, chilled to the bone. The content from that secret forum post surfaced clearly in my mind again. “Take the opportunity to brainwash her…” “Tell her she can’t handle pressure…” “Make her feel guilty for life…” Every word perfectly matched the faces of my parents before me!

If this had been before, hearing these words would have made me ashamed beyond belief. I would have desperately reflected on myself, feeling like I’d let down my parents’ efforts in raising me. Because from childhood on, they’d been manipulating me with emotional abuse. When they made roast chicken at home, my mom would deliberately put the drumsticks on my plate. Then she’d eat only salad herself, sighing and saying, “Summer, I can’t bear to eat it. I save all the good stuff for you. You’d better repay us well in the future.” Back then I was so moved I cried, swearing I’d make something of myself. But the reality? Last month, when our house in the small town was demolished for a resort development, they got three hundred thousand dollars in compensation. They turned around and bought my cousin Luke a new apartment downtown! Didn’t leave me a single cent! When I asked about it, my dad said matter-of-factly, “Luke is the heir to the family. You’re a girl. Your job is to find a good man and get married.” My high school tuition came from scholarships I earned myself. The money for my study materials came from working summer jobs at fast food restaurants. Besides giving me food to eat and a place to sleep, what exactly had they sacrificed? Thinking of this, I felt nothing but absurdity and disgust. I looked coldly at my ranting parents, my voice so calm it even scared me. “I didn’t cheat. I did poorly on this test because I wasn’t feeling well. I was dizzy.” “If there’s nothing else, I’m going to my room to study.” With that, I ignored their stunned expressions, turned, and walked into my bedroom, locking the door behind me. Outside the door came my dad’s furious cursing. “Unbelievable! How dare you give us attitude!” I leaned against the door, gasping for breath. I pulled out my phone again and secretly logged into that secret forum. Found that post. Just half an hour ago, my dad’s account had posted a new reply: “Thanks, Strange Doctor. This drug is amazing!” “I tested it out during this exam. Just used a tiny bit and she dropped almost three hundred points!” “She originally wanted to go to an Ivy League school. Now with a brain like that, even community college would be a stretch!” People below were chiming in. “Congratulations! That’s the way to do it. Girls don’t need college.” “Girls who read too much get crazy ideas. Then they’re hard to find a husband!” “Keep her around working for money, taking care of you in old age. So much better!” Reading these comments, my stomach churned and I rushed to the bathroom to dry heave.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. “Summer, open up. I’m coming in.” I quickly splashed cold water on my face, took a deep breath, and opened the door. My mom walked in carrying a steaming cup of milk. The anger had completely vanished from her face, replaced by a chillingly fake kindness. “Your dad was just upset earlier and spoke harshly. Don’t take it to heart.” She walked to my desk and handed me the milk. “Mom knows you’re under a lot of pressure. Here, drink this hot milk. It’s good for calming nerves and nourishing the brain. Drink it and get some sleep early.” The pungent smell of milk hit my nostrils. I stared at the yellowish milk, my scalp tingling. “Mom, it’s too hot. I’ll let it cool down first.” My mom’s smile froze for a moment, her eyes instantly turning sharp. “Hot? What hot? It’s only effective when you drink it warm. Hurry up. Mom’s watching you drink it.” She moved closer, clearly not leaving until I drank it. My heart pounded like a drum, my brain racing. “Mom, my stomach suddenly hurts really bad. I need to use the bathroom…” I clutched my stomach, pretending to be in pain, and bolted out. “Hey! You stubborn girl…” When I dawdled in the bathroom for ten minutes and came back, my mom was no longer in the room. That cup of milk was still on the desk. Without hesitation, I picked up the cup, walked to the window, and poured all the milk into the flower bed below. Then I put the empty cup back where it was. In the middle of the night, I lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. I quietly got up, wanting to get some water from the kitchen. Passing by the master bedroom, the door wasn’t fully closed, showing a crack. Inside came my parents’ hushed whispers. “Did she drink it?” It was my dad’s voice. “She did. The cup’s empty.” My mom laughed smugly. “This drug is amazing. Seeing her looking so dazed and confused today, I almost couldn’t help laughing.” “Good. The SAT is in a few days. Tomorrow I’ll contact that seller again and increase the dosage! We have to make absolutely sure there are no slip-ups. We absolutely cannot let her test out of here!” “Don’t worry. Once she fails, I’ll have someone find her a job at an electronics factory. Her salary goes straight to my card every month. In a few years, we’ll have her buy a car for Luke.” Hearing this, I bit my lip hard until I tasted blood. I trembled all over, backing up step by step to my room. Tears silently hit the floor. So in their eyes, I wasn’t even a person. I was just an object whose intelligence could be stripped away and whose value could be drained at will!

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My sister Hazel was scammed out of all her money by a scumbag, and she came crying to stay at my place. I helped her collect the debt and even gave her my year-end bonus for emergencies. My boyfriend Ethan grew more and more impatient: “Hazel isn’t grateful at all! She maxed out your credit card, called you to pick her up drunk at 3 AM. Natalie, are you her mother? She deserves to be scammed by jerks like that.” For the first time, I threw a cup at him: “Our mom died when she was only eight. I’m the one who raised her. So please, be nice to her.” Later, the company sent me on a business trip, and I still called her every day to help her get through the trauma. Until two months later, I changed my flight and came home early. I pushed open the bedroom door and saw her wearing my silk pajamas, leaning in Ethan’s arms. He picked up a strawberry and fed it to her, looking completely content. The bedroom fell deathly silent in an instant. Hazel was the first to react. She sprang out of Ethan’s arms, her lips trembling. “Natalie? You—how are you back? Wasn’t your flight the day after tomorrow…” Ethan’s hand froze in midair, strawberry juice dripping onto my silk sheets. His face looked terrible, but he said nothing. I stood in the doorway, still gripping my suitcase handle, my fingertips digging deep into my palm. The air conditioning was clearly on, yet my back was covered in cold sweat. Hazel forced out a smile that looked worse than crying. “Natalie, you must be tired. Put down your luggage—” She rushed toward me barefoot in a panic, accidentally hitting her knee on the bed frame. She gasped in pain, her eyes instantly reddening. Ethan frowned and reached out to steady her. “Slow down. You’re so clumsy.” His tone carried reproach, but his hands were impossibly gentle. I stared at the hand supporting her arm, my heart sinking to rock bottom. “When did this start?” My voice was calmer than I expected. Hazel’s whole body stiffened, and she instinctively looked up at Ethan. He pulled her slightly behind him and finally looked at me directly. “It has nothing to do with her. It’s my fault.” Ethan was usually a man of few words, never showing his emotions. I’d agreed to be with him because I valued his stability and reliability—he wouldn’t make me feel insecure like those playboys. The year my mom died, I was twelve and Hazel was only eight. My dad couldn’t handle the blow. He turned to alcohol, skipped work, was eventually fired, and died two years later. From then on, I never relied on anyone again. Ethan was the first person who made me feel that being taken care of wasn’t a debt. That I could be vulnerable too. But now he stood across from me, protecting Hazel behind him, looking at me with the coldest eyes. Like I was a stranger! Hazel peeked out from behind him, her eyes red. “Natalie, it’s not what you think… We…” “Got your excuse ready?” I asked coldly. “Go ahead then. If you’re going to explain, make it clear. What’s your relationship now? When did it start? How far have you gone?” Hazel froze, tears immediately spilling over. She rubbed her eyes, sobbing pitifully. I let out a dry laugh, not sure if I was laughing at her or at myself. Ethan squeezed her hand and said gently: “It’s okay. Let me handle this. You put your shoes on first—the floor is cold.” Then he looked up at me. “Natalie, let’s talk outside.” “Ethan, this is my home.” My voice began to shake. “You’re telling me to leave?” He fell silent for a few seconds, glancing back at Hazel. She stood there with hunched shoulders, toes curled, like a frightened rabbit. Ethan’s voice immediately softened, carrying a note of pleading. “She couldn’t sleep until 4 AM last night. Let her rest first, okay?” In three years together, I’d never seen Ethan beg anyone. He was such a proud person—he never backed down in negotiations, never softened even when he offended people. Now he was begging me for my sister! Ethan picked up his jacket from the chair and turned to Hazel with gentle instructions. “You rest. Don’t wait up for me. There’s milk in the fridge—remember to heat up a glass.” I turned and rushed out. If I stayed any longer, I was afraid I’d cry in front of them. Ethan stayed half a step behind me, eyes downcast, his expression unreadable. When we reached the underground parking garage, he opened the car door for me. I didn’t move. “Let’s just talk here.” His hand paused, then he closed the door and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one. The parking garage lights were dim, the cigarette’s red glow flickering on and off. “I made the first move.” He took a drag, his voice low and hoarse. “Don’t blame her. Hazel is your sister. You raised her—you know her best. She’s timid, can’t survive without someone. That guy she was with before scammed her completely clean. I just… worried about her.” He flicked ash onto the ground without looking at me. “But you’re different. Natalie, you’re the most capable woman I’ve ever met. Even without me, you’ll do just fine.” I stared at him, my nails digging into my palms. “So what? Because I’m capable, I deserve to be treated like this by you two?” I found it utterly absurd. When Hazel first moved into my place, Ethan wouldn’t even mention her name. If he ran into her wandering the living room in pajamas, his brow would knot up, and he’d argue with me in hushed tones back in the bedroom. Saying she had no sense of boundaries as an adult, saying our home wasn’t a shelter. Two months ago when I left on this business trip, I’d asked him to look after Hazel. He stood at the airport departure level, hands in his pockets, his face cold the entire time. “She’s your sister, not my responsibility.” That was only two months ago. Now he stood before me, using that face I knew so well to say the most foreign words.

Ethan shoved the cigarette pack back in his pocket, his tone complicated. “I’ve wronged you. The money you transferred to Hazel for emergencies—I’ll pay back every cent. The apartment is yours. I won’t set foot in it again.” He paused. “I only have one request. Hazel really cares about you. Don’t let my mistake ruin your sisterhood.” I found it laughable—so laughable I didn’t even have the energy to be angry. “Since you know getting involved with my sister was wrong, then why the hell did you do it?!” His jaw tightened. After a long while, he finally spoke: “Natalie, some things I can’t control. What’s done is done. I’ll do everything I can to make it up to you.” “If this gets out, the person who’ll be hurt most is Hazel. You wouldn’t want to see your sister gossiped about, right?” “I’ll take her away tomorrow. Please stay at a hotel tonight—I’ve already booked one. Just give your name at the front desk.” He turned and entered the elevator, leaving me standing alone. My phone vibrated. He’d sent the hotel address, followed by “I’m sorry.” I stared at those three words for a long time. At this very moment, upstairs in what was my home, a light was on. That was a lightbulb Ethan and I had changed together before I left. Now it was shining for someone else. This city had eight million lights. But not a single one was lit for me. I finally crouched down, buried my face in my knees, my shoulders shaking violently. I didn’t end up going to the hotel he booked. Instead, I drove around the ring road all night. The next day, I went to the old district. There was a flower shop on the corner, run by my college roommate Lily. After Hazel’s ex-husband kicked her out, I hired a lawyer for her lawsuit while asking Lily to arrange an easy, low-pressure job for her at the shop. I paid the wages myself and told Lily not to mention it. Lily had laughed over the phone at the time: “Natalie, why do you care more about this sister than yourself?” Hazel stood at the flower shop entrance wearing an apron, crouched on the ground repotting a plant. When she saw me, the trowel in her hand clattered to the ground. “Natalie? How did you know I was here…” I said nothing and pushed the door open. Hazel followed behind me, frantically moving a chair and wiping it over and over with her sleeve. “Natalie, let me get you some water…” She turned too quickly and bumped into the flower stand. The watering can tipped over, water spilling everywhere and soaking her shoes. She looked down, then up at me, standing there helplessly like an elementary student called to the principal’s office. I suddenly remembered when we were little. The year Mom died, she was only eight. She couldn’t sleep alone at night—she had to hold onto my arm to fall asleep. Later when she got a bit older, she was still clingy, following me everywhere like a tail I couldn’t shake off. “Natalie,” her voice pulled me back. “I know you hate me. But I really didn’t mean for this to happen. I don’t know how it turned out this way…” She looked up at me, her eyes completely red. “I know you’ve been good to me my whole life. But you were always so busy. You were always solving my problems, never had time to listen to me talk. But Ethan was different.” “He’d ask what I ate today, he’d remember every little thing I mentioned, he’d answer the phone when I had nightmares.” “You said you hoped someone would treat me well. Now there is someone—why aren’t you happy?” Listening to her aggrieved yet self-righteous words, I couldn’t help but want to laugh. The sister I’d worked so hard to raise for sixteen years turned out to be such an ungrateful wretch! “Hazel, since childhood, what have you asked for that I haven’t given you?” “Your tuition, living expenses, rent, lawyer fees for the lawsuit, the credit card you maxed out, the money that man scammed from you—have you counted how much I’ve spent on you over the years?” “But I never imagined that the sister I raised with my own hands would steal my boyfriend!” She lowered her head, lips trembling, tears falling and splashing on the flower shop’s wooden floor. “I was twelve years old writing homework for others to earn money. At fifteen I was waiting tables at restaurants, getting splattered with hot oil that left scars all over my arm—they’re still there. At twenty I worked overtime until I had a gastric hemorrhage and got taken away in an ambulance with no one by my side!” I rolled up my sleeve, revealing those pale white old scars on my forearm. “You didn’t know any of this because I never told you.” She stared at those scars, the color draining from her face bit by bit. “Hazel, for sixteen years, I’ve given you half my life! And how did you repay me?” “You wore my pajamas, lay in my bed, sat in my boyfriend’s arms!” She slid down onto the flower shop floor, sobbing in a mess, her apron covered in dirt. I crouched down and looked at her with a cold heart. The memories that once meant everything had become unrecognizable in this moment. “Hazel, whatever you wanted that I could give, I’ve already given.” “But what I don’t give, you can’t take. You have no right to take it.”

Ethan arrived just in time to see Hazel collapsed on the floor, trembling with sobs. His expression changed drastically. He strode in and yanked her up from the ground, shielding her behind him. “I told you—if you have a problem, come at me!” He glanced back at the trembling Hazel, then turned back to me with fury nearly overflowing from his eyes. “She has a heart condition—don’t you know that?! Can’t you just talk properly? Did you have to push her this far?!” I looked at him and let out a cold laugh. “Ethan, you’re quite practiced at protecting her. When she first moved into my place, you wouldn’t even say her name! Now you’ve become her guardian angel?” Ethan stood his ground righteously. “Want to rehash the past? Fine. How much money did you spend raising her all these years? How many favors did you owe? Name your price!” “I’ll pay back every cent with interest! Is that good enough?” Looking at this stranger before me, I suddenly remembered three years ago when he was pursuing me. In the dead of winter, he’d wait for me outside the company building after work, keeping my favorite roasted chestnuts warm in his jacket. Because he was afraid of disturbing my work, he never told me—just waited silently, his face turning red from the cold. Back then I thought, this person is truly wonderful. So wonderful that I felt all the suffering in the first half of my life had been to save up my luck, so I could meet him. But now he stood across from me, trying to convert everything between us— Three years of feelings, countless late-night phone calls, too many hugs and kisses to count, those things I thought would be carved into my bones for life—into a cold string of numbers. A one-time settlement. “Enough!” Hazel suddenly shouted, stepping out from behind him. Her face was covered in tears, her chest heaving violently as she gasped for air. Ethan instinctively reached out to support her, but she pushed him away. She stubbornly lifted her head to look at me, her eyes filled with almost savage determination. “Natalie, I wronged you. I owe you a debt I can never repay in this lifetime. But don’t make yourself sound so noble!” “You raised me for sixteen years—every meal, every piece of clothing, every cent—I remember it all. But do you know that the person I’ve hated most my whole life is you?!” “You arranged everything so perfectly, which just made me feel like I, Hazel, am worthless and can’t survive a single day without you!” “I could never hold my head up in front of you, so I desperately wanted to leave you! The only reason I married that bastard was because he said he’d take me to another city!” “He still scammed me in the end, but this time I won’t listen to you anymore.” She took Ethan’s hand, interlacing their fingers. “I’ve found my true love, and even if you hate me forever, I’ll never let go!” “Besides, you have so much already—what’s wrong with giving him to me?!” Hearing her speak so righteously, I felt thunderstruck. I stepped back two paces, watching Ethan firmly clasp her hand in return, then laughed softly. “Fine. Hazel, from today on, you don’t owe me anything anymore. From now on, whether you’re well or not, dead or alive, it has nothing to do with me.” I turned and pushed open the glass door of the flower shop without looking back. The year Dad died I was fifteen. To support myself and my sister, I went to class during the day and waited tables at night. That winter, I collapsed from exhaustion and came down with a high fever. Hazel piled all the blankets in the house on top of me, then went out alone to buy medicine. Afraid the medicine would get wet from the snow, she carefully kept it in her jacket while she fell several times on the icy roads. Her knee wound got frostbite, became infected, and she developed a high fever that eventually turned into myocarditis. The doctor said her heart was damaged and she could never do strenuous exercise again or handle stress. So I always felt I owed her, and was willing to devote myself to her for life. But now she was holding my boyfriend’s hand, saying the person she’d hated most her whole life was me! One was the sister I’d raised with my own hands, the other was the person I’d planned to spend my life with. The two people I cared about most had joined forces to deliver the most fatal blow! Why? I closed my eyes and pulled out my phone, scrolling to a number.

The next day, Ethan came storming to my door. “Natalie, you sent Hazel a lawyer’s letter?! Have you lost your mind?!” “She got so stressed from the letter that she couldn’t breathe until midnight!” I leaned back in my chair and looked at him. “Debts must be repaid—it’s only natural. Don’t you know how much money she’s spent of mine?” Ethan’s jaw clenched. He took a deep breath. “Natalie, I don’t have that much money right now. Withdraw the lawyer’s letter and we’ll settle this privately.” I looked like I’d heard a joke. “Don’t have it? Ethan, didn’t you say yesterday you’d settle everything in one payment?” He stared at me hard, his eyes bloodshot. “Natalie, she’s your sister!” I smiled slightly. “She’s already cut ties with me. Why should I care if she lives or dies? Eighty thousand dollars. Pay up! I’m giving you three months.” Ethan’s face turned iron-blue. He gritted his teeth threateningly: “That client your company is negotiating with—the person in charge is my friend. One word from me and he’ll tear up the contract! Natalie, you’d better not be stupid about this!” With that, he kicked the door open and left. I watched his retreating figure, but my heart felt nothing. He did exactly as he said. The next day the sales director came to me, saying the client suddenly wanted to reassess the partnership. I didn’t ask questions. I just pulled out my backup plan. I’d lost both parents at fifteen. Every step I’d taken was like walking on thin ice—how could I not leave myself a contingency? A week later, I got a call from my cousin Emma. “Natalie, Grandma’s birthday is this weekend. Come back home—she keeps asking about you.” I was about to refuse when Emma paused and added: “Hazel’s coming back too. Says she’s bringing her boyfriend to meet Grandma.” I was silent for a few seconds, then finally agreed. That weekend, I drove back to my hometown. Two tables were set up in the courtyard, with relatives arriving one after another. Before long, Hazel walked in on Ethan’s arm. The entire courtyard went quiet for a moment. Over the years, everyone had watched me hold up this family on my own. Ethan was the man I’d brought home for Christmas. They all recognized him. In just two months, the person by his side had changed to my sister. Ethan instinctively shifted his body, shielding Hazel behind him, his eyes wary. Hazel looked at me, her lips moving. “Natalie…” I looked at the two of them and smiled lightly. “Don’t be nervous. It’s Grandma’s birthday. I’m here to celebrate.” “Since everyone’s here, let’s share a video to liven things up.” The TV behind me lit up. The moment they saw what was on screen, Hazel and Ethan froze in place, the color draining completely from their faces!

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I was shopping at the mall when my period suddenly started, the blood staining my entire white pants. I had no choice but to hide in the mall bathroom and ask my boyfriend Ethan to buy me tampons and clean pants. But I waited for three hours. By the time the mall closed, he still hadn’t come back. I called him frantically. He didn’t answer. But then I saw his female assistant post an update on Instagram. “Wanted macarons, and the boss immediately brought me a whole 80 of them! I’m going to be his assistant forever!” Completely disheartened, I sent my mom a message. “Mom, that blind date you mentioned—go ahead and arrange for us to meet.” The mall closed. The lights went out, just like my relationship with Ethan. When I walked out of the mall bathroom covered in blood, I startled the security guard on patrol. “Miss, what happened to you? Did someone attack you? Should I call the police?” I smiled bitterly and declined the kind man’s offer. Ethan had driven off with the car, so I could only stand on the roadside trying to hail a ride. Several drivers saw the blood on my pants and either got scared or disgusted, refusing to pick me up. Half an hour later, I finally met a kind-hearted female driver, and I was finally able to go home. My phone kept ringing while I was washing up. When I came out, I saw missed calls from my mom and a long string of messages. “You finally came to your senses? I told you that Ethan was a heartless bastard!” “Seven years! If he wanted to marry you, he would have done it ages ago! Why would he string you along for so long? At least you’re waking up before it’s too late. The blind date I found for you is eight streets ahead of that scumbag!” It turned out my parents’ words really were wise. When you’re young, you always think they don’t understand love. After a few more years, you realize it’s you who doesn’t understand life. “I was just in the shower. Mom, I’ll listen to you.” Right after I replied to my mom, Ethan finally came home. And he brought along his precious Chloe. “Aria… you… you’re already back? When I got to the mall it was already closed…” He looked somewhat embarrassed, but quickly held up a large plastic bag as if presenting a prize. Inside were various brands of sanitary pads. “I don’t know anything about pads, and I was afraid of buying the wrong kind, so I asked Chloe to help me choose. That’s why I came back a bit late.” What a pathetic lie. But I felt no anger or grievance anymore. This must be what they mean by the greatest sorrow being a dead heart. “It’s fine. I’ve already taken care of it myself. No need to trouble you.” I said flatly, not looking at Ethan’s evasive eyes. Knowing he was in the wrong, he pretended to go to the bathroom, but before leaving, he didn’t forget to earn brownie points for Chloe. “Chloe knew you weren’t feeling well, so she specifically came up to check on you.” “Yeah, Aria, are you okay? We women really suffer when our periods come. Should I make you some ginger tea to warm you up?” Chloe was as good as ever at playing sweet in front of Ethan. But once Ethan went into the bathroom, Chloe’s face immediately changed to a sharp, mocking, vicious expression. She sneered in a voice only the two of us could hear. “Aria, these pads should be enough for an old woman like you to use until menopause, right?” “Haha, it’s embarrassing just thinking about it!” “A woman covered in blood, dirty and smelly, abandoned at the mall with no one caring—if I were you, I’d rather just die!” “Ethan clearly doesn’t love you anymore. Why are you still clinging on shamelessly? Can’t you leave yourself some dignity? Do you have to wait to be kicked out? Do you really enjoy being a beggar for love?” The closer Chloe got, the more she said. She deliberately brought her face close to mine. I knew what Chloe was planning. Nothing more than provoking me to slap her so she could play the victim in front of Ethan. To continue driving a wedge between us. In the past, I definitely would have slapped her. But now? Would you fight someone over a piece of shit? I just looked coldly at Chloe’s performance. Like watching a green fly dancing over a cesspool. Under my gaze, her expression changed from smug provocation to puzzled bewilderment. Then to panic and unease. Finally to shame and anger. She gritted her teeth, suddenly raised her hand, and gave herself a hard slap. With the crisp sound of the slap, Chloe burst into tears. “Aria, don’t do this!”

Chloe’s cry was like a hunter’s starting gun. Ethan burst out of the bathroom like a hunting dog. “What happened to Chloe?” Chloe’s self-inflicted slap had been forceful, leaving a clear handprint on her delicate face. “Aria… she’s in a bad mood… I can understand her taking it out on me… I don’t blame her…” Her acting wasn’t sophisticated, but it was enough for a foolish man. Ethan immediately became the most loyal protector, glaring at me angrily. “Aria! What’s wrong with you? If you’re angry, take it out on me! What kind of skill is it to bully a young woman?” “Chloe just graduated from college. She doesn’t know anything. She’s so pure and kind. Why are you bullying her? Apologize right now!” He demanded I apologize. I was too lazy to speak and turned to go into the guest bedroom, locking the door from the inside. Chloe was crying, and Ethan was comforting her. Finding it too noisy, I put on my headphones. My phone buzzed with a friend request. The note said “Blind Date.” I accepted the request from this man named Marcus. It got quiet outside. Ethan had taken Chloe home. He didn’t come back that night. In the early morning hours, a photo of Ethan in bed suddenly appeared in the company group chat. He was sleeping shirtless, his face showing satisfaction and exhaustion. There were still plenty of night owls. Company employees immediately left comments underneath. But some old colleagues also messaged me privately, feeling indignant on my behalf. “Aria, that bitch is getting more and more outrageous!” “Isn’t this a public declaration of war?” “You need to hold onto Mr. Hayes. Don’t let that homewrecker steal him!” When Ethan was starting his business, I was always his right hand. Many of the company veterans were personally recruited by me. Later, when the business was on track, Ethan said he didn’t want me to work so hard, that he could completely support me. He also said couples weren’t suitable as coworkers, that it easily created conflicts. So I left the company and became a full-time supportive partner. In the blink of an eye, several years had passed. Aside from the company veterans, many new employees no longer knew I existed. “Just a rotten peach. I don’t want it anymore.” After saying that, I left the company group chat. That night I thought I’d have insomnia, but I slept surprisingly well. That blind date named Marcus hadn’t said anything since adding me as a friend. I wasn’t too concerned about it either. I only agreed to the blind date to put my mom’s mind at ease. I didn’t want her worrying about my love life anymore. As for love? I had long stopped expecting it.

The next morning I packed my things to return to my hometown. I organized several large suitcases and had a logistics company send them ahead. Ethan came home around noon. He obviously knew about the bed photo incident in the company group chat last night, and that I’d left the group. After all, he was the group admin. So he was clearly feeling guilty. “Last night was too late and Chloe was worried it wasn’t safe for me to drive at night… Nothing happened between us… I slept on the couch…” “The photo was just a joke. She’s just a young girl—what bad intentions could she have?” Ethan kept talking while carefully watching my expression. “When it comes down to it, you shouldn’t have taken it out on her last night… It was clearly my fault…” Seeing me looking at my phone instead of him, he pulled a box of macarons from his pocket and placed it on the coffee table. “Isn’t it trending online to test your boyfriend or husband with macarons? You don’t need to test me—I already bought them for you! All 8 are yours!” I glanced at the macarons. The production date was yesterday. Chloe couldn’t eat all 80, so he brought the rest back for me to deal with? I reached out and threw the macarons in the trash. “What are you doing? Stop being childish! Men have it hard out there!” Ethan’s face darkened. The truth was so ugly. He didn’t love me anymore. “I don’t like sweets.” I continued looking at my phone. My mom had sent me hotel options, wedding dresses, and banquet menus to choose from. She was being a bit too hasty. I’d only just said I agreed to go home for a blind date, and she was already eagerly preparing wedding arrangements. “You really don’t understand romance!” “When Chloe got the macarons, she was so happy—” Halfway through, Ethan realized his slip and quickly shut up. His eyes unconsciously swept across my phone screen and saw my mom had sent another wedding dress picture. “I think this one suits you better. You’re tall, so you’d look good in this floor-length style. I’ve even found the flower children to carry your train—a pair of twins, hehe…” Ethan’s face immediately looked like he’d eaten shit. “What wedding?” “Who gave you permission to choose wedding dresses on your own? Did you discuss this with me?” “Is your mom pressuring you to get married again? She’s really getting senile! Why is she causing trouble!” Ethan’s tone was full of dissatisfaction with my mom. He’d completely forgotten that when we were in college and my mom came to visit me, she brought him more food and clothes than she brought me. After Ethan’s parents divorced and remarried, he became the extra one. Besides sending him money, his parents basically ignored him. So my mom doted on him especially, letting him feel long-lost maternal love. Back then he always said, “Aria, I love you, and I love your family too!” But we didn’t have much money then, and we didn’t have our own place. We couldn’t afford to get married. Yet every day in our rental apartment, we’d fantasize about our future happy married life with children. That was the greatest motivation for starting the business. Later we had money, we had a house, the business was successful, but marriage became a taboo topic. “Career comes first!” “Too busy!” “I heard marriage is the grave of love!” “We’re still young!” “Let’s wait a bit longer…” Ethan had countless reasons to dodge and deflect. Though I felt wronged, I kept enduring. I always felt that having already invested seven years of my youth, I couldn’t bear to give up halfway. But I’d now come to my senses. If I gave up now, seven years of youth fed to a dog. If I continued being pathetic, I’d just keep feeding a thankless dog. The past couldn’t be undone. Cutting losses was the wisest choice. Ethan was still venting his emotions. The angrier he got, as if my mom had committed some unforgivable crime. Seeing I wasn’t responding, he simply grabbed my phone and started a furious voice message rant. “Ma’am! Stop making trouble, okay?” “We young people have our own plans and rhythm for life. You interfering like this will only cause conflicts between us!” “We have no plans to get married right now! So stop scheming!” After finishing, he angrily threw down the phone. “Aria, your mom is getting more annoying as she gets older!” I slapped Ethan hard across the face. His words stopped abruptly. “You can disrespect me, but you cannot disrespect my mother!” I said word by word. “The man my mom wants me to marry isn’t you. Don’t flatter yourself!” “Let’s break up.” At the same time, his assistant rushed through the door in a panic. She was crying. “Ethan, you didn’t use protection last night, and I didn’t take the pill either!” “I’m too embarrassed to go to the pharmacy to buy the morning-after pill myself. What should I do?” “I’m still young. I don’t want to get pregnant!” 3 Chloe’s crying threw Ethan into complete disarray. “Ah? Now really isn’t the right time to have a baby!” “But the morning-after pill is effective for 72 hours!” Forgetting that I’d just said “let’s break up,” he grabbed Chloe’s arm and hurried downstairs. I looked at the empty apartment. There really was nothing left to miss. I opened my phone’s booking app to check flight information back to my hometown. My hometown was over 800 kilometers away. The nearest flight wasn’t until tomorrow evening. My mom called. She was furious. “Where’s that bastard Ethan? Does he know how to talk to people? All that good food I gave him was wasted on a dog!” “Come home right now! I don’t want you near that animal for one more second!” I calmed my mom down while saying I planned to buy a ticket for tomorrow evening. “Don’t buy a ticket yet. Just wait for word!” My mom hung up in a hurry. Just ten minutes later. The blind date named Marcus on my phone sent me a message. “Come downstairs in 5 minutes. I’m here to take you home.” I was surprised. How did he get here so fast? And how did he know my address? I grabbed my suitcase and went downstairs. It didn’t even take 5 minutes before a black Mercedes van slowly stopped beside me. An elegant, refined man got out of the car. “I’m Marcus. Your mother sent me.” At the same time, across the street at the pharmacy, Ethan, having already bought the morning-after pill, came out with a smug-looking Chloe. He happened to see me and Marcus standing face to face. Marcus even took my suitcase and put it in the back seat. His face immediately turned dark as he strode over. “Aria, where are you going? Stop being childish, okay? I can explain what happened last night. It was just an accident!” I was so sick of his noise. So I pointed at Marcus and introduced him. “My blind date. He’s taking me back to my hometown. We have nothing to do with each other from now on.” After speaking, I got in the passenger seat and closed the door. Ethan’s anger flared even more as he frantically banged on the car door. “What blind date? Aria, get out here!” Marcus didn’t say anything, just got in the car too. He hit the gas, and the van suddenly took off, throwing the unprepared Ethan face-first onto the ground. I saw in the rearview mirror Chloe going over to help him up, but Ethan shoved her away. He staggered to his feet and chased our car, but lost his footing and fell again. I closed my eyes. Ethan, my life will definitely be better without you.

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I work as an online late-night sleep therapist, specializing in treating male sexual dysfunction anxiety. I have succubus bloodline and can directly enter clients’ minds, customizing the wildest erotic dreams for them. They regain their vigor in dreams, while I secretly feed on the overflow of dopamine to stay eternally young. If I encounter a drop-dead gorgeous guy, I don’t mind personally joining him in the dream for some mind-blowing sex. “Thanks for your business. Remember to leave a five-star review when you wake up!” I rubbed my aching lower back, having just kicked an extremely handsome client out of the dreamscape. Before I could catch my breath, my phone suddenly vibrated. “Do you take urgent orders? I seem to have lost interest in all women.” Hearing the voice on the other end, I jumped in shock. It was actually my uncle, the one I’ve loved but could never have. I disguised my voice and immediately accepted this big job. “Don’t worry, I guarantee your satisfaction~” Rodriguez was an orphan adopted by my grandfather, the current head of the Bruno family. And I, a granddaughter of the Bruno family, had fallen in love with this uncle. Since he delivered himself to my doorstep tonight, I wasn’t going to hold back. I rolled out of bed, lit the dream-inducing incense, and locked my psychic power onto Rodriguez’s brainwaves. Once I entered the dreamscape, I would transform into the woman his subconscious most desired. No way he wouldn’t get it up. After the sensation of weightlessness passed, I landed steadily. Opening my eyes, I found myself in an underground parking garage. Who would’ve thought Rodriguez’s subconscious space would be this wild. I followed the sound of heavy breathing. Rodriguez was leaning against a car door, his eyes flushed red. Wearing a slip dress, I walked over and trapped him between me and the car door. “Mr. Rodriguez, were you waiting for me?” I hooked his tie and wound it around my finger, forcing him to lower his head. My other hand tore open his shirt, fingertips tracing circles on his chest muscles. Rodriguez’s whole body tensed. He didn’t push me away. He just stared at me, Adam’s apple bobbing, body rigid. “Why so quiet?” I pressed closer, my thigh brushing against his pants. “You’re pretty intimidating at the office normally, aren’t you?” “But now… you don’t even dare touch me?” “Don’t play with fire.” His voice was hoarse. He raised his hand and gripped my wrist, not forcefully, as if suppressing himself. “What if I do? What can you do about it?” I stood on tiptoe and bit his earlobe with my teeth, tongue trailing down his neck. My palm roamed across his back, leaving several red marks with my nails. This feeling of taking advantage of him with full justification excited me tremendously. Rodriguez gasped, fists clenched, back pressed against the car door. He closed his eyes, letting me cling to him and ignite the fire, tilting his head back, muffled groans escaping his throat as he endured this torturous pleasure. I was waiting, waiting for his body’s response. But five seconds passed, ten seconds passed. Sweat dripped down from his temples as I teased him. But where our bodies pressed together, there was dead silence, no reaction whatsoever. No way, right? He was this aroused, but down there was truly out of commission? Not believing it, my hand continued downward along his V-line. The instant my fingertips touched the bottom line, Rodriguez’s eyes snapped open. “Get lost!” He shoved me away and I fell onto the concrete floor, scraping my palm. The dreamscape began to shake as his emotions collapsed. He was forcibly waking himself up. I cursed and cut the connection, retreating. Bouncing up from bed, I gasped for air, clutching my bruised arm. Rodriguez was psychologically enjoying the teasing, but physiologically showed no response at all. How severe was this psychological barrier? My phone lit up with a Twitter message from Rodriguez: “Didn’t feel anything.” I stared at those three words, anger surging. I worked so hard in the dream, he enjoyed it with his eyes closed, and now he says he didn’t feel anything? Clearly, it’s you who can’t perform! I replied through gritted teeth. “Don’t worry, Mr. Rodriguez. Tonight I’ll give you stronger medicine. I guarantee it’ll cure your condition.”

After the first treatment failed, I spent all day reviewing what went wrong. Physiological dysfunction stems from subconscious defensiveness. An oppressive space like an underground parking garage would make him vigilant. What if I switched to somewhere he’s most familiar with? The next day, I timed my entry into the dream perfectly. The scene was set in his actual bedroom, at the Bruno estate. I opened his closet, picked out a white shirt and put it on, then sat leaning on his bed. The door opened and Rodriguez walked in carrying a glass of water. When he saw me sitting on the bed, his footsteps froze. He stared at my exposed legs, Adam’s apple bobbing. “Come here.” His voice was hoarse. I walked in front of him. Smirking, I took the glass from his hand. Then I tilted my head back and poured the water down my own neck! The water soaked through the white shirt, exposing my body’s spring scenery completely. Rodriguez’s pupils contracted sharply. I pushed him down onto the bed! “Tonight, I’ll take good care of you.” I straddled him on the bed, dripping wet, hands braced on either side of his waist, looking at him. The excitement of freely touching my beloved made my fingertips tremble. I leaned down and pressed against his lips. Then I moved downward, kissing past his Adam’s apple and collarbone. I used my teeth to grip the buttons of his shirt and pulled them open one by one. His chest muscles were exposed. I pressed my lips against them, tongue tracing the lines of his abs. Throughout it all, Rodriguez lay face up, hands tightly gripping the sheets beneath him, veins bulging on the backs of his hands. He remained passively receiving, with only increasingly heavy breathing. I was so excited I was nearly going crazy. When my lips stopped at his belt buckle, I felt his abdomen instantly stiffen. I opened my mouth to bite open his final line of defense. Then a hand grabbed me. Rodriguez suddenly turned the tables, flipping me over and pinning me beneath him on the bed! “Had enough fun yet?!” He roared, yanking off his tie and binding my hands to the headboard. “Rod… Mr. Rodriguez…” I was even more excited by this turn of events. Rodriguez’s hands, through the soaked shirt, caressed my body. Everywhere his palms touched, my skin burned. Being touched by my beloved, excitement and desire made me arch my back in response. Soon, as long as he breaks through his psychological barrier… I closed my eyes, waiting for that final penetration. But he stopped right at the edge of losing control. Rodriguez buried his face in my neck. His body pressed tightly against mine as he deeply inhaled my scent. Then the bedroom around us began to melt away. He was forcing himself awake, dispelling this intimate moment. I snapped my eyes open and punched the pillow. So close! Why would he rather bury his face in my neck sniffing than just go for it?! The next morning, I woke up with dark circles under my eyes and decided to go to his house to investigate. As soon as I entered the living room, I saw Rodriguez sitting on the sofa reading a newspaper. And beside him, pressed close to him, was his fiancée, Vivian. “Well, if it isn’t Natalie.” Vivian glanced at me and rolled her eyes. “Coming over to mooch breakfast first thing in the morning. Really treating this place like your own home.” I glanced at her, too lazy to engage. But Rodriguez suddenly put down his newspaper. “Pour me a glass of water.” No choice. I walked to the coffee table to pour water. As I bent down, I felt a gaze land on me, full of aggression. I followed my intuition and looked over. Rodriguez’s eyes were fixed on my exposed collarbone and legs. That look was exactly the same as last night! My heart jumped. I steeled myself and handed him the water. The instant we exchanged the glass, his fingertip brushed across the back of my hand. My whole body trembled. Vivian sensed something was wrong, her expression darkening. Just as she was about to explode. “Your hand is so cold.” Rodriguez dropped this comment and went upstairs with the glass. Vivian remained in place, trembling with anger. I lowered my head, staring at the back of my hand. Something was off. Had he recognized me?!

After returning home from his place, my mom called. “Hurry up, change your clothes and come downstairs! Today’s blind date is the heir to the Edgar Group. “Stop pining after Rodriguez. You two are absolutely impossible!” My head throbbed. Ever since graduating college, my mom had been forcing me on blind dates. She’d seen through my feelings for Rodriguez and feared I would ruin the Bruno family’s reputation. I threw on a t-shirt and went out, meeting the man at a restaurant. “Miss Natalie, even though your uncle is running your family now, you’re still one of the heirs. After we get married and have a son, won’t the Bruno family assets return to your hands?” The man said this while reaching out to touch me. Disgusted, I grabbed the water glass on the table, ready to smash it in his face. A hand suddenly reached over and clamped down on his wrist. He screamed and slid from his chair to the floor on his knees. I looked up in shock. Rodriguez was already standing beside me, his face dark. “Mr. Rodriguez…” The man’s face went pale with fear. “Get lost.” Rodriguez growled, and the blind date scrambled away. Rodriguez turned his head and stared at me. “Miss Natalie has such low standards she’d even consider this kind of trash?” He dropped this line and turned to leave. I stood there, eyes stinging, fists clenched. Fine. You think I’m desperate, is that it? Tonight, I’ll make you taste what it’s like to want something you can’t have! Third dream entry. I set the scene in his CEO office. I wore a fitted pencil skirt, white blouse, black stockings and heels. This mature woman outfit would drive him crazy. Rodriguez pushed the door open. When he saw me, his breathing clearly deepened. I didn’t pounce on him directly like the previous two times. I stood up and walked in front of him. Extending my fingertip, I lifted his tie, traced circles along his chest, then slid inside his jacket, caressing his waist. Rodriguez’s eyes darkened. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he raised his hand, wanting to pull me into his arms. I stepped back half a step, slapped his hand away, expression turning cold. “Mr. Rodriguez, please restrain yourself. This is an office.” Rodriguez’s hand froze in midair, eyes rimmed red. “You…” He gritted his teeth. Ignoring him, I turned and walked to the filing cabinet, pretending to organize. When he approached, I suddenly turned and lightly licked his Adam’s apple with my tongue. “Hiss~” He sucked in a sharp breath, whole body tense, eyes locked on me as he again reached out to press me against the desk. “Smack.” I slapped his hand away again, pulling back distance, adjusting my glasses. “Mr. Rodriguez, there are still two contracts that need your signature. Please focus on your work.” I turned and walked to the office desk, facing away from him, hands braced on the edge. I bent my upper body down. The pencil skirt hugged my waist and hip curves with the movement, black-stockinged legs gleaming under the lights. I heard gasping behind me. Rodriguez pressed up against me, his hand reaching for the top of my thigh! I quickly dodged sideways, slipping away from in front of him, retreating to the other side of the desk. I raised my chin, speaking coolly: “Mr. Rodriguez, your self-control seems rather poor.” “If you can’t even maintain professional conduct, I don’t think our meeting tonight needs to continue.” Finally, Rodriguez’s veins bulged and his rationality completely snapped. “Fuck the work!” He grabbed my collar and pinned me against the floor-to-ceiling window! Ignoring my resistance, his large hand yanked and the shirt buttons instantly flew off. His palm slid down along my waistline and ripped open the black stockings. I was pressed hard against the glass, our bodies tightly joined. In that instant, I clearly felt it! That place that had been dead silent finally showed signs of rising! That massive presence was pressing against my body. I clutched his shoulders and in the heat of passion blurted out: “Uncle…” Rodriguez’s whole body jerked to a halt. “What did you call me?!” He released me and stepped back two paces. The rising trend instantly softened after that word “uncle.” He gasped heavily, bit down on his own lip, and blood welled up. He stared at me intently. “Why… why does it have to be you…” He murmured these words. Then the dreamscape collapsed and I was ejected back to reality. Damn it! Just one final step away, and my stupid mouth, why did I have to call him uncle at the most critical moment?!

I didn’t sleep well all night. I’d planned to rest and battle Rodriguez again tonight. But tonight was the Bruno Group’s tenth anniversary gala, which I had to attend. My mom dragged me along, probing about my progress with Edgar. I answered evasively, but my peripheral vision stayed locked on Rodriguez. Rodriguez had been forced to drink quite a bit tonight. Looking slightly fatigued, he was helped into the private lounge by his assistant. I excused myself to the restroom and secretly slipped inside. Rodriguez was lying back on the sofa, eyes closed, already drunk and sound asleep. I walked to the coffee table and picked up his fallen phone. My fingertips trembling, I entered my own birthday. The screen unlocked! I opened the photo album. Inside was only one photo of me sleeping at home. So he’d had feelings for me in reality all along! Trembling with excitement, I looked at Rodriguez lying on the sofa. Since we always fell short in dreams, and now he was completely defenseless, why not strike while the iron’s hot? I put down the phone and walked to the sofa, half-kneeling on the floor. I extended my finger, trailing down from his Adam’s apple. My fingertip unbuttoned his shirt, palm pressed against his lower abdomen, following the lines of his abs, going directly downward, slipping my hand inside to play freely. I felt the muscles beneath my hand tighten. Rodriguez’s breathing grew heavier, and that place was rapidly awakening. I licked my lips, about to lower my head and go further when— My mom’s voice suddenly came from outside the door. “Where did Natalie run off to? She was just here.” “Don’t worry, Rodriguez is resting here. She probably went to find Rodriguez.” Vivian was there too. Footsteps grew closer, stopping right at the lounge door! I startled and quickly withdrew my hand. Before I could stand up to find somewhere to hide, Rodriguez, who had been on the sofa, opened his eyes! He grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the adjacent storage closet. Rodriguez locked the closet door behind him. From outside came the sound of the door opening and conversation. “Strange, Rodriguez isn’t here. Where’s Natalie?” On this side of the wall, I was pinned against the door by Rodriguez. It was very narrow here. Our bodies pressed tightly together. My phone vibrated violently in my pocket—my mom calling. But Rodriguez’s hand explored over, lifting my skirt inch by inch. Right here, I clearly felt— It was rapidly growing larger, pressing hard against me! I stared wide-eyed in shock, pressing down on his hand, frantically shaking my head at him. Rodriguez lowered his head, whispering in my ear. “You played so wild in the dreams—soaking wet, black stockings, office… trying every trick on me.” “In reality, how come you’re scared?” My brain completely crashed, my consciousness becoming hazy. Rodriguez suddenly tightened his arms around my waist and thrust his hips! “Mmph!” My whole body went soft, pupils contracting sharply. I could only desperately cover my mouth, forcing the moan back down my throat. Outside the door, my mom was knocking on the storage closet. “Why is this door locked? Is anyone in there?”

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My broke boyfriend suddenly became the sole heir to the city’s wealthiest billionaire, and my twin sister decided she wanted my life. She conspired with our parents to imprison me, selling me off to a foreign trafficking ring where I was brutally mutilated into a “human sculpture”—a limbless freak put on display in a jar for the sick amusement of the underground elite. Meanwhile, she stole my face, my clothes, and my identity, seamlessly slipping into my place by my boyfriend’s side. For a time, my sister genuinely believed she had successfully replaced me, becoming the luckiest woman in the world. But what she didn’t know was… my boyfriend wasn’t just deeply, obsessively possessive of me. He was more ruthless and psychopathic than anyone could have ever imagined! 1 My soul hovers in the cold air, watching my twin sister, Scarlett, holding my phone. She’s on a FaceTime call with my boyfriend, Caleb Vance. I stare at the screen, at the man I’ve loved for years. Ever since he was revealed to be the long-lost heir of the multi-billion-dollar Vance empire, he’s been flying across the globe—learning the business, building connections. We’ve spent more time apart than together, keeping our love alive through a two-year long-distance relationship. “I just landed and went to your apartment, but you weren’t there,” Caleb says. “Why are you suddenly at your parents’ house?” His face is etched with exhaustion. He’s breathless, likely having rushed from the airport just to find me. He looks just as I remember—sharp features, deep, haunting eyes—but he’s grown more mature, more imposing. To the world, he is an apex predator, a hawk circling its prey. But to me, he was always the most gentle, devoted man. Scarlett hesitates, then lies, saying there was a family emergency and she had to stay at her parents’ for a couple of days. She had to be here. When Caleb went from a penniless orphan to the heir of the world’s wealthiest family, my sister’s envy curdled into pure, venomous jealousy. She conspired with our parents to erase me and step into my life. They kept me prisoner for six months. They tried to beat every detail of my relationship with Caleb out of me—my habits, my secrets, his likes and dislikes. At first, I cooperated just to stay alive. But when I realized they never intended to let me live—that they wanted me dead so Scarlett could wear my face permanently—I stopped talking. They have my passwords, but they don’t have the keypad code to my hidden rental apartment. Scarlett has nowhere else to go but our parents’ house. “Come downstairs,” Caleb says, his voice thick with a joy he can’t hide. “I’m at the front gate. I brought you those artisan donuts from that shop you love.” “I missed you so much,” he whispers. “I couldn’t wait another second.” Scarlett panics. She doesn’t even know what to wear. “Deep breaths,” our mother whispers, comforting her. “Don’t be nervous. You’re twins. You look identical, your voices are the same. You’ve been mimicking her diary for months. It’s been two years since they’ve seen each other in person. He’ll never know.” “Right, right!” Scarlett murmurs, convincing herself. She puts on my clothes and walks out with a mix of dread and anticipation. I follow her like a shadow. The moment she steps outside, there he is. Caleb. He’s thinner, but more magnetic than ever. He’s wearing a long black trench coat, one hand on a suitcase, the other holding a small pastry box. The moment he sees Scarlett, he breaks into that breathtaking smile that could captivate anyone. He sets the box down and opens his arms. “Hug?” It’s his signature move whenever we reunite. Caleb has always struggled with a deep lack of security. Every time we saw each other, I would hold him tight, stroke the back of his hair, and whisper, “I’m here. I’m always here.” Scarlett steps forward and wraps her arms around my boyfriend. “Get off him!” I scream. I absolutely refuse to let her touch him. My instinct is to run forward and rip them apart. But my hands pass straight through their bodies. I can do nothing. 2 I know he can’t hear me, but just as I’m about to break, Caleb suddenly pulls away. The smile on his face vanishes bit by bit. His eyes turn cold, clinical, as he studies her. “Wh-what is it?” Scarlett asks, her voice trembling slightly. The sudden shift in his demeanor makes her anxious. I see her hands clenching tightly at her sides. She clearly doesn’t understand the unspoken rhythm between me and Caleb. “Nothing.” Caleb’s eyes flicker with an unreadable emotion. The excitement of the reunion completely fades. He picks up the pastry box and hands it to her. “I went out of my way to get these from your favorite place.” Those donuts aren’t even that good. I only “loved” them because they were from the shop where he took me on our very first date. He knew that. He told me that as long as we were apart for more than three days, he would always bring them when we met. He called it the “start of our forever.” “Thank you,” Scarlett says, mimicking my sweetness as she obediently takes the box. “Thank you?” Caleb’s brow furrows even deeper. She doesn’t know. I was never this perfectly obedient in front of Caleb. And I never, ever said “thank you” to him for things like this. Scarlett’s grip on the box tightens. Caleb lets out a short, dry laugh. He reaches out and pats her shoulder. “It’s been two years. I just got off a flight, and you aren’t even going to invite me inside?” He has never asked to come inside this house. Because he knows exactly what this family means to me. Scarlett and I are twins, born twenty minutes apart. But the exact moment I was born, our grandmother passed away. My mother always believed my birth brought death into the house. To them, I was a mistake that shouldn’t exist. Since childhood, nobody loved me, and nobody cared about my feelings. If murder weren’t a crime, I probably would have died at their hands years ago. My ghost feels a surge of joy. Did Caleb notice something? “I-I’m just so happy I forgot my manners,” Scarlett says with a forced smile. She leads him inside, trying to hook her arm through his, but he subtly shifts, dodging her touch without making it obvious. 3 “Caleb! You’re here. Come in, sit down,” my mother greets him with a massive, plastic smile. “Scarlett, go make some tea.” Scarlett freezes for a second before realizing my mother used her real name instead of mine. She takes a few seconds to snap out of it, stammering a “yes” and rushing to the kitchen to prepare the good tea. “Where is Scarlett?” Caleb asks the moment he walks in, his eyes scanning the room. Nothing escapes his gaze. When we were together, he never mentioned my sister once. “Oh, Scarlett?” my mother chirps, her smile overly bright. “She’s studying abroad. Left a few days ago.” “Is that so? What a pity.” Caleb says it to her, but it sounds like he’s talking to himself. He looks thoughtfully at the tea Scarlett brings out. After exchanging a few meaningless pleasantries, he stands up to leave. “Caleb, aren’t you staying?” Scarlett asks, stepping in front of him, looking like a kicked puppy. “We finally have time together.” “I’m back for good now. We have all the time in the world.” He says it, grabs his suitcase, and walks out the door without looking back. “Mom, do you think he knows? He was so eager to see me, but then he just left,” Scarlett asks frantically the moment the door shuts, her heart pounding. “He’s probably just exhausted. Don’t overthink it.” My mother whispers, comforting her. “Look, he was looking for you the moment he walked in. That means he has a good impression of you. Even if he finds out you’re actually Scarlett one day, as long as he’s used to you, you’ll be the one by his side. We already sold Serena. How could she possibly come back and fight you for him?” They are my mother and my sister. Yet they locked me in a basement for half a year. They beat me, starved me, and dehydrated me. When I was no longer useful, they sold me to a human trafficker. The trafficker then smuggled me overseas. They were right about one thing. I could never come back and fight Scarlett for him. Because I refused to cooperate with their sick charade, they chopped off all four of my limbs. They cut off my nose, blinded my eyes, and poured mercury into my ears. I was stuffed into a ceramic jar, turned into a “human sculpture” for the sick amusement of paying customers. Even though my physical body wasn’t technically dead yet, the light had already left me. I think my obsession was just so impossibly deep that my soul separated from my body and drifted back home. Maybe once my physical body draws its last breath, my soul will finally vanish. 4 During the day, I fear the sun and hide in the shadows of the house. When the sun sets, I drift out to find Caleb. He is the only thing left of my heart. I have no time left; I just want to spend every passing second by his side. When I find him, he’s sitting in front of his office computer, gently rubbing his temples. “Mr. Vance,” his assistant says, knocking and walking in. “Did you find what I asked for?” Caleb doesn’t open his eyes. He’s exhausted, his voice soft, as if asking a casual question. “Yes. We checked everywhere. There is absolutely no record of Scarlett Miller leaving the country.” “So she just… vanished into thin air?” Caleb’s voice isn’t loud, but it’s so cold it makes the assistant shiver. “Since Serena visited her parents eight months ago, there has been zero trace of Scarlett.” “Eight months ago… Serena goes home…” Caleb finally opens his eyes. They are entirely bloodshot. I reach out, gently tracing the line of his cheek, my heart breaking for him. He seems to sense something. His head snaps violently in my direction. I’m so startled I yank my hand back. But it’s just my imagination. His gaze is unfocused; he’s looking at empty space. “Sir, do you think something happened to Scarlett?” “I’m not worried about her.” Caleb waves his hand, dismissing the assistant. In the massive, empty office, I hear his heavy sigh. “Serena… why do I feel like you’ve changed?” He suddenly remembers something, grabs his keys, and drives straight to the apartment I used to rent. I lived in that apartment for over three years. The keypad code is the year of his birth and the day he first confessed his love to me. This room has been empty for exactly eight months. The moment Caleb steps inside, his brows knit tightly together. The apartment is tidy, but you can tell the owner left in a hurry. Caleb slowly runs his finger across the dining table. It comes away coated in a thick layer of dust. Everything inside the refrigerator is rotten and spoiled, emitting a foul odor. Caleb covers the lower half of his face with his hand. A sudden, dark, guttural laugh tears from his throat. “‘There was a family emergency and I had to stay at my parents’ for a couple of days’?” He is teetering on the absolute edge of losing control. I want to reach out and hold him, to tell him I’m right here beside him. But right then, Caleb’s phone rings. It’s Scarlett. Like the start of many typical couple conversations, she asks what he’s doing. “Take a guess?” Caleb’s smile widens. He knows she doesn’t have the answer. “I’m waiting for you at our place.” 5 “Caleb…” Scarlett’s voice is low, trembling slightly. “You left in such a hurry, I forgot to tell you. I don’t live there anymore. I’ll drop you a pin with my new location.” Caleb doesn’t argue. He looks at the location she shares. “Pretty far out, isn’t it? Are you sure you can make the commute every day?” “But I like the peace and quiet. It’s… nice here,” Scarlett says, desperately trying to mimic my tone. I like the peace and quiet. That was a line Scarlett read in my diary. My current rental was quiet and remote, so she naturally assumed that was the reason I chose to live there. The truth was, I rented it because it was cheap. Back then, neither of us had any money. He was trying to save capital to start a business, and I wanted to save as much as I could for him. During that time, we were practically counting pennies. Combined with the insane rent prices near my office, a place like this was my only option. Later, when Caleb was recognized as the billionaire heir, he repeatedly urged me to find a place closer to the city center. But I didn’t want to spend his money. He had just entered that cutthroat family. He wasn’t used to it, and he had a dozen sets of eyes watching his every move. He was walking on thin ice. How could I make selfish demands at a time like that? I like the peace and quiet was just the excuse I used to reject his offer. Caleb didn’t push it. Because from that point on, we rarely got to see each other. I missed him terribly, but I never dared to interrupt his work. He was like a hawk; the vast, open sky was his ultimate destiny. I was willing to be the woman standing quietly behind him, supporting him forever! If only… My mood plummets. They say a few more things, but I don’t listen. When I look up again, Caleb has already hung up the phone. He takes off his jacket, rolls up his sleeves, and starts cleaning the apartment. He cleans it meticulously. He even swaps out the sofa cushions for fresh ones. I watch him sitting exhaustedly on the sofa in the spotless room, my heart aching with a bitter sorrow. I don’t know what he’s clinging to, but I know he’s already started suspecting Scarlett. Scarlett severely underestimated our bond! She underestimated my place in Caleb’s heart. “Where are you? What exactly happened?” Caleb mutters to himself, letting out a heavy sigh into the empty air. “I’m right here. I’m right beside you.” I stand behind the sofa, reaching out to wrap my arms around his neck. Even though I can’t hold him, I just want to nuzzle my face into his hair. He grew up unable to trust anyone. He had zero sense of security. But the day we got together, he held my hand and looked at me dead in the eye. He said that from now on, I was his only safe harbor. I was the only person in the world he was willing to surrender his body and soul to. 6 Caleb treats this apartment as his actual home now. He doesn’t call Scarlett. He just has his assistant quietly dig up everything they can find about me and Scarlett. Scarlett is the one who loses her patience first. She went to all this trouble just to marry Caleb. Now that he’s finally back, he’s completely ignoring her. Caleb doesn’t reject her enthusiasm. He even actively invites her to go grocery shopping with him. Scarlett has memorized my diary backward and forward. She knows my preferences, and she knows some of his. I can see that when it comes to picking out food, she is extremely cautious. “Did you forget? I’m allergic to mangoes,” Caleb says, leaning over her from behind, pressing his hand over hers as she reaches for a mango. He whispers it right next to her ear. That seductive, magnetic voice makes even my ghostly, incorporeal heart race. Scarlett freezes. Mechanically, she puts the mango back on the shelf. Her cheeks flush red, and she lowers her head shyly. “How could I? I was just looking.” Heh. I was with Caleb for years. I didn’t even know he was allergic to mangoes. Every time we got mango shaved ice, he ate just as much of it as I did. Caleb narrows his eyes. He stands up straight, his voice instantly turning cold. “Let’s go. We’re going home.” Scarlett is clearly confused by his sudden shift in attitude. She freezes for a few seconds before quickly hurrying after him. “Caleb, where… where are we going?” she asks nervously, sitting in the passenger seat. “Home,” Caleb chuckles darkly. “What, did you forget the way to your own house?” “But… this isn’t the way home.” It’s not the way to her new rental. It’s the way to my old apartment. I know this road better than anyone. It isn’t a main road, but it never has traffic. Every time we came back from this specific supermarket, we always took this exact route by unspoken agreement. Caleb doesn’t answer. He expertly parks the car in my old spot, grabs the groceries, and heads toward the stairs. Scarlett finally recognizes the building. She researched everything about me, so naturally, she scouted this place. But I bet she only came here a handful of times. She clearly hasn’t memorized this maze of side streets and shortcuts. Caleb walks fast, completely ignoring the fact that Scarlett is wearing high heels, practically running behind him as she clicks frantically against the pavement. “Caleb, slow… slow down.” Scarlett is panting by the time she catches up to him outside the door of my rental. “My hands are full. You open it.” Caleb smiles earnestly, stepping aside to give her room. He genuinely looks like his hands are tied up. “Caleb.” Scarlett awkwardly tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Did you forget? I don’t live here anymore.” Caleb looks like he just remembered, shrugging with a perfectly natural expression. “I forgot.” Scarlett doesn’t know him, but I do. The more he makes that face, the closer he is to a complete psychotic break. “The lease isn’t even up, and you already forgot the passcode?” Caleb’s smile widens, growing more terrifying by the second. “Did you get rich when you went back to your parents’ house?” Scarlett panics. Before she can explain, Caleb drops the groceries and gently, almost lovingly, takes her right hand. “It doesn’t matter if you forgot the code. Your fingerprint still works, right?” As he speaks, he slowly forces her hand toward the smart lock. Scarlett violently yanks her hand back, clutching it to her chest. “My… my right hand is injured. It hasn’t healed yet. The scanner probably won’t recognize my print.” Looking at Scarlett still trying to act her way out of this, I know she’s finished. Because that lock doesn’t even have a fingerprint scanner. Sure enough, upon hearing her excuse, that dark, guttural laugh rumbles from Caleb’s throat again. He rests a hand gently on Scarlett’s shoulder, his face a mask of pure tenderness. Then, his hand violently drops, grabbing her right arm and yanking her forcefully toward him. Scarlett watches in sheer terror as her fingers are fully exposed to Caleb. She tries to pull away, but his grip is ironclad. “Didn’t you say it was injured?” His voice is impossibly soft. But with his other hand, he pulls a pocketknife from his slacks and, without a second of hesitation, slices deeply across several of her fingers. “Now it looks like it’s injured.” Scarlett lets out a bloodcurdling scream, her face contorting in agony. Terrified out of her mind, the moment Caleb slightly loosens his grip, she doesn’t even care about her bleeding fingers. She turns to run. But Caleb grabs her by the hair, punching the passcode into the door, and practically drags her into the apartment. When it comes to anyone other than me, he has absolutely no concept of the word “gentleman.” “Wh-what are you doing?!” Scarlett slumps pathetically on the floor, staring in horror as Caleb lazily plays with the bloody pocketknife. “We only bought vegetables today. We didn’t buy any meat. Why don’t you… contribute some?” Caleb’s voice is so gentle it could melt snow, but he waves the blade menacingly in front of Scarlett’s face. 7 I always knew Caleb was a little unhinged. I met him when we were in middle school. He was just an orphan from the group home. Even though his grades were always top of the class, he was incredibly isolated. He always had this cold, unapproachable aura. One day after school, I watched a guy two grades above him corner him in an alley. The guy poked Caleb in the chest, calling him a motherless bastard, a stray mutt who didn’t deserve to live, and threatened to kill him one day. One second, Caleb was smiling at the guy. The next second, he kicked the guy so hard in the shin that his leg snapped. The guy collapsed. Before he could even scream for help, Caleb clamped a hand over his mouth. Aside from the initial yelp of pain, the bully couldn’t make another sound. “Shh,” Caleb whispered, the laughter in his throat growing darker. “Since your parents love you so much, let them spend some quality time with you in the hospital.” Wearing the gentlest smile while committing the most brutal acts. That was Caleb Vance. That was the first time I saw him fight. The second time was the year I graduated high school. Because of my parents’ extreme favoritism, I was desperate to escape that house. I scored incredibly high on my exams and was accepted into my dream university. But my parents not only demanded I marry some local thug immediately, but they also wanted my sister to steal my identity and go to university in my place. I fought them tooth and nail. My parents threatened me, saying even if I went to college, they wouldn’t give me a single cent, and threatened to disown me. But I had stopped caring about them a long time ago. Whether I took out loans or worked three jobs, I was going to finish my degree. I thought my persistence would earn me a future. I didn’t expect that the day after my massive blowout with my parents, I would be cornered in an alley by three thugs. They held a knife to my throat and ordered me to strip. When I refused, they slammed me against the wall, covered my mouth, and started tearing at my clothes. I shook my head frantically, making muffled noises of terror, but my limbs were pinned. I couldn’t move. Fear… despair… my mind went completely blank. I felt a sudden chill against my skin, and tears instantly flooded my eyes. I never asked for wealth or luxury. I just wanted to live a normal life. Why did it have to be this hard? Hands were groping all over me. I stared with wide, horrified eyes as one of the men eagerly started unbuckling his belt. I used every ounce of strength I had left to try and break free. But another man grabbed my hair and slammed my head violently against the brick wall. “You’re not happy marrying our boss? You shouldn’t have f*cking provoked us then! Let’s see if anyone wants you after we’re done making you our little bitch!” I didn’t even know what they were talking about. All I knew was that someone was smashing my head against the wall, over and over again. Dizzy, blinded by pain! The moment they let go, I collapsed to the ground. I thought I was going to die in that alley. But the pain didn’t continue. Instead, I heard the sounds of a brutal fight and agonizing screams! Blood was pouring down my forehead, gluing my eyes shut. I struggled to open them, and saw Caleb fighting the three thugs like a man possessed, wielding a heavy metal pipe. He had trained in martial arts. He swung the pipe down on one of the thugs, breaking the man’s arm with a sickening crack. He tossed the pipe aside, ignored their begging, and started beating them to a bloody pulp with his bare hands. “Caleb…” Looking at his bloodshot eyes, I was genuinely terrified he was going to kill them. I tried to stop him, but my voice was pitifully weak. But he heard it instantly. He sprinted over to me. I watched him take off his jacket and drape it over me. Before I could even clearly see his face, I lost consciousness. Caleb called the police. Even though the thugs ended up in the ICU, the police didn’t press charges against Caleb. From their confessions, we learned they had mistaken me for my sister. They were actually hired to force her into marrying their boss. My parents couldn’t bear to let my sister suffer, so they tried to use me as the sacrificial lamb! After that incident, I was mentally unstable for a long time. I was terrified of being touched. I was terrified of knives. My parents and my sister just called me dramatic. They said since nothing actually happened—and even if I had been raped, so what! I wasn’t missing an arm or a leg. They told me to stop making such a big deal out of it. “Is that really how you think?” I will never forget the look of utter heartbreak and rage on Caleb’s face that day. He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of that house. From that day on, I never voluntarily spent another night in that house. In this world, the only person who could bring warmth to him was me. And the only person who could bring warmth to me was him!

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I got early admission to Stanford, but Mia begged me to give my spot to her. When I refused, she cried, “Your family is rich. Going to Stanford is just the icing on the cake for you. But if I go, it could change my whole life…” She even secretly opened my admissions packet. “You’re so smart, even if you take a gap year, you’ll still get into Stanford. But I only have this one chance…” Just like that, my parents and my brother, whose hearts ached for her, forced me to step aside. Later, on my way to enroll at Stanford anyway, I was crushed to death by a semi-truck. After I died, I heard her crying in my brother’s arms, “She only lost her life, but I lost my identity as a Stanford student…” When I opened my eyes again, I was looking at Mia, who was timidly trying to please my parents. I smiled. In this life, as long as she’s miserable, I’ll be happy. 1 The gears of fate began to turn the moment Mia pushed open the front door of my house. And thanks to her, after I died, I was reborn. “Chloe! Don’t just sit there. Come over and meet Mia. She’s going to be part of our family from now on,” my dad called out to me. But Buddy, the golden retriever in my arms, barked aggressively at Mia, his hackles raised, just like in my previous life. Mia’s eyes welled up with tears, and she hid behind my older brother, Liam. “Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, I’m scared. Maybe I should just go back to my own house… sob.” Playing the victim to get her way again. I couldn’t help but sneer. In my past life, the day after Mia arrived, my beloved dog, Buddy, whom I’d raised for three years, was crushed to pieces by a delivery truck. I was too consumed by grief back then to think clearly. But looking back now, who else but Mia could have done it? After all, Buddy had gone through two thousand dollars’ worth of professional training. He was incredibly well-behaved and never ran out into the street. Before my parents could scold Buddy, I cut them off: “Mom, Dad, did you forget? You only agreed to let me bring Buddy home because he’s a good guard dog. If he didn’t bark, that would be a problem!” My parents opened their mouths to speak but stopped themselves. “Ah, right. Don’t be scared, Mia. Buddy just barks at strangers. He’ll get used to you.” Catching the word “strangers,” I couldn’t help but let the corners of my mouth curl up. Mia bit her lip a little harder. “Stranger”—that was the word Mia hated most in this life. Meanwhile, my idiot brother, Liam, grabbed a water bottle and threw it at Buddy. “Stupid dog, if you bark again, I’ll eat you!” Buddy whimpered and lay by my feet, looking full of grievance. I rubbed his little head. Mia’s mother was my mom’s best friend. Two days ago, she and her husband died in a car accident. Rumor had it they were on their way to pick Mia up from dance class. Unable to bear seeing Mia become an orphan, my parents brought her straight to our house. They constantly whispered in my ear about how pitiful Mia was and how I needed to let her have her way. In my past life, I yielded to her at every turn, but it only made her bolder. She used her manipulative, “pick-me” tactics to steal all the affection from my family, and eventually, she set her sights on my early admission spot to Stanford. Because of that, I died a gruesome death in a car crash on my way to enroll. Only after I died did I learn how despicable and cheap I was in Mia’s stories. Being reborn, if I let these idiots hurt me even a little bit, I’d have lived this second life in vain! 2 Just like in my previous life, Mia fully moved into our house. To make her feel more at ease, Liam started coming up with terrible ideas again. “Chloe, let Mia have your room. You can take the guest room. I’ll take you to buy new furniture tomorrow, okay?” Here we go again. I didn’t see through it before I died. Only after did I realize my own brother and Mia were having an affair. Or rather, Mia had a clear target and was gunning for my brother from the very beginning. “Chloe, what are you thinking about? I’m talking to you!” I swatted away Liam’s hand waving in front of my face and bluntly refused this time: “No.” Mia opened her mouth, then lowered her eyes submissively and tugged at the hem of Liam’s shirt. “It’s fine, I’ll just sleep in the guest room.” I crossed my arms and watched her perform in silence, even nodding in agreement. “Yeah, Liam. I’ve lived in this bedroom for eighteen years. I can’t just give it up.” Liam glared at me, scolding me for being unreasonable. I tilted my head, ready to manually open Liam’s mind. In my past life, I was always the one yielding to Mia. In this life, Liam can be the one to yield: “You know, Liam makes a good point.” I nodded. Just as Liam’s expression softened, I pivoted: “Then Mia can just sleep in your bedroom!” The smile that had just appeared on Liam’s face instantly froze, and the tips of his ears turned red. “No, I… that wouldn’t be appropriate.” Heh. I blinked innocently at Mia. “Then you’ll just have to make do with the guest room…” After closing my door, I heard Mia mumble a few words. And then Liam’s bedroom was no longer his. Either way, I wasn’t the one yielding. What did it matter to me? 3 The next day, Mia offered to walk Buddy, claiming it would help them bond. Buddy wore a harness but absolutely refused to budge. Watching this scene, my eyes slowly filled with tears. In my previous life, I had personally pushed Buddy out the door and made him go with Mia. This life… I smiled and took the leash back from Mia: “Mia, you just got here. How could I let you walk the dog? Look, Mom and Dad aren’t home, and Liam is right over there. Why don’t you go bond with him instead?” After saying that, I took Buddy and left the house. I walked him around the block and then went to the backyard. Buddy and I pressed our faces against the glass door. I wanted to see exactly when Mia and Liam hooked up. The two of them were sitting in the living room. Everything seemed normal at first. About three minutes later, Mia suddenly stood up but grabbed her head, swaying unsteadily. Seeing this, Liam hurried to support her. Mia conveniently collapsed, her soft curves pressing directly against Liam’s arm. In that moment, Liam froze. No wonder. No wonder the brother who used to dote on me completely changed after Mia arrived. In my past life, Liam even hit me twice for Mia’s sake. Makes sense. With a beautiful girl throwing herself at him, what does a younger sister matter? 4 That very evening, Liam suggested Mia transfer to my private prep school. I raised both hands and feet in support. My parents looked at me, a hint of relief on their faces: “Chloe, you’re finally acting mature.” I chuckled dryly. In my past life, with Mia acting all sweet and innocent at home, my own parents didn’t give me an ounce of trust. Even after I got the early admission spot to Stanford, they unanimously told me to give it to Mia. Mia nervously fiddled with her chopsticks. “But that’s an elite prep school. I’m afraid I won’t fit in.” As soon as she said that, my mom immediately offered to take her shopping for clothes. I put down my chopsticks. “No need! I have so many clothes in my closet. Once Mia transfers to our school, I need to take good care of her. I’ll definitely give her some of my clothes then.” My parents exchanged a hesitant look, while Liam’s eyes lit up and he nodded. He nudged Mia’s arm: “Chloe’s clothes are all designer pieces. Even the limited editions aren’t always available in stores.” “Okay.” Mia agreed readily, but I saw her toes curling tightly against the floor under the table. A flash of resentment crossed those seemingly innocent eyes. I was in a great mood. Only after I died in my past life did I realize Mia completely took my good intentions for granted. I used to feel sorry for her, so I cut the tags off many new clothes and gave them to her. But in her mouth, it turned into me treating her like a garbage can. Since she was so willing to degrade herself, I’d grant her wish in this life! When we picked out clothes that night, I deliberately left all the closet doors wide open. Shock flashed across Mia’s face, followed by an undeniable eagerness. She especially couldn’t tear her eyes away from the clothes with huge designer logos. Seeing this, I smiled. Just like in her past life, she was short-sighted, only seeing the logos and not the quality. “Chloe, thank you so much. Can I have these few pieces…?” I smiled and agreed, pulling out all the logo-heavy clothes she was eyeing and handing them to her: “Sure! We’re family now. These are all yours.” I said “family” with a thick layer of sarcasm. Unfortunately, not only did she miss it, but the corners of her mouth twitched upwards uncontrollably. Her gaze landed on my jewelry, and she deliberately touched her bare neck: “I hope so. It’s just that I…” I understood instantly. I shoved a bunch of chunky, gaudy, sparkling jewelry into her arms. “Now your outfit is complete!” 5 When I saw Mia the next day, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Even Liam frowned imperceptibly. We were both wearing understated designer pieces, while Mia was dressed like a flamboyant peacock. “These are the clothes you gave Mia?” I shook my head innocently. “She picked these out herself.” In my past life, Mia had wanted to dress like this too, but I stopped her. In the end, she didn’t embarrass herself, but she held a grudge against me instead. This life, of course, I was going to let her fly her freak flag! “Liam, do I look okay like this?” Mia intentionally flipped her hair. The gaudy rings on her hands were blinding. Liam glared at me. “It’s fine. You look beautiful!” I smiled coldly. My parents went to handle Mia’s enrollment, and she ended up in the same homeroom as me. I confidently walked into the bustling crowd of students, while Mia followed awkwardly behind. To “take care” of her… “Chloe, where should I sit?” Her soft, sweet voice immediately caught the attention of several classmates who turned to look. But the moment they clearly saw Mia, everyone’s mouths twitched, and they looked at me. I understood instantly, frowning and shaking my head slightly: “You can sit anywhere. The teacher will be here soon.” Mia looked around and finally found an empty seat right in the middle of the classroom and sat down. Some people smirked, others rolled their eyes. I just raised an eyebrow. In my past life, Mia sat there too, but only because I forced her to. This time, without my help, she sat there purely on the strength of her own thick skin. 6 To let Mia fully unleash her “pick-me” attributes. I deliberately took a week off school. During that time, my friends texted me to complain. [Why haven’t you come back yet? [If you don’t come back soon, the Sterling family’s eldest daughter is going to be that Mia. [She has zero taste and dresses like a trashy peacock, but insists you told her to dress like that. Now everyone misunderstands and thinks you have malicious intentions!] I laughed. I didn’t explain, nor did I go back. After all, if I went back, how could the knock-off throw her weight around? I wanted Mia to stand on a pedestal so she could fall hard. When Mia came home for the weekend, she was exuding confidence. Right before my parents got home, she dove into the kitchen to cook: “Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, you’re home? “I’m making pork rib soup for you tonight.” I didn’t say a word, but two sharp glares shot my way. “Chloe Sterling! “What did Mom and Dad tell you? You come home from school and watch TV, while Mia is in the kitchen cooking! “You said you’d be mature. Mature, my foot. You’re really disappointing us.” Liam gripped the remote control, fanning the flames. “Exactly. I just told her that, but she wouldn’t listen.” Here we go again. Just like in my past life! I was scolded into obediently going into the kitchen, only to get splattered in the face with hot oil, leaving several large blisters. This life… I leisurely held up my phone and opened my photo gallery: “What are you talking about? Mia was sitting on the couch playing on her phone a minute ago. She only went into the kitchen when you guys walked in.” Mia, in the kitchen, panicked. “Wh… what?” I smiled and showed her a video I had just recorded: “Sorry, I was just taking a selfie video and happened to catch you in the background.” 7 Mia’s cheeks instantly flushed red. I don’t know if she was burning with shame. Even the expressions of the parents who had been defending her turned subtle. “Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, I… “Actually, you guys…” Liam clicked his tongue and interrupted, “What nonsense are you talking about? “Mia is just thoughtful and wanted to show off her cooking skills. She didn’t say anything. You’re the one making a fuss over nothing, Chloe, causing everyone to misunderstand.” Mhm… My brother is an expert at shifting the blame: “Chloe, are you jealous that Mia is in our house?” Jealous? I was more than jealous; I wanted to tear her apart. But on the surface, I scratched my head looking apologetic, even saying “sorry” to Mia: “Sorry about that. Maybe I really did misunderstand you. “So, keep going with the pork rib soup? I want to taste your cooking too.” My parents looked pleased with my good attitude, but Mia was stunned. I laughed. Because I knew she had no idea how to make pork rib soup. She was just pretending! But since the fire was already lit, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and go back into the kitchen. The four of us sat in a row on the sofa watching TV. Ten minutes later, we heard Mia scream. Everyone jogged over. In the kitchen, Mia was squatting on the floor, covering her face. 8 There were three blisters on her pale cheek. Glancing at the ribs she had just pulled out of the water, I covered my mouth. “Oh my, you silly girl. Of course hot oil will splatter if you put water in it.” Mia was crying from the pain, and my idiot brother was stamping his feet in distress. I deliberately covered my mouth and gasped, “Oh no! Hurry, go to the hospital! What if her face is ruined!” As soon as I said that, Mia was terrified. On the way back from getting ointment at the hospital, the atmosphere in the car was oppressively tense. As soon as we got home, Liam slapped me across the face. I deliberately didn’t dodge. My cheek felt numb and hot. “Liam, why did you hit me?” I cried. I faked it. Liam had one arm around Mia and pointed at my nose with the other: “You still have the nerve to ask! If you hadn’t pressured her, why would Mia have cooked? How else would she have gotten three blisters on her face!” Looking at the three red spots on Mia’s cheek, I felt happy despite the slap! But on the surface, I looked at my parents: “Mom, I had nothing to do with this. Why aren’t you saying anything to Liam!” The couple shared a rare moment of unspoken agreement, looking away from my face: “Chloe, you only got slapped once. But the burns on Mia’s face might leave scars. “Mia is an orphan now. We can’t let her suffer in our house. Go to your room and reflect on your actions.” I smiled brightly: “Right. One minute before you got home, she went into the kitchen. I forced her to. “She said herself she wanted to make pork rib soup for you. I forced her to. “She messed around when she didn’t know what she was doing. I forced her to. “Are you two sure you’re fit to be parents?” When I finished, I saw the embarrassment flash across the faces of the people opposite me. My mom hesitated, about to say something, but I ignored her, turned around, and went to my room. Having lived through my past life, I had absolutely no hope for this family. So, I wasn’t going to take that slap for nothing. 9 By the time I went back to school, Mia had already become quite popular in my class. As soon as class ended, people crowded around her, showing concern. “Mia, what happened to your face?” “How did you end up like this just by going home for a couple of days?” Mia didn’t answer directly. Instead, she looked at me hesitantly a couple of times: “Ah, it’s nothing. I wasn’t careful.” My classmates’ looks toward me shifted. Two of the blunter ones even started making passive-aggressive remarks. “I heard that Mia is the Sterling family’s foster daughter now. She goes home for two days and ends up like this. She must be getting bullied.” Mia tugged at their sleeves and shook them gently. “It’s not like that, stop talking…” That explanation was worse than no explanation at all. But, I opened my mouth, and I was going to speak my piece. I took two steps forward and, in front of everyone, brushed aside the hair covering my cheek: “Mia, are you intentionally trying to make everyone misunderstand me? “You said yourself you wanted to make pork rib soup to thank my family. You accidentally burned your face, and my brother came home and slapped me without asking any questions. “Between the two of us, who is the innocent one?” I spoke louder and louder, wishing the whole world could hear. My classmates fell silent. Seeing that no one was taking her side anymore, she blinked and was about to cry. I preempted her: “Cry! Cry! Cry! “Because you cried, the brother I grew up with hit me for the first time! Now you’re crying again. Do you want everyone to misunderstand me and isolate me!” Mia’s spellcasting was violently interrupted by me. After I finished, I started wailing at the top of my lungs. Mia stared at me blankly, for a moment forgetting to even react. My classmates exchanged glances, and my friends started adding fuel to the fire. “This Mia looks weak and fragile, but she’s full of lies.” “She’s so manipulative. Is she intentionally trying to cause drama among classmates? Did she know we all come from prominent families and is doing this on purpose?” After a few sentences, the classmates who were just siding with Mia switched sides. No matter how she explained, it was useless. Taking advantage of the situation, I swapped out Mia’s burn ointment. Without that pitiful, pathetic face. I wanted to see how she could play the innocent victim anymore! 10 With college entrance exams approaching, I battled wits with Mia while studying hard. My grades steadily improved, while she became increasingly anxious: “Chloe, could you tutor me a bit?” Looking up at her face, which looked as if she had been wronged, I wanted to laugh. She continued as usual: “I know you’re still mad about what happened before. “I’m sorry, I misunderstood you. Please, if you’re really that angry, I’ll kneel down and apologize in front of everyone.” Everyone looked over again. I couldn’t hold back a laugh, sitting straight in my seat, looking at her with a beaming smile. Seeing that I didn’t stop her, Mia was stunned: “Chloe, I… I’ll kneel down and admit my mistake.” I blinked and nodded in agreement. “Sure, go ahead and kneel.” Mia choked on her words. She looked around helplessly, but not a single person in the whole class spoke up for her. She stood in front of my desk, caught between kneeling and not kneeling. “Tsk.” I shook my head. “You say you want me to forgive you, forgive you for what? For last time? But didn’t that happen a long time ago? If you want me to tutor you, just ask nicely. Why pull this stunt? “If people didn’t know better, they’d think I was bullying you.” Mia shook her head frantically. “It’s not like that. Chloe, you misunderstood. I just wanted to ask you a few questions. “You have good grades and a good family background. I became an orphan at a young age and have to rely on others. Maybe I’m too insecure and sensitive. Since you want me to kneel, then I’ll kneel.” Mia bent her knees to kneel down, but before I could speak, a loud shout came from the doorway. Liam took a few large strides, rushed in front of me, and pulled Mia behind him. Typical. If she was willing to put on this act, it meant Liam was definitely here. I wasn’t surprised, watching Liam spew nonsense: “Chloe Sterling, don’t go too far! Is this what you meant by not bullying people? “Is this what you promised Mom and Dad at home? And you kept saying you’d take care of Mia!” This time, I didn’t speak. I just silently signaled my friends. Two or three people gathered in front of me, shielding me behind them. “I think you’re the one who can’t tell who your own sister is, right?” “Yelling at your own sister for an outsider. Look for yourself, the swelling on Chloe’s face from when you hit her still hasn’t completely gone down!” Liam was rendered speechless by the questioning. His face flushed red before he managed to squeeze out that both were his sisters. Quite a few people in the class laughed. Everyone could see it clearly. Someone in the crowd even asked, “Biological sister, or ‘romantic’ sister?” Everyone erupted in laughter. Mia cried from anger, and Liam’s gaze toward me darkened. That look was familiar. It was the exact same expression Liam had on the day of my car accident in my previous life. For some reason, a cloud of suspicion gathered in my mind. In my previous life, my whole family wanted me to give the Stanford spot to Mia. After I refused, I set off on the road to Stanford alone. But was that car crash really an accident?

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In my previous life, I was hacked to death in the street by my mother’s debt collectors, my body left to rot in the open. It was only then that I learned the truth: the massive, life-ruining debt wasn’t even hers. It belonged to my aunt. My mother simply couldn’t bear to see her precious younger sister chased by loan sharks, so she took the entire burden upon herself. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn on the exact day my mother signed that promissory note. I grabbed our family’s essential documents, shoved them into my dad’s hands, and said, “Dad, you two need to get a divorce.” 1 My mom suddenly owed over a million dollars. For an ordinary, middle-class family like ours, it was a death sentence. My dad, unable to bear abandoning her, took the heavy burden upon his shoulders. From then on, our family of four worked ourselves to the bone. We sold our house, lived out of suitcases hiding from collectors, set up street stalls to make pennies, and constantly borrowed from Peter to pay Paul. We never had a single decent meal. Finally, after four grueling years, we had paid off around $400,000. There was still over $700,000 left to go. That day happened to be my little brother’s birthday. We had rarely splurged, but we bought a fresh fish and were just sitting down to eat. That was when Victor, the biggest loan shark of them all, kicked our door in. He had been a gang enforcer in his youth. Both of his massive arms were completely covered in intricate, intimidating tattoos of dragons and tigers. With a casual flick of his wrist, he flipped our flimsy dining table upside down. The food scattered across the floor. It was such a waste. Victor sneered, looking like a demon straight out of hell. “Sarah, where the hell else do you think you can hide? When are you paying me my money? Speak!” My mom’s voice trembled in terror. “Vic, I just sent you $4,000 last month. I’ll pay you the rest slowly, I swear.” Victor lost his patience. “Four thousand a month? At that rate, you’ll be paying off a $500,000 loan until the next ice age! And with the interest compounding, you will literally never clear this debt.” Victor lit a cigarette and sat down heavily on a chair. “If you don’t want to die today, give me your sister Brenda’s address. I’ll go collect from her.” My mom immediately panicked, her eyes turning red. “You can’t go after my sister! She’s struggling so much right now. Come after me.” My dad hesitated, then cautiously spoke up: “Sarah, no matter how much Brenda is struggling, she’s doing better than us. I heard she just bought a two-thousand-dollar purebred cat last month. Maybe… maybe you could ask her to lend us a little to hold them off?” My mom glared viciously at my dad. The moment Brenda was mentioned, she suddenly found her backbone. “I will prioritize getting the money for you during this period! But if you want Brenda’s address, you’ll have to kill me first!” Victor was enraged. He slammed his hand against a cabinet. “Give you this period? Do you have any idea how many years you’ve been saying that?! Since you want to play the martyr so badly, I’ll take this $500,000 out of your hide today!” Furious, Victor kicked my mom to the floor. My dad rushed forward to help, but Victor’s goons dragged him away and started beating him mercilessly. Watching my little brother crying hysterically, I immediately grabbed my phone to dial 911. But that only enraged Victor further. He lunged at me, slapped me hard across the face, and smashed my phone against the wall. I grabbed a kitchen knife to defend myself. He easily disarmed me, then began punching me, blow after agonizing blow. He took the knife. As I scrambled to escape out the door, he hacked at my back, screaming curses: “You’ve got a young, pretty daughter right here! Why hasn’t she sold herself to pay off the debt, huh?!” Victor had completely lost his mind. I stumbled, fell, and scrambled up again, only for him to catch me. He chased me out of the apartment and straight into the street. He was seeing red. He beat me until I was barely clinging to life. The cuts on my body grew deeper and deeper. Every slash was more brutal than the last. “You haven’t paid me a dime in years! I’ve given your family too much grace! That bitch Brenda said she’d pay me back the second month. It’s been twenty f*cking years! Can she even pay it back now?!” Victor’s goons finally rushed over and pulled him back, panicking. “Boss, stop! You’re gonna kill her! This kid looks like she’s barely in her twenties! You can’t keep hacking at her like this!” I looked down and saw my face bruised and swollen, my back covered in horrifying, deep gashes. A trail of my own blood stretched from our apartment all the way out to the asphalt. 2 I knew right then that I was dead. I could perfectly see my own mangled, bloody corpse lying on the pavement, and I couldn’t feel a single ounce of pain anymore. Victor finally snapped out of his rage. He jumped back, collapsing onto the ground, looking genuinely terrified by what he had done. My mom rushed out of the building. She threw herself over my corpse, sobbing as she looked at the loan sharks. “My daughter just paid off the debt with her life! You can’t go after Brenda anymore!” My soul felt like it had been struck by lightning. I had been hacked to death, yet my mother’s first thought—her primary concern—was making sure her sister wouldn’t be inconvenienced! Victor looked at my mom, his expression incredibly complicated. “Since your daughter paid with her life, I’ll consider that $500,000 a total loss!” He took a few steps, then turned back to my mom. “Your daughter having a mother like you… she’s unluckier than I am. “That money was borrowed by Brenda. You insisted on taking the fall for her. Even if you sold every single thing your family owned, it wouldn’t even cover the cost of one of Brenda’s designer bags. I genuinely don’t understand why you’re playing the hero!” My mom aggressively wiped away her tears, her voice stubborn and proud. “I am the older sister. It is my absolute duty to protect my younger siblings from the storms of life. It was worth it!” Worth it? I felt like I had been struck by lightning again. This massive debt had forced our family to live like rats scurrying in the gutters. It had cost me my life. And in the end, she looked at my corpse and said, “I’m the older sister. It was worth it.” Then what was my dad? What was my little brother? What was I?! My dad arrived, saw my lifeless body on the ground, and broke down sobbing uncontrollably. The sheer agony was too much, and he passed out on the street. The neighbors called the police. At the police station, Victor claimed it was manslaughter. My mom agreed that our family was at fault first, signed a letter of forgiveness, and declared the debt settled with my life. Victor only got three years in prison. As for my Aunt Brenda? She didn’t even bother to show up to my funeral. My dad cried at my grave for a full day and night before completely losing his mind. When I opened my eyes again, I was reborn. 3 “If I owed a million dollars, would you help me pay it off?” My mom sat on the edge of the bed, folding laundry, asking my dad in an artificially casual tone. My dad, who was playing a game of digital Connect Four on the computer, turned around and looked at her in confusion. This exact scene was too painfully familiar. In my past life, it played out exactly like this. My mom was furious because my dad had only given her family an $800 cash gift for a recent celebration. She accused him of not caring enough about her side of the family and threatened to divorce him. She had given him the silent treatment all day. In my past life, my dad was thrilled that she finally initiated a conversation. “No matter what happens in the future, I will always carry the burden with you.” And my dad was a man of his word. Over the next few years, even when he fell ill and couldn’t handle heavy labor, he persevered, constantly working to pay off the massive debt she claimed was from a “failed investment.” Perhaps it was my dad’s unwavering sense of responsibility that gave her the audacity. She knew she had a safety net, which was why she recklessly took on that toxic debt for her sister, dragging our family down with her. It got me killed, drove my dad insane, and forced my little brother to live a life of transient poverty from the age of one and a half. Before my dad could answer, I immediately interrupted them. “Mom, Dad, weren’t you guys talking about getting a divorce yesterday? Are we going to the courthouse this morning or this afternoon?” My mom froze, looking incredibly awkward. Remembering her threat from yesterday, her face darkened again. “I already sent Brenda another $200 to make up for the cash gift. If your father takes his paycheck this month to buy your cousin Mason a new gaming console, and goes with me to Brenda’s house to apologize, I might consider holding off on…” I pulled out our family’s essential legal documents and shoved them directly into my dad’s hands. “I fully support you two getting a divorce. Dad, since Mom thinks you treat the people she cares about so terribly, you should just let her go.” Please, Mom, let my dad go! My dad took the documents, looked at my mom, then at me, and lowered his eyes guiltily. My mom immediately switched to a sorrowful, victimized expression, dredging up the past again. “When you had absolutely nothing, no family to speak of, I chose to be with you. I didn’t want anything from you except for you to treat me well, and to treat my family well…” My dad had always felt deeply indebted to my mom because she didn’t look down on him for being an orphan. My mom constantly used this fact to emotionally manipulate him, keeping him tightly under her thumb. I chimed in: “Exactly! Dad, Mom treats you so well, yet when Aunt Brenda hosted that graduation party for Kevin, you couldn’t even bear to give a $1,000 cash gift! Remember how generous Aunt Brenda was when my little brother had his one-month celebration last year?” My mom’s face instantly became incredibly uncomfortable. I faked righteous indignation. “This divorce has to happen. Dad’s behavior is completely unacceptable.” My mom let out an awkward, strained laugh: “Actually, your dad isn’t that unforgivable.” My dad muttered, clearly feeling wronged: “At your brother’s one-month celebration, your sister and her husband only gave $200, and they borrowed that $200 from you! I don’t even know if they ever paid you back!” “I’m the older sister! What’s wrong with giving a slightly larger cash gift to take care of my younger siblings?!” The moment anyone dared to criticize her family, my mom’s face would twist in anger. She threw the folded clothes aside, ready to explode at my dad. Just then, my mom’s phone, which was charging on the nightstand, started ringing. 4 Seeing “Brenda” on the caller ID, I immediately stepped forward, answered the call, and put it on speaker. My aunt’s voice echoed through the room: “Hey, Sis, have you thought it over?” Hearing this, my mom practically lunged across the room in three strides, snatching the phone from my hand and furiously turning off the speaker. She shot a guilty, panicked look at my dad, who had gone back to playing Connect Four. I asked, pretending not to care, “Thought what over?” My mom stammered her response to my aunt: “I still don’t know what Arthur thinks about it… Let me think about it a little more…” I don’t know what was said on the other end, but it was likely my aunt losing her temper. My mom’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper. After hanging up, my mom said, “Arthur, I need to go over to Brenda’s house later.” 5 My dad looked surprised. “Didn’t you just get back from her place a couple of days ago?” “This is different. After Kevin’s graduation party ended, they kept two tables of close friends and family around for a private get-together. They invited me to come over for a bit.” My dad nodded in understanding. A sharp memory from my past life violently surfaced. It was exactly after attending this specific “family gathering” at my aunt’s house that my mom suddenly came home burdened with over a million dollars in debt. Every single promissory note had her bright red thumbprint on it, explicitly acknowledging the debt in black and white. There were seven or eight different loan sharks involved. There were definitely hidden details about this gathering that my dad and I were never privy to. This time, I was absolutely not going to let our family repeat the same fatal mistake. “Dad, I really want to go celebrate Kevin’s graduation too! Let’s all go with Mom.” My mom was naturally thrilled; she always desperately wanted us to be more involved with her side of the family. Before my dad could refuse, I added, “Mom was just talking about divorcing you because you don’t treat her family well. You can’t just skip out and make her lose face in front of her family today.” Persuaded by my logic, my dad agreed. My mom happily took us out to buy Mason a gaming console first. 6 I stared at the $300 gaming console, then looked at the “toy” my little brother was currently playing with—a cheap, empty plastic wrapper from a pack of wafers. My mom was always like this. Regardless of the price, she prioritized giving the best of everything to her younger siblings and their children. Even down to a single bowl of rice, or a single orange. Whenever I, my brother, and Mason were together, if my mom had three oranges, she would give two to Mason, and my brother and I had to share the remaining one. I was so confused at the time. “Shouldn’t everyone get one? Why does Mason get two?” My mom scolded me for being selfish. “How can you compare yourselves to him? You are my children, you have to be on my side. You need to be accommodating.” She deprived herself, and she deprived her own children, just to be endlessly generous to everyone else. She was always like this—boundlessly giving to outsiders, incredibly harsh to her own flesh and blood. My brother sat next to me. With a little squeeze of his hand, the plastic wrapper made a loud crackle. He giggled, completely carefree, blissfully unaware that his life was about to be turned upside down. I pointed to a remote-control car on the shelf. “Mom, my brother can play with that remote-control car too. It’s twenty dollars cheaper than the gaming console. If you’re buying one, you should buy the car for my brother too.” My dad grabbed the remote-control car, placed it in the basket, and smiled. “We’ll buy both.” My mom’s face changed instantly. She snatched the remote-control car out of the basket, put it back on the shelf, and then tentatively asked me: “Avery, why don’t you skip going to that expensive private university? It costs too much. The family doesn’t have the money to support it.” My dad immediately asked, “What do you mean we don’t have the money?” My mom stammered, “There are going to be a lot of places we need to spend money later on. We need to start saving.” I looked at the expensive gift she was holding for Mason and let out a harsh, incredulous laugh. “Saving up my college tuition so you can buy your sister’s son a gaming console?!” “How dare you speak to me like that!” My mom raised her hand to slap me, but my dad intercepted her arm. He said firmly, “It doesn’t matter if I have to work harder. Avery is absolutely going to that university.” My mom opened her mouth, then clamped it shut, saying nothing more. My nose stung. In my past life, after my mom took on that massive debt, I dropped out of college. I worked alongside them, running street stalls, leaving before dawn, and returning after midnight, hauling heavy sacks of rice and fighting for discounted vegetables at the market. I caught my dad secretly wiping away tears so many times, feeling like he had failed me. In my past life, the loan sharks went to the hospital where my dad worked to harass him, causing him to lose his job as a respected surgeon. He ended up hawking cheap goods at a night market. Unless we were truly at a dead end, he would never have agreed to let me drop out of college. 7 My aunt opened the door. When she saw my dad and me, her hand clearly froze on the doorknob. She obviously hadn’t expected us to come. She forced a stiff, unnatural smile. “Oh, Arthur and Avery came too~” My mom smiled warmly. “Yeah, Arthur bought a gaming console for Mason, and some action figures for Kevin, to celebrate him getting into college.” My aunt glanced into the living room, her smile looking incredibly strained. I noticed a designer bag hanging on the entryway hook and smiled brightly. “Aunt Brenda, is that your new bag?” Seeing me notice the bag, my aunt beamed, a hint of arrogance flashing in her eyes. “Of course. It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” “It’s beautiful,” I said. Of course it was beautiful. It was an authentic Louis Vuitton; it better be beautiful. My aunt took the gaming console. “Come on in and sit down.” Stepping inside, I saw over a dozen people crowded into the long living room. There were seven or eight older relatives I recognized, and seven or eight unfamiliar faces. Among the unfamiliar faces, I locked eyes with someone I knew intimately. My heart gave a violent tremor, a primal, physiological terror washing over me, making my body shake. That man was Victor, the loan shark who hacked me to death in my past life. I forced myself to calm down, reassuring myself that right now, he didn’t know me. He naturally wouldn’t target me, let alone hurt me. And my only job today was to ensure my family cut all ties with this catastrophic, life-ruining debt. My aunt truly was a master manipulator. It was obvious now: in my past life, my mom had been pressured into signing those promissory notes right here, in front of this group of elder relatives. Confused and manipulated, she stamped her bright red thumbprint on every page, transforming my aunt’s borrowed money into our family’s toxic debt. 8 Before we even had a chance to warm our seats, a middle-aged woman on the sofa suddenly burst into loud, theatrical wails. “My husband is still in the hospital! That $7,000 is literally life-saving money! I’m begging you, just pay me back first!” My dad was stunned, clearly bewildered by the sudden outburst. My aunt cast a few anxious, pleading glances at my mom, who immediately understood her assignment. She stepped forward and helped the wailing woman up. “It’s $7,000, right?” The woman looked at my mom in confusion. My mom pulled out her phone and checked her bank balance. “Scan my Venmo QR code, or give me your bank routing number. I’ll transfer it to you right now!” She was about to transfer $7,000 without a second thought. Even my dad, who usually didn’t manage the household finances, was suspicious. He asked my mom, “Sarah, what is this $7,000 for?” My mom looked at my dad, desperately trying to formulate an explanation. My aunt quickly stepped in to clarify: “My sister owes Mrs. Martinez $7,000. Mr. Martinez is in the hospital with kidney failure, and they desperately need the money for dialysis to save his life.” The moment those words left her mouth, not only my dad, but even Mrs. Martinez looked confused. Mrs. Martinez looked at my aunt, then back at my mom, who was holding her phone ready to transfer the money. The phrase “But you’re the one who borrowed the money” died on her lips. My dad asked, “Sarah, what exactly is going on here?” My mom thought for a second, then lied smoothly: “I lost some money on a bad investment. I borrowed it from Mrs. Martinez. Since her husband desperately needs it for life-saving treatment right now, we need to withdraw it and pay her back to cover the emergency.” Hearing this, although my dad looked unhappy, he knew that debts must be paid. It was only right, and there was nothing else to be done. Watching my dad sit back down, my aunt clearly let out a massive sigh of relief. She turned to address the room: “I told you my sister would definitely pay back the money. There won’t be any issues. “Today is supposed to be a celebration for my Kevin. Can we discuss the rest of these matters later?” Seeing my mom generously stepping up to take responsibility, the other creditors assumed she was a wealthy, easy mark, so they didn’t raise any further objections. As Mrs. Martinez was scanning my mom’s Venmo code, I muted the TV, picked up the karaoke microphone, and stood up. “Hello everyone. My name is Avery, Sarah’s daughter. Excuse me, but are there any other people in this room that my mom owes money to? “My parents are getting a divorce soon. We’re here to clear up all the marital debts right now.” 9 Divorce? My aunt’s eyes bulged out of her head. She knew better than anyone that my mom was a stay-at-home housewife with zero income. The entire family relied on my dad’s salary. If they got divorced, my mom would have absolutely no way to shoulder over a million dollars in debt. She immediately rushed forward, her face twisted in rage, pointing a furious finger at me. “Avery, what nonsense are you spewing?! A marriage isn’t something you can just end on a whim! “As a daughter, shouldn’t you be wishing for your parents to be happy? How can you be so incredibly ignorant and disrespectful?!” I blinked innocently. “It’s true. If you don’t believe me, you can ask my mom. They were literally planning to go to the courthouse to file the divorce papers today. We only delayed it because you called us over.” I turned the volume on the microphone up and shouted again. “Since no one is answering, if my parents walk out that door, we are absolutely not recognizing any debts that magically appear later!” Still, no one stepped forward. After all, they knew the money was personally borrowed by my aunt, not my mom. Hearing that the divorce hadn’t been finalized yet, my aunt clearly let out a sigh of relief. Terrified that my parents might actually go straight to the courthouse after leaving today, she made a desperate gamble. She turned to my dad. “Arthur, please don’t be angry. My sister only owes a little over a million dollars. She had a failed investment. Please don’t blame her. In business, there are always wins and losses. You need to look at the big picture. If your whole family works together, you’ll definitely pay it all off eventually.” My dad’s entire body violently jolted. He looked like he was about to pass out from sheer rage. The creditors looked equally confused, exchanging bewildered glances. Wasn’t Brenda the one who borrowed the money? Why did this guy suddenly appear out of nowhere to take the fall as the ultimate sucker? My aunt noticed their confusion and quickly turned back to the creditors: “Everyone, please don’t worry. My brother-in-law is a highly respected surgeon at the county hospital. He has a very secure, high-paying job. He will slowly but surely pay back every cent he owes you.” Her ambiguous phrasing gave the creditors hope, while simultaneously keeping my dad completely in the dark about the true nature of the debt. I walked over to my dad and looked earnestly at my mom. “This million dollars… did you really borrow it?” My mom paused, glancing at my aunt’s pitiful, pleading face, and gritted her teeth. “Yes. It’s my debt.” I nodded slowly. “Okay. In that case, can you name every creditor in this room? “Do you remember exactly how much money you owe to each person?”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422569”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

On the subway to work, I overheard an old woman bragging to another older lady. “Girls these days are so easy,” she scoffed. “I just taught my son to put in a tiny bit of effort—like making them a cup of hot tea when it’s their time of the month, or bringing them an umbrella when it rains. And boom, these shameless women throw themselves at him. Thanks to my methods, my son is juggling eight girlfriends right now.” Hiding behind the crowd, listening to her, I felt sick to my stomach. I silently took eight seconds to mourn for those eight poor “sisters.” I never expected that the very next day, I’d be going to meet the parents of my boyfriend of three years. Unless I was suddenly blind, the old lady standing in front of me was the exact same woman who had been bragging on the subway about her son’s eight girlfriends. And I had become one of those “shameless women with interchangeable parts” she had sneered about. 1 Because my car was unexpectedly in the shop for maintenance, I took the subway that day so I wouldn’t be late for work. On the train, an old lady was loudly bragging to another older woman. “Girls these days are so easy. I just taught my son to put in a tiny bit of effort—like making them a cup of hot tea when it’s their time of the month, or bringing them an umbrella when it rains. And boom, these shameless women throw themselves at him, one after another. Thanks to my methods, my son is juggling eight girlfriends right now.” “Let me tell you, raising a son is all about strategy,” she continued. “Whenever my son doesn’t listen to me, I warn him, ‘I’m the one who got you all these women. If you don’t listen, I’ll stop helping you.’ He gets so scared he does whatever I say. I always tell him, every woman has the same parts anyway, so he’ll definitely find one he likes.” I was hiding behind the crowd, listening to her, and feeling physically sick. I mentally took eight seconds of silence for those eight poor girls. I never expected that the very next day, I’d be going to meet the parents of Carter, my boyfriend of three years. The moment I stepped through the door, I was startled by the old lady standing in front of me. Unless I was suddenly blind, the old lady standing in front of me was the exact same woman who had been bragging on the subway about her son’s eight girlfriends. And I had become one of those “shameless women with interchangeable parts” she had sneered about. 2 As soon as I stepped into Carter’s house, his mother pulled out a pair of fuzzy slippers and insisted on putting them on my feet herself. “You must be Harper. You’re so beautiful.” I quickly took two steps back, dodging the old woman’s hands. Feigning calmness, I greeted her: “Hello, Mrs. Hayes.” Carter’s mother beamed instantly, looking extremely satisfied with me. The moment I sat down on the sofa, the old woman was bustling about, bringing me fruit and handing me a cup of milk tea. “I heard you young people love drinking this stuff. I thought the store-bought ones were unsanitary, so I looked up a tutorial online and made it myself. Try it quickly and see how it tastes.” I looked at the kind, amiable old lady in front of me, completely unable to reconcile her with the bitter, mean woman from the subway. I even started to doubt if I had seen the right person. Or maybe the old woman was just trying to show off in front of her friend and made it all up. After lunch, Carter’s mother pulled out a worn, dark-looking savings passbook and placed it in my hand. “Harper, there’s ten thousand dollars in here. I know your family has plenty of properties and you probably don’t care about one or two more, but the money in this passbook is my entire life savings. Now, I want you to take it and go buy a house with Carter so you two can get married.” I looked at the passbook placed in my hand, momentarily at a loss for words. First of all, the amount was too small; it wouldn’t even cover a fraction of a down payment. But if this passbook truly held her “coffin money,” as the old lady claimed, its weight far exceeded its monetary value. If it hadn’t been for that scene on the subway, I probably would have declined the money immediately, perhaps even comforting the old lady that she didn’t need to worry about a house because my family had it covered. But with that subway scene stuck in my head, something felt off. I don’t know if my silence dragged on too long, or if the old lady sensed my mood, but she suddenly grabbed my hand and tearfully pleaded: “Harper, I know it’s not a lot of money and it won’t buy a house. But you know Carter’s father passed away early. I’ve worked myself to the bone all these years just to put Carter through grad school. Even though he’s working as a software engineer at a Big Tech firm now, he’s only been there for two or three years, and his salary is still entry-level. It’s incredibly hard to buy a house in San Francisco on his own.” “How about this: you ask your parents to chip in a little first, so you guys can buy a house and get married. Don’t worry, once Carter starts making more money, I’ll have him pay your parents back.” Carter’s mother’s words sounded very considerate, but maybe I was just being sensitive. I felt like something about this whole situation stank. I looked at the old woman with feigned innocence. “Mrs. Hayes, whose names will be on the deed?” The old lady smiled and patted my hand. “Well, that goes without saying. It will obviously have both your names on it.” “Don’t worry, once you buy the house, I promise I won’t bother you two.” Those four words, “both your names,” sent a jolt through my body. First of all, the absolute worst fixer-upper in San Francisco starts at around a million dollars. Given how much my dad dotes on me, if I were getting married, he definitely wouldn’t buy a small starter home. A multi-million dollar property was the minimum. Coupled with the scene on the subway, I had my suspicions that whether it was Carter’s mother’s tears or this worn-out passbook, it was all a calculated trap set for me. 3 Although I was suspicious at Carter’s house, considering we had a three-year relationship, I still didn’t quite believe he was that kind of person. But from that day on, I started closely observing Carter’s schedule. For instance, I noticed that every time he came to my place, he smelled faintly of dampness, like he had just taken a shower. For instance, if he worked late and then came to my place, he generally had no interest in intimacy, acting exhausted. For instance, he frequently got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and would spend an hour in there scrolling on his phone. I had never scrutinized Carter’s schedule before. I believed in mutual respect and maintaining independent space in a relationship. But what if Carter was using that time to juggle other girlfriends? Finally, one night, while Carter was in the shower, I couldn’t resist checking his phone. His text messages were very clean, with my name pinned at the top. The other contacts were either coworkers or friends, some of whom I recognized or had even met. This gave me some comfort. The only anomaly was his chat history with his mother—it was completely empty. But they had seemed so close that day. What exactly were Carter and his mother talking about that required clearing the chat history? I was just about to put the phone down when I suddenly remembered an influencer sharing a story about discovering her husband’s infidelity by checking his phone’s location history. Relying on memory, I opened the location services settings on Carter’s phone, and looking at his daily movements, I grew even more confused. First, his location history only showed him at his place, my place, and his company on the days he came to see me. The rest of the time was completely blank. Did Carter not take his phone with him when he didn’t come to see me? Just then, Carter, still drying off with a towel, walked out of the bathroom. He looked at the phone in my hand, his expression completely unchanged. He walked over and hugged me, his face full of teasing. “Find anything interesting?” I tilted my chin up haughtily. “Who knows if you men are messing around out there? I’m just checking to be safe.” Carter pursed his lips and chuckled, reaching out to gently tap the bridge of my nose. “Be good, how could I ever betray you? I love you so much.” “Besides, my phone has never had a passcode. You can check it whenever you want.” That was true. Carter had never been secretive with his phone around me. Sometimes when I used his phone to make a call or track a package, he was always completely open. So much so that I had never had the urge to check his phone before. But how could those anomalies on his phone be explained? 4 Perhaps driven by a woman’s sixth sense, the next day after work, I went to Carter’s office. Right at 6:00 PM, I saw Carter walking out of his building. The moment I saw his figure, I froze. Because Carter had just texted me saying he had to work late. Given that he was at a major tech firm, I had never doubted his “working late” excuses. I dialed Carter’s number with trembling fingers. He declined it instantly. But what surprised me more wasn’t that Carter lied about working late, but that the Carter right in front of me didn’t even reach for his phone in his pocket. Right then, Carter sent me a text. “Baby, I’m in a meeting. I’ll call you back later.” I stared at the message, the fingers gripping my phone trembling. Because at this exact moment, the Carter right in front of my eyes was waving his hand to hail a cab. I swallowed hard in fear and pulled up my old chat history with Carter. First, on the days Carter came to see me, he would be very distant via text, often replying with short phrases like “mhm” or “okay.” But on the days he didn’t see me… He would be much more enthusiastic. He would tell me jokes, send me good songs, and be incredibly attentive. Although sometimes I felt his tone was a bit old-fashioned, I just chalked it up to him being a typical clueless tech bro. But wasn’t it a huge red flag that his communication style swung between two such extremes? My nerves were taut, like something was about to burst out. I quickly drove off, tailing Carter’s cab. The cab didn’t stop until it reached the entrance of a luxury apartment complex. As soon as he got out, a young woman rushed out of the complex gates. She clung to Carter like a koala bear and showered his cheeks with kisses. Carter affectionately ruffled her hair. The two looked exactly like a deeply in love couple. I watched the scene unfold before my eyes, my eyes red and wide. Just as I was sitting there, stunned and unsure of what to do, I received another text from Carter. “Baby, don’t forget to eat dinner tonight! You’re already beautiful enough, you don’t need to diet anymore.” 5 As soon as I got home, I rushed to the bathroom and threw up in disgust. If I didn’t realize by now that Carter and his mother were playing me, I’d be the biggest idiot in the world. If my guess was right, the person texting me all these years was Carter’s mother. Just thinking about the flirtatious things Carter supposedly said to me, actually being typed by his mother… I couldn’t help but throw up into the toilet again. This was even more sickening than Carter simply cheating. That night, Carter came to my place at 10:00 PM. He brought food cooked by his mother. Carter put a piece of shrimp in my bowl. “My mom knows you like shrimp, so she made this especially for you.” My fingers tightened around my chopsticks. “How did your mom know I like shrimp?” Carter stiffened for a second, but recovered his composure moments later. “Well, that goes without saying. I told her, of course. You’re a great daughter-in-law. Not only do I love you, but my mom absolutely adores you too.” I feigned a teasing tone. “Then you’d better hurry up and marry me. By the way, I talked to my dad about the house. He said there’s no problem on his end, but you know my background. All my friends get at least a hundred grand as a down payment contribution from the groom’s side. My dad said if your family can’t afford a hundred grand, you need to provide at least fifty grand, otherwise he won’t let me marry you.” Carter smiled calmly. “That’s no problem. You just take the deed to your current place, take out a home equity loan for fifty grand, and we’ll just go through the motions for your parents. Don’t worry, I’ll cover the interest.” My stomach churned, and I almost gagged in disgust. “What, you don’t trust me? My mom practically emptied her life savings for us. I know there’s a financial gap between our families, but I promise I’ll work hard and make money. I’ll never let your friends look down on you.” I pretended to be moved and buried my face in his chest. But where Carter couldn’t see, my fingernails nearly pierced my palms. I never thought Carter actually treated me like a complete idiot. 6 The next day, I went to find the girl Carter had met, Mia. After hearing my story, Mia’s face was full of disbelief, her body trembling. “But… I was going to marry him.” I closed my eyes tightly. “Me too…” Mia instantly burst into loud, sobbing tears. I don’t know how long it took, but Mia finally lifted her tear-streaked face. “Let’s… let’s compare our chat logs.” After we verified all our interactions with Carter, we both stood frozen in horror. We never expected that from the very beginning, Carter and his mother had premeditated everything. First, we both met Carter because we were bumped into by a delivery driver, and he “saved” us, which led to us exchanging numbers and chatting. Furthermore, from our daily interactions, all the chat conversations were identical. Even the day we went to meet his parents, I went in the morning, and Mia went in the afternoon. After comparing all the chat logs, Mia started crying hysterically. “I’m going to kill that piece of trash, Carter.” It wasn’t just Mia; even my worldview was shattered by what lay before us. I fought to control my trembling body and grabbed Mia. “It’s not worth getting our hands dirty for trash like him. Let’s gather evidence first. The law will make Carter and his mother pay.” 7 At the time, when Carter was hit relatively hard by the delivery driver, I was afraid the driver would deny it, so I kept his phone number. This actually made it convenient for us to find a witness. I called the delivery driver right then and there. “Hello, I have a package to send. Can you come pick it up?” When the delivery driver arrived at my place, I asked directly, “Do you know Carter?” The delivery driver turned around, wanting to leave. I threatened him: “If you dare leave, I’ll sue you for fraud. If Carter gets arrested, you’re an accomplice. You can leave if you don’t want to go to jail.” The delivery driver was spooked by me. He looked at me pitifully. “Ladies, you can’t blame me for getting scammed! How was I supposed to know you women were so gullible, believing those cliché romantic movie tropes?” My heart skipped a beat. “You women.” So Carter really did have eight girlfriends. I looked at the delivery driver coldly. “How many women have you hit for Carter in total?” The delivery driver shrank back. “I’ve hit about a dozen or so over time. That guy who ‘saved’ you paid me a hundred bucks an appearance each time.” Mia and I exchanged a glance. “Do you have the phone numbers of those girls?” The delivery driver shook his head in panic. “Why would I keep their numbers for something like this?” I lowered my head in thought for a moment. “Then do you know how many Carter actually succeeded with?” The delivery driver shook his head. “How would I know that? But I heard the guy mention a few times that once he got bored, he’d just break up with them. The success rate must be pretty high, otherwise he wouldn’t pull this stunt every few months.” Seeing that the delivery driver couldn’t offer much more, I pulled out a document and placed it in front of him. “Sign your name here. Don’t worry, I won’t sue you. I’ve recorded what you just told us. You just need to show up in court when the time comes. But if you dare tell Carter, I will sue you as an accomplice to fraud. We have plenty of money to fight a legal battle. Don’t believe me? Try it.” The delivery driver was indeed intimidated by me, pulling out a pen and quickly signing his name. He also apologized profusely, saying he shouldn’t have done something so immoral.

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When I was five years old, my dad got called back to the office and told my older brother to take me home. Instead, my brother got into a fight with some other kids, leaving me completely alone, and I was kidnapped. Three years later, egged on by my brother, my parents adopted another girl. Seven years after that, the police finally brought me home. Due to severe, long-term malnutrition, I was painfully thin and frail. The adopted girl clung to my mother’s arm and whispered, “Why is she so dirty? She doesn’t look like your daughter at all.” From that day on, my parents couldn’t stand the sight of me. Ultimately, I was bullied to death by that adopted girl, and my parents chose to settle the case out of court. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing at the front gate of our yard, watching my brother being stuffed into a burlap sack. Since natural-born monsters get kidnapped, in this lifetime, I’ll pick out the brother I actually want. 1 When I opened my eyes, I was four years old again. My parents had taken my brother and me back to our rural hometown to sweep the ancestral tombs. And my brother and I ran straight into the human traffickers. In my past life, my brother was snatched first because he was playing right by the front gate. I hid in the firewood pile, remaining perfectly calm as I used my smartwatch to take a clear picture of the trafficker’s face. The moment they left, I immediately called 911 and then ran to the neighbors for help. Because I called the police so quickly, the traffickers were caught within five hours, and my brother was brought home safely. I saved his life, but when he got back, he shoved me hard. “You were right there in the yard! Why did you hide instead of saving me?!” My forehead smashed into the corner of a table, leaving a scar that stayed with me for the rest of my life. My parents brushed it off as kids just playing rough. I was too young to understand why my brother suddenly hated me. Then, when I was five, my parents’ company finally started making real money. They were too busy to pick me up from kindergarten, so they called my brother to get me. Instead, he ditched me at the school gate, glaring at me viciously. “Walk home by yourself. And don’t you dare snitch to Mom and Dad.” I nodded obediently, watching him excitedly round up his delinquent friends to go start a street fight. The very next second, a trafficker threw a sack over my head and dragged me away. I didn’t make it back home until I was twelve. By then, I realized there was no place left for me in that house. My brother had convinced my parents to adopt a girl named Chloe. He protected her fiercely. Chloe despised me from day one. “Where did this ugly little rat come from? You think you deserve to be my sister?” From that day on, I lived a life of relentless bullying at the hands of my own brother and Chloe. When I was eighteen, on the morning of my SATs, Chloe turned off my alarm clock, and my brother slipped sleeping pills into my drink. I missed the most important exam of my life. My parents immediately slapped me across the face. “If you can’t even manage your own schedule, what use are you?!” By the time I was twenty-four, my life was finally turning around. My small business was starting to boom. My brother and Chloe teamed up and bankrupted me overnight. So you see, why on earth would I save an animal like him? I’d be better off taking a nap. At least in my dreams, someone might choose to love me. Right now, I absolutely refuse to be stupid enough to make the same choice again. I remained hidden in the firewood pile, coldly powering off my smartwatch. Through the gaps in the wood, I watched Liam’s mouth get taped shut before he was tossed into a three-foot-tall burlap sack. The traffickers threw him in their van and sped off. I slowly crawled out of the firewood pile, washed my flawless little face until it was perfectly clean, and walked back inside the house. I took off the smartwatch, stood on my tiptoes, and placed it on the table. Then, I crawled into bed and fell fast asleep. Liam was kidnapped. What does that have to do with me? 2 “Penny, wake up. Where’s your brother? “Mrs. Miller next door said she saw you two playing together this afternoon. Where is he now?” Kids really are heavy sleepers. In my past life, from the moment I returned to this “home,” I never had a single good night’s sleep. It was rare to sleep this soundly. I rubbed my sleepy eyes, my face full of confusion. “What are Mommy and Daddy talking about? Liam said he was going up the mountain to find you guys this afternoon.” My mom shot a look at my dad, and both their faces instantly went pale. Not long after, I heard police sirens wailing in the distance, echoing through the village. Several people were whispering anxiously in the courtyard. Mrs. Miller shouted her answer to the police. “I don’t know! I saw the boy this afternoon, but I haven’t seen him since!” My mom frantically rubbed my head. “Penny, be a good girl. Go eat your dinner by yourself. Mommy and Daddy have to go out for a bit, okay?” I nodded obediently. My parents rushed out to talk to the police. I followed them for a few steps and stood in the courtyard. The police asked me a few simple questions, and I just gave them vague, childish answers. My mom was just sobbing hysterically. “Where is my Liam? Where is he?” They got no useful information. The police hurried off, beginning a massive search of the entire village. Unfortunately, it was too late. It had already been five hours since he was taken. Liam, you’d better stay alive. Whatever you do, don’t die. I stared deeply into the starry sky above the fields. Then I turned around and went inside to eat dinner. 3 The police investigation yielded nothing. Exhausted and broken, my parents took me back to the city. I was quiet, obedient, and well-behaved—infinitely more likable than my brother ever was. They seemed to gradually forget Liam even existed. From going to the police station once a month for updates, it eventually became once a year just to check in. I am now seven years old. A while ago, my mom actually had some free time and took me to an amusement park. But because her company was busy, she took a phone call and just walked away, almost getting me kidnapped again. Afterward, she suggested adopting a child to keep me company. Perfect. Since my demon spawn of a brother was successfully kidnapped, in this lifetime, I get to pick the exact brother I want. My parents took me to the largest orphanage in the city. Seeing my parents dripping in designer clothes, the orphanage director happily handed them a binder filled with profiles of the children available for adoption. My parents flipped through the pages, nodding constantly in satisfaction. The director had a staff member take me to the play area, then escorted my parents to meet the children they had selected. Once I was dropped off, the staff member had to leave to handle something else. The playground slides were fine for amusing a toddler. But for someone with the mental age of a twenty-something, it was painfully boring. I stretched my short little legs and started wandering around the orphanage grounds. As I walked past an outdoor equipment shed, I heard the sound of cursing coming from behind it. I peeked around the corner and saw a group of kids surrounding a boy, kicking and hitting him. A girl with her back to me had a particularly shrill, grating voice. “Beat him to death! Ever since he got here, every family that comes to adopt specifically asks for him! We never get a chance!” “Haha, what are you scared of? He got adopted last time and was sent back in a week.” “Exactly! He cursed his own biological parents to death! He’s a jinx!” I hid in a concealed corner. I couldn’t see the boy curled up on the ground. But I got a crystal-clear look at the girl leading the pack. She was a head shorter than me, a bit chubby, with a dark complexion. The kids beating the boy didn’t notice me spying at all, continuing to crowd around the girl excitedly. “Chloe, I heard a really rich family came today! We have to block him in here, or we’ll lose our chance again!” The girl they called “Chloe” looked young, but her expression was unusually vicious. She viciously kicked the boy on the ground in the stomach. “Don’t worry! This time, it has to be me!” My heart jolted. I stared dead at “Chloe’s” profile, recognizing her face perfectly. Chloe! It was actually her! 4 The memory of her framing me in my past life was still burned vividly into my mind. Since the moment I was reborn, I swore that in this lifetime, I would make her and Liam suffer a fate worse than death. But I never expected to run into her here. Seeing Chloe rear back to kick the boy again, I frantically rushed out. I kept my head down, refusing to look at her, acting like a panicked, lost child. “C-Chloe, a family is here to adopt! The director told me to come get you!” “They must be here to adopt me!” Chloe’s eyes lit up instantly, and she immediately bolted toward the main building. As she brushed past me, she slammed into my shoulder like a bear. Then she froze, staring dead at my wrist. “Where did you get that thing on your wrist?” I looked down at the smartwatch I had deliberately exposed, my face a mask of pure terror. For the kids in this orphanage, having a basic digital watch was a luxury. Where would they have ever seen a high-end smartwatch? But just because she had never seen one didn’t mean Chloe couldn’t tell it was expensive. I instantly started trembling and shrinking back, but Chloe and the other kids quickly pinned me down. “I-I-I… the lady who was looking for the director just gave it to me.” “Gave it to you? Impossible! She definitely told you to give it to me, and you tried to keep it for yourself!” “S-sorry, sorry! It was supposed to be for Chloe! I remembered wrong!” My voice shook perfectly. Satisfied, Chloe grabbed my wrist and violently yanked the smartwatch off. Then, like a gust of wind, she sprinted away. All I could smell was the sour, unwashed stench coming off her clothes. It was disgusting. Once the other kids scattered, I quickly rushed forward to help the boy who had been curled up on the ground protecting his head. I couldn’t tell exactly how old he was. His face was sallow, his body incredibly frail and thin. From his calves to his arms, all the way up to his forehead, he was covered in bruises of all sizes. “Are you okay, big brother?” I helped him up, my eyes turning a bit red. The boy actually panicked first. He stiffly patted my back, trying awkwardly to comfort me. “I’m not hurt.” Saying that, he hesitantly pulled his hand out of his jacket. In his tightly clenched fist were pieces of a crushed, stale piece of bread. “Little sister, I’ll give you something yummy if you smile, okay?” I let out a sudden, wet laugh. How could he be so painfully earnest? The bruises on his body were turning dark purple. His hair and clothes were covered in dirt. He was so thin his cheeks were hollow, and his cheekbones stuck out sharply. But even looking like that, his eyes were incredibly bright and clear. I carefully pinched a crumb of the crushed bread and placed it on my tongue. “It’s delicious.” Seeing that I liked it, the boy tried to shove the rest of the crumbs into my hand. I carefully cupped my hands and held it up to his face. “You eat some too.” “I’m not hungry.” He swallowed hard, but stubbornly shook his head. I had to practically trick and coax him into sharing the meager crumbs with me. I tugged on his sleeve. “Big brother, what’s your name?” “Kieran. I’m Kieran. I’m a jinx.” “No, Kieran is so nice. You’re not a jinx.” I looked at him with bright, shining eyes. “Kieran, do you want to eat yummy food every day and never get bullied again?” Kieran nodded earnestly. “I want to.” I grabbed his hand and started walking toward the front courtyard. “Then come with me.” Well-behaved. Honest. And he hated Chloe just as much as I did. He was the absolute perfect candidate to be my new brother. 5 When I got back to the play area, a crowd of people had already gathered. My mom saw me and immediately rushed over to hug me: “Penny, where did you go?! You scared Mommy half to death! “What happened? Why are your clothes and hair such a mess?” Because my mom rushed over, Kieran immediately let go of my hand. I looked back, and he had already vanished into the background. I sighed internally. He really was too well-behaved for his own good. I immediately turned on the waterworks. “Mommy—someone bullied me! She stole my watch, kicked me, and pulled my hair!” My mom looked at my “bird’s nest” hair, which I had deliberately messed up, complete with streaks of mud. The red marks on my wrist where the watch was yanked off were glaringly obvious. My dad instantly exploded in rage, his voice dangerously low as he glared at the orphanage director. “What the hell is going on here?! Is this how your orphanage raises children?!” “I-I-I… I have no idea what happened!” The director was trembling. The scene was pure chaos. My mom held me, trying to soothe me, while I pointed right at Chloe and sobbed out my grievances. “It was her! I saw her bullying someone else, and then she stole my watch! “All the other kids call her Chloe!” My mom shot an icy glare at Chloe, then looked back at the director. “Originally, I thought this child seemed quite nice. But looking at her now, she’s far from nice. She’s a complete nightmare! “The fact that your orphanage breeds children who terrorize the weak like this genuinely terrifies me!” Chloe, who had been holding a gift bag my mom bought for the kids, instantly panicked. “No! Sister, look closely! It wasn’t me!” I called out her name without hesitation, and she was literally wearing my smartwatch on her wrist. This was more than enough proof that we had crossed paths, and that Chloe was the culprit. No one was listening to her pathetic excuses now. My mom rubbed my head, her voice soft and comforting. “Penny, be a good girl. It’s Mommy’s fault. Mommy made a terrible mistake. “Mommy will find Penny a brand new playmate, okay?” I shook my head, wriggled out of my mom’s arms, spun around the room, and accurately grabbed the hem of Kieran’s shirt. “Mommy, I want this big brother.” I smiled and said, “He protected me just now. I like him.” “No! Sister, I’m your sister! Mommy already decided! I’m going to be your sister!” Seeing that my mom was about to nod in agreement, Chloe suddenly lunged out of the crowd, violently grabbing my wrist. Just as she was about to drag me to the ground, Kieran stepped in front of me, wrapping his arms fiercely around me. Before I hit the floor, he pulled me on top of him, acting as a human shield. No matter how furiously Chloe pulled at me and begged, Kieran kept me tightly protected in his arms. By the time the furious director finally dragged Chloe away, my parents were looking at her with absolute disgust. “Director Lee, if you let a child this unstable and aggressive continue unchecked, it’s going to severely impact your orphanage’s reputation in the future. “Our family has made our decision. We are adopting this little boy. “Also, after causing such a massive incident and terrifying my daughter like this, I expect you to give my family a proper explanation, Director Lee.” The director glared at Chloe, who was still screaming and crying, and awkwardly nodded in agreement. I quickly pulled Kieran up and checked to make sure he hadn’t hit his head. Once I was sure he was okay, I let out a long sigh of relief. Kieran awkwardly gripped the hem of his shirt. “I-I didn’t know you were… you were…” This kid was way too sincere. I leaned in close and whispered in Kieran’s ear. “Kieran, no one blames you. “Don’t worry, big brother. From now on, I’ll protect you. No one will ever dare bully you again.” Kieran looked even more nervous for a second. “Okay, I-I’ll protect you too.” 6 Kieran was three years older than me, and my parents were incredibly satisfied with him. We started going to school together. Because Kieran had grown up in the orphanage, his academic foundation was very weak. But he was incredibly smart. After the private tutors went over a concept once, he grasped it immediately. I didn’t hide the fact that I already knew everything being taught in school. I maintained an above-average grade point average, and occasionally, when the timing was right, I’d score first in the class. Kieran, growing up alongside me, definitely noticed that my way of thinking was different from a normal child’s. But he never asked me about it. When I was eleven, we moved. Over the years, thanks to my subtle “suggestions” about emerging market trends, my parents’ company caught the wave of new media and made an absolute fortune. When people get rich, they want to climb the social ladder, and my parents were no exception. As for Liam? They wanted to find him, but at the same time, they didn’t want to find him. It was exactly like how they treated me in my past life. A child who has been wandering the streets for over a decade would have a massive gap in education, worldview, and psychological development compared to normal kids. Especially compared to Kieran and me? Kieran and I had become visibly exceptional over the years. Not only were our grades stellar, but we were also top-tier in various extracurriculars. We gave them plenty to brag about, elevating the family’s status to a whole new level in elite social circles. If Liam came back, how would they choose? This was the dilemma my parents didn’t want to face, so they deliberately avoided it. 7 Time flowed by like water. When the police finally brought Liam back to our house, I was in my second semester of freshman year in college. I had just gotten home from the university lab when I realized the entire dynamic of the house had shifted. Liam was holding my mom, sobbing so loud it could shatter glass. My mom stood there stiffly, incredibly awkward. She didn’t hug him back, nor did she speak. Because Liam looked absolutely wretched. Due to years of severe malnutrition, he was sallow and emaciated, his cheeks completely hollowed out. He was barely 5’5″. He was wearing a mud-splattered construction uniform, and a battered hard hat sat on our expensive marble coffee table. When Chloe saw me walk in, she immediately rushed over, taking my coat from the maid. “Sister, you’re home.” I glanced at her but didn’t say a word. The year my family adopted Kieran, the orphanage was shut down. It was exposed that the orphanage had been neglecting the children long-term, even subjecting them to physical abuse. When the scandal broke that year, it caused a massive public outcry. With nowhere to go, Chloe was forced into illegal child labor. I didn’t even need to arrange it; her life became an absolute nightmare all on its own. So, when she turned eighteen, I “kindly” threw a few breadcrumbs her way. Hoping to turn the page on what happened at the orphanage, Chloe didn’t suspect a thing. She just assumed I felt guilty. Her ambitions were certainly not small. She constantly tried to suck up to my family, affectionately calling me “Sister” at every opportunity. I never rejected it, but I never explicitly accepted it either. I was just waiting for today. Sure enough, hearing Chloe call me “Sister,” Liam’s eyes went wide. He looked at my mom in absolute disbelief. “Mom, who is she? “Do you not love me anymore? Is that why you stopped looking for me all these years?” Liam cried so hard his tears and snot rubbed off on my mom’s designer dress. My mom shot a look at the maid, who immediately stepped forward and gently pulled Liam back. “Young Master Liam, Madam is very tired today. Now is not the time for this. Why don’t I take you upstairs to change into some clean clothes?” My mom smiled benevolently. “Liam, we can talk about everything later. Go upstairs first.” Chloe tried to keep talking, but I gave her a pointed look, and she obediently followed them upstairs. “Auntie, Sister Penny, I’ll go up and help my brother.” My mom let out a long sigh of relief and pulled me to sit down next to her. “Penny, your brother finally made it home. Why don’t you look happy?” I let out a dry, forced chuckle in my head. I’m not the one who’s unhappy. You’re the one who’s miserable and trying to project it onto me. But I had to keep up appearances. I lowered my eyes, forcing a strained smile. “Mom, I’m very happy my brother is back. “But Mom, what are you and Dad going to do about Kieran?”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422571”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel