Category: English

On April Fools’ Day, my boyfriend said he wanted to propose to me in a haunted house. But the moment I stepped inside, he yanked out all the electrical switches and locked the door from the outside. The claustrophobia from my childhood kidnapping erupted. A suffocating sensation gripped my throat. I collapsed on the floor, pounding desperately on the door. “Oliver, open the door! I’m scared…” Then I heard a woman’s voice from outside, playful and sweet. “I can’t believe she actually fell for your nonsense about proposing in a haunted house on April Fools’ Day.” “You won this bet. I’m all yours tonight.” My blood ran cold. That voice belonged to Lily Carter, the streamer Oliver had been obsessively watching lately. So this was what ten years of friendship meant to him—a tool to win over another woman. But if I really died in that pitch-black haunted house, what was he crying about? My heart stopped beating. I lay on the cold floor, watching my soul leave my body. Outside the door, Oliver was still laughing carelessly. “Eve, you’re just too timid. Stay in there and toughen up a bit.” “Once you get over your fear, you can join Lily and me for all kinds of extreme sports.” I floated beside Oliver, tears streaming down my face. He had forgotten I had a heart condition. I could actually die. Lily turned on her livestream, pointing the camera at herself and Oliver, smiling as she greeted her fans. “This is today’s male guest.” “Lily bet him that if he could trick his girlfriend with a heart condition into a haunted house on April Fools’ Day…” “I’d be his for the day.” The comments flooded in with praise: “This guy’s got creativity!” “Are you two gonna put on an adult show tonight?” … Lily glanced shyly at Oliver and said coyly, “What are you all saying? This is just an April Fools’ challenge. If Lily loses, can she back out?” Oliver kissed her full on the lips. “No backing out.” I watched them kiss passionately. My heart had already stopped beating, yet it still ached uncontrollably. Half a month ago, both sets of parents urged us to get engaged. Oliver knelt at my feet, promising he’d give me a home soon. I had thought today would be the happiest day of my life. The boy next door I’d loved since childhood was proposing to me, with flowers, applause, and blessings… But what greeted me was his April Fools’ joke. Oliver glanced at the haunted house. He could no longer hear my bloodcurdling screams. He raised his eyebrows at Lily and gave her a thumbs up. “Your desensitization method really works. Eve isn’t scared anymore.” Lily lifted her chin proudly. “Of course. She’s probably already enjoying it, falling in love with the thrill of the haunted house.” The livestream chat started urging Lily to take them on a haunted house adventure. Oliver proactively took the phone and carefully adjusted the angle. As they moved forward, I was pulled along by an invisible force. I tried to go elsewhere, but the moment I drifted away, I was immediately pulled back to Oliver’s side. Oliver and Lily, fingers intertwined, pushed open another haunted house room. A bone-chilling scream suddenly rang out. I instinctively threw myself into Oliver’s arms, but passed through his body without resistance. I smiled bitterly. Right. I was already dead. What was there to be afraid of? I looked up and saw Oliver gently covering Lily’s eyes. “You don’t have to act tough today. I’ll protect you.” And I stood behind Oliver, watching him hold Lily’s hand tightly, carefully shielding her with his body. Once upon a time, he had protected me the same way.

Tears fell unconsciously. Oliver blocked all the staff’s scare tactics for Lily, leading her successfully out of the haunted house. Lily pulled her hand away from Oliver’s, pouting playfully. “Do you protect your girlfriend like this usually too?” I lowered my eyes and shook my head gently. Except for when Oliver and I were kidnapped as children. I covered his escape and got my leg broken, then was locked in a dark room. After I was rescued, he took care of me tirelessly. But in the seven years we’d been dating, he never protected me again. When I was sick, he went drinking with friends. When I had a car accident, he called to yell at me for being brainless. Even last year when I had heart transplant surgery with only a ten percent success rate—I was terrified I’d die without seeing him again, so I begged him to come be with me for the surgery. Oliver didn’t show up because he was celebrating his ex-girlfriend’s birthday. Hearing Oliver’s negative answer, Lily finally let him hold her hand again. The livestream audience didn’t want to watch them being lovey-dovey. More than half left quickly. Lily’s eyes lit up as she shook Oliver’s arm playfully. “I heard you and your girlfriend are getting ready to get engaged. How about showing me your wedding house?” I frantically spread my arms in front of Oliver. “No! That’s the house my dad renovated with his own hands!” Every brick, every coat of paint was infused with my father’s love for me. To create my dream wedding home, he developed severe back pain. His back hurt so badly he couldn’t straighten it. How dare Oliver let someone else trample on my father’s hard work? I desperately tried to stop him, but my body kept passing through Oliver. He drove Lily to the wedding house. The livestream viewer count doubled. “Oh my god, that’s so thrilling! Isn’t this basically bringing his mistress to his wedding house?” “What are you talking about? If he’s willing to bring Lily there, it means Lily is the woman he truly loves.” “Do you guys even understand what true love means?” Lily’s eyes curved into crescents as she turned to kiss Oliver’s cheek. “Right? The one who’s not loved is the real mistress.” “Don’t be jealous, everyone.” I trembled with rage, wishing I could grab the steering wheel and kill this shameless pair. But I couldn’t. I could only helplessly watch Oliver open the door to our wedding house. Lily excitedly held up the camera and rushed into the living room. She ran her hands over the exquisite table and lay on the soft sofa. “It’s so beautiful.” Dad had specially installed a projector in the ceiling. When turned on, it would automatically project a starry sky onto the walls. I threw myself at Oliver, begging him to throw Lily out. “Get out! You’re not welcome here!” A crisp shattering sound pierced my eardrums. I whipped around. Lily stuck out her tongue playfully, pointing at the ceramic shards on the floor. “Sorry, I bumped into it accidentally.” My mind went blank. I knelt down, my fingers trembling as I tried to piece together the broken ceramic doll. Mom had made it with Dad and me the day before she died. She said the ceramic doll would stay with me forever in her place. Tears flooded out like a broken dam. I clutched the fragments and sobbed uncontrollably. Oliver glanced carelessly at the shards on the floor and swept all the pieces into the trash without a second thought. “No.” But he couldn’t hear me. Even if he could, he wouldn’t feel sorry for me. I sat paralyzed on the floor, my eyes empty, wishing I could vanish immediately and find Mom to apologize. I hadn’t protected what she left for me… The next second, an urgent phone ringtone rang out.

Oliver looked at the lit phone screen, his spine stiffening. He gestured for Lily to turn off the sound before answering. “Mom, what’s wrong?” His mother’s anxious voice came through the speaker. “Oliver, where did you and Eve go?” “Her father just called me. He said her monitoring watch sent out a distress alert.” I moved close to the speaker, screaming with all my strength. “Mrs. Bennett, Oliver locked me in the haunted house.” “Please come save me. I’m so scared…” Oliver seemed to sense something and looked in my direction, frowning deeply. His fingers were white from gripping so hard. He tried to keep his voice calm. “Mom, Eve is with me on a date.” “Tell Mr. Harper not to worry. I’ll definitely take good care of her.” My heart felt like it had been torn open, leaving a bloody wound. I grabbed Oliver’s collar, crying as I demanded through blurred tears. “Why are you lying? Tell them the truth!” “My dad will worry. He only has me…” Mrs. Bennett was about to say something more when Lily coquettishly hooked her arm around Oliver’s neck, breathing suggestively. “You’re my boyfriend today. If you mention another woman again, I might get jealous.” Oliver hung up without hesitation. I saw the livestream flood with viewers. They all commented, “So thrilling!” “Lily is like a celebrity, so seductive.” “Lily, please teach a class. I want to change boyfriends every day too!” Even though Oliver hung up, his heart felt inexplicably uncomfortable. He gently patted Lily’s bottom and tried to call me. “Be good. Let me call Eve first to make sure she’s okay.” “Her health really isn’t good. I’m worried…” The phone only rang once before Lily pouted and snatched it, turning it off. “No calling. You’re mine today.” “Besides, doesn’t she have hands? If she’s not feeling well, can’t she call an ambulance herself? Why does she have to bother someone else’s boyfriend?” Lily spoke self-righteously while sharing relationship advice with her livestream audience. “Ladies, getting sick and bothering someone else’s boyfriend instead of finding a doctor—that’s textbook manipulation! If you encounter this situation, just have your boyfriend turn off his phone and ignore her.” I floated in mid-air, sneering contemptuously. Last week, I had a sudden bout of gastroenteritis. Oliver panicked and rushed me to the hospital. Halfway there, Lily suddenly sent him a message. “Oliver, I accidentally cut my finger. It hurts so much…” A photo followed immediately. Lily’s fingers were slender and fair, but without a trace of any wound. Oliver slammed on the brakes and dumped me on the roadside. He frowned anxiously and turned the car around. “Lily cut her hand. I need to go buy her bandages first.” “Go to the hospital yourself. You’re used to it after all these years anyway. But Lily is different. She’s struggling here alone. She needs me right now.” At 3 a.m., I couldn’t get a cab at all. I eventually passed out on the roadside. I don’t know how long it was before a stranger sent me to the hospital. My mild gastroenteritis turned into severe gastric perforation. When I woke up, I cried and asked Oliver if he didn’t love me anymore. But he knelt before me, swearing he would never abandon me again. In his heart, I was always in last place. But now, I truly didn’t care anymore. I only worried about Dad—how sad and guilty he would be when he learned of my death.

After this, the livestream audience urged Lily to show them the master bedroom. Oliver hesitated but still couldn’t resist the girl’s pleading. He pushed open the door. An exquisite Chinese-style wedding dress came into view. The livestream exploded instantly. “Oh my god, that’s so beautiful.” “The phoenix on that Chinese wedding dress looks alive.” Greed flashed in Lily’s eyes. She zoomed in the camera and ran her fingers over the dense needlework. I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Don’t touch it with your filthy hands!” This Chinese wedding dress was passed down through our family. Grandma gave it to Mom, and Mom gave it to me. She said I would be the most beautiful bride when I wore it. I bit the inside of my mouth until it bled, but I could only tremble helplessly. Right now, I was just a soul. I couldn’t touch anything. I couldn’t do anything. Lily couldn’t take her hands off the wedding dress. She even took it directly off the hanger. The livestream started egging her on. “Just have Lily try it on and perform a wedding ceremony with her boyfriend.” “I want to see it! I bet Lily would look absolutely stunning in it.” Lily laughed shyly and threw Oliver a flirtatious glance. “But it’s not mine. How could I just take someone else’s things?” Oliver stared at the exquisite wedding dress. Eve’s smiling face suddenly flashed through his mind. Eve had said just days ago that on their wedding day, she wanted him to personally help her into this Chinese wedding dress. She wanted to become his beautiful bride, carrying her family’s blessings. Oliver’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He grabbed Lily’s hand. “You can’t wear it. She’ll be angry.” Lily froze. She never expected Oliver would refuse her. The livestream erupted in complaints. “What’s wrong with just letting Lily try it on?” “Right? We’re just looking. Nobody else will know.” Lily’s eyes reddened with grievance. Her tears splashed onto Oliver’s hand as she bit her lower lip pitifully. “Oliver, I’ve never seen such a beautiful Chinese wedding dress…” “Don’t you like me? Don’t you want to marry me?” She pushed Oliver down onto the bed and stripped off her clothes. Acid churned in my stomach. I leaned over the bed and retched. I had chosen this bed. I had washed the sheets myself. I thought Oliver and I would sleep together in each other’s arms on this bed. But now, he kissed Lily passionately and pressed her beneath him. The livestream kept sending gifts, urging them on. “Put on the wedding dress! Put on the wedding dress!” “We want to see adult content!” Oliver personally helped Lily into the Chinese wedding dress. His hands roamed across the girl’s back, then pressed down on her nape and kissed her deeply. Tears streamed down my face. I smiled mockingly. He betrayed every promise he made to me. He destroyed everything I cherished. Oliver, I truly regret ever loving you. Oliver held Lily’s hand as they bowed to heaven and earth, then drank from the ceremonial cups. They went through the entire wedding ceremony. Amid the crowd’s cheers, Oliver swept Lily into his arms and placed her on the master bedroom bed. Lily glanced at the photo of Oliver and me on the nightstand and smiled provocatively. As if to say she had won. Any man would fall at her feet. My nails dug deep into my palms. I turned away, trying hard to ignore the sounds beside my ear. Just as they were about to take the next step, the bedroom door was suddenly kicked open. Mrs. Bennett appeared in view. When she saw the naked man and woman on the bed, her face went deathly pale. She rushed past me and slapped Oliver’s head to the side with a vicious strike. “You bastard! Do you know Eve is in trouble?”

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I’m severely allergic to peanuts. My husband knows this well—he even makes a point to remind the chef whenever we eat out at restaurants. But at a company gathering, his female assistant brought a bag of peanuts from her hometown to share with everyone. My husband actually told me to try some. I didn’t lose my temper, just politely declined. The next day, I invited a classmate who runs a seafood business to bring seafood to our house. I prepared a lavish seafood feast. I looked at my husband, who’s allergic to seafood. “My classmate brought this specially from his hometown. Eat it all.” Men who don’t know respect should be discarded. After all, I’m not just allergic to peanuts—I’m even more allergic to scumbags. I arrived at the gathering to find a sweet-looking girl handing out peanuts. Hearing everyone address me, Ruby rushed over with a handful of peanuts. “Mrs. Anderson, I’m Ruby, Anderson’s new assistant. These are peanuts I brought from my hometown. Try some.” I instinctively stepped back. Someone nearby explained for me, “Miss Ruby, Mrs. Anderson is allergic to peanuts.” “If you’re allergic, you should eat more—that’s how you build tolerance.” Ruby acted like she couldn’t understand plain English. Before I could react, she shoved the peanuts into my hand. I quickly threw them away. “Mrs. Anderson, did I do something wrong?” “Even if you don’t want them, you shouldn’t throw them away. There aren’t enough peanuts to go around as it is. I only gave you extra because you’re Mrs. Anderson.” I frowned. “I really am allergic.” Ruby put on a concerned expression and stepped forward. “Mrs. Anderson, allergies aren’t scary—what’s scary is being too afraid to overcome them.” She picked up the peanuts while saying, “Just try them. If you eat a few, you’ll definitely overcome the allergy.” “These are peanuts my parents grew. They’re organic, so they definitely won’t cause an allergic reaction. Just try them and you’ll see.” She tried to stuff the picked-up peanuts back into my hand. “I’m allergic to peanuts. I really can’t eat them.” I repeated. “Mrs. Anderson, you’ve just gotten too pampered living the high life with Anderson. You’re not like us country folk who can endure any hardship.” “Never mind peanuts—my grandfather used to eat tree bark when times were tough. You’ve just never been hungry. Peanuts are good food.” “Just try them.” I looked at her with displeasure. “Do you not understand English?” “Anderson, are you sure this kind of person can be your assistant?” Only then did Anderson speak up. “Ruby means well. You’re being too harsh.” “Anderson, Mrs. Anderson, please don’t fight because of me.” Ruby pressed the peanuts into Anderson’s hand. “I’m an outsider. Mrs. Anderson might feel awkward.” “You give them to Mrs. Anderson. They’re really delicious.” Anderson personally peeled a peanut for me. “Ruby brought these from her hometown. Don’t waste her kind gesture.” “Just overcome it. Just one.” Last time I accidentally ate food with peanut butter, just one bite landed me in the ICU for a week. Anderson cried his eyes out then, saying he’d fight anyone who ever let me near peanut products again. I thought I’d found true love in an arranged marriage, that we could walk this path together forever. Turns out that was just what I thought. “Anderson, you’ve had too much to drink.” My voice turned cold, my expression clearly displeased. Anderson scratched his head. “I guess I have had a bit much. Ruby, you eat it.” He reached out to feed Ruby. Ruby naturally ate that peanut. “Mrs. Anderson, it really is delicious. Are you sure you don’t want any?” I stared at Anderson with a dark expression. Anderson’s finger still lingered near Ruby’s lips. Testing my boundaries? It seemed that landing that big project recently had made Anderson too full of himself. “It’s time for the bonfire dance. Everyone get moving.” Before I could lose my temper, one of Anderson’s trusted colleagues quickly stepped in to defuse the situation. But Ruby chose that moment to extend her hand to Anderson. “Anderson, may I invite you to dance at the bonfire?” I pointed at Ruby while staring at Anderson. “Anderson, I don’t want to see her tomorrow.”

Anderson chased me to the car while Ruby wiped tears by the bonfire. “Aren’t you going to comfort her?” I leaned against the car and asked Anderson casually. “She’s just a college graduate, very naive. Don’t you trust my character?” “She’s naive for making me eat peanuts—what about you?” “Are you bad?” “Stockton, you’re overthinking this.” “I just felt Ruby had a point. We can’t avoid treating the problem. Maybe trying to eat peanuts could actually cure your allergy.” Anderson’s words reminded me—I’m allergic to peanuts, he’s allergic to seafood. Since that’s how he understands it, let him lead by example. “Mom and Dad are coming for dinner tomorrow night. Remember to come home.” Anderson saw me getting in the car. “Let me drive you. I think we can talk on the way.” “No need. Any explanation is weak and powerless. Prove your character through actions.” Away from the noise of the team building, I made two phone calls. One to my in-laws, inviting them to dinner at home tomorrow. One to a classmate who had pursued me, asking him to bring seafood to the house tomorrow. I wanted to see how much seafood it would take to cure Anderson’s allergy. The next afternoon, my in-laws arrived early, and so did my classmate. My in-laws looked puzzled when they saw my classmate busy in the kitchen with nothing but seafood. My mother-in-law asked me, “Stockton, why is it all seafood? Isn’t Anderson coming home to eat?” “How could he not come when you’re here? But I won’t say yet why it’s all seafood.” My mother-in-law was still puzzled but didn’t press further. Near evening, Anderson came home. When he saw the table full of seafood, especially when he saw my classmate, his entire face fell. “You’re home, come sit.” I pulled him to sit down. “Alexander came to see me today and brought all this seafood.” “It’s all from his farm, perfectly safe to eat.” I personally peeled a shrimp for Anderson and put it in his bowl. “Try it.” “Stockton, Anderson is allergic to seafood. You know that.” My mother-in-law quickly reminded me. “I know, but Anderson said he wants to overcome his allergy.” I pushed Anderson. “Anderson, I also think Ruby had a point. We can’t avoid treating the problem.” “Try it quickly and set an example for me.” “Come, let me feed you.” Anderson’s expression was ugly. He pushed my hand away. “Is this really necessary?” “Can’t we talk about whatever this is? What’s the point of calling my parents here?” “What’s going on?” My father-in-law asked with a stern face. “Dad, it’s nothing.” “Did I ask you to speak?” My father-in-law glared at him, then looked at me. “Stockton, you tell me.” I briefly explained what happened yesterday. “Anderson, I’m not making this up, am I?” Anderson remained silent. My father-in-law slammed his hand on the table. “Anderson, apologize to Stockton right now.” “No need for an apology. As long as he eats one shrimp, I’ll believe he really wants to help cure my allergy.” My mother-in-law spoke up quickly. “Stockton, you know Anderson can’t eat seafood. It could be life-threatening.” “I’ve only told you about this today. Do I need to call my parents now?” “Tell them Anderson tried to force me to eat peanuts to show off his masculinity in front of his assistant.” My father-in-law glared at my mother-in-law when she tried to speak again. She gave me a resentful look but didn’t dare speak further. I held the shrimp up to Anderson again. “Eating it means you want to help cure me. Not eating it means you want to kill me.” “Choose.”

Ten seconds later, Anderson’s mouth swelled up and he had difficulty breathing. My in-laws rushed him to the hospital in a panic. I followed to the hospital. After more than an hour of emergency treatment, Anderson was out of danger. My mother-in-law kept crying by the bedside. My father-in-law called me outside. “Stockton, Anderson was wrong in this matter. Don’t take it to heart.” “Dad, I chose Anderson for this arranged marriage because he was different from his other brothers—no messy scandals.” “But I was very unhappy about yesterday. I could chalk up him feeding me peanuts to being drunk, but him feeding that woman peanuts—I see that as a challenge to me.” “I don’t want there to be a next time. Otherwise, I’d rather accept the economic losses from canceling the alliance than divorce him.” “Don’t worry. I promise you I’ll teach him a good lesson. He’ll never dare cross the line again.” “It’s getting late. Your mom and I will stay here. You go home and rest.” I knew they had a lot to discuss father to son, so I left. The next morning, I came to the hospital. As soon as I entered, I saw Ruby sitting on the bed, feeding Anderson something. “Mrs. Anderson.” Ruby stood up quickly. Anderson looked uncomfortable. “Mom stepped out. I felt a bit low on blood sugar, so I asked Ruby for help.” “You go out. I’ll do it.” Ruby left reluctantly. I looked at the still-steaming soup and smiled brightly at Anderson. “It’s still a bit hot. Bear with it.” Then I poured the entire bowl of soup over Anderson’s face. Just then, my mother-in-law returned. “What are you doing?” My mother-in-law shouted frantically for a doctor. The soup wasn’t hot enough to burn him, but it definitely hurt. After confirming Anderson was fine, my mother-in-law called me out of the room. “Stockton, don’t you think you went too far today?” I looked at my mother-in-law, my tone unfriendly. “I don’t believe you didn’t know Ruby came. You deliberately gave them space.” “Yes, I admit it.” My mother-in-law was very direct. Then she changed her tone. “But as wives in wealthy families, we need to know our boundaries.” “Now that Anderson is the group president, he’s bound to have admirers around him.” “We need to turn a blind eye to many things.” “But don’t worry. Anderson grew up at his father’s side and learned from him. He knows what’s important. He’s just young and playful right now.” “I heard you were the mistress who took the position.” I looked at my mother-in-law. “Are you seeing yourself in Ruby?”

“How can you say such things?” “Did I hit a nerve?” I watched my mother-in-law’s expression grow increasingly ugly. “If I really did hit a nerve, I can’t relate.” “After all, unlike you and Ruby who only have looks, I also have background.” “Listen carefully. Being called Mrs. Anderson is me giving Anderson face.” “He’s just the president of Anderson Group, while I’m the chairman of Stockton Group.” “Our two families’ alliance was publicly announced as me marrying into your family, but don’t you know the actual situation?” “Anderson became group president because of me.” “Tell Anderson—once, twice, but not three times. If there’s a next time, I’m dumping him.” Leaving my mother-in-law red-faced, I turned and left. I’m busy, currently occupied with progress on a new project. I don’t have time to waste on romantic drama. I’ve known since childhood that growing up in my kind of family, marriage couldn’t truly be free. I tried to choose someone I liked for the arranged marriage, but clearly I misjudged. However, now that our families are allied, if Anderson and I divorce, it will cause significant impact to both group corporations. Over the years I’ve seen and heard about many people’s marriages. True devotion until death is about as likely as winning the lottery. Especially in our circle, fidelity in relationships is extremely rare. As long as Anderson doesn’t transgress again, we’ll maintain a marriage in name only. Like other arranged marriages, we’ll seek mutual benefit, not sharing a bed. I didn’t expect that three days later, Ruby would post on Twitter and deliberately tag me. [Congratulations to Anderson on his hospital discharge. May Anderson be treated gently every day from now on] The photo showed her in the driver’s seat with Anderson in the passenger seat. I recognized that car interior at a glance—it was mine and Anderson’s wedding car. It was a gift from my father to Anderson. Only Anderson and I could drive that car, and only we could sit in the passenger seat. Today, Ruby was in the driver’s seat. I had still underestimated Anderson’s stupidity, or overestimated my place in his heart. It seemed that being group president these past few years, taking on some projects, had made him think he could disregard me. Since he’s gotten cocky, it’s time to let him fall and face reality. I immediately called my father. As an only daughter, I’d already taken over all the family business. But as a daughter, I still needed to consult my parents about marriage matters. “Stockton, you’ve managed the business excellently all these years. I trust your abilities and judgment.” “Whatever you do, just do it. Your mother and I will always support you.” After hanging up, I began reviewing materials the lawyer had sent. The day Anderson made me eat peanuts, I’d already contacted a lawyer. With two major corporations involved, no matter how we handled it, divorce would cause some impact to my family. He’s the one who made the mistake, yet I have to share the economic losses. That’s not what I want. Looking at the losses mentioned in the materials, I paused for a moment and called my father-in-law. “Anderson was discharged, and Ruby picked him up, driving mine and Anderson’s wedding car.” “Thompson, I’d like to hear your opinion. Would it be better for me to divorce or become a widow?”

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I knew the countdown to my destruction had begun. I stood there, holding the boy my sister had abandoned seven years ago. Finally, I admitted to the matriarch of the Sterling empire that I wasn’t the woman who spent that fateful, passionate night with her son, the billionaire heir Elias Sterling. Vanessa, my sister, had returned. With a cold, gentle smile, she pulled the boy into her arms, claiming the status she had discarded. She looked at me and seethed, “You’ve occupied my spot long enough, Audrey. It’s time you gave Elias and Leo back to me.” After a long, suffocating silence, I agreed. I had only one request: “Give me enough cash to disappear. Let me get fully settled abroad before you reveal the truth to Elias.” I knew Elias Sterling. He was ruthless and vindictive. If he found out I had successfully deceived him and the entire Sterling family for seven years, being broke would be the least of my worries. He’d probably make sure I was erased. 1 “Mom.” Leo stood in the doorway, wearing his prep school uniform, his backpack hanging off one shoulder. “Hey, buddy.” I forced a smile and walked over, tousling his hair. “How was second grade today? Tough day?” “I met a lady.” He looked at me, confusion swimming in his dark eyes. “She said she’s your sister. My aunt.” I froze. My hands stopped moving through his hair. It took me a long moment to find my voice. “She looks like you,” Leo continued, clutching the strap of his bag. “I tried to call her ‘Auntie,’ but she hated it. She said she wasn’t my aunt.” My fingertips began to tremble. My throat felt seared. “What else did she say, Leo?” He answered obediently, “She said to tell you that, and that you would know how to reach her.” I leaned against the wall, dizziness washing over me. Seven years ago. Vanessa had given birth to Leo in a dingy apartment, miles away from Sterling territory. She was determined to leave, refusing to even look at the baby. I had tried to stop her. “You haven’t even recovered. Why don’t we just go to the Sterlings? It’s his blood. They won’t turn him away.” Vanessa had cracked. “The baby was a secret, Audrey! You think they’ll respect me? They won’t let me through the front gate. Best case scenario, they take the kid and kick me to the curb! It’s ‘cash for the baby’ at best!” I stared at the tiny creature. “Then what about him?” She was resolute. “Keeping him only drags me down. Take him to a fire station. Safe haven. Do it.” Vanessa left that winter. She abandoned me, and she abandoned her son. I was broke that year. I was desperate. But I couldn’t leave that tiny, wrinkled thing on a doorstep. So, I picked up the baby and walked to the front gates of the massive Sterling estate. I ignored the judgmental, sneering, and disgusted looks of the security detail and house staff. I simply said, “I need to see Elias Sterling. I have his son.” It didn’t go the way Vanessa predicted. I wasn’t kicked out. I was ushered into a waiting room. Within an hour, a rushed DNA test was administered. By the time Elias arrived home, his mother, Eleanor, was holding the report with an unreadable expression. “It seems we have an heir.” Elias was tall, striking, and absolutely frigid. He only spared me one cold, indifferent glance. I lowered my eyes, terrified. I only dared this gamble based on the gritty details Vanessa had shared with me. She told me that during their encounter, Elias had demanded the lights be off. He had never seen her face clearly. But standing before a man with that much crushing presence, my confidence evaporated. I was playing a high-stakes game with no cards. Elias said nothing, but he didn’t look at the baby either. Eleanor cleared her throat. “This girl carried him for nine months. It couldn’t have been easy…” Elias interrupted, his voice clipped. “I’ll marry her.” Everyone in the room went stiff. Including me. My wild plan had only gone as far as dropping the baby off. I hadn’t thought about my own future past that afternoon. The atmosphere solidified. Elias’s gaze landed on me, casual yet terrifying. “My mistake. I’ll atone for it.” Eleanor Sterling thought about it for a few moments, then rubbed her temples. “As you wish. If your mind is made up, start planning the wedding.” In that moment, I gripped the fabric of my cheap skirt. I didn’t know Elias’s angle. He didn’t lack options for a wife. Every socialite in the city would have line up to be a stepmother to the Sterling heir. Yet, he was willing to marry a girl who had secretly had his child. Maybe he wanted a “pure” family structure? I couldn’t tell. But I was poor, desperate, and this was my chance. Furthermore, this child was Vanessa’s, making him blood family to me. I lifted my eyes, offering Elias a timid smile. “I will do my best to be a good wife. And a good mother.” And just like that, the lie began. It lasted seven years. 2 “Why are you so distracted?” Elias had his arm around my waist, pulling me close on the sofa. He cut a calm glance toward me. I snapped out of it, leaning into him, my voice soft. “Leo seems thinner lately. If he loses any more weight, he’ll be nothing but bones.” Elias frowned, his tone turning icy. “You focus too much of your energy on him.” Saying that, he tipped my chin up, kissing me hard, demanding compliance. He only let go when I was completely out of breath. He gripped my waist, pulling me onto his lap. Elias looked down at me. “You have something on your mind.” His sharp, predatory intelligence always terrified me. But I had seven years of experience in deflecting. I brought it back to the boy, speaking with concern: “Leo’s teacher called. She said he’s not socializing with the other kids. Do you think we should set up an appointment with a child psychologist? I’m worried…” “Audrey.” Elias interrupted me, his eyes black pools. “You need to find your own life.” I paused, sighing. “Okay.” I sat on his lap, watching his long fingers tap across a laptop keyboard, efficiently handling Sterling Group business. He didn’t ask again. I had escaped this time. But Vanessa was back. You can only hide for so long. The second she threw a maternity DNA test on Elias’s desk, my lie would shatter. I, the imposter, would be exposed. It had been days since Leo told me about the “aunt,” and I still hadn’t contacted Vanessa. I subconsciously twisted my fingers together, breathing in, then breathing out. A visible sigh escaped me again. Elias had reached his limit. He snapped the laptop shut, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Forget about Leo for a second. Worry about yourself.” When he pulled my sleep shirt up, my mind went sharp with panic. I tried to push him away. “Wait, Elias, hold on. I just remembered I have something to do. Seriously. I need to make Leo a snack for tomorrow…” He pinned both my wrists above my head with one hand, looking down at me with a smirk. “You talk too much, honey.” I glared at him, huffing. Elias held my waist, his voice sinking low. “Just moan. That’s the sound I like.” 3 I don’t know how much time passed. I lay on the sofa, numb and staring at the ceiling. Elias was already dressed in his bespoke suit, looking calm and expensive. He kissed my forehead. “Going to the office. Don’t wait up for dinner.” I nodded exhaustedly. My relationship with Elias Sterling was strange. We had more intimacy and closeness than a simple marriage of convenience, but there was definitely no intense, romantic love between us. He was rarely home for meals. He barely asked about Leo. It was only when he wanted me that there was any trace of warmth. But it was only a trace. Aside from that one area of our marriage, we had nothing to talk about. I drifted into a doze on the primary bedroom sofa. I woke up when I heard the front door open downstairs. Leo was home from school. I put on my slippers and went downstairs. “Leo? Why are you home so la—” My voice died in my throat. Vanessa was standing in the foyer, holding Leo’s hand. My lips moved, but it took a long moment for any sound to come out. “Vanessa.” Leo offered a bright smile. “Mom! The lady took me to the carnival after school!” I forced my lips into a smile, walking over to him, one agonizing step at a time. I crouched down and pinched his cheek. “Did Nanny and the driver follow you?” He nodded. I smiled again. “Okay, good. But next time, Nanny needs to call Mom first before you go somewhere, okay?” Leo nodded again. Vanessa spoke up, her voice freezing. “Wow. You really do look like a mother.” I didn’t answer her. Vanessa hadn’t changed much in seven years. She was wearing a trench coat and carrying a designer bag. She looked nothing like the broke, desperate girl who fled Los Angeles. She pulled Leo gently into her embrace, then looked directly at me. “You’ve occupied my spot long enough, Audrey. It’s time you gave Elias and Leo back to me.” Her voice wasn’t loud, so Leo didn’t sense anything was wrong. He just blinked in confusion. “What spot?” I went stiff, my fists clenching involuntarily. Vanessa lowered her voice, speaking so only I could hear. “We are sisters, so I won’t sue you for impersonating me and taking my place for this long. But if you try to fight me, you won’t win.” Saying that, she squeezed Leo’s shoulder and smiled down at him. “Leo.” My voice sounded hoarse and dry. “Did you have fun today?” Leo’s personality resembled Elias’s; he wasn’t a cheerful kid. But he offered a rare grin, looking up at Vanessa. “Yeah.” “Then…” I forced the words out. “The parent-teacher conference the day after tomorrow. If both Vanessa and I can go, who would you want to come?” He paused, then hesitantly took hold of Vanessa’s hand. I was silent for a long time. Then I patted his back. “Go to your room and do your homework, okay?” After Leo left. Vanessa and I stared at each other for a long time. I let out a self-deprecating laugh. “I’ll leave. Give me a sum of money. Let me get completely settled abroad before you reveal the truth.” Knowing Elias Sterling’s vindictive nature, if he found out I had lied to him for seven years… He’d probably ruin me. Vanessa frowned. “How much?” “I raised your son for you this entire time.” I took a step back. “One million.” She sneered. “And here I was, almost complimenting you. Selling your nephew for cash? Classy.” I just looked at her. After a few minutes of silence, she said, “Fine. But I only have two hundred thousand available right now. That’s enough to keep you alive for a while. Once the dust settles and I have access to Sterling assets, I’ll send you the rest.” I whispered, “Deal.” 4 That evening. Elias texted me: Won’t be home tonight. Okay, hubbie. I replied instantly. Him: ? I stared at the question mark. In the past, to maintain my role as the perfect, adoring wife, I would have replied with endless叮嘱 (mothering). Like: Don’t work too hard, Elias. I’ll be waiting up for you. Will you be home tomorrow? That sort of thing. But roles are just roles. Since my time as Mrs. Sterling was up, I couldn’t be bothered to act anymore. I stretched, then started packing. As I packed, I realized I didn’t want to leave anything behind. The designer dresses, the necklaces, the bags… they were all my precious babies. I ordered the staff to bring up five huge suitcases. I got lost in the packing. So lost that I didn’t notice Elias opening the primary bedroom door, watching me with an expressionless face, leaning against the doorframe. It was only after all five huge suitcases were zipped shut that I stretched my sore back. And locked eyes with Elias, whose gaze was deeper than an abyss. I went stiff. “Hi… Elias. Hubbie. Good evening… I thought you weren’t coming home?” A corner of his mouth twitched, and he spoke with a terrifying gentleness. “If I didn’t come home, where were you planning on going?” “Oh,” I forced a cheerful laugh. “I’ve been so worried about Leo lately, I haven’t been sleeping well. I decided to take a little vacation to clear my head…” Elias stared at me for a long moment, then surprisingly, didn’t push me. He just nodded. “Fine.” I bit my lip. “While I’m gone, spend more time with Leo. He’s quiet, and you two barely talk. Also, make sure the chef makes more steak; he’s a growing boy…” “Audrey,” Elias’s voice carried a hint of impatience. “Even if you are gone, nobody in the Sterling family is going to mistreat him.” I was stunned. “…Right.” Actually, I still wanted to say more. Like how happy I had been in the Sterling family for these seven years. Eleanor hadn’t been a difficult mother-in-law, and Leo was actually a good kid. And also. I didn’t want to leave Elias Sterling. But the woman who had spent that night with Elias Sterling seven years ago wasn’t me, and I wasn’t the boy’s biological mother. I had lived as Mrs. Sterling, enjoying the billionaire lifestyle for all these years. That should be enough. It’s just… why was I so sad? Elias turned, his voice flat. “Stay out as long as you need. Don’t worry about rushing back.” He walked toward his home office, not casting a single glance back. My fingers curled. I whispered, “Okay.”

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He called it a matter of honor. A sacred pledge to a fallen brother-in-arms. To me, it felt like an ending. Because he had to rush his late best friend’s sister to the hospital, my fiancé canceled our rehearsal dinner—and essentially, our wedding—at the very last minute. When his call finally came through, the banquet hall was already packed with our friends and family. My older brother, Mark, grabbed my hand, his face tight with sympathy. “Elara, let’s just call it. We can’t sit here and let people pity you.” “If Grant Reed doesn’t show up, it’s his loss, not yours!” I looked up at the huge projector screen looping our engagement photos. I forced a bitter, hollow smile. “We aren’t canceling. The caterers are already plating.” “Let’s just consider this an early Thanksgiving dinner for everyone I love.” Chapter 1 Silence dropped over the hall the moment the words left my mouth. My parents looked sick. But they didn’t say a word to stop me. They just silently began ushering relatives and friends to their tables. I walked down from the stage, going from table to table, raising a glass at each one. Nobody dared to mention Grant. Nobody asked what had happened. They just raised their glasses, muttered “Happy Thanksgiving,” said their congratulations, and downed their drinks. I drank a lot. By the end, my stomach felt like it was full of battery acid. Mark held me up, his eyes rimmed with red. “Elara, was this worth it?” I set my empty glass on the table, my voice dead. “Worth has nothing to do with it.” After the last guest was ushered out, only my immediate family remained in the hotel lobby. My mom finally broke, tears streaming down her face. “How could Grant Reed do this to you?” My dad rubbed her back, sighing. “Let it go. Our daughter knows what she’s doing.” I checked my phone. No new messages. No missed calls. Grant’s call had come in that afternoon, his tone devoid of even a hint of guilt. He said Brianna Reed—his fallen buddy’s younger sister—had sudden appendicitis and needed an immediate transfer to a specialist hospital for surgery. He said he was the only family she had left. He had to escort her personally. He told me to cancel the dinner and explain it to the relatives. He sounded just like he did when issuing orders back at the base. I had only asked one question. “Acute appendicitis? Our base hospital can’t handle a routine appendectomy?” I’m a trauma surgeon at that very hospital. I could perform that surgery with my eyes closed. There was a beat of silence on the other end of the line before he left me with three words. “She’s scared, Elara.” Then, he hung up. Right. She was scared. Brianna Reed, the sister of the man who died saving Grant’s life. The girl he swore to protect forever. She was delicate. Frail. Couldn’t stand the sight of blood. She was his responsibility. Grant said that so often it felt like a mantra. So, because she was scared, our engagement dinner could be canceled. Because she was scared, my three years of waiting and devotion could be erased with a single sentence. I opened Instagram. Brianna’s story had just updated. A photo. Grant was sitting by her hospital bed, head bowed, intently peeling an apple. His profile showed absolute focus. The caption read: [With big brother here, I’m not scared anymore. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.] In the corner of the photo, I could see Grant’s phone sitting on the nightstand. The screen was bright, displaying a video game interface. He had time to play games, but not time to send me a single text. I clicked off my phone and turned to my brother. “Mark, take me home.” I spent the Thanksgiving holiday entirely alone. My parents and Mark wanted to stay with me, But I made up excuses to send them away. I didn’t want them to see me like this. I sent Grant a few texts over the next couple of days. Asked how Brianna was doing. Asked when he was coming back. No reply. On Thanksgiving night, looking out at the city lights in every window, I boiled a pot of frozen generic dumplings for one. The holiday specials on TV were loud and cheerful, But I couldn’t process any of it. Scrolling through my phone, I saw Brianna had posted again. A video this time. Grant was holding a bowl of steaming soup, feeding her spoonful by spoonful. Brianna looked pale, but her eyes were full of smiles. At the end of the video, she flashed a peace sign at the camera. [Grant cooked this soup himself. Better than anything in the world.] The comments were blowing up. “OMG, where do I find a guy like that!” “Brianna, is this your boyfriend? He’s hot!” Brianna replied to one of them. “Haha, no, he’s just the best ‘big brother’ ever.” Followed by a blushing emoji. I stared at that bowl of soup. I remembered telling Grant once That my mom made the best chicken noodle soup. He had said that once he learned how, he’d make it for me every winter. Turns out, he learned. It’s just that the first person to taste it wasn’t me. Chapter 2 I dumped the rest of the dumplings into the trash. My stomach started twisting again. When the holiday break ended, I went back to work at the hospital. Numbing surgery schedules, rounds, charting. Life seemed to be back on its sterile, organized track. Until I ran into Grant and Brianna in a hospital corridor. Grant was in civilian clothes, Carrying a thermos. Brianna was leaning heavily on his arm, smiling sweetly. She had been discharged and was back for a follow-up. When they saw me, Brianna’s smile faltered for a microsecond, Before she called out to me, sounding timid. “Hi, Dr. Vance.” Grant’s expression didn’t change. He just nodded. “Back at work, I see.” “Yeah.” I looked at him, waiting for an explanation. An apology. Something. But he gave none. He just turned to Brianna. “Wait here. I’m going to go pull your file for the check-up.” Then he walked right past me, As if I were an irrelevant stranger. Brianna walked up to me, her voice low. “Elara, please don’t be mad at Grant.” “Everything with the dinner was my fault.” “I was in so much pain that day. I really thought I was dying.” “I got scared and called him.” “I didn’t know that day was your…” Her eyes welled up with tears. “Well, you know now,” I cut her off. She froze, stunned. “Elara, I…” “Your attending physician is my mentor, Dr. Albright,” I said coldly. “He’s the head of general surgery. The best we have.” “An appendectomy is a routine, thirty-minute procedure for him.” “Your ‘fear’ wasted Grant’s time, consumed specialized hospital resources,” “And destroyed my engagement dinner.” Brianna’s face went gray. She bit her lip, and tears began to fall. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to.” Right then, Grant came back. Seeing Brianna in tears, his brow instantly furrowed into a deep scowl. He strode over, putting himself directly between Brianna and me. “Elara, what are you doing?” His voice was ice, demanding an answer. “Just stating facts.” “Facts? You terrified her into crying. That’s your idea of facts?” He looked at me, his eyes full of deep disappointment. “I thought you were above being this petty, Elara.” “Grant, you owe me an explanation,” I said, my voice trembling. “Explanation for what? I already told you, it was an emergency.” “Escorting a routine appendicitis patient is an emergency?” “She isn’t just a patient. She’s Leo’s sister!” He raised his voice, attracting attention. “I promised Leo before he bled out over there that I would treat her like my own flesh and blood!” “And what about me?” I looked at him. “Grant, what am I to you?” He went silent. Colleagues were passing by, whispering and staring at us. I felt like a side-show exhibit. Brianna tugged at his sleeve, sobbing quietly. “Grant, let’s just go. It’s all my fault.” “It has nothing to do with you,” Grant said, turning to her, his voice instantly softening. When he turned back to me, the ice was back. “Elara, Brianna isn’t fully recovered. Stop upsetting her.” “You need to apologize to her. Right now.” Apologize? Because I exposed her lie? I looked at Grant’s cold, indifferent face. He felt like a stranger. I smiled. A tight, dead thing. “Fine.” I stepped around him to face Brianna. She flinched back a little, acting terrified. I looked her dead in the eye, enunciating every word. “I am sorry.” “I should never have interrupted this touching family moment.” With that, I turned on my heel and walked away. Behind me, I heard Grant’s angry bark. “Elara! What is wrong with your attitude!” I didn’t look back. For the next week, Grant made no attempt to contact me. I didn’t reach out either. Rumors started flying around the hospital nurses’ station. Some said Grant Reed had fallen for his tragic little ward and was going to dump me. Others said I had a terrible temper and had nagged my hero fiancé right out the door. I heard it all, and I ignored it all. Chapter 3 Until one day, the nursing supervisor found me. She’s an old friend of my dad’s and has always looked out for me. She pulled me into her office and locked the door. “Elara, what is going on with you and Grant?” I shook my head. “Nothing.” “Don’t give me that,” she sighed. “I’ve heard the talk.” “Look, that Brianna Reed girl? She’s trouble. A manipulator.” “I heard from the surgical residents that Brianna didn’t even need that transfer.” “She threw a massive fit, claiming she was terrified of having a scar, and demanded Grant pull strings to get her to a private specialist in the city for minimally invasive surgery.” “And Grant actually did it. He used his military connections to twist arms and coordinate a bed that she didn’t medically require.” “Do you know how long a young soldier who actually needed emergency trauma care had to wait on a gurney in the hallway that night because we were short-staffed and coordinating her non-emergency transport?” Her words hit me like a sledgehammer. I had always told myself Grant was just blinded by Brianna’s helplessness. That he just had an overactive sense of duty because of Leo. I never imagined he would violate protocol, abuse his power, and risk lives for her whim. That was a soldier’s life. And in his eyes, it was less important than Brianna being scared of a tiny scar. “Elara,” the supervisor said gently, taking my hand. “Grant is a decorated officer, yes. But heroes are just people.” “People make mistakes. People get manipulated.” “Don’t let this ruin you.” I nodded numbly. “I understand, Auntie Sarah.” I walked out of her office and headed toward the inpatient wing. To Brianna’s room. The door wasn’t fully closed. It was cracked open an inch. I stood in the hall, ready to push it open, but stopped when I heard Brianna talking on the phone. Her voice wasn’t weak or timid at all. She sounded excited. Triumphant. “Yeah, Grant is completely wrapped around my finger!” “You should see Elara Vance. She’s such a uptight bitch, always nagging him.” “Grant’s been over her for ages, he was just too ‘honorable’ to break it off.” “The night of the dinner? Yeah, I totally faked the pain intensity.” “I called him crying, and he came running, ditched his own wedding rehearsal. It was too easy.” “Who do you think he really cares about?” “Money? Duh. I told him my mom back home needed money for ‘treatments,’ and he wired me five grand without blinking.” “He said I’m his sister now, that he’ll give me an allowance every month.” “The designer bag? Piece of cake.” “I just told him all the girls at school have one and I felt so poor and pathetic.” “He had it shipped to me the next day.” “He’s such an idiot. He believes everything I say.” “Once I officially lock him down, Elara Vance won’t even be a memory.” The afternoon sun was streaming through the hallway windows. But I felt absolutely no warmth. It felt like the blood in my veins had turned to shards of ice. It turned out, I was the idiot. Grant Reed, the man I had loved for three years, The man I thought I would grow old with. In his mind, I was just a burden he didn’t know how to drop. My faith, my love, my future. It all shattered into dust in that corridor. I didn’t go in. I just quietly turned around and walked away. I went back to my office, opened my laptop, And started typing my resignation letter and request for transfer. It took me the entire afternoon to process the paperwork. The Hospital Administrator called me in, asking why I was abruptly quitting the military track. He said I was the most talented young surgeon they had, That in a few years, I’d be running a department. I just told him, “Family matters.” He sighed, realizing my mind was made up, and didn’t push. After work, I went back to the condo Grant and I shared. My parents had bought this place for us. Every inch of the interior design was mine. Our engagement photos were still hanging on the wall. In them, he was in full dress uniform, looking commanding and honorable. I was in a white dress, smiling like a fool who had everything. I stared at that photo for a long time. Then, I started packing. Grant hadn’t given me many gifts. He was always deployed or busy; we rarely saw each other. But I had cherished every little thing he’d ever bought me. Finally, my eyes landed on the ring on my finger. It wasn’t store-bought. He had forged it himself from a piece of brass scrap from the base. He had promised that when we officially married, he’d replace it with a “real” diamond. I slipped the brass ring off my finger. I put it in a box along with the few other sentimental items I had. Finally, I wrote a note. [Grant: We’re done. I hope you and Leo’s sister have a lovely life together.] I put the note, the ring, and a legal document officially terminating our domestic partnership application into a FedEx envelope. I addressed it to his commanding officer at the base. By the time I was finished, it was dark. I dragged my suitcase to the door. I took one last look at the place I once thought would be my ‘forever.’ Then, I closed the door, locked it, and walked away without looking back. I didn’t tell anyone where I was going. Not even my parents or Mark. I just sent them a group text saying I needed to disappear for a while to clear my head, and not to worry. Then, I turned off my phone, pulled my SIM card, and boarded a plane to the border. I knew an international medical relief organization out there that was desperate for trauma surgeons. I figured they needed me out there. A hell of a lot more than Grant Reed did.

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It was April Fool’s Day. To entertain their precious adopted daughter, my fiancé and my brother dressed me up like a human toy. The adopted girl, Chloe, ripped my dress to shreds and used a red lipstick to write “WHORE” across my face. When I didn’t react, she kicked me straight into the backyard septic tank. By the time they hauled me out, a crowd had gathered, everyone holding up their phones, recording, their laughter piercing my ears. My brother stood a hundred feet away, pinching his nose in disgust, refusing to come near me. Chloe smiled with absolute innocence. “Happy April Fool’s, Claire!” My fiancé, Liam, stepped in front of her, protecting her, his voice dismissive. “It was just a joke, Claire. Don’t be so dramatic.” He signaled to the landscapers, who turned a high-pressure power washer on me to “clean me off.” The force blasted me onto the ground. I turned purple from the freezing water, but I didn’t beg for mercy. Not once. Overnight, the video of me, stripped bare and humiliated, spread through our entire social circle. My brother, furious that I had “tarnished Chloe’s reputation,” kicked me out of the house. Liam publicly broke off our engagement. “The Sterling family cannot accept a woman with this kind of stain on her character.” I nodded to everything they said. I didn’t argue. They thought I was just acting, playing dead inside. They didn’t know that my mission deadline was only three days away. Looking at them now, I felt sick just being in the same zip code. Chapter 1 In the courtyard, my father swung his heavy leather belt, raining blows down on my back. “Shameless! Disgusting!” I didn’t explain. I just gritted my teeth and took it. Arguing only ever earned me a worse beating. I had only been back with my biological family for a few days when Chloe framed me for stealing her diamond necklace. My parents tore my room apart. My brother stripped my clothes off in front of everyone to search me. They found nothing. I thought I might get an apology. Instead, my brother backhanded me so hard he knocked a tooth loose. “You must have sold Chloe’s necklace! Where’s the money?!” My room was barely the size of a closet, and I didn’t even have a bank account to my name. When I tried to explain, he hit me harder, calling me an unrepentant thief. I huddled in the corner, getting kicked until I spit up blood. Suddenly, Chloe gasped. “Oh, I found it.” The diamond necklace gleamed in the sunlight, but it just made my eyes ache. I looked at my brother. There was no guilt on his face. He just said indifferently, “A little misunderstanding. Don’t take it personally.” “I’m Chloe’s brother. I trust her unconditionally.” Nathan knew he was Chloe’s brother, but he seemed to have forgotten that I was his actual blood sister. In the courtyard, my father’s belt kept falling. I was covered in bloody welts. Nathan stood to the side, not saying a single word to stop him. Even though he was the one who let Chloe humiliate me, who let the video be taken, he hated me for dragging down Chloe’s social standing. He threw my meager pile of clothes out past the front gates. He told me to get out. I agreed. But my father roared, “You think you’re going anywhere?! Haven’t you embarrassed us enough!” He ordered the servants to bring the belt for “family discipline.” After beating me for two hours, my mother frowned and stopped him. “Enough. Make her bang her head on the ground ninety-nine times and write a confession letter, and we’ll drop it.” My father threw the belt down, annoyed. “You’re just spoiling her!” Spoiling? I found that hilarious. By “bang her head,” my mother meant my forehead had to hit the concrete hard enough to make a sound, or it didn’t count. The “confession letter” had to be written in my own blood. Under ten thousand words, and it wasn’t considered “sincere.” I’d have to start over. But I didn’t make a sound. I slammed my head against the floor until I passed out, then got doused with ice water to wake up and keep going. The blood confession ended up being twenty thousand words. Every single word was abject, dragging myself through the dirt. I thought it was finally enough. Chloe covered her nose, taking a step back. “Nathan, it’s not that I don’t want Claire inside, it’s just… she smells terrible.” My brother lovingly tousled her hair, then shot me a look of pure disdain. “You don’t deserve the servant’s quarters. Go sleep with Brutus.” Brutus was Chloe’s pet ten-foot Burmese python. I am deathly afraid of snakes. I remembered the day the police brought me home. Chloe had looked just as disgusted then. But back then, Nathan hadn’t sent me to the snake pit. He just kicked me into the dog crate. The Great Dane’s crate was bigger than the room I eventually got. As long as Chloe didn’t give the command, the dog wouldn’t bite me. I could almost sleep there. The snake pit? Absolutely not. I fell to my knees before my parents, begging frantically. “Mom, Dad, if I smell, I can leave. I’ll go live in the dog crate again, please, just don’t put me in the pit.” For a second, there was a flicker of hesitation on my father’s face. He started to open his mouth. Nathan violently grabbed me by the collar. “Claire, stop acting like a victim!” “If it wasn’t for you, this family wouldn’t be a laughingstock! You should be grateful you have a place to sleep at all!” He began dragging me toward the reptile enclosure. I looked back at my father. He looked away. The stench in the pit almost made me vomit. The snake’s tongue flicked against my face. Just as I closed my eyes in absolute despair, The cold, mechanical voice of the System rang in my head. [Host, two days remaining until the mission deadline.] Chapter 2 I suddenly calmed down. I focused on my breathing. Two more days. I couldn’t give up. Three years ago, Chloe finished dinner and suddenly had terrible stomach pains. Tears in her eyes, she accused me of poisoning her food with laxatives. Before I could even process what she was saying, Nathan pried my mouth open and forced an entire bottle of industrial laxatives down my throat. I was in so much pain I passed out on the bathroom floor. No one cared. The whole family rushed Chloe to the hospital. As I lay dying, a mechanical voice echoed in my brain. [Host life signs hitting zero. Force-binding Revenge System.] [Current Task: Survive for three years.] [Success Reward: Pain Reflection, $100 Million cash.] [Failure Penalty: Soul Obliteration.] I didn’t know what a “System” was back then. I thought it was a hallucination before death. But when I woke up in the bathroom, the pain in my stomach was gone. I believed it. The System gave me a second chance at life. I was eighteen that year. I started valuing my life, becoming silent and submissive. I thought back to those survival shows I’d seen on TV. Forcing my terror down, I remained perfectly still. The massive python slithered past me. It felt cold and terrifying. Outside the thick glass enclosure, Chloe was holding hands with Liam, smiling sweetly. “Liam, your fiancée smells, so they moved her to the snake pit.” “Do you feel bad for her?” Liam swept a casual glance over me. “Don’t talk nonsense. I don’t have a fiancée. The engagement was called off ages ago.” Even now, my heart twisted with a sharp pain. Liam was different from my family. He was my childhood sweetheart from the orphanage. When he first came to the orphanage, his leg was broken, and no one wanted to adopt him. I played the fool, actively staying behind at the orphanage to be with him. It was hard for him to move around, so I fought the other kids for his food. I stood up for him. One winter, some older kids stole his crutches to use for firewood. I jumped in to protect him. They tied me up and hung me upside down from a tree. They packed snowballs until they were hard as ice, using me for target practice. They broke my nose, and blood splashed everywhere in the snow. Liam held me, freezing, and cried all night. He said, Claire, when I grow up, I’ll protect you. I laughed dizzily, believing him. Later, when the police brought me back to my biological family, the first thing I did was help Liam find his own family. It turned out Liam was an illegitimate son, Intentionally abandoned by the powerful Sterling family. To help him get back into his family, I proposed a strategic alliance through marriage. My brother called me a slut, saying I was already obsessed with men the moment I returned. I knelt in the courtyard for seven days, without food or water, until the calluses on my knees bled, just to get that engagement contract. It wasn’t that the Sterlings were a bad match; my parents just wanted me to marry higher, to be a stepping stone for Chloe’s social climb. The day I went to the orphanage to pick Liam up, his eyes were red. He hugged me tight, swearing to the heavens, “Claire, once I have a solid footing in the Sterling family, I’m going to marry you!” But he didn’t marry me. He personally tore up our wedding contract. He threw me to Chloe to be humiliated. When did he change? Maybe it was the first time Chloe called him “Liam.” She was paler than me, cleaner than me, better at making people happy. She would hold Liam’s arm and say, “Liam, your engagement to Claire was forced, wasn’t it?” Liam never denied it. Maybe it was at some corporate dinner where I drank until my stomach bled, trying to protect him from predatory clients, collapsing on the floor, unable to get up. Liam frowned and said, “Claire, you look truly pathetic like this.” I brought up marriage. I brought up rings, a wedding. He was annoyed. He casually picked some wild grass from the roadside, wrapping a few loops around my finger. Then, he turned around and spent a fortune at an auction to buy a gemstone for Chloe, personally designing a custom ring for her. I asked him, “Liam, do you still remember the promise you made back at the orphanage?” He laughed. That laugh contained a mockery I had never seen before. “Claire, are you going to bring up the orphanage every single day? It’s annoying.” “Yes, you helped me. But you’ve used that debt to bind me for so many years. Enough is enough.” I was binding him? I knelt until my knees were ruined, went on a hunger strike, and fought with everything I had to secure his future. He said, “Claire, stop acting. You wanted this alliance because you’re the least loved daughter in this family.” “You couldn’t find a husband, so you had to cling to me?” “You’re that desperate for a man?” At that moment, I felt something inside me shatter completely. Chloe’s laughter pulled me from my memories. “Liam, don’t be so heartless. Claire was your fiancée for many years, after all.” Liam sneered, “Fiancée? A gold-digger who throws herself at men doesn’t deserve the title.” I took a deep breath and silently asked the System, “Does betrayal also get reflected as pain?” Chapter 3 [Naturally. Any pain inflicted upon the Host will be reflected back.] [The prerequisite is surviving until the final moment.] Chloe stood on her tiptoes, peering through the glass window at me, Looking slightly annoyed. “This is boring. She’s not moving at all, like a dead person.” “My Brutus doesn’t like dead things.” She pulled on Liam’s arm. “Liam, get her out of there. I want to see her cry.” A flicker of hesitation passed through Liam’s eyes, but he quickly agreed. He dragged me out. The sunlight was so bright it stung my eyes. “Chloe wants you to cry.” His voice came from above me, devoid of any warmth. I didn’t move. Chloe picked up a piece of sandpaper from somewhere and began roughly scrubbing it against my face, Smiling with a terrifying innocence. “Does it hurt, Claire? Will hurting you make you cry?” The sandpaper left bloody streaks on my face, but my tears had dried up long ago. I couldn’t shed a single drop. Liam lost his patience and kicked me hard in the shoulder. I fell backward, my head slamming against the concrete ground. My vision blurred. “Cry!” he commanded, looking down at me. When I didn’t react, he kicked me again, harder this time. The force was so great I started dry heaving. I didn’t want to die, but I couldn’t cry. Slowly, I crawled back up to my knees, groveling. Then, I banged my forehead against the floor. “I’m sorry.” Chloe was stunned for a second, then she laughed. “What is she doing? What is she apologizing for?” “Claire is just like that.” A voice came from the side. It was my brother, Nathan. I didn’t know when he had arrived. Standing a few feet away, his face wore that familiar look of utter disgust. “That’s how she survives in this family.” “Hit her, and she kneels. Scream at her, and she grovels. Like a dog.” Chloe tilted her head and sneered. “Really? Then make her bark like a dog.” Nathan looked at me, expressionless. “Did you hear him? Chloe wants you to bark.” I was kneeling on the ground. In the sunlight, the three of them looked like they were framed in gold, While I was in the shadows, smelling of filth. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. When Chloe’s smile faded, Nathan’s expression turned lethal. He grabbed a handful of my hair, ripping me upward. “Bark!” The pain in my scalp was searing. I had to stand on my tip-toes to keep my hair from being ripped out. I looked at him. He was my blood brother. Years ago, when the human trafficker grabbed him, I was the one who stood in front of him, hugging the trafficker’s leg, telling him to run. The trafficker, furious, had thrown me seven feet in the air, letting me slam against the ground. I lay in a ditch for two months, nearly dying. “Woof. Woof.” My voice was tiny, barely audible. Chloe wasn’t satisfied. “That sounds nothing like a dog. Obviously, it’s because she doesn’t have a tail.” She asked Liam to fetch her some rope. Nathan immediately understood. He tied one end around my waist and handed the other end to Chloe. “Crawl! Wherever Chloe wants you to crawl, you crawl.” I didn’t move. He kicked me in the knee, forcing me down flat on the ground. I pushed against the concrete with my hands and began to crawl. Small stones dug into my knees. Cold sweat beaded on my forehead from the pain. “Slower,” Liam said from behind. “Don’t let Chloe trip.” Chloe was laughing brightly, Pulling me as I crawled through mud puddles and up stone steps. Cold sweat slid down my face. My knees were shaking uncontrollably. As we created some distance between us and Liam and Nathan. Chloe suddenly leaned down, whispering in my ear. “Claire, I really hate you. I wish you were dead.” “Years ago, you escaped from my house and gave evidence to the police, which got my dad arrested and sentenced to life without parole.” My pupils violently contracted. That human trafficker had kept over twenty children locked in a basement. I personally witnessed him beat a young boy to death, simply because the boy wouldn’t stop crying at night. After beating him to death, he smiled at us and said, “Whoever cries next gets to go join him.” The day I escaped, he found me. He chased me with a knife for two blocks. I jumped into a river. He stood on the bank throwing rocks at me, cracking my head open. I barely survived. And my parents actually adopted his daughter. My brother treated her like royalty. My fiancé betrayed his vows for her. Chloe was still going. “I’m not afraid of you telling anyone. No one will believe you. I’m just saying this to mess with you.” Her laughter was arrogant and unhinged. I broke. I surged upward, Violently ripping the rope from her hand. I wrapped it around her neck, pulling tight. “Your father was a murderer!” My eyes burned with unshed tears. “That boy was only six years old!” Chloe just wanted to provoke me; she hadn’t expected me to fight back. Her face turned a bright, choking red. She clawed at the air frantically. “Claire!” A furious roar came from behind me. Before I could even turn around, I was violently tackled. I slammed against the ground. Liam stomped his boot directly onto my chest, Her force so strong it felt like my ribcage was about to crush. His eyes were cold and homicidal. “You’re insane!” “Her father is a human trafficker…” I opened my mouth to explain. SLAP! A hand slammed across my face. My head snapped to the side. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. Nathan looked at me with pure disdain. “Before we adopted Chloe, I personally checked her background. It was clean.” “If you’re going to make something up, at least make it sound plausible.” Clean? That’s impossible. If Chloe wasn’t truly the trafficker’s daughter, she wouldn’t know about my escape, and she certainly wouldn’t know about the police testimony. “It’s not made up,” I screamed, raw with desperation. “Go check. Six years ago, the trafficker named Jiang who was convicted…” “Claire,” Liam’s boot pressed down harder on my chest. “I used to just think you had no shame. Now I see you’re as stupid as you are malicious.” Chloe rubbed her slightly reddened neck, looking incredibly pitiful. “If you guys hadn’t arrived just in time, I would have been killed by Claire.” She cried large, dramatic tears as she spoke, Making Nathan’s heart ache for her even more. He snapped. He dragged me to a far corner of the backyard. There was a large wooden board there, completely covered in rusty nails. It was an old security measure before they installed an electric fence, discarded and forgotten. Thousands of rusty nails, packed tight. “Throw her on it.” Before I could even react, Nathan and Liam picked me up and threw me onto the nail board. The moment the rusty metal pierced my flesh, my body violently convulsed, and I screamed in pure agony. Blood leaked from thousands of small puncture wounds, quickly staining the wood beneath me. I struggled, but the barbs on the rusty nails hooked into my flesh, ripping me further. The pain was so white-hot I became dizzy. “Think about what you’ve done!” Nathan spat the words at me, then he and the others walked away. I didn’t dare move. One tiny movement, and the nails would push deeper, more blood would flow. I regretted it… but it was too late. The sun set. My eyelids grew heavier and heavier. My breathing grew shallower and shallower. The System’s voice sounded distant, like it was coming from another world. [Host life signs hitting critical zero…] [Final countdown beginning…] Chapter 4 Finally, at that sound: [Congratulations, Host. Three-year period completed. Mission reward is calculating…] I smiled and closed my eyes. Three days later. My body was discovered by a neighbor. He was out walking his dog in the early morning, and the dog squeezed through a hole in the backyard fence. The family was gone. The whole family had gone on an international vacation, completely forgetting about me. After a deafening scream, the neighbor called the police. Forensics arrived, and the scene was cordoned off. Given the prominent nature of the family, the media arrived almost instantly. Within hours, the news spread, and the estate was surrounded by a wall of cameras. The coroner peeled open my eyelid. “The victim appears to be between twenty and twenty-two years old. Time of death is approximately seventy-two hours ago.” “Livor mortis is fixed. Corneas are moderately cloudy…” He paused as he looked at the wooden board beneath me, the blood now dried and black. As he lifted me, he sucked in a sharp breath. The back of my body was fused to thousands of rusty nails. On the surface, it looked like I bled to death. But the coroner didn’t list a cause yet. He carefully unzipped the filthy, stiff old jacket I was wearing. The entire scene fell into a suffocating silence. Someone turned away, unable to look. Someone openly sobbed. On that body, there wasn’t a single patch of intact skin. Whip welts, burn scars, needle punctures… layered one on top of the other, old scars covering new wounds. Some scars were already white and faded, old injuries from years ago. Some were covered in dark red scabs, fresh from the last few days. And some were completely raw and open, pus and fluid leaking from pink, exposed flesh. The lead detective went pale, his eyes turning red. “What kind of deep-seated hatred is this?!” The coroner didn’t answer. He carefully examined my wrist. There was a very deep scar there, running from the inner wrist all the way up my forearm. It looked like an ugly, oversized centipede. “A suicide attempt. At least three years ago.” The detective stared at the scar, confused. When most people try to commit suicide, they cut across the wrist. He had never seen such a bizarre, deep, longitudinal slash. It looked… almost like it was done just to bleed me out. The crime scene investigators walked out of the mansion, their faces grim. There was only one servant in the house. She was shaking, barely coherent. “I only clean inside. I never go to the backyard. I don’t know anything.” The detective led her over to identify the body. She gasped, “Isn’t this the eldest daughter? She didn’t go on the vacation?” Then, as if remembering something, she hung her head. “Mrs. Miller said the eldest daughter grew up in an orphanage, that she had no manners, and told me to ignore her…” “I don’t know anything.” She pointed down the dark hallway. “The eldest daughter’s room is at the very end.” The investigators followed the detective to the end of the hall, to a tight, wooden door. Pushing it open, a stench of mold mixed with dried blood hit them. The room was maybe fifty square feet. No windows. It contained a bare mattress, a plastic bucket, and a ragged old duffel bag in the corner. In the corner of the wall, there were several lines of dried text. Written in blood. [I didn’t steal the necklace…] [I didn’t poison the food…] … [I’m not dirty…] … [I’m your real daughter…] The detective stood before that wall for a very long time, unmoving. An investigator stepped up behind him and said softly, [We took a sample of the dried blood. It matches the victim’s DNA.] The detective nodded. He saw the corner of the duffel bag and reached down to open it. Inside was a massive stack of papers. All shapes and sizes, torn from notebooks, scraps of construction paper, old receipts. Every single inch was covered in text, packed tight, written in red ink. Flipping through them, one by one. Three years. Forty-seven distinct letters of confession. The signature at the bottom of every single one was Claire. [Written in blood,] The investigator’s voice was dry. [Preliminary tests confirm positive for hemoglobin.] The detective didn’t say anything. He understood the meaning of the ugly centipede scar on my forearm now. The case exploded. A massive alert was put out at all ports of entry for the family, waiting for them to return. A week later, the detective saw the family at the airport. The middle-aged man wore a custom-tailored designer coat and a Patek Philippe watch. The woman beside him was impeccably made up, looking arrogant. The young woman was dressed in high-end streetwear, holding nothing, While all her luggage was loaded onto the back of the young man behind her. The detective walked up to them, flashing his badge. [Arthur Miller?] The middle-aged man turned, looking him up and down. [What is it?] [Your daughter, Claire, died ten days ago.] Arthur froze. [What did you say?] His wife reacted first, her voice shrill, [Who did you say died?] [Claire,] The detective repeated, Looking at them. [The body was discovered a week ago.] Nathan stepped forward, a cruel smile on his lips. [You think you can just show up and scare us? Pathetic.] [She got scratched by a few nails and now she’s dead?] [Get out of my way before I file a complaint for impersonating a police officer.] The detective fought back his fury. [Detective Sean Evans, badge number 098230. You can verify that with dispatch.] [A few nails? There were hundreds of nails on that board!] [They were all covered in rust! Have you never heard of tetanus?! Did you not realize it could kill someone!] [But Claire didn’t die from tetanus, or from bleeding out. The autopsy report says the cause of death was systemic multi-organ failure.] [She died from long-term, systematic abuse at your hands!] The family fell silent. A flicker of hesitation crossed Nathan’s eyes, but he still didn’t fully believe it. Until the detective spoke again. [The body is at the morgue. We need you to identify her.] The mother swayed, collapsing into Arthur’s arms, her hands and feet turning to ice. Nathan’s face went white for a split second, Only Chloe, hidden behind her sunglasses, had an expression that couldn’t be read.

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Everyone in our family could see the glowing countdown timer hovering above my older sister’s head. They all knew she was destined to die on her sixteenth birthday. Because of this, my sister became the most precious, fragile thing in our house. The best snacks were hers. The prettiest dresses were hers. Even our parents’ bedtime stories belonged exclusively to her. I ached for her, but I also bitterly envied the absolute favoritism she received. Until the day I finally suffered through to her sixteenth birthday. Terrified that I would throw a tantrum and ruin her final day, my parents locked me in the dusty storage closet. I was burning up with a high fever. I banged weakly on the door, terrified. “Mom, let me out… I have a fever. My head hurts so much…” But Mom just gritted her teeth on the other side. “Enough! Your sister is going to die after today! Can’t you just hold it in for once?” “But it hurts…” Gradually, the footsteps outside faded away, and my consciousness began to blur… 1. My body suddenly felt incredibly light. I drifted right through the old, scratched wooden door and saw the warm, golden light of the living room. My parents were sitting tightly on either side of my sister on the sofa. Mom was gently rubbing her back, while Dad kept his head down, his shoulders shaking slightly. My sister, Stella, was wearing her brand-new dress—the only new piece of clothing bought this year. It was a pale blue, embroidered with tiny, delicate stars. Under the living room lights, her face looked exceptionally pale, her lips completely devoid of color. “Mom, Dad… is Chloe really okay?” Stella’s voice was soft, thick with a congested sniffle. “I heard her crying that her head hurt…” “Don’t worry about her.” Mom chimed in quickly, reaching out to cup Stella’s cheek with heartbreaking tenderness, gently brushing a stray lock of hair from her forehead. “She doesn’t have a fever. She’s just faking it for attention. You only have one day left to…” Mom couldn’t finish the sentence. She choked on a sob, her eyes turning red. “Just focus on your birthday tomorrow. Don’t let her ruin your mood.” Stella pressed her lips together and didn’t say anything else, but the furrow in her brow deepened. I knew she always felt guilty when it came to me. For as long as I could remember, every ounce of love and preference in this house had been piled onto her. I had to watch from the sidelines just to get a warm bowl of soup, let alone new clothes or toys. But Stella would always sneak her snacks into my pockets. She would alter the new dresses our parents bought her so they would fit me. Whenever Mom and Dad scolded me, she was always the first one to stand in front of me and shield me. She always said, “Chloe, I’m so sorry. It’s because of me that you’re always getting the short end of the stick.” But our parents didn’t see it that way. Mom sighed, looking at Stella with overwhelming pity. “Stop defending her. Ever since she was old enough to understand, that girl has been jealous of you. She can’t stand to see you happy.” “Did you forget what happened on your fourteenth birthday?” Stella’s fourteenth birthday was the first time I truly comprehended that my sister was going to die. That day, my parents actually went out and bought a beautiful buttercream cake, placing fourteen thin candles on top. Mom carefully lit the candles, while Dad held up his battered old digital camera, desperate to capture one of the very few birthdays his eldest daughter had left. I hid behind the door frame, watching the candlelight flicker across Stella’s face. I watched her close her eyes to make a wish, and I watched the unshed tears gleaming in my parents’ eyes. Then, I charged out. I don’t know what I was thinking. Maybe it was jealousy. Maybe it was the absolute, crushing inability to accept that the sister who was always so gentle to me was going to leave forever. I shoved the table. The cake flipped over, splattering frosting all over the hardwood. The candles rolled into the corner and quickly extinguished. “I don’t want to see you celebrate her birthday!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, acting exactly like the obnoxious, hateful brat they always thought I was. I still remember the way my parents looked at me in that moment. When Dad’s heavy hand struck across my face, I didn’t dodge. One slap. Two. Three… Mom just stood to the side, sobbing, but she didn’t try to stop him. It was Stella who threw herself over me, using her frail, thin body to shield me from the blows. “Stop hitting her, Dad! Please stop!” Her voice was trembling violently, but she held me incredibly tight. “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault…” That night, Stella snuck into my room and pressed a half-eaten piece of candy into my palm. There was a stark red scratch on her wrist where she had hit the edge of a chair while protecting me. “Chloe, I’m sorry.” She whispered, her fingers feather-light against my swollen, bruised cheek. “I’m going away very soon. After I’m gone… nobody will fight you for anything ever again.” Back in the living room, Mom lovingly stroked Stella’s face. “Stella, just ignore her.” Mom’s voice was heavy with exhaustion. “That child has been jealous of you since the day she learned to walk. You know this.” I hovered in the air, stunned. It was true. I was jealous of my sister. I was jealous that she had all the love. I was jealous of her new dresses. I was jealous that when she got sick, Mom would stay awake by her bedside all night. I was jealous that even with only twenty-four hours left to live, she was still the absolute center of our parents’ universe. I drifted toward Stella, trying to grab her hand. I wanted to tell her that I really did have a fever. I wanted to tell her that my head hurt so badly it felt like it was splitting open. But my hand passed right through her arm, like sweeping through a cloud of morning mist. I froze in mid-air, staring blankly at my own translucent fingers. Slowly, I turned around and looked back at the heavy wooden door of the storage closet. A faint sliver of light was bleeding out from beneath the crack. I drifted over, phasing effortlessly through the solid wood. Inside, curled up in a tiny ball amidst piles of old cardboard boxes, was my body. I was already dead. Before my sister’s countdown timer could reach zero, my own expiration date had arrived first. 2. Memories flooded my mind like a rising tide, carrying the scent of old dust. When I was much younger, around five or six, there were times when I genuinely hated my sister. If there was only one piece of candy in the house, it was Stella’s. If there was only one apple, it would be cut in two. The large half went to Stella. The small sliver went to me. New clothes were always bought for Stella first. I wore her hand-me-downs, patched over and over again. Even the bedtime stories belonged to her. Mom’s voice was so incredibly soothing. she would read The Little Prince, or Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales—stories about stars, moons, and magical worlds. But she only ever read those stories to Stella. I would secretly crouch outside the cracked bedroom door, listening as Mom whispered, “Stella, what do you want to hear tonight?” “I want to hear The Little Mermaid,” Stella would say. And Mom would begin to read, her voice flowing like a gentle stream in the night. I would sit in the dark hallway, hugging my knees tight against my chest, listening to those beautiful sentences while my heart squeezed painfully. Why couldn’t she read them to me, too? During the summer I turned seven, a neighbor brought over a whole roasted chicken. Mom carved it up, placing the two golden, crispy drumsticks right on top of the serving platter. At the dinner table, Mom carefully picked up both drumsticks and placed them onto Stella’s plate. “Eat up, Stella. You need to build your strength.” I looked down at my own plate, which held nothing but plain white rice and some boiled green beans. The tears suddenly spilled over. “Why does she get both drumsticks?!” “I want some! I want a drumstick too!” Dad slammed his fork violently onto the table. “Chloe Harper! Why are you always so selfish?!” He shot up from his chair, his face dark with fury. “Do you not know your sister is sick?! Do you not know that she…” He couldn’t finish the sentence. I didn’t know. All I knew was that Stella was always very pale. Sometimes she coughed a lot, and Mom and Dad always looked at her with eyes full of unbearable grief. But I had no idea what it actually meant. “It’s not fair! Why does she get everything?!” I sobbed, jumping down from my chair and pointing a shaking finger at Stella across the table. “Why don’t you just die?! Give me my stuff back!” Stella’s tears instantly spilled over, huge, heavy drops splashing into her dinner bowl. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Mom abruptly stood up and delivered a stinging slap across my face. It was the hardest I had ever been hit. Stella lunged forward to protect me, but Mom held her back. “Let her learn her lesson! Let her learn what words she can and cannot say in this house!” The very next day, I was hiding near the kitchen when I overheard my parents whispering. “Only nine years left.” Mom’s voice was choked with sobs. “I know.” Dad’s voice was raw and hoarse. “Nine years… we only have nine years left with her…” That was the moment I finally understood. Stella was actually going to die. That invisible, floating string of numbers above her head—the ones no one else outside the family could see—was a countdown to the end of her life. Back in the living room, my parents, with red, swollen eyes, carefully escorted Stella back to her bedroom to rest. Watching them, my chest suddenly felt incredibly tight and sour. “Should we… maybe we should let Chloe out now.” Dad suggested softly. Mom was quiet for a long time. “Let her stay in there a little longer.” Mom finally spoke, her voice so utterly exhausted it sounded like she had been drained of her life force. “At least… at least let Stella have one perfect, peaceful birthday. Just for today. It’s her very last day.” I watched as Mom raised a hand to wipe her eyes. “Chloe will understand when she’s older.” She sounded like she was desperately trying to convince herself. “Once Stella is gone… we’ll make it up to her. I promise we will make it up to her.” Dad didn’t argue. He just walked into the kitchen, grabbed a small dinner roll from the pantry, and walked slowly toward the storage closet. 3. “Chloe.” He spoke softly to the closed door. “Dad brought you some bread. Eat a little something. Don’t starve yourself.” I drifted over and crouched down to look at him. His eyes were bloodshot. The wrinkles around his eyes seemed so much deeper than they did last year, and there was a dusting of gray at his temples. He was only forty years old, but he looked like a man in his fifties. “Dad, I’m right here. I’m dead. Will you please open the door and look at me?” “Chloe?” He called out again. I reached out to touch his cheek, but my fingers phased right through him. “Sigh.” Dad let out a heavy breath and stood up, looking disappointed. “This kid… she’s still throwing a tantrum.” He nudged the dinner roll a little closer to the crack under the door. “Just stay in there and behave. Stop causing trouble. Once your sister is gone… Dad promises he will make everything up to you.” He never realized I was there. I watched his retreating back and whispered, “It’s okay, Dad. You don’t have to make it up to me anymore.” You will never have the chance to. After Dad left, the hallway fell back into heavy silence. A faint rustling came from the living room. Mom stepped out of Stella’s room, gently pulled the door shut behind her, and stood in the hallway, staring blankly into space. She looked at the door to the storage closet. Her lips were pressed tightly together, a clear look of internal struggle on her face. Finally, she walked over and crouched down in the exact spot Dad had just been. “Chloe.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “Please don’t be mad at Mom, okay?” “Mom knows it’s not fair to you.” She continued, her fingers absentmindedly picking at a splinter on the door frame. “But your sister only has one day left. Can’t you just let her have this? Let her leave us with a smile on her face, please?” I drifted right in front of her. I could see the moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes. She quickly wiped it away, moving fast, as if terrified someone might catch her crying for me. “Once your sister is gone, Mom will make your favorite pot roast. A massive plate, all just for you.” Her voice grew softer and softer, eventually turning into a frantic, desperate murmur. “I’ll buy you new dresses. The ones with the pretty lace ribbons you always stare at in the store windows. I’ll take you to the amusement park. We’ll ride the carousel, and the roller coasters… You told me all the kids in your class have been except you, right?” The tears finally spilled over, splashing onto the faded linoleum floor of the hallway, leaving tiny, dark stains. “Mom promises you. I promise you everything… So please, just for today. Just for this one day, stop fighting me, okay?” I reached out, desperately wanting to wipe her tears away. She waited in silence for a few minutes. From inside the closet, there was no sound. The sorrow on Mom’s face slowly began to curdle into irritation. She abruptly stood up, stumbling slightly because she moved too fast. “This child… she is just so incredibly selfish!” She muttered bitterly, though her voice still carried a thick trace of a sob. “She has absolutely no empathy for her parents! I wasted my life raising you!” She spun around and walked briskly away, her posture rigid with anger. Evening approached, and the sky began to darken. Mom walked out of the kitchen carrying a small basket filled with crepe paper, scissors, and a “Happy Birthday” banner. She was getting ready to decorate for Stella’s final celebration. Just as she reached the living room, the doorbell rang. It was Grandma Eleanor. Grandma stood on the porch holding a bulging canvas tote bag. When she saw Mom, she forced a strained, exhausted smile. “Mom, what are you doing here?” Mom looked surprised, quickly stepping aside to let her in. “I came to see Stella.” Grandma’s voice was hoarse. She set the heavy tote bag on the dining table and began pulling out fresh apples and bakery pastries. “Tomorrow is the child’s birthday. I… I had to come see her.” “Stella is resting in her room right now.” Mom said, taking the items from Grandma’s hands. “Please, sit down. I’ll go wake her up.” “No, no, let her sleep.” Grandma sat heavily on the sofa. Her sharp eyes swept across the living room, and her brow furrowed slightly. “Where’s Chloe? Why don’t I see Chloe?” 4. Mom’s face instantly went pale. “She… she’s in her room doing homework.” Mom avoided Grandma’s piercing gaze, looking down and nervously organizing the decorations in her basket. Grandma didn’t say a word. She just stared at her. “Homework?” “Let me go check on her.” “Mom!” Mom jumped up in a panic. “Chloe is… she’s throwing a tantrum. I put her in the storage closet for a time-out so she can reflect on her behavior.” Grandma froze completely. “What did you just say?” She asked, enunciating every single syllable. “You locked Chloe in the storage closet?!” “You know tomorrow is Stella’s…” Mom’s voice shrank until it was practically inaudible. The color drained from Grandma’s face, replaced by a dark, terrifying fury. She stood up so fast she swayed on her feet. Mom reached out to steady her, but Grandma violently shoved her hand away. “Sarah Harper!” Grandma’s voice shook with rage. “Chloe is your daughter too!” Mom opened her mouth to argue, but Grandma cut her off effortlessly. “Yes, I know Stella drew a tragic hand in life! I know she was born with that cursed countdown timer over her head! I know you both love her to death and want to give her the absolute best so she can pass away happy!” Grandma’s voice rose to a shout, tears pooling in her weathered eyes. “But what about Chloe?! Has her life not been tragic too?! From the day she was born, what has she ever actually received?! Stella’s discarded, worn-out clothes! Stella’s leftovers! Even her parents’ love had to be sacrificed so Stella could have it all!” “Mom, I didn’t…” Mom tried to defend herself, but her voice was weak and hollow. “Both of them are good girls. They are both such wonderful, sweet girls…” Grandma choked on a sob. “But you two? As parents? Do you not realize the massive, unforgivable debt you owe Chloe?! Does she not deserve even a fraction of your love?!” Mom collapsed into a dining chair, burying her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking violently. “And now, you won’t even let the two sisters see each other one last time?” Grandma’s voice was raw and hoarse. “Stella is going to… she’s going to leave us tomorrow. Chloe is her only sister! She is the little sister Stella spent her entire life trying to protect! How is Stella supposed to cross over peacefully?! Are you going to force her to die with regrets?!” “I… I didn’t…” Mom’s broken sobs leaked through her fingers. “I just wanted Stella to be happy for her last 24 hours. I didn’t want Chloe to throw a fit and ruin it for her…” The night grew deep. The door to Stella’s bedroom remained tightly shut. “Go to bed.” Grandma finally said, her voice exhausted and raspy. “Tomorrow… we have to be up early tomorrow.” Mom shifted in her chair, looking like she wanted to say something, but eventually just shook her head. “I can’t sleep.” Dad hadn’t moved from the armchair in the corner. Grandma sighed. She didn’t try to persuade them anymore. She stood up, walked over to the door of the storage closet, crouched down, and whispered gently into the crack beneath the door: “Chloe, Grandma is right here with you. Don’t be afraid.” My tears fell all over again. The minutes ticked by. The candles in the living room burned down to nothing, plunging the house into darkness. Outside the window, the sky slowly began to lighten, shifting from pitch black, to deep indigo, to a pale, misty gray. The very first ray of morning sunlight pierced the glass, landing on the scuffed hardwood floor, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air. Grandma stood up and walked to Stella’s bedroom door. She raised her hand to knock, but her fist hovered in mid-air. She hesitated for a long time. Finally, she said softly: “Stella. It’s time to wake up.” A faint rustling sound came from inside the room. The door slowly creaked open. “Grandma, Mom, Dad,” Stella said softly, a faint, tired smile on her lips. Mom practically launched herself out of her chair, sprinting across the room and crushing Stella in a desperate, suffocating hug, as if trying to fuse their bodies together. Dad walked over, his hands trembling violently, and gently stroked the top of Stella’s head. “Stella…” Mom’s voice was completely shattered. “I’m okay, Mom.” Stella said gently, patting Mom’s back. “I’m really okay.” Grandma stood to the side, watching quietly. She looked at Stella for a long time. Then, realizing something, she whipped her head around to look at the storage closet. “Chloe!” Her voice cut sharply through the quiet morning air. “Quick! Let Chloe out!” My parents finally remembered me, locked away in the dark. They broke into relieved, tearful laughter, nodding frantically. “Yes, yes, of course! Let Chloe out! Chloe is still in the closet!” “Your sister survived! This is a miracle!” Mom grabbed Stella’s hand, and Dad led the way. The family of three rushed toward the storage closet, their faces glowing with absolute joy. But as Dad grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, the color instantly drained from his face. He violently yanked his hand back as if he had been burned, muttering in horror: “Something’s wrong. Something is wrong!”

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My boyfriend, Liam Sterling, was hailed by the media as the “God of the Ice.” As his assistant coach, I had been by his side from his days as an unknown rookie to his meteoric rise to superstardom. He once promised me that the moment he secured a Grand Slam, he would retire and we would finally get married. But five years passed. He remained one medal short, and our engagement was delayed over and over again. Until his very last race before retirement. I went to the locker room to swap out his skate blades, only to hear the unmistakable, heavy breathing of a couple hooking up in the bathroom stall. “Mia, you’re making my knees weak with just one kiss. You really are a little succubus.” “You threw away so many races for this little succubus, Liam. You better make sure you lose this one too. I’ll give you a real reward tonight.” Liam laughed, agreeing easily, his arms clearly wrapped tight around her waist. “We have time. Let’s go another round.” I stood outside the stall door. The razor-sharp edge of the spare ice blade sliced into my palm, drawing blood. Loving someone for five years, only to realize they are rotten to the core… so this is what it feels like. I turned around and walked out of the locker room. The exact moment Liam Sterling officially announced his retirement, I publicly, unequivocally blew the whistle on his five-year career of match-fixing. I stood outside the stadium, taking several deep breaths. The freezing wind rushed down my throat, finally calming the boiling rage in my chest. My phone rang. It was the bridal boutique. “Hi, Ms. Hayes! Just calling for a final confirmation—your wedding date is still the 8th of next month, correct? We’re ready to send the invitations to the printer.” A massive roar erupted from the stadium behind me. I turned my head and looked at the giant jumbotron displaying the final rankings for the Men’s Speed Skating Championship. Fourth place: Liam Sterling. He missed the bronze by exactly 0.1 seconds. Exactly as planned. I let out a bitter, cynical laugh, speaking directly into the phone: “The wedding is canceled. You don’t need to print them.” When I walked back into the stadium tunnels, Liam ran up to me, drenched in sweat. He pulled me into a crushing hug, his voice dripping with fake, manufactured guilt. “I’m so sorry, Evelyn. I swear I gave it everything I had. If I had just been a fraction of a second faster…” I forcefully shoved him away. Meeting his confused, slightly panicked eyes, I spoke with absolute, freezing calm. “It doesn’t matter.” “I’ve already canceled the wedding. We’re done.” He stared at me in pure shock, his voice spiking an octave in defensive anger. “I can’t control whether I win or lose! Do you think I’m not devastated right now?! You’re my fiancée! Instead of comforting me, you’re breaking up with me?! Evelyn, do you have no heart?!” I suddenly thought back to five years ago. Liam had absolutely crushed the competition at the Winter Olympics, taking home his first gold medal and becoming an overnight sensation. In front of a wall of flashing cameras, he wildly, ecstatically announced our relationship to the world, swearing that the moment he secured a Grand Slam, he would retire and marry me. Over the next three years, he shattered record after record, hailed as a once-in-a-century speed skating prodigy. Just as everyone assumed he was about to become the youngest Grand Slam champion in history, he hit a catastrophic, inexplicable slump. He lost race after race. That final gold medal… He dragged it out for two entire years, intentionally throwing eighteen separate competitions. Just last night, before we went to sleep, he was still enthusiastically looking at wedding floral arrangements with me, debating whether we should walk down the aisle to Ed Sheeran or John Legend. And like a complete idiot, I actually thought he had finally found his rhythm again. “Alright then. Let’s go to the courthouse right now and sign the papers. Do you have the guts?” Liam instinctively frowned, stepping back. “I told you I’m going to marry you! Why are you always pushing me?! You’ve waited five years, can’t you just wait a little longer?!” Before the words fully left his mouth, Mia Foster sauntered over and possessively linked her arm through his. “Evelyn, you are so incredibly unsupportive. Liam has sacrificed his entire youth for speed skating, and the second he retires, you’re trying to force him into a shotgun wedding?” I let out a cold, sharp laugh. “Did he sacrifice his youth for speed skating, or did he sacrifice it for you? Do I really need to spell it out?” Mia waved her hands in mock innocence, but her eyes were gleaming with toxic, triumphant vanity. “You can’t just make up lies like that! Liam and I are completely platonic! If he hadn’t sponsored my education, I never would have made it out of my hometown. I’ve always looked up to him as my savior!” “If you’re so insecure about me being near him, fine, I’ll leave! Don’t ruin your relationship over me! Or, if you need to vent, you can hit me! I promise I won’t fight back!” She grabbed my hand and forcefully dragged it toward her own face, trying to stage a slap. Just as my hand was inches from her cheek, Liam violently smacked me across the face. “Evelyn, that is ENOUGH! What right do you have to complain?!” “So what if I lost?! Who can guarantee they’ll win first place forever?! Just because I didn’t get the gold, you’re canceling the wedding?! You are a materialistic, gold-digging bitch!” Chapter 2 Right at that exact moment, the bronze medalist walked past us, his medal hanging heavily around his neck. He flashed Liam a respectful, albeit confused, salute and spoke in heavily accented English. “Man, you really are a god. Before the race, when you said you were going to ‘gift’ me the bronze, I thought you were just trash-talking! I didn’t expect you to actually yield an entire body length at the finish line!” The self-righteous fury on Liam’s face instantly shattered, freezing into sheer, suffocating panic. Meeting my dead, icy stare, he stammered, desperately trying to backtrack. “No, that’s not… I didn’t let him…” But I was entirely done listening to his garbage. I turned on my heel and walked away. Liam tried to chase after me, but Mia suddenly let out a dramatic, high-pitched gasp. “Liam! Look, the press is swarming! We just lost the race, let’s go out the back and lay low for a bit!” The second I got into a cab, my phone buzzed with a text from Liam. [Go home and wait for me. We need to talk.] I sat in our shared apartment for three agonizing hours. But he never showed up. Instead, I saw the #1 trending topic on Twitter that had dropped just seven minutes ago: [Ice God Liam Sterling Suffers Crushing Defeat, Seeks Comfort in the Arms of Mystery Beauty.] The attached paparazzi photos showed him and Mia with their fingers tightly interlocked, completely unbothered by the cameras, sharing a single boba tea with two straws. I turned off my phone, walked into the bedroom, and started packing my suitcases. While emptying the closet, I found the custom engagement contract his family had drafted for us. His father had commissioned a master jeweler to engrave our vows onto a solid sheet of 24-karat gold, symbolizing that our marriage would be unbreakable. But now? It was completely worthless. I placed the heavy, solid gold plaque back into its velvet-lined mahogany box. A gift this expensive needed to be returned in person. When I arrived at the front gates of the Sterling family estate, I suddenly heard the sound of shattering porcelain and Liam’s father roaring in apocalyptic fury. “THIS IS ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT!” “Evelyn is the only daughter-in-law this family will ever recognize! If you want to break off this engagement, you’ll have to wait until I’m dead!” His mother was frantic, her voice echoing into the courtyard. “Exactly, Liam! I told you years ago you were too arrogant, promising a Grand Slam on national television! Now that you’ve lost, Evelyn is obviously devastated. Just go buy her some flowers and coax her a bit, she’ll get over it. She gave up her own career to be your assistant coach for five years! What other woman would sacrifice that much for you?! Stop acting like a spoiled brat!” Listening to his parents desperately try to salvage the situation, I felt a complex, hollow numbness in my chest. Five years ago, I declined a highly coveted, six-figure head coaching position with the International Skating Union just to stay by Liam’s side as a low-level assistant. I waited five years for a promise he made to the cameras. We hadn’t signed the marriage license yet, but everyone in our social and professional circles already viewed us as husband and wife. But you can’t keep a man whose heart has already rotted. I was just about to walk through the front doors when I heard Liam’s voice slice through the tension. “Mia is pregnant.” “Mom, Dad. Mia is carrying my child. We already did the genetic testing. It’s a boy.” “So in this lifetime, she is the only woman I am going to marry!” The massive, opulent living room plunged into a suffocating, dead silence. His mother was the first to recover from the shock. Her tone completely, instantly shifted. “Evelyn doesn’t know about this yet, right? You absolutely must keep this a secret.” “Even if we have to cancel the engagement, we need to strategize. We have to spin the narrative so that the breakup looks like it was Evelyn’s fault, otherwise, this scandal will completely destroy your post-retirement branding.” Liam’s father, who had just been screaming that he would only recognize me as his daughter-in-law, was completely, hypocritally silent. I lowered my eyes, gently placing the mahogany box on the stone patio table in the courtyard. I was just about to leave quietly when I bumped directly into Mrs. Higgins, the next-door neighbor, who was coming over to borrow a lawn tool. “Oh, Evelyn! Visiting the in-laws again?” The heavy oak front doors violently swung open. Liam and his parents stood in the doorway, their faces masks of absolute, petrified horror. “Evelyn… how long have you been standing there?” Chapter 3 I tapped my fingers lightly against the mahogany box and spoke with eerie, absolute calm. “I came to return the engagement contract. Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, from this day forward, I have absolutely no relation to your family.” “Evelyn, I refuse to break up! If you dare walk away right now, you’ll regret it!” I didn’t hesitate for a single second. I turned and walked away. But as I reached the end of the affluent, tree-lined street, I ran straight into Mia. “Assistant Coach Hayes! Are you here to cry to Liam’s mommy and daddy? You’re a grown woman, and you’re still playing these pathetic, childish games?!” Without Liam around to play the victim for, she completely dropped the innocent act, revealing her true, venomous face. “It’s a tragic shame, really. I’m already carrying Liam’s son. Oh, by the way, do you want to know where we hooked up for the very first time?” “It was last year when you went out of town for that coaches’ conference. In your apartment. In your bed. I gave myself to him…” Before the words fully left her mouth, I delivered a brutal, full-force slap directly across her face. SMACK! Suddenly, a massive swarm of paparazzi holding heavy cameras and microphones poured out from behind the parked cars, completely surrounding us. Mia instantly dropped to the pavement, clutching her head and wailing hysterically. “Assistant Coach Hayes! I know Liam losing the race is devastating, but please, I’m begging you, don’t cancel the engagement! He’s already so depressed, please don’t treat him like a disposable ATM!” Without any warning, she dropped to her knees and started violently kowtowing to me on the concrete, sobbing like a martyr. “If you’re angry, take it out on me! I can help you make money! I’ll sell my blood, I’ll sell my kidney! Liam is my savior, and I will protect him with my life!” The paparazzi practically shoved their microphones into my mouth, firing off aggressive, accusatory questions. “Using your fiancé as a cash cow?! No wonder Liam’s performance has been absolute garbage for the last two years! People like you need to be exposed and blacklisted!” “You are a cancer to the sports industry!” Liam sprinted down the street. When he saw the scene, his face turned a terrifying, livid shade of purple. He aggressively shoved me backward. “EVELYN HAYES, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?! You intentionally called the press here to humiliate me, and now you’re physically assaulting Mia?! Have you no respect for the law?!” He was always like this. He never bothered to ask for the context; he just blindly, violently took Mia’s side. Last year, during the World Championships, he missed his starting heat because he was out hiking in the mountains with Mia. Afterward, Mia brushed it off with a sickeningly casual excuse: “What’s more important? Winning a stupid medal, or making sure you’re happy and relaxed?” To salvage his reputation and save his career, I flew across the country, begging the senior officials at the ISU to give him a second chance. And while I was burning my professional bridges to save his future… he was in my bed, fucking Mia! A suffocating, volcanic rage exploded in my chest. I let out a sharp, cold laugh. “The law?” “You are the one who has absolutely zero respect for the law!” Before I could finish my sentence, Liam stepped aggressively in front of the flashing cameras. “Since the press is here today, I am officially, publicly announcing the termination of my engagement to Evelyn Hayes.” “Because I will absolutely never, ever marry the daughter of a murderer!” Chapter 4 The entire street erupted into absolute, chaotic shock. Even I froze, my brain completely short-circuiting. “What did you just say?” Liam didn’t even look at me. He stared directly into the cameras. “It is a well-known fact that Evelyn’s father was a highly respected, elite rock-climbing coach. But years ago, while leading a team during a major competition, he became so obsessed with speed and breaking records that he illegally unclipped a climber’s safety harness, causing the athlete to plummet off a cliff to his death. And he covered it up, claiming it was a tragic accident.” “YOU’RE A LIAR!” I roared, lunging forward to tear his throat out, but Mia physically blocked me. “I can testify under oath that every single word Liam is saying is true! Because the athlete who died that day… was my biological brother.” “My brother fought so hard to make it out of our impoverished town. My entire family believed he was going to be a world champion. We never imagined his coach would murder him. After the ‘accident,’ Coach Hayes gave my family a massive payout as hush money, threatening to slaughter our entire family if I ever tried to leave my hometown.” “Assistant Coach Hayes, isn’t that the real reason you declined the offer from the International Skating Union? You were crippled by guilt! You didn’t dare show your face on the global stage, so you hid here as a pathetic, low-level assistant!” My brain felt like a grenade had just detonated inside it. She knew damn well that the only reason I stayed in the States was so Liam and I wouldn’t have to do long distance! And the climber who died that day… he died because he was a psychotic, hyper-competitive narcissist! Realizing he was about to lose the race, he intentionally unclipped his own safety harness so he could lunge across the rock face and sabotage the climber in first place! The resulting fall was entirely his own fault. My father pitied the boy because he came from severe poverty, so he secretly sent his family a stipend every single month. Even on his deathbed, my father made me promise to check in on Mia’s family from time to time! I was shaking with apocalyptic rage. I grabbed Mia by the throat. “YOU LYING, VENOMOUS BITCH! MY FATHER NEVER HURT ANYONE!” But my screams were instantly drowned out by the chaos of the press. The story detonated like a nuclear bomb, dominating the #1 trending spot on every single social media platform for three straight days. [No wonder Liam has been losing ever since he announced their relationship! Evelyn is a literal curse!] [The daughter of a murderer! The sociopathic gene is probably hardwired into her DNA! She should be locked in a federal prison for the rest of her life!] The athletic commission immediately issued a formal suspension notice. My career, my reputation, and my entire life were completely, catastrophically annihilated. Radical, deranged fans doxxed my home address. They ambushed my mother while she was walking to the grocery store, throwing dead rats and trash at her, screaming death threats. The sheer terror triggered a massive heart attack. She was rushed to the ER in an ambulance. Standing outside the ICU doors, people walking past were still pointing at me and whispering. “That’s the murderer’s daughter. Honestly, the hospital shouldn’t even treat her mother. The wife of a killer can’t be a good person anyway…” My fists were clenched so tight my nails drew blood from my palms. I was shaking uncontrollably. “MY DAD WAS NOT A MURDERER! I AM NOT THE DAUGHTER OF A KILLER!” But no one cared. No one listened. Liam called me right at that moment. “Evelyn, as long as you behave, come to my office, and publicly apologize to Mia on camera, I’ll hire a PR firm to scrub the black PR against you.” Mia’s voice immediately echoed in the background. “Honestly, I just wanted justice for my brother. Evelyn, if you come to my brother’s grave and kowtow to apologize, we can just let this whole thing go.” I laughed. A bitter, hollow, freezing laugh. “Why the fuck would I apologize? For you inverting reality? Or because you let him knock you up?!” Liam barked aggressively through the phone, “SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” “I’m offering you an out, and you’re spitting in my face! Fine! You just wait!” The call disconnected. Just then, the red light above the ICU doors turned off. My mother had temporarily stabilized, but she was still in critical condition. She lay exhausted and frail in the hospital bed, weakly gripping my hand. “Evelyn… your dad… he didn’t kill anyone… he didn’t…” I nodded forcefully, hot tears finally breaking through my lashes and soaking my face. “I know, Mom. I promise you, I will clear his name! I will get justice for Dad!” I didn’t know what sick, twisted move Liam was planning next, but I knew one thing for absolute certain. I was done playing the victim. I was done staying silent. Liam delusionally believed he could manipulate the media and control the narrative, but he forgot one crucial detail: his biggest, most catastrophic vulnerabilities were sitting right in my hands. I spent the entire night compiling the evidence. The very next morning, I walked flawlessly, confidently into the grand ballroom of Liam’s official Retirement Gala. In front of the blinding flashes of every major sports network and news outlet in the country, I plugged a flash drive into the main projector and displayed the security footage from the locker room. “Ladies and gentlemen. I am officially, publicly blowing the whistle on Liam Sterling. For five years of premeditated match-fixing, bribing medical staff to falsify pre-race drug tests, and engaging in illicit sexual relations with a fan, resulting in pregnancy…”

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The day I was born, the moment the nurse handed me to my parents, the joyful smiles on their faces instantly froze. Hovering just above my smooth, newborn head was a string of numbers that only they could see. 6,570 days. Exactly eighteen years. Not a day more, not a day less. The nurse assumed they were just nervous first-time parents. But my mom and dad knew the truth—that number was the countdown to my death. While the other families in the maternity ward were celebrating new beginnings, my parents were staring directly at my end. For the next eighteen years, I was the most cherished person in our household. No matter how tight money got, I got the fresh eggs, the new clothes, the best cuts of meat. My younger brother could only watch with hungry, envious eyes. My parents would always tell him, “Let your sister have it. She doesn’t have much time left.” I grew up understanding the assignment. I never threw tantrums, never caused trouble. I just quietly waited to die. On my eighteenth birthday, I blew out the candles and sincerely said my goodbyes to the world. The next morning, my parents and my brother walked into my bedroom, dressed in somber black, their eyes red and swollen from crying. I rubbed my eyes, sat up, and smiled at them. “Good morning.” The air in the room instantly solidified. The profound grief on their faces slowly morphed into shock. Then into a stiff, awkward stiffness. And finally, into a chilling coldness. … The silence dragged on for a full ten seconds. “How… how are you…” My brother hid behind my mom, his voice trembling like he was looking at a ghost. “I didn’t die,” I said. My dad’s face cycled through several expressions before he finally forced out a strained smile. “That’s good. That’s good you didn’t die…” He nudged my mom’s arm. “Go make breakfast.” My mom offered a delayed, wooden nod. She walked to the doorway, stopped, and looked back at me. The look in her eyes was so complex I couldn’t understand it. For the first time in eighteen years, I felt like something in my home was terribly wrong. Breakfast was just plain oatmeal and toast. My brother, out of habit, pushed the plate of scrambled eggs toward me. I reached out to take some. Smack! My mom slapped my hand away so hard it left a bright red mark. “You’re an adult now! Are you really going to fight your little brother for eggs? Grow up and be considerate for once.” I pulled my hand back and quietly finished my oatmeal. After breakfast, I immediately jumped up to wash the dishes. In the past, whenever I tried to do chores, my mom would rush over, stop me, and say with a doting smile, “Oh, sweetheart, you don’t need to do that. Let Mom handle it.” This time, she just shot me a cold, sideways glance and said nothing. After washing the dishes, I forgot to wring out the sponge and left it sitting wet on the edge of the sink. My mom walked into the kitchen, saw the sponge, and her expression instantly twisted in fury. “Are you blind?! You just leave a soaking wet sponge sitting there to grow mold?!” I was startled and quickly reached for the sponge. “I raised you for eighteen years!” she screamed, following right behind me, her voice shrill. “We gave you the best of everything! The eggs, the meat, the brand-new clothes! Has your brother ever worn anything that wasn’t a hand-me-down?! You’ve been living like a princess! And you can’t even wash a damn dish right…” “Mom, I washed them. It’s just the sponge…” “Don’t you dare talk back to me! Are you out of your mind?!” She snatched the sponge from my hand and violently hurled it onto the floor. “Look at you! Walking around with that miserable look on your face! You’ve been alive for eighteen years and you don’t even know how to wring out a sponge! What use are you?!” My dad walked into the kitchen at that moment. He looked at my mom, who was red in the face with rage, and then at me, standing there in utter shock. He waved his hand dismissively, like he was breaking up a pointless argument. “Enough yelling. Both of you, go find something useful to do.” I bit my lip hard, my voice barely above a whisper. “Mom, Dad… are you acting like this because I didn’t die?” Their bodies instantly went rigid. My dad took a deep breath, forced an awkward, hollow laugh, and said, “We’re just… we haven’t adjusted yet. We need… we need some time to process this…” I watched them walk away. Faintly, I heard my dad mutter under his breath, “Eighteen years, and she just doesn’t die. What kind of sick joke is this?” I couldn’t understand it. I was alive. Wasn’t that something to celebrate? I looked out the kitchen window. The sunlight looked exactly the same as it always did. But as it fell on my skin, it suddenly felt freezing cold. After that day, the atmosphere in the house changed completely. I was moved into the cramped storage room. My mom said my brother was a growing boy and needed the larger bedroom with better sunlight. My mom stopped asking what I wanted for dinner. Instead, when setting the table, she would set one plate short in silence, shoot me a resentful glare, and then reluctantly grab another set of silverware. My dad spoke even less. Sometimes, when he came home from work and saw me sitting on the porch, he would pause, then intentionally walk around the house to use the back door. Only my brother would occasionally linger near the storage room door, watching me. The look in his eyes was strange—like he was observing a freak of nature. Before, I was the precious treasure they had spent eighteen years desperately loving. Now, I was the scapegoat for every single thing that went wrong in the house. If a faucet wasn’t turned off all the way, my dad’s brow would furrow deeply. The gentle tone he used to use with me was completely gone. “Did you do that on purpose? Do you know how expensive the water bill is?! All you do is drain our resources!” “Dad, I swear I didn’t…” “Don’t call me Dad!” he roared, before turning and storming off. When my brother failed a math test by one point, my mom exploded. “It’s because you’re constantly hovering around the house, distracting him! We were supposed to finally be able to live a normal, peaceful life, and you ruined everything!” If the rice at dinner was slightly undercooked, my mom would slam her fork down. “It’s because you didn’t die! You bring bad luck to this house! Even the stove is fighting against me now!” I stood there, helpless, my eyes red and tears streaming down my face. I muttered brokenly, “I thought I was going to die, too.” The breaking point happened one evening when I flipped a light switch, the bulb flickered, and then blew out completely with a loud pop. My mom completely lost her mind. “You are a curse! Ever since you lived past eighteen, everything in this house breaks! You’re a jinx!” “Eighteen years! Six thousand days! Your father and I counted down every single day raising you! We gave you everything, and left your brother with nothing! We mentally prepared ourselves to say goodbye to you, over and over and over again… and you…” She didn’t finish the sentence, but I understood perfectly. Their eighteen years of sacrifice, the neglect they showed my brother, the agonizing countdown they had so carefully managed—it had all turned into a massive, humiliating joke. It wasn’t because I was alive. It was because they realized that all the money they had spent on me, all the things they had denied my brother—things that were supposed to be justified and resolved the moment I died—were now entirely meaningless. I thought that if I just worked myself to the bone, if I swallowed my pride and endured the abuse, if I somehow made up for my “mistake” of surviving, my parents’ hearts would soften. I thought they would remember how much they used to love me. I took over every single chore in the house. I did the laundry, cooked the meals, bought the groceries, mopped the floors. I worked harder than a paid housekeeper. I cooked elaborate, different meals every day. I kept the house spotless. But no matter how perfectly I did everything, it never earned me a single kind word or a smile from my parents. I grew thinner and thinner, my face gaunt and exhausted. The neighbors eventually noticed the shift in how I was being treated and began gossiping. One neighbor tried to reason with my parents. “Don’t be so hard on Mia. She’s still your daughter.” My mom, right in front of the neighbor, scrunched her face in absolute disgust. “As far as we’re concerned, we never had a daughter. She’s a freak. She’s a curse on our family’s luck! Keeping her around just brings us endless misery!” My dad chimed in right beside her. “We raised her for eighteen years! We’ve fulfilled our moral obligation! Now she’s just leeching off us, dragging this family down!” Those words were like daggers plunging directly into my heart. The pain was so suffocating I couldn’t breathe. Every minor inconvenience in the house became a weapon they used to attack me. But it was an incident with my brother that became the final straw. That day, it was just my brother and me at home. I needed to use the bathroom, but when I tried to open the storage room door, the handle wouldn’t turn. I panicked, pounding frantically on the wood. “Leo! Open the door!” No one opened the door. Instead, I heard a loud crash from the kitchen—the sound of things shattering—followed by a cry of pain and Leo screaming. When the door finally opened, it was my mom. The second the door swung wide, she slapped me across the face with everything she had. “You jinx! I knew leaving you home alone would end in disaster!” Her eyes were bloodshot; she looked like a rabid animal. She collapsed onto the floor, slapping her own thighs and wailing. “My life is a curse… raising a freak for a daughter! You ruined any chance this family had at a good life!” My dad came home right then. He saw Leo’s broken leg, he saw my mom acting like a lunatic, and the madness seemed to infect him instantly. He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, hauled me up, and violently threw me back onto the small cot in the storage room. “Mia! You are a plague on this house! Just die already!” My voice was raw and hoarse from crying as I desperately tried to explain. “Mom, Dad, it wasn’t my fault! Leo was trying to steal the cookies from the top cabinet and he slipped…” They didn’t listen. They locked the door from the outside. No food. No water. I could hear everything happening outside. My mom cooking dinner in the kitchen. My dad’s heavy footsteps pacing the living room. Leo loudly complaining about his leg hurting. No one mentioned me. Not once. I curled into a tight ball on the freezing cot. My cheek was swollen and burning from the slap. My body was on fire with a high fever, yet I was shivering uncontrollably from the cold. My consciousness began to blur. I thought, This time, I’m really going to die. Good. Dying is better. Dying means I’m finally free. In my delirium, the eighteen years of my life flashed through my mind like a movie on fast-forward. As far back as my memory goes, I could feel the different way my parents looked at me. At first, I didn’t understand the meaning behind that gaze. It felt like they were looking at a fragile porcelain doll that could shatter at any moment. It was careful, but loaded with a complex emotion I couldn’t decipher. Later, I realized it was a mix of pity, helplessness, and profound sorrow. They never, ever talked about my future. Our family was always living on a countdown. The neighborhood moms would praise me for being so mature. They said I was always so quiet, never throwing fits or making a fuss. They didn’t know I wasn’t making a fuss because I just didn’t see the point. I grew up fast. I was mature because I had nothing to fight for. Kids in kindergarten would cry over a piece of candy or throw a tantrum because they didn’t get a gold star. I never did. The candy I was given was always the biggest piece. The gold star was always handed to me first. My teachers loved me. They said I was an “easy” child to manage. Only I knew that I wasn’t “easy.” I was just waiting. Waiting for the day that invisible number hit zero. When my brother was born, I could feel the guilt in my parents’ eyes even more intensely. When he was five, he snuck a piece of meat from my plate. My mom caught him and spanked him mercilessly. He cried and screamed, “Why does she get to eat it, but I can’t?!” My mom didn’t answer. She just kept spanking him. Afterward, she hid in the kitchen and cried for a long time. “Sis,” my brother had whispered to me later. “Are you really going to die?” “Mom says you’re going to die. Sis, I don’t want you to die. You can have all the meat from now on.” The memories of my mom and brother’s eyes from back then tangled with the look in their eyes now, making my head pound with agonizing pain. Did they love me? Yes. They did. But that love had an expiration date. It was entirely predicated on the countdown. It was a love built entirely around the concept of saying goodbye. Eighteen years. The countdown ended, and so did their love. I figured if I died now, maybe that love would be preserved in their memories. We would all remember each other at our absolute best. My mom, stroking my hair with a loving smile. “Mia is the most beautiful princess in this new dress.” My dad, lifting me high into the air, promising to show me the most beautiful sights in the world. My brother, secretly saving his favorite yogurt drinks just to give them to me. Those moments felt so incredibly close, yet impossibly far away. I forced my heavy eyelids open. I was still in the storage room. There was no light coming in. There was nothing. I twitched my fingers, trying to reach under my pillow for the letter. A letter I had written to my mom, my dad, and my brother. I had written it a long time ago. I pulled a weak, bitter smile. I just hadn’t managed to die on schedule. There was also a pink piggy bank. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to buy a small toy for Leo. I drifted off to sleep again. I thought that when they finally found me and saw those things, maybe they wouldn’t be so angry at me anymore. This time, my sleep was incredibly deep. Dreamless. I could hear my own heartbeat. Thump. Thump. Thump. And then, slowly, very slowly… it stopped. The storage room fell completely, utterly silent. No one knew. No one came to check. The little girl who had spent her entire life waiting to die… finally didn’t have to wait anymore. The moment I detached from my body, I felt incredibly, impossibly light. I floated in the air near the ceiling, looking down at my stiff, lifeless body on the cot. I marveled at the fact that souls actually existed after death. I phased right through the drywall and finally stepped out of that cramped, suffocating room. Lunch was set on the dining table. Three place settings. My mom had finished cooking. My dad was serving the rice. My brother was sitting at the table, waiting. I floated over and sat in my usual chair, waiting for one of them to ask, “Where’s Mia?” But no one did. After lunch, my brother limped toward the storage room. My eyes lit up. I screamed silently, Leo, open the door! I promise I’ll never be a burden to you guys again! But before his hand could even touch the doorknob, my mom’s voice lashed out from the kitchen. “Leo! What do you think you’re doing?! Get away from that door! Do you want your leg to hurt worse?!” Leo flinched, terrified, and quickly hobbled away. That afternoon, Mrs. Higgins from next door came over to borrow some salt. “Where’s Mia? I haven’t seen her around the last couple of days.” My mom’s expression went rigid for a second, but she quickly smoothed it over. “She’s not feeling well. She’s resting in her room.” “Is it serious? I have some medicine at my house if…” I offered a sad, bitter smile. Mrs. Higgins, no medicine in the world can save me now. “No, no, it’s fine!” my mom said, her voice a little too rushed. “It’s just… she’s fine. She just needs a couple days of rest.” Mrs. Higgins didn’t press the issue, and I lost my chance to be discovered. After she left, my mom glanced nervously toward the storage room door several times, but she never once walked over to check on me. When my dad got home from work that evening, I spread my arms wide and tried to block his path. Dad! Please, I’m begging you, just go look at me! I promise I won’t make you guys angry ever again! The countdown is really over this time! But my dad walked right through me. “She still locked in there?” he asked. My mom didn’t say anything. “Open the door,” my dad said. I was practically weeping with joy. Was I finally going to be discovered? Would my mom and dad be sad? Would they tell me I was a good girl? As my mom took a step toward the storage room, the house phone suddenly began ringing frantically. My dad picked it up. His face instantly drained of all color. He looked like he was about to collapse. My mom was startled. She ran over and grabbed his arm to steady him. I sighed. I was so close. So incredibly close to being found. “We have to go! We have to go back to my hometown right now! My brother just called… Grandma is dying!” They scrambled to grab their coats and rushed out the door with Leo. The storage room door remained locked. I was forgotten once again. Even though I was dead and had no heartbeat. Hearing the news about my grandmother still sent a phantom ache through my chest. Over the past eighteen years, Grandma loved me the most. Knowing I was only going to live to eighteen, she had spent countless nights awake, crying over me. I floated into their car and followed them back to our rural hometown, wanting to see Grandma one last time. Grandma was lying in her bed, looking as fragile as dry kindling. She gripped my dad’s hand tightly, forcing the words out with agonizing effort. “David… where is Mia? Why isn’t she here?” My dad looked away, his face etched with guilt. “She… she stayed home. She didn’t come…” Grandma’s eyes suddenly widened in horror. “You bastard. What did you do?” My dad panicked and immediately confessed the truth. “Mia just made a mistake, so I punished her by making her skip a few meals…” Hearing that, all the remaining strength seemed to leave Grandma’s body. She muttered something under her breath. “Mom? What did you say? I can’t hear you.” My dad leaned in desperately close to hear her fading voice. “What about Mia? What do you mean she wasn’t supposed to die?” He pressed his ear practically against her lips. I was floating too far away to hear what she said. But I watched my dad’s body instantly turn to stone, as if he had been struck by a massive bolt of lightning. The expression on his face twisted into absolute, horrifying disbelief. He even forgot to blink. “MIA!!” I jumped. My dad let out a scream of pure, unadulterated terror. His face was ghostly white. Ignoring my mom’s frantic, confused questions, he started sprinting out of the house like a madman, muttering over and over, “We got it wrong… we got it completely wrong…” What did they get wrong?

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A pair of best friends walked into my nail salon on grand opening day. The moment they sat down, they started tearing into their boyfriends. One of them sounded exaggerated, but she couldn’t hide the sweetness in her voice: “My boyfriend is great in every way, except he’s a total animal in bed. Eight times a night, minimum.” “He doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body, just materialistic. Keeps buying me designer bags and jewelry. I’m actually getting sick of receiving them.” I had just finished her friend’s nails and was about to start on hers when she suddenly stood up. “Can you do them at my place instead? I’m trying on wedding dresses this afternoon, and I’m tight on time. Triple price.” One job for the price of three—of course I agreed. I grabbed my kit and followed her to her car. As she opened the door, her phone slipped and hit the ground. I bent down to help her pick it up, and the screen happened to light up. On her lock screen wallpaper, that “eight times a night” man was wearing a shirt I had bought him, holding her close with a look of pure adoration on his face. …… My breath hitched. The handle of my tool box dug into my palm, stinging. “Is this your husband?” Sophie smiled so wide her eyes crinkled, her tone pure boastful bliss: “Yeah! Even though I was just complaining about him, you can’t deny his looks.” She leaned closer to the screen, her fingertip tracing that face I knew all too well. “He was totally infatuated from the start. Told me he wanted to marry me the first time we met. He pursued me relentlessly for three whole years!” “If any guy even came near me, he’d chase them off completely. It was almost too much.” Three years. They had been together for three years. And I had been with Mark for five. Five years, and I had never received a public acknowledgment of our relationship from him. It turns out, that acknowledgment had already been given to someone else. I sat in her car mechanically, my mind buzzing. She pulled up in front of a bridal boutique. “Gotta try on a dress real quick, won’t take but a minute.” She looked back at me, her tone chirpy. “It’s fine, I’ll wait.” I forced a smile, my throat feeling like it was full of razor blades. As soon as we walked into the shop, the employees swarmed us, respectful and eager to please. Whispered voices floated into my ears: “Big client, a thirty-thousand-dollar dress!” “Mr. Sterling specifically instructed us to take perfect care of his fiancée. We’re definitely getting a nice commission.” A thirty-thousand-dollar wedding dress, and Mark had ordered it. I had brought up marriage once. I mentioned that in my family’s tradition, we do a symbolic cash gift—around ten thousand dollars—just for show, and the money would come back to us anyway. That time, it was the first time he had ever looked at me with anger. He slammed the door and left, giving me the cold shoulder for seven days. He called me a gold digger, asked me how I could have become so superficial. For those seven days, I asked myself repeatedly: Was I asking for too much? Was I really that materialistic? But now, a thirty-thousand-dollar dress, and he didn’t even blink. Yet a ten-thousand-dollar symbolic gift was labelled “greedy.” Whether someone loves you or not is truly crystal clear. After she came out from changing into her dress. I silently followed behind her and sat in that million-dollar luxury car. The car drove into the city’s top gated community, and the security guard at the gate saluted as he let us pass. I knew the houses here all too well; the starting price was five million. “Ms. Vance is truly young and accomplished,” I said, straight from the heart. But she just gave a light, cynical laugh. “What’s young and accomplished about me? I live paycheck to paycheck, spend it as soon as I make it.” She paused, her tone turning sweet: “It’s all because that jerk Mark bought this place behind my back. I was completely shocked when I found out the price. I said it was too expensive and I couldn’t accept it. He said if I couldn’t handle it, even better—that way I’d be too spoiled to run away.” He had once dragged me to look at this community. My family wasn’t wealthy to begin with, and he always told me he was in the early stages of starting his business. I said it wasn’t necessary, that when we bought a house later, an affordable starter home would be fine. But he insisted on bringing me to look, and even comforted me, saying that maybe someday we would have this. At that time, I was so warmed by his words, thinking he would definitely carve out a piece of the world for himself someday. Little did I know, that one and only time we went house hunting, it was also for another woman. Once inside the house, I set up my tools and began doing her manicures. Sophie was incredibly talkative, excitedly scrolling through her phone to show me her Instagram: August 15, 2023, Antarctic Aurora. In the photo, he held her, with the brilliant aurora in the background. That day, I had been splattered with paint by a client and called him for comfort. He said he was on a business trip and vanished for half a month. November 12, 2024, Bali Beach. They wore matching swimsuits, laughing brightly. That day my dad was in surgery, and I stayed at the hospital alone all night. I called him, and he said he was busy. She got more excited as she talked, scrolling to a photo from last month: “Oh, right! I told him I didn’t want kids, and guess what?” Her eyes were shining bright. “He went straight and got a vasectomy! Said as long as I’m happy, nothing else matters, kids or not.” My heart dropped violently, and I accidentally slipped and got nail polish on my own hand. In our five years, he never used protection, said it ruined the experience. Every time afterward, I was the one taking the pill. Taking so many hormones made me gain twenty pounds, and my cycle was never regular again. In the end, all that got me was a comment from him that I was undisciplined. But for her, he went and got a vasectomy. Sophie noticed my face was off and asked with concern, “Are you okay?” I bit back the bitterness and shook my head, pretending I was fine. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. She skipped cheerfully over to open it. My gaze fell in the direction of the door, and I held my breath. The courier was at the door. In his arms, he held 999 roses, a piercingly bright red. Sophie signed for them expertly, then turned around and dialed a number. “Mark! Can you take a break? 999 roses every single day. My place is piling up like a flower shop!” Her scolding tone was pure sweetness. “That money would be better used for charity.” On the other end of the line was that voice I knew all too well: “Wife, how can you be like this? I know you love flowers, that’s why I send them every day, and now you’re complaining?” “Is yesterday’s the same as today’s? Don’t try to save me money. Doesn’t a husband make money precisely for his wife to spend? If you’re like this, what motivation will I have to make money in the future?” My fingernails dug into my palm, drawing blood. Five years, and he had never sent me a single flower. The only time was when he accompanied me to pay respects to my father. He casually handed me a bouquet of white chrysanthemums—the kind meant for the gravestone. At that time, I even lied to myself: He just doesn’t understand romance, as long as the thought is there. But it wasn’t that he didn’t understand how to be wasteful; it was that I wasn’t the person he was willing to go through the trouble to be wasteful for. Sophie hung up the phone, sat back down, and extended her hand. “Hey sweetie, can you speed it up a bit? I need to go out and buy some things later, and tonight I have to go meet his parents.” “You guys are going to meet the parents?” I heard my own voice trembling. She tilted her head and thought about it: “Not really the first time. He’s taken me to meet his mom and dad before.” “You have no idea, his mother is too much. The first time we met, she gave me their family heirloom bracelet. I felt embarrassed taking it. This time it’s his mother’s birthday, she insisted I go, so I have to. Can’t refuse an elder’s kindness.” The family heirloom bracelet. My eyes were glued to her wrist. I had seen that bracelet. On his mother’s hand. Mark had taken me to meet his parents once before, too, but that time was not pleasant. From the start of the meal to the end, not a single person at the full table gave me a good look. After dinner, I was the one who washed all the dishes alone. When we got back, I cautiously asked him if his parents didn’t like me. He held me and said, “Don’t overthink it, my parents are like that with everyone.” Turns out it wasn’t comfort; they really didn’t like me. My chest was stiflingly blocked, my throat felt like it was being squeezed. I started coughing violently, struggling for breath. My acute cough was acting up again. “Omg are you okay?” Sophie scrambled to offer me water. I trembling pulled out my pill bottle and swallowed the medicine with the water. Finally recovering, she let out a sigh of relief. Then, she stared at my pill bottle. “Hey! Is this medicine from that master over at Nanshan?” I nodded. “My boyfriend begged for it. I have an acute cough.” She excitedly grabbed my hand: “Me too! I have an acute cough too! Mark specifically went and begged for this medicine!” “That master is incredibly difficult to appeal to, only acts on fate and won’t accept money. He kowtowed at every step for 999 steps just to beg for this medicine!” She smiled brightly: “But it was worth the kowtowing! I was all better the next day.” My hand violently jerked. “When was this?” The voice sounded like it was squeezed out of my throat. “Last year, January.” Last year, January. By then I had been coughing for six months. I had gone to all the major hospitals, and no medicine worked. Another six months passed, and Mark brought back a bottle of medicine. I asked him where it came from. He said, “Don’t worry about it, just take it.” After taking it, I really was cured. A colleague said this medicine was exceptionally rare, that you had to kowtow every step for 999 steps to get it. I was moved to tears at the time, silently cherishing every bit of good he had done for me. So later, even when he was away on business, often not coming home late at night, I never had a word of complaint. I just took it as him working hard for our future, but now reality gave me a brutal slap. Even the medicine he once begged for me was only because it was leftover from her. Sophie’s phone screen suddenly lit up. It was an electronic notification of a Master’s degree certificate from Clapton University. I lowered my head, brushing her nails, striving to keep my voice steady. “Ms. Vance is not only beautiful but also so talented, a Master’s degree from Clapton University?” “I remember the tutors’ theses there are incredibly difficult to pass; very few people from here can graduate.” Once, I also applied myself and was accepted into the Master’s program at this school. In order to graduate, I started preparing my thesis half a year in advance. But later, the thesis was still sent back, rejected. Later on, I wanted to revise it again, but then my mother met with an accident. With various family matters pressing down, I never had another opportunity to reapply. That was the regret of my entire life. Sophie’s eyes lit up, but she gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Oh please, it’s not that hard. Mark did my thesis for me, and he could pass it even as an outsider.” She paused, a trace of slight admiration in her tone. “But don’t say that, Mark is actually quite sharp. When that thesis was published, it directly got me offers from top-tier academic institutions with a seven-figure salary.” “But I thought it was too far, so I gave it up. Now I’m just getting by with this Master’s degree. Anyway, he’s supporting me now, so I don’t need to work. I can work whenever I want to play.” My heart violently sank. I had worked so hard for so long and couldn’t even exchange it for an opportunity to graduate. She can effortlessly get a seven-figure salary offer? I couldn’t help but tighten my grip on the nail file, asking tentatively. “Could I take a look at your thesis? I studied for a Master’s at this school once, too.” I wanted to know where the difference was between me and others. At least it would soothe my long-held regret. Hearing my words, Sophie flashed a look of surprise. But she still generously pulled out her phone, pulled up the old academic thesis, and handed it to me. I took the phone, my fingertips trembling slightly. When I saw the thesis topic, the arguments, the evidence, even the core points inside. It was exactly the same as my old thesis. My heart felt like someone had rawly torn it apart. The only person who had ever been in contact with my old thesis was Mark. I had also asked several senior colleagues and classmates in the academic group to check it for me, and they all said that with my level, graduating would be no problem. But right when my mom met with her accident, I was overwhelmed with family matters, so I had Mark submit it on the website for me. He said he had submitted it for me.

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My husband had been on location shooting a new project for three months. I hadn’t received a single video call from him; he just kept texting that it was a “closed set.” My heart ached for him. I bit the bullet, bought a plane ticket, and flew halfway across the country to visit him on set. When I got near the filming location, I tried to grab a coffee from Starbucks to bring him, only to be told that someone had bought out the entire store’s inventory for the day. I was just wondering which A-list celebrity was throwing their weight around when a heavily made-up woman bumped hard into me. “Are you blind?! Do you have any idea how much this Birkin costs? You couldn’t afford to replace it in a million years! My sugar daddy bought this for me with his black Amex!” I glanced down. The logo on the bag was literally printed crooked. It was a glaringly obvious, cheap knockoff. Bought with a black Amex? Yeah, right. My phone buzzed in my pocket. My husband, Liam, finally replied to my text. “Babe, the set is on total lockdown. The director is a tyrant, he won’t even let a fly in. You absolutely cannot come visit!” As I was typing a reply asking what was going on, I heard the woman next to me giggle coquettishly into her phone. “My sugar daddy is worth billions. I just batted my eyelashes, and he offered to buy the whole building to apologize to me. Get this—I told him I missed him, and he literally told his wife he was on a closed set for three months.” That excuse sounded way too familiar. My thumbs froze over my keyboard. Wait a minute. My husband was a struggling extra making two hundred bucks a day doing those trashy, micro-budget soap operas for TikTok. He played a billionaire CEO for two days, and now he actually thinks he’s a billionaire? He even found himself a fake mistress to play the part? … “What are you staring at? Jealous?” The woman’s shrill voice violently yanked me out of my absurd thoughts. She rolled her eyes and dramatically stroked the crooked logo of her fake “Birkin” with her cherry-red acrylic nails. “Makes sense. A broke, pathetic woman dressed in thrift store rags like you probably couldn’t even afford the hardware on this bag.” I ignored her insult. My gaze bypassed the fake bag and landed dead on the wrist she had raised. Around it was a breathtaking, flawless jade bangle. It was the heirloom my late mother-in-law had personally placed in my hands before she passed away. Before Liam left for this shoot, he had begged me with red, teary eyes to let him borrow the bangle. He claimed a crucial scene required a highly valuable prop as collateral, and that lending it to the production was the only way he secured the lead role. And now, that “crucial prop” was dangling from the wrist of this woman bragging about her sugar daddy. I clenched my fists tight, forcing my voice to stay steady. “Excuse me, miss. That bangle on your wrist… it’s quite unique.” The woman tilted her chin up arrogantly. “At least you have some taste!” “This is a token of love from my sugar daddy.” She intentionally waved her wrist right in my face. “I heard it’s a family heirloom. Priceless.” “He told me that only the true matriarch of the Sterling family is worthy of wearing it.” The Sterling family? I let out a cold laugh in my head. The micro-short Liam was currently filming did indeed feature a male lead with the last name Sterling. It was called something ridiculous like The Billionaire CEO’s Runaway Bride. Two hundred dollars a day. Was he actually living out his script in real life? I put on a mask of awe and looked at her. “A sugar daddy that generous must spoil you rotten, right?” “Of course he does!” The woman covered her mouth and giggled. “Mr. Sterling caters to my every whim.” “Yesterday, I casually mentioned the catered lunch on set was disgusting. He immediately waved his hand and ordered takeout from every five-star hotel in a ten-mile radius.” “Today, I wanted Starbucks, so he bought out all the coffee in the entire district.” She looked me up and down, her eyes dripping with undisguised contempt. “So, don’t blame me if you can’t get your coffee.” “Blame yourself for not finding a better husband.” Right at that moment, the phone in my pocket vibrated. It was a text from Liam. [Babe, the director lost his mind today. He’s been screaming for ten hours straight.] [I haven’t even had a sip of water. I’m literally eating stale bread.] [You seriously cannot come visit. The director said anyone whose family shows up is fired on the spot!] [Babe, I miss you so much. Once I suffer through these three months and get my paycheck, I’m going to buy you some nice new clothes.] I looked at the pathetic lies on my screen, then looked back at the woman bragging about her “five-star hotel takeout.” A violent wave of nausea hit my stomach. Ten years. I stuck by Liam when we moved from a friend’s basement to a leaky, moldy studio apartment. To support his dream of becoming an actor, I worked three jobs a day. I wouldn’t even spend six dollars on a latte for myself. And he took my blood, sweat, and tears—and my dead mother-in-law’s heirloom—to play pretend billionaire for another woman. “If your sugar daddy treats you so well, why isn’t he here buying your coffee with you?” I looked up, a mocking half-smile on my face. The woman’s expression faltered for a second before she haughtily puffed out her chest. “Mr. Sterling is a very busy man! He handles billion-dollar deals by the minute. You think he has time to run errands?” “He’s currently in his luxury hotel penthouse, running an international video conference!” “Although…” Her eyes darted around, and she intentionally leaned in close, lowering her voice. “His pathetic, ugly wife is probably sitting at home right now, counting his pocket change for him.” “She doesn’t even know her husband bought out an entire building just for me.” “It’s honestly sad. And hilarious.” I gripped my phone tight. “Is that right?” I asked softly, “That wife… she really does sound pitiful.” Thinking I agreed with her, the woman became even more smug. “Isn’t she?!” “Mr. Sterling told me himself. That woman is old, tacky, and her skin feels like sandpaper.” “If it weren’t for the fact that she slummed it with him back when he was broke, he would have kicked her to the curb years ago.” “Now, he basically just keeps her around as an unpaid maid.” Every single word felt like a dull, rusted knife slowly, brutally carving into my chest. I wasn’t bleeding, but the pain was suffocating. This was the man I had loved for ten years. “Ugh, I’m wasting my breath on you.” The woman glanced at the fake, rhinestone-encrusted Rolex on her wrist. “If Mr. Sterling finishes his meeting and can’t find me, he’s going to worry.” She swayed her hips and turned to leave in her stilettos. “Wait.” I called out to her. The woman turned back impatiently. “What now? Are you going to ask me to pay for your cheap clothes?” I shook my head, flashing a smile entirely devoid of warmth. “No, I just wanted to give you a friendly heads-up.” “Your bag… you can get it on Amazon with a coupon for forty-nine bucks. Free Prime shipping.” “Your billionaire sugar daddy is buying you knockoffs?” The woman’s face instantly turned ash gray. “What the hell are you talking about?! What does a broke bitch like you know about luxury brands?!” She stomped her foot in furious humiliation, turned, and practically sprinted into the lobby of the high-end hotel next door. I watched her walk away. My phone buzzed again. Liam: [Babe, why aren’t you replying? Are you mad at me?] I stared at the screen for a long time before slowly typing out a reply. [No, honey. I know you’re working so hard.] After hitting send, I looked up at the glittering, opulent entrance of the luxury hotel. “Liam. Since you love acting so much.” “If I don’t give you some extra screentime, it would be a total waste of your incredible talent.” I followed that woman into the hotel lobby. I walked straight up to the concierge and pulled out a photocopy of Liam’s ID. “Hi, I’m Liam’s wife. I’m here to drop off his stomach medication.” The concierge checked the registry and smiled warmly, handing me a keycard. “Mr. Sterling is in the Presidential Suite on the top floor. Go right ahead, Mrs. Sterling.” The Presidential Suite. At least a few thousand dollars a night. While Liam was crying poor to me on text last night, claiming he found half a cockroach in his set-catered meal. I gripped the keycard and stepped into the elevator. As the floor numbers ticked higher, my heart sank lower. When I reached the suite, the door wasn’t fully closed. It was cracked open just a sliver. The voices inside spilled clearly into my ears. “Arthur baby, I just ran into this pathetic, broke woman downstairs, and she had the nerve to say my bag was fake!” It was the woman from downstairs, her voice dripping with sickly-sweet whining. Immediately after, I heard a voice that was etched into my very bones. “There, there, babe. Don’t be mad.” “That bottom-feeding trash doesn’t know the first thing about luxury.” “When I get the final payout for producing this short film tomorrow, I’ll take you out to buy a real limited-edition one.” Liam’s voice oozed with an arrogant, superior swagger. I peeked through the crack in the door. Liam was wearing a suit that clearly didn’t fit him, the cuffs still showing uncut, fraying threads. But he was sitting spread-eagle on the leather sofa, swirling a glass of red wine in his hand with dramatic flair. The woman was kneeling on the plush rug, eagerly massaging his legs. “You’re the best, Arthur!” She cooed, leaning her head against his chest. “So, when are you going to divorce that ugly hag you have at home?” Liam’s hand froze for a second. A flash of annoyance crossed his eyes. “Why are you bringing her up? You’re ruining the mood.” “She relies entirely on me to survive. She’d starve to death without me.” “Once I finalize taking my company public, I’ll throw some cash at her and make her disappear.” I stood outside the door, listening to him shamelessly spin these psychotic lies. Relies on him to survive? His pathetic acting gigs didn’t even pay enough to cover our electric bill. For the last ten years, every single expense in our house was paid for by the overtime shifts I worked until my eyes bled. I took a deep breath and violently shoved the door open. BANG! A massive crash echoed through the suite. The two people on the sofa froze instantly. The wine glass in Liam’s hand jerked violently, spilling dark red wine all over his cheap suit pants. He whipped his head around. The moment he saw it was me, his pupils shrank to pinpricks. “You… what are you doing here?!” His voice was literally shaking. The woman was stunned, too. She looked at me, then looked at Liam. “Arthur, this is the broke bitch who bumped into me downstairs!” “How did she get in here?! The security in this hotel is garbage!” She stood up, pointing her finger right at my nose, screaming. Liam suddenly snapped out of his shock. He looked at the furious woman, then looked at me standing in the doorway, my face completely expressionless. A flash of pure panic crossed his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a frantic, almost psychotic resolve. He shot up from the sofa, pointed at me, and roared aggressively. “Where the hell did this crazy stalker come from?!” “You actually followed me to my hotel room?!” I froze. Stalker? I stared at the man I had shared a bed with for ten years. I stared at his face, completely twisted by extreme, desperate vanity. “Liam, what did you just say?” “STAY BACK!” Liam bellowed. He didn’t even dare look me in the eye. He just screamed toward the hallway. “SECURITY! WHERE THE HELL IS SECURITY?!” “GET THIS CRAZY BITCH OUT OF HERE!” The woman sneered coldly from the sidelines. “So she’s just an obsessive, psychotic fan.” “Take a look in the mirror before you act crazy. You actually had the nerve to break into Mr. Sterling’s room?!” Several security guards came running down the hall. They aggressively grabbed my arms, one on each side. “Let go of me.” I stared at Liam with eyes like ice. “Liam, are you absolutely sure you want to pretend you don’t know me?” Liam clenched his jaw so tight the muscles in his face twitched. He turned his head away, refusing to look at me. “I have no idea who this crazy woman is!” “Get her out of here!”

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