Category: English

The shipwreck hurled me, Lydia Johnson, onto a lonely island. In the end, I survived like a castaway. It wasn’t until the eighteenth time the massive brown bear tore apart the shelter I had rebuilt with my own hands that something inside me finally snapped. At that moment, three years of bottled loneliness and despair erupted all at once. In a rage, I howled and rammed my stone spear into the bear’s belly. That was when I found that the beast was actually screaming in a human voice. I froze on the spot. The dialogue I had overheard last time I nearly died burst into my mind. “You feel sorry for her? She had it coming. She took Miss Juliet Johnson’s identity for twenty-six years. Of course President Owen had to stand up for the woman he truly loves.” “Her parents? Mr. and Mrs. Johnson already erased her from the household registry. The Johnson family has only one daughter now—Juliet.” “Her brother? He cut ties with her long ago. He’d rather she vanished without a trace.” The truth hit me with brutal clarity. There was no supernatural bear. Only a carefully staged deception—one meant to leave me wishing I were dead. *** When I was about to catch up to the “bear,” something pricked the back of my neck, sharp, like a needle. Darkness swallowed me instantly. Torrential rain beat me awake. When I opened my eyes, everything seemed to have reset to its primitive state. The storm beat down mercilessly, washing away what little body heat I had left. My limbs felt heavy, as if filled with lead. By the time I dragged myself back to the cave, fever had already set in. There were 1,096 tally marks carved into the rock wall—one for each day I had survived here. Three years. A bitter smile tugged at my lips. The fire inside me guttered out. I curled into myself, my body turning cold and rigid like a stone slowly losing its warmth. Then she appeared again. The girl. A hallucination born of my fractured mind. Every time my body reached its limit, she would show up. “Lydia, don’t die,” she urged. “I just saw your parents come looking for you. Go outside—go see.” I said nothing. I knew exactly what she was doing. Trying to lure me back into the rain. Trying to trick me toward another dead end. I had fallen for it too many times. She kept her distance, her tone growing impatient. “Fine. Your brother Andy Johnson came, but you must kneel and bow before he’ll show himself.” My fingers twitched. Then I shut my eyes. After three years, my knees wore armor-like calluses. “Your husband, Dunn Owen, brought the mango cupcakes you loved. He was here to bring you home!” The more frantic she grew, the calmer I became. Anyone force-fed ten mango cakes would loathe them forever. “You won’t even move! You’re so ungrateful! No wonder they discarded you!” Her shriek was a bayonet in my heart. My breath caught in my throat, a sour ache spreading through every limb. I could hold on no longer; my hands went limp and let go. I collapsed to the ground. As darkness swallowed me again, the girl rushed close, speaking to someone I could not see. “Looks like she’s dying… Mm… Mm.” But the instant those warm hands touched me, I opened my eyes and knocked her out. It was all fake. Even the hallucination was counterfeit. She was not the self who consoled me. She was one more link in the trap. She lay senseless, while I plucked the earpiece from her ear. “Flora, is she dead? Wake her up!” “Miss Juliet Johnson has landed. If she misses the show, we lose the bonus.” “Let’s steer her to the west stream this time. Dozens of piranhas are waiting!” I staggered unsteadily to my feet. The rain had stopped, but in the next second, the blood in my veins froze. “Today is Juliet’s birthday. Add a few electric eels to the stream!” It was Dunn, the man who had sworn at our wedding to protect me forever, now ordering my death to amuse my sister. I advanced towards the stream, kneeling at every step. Juliet gave a soft choke. “Dunnie… Though Lydia bullied me, today is also her birthday. Let’s leave, please.” Dunn’s voice was icy. “It’s because it’s her birthday that she needs to remember this lesson. What she owes you?she’ll pay every last bit.” My knees hit the sharp stones, leaving a trail of blood behind me, yet I felt no pain. For three years, each kowtow had been a prayer. That was my wish for them to find me. Hmph. How ridiculous. Recalling that earlier near-death moment, I began to feign. A blissful smile spread across my face. Half awake, half dreaming. The stream became my lost dining room; my family waved me to the table. I stepped in without hesitation. Piranhas tore fiercely into the flesh of my legs; electric eels left me completely paralyzed. I sank fully into the water. Through the haze, I heard a voice from hell. “Revive her. I haven’t finished watching this show yet.” That was exactly what I had waited for!

They carried me to a fully-equipped medical room. Shocked, the doctors and nurses tending to me didn’t have the heart to see my broken body. “Not one patch of unbroken skin… Mr. Owen must hate her to the bone.” “He wouldn’t even let us use anesthesia. Quick, start the transfusion!” But before the blood could reach my veins, Dunn burst in, cradling Juliet. Ignoring my mangled, blood-soaked form, he roughly shoved me off the bed onto the floor. “Juliet’s having a hypoglycemic episode. Give her blood now!” Dunn said, frantic. The doctor hesitated. “We only have one unit of plasma left, and Miss Johnson is severely anemic…” Dunn didn’t hesitate. “If Lydia hadn’t kept Juliet from eating all those years, do you think Juliet would have hypoglycemia?” “Besides, this woman is tough. Her life is hard to take. Three years have passed, and she’s still alive.” Yet Juliet looked panic-stricken. “Dunnie, I can’t take anything more from Lydia. When she wakes, she’ll hate me…” He spoke gently, each word a rusty saw across my heart, “Juliet, remember, everything Lydia ever possessed, the Johnson heiress title, her parents’ love, even Andy’s love and mine, did any of it ever truly belong to her?” “We are merely returning things to their rightful owner.” The sentence felt like a verdict. It was I who had stolen Juliet’s identity and lived the life of a pampered heiress for twenty-six years. Then, at the happiest moment of my life, it all came to a screeching halt. At the wedding, Dunn was kneeling to place the ring on my finger. Amid the blessings of all our guests, Juliet barged in. She wore a dress washed until it was pale, her voice trembling with careful restraint, yet it carried to every corner of the room. “Miss Johnson, can you give back the life you stole from me?” In that instant, my world was utterly overturned. Dunn was my last lifeline, and I clung to him tightly. We had sex desperately in bed, and he promised over and over, “Lydia, as childhood sweethearts, we’ve been in love for ten years. No matter who you are, I’ll never abandon you.’ But he broke that promise. Our parents held the grandest recognition ceremony for Juliet, and Andy showered her with hundreds of gifts. It was only right. They owed her that, after all. So I didn’t let the jeers and mockery get to me. I still had Dunn. But there were things I didn’t know. Dunn had repeatedly spent time with Juliet, making up for the childhood she’d missed. He’d even given her our memories. When I found out, he said impatiently, “Lydia, I’m helping you make it up to her.” Therefore, he missed the anniversary of our first date. And later, our wedding anniversary. On our birthday, I spent months learning to cook, prepared a feast, and bought Juliet twenty-seven birthday gifts. But they all kept it from me and took Juliet to Europe instead, renting a castle to celebrate her birthday. Now I’d say, “You don’t need to hide it from me. I could have just been an audience member down below, clapping for you guys.” But back then, I made a scene. And I dumped all my resentment on Dunn. His eyes filled with disappointment. “If you hadn’t targeted Juliet, why would we have needed to keep it from you?” I widened my eyes, explaining over and over, “I wasn’t targeting her. I even spent five months designing a dress for her!” But Dunn produced a recording and laughed at me. “You’re smart. Surveillance is erased, and the people you arranged are flawless.” “But Juliet, true to being Mom and Dad’s biological daughter, secretly recorded every time she met you.” I screamed hysterically, “I didn’t! That’s AI-generated!” He scoffed. “Tell me, does a girl who grew up in deep mountains even understand this kind of tech?” “I’m the one who taught her to use her smartphone and made her first social media post.” I was utterly desperate. Pain crushed my chest. My body seized, and blood spilled from my mouth. There was a voice roaring inside my mind. “So, Dunn, you used these technologies I don’t understand to build a prison on an island for me, to deceive and punish me?”

Dunn was taken aback and asked instinctively, “Why did Lydia vomit blood?” The doctor hesitated and stammered, “She has been suffering from malnutrition for a long time and endured so many injuries…” He seemed incredulous. “Didn’t I instruct you to deliver food regularly?” Dunn’s voice changed instantly, filled with anger. “Save her!” “If she dies, all of you will pay with your lives!” Juliet timidly spoke up, “Lydia must have been deliberately starving herself during that period, which damaged her stomach.” I remembered. At that time, I was like someone bewitched. Juliet, nurtured by money and love, transformed from a beautiful swan into a noble phoenix. She drew all of Dunn’s attention and affection. Meanwhile, I went mad with dieting, working out, and undergoing cosmetic procedures. I even went to clubs to learn flirting techniques. Finally, I put on those humiliating clothes, trampling on my once proud self. Yet all I got from Dunn was a glance of disgust. “Disgusting.” Though he lay in bed, he turned his back to me. I felt as if I had fallen into an icy abyss, staying awake until dawn. It seemed that Dunn remembered this incident and believed what Juliet had said. He hoarsely instructed, “Treat her stomach for the next couple of days.” Then I vomited blood again. The doctor finally realized something was wrong. He pried open my eyelids and said, “Mr. Owen… She… She seems to have lost the will to live…” Suddenly, there was a commotion around me. My soul felt like it was about to dissipate. But I was not willing to give up. So when I was transported back to Eldermere and taken to the operating room, my spirit regained control of my body. Without looking back, I held my breath and ran without hesitation. From the trash bin to the sewer, I suddenly felt the urge to visit my home in Sunscorch. But the moment I emerged from the sewer, my brother Andy, who had been with me for over twenty years, appeared in front of me. He crushed my hand with his foot, his gaze cold and indifferent. “You’ve been hiding for three years. Why show up today? Couldn’t you just stay in the sewer like a rat?” “Is it because Juliet ruined your wedding that you want to ruin hers today?” Before I could explain anything, he ordered his men to gag me and tie me up, dragging me to a basement. He then thoughtfully turned on the television for me. The screen was broadcasting a live stream of a once-in-a-century aerial wedding. Juliet, in a pure white wedding dress, was with Dunn in a hot air balloon. He promised her, “In this world, you’re my only love.” Under the bright blue sky, the diamond ring sparkled, and the couple shared a lingering kiss. At the same moment, thousands of pink balloons rose into the air, turning the scene into a fairy tale. I thought I wouldn’t feel heartbroken anymore. But the pain in my heart at this moment overshadowed all the injuries on my body. Andy laughed at me mercilessly. “Look at yourself now. You never belonged to our world.” He stared at my right hand and ordered the bodyguard, “This is the hand that poisoned Juliet, right? Break her hand.” The next second, I screamed in agony, the intense pain making me black out and fall to the ground. In my dazed consciousness, I remembered what he said. After Dunn refused to share a bed with me, I discovered I was pregnant. Overjoyed, I hired three caregivers to look after me. Everyone’s relationship with me improved because of the baby. Juliet even sent over a meal she had prepared for me. I treasured it and ate every bit, but then my stomach started to cramp. Lying on the hospital bed, I had the vomit tested for toxins. I showed them the report, but they all thought I was framing her again. Juliet cried pitifully, “Lydia, how could you be so cruel, using an innocent life to accuse me?” They forced me to admit my jealousy, to confess my schemes. They made me apologize to Juliet and pressured me to divorce Dunn. In grief, I refused it all. Everyone left without mercy, never looking back. They were all filled with resentment towards me.

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One day, a polite yet unsettling call came through from the hotel, alerting me to an outstanding charge. The fee for condoms used the previous night, they said, had already been added to my membership account. I was utterly dumbfounded. I’d worked late the night before and hadn’t set foot inside that hotel at all. Therefore, I confronted my husband, Rex Dillon, the only person who knew my card number, and demanded an explanation. But he only stared at me, his face a mask of confusion. “Honey, that hotel’s over ten thousand a night. I wouldn’t waste that kind of money. It’s got to be a system glitch on their end.” “Probably someone typed in the wrong membership number. I’ll call and complain tomorrow!” I didn’t waste another breath on him. The hotel’s investor was my best friend, Vivien Bowman, so I dialed her directly. “Hey, can you check who Rex brought to the hotel last night? I’m gonna catch them red-handed!” – My husband’s pathetic excuse was almost laughable. The day Vivien became the hotel’s investor, she called me and gifted me a lifetime free-stay VIP card for my birthday. The card was linked exclusively to my personal information, meaning no one else could use it. Yet the hotel had called, claiming I’d checked into the presidential suite the night before and used the condoms in the room. I asked three times to confirm, and the person on the line insisted it was Leila Ruth herself who’d checked in. I couldn’t swallow this humiliation. What made it worse was that once, when I’d mentioned using the card, Rex had looked utterly annoyed and snapped. “Is our home not good enough for you? Why would you rather sleep elsewhere? I’m so sick of your ridiculous spending habits!” I didn’t get it. Why was he so pissed off just because I wanted to use a free card? The angrier I grew, the faster I drove, heading straight for the hotel. The holiday season was approaching, and the lobby was packed with guests checking in. I had to wait nearly half an hour before the receptionist finally looked a little less swamped. “Hello, I’m Leila Ruth. You called me this morning.” I said, my anger simmering just beneath the surface. The receptionist looked up, her face clouding with confusion. “Ms. Ruth? I thought you just went back to your room. You made it clear that no housekeeping service was needed a moment ago.” My face darkened instantly. The receptionist went on. “Just ten minutes ago, Ms. Ruth called and activated the do-not-disturb service.” I was so furious that I trembled all over. That woman had the nerve to check in under my name! Gritting my teeth, I said, “But I am the real Leila Ruth!” The receptionist eyed me up and down impatiently. “Madam, if you don’t have a reservation, please leave. We have many guests today. Please don’t cause a scene here.” “Ms. Ruth arrived with her husband and used the VIP card. Although I’ve never met Ms. Ruth, Mr. Dillon is a regular here. No doubt about that.” It hit me like a bolt of lightning. My husband had become someone else’s husband? The irony was bitter enough to choke on. At that moment, the elevator dinged open. Tiffany Butler stepped out, clad in the latest Chanel suit of the season. The diamond necklace around her neck was the one I’d bought at auction for 1.8 million. As far as I knew, she was just my husband’s newly graduated junior. The receptionist’s face lit up as if she’d spotted a savior. She pointed straight at Tiffany and said to me. “This is the real Ms. Ruth. The rightful one. I suggest you leave immediately and stop making trouble.” Tiffany’s face blanched the second she saw me, but she recovered fast, forcing a sickly sweet smile. “What a coincidence! Are you staying here, too?” I coldly shook off her outstretched hand. “Tiffany, don’t you think you owe me an explanation? Why did you check in under my name? And why were the condoms you used charged to my account?” “Also, why are my shoes on your feet? And when did my husband become yours?” My voice cut through the lobby, and the previously noisy crowd fell dead silent. Every pair of eyes locked onto Tiffany. Tiffany glanced around nervously, then her eyes immediately welled with tears. “What are you talking about? My husband gave me this card because he felt bad about my frequent business trips. And he bought me these shoes as well.” “As for the condoms…” She feigned shyness and lowered her head. “What’s wrong with me using them with my husband?” Suddenly, she lifted her gaze towards me, her expression laced with pity. “Are you upset because your husband doesn’t treat you well? Need my help to get you a psychiatrist?” The moment the words left her mouth, the crowd erupted into murmurs. “Look at her haggard face. Her husband must not want to touch her.” “A card like that starts at 300,000 dollars. She doesn’t seem like someone who could afford it.” “Are they seriously letting in just anyone at such a high-end place?” I was only wearing casual clothes today, hardly the shabby mess they made me out to be. Tuning out their gossip, I turned to Tiffany with a cold, sharp smile. “I never realized you were so good with words.” Then I shifted my gaze to the receptionist. “Did you verify her identity when the co-called ‘Ms. Ruth’ checked in?” The receptionist hesitated, her face flushing. “She said she didn’t have her ID, but Mr. Dillon is a regular, so…” “So you just broke the rules?” I cut her off sharply. “Your hotel’s security is a joke.” The receptionist fell silent. Tiffany immediately slipped back into her sweet, innocent act. “She’s just a receptionist. Why are you picking on her? People stay at hotels they can afford. Don’t make a scene here.” Her words couldn’t have been clearer: I didn’t belong here. At that moment, her phone rang. The word “honey” blazed bright on the screen. “Answer it,” I sneered. “Put it on speaker. Let’s hear how Rex is going to spin this.”

Tiffany answered triumphantly. As she tapped the speaker button, she burst into fake, heaving sobs. “Honey, come to the hotel quick! There’s a crazy woman saying I’m not your wife and trying to kick me out…” She wailed dramatically, and Rex’s furious voice exploded from the phone at once. “A crazy woman? How dare she bully you? Don’t be scared. I’m on my way!” A crazy woman. So that was what I was to him now. The onlookers stared at me with open disdain, some even stepping forward to comfort Tiffany. “Don’t take it to heart. She’s insane.” Tiffany murmured her thanks, then turned to me with a look of feigned concern. “My husband will be here soon. He has a terrible temper. You better leave fast.” “He just gave me that $300,000 VIP card, you know? “ “Shows how much he spoils me. If he gets here… Who knows what he might do to you?” It sounded like a warning, but it was nothing but a slap in the face, a barefaced provocation. I trembled with rage, every fiber of me screaming to tear off her hypocritical mask right then and there. Rex arrived faster than I’d expected. He burst through the hotel doors. The second his eyes landed on me, they turned cold and vicious. He roughly shoved me aside, then pulled Tiffany into a tight, protective embrace. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.” The way he gently stroked Tiffany’s hair was so tender it hurt to watch. Pushed by him, I stumbled backward, my waist slamming hard into the sofa arm behind me. If not for the furniture, I would have crashed straight to the ground. Meanwhile, Tiffany stood on tiptoes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and the two locked in a long, wet, lingering kiss. “You’re so good to me, honey.” Tiffany panted, her voice thick with coquetry. “You need to set this woman straight. She won’t believe I’m your wife!” Only then did Rex turn his gaze to me. There was no flicker of guilt, only pure disgust. He released Tiffany and strode over, then slapped me hard across the face. “Tiffany! Have you no shame? “ ”Just because I turned you down when you tried to hint for a permanent position, you’ve held a grudge ever since.” “Now you dare to bully my wife in public?” I clapped a hand to my cheek, which flared red, swollen, and burning hot. I stared at him in disbelief. The man before me was a stranger, terrifyingly unfamiliar. Before I’d come to the hotel, he’d feigned ignorance on the phone, using his usual gentle patience to tell me not to overthink. Yet, in the blink of an eye, he could twist the truth without batting an eye and even hurt me. He’d always had two faces, it turned out. Now that I thought back, the signs had been there all along. He’d only lit up at the latest gaming console I’d bought him, but dismissed my painstakingly developed scientific research as nothing but scrap. His so-called concern had always circled back to my bank card. Maybe he’d never loved me. Maybe he’d never even tried to understand the real me.

A strange sense of calm rose from the depths of my chest, drowning out all the anger. I lowered my hand from my face and looked straight at him, my voice shockingly steady, even to myself. “Rex, repeat what you just said.” “Tell me, who am I? And who is she?” A flicker of panic crossed Rex’s eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by an even more self-righteous, aggressive tone. “You really are crazy! Wasn’t I clear enough? She is my lawfully wedded wife, Leila! And you? You’re just some intern who failed to climb the ladder, Tiffany!” He raked his eyes over me, his voice cold and cruel. “Look at yourself. You’re pushing forty, aren’t you? How could I possibly marry someone like you? Don’t embarrass yourself, okay?” The crowd erupted into more murmurs, sharp and judgmental. “Can’t get a man herself, so she’s jealous of others’ happiness.” “I told you she must be crazy. Didn’t think she’d start having delusions, too. That’s really scary.” “Poor couple. They’re so unlucky to run into a nutjob like this.” I stayed quiet, just watching their little show. Rex was clearly dead-set on protecting Tiffany, even if it meant grinding me into the dirt. But did he really think he could twist the truth with just a few lies? Slowly, I pulled my ID card and marriage certificate out of my bag. “These should be enough to prove who I am.” Rex and Tiffany’s faces froze at once. Tiffany’s eyes went wide with shock, and she tugged nervously at Rex’s sleeve. Rex lunged forward, snatched the ID and marriage certificate out of my hand, and without even glancing at them, hurled them straight out the hotel’s revolving glass door. “Will you just stop?” Veins bulged on his forehead, his act growing more convincing by the second. “Last time you waved a fake ID at me to disgust me, and now this new trick? Forging an ID and a marriage certificate?” “Tiffany, have some shame! Do you think I won’t call the cops and report you for harassment and forging official documents?” The onlookers’ stares shifted from disdain to outright revulsion, and they echoed in unison. “Call the police! Do it now!” His reflexes were impressive. I’d give him that. The second I laid out the proof, he’d branded me a fraud. At that moment, I almost wished the marriage certificate had been fake. Tiffany visibly relaxed at that. She snuggled back into Rex’s arms and spoke to me in a tone that sounded concerned but oozed malice, “You’ve been so abused by your husband that you’ve lost your mind. I can introduce you to a good psychiatrist.And a top divorce lawyer if you need.” She stressed the word “divorce” extra hard. After all, once I was gone, she could step right into the role of Mrs. Dillon. As a response, Rex kissed her forehead, then turned back to me, his eyes as cold as ice. “Get out of here now, or I’m calling the police immediately!” He snapped at the receptionist. “Call security to drive this crazy woman out. Who knows what else she might do? What if she hurts other guests?” The crowd roared, “Kick her out! Or we’ll complain about the hotel!” The receptionist didn’t dare hesitate. She grabbed her walkie-talkie and called for security at once. Two tall guards marched over, grabbed my arms from either side, and began dragging me roughly towards the exit.

I struggled desperately, my elbows throbbing from the rough tugging. Amid the chaos, Tiffany had somehow slipped close to me. Seizing the split second when everyone’s attention was elsewhere, she tripped me. Already off-balance, I crashed hard to the marble floor. “Oops!” Tiffany gasped in feigned innocence. “I just wanted to help you up, and you deliberately fell to blame me. Unbelievable!” My ankle swelled into a painful lump instantly, and a wide patch of skin was scraped raw on my knee, blood seeping out at once. My face paled with agony as I tried to stand, only to collapse back down. Rex stood there, watching coldly, as if I were a total stranger. My heart turned to ice at that moment. Any last shred of hope for him was snuffed out. With trembling hands, I fumbled in my pocket for my phone, desperate to call 911. But the second I unlocked it, Rex lunged forward and snatched it away. “What are you trying to do? Call the police?” he accused me falsely. “Let me tell you, everyone here saw clearly that you fell on purpose. Don’t even think about framing my wife and the hotel!” “I have a bleeding disorder. Call an ambulance, now!” I shouted through the pain. But Rex remained indifferent, instead hurling my phone forcefully across the lobby. The receptionist, fearing trouble, hesitated to act. Left alone, I endured the searing pain, using my uninjured leg to prop myself up and crawl towards my phone. Just then, a delicate high heel stomped down hard on my palm. Tiffany looked down at me condescendingly. “Sign a statement and admit everything today was your fault. Then I’ll call an ambulance for you. Otherwise…” She pressed down harder. The excruciating pain in my hand, mixed with the agony from my knee and ankle, nearly made me black out. I could barely speak, trembling violently from both pain and rage, my consciousness growing hazy. Just as I thought I would pass out, a series of rapid, sharp high-heel clicks echoed from the hotel entrance. My best friend, Vivien, was striding in. “Leila, I’ve found out. Rex really did cheat! “ ”He’s checked into this hotel more times than you have in the past few years.” “He even dared to use the exclusive membership card I gave you with that mistress. I won?t let him get away with this!” My best friend, also the hotel’s investor, had arrived with several hotel executives and security guards in tow. Her voice, however, cut off abruptly the moment she saw me kneeling on the ground in such a miserable state. The receptionist, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, now turned pale, her voice trembling as she timidly called out. “Dir… Director Bowman…”

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I was scrolling through Reddit when I stumbled upon a post that made me stop cold. **[Throwaway] Our biological daughter contacted us and wants to visit. We’re close with our adopted daughter and don’t want her disrupting our family of three.** **She’s clearly after the inheritance and won’t leave us alone. Is there a clean way to get rid of her permanently without it affecting us?** I died once before, three years from now, and somehow came back with all my memories intact. I know that in three days, the Freeze will begin. It was an apocalyptic disaster that would plunge the world into deadly subzero temperatures for three years. I felt sorry for this biological daughter, so I left a comment. **Tell her the Freeze is coming in three days. Send her to a mountain cave shelter with three years’ worth of supplies.** The original poster liked my comment. The next day, I dragged my suitcase up to my biological parents’ estate. Before I could even speak, they grabbed my hands. “Sophia, the Freeze is coming. We need to get you to a cave shelter.” … My heart skipped a beat. I thought of that Reddit post and tested them carefully. “Mom, Dad… How do you know about this?” They exchanged glances, their expressions grave. “Sophia, we’ve been reborn too. It sounds crazy, but your parents would never lie to you. Time is running out—in three days, the Freeze will hit.” Relief flooded through me. So they’d been reborn too. I’d been too suspicious. But then something nagged at me. This was too much of a coincidence with that post. I tested them again. “Mom, Dad, we don’t need to leave. Let’s stay here and fortify the estate…” Dad cut me off immediately. “We’re staying. Your mother and I are business owners. We have to remain here to assist with government relief operations. The estate will be used to shelter disaster victims.” But anyone who’s lived through the end knows the brutality of the apocalypse better than anyone. Survival is all that matters. Who would actually stay behind for infrastructure work? I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat and decided on one final test. I moved toward the door. “Don’t you have an adopted daughter? I’ll go with her then.” The moment the words left my mouth, they panicked. They blocked my path in unison. “No!” Realizing their mistake, Mom cleared her throat. “You don’t understand. Nina has been fragile since childhood. She needs our personal care. We can only feel at ease if she stays with us.” Dad quickly added, “Exactly. Don’t overthink it. You’re our biological daughter. We’d give our lives to keep you safe.” With every word they spoke, my heart sank deeper. If I insisted on taking their adopted daughter with me, their whole plan would fall apart. At that moment, I became one hundred percent certain. My biological parents weren’t reborn at all. They were the ones who made that post. In my previous life, I’d just learned about my biological parents when the Freeze hit. That’s why I’d rushed here after my rebirth—to warn them about the coming apocalypse. But now? They didn’t deserve to know. I forced a stiff smile and nodded. “Then I’ll go alone.” Relief washed visibly over their faces, barely concealed gratitude in their eyes. I added, “But the Freeze will last a long time. I need to prepare adequate supplies to survive. I’ll gather everything tomorrow and head to the cave the day after.” They agreed immediately. That night, I opened the post again. My heart turned to ice. **Update: Plan is in motion. Sending her to the cave the day after tomorrow!** The comment section exploded. **Hahahaha she actually believes the Freeze is coming?** **You guys are ruthless. This bio daughter is kind of pitiful. If I were her, I wouldn’t have come back at all.** My parents replied instantly, their tone cutting. **What’s pitiful about her? If she hadn’t come back, she’d still be begging in the street! She only came looking for us because she wants our money. Letting her live in a cave where she won’t starve—she should be grateful!** I stared at the screen, a cold smile curling my lips. They found their biological daughter inconvenient. They’d specially crafted a Freeze prison for me, hoping to be rid of me forever. But what they could never imagine was this. The Freeze was real. And it was coming.

Early the next morning, Dad came to find me. “Sophia, we’ve already located a shelter cave for you. It’s hidden and safe. Once the government relief operations are complete, we’ll bring you back out.” I nodded obediently. “Alright. But I need a lot of supplies, and moving everything in and organizing it all requires manpower. I can’t do it alone.” Nina suddenly burst out of her room, her face twisted with impatience. “Can’t you do it yourself? God, you’re so demanding!” Her attitude made it crystal clear—she knew the truth too. I ignored her and said calmly, “Fine then. I’ll go hire some help. It’ll just cost a bit more money.” Mom and Dad panicked immediately. They were terrified I’d involve outsiders. If word got out, it would destroy their reputation. Dad quickly grabbed my arm. “No, no, no! No need for strangers. Family is more reliable!” Perfect. Exactly what I wanted. For the rest of the day, I directed all three of them like a general commanding troops. “Dad, take the truck and get steel rebar and cement. Reinforce every wall in that cave.” “Mom, buy long-term food storage, canned goods, and bottled water. As much as you can carry.” “Nina, get thermal gear, sleeping bags, and emergency medical supplies. Only the best cold-weather rated equipment.” The three of them were clearly reluctant, but to get rid of me as quickly as possible, they had no choice but to obey. They drove three trucks back and forth all day, exhausted and drenched in sweat. I supervised the entire operation. I didn’t lift a finger. I was going to make them build me an impenetrable fortress with their own hands. And when the Freeze came, I’d let them watch me living comfortably inside. While they froze outside, unable to even get through the door. That evening, Dad was installing the final reinforced door at the cave entrance. The light from outside gradually dimmed. He patted the iron door with satisfaction. “There. Now no one can get in, and no one can get out. I left a small opening at the bottom for passing supplies through.” I looked around the cave. Supplies were stacked everywhere. Preserved food and rations piled up like small mountains. Dozens of large barrels filled with drinking water. Thermal gear and sleeping bags covered the floor. A generator, diesel fuel, and basic medications. This cave had everything I needed to survive three years of the apocalypse in comfort. Mom said dismissively, “Who knows how long this so-called freeze will last. Maybe forever. But don’t worry—even if we can’t come ourselves, we’ll have someone deliver supplies to you.” Nina snapped impatiently, “Alright. let’s go. This place is filthy!” They turned and started walking away. They’d barely taken a few steps when snow began to fall from the sky. At first, just a few scattered flakes. Then it quickly turned into heavy snow, falling thick and fast. Nina cried out in shock, disbelief written all over her face. “It’s snowing? But it’s summer! How can it be snowing this hard in the middle of summer?” Mom and Dad froze too, confusion in their eyes. I turned and walked back into the cave, my steps light. Yes, snow in the summer. Could the Freeze be far behind?

As I was leaving, Dad deliberately smashed my phone, cutting off my contact with the outside world. I’d been prepared. I had a backup phone hidden in my bag. I opened the news app and found exactly what I expected—emergency alerts. “Emergency Alert: Unprecedented summer snowfall reported across multiple states. Temperatures plummeting rapidly. Citizens are urged to stay at home and prepare cold-weather protection immediately.” Next, I checked the Reddit post. Nina had switched to her own account. **That idiot sister actually believes the Freeze is coming! She’s sitting in that cave like a good little prisoner. So easy to fool! Now no one’s going to disrupt our perfect family of three. Mom and Dad love me best!** The comment section was split between people mocking me and people who found the situation pitiful. Nina saw the sympathetic comments and fired back immediately. **She should’ve known her place. Mom and Dad never looked for her all these years, but she had the nerve to show up anyway. She deserves this!** Someone else commented. **It’s literally snowing in summer right now. What if the Freeze is actually coming?** Nina exploded. **You’re as stupid as she is! Want me to lock you both up together?** I closed the post and headed deeper into the cave toward a small hidden opening. I’d deliberately left it there. It was just big enough for one person to crawl through. After my rebirth, I’d made sure my adoptive parents prepared early before I left to find the Ashfords. But this place—with its fortress built by the Ashford family’s own hands and abundant supplies—was the safest option. Bringing them here was the right choice. When I reached my adoptive parents’ house, they looked surprised to see me and quickly pulled me inside. “Sophia, what are you doing back? Did the Ashfords treat you badly?” “Mom, Dad, I came to take you somewhere safe.” Mr.Parker and Mrs. Parker had raised me with love and even encouraged me to find my biological family. Now it was my turn to protect them. I kept it brief, not wanting to worry them. I just said I needed to bring them to a shelter. My parents packed a few changes of clothes and followed me without question. By the time we reached the mountain path, it was already getting dark. As we approached the cave entrance, I suddenly spotted a figure nearby. I quickly pulled Mom and Dad behind some trees. I looked closer. It was Nina! My heart jumped. What was she doing here? Had she seen the summer snow and actually started to believe the Freeze was real?

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I’d just returned from managing our overseas operations when I got a call from Grandma saying she’d arranged an engagement for me. The woman was Victoria Quinn, daughter of New York’s wealthiest family. According to Grandma, she was beautiful and well-mannered. I’d been worrying whether taking one of our custom Rolls-Royces would be too flashy when Victoria’s people said they’d send a car. I agreed and got in. Halfway there, the driver suddenly pulled over and killed the engine. He stepped out and locked me inside. The temperature outside was at least 104癋. The sealed car turned into an oven, and within minutes I was drenched in sweat, my breathing labored. After thirty minutes with no sign of the driver, I didn’t hesitate anymore. I wrapped the clothes around my fist and punched through the window to save myself. I’d just bought a bottle of water and hadn’t even opened it when someone knocked it from my hand to the ground. The driver had returned and started cursing at me. “You broke the window? You piece of trash! Do you know how much this car costs?” I forced down my anger. “No amount of money is worth more than a human life.” “If you hadn’t locked me in the car in this heat, I wouldn’t have needed to break the window to save myself.” Faced with my accusation, he remained arrogant. “Your worthless life isn’t worth the cost of a tire.” “Quinn Enterprises owns this entire city. Even if you’d been cooked to death in there today, nobody would’ve cared!” I froze for a moment, then pulled out my phone and called my fianc閑. “I heard your family can commit murder in New York without consequences. Is that true?” …… I made this call purely to confirm whether this was the driver acting on his own or on my fianc閑’s orders. If it was the former, I could reluctantly continue with the engagement. It would honor for my grandmother and her good intentions. Victoria’s cold voice came through the phone. “You’re ten minutes past our agreed meeting time. I don’t tolerate tardiness from anyone, Mr. Cross!” The words caught in my throat. It took me a long time to recover, and I was about to explain why I was late. “Beep beep…” A busy signal came from the other end. She’d clearly hung up. I was stunned again. This was the gentle, well-mannered woman Grandma had described?!

Seeing this, the man across from me became even more arrogant. His mocking smile stretched practically to his ears. “I thought you were someone special to Ms. Quinn. Turns out she doesn’t care about you at all.” The man pointed at the shattered window. “I suggest you pay up now. If Ms. Quinn finds out you broke her car, I’m afraid you won’t live to see tomorrow.” To avoid putting pressure on the woman, I’d specifically worn casual clothes today and removed anything that showed my status. Now it had become their reason to look down on me. I stared at him directly. “I’ll pay for the damage, but first you need to apologize to me.” Being locked in a car in this heat for nearly thirty minutes-if it had been an ordinary person without training, they might have died on the spot. I was only asking for an apology. That was already merciful. The man pointed at me and laughed. “Ha ha… Did I hear that right? You’re asking me to apologize?” “Do you know who I am?!” He leaned closer, his tone smug. “Listen carefully, you nobody. I’m the personal assistant to the one and only Victoria Quinn of Quinn Enterprises!” The moment he finished speaking, the surrounding crowd gasped. They looked at me with sympathy. “This guy’s having the worst day. Of all people to offend, he had to offend someone from Quinn Enterprises!” “Anyone who runs into Ms. Quinn’s people can only bow and scrape. He’s actually demanding an apology-he has no idea what he’s up against!” I frowned. So he was just a assistant. Given his arrogant attitude, I’d thought he was the Quinn family head. At the same time, I noted to myself that just hearing the Quinn name made people this afraid. They were clearly more than just a business company. It seemed very necessary to have someone investigate them thoroughly. Meanwhile, the man kept yelling at me to pay for the window. I maintained my position. “You apologize first, then I’ll consider paying.” I pointed at a security camera nearby. “If you won’t apologize, I’ll just call the police.” I pulled out my phone and started dialing. For what he’d just done, charging him with attempted murder would be completely justified. The man suddenly swung his hand at my phone, his eyes vicious. “You wouldn’t dare!” Out of defensive instinct, the moment his hand touched my phone, I grabbed his wrist first and twisted. “Ow!” The man cried out in pain. “You nobody! You actually dare lay hands on me!” I snorted coldly. “You call that laying hands? If I wasn’t concerned about proper conduct, your arm would already be broken.” The onlookers gasped again. “My God, has this guy lost his mind? He actually dared to attack Ms. Quinn’s assistant.” “If it were me, I’d be on my knees begging for mercy right now. Maybe he could save his life. Otherwise he’s in for serious trouble.” The man had been somewhat wary of my skills and hesitated to fight back. But hearing the crowd’s comments, he suddenly gained confidence. He grabbed a stone from the ground and hurled it at me. “I’ll beat you to death today, you piece of trash!” Suddenly, a sharp voice came from behind. “Stop!” Surrounded by security guards, an elegant woman with a graceful figure and beautiful face walked over. She first approached the man, her tone annoyed. “Derek, what’s going on? I sent you to pick someone up and you’re getting into a fight?” Then she turned to look at me, lifting her delicate chin. “You’re Ethan Cross?” Her voice was melodious, but her tone was cold. I smiled and extended my hand toward her. “Hello, I’m Ethan Cross. Very pleased to meet…” Before I could finish, she impatiently cut me off. “Enough. I don’t have time for your nonsense.” “I’m here to tell you that our engagement is canceled.”

I froze instantly. As far as I knew, this engagement had cost the Quinn family significant effort-old Mr. Quinn himself had sent an elaborate collection of heirloom jewelry to my family. Of course, everything had been returned, but it showed the Quinn family’s sincerity. For her to cancel it now so casually-wasn’t that a bit rash? I looked into Victoria’s cold eyes. “Cancelling an engagement isn’t a small matter. Does your grandfather know about this?” Hearing me mention her grandfather, Victoria’s already impatient face grew even uglier. “You think bringing up my grandfather will make me back down?” “Let me tell you something, Ethan Cross. I will never marry a nobody like you.” “I suggest you drop these ridiculous delusions and go back to wherever you came from!” I was instantly amused by anger. What a Quinn family heiress-truly arrogant enough. “Since Ms. Quinn looks down on me, then this engagement is over. I just hope you won’t regret it.” After all, this engagement benefited the Quinn family most. With my family’s status, marrying her was practically charity. Hearing my words, Victoria looked like she’d heard the funniest joke in the world and laughed until she shook. “Did I hear you correctly? I’ll regret it?” “Regret not marrying a nobody like you? Ha ha ha…” Mocking laughter erupted from the crowd as well. “Where does this nobody get the confidence to think he’s worthy of Quinn Enterprises’ CEO? What a joke.” “Exactly. Ms. Quinn is the goddess of every man in New York. If she actually married this nobody, I’d be the first to object.” Derek also jumped out to mock me. “Shameless nobody, get out of here. Stop being an eyesore to Ms. Quinn.” As he spoke, he reached out and touched Victoria’s back. “Ms. Quinn, don’t be angry. Don’t stoop to the level of these lowlifes.” Faced with Derek’s sleazy behavior, Victoria not only wasn’t angry but gave him a sweet smile. “Don’t worry. I won’t waste my energy on garbage like him.” Watching their intimate exchange, I felt a wave of disgust and immediately realized the whole locked-in-car scenario was Victoria’s deliberate power play to force me to cancel the engagement myself. It seemed she never intended to go through with this marriage from the start, and here I’d come to meet her in good faith. At the same time, I felt secretly relieved. At least I’d seen her true colors early-it was damage control. Otherwise, with my real identity and family background, if I’d regretted it after we were actually married, getting rid of her wouldn’t be so easy. I looked directly at Victoria. “Fine. I agree to cancel the engagement.” Victoria lifted her chin proudly. “Smart choice.” She turned to leave. “Wait.” I stopped her. “Since the engagement’s off, shouldn’t you return the betrothal gifts?” Victoria looked confused. “Betrothal gifts? What betrothal gifts?” A moment later, something seemed to occur to her. She opened her Herm鑣 bag and pulled something out, holding it toward me. “Here. Your junk. Take it back.” Her lips curved in a mocking smile, her elegant face full of contempt. I clenched my fists, staring at what she called “junk” in her hand, my breathing growing heavy. I hadn’t expected the dignified CEO of Quinn Enterprises to be so ignorant, treating such a precious item like garbage. I could only hope that when she learned the truth later, she wouldn’t regret it. I took a deep breath, forcing down the rage inside, and reached out to take it. “Oops!” Victoria’s hand suddenly loosened, and the item fell to the ground, rolling into a storm drain nearby. My breathing stopped. I looked up at her in fury. “You!” “Sorry about that. My hand slipped.” Victoria raised an eyebrow at me carelessly, her bright eyes full of mockery and satisfaction. Without bothering to argue with her, I ran frantically to the drain and dropped to my knees, reaching into the dark, filthy opening, feeling around desperately. But dirty water kept flowing in. I scraped all ten fingers raw, but still couldn’t find it. Clearly, Victoria still didn’t realize the severity of what she’d done. She laughed and pulled out several hundred-dollar bills from her bag. “Here, take this money and buy another one.” “Keep the change. Consider it my compensation to you.” Hearing this, my anger surged again. I shot to my feet and knocked the bills from her hand. “Do you have any idea how important that was to me? Its value can’t be measured in money.” “Even if you gave me all of Quinn Enterprises, it wouldn’t be enough to replace it!” My eyes were bloodshot, my clenched fists white at the knuckles, cracking audibly. Before Victoria could react, the people around us were already dying of laughter. “Calling him a nobody was right. That piece of junk-I could buy a whole bag of them for ten bucks online. He treats it like treasure. Pathetic.” “Exactly. Ms. Quinn giving him that much money is basically charity. He actually refused it-so ungrateful!” Derek stuck his finger right in my face. “You’ve got some nerve! You want all of Quinn Enterprises? And you claim you’re not after money?!” Seeing I wouldn’t back down, Victoria lost her temper too. “It’s just a piece of junk. Is it really worth this fuss? Look at your disgusting, aggressive face.” She opened her Herm鑣 bag again and pulled out twice as much cash as before, throwing it in my face. “Wasn’t that enough? This should definitely cover it!” She even spat on the ground. “Ptui! Greedy, shameless trash. Absolutely revolting!” At this point, I couldn’t take it anymore. I grabbed Victoria’s arm, my voice harsh. “Do you know what you just threw away?” “That was my grandfather’s heirloom pocket watch-it represents our family’s highest honor!”

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The new transfer student claims she’s a “challenge player,” forcing my childhood best friend to help her complete all kinds of explicit tasks. I saw through her act. Tried to warn him to stay away. He turned on me instead. “Ivy’s doing a challenge. If I don’t help her, she’ll be punished. Sera, you’re so selfish.” I stopped warning him. Then her sex toy fell on the floor in class. And he blamed it on me. My reputation was destroyed. The delinquents dragged me into an alley. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Ivy brought her toy to class. — The vibrator rolled across the floor. Ms. Romano’s face went black as coal. She ground out the words. “Whose is this?!” The class erupted. Shocked gasps everywhere. No one expected someone to use a sex toy in class. Especially in Ms. Romano’s class. Ivy, sitting in front of me, turned bright red. Her head dropped. She was always wild. But getting caught like this was humiliating. Just as she was about to cry, her seatmate Julian shot to his feet. He pointed directly at me. “Ms. Romano, I noticed Sera acting weird all period. Her hands kept going under the desk. It’s definitely hers.” His voice was full of righteous anger. “Sera, I never thought you’d sink this low. Using that in class? During a lecture? Have you no shame?” The room exploded. Curious stares. Disgust. Mockery. Revulsion. Every eye in that room landed on me. I started shaking. Not from fear. From rage. Because I’d lived this moment before. — In my previous life, this is where everything went to hell. Julian’s accusation blindsided me. I cried. Denied it. Begged everyone to believe me. No one did. From that day on, I went from honor student to school slut. Every guy felt entitled to undress me with their eyes. Every girl whispered behind my back. When I tried to fight back, they laughed. “Your own best friend said you’re a whore. Stop playing victim.” The rumors followed me everywhere. Bathrooms. Cafeteria. My DMs. Then the delinquents dragged me into an alley after school. My parents tried to get justice. Ms. Romano told them I “asked for it.” I dropped out. Two months later, I jumped off a building.

Thinking about that ending, I dug my nails into my palms. Forced down my rage. This time, I wouldn’t let Julian throw me under the bus. I shot to my feet. “Ms. Romano, my hands have been on my desk taking notes all period. The girl sitting next to me can confirm.” My seatmate nodded furiously. “That’s right! Julian, which eye saw Sera’s hands under the desk? Stop making shit up.” Julian didn’t even flinch. “Maybe I was mistaken about that. But that doesn’t change the fact the vibrator is probably Sera’s. Why else would she be so defensive?” I was shaking. Trying so hard to stay calm. But my face was red. Flushed with anger and humiliation. Julian was going to throw me under the bus. Again. To protect Ivy. Again. Fine. I narrowed my eyes. “I’m wearing jeans. Ivy’s wearing a skirt. If we’re talking about easy access, suspicion falls on her.” The room went dead silent. “Here’s what we’ll do,” I continued. “I’ll strip down in front of all the girls in this class to prove my innocence. But Ivy has to do it too.” Ivy’s eyes went wide. She looked at Julian like a drowning person reaching for a life raft. Julian’s face twisted. “Sera, you’re disgusting! Trying to frame Ivy when you know she’s innocent!” I crossed my arms. “You can accuse me all you want. But I’m proposing a fair solution. If Ivy’s got nothing to hide, she shouldn’t be afraid to prove it.” Ms. Romano looked tempted. Julian panicked. “Ms. Romano, we can’t do this. Think about how this would look if it got out. For the school’s reputation, we should just drop it.” Julian was the star quarterback. The golden boy whose father donated the new football field. Ms. Romano loved him. She sighed. “Fine. This time, I’ll let it go. But if I catch anyone with something like this again, I’m calling parents immediately.” — After class, Julian grabbed my wrist. Dragged me to an empty classroom. “Sera, I know you don’t like Ivy. I know you’re jealous we’ve gotten close. But trying to ruin her over this? That’s evil.” “If people found out that vibrator was Ivy’s, her reputation would be destroyed. Don’t you have any empathy?” I laughed. Actually laughed. “Empathy? You tried to frame me for something I didn’t do, and I’m the one who needs empathy?” Julian’s jaw clenched. “You don’t understand. Ivy has to complete these tasks. She’s part of an exclusive challenge. If she doesn’t finish, there are consequences.” I glanced at Ivy. She wasn’t crying anymore. She was leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette, smirking at me. Only an idiot like Julian would believe that Ivy—who smoked, drank, got into fights, and had a back tattoo—was just a “good girl forced to do bad things by an online challenge.” Julian grabbed my shoulders. “The task isn’t complete yet. Go tell Ms. Romano the vibrator was yours. Then get it back for Ivy.” My mouth fell open. “You have perfect grades. Ms. Romano will just scold you. She won’t actually call your parents.” He smiled. The kind of smile you give a dog when you want it to sit. “We’ve known each other our whole lives. I know you’re a kind person, Sera.” That’s when I knew. Any affection I’d had for Julian died in that moment. I smiled back. Sweet as poison. “Ms. Romano loves you, Julian. You’re the star quarterback. Why don’t you go tell her the vibrator is yours? I bet she won’t even scold you.” Julian’s face went black. “Sera!” “Believe whatever fantasy you want about Ivy’s ‘challenge.’ But leave me out of it.” I shoved past him and walked out.

I knew they wouldn’t give up. So I hired a hacker online. Had them break into Julian’s phone. Gave me access to everything. Two days later, I was reading their text conversation. I saw Ivy crying to Julian about how scared she’d been. Their conversation got flirty. Then Ivy changed the subject. Mentioned her next “task.” She had to plant her underwear in another guy’s desk. I almost choked. This girl had balls of steel. Looked like the last incident hadn’t taught her enough. Julian was clearly reluctant. Then he said: “Does it have to be yours? What about someone else’s? I’m going to Sera’s house this weekend. I’ll use hers. That way, we can also get you off the hook for the vibrator thing.” “With her underwear involved, Sera won’t be able to accuse you so easily anymore.” Watching them casually plan this out, I smiled coldly. Waited for the weekend. Julian and I were neighbors. We’d grown up together. Actual childhood friends. Both of us were top students with Ivy League dreams. Our parents loved that we were close. But ever since Ivy transferred in six months ago, Julian and I had drifted apart. He hadn’t come over in months. So when he showed up at my door that Saturday, my parents were thrilled. “Sera! Julian’s here!” They welcomed him warmly. “Come in and study with Sera. I’ll make you both lunch.” Julian smiled at me. Ruffled my hair like old times. I pulled away. My parents laughed. “Did you two have a fight?” Julian smiled so sincerely it made me sick. “I’m sorry, Sera. I was wrong the other day. Forgive me?” I studied his face. Behind the smile, I could see the impatience. The irritation. “You really know you were wrong?” He forced a laugh. “I was wrong, I was wrong. Now let me in.” The last shred of nostalgia I had for him evaporated. I stepped aside. After lunch, Julian said he had to go. The second he left, I checked my room. The new pack of underwear I’d just bought? Gone.

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Five minutes before I say “I do,” my fiancé’s dead brother’s widow staggers into the chapel with her dress half off, screaming that my “godfather” raped her. “Luca, save me! Nico Sokolov forced himself on me!” Chiara collapses at his feet, mascara running, one strap of her black dress hanging off her shoulder. “He said I was a fake, that I stole the Marchetti name from your real bride, that he could do whatever he wanted to me — I want to die, Luca, I want to die — ” The pews go off like a powder keg. People are on their feet. Someone shouts *animal*. Someone else shouts my name like a curse, like I dragged a wolf into a church. Luca strips off his jacket and wraps it around Chiara like she’s made of glass. Then he looks at me. Cold. The way you look at a stain. “Marchetti.” He doesn’t even use my first name. “Get that piece of shit out here. Now. He’s getting on his knees in front of Chiara, and after that I want him cut. All three legs. Or this wedding’s off.” My parents stand up like they’re about to lynch me. My future father-in-law cracks his knuckles. I almost laugh. Because my “godfather” doesn’t have three legs to cut. — *Smack.* My mother’s palm lands so hard my ear rings. “You think this is funny?” Her hand is shaking. Her nails almost go in my eye. “I should’ve left you in that group home. I knew you were trash the second I brought you back.” I taste blood on my lip. I keep my face flat. “Chiara has class. You? You brought a family of rapists with you.” “Mom.” My voice is calm. I want it calm. “Did anyone call the cops?” “Did anyone get a rape kit done?” “Or do we just take Chiara’s word like it’s the gospel?” My father kicks over a vase of white lilies. “She wouldn’t *lie* about something like this, you stupid bitch!” He points at the back of the church like a general. “I want the muscle on Sokolov. Right now. In front of God and every family in New York. We cut him here. Tonight. For Chiara.” Chiara presses her face into Luca’s chest. Her dress is in ribbons. There are dark red marks all up her neck. “Don’t — don’t blame her, Daddy,” she whispers, just loud enough for the front rows to hear. “Maybe Nico just couldn’t help himself. I’m not a real Marchetti. I shouldn’t have stolen her place — ” “Couldn’t help himself?” Luca’s whole face is red. He’s stroking her hair like she’s a sick dog. “He’s a fucking animal. By the time I’m done, he won’t be helping himself to anything ever again.” He turns to me. The man I was about to marry. “Marchetti. You heard her. She’s still defending him. Still trying to protect *you*.” “A girl raised by a rapist doesn’t walk into a Romano house. I’m giving you three minutes. Get him here. If he runs, *you* go down for it. You’ll do Chiara’s time.” The whispering in the pews is acid. “Real daughter, my ass.” “Letting her own family rape her sister-in-law. Disgusting.” “Luca’s right. Put the dog down.” I pull out my phone. I look right at Chiara. She’s still curled into Luca’s chest. The smallest smile twitches at the corner of her mouth when she thinks no one’s looking. “Chiara.” My voice carries. “You’re sure it was my godfather who raped you.” “It was him.” She looks up, eyes wet, blazing. “I’ll see him in hell. I’ll see him *dead.*” “Good.” I turn to Luca. “And you said you want him cut. All three legs.” “Every fucking one,” he hisses. “Good.” I dial. I hit speaker. “Since you’re all in such a rush to meet the devil — let’s introduce you.” One ring. Two. The line picks up, and the roar of a heavy bike engine blasts through the speaker and ricochets off the stained glass. I speak softly. Politely. Like I’m ordering room service. “Godfather. Come down to the church.” “Somebody here says they want to take your dick off.” —

There’s a soft laugh on the other end. Dry. Amused. Almost bored. “Yeah? Tell him to sharpen the knife first.” *Click.* The dial tone is louder than it has any right to be. Five hundred people listen to it together. Luca freezes. Then he picks up a champagne flute and smashes it against the altar. “You put it on speaker on *purpose,*” he says. “You tipped him off.” “Luca — ” Chiara curls smaller against him, shaking. “He took pictures. Of me. With his phone. If those get out — ” “Hey. Hey.” Luca cups her face like she’s about to break. He turns to his crew, eyes black. “Lock down every exit in this city. I want Sokolov dragged in here by his hair. I’m doing the cutting personally.” I watch the man I was supposed to spend my life with rock his dead brother’s wife in his arms, and something inside me freezes solid. Three months ago, Luca’s brother Marco died on the Long Island Expressway. Brake failure, they said. Three months ago, Luca was the boy who sat by my hospital bed the night I got food poisoning and held my hand and swore on his mother’s grave he’d never let anyone hurt me. Now he’s *Chiara’s* good little brother-in-law. Available twenty-four hours a day. “Get over here.” My father grabs me by the hair and forces me down. “You apologize to your sister. On your knees. *Now.*” My knees crack against the marble. I feel skin split. “If Chiara forgives you, I’ll only send Sokolov to the joint. I won’t disown you.” “I didn’t do anything wrong.” I lift my head. Look him in the eye. “I’m not kneeling.” Six months ago they drove four hours upstate to bring me home. Their *real* daughter. Their heart. Six months later, one tear from Chiara and I’m a stray dog they regret feeding. “Still talking back?” My father raises his hand again. “Fine. The Romanos can kill you tonight for all I care. The Marchettis won’t lift a finger.” “Daddy, please don’t — ” Chiara is sobbing. Her eyes glitter. “It’s my fault. I have the wrong face. My sister grew up rough, she can’t help the people she ran with — ” “Chiara. You’re a saint.” Luca raises his head. Every livestream phone in the front row points at him. “But animals get put down.” He turns to the cameras. There must be twenty of them. Society pages. Mob gossip blogs. Some asshole’s TikTok. “Romano family. One million for Sokolov’s right hand.” “The Marchettis match it!” my father shouts. “Two million!” The whole church explodes. Flashbulbs everywhere. They’re going to chase him down like a deer. I push myself off the floor. My knee screams. I grab the mic out of the priest’s hand. “You’re so sure my godfather did this.” My voice goes everywhere — the speakers, the streams, every screen in the city. “Want to put your money where your mouth is?” “A sit-down. Right here. Right now.” My voice cracks but I don’t slow down. “If my godfather raped Chiara — I drag him in myself. I sign over my inheritance. I walk into the precinct tonight and take the charge. I do the time.” My parents go still. “But if he’s clean — ” “Every Romano share. Every Marchetti asset. Mine.” “You — apologize. On a livestream. To him.” “And Luca.” I turn. He’s gone white. “You wanted his three legs. If you lose? You give up yours.” “Are you out of your fucking mind?!” my father howls. “You’d bet the *family* on a rapist?” “Why are you scared?” I push the mic into the closest camera. “You said the evidence is rock solid. Unless this whole thing is a setup my sister cooked up?” Chiara rips her dress further down her shoulder. Bruises. Bite marks. She’s screaming. “Take the bet! *Take it!* He raped me, it’s true, I’m not letting that go! I want her to lose everything! I want him in the ground!” “Done.” Luca slams his fist on the altar. “Get paper. Get a notary. Marchetti, when he gets here, I cut him myself, and then you crawl to Chiara on your hands and knees the rest of your life.” Four minutes later there’s a contract on the red carpet. Cameras everywhere. Bloody thumbprints, both sides, because in our world ink isn’t enough. The doors of the church kick open with a sound like a gunshot. —

My godfather walks in. The helmet comes off. Pink-violet hair, short and wild, catches the chandelier light. Black diamonds in both ears. A leather jacket that fits like sin. The whole church chokes on its own breath. The livestream chat freezes for a full second. Then it loses its mind. “holy shit this is the rapist?? sign me up” “That jawline. That chest. I’d let him.” “Wake up sheeple a hot rapist is still a rapist” My godfather doesn’t look at any of them. Just walks straight to me. Lazy. Easy. Like the room isn’t full of people screaming for blood. “Which one of these dogs,” — a slow look across the pews — “wants to take my dick off?” Chiara’s pupils blow wide. The blood drains out of her face like somebody pulled a plug. Her finger comes up shaking. “Him! *Him!* He’s the one, Luca — he tore my clothes off, he held me down, he said a fake Marchetti deserved to get passed around like a party favor — ” The crowd goes nuclear. “Showing his face after what he did?” “Animal!” “Somebody do the world a favor!” My godfather flicks a glance at Luca. Then looks down at me. The hardness drops out of those eyes for a half-second when they land on my mouth. On the blood there. “So this is the fiancé.” Soft. Almost gentle. “He’s even uglier in person.” A thumb skims the corner of my lip. Wipes the blood off. The whole room sees it. The streams see it. I don’t move. Luca *roars.* “Sokolov, you filth! You wear a man’s face but you’re not human — Boys! On him! I don’t care if he leaves in pieces!” A dozen of Luca’s soldiers move in. Bats. Brass. One pipe. “Easy.” I step in front of my godfather. “Luca. Even a court lets the accused open his mouth.” “You in a hurry to convict? Or are you scared of what’ll come out?” “You — ” Luca doesn’t get the rest out. Chiara shoves him off her and *runs.* Straight for the balcony stairs. Heels stabbing the marble. “Then I’ll prove it the only way left!” she screams down at us. “If none of you will believe me, I’ll *make* you believe me!” She vaults the rail. “CHIARA!” “NO — !” She drops. The sound her body makes when it hits the marble is wet and final. Her left leg bends the wrong way. Blood spreads under her like a halo. The flashbulbs stop for one whole heartbeat. Then the church *detonates.* “She killed herself! She killed herself because no one believed her!” “Sokolov is dead. He’s dead tonight.” “Beat him to death, somebody beat him to death!” Luca crashes down the stairs and scoops her up. She’s chalk-white. Her lips are blue. But her eyes — her eyes are still tracking. Still locked on my godfather. “Now.” A whisper that carries somehow. “Do you believe me. Nico Sokolov raped me. He *raped* me.” “I want him bleeding out, Luca. I want him in a fucking *box.*” Luca is crying. Crying. My mother is on me. Another slap. My head whips sideways. “You demon — I gave birth to a *demon* — ” My father aims a boot at my stomach. My godfather hooks an arm around my waist and pulls me back. Light. Easy. My father’s foot finds air; he goes down on his ass on the marble. “This is — this is mutiny,” he babbles. “She raised her hand against me. Mutiny — ” The cameras eat it up. “That’s the real daughter? Cold as ice.” “The fake one had to break her own leg to be believed and the real one’s still defending the rapist.” And in the middle of it, broken on the floor, bleeding from a leg she just snapped on purpose — Chiara catches my eye. And smiles. A small, sharp, very private smile. That’s when I understand. She just bought herself a victim’s badge with one leg. She is going to die before she lets me take it off her. —

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The day my Harvard acceptance letter arrived, everyone expected me to frame it. Mount it on the wall like a trophy. Proof that Ethan White had finally made it. Instead, I declined the offer and enrolled at MIT. It wasn’t impulse. It wasn’t rebellion. It was survival. Because I reborn. In last life, accepting Harvard meant becoming the perfect husband for Sarah. It meant watching her, six months pregnant with my child, stand over me with a smile. “If you hadn’t gone to Harvard,” she’d whispered, rope cutting into my wrists as I hung from the ceiling beam, “my family never would have chosen you. And my love wouldn’t have drowned his heartbreak at that club. They wouldn’t have found him dead in some backroom, servicing strangers for pills.” Her voice had been so calm. So rational. “You stole his place. So you’ll pay with your life. Piece. By. Piece.” She deliberately had a miscarriage that night. The reason was that she didn’t want to have a child with me. She felt disgusted. I died at the same night… And then I woke up. Eighteen years old. Acceptance letters scattered across my desk. The same day. My phone buzzed. Mr. Kowalski, my guidance counselor. “Ethan, the deadline’s tonight. Harvard’s waiting. You’re really going to make them sweat?” I ended the call and stared at the MIT enrollment form on my laptop screen. Different path. Different future. No Sarah. The door flew open. “Ethan.” My mother swept in. Her hands fluttered. “Tell me you’ve confirmed Harvard. Please. I need to hear you say it.” Seeing mom now—alive, whole, not beaten to death by Hawthorne security—made my throat close. In that other life, she’d found my body. Seen what Sarah had done. And she’d lunged at the woman who’d butchered her son. The Hawthorne guards hadn’t hesitated. I reached for her hand. “I’m going to MIT, Mom. The research programs align better with my focus. Cybersecurity architecture, AI ethics, systems integrity—” “No.” She yanked her hand back. “You’re going to Harvard. Do you understand me? When you fall, you get back up where you fell. I taught you that.” My blood went cold. She remembers. She reborn too? “Mom—” The front door slammed. My father’s voice boomed through the house, followed by a second set of footsteps. Lighter. Deliberate. “Sebastian! Come on in, son. Let me grab you something to drink.” Sebastian Vance. Not my brother by blood. Not really. But my father—decorated veteran and self-made businessman—had adopted him at thirteen after his father, Dad’s Army buddy, died in combat. Except Sebastian’s father hadn’t died in combat. He’d died of a heart attack in a motel with his mistress, but my father had needed a redemption arc more than he’d needed the truth. I watched Sebastian glide into my room, all easy smiles. “Ethan.” He clasped my shoulder. “Dad wants to talk to you about Harvard. He’s really proud, man.” My father appeared behind him, already talking. “Two spots. Harvard only takes two from Riverside Prep, and this year it’s a miracle we got that many. Ethan—” He looked at me the way you’d look at a stain. “You’re going to withdraw your acceptance.” My mother stiffened. “Excuse me?”

“Sebastian needs this.” Dad’s voice carried the weight of absolute authority. “His father gave his life for this country. For me. The least we can do is make sure his son has every advantage. Ethan’s smart—he’ll land on his feet. MIT, Stanford, whatever. But Harvard?” He put his arm around Sebastian. “That’s Sebastian’s spot. And the Hawthorne family is looking for a Harvard man to marry their daughter. That’s his future. Not Ethan’s.” “He earned his acceptance—” “And Sebastian earned our loyalty!” My father’s face flushed. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to owe someone your life? His father took a bullet meant for me. So yes, Elena. Sebastian gets the girl, the school, and the life. That’s not negotiable.” My mother looked at me, and I saw it again—that flash of something ruthless beneath her beauty queen mask. She remembered Sebastian sitting outside while I bled out. She was trying to weaponize me against him. I pulled out my phone and opened the photo album. Found last night’s graduation party. There. Sebastian and Sarah Hawthorne, tucked into a corner booth at The Dorset Club. Her hand on his thigh under the table. His mouth at her ear. The angle of the shot made it clear—this wasn’t friendly. This was ownership. I held up the phone. “They’ve been together for months.” My voice came out flat. Clinical. “So it doesn’t matter where I go. I’m not in the running.” Sebastian’s smile never wavered. “Ethan.” He sighed, wounded. “I know you had feelings for Sera. But she sees you as a friend. A brother, even. You need to let her go.” He checked his watch. “Actually, I’m late. We’re catching a movie. Dad, you coming?” My father was already grabbing his keys. “I’ll drive you.” The door slammed. Silence. Then my mother’s hand cracked across my face. “You coward.” I tasted blood. “I thought getting a second chance meant you’d be smarter. Faster. But you’re still the same pathetic boy who let them walk all over him.” Her voice shook. “Do you have any idea how hard it is for me in this house? Your father worships Sebastian. Your grandmother thinks I’m worthless because I can’t control you. My entire future depends on you marrying into the Hawthorne family, and you’re just going to—what? Run away to MIT and play with computers?” The same script as before. Always the same. In last life, I’d internalized it. Believed I owed her my success. My sacrifice. My life. I’d studied until I couldn’t see straight. Married a woman I didn’t love. Let myself be reshaped into the perfect Hawthorne son-in-law because I thought it would finally be enough. It never was. “I’m going to MIT,” I said quietly. “And this time, I’m living for myself.” She opened her mouth, but I was already walking out.

I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that simple. That night, I woke to the sound of my bedroom door clicking open. My father stood silhouetted in the hallway light. Behind him—Sarah. I lunged out of bed. “What the hell—” But they were already at my desk. My laptop glowed, enrollment page still open. Sarah’s finger hovered over the keyboard. “Don’t you dare—” My father caught me in a bear hug, pinning my arms. “She’s doing you a favor, son. Trust me.” “That’s my MIT enrollment—” Sarah clicked DELETE. The page refreshed. Application Withdrawn. I went numb. “Sarah—why?” She didn’t even look at me. Just reached down and unplugged the laptop, lifting it by the screen. “What are you—” “If I leave the computer intact, you’ll find a way to re-enroll.” Her voice was ice. “I won’t make that mistake.” She raised the laptop above her head. “No no no—please—” It shattered against the hardwood. Glass and circuitry exploded across the floor. I stopped fighting. My father released me, and I collapsed to my knees, staring at the wreckage. “You knew I picked MIT,” I whispered. “I told you this morning.” Sarah crouched in front of me, and for the first time, I saw her eyes. Empty. Flat. She’d reborn too. “You said a lot of things last time,” she murmured. “You said you didn’t want me. You said you weren’t interested. But the first night we were together, you were in my bed before I’d even finished unpacking.” My stomach lurched. “That wasn’t—Sera, your roommate drugged me. You know that. She wanted to humiliate me at the party, and I came to you because I trusted—” “Liar.” The word landed like a slap. She stood, smoothing her skirt. “You manipulated me from day one. Played hard to get so I’d chase you. And the moment you had me, you ruined everything.” She turned to Sebastian, who’d appeared in the doorway. Her voice went soft. Tender. “It’s done, baby. He can’t threaten you anymore.” Sebastian’s smile was small. Satisfied. “Wait—” My mind raced. “Sera, I’m not trying to come between you two. I want you to be together. Just let me go. I’ll transfer schools, move across the country, whatever you need—” “You really think it’s that simple?” She leaned close, her breath cold against my ear. “Did you think I’d forget what you did to Sebastian in last life? How you let him die?” “I already paid for that. I died—” “Not enough.” Her whisper was a blade. “I’m going to make you watch Sebastian and me build the life you stole from him. And you—” Her lips curved. “You’re going to spend every day in hell.” She straightened. “Oh, and before I deleted your enrollment? I submitted a formal withdrawal letter to MIT on your behalf. Citing personal reasons and a commitment to Harvard.” She tilted her head. “Congrats, Ethan. You’re going to be a Hawthorne after all.”

They locked me in my room after that. Took my phone. My laptop. Even the old iPad I kept in my desk drawer. For three days, I was a prisoner in my own house. But they didn’t know about the backup phone taped under my bed frame. The one I’d bought with cash the day I woke up reborn, because some paranoid part of me knew they’d try this. I powered it on and opened my email. One unread message. From: MIT Admissions Subject: Enrollment Confirmed Dear Ethan White, Welcome to MIT. Your enrollment in the Computer Science and Engineering program has been finalized. We look forward to seeing you at orientation on September 1st. I closed my eyes, exhaling for what felt like the first time in days. The system Sarah had accessed wasn’t real. I’d built a dummy server the day I got the acceptance letter—a perfect replica of MIT’s enrollment portal, hosted locally on my laptop. If anyone tried to tamper with my decision, they’d be deleting a ghost. The real enrollment had gone through the morning I woke up in this timeline. I texted my best friend Marcus: Need you to grab my dorm stuff and meet me at South Station. Day before move-in. I’ll explain later. His reply came in seconds: Dude. What did you DO? Escaped. — Move-in day. I waited until my mother left for her book club and my father took Sebastian shopping for his dorm at Langford College—the private liberal arts school Sarah’s family had paid to accept him after his 140 SAT score. Picked the bedroom lock in twenty minutes. Walked out the front door. Took the subway to South Station and didn’t look back. The train to Boston pulled away from the platform, and I watched my childhood disappear through the window. For the first time since I’d woken up in this nightmare, I let myself breathe. — I dozed off somewhere around Providence. When I woke up, something felt wrong. The train had stopped. But we weren’t at South Station. I looked out the window—and my blood turned to ice. We were at a private rail platform. Sleek. Modern. The kind of place you only accessed with a keycard and a seven-figure bank account. And standing on the platform, arms crossed, was my mother. She smiled when she saw me. “Ethan. You’re awake. Perfect timing.” The train doors hissed open, and two men in black suits stepped aboard. “Mrs. Vance.” The taller one nodded. “We’ll take him from here.” “Wait—Mom—what is this?” She leaned into the train, her smile bright and terrible. “The Hawthornes are very excited to meet their future son-in-law, sweetheart. Sarah’s been asking about you.” “I’m not—I don’t want—” “You’re eighteen. You’re brilliant. And you’re exactly what the Hawthorne family looks for in a match.” She stepped back as the men hauled me to my feet. “Oh, and I have wonderful news. They’ve agreed to let you and Sarah get engaged today. Isn’t that romantic? The wedding will be right after her graduation.” “You can’t do this—” “I can. And I am.” She waved as they dragged me onto the platform. “The Hawthorne estate is lovely this time of year. You’ll see.”

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I gave the stolen sandwich to a scrawny girl shivering in the alley, and she became my shadow. Two orphans with nowhere else to go. We survived together. At sixteen, I found Seraphina cornered by three gang punks behind the bodega. I grabbed a broken bottle and took down four before their leader showed up with his crew. They left me half-dead on the pavement. Two weeks in bed before I could walk again. Seraphina loved music. On her seventeenth birthday, I broke into a high-end music store in SoHo and stole a vintage keyboard. Got arrested that same night. Spent two weeks in juvie. When I got out, she was waiting with red-rimmed eyes. “Never do something that stupid for me again,” she whispered. At nineteen, Seraphina got her acceptance letter to Juilliard. I wasn’t built for college, but I so happy when I got the news.I worked three jobs—sometimes pulling double shifts at the construction site—just to cover her tuition. By twenty-four, Seraphina was a rising star. Piano prodigy. Concert halls across the country. We moved into a penthouse on the Upper East Side. Twenty-six years old, and I was still breaking my back on construction sites. She’d just won the International Tchaikovsky Competition. Gold medal. Front page of every music magazine. I saved for weeks, bought a secondhand keyboard, and planned to surprise her. Play something I’d been practicing. Tell her I loved her. I sat at that keyboard all night, waiting. She never came home. The next morning, my phone blew up with notifications. “Piano Prodigy Seraphina Wells Goes Official with Music Dynasty Heir Sebastian Thorne!” The photo showed her leaning into him, her eyes soft in a way I’d never seen. Not for me. Never for me. I knew Sebastian. Old money, Juilliard graduate, violin virtuoso. Everything I wasn’t. I pressed a key on the keyboard. Dead silence. The batteries had died. Just like us.

“Bro, you’re really coming back?” Leo’s voice crackled through the phone, disbelief bleeding through every word. “After everything you did for Seraphina—she’s a superstar now and you’re leaving?” “Is she coming with you?” I dug my thumbnail into my palm, forcing my voice to stay light. “Just me. She’s got her career in Manhattan. Big things happening.” Silence. Then: “Something happen between you two?” I didn’t know how to answer. How do you explain that love dies slowly? That we’d been boiling in the same pot for years, and the water had evaporated without either of us noticing? “There was never anything to begin with,” I said. “You not happy I’m coming home?” “Hell no—I mean, hell yes! You’re my best friend, man. Come back anytime.” When I hung up, I stared at the penthouse. Two years we’d lived here. Fifteen years we’d survived together. Seraphina had carved herself into every corner of my life. Letting go wasn’t an option—it was an impossibility. But I had to try. I grew up with nothing. No parents. Bounced between shelters and streets, begging for scraps. Then I met Seraphina. She was eleven, same as me. Gas leak explosion took out her entire apartment building. She came home from school to black rubble and police tape. The girl had nothing left. When she saw me stealing bread from a dumpster, she recognized something—kinship, maybe. Desperation. She followed me for three days before I finally split my sandwich with her. We’d been inseparable ever since. I saved her life more than once. Pulled her out of the East River when bullies threw her off a dock. Gave up my shot at trade school to work construction so she could attend Juilliard. When she got that acceptance letter, she sobbed into my chest. “I won’t let you down,” she’d promised. “I’ll make this worth it.” And she did. Within six years, she was headlining Carnegie Hall. We traded the crumbling studio in Queens for a penthouse with floor-to-ceiling windows. But the gap between us grew wider with every standing ovation. She was a prodigy. A sensation. I was a high school dropout with a criminal record. We didn’t fit anymore. Maybe we never had. Especially after Sebastian entered her life. “Sebastian has such a deep understanding of Chopin. He can hear the smallest variations in my tempo.” “Sebastian and I are planning a joint recital. His violin with my piano—it’ll be incredible.” “Sebastian helped repair the old Steinway today. He even knows how to voice hammers.” Then, a week ago: “Won’t be home tonight. Celebrating the gold medal with Sebastian.” I needed to see him. Needed to understand what kind of man lived in the space I used to occupy.

Lincoln Center felt like a cathedral built for people I’d never be. I stood in the marble lobby wearing a faded jacket I’d owned since I was nineteen. Every person who passed me radiated wealth—tailored suits, silk scarves, designer shoes. I was a stain on their pristine world. “Excuse me, sir. Are you here for Miss Wells’ rehearsal?” The voice belonged to a man in an immaculate navy suit. Warm smile. Perfect posture. The kind of guy who’d never had to fight for anything. Sebastian Thorne. I recognized him from the photos. “I’m looking for Seraphina. Can you point me in the right direction?” His smile dimmed. “Miss Wells is in rehearsal. I’m afraid she can’t be disturbed right now.” He studied me like I was a vagrant who’d wandered in from the street. “Who are you to her?” The question stabbed deeper than it should have. “I’m the person who raised her,” I paused,and added, “Her brother.” The words felt like a surrender. His expression softened immediately. “Oh,Welcome! You’re Seraphina’s brother. I apologize—I didn’t realize.” He gestured down the hall. “I’m actually headed to the rehearsal space now. You can walk with me.” I followed him through the labyrinth of hallways, past musicians warming up in practice rooms, past posters of Seraphina’s face plastered on every wall. People greeted Sebastian like royalty. He responded to each one with practiced charm. When we reached the rehearsal room, Seraphina was just stepping out. She froze when she saw me. Her eyes darted to Sebastian, then back to me. “Jax. What are you doing here?” Her tone wasn’t warm. It was guarded. Almost… afraid. Afraid I’d embarrass her? Afraid I’d hurt Sebastian? I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Sebastian broke the tension. “Your brother came to see you. I thought we could all grab dinner together.” She didn’t refute it—not a word, not a single flicker of denial. The restaurant was the kind of place where they don’t list prices on the menu. I sat across from Sebastian and Seraphina, watching them speak a language I didn’t understand. “The rubato in the third movement needs to breathe more,” Sebastian said. “You’re rushing the diminuendo.” Seraphina nodded, her eyes bright. “I was thinking the same thing. And the left-hand voicing in measure forty-seven—” “Needs more weight,” Sebastian finished. “Exactly.” They smiled at each other. I might as well have been invisible. Sebastian glanced at me, almost apologetic. “Sorry—this is all technical jargon. Seraphina and I talk shop constantly. Occupational hazard.” He said it kindly. Like he was trying to include me. But it only made the gap more obvious. I pushed food around my plate, swallowing words I couldn’t form. The conversation swirled around me, a current I couldn’t enter. After dinner, Sebastian insisted on showing me around Lincoln Center. We walked past rehearsal halls and performance spaces, Sebastian pointing out details I didn’t care about. Stagehands whispered as we passed. “Miss Wells and Sebastian Thorne are perfect together. Total power couple.” “A piano prodigy and a violin genius? They’re like something out of a movie.” “Who’s the guy in the old jacket? He looks so out of place.” I heard every word. That night, I bought a one-way ticket back to Montana.

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I used to be one of the top deep-sea divers in North America. Eight years ago, Sophia—the adopted daughter my parents treasured more than anything—caused a fellow diver’s death underwater so she could keep all the gold from a sunken ship for herself. After it happened, my husband Ryan forced me to sign a confession and take the blame in order to protect her. I was sentenced to twelve years in prison. Later, I got out early for good behavior. Now, I make a living gutting fish at a seafood market in Seattle. Until one evening, while I was standing there cleaning a tuna with my head down, my parents and my ex-husband came storming toward me like they’d lost their minds. My mother, Laura, dropped to her knees on the blood-slick floor covered in fish scales and melted ice, shaking as she sobbed. “Rosalind! Sophia went diving an hour ago, and she still hasn’t come back up!” “You’re the best diver in the country. Please—you have to save her!” My father Richard’s face was pale as he grabbed my arm with a death grip. “You’re the only one who can save her now!” And Ryan—my ex-husband—actually pulled out our old wedding ring and forced it back onto my finger. His eyes were red as he looked at me, his voice trembling. “Rosalind, if you bring Sophia back, I’ll remarry you.” I said nothing. I just instinctively touched the hearing aid in my right ear. Had they forgotten? Back then, all they could see was Sophia. They called me the real murderer. My father had even slapped me so hard he ruptured my eardrum. Since then, I’ve been permanently deaf in my right ear. The doctor had warned me clearly. With my current condition, if I went deep diving again, the pressure underwater could very likely cause a cerebral hemorrhage. I would die. … “Don’t be so damn ungrateful, Rosalind!” The market manager, Mary, suddenly snapped at me coldly. She’d always loved sucking up to rich people. Now she was practically bowing to Ryan and my parents with a flattering smile plastered across her face. But the second she looked at me, all that remained was contempt. “Mr. Miller and Mr. Carter are important people in Seattle.” “You’re just a fish seller. What are you acting so high and mighty for? If you save her, you’ll get money and your old life back. Why are you still making such a big deal out of this?” The people around us, clueless about the truth, immediately started whispering. “Isn’t that her sister? She’s really just going to let her die?” “Probably thinks the money isn’t enough.” “I heard she used to be a murderer.” Their stares pierced into me like needles. And the cruelest part was this— I was the one whose life had been destroyed. I was the one forced to take the fall for Sophia. Yet even now, everyone still believed I was the villain. I pulled off the ring and shoved it back into Ryan’s hand. Then I pointed to my hearing aid. “It’s not that I won’t save her.” “My ear is permanently damaged.” “If I force myself underwater, I could suffer a brain hemorrhage. I’ll die.” My mother Laura froze for a second. But in the very next moment, she collapsed onto the filthy floor covered in fish scales and dirty water and burst into hysterical sobs. “You spent eight years in prison, and you’re still this selfish?!” “You’d even fake a disability just to avoid responsibility!” “That’s Sophia! She’s your sister!” Father looked at me with utter disappointment. “How did I end up with a daughter like you?” “You’d leave someone to die and still stand here lying through your teeth. You’re vicious beyond belief.” Ryan’s eyes were bloodshot. Panicked, he dug a bank card out of his bag and shoved it into my hands. “Rosalind, I’m begging you…” “There’s five million dollars in that account.” “If you bring Sophia back, I’ll give you anything you want.” “We can even get remarried!” Hot tears splashed onto the back of my hand. But all I felt was unbearable pain. I suffered through eight years in prison, and Ryan never visited me once. And now, after finally seeing me again— it was still for Sophia. Still for the real killer. I swallowed the storm of emotions rising in my chest and pulled a medical report from my pocket. The diagnosis was written there in black and white: 【Severe Eardrum Perforation. Deep-Sea Diving Strictly Prohibited.】 But Ryan didn’t even look at it. He slapped the report out of my hand and completely lost control. “Enough!” “Rosalind, don’t you just want money? Name your price and I’ll pay it!” “Sophia doesn’t have time left! I’m begging you, okay?!” The next second, Mary suddenly rushed over and flipped my entire fish stall onto the ground. Fish and ice crashed everywhere. “Get out, you murderer!” “Don’t pollute our market!” “If you refuse to save her today, then don’t ever come back here again!” The crowd immediately joined in. Some spat at me and threw rotten vegetables. Others pulled out their phones to record. “Get out!” “Murderer!” “People like you don’t deserve to live!” I lowered my eyes to the medical report lying on the ground, smeared with dirt and footprints. And for the first time, everything felt absurd beyond words. For the past eight years, I had already lost everything. All I wanted was to live like a normal person. So why— why were they still refusing to let me go?

The feeling of being attacked from all sides nearly crushed me. I couldn’t stay there another second. I could only shove through the crowd and flee the seafood market in humiliation. All the way home, strangers held up their phones and filmed me. Those looks of disgust, contempt, and hatred cut into me like knives. By the time I made it back to my tiny rental apartment, my back was already drenched in cold sweat. But before I could even catch my breath, my phone suddenly began vibrating nonstop. News notifications flooded the screen one after another. #MurdererSisterRefusesToSaveMissingDiver# #HeiressInCriticalDangerAsBiologicalDaughterColdlyStandsBy# #RyanOffersFiveMillionRewardToFindExWifeDiverAndSaveFiancée# I froze. Then I tapped on one of the livestream links. On the screen, Ryan was standing by the ocean. The sea wind whipped through his hair. That face I had once loved so desperately now looked twisted with anguish. In front of the cameras, my mother Laura was crying so hard she could barely stand. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry everyone… for taking up public resources…” “But I really have no other choice…” “Eight years ago, Rosalind caused a diver’s death over gold and was sentenced to prison. I thought she’d changed after all these years…” “I never expected her to still be this cold-hearted…” “Now Sophia’s life is hanging by a thread. Rosalind could save her, but she’s hiding on purpose and refusing to come out…” Father held Laura upright and bowed deeply toward the camera. “Please help us.” “If anyone can find Rosalind, we’re willing to offer a one-million-dollar reward.” The livestream exploded instantly. Comments flooded the screen at terrifying speed. “Expose her!” “People like this deserve punishment!” “Anyone know where she lives? Let’s drag this bitch out together!” “Trash like her should die!” My hands turned colder and colder around my phone. I had never imagined— they would take things this far. Just then— violent banging suddenly erupted outside my door. BANG! BANG! BANG! Before I could react, the already rotting wooden door was kicked open. My landlord stormed in with a crowd of people behind him. Dozens of phone flashlights instantly lit up my face. “They found her!” “She really was hiding here!” “Damn, she looks harmless, but she’s actually a murderer!” They flooded into my tiny apartment. My table was overturned. Dishes shattered across the floor. Someone deliberately dumped garbage onto my bed. I tried to stop them, but two large men pinned me down immediately. “Stay still!” “Apologize to your parents!” “Say you’re a bitch! Say you betrayed your sister!” Humiliation swallowed me whole like a tidal wave. My hair was yanked back as they forced me onto my knees. Phone cameras were shoved inches from my face. And then— the crowd suddenly parted on its own. My parents walked in. For one ridiculous moment, I actually thought— they were finally willing to believe me. But the next second, Father’s face darkened as he pulled out a thick coil of rope from behind his back. He glared at me through clenched teeth. “Tie her up!” “If she won’t go willingly, then drag her there!” I jerked my head up, almost unable to believe what I was hearing. “Dad?! Do you even hear yourself?!” “I already told you my ear is damaged! I can’t dive! I’ll die!” Then I turned desperately toward my mother. “Mom… doesn’t my life matter too?” “For Sophia, are you really willing to force me to my death?” Laura’s reddened eyes avoided mine, hesitation flashing briefly across her face. But only for a moment. Soon, that hesitation was replaced by cold resolve. “Sophia may not be our biological daughter.” “But she’s a thousand times kinder than you ever were.” “For the past eight years, she stayed by our side and took care of us in your place!” “And what about you?” “You’re a murderer who went to prison!” It felt like my heart was being torn open. So in their eyes, the daughter who sacrificed eight years of her life for Sophia was nothing but a stain. Disposable trash they could throw away at any moment. “I didn’t kill anyone!” I struggled violently and screamed the words out. “There was more to what happened back then!” “Why won’t any of you ever believe me?!” But no one cared. And just as despair was about to swallow me whole— Ryan suddenly walked in from outside. There was a high-voltage stun baton in his hand. Those eyes that once looked at me with tenderness were now terrifyingly cold. “Rosalind, don’t force me.” “For Sophia, there’s nothing I won’t do.” The next second, without a moment of hesitation, he slammed the stun baton hard into my back. Violent electricity tore through my body instantly. My entire body convulsed. And then my vision went completely black.

When I opened my eyes again, I had already been thrown onto the deck of a salvage ship. All around me was the dark, violent ocean. The freezing sea wind lashed endlessly against my face. My entire body still felt numb, and the sting from the electric shock lingered across my back. Ryan stood in front of me. His expensive coat whipped wildly in the wind. He looked down at me, his eyes filled with agitation. “Quit pretending to be unconscious.” “Get in the water and bring Sophia back up.” When I still didn’t respond, he clenched his jaw and softened his tone slightly. “Rosalind, I’ve already hired a lot of divers, but none of them are as capable as you. Even the coast guard can’t compare.” “Just listen to me. If you save her, I’ll remarry you.” “You’ll never have to do that filthy kind of work again.” Filthy. The moment I heard that word, my heart twisted painfully. Half a year ago, when I first got out of prison, I had still foolishly believed things might return to the way they were before. That night, I secretly went back to the family villa. Through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, I saw the house glowing with warm light. My parents, Ryan, and Sophia were gathered around the dining table, laughing as they raised their glasses together. Like a real, happy family. And me— I stood outside in the snow like a homeless stray. A ruined woman who had spent eight years in prison for someone else. A criminal abandoned by the entire world. I didn’t even have the courage to walk through the door. That was the moment I finally understood. From beginning to end, there had never been a place for me in that family. … Slowly, I came back to myself. My eyes landed unintentionally on a photograph in Ryan’s hand. It was a candid shot from a beach volleyball game. In the picture, Sophia stood in the middle of the crowd wearing a fitted diving tank top, smiling brilliantly beneath the sun. But the most glaring thing— was the scar on her right shoulder. My pupils contracted violently. And in an instant, my memories were dragged back ten years. Back then, I was the captain of the diving team. Ryan and Sophia were both on my team. That day, a sudden underwater current hit without warning. The situation turned deadly in seconds. I immediately signaled everyone to retreat. But the accident still happened. In the chaos, I shoved Ryan and Sophia toward safety with everything I had. And then I was swept away by the current myself. Later, I was rescued from a deserted island after being unconscious for three full days. When I finally returned home, Sophia was the first to rush over and throw her arms around me, crying so hard her face was soaked with tears. “Rosalind! You’re finally back!” “This is all my fault…” “If I hadn’t failed to hold onto you, none of this would’ve happened…” “Thank God I managed to save Ryan…” At the time, I hadn’t noticed anything strange. Not until now. Only now did I finally understand. During the three days I was missing, Sophia had stolen my place and become Ryan’s savior. And I— became the person responsible for putting everyone in danger. No wonder Ryan later destroyed my life for her without hesitation. So everything had already gone wrong that long ago. How ridiculous. I clenched my fists so tightly my nails dug into my palms, my voice hoarse. “I already told you…” “I can’t dive anymore!” “My ear can’t handle deep-sea pressure!” “I’ll die from a brain hemorrhage!” Ryan’s expression visibly shifted. For a brief second, hesitation flickered across his eyes. But the very next moment, Father suddenly stormed over and kicked me hard in the chest. “Enough!” “How long are you going to keep pretending?!” “Rosalind, you’re rotten to the core! You’re nothing but trash!” “You’d even fake a disability just to avoid responsibility!” The force of the kick sent me crashing onto the deck. Pain exploded through my chest so violently I could barely breathe. Not far away, Mother Laura had already broken down completely. “Oh God…” “Sophia is such a kind girl…” “If something really happened to her, what would we do…” She knelt on the deck with her hands clasped together, praying over and over. But her prayers had never once been for me. All she wanted was for Sophia to come back alive. I looked at this so-called family in front of me— and suddenly, all of it felt absurd beyond words. Just then, the captain hurried over. “Mr. Miller.” “According to the tracking data, Ms. Sophia disappeared in this area.” “Based on the timing, her oxygen supply can last thirty more minutes at most.” That sentence completely shattered the last thread of Ryan’s restraint. He spun around and roared at the bodyguards. “What the hell are you waiting for?!” “Put the diving gear on Rosalind!”

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My husband’s mistress complained that our daughter snubbed her by refusing to touch her food. That night, he ripped out Lily’s tongue — and served it to her as dinner. I snapped. I severed Amber’s tendons , hands and feet,then ripped her womb out and fed it to the dogs. I wanted her to feel exactly what I felt. Everyone thought Ethan Cole would kill me for it. Instead, he locked me in a psychiatric facility for two years — then shoved our daughter’s ashes in my face and made me sign the papers. “The Cole family doesn’t keep dogs that bite. Die in here, or crawl out and disappear.” After that, I was gone. Completely. Until three years later — when I inherited my father’s empire, every piece of it, legit and underground — and came back to find Amber still breathing. She slapped me the second she saw me. “Oh my God, Zoe. You’re alive? Could’ve sworn you’d be rotting in a gutter somewhere by now.” I smiled. Grabbed her forearm. And snapped it. “Funny — you forgot what I’m capable of. Let me jog your memory.” Amber screams like something dying. Her little entourage loses their minds — pointing, shoving, screeching all at once. “What the fuck is wrong with you!” “Do you have any idea who she belongs to?!” Some guy rushes forward to pull Amber away from me. I plant my foot in his chest and send him flying. Amber’s ghost-white, drenched in cold sweat, but she still manages to point at me with her good hand. Shaking. “Zoe! You crazy bitch! You actually—” “What? Surprised I would?” I cut her off. Drop her arm. Watch her stumble backward, clutching the twisted mess of it. “Three years, and the only thing Ethan taught you is how to talk shit? That’s it?” Dead silence. Ethan Cole’s name hits the room like a kill switch. The noise cuts out almost entirely. Amber’s voice cracks. Pitches high. Desperate. “Ethan’s going to make you pay for this! You hear me?! You’re DEAD!” I pull an antibacterial wipe from my bag. Clean each finger. Slow. Deliberate. Like I just touched something diseased. “Then tell him to come. I’ve been dying to ask how he raised you to be this useless. All bark. No bite. Just a yappy little thing that can’t do anything but make noise.” Gasps ripple through the crowd. Everyone in this room knows. Amber is Ethan Cole’s. His untouchable. Even back when she was just a dirty little secret on the side, nobody dared cross her. Three years under his wing turned her into one of the most dangerous women in this city. And I just shattered her arm and spat in both their faces. She’s shaking. Rage. Tears and sweat running together. Pathetic. “You’re NOTHING! A thrown-out ex-wife! A goddamn mental patient! Who the fuck do you think you are, putting your hands on me?!” I step forward. She scrambles back. Terror flooding her eyes. “Amber. Want me to remind you what it felt like? When the dogs got into you? Because I remember every second. And I can do it again.” Every drop of color drains from her face. Like she’s seen a ghost. Screaming, stumbling backward. “Someone grab her! Get this psycho away from me!” People shift. Nobody steps forward. Then the crowd parts on its own. Tall. Familiar. Flanked by bodyguards. Ethan Cole. Amber spots him and collapses into full hysterics. Throwing herself at him. “Ethan! She broke my arm! Oh God it hurts—” His eyes land on my face. Hold for one second. Brow tightening. Then he looks down at Amber — sobbing, shaking against his chest — and reaches for her. But not to comfort her. He grips her dislocated forearm. She gasps. Crack. She shrieks. Goes limp. He catches her. Pulls her close. “Shh. You’re fine.” His voice — dead flat. But the look he gives me is pure murder. “Zoe.” My name. Even. Measured. The pressure behind it could crack stone. “Three years gone, and you come back swinging like this? Hell of a homecoming gift.” I look at him. I think about the windowless days in that facility. I think about him forcing Lily’s ashes into my hands and making me sign away everything. I let my lips curl. No warmth behind it. “That was just the appetizer. You want the main course? I can serve it right now.”

Amber wails louder into Ethan’s chest. “Ethan it hurts so bad — she’s completely lost it — just kill her already!” He pats her back. Twice. Then keeps his eyes on me. “Seems those years locked up didn’t teach you a damn thing, Zoe. If anything, you got dumber. Bolder. Stupider.” I toss the used wipe into the nearest trash can. Look him dead in the eye. “That’s hilarious coming from the guy who let his whore get his own daughter killed. You wanna talk about stupid? Let’s talk about stupid.” “You—!” Vein pops at his temple. His arm crushes tighter around Amber. She yelps — but doesn’t dare say a word. “Take that back. Apologize to Amber.” His voice drops into command mode. Low. Absolute. “Then break your own hand. I might — might — let you crawl out of here still breathing.” I laugh. Loud. Right in his face. Like he just said the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life. “Ethan. Sweetie. You actually still think you’re God in this city?” I step into his space. Ignore the bodyguards going tense all around me. “You want me to apologize?” I point at Amber. Sneering. “Tell that bitch to give my daughter her tongue back first.” Amber shrinks behind him. Trying to disappear. His face goes black. Like a storm about to break. “Lily brought that on herself! She pissed Amber off!” The way he says it. Casual. Offhanded. Like he’s talking about a spilled drink. Something inside me goes ice-cold. Lethal. “Over one bullshit made-up complaint — you ripped your own daughter’s tongue out of her mouth? Even the sickest, most fucked-up animal on this earth wouldn’t do that to its own young. You’re not even an animal, Ethan. You’re something worse. Something that shouldn’t exist.” That night. When they brought Lily back. Her mouth — a lake of blood. Her tiny body curled on the cold floor like a shattered doll. She was staring at the ceiling. Big eyes — nothing left in them but tears and terror. Already gone. Drowned in her own blood. No breath. And Ethan stood right there. Looking down at me — collapsed, destroyed — and said in that dead flat voice: “She won’t piss Amber off anymore.” That was the moment I knew. One of us was going to die. And it wasn’t going to be me. “Shut your MOUTH!” Ethan. Roaring. I hit the nerve. “You wanna play it this way?! FINE! We do it the hard way!” Hand raised. Signaling the guards. “Pin her down! She won’t do it herself — then you do it for her!” They close in around me. Amber’s mouth curves into a smile. Already tasting my blood on the floor. I don’t move. Don’t flinch. Just look at Ethan. “You actually think I’m still her? That scared little wife you pushed around? The one who couldn’t save her own baby?”

Ethan charges. Hand clamping around my throat. Eyes bloodshot. Nothing behind them but murder. “You really think I won’t, Zoe? You really think I give a shit?” Vision going dark. But I look right at him. And smile. Force the words through his grip. “Do it then… squeeze…” “…just like you watched Lily choke on her own blood.” Her name. His fingers loosen. Just a fraction. I drive my knee up between his legs. Hard as I can. He grunts. Grip gone. I stagger back. Gasping. Throat raw and burning. Guards swarm me. Arms wrenched behind my back. Face slammed into cold marble. Amber peeks out from behind him. Pure poison in her eyes. “Baby, are you okay? Make her kneel! Force that bitch to her KNEES!” He straightens. Fixes his collar. Looks down at me like I’m something on the bottom of his shoe. “You heard her. Amber doesn’t like you standing.” He crouches. Quiet. Clear. “Get on your knees. Apologize. Then smash the hand you touched her with.” Pause. “Or I dump Lily’s ashes in a pig trough. Your choice.” Lily. Every muscle in my body goes rigid. Pinned flat. Can’t move. I can only wrench my head up and stare at him. That tiny girl. Who called me Mommy in her little voice. All that’s left of her now — a handful of ash. And he’s using even that. To break me. “You don’t deserve to be called her father. You don’t deserve to breathe the same air as her memory—” My voice is shredded. Blood on my lips. He scoffs. Amused. “Monster or man — wasn’t that your choice? You married me, Zoe. You picked this.” And he’s right. I fell for Ethan Cole when he was nothing. Broke. Empty pockets. Big mouth. I ignored my father’s warnings. Walked away from everything the Sinclair name meant. Poured it all into him — the connections, the resources, my own blood and sweat — built the throne he’s sitting on right now with my bare hands. And what did I get? My daughter slaughtered. Myself thrown out like garbage. “Hard way it is then.” He stands. Patience gone. Nods at the guard. The man grabs my right hand. Ethan watches. Eyes flat. Unreadable. My voice — raw. But steady. “You sure you wanna go there, Ethan? You really sure?”

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