Category: English

My new intern is sweet, obedient, and completely innocent. Every day, I drag him into my passionate rants against our boss: “Repeat after me! Down with capitalism! Power to the working class!” He obediently repeats it. Me: “The evil corporate overlords will eventually face their demise!” He furrows his brow, looking a little hesitant: “The evil corporate overlords… will eventually face their… demise.” Me: “The CEO’s son is a pompous, trust-fund prick!” His face instantly turns beet red: “Miss… don’t you think that’s a bit too harsh?” 01 “Huh? Whose side are you on?” Cole blinks his puppy-dog eyes, offering a completely harmless smile: “Yours, obviously.” “Then what are you scared of? It’s not like you’re the CEO’s son.” I narrow my eyes, looking him up and down. “Wait… there’s a rumor going around that the Crown Prince is undercover at our branch. It couldn’t be you, could it?” Cole’s eyes dart away for a second. “Um… are you hungry? We should check the UberEats lunch specials.” “True,” I scoff. “As if a billionaire heir would be splitting a ten-dollar BOGO coupon with a peasant like me.” “They’re probably eating filet mignon and drinking vintage wine for every meal!” Cole chuckles softly, his eyes shining as he looks at me. “The way you talk is so cute.” I raise an eyebrow at him. “Smooth talker. Alright, today we’re upgrading to the twelve-dollar combo!” 02 Cole is the new intern at our company. Soft, fluffy hair, puppy-dog eyes, and crisp white button-down shirts always buttoned to the very top collar. When he smiles, two little dimples appear. He’s sweet and pure. He just comes from a modest background. Every time we split a lunch order, he’s never picky. He eats whatever I order, and cleans his plate completely, like a giant, easily satisfied golden retriever. And he’s incredibly easy to tease. The second I call him “kid,” the tips of his ears turn bright red. “Hey kid, you want the teriyaki bowl today? I’ll add an extra egg for you.” Sure enough, his face flushes again. But today, completely out of the blue, he sends me a link. “Let’s not do the cheap combo today. Let’s do this.” “Sure.” I click the link: [Michelin-Star Kaiseki – Premium Tasting Menu for Two]. ??? My eyes practically pop out of my head. “This is not the UberEats I know.” His eyes curve into a smile. “This is the fancy eats.” “Kid, do I look like someone who can afford this on a four-thousand-dollar monthly salary? What kind of lunch delivery costs $588? That’s highway robbery!” His tone is confident. “If we take three pictures and write a 15-word Yelp review, they’ll refund us $568 as a promotional rebate.” “Seriously? Are you sure?” “Positive. You can call the restaurant and ask.” Cole leans in, lowering his voice. “Last time I went to their physical location, I got a $1,600 meal and they refunded me $1,550.” How does this kid keep stumbling into these insane luck-of-the-draw promotions? Well, I can’t say no to that. If there’s a loophole to exploit the capitalists, I’m taking it. And just like that, Cole and I upgraded from “cheap lunch buddies” to “exploiting corporate promotional loopholes buddies.” 03 New Zealand scampi. Chew, chew, chew. A5 Japanese Wagyu. Chew, chew, chew. Hokkaido sea urchin. Chew, chew, chew. I gossip while I eat: “I got a reliable tip. Apparently, the CEO’s son is super tall and insanely hot. Like, A-list celebrity hot.” Cole, who is currently drinking sparkling water, violently chokes. “Cough, cough… seriously? That exaggerated?” I chew on my fork, thinking. “Hey? Now that you mention it, are there any super hot guys in your intern class?” I frown, my gaze landing squarely on him. “Why do I feel like… you’re the best-looking one?” Cole’s Adam’s apple bobs. He involuntarily loosens his tie. At first glance, this guy looks like an obedient, soft-haired puppy. But looking closely, his facial features are actually incredibly sharp and defined, with a high, straight nose bridge. He’s a very, very pretty puppy. Maybe my female-gaze stare is a bit too blatant. Cole’s chest visibly heaves, the muscular outline beneath his dress shirt subtly flexing. Pop. A button on his shirt flies off. And it pops off in the most precarious, perfectly placed spot. Through the gap, I can simultaneously see the defined lines of his pecs and his upper abs. Cole immediately grabs the gaping fabric, his face turning the color of a boiled lobster. “D-don’t look…” “Oh, please, I already saw it.” I rest my chin on my hand, highly satisfied. “Hehe. Not bad at all. “Alright, I know you aren’t the CEO’s son. What kind of billionaire heir wears cheap shirts that pop their buttons? “Plus, you curse out the corporate overlords with me every day. A guy wouldn’t curse himself out, right?” Cole lowers his head, rubs his nose, and stays completely silent. As obedient and guilty as a big dog with its ears pinned back. 04 The CEO is coming to inspect our branch next month. Everyone is running around like headless chickens, on high alert. VP Miller, our notoriously awful middle manager, dumps a mountain of his own backlog onto my desk. “Mr. Miller, I haven’t even finished my own quarterly reports yet.” “Then do it after hours,” Miller shoots me a cold, dismissive look. “Time is like water in a sponge; if you squeeze hard enough, you’ll always find some. “Riley, this is a prime opportunity to show off your skills in front of the CEO. You better cherish it.” Evil corporate overlords! Even a petty middle manager like Miller gets to enslave bottom-tier corporate drones like me. I sit at my desk, radiating pure resentment, typing furiously on my keyboard. A slice of strawberry shortcake is carefully slid across my desk. Half of Cole’s head peeks out from behind my monitor. “You’re typing like you’re firing a machine gun. Bad mood?” “No shit!” I glare viciously at the screen. “I don’t want to ‘show off my skills’ to the CEO. I’m just a corporate drone, and this drone just wants to go to sleep.” Cole looks surprised. “Are you presenting this report to the old man?” “Who’s the old man?” “I mean… the CEO.” Cole clears his throat softly. “I’m so used to cursing out the capitalists with you, it just slipped out.” “Watch your mouth around the office, kid,” I lecture him. Cole chuckles, muttering something incredibly softly: “It’s fine to meet him. We’ll have to meet him sooner or later anyway.” 05 After that, Cole constantly finds excuses—usually involving our “lunch deals”—to stay late and keep me company while I work overtime. He somehow always manages to find these incredible “free tasting” promotions. Private chef menus, high-end sushi, French cuisine, Italian… “Why don’t you just move a whole Michelin-star restaurant into the office?” I stare, dumbfounded, at a massive, perfectly steamed red grouper. Cole scratches his head sheepishly. “Well, all these places offer two-person tasting menus, and you’re my only food buddy.” Whatever. It’s free. Chew, chew, chew. Cole sits at my computer, helping me format data. This wage slave is finally experiencing the luxury of having a younger, prettier wage slave do her work. While eating, I start scrolling through TikTok. The algorithm, doing what it does best, feeds me an endless stream of shirtless male fitness models posting thirst traps. “What are you looking at? Why are you smiling like that?” Cole suddenly leans over and asks. My grin is stretching from ear to ear; I can’t hide it fast enough. I have no choice but to bluff my way through: “I am simply admiring the impressive fitness results of these creators and offering them my supportive ‘likes’.” Cole blinks innocently. “Then why is he doing pushups while wearing a leather choker?” “…Aesthetics.” “Do you like that?” “I work out too.” He looks at me with sheer, unadulterated earnestness, his eyes clear. “Do you want to inspect my results?” Before I can even process what’s happening, Cole grabs my hand and presses it flat against his chest. “I think I’ve made decent progress.” He guides my hand lower. “What do you think?” Through the thin fabric of his shirt, his pecs are full and firm, and the ridges of his abs are distinct and rock-hard. It feels absolutely incredible. I finally understand why older men like innocent, naive young girls. His oblivious, accidental seduction is practically a lethal weapon. “Not bad,” I say, forcing myself to stay calm and swallowing hard. “With this level of fitness, you could totally make thirst trap videos… “I mean—fitness videos! Educational fitness videos!” 06 The day of the CEO’s inspection finally arrives. VP Miller trails right beside the CEO, acting as sycophantic as a groveling little troll. The CEO flips through the printed presentation materials. As he reads, he suddenly chuckles. “This report is very unique. It’s concise, clear, and… highlights the key points perfectly. “Who put this together?” VP Miller instantly jumps in to steal the credit. “Mr. Sterling, I did!” “You?” The CEO frowns, looking thoroughly disgusted. “He didn’t make it,” Cole’s voice suddenly rings out. “What do you mean I didn’t make it?!” VP Miller snaps, jumping in panic. I frantically tug at Cole’s shirt hem. Lord have mercy, shut your mouth! But this idiot completely ignores me, declaring with absolute righteousness: “Because I watched Riley Brooks make it.” I close my eyes and pray for a swift death. My career is officially over as of today. It wasn’t until later that I found out what the CEO actually saw in the report. On the very last page of the printed materials, there was a tiny line of text Cole had typed in: [This summary was made by your future daughter-in-law. Praise her.] … The CEO calls me into the VIP reception room. I thought he was going to ask me about the company’s operations, but instead, he just makes small talk. The CEO is beaming, looking as friendly as an amiable neighbor: “Riley, right? Don’t be nervous, I’m a very easygoing guy.” Then he proceeds to ask me things like, “Is the workload too heavy?” and “Are your parents doing well?” And at the very end, he actually asks me for my thoughts on older woman/younger man relationships. “What did you say?” When I step out, Cole asks me, looking noticeably nervous. “I said age doesn’t matter, as long as he has big muscles.” I stare blankly ahead in a daze. “And then the CEO laughed. His executive secretary stood there clapping, saying the CEO hasn’t laughed that hard in years.” Cole starts laughing too. “You better back up those words with actions.” “You should be worrying about how you offended VP Miller,” I sigh heavily. “He’s incredibly petty. “The last guy who called him ‘Assistant VP’ instead of ‘VP’ was forced to resign. We’re both probably dead meat.” Cole looks completely relaxed. “It’s fine. You have me.” I look at him with deep pity. Ah, the fearless arrogance of a newborn calf. “What exactly is an intern making minimum wage going to do?” “Didn’t you say my body was pretty good?” Cole shrugs. “Worst case scenario, I’ll go film thirst traps to support you.” 07 That evening is the welcome banquet for the CEO. Formal attire is mandatory. Wearing a cocktail dress and stilettos, I stumble my way into the lavish, gilded banquet hall. It’s a sea of designer gowns, champagne flutes, and elite networking. A room full of VIPs I don’t recognize. When I finally spot Cole, I almost don’t recognize him. “Why did you dress up so much?” He’s wearing a perfectly tailored, dark grey bespoke suit. His usually soft, fluffy hair is slicked back cleanly, exposing a sharp forehead and piercing eyes. The glasses are gone, and his features are so strikingly handsome they’re almost intimidating. His aura is completely overwhelming. I click-clack over to him in my heels. I drag him to the buffet table and start inhaling the hors d’oeuvres. “What does an event like this have to do with us anyway?” I shove a mini tart into his hand and happen to catch a glimpse of the watch on his wrist. “This fake Patek Philippe… is actually incredibly detailed. It’s so shiny.” A vein twitches in Cole’s temple, but he doesn’t say a word. I look up, only to see VP Miller marching toward us with a face like thunder. “We’re dead, we’re dead. Miller is coming to collect our souls!” He definitely couldn’t find an excuse to yell at us in the office earlier, and now he’s finally caught us. Miller approaches, giving us a fake, plastic smile, his tone dripping with sarcasm: “Well, well, Riley. You certainly stole the spotlight today. “But don’t you forget who your actual boss is. You’re young, you need to know your place, understand?” From the side, Cole comments dryly: “Not for much longer.” Miller instantly explodes: “I haven’t even started on you yet! Who told you to interrupt?!” I quickly try to smooth things over: “Mr. Miller, please, calm down. He’s just an intern, he doesn’t know any better…” “An intern?!” Miller raises his voice, spit practically flying into my face. “Believe me, I can have both of you fired by tomorrow morning!” “Who are you firing?” a deep, steady, amused voice cuts in. The CEO, Richard Sterling, had silently walked up beside us. “Mr. Miller, you certainly enjoy throwing your weight around.” Miller instantly shrinks into a quivering mess, wiping sweat from his forehead. “I wouldn’t dare, Chairman Sterling! It’s just this intern, he has absolutely no respect for authority. “I had to discipline him, otherwise what if he offends you?” “That is true,” the CEO nods, looking profoundly agreeable. “This kid has no respect for authority at home, either. “He won’t even call me ‘Dad’ properly. Just calls me ‘old man’ all day long.” … The air freezes. Miller is sweating buckets, his eyes bulging so hard they might pop out of his skull. Wait… who is calling who Dad? Who is whose father?! 08 A few minutes later, the CEO drags Cole onto the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce my son, Cole Hayes. He just returned from his studies in Germany and is currently starting from the ground up as an intern in our branch…” I don’t know if VP Miller dropped to his knees. Because I had already bolted. Lifting my annoying dress, I stumble and practically sprint out the back doors. After a few blocks, I’m completely out of breath and collapse onto the edge of a concrete planter. Deep breaths. Stay calm. Then I begin to frantically review the tape: What the hell did I do in front of the ultimate capitalist heir? “…The CEO’s son is a pompous, trust-fund prick.” I made him do my work. I touched his abs. I told him he should film borderline-NSFW thirst traps. Ok, fine. It’s over. We working-class folks don’t start trouble, but we’re definitely terrified of it. Since I’ve already caused a catastrophic mess, there’s only one way out—resignation. I need to get home first! As I stand up, I realize I was running so frantically that I think I twisted my ankle. “Hiss…” I drop my butt back onto the planter. “Where are you trying to run?” Cole’s voice sounds from above my head. A suit jacket, still carrying his body heat, is draped over my shoulders. “The night wind up here is a bit chilly. Don’t catch a cold.” I close my eyes and accept my fate. Cole sits down next to me on the planter. Like I’ve been electrocuted, I scoot a few inches away. “What? Because I’m a capitalist heir, you need to draw a clear line in the sand?” I grit my teeth: “Your last name is Hayes. Shouldn’t the Crown Prince’s last name be Sterling?” “I took my mother’s maiden name. She passed away when I was young.” …A massive miscalculation on my part. A moment of silence passes. He turns his head, looking at me cautiously. “Are you mad?” “This lowly peasant wouldn’t dare.” “So you are mad.” He suddenly crouches down in front of me, tilting his face up, looking at me with those innocent puppy-dog eyes. “How about you hit me? I didn’t mean to lie to you.” I’m not falling for this again! Even if he grabs my hand and uses it to punch his own pecs… Even though the muscle definition feels incredible, I am not falling for it again! “How could I dare strike the Crown Prince?” I coldly pull my hand back. He stays in his crouched, kneeling position, lowering his pride to the absolute dust: “On one hand, I didn’t want to expose my identity so I could observe the real operational status of the branch.” “On the other hand, it was for my own selfish reasons.” He looks up, staring directly into my eyes. “I wanted to get close to you.” I look away. “Why would you want to get close to me?” “If you knew who I was from the start, would you still have split cheap lunches with me and cursed out the corporate overlords?” “Hell no!” He raises an eyebrow, putting on a ‘See? I told you so’ expression. “So I didn’t really have a choice.” “Wait!” I suddenly remember. “So all that incredible luck was fake? The Michelin-star meals, the private chefs… all of those promotions were just you tricking me?” Cole guiltily averts his eyes, looking exactly like a giant golden retriever that just chewed up a pair of sneakers, avoiding its owner’s gaze. “I’m going to pay you back for all of that!” I stomp my foot in anger, entirely forgetting my injury, and instantly gasp in pain. Cole immediately notices. “You twisted your ankle?” I bite my lip and nod. Without another word, he stands up and scoops me into his arms, carrying me princess-style. “What are you doing?! Put me down!” I scream and struggle. “Not a chance. Dream on.” 09 Cole’s face is dark, his jawline sharp as a knife. His usual docile, golden-retriever energy is completely gone, replaced entirely by an overwhelming, domineering aura. I’m carried and shoved into the backseat of a Maybach. The privacy partition rolls up, turning the backseat into an incredibly intimate space. The car glides smoothly forward. Cole pulls an ice-cold bottle of water from God knows where, lifts my injured ankle, and naturally rests it on his own thigh. The freezing plastic bottle presses against my skin, making me shiver. But my ankle, circled by the warmth of his palm, is faintly burning. “I can do it myself,” I say, trying to pull my foot back. Cole doesn’t let go. He looks up, his gaze heavy: “So, are we still friends right now?” “Young Master, if we really are friends, have you ever heard the saying?” I say in a grumpy tone: “I hate to see my friends suffer, but I’d hate it even more if they drove a Range Rover. “And you’re not even driving a Range Rover. You’re being chauffeured in a Maybach. What’s the car your dad drives with the little gold hood ornament called again?” Cole chuckles. “A Rolls-Royce.” I roll my eyes, leaving him to interpret my silence. “I’ll go home tonight, snap the little gold ornament off the old man’s car, and give it to you.” “Are you crazy?!” I raise my foot to kick him, but he catches my ankle firmly. “Stop moving around when you’re hurt. Behave.” I’m stunned into silence by his sudden strictness. We freeze in this overly intimate, suggestive position. Outside the window, the glow of the streetlights flickers across his face. His sharp, handsome features look even more alluring in the dim light. His Adam’s apple bobs. The dress shirt, buttoned to the very top, suddenly looks incredibly restrictive and sexy. My mouth goes dry. I feel like all the blood in my body is rushing straight to my head. He seems to be getting closer and closer to me. Or am I getting closer to him? Just as those incredibly kissable lips are mere inches away, the driver’s voice comes through the intercom: “Sir, we have arrived at the destination.” It’s like I’m suddenly exorcised of a demon. I snap awake. I look out the window—isn’t this my apartment building? I shove the car door open and bolt. Cole finally snaps out of his daze. “Hey, is your ankle okay? Let me walk you up.” I’m limping wildly, fleeing at top speed, waving my hand without looking back: “No need, no need! I live on the first floor!” We almost kissed just now. If I let Cole walk me to my door, God knows what would happen. Men are a dangerous temptation! I smack my burning cheeks hard. Wake up, Riley! He’s the son of a billionaire CEO. You two are from entirely different worlds.

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For the millionth time, my toxic childhood best friend tried to gaslight me, telling me that no decent guy would ever be interested in me. So, I set my sights on the gorgeous, quiet guy living in the apartment right below mine. After intentionally putting his apartment number on my DoorDash orders twenty times in a row, he finally came knocking. “Your food keeps getting delivered to my place by mistake.” I played it completely cool. “It wasn’t a mistake. I did it on purpose. I’m trying to hit on you.” A faint blush instantly crept up the handsome guy’s neck. Beside me, my childhood friend Mason’s face darkened into a stormy scowl. He slammed the front door shut and sneered at me. “Avery, seriously? What’s the point of this pathetic little stunt? Is this because I told you I got a girlfriend?” “Give me a break. As if you’d actually have the guts to date a guy like him.” 1 After spitting that out, Mason marched over to the kitchen island, grabbed a glass of water, and downed it, his face tight with irritation. Just five minutes ago, he had dropped the bomb that he was in a relationship. The girl was a freshman—the soft, delicate, “innocent” type—who had been chasing him for three months. He told me that from now on, I needed to stop grabbing meals with him and maintain a proper distance so his new girlfriend wouldn’t get the wrong idea. For the first time ever, I didn’t pester him with a million questions. I just gave him a crisp, clean, “Okay.” Mason casually ruffled my hair, looking completely unfazed. “Don’t be sad. Next time I meet a decent guy in my frat, I’ll set you up.” My breath hitched for a second, but I quickly recovered. “No thanks.” I knew Mason’s circle of friends way too well. If they weren’t shameless players, they were nowhere near as good-looking as he was. None of them were right for me. I’ve been visual-oriented since kindergarten. Even when buying a coffee mug, I have to pick the prettiest one on the shelf. Why would I compromise on a man?! I’d rather be single than settle for ugly. Mason knew this about me better than anyone. We had known each other since we were three. Every time our parents took us out together, people would shower Mason with endless praise about how handsome and smart he was. Then they’d look at me and offer a polite, “And the little girl is… very cute too.” It wasn’t until middle school, when I started putting real effort into my appearance and style, that I finally managed to catch Mason’s eye. Even then, his compliments were always careless and half-hearted. “That outfit is okay.” “Your hair looks decent today.” “From a distance, you look alright.” After high school graduation, Mason and I both ended up at the same large state university. I worked hard on my fashion and fitness, but I still couldn’t seem to meet Mason’s impossibly high standards. There were always plenty of beautiful girls chasing him. He cycled through girlfriends about every six months. This current freshman made number four. It was always the same routine. Whenever he had a girlfriend, I was expected to keep my distance—no lunches, no library study sessions, no shopping trips together. Then, six months later when they broke up, he would come right back to me, acting like absolutely nothing had happened. He claimed we were just “bros.” To force myself to get some space from Mason, I started trying to meet other guys. But the second I started talking to someone new, Mason would laugh at me. “Give it a rest, Avery. Look in the mirror before you aim that high.” “He likes girls who are 110 pounds. You’re 130.” “You don’t even match his physical preferences.” After tearing me down, Mason would play the “comforting friend,” taking me out for junk food so we could binge eat together. He watched with satisfaction as I drifted further and further away from any other guys. Back then, I naively thought he just didn’t see me as a woman because we’d known each other for so long. Until the end of last month. We were at a party with some of his frat brothers, and someone joked about setting me up with a boyfriend. Mason, slightly buzzed, scoffed loudly. “Don’t mess with Avery. What if she takes you seriously, gets rejected, and then comes crying to me about how heartbroken she is?” His friend frowned. “I’m serious, Mason. The guy I’m thinking of just moved back from Europe, and he’s really good-looking.” “Plus, Avery has gotten seriously hot over the last few years.” “Who knows, maybe it’ll be love at first sight…” Mason clicked his tongue, interrupting him. “Sure, whatever. Set them up. Let’s all grab some popcorn and see if Avery can actually pull off a miracle and get a boyfriend.” The rest of the guys erupted into laughter. The friend, looking awkward, quickly backpedaled. “Avery, I was just kidding. Don’t take it seriously.” Then, the group went back to drinking and joking like nothing had happened. In Mason’s eyes, I simply didn’t deserve to date anyone outstanding or attractive. I liked pretty cups, cute jewelry, and nice things, and he never said a word about it. But the singular exception was men. The moment he saw me getting close to another guy, he would completely lose his mind. If he hadn’t explicitly rejected me in the past, I genuinely would have thought he was secretly in love with me. Suddenly, I was completely done with Mason. Absolutely, 100% done. When I got home that night, I set my sights on the gorgeous guy living in the apartment below mine. He had moved in last year. He was generally very quiet, and his expression was always cool and detached. Rumor had it that no matter who tried to talk to him, he would only respond with a single syllable. He wasn’t mute; he just hated talking. Last time, my bathroom had a leak that dripped down into his apartment. I was panicking and apologizing frantically, but he just stood there with an indifferent expression, looking at his damp ceiling. When we discussed compensation, he didn’t say a single word to me. He just let me name a price, nodded in agreement, and then showed me out. As I stood in his doorway, overshadowed by his tall frame, I looked up at his face. He was drop-dead gorgeous. The hallway light cast the shadow of his incredibly long eyelashes over his flawless cheeks. He had a high, straight nose bridge, and his pale, thin lips looked surprisingly soft. The very next day, I started ordering Uber Eats, filling in his apartment number as the delivery address every single time. At first, he didn’t seem to mind. It wasn’t until the twentieth “wrong delivery” that he finally couldn’t take it anymore and came upstairs to knock on my door. Which happened to be the exact moment Mason was in my living room, telling me he was dating someone new and that I needed to keep my distance. 2 Mason’s phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the screen and hit decline immediately. He shifted back into his casual demeanor, acting like the tense moment at the door hadn’t just happened. He walked over and casually threw an arm around my shoulder. “So, Avery, what are you having for dinner tonight?” I shoved his arm off me. “Steak.” Mason smirked. “Sounds good. What time? I’ll head back, change my clothes, and we can go together.” I looked at him, completely baffled. “Didn’t you just say you have a girlfriend and we need to keep our distance?” Mason raised an eyebrow, a teasing glint in his eye. “So you are jealous that I’m dating someone?” I forced a tight smile. “No. I just already have plans with someone else.” Mason completely ignored my words, pinching my cheek like he was petting a puppy. “Who? That short roommate of yours again?” I swatted his hand away in extreme annoyance. “Her name is Riley, and I’ve told you that a million times.” Mason looked entirely unbothered. “Right, right, whatever her name is. It doesn’t matter. You can just cancel on her so we can grab dinner.” Suddenly, I just felt exhausted by him. As Mason turned around, heading toward the door to go change, I called out to his back. “Mason.” He stopped and let out a soft chuckle. “What, decided you want me to walk you to your car?” I spoke slowly, emphasizing every word. “The person I made plans with isn’t Riley. It’s the guy who was just at the door.” Mason’s tone instantly hardened. “Who? That guy from just now?” “Do you even know his name?” “What college does he go to?” “How old is he?” “Where is he from?” I froze for a second. “I don’t know.” “See? That’s ridiculous.” “But none of that changes the fact that I’m into him.” We both spoke at the exact same time. He looked at me like I had just told the funniest joke in the world. “Avery, did you not see the look on his face just now?” “Who gets happy when a complete stranger starts harassing them?” “If a normal guy actually gets confessed to by a girl he likes, he absolutely wouldn’t react with that kind of cold indifference.” After tearing me down, Mason paused, his voice dropping into a softer, patronizing tone. “Look, as your friend, I just don’t want to see you humiliate yourself.” Humiliate myself? Ha. I shot back. “How do you know I’d be humiliating myself?” “Who knows, maybe he likes me too.” Mason snorted. “He likes you?” “You’re only doing this stunt to get my attention because you’re mad I have a girlfriend.” “You really don’t have to do this. I told you, we’re always going to be best friends.” My voice turned to ice. “Mason, I really don’t think friends get to dictate each other’s romantic feelings.” “Just like I’ve never once criticized your terrible taste in girlfriends, maybe you could stop trying to micromanage my life?” Mason’s face went completely dark. He pulled out his phone and pressed the button to record a voice memo. “Change of plans. You pick the restaurant for tonight. I’ll be there soon.” 3 After sending the message, he yanked the front door open, ready to leave. Before stepping out, he glared at me with cold eyes. “Avery, I don’t care what kind of game you think you’re playing, but let me make one thing crystal clear.” “I don’t care.” “And that guy downstairs? There is absolutely zero chance he likes you.” My rebellious streak hit an all-time high. I decided to spout absolute nonsense just to spite him. “Why couldn’t he like me? What if he does?” As the words left my mouth, my answer was Mason’s smug, triumphant smirk. And the stiff, frozen figure of the handsome neighbor, standing right there in the open doorway. Mason had done that on purpose. I had no idea if the neighbor hadn’t gone back downstairs yet, or if he had walked back up! My heart dropped into my stomach. Mason pulled out a vape, took a hit, and asked casually. “Hey man, do you actually like Avery?” In Mason’s flippant, arrogant tone, my heart leaped into my throat. The handsome neighbor’s gaze moved slowly from Mason until it landed on me. Mason’s lips curled into a victorious sneer. “Avery, if you’re going to lie, at least make it believable.” “Saying you’re chasing a total stranger just to make me mad is honestly pathetic.” Having said that, he softened his voice and tried to coax me again. “Are we still going to dinner tonight?” “I’m going, I’ll just go with you…” “My name is Rowan.” Rowan’s deep voice cut right through the air, interrupting Mason mid-sentence. “Huh?” Mason frowned. Rowan’s beautiful eyes completely ignored Mason. He looked at me with absolute calm and spoke again. “My name is Rowan.” “And I know your name.” My name? Right! When I went to his apartment about the leak last time, I had introduced myself. I didn’t expect him to actually remember. Faced with Rowan’s blatant dismissal, Mason rapidly lost his patience, his tone turning aggressive. “Hey, I asked you a question. Do you like Avery or not?” Rowan’s expression remained completely indifferent. “What does who I like have to do with you?” I finally let out the breath I had been holding. Thank god. At least Rowan hadn’t denied it. I stepped forward and shoved Mason out into the hallway. “He’s right, who he likes is none of your business.” I bit my lip and continued, “And who I like is none of your business either.” Mason was so angry he viciously bit his lower lip, his eyes cold enough to freeze water. “Avery, remember you said that.” “Don’t come crying to me in a few days when you get played.” With that, Mason turned on his heel and marched into the elevator without looking back. Before the elevator doors even closed, I could hear him calling his girlfriend, his voice completely different. I took a deep breath and let out a self-deprecating laugh. Thinking about all the days I spent revolving my entire life around Mason, I felt like a total idiot. I looked at Rowan standing in the doorway. “Hey handsome—I mean, Rowan. Thank you for today.” “Are you free right now? If it’s convenient, I’d love to buy you dinner.” Rowan didn’t ask what we were eating or where we were going. His perfectly straight posture stiffened slightly, and he gave a soft, quiet, “Yeah.” 4 We didn’t go get steak. I took Rowan to a popular, authentic Sichuan restaurant nearby. I ordered a few classic dishes, and it ended up being way too spicy for him. His thick eyelashes were misted with tears from the heat, fluttering against his pale, flawless skin. It was incredibly eye-catching. We were sitting in the main dining room, and his striking appearance caused quite a few people to turn their heads. I caught myself staring for a second. His face and build were truly top-tier. Seeing me zone out, Rowan waved a hand gently in front of my face. I coughed awkwardly. “I’m so sorry, I… I didn’t know you couldn’t handle spicy food.” He shook his head, took a large gulp of water, his voice slightly hoarse. “It’s fine.” After we finished eating, I formally laid out my thoughts to Rowan. I told him that I had genuinely wanted to pursue him before, but mostly it was because I just wanted the idea of a relationship, which was an irrational and immature way to act. I apologized profusely for bothering him by sending my takeout to his door and promised I wouldn’t do it again. Rowan looked a bit surprised, opened his mouth to speak, but then fell silent. On the walk back, he didn’t say a single word. His eyes were downcast, and the heavy silence was making me anxious, so I reached out and poked his arm. “Rowan, if you have something to say, just say it.” “We’re just normal neighbors. You don’t have to worry about making things awkward between us.” Rowan stopped walking. He pulled out his phone, held it out to me, and said, “Let’s add each other’s numbers.” His tone was clear, his actions decisive. I opened my phone and accepted his contact request. As Rowan looked down to type in my name, he spoke. “I didn’t go upstairs to your apartment because I was annoyed by the food deliveries.” “I had insomnia for a while and completely lost my appetite. The food you ordered was actually really delicious.” He paused for a beat. “If it’s convenient… could you keep ordering for me this week? I’ll Venmo you the money.” What? Even though I had carefully handpicked all the food I ordered, the fact that he actually liked my food choices was a plot twist I hadn’t seen coming. “Uh… if you trust my taste, then I can handle your three meals a day.” “I might not know much else, but when it comes to finding good food, I’m practically an expert.” Rowan let out a small sigh of relief, offering a faint smile and a soft, “Yeah.” As we got into the elevator, I asked casually. “Did you buy this apartment?” Rowan: “Yes.” “I think the previous owner was someone else.” Rowan hesitated slightly. “Yeah. It was a resale.” “Their renovations were pretty nice. You probably paid a premium for it.” “It was alright.” “So, is there anything specific you want to eat tomorrow? If not, I’ll just surprise you.” Rowan shook his head. “Whatever you pick is fine.” When I got home, I planned out Rowan’s meals for the next day, and then I noticed a group chat with 99+ unread messages. It was a chat group Mason had set up, consisting of about six of his frat brothers. I accidentally clicked into the chat and it automatically scrolled to the top, where I saw that Mason had invited a new account with a cartoon avatar into the group. Everyone else was sending messages welcoming the “new sister-in-law.” Then someone posted a video of Mason and her kissing at a scenic overlook, the two of them practically glued together. In the video, once Mason realized someone was filming, he leaned into it even more, making the guy filming cheer loudly. The girl hid shyly in Mason’s chest, while he casually patted her back, leaning down to whisper in her ear. I watched the video, feeling completely numb, with no desire to scroll any further. I hit ‘Leave Group’ immediately. I lay down on my sofa, posted a photo of the spicy Sichuan food, and raved in the caption about how amazing it tasted. 5 The next day, Mason’s social media circle completely blew up. Rumors were flying everywhere that seeing Mason in a relationship had shattered my heart, and that I was posting random food pictures in a desperate attempt to make him jealous. When I received a frantic text from my roommate Riley, I was just getting off the phone with my parents, telling them about the Mason situation. I told them that I was putting distance between Mason and me. We wouldn’t be driving home for the holidays together anymore, and we wouldn’t be hanging out on campus. I also asked them to stop reaching out to Mason for random favors. My mom immediately understood what was going on. My dad stayed silent, but quietly wired a chunk of money into my bank account. The note attached said I could use it to buy whatever I wanted or take a trip. After hanging up, I saw a barrage of voice memos from Riley. [Avery, I was at my part-time job at the cafe this afternoon and ran into Mason and his friends.] [The second they sat down, they started talking about you.] [They were acting like they knew everything, saying you were heartbroken, letting yourself go, impulsively leaving the group chat, and that your whole “I’m over it” act is totally fake.] [They were even taking bets, joking that in a week, max, you’ll inevitably come crawling back to beg Mason to hang out again.] [The most infuriating part is Mason sitting there, using this cold, arrogant voice, saying that even if you come looking for him this time, he won’t forgive you easily.] Riley sounded angrier with every word. She hesitated for a second: [Avery, honestly, aside from his looks, Mason is way too arrogant. Maybe you should just…] She stopped herself. During my two years in college, I hadn’t made many close friends; Riley was my best friend. [Thank you, Riley.] [Don’t worry, the past is the past. Out of all the garbage they spouted, the only true thing is that I left the group chat. Everything else is a lie.] [From now on, Mason is nothing but a stranger to me.] Whenever he used “jokes” to put me down and belittle me, any feelings I had for him slowly died. After replying to Riley, I went downstairs to take out the trash, and ran into Rowan in the elevator again. I had actually run into him this morning when I went for my run. Now, he had changed into a clean white t-shirt. His hair was still slightly damp from a shower, and he smelled like fresh body wash. It was incredibly nice. Coincidentally, he was also holding a trash bag. I smiled at him. Rowan gave a slight nod, his voice soft and smooth. “The place you picked today was really delicious too.” “Huh?” I glanced at the takeout bag in Rowan’s hand. “Oh, you mean dinner! I told you, that place might not be huge, but their ingredients are top-notch.” “The flavors are great too. It’s one of my regular spots.” I didn’t know how to cook, so my daily routine was either eating out or throwing together a simple salad. When it came to food, I definitely knew what I was talking about. I scouted all these places in person; I never just blindly ordered off DoorDash. Rowan nodded in agreement, then fell silent. When the elevator reached the first floor, he followed me out and stayed right by my side. After throwing away the trash, he glanced at me subtly a few times, looking a bit tense before calling my name. “Avery.” “Yeah?” “Tonight, I wanted to…” He stopped, hesitating, looking like he couldn’t quite get the words out. A delivery driver walking past stared at us with wide eyes. Rowan didn’t notice. His voice was low, carrying a hint of embarrassment. “Would… would you want to come over?” He tried to say something else after asking. I panicked, immediately clapping my hand over his mouth and shoving him backward into the dimly lit hallway. His soft lips pressed firmly against the palm of my hand. I used to think Rowan was bad with words. Looking at him now… He was bold as hell! How could he ask something like that so naturally?! Rowan was pressed against the wall in the dark hallway. In the dim light, a blush crept up to the corners of his beautiful eyes, his eyelashes fluttering. His hot breath brushed evenly against my palm, and my heart started hammering wildly in my chest. I couldn’t even form a coherent sentence. “Uh… um, Rowan.” “Are you sure you want me to come over tonight?” “Considering our relationship, going to your place isn’t a great idea, right?” Rowan gently pulled my hand away. Perhaps realizing he had been too forward, he asked softly. “Then… how about we do it at your place?” “I’ll go get the stuff ready.” “Ah!” My face burned with absolute fire. When I got back home, I took a cold shower to lower my body temperature. I felt like everything was happening so fast I was completely defenseless. I decided to scroll through Reddit to find some advice. I genuinely wanted to get to know Rowan. But jumping straight into that was way too fast! Thank god for Reddit, there are tons of advice threads for this kind of thing. As I scrolled casually, a gossip thread in the bottom left corner caught my eye. It featured a pale, innocent-looking avatar, and the title was: “My boyfriend has a toxic ‘pick-me’ childhood friend. What do I do?” The attached image was a cup of green tea—classic internet slang for a manipulative, fake-innocent girl. Curious, I clicked on it. Her profile was empty; this was her only post, made two hours ago. The comments had already surpassed a thousand. In a pinned comment, she explained that her boyfriend had a female neighbor his own age who had loved him since childhood. It caused her boyfriend a lot of distress. Because their parents were close, he couldn’t be too blunt with her. This led the girl to misunderstand her place, throwing a tantrum every time her boyfriend interacted with other girls. On the surface, she pretended to stay away, but in reality, she hovered around him constantly. It was disgusting. She even deliberately tried to seduce his friend’s relative who just moved back from Europe, but her boyfriend saw right through her. The most bizarre part was that right after the author and her boyfriend made their relationship official, this fake childhood friend threw a fit for attention, leaving their private group chat and pretending to block him. … I stared at the long wall of text, noting that the poster had the exact same campus IP address as me. I fell into deep thought. Sure enough, in a comment questioning if her boyfriend was also at fault, she posted a screenshot to defend him. [You’re misunderstanding! My boyfriend’s friends all know exactly how toxic she is.] [When she found out we were dating, she even threatened him by saying she was going to go find a random guy to date.] [Thankfully, my boyfriend has zero interest in her.] I clicked on the attached image. It was a screenshot of a group chat, where several guys were taking turns trashing the so-called “fake childhood friend.” The blurring on the names was incredibly sloppy, probably done on purpose to prove it was real. I instantly recognized the names of Mason’s frat brothers. … Wow. Just wow. I thought making things clear with Mason would be the end of it. I never expected his friends, and even his new girlfriend, to be obsessively fantasizing about me behind my back. And adding completely fabricated, twisted details to boot. I quickly typed out a response. [I didn’t want her boyfriend, I didn’t seduce anyone, and I certainly didn’t do any of the dramatic nonsense she hallucinated.] Less than two minutes after I posted my comment, Brooke (the girlfriend) deleted the group chat screenshot. Fortunately, I had already saved it. The internet loves drama, and some users started demanding a showdown between us. Before I could reply, Brooke couldn’t wait to jump in. [I deleted the screenshot to save her some dignity. She wouldn’t dare actually confront me.] After she replied, the hate comments directed at me multiplied, drowning out the few voices of skepticism. I laughed in sheer anger. I immediately created a new post, attached the screenshot of her original post, and tagged Brooke’s account. I laid out the entire history between me and Mason, clear and simple. Every time we went out, it was Mason who invited me. Every time there was a holiday, he bought the tickets home first before asking me. Every time I tried to distance myself, he would “accidentally” show up wherever I was. When I wanted to talk to other guys, he would “kindly” remind me of all my flaws. Every time he broke up with a girlfriend, he’d come looking for me, claiming I was his “bro.” After writing the post, I pinned a comment at the top. [Feel free to question anything. I have chat logs to prove every single word.] 6 After furiously posting the receipts, I remembered I was supposed to be figuring out a plan for Rowan. The drama had completely killed my mood for scrolling through Reddit advice. I figured I might as well just be direct with Rowan. When he came up, I would just ask him. If he was actually interested in me, we could start by getting to know each other first. Just thinking about it made my face burn. There was a loud knock on the door. I opened it to find Rowan. He said he was having trouble deciding what to buy and wanted my opinion. My heart skipped a beat. I pulled him inside. “What is it?” Rowan pulled out his phone and held it out to me. “I picked out a few things. Take a look.” Facing the phone shoved in my face, I squeezed my eyes shut and blurted everything out at lightning speed. “Rowan, look, we’ve only known each other for less than a month. This is way too fast.” “Yes, I admit I like your face, I like your body, and I was genuinely trying to pursue you before.” “But… but we can’t move this fast. We haven’t even gone on a date, and you want us to just hook up.” “We’re adults, I understand having needs, but you’re being way too blunt about this.” “Tell me the truth. Have you been secretly in love with me for a long time?” After I finished asking, there was nothing but silence and the sound of breathing. I slowly opened my eyes. I saw Rowan standing there, completely frozen. His eyes went from hazy, to a sudden dawn of realization, and then back to silence. After a long moment, he glanced at his phone. I followed his gaze. The screen displayed rows and rows of groceries. Groceries! Not… adult items! Ingredients! For cooking. I felt like I had been struck by lightning, turning to stone on the spot. Fighting the overwhelming urge to find a hole to crawl into and die, I forced a strained smile at Rowan. “You… you were talking about cooking?” Rowan blinked his beautiful eyes, his voice stretching out slightly. “Spicy Cajun seafood boil.” “Oh! Great… great dish,” I stammered, biting my lip in agony. “Truly a fantastic dish.” I have no idea how I survived the rest of that evening. I didn’t dare make eye contact with him once. He brought the groceries over to my place. I washed the vegetables, and he meticulously followed an online recipe, step by step. This guy didn’t just have good looks; his ability to learn was insane. The seafood boil he made looked and smelled incredible. It was just insanely spicy. He bought the wrong kind of chili powder. When I handed Rowan a glass of iced tea, my hand trembled, and I spilled it all over him. He went to the bathroom to clean up, but his entire shirt was stained. I told him to take it off. I dug through my closet and found a shirt I had bought for Mason a while ago but never gave to him. Later, I just hadn’t wanted to give it to him at all. I told Rowan to just wear it for now, and he could change when he went back home. As I walked out with the shirt, I saw Mason standing at the bathroom door, his face livid. He had forgotten I changed my apartment passcode! Inside the bathroom was a shirtless Rowan. In an instant, Mason threw a violent punch right at Rowan’s face.

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When my succubus blood finally awakened, my boyfriend, Liam, broke up with me. I crouched by the side of the road, crying. Not because of the breakup, but because… I felt so physically uncomfortable. Liam looked annoyed. He grabbed his roommate. “Handle her for me, will you? I have a date to get to.” Wyatt gave a low “Mm” and nodded. He walked over and asked me, “Chloe, what will it take for you to stop crying?” I carefully clutched the back of my dress, terrified he’d see my bunny tail. But, oh no. My bunny ears were about to pop out too. I could only bite my lip and beg him, “Kiss me.” Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “How?” I reached up to hold down my twitching ears and whispered, “Kiss me until I feel good.” 01 I felt terrible. The bunny tail that had just popped out was making me incredibly uncomfortable. But what felt even worse was the nameless, surging tide of desire crashing through my veins. I wanted Liam to kiss me, to hold me. Maybe even go a step further. But five minutes ago, he had suddenly dumped me. At first, I was stunned. But when I saw Harper standing a short distance away, it all made sense. His unforgettable ex-girlfriend had come back for a second chance. “Alright, Chloe, I’ve made myself clear. Let’s just leave it at that.” Liam sounded impatient, constantly glancing back at Harper. “I put up with it for half a year, but I really don’t like your ‘cute’ vibe. I’m sorry.” “Being with you is like raising a kid.” “You’re cute, and you’re pretty, but… you just don’t give me that romantic spark.” “I prefer women like Harper. She actually has womanly charm.” 02 I stared at him blankly, wanting to explain myself. I did act a lot like a kid before. But our succubus clan only begins our true awakening at the age of twenty. Before that, our physical development is basically paused. Today, I originally wanted to tell him the good news. I had finally grown up. I could wear beautiful, sexy slip dresses. I was developing the alluring curves of an adult woman. But before I could even tell him… He said all those hurtful things. I felt a little sad. My eyes were beet red, just like a rabbit’s. Liam’s frown deepened. “You’re doing it again. Your eyes get red over the slightest thing, acting like someone is bullying you.” I felt even more wronged. My true form was a rabbit—rabbits naturally have red eyes! “Whatever, I’ve said what I needed to say. I’m leaving. Go back to your dorm.” Liam turned to leave. But I suddenly crouched by the curb and started to cry. Not because he wanted to break up. Not because of his hurtful words. I just felt so incredibly uncomfortable. My body felt like it was on fire. The blood in my veins felt like it was boiling. My mouth was dry, and my heart was beating terrifyingly fast. My mom had told me that after a succubus matures, we feed on human emotions and desires. Simple kisses and hugs wouldn’t be enough anymore. Our needs are ten times stronger than an average human’s. So, it’s best to be in a relationship. With one or more steady, strong, capable boyfriends. 03 Through my tears, I looked at Liam. He was tall and had a sturdy build. My mom and I had originally been very satisfied with him. Just yesterday, my mom had given me a few little booklets, telling me to study them well and enjoy myself. I had studied them very seriously, pondering over them half the night. It even caused me to have a bunch of wild, steamy dreams until morning. When I woke up, I felt completely drained. But now, the cooked duck had flown away. Where was I supposed to find a ready-made, capable boyfriend on such short notice? Liam watched me sobbing uncontrollably. He just looked annoyed. He glanced back at Harper again. Harper was losing her patience too, calling out loudly, “Liam, are you done breaking up with her yet or what?” “Are you babysitting or what? Wrap it up!” When Liam spoke again, his tone was stiff and cold. “Chloe, honestly, crying won’t work. I’m not going to change my mind.” I bit the soft inside of my lip, looking at him with red, teary eyes between hiccups. “Liam, can we break up tomorrow instead?” At least let me get through tonight. I was terrified my bunny ears would pop out at any second. I’d be dragged off to a secret Area 51 lab for live dissection. Liam let out a scoff. “Give it a rest, Chloe. Are you really that obsessed with me?” Actually, my love was very shallow. I was purely obsessed with his face and his abs. The seconds ticked by. I felt my body temperature soaring. My consciousness was starting to blur. “Liam, please.” “Not a chance.” Liam looked even more annoyed. Just then, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure. An idea sparked in his eyes. “Wyatt.” Liam took a few quick strides and pulled the guy over. 04 “Bro, cover for me, will you? I have a date to get to.” Wyatt was wearing a hoodie with the hood up, earbuds in. He had an incredibly handsome face, but his expression was ice-cold. He was tall—taller than Liam. Long legs, broad shoulders. As for his body… I remembered going to Liam’s off-campus apartment once. Wyatt had just gotten back from a run. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of light gray sweatpants. His muscles were incredible. And down there… I couldn’t help but swallow hard. Maybe gray sweatpants just make everything look bigger. Wyatt took out an earbud and looked down at me. My eyes immediately locked onto his fingers, unable to look away. So long. I mean his fingers. And they looked so strong. I still mean his fingers. One time at Liam’s apartment, I almost tripped and fell off the couch. Wyatt had caught me by the collar with just one hand. Even though I hadn’t gone through my secondary awakening yet, I was still 5’3″! “Forget it, pretend I didn’t ask. I know you hate meddling in other people’s business,” Liam started to say. But Wyatt suddenly gave a low “Mm.” “You’ll do it?” Wyatt nodded, his face maintaining its usual stoic, indifferent expression. Liam frowned slightly. But Harper was already furious. “Liam, if you don’t leave right now, I’m leaving without you.” “Alright, thanks man. Just don’t let her cry and make a scene or threaten to do anything crazy.” Liam threw out a hasty instruction. As he walked away, he glanced back at me one last time. But my eyes were completely glued to Wyatt. I didn’t even notice him leave. 05 Liam and Harper drove off. Wyatt put his earbuds away and stepped up to me. I was still crouching on the ground, a tiny little ball. My hands were behind my back, desperately covering the small lump my tail was making against my dress. Wyatt was very close to me. I could smell his scent. It was completely different from Liam’s. The rush of hormones was overwhelmingly intense. It was practically an aphrodisiac for my kind. I felt dizzy and intoxicated. Wyatt looked down at me. “Chloe, what will it take for you to stop crying?” Mmm, even his voice sounds so good. How did I never notice how good his voice was before? My mind was running wild with chaotic thoughts. I loved how he said my name. If we were kissing, would it sound even raspier? More seductive? My ears felt like they were itching to pop out again. I frantically raised a hand to hold them down. But, oh no. I was losing control. I could only bite my lip and beg him, “Kiss me.” 06 Wyatt seemed to raise a slight eyebrow. “How?” I bit my lip, my teeth grazing the soft flesh. I thought about how Liam used to kiss me. I thought about how the little booklets described it, how they drew it. I just wanted to avoid exposing my true form. I just wanted to feel “good.” Even though I wasn’t human. I was still a little shy. Covering my ears, I whispered, “Kiss me until I feel good, okay?” Wyatt seemed to smirk. He leaned down, the bridge of his tall nose almost brushing against mine. “Chloe.” “Yeah.” “Do you even know what it means… to kiss you until you feel good?” I blinked my red eyes. My mind was completely blank. I couldn’t think at all. He was too close. His breath brushed against my nose. Scorching, burning hot. The incredible scent radiating from his body enveloped me like a tidal wave. My blood was boiling. It felt like it was going to burst through my veins. Most importantly, being this close to Wyatt… He was so handsome my heart was fluttering wildly. I couldn’t hold back. I tilted my face up and kissed him straight on the lips. I even remembered to close my eyes. Liam used to say my eyes were too big, too innocent. He said kissing me made him feel guilty, so he always told me to make sure I closed my eyes. I was a good girl; I remembered that rule perfectly. Wyatt didn’t push me away. Instead, after a brief, one-second pause. He suddenly pulled me up from the ground. He pinned me against a nearby tree and took complete control. 07 Wyatt didn’t seem very experienced at kissing. He accidentally bit my lip a few times. I whimpered a warning, “Wyatt, don’t bite.” “Do you not know how to kiss?” “Have you never kissed a girl before?” “Forget it, open your mouth…” “Chloe.” Wyatt’s scorching palm suddenly gripped the back of my neck. His breathing was a little ragged as he panted softly by my ear. “Let’s try that again.” This time, he kissed me deep and hard. Like he wanted to devour me whole. My tongue was starting to go numb from how intensely he was sucking on it. I lost my mind, melting against him until my legs could barely support me. Until his large hand slipped down… and pressed right against the tail hidden behind my back. “Chloe?” Through the heavy fog of lust in Wyatt’s eyes, a faint trace of surprise surfaced. I almost screamed out loud. By some miracle, my brain spun into overdrive: “It’s just a little cosplay toy! Please don’t touch it, okay?” Wyatt’s grip tightened instantly. I could distinctly feel his sudden displeasure. “Chloe.” “You’re quite the wild one, aren’t you?” He lightly bit my lip. “Turns out you aren’t an innocent good girl at all.” 08 I had no way to explain, so I just mumbled and tried to gloss over it. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his lips, his jaw, his Adam’s apple. I wanted to kiss him until he was so dazed with desire he’d forget all about my tail. Wyatt took the bait completely. He held me, pulling me fiercely into his embrace. He responded even more passionately. Until twenty minutes later. “Wyatt… I can’t.” “That’s enough, my head is spinning.” “I really can’t, I already feel good, really. Can you stop, please?” My tail had vanished, and my ears had quieted down. I tried to push the man in front of me away. I wanted to rush back to my dorm. Take a shower, then change my clothes. Change everything from the inside out. It was so uncomfortable, so tight, I felt like I was going to explode. “Um, thank you so much for just now.” I covered my chest, which was throbbing with a dull ache, and gave him a polite bow. I was genuinely thanking him. “It’s getting late, and I have an early class tomorrow. I’m going to head up now.” I was about to bolt. But Wyatt reached out and grabbed my wrist. “You’re just going to leave like that?” I looked at him in surprise. “Is there something else?” “You feel good, but I don’t yet.” Wyatt’s voice was hoarse. He was undeniably seductive. “What should we do then?” “You tell me.” I thought about it carefully. My mom said that for the first six months after awakening. I’d go into heat at least three, five, or seven times a week. I absolutely needed a steady partner. I licked my lips and seriously evaluated Wyatt. There probably wasn’t a more suitable man out there than him. “Then, let’s meet here again at the same time tomorrow, okay?” Wyatt stared at me for a long moment before nodding. “Alright. Tomorrow night. Don’t flake on me.” 09 None of my old clothes fit anymore, including my bras. Thankfully, my mom had prepared a whole new wardrobe in my new sizes. Before meeting him the next day, I showered and put on a new outfit. It was a form-fitting style that really showed off my curves. Looking at myself in the mirror, I suddenly felt a little shy. My roommate ran over and pinched my side. “Holy crap, you’re not an A-cup anymore?!” “What the hell have you been eating to suddenly get so stacked?” Naturally, I couldn’t explain, so I just made up some random excuse. “Did you do your makeup? What eyeshadow and blush is that? Why do you look so incredibly seductive?” “I’ll share the details with you when I get back!” Actually, I wasn’t wearing any makeup. Once a succubus awakens, we naturally become more and more beautiful. Especially after tasting physical intimacy—our allure peaks day by day. And this was only the beginning. But the moment I walked downstairs, I felt something was wrong with my body. It was still early. Why was I having such a violent reaction out of nowhere? I frantically flipped through the booklet my mom had given me. After a succubus fully awakens, she feeds on human desires. Especially in the first three months, the cravings increase exponentially day by day. If those needs aren’t met, she can expose her true form at any moment. Therefore, it’s best to go all the way and hit a home run with a steady partner as soon as possible. I panicked. I rushed downstairs. It was still early; Wyatt hadn’t arrived yet. I nervously paced around the front of my dorm building. And accidentally bumped into someone. “Chloe?” It was Liam’s voice, sounding very surprised.

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“I’m back in town. Do you still want me?” Staring at that text from my first love, I drifted into a daze, lost in memories. Suddenly, a hand snatched my phone away. Hudson was standing over me, his brows furrowed in irritation. “What are you doing? Since when do you snoop through my phone?” he snapped. Before I could answer, he crossed his arms, looking down at me. “I’ve told you a thousand times, Maya. Seraphina is, and always will be, the most important person in my life.” When I didn’t immediately respond, he added, almost as an afterthought, “But don’t worry. I’m not going to divorce you.” I felt a twitch in my jaw. He was having a completely different conversation than I was. “Hudson,” I said calmly, pointing to his hand. “That’s not your phone.” Hudson’s face dropped instantly. His grip on the device tightened as he looked at the screen. Then he looked back at me, his expression twisting into something ugly. “Who is this guy?” 01 Hudson glared at me, demanding an answer. I knew that in moments like this, any hesitation would only fuel his paranoia. He lived for control, and a random text from another man was a threat to that control. I leaned back against the headboard, matching his intensity with a flat stare. “That’s probably my ex-boyfriend.” Hudson’s jaw set hard. He gripped my phone so tightly I thought the screen might crack. I had to clear my throat and pointedly look at his white knuckles before he finally threw the phone back onto the mattress. To give him a little credit, it was an easy mistake to make. Our phones were identical models, sitting side-by-side on the nightstand. And apparently, our pasts were identical, too. A year ago, when his precious Seraphina crawled back into his life, she had sent him the exact same text, word for word. I’m back in town. Do you still want me? It would have been funny if it wasn’t so pathetic. The only difference was the timestamp. He was so busy raging that he hadn’t noticed this text arrived five minutes ago, not five years ago. Hudson, who had been on his way out the door to a meeting, suddenly lost his sense of urgency. He dropped onto the edge of the bed, trying and failing to look nonchalant. “An ex, huh?” Despite having already told him, I just nodded. “Yeah. An ex.” Technically, he was the ex. My high school sweetheart, my college love, my fiancé. The guy I was supposed to grow old with until Hudson’s father orchestrated a dynamic corporate merger that involved our marriage certificate. “How long did that last?” Hudson pressed, his voice taut. “Total? Almost ten years.” “When did it end?” “2019.” Exactly one year before I married Hudson. Time was cruel. In the blink of an eye, I’d been trapped in this vanilla-scented prison with Hudson for nearly five years. Hudson seemed to physically decompress. He scoffed, seemingly deciding that this ghost from my past wasn’t a real threat to his ego. “Whatever,” he mumbled. Then, shifting gears awkwardly, he said, “Our fifth anniversary is coming up soon. I was thinking we should go to…” “Are you still sticking to that arrangement you mentioned a few months ago?” I interrupted, my voice sharp. “About us leading separate lives?” We had both started speaking at the same time, and we both stopped abruptly. Hudson stared down at his Italian leather shoes, his face a mask of unreadable thoughts. I didn’t have the patience to wait for him to process. “You were saying?” I prompted. “Where are we going for our anniversary?” “To my family’s estate,” he flatly replied. I let out a soft “oh.” Thank god I hadn’t let my hopes get up. For a split second, I actually thought he wanted to do something just for us. But no, it was just another mandatory appearance at a Sterling family gathering. Hudson sank back into his moody silence. I studied his profile. Even in the dim light, he was undeniably handsome—chiseled jawline, dark hair. But it was a cold, lifeless beauty. I couldn’t see a single flicker of genuine emotion on his face. Feeling bold, or maybe just exhausted, I asked again. “What you said about separate lives… does that still stand?” 02 He had said it two months ago, in a fit of rage when I actually questioned him about where he’d been all night. “For Christ’s sake, Maya! Stop smothering me,” he had yelled. “If you’re that bored, go find your own entertainment. I don’t care if you sleep with someone else, just don’t make a scene about it.” I remembered the absolute agony of that moment. It felt like I’d been punched in the gut, the breath stolen right out of my lungs. But now? Now, I felt a strange sense of relief that he had opened that door. Time really is the best scriptwriter. It doesn’t spare anyone, but sometimes it offers twists you never saw coming. Hudson let out a dry, mirthless laugh. “Stands. Of course, it stands.” He pushed himself up from the bed, moving with that aggressive, purposeful stride of his. He grabbed the door handle, but paused before opening it. He didn’t turn around, but his voice came back to me clear as a bell. “Just remember one thing, Maya.” “You are my wife. Whatever you do, keep it discreet. Do not embarrass this family.” “Understood,” I replied, my voice sweet as poisoned honey. He was setting the standard, after all. I certainly wasn’t going to be the one causing scenes by lighting up downtown landmarks with light shows for my lover, or getting into high-profile shoving matches at charity galas. He had those bases covered. Hudson turned back to look at me, a flicker of something—was it suspicion?—in his eyes. “You’d best make it very clear to whoever this guy is that you are married.” “I don’t need a scandal that affects both our families’ holdings.” I nodded. A remarkably practical point. “I will.” I watched him. He still hadn’t actually left the room. “Anything else you need to lecture me on before you go?” His fingers drummed a nervous beat against his thigh. “What’s his name?” Before I could get annoyed, he held up a hand. “I’m not asking for that reason. I just want to make sure you’re not getting swindled by some opportunist.” I didn’t believe him for a second, but I didn’t care. “Ethan. Ethan Reed.” “Ethan Reed? CEO of Reed Innovation? Son of Elias Reed?” “I think so.” I knew for a fact he was the founder of Reed Innovation, and his father was indeed Elias Reed, the tech mogul. But I didn’t see a reason to give Hudson the satisfaction of knowing I was fully informed. Hudson didn’t stay to chat this time. He turned on his heel and walked out, closing the door firmly behind him. 03 Hudson got into his Aston Martin, but he didn’t start the engine. He sat there, gripping the steering wheel, a sense of irritation gnawing at his gut. He didn’t know why he was so annoyed. Ethan Reed was a non-threat, really. Hudson knew him, had run into him at a few tech conferences. He was rich, handsome, and successful—maybe even more successful than Hudson, which stung a bit. But Ethan was also a man of some principles. He was arrogant and high-handed, yes, but he had a reputation for being ethical in his personal life. He probably had no idea I was married. Hudson was sure that once Ethan learned the truth, he would back off. Ethan wouldn’t waste his time on a messy scandal. And besides, Hudson told himself, Maya didn’t have that kind of pull over a man. She wasn’t… special enough. His phone rang, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was Seraphina. He had promised to take her to a new, exclusive restaurant downtown tonight. He let it ring three times before picking up. “Hey. Something came up at work. I can’t make it tonight. Let’s do it another time.” Seraphina sounded disappointed, of course, but she was always so understanding. “Okay, Hudson. Work comes first. Take care.” Work wasn’t actually the problem, but he wasn’t about to explain that. He was going to sit in his car and brood. This was the dynamic he needed. This was the woman he loved. Hudson wanted a woman like Seraphina—someone soft, understanding, someone who adored him and deferred to him. He absolutely did not want a woman like Maya—smart, sharp, and always looking for the truth with that unsettlingly direct gaze of hers. 04 I sat in the middle of our massive bed, staring at the phone, deliberating. Finally, I decided to reply. Hudson had forced the door open, and I was going to walk through it. [Is this Ethan?] A long pause followed. Just as I was about to give up and accept that I’d made things so messy years ago that he wouldn’t even reply, a simple answer popped up. [Yes.] Our breakup had been ugly. Cruel, even. He felt betrayed when I abruptly broke off the engagement and married Hudson Sterling weeks later. He left the country immediately afterward and hadn’t been back since. Part of me believed he would never contact me again. That we were dead and buried. It took me a full year after he left to stop feeling like a hollowed-out tree. And then, I had married Hudson, a strategic move by my father. Initially, I had allowed myself to be swept away by the glamour of Hudson’s world. I was desperate for something to distract me from the loss of Ethan. But by year four, the distraction had worn off. And then his “White Moonlight” had returned. Seraphina. It was a cliché, a cheap telenovela plotline. She had been driven away by the Sterling family’s disapproval years ago. But when she came back, crying and explaining how she had been forced to leave him, all of Hudson’s logic and principles dissolved. When I first confronted him about Seraphina, he was resolute. He looked me in the eye and said, “Seraphina is the most important person in my life. If she hadn’t left, I never would have married you.” With one terrified look from Seraphina, Hudson was ready to become a weapon against me, to use his power to protect her from my “jealousy.” It was as if our five years of marriage had meant absolutely nothing. Yet, neither of us mentioned divorce. The Sterling and Price corporate alliance was too profitable, too complex to simply unwind. So, fine. Separate lives. In this circle, it was so common it was barely worth gossiping about. As long as the money wasn’t threatened. But my stomach still felt twisted in knots. Over the years, I had changed so much. I had no idea what Ethan was like now. [I’m married.] Those two words felt incredibly heavy as I typed them. The seconds dragged on into minutes, becoming an agonizing wait. I stared at the screen, my heart pounding against my ribs. Finally, a question mark appeared. [?] I bit my lip, agonizing over what to do next. My fingers hovered over the keyboard. Finally, I decided to just lay it out. [I’m married, but it’s… complicated. It’s an arrangement, not a real marriage.] I was still typing the final few words, explaining that our lives were completely separate, when an image appeared on his end. His reply was a screenshot of his text conversations. The screen was completely empty. There was no text that said I’m back in town. Do you still want me? I froze. I realized that my own mind must have twisted things, or maybe Hudson had planted it? No, that was too complex for him. Panic set in. I was desperate to delete the text I’d just sent, but it was too late. It was out there. A couple of seconds passed before a new message appeared from his side. [Wait, I know what happened. I was at a brunch with some friends this afternoon, and we played a game of Truth or Dare. One of them must have grabbed my phone and sent that. He deleted it afterward, so I didn’t even know. If that caused you any problems, I’m genuinely sorry.] 05 Disappointment flooded me, followed by an agonizing wave of humiliation. How arrogant did I have to be to think Ethan Reed would come back for me? For the woman who had crushed his heart and was now officially Mrs. Sterling. I had become so cynical that I assumed everyone was as calculated and transactional as the people in Hudson’s world. I had projected my own desire for escape onto him, assuming he was desperate to have me back. I was no better than Hudson. The realization stung, a bitter taste in my mouth. Shame washing over me, I quickly typed out my apology. [I’m so sorry. I completely misunderstood.] Ethan didn’t reply. I couldn’t stay in this house, in this vast, sterile monument to my bad choices. Hudson wouldn’t be back, and even if he was, his presence would only make the silence louder. I went to a club downtown, a place I frequented, and started drinking, one glass of expensive whiskey after another, until my vision blurred and the noise became a dull roar in my ears. Through the haze, I saw a familiar figure moving towards me. For a moment, I thought it was Ethan, but no, this man was too cold, too distant. At least Ethan, in his arrogance, had always looked at me with heat, with anger. This man looked at me as if I was just another piece of scenery in his path. I let my eyes close. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in an unfamiliar bed, the morning sun streaming through the windows. I sat up, rubbing my temples to soothe the throbbing headache, and my gaze landed on Ethan Reed. He was sitting on a chair on the balcony, watching me. He was wearing a simple grey button-down, the top two buttons undone, revealing just a hint of his collarbone. His sleeves were rolled up, showing off his tanned forearms and a long, jagged scar that ran along one of them. Five years had passed, but his sharp features were unchanged. If anything, time had only honed his arrogance into a more focused, imposing presence. “Ethan,” I croaked. “Thank you for… not just leaving me there.” I remembered bits of last night. I remembered finding out about the prank and getting wasted. I remembered running into him outside the club and absolutely refusing to let go of his arm. He had had no choice but to bring me here. He turned back from the view. “Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have left a stranger in that state, let alone you.” His message was loud and clear: Don’t read anything into this. I gave a self-deprecating smile. “Right. Well, I should probably go. I’ve overstayed my welcome.” I had only taken a few steps towards the door when he called out my name. “Maya. There’s the small matter of the bill.” I froze. Right. The club tab. He had covered it. I pulled out my phone. “How much do I owe you?” “Fifty-two thousand, eight hundred.” My hand stalled. That number seemed entirely too high. I looked at him, confused, and he answered before I could ask the question. “And for the dry-cleaning bill for my suit.” A flash of memory from last night returned, sharp and horrifying. I had thrown up on his bespoke Italian wool suit. Five years later, our first reunion, and that’s what I had managed to do. I wanted to melt into the floorboards and disappear forever. I quickly rounded the number up and sent him sixty thousand dollars, then practically sprinted out the door. 06 Physically and emotionally exhausted, I got back home and took another long shower, as if I could wash away the embarrassment. Then I crawled under the duvet and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. I was half-asleep when I heard the front door close. It was Hudson. He was the only other person with a key. My mind slowly cleared as I listened to his footsteps approaching the bedroom door. He paused at the foot of the bed, and I could feel the weight of his gaze on me. I tried to regulate my breathing, to look like I was in a peaceful slumber. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. I could hear every rustle of his clothing, every shifting movement. Then, I heard a specific sound. He had picked up my phone from the nightstand. My password hadn’t changed since college. It was childishly easy for him to unlock. There was a moment of silence as he scrolled, and then his breathing changed. He had found what he was looking for. I didn’t have any real secrets. But I didn’t know why he would suddenly start checking my phone now. Another silent beat, and then he let out a dry, mirthless laugh. “I knew it.” “You have absolutely no situational awareness, Maya.” He tossed the phone back onto the nightstand, turned, and walked out of the room. Only after the front door closed with a firm click did I dare to move. I huddled under the duvet, pulling it tight around me. I knew exactly what he had seen. My conversation with Ethan. “No situational awareness.” I repeated the words in my head. The humiliation felt like a raw, physical wound. He didn’t care that I had gone to see another man. He was just amused by how pathetic I was, how utterly I had failed to even create a scandal. As the realization settled in, my eyes stung, and the tears started to flow, soaking my pillow. Then my phone buzzed. Once, twice, three times. I didn’t care. I let it be. But then it turned into a call, and the ringing was relentless. Irritated, I grabbed the phone. It was Ethan Reed. I wiped my tears and cleared my throat, trying to regain some composure. I let it ring for another few seconds before picking up. “What is it, Ethan?” He didn’t answer my question. “What’s wrong with your voice?” I instinctively lied. “Nothing. Just a bit of a cold. Is there something you need?” The line went silent for a few seconds. “You left something here.” “I need you to come pick it up. Tonight.” He hung up before I could refuse, and a new message popped up with his address. He was clearly making it non-negotiable. 07 When I arrived at the apartment, Ethan opened the door immediately. He didn’t look like the friendly guy I’d known in high school. He looked efficient and cold, but I couldn’t blame him. I was the one who had crossed his boundaries, not the other way around. I had to get my head in the game. I decided that acting like we were strangers or being overly polite was just drawing attention to the elephant in the room. We had known each other for twenty years. Pretending we didn’t have history would be transparently fake. I’d even brought him a small gift: a boxed set of carved alabaster chess pieces. I knew his only real hobby was chess, and this was a set he’d coveted since we were in college. I didn’t miss the split-second flash of delight in his eyes as he opened the box. “You bought these for me?” I nodded, offering him a warm smile. Ethan turned one of the pieces over in his long, lean fingers. The pale stone looked elegant in his hand. “A wife, a life…” he muttered to himself. I jolted, confused. “What?” Ethan’s face was a mask of impassive calm. “Nothing. I was just thinking of an old proverb.” He was looking so normal that I assumed I must have misheard him. The two phrases sounded similar enough. “Ethan,” I prompted. “What did I leave here?” Ethan picked up his phone. A second later, my phone chimed. [7,200] He had just transferred me seven thousand, two hundred dollars. I stared at the screen, bewildered. “I don’t understand. Why did you make me come all the way down here for a transfer?” Ethan took a sip of his whiskey. “I have a rule about in-person transactions. I like to confirm receipt face-to-face.” Seven thousand dollars. A sum so small for a man like him it wasn’t worth the whiskey he was currently drinking. I nodded slowly, trying to process this logic. “Right. Okay.” I made to turn around and leave, but he stopped me. “That transfer was to repay you for overpaying last night. But we haven’t actually settled up. You still owe me a favor.” I sighed. Fine. That was fair. “Okay. What is it?” “I need you to accompany me to a gala tonight.” My eyes went wide. “Ethan, every single person in this city knows I am Hudson Sterling’s wife. Me being with you will look…” “Every single person in this city also knows that you and I were engaged for four years and have known each other since we were ten. Our history precedes your current corporate merger.” He was remarkable. Utterly resolute, completely unbothered by the potential scandal. And maybe he was right. If we went as friends, as “old acquaintances,” maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal. We didn’t say another word on the drive over. The silence was deafening. Just as the valet opened my door, Ethan stopped me. He offered me his arm, indicating I should take it. As we walked into the grand ballroom, we collided directly with the two people I wanted to see least in this world. Hudson Sterling and Seraphina. Hudson looked like he wanted to murder me. He was glaring with absolute fury at my arm, which was hooked through Ethan’s. But wasn’t Seraphina hooked through his arm, too? He’d been parading her around at every high-profile event for a year now, using her job as his “secretary” as a flimsy excuse for their constant companionship. How dared he look at me with such judgment? I didn’t let go of Ethan’s arm. Instead, I gave it a playful, provocative squeeze, my eyes fixed directly on Hudson. Ethan’s muscles felt much tighter and bigger than Hudson’s. A completely irrelevant but satisfying thought in the moment. Hudson was still blocking our path. “Mr. Sterling,” Ethan stated, his voice smooth and cold. “Is there a problem?” Hudson looked like he was about to physically drag me away, but Ethan stepped slightly in front of me, an immovable wall. Hudson took a deep, forced breath, fighting for control. “We need to talk. Somewhere private.” I took a good look at the people around us. Everyone was staring, of course, their eyes darting between Hudson, Seraphina, Ethan, and me. Hudson was the Sterling heir, and his “affair” with his secretary was an open secret. He was a man, a powerful CEO; no one was going to judge him. But for me? They would crucify me. I sighed. I just wanted this over with. “Fine. Let’s go outside.” 08 I walked ahead, and Hudson followed. Seraphina didn’t let go of his arm, naturally, and followed him right out the door. Her expression was a perfect cocktail of smug triumph and feigned victimhood. I didn’t care about her petty little dramas anymore. Hudson suddenly stopped in his tracks, glaring at Ethan, who was right behind me. “What do you think you’re doing, Reed? I don’t recall this being a group meeting.” “She’s following you, isn’t she?” Ethan and I had spoken at the exact same moment, our voices matching in icy contempt. Hudson was choked up by our unified front. He looked utterly enraged, but he didn’t have a comeback. Finally, he led us to an isolated corner of the garden, near a decorative lake. Hudson wasted no time. “What is your relationship with this guy, Maya? He’s your ex-fiancé, isn’t he?” I looked at him with pure disbelief. “Hudson, you’re smarter than this. A man can be an ex-fiancé and an old friend. This isn’t that complex.” He knew our history, he just refused to acknowledge it. He was reacting purely out of dynamic possessiveness. Ethan Reed was apparently feeling the need to add fuel to the fire. “And her first love,” Ethan chimed in, offering a dry, challenging smile. “And the man she was promised to before you swooped in.” Hudson’s face dropped. I could see the absolute rage burning in his eyes. He advanced on Ethan, grabbing him by the lapels of his suit jacket. “So what? I’m the one who married her. I’m her husband.” Ethan didn’t back down. He grabbed Hudson’s hands. “I left, and you got a chance. Now I’m back, and you don’t stand a chance.” “She is my wife!” Hudson roared. “Do you have absolutely no shame, Reed?” Ethan gave a low laugh. “We both know you’re only here with her because I am. You don’t love her, Sterling. You’re just possessive of your investments. You’re the one without any shame.” Hudson lost it. He swung a fist, connecting hard with Ethan’s jaw. Ethan staggered back, but didn’t fall. A dry smile played on his lips. “Okay. I’ll give you that one, just because I feel sorry for you.” That only made Hudson more furious. He lunged at Ethan again, and the two of them devolved into a brutal, dynamic brawl on the gravel path. Seraphina tried to intervene, but her attempts to pull them apart were pathetic. In fact, she was almost knocked over in the chaos. I watched the whole farce unfold, leaning against a tree, utterly detached. Xin Yuan was glaring at me with raw hatred. “You’re just loving this, aren’t you?” she hissed, coming over to me. “Watching two men fight over you. You think you’re so special.” “Honestly, I don’t really care,” I replied, watching them grapple. “I don’t understand what Ethan is trying to prove, and as for Hudson… he’s just acting like a toddler who doesn’t want anyone else to play with his toy.” Xin Yuan looked like she wanted to spit at me. “Xin Yuan,” I stated, decided to twist the knife a little. “Think about this logically. When you tried to intervene, Hudson didn’t even notice you. He shoved you away like an annoyance.” “For all your talk of being the ‘most important person,’ his body’s actual reactions say something completely different.” Her expression twisted into something monstrous. I had hit the bullseye. Our five-year marriage was a tangible, undeniable reality. And every interaction we had, every flicker of possessiveness, every moment of familiarity, was a reminder to her that she had been gone, and I had been here. I could see a flicker of desperate resolve in her eyes. I knew she was about to pull something. A second later, she screamed and threw herself backwards into the lake. I didn’t even have time to think. Instinct took over, and I immediately dived in after her. She looked shocked when she saw me in the water beside her. She thrashed, and under the cover of the splashing water, she pulled me close and whispered, “Let’s see who he chooses, Maya. You’re going to lose.” Then, using my shoulder for leverage, she pushed off and swam away towards the far side of the lake, leaving me struggling with my heavy gown. The other two finally noticed us in the water. Ethan Reed panicked. “Maya!” I gasped for air, struggling to stay afloat as my heavy dress absorbed the water. “I’m okay, Ethan! I’m over here!” Ethan immediately swam towards me. Hudson Sterling followed right behind him, but only after seeing that Ethan was going for me did he turn and swim towards Xin Yuan.

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While sitting on my sugar daddy’s lap acting cute, I suddenly became self-aware of the plot I was in. I was the cannon fodder bedmate for several powerful young heirs in New York’s elite circle, destined to die from exhaustion in bed. Terrified, I grabbed Liam’s hand, which was roaming my waist, my voice trembling: “Maybe we shouldn’t…” Liam was indifferent: “If we don’t do it now, I’m going to the airport.” Today was the day his adopted sister was returning to the States. I asked tentatively: “Are Cole and the others going too?” Liam sneered: “They can go if they want. I hope they get run over on the way.” I was thrilled. With the beloved “White Moonlight” returning, I wouldn’t have to die in this bed! 1 Liam wasn’t angry that I rejected him. He just lowered his eyes and gave me a lazy, dismissive glance. Thinking about his adopted sister’s return must have put him in a good mood lately. So, he simply got up, grabbed his phone, pushed open the suite door, and left. He didn’t look at me again. I stared at his tall, lean back. In the original plot, this is where things went wrong. Not only did I sleep with Liam, but I got carried away and went too far. It made Liam miss picking up his adopted sister from the airport. Liam was worn down by me and agreed to stay, so Cole and the others went to pick her up instead. They even went to a hot spring resort together. And that very night, Liam’s adopted sister, Chloe, accepted a confession from one of the other guys. Then Liam went crazy and blamed everything on me. Later, Chloe broke up with that guy. Liam became pathologically obsessed with Chloe on one hand, while tormenting me in bed on the other. Just when I couldn’t take it anymore. Cole, the only heir in that circle who hadn’t had an improper relationship with me, descended like an angel. He gently and calmly pulled me into his arms, “You shouldn’t be treated this way. Be with me.” And then… Cole was even more of a fucking psycho! In the end, my two-timing was exposed. That night, in bed, can only be described with one word: Despair. Honestly, I was completely broken. If someone in the underworld asked: How did you die? I’d answer: I was f***ed to death. … Damn, that’s too horrifying! Even if I have to die, I refuse to die in such an incredibly humiliating way! I absolutely will not follow the original plot. Starting right now, I’m going celibate. The love stories of these rich heirs and heiresses have absolutely nothing to do with me. I just want to survive. I sniffled and went to look in the mirror. A necklace around my neck, bracelets on my wrists, and even an anklet. Although wearing so much was a bit tacky, they were all sparkly, and I really liked them. If I hadn’t become self-aware, I probably would have acted just like in the original plot: arrogant, spoiled, and overly confident because of the favor shown to me. After all, in my eyes, Liam truly spoiled me. Because of his indulgence, I overestimated my place in his heart. Normally, if other pretty girls got even a little close to him, they were chased away, and he would just hold me and smile lazily. So I didn’t know that his adopted sister was the only one truly special to him. And I was just a distraction he was somewhat satisfied with. I even used to throw my weight around in front of those other heirs, relying on Liam’s backing. Thinking about it now, they probably thought I was ridiculous. Just a plaything, yet so full of myself. 2 Liam’s usually empty Instagram feed featured a photo for the first time. It was a group photo with Chloe. Liam must be really happy. He didn’t miss it like in the original plot. My eyes uncontrollably fell on the center of the photo. Brown, slightly wavy long hair, the woman wore a red maxi dress, heels, and a bright smile. The powerful young heirs I saw as golden boys and masters of the universe looked like obedient, well-behaved little brothers next to her. From beginning to end, they belonged to the same world. A sour feeling spread in my heart. I silently turned off my phone. Then, I started packing my bags. Some bags, some jewelry… I planned to sell them. Then, use the money I saved to buy a small, first-floor apartment in my hometown, plant some flowers, and take care of a garden. That was my childhood dream. But later, the glitz and glamour wrapped me up so tightly. And I forgot. After packing. I dragged my suitcase to a hotel, slept until I naturally woke up, and then leisurely strolled down to the hotel’s public lounge area. And then I spotted a few familiar silhouettes. I froze instantly. And immediately turned around. Only to be stopped by a smiling voice: “Maya? Why are you leaving without saying hi when you see people you know?” Several pairs of eyes locked onto me at once, making my skin prickle like needles on my back. That obnoxious flirt, did he really have to have such sharp eyes? I wiped my face, forced a difficult smile, and turned around: “Hi, what a coincidence!” My eyes met Liam’s. He tilted his head back slightly, downing the liquor in his glass in one gulp. He didn’t say a word. Instead, it was Cole who smiled slightly, his voice magnetic and calm: “What brings Ms. Price here?” Oh, interrogating me about why I’m at a hotel? I haven’t even asked what several men and one woman are doing at a hotel together. I also smiled: “Waiting for my boyfriend.” The air went silent. Only the smooth English pop music played in the background. Liam gave me a cold glance and poured himself another drink. Right, in front of Chloe, he and I were always strangers. Chloe’s beautiful almond eyes narrowed slightly, “You all know each other? Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Still silence. Because no one knew how to introduce me. After all, I never had an official title, not even as their friend. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself any further, so I said: “You guys carry on, I’m going to head out.” I turned and walked a few steps before a pair of cool hands grabbed my wrist. A pair of captivating, flirtatious eyes leaned in close to my face. “Maya, come hang out with us.” That obnoxious, big-mouthed flirt. He had just called me out, and now he wouldn’t let me leave. He used to be like this too, forcibly dragging me out to party. If I didn’t play along, he’d say I didn’t love him, only for me to end up watching him—Julian—flirt and drink with other beautiful women. Seeing my lack of reaction, he blinked. Then softened his tone: “Maya, why don’t you bring your boyfriend along too?” I remained expressionless. Julian’s face was handsome in a different way from the others; he had a knack for bewitching people. Callous yet incredibly charming. He knew his physical advantages and was accustomed to using his face to get what he wanted. Just like right now. His high nose bridge gently brushed against my cheek, and he whispered: “But Maya, we’ve been to this hotel before. Staying here with your boyfriend… won’t that make you think of me? Or perhaps, you don’t actually have a boyfriend?” I took a step back. Julian smiled, the end of his sentence light as a feather: “Hmm?” A sticky, oppressive feeling. I stared at him steadily for a few seconds. I hated Julian’s know-it-all attitude. I raised my hand and slapped him. The sound was loud and crisp. He turned his head slightly, a red handprint blooming on his pale skin. “Stay away from me.” I took a napkin and wiped my hand. “You’re dirty.” 3 After returning to my suite, I felt bored again. If nothing unexpected happens tonight, Chloe is going to get confessed to. But with Liam here this time, will the confession be successful? Maybe two guys will compete to confess. Then we’ll see which one Chloe graces with her favor tonight. Wait. I sat bolt upright in bed. The young heir who confessed to Chloe in the original plot… I didn’t see him tonight. And shouldn’t they be at a hot spring resort? Why are they at a hotel? I pulled out my phone and opened the chat with that particular heir. Our last conversation was half a month ago. [Where are you?] I asked. A few seconds later. [?] Then he sent an address. A freaking library. I was shocked. Why was this deviating from the plot? I sent him the hotel address. [Hurry, your future wife is here, quick, quick, quick.] If you don’t hurry, the wife that was originally yours will be gone. Even though they were going to break up later, I just couldn’t stand seeing Liam take advantage of the situation. [Okay.] he said. About ten minutes later. [Open the door.] I stayed silent for a few seconds, typing slowly: [Whose door?] He didn’t reply. Then I heard a commotion outside. The suite had great soundproofing; if I could hear it like this, it must be really loud. I pushed the door open. Liam stared straight at me: “Why is he here?” I turned my head numbly and met another pair of dark eyes. Me: “…I don’t know either.” Liam turned his head coldly, “Got the wrong room?” The other guy: “…” Liam was already used to this. He frowned tightly, about to say something else. But he was called away by a phone ring. After walking two steps, Liam received a message. He returned with a very displeased look on his face, grabbing the guy next to him and dragging him away. “My sister told you to come too.” Under my watchful eyes, the two tall figures left this floor. I paused, then closed the door. Well, everything is getting back on track. I didn’t expect that a few minutes later, Liam sent a message, still as condescending as ever: [Why was he at your door?] Me: [Oh, he’s the boyfriend I was talking about.] [.] Liam didn’t believe it. [Wait for me tonight.] he added. [You aren’t staying with your sister?] I frowned. Liam paused for a long time on his end before replying: [I don’t need to stay with her. She has someone she likes.] I froze for a second. It seems that, just like in the original plot, Chloe and the late-arriving heir liked each other. Sure enough, those two words were sent to the wrong person. They weren’t for me; they were for Chloe. I hugged a throw pillow. I’m so jealous. Jealous of being liked by everyone, respected by everyone. I expressionlessly texted Liam back: [Does that mean I need you?] Liam: [? Then who do you need, Julian? He’s the same with all women, don’t flatter yourself.] I paused, realizing something. He didn’t know about what happened between me and Julian. He thought Julian leaning in tonight was just because he saw a woman and wanted to flirt… However, Julian, the playboy, really did treat every woman the same. I had self-awareness regarding this point. So. In Julian’s eyes, the beautiful and capable Chloe was the only bright red rose among a bunch of ordinary flowers. Liam’s rivals were far more numerous than he imagined. I let out a slow sigh. I suddenly received a message on Poshmark. A pink avatar. [How much is the bracelet?] I replied instantly: [20k, massive discount. Local pickup only.] [Can do.] The other side sent an address over. I stared at the address. [I’m actually here right now, sister.] The other side seemed very shocked: [What a coincidence. Should we meet in the lobby? Or the public bar?] I thought about it. If I were seen by Liam in a public area, he would probably kill me for selling the bracelet he gave me… I probably wouldn’t get a moment of peace the entire night. [Sister, would it be convenient for me to come to your door, or you to mine for the transaction?] The other side quickly fired back a room number. We were on the same floor. I just knocked once, and the door opened. A casually slouched man leaned against the wall, wearing a bathrobe that exposed half his chest. He hooked the bracelet from my hand with a smile, wagging his index finger, “Little girl, are you lost?” Me: “…” “Psycho.” I cursed, trying to grab it back, but got pulled into the room instead. Julian leaned down, asking lazily: “Why are you selling off your belongings? Planning to make a run for it?” I paused, gritting my teeth: “None of your business.” He showed no sign of anger from the slap I gave him earlier tonight, still wearing a smiling face. He even proactively explained, “This bracelet is a limited edition. A friend of mine has wanted it for a long time. You sold it too cheap.” “A friend? More like a lover.” I sneered, having him completely figured out. Julian raised an eyebrow, not denying it. He slowly pinched my chin. “What should we do, Maya? You delivered yourself right to my door.” I turned my face away, my voice turning cold, “If I’m not back in my room in half an hour, the hotel robot will call the police.” Julian let go regretfully, “Oh, half an hour really isn’t enough.” I couldn’t stand it anymore: “Can you stop acting like you’re so great? You’re actually terrible in bed. Aren’t you supposed to be a playboy? To be as bad as you are, you really have nothing going for you except your face!” Although his face was indeed incredibly stunning. The room fell silent. Julian was quiet for a moment, his tone sounding a bit hurt: “Really?” I answered stiffly: “Really.” “So who is good in bed?” he threw out the question the next second. Me: “…You’re the worst.” Silence again. “Hearing you say that really hurts me.” Julian sighed softly, grabbing my hand and pressing it against his chest. “My heart is crying.” Even though I had heard these kinds of cloying words many times before, they still made my teeth ache. Despite his chest feeling quite nice, I silently pulled my hand back. “So, what’s the market price for that bracelet?” “Around eighty or ninety thousand.” Julian smirked slightly. I took out my phone and updated the price online. After modifying it, I waved it in front of him. “Pay up, pretty boy.” After personally confirming Julian’s payment and receipt of goods, I pushed the door open. “Pleasure doing business with you. Goodbye, pretty boy.” The next second, I was locked in a staring contest with Liam, who was standing right outside my door. Julian even had the nerve to lean half his body out, his voice dripping with sweetness: “Make sure you dream of me tonight, Maya. I hope the me in your dreams gives you a better experience.” Me: “…” Liam: “?” I awkwardly covered my face, “Haha, what a coincidence, hahaha.” After saying that, I sprinted toward the door of my own room. I was grabbed by the back of the neck by Liam. He pulled me back with a dangerous smirk, “Care to explain?” I couldn’t help but recall the miserable fate in the original plot after being caught two-timing. I involuntarily shrank back a little. I turned around. Julian, whose bathrobe seemed to be tied even looser now, leaned against the wall like he had no bones. Seeing me look over, he even waved, “Hi, we meet again, babe.” Liam’s face grew even darker. His almond eyes narrowed slightly as he cursed at Julian without holding back: “Stop acting like a f***ing slut every day.” Julian feigned innocence: “You can’t just get mad because my charm is greater than yours.” Liam sneered, “Are those illegitimate kids of your dad’s not keeping you busy enough? You have the free time to harass people here?” Julian lifted his eyelids, meeting Liam’s gaze. “Don’t end up losing out on the company shares,” Liam lifted his eyes carelessly, “and not even having enough money to buy a girl dinner.” Liam was pretty crazy. As far as I knew, many of the rich heirs were afraid of him, afraid that if he went crazy, he’d do things that hurt others a thousand times over, even if it cost him a hundred. Julian wore a smile on his lips, but his amber eyes turned flat, looking over without any emotional fluctuation. Liam pulled me into the room and closed the door. He scanned me up and down: “He didn’t do anything to you, did he?” I scratched my head: “No.” Liam clicked his tongue, “Stay away from him. That guy is trouble.” I nodded: “Okay.” I added: “Then can you stay away from Chloe in the future?” Liam raised his eyelids, “What do you mean?” Perhaps it was the lingering resentment from the original plot, or perhaps it was my annoyance at Liam thinking he controlled all our relationships. I said lightly: “She doesn’t like you anyway. Why humiliate yourself?” And in the process, dragging others down as collateral damage. He treated me as a plaything to be summoned and dismissed at will, but his feelings for Chloe weren’t exactly pure and flawless either. Liam’s thin lips pressed together, his dark eyes fixed intensely on my face. This was a precursor to him losing his temper. After all, the sister he loved was calling other men to sleep with her tonight, and he could only buzz around like a headless fly. It’s understandable. Liam pinched my cheek, his voice slightly cold: “Julian looked at you a few more times, and your mind is wandering? Or did Cole calling you ‘Ms. Price’ tonight really make you think you’re someone important?” Seeing me stay silent, Liam increased the pressure on his hand. He smirked coldly and sarcastically, “Including Ezra showing up at your door, that was my sister telling him to go find her, and he got the wrong floor.” Liam callously told me: I was just a clown who thought too highly of myself and took myself too seriously among those arrogant heirs. I really didn’t. I smiled calmly. Whether in my past life or in the original plot, the only place I took myself seriously was with Liam. And paradoxically, it was where I mattered the least. Just as I took a deep breath, about to throw Liam back outside. There was a knock on the door. A voice as clear as a mountain spring, not very loud through the thick door, drifted in: “Open the door, Maya.” The heir who was supposedly called away had returned to stand outside my door. The message I received on my phone saying [Open the door], it turned out it wasn’t sent to the wrong person. Realizing this, I opened my eyes wide in bewilderment. After a long silence, there were two more rhythmic knocks on the door, neither rushed nor impatient. The person knocking was extremely patient. The temperature around the man beside me plummeted almost to the freezing point. Liam pulled the door open, shattering the illusion I was trying to maintain that I wasn’t there. The next second, Liam grabbed Ezra’s collar, emphasizing every word: “Do you know whose door you’re knocking on?” Ezra’s face was calm: “I know, Maya.” He seriously spoke my name. “Why aren’t you at my sister’s?” Liam demanded. Ezra frowned, “I came looking for Maya, from the very beginning.” “Who told you to come?!” Liam roared, the veins on his temples bulging. “Do you know who she belongs to?” I spoke before Ezra could: “I told him to come. I’m the one who told him to come. Stop acting crazy, Liam.” I paused, slowly starting to smile. “You act like you don’t know me in front of your adopted sister, and now what right do you have to be here interrogating someone else?” Liam smirked fiercely, his eyes full of icy intent: “What right? The fact that the clothes on your back were bought by me. What, do you want to take them off?” I looked at him quietly for two seconds, my hand moving to the zipper on the side of my dress. “That’s enough.” Ezra pressed his hand over mine, using his other hand to make a phone call: “Send a few sets of clothes up.” This hotel was owned by the Vance Group. No wonder Ezra knew my room number; he never went to the wrong floor from the start. 4 A sharp punch landed precisely on Ezra’s pale face. Although Ezra spoke little, he wasn’t the type to just take a beating. The dull thud of bone hitting bone made me stumble backward. The two fought fiercely. Even a passing robot concierge was kicked aside, falling crookedly to the side, beeping pitifully in its robotic voice. Until I had nowhere left to retreat, my shoulder pressed against a man’s hard chest. A faint floral scent surrounded me as the man loosely pulled me into his embrace. As expected, Julian never missed a good show. The commotion had drawn him out. Julian at this moment seemed much more normal. I instinctively grabbed his arm. “Why are they fighting?” Julian chuckled lightly, “Because of you, Maya?” His voice trailed off like a little feather, very seductive. I didn’t speak. It was probably because of Chloe. I didn’t want to flatter myself again. Julian continued talking as if to himself: “If they keep fighting, it won’t end until one of them is crippled today.” My fingertips trembled slightly, and I reached for my phone to call the police. Julian’s long fingers covered my phone. “If this ends up at the police station, they won’t let you off easily.” The Sterling family and the Vance family. Regardless of whether these two heirs were fighting over me or Chloe, if the two families pursued the matter, I would be the only one to suffer. My lips moved, and I managed to squeeze out: “…Make them stop.” The two guys really looked like they wouldn’t stop until they beat each other to death right here. Hotel staff and security were already gathered around, but without Ezra’s order, they didn’t dare to make a move. Julian lowered his face with a smile, “Alright, kiss me, and it’s a deal.” I gritted my teeth, just about to lean in. His index finger gently pressed against my lips, “If it’s something that makes you uncomfortable, forget it.” The next moment, he stepped forward with his long legs. This time Julian wasn’t wearing a bathrobe. He had changed into a loosely fitted satin shirt, looking very much the part of a wealthy aristocrat. He leisurely took out his phone and aimed it at the two fighting. Me: “…” Julian’s magnetic voice provided commentary for this scene: “As everyone can see, the two mad dogs currently losing their minds are from the Sterling family—” Liam’s next punch immediately changed direction, smashing hard into Julian’s face. Ezra stepped back a few paces, calmly turned around, took a few bags of clothes from the hotel staff, and handed them to me. His voice was slightly hoarse, but still sincere: “If you don’t like them, I’ll take you to buy more.” I took them silently. Julian, who was standing beside me, wiped the blood from his mouth, lowered his eyes, and sneered, “Come again.” Julian diverted the fire but had absolutely no intention of fighting back. Liam completely disdained a one-sided beating. The situation at the scene temporarily calmed down. I turned and pushed open the room door. Liam pulled out a cigarette box. Ezra: “She doesn’t like the smell of smoke.” Liam’s fingers twitched. A box of cigarettes was crushed under his hand, falling onto the hallway carpet. Until the door closed completely tight. Liam straightened up slightly, lifting his eyes mockingly to scan the two people beside him: “Pardon me for asking, but when did you two develop a habit of poaching?” Liam’s face was quite bruised, but his tone had fewer fluctuations than before. This meant he was already mad with anger. Ezra didn’t speak. Julian slowly unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt, “Hurry up and go be a good little dog for your sister. Stop barking here.” “Who wants him to be a dog?” A woman’s crisp, pleasant voice rang out, echoing in the wide hallway. Chloe’s long, wavy hair rested on her shoulders, swaying slightly as she approached, a half-smile on her face. Liam’s face changed instantly. After a long while, his lips barely moved: “…Sis.” The man who arrived with Chloe wore a polite smile. He had gold-rimmed glasses resting on his high nose bridge. Although he looked gentle, he subtly exuded an oppressive aura. Cole calmly scanned everyone present: “Why is everyone gathered here?” The atmosphere eased a bit, and the staff finally went to set the fallen robot upright. The robot chimed: “This is a public place, this is a public place! No fighting, fighting is not allowed!” “…” “What fight?” Chloe raised an eyebrow. “Nothing.” Liam spoke before anyone else could, with a hidden warning: “Looks like this robot needs to be replaced, otherwise we’ll get customer complaints. Don’t you think, Ezra?” Ezra glanced at him, not taking the bait. Julian chuckled. Cole smiled: “Where is Ms. Price?”

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I went to the local grocery store to pick up some produce. When I got to the register, the owner suddenly looked at me and said: “Yesterday, you and your boyfriend walked out without paying for your groceries, right?” I told him I hadn’t even been there yesterday. But the owner stubbornly insisted it was me and my boyfriend. Left with no choice, I called my boyfriend to come over. The owner, however, just smirked: “It wasn’t this guy. It was another one. An older man.” I let out a cold laugh. “Actually, Mr. Barnes, I saw you in a video online.” “You were holding a gallon of oil and half a watermelon.” A few young women standing nearby immediately started nodding. “Yeah! We saw it too!” 01 “I’m ready to check out.” I placed my vegetables on the counter. The middle-aged owner was staring at a poker game on his phone, furiously tapping the screen, not even bothering to look up. I raised my voice. “Excuse me, I’m ready to pay!” “Hold your horses, lady!” He impatiently lifted his head, but his eyes suddenly locked onto my face. “It was you, wasn’t it?” I looked at him, completely baffled. “What was me?” The owner slapped his phone face-down on the counter, a disdainful smirk creeping onto his face. “Oh, don’t rush to deny it!” “Yesterday, around this exact time! Right as the sun was setting! You were wearing a white dress. The guy with you—tall, skinny, wearing glasses, right? “You two picked through my aisles, filled a whole basket, even grabbed the most expensive box of strawberries! Then, while I went to the back to move some stock, you sneaked out!” 02 I took a step back. I instinctively tried to recall what I was doing after work yesterday. No way. Yesterday after work, I went straight to the movies with my best friend. I was nowhere near this store. I quickly explained, “I wasn’t even at your store yesterday! And I didn’t wear a white dress!” “Are you sure you aren’t mistaking me for someone else?” “Mistaking you?” The owner let out a weird, mocking laugh. “I’ve been running this store in this neighborhood for almost eight years. I have a photographic memory for faces! “Alright, fine,” he waved his hand dismissively, acting as if he were being incredibly generous. “You’re a young woman, you’re embarrassed to admit it. I get it. “How about this? We’ll add yesterday’s total to what you’re buying today. Let’s round it to an even hundred bucks. Pay it, walk away, and I’ll pretend nothing happened. Saves you some dignity, how about that?” 03 Hearing this, I was already pulling out my phone to call the police. But then I remembered something my mom had mentioned recently. Last month, our area had massive flooding from a hurricane, and a lot of expensive inventory in his basement storage was ruined. He lost tens of thousands of dollars. His wife had also been in poor health and was recently hospitalized for surgery. That was probably why he was so desperate to track down the shoplifter. Trying to be patient, I opened my phone and pulled up my movie ticket receipt from the night before. “Yesterday after work, I went to the movies with my best friend. That theater is almost ten miles away from here. “It is physically impossible for me to have been in your store at that time.” The owner’s gaze swept over the screen, and his eyes definitely flickered for a second. But it was only for a moment. He crossed his arms. “Who knows who actually went to that movie? Maybe you bought the tickets for someone else? “Look, I saw what I saw. You and your boyfriend walked out without paying!!” 04 “There’s no point in arguing about this,” I said, pointing to the security camera on the wall. “Let’s check the footage! “If I actually stole from you yesterday, I’ll pay you three times the amount! “But if you’re falsely accusing me, I want a handwritten apology posted on your front door for three days!” The owner waved me off. “Forget it. “All my regular customers know my cameras are terrible. You can’t even make out a person’s nose or eyes on that thing. “Even if I pull it up, you wouldn’t admit it! What’s the point?” Just then, a middle-aged man who had been smoking in the corner put out his cigarette and spoke up slowly. “Listen, lady, I live in the complex behind here. I’ve known Barnes for years. He’s got a great memory! There are hundreds of people in this neighborhood, and he remembers a face after seeing it once! He even remembers what groceries people like to buy! If he says it’s you, he definitely remembers it!” The commotion was starting to draw the attention of the other shoppers in the store. Two of them were older women who lived in my apartment building. My mom even went to Zumba classes with them! If I didn’t clear this up today, I would be the neighborhood scandal by tomorrow morning. I stared coldly at the owner. “You just said my boyfriend is tall, skinny, and wears glasses, right?” The owner nodded with absolute certainty. “Exactly! I remember it perfectly!” “Wait right here. I just texted him to come over! “When he gets here, use that ‘photographic memory’ of yours and take a really good look!” 05 A few minutes later. The front door swung open. My boyfriend, Noah, rushed in and crossed the store in a few large strides. He was wearing gym clothes. He had a broad, athletic build, his arm muscles clearly defined. “Aria, what’s wrong? What happened?” I stepped aside, leaving Noah standing directly in front of the owner. “Take a good look. This is my boyfriend! “Is this the guy who supposedly shoplifted with me yesterday afternoon? Is he the tall, skinny guy with glasses?” Honestly, the moment Noah had walked in, the owner’s face had already frozen. Noah doesn’t wear glasses. He’s built like a tank. One look and you know he practically lives at the gym. He looked absolutely nothing like the description. 06 The owner’s eyes darted around the room before he forced a casual laugh: “Oh, no, no… not this one. It was a different guy.” “That one was a bit older! And balding!” Even though Noah didn’t fully understand what was going on yet, hearing the owner say that made his face instantly darken. “What the hell does that mean?” Catching sight of Noah’s clenched fists, the owner immediately switched to an overly earnest, concerned expression. “Hey, buddy, don’t do anything crazy! There are a lot of people here. Let me just give you a piece of advice, man to man.” Saying that, he half-pushed, half-pulled Noah a few steps outside the store entrance. “Yesterday, it was definitely your girlfriend! Wearing a white dress! She was with a guy in his fifties. They were standing real close in the aisles, and the guy was even tucking her hair behind her ear!” He clicked his tongue. “One look and you could tell they were more than friends! Buddy, you better go back and ask her some hard questions! Don’t be an idiot and let someone play you for a fool!” Noah’s fists were still clenched, but his brow furrowed deeper. He looked at the owner, then shot a quick, messy glance back at me standing in the doorway. Seeing that Noah wasn’t immediately defending me, the owner figured his seed of doubt had sprouted. He patted Noah’s arm. “Think about it!” Then, he turned and walked back into the store. 07 Only Noah and I were left by the entrance. I walked up to him and looked him straight in the eyes. “You believe him?” “I don’t!” Noah retorted immediately, his voice raising, but the urgency sounded hollow. “Aria, in my heart, I want to believe you!” His tone was full of inner conflict as he finally dropped the bomb: “You said you went to the movies with Chloe after work yesterday… but I ran into Chloe at the gym this afternoon. She told me she was working late at the office yesterday! Until almost ten PM!” I stood entirely frozen. Working late? Impossible! Yesterday after work, Chloe and I literally watched a movie together. There had to be some misunderstanding! I pulled out my phone without hesitation. “I’m calling her right now to clear this up!” 08 To prove my innocence, I put the call on speaker. The phone connected quickly. “Hey, Aria?” Chloe’s voice came through. She sounded completely normal, maybe even a bit relaxed. “Chloe!” I skipped the pleasantries, my voice tight with a tension I hadn’t even realized was there. “Noah just told me… he ran into you at the gym today, and you told him you were working late last night? Until ten?” The line went completely dead. A suffocating, terrifying silence. My heart started to sink, inch by inch. “Oh?” Chloe’s voice finally returned, but she was noticeably hesitating. “Working… late?” “Did Noah mishear me? I was at the movies with you after work yesterday!” Her ambiguous, stammering attitude only fueled Noah’s suspicions. “Chloe, what movie did you guys watch yesterday?” Another agonizing silence from the other end of the line. “Oh, um, I wasn’t really paying attention to the movie…” Chloe stammered. “So I don’t really remember!” I cut off her incoherent excuses. “Chloe, why are you doing this?” “We literally talked about the plot over dinner afterward, and now you’re telling me you don’t remember?” I quickly explained the entire ridiculous situation I was currently facing with the store owner. “Chloe, I need you to tell the truth right now!” Chloe’s voice suddenly spiked in volume, laced with a heavy dose of guilt: “Aria, can you leave me out of your drama with Noah? Figure it out yourself!” And with that. Click. She hung up. 09 A chilling sensation shot up from the soles of my feet, spreading through my entire body. An overwhelming sense of absurdity left me trembling. Why would Chloe say that? Before I could even process it, Noah let out a cold sneer, turned on his heel, and started walking away. I took a deep breath. “Noah, if you walk away right now, we are done!” Noah nodded, his voice eerily clear. “Then we’re done.” The store owner, who had somehow sneaked back to the doorway, leaned half his body out. “Breaking up over this? Oh man, all over a few bucks!” “It’s my fault too! I’m just too stubborn! Honestly, it wasn’t even about the money, I just wanted to prove my memory was right! I didn’t mean to air out all your dirty laundry!” “Look, lady, forget the money! Just go! But let me give you a piece of advice: when you have a good, young boyfriend like that, stay away from the sugar daddies…” A few onlookers started chiming in. “Just leave, sweetie. Making a big scene is only going to ruin your reputation!” “Mr. Barnes means well, he’s just a bit stubborn about the rules!” I laughed coldly. Leave? Why the hell should I leave? From the moment this started until now, I had fallen into the trap of constantly trying to prove my own innocence. Because I was scared. I was terrified of becoming another cautionary tale. I remembered a true-crime podcast about a girl who just went to pick up a package one afternoon. The bored clerk at the shipping station made up a malicious rumor about her, claiming she was having an affair. It completely derailed her life. She spent two years fighting for justice… She lost her job, her relationship, her reputation. She fell into a severe depression. By the time she finally got justice, the damage was irreversible. Right now, I was standing on that exact same cliff. The owner clearly knew he had the wrong person. But to save his own face, he was willing to invent a disgusting rumor that could ruin my life rather than simply apologize. And the bystanders? They didn’t care about the truth. They just wanted to eat popcorn, watch the drama unfold, and throw in their own two cents. At this moment, I woke up. Self-defense is a bottomless pit. The best defense is a relentless offense. I stood outside the door, staring dead at the owner, and smiled: “Actually, I saw you in a video online.” “You were holding a gallon of oil and half a watermelon.” “Tsk…” At that exact moment. A group of young women inside the store suddenly squeezed in next to me, eyeing the owner up and down. Almost in unison, they declared: “Yes! We saw it too!” 10 They exchanged a look, as perfectly synchronized as if they had rehearsed it. “It is him, isn’t it? I thought the owner’s voice sounded super familiar!” “I know him! He’s a regular on Ruby’s page! Ruby really likes him!” “Oh, now that you mention it, I remember too! Doesn’t he like to bring sunflower seeds to snack on?” “Yep~ Oh man, that video~ Tsk tsk tsk!” A girl with a ponytail pulled out her phone and waved it around. “I even saved the video on my phone!” My nose suddenly stung. These complete strangers were giving me the ultimate backup. Meanwhile, the owner’s face flushed crimson. He slammed his hand down on the register counter: “What kind of garbage are you spewing! I don’t know any Ruby!” The ponytail girl scoffed. “You’re wearing a white tank top today. The guy in the video was wearing a white tank top. How could it not be you?” The owner tugged at his shirt. “I bought this shirt yesterday!” A girl with short hair immediately fired back: “Where’s the proof?” “I bought it at the market next door! The vendor there knows me!” I jumped right in: “Who knows if you didn’t just collude with the vendor to get your story straight?” “A man your age, doing that kind of stuff, and getting posted all over TikTok!” “If your neighbors see that, how will your kids ever show their faces in public again?” An older woman standing nearby, who clearly didn’t use TikTok and was desperate for the gossip, scratched her head anxiously. “Oh my goodness, who is this Ruby you all keep talking about?” The short-haired girl explained: “Ma’am, Ruby is this drag queen influencer on TikTok. She posts a lot of videos with older men… you can search it up yourself!” “Mr. Barnes here is quite the player. Snacking on sunflower seeds while…” She intentionally trailed off, leaving the rest to the imagination. The older woman’s eyes widened in shock. “Barnes, you were with a man in drag? And you let them film it?!” 11 The owner was literally jumping up and down in a panic, the veins on his forehead popping. “Bullshit! If you girls dare say one more word, I’ll kill you!” I immediately pulled out my phone and pointed the camera at him. “Look, everyone! The owner is reacting like this. If that’s not a guilty conscience, what is it?” The older woman looked at me, then back at the owner. “Barnes, what exactly were you doing that day?” The owner slapped his thigh in frustration. “It really wasn’t me!” “Then why did so many different people all say they saw you in the video?” “They’re starting rumors!” The owner frantically grabbed his phone to make a call. “Yes! They are starting rumors! I’m calling the police!” I looked at him sideways, a mocking sneer on my face. “Save your breath. I already called them. The cops are on their way!”

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My new intern is sweet, obedient, and completely innocent. Every day, I drag him into my passionate rants against our boss: “Repeat after me! Down with capitalism! Power to the working class!” He obediently repeats it. Me: “The evil corporate overlords will eventually face their demise!” He furrows his brow, looking a little hesitant: “The evil corporate overlords… will eventually face their… demise.” Me: “The CEO’s son is a pompous, trust-fund prick!” His face instantly turns beet red: “Miss… don’t you think that’s a bit too harsh?” 01 “Huh? Whose side are you on?” Cole blinks his puppy-dog eyes, offering a completely harmless smile: “Yours, obviously.” “Then what are you scared of? It’s not like you’re the CEO’s son.” I narrow my eyes, looking him up and down. “Wait… there’s a rumor going around that the Crown Prince is undercover at our branch. It couldn’t be you, could it?” Cole’s eyes dart away for a second. “Um… are you hungry? We should check the UberEats lunch specials.” “True,” I scoff. “As if a billionaire heir would be splitting a ten-dollar BOGO coupon with a peasant like me.” “They’re probably eating filet mignon and drinking vintage wine for every meal!” Cole chuckles softly, his eyes shining as he looks at me. “The way you talk is so cute.” I raise an eyebrow at him. “Smooth talker. Alright, today we’re upgrading to the twelve-dollar combo!” 02 Cole is the new intern at our company. Soft, fluffy hair, puppy-dog eyes, and crisp white button-down shirts always buttoned to the very top collar. When he smiles, two little dimples appear. He’s sweet and pure. He just comes from a modest background. Every time we split a lunch order, he’s never picky. He eats whatever I order, and cleans his plate completely, like a giant, easily satisfied golden retriever. And he’s incredibly easy to tease. The second I call him “kid,” the tips of his ears turn bright red. “Hey kid, you want the teriyaki bowl today? I’ll add an extra egg for you.” Sure enough, his face flushes again. But today, completely out of the blue, he sends me a link. “Let’s not do the cheap combo today. Let’s do this.” “Sure.” I click the link: [Michelin-Star Kaiseki – Premium Tasting Menu for Two]. ??? My eyes practically pop out of my head. “This is not the UberEats I know.” His eyes curve into a smile. “This is the fancy eats.” “Kid, do I look like someone who can afford this on a four-thousand-dollar monthly salary? What kind of lunch delivery costs $588? That’s highway robbery!” His tone is confident. “If we take three pictures and write a 15-word Yelp review, they’ll refund us $568 as a promotional rebate.” “Seriously? Are you sure?” “Positive. You can call the restaurant and ask.” Cole leans in, lowering his voice. “Last time I went to their physical location, I got a $1,600 meal and they refunded me $1,550.” How does this kid keep stumbling into these insane luck-of-the-draw promotions? Well, I can’t say no to that. If there’s a loophole to exploit the capitalists, I’m taking it. And just like that, Cole and I upgraded from “cheap lunch buddies” to “exploiting corporate promotional loopholes buddies.” 03 New Zealand scampi. Chew, chew, chew. A5 Japanese Wagyu. Chew, chew, chew. Hokkaido sea urchin. Chew, chew, chew. I gossip while I eat: “I got a reliable tip. Apparently, the CEO’s son is super tall and insanely hot. Like, A-list celebrity hot.” Cole, who is currently drinking sparkling water, violently chokes. “Cough, cough… seriously? That exaggerated?” I chew on my fork, thinking. “Hey? Now that you mention it, are there any super hot guys in your intern class?” I frown, my gaze landing squarely on him. “Why do I feel like… you’re the best-looking one?” Cole’s Adam’s apple bobs. He involuntarily loosens his tie. At first glance, this guy looks like an obedient, soft-haired puppy. But looking closely, his facial features are actually incredibly sharp and defined, with a high, straight nose bridge. He’s a very, very pretty puppy. Maybe my female-gaze stare is a bit too blatant. Cole’s chest visibly heaves, the muscular outline beneath his dress shirt subtly flexing. Pop. A button on his shirt flies off. And it pops off in the most precarious, perfectly placed spot. Through the gap, I can simultaneously see the defined lines of his pecs and his upper abs. Cole immediately grabs the gaping fabric, his face turning the color of a boiled lobster. “D-don’t look…” “Oh, please, I already saw it.” I rest my chin on my hand, highly satisfied. “Hehe. Not bad at all. “Alright, I know you aren’t the CEO’s son. What kind of billionaire heir wears cheap shirts that pop their buttons? “Plus, you curse out the corporate overlords with me every day. A guy wouldn’t curse himself out, right?” Cole lowers his head, rubs his nose, and stays completely silent. As obedient and guilty as a big dog with its ears pinned back. 04 The CEO is coming to inspect our branch next month. Everyone is running around like headless chickens, on high alert. VP Miller, our notoriously awful middle manager, dumps a mountain of his own backlog onto my desk. “Mr. Miller, I haven’t even finished my own quarterly reports yet.” “Then do it after hours,” Miller shoots me a cold, dismissive look. “Time is like water in a sponge; if you squeeze hard enough, you’ll always find some. “Riley, this is a prime opportunity to show off your skills in front of the CEO. You better cherish it.” Evil corporate overlords! Even a petty middle manager like Miller gets to enslave bottom-tier corporate drones like me. I sit at my desk, radiating pure resentment, typing furiously on my keyboard. A slice of strawberry shortcake is carefully slid across my desk. Half of Cole’s head peeks out from behind my monitor. “You’re typing like you’re firing a machine gun. Bad mood?” “No shit!” I glare viciously at the screen. “I don’t want to ‘show off my skills’ to the CEO. I’m just a corporate drone, and this drone just wants to go to sleep.” Cole looks surprised. “Are you presenting this report to the old man?” “Who’s the old man?” “I mean… the CEO.” Cole clears his throat softly. “I’m so used to cursing out the capitalists with you, it just slipped out.” “Watch your mouth around the office, kid,” I lecture him. Cole chuckles, muttering something incredibly softly: “It’s fine to meet him. We’ll have to meet him sooner or later anyway.” 05 After that, Cole constantly finds excuses—usually involving our “lunch deals”—to stay late and keep me company while I work overtime. He somehow always manages to find these incredible “free tasting” promotions. Private chef menus, high-end sushi, French cuisine, Italian… “Why don’t you just move a whole Michelin-star restaurant into the office?” I stare, dumbfounded, at a massive, perfectly steamed red grouper. Cole scratches his head sheepishly. “Well, all these places offer two-person tasting menus, and you’re my only food buddy.” Whatever. It’s free. Chew, chew, chew. Cole sits at my computer, helping me format data. This wage slave is finally experiencing the luxury of having a younger, prettier wage slave do her work. While eating, I start scrolling through TikTok. The algorithm, doing what it does best, feeds me an endless stream of shirtless male fitness models posting thirst traps. “What are you looking at? Why are you smiling like that?” Cole suddenly leans over and asks. My grin is stretching from ear to ear; I can’t hide it fast enough. I have no choice but to bluff my way through: “I am simply admiring the impressive fitness results of these creators and offering them my supportive ‘likes’.” Cole blinks innocently. “Then why is he doing pushups while wearing a leather choker?” “…Aesthetics.” “Do you like that?” “I work out too.” He looks at me with sheer, unadulterated earnestness, his eyes clear. “Do you want to inspect my results?” Before I can even process what’s happening, Cole grabs my hand and presses it flat against his chest. “I think I’ve made decent progress.” He guides my hand lower. “What do you think?” Through the thin fabric of his shirt, his pecs are full and firm, and the ridges of his abs are distinct and rock-hard. It feels absolutely incredible. I finally understand why older men like innocent, naive young girls. His oblivious, accidental seduction is practically a lethal weapon. “Not bad,” I say, forcing myself to stay calm and swallowing hard. “With this level of fitness, you could totally make thirst trap videos… “I mean—fitness videos! Educational fitness videos!” 06 The day of the CEO’s inspection finally arrives. VP Miller trails right beside the CEO, acting as sycophantic as a groveling little troll. The CEO flips through the printed presentation materials. As he reads, he suddenly chuckles. “This report is very unique. It’s concise, clear, and… highlights the key points perfectly. “Who put this together?” VP Miller instantly jumps in to steal the credit. “Mr. Sterling, I did!” “You?” The CEO frowns, looking thoroughly disgusted. “He didn’t make it,” Cole’s voice suddenly rings out. “What do you mean I didn’t make it?!” VP Miller snaps, jumping in panic. I frantically tug at Cole’s shirt hem. Lord have mercy, shut your mouth! But this idiot completely ignores me, declaring with absolute righteousness: “Because I watched Riley Brooks make it.” I close my eyes and pray for a swift death. My career is officially over as of today. It wasn’t until later that I found out what the CEO actually saw in the report. On the very last page of the printed materials, there was a tiny line of text Cole had typed in: [This summary was made by your future daughter-in-law. Praise her.] … The CEO calls me into the VIP reception room. I thought he was going to ask me about the company’s operations, but instead, he just makes small talk. The CEO is beaming, looking as friendly as an amiable neighbor: “Riley, right? Don’t be nervous, I’m a very easygoing guy.” Then he proceeds to ask me things like, “Is the workload too heavy?” and “Are your parents doing well?” And at the very end, he actually asks me for my thoughts on older woman/younger man relationships. “What did you say?” When I step out, Cole asks me, looking noticeably nervous. “I said age doesn’t matter, as long as he has big muscles.” I stare blankly ahead in a daze. “And then the CEO laughed. His executive secretary stood there clapping, saying the CEO hasn’t laughed that hard in years.” Cole starts laughing too. “You better back up those words with actions.” “You should be worrying about how you offended VP Miller,” I sigh heavily. “He’s incredibly petty. “The last guy who called him ‘Assistant VP’ instead of ‘VP’ was forced to resign. We’re both probably dead meat.” Cole looks completely relaxed. “It’s fine. You have me.” I look at him with deep pity. Ah, the fearless arrogance of a newborn calf. “What exactly is an intern making minimum wage going to do?” “Didn’t you say my body was pretty good?” Cole shrugs. “Worst case scenario, I’ll go film thirst traps to support you.” 07 That evening is the welcome banquet for the CEO. Formal attire is mandatory. Wearing a cocktail dress and stilettos, I stumble my way into the lavish, gilded banquet hall. It’s a sea of designer gowns, champagne flutes, and elite networking. A room full of VIPs I don’t recognize. When I finally spot Cole, I almost don’t recognize him. “Why did you dress up so much?” He’s wearing a perfectly tailored, dark grey bespoke suit. His usually soft, fluffy hair is slicked back cleanly, exposing a sharp forehead and piercing eyes. The glasses are gone, and his features are so strikingly handsome they’re almost intimidating. His aura is completely overwhelming. I click-clack over to him in my heels. I drag him to the buffet table and start inhaling the hors d’oeuvres. “What does an event like this have to do with us anyway?” I shove a mini tart into his hand and happen to catch a glimpse of the watch on his wrist. “This fake Patek Philippe… is actually incredibly detailed. It’s so shiny.” A vein twitches in Cole’s temple, but he doesn’t say a word. I look up, only to see VP Miller marching toward us with a face like thunder. “We’re dead, we’re dead. Miller is coming to collect our souls!” He definitely couldn’t find an excuse to yell at us in the office earlier, and now he’s finally caught us. Miller approaches, giving us a fake, plastic smile, his tone dripping with sarcasm: “Well, well, Riley. You certainly stole the spotlight today. “But don’t you forget who your actual boss is. You’re young, you need to know your place, understand?” From the side, Cole comments dryly: “Not for much longer.” Miller instantly explodes: “I haven’t even started on you yet! Who told you to interrupt?!” I quickly try to smooth things over: “Mr. Miller, please, calm down. He’s just an intern, he doesn’t know any better…” “An intern?!” Miller raises his voice, spit practically flying into my face. “Believe me, I can have both of you fired by tomorrow morning!” “Who are you firing?” a deep, steady, amused voice cuts in. The CEO, Richard Sterling, had silently walked up beside us. “Mr. Miller, you certainly enjoy throwing your weight around.” Miller instantly shrinks into a quivering mess, wiping sweat from his forehead. “I wouldn’t dare, Chairman Sterling! It’s just this intern, he has absolutely no respect for authority. “I had to discipline him, otherwise what if he offends you?” “That is true,” the CEO nods, looking profoundly agreeable. “This kid has no respect for authority at home, either. “He won’t even call me ‘Dad’ properly. Just calls me ‘old man’ all day long.” … The air freezes. Miller is sweating buckets, his eyes bulging so hard they might pop out of his skull. Wait… who is calling who Dad? Who is whose father?! 08 A few minutes later, the CEO drags Cole onto the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce my son, Cole Hayes. He just returned from his studies in Germany and is currently starting from the ground up as an intern in our branch…” I don’t know if VP Miller dropped to his knees. Because I had already bolted. Lifting my annoying dress, I stumble and practically sprint out the back doors. After a few blocks, I’m completely out of breath and collapse onto the edge of a concrete planter. Deep breaths. Stay calm. Then I begin to frantically review the tape: What the hell did I do in front of the ultimate capitalist heir? “…The CEO’s son is a pompous, trust-fund prick.” I made him do my work. I touched his abs. I told him he should film borderline-NSFW thirst traps. Ok, fine. It’s over. We working-class folks don’t start trouble, but we’re definitely terrified of it. Since I’ve already caused a catastrophic mess, there’s only one way out—resignation. I need to get home first! As I stand up, I realize I was running so frantically that I think I twisted my ankle. “Hiss…” I drop my butt back onto the planter. “Where are you trying to run?” Cole’s voice sounds from above my head. A suit jacket, still carrying his body heat, is draped over my shoulders. “The night wind up here is a bit chilly. Don’t catch a cold.” I close my eyes and accept my fate. Cole sits down next to me on the planter. Like I’ve been electrocuted, I scoot a few inches away. “What? Because I’m a capitalist heir, you need to draw a clear line in the sand?” I grit my teeth: “Your last name is Hayes. Shouldn’t the Crown Prince’s last name be Sterling?” “I took my mother’s maiden name. She passed away when I was young.” …A massive miscalculation on my part. A moment of silence passes. He turns his head, looking at me cautiously. “Are you mad?” “This lowly peasant wouldn’t dare.” “So you are mad.” He suddenly crouches down in front of me, tilting his face up, looking at me with those innocent puppy-dog eyes. “How about you hit me? I didn’t mean to lie to you.” I’m not falling for this again! Even if he grabs my hand and uses it to punch his own pecs… Even though the muscle definition feels incredible, I am not falling for it again! “How could I dare strike the Crown Prince?” I coldly pull my hand back. He stays in his crouched, kneeling position, lowering his pride to the absolute dust: “On one hand, I didn’t want to expose my identity so I could observe the real operational status of the branch.” “On the other hand, it was for my own selfish reasons.” He looks up, staring directly into my eyes. “I wanted to get close to you.” I look away. “Why would you want to get close to me?” “If you knew who I was from the start, would you still have split cheap lunches with me and cursed out the corporate overlords?” “Hell no!” He raises an eyebrow, putting on a ‘See? I told you so’ expression. “So I didn’t really have a choice.” “Wait!” I suddenly remember. “So all that incredible luck was fake? The Michelin-star meals, the private chefs… all of those promotions were just you tricking me?” Cole guiltily averts his eyes, looking exactly like a giant golden retriever that just chewed up a pair of sneakers, avoiding its owner’s gaze. “I’m going to pay you back for all of that!” I stomp my foot in anger, entirely forgetting my injury, and instantly gasp in pain. Cole immediately notices. “You twisted your ankle?” I bite my lip and nod. Without another word, he stands up and scoops me into his arms, carrying me princess-style. “What are you doing?! Put me down!” I scream and struggle. “Not a chance. Dream on.”

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My mother was obsessed with the concept of a “lucky age,” an old superstition that added years to your life based on archaic folk math. When she went to register my eight-year-old brother for his social security number and official birth certificate, she insisted on putting him down as eleven. I thought it was absurd. Knowing it would cause him endless trouble in the future, I fought her tooth and nail, finally convincing her to only inflate his age by two years instead of three. Years later, my brother missed the cutoff for the final round of recruitment for a prestigious Air Force pilot program because he was officially two years too young. My mother told him, “If your sister hadn’t stopped me from giving you your full lucky age back then, you’d be the one accepted right now!” Because of that, my brother harbored a deep, simmering hatred for me. He believed I was the one who destroyed his dream of flying. During a hiking trip, he caught me off guard and shoved me off a cliff. My body was shattered on the rocks below, but they took the payout from my life insurance policy and lived a life of luxury. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my mother went to register my brother’s official documents. This time, I kept my mouth shut and watched with a smile as she confidently declared his inflated age. 01 “A year from heaven, a year from earth, a year from the father, and a year from the mother. That’s how you ensure a long and prosperous life!” “My Jackson is eleven years old this year, that’s right! Go ahead and put it down!” The clerk at the Social Security Administration office looked at my brother, who was a full head shorter than kids his supposed age, with an expression of obvious disbelief. She shifted her gaze to me and asked for my brother’s birth year one more time, seemingly hoping to hear the correct answer from my mouth. In my previous life, this was the exact moment when I heard the registration year was three whole years earlier than my brother’s actual birth year, and I loudly stopped my mother. Back then, neither my brother nor I had been properly registered at birth. It caused a massive headache every time we had to enroll in a new school. It wasn’t until last year that my mom finally found a way to get me officially registered. But when she filled out my age, she habitually used that superstitious “lucky age” math. As a result, my official age was a full two years older than my actual age. I was constantly mocked by my classmates as the “dumb giant” or the “old lady.” To spare my brother from suffering the same fate, I exhausted myself trying to convince my mother to only inflate his age by two years instead of three. Because of that, my brother actually got along well with his classmates when he started middle school. However, when I caught a severe fever and went to a cheap urgent care clinic, my mother reflexively gave them my “lucky age.” This led the doctor to miscalculate my dosage. The IV caused the muscles in my left arm to necrotize, and I could never lift it again. That tragedy served as a wake-up call for my mother and brother, preventing a similar disaster from happening to him. But I never imagined that he would later miss the final Air Force pilot recruitment window because he was officially two years below the minimum age requirement. My brother was devastated and blamed my mother for not registering him as two years older. My mother secretly told him, “I wanted to use your lucky age when I registered you, but your sister stopped me!” “It’s my fault for being foolish and listening to your sister’s nonsense! Otherwise, you’d definitely be the one admitted right now!” Later, my brother achieved absolutely nothing in life. My mother complained, “It’s because your sister changed your age that she ruined your blessings!” Over time, my brother harbored a deep-seated hatred for me, convinced I was the one who ruined his aviation dream and the rest of his life. Later, he invited me on a wilderness hike and shoved me off a cliff when I wasn’t looking, leaving my body shattered and unrecognizable. He took the life insurance payout, bought a house, got married, and lived a life of wealth. And my mother, fully aware that he had murdered me, committed perjury to help him escape justice. I thought we at least had some familial love between us, but I didn’t know they only wanted to suck me dry. This time, I was going to sit back and watch just how much of a “blessing” my mother’s prized lucky age would bring my brother! Facing the clerk’s questioning gaze, I just smiled awkwardly and glanced at my mom. My mom impatiently yanked me behind her. “Do you think I don’t know how old my own son is? Why are you staring at her?” Seeing my mother’s volatile temper, the clerk didn’t want to cause a scene and registered the information exactly as she said. Looking at the freshly printed official document, my mother and I both smiled incredibly happily. 02 When we got back home, my brother was in the yard playing Pokémon cards with some neighborhood kids. My mom couldn’t wait to pull him in front of her. “Jackson, if anyone asks how old you are this year, what do you say?” My brother was entirely focused on his game and casually replied, “Eight!” My mom’s face instantly darkened. She emphasized her tone, “You are eleven this year! How can you not even remember your own age?” My brother struggled to get away so he could go back to playing, answering distractedly, “Okay, okay, I’m eleven.” But my mom wasn’t going to let him off easily. She closed the front door and asked again, “Now answer me again. How old are you this year?” This finally annoyed my brother. He looked thoroughly displeased. “Eight! Mom, you’re being so annoying!” “You ungrateful little brat! I carried you for nine months and brought you into this world, and I’m not even old yet, and you’re already sick of me?” Furious, my mom slapped my brother hard on his backside, correcting him while dramatically fake-crying. “You were born in December! Counting from the time you were in the womb, you are eleven this year!” “From now on, if anyone asks, you tell them you’re eleven. Do you hear me?!” My brother burst into loud wails and cried out to me for help when he saw me. In my previous life, after my arm was ruined by that injection, I made sure my brother memorized his actual age at all times. From then on, every time he went to the hospital, I was incredibly cautious, ensuring the doctors treated him based on his true age. Later on, I was kicked out of the house by my mother when I was only sixteen. Her beautiful excuse was that she had already raised me to adulthood, and from then on, it was my turn to give back to the family. I was only a sophomore in high school at the time. She forcibly cut off all my living expenses, and my teachers even had to help cover some of my school fees. To survive, I had no energy to focus on my studies. After school, I relied on picking up aluminum cans on the side of the road to sell for scrap just to keep myself alive. I never foolishly hoped that my brother, who had plenty of spending money, would give me any help. But he was even more heartless than I could have imagined. He stole the meager amount of money I had, claiming he was giving it to our mom, but secretly spent it all himself. When my mom found out, not only did she not punish him, but she also said, “The Miller family’s money will all belong to my son eventually! What’s the big deal if he takes your little bit of cash? It’s not even enough to buy him a pair of shoes!” Later on, I graduated from high school with grades only good enough for a second-rate state college. That was the same time my brother missed out on his aviation dream, exactly when his hatred for me was peaking. He and my mother conspired to marry me off to the intellectually disabled son of a local business owner in exchange for a $30,000 dowry. I adamantly refused and fled the house in the middle of the night. But in the end, I was deceived by his fake apology and ended up a corpse in the wilderness. I naively thought I was treating them well, but in their eyes, I was completely worthless. Or rather, in their eyes, I wasn’t even fit to be their family member. My only use was to be an ATM. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with a family like this! “Maya, help me!” He hadn’t been paying attention to anything my mom said earlier. It was only after getting hit that he frantically blurted out his own age. But he didn’t guess the answer that would satisfy my mother, which only fueled her rage, and she hit him even harder. Watching his pleading eyes, I waited until he had taken a sufficient beating before pretending to just figure it out, gesturing to him. “Eleven! Mom, I’m eleven!” Jackson screamed at the top of his lungs. My mom finally stopped, panting heavily. “That’s more like it! You just don’t remember unless you get hit! If I ask you next time and you forget again, I’ll hit you even harder!” Jackson’s face showed obvious defiance, but he didn’t dare say a word. Only after my mom walked away did he pout and rub his backside as he walked out. At this point, we didn’t have much conflict between us, and he didn’t forget to thank me: “Good thing you guessed it, Maya, otherwise Mom would have beaten me to death!” I smiled silently, thinking to myself: Some people in this world are just born cheap. They can’t tell who is actually good to them! Since he loved hearing lies so much, I would just play along. 03 In my previous life, because I was isolated by my peers, I developed an aversion to school from a young age. Later, because my mom cut off my financial support, even eating became a challenge. At the age when I should have been focusing on school, I was scavenging for trash and finding odd jobs to survive. That’s why I couldn’t run very far when I tried to escape later. Now, facing the mocking voices of the students around me, I turned a deaf ear. Nothing that happened was going to stop me from studying. Because this was my only hope of escaping this house. In the blink of an eye, the timeline reached the point where the muscles in my left arm had necrotized in my past life. I had been running a high fever for two days and still hadn’t recovered. My mom exploded in a rage: “You useless, money-losing burden! All you know is how to eat my food and spend my money! Why don’t you just die already!” Her curses and spit rained down on my head. But I was already delirious from the fever, huddled in the corner, completely drained of energy. My lips were pale, but my head was burning like a furnace. She cursed at me, but she wouldn’t actually let me die like this. After all, I had cost her so much money, and she hadn’t managed to squeeze a single cent of profit out of me yet. When she had cursed to her heart’s content, she finally counted out a few twenty-dollar bills and told me to follow her to the nearby urgent care clinic. Once we got there, she just dumped me there alone. In my previous life, I couldn’t hold on and passed out. When I woke up, my left arm was already paralyzed. The first thing I saw was my mom arguing with the doctor. That was when I realized she had reported my inflated age. The small clinic used strong dosages to begin with. Faced with a shameless grifter like my mom, and knowing they were at fault for not following proper procedures, they ended up settling the matter by paying my family three thousand dollars. That night, when we got home, I dragged my paralyzed left arm, applying a wet towel to it, and watched my mom make a feast of fish and meat for my brother. Meanwhile, because I had a fever, I only had a bowl of watery oatmeal in front of me. Now, I forced myself to hold on to my last shred of sanity until we reached the clinic. After my mom reported my age and went outside to gossip, I quickly grabbed the doctor’s hand and repeatedly told him I was only twelve this year. 04 Fortunately, the tragedy of my past life didn’t happen this time. After the IV drip, my fever had mostly subsided. When it came time to pay, my mom scolded me again over a measly thirty dollars. But I tightly clenched my left fist, my heart filled with the joy of successfully resisting my fate. And even more, a sense of anticipation for the future… Because exactly one week after my arm was ruined in my past life, my brother also caught a fever. Back then, my mom indiscriminately pinned the blame on me, insisting I was the one who infected him. But only I knew that my brother had caught the fever after sneaking off to play in the river behind her back. However, out of fear that my mom would punish him, he watched helplessly as I was falsely accused. This time, I absolutely refused to be the scapegoat! When he and a few friends went to play in the water by the river, I secretly hinted to my mom that wild turkeys were ruining the saplings in the field near the riverbank. When she got there, she heard the sounds of my brother and his friends playing in the water nearby. Her eyes went wide, and she hurried over. Sure enough, she saw my brother, completely naked, having a water fight with the neighborhood kids. A few years ago, someone had drowned in that river. Every summer, my mother repeatedly ordered him never to play near it. Seeing this scene now, she no longer cared that my brother was her precious darling. She sternly ordered him out of the water, grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him back home. I waited until my mom closed the door and my brother’s screams echoed from inside before I slowly emerged. That evening, just as expected, my brother came down with a fever. Even though my mom was cursing under her breath, she quickly carried him to the clinic. I was dragged out of bed, holding his jacket and water bottle, trailing behind them. During the consultation, the doctor routinely asked for his age. Hearing “eleven years old,” the doctor was quite surprised, because my brother’s build was noticeably smaller than his peers. But my mom wasn’t happy about that. “Who are you looking down on? Don’t you know boys hit their growth spurts later?” My brother was already burning up, red as a lobster—even worse than he looked in my past life—and was constantly whining about how awful he felt. I anxiously chimed in, “His ID says that’s his age, it’s correct.” My mom snapped, “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and prescribe the medicine for my son! If the fever causes any permanent damage to my son, I’m going to sue you for everything you’ve got!” The doctor had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to see a patient, and dealing with someone like my mom didn’t improve his mood. He directly gave my brother an intramuscular injection, prescribed some medication, and then used the excuse of closing the clinic to rush us out. The medication cost over two hundred dollars. When my mom heard the total, she cursed about being ripped off, but there wasn’t a single moment of hesitation when she pulled out the cash. In my previous life, I was deeply hurt by this blatant double standard. I sacrificed so much just to earn her love. But now that I’ve seen their true colors, I won’t soften my heart even a fraction this time! 05 After returning home in the early hours of the morning, my mom ran into her room and fell into a deep sleep, ordering me to take care of my brother. After she left, I wrapped myself in a blanket and curled up on the sofa to sleep. When I woke up again, my brother was wailing loudly. I had a pretty good idea of what happened, so I immediately ran to wake my mom up. My brother was rushed to the emergency room and was in critical condition for two whole days before he stabilized. Interestingly enough, when the doctors asked for my brother’s age this time, my mom still unhesitatingly said eleven. But thankfully, the doctors at this major hospital were more cautious and had dealt with all sorts of stubborn, uneducated family members. Under the doctor’s stern questioning, my mom’s expression gradually became uncertain. She seemed to have guessed the reason why my brother ended up like this, but she absolutely refused to admit it, as if not admitting it meant it wasn’t her fault. But when it was a matter of life and death, the doctor didn’t have the patience to play games with her. The doctor anxiously raised his voice and interrogated her, practically yelling, drawing the attention of everyone in the hallway. Trembling, my mom pulled him into a corner and whispered: “Doctor, why are you being so loud? That’s just how we calculate age where we’re from!” “And my daughter’s ID has that age too! She was perfectly fine when she got her injection last time!” “Look and see if there are any other reasons? Could it be because he wasn’t taken care of properly after the injection? I don’t even have to think about it to know that lazy brat of a daughter didn’t take her brother’s life seriously!” While my mom was talking, the doctor had already rolled his eyes impatiently several times. He wasn’t unfamiliar with patients’ families like this, the kind who only knew how to shirk responsibility when things went wrong. He interrupted my mom, confirmed the actual age, and went into the operating room to save him. This ordeal cost tens of thousands of dollars. Not only did my brother suffer immensely, but it also left permanent damage to his left leg. However, the doctor said that with proper recovery, it wouldn’t affect his normal walking. When he found out he ended up in the hospital due to my mom’s negligence, my brother threw a massive tantrum in his hospital bed. Knowing she was in the wrong, my mom bought him plenty of toys he’d been wanting to coax him back into a good mood. But I wasn’t so lucky. “What kind of sister are you? Did you learn absolutely nothing in school? You can’t even tell the difference between chronological age and lucky age when seeing a doctor! Are you just hoping your brother dies sooner?!” My mom stood with her hands on her hips and screamed at me. My brother in the bed also changed his tune and chimed in: “Yeah, Maya! Why didn’t you stop Mom? Why wasn’t it you who almost died from the injection!” 06 I looked at the malicious nature gradually revealing itself in my brother, clenched my fists tightly, and didn’t argue back. I knew his retribution was still to come. After the two of them finished venting their anger on me, they were a happy family again. While my brother was hospitalized, my mom, just like in my past life, went to cause a scene at the small clinic. This time, she was even greedier, demanding a hundred thousand dollars from them. Otherwise, she threatened to sue them for malpractice and shut them down. Helpless, the doctor had no choice but to pay up. After getting the money, my mom went to claim credit with my brother. “If it weren’t for this whole ordeal, when did you expect your mom to ever make this much money?” “The doctors all said there’s absolutely no problem with your leg. You can’t even tell unless you look really closely.” My brother, holding the thousand dollars my mom gave him to top up his gaming account, instantly changed his tune. He threw his arms around my mom’s neck and kissed her several times, entirely forgetting his previous resentment towards her. “You have to trust Mom. The lucky age isn’t just a way of showing gratitude to your mother; it will bring you blessings in the future!” “And don’t listen to your sister’s nonsense. It’s fine if girls lie about being younger, but you’re different. You’re the only male heir of the Miller family! Having an older age written down just makes you seem more manly!” “Mom will save all the rest of this money for you! When you grow up, the family’s money and the house will all be yours!” My brother agreed sweetly, repeating several times that he was eleven this year, counting his time in the womb as one year. 07 With money in her hands, my mom recently became obsessed with playing poker. She ordered me not to go to school for the next few days and to stay at the hospital to take care of my brother. I was responsible for the family’s three meals a day. Since my brother was recovering, my mom was more generous with the grocery money than usual. I couldn’t fight back against their everyday abuse and beatings, but I had ways to secretly make them miserable where they couldn’t see. I only spent a third of the money to buy stale vegetables and cheap meat, adding various seasonings so they couldn’t taste the difference at all. Sometimes my brother would even praise my cooking after eating, and my mom would clean her plate every time. I smiled silently. Without realizing it, by the time my mom cut off my living expenses, I had already saved up quite a bit of money. Even though it wasn’t a fortune, it was enough for me to comfortably finish high school. In this life, nobody was going to stop me from getting into a good college and escaping this place. While I was racing against the clock to study in high school, my brother developed extravagant habits and became a bully at school. Whenever I ranked in the top ten of my grade in exams, my brother would be called to the principal’s office because he failed every single subject. The teachers always said our family was a study in extremes. Why couldn’t the younger brother study as well as the older sister? In this life, because I maintained good grades, I received a few hundred dollars in scholarships every semester. I handed all of this over to my mom, only asking that she not interfere with my studies. With the money in hand, she naturally didn’t bother making trouble for me. As for my brother, his resentment towards me grew day by day because the neighbors were always comparing him to me. Sometimes when I was working a part-time job after school, he would bring a group of delinquents to steal the recycling I had collected. The homework I stayed up late to finish would be thrown into the trash by him the next morning. Seeing my distressed look, he would only laugh maliciously with his friends. Later on, I completely ignored these kinds of pranks. Except, when I cooked every day, I would secretly add a little something extra to his soup base. Sometimes it was powdered cockroach corpses, sometimes it was dumpling broth that a lizard had “accidentally” fallen into… 08 Fortunately, the final results did not disappoint me. I successfully got into a top-tier university and chose a major at a campus as far away from home as possible. When my mom found out, she sternly ordered me to change it, but I brought out the excuse I had prepared long ago: “The major I chose has a great future prospect. I might make a lot of money later on, and then I can support you even better!” I had been completely obedient to my mom all these years. Even when she cut off my living expenses, I didn’t act like I felt it was unfair, unlike my past life. I ate oatmeal and toast every day, and I still handed my scholarship money over to her. I would even smile and say to her: “Mom, you’ve raised me for so many years. Now that I’m an adult, it’s only right that I repay you.” She never in a million years would have thought I had any intention of escaping. Deep down, she believed I would dedicate my entire life to serving this family. Hearing what I said, her eyes darted around shiftily. “But I’m telling you right now, don’t even think about asking me for tuition money!” “I’ve fed and housed you for over a decade! I’ve already done more than enough!” I quickly waved my hands. “How could I possibly ask you for more money? I know tuition is expensive, but I’ve applied for student loans now, so you don’t have to worry about me.” Only then did she relax, waving her hand dismissively. “Once you’re in college, don’t just focus on having fun. Learn from others and get a part-time job! Your dad died early, and it wasn’t easy for me to raise you and Jackson all by myself. You need to remember how hard I worked!” “Jackson needs money right now, so I won’t ask you for much. Once you’re in college, just send me a thousand dollars a month to my card!” To successfully escape, I agreed to whatever conditions she proposed. Anyway, the day would come when I would exact my revenge on them, one by one! 09 In the blink of an eye, my brother was a junior in high school. When he was little, he skipped two grades in preschool, so his actual chronological age was two years younger than his classmates. But because my mom had messed with his official records, his legal age was one year older than his classmates. This time, when the announcement came that an agency was coming to the school for the final round of Air Force pilot recruitment, my brother was more excited than anyone else. Because he was the only one in his class who met the age requirement! In fact, there were no more than five students in the entire grade who met the age requirement. Even before the recruitment process started, he was already fantasizing about what he would look like as a pilot. Hearing this news, my mom was genuinely happy for him. She viewed her son through rose-colored glasses, believing unequivocally that as long as my brother participated, he would definitely succeed! If he wasn’t chosen, it meant the recruiters were blind! She even gloated, “See? Doesn’t Mom deserve some credit?” “If we went by how everyone else counts from birth, wouldn’t you have missed this opportunity?” “I always said my way of counting was the right way! You need to remember to be grateful, and the blessings will come, right?” My brother, hearing this, also felt incredibly lucky. “Good thing you had foresight, Mom!” “Don’t worry! Once I’m selected and make big money in the future, I’ll definitely make sure you live a good life!” My mom was so thrilled by my brother’s words that she posted several updates on Facebook. Almost every neighbor, relative, and friend she’d ever spoken to knew that Jackson was testing to become a pilot. Everyone praised him for being so promising. When he went for his first physical exam, my mom had already gathered her acquaintances and booked nine large tables at a restaurant to celebrate his acceptance into the pilot program. However, before she could wait for the good news about my brother, she first received a call from the police station.

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While FaceTiming my boyfriend in the new, incredibly short skirt my “uncle” bought for me, my uncle suddenly walked in and pulled me into his arms. Feeling the dangerous shift in his mood, I panicked. But he just let out a low chuckle and covered my mouth with his hand. “This little skirt is meant for my eyes only. Do you understand?” I looked up at him with wide, innocent doe eyes, tears of fear welling up in the corners. My “uncle,” however, just clamped down on my wrists, his eyes gleaming with excitement and a wicked half-smile. “Then I guess I’ll just have to punish you right in front of him. How does that sound?” 01 During the winter holidays while I was back home, my uncle mailed me a little skirt I had been eyeing for ages. It was short, sexy, and incredibly alluring. The moment I unwrapped it, I texted him, thanking him profusely. But my uncle told me I had to wait until I came back to the city to try it on and show him in person. I didn’t think much of it, assuming he just wanted to admire his own good taste in clothing. So, as soon as I got back to my apartment, I slipped into the tiny skirt he sent me and started a video call with my long-distance boyfriend. When the call connected, my boyfriend, Ethan, seemed strangely flustered. The moment he saw me, a look of obvious guilt flashed across his face. “Maya, what made you decide to FaceTime me out of nowhere?” Ethan hadn’t even put his shirt on properly. He gave me a strained, awkward smile. I looked at him, my suspicion growing, and asked point-blank: “Ethan, what are you doing? Why aren’t you even dressed?” A look of embarrassment crossed Ethan’s face, and he quickly tried to cover his tracks. “I just woke up.” “Look, I’ll show you.” I was about to press him further, but Ethan cut me off. He proactively turned his camera to show me his nightstand, which was covered in things related to me, and then the messy, unmade state of his bed. Seeing that, my cheeks instantly flushed a deep pink. Ethan gave a knowing smile and stayed quiet. 02 Seeing his reaction, I quickly changed the subject, taking the initiative to lift the hem of my skirt to show him. “Ethan, look. Do you like my new skirt?” My boyfriend, Ethan, had always been a gentleman. In the six months we had been together, he rarely crossed any lines. We always kept things respectful and PG-rated. But the next moment, Ethan’s eyes lit up intensely. He pointed at the hem of my skirt, his voice laced with excitement: “Maya, stand up. Pull it up a little higher so I can get a better look.” Ethan’s expression was full of amazement; he seemed unusually interested in me at this moment. I felt a bit weird about it. But hearing his words, I instantly understood exactly what Ethan was getting at. I blushed furiously and softly refused him: “This… this isn’t a good idea…” “We’re…” Seeing me refuse, Ethan kept encouraging me: “Maya, we’re doing long-distance now. Shouldn’t we spice things up a bit to keep the spark alive?” Saying that, Ethan showed me his nightstand again. It was covered with my photos and some clothes I had left there. “Look, this is all proof of how much I miss you.” Thinking about it, my resolve began to waver. The hand clutching the hem of my skirt started to uncontrollably pull it up, inch by inch. On the screen, Ethan’s expression grew more and more eager. “Just… just this once…” I bit my lip, muttering softly, ultimately agreeing to his request. On the other side of the screen, Ethan nodded eagerly, his eyes practically glowing as he stared at me. I gripped the hem of my skirt, gritted my teeth, and prepared to pull. Suddenly, the sound of the door opening rang out. A man’s freezing tone made my fingers freeze in mid-air. “Maya. Put it down.” A man in a sharp suit was leaning against the doorframe, his eyes burning like a torch. Those expressive eyes were locked onto me, but his tone was terrifyingly cold. I looked back. Seeing that sharp, handsome face, the movement of my hands stopped instantly. My voice trembled: “U-Uncle?” 03 My uncle had walked into the room so suddenly I didn’t even have a second to react. He had already casually shut the door behind him. He was even holding the suit jacket he had just taken off. He stared at me with a burning intensity, taking slow, deliberate steps toward me. “It’s been a few years, Maya. Have you grown that bold?” “Now you even dare to disobey me?” My uncle questioned me, his tone laced with interrogation, while his eyes remained fixed on my fingers, which were still tightly gripping the hem of my skirt. Seeing this on the video call, my boyfriend instantly turned red with anger: “Who are you? What gives you the right to talk to my girlfriend so intimately?” Ethan was furious. His angry voice was being blasted through the phone’s speaker. Hearing him, I was about to open my mouth to warn Ethan. But my uncle, who had already closed the distance between us, snatched my phone away before I could. After a few years of not seeing him, my uncle had grown even more handsome and captivating. His suit jacket was casually unbuttoned, giving him an incredibly alluring, untouchable aura, while his brow held an air of careless relaxation. I looked up and suddenly met his gaze. His face was impeccably clean-cut. Deep, defined features and a sharp jawline, paired with a pristine white dress shirt. He even had a faint, youthful vibe to him, but mixed with a rugged maturity. He was incredibly striking. Even my boyfriend, Ethan, looked like a little boy standing next to him right now. The difference was like night and day. My uncle merely cast a sideways glance at Ethan on the screen, not saying a single word. He quickly pulled out his own phone and opened the photo gallery. He glanced at me, then handed his phone to me. In the photo, Ethan was passionately entangled with another woman in his own bed, completely lost to the world. The moment I saw Ethan in bed with another woman, my heart plummeted like a stone in an icy lake. Seeing my reaction, my uncle looked at Ethan with contempt and let out a scoffing laugh: “It seems Maya’s taste in men is quite poor.” From start to finish, my uncle hadn’t even looked my boyfriend directly in the eye. Hearing this, Ethan’s face flushed red on the screen as he desperately tried to defend himself: “Maya, this guy is crazy! Why did he barge into your room? He’s talking nonsense, you absolutely cannot believe him.” “You have to believe me. You are the only person I have ever loved!” Heh. Of course I believed my uncle. Because that dress shirt casually tossed at the foot of Ethan’s bed in the photo? That was the one-year anniversary gift I had given him. And yet, he treated it like an eyesore, tossing it carelessly onto the floor. Just like my sincere love for him—completely worthless. 04 I looked at Ethan once, didn’t say a word, but my eyes were filled with profound disappointment. I had been with Ethan for over a year. He had chased me relentlessly for three months before I finally agreed to give him a chance. All the declarations of true love he had made to me in the past were now incredibly laughable. My uncle, standing beside me, saw my heartbreak instantly but didn’t say anything. He just slowly placed his phone on the desk, then beckoned me with a hooked finger, a smirk on his lips as he called me over: “Come here.” My uncle’s low, deep voice was terrifyingly cold in that moment. I didn’t dare disobey. So, instinctively clutching the hem of my skirt, I walked toward him. In my memories, whenever I was upset or crying… My uncle would gently call me over, pull me into his arms, and stroke my back to comfort me. This time was no exception. He pulled me into his arms, used his thumb to wipe away the tears welling up in the corners of my eyes, and asked in a low voice: “Do you like the little skirt I bought you?” I bit my lip hard and nodded, but the tears kept rolling down my cheeks. Wrapped in my uncle’s strong, warm arms, I felt like a sad, obedient little bunny silently crying. Being cheated on by my boyfriend left a bitter, sour taste in my mouth. But Ethan was still frantically trying to defend himself through the phone screen. He even shamelessly started recounting all our past memories, desperately trying to salvage whatever shred of affection I had left for him. But I knew: cheat once, and you’re dead to me. He cheated. How could I ever forgive him? Seeing this, my uncle used his thumb to brush my stray bangs back, gently tucking them behind my ear. “Don’t want to hear it?” He asked in a gentle voice. I nodded, tears still in my eyes. So my uncle grabbed my phone and immediately hit the mute button. The room instantly fell into complete silence. My uncle reached out a finger to gently lift my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. The tear tracks on my face hadn’t even dried yet. My icy, stiff fingers were still death-gripping the hem of my skirt, afraid to let go. Seeing this, my uncle looked at me with those deep, soulful eyes. A flicker of emotion crossed his gaze, and his tone held a hint of struggle as he reminded me: “The little skirt I bought you is meant for my eyes only. Do you understand?” His domineering, low voice fell into my ears, word by word. It left me too terrified to argue. In a flash, my uncle had already possessively grabbed my freezing, trembling fingers. Then, he enveloped my hands completely in his warm, large palms. The heat seeped through my skin, slowly warming my heart. “Be a good girl. Listen to me. Stop crying.” My uncle’s gentle voice sounded right by my ear: “Don’t be sad. Aren’t I right here?” I was just about to open my mouth to answer him, but— The next second, a warm, soft sensation completely overwhelmed me. A rush of heat spread through my teeth. Without any warning, my uncle’s warm lips covered mine. The heat and a slight bitterness mingled together. I was terrified, but my uncle seemed completely captivated. 05 I stood frozen in place, utterly stunned. My uncle’s deep, passionate eyes were locked intensely onto my lips. And Ethan was watching this entire scene unfold through the phone screen. In my peripheral vision, I could see Ethan’s mouth moving frantically, but no sound came out. I was about to reach over and turn off the phone out of sheer embarrassment. But in a flash, my uncle pulled me tight against him, right in front of my boyfriend’s shocked eyes. “Be a good girl. Listen to me.” The sudden, dangerous shift in my uncle’s mood sent a jolt of electricity through me, leaving my legs weak. I didn’t dare move an inch. He didn’t speak, just continued to gently kiss away the tear tracks on my face. “If you ruin your pretty face crying, I’ll be the one whose heart aches.” Ethan was yelling, but neither my uncle nor I could hear him. However, Ethan could hear every single word my uncle said perfectly clearly. On the other side of the screen, my boyfriend’s face was flushed red with anger. He glared at us furiously, but he still couldn’t make a sound. My uncle carelessly stroked the back of my neck, his tone laced with amusement: “What, haven’t given up on him yet?” He gently forced my head to turn back towards him. My gaze was forced to land on the pronounced bump of his Adam’s apple. I looked up, and my surprised eyes met his strict, judging gaze. “…No…” I was about to deny it. But my uncle just smiled. Then, he pulled me closer, wrapping me tightly in his arms, and let out a low chuckle: “Then let me punish you right in front of him. How does that sound?” Hearing those words, I felt like I was going to die on the spot. My terrified gaze darted around frantically, not knowing where to look. I thought my uncle was just threatening me, trying to force me to make a clean break with Ethan. But then, his warm hand began to slowly, inch by inch, invade my skin. The heat rushed over me through my pores. My uncle wore a wicked half-smile, his eyes locked onto my lips, radiating pure aggression. My boyfriend, Ethan, could only watch helplessly as my uncle held me, too angry to speak. As for me, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t push my uncle away. His kisses fell on my lips like dense raindrops, mixed with the intoxicating scent of tobacco and pure testosterone. His low, heavy pants echoed one after another, inexplicably plucking at my heartstrings. 06 My uncle’s behavior was dangerously chaotic and unhinged. Even though we were in my bedroom. Even though my ex-boyfriend was watching. My uncle showed no restraint. He leaned down, his lips brushing against my ear, and even dared me to try and push him away, to try and escape: “Tell me, Maya. Who treats you better? Me, or him?” “…No… I don’t want to…” I refused to answer, my voice trembling, but my uncle relentlessly backed me into a corner. He only wanted to hear the answer he was looking for from my mouth. I didn’t answer; I just bit my lip and kept refusing. “…No…” My refusal was entirely useless. My uncle let out a scoffing laugh, picked up the phone, turned the camera towards himself, and said disdainfully: “Your name is Ethan, right?” Ethan, finally unmuted by my uncle, was glaring at him with a cold, mocking sneer: “You’re truly disgusting. You won’t even spare your own niece.” Hearing this, my uncle just smiled: “Then does Maya know who the woman in your bed is?” In my peripheral vision, I saw Ethan’s eyes turn red with anger at those words. He stopped talking. I looked at my uncle and asked softly: “Who is it?” My voice had suddenly turned ice-cold. My uncle looked at me and gestured for me to come closer. I hesitated for a few seconds, but complied. He smiled in satisfaction, then asked me: “Is your uncle better, or is he better?” But this time, before I could even answer. My uncle grabbed my slender, warm fingers and, right in front of Ethan, placed them directly onto his burning hot abs. Seeing this, Ethan’s face went purple with rage. Having been with Ethan for so long, I knew perfectly well. Ethan didn’t have abs. He barely had any muscle on his entire body. He had even naively asked me if I disliked him having muscles because I was worried he’d pull something working out. And I, like an idiot, had actually agreed with him. Now, feeling my uncle’s abs… it actually felt pretty good. My uncle glanced at me, then asked affectionately: “Now that you’ve felt it, it’s your turn, right?” Hearing this, I blinked my wet, teary eyelashes at my uncle, looking completely lost. 07 My uncle, however, gave a knowing smile: “What, are you going to be unfair about this?” On the screen, Ethan was about to start yelling again, but my uncle abruptly hit the end call button. “Let’s keep doing things that will drive him crazy. How does that sound?” I looked at my uncle, my fingers trembling as they gripped the hem of my skirt. My voice was filled with panic: “What…?” My uncle smiled, but then he reached out and handed me a few photographs. I took them, feeling a bit scared, but I noticed the face in the photos looked strangely familiar. “Is this… Auntie?” Hearing this, my uncle almost choked on his own breath. He looked at me with deep resentment and flicked me on the forehead. “What kind of nonsense are you talking about? If I had a wife, would I be kissing you?” He used his thumb to wipe away the last teardrop from the corner of my eye, his tone affectionate: “Look closer.” I looked down, focusing on that strangely familiar face. I felt like I had definitely seen this person before, but I just couldn’t place her. It wasn’t until my uncle tapped Ethan’s name that I finally remembered: “It’s Ethan’s sister!” “Oh, wait, no. He said she was his cousin!” I remembered perfectly well how smug and proud Ethan looked when he introduced his so-called “cousin” to me. My uncle smiled: “You guessed right. As a reward, I’ll give you a few more. How’s that?” So, my uncle handed me a few more photos. I couldn’t wait to grab them and look. But this time, my face instantly burned bright red. It was like a fiery sunset had been painted across my cheeks. Seeing this, my uncle reached out and touched my cheek with his thumb. The burning heat instantly transferred to his fingertips. He smiled: “What’s wrong?” He knew exactly what was wrong. The photos he handed me were all highly explicit, intimate photos of Ethan and his “cousin.” Not only did they make me blush, but they acted like a sharp knife plunging deep into my heart. “Uncle…” I called out to him, my voice awkward and strained. But my uncle just laughed out loud. He picked up the suit jacket he had taken off earlier, draped it over my legs, and then pulled me into his arms. In his embrace, he gently rubbed his nose against mine: “Do you understand now, Maya?” He asked me, his tone teasing. I silently lowered my head: “So… he’s been with his ‘cousin’ this whole time?” My uncle shook his head: “That’s not what I wanted you to notice.” He gently corrected me. I was confused: “Then… what is it?” I stared into his deep, soulful eyes. He even had a small, reddish teardrop mole faintly visible at the corner of his eye. Looking at his exceptionally handsome features. I felt like I was falling for him, but then I instantly snapped back to reality. This was my uncle! I kept repeating it to myself in my head. But he didn’t give me a chance to stay rational. He pulled me close with force, so determined that he left me no room to escape.

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In our past two lives, Declan Hayes couldn’t escape his fate of marrying me. The third time around, he accepted it. He no longer tried to save my sister first, leaving me to die in the freezing wilderness. He no longer showed disgust at the dark birthmark by my eye, instead calling it a mark God left for him to recognize me. His ambition was as relentless as ever. He crawled out of the slums, covered in frost and snow, collapsing at my feet. He was waiting for me to pull him up and take him home, just like I had in our past two lives. But this time, God showed mercy. The one who reached out and helped him up was my sister. And I? I picked up another little street rat, one even more wretched and battered than him. Smiling, I announced that I wanted to keep this one. Declan stared blankly as my hand bypassed him. He must have been overjoyed. So happy, he looked like he was about to cry. 01 It was an overcast winter day, the sky heavy with leaden clouds. The scouts rode back to our convoy, reporting that the northern mountain pass was frozen solid. We couldn’t get through. My older sister, Clara, sighed. She stroked my sleep-flushed cheek inside the carriage, lifted the velvet curtain, and instructed the driver, “Find an inn nearby for us to wait it out. Hazel is tired.” I crawled up from her lap and peered out the frosted window. The snow was blindingly heavy, making it look as though the clouds themselves had frozen over. Dozens of beggars were huddled under broken wooden awnings, shivering violently. A kindhearted tavern owner brought out buckets of leftover food and scraps. Instantly, the beggars swarmed the buckets like starving ants. Only two boys didn’t join the frenzy. One looked at the scraps with sheer disdain. The other was likely just too emaciated, lacking the strength to even stand, curled up in a corner with a mop of matted hair. Clara leaned over, pulling me back from the window. She had her nanny wrap a thick, white rabbit-fur scarf around my head and neck. “The wind is biting right now. Catching a fever is no joke,” she scolded gently. She didn’t let me step out of the carriage until I was bundled up like a marshmallow. The moment my boots hit the ground, a figure violently crashed at my feet. He grabbed the hem of my heavy cloak with such desperate force that he nearly dragged me down on top of him. “Oh my!” Clara rushed forward to catch me, frowning at the unconscious boy on the ground. The nanny took one look and gasped. “Oh, you poor boy. He’s covered in bruises and whip marks.” Clara had a bleeding heart. She couldn’t stand seeing others suffer. Seeing the overwhelming number of refugees, she handed the nanny a stack of cash to set up a soup kitchen. Then, she personally reached down to help the boy—the one who was still gripping my cloak in a death grip. I didn’t reach out. I just stood there, watching quietly. Suddenly, I asked, “Sister, are you going to keep this filthy beggar?” The boy’s tightly shut eyelashes fluttered. Clara smiled helplessly and pinched my cheek. “Hazel, be respectful. No matter what someone’s background is, you must be polite. Understand?” She thought for a moment, then added, “Uncle Arthur’s military academy has been recruiting refugee boys lately. Since fate brought him to us, let’s take him home. Consider it a good deed.” Knowing she wouldn’t scold me too harshly because of my age, I broke free from her grasp. I ran straight toward the cluster of broken awnings, pointing at the skeletal, half-dead boy in the corner. My eyes curved into a wicked, playful smile. “If you get to keep one, I want one too! I want this one!” No one else noticed, but I did. The boy leaning against Clara—the one pretending to be unconscious—snapped his eyes open the moment the words left my mouth. He stared at me in absolute disbelief. 02 Carefully observing the boy’s reaction, I was absolutely certain. This was Declan Hayes, the man who had been haunting my recurring nightmares for months. The dreams were fragmented, playing out like a tragic, twisted novel. In those dreams, I was the obnoxious, unloved adopted sister. I was ugly—ruined by the dark birthmark at the corner of my eye. I was spoiled, arrogant, and demanded everything my perfect sister had. Including the man she loved: Declan. I clung to Declan since childhood. Through two lifetimes, he couldn’t shake me off. In those lives, he treated me with pure cruelty. He abandoned me in the wilderness where I was nearly eaten by wild dogs. He mocked my appearance so relentlessly that it destroyed my self-esteem, driving me to use toxic, back-alley cosmetics to hide my birthmark until my skin rotted away, turning me into high society’s ultimate laughingstock. Yet, I acted like I was cursed, obsessively demanding to marry him. The love and hatred of two lifetimes tangled endlessly in my dreams. Every person, every scenario—I knew them by heart. So, when I heard the driver say the northern pass was frozen and we were trapped in this snowy town, I snapped fully awake and looked out the window. Sure enough, there was the young Declan. I was naturally rebellious, a girl who loved reading dark fairy tales and legends of reincarnation. When confronted with this bizarre intersection of dreams and reality, I wasn’t afraid. I was thrilled. I had been so stupid in my dreams. So pathetic to love a man who treated me like dirt. In reality, I was going to make sure Declan Hayes got absolutely nothing in his third life. I looked at the bed where the little street rat I had just picked up was lying. He had been given medicine but was still unconscious, tossing restlessly, his skeletal fingers trembling. I reached out and held his freezing fingertips. Finding warmth, his deeply furrowed brow slowly smoothed out. I smiled softly. I was going to raise this boy, Rowan, to be stronger, smarter, and more powerful than Declan. Then, Clara would undoubtedly fall in love with him instead. When that day came, Declan would lose the woman he loved, and he would lose the war for power and wealth. Watching him cry was going to be so much fun. 03 Saying I was going to raise Rowan properly was one thing; actually doing it was another. I couldn’t keep anything alive. Every stray cat or dog I brought home eventually had to be taken over by Clara because I was so bad at it. The only things I kept in perfect condition were my porcelain dolls. So this time, I made a firm resolution. I rolled up my sleeves, determined to do everything myself! But it immediately turned into a disaster. “Oh, my sweet girl! You don’t need to bathe him yourself! He’s a boy!” The nanny rushed back into the room holding a basin of water. Seeing me holding down a terrified teenager in a wooden tub, aggressively wielding a comb to fix his hair, she panicked. I didn’t see the issue. I naturally treated him like one of my dolls, adjusting him as I pleased. I said with absolute seriousness, “He’s mine.” I can do whatever I want. With that, I cupped the boy’s wet, rigid face, leaning in close, staring straight into his pitch-black eyes. “Your name is Rowan. From now on, I am your Lady. You will listen to me, forever and ever.” Rowan’s fingers gripped the edge of the tub so hard his knuckles turned white. “Nod your head,” I demanded bossily. He stared at me. Then, he nodded. I smiled in satisfaction and held up the comb. “Good! Now I’m going to comb your messy hair until it looks pretty. Don’t move.” Rowan tried his hardest to relax his body, his soaked rags floating on the surface of the water. But I overestimated myself. After just two strokes of the comb, I spotted something crawling in his hair. I screamed, threw the comb, and pushed him away forcefully. “Ah! Lice! So gross!” The nanny quickly pulled me back. “My precious girl, you aren’t made for this kind of dirty work. Alright, you’ve had your fun, let me take over.” I don’t know which word triggered Rowan, but he looked absolutely terrified that I was disgusted with him. He grabbed a pair of sharp shears from a basket by the tub and began frantically hacking away at his own hair. He swung so recklessly that the blades slashed his cheek, drawing blood. Both the nanny and I froze in shock. Strands of hair and blood hit the water. He gripped the shears, his hair now a jagged, chaotic mess. Like a lone, frightened wolf pup who didn’t know how else to please his master, he looked at me with helpless, desperate eyes. Clara heard the commotion and rushed in. Seeing the scene, she was also stunned. She looked at the shears in his hand with concern, then pulled me into her arms, coaxing me gently. “Hazel, do you really want a playmate? How about sister finds you a better one, okay?” At the doorway, Declan, who had been scrubbed clean and dressed in fresh clothes, was watching me. He even offered me a gentle smile. I found it completely baffling. Just as I was about to tell him he was worthless, I heard a splash. Suddenly, I was yanked out of Clara’s arms and pressed hard against a wet, bony chest. The boy’s voice was raspy, damaged, and incredibly stubborn. “Lady. Mine.” Declan’s eyes went dark for a split second. I turned my head and flicked Rowan on the forehead. “Idiot. It’s—I am yours, my Lady.” His eyes seemed to light up at the flick. “Yes.” He nodded. 04 Because we had been delayed for too long visiting our parents’ graves in our hometown, Clara ordered us to pack up and head for Uncle Arthur’s estate in the capital the second the ice melted. I was incredibly depressed. Because I knew that once we reached Uncle Arthur’s house, I would revert to being the universally disliked, annoying adopted cousin. I wasn’t like Clara. She was beautiful, elegant, and everything she did was perfect. The adults adored her, and our cousins idolized her. After our parents died, she took on the responsibility of raising me. She was so capable that everyone in elite society praised her. But me? The ugly birthmark by my eye made it naturally hard for people to like me. Plus, my temper was awful. If anyone offended me even slightly, I sought ruthless revenge. They only tolerated me out of respect for Clara. But I had made my peace with it. As long as I had Clara, it was enough. She treated me so well; I wanted to give her the best of everything the world had to offer. I looked across the carriage at Rowan. He was meticulously carving a birthday gift for Clara. I had braided a small section of his choppy hair, tying off the end with a blue sapphire bead. His face had filled out a bit, and the cuts from the scissors had faded to faint red lines. His eyes were exceptionally beautiful, like a crescent moon breaking through the dusk. There was no doubt he would grow up to be a devastatingly handsome man. He pressed his lips together in concentration, his nimble fingers using a small knife to smooth the edges of a wooden angel statuette. There were several failed attempts tossed in a box beside him. When he finished, he handed it to me. It seemed to be his best work. I turned it over in my hands, satisfied. “Yes, this one is the prettiest. Give it to Clara.” He shook his head and insisted I wear it instead. I lectured him. “How many times do I have to tell you? Clara is number one. You have to prioritize her above me.” I told him to put it away. He turned slightly, pretending he didn’t hear me, and picked up his knife to carve another figure. He replied curtly, “She has someone to treat her well.” Declan? I sneered in disgust. “What does he count for? You are a million times better than him. One day, you’re going to crush him under your boot, and all he’ll be able to do is cry.” Rowan paused. He looked up at me, his gaze complex. “You hate him?” I nodded. Rowan offered a strange, faint smile. “But he seems to like you. He likes you so much he looks like he wants to kill me.” Hearing that gave me goosebumps. I told Rowan he was being ridiculous and overthinking it. The bitter winter wind howled outside the carriage windows, the bells jingling. We were almost at the capital. I burrowed into the small blanket Clara had embroidered for me. Feeling sleepy, I closed my eyes and muttered: “Except for Clara, no one will ever like me…” The carriage was quiet for a long time. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I thought I heard someone whisper low under their breath— “Is that so?” “Because I think there are far too many people who like you. So many that I want to kill them…” I rolled over, assuming I was just hearing things. 05 As dawn broke, our carriage passed through the city gates. The Montgomery family had sent people to wait for us early in the morning. “The young ladies are finally here! The General and Madam have been worrying for days, terrified you’d be trapped in the blizzard and miss the holidays!” Aunt Martha’s head maid hurried forward, eagerly helping Clara step down from the carriage. Clara pulled her hood tighter, breathing out a cloud of white mist. “I didn’t expect the snow in the capital to be this heavy…” She turned around and reached her hand out to me, who was lagging behind. “Come on, Hazel. We’re home.” The Montgomery staff completely ignored me, their eyes landing on Declan and Rowan with confusion. Seeing I hadn’t moved, Clara stepped forward, pulled me along, and smiled as she explained why we had taken the two boys in. Declan was officially brought in by Clara, so the Montgomery staff didn’t say much. But when they looked at Rowan standing by my side, their eyes turned noticeably colder. I was used to this blatant favoritism, but… I looked back at Rowan. He seemed entirely oblivious to their deliberate coldness, offering me a small smile. We walked past the grand statues, through several courtyards, and into the warm, luxurious parlor. Aunt Martha personally came out to pull Clara inside, affectionately rubbing her cold hands. “My sweet girl, the journey must have been exhausting.” She looked right through me, as always, and spoke only to Clara. “Your uncle told me before he left for the day—we need to move your parents’ graves back here eventually. Traveling up north every year in this freezing weather… it’s exhausting for everyone, and it’s simply not proper.” Declan and Rowan stepped into the parlor. Standing behind them, I saw Clara shake her head and reply softly, “Mother and Father spent half their lives defending the northern borders. Being buried there was their dying wish. As their daughter, I cannot go against their final requests just for my own comfort.” Aunt Martha pulled Clara onto the plush sofa, sighing with pointed meaning, “You’ve always been the sensible one…” I sat off to the side, my mind wandering. Suddenly, someone plopped down next to me and called out: “Hey, Hazel. That weird-looking stray with the short hair outside… you picked him up?” I turned my head, glanced at Rowan standing on the porch, and then looked at my cousin, Blair Montgomery. She loved making my life miserable. I ignored her. She smirked and held out her hand. “Give him to me. I’ll trade you this solid gold bracelet for him.” I didn’t even blink. “No.” The girl let out a cold laugh. “Do you honestly think that by copying Clara and pretending to have a bleeding heart, bringing a beggar home, my parents will actually look at you?” Blair leaned in closer. “Let me tell you a secret: as long as you live in my house, no one will ever respect you.” Her eyes curved maliciously. “What’s the big deal about giving me a piece of trash you found on the street? At least you get some real gold out of it. It’s a lot better than back when you used to eagerly sew shirts and shoes to please my parents and brothers, only for them to toss your handmade gifts to the servants without a second glance.” I finally looked at her. My smile didn’t reach my eyes. “Sure. As long as you can tame him and make him willing to follow you.” “That’s easy! There isn’t a wild horse I haven’t broken!” Blair cheerfully tossed the gold bracelet into my lap. Later, Blair took Rowan away, repeating my exact words to him word-for-word. Rowan seemed heartbroken. I lowered my eyes, refusing to look at him, and mindlessly played with the gold bracelet. 06 I didn’t entirely trust Rowan. He was far too obedient in front of me, completely unlike the fierce rival to Declan I remembered from my dreams. How could anyone hand over their absolute loyalty to someone else so quickly and without reservation? I didn’t buy it. He needed to be tested. Clara disapproved of my methods. “Since he placed himself in your hands, you owe him the same level of trust. He’s your companion, isn’t he?” I told her that once he passed the test, I would trust him completely. Clara pressed her hand to the top of my head, like an angel trying to educate a foolish mortal. “But he doesn’t know that. He only knows that you broke your promise and abandoned him. Hazel, you aren’t testing him. You are hurting him.” I didn’t fully understand, but Clara was always right. Early the next morning, I hurriedly washed my face and ran toward Blair’s courtyard. Trudging through the uncleared snow paths, my dress hem soaked and heavy, I bumped into Declan, who was dressed in a sharp training uniform. “Ha…” He paused. “Miss.” I ignored him. He reached out to help me. “The snow is too thick, it’s hard to walk. Let me help you.” Smack. I slapped his hand away, bristling like a porcupine. “Get lost.” Declan froze, his fingers curling inward as his hand dropped. “…Do I displease you that much, Miss? What exactly did I do to offend you?” I kicked at the snow, the biting cold seeping through my boots. “Every single thing about you makes me sick. Move! Stop blocking my way!” Declan smirked slightly. “Is that so.” He watched me stumble through the snow for a moment. Then, suddenly, he reached out, scooped me up under his arm, strode effortlessly through the snowdrift, and deposited me onto a dry, sheltered walkway. “Let me go!” I scratched his face, leaving red marks. Once I was steady on my feet, I shoved him hard and glared at him. Unlike his cold, sarcastic demeanor in my dreams, he just laughed and bent down, his eyes looking disturbingly affectionate. “Eat more food, little Miss. Grow up fast. When you’re older, you’ll like me.” In his dreams. After saying that, he crouched down and used his own sleeve to wipe the wet snow off the tips of my boots. This bizarre gesture actually made me freeze in shock. Declan didn’t stay long. Uncle Arthur was selecting refugees to train as reserve guards at the military camp today, and he needed to hurry. This was incredibly important. Rowan couldn’t miss this opportunity either. I had to go get him. I shook my head, pushing Declan’s weird behavior out of my mind, gathered my heavy, wet skirts, and sprinted into Blair’s courtyard. I had assumed Blair, lazy as she was, would still be asleep, making it easy to just take Rowan away. But the moment I stepped into the courtyard, I heard her screaming in rage. “I ordered you to kneel! You dare defy me?!” 07 Snow fell from the eaves. It landed silently on the boy’s thin, bruised shoulders. He was pinned down by several burly guards, but he absolutely refused to let his other knee touch the ground. Clutched tightly in his bleeding hand was a vicious, barbed iron whip. Those eyes, which had always been so gentle and submissive around me, were now pitch black and terrifying. “I only kneel to the dead.” Blair laughed out of sheer fury. She had grown up practicing martial arts with her father and was wild by nature. She let go of the whip and ordered a servant to bring a sword. “That stupid girl really brought back a tough one. Fine. I want to see just how tough you can be today.” A servant brought out a heavy broadsword. It was one of Uncle Arthur’s battlefield weapons. “Cousin!” I hurried out, compromising for the very first time, and called out to her. “I changed my mind. Give him back to me.” Blair looked at me like I had lost my mind. “Huh?” I shoved the gold bracelet back into her chest, roughly pushed past the guards surrounding Rowan, pulled him up, and stood protectively in front of him. To shut Blair up, I even handed over two of my own jade bracelets and promised to do her literature homework for two months. Blair reluctantly let him go, clutching her easy loot and muttering that there was something seriously wrong with my brain. On the way to escort Rowan to the military camp, he didn’t say a single word. I thought to myself, Clara was right. I had hurt him. I had always been the one getting hurt by others. But this time, I had become the kind of arrogant, cruel person who threw their weight around. It didn’t feel good. I promised to take him under my wing, but I didn’t protect him. Just like how my uncle had promised my dying mother he would take care of me, but failed. I had failed too. As we reached the camp gates, Rowan lowered his eyes and walked past me, his tone deliberately formal and distant. “Thank you for escorting me, Miss. Your subordinate will go in now.” I didn’t know what came over me, but my heart felt like it was stuffed with wet, rotting cotton. I originally just wanted to use him to make Declan miserable. I never intended to treat him like a real companion. Technically speaking, he was just a beggar. A servant. I gave him clothes, food, and a future. I had already been incredibly generous. But I felt awful. Thinking about it deeply, I realized that other than Clara, no one else had ever treated me with such unconditional priority and care. I was too selfish. I didn’t want to lose that rare, precious bit of favoritism. The winter sun was slow to rise, casting dim, nervous shadows at our feet. Rowan stopped walking. He looked down. Two stiff, freezing fingers were lightly tugging at his sleeve. “…I’m sorry.” I spoke in a tiny voice. “I won’t do it again.” The cold, desolate wind swept past us in silence. The boy, who seemed to have grown even thinner overnight, had sharp, striking features. His thick eyelashes cast shadows over his eyes, hiding his gaze. I only heard his raspy voice. “You said it. That’s the second time. If you push me away again, I will truly get angry.” He leaned down slightly, lifting his eyes to stare right into mine. “When I get angry, it’s terrifying. Miss, I will eat you alive.” Like a starving wolf betrayed by its pack. I thought he was joking, because he was smiling. His dark pupils were clear and completely harmless. So, I smiled back. 08 Rowan entered the military camp. I heard that Uncle Arthur originally didn’t want to keep him, either because he looked too frail or simply because I was the one who brought him in. But his reckless, do-or-die performance on the training grounds was impossible to ignore. Uncle Arthur accepted him. The rumors painted him as a blood-soaked brawler, but when I went to see him, he looked perfectly fine. He was neatly dressed and smiled, asking me out for the Winter Festival, proudly announcing he was now a man with a real salary. The Winter Festival was the most important family gathering for the Montgomerys. The whole family went out to see the lantern displays and enjoy the festivities. Clara tried her best to split her attention to watch over me, but she was surrounded by too many people. Her hand would inevitably slip from mine. Eventually, I was left standing alone, watching the lively crowd carry her further and further away from me. But with Rowan, I never felt that kind of loneliness. His eyes were only on me. He held my hand tightly, and no matter how dense the crowd became, he never let go. We walked down the grand avenue, past the arcades, watching acrobats and tightrope walkers. Above us were towering displays of lanterns, paper-mache figures moving like immortals. Growing up on the streets, Rowan knew all sorts of novelties. Whether it was sword swallowers or puppet shows, he could always explain the hidden mechanics behind the illusions. “The most important thing is the eyes.” His bright, obsidian eyes looked at me. “Many illusions rely on the eyes helping the magician lie. Exposing them isn’t easy, because your own eyes betray you first.” Rowan sometimes said profound things like that. I didn’t really understand. A massive, brilliantly lit lantern boat shaped like a dragon glided past on the river. I was captivated and leaned over the stone bridge railing to watch. 09 The wealthy always had plenty of pastimes. After the Winter Festival came the Spring Hunt. Spring arrived late this year. It still snowed occasionally, and the grass hadn’t fully grown in. But Blair threw a tantrum, insisting on going to the mountains to hunt, so the family indulged her. Looking at the barren, reddish-green landscape of the mountains, I remembered a scene from my dreams. In the dream, I was incredibly bratty, insisting on riding Clara’s horse and forcing Declan to hold my reins. But my riding skills were terrible. A sudden blizzard hit, the horse lost its way, and I was carried deep into the desolate woods. Declan had followed me at first, but when he heard Clara calling for me, he abandoned me to go to her. I was attacked by wild dogs and severely traumatized. After that, my temper grew even more volatile, and before I even turned eighteen, I forced Clara to beg Uncle Arthur to arrange my engagement to Declan. The sky was gloomy, and a chilling wind blew. It wasn’t good weather. I looked thoughtfully toward the stables. Even though my personality in reality differed slightly from the dream, Clara and I rode identical horses. Why did I insist on switching horses in the dream? The Montgomery brothers were helping Clara pick out a saddle. Blair was exceptionally eager, personally saddling Clara’s horse. I walked over and noticed Declan sticking closely to Clara’s side. I felt a slight wave of relief. Even though he treated me terribly, he was undeniably good to Clara. If there was danger, he would definitely protect her. But a faint, nagging suspicion pricked at my mind, like a splinter I couldn’t quite locate. Watching Clara about to mount her horse, a realization flashed through my brain. Since when was Blair so nice to Clara? She always hated how the family favored Clara over her, their own flesh and blood. My heart tightened. As I stepped forward, I chose to trust my dream-self. To believe that— No matter how bad I was, I would always protect my sister. I ran over and grabbed Clara’s reins, looking up at her. “Sister, I like the horse you’re riding. Let’s trade!”

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