Category: English

My best friend stole my boyfriend, so I turned around and seduced her ultimate, unattainable crush of ten years—Felix Sterling. Early the next morning, I fled the scene on trembling legs, only to find my ex-boyfriend standing outside the door. He had been there all night. With bloodshot eyes, he looked at me and asked, “Then what was I to you?” I wrenched my hand out of his grasp. “When you were busy betraying me with my best friend, did you ever stop to think about what I was to you?” Behind me, Felix Sterling’s face was a mask of pure, terrifying ice. 1 Felix’s grip was bruising. Instinctively, I pushed against his chest. He hovered over me, his alcohol-flushed eyes locking onto mine. “Do we stop, or keep going?” His low, slightly raspy voice brushed across my skin like rough velvet. The heat radiating from his palms was impossible to ignore. The voice in my head tore at me, flashing a million reasons to back out, but in the end, I gritted my teeth, grabbed Felix’s tie, and pulled him down into a fierce, desperate kiss. As my consciousness began to blur, his lazy, amused voice echoed above me. “Poor thing. You make it look like I’m the one bullying you.” 2 Felix Sterling was truly a force to be reckoned with. I cursed him under my breath, my hands shaking as I slipped my clothes back on. I had to get out of there before he woke up. But the moment I pushed the heavy oak door open on jelly-like legs, I froze. Preston Cole looked up through a cloud of cigarette smoke. His eyes were rimmed red, filled with a heartbroken, resentful agony. The ground around his feet was littered with cigarette butts. He had actually stood out here all night. I clutched my purse tight, pretending I didn’t see him, and turned to walk away. Preston lunged forward, grabbing my arm. “Scarlett, don’t you owe me an explanation?” “An explanation for what?” I frowned, trying to shove his hand off. “You’re hurting me.” “Hurting you? My fucking heart is bleeding, Scarlett!” Preston roared. “You doing this… what the hell am I to you?” I looked at him coldly and let out a harsh laugh. “When you were sleeping with my best friend behind my back, did you stop to think about what I was to you?” He deflated instantly. His eyes watered, and he frowned in agony. “I was drunk! I swear I don’t know how it happened. I don’t even like her, Scarlett. I only love you.” “Scarlett, you can’t use this to get back at me. Do you know you’re just ruining yourself?!” “Enough, Preston.” I ripped my arm out of his grip. “It was only after I slept with Felix that I realized being with you was what was actually ruining me.” He tried to follow me. I spun around and slapped him hard across the face. “Get lost, you piece of trash.” 3 I was so angry I’d put my entire body weight into the slap. The momentum made me stumble backward. I crashed into a solid, muscular chest. A familiar, burning heat wrapped around my waist. Along with that familiar scent came a flood of chaotic, intimate memories. I looked up, caught in Felix’s dark, bottomless eyes, and my face instantly caught fire. I lowered my gaze, embarrassed and guilty, not daring to look at him again. “Felix Sterling!” To Preston, Felix’s appearance was like throwing a match into a powder keg. Preston pulled his fist back and swung wildly at Felix’s face. Felix smoothly pulled me behind him. He blocked Preston’s punch with one hand and drove his foot straight into Preston’s knee. “I’d advise against throwing a tantrum here,” Felix said coldly, glancing at a hotel concierge rushing toward us. I didn’t want to cause a scene. I tried to run, but Preston scrambled up, reaching for my wrist. Felix beat him to it, pulling me tightly against his side. “I’m taking you home.” “Let go of her! Scarlett is my girlfriend!” Preston stood with his fists clenched, desperate to fight but completely outmatched. “Preston, we broke up.” His face contorted, looking utterly devastated. “Scarlett, does it have to be like this?” I didn’t answer. Felix simply dragged me away. 4 “What do you want?” Felix lit a cigarette, his dark eyes looking down at me. “I want you to destroy Preston Cole. He and Tara betrayed me. I want them to suffer.” Felix’s gaze was heavy. “You’ve got the wrong guy.” In the end, he only wrote me a check. For the next month, he vanished completely. Recently, though, his name was plastered all over the news. Every headline was about his upcoming engagement. And his fiancée was none other than my ex-best friend, Tara. After pining for him for a decade, she was finally getting her wish. Ten years ago, our three families were old money equals, closely tied socialites. Unfortunately, my family’s business collapsed. Tara’s family took a minor hit, leaving only the Sterling family at the absolute pinnacle of high society. Countless women threw themselves at the Sterling empire. I have no idea what manipulative tactics Tara’s family used, but they actually got Felix to say yes. A marriage alliance of this magnitude—how could I possibly miss it? The venue was extravagant. The Sterlings had invited the city’s most elite, along with a swarm of media. Perfect. The more people, the better. Up on the grand stage, Tara’s smile was radiant. Felix wore his usual cold, detached expression, looking down at everyone like ants. It was only when his eyes landed on me that a crack appeared in his icy facade. The smile vanished from Tara’s face. She glared at me like a hawk, glanced at Felix, and immediately signaled security to drag me out. But it was too late. The guests and the cameras had already noticed me. I stood right in front of the flashing bulbs, smiled softly, and pulled out an ultrasound printout. “Felix, I brought your child to congratulate you on your engagement.” My voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough. The crowd erupted into absolute chaos, every camera lens zooming in on my flat stomach. “You cheap bitch! You seduced my fiancé! Have you no shame?!” Tara shrieked. “How dare you try to ruin my engagement!” Tara slapped me with everything she had. My ears rang instantly. Amidst the screaming and flashing cameras, Felix grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the ballroom. 5 Felix’s mansion was terrifyingly quiet. For a second, I genuinely thought he was going to strangle me to death and no one would ever know. His grip was brutal. He choked me until I couldn’t speak, leaving me to thrash and push against his chest. Just as I was on the verge of passing out, he let go, throwing me to the floor. “Felix, a dozen cameras watched you drag me out of there. If I die here, you can’t explain it away.” I instinctively curled my arms protectively over my stomach. His frown deepened. He made a call, summoning his private doctor to draw my blood. The results were undeniable. I was pregnant. He couldn’t shake this off. “What do you want?” he asked, the exact same question from a month ago. “You are not allowed to marry Tara. Also, I want you to destroy Preston.” Felix pulled out a cigarette. He was about to light it, but suddenly remembering something, he snapped it in half. His voice dropped an octave. “Scarlett, I already gave you my answer.” “But the stakes are different now.” I stood up, took his hand, and pressed it flat against my lower abdomen. “Felix, don’t you want a real family? I can give you one.” His parents had died when he was young, and his grandfather raised him. Despite possessing infinite wealth and supreme status, deep down, he harbored a desperate craving for family. Felix’s eyes darkened, and he pulled his hand back. “Scarlett, you know I despise being calculated.” “It’s just a child. What makes you think you’re the only one who can give me one?” I tilted my head, kissed the back of his hand, and chuckled softly. “But I’m the only one you gave a chance to, aren’t I?” Over the years, countless women had tried to climb into his bed and use a pregnancy to secure their status. But Felix never gave a single one of them the opportunity. Except me. 6 Felix and Tara’s engagement fell through. Even though he didn’t publicly acknowledge my status, he tacitly allowed me to keep the baby. As part of the deal, he lent me his resources to go after Preston. He wouldn’t do it himself; he just wanted to watch how far I could push Preston on my own. That was fine by me. It gave me plenty of room to operate. Tara tracked me down again. The second she burst through the door, she lunged at me, grabbing my hair and yanking violently. “You bitch! You stole my fiancé! You’re shameless!” “It’s all your fault! He was finally starting to accept me! Why did you have to show up?!” “Shut your mouth!” I slapped her hard across the face. “I only did this because you seduced my boyfriend! If you loved Felix so much, why did you set your sights on Preston? I treated you like my sister all these years, and you played me for a fool.” Tara’s face turned ugly. “We just had too much to drink. I wasn’t trying to steal him from you.” “Oh, really? Tara, you’ve always looked down on me, haven’t you? When my family went bankrupt, you were thrilled.” “You could never beat me at anything. Finally, you found a way to step on my neck. You gave me charity, pretended to be my best friend—it was all just to satisfy your own twisted superiority complex.” “All these years, watching me struggle made you so happy. But then, I found a boyfriend who treated me like a queen, and you couldn’t handle it. You got jealous.” “Do you think Preston is a good guy? Please. He only hooked up with you because he wanted to exploit your family’s resources.” “You two hypocrites. You deserve each other.” “What a shame. Everything you thought you were going to have is being taken away by me.” Tara went absolutely feral. By the time the guards dragged her out, she was screaming a string of vile curses. When Felix heard I was involved in a physical altercation, he rushed home, his face dark, and forcefully dragged me to the hospital for a full workup. “Relax. Your kid is tough as nails,” the doctor assured him. His jaw had been clenched tight the entire time. Only when the tests confirmed the baby was perfectly fine did he finally exhale. Felix genuinely cared about the child in my womb. I took his hand and placed it on my stomach. His movements were stiff, but his expression softened significantly. He looked expectant. “The doctor said the baby needs to feel both mommy and daddy’s presence. They can sense it.” I leaned my head gently against his shoulder. “Can you come over more often? To spend time with me and the baby?” 7 Felix didn’t answer me, but from that day forward, he came over every single day. “You poached Summit Corp’s contract?” I almost choked on my food when he asked. He frowned, handing me a glass of water. “Yes.” Felix had given me executive authority over one of his shell companies. Summit Corp was a subsidiary of Preston’s family empire, where their business interests overlapped. So, I handed him my first gift. “Is that a problem? You promised I could do this.” “You said you only wanted to destroy Preston, but you’re using my name to sabotage the Cole family’s corporate operations. Scarlett, what are you trying to pull?” “I just want to destroy Preston.” His intense gaze made me uncomfortable. I stood up, using nausea as an excuse to leave the table, but he grabbed my wrist. “Is Preston really the only one you want to destroy?” His sharp, penetrating eyes seemed to see right through me. “Just because Preston cheated, you’re taking it to this extreme? Scarlett, I don’t like women who lie to me.” He was squeezing my wrist so hard it bruised. I looked at him with teary eyes, crying out in pain. He loosened his grip slightly, but it was clear that tears weren’t going to get me out of this interrogation. “I want to destroy the entire Cole family, not just Preston.” He watched me, silently demanding I continue. “I was never truly in love with Preston. My plan was to marry him to infiltrate the Cole family. But when Tara pulled her stunt, I used it to pivot to you. I wanted to borrow your power to destroy them.” “Reason?” “The Cole family killed my adoptive parents. Preston’s father killed my adoptive dad in a DUI, then used his money to bury it. When my adoptive mom refused to accept the hush money, his men beat her so badly she suffered severe internal injuries. Without money for treatment, she slowly withered away and died.” “I was too young back then to do anything. But when I ran into Preston years later, it felt like God telling me to get my revenge.” He stared at me in silence. I knelt on the floor in front of him, crying and begging for a long time, until I finally earned his tacit approval. 8 My tactics against the Cole family became increasingly ruthless. From poaching contracts at the start, I escalated to maliciously blocking their supply chains. Rumors that the Sterling empire was targeting the Coles spread like wildfire. Businesses that were allied with the Coles severed ties out of fear of offending Felix. Those who already disliked the Coles took the opportunity to kick them while they were down. Negative press surrounded the Cole family endlessly, and their assets were frozen or targeted. Using the Sterling name, I even coordinated with the banks to cut off the Cole family’s corporate loans, effectively strangling their lifeline. Like a fish on a chopping block, the Cole family was being scaled alive, thrashing desperately in a boiling pot. During one of my prenatal checkups, I ran into Preston. He looked haggard. Through the crowd, his eyes burned with a painful, feverish intensity. “Are you really pregnant with his child?” When his eyes landed on my slightly swelling stomach, his clenched fists began to shake. I smiled. “Weren’t you standing right outside the door that night?” “Why?!” He grabbed my arm in a frantic panic, only to be shoved back immediately by my bodyguards. “Why are you with Felix Sterling? Do you love him? Do you care about him?” “What about me? We were together for so long. Just because I drank too much and made a stupid mistake, we can never go back?” I watched him lose his mind, watched him become hysterical, and asked him only one question: “Since you were standing right outside that night, why didn’t you stop me?” He stared at me, too ashamed to speak. “Because you were terrified of Felix. You were terrified of the Sterling empire. So you abandoned me. Since you did that, why couldn’t I abandon you?” He looked thoroughly humiliated. “So, you never loved me. Are you really out for my family’s blood? Have you been targeting us this whole time? Was that your goal when you approached me, and your goal when you approached Felix?” I looked at him with pity, refusing to offer even a shred of the affection he was so desperate to see. His expression finally twisted into absolute despair. “Scarlett, I have a secret to tell you. Can you make them leave first?” “What secret?” “You’re destroying the Cole family because of what happened to your adoptive parents. But what you don’t know is… the person you actually have a blood feud with is someone else entirely.” He sounded so incredibly serious. After a long moment of thought, I agreed to speak with him alone. My two bodyguards refused. They wanted to intervene, but given my pregnancy, they didn’t dare use force. They could only step back to call Felix. When Preston and I walked to the intersection, he looked like he wanted to say something, but his eyes darted to an approaching van. Before I could react, a sharp pinch hit my neck, and everything went black.

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On the third day of our cold war, I ordered a box of ultra-thin 001 condoms and shipped them to my boyfriend’s apartment. After getting all dolled up, I knocked on his door: “Liam, I think my package accidentally…” Before I could finish. A cold scoff came from above my head: “Really? Is this the best you can do? “Weren’t you the one who slapped me and told me to get lost?” He leaned his long arm against the doorframe. And yelled toward his bedroom: “Babe, there’s a pretty girl here trying to seduce me. Come help me kick her out!” 1 I figured Liam was just bluffing, so I rolled my eyes at him: “You mean to tell me, on the third day of our cold war— “A girl magically appeared in your bedroom? “In your dreams.” I neatly ducked under his arm. And casually opened his shoe cabinet. When I saw the cute little pink bunny slippers, I couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter: “Why did you buy me a pair like this? You know I like green…” “Babe.” Liam interrupted me, his voice lazy and drawling. I was just about to respond. Since when did he get so cheesy after a fight? I looked up. And saw a girl wearing a revealing slip dress standing right in the middle of the living room. She was blinking her big, watery eyes at me: “Why are you… wearing my slippers?” I froze on the spot. My brain short-circuited for a second. I could only watch as Liam, who usually moved at a snail’s pace, gave a helpless shrug, walked over, and pulled the girl into his arms: “She just showed up out of nowhere. “If I had known it was my ex-girlfriend, I wouldn’t have even opened the door.” After saying that. Liam turned to me, his tone full of righteous indignation: “Hurry up and explain yourself, Chloe.” Before I could even speak. His face turned ice-cold, and he marched over to me. Staring at the slipper I had already put on one foot. He spoke with a chilling edge to his voice: “Do you have any concept of boundaries? “Why are you wearing someone else’s slippers without asking?” I leaned one hand against the wall, my right foot halfway out of my own shoe. Hearing Liam’s words, I didn’t even dare to look up. It was just that the humiliation and grievance were too much to suppress. Tears fell uncontrollably. After a long moment. Liam seemed to finally notice my emotional state. His posture relaxed, sounding as if he were compromising: “Forget it. “Mia is a germaphobe. Since you’ve worn them, she definitely won’t want them anymore. “Consider them a gift.” I forced myself to calm down, struggling to maintain a smile: “I forgot to change my shipping address for a package…” Mia, recovering from her initial shock in the living room, smiled and gently tapped her head, saying with polite sweetness: “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t look closely. “I thought it was something Liam ordered. “She smiled, her eyes crinkling: “I’ll go get it for you right now.” Taking advantage of Mia turning her back. I swiftly changed back into my own shoes. Looking at Liam, who was staring blankly at Mia’s retreating back. I raised my hand. And slapped him hard across the face. 2 A bright red handprint instantly appeared on Liam’s cheek. He poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue and let out a soft chuckle: “You blocked my number and deleted me on Snapchat… Doesn’t that mean we broke up? “You told me to get lost, so what’s wrong with me rolling right into someone else’s arms?” With a long stride, Liam pinned me into a corner. Staring at my heaving chest beneath my lace dress, he lowered his voice: “And now you show up at my place late at night dressed like this— “What? Are you here to beg for me back?” Before I could speak. Liam dropped his smirk, took a step back, and said coldly: “That slap just now cancels out the mistakes I made before.” He glanced in Mia’s direction. And carelessly curled his lip: “She was already pretty bothered by the fact that I’ve dated before. “So, it’s best if you don’t show up again.” I hadn’t even opened my mouth. When Mia walked out holding the shipping box, looking incredibly apologetic. Her voice was timid: “I didn’t know this box was yours… “I thought it was something Liam bought, so I opened it and put it in the cabinet. “I don’t know how many you bought either. Why don’t you count them to see if they’re all there?” Before I could take the box. Liam leaned over, snatching it first— 3 Those few seconds. Felt incredibly long. Hearing Liam’s light chuckle, I felt like a prisoner finally receiving her death sentence. “Well well, Chloe. It’s only been three days, and you’re already this… ” Liam trailed off, then smirked. “Lonely and desperate?” He shoved the shipping box into my arms: “Alright, returning this to its rightful owner. “Do you have any other business here? “I don’t want my girlfriend to get the wrong idea.” Under their intense scrutiny. My cheeks burned like fire. I wanted to defend myself, but realized it was pointless. Things had already reached this point. Forget it. I knew in my heart this was probably the last time I’d ever see Liam. So I didn’t say a single word and left without looking back. In the elevator. I opened the message from my manager asking to transfer me to the Seattle office. Without any hesitation, I replied that I agreed. The moment I stepped out of the building. I threw everything in my arms straight into the trash can. Just like Liam. I didn’t want any of it anymore. 4 After getting home. I curled up in bed, zoning out. A wave of sourness spread through my chest, almost drowning me. Until my best friend’s phone call broke my train of thought— Her tone was secretive, “Chloe, you really are something else. “You took down the untouchable ice king on your first try! How was it? Did he surrender the moment he saw you in your ‘battle armor’?” Before I could answer. My best friend excitedly continued: “I saw Liam’s Instagram post! Oh my god, you used to say he was so aloof and would never go to a childish place like an amusement park— “But he went, just for you! He even rode the carousel! Tsk tsk, the bizarre contrast! “Looks like the cold war paid off. You really know how to train a boyfriend…” “Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?” I took a deep breath to suppress my sobs. My best friend laughed so hard she practically exploded, as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world: “How is that possible! Let me send you the video so you can see for yourself…” I was skeptical. But the moment I opened the video. My heart felt like it stopped. 5 The reason Liam and I fought was, frankly, a bit strange. We’d been together for three years. Liam had never posted about me on any of his social media platforms. He also never went to public places with me, or celebrated any anniversaries or holidays. Looking at him, always so indifferent and detached. I often doubted whether Liam actually loved me at all. But every time, as long as we were alone together. He was like a completely different person. This time, I really couldn’t hold it in. During our most intimate moment in bed, I asked that question: “Liam, do you actually love me or not?” He kissed my neck affectionately and mumbled vaguely: “Does that really matter?” I didn’t understand. Was it that hard to just say “I love you”? I pushed him away. And until Liam slammed the door and left, he still hadn’t said he loved me. Seeing me depressed and drowning my sorrows in alcohol. My best friend advised me to cut Liam some slack. That’s just how he is, there was no need to force him. That’s why I swallowed my pride and proactively sought to make up. But there was already another girl by Liam’s side. I watched him in the video. Wearing Mickey Mouse ears, with half a heart drawn on his cheek with lip gloss. Comical yet cute. A side of him I had never seen. Listening to the concern on the other end of the phone, I smiled bitterly: “He has a new girlfriend.” 6 It seemed we had mutual friends who raised similar doubts. Not long after, my best friend told me Liam had deleted the post and uploaded a new one. This time, he explicitly showed Mia’s fair, delicate face. I didn’t want to hear anymore. After hanging up the phone. I started researching the projects I’d be taking over in Seattle. I didn’t expect that. At 2:00 AM. Liam would call me. 7 After answering the unknown number and hearing Liam’s voice, it was too late to hang up. The guy on the other end. Sounded urgent, even on the verge of tears: “Chloe… I know I shouldn’t be bothering you at this hour. “But can you come over to my place for a bit?” Liam paused. His voice was suppressed and hoarse: “Just consider it a favor… I’m begging you, okay?” My heart sank. I couldn’t imagine what could have happened to a man who was usually so calm and composed to make him sound like this. In a few seconds, a hundred possibilities flashed through my mind. My body reacted faster than my mouth. By the time I said “Okay,” I was already putting on my coat and grabbing my car keys. I was extremely anxious. I ran two red lights on the way. I even tripped and fell on the sidewalk walking up to his building. When I finally stood panting at Liam’s door. What I saw was a heartwarming scene: Liam, looking immaculate, half-kneeling at Mia’s feet. And scattered around the living room were all our mutual friends. After seeing me. Liam ignored the blood on my knees. He smiled effortlessly: “Chloe, you’re finally here.” He turned to look at Mia, “Alright, can I prove it now?” Liam pointed a finger at the ceiling and declared righteously: “I, Liam Beckett, absolutely will not have any lingering ties with my ex-girlfriend, Chloe Davis. “No matter how she tries to seduce me, or use our friends to pressure me, it won’t happen! “During my relationship with Mia, I will only be good to her, and only love her… even if other women keep pestering me, my devotion is unwavering…” 8 I couldn’t hear the rest of what he said clearly. I couldn’t tell if the pain was coming from my leg, or the ache in my heart. My brain was buzzing. Until Mia interrupted him with a coquettish whine: “Okay, okay~ That’s too cheesy…” Her face was completely red. She went on her tiptoes to cover Liam’s mouth. Saying playfully: “Stop saying that… I know you didn’t mean to choose the wrong video for your post… “Liam, how are you so cheesy~ “Were you like this with your ex-girlfriend too… using ‘I love you’ like a comma?” I was dragged into the conversation again. I couldn’t maintain my polite smile. My face turned cold. But no one seemed to care. Liam immediately grabbed Mia’s shoulders and explained: “No, I’m only like this with you. “If you don’t believe me, ask her.” Only then did all the eyes in the room turn towards me in unison. Some with sympathy, some with pity. As for Liam and Mia, their eyes held expectation— “Are you guys done playing?” My voice was cold, and the atmosphere in the room instantly plummeted. “A good ex should act like they’re dead. Don’t you know that?” Perhaps because I had always been compliant with Liam before, when my gaze swept over him. Liam’s expression betrayed a momentary panic. I pretended not to notice, turned around, and left. This farce. I wasn’t going to participate in it.

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I was with the A-list movie star, Liam Hayes, for five years. We had a daughter together, yet to him, I remained a secret lover who could never see the light of day. Early one morning, our child fell ill, and we rushed her to the hospital. Suddenly spotting paparazzi, he dumped our daughter in my arms and sprinted away. I was left scrambling, holding my burning-up daughter in the pouring rain. The next day, Liam told the press: “No secret marriage, no girlfriend, and definitely no child…” Looking at his earnest face on the screen, I suddenly felt incredibly tired. I packed my things and left the mansion with our daughter. My daughter asked: “Mommy, aren’t we telling Uncle Liam?” My eyes reddened slightly. My daughter was four years old, and she still couldn’t call Liam “Daddy.” She didn’t even know Liam was her father. “No need.” I wiped my tears. “Uncle Liam is just an uncle. He’s very busy. We shouldn’t bother him.” 1 I drove to my daughter’s preschool for a parent-child activity. The teacher looked behind me: “Is Chloe’s dad not coming again?” I said awkwardly: “He’s… very busy.” Teacher: “This is a once-a-year event.” Me: “I’m so sorry, Chloe’s dad is out of town. He couldn’t make it back.” The teacher walked away. During the event, all the other children had their moms and dads with them. Chloe only had me. I tried my hardest to make her laugh, but she wasn’t very enthusiastic. After the event, on our way home, she looked up with her little face and asked: “Mommy, is Daddy still in Africa?” I said: “Yes, Daddy is in Africa filming elephants.” Chloe looked hopeful: “Then when is he coming back?” I was silent for a moment, then said softly: “In a little while.” Early on, Chloe asked me who her daddy was and where he was. I casually made up a story, saying he was a photographer traveling the world taking pictures of animals. Chloe believed it wholeheartedly. She sat in front of the TV watching nature documentaries every day, asking: “Mommy, did Daddy film this?” I lied to her: “Yes, isn’t Daddy amazing?” Chloe cheered: “Daddy is so amazing!” At 1:00 AM, there was a noise in the house. I groggily opened my eyes. A warm kiss lightly touched my forehead. “You’re awake? Go back to sleep.” The man’s voice was deep and magnetic. The soft light from the nightlight illuminated his sharply defined face. I looked up and met a pair of smiling, dark eyes. After kissing me, Liam leaned over to check on Chloe and kissed her cheek. I couldn’t help but ask: “Didn’t you say you’d be home early today?” Liam stood up to take off his jacket, talking as he did: “I ran into someone I’ve been wanting to meet at the gala. It took some time.” He casually tossed his jacket onto the rug, unbuttoning his dress shirt, revealing a sexy Adam’s apple. “Who?” He smiled, lunging over to hug me: “Don’t worry, it’s a guy. The CEO of the Sterling Group.” I said: “Oh.” I wasn’t surprised. Women couldn’t easily seduce him, but a promising future could. At such an important moment like her school event, he wouldn’t delay seeing his daughter for a woman. But if it could advance his career, he would. This happened so often, I was already used to it. 2 That day, Liam stayed until 4:00 AM before rushing off again. My daughter held the watch he left behind and asked: “Mommy, did Uncle Liam come over last night?” I nodded: “Yeah, he came specifically to celebrate your event, but you were asleep, so he didn’t want to wake you.” My daughter pouted: “Next time, you have to wake me up, Mommy! I won’t sleep, Daddy doesn’t come home, and Uncle Liam works so hard to come keep me company. I want to play with Uncle Liam.” I forced a smile and said: “Okay.” I couldn’t tell her that Uncle Liam was her actual father. I used washing up as an excuse to hide the strange expression on my face. If people knew that an A-list movie star, despite his incredibly busy schedule, came home at 1:00 AM to see his girlfriend and child, only to rush back to work at 4:00 AM, everyone would praise him for being a great guy. Many times, I comforted myself like that too. He was already doing enough; I shouldn’t ask for too much. But the disappointment, emptiness, and bitterness in my heart only grew day by day. After taking care of Chloe’s breakfast and dropping her off at preschool, I drove to my job at a local portrait studio. I held my camera, numbly taking ID photos for people. Repeat, repeat, repeat… They praised my photography skills, and I just smiled, sitting exhausted at my desk to rest. My gaze unconsciously swept over a copy of National Geographic on the desk. Somewhere deep inside, a spot in my heart suddenly gave a sharp, little ache. 3 I met Liam seven years ago. Back then, I was a bright, carefree college senior, full of energy and agility, passionate about the outdoors and photography. My dream was to graduate, become a photographer, and travel the world with my backpack, taking pictures of animals. I never thought I’d ever become a fan girl. Well, not a fan girl. It was love at first sight. At that time, Liam was still a newcomer who had just debuted. He was just starting to make a name for himself in Hollywood, having played the third male lead in a highly popular fantasy series. He came to our university for a promotional event. My friends dragged me along to watch and take photos. Liam stood on stage, shining so brightly you couldn’t take your eyes off him. The host randomly invited an audience member on stage to interact. As if arranged by fate, when I held up my camera and moved toward the front, she picked me. “Hello there.” On stage, Liam, wearing a V-neck white shirt, smiled and extended his hand. His dark eyes curved, looking as approachable as the cute guy sitting at the next desk in class. My heart constricted abruptly. I, usually so confident, was actually sweating from nervousness. I put away my camera, reached out, and stuttered: “H-hello.” The moment our palms touched, it felt like an electric current surged through me. In that unseen moment, I seemed to hear the sound of a flower seed falling into the soil. As for what kind of flower it was… At that time, I didn’t know its shape, nor its name. 4 After the event, I couldn’t wait to dig up all of Liam’s past work. I discovered that his singing and acting skills blew several popular young stars out of the water. Yet a guy like this was still unknown. I felt it was unfair to him. So, I edited clips of his work, created a fan account for him on Twitter, and wrote passionate, detailed analyses of his performances. His small fanbase sought me out and gathered under my tweets. I posted the photos I took, earning praise from everyone. Someone suggested: “Girl, your photos are amazing! You should be a dedicated fan photographer for Liam. We’ll crowdfund you.” Caught up in the atmosphere, I impulsively said: “Sure!” Just like that, for some inexplicable reason, I became Liam’s dedicated fan photographer, chasing his silhouette with my camera. From fan photographer to fan club president, then to super-fan club president, everything progressed naturally. Looking back on it now, it’s hard to understand how it all happened. Before meeting Liam, I never followed celebrities or got involved in fan culture. Within a few short months, I had become his biggest fan club president. Seven months later, Liam’s just-budding career suffered a devastating blow. He was plagued by negative news and scandals. He was blacklisted and shelved by his agency for a year and a half. Fans gradually left. Even those who stayed were secretly stanning other celebrities. Only I remained, steadfast from beginning to end. Originally, it was his manager who communicated with the fan club presidents. During that time, his manager mostly gave up on Liam, so he handed my contact info over to Liam, letting Liam handle communications with me himself. During that difficult year and a half, we chatted often, encouraging each other, slowly transitioning from strangers to friends. I continued updating the fan site relentlessly. To gather material, we met up in private. By then, Liam had dropped his idol persona and didn’t care about interacting with fans privately. I didn’t have much money; the only thing I could offer was my skills. I personally did his makeup, took his photos, edited his videos, and even started hustling for brand deals for him. Although the gigs were small, it was better than nothing. Liam was very grateful. He said: “Maya, you are my emotional pillar. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t know how to keep going.” When I was exhausted, a single word of praise from him was like a shot of adrenaline, making me incredibly excited. If a war had broken out, I probably would have grabbed an AK-47 without hesitation to clear the obstacles for him. Back then, I thought I was Liam’s angel, sent specifically to save him. He was so weak and helpless. If even I abandoned him, he would truly have nothing left. A year and a half later, the popular actress who had claimed Liam insulted her was exposed for having numerous dark secrets. Among them was evidence that she had been verbally abusing Liam, and Liam only cursed back after she pushed him to the limit. From then on, Liam’s name was cleared. Fans and the general public flocked to his Twitter to apologize. His agency lifted the ban and gave him resources. He seized the opportunity to pivot to movies, his career taking off like a rocket, unstoppable. After attending an awards ceremony, he came home, shoved his Best Actor trophy into my hands, and said: “Maya, this is our shared glory.” Holding the trophy together, we embraced tightly. 5 During that year and a half, Liam never gave up on his career. He actively hustled for gigs, visiting big shots in the industry. Even when he was rejected time and time again, he never got discouraged. He would only cry in front of me. After crying, he’d continue his visits the next day. Whenever he had time, he’d make me practice acting with him. I’d read lines for him, and he’d act out reactions beside me, asking for my critique. From start to finish, he never accepted any casting couch offers, never abandoned his principles, and never gave up on his dream. My feelings for Liam started with his looks, deepened because of his talent, and were solidified by his character. During those difficult years, his unyielding spirit and his perseverance to get back up after every fall made me like him more and more, until I fell in love with him. We deeply appreciated each other. We did outdoor activities together, we talked about everything under the sun. We fought together, we were sad together, we laughed loudly together. Mutual admiration leading to us getting together was the most natural thing in the world. At that moment, I finally understood that the flower seed that fell the day I met Liam was love. Now the flower had bloomed, fragrant and brilliant. Perhaps it was too dazzling, because the flower’s appearance was covered in a layer of light, not quite clear. The resurgence of Liam’s career brought a new test to our relationship. If he remained unknown, us being together openly wouldn’t be a big deal. But he made a comeback. His career was booming. What’s more unexpected was that he snagged his first Best Actor title so quickly. Bigger investments and networking circles swarmed toward him. He could go further, climb higher. At this moment, me, his ordinary girlfriend with zero background in the industry, became inconvenient. I brought up breaking up, but Liam wouldn’t agree. That period was painful for both of us. Neither of us wanted to let go of the relationship, but practical reasons made it unsuitable for us to be together. The halo around the flower of love faded, revealing its true form. It was a camellia. Pure, beautiful, fragrant, but carrying a faint bitterness. 6 After a period of turmoil, right when we were on the verge of breaking up, I found out I was pregnant. “Please keep this child.” Liam knelt before me, begging. “Maya, I’m begging you.” He pulled out a beautiful diamond ring and proposed: “Marry me.” He said that although he couldn’t give me a legal marriage right now, he swore that in this lifetime, he would only have one woman: me. He spoke with such sincerity and devotion, it was deeply moving. You have to understand, he had just transitioned from a teen idol to a serious actor, and his position wasn’t stable yet. Let alone having a child, even having a girlfriend could be devastating to his career. But he knelt and begged me to have the child. I felt he must love me incredibly deeply. And I loved him too, so I finally nodded and agreed. “This is wonderful, Maya! We’re having a baby!” He picked me up and spun me around in circles. He laughed. I laughed too. Happiness is so simple. Just because we were having a baby, we laughed like two idiots. Back then, I naively thought, I just need to wait a little while. Once his career stabilized, I could step into the light. Because we couldn’t go public with our relationship, I was an unwed mother. At a critical point in his career, he begged me to hide it even from my parents. When my parents found out I was pregnant out of wedlock and insisted on keeping the child, they were furious and threatened to disown me. A series of arguments, tears, and extreme emotional tug-of-war followed. In the end, I remained resolute, pregnant with our child. I moved into Liam’s mansion, becoming his secret lover who couldn’t see the light of day. Liam was very busy. His career grew bigger and bigger, his awards and honors piled up, and he became world-famous. I was proud of him, but also very miserable. For his career, I broke ties with my parents. For his career, he rushed back the day I gave birth, only to leave that same night. I had to pretend not to care and say, “Go ahead, I’m fine.” For his career, I invented a dad for our child who went to Africa, too afraid to tell her that Uncle Liam was her biological father. For his career, I gave up my own dreams, quietly raising our child, being his secret lover. Every time, he would say: “Maya, just wait a little longer. In a little while, we can officially get married, and I want to introduce you to the whole world!” So I waited and waited. One year. Then another. The child was born. The child grew up. The child started preschool. I was tired. 7 On the day of Chloe’s fourth birthday, Liam rushed home at 8:00 PM. We had a small birthday party, a rare moment of our family being together. Chloe rarely saw Uncle Liam. She refused to sleep, fussing until midnight before finally succumbing to exhaustion. At 1:00 AM, Chloe spiked a fever. It just wouldn’t go down. We drove to the hospital. Given the urgency, Liam put on a hat and mask, disguising himself before hurrying to the underground parking garage. A heavy rainstorm was pouring outside, blurring the neon lights of the entire city. Rainwater pooled on the streets, reflecting the faint silhouette of the city. Cars sped past, crushing the light on the ground. I kept comforting the child, anxious and uneasy. We arrived at the hospital’s front entrance. We got out of the car, carrying the child, heading for the ER. Click, flash. Through the sound of the torrential rain came the noise of a camera shutter. It was a sound I had heard countless times in my daily life. Very familiar. Familiar enough that I could hear it even through thunder and lightning. Liam was also very familiar with it. So familiar that he didn’t even turn his head. He just shoved the child straight into my arms. I dropped the umbrella and scrambled to catch her. He rushed back to the car and sped off. Chloe burst into loud wails. I stood in the torrential rain, holding my child. The black umbrella rolled away from me. Lightning tore through the sky, the rain poured down, and my vision was a complete blur. Warm tears mixed with the rainwater, distorting the scene before my eyes. I watched his car get further and further away in the blur… That night was like countless other nights I took the child to the hospital alone. Communicating with the doctors, holding and soothing her, picking up meds, getting her IVs—it was no different. The only difference was that I sat in a corner looking like a drowned rat, my heart aching so much it was hard to breathe. My phone kept ringing. I glanced at the caller ID; I didn’t want to answer. By early morning, the rain had stopped, and the sky was clear. I looked out the window at the crystal-clear blue sky and whispered: “The sky in Africa must be very blue too.” When Chloe woke up, I exhausted took her in a cab back home. My phone was lying in my bag. The screen showed 20 missed calls, all from Liam. The last one was a text he sent. [Maya, how is Chloe? [Did her fever go down? What caused it?] He was constantly worried about Chloe’s condition; his words revealed how anxious he was. But he still didn’t come to the hospital to take a single look. Not even a glance. Finally, he said: [I have to go to the set.] I rubbed my phone for a long time before replying: [Chloe is fine.] Liam is a very dedicated actor. In the dead of winter, if the director asked him to jump into a freezing lake, he wouldn’t hesitate. He was always on time for shoots, even early, and never made others wait. If a scene didn’t go well, he would voluntarily ask for a retake, even if it meant doing it dozens of times. But he was too ambitious, too dedicated. His time was always allocated to his career. The child and I were always at the very bottom of his list. Time after time he broke his promises. Time after time I endured it. I was truly tired. I couldn’t help but send him a message: [Liam, in a while, I’m going to apply to join a National Geographic team as a photographer, to shoot animals, local cultures, that sort of thing. You take care of the kid.] That afternoon, I received Liam’s reply: [You want to go to Africa to shoot animals again? That place is dangerous and exhausting. Why do you want to go? Are you still mad about last night? I can take some time off soon, I’ll come back and spend time with you two… [By the way, try not to go out for the next few days. Anna is going to send people to guard you…]] Looking at the message, I smiled bitterly. Whenever I mentioned going to Africa to take photos, Liam was always opposed to it. But what I was trying to say wasn’t really about going to Africa. It was about fulfilling my dream. Where to go, what to shoot—that could all be negotiated. I needed a platform to exercise my creativity. It didn’t have to be Africa; it could be Europe, South America, or even a small rural town in our own country. He could fulfill his dream, but he made me give up mine to stay home, raise our child, and wait for a man who never came home… Ping. My phone chimed with a news notification. I clicked it. #Liam Hayes Suspected Secret Marriage# was trending at the top of the list. 8 The rumors of Liam’s secret marriage caused a huge uproar. A well-known paparazzi account leaked related information, confidently asserting that Liam was secretly married. They analyzed many clues, suspecting Liam was hiding a beautiful wife, perhaps even a child. One of the accompanying photos was a blurry shot from last night in the pouring rain: Liam holding Chloe out of the car door, and me getting out holding an umbrella. It was just two blurry backs; you really couldn’t tell much. Liam’s reaction had been exactly right. He hadn’t looked back. He shoved the child to me at the first instant and quickly ducked back into the car to leave, preventing them from photographing his face. People in the comments were mocking the paparazzi, saying it was clearly a woman taking her child to the hospital late at night, and she probably just called an Uber and the driver helped carry the kid out. To call that proof of an A-lister’s secret marriage was ridiculous. The netizens didn’t believe it. I breathed a sigh of relief for Liam. But after that sigh of relief, my heart felt incredibly heavy. This had happened so many times. His broken promises, his failure to come home, his abandoning me and the child—he always had a valid reason. I couldn’t even blame him. Blaming him made it seem like I was being unreasonable and demanding the impossible. But I felt awful. More and more awful. I nervously followed the news. The paparazzi account started dropping more “evidence,” producing two photos of me and Liam from a trip abroad, trying to definitively prove it was him. One of the photos showed his back very clearly. His clothes and pants were dug up as having been worn by him at a specific event, using that as proof that the back belonged to him. The situation escalated. That evening, Liam responded on a talk show: “No secret marriage, no wife, and definitely no child. Thank you.” His smile was calm; he was the picture of ease. As if none of it was real. I stared at his face without blinking, trying to find a single clue, a hint of something else. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing. After a sharp pain in my heart, a sudden calmness washed over me. The next day, Anna, the manager Liam mentioned, came to our door. She demanded to station two bodyguards outside and ordered me to stay inside the mansion 24/7. I refused her arrangement. She was furious: “Do you know how much damage your disobedience could cause Liam?” I said: “I want a normal life.” She stared at me for a moment, then sneered: “Don’t think I don’t know. People like you wish you would get photographed by the paparazzi so you can step out of the shadows. Let me tell you, stop dreaming, and behave!” “Mommy.” Chloe hugged my leg, scared. Anna rubbed her temples: “Good lord. Liam, oh Liam. Playing around with women is one thing, but actually producing a child… you’ve really given me a massive headache.” I suppressed my anger and gently told Chloe to go play in her room. Once Chloe was gone, I turned cold: “Even if you really exposed me and the child, would it really have that big of an impact on him?” “Of course!” Anna said, “He signed a bachelor clause! You absolutely cannot be exposed.” I said: “He is a bachelor.” Anna froze for a second. My voice was calm: “From start to finish, he never married me. He has always been single, he hasn’t violated any agreement. He’s very cautious. He doesn’t allow me to call him ‘hubby’, and he doesn’t allow Chloe to call him ‘Daddy’. Chloe doesn’t even know he’s her father.” Anna was silent for a moment, then smiled: “Very good. That’s how it should be.” Yes, how it should be. I wanted to laugh, but couldn’t. I said: “I quit.” That afternoon, I went to the portrait studio to quit. The owner kept trying to get me to stay, but I left resolutely. Anna was satisfied with my tactfulness and told me to behave and not cause trouble for Liam. I said: “Okay.” Then I went to the preschool and unenrolled Chloe. The teacher was very regretful: “Why? Chloe was adapting so well.” I said: “Chloe’s dad settled down in another city. We have to move there.” “I see.” The teacher wished our family a happy reunion. I thanked her. Anna was even more satisfied when she found out Chloe wasn’t even going to preschool anymore. Two days later, Chloe was completely recovered. I packed my things, took off the ring on my hand, and left it on the nightstand. I swept my gaze over this house I had lived in for years. Liam was never stingy materially; every single item was exquisite and luxurious. But this home didn’t belong to me. Chloe asked: “Mommy, aren’t we telling Uncle Liam?” I patted her little head and said: “Uncle Liam is very busy, we shouldn’t bother him.” Chloe: “But… but I’m going to miss Uncle Liam.” I said: “Uncle Liam is just an uncle. We’ve been staying in his house for a long time, it’s time to move out.” Chloe nodded her little head: “Right. We shouldn’t keep bothering other people.” I offered a faint smile and took her little hand: “Let’s go, Chloe.” Chloe said: “Okay.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “395063”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

It was day three of the silent treatment. In a fit of petty online shopping, I had ordered a box of ultra-thin condoms, intending to change the default address to my place as a “drop dead” gesture. I messed up. They shipped to his house instead. After agonizing over it, I decided to go get them. I did my makeup, put on my best outfit, and knocked on his door. The door opened. “Hey, Liam,” I started, trying to sound casual. “I think a package of mine was sent here by mistake…” Before I could finish, he let out a sharp, cold chuckle. “You’ve got some nerve, Maya.” His lean frame blocked the doorway, his extended arm resting against the frame, keeping me out. “Seriously? After you slapped me and told me to go to hell, this is how you show up?” He didn’t wait for my answer. He turned his head back toward the bedroom and shouted, “Babe! There’s a beautiful girl out here trying to seduce me. Come get rid of her!” 1 I figured Liam was just trying to mess with me. I rolled my eyes hard. “Please. We’ve been in a cold war for exactly seventy-two hours. You expect me to believe you have a new girl in your bedroom already? Keep dreaming, Liam.” I stepped sideways, expertly ducking under his arm, and slipped inside. I walked right over to the shoe rack, acting like I still lived there. Seeing a pair of cute, pink bunny slippers, I couldn’t help but let out a little snort of amusement. “Really, Liam? You bought me a replacement pair just like the old ones? I’ve told you a thousand times, I wanted the teal ones. Are you even listen—” “Babe,” Liam cut me off, his voice dropping to that lazy, smooth register he only used when things were getting serious. I was about to snap back at him. Why was he getting all mushy after we’d had a massive fight? I looked up. And froze. A girl was standing in the middle of the living room. She was barely wearing anything—just a tiny silk camisole and sleep shorts. She blinked, her big, watery eyes looking from me to Liam, then back again. Finally, she looked down at my feet. “Um… why are you wearing my slippers?” I stood there, paralyzed. My brain flat-out refused to process the image. Liam, usually so unbothered by everything, just shrugged and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. “Look, she just showed up,” he told her, his tone dismissing me entirely. “If I knew it was my ex-girlfriend, I wouldn’t have even opened the door.” Then, he turned his head to look at me, his expression full of righteous indignation. “Explain yourself, Chloe. Right now.” Before I could get a single word out, his face contorted in anger, and he marched over to me. He stared down at my right foot, where I had already slipped into one of the slippers. His voice was like ice. “Do you have any concept of boundaries? Seriously? You don’t just walk into someone’s house and put on another person’s shoes.” I had to lean against the wall for support, my shoe half-off, balancing like an idiot. Hearing Liam talk to me like that… I couldn’t look up. The blinding shame and the raw sense of betrayal were too much to handle. Tears started spilling down my face, completely out of my control. Silence filled the room for what felt like an hour. Finally, Liam sighed. He dropped his shoulders, seeming to give up. “Forget it,” he said, his voice flat. “Sarah has a major thing about germs. Since you wore them, she’s not going to want them anymore. Keep them.” I fought to get my breathing under control, forcing a strained, trembling smile onto my face. “My Amazon delivery… I forgot to change the address from when I lived here.” From the living room, Sarah seemed to snap out of her shock. She let out a soft laugh and patted her head, acting incredibly gracious and polite. “Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry! I didn’t even look closely at the label. I just assumed it was for Liam, so I opened it and put it in the cabinet. I have no idea how many you ordered. Do you want to count them to make sure they’re all there?” Before I could reach for the box, Liam shot out a hand and snatched it first. 2 The next few seconds felt like an eternity. When I heard Liam let out a soft chuckle, I felt like a prisoner who had just been handed a death sentence. “Really, Chloe?” He looked from the box to me, shaking his head. “It’s been three days. Are you really that… desperate?” He shoved the box containing the ultra-thin condoms into my arms. “There. It’s back with its rightful owner. Now, do you have any other business here? I’d hate for my girlfriend to get the wrong idea.” Standing there under the scorching gaze of both of them, I felt my face burning hot. I wanted to defend myself, to say something, anything, but I felt completely drained of energy. It was over. Deep down, I knew this was likely the last time I would ever see Liam Beckett. I didn’t say a word. I just turned on my heel and left without looking back. In the elevator, I took out my phone. I pulled up the text from my boss asking if I was willing to transfer to our San Diego branch to head up the new project. I didn’t hesitate this time. I texted back: Yes. I’ll take it. When I walked out of the building, I marched straight over to the large trash can by the curb. I tossed everything in my arms—the slippers, the box, all of it—into the garbage. Just like Liam, I didn’t want any of it anymore. 3 I was a mess when I got home. I crawled into bed and just stared at the ceiling. The crushing ache in my chest was threatening to drown me. Then, my best friend’s call broke the silence. “Chloe, oh my god,” she started, her voice a hushed, intense whisper. “You are a legend. That outfit you bought for tonight—did it work? Did he drop to his knees the second he saw you in that ‘battle armor’?” Before I could even think about how to answer, she rushed on, excited. “I knew it! I just saw Liam’s Instagram post! Girl, after all this time of you complaining that he’s too ‘cool’ for public displays of affection, and that he’d never go anywhere childish like an amusement park… He did it! He went! He’s literally on a carousel in the video, wearing Mickey ears, looking ridiculous and adorable! I guess that fight was worth it. You really know how to train them…” “Wait,” I said, swallowing hard to keep my voice from breaking. “Are you sure you’re looking at the right account?” She laughed like I’d just told the joke of the century. “Of course I am! Here, I’m sending you the link right now.” I didn’t believe her. Not for a second. But when the video loaded, I felt like my heart had physically stopped beating. 4 The fight we’d had seventy-two hours ago was… complicated. We had been together for three years. In all that time, Liam had never posted a single picture of me on any social media. He wouldn’t go to crowded public places with me on holidays or anniversaries. He was always so distant, so private, that I constantly questioned if he actually loved me at all. But every time we were alone, behind closed doors, he was a different person. Intense, passionate, uncontainable. That night, I finally snapped. At our most intimate moment, I looked into his eyes and asked the question that had been eating me alive. “Liam, do you actually love me?” He was kissing my neck, his voice muffled and impatient as he muttered, “Does that really matter right now?” I didn’t understand. Why was saying “I love you” so hard for him? I pushed him away. Hard. Liam didn’t say another word. He got dressed, slammed the door, and left. He never said the words. My best friend had seen how miserable I was these past few days, drinking myself into a stupor. She’d begged me to bridge the gap, saying he was just wired that way and I shouldn’t force him. That’s why I decided to swallowed my pride and go over there tonight to make up. But Liam already had someone else by his side. I watched the video again. There he was, on the carousel, wearing Mickey ears. Someone had used lipstick to draw half a heart on his cheek. He looked silly and happy—a side of him I had never, ever seen. Hearing my friend’s worried voice on the other end of the line, I let out a bitter, strangled laugh. “He has a new girlfriend.” 5 Apparently, other mutual friends had seen the post and started asking questions, because a few minutes later, my friend texted me again. She said Liam had deleted the first post and uploaded a new one. This time, he didn’t hide anything. The photo was a clear shot of Sarah’s pretty, delicate face. I couldn’t handle any more. I hung up the phone and forced myself to focus on the logistics of the San Diego move. I didn’t expect my phone to ring at two in the morning. It was an unknown number. When I answered and heard Liam’s voice, it was too late to hang up. His voice was raw, urgent, bordering on hysterical. “Maya… God, I know I shouldn’t be calling you at this hour. But please… can you come over? To my place?” He paused, and I could hear him choking back a sob. “I’m begging you… please? Just come.” My heart dropped through the floor. I couldn’t imagine what could have happened to break a man as calm and composed as Liam Beckett like this. A hundred terrible scenarios flashed through my mind in seconds. My body reacted before my brain could argue against it. By the time I managed to mutter “Okay,” I was already pulling on my jacket and grabbing my car keys. I was terrifyingly worried. I ran two red lights on the way over. I even tripped on the stairs going up to his apartment and scraped my knee badly. I burst through his door, out of breath and trembling. And then I saw it. It was a picture-perfect scene. Liam, impeccably dressed, was half-kneeling at Sarah’s feet in the living room. And scattered around the room on the couches and chairs, watching us, were all of our mutual friends. It was a setup. Liam looked up at me, ignoring the blood dripping down my knee. He let out a completely relaxed, easy laugh. “Maya, thank god you’re finally here.” He turned back to Sarah, taking her hands in his. “See? I told you I could prove it.” He raised one hand dramatically toward the ceiling, his voice booming through the apartment, full of righteous declaration. “I, Liam Beckett, hereby swear that I will absolutely, under no circumstances, get back together with my ex-girlfriend, Maya Sterling. There is nothing left between us. It doesn’t matter how she tries to seduce me, or how she tries to use our friends to put pressure on me—it’s not happening! As long as I am with Sarah, I am yours and yours alone. I love only you… no matter how much other women try to cling to me, my heart is steadfast.” 6 I couldn’t hear anything after that. I didn’t know if the roaring in my ears was from the pain in my knee or the sheer, devastating agony in my heart. My brain was buzzing. Then Sarah interrupted him, her tone playful and coy. “Okay, okay, that’s enough! You’re being way too mushy…” Her face was bright red. She stood on her tiptoes to put her hand over Liam’s mouth. She looked happily flustered. “Stop it… I know you didn’t mean to post the wrong video on Instagram earlier… God, Liam, when did you get so dramatic? Did you use ‘I love you’ as a comma with your ex, too?” I was being dragged back into the conversation. I tried to maintain a polite smile, but it shattered. My face went cold. Nobody cared. Nobody noticed. Liam immediately grabbed Sarah by the shoulders, eager to explain. “No way. Only with you. If you don’t believe me, ask her.” Every single eye in the room turned to me. Some looked sympathetic, some looked pitiful. But the look I was getting from Liam and Sarah was one of arrogant expectation. They wanted me to confirm their love story. “Are you guys done?” My voice was flat, devoid of emotion. The festive atmosphere in the room instantly evaporated. “You do know that a decent ex-partner is supposed to act like they’re dead, right? Are you both seriously this oblivious?” Maybe it was because I had always been so compliant with him, but when I looked at him, his face went pale. Panic flickered in Liam’s eyes for a split second. I ignored it, turned around, and walked out. I was done being a character in his sideshow. 7 Over the next few days, I got texts from friends—some confused, some furious on my behalf. They started dripping in details about what had happened after I left: [Maya, don’t be mad. Liam is just being immature. It turns out he’s had a thing for this Sarah girl since high school. It was one of those love-at-first-sight situations, but before he could ask her out, she moved to Europe. He never got over her, and now that she’s back, he’s convinced she’s ‘the one who got away’.] [You were the only woman he was with all those years, Maya. He usually can’t stand being touched, but with you… it was different. You shouldn’t let him go. This is just a rebound phase, he’ll come running back to you once the novelty wears off.] [After you walked out that night, Liam looked pretty shaken up. Like he’d lost his mind. Seriously, this Sarah girl is high-maintenance as hell. I give it two weeks. You two getting back together is inevitable.] I stared at the messages, my head pounding. Eventually, I just stopped responding to them entirely. I threw myself into the move. I was so ready to get out of this city. San Diego was close to my hometown—only a two-hour drive. I knew my parents and my older brother would be thrilled to have me closer. 8 The night before I was scheduled to fly out, I went for a run to clear my head, then came home to sleep. I didn’t expect to find my apartment tossed. When I opened the door, the living room was a mess. But it was the bedroom that stopped my breath. My closet had been ripped open. My neatly hung clothes were crumpled into balls and scattered across the floor. My vanity was a total disaster zone. Bottles of perfume and skincare had been smashed, glass and liquid covering the hardwood. I was shaking all over, about to call 911, when the elevator opened down the hall. Sarah stepped out, carrying a large shopping bag. She saw me and offered a calm, polite smile. “Oh, you’re home. Good timing. I couldn’t find the jewelry Liam gave you. Are you wearing it?” Seeing my confusion, she explained sweetly. “The other day, I was looking at Liam’s phone, and I saw his purchase history. I saw how many things he bought for you over the years, and I got a little jealous… So Liam gave me his password and told me I could come get whatever I wanted to keep.” “But some of this stuff you’ve used, and I have a major issue with germs. So, I just decided to…” Before she could finish, Liam burst through the stairwell door. He took in the absolute devastation of the apartment, then looked at me. My expression must have been terrifying. He rubbed his temples, looking incredibly anxious. “How did it get this bad?” he muttered, low. Liam looked around the wreckage, seemingly genuinely shocked by the extent of the damage. For a long moment, nobody said anything. He was clearly struggling to get control of his emotions. Finally, he turned to Sarah and ushered her out the door, his voice gentle and coaxing. “I’ll handle this, babe. Just give me five minutes, okay?” Then, seemingly afraid she might get jealous, he added, “Maya has a really nasty temper when she’s mad. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Sarah reluctantly left. Liam closed the door. He loosened his tie. He walked over to me, towering over me for a long, silent minute, before his expression softened. “I didn’t think she’d do this,” he said softly. His eyes went dark as he looked at me. The atmosphere in the wrecked apartment shifted, becoming heavy and strange. Liam swallowed hard. His voice was husky. “Maya… look, maybe we…” Just then, my phone rang loudly on the vanity. It was my parents. They knew I was driving down the next day. They were calling to remind me to come over for dinner to meet a guy they wanted to set me up with—the son of some family friend. I muttered a few standard excuses and hung up. When I looked back at Liam, his expression had turned grave. He was staring at me. “You’re going on a blind date?” he asked, sounding like he couldn’t believe his ears. I didn’t even want to dignify that with an answer. I picked up my phone to call the police. As soon as the screen lit up, Liam snatched it out of my hand. He was trembling. “You’re really going on a blind date?” he repeated. I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Before I could answer, he glanced down at my phone screen. He froze. He looked at the screen for a few seconds, then suddenly, he laughed. He tossed the phone onto the couch like it was trash, his entire demeanor changing. He looked relaxed, almost mocking. “Okay. Wow. You’re good, Maya. Playing hard to get until the very end, huh?” “The police? Seriously? These things—didn’t you beg me to buy them for you? Since I bought them, they’re mine. I have every right to dispose of my own property.” Liam raised an eyebrow, his smile twisting. “You know what? Go ahead. Pick them up, wash them off, I bet they’re still usable. I know how much you ‘treasured’ these things.” He checked a notification on his phone and straightened his jacket. He started walking toward me, reaching out a hand as if to pinch my cheek, the way he used to. My skin crawled. I slapped his hand away hard. Based on how he used to act, I expected him to start an argument or storm out in a huff. But Liam just gave me a long, strange look, a sad smile on his lips. “God, Maya. Looking at you like this actually makes me feel guilty.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Seeing you so miserable… I’m almost regretting this.” His phone rang again. He checked it and tossed out, “See you tomorrow,” before casually strolling out of my ruined apartment. I didn’t stick around to wonder what he meant by that. I packed my essentials and went to a hotel. I was done.

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Our breakup six years ago was absolute poison. Back when he loved me more than anything, I took a check for three million dollars from his mother. I ended the pregnancy, destroyed our future, and betrayed him in the worst way possible. I remember him kneeling outside the operating room, begging me through the door not to be so cruel. He told me then that he would hate me for the rest of his life. Now, six years later, fate has brought us back together. He has a gorgeous, high-society fiancée, and they are about to get married. Meanwhile, I’m at rock bottom, forced to swallow my pride and beg him for a loan. Instead of a check, he gave me an ultimatum: attend his wedding. He wants me to watch with my own eyes as he makes another woman his wife. He asked me if I regretted it. What he doesn’t know is that I didn’t end the pregnancy. I’ve been secretly raising our child alone. And now, our son is sick. If I don’t get this money, he’s going to die. 01 Six years after I wrecked his life, ran into Caleb Vance at the absolute lowest point of mine. It was a college reunion. No one expected him to show up. Someone made a joke, asking, “Mr. Vance, you haven’t kept in touch with any of us for years. Did you finally decide to come back because you heard Maya was going to be here?” I was sitting in a dark corner, my entire body going rigid. I looked up and saw Caleb through a cloud of cigarette smoke. He was looking at me, his expression pure ice. Everyone in that room knew how obsessed Caleb used to be with me. He was the scion of a wealthy, powerful family, but he fell for a scholarship kid like me instantly. Back then, he actually cut ties with his family for me. He gave up the trust fund, the connections, everything, just to fight for a life with me. We lived in a tiny, roach-infested studio apartment. We split boxes of ramen and shared cheap coffee. Life was brutal, but we were happy because we were together. During those long, intimate nights, we’d lock fingers and swear we’d never let go. Until I found out I was pregnant. That was when his mother showed up with a check for three million dollars. Her offer was simple: get an abortion, leave Caleb, and never look back. The day I made my choice, Caleb was on his knees outside the clinic, screaming and slamming his fists against the operating room door. Over and over, he begged me, his voice cracking with tears. “Baby, please! I’ll work harder. I’ll make more money. I’ll support us. I swear I’ll make three million dollars a hundred times over just for you to spend, okay?” “I’m begging you, don’t do this to me. Don’t do this to our baby…” I lay on that cold operating table, biting my lip until it bled, forcing myself not to make a sound. Through that thin wooden door, I listened to Caleb scream that he would hate me for eternity. 02 Nobody truly knew how ugly our final breakup got. Someone at the table, thinking they were being funny, nudged me toward Caleb. “Come on, Mr. Vance. You used to love Maya more than life itself. How could you ever let her go?” People started jeering, calling for a reconciliation. One of Caleb’s close friends shot me a contemptuous look and laughed. “Hudson, are you kidding? Caleb can have any woman he wants. Who does Maya Clark think she is, assuming my boy is still hanging onto her?” He announced that Caleb had been with a woman named Serenity for three years. He described her as gentler, more beautiful, and far more suited to Caleb’s status than I ever was. Caleb had been with her for three years. His friends already called her “sister-in-law.” Apparently, they were engaged. The laughter in the room died down instantly. Only Caleb’s friend kept smiling, loudly inviting everyone to make sure they attended the wedding. He flicked an invitation across the table. It hit me in the chest and slid into my lap. Keeping my head down, I opened it. There was Caleb’s name. And right next to it, written in elegant script, was another girl’s name. Serenity Vance. Even her name sounded perfect and gentle. I imagined she must be smart, obedient, and kind. She probably knew how to take care of him and never made him suffer the way I did. Six years apart. Seeing him again only to realize he’s doing incredibly well… that’s enough for me. I forced back the tears that threatened to spill, looked up, and looked Caleb right in the eye. “Congratulations,” I said. My voice was barely a whisper. Caleb stared at me intensely. Hearing my congratulations, a harsh, mocking smile twisted his face. He brutally crushed his cigarette in the ashtray. His voice was clipped and cold. “Actually, Maya, don’t bother coming to the wedding.” “My wife gets uncomfortable when she sees things that don’t belong in her world. If she’s unhappy, it breaks my heart.” I clutched that thin paper invitation, my hand shaking slightly. I forced a smile, nodded, and said softly, “Okay.” 03 That night, everyone left saying that Caleb Sterling was truly, deeply over me. Nobody could have imagined we once loved each other that intensely. But in the end, he was getting married, and I wasn’t the bride. Everyone assumed Caleb would wait for me forever. Now, everyone was curious about this girl, Serenity, wondering who could have captivated and charmed Caleb so completely. I knew Caleb didn’t want to see me, so I slipped out of the reunion early. On my way home, a friend text me a photo of Serenity. She looked pure, innocent. I heard she laughed easily and knew how to be sweet—exactly the type of girl Caleb always said he liked. My friend asked, “Maya, don’t you think Serenity looks a lot like you did back then when she smiles?” “Do you really think Caleb is still in love with you? Is it really over between you two?” I exhaled slowly, watching my breath fog up the cold car window. After a long silence, I text back: “Doesn’t matter. I don’t care anymore.” I didn’t want to drag Caleb back into my chaos. I thought he would never have to know that I lied to everyone. That I kept our baby. A boy who is now very sick. And dying. 04 This year has been my absolute rock bottom. I have been working myself to death, desperate to get the money for the best medications for my son, Leo. I wanted to make sure that when the pain came, it didn’t hurt him so much. For money, I had swallowed my pride and went to that reunion to beg. For money, I was working at a high-end club, playing hostess, drinking until my stomach was bleeding just to get tips from rich scumbags. I assumed that reunion was the last time I’d ever see Caleb in this life. Until a few days later, the girl named Serenity found me. I guess she had heard from others that we looked alike and wanted to see for herself. She showed up at the club with a group of wealthy friends, specifically requesting me as their server. One of her friends sneered, “So you’re Maya? Caleb Sterling’s first love?” Her eyes were filled with scorn, looking at my heavy makeup and revealing work uniform. Her look clearly said: Disgusting trash. I clenched my fists, forcing myself not to react. I couldn’t afford to get fired. I just asked what they wanted to drink. If they weren’t going to order, they were wasting my earning time. Her friend, offended by my lack of subservience, snapped, “What’s with the attitude? I asked you a question, bitch. Don’t act like you’re too good for this.” She pointed to a bottle of expensive, high-proof liquor on the table. “Tell you what, Maya. You love money, right? Chug this entire bottle, right now, and I’ll give you five thousand dollars.” Drinking that whole bottle meant a trip to the ER. Serenity put on a show of being concerned. She faked an anxious tone, trying to dissuade her friend. “Hey, didn’t we agree we just came to look? Don’t make things difficult for Ms. Clark.” “I know everyone says she’s manipulative and that I need to be careful around her. Even Caleb told me I’m too naive and that she would bully me.” “But really, I’m fine.” I listened to Serenity’s passive-aggressive act. I got it. She wanted me to know how much Caleb adored her, and how much he despised me. I smiled, saying nothing to her. I just turned to her friend. “Deal. I drink the bottle, you give me five thousand. Cash.” Then I grabbed the bottle, popped the top, and started chugging. The entire VIP room went silent. No one expected that for a few grand, I would literally risk my life. Serenity grabbed my hand, trying to sound compassionate. “Maya, how can you care about money this much? Why are you trashing yourself like this?” “As women, we need to have some self-respect. I didn’t want to bring this up because I didn’t want to hurt you, but you should know… Caleb hates women like you.” I finished the bottle, ignoring the searing pain in my stomach, and cut her off. “Where’s the money?” “What Caleb likes or hates is none of my business. I just want the five grand you promised.” Serenity frowned, looking at me with feigned disappointment. “Maya, to be honest, five thousand dollars is pocket change to me. I’d gladly throw it away on anyone else, but I absolutely will not give it to you.” “You can blame me if you want, but I’m doing this for your own good. I can’t stand by and watch you sink deeper into this depravity…” Her friend shoved me hard. She laughed in my face. “I was just messing with you. I’m not giving you jack shit. What are you going to do about it?” I stared at her coldly, then matching her smile, I lifted the empty bottle and smashed it against the edge of the table. Glass flew everywhere. A jagged shard sliced right across Serenity’s calf. It wasn’t deep, but blood immediately started soaking through her expensive jeans. Serenity burst into tears. The screeching group of wealthy girls went dead silent, paralyzed with shock. Seconds later, the door to the VIP room slammed open. Caleb stood there, looking at me like I was something scraped off his shoe. I froze. I didn’t dare meet his eyes. The garbage heavy makeup, the cheap uniform, the degrading job… he saw it all. He saw exactly how low I had fallen. Honestly, I didn’t care what anyone else thought of me. But I didn’t want him to know that I lived my life this way. But in the end, I couldn’t even keep that tiny bit of pride. I used every ounce of strength I had to pretend I didn’t care. I forced myself to look up as Caleb rushed over, scooping Serenity into his arms, gently wiping away her tears. Then he looked at me, enunciating every syllable. “Maya Clark. Right in front of me… who do you think you are bullying?” “You want money? Fine. Apologize. On your knees.” I watched Caleb protect Serenity. I remembered a long time ago, when he used to protect me the exact same way. I knew what Caleb wanted. He wanted me to grovel to make Serenity feel good. Fine. For money, I’d do anything. Serenity was hiding in Caleb’s chest, shooting me a triumphant smirk that he couldn’t see. I looked at the cut on her leg. I picked up a sharp piece of broken glass from the floor and, without hesitating, sliced it deep into my own forearm. Then I held out my bleeding hand toward Caleb. My voice was utterly dead. “Give it to me. The five thousand.” Caleb stared at me, and suddenly, his eyes went red. Seeing Caleb’s expression, the smirk on Serenity’s face vanished. She fumbled in her purse, pulled out a thick stack of cash, and threw it at my feet. Her voice was trembling, trying to regain high ground. “Maya, I’m giving you this money today not because I owe you, but because I don’t want to see you make an even bigger spectacle of yourself for a few dollars. It’s pathetic.” I didn’t bother listening to her act. I grabbed the cash and turned to leave, but Caleb grabbed my wrist in a vice grip. He ground his teeth, cursing at me through his lips. “Maya! Are you insane? Do you not feel pain? Are you really going to die without money?” His brows were furrowed tight. He actually looked devastated. I ripped my hand out of his grasp. I spun around, forced a cold laugh, and sneered, “I’ve always loved money more than anything, Caleb. Didn’t you know?” “Mind your own business. Worry about your own woman. Stop screwing with mine.” 05 Caleb glared at me, his eyes terrifyingly cold, like he wanted to snap my neck. My words had clearly triggered memories of the past—how he had given up everything for me, and I had dumped him for a paycheck. My stomach was screaming in agony from the high-proof liquor. I didn’t want to talk to him anymore. I turned to leave, but suddenly my feet lost contact with the floor. Before I knew it, Caleb had hoisted me over his shoulder. He looked like a caveman kidnapping a woman. Cigarette dangling from his lips, holding me tightly as he marched out of the club. Everyone was watching. I struggled desperately, screaming at him to put me down. He slapped my ass hard. “Maya! Damn you! I apparently owed you a debt in a past life, and now you’re going to torture me for eternity!” He threw me into the passenger seat of his car, leaned over, pinned my legs down with his knee, and grabbed my face, cursing at me savagely. “Sometimes, I really just want to kill you.” His expression said he hated my guts, but his eyes… his eyes always looked like they were telling me he still loved me. I was in too much pain to speak. I was breaking out in a cold sweat, just glaring at him. Caleb frowned, opened the glove compartment, popped a blister pack, and shoved a stomach pill into my mouth. As the compartment light flickered, I saw what was inside. In the corner lay an empty tube of lipstick I used to love but couldn’t afford to replace; a broken hair tie; and a ridiculous, cheap pink plastic barrette Caleb had bought me years ago… That compartment held fragments of my entire existence. During the years I was gone, those cheap trinkets had kept him company. Tears blurred my vision instantly. I turned my head away before Caleb could see, wiping them away furiously with the back of my hand. After all these years, he still remembered that I had a bad stomach. Even though I wasn’t in his life, he still kept the habit of having pain medication ready for me. But I forced my heart to be iron. Using every bit of energy in my body, I brutally shoved him away. I forced myself to smile at him. A harsh, cruel laugh. “Caleb, stop obsessed over me. It’s annoying. You really think I care? This whole pining routine is just pathetic.” “There’s something you apparently don’t know. I got married a long time ago. I have a kid.” “Are you still hoping for a reunion? Caleb, don’t be a desperate loser.” He recoiled as if I’d struck him, stumbling back a couple of steps. He just stood there, completely frozen. As I got out of the car to run, he suddenly grabbed me, slammed me against the side of the car, and pinned me there. His hands gripped my shoulders, shaking me, his voice trembling with rage. “Maya Clark, I don’t believe you.” “You better tell me you’re fucking joking right now. Because if you aren’t, I swear to God I will destroy you.” I looked him dead in the eye. My voice was flat. “Fine. I’ll prove it to you.” I drove Caleb to the children’s hospital. It was nine PM, but the inpatient wing was still lit up. I stood outside Leo’s hospital room. Through the observation glass, I pointed to the quiet little boy reading a book inside. I told Caleb, “That’s my son.” His name is Leo. He’s my everything, my entire heart. He looks just like me, but his personality is all Caleb. He’s affectionate, gentle, but possesses a stubborn, defiant streak. He inherited all of Caleb’s best traits. He is such a wonderful little boy. But he is sick. He’s almost six years old, but he’s so thin and small. He’s so brave it breaks my heart. Caleb stared at that little boy through the glass for a long, long time. Then he balled his fist and punched the concrete wall, hard. He dropped his head. I think I saw a tear fall. I had never seen him look so broken. That night, the last thing Caleb said to me was: “Maya Clark, you have a lot of nerve.” He didn’t ask who the father was. He didn’t recognize that the little boy inside was his own son. 06 After that night, Caleb stopped coming around. I heard rumors that he bought Serenity a magnificent wedding dress and a massive diamond ring, and took her home to officially meet his mother again. I heard his mother adored Serenity, and Caleb publicly declared she was the only woman he would ever marry. My old college acquaintances were gossiping: “I’m so jealous of Serenity Vance. To be adored like that by a man like Caleb Vance…” “But Serenity is a sweetheart, honestly. She’s so kind and generous. She heard Maya is completely broke and actually wanted to give her some money to help out.” “A girl that pure and good deserves to be protected forever…” I stared at the group chat on my phone, my stomach churning. I had a horrible, sinking feeling I couldn’t shake. When I finally got to the hospital, the nurse told me Caleb and Serenity had been there to see Leo. The young nurse apologized to me, admitting she had accidentally let it slip to Serenity that Leo had no father listed on his records. I walked toward the room and overheard Serenity talking to Leo inside. “Sweetie, I heard your daddy abandoned you and your mommy. Isn’t that right?” “You know, your mommy is very pathetic. To pay for your hospital bills, she has to go sell herself to all kinds of nasty men every night. It makes her very dirty. Honestly, it makes sense why your daddy wouldn’t want a woman like that…” Leo screamed at her. “You’re lying! You’re the dirty one! We don’t want your money! Get out!” I burst into the room, shaking with rage. Serenity turned and saw me, faking surprise. She frowned. “Maya Clark, look at your son. I was just trying to help him understand how hard you work, and he’s throwing a temper tantrum at me. He is so ill-mannered…” Before Serenity could finish, I lunged forward, grabbed her hair, and slapped her hard across the face, twice. I dragged her to the door and threw her out into the hallway. I pointed a shaking finger at her face. “Serenity Vance, do you have a fucking death wish, coming here to provoke me?” She clutched her red cheek, unable to believe I actually struck her. She immediately switched to her victim role, sobbing. “Maya, I was just trying to help you. I didn’t mean anything by it.” “Caleb didn’t even want to care about you anymore. Luckily, he listens to me, and he knows I have a kind heart. If I didn’t help you, I’d feel guilty.” “I truly wanted to help, but now that you’ve hit me, Caleb is going to be furious with you again…” I stared at Serenity and laughed—a cold, dead sound. So, this was why she came. To gloat. She just couldn’t help herself. She had to make sure I knew Caleb loved her more than he ever loved me. I looked at her pathetic acting. My voice was absolute ice. “Serenity Vance. You want Caleb? He’s just a man. Take him. He’s yours. But you just couldn’t be satisfied with that, could you? You had to come here and mess with me.” I stepped close to her, grabbed her collar, and lowered my voice to a terrifying whisper. “Keep pushing me. I dare you. I will personally congratulate you and Caleb on your happy marriage, and right before you say ‘I do,’ I will tell him that the son I have is his.” “You guess who he’s going to choose then?” Serenity froze. I watched the blood drain from her face, leaving her ghost-white. I ground my teeth at her. “Now, you are going to go inside and apologize to my son. Then, you are going to get the hell out of my sight.” Just as I finished speaking, the door to the room opened and Caleb stepped out. He text me hard, pulling me away from her. I lost my balance and my back slammed hard against the hospital wall. He looked down at me, a cruel smirk on his face. “Maya Clark, I don’t recall asking for your permission on who I marry.” “My wife doesn’t need you to ‘give’ me to her. You assume you’re special, but who the hell do you think you are?”

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I once had a secret, hidden relationship with Roman Pierce. He paid for my tuition, and I slept in his bed. Later, he told me he was at the age where he wanted to get married and have kids. So, I unilaterally ended things. Years later, we met again. I was accompanying my academic advisor to pitch him for a research investment. After a few too many drinks, I pinched his face and drunkenly ran my mouth: “I have money now. Here’s two thousand bucks. Let me top you just once!” Everyone else froze in sheer panic, scrambling to explain: “Mr. Pierce, he’s just wasted and talking nonsense! He really doesn’t like men!” “Yeah, exactly! My senior colleague here has a girlfriend. They’re super serious.” He just stared at me, a smirk playing on his lips that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Oh, really?” 1 Professor Miller had dragged us out to another networking dinner. All the way there, he wouldn’t stop nagging us: “You kids, when I tell you to drink, you drink. When I tell you to talk, you talk. Stay sharp, all of you.” A couple of the younger grad students grumbled quietly: “We’re researchers, not escorts…” Word on the street was that tonight’s investor didn’t have much of a formal education. Apparently, he’d made his fortune scraping by in the gritty underworld years ago before hitting it big. The self-made, uncultured tycoons were always the worst at these dinner tables. We academics absolutely dreaded this part of the job. “Do you think I enjoy throwing away my dignity?” Professor Miller snapped. “Our research grants are gone. How am I supposed to support you guys? If we don’t land this investment, I’ll have no choice but to cut your stipends and send you back to basic lab work.” The van went dead silent. Everyone knew Miller wasn’t having it easy either. With the funding pulled, he was more desperate than anyone. We arrived at the private dining room. Soon, the heavy door was pushed open. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Professor Miller.” A deep, low baritone cut through the air. It immediately sparked whispers among the junior researchers: “I thought they said he was some uncultured thug? How is he this young and hot?” “God, his aura is insane…” I lifted my head, completely dazed. Five years. It was an encounter I was wholly unprepared for. Roman Pierce had changed significantly. He’d shed the jagged, reckless edge of his youth, dressed now in a perfectly tailored Tom Ford suit. Yet, the untamed wildness between his brows remained, only now it was tempered, making him seem heavier, more formidable. My advisor scrambled to his feet: “Mr. Pierce! A pleasure, truly a pleasure. These are my brightest doctoral candidates.” Roman offered a curt nod and took the seat of honor at the head of the table. His gaze swept coldly over us. Miller shot us a look, and we all stood up to toast him. The female grad students who had been complaining moments ago were now practically tripping over themselves: “Mr. Pierce, a toast to you. It’s inspiring to see someone so young achieve so much.” “Mr. Pierce, we are really looking forward to working with you.” I shrank back into the corner, lowering my head as far as it would go. “Mr. Pierce, this is Asher Blake, my star PhD student,” Miller announced, calling me out specifically. “Asher, don’t just stand there. Come toast Mr. Pierce.” I stood up rigidly. I picked up my glass, not daring to meet his eyes. “Good evening, Mr. Pierce.” He just sat there. He didn’t raise his glass. He just watched me in silence. Advisor Miller tried to smooth over the awkwardness: “This one is a bit of a wallflower. Usually just buries his head in his textbooks. Not much of a talker.” Roman’s gaze landed on my face, slowly tracing my features inch by inch. After what felt like an eternity, he finally spoke, his tone measured and slow: “Loving to study… is a good thing.” Miller quickly seized the opening: “Absolutely! Asher has been with me since his undergrad years. His capability is unquestionable. To be honest with you, Mr. Pierce, our project data is incredibly promising, it’s just the capital…” He shot me a pointed look. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to look up and meet his stare: “Mr. Pierce, our data is solid, and the market applications are broad. If you are willing to invest…” He let out a short scoff, cutting me off instantly: “Mr. Blake, I am a businessman. I only care about a beneficial exchange of interests.” The phrase “exchange of interests” pierced through me like a knife. Right. An exchange of interests. In the past, he gave me money, and I slept with him. Now, I had an education, but I still had to beg him for money. 2 When I was eighteen, my dad racked up a mountain of gambling debt and ran away, leaving me behind. The debt collectors smashed our house to pieces. I lived like a stray dog, hiding out wherever I could. After school, I didn’t dare go home. I barely had any money left in my pockets. There was a cybercafe near my high school where an overnight pass cost twenty bucks. The owner looked like a gang leader—a shock of bleached blond hair and sleeves full of tattoos. That place was a haven for delinquents, reeking of cheap smoke and clicking keyboards. I stood at the door, hesitating for a long time before I dared to walk in. “I… I want an overnight pass.” He looked up. He had high brow bones and narrow, sharp eyes. “You an adult?” He radiated a dangerous energy that terrified me. I frantically pulled out my ID. Thank God. I had just turned eighteen last month. The cybercafe had small private booths with a computer and a tiny, narrow sofa. I put my backpack down, read my textbooks, and did practice tests. When I got hungry, I gnawed on half a cold bagel I had saved from lunch. When I got tired, I curled up on that tiny sofa. It was hard, and it got freezing at night. But it was the cheapest place I could find. At least no one was coming in the middle of the night to smash windows or throw red paint. For the next few days, I went straight there after school. Finally, the umpteenth time I handed over my ID, Roman looked up, visibly annoyed: “You’re a student. Shouldn’t you be studying? Why the hell are you always at an internet cafe?” I opened my mouth, then lowered my head and muttered: “None of your business…” He cursed under his breath and ignored me. Until one late night, a drunk guy in the booth next to mine kicked my door open. “You little brat, hiding out here?!” “If you can’t pay back the cash, that’s fine. I know some guys who’d love a pretty boy like you. Come on, I’ll find you a way out!” I struggled frantically to get away. He kicked me to the ground, raising his fist: “Don’t be a ungrateful little bitch! You want me to kill you?” Hearing the commotion, Roman stormed over, grabbed the guy by the collar, and threw him out the front door. He kicked the guy viciously while he was down: “You dare start shit in my territory? You got a death wish?” He hit hard. The guy didn’t stop wailing. When Roman came back inside, his anger hadn’t faded. He glared at me: “If you’re not playing games, why the fuck are you practically living here?” “I… I’m surfing the web…” “Your monitor is turned off! What web are you surfing?!” He impatiently tried to kick me out. “Hurry up and go home! This ain’t a place for a good student like you!” I refused to move. After a long silence, I whispered: “I… I don’t have a home.” He scratched his head in frustration, grabbed my backpack, and said: “Follow me.” Behind the cybercafe was a rundown one-bedroom apartment. It was a mess. Clothes piled on the sofa, empty beer cans on the coffee table. He pointed to the room. “Here. Ten bucks a night. You staying or not?” I had no other choice, and no energy to worry about whether it was safe. “I’m staying.” He tossed me a spare key, turned around, and left. 3 Roman was rarely home. Sometimes he was at the cafe, sometimes God knows where running the streets. I went straight there every day after school. I’d buy an extra plain roll from the cafeteria at noon to eat for dinner. On the fifth day of living there, I was gnawing on my cold roll when he pushed the door open. “Move,” he grunted, frowning. I clutched my bread and automatically scooted over on the sofa. He dropped a massive bag of takeout BBQ on the table and started eating. The smell of roasted meat filled the room. I chewed my dry roll, secretly swallowing my saliva. He glanced at me: “You want some?” I asked cautiously: “Does it cost extra?” He suddenly laughed. “If you eat, you’re on cleanup duty.” To me back then, those few skewers of meat were absolute salvation. After that, he started coming home a bit more often, and he’d always bring food. Sometimes BBQ, sometimes lo mein, sometimes hot soup. It smelled so incredible that, years later, I still remember exactly how it tasted. He would watch me wolf down the food and laugh: “Asher, you got a massive appetite, don’t you?” Honestly, I was just starving. I skipped breakfast, ate the cheapest thing for lunch, and had a cold roll for dinner. Whatever he brought back was the only real meal I had all day. After eating, I’d lean against the sofa and study. He’d play video games next to me, occasionally lighting a cigarette when he got bored. I habitually stayed up late studying. When he checked the time, he’d bark at me: “Asher, roll into bed and go to sleep.” I’d mumble an “okay” and slowly get up. I couldn’t help but warn him: “Roman, smoking is bad for your health.” He didn’t care. “Life and death are up to fate. Riches are up to heaven.” I cautiously tested the waters: “Can I try a drag?” His eyes turned lethal: “You want me to break your legs?” I slept in the bedroom; he usually crashed on the sofa after gaming. The sofa was small. He was tall, and he couldn’t even stretch his legs out. “Roman, why don’t you sleep in the bed?” He shot me a look, a half-smile forming. “What, two grown men cuddling up together?” I felt embarrassed. The bed was narrow. Two guys would definitely be cramped. But Roman was the type who could pull the covers over his head and fall asleep instantly. I never thought I’d cross paths with someone like him. He was so fierce. He fought brutally. Even the high school bullies were terrified of his name. And me, the teachers’ pet, somehow ended up sharing a weird, harmonious life with this gang boss in a rundown apartment. Eventually, I completely ran out of money. “Roman, the rent… can I pay you after I graduate college?” He raised an eyebrow. “Can you do laundry, cook, and clean? Work off your debt.” From then on, I took over all the chores. He even started paying me a “salary.” Thanks to that money, I could finally afford full meals at school. The days I lived there became the most secure time of my life. He had a lot of friends, guys and girls. One guy saw the spotless apartment and gasped: “Boss, why is your place so clean? You hiding a sugar baby in here? If Stella finds out, she’ll cry herself to death.” I had seen this “Stella.” Tall, glamorous, stunning figure. Word was she’d been chasing Roman for a long time. One day, she stood at the door with red eyes, screaming: “Tell that little vixen to come out here! I want to see what she looks like!” Roman casually grabbed me by the collar and dragged me to the door. “Take a look.” The group of friends stood frozen. “Holy shit! You got a boyfriend?!” Roman leaned against the doorframe, arrogant as ever: “I like men. Stop wasting your time on me, Stella.” Stella’s heart shattered completely. I followed him back inside, hesitating for a long time. I wanted to ask if he really liked men, or if it was just an excuse to reject her. But I couldn’t get the words out. For some reason, my heart wouldn’t calm down. Why did I even care who he liked? He stared at me, frowning: “What is it?” “Just… what are we having for dinner?” He let out a laugh, tossing a bag of walnuts at me. “Eat these. Heard they’re good for the brain. Perfect for you.” That day, he proudly showed off how he could crush walnuts with his bare hands. “Cool, right?” Honestly, a little dumb. Of course, I didn’t dare say that out loud. I asked him: “Roman, why’d you dye your hair blond?” He got defensive: “What do you mean blond? It’s gold!” Me: “Oh, so like a golden retriever…” “Are you calling me a dog?!” He shot me a warning glare: “Asher, you got a death wish today?” But this time, I wasn’t scared. Spending so much time with him, I realized he was all bark and no bite with me. One day, I carefully told him: “Roman, I want to apply to the State Tech University. It’s in the suburbs, I’d just have to take two buses to get there.” He shoved a handful of crushed walnuts into my mouth: “You think a top-tier university is that easy to get into? Better eat up and fix that wooden brain of yours.” 4 But right before my final college entrance exams, a few debt collectors ambushed me. They snatched my exam admission ticket. “Call your deadbeat dad and tell him to pay up. Otherwise, I’m burning this right now.” “Heard you get good grades, huh? Too bad. Say goodbye to college.” I frantically called my dad, but the line was dead. In pure desperation, I called Roman. He rushed over, out of breath. He just asked coldly: “How much does he owe you?” They said, “Thirty grand.” He turned around and left. Not long after, he came back carrying a bag of cash. The moment he reached his hand out to me, my nose stung. He gripped my wrist tightly, pulling me out of that dark alley. Walking behind him, I wiped away pathetic tears. He turned around and glared at me fiercely: “You’re a grown man, why are you crying? So annoying.” During the two days of my exams, he canceled all his business and waited outside the testing center. The night I finished my last test, after dinner, I gathered all my courage and hugged him from behind. “Roman, you… you can sleep in the bed tonight.” His body went completely rigid. “What do you mean by that?” “I heard you like men…” “And I can’t afford to pay you back…” Honestly, with every day that the exams had approached, my anxiety grew. Once I graduated high school, I’d have no excuse to stay here. But I stubbornly wanted to be tied to him. He used thirty thousand dollars to sever the ties between me and my toxic family. But it also made the dynamic between him and me completely unequal. 5 Five years later, our positions hadn’t changed at all. Back then, I needed money for school. Now, I needed money for research. He sat at the head of the table, watching impassively as I toasted him glass after glass. But he refused to give a straight answer: “I’ll need more time to evaluate this project.” What a ruthless capitalist face. I cursed him out in my head. By the end of the night, the alcohol had gone straight to my brain. My mind was buzzing. I looked at a face that looked remarkably like Roman’s, and lunged forward, hugging him. I even reached up, pinching his cheeks left and right, inspecting him: “Hmm, you look just like him…” “I make three thousand bucks a month now! I’ll give you two grand, you just have to sleep with me once, okay?” “And this time, I get to top!” As those words dropped, the entire room went dead silent. Professor Miller turned pale with absolute horror: “Mr. Pierce, please excuse him! My student has had too much to drink, he’s just spouting nonsense!” Roman held his wine glass, staring at me with a dangerous amusement. “Student Blake is only offering me two thousand?” I grabbed his tie, arguing my case aggressively: “What’s wrong with two grand? You’re old and wrinkly now, you think you can still compete with the young guys?” “Oh? I’m old and wrinkly?” He laughed out of pure anger, his gaze sweeping over me with blatant aggression. “Well, I certainly can’t compare to Student Blake—” “You were always so tight.” “Mr. Pierce, he really is just drunk! He never talks this much normally…” Miller was sweating profusely. A junior female researcher jumped in to save me: “It’s true! Mr. Pierce, please don’t misunderstand, my senior really doesn’t like men…” “He has a girlfriend! They are super stable…” Before she could finish, Roman’s face darkened drastically. The hand gripping my waist suddenly tightened. “Is that right?” I looked at his face, inches from mine. I opened my mouth. “Blergh…” I threw up all over his expensive suit. … 6 The next morning, I was getting chewed out in Professor Miller’s office. “Asher Blake, look at yourself! Usually I can’t get three words out of you with a crowbar, but you get drunk and act like a maniac?! Huh?” “If a girl acts boy-crazy, fine! But you, a grown man, screaming about wanting to top an investor?! I have never heard of such a thing in my life!” “Two grand to sleep with you?! Do you hear yourself? Where are you gonna sleep with him, in your dorm?! Did you consider your roommates?! Are they supposed to stand guard at the door?!” I wished the floor would swallow me whole. “Professor, I… I’m sorry…” “Thank God Mr. Pierce has a good temper. You puked all over him yesterday, and he didn’t even get mad. He even had the decency to have someone drive you home.” Miller caught his breath and issued his final order: “Today, you are coming with me to his company to apologize in person! And your attitude better be sincere!” “Whether this project survives or dies depends entirely on Roman Pierce nodding his head.” On the way to his corporate headquarters, Miller gave me a rundown of Roman’s legendary rise. “Don’t underestimate him just because he doesn’t have a college degree. He’s ruthless and has incredible foresight! A few years ago, he made a killing in real estate, and now he’s pivoting to the tech sector. He’s the new golden boy of the industry…” Five years. He had gone so far, becoming completely unreachable. While I felt trapped in a time loop. Studying, studying, and still broke as a joke. Roman’s company occupied the top floors of a massive CBD skyscraper, overlooking the bustling city. His secretary led us into the reception room. He still had that same cold, aloof demeanor. Miller approached him with a fawning smile: “Mr. Pierce, I am so sorry for the absolute disaster yesterday. My student here… sigh. I brought him here specifically to apologize to you!” He shot me a look. I braced myself and stepped forward, not daring to meet his eyes: “Mr. Pierce, I… I drank too much yesterday. I am so sorry. Please forgive me.” Miller chimed in from the side: “Yes, exactly! Yesterday was the anniversary of his ex-girlfriend’s death! The alcohol and the grief just went straight to his head…” My heart skipped a beat. This old man literally just pulls lies out of thin air. Roman raised an eyebrow, a mocking glint in his eye: “The anniversary of her death? Tell me, Student Blake, how did your ex pass away?” Miller answered for me: “Terminal illness! A tragic terminal illness.” He quickly added, “But don’t worry, Mr. Pierce, Asher has moved on. His mental state is very stable, he definitely won’t delay the research progress!” “Yesterday was purely the alcohol. He absolutely does not have any inappropriate thoughts about you. His sexual orientation is perfectly normal, you can be 100% assured.” To add credibility, Miller added: “He actually has a new girlfriend now.” Roman’s eyes went pitch black: “Is that so?” “Yes, yes, a junior from our university. She chased him for a long time. Everyone in the lab knows, they’re practically glued at the hip.” “Rest assured, he has absolutely no ulterior motives regarding you.” Me: “…” Old Miller gave me a look that said, ‘Look how smart your professor is.’ Roman stayed silent for a moment before saying calmly: “That’s good to hear.” Miller struck while the iron was hot: “Mr. Pierce, about our project…” He paused, seeming to weigh his options: “I am still very interested in the project. However, my company needs to understand some of the finer details… Would it be possible to borrow Student Blake for a few days? To assist us with our evaluation?” Miller’s eyes lit up: “No problem at all! Use him however you need! Asher is the brightest student I’ve ever taught.” Me: “…” Did Old Miller just sell me out that easily? 7 After leaving Roman’s office… “Professor, do I really have to go?” Miller patted my shoulder, lecturing me earnestly: “Asher, this involves the life or death of our entire department! This involves everyone’s stipends and graduation! Can’t you just make a little sacrifice?” “Besides, you’re a grown man, what are you afraid of? How exactly is he gonna ‘use’ you?” “At worst, you’ll just do some extra grunt work and get a little tired.” “I…” How was I supposed to explain the exact ways he could ‘use’ me… Seeing how old Miller was, I didn’t dare give him a heart attack with the truth. Seeing me hesitate, Miller lowered his voice: “I still have a spot open for the international symposium. I’ll save it for you.” “Professor, I’ll go.” For that, I would walk through fire. I braced myself and reported to Roman’s company. “Engineer Blake, please have a seat. Mr. Pierce’s meeting isn’t quite over yet. Just wait a moment.” While waiting, the friendly receptionist started chatting with me. I couldn’t hold back my curiosity, asking quietly: “Hey, how old are the boss’s kids?” The receptionist looked shocked: “Kids? Mr. Pierce doesn’t have kids.” None? “Wait, he didn’t have any?” Back then, he had literally said he wanted to get married and have kids. The receptionist looked at me like I was crazy: “Mr. Pierce isn’t even married.” My heart skipped a beat. He still wasn’t married? A complex mix of secret joy and bitter sorrow welled up inside me. After processing it for a few seconds, I muttered under my breath: “Oh, so nobody wanted him…” The second the words left my mouth. “Asher.” A clearly displeased voice sounded right behind me. I jumped out of my skin. I’m dead… Why did he have to hear that exactly? 8 I followed Roman to his office. My mind was still echoing with the phrase, “Isn’t even married.” During my junior year of college, he had calmly informed me: “Asher, let’s just end this.” I blankly asked him why. He just said: “I’m at the age where I need to get married. You think I can just mess around with a guy forever?” I cried and begged him: “Just… wait for me one more year. I’ll graduate…” He sneered. “Wait for what? Can you give me a child?” “Asher, stop making yourself look so cheap.” It was true. I had always been cheap, throwing myself at him. Starting from when I was eighteen, when I willingly threw my arms around him. Back then, he had tried to push me away: “Asher, you should live a normal life.” “Don’t get mixed up with someone like me. There’s no future here.” I had cried pathetically: “Roman, you’re a good person…” He laughed like it was a joke: “Are you brain-damaged? I have no money, no education, I’m years older than you. You’re throwing yourself at me over thirty grand?” “With your face, who knows how many girls will be chasing you later. Don’t ruin your own path.” I stubbornly clung to him, refusing to let go: “Roman, I… I don’t even know if I like men or women…” “I just know that I like you.” He fell silent. I stood on my tiptoes, clumsily trying to kiss him. But he was too tall, and even with my head tilted back, I could only graze his jawline. He stared at me, then suddenly laughed. He tilted his head down and kissed me fiercely: “If I don’t lower my head, how are you ever gonna reach?” That day, in that tiny apartment, we tangled in the sheets from the afternoon until the sun went down. His sweat dripped onto my neck. In that endless tidal wave, I was nervous and clumsy, but a secret joy bloomed in my heart. I spent almost that entire summer break in his tiny apartment. After taking the money, my mom had vanished to God knows where. Roman sold his internet cafe. When I asked why, he just said: “Don’t worry about it. Off to make big money.” He became incredibly busy, coming home near dawn every day, often covered in fresh bruises. When I applied ointment to his wounds, my heart ached: “Roman, why are you always getting hurt? Can’t you quit that job?” Though he never said it, I knew he was working as muscle at a shady nightclub. He brushed it off: “You call these scratches injuries?” When I kept sulking, he would just shut me up with a kiss. That summer, we loved each other desperately on that tiny bed, as if trying to exhaust all our energy. Before college started, he took me to the mall. With a wave of his hand, he bought me a new iPhone, a laptop, and a whole new wardrobe. We even went to see the ocean together. The salty sea breeze, the circling seagulls, the endless expanse of blue. It was my first time seeing the ocean. I was so excited I took countless photos. I secretly set a photo of us together as my phone’s lock screen. But when he saw it, he frowned: “Change it.” I froze. He didn’t want anyone to know about our relationship. I silently lowered my head, fighting the sting in my nose, and deleted the photo. He handed me a debit card. “Just focus on your studies from now on. Don’t keep running back here. I don’t have time to see you.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “395084”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

To keep myself fed, I posted a thread online: [Private Investigator. Can provide all kinds of tracking services. Price: Just 10 bags of cookies.] Soon, I received my very first order as a cockroach. A girl contacted me, wanting me to secretly investigate her boyfriend. I replied enthusiastically: [Rest assured, client. My tracking skills are top-notch.] The other side seemed a bit worried: [He has a lot of social events outside of work. You’d better get a few more people to tail him.] [Don’t worry, I’ll bring my sisters along to track him.] [Oh? How many sisters are you bringing?] [A hundred and thirty thousand!] 1 The apartment was covered in dust. I had been crawling up and down for half a month and still hadn’t found a single bite to eat. Roach Bro Two was lying flat inside an empty cracker tin. He said weakly: “Stop wasting your energy. No one lives in this apartment. There’s not going to be any food.” “We’re all going to starve to death eventually.” “Oh, mama, I’ve only been alive for two weeks. I really don’t want to die.” I rolled my eyes at him. When other people die, they turn into cats or dogs. Me? I turned into a cockroach. And a cockroach on the verge of starving to death, at that. I sighed at the ceiling. Even turning into a slightly larger bug would have been fine! At least then I wouldn’t have lost so miserably in a fight with that spider in the corner last night. I had forgotten how I died. All I knew was that I was living in a small, unoccupied studio apartment. Hiding in the dark during the day, and hiding in the darker dark at night. In this empty apartment, the only thing left was a smartphone plugged into a charger. In an apartment with no water or electricity shut off, the phone’s battery remained fully charged. Even though I forgot the circumstances of my death. The instinct to hustle and grind for money… That was carved into my very soul. The other cockroaches affectionately called me “Hustle Roach.” I crawled back and forth on the phone a few times. With a tap of my antennae, I successfully traced the unlock pattern. The phone glowed faintly in the darkness. I logged onto Reddit. I rubbed my antennae hard, and a spark of genius hit my tiny, rice-grain-sized brain. I could earn food through the internet! As a top-tier hustler, even if I turned into a cockroach, I still had to work hard to earn my keep, right? Poke, poke, poke went my antennae on the screen. I published a post on a local subreddit: [Private Investigator. Can provide all kinds of tracking services. Price: Just 10 bags of cookies.] Half an hour later, the phone chimed. My first business deal had arrived! 2 I was so excited my antennae were dancing. They flew across the phone screen, a blur of motion. [Throwaway123: Hi, I just met my boyfriend two months ago, but I always feel like he’s hiding something from me. Could you secretly investigate him for me?] [InnocentMamaRoach: No problem! Leave it to me. My tracking skills are top-notch.] [Throwaway123: But… he has a lot of social events, and his social circle is complicated. You’d better get a few more people to tail him.] [InnocentMamaRoach: Don’t worry, I’ll bring my sisters along to track him.] [Throwaway123: Oh? How many sisters are you bringing?] [InnocentMamaRoach: We’ll start with 130,000. If that’s not enough, I’ll call for backup.] The other side went silent. After a long while, a message popped up: [Throwaway123: Bringing that many people… it must be really expensive, right? I… I don’t have much money on me…] [InnocentMamaRoach: It’s not expensive. The price is just ten bags of cookies. Chocolate and strawberry flavors are preferred.] [Throwaway123: That cheap? Thank you so much! How should I address you?] [InnocentMamaRoach: My last name is Roach.] [Throwaway123: ??] [InnocentMamaRoach: Sorry, typo. My last name is Rose.] End of chat. Even though Roach Bro Two was dizzy with hunger, he still wobbled out of the cracker tin. Full of energy: “Let’s go now while it’s the middle of the night! The sooner we finish the investigation for the client, the sooner we get the cookies.” “I’m a roach with refined tastes. I only eat fresh food. I absolutely refuse to look at anything from the garbage can.” A group of cockroaches nodded in agreement. They looked at me with hopeful eyes. Throwaway123 had sent over the address and a photo of the guy. The guy in the photo looked familiar. But I couldn’t remember where I had seen him before. I shook my head. I quickly rallied the troops: “There’s a hole in the window over there. Don’t panic, everyone, crawl out one by one. Tonight, we’re pulling off a big heist!” 3 The man in front of me was currently drinking and boasting with his friends. A massive pile of empty beer bottles covered the table. I squinted, carefully recalling the photo Throwaway123 had given me. I confirmed the man in front of me, Mark Sullivan, was her boyfriend. The room reeked of alcohol. It was a sweltering summer night, and a few shirtless men were flattering him: “Mark, you’re the man! Just a few sweet words and you coaxed your girlfriend into marrying you.” “I wonder how much the engagement ring is going to cost?” Mark downed a glass of beer. A greasy look of triumph spread across his face. “Pfft, what engagement ring? Tomorrow I’ll call her out, and once we sleep together and I get her pregnant, she’ll have to marry me whether she wants to or not.” “By then, not only do I save money on the ring, but I’ll also have someone to pay off my hundred grand gambling debt.” Someone asked doubtfully: “What if she doesn’t agree?” “We’re already officially dating, why wouldn’t she agree? If she doesn’t, I’ll just force it. We’re boyfriend and girlfriend anyway, it’s perfectly natural for that to happen.” “Even if she posts about it online, the bros will still support me.” A second round of flattery erupted. No one noticed the balcony. Roach Bro Two was directing a few large cockroaches carrying a voice recorder. They were crawling inside, panting heavily. “A little to the left… right, right… carefully, everyone. Boss Roach said this thing is super expensive.” I had found this voice recorder in the empty apartment. It was fully charged. I used all my strength to press the record button. It started recording normally. Roach Bro Two looked at me with admiration: “Boss Roach, the first time I saw you, I knew you were different from the other roaches.” “How did you learn to use this high-tech human stuff?” I pinched his mouth shut hard with my antennae: “Shut up and focus on the recording.” “This is the first order we got online. We absolutely cannot mess this up!” The voice recorder was dropped in an inconspicuous corner of the living room. A glowing red light indicated it was working hard. Mark was clearly drunk. The more he talked, the more excited he got. “Once she has the kid, I’ve got to set some strict rules for her. Let me tell you guys, right after a woman has a baby is the best time to train her to be obedient.” “…” The voice recorder worked continuously until the early hours of the morning. After the men in the room had all passed out drunk. Roach Bro Two first crawled onto the dining table, casting a disgusted glance at the leftover food. Then he complained to me: “This stuff is gross. I still think snacks taste the best.” The other cockroaches nodded in agreement. Hopeful eyes all turned towards me. The voice recorder was carried away. I patted my chest with my antennae, guaranteeing: “Don’t worry, once we finish this job, we’ll have cookies to eat immediately.” That night, after I crawled back to our place. I immediately opened the phone and sent all the recordings to Throwaway123. 4 Throwaway123 cried all night. Early the next morning, she sent me a message. [Throwaway123: Rose, thank you for letting me see his true colors. I just broke up with him. By the way, I bought the cookies you wanted. Where should I send them?] [InnocentMamaRoach: Riverside Apartments, Unit 1, Apt 405. Just leave them at the door. Remember to tear open all the packaging.] The packaging nowadays is made too tough. My teeth couldn’t bite through it at all. Around noon. Footsteps sounded at the door. A young woman appeared at the door and knocked gently. Roach Bro Two was so scared he hid back in the empty cracker tin. She knocked on the door for a long time. There was no sound from inside. From the door came the rustling sound of packaging being torn open. Then, the footsteps faded away. Everyone cheered excitedly. They all crawled to the door, working hard to carry the cookies inside the apartment. Roach Bro Two was working especially hard. Finally, he took a huge bite of a strawberry-flavored Oreo. His two antennae stood straight up, as if he’d been electrocuted. “This is the exact flavor! It’s so authentic!” I also nibbled on a cookie. It was so good I squinted my eyes. But after eating my fill, I started to worry again. I was clearly a human, how did I turn into a cockroach? More importantly, how could I change back? I thought about this problem all afternoon but couldn’t figure it out. Around dusk, the phone chimed. I crawled over and unlocked it. It was a message from Throwaway123. But the tone didn’t sound like her at all. [Throwaway123: Motherf***er, you’re the one who stirred the pot and made my girlfriend break up with me, aren’t you? I hate you nosy best friends causing trouble behind my back! Good thing I remembered her Reddit password, otherwise I wouldn’t have found you! I’ve already memorized your address, you just wait for me tonight!] Roach Bro Two couldn’t read. He burped and crawled next to me. “Boss Roach, do we have another order? This time I want to try mango-flavored cookies.” “It’s an enemy coming to seek revenge.” “Huh? Is it the cat next door or that dead rat in the sewer?” “It’s a human.” As soon as I finished speaking. Violent pounding sounded on the door outside. 5 BAM! CRASH! It shook so hard my two antennae trembled. Even Spider Bro, who had been lying motionless in the corner all day, started cursing: “What the hell are you knocking for?! The web I worked so hard to spin just broke in several places.” “Piss me off, and I’ll crawl on his face tonight and spin a web right there.” Roach Bro Two let out another burp: “Should have said so earlier! What’s there to be afraid of with humans? Obviously, they are more afraid of us.” Inside the cabinets, countless cockroaches poked their little heads out. Listening in confusion to the commotion outside. Mark’s furious voice rang out from outside the door: “Open the door! I know you’re in there!” “Won’t open it, huh? I have my ways of getting in!” The sound of a power drill started up. To break down the door, Mark actually brought a power drill. The noise was deafening, making my ears ring. Spider Bro fell from the corner to the floor. Roach Bro Two covered his ears with his antennae: “Boss Roach, what do we do?” Tens of thousands of heads popped out from the corners, waiting for my command. I called out: “When the door opens, everyone fly right at his face.” Tens of thousands of cockroaches nodded in unison. I also gave my wings a shake. I’m a proud Southern cockroach. I can crawl and I can fly, and I’m much bigger and stronger than those tiny Northern ones. The door lock was finally drilled through. Mark kicked the door open. He stood in the darkness, looking like a demon. I furrowed my brow and yelled: “Everyone, get ready—” Mark reached out to feel for the light switch in the entryway. While yelling: “Dead bitch, get the hell out here!” 6 Overwhelming. Airtight. Tens of thousands of cockroaches flapped their tiny wings, crashing into Mark’s face as if their lives depended on it. The arrogance on Mark’s face instantly turned into terror. His throat felt like it was stuffed with a wad of wet cotton. His mouth was wide open. But he couldn’t let out a single word. It wasn’t until the brave leader, Roach Bro Two, landed squarely on the tip of his nose. They made eye contact. Behind Roach Bro Two, there were tens of thousands more eyes. Mark couldn’t hold it in any longer. A blood-curdling scream pierced the quiet night sky. He stumbled and rushed out the door. He tumbled down the stairs. And broke a leg on the spot. Roach Bro Two proudly straightened his antennae: “What did I tell you? Clearly, humans are more afraid of us.” Behind him, the swarm of cockroaches also followed suit, giving their antennae a shake. In the stairwell. Dragging his broken leg, Mark desperately shrank into a corner. While continuously swatting at the cockroaches crawling on his body, his voice practically broke: “Get off! Get off me!” “Ah! Help!” Cockroaches fell to the floor in droves. But a fresh batch of cockroaches continued to crawl on him. There were even a few cockroaches that got crushed by his flailing. And from their bellies crawled out a bunch of even tinier cockroaches. In the end. Dragging his broken leg, Mark limped away and escaped this apartment building. The phone on the table rang. It was sent by my first client, Sarah. [Throwaway123: Rose, Mark logged into my Reddit account, is he going to go cause trouble for you?] [InnocentMamaRoach: He already came by, just escaped dragging a broken leg.] [Throwaway123: ? Wow, Rose, you are so badass!] [InnocentMamaRoach: Thanks for the compliment. If you have any future tracking missions, remember to find me again! Great quality, low prices, and you don’t have to worry about my personal safety.] The cookies Throwaway123 brought were enough for us to eat for a month. Just as I was eager to continue sending messages online to take a second order. Sarah contacted me anxiously again.

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During the annual company meeting, a new intern publicly accused me of embezzling company funds. The entire office stared at me in absolute shock. Flashing a financial statement on the big screen, the intern smirked triumphantly. “The CEO transferred $30,000 to you for office bonuses, yet you only gave us $200 gift cards each?” “There are only forty of us. As the CFO, you pocketed nearly $22,000 for yourself! If you don’t pay this back right now, I’m calling the cops!” The CEO sighed, leaning back in his chair, while my other colleagues remained silent. They all knew something the intern didn’t. That $30,000 transfer wasn’t a bonus fund. It was the annual lease payment for the office space. And I own the building. 01 The conference room was so quiet I could hear the hum of the HVAC system. Chloe stood at the far end of the long mahogany table, gripping her phone. The screen was facing outwards, displaying a screenshot of a bank transfer record. She looked righteously indignant, but I caught the shimmer of excitement in her eyes. It was the thrill of a junior employee who thought she’d caught a C-suite executive red-handed, ready to burn down the old guard. “The boss transferred you thirty grand. Today, you handed out bonuses—two hundred bucks via digital gift cards to each person. You pocketed over twenty-two thousand dollars in the middle!” “Ms. Evans, you’re stealing the hard-earned money of everyday people. How do you sleep at night?” How do I sleep? Usually on high-thread-count sheets that I bought myself. That $30,000 was the annual rent payment from the company to me. According to the actual budget, there were supposed to be no employee bonuses this year. Every dime of that $200 per person came directly out of my own pocket. I just wanted to start the year off on a good note for the team. I’d done this every year for the past five years. Everyone in that room, except Chloe, knew the situation. I raised my eyes to look at my colleagues. The moment our gazes met, they snapped their heads away, looking anywhere but at me. Mark, who had lost a three-million-dollar account last year and cried in my office begging me to save his job, was now staring intently at a blank piece of paper, scribbling nonsense. The junior analysts I had hired and mentored personally for the last year kept their heads low, acting as if they were attending my funeral. My heart went cold in a single instant. Face expressionless, I turned to look at the man sitting in the central power seat: Brandon. “Brandon, what do you have to say?” Brandon Miller was my boyfriend of seven years. However, our relationship had never been disclosed to the company. Five years ago, when we graduated from college, he was obsessed with starting his own firm. I supported him completely. Without hesitation, I handed over the keys to a prime piece of commercial real estate listed under my name for his office. I charged him only 30% of the market rate for rent. Brandon was ambitious and worked brutally hard. He handled the tech; I handled the business operations. We grew the company quickly. For these five years, I had never taken a single dime in salary. Every bit of profit was reinvested into the business. He always said he’d make it up to me once the company stabilized, but currently, I was even paying the office utility bills out of my personal account. Chloe stomped her foot impatiently. “Mr. Miller! I know Ms. Evans is a company veteran, but she can’t be allowed to abuse her position like this. If she dares to steal bonus money, who knows how much she’s skimmed off other projects.” I locked eyes with Brandon. I watched his brows knit tighter and tighter together. Finally, he opened his mouth slowly. “Harper, we can’t let the team lose morale. Just… take care of it. Put the money back and distribute it fairly.” I heard something inside me click. It didn’t break. It detached. It was like letting go of a heavy weight I’d been holding for years. My muscles ached from the effort, but I didn’t have to strain anymore. Five years ago, in the early days of the startup, I developed a bleeding ulcer from drinking too much at a business dinner trying to land a critical contract. Brandon’s eyes had been full of heartache then. He swore he’d give me every cent the company made. He blamed himself for not being strong enough. He said he was the luckiest man alive to have me. Now, with a net worth approaching ten million, he was accusing me of stealing. Chloe looked at me with the smug arrogance of a victor. “Ms. Evans, if you refuse to pay it back, I will personally call the police for you.” She planted her hands on the table, leaning forward, surveying the room like a conquering queen. “Or, you could ask around and see if anyone here is willing to give up their bonus to bail you out.” Absolute silence filled the conference room. You could have heard a pin drop. I glanced at Sarah, sitting across from me. Just yesterday, on the last day of break, she had text me, dropping massive hints about hoping for a good bonus and complaining about how cheap Brandon was. Now, her head was buried lower than anyone’s. Seeing that I wasn’t speaking, Chloe seemed to lose patience. “I bet you’ve already spent the other twenty-two grand! Fine, save your explanations for the cops. Twenty-two thousand is grand larceny. That’s good for a few years in a cell, right?” Brandon frowned, looking like he wanted to stop Chloe from going too far. But I spoke first, my voice cutting through the tension. “Don’t bother.” Ignoring Brandon, I looked at Chloe with a blank stare. “I will return the money to the source account. How it gets distributed after that is none of my concern.” I saw a flash of pleasant surprise in Brandon’s eyes. He thought he saw an opportunity to save on future rent. I stood up and walked straight out of the conference room. The moment I was in the hallway, I called a real estate agent and listed the office space for lease. Prime downtown location. Agents were fighting over the listing. “Ms. Evans, a spot like this will rent in a heartbeat. I guarantee I can get you at least $100,000 a year for this floor!” I looked back through the glass wall at Brandon, still sitting smugly in the conference room. “The current tenant’s annual lease is up in ten days,” I told the agent. “Contact them then about renewal. But quote them the full market rate.” “If they make a scene, call the police immediately for trespassing.” Brandon wanted his $30,000 back, but he was about to lose a hundred times that. 02 About half an hour later, the staff filed out of the conference room, chattering excitedly. Mark was practically groveling to Chloe, bringing her water. “Chloe, seriously, thank you so much. I ended up with an extra eight grand!” Sarah shot me a nasty look and began talking loudly to no one in particular. “Wow, I really misjudged someone. I was practically thanking her while she was selling me out. Stealing that much money from us, and we were supposed to be grateful? People are truly wicked.” I felt no emotional ripple inside. If a man I’d loved for seven years could screw me over, what did I care about some random colleagues? I went to the break room, filled my mug with water, and calmly watched the storm they were brewing against me. Brandon materialized beside me. I hadn’t noticed him approach. “Harper, this is all for the good of the company. I’m just being objective. You can’t let personal feelings get in the way of business.” I nodded, agreeing completely. Brandon seemed satisfied with my reaction. “I knew it. You’ve always been rational.” Then he looked over at Chloe, who was laughing amidst a group of people. “Chloe is young. Her methods might be a bit… aggressive, but you can tell the girl has the company’s best interests at heart.” “She’s smart, too.” I looked at Brandon. He was staring at Chloe, a slight smile playing on his lips. I let out a soft laugh and put down my water mug. “You’re right. She sounds like management material.” A flash of surprise registered in Brandon’s eyes. “You think so too?” I nodded. “Young, smart. If you mentor her personally, she’ll be able to run a department on her own in no time.” Brandon’s eyes were practically beaming. I thought the conversation was over, but I had underestimated human greed. Just as I was about to leave, Brandon called out to me. “Harper, haven’t you been saying lately that you’re too tired and want a break? Hand over the Anderson account to Chloe.” I froze. That was the company’s biggest account. Series C financing. It was directly tied to whether the company could successfully expand or go public. I had been preparing for this for over a year. “I know how important this account is,” Brandon continued. “I’ll supervise personally. It’s a great mentoring opportunity for her.” I paused, then smiled. “Okay.” Brandon didn’t know that without me, even if he went in person, that deal would never close. Because the “Mr. Anderson” who was prepared to invest in him was my father. I am the only child of the Anderson family, the sole heir to the Anderson conglomerate. My dad had been nagging me to come back and take over the family business since I graduated. I told him to wait a bit—wait until Brandon’s company was stable, wait until I brought him home to meet the family. Now, there was no need to go home, and there was certainly no need for the investment to continue. 03 Brandon promoted Chloe to be his personal executive assistant. This meteoric rise made Chloe absolutely insufferable. She ditched her old trendy clothes and started wearing tight pencil skirts, black nylons, and red-bottomed heels. She marched around the office all day, clutching files like she owned the place. And of course, her favorite pastime was gloating in front of me. “Ms. Evans, I really have to thank you. Entrusting me with such a massive account for the company.” “Mr. Miller said we need to thank you for your willingness to sacrifice your own position for the sake of the new generation. But don’t you worry, with Mr. Miller mentoring me personally, I will improve so fast I won’t let anyone down.” “Once I successfully close this financing round, I’ll tell Mr. Miller he has to take you out to dinner as a thank you.” Her malice was blatant, like a needle pricking at me. She had no idea that this financing round, which the company had spent a year preparing for, was about to get crushed in her hands. I glanced at the calendar. “It’s in a week. Good luck.” Perhaps my reaction was too calm; it made her look like the one losing her cool. Chloe paused, then spat out furiously, “Keep acting calm! Once I land Mr. Anderson, we’ll see if there’s even a desk left for you in this building!” I smiled, saying nothing. From that day forward, I, the CFO, became a complete pariah. Wherever I walked, people dispersed like scattered birds. If the break room was noisy with chatter, it would go dead silent the second I walked in. People would grab their cups and leave. In the cafeteria, if someone saw me, they would immediately pick up their tray and switch tables, as if I were contagious. I didn’t care. I actually enjoyed the peace and quiet. For once, I didn’t have to work overtime. I left right on time and went straight to Brandon’s house. We had been effectively living together for years. It was almost funny—hanging in his bedroom was the very first contract I had landed five years ago. He had framed it, claiming he would always remember the excitement and passion of that day. I packed up all my belongings. Before leaving, I took one last look at that contract. Some people can share wealth but not hardship. Brandon was the opposite. The next day when I walked into the office, everyone was shooting me weird looks. I walked quickly to my office, only to find all my personal belongings thrown outside the door like trash. Chloe was sitting in my chair. When she turned around, her face was covered in a victorious smirk. “Oh, sorry. Mr. Miller said separate offices should be reserved for employees who actually contribute to the company.” “As of today, this office is mine.” She stood up, smoothing her skirt, and casually pointed to an empty, cramped desk in the far corner of the open-plan floor. “That’s your new spot.” Everyone outside was waiting to watch the show. “Looks like Harper really pissed off the boss. Imagine being bullied like that by an intern who’s only been here three months.” “Well, she stole company money. She deserves it.” Hearing these comments, Chloe leaned close to my ear, her tone dripping with triumph. “Here’s some news for you: Anderson Corp said they are coming in this afternoon to discuss the financing. I’m going to prove to you that without you, this company will only do better!” She was waiting for me to melt down, to scream, to slink away in shame. I completely ignored her and looked down at my phone, replying to my dad’s message. “Harper, Dad is preparing to personally come over to discuss the investment.” “If that boy performs well this time, I’ll start letting him take over some of the family properties.” I smiled at Chloe, then typed back to my dad: “Dad, I want to come back to Anderson Corp. I want to handle this meeting as the heir to Anderson Corp.” My dad replied with multiple excited “Okay” emojis. I smiled. Chloe wouldn’t suspect in her wildest dreams that the client she was about to meet was me. The position she was trying so hard to steal belonged to the owner of the entire building. After returning to my cramped desk, I made a call to the head of my father’s legal team. “Ms. Anderson, what are your instructions?” I looked through the glass wall at the smirk on Chloe’s face. “The preliminary meeting scheduled with the startup today? Cancel it.” 04 Within five minutes, Brandon slammed out of his office. “Chloe! What did you do? Why did Anderson Corp suddenly cancel today’s meeting?” Chloe froze, looking completely lost. Brandon continued yelling, “This financing round is the future of this company! No one is allowed to screw this up!” Every employee looked up. Chloe’s eyes immediately turned red with tears. “Mr. Miller, I swear I didn’t do anything.” Brandon was a workaholic. He drove himself hard and was brutal on his subordinates. Everyone kept their heads down, terrified to speak. But this time, Brandon actually massaged his temples and softened his tone. “I’m not blaming you.” I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Then, I watched him walk straight toward me. To my corner desk—the smallest, crappiest spot on the floor. “Harper, you were the one originally in charge of contacting Anderson Corp. Call them again.” I glanced at my completely empty desk. “All the files regarding Anderson Corp were transferred to your new assistant. I don’t have the contact info anymore.” “You…!” Brandon’s face went dark. He turned, walked back to his office, and slammed the door. Such blatant preferential treatment made everyone look at Chloe with even more reverence. Excellent. Brandon had just cleared the last hurdle for me to let go. Because of this little hiccup, Brandon became obsessed. The Anderson Corp legal team text me almost every day: “Ms. Anderson, that Brandon Miller guy is trying to contact us again. The scheduled site visit for Wednesday… are we still doing that?” Of course. Brandon thought he could ice me out and make me useless. Being sidelined and isolated might have broken someone else. Too bad for him, he picked the wrong person to bully. Two days before the client visit, the entire company went into high-alert combat mode. Tuesday afternoon, Brandon held a four-hour meeting, micro-managing exactly where every employee should be standing on Wednesday. Only I was completely excluded, enjoying my free time. The projector was displaying Anderson Corp’s profile—from my dad’s rags-to-riches story to his investment portfolio from the last three years. “This investment is vital to the company. No one is allowed to make a mistake.” “I heard Mr. Anderson likes Longjing tea. Chloe, make sure you have the best quality ready.” He had done his homework. His research was meticulous regarding the client’s tastes. Unfortunately, he failed to research that Mr. Anderson had a daughter named Harper Evans. After the meeting, Brandon called me aside, his tone unusually soft. “Harper, I didn’t assign you any tasks because I want you to rest.” “Once this busy period is over, I’ll take you on a vacation, okay?” Having been together for seven years, how could I not understand Brandon’s subtext? “Don’t worry. I won’t say a word that day.” Brandon paused, the shadow of anxiety in his eyes fading significantly. Wednesday arrived. Everyone was at their desks thirty minutes early. “The Anderson Corp team arrives at ten! Everyone, get to work!” At 9:50, my dad’s assistant text me. “Ms. Anderson, Mr. Anderson has instructed that you are in full charge of this financing round.” “We are outside. Is it okay to come in?” I glanced at Brandon and Chloe waiting by the elevator doors. “Come on up.” A moment later, Chloe suddenly got excited. “They’re here! They’re here!” A black Maybach slowly pulled up to the curb outside. Brandon took a deep breath, straightened his tie, and strode toward the elevator bay. Chloe jogged to keep up with him, her high heels clicking against the floor like the opening drumroll of a grand performance. The car doors opened. It wasn’t my dad who stepped out. It was his lead assistant. Seeing that my dad hadn’t come personally, Brandon paused for a second, but quickly extended his hand. “Hello, sir. Is Mr. Anderson not…” The assistant completely ignored Brandon. His eyes locked onto me, standing way in the back, in the pariah section. He strode directly toward me…

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Every single Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law and her family hitch a ride in my car to go back to my husband’s hometown. This year, I asked her to chip in for gas just once. She immediately went on Facebook and blasted me. “Need advice: My sister-in-law is forcing me to pay for gas, what should I do?” “Hey everyone, do you actually have to pay to ride in your own brother’s car?” When the comments started calling her a freeloader, she doubled down and reported my car to my employer as a “bribe.” She almost cost me my career. My in-laws called me petty and demanded I apologize to her. I snapped. I literally flipped the Thanksgiving dinner table. Did they really think I was just some pushover they could walk all over? 01 Right before Thanksgiving week, my sister-in-law, Chloe, sent her usual request to hitch a ride. “Hey Harper, we’re riding with you guys again this year. When are we heading out?” “My brother said we’re leaving on the 24th, just wanted to check with you.” Reading the message, a wave of intense irritation washed over me. Just thinking about them freeloading in my car again made me wish the engine would just spontaneously combust. I replied bluntly, “Wouldn’t it be faster for you guys to just buy train tickets? It’s only a two-hour ride.” Chloe, sensing my annoyance, quickly tried to smooth things over. “Train tickets are so hard to get around the holidays! I’m so sorry, Harper, I really am.” I scoffed inwardly. Before Chloe got married, giving her a ride wasn’t a big deal. But since she got married, her family of three brings multiple huge suitcases, packing the trunk so tight I barely have room for my own things. To make matters worse, her husband, Greg, has zero social grace. The moment he gets in the car, he glues his face to his phone. The moment we stop, he runs off to the bathroom. Treating us like a free taxi service is bad enough, but he also spends the entire trip backseat driving and complaining. Their three-year-old son is a nightmare, too. The back of the front seats are always covered in his muddy footprints. When we stop at rest stops, they actually have the nerve to ask me to buy snacks and drinks for their kid. As for the gas and tolls for the entire trip? They pretend those expenses don’t exist. I’m not against giving them a ride. Once or twice is fine. But every single year? And acting so entitled about it? Does my money grow on trees? 02 When my husband, Ben, got home from work, he asked cautiously, “Honey, did you and Chloe get into a fight?” I glared at him, feeling even more annoyed. Even though we don’t live with my in-laws, having a sister-in-law who constantly complains to them is exhausting. They both have their own families now, but they still can’t establish normal boundaries. I sat on the couch, crossing my arms. “Every year we go back to your hometown for Thanksgiving, your sister’s family hitches a ride. Can’t they just buy their own train tickets?” Ben scratched his head and leaned in with a goofy smile. “Babe, you know tickets are hard to get during the holidays!” “Be the bigger person. It’s just a ride, no big deal.” Right then, my coworkers were sending links in our work group chat, asking people to help them get waitlisted train tickets. “Hey guys, click the link to boost my spot in line. Getting home depends on you all!” “Just need two more clicks, thanks everyone.” … I clicked on the profile of a coworker heading to a city near my in-laws’ hometown and messaged him privately. “Hey Mark, did you manage to get your train ticket home?” Mark replied quickly, “Got it, Harper! Tickets were easy to get this year. They added two extra train lines to that route.” “So jealous of you, Harper, getting to drive home.” I opened the Amtrak app and searched for tickets to my in-laws’ town. There were seven trains, and three of them still had plenty of seats. I immediately took a screenshot and sent it to Chloe, telling them to buy tickets fast. “These three trains still have seats. You guys can buy them right now.” “The cost of three tickets is less than the gas for the drive, and it’s safer.” Last time we drove back, her son accidentally slammed his head into the car door, leaving a massive, swollen lump. It terrified me. If something serious actually happened, selling the car wouldn’t even cover the lawsuit. I had constantly suggested she take the train with the kid because it was safer and more convenient, but she always ignored me. Thinking about it, I forwarded her an article about child car safety. The author emphasized the absolute necessity of car seats for children. I added a helpful reminder: “Chloe, I don’t have a car seat in my car. It’s fine for adults, but it’s genuinely really dangerous for a kid.” Chloe didn’t reply. I had no idea if she even read it. Shortly after, I received a Venmo transfer for $50. The note read: Gas money. I replied: “?” Chloe still didn’t reply to me directly, but she posted a screenshot of our chat in the family group text. “Having to pay gas money to ride in my own brother’s car… that’s a new one.” “But whatever, I won’t make a fuss. I paid the gas money.” “I guess some families just have to nickel-and-dime everything. Lol!” That “Lol!” felt like a needle in my eye. I was just about to type a furious response when Ben walked out of the bathroom, fresh from the shower. He wrapped his arms around me, his hands wandering over my waist. “Watcha looking at, beautiful?” I angrily shoved him away and shoved the phone in his face, telling him to look at what his precious sister had said. “Look at what your sister wrote! What does she mean I ‘nickel-and-dime’ everything?” “I was genuinely concerned for her kid’s safety. If something happened, your whole family would tear me apart.” “Besides, we’ve been married for five years. They hitch a ride every single time and never contribute a dime. Why should I put up with it?” The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I stood up, ready to list every single offense. But Ben just frowned and looked at me with absolute disdain. “Why can’t you just be generous for once? Why do you have to be so petty about every little thing?” “Are we really hurting for fifty bucks of gas money?” “If you act like this, how are we supposed to face my parents when we go back?” Looking at his aggressive, accusatory face, I was stunned. So, in the eyes of his entire family, I was just a petty, vindictive shrew? It wasn’t enough that his sister’s family constantly took advantage of us; I was also expected to bow down, smile, and be at their beck and call? I reminded him, “This car was a gift from my parents before we got married. It’s not a company car for your family.” Hearing that, he completely lost it. He violently threw the towel in his hand right at my face. His expression twisted into a snarl I had never seen before. I dodged it. He lunged forward, grabbing my arm, his voice cold. “How much longer are you going to hold this stupid car over my head? Do you look down on me?” I just wanted to remind him that the car belonged to our household, and I had the right to decide who used it. But he felt emasculated, assuming I was looking down on him. Dealing with such a childish, fragile husband was exhausting. When we were dating, I only cared about how much he seemed to care about me. I completely ignored his family dynamic. My parents had given me enough financial security that I didn’t have to act like a subservient, walking-on-eggshells wife. But after we got married, his true nature slowly revealed itself. His paranoia and sensitivity constantly left me unable to defend myself against his ridiculous accusations. Looking at his furious face, it looked like he was a second away from hitting me. I was terrified. I quickly shook my head. “No, you’re overthinking it. I was just stating the facts.” Just then, an obnoxious ringtone blared. He let go of me and answered his phone. “Hey Mom, yeah, we’re driving back on the 24th.” “No, no, I was just kidding! Why would I ever make Chloe pay for gas?” “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.” He hung up the phone and glared at me coldly. “Harper, behave yourself when we go back for Thanksgiving. Don’t start any drama.” 03 The next day at work, my department director called me into his office. “Harper, have you been meeting with anyone unusual lately?” I was confused. I’m just a mid-level employee in a state government agency; who would I be meeting with? But I answered honestly, “Just a few contractors to discuss the project guidelines for next quarter.” The director poured me a cup of water, his tone cautious. “Um… did they happen to give you anything?” It hit me. In our line of work, the biggest fear is improper relationships with contractors. Bribery is a career death sentence. I immediately stood up to defend myself. “Sir, all my meetings with contractors are recorded on security cameras. I can absolutely stand up to any investigation.” Seeing how agitated I was, the director quickly told me to sit down. I then learned that someone had submitted an anonymous tip accusing me of accepting bribes, and even claiming my recent promotion was rigged. The whistleblower was highly informed about my financial situation, specifically pointing out my $40,000 Mercedes. “How can a mid-level state employee afford such an expensive car?” “I have evidence of her accepting bribes. I hope management strictly investigates this bad apple.” The “evidence” was a blurry video shot in a hotel hallway. In the video, I was standing at my hotel room door, taking a delivery bag from a courier. The bag had a luxury brand logo on it. The whistleblower had zoomed in heavily on the logo. I watched the video two or three times before finally remembering what happened. A while ago, I was on a business trip in the city where my aunt lives. She was rushing to catch a flight overseas, so she hired a courier to drop off a gift for me at my hotel. That scarf was still hanging in my closet. How did this end up as a bribery accusation? Even though I had proof, the director decided it was best to put me on paid leave to avoid any negative optics. “Just take the vacation time you’ve accrued. Come back when the dust settles.” “Don’t overthink it. Just relax. It’s a good time to focus on getting pregnant.” The director patted my shoulder, noticing my gloomy expression. He called it “vacation,” but in reality, it was a soft suspension. If I actually got pregnant during this time, I probably wouldn’t have a job to come back to. Having worked here for years, I knew how the corporate politics played out. I felt completely defeated, both at work and at home. And just to make things worse, Chloe was still causing a scene in the family group chat. She forwarded a viral TikTok video about a college student getting a ride home for the holidays with her uncle, but her aunt demanded gas money. The comment section was filled with people calling out freeloaders, defending the college student. “I gave my uncle a few hundred bucks when I rode with him. If it was more than that, I wouldn’t have given him a dime.” “Remember to tell your mom about this.” “I relate to this so much, I’d get yelled at by my sister for sure.” But occasionally, there were one or two comments sarcastically calling the poster a “freeloader.” … Coupled with the $50 she had sent me earlier, it was hard not to conclude she was targeting me, the “aunt” in her scenario. In the family group chat, my mother-in-law fired the first shot: “What does this mean? Asking for money to ride in your own uncle’s car? What kind of logic is that?” An aunt chimed in: “It’s just a ride, why be so calculating? What, does having an extra person in the car burn more gas?” Chloe played the innocent victim: “She’s probably just tired of us riding with her, so she’s getting annoyed.” My mother-in-law fired back immediately: “Even if you rode with her every day, she shouldn’t complain! Does your kid call her ‘Auntie’ for nothing?” Every word, every sentence implicitly pointed at me, and everyone knew it. I was so annoyed I just started typing: “So, calling someone ‘Auntie’ means you get a free ride for life?” “Being a freeloader and acting so entitled about it… what kind of upbringing is that?” “When parents don’t know basic manners, their kids learn the exact same thing.” I didn’t know the full context of the video she posted, but based on the original poster’s reaction, I could guess they had probably never offered to pay before. The poster’s mother probably didn’t have a great relationship with her brother and sister-in-law either. Otherwise, why would the aunt make things difficult for her niece? Putting myself in the aunt’s shoes, I felt like the sky was falling. The older generation and the younger generation all thought I should just be a free chauffeur. Asking for money meant I was being petty. The kids were unhappy, the elders were oblivious, and they all felt entirely entitled. How many times could this so-called “family bond” endure this kind of wear and tear? Seeing me push back so hard, Chloe got sarcastic. “Wow, you have a car, so you’re better than everyone else? Now you’re bringing ‘upbringing’ into this?” “It’s just a dirty car anyway, what’s there to be so proud of?” My eyes locked onto the words “dirty car,” and a spark of realization flashed in my mind. I seized on her words and demanded, “What do you mean? What do you mean ‘dirty car’?” “My parents bought me this car! Watch your mouth!!!” Triggered by my response, Chloe stopped hiding behind veiled insults and went fully on the offensive. “Your parents are just ordinary office workers! Where would they get that kind of money?” “You have an older brother! Why would they buy you a car?” “Anyone can see that car was a ‘gift’ from someone else. You probably opened a lot of ‘back doors’ for people, didn’t you?!” Seeing her so boldly and confidently admit it, a sharp pain shot through my chest. To pass the civil service exam, I had locked myself in my room for three straight months, barely stepping outside. After getting hired, I worked tirelessly, extremely careful not to make a single mistake. To audit accounts, I practically lived at the office. Among the new hires in my cohort, I worked the most overtime, and I was the only one without political connections. Six months later, my results were undeniable, and my promotion was a given. All my financial records and interpersonal dealings could withstand any audit. And now, just because I didn’t want her freeloading anymore, she threw dirty water on me. With a report like that on my record, my career was stained. Future promotions would definitely pass me over. I was shaking with anger, words tumbling out recklessly: “My parents bought me that car because they love me! You don’t have parents who love you, go cry to them about it!” “This year, even if I have to smash the car to pieces, I am not taking your family.” “Get lost, freeloader!” 04 When I got home, I was so furious I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to just drive the car back to my parents’ house and buy a train ticket to my in-laws’ town. But when I got to the garage, it was empty. Ben stammered and avoided my eyes, finally claiming that a good buddy of his was going on a blind date and borrowed our car to look impressive. “My buddy is a great driver, nothing will happen to it.” “He just took it to pick up the girl for dinner, he’ll bring it back soon.” I felt a sharp pain in my chest. How many times had this happened? Five years ago, when Ben and I got married, my parents gifted me a $40,000 Mercedes. From that moment on, the car seemingly became public property for his family. If anyone in Chloe’s family had a minor headache, they’d run over and borrow the car. When we went back for Thanksgiving, every single relative felt entitled to order Ben around as their personal chauffeur. For weddings, funerals, whatever major event, his friends and family would ask to borrow our car. Fine. Let them borrow it. I couldn’t really say no. But they would borrow a perfectly clean car and return it absolutely filthy. Speeding tickets, toll fees, and gas money—we always ended up paying out of pocket. A few times, people even threw up in the car. I had to swallow my disgust and pay for detailing. Once, halfway through washing the car, the detailer found a few used condoms stuffed in the back seat crevices. I checked the dashcam footage and almost threw up. On the custom floor mats I had carefully picked out, Ben’s cousin was hooking up with some random woman. I exploded on the spot. I blasted the cousin in the family group chat. Ben’s aunt actually blamed me for being petty, saying the young couple was just “being romantic” and I was making a big deal out of nothing. I laughed coldly and dropped a screenshot from the dashcam video into the chat. “Auntie, take a closer look before you speak. That’s not his wife in the video.” “If you want to screw around, don’t you know how to get a hotel room? Doing it in my car, that’s disgusting!” In the end, the cousin and his wife almost got divorced over it, and Ben blamed me. “Look at you, making a massive scene over a minor issue!” “Now my cousin’s family is falling apart. Are you happy?” That Thanksgiving was a chaotic disaster. The entire extended family treated us like a reality TV show. What left me even more speechless was that they didn’t end up divorcing. The cousin’s wife even sent passive-aggressive messages in the group chat targeting me: “Some people get a little money and think they’re better than everyone else.” “Do too many wicked things, and not being able to have kids is your karma.” I was so furious I was about to go to war with her, but Ben jumped in front of me to play the hero. “Our car won’t be loaned out anymore. Everyone needs to respect that.” “Every time you borrow it, it leaves with a full tank and comes back empty. We aren’t your personal ATMs.” Once, his cousin borrowed the car to go partying and brought it back with the gas light on. I was in a rush to get somewhere and didn’t check the gauge. I ran out of gas halfway there and was stranded on the side of the road for hours. The car stalled in the middle of a lane, causing a huge traffic jam and making me miss an incredibly important contract signing. When I finally got back to the office, my boss screamed at me until I was deaf. After that, I strictly forbade Ben from lending the car out behind my back. I even threatened him with divorce. But he treated it like empty air, secretly lending it out anyway. This time, Chloe wanted to hitch a ride again. With all the old grudges and new offenses, I firmly refused. And as a result, she almost cost me my job. Not only that, she seemed intent on destroying my reputation and getting me permanently kicked out of government service. 05 After I went off in the family group chat, Chloe stayed quiet for a while. I directly bought two train tickets and announced that we weren’t driving this time; everyone was taking the train back. My mother-in-law called me, and her entire conversation was just a thinly veiled demand for a grandchild. We’ve been married for five years, and I’ve been entirely focused on my career. I truly haven’t had the energy to have a child. Ben and I had agreed before we got married that we would discuss kids once my career was stable. It’s hard enough for women in the workplace; pregnancy is an unavoidable hurdle. Many capable women enter the workforce with the potential to climb to management, even executive levels. But because of pregnancy and childbirth, they are forced to give up promotion opportunities. I didn’t want that. I wanted to stand at the top to justify all my years of grueling academic study. But Chloe’s tantrum made all my past efforts feel like a joke. My mother-in-law was very direct: “You’ve been married for five years. If you don’t have a baby soon, how is my son supposed to show his face?” “People in the neighborhood are calling him a mule. If you have no shame, I still do.” It was hard not to suspect that the mother and daughter had planned this together. One sabotages my career, the other swoops in to pressure me for a baby. A one-two punch designed to make me stay home peacefully, prepare for pregnancy, and completely abandon my career. Even my boss had cautiously asked if I was planning to have a kid. I broke down. I started wondering if I had been cursed. What wire in my brain crossed that made me agree to this marriage? I furiously yelled at my mother-in-law: “Nag, nag, nag! All you do is nag with your mouth!” “If you’re so good at nagging, why don’t you go sit in a fertility clinic? Just by talking, you could probably produce a whole litter.” It was the first time my mother-in-law had ever been clapped back at by me. She instantly started crying. She immediately called her son, claiming I bullied her, called her an old hag. She said I looked down on their family, that I thought they were poor and beneath me. Listening to her twist the truth, I felt a surge of dark satisfaction. Bet you didn’t expect your son to be standing right next to me. What an incredibly satisfying performance! Ben’s face went from pale to flushed. He brushed his mom off with a few vague words and hung up. Being called a “mule” by his own mother probably didn’t feel great for him either. But because of his male ego, he absolutely refused to go to the hospital for a check-up, stubbornly insisting that I was the one who couldn’t conceive. I was more than happy to play dumb. I didn’t want to have a kid with him anyway. 06 On the 24th, I had my suitcase packed and was ready to head out, but Ben stood rooted to the spot. I urged him, “Let’s go, we need to line up for the train.” That’s when he finally told me he lost his ID. “I don’t know when I lost it, but I can’t find it anywhere.” “Let’s just drive back.” I dropped my suitcase and stared at him, expressionless. He looked away guiltily, not daring to meet my eyes. Sharing a bed for over five years, how could I not know what he was plotting? But the train was leaving in an hour. It took 30 minutes to get to the station by cab. There was definitely no time to go get a temporary ID now. That wasn’t even factoring in traffic and lines. I said coldly, “You did this on purpose, didn’t you? You absolutely insist on driving that car back, don’t you?” He dropped the act and sat down, waving the car keys. “We have a car, why wouldn’t we drive it? Do you know how many people back home are jealous we have a Mercedes? It’s so much easier for me to drive around and visit relatives during the holidays.” I was about to explode, but my phone rang. Chloe and her family were already waiting downstairs, rushing us to come down and hit the road. I looked at my deadbeat husband, feeling utterly, hopelessly disappointed in his entire family. Ben grabbed my suitcase and pushed me toward the door. “Let’s go, let’s go. We don’t want to hit traffic.” 07 Once we got in the car, Chloe apologized to me first, and then proactively handed over the $50 for gas. Seeing my dark expression, she also bought me a Red Bull. “Harper, I really couldn’t get tickets. I’m so sorry.” Her husband scoffed, plopped down in the back seat, and immediately started scrolling on TikTok. I found out later that after she fought with me, she realized the tickets were actually sold out. She tried a bunch of scalpers but couldn’t get any. She looked into ride-shares, but when the drivers heard it was a family of three with a mountain of luggage, they quoted her the price to charter the whole car. Not wanting to pay the fare, she swallowed her pride and came crawling back to me. I was so disgusted by the siblings’ manipulation my chest physically hurt. I just prayed nothing else would go wrong on the drive. Next time something like this happened, I was just going to sell the car. Then no one could covet it. The car got on the highway quickly, and Chloe’s son started whining in the back. “Mommy, I gotta pee. I gotta pee.” I heard rustling as Chloe dug out a folding toddler potty. “Here, buddy, pee in this.” Immediately followed by the sound of a kid peeing. I had been trying to catch up on sleep in the passenger seat. I was suddenly jolted awake by the overwhelming stench of urine. “Ugh…” The smell made me so dizzy and nauseous that the two steamed buns I’d eaten for breakfast came right back up. We were flying down the highway at 70 mph, the scenery blurring past. The sour stench of vomit mixed with the sharp smell of urine, assaulting the nostrils of everyone in the car. Everyone looked green. I was pale as a sheet, pulling out a can of air freshener and spraying it like my life depended on it. Chloe’s son couldn’t handle the smell. He started crying, demanding we open the window, and even reached for the door handle. “It stinks! Open the door, open the door!” Chloe’s husband, whose massive bulk took up two-thirds of the back seat, kept scrolling through TikTok, oblivious to everything else. The piercing shrieks of the kid and the obnoxious laugh tracks from the phone assaulted my eardrums simultaneously. I was just about to tell him to turn it down or use headphones when suddenly, the unmistakable smell of shit wafted up from the back. “Ahhh! Buddy, did you poop?!” “Babe, quick, get the diapers! Hand me the wipes!” The family of three in the back was in total chaos. I silently pulled out a face mask, put it on, and started scrolling furiously on my phone to distract myself. Once Chloe had dealt with the literal shitstorm, she finally seemed a bit embarrassed. She laughed nervously, “I’m so sorry, Harper. He just ate a bit too much before we left this morning.” Fearing I’d get angry, she slapped her kid’s butt and scolded him loudly, putting on a show of disgust: “Why are you trying to open the window?! Is this your car? Why do you think you can open the window?!” “I asked you if you had to go before we got in, and you said no! The minute we’re on the road, it’s nonstop pissing and shitting! Are you doing this on purpose?!” The kid wailed as he was hit, and Chloe alternated between comforting and yelling at him. I turned around, frowning. “Stop hitting him. We’ll pull into the next rest stop and take a break.” The suffocating stench, amplified by the car’s heater, evenly coated every square inch of the interior. The kid’s shrieks and the blaring TikTok comedy tracks from the back seat were a relentless assault on my sanity. I already had a problem with neurasthenia, and now I had a splitting headache. Ben couldn’t take it anymore either. He checked the GPS. “Next rest stop is in ten minutes.” But then, about 300 feet from the exit for the rest stop, there was a massive accident. The rest stop was temporarily closed. No entry allowed. The next rest stop was another half-hour away. I snapped. I told him to get off the highway and take local roads immediately. I couldn’t stand being in this literal toilet of a car for another minute.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “395048”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I am a capybara who somehow transmigrated into the body of a D-list actress caught in a massive internet scandal. Facing a barrage of online hate. I slowly chewed the cabbage in my mouth: “Sure, whatever.” The internet: … On a reality TV show, a spoiled rich heiress sneaked into my room late at night. “Can I sleep holding you?” I stared blankly and advised against it: “It’s best if you don’t.” The heiress: “I’m going to.” Me: “Alright then.” The entire internet roasted me: [Her emotional stability is too good. I want to date her.] And just like that, I skyrocketed to fame, with the whole internet screaming for me to be their mom. I stared blankly at my phone, ready to type a reply. When an elite New York billionaire gritted his teeth and warned: “If you dare reply with ‘Sure, whatever,’ just try it and see what happens.” 01 My name is Capybara. I am, literally, a capybara. My face is squarer than a guinea pig’s, my body is covered in coarse brown hair, and petting me feels like petting a broom. The daily to-do list for our capybara family consists of: Spacing out. Taking a bath. Spacing out while taking a bath. Eating grass. Spacing out. Spacing out while eating grass. We are the most zen animals in the animal kingdom. Don’t be fooled by our blank expressions; if you actually manage to provoke us… Well, you’re basically punching cotton. We usually can’t be bothered to move, but we are deeply beloved by the rest of the animal kingdom. If the journey is long, Mr. Pelican lets me stand on his back and flies me there. If the journey is short, Ms. Crocodile lets me stand on her back and gives me a ride. When it’s time to eat, we stack up like Jenga blocks on our mom’s back. As the youngest capybara, I lost my footing one time and tumbled down. When I woke up, I had transmigrated into the body of a heavily scandalized D-list actress in the entertainment industry. The system apologized to me: [Sorry, Host. I… I bound to the wrong soul.] I sat up, staring blankly, and responded. [Sure, whatever.] The system: ??? [No, I said I bound to the wrong soul. Aren’t you angry?] [Mhm.] … 02 I thought the bed here was actually quite soft. I wanted to sleep. So, I lay down. It really was very soft. Unexpectedly, the original host’s ringtone blared. Under the system’s panicked prompting, I successfully pressed the answer button. “Chloe, I’m already with Sophia. Stop pestering me. If you dare target Sophia again, I swear I won’t let you get away with it.” “We’re done. Delete my number.” Me: “Sure, whatever.” So, I clumsily deleted the contact saved as “Him” on WeChat. Then I turned over and continued lying on the bed like a corpse, going back to sleep. I slept for two whole days. When I woke up, I was surrounded by a large crowd of people. My manager, Linda, saw I was awake, her eyes wide with shock. “You… you’re not dead?” Next to her stood a police officer and a medical examiner. Outside the door, a few neighbors were secretly pointing their phones at me, live-streaming the scene. I was… hungry. So, I slowly got up, opened the fridge, took out a large handful of cabbage, and started munching on it. Crunch, crunch, crunch. Linda: … “What are you doing?” Me: “Eating.” She glanced at the darkened faces of the police officer and medical examiner, then yelled anxiously: “Weren’t you trying to commit suicide by cutting your wrists? Your neighbors said you hadn’t left your apartment for two days, the place smelled like blood, and your phone was off!” I looked at the blood on my hand. I probably bit myself by accident while sleeping again. We capybaras usually can’t tell what we can and cannot eat, plus we have bad eyesight. No wonder the cabbage in my dream tasted a bit off. Linda frowned, clearly not believing me: “If it wasn’t a suicide attempt, why didn’t you treat the wound?” I had a sudden realization. Oh, right. Linda: “…” The police officer and medical examiner sternly reprimanded Linda: “Please do not waste public resources. Filing a false police report is a crime.” Meanwhile, the neighbors outside the door were gossiping. “Isn’t she the one who pushed Sophia into the water and got blocked by Liam? And then she faked a suicide attempt.” “Now the police have confirmed it was a false alarm.” Photos of the police walking downstairs were posted online by paparazzi. The entire internet was furious: [I am so done with her. Does she think she owns the police department? Faking suicide just because she got blocked, wasting public resources.] [It’s been three years. Has she still not given up? Our Sophia and Liam are a match made in heaven.] [She was the one who pushed Sophia on that show before. Sophia is still in the hospital!] [What’s the point of faking a suicide attempt?] … 03 As soon as the police left, Linda glared at me furiously. “Look at this! Are you complaining that you don’t have enough scandals already?” Her phone screen showed my trending hashtag: #Shocking: Chloe Fakes Suicide and Files False Police Report After Being Blocked by Liam# Below were the netizens’ comments. 9,999 hate comments. Linda looked at me with immense frustration: “Do you even want to survive in Hollywood anymore?” Me: “Whatever works.” She fell silent for a long time, finally covering her face. “Forget it. Let it all burn.” “You have a reality TV show tomorrow. Sophia and Liam will be there too. You went viral today, so your live-stream viewership tomorrow is going to be massive.” “Watch yourself when the time comes. But whatever you do, you’ll get hate anyway. Just… eat more, sleep more, and talk less. You’re not smart, and your emotional intelligence is low.” If it were anyone else, they would have been furious. I obediently nodded: “Okay.” This is our capybara nature: eat more, sleep more, talk less. Hmm, though “not smart” and “low emotional intelligence” was definitely a hate comment. I chose to ignore it. 04 The next day. I dragged the suitcase Linda packed for me to the filming location. The system gave me a last-minute crash course. This was a live-streamed romantic survival reality show. The female lead, Sophia, and the male lead, Liam, were also present. The original host was Liam’s gold-digging ex-girlfriend. After breaking up with a down-on-his-luck Liam, she entered the entertainment industry but never really made it big. Until Liam graduated from college, got discovered by a talent scout, and skyrocketed to become an A-list superstar. The original host repeatedly harassed Liam, looking at him with longing eyes, even blocking him at his dressing room door to talk about the past. Eventually, this disgusted Liam, and netizens dug up her dark history. She became an infamous, universally hated D-list actress. Out of jealousy over Sophia and Liam’s close interactions, she pushed Sophia, completely enraging Liam. In this romantic survival show, she acted as the villain, deepening the bond between the male and female leads. Finally, she successfully got herself killed. After explaining, the system apologized to me. Because, according to the plot, I wouldn’t live much longer. I nodded. Living is fine, dying is pretty good too. The system: … 05 There were eight cast members in total: four men and four women. The male cast members were: Contestant 1, the wealthy CEO heir, Jackson; Contestant 2, the A-list superstar, Liam; Contestant 3, the award-winning actor, Ethan; Contestant 4, the New York elite billionaire, Caleb. The female cast members were: Contestant 1, the popular starlet, Sophia; Contestant 2, the wealthy heiress, Olivia; Contestant 3, the mega-influencer with millions of followers, Mia; Contestant 4… me. The moment we stepped onto the island, we entered the live-streaming zone. The men and women filed into a temporarily constructed thatched hut. We started introducing ourselves. To deepen the intimacy between the cast, the production team asked everyone to call each other by their nicknames. When it was my turn, I said seriously: “Just call me Capybara.” A few people laughed out loud. Even Caleb, standing across from me, had a smile in his eyes. The live chat, however, was flooded at that moment: [LMAO, what a clown. Is she just trying to get my idol’s attention?] [The person above is being ridiculous. Everyone has a nickname. Chloe just said hers, how is that trying to get your idol’s attention?] [Chloe truly has the constitution of someone who gets hated for breathing.] Sophia covered her mouth to hide a smile: “This is the first time I’ve heard Chloe’s nickname.” [See, I told you she was being a clown.] [Our Sophia even calls her ‘sister,’ lol. She debuted earlier than Sophia, but she’s nowhere near as popular.] I didn’t see the chat. I watched the others exchange pleasantries and begin assigning tasks. I sat off to the side, spacing out. So hungry. What’s for lunch? Throughout the show, the production team only communicated with us via a black two-way radio. 06 The final results came out. I was paired with Caleb. We were responsible for searching the forest for food. Sophia and Liam were a team, tasked with gathering firewood for cooking. The heiress Olivia and the CEO heir Jackson were a team, responsible for following clues to find the survival supplies left by the production team. This included drinking water, pots and pans, sleeping bags, etc. The last team was responsible for building some simple bed frames inside the thatched hut. Sophia asked me with concern: “Chloe, you don’t mind, right?” I nodded: “Whatever works for me.” She paused slightly, clearly not expecting me to agree so easily. Even Liam had a look of surprise in his eyes. He frowned, seemingly surprised that I didn’t fight to be in the same group as him and Sophia. He had been certain I would throw a fit. But right now, my mind was completely blank. My mouth was slightly open, and I was perfectly still, clearly spacing out. The others felt the atmosphere getting a bit weird and quickly changed the subject. Caleb walked up to me, his hands in his pockets. “Tsk, let’s go.” I nodded and followed him into the forest behind the hut at a leisurely pace. This morning, I wore an outfit Linda put together for me: overalls and a pink t-shirt, paired with matching sneakers. Slung over my shoulder was a small crossbody bag with a fuzzy animal on it—a capybara. Caleb, being a New York elite, was known for his lack of patience. It wasn’t until we reached the edge of the forest that he turned back to glance at me. At that moment, a bird had landed right on top of my head. And a squirrel was perched on my shoulder. I looked utterly ridiculous. He couldn’t help it; the corner of his mouth twitched. I widened my eyes and blinked at him, not knowing what he was laughing at. For us capybaras, isn’t this a common occurrence? [Wait, I suddenly feel like Chloe is kind of cute, a little adorkable.] [Does she have a natural zookeeper aura? That bird has been standing on Chloe’s head the whole way.] [Earlier, the squirrel was climbing on Chloe’s back, and she didn’t even flinch.] [It’s staged, right? Squirrels are usually easily spooked, especially wild ones. Why would they voluntarily approach a human? Did Chloe bring her own pets? Trying to build an animal-lover persona?] … 07 Three minutes later, Caleb and I stood in front of a small lake at the edge of the forest. The lake was surrounded by dense, tall grass. It made people worry that an animal might jump out at any second. After all, this was a deserted island. No one knew if there were any fierce wild animals lurking around. Especially for the women. Furthermore, being on a deserted island with nobody else around made it the perfect setting for romance to bloom. Caleb, however, wasn’t afraid. In his early years, he was thrown into a special training base on the edge of a desert for a few years. The desert had rattlesnakes and wolves at night. When he was young, he was even kidnapped once. He killed the mercenaries holding him hostage and escaped on his own. The production team knew this, which is why they allowed him to bring a tranquilizer gun and a machete onto the island. Of course, before filming began, the production team had thoroughly scouted the island to ensure there were no highly aggressive wild animals before they dared to film. But it was still a deserted island, and no one could guarantee 100% safety. Therefore, the production team sprinkled a lot of sulfur powder around the thatched hut to prevent venomous snakes and insects from getting inside. I followed Caleb’s gaze. Across the lake, there was a large patch of wild kiwi and akebia fruit. Green and purple, bursting open to clearly show the flesh inside. I instinctively stepped forward, wanting to get a closer look, but Caleb shoved me back. Before I could react, I saw him pull out his tranquilizer gun. His voice was incredibly low: “There’s an alligator in the lake.” The fans in the live stream were terrified too. [It’s true. Near the edge of the lake, hidden by the water weeds, a huge alligator just came up.] [It looks like it’s swimming towards Caleb.] [Oh my god, if anything happens, it’s over. Caleb… the director and the production team are totally screwed.] The alligator moved fast. Caleb grabbed my hand and ran toward the woods. We hadn’t taken many steps before the alligator came ashore. Caleb raised the tranquilizer gun and machete, on high alert. His sharp jawline was tight, and his thin lips were pressed into a hard line. I took a look at the alligator. Its large, round eyes were half-closed. It seemed to have caught my scent. It turned its head away with a look of slight disgust. But I clearly heard its voice: “It’s actually a capybara.” “Better not eat it. Eating it might cause… mental retardation.” Me: … Three more birds flew over and continued stacking themselves on my head. I remained perfectly still. Caleb looked at me and sighed: “There’s an alligator here. We can’t get the food.” “We might go hungry for a day.” Me: ??? Hungry? That is absolutely unacceptable. What we capybaras fear most is hunger. After all, our daily routine consists of spacing out, eating, and sleeping. Missing even one of the three is a disaster. So, I took two steps forward, then another two. Step by step, it was the devil’s pace. Oh, frictionless, frictionless. I stood on the back of the 200-pound alligator. Caleb: ? The crucial point was that the alligator knew what I wanted to do. After all, us capybaras have always been very popular and highly regarded in the animal kingdom. However, our image of being gluttonous, sleepy, prone to spacing out, and having intermittent phases of laziness was deeply ingrained in animal minds. Before Caleb could even react, the alligator had already swum into the middle of the lake. [Wait, this girl? What’s going on? Isn’t this a live stream? When did they add CGI?] [Throughout history, there has never been such a shocking existence! Standing on an alligator’s back?] [Chloe is truly stupid. Does she really think the alligator will take her across to pick fruit?] [She’s going to get eaten in the middle of the lake. Oh my god, I can’t watch this anymore.] Caleb’s fingers twitched slightly. He kept the tranquilizer gun aimed at the alligator’s back the entire time, but the alligator had already reached the middle of the lake. I took my time picking the fruit, and then leisurely stepped on the alligator’s head to come back. [This girl… she actually came back.] [Her crossbody bag is bulging. Did she really go pick fruit?] [No way, have alligators gone vegan now?] [Badass.] [Are the birds on this girl’s head playing Jenga? How did it turn into six or seven of them?] [Isn’t her head heavy? Her emotional stability is off the charts.] [Mind-blowing. Even fiction writers wouldn’t dare write something this absurd. Who uses a 200-pound alligator as a boat?] Someone immediately screenshotted the moment I stood on the alligator’s back. They even turned it into a meme and added background music. … 08 Back at the thatched hut. There were a few tents set up outside. Olivia sat on the side, her legs crossed, explaining: “The supplies we found.” “The production team didn’t completely leave us to die. They left a few tents, otherwise, I wouldn’t dare imagine how many people could fit in that hut.” The others nodded in agreement. When Caleb came back, he had even speared a fish by the lake. With the addition of the fruit, dinner for today was settled. After eating her fill, Olivia sat to the side, rubbing her stomach. “I’m still hungry. I want to eat the pork bone ramen my chef makes.” I was shocked: Pork? Bone? Could it be… Sophia, standing nearby, pointed to the tent in the center. “I’m sleeping in this one tonight.” The others frowned but didn’t say anything. Liam chose the tent next to hers. The two of them secretly went into the woods for some romantic interaction. The live stream comments from their shippers were going crazy. I lay in the tent, recalling the days when I used to ride birds and fly. Sighing over my life on the African savanna, watching lionesses fall in love every day. Well, whatever. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Being human isn’t too bad either. … 09 This was a survival romance reality show. Today, only the CEO heir, Jackson, and the influencer, Mia, were left behind to watch the tents and ensure no small animals chewed through them. Everyone else went out to search for food. Hearing Caleb say he encountered an alligator by the lake, no one dared to go there again. We could only explore the woods to see if we could find any wild animals or wild fruits. I watched the small animals eagerly approaching me, stealing glances at Caleb from time to time. He had long noticed the snow-white pelican standing upright and looking at me from across the way. Uh-oh. Remembering how much those damn clippers hurt. I instinctively took a step back in fear, bumping my back into Caleb’s chest. His warm breath fell on the top of my head. “You okay?” I nodded blankly, feeling a bit intimidated by the huge pelican across from us. Pelicans are not very popular in the animal kingdom. The reason is that they want to taste everything. They want to take a bite out of whatever passes by just to see what it tastes like. They have zero sense of boundaries. Even if they don’t know you, they will try to swallow anything in front of them. And once they latch onto you, they’ll keep following you and clipping at you relentlessly. Sophia frowned slightly. The way she looked at me radiated a saintly aura, filled with blame and pity. She comforted me. “Chloe, pelicans don’t eat people. You don’t need to be so afraid. “You scared it.” After saying that, she even walked right up to the pelican and patted its head with a smile. The pelican tilted its head, clearly a bit stunned. I heard its voice. “Hmm? Don’t know what this is, but I want to eat it.” The comment section was full of praise: [See, Chloe’s animal-lover persona is falling apart, isn’t it?] [Pelicans indeed don’t eat people, and they aren’t fierce animals. Why is she so scared? Is she just using this as an excuse to get close to the billionaire?] [Playing the victim, duh. Our Sophia would never do that. Animals don’t lie. Look at the pelican letting Sophia pat its head without resisting at all.] …

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