Category: English

I won a $50 million lottery jackpot, and I begged my best friend not to tell my family. She smiled and promised she wouldn’t, but the second I turned my back, she told my older brother. My brother demanded I give him the money to buy a house and get a wife. When I refused, my family emotionally blackmailed me and used a live stream to whip up a cyberbullying mob against me. They locked me in a room, starved me to death, and then bricked my body into the walls of their newly built house. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the exact day the winning numbers were drawn. My best friend smiled at me and asked, “Harper, did you win?” 01 Madison walked toward me, holding her lottery ticket. I narrowed my eyes at her. In my past life, we had been out shopping when I suggested we buy a couple of lottery tickets just for fun. I never expected to actually win the $50 million Mega Millions jackpot. At the time, we were just about to graduate college. My family had cut off all my financial support after I started school, and I was stressing over how to afford rent. That money was a literal lifesaver. After claiming the prize and paying taxes, I donated a portion, leaving me with about $35 million. Because Madison was my best friend, I even gave her $2 million. I begged her over and over not to pick up my brother’s calls and absolutely not to tell my family. She promised she wouldn’t. But when my brother called me at work demanding money and I told him I was broke, she blurted out: “Harper won $50 million! She even donated 5 million of it. She has plenty of money!” When my brother heard that, his eyes turned bloodshot. He choked me, threatening to kill me if I didn’t give him $35 million to buy a luxury house and a wife. I told him all my money was locked in long-term certificates of deposit and couldn’t be withdrawn. But he kept showing up constantly, harassing me and threatening me to go to the bank. I finally quit my job and fled out of state. But my family started doing live streams, crying to the internet that I was an ungrateful, unfilial daughter who struck it rich and abandoned her family. They played the victims perfectly, winning the internet’s sympathy. Their followers doxxed my address. They sent me funeral wreaths. They Photoshopped my face onto obituaries. They mailed me dolls covered in fake blood. My family eventually tracked me down and physically forced me to transfer all the money to my brother. And after they got what they wanted, they locked me in a house and starved me to death. Ultimately, my brother bought a mansion in the city and married Madison. With my money, the two of them lived a life of absolute luxury. Meanwhile, my parents tore down our old family home to build a new one, and my corpse was bricked directly into the foundation walls. I would never be found. So, in my past life, Madison did it on purpose. And in this life, I am going to make every single one of them pay the ultimate price! 02 Watching her walk closer, I pretended to be busy packing my luggage. “The odds are one in a billion. How could I possibly win?” She stopped and stared at me intensely for a few seconds. “Oh, really?” I finished packing my things, looked up, and met her eyes directly. “Yeah.” “Then where’s your ticket? You haven’t taken it out.” I had forgotten. In my past life, it was Madison who dragged me over, dug the ticket out of my bag, and checked the numbers one by one. When we realized I won, she looked even more excited than I was. But her smile vanished almost immediately, replaced by a dark murmur: “I’m so jealous. I wish I had picked that ticket.” It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision to walk into that gas station. We both just asked for random Quick Picks. When the clerk handed the tickets over, Madison grabbed hers first. She specifically picked the one with an ‘8’ in the sequence, telling me it was a lucky number. Then she shoved the other ticket into my hand. In my past life, I had laughed and said that if I won five bucks to cover the cost of the ticket, I’d be happy. Neither of us expected it to be the $50 million jackpot. I think… the moment Madison’s smile vanished in my past life, the moment she realized I had the winning ticket, was the exact moment she started plotting against me. How could she possibly be satisfied with just the $2 million I gave her? In her eyes, she was only one choice away from holding that ticket herself. Therefore, she believed all that money rightfully belonged to her. So, facing her interrogation now… I generously pointed toward the door. “I threw it in the dumpster outside. Do you want to go dig it out and check?” 03 Madison didn’t go. The next day, we packed up our dorm to go our separate ways. In my past life, because I won the jackpot, Madison insisted we live together. Thinking it would be nice to have my best friend around, I generously rented a massive luxury apartment and paid a full year’s rent upfront for both of us. But this time, facing her invitation to room together… I rejected it outright. “I found a cheap hostel. It’s only $50 a night, and I can pay day-by-day. Do you want to come?” Madison shot me a suspicious look. “Harper, why do I feel like you’ve been acting weird since yesterday? Did you actually win the lottery?” My heart skipped a beat. Then, I laughed out loud. “If I won the lottery, would I be miserable enough to live in a $50 hostel? But since you brought it up, want to go buy another ticket? Who knows, maybe it’ll change our destiny!” Madison gave an awkward, strained laugh and linked her arm through mine. “Oh, stop. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… you never showed me the numbers, so I feel like I don’t have closure.” “Stop overthinking it. Your family is local, right? Why would you even need to rent a place?” Madison leaned her head on my shoulder. “Because I want to live with you, duh.” I sneered internally: You just want to stick around to find out if I actually won. But I didn’t call out her hypocrisy. Instead, I pulled out my phone and called my older brother, Jackson. “Hey, Jackson. My college roommate actually has a huge crush on you.” “Yeah, Madison! The one you met before. But don’t tell her I told you. She’s super shy.” 04 Using the hostel as a cover, I went completely incognito to claim my prize. This time, I donated $10 million to charity. After taxes, I had exactly $30 million left in my bank account. I split the money into several different bank accounts for security. Then, I deliberately flaked on signing the employment contract for the job I had lined up, and started preparing my applications for grad school. But to my surprise, Madison still tracked me down. “Harper, I heard from the professor that you broke your employment contract. Why?” I was sitting in the hostel lounge, reading a textbook. I answered her casually, “I just decided I want to go to grad school.” “Are you sure you didn’t win the lottery and decide to retire?” I put the book down. “Look at my family. Do you really think I can afford to retire?” “Right. Has your brother been harassing you lately?” In my past life, Madison knew my family situation better than anyone. She knew I had wildly sexist parents who favored boys, and a useless, deadbeat brother who leeched off them and fully intended to leech off me. And yet, while constantly telling me how “sorry” she felt for me, she pushed me directly into the fire. I shook my head, grabbed Madison’s hand, and patted it. “My brother changed! He got a job at a massive tech company in Silicon Valley. I heard his starting salary is like $150k a year, and he has tons of girls chasing him.” Madison gasped, clearly not believing it. I pulled out my phone and handed it to her. She scrolled through. Jackson’s Instagram feed was suddenly full of photos of him working in a sleek office, and pictures of him posing next to a luxury car. I watched as she tapped to enlarge the car photo. I leaned in. “What kind of car is that? I don’t recognize the logo.” Madison pursed her lips. “That’s a Porsche. It costs over a hundred grand.” I quickly snatched the phone back. “That’s terrifying! If his salary is only $150k, how can he afford a car that expensive?” Madison looked thoughtful. “Do you think he suddenly came into some money?” Then she turned her head, looking at me with a faint, probing smile. “Harper, I saw a banner outside the gas station where we bought our tickets. It said someone won the $50 million jackpot. Who do you think it was?” I picked my book back up and chuckled. “How should I know? Hundreds of people buy tickets there every day.” But Madison suddenly leaned in close, making my skin crawl. “Harper, I went to the gas station. I asked the owner for the physical description of the winner.” My heart gave a violent jolt. Did she actually figure it out? 05 “Harper, what are you so afraid of?” Madison stared at me, a fake, chilling smile on her face. Maybe the trauma of my past life—giving her $2 million only for her to orchestrate my brutal murder—was too fresh. The memory of being slowly starved to death, the pure despair and helplessness, made my whole body tremble. For a split second, I genuinely thought she had been reborn alongside me. Otherwise, why was she so obsessively fixated on whether I won or not? I could have just taken my money and vanished, but then… what about them? They wouldn’t face any punishment. They wouldn’t get their karma. That wasn’t fair. I was going to take every ounce of agony I suffered and return it to them tenfold! Thinking of this, I stood up and looked her dead in the eye. “Madison, honestly… I lied to you.” In my past life, I begged her not to tell my family, and she betrayed me, leading to my agonizing death. This time, not only was I going to tell her, but I was going to redirect the target entirely. “Are you saying your brother took the money?” I nodded. I watched as Madison’s face cycled through a spectrum of colors. “He threatened me not to tell anyone, not even my parents. But you’re my best friend. I couldn’t bear to lie to you.” “But your brother’s credit is ruined. How could he even open a bank account to deposit it?” Madison was suspicious. She pretended to comfort me, but I saw the unmistakable glint of pure greed flashing in her eyes. “That’s the other secret. The money… is actually in my bank account.” “WHAT?!” Madison shrieked, losing her composure. There were too many people in the hostel lounge looking at us, so I pulled her out onto the balcony. I watched her expression morph into pure, giddy excitement. “Harper, we’re best friends forever, right?” I didn’t call out her disgusting hypocrisy. I just pretended to look heartbroken. “Of course! I was even thinking earlier, if I actually had access to the money, I would definitely give you 2 million dollars!” Madison looked at me with wild expectation. She probably didn’t even realize she was gripping my hand so hard it actually hurt. Just as she was at the peak of her excitement, I delivered the fatal blow: “But my brother took the debit card. You know what he’s like. He’s a deadbeat. If he has all that money, he’s just going to blow it all.” I faked a heavy sigh. Madison, breaking from her usual sympathetic act, asked urgently: “Can I look at his Instagram again?” I nodded and handed the phone over. She looked at it, quickly memorized Jackson’s username, and then practically ran out of the hostel. Her next move was glaringly obvious: she was going to seduce my brother. Which was exactly what I wanted. I dialed a number. “Mom, my classmate gave me some extra money. I’m transferring it to you. Give it to Jackson. We can’t let the only son in our family suffer, right?” 06 Madison didn’t contact me for the next few days, but I could tell from her social media that she and Jackson were definitely hitting it off. That night, Jackson showed up at my hostel. I secretly turned on my phone’s camera to record. Before I even got close, he raised his hand to slap me. I dodged it effortlessly. “Jackson, what are you doing?” “You little bitch, I’m out of cash!” I had previously advised him that chasing a rich city girl required spending big money. But where was that money going to come from? Predatory payday loans, obviously. I even generously provided him with a list of shady websites that approved loans instantly with just an ID. But given his atrocious credit score, he couldn’t borrow much. So if he wanted to keep playing the rich billionaire for Madison, he desperately needed more cash. “But I don’t have any money either!” I made my voice sound as pitiful and weak as possible. “If you don’t have money, go sell yourself! You’re in your twenties, you could make a fortune! Are you still a virgin?” My blood boiled. I wanted nothing more than to slap him across his smug face, but I held it back. “Jackson, how could you say something like that?!” He took a step forward and tried to drag me away. But there were people walking around, and Jackson didn’t dare cause a massive scene. I shook off his hand. “Fine, I’ll send you the $500 Madison just transferred to me.” “She gave you money?” Jackson narrowed his eyes at me. He was aggressively average-looking, but he was tall. Since we were kids, while I was malnourished, my parents stuffed him with the best food, so he grew into a towering, intimidating brute. I opened my banking app and transferred the money. “Madison is really nice. She helps me out financially all the time.” As he turned to leave, I called out to him and shoved a business card into his hand. “Jackson, there’s a contact on here. You can borrow $10,000, and the daily interest is only $10!” Jackson’s eyes lit up. He scoffed at me and walked away. 07 Madison asked me to go shopping for clothes. It was only then I remembered our college reunion was coming up. She was absolutely glowing. I smiled. Good. The fish took the bait. I walked over. “Madison, your skin looks amazing lately.” “Oh, really? It’s probably just the glow of being in a happy relationship.” I feigned shock. “You’re dating someone?! Since when?” Madison smiled mysteriously. “I’m going to announce it at the reunion! It’ll be a massive surprise! Now hurry up and help me pick out an outfit.” Watching her walk ahead, I sneered. Madison, the real show is just getting started. In my past life, after I claimed the jackpot, she dragged me to ultra-high-end luxury boutiques, telling me I had suffered for so long and deserved to treat myself. Following her advice, I bought a $1,500 pair of shoes, a $4,000 dress, and an $8,000 designer handbag. But that shopping spree ended up costing me my life. When Jackson came to extort me for money and started digging through my things, she conveniently blurted out: “Careful! Don’t ruin Harper’s $8,000 bag!” Jackson took the bag and immediately pawned it for cash. That was how they realized I could afford an $8,000 bag. She had been digging my grave from the very beginning. So this time, I deliberately took her to a high-end designer store and encouraged her to try things on. Clothes really do make the person. I relentlessly praised how incredible she looked, but when she checked the price tag—$8,000—she visibly flinched. It actually hurt her to look at it. I pretended to look devastated. “If only I had money. I would swipe my card and buy this for my best friend without blinking an eye.” “Never mind, Madison. Let’s just go to the outlet mall downtown.” Hearing the words “outlet mall,” Madison frowned in disgust. Seeing her still hesitating, I put on a pathetic face and turned to the sales associate. “Excuse me, this dress…” Before I could finish, Madison interrupted me loudly: “I’ll take it.” “Madison! You…” She patted my hand dismissively. I knew exactly what she was thinking. It was pure, unadulterated vanity. After all, you have to spend money to make money, right? I immediately snapped a photo and texted it to my parents: [An $8,000 dress, and she bought it without blinking! What kind of crazy rich family is she from?!] 08 At the college reunion, Madison’s arrival instantly stole the spotlight. I deliberately dressed as plainly as possible, making her look even more radiant and glamorous by comparison. In my past life, I could never understand why she was so hellbent on destroying me. Later, I finally understood. She never saw me as a friend. I was just an accessory. By keeping me around as her inferior, she fed her own ego. At her core, she was vain and money-hungry. She desperately craved validation from others. She just used the wrong methods to get it. Sure enough, everyone was whispering: “I just looked up Madison’s dress online. It’s $8,000!” “Oh my god. I thought her family was just middle-class. How can she afford that?” “Who knows? Maybe she bagged a sugar daddy.” Just as they were gossiping, Jackson appeared at the entrance of the restaurant. I pretended to be shocked. “Jackson, what are you doing here?!” But Madison beat me to it. She walked over, grabbed Jackson’s hand, and introduced him to the room: “Everyone, this is my boyfriend. You don’t mind if I brought a plus-one, right?” No one had any objections. I looked Jackson up and down. He must have maxed out those loan shark contacts. He was wearing head-to-toe designer logos, his hair was styled, and standing there, he actually looked the part of a wealthy tech bro. Someone in the crowd said, “Madison, you and Harper were already best friends, and now you’re literally family!” Madison loved the sound of that. So, she made Jackson foot the bill for the entire reunion dinner. When the party ended, Jackson invited some classmates who lived nearby to ride home in his rented Porsche. A few classmates eagerly accepted. The entire ride, they endlessly flattered the two of them. I sat in the back seat, watching Madison’s irrepressible smirk in the rearview mirror, and the corners of my own mouth curled up. The higher you fly, the harder you crash. I wondered what state she would be in when she finally learned the truth. 09 To watch a good show, you obviously need a safe, comfortable seat. I booked a suite at a five-star hotel. But I didn’t check out of the hostel. I went back every day, so if anyone asked, I could say I was pulling all-nighters at the library studying for grad school. So, when Jackson finally called me, his voice was explosive with rage: “You little bitch! Get your ass out here!” I guessed he had already caused a scene with the hostel security. And since he couldn’t find me, he was losing his mind. “Brother, what’s wrong?” “Madison told me you won $50 million and you gave it all to me!” My heart skipped a beat. So she finally asked him. I knew it. Madison’s motives for approaching Jackson were entirely impure. She wouldn’t ask him directly at first. But seeing him spend all that money on her, building this illusion of wealth built entirely on predatory loans, cemented her suspicions. Once their relationship felt stable, she definitely started dropping hints. I deflected the question. “I was just joking with her! She was acting obsessed with the lottery for days, so I just said it to calm her down. Besides, isn’t her family super rich?” “She dumped me!” Jackson snarled viciously. “But I didn’t let her go easy. I never wore protection once.” I was speechless. I guess it’s true what they say: it takes a monster to destroy a monster. Madison had been ignoring my texts. Jackson dragged me straight to Madison’s office building to confront her. She refused to come down, so Jackson started causing a massive scene in the lobby. Her boss eventually told her to handle her personal drama before returning to work, leaving her no choice but to come down and face us. In my past life, this was exactly how it happened. Jackson showed up at my office demanding money. But how did he know where I worked? Madison told him, obviously. When Jackson hit me, cursed at me, and threatened to kill me for the money… Madison pretended to comfort me, but every word was a hidden dagger. Especially that one line: “Harper won $50 million, and she even donated 10 million of it! She has plenty of money!” That completely pushed Jackson over the edge. And her? She stood next to me, looking like a flawless, innocent victim, saying, “Harper, don’t worry, I support whatever decision you make.” This time, I was going to let her taste the blade of betrayal. Seeing me, Madison’s facade finally broke, revealing her true, venomous face. “Harper Vance! Why did you lie to me?!” I blinked innocently, tears welling in my eyes. “Madison, I was doing it for your own good! You were obsessing over it every single day! It was a white lie! But wait… did you only date my brother for his money?” Madison’s face flushed a violent red, then went pale. Jackson lunged forward to grab her, but Madison sneered and dodged him. “Heh! Money? It was all borrowed! You broke, pathetic loser! Stay away from me! You disgust me!” Being humiliated like that, Jackson slapped her hard across the face. In the past, he used to beat me at home all the time. He took all his anger out on me. If he wasn’t banking on selling me off to a rich guy for a dowry, he probably would have beaten me to death. But now, the person getting beaten was Madison. Her eyes filled with tears. She scrambled up and tried to run. I quickly grabbed her arm. How could I possibly let her walk away so easily? I was going to make her stay and enjoy the agonizing humiliation I suffered in my past life! So, I held her wrist with one hand and pushed my brother with the other. “Jackson, you can’t hit people! I’m calling the cops!” Jackson was massive. He could lift me with one hand. He glared at me menacingly. I immediately shielded Madison. “Back off! Madison’s dress cost $8,000! Don’t you dare get blood on it!” Hearing “$8,000,” Jackson’s eyes turned blood red. He lunged past me, grabbed Madison by the throat, and roared, “You bitch! I gave you my money, and you spent it on an $8,000 dress?! And you have the nerve to call me broke?!” The truth was, she bought the dress with her own money, but he didn’t care. Madison’s face turned purple from being choked. I pretended to panic and ran forward. “Let her go! How can you say that to her? If she was only after your money, she never would have dated you in the first place!” That sentence silenced Madison entirely. She was too ashamed to explain the truth, especially with the crowd growing larger by the second, many of them pulling out their phones to record. She didn’t dare admit her intentions were impure, so she had no choice but to swallow the grievance. She even had to beg me: “Harper, save me.” Save you? Of course I’ll save you. Otherwise, how do we play the next round? I stepped back from the crowd and dialed 911. “Hello, police? There’s a violent assault happening here.” Then, I casually sent a text to my parents: [Jackson got arrested!] Taking advantage of the hours it would take them to commute from our hometown to the city, I had security cameras installed in my parents’ house.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422562”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

While shopping at a lingerie store, I noticed a very attractive guy staring intently at me. Knowing I love seafood, my mom had specially shipped me a jar of caviar from our hometown, claiming it was great for my health and digestion. I had been eating it for over a month. My weight hadn’t really changed, but my figure had noticeably… improved. My current clothes were getting so tight they were starting to hurt. Just as I was about to lose my temper at the guy for staring, he finally spoke. “Those aren’t breasts. You’re incubating tens of thousands of Yin Seeds in your chest.” 1 After logging the final piece of data for my lab experiment, I rubbed my chest, feeling a dull ache. It was definitely time to go buy some new bras. With graduation looming, I practically lived in the lab, so swamped I couldn’t even find time to shop for clothes. It’s actually a bit embarrassing to admit, but with the extreme stress of graduation, I’ve been binge-eating almost every day for the past month. Surprisingly, the weight was very cooperative—it all went exactly where you’d want it to go. My old clothes were starting to feel painfully tight across my chest. Could this be what they call a “second puberty”? I hadn’t done anything special, but the results were undeniable. Occasionally, while working in the lab, I would accidentally bump against the equipment, and it hurt like crazy. Whenever I gasped in pain, it drew the creepy, lingering stares of the younger guys in the lab. Today, I finally couldn’t take it anymore. As soon as I finished my work, I rushed to the nearest shopping mall. I needed to try some things on in person to figure out what size I actually needed now. To be honest, ever since I stopped growing in high school, I hadn’t bought bras in a physical store. I mostly just ordered them off Amazon. Going to a lingerie store after all these years made me feel a little shy. I pulled my jacket tight around me and walked into a relatively modest, youthful-looking lingerie boutique. To my surprise, the first person I saw was a ridiculously handsome male sales associate. Oh my god, I thought. Times really have changed. Are lingerie stores hiring male employees now? I couldn’t help but steal a few glances. Dressed entirely in black, he had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and incredibly long legs. He had the physique of a runway model. But his face was on a whole different level. He had a razor-sharp jawline, a perfectly sculpted nose, and a pair of dark, bottomless eyes that were incredibly captivating. He instantly reminded me of one of those dark, brooding anime characters—like a handsome guy with black cat ears. Was this the legendary “man who walked out of a comic book”? His vibe was so drastically different from normal people that just looking at him made me blush. Was it because I spent too much time surrounded by the awkward nerds in my lab? Being single since birth for this long meant that even looking at a lingerie salesman was making my imagination run wild… But—even if he was gorgeous, he didn’t need to follow me constantly! Seriously, there’s a line. I walked from the east side of the store all the way to the west, and this guy followed me the entire time. What was his problem? I finally couldn’t hold back and turned around to glare at him. But he was looking down, his eyes fixed directly on my chest, looking like he desperately wanted to say something but was holding back. My crush instantly evaporated. If he was just following me before, I could tolerate it. After all, retail workers have sales quotas to hit. But this blatant, undisguised staring? That was straight-up sexual harassment. I looked down at myself. It was a hot, sunny day, so I was just wearing a small camisole under my open jacket. It definitely looked a bit exaggerated. But still, as an experienced lingerie associate, he shouldn’t be this creepy! I pulled my jacket tightly closed, glaring at him, ready to explode. Before I could say a word, he spoke first. In a deep, low voice that only I could hear, he said: “Those aren’t breasts. You’re incubating tens of thousands of Yin Seeds in your chest.” 2 What the hell is a Yin Seed? I was perfectly healthy. Where would I get Yin Seeds from? Setting aside the fact that this completely defied human anatomy, just hearing the words “Yin Seed” gave me the creeps. I rolled my eyes at him. Considering he was good-looking, I decided to let it slide and just treat him like a crazy person. I stepped around him, planning to move to another section, but this guy actually doubled down. He leaned in slightly, took a highly exaggerated sniff, and looked at me with deep concern: “Lately… have you constantly smelled like raw fish?” I instinctively covered my chest, unable to hold back my anger any longer. “Are you out of your mind?!” To my surprise, he acted like he didn’t even hear me curse at him. He just kept asking: “Have you been eating caviar lately? Stop eating it immediately. If you keep eating it, it’s going to kill you.” ??? I was so angry I actually laughed. I decided to completely ignore him. I gave him an inch and he took a mile. Some people just don’t know when to quit. I marched straight over to the cashier to complain. “What is wrong with your store? Why do you have a male sales associate working in a lingerie shop? “I don’t care how handsome he is, do you understand that he’s sexually harassing customers?! Tell me how you’re going to handle this!” To my shock, the female cashier looked completely bewildered. She stared at me like I was a lunatic. “Miss, we don’t have any male employees working here. How can I help you today?” Heh. Birds of a feather. They were clearly covering for him, right? She couldn’t even come up with a decent lie. I turned around and pointed toward the east side of the store: “That guy right there! He’s not one of your employees—” !! There wasn’t a single person there. He had vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye! I quickly jogged over, pushing racks of clothes aside, looking everywhere. He must be hiding somewhere. There was no way he could have run off that fast. “That’s impossible. He was literally just standing right here.” Seeing me spinning around frantically, the cashier’s expression turned annoyed: “Ma’am, what exactly do you need? “I will repeat this one more time: we have never employed any male staff at this location. You can rest assured. “If you insist on making this claim, we can review the security footage.” Since she went that far, I had no choice but to awkwardly drop it. How bizarre. Was I under so much stress lately that I was hallucinating? After causing such a scene, I felt incredibly frustrated. I hastily bought a few bras that looked like they would fit and went to the register. Well, I definitely needed a much bigger size. On the walk back to my apartment, my mind was racing. The guy’s words clung to me like a physical weight, making me deeply uneasy. I had definitely sprayed perfume today. How could he smell the fishy scent on me? Also, we were total strangers. How did he know I was eating caviar? 3 As early as four or five days ago, when I was changing my clothes at home, I noticed a faint, raw fish smell on my body. It was even stronger when I took a shower. The entire bathroom smelled like someone had just gutted a fish and didn’t wash their hands properly. It was faint, but undeniably there. At first, I thought it was just a smell lingering from the lab. After all, my major often required dissecting frogs and things like that, so I didn’t think much of it. But lately, my experiments had mostly moved into the data analysis and wrap-up phase, yet the fishy smell was getting stronger. Especially when I changed my clothes, the smell on my bras was severe. After checking multiple times, I finally pinpointed that the smell was indeed coming from my chest. I couldn’t figure out why. I had to resort to spraying heavy perfume every day. Unless someone was deliberately trying to sniff me, it was almost undetectable from a normal social distance. Although that guy’s stare was incredibly creepy, he was standing several feet away from me at the time. How did he manage to smell it? If he just had an ultra-sensitive sense of smell, I could barely accept that explanation. But what about the caviar? Can a total stranger figure out your recent diet just from a scent? And he even warned me to stop eating it! It was way too creepy! Thinking about this, I quickly pulled a newly opened jar of caviar from my kitchen cabinet. Inside the small, bowl-sized jar lay perfectly round, translucent, ruby-red fish roe. They looked plump, juicy, and incredibly appetizing. The moment I opened it, a bizarrely enticing aroma wafted out. Just looking at it for a few seconds made my mouth water. The feeling of the roe bursting against my tongue was incredibly addictive. I almost wanted to scoop out two spoonfuls and mix it with some rice. But for some reason, the guy’s warning echoed in my ears. His voice had been dead serious. He wasn’t joking around. It felt like a bad omen. A sudden wave of nausea hit me. I held the spoon but couldn’t bring myself to dig in. I had no choice but to put the caviar away. 4 My mom had specially mailed this caviar to me a month ago. My hometown is a small fishing village in the South. My dad died when I was young, and my mom single-handedly kept our family afloat by fishing. Although we were poor, we never lacked fish, shrimp, or other seafood in our daily meals. When I was little, I used to sneak small fish and shrimp from my mom’s fishing nets to feed the stray cats and dogs. Whenever she caught me, a severe beating was inevitable. According to her logic, even if the small fish and shrimp couldn’t be sold, grinding them into fish paste for me to eat with bread was better than wasting them on animals. That homemade fish paste was incredibly fishy and bitter. Even though they both came from fish, it was worlds apart from actual caviar. Honestly, I had never tasted real caviar back then, but to a kid like me, it sounded like the most delicious thing on earth. Otherwise, why would my mom guard it so fiercely and refuse to let me have any? One day, on my way home from school, I found a beautiful, gentle little black cat. It was absolutely stunning. Though it was thin and frail, every movement was elegant, like a noble feline king. I brought it home, looking for something to feed it. To my surprise, it was an incredibly picky eater. It refused to eat the cheap fish and shrimp, instead staring intently under my mom’s bed. Was there some delicious fish hidden under there? I crawled over, reached my arm under the bed, and pulled something out. It was a jar of caviar! Caviar was incredibly expensive. My mom always hid it and never let me eat it. I had accidentally stumbled upon this jar thanks to the little cat. How could I possibly put it back? After struggling to open the jar, I dipped my finger in and tasted it. It was smooth, tender, sweet, and burst with flavor. The aftertaste was incredible. By the time I snapped out of my daze, the little black cat had sneakily eaten more than half the jar! As luck would have it, my mom walked in and caught us red-handed. She gave me the beating of a lifetime. From that day on, she never let me near caviar again. “It’s not the right time yet. Caviar is full of hormones; it’s not good for children’s bodies!” That was the excuse she gave me, but I didn’t buy it. I knew she just resented me for being a girl. Because of that, tasting caviar again became a lifelong obsession of mine. I remembered that incident vividly. Last month, my mom suddenly called me out of the blue. She asked about my living situation and how my graduation thesis was going. I told her the truth: I was under a lot of pressure and incredibly busy. To my surprise, she immediately mailed me three large jars of caviar. She said it was to nourish my stomach and improve my health, urging me to finish my thesis quickly so I could come home and visit her. I still remember the day I received the caviar. I mixed it with three massive bowls of rice and devoured it. It was so incredibly delicious! Maybe it was because I was finally fulfilling my childhood obsession? Regardless, from that day on, I ate caviar with almost every meal. I was completely addicted to it. But now, sitting alone in the quiet, thinking back on the whole situation, it felt incredibly strange. I hadn’t even mentioned caviar on the phone. Why did my mom suddenly send it to me? And how on earth did that random, creepy guy know about it? He said if I kept eating it, I would die. Was that true? Thinking about this, the guy’s face floated into my mind again. For some inexplicable reason, his face slowly began to merge with the image of the proud little black cat from my childhood. I must be losing my mind. 5 Ever since that guy pointed out the fishy smell and the caviar, I didn’t dare eat it anymore. But the withdrawal was agonizing. It felt like hundreds of tiny fish were inside my stomach, opening and closing their mouths, demanding to be fed caviar. If I didn’t eat caviar, I couldn’t stomach anything else. Not only did I have zero appetite, but forcing myself to eat made me nauseous. That night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. The heavy, aching pain in my lower abdomen was worse than severe menstrual cramps. In my groggy, half-awake state, my chest started to ache again. My newly bought clothes suddenly felt uncomfortably tight. Mustering my courage, I gave my chest a slight squeeze, and a sharp pain shot straight to my heart. The texture was soft, but there were definitely tiny, granular things inside. The moment I touched them, it felt like they were swimming deeper inside me. It felt exactly like the little beanbags I used to play with as a kid, except the outer layer was much softer and smoother. “Those aren’t breasts. You’re incubating tens of thousands of Yin Seeds in your chest.” The guy’s voice echoed in my ears again. Comparing his words to what I was feeling, a cold sweat drenched my entire body. Should I go to the hospital tomorrow? But no matter how you looked at it, growing “Yin Seeds” inside your body didn’t sound like something modern science could explain or treat… Wrestling with these terrifying thoughts, I finally fell into a deep sleep in the early hours of the morning. I finally fell asleep, but I had an incredibly strange dream. In the dream, the beautiful little black cat appeared again. I pulled out the caviar my mom sent me and asked if it wanted some. Unlike its childhood self, it suddenly licked its paw and started speaking, warning me to never eat the caviar again. The next second, a mist rolled in and parted, revealing the handsome lingerie salesman. Seeing him again, I frantically asked him why I shouldn’t eat the caviar. The guy sighed softly and said that the caviar was used to cultivate Yin Seeds. I had been eating it for almost a month. Based on my condition, I was probably incubating tens of thousands of them by now. Listening to him made my scalp tingle. I desperately asked if there was a cure, explaining that my chest and lower abdomen were in agonizing pain. He gave a helpless smile. He explained that the caviar I had eaten previously had already spawned countless Yin Seeds. Now that their “nutrient source” had suddenly been cut off, they were swimming around, trying to drain the nutrients from my abdomen, which was causing the pain. His description matched my symptoms flawlessly. I didn’t dare doubt him anymore. With red, tearful eyes, I begged him to help me. He stammered, his face turning bright red. He turned back into the little black cat and pressed his paws in the air twice. Instantly, my chest felt warm and incredibly soothing. The pain vanished. I was just about to thank him, but the black cat’s silhouette slowly began to fade. He said he didn’t know exactly what kind of caviar this was, because his true physical body wasn’t here. “Go to the willow tree near your old house and find me. As quickly as possible. Do not delay!” His clear, urgent instructions rang in my ears. I wanted to ask for more details, but the dream abruptly ended there. When I woke up, the fishy smell on my body was noticeably fainter, and the swelling pain in my chest had subsided significantly. But the strangest thing was… when I was getting dressed, I found two red cat paw prints right on my chest! Could it be… that wasn’t just a dream? Was that guy actually the little black cat from all those years ago? At that moment, the guy’s warning echoed in my ears again, sending a shiver through my heart. I didn’t dare waste another second. I hurriedly briefed my lab partners on my current tasks, requested an emergency leave of absence from my advisor, and booked a ticket home. 6 I bought a ticket for the earliest high-speed train home, but to my shock, my mom didn’t seem to welcome me at all. I had to drag my heavy suitcase from the station to the house all by myself. Over the past four years of college, our old, single-story house had been completely renovated into a beautiful, multi-story modern home. Because of the renovation, I didn’t even have a key. I could only stand there and knock continuously. “I hear you! I hear you! Knocking like you’re trying to wake the dead!” My mom yanked the heavy door open, her face pulled into a long, unhappy scowl. “What are you doing home so early?” Her tone was full of displeasure. I assumed she was just being her usual harsh-spoken self and was probably worried about my graduation thesis. So I quickly tried to explain: “It’s fine, Mom, don’t worry. I’ve already talked to my advisor about my thesis—” “Whatever, whatever, I don’t understand any of that anyway. Before the baby is even born, you come running back, and now I have to feed you for an entire month for free.” She impatiently cut me off, swinging her elbow back and accidentally hitting me right in the chest. A sharp, piercing pain shot through me. I couldn’t help but cry out, but my attention was entirely caught by the second half of her sentence. “Before the baby is born?” What did she mean? Was my sister-in-law already pregnant? If I remembered correctly, my younger brother only got married at the end of last year. It had only been four or five months. Was it a shotgun wedding? But either way, what did my sister-in-law having a baby have to do with me? I wasn’t about to be her live-in nanny! The phrase “feed you for free” made my heart sting with bitterness. I had always known she favored boys over girls. Especially after my dad passed away, she pinned all her hopes for carrying on the family line on my brother, her precious only son. But I always thought I was a good, obedient daughter. I studied incredibly hard and got into a top-tier university. Didn’t I deserve even a little bit of her attention and care? While I was lost in thought, I suddenly felt a tickle on my chest. It was my mom. She was leaning in close, sniffing my chest! 7 Because I rushed home so frantically, I forgot to put on perfume today. The fishy smell might actually still be noticeable. I quickly covered my chest, my face burning with embarrassment: “Mom, um, well, the smell in the lab is a bit strong…” Hearing this, my mom finally lifted her head. She was smiling brightly, seemingly in a great mood. She waved her hand dismissively: “Ah, what are you talking about? I don’t smell anything fishy! Very good, very good. You’ve been nourishing yourself well!” Saying that, she suddenly leaned in closer and lowered her voice: “You’ve been eating the caviar on schedule, right?” The caviar again! Seeing my mom’s bizarre, creepy smile, that terrifying, ominous feeling surged in my chest once more. I forced myself to answer: “I actually got a bit sick of eating fish lately, so I’m taking a break from it for now.” To my absolute shock, the moment the words left my mouth, my mom’s entire demeanor flipped. The corners of her mouth dropped, her eyebrows twisted into a furious knot, and she looked like she wanted to eat me alive. “You stupid brat! That caviar is incredibly expensive and rare! How could you get sick of it?! Have you been eating it on schedule or not, you wretched girl?! “Wendy is about to give birth! If you don’t eat it, what are we going to do?!” My mom’s sudden, violent shift in attitude left me completely stunned, unsure of how to react. Just then, my brother walked out of a room, supporting his pregnant wife. My mom immediately rushed over to fawn over her daughter-in-law: “Oh, Wendy, you’re about to pop! Why are you walking around with that heavy belly just because Chloe came home for a quick visit?!” At that moment, I truly felt like Wendy was her biological daughter. My mom’s blatant favoritism made my eyes sting. Wendy rested her hand on my mom’s arm and smiled sweetly: “Mom! Where is Chloe going to sleep?” Hearing that, my feet glued to the floor. I stopped dragging my suitcase inside. What did she mean? Was there no bedroom for me in this massive house? I managed to force the words out: “Do I… not have a bedroom?” My mom’s face stiffened. Just as she was about to answer, my stomach let out a loud rumble. She latched onto the sound like a lifeline, eagerly using it as an excuse to change the subject. “Chloe, you must be starving! Let’s eat right now!” Seeing my mom rushing off to cook for me sparked a tiny glimmer of hope in my heart. Maybe she did care. After all, what mother doesn’t love her own child? 8 It wasn’t until the food was served that I realized how naive I was. My mom had prepared six elaborate dishes, perfectly balancing meat and vegetables, packed with nutrition. But what she placed in front of me was a single, plain bowl of watery porridge mixed with some spinach and minced meat! “Chloe, I remember you were never a picky eater when you were little, and you have a small appetite. If this isn’t enough, just tell me. There’s more in the pot!” After saying that, without even glancing at me, she busied herself with serving premium cuts of meat and seafood to my brother and Wendy. I was definitely not a small eater! And I was definitely picky! The only reason I ate so little when I was a kid was because she never let me eat my fill! Furious and feeling incredibly wronged, I reached out with my chopsticks to grab some of the scrambled eggs with shrimp from the center platter. Before I could even touch it, Wendy let out a soft tsk. My mom immediately slapped my chopsticks away. “Eat your own food! Wendy is going through a difficult pregnancy. How dare you try to snatch food from a pregnant woman!” Wendy was pregnant, fine. But what about my brother, Leo? He was sitting there, stuffing his face, looking greasy and fat. He didn’t even spare a glance at his older sister! Looking at this “happy, loving family,” I swallowed my tears and took a bite of the plain porridge. Maybe I was just starving, but the porridge actually tasted incredibly delicious. It was strange. Because of the caviar withdrawal, I couldn’t stomach anything while I was at school. Did this plain porridge have some kind of magic in it? Maybe it was just the taste of home. But… could I even call this place my home anymore? 9 After a heated argument, my mom finally agreed to clear out a small guest room for me. The room was tiny, stuffy, and had terrible lighting, but I was just relieved to have a place to sleep. I don’t know if it was a psychological placebo effect, but I felt like the fishy smell on my body had genuinely vanished. Unless I bumped into something, the swelling and pain in my chest had also significantly decreased. Maybe everything was slowly getting better! I originally planned to wake up early the next morning and head to the river to find the little black cat. But my mom had errands to run, and my brother was going out drinking with his friends. That left me alone to look after Wendy. Looking at Wendy’s massive, swollen belly, I couldn’t find an excuse to leave. Figuring my symptoms were improving anyway, I decided to postpone finding the little black cat until tomorrow. Around lunchtime, because my mom wasn’t home and I didn’t know her “special recipe” for the plain porridge, and I still couldn’t stomach normal food, I had to cook two separate dishes just for Wendy. And even then, she complained about them. She went to the kitchen, pulled out a jar of caviar, and scooped a massive spoonful into her food. The moment I saw the caviar, my instinct was to stop her. But then I paused— Why did her chest look completely normal after eating caviar while pregnant? To be brutally honest, her chest was significantly smaller than mine. In fact… it was even smaller than many normal pregnant women. It looked like she wouldn’t be able to produce enough milk for the baby. Sensing my gaze, Wendy suddenly dropped her spoon, looked up, and shot me a highly sarcastic, condescending glare. Any urge I had to warn her died in my throat. I swallowed my words. Taking a closer look, the caviar she was eating seemed different from the jars my mom sent me. The fish roe was white, smaller, and looked dry and unappetizing. Just looking at it made me feel nauseous. I had no idea how she was forcing it down. But pregnant women do have weird cravings, I suppose. After I served her lunch and was cleaning the table, she suddenly called me into her bedroom. I put down the dishcloth, washed my hands, and walked in. The moment I pushed the door open, my eyes widened in horror. I was greeted by the sight of a massively swollen, purple-red belly, perfectly round like a basketball!

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422578”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I spent twenty-five years completing a quest for Arthur Sterling, and he finally proposed. On our wedding day, his “One That Got Away” crashed the ceremony. “Arthur, you won! I’m divorcing him. Don’t marry her…” I begged Arthur not to go, but he left anyway. “Quest failed. The target will now be terminated.” The next second, Arthur died in the arms of his first love. 01 Before the wedding, I asked Arthur a question as a joke: “If Seraphina showed up today and asked you to leave with her, would you go?” Arthur touched my hair with a faint, unreadable smile. “Don’t worry. She won’t come.” That answer sounded more like he was convincing himself than me. I didn’t stop. “But what if she actually did?” A flicker of hope flashed across his face for a split second, but he quickly masked it with his usual gentle tone. “Don’t be silly, Clara. Stop overthinking.” He knew that every time he softened his voice, I would surrender. But this time, I didn’t stay quiet. “Arthur, I’m begging you. No matter what happens today, can we just finish the ceremony? Please.” Arthur’s brow furrowed. “Clara, enough. Seraphina is married. She isn’t coming to crash a wedding. Get it through your head.” 02 I didn’t want to be this pathetic. I just wanted to live. I am a “Task-Taker.” My first mission was to win over Arthur Sterling and get him to marry me. The task wasn’t actually that hard. It didn’t even require him to love me—it just required us to be legally married before he turned thirty. To complete this, I transmigrated into this world when Arthur was five. Back then, he wasn’t the powerful CEO he is now. He was just the son of a live-in housekeeper, living in the basement of the Vance estate. To stay close to him, I had the System arrange for me to be the daughter of another servant. I grew up with him. I walked through the awkwardness of puberty by his side. We met at 5:00 AM every morning to study, pushing and encouraging each other. We both wore twenty-dollar sneakers and shared one-dollar hot dogs from the street corner. We were poor, but we weren’t insecure. Because we were each other’s backbone. At twenty, we were both accepted into the best university in the country with top scores. On the day we got our acceptance letters, the sun was hanging low on the horizon. The golden hour glowed over the campus track. Arthur turned red and finally took my hand. “Clara, I’m so glad you’re in my world.” 03 Back then, I was glad too. I thought my target was a fearless, loyal boy. Until Seraphina Vance came back from abroad. Everything changed. Seraphina’s father donated a building to our university, and she became our classmate overnight. She was radiant, loud, and free—the ultimate “it-girl.” Among the crowd of boys who fell for her, Arthur was the only one who didn’t look. So, on her first day, Seraphina decided to hunt him. If Arthur was ice, Seraphina was a wildfire. She was determined to melt him. At first, Arthur hated her. He saw her as a spoiled brat who knew nothing of the real world. He told her many times that he loved me, that I was the anchor of his life. But Seraphina didn’t care about rules. She was like a stubborn little heifer, slowly plowing her way into Arthur’s heart. 04 Every day, Seraphina brainwashed Arthur, telling him that what he felt for me was just “friendship.” “You and Clara are just a habit,” she’d say. “That childhood sweetheart stuff is just comfort. Real love is a craving, a fire, a disaster.” “When you two hold hands, it’s probably like your left hand holding your right.” I tried to stop it. But after a decade of companionship, our chemistry was so natural that it lacked the “spark” Seraphina kept talking about. The more I tried to prove her wrong, the more I seemed to prove her right. Arthur and I were both too afraid to break the status quo. Finally, Seraphina forced his hand. At the university’s anniversary gala, she grabbed a guy who had just confessed to her and kissed him right in front of Arthur. That night, the volcano in Arthur finally erupted. I saw him pin Seraphina against a wall in the shadows, desperately devouring her lips. Seraphina got what she wanted. Arthur and I went back to being “just friends.” 05 Later, Seraphina brought Arthur home to the Vance estate. That was the first time I saw the refined Mr. Vance lose his temper. It was also the first time I saw insecurity in Arthur’s eyes. Mr. Vance’s disapproval didn’t pull them apart; it made them cling tighter. So, Mr. Vance cut off Seraphina’s trust fund. In just one month, Arthur’s life savings from his part-time jobs were gone. He borrowed money from me several times. He even did something he never did before: he asked his mother for nearly three thousand dollars. You have to understand, we had been supporting ourselves on scholarships since high school. His mother called me in secret, asking if Arthur was in trouble. I could only lie and say he was starting a tech business and needed capital. In reality, I knew that entire “war fund” was spent because Seraphina wanted a vintage Chanel bag. When they finally broke up, it was ugly. Seraphina couldn’t understand why Arthur gave her such an attitude over an eight-thousand-dollar pair of heels. After all, she used to wear eighteen-thousand-dollar ones. Arthur grit his teeth and said nothing. I knew that he didn’t stop loving her; he just felt he wasn’t “worthy” of owning her anymore. 06 Five years ago, the Vance family’s empire began to sink. But Arthur’s tech startup was beginning to shine. The Vances put out word that they were looking for a strategic marriage alliance. Arthur went there with high hopes, only to be slapped by reality again. Even as a sinking ship, the Vance family was still higher than Arthur could reach. In the end, Seraphina married the second son of the Blackwell family—an old-money dynasty. Arthur started drinking every night. He lived like a hollow shell of a man. I handled the mess at his company during the day and picked him up from bars at night. Every time he was drunk, his face flushed, I would remember the boy under the sunset. It hurt. Back then, he must have truly thought we were enough. 07 Two months before Arthur’s thirtieth birthday. I had given up on the quest. News broke that Seraphina and the Blackwell heir were having a messy divorce. I said goodbye to my mother, planning to travel the world. But Arthur dropped to one knee and proposed to me. After so many years of waiting, getting what I wanted should have made me happy. But I couldn’t tell anymore if I was happy to live, or happy to be with him. Before the wedding, I asked him again and again if he really wanted to marry me. He was always certain. Except when I asked about Seraphina. He couldn’t even manage a lie then. But I didn’t care anymore. As long as the wedding happened, my task was complete. 08 Throughout the ceremony, my heart was in my throat, terrified of a glitch. Arthur was also distracted, as if he were waiting for something. Finally, during the exchange of rings, Seraphina appeared. It was like the butcher’s knife finally falling. I felt a strange sense of relief. “Arthur, you won! I’m leaving him. Don’t get married…” To stay alive, I made one last move. I grabbed the edge of Arthur’s sleeve. “Arthur, please don’t go. Remember what you promised me?” I was so close. Just a few more minutes and I would have lived. Arthur looked at me with an apologetic face, but he brushed my hand away and walked toward his obsession. “I’m sorry, Clara.” “The truth is, I only agreed to this wedding because Seraphina said she wasn’t worthy of me now that she’s a divorcee. I wanted to spite her…” “I thought if I was also a ‘second-timer,’ she wouldn’t feel so insecure.” “I thought about it, and you were the only friend I could ask for a favor this big…” I looked coldly at the man who had been my world for twenty-five years. I didn’t want to say another word. “System, I forfeit the quest.” System: [Are you sure?] “Confirmed.” System: [Quest failed. The target will now be terminated.] Me: “?” Arthur: “Wait—” 09 The moment the System’s notification rang in my head, my mind went blank. Before I could even process it, Arthur’s eyes lost focus. He collapsed right into Seraphina’s arms. Seraphina didn’t realize he was dead yet. She hugged him like a peacock that had won its mate, her voice full of triumph: “Arthur, I knew it. I knew if I turned around, you’d be right here waiting.” She leaned in to kiss him. Her dark eyes looked straight past Arthur at me—full of disdain and provocation. I knew she was smug. In her mind, Arthur was her dog, and I was Arthur’s. For years, she had looked down on me with a natural sense of superiority. But Seraphina, you’re kissing a corpse… 10 At that moment, the only table of guests—Arthur’s “friends”—started whistling and cheering. Some even popped confetti cannons. Bang! Bang! Arthur had probably anticipated the crash, and because Seraphina was still legally married, he had only invited a few close confidants. People who knew all about their messy history. I hadn’t invited my mother. I was afraid something would go wrong, and I didn’t want her to see me die at my own wedding. The only person I invited was my lawyer. He was currently holding his phone, recording this “touching” scene. My original plan was that if the quest failed and I died on stage, my lawyer would immediately leak the footage to the media. I even had the headline ready: “Married Socialite Crashes Wedding; Groom and Mistress Team Up to Kill Bride with Heartbreak.” But I didn’t expect… Arthur to be the one who died! 11 Seraphina kissed him for a long time before she finally noticed the grey, deathly pallor on Arthur’s face. Panic seized her. She pushed him away instinctively. Thud! Arthur fell back stiffly, his head hitting the marble floor of the hotel with a sickening crack. Blood began to pool around him… The System’s cold voice rang out again: [Now he’s definitely dead.] As soon as the words fell, I saw Arthur’s soul slowly drift out of his body. He looked at the corpse on the floor in utter disbelief… And then at Seraphina, who was currently bent over, projectile vomiting in horror. 12 Chaos erupted. Someone called 911, and someone else started CPR on Arthur. I stood there in my wedding dress, calm as a statue, standing by Arthur’s body. Arthur’s ghost floated near me. Seeing that I wasn’t shedding a single tear, his face turned livid. “Clara, I’m dying, and you won’t even cry?” He let out a cold scoff. “Twenty-five years, and your feelings are this cheap? When I wake up, we are through. Not even friends.” I continued to act as if I couldn’t see or hear him. I just sat there, expressionless. Meanwhile, Seraphina finally stopped vomiting and caught her breath. Tears began to stream down her face, one by one. She looked like a broken doll. Seeing her cry, Arthur’s angry expression softened instantly. He murmured, “Seraphina must be devastated…” “If I’m gone, how will she survive?” 13 Ring! Ring! An abrasive ringtone pierced the air. Seraphina’s hand was shaking as she answered the phone. A powerful male voice drifted from the speaker: “I thought we were doing the divorce papers? I’m at the courthouse…” Seraphina’s pale face flashed with panic. She took a few steps away from the crowd. Arthur froze. His ghost reflexively reached out to grab her hand. He grabbed thin air. Seraphina suppressed her sobs and whispered into the phone, “Victor, I’m sorry! I don’t want the divorce anymore…” “The divorce thing was just to make you jealous. I wanted to see if you cared.” Arthur, hearing this, stared at the woman he worshiped like a god. How could those words come out of her mouth? No, she must have a reason. She’s being forced, he thought. He tried to stop her as she walked away, but he passed through her body over and over again. “Seraphina, please don’t go. Look at me… I’m dying…” When he couldn’t stop her, he tried to follow her out of the building, but an invisible barrier blocked him. Arthur’s soul was tethered to me! In the end, he could only watch as Seraphina fled the hotel in a hurry. 14 The hotel Arthur chose was quite remote. It took the ambulance twenty minutes to arrive. When Arthur’s body was loaded into the ambulance, his “friends” immediately made excuses about urgent business and refused to go to the hospital. “Hey, Chloe, call us if you need anything at the hospital. We’re all brothers here.” That was Arthur’s “best friend.” When I didn’t respond, he sheepishly closed the ambulance doors. On the way to the hospital, Arthur’s soul sat silently in the corner. I suppose even he didn’t expect his loyal band of brothers to be so cold-hearted. I closed my eyes and summoned the System in my head. “System, why was it Arthur who got terminated?” “The System’s name is: Blame Others, Not Yourself.” “You worked hard for 25 years and couldn’t win him over. That’s clearly his fault. So, we delete the problem.” I grit my teeth. “Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?” System: “You didn’t ask.” “Your name is very accurate…” 15 At the hospital, after a series of failed resuscitation attempts, Arthur was pronounced dead. His soul was still trying to climb back into his body. He screamed, he cried, he threw a tantrum for a long time before he finally accepted the reality of his death. I took the body to the funeral home. I sent out the obituaries to a few close contacts, notifying them of the funeral tomorrow. After finishing the arrangements, I called my mother. “Mom, I want to visit Mrs. Sterling today. Are you coming?” My mom sounded confused. “It’s only the 10th. You usually go on the 15th.” Arthur’s ghost froze. “Clara, you visit my mom every month?” I stayed silent for a moment. “Mom, there’s something I need to tell you. Get ready… Arthur is dead.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422563”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

After secretly coveting Declan Thorne for three years, I finally lost my mind and kidnapped him, dragging him back to my apartment. I locked a silver chain around his ankle and told him he’d never leave me for the rest of his life. The first month, he would rather die than submit, coldly warning me to let him go. The second month, he slowly compromised, silently allowing me to sleep in the same bed as him. The third month, he started pushing his luck, aggressively interrogating me about why I was five minutes late coming home from work, and accusing me of messing around with other men. Looking at the man in front of me, his eyes rimmed red as he casually played with the silver chain, I completely broke down. Who the hell is the real psycho here?! 1 “You’re five minutes late again today.” Declan sat on the edge of the bed, staring at me coldly. “Riley, your company clocks out at 6:00 PM. Even with rush hour traffic, it only takes twenty minutes to get home. Yet you’ve been exactly five minutes late for three days in a row. Are you out messing around with some other guy?” He let out a dark chuckle, his thin lips curving into a dangerous smirk: “Or maybe I should be expecting a new ‘roommate’ to move in here soon?” I swallowed hard, staring nervously at the man lazily wrapping the silver chain around his fingers. He slowly leaned forward, his long legs bracketing my body. With one hand, he ripped off his loungewear shirt, exposing a beautifully sculpted, muscular chest. The faint red rimming his eyes carried a chilling, obsessive smile. “Did you forget what I said yesterday? For every minute you’re late, we add one more round.” He wrapped the silver chain securely around my ankle. “Maybe this chain suits you better than it suits me.” I stared at him in sheer terror. I opened my mouth to explain, but he forcefully crashed his lips down on mine, swallowing my words. I could only scream internally in pure, unadulterated panic. Who the f*ck is the real kidnapper here?! He used to be an untouchable, ice-cold CEO! 2 Two months ago, I committed the most felony-level act of my life. I kidnapped my boss, Declan Thorne. I had been crushing on him for three years. He was a senior at my college. After graduation, I hustled, networked, and practically begged my way into a job at his consulting firm. At first, I just wanted to be near him. I didn’t expect him to actually like me back. But the more I looked at him, the more I wanted him. So, I decided to confess my feelings. However, on the exact day I planned to do it, I caught him acting incredibly intimate with a beautiful woman. He was even holding a massive bouquet of red roses! My mission failed before it even began. A sudden, irrational surge of jealousy and anger hijacked my brain, birthng a bold, deeply twisted idea! I was going to kidnap him, take him home, and make him mine! So, feigning illness, I guilt-tripped him into driving me home. Using the excuse of “coming up for a quick glass of water,” I lured him into my apartment and managed to get him to chug a heavily spiked beer. Honestly, Declan was a notorious lightweight. I’d never seen a guy from the Midwest who couldn’t handle his liquor like that. An absolute disgrace to the Midwest. While he was knocked out cold, I practically dragged his dead weight into my bedroom and used a thin silver chain I had just bought online to secure him to the bedpost. Then, I stared at him, realizing my critical flaw. I really wanted to have my wicked way with him, but he was unconscious! It’s no fun playing a one-person game. I had to wait for him to wake up. An hour later, Declan’s eyelids fluttered, and he woke up. He looked down at the chain around his ankle and frowned deeply: “Riley, are you illegally holding me hostage?” Meeting those dark, bottomless eyes, the liquid courage I had earlier instantly evaporated into cold sweat. I forced myself to act tough and delivered my warning: “From now on, you’re never leaving me for the rest of your life! Don’t even think about escaping. This chain is made of titanium alloy. Even an elephant couldn’t break it, let alone you!” Declan looked at me with a deeply bizarre expression and threw a curveball: “You like me?” My face exploded in a fiery blush. I stammered defensively: “Y-yes! I’ve liked you for three years! It’s bad enough you don’t like me back, but you were actually going to be with another woman?! I will absolutely never allow that! “From now on, you will stay right here.” I recited the lines I had memorized from a cheesy psycho-thriller novel. “Your eyes will only look at me, your mind will only think of me, and your body belongs solely to me!” Declan stared at me coldly. “Impossible!” “I suggest you let me go immediately. I will never submit to this!” I threw out a few more hollow threats and then fled the bedroom in an absolute panic. Honestly, the second I walked out, I regretted it. This was illegal imprisonment! It was a felony! Plus, Declan was no pushover. He looked like an untouchable, refined elite, but rumor had it that when he was a teenager, he was caught in an attempted kidnapping in Europe and managed to fight off two armed men to escape. He was a black belt in Taekwondo and practiced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I had accidentally walked in on him changing in his office once. That beautifully shredded physique was definitely not just for show. And that stupid chain wasn’t titanium alloy. It was a cheap dog leash I bought off Amazon, barely as thick as my pinky. If he pulled hard enough, it would snap instantly. When that happened, he was definitely going to murder me! But God, I wanted him so badly! I gritted my teeth. If I was going down, I was going down in flames. I was fully committing to this psycho role! 3 For the first month, Declan did exactly what he said he would: he resisted to the death. Every time I entered the bedroom, he glared at me with eyes cold enough to freeze hell over. Every time I reached out to touch him, his terrifying stare scared my hand right back. A few times, I tried sneaking into the room late at night. But the moment I laid a hand on him, his eyes snapped open. In the moonlight, he looked like a predator silently waiting to ambush its prey. It scared the life out of me. I didn’t dare try it again. But strangely, he didn’t leave. He actually seemed to believe my ridiculous lie. That tiny, fragile chain was acting like a magical tether, keeping him perfectly confined to the spot. Fortunately, the chain was long enough for him to access the attached master bathroom, so it didn’t affect his basic needs. I figured if the hard way didn’t work, I’d try the soft way. Every day, I sat in his room and rambled on about my three-year secret crush. But he never engaged. Every time I told him how much I liked him, he would turn his head away, looking so disgusted he couldn’t even bear the sight of me. By the end of the month, I was finally losing hope. I decided to give up. You can’t force someone to love you. I figured I would just drive him home and then go turn myself in to the police. Deep down, I always knew someone like Declan would never fall for me. He was always the brightest star in the room, and I was just the dull, invisible background character. Falling for Declan Thorne was the easiest thing in the world. Back in college, I joined the performing arts club. We were supposed to perform at the winter gala. I had prepared a piano and violin duet with a guy from the club. But the day before the show, his girlfriend got insanely jealous and threatened to dump him if he shared a stage with me. Left without a partner at the last minute, I was a panicked, crying mess backstage. That was when Declan, who was just walking by, picked up the violin and said: “Play. I’ll accompany you.” The performance was a massive success. The moment the final note dropped, the auditorium erupted in thunderous applause. It was only later I found out Declan wasn’t even in our club. He was the Student Body President. He was literally just passing by, saw me crying pitifully, and decided to help me out. When I went to thank him later, he just gave a polite nod and walked away. To him, it was probably an insignificant blip in his life. But for me, from that day on, he was the only person I ever saw. When he graduated and started his consulting firm, I followed him right into it. But his attitude toward me had always been strictly professional and distant. Even now, when I had literally kidnapped him, he still refused to submit. I sighed heavily. I decided to sneak in tonight, touch his abs one last time to get my money’s worth, and then set him free. 4 I didn’t expect Declan to be awake this time. The moment my hand touched his chest, he grabbed my wrist with a crushing grip! Just as my soul was about to leave my body in terror, Declan opened his eyes. In the midnight silence, the only sounds were my hammering heartbeat and his hoarse voice. “Riley, are you sick in the head?” I don’t know if it was an illusion, but I thought I saw a flicker of helpless frustration in his eyes. I was too terrified to stutter out a single word. He sat up, rubbing his temples: “…Do you really want to sleep with me that badly?” I nodded frantically. Duh. Why else would I kidnap you?! Declan stared at me for a long, heavy moment. Finally, looking like a kidnapped prince who had tragically resigned himself to his fate, he sighed deeply: “Fine. From tonight on, you can move your stuff in here. “But let me be clear. We are only sleeping. Nothing else.” Happiness hit me like a freight train. I nodded so hard I almost gave myself whiplash. Only sleeping? Deal! We’re already in the same bed, how far away could ‘everything else’ really be?! Declan glanced at me, a hint of disdain in his eyes: “Go get your pillow.” From that night on, I finally got exactly what I wanted. I crawled into Declan’s bed, happily falling asleep every night with my hand resting on his chest. It felt like my dreams were painted pink. The only downside was that every morning when Declan woke up, he was bundled up tightly in the blankets, his face dark and brooding. I assumed his body had compromised, but his mind still felt deeply humiliated. … This bizarre domestic life continued for another month, but Declan started acting strange. At first, he had been cold and indifferent, ignoring everything I did. Now, he was monitoring what time I got off work. I still had no idea how the company was functioning perfectly normally without him. It was as if no one even realized the CEO was missing. In fact, the firm was expanding. We had recently hired a new batch of interns because we were short-staffed. The intern assigned to my team was a guy named Kieran Walsh. He was a 6’1″ college senior with a sharp jawline, a tiny mole on his nose, and incredibly long eyelashes that cast shadows when he looked down. He was a sweet talker, constantly calling me “Sister,” and he worked surprisingly hard. After hours, he would always pull up a chair next to my desk to ask me industry questions. I admit, I appreciate a handsome face. Even though my heart belonged entirely to Declan, what normal person could be cold to a guy like that? Because of him, I came home half an hour late for the first time. When I walked through the door, Declan’s face was darker than the night sky outside. When I brought him dinner, he grabbed my wrist, yanked me forcefully onto his lap, and buried his face in the crook of my neck. I thought he had finally opened up to me and was thrilled, but then he suddenly asked: “Why do you smell like men’s cologne?” I froze, suddenly remembering the faint, fresh scent Kieran wore. It was probably because he leaned in too close when I was teaching him how to use the massive office printer today. Did Declan have the nose of a bloodhound?! How could he smell that?! Seeing my silence, Declan let out a cold, sharp laugh. “You say you like me every single day, but you’re already bored of me in less than three months? Did you find some fresh meat outside? “I guess people really don’t cherish things once they finally get them. Riley, I see exactly who you are.” Wait, why did he sound like a bitter, neglected housewife?! I quickly tried to explain: “No, no, it’s nothing like that! We just got a new intern who’s super eager to learn, so I was showing him how the printer works.” “He doesn’t even know how to use a printer? Are Pinnacle Tech’s hiring standards this garbage now? Are we letting literal idiots into the building?” Declan’s expression darkened even further. He reached under his pillow and pulled out a sleek smartphone: “What’s his name? I’ll have HR fire him tomorrow.” My eyes widened in horror: “Hold on! Where did you get a phone?! Didn’t I confiscate it?!” If he had a phone this whole time, why didn’t he call the cops?! Declan froze. For half a second, his expression went completely blank. Then, he casually tossed the phone aside, pinned me forcefully onto the mattress, and started unbuttoning his own shirt. The warm lamplight cascaded over the subtle, honey-toned muscles of his back. My brain completely short-circuited. Intoxicated by the view, I immediately forgot all about the phone. Declan hovered over me, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile that sent a shiver down my spine. He grabbed my hands, pinned them above my head, and used the silver chain—which he had somehow effortlessly unclipped from his own ankle—to tie my wrists to the bedpost. He stared down at me, his voice dangerously low: “You were half an hour late coming home today. I have to punish you.” 5 After that night, Declan and I fell into this deeply ambiguous, messy relationship. He never explicitly defined what we were, so I never dared to ask. I was too afraid that the answer I got wouldn’t be the one I wanted. I was so used to chasing after him, and loving someone too much strips you of your courage. … I suppose being lucky in love meant I had to suffer at work. The next evening, I was packing up to leave when my team lead, Gary Snyder, casually leaned against my desk. I frowned slightly. Ever since Gary found out that my family had bought me a house in the city, fully paid off in cash, he had been targeting me. He came from a rural background, and buying a house in this city on a standard salary was nearly impossible, so he started aggressively hitting on me. Because he was technically my superior, I always tried to reject him politely. But he was like a leech I couldn’t shake off. “Riley, a new steakhouse just opened downtown. This is the perfect chance to bond with upper management. How about I treat you to dinner tonight?” I was incredibly annoyed, and I couldn’t hide the irritation on my face: “Sorry, I have plans tonight.” “What plans? Do you have a boyfriend?” I paused for a moment, then nodded: “Yes.” But Gary refused to back off. “Who are you trying to fool? I’ve never seen this mysterious boyfriend of yours. Are you just nervous about eating with your boss? Don’t worry, I’m actually very easygoing.” “Excuse me, I really have to go.” I couldn’t take it anymore and simply sidestepped him. Seeing me ignore him, Gary’s face instantly dropped. “Riley, what makes you think you can be so arrogant? So what if you bought a house? I could buy a house whenever I want. That garbage property you bought is out in the suburbs! I wouldn’t even look twice at it. If I buy, I’m buying downtown!” I ignored him and kept walking. But just as I reached the elevator, he grabbed my arm violently. He looked me up and down, his eyes filled with malicious, sleazy intent. “I still don’t even know where you got the money for that house. A girl like you, dropping a million in cash? “Did some sugar daddy buy it for you? Is that why you’re always rushing home right at 6:00 PM? To get on your knees for some old man?” I was furious and panicked. But he was a grown man, and I couldn’t physically fight him off. Just as I was about to curse him out, an arm shot out from behind me and violently shoved him backward! Kieran stepped forward, his face expressionless. He grabbed Gary’s wrist and demanded: “Apologize.” Gary was stunned at first, but then his face flushed dark red: “You’re just a f*cking intern! What does this have to do with you? I’ll have HR fire your ass!” “Apologize.” Kieran tightened his grip. Gary winced, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. After struggling for a few seconds, he finally muttered: “Sorry!” “Didn’t hear you. Louder.” “I’m sorry!” Kieran released him and sneered: “Seeing how confidently you run your mouth, I thought you were actually someone important. “If you’re so jealous of a woman buying a house, why don’t you go sell yourself to a sugar daddy? “Oh, wait.” He looked Gary up and down, letting out a mocking scoff. “Looking at you, you’d probably have to pay them just to look at you.” Gary’s lips trembled with rage. But standing at 5’6″, he looked like a terrified quail next to the 6’1″ Kieran. He didn’t dare swear, and he definitely couldn’t win a fight. With an ashen face, he finally turned and fled. I looked at Kieran: “Thank you so much.” The aggression and coldness in Kieran’s face vanished instantly, reverting back to the bright-eyed, cheerful intern. “Don’t worry about it. Trash like him only bullies people they think are weak. If he bothers you again, tell me. “Let me drive you home. We don’t want him ambushing you in the parking lot.” I thought about it and nodded. “My car’s a bit old, so don’t mind the mess.” Kieran drove a very battered, old Honda Civic. I buckled my seatbelt and couldn’t help but say: “Seriously, thank you for today. But Gary is incredibly petty. I’m worried he’s going to target you at work now.” A rebellious, arrogant smirk tugged at the corner of Kieran’s mouth: “Do you think I care about him targeting me?” He steered the car with one hand. The watch on his wrist easily cost enough to buy ten of the Hondas we were sitting in. Honestly, the whole office had been whispering that he was some billionaire’s son slumming it for the summer. Poverty can be faked, but the effortless, relaxed aura of old money he carried was impossible to hide. Well, that was good. If he came from a powerful family, Gary couldn’t touch him. I breathed a sigh of relief. “But going home this early… are you really rushing back to see your boyfriend?” Kieran glanced at me. “…Actually, he’s not technically my boyfriend.” I had no idea how to describe my relationship with Declan. I couldn’t exactly say he was the man I illegally kidnapped and was now having a torrid affair with, could I? I just vaguely brushed it off: “He’s just a friend.” Kieran smiled. “Good. “I thought I didn’t have a chance anymore.” I wasn’t completely blind. I could sense Kieran’s interest in me. When he first joined as a management trainee, the veteran employees were afraid he would eventually steal their management spots, so they refused to train him and pawned him off on me. I had genuinely put a lot of effort into teaching him the ropes. Slowly, he became super clingy, finding a million excuses to come to my desk every day. Even my coworkers noticed and asked if he was pursuing me. But the only person I liked was Declan. No matter how handsome the younger guy was, I only appreciated him aesthetically. I waved my hand dismissively: “Pinnacle Tech strictly forbids office romances. Plus, we’re three years apart. Save your charm for the younger girls, don’t waste it on me.” Kieran just smiled and didn’t say a word. When we parked outside my building, before I could unbuckle my seatbelt, he leaned over. The familiar, faint scent of his fresh cologne drifted to my nose, mixed with a hint of spicy, rich tobacco. “Sister, your seatbelt is jammed.” Kieran’s knuckles were a bit calloused, probably from playing sports, not smooth and elegant like Declan’s fingers. But as his hands fumbled near the buckle, it created an incredibly charged, unspoken tension in the car. He was too close. I didn’t dare move a muscle. A few seconds later, he unbuckled the belt. “Aren’t you going to invite me up for a cup of tea, Sister?” His eyes carried an undisguised, intense anticipation. Maybe the heat in the car was just too much, but the flush on my face wouldn’t fade. I practically scrambled to open the door: “Not a good time today! Maybe next time. Thank you!” And I fled into the apartment building like I was running for my life. I had perfectly calculated my commute time today. But because of this little detour, I ended up being exactly five minutes late. I looked at Declan, who was currently staring down at me with an imperious glare. One minute equals one round. Good lord, with this man’s stamina, we wouldn’t sleep until dawn! My brain went into overdrive. I shoved him firmly in the chest and yelled: “Stop yelling at me! Do you have any idea that I got sexually harassed at work today?! “How do you even hire these people?! The company is full of absolute human garbage!” Declan’s movements stopped instantly. His brows knitted into a deep, furious frown. “Who harassed you?” I looked away. “Gary Snyder from Marketing. When I rejected him, he accused me of buying my house with sugar daddy money. He said the only reason I rush home at 6:00 PM is to get on my knees for some old man.” Declan rolled out of bed and grabbed his phone. A few seconds later, the call connected. His voice sent a literal shiver down my spine. “Is there someone named Gary Snyder in Marketing? “Yeah. Have him pack his desk and get out tomorrow morning. Contact all of our partnered firms. Any company that hires him will immediately lose our contracts.” He hung up the phone and turned around: “Why didn’t you tell me this kind of thing earlier?” I muttered, “What exactly are we to each other? What good would it do to tell you?” Declan fell silent. His expression turned slightly grim. I suddenly remembered what Kieran had asked me in the car today. I lowered my eyes. “Declan, what exactly are we? What is your endgame here?” He willingly played this kidnapping game with me. He had been intimately involved with me countless times. But he never once clarified what we actually were. Maybe it was because I was already in a bad mood, but my mind was an absolute mess. Maybe Declan was just bored and using me for entertainment. If he truly cared about me, he wouldn’t leave things so vague and undefined. Was I the one lacking courage because I loved him too much, or was there another reason? The reason being… he just didn’t like me. A bitter taste flooded my mouth. I picked up the silver chain he had long since unclipped and tossed it onto the bed. “You don’t have to give me an answer right now. But if this feeling is mutual, I hope to see you here tomorrow when I get home from work. “If you don’t feel the same way… then just leave tomorrow.” With that, I turned and walked out the door, feeling incredibly pathetic. I didn’t want to have this conversation face-to-face. Just looking at him made my courage evaporate. I couldn’t bear to think about the fact that a man like Declan would never be short of women chasing him, many of them vastly more qualified than me. Why would he choose me? I couldn’t handle him rejecting me to my face. We didn’t speak another word to each other that night. The apartment was dead silent. Only the faint, metallic clinking of the silver chain could be heard from the bedroom occasionally. I didn’t sleep a wink. 6 The entire next day, my mind was completely checked out at work. As luck would have it, it was an incredibly busy day. My manager had us calling clients non-stop. My brain felt like mush, and it wasn’t until 6:00 PM that I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Dragging my exhausted body to my apartment door, I took a deep breath and unlocked it. I had wanted to stall and stay at the office longer, but every minute of delay was agonizingly stressful. Ultimately, I decided to just go home and face the music. Ripping off the band-aid was better than dragging out the pain. Besides, there was a small chance Declan actually did like me… During those countless nights of intimacy, he would whisper my name in my ear. At the very least, in those moments when we were locked together, peaking at the same time, I genuinely felt like he loved me. I squeezed my eyes shut and walked inside. The living room was dead silent. You could hear a pin drop. The blood in my veins turned to ice. I took three massive strides and rushed into the bedroom. The bedroom was completely empty. Only a dull, silver chain lay resting on the mattress. The blankets were perfectly folded. The bedsheets were so smooth it looked like no one had ever slept there. The golden evening light filtered through the window, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air. I stood alone in the fragmented light and slowly pressed a hand over my heart. Strange. There was no physical wound, so why did it hurt this much? It felt like that stupid, sentimental organ had shattered itself from the inside, leaving nothing but cold, jagged pieces behind. Whatever, I told myself, my own voice echoing in my chaotic brain. I got to sleep with him for months. Technically, I’m the one who came out ahead. What more could I ask for? From the very beginning, we were never people who belonged in the same world. I reached out and picked up the silver chain. It had long since lost any trace of warmth. Holding it felt like gripping a block of ice.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422579”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I was reborn the day before my best friend burned down my apartment. She had a fight with her boyfriend and wanted to crash at my place for a couple of days. Little did I know, the very next day, while I was out grocery shopping, she set my apartment on fire. She walked away without a scratch, leaving me buried in millions of dollars of debt. On the exact day I finally paid off the last cent of that debt, I was hit by a car and killed instantly. 1 I opened my eyes and immediately saw my apartment, perfectly intact and not yet reduced to charcoal. I pinched my arm hard. It hurt. This wasn’t a dream. I checked the calendar on my phone. It was exactly the day before the fire. Since God gave me a second chance at life, I was going to make sure I lived it well this time. The custom ringtone for my best friend, Chloe, had been ringing for ten straight minutes before I finally answered. If I didn’t pick up, she was fully capable of just showing up at my door, and I absolutely could not let her in. “Maya, Liam wants to break up with me. He told me to move out of his place,” my “best friend” Chloe whined and cried through the phone. Hearing her voice brought back memories of my past life. Back then, afraid she’d be left on the street, I let her stay at my place temporarily. The first day, she seemed perfectly fine. The second day, she went completely psychotic, locked herself in my apartment, and burned the whole place down with her inside. From then on, my life consisted only of endless suffering and insurmountable debt. “Chloe, do you have any money on you?” I asked, feigning anxiety. In reality, I knew she had given her debit card to her boyfriend; she barely had a dime. “I don’t. And I don’t have my ID either. Can I crash at your place for a bit?” She cried, sounding wronged and a little resentful. “What? He took your ID too? No way, we have to call the police. He’s getting worse and worse,” I gasped. Letting her stay with me was absolutely out of the question. “Don’t! He’ll hit me,” Chloe said, her voice trembling with fear. “Don’t worry, the police will protect you. Besides, without an ID, you can’t even check into a hotel,” I said, pretending to be distressed. “Can I just stay at your place? Just for two days. I’ll make up with Liam, I promise.” She asked again. Absolutely not. I wasn’t about to spend decades of this life paying off debt again. Thank goodness Chloe still thought I was just renting this apartment. “Chloe, my landlord explicitly said I can’t have guests over. Let me think of something else,” I politely declined. “Can’t you just ask him to make an exception? I really have nowhere else to go.” She was still whimpering. I hung up on her immediately, dialed 911, and tearfully told the dispatcher that my best friend was being held against her will by her boyfriend and that he had confiscated her ID. After giving them her address, I put my phone on airplane mode, ready to start my new life. I quickly texted my manager to request ten days of PTO, packed my bags, and prepared for an impromptu vacation. I asked my friendly neighbor, Sarah, to keep an eye out for me. If anyone came looking, she was to say I was away on a business trip. It pays to be on good terms with your neighbors; Sarah smiled and readily agreed. As for where I was going, I hadn’t decided yet. I figured I’d just head to the airport and buy a ticket to wherever. But one thing was certain: I was absolutely not turning off airplane mode today. 2 It was a beautiful spring day, the ocean breeze was gentle, and life was good. I was wearing a swimsuit and sunglasses, lounging on a beach chair in Miami, soaking up the sun and enjoying life. I had been scrolling through the news all day, but unfortunately, there was no sign of Chloe. Ring, ring. My custom ringtone went off. Given the time, shouldn’t she be engulfed in flames by now? The persistent ringing caught the attention of the guy in sunglasses lounging on the chair next to me. Being slightly introverted, I quickly hit answer. “Maya Thorne, didn’t I tell you not to call the cops?!” Chloe’s voice was borderline hysterical. “Chloe, I did it for your own good. Why don’t you understand?” I took a sip of coconut water, letting my voice sound hurt. “Do you know you ruined Liam?! He said he wanted to break up. Because of you, Liam broke up with me! Just wait, I’m coming to find you right now.” I could hear wind in the background on Chloe’s end; she was probably on the road. “As your absolute best friend, what’s the big deal if I stay at your place for two days? Did you have to make such a huge scene…” She was still screaming into the wind, but I didn’t care. I hung up the phone and blocked her number. It would be a miracle if she could find me today. The guy in sunglasses next to me was still looking at me. I offered him a slight smile and gave him a quick once-over. He wasn’t bad looking—a handsome guy with shoulders as broad as a refrigerator. Looking down a bit… ahem, getting a little carried away. In my past life, I hadn’t even touched a man. Talk about a raw deal. Maybe in this life, I could test the waters. But before I could test any waters, my neighbor Sarah texted me some juicy gossip. Today, Chloe first went to my office looking for me. The receptionist told her I wasn’t there. She threw a massive fit, and the security guards literally had to throw her out. Then she went to my apartment. After knocking for ages with no answer, she called a locksmith. Just as the locksmith was about to pick the lock, Sarah, who had just returned from shopping, saw them and demanded to know why they were breaking into someone else’s apartment. Chloe said she couldn’t reach me and was afraid something had happened to me inside. Sarah told her I was on a business trip and told her to leave. Chloe refused to believe it and insisted on picking the lock. Sarah lost her temper and called the cops, reporting a break-in. The locksmith realized it wasn’t Chloe’s apartment, cursed his bad luck, and bailed with his tools. And Chloe got treated to another free ride in a police cruiser. What happened next is anyone’s guess. I thanked Sarah profusely. She said it was no problem, just to keep an eye out for a good guy to set her up with. I was grinding my teeth in anger. Chloe was truly psychotic; she never considered the consequences of her actions. I didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if she had successfully gotten into my apartment today. Would she have burned it down just like in my past life? Our family backgrounds were worlds apart. She grew up wealthy, the apple of her family’s eye, never knowing hardship. I was raised by my grandmother, who picked up recycling to make ends meet. After my younger brother was born, my parents left to find work out of state and never even came back for the holidays. My grandma was uneducated, but she wanted me to study hard, leave our poor, rural town, and see the world. As a top student, I got a full ride to a prestigious private high school, complete with a scholarship. Meeting Chloe was an accident. During our sophomore year, she was being bullied by some mean girls. Seeing her crying her eyes out, I couldn’t just walk by. I stepped in and helped her. From then on, I gained a nickname: Chloe’s shadow. Chloe always told me I was her best friend and that I shouldn’t listen to what others said about us. Aside from studying, all I did was try to make money. Whenever I felt miserable and helpless, Chloe would keep me company and carefully talk me through it. At that time, I truly saw her as my one and only best friend in life. In college, Chloe started dating Liam. When her parents objected, she went on a hunger strike. Eventually, for some unknown reason, her parents begrudgingly accepted him and even bought her a condo. Liam was a punk. He never took college seriously, constantly got into fights, and skipped class to party. I tried to warn her multiple times that Liam was bad news. She turned right around and told Liam that I said he was a bad person. I had wanted to give up on our friendship for a long time, but Chloe was incredibly clingy. She’d call and text me every day, saying it wasn’t safe for me to be alone and that she worried about me. I didn’t have many friends; she was the person I interacted with the most. Except for her absolute blindness when it came to Liam, she wasn’t terrible to me, so our friendship maintained this lukewarm status quo. As for her new condo, to give Liam “face,” she secretly stole her birth certificate, eloped with him, and gifted the condo to him. Now, only Liam’s name was on the deed. Regarding Chloe’s toxic codependency, I knew I couldn’t talk her out of it, and I didn’t want to try anymore. Laying on the plush hotel bed, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. I needed to figure out how to stay far, far away from Chloe, that ticking time bomb, once I got back. 3 Because my PTO was last-minute, my tasks couldn’t easily be reassigned. By the fifth day, my manager called me back to work. The struggle of corporate life—who else gets it? Before boarding my flight, I texted Chloe’s parents about everything that had happened with her recently, asking them to talk some sense into her. I absolutely could not let that psycho come to my office and harass me. In my past life, the fire didn’t just claim my apartment and Chloe’s life; it also damaged the neighboring units. Millions of dollars in damages all fell on my shoulders. Chloe’s parents didn’t help me pay a single cent. They insisted it was impossible for Chloe to have committed suicide. They claimed it must have been an accidental fire in my apartment and that Chloe couldn’t escape in time. Their daughter was perfectly fine; why would she want to die? It had to be my fault. I took her in out of the goodness of my heart, and in the end, it was my fault? In this life, I decided that family could stay the hell away from me. I needed to live a good life. Half a month after returning to work, I saw Chloe and Liam at the main entrance right after I clocked out. “Maya, long time no see! It was my fault last time,” Chloe said with a bright smile, stepping forward to link arms with me, acting like we were the best of friends. “Liam and I are here to apologize today. Let’s get dinner?” I glanced at Liam, who was forcing a smile. This guy was a master manipulator; I couldn’t afford to mess with him. “Chloe, I was impulsive last time, but you were at fault too. You said Liam took your ID, and I panicked…” As I said this with a wronged expression, Liam’s face instantly darkened, looking incredibly dangerous. Dinner tonight? Dinner my foot. It was 90% likely a trap. I wasn’t going. “Ah, I didn’t explain clearly last time. But how did you just happen to be on a business trip?” Chloe gripped my arm tightly, her nails digging in. “It was a company assignment,” I said, feigning regret. “Chloe, it’s really bad timing. Our company has a team-building dinner tonight. I’ll treat you guys next time.” I quickly pulled my arm out of her grip and grabbed the nearest person standing idly by the entrance. “Maya, is this a guy… Are you seeing someone?” Chloe looked shocked, glaring viciously at the arm I was holding. “How can you be seeing someone?” I looked up. Yep, it was a guy. I was so focused on grabbing a sleeve that I didn’t even check the gender. Does this guy not have a job? Why is he wearing a pink dress shirt? But this arm… nice muscle tone. More importantly, who the hell had I grabbed? I didn’t even know him. Whatever. Escaping these two plagues was the priority. “A good friend from work. We’re heading out now. I’ll treat you next time,” I said, dragging the guy away like a pack of rabid dogs was chasing me. Chloe stomped her foot in frustration and got into her car with a stony-faced Liam. Only when I saw them drive away did I let out a sigh of relief and quickly pull my hand back. “What, use me and lose me?” the man’s gentle voice carried a hint of amusement. “Uh, sorry about that. If it’s meant to be, I’ll buy you dinner sometime. I gotta run,” I said, not waiting for him to reply before slipping away. “It’s fine. I’ll make sure you get that chance,” the man murmured. I ran too fast and didn’t catch his last sentence. Not that it mattered anyway. I was pretty shaken up today. I didn’t dare risk Chloe, that psycho, waiting for me at my apartment complex. I checked into a hotel near my office to rest. 4 Chloe and Liam were a match made in hell. Liam manipulated her, and she loved every second of it. In the middle of the night, I was woken up by my phone ringing. It was an unknown number. I declined it, but they called right back. Calling repeatedly in the middle of the night? They must be crazy. I just turned my phone off to avoid any risks. The next day, as soon as I turned my phone on, Chloe’s mom called. “Mrs. Vance, what’s wrong?” I answered. “Maya, what is going on with you and Chloe? She said she went to find you, but you wouldn’t open the door. Then, some wicked person called the cops and got her thrown in jail.” The woman on the other end sounded full of resentment. Who else could have called the cops but my beautiful, kind-hearted neighbor, Sarah? Chloe really never learned her lesson. Did she not know there were security cameras in the hallway? “Mrs. Vance, I was working on a proposal last night. A last-minute deadline. I didn’t go home,” I explained in a low, wronged voice, while secretly gloating. “Then why didn’t you answer when she called you? Your phone was off! Liam had to go bail her out himself!” Mrs. Vance was imposing. So the middle-of-the-night calls were from Chloe. Thank god I turned my phone off; who wants their sleep disturbed? And if her daughter gets in trouble, who else is supposed to bail her out but her husband? “Mrs. Vance, please talk some sense into Chloe and Liam. Tell them not to fight so much. It’s not good for a marriage,” I said earnestly. Then I hung up. So annoying. Chloe’s mom was still a bit prideful; she didn’t call back. The little butterfly effect I created was causing a storm. Unable to handle my distance, Chloe started ambushing me at my office. Thankfully, I had given the security guard a heads-up. If he saw her at the entrance, he’d call me. I didn’t know how she had so much free time. After graduating, we rarely saw each other, mostly just texting. Now, she was staking out my office two or three times a week. To avoid her, I had to work late every day, sometimes even sleeping in the little breakroom attached to my boss’s office. I remembered that Chloe’s family company had business ties with mine. In my past life, it was because of pressure from her parents that I was forced to resign. In this life, Chloe was too busy trying to catch me to think about setting fires, but I couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t do something else extreme. If I didn’t want to get burned, I had to solve the problem at the source and completely cut ties with her. And I definitely didn’t want to go through being forced to resign again. After a lot of mental debate, I knocked on my manager’s door. “Come in,” a mature female voice said, carrying a hint of coldness. “Ms. Yang, I… I’d like to submit my resignation.” I finally mustered the courage to say it. “Maya, you’re a very reliable employee. Why the sudden…” My manager, Ms. Yang, twirled a fancy pen in her hand, her sharp gaze fixed on me. “My parents both fell ill at the same time. I need to go home and take care of them.” I’m sorry, Mom and Dad. You never took care of me; let me just use you as an excuse this one time. “I just submitted a request to upper management for you to be my deputy. It’s a shame you’re leaving now.” Sigh. In my past life, that deputy position didn’t go to me anyway. The Vance family just pulled some strings and put their own person in. I never had a chance. “Ms. Yang, I want to spend more time with my parents,” I declined politely. The position wouldn’t be mine in the end, regardless. “That’s true. Older folks need company,” Ms. Yang said slowly. “Approved. Go write your resignation letter, and I’ll sign it.” I didn’t expect my boss to be so accommodating. Employees who resigned under her had often been yelled at until they cried. I was pretty lucky. After spending a week handing over my projects, I submitted my formal resignation to Ms. Yang. “Alright. Tonight, the team is taking you out for a farewell dinner. My treat,” Ms. Yang said after signing the paper and handing it back. “I’ll handle HR for you. Go home and focus on taking care of your parents.” “I couldn’t possibly ask you to pay,” I said. To sign it so easily and then offer to pay for dinner out of her own pocket? I didn’t realize the usually strict Ms. Yang was such a softie. “It’s fine. I had security kick your ‘friend’ out today, so you can just walk right out the front door this afternoon,” Ms. Yang smiled slyly. She had everything under control. 5 Things don’t always go as planned. While we were at karaoke after dinner, Chloe yanked open the door to our private room, her expression somewhat contorted. “Maya, long time no see. Why haven’t you been answering my texts lately? I was so worried about you.” She reigned in her emotions, stepped forward, and linked her arm with mine, sounding overly affectionate. “Your company is so nice, always doing team-building events.” “Let’s talk outside.” I signaled my colleague, who had paused singing, to continue, and pulled Chloe out of the room. I led her to the busy main lobby and sat down on a sofa. Chloe immediately started in. “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been hiding from me lately. Did I do something wrong? You never go home either, and that tigress next door keeps calling the cops on me,” Chloe complained, her voice full of grievance. Didn’t you deserve to have the cops called on you? I was just trying to avoid inheriting millions in debt. I had already prepared my excuse for when she eventually tracked me down. “Chloe, my parents are sick. We need a lot of money. I’ve been working overtime on proposals. I’m exhausted.” I rubbed my temples, looking incredibly drained. When money is brought up, even the closest friendships lose their appeal. “Didn’t you say they never cared about you?” Chloe deflected, making sure not to touch the topic of money. “Why don’t you just ignore them?” “They’re my biological parents. I can’t just ignore them. Chloe, could you maybe lend me thirty thousand dollars for an emergency?” I pleaded, using a placating tone. “All my money is with Liam. Can you stop being so blindly loyal to them?” Chloe rubbed her nose naturally—her telltale sign that she was lying. “Chloe, do you just not want to help me?” I lowered my eyes. “No, it’s not that. How about this: a friend of mine is hiring waitstaff at a nightclub. Do you want to apply?” Chloe actually offered me this “great” idea. “I’m not working at a place like that. Didn’t you say we were best friends? Chloe, you won’t help me?” I raised an eyebrow, letting a bit of anger show. If she could manipulate me, I could do it right back. “Well… Liam is getting off work soon. I have to go home. Maya, I’ll try to think of something else regarding your parents,” Chloe said, grabbing her Chanel bag and leaving without a second glance. If I recall correctly, that bag alone cost more than thirty thousand dollars. So this is why she was being so stingy. Years ago, her parents had blamed me for her mistakes to avoid paying damages. Today, by asking for thirty grand, I ensured she wouldn’t bother me again. Nice. But Chloe… what you owe me from our past life is worth far more than just money. Once Chloe was gone, I went to the front desk to settle the bill. I couldn’t let Ms. Yang pay for this. The dinner earlier had already cost her over a thousand dollars. “Did you get rid of your friend?” a colleague asked, her face flushed from drinking. “Yeah, she’s gone. Let’s have a good time,” I smiled faintly. Thirty thousand dollars to buy my way out of that friendship? What a steal. After making sure everyone got home safe, I bowed deeply to Ms. Yang, thanking her for her help. “Family is the most important thing. Don’t leave any regrets,” Ms. Yang said before getting into a cab. This chapter was finally closed. After quitting, the next problem was my apartment. I definitely couldn’t live there anymore. I decided to find a big, muscular guy to rent it to. Chloe was terrified of guys like that. I posted the listing, and the very next day, a guy who called himself “Tough Guy” added me on WhatsApp. I tapped his profile picture. Hmm, nice biceps. Me: [Interested in renting?] Tough Guy: [I just wanted to ask, is your place haunted?] Me: [?] Tough Guy: [It’s 30% cheaper than other places in the same building, and the hard requirement is that the tenant has to be a tall, muscular man. You can’t blame a guy for overthinking.] Me: [So, are you renting? There’s a bonus.] Me: [My neighbor is a beautiful, single woman.] Tough Guy: [Perfect, I’m single too. I’ll rent it even if it’s haunted. I’ll come over later to sign the lease.] Wow. Was this guy really just thinking with his lower half? Tsk, tsk. He arrived quickly. He was wearing a t-shirt, had a full sleeve tattoo on his left arm, and was ripped. He didn’t look like someone you’d want to mess with. He’d definitely be able to handle Chloe. While we were talking in the hallway, Sarah, my neighbor, opened her door, gripping a baseball bat. Seeing us chatting happily, she gave an awkward smile and closed the door. “That girl is cute. Mind if I take a look at the place?” Tough Guy was a man of few words and quick action. He looked around and immediately signed a one-year lease. He even gave me an extra eight hundred bucks to make up for the discounted rent. Such a straightforward guy, with muscles like that—he could definitely keep my apartment safe. After signing the lease, I took him to meet the property manager and explained the real reason for the cheap rent. He didn’t care at all, waving it off as no big deal. He even carried my luggage down and walked me out of the complex. Chloe didn’t change numbers to harass me for the next few days. However, I did get an unknown WhatsApp message transferring thirty thousand dollars to me. I asked who it was, but the message bounced back. The person had blocked me right after sending the money? I checked the transfer details. The last letter of the name was ‘m’. I didn’t know anyone whose name ended in ‘m’. Was this a scam? I blocked the account immediately. As long as I didn’t accept the transfer, the money would automatically be returned in 24 hours. No problem. 6 Now I had two choices: go back to the country and stay with my grandma, or move to a different city and find a new job. The allure of the city was too strong. Young people should hustle, not just settle down. Naturally, I chose to stay in a city. For the next few days, I was busy sending resumes to over a dozen companies in the neighboring city, completely forgetting about Chloe. A few days later, an unknown number kept trying to add me on WhatsApp. I thought it was an interview invite, so I accepted. [Maya, are you really hiding from me? [I went to your place but couldn’t find you. Your company said you quit. [I got ten thousand from Liam. Do you still need it?] A barrage of questions hit me. I didn’t even have to guess; it was Chloe. I don’t know how she got so many different WhatsApp and phone numbers. [Unemployed. Sold a kidney to get the money. Don’t need it, thanks.] One sentence to answer all her questions. Chloe’s focus was always different from normal people’s. [Where do you sell kidneys for that much?] [Chloe, is your family’s company hiring? Can I come on as a planning supervisor? It’s a small favor, you can help me with that, right?] Seriously. She barely stopped bothering me, and now she’s starting again. [Maya, what are you talking about? I’m just a low-level clerk. How could I just hire a supervisor?] Her reply was quick. I guess she forgot the time she threw a massive tantrum, threatening suicide, just to force her family to hire Liam as a supervisor? [Chloe, you won’t even do this little favor for me?] I sent a crying emoji. [Wash your face and go to bed. You can have anything in your dreams.] After sending that, Chloe stopped replying. This was the “best friend” who promised she’d get me a job at her family’s company if I couldn’t find one? Good thing I never took her seriously. But using her own toxic magic against her? That felt really good. The companies I applied to replied quickly. I eventually decided to interview at a small-to-medium-sized company that offered room and board and had strict dorm security. I had checked beforehand; this new company had no business ties with Chloe’s family, so I didn’t have to worry about being forced out again. The interview went smoothly. HR asked me to start the next day and told me to spend the afternoon setting up my dorm room. The dorm was close to the office, and there were two security guards with batons stationed outside. The security was indeed good. HR informed me that, aside from internal employees, no guests were allowed in the dorms. That rule alone would stop Chloe from trying to crash at my place. My new life was officially beginning. 7 Similar roles in the same industry don’t vary much. I quickly integrated into my new job. Amidst the busy schedule, my neighbor Sarah, whom I hadn’t spoken to in a while, sent me a ten-minute video. The video had a lot going on, and Sarah even thoughtfully edited it and added text commentary for me. Chloe had brought Liam to my old apartment and knocked on the door. Tough Guy answered. Chloe looked Tough Guy up and down and said my tastes were extreme, that she didn’t expect me to like guys like him. Hearing that, Liam’s face turned black as thunder. Tough Guy told them to get lost, saying it was his apartment and to stop making a scene. Chloe didn’t believe him and tried to force her way in. Tough Guy just grabbed her by her ponytail and dragged her out into the hallway, ignoring her as she banged on the door. The video then fast-forwarded. The police arrived. Chloe had called them. The police sure visited my place a lot these past few months. Chloe claimed Tough Guy had broken into my apartment and that she thought I was being held hostage, demanding the police rescue me. Tough Guy opened the door, handed the lease agreement to the police, and then Chloe and Liam got a stern lecture from the officers in the hallway before slinking away. Even through the video, I could feel the police officers’ exhaustion. Every time, they were called out for some petty nonsense. Sarah also complimented the Tough Guy next door, saying he was very manly and that she wanted to ask him out. I replied: Go out more often, use your charms on him. Sarah replied with an “OK” emoji. At the new company, the colleagues were very friendly. I started from the bottom, soaking up new knowledge like a sponge, and my coworkers were happy to help. See, Chloe? I’m doing so much better without you. Unable to find me, Chloe somehow managed to get my parents’ phone number. She called them, asking what illness they had and if they were cured. That phone call almost gave my heartless parents a heart attack. My mom called me and cursed me out for a solid hour, without stopping to take a breath. I turned the volume all the way down, focused on my planning documents, and offered a noncommittal “uh-huh” every now and then. Seeming to sense my indifference, she actually cursed me to die alone and childless. I replied, Don’t curse yourselves, I’m your flesh and blood. The other end finally went quiet, and she hung up. Seriously. You ignored me my whole life, and the one time I use you as a tiny excuse, you can’t wait to call and scream at me? All they care about is their precious son. If I hadn’t moved my residency registration when I went to college, I’d be stuck as a modern-day Cinderella, sacrificing everything for my brother. In my past life, when they found out my house burned down, their first question wasn’t if I was okay. They asked when I bought the house and why I didn’t put it in my brother’s name. They said if it was in his name, they would have hired a lawyer and sued Chloe’s family for every penny they were worth. If the property was in my name, any compensation would just go to me and my future husband, and “a married daughter is like spilled water”—they’d never see a dime of it. They even told me not to commit suicide. They told me to pay off the debt first before doing anything rash, so I wouldn’t drag them down. What a joke of a family. If I didn’t look somewhat like them, I’d seriously think I was adopted.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422564”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

On my commute to work via the subway, I overheard an old lady bragging to another older woman. “Girls these days are so easy,” she scoffed. “I just taught my son to put in a tiny bit of effort—like making them a cup of hot cocoa when they’re on their period, or bringing them an umbrella when it rains. And boom, these shameless women throw themselves at him, one after another. Thanks to my methods, my son is juggling eight girlfriends right now.” I was hiding behind the crowd, listening to her, and feeling physically sick. I mentally took eight seconds of silence for those eight poor “sisters.” I never expected that the very next day, I’d be going to meet the parents of my boyfriend of three years. Unless I was suddenly blind, the old lady standing in front of me was the exact same woman who had been bragging on the subway about her son’s eight girlfriends. And I? I was apparently one of those “shameless women with interchangeable parts” she had sneered about. 1 Because my car was unexpectedly in the shop for maintenance, I took the subway that day so I wouldn’t be late for work. On the train, an old lady was loudly bragging to another older woman. “Girls these days are so easy. I just taught my son to put in a tiny bit of effort—like making them a cup of hot cocoa when they’re on their period, or bringing them an umbrella when it rains. And boom, these shameless women throw themselves at him, one after another. Thanks to my methods, my son is juggling eight girlfriends right now.” “Let me tell you, raising a son is all about strategy,” she continued. “Whenever my son doesn’t listen to me, I warn him, ‘I’m the one who got you all these women. If you don’t listen, I’ll stop helping you.’ He gets so scared he does whatever I say. I always tell him, every woman has the same parts anyway, so he’ll definitely find one he likes.” I was hiding behind the crowd, listening to her, and feeling physically sick. I mentally took eight seconds of silence for those eight poor “sisters.” I never expected that the very next day, I’d be going to meet the parents of Jason, my boyfriend of three years. The moment I stepped through the door, I was startled by the old lady standing in front of me. Unless I was suddenly blind, the old lady standing in front of me was the exact same woman who had been bragging on the subway about her son’s eight girlfriends. And I had become one of those “shameless women with interchangeable parts” she had sneered about. 2 As soon as I stepped into the home of Jason, my boyfriend of three years, his mother pulled out a pair of fuzzy slippers and insisted on putting them on my feet herself. “You must be Chloe. You’re so beautiful.” I quickly took two steps back, dodging the old woman’s hands. Feigning calmness, I greeted her: “Hello, Mrs. Miller.” Jason’s mother beamed instantly, looking extremely satisfied with me. The moment I sat down on the sofa, the old woman was bustling about, bringing me fruit and handing me a cup of milk tea. “I heard you young people love drinking this stuff. I thought the store-bought ones were unsanitary, so I looked up a tutorial online and made it myself. Try it quickly and see how it tastes.” I looked at the kind, amiable old lady in front of me, completely unable to reconcile her with the bitter, mean woman from the subway. I even started to doubt if I had seen the right person. Or maybe the old woman was just trying to show off in front of her friend and made it all up. After lunch, Jason’s mother pulled out a worn, dark-looking bank passbook and placed it in my hand. “Chloe, there’s ten thousand dollars in here. I know your family has plenty of properties and you probably don’t care about one or two more, but the money in this passbook is my entire life savings. Now, I want you to take it and go buy a house with Jason so you two can get married.” I looked at the passbook placed in my hand, momentarily at a loss for words. First of all, the amount was too small; it wouldn’t even cover the down payment on a decent house here in Seattle. But if this passbook truly held her “coffin money,” as the old lady claimed, its weight far exceeded its monetary value. If it hadn’t been for that scene on the subway, I probably would have declined the money immediately, perhaps even comforting the old lady that she didn’t need to worry about a house because my family had it covered. But with that subway scene stuck in my head, something felt off. I don’t know if my silence dragged on too long, or if the old lady sensed my mood, but she suddenly grabbed my hand and tearfully pleaded: “Chloe, I know it’s not a lot of money and it won’t buy a house. But you know Jason’s father passed away early. I’ve worked myself to the bone all these years just to put Jason through his Master’s degree. Even though he’s working at a big tech company now, he’s only been there for a few years, and his salary is entry-level. It’s incredibly hard to buy a house in Seattle on his own.” “How about this: you ask your parents to chip in a little first, so you guys can buy a house and get married. Don’t worry, once Jason starts making more money, I’ll have him pay your parents back.” Jason’s mother’s words sounded very considerate, but maybe I was just being sensitive. I felt like something about this whole situation stank. I looked at the old woman with feigned innocence. “Mrs. Miller, whose names will be on the deed?” The old lady smiled and patted my hand. “Well, that goes without saying. It will obviously have both your names on it.” “Don’t worry, once you buy the house, I promise I won’t bother you two.” Those four words, “both your names,” sent a jolt through my body. First of all, the cheapest decent house in Seattle starts at least around eight hundred thousand dollars. Given how much my dad dotes on me, if I were getting married, he definitely wouldn’t buy a small starter home. A million-plus was the minimum. Coupled with the scene on the subway, I had my suspicions that whether it was Jason’s mother’s tears or this worn-out passbook, it was all a calculated trap set for me. 3 Although I was suspicious at Jason’s house, considering we had a three-year relationship, I still didn’t quite believe he was that kind of person. But from that day on, I started closely observing Jason’s schedule. For instance, I noticed that every time he came to my place, he smelled faintly of dampness, like he had just taken a shower. For instance, if he worked late and then came to my place, he generally had no interest in intimacy, acting exhausted. For instance, he frequently got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and would spend an hour in there scrolling on his phone. I had never scrutinized Jason’s schedule before. I believed in mutual respect and maintaining independent space in a relationship. But what if Jason was using that time to juggle other girlfriends? Finally, one night, while Jason was in the shower, I couldn’t resist checking his phone. His text messages were very clean, with my name pinned at the top. The other contacts were either coworkers or friends, some of whom I recognized or had even met. This gave me some comfort. The only anomaly was his chat history with his mother—it was completely empty. But they had seemed so close that day. What exactly were Jason and his mother talking about that required clearing the chat history? I was just about to put the phone down when I suddenly remembered an influencer sharing a story about discovering her husband’s infidelity by checking his phone’s location history. Relying on memory, I opened the location settings on Jason’s phone, and looking at his daily movements, I grew even more confused. First, his location history only showed him at his place, my place, and his company on the days he came to see me. The rest of the time was completely blank. Did Jason not take his phone with him when he didn’t come to see me? Just then, Jason, still drying off with a towel, walked out of the bathroom. He looked at the phone in my hand, his expression completely unchanged. He walked over and hugged me, his face full of teasing. “Find anything interesting?” I tilted my chin up haughtily. “Who knows if you men are messing around out there? I’m just checking to be safe.” Jason pursed his lips and chuckled, reaching out to gently tap the bridge of my nose. “Be good, how could I ever betray you? I love you so much.” “Besides, my phone has never had a passcode. You can check it whenever you want.” That was true. Jason had never been secretive with his phone around me. Sometimes when I used his phone to make a call or track a package, he was always completely open. So much so that I had never had the urge to check his phone before. But how could those anomalies on his phone be explained? 4 Perhaps driven by a woman’s sixth sense, the next day after work, I went to Jason’s office. Right at 6:00 PM, I saw Jason walking out of his building. The moment I saw his figure, I froze. Because Jason had just texted me saying he had to work late. Given that he was a software engineer at a big tech firm, I had never doubted his “working late” excuses. I dialed Jason’s number with trembling fingers. He declined it instantly. But what surprised me more wasn’t that Jason lied about working late, but that the Jason right in front of me didn’t even reach for his phone in his pocket. Right then, Jason sent me a text. “Baby, I’m in a meeting. I’ll call you back later.” I stared at the message, the fingers gripping my phone trembling. Because at this exact moment, the Jason right in front of my eyes was waving his hand to hail a cab. I swallowed hard in fear and pulled up my old chat history with Jason. First, on the days Jason came to see me, he would be very distant via text, often replying with short phrases like “mhm” or “okay.” But on the days he didn’t see me… He would be much more enthusiastic. He would tell me jokes, send me good songs, and be incredibly attentive. Although sometimes I felt his tone was a bit old-fashioned, I just chalked it up to him being a typical clueless tech bro. But wasn’t it a huge red flag that his communication style swung between two such extremes? My nerves were taut, like something was about to burst out. I quickly drove off, tailing Jason’s cab. The cab didn’t stop until it reached the entrance of a luxury apartment complex. As soon as he got out, a young woman rushed out of the complex gates. She clung to Jason like a koala bear and showered his cheeks with kisses. Jason affectionately ruffled her hair. The two looked exactly like a deeply in love couple. I watched the scene unfold before my eyes, my eyes red and wide. Just as I was sitting there, stunned and unsure of what to do, I received another text from Jason. “Baby, don’t forget to eat dinner tonight! You’re already beautiful enough, you don’t need to diet anymore.” 5 As soon as I got home, I rushed to the bathroom and threw up in disgust. If I didn’t realize by now that Jason and his mother were playing me, I’d be the biggest idiot in the world. If my guess was right, the person texting me all these years was Jason’s mother. Just thinking about the flirtatious things Jason supposedly said to me, actually being typed by his mother… I couldn’t help but throw up into the toilet again. This was even more sickening than Jason simply cheating. That night, Jason came to my place at 10:00 PM. He brought food cooked by his mother. Jason put a piece of shrimp in my bowl. “My mom knows you like shrimp, so she made this especially for you.” My fingers tightened around my chopsticks. “How did your mom know I like shrimp?” Jason stiffened for a second, but recovered his composure moments later. “Well, that goes without saying. I told her, of course. You’re a great daughter-in-law. Not only do I love you, but my mom absolutely adores you too.” I feigned a teasing tone. “Then you’d better hurry up and marry me. By the way, I talked to my dad about the house. He said there’s no problem on his end, but you know my background. All my friends get at least a hundred grand for a wedding gift from the groom’s side. My dad said if your family can’t afford a hundred grand, you need to provide at least fifty grand, otherwise he won’t let me marry you.” Jason smiled calmly. “That’s no problem. You just take the deed to your current place, take out a home equity loan for fifty grand, and we’ll just go through the motions for your parents. Don’t worry, I’ll cover the interest.” My stomach churned, and I almost gagged in disgust. “What, you don’t trust me? My mom practically emptied her life savings for us. I know there’s a financial gap between our families, but I promise I’ll work hard and make money. I’ll never let your friends look down on you.” I pretended to be moved and buried my face in his chest. But where Jason couldn’t see, my fingernails nearly pierced my palms. I never thought Jason actually treated me like a complete idiot. 6 The next day, I went to find the girl Jason had met, Chloe. After hearing my story, Chloe’s face was full of disbelief, her body trembling. “But… I was going to marry him.” I closed my eyes tightly. “Me too…” Chloe instantly burst into loud, sobbing tears. I don’t know how long it took, but Chloe finally lifted her tear-streaked face. “Let’s… let’s compare our chat logs.” After we verified all our interactions with Jason, we both stood frozen in horror. We never expected that from the very beginning, Jason and his mother had premeditated everything. First, we both met Jason because we were bumped into by a delivery driver, and he “saved” us, which led to us exchanging numbers and chatting. Furthermore, from our daily interactions, all the chat conversations were identical. Even the day we went to meet his parents, I went in the morning, and Chloe went in the afternoon. After comparing all the chat logs, Chloe started crying hysterically. “I’m going to kill that piece of trash, Jason.” It wasn’t just Chloe; even my worldview was shattered by what lay before us. I fought to control my trembling body and grabbed Chloe. “It’s not worth getting our hands dirty for trash like him. Let’s gather evidence first. The law will make Jason and his mother pay.” 7 At the time, when Jason was hit relatively hard by the delivery driver, I was afraid the driver would deny it, so I kept his phone number. This actually made it convenient for us to find a witness. I called the delivery driver right then and there. “Hello, I have a package to send. Can you come pick it up?” When the delivery driver arrived at my place, I asked directly, “Do you know Jason?” The delivery driver turned around, wanting to leave. I threatened him: “If you dare leave, I’ll sue you for fraud. If Jason gets arrested, you’re an accomplice. You can leave if you don’t want to go to jail.” The delivery driver was spooked by me. He looked at me pitifully. “Ladies, you can’t blame me for getting scammed! How was I supposed to know you women were so gullible, believing those cliché TV tropes?” My heart skipped a beat. “You women.” So Jason really did have eight girlfriends. I looked at the delivery driver coldly. “How many women have you hit for Jason in total?” The delivery driver shrank back. “I’ve hit about a dozen or so over time. That guy who ‘saved’ you paid me a hundred bucks an appearance each time.” Chloe and I exchanged a glance. “Do you have the phone numbers of those girls?” The delivery driver shook his head in panic. “Why would I keep their numbers for something like this?” I lowered my head in thought for a moment. “Then do you know how many Jason actually succeeded with?” The delivery driver shook his head. “How would I know that? But I heard the guy mention a few times that once he got bored, he’d just break up with them. The success rate must be pretty high, otherwise he wouldn’t pull this stunt every few months.” Seeing that the delivery driver couldn’t offer much more, I pulled out a document and placed it in front of him. “Sign your name here. Don’t worry, I won’t sue you. I’ve recorded what you just told us. You just need to show up in court when the time comes. But if you dare tell Jason, I will sue you as an accomplice to fraud. We have plenty of money to fight a legal battle. Don’t believe me? Try it.” The delivery driver was indeed intimidated by me, pulling out a pen and quickly signing his name. He also apologized profusely, saying he shouldn’t have done something so immoral. 8 After meeting with the delivery driver, Chloe and I started compiling the financial transactions between us and Jason. If we didn’t calculate it, we wouldn’t have known. Calculating it gave us a huge shock. Just for me alone, over these years, the amount of money Jason obtained from me was as high as fifty thousand dollars. Jason wouldn’t ask for money blatantly. For instance, he would tell me he lost money in the stock market and wanted to average down. He wouldn’t ask for a lot, sometimes five hundred, sometimes a thousand. To me, these were small amounts, so I never paid much attention to it. And Jason used the exact same method to get money from Chloe, claiming it was for buying in-game currency for video games. Chloe’s family was also relatively well-off, but her personal expenses were high, so she couldn’t give Jason as much. But all told, Chloe’s contributions added up to nearly twenty thousand dollars. Of course, Jason didn’t just take money for nothing; he would always give gifts in return. But where did the gifts come from? They were taken from Chloe, me, or his other girlfriends. For example, he would take the perfume Chloe bought him and give it to me. If Chloe asked about it, he would say he gave it to a client. Jason’s gifting frequency wasn’t high, maybe once or twice a year. And knowing Jason’s financial situation, the fact that he could give us such expensive gifts once or twice a year already made us feel he was very thoughtful. After checking all the financial transactions. Chloe and I slumped onto the sofa. Chloe looked at me with tears in her eyes: “Chloe, tell me, how can a person be this shameless?” I rubbed her head. “There, there. Trash will get its karma. If karma doesn’t get them, we will. Don’t worry, Jason will get what’s coming to him.” 9 To gather more evidence, Chloe and I decided to investigate Jason’s house. Chloe took the lead, inviting Jason and his mother out for a fun day. I was responsible for checking out Jason’s house. I had secretly swiped the key while Jason was sleeping. That day, when I went to Jason’s house and pushed open his mother’s bedroom door, I was stunned. In Jason’s mother’s room, several computer monitors were set up. Each monitor was logged into a different WhatsApp account. To make it easier for Jason’s mother to operate, the font size on the monitors was enlarged several times. Next to the computers was a notebook recording the preferences, family backgrounds, personality traits of all the girls, as well as the duration and frequency of their physical relationship with Jason. Even some highly inappropriate nude photos were recorded inside. I counted, and there were details on at least twenty or thirty girls in the notebook. Fighting down my anger, I took pictures of everything at the scene. That night, I went to Chloe’s house, and she looked at me anxiously. “Chloe, how did it go?” I handed her my phone. After looking at the photos on my phone, Chloe remained silent for a long time. I don’t know how long passed before Chloe looked at me, choking back tears: “Do we call the police?” I shook my head. “The evidence we’ve gathered so far isn’t complete enough. This amount of money would be letting Jason and his mother off too easy. Let’s raise the stakes for them.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422580”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

My sister-in-law spoiled her son with absolutely no bottom line. When I warned her that “spoiling a child is like killing a child,” she ran to my brother and complained that I was just jealous she had a son to carry on the family name. Sure enough, when her son grew up, he turned into a destructive delinquent. Yet, my sister-in-law was incredibly proud: “My boy is so masculine for his age! You guys are just jealous!” Terrified he would end up hurting someone else, I tried my best to discipline him. But my sister-in-law brainwashed him: “Your aunt has wanted to get rid of you since you were in my womb! If you want to torture someone, go torture her!” Later, I was pushed down a flight of stairs by that very child and died. When the police showed up, my entire family played dumb to cover for him. When I opened my eyes again, I was back. My sister-in-law was smugly bragging: “My son is so strong, he’ll definitely land a solid, iron-rice-bowl government job in the future.” I sneered. Mhm~ Well, how about a lifetime of three square meals in prison? Doesn’t get more ‘iron’ than that. 1 “Are you saying the deceased jumped off the building on her own accord? Did you see it with your own eyes?” “Yes, absolutely! My husband can vouch for it!” My sister-in-law, Chloe, was giving the police a firm, dead-certain answer while subtly shooting glances at my brother, David. David tore his gaze away from my bloody corpse and nodded dumbly. “Yes, we can all vouch for it. When my sister… jumped, my son was inside reading a book. He wasn’t at the scene.” The police officer turned to look at the twenty-year-old man being shielded by his grandparents. His height and build far exceeded his peers. He was heavily built, with a face full of well-fed fat, single eyelids, and a menacing stare. He had a buzz cut. This was David and Chloe’s only child, and my parents’ precious, deeply doted-upon only grandson—Tyler. Before the police could even ask a question, my parents shoved him behind them. They kept telling the police how well-behaved and obedient their grandson usually was. Instead, they slandered me, claiming I had a weird personality, saying I studied psychology so much I went crazy, and that I jumped off the building myself. The neighbors watching from the sidelines shook their heads and sighed, but no one dared to step forward and tell the truth. Finding no leads, the police eventually classified the case as an accidental fall. The day my body was brought back to the house, Tyler walked over. Seeing no one around, he raised his foot and kicked my stiff head sideways. “Dead bitch, haha. Mashed up your insides real good, what a rush!” “That’s what you get for not letting me play my games, for always telling me what to do!” He kicked and stomped on me until his father, David, saw him and rushed forward to stop him. Chloe also hurried over, pulling Tyler away, scolding him: “Touching a dead body? Aren’t you afraid of bad luck?” David straightened my head. “Sister, I’m sorry. I only have one son, I have no choice… Please don’t blame me, and don’t blame Mom and Dad.” 2 Dying with my eyes wide open, my spirit coldly watched the Thorne family cover for a murderer. They knew perfectly well how I died. My brother and sister-in-law wanted a son so badly they aborted two female fetuses. Their third pregnancy finally yielded a boy, whom they named Tyler. A grandson was incredibly precious in this household. From the moment he was born, Tyler became the family’s treasure. Under this intense spoiling, he learned at a very young age to throw tantrums and act out to get what he wanted. I couldn’t stand watching it and warned Chloe that “spoiling a child is like killing a child.” Chloe, who only had a middle school education, didn’t understand the depth of that phrase at all. She rolled her eyes at me, turned around, and buried her face in my brother’s chest, crying: “She’s so vicious! She actually wants to kill our only son!” “Your sister is just jealous that I gave you a boy! She’s afraid he’s going to get her share of the inheritance!” My parents also pointed fingers at me and scolded: “Can’t you ever wish for anything good? Why are you targeting your own nephew? How did we raise such a wicked daughter?” I was only a sophomore in high school then, and no one in the family cared about what I said. Every time Tyler caused trouble, not only did Chloe not discipline him, she clapped and cheered: “My boy is so manly! He’ll definitely land a great government job when he grows up! He’ll protect his mommy and daddy! Everyone else is just jealous!” Under the relentless spoiling and indulgence of my brother and his wife, Tyler started using violence to solve his problems. I was the only person in the family who would try to correct his mistakes. I went to college to study psychology, knowing full well that wrong parenting methods could ruin a child’s future. Because I didn’t cater to his whims, he frequently threw things at me, leaving me covered in bruises. My brother and sister-in-law never stepped in to correct him; behind closed doors, they even subtly encouraged him. “Using his aunt as a free punching bag for practice. That way, he won’t get bullied when he goes out into the real world!” Chloe calculatingly thought to herself. The year Tyler turned eighteen, the family scraped together every penny to send him to a low-tier private college after he barely scored 400 on his SATs. During his sophomore year, Tyler threw a lit firecracker into the desk of a low-income student in his class. The explosion blinded the student in one eye, leaving him permanently disabled. The family had to pay out two hundred thousand dollars in a settlement. Later, I accidentally discovered that he had started playing banned, incredibly violent and horrific video games, spending hours every day torturing virtual characters. I very seriously confiscated his games and gave him a furious scolding. He looked at me with pure hatred. My brother, sister-in-law, and parents all stepped in to defend him, saying it was in a man’s nature to love video games and that I was sticking my nose where it didn’t belong. I didn’t want to meddle either, but watching my brother and his wife ruin Tyler with their toxic parenting meant he might go out into society and harm innocent people. Driven by my professional ethics as a psychologist and basic social responsibility, I couldn’t just stand by. During summer break, Tyler called me, saying he was being bullied and cornered by a group of thugs at an abandoned construction site. I thought he had messed with the wrong crowd. He was my nephew after all; I couldn’t just ignore him, so I rushed to the site. It was an abandoned concrete building on the edge of town, five stories high. When I climbed to the top floor, Tyler suddenly pushed me from behind. He stood on the roof watching me fall, his eyes filled with the thrill of revenge. In that moment, I was just like an NPC he tortured to death in his games. The first person to “discover” my fall was Chloe. After pushing me, Tyler calmly called his mother: “Mom, didn’t you say she wanted to kill me since she was in the womb? Well, I killed her first!” 3 I never expected to wake up again. My phone was ringing constantly. I answered it instinctively. Tyler’s voice came through: “Aunt Maya, I’m cornered by some thugs over by the old concrete building. They’re going to beat me up. Can you come save me?” My blood ran cold. I quickly glanced at the time on my computer—I had actually been reborn back to the exact day I was pushed off the building! Through the phone, Tyler’s voice continued. I suppressed my towering hatred: “Okay, I’ll be right there to save you.” “I’ll wait for you!” Tyler’s plea for help carried an eerie excitement. In my past life, I hadn’t picked up on it at all. Experiencing it a second time, there was no way I was going to let him get away with it! Hanging up the phone, I immediately went to the kitchen and said to Chloe, who was making chicken soup for her son: “Chloe, Tyler says he’s cornered by some people at the concrete building. You need to go check on him, quick.” “What happened? Who dares hurt my son? I’ll kill them!” Upon hearing this, Chloe hurriedly untied her apron. The sun was blazing outside. Before she left, I specifically said: “Chloe, the sun is so strong. You should wear my sun protection jacket. The one that cost sixty bucks. Haven’t you been wanting to try it?” A few years ago, my brother and sister-in-law had to pay out hundreds of thousands to clean up the mess their “good son” made. Now, Chloe’s life was very tight financially. Every time she saw me wearing nice clothes, she would specifically ask how much they cost. Hearing they were sixty or seventy dollars, she would mutter about me wasting money while unavoidably reaching out to feel the fabric. She wished I would dedicate all my money to her husband and son. In her eyes, as an unmarried sister, I should be supporting my brother’s family. Reborn, I saw right through her intentions. Sure enough, hearing the jacket was expensive, she immediately turned back. Muttering that I was finally being sensible, she put on the sun protection jacket I usually wore. I watched her hurry out the door and sneered. If Tyler accidentally pushed his own mother off a building, that would just be karma for the two of them! You reap what you sow; go taste the fruits of your own labor! In this life, I respect this family’s destiny and will absolutely not meddle! Less than half an hour later, a neighbor, Jimmy, ran over from the edge of the neighborhood, yelling: “Bad news! Something happened at the concrete building! Someone fell!” I feigned panic and hurried to the concrete building with a light step. I saw blood seeping from a pile of sand at the base of the building, with a person lying on top of it. I stepped closer, and my pupils dilated in shock! What was going on? The person pushed off the building turned out to be… her? 4 Lying on the sand pile was a teenage girl. Her clothes were covered in blood and dirt, and there was a brutal, disfiguring scar over her right eye. My heart sank. How could this be? Why was she the one who fell? In my past life, I landed directly on the hard concrete and died instantly from ruptured organs, beyond saving. This girl was luckier than me. She landed on the sand pile, the soft sand breaking her fall and saving her life. “Look at her pants. She was probably… you know.” A harsh male voice came from the crowd. I couldn’t find the source, but his comment made me notice that the girl’s pants were pulled halfway down, and there was fresh blood on them. A chill ran down my spine. Had she been assaulted before she fell? I climbed up the sand pile, took off my jacket, and covered her lower half, afraid to move her rashly in case of broken bones. The girl’s eyes were still staring blankly. I didn’t know what I could do for her, so I just raised my hand, gently supported her forehead, and whispered: “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.” Following her line of sight, I scanned the roof. There was no sign of Tyler, and Chloe was nowhere to be found either. 5 Police cars and ambulances soon arrived. When the paramedics loaded the girl into the ambulance, I followed. The attending doctor asked me while performing emergency first aid: “What’s the victim’s name?” “Lily.” She was the low-income student whose eye Tyler had ruined with a firecracker a year ago. I didn’t know why she was in that building, or why she was pushed off in my place, ending up covered in blood! After waiting outside the ER for three hours, the attending doctor finally came out: “Are you a relative?” “I’m her sister,” I blurted out. The doctor sighed: “Your sister suffered head trauma and ten fractures across her body. She’s out of immediate danger after emergency surgery, but there’s a high probability she will fall into a vegetative state, a coma.” I was thankful she was still alive and asked urgently: “And the blood on her pants?” “I know what you’re worried about. Don’t panic. That blood was from her menstrual cycle. There are no signs of sexual assault on her body.” The doctor looked thoughtful. “If there were, there might be DNA evidence, which could actually help us find the perpetrator. Now that she’s in a coma and can’t testify, finding the culprit will be very difficult.” Just then, a middle-aged man reeking of alcohol barged in, demanding to see his daughter. I instantly recognized him as Lily’s stepfather, Gary. Years ago, when my brother and his wife paid the settlement for Lily’s eye, I looked into her family background. Her mother had remarried this alcoholic and passed away early from illness. Lily was left living with her stepfather, barely scraping by, unable to even afford basic menstrual products. After paying the two hundred thousand dollar settlement, the court also ordered my brother and his wife to pay Lily five hundred dollars a month for living expenses. That was the only reason Tyler didn’t go to jail. Doing the math, it was the beginning of the month, exactly when Tyler was supposed to give Lily the money. Gary, seeing his daughter severely injured and comatose, immediately asked the doctor how much money he could get. The doctor told him the perpetrator was still under investigation and Lily’s medical bills needed to be paid. Hearing that he not only wouldn’t get any money but had to pay the hospital, Gary immediately used his drunkenness as an excuse to leave, grumbling: “She’s not even my flesh and blood, why should I care if she lives or dies!” I asked the doctor what the chances were of Lily waking up. “Given her family’s financial situation, the hospital can only use cheaper medications to maintain her basic vitals, so the chances of her waking up are low. There’s a new drug available overseas specifically for this kind of condition. If we use that new drug, there’s a chance she could wake up within six months,” the doctor said, looking troubled. “But as you saw, her father absolutely cannot afford this.” “Use the new drug on Lily,” I said. “I’ll cover all the medical expenses.” The doctor kindly reminded me: “I must inform you, her medical bills will be roughly ten thousand dollars a month. That’s not a small amount. You should think it over carefully.” “This expense is nothing to me,” I said firmly. “I want Lily to wake up and personally send the person who hurt her to prison.” The attending doctor looked at me. He pulled down his mask, revealing a handsome, youthful face: “Alright, I will pay special attention to this patient. My name is Dr. Evans, Julian Evans.” I smiled faintly: “Hello, Dr. Evans. My name is Maya, Maya Thorne. Hoping for a miracle.” “Please keep the fact that Lily might wake up a secret, Dr. Evans.” Julian didn’t ask too many questions and solemnly agreed. I transferred twenty thousand dollars to the hospital’s account in one lump sum to cover Lily’s medical bills. On the drive home, I thought about a lot of things. I didn’t know if what happened to Lily today was a butterfly effect caused by my rebirth. Because I escaped, did she become the victim in my place? There was that possibility, but I wasn’t stupid enough to blame myself for Lily’s injuries. The real culprit was someone else. As soon as I reached the front door, I heard Tyler and his mom talking: “I didn’t think she’d actually fall! Falling from that high up, blood really does splatter everywhere, just like in the game!” Chloe grabbed Tyler, confirming: “Are you sure you didn’t touch her?” “I didn’t. Her pants were covered in period blood, who would touch that? I thought it was gross! She came looking for me today to get that five hundred bucks. I saw her pants were dirty, so I pulled them down from behind. She got scared, screamed, lost her footing, and fell.” Chloe said self-righteously: “Then she fell on her own! It has nothing to do with us! Not even knowing how to use a pad, this girl isn’t just blind from the firecracker, she must be brain-damaged too, right?” 6 The mother and son seemed to find this hilarious, so much so that when I appeared at the door, they jumped: “When did you get back?” “Just now.” I remained composed, looking at Tyler, who was being shielded by Chloe. “Didn’t you say someone was bullying you? Your mom went over to sort it out for you?” Chloe looked a bit guilty meeting my gaze: “S-sorted it out!” Tyler yelled at me: “I asked you to come save me! Why did you send my mom?!” I sneered: “Your mom is still alive, why should I be the one looking after you?” Chloe got defensive: “Maya, what kind of way is that to speak?” I glanced at her: “Chloe, where’s my sun protection jacket?” Chloe froze for a second: “It’s gone. When I went to save Tyler, it got snatched by those thugs. It’s just a jacket, right? Are you really going to make a fuss over it? I’ll just pay you back!” “Great. That jacket was sixty bucks. Venmo me.” Seeing I was serious, Chloe immediately slapped her thigh and started wailing: “We’re family, and you’re nickel-and-diming me? I’m going to tell your brother tonight and let him see what a stingy bitch his sister is!” Her tantrum brought my mom out. Hearing what happened, my mom first anxiously checked if her precious grandson was hurt, then scolded me for being obsessed with money and making a fuss over a jacket with Chloe! “You have money and a good job now, you should be thinking about helping your brother’s family! You need to focus on your brother buying a house! And Tyler is taking the civil service exam soon. He’s the hope of our family. You need to find a way to get him a position at your agency! Otherwise, you’re just ungrateful!” These words might have worked on me in my past life. Now, listening to her spew this garbage, I really wanted to slap her across the face! But I didn’t show it. I just glanced at Tyler and noticed his watch was missing. “Tyler, where’s your watch?” Tyler immediately covered his wrist: “None of your business!” I casually mentioned: “Tyler, didn’t you say you were at the concrete building? A girl fell off that building. I went to take a look, and it seemed to be your classmate. Didn’t you see anything?” Tyler and his mom exchanged a glance. He rolled his eyes at me brazenly: “I don’t know what you’re barking about! Mom! Didn’t you say you made chicken soup for me? Where is it? I want it right now to calm my nerves!” Chloe and my mom immediately hurried to the kitchen to get the chicken soup. He just pushed someone off a building, leaving them covered in blood, and now he’s in the mood for chicken soup? I coldly stared at Tyler’s back. If I don’t send him to prison to suffer, I would be doing a disservice to my tragic death in my past life! 7 After drinking the soup, Tyler sat in the living room playing his violent video games. My dad, woken up from his nap, came out and said nicely: “Tyler, your exam is only a few months away. We can’t waste time. Why don’t you read a book for a bit and play games later tonight, okay?” Tyler stared intently at the screen, not even glancing at my dad. My dad walked in front of the screen, blocking his view. “Go read a book…” Before he could finish, Tyler threw the game controller right at his grandfather’s forehead. With a dull thud, it instantly drew blood. My dad clutched his forehead in pain, but he couldn’t bear to scold his precious grandson. Instead, he directed his anger at me, sitting on the sofa playing on my phone: “Didn’t you see your father bleeding? Hurry up and get a Band-Aid! Tyler is your nephew! As his aunt, shouldn’t you discipline him?” Discipline? In my past life, I really did put effort into disciplining him, and what did I get in return? Tyler throwing various objects at me, leaving me covered in bruises. Being hit by a game controller was nothing. Once, when I was urging him to do his homework, he threw a vase at me. The shattered pieces cut my cheek, almost leaving a scar. Yet no one in the family stood up to reprimand Tyler. At the dinner table, they even made passive-aggressive comments about how I lacked boundaries and shouldn’t provoke their precious boy. I still remember what my dad said at the time: “Tyler is your nephew. As an elder, you should be tolerant and unconditionally yield to him! That’s the grace and refinement someone highly educated like you should have! Even if your face is scarred, it doesn’t matter. You’re not using your face to seduce men, so what are you afraid of?” In this life, now that the controller hit his head, he finally knows what pain is. I smiled and said to my dad: “Dad, Tyler is your precious grandson. As an elder, you should be tolerant and yield to him. Being hit and bleeding by him is your honor!” I slammed my bedroom door, shutting out their cursing, happy for the peace and quiet. My MMA coach texted me on my phone, saying training could start tonight. After being reborn, I spent a thousand bucks to sign up for a crash course in kickboxing. I had taken some boxing classes in college, so I had a bit of a foundation. Talking back feels good, but against evil people, fighting violence with violence is also a valid strategy!

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422565”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

During a live-streamed talk show, the host asked if I had a boyfriend. I said I used to have one. The host pressed on, “So what about you two now?” With a touch of melancholy, I replied, “He went to heaven.” Ten minutes later, the heir to a New York real estate empire crashed the live stream: “Damn it, how did I not know I was dead?” 01 My dad is a business tycoon, my mom is an Oscar-winning actress, and my brother is an A-list pop star. But the three of them combined couldn’t make me famous. So, after struggling in Hollywood for three years, I finally gave up and prepared to obediently go back to inherit my dad’s empire and become a female tycoon. But unexpectedly, right before I retired from the industry, I was grabbed to fill in for a missing guest on a live-streamed talk show. Since I was quitting anyway, I didn’t bother pretending to be the innocent, sweet girl anymore. I put on my sunglasses, shoved my hands in my pockets, and stepped out of the RV. But I never expected that as soon as I stepped out, I would run into my mortal enemy, Chloe Sterling. I debuted at the same time as her, and we both cultivated the “innocent sweetheart” persona. So, she constantly used me as a stepping stone to elevate herself, and our fanbases frequently clashed. Over time, just seeing her annoyed me, so I tried to avoid attending the same events. I didn’t expect to run into her here. In stark contrast to my aloofness, Chloe wore a sweet smile and greeted the live-stream audience cheerfully. I just gave the camera a faint nod and prepared to take my seat. Before sitting down, I noticed someone in the live chat asking Chloe if the rumors about her and Julian Hayes, the heir to a New York real estate empire, were true. Seeing this, I paused. Julian Hayes? The guy who loved making me rich, slow-cooked bone broth? The ex-boyfriend who would yell “That’s unhealthy!” every time I ate BBQ or fried chicken, and then chase me around trying to force-feed me bitter, sugar-free herbal detox tea? After he and I broke up, he got together with my mortal enemy? “Um… how am I supposed to answer that!” Chloe didn’t answer directly, but her coy demeanor effectively confirmed the rumors. Seeing this, my face twisted into an expression of sheer disbelief. Then she must really be able to endure hardship if she can swallow that bitter detox tea. When I broke up with Julian, it was because that detox tea was just too unbearably bitter. I didn’t want to drink something so awful for the rest of my life, so I resolutely broke up with him. I felt pity for Chloe, but I didn’t expect my expression to be interpreted by her fans as: I was green with envy and jealousy towards Chloe. [Ew, look how sour Maya is. Look at that jealous expression on her face.] [Haha, be jealous of our Chloe. She’s beautiful, has a sweet voice, and a super rich boyfriend!] [Ahhh! So Chloe is the future Mrs. Hayes!] [Boohoo, my idol is actually going to be a real estate mogul’s wife!] [People upstairs, are you crazy? If you want to hype yourselves up, please don’t drag our Maya into it, thanks.] [Hahaha, ‘future Mrs. Hayes,’ are you Chloe fans all this delusional?] [You just won’t admit it, Maya is just jealous!] … The live chat was a chaotic mess of arguing, and our show began. This live-streamed talk show was called “Sisterhood Chit-Chat.” Each episode had a theme, and the guests would chat around that theme. Besides me and Chloe, the other guests were actress Lily Evans, influencer Riley, and the host was Sarah. The theme of this episode was how to balance career and love in the entertainment industry. After we sat down, the host, Sarah, started cueing the guests to answer questions. Unsurprisingly, the first person cued was Chloe. Sarah asked her gossip-style if the rumors about her and Julian were true. “Um…” Chloe shyly bit her lip and said softly, “Everyone, please stop asking me about this. Right now, I still want to focus on my career, and he respects my decision.” Chloe’s sickly-sweet voice gave me goosebumps all over. I silently rubbed my arms. And my unintentional action made the live chat fight even harder. [Holy crap, the ship I’m sailing is actually real!] [What is Maya doing? Does she have to be so fake!] [Fake what? Her voice is disgusting, am I not allowed to rub my goosebumps?] [I think Maya is just suffering from sour grapes because she can’t get him.] [Boohoo, my Chloe is so career-driven, muah~] … Chloe’s ambiguous words directly confirmed the rumors about her and Julian. And the host, seeing there was gossip to dig up, kept chatting with her. “So who usually cooks at home?” Sarah asked. “We don’t cook at home. He doesn’t know how to cook, and he can’t bear to let me cook, so we usually go eat at five-star hotels,” Chloe said playfully. Hearing this, a question mark slowly popped up in my mind. Julian… doesn’t know how to cook? I thought of all the various pots and pans in the kitchen of his mansion, and subconsciously blurted out, “So, have you ever drank the detox tea he brews?” He couldn’t have just tortured me alone, right?! “What detox tea?” Chloe looked confused, then spoke to me with a hint of sarcasm, “We never drink any detox tea. Who drinks detox tea in the dead of winter?” Hearing this, I got even angrier. Julian really just singled me out to torture! I remembered that winter, on New Year’s Eve, he came to my house. With a doting look on his face, he pulled a thermos from his coat and said to me, “Eating hotpot is unhealthy. Remember to drink this detox tea after you’re done.” Yes, he came to find me on New Year’s Eve just to deliver detox tea! Thinking of this, I was so furious I just sat there and stopped talking. When I don’t smile, I look very aloof, so the live chat exploded again. [What’s going on? Why do I feel like Maya might have had some history with Julian?] [Person upstairs, are you crazy? How could Julian possibly know Maya, let alone have a history with her!] [Yeah, exactly. Maya leeching off our Chloe isn’t enough, now she wants to leech off Julian? So disgusting!] [Why is a scheming woman like this allowed to be on the same show as our Chloe?] [Could it be she has a sugar daddy? Maya seems to always get good gigs, but she just can’t seem to get famous.] [Person upstairs, don’t say it, you really might be onto something! I bet she definitely has a sugar daddy!] [Who says we don’t drink detox tea in the dead of winter? We drink detox tea regardless of the season! If we eat unhealthy food, we drink it!] … Sarah chatted with Chloe for almost half an hour. During this time, Chloe showed off her affection in various ways, hinting that they were getting close to tying the knot. After a while, the producer reminded Sarah to control the time, and Sarah finally turned the conversation to me. “So, Maya, have you ever been in a relationship?” Sarah still seemed lingeringly immersed in her chat with Chloe, and her conversation with me felt a bit less attentive. “I had one.” I was looking down at my phone, replying casually. This Julian guy, I don’t know what crazy spell he was under, but he was frantically trying to add me on WhatsApp. When we broke up, I blocked all his contact info. Now he was frantically trying to add me. I rejected him time and time again, but he was relentlessly persistent. “Oh~” Sarah asked with a gossipy look on her face, “So what about you guys now?” Hearing this, I clicked ‘decline’ while looking up and sneering, “He went to heaven.” “Ah—” Sarah looked apologetic and was just about to comfort me when she noticed the live chat had exploded. Julian: [Damn it, how did I not know I was dead?] Julian: [Damn it, how did I not know I was dead?] Julian: [Damn it, how did I not know I was dead?] After Julian posted three comments in a row, he seemed unsatisfied and posted another: “Maya, accept my friend request right now!” Julian spammed several more messages, desperately wanting me to accept his friend request. But after seeing the chat, I sneered, shook my head, and slowly raised my middle finger at the camera. [Am I going crazy and hallucinating? Is this Julian?!] [No way, isn’t Julian Chloe’s boyfriend? Why is he frantically cueing Maya right now? What is going on?] [I know! Maya definitely seduced Julian!] [Yes, yes, I can testify! I saw with my own eyes Maya trying to slip Julian her number, but Julian rejected her and went home with our Chloe!] … Seeing the live chat getting more and more ridiculous, Julian simply dropped one sentence: [Just you wait!] and then started spamming expensive virtual gifts to clear the screen. And Chloe, upon seeing Julian’s words, clearly paled, looking incredibly restless. Seeing this, Sarah asked Chloe, looking confused: “Chloe, is this ID ‘Julian’ your Julian?” Hearing this, Chloe hesitated for a moment, then said firmly: “How is that possible! Our Julian is so busy, how could he have time to watch a live stream! It must be some crazy fan of Maya pretending to be him.” Chloe looked at me pointedly, as if I had orchestrated this whole thing. “True, these days, there are a lot of people pretending to be others.” Sarah looked completely convinced and started cueing Riley. The show continued, and Chloe’s complexion returned to normal. But gradually, her face started looking a bit off again. Because the virtual gifts hadn’t stopped! With such a massive display of wealth, who else could it be but the real Julian, the heir to the New York real estate empire? Just as Sarah was about to ask Chloe again, the roar of a helicopter echoed from the sky. Everyone looked toward the sound and saw a helicopter landing on the grassy clearing not far away. Then, Julian jumped out of the helicopter, looking incredibly handsome and sharp! Everyone on the scene, except for me and Chloe, looked excited. The live chat exploded even more. [Ahhhh! The New York real estate heir Julian is chasing love on set! My Julian-Chloe ship!] [So sweet! Chloe just said Julian was busy and wouldn’t come, and Julian literally drops from the sky to surprise Chloe! A helicopter!] [Ahhhh! Where is the courthouse! You guys are grown up now, you need to learn to walk over here yourselves!] [Where did all of Maya’s fans go? Why aren’t they saying anything haha!] [Getting slapped in the face, obviously! ‘Picks nose’] [No, I’m telling you, can you Chloe fans stop being so delusional? Did you not read the chat just now? Julian is here for our Maya!] [I don’t even want to bother cursing at you Chloe fans, I’m afraid you’ll enjoy it.] … Seeing the live chat arguing like this, Chloe’s face paled even more. And Sarah, seeing Julian arrive, said excitedly to Chloe: “Chloe, your boyfriend is here!” Hearing this, Chloe could barely manage a smile. She no longer had the proud look from when she was showing off her affection earlier; instead, she looked somewhat panicked. Sarah didn’t notice Chloe’s distress and went up to greet him enthusiastically. After shaking hands with Julian, she glanced at the silent Chloe. Looking like a total shipper, she asked Julian excitedly with a smile: “Mr. Hayes, you dropped in on our live stream. Did you come for your girlfriend?” Hearing this, Julian didn’t deny it. Instead, he glanced at me and said bluntly: “I came for her.” Hearing this, the live chat exploded. [Holy crap, what’s going on?! Julian came for Maya?!] [Is Julian really Maya’s ex-boyfriend?!] [Did you guys notice that ever since Julian appeared, Chloe’s complexion has been terrible?] [Boohoo, poor Chloe, she must be so sad to look this pale. It’s all Maya’s fault! Why did she date Julian! Maya, go die!] [Person upstairs, don’t be sad! Julian is definitely here to slap Maya in the face! He will protect our Chloe because our Chloe is the best girl in the world!] [You Chloe fans are really too much! From getting off the helicopter to now, has Julian given you guys even a single glance? His eyes have clearly been fixed on our Maya the whole time, okay! Stop being so delusional!] … Julian walked up to me, pulled a thermos from his coat, and said gently: “Chamomile tea. You drank so much boba tea just now, it’s unhealthy.” I glanced at the familiar thermos in his hand, remembered that New Year’s Eve, looked at my empty boba cup, twitched my lips, and didn’t take it. Instead, I looked at Chloe and sneered at him: “Mr. Hayes, your girlfriend is over there.” Stupid man, we’re broken up and he still won’t let me go! Hearing this, Chloe’s face instantly went stark white. Julian, seeing I didn’t take the thermos, simply shoved it into my hands, flicked my forehead, and said in an annoyed tone: “What nonsense are you talking about? I’ve only ever dated you.” Hearing this, the live chat instantly exploded! [Did I hear that right?! Julian and Maya dated??] [Person in front, you heard right, not only did Julian date Maya, but he ONLY dated Maya!] [Scumbag! If you say that, then what is our Chloe?!] [Consider our Maya unlucky to meet a delusional person haha.] [Ahhhh! Maya-Julian ship!] The live chat started frantically shipping me and Julian. Seeing this, Chloe’s fans couldn’t sit still. [What is going on! Is this playing our Chloe? Does the New York real estate heir think he can be this disgusting!] [Look, Chloe’s face is so pale, boohoo my heart aches.] [Julian, right? Sisters, what does his family sell? Let’s boycott him!] [Person upstairs, Julian’s family sells real estate, they’re known as the biggest landlords in New York. Don’t bother boycotting, you can’t afford it hahaha!] … The live chat was fighting fiercely, but Julian ignored it all. He walked straight over and sat on the sofa next to me, crossing his long legs. At this point, Sarah also realized what was happening: “You came for Maya? Then what about you and Chloe…” Hearing this, Julian looked at Chloe with a half-smile, and said to the camera: “Let me clarify three points. “One, I did not go to heaven. “Two, I have only ever dated Maya. Because she doesn’t like drinking chamomile tea, she dumped me, but I have been actively trying to get back together. “Three, Ms. Chloe, it seems we’ve only met once, right? That day after my business dinner, Ms. Chloe suddenly lunged at me. I pushed you away immediately. You can all watch this video for the details.” Julian pulled out his phone and played a piece of security footage for the camera. In the video, Julian was calmly listening to another person speak when Chloe slowly approached him, her shoulder half-exposed, and suddenly fell towards Julian. And Julian, without any hesitation, shoved her away. Caught off guard, Chloe fell to the ground after being pushed by Julian, rolled a bit, and suffered a minor wardrobe malfunction. Then, the footage showed Chloe and her manager being thrown out of the banquet hall by Julian’s bodyguards. The entire audience was in an uproar. Sarah’s mouth twitched, not knowing what to say for a moment, while the other two guests gave Chloe meaningful looks. “So please explain, how did I become your boyfriend?” Julian logically refuted Chloe, incidentally telling everyone that in his relationship with me, I was the one calling the shots. Hearing this, Chloe’s eyes quickly teared up. She stood up, her body swaying unsteadily, looking as if she were about to burst into tears. She looked at me and said: “It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have said that. Maya, I’m sorry.” Chloe suddenly apologized to me. I was caught off guard, looking at her, just feeling something wasn’t right. Chloe rolled her eyes back and fainted right in front of me, falling stiffly towards us. I was so startled I instantly sprang up, executing a nimble maneuver to dodge her. So Chloe ended up falling towards Julian. “You—” Julian, not caring to argue with me, also shoved Chloe away. Then Chloe collapsed onto the sofa all by herself. [Holy crap! Chloe fainted!] [What is going on with Julian and Maya? Don’t they know to catch Chloe?] [Do you guys feel like Chloe’s apology just now felt forced? I think this whole thing isn’t just Chloe’s imagination, she got played by a scumbag!] [No, are you guys toxic? There’s video proof! From beginning to end, Chloe has been spreading rumors all by herself, and you’re still defending her?] [What does a video prove? We don’t even know when it’s from. What if Julian confessed to Chloe after the video?] [Poor Chloe, being bullied by capital!] [Crazy, crazy, they can twist the truth like this. The world has finally gone completely mad.] … Due to Chloe’s sudden fainting, the live broadcast was forced to end prematurely. 02 “Here, take this back.” After Chloe was taken away by the ambulance, I returned the thermos to Julian. Even though there was nothing between him and Chloe, I really didn’t want to drink chamomile tea anymore! “It’s chamomile tea, it’s really not bitter, I swear!” Julian unscrewed the thermos lid, coaxing me, “Take one sip and try it.” I remained unmoved and sneered: “On New Year’s Eve, you said the exact same thing to me.” And the result? The result was that after I took a huge gulp without any defenses, it was so bitter I was howling in tears. In a fit of anger, I broke up with Julian. But Julian wouldn’t give up. He tried to stay relevant in my life in various ways, throwing massive resources my way. Every time I started to soften, I would remember the bitter tea, so I firmly rejected him. “Really, really, this one is fragrant and sweet. If I’m lying to you, I’ll never appear in front of you again!” Julian swore to the heavens. I took a skeptical sip. It was indeed not bitter, fragrant and sweet. “No, if there’s such good-tasting tea, why did you insist on giving me that bitter, sugar-free one!” Thinking about it, I got even angrier! “Because my mom used to brew that super bitter tea for my dad when she was chasing him.” Julian scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed, “I thought it was the same.” I: “…” His dad sure has unique tastes. I ignored Julian and walked toward the RV. And Julian followed behind me, blabbering: “Then can we get back together? I’ll brew tea for you for the rest of your life.” Hearing this, I stopped walking, really couldn’t hold back: “I’ll only get back together if you don’t brew tea!” Hearing this, Julian’s eyes instantly lit up: “I won’t brew it, I won’t brew it.” He threw his arm around my shoulder like a loyal puppy, smiling and saying: “Whatever you say, my boss lady.” 03 The incident of Chloe fainting during the live stream was hung up on the trending topics. [Breaking] Maya’s Backing Capital [Hot] Maya Bullies Chloe and Forces Public Apology [Boiling] Chloe Oppressed by Maya … On the trending topics, the narrative was uniformly marketing Chloe as pitiful, me as malicious, and how I forced her to apologize publicly. “Go sell that ghost story somewhere else.” I looked at the trending topics, my forehead full of dark lines. What does it mean I forced Chloe to apologize publicly? She clearly apologized to me out of nowhere, and then turned around to paint herself as the victim. She really knows how to brew a good cup of green tea! Julian looked at the trending topics and angrily called his secretary to have them taken down, and also prepared to blacklist Chloe directly. But his secretary said, sounding conflicted: “Boss, taking down the trending topics is no problem, but rumor has it Chloe is the little princess of the Sterling Group. Blacklisting her might not be very easy.” Hearing this, Julian looked bewildered. He turned to me and asked: “Baby, doesn’t your family only have you and your brother? How did another Sterling Group little princess pop up?” I, who was currently eating the gourmet meal Julian had personally cooked for me: “?” 04 The topics on Twitter regarding Julian and Chloe decreased, and instead, there was more marketing about Chloe being the little princess of the Sterling Group. “When did Mom and Dad create an alt account?” My brother, Alex Sterling, called me and asked. “How should I know? I can’t reach Mom and Dad’s phones!” I replied helplessly. My mom went to the Northwest to film a movie, and she was often unreachable. My dad is a total wife-guy. If he doesn’t see his wife for a day, he loses his appetite and can’t sleep, so he happily followed her to the Northwest. So these two are often unreachable. “Forget it, I’ll have the group issue an official statement to clarify.” On the other end of the phone, I heard my brother impatiently flipping through documents and signing them. He said: “That punk from the Hayes family is still chasing you around, right? You hurry up and bring him home. It’d be best if you have a kid, and I’ll train the kid to be the heir to the Sterling Group. I really don’t want to take over the family business! It’s so annoying.” Neither my brother nor I wanted to take over the family business. Especially him, his career in the entertainment industry was booming. I, unfortunately, couldn’t get famous no matter how hard I tried. I was just about to tell my brother that I was already planning to retire from the industry and go home to take over the family business. Julian, upon hearing my brother tell me to bring him home, his eyes sparkled. He looked like he couldn’t wait to be on my family’s registry right now. “We can talk about this later.” I was stared at by Julian’s burning gaze until my face flushed. I looked away and said to my brother, “Hold off on issuing the statement. I want to handle this matter personally.” Chloe, this professional scammer, scamming everywhere, and she even targeted my family, maliciously spreading rumors about me. I wasn’t just going to let this go. Doesn’t she like talking nonsense on live streams? Then I’ll make her socially dead on a live stream! Last time she faked fainting to escape, this time I have no intention of letting her off the hook so easily! “Alright, handle it however you see fit. If you need anything, just call the company.” Hanging up the phone, holding my phone and about to agree to the live interview my manager mentioned, out of the corner of my eye I saw Julian holding his ID, looking shy and saying: “Maya, when are you going to give me an official title?” I: “…” How am I seeing my dad version 2.0? 05 The live interview my manager booked for me only had me and Chloe being interviewed. Before the live stream started, Chloe looked at me, completely lacking her usual gentle and weak on-camera persona. She scoffed, looking at me condescendingly and saying: “You think because you hooked up with Julian, that New York real estate heir, you’re really royalty now? Let me tell you, relying on a man will never be as good as relying on yourself. It’s a pity, though, that you don’t have a family background as good as mine.” Chloe’s tone revealed the superiority she felt as the little princess of the Sterling Group. I expressed my agreement. Relying on a man is indeed not as stable as relying on oneself, but… are you really the little princess of the Sterling Group? I perfunctorily murmured a few agreements in response to Chloe. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold back my laughter. Yesterday, after I checked, I found out that Chloe’s distant cousin’s sister-in-law’s brother’s neighbor was my dad’s driver. With such a ridiculously distant connection, she could still market herself as the little princess of the Sterling Group. It seems she’s really quite sick. Does she really think rich people are idiots and won’t clarify? These past few days I specifically held back, not letting the group issue an official clarification statement. I didn’t expect Chloe to think the Sterling family didn’t pay attention to the entertainment industry, so she overwhelmingly marketed her identity as the little princess of the Sterling Group. But this is fine too. The higher you climb, the harder you fall.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422581”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

We agreed to an open marriage when I tied the knot with the heir of the Pierce family three years ago. We played by our own rules. At a business gala. Carter Pierce stared at my interlocked fingers with my new toyboy, his expression unreadable. “You seem busy, honey.” I scoffed, glancing at the two teary-eyed starlets flanking him. “Right back at you.” Then, a video titled “Mrs. Pierce Takes Toyboy Diamond Shopping” shot to the top of the trending topics. That night, Carter pinned me against the wall. “Playing for keeps this time?” I flashed the diamond ring. “Yeah. I think I’m ready to settle down.” 1 Carter’s birthday party was a lavish affair. Everyone who was anyone in New York’s elite circle was there. When I arrived, he was in the middle of a passionate kiss with a trending pop star. Someone noticed me, stood up, and called out, “Hey, Chloe.” Others quickly followed suit. I nodded in acknowledgment, long accustomed to Carter’s reckless behavior. “So you’re the famous Mrs. Pierce?” A girl wearing barely anything blocked my path, her tone laced with provocation. I looked at her face, which was a carbon copy of the starlet currently in Carter’s arms. “Twins?” Before she could speak, I walked straight past her to a single armchair near Carter and sat down. “You really know how to play.” Carter released the starlet, his long legs spread casually. With a relaxed, rebellious air, he pulled a cigarette from his case, held it between his lips, and lit it. “Why didn’t you bring your new catch?” Hearing Carter mention him. I couldn’t help the corners of my mouth curving up: “He has a tournament this month.” Carter found that smile deeply irritating and narrowed his eyes. I pulled a manila envelope from my bag, placed it on the table, and gave it a push. It slid to a stop right in front of him. “Happy Birthday.” He took the cigarette from his lips and stubbed it out, his voice utterly flat: “Is this because I’ve been getting close to Sienna these past two days?” Carter came from a powerful family, was ruthless in business, and had a sharp mind. He didn’t need to open the envelope to guess what was inside. Sienna was the younger of the twins, the one who had just been sitting on his lap. She was soft and fragile, like a delicate flower clinging to a tree. Since I arrived, she hadn’t said a word, just sat obediently beside Carter. Lighting his cigarette, handing him the ashtray. Sensible, never overstepping. Occasionally looking at him with big, watery eyes, perfectly designed to trigger a man’s protective instincts. He smiled, feigning nonchalance: “Sienna is a good girl. She won’t threaten your position.” I looked up, meeting his pitch-black eyes. “But you are threatening his.” The words hung in the air. A bottomless, freezing glint appeared in Carter’s eyes. “What did you just say?!” The once-lively VIP room was swiftly cleared out. Carter pulled out the divorce papers and tore them to shreds right in front of me. “Has no one ever told you that using this trick too often makes a man resent you?” He quickly reverted to his usual lazy, arrogant demeanor. “I don’t care who you have on the side, and you don’t manage my affairs. We keep playing by our own rules. When we need to put on a show for the parents, you give me a call.” He stood up, grabbed his suit jacket, and prepared to leave. At the door, he turned back: “I won’t look into your guy, and you don’t cause trouble for Sienna. Her career is on the rise.” “Carter, I’m serious. If you don’t sign, I can’t get a marriage license with him.” The anger Carter had just suppressed flared up again. He grabbed the heavy crystal ashtray and hurled it at the floor. “Chloe, are you out of your fucking mind?!” I don’t have the best temper either. I grabbed a wine bottle and chucked it at him. He dodged it, walked over, and hoisted me over his shoulder in one swift, rough motion. At the door, he looked at Sienna, whose eyes were swollen from crying. “You go home first.” 2 Ever since I brought up the divorce, Carter hadn’t gone out partying for days. At a gathering with friends. I pulled my hand free from Carter’s grip. “I’m going to get some air.” Carter watched my retreating figure. Next to him, Julian Vance blew a smoke ring and raised an eyebrow. “I heard Chloe asked for a divorce?” Carter narrowed his long eyes. “Someone whispered some sweet nothings in her ear, and she got hot-headed and made a rash decision, that’s all.” He continued dismissively, “Even if she wants a divorce, the Quinn and Pierce families won’t agree so easily. It’s not as simple as she thinks.” Julian advised him, “You should probably dial it back lately. If Chloe is really dead set on a divorce, you’ll be the one crying.” “How many boyfriends has she had in the last three years? Have any of them lasted more than a month? This time is no different; the novelty just hasn’t worn off yet.” Carter firmly believed that no matter how much he messed around, I would never actually divorce him. At most, I was just throwing a tantrum. Julian looked concerned. “You should still rein it in. In the past, when Chloe threw a tantrum, it was at home. This time, it was public, in front of everyone. Haven’t you thought about why?” Carter’s gaze slowly darkened. 3 I stood on the terrace, leaning against the railing, looking out over the glittering Manhattan skyline. Suddenly, an arm wrapped around my waist. “I didn’t see you get this mad when I was playing around with other women before. Sienna is just like the rest of them. Don’t take it to heart.” I sneered. If she were really like the rest of them, she wouldn’t have gone out of her way to let me know. I loosened his tie and pulled out the jade pendant he was wearing. “Didn’t you say you hated wearing this kind of stuff?” For his birthday last year, I specifically went to a temple to get a blessed jade pendant for him, meant to ward off evil and bring peace. He said he didn’t like wearing it and told me to put it away safely at home. Carter’s fingers stiffened slightly. “It’s just a trinket little girls like. If you don’t like it, I won’t wear it.” I looked up at the moon. “Carter, I’m not throwing a tantrum. I really want a divorce.” He looked stunned, unable to believe it. “What exactly are you throwing a fit about?! I told you, you will always be Mrs. Pierce. Sienna won’t threaten your position, and I’ve even made time to be with you. You’re still hung up on the divorce thing, aren’t you?” He bit down on a cigarette and lit it, a hint of hostility between his brows. Carter was about to say something else when his phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID, hesitated, and then answered. I don’t know what Sienna said, but the usually composed man showed a rare expression of panic: “I’ll be right there.” “Sienna fell down the stairs, I…” Sienna again. “Go ahead. I’ll drive myself back later.” “I’ll have the driver wait for you.” “No need.” With that, I turned and walked away. 4 On the drive back. At a red light, a car failed to brake and rear-ended me hard. With a loud crash, I instinctively raised my arms to protect my head. It took me a minute to recover. I opened my eyes, looked in the rearview mirror, and saw a man stumble out of the car behind me, reeking of alcohol and pointing at me. “Do you know how to fucking drive?!” I frowned, pulled out my phone, and started recording. “You’re driving under the influence?” “You’re the one under the influence! I’m not drunk.” “…” Seeing how wasted he was, I didn’t bother arguing. I called the traffic police and then dialed 911 for myself. If my guess was right, I probably had a mild concussion. After the police arrived and determined fault, I was taken to the hospital. The doctor examined me and said, “Mild concussion. We need to keep you for observation overnight.” A nurse handed me my phone. “I couldn’t reach your husband at first, and then he just started declining the calls. I called over a dozen times. I have to say, your husband has some nerve, not even worrying that something serious might have happened to you.” The nurse’s words felt like a knife twisting in my heart. I pretended not to care and took the phone. “It’s fine. I can handle it myself.” She wanted to say more but seemed to realize it wasn’t her place, so she just said “get some rest” and left. In the next bed was a young couple, giggling and playing around, completely oblivious to whether other patients were trying to rest. “Miss, didn’t your boyfriend come to stay with you?” The girl looked over, blinking her big eyes at me. I thought for a moment, then just before pulling the covers up, I said, “He’s dead.” The girl instantly felt terrible and stuck her tongue out. “I’m so sorry.” After that, she went back to messing around with her boyfriend. Chattering all night long. The next morning, after the doctor cleared me, I was discharged. The Pierce family estate. As soon as I walked in, I heard laughter coming from the living room. Carter’s parents were fussing over Sienna. Grace Pierce: “Sienna, your belly is truly a blessing. This is the eldest grandson of the Pierce family. You must take good care of yourself. Falling down the stairs like that can never happen again.” Sienna is pregnant? My hands, hanging by my sides, unconsciously clenched my clothes. Sienna was the first to see me. She called out “Chloe,” then quickly lowered her head. Carter looked over, his pitch-black eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions, including apology. Grace, who had long been dissatisfied with me—a daughter-in-law who hadn’t produced an heir in three years of marriage—took the opportunity to humiliate me: “Good timing, you’re back. I have something to tell you. You haven’t given the Pierce family a child in three years, and now Sienna is pregnant. She’s a hero to our family. I’ve decided she’ll stay here to rest during her pregnancy. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?” “Not that it matters if you do. Considering how much your Quinn family has benefited from the Pierce family these past few years, you don’t have the right to object.” Carter interjected: “That’s enough!” Grace was actually quite intimidated by her son. She glared at me and shut her mouth. Sienna timidly tugged at his sleeve: “Mr. Pierce… please don’t argue because of me. I can just go home to rest.” Carter pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced at her. Sienna obediently sat down. “Go back to the bedroom. I’ll give you a proper explanation.” He reached out to take my hand. I took a step back, leaving Carter’s hand hovering in mid-air. I said expressionlessly: “No need. Just sign the divorce papers. I don’t care who lives here.” Hearing that I wanted a divorce, Grace looked incredulous: “What did you say?! You want to divorce my son? Do you even know what you’re saying? If anyone brings up divorce, it should be us. It’s not your place!” I astutely noticed that when I said “divorce,” a glint of calculation flashed in Sienna’s eyes. It seems she wasn’t as innocent as she portrayed herself to be. “Enough, everyone shut up!” Carter forcefully grabbed my wrist and dragged me back to the bedroom. He took off his jacket, sat on the sofa, and was silent for a moment before speaking: “I’m sorry about Sienna getting pregnant. After she has the baby, I’ll make her leave the Pierce estate. Your dad has always wanted that East Side development project. I’ll have my assistant sign the contract tomorrow.” Hearing Carter’s words, I couldn’t suppress my anger: “Are you trying to use a project to compensate me?! Carter, you always know exactly how to humiliate me.” Carter frowned slightly: “That’s not what I meant. I just want to do something.” “Then sign the divorce papers.” I was completely and utterly disappointed in this man. Carter kicked the coffee table: “Chloe, you’ve really got some nerve!” He had been spoiled since childhood, everything had always gone his way. Hearing me repeatedly bring up divorce, his tone became laced with anger. “What’s wrong with you lately? It’s not like this hasn’t happened before, so why are you making such a huge deal out of it just because it’s Sienna!” From last night until now, the rationality I had been forcing myself to maintain completely shattered. “Why?! Why didn’t you answer any of the dozen calls I made to you last night? Do you know I got rear-ended?! I was alone at the hospital getting scans! I had a mild concussion and still had to go to the police station to handle the accident report! Tell me why!” I felt so sick I couldn’t stand straight and swayed on my feet. Carter moved quickly to catch me, but I dodged him. Hearing this, his heart clenched: “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I thought you…” I thought it wasn’t anything important. “I ended up in the hospital from a car crash, and you were keeping Sienna company. I’m tired. I just want a divorce!” Carter’s gaze fell on me, mixed with too many emotions. He pulled a cigarette from his case, lit it, and didn’t speak for a long time. He smoked one cigarette after another… After a long while, his hoarse voice broke the silence in the room: “Have you really decided to get a divorce?” I pulled out a spare copy of the divorce agreement and signed it with a flourish. “The fault in our marriage lies with your infidelity. I want 15% of Pierce Enterprise’s shares and two hundred million in cash.” Carter nodded: “Your post-marital income is more than two hundred million. I’ll have the lawyers prepare your share and transfer it to your name.” I packed my things. As I walked to the door, Carter suddenly asked: “Is that man good to you?” “Very good. He’s like you when we first started dating. His heart and eyes are full of only me.” Carter smiled: “That’s good.” We went downstairs together. As I was leaving, I heard Sienna’s happy laughter from behind: “Mr. Pierce, why aren’t you wearing the jade pendant I gave you? I went out of my way to get it blessed to keep you safe.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422566”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

My broke boyfriend suddenly became the sole heir to the city’s wealthiest billionaire, and my twin sister decided she wanted my life. She conspired with our parents to imprison me, selling me off to a foreign trafficking ring where I was brutally mutilated into a “human sculpture”—a limbless freak put on display in a jar for the sick amusement of the underground elite. Meanwhile, she stole my face, my clothes, and my identity, seamlessly slipping into my place by my boyfriend’s side. For a time, my sister genuinely believed she had successfully replaced me, becoming the luckiest woman in the world. But what she didn’t know was… my boyfriend wasn’t just deeply, obsessively possessive of me. He was more ruthless and psychopathic than anyone could have ever imagined! 1 My soul hovers in the cold air, watching my twin sister, Scarlett, holding my phone. She’s on a FaceTime call with my boyfriend, Caleb Vance. I stare at the screen, at the man I’ve loved for years. Ever since he was revealed to be the long-lost heir of the multi-billion-dollar Vance empire, he’s been flying across the globe—learning the business, building connections. We’ve spent more time apart than together, keeping our love alive through a two-year long-distance relationship. “I just landed and went to your apartment, but you weren’t there,” Caleb says. “Why are you suddenly at your parents’ house?” His face is etched with exhaustion. He’s breathless, likely having rushed from the airport just to find me. He looks just as I remember—sharp features, deep, haunting eyes—but he’s grown more mature, more imposing. To the world, he is an apex predator, a hawk circling its prey. But to me, he was always the most gentle, devoted man. Scarlett hesitates, then lies, saying there was a family emergency and she had to stay at her parents’ for a couple of days. She had to be here. When Caleb went from a penniless orphan to the heir of the world’s wealthiest family, my sister’s envy curdled into pure, venomous jealousy. She conspired with our parents to erase me and step into my life. They kept me prisoner for six months. They tried to beat every detail of my relationship with Caleb out of me—my habits, my secrets, his likes and dislikes. At first, I cooperated just to stay alive. But when I realized they never intended to let me live—that they wanted me dead so Scarlett could wear my face permanently—I stopped talking. They have my passwords, but they don’t have the keypad code to my hidden rental apartment. Scarlett has nowhere else to go but our parents’ house. “Come downstairs,” Caleb says, his voice thick with a joy he can’t hide. “I’m at the front gate. I brought you those artisan donuts from that shop you love.” “I missed you so much,” he whispers. “I couldn’t wait another second.” Scarlett panics. She doesn’t even know what to wear. “Deep breaths,” our mother whispers, comforting her. “Don’t be nervous. You’re twins. You look identical, your voices are the same. You’ve been mimicking her diary for months. It’s been two years since they’ve seen each other in person. He’ll never know.” “Right, right!” Scarlett murmurs, convincing herself. She puts on my clothes and walks out with a mix of dread and anticipation. I follow her like a shadow. The moment she steps outside, there he is. Caleb. He’s thinner, but more magnetic than ever. He’s wearing a long black trench coat, one hand on a suitcase, the other holding a small pastry box. The moment he sees Scarlett, he breaks into that breathtaking smile that could captivate anyone. He sets the box down and opens his arms. “Hug?” It’s his signature move whenever we reunite. Caleb has always struggled with a deep lack of security. Every time we saw each other, I would hold him tight, stroke the back of his hair, and whisper, “I’m here. I’m always here.” Scarlett steps forward and wraps her arms around my boyfriend. “Get off him!” I scream. I absolutely refuse to let her touch him. My instinct is to run forward and rip them apart. But my hands pass straight through their bodies. I can do nothing. 2 I know he can’t hear me, but just as I’m about to break, Caleb suddenly pulls away. The smile on his face vanishes bit by bit. His eyes turn cold, clinical, as he studies her. “Wh-what is it?” Scarlett asks, her voice trembling slightly. The sudden shift in his demeanor makes her anxious. I see her hands clenching tightly at her sides. She clearly doesn’t understand the unspoken rhythm between me and Caleb. “Nothing.” Caleb’s eyes flicker with an unreadable emotion. The excitement of the reunion completely fades. He picks up the pastry box and hands it to her. “I went out of my way to get these from your favorite place.” Those donuts aren’t even that good. I only “loved” them because they were from the shop where he took me on our very first date. He knew that. He told me that as long as we were apart for more than three days, he would always bring them when we met. He called it the “start of our forever.” “Thank you,” Scarlett says, mimicking my sweetness as she obediently takes the box. “Thank you?” Caleb’s brow furrows even deeper. She doesn’t know. I was never this perfectly obedient in front of Caleb. And I never, ever said “thank you” to him for things like this. Scarlett’s grip on the box tightens. Caleb lets out a short, dry laugh. He reaches out and pats her shoulder. “It’s been two years. I just got off a flight, and you aren’t even going to invite me inside?” He has never asked to come inside this house. Because he knows exactly what this family means to me. Scarlett and I are twins, born twenty minutes apart. But the exact moment I was born, our grandmother passed away. My mother always believed my birth brought death into the house. To them, I was a mistake that shouldn’t exist. Since childhood, nobody loved me, and nobody cared about my feelings. If murder weren’t a crime, I probably would have died at their hands years ago. My ghost feels a surge of joy. Did Caleb notice something? “I-I’m just so happy I forgot my manners,” Scarlett says with a forced smile. She leads him inside, trying to hook her arm through his, but he subtly shifts, dodging her touch without making it obvious. 3 “Caleb! You’re here. Come in, sit down,” my mother greets him with a massive, plastic smile. “Scarlett, go make some tea.” Scarlett freezes for a second before realizing my mother used her real name instead of mine. She takes a few seconds to snap out of it, stammering a “yes” and rushing to the kitchen to prepare the good tea. “Where is Scarlett?” Caleb asks the moment he walks in, his eyes scanning the room. Nothing escapes his gaze. When we were together, he never mentioned my sister once. “Oh, Scarlett?” my mother chirps, her smile overly bright. “She’s studying abroad. Left a few days ago.” “Is that so? What a pity.” Caleb says it to her, but it sounds like he’s talking to himself. He looks thoughtfully at the tea Scarlett brings out. After exchanging a few meaningless pleasantries, he stands up to leave. “Caleb, aren’t you staying?” Scarlett asks, stepping in front of him, looking like a kicked puppy. “We finally have time together.” “I’m back for good now. We have all the time in the world.” He says it, grabs his suitcase, and walks out the door without looking back. “Mom, do you think he knows? He was so eager to see me, but then he just left,” Scarlett asks frantically the moment the door shuts, her heart pounding. “He’s probably just exhausted. Don’t overthink it.” My mother whispers, comforting her. “Look, he was looking for you the moment he walked in. That means he has a good impression of you. Even if he finds out you’re actually Scarlett one day, as long as he’s used to you, you’ll be the one by his side. We already sold Serena. How could she possibly come back and fight you for him?” They are my mother and my sister. Yet they locked me in a basement for half a year. They beat me, starved me, and dehydrated me. When I was no longer useful, they sold me to a human trafficker. The trafficker then smuggled me overseas. They were right about one thing. I could never come back and fight Scarlett for him. Because I refused to cooperate with their sick charade, they chopped off all four of my limbs. They cut off my nose, blinded my eyes, and poured mercury into my ears. I was stuffed into a ceramic jar, turned into a “human sculpture” for the sick amusement of paying customers. Even though my physical body wasn’t technically dead yet, the light had already left me. I think my obsession was just so impossibly deep that my soul separated from my body and drifted back home. Maybe once my physical body draws its last breath, my soul will finally vanish. 4 During the day, I fear the sun and hide in the shadows of the house. When the sun sets, I drift out to find Caleb. He is the only thing left of my heart. I have no time left; I just want to spend every passing second by his side. When I find him, he’s sitting in front of his office computer, gently rubbing his temples. “Mr. Vance,” his assistant says, knocking and walking in. “Did you find what I asked for?” Caleb doesn’t open his eyes. He’s exhausted, his voice soft, as if asking a casual question. “Yes. We checked everywhere. There is absolutely no record of Scarlett Miller leaving the country.” “So she just… vanished into thin air?” Caleb’s voice isn’t loud, but it’s so cold it makes the assistant shiver. “Since Serena visited her parents eight months ago, there has been zero trace of Scarlett.” “Eight months ago… Serena goes home…” Caleb finally opens his eyes. They are entirely bloodshot. I reach out, gently tracing the line of his cheek, my heart breaking for him. He seems to sense something. His head snaps violently in my direction. I’m so startled I yank my hand back. But it’s just my imagination. His gaze is unfocused; he’s looking at empty space. “Sir, do you think something happened to Scarlett?” “I’m not worried about her.” Caleb waves his hand, dismissing the assistant. In the massive, empty office, I hear his heavy sigh. “Serena… why do I feel like you’ve changed?” He suddenly remembers something, grabs his keys, and drives straight to the apartment I used to rent. I lived in that apartment for over three years. The keypad code is the year of his birth and the day he first confessed his love to me. This room has been empty for exactly eight months. The moment Caleb steps inside, his brows knit tightly together. The apartment is tidy, but you can tell the owner left in a hurry. Caleb slowly runs his finger across the dining table. It comes away coated in a thick layer of dust. Everything inside the refrigerator is rotten and spoiled, emitting a foul odor. Caleb covers the lower half of his face with his hand. A sudden, dark, guttural laugh tears from his throat. “‘There was a family emergency and I had to stay at my parents’ for a couple of days’?” He is teetering on the absolute edge of losing control. I want to reach out and hold him, to tell him I’m right here beside him. But right then, Caleb’s phone rings. It’s Scarlett. Like the start of many typical couple conversations, she asks what he’s doing. “Take a guess?” Caleb’s smile widens. He knows she doesn’t have the answer. “I’m waiting for you at our place.” 5 “Caleb…” Scarlett’s voice is low, trembling slightly. “You left in such a hurry, I forgot to tell you. I don’t live there anymore. I’ll drop you a pin with my new location.” Caleb doesn’t argue. He looks at the location she shares. “Pretty far out, isn’t it? Are you sure you can make the commute every day?” “But I like the peace and quiet. It’s… nice here,” Scarlett says, desperately trying to mimic my tone. I like the peace and quiet. That was a line Scarlett read in my diary. My current rental was quiet and remote, so she naturally assumed that was the reason I chose to live there. The truth was, I rented it because it was cheap. Back then, neither of us had any money. He was trying to save capital to start a business, and I wanted to save as much as I could for him. During that time, we were practically counting pennies. Combined with the insane rent prices near my office, a place like this was my only option. Later, when Caleb was recognized as the billionaire heir, he repeatedly urged me to find a place closer to the city center. But I didn’t want to spend his money. He had just entered that cutthroat family. He wasn’t used to it, and he had a dozen sets of eyes watching his every move. He was walking on thin ice. How could I make selfish demands at a time like that? I like the peace and quiet was just the excuse I used to reject his offer. Caleb didn’t push it. Because from that point on, we rarely got to see each other. I missed him terribly, but I never dared to interrupt his work. He was like a hawk; the vast, open sky was his ultimate destiny. I was willing to be the woman standing quietly behind him, supporting him forever! If only… My mood plummets. They say a few more things, but I don’t listen. When I look up again, Caleb has already hung up the phone. He takes off his jacket, rolls up his sleeves, and starts cleaning the apartment. He cleans it meticulously. He even swaps out the sofa cushions for fresh ones. I watch him sitting exhaustedly on the sofa in the spotless room, my heart aching with a bitter sorrow. I don’t know what he’s clinging to, but I know he’s already started suspecting Scarlett. Scarlett severely underestimated our bond! She underestimated my place in Caleb’s heart. “Where are you? What exactly happened?” Caleb mutters to himself, letting out a heavy sigh into the empty air. “I’m right here. I’m right beside you.” I stand behind the sofa, reaching out to wrap my arms around his neck. Even though I can’t hold him, I just want to nuzzle my face into his hair. He grew up unable to trust anyone. He had zero sense of security. But the day we got together, he held my hand and looked at me dead in the eye. He said that from now on, I was his only safe harbor. I was the only person in the world he was willing to surrender his body and soul to. 6 Caleb treats this apartment as his actual home now. He doesn’t call Scarlett. He just has his assistant quietly dig up everything they can find about me and Scarlett. Scarlett is the one who loses her patience first. She went to all this trouble just to marry Caleb. Now that he’s finally back, he’s completely ignoring her. Caleb doesn’t reject her enthusiasm. He even actively invites her to go grocery shopping with him. Scarlett has memorized my diary backward and forward. She knows my preferences, and she knows some of his. I can see that when it comes to picking out food, she is extremely cautious. “Did you forget? I’m allergic to mangoes,” Caleb says, leaning over her from behind, pressing his hand over hers as she reaches for a mango. He whispers it right next to her ear. That seductive, magnetic voice makes even my ghostly, incorporeal heart race. Scarlett freezes. Mechanically, she puts the mango back on the shelf. Her cheeks flush red, and she lowers her head shyly. “How could I? I was just looking.” Heh. I was with Caleb for years. I didn’t even know he was allergic to mangoes. Every time we got mango shaved ice, he ate just as much of it as I did. Caleb narrows his eyes. He stands up straight, his voice instantly turning cold. “Let’s go. We’re going home.” Scarlett is clearly confused by his sudden shift in attitude. She freezes for a few seconds before quickly hurrying after him. “Caleb, where… where are we going?” she asks nervously, sitting in the passenger seat. “Home,” Caleb chuckles darkly. “What, did you forget the way to your own house?” “But… this isn’t the way home.” It’s not the way to her new rental. It’s the way to my old apartment. I know this road better than anyone. It isn’t a main road, but it never has traffic. Every time we came back from this specific supermarket, we always took this exact route by unspoken agreement. Caleb doesn’t answer. He expertly parks the car in my old spot, grabs the groceries, and heads toward the stairs. Scarlett finally recognizes the building. She researched everything about me, so naturally, she scouted this place. But I bet she only came here a handful of times. She clearly hasn’t memorized this maze of side streets and shortcuts. Caleb walks fast, completely ignoring the fact that Scarlett is wearing high heels, practically running behind him as she clicks frantically against the pavement. “Caleb, slow… slow down.” Scarlett is panting by the time she catches up to him outside the door of my rental. “My hands are full. You open it.” Caleb smiles earnestly, stepping aside to give her room. He genuinely looks like his hands are tied up. “Caleb.” Scarlett awkwardly tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Did you forget? I don’t live here anymore.” Caleb looks like he just remembered, shrugging with a perfectly natural expression. “I forgot.” Scarlett doesn’t know him, but I do. The more he makes that face, the closer he is to a complete psychotic break. “The lease isn’t even up, and you already forgot the passcode?” Caleb’s smile widens, growing more terrifying by the second. “Did you get rich when you went back to your parents’ house?” Scarlett panics. Before she can explain, Caleb drops the groceries and gently, almost lovingly, takes her right hand. “It doesn’t matter if you forgot the code. Your fingerprint still works, right?” As he speaks, he slowly forces her hand toward the smart lock. Scarlett violently yanks her hand back, clutching it to her chest. “My… my right hand is injured. It hasn’t healed yet. The scanner probably won’t recognize my print.” Looking at Scarlett still trying to act her way out of this, I know she’s finished. Because that lock doesn’t even have a fingerprint scanner. Sure enough, upon hearing her excuse, that dark, guttural laugh rumbles from Caleb’s throat again. He rests a hand gently on Scarlett’s shoulder, his face a mask of pure tenderness. Then, his hand violently drops, grabbing her right arm and yanking her forcefully toward him. Scarlett watches in sheer terror as her fingers are fully exposed to Caleb. She tries to pull away, but his grip is ironclad. “Didn’t you say it was injured?” His voice is impossibly soft. But with his other hand, he pulls a pocketknife from his slacks and, without a second of hesitation, slices deeply across several of her fingers. “Now it looks like it’s injured.” Scarlett lets out a bloodcurdling scream, her face contorting in agony. Terrified out of her mind, the moment Caleb slightly loosens his grip, she doesn’t even care about her bleeding fingers. She turns to run. But Caleb grabs her by the hair, punching the passcode into the door, and practically drags her into the apartment. When it comes to anyone other than me, he has absolutely no concept of the word “gentleman.” “Wh-what are you doing?!” Scarlett slumps pathetically on the floor, staring in horror as Caleb lazily plays with the bloody pocketknife. “We only bought vegetables today. We didn’t buy any meat. Why don’t you… contribute some?” Caleb’s voice is so gentle it could melt snow, but he waves the blade menacingly in front of Scarlett’s face. 7 I always knew Caleb was a little unhinged. I met him when we were in middle school. He was just an orphan from the group home. Even though his grades were always top of the class, he was incredibly isolated. He always had this cold, unapproachable aura. One day after school, I watched a guy two grades above him corner him in an alley. The guy poked Caleb in the chest, calling him a motherless bastard, a stray mutt who didn’t deserve to live, and threatened to kill him one day. One second, Caleb was smiling at the guy. The next second, he kicked the guy so hard in the shin that his leg snapped. The guy collapsed. Before he could even scream for help, Caleb clamped a hand over his mouth. Aside from the initial yelp of pain, the bully couldn’t make another sound. “Shh,” Caleb whispered, the laughter in his throat growing darker. “Since your parents love you so much, let them spend some quality time with you in the hospital.” Wearing the gentlest smile while committing the most brutal acts. That was Caleb Vance. That was the first time I saw him fight. The second time was the year I graduated high school. Because of my parents’ extreme favoritism, I was desperate to escape that house. I scored incredibly high on my exams and was accepted into my dream university. But my parents not only demanded I marry some local thug immediately, but they also wanted my sister to steal my identity and go to university in my place. I fought them tooth and nail. My parents threatened me, saying even if I went to college, they wouldn’t give me a single cent, and threatened to disown me. But I had stopped caring about them a long time ago. Whether I took out loans or worked three jobs, I was going to finish my degree. I thought my persistence would earn me a future. I didn’t expect that the day after my massive blowout with my parents, I would be cornered in an alley by three thugs. They held a knife to my throat and ordered me to strip. When I refused, they slammed me against the wall, covered my mouth, and started tearing at my clothes. I shook my head frantically, making muffled noises of terror, but my limbs were pinned. I couldn’t move. Fear… despair… my mind went completely blank. I felt a sudden chill against my skin, and tears instantly flooded my eyes. I never asked for wealth or luxury. I just wanted to live a normal life. Why did it have to be this hard? Hands were groping all over me. I stared with wide, horrified eyes as one of the men eagerly started unbuckling his belt. I used every ounce of strength I had left to try and break free. But another man grabbed my hair and slammed my head violently against the brick wall. “You’re not happy marrying our boss? You shouldn’t have f*cking provoked us then! Let’s see if anyone wants you after we’re done making you our little bitch!” I didn’t even know what they were talking about. All I knew was that someone was smashing my head against the wall, over and over again. Dizzy, blinded by pain! The moment they let go, I collapsed to the ground. I thought I was going to die in that alley. But the pain didn’t continue. Instead, I heard the sounds of a brutal fight and agonizing screams! Blood was pouring down my forehead, gluing my eyes shut. I struggled to open them, and saw Caleb fighting the three thugs like a man possessed, wielding a heavy metal pipe. He had trained in martial arts. He swung the pipe down on one of the thugs, breaking the man’s arm with a sickening crack. He tossed the pipe aside, ignored their begging, and started beating them to a bloody pulp with his bare hands. “Caleb…” Looking at his bloodshot eyes, I was genuinely terrified he was going to kill them. I tried to stop him, but my voice was pitifully weak. But he heard it instantly. He sprinted over to me. I watched him take off his jacket and drape it over me. Before I could even clearly see his face, I lost consciousness. Caleb called the police. Even though the thugs ended up in the ICU, the police didn’t press charges against Caleb. From their confessions, we learned they had mistaken me for my sister. They were actually hired to force her into marrying their boss. My parents couldn’t bear to let my sister suffer, so they tried to use me as the sacrificial lamb! After that incident, I was mentally unstable for a long time. I was terrified of being touched. I was terrified of knives. My parents and my sister just called me dramatic. They said since nothing actually happened—and even if I had been raped, so what! I wasn’t missing an arm or a leg. They told me to stop making such a big deal out of it. “Is that really how you think?” I will never forget the look of utter heartbreak and rage on Caleb’s face that day. He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of that house. From that day on, I never voluntarily spent another night in that house. In this world, the only person who could bring warmth to him was me. And the only person who could bring warmth to me was him!

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “422567”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel