Category: English

I was in the middle of an intense moment with a bigshot from the city elite, when I suddenly, inexplicably, found myself… elsewhere. [Another one trying to conquer the villain? LOL.] [And dressed like that? The villain likes innocent, pure girls! No chance this time.] [Later on, Bryan will be a ruthless kingpin, dominating both sides, someone who kills without batting an eye.] I glanced at the floating comments, then down at myself. A black deep-V dress, cut to my navel, with a hemline so short it barely covered my backside. Bryan had practically begged me to wear it last night. He’d been kneeling on the bed, eyes flushed. “Honey, just this once, I’ll transfer ten million to your account.” 1 I reluctantly put it on. And then he kept me up half the night. Now, though, I wake up to Bryan stepping out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, staring at me like I’m a ghost. “Who are you?” I was furious. What, now that he’d had his fun, he didn’t recognize me? “What do you mean, ‘who am I’? I’m your wife!” The words hung in the air, and I froze. What kind of dump was this? Peeling paint, drafty windows, furniture that looked salvaged from a dumpster. Where was my luxurious king-sized bed? Where was my five-person capacity bathtub? Bryan’s face was inches from mine. No scar on his temple, no lines of weariness, just youthful sternness and suspicion. I reached out, cupping his face, examining him from every angle. “Honey, did you get a face-lift without telling me?” Which clinic did it? The results are amazing! Bryan slapped my hand away, his eyes like daggers. “I’m asking again – who are you?” 2 I calmed down. I meticulously checked the calendar on the wall. Five years ago. Meaning, this was Bryan before he made his fortune. The dirt-poor Bryan. I took a deep breath, remembering the Bryan from five years in the future. He was so glamorous back then. Bodyguards shadowed him everywhere, crowds surrounded him in meetings, yet at home, he was as docile as a kitten. He’d soothe me when I threw a tantrum, dote on me when I pouted. When I said I wanted the stars, he actually bought me a meteorite fragment. It was so huge, sitting in the living room, it made my wallet ache just looking at it. “Honey, how much did this cost?” He was peeling an apple for me, not even looking up. “Not much.” “How much is ‘not much’?” He thought for a moment. “Just about a hundred million.” I nearly fainted. “Bryan, are you out of your mind?” He looked up at me, his eyes innocent. “Didn’t you say you wanted a star?” I was speechless. “I just said that offhand!” He smiled, offering the peeled apple to my mouth. “Even if you said it offhand, I took it seriously.” I looked at the eighteen-year-old boy in front of me. I blinked, then offered my most professional, charming smile. “Little brother, tell me, how much do you earn a month now?” 3 Bryan frowned. “None of your damn business.” “Of course it’s my business.” I circled him, eyeing him up and down. “If you’re broke later, I’m not staying with you.” Bryan scoffed, turning to walk into the bathroom. “Psycho.” Quick as a flash, I snatched his towel. It dropped to the floor. The air solidified for three seconds. Bryan’s face flushed crimson, right to his ears. “You!” I looked down, nodding in satisfaction. “Yep, the size matches. It’s definitely my husband.” [?????????] [What is this woman doing???] [I’m dying of laughter, the villain just got flashed hahahaha] Bryan fumbled, quickly snatching up the towel and wrapping it around himself, his eyes wanting to devour me whole. “What exactly do you want?!” I crossed my legs, sitting on his creaky, rickety bed. “I told you, I’m your wife.” “You don’t believe me? Then let me ask, do you have a mole on your left butt cheek?” Bryan’s expression changed. I continued, “You prefer to put it on your right, right? You love to kiss me in front of the mirror, while making me call you ‘Honey’, and as soon as I do, you…” “Enough!” Bryan cut me off, his voice cracking. He stared at me for a long time, then gritted his teeth and asked, “Are you… are you really my future wife?” I nodded elegantly. “Uh-huh.” “Then tell me, will I be rich later?” I smiled. Was that even a question? “Extremely rich.” “How rich?” I thought about it. “Last month you just transferred fifty million to me, just because I complimented a new bag.” Bryan’s eyes lit up. But he quickly composed himself, scoffing. “So you’re only here because you’re after my money?” I paused. That was a good question. I didn’t answer, instead asking him, “How much do you earn a month?” Bryan fell silent for a moment. “Three thousand.” I almost burst out laughing. Three thousand? I usually spend more than three thousand on a single lipstick. I stood up, walked over to him, and poked his chest. “Little brother, you’re making three thousand now, and I’m still here. What do you think I’m after?” 4 Bryan was stunned. The comments section exploded: [OMG this woman’s got something going on] [The villain’s heart rate is increasing!] [Wait, she looked totally disgusted just now??] Bryan was silent for a long time, then he turned his head, his voice muffled. “You… you should put on some clothes first.” I looked down at my deep-V. “What, shy?” Bryan’s ears were as red as if they were bleeding. [Ding – Villain’s Affection +10, Current Affection: 10] [Holy cow, what kind of crazy move is this??] [Is this what they call ‘purity means nothing in front of sexiness’?] [Heh, men.] Whether Bryan believed me or not, I stayed. I batted my eyelashes and pouted, wearing Bryan down until he had no temper left. Though this rundown place didn’t even have heating. Though this rickety bed felt like a bed of nails. Though Bryan left early and came back late every day, leaving me only fifty dollars for living expenses. Fifty dollars! I held the crumpled bill, lost in thought. The last time I saw a fifty-dollar bill in cash was in my previous life. It had been so long since I spent such a small amount, it felt almost exotic. Bryan glanced at me before he left. “Make it last.” I pouted. Save? The word “save” didn’t exist in Evelyn’s dictionary. 5 I took the fifty dollars and went out. After a quick stroll, I bought a bubble tea. Thirty-five dollars gone. Then a small cake. Another fifteen dollars gone. On my way home, I passed a men’s clothing store and saw a sweater in the window. I suddenly remembered that Bryan, five years later, owned an identical one. He’d bought it himself. One time I asked him, “When did you buy this? It looks good.” He glanced down, saying casually, “A long time ago, I never had the heart to throw it away.” I didn’t think much of it then. Now, I suddenly understood. This was when he bought it. I stood in front of the window for a long time. I reached into my pocket, only to realize I had no cards. I pulled out my phone to call Bryan, then remembered this was five years ago; I didn’t have his number, and couldn’t use electronic payments. Never mind. I turned to leave, then walked two steps and looked back. The sweater was light gray. It would look great on Bryan. 6 When Bryan returned that evening, I was huddled on the sofa, shivering. The dilapidated house was drafty. Back at the Bryan’s mansion, the entire villa would be heated, and I could run around barefoot. It had been a long time since I’d felt this cold. He looked at the empty table. “You didn’t eat?” “I did.” “What did you eat?” “Bubble tea and cake.” Bryan’s face darkened. “That’s not a meal.” I retorted, feeling completely justified. “That’s what I usually eat.” Bryan took a deep breath and walked into the cramped kitchen. … Ten minutes later, he emerged with a bowl of noodles. Plain broth, with a poached egg nestled on top. I eyed it disdainfully. “Looks terrible, even a dog wouldn’t eat it.” Bryan set the bowl in front of me. “Then go hungry.” Then he went into the bathroom. I stared at the bowl of noodles for a long time. Finally, I picked it up and ate. It was delicious. When Bryan came out, the bowl was empty. I curled up on the sofa, pretending to be asleep. He stood there, watching for a while. Then, I felt a warm piece of clothing draped over me. It was his jacket. Worn, faded from washing, but incredibly warm. I secretly opened one eye. Bryan stood by the window, his back to me. Moonlight illuminated his figure, his shoulders thin in a way that tugged at my heart. [Affection +5, Current Affection: 15] [Strategist, you actually tricked the villain into giving you his jacket!] [How unusual. The villain actually has a soft side!] I ignored the comments. I just made a mental note. When I was rich later, I’d buy Bryan ten jackets. No, a hundred. 7 Days turned into weeks. Bryan left early and returned late every day; I did nothing. The comments began to mock me. [Is this strategist even trying? Just lying around at home all day?] [Other strategists go out to offer warmth and care, but this one just waits for the villain to come home and serve her.] [LOL, this one’s definitely going to fail.] I ignored them. I’d become Bryan’s kept woman right after college. So what if I lay around? My husband supported me; it was only right. But one day, as Bryan was leaving, I casually asked, “Where are you going?” “Work.” “What kind of work?” He paused. “Construction, moving bricks.” I was stunned. Moving bricks? I opened my mouth, wanting to say something. But Bryan was already gone. That night, he came home very late. His hands were covered in blisters. I saw them, but said nothing. Only after he fell asleep did I quietly get up and find his ointment. I applied it to his hands, little by little. As I did, I thought of another pair of hands. The hands of Bryan five years later, the ones that often held mine. Calloused, with thick knuckles, but dry and warm. Every time I lost my temper, he’d gently embrace me with those hands. Every time I was sad, he’d wipe away my tears with them. Once, I stared at his hands for a long time. “Honey, why are your hands so rough?” He looked down. “From work.” I frowned. “You’re so refined, what kind of work makes your hands like this?” He smiled, but didn’t answer. I hadn’t paid it any mind then. Now, I suddenly understood. It was from moving bricks. Those blood blisters had hardened into calluses. As I applied the ointment, my nose suddenly ached. 8 I grew up in a single-parent home, constantly moving with my mother. Because I didn’t have a father, I was often bullied. So when I transferred schools, I deliberately portrayed myself as a rich heiress to prevent others from picking on me. As time went on, I started to believe my own lie. I was vain and materialistic. When Bryan proposed to take care of me, I readily agreed. It was simply one person seeking money, the other seeking companionship. Perfectly fair. Compared to going hungry and being bullied, there was nothing to be ashamed of. But I never imagined that Bryan wasn’t born into wealth. Bryan’s brows were furrowed; he was sleeping restlessly. I gently stroked his face. … The next day, when Bryan woke up and saw the ointment on his hands, he paused. He looked at me. I pretended not to notice, continuing to scroll on my phone while curled up on the sofa. Bryan said nothing. But before he left, he placed a hundred dollars on the table. Double the usual amount. [Affection +10, Current Affection: 25] [The villain seems to… care about this woman now?] I rolled over. Of course. My husband wouldn’t care about me? 9 I started trying to be a little nicer to Bryan. “Bryan, I bought you a sweater!” I presented the gift, expecting praise. Bryan looked at the light gray sweater, then at the tag. “299?” “Yeah, isn’t it nice?” “Where did you get the money?” I stated proudly, “Your living expenses, I saved it.” Bryan was silent for a moment. “How long did you save?” I thought about it. “About a week.” “Then what did you eat for a week?” “The late-night snacks you brought home.” Bryan’s expression was incredibly complex. Finally, he put on the sweater. It fit perfectly. I nodded in satisfaction. “Looks good.” Bryan looked down at himself, then at me. “You… why are you so good to me?” I looked at the eighteen-year-old Bryan in front of me. He wore the sweater I bought him, his ears a little red, his gaze awkward yet soft. I paused. Why? Because I’m your wife. But as the words reached my lips, another memory surfaced. 10 The first year of our marriage, I once had a fever. Bryan happened to be away on a business trip and couldn’t get back. On the phone, his voice was frantic: “I’ll have someone take you to the hospital.” “No need, I’ve taken medicine.” “Are you sure?” “Really, you focus on your work.” He was silent for a moment. “Honey, I’m sorry.” I laughed. “Sorry for what?” “For not being there with you.” “Oh, it’s just a fever, don’t make such a big deal.” He was still worried. The next day, I received a pile of express deliveries and takeout. Fever medicine, a thermometer, heat packs, and my favorite strawberry cake. He had someone send a whole box. Later, I found out that he hadn’t slept at all that night, constantly on the phone, finding people to help take care of me. I asked him, “Did you really need to go that far?” He hugged me. “Yes, I did. Everything about you matters.” I suddenly understood. The reason he was so good at caring for people was because he once had nothing. Because he had never had anything, he cherished everything he possessed even more. I reached out and squeezed his cheek. “Because you’re my future husband. You’ll be very rich later, so I’m good to you now, and you’ll support me later.” Bryan’s expression stiffened. Then he smiled, a slightly bitter smile. “Okay.” “Then I’ll work hard to support you later.” [Affection +10, Current Affection: 35] [But, why does the villain look a little hurt?] I didn’t pay it any mind. Anyway, what I said was the truth. 11 Bryan started to change. Before, he would come home and collapse into bed, but now he would ask me a few more questions. “What did you eat today?” “Did you go out?” “Are you cold?” I answered each question, then went back to lying around. One time, I accidentally saw his phone. He was searching: “How to make money quickly” “How to give my wife a good life” “What to do if my wife likes luxury goods” I was stunned. Then I couldn’t help but smile. This silly boy. That night, when he came home, I deliberately sidled up to him. “Bryan, do you like me?” Bryan’s face instantly flushed. “You… what are you talking about?” I tilted my head, looking at him. “If you don’t like me, why would you want me to have a good life?” He didn’t speak. His ears were red again. I laughed, reaching out to poke his cheek. “Little brother, if you like me, just admit it. What’s there to be afraid of?” He mumbled, “Didn’t you say you’re my future wife?” “What about now?” He turned his head, looking at me. “Now, are you willing to…” Before he could finish, a furious knocking erupted from outside. “Bryan! Open the door!” Bryan’s face instantly changed. He pushed me behind him. “Go inside, don’t come out.”

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Since I was sixteen, I had one wild, consuming dream. I wanted to own Declan. He was the poor, aloof scholarship student, a boy made of ice and untouchable pride. I chased him relentlessly for four years, turning the campus upside down, until I finally used a dirty trick to keep him by my side. But eventually, I was the one who got bored. I walked away without a second glance, throwing him away along with our shared past. Five years later, we crossed paths in the corporate world. He was the city’s newest billionaire, a ruthless titan of industry. I was a single mother barely scraping by, struggling to put food on the table. We brushed past each other like strangers. But that night, his custom luxury car blocked the entrance of my office building. The window rolled down. His features were sharper now, carved from marble, and his voice was colder than I remembered. “I need a woman to take care of my needs. I’m a busy man. I don’t have time for a relationship.” “Ten million. You’re mine until I get bored.” 1 The boy who once let me do whatever I wanted was now opening his mouth only to humiliate me. I should have said no. I should have slapped him across his arrogant face. Instead, I bit the inside of my cheek, tasting copper, and looked him in the eye. “Where is the contract?” He froze. Just for a fraction of a second. Then, a dark, mocking laugh slipped from his lips. “So the rumors are true. After your family went bankrupt, you really did hit rock bottom.” He reached into the breast pocket of his tailored suit, pulled out a sleek black card, and held it out. “The deposit. I have a flight tonight for a week-long business trip. My lawyers will contact you.” He turned to roll up the window. “Wait.” My voice cut through the chilly air. He paused, turning his face slightly. The amber glow of the streetlights flickered in his unfathomable eyes. I met his gaze head-on. “What’s the PIN?” The storm brewing in his eyes instantly died down, replaced by a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Take a wild guess.” The engine gave a low, predatory growl. The tires hissed against the asphalt, and he was gone, swallowed by the night. I turned and walked to the glowing ATM on the corner. I tried a few random combinations. Incorrect PIN. I only had one attempt left. My freezing fingers hovered over the keypad. Slowly, I typed in a string of numbers. The date we started our messy, twisted arrangement, exactly eight years ago. PIN accepted. The balance flashed on the screen. I stared at the impossibly long string of zeros. It wasn’t until the machine beeped and spat the card back out that I realized I had stopped breathing. 2 My encounter with Declan had cost me too much time. I practically sprinted to Mrs. Higgins’ apartment building. The door cracked open, and a little head poked out. Her big eyes immediately crinkled into sweet half-moons. “Mommy!” “I’m so sorry, baby. Mommy is late.” I dropped to my knees and scooped her up, burying my face in her neck, breathing in that warm, powdery scent that only little kids have. “Mrs. Higgins read me the story about the little pigs! The big bad wolf burned his tail at the end!” She babbled, her tiny hands flying around to animate her story. The walk home was short. I held her hand, watching the streetlights stretch our shadows, one tall, one impossibly small, across the pavement. Halfway down the block, she tugged at my fingers. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Mommy, my kindergarten sports day is the day after tomorrow. All the other kids’ daddies are coming…” She looked up at me, the streetlamp catching the absolute innocence in her eyes. “Is my daddy going to come?” My heart contracted like it had been pierced by a frozen needle. I crouched down and smoothed her soft hair, my throat painfully tight. “Daddy… he’s working overseas, sweetie. He might not make it back in time this year.” “Can you ask him next time? Please?” A flash of undeniable disappointment crossed her face. But a second later, she nodded vigorously, putting on a brave front like she always did. I swallowed the bitter lump in my throat and forced a bright, cheerful tone. “But Mommy has amazing news. Mommy finally has enough money for your surgery. Once it’s done, you’ll be healthy and can run around just like the other kids. How does that sound?” Lily’s eyes lit up, the sadness instantly washed away. “Mommy, I want a cupcake.” She seized the opportunity, pointing a chubby finger at the glowing window of the corner bakery. “Alright. Just for today.” I pushed the glass door open. The rich smell of roasted coffee and vanilla butter washed over us. I was leading Lily toward the pastry case when a voice stopped me dead in my tracks. “Serena?” The voice was tentative, probing, but sickeningly familiar. “It really is you.” My blood ran cold. I turned around in slow motion. When I saw her face, the air left my lungs. Why did it have to be her? 3 Audrey. Her name slammed into my brain. She looked different, yet exactly the same. The awkward, anxious girl from college was gone, replaced by a polished woman in designer clothes and flawless makeup. But the hostility lurking at the bottom of her eyes hadn’t changed a bit. Memories rushed back, dark and overwhelming. Back then, Declan was a god on campus. Distant, brilliant, and completely broke. His poverty couldn’t hide his blinding potential. I chased him for four years. Everyone knew I was crazy about him. But he never gave me the time of day. Until Audrey, his sweet childhood best friend, reported me for cheating on our final exams just to secure her own academic scholarship. She lied through her teeth. But she didn’t know I had the security footage to prove she framed me. That was the first time Declan ever came to me willingly. His usually expressionless face carried a bitter, almost pleading look. “Serena, drop the charges… I’m begging you. Her mother has a severe heart condition. She won’t survive the shock of seeing her daughter expelled.” He paused, lifting his dark, freezing eyes to meet mine. The words were forced out from between his clenched teeth. “If you let her off the hook this once… name your price. Whatever you want.” And so, I got exactly what I wanted. I got Declan. But he was always cold to me. He refused the expensive gifts I bought him. He wouldn’t let me into his private life. Except for when we were tangled in the sheets, he never truly looked at me. It wasn’t until we broke up, until the ugly truth was dragged into the light, that my stupid, naive brain finally understood. The only girl he ever loved was Audrey. For three years, I was the villain. I was the one who took advantage of his desperation. I used the dirtiest trick in the book to steal time that never belonged to me. 4 “Long time no see.” Audrey’s voice yanked me back to the present. Her eyes swept over my cheap, faded coat, then landed on Lily, who was hiding behind my legs. A flash of shock crossed her face. “Is this…” Her gaze locked onto Lily’s face. My heart plummeted. Acting on pure instinct, I shoved my daughter firmly behind me, shielding her from view. “My daughter. I’m married.” The lie slipped out effortlessly. Audrey blinked, momentarily stunned. Then, a slow, triumphant smirk spread across her lips. “No wonder no one could find you for the college reunions. Everyone misses our campus princess, you know.” I offered a stiff, meaningless smile and pulled Lily away, trying to walk around her. “I have to go. See you around.” She stepped sideways, blocking my path again. She pulled out her phone, tapping the screen to bring up a contact code. “By the way, Declan and I are getting married soon. Let’s exchange numbers. I’ll make sure to send you an invitation. You absolutely have to come.” A sudden, sharp sting hit the back of my nose. I fought down the suffocating tightness in my chest. The smile I plastered on my face must have looked horrific. “No need. I… I’ll be too busy. Congratulations. Goodbye.” This time, I didn’t wait for her to react. I practically carried Lily out the door, throwing myself into the biting night air. Only then did I realize my palms were coated in ice-cold sweat, and my entire body was shaking. “Mommy.” Lily squeezed my fingers. She looked up, her massive eyes filled with confusion. “Who was that lady? Why did she say she was marrying Daddy?” I dropped to my knees and crushed her to my chest. I buried my face in her soft shoulder, taking a ragged breath. “She’s not. They just have the same name, baby. Lily, promise Mommy something. You can never, ever tell anyone Daddy’s name. Understand?” 5 I didn’t sleep a wink that night. As desperately as I needed the money, I refused to be the other woman. And worse, if I stayed tangled up with him, he would inevitably find out about Lily. The very next morning, I walked into Declan’s corporate headquarters. I slid the black card into a plain envelope and handed it to the front desk. “Please give this to Declan.” That evening, the moment I walked out of my office building, a sleek black sedan slid to a stop inches from my legs. The back window rolled down, revealing Declan’s razor-sharp profile. “Get in.” I planted my feet. Wasn’t he supposed to be out of town for a week? He turned his head. His gaze swept over me, freezing me in place. “Don’t make me say it twice.” Defeated, I opened the door and slid into the back seat. Before I even buckled up, the car lurched forward, merging aggressively into the traffic. “What is the meaning of this?” He flicked the black card between his long fingers, cutting straight to the chase. I kept my eyes fixed on the blurring city lights outside the window. “Yesterday… I didn’t think things through. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were getting married.” I took a deep breath, fighting to keep my voice steady. “Under the circumstances, our arrangement is inappropriate. We need to call it off.” Silence stretched inside the car. Then, he let out a dark, mocking chuckle. “So what?” He leaned in, his eyes sharp as scalpels, carving right through my fake composure. “Whether I marry or not is none of your damn business.” “You want money. I want a warm body and zero emotional baggage. We both get what we want. Isn’t this exactly the kind of transactional relationship you excel at, Serena?” His fingers wrapped around the back of my neck. He didn’t squeeze hard, but the sheer dominance of his touch made my breath hitch. “I think we’re a perfect match.” His breath ghosted over my lips. He smelled of crisp winter air and expensive cologne, a scent that haunted my dreams, but right now, it made my blood run cold. “Physically, at least. And that’s all I need.” “I refuse.” I jerked my head away, avoiding his piercing stare. “You don’t get to choose…” Before he could finish, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen. His brow furrowed, but his hand remained firmly on my neck. He answered it. At first, it was just clipped, monosyllabic responses. But within seconds, the temperature in the car plummeted. He stared at me, a violent storm ripping through his dark eyes. “Are you absolutely sure?” His voice was terrifyingly hoarse. Dead silence. Then, a low, hollow laugh scraped its way out of his throat. His fingers, still wrapped around my neck, slowly loosened, slipping away until his hand dropped to his side. He threw the phone onto the opposite seat. He turned back to look at me. The last remaining spark of life in his eyes was completely gone. “You’re married?” Every word was dipped in ice. “And you have a kid?” I didn’t say a word. His lips twitched, and he started to laugh. It started as a silent shake of his shoulders, building into a harsh, broken sound that echoed off the leather interior. A single gleam of moisture caught in the corner of his eye. “Serena,” he said, shaking his head, his voice dripping with exhaustion and self-loathing. “I must be out of my mind… letting you humiliate me a second time.” “Pull over!” he barked at the driver. The car slammed on the brakes, violently jerking to a stop by the curb. “Get out.” He stared straight ahead, his jaw locked like granite. “And never let me see your face again.” I pushed the door open into the freezing wind. I slammed it shut behind me. The engine roared, and the car vanished into the dark street, as if it had never been there at all. 6 Since I had returned the money to Declan, I had to find another way to save up for Lily’s surgery. A coworker got me a night shift gig as a bottle girl at a high-end private club. Later that week, balancing a heavy tray of expensive liquors, I pushed open the heavy mahogany doors of a VIP suite. The smell of cigar smoke and expensive perfume hit me instantly. I kept my head down, trying to be invisible as I walked toward the glass table. “Hold on…” a familiar, obnoxious male voice rang out. “Am I hallucinating?” My steps faltered. I instinctively looked up. Sprawled on the center leather sofa was Declan. He was swirling amber liquid in a crystal glass, his eyes dark and unfocused in the dim, neon lighting. Sitting right beside him, smiling perfectly, was Audrey. And the man who had spoken was Blake, Declan’s old college roommate. Blake was already on his feet, circling me like a shark, looking me up and down. The shock on his face quickly warped into cruel excitement. “Well, well, well! If it isn’t Princess Serena!” “What’s the matter? Playing dress-up for the working class?” I gripped the edges of my serving tray until my knuckles turned white. I kept my mouth shut. That only made Blake bolder. He turned back to Declan, grinning like a hyena. “Dec, look at this! It’s Serena! The girl who chased you till the whole campus knew about it, and then dumped you like trash! What a small, pathetic world!” Another guy I vaguely recognized chimed in from the corner. “No kidding! Man, Dec was wrecked for months after that. Princess Serena really has no heart.” Declan said absolutely nothing. He just stared at me, his eyes pitch black. Audrey leaned forward, playing the peacemaker. “Come on, guys, let it go. That was ancient history. She’s married now. I heard her kid is already walking. Life… clearly hasn’t been easy for her.” Her eyes flicked over my cheap velvet uniform, the condescension dripping from every syllable. Blake jumped right back in, playing the generous patron. “Hey, Serena… working here means you get a commission for every bottle we pop, right?” He grabbed a half-empty bottle of premium whiskey from the table, snatched an oversized glass, and poured it to the brim. He shoved it across the table toward me. “Tell you what. For old times’ sake. You down this entire glass, right now, and I’ll put this entire table’s tab under your name. That’s a massive tip. Fair enough?” The sheer humiliation felt like hands wrapping around my throat. I opened my mouth to tell him I was just a server, not a drinking companion. “Get out.” Declan’s voice cut through the room. It wasn’t loud, but it instantly slaughtered the laughter and chatter. He leaned back into the leather cushions, not even bothering to look at me. “Send someone else.” One of the guys, clearly a few drinks deep, chuckled nervously. “Dec, why so tense? Afraid her little bastard kid is yours?” Declan’s eyes snapped up, lethal and terrifying. 7 My heart leaped into my throat. But a second later, Declan let out a low, dismissive scoff. “Impossible.” His gaze drifted over me like I was garbage on the sidewalk. “I just don’t want to look at her.” I practically fled the room. Once I reached the hallway, I collapsed against the cold wall, my knees shaking so violently I could barely stand. Thank God. He didn’t suspect a thing. But why? Blake said I broke his heart. He said Declan was a wreck after I left. Declan didn’t deny it. But that made no sense. He hated me. He only tolerated me because of our twisted deal. Right? My mind violently rewound to five years ago. His birthday. I had found out his roommates were taking him to a cheap diner near campus. I bought an expensive, custom-made gift and planned to sneak in to surprise him. I was standing right outside the private room, hand on the doorknob, when I heard Blake’s voice through the thin wood. “Dec, seriously, what’s your game plan? We’re graduating soon. You’re not actually going to string this rich girl along forever, are you?” Then Audrey spoke up, her voice dripping with fake concern. “Declan, Serena… she’s not like us. The way she treats you, it’s like you’re just a toy she has to own. She doesn’t respect you. You can’t actually be thinking about marrying her.” My breath caught. I waited, desperate for him to defend me. To tell them they were wrong. Instead, I heard his voice. Cold, bored, and irritated. “You’re overthinking it. It’s just a transaction. Marriage was never on the table.” Someone else laughed. “Exactly! Everyone knows Dec only agreed to her demands to protect Audrey. When has Dec ever even smiled at her? He probably feels sick every time he looks at her!” A chorus of knowing chuckles echoed through the room. My fingers clamped onto the doorknob. I bit my lower lip so hard it bled, fighting back the hot tears stinging my eyes. It wasn’t true! They didn’t know anything! He was the one who took his jacket off in the library and draped it over me when I fell asleep. He was the one who shoved my freezing hands into his coat pockets while walking me back to my dorm in the snow. He was the one who whispered sweet things against my lips, coaxing me when I was too shy in bed. Was all of that just in my head? Was I totally delusional? I took a deep breath, trying to glue my shattered pride back together. I was just about to push the door open. Then Audrey laughed. A sweet, clear sound that pierced straight through the door. “Alright, enough of this depressing talk. Declan, remember our promise? We’re going abroad together for grad school. The university just confirmed our fully-funded spots. Our real future starts now.” I froze. In his grand master plan for the future, there was no room for Serena. There never was. I looked down at the perfectly wrapped box in my hands. I didn’t kick the door in. I didn’t scream or cry. I just turned around, walked to the trash can at the end of the alley, and dropped it in. On my walk home, my phone rang. It was my uncle. In the span of five minutes, my entire universe collapsed. My father’s company had gone under. Massive, insurmountable debt. Unable to face the shame, my parents had chosen the most permanent way out. They left me a mountain of debt, a shattered life, and… a tiny, quiet heartbeat inside me that I hadn’t even discovered yet. 8 It was only after the funerals that I found out I was pregnant. Desperate, terrified, and totally alone, I gambled everything and went to find Declan. “Declan, will you marry me?” He stared at me, completely blindsided. It took him several seconds to recover. When he did, his brow furrowed, and his eyes filled with absolute disgust. “What kind of sick game are you playing now, Serena?” One sentence. One effortless, devastating sentence. It extinguished the very last pathetic ember of hope in my chest. To him, the very idea of marrying me was an insult. A joke. There was never any hope for us to be anything more than a dirty secret. Not in the past. Not then. And certainly not in the future. Dead inside, I nodded. I didn’t say another word. I just turned around and walked away. I stayed away for five years. I only came back to this city because it had the best pediatric surgical ward for Lily. I never expected to run into him on day one. Later that same night, the doorbell buzzed relentlessly. I knew exactly who it was, but I had to open it before he woke the neighbors—or worse, woke Lily. The second the lock clicked, the door flew open. Declan shoved his way inside, reeking of expensive bourbon. He slammed me backward against the entryway cabinet. Before I could even gasp, his arms wrapped around me. The smell of alcohol, the cold night air, and his agonizingly familiar scent swallowed me whole. “Declan, what the hell are you doing?!” I shoved my hands against his chest. Through his crisp dress shirt, his heartbeat was racing, burning against my palms. “I am a married woman!” He snapped his head up. His eyes were totally bloodshot, but there was a terrifying clarity in them. “You married a man who lets you live in this dump?” His gaze practically scorched my skin. “A man who lets you work in a sleazy club just to be humiliated by trash?” I turned my face away, pushing against him with everything I had. “That is none of your business.” He didn’t move an inch. “How the hell is it not my business?” He pinned my wrists to the wall. His eyes were rimmed with angry red. “Did you forget we never actually broke up, Serena? You still belong to me!” I froze. Using my moment of shock, he framed my face with his large hands and crashed his lips onto mine. He kissed me with savage, desperate hunger, murmuring against my lips. “Divorce him.” “I know your kid is sick. I know you need cash.” He rested his forehead against mine, his breath ragged and hot. “Come back to me. I’ll give you a blank check. Whatever you want.” The kid. It was like a bucket of ice water to the face. My heart stuttered. He ran a background check on Lily! What else did he find? Did he see— Raw panic eclipsed my anger. I violently shoved him back. My hand cracked across his face. The sound echoed like a gunshot in the tiny hallway. “Declan,” I gasped, my whole body trembling. “You are out of your mind.” His head was turned to the side from the force of the slap. Slowly, he let out a dark, hollow laugh. “Yeah.” He looked back at me, his eyes dead. “I’m out of my mind. I’ve been out of my mind for eight years.” “That’s why I kept breaking every rule I had for you. That’s why I tore the world apart looking for you when you vanished. That’s why—” He choked on the words, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I was finally ready to let you go, Serena. Why did you have to come back? Why are you destroying me all over again?” He looked at me with a pain so deep it made my stomach twist. “You ran away with him. Why would he let you live like this?” I stared at him, completely lost. “What the hell are you talking about?” He didn’t answer. He just pushed past me, stumbling slightly as he walked deeper into the apartment. He was walking straight toward the half-open door at the end of the hall. Lily’s room. If he opened that door… If he saw her little face. Her eyes, her jawline, the tiny crease between her brows when she slept—a perfect carbon copy of his own… He would figure it all out. My heart completely stopped beating.

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Chapter 1 After we got engaged, my fiancé, Daniel, handed me a black card and told me to buy whatever I wanted. I bought a dollar-fifty lemonade. He blew up at me on the spot. “Charlotte, for God’s sake, the Kane family needs a matriarch who can command a room, not some country bumpkin who’s afraid to spend money.” “Everything you do reflects on us now. I can’t afford the embarrassment.” I broke off the engagement. He turned around and proposed to Ava, a student from a low-income family that he was sponsoring. Five years later, we ran into each other at a kindergarten drop-off. Daniel stepped out of a Maybach, holding hands with a beaming Ava. When he saw me and my son buying a popsicle from a street vendor, he stormed over, his voice a furious roar. “Charlotte! You’re letting my son eat that garbage? Can’t you ever shake off that cheap, backwater trash you came from?” I frowned. “He’s not your son.” He squinted, studying the boy, then let out a derisive snort. “He’s that handsome. How could he not be mine?” I didn’t bother to explain. My son has his father’s eyes and nose, but the rest of him is all me. What does that have to do with Daniel Kane? … At pickup time, Daniel’s black Maybach was parked ostentatiously at the school gate, drawing a crowd of curious parents. “Look! Isn’t that Daniel Kane, the CEO of Oakhaven Group?” “Oh my god, his kid goes here?” “No way, this is just a regular public kindergarten. Someone at his level wouldn’t…” Daniel’s brow furrowed in annoyance, and he started to turn back to the car. Ava quickly stepped in, her voice soft and placating. “Excuse me, everyone, could you please give us some space? My fiancé is a little particular about his personal space and isn’t used to crowds. Thank you.” She offered a gentle smile. “We’re just here to pick up my nephew. I hope you don’t get the wrong idea. We’re not married yet.” Daniel leaned in, his voice low and meant only for her. “Get the kid and let’s go. We have that meeting with the Ashtons later.” In the high-stakes world of New York’s elite, paying respects to the formidable Ashton family was a mandatory rite of passage. No one dared to be late. Ava nodded obediently. “Of course, darling. I know how many strings you had to pull to get a meeting with Mr. Ashton. I won’t let anything get in the way.” She paused, her voice laced with curiosity. “I hear Mr. Ashton is devoted to his wife and kids, keeps them completely out of the spotlight. I wonder who Mrs. Ashton is?” Daniel ignored her, leaning against the car door with his hands in his pockets, the picture of arrogant nonchalance. He looked exactly the same as the day he’d cast me aside. I remembered it clearly. The words “I’m breaking up with you” had barely left my lips before he was down on one knee, proposing to Ava. I hadn’t even made it out the door before they were locked in a passionate kiss. For the longest time, I couldn’t understand it. Four years together, from college sweethearts to fiancés. How could he end it so cleanly, so cruelly? It wasn’t until Ava sent me that text message later that I finally understood. My four years with him had been nothing but a joke. “Mommy, I want a popsicle!” My son’s tug on my sleeve snapped me back to the present. The vendor was glaring at me impatiently. “Are you buying this or not? If not, give it back!” I looked down and saw that the popsicle in my hand had already started to melt. “I’m so sorry. I’ll take this one. Can I have another one, please? I’ll pay for both.” His face contorted in a sudden rage. “Who do you think you’re looking down on? You think I need your charity? Take your damn melted popsicle and get lost! Don’t bring your bad luck around here!” His aggressive tone made my son burst into tears. Every head turned in our direction. Daniel glanced over, his sharp, dark eyes meeting mine. For a split second, something flickered in their depths. Then, just as quickly, it was gone. He looked away, as if he hadn’t seen me at all. My son clung to my leg, sobbing uncontrollably. I had no choice but to hand him the melting popsicle. “Just a little taste, okay?” Just as he was about to lick it, Daniel spun around. He stared at us, his chest heaving as if he could no longer contain himself. He strode over and slapped the popsicle out of my son’s hand. “Charlotte, you’re feeding my son this garbage?!” he snarled, wiping his fingers with a silk handkerchief as if he’d touched something vile. “You’ll never get rid of that cheap trashiness that’s in your bones!” My son’s cries escalated into terrified wails. I knelt and pulled him into my arms, trying to soothe him. Daniel’s hand hesitated in mid-air, then retracted sharply. His voice, when he spoke again, was softer. “Why… why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” Chapter 2 I froze. For a moment, I thought I’d misheard his furious roar. Now I understood. He actually thought Leo was his child. In his eyes, was I really that pathetic? The kind of woman who would secretly have his child and raise it on her own? “You’re mistaken. He’s not your son.” “Now, if you’ll excuse us, I’m not really in the mood for a reunion.” My husband would be here any minute, and if he saw this scene, that jealous man would find some way to “punish” me later. But Daniel didn’t move. He just stood there, squinting at my son. Ava clung to his arm. “Daniel, darling, don’t scare the little one. You’ll upset Charlotte.” “This child looks like he’s barely three. He can’t be yours.” She stood on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “If you really want a child, we could get married and have one of our own…” Daniel cut her off, his voice firm. “He is my son. That handsome, who else could he belong to?” He was certainly confident. Leo has his father’s eyes and nose. The rest is all me. Even if he is handsome, it’s thanks to me and his father. What does that have to do with Daniel Kane? The crowd of onlookers was growing, their whispers like a swarm of bees. “Could he be Mr. Kane’s illegitimate son?” “The mistress and the fiancée, face to face. This is going to be good.” “I’ll give her one thing, though. She’s got guts, raising the kid on her own all this time without asking him for a dime.” Their speculation, so sure and confident, was making Ava’s face paler by the second. She shot me a wary look, but her voice was deliberately soft. “Charlotte, we’re getting married soon.” “Even if… even if this is Daniel’s child, please, continue to raise him yourself. Don’t disturb us.” “We’ve been through so much to get to this point. I don’t want some random child to ruin everything.” She leaned her head on Daniel’s shoulder, the picture of vulnerability. “Darling, maybe we should just give her some money for child support? I really don’t want to be a stepmother.” Daniel’s eyes were fixed on me, his voice tight with suppressed anger. “My son is over four years old, and you’ve let him get so small and skinny. He’s obviously malnourished!” “If you didn’t have money to raise him, why didn’t you come to me? Doesn’t it kill you to see your own flesh and blood like this?” I almost laughed out loud. Leo was just over three, and he was perfectly healthy for his age. How did he become malnourished in Daniel’s eyes? “I’ll say it again. He is not your son.” “He was born in May. He just turned three. This is a normal size for a preschooler.” Daniel’s brow furrowed. He pulled out his phone. “Give me your number. I’ll transfer the child support right now. And I’ll need a way to contact you when I want to see my son.” “That won’t be necessary,” I said, my voice flat. I was done with this conversation. But his tone turned cold. “The child isn’t just yours. I want to be a father to him. Are you denying me that right?” I sighed in frustration. “Are you ever going to stop? We broke up five years ago. What’s the point of all this?” Daniel seemed taken aback for a moment, then gave a condescending smile. “Charlotte, I think you’re getting the wrong idea. I just don’t want the Kane bloodline to suffer with you. This has nothing to do with any lingering feelings I might have for you.” “Don’t worry, even if I have your number, I’ll only contact you about our son. I wouldn’t want Ava to get the wrong idea.” His gaze shifted between me and Leo, a complex emotion clouding his eyes. “Or is it that you’ve hated me all these years? Are you trying to get back at me by neglecting our child? Trying to make me regret breaking up with you… trying to win me back?” I quickly shook my head. “I love Leo more than anything, and I don’t—” “Charlotte!” he cut me off, rubbing his temples wearily. “Stop pretending. I admit, the breakup was sudden. It was hard for you to accept.” “But I love Ava… If I had known you were pregnant, I would have told you to get rid of it. We wouldn’t be in this embarrassing situation now.” I froze. There it was. He’d finally said it. Even if I had been pregnant with his child, it would have been nothing but a burden to him, an embarrassment, something to make Ava uncomfortable. He didn’t have to tell me. If I had been pregnant back then, I wouldn’t have kept it. A man whose heart belonged to someone else… why on earth would I have a child with him? After a moment of silence, I decided to end this once and for all. I pulled out my phone. “He’s really not your son. I’m married. My husband is wonderful to me… Do you want to see our marriage certificate?” That should convince him, right? As I was about to unlock my phone, he clamped his hand over mine. “Photos can be faked.” “Since you’re so determined to hide the truth, you’ve probably covered all your bases.” I was speechless. “Think whatever you want.” The murmurs from the crowd grew louder. I picked up my son and turned to leave. Leo was too young to be exposed to this kind of ugliness. But Daniel suddenly grabbed my wrist, his eyes on my son filled with a raw emotion. “Leo,” he said, his voice thick. “Say, ‘Daddy’.” Chapter 3 I was completely dumbfounded. Leo blinked his big eyes and shyly said, “Mister.” Daniel’s eyes instantly reddened. He looked at me, his voice trembling with heartbreak. “Charlotte, you never even told him about me?” “How could you be so cruel? Other children have fathers to grow up with, but my son, Daniel Kane’s son, has to suffer like this?” I had lost all patience. “Are you ever going to shut up? Let go of me!” But his grip only tightened. After a long silence, he sighed. “For our son’s sake… I’ll give in. Charlotte, you can come back.” I was confused. “What?” A corner of his mouth twitched. “Come back to me. Are you satisfied now?” “Daniel!” Ava cried, looking at him with wounded eyes. “What about me?” Daniel’s gaze flickered. “Ava, she’ll just be a nanny for the child.” “My feelings for you won’t change. It’s just… I can’t abandon my son.” Ava shot me a venomous glare, tears springing to her eyes. “I don’t want her! This woman is using this cheap trick to cling to you! She’s just playing hard to get! She never got over you!” Daniel soothed her, but his eyes on me were cold as ice. “I know.” “Don’t worry. Even if she begs me on her knees, I won’t be moved. You know what she’s like. With her background and her narrow worldview, how could she ever be worthy of me?” The popsicle vendor snorted. “I thought she was some gold digger. Turns out she’s just a desperate mistress!” The crowd immediately chimed in. “She acts so high and mighty, but she’s just a manipulative witch!” “No wonder the kid is so timid.” “Didn’t you hear Mr. Kane? She’s from the countryside. Trash is as trash does.” So what if I’m from the countryside? I worked my way up to become an investment consultant, handling multi-million dollar projects. But in his eyes, I would always be branded as “cheap.” I love street food, early morning hikes, devouring half a watermelon on a hot summer day… When we were together, he dismissed all these simple pleasures as “lacking class.” And Ava? As the “poor student” he sponsored, she used his money to buy luxury goods. Did he ever call her a gold digger? In the end, it was simple. He just didn’t love me. I wrenched my hand away, my face a cold mask. “Daniel, if you don’t stop this, I’m calling the police!” Ava threw her arms around his waist. “Darling, she’s poor and stubborn. She’s taking your kindness as an insult. Let’s just leave her alone.” But Daniel didn’t budge. Instead, he sneered. “The police? Go ahead. With the Kane family’s resources, I’ll get custody of the child, one hundred percent.” “You have two choices: give me your contact information and accept child support, or come home with me and our son right now… as his nanny.” I was so angry I could have screamed. I picked up my son and started to walk away. Daniel’s face darkened. He lunged forward and snatched Leo from my arms. “Since you’re so ungrateful, I’ll raise the child myself!” He held the struggling boy tightly. “If you want to see him, you can come find me at my new place on the coast. I just moved to the city.” Before I could react, Daniel was striding towards the Maybach with my son. Ava trotted behind him, muttering, “Darling, I thought we were here to pick up my nephew.” Suddenly, my son started screaming, reaching for me with his small hands. “Mommy! Bad man! I’m scared…” I ran after them, a wild panic seizing me, but the crowd blocked my way. “The kid will have a great life with Mr. Kane! What are you so hysterical about?” “No wonder Mr. Kane couldn’t stand her. No class at all. Not even thinking about what’s best for the child!” As I watched Daniel open the car door, a desperate sob escaped my lips. “Daniel! Please, give me back my son!” I fumbled for my phone, my hands shaking. “I’m not a mistress! My husband is the head of the Ashton family… Leo is our eldest son! We have a daughter too! I have a family photo on my phone, look!” The crowd erupted in derisive laughter. “The Ashtons? The family that could bankrupt a company with a single word?” “If Mr. Ashton was your husband, would your kid be in this kindergarten? You might as well say you’re the First Lady!” They all mocked me. No one believed me. A chilling cold spread through my body, but I couldn’t just stand by and watch my son be taken away. I screamed, my voice raw with desperation, “Daniel! I’ll go back with you!”

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My shift ended late, so I split a rideshare with a coworker. The second we got in, the driver started giving us a weird, twitchy once-over. “You ladies have it good, huh? Working in a place like the Apex Tower, you must be rolling in it. Not like me, breaking my back for peanuts.” I remembered the horror stories I’d seen online and immediately started laying it on thick. “Don’t even get me started. We’re just contract workers. I take home maybe twenty-eight hundred a month, and my boss treats me like dirt!” The driver’s expression softened a little, and he even muttered a few words of sympathy. But then my coworker piped up. “That’s not true at all! Our Ivy is a total winner. Graduated from a top university, makes a six-figure salary, and her parents are both professors. The biggest hardship she’s ever faced was probably a bitter iced Americano!” The driver’s face contorted with rage. “Goddamn it, I can’t stand you people born with a silver spoon in your mouth!” He floored it, sending the car plunging off a cliff. Amid the explosion, I was blown to pieces. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the office. My coworker, Hailey, walked up to me with a smile. “Ivy, I called a car. Let’s go home together!” 01 The memory of the heat tearing my body apart left me drenched in a cold sweat. A low groan escaped my lips, and a colleague next to me called out in concern. “Ivy, are you okay?” My eyes shot open. I felt like I had just clawed my way back from hell. I… wasn’t dead? I patted my arms and legs, all blessedly intact, then glanced at the time on my phone. It was real. I was alive. The first thing I did was grab my bag and make a run for it. “Weren’t you going to finish that report before you left?” my coworker, Mark, asked, looking puzzled. I shook my head vigorously. Who cares about a report when your life is on the line? “Hey, wait,” Mark called out. “There’s a number I can’t figure out. Can you take a quick look? The client’s in a hurry.” I had no choice but to go back and quickly sort it out for him. But that small delay was all it took. A chillingly familiar voice, like the sound of my own doom, echoed from behind me. “Ivy, I called a car. Let’s go home together!” It was Hailey. Hailey was an intern who had started in the spring, and I was assigned to mentor her. She was diligent and sweet-talking, but she had a fatal flaw: no filter. Our department head was dealing with a classic bald patch and one day showed up wearing a toupee. Hailey immediately rushed over to compliment him. “Mr. Davison, you look so young today!” Before he could even smile, she added, “The hairpiece really suits you! Without it, everyone says you look like an old bald coot!” Mr. Davison’s face fell. “Is that so?” he asked, his smile frozen. “When do they say that?” Hailey whipped out her phone and showed him our private team chat group. “See? Just today, someone was asking if the ‘old bald coot’ was coming in!” That incident got every single person in the group called into his office, and our promised heatwave holiday was canceled. We had to apologize to our innocent colleagues one by one and walked on eggshells for weeks. Another time, I took Hailey to a client meeting. The client was picky, and we revised the proposal seven or eight times before finally getting it approved. As we were leaving, Hailey chirped happily, right in front of the client, “That’s great! Ivy, you’re so experienced. You just used the first draft, and they didn’t even notice!” The client blew up on the spot, stormed into our boss’s office, and our entire team’s bonus went up in smoke. Three months of work, all for nothing. After that, I started keeping my distance. There’s a saying: a fool’s impulse can cause more damage than a villain’s calculated plot. I knew Hailey’s unfiltered mouth would get someone seriously hurt one day. I just never thought it would be me. 02 Company policy stated that only full-time employees could get reimbursed for rides home after working overtime. Our office was notorious for late nights. Hailey lived in the same direction as me, but her place was closer. Since I had to take a car anyway, I’d often give her a lift if we finished late. To her credit, Hailey was always considerate. Whether I called a car or hailed a cab, she’d handle the receipt and give it to me, making sure it was no trouble on my end. And so, just like before, she had called a car and asked me to join. But as soon as I got in, I knew something was wrong with the driver. His eyes would go vacant for a moment, then snap into a wide, intense stare. His mouth moved silently, as if he were muttering to himself. What sent a real chill down my spine was the way he kept watching us in the rearview mirror. I wanted to tell him to keep his eyes on the road, but it was late, the streets were empty, and he was clearly unstable. I didn’t dare start a conflict. My plan was to get out with Hailey at her stop and then call another car for myself. It wasn’t long before he started talking to us. “Life’s not fair, is it? I work my ass off every single day, and you women just sit in an office, all dolled up, making easy money. I swear to God, I just want to die and be reborn as one of you.” His tone turned aggressive. “Hey! You work in the Apex Tower, a place like that… your salaries must be huge, right?” His words were laced with resentment. I remembered a rule I’d read online: when dealing with someone unstable, you de-escalate. You never, ever flaunt your good fortune. So, I started complaining. “You have no idea, sir. We’re just contract workers. I make maybe twenty-eight hundred a month, and even then, my boss acts like he’s overpaying us. He makes us work overtime for free and yells at us constantly. Honestly, I envy you. You’re your own boss, working for yourself. That’s real freedom.” His expression softened slightly. He nodded at me in the mirror. “Huh. Guess it’s not easy for anyone.” As he spoke, his eyes fell on my wrist. My heart leaped into my throat. It had been hot in the office, so I’d pushed up my sleeves, revealing a new bracelet I’d bought. The driver’s eyes narrowed. “That’s a nice bracelet. Must’ve cost a fortune.” Stay calm, I told myself. Don’t let him see you’re scared. I casually flicked my wrist. “This old thing? Looks flashy, right? It was a 9.99 knockoff from some website.” This time, the tension in his face completely dissolved. The hostility in his eyes faded. Just then, Hailey chimed in. “Oh, Ivy, I remember that bracelet! It’s the new one from Cartier, right? The 18-karat gold one that costs over sixty thousand? You’re so rich!” As her words hung in the air, the driver’s jaw clenched so hard the muscles in his cheeks bulged. Hailey, seemingly oblivious, continued to sing my praises to him. “Our Ivy here has it all! Master’s degree from a top university, six-figure salary! Her parents are both professors, and she has a childhood sweetheart who adores her. The biggest hardship she’s ever faced was probably a bitter iced Americano!” “That’s enough!” I yelled, a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead. With every word Hailey spoke, the driver’s gaze grew more menacing. He looked at me as if I had murdered his entire family, as if he wanted to tear me limb from limb right then and there. The car was approaching Hailey’s apartment complex. I threw the door open, ready to bolt. But Hailey, in a sudden fit of madness, shoved me back inside. “I know you think you’re better than everyone, but you don’t have to yell at me! So I hitched a ride with you, what’s the big deal? I won’t do it again, okay?!” She slammed the door shut. At the same instant, I heard the click of the central locks. In the rearview mirror, the driver’s face was a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. “Goddamn it, I can’t stand you people born with a silver spoon in your mouth!” He stomped on the accelerator, and the car shot forward. A few minutes later, it smashed through the guardrail on the mountain road and plunged off the cliff. With a deafening roar, I saw my own body being blown to pieces. 03 Remembering this, my face turned to ice. “I’m not going home tonight,” I said to Hailey, my voice flat. “You go on ahead.” She wrung her hands, a sheepish grin on her face. “Come on, Ivy. It’s the end of the month, and my wallet’s empty. Wherever you’re going, can’t you just drop me off on the way?” My patience snapped. “I already told you, it’s not on the way! What does your empty wallet have to do with me?” My shout was loud enough to turn the heads of the few colleagues still working. Hailey’s face fell, and her eyes welled up with tears. “I just graduated. My salary isn’t much, and I was just trying to save a little money. Why are you yelling at me…?” Her damsel-in-distress act made it look like I was bullying her. Mark was the first to jump to her defense. “We’ve all been there, Ivy. Hailey didn’t mean any harm. If you don’t want to give her a ride, just say so. There’s no need to humiliate her.” My blood boiled at the sight of him. If he hadn’t stopped me earlier, I would have been long gone, and Hailey would have been a distant memory. “If you’re so compassionate, why don’t you give her a ride?” I retorted. “I told her it wasn’t on my way. Is she deaf, or just stupid? Does she not understand the words ‘not on my way’?” I was generally well-liked at the office, and as a supervisor, I had some seniority. The other colleagues, except for Mark, started to side with me. “Yeah, Ivy already said she’s not going that way. Why are you clinging to her like a leech?” “Giving you a ride is a favor, not an obligation. Stop with the pity party.” Seeing that the tide had turned against her, Hailey burst into tears. “I know I’m just a newbie! I can’t compete with a supervisor like you! You don’t have to gang up on me! I’ll go by myself!” She ran out of the office, sobbing. I finally let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. I waited another half hour, figuring she would be home by then, before calling a car and heading out. As I settled into the back seat, all I could think about was a long, hot shower to wash away the day’s bad luck. Suddenly, the other car door was yanked open, and Hailey scrambled in. I was stunned. “What are you still doing here?” She pouted, pressing her palms together in a gesture of apology. “I’m sorry about earlier, Ivy. Please don’t be mad. Let’s just go home!” A creeping sense of dread washed over me. Even if she was desperate to save a few bucks on a ride, would she really wait outside for me for over half an hour? Unless… My heart pounded in my chest. I leaned forward to look at the driver. A familiar, malevolent face turned to look at me. “You work in the Apex Tower, a place like that… your salaries must be huge, right?” It was him. The same driver. An icy terror seized me. I had deliberately waited, changed the timing… how could it still be him? Was I going to die again? The primal fear of being blown apart urged me to flee, but Hailey suddenly grabbed my arm, her grip like a vice. “Where are you going, Ivy? Let’s go home.” Her voice was a soft whisper, like a demon at my ear. 04 While we struggled, the driver had already started the car. A thousand thoughts raced through my mind. The driver’s eyes fell on my wrist, and he asked the same question as before. When I just stared down and said nothing, he exploded. “What’s your problem? You think you’re too good for me?” Right on cue, Hailey started her spiel. “My friend Ivy here is a total winn—” “Shut your damn mouth, you idiot!” I roared, cutting her off. “Your breath stinks. Did you have dinner in a toilet? I called this car. Did you pay? Then what gives you the right to get in? And you!” I rounded on the driver. “I ordered a private car. Why did you let this freeloader in? Is she paying you?” They say it takes a monster to beat a monster. Some people, when they see you’re polite and well-mannered, will just push and push. Show them a flash of aggression, and they back down. My outburst seemed to stun him. The rage simmered down a bit, and he focused on driving. “Ivy, why are you being so rude?” Hailey said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “The driver was just being friendly. You don’t have to be so disrespectful. Or is it because you come from a rich family, you look down on everyone else?” The driver’s hands tightened on the steering wheel, and he shot me a venomous glare in the rearview mirror. I crossed my arms and sneered. “My family has nothing to do with you. Compared to a broke loser like you, everyone’s a millionaire. At least this driver has a car. You can’t even afford the fare. Why are you even alive?” Hearing this, the driver actually cracked a small, self-satisfied smile. To my surprise, Hailey dropped her sweet-and-innocent act. Her face twisted into a sneer. “Yeah, I’m not as rich as you. But at least I’m a good person, not a show-off! When everyone else orders Dunkin’ for the office, you have to get Starbucks. Just to flaunt your money, right?” She was talking about the time our boss asked me to order Starbucks for a client, and I bought some for the rest of the team as well. “You pretend to be so down-to-earth, but you secretly look down on all of us, don’t you? You have a closet full of LV bags at home, but you come to work carrying some crappy canvas tote. You think that makes you look humble? You’re a fake!” Something clicked in my mind. The canvas bag was a designer brand, just one Hailey didn’t recognize. But that wasn’t important. What was important was… how did she know I had a closet full of designer bags at home? Seeing my silence, she continued her tirade, turning to the driver. “Her parents are both professors at a top university. And what a coincidence, she got into that same university. You’d have to be an idiot to believe there wasn’t some string-pulling involved.” I scoffed. “If your dumb ass could get into a decent college, did your parents pull some strings for you? They must be pretty important people. It takes a lot of power to rig college entrance exams. My parents are just law-abiding citizens. Not nearly as impressive as yours.” “Shut up, both of you bitches!” the driver suddenly screamed, his whole body starting to shake. “One more word and I’ll kill you both!” He started banging his head against the steering wheel. When the driver threatened to kill us, I saw a flicker of excitement in Hailey’s eyes. Soon, we passed Hailey’s neighborhood, but the driver showed no signs of slowing down. The smile on Hailey’s face vanished. “Sir, this is my stop. You can pull over here.” The driver ignored her, heading straight for the mountain road. Panic finally set in for Hailey. “I’m just a regular person!” she shrieked. “I’m a working-class person, just like you! If you’re going to kill someone, kill Ivy! It’s the rich people like her who deserve to die!” The driver let out a chilling laugh. “You’re both a couple of scheming bitches!” He slammed his foot on the gas. “Two women to keep me company in hell… worth it!”

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Everyone in the family could see the countdown above my sister Stella’s head. They all knew she would die on her sixteenth birthday. So Stella became the most precious person in this household. The delicious snacks were hers, the pretty dresses were hers, even the bedtime stories from Mom and Dad—those were hers too. I felt sorry for her, but I also envied all the favoritism she received. Until I finally made it to her sixteenth birthday. Mom and Dad, afraid I would cause trouble, locked me—burning with fever—in the storage room. I pounded on the door in fear. “Mom, let me out. I have a fever. My head hurts so much…” Mom gritted her teeth. “Enough! Your sister only has today left before she dies. Can’t you just bear with it?” “But I feel awful…” Gradually, the sounds outside the door disappeared, and my consciousness grew hazy… My body suddenly felt very light. Through the old wooden door, I could see the warm lights in the living room. Mom and Dad sat pressed close to Stella on the sofa. Mom’s hand gently patted Stella’s back while Dad kept his head down, his shoulders trembling slightly. Stella wore her only new dress—pale blue with tiny embroidered stars on the hem. Her face looked especially pale under the lamplight, her lips almost bloodless. “Mom, Dad, is Ivy really okay?” Stella’s voice was soft, heavy with congestion. “I heard her calling out that her head hurt…” “Don’t worry about her.” Mom echoed, reaching out to tenderly touch Stella’s cheek and brush the stray hair from her forehead. “Exactly. She’s not running a fever—she’s just faking illness for sympathy. You only have one more day before you…” Mom’s words caught in her throat. Her eyes reddened. “Just focus on your birthday tomorrow. Don’t let her ruin your mood.” Stella pressed her lips together and said nothing more, but her brow furrowed even tighter. I knew she always felt she owed me something. From the time I could remember, all the family’s favoritism piled onto her. I had to watch longingly as she got even a warm bowl of egg custard, let alone new clothes or new toys. But Stella would secretly slip me her snacks, alter the new dresses Mom and Dad gave her to fit me, and whenever Mom and Dad scolded me, she was always the first to shield me. She would always say, “Ivy, I’m sorry. It’s because of me that you suffer.” But Mom and Dad didn’t see it that way. Mom sighed, looking at Stella with eyes full of pity. “Don’t always defend her. That girl has been jealous of you since she was old enough to understand. She can’t stand to see you happy.” “Don’t you remember your fourteenth birthday?” Stella’s fourteenth birthday—that was the first time I truly understood the reality that Stella would die. That day, the family bought a cream cake for the first time, with fourteen thin candles stuck in it. Mom carefully lit the candles while Dad held up the old camera we’d had for years, wanting to capture one of Stella’s few remaining birthdays. I hid behind the door watching—watching the candlelight reflect on Stella’s face, watching her close her eyes to make a wish, watching the tears Mom and Dad struggled to hold back. I rushed out. I don’t know what I was thinking then. Maybe it was jealousy, maybe it was my inability to accept that the sister who was always so gentle with me was going to leave. I swept the cake to the floor. Cream smeared everywhere, candles rolled into corners and quickly went out. “I don’t want to watch you celebrate her birthday!” I shrieked like every annoying bratty child. I still remember the look in Mom and Dad’s eyes. When Dad’s hand came down, I didn’t dodge. Once, twice, three times… Mom cried but didn’t stop him. It was Stella who threw herself over me, using her thin body to shield me. “Don’t hit Ivy anymore, Dad, stop hitting her!” Her voice trembled, but she held me tightly. “It’s my fault, all my fault…” That night, Stella snuck into my room and pressed half a candy she’d hidden into my hand. She had a red mark on her wrist from where the chair had scratched her while protecting me during the day. “Ivy, I’m sorry.” She said softly, her fingers gently touching my swollen cheek. “I’ll be gone soon, and after that… after that, no one will compete with you for things anymore.” In the living room, Mom tenderly touched Stella’s face, her fingertips softly brushing the stray hair from her forehead. “Stella, don’t pay attention to her.” Mom said, exhaustion in her voice. “That child has been jealous of you since she was old enough to understand. You know that.” I froze. Yes, I was jealous of Stella. I was jealous that she had all the favoritism, jealous of her new dresses, jealous that when she had a fever Mom would watch over her all night, jealous that even with only one day left to live, she was still the apple of Mom and Dad’s eye. I drifted toward Stella, wanting to grab her hand, wanting to tell her I really did have a fever, that my head really hurt. But my hand passed straight through her body, like passing through a wisp of fog. I stopped mid-air, staring blankly at my transparent fingers. I looked back at the tightly shut storage room door. Dim light leaked from beneath the crack. I floated over and passed through the door panel, seeing myself curled up among the clutter. I was already dead. What came before Stella’s countdown hit zero was actually my death.

Memories rushed in like a tide, carrying the smell of old dust. When I was younger, maybe five or six years old, I really did hate Stella. If there was only one piece of candy in the house, it was Stella’s. The only apple got cut in half—the bigger piece for Stella, the smaller for me. New clothes always went to Stella first. I wore her hand-me-downs. Even bedtime stories were Stella’s. Mom’s voice was so gentle. She would read “The Little Prince”, read “Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales”, read those stories about stars and moons. But she only read those stories to Stella. I would secretly crouch by the door crack, listening to Mom say softly, “Stella, what would you like to hear today?” “I want to hear The Little Mermaid,” Stella said. So Mom would begin reading, her voice like a stream at night, flowing slowly. I squatted outside the door, hugging my knees, listening to those beautiful sentences, my heart feeling squeezed by something. Why couldn’t she read to me too? The summer I turned seven, Mom roasted a chicken. Two golden, glistening drumsticks sat on top. At dinner, Mom carefully placed both drumsticks in Stella’s bowl. “Stella, eat more. Build up your strength.” I looked at the few green vegetables in my own bowl. Tears suddenly fell. “Why does Stella get both drumsticks!” “I want to eat them too! I want chicken drumsticks too!” Dad’s chopsticks slammed heavily on the table. “Ivy! How can you be so inconsiderate!” He stood up, his face dark with anger. “Don’t you know Stella’s health is poor? Don’t you know that Stella…” He couldn’t continue. I didn’t know. I only knew that Stella’s complexion was always very pale, that she sometimes coughed, that Mom and Dad always looked at her with that sad expression. But I didn’t know what that meant. “Why, why does everything belong to Stella!” I cried out, jumping down from my chair and pointing at Stella sitting across from me. “Why don’t you just die! Give my things back to me!” Stella’s tears instantly fell, big drops splashing into her bowl. She opened her mouth but couldn’t make a sound. Mom shot up and slapped me across the face. That was the first time I’d been hit so hard. Stella lunged forward to protect me, but Mom held her back tightly. “Let her learn her lesson! Let her know what she can and can’t say!” The next day, I overheard Mom and Dad talking in the kitchen. “Nine more years left.” Mom’s voice was crying. “I know.” Dad’s voice was hoarse. “Nine years… just nine years…” That’s when I learned that Stella really would die. That the numbers above her head that no one else could see were her life countdown. In the living room, Mom and Dad, eyes red, carefully sent Stella back to her room. I watched, my heart suddenly aching. “Should we… let Ivy out?” Dad’s voice was soft. Mom was silent for a long time. “Let her endure it a bit longer.” Mom finally spoke, her voice so exhausted it seemed to take all her strength. “At least… let Stella spend this birthday peacefully. Just this one day. The last day.” I saw Mom raise her hand to wipe her eyes. “Ivy will understand.” She seemed to be convincing herself. “After Stella’s gone, we’ll… we’ll definitely make it up to her.” Dad said nothing more, just walked to the kitchen, took a small piece of bread from the cupboard, and walked toward me.

“Ivy.” He said softly to the door. “Dad brought you some bread. Eat something, don’t go hungry.” I floated in front of him and crouched down to look at him. His eyes were very red, the wrinkles at the corners deeper than last year, white hair already showing at his temples. He was only forty this year, but looked like he was fifty. “Dad, I’m right here. I died. Won’t you come in and look at me?” “Ivy?” He called again. I reached out to touch his face. My fingers passed through his body. “Sigh.” Dad sighed and stood up disappointedly. “This child… still sulking.” He pushed the bread further through the door crack. “Just stay in there and behave. Don’t make trouble. After your sister is gone… Dad will definitely make it up to you.” I didn’t wait for him to discover me. I looked at his retreating back and said softly: “You don’t need to, Dad. You don’t need to make it up to me.” You’ll never have the chance. After Dad left, the hallway fell silent again. Soft sounds came from the living room. Mom came out of Stella’s room, gently closed the door, and stood in the hallway in a daze. She looked at the storage room door, her lips pressed tightly together, as if struggling with something. Finally she walked over and crouched where Dad had just crouched. “Ivy.” Her voice was soft. “Don’t blame Mom, okay?” “Mom knows you feel wronged.” She continued, her fingers unconsciously picking at splinters on the door panel. “But Stella only has one day left. Just let her have this, let her leave happy, okay?” I floated in front of her, seeing moisture at the corners of her eyes. She raised her hand and wiped quickly, as if afraid someone would see. “After Stella’s gone, Mom will make your favorite burgers, a whole plate, all for you.” Her voice grew smaller and smaller, finally becoming almost a murmur. “I’ll buy you a new dress, the kind with bows—you’ve always wanted one, haven’t you? Mom will take you to the amusement park, ride the carousel, ride the roller coaster… didn’t you say all your classmates have been there except you?” Her tears finally fell, hitting the old hallway tiles and spreading into small dark spots. “I’ll give you everything, everything… so just today, just today, don’t make trouble, okay?” I reached out, wanting to wipe away her tears. She waited for a while. The storage room remained silent. The sadness on Mom’s face slowly faded, replaced by a kind of anger. She suddenly stood up, stumbling because the movement was too abrupt. “This child… so inconsiderate!” She muttered quietly, her voice thick with tears. “Doesn’t think about her parents at all. Raised you all these years for nothing!” She turned and walked away quickly, her back stiff. As evening came, the sky gradually darkened. Mom came out of the kitchen carrying a small basket with a red cloth inside, along with some colored paper and scissors— Birthday decorations prepared for Stella. She’d just reached the living room when the doorbell rang. It was Grandma. Grandma held a cloth bag, bulging and full. Seeing Mom, she forced a smile. “Mom, why are you here?” Mom was a bit surprised and quickly stepped aside to let Grandma in. “I came to see Stella.” Grandma’s voice was somewhat hoarse. She put the cloth bag on the table and took out several apples and some pastries. “Tomorrow is the child’s birthday. I… I came to see her.” “Stella’s resting in her room.” Mom said, taking the things from Grandma’s hands. “Please sit. I’ll call her.” “No, no need. Let her rest properly.” Grandma sat down on the sofa, her gaze sweeping around the living room, her brow furrowing slightly. “Where’s Ivy? Why don’t I see Ivy?”

Mom’s expression changed instantly. “She… she’s in her room doing homework.” Mom avoided Grandma’s gaze, lowering her head to arrange the red cloth in the basket. Grandma said nothing, just looked at her. “Homework?” “I’ll go check on her.” “Mom!” Mom quickly stood up. “Ivy is… throwing a tantrum. I have her reflecting in the storage room.” Grandma’s movements stopped. “What did you say?” She asked, one word at a time. “You locked Ivy in the storage room?” “Knowing tomorrow is Stella’s…” Mom’s voice grew smaller and smaller, finally almost inaudible. Grandma’s face slowly darkened. She stood up, swaying because the movement was too sudden. Mom tried to help her but was pushed away. “Susan!” Grandma’s voice trembled. “Ivy is your daughter too!” Mom opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but Grandma cut her off. “Yes, I know Stella had a hard fate, born with that cursed countdown. I know you love her, want to give her the best of everything, let her leave happy!” Grandma’s voice grew louder and louder, tears pooling in her eyes. “But what about Ivy? Isn’t Ivy suffering too? From childhood until now, what has she ever gotten? Stella’s old hand-me-down clothes, Stella’s leftover food, even your love—she has to share half with her sister!” “Mom, I didn’t…” Mom tried to defend herself, but her voice was weak and unconvincing. “Both children are good children, both are good children… but what about you two? As parents, don’t you owe Ivy? Doesn’t she deserve even a little love?” Mom collapsed into a chair, covering her face, her shoulders shaking violently. “And now you won’t even let the sisters see each other one last time?” Grandma’s voice was hoarse. “Stella is going to… going to leave tomorrow. Ivy is her only sister, the sister she’s protected since childhood! How can you let Stella leave? Let her leave with regrets?” “I… I didn’t…” Mom’s voice leaked through her fingers, broken and fragmented. “I just wanted Stella’s last day to be happy. I didn’t want Ivy to disturb her…” Night deepened. Stella’s bedroom door remained tightly shut. “Go to sleep.” Grandma finally spoke, her voice hoarse. “Tomorrow… we still need to get up early.” Mom shifted, as if wanting to say something, but finally just shook her head. “I can’t sleep.” Dad didn’t move either. Grandma sighed and didn’t press further. She stood up, walked to the storage room door, crouched down, and said softly through the crack: “Ivy, Grandma’s here with you. Don’t be afraid.” My tears fell again. Time passed second by second. The candles burned out and the living room fell into darkness. The sky outside the window gradually brightened, changing from deep blue to gray-blue, then to the pale color of fish bellies. The first rays of morning light passed through the glass window, falling on the old floorboards, illuminating the floating dust in the air. Grandma stood up, walked to Stella’s bedroom door, raised her hand to knock, but stopped in mid-air. She hesitated for a long time, finally only saying softly: “Stella, time to get up.” Slight sounds came from inside the room. The door opened. “Grandma, Mom, Dad.” She said softly, showing a faint smile. Mom suddenly stood up and rushed over to embrace her, holding so tightly as if trying to meld her into flesh and bone. Dad also walked over, his hand trembling as he gently touched Stella’s head. “Stella…” Mom’s voice was completely broken. “I’m fine, Mom.” Stella said softly, her hand gently patting Mom’s back. “I’m really fine.” Grandma stood to the side, quietly watching. She watched for a long time, then suddenly remembered something and whipped around to look at the storage room. “Ivy!” Her voice was especially clear in the quiet morning. “Quickly, let Ivy out!” Only then did Mom and Dad remember me locked in the storage room. They broke into smiles through their tears, saying repeatedly: “Yes, yes, yes, let Ivy out. Ivy’s still in the storage room!” “Her sister is fine. This is wonderful news!” Mom pulled Stella along while Dad walked ahead. The family of three ran toward the storage room, faces full of joy. But when they reached the storage room door and Dad’s hand just pushed it open, his expression suddenly changed drastically. He jerked his hand back, murmuring: “Wrong, it’s all wrong!”

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At the final round of the Olympic trials, I held my breath, preparing to execute the most difficult move. My best friend, who was also my biggest competitor, inadvertently revealed during a sideline interview: “Sophia has been taking banned substances to maintain her weight. I’ve tried to warn her…” The camera flashes went crazy, all pointing at me. The head judge raised his hand in a timeout gesture. The whole world thought my athletic career would end today in the most disgraceful way possible. The meaning of my rebirth was to wait for this exact moment. I ignored the head judge and walked straight to the sideline, pulling out two urine test vials from my bag. “One for her, one for me. Let’s go. Head judge, please take us both for testing right now.” A flash of panic crossed Lily’s eyes, quickly replaced by innocence and hurt. “Sophia, what are you doing?” “Didn’t you say I was using drugs?” I held up the two perfectly sealed official urine test vials. “Then let’s both get tested. Now. Immediately. Right this second.” The media cameras shifted from my face to Lily’s, then to the stern-faced head judge and several officials from the anti-doping center. “Sophia! Stop this nonsense!” Coach Harrison rushed over. He grabbed my arm and hissed in a low, angry voice: “Do you know what you’re doing? This is the Olympic trials! Do you want the entire national team to be humiliated because of you?” I shook off his hand. In my past life, he was the first person to stand up and righteously condemn me after I was caught using banned drugs, saying I was a disgrace to the team and a stain on his coaching career. I looked at him and asked back: “Coach Harrison, if I haven’t used drugs, who should be ashamed?” “If I’ve been framed, who should be kicked off the national team?” Harrison was left speechless by my questions. Lily pitifully tugged at Harrison’s sleeve. “Coach, I didn’t… I was just so worried about Sophia. She’s been off lately, and I was afraid she’d take the wrong path…” She cried like a delicate flower in the rain, as if I were the villain bullying her. The murmurs around us began to change tone. “Look at how Lily’s crying. She’s probably genuinely worried about her friend, right?” “Sophia is being way too aggressive. Even if she hasn’t used drugs, she shouldn’t treat her friend like this.” “Exactly. Lily was just trying to help.” Trying to help? In my past life, she used this kind of “help” to personally push me into hell. I died in that dark, damp basement, covered in wounds, with no one caring. And she stepped over my corpse, took the Olympic gold medal that should have been mine, and became the celebrated gymnastics queen. Reborn in this life, how could I possibly let her have her way again? I stopped paying attention to them and looked directly at the anti-doping officials on the sideline. “According to regulations, athletes have the right to request drug testing at any time, correct?” The official nodded. “Yes.” “Good.” I handed one of the urine test vials toward Lily. “Please, my biggest competitor, my best friend.” “Let’s both go prove our innocence together.” Lily looked pleadingly at Harrison, whose expression was extremely unpleasant. He knew Lily’s family background, and he knew how many connections her father had pulled to get her selected this time. “Sophia, stop this! Apologize to Lily right now!” He was still trying to order me around. “Apologize?” I laughed as if I’d heard the world’s biggest joke. “Coach Harrison, did you also drink one of Lily’s special juice drinks? Has your brain stopped working?” “You!” Harrison trembled with anger. Just then, the head judge spoke up, his voice authoritative and fair. “Since athlete Sophia has made this request, and since it’s an accusation made against another athlete in front of a national live broadcast, for the sake of fairness in the competition and for the reputation of both athletes, I agree to conduct on-site testing right now.” “Someone, take them to the testing room.”

In the testing room, Lily kept her head down, her shoulders trembling slightly, as if she’d suffered a terrible injustice. We were arranged in adjacent cubicles for sample collection. I could hear intermittent sobbing coming from her side. Harrison and several officials were waiting right outside. I quickly completed my sample collection and handed it to the staff. When I came out, Lily was also just coming out. Her eyes were red and swollen, and she looked at me like I was her mortal enemy. “Sophia, are you satisfied?” she said in a voice only the two of us could hear. “You want to destroy me, don’t you?” “You were the one who tried to destroy me first.” “I was just worried about you!” She was still being stubborn. “Really? So you secretly taking those sleeping pills every night was also for my benefit?” Lily looked at me in horror, her lips trembling. She’d done this extremely secretively. Even her parents didn’t know. This was something from my past life—after she’d achieved fame and success, during a drunken slip of the tongue, she’d proudly bragged to others about it. She’d talked about how she used drugs to maintain peak performance while using another drug to gradually destroy me. “How… how do you know?” Her voice shook. “I know a lot more than that.” I stopped paying attention to her and turned to leave. The test results would take some time. We were led to a temporary lounge. As soon as Harrison came in, he pointed at my nose and started yelling. “Sophia! You’ve disappointed me so much! Even if Lily said something wrong, you can’t destroy her like this! You’re teammates!” “When she publicly accused me of using banned drugs, why didn’t you tell her we were teammates?” “She just spoke without thinking!” “Coach Harrison, you’re being way too obviously biased. Is it because her dad paid you off?” “What nonsense are you spouting!” Harrison flew into a rage and raised his hand to hit me. A figure blocked in front of me. It was Dr. Smith, the team doctor. “Coach Harrison, talk nicely. Don’t use violence.” Harrison’s hand froze in mid-air and reluctantly lowered. Dr. Smith pulled me aside and asked quietly: “Sophia, what’s really going on? I believe you’re not that kind of person.” In my past life, only Dr. Smith came to see me after my incident. She didn’t believe I would use drugs, but had no evidence. Looking at her concerned eyes, I felt warmth in my heart. “Dr. Smith, don’t worry. I definitely haven’t.” “Then Lily…” “Whether she has or not, we’ll know the results soon.” Dr. Smith nodded and patted the back of my hand. “Okay, I believe you.” Just then, the lounge door was pushed open. Director Morgan from the national team walked in. As soon as he entered, he cheerfully tried to smooth things over. “Oh, what’s the big deal? Two girls having a little spat.” He walked up to me with a paternalistic expression. “Sophia, I know you’re upset. How about this—I’ll have Lily apologize to you, and we’ll consider this matter closed, okay? Don’t let it affect the rest of the competition or damage our country’s image.” Lily immediately got the hint, walked up to me, and squeezed out a few tears. “Sophia, I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have said those things to the reporters. I was just too worried about you. I apologize.” She was about to bow to me. If I accepted her apology, this would really become just a small misunderstanding between friends. She’d get away scot-free, while I, even if I hadn’t used drugs, would still be saddled with a reputation for making a big deal out of nothing and forcing my teammate. Nice try. I stepped aside to avoid her bow. “I don’t need your apology. I just want the truth.”

Director Morgan’s smile froze. “Sophia, don’t be ungrateful. For the sake of team harmony and national honor, this matter must end here.” “Letting a drug-using athlete represent the country in competition—is that your so-called national honor?” “You!” Director Morgan was left speechless. He hadn’t expected that I, who had always been docile and obedient in front of him, would become so sharp-tongued today. “Sophia!” Harrison started yelling. “How dare you speak to Director Morgan like that! So disrespectful!” I was too lazy to deal with them anymore. Birds of a feather, these people had banded together to crush me in my past life. Director Morgan was an old friend of Lily’s father. Harrison had received substantial benefits from Lily’s family. They were grasshoppers tied to the same string. Today, I was going to burn that string in front of the entire nation’s audience. Time passed minute by minute. Outside the lounge, media reporters waited anxiously with various speculations. Inside the lounge, Lily sat restlessly, her face growing worse and worse. Harrison and Director Morgan were quietly discussing something in the corner. I knew what they were thinking. They were wondering, if Lily really tested positive, how to suppress the matter, how to throw all the dirt onto me. Too bad I wouldn’t give them that chance again. After about an hour, the testing room door finally opened. The head judge and officials from the anti-doping center walked in, holding two freshly printed reports. Everyone’s eyes focused on those two thin sheets of paper. The head judge’s expression was serious. He first looked at me, then at Lily. “The preliminary test results for the A samples are out.” “Athlete Sophia, test result: negative.” As his words fell, I saw Harrison and Director Morgan visibly relax. They thought that as long as I was clear, Lily would probably be fine too, and this matter could be minimized. A stiff smile appeared on Lily’s face: “That’s great, Sophia. I knew you were innocent…” Before she could finish, the head judge’s next sentence cut her off. “Athlete Lily tested positive for two banned substances. First, furosemide, a diuretic, S5 class prohibited drug. Second, propranolol, a beta-blocker, P1 class prohibited drug.” The entire lounge fell silent. In an instant, all color drained from Lily’s face. “No… impossible…” She murmured, her body swaying, almost unable to stand. Harrison and Director Morgan’s expressions looked worse than if they’d eaten excrement. Dr. Smith covered her mouth, her eyes showing shock but also understanding. “No! This isn’t true! You must have made a mistake!” Lily suddenly screamed, looking deranged. “It’s her! It’s Sophia framing me! She switched my sample!” Like a mad dog, she lunged at me. Dr. Smith quickly blocked her. “Lily! Calm down!” “How can I calm down!” Lily struggled, her face twisted. “I didn’t use drugs! I never did! It’s her! She’s jealous of me! She wants to destroy me!” Everyone watched this spectacle. Director Morgan and Harrison finally snapped out of it and rushed forward to hold her down. “Lily, don’t get excited. There must be a misunderstanding!” Director Morgan tried to calm her while giving the head judge meaningful looks. “Head judge, could there be a problem with the equipment? Or maybe the samples got mixed up?” The head judge looked at him. “Our procedures and equipment are world-class. There’s absolutely no possibility of error. From extraction to testing, the samples were under surveillance the entire time. There’s no possibility of switching.” His words blocked all escape routes. Lily completely despaired. She collapsed on the floor, wailing. “I didn’t… I really didn’t…” Her performance was enough to make anyone who didn’t know the truth feel sympathy, but unfortunately, everyone present was shrewd. Who was right and who was wrong—the results made it crystal clear. Harrison’s expression kept changing. He looked at Lily, then at me, his eyes extremely complex. He was probably regretting why he’d chosen to believe Lily instead of me. I walked up to Lily and looked down at her. “Now, do you have anything else to say?”

Lily raised her head to look at me, her eyes full of venomous hatred. “Sophia, you’ll die a horrible death!” “That’s what I should be saying to you.” I took out my phone and pressed play. A clear conversation came from the phone. “…Mom, don’t worry. The stuff I’m giving Sophia is the latest type. It metabolizes really fast—can’t be detected. Once she’s finished, the Olympic spot will be mine.” “…For double insurance, I also took a tiny bit of diuretic myself. If anything unexpected happens, I’ll just say she secretly put it in my water. Anyway, she’ll already be disgraced—no one will believe her.” “…That idiot really thinks I’m her best friend. She’ll eat whatever I feed her.” The recording was short, but the information was explosive. Everyone looked at Lily like she was a monster. She looked at the phone in my hand in disbelief, as if seeing a ghost. “You… when did you…” “Last night, when you were calling your mom.” I put away my phone, my tone flat. “I guessed you’d make your move today, so I planted something in your room in advance.” In my past life, this was exactly how she’d set me up step by step. First, she’d given me a drug long-term that made people mentally exhausted and weakened muscle strength, causing my performance to plummet. Then before the crucial competition, she’d added banned drugs to my water. A two-pronged approach that left me unable to defend myself. Reborn in this life, how could I possibly stumble in the same place twice? I’d turned the tables on her. Yesterday, I hadn’t drunk that special juice she’d handed me at all. Instead, when she wasn’t paying attention, I’d poured it into her water cup. And that tiny bit of diuretic she’d taken herself to frame me became the final straw that broke her. “No… this isn’t real… it’s synthesized! The recording is synthesized!” Lily was still making a last-ditch struggle. I looked at the anti-doping center officials. “I’ll submit this recording as evidence to the police and the sports bureau. False accusation and framing, administering dangerous substances—I believe this is no longer just a matter of violating competition ethics. This is a crime.” Lily completely despaired. Director Morgan and Harrison’s faces also became extremely ugly. Although the recording didn’t mention them, once Lily was criminally investigated, she might reveal all the benefits they’d given her to reduce her sentence. Pull up the radish and the mud comes with it—none of them could escape. The head judge took a deep breath. He looked at Lily with nothing but disgust. “Effective immediately, all of athlete Lily’s results in this competition are annulled. A comprehensive investigation into athlete Lily, her coach, and related personnel is being launched.” “Until the final investigation results are out, Coach Harrison’s coaching duties are suspended.” “Now, will all irrelevant personnel please leave. We need to take athlete Lily for B sample retesting and follow-up questioning.” Several uniformed staff members walked in and supported the limp Lily on both sides. As Lily was dragged away, she was still screaming hysterically. “Sophia! I won’t let you go even as a ghost!!”

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I’m a graduate student at a top university, and my advisor, Professor Christie, recently took on a new student named Chloe. He asked me to help her get familiar with the lab project. When I tried to add her on Instagram and get her email to send her project materials, she rejected both requests: “I just want to focus on my studies. I’m not interested in dating, so stop harassing me.” I was about to clear up the misunderstanding when my classmate Marcus sent me a link to the campus forum. It was a post from her: [On my first day, a male student sexually harassed me. I came here to study, not to be hit on.] Attached was a screenshot of my friend request and her rejection. In the comments, she was crying about it: “This guy only met me once and now he won’t leave me alone!” When I saw the post, I was stunned. I’m the only son of Dallas’s wealthiest family, with countless heiresses competing to marry me. Why would I need to chase after her? “This is so unfair. She’s the advisor’s new student. I just wanted to send her materials, and she flat-out rejected me.” I showed Marcus my chat history with the advisor, feeling helpless. “I even noted in my friend request that I was sending her materials, but she still insists I’m trying to date her.” When Marcus learned the truth, his face darkened. “What narcissism! Who does she think she is, some kind of celebrity?” As soon as he finished speaking, we saw the girl walking straight toward us. She looked extremely ordinary. “Are you done yet? I already told you I don’t want to date you. You actually followed me here. Can’t you just leave me alone?” Both Marcus and I were stunned when she opened her mouth. Looking around, we realized everyone was staring at me. I asked in disbelief, “Are you talking to me?” “Stop pretending. I have the records. It was you who added me. I checked.” “What? You do it but won’t admit it? I know I’m beautiful, but that’s no reason for you to harass me.” She looked completely confident and even ran her fingers through her dry, split-ended hair. Marcus leaned close to my ear and whispered, “That’s Chloe? I can’t believe she looks like that. How does she have the nerve? You’re…” I knew what Marcus wanted to say. After all, I’m the only son of Dallas’s richest man, with beautiful women lining up to marry me. I certainly didn’t need this woman I could lose in a crowd. Chloe looked me up and down. “Why aren’t you saying anything? Feeling guilty? Just because you’re slightly good-looking doesn’t mean I have to be with you. My family told me to focus on my studies. I’m not here to date.” I was exasperated. “Chloe, I think there’s something wrong with your brain. I was just following the advisor’s instructions to send you materials. I didn’t expect you to read so much into it.” “Someone like you? I’m really not interested.” I showed her my chat history with the advisor. She hesitated for a moment, then put on a disdainful expression. “To get me to date you, you’d even fake chat records with the advisor? With that kind of persistence, you could succeed at anything.” I immediately shot back: “At least take a look at yourself. If I look at you for even one second, I’d need to rinse my mouth with lemon water.” Chloe trembled with rage. “How can you slander a girl like this? Are you even a man?” “What about you? You’re spreading rumors that I like you. When I ignore you, you call me a pretty boy who’s being kept by someone. So you can say whatever you want, but I can’t talk back? Aren’t you a bit too sensitive?” Chloe was so angry she kept stomping her feet, gritting her teeth as if she wanted to swallow me whole. Being kept? Only an idiot like her would say something like that. My family has billions in assets. What would she use to keep me?

Ignorant, arrogant, and ordinary—my advisor really needs glasses this time. How did he accept someone like this? “Sorry, Chloe, I’m really not interested in you. If it weren’t for the advisor’s assignment, I wouldn’t even bother with you.” I packed up my food and prepared to leave. I had only taken two steps when I heard an unpleasant voice behind me. “Playing hard to get? I’m telling you, no matter what you do, I’ll never accept you!” Just as I got back to my dorm, a fat man blocked my way. He had a cigarette in his mouth and was looking at me sideways. “So you’re the one chasing the girl I’ve got my eye on? I’m telling you, she’s mine. A punk like you? I could take down ten of you with one punch.” “I’d advise you to wise up and stop harassing the person I like, or don’t blame me for not being polite.” I looked at him in shock. “Are you talking about Chloe?” He responded disdainfully, “Who else? Your harassment of her has caused a stir across the whole campus!” I actually laughed. “You two really are a perfect match. If you like her so much, keep an eye on her and stop letting her throw herself at random guys.” I shook my head and was about to leave when he grabbed me. “Oh, so now that you can’t get her, you’re trying to smear her? I’ve seen plenty of men like you. Do you know who I am? I’m interning at the Alexis Group, and my uncle is a supervisor there.” His fierce look didn’t intimidate me at all. “What’s your name?” I asked. “Brown.” Brown was extremely arrogant. I made a mental note. Back in my dorm bed, I found that Chloe had posted more rumors about me online. [The harassment maniac actually verbally abused someone who tried to help me just to get me. I’m so scared. With someone like this at school, what should I do? I just want to study quietly.] The comments below were all from people who didn’t know the truth and had been misled. “How did our school end up with such a scumbag? Does he even know school is a sacred place?” “This guy only thinks about sex all day. Can’t he live without women? If he loves women so much, why even come to school?” I’ve never been the magnanimous type. Since you can’t understand words, I’ll teach you a lesson.

I contacted my family’s butler and had him investigate Brown. Sure enough, the Alexis Group was just one of my family’s mid-sized businesses. Since he was so arrogant, he could forget about his internship. As for his uncle, they could both get out together. Just then, my advisor suddenly messaged me. “Did you contact Chloe?” I helplessly told my advisor about the situation. This task was quite difficult to complete. My advisor sent a question mark emoji. “That can’t be right. I heard she was very quiet and had a good temper. Let me check the school website right now.” At this moment, I vaguely felt something was off. Soon, the advisor finished verifying. The advisor replied, “I just rechecked. The school mixed up the students. My student isn’t Chloe. I’ll send you the correct student information later.” I finally breathed a sigh of relief. I knew it. How could my advisor have such poor judgment? But I still felt something was wrong. I heard that Chloe’s and the other girl’s scores differed by a hundred points. How could they mix that up? Just then, I saw that Chloe had actually applied to add me as a friend, with a message: “I’ll give you one chance. You better really be sending materials, or you’ll regret it.” This time, I directly rejected the request. I thought it was over, but she kept pestering me. There was a facial recognition scanner at the lab entrance. Only people with proper authorization could enter, and the specific application process was all in the materials the advisor asked me to forward. Chloe never got those materials, so there was no way she could get in. When she kept trying and failing to enter, she was almost in tears. And my appearance gave her a target for her frustration. “Are you done yet? I made it here and you’re still following me. Did you tamper with the system so I can’t get in? Using this method to get a girl’s attention—who do you think you are?” “I’m telling you, this is not how you chase a girl. The more you do this, the less I’ll like you, and I’ll never accept you.” “Can you stop messing with me?” She shouted at me, her eyes red. To onlookers, I really did look like I was bullying her. My gaze was cold, without a trace of warmth. “If you have mental problems, go to a hospital, instead of slandering me over and over here. If you can’t get in, it means you’re not the advisor’s student. Also, I suggest you look in a mirror. With your appearance, I really wouldn’t like you.” Chloe’s face twisted with anger: “Even if I can’t get in, there’s no way you can either. I’ve seen your little tricks plenty of times!” The next moment, in front of everyone, I successfully passed the facial recognition, while Chloe standing to the side turned even redder with rage.

“You’ve gone too far! Just to get me, you actually tampered with the facial recognition system so I can’t get in. There’s no way you could get in either. A creep like you couldn’t possibly get in!” “Everyone look! This creep is chasing me, and when I wouldn’t give in, he used this method to try to force me to submit. I’ll never give in. If you dare, let’s make this big and have the advisor give me justice!” After all, there are many people at school, and not everyone knows my situation. Some people started whispering, though not quietly—I could hear them clearly. “This guy is too much. To make things so hard for a girl. Although she’s not particularly pretty, if she’s Professor Christie’s student, she must have something special. Maybe he’s trying to curry favor with Professor Christie through her.” “Right, right. This has happened before. Professor Christie isn’t someone just anyone can suck up to. I heard people who did this kind of thing before got expelled directly.” “Why can’t he just work hard instead of doing this kind of thing? Does he have to be the kind of man who advances by using women?” These people—do they have no brains? They believe whatever comes out of Chloe’s mouth. Don’t they have any judgment of their own? I didn’t bother with them and turned to go in to work on my project. Before long, there was a commotion outside. Experiments require absolute quiet, and I couldn’t make any progress like this. Annoyed by the noise, I walked out frowning and saw Brown kicking the metal trash can at the entrance. When he saw me, he raised his eyebrows with a sarcastic tone. “You’re finally willing to come out. I was wondering how long you could hide. Turns out you can’t take much.” “I warned you last time. I told you so many times not to bully the person I like. Don’t you understand human language?” I saw Chloe pitifully hiding behind Brown, quietly sobbing. “I’m so glad you’re here. When my advisor comes, I’ll definitely put in a good word for you. Without you, I’d definitely be bullied to death by this creep.” When Brown heard the words “good word,” I saw his eyes light up. Too bad he was backing the wrong person. I quietly watched the two of them perform in front of me. When they had said enough, I slowly spoke. “Are you pig-brained? Are you sure she’s your advisor’s student? Have you verified it? What if she’s not?” Brown was shaken by my words. Seeing this, Chloe quickly interrupted me, afraid Brown wouldn’t help her anymore. “Brown, if I weren’t Professor Christie’s student, how would I dare to be so confident? I’ve already sent someone to get the advisor. He’ll come soon to back me up.” Just then, someone said my advisor had arrived. The crowd packed in tight made way. When Chloe saw my advisor, her eyes lit up. She quickly ran over and began crying about her ordeal. “Professor Christie, I’m your new graduate student. This guy sexually harassed me and won’t let me in!” “It wasn’t easy for me as a girl to get into such a prestigious university!” She got more and more worked up as she spoke, standing up very straight. The advisor couldn’t help pushing up his reading glasses and asking in confusion: “Are you sure? You say he harassed you. Do you know who he is?” Chloe insisted I was just a lowly creep. The advisor sighed. “Forget that you’re not my student—even if you were, James wouldn’t be interested in you. He’s the only son of Dallas’s richest family. What are you?”

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I once willingly became his mistress to save my mother, even carrying his child that he had so desperately wanted. I thought it was love, until I was forced to kneel before his wedding and lost my child. He passed me off to others in public, crushing whatever dignity I had left. I left with a broken heart, but he came chasing after me like a madman, saying he only loved me. But by then, I was already in a wedding dress, holding another man’s hand. I watched him break down, and I merely smiled faintly. “You? You dare talk about love?” Aria’s POV In my third year with Julian Ashford, I ran into him and his newly married wife at the hospital. In the obstetrics corridor, Julian wore a haute couture suit that clashed with his surroundings, his arms protectively wrapped around a woman. I heard him say to her. “I can bring any doctor you want to the house. Why must you come to the hospital?” The woman replied coolly. “Isn’t there a top-tier private doctor stashed away in your house? I wouldn’t dare ask you to bring her home.” I knew the private doctor she was talking about was me. Three years ago, I went to Julian’s mother, Helena, and asked to be with Julian without any title or status. To the public, my identity was his private physician. But in truth, I was his mistress. I watched Julian’s lips press into a tight line. “Ours is just a business marriage. Don’t interfere in my business with Aria. We’re already married. I’ll handle her appropriately. She won’t be a problem for you.” The woman’s lips curved upward. “You have one month before the wedding ceremony. You’d better clean up all your loose ends. Otherwise, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” The doctor called the woman’s name, and they walked into the examination room. I stood frozen in place, my entire body feeling as if it had been plunged into ice water. Julian had once sworn to me that he would make Helena accept me into the family, that being his mistress was only a temporary measure. But now, without me knowing, he had not only married someone else but also had a child with her. Helena was right. Julian would love many people. I would never be the special one. Five years ago, Julian was stabbed and collapsed on the roadside. I was still a university student then, and I gave him basic first aid before sending him to the hospital. When he woke up, he began pursuing me with great effort. A wealthy man falling for an innocent medical student became the latest gossip in high society circles. I couldn’t withstand such an offensive and quickly fell for him, accepting his confession. But Helena didn’t accept our relationship. And Julian wasn’t the devoted, infatuated prince I thought he was. Long hairs in his pockets, lipstick marks on his shirts, long periods of being unreachable. Combined with increasingly vicious rumors at school, I eventually chose to break up with him. But no one expected that after the breakup, Julian would become frantic about getting back together with me. He swore he would never be ambiguous with any other woman again, even tattooing my name on his body. Though I was moved and couldn’t let go of our relationship, I knew clearly the gap between us. The biggest obstacle was Helena’s opposition. Until my mother was diagnosed with acute leukemia. With no other options, I went to Helena and offered to become Julian’s mistress, nothing more. This way, I could stabilize him while keeping everything under Helena’s control. Helena agreed to this transaction, giving me a one-time payment of thirty million dollars and promising to send me to a top research institute to continue my studies when I left. Helena’s words still echoed in my ears: “Julian won’t have only you. He’ll love many people. You won’t be the special one. But you’re doing me a favor. Rather than letting him get involved with questionable women, having only you is more reassuring.” “If you can get pregnant with Julian’s child, letting you into the family isn’t impossible.” During these three years with Julian, he gave me promises and favoritism. We were no different from an ordinary married couple. Hope had secretly grown in my heart. Now it seemed I had been overthinking. I raised my phone, took a photo of them walking out of the examination room, and sent it to Helena. “Julian Ashford is already married to another woman and has a child with her. There’s no reason for me to stay. Please fulfill your promise and send me to Dr. Shaw’s research institute.” My mother’s illness had been under control for a year now. My savings could completely support both of us. I had only stayed because I couldn’t let go of my feelings for Julian. The phone screen lit up with Helena’s reply. “Even if you hadn’t discovered this, I would have told you eventually. The family business needs the South family’s support. This is an obligation Julian must fulfill.” “Julian still has feelings for you. You have three days. Find a way to make Julian completely let you go, and you’ll get everything you want.” Just as I finished reading the message, someone tapped my shoulder. “Aria? It really is you. What are you doing at the hospital?” Only then did I remember I had come to pick up my ultrasound report. I was pregnant with Julian’s child. Two months along.

Aria’s POV Hearing my name, Julian’s gaze turned toward me. The instant our eyes met, he quickly withdrew his hand from around Vanessa South’s waist, his brow furrowing. “Aria, she and I aren’t-” Vanessa smiled and stepped forward, cutting off his words. “I’m Julian Ashford’s wife. If I’m not mistaken, you must be the private doctor Julian’s been hiding at home, keeping from me, right?” I didn’t want to engage with her. I knew my position was disgraceful, and I didn’t want to humiliate myself. I turned to leave. But Vanessa grabbed my hand first. “Don’t rush off. I’m quite curious about you. Dr. Aria, coming to obstetrics-you’re not pregnant too, are you? Who’s the baby’s father? I hope you’re not one of those classless girls who becomes someone’s mistress.” She could say anything about me, but she couldn’t insult my mother! My mother raised me alone from childhood. She was my bottom line. I turned back. “I don’t know how old this lady is, but why do you gossip about other people’s business like a nosy neighbor? I’m a doctor. Coming to the hospital is normal work. If you have time, you should manage your own husband better instead-stop letting him drop your hand the moment he sees someone else.” Vanessa’s face darkened, her expression so fierce it looked like a storm was brewing. “You’re just a mistress. How dare you speak to me like this?” I smiled coldly. “Get your timeline straight. Julian Ashford’s obsessive love for me was common knowledge five years ago.” I wouldn’t swallow my anger when someone bullied me. Vanessa glared coldly at Julian. “Julian Ashford, I’m the South family’s pampered daughter. In the business world, my word is law. No one dares speak to me like this. Your mistress has quite the nerve. If she hadn’t made a scene in front of me, I could have turned a blind eye. Today, you must give me an explanation.” Julian stepped forward, his eyes as deep and affectionate as always, but his tone brooked no argument. “Aria, Vanessa’s status is different from yours. Apologize to her.” “I should apologize to her?” I laughed coldly. “First, she provoked me. Second, the person who should apologize most in this whole situation is you, isn’t it? Julian, have you forgotten all the promises you made me these three years?” “Whatever I promised you, Vanessa is now my legally registered wife. You should respect her.” His gaze turned cold and severe, scanning me up and down. “You need to know your place. Apologize to Vanessa.” Know my place? What place is that? His lover? His mistress? Or someone completely insignificant? I bit my lips tightly. “What if I refuse?” Julian raised his hand in a signal, and two bodyguards immediately stood behind him. He pinched my chin, his fingers caressing my face. “Aria, weren’t you always so obedient before? Be good, and I’ll compensate you.” I used to be obedient because I still dreamed of becoming his wife. Now he wants me to be obedient? Vanessa had insulted my mother, crossing my bottom line. I would never bow my head to her. “Then don’t blame me.” Julian’s expression turned cold as he waved at the bodyguards. “Go easy. Don’t hurt her.” The next second, two bodyguards twisted my arms behind my back, kicked hard at my knees, forcing me to kneel on the ground, and pressed my head toward the floor. Sharp pain shot through my knees. I couldn’t help but groan. I saw Vanessa leaning against Julian. “Looks like you still know what’s important. I’m satisfied. The family won’t hear about this. Let’s leave it at that. I hope next time Miss Aria sees me, she’ll remember her place.” After they left, the bodyguards finally released me. I moved my neck, dusted off my knees, and limped toward the examination room to get my ultrasound report. My phone vibrated. It was a message from Julian. “Aria, the family needs the South family’s support right now. I’m sorry you were wronged. I’ll compensate you.” I swiped left and deleted it. I had already decided to leave. From now on, Julian’s affairs had nothing to do with me.

Aria’s POV Outside the examination room, my emotions were too agitated. I slipped and tumbled down the stairs. The baby was gone too. For this child, I’d endured countless injections and treatments, willing to hurt myself just to hold on. But now it seemed some things simply couldn’t be forced. Two hours later, I was supporting myself against the wall, slowly walking through the hospital corridor. The stabbing pain in my lower abdomen kept reminding me of what I’d just been through. When I got home, under the influence of medication, I slept straight through until the next afternoon. Looking at the time, anxiety rose in my heart. Helena had given me little time. I took two painkillers, caught a cab to Nightfall, the club Julian frequented. Watching the men and women dancing wildly on stage, I removed my coat, revealing the sexy outfit I’d deliberately chosen underneath, and walked onto the stage with cash I’d prepared in advance. I snatched the DJ’s microphone and threw the money into the air. “Whoever makes me happy tonight gets all this money.” The venue exploded. Men of all types surrounded me, using every trick they had. I wasn’t sure if Julian was here today, but it didn’t matter. Someone would tell him. Because our relationship was common knowledge in this city. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, Julian appeared, fury blazing in his eyes, and yanked me out. “Aria, are you really this cheap? You can’t live without a man?” I smiled. “Of course. You’re already married-are you really going to control who I find?” My fingers traced circles on his chest restlessly. “Though if Mr. Ashford still wants to sleep with me, I won’t refuse. After all, who would refuse the richest man in the city?” Julian’s eyes turned bloodshot, his grip suddenly tightening. I felt like my hand would be crushed. “Aria, you’ll sleep with anyone who has money? Do you have any shame at all? Being my mistress isn’t enough for you? With your status, being able to be with me is incredible luck. How dare you look for other men behind my back?” His words were like a sharp blade stabbing my heart. He finally stopped pretending and said what was really in his heart. He had always looked down on me. He could give me money, coax me, but he would never respect me. Then Vanessa emerged from behind him, removing his hand from mine. “The butler said you were here, so I came to check.” Vanessa looked at me with arrogant eyes. “People of low birth are like this. Even if they glimpse a higher level of life, they can’t change their inherent inferiority.” Julian was silent for a few seconds, then spoke. “I was wrong about her.” Watching the two of them sing in harmony, I could only find it laughable. Julian had power and wealth, so being with me while marrying someone else was “unavoidable”? Vanessa getting pregnant before marriage and inserting herself into our relationship somehow became “noble”? Julian looked at me holding my head high, refusing to admit fault, seemingly remembering something. Finally, his tone softened. “Aria, I know you’re unhappy that I married someone else, but don’t stimulate me this way, okay? I know you’re not this kind of person. I admit I broke my promise. I can’t marry you. I have responsibilities I can’t escape.” Looking at the hypocritical expression on the man before me, I laughed. “How do you know I can’t live without you? Don’t be so confident. You’re pretty average in bed.” Julian’s face darkened. He took Vanessa’s hand and turned to leave. But then Vanessa suddenly collapsed on the ground in pain. “Julian, the baby…” Julian panicked, holding Vanessa with bloodshot eyes as he looked at me. “You’re a doctor-check on her quickly!” He added another line. “Don’t try anything. If something happens to her, I guarantee every hospital in the city will refuse to treat your mother!” I was angry too. “If you want her well, shut up.” I was a doctor. I would absolutely never do anything harmful to a patient. I quickly assessed the situation. After a simple massage, Vanessa’s breathing became steady. Julian immediately picked her up and rushed toward the hospital. This scene was exactly like two years ago when I had an acute appendicitis attack and Julian sent me to the hospital with bloodshot eyes. “Aria, nothing will happen to you. I won’t allow it.” But now, another woman was in his arms. I left the bar and took a cab to the Ashford residence. I still had some things there. In the car, I received a message from Helena. “You did well, but it’s not enough. You have one more day.” Helena always had people around Julian, monitoring his every move. I put away my phone and got out of the car. As soon as I entered, I could feel the servants looking at me strangely. I walked straight toward my room. Passing Julian’s room, I saw Vanessa half-lying on the bed with Julian pressed against her stomach-the picture of a happy family. “Vanessa, it’s so amazing. I’m going to be a father.” Vanessa stroked his hair, showing a blissful smile. “With a father who loves him so much, the baby will definitely be very happy.” I didn’t disturb them, just silently walked to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and calmed my emotions. Soon this would all be over. My mother’s illness was under control, and I could continue my studies. But the next second. Julian suddenly appeared outside the door, looking at me with confusion. “What are you doing here?” I didn’t answer, but asked instead. “Is Miss South asleep?”

Aria’s POV Julian nodded, then spoke with slight apology. “I’m sorry, I went too far earlier. The doctor told me that without your treatment, Vanessa might have lost the baby.” I shook my head. “Your affairs have nothing to do with me. I just came to pack my things.” “You’re not angry?” He asked. You have to understand-before, I had resolutely broken up with him over his ambiguous behavior with other women. “It’s fine. I respect your choice.” I looked up at him and suddenly asked. “Julian, when did you get together with her? When you were with her, did you feel guilty toward me at all?” Julian suddenly stepped forward and pulled me into his embrace. “Aria, I only love you. My feelings for Vanessa, for that child-they’re just out of responsibility. This is something I must bear being born into this family. You can understand, right?” “But I promise you, besides Vanessa, you’ll be my only woman. I won’t be like those men who have affairs everywhere. Aria, you can accept this, can’t you?” His tone was too matter-of-fact, as if he were stating some universal truth. But he was wrong. I was still the same Aria who wanted one person for one lifetime. I took a deep breath and stepped out of his embrace. The instant I left his arms, I seemed to see Vanessa’s figure by the door, but she disappeared the next second. “I need some time.” Whoever wants to accept this can accept it. I’ll be completely gone the day after tomorrow. “Then will you stay tonight?” He asked. I thought for a moment and agreed. Helena said I hadn’t done enough. I could use this opportunity to talk clearly with Vanessa and get her to control Julian. At 2 AM, I was woken by knocking on my door. Getting out of bed to answer it, I found Vanessa. Before I could actively seek her out, she came to me first. Perfect-it saved me the trouble. “Miss South, if you’re here to talk about Julian, you can rest assured. I’ll be leaving here the day after tomorrow, completely leaving him. In this matter, you and I are both victims. Everything stems from Julian Ashford’s irresponsibility.” I had no issue with Vanessa. From a certain perspective, we were both victims. But Vanessa laughed disdainfully. “What are you to be mentioned in the same breath as me?” Seeing my goodwill trampled, I changed my tone. “Miss South got pregnant before marriage. Quite the scandal. Is this how wealthy families raise their daughters? Well, I’ve learned something new.” “You!” Vanessa flew into a rage and slapped me. I wasn’t one to be bullied-I slapped her right back. “Miss South, instead of arguing with me here, you’d be better off controlling Julian Ashford. Otherwise, without me, there will be others.” With that, I shut the door and returned to bed. I tossed and turned in bed. I don’t know how long it took before I finally fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, before I was fully awake, I was startled by the sound of Julian kicking down the door. The next second, he kicked the door open, strode in, and grabbed my throat. He used such force that I could barely breathe. “What did you say to Vanessa? She already told me she’s willing to accept you, so why would you do this?” Julian’s eyes were bloodshot, the force on his hand gradually increasing. I used all my strength to push against his hand and finally broke free. “I didn’t do anything.” He cut me off. “I thought you really were willing to coexist with her. Turns out you were lying to me all along! You really think I’d still be with you after you’ve done these things? Still won’t admit it? Look at this!” He threw a card at me. On it was Vanessa’s “suicide note.” “Julia, I originally thought my sincerity and this child in my belly could make you love me. But Miss Aria is right. You love her. You caused such a scene over her for the whole city to see. Even if I have the title of Mrs. Ashford, I’ll never have your heart. If that’s the case, our fate has ended. Let’s meet again in the next life. Vanessa.” I never said any of this to her. “I didn’t-” “Still making excuses! If anything happens to Vanessa or the baby today, I’ll make you pay with your life!” Julian wouldn’t listen to my defense. He roughly dragged me down the stairs. My knees were scraped raw and bloody. “My people sent word that Vanessa is on the TV station rooftop right now. You’re going to kneel and apologize to her! If she doesn’t forgive you, you’ll kneel on that rooftop until you die!” He tied my hands and shoved me into the trunk, racing all the way to the TV station rooftop. The bodyguards carried me up with him to the rooftop. There were also TV station staff on the rooftop doing a live broadcast. I was thrown to the ground. Cameras and flashing lights immediately focused on me. I knew no one would come to save me.

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I’d been with Ethan Pierce for five years, thinking I was the person he trusted most. Five years of obedience, humiliation, and sacrifice. In his eyes, I was nothing but a shadow, a stand in for Claire Sullivan, the one he truly loved. The day Claire came back, he made me kneel on the floor to wipe her shoes. My dignity was crushed again and again. Even when I left, my freedom was restricted by his power and influence. Then came the day when he deliberately made out with Claire right in front of me, repeating over and over that she was the woman he truly loved. I dialed a phone number I’d kept buried for so long. “Come pick me up and take me home. Also, I want the Pierce family bankrupt.” Sophia Bennett POV I’d been with Ethan Pierce for five years. Everyone in our circle knew I was the most obedient pet Ethan kept by his side. If he told me to go east, I’d never go west. He didn’t let me wear dresses, so for five years I only wore pants. Everyone thought I was madly in love with Ethan, and Ethan himself thought so too. Late night. Pouring rain. I’d just finished cleaning up the company’s mess and came back to the villa soaking wet. The living room lights were off. The smell of smoke was suffocating. A crimson glow flickered in the darkness. Ethan sat on the sofa, his expression cold and hard. “You’re back?” His voice was hoarse. I set down my bag and went to change into slippers out of habit. “Why didn’t you turn on the lights? Is your stomach bothering you again? I’ll go make you some-” “Claire’s back in the country.” My movements froze. The air seemed to freeze. Claire. The one woman Ethan had always wanted but could never have. Because my face looked like Claire’s, especially my eyes. After a long moment, I straightened up, my fingertips curling slightly. “So?” Ethan stubbed out his cigarette, not even glancing at me. “She’s settling down here and hasn’t found a suitable place yet. This villa is close to her company. She likes it.” I lowered my eyes. “You’re telling me to move out?” “Move to that apartment in Regent Bay.” Ethan’s tone was casual. “Don’t bring too much stuff. Claire is obsessive about cleanliness. I don’t want any sign that someone else was living here.” Traces of other people. Five years. Over eighteen hundred days and nights. Turns out in his eyes, I was just an “other person” leaving my mark on his space. I smiled. “Okay.” I didn’t cry or make a scene. He finally looked up at me, frowning slightly. “What kind of compensation do you want? A check, or resources?” “No need.” I turned and headed upstairs. “I’ll go pack now.” “Sophia.” He called after me. I paused. “Don’t blame me.” Ethan’s voice was cold. “When we got together, I made it clear there were rules. Now that the real one is back, the stand in should naturally step aside.” I didn’t turn around. “Don’t worry, Mr. Pierce. I understand the rules very well.” That night, I packed quickly. Actually, I never had much that belonged to me anyway. The expensive jewelry, clothes, and bags-Ethan had bought them all based on Claire’s preferences. I only took a few old clothes and a photo album. Before leaving, I placed a spare key on the entry table. It made a crisp sound. Like something breaking. The day after I moved into Regent Bay, I was called back to the company. I was Ethan’s executive assistant. Even after breaking up, business still had to be handled. These five years, I’d kept work and personal life completely separate. Even if he left me so exhausted the night before that I could barely get out of bed, I still showed up the next day in heels to go over his schedule with precision. “Mr. Pierce, here’s today’s meeting agenda.” I placed the documents on the desk, my expression calm. Ethan glanced at me. “There’s an auction tonight.” Ethan finished signing and tapped his pen on the marble desktop. “Come with me.” I gave a professional smile. “Sure, I’ll arrange for a stylist.” “No need.” Ethan tossed me a gift box. “Wear this.” I opened the box. It was a white mermaid gown with a daring cut, the back almost completely bare. This not only didn’t fit my usual style, but more importantly, I had a scar on my back. From three years ago when Ethan was targeted by a rival. During the car accident, I threw myself over him to protect him and got cut by glass shards. Back then, Ethan held my bloodied body with red-rimmed eyes, saying he’d protect me for life. Now, as soon as that woman came back, he’d forgotten. “What? Don’t like it?” Ethan raised an eyebrow. I closed the box, my fingers gripping the edge tightly. “Mr. Pierce, this dress is backless. I have a scar. It might not look appropriate.” “A scar?” Ethan seemed to pause for a moment, then smiled carelessly. “That old scar must have faded by now, right? Besides, Claire likes this style. I want to see how it looks when worn.” I see. Another fitting model. I felt like my heart was being squeezed by a giant hand, the pain suffocating. I took a deep breath, maintaining my polite smile. “Understood.” That evening, at the auction, I entered on Ethan’s arm, turning heads. The dress was beautiful, but it was also revealing. I’d covered the scar on my back with concealer, but under the lights it was still faintly visible. People around whispered, their gazes filled with amusement. But Ethan seemed oblivious, only focused on exchanging pleasantries. Until the auction began. The finale was a set of pink diamond jewelry with a starting bid of eighty million dollars. Ethan bid without hesitation. I sat beside him and heard him say in a low voice: “Claire has fair skin. Pink looks good on her.” The price soared to two hundred million dollars. Eventually, Ethan won. After the event ended, staff brought over the jewelry box. Ethan took out the necklace and turned to look at me. “Try it on.” I froze. “It’s for Miss Sullivan. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to try it, would it?” “Just try it when I tell you to.” Ethan’s tone was impatient. “Your neck is slender, about the same as hers.” In front of everyone. I was forced to lower my head as cold diamonds touched warm skin. Ethan examined it for a moment and nodded with satisfaction. “Not bad.” The next second, he reached out and removed the necklace, putting it back in the box. His movements were efficient, not giving me even one extra second of warmth. “Alright, send this to Claire.” He shoved the box into my arms and strode away. I held that priceless box, standing in the cold wind, feeling like a joke.

Sophia Bennett POV Claire’s birthday party was set on a yacht. I didn’t want to go, but as secretary, I had to be there to coordinate. Top deck of the yacht. Lights and glamour everywhere. Ethan stayed by Claire’s side the whole time. The two of them standing together drew envious looks. I hid in a corner checking the guest list, trying to minimize my presence. “Isn’t this Ethan Pierce’s secretary?” A few rich kids came over with wine glasses, teasing. “I heard Mr. Pierce cleared out his villa for the goddess Claire to live in. So where are you living now?” “Miss Bennett, you used to seem so proud. How are you like a dog now?” One of them reached out to touch my face. “After five years with him, it must’ve been quite an experience, huh?” I turned my head to avoid him, saying coldly. “Show some respect.” “Stop acting so high and mighty!” The man flew into a rage and splashed red wine on me. My white shirt instantly soaked through, clinging to my skin. I looked completely disheveled. The man, emboldened by alcohol, reached to pull at my collar. “Stop!” Ethan’s voice rang out. The group immediately scattered, apologizing with nervous smiles. “Just joking around…” Ethan walked over, his gaze falling on my soaked clothes, a flash of disgust in his eyes. He took off his suit jacket, but not to give to me. Instead, he draped it over Claire’s bare shoulders next to him. “It’s windy. Don’t catch cold.” Claire held onto his arm, looking at me with surprise. “Oh my, Miss Bennett, what happened to you? Go change quickly, don’t catch a cold.” I bit my lip hard, saying nothing. “What are you standing there for?” Ethan frowned. “Get out of here. Don’t embarrass yourself.” I turned to leave. Suddenly, the boat lurched violently. Someone screamed. “Someone fell overboard!” In the chaos, I was shoved by panicking people, lost my footing, and toppled over the railing. At the same moment, Claire was also knocked off balance, hanging precariously on the edge of the railing. “Ethan! Save me!” Claire screamed. I gripped the outer edge of the railing. Below my feet was dark, churning seawater. I couldn’t swim. Ethan knew this. Five years ago, I nearly drowned trying to retrieve documents that fell into a pool for him. He was the one who pulled me out. At this moment, Ethan was only six feet away. He glanced at Claire, then at me. Just one second of hesitation. He rushed toward Claire and grabbed her wrist. “Save her! Pull Claire up first!” Ethan yelled at the arriving security guards. My fingers slipped on the railing, bit by bit. My nails broke. Blood dripped. I watched that man who once said he’d protect me for life hold another woman tightly, soothing her gently. While I was like a withered leaf, unnoticed by anyone. “Ethan…” My voice was barely audible, scattered in the sea breeze. Before my last bit of strength ran out, I let go. Cold seawater instantly engulfed me. As suffocation set in, I actually felt relieved. If this was the end, then so be it. But I was lucky. I was pulled up by a police rescue boat. Water in my lungs. High fever that wouldn’t break. I was unconscious in the hospital for three days. During those three days, Ethan never came once. When I woke up, only a nurse was changing my bandages. “Your boyfriend is so heartless.” The young nurse felt indignant for me. “I heard that woman just scraped her skin a bit, and he stayed by her side for three days and nights. You almost died, and not a single person came to see you.” I stared at the ceiling and laughed. “He’s not my boyfriend.” Right. He never was. Just a sugar daddy and his plaything. My phone vibrated on the bedside table. It was Ethan calling. I watched that name flash for a long time before answering.

Sophia Bennett POV “You’re awake?” The background noise on the phone was chaotic, like he was still at the hospital. “Once you’re awake, come back to the office and do the handover. These past few days without you, the schedule’s been a complete mess.” No concern. No guilt. The first thing he said was about work. My throat was painfully dry. “I’m in the hospital.” “Stop being dramatic.” Ethan said impatiently. “The doctor said you just swallowed some water. You’re not dying. Claire’s been traumatized and is still getting psychological counseling. Hurry over and handle the PR. The media got photos of the incident that day.” I closed my eyes. Tears slid down from the corners into my pillow. “Ethan.” “What now?” “Let’s end this.” Silence on the other end for a few seconds, then came a scoff. “Sophia Bennett, playing this trick once was enough. Want a raise or want a bag? Just say it.” In his eyes, all my pain and struggle were nothing but tactics to gain benefits. My hand holding the phone trembled slightly. “I’m serious. I’m resigning, and I’m… leaving you.” “You dare?” Ethan’s voice turned icy. “Sophia Bennett, did you forget who pulled you out of the gutter? Without me, what are you?” “You’re right. I’m nothing.” I pulled out the IV needle from the back of my hand. Blood immediately welled up, but I couldn’t feel the pain. “So I’m done serving you.” With that, I hung up and blocked that number I knew by heart. I climbed out of the hospital bed, ignoring the nurse’s attempts to stop me, insisting on checking out. Back at Regent Bay, I packed up everything Ethan had given me and called a courier to send it all back to the villa. Then I booked the earliest flight to San Diego. That was my grandmother’s hometown, and where I’d originally wanted to go. Before leaving, I went to the company one more time. The HR director looked shocked to see me. “Miss Bennett, Mr. Pierce said without his signature, we can’t process your resignation.” I slapped my resignation letter on the desk, along with a bank card containing five hundred thousand dollars. “I’ll pay the penalty. There’s five hundred thousand dollars on this card. That’s enough compensation, right?” “Tell Ethan Pierce that these five years, consider it me paying for his services. Transaction complete. We’re even.” The moment I walked out of Pierce Corporation’s building, the sunlight was blinding. I looked back at that towering skyscraper. That was the cage that had trapped me for five years. Now, I was finally free. But I couldn’t leave. At the airport security checkpoint, red lights flashed piercingly. The ground staff handed back my passport, their eyes carrying both sympathy and the look of watching a show. “I’m sorry, Miss Bennett. Your identification has been restricted from leaving the country. If you have questions, please contact the police or… the relevant restricting party.” The relevant restricting party. Besides Ethan Pierce, who else could it be? My fingers holding the passport turned cold. I walked out of the airport terminal and called that number I’d just blocked. The phone was answered after just one ring. A man’s casual voice came through, accompanied by the crisp sound of a lighter. “Finally willing to call?” “Why did you restrict my travel?” I stood in the wind, my voice trembling. “Sophia Bennett, you think five hundred thousand can buy out five years? You think the company’s a flea market where you can come and go as you please?” Ethan exhaled a smoke ring, his tone mocking. “The company’s been dealing with a leak case recently. You’re the executive assistant, so you’re the top suspect. Until we get to the bottom of it, you’re not going anywhere.” I closed my eyes. “Ethan Pierce, what exactly do you want?” “Nothing much.” He chuckled, cruel and arrogant. “I don’t like it when a dog I’ve trained well starts barking at its master. When you learn to wag your tail again, then we can talk about resignation.” The call ended. I looked up at the gray sky, feeling a bone-deep chill. I didn’t go back to Regent Bay, and I didn’t beg him. I found a cheap motel in the old district for a few dozen dollars a night. The room was damp, with the smell of mold mixed with cheap disinfectant. I curled up on the hard bed, stomach cramping painfully. I thought once I left, I’d be free. Turns out in his eyes, I didn’t even have the right to escape.

Sophia Bennett POV Over the next three days, I deeply understood what “absolute power” meant. I submitted dozens of resumes online, even lowering my standards to apply for administrative assistant and receptionist positions. At first, the conversations went well, but as soon as they verified my social security number, attitudes would do a complete one-eighty. “Sorry, Miss Bennett, we’ve filled the position.” “Miss Bennett, we don’t dare hire someone from Pierce Corporation. Please don’t make this difficult for us.” Some even threw my resume in the trash right in front of me. “You offended Mr. Pierce and still want to work in New York? Naive.” My last bit of savings was almost gone. I stood on the street, looking at the exquisite, expensive cakes in the display window. I touched my empty stomach, turned around, and bought two nearly expired loaves of bread. I used to dine at high-end restaurants with Ethan. Now I had to carefully budget just to get a full meal. This was the price of leaving him. Evening. Pouring rain. I returned to the motel soaking wet, but the owner threw my luggage out. “Get out! Someone called and said anyone who lets you stay is going against the Pierce family! I run a small business. I can’t afford that kind of trouble!” The suitcase tumbled in the muddy water. The zipper burst open. A few old clothes scattered everywhere. That was all the dignity I had left. I crouched in the rain, picking up each piece of clothing one by one. Rainwater mixed with tears ran into my mouth, so bitter it nearly made me gag. A black luxury car slowly stopped in front of me. The window rolled down, revealing Ethan’s cold face without a trace of warmth. He looked down at me from above, like looking at a stray dog. “Hungry?” I clutched the mud-stained clothes in my arms, biting down hard and saying nothing. “Get in.” Ethan’s voice was indifferent. “Claire wants cake from that shop in the south district. You used to buy it all the time. You know which flavors she likes. Go get some, and I’ll let you move back to Regent Bay.” I got in the car. Not because I wanted to move back to Regent Bay, but because I had nowhere else to go, and the pain in my stomach was so sharp I felt like I was about to pass out. The car’s heater was on full blast. Claire sat in the passenger seat, wearing Ethan’s coat, holding a hot water bottle. Seeing my bedraggled state in the back seat, Claire covered her nose and frowned. “What a strong musty smell… Ethan, I feel a bit carsick.” Ethan glanced at me in the rearview mirror, saying coldly. “Open the window.” Outside was heavy rain. Cold wind mixed with raindrops poured in, hitting me directly. I shivered from the cold. Ethan acted as if he didn’t see, even reaching over to turn up Claire’s seat warmer. “Bear with it. We’ll be there soon.” His tone when speaking to Claire was impossibly gentle. We arrived at the cake shop. Ethan didn’t get out. He didn’t even have the driver go. “Go ahead.” He gestured to me. “Get the strawberry one. She loves that.” I pushed open the car door and stumbled out into the rain. There was a long line at the cake shop entrance. I was soaking wet, my hair plastered to my face, my clothes covered in mud. People around me gave me strange looks and kept their distance. Half an hour later, I returned to the car with the bakery box. Just as I was about to open the door, Claire suddenly rolled down the window and said in an apologetic tone. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Ethan just said he suddenly doesn’t want cake anymore. He wants Japanese food. This cake… you can keep it for yourself.” With that, the window rolled up. The luxury car spewed exhaust and sped away. All it left me was a body splattered with muddy water. I stood there, holding that box of fresh cake. I looked down at it. This was what I’d waited half an hour in line to buy. I let go. With a “splat,” the cake spilled all over the ground, cream mixing with muddy water in a mess. Just like my five years of genuine feelings.

Sophia Bennett POV I collapsed on the roadside from a high fever and was taken to the hospital by a kind stranger. I had no money for hospital admission fees. The nurse, helpless, searched through my contacts and found only one number without a name saved. Half an hour later, Ethan’s special assistant arrived. Not to pay the fees, but to take me away. “Miss Bennett, Mr. Pierce said if you go to one place, he’ll count this medical expense as a work injury.” I was delirious with fever and was taken to “Nightshade.” New York’s largest club. In the private room, the lighting was dim, the air thick with alcohol. Ethan sat in the main seat with Claire in his arms. A circle of rich kids sat around, ready to watch the show. Seeing me enter, someone whistled. “Well, well, if it isn’t the once untouchable Miss Bennett? How’d you end up looking like this?” Ethan played with a lighter in his hand, his gaze lingering on me for two seconds, full of disgust. “I heard you need money?” He threw a card on the coffee table. “There’s a hundred thousand dollars here.” I stared at the card, my nails digging into my palms. “What do you want me to do?” “Claire’s shoes got dirty.” Ethan raised his chin slightly, pointing to Claire’s high heels that had a bit of dust on them. “Clean them.” The room instantly fell silent. Claire pulled her feet back in surprise. “Ethan, this isn’t right… She did follow you for five years.” “Precisely because she followed me for five years, she should know the rules better.” Ethan’s voice was hard. “When you do something wrong, you get punished. Sophia Bennett, you chose to run away. Can’t handle this little bit of suffering?” The high fever made my vision blurry, but Ethan’s cold face was seared into my mind. Clean shoes. In front of all these people, I was supposed to clean his woman’s shoes. This was his “punishment” for my “betrayal.” “Don’t want to?” Ethan picked up the card. “Then get lost. Figure out the medical expenses yourself, or go to jail. Leaking trade secrets? That charge alone carries ten years.” A threat. A naked threat. I slowly bent down. My knees hit the carpet with a dull thud. I knelt in front of Claire, my trembling hands using the tissue that kind stranger had given me to wipe the dust off Claire’s shoes, bit by bit. Mocking laughter surrounded me. Phone camera shutters clicked. Claire looked down at me from above, undisguised triumph in her eyes. Ethan took a sip of wine, watching me. After wiping away the last bit of dust, I braced myself on the floor to stand up, but swayed from exhaustion. “Enough.” Ethan kicked the card toward my feet, somewhat irritated. “Take the money and get lost.” I picked up the card. This time, I didn’t refuse, and I didn’t throw it back. Because I understood one thing: in front of this man, dignity was worthless. Only by staying alive would I have a chance to escape completely. I clutched that card tightly and turned to walk out of the room. My back was resolute. I didn’t look back once. I took that hundred thousand dollars. I paid the medical expenses, bought fever medicine. The rest of the money, I donated entirely to an anonymous charity. Ethan’s money burned my hands. I didn’t want to keep a single cent. The day I was discharged, New York had rare clear weather. I didn’t go back to the motel or Regent Bay. I went straight to the top floor of Pierce Corporation. That was where I’d worked for five years. The receptionist tried to stop me. I looked at her. “I’m here to get my personal belongings and to deliver a big gift to Mr. Pierce.” In the office, Ethan was frowning at a report full of errors. Seeing me enter, his tone was mocking. “What, spent all hundred thousand already? Back to wag your tail?” I didn’t speak. I slammed a thick envelope on the desk. “What’s this?” Ethan raised an eyebrow. “You said I leaked trade secrets?” My voice was flat. “This is all the evidence from the past five years of you using the Bennett family’s offshore accounts for money laundering and tax evasion. The originals are with a lawyer. If anything happens to me, these documents will be in the tip line within half an hour.” Ethan’s face changed drastically. He shot up, staring at me. “Sophia, you’re threatening me?” “It’s a transaction.” I met his eyes without fear. “Lift the travel restriction. Cancel the resignation obstacles. From now on, there’s no Sophia Bennett in New York, and no secretary by your side.” Ethan laughed in fury, his long fingers pressing down hard on the envelope, knuckles white. “To leave me, you’d even use this kind of tactic?” The corner of my mouth twitched. “Learned it from you, Mr. Pierce.” The air was deathly silent. “Good. Very good.” He spat out these words through gritted teeth. “Get lost. Get lost right now!” I turned and walked away without looking back. I went to the downstairs restroom, cut up that access card, and flushed it down the toilet. Walking out of Pierce Corporation, I dialed a number I had buried long ago. “Come get me. I’m done playing.”

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I went undercover to work at a company under my family’s corporation. I didn’t expect to run into Sophia Smith, a manager who worships men and despises women. I was trembling from menstrual cramps and went to ask her for leave. Sophia took a leisurely sip of her coffee and rolled her eyes at me: “Young women are so dramatic. It’s just period cramps—grit your teeth and get through it.” Just then, intern Kevin pushed the door open. “Miss Smith, I need to take the day off. Didn’t sleep well last night, want to go home and catch up on some sleep.” Behind me came Sophia’s saccharine voice: “Oh my goodness, you work so hard. You men need to take care of yourselves while building your careers.” I laughed. Him, hardworking? He writes sixty lines of code and twenty of them are wrong! Just as I was about to leave the office, Sophia called out to me. “Laura, the group leadership is coming for the KDD project presentation. Let Kevin present instead of you—men command more authority.” I froze mid-step. I turned to look at Sophia and spoke without hesitation: “I refuse!” The KDD project was a promise I made to Grandpa three years ago. If I succeeded with the KDD project, Grandpa would agree to let me start my own company. And this project presentation was my moment to deliver! Seeing my refusal, Sophia’s face instantly darkened. “Don’t be so selfish. You’re a veteran at the company—give the younger people some opportunities. Kevin’s about to be converted to full-time, he needs some decent achievements to show.” I turned around. The persistent cramping pain in my lower abdomen made it impossible to stand straight, forcing me to lean against the door frame. I suppressed my discomfort and explained: “This presentation is very important to me.” I hoped she would back down after hearing this. Instead, what I heard was her raised voice scolding me: “Important? What isn’t important? Don’t think I don’t know you want to show off in front of the group leadership! You’re just a woman—what are you trying to prove!” She raised her chin arrogantly, her gaze scanning over me like an X-ray. She sneered: “Why are you so competitive as a woman? I think you look decent enough—just dress yourself up pretty every day and find a rich man to marry. Wouldn’t that be better?” Then she looked at intern Kevin, her tone suddenly turning coquettish. “My husband says women should be like me, a pretty little princess~” I really didn’t have the mood or energy to watch her affectation. I just replied flatly: “If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to my desk.” Sophia seemed to feel her dignity was challenged. She slammed her coffee cup down on the desk with a harsh clatter. “Don’t you dare brush me off!” “I’m advising you to be smart! The group leadership is coming personally this time. If you screw it up, you can’t handle the consequences!” She stood up, clicking toward me in her four-inch heels. Looking down at me: “Look at you, you can barely stand. Letting you present—wouldn’t that embarrass our company image?” She beckoned to Kevin: “Look at Kevin, handsome young man with good presence and a strong voice. The leadership will be impressed! Go organize the data and send it to Kevin so he can familiarize himself with it.” Before I could speak, Kevin quickly chimed in: “Thank you, Laura! I really appreciate it. Don’t worry, I’ll memorize all the data in advance and won’t let you down.”

He spoke quickly, as if afraid I would refuse first. Another sharp pain twisted through my abdomen, cold sweat forming on my forehead. But I still lifted my head to look at the two people in front of me. “This project, from planning to execution, every line of code, every piece of data, even every client meeting—I handled all of it myself! Kevin doesn’t even understand the project background. Are you sure you want him to present?” Sophia’s expression grew even uglier. “What do you mean? Questioning my decision?” Her tone became sharper: “Let me tell you! I’m in charge of this department. Whoever I say presents, presents. Do you think you own this company?” The commotion had drawn quite a bit of attention, with several colleagues poking their heads out from their desks. I frowned, unwilling to engage in meaningless arguments with her. “You can fight over anything else, but this KDD project presentation must be mine.” My tone was calm but carried unwavering determination. But Sophia suddenly laughed. “I understand now.” She covered her mouth exaggeratedly, her eyes filled with unconcealed contempt and disgust. “You’re so insistent on presenting because you want to show off in front of the group leadership, looking for a chance to sleep your way up, right?” Her words were cutting, her voice shrill and piercing. As soon as she said this, I clearly felt more and more colleagues casting hostile glances my way. Before I could say anything, Sophia continued in her raised voice: “You young girls nowadays are so shameless, always trying to take shortcuts with your bodies. No wonder you always dress up so flashily at work—turns out you’re just fishing for men.” “Watch your mouth!” The soreness in my lower back combined with the cramping pain already had me irritated. Hearing this made anger surge in my chest. “You need evidence when you speak. Making baseless accusations and slander like this—I can sue you!” Sophia snorted and took two steps closer to me. She crossed her arms, shrugging her shoulders dismissively. “Am I wrong? Why are you pretending to be innocent? Don’t think I don’t know what you do in private. Seducing men—you’re a professional, aren’t you?” She reached out, rubbing the fabric of my clothes between her fingers, pursing her lips: “This brand, costs at least a hundred thousand dollars, right? You’re a fresh graduate—where’d you get that kind of money!” “What, got hooked on servicing old men, now planning to seduce our group CEO?” As soon as she said this, a commotion rippled through the office. Several colleagues huddled together and started whispering. “No way, Laura’s actually that kind of person? She always seemed like such a good kid.” “That’s what you don’t understand. These women are the best at playing innocent. Those rich old men love that type.” “I knew it—wondered where she got the money for all those clothes and bags at her age. So that’s how she earns it. It’s easier for women to make money.” Listening to the vulgar gossip around me, my fists clenched involuntarily. “Dirty-minded people see everything as dirty!” The outfit Sophia mentioned was a gift I bought myself when I earned my first pot of gold from entrepreneurship in my sophomore year. It was the first thing in my life I bought without using a cent of my family’s money. This outfit held extraordinary meaning for me. But in others’ mouths, it became “spoils of war” I’d earned by selling my body. As if a woman’s value could only be defined by the men beside her.

I had no interest in arguing with these idiots. Right now I just wanted to finish the presentation and leave this place reeking of old-world misogyny. But my patience and retreat, in Sophia’s eyes, became a signal for her to continue her attack. She extended her hands with their long artificial nails and dug them viciously into my chin. Her tone contemptuous: “Women like you, I’ve seen plenty! Pretty enough to flaunt yourself and seduce men—you’re cheap trash. Sharing the same space with you disgusts me!” “Still want to show off in front of the group leadership? Kill that dream! Don’t go up there and embarrass the company!” “Be smart and get lost now, before I have to do it myself.” She shoved me away violently, her nails scratching a red mark across my chin. I was already unsteady on my feet. This push made me stumble and crash hard into the door frame. I clutched my arm in pain and turned to glare at Sophia. “Malicious slander! Workplace bullying! Your days as department manager are numbered! You better wait—I hope you won’t be begging me on your knees later!” With that, I ignored these people and turned toward my desk. Behind me came Sophia’s mocking laughter: “Ooh, I’m so scared. I’d like to see who ends up kneeling to whom!” The manager’s office door slammed shut. I walked to my desk under everyone’s judgmental stares and opened my computer. A message popped up in the bottom right corner. It was from HR director Rachel Norton. “Laura, come to my office.” Looking at those words, my heart sank. I walked into Rachel’s office. She was organizing files in her hands. Seeing me, she spoke without looking up: “You’ve been fired. This is the termination agreement. Take a look, and if there’s no problem, sign it.” She handed me the document. I skimmed through it, my fingers gripping the papers so hard they turned white. “What’s the reason?” I slapped the agreement on the desk. Rachel raised an eyebrow at me, then after a long moment, sighed: “Laura, we’re all civilized people. Some things are better left unsaid for everyone’s sake. Listen to me, sign it and leave early. Don’t make it ugly for everyone in the end.” She spoke with apparent concern, but I couldn’t help laughing. “Let’s be direct then. I’m asking you—what grounds do you have to fire me? I haven’t been late, left early, or been absent. My work ability speaks for itself. I haven’t violated any company rules or regulations!” Rachel looked at me, her tone calm: “Your personal morals are questionable and would tarnish the company’s image. Is that reason enough?” She spoke as calmly as if stating the most ordinary fact. I was shaking with anger. I leaned on the desk, speaking word by word: “What evidence do you have? You want to condemn me based on slander?” Seeing my agitation, Rachel patted my hand. “I know you’re unwilling, but this is a directive from above. I have no choice either. We’re all just workers—don’t make this hard for me…” Still that calm tone, calm to the point of numbness. At that moment I deeply understood the phrase “those who wrong you know your grievance better than anyone.” She wasn’t unaware that I was being slandered, but she chose cold indifference. I took a deep breath, suppressing my anger. “I won’t make it hard for you. Just tell me the truth—this is Sophia’s doing, isn’t it?” Rachel glanced carefully at the door. She nodded slightly and spoke quietly: “Mr. Miller sent the email personally…”

Mr. Miller, Marcus Miller, Sophia’s husband and the general manager of this subsidiary. “Fine!” I straightened up: “I’m not signing this termination agreement!” With that, I walked straight out of the office. But when I returned to my desk, I was completely dumbfounded. My once fully-stocked workspace was now completely empty! Even my computer monitor and tower had been removed! “Who moved my stuff?” I asked my nearby colleagues. They exchanged glances, but no one spoke. “What’s all the noise? The company is reclaiming office resources. Is there a problem?” Sophia’s voice came from behind me. She clicked over in her heels, head held high. Intern Kevin followed right behind her. “You’ve already been fired. Why are you still shamelessly hanging around the company?” I ignored her mockery and asked directly. “Where are my things?” She snorted coldly: “That pile of junk? Thrown away, of course.” “Who gave you the right to touch my things without my permission?” Being maliciously targeted again and again, I had no patience left for tolerance. Seeing I was standing my ground, Sophia lost her temper too. “Who do you think you are? Company property is mine to handle! Including you!” I laughed coldly and pointed at my desk. “The pen is a Faber-Castell Count series annual limited edition. The mouse pad is Bottega Veneta. The cup is Baccarat. Plus all the other items, they add up to about half a million dollars.” I looked at Sophia and smiled. “Miss Smith, you’d better explain this to the police.” With that, I picked up my phone, preparing to call the police. But before I could unlock it, Sophia rushed forward and snatched my phone from my hand, smashing it hard on the ground. “Who the hell are you trying to scare?” She grabbed my hair and her palm came down. The change happened too fast for me to react. And as if deliberately, she raised her knee and rammed it hard into my lower abdomen. My already cramping abdomen now felt like it had been run over by a truck. The stabbing pain shot through to my lower back. My face turned deathly pale instantly, cold sweat pouring out. As if still not satisfied, she shoved me hard, and I crashed to the floor. I curled up on the ground in pain, clutching my stomach and unable to stop groaning. Sophia crouched down and grabbed my hair again. The tearing pain in my scalp forced me to lift my head. She gripped my chin, her tone vicious: “I knew you were a slut! Who are you moaning for?” I forced myself to look up at Sophia, speaking word by word: “You just wait!” “Hah, cheap bones are always tough. Let’s see how long you can keep that up!” She snorted through her nose, grabbed my hair, and slammed my head against the floor. The intense pain blanked my mind instantly. Ringing filled my ears and my vision blurred. I bit down hard on my tongue, trying to stay conscious. “Miss Smith, forget it. No need to get angry over this kind of trash.” Kevin laughed as he tried to calm Sophia down. I looked up at him. He was watching me with amusement, his words sounding like advice, but his eyes were full of satisfaction and excitement. Sophia seemed afraid things would escalate. Hearing this, she released my hair. She stood up, looking down at me: “Get the hell out now and stop looking for trouble!” Kevin stepped forward pretending to help me, but at an angle no one could see, he leaned close to my ear and spoke in a frivolous tone: “Laura, why bother? If you’d agreed to be my girlfriend back then, none of this would have happened. I definitely wouldn’t have competed with you for these meaningless titles.”

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