Category: English

Chapter 1 At a charity gala, my husband, Arthur Sterling, threw a glass of red wine in my face just to stand up for his female assistant. His eyes were ice-cold: “Stella, what exactly is the point of intentionally bumping into a young girl just to be petty?” “Stop acting like some uncultured shrew who only knows how to pick fights.” The moment those words left his mouth, the high-society guests, who thrived on drama, all waited with bated breath for me to lose my mind, flip the table, and burst into hysterical tears. But this time, they were disappointed. I didn’t cry, and I didn’t make a scene. I merely cast a detached glance at the dark stain on my chest, turned around with perfect poise, and said: “My dress is ruined. I’m going to change.” When Arthur stopped me, he didn’t hold back his strength. I stumbled, nearly falling over, my wrist instantly swelling into an angry red ring. “Stella, I explicitly warned you not to target her.” In the past, when he defended Chloe against me, I would have seen red and desperately tried to explain myself. But right now, my tone was exceptionally calm: “It won’t happen again.” Arthur turned his head to light a cigarette. The peach-blossom eyes that looked at me held zero trust. After all, just last week, I had smashed half the house after finding a torn pair of sheer pantyhose in his suit jacket pocket. Signaling his bodyguard to bring over the antique crystal heels he had just won at auction, Arthur blew a plume of smoke in my direction: “Go put these on Chloe.” Normally, this would be the cue for the bodyguards to casually pull out their stun guns. Waiting to shock me, the soon-to-be-hysterical wife, until I lost control of my bladder like a rabid dog. Yet, defying everyone’s expectations, I turned and took the shoebox. Expressionless, I walked back into the banquet hall, dropped to both knees, and helped Chloe change her shoes. And I offered her a blessing: “May you climb higher and higher, from this day forward.” Seeing my newfound submissiveness, Arthur laughed, his eyes full of contempt: “Stella, if you had been this obedient and sensible earlier, you wouldn’t have had to beg me like a cheap whore just to get me to come home tonight.” The moment he finished his sentence, Chloe accidentally knocked over a candle on the table. Seeing the hot wax drip onto the girl’s calf, making her eyes tear up in pain, Arthur immediately shoved me aside, completely ignoring the fact that my own dress had caught fire. He dropped to one knee, frantically pouring water over Chloe’s leg to cool it down, while desperately barking orders at his subordinates to call 911. When the ambulance arrived, Arthur immediately scooped Chloe up and placed her on the stretcher, demanding they leave instantly. “But sir, the woman behind you has severe burns on her back. With the heat right now, if we don’t treat the wounds immediately, I’m afraid…” Arthur cast a disdainful glance my way, completely unconcerned: “She’s got thick skin. She loves to exaggerate a little pain into a full-blown tragedy.” The paramedics opened their mouths, wanting to say more, but I used the last ounce of my strength to stand up straight. With a numb expression, I closed the ambulance door for Chloe. An hour later, as I walked out of the ER, Arthur’s call came through. His tone was harsh and demanding: “Why didn’t you go to the family’s private hospital?” I ignored his question and simply said: “If you need me to offer a sincere apology to Miss Chloe for what happened tonight, I can record a video right now of me kneeling and kowtowing, saying ‘I’m sorry’ a thousand times, and then have the PR department blast it all over the internet.” On my birthday, Chloe had ruined a painting left by my late mother. It sent me into a blind rage, and I slapped her. In response, Arthur publicly ordered me to slap my own face a hundred times and hand-write a ten-thousand-word apology letter, which he then posted online. Therefore, when it came to apologizing to Chloe, I was already a seasoned professional. I don’t know which of my words rubbed him the wrong way, but the other end of the line plunged into an inexplicable silence. Finally, he told me to send my location and wait for him to pick me up. I waited in that freezing hallway for two hours. All I received were three video clips sent by Chloe. In them, she and Arthur were flirting and playing around on the piano I played every single day; embracing and kissing passionately in the pre-marital home I had painstakingly decorated; and right at this very moment, having wild, uninhibited sex on the starlit mountaintop where Arthur and I had first promised ourselves to each other… I forwarded the videos to a lawyer friend, went home alone, closed my eyes, and went to sleep. The next afternoon, a fully satiated Arthur finally returned home. Seeing me sitting on the sofa without making any move to greet him, he proactively walked over and said: “Stella, I originally planned to take you to lunch, but a last-minute emergency meeting came up at the company, so I…” Halfway through his sentence, Arthur suddenly stopped. Chapter 2 I followed his gaze to my hand. Only to realize that the wedding ring I had worn for eight years was no longer on my ring finger. Unbuttoning his dress shirt with one hand, his face darkening as he prepared to speak, he was interrupted when I asked: “Are you free this Friday between 2:00 PM and 3:30 PM?” I had made an appointment at City Hall. If he wasn’t busy, we could go straight there and finalize the divorce. “What now? The house has barely been peaceful for a few days, and you’re already trying to stir up more dram…” Before he could finish his sneering remark, his phone rang. It was Chloe. The girl whimpered in a delicate, tearful voice, calling herself a super clumsy baby: “Arthur, what do I do? Waaah… I wanted to follow a tutorial and make you this super yummy seafood risotto, but I cough cough cough… I accidentally nicked my pinky finger, and the smoke alarm in the kitchen won’t stop blaring~” Hearing this, Arthur immediately furrowed his brow and started heading for the door, his voice laced with gentle concern as he instructed: “Silly kitten, turn off the stove immediately and don’t move. Hubby is coming back to save you right now.” Married for eight years. Arthur never allowed me to call him “hubby” in front of anyone else. If I ever slipped up, his handsome face would darken, and he would curse me out in public, calling me a brainless pig, worse than an animal. Then, regardless of the occasion, he would abandon me right there and walk away coldly. I used to think he just didn’t like the term of endearment. Until the company’s annual gala, when Chloe lost a game of Truth or Dare. As the winner, Arthur personally took her phone. In front of the entire company, he smilingly changed her contact name for him from “Big Bad Boss with an Eight-Pack” to “Chloe’s Dearest, Strongest Hubby.” As my thoughts drifted, my phone rang with a pleasant melody. Putting on his coat and about to step out the door, Arthur seemed to hear me speaking softly to the person on the other end: “Okay, I’ll listen to you guys. We’ll head out tomorrow.” Head out? Head out where? The hand Arthur had on the doorknob tightened abruptly. Since we got married, he and I had been practically inseparable. Even during those two years expanding the business overseas. I stuck to him like glue, abandoning everything I had back home, following him without a second thought. Thinking of this, his anxiety eased. He decisively slammed the door and left. That night, a video of Arthur proposing to Chloe went viral in high-society circles. The giant electronic billboard on the Sterling Group’s headquarters simultaneously displayed a sweet photo of the two kissing passionately. Instantly, countless messages flooded my social media accounts. They were all watching the spectacle, waiting for me to act like a clown and clarify that this was all just another AI-generated hoax. I didn’t respond to a single one. I methodically packed my bags, then got into bed and went to sleep. As soon as I closed my eyes, my phone on the nightstand lit up silently. It was Arthur. He called twice in a row, both going unanswered. In the early hours of the morning, in the king-sized bed of a presidential suite. Arthur held a hickey-covered Chloe, refreshing my media page for the fifth time. His face was expressionless as he saw it was still the same. No debunking, no updates. The next afternoon at 2:00 PM, Arthur surprisingly came home early. When he saw me standing in front of the fridge, quietly drinking water, that bizarre, frustrating annoyance that had been circling him almost all day inexplicably began to dissipate. Our eyes met, and Arthur smiled, snatching the ice water from my hand and downing it in one gulp: “Stella, I’m giving Chloe a formal wedding ceremony next month. After all, the girl gave her first time to me, I have to take responsibility for her.” Chapter 3 I nodded: “Okay, as long as you two are happy.” Staring at my completely unfazed profile, Arthur was speechless for a long moment before he continued, his tone turning cold and hard: “Chloe has a kind heart. She’s allowing you to attend and accept our first toast.” “Of course, if you really don’t want to go, I won’t force you. After all, no one wants to hear a bitter woman wailing like a banshee on a joyous occasion…” Too lazy to listen to his nonsense, I interrupted him softly: “I will be there.” “What?” “I said, I will be there in person to congratulate you both.” Even though he got the answer he wanted, there was inexplicably no hint of triumph or joy in Arthur’s eyes. I turned to leave, but he abruptly grabbed my shoulder. I blinked, asking him politely and distantly: “Excuse me, was there anything else you needed to instruct me on?” After a long silence, Arthur declared, as if granting a magnanimous favor: “Don’t cook tonight. I’m taking you out to eat.” I didn’t reply, just watched him go upstairs to his room. When the sound of the shower started running in the master bedroom, I grabbed my luggage from the corner and walked out the front door of the villa without hesitation. However, I only made it a few steps before I saw Chloe, her eyes cold. She glanced at my luggage and smirked: “Stella, I was wondering why you’ve been so quiet and magnanimous lately. Turns out you were hoping this useless ‘running away from home’ trick would disrupt my Wedding of the Century with Arthur.” “It’s a shame you don’t know, is it? Arthur and I never use protection when we’re intimate. He’s just waiting for me to get pregnant with a cute little baby so he has a legitimate excuse to kick a boring, washed-up housewife like you out the door.” Listening quietly to Chloe’s bragging, I walked past her without a word, taking long strides forward. Enraged by my dismissal, Chloe hopped into the sports car Arthur had bought her and slammed the gas pedal to the floor! As the world spun around me, covered in blood from the impact, I heard Arthur’s voice: “Stella!” The second before he reached me, Chloe’s pitiful, sobbing voice chimed in perfectly on cue: “Arthur, my foot is stuck in the bad car…” Before she even finished her sentence, Arthur had rushed to her side, his eyes full of heartache. He rescued her from the car with the utmost gentleness, holding her as if she were the most precious treasure in the world, and carried her through the villa gates. Two hours later, after finally coaxing Chloe to sleep, Arthur walked barefoot through the entire sprawling estate, but couldn’t find a single trace of me. The stars hung low in the night sky. In the airport waiting lounge, my head wrapped in bandages, my phone kept buzzing incessantly for some unknown reason. I ignored it, waiting quietly for the battery to die. The exact moment the phone powered off, the plane I was on slowly ascended into the sky. … Three days later. A penthouse apartment in the city center. Chloe stood by the infinity pool, looking at Arthur with tears of gratitude in her eyes: “Arthur, are you sure this entire place was prepared just for me?” The extravagantly luxurious decor, the fully staffed team of butlers. Just imagining the beautiful days ahead, Chloe couldn’t help but giggle as she nestled into his embrace. Arthur affectionately pinched her nose: “Silly kitten, I promised I would make you the most carefree girl in the world, and I always keep my promises.” The warm glow of the sunset bathed the two lovers. Chloe blushed, eagerly standing on her tiptoes to offer a kiss, when his phone suddenly rang. In the past, even if he had the most critical business to attend to, he would have kept his arm around her and answered the call without hesitation. But this time, he gently patted her shoulder, signaling with his eyes for her to go inside first. Chapter 4 The moment Chloe walked away, Arthur eagerly answered the call. He lit a cigarette, holding it between his fingers without taking a drag, and asked the person on the other end, feigning nonchalance: “What did my wife say to you when she saw the jewelry gifts?” The male subordinate on the phone was silent for several long seconds before finally bracing himself to deliver the news: “Mr. Sterling, the housekeeper said the Madam hasn’t returned to the villa or the old estate for days. Also, I’ve checked every hotel owned by the Sterling Group, and there’s no record of the Madam checking in anywhere.” Hearing this, the cigarette between his fingers trembled almost imperceptibly, yet his expression remained cold and calm: “If that’s the case, stop looking for her.” He hung up the phone and finished the rest of his cigarette. Arthur opened WeChat and scrolled for a long time before finally finding my name hidden in a forgotten corner. Seeing that the last conversation consisted of two texts from me, timidly asking if he was coming home tonight, a flash of contempt crossed his eyes. He casually issued his final ultimatum to me: [Stella, tomorrow is the day Chloe and I are taking our wedding photos. Considering you’ve been whining about wanting anniversary photos for years, I’m graciously giving you the chance to make that dream come true.] [If you’re still throwing a temper tantrum and refuse to show up, from now on, get as far away from me as possible.] The afternoon following the message, Arthur, dressed impeccably in a suit, sat in the bridal boutique, waiting from broad daylight until sunset. He never saw the slender figure he imagined, pushing open the boutique doors with eyes full of love, throwing herself into his arms like a swallow returning to its nest. When the photographer nervously asked for the ninth time if they could start, Arthur grimly wrapped his arm around the waist of a forcing-a-smile Chloe. He leaned down toward her bright red lips. The second the shutter clicked, Arthur instantly released Chloe, gruffly ordering the staff to turn the photo into a massive portrait and have it nailed to the very center of the villa’s living room overnight. Did she really think throwing a tantrum and playing hide-and-seek would stop Chloe from moving in? He couldn’t stop the cold sneer echoing in his mind. It seemed he had been far too lenient with me these past few years, making me forget my place in the family hierarchy. On the fourth day the wedding photo hung on the wall, a local courier package was delivered to the Sterling Group headquarters. The male subordinate who retrieved the package was walking so fast he nearly collided with Chloe, who had come to deliver soup, without even slowing down. But the sharp-eyed Chloe reached out and stopped him: “Assistant Liu, is that from Mrs. Sterling for Mr. Sterling? You know Mr. Sterling’s rules. He’s in a shareholder meeting right now. Even if the sky falls, he is absolutely not to be disturbed. How about this, you give it to me first, and I’ll pass it on for you later…” Before Chloe could even touch the corner of the package, the formerly polite colleague recoiled as if she carried the plague: “Miss Chloe, Mr. Sterling specifically instructed that any matters concerning the Madam must be reported to him immediately.” With that, ignoring Chloe’s ugly, flushed expression, Assistant Liu pushed open the conference room doors. Braving the shocked and confused stares of the executives and shareholders, he respectfully placed the package in front of Arthur and whispered in his ear: “Mr. Sterling, this is from the Madam…” Before he could finish, the normally fiercely professional Arthur abruptly raised his hand, cutting off the department head’s presentation. With dark, intense eyes, right in front of everyone, he tore open the heavily taped package with his bare hands. Once he bypassed the packing material, he saw there were only two thin pieces of paper inside. One was a divorce petition. The other was a medical certificate confirming a miscarriage. Divorce? Miscarriage? Arthur looked utterly bewildered. Who was divorcing who? Him and Stella? Why would they get a divorce? And how could Stella possibly have had a miscarriage? Due to the angle, the people in the room couldn’t see what was written on the documents Arthur was gripping so tightly. They only saw his chest heaving more and more violently, his face visibly turning a terrifying shade of livid green. In less than half an hour, the news of the CEO inexplicably losing his temper and trashing the main conference room spread like wildfire through thousands of internal company group chats. In his top-floor office, ignoring his torn and bleeding hand, Arthur ground his teeth as he interrogated the woman who had been forcefully “invited” before him: “Where is Stella right now?” As my long-time friend and divorce attorney, Sarah cast a disdainful, sneering look at him: “Does it have anything to do with you, her ex-husband, where she is?” “I am not divorced from her!” Arthur roared, his fury erupting. He stated coldly, word by word: “When she and I got our marriage license, we swore a blood oath. In this lifetime, there will only be widowhood, no divorce. Sarah, before my patience runs out, you better tell me what kind of game she’s playing right now.” “A game?” Sarah clicked her tongue, her face filled with mockery: “You are truly so pathetic it’s laughable. Arthur, you don’t still think she’s playing hide-and-seek with you, do you? Out of respect for the donations you made to the orphanage back in the day, I’ll do you a favor and tell you the truth. Your wife… this time, she really doesn’t want you anymore.” Hearing this, Arthur’s expression strangely calmed down. Stella. A lower-class woman from an orphanage. After all her throwing fits and making a scene, who else could she possibly rely on, other than a husband like him who could provide true wealth and luxury? With that thought, Arthur reverted to his familiar, effortlessly in-control CEO persona. When he casually let Sarah leave, Chloe, who had been by his side witnessing everything, dropped to her knees at his feet, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at him with heartache: “Arthur, it’s all my fault. It’s because I was too childish, foolishly dreaming of my own fairy-tale wedding, that Mrs. Sterling left in anger. Once you find her and bring her back, I promise I’ll personally serve her tea and apologize. I’ll beg her to be the bigger person and forgive my ignorance and stubbornness.” Chloe had barely squeezed out a few tears before Arthur’s hand clamped onto her jaw. Seeing him lean in close, her heart pounded wildly. Blushing furiously, she closed her eyes, puckered her lips slightly, and waited for— “Aghhh!” A sudden, intense pain forced Chloe to snap her eyes open in terror. Her fearful gaze crashed directly into Arthur’s cold, pitch-black eyes. Arthur waved her phone in front of her. Smiling, he asked her what the unlock passcode was. “The, the passcode…” Seeing Chloe stammering, unable to string a sentence together. He simply called his men in and ordered them to take her phone straight to the tech department to be unlocked and analyzed. Very quickly, all the data on Chloe’s phone was laid bare, fully restored, and delivered to his massive desk. Those explicit, vile sex tapes, the nasty, venomous insults… And finally, the devastating messages where Chloe bragged to her best friend about intentionally hitting me with her car. Not only did she face zero consequences, but she received Arthur’s meticulous care and gifts: [You won’t believe this, but that old hag Stella is like a cockroach. I’m not even talking about the car crash this time. Two weeks ago, she came to bring lunch for my darling hubby, and I tricked her into that filthy, abandoned elevator shaft and shoved her down. She only miscarried that little bastard inside her; she didn’t even die! Ugh, so annoying. Next time, I’m definitely going to hire some professional street thugs to violate and torture her until she’s half-dead. Only then will I be satisfied, hehe.] Staring dead at the words “little bastard,” Arthur’s sharp eyes instantly turned blood-red, like a demon from hell. Terrified by his murderous glare, Chloe clasped her hands together in prayer, crying with red eyes and begging for mercy: “I, I only, only did it because I was so jealous of Stella, jealous that she got to be openly associated with you…” “Arthur, I did all those terrible things because I truly love you too much… Hubby, hubby, you always pampered me the most. Just forgive me this one time, please?” He didn’t say yes or no. Arthur ripped away the hands Chloe had used to desperately clutch his shirt hem. Ignoring her bewildered, helpless sobbing, he walked out with urgent strides. From the South Side to the North Side, from the city center to the desolate suburbs, he drove without sleep or rest, visiting every single place he and I had ever been. He searched for four days. Only when he was scruffy and his eyes were completely bloodshot did he shockingly discover that I was no longer in the country. By the time he finally tracked my exact location down to Santorini, Greece, a full month had already passed. The Aegean breeze swept through the street corners. Dressed in white, Arthur stared blankly at me from a distance, completely paralyzed. He was afraid. Afraid that the scene playing out before him was just another false, fleeting illusion from his midnight dreams. It wasn’t until he faintly heard my light, cheerful laughter that he finally dared to confirm that the woman in front of him was truly the innocent wife he had almost lost forever. Watching me smile brightly as I casually chatted with the locals, the immense joy in Arthur’s heart began to mix uncontrollably with a growing, bitter ache. Without him, I was clearly living an exceptionally comfortable life. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he was like a young man experiencing his first crush. It took every ounce of his courage to take tentative steps toward me. “Stella…” Just as he stopped behind me and parted his lips to speak, a clear, resonant male voice stole my attention first. “Stella, look what I bought you!” A tall, handsome young man with a smile in his eyes playfully dropped a white sun hat onto my head. Then, he naturally leaned down, as if expecting some sort of well-deserved reward. Before I could react, another striking man, looking about seventy percent identical to the first, stepped up right behind him. He reached out with his elegant hands and gently tucked a wind-blown strand of hair behind my ear. Witnessing this, Arthur’s heart violently skipped a beat. He was just about to force himself to act normal, grab my shoulder, and pull me into his arms regardless of the consequences. But right as he was about to make his move, he saw a shocking scene that made his eyes nearly pop out of his head— Bathed in the bright sunlight, I actually gave each of those two men a kiss on the cheek. “Stella! What are you doing?!”

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I had been secretly married to my husband, a Major General, for seven years. Women were always trying to climb into his bed, but he never wanted to make our relationship public. At the celebration banquet following the military exercises, his comrades teased me about my relationship status. Even he leaned in with a smile: “Reporter Hayes, you’ve covered so many war zones, haven’t you met anyone who caught your eye? How about I introduce you to someone?” In my past life, I couldn’t hold back and pulled out our marriage certificate. His precious junior, the military’s sweetheart, instantly teared up and ran out. Arthur Sterling didn’t say anything at the time, but he grew increasingly cold toward me afterward. Until I was caught in an armed ambush while reporting near the border, my life hanging by a thread. He completely ignored my situation, instead choosing to teach Lily Summers how to shoot at the firing range. When Lily framed me for leaking classified military intel, I called him, crying. All he said was, “Handle it according to military regulations.” That was when I finally understood. To him, I was just a prop to appease his family. Reborn into this life, I smiled: “I’m seeing someone. We’re getting our marriage license at the end of the month.” …… The surrounding area instantly fell dead silent. Everyone was stunned. The smile on Arthur’s face froze. His grip on his wine glass tightened abruptly, his knuckles turning white. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Lily, sitting right next to him, blinked her innocent eyes and beat him to it: “Reporter Hayes, you hide things so well! If no one asked today, were you planning on keeping it a secret from us forever?” I looked at her, my tone calm: “No matter how well I hide it, I am still the one and only wife.” In my past life, I always thought Lily didn’t know about my relationship with Arthur. I thought she was an unwitting, innocent party. It wasn’t until I was lying in a hospital bed in a war zone, and she came to flaunt Arthur’s blatant favoritism for her, that I realized she knew everything all along. Lily’s smile faltered for a second. The other officers quickly stepped in to smooth things over: “Reporter Hayes is getting married? No wonder you always turn down our invitations to mixer events after missions! What unit is the lucky guy from?” “To be worthy of our chief reporter who runs through the frontlines, he must be someone special, right?” I looked up and smiled: “If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll definitely introduce everyone.” As soon as the words left my mouth, a teasing voice rang out: “Reporter Hayes isn’t just making this up to save face, is she? After all, you’re nearing thirty. If you still don’t have a boyfriend, people might start gossiping. Major General Sterling, wouldn’t you agree?” Lily tilted her head toward Arthur. I gripped my camera tightly, and then I heard Arthur let out a low, affirmative “Mhm.” Lily’s smile turned provocative. But in my heart, a wave of self-deprecation washed over me. Even after being reborn, what was I still expecting? Right at that moment, a clear, crisp male voice came from the doorway: “Excuse me, is Reporter Stella Hayes here? I’m here to pick her up.” Chapter 2 Everyone turned toward the voice. Standing in the doorway was a tall, striking man. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his gaze was gentle and composed. He was still wearing a white lab coat, clearly having rushed over straight from the research institute. When our eyes met, I was taken aback too. He offered a slight smile: “Stella, let’s go home.” Whispers immediately broke out across the room. “Isn’t that the youngest Chief Engineer at the military research institute?” “So he is Reporter Hayes’ fiancé! What a perfect match!” I stood up and nodded politely to the crowd: “Excuse me, I need to take my leave.” From the moment I stood up, I could feel a burning gaze fixed on my back, but I didn’t turn around. Just as I was about to step out of the banquet hall, Arthur’s voice rang out sharply, “Stella!” I paused slightly and turned back to look at him: “Is there something else, Major General Sterling?” His face was dark as a thundercloud, anger churning in his eyes. Lily smiled at me, “My commendation ceremony is coming up. Major General Sterling is going to celebrate with me. Would you like to join us, Reporter Hayes?” I glanced at the silent Arthur and shook my head: “No thanks. Congratulations on the commendation. I have plans.” With that, I turned and walked away. The gaze on my back practically scorched me, only disappearing when I slid into the passenger seat of the Jeep. I buckled my seatbelt and thanked the man beside me: “Thank you, Chief Engineer Vance.” Liam Vance started the car, keeping his eyes on the road ahead: “Don’t mention it. I was just passing by after finishing some research.” I smiled and didn’t press further. He tactfully didn’t say much either, only asking: “Where to? I’ll drop you off.” I gave him an address. We arrived quickly. Before I got out, Liam suddenly pulled out his phone: “Let’s exchange contact info.” I hesitated for a second, and he chuckled softly: “Who knows, maybe one day I’ll need your help with something.” I nodded and scanned his QR code. I turned and walked into the family housing building. This was the apartment Arthur and I requested when we got married. It wasn’t big, but it was filled with seven years of my joy and anticipation. In the past, when we didn’t have missions, we used to watch the news and discuss current events here. It’s just that now, Arthur rarely comes back. As soon as I walked through the door, my phone started buzzing frantically. It was the editor-in-chief of the news department. “Stella! Hurry up and check the military forum!” Chapter 3 I clicked on the link, and the glaring headline instantly pierced my eyes. [Major General Arthur Sterling and the Military’s Sweetheart, Junior Lily Summers, Officially Announce Relationship! The Perfect Military Couple is Overflowing with Sweetness!] Below the headline were two photos. One showed Arthur in his uniform, with Lily looking down as she pinned a medal of honor on his chest. The other showed the two of them embracing by the training ground, with fighter jets roaring past in the background. Arthur’s caption was brief but agonizing: [Formal introduction: my love, @LilySummers.] Lily’s reply was even sweeter: [For the rest of my life, protecting our country alongside you, my Mr. General~] I thought that after being reborn, I could face this calmly. But seeing it with my own eyes, my heart still felt like it was taking bullet after bullet. I waited seven years for a public announcement, and he gave it so easily to someone else. The editor-in-chief was shaking with anger on the phone: “Because of what you said at the celebration banquet, everyone is saying Lily inserted herself into your relationship.” “Arthur is doing this to clear Lily’s name!” “This is outrageous! You are clearly his legal wife…” “Chief,” I interrupted him, my voice so calm it surprised even me, “has my transfer request to the International Military News Department been approved?” The line went silent for a moment: “Are you really going to give up your position domestically and go abroad?” “My mind is made up.” I looked out at the neon lights beyond the window. “Seven years ago, I gave up the International Military News Department for Arthur. Now, I don’t want to hold myself back for him anymore.” Arthur and I grew up together in the military compound. We were childhood sweethearts, from our awkward teenage years to adulthood. After both our sets of parents sacrificed their lives during peacekeeping missions, we became each other’s strongest pillars of support. Whenever we went on missions together, he always rushed in front of me, ruining countless bulletproof vests in the process. When he was severely wounded covering for his comrades, I stayed by his bed for three days and three nights without closing my eyes. On my twenty-fifth birthday, I received an invitation from the International Military News Department. It was my dream. That day, Arthur didn’t say a word. He just held my hand, his eyes red, and stood there for an entire night. The next day, I declined the invitation, turned around, and applied to become a frontline war correspondent, dodging bullets in the crossfire. The conditions in the war zones were brutal. We were constantly exposed to the threat of bullets, artillery shells, and snipers. A comrade once asked me if it was worth it. Back then, looking at the notes Arthur left me before every mission, I felt it was all worth it. But now… A special notification tone on my phone broke my train of thought. It was Arthur. I hesitated for a moment, then pressed answer. Chapter 4 His voice was laced with anger: “Is it fun for you to put on this act with Liam Vance? Do you think this will provoke me?” “Have you forgotten who saved you when you were taken hostage by terrorists? You can’t survive without me.” I held the phone, saying nothing. From the other end of the line came Lily’s sickly-sweet voice: “Arthur, come cut the cake!” Arthur responded to her, his tone softening: “Lily and I are participating in a joint exercise soon. Once the event is over, I’ll clarify the public announcement to everyone. Stop throwing a tantrum.” “Be a good girl and wait for me at home tonight. I’ll bring you that mango cake you love.” My thoughts drifted. Arthur was specially recruited into the military forces by the high command because he accompanied me to a press conference and caught their eye. At the time, I immediately opposed it. Because Arthur’s original dream was to become a scientific researcher. If he entered the military forces, he would have nothing to do with scientific research in the future. But I never expected that Arthur would privately go see the military commander. Afterward, he held me, his eyes red: “Stella, I don’t want you to live a hard life with me. I want to earn more merits so your life will get better and better.” From then on, Arthur gave up his dream for me and threw himself into training. Because of our respective missions, the communication between us grew less and less. The first time rumors spread about him and the military’s sweetheart junior, he drove seven hours through the night to reach my war zone. He hugged me, apologized, and said it was a misunderstanding. He promised he would handle it and told me not to overthink it. I suggested making our marriage public. He said he was afraid it would affect his image, afraid he would disappoint his superiors. He said it wasn’t the right time. But he promised me that his wife would only ever be me, and the person by his side could only be me. In the end, considering his position, I didn’t say anything more. Until later… Lily Summers appeared. While on a mission, she was harassed by someone. While running away, she fell into the water, and Arthur appeared and saved her. She seemed like a pure, innocent little white flower. Soaked to the bone, lying in Arthur’s arms. That very night, the two of them sparked intense discussion online. That time, Arthur didn’t say a single word. By the time I snapped back to reality, Arthur had already hung up. I didn’t dwell on it. I contacted the administration department to inquire about divorce procedures. Before I left the country, I definitely had to resolve everything with Arthur. But what I didn’t expect was that when Arthur came back that night, he actually brought Lily with him. Chapter 5 Lily peeked her head out from behind Arthur, a blush on her face. She ran into my room and said cheerfully: “Stella! We brought you mango cake, hurry up and eat it!” Arthur stood there, sounding a bit exasperated: “Slow down, you’re drunk, be careful not to fall.” He paused, then looked at me: “Lily had a bit too much to drink today. It’s not safe for her to go back alone, so she’s going to stay here for the night.” “Oh right, you make a really good hangover soup, right? Make a bowl for Lily.” Arthur cheating was one thing, but now he was bringing the other woman home, right out in the open?! And asking me to make her hangover soup?! I stood there, my entire body turning ice cold. “Is she your only comrade?” How could there only be one person at Lily’s commendation ceremony?! Even booking a hotel would have been better than this! Arthur’s face darkened: “Stella, since when did you become so unreasonable?” My voice trembled uncontrollably: “This is my house! Get out, both of you!” Seeing the corners of my eyes turning red, Arthur’s tone softened: “Alright Stella, I’ll contact someone to take her home right now.” Arthur pulled out his phone, ready to make a call. But the next second, a piercing scream rang out. With a loud thud, Lily fell from the window sill of my room! Arthur’s face went deathly pale. He dropped his phone and sprinted toward Lily! I had never seen such a panicked look in his eyes. “Lily!” Lily lay in Arthur’s arms, her eyes tightly shut. Arthur’s face was dark, his eyes brewing a violent storm as he glared at me. “If I said it wasn’t me, would you believe me?” A vicious slap landed hard on my face. I was hit so hard I crashed into a pillar, and blood immediately seeped from the corner of my mouth. “Stella, if you’re going to lie, can’t you at least make it somewhat believable?” That slap completely shattered the last shred of fantasy in the depths of my heart. As Arthur gathered Lily in his arms and prepared to rush out, I called out to him. “Wait.” I handed him the divorce application: “Sign this, otherwise you’re not leaving.” Chapter 6 Arthur glared at me furiously. In the past, whenever we fought, I would always pester him to write a guarantee letter and sign it, just to coax myself into forgiving him. Now, he didn’t even look at what the document was and simply signed his name. Then, he took large strides, carrying Lily, and ran toward the hospital. At the moment he turned around, I saw Lily resting her head on his shoulder, giving me a victorious smile. The next day, my request to transfer to the International Military News Department was approved. But at the same time, the military forum completely blew up. [BREAKING! Chief Reporter Stella Hayes inserts herself into Arthur Sterling and Lily Summers’ relationship, pushes her off a building, causing severe injuries!] Attached to the post were two photos. One was of my back as I returned to the family housing late at night. The other was of Arthur carrying Lily, following closely behind. The comments section exploded. [Is this true? Doesn’t Reporter Hayes have a fiancé? Why would she insert herself into someone else’s relationship?] [Yeah, Reporter Hayes doesn’t seem like the type to do something like that.] Just then, a top comment surged to the number one spot. [Stella Hayes doesn’t have a fiancé at all! She made it all up! She’s had a crush on Major General Sterling this whole time! When Major General Sterling and Lily went public, Stella got jealous, snuck into his house beforehand, and pushed Lily off the second floor! I have proof. Stella used to be a massive fangirl of the Major General!] When Arthur first entered the military forces, not many people knew him, and I used to go visit him. I kept all of this extremely discreet. No one knew besides me and Arthur. But now, the proof photos posted by this user hit me right in the eye! Trembling, I called Arthur. He only answered on the fifth try. “Arthur, you did this…” Besides Arthur, I couldn’t think of anyone else who would post those pictures! The other end of the line went silent. After a long time, I finally heard Arthur speak: “Stella, you’re the one who made a mistake first.” “What you said at the celebration banquet made our comrades mistakenly think Lily was destroying someone else’s family. It damaged her reputation and subjected her to criticism. Going public with her wasn’t just because of our joint exercise; it was mostly to salvage her reputation and make up for your mistake. I thought you would realize you were wrong, but instead, you pushed her off a building.” Arthur’s words made me laugh so hard tears almost fell. “If she isn’t destroying someone else’s family, then what is she? An innocent, naive little military flower?” “Stella, you are being incredibly immature!” Arthur shouted angrily, cutting me off. “Things have reached this point, and I don’t want the conflict between you two to deepen. Apologize to Lily, and I’ll have her publicly state that she forgives you. We’ll let this matter pass.” I lifted my chin, refusing to let the tears fall. “Arthur, we can’t move past this. Today, I’m leaving. You and Lily can have each other.”

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Chapter 1 My elite, old-money family arranged for me to marry the heir of the powerful Vance Corporation. My illegitimate half-sister, who was always treated like a dirty secret at home, was so jealous her eyes turned red. The day before the “Wedding of the Century,” she slipped a powerful sedative into my drink. She climbed into my bridal limousine, while secretly orchestrating a team to steal my billion-dollar dowry. She grandly paraded into the billionaire family, completely stealing my identity and my life. When I finally woke up, I refused to let it go. I had the illegitimate brat hog-tied and dragged back to our estate. I successfully married into the Vance family as planned. But one year later, my husband threw me out onto the freezing streets of Skid Row. His eyes were vicious, his voice colder than ice. “If my company didn’t desperately need your family’s venture capital, I would have killed you a thousand times over for the way you humiliated Chloe. Now that the Sterling family has filed for bankruptcy, you’re worth less than a stray dog.” My illegitimate half-sister stood next to him, letting out a soft, mocking laugh. “Sister, this is your punishment for humiliating me. Enjoy rotting on Skid Row. Don’t worry, I’ll keep your seat as Mrs. Vance nice and warm.” Unable to endure the absolute humiliation and despair, I bit my own tongue and bled to death. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the morning of the Wedding of the Century. …… I dragged myself out of bed, waiting a full hour for the dizziness to fade before opening my bedroom door. My mother was just walking down the grand staircase, supported by a maid. She hadn’t even wiped the bittersweet, mother-of-the-bride tears from her eyes when she looked up and saw me standing at the landing. She froze, completely stunned. My father frowned, the first to react. “Evelyn? What are you doing up here?” He pointed a shaking finger toward the front doors in sheer panic. “Then who the hell just got into the Vance family’s bridal limousine?!” I clutched my chest, acting absolutely terrified. “What?! Someone already got into the bridal limo?! Last night, Chloe told me how sad she was that I was moving out. She lit an aromatherapy candle in my room to help me relax. I took two breaths and passed out until just now!” The bustling, joyous atmosphere of the mansion instantly plunged into dead silence. The elite guests exchanged uneasy glances, the mood shifting drastically. My mother staggered backward, almost fainting from sheer rage. She immediately ordered the security team to grab Maria, Chloe’s mother, who was currently trying to slip out the back door. “I knew it! No wonder you were clutching the bride’s hands and sobbing harder than I was when she walked out the door! I thought you actually cared, but it turns out it was just your little bastard spawn under the veil!” Maria was forced to her knees. Her eyes darted around nervously as she stuttered, “Madam, I have no idea what you’re talking about! It’s the eldest daughter’s fault for oversleeping and missing the ceremony! How can you blame my poor Chloe?” Before she even finished her sentence, the head butler came rushing in. “Sir, Madam! The motorcade from the Hayes family has arrived. They’re waiting at the front gates.” My mother’s face turned to ice. “Where is Chloe Sterling? Go drag her back here immediately!” I lowered my head, hiding the cold, vicious smirk in my eyes. Where was she? She was definitely already in Liam Vance’s bed. When the marriage was arranged, Liam Vance insisted on a highly traditional, old-money ceremony. He claimed it was to honor his family’s legacy, and even hired a historian to oversee the rituals. The bride’s face was completely covered by a thick, opaque veil the entire time. By now, they had definitely already exchanged vows and entered the bridal suite. When my eyes caught the poorly concealed, triumphant smirk on Maria’s face, my suspicions were completely confirmed. This mother-daughter duo really knew how to play a dirty game. Maria used to be a maid in our house. She drugged my father, climbed into his bed, and gave birth to Chloe, securing her a comfortable life of luxury. Now, Chloe had drugged me, stolen my identity, and taken my place to marry into a billionaire dynasty, forcing the issue until the damage was irreversible. She left me with only one option. To take the garbage marriage she had discarded and marry into the Hayes family. The Hayes family was a new-money tech empire that had exploded in the last two years. They didn’t have the deep, historical roots of the old-money dynasties, but they were incredibly aggressive and dominated the emerging markets. The only problem was, the CEO of the Hayes Corporation was in a wheelchair. My father, recognizing the immense potential, had arranged for Chloe to marry into the Hayes family. If the Hayes family continued to rise, Chloe would become a vastly wealthy, powerful socialite. If they faltered, the Sterling family’s backing meant she would still live a life of absolute luxury. But Chloe didn’t appreciate my father’s brilliant maneuvering. She pulled a bait-and-switch, shoving the marriage she despised the most onto me. If I accepted it, the news that the eldest daughter of the Sterling dynasty was forced to marry a disabled man would spread across the elite circles by tonight. The entire Sterling family would become the laughingstock of high society. In my previous life, she used this exact tactic to trample me under her feet forever. Backed by my furious parents, I had stormed the Vance wedding and caused a massive scene. The Vance Corporation desperately needed the Sterling family’s capital, so they were forced to physically throw Chloe out of the bridal suite. I successfully became Mrs. Vance, and Liam Vance treated me like a queen. I didn’t know back then that the man who showered me with fake love had already been sleeping with Chloe behind my back. They were working together the entire time. They were just waiting for the perfect moment to completely obliterate the Sterling empire. The maid’s shocked scream snapped me out of my memories. “Madam! The second miss isn’t in her room! The wedding dress and veil meant for the Hayes wedding are still on her bed, but all of her luggage and dowry are gone!” “Also… I found some things hidden in the back of her closet…” My father snatched the envelope from the maid. Inside was a stack of highly explicit, graphic photos of Chloe and Liam Vance having sex. His face turned a furious, sickly shade of purple. He viciously slammed the photos directly into Maria’s face. “This is the daughter you raised! She has dragged the entire Sterling family name through the mud!” Chapter 2 The butler looked deeply distressed. “Sir, the Hayes family motorcade is still waiting outside. What should we do?” My father’s face was rigid as iron. He slammed his fist heavily onto the mahogany table. “Call the Vance family immediately! Have your men quietly drag that wretched brat back here and throw her into the Hayes motorcade! A pathetic, illegitimate mistake does not get to dictate the Sterling family’s marriages!” I grabbed my father’s sleeve, pinching my thigh hard to force a flood of agonizing tears down my cheeks. “Dad, don’t. Let it go. Chloe and Liam are clearly in love. They’ve already slept together, and they intentionally set up this trap at the wedding to humiliate us. I refuse to marry a man like that. Let Chloe have him.” I wiped the corners of my eyes. “The Hayes family does a massive amount of business with us. The foundation of any empire is trust and integrity. I don’t want you to break your promise to them, Dad. I am willing to marry into the Hayes family.” My father looked at me, utterly shocked and deeply moved. “Evelyn, you are the true heir to the Sterling dynasty. In this entire city, the Vance family is the only one that even comes close to matching your status. Marrying into the Hayes family is a massive insult to you. Plus, Arthur Hayes is…” He swallowed the rest of his sentence, his eyes filled with profound heartbreak. I smiled softly and filled in the blank. “Dad, the Hayes Corporation was only ten spots behind the Vance Corporation on Forbes last year. The Vance family has been building wealth for generations; the Hayes family did it in two years. Arthur Hayes might be in a wheelchair, but his mind is brilliant. With me by his side, and the full backing of the Sterling empire, the future of the Hayes family is limitless.” One was a greedy, illegitimate brat who stole her sister’s wedding for money and status. The other was a poised, true-born heir willing to marry down to protect her family’s honor and business integrity. The difference between us was like mud and diamonds. The elite guests in the room looked at me with deep admiration and sympathy, while their disgust for Chloe’s actions became palpable. My mother’s heart broke into pieces. She pulled me into a fierce, desperate hug. My father was so furious his jaw clenched visibly. “Even so, no one gets to humiliate a daughter of Richard Sterling and get away with it! Evelyn, don’t worry. The Vance family crossed a massive line today. You were absolutely right to reject Liam Vance. I will make sure we get justice for this, no matter what it takes.” By the time our convoy arrived at the Vance estate, the bride and groom had already retired to the bridal suite, but the lavish reception was still in full swing. When the crowd saw our imposing group storm through the doors, a wave of shock swept through the ballroom. “Wait, isn’t that Evelyn Sterling? She’s supposed to be the bride! Why is she just walking in now?” “Hold on, the bride was escorted to the bridal suite half an hour ago! If she’s here, who the hell is the bride?!” My mother let out a cold, piercing laugh. “I apologize for the spectacle, everyone. The woman who walked down the aisle is also a Sterling daughter. But she’s nothing more than a thieving, illegitimate brat who stole her older sister’s wedding.” The ballroom erupted into a chaotic symphony of gasps and frantic whispers. Liam Vance charged out of the back hallways, his face dark with fury. He aggressively cut my mother off. “Evelyn, stop this insanity! How can you blame Chloe for this?! Your body types are similar, and the veils were identical! You’re the one who overslept and missed the ceremony! I just picked up the wrong person!” “I had a few too many drinks, and I mistook Chloe for you. We’ve already consummated the marriage. As a man, I have to take responsibility for Chloe now.” “You brought all these people here because you want to switch back, don’t you? I know you’re hopelessly in love with me and can’t live without me. So here’s the deal: Chloe and I will get legally married. But I will only choose my corporate heir from the children you give me. You won’t have the legal title of wife, but the entire Vance empire will belong to our kids. That way, our families can still do business together.” Chapter 3 People can be so utterly delusional it actually becomes hilarious. He wanted to legally marry the illegitimate brat, trample all over me, and have me act as his secret mistress?! He wanted my son to be an illegitimate bastard?! The Vance Corporation was practically drowning in debt. If it wasn’t for the arranged marriage securing the Sterling family’s capital, they would have been wiped off the map ages ago. And he actually had the shameless audacity to suggest a polygamous fantasy where he gets to keep the Sterling family’s resources while treating me like a side piece?! My father was so furiously insulted he actually burst out laughing. “The Vance family really thinks highly of itself, doesn’t it? You enjoyed a few years of luxury and forgot what it felt like to be on the verge of total bankruptcy? If that’s the case, I don’t mind helping you remember.” The matriarch of the Vance family, Liam’s grandmother, finally snapped out of her shock and rushed forward. “Richard, what on earth is going on?!” My mother pulled the stack of explicit photos from her designer bag and threw them onto the nearest banquet table. “Why don’t you tell us, Mrs. Vance? If your precious grandson is so in love with our illegitimate mistake, why put on this massive, humiliating theatrical performance to insult my daughter?! The Sterling family refuses to accept a shameless, filthy brat like her. My husband will officially terminate all corporate partnerships the second we get home. The Sterling and Vance families are permanently severed.” If the Sterling family pulled their capital, the Vance Corporation would be left with nothing but an empty shell and billions in debt. Mrs. Vance clutched her chest, her face instantly draining of all color. She shrieked at Liam, “What the hell have you done?!” Before Liam could even speak, Chloe ran out of the hallway wearing a bright red silk robe. She threw herself to her knees right in front of me, crying a river of perfect, pathetic tears. “Sister, this is all my fault! I couldn’t control my feelings, I made a terrible mistake! But Liam and I are already married! If you keep causing a scene like this, you’re going to destroy the Sterling family’s reputation! Even if you don’t care about me, don’t you care about our family’s honor?!” She twisted her disgusting, premeditated betrayal into “uncontrollable feelings,” and twisted my demand for justice into “destroying the family’s honor.” She was shameless to an absolute, sociopathic extreme. I laughed coldly. “So what you’re saying is, you drug me, steal my wedding, climb into my bridal bed, and if I even dare to ask a single question, I’m the one ruining the family’s honor?” I deliberately raised my voice, making sure every single person in the massive ballroom heard her filthy secrets. “If you really loved Liam so much, why didn’t you just tell me? I never had to marry him! Why did you wait until the exact day of the wedding to pull this disgusting, underhanded stunt? Who exactly is dragging the Sterling family’s honor through the dirt?! Or did you never actually care about the family, and just wanted the sick thrill of stealing what was mine?!” Chloe’s face went chalk-white. Her eyes darted around in panic. “I… I didn’t! I did it because I truly love him!” The elite guests in the room were all ruthless, calculating sharks. Her pathetic little scheme was transparent to everyone. “Using disgusting, underhanded tactics and then using ‘true love’ as an excuse. An illegitimate brat really doesn’t know her place.” “If this was my daughter, I’d drag her home and beat her half to death! Stealing her own sister’s husband… God knows she’ll probably end up poisoning the whole family for money later.” Some of the sharks even aimed their crosshairs directly at Liam. “Mr. Vance is acting pretty desperate too. Since he already slept with the shameless brat, why is he brazenly trying to force the true heir to be his mistress? He just can’t bear to lose the Sterling family’s money, can he? He wants to have his cake and eat it too, treating the Sterling family like complete idiots. The things he said… I’d feel dirty just repeating them.” Mrs. Vance, humiliated beyond repair, trembled violently with rage. She slapped Liam brutally across the face. “You ungrateful bastard! Get on your knees and apologize to your in-laws right now! And you will publicly swear to legally marry Evelyn immediately!” She took a few steps toward me, reaching out to grab my hands, but I smoothly dodged her grasp. Her face stiffened for a fraction of a second before morphing into a desperate, fawning smile. “Evelyn, I know you’ve been deeply wronged. Liam will do whatever you want. I promise you, this will never, ever happen again.” Liam clutched his stinging cheek, glaring at me with pure, venomous hatred. He looked at me as if I was the one who had ruined his perfect plan. He completely failed to realize that I was the ultimate victim of today’s disaster. “Grandma, the only woman I will ever love is Chloe. I will only marry her! Evelyn Sterling is an arrogant, useless, spoiled princess who only throws her weight around because of her family’s money! If I marry her, the entire Vance Corporation will be dragged down with her! The title of Mrs. Vance belongs to Chloe alone!” “If she knows what’s good for her, out of respect for Mr. Sterling, I’ll give her a child. But if she wants to be stubborn, she can wait to be spit on by every elite in this city! Let’s see who dares to marry a woman that the Vance family publicly discarded!” Chapter 4 I stared coldly at this man I had poured my heart and soul into for years. After the previous Vance patriarch passed away, the mediocre, incompetent Liam took control of the empire. In just six short months, he offended massive venture capitalists, destroyed core projects, and was manipulated by his shady frat-boy friends into investing in a dozen catastrophic, garbage tech startups. Within days, the Vance empire imploded. They accumulated billions in toxic debt. Investors fled in droves. Liquidating hundreds of years of Vance family assets wasn’t even enough to cover the interest. Some of his former rivals even offered to pay him thousands of dollars just to crawl between their legs like a dog. I was the one who remembered our childhood connection. I bailed him out. I encouraged him. I personally convinced my father to deploy our capital to save him. Back then, he dropped to his knees in front of my father, crying and swearing on his life that if he ever betrayed me, he would be struck by lightning and rot in hell. It only took two years for him to regain his footing in the corporate world, and he had completely forgotten his oath. And now, he had the brazen audacity to claim that making me his secret mistress was an honor. Everyone in the ballroom was looking at Liam like he was a completely unhinged psychopath. They couldn’t comprehend how a man who entirely relied on his fiancée’s family to survive in the corporate world had the sheer audacity to act so arrogant! Honestly, the Vance Corporation was basically owned by the Sterling family at this point. But Liam didn’t care. Seeing my silence, he was absolutely convinced I was devastated and couldn’t bear to lose him. He wrapped his arm around Chloe’s waist, his arrogance swelling to catastrophic levels. “Evelyn Sterling. If you get on your knees right now, bow your head to Chloe, and serve her tea to acknowledge her as the lady of the house, I’ll agree to let you be my woman.” “If you serve us well, I might consider letting you move into the guest house. I might even let you see our kid occasionally.” I stared at his smug, delusional face, and I smiled. If this oblivious, suicidal idiot wanted to tie himself to Chloe, then let him. Consider it taking out the trash. My father couldn’t hold it back anymore. His sheer, explosive fury morphed into a sharp, terrifying laugh. “The Vance family really thinks it’s untouchable now, huh? Speaking to me with such arrogance… I guess the Sterling family really is beneath you. If you don’t want my Evelyn as your wife, fine. As for you…” My father pointed a lethal finger directly at Chloe. “The Sterling family does not harbor a daughter who steals her sister’s marriage and obliterates her family’s honor. As soon as I return home, I am opening the family registry and officially striking your name from it. We are signing a permanent severance agreement. From this day forward, whether you live or die, it has absolutely nothing to do with the Sterling family.” Chloe’s eyes went red. She sobbed, playing the victim perfectly. “Dad! I’m your biological daughter too! Why are you being so cruel to me?!” “I just worked hard to fight for the man I love! What did I do wrong?! It’s not my fault Liam doesn’t like Evelyn because she’s useless! Why does Evelyn get handed everything on a silver platter while I get nothing?!” My father sneered. “Fine. I will reward your ‘hard work.’ Everyone in this room is my witness. You are no longer a Sterling. You’re on your own.” “Security! Go load every single piece of the eldest daughter’s dowry back into the trucks!” “Fifty trunks of cash, fifteen chests of high-end jewelry, three custom Porsches, 20% equity in the Sterling Corporation, and the deeds to five luxury villas in the Beverly Hills sector. Every single item goes back to the Sterling estate.” The crowd gasped audibly at the sheer, mind-boggling scale of the dowry. They looked at Liam as if he was the stupidest pig on the planet. Chloe shrieked in absolute panic. “No! That’s MY dowry!” My mother stepped forward and delivered a brutal, resounding slap across her face. “You steal Evelyn’s wedding and now you want to steal her dowry?! Are you out of your mind?! That wealth was prepared entirely for Evelyn! Who the hell are you?! If you want a dowry, go ask your maid of a mother for it!” The bodyguards began moving the massive chests of wealth toward the doors, but Liam aggressively blocked their path. “Hold it right there! If you dare take that dowry out of this room, I will seize half of the Sterling Corporation tomorrow morning.” He looked at my father with a dark, triumphant smirk. “Father-in-law. When we signed the prenuptial agreement, it only stated ‘the daughter of the Sterling family.’ It didn’t specify a name. I honored the contract. I married a daughter of the Sterling family, and I promised to treat her well. If you take that dowry back now, you are officially in breach of contract.” He pulled out the prenuptial agreement they had signed just a week ago, and had his lawyers read a specific clause out loud to the room. “If Liam Vance is unfaithful to the Sterling daughter, he forfeits all assets. Conversely, if the Sterling family retracts the dowry, they are in breach of contract, and the Sterling family must forfeit 20% of their corporate equity to Liam Vance.” The ballroom went dead silent. “Impossible! I would never sign a contract with a clause like that!” My father’s face turned a ghostly white. He snatched the contract, and the lawyer pointed to a line of microscopic text buried at the very bottom of the page. Liam laughed, tilting his chin up arrogantly. He signaled his team, and a video of my father personally signing the document was projected onto the massive LED screens in the ballroom. “Mr. Sterling, you are a titan of industry. You can crush the city’s economy with a snap of your fingers. Surely you aren’t going to play dumb and act like you forgot signing this? But playing dumb won’t save you. The contract is stamped with your personal corporate seal. It is legally binding. If you don’t want to be humiliated in federal court, leave the dowry.” My father’s chest heaved violently. The sheer stress of the betrayal caused him to clutch his chest, gasping for air. He looked like he was about to suffer a heart attack. My mother’s eyes were bloodshot. She wanted to fight back, but she was completely trapped by the airtight legal trap. Chloe twisted her hips and leaned seductively into Liam’s chest, smiling radiantly. “Sister, it’s okay if I don’t have the Sterling name anymore. If you get on your knees right now and apologize to me… if I’m in a good mood, I might put in a good word for you with Liam. I might ask him to abstain from voting at the next board meeting, so Dad doesn’t lose his position as Chairman. Those old wolves on the board are completely ruthless, you know.” “I’ll gladly accept this dowry. Bring it all inside.” The Vance family security guards violently shoved me aside, preparing to haul the entire fortune back into the estate. My mother furiously tried to block them, but the arrogant Vance guards violently pushed her to the floor. Chloe raised an eyebrow. “Madam, this is private Vance family business. If you insist on getting involved, any injuries you sustain are your own fault.” I helped my mother up from the floor, staring coldly at the sociopathic couple. Liam smirked, looking at me like he was tossing a bone to a stray dog. “Without this dowry, you don’t even have the money to buy a husband. Since you used to follow me around like a desperate puppy, I’ll let you come to the Vance estate and work as Chloe’s servant for three years. If you’re obedient, I might consider letting you bear me a son.” When I ignored him, Liam aggressively grabbed my shoulder, dragging me toward Chloe, and brutally kicked the back of my knee. Just as he was about to use brute force to force me to my knees… The heavy mahogany doors of the ballroom were violently thrown open. “We received a report that the Vance Corporation is illegally seizing billions of dollars in private assets. Who is Liam Vance?”

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On the day of my birthday, after I stormed out in anger, my brother went looking for me—only to be kidnapped and murdered. All that was left was a bloodstained suicide note. I refused to believe he was dead. I plunged headfirst into the dark world of human trafficking. I survived brutal beatings and unimaginable torture, barely clinging to life. I scoured every red-light district and remote mountain village, rescuing countless trafficked victims, but I never found Liam’s shadow. Five years later, my body was covered in scars, and I couldn’t search anymore. But just as I was about to collapse from starvation, I saw him holding a cake, celebrating our adopted sister’s birthday with the rest of the family. My adopted sister, Chloe, cheered with delight: “Thank you, Liam! You’re the best!” “Because Maya refused to share her birthday with me five years ago, you punished her for five whole years. But today, I’ve decided to forgive her!” My brother smiled and praised her: “Chloe is so kind. Your birthdays are only a day apart; what’s the big deal about celebrating early together?” “But after this, she should have learned her lesson. She’ll even thank you for bringing me back.” “But… is Maya going to be okay out there all by herself?” “Don’t worry, I pulled some strings. She’s just going through a little hardship. When she comes back, we’ll throw her a solo birthday party. It’s her only wish; she’ll be thrilled.” My empty stomach cramped with hunger, and the scar where my kidney had been removed throbbed with a dull ache. They didn’t know I was a “System Traveler,” and I still had one wish remaining in my balance. [System: Host, are you sure you want to use this wish?] My voice was hoarse: “I’m sure. Let Liam and Chloe’s lie become reality.” ······ [Ding~ Granting wish…] Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the family looked like the picture of happiness. But soon, my brother Liam received a phone call. “Yes, I’m Liam.” “What do you mean, ‘your husband’? I’m not married! Who is this scammer?” I knew the wish had started to take effect. He hung up the phone impatiently and smiled, reassuring Chloe: “It’s nothing, just a spam call. But it reminded me, I should check in on Maya.” He dialed his phone while handing Chloe a slice of cake. “Is Maya still looking for me?” “Find a way to let her know I’ve been rescued. A five-year punishment is enough; it’s time she came home…” He wore a relaxed smile, but the moment he turned his head and saw me, his entire body froze. Standing outside the window, I forced a mocking smile through my cracked lips. The joyous atmosphere inside shattered as my brother and the rest of the family rushed out. “Maya! What happened to your hand?!” Liam’s hands trembled as he grasped my left arm—it was nothing but a twisted stump. It was the price I paid to rescue a boy who looked just like him. The villagers had hacked it off. My mother supported me, her face pale with disbelief as she sobbed hysterically: “Call an ambulance! Maya, Maya, stay awake!” My body had reached its absolute limit. I completely lost consciousness. When I woke up, I heard a doctor asking in surprise: “Is this the young girl you rescued? She’s severely dehydrated and malnourished; her body is failing on multiple fronts.” Liam’s lips moved, but no sound came out. The doctor explained the treatment plan, using Chloe as a comparison: “Take this young lady, for example. You can tell she’s well-nourished and comes from a wealthy family.” “This poor girl’s digestive system is incredibly fragile. She’s starved for too long. We can’t just give her rich food; her body can’t handle it…” I offered a silent, bitter smile. It was true. Chloe had been raised in the lap of luxury. Five years ago, the moment Liam got home from work, Chloe had begged him to cook a lavish dinner. I had scolded her for being so demanding, mimicking how my parents used to discipline me. But Liam instantly frowned in displeasure: “Maya, who do you think you are? Chloe has a poor appetite. It’s a good thing she’s willing to eat my cooking!” He then casually informed me: “Tomorrow is Chloe’s birthday. We’re celebrating yours together to save time.” I just glared at Chloe. The next day, she cried secretly on her birthday, which resulted in my birthday privileges being revoked for ten years. I left in a fit of rage on my birthday. I never expected that my mother would arrive, smash my cake on the ground, and tell me that Liam had been kidnapped and murdered while searching for me. From that moment on, my entire family had orchestrated a massive lie against me. Just moments ago, looking through that window, I heard them refer to my five years of living hell as an “educational method.” A burning pain pierced my heart. I forced myself off the hospital bed, intending to leave. Liam rushed to hold me back: “Maya, lie down! Your body is too weak…” I looked up at him, my expression devoid of emotion: “Didn’t you always say I need to be strong even when I’m sick? I can manage.” I saw the tears in my family’s eyes. They choked back sobs and said: “You’ve been incredibly strong. Thanks to Chloe, we finally found your brother. You can rest now.” Liam grasped my hand, his eyes welling with tears: “Tomorrow is your birthday. We’ll throw a party just for you, okay?” I didn’t say a word, just gave a slight nod. After tomorrow, everything would become a reality anyway. There was no rush. Through the crowd, I caught Chloe’s venomous glare. Chapter 2 In the past, even blowing out candles was a luxury for me. This time, however, it was a lavish affair, with all our relatives invited. For the first time, I had a cake entirely to myself. But just as I closed my eyes and prepared to make a wish amidst the chorus of “Happy Birthday”— “Liam, save me!” A blood-curdling scream pierced the air. Chloe stumbled into the room, collapsing as if she had lost all her strength. My first, exclusive birthday cake was destroyed. “Maya, I already promised to give everything back to you! I don’t want anything anymore!” “Why did you still hire someone to kidnap me?!” Chloe’s face was ashen. She clutched her hand, blood spurting from the wound. Liam’s face drained of color. He lunged forward to apply pressure to her wound. Chloe sobbed, her voice filled with agony: “Maya, it’s not my fault you lost your hand! Why did you tell the kidnappers to chop mine off?! Please, let me go! Let me go!” The room erupted in a gasp of shock. Liam glared at me, his eyes full of rage: “Maya, how could you be so evil?!” The relatives joined in, hurling accusations: “She’s your sister! How could you do something so horrific?!” “She’s an ungrateful wretch! Today she kidnaps her sister and chops off her hand; tomorrow she might kill us all!” Liam gritted his teeth: “Maya, if you hadn’t thrown a tantrum and run away, I never would have been kidnapped!” “If it weren’t for Chloe, I would have died a hundred times over! How could you hurt her? You don’t deserve to be my sister!” The crowd pulled at me, labeling me a murderer. Chloe fell to her knees, slapping herself hard and kowtowing until her forehead bled: “I was wrong! I shouldn’t have competed with my sister for your love! Please, I’ll leave—no, I’ll go abroad right now! I promise you’ll never see me again!” I looked at my parents and brother, anxiously comforting her. I finally couldn’t hold back a scoff: “Chloe, you’re still as dramatic as ever.” The next second, I was kicked brutally to the ground. My internal organs felt like they had been shattered. Liam stepped heavily on my stomach, grinding his heel into me with fury: “You haven’t learned a damn thing in five years! You’re ruthless enough to do this to your own sister!” He pointed at Chloe’s bleeding hand and demanded: “Look at her injuries! Do you think she’s faking this? You refuse to admit your mistakes, and out of sheer jealousy, you took revenge on Chloe!” “You should have died out there!” A sharp pain tore through my abdomen, and I coughed up two mouthfuls of blood. I smiled. So, this was his true feeling. Seeing me smile, my mother’s face twisted in profound disappointment. She smashed a glass cup against my face: “You will kneel and apologize to Chloe right now! Sign the papers transferring all your shares to her!” “Otherwise, you can crawl back to wherever you came from and get your limbs chopped off! You are no longer part of this family!” Blood blurred my vision. Liam ordered coldly: “Sign it now! Stop pretending to be half-dead. Nobody owes you anything!” With blood pouring down my face, I took the transfer agreement and ripped it to shreds! “I will never apologize!” Liam’s face darkened: “Can’t you just bow your head for once? Do you really want to pay her back with your own hand?!” His next words choked in his throat, turning into a horrified scream. I yanked off my functional right arm and threw it into his chest: “Here’s my hand!” I hunched over, forcefully detaching one of my legs: “Here’s my leg!” Both of these prosthetics were the price I paid. I was caught and brutally dismembered after rescuing trafficked women. The old injuries from years of beatings caused me to spit up more blood. “Maya!” Liam’s hands trembled as he reached to support me. I pulled away in disgust, lost my balance, and crashed to the floor. I could only pull up my shirt, gasping for air: “What else do you want? My liver or my kidney?!” Liam’s sobbing voice echoed in my ears: “Impossible! I arranged for people to protect you…” Before I completely lost consciousness, I caught a glimpse of the supposedly weak Chloe; a flash of panic crossed her face. Chapter 3 I woke up in the hospital again. Liam was sitting by my bed, trying to convince me: “Chloe made a mistake. That kidnapper was just after ransom; you didn’t orchestrate it.” I pressed my lips tightly together. As expected, Liam looked at me with a conflicted expression: “It’s partly your fault for always competing with Chloe. You scared her with your deformed hand, and she’s had nightmares for days.” “Let’s just forget this ever happened.” Even though I anticipated this, fury still surged within me: “Why?! I’m your biological sister! Why am I punished half to death for every mistake, while she gets a free pass?!” Blood seeped through my bandages. Liam quickly tried to soothe me, his voice carrying a sense of finality: “Once you’ve recovered, we’ll throw you a proper birthday party and transfer your residency registration back to our family!” My parents, standing by the bed, nodded through their tears. I was stunned. So, they all knew. When they adopted Chloe, they had personally removed my residency registration. Just because she said she liked my name, my identity was given to her when I turned 18. For years, my stubborn insistence on celebrating my birthday was simply a desperate plea for them to accept me back into the family. But after over a decade, I was still an outsider. My parents cast a sympathetic glance at my prosthetics: “Don’t worry, Maya. Once you’re discharged, we’ll sort out the paperwork.” “We’ll make Chloe give you back your name and your identity!” Crash! Chloe stood in the doorway, her eyes red, a shattered water glass at her feet: “Mom, Dad, Liam…” Liam tightened his grip on my hand, his voice unwavering as he looked straight ahead: “It’s decided!” “Liam!” “Get out, Chloe! Maya is my biological sister!” Chloe burst into tears, just like she always did. But this time, when she turned and ran, no one stopped her. Their attitude towards me became incredibly cautious: “Maya, when you’re better, we’ll fix your registration, okay? We’re a family.” Family? I closed my eyes, a suffocating pain gripping my chest. “Okay.” It didn’t matter. They were all going to die anyway. I would be the sole heir to the family fortune. Only by getting my registration back could I inherit the estate. Liam let out a sigh of relief. He thought I was compromising. Worried that I might change my mind and go after Chloe, he immediately issued a public statement announcing a formal recognition banquet for me. The wealthy family drama of the true and fake heiress. But while the internet was buzzing with speculation, another trending topic exploded out of nowhere. The fake heiress had committed a hit-and-run, and the true heiress had taken the fall! There was a signed confession as proof. I was shocked. Almost no one knew about this. When Chloe was underage, she stole a family car and hit someone. My family immediately forced me to switch identities with her, using my grandfather’s belongings to blackmail me into taking the blame and going to prison. “Maya! Why won’t you leave Chloe alone?!” Liam stormed into my hospital room and slapped me hard across the face. He gritted his teeth: “Are you trying to destroy her? Chloe just wants a family! What did she do wrong?!” Chloe, standing behind him with red eyes, pleaded: “Sister, I’ve already given everything back to you. Are you trying to drive me to suicide?” The stinging pain on my face confirmed my suspicions. It was another one of Chloe’s manipulative ploys. Liam was frantic and furious: “You pushed Chloe into the crosshairs! She made a mistake when she was young and foolish, but she’s done her best to make up for it!” “Why are you never satisfied? Do you have to ruin her reputation completely?!” She made up for it? What about me? What about the two years I spent in prison for her? I clenched my fists and demanded: “So what? Am I supposed to take the fall for her again?!” “Yes!” My burning rage turned to ice. Chapter 4 Liam took a deep breath, staring intensely at me: “The only option now is for Chloe to attend the recognition banquet in your place! We need everyone to believe she is the true heiress!” My heart froze completely. He glanced at my twisted left hand, unable to bear the sight, and looked away: “Don’t worry, the family will still transfer your registration back, we just won’t change your name back yet!” For the same crime, he wanted me to be Chloe’s scapegoat twice. My voice trembled as I asked: “Liam, do you remember what you promised me when we were kids?” He seemed to have forgotten. After a few seconds of silence, he awkwardly avoided my gaze: “Don’t worry, I’ll get your registration sorted out as soon as possible.” “Be reasonable. Both you and Chloe are my sisters!” But Liam… I closed my eyes, feeling like my heart was being carved out with a dull knife. When we were little, you stood in front of me and swore I was your only sister. You promised you would never let anyone take what was mine. My mother rushed into the room, urging impatiently: “What is there to talk about? The public backlash is huge right now, we need to issue a clarification immediately!” Her words hung in the air, completely oblivious to my torn bandages. They hurried out, protecting Chloe, leaving me entirely alone. The eve of the recognition banquet was the anniversary of my grandfather’s death. I saw Liam kneeling guiltily at his grave for a long time. I waited until he left before I approached to pay my respects. “Grandpa, I’m sorry…” Tears slid past the scars on my face as I whispered: “I can’t be a forgiving person. Liam swore to you that he would only ever have one sister.” “But for Chloe’s sake, he sent me to prison and doomed me to a life of hell.” “I made a malicious wish, and I have absolutely no regrets.” I didn’t attend the banquet. I only received the occasional abusive text message. It wasn’t until Liam mentioned someone was spreading rumors and blackmailing him, and that he needed to deal with it. Only then did Chloe and I go downstairs. Before the final step, she shoved me violently. I stumbled and was caught by Liam. He thought I was just worried, wrapping an arm around me reassuringly: “It’s just someone trying to extort money. I have bodyguards, and Chloe is with me. Nothing will happen.” “You’re still recovering, don’t move around too much. Once I handle this, I’ll come back and we’ll go sort out your registration.” I gently pushed him away: “Okay.” He drove off with Chloe. Before leaving, he told me to rest, his eyes full of brotherly concern. I watched the car until it disappeared from sight. My heart gave a slight twinge. A silent farewell. Goodbye, Liam. No, this is farewell forever.

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I went missing when I was eight years old. The trauma was so severe that my mother suffered a complete mental breakdown, living her days in madness. To make her forget me, my father secretly mixed antipsychotic drugs into her meals every single day. He burned all my photos and all my clothes. “Just forget it, Claire.” “I’m doing this for your own good. We’re still young, we can have another one. If you keep acting crazy like this, it’s going to ruin my career.” My mother desperately tried to claw the pills out of her mouth, but he had her tied to the bed and injected the drugs by force. “If you keep this up, I’ll lock you in a sanitarium, and you’ll never see the light of day again.” Tears streamed down my mother’s face. She stopped speaking and was locked away by him as a lunatic for ten long years. Until the day I showed up at their door, pretending to apply for a job. My father waved me away impatiently, telling me to get lost. But my mother suddenly broke free from her restraints and ran barefoot to the front door. She gently smoothed my messy bangs: “Baby, you’re playing hide-and-seek with Mommy, and Mommy didn’t cheat.” “Mommy has been in the house, waiting for you this whole time.” … 1 Arthur’s fingers froze. Mrs. Higgins from next door was peering in, holding a grocery bag. He pulled his foot back, the look of disgust on his face instantly morphing into a bitter, helpless smile. “I’m so sorry you had to see this. Claire, she…” “Her condition has gotten worse lately. She’s even mistaking strangers for family.” As he spoke, Arthur smoothly moved in to pry my mother’s hands off me. His knuckles turned white from the force, leaving an angry red mark on the back of my mother’s hand. But my mother held onto me with a death grip. Her tangled, matted hair hid her face, revealing only a pair of wide, terrified eyes. “No… don’t go! She’s my baby! She’s my baby!” My mother shrieked, her entire body trembling violently. Arthur leaned in close, lowering his voice to a menacing whisper right in her ear. “Claire, do you want to be locked in the dark room again? Let go.” My mother’s body went completely rigid. Her fingers trembled, and she slowly released her grip. I immediately reached out and grabbed my mother’s thin, skeletal hand. “Mr. Sterling, since your wife seems to like me so much, why don’t you let me give it a try?” I looked up, flashing a bright, professional smile, and casually smoothed my mother’s disheveled bangs. “I’m a certified senior caregiver, specializing in patients with psychiatric disorders. Here are my credentials.” Without waiting for his approval, I pulled out my forged ID badge and shoved it right in his face. Mrs. Higgins chimed in from the doorway. “Oh, Arthur, since Claire doesn’t seem to reject the girl, why not let her stay and give it a try!” “Dealing with her crazy episodes day in and day out, it can’t be easy for you.” Cornered and unable to refuse without looking suspicious, a flash of dark hostility crossed Arthur’s face. “Alright then. I’ll be counting on you.” He stepped aside. The front door clicked shut, plunging the house into gloom. Arthur instantly dropped his facade, kicking the shoe cabinet with all his might. The loud crash terrified my mother; she let out a whimpering cry and shrank into the corner. “Drag her inside and scrub her clean! Don’t let that sour stench of hers near me!” Arthur loosened his tie, casting a contemptuous look at my mother before turning his gaze to me. “New girl. I don’t care who you are. In this house, there is only one rule.” He took a step closer, towering over me intimidatingly. “Obedience. I don’t like people who talk too much, and I despise people who think they’re smart. Do you understand?” I lowered my head and nodded submissively. “I understand, Mr. Sterling. I will make sure the Mrs. is ‘obedient’.” Arthur scoffed and walked into his study. I helped my mother up from the corner. Her hands were ice cold, dirt packed deep beneath her fingernails. Her wrists were encircled with dark, overlapping bruises. I guided her to the dining table. On the table sat a bowl of cold oatmeal, alongside a few white pills. Arthur walked out holding a glass of warm water. “Crush the pills, mix them into the oatmeal, and feed it to her.” He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching us intently. I picked up the pills. Chlorpromazine. A heavy-duty antipsychotic. “Mr. Sterling, this dosage… isn’t it a bit high?” Arthur’s eyes turned icy. He walked over, took the spoon, and stirred the oatmeal. The spoon clinked sharply against the bowl. “Claire is very sick. How can she get better if she doesn’t take her medication? I’m doing this for her own good. For the good of this family.” He shoved the spoon into my hand. “Feed her. Don’t let her spit it out. Every single drop.” My mother stared at the bowl of oatmeal, her lips clamped tightly shut, a low, guttural moan escaping her throat. “No… poison… it’s poison…” Arthur sighed heavily, reached out, and pinched my mother’s jaw. I watched as her jawbone turned white under his crushing grip. “Claire, be a good girl. Once you eat this, you won’t feel so miserable anymore. Why do you never understand my good intentions?” Smiling, he applied more pressure, forcing her mouth open. Using my body to block his view, I quickly pinched my mother’s palm. Her eyes flickered, and she looked up at me. As I went to feed her, I used my thumb to swiftly slide the pills into my sleeve, scooping up only plain oatmeal and putting it into her mouth. “Swallow it.” Arthur commanded. My mother swallowed with obvious difficulty. Arthur stared at her throat for a few seconds. Only when he was absolutely certain she had swallowed did he let go. He wiped his fingers meticulously with a napkin. “See? That’s a good girl.” He glanced at the wall clock and adjusted his suit jacket. “I have to attend the city’s ‘Model Husband’ award ceremony tonight.” “Keep a close eye on her. Don’t let her wander around, and absolutely do not let her make those weird noises.” Arthur walked to the door, then turned back to give me one last look. “Do a good job, and your salary doubles. Screw this up… and I’ll lock you in that room right alongside her.” The front door slammed shut. My mother slumped in her chair, her eyes vacant and empty. I dropped to my knees in front of her, gently cupping her gaunt, hollowed-out face. “Mom… It’s me, Lily. I’m your Lily…” 2 My mother acted as if she hadn’t heard me, curling herself into a tight, trembling ball. “No poison… this time there’s no poison…” I buried my face in her lap and wept uncontrollably. I got lost when I was eight. I survived in an orphanage, and all these years, my only goal was to find my way back home. The TV in the living room suddenly flared to life. Arthur stood on an illuminated stage, holding a gleaming trophy, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “Truthfully, I haven’t done enough. My wife, Claire, has suffered from severe mental health issues ever since we lost our daughter.” “But I swear, no matter what happens to her, I will never, ever give up on her.” Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, and countless camera flashes illuminated his earnest face. My mother’s body convulsed violently. She grabbed the empty oatmeal bowl and hurled it at the TV screen. “Liar! Demon! He’s a demon!” I threw my arms around her, holding her tight as she thrashed wildly. I pushed up her sleeves. Her arms were covered in needle marks. Old scars layered over new ones; some of the puncture sites were oozing pus. “Mom, I’m going to kill him. I swear to you, I’m going to kill him…” I gritted my teeth, forcing the words out one by one. The sound of a key turning in the lock. I quickly wiped my tears and half-carried my mother back into her room. Arthur was home. Clinging to his arm was a heavily made-up woman, leading a little boy who looked to be about six or seven. The moment the woman stepped inside, she pinched her nose and fanned the air disgustedly. “Ugh, Arthur, this is your house? Why does it smell like a crazy person? How can anyone live in this dump?” Arthur picked up the little boy and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Buddy, this is Daddy’s… oh, I mean, this is your cousin’s house. This will be our home from now on.” The little boy, “Buddy,” held a soccer ball, his eyes darting around the room mischievously. “Cousin Arthur, where’s the crazy lady? I wanna see the crazy lady!” Buddy wriggled out of Arthur’s arms and viciously kicked a piece of the shattered porcelain bowl across the floor. I stood at the end of the hallway, watching this twisted “family of three.” Arthur looked slightly uncomfortable for a split second, but his expression quickly smoothed out. “Caregiver, this is my cousin, Maya. She’s here specifically to help me take care of Claire. And this is her son, Buddy.” He pointed at the broken porcelain on the floor. “What happened here? Did Claire throw another tantrum? Clean this up immediately, don’t let the kid cut himself.” Maya plopped down on the sofa, kicking off her high heels. “Hey, you there. Get me a glass of water first. Warm. Not too hot, not too cold. And make sure it’s fresh.” I gripped the broom handle tight, turned around, and went to get the water. Suddenly, Buddy took his soccer ball and kicked it with all his might right at the crack in the door where my mother was hiding. Smack. The heavy ball hit my mother square in the face. She let out a tortured scream and collapsed, blood gushing from her nose. “Hahaha! Bullseye! The crazy lady is bleeding!” Buddy clapped his hands, howling with laughter. I dropped the water glass and lunged forward. “Mom!” I helped her up. Her face was covered in blood, and she was shaking uncontrollably, clutching her face. “Mr. Sterling! Is this what you call taking care of her?!” I whipped my head around and glared at Arthur. Arthur frowned, walking over to look down at us imperiously. “He’s just a kid, he doesn’t know any better. They were just playing. What are you yelling for? Don’t scare the boy.” He sighed, crouched down, picked up the soccer ball, and casually dusted it off. “Claire, really now. You knew we had guests over, and you still hide there trying to scare people.” “Look, you got Buddy’s ball all dirty.” My mother’s dignity was worth less than a bastard child’s soccer ball. Maya strolled over as well. “Ew, Arthur, look how filthy she is. All covered in blood. Get her out of here before she traumatizes Buddy.” “Did you hear her? Take her inside and stop the bleeding. Stop making a scene.” Arthur handed the ball back to Buddy. I helped my mother to her feet. As we walked past the kid, I shot him a glare so cold it could freeze water. Buddy recoiled in terror and burst into loud wails. “Daddy! She glared at me! The servant glared at me!” Arthur turned around, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “Caregiver, that look in your eyes… I don’t like it.” He slowly walked right up to me. “In this house, your eyes don’t need to be too sharp. You just need to see clearly who the master is.” “If you can’t even manage that basic level of awareness, I have no problem finding a replacement for you.” 3 Late at night. The sound of Maya’s giggles and Arthur’s heavy breathing echoed from the master bedroom. The sounds bled right through the walls and into the storage closet. Ever since Maya and her brat moved in, Arthur had banished my mother to this closet. It was barely fifty square feet, windowless, and reeked of mold. My mother lay curled up on a rigid cot, groaning in agony as a high fever wracked her body. “Water… water…” I was just about to get up and pour her a glass when the door swung open. Arthur stood in the doorway, wearing a silk robe and holding a medical kit. Backlit by the hallway lights, his face was cast in shadow. “You’re being too damn loud.” He closed the door behind him. “It’s the middle of the night. What the hell are you wailing for? Are you trying to let all the neighbors know I’m abusing you?” Arthur opened the medical kit, pulled out a syringe, and drew a thick, yellow liquid into the vial. My mother stared in sheer terror, desperately trying to scramble under the cot. “No! No needles! Arthur, I’m sorry! I won’t do it again! Please!” Arthur stepped over me impatiently, grabbed her by the hair, and forcefully dragged her back onto the bed. “Claire, why can’t you just be a good girl and listen?” “This is an imported nutritional injection. It costs thousands of dollars a pop. I treat you so well, and you’re still not satisfied?” He drove his knee into my mother’s stomach, pinning her down. I huddled in the shadows behind the door, gripping my hidden voice recorder tight. I can’t move. I need to make sure he burns in hell for this. Arthur raised the syringe, gently stroking my mother’s face. “Claire, go to sleep. Once you’re asleep, it won’t hurt anymore, and you won’t remember any of those sad things.” “If you don’t go to sleep like a good girl and keep making a racket in my house, I’ll have no choice but to send you to that place.” My mother’s eyes widened in sheer panic, her body going completely rigid. The needle pierced her skin. As the liquid was pushed into her veins, my mother’s frantic struggles faded into weak, shallow pants. Arthur pulled out the needle, tossed the empty vial into the trash can, and patted my mother’s cheek in satisfaction. “Such a good girl.” He stood up and walked out, humming a cheerful little tune. The next morning, I was jolted awake by a piercing scream. In the kitchen, Maya was clutching the back of her hand, screaming bloody murder. A pot of scalding soup was splashed all over the floor. My mother stood nearby, holding an empty bowl, looking completely dazed. “Murder! The crazy bitch is trying to kill me! Arthur, help!” Only a tiny patch of skin on Maya’s hand was actually red, but she was screaming as if she were being burned alive. Arthur rushed into the kitchen. “What the hell is going on?!” Maya threw herself into Arthur’s arms and started sobbing theatrically. “Arthur, I just wanted to be nice and serve her a bowl of soup, and she threw it right at me! She’s trying to burn me alive!” My mother waved her hands frantically in panic. “No… it wasn’t… she did it…” Smack! Arthur delivered a brutal backhand across my mother’s face. “Claire, I am so incredibly disappointed in you.” He pointed a shaking finger at my mother. “Maya goes out of her way to take care of you out of the goodness of her heart. If you don’t appreciate it, fine, but to resort to such vicious violence? Have you completely lost every shred of human decency?” I stepped in front of my mother, shielding her. “Mr. Sterling, there’s something not right here. The Mrs. was standing perfectly still the entire time. It was Miss Maya who intentionally…” “Do you think you have the right to speak here?!” Arthur cut me off with icy venom. “Since this house can no longer tolerate your presence, for everyone’s safety, and so you can receive better psychiatric care…” Arthur turned back to my mother, his eyes completely devoid of warmth. “I’ll have you sent to the Serenity Grove Sanitarium tomorrow.” Arthur straightened his cuffs. “Oh, right. Tomorrow, I’ll be hosting a small, charitable farewell gathering right here. I’m inviting the media, our friends, and our family to witness it.” The corner of his mouth curled into a chilling smirk. “I want everyone to know exactly how heartbroken I am to part with you, and how I had absolutely no other choice but to send you away.” “Claire, you’ll cooperate with me… won’t you?” 4 The farewell gathering was a massive, extravagant affair. Arthur had invited local news crews. The garden was overflowing with extravagant floral arrangements and towers of champagne. The guests mingled, clinking glasses. “Arthur really is a saint. Dealing with a wife like that and still never abandoning her.” “If it were me, I would have lost it ages ago. The fact that he’s still willing to pay to send her to a private sanitarium… he’s done more than his fair share.” I stood on the fringes of the crowd, the voice recorder in my pocket practically burning a hole in my uniform. Maya strutted around playing the perfect hostess, weaving through the guests wearing my mother’s designer gown. Buddy, dressed in a tiny tailored suit, stood obediently by Arthur’s side. Arthur wheeled my mother out. The woman in the wheelchair had been dressed in a floral sundress and wore heavy makeup. Heavily sedated, my mother sat slumped in the chair like a lifeless marionette. A thick strip of medical tape was plastered over her mouth. A spotlight hit Arthur. Tears pooled in his eyes as he rested a hand gently on the handles of the wheelchair. “Friends, family… thank you all so much for coming today.” “For the past ten years, I’ve prayed every single day for a miracle. Prayed that Claire would get better. Prayed that our little girl, who was taken from us, would find her way back home…” Several guests in the audience discreetly wiped away tears. “But reality is cruel. Claire’s condition has only deteriorated, to the point where she has become violent toward the people who love her.” “To protect her from hurting herself, and to bring some peace back to our home, I am forced to make this agonizing decision.” Arthur took a deep, shaky breath. “I have decided to send Claire to a fully enclosed, intensive treatment facility. I never wanted to give up on her, but for her own safety… I have to let her go…” Thunderous applause erupted across the garden. “Arthur is an absolute saint!” “So moving! This is what true love looks like!” Soaking in the adoration, Arthur bowed deeply, then turned to push the wheelchair toward the white van stamped with “Serenity Grove Sanitarium.” Maya shot me a highly provocative, triumphant smirk. I adjusted the collar of my caregiver uniform, took a deep breath, and began walking up the steps, one by one. The exact moment Arthur’s hand reached for the wheelchair, I stepped in front of him, blocking his path. The applause died instantly. Every single pair of eyes in the garden turned to stare at me, the lowly caregiver. Arthur frowned, annoyance flashing in his eyes. “Miss, I know you’ve grown attached to Claire, and I appreciate your hard work these past few days. Please step aside. We can’t afford to miss the admission window.” He shot a subtle look, and two massive bodyguards immediately moved in. “Miss, please step back. Do you want to go to jail for causing a disturbance? Don’t force our hand.” I stared right into Arthur’s perfectly manicured face. “Mr. Sterling, an admission window?” I let out a cold, mocking laugh. My voice, amplified by the microphone near the podium, boomed across the entire estate. “Are you sending her to get treatment, or are you sending her to be slaughtered?” The crowd gasped in shock. Arthur’s face turned black with rage. “Drag her out of here! The woman has lost her mind!” The bodyguards lunged forward to grab me. I spun around swiftly and violently ripped the medical tape right off my mother’s mouth. The loud rrrip was sickeningly sharp. My mother gasped for air, looking around in sheer terror. “Mom, don’t be afraid.” I patted her hand reassuringly, then turned to face Arthur and the wall of cameras. I raised my right arm and shoved my long sleeve up past my elbow. On the inside of my wrist, a bright red, butterfly-shaped birthmark was glaringly obvious in the sunlight. The exact moment Arthur saw that birthmark, his entire body froze solid. The mask of the dignified, grieving husband completely shattered. I took a slow, deliberate step toward him, making sure I could see my own reflection in his widening eyes. I stared dead into his pupils and enunciated every single word perfectly: “Dad. It’s been ten years. Do you really not recognize your own biological daughter anymore?”

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Blood, it wouldn’t stop. I lay on the delivery bed, the overhead lights blindingly white. Someone shouted “More pressure,” people were running, the sound of shoes against the floor frantic and chaotic. My consciousness was sinking. I couldn’t feel the pain anymore. Just cold. A coldness starting from the soles of my feet. The delivery room door wasn’t shut completely. Voices drifted in from the hallway. It was my mother-in-law, Martha’s voice. She was on the phone. “…Five hundred thousand dollars, that was the agreed-upon dowry. If she doesn’t make it, can we get that money back?” I heard it perfectly clearly. Every single word. Oh, wait. That was another lifetime. The first time I met my stepmother, I slashed her arm with a knife. People told me it was this wicked woman, Nora Hayes, who stole my father and drove my mother away. I swore I would drive her out. But when I poured out the chicken soup she made, she replaced it with beef stew. When I cut up the dresses she bought me, she bought me pants instead. I thought I would never be able to get rid of her, until my fourteenth birthday, when she came to pick me up from school with a cake, and died pushing me out of the way of a speeding semi-truck. At her funeral, her mother pointed at her portrait and cursed: “You useless disappointment! Your husband gets stolen, and you still take care of the mistress’s daughter, and now she’s gotten you killed!” It turned out my mother was the mistress all along. I stumbled home, stared at the smashed cake, and belatedly made my birthday wish: “Nora Hayes, please come back to life.” When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to three days before the accident. Standing amidst the crowd of students leaving school, I saw Nora looking around for me from across the street. A middle-aged woman shoved past her, causing her to stumble and nearly fall. The woman glared at her aggressively, “Stop blocking the way!” Nora stepped back, apologizing profusely. This was Nora. Born into a family that heavily favored boys over girls, she developed a chronic people-pleasing personality. Even when her husband cheated, she helped raise the mistress’s daughter, and the result was being killed by me, the jinx. Given a second chance, my biggest wish was to stop Nora from being a pushover that anyone could bully. I walked straight over and stepped hard on the woman’s foot. “Say you’re sorry.” “Are you crazy? You stepped on me and you want me to say sorry?” “If the person who gets bumped into has to apologize to the one who bumped them, then why doesn’t the person who got stepped on have to apologize to the one who stepped on them?” Seeing that I wasn’t someone to mess with, the woman resentfully muttered a “sorry” and walked away. Nora’s eyes widened in surprise, mixed with a hint of quiet joy. “Chloe, thank you.” I kept a sullen expression and said, “Anyone can bully you. You’re so dumb, you might as well just die.” Nora smiled good-naturedly and took me home. At our front door, we found an uninvited guest—Nora’s younger brother, Kevin. “Sis, lend me a hundred grand, I want to open a small convenience store. I’m just short a hundred grand to get it started. I’m your closest brother, you can’t just ignore me.” I mentally spat in disgust. In my previous life, Nora lent him the money, and he turned around and blew it all gambling. After Nora died, Kevin and their mother signed a settlement agreement with the driver, split the million-dollar compensation, and sold off all her belongings. They even sold Nora’s organs on the black market. A guy with dollar signs in his eyes playing the loving brother? Nora sighed and let him inside. While she went to pour water, I narrowed my eyes and said to Kevin: “You degenerate gambler, you deserve to be beaten to death by loan sharks!” Kevin never expected a little brat like me to speak to him like that. Furious, he slapped me to the floor. “So what if I gamble? You little bastard, you dare stick your nose in my family’s business?” He raised his foot to kick me. Hearing the commotion, Nora rushed over and dropped the water glass in shock. “What are you doing?!” I quickly scrambled to her side, lifted my red, swollen face, and cried out: “I just asked Uncle what he was borrowing the money for, and he suddenly hit me! He even said he was borrowing it to gamble! Not to open a store at all!” Kevin cursed: “Bullshit!” Nora touched my cheek, her brow furrowed tightly, showing a rare flash of anger: “Kevin! You really haven’t changed at all! Now you’re not only gambling, but you’ve learned to hit people too! Get out!” Kevin gritted his teeth and said: “Sis, don’t listen to her. I’ve changed, I won’t gamble anymore! I really want to open a store!” “I’ll get on my knees, okay?!” Kevin dropped to his knees in front of Nora and started crying and slapping himself. “It was all my fault before! Sis, forgive me, there won’t be a next time!” I watched the shifting expressions on Nora’s face. In the past, every time Kevin came to borrow money, after a routine of crying, throwing a tantrum, and begging on his knees, Nora would always give in. This time, with my little performance, would she change? I nervously grabbed her hand. She shuddered, gripped my hand tightly, and said: “Leave. I’m not lending you the money.” “What?” Kevin couldn’t believe his ears. He suddenly exploded: “Nora, I gave you an inch and you took a mile!” “Even if you’re married, you’re still a Hayes! Your money is my money! So what if I use it to gamble?” “Nora, even if you have to go sell yourself on the street, you better scrape together that hundred grand. If you’re short even one dollar, watch out, I’ll find a few guys to—” Before he could finish, I kicked him hard in the groin. “Go sell yourself!” Kevin let out an agonizing scream and collapsed. He recovered after a moment, stood up, and reached for me with a twisted, furious face. “I’m going to rape you, then kill you!” I was about to kick him again when Nora, having grabbed a paring knife from somewhere, stepped in front of me. “If you dare touch Chloe again, I’ll kill you right now!” I looked at Nora in shock. She was trembling all over, but her eyes shot out a terrifying light, like a mother wolf protecting her cub. The paring knife I used to hurt her the first time we met was now being used to protect me. Kevin looked at Nora as if seeing her for the first time and backed away two steps. “Whoa, chill, sis, let’s just talk.” “Get the hell out!” “Fine, I’m leaving right now.” He left with a resentful look on his face. Just as he reached the door, he looked back and sneered: “Playing happy family with the mistress’s daughter, how pathetic. Does she know about all the filthy things you’ve done?” Nora’s face instantly went deathly pale. I frowned. What filthy things could Nora possibly have done? After Kevin left, Nora dropped the knife and used a cold towel to compress my face. Not long after, her mother called, launching into a tirade of curses. Usually, to keep Nora acting as their ATM, her mother would pretend to care about her. This time, with just one refusal, she showed her true colors. “If you don’t give him the money, I’m going to your office tomorrow and causing a scene!” She hung up the phone. Nora stood frozen like a stone statue. I hesitated for a moment, then went to the kitchen, made a bowl of noodles, brought it to her, and looking away, said: “Hurry up and eat, the noodles will get mushy.” “Oh, right, my face looks like this, so I can’t go to school. Take me to your company tomorrow.” “If they come causing trouble, I can be your bodyguard.” Nora paused, then suddenly pulled me into a hug. “Chloe, thank goodness I still have you.” I blushed and pulled away forcefully. The next day, Nora’s mother predictably knelt at the entrance of Nora’s company, throwing a massive fit. She wailed loudly: “Nora Hayes! You heartless, ungrateful wretch! Your brother just needs a hundred grand to save his life, and you won’t even lend it to him!” “All these years, I favored you over him, terrified you’d feel slighted! You ate better, dressed better, and had better things than your brother!” “Your brother dropped out of school early to work and pay for your master’s degree! He didn’t even finish high school, so nobody wants to hire him! Now he’s asking to borrow a hundred grand to open a small store, and you chase him out with a knife!” “Now that you’re an executive at Zenith Corp, you don’t care about your own mother and brother!” The crowd of onlookers grew larger. Nora and her boss, Vice President Chen, had also come down. People in the crowd whispered among themselves: “To have such a good mother and brother and not appreciate them!” “How did someone like her get into Zenith? They should fire her!” Nora’s mother crawled forward and hugged VP Chen’s leg. “Zenith is such a big company, you can’t let your employees abandon their own flesh and blood!” I stepped forward, held up my phone, and played a video. “So what you’re saying is, Zenith employees should just let their relatives gamble their lives away?” Nora’s mother’s face changed. Kevin’s voice came from the phone: “Your money is my money! So what if I use it to gamble?” “Nora, even if you have to go sell yourself on the street, you better scrape together that hundred grand. If you’re short even one dollar, watch out, I’ll find a few guys to—” The crowd immediately changed their tune: “Oh, so the brother was using it to gamble. No wonder the sister wouldn’t lend it.” “Threatening his sister like that for money, how vicious!” But some still said: “Even so, that sister isn’t a good person either!” Nora’s mother grasped at straws and cried: “Exactly! She’s a bitch! If he hadn’t sacrificed his education and couldn’t find a job, why would my son have turned to gambling? She owes me!” Hearing those words, the last glimmer of light in Nora’s eyes died out. She gave a miserable smile. “I’ve been working part-time since high school, and I got full scholarships every year. When did Kevin ever pay for my education? He dropped out because he couldn’t get into high school! He got addicted to gambling, and I gave up my Ph.D. to work and pay off his debts! You’re just like him, full of lies!” She pulled out her phone and opened her bank transfer history. “Over the years, you and Kevin have borrowed money from me countless times. It adds up to over a million dollars! You say I owe you? Yes, I do. I owe you a severance agreement!” Her mother’s eyes widened. “What did you say? You want to cut ties with me?” “How was I ever bad to you all these years? When you took your college entrance exams, I fed you meat and shrimp every meal. Because I favored you so much, your brother was always neglected, which is why his grades were bad, and you still feel wronged?” I feigned surprise. “Meat and shrimp? The last time she took me out to eat, I accidentally had a bite of shrimp and ended up in the ER. You treat your daughter so well, how did you not know she’s severely allergic to seafood?” Her mother was stunned. “What did you say? She’s allergic to seafood?” Nora squeezed her eyes shut in pain. “The ‘good meals’ you’re talking about were all things Kevin liked. He loves seafood, so you made seafood every day. During the period leading up to my college entrance exams, I survived on instant noodles and bread.” “On the morning of the exam, my alarm woke Kevin up, and you screamed at me, making me almost late.” “This is what you call treating me well, this is what you call favoring me!” Nora took a notebook from her bag, quickly wrote out a formal severance agreement, and threw it in her mother’s face. “From today on, we have nothing to do with each other!” Her mother looked around in a panic and turned to VP Chen. “Boss, you have to do something about her!” But VP Chen said, “Nora is an outstanding employee, and Zenith needs talent like her! As for you, you reaped what you sowed. You deserve this!” Her mother slumped to the ground, looking completely defeated. “Oh no—my daughter has disowned me, and my son is useless. Who’s going to take care of me when I’m old!” As the crowd dispersed and Nora and I were about to leave, her mother’s scream rang out from behind us: “Nora Hayes! Aren’t you afraid I’ll scorch the earth and expose your true colors?” “All those filthy things you’ve done, Richard sent them all to me!” Nora’s steps faltered. I glanced back at her mother. Richard was my father’s name. It seemed he had something on Nora and had sent it to her mother and brother. But what dirt could anyone possibly have on Nora? As I was wondering, my phone buzzed. I opened it to see a message from Richard. “Your birthday is the day after tomorrow. Your dad and his new girlfriend are taking you out to dinner.” Attached was a photo of him hugging a glamorous, young woman.

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Chapter 1 After my fifth miscarriage, my uterus was so severely damaged that I had to undergo a full hysterectomy. It felt like a death sentence. I was told I would never be a mother in this lifetime. On the day I was discharged from the hospital, I was scrolling through Reddit when I stumbled upon a thread: [What’s the best acting performance you’ve ever seen from a real person?] One of the top comments, sitting at over a million upvotes, caught my eye. [To sleep with my boss, I pretended to be his cousin. While his wife was in the hospital getting a hysterectomy, we did it seven times on their marital bed in one night. His wife didn’t suspect a thing.] [The next day, when she saw a trash bag full of used tissues, she actually thought her husband had been crying over her condition.] The replies under that comment were an absolute war zone. People were ripping her to shreds, calling her shameless and asking why she was acting like being a homewrecker was a badge of honor. But the original poster was completely unapologetic and arrogant in her responses. [What era are you people living in? What do you mean ‘homewrecker’? The one who isn’t loved is the real third wheel, okay?] [My boss told me himself: he lost feelings for his wife a long time ago. I am his only true soulmate and physical match.] I was just about to scroll past it, disgusted, when I noticed the woman’s profile picture. It was a close-up of two hands, fingers intertwined. Wasn’t that the custom wedding band I had designed for my husband? …… Staring at the photo on the glowing screen, my entire body went rigid. I had been with Mark for five years. We never raised our voices at each other, let alone had a real fight. In the eyes of our friends, we were the perfect, enviable couple. Mark did have a cousin. Her name was Chloe. She was beautiful, sweet, and an Ivy League graduate. After I suffered my fifth consecutive miscarriage, she seemed even more devastated than I was. She came over every few days to bring me homemade, nutrient-rich bone broth, insisting she was going to help me nurse my body back to health. One was the husband I trusted with my life. The other was a kind, caring, sweet “cousin.” How could they possibly betray me? I tried to click on the user’s profile to read more, but the comment had already been reported and deleted. So, I created a burner account, pretended to be a fan of her “boldness,” and requested to join the private Discord server linked in her bio. Inside the chat, someone asked her what she was really after with her boss. She posted a mirror selfie of a man’s chiseled, eight-pack abs, her text dripping with smugness. [My boss is handsome, loaded, and amazing in bed. How could anyone not fall for a man like that?] Immediately after, she sent the message that shattered my world. [Do you want to know why his wife got pregnant five times and miscarried five times?] [Because he was terrified that if she actually had a kid, she wouldn’t have any time left to spend with me. So, he started slipping saffron and other abortifacients into her prenatal vitamins.] [Who knew her body was so weak this time? She bled so much she ended up losing her entire uterus.] I stared at those glowing lines of text. My body began to shake uncontrollably. I was absolutely, horrifyingly certain now. The woman she was talking about was me. And Mark… he didn’t just cheat on me. He had personally, meticulously poisoned the prenatal supplements I took every single day. Five pregnancies. Five miscarriages. Every single time, he had been the one to carefully brew my teas, hand me my pills, and look at me with eyes full of deep, agonizing heartbreak. I thought he cherished those babies as much as I did. I had no idea that what he was truly terrified of was me actually bringing one into the world. I remembered the countless times I had leaned against his chest, looking up at him with eyes full of hope and longing. “Honey, do you want a boy or a girl?” He would always rest his chin softly on the top of my head, his voice so gentle it could melt ice. “Either is perfect. As long as it’s a piece of you, I’ll love them with all my heart.” But as it turned out, every single one of those sweet, tender words was a calculated, venomous lie. I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood, but I couldn’t feel the pain. Some people in the chat thought she was just making up a sick story for clout and attention. To prove them wrong, she simply unlocked her private Instagram profile, telling everyone in the Discord to go look for themselves. Chapter 2 I immediately opened her Instagram. Every single post I scrolled past felt like a knife twisting in my lungs, suffocating me. [July 15th: The lingerie my boss bought me is way too conservative. It doesn’t show off my figure at all. He should just give it to his boring wife.] That day was my birthday. He had surprised me by uncharacteristically buying me a gift. When I opened it, it was a set of black, sheer lace lingerie. Even though the sizing was completely wrong, I didn’t think much of it. I just assumed he was clueless about women’s sizing. I even put it on that night and tried my best to put on a show for him. I never realized… it was never meant for me in the first place. [August 30th: I have to go on a business trip to Chicago soon. My boss is supposed to be taking his wife on a vacation to Aspen. We won’t be able to see each other for days! But it’s okay, because my boss specifically changed his itinerary just so he could be with me.] That Aspen trip was a vacation we had been planning for over a year. I had made endless spreadsheets and itineraries. But right before we were supposed to leave, he suddenly changed the destination. He swapped our tickets to Aspen for flights to Chicago. At the time, he looked me in the eye and swore with absolute sincerity. “Babe, the altitude in Aspen is too high. Your body is still recovering, and I’m worried you won’t be able to handle it.” I had just suffered a miscarriage. I genuinely believed he was just being protective of my health. I even felt guilty for a long time, blaming my weak body for ruining his chance to visit Aspen—a place I knew he had always dreamed of going. But now, I realized just how laughably pathetic and wrong I had been. My trembling finger kept scrolling. There were so many stories. So many betrayals. Until I stopped on this one. [November 5th: The boss’s mother-in-law passed away. He missed me so much he sent me the location. We went a few rounds right behind the casket in the funeral home! We almost knocked a candle over and burned the whole place down. It was such a rush!] A violent wave of nausea hit me, and I violently dry-heaved over the side of my bed. So the fire that broke out in the back room of my mother’s funeral home wasn’t an accident. It was the result of them desperately screwing each other just feet away from my mother’s casket. The Mark I knew… was the man who, when I casually mentioned I was craving a specific pastry from a bakery across town, would drive a hundred miles in the middle of the night just to get it for me. He remembered my menstrual cycle more accurately than my own calendar app, always having a hot water bottle and pain meds ready. Whenever he brought me to company events, he would proudly introduce me to his colleagues. “This is my wife. The absolute love of my life.” I didn’t understand. How could the man who held me on such a high pedestal deceive me so flawlessly, so cruelly? Hearing my agonizing retching, Mark, who had just returned to the hospital room with breakfast, rushed over. “Babe, what’s wrong?! Are you feeling nauseous again?” He carefully rubbed my back, his voice incredibly soft and soothing. “It’s okay. You just had major surgery, the doctors said you’d feel sick for a few days. Just hold on a little longer, it’ll pass soon.” I squeezed my eyes shut, gathering every last ounce of strength I had left in my shattered body. With extreme difficulty, I raised my head and stared directly into his seemingly worried, affectionate eyes. “Mark. I know everything about you and Chloe.” Chapter 3 Mark’s cell phone suddenly started ringing in his pocket. He hastily silenced the call, turned back to me, and that mask of gentle perfection slid flawlessly back into place. “Babe, what did you just say? I didn’t quite catch that.” I pulled my gaze away from his phone and instinctively replied. “Was that Chloe calling?” The corners of his mouth twitched upward into a practiced, perfectly polite smile. “Yeah, it was. That silly girl… she’s not feeling well right now, I really need to go check on her. Can you take an Uber home by yourself today, sweetie? Is that okay?” What a flawless, impenetrable excuse. If I hadn’t seen that Reddit post, I probably would still be completely in the dark, nodding understandingly. Before I could even respond, he had already turned and practically sprinted out the door. I sat frozen on the edge of the hospital bed. My phone screen suddenly lit up. A new notification from the Discord chat popped up: [Just bought some fun new toys, I really want to try them out with him. His wife is literally in a hospital bed right now, but do you guys bet I can get him over here with a single text?] And just like that, he went. He went so eagerly, so desperately. Acting entirely on instinct, I threw on my clothes and followed him. I tracked his location app until I saw his familiar black Audi parked in an empty lot. Chloe was leaning seductively against the passenger side door. Mark power-walked over to her. They didn’t even exchange a single word before smoothly sliding into the backseat together. The heavy doors slammed shut. Less than a minute later, the SUV’s suspension began to rhythmically rock back and forth. I pulled out my phone and accessed the live feed from the hidden dashcam I had installed months ago for insurance purposes. The explicit, filthy sounds of their heavy breathing blasted into my ear through my AirPods. “Boss… tell me the truth. Between me and your wife… who do you like fucking more?” Mark’s voice lacked any of the warmth he showed me, replaced instead by a dark, degrading lust. “You, of course, you little slut! You know all the best positions, you’re always eager, and you’re younger than her. In bed, she just lays there like a dead fish.” He paused for a second before adding: “But she is the only one who can hold the title of Mrs. Davis. After all, she comes from old money, she’s an Ivy League grad, and her family’s connections are the only reason my company is still afloat.” “Besides, don’t you think sleeping with a married man is more of a rush? I have endless money to spend on you, and I know exactly how to spoil you.” My nails dug so deeply into my palms they drew blood. If I hadn’t heard the audio with my own two ears… I never would have believed that these words came from the mouth of the man I had loved and been married to for five years. In my mind, he had always been a quiet, stoic man who wasn’t great with words. But he was brilliant, reliable, and incredibly organized—which was exactly what drew me to him in the first place. When we first started dating, my parents were vehemently opposed to it. He grew up in a dirt-poor, rural farming town and was the sole financial provider for his entire extended family. The crushing financial burden of his family was entirely on his shoulders. Back then, there were countless wealthy, successful men pursuing me, but I was completely moved by his relentless, devoted pursuit. I leveraged my parents’ connections and emptied my entire trust fund to help him start his tech company. Once the company took off, we got married. Even when she brought Chloe into the company to be her “secretary,” and I found out she was his “cousin”… I personally instructed HR to pay her a salary significantly higher than standard market rate to help out his family. I never imagined it was all a meticulously crafted lie. A massive, suffocating agony crushed my heart. I lost all rational thought and sprinted blindly toward the rocking SUV. But the very next second, the engine roared to life! The heavy SUV suddenly, without any warning, accelerated and slammed directly into me. The sickening sound of bones shattering was the last thing I registered before the pain dragged me into absolute, suffocating darkness. Chapter 4 When I woke up again, Mark was sitting by my hospital bed, clutching my hand in a death grip. “Babe! You’re awake! How are you feeling?!” “Are you thirsty? I’ll go get you some water right now.” He stood up, acting as if absolutely nothing horrific had happened. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. My voice was a raw, hoarse rasp. “What exactly were you two doing in that car today?” Mark’s hand visibly stiffened. His brow furrowed. “You… you saw us?” I didn’t expose the dashcam audio. I wanted to see how far he would go to lie to my face. “No.” Hearing my denial, his facial muscles instantly relaxed, and he let out a heavy sigh of relief. “Babe, what could Chloe and I possibly be doing in a car? She’s my cousin! Did the impact from the crash scramble your brain?” “But honestly, it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake, I never would have hit you. It’s all your husband’s fault.” He hit me? But right before the impact, I clearly saw through the windshield that the person who suddenly threw the car into drive and stomped on the gas was Chloe. I had even seen her flashing me a malicious, provocative smirk from the driver’s seat. To protect her, he was actually willing to take the blame for attempted vehicular manslaughter. I couldn’t help but let out a weak, chilling laugh. His cell phone suddenly rang. Using it as an excuse, he told me he had to step out to take an important work call. I slowly sat up, intending to find a nurse to change my bandages. But as I walked past the hospital stairwell… The sound of muffled, suppressed sobbing echoed clearly through the heavy fire door. Chloe had her face buried in Mark’s chest, her shoulders shaking violently. “Boss… do you think your wife knows? If she finds out, does that mean I can’t stay by your side anymore?” Mark wrapped his arms tightly around her, comforting her in a low, hushed whisper. “Stop overthinking it. I tested the waters; she didn’t suspect a thing. But moving forward, we have to be much more careful…” “How are we supposed to be careful…” Chloe’s tearful, whining voice suddenly turned seductive. I saw her hand slide suggestively under his shirt. “I need you to comfort me right now.” “You little slut. I’ll give you exactly what you need.” Mark let out a dark chuckle. Immediately following it, the sickening, wet sounds of kissing and the rustle of clothing echoed through the stairwell. I whipped around and stumbled blindly back to my hospital room, locking myself in the attached bathroom. I hovered over the toilet, dry-heaving violently until my throat burned. I thought that after seeing the true, horrific face of this man, my heart would be numb. But witnessing it with my own eyes again… the agonizing grief was still unbearable. After I finished throwing up, I splashed freezing water on my face. Then, I pulled out my phone and dialed my lawyer’s number. “Hello. I need you to draft a divorce agreement. I want Mark Davis to walk away with absolutely nothing.” Just as I hung up the phone, Mark pushed open the bathroom door. “Babe, who were you just on the phone with?” He asked with practiced, casual ease. “A coworker from the firm. Asking about a project timeline.” I lowered my eyes, offering a flat, dismissive lie. He sat down next to me, instinctively reaching out to put his arm around my shoulder. “Oh, by the way. Our wedding anniversary is in three days. I promised you I would make every anniversary unforgettable. Let’s celebrate properly this year, okay?” I slowly raised my head, staring deep into the eyes that were filled with nothing but fabricated, sickening devotion, and nodded. “Okay.” If that was the case… then on our anniversary, I would give him a gift he would truly never forget.

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To celebrate Stella Montgomery’s promotion and raise, Ethan Wright took the two of us high-altitude skydiving. I never expected our parachutes to get tangled in mid-air. Without a second of hesitation, Ethan cut my parachute strap. It caused me to descend entirely too fast, and the brutal impact of the landing shattered my heel ligaments, forcing me to say goodbye to my figure skating career forever. I asked Ethan why he didn’t save me. He held a terrified, crying Stella in his arms, comforting her flawlessly, before replying to me with chilling coldness: “It was Stella’s first time skydiving. She has no experience. Of course I had to save her first. Besides, you’re fine. Why are you throwing such a massive tantrum?” I didn’t cry. I didn’t scream. I simply went home and wrote the incident down in my blue leather journal. This was the thirtieth time I had forgiven Ethan Wright. 1 “Maya Caldwell, right? I heard you practically free-fell from fifty feet up.” “I don’t know whether to call you incredibly lucky or just insanely tough. You actually walked into the hospital by yourself. Thank God it’s just torn ligaments.” The ER doctor shook his head in disbelief, muttering as he applied the cooling ointment to my foot. I offered a bitter smile. Stella had started crying before her feet even touched the grass. Ethan had been by her side the entire time, speaking in soft, gentle whispers. From beginning to end, he hadn’t looked at me once. My right ankle was swollen to twice its normal size, but I couldn’t feel the pain. “Doctor, how long will it take to heal?” His expression turned serious. “It won’t take too long to recover, but even when it’s completely healed, there will be lingering joint weakness. You likely won’t be able to perform any high-impact, flexible movements ever again.” “It’s a real shame. You’re so young.” With a look of deep pity, the doctor sighed heavily and left the room. The World Figure Skating Championships were just around the corner. I had been preparing for this for three years. I trained relentlessly every single day, accumulating countless bruises on my body, all just to secure a top spot on the podium. But the doctor’s words were a death sentence for my career. Years of blood, sweat, and tears vanished into thin air. I sat frozen on the hospital bed, my body instantly drained of all its strength. Right then, Ethan walked into the room, with Stella following closely behind him. He looked at me with a face full of manufactured worry. “Maya, why didn’t you tell me you were coming to the hospital? You had me looking everywhere for you.” I unconsciously gripped the metal bedrail. My knuckles turned white. Ethan was the skydiving club’s ace instructor. He was fully capable of perfectly resolving any mid-air entanglement. But he chose his “white moonlight” without a second thought. Even now, his words from the drop zone echoed in my mind. “It was Stella’s first time skydiving. She has no experience. Of course I had to save her first. Besides, you’re fine. Why are you throwing such a massive tantrum?” But the truth was, he could have saved both me and Stella. And I wouldn’t have been injured at all. Seeing my lack of response, Ethan stepped closer and reached for my hand. I dodged his touch. He froze, his face instantly darkening. “I said I was sorry, okay? I’m apologizing to you. Are you satisfied now?” “Every time something minor happens, you give me the silent treatment and throw a fit. It gets exhausting for me too, you know.” Ethan’s words were like a needle, violently stabbing into my heart. He had no idea that the consequences of his “minor thing” meant I could never be an athlete again. Stella put on a pitiful, teary-eyed expression. “I’m so sorry, Maya. This is all my fault. You can ask me for any compensation you want, just please don’t blame Ethan.” Before I could even open my mouth. Ethan immediately shifted back to comforting her. “Stella, you’re too kind. It’s not your fault, you don’t need to apologize to her.” Watching their sickeningly intimate display, a heavy wave of grievance washed over me. Somehow, I was the one in the wrong. My face remained perfectly calm. “Can you two leave? I’m tired and I want to rest.” Stella looked awkward, then suddenly clutched her chest, her face twisting in pain. “Ethan… my chest hurts so much.” Ethan panicked. He quickly supported her weight and practically carried her out of the room, shouting loudly for a nurse. His frantic anxiety was a stark contrast to the cold annoyance he had just shown me. It was like looking at two completely different people. The next day, I went back to our apartment and opened the blue journal. Every time Ethan did something that profoundly disappointed me, I wrote it down. Then, I would forgive him and pretend nothing happened. The day the journal was full would be the day I finally left him. There were only three pages left. Not long after, the sound of a key turning in the lock echoed from the front door. It was Ethan. Seeing me sitting in the living room, his tone was slightly panicked. “Why didn’t you call me when you were discharged?” He unnaturally adjusted his jacket collar, as if trying to hide something. But I had already seen the faint smear of red lipstick on his shirt. “I figured you were busy,” I said flatly. At that moment, my best friend Harper texted me. Ethan’s eyes fell on my glowing phone screen. He looked confused. “Maya, when did you change your lock screen? Hasn’t it always been that photo of us?” Every time I forgave Ethan… I stripped a little piece of him out of my life. That way, when the time came to leave, it wouldn’t feel like I was losing everything all at once. “I’d used that photo for too long,” I said expressionlessly. “I just wanted a change of mood.” Ethan sensed that something was off. His face softened. He reached out and grabbed my hand, his voice dipping into an intimate, gentle tone. “Maya, I know what I said yesterday was harsh. It won’t happen again. Forgive me, please?” He was always like this. He genuinely believed that the moment he apologized, everything was magically fixed. I pulled my hand back and gave a detached nod. “Okay.” Ethan frowned slightly, clearly unsatisfied with my lukewarm reaction. If this were any other day, he would have lost his patience. But this time, he actually tried to flatter me. “Haven’t you always wanted to drive up to the historic St. Jude’s Mission in the mountains to light a candle? I’ll take a day off work and drive you up there.” Harper had once told me that whoever lights a candle at that historic mission with a sincere heart gets their wishes granted. I used to beg Ethan to take me. But he would just look at me with intense annoyance. “That stuff is a complete tourist trap. Only idiots believe in it. You’re a grown woman, why are you so childish?” But then, his white moonlight, Stella, returned from out of state. I never brought the mission up again. “My foot is injured, it’s not convenient,” I replied. “Maybe next time.” Ethan looked disappointed, but he didn’t push it. He tossed his jacket onto the sofa and walked into the bathroom to shower. A few minutes later, his phone buzzed with a text notification. Curious, I picked it up. It was from Stella. “Ethan, I’m all ready! When are you coming to pick me up?” I swiped the screen, wanting to see what they had talked about earlier. But I hit a lock screen. The passcode had been changed. It was no longer my birthday. I let out a self-deprecating laugh and placed the phone exactly where I found it. Ethan walked out wrapped in a towel, water droplets still clinging to his hair. He checked his phone, then frantically started throwing on his clothes. “Maya, there’s an emergency at the club. I’ll be back as soon as I handle it.” He tossed the excuse over his shoulder and rushed out the door without looking back. I sat there in a daze for a long time. It wasn’t until the clinic called to remind me about my bandage change that I finally snapped out of it. I had no appetite. I called an Uber and went to the clinic alone. Before changing the dressing, I had to undergo a painful physical therapy massage. Seeing that I was alone again, the doctor didn’t ask any questions. Right then, Stella sent me a photo. She was linking arms intimately with Ethan. The background was the iconic bell tower of St. Jude’s Mission. A minute later, the photo was un-sent. I pretended I never saw it, but my entire body felt like it had been plunged into an ice bath. As soon as I got home, Stella posted on her Instagram story. It was a photo of Ethan kneeling in front of the altar, hands clasped together, looking like he was praying deeply for something. The caption read: “I never believed in fate, but right now, you are my god.” I knew Stella did it on purpose. I thought I was completely numb to it by now, but my mind was still a chaotic mess. I leaned back against the sofa and fell into a groggy sleep. In my haze, I felt someone gently stroking my cheek. I opened my eyes to see Ethan. He was pulling a warm blanket over my shoulders. “Maya, why are you sleeping out here? You’ll catch a cold.” “Are you done with the club emergency?” I asked flatly. He didn’t answer. He just looked at me with deep, manufactured affection. “Guess what I did today?” I forced a tight smile, pretending I didn’t know, and shook my head. Ethan pulled a small, golden Saint Christopher medal from his pocket, looking incredibly proud of himself. “I drove all the way up to the mission to get you a blessed protection charm. The priest said that whoever wears this is guaranteed a safe, long, and healthy life.” “This way, we can grow old together.” I stared at the trinket in his hand. It looked incredibly familiar. Harper had once complained to me about a similar situation. Her ex had come back from a “business trip” and gifted her a blessed charm from a famous church. Later, she found out he had bought it for three dollars at a gas station souvenir stand on his way home. She fought with him for days over it. I had been the one to comfort her, telling her it was the thought that counted. I never expected something so utterly ridiculous to happen to me. Thinking about Stella’s Instagram post, I lowered my eyes, my fingers gripping the fabric of my dress tightly. Ethan didn’t notice my silence. He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “Tomorrow is our three-year anniversary. I managed to get a reservation at that French restaurant you’ve been dying to go to. Are you happy?” I thought he had forgotten. If this were the past, I would have been thrilled. I would have thrown my arms around his neck and acted like a giddy little girl. But now, my heart felt absolutely nothing. After dinner, Ethan seemed exhausted. He collapsed into bed and fell into a deep sleep within minutes. I pulled out the blue journal. I stared at the second-to-last page for a long time, but ultimately decided not to write today’s events down. The next day, I made a point to wear the sapphire blue dress Ethan had bought me. He smiled like a lovesick fool as he helped me into the passenger seat. But when we arrived at the restaurant doors, I saw Stella standing there. “Ethan! You took so long.” Stella pouted, treating me like I was invisible as she immediately grabbed Ethan’s wrist and swung it playfully. Seeing my face drop, Ethan looked incredibly guilty and scrambled to explain. “Maya, Stella has always wanted to try this place. When she heard we got a table, she begged to tag along. I didn’t have a chance to tell you.” Stella smiled, but her eyes were full of mockery. “Maya is so generous. I’m sure she doesn’t mind, right?” I knew arguing was pointless. It would only end with me getting hurt. I just nodded in agreement. We sat down at our reserved table. The waiter handed the menus to Ethan and Stella, asking, “What can I get for you two this evening?” Stella was dressed to the nines, dripping in expensive, flashy jewelry. Compared to her, I looked like a plain, simple assistant tagging along with a wealthy couple. It was no wonder the waiter mistook them for the couple celebrating. Stella looked incredibly smug. She started ordering dishes without asking me, and Ethan just watched her, his eyes full of absolute indulgence. I sat there expressionless. My soul was already dead. The dinner was suffocatingly awkward. I completely lost my appetite. I just sat there, waiting for the torture to end. Suddenly, my mom called. I reached to answer it, but Stella snatched my phone out of my hand. “The restaurant has a strict no-phone policy. You’re going to ruin the ambiance for the other guests.” I was instantly furious. My mom would never call me during dinner unless it was an absolute emergency. As I reached to snatch it back, Stella purposely loosened her grip. The phone slipped from her fingers and splashed directly into her bowl of hot bisque, splattering soup onto her face. Ethan shot up from his chair, glaring at me furiously. “Stella was just trying to give you a polite reminder! Do you have no basic manners?! If you burned her face, I swear to God I would never forgive you!” I desperately reached into the bowl to grab my phone, but the screen was already completely black. It was dead. Seeing that I was ignoring him, Ethan’s rage flared even hotter. “Apologize to Stella right now!” I slowly raised my head, looking at him in a daze. Meeting his chilling, ruthlessly cold eyes, I felt like I was looking at a complete stranger. Once upon a time, he protected me so fiercely he wouldn’t even let me wash dishes with cold water. Stella immediately played the innocent victim. “Ethan, please don’t fight with Maya over me. It makes me feel so guilty.” They looked deeply, tragically in love. It was like watching a cheap soap opera. Unable to stomach another second of it, I stood up and walked out of the restaurant. By the time I found an AT&T store and bought a new phone, several hours had passed. I hurriedly called my mom back. But the news on the other end of the line left me paralyzed on the sidewalk. “Sweetheart… Grandma is gone.” I walked home like a lifeless puppet. Staring at the framed photo of me and my grandma on the windowsill, the tears finally broke through the dam. Because Stella had ruined my phone, and Ethan had delayed me. I missed my very last chance to say goodbye to my grandmother. A while later, Ethan rushed through the front door. “Maya, I’m so sorry, I had no idea that was going to happen—” A deep, visceral disgust flared in my chest. I cut him off. “Get out. I don’t want to see your face right now.” He froze, then quietly closed the bedroom door and left. Once my emotions finally settled, I opened the blue journal and completely filled out the second-to-last page. For the next few days, I didn’t say a single word to Ethan. He was tactful enough to stay quiet, just silently keeping me company in the apartment. He didn’t even go to the skydiving club. Then, out of nowhere, Ethan spoke up. “Maya, Stella is hosting a celebration party at a lounge this weekend. She said she wants you to come so she can personally apologize for what happened.” It seemed they had coordinated their story. I didn’t want to go, but Ethan kept relentlessly nagging me about it. Annoyed by his constant buzzing, and thinking it over, I decided to go just to make things clear once and for all. That night, Ethan took me to a VIP room at an upscale lounge. When he pushed the door open, Stella was sitting there with several of her friends. “Ethan! Finally! We were all waiting for you.” Stella completely ignored my existence, grabbed Ethan’s arm, and pulled him inside. There was absolutely zero intention of apologizing. I didn’t want to cause a massive scene and embarrass Ethan in public, so I gritted my teeth and followed them in. After a few drinks and some karaoke, people started getting bored. Someone suggested playing a game of Dares with a deck of cards. Everyone agreed enthusiastically, and Ethan and I were pulled into the circle. For the first round, one of Stella’s friends acted as the “Dealer.” He looked around the room and commanded that whoever held the Ace of Spades and the 3 of Hearts had to make out for thirty seconds. The two cards just happened to be in Ethan and Stella’s hands. My heart skipped a beat. The dare wasn’t strictly mandatory. If you absolutely couldn’t do it, you could just drink the penalty shots and move on to the next round. Stella looked at me with a perfectly crafted, awkward smile. Just as she reached for the penalty shots, Ethan stopped her hand. “You’re allergic to alcohol, remember? You can’t drink that.” “But Maya will be so angry…” Ethan brushed it off casually. “It’s just a stupid party game. Maya isn’t that petty.” They locked eyes, and then they kissed. They didn’t stop at thirty seconds. They kissed for a full minute before reluctantly pulling apart. The room erupted in cheers and catcalls, acting as if I wasn’t sitting right there. Stella shot me a triumphant look, a mocking smirk playing on her lips. She was showing off her ultimate victory. My heart sank to the bottom of the ocean. All I wanted to do was escape. A few rounds later, it was my turn to be the Dealer. Coincidentally, Stella was drawn again, but this time her kissing partner was another guy in the room. Without a second of hesitation, Ethan stepped in and slammed back the penalty shots on her behalf. He had a terrible alcohol tolerance, and after a few heavy pours, he was completely drunk. I made a quick excuse, supported his weight, and left the lounge early. When we got back to the apartment, Ethan held my hand tightly on the bed, mumbling incoherently. I leaned in closer to hear him. “I miss you… I miss you so much every single day… I love you…” “Stella.” In that instant, my entire body turned to stone. I trembled uncontrollably. The tears fell silently down my cheeks before I even realized I was crying. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Even when Ethan was black-out drunk, his subconscious was entirely consumed by Stella.

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Chapter 1 My husband’s new favorite pet was a “strong, independent woman.” After getting into yet another argument with her, Arthur Sterling came home drunk and suddenly grabbed my calloused hands. “You’re both women, but Chloe just campaigned for and won the CFO position. Look at you. All you know how to do is fight the maid for chores.” From then on, his catchphrase became, “Look at Chloe.” But I continued to tirelessly serve my in-laws, playing the role of the perfect, dutiful wife both in public and in private. That is, until Chloe was exposed online for rejecting seven or eight sugar daddies who tried to keep her, and posted a lengthy manifesto about female independence. Arthur liked the post and left a thinly veiled, sarcastic comment: “You’re still the most pragmatic one in our circle.” “How is it that back then, you were willing to strip naked and climb into my bed for just a few thousand bucks?” He thought I would accept his degradation just like I always did. Instead, I took off my wedding ring and said calmly: “Since she’s better than me in every way, you should marry her and make her Mrs. Sterling.” … I paused for a moment. “I’m serious. Let’s get a divorce.” When those words left my mouth with absolute clarity, the smile on Arthur’s face completely froze. Then, a knowing smirk replaced it. “There’s another thing you can’t compare to her in.” “Chloe has ambition and capital. But you? You’ve relied on me to support you your entire life. You don’t even have the backbone to ask for a divorce.” My fingers trembled violently. To this day, I still remember how my father, desperate to plug a massive hole in his business finances, drugged me and delivered me to Arthur’s bed. At the time, Arthur and I were deeply in love; we were in that beautiful, ambiguous stage, and he had even prepared an engagement ring for me. But when we woke up the next morning, my father burst into the room, forced Arthur to take responsibility, and walked away completely satisfied with a fifty-thousand-dollar payoff. The pure, enduring love Arthur and I shared in our youth was destroyed right then and there. On the day he was forced to marry me, Arthur publicly mocked me, calling me a gold digger worth exactly fifty thousand dollars. Later, when my mother fell critically ill, he had his men deliver three entire safes filled entirely with discount coupons. “It’s time you learned to support yourself. The wife of Arthur Sterling shouldn’t be a useless parasite who only knows how to hold her hand out for money.” That was when I finally understood that my genuine feelings were worthless. My expression was uncharacteristically stoic. Arthur hesitated, about to step forward, when the doorbell rang abruptly. When Chloe Hayes appeared at the door, Arthur visibly panicked for a split second. Because he had promised me that no matter who he was with, he would never bring his mess to my doorstep. Clearly, Chloe was the exception to that rule. The young woman held a thick stack of receipts, speaking with an exasperated sigh: “Mrs. Sterling, your expenses through the company account lately have been far too high, and many of them are completely unnecessary.” “It’s incredibly difficult for Mr. Sterling to run this company. The least you could do is be a little more considerate of him. Am I right?” My face flushed with humiliation, my chest feeling like it was stuffed with cotton. Ever since Chloe joined the company, every single one of my expenses had to go through her for approval. The medical and nursing care bills for my in-laws often sat pending for half a month with no response. When I went to Arthur to complain, he would just compare me to her, saying I wasn’t as frugal and thrifty as Chloe. He said all I knew how to do was ask for money. But the amount spent on me personally was microscopic. The dress I was wearing right now was from three years ago. Arthur flipped through the stack of receipts, obvious disgust written all over his face. “Chloe is right. Go to the office tomorrow and return the luxury items. You really don’t need things of that quality.” My fingernails dug deep into my palms. “Those receipts aren’t mine.” As soon as the words left my mouth, Chloe, acting as if I was giving her attitude, turned and ran off, looking incredibly wronged. Arthur stared in the direction she disappeared, completely oblivious to the fact that he had knocked over a carafe of freshly boiled water right onto my leg. “From now on, Chloe is the manager of this household. I’ll thank my lucky stars if you manage to learn even a fraction of what she knows!” With that, Arthur slammed the door and left. I pulled the fabric away from my leg; the skin was blistered and raw, a horrifying sight. But he couldn’t see it at all. I quickly treated the burn, then called a lawyer: “Help me draft a divorce agreement.” Chapter 2 When I went to the hospital to get my burn dressed, I stared at the $263 medical bill, at a loss. “I’m so sorry, I’ll be right back with the money,” I said, embarrassed. The billing clerk’s jaw dropped. The wife of Arthur Sterling, a woman who could buy the entire hospital with pocket change, actually needed to borrow money to pay a tiny medical bill. I had to contact an old friend from the past just to cover the fee. The moment I walked out of the hospital, I received a text from Arthur urging me to return the items. When I arrived at the company carrying the “luxury items” I had bought over the years, the employees around me began whispering. “They say you can tell where a man’s heart is by where he spends his money. I didn’t expect Mrs. Sterling to look so pathetic.” “If she had even half of Assistant Chloe’s ambition, she wouldn’t have sunk so low.” “Her virginity was only worth fifty grand, anyway. This pile of junk is probably worth more than she is, hahaha!” … I forced myself to stay calm and didn’t lash out. Chloe marched over, leading a large group of employees from her department. She glanced into the bag in my hand and fanned the air in front of her nose in disgust. “Mrs. Sterling, you spent all that money and only bought this? I don’t believe it.” The black trash bag held a few pieces of jewelry worth less than a thousand dollars total—bought solely to play the part of the dutiful wife when accompanying Arthur to banquets. The rest was just faded, overworn clothes and a few pairs of high heels with broken stilettos. Everything else in the bag was adult diapers and empty prescription bottles for my in-laws. My entire life over the past few years amounted to nothing more than this. I handed over the keys to the house along with the bag. “If you don’t believe me, you can go search the house.” Chloe excitedly snatched the keys, tucking them into her designer bag as if they were a priceless treasure. Then, she looked me up and down, examining the clothes I was wearing. “These were bought with Mr. Sterling’s money too, right? They’re designer, after all. Please take them off, Mrs. Sterling.” Instantly, the employees erupted into mocking laughter. I tried my best to steady my emotions. “I am not going to…” “If Chloe tells you to take them off, take them off. It’s not like you haven’t stripped for money before.” I snapped my head up in shock. When I realized the voice belonged to Arthur, the blood in my veins turned to ice. Back in college, I had accidentally wandered into the wrong nightclub. Three or four drunk men threatened me with knives, demanding I strip or they wouldn’t let me leave. I had barely exposed one shoulder when Arthur rushed in, armed with broken beer bottles, and permanently blinded them right then and there. “If you dare look at her again, I’ll make sure you never see tomorrow!” And now, he was telling me to strip naked in front of all his employees. I smiled, closed my eyes, gritted my teeth, and took off my scarf. Then, I unbuttoned my coat, revealing my bra underneath. The crowd gasped sharply. But my movements didn’t stop. Until I was down to my very last piece of clothing. “Enough!” Arthur frowned, his expression complicated, and roughly threw his jacket at me. “If you don’t have any shame, I do!” Ignoring the mocking stares around me, I handed him the divorce agreement I had prepared in advance. “I’ve returned everything I owe. Let’s get a divorce.” Arthur’s body stiffened for a second, then he grabbed a pen and signed his name with a flourish. “Don’t think these little tricks will scare me. I’m giving you three days. I’ll be waiting for you to crawl back and beg me!” Dropping that threat, he turned and marched back into his office, slamming the door behind him. Chloe used the pointed toe of her stiletto to kick all the clothes I had taken off into the trash can. Barely covered, I picked up the divorce agreement and stepped into the elevator under the malicious gazes of everyone present. The moment I stepped out of the company building, my mother called me, sounding frantic: “Stella! Arthur auctioned off my ancestral home!” Chapter 3 Immediately following that, my mother’s agonizing sobs were abruptly cut off, sounding as if she had been crushed by something heavy. By the time I rushed to the scene, my mother had been pinned under a massive solid wood cabinet, barely clinging to life. “Stella, don’t go begging him.” My numb face was covered in tears. Holding the gold bangle Arthur had given me on our wedding day, I begged the demolition crew to stop. But the bangle was ruthlessly smacked out of my hand. “Do you think we’re idiots? This is cheap metal plated with a thin layer of gold! Do I look like a scrap metal collector to you?!” My brain was buzzing. The crisp clink of the bangle hitting the ground smashed directly into my heart. So, in Arthur’s heart, I was only worth cheap, gold-plated scrap metal. After getting my mother into the emergency room, I broke down and called Arthur. “What right do you have to touch my mother’s ancestral home?! Your people crushed her and put her in the hospital!” Arthur’s slow, deliberate voice carried an air of absolute self-righteousness: “Who told your mother to go online and spread rumors that Chloe is a homewrecker? Chloe works tirelessly for the good of this company. What right does a woman who sold her own daughter have to slander her?” “And besides, there’s no need to curse your own mother just to scare me. I don’t buy it.” “If you really want the ancestral home back, you can come to the auction and get it yourself.” With that, he hung up. A doctor walked over to inform me: “Due to massive internal crushing injuries, the patient has just passed away.” I collapsed to the floor, drained of all strength. I couldn’t even cry anymore. When I arrived at the auction, Chloe was dripping in gold and diamonds, clinging to Arthur’s arm like she was the true Mrs. Sterling. Any random gemstone necklace she pointed at would have easily covered the cost of my mother’s surgery. The surrounding crowd cast disdainful looks my way. “She’s really Mrs. Sterling? I didn’t expect her to look so pathetic!” “Her hands are rougher than my maid’s. If you didn’t know better, you’d think she was the help who wandered in by mistake, hahaha.” “Mr. Sterling obviously knows she’s an embarrassment, which is why he brought Miss Hayes here to play. He just bought her three million dollars’ worth of jewelry!” … These mocking words meant absolutely nothing to me now compared to my mother’s only remaining possession. I stumbled over to Arthur in a daze, my voice dead and monotone: “My mom passed away. Give the ancestral home back to me.” He slowly put out his cigarette, his face twisting in disgust. “You really can’t stop spewing lies, can you?” “Too bad I can’t give it back anyway. Chloe already sold it to a homeless man a few minutes ago.” I snapped my head up in shock. He knew perfectly well that my mother had protected that ancestral home with her life so my father wouldn’t sell it off. Chloe walked over, putting on an act of immense generosity. “The homeless man at the door was just so pitiful. I was just trying to do a good deed in Mrs. Sterling’s name, otherwise…” Then, she leaned in close and whispered in my ear: “Otherwise, your mother wouldn’t have been crushed to death.” The woman’s vicious, twisted face magnified in my vision. Suddenly, I remembered the single earring I had found in the rubble of the house earlier—it perfectly matched the one missing from her ear right now! In that instant, pure fury completely incinerated my rationality. Gritting my teeth, I swung my hand and slapped her right down the stairs. Chapter 4 As Chloe screamed and tumbled down the steps, the crowd gasped in shock. “Stella, are you a fucking psycho?!” Arthur sped past me, rushing down the stairs to help the woman up, his gaze bone-chillingly cold. Chloe collapsed weakly into his arms, coughing non-stop: “I don’t even know how I offended Mrs. Sterling. Whenever she disciplines me in private, I never tell anyone, but she shouldn’t embarrass you like this, Mr. Sterling, sob…” As she spoke, she casually exposed the bruises on her arms and thighs, looking like the ultimate victim. The onlookers cast judgmental stares at me. Arthur stood up and, without warning, slapped me hard across the face, his eyes nearly popping out of his head with rage: “Have you forgotten every rule the Sterling family taught you?! Get down there and apologize right now!” My eyes were bloodshot: “Never! She killed my mother, are you blind?!” Acting as if he hadn’t heard me, Arthur pulled out his phone right in front of me and dialed the demolition crew. Gritting his teeth, he threatened: “Apologize!” I shook my head in terror, easily imagining the ancestral home being reduced to absolute rubble. “No, don’t!” Under Arthur’s threatening glare, I stumbled to my feet and walked over to Chloe. “I! Am! Sorry!” She smiled smugly, striking the pose of a victor. Arthur wrapped his arm around her waist, looking down at me from his high horse. “Here’s five bucks. Go find the homeless man and get the deed.” With that, Arthur carefully scooped the woman up and carried her toward the medical bay. I humiliatingly picked up the crumpled five-dollar bill from the floor. The guests were laughing so hard they were bent over. “Hahahaha!” “First she stripped and climbed into his bed for fifty grand, and now she’s going to beg a homeless man for five bucks. How pathetic.” I stumbled away, listening to their insults. Arthur, I no longer care for the fake love you doled out like charity. Just as I turned to leave, Chloe’s supposedly dropped phone lit up with a notification: “Understood, we are beginning demolition immediately!” My heart plummeted. I shoved everyone out of my way and sprinted out of the auction house. Arthur stared deeply at my retreating back. He was about to call out to me when Chloe interrupted him. “My ankle hurts so much.” He withdrew his gaze and sped up his pace toward the medical bay. By the time I reached the ancestral home, the workers were already operating excavators, leveling the perimeter walls. “Stop! I said stop!” The deafening roar of the machinery completely drowned out my pleas. Just then, a pair of greasy, filthy hands grabbed me and threw me aside. “I bought this house with my own money! Who told you to demolish it?! Give me my money back!” The deranged homeless man began smashing a rock against my head, each blow harder than the last. My agonizing screams grew weaker and weaker until blood completely blinded my eyes. With one final, brutal strike, my strength gave out and I collapsed to the ground. Arthur had refused Chloe’s request to have dinner with her, instead driving straight to the ancestral home. The moment he stepped out of his car, a passing homeless man, fiddling with a blood-stained five-dollar bill, muttered to himself: “That chick had some serious fight in her. Maybe she’ll give me a big, fat son!” Arthur froze in his tracks. He violently grabbed the man by the collar, his eyes practically bulging out of his skull: “Who the fuck are you talking about?!” The homeless man trembled violently, unable to form a complete sentence: “I… I don’t know her! She just ran in earlier, so I knocked her out and…” Arthur’s eyes widened in horror. He threw the man to the ground and sprinted into the alleyway. But the sprawling ancestral home had already been reduced to a pile of rubble. The workers were still wantonly destroying what was left. Arthur roared at the top of his lungs: “Stop! All of you, stop right now!” The foreman saw him and ran over, bowing and scraping: “Mr. Sterling, are you satisfied? We followed your orders exactly; not a single brick will be left standing.” Arthur frowned deeply. “What are you talking about?” “When did I ever tell you to demolish it?” The foreman immediately pulled out his phone, showing a recent call log. “Your secretary called us just a little while ago and told us to start working. Doesn’t her order represent your order?” Hearing this, Arthur’s breath hitched. Just as he was about to verify the call, he accidentally noticed the ground completely covered in blood. “What… what is this? Right, my wife was just here. Where is she?” The workers scratched their heads in confusion. “We were working too hard, we didn’t see what happened.” But the purse on the ground, and the pair of blood-stained high heels… those belonged to Stella. Connecting this with what the homeless man had just said, his brain completely short-circuited. He had only wanted to use this opportunity to punish Stella and her mother. But he had never intended to actually demolish the ancestral home, nor had he ever imagined a homeless man would hurt Stella. Arthur erupted in a violent rage: “Restore this house to exactly how it was immediately, or I’ll end all of you!” Dropping that threat, he gathered the scattered belongings from the ground and rushed home. On the way, he called Stella’s phone over and over again, but it remained unanswered. He slammed his fists against the steering wheel, furious, having nowhere to vent his guilt. Ever since Stella’s father delivered her to his bed, he had started to hate her. Could it be that the two of them, who had originally loved each other so deeply, only came together because of money? So he constantly tested her, constantly pushed her limits. He wanted to prove that Stella loved him unconditionally. But he never anticipated that it would lead to a situation like this. Stella’s most cherished ancestral home, and even her purity, had been destroyed. When he arrived home, the nanny rushed up to him, sweating profusely. “Mr. Sterling, someone came by earlier and took the Madam’s belongings, and they left a message for you.” “What message?!” “The Madam said she has already divorced you, and she will never return to the Sterling household again.” Hearing this, Arthur nearly lost his footing. Only then did he remember that he had already signed the divorce agreement today. It turned out Stella wasn’t just throwing a tantrum; she really wanted a divorce. “That… that’s impossible.” Looking at the empty room, he couldn’t believe Stella would never come back. “She must just be mad at me. How dare Chloe act on her own?!” The man’s eyes were bloodshot, his anger surging, as he sped towards the company. But as he passed the breakroom, he heard Chloe laughing uproariously: “It was just a rundown old house, nothing special. Turning it into a garbage dump was doing her a favor.” “You guys should have seen it! When I told her her mother had been crushed to death, the look on her face was priceless, hahaha!” “Right now, she’s probably having the time of her life with that crazy homeless guy. It’s exactly what someone of her status deserves!” As soon as the words left her mouth, she followed her colleagues’ shocked gazes and turned her head. “Mr… Mr. Sterling!” Chloe spun around in a panic, so terrified she was babbling: “You… didn’t you say you had work to handle? Why are you back so soon?” The woman offered a stiff, awkward smile. Arthur stepped closer, his gaze as cold as ice. “Everything you just said… is it true?” Chloe had killed Stella’s mother, ordered the demolition crew to destroy the house, and even arranged for the homeless man. Looking at the terror on the woman’s face, he couldn’t believe it. He had always thought Chloe was a hard worker at the company, climbing the ladder through her own efforts. He had even frequently compared her to Stella, putting Stella down at every turn. He never imagined Chloe could be so vicious and ruthless. Smack! Unable to hold back any longer, Arthur slapped her hard across the face. The surrounding employees gasped in shock. They had all believed Chloe was the most promising of Arthur’s many mistresses. They had even seen her as the future Mrs. Sterling. Seeing the situation now, they lowered their heads and tried to slip out of the breakroom. “Stop right there!” Arthur barked at them. “Come here, and each of you slap her ten times. If you don’t finish, pack up your desks and get out of my company!”

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“Your brother needs a down payment for his new house. As his older sister, you need to chip in fifty thousand dollars.” My mother said it over the phone, sounding as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I looked at the banking app on my phone. The balance was exactly fifty thousand—the money I had scraped together over five years of grueling overtime, meant for my own first home. “And what about when I get married?” I asked. “You getting married? Aren’t you capable of fending for yourself?” My mom laughed. “Your brother is different. He’s a boy.” I laughed, too. I laughed until my tears fell, landing heavily on my phone screen. 01 My name is Chloe Miller. I am thirty years old. For as long as I can remember, there have only been two types of people in my family: my brother, and the people who took care of my brother. My brother, Tyler, is five years younger than me. When my mother gave birth to me, she had a difficult labor, suffered massive blood loss, and nearly died. “It’s all your fault.” I heard that phrase for thirty years. My dad always said that if having me hadn’t ruined her health, they could have had a son right away. Instead, they had to wait five long years before Tyler finally came along. The day Tyler was born, my dad popped a bottle of champagne in the hospital parking lot. “The Miller family finally has an heir!” That day was my fifth birthday. My mom was in the hospital with my new brother. My dad was outside celebrating. I sat alone at the kitchen table and ate half a cold, day-old birthday cake by myself. As Tyler grew up, the entire universe revolved around him. He drank fresh milk; I drank tap water. He wore brand new clothes; I wore faded hand-me-downs from older cousins. He got an allowance for school; I had to earn my own money just to buy lunch. “You’re the older sister. You need to let your brother have his way.” I heard that phrase for twenty-five years. When I turned sixteen, I wanted to take prep courses so I could apply to a good college. My dad said, “Why does a girl need so much education? Just graduate high school and get a job.” My mom chimed in, “Your brother is going to need a college fund. We have to save the money for him.” So, I spent my summer washing dishes at a local diner. I saved enough to pay for my own SAT prep and college application fees. I filled out the forms myself. I applied myself. When my guidance counselor asked why my parents never came to the parent-teacher meetings, I just said they were busy. During my senior year, I slept maybe five hours a night. I woke up at 4 AM to study, and I stayed at the library until it closed at 11 PM. Finally, I got an acceptance letter from a top-tier state university. The day my acceptance letter arrived in the mail was the same day Tyler brought home a failing report card. My mom held him and cried. “Oh, my poor boy, why is life so hard on you?” My dad just chain-smoked in silence. I quietly hid my acceptance letter in my room. That night, my mom pushed open my bedroom door. “I heard you got into that university?” I nodded. “How much is tuition?” “Twelve thousand a year.” My mom went silent. “Your brother needs to go to an expensive private tutoring academy to get his grades up. It’s twenty thousand a year,” she said. “We don’t have enough money for both.” I understood. “I won’t go,” I said. Her eyes lit up. “Really?” “Yeah.” “That’s the right choice.” She patted my shoulder. “You’re the older sister. You should be thinking about the family.” The next day, I packed my bags and moved to the city. Using the money I’d saved from washing dishes, I rented a tiny basement apartment. I worked as a cashier at a grocery store during the day, and I waited tables at night. Three months later, I had saved enough for my first year’s tuition. When I walked into the university’s orientation center, my hands were shaking. The advisor asked, “Where are your parents?” I said, “They couldn’t make it.” During my four years of college, I juggled four jobs. Tutoring, retail, handing out flyers, and waiting tables. Every month, I sent two hundred dollars back home. Every time my mom called, she’d say, “Your brother needs new textbooks.” “Your brother needs to pay for a school trip.” “Your brother wants a new iPhone.” I would eat instant ramen in my dorm while wiring them my hard-earned cash. When I graduated, I landed a job at a multinational tech firm. My starting salary was six thousand a month. My mom was thrilled. “This is great. Now you can help out the family even more.” Tyler barely scraped by and ended up at a local community college. Tuition was fifteen thousand a year. My dad said, “You have a stable job now. You’re in charge of your brother’s tuition.” I paid for it for three years. I also sent him a thousand dollars a month for living expenses. He bought two new iPhones and three pairs of limited-edition Jordans. I wore ten-dollar clearance t-shirts from Target. When I was twenty-five, Tyler decided to get married. He met a girl online, and her family demanded they buy a house in the suburbs. My dad called me. “The down payment is eighty thousand. We can only scrounge up thirty.” “What about the rest?” I asked. “You’ve been working for five years now. You must have savings.” I did have savings. Exactly fifty thousand dollars. It was the money I had saved, dollar by dollar, by working overtime until 10 PM every night and never taking a weekend off. I wanted to buy a tiny studio apartment in the city. Even if it was only four hundred square feet. A home that belonged solely to me. “Dad, that’s my house fund,” I said. The line went dead silent for a long time. Then, I heard my mom snatch the phone. “Chloe Miller, do you have no conscience?! That is your flesh-and-blood brother!” “He’s getting married, he needs a house. Aren’t you supposed to help him as his older sister?” “We raised you, and this is how you repay us?!” I stood by the window of my cramped rental apartment. I looked out at the thousands of glowing windows in the city skyline. Not a single one of those lights was shining for me. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll give you the fifty thousand.” My mom’s voice instantly softened. “That’s the right choice. Such a good daughter.” “But I have one condition.” “What is it?” “From now on, I am never sending money back home again.” “What kind of nonsense are you—” “That is the condition,” I interrupted her. “Agree to it, and I’ll wire the money tomorrow.” My mom hesitated. I could hear her whispering with my dad. Finally, she said, “Fine. Once your brother is married, we won’t need you to worry about him anyway.” The moment the fifty thousand dollars left my account. My dream of buying a home shattered. But for some reason, I felt lighter. Like I had finally paid off a massive, lifelong debt. I took time off work to attend Tyler’s wedding. The reception was extravagant—over a hundred guests. The bride wore a beautiful gown and smiled sweetly. When Tyler came around to my table for toasts, he patted my shoulder. “Thanks, Sis.” Then he moved on to the next table. My mom, wearing an expensive new dress, was busy entertaining relatives. “Oh, my boy is finally settling down!” “The house? We paid for it in cash! Oh, I mean, the down payment, the down payment…” “My daughter? Oh, she works in the big city. Very busy!” No one asked how I was doing. No one asked why I was thirty and still single. I sat in the corner, finished my meal. And then I quietly slipped away. 02 Back in the city, I started saving money all over again. This time, not for a house. For myself. On my thirtieth birthday, I met Ethan Davis. He was a project manager at a partner company. We met while collaborating on an account. He was steady, didn’t talk much, but was incredibly reliable. Once, when we were working late into the night, he brought me a hot coffee. “I noticed you didn’t eat dinner.” I was surprised. “How did you know?” “You press your hand against your stomach when it hurts,” he said. “You’ve done it three times today.” My nose stung. In thirty years, it was the first time anyone had ever noticed my stomach hurting. We started dating. He learned my whole story. He offered no pity, no judgment. He just said, “Tell me when your stomach hurts from now on.” After a year of dating, he proposed. There was no grand, extravagant setup. Just outside my apartment building. His hands were shaking a little as he held the ring. “I know you’ve been through a lot of hardship.” “I can’t promise I can make you forget all that pain.” “But I promise that from now on, your days will be sweet.” I said yes. I cried like a baby. The day I brought him home to meet my parents, my mom sized him up critically. “What do your parents do?” “They’re both retired teachers.” “Do you own a house?” “I have a place. Still paying off the mortgage.” My mom gave a disinterested “Oh,” and her expression cooled. During dinner, she kept piling food onto Tyler’s plate. “Eat up. Your wife is pregnant, you need to keep your strength up to take care of her.” Tyler’s wife was indeed three months pregnant. The entire family revolved around her now. Ethan quietly placed a piece of steak on my plate. My mom saw it and offered a tight smile. “So, Ethan, when are you two planning to host the reception?” “Next year,” I answered. “And the wedding funds…” my mom paused. “You young people in the city don’t really care about tradition, do you?” I set my fork down. “Mom. When Tyler got married, I gave him fifty thousand dollars.” The table went dead silent. Tyler kept his head down, eating. Sarah looked at me, then at my mom. My dad coughed awkwardly. “You helped your brother voluntarily,” my mom said, her voice turning cold. “Are you trying to settle scores with us now?” “I’m not settling scores,” I said. “I’m just making it clear that when I get married, I don’t expect a single dime from this family.” “That’s for the best,” my mom said immediately. “You young folks don’t care about these formalities anyway.” Ethan squeezed my hand under the table. His hand was very warm. When we were leaving, my mom walked us to the door. She shoved a small plastic grocery bag into my hands. “Here. Wedding candy.” I took it. Inside the bag was a single, cheap box of drugstore chocolates. The kind that costs maybe five dollars. “Eat it on the way back,” she said, and slammed the door shut. As we walked down the stairs, Ethan took the plastic bag from me. He looked at it but didn’t say a word. When we reached the apartment complex gate, he tossed the bag straight into the trash can. Then he turned around and pulled me into a tight embrace. “For our wedding, I’m going to give you a gift.” “What?” “A home,” he said. “A home that is entirely, completely yours.” I buried my face in his chest, my tears soaking his shirt. That cheap box of chocolates was sitting in the trash. The bright red packaging was glaringly painful to look at. It looked exactly like the open, bleeding wound I’d carried in my heart all these years. 03 The wedding was set for May. Ethan and I decided to keep things simple. No wedding planner, no expensive photoshoot, just a nice dinner with a few close friends. Ethan’s parents flew in from out of state. The moment his mother saw me, she grabbed my hands. “You sweet girl, this is your home now.” Her eyes were red. She said Ethan had told them everything. “We don’t ask for anything, we just want you two to be happy.” I nodded, unable to speak. Thirty years. It was the first time anyone had ever told me they wanted to give me a home. When my mom found out the wedding date, she called me three times. The first call was to ask if I needed help. I said no. The second call was to ask where the reception was being held. “We haven’t booked it yet,” I said. On the third call, she finally got to the point. “For your wedding, your father and I have put together a thousand dollars.” A thousand dollars. When my brother got married, I gave fifty thousand. When I get married, they offer a thousand. “Keep it,” I said. “Save it for Tyler.” “What kind of attitude is that?” my mom’s voice spiked. “I offer you money and you throw it back in my face?” “I really don’t need it.” “Chloe Miller, don’t be an ungrateful brat!” I hung up the phone. Ethan looked at me. “Does it hurt?” “No,” I said. “I’m used to it.” I was used to the endless double standards. Used to being the disposable weight on the lighter end of the scale. But this time, I didn’t want to get used to it anymore. A month before the wedding, Tyler suddenly reached out to me. He rarely contacted me on his own. Unless he needed money. “Sis, heard you’re getting married?” “Yeah.” “Mom said you refused to take any wedding money from them?” “Correct.” Silence hung on the line. “Sis, are you still mad at me?” I froze. From the day he was born until now, Tyler had never once asked if I was mad. He always just assumed his older sister was supposed to give him everything. “No,” I said. “That’s good,” he breathed a sigh of relief. “Honestly, it’s hard on Mom too, there’s only so much money to go around…” “I know,” I cut him off. “Was there something else? I’m at work.” “Oh, no, nothing else. Actually, Sis, Sarah wants to get a new iPhone, and I was wondering if…” I hung up the phone. And blocked his number. That night, I had a dream. I dreamt about my fifth birthday, eating that cold cake all by myself. The cake was sweet, but as I ate it, I started crying. I woke up to find my pillow soaked in tears. Ethan held me close. “Nightmare?” “No,” I said. “Just remembered something from when I was little.” He gently patted my back. Like he was comforting a small child. “From now on, I’m buying you a cake for every single birthday.” “I want a warm one.” “Okay. A warm one, covered in fresh fruit.” I fell asleep in his arms again. This time, there were no dreams. 04 There was a slight hiccup with the wedding plans. Ethan’s mother insisted on hosting a proper reception. “A girl only gets married once. We can’t let you feel slighted.” She pulled out ten thousand dollars, calling it her contribution to my wedding fund. I tried to refuse it. She held my hands, tears in her eyes. “Child, no one took care of you before. From now on, we will take care of you.” Ultimately, we booked a banquet hall at a nice, intimate hotel. Ten tables. We only invited our closest friends and colleagues. From my side of the family, I didn’t invite a single person. The day before the wedding, Aunt Susan suddenly added me on Facebook. I hesitated, but eventually accepted the request. “Chloe, heard you’re getting married?” “Yes, Aunt Susan.” “Why didn’t you tell the family?” “We’re keeping it small, I didn’t want to bother everyone.” Aunt Susan sent a voice memo. Her voice was hushed. “Your mom was crying to me yesterday, saying you’ve disowned her.” I typed back: “I haven’t disowned her.” “Then why didn’t you invite us?” “Aunt Susan, when Tyler got married, how much did you give him as a wedding gift?” Silence on her end. After a while, she texted back. “Fifty dollars.” “And how much were you planning to give for my wedding?” The silence this time lasted even longer. “Chloe, that’s a hurtful thing to say… We’re family, bringing money into it ruins the relationship.” I laughed. Yeah, talking about money ruins the relationship. But since when did they ever have a relationship with me? They only ever remembered I was family when it was time to talk about money. “Aunt Susan, I’m really busy right now. Talk later.” I closed the app. Ethan walked over, holding the wedding itinerary. “Just got a call. Your mom says she’s coming.” I looked up. “How did she find out?” “No idea.” Ethan shook his head. “But she said she’s definitely coming tomorrow, and she’s bringing relatives.” I stood up. “I’m calling her.” She answered almost immediately. “Mom, I heard you’re coming to the wedding?” “What, am I not allowed to come?” she snapped aggressively. “You can come. But the venue is small. There are no extra seats.” “Chloe Miller!” my mom screamed. “I am your mother! It’s bad enough you didn’t invite me, but now I’m coming myself and you’re turning me away?!” “I’m not turning you away. There literally are no seats.” “Just add another table! Do you think I’m an embarrassment to you?!” I took a deep breath. “Mom, Tyler had twenty tables at his wedding. I’m having ten. It’s not that I think you’re an embarrassment. It’s that you’ve always thought I was an embarrassment.” The line went quiet. After a long pause, her voice dropped lower. “Do you really have to be like this?” “It’s not that I want to be like this,” I said. “You forced me into this.” “How did we force you?! We raised you, put you through school…” “I paid for my own college tuition,” I cut her off. “Since I started working, I sent fifteen thousand dollars back home. When Tyler got married, I gave him fifty thousand. Mom, I don’t owe this family anything anymore.” “Are you settling scores with me right now?” “Yes,” I said. “It’s better to have clear accounts. Once the accounts are clear, nobody owes anybody anything.” My mom started crying. It wasn’t a fake, manipulative cry. It was real crying. She was sobbing, struggling to catch her breath. “What sin did I commit in my past life… to give birth to such a heartless monster…” I held the phone, listening to her cry. I just felt completely hollow inside. Thirty years of resentment and injustice suddenly vanished in that moment. All that was left was exhaustion. “Mom,” I said softly. “You can come tomorrow. But there are only seats for you and Dad. No one else.” “Not even your brother?” “No.” The call ended. Ethan walked over and wrapped his arms around me. “If you want to cry, just cry.” I shook my head. “I’ve cried enough. From today on, I’m never crying over this again.”

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