Category: English

When I saw my husband and his intern making out in the company lounge, reflected in the mirror… I didn’t scream, or snap photos, or quietly plot revenge. Instead, I went to Legal, drafted a divorce agreement, and waited in my office for them to finish. When they emerged, Silas had the girl, Olivia, completely hidden behind him, shielded. “I lost control, it’s my fault. Name your price, just don’t bother her.” The way he protected her, like she was his precious heart… It was as firm and unwavering as he’d been ten years ago, standing before my parents, defending me. “If you won’t cure her, I will! It’s just cancer, isn’t it? I’ll sell everything I own to get her well! If you don’t want her, I do! From now on, I am her only family!” I smiled through the ache in my chest. My expression was gentle as I pushed the divorce agreement toward him. “Consider this divorce agreement repayment for saving my life back then. We’re even.” 1. The girl’s trembling moans signaled the end of their tryst. Silas slowly led Olivia out. Seeing me, a flicker of panic crossed his eyes. But it quickly smoothed into calm. He settled the shaky Olivia onto the sofa, his expression distant. “I had planned to tell you at a more suitable time, but since you’ve found out already, I’ll be direct. I’ve lost the passion of love for you; only the habit of companionship remains. If you can accept her, we’ll continue as before.” His words were a knife slicing through my heart. I never imagined he’d cheat with his secretary. Even less did I expect him to be so candid, as if infidelity was just a small white lie. My hands clenched, my voice trembling. “How long?” He idly spun his wedding ring on his finger. “A year and a half.” That was right after my last chemotherapy session. I opened my mouth, wanting to say something. Olivia suddenly clutched her stomach. “Mr. Croft, I… my stomach hurts.” Silas didn’t wait to hear what I had to say. He immediately called for the family doctor. Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Chen arrived. After taking her pulse, his expression was hesitant, glancing at me briefly. “Ms. Peterson is pregnant. It seems the frequent intimacy might have irritated things. It’s best to go to the hospital for a check-up.” Olivia, her eyes red, chided him. “It’s all your fault! You didn’t use protection last time! And you were so rough just now, so many times. I told you to stop, but you wouldn’t!” Silas ignored me completely, lowering his head to apologize. “My fault, it won’t happen again.” The doting tone made my heart clench. It had been so long since he’d spoken to me so gently. I had to clench my palms tightly to hold back my tears. Olivia then seemed to notice me, pulling away from his embrace and speaking with a wronged air. “Mr. Croft, please don’t act like this in front of your wife. She’ll be sad. Maybe we should forget about this baby; after all, it’s not exactly proper.” Silas frowned, gripping her hand. “Forget about it? What do you mean? If I want you, I will naturally take responsibility! You focus on your pregnancy and have this child. Don’t worry about anything else.” “We’re going to the hospital for a check-up right now!” Silas hastily scooped her up and rushed out. As he strode away, the gust of wind from his clothes knocked me backward. He paused, but didn’t look back. “You go home first. Don’t come to the office for now; she’s easily frightened.” The long-suppressed pain, triggered by the collision, spread through my entire body. Tears flowed ceaselessly, yet he was utterly oblivious. I knew I was no longer the person whose single tear would send him into a panic. I looked around the office, now filled with the traces of a young woman. Contraceptives in the drawer, Olivia’s matching underwear sets. The pen holder now held several lipsticks in delicate shades. Cute labels on the file rack read “Thinking of me today, too.” So, the perfunctory treatment at home, the phone he never let me see, his frequent late-night outings under the guise of “work”… all because he had found someone more important. And the debt of saving my life meant I couldn’t even righteously ask why I was being betrayed. I gave a self-deprecating laugh. I called my lawyer. “Draw up a divorce agreement for me. I’ll take nothing.” Silas didn’t return until after midnight, finding me alone on the sofa. Seeing my face, his smile faded. He habitually reached for my sleeping pills. “Can’t sleep again? Didn’t I tell you not to stay up late?” I didn’t reply, instead handing him the signed divorce agreement. My voice was hoarse. “She’s pregnant. I’ve thought about it a lot. Since you love her, I’ll step aside. Consider it repayment for saving my life.” Silas paused, a flicker of imperceptible anger in his eyes. He tore the agreement to shreds. “Her pregnancy is not unexpected. Your health hasn’t allowed for children these past years. Her child will be your child. I won’t divorce you. After all these years, you only have me. I’ll give you dignity and respect, but as for love, I’ll give it all to her as compensation.” “I’ve already spoken to her. She doesn’t seek status; she just wants to be with me. You don’t have to worry about her affecting your position. Just focus on raising the child. Don’t dwell on meaningless things.” A sharp, delayed pain shot through my heart. I still couldn’t reconcile the distant man before me with the boy who once stayed by my bedside, swearing he’d never let go of my hand. After graduating college, I was diagnosed with early-stage cancer. My parents, who had originally wanted to marry me off for money, abandoned me upon hearing of my illness. Silas gave up his postgraduate studies and entered the business world. He clawed his way from an ordinary person to the owner of a publicly traded company. He provided me with the best medical care, allowing us to love each other for a few more years. During that time, his mother tried several times to get me to leave. He refused, threatening to die, saying I would be his only wife, that he would only love me. I once believed this was the perfect ending to a fairy tale, where the hero and heroine overcame countless hardships to finally be together. But reality delivered a brutal blow just when I thought I could be happy forever. Silas saw my ashen face and softened his tone. “You’re wonderful. I just don’t feel it anymore.” “It’s late. Get some rest. I’ve arranged for Dr. Chen to look after her. Your health is pretty stable now; just go to the hospital if you have any issues.” Dr. Chen had cared for me for five years, a top doctor Silas had hired at great expense. I had told him before that my health was stable and I didn’t need a live-in doctor anymore. He had insisted that my health was never something to be taken lightly. I didn’t say anything, just moved my belongings to the guest room. Silas instinctively reached out to grab my hand, then paused. “Good, she’s pregnant and emotional. Sleeping separately will give her a sense of security. Tomorrow, find some time to move all your things to the guest room.” During my chemotherapy. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t sleep all night, which meant he didn’t rest well either. I once snuck into another room in the middle of the night, but he got incredibly angry and carried me back. He said he couldn’t rest easy if he wasn’t by my side. He couldn’t sleep soundly without my scent near him. For over two thousand nights since then, we had slept in each other’s arms. Arguments and cold wars never separated us. Now, he was saving himself for someone else. I bit my lower lip hard, taking each step as if walking on nails, leaving the marriage bed that held so much of our profound emotions. That night, tears soaked my pillow. I had lost the last person in the world who loved me. Early the next morning, with a pounding head, I took the divorce agreement to Silas’s mother’s house. She never liked me, thinking I was a burden on her son. Hearing about Olivia’s pregnancy, she was even more eager for me to leave. She gleefully prepared a new divorce agreement. Knowing my place, I was offered ten percent of his assets. She implicitly warned me not to bother Silas after taking the money. I didn’t refuse. After all, half a month ago, I had been diagnosed with a recurring tumor. It wasn’t yet clear if it was benign or malignant. She didn’t bother with pleasantries, uncharacteristically speaking softly. “I will do everything I can to make him sign it. You just prepare for your future.” After being politely escorted out of the Croft mansion by the butler, I numbly walked home. But before I could even enter, Silas’s men grabbed me and took me to the hospital. At the operating room door, his eyes were bloodshot. He furiously slapped me across the face. “Who told you to tell my mother about Olivia’s pregnancy? Do you know how much she hates illegitimate children? If I had been a moment later, she would have dragged Olivia in for an abortion!” “Yesterday you acted all calm and detached, turns out you were playing hard to get! If anything happens to her, what will you use to compensate?” After the stinging pain on my cheek, came a numb haze. Ever since he took my father’s slap for me that year, he had said he would never let anyone hurt me again. But in the end, he had ruthlessly slapped me himself. I held back tears, about to speak, when the operating room door opened. His anxiousness was more intense than when I had miscarried a year ago. The doctor’s expression was grim. “The pregnant woman shows signs of bleeding and is currently in critical condition. Family members should prepare blood as soon as possible.” He glared at me, his fury overflowing. “Are you satisfied? If anything happens to her and the baby, you won’t get off easy either!” He dragged me to the blood donation room. “She’s the same blood type as the patient. Draw from her for backup.” I looked at him in disbelief. A year ago, we had a child too. But because of my poor health and severe anemia, I bled and miscarried shortly after the diagnosis. Dr. Chen frowned. “Mr. Croft, your wife is not in good health herself. The last time she had a major hemorrhage… perhaps I should donate instead.” Silas’s eyes flickered with hesitation, but under the doctor’s urgent prompting, he coldly ordered, “Draw from her. The blood type matches.” The needle churned in my vein. I trembled uncontrollably from the pain. But his gaze remained fixed on the operating room door, not sparing me a single glance. Not until the light indicating the surgery was over went out, and I heard muffled conversations beside me. My consciousness was too hazy to understand. After a long while, just as I thought I could finally leave, my arms were held down. Another needle was plunged into my other arm. Silas’s urgent voice echoed in my ears. Not out of concern for my fading consciousness. But, “Don’t change donors! Olivia is frail; it’s best for one person to donate blood to avoid any abnormalities. No matter how much, I just need to ensure the safety of her and the baby!” In my blurred state, I even wished I would just die right then. Returning this life to him would make us even. But somehow, I was still alive. When I woke again, it was late afternoon. Just as I was about to sit up, I heard rustling beside me. “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t been so insecure back then, if I hadn’t insisted you aborted her baby, she wouldn’t have had that severe hemorrhage and her health wouldn’t have deteriorated so much.” “You already lied to her for me, and now you’ve hurt her again for my sake. I feel terrible about it.” Silas took a deep breath. “Aborting her baby has nothing to do with you. I didn’t want it myself. Her health isn’t good, and that child would have been a burden. Besides, I can’t give you legitimacy now; my child can only be born from you.” “If you’re truly remorseful, then from now on, protect our child well.” Listening to their sticky voices. It felt like a piece of flesh had been ripped from my heart. The pain was so intense I could barely breathe. Yet, he had said then that we would be just as happy even without children. He had said then that I was all he needed in this life. I never imagined that the child who caused me countless sleepless nights of anguish was actually aborted by the man I loved most, just to appease his mistress. I clutched the bedsheet tightly, tears still falling. After the dull thud of a teardrop hitting the floor, the privacy curtain was pulled open. Meeting my desperate, grief-stricken eyes, a flicker of guilt crossed Silas’s face. He reached out to wipe my tears. But I flinched away. He sighed almost imperceptibly. “Since you heard, there’s nothing more to explain. Your health isn’t good anyway, and losing the child was for your own good. Get some rest. I’m taking her to a new room.” The hospital room door closed. I could no longer hold back my sobs. I frantically smashed everything in the room. The IV needle tore across my vein, piercing my skin. But I felt no pain. If I could, I truly wished I had died on the operating table during my cancer surgery that year. Instead of being here, helpless, stabbed again and again by the person I loved most. Perhaps out of guilt, during my week in the hospital, nutrient drips, various tonics, customized meals, and luxury jewelry flowed into my room. Silas himself never appeared. The doctors said he had been constantly by Olivia’s side for days. He hadn’t slept for nights, nor had he gone to the company. On the day of my discharge, he came to pick me up. He reached out to help me up, but I flinched away. He frowned but didn’t insist. “I know you’re hurting inside. Tonight, I’ll take you to an auction. Bid on whatever you like.” “Try to move on. Don’t save my money; after all, it’s the only thing I can give you now.” In the evening, he had the driver take me to the auction house. When I got out of the car, he was already stepping out of another, arm around Olivia. Their gestures were intimate, exactly mirroring how we were when we were first in love. I numbly followed them to our seats. As if to vent, I bid on every item. I even drove up the price of items worth only a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands, or millions. But Silas’s attention was entirely on Olivia and the items she liked. He didn’t spare me a single glance. At this moment, my insides were consumed by disgust and resentment. I couldn’t calm down. I threw down my paddle and ran to the restroom. I splashed icy cold water on my face, looking at my gaunt, sallow reflection in the mirror. Olivia appeared behind me, I don’t know when. Her skin was pristine, like jade, her face plump with collagen. A world of difference from me. I said nothing. As I turned to leave, she grabbed me. She stroked her still-flat stomach. “I said those things on purpose that day, for you to hear.” “You’ve seen it, his heart and eyes are completely for me now. If it weren’t for years of sentiment and responsibility, he would have abandoned you long ago.” “If you’re smart, you’d better leave while he still has a shred of affection for you. Don’t hinder our happiness.” I paused. The words “as you wish” were on my tongue, but seeing her challenging gaze, I swallowed them. I scoffed. “I know you’re desperate to get rid of me and take my place, but it’s no use. As long as I’m here, you’ll always be the mistress, and the child in your belly will always be illegitimate.” “He’ll still have to call me Mommy, and he’ll have to take care of me in my old age. I’ll teach him from a young age that mistresses are the most despicable beings on earth. Do you think a life like that will be happy?” Olivia’s anger was palpable. Her eyes burned red as she glared at me. “You won’t believe it until you see it! Fine, keep being stubborn. Since you don’t want to leave, I’ll give you a push!” I ignored her empty threats. When I stepped out, I saw Silas’s worried expression turn to caution the moment he saw me. He only relaxed when he saw Olivia emerge, completely unharmed. The auction ended, and Silas received an urgent work call. He instructed the driver to ensure Olivia and I got home safely. He, in turn, got into another car to work overtime at the company. We rode in silence. But I noticed the road wasn’t leading home, or to Olivia’s place.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “391999”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

1 I’ve been exceptionally capable since I was a kid, but I love playing weak. I love watching people call me a useless loser, only to slap them hard in the face with reality later. Growing up, I was always the teacher’s pet, the “perfect child” in the eyes of all the neighbors. Being invincible was honestly quite lonely. That is, until I got to college and met our academic counselor, a total “pick-me” who worshipped men. During freshman orientation, she pointed at the guys lounging in the shade, praising their “perseverance,” while claiming us girls only knew how to act coy and dodge training. Without a word, I stood at attention under the blazing sun for ten hours straight. Even the drill instructor couldn’t help but call me an eagle among women. During her lectures, she would only ask the guys basic, surface-level questions. But when it came to the girls, she practically threw Olympic-level math at us. When we couldn’t answer, she’d call us useless and say we had zero potential. That comment flipped a switch in me. I stayed up day and night watching advanced competition videos. By the second class, I left her completely speechless. A visiting expert sitting in on the lecture even wanted to offer me a direct spot in a graduate program and take me to his lab right then and there. When it came time for scholarship applications, I filled out the forms exactly to spec, but she rejected them over and over again. She saved all the quotas for the guys and rolled her eyes at me. “You’re so competitive, you’ll never find a husband! You need to take a good look at yourself!” I laughed out of pure anger. “Professor, were you a horse in your past life? Why are you so obsessed with being ridden?” …… “Go write a ten-thousand-word apology essay, and read it in front of the whole class at our meeting next Sunday!” Our counselor, Susan, turned beet red, slamming her pen violently onto my chest. “Professor, I don’t think I did anything wrong, did I?” Was it the list of awards on my application that stung her eyes? But considering how blatantly she favored the guys, what’s wrong with me showing off a little? “Emma, how did your parents raise you? You’re always grandstanding. You don’t act like a college student at all!” Susan tore up my application—which I had already revised fifteen times—right in front of my face. “If you really want this scholarship, get on your knees and apologize to me! I’ll teach you the manners your parents clearly failed to!” My expression instantly turned ice cold. It was one thing to insult me, but she had to drag my parents into it. I was about to fire back, but Susan beat me to it. She probably assumed I was applying for the scholarship because I was poor. She looked at me with pure disdain and provocation. “I see you listed your parents’ occupations as ‘Confidential.’ Are their jobs too shameful to mention?” “Makes sense. Maybe your mom raised you by selling her body to please men. That would explain why you dress up like a peacock every day!” “If you want to lessen your mother’s ‘burden,’ beg me properly, and I might just give you the lowest-tier scholarship.” Me? Short on money? What a joke. I only applied because the requirement was being in the top ten percent of the major. Your name gets posted on the honor roll at the campus entrance. It was just for bragging rights. It’s not like I needed it! “Professor Susan, I won’t be writing an apology, I won’t be at the class meeting next week, and I certainly won’t be kneeling for you.” “I’m not approving your weekend leave! I’ll mark you absent, and you won’t be able to graduate!” Seeing that I dared to challenge her directly, Susan began abusing her authority. She looked at me with smug triumph. But I just let out a cold laugh. “Then please take it up with the Dean. I’m hosting the Arts Gala next Sunday. He specifically requested me.” The moment those words left my mouth, she exploded. “You? Host the Gala?!” She swung her hand to slap me hard across the face. Luckily, I’ve taken mixed martial arts since I was a kid, so I dodged it easily. Otherwise, my face would have swelled up instantly. Seeing that she missed, Susan gritted her teeth in fury. She grabbed a fistful of my hair and snatched a pair of scissors from her desk. “Who are you trying to seduce, always leaving your hair down? Do you think college is a joke? Are you going to cut it yourself, or should I?!” With a quick block, I made her cry out in pain and let go. I smoothed out my pulled hair, my heart aching for the damage. “What are you doing?! Do you have any idea what this costs? I’ve been maintaining my hair with caviar treatments since I was little!” “I’ve spent at least three hundred thousand dollars on it! Can you afford to pay for that with your measly salary?” Crash. Susan smashed her water cup onto the floor. Shards of glass scraped my ankle, and a malicious smirk curled on her lips. “You have the nerve to tell such lies while applying for a scholarship! I’m reporting you to the university to strip you of your honors student status!” Saying that, she dialed my parents’ number several times in a row. “I’m going to have you expelled!” I waved her off, entirely unbothered. “My parents won’t answer your calls. You’re way below their pay grade!” She got even angrier. “I don’t know what kind of parents would raise such a shameless daughter!” I smiled faintly. “I’m afraid if I tell you who they are, you’ll be the one kneeling.” 2 Susan was practically radiating heat, completely enraged. “With an attitude like yours, don’t even dream of finishing college! I’m going to the Dean tomorrow to have him contact your parents!” “What exactly is wrong with my attitude?” She was the one constantly picking on me, and now she was trying to force me out of school. I’ve been like this since I was a kid. Was I supposed to suppress my true nature just because I was in college? When I was three, my parents took me overseas to visit my uncle. He kept a prairie lion as a pet. The other kids were so terrified they didn’t even dare to breathe. I was scared too. But I bit the bullet, stood in front of everyone, and yelled at the lion that could swallow me whole: “Stop roaring!” Even with my legs trembling, I climbed onto the lion’s back, soaking in the awe-filled gazes of the other children. Since that day, I realized I could do anything to save face. On my tenth birthday, my parents wanted to gift me a subsidiary company. My chauvinistic older brother scoffed. “What does a girl need a company for? Her destiny is to be a pretty vase and get married off for a corporate alliance!” I didn’t waste a single word arguing. The very next day, I went to the company and charmed all the employees. Everyone praised me endlessly to my parents. They called me meticulous, capable, and a management prodigy. When my brother came back from a business trip, the receptionist politely told him: “Our little boss is still at school today. Would you like me to schedule an appointment for you?” To prove I was worthy of their trust, I started taking college-level business administration courses while I was still in elementary school. My brother just thought I was putting on a show, badmouthing me to our parents every day. But my parents saw my hard work, and even planned to hand over the reins of the family business to me. As an eighteenth birthday present. But my grandfather, who heavily favored boys, wasn’t happy about it. My brother provoked me like a victorious rooster. In just one summer vacation… I took the messy, failing company he left behind and took it public. My grandfather, with tears in his eyes, patted my brother’s hand. “My foolish grandson… maybe wait for your next life to take over the family.” From then on, he washed his hands of the matter, and my brother never saw him again. So when it came to flexing, my parents supported me 100%. “There’s nothing wrong with a girl showing off! Mom just wants to see you shine!” “Why keep a low profile? As the wealthiest family in the city, we didn’t work this hard for nothing!” I didn’t reveal my parents’ identities because I found it much more satisfying to earn people’s attention through my own abilities. I never expected that in Susan’s mouth, it would turn into: “Your parents probably have shameful jobs anyway, probably picking up trash! Maybe they’ll come crying and begging me to let you go!” I was just about to snap back when the door opened from the outside. Our class president, Kevin, walked in. Even though I had won the popular vote by a landslide, Susan had forcefully appointed him instead. And yet, he pushed all the actual work onto me, the vice-president. He spent his days entirely focused on sucking up to Susan. Seeing me there, Kevin immediately curled his lip in annoyance. “Looks like someone’s got a great relationship with the Dean, becoming the Gala host without even auditioning.” “Susan, you don’t know how long I prepared for this, only to get screwed over in silence!” Susan instantly understood what he meant. She looked at him with a heart full of pity. “Don’t worry, I’ll go fight for it for you tomorrow.” “After all, someone is about to be expelled from our school!” 3 I didn’t want to deal with them, so I grabbed the door handle to leave the office. Kevin stepped right in front of me, grabbing my hand, his finger disgustingly tracing my palm. He mouthed to me: “If you agree to be my girlfriend, I won’t let Susan report you!” Susan was still yapping away in the background. “My boyfriend is a major donor to this school! Emma, you’re finished!” What a joke. My family is the biggest donor to this university. Snap. I twisted Kevin’s hand backward into an unnatural angle. Amidst their curses, I left the office. Back in my dorm, before I could even rest, the class group chat started blowing up. It was about some group project. Kevin sent a voice memo: “If you don’t turn it in today, you automatically fail the class!” What assignment? Confused, I asked my roommate next to me. Chloe covered her mouth, her eyes wide. “You didn’t know? The counselor assigned it. We’re supposed to pair up, one guy, one girl, and shoot a campus video.” “She assigned the groups herself. I think she DM’d everyone individually.” I couldn’t help but scoff. She was trying to set me up to fail. Without a second thought, I tagged her in the group chat. “Professor Susan, are you getting forgetful in your old age? You didn’t notify me about the group project.” When I looked at my phone again, I had been kicked out of the group chat. Susan sent me a private message. Her tone was arrogant. “You’re too stuck-up. None of the guys in the class wanted to be in a group with you.” Is that so? I opened WeChat, took screenshots of the friend requests from almost every guy in the class, and sent them to her. The next second, she lost her mind, sending a long string of abusive voice memos. “Dressing up like a peacock every day, looking like a streetwalker! Anyone can tell you and your mother are both trash!” But it was true that she seemed to have some connections at the school. I forwarded the voice recordings to the disciplinary office to report her. They rejected it, claiming it was AI-generated. The next day, Susan doubled down. Using my “failure to submit assignments” and “poor conduct” as excuses, she formally petitioned the Dean to replace me as the Gala host. She even claimed I was insubordinate and demanded I be expelled. But the Dean just looked at her like she was an idiot. “Your class is just an elective. Emma already has enough credits to graduate. Why would I expel her?” I stood in front of Susan, a provocative smile on my face. What a joke. A few credits? Did she really think I cared? I finished my four-year credit requirement during my freshman year. If you log into the system, you can see I have almost double the credits of the person in second place. Susan was humiliated and stomped away in a rage. But I knew she wouldn’t let it go. Sure enough, when I got back to my dorm… I found all my hair accessories and custom skincare products gone from my desk. The clothes in my closet were missing too. My roommate Chloe called me in a panic. “Emma! All your clothes are in the dumpsters downstairs!” 4 I called the police. The surveillance footage showed Susan leading a group of guys into the girls’ dorm under the guise of “moving things.” They swept my desk clean and threw everything into the trash. The clothes from my closet, my silk duvet—Susan had aggressively stomped all over them. When Susan arrived, she was holding two hundred dollars, showing zero remorse. “You had a lot of contraband items. I was just doing a routine inspection.” “This money is compensation. It should be enough. After all, that’s the amount of the scholarship you wanted.” I sneered. “This little amount? Who are you trying to buy off, a beggar?” I backhanded the list of missing items right into Susan’s face. “The hair clips were Chanel, the clothes were haute couture, and the skincare was custom-formulated for my exact skin type.” “The purchase receipts are all right there. That cash isn’t even enough to buy one of my hair clips!” Susan’s eyes widened in shock. “Impossible! If you’re that rich, why would you apply for a scholarship?!” She insisted I was lying, but the police verified the receipts. I thought being on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars would make her pack her bags and leave. Surprisingly, she didn’t panic at all. “You think you’re the only one with money? My boyfriend is way richer than a nouveau riche brat like you!” She cooed and acted helpless in front of the police. “Officer, my boyfriend will compensate her for the losses.” Her boyfriend did have means; the money was quickly transferred to my account. The university also claimed that as a counselor, she had the right to inspect for contraband, and she didn’t even get a reprimand. I originally wanted to call my parents right then and there to have them use their influence to squash this nuisance. But on second thought, slapping her down like that was too boring. It would be much more fun to deliver the slap to both Susan and her boyfriend personally. So I held back and applied to the Dean to move off-campus. For three days, I was basically living at the Arts Gala rehearsals, and Susan stopped picking on me. I thought she had turned over a new leaf. But on the day of the Gala, I found my evening gown shredded in the dressing room. I didn’t even have to guess who did it. I instinctively tried to open the door to confront her, but it was locked from the outside. Then, the lights suddenly went completely dark. Someone had pulled the breaker. This situation… I almost wanted to consider Susan a soulmate. How did she know that I absolutely thrive on flexing my skills in desperate situations like this? I’ve never been afraid of the dark. And as an heiress, knowing how to pick a lock is a perfectly normal skill to have, right? So, I grabbed a bobby pin, picked the lock, and casually texted my family’s butler, Uncle Wang. In the broadcast room, the Dean was pacing anxiously. “Why isn’t Emma here yet? The Gala is about to start!” Susan spared no effort in putting me down. “Girls like her have no concept of time. Why don’t we let Kevin do it? He’s definitely better than her.” But the next second, Susan’s eyes went wide. Because I stepped onto the stage wearing an even more magnificent, breathtaking gown. The Arts Gala was a massive success, but Susan just couldn’t stop acting up. Over the next few days, rumors spread like wildfire across campus that I was a sugar baby for an elderly billionaire. The “proof” was a photo of Uncle Wang delivering my gown. Whether I was in the library or the cafeteria, students would cast weird looks my way. There was even a campus forum thread with thousands of replies. They claimed I was a fake socialite whose entire lifestyle was funded by a sugar daddy. They even posted my leave of absence record from last semester. [She claimed she had stomach pains and took a week off. Now it looks like she went to get an abortion!] This was right during a critical period when I was participating in a national-level academic competition. The academic affairs office politely approached me, suggesting I withdraw voluntarily. I ignored them and showed up on the day of the competition. To my surprise, that half-wit Susan was actually sitting on the judging panel. She was constantly whispering to the other judges. Before I could even step onto the stage, they stopped me. “Student, this is a national-level competition. Someone with your moral conduct is not permitted to participate.” Susan walked over to me with a cold smirk. “I told you, my boyfriend is way more powerful than your sugar daddy! If you get on your knees and apologize to me right now, I might let you keep a degree!” I was just about to slap her when her eyes suddenly lit up. She waved at someone behind me. “My boyfriend is here! You might be permanently reduced to a high school graduate today!” I turned around and saw her boyfriend. When he saw me, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes. And the slap that was meant for Susan landed squarely, and viciously, on her boyfriend’s face, right in front of everyone’s shocked eyes.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “392020”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

At my wedding reception, the counterfeit heiress leaned in close under the guise of offering a toast and gave me a provoking smile. “Happy wedding. I’ve slept with your husband, and he’s pretty good.” Furious, I slapped her right across the face. The next second, Liam publicly slapped me six times. “Chloe never fights or grabs for anything; she’s let you have everything, yet you still can’t tolerate her!” “I’d rather marry a dog than a woman as unpresentable as you!” With his order, I was locked in the basement and thrown into a pit filled with venomous snakes to reflect on my actions. After being tortured for seven days, my three biological brothers came to settle the score with me. My eldest brother, the CEO, kicked and broke my leg. “Chloe cried all night. I’ve taken the liberty of transferring all the assets under your name entirely to her.” My second brother, an A-list actor, twisted and broke my arm. “From now on, only Chloe’s name will be on the family trust. As for you, don’t ever think about being recognized as a member of this family.” My third brother, a renowned surgeon, was even more ruthless, driving a scalpel straight into my abdomen. “Chloe has had kidney disease since she was a child. To compensate her, you must donate one of your healthy kidneys!” Before I could even utter a word of defense, my internal organs were carved out alive. Amidst the crushing agony, the system’s cold, mechanical voice chimed in. [Congratulations, Host! You have completed all the abuse plotlines for the cannon fodder female supporting character!] [Just wait for this physical body to die, and you can return to your original world to enjoy the $1.5 billion prize money!] …… Hearing this, my wailing abruptly stopped. The despair and pain in my heart morphed into the relief of impending liberation. My eldest and second brothers had already left with my kidney. In the filthy basement, it was just me and my third brother, Caleb. Blood continued to gurgle from the incision. Caleb frowned in displeasure as he stitched me up. “If you had just cooperated and donated the kidney earlier, I wouldn’t have had to perform surgery directly under such primitive conditions.” “Making me go through all this trouble, what a nuisance.” Just last week, while handling some paperwork, Chloe got a paper cut so small it was barely visible. Caleb acted as if the sky was falling, calling in the top medical team to help him apply emergency bandages and checking on her healing progress every three hours. But now, facing me—who just had an entire kidney ripped out—he complained about the trouble of doing even the most basic suturing. Shutterstock Perhaps noticing my lack of response, he leaned down, patted my face, and injected me with antibiotics. “Stop pretending. I know you’re perfectly healthy. This minor injury is nothing.” “Aren’t you just trying to act pitiful to make me feel guilty so you can steal my affection from Chloe? You’re too dark and narrow-minded. Since you’ve entered the Sterling family, put away those petty schemes!” In the past, facing such misunderstandings from my closest relatives, I would have defended myself with red eyes, crying that I wasn’t that kind of person. But now, I only felt numb tranquility. I closed my eyes and said hoarsely, “You should go too. I can wait here to die alone.” For me, the fastest way to find peace right now was to die immediately. But to Caleb’s ears, those words clearly meant something else. “Emma, what do you mean? You’re deliberately saying depressing things to disgust me, aren’t you!” He purposefully yanked the suture thread hard. The fragile, bloody edges of the wound tightened instantly, and dirty blood gushed out, bringing agonizing pain no normal person could bear. Seeing me gasp in pain, my forehead slick with cold sweat, a flash of reluctance crossed his eyes, and he softened his tone. “You are my biological sister, connected by blood. You can’t even imagine how much money and effort the three of us spent over the years to find you. How could we just let you die?” “When it comes down to it, if you weren’t so narrow-minded, refusing to tolerate Chloe and even hitting her, how would you be suffering like this?” While complaining, he gave my wound an injection of anesthesia. “As long as you promise that when you go back, you won’t make things difficult for Chloe anymore and properly apologize to her.” “I can take you back to the hospital, let you receive the best treatment, and you won’t have to suffer here anymore.” Listening to his patronizing tone, I felt even more chilled and mocked. Although I was a transmigrator, I had crossed over into Emma Sterling’s body in this world since she was six years old. Three years ago, after I had suffered countless hardships, the three Sterling brothers found me in tears, claiming I was their long-lost biological sister, and brought me back to the Sterling family. But upon returning, I discovered the Sterling family already had a daughter—Chloe, whom they had adopted back then. The moment I saw her, I recognized her. Years ago at the orphanage, she was the one who locked me in a dark closet and took my place to be adopted by the Sterlings. For twenty years, Chloe enjoyed all the care and love from the Sterling family in my place, while I bore all the suffering meant for her. Yet, all she had to do was furrow her brows in feigned grievance, and my three biological brothers would unconditionally take her side, accusing me of being narrow-minded. Even my fiancé, Liam, who was betrothed to me from birth, only had smiles for her and treated me with cold disdain. I was tired of this entanglement and pain, and didn’t want to waste any more energy arguing. I simply raised my hand and forcefully ripped open the newly stitched incision. When blood and intestines spilled out together, Caleb was so shocked his voice cracked. “Emma, you’re crazy! You’ll die!” Looking at the tears born of his panic, I just twitched the corners of my mouth. “Death? That would be wonderful.” “Living even one more second makes me… feel sick!” After saying that, I could no longer control my drooping eyelids. Then my head lolled to the side, and I passed out. I don’t know how long passed before I woke up from the darkness. I thought I had returned to my original world, but when I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar face of my eldest brother, Arthur. “You’re finally awake.” He had dark circles under his eyes, looking sleep-deprived, but his tone was full of impatience. “You’re a grown adult, why are you so impulsive?” “Making a life-or-death fuss over a trivial matter, where is the dignity of a Sterling…” Thinking about having to deal with this completely rotten world, a wave of exhaustion washed over me. I didn’t even have the interest to offer a single word of defense, so I stared blankly and interrupted him. “You’re right, I’m an embarrassment, unworthy of being human.” “So, let me die.” Arthur’s face changed drastically, and he instinctively raised his hand to slap me. But when he saw my deathly pale, bloodless face, that slap ultimately didn’t land. “Emma! I warn you, stop talking nonsense!” His voice trembled, the impatience in his eyes fading a bit, hiding a trace of panic even he hadn’t noticed. “I paid such a huge price to pull you out of the basement, not for you to talk crazy here!” I twitched my lips, revealing a completely cold smile. Paid a price? More likely he was afraid that if I died, there would be no one left to act as Chloe’s spare organ bank, no one to let her play the aggrieved innocent victim to her heart’s content. Just as I was thinking this, the hospital room door was pushed open, and my third brother, Caleb, walked in carrying medication. Seeing I was awake, a fleeting look of joy crossed his eyes, but when he spoke, his tone was still aggressive. “Since you’re awake, drink your medicine. Don’t force me to pour it down your throat!” He handed the medicine cup to me. The liquid was pitch black and emitted a bitter smell. I turned my head away, closed my eyes, and refused: “No need, it’s a waste of medicine.” “You!” Caleb was shaking with anger, but he didn’t force the medicine down my throat like he usually would. Instead, he placed the cup on the nightstand and reached out to check my wound. When his fingertips touched the bandages, his movements were unusually gentle. For the first time, there was a bit of the tender consideration he usually reserved for Chloe. “Just as I thought, using the best medicine makes the recovery much faster…” He rewrapped the bandages and glared at me fiercely. “You better behave. If the wound bursts open again, I won’t stitch you up a second time!” Though his words were harsh, I clearly saw the bloodshot lines in his eyes and the subtle trembling of his fingertips. Presumably, he had pulled his fair share of all-nighters watching over me these past few days. If it were the past, I definitely would have been moved by this sliver of gentleness, hugging him and crying about my grievances. But now, I only found it ironic. I shook off his hand, violently threw off the blanket, and prepared to tear the incision open again. Right now, living even one more second was torture. As long as I could die faster, I didn’t care how. “You’re crazy!” Arthur grabbed my arm, gripping so hard he almost crushed my bones, but instantly loosened his grip when I groaned in pain. He roared at me, his voice thick with tears: “Emma, what exactly do you want?” “To die.” My tone was calm, as if discussing an insignificant, trivial matter. “Letting me die is good for everyone.” “You guys won’t be put in a difficult position anymore, and Chloe can peacefully be the Sterling family heiress.” “So, please have some mercy and let me die quickly.” Those words seemed to hit Arthur’s sore spot. With red eyes, he raised his hand and slapped me, but it was lighter than any time he had hit me before, feeling more like him venting his frustration at my failure to meet his expectations. “I forbid it! You are the biological daughter of the Sterling family. Who dares let you die?” Caleb panicked too. He stepped forward, pressed my shoulders, and pushed me back onto the bed, his tone carrying a rare plea. “Emma, stop making a fuss.” “I know it hurts, but if you recover properly, from now on… from now on I’ll dote on you more, okay?” Looking at the pleading in his eyes, I just found it absurd. Where was he before? When he was cutting out my kidney alive, when he was making a mountain out of a molehill for Chloe’s tiny scratch, why didn’t he think about doting on me more? I closed my eyes, no longer looking at them, letting Caleb tuck me back in, letting him bring the medicine cup to my lips, but I absolutely refused to open my mouth. During the standoff, my second brother, Julian, pushed the door open, followed by a pale-faced Liam. Seeing me, Julian’s eyes reddened, and he quickly walked to the bedside. “Emma, it’s good that you’re awake. You scared me to death.” When I was first recognized by the Sterling family, Julian was the one who treated me best among all my relatives. He didn’t just take me traveling around; he also told me how much the family had missed and searched for me over the years, often gazing at me for a long time when he spoke emotionally. But later, after Chloe wiped away tears and complained about me to him a few times, he changed his tune, accusing me of being a two-faced hypocrite who betrayed the family’s sincere love for me. Seeing him again, I only felt more annoyed, avoiding his hand that tried to touch my face. Julian’s hand froze in mid-air, and he withdrew it with a bitter expression. Seeing this, Liam stepped forward and took the initiative to take the medicine cup from Caleb. “Let me feed her. Maybe she’ll listen to me.” It wasn’t surprising he was so confident. After all, over the past few years, anyone with eyes could see how endlessly tolerant and accommodating I was toward this fiancé, loving him to my very core. Just as he was walking toward me, the hospital room door opened again. “Emma, I came to see you.” Chloe, dressed in a hospital gown, walked in looking incredibly weak. Arthur immediately stood up to support her: “Chloe, you just underwent kidney transplant surgery and your body is still weak, why did you come over?” Chloe shook her head, her gaze landing on me, full of fake guilt. “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t failed to stop Emma that day, things wouldn’t have escalated to this point.” “I feel so uneasy, I had to come and apologize to her.” Saying that, she took the cup from Liam’s hands and sat on the edge of my bed herself. “Emma, stop being angry with yourself. Drink your medicine and recover well. Everyone has been worried sick about you.” “I know you still blame me, but I really didn’t want to fight you for anything. Everything in the Sterling family was supposed to be yours anyway…” These words seemed like a concession, but every sentence insinuated that I was narrow-minded, clinging to the past, and deliberately risking my own body out of spite. Before her spoon could touch my lips, I raised my hand and slapped the medicine cup away. With a crash, the porcelain cup shattered on the floor. The scalding liquid splashed all over Chloe, especially her wrists and the front of her gown, immediately turning red. Chloe cried out, her eyes instantly reddening, her voice thick with tears. “Emma… how could you do that? I just wanted to feed you your medicine…” She bit her lip, looking utterly wronged. Tears welled up in her eyes, making anyone’s heart ache for her. “Emma! You’re crazy!” Arthur flew into a rage, pulling Chloe behind him and glaring at me viciously. “Chloe kindly came to see you and feed you your medicine, and this is how you treat her?” Caleb immediately stepped forward to check Chloe’s burn, his tone full of anxiety. “How is it? Is the burn bad? Get a doctor, quickly!” Julian also frowned tightly, his eyes full of disappointment. “Emma, you’ve gone too far! Chloe took the initiative to apologize, when are you going to stop making a scene?” Liam also walked quickly to Chloe’s side, taking out a tissue to wipe her down, his tone carrying blame. “Emma, can you stop being so unreasonable? Chloe meant well. Even if you don’t appreciate it, you shouldn’t resort to violence and hurt people.” Several people surrounded Chloe, asking about her well-being, completely ignoring me—the person who had just had a kidney carved out and whose wound was still throbbing with pain. Chloe leaned against Arthur’s chest, stealing a glance at me. A flash of triumph crossed her eyes, though her mouth was still putting on an act of pleading for mercy: “I’m fine, don’t yell at Emma, she was just in a bad mood…” In the past, this “innocent white lotus” act would have made me tremble with anger. But now, I just found it laughably absurd. Such a clumsy trick would have been seen through instantly by anyone else, yet these four exceptional men, standing at the pinnacle of their respective fields, willingly let Chloe string them along. Or perhaps, it’s a case of one willing to hit and the other willing to suffer, and I was just a prop in their game. “If your heart aches for this animal, please take your heartache outside. Don’t pollute my hospital room.” Hearing my cold voice, the men trembled with anger. “Emma, it seems you haven’t reflected enough!” Caleb looked at me with a face full of disappointment and said sternly, “From this moment on, I’m stopping all your painkillers!” “Whenever you figure things out, whenever you’re willing to apologize to Chloe, that’s when I’ll resume your medication.” Arthur chimed in: “Exactly! Let you have a good taste of pain and see if you dare to be this willful again!” Julian sighed, his eyes full of helplessness, but he didn’t object. Liam stood to the side, nodding in silence, clearly agreeing with the decision. I closed my eyes, offering no rebuttal, nor any anger. So what if the painkillers were stopped? The pain from the wound was nothing compared to the twenty years of grievances and torture I had suffered. On the contrary, the pain would keep me more awake as I waited for death to arrive. Seeing my impervious attitude, Caleb immediately took action and disconnected my PCA (patient-controlled analgesia) pump. The moment the overwhelming pain hit, my dearest family and fiancé anxiously surrounded Chloe and walked out. Until the door slammed shut with a “bang,” no one looked back. Enduring the blood seeping from the corners of my mouth, I pulled out a shard of the broken porcelain bowl I had hidden under my pillow just moments ago, and without hesitation, slashed it across my throat. As I collapsed again, I could feel the strength draining from my body bit by bit. The pain from my wounds gradually faded away, and my heartbeat grew slower and slower… The moment darkness descended, I even let out a laugh. This suffocating, painful life could finally end. ……

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “392039”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

My son, Noah, had just been diagnosed with chronic nephritis. We were on our way to the hospital to schedule his kidney transplant when the car slammed into us. My husband, Spencer, was the Chief of Emergency Medicine at that very hospital. But instead of saving his own flesh and blood, he was using his authority to bypass the transplant list, hijacking the only available kidney to save his untouchable first love—the woman who had always been the phantom third person in our marriage. I didn’t call him. Instead, I dialed 911. Then, I called the State Medical Ethics Board to file a report. In my past life, I had made the mistake of calling Spencer. Because of my hysterical pleas, he had abandoned Stella as her uremia flared, authorizing the transplant for our son instead. Noah survived the surgery, cheating death. Stella, however, died alone in her apartment. Spencer told me he didn’t blame me. He looked me in the eye and said our son was his entire world. He even planned a lavish birthday party for Noah the day he was discharged, a celebration of his second chance at life. But that night, the celebration ended in darkness. He struck us both unconscious. I woke up tied and gagged in front of Stella’s gravestone. With the same scalpel he used to save lives, Spencer pierced our little boy’s chest. I was forced to watch as he hollowed out our son, organ by organ. When he finally turned to me, his eyes were hollowed out, replaced by a venomous, unhinged hatred. “He was just a kid. He could have waited for another donor! He wasn’t going to die right away!” Spencer had screamed, his face contorted. “Why did you have to steal the kidney from Stella? Now she’s dead because of you. You and your bastard son are going to pay her back with your lives!” … Before I could even scream, he yanked the blade from my child and drove it straight into my throat. Hot, crimson spray hit his face, splattering across the pristine porcelain photograph of Stella on her headstone. Then, my eyes snap open. I am back to the day of the crash. A deafening crunch of metal. The car rolls, the world spinning in violent, jagged flashes until we slam into the asphalt. The blinding agony of the impact jolts me awake. It takes a fraction of a second to realize what has happened. I have been pulled back through time. I am breathing. I whip my head toward the passenger seat. Noah is slumped in a pool of his own blood. His small face, already severely swollen from the nephritis, is crushed against the door, his features indistinguishable. He hasn’t made a single sound. He is already entirely unconscious. Through the shattered window, I see the SUV that ran the red light gunning its engine, speeding away into the distance. The tragedy of my previous life is playing out exactly as it did before. Panic, cold and sharp, spikes through my veins. Ignoring the agonizing pain in my ribs, I twist my body, clawing frantically at Noah’s seatbelt, trying to drag his limp body from the wreckage. But the severe edema from his failing kidneys makes him heavy, and the seatbelt mechanism is crushed, locking him in place. “Noah!” I scream, my voice tearing my throat. “Noah, please!” Silence. Cold sweat drips down my forehead, stinging my eyes. I force my head and shoulders out of the shattered window, screaming for help. A few bystanders are sprinting toward us. While I beg them to help pry the door open, my trembling, blood-slicked fingers find my phone. My thumb hovers over Spencer’s contact. My jaw clenches so hard my teeth ache. Remembering how he illegally diverted the organ in my last life, I bypass his name and dial the hospital’s emergency dispatch. The moment the line connects, I gasp into the receiver. “My son is in a severe car crash! He needs an ambulance right now! He has late-stage nephritis, his kidneys are failing. I know your hospital just received a donor kidney today—please, you have to hold it for him. The crash is at the intersection of—” The woman on the other end is Brittany. She went to med school with Spencer and now works the emergency triage desk. We’ve met a few times. I always knew she harbored a quiet, lingering obsession with my husband. Before I can finish, she cuts me off with an exasperated sigh. “Mrs. Carmichael, Dr. Carmichael isn’t at the hospital today. You can drop the act. And as for where he is, I’m not at liberty to say. If you need him, call his cell. This line is for actual medical emergencies, not for you to play your little marital games.” “Furthermore,” she continues, her tone dripping with condescension, “you haven’t even picked up Noah’s latest lab results. What nephritis? Can you stop making things up for attention? Dr. Carmichael specifically told me not to tell you where he went because he knew you’d pull a stunt like this. Joking about your own kid’s health… honestly, I don’t know why he married you. I’m hanging up.” The beep of the disconnected line is a physical blow. A white-hot rage consumes me. I hit redial. “I said my son is dying in a crushed car! Are you deaf?” I roar into the phone, the last threads of my sanity snapping. “Did I say a single damn word about looking for Spencer? I don’t care if he drops dead! You need to dispatch an ambulance to my son right now! If you delay this, his blood is on your hands!” My violent outburst only hardens her resolve. “Are you done?” she snaps back. “I told you, Spencer isn’t here! Don’t you think a doctor knows his own son’s medical history? He brought a bag of meds home for him yesterday. It’s pediatric diabetes, for God’s sake. What ‘severe illness’ are you talking about?” “You sit at home all day, playing house, never stepping foot outside. And you expect me to believe a car drove into your living room to hit you? If you’re going to lie, at least put some effort into it! Spencer is your husband. Cursing him like this, cursing your own child—what is wrong with you? He really must have been blind to choose you.” Click. Hot, desperate tears spill over my eyelashes, cutting tracks through the dust and blood on my cheeks. I’m living this twice. I refuse to believe that in this massive city, Spencer Carmichael is God. I refuse to believe calling him is the only way to save my little boy! Outside the crushed passenger door, a crowd has gathered. A few men are straining against the warped metal, trying to pry Noah free. Hearing my screaming match with the hospital, a woman in a trench coat pulls out her own phone, furious on my behalf, and dials 911 again. But call after call from the bystanders yields the same bureaucratic dead-end, the same sluggish response from the dispatch center that routes back to Spencer’s hospital network. Finally, a dispatcher tells the woman, “Stop tying up emergency resources with a domestic dispute,” and refuses to pick up again. A memory flashes—a box cutter I left in the center console after opening a package. I dig through the shattered plastic and debris, my fingers wrapping around the plastic handle. With shaking hands, I slice through Noah’s seatbelt. At the exact same time, I dial the State Medical Ethics and Oversight Board. I spill everything. Spencer’s location, the diverted kidney, the triage nurse refusing to send an ambulance. Ten minutes later, the wail of sirens finally pierces the air. When the paramedics pull Noah onto the stretcher, his tiny body is so saturated with blood that his pale skin is entirely obscured. I ride in the back of the ambulance, watching the EMTs perform chest compressions as we blow through every red light in the city. The moment the surgical doors swing shut, swallowing Noah’s stretcher, the adrenaline leaves my body. I collapse into a plastic waiting room chair, burying my face in my hands, sobbing until I can’t breathe. An investigator from the Ethics Board, a stern-faced man who had taken my call, arrives in the waiting room shortly after. Seeing my state, he turns on his heel and marches straight to the ER reception desk, his voice echoing through the busy hall. “What kind of operation are you running here? Ignoring emergency dispatches? Refusing ambulances? If you don’t want your medical licenses, I can revoke them today! You will never work in healthcare again!” “Who took the initial call? Bring her out here! The patient’s mother states you actively blocked subsequent calls. Who gave you the authority to play God? If this mother hadn’t called the Board, were you just going to let a child bleed out on the street?” “At best, this is gross negligence. At worst, it’s vehicular manslaughter by proxy! Couldn’t you hear the desperation in her voice? Bring out whoever was on the dispatch desk! Does she think hiding is going to save her job?” Every word he shouts lands like a sledgehammer against my chest, making it impossible to pull air into my lungs. Even total strangers on the street were willing to bloody their hands to save my son, screaming at dispatchers and threatening to expose the hospital on Twitter. Yet my husband of six years, the father of my child, is currently sacrificing our son’s life to save his first love. The vows he whispered when we were young and in love have mutated into the very blade carving out my heart. A sharp, stabbing pain grips my chest, and my breathing turns ragged. The ER staff, pale and trembling under the investigator’s fury, immediately throw their colleague under the bus. They drag Brittany out from the back office. The moment she appears, the investigator tears into her. She hadn’t believed the crash was real. The arrogant sneer from the phone call is entirely gone, her head bowed so low her chin touches her chest. Crying hysterically, she walks over to me, bowing deeply in apology, and tries to hand me Noah’s medical file that she finally printed out. I am too busy wiping my tears to take it. The papers slip from her trembling hands, scattering across the linoleum floor. The words Late-Stage Nephritis glare up from the paper. Brittany’s eyes drop to the diagnosis. All the blood drains from her face. Shaking violently, she pulls out her phone and calls Spencer. To prove to the investigator that she isn’t the sole architect of this disaster, she puts it on speaker. But the moment she stammers out that Noah is actually in the ER from a horrific crash, before she can even bring up the kidney, Spencer’s voice cuts through the speaker, laced with venom. “Didn’t I tell you to ignore Tara? She’s always using his health to manipulate me. She’s having one of her psychotic episodes and you’re indulging her? I thought you were smarter than this, Brittany, but I guess all women are the same when it comes to drama. I told you, I am doing a surgery to save a life right now. Do not bother me! Throw those fake test results in her face and tell her to drag herself home and stop embarrassing me at my own workplace!” In the background of the call, Stella’s weak, delicate voice whimpers in pain. “Spencer… am I going to die?” His tone shifts instantly, dripping with an agonizing tenderness. “No, baby. I’m right here. I won’t let anything happen to you…” He hangs up. The dial tone echoes in the dead silence of the waiting room. Brittany’s terrified expression is frozen on her face. Right then, the surgical doors burst open. The lead trauma surgeon steps out, his scrubs stained red. His voice is heavy. “The patient has multiple ruptured organs. We just discovered the severe infection caused by his underlying nephritis. We need to do an emergency transplant right now. I know the hospital received a donor kidney this morning—we need to cross-match it immediately.” Nobody moves. For a long, suffocating moment, no one breathes. I know the truth. Spencer has already taken the kidney. My knees give out. I crash to the floor, grabbing the doctor’s scrub pants, my voice breaking into a guttural beg. “Spencer took the kidney. He bypassed protocol. Please, can you call the other hospitals in Boston? I’m begging you, just find a donor! If there’s a kidney out there, I will pay whatever they want! I’ll sell my house, my car, I don’t care! I’ll buy it!” If my blood type hadn’t been incompatible in my past life, I would have sliced myself open right here on the floor and given my son my own organ. The doctor’s brow furrows deeply. “Ma’am, please get up. Buying organs is a federal crime. Let us handle the network.” He turns a lethal glare onto Brittany. Under the crushing weight of her colossal fuck-up, and with the Ethics Board breathing down her neck, Brittany scrambles to the triage phone and starts dialing furiously. But call after call yields the same devastating answer. Kidneys are rare. A pediatric match, available at a moment’s notice for an immediate transfer? Impossible. With every click of the receiver, the light in my eyes dims, until there is nothing left but pitch black. Despair, cold and absolute, swallows my sanity. From inside the OR, the monitors begin to shriek. One alarm, then another, a cacophony of failing vitals. The sound of nurses rushing becomes frantic. I remember my past life. I remember Spencer was a match. Gritting my teeth, I lunge at the desk, ripping the receiver from Brittany’s hand and punching in Spencer’s private cell number. The second it connects, I don’t give him a chance to speak. The words pour out of me in a frantic, humiliating rush. “I know Stella needs the kidney! I know you need that donor for her! I’m begging you, take it! Give her the kidney! But please, you’re a match for Noah! Come to the hospital and give him one of yours! He’s on the table right now, he’s coding, please, Spencer, you’re his father! Save him!” “If you save him, I swear to God I’ll take him and disappear! I won’t ask for a dime in the divorce. I will leave the house, the money, everything to you and Stella. You’ll never see us again! Just save my baby, he’s my whole life, I’ll do whatever you want…” My pride is gone. I am nothing but dust beneath his shoes, begging for scraps of mercy. But even backed against the edge of a cliff, he still thinks I’m playing a game. “Are you insane?” he snarls. “It’s childhood diabetes! Give him his insulin! What the hell do you mean, a transplant? Can you stop this unhinged performance?” “Every time Stella’s name comes up, you lose your mind! It’s been six years. If something was going to happen between us, it would have happened! First it was a car crash, now you’re suddenly screaming about kidney transplants? I’m not even at St. Jude’s today, why the hell are you harassing my staff?” “I am warning you, stop embarrassing me! Take Noah and go home right now! Or so help me God, I will cut off his medical coverage next month!” And then, his voice drops, softening into that sickeningly sweet register as he turns back to the woman he truly loves. “Don’t be scared, honey. The anesthesia will put you right to sleep. I’m going to go make you that shrimp congee you love. It’ll be waiting for you when you wake up. I’ll be right outside the door the whole time, okay? Good girl.” Tears spill hot over my cheeks. My heart physically spasms, a pain so sharp it steals my vision. Before I can scream his name, the red light above the OR doors switches off. The surgeon walks out. His shoulders are slumped. He looks at me, and slowly, devastatingly, shakes his head. The phone slips from my sweaty palm, clattering loudly against the floor tiles. At the desk, the Ethics investigator is already pulling the digital logs of Spencer’s unauthorized organ transfer. People are crowding around me. I can see their mouths moving, offering apologies, offering condolences, but the sound is entirely muted. It’s like I’m underwater. In an instant, the marrow is sucked from my bones. My legs give way, and the world goes dark. As I drift into unconsciousness, my mind pulls me back to the nightmare of my first life. In that life, I had called Spencer the moment the crash happened. He had just grabbed his coat to go see Stella. Hearing my terrified, blood-choked screams, he had turned his car around and raced to the scene. While Noah was in surgery receiving the kidney, Spencer had held me in his arms in the waiting room, stroking my hair. When the doctor announced Noah was out of the woods, we had exhaled together, a family surviving a storm. But when he finally went to Stella’s apartment later that night, he found her cold, stiff body. He handled her funeral arrangements in absolute silence. When he came back to me and Noah, he calmly told us she had passed. Looking at my guilt-stricken face, he shook his head, feigning acceptance. He said he didn’t blame me. He said it was just fate. He told me that Noah and I were the most important things in his life. That he just wanted to be a good husband and father now. Looking into those earnest, grief-heavy eyes, I was so afraid of hurting him further that I never mentioned Noah’s kidney disease was genetic—inherited directly from his side of the family. I assumed, as a brilliant doctor, he knew diabetes could trigger nephritis. I was so incredibly wrong. When Noah was discharged, Spencer suggested throwing a party to celebrate his survival. It was the first time he had ever taken initiative as a father. I thought his heart had finally returned to our home. I excitedly booked the venue, baked the cake myself. And that night, he struck me in the back of the head with a baseball bat. I woke up bound hand and foot in the cemetery. I watched his surgical blade slide through Noah’s ribcage. He dug out the organs. The kidney that was supposed to go to Stella was thrown onto the dirt, and he stomped on it, grinding it into a bloody pulp beneath his heel. There was no father left in his eyes. Only a madman, possessed by a grief so toxic it had rotted his soul. He looked like a demon crawling out of hell to collect a debt. “It was a chronic illness! He wasn’t going to die!” he screamed, the sound tearing through the silent graveyard. “Why did he have to steal the kidney that could have saved Stella? He’s young! He would have had a dozen other chances to find a donor!” “Do you know how long I waited to find that match for her? And now, because of you, because of this little bastard you birthed, it’s all ruined! She’s gone!” “Do you know how much pain she was in when she died? She called me forty times, and I missed every single one! Her last voicemail was her crying, telling me she didn’t blame me. She loved me so much, she couldn’t bear to be mad at me.” “But I blame myself! I hate myself for having a moment of weakness for you! I’ve known her my whole life. She was terrified of pain. And she had to die alone, hurting, in the dark…” He let out a horrifying, jagged laugh. He yanked the blade from my son’s mutilated body. And plunged it into my throat.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “392061”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

Tyler cheated on me. When I caught him red-handed, he stripped off my bra in front of a crowd. I was left half-naked and humiliated while he used the distraction to escape with his mistress. Furious, I pressed charges, but he just laughed and dismissed it. “Taking clothes off between a husband and wife is totally normal. It doesn’t count as sexual harassment.” “My affair is just a moral failing.” I wanted a divorce, but everyone turned against me. My in-laws blamed me. “Men always come home after they’ve had their fun. What are you making such a fuss about?” My parents and my brother tried to talk me out of it, too. “Our family business depends entirely on Tyler. Just endure it, okay?” Pitifully, I was insulted and cursed at by the mistress, eventually falling into a deep depression and ending my own life by jumping off a building. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the moment I received a text from my best friend. “Chloe, your husband is cheating on you. He’s at the Hilton, room 8808.” This time, I still chose to go up and catch them in the act. … I stared at my phone screen. My best friend, Mia, was still sending messages. “I’m staking out the place. Do you want to come over?” I replied immediately. “Yes, wait for me.” But I didn’t head over right away. First, I made a phone call. “Hello, is this the ‘Campus Vanguard’ studio?” “I have some incredibly juicy, live news material. It involves a wealthy CEO’s affair, a wife catching him in the act, and possibly a violent confrontation. The location is the Hilton Hotel. Do you have the guts to film it?” The person on the other end of the line was clearly excited. “What are the details?” I replied. “The targets are my husband and a college student.” The person immediately understood. “We’ll be right there!” In my previous life, after the whole thing blew up, I found out the mistress’s name was Lily. She was a junior majoring in broadcasting at the College of Media. Some of her classmates ran an independent media studio on campus, specializing in gossip and street interviews, and they were somewhat famous. Back then, they even tried to interview me, but my family chased them away. Now, I was going to fight a battle I was guaranteed to win. While driving, I put on my Bluetooth headset and made another call. “Mia, do me a favor.” “Bring your bar card, a voice recorder, a hidden camera, and anything else we can use to gather evidence.” “Book a room right across from 8808 so we have a base of operations.” Mia paused for a second. “Are you sure you want to… gather evidence for a lawsuit?” “More than that. I’m going to give them a grand present.” After hanging up, my eyes turned ice-cold. In my previous life, I had been completely irrational. My brain had exploded, and I forgot to meet up with Mia. I just charged in alone. When Tyler saw me, he slapped me to the ground. He tore my dress and ripped off my bra in front of everyone. I was left half-naked and utterly humiliated. He laughed and said to the hotel staff who rushed over. “What are you looking at? Isn’t it normal for a husband and wife to take their clothes off?” My in-laws arrived and pointed their fingers at me, cursing. “A man has to entertain clients and play along sometimes, and you have to make a huge scene out of it!” “If you aren’t embarrassed, we are!” Later, my parents and brother arrived as well. Instead of comforting me, they held Tyler’s hand and spoke to him subserviently. “Son-in-law, Chloe is just being unreasonable. Please forgive her.” “That construction payment for the family business still depends on you…” I wanted to call the police, but my parents snatched my phone away. Tyler said arrogantly. “What are you going to sue me for? Taking your clothes off? Between husband and wife, that’s not sexual harassment.” And that mistress, Lily, walked away arrogantly under Tyler’s protection. From then on, Lily sent me intimate photos of her and Tyler every day. “You old hag, he stopped loving you a long time ago. Why don’t you just drop dead?” After half a year of this torture, my heart turned to ash. I climbed to the roof of a 28-story building. Right before I died, my phone buzzed. It was a message from my mom. “Chloe, your brother found an apartment he likes, but he’s short $100,000 for the down payment. Could you talk to Tyler…” I let out a bitter laugh, hesitated no longer, and jumped. Now, I was back. I was going to settle all the scores, one by one. 2 I found Mia in the lounge area of the Hilton lobby. Her eyes were filled with worry and heartache. “Chloe, are you sure you want to do this? What if…” “There are no ‘what ifs’.” I cut her off, my tone calm. “I’ve seen the result of ‘what if.’ The result was me dead, while they continued living happily.” Mia was stunned by the determination in my eyes and nodded vigorously. “Okay, I’m with you. Don’t worry about the evidence. High-definition, multi-angle, synced to the cloud. He won’t be able to deny it.” Just then, the people from “Campus Vanguard” arrived. I motioned for them to sit down. “Let’s keep it brief. My husband, Tyler, the founder of Apex Tech, is with a girl named Lily from the College of Media. I want you to film the confrontation and any conflict that follows.” A girl let out a small gasp. “Lily? She’s the most popular girl in our department…” The guy, clearly the leader, looked at me with some apprehension. “Ms. Davis, we can film it, but will there be legal risks if we publish it? Since it involves privacy…” I looked at Mia. “My lawyer is here. She will ensure everything is legal and compliant. As for you, you know how much traffic a first-hand scoop like this will bring.” Profit and excitement are the best motivators. They exchanged glances and nodded decisively. “We’re in! We have pinhole cameras, button cameras, and phones all ready.” I stood up. “Mia, act as my lawyer. Contact hotel security if necessary, just in case he gets violent.” “You three, spread out on both sides of the hallway, find good angles, and wait for my signal.” “When I smash a glass, rush in and film.” Everyone nodded. Everything was set. We went upstairs and made our final preparations in the room across from 8808. I checked the time on my phone. I knew Tyler’s “style” well. He liked to try different things and would spend at least four hours before coming out. Now was the perfect time to go in. I stood in front of room 8808 and rang the doorbell. Sure enough, Tyler’s voice came from inside. “Who is it?” I kept pressing the bell without saying a word. Tyler cursed in annoyance and came to open the door. He was only wearing a towel, his face still flushed. When he saw me, his pupils contracted sharply. First shock, then anger. “Chloe Davis, you’re stalking me!” He gritted his teeth and tried to slam the door shut. I wedged my foot in the door. “What? You dare to do it but don’t dare to face it? Open the door and let the person inside come out and say hello.” I forced my way in. The room was a mess. Lily, panicked, wrapped herself tightly in the blanket. Clothes were scattered on the floor, including her lace underwear and Tyler’s shirt. Tyler was completely enraged. He grabbed my arm. “Chloe, get out! We’ll talk about this at home!” Talk at home? In my previous life, “talking at home” turned into a trial where I was the only one condemned. “We’re talking right here.” I raised the glass I had been holding and smashed it hard on the floor. The three students waiting in the hallway instantly rushed in with their equipment. Cameras pointed simultaneously at the two people on and off the bed. “What are you doing? Who told you to film! Get out!” Tyler completely panicked. Frustrated and angry, he tried to grab the cameras. One guy dodged nimbly, keeping his lens steadily fixed on Tyler’s panicked and angry face. “We are from the independent media outlet ‘Campus Vanguard.’ We received a tip and are here to document the facts!” “Chloe, are you fucking setting me up?” Tyler glared at me with bloodshot eyes, veins popping on his forehead. That look was exactly the same as when he ripped my clothes in public in my previous life. Sure enough, he lunged at me, raising his hand to slap my face. I dodged and shouted. “Mia, come in!” Mia walked in from the doorway, flashing her bar card. “Mr. Smith, I am Mia, the attorney representing Ms. Chloe Davis. Your current words and actions have been fully recorded. I advise you to immediately stop any behavior that could constitute violence or a threat.” Tyler’s face went from red to pale, then to ashen. He didn’t dare to attack again. I walked over to the bed, looked at the shivering Lily, and yanked away the blanket she was clutching so tightly. “Ah!” Lily screamed and hurriedly curled up, exposing herself. “Stop trying to cover up. Weren’t you really into it just now?” “Lily, junior in the broadcasting department at the College of Media, the most popular girl, right?” “Do your parents know you’re trading your body for designer goods?” Lily was trembling all over, tears rolling down her face. “No… Tyler said he would divorce and marry me…” “Oh?” I raised an eyebrow and looked at Tyler. “So, Mr. Smith made such a promise? Have you heard of bigamy?” Tyler roared. “Lily, shut up!” He turned to me, lowering his voice with a hint of pleading. “Chloe, let’s go home. We can talk behind closed doors, okay? Don’t let outsiders laugh at us…” I laughed and looked around the room full of cameras. “Tyler, from the moment you brought her into this room, we became a joke.” “But the main characters are you and her.” Hurried footsteps came from the hallway. The hotel manager and security guards had arrived. “Call the police,” I told the manager. “Someone is engaging in illegal prostitution here and attempted to commit violence against another person.” Faced with so many cameras, the hotel manager knew it wasn’t something to mess with and called the police immediately. The police arrived. After understanding the basic situation and reviewing the preliminary evidence, they took all of us to the police station. On the way, I thoughtfully sent messages to both sets of parents. Without them present, this show wouldn’t be exciting enough. 3 In the mediation room at the police station. Less than half an hour later, noisy arguing could be heard from outside. The two families flooded in. My father-in-law’s face was livid, and my mother-in-law’s eyes were swollen and red. “Chloe, what is going on here?” “A man has a few drinks and makes a small mistake while entertaining clients, and you have to take it to the police station? You’ve completely disgraced the Smith family!” My mom spoke cautiously, trying to placate them. “In-laws, please don’t get excited. It must be a misunderstanding…” Both families were exactly the same as in my previous life. I looked up and calmly stated. “It’s not a misunderstanding. He’s suspected of soliciting prostitution and attempted violent assault. I can press charges against him at any time!” “Nonsense! This is slander!” My mother-in-law became anxious. Mia spoke coldly from the side. “According to the evidence we currently have, Mr. Smith and Ms. Lily have maintained an improper relationship for over three months, during which there are multiple records of large money transfers and gifts of luxury goods. Additionally, in the hotel room, Mr. Smith did indeed have the intent and made moves to commit violence against Ms. Chloe Davis, which is documented on video.” A lawyer’s words carry weight. My in-laws’ arrogance immediately diminished. My dad sighed and said. “Chloe, men, well, sometimes they just get confused.” “Look, the payment for the construction materials for our business still depends on Tyler’s help. Making a scene won’t benefit anyone.” My brother chimed in. “Yeah, my brother-in-law is usually good to our family. Just take a step back and let him out. I have a business meeting scheduled for tomorrow.” My heart grew colder bit by bit. Even though I had anticipated this, hearing it again in person still hurt. “If you want to protect him, fine. Let him negotiate the terms himself.” Just then, the door to the mediation room was pushed open again. Tyler walked in, looking defeated, his hair disheveled. Lily followed behind him, her eyes red and swollen, her head bowed. The police officer came in last. “Are both families here? Alright, you can communicate amongst yourselves first. If the victim insists on pressing charges, we will proceed according to procedure.” Tyler looked at me with deep resentment. Before he could speak, Lily spoke up. “Tyler, tell her you want a divorce right now. We can be together legitimately…” I chuckled softly. “It seems the parties involved have confessed. So, it’s not prostitution, but bigamy?” I looked at Tyler. “Apex Tech is in talks with ‘Stellar Capital’ for a Series B funding round, right? The head of Stellar Capital places a high value on the partner’s family stability and moral reputation.” Tyler’s face instantly changed. Everyone showed signs of panic. Tyler’s company was the source of prestige and wealth for both families. Nothing could go wrong. At this moment, Lily was still pouting coquettishly. “Stop threatening Tyler. He’s not afraid.” I sneered. It seemed she knew tricks in bed, but she didn’t understand the selfishness of men. Sure enough, Tyler violently threw off her hand and said sternly. “What nonsense are you talking about? Who said anything about a divorce? My wife and I have a great relationship. You were the one who seduced me!” Lily was struck as if by lightning and froze in place. My in-laws suddenly realized what was happening. They rushed forward and pointed at Lily’s nose, cursing. “So you’re the home-wrecker, you shameless thing! Seducing a married man!” Lily tried to explain, but my mother-in-law slapped her across the face. The scene descended into chaos. I crossed my arms and watched her. “How much of Tyler’s money did you spend? Spit it out.” Hearing the word “money,” both families’ eyes lit up again. “Yes, spit it out!” Lily covered her face, crying intermittently. “Tyler gave it to me voluntarily… He said he loved me…” I looked at Tyler coldly. “You tell me, how much money exactly?” “You don’t have to tell me. I can take this police report and request your bank statements.” Tyler looked awful and mumbled. “I only spent thirty thousand on her…” “Fine. I don’t care about your money, but I own half of the marital assets. She needs to pay me back at least fifteen thousand.” I looked at Lily. “Are you going to transfer the money now or write an IOU?” Lily looked at Tyler desperately, but Tyler kept his head down and didn’t defend her. She spoke tremblingly. “I spent all the money… on bags…” “If you spent it, convert it to cash,” I said coldly. “Luxury goods can be sold second-hand. You write an IOU and pay it off within a month.” “You can choose not to write it, but then we’ll take legal action and sue you for the return of joint marital property. Then, it won’t just be about the money. The judgment will go on your permanent record.” Lily was terrified. Her shoulders shook violently as she cried. “Okay, I’ll write the IOU.” I turned to Tyler. “Tyler, you need to write a letter of guarantee and an apology. You must guarantee to cut off all ties with Lily and apologize for your infidelity and your attempted violence today.” Tyler frowned. “We’re husband and wife. Is this really necessary?” I maintained a serious expression. “You don’t even want to write an apology letter, and you think you can just gloss over this?” “How about we calculate the division of property in a divorce? As the party at fault, let’s see how much you get.” The word “divorce” shocked both families. The muscles in Tyler’s face twitched. He had always been the dominant one in the marriage, and this was the first time his authority had been challenged. Finally, he squeezed a few words out from between his teeth. “Fine, I’ll write it.” Mia was highly efficient and had already prepared the relevant documents. One was the “Confirmation of Debt and Repayment Agreement” for Lily. The other were the “Letter of Guarantee” and “Letter of Apology” for Tyler. “Sign,” I said, pushing the pen towards them. Both of them signed reluctantly and pressed their red thumbprints. The police thought we had reconciled and let us go. But I smiled. Why would I stop so easily? 4 Leaving the police station, I got into Mia’s car alone. “Here’s the police report, and Tyler’s apology letter admitting to the affair. With these documents, we can request records for all of Tyler’s bank accounts and property information. We’re also ready to sue Tyler, apply for property preservation, and freeze his company accounts…” Mia gave me a thumbs up. “So you were planning a major move. I thought you actually forgave Tyler.” I smiled lightly. “Why would I keep a trashy man?” Next, I contacted the head of “Campus Vanguard.” “Release two video clips first, but not the whole thing.” “Hide the real names and publish it after 10 a.m. tomorrow.” The person sent back an “OK” gesture, clearly well-versed in this. The next day, at 10:05 a.m. I refreshed the popular local forum. A post with the word “Explosive” next to the title was pinned to the homepage. #CEO of Tech Company Caught Cheating with College Student in Hotel! The post included pictures, text, audio, and video. Although it was blurred, anyone familiar with them could immediately identify who it was. The comment section updated rapidly. “Holy shit! This is explosive! Tech company CEO? Could it be Apex, the one that’s been making waves recently?” “So it’s an affair + attempted violence + money dispute? This is huge!” “Am I the only one who cares how much that college student signed an IOU for? Fifteen thousand?” “Isn’t Apex Tech in talks for a Series B? Will investors pull out when they see this?” The flames of public opinion ignited as expected and spread to the capital market at an alarming speed. At 10:20 a.m., Tyler called. I pressed the record button. “Chloe, what’s going on?” he shouted hoarsely. “Are you behind that stuff online? What did you promise me last night?” My voice was calm. “That’s the media. They have freedom of the press. They report the facts. What right do I have to interfere?” “Stop playing dumb!” he roared. “Tell those brats you hired to delete the post! Wipe it completely from the internet!” “If Stellar Capital’s investment falls through, I’ll make you pay!” Suddenly, Tyler’s voice stopped, and the intermittent voice of the PR director came through the phone. “Mr. Lee… canceled… what do we do…” It seemed Stellar Capital had already contacted Apex Tech. Tyler paused, and his tone softened. “Chloe, Mr. Lee from Stellar Capital just called. He said he saw the news online and canceled the afternoon meeting. They might re-evaluate the partnership…” He panted heavily. “Chloe, we’re husband and wife. If one of us goes down, we both go down. If Apex is finished, what good does it do you?” I replied nonchalantly. “Oh, so?” “So you have to help me!” he said urgently. “We’ll hold a press conference, and you’ll come forward to clarify. Just say those are rumors and that it’s a setup by competitors. As long as you help me get through this, I’ll agree to anything!” I stayed silent for a few seconds, then spoke slowly, using a tone that suggested I was persuaded. “Alright.” Tyler was overjoyed. “I’ll arrange it right away, for 3 p.m. today!” I turned to look at Mia, who had been holding her breath and listening. A faint excitement appeared on her face. “He bought it.” “He had to.” I walked back to the desk, picked up the documents, my eyes sharp. “Then let’s prepare an unforgettable gift for him at the press conference.” At 3 p.m., the press conference began. Tyler started reading from his script. “Recently, some false information about me has appeared on the internet, causing severe distress and damage to my personal reputation and the operations of Apex Tech…” “Hereby, I solemnly declare that my wife, Ms. Chloe Davis, and I have a stable relationship and a happy marriage. I have entrusted my lawyer to collect evidence and will pursue legal action…” Many reporters looked skeptical and amused. They had heard these clichés too many times. After the speech, it was time for questions from the press. The first “planted” reporter stood up and asked a harmless question about the company’s development. The host was about to call on the second “planted” reporter when someone in the back unexpectedly stood up. “Mr. Smith, you claim the video and audio are forged. Then how do you explain being caught on camera last night in room 8808 of the Hilton Hotel and subsequently signing a letter of guarantee at the police station? Is it possible that those were also forged?” The question was sharp and hit right at the core. The room instantly fell dead silent. Cold sweat beaded on Tyler’s forehead. He opened his mouth. “My friend from the press, your source of information is inaccurate…” “Whether the source is inaccurate or not, why don’t we ask Mrs. Smith to verify it?” The female reporter didn’t back down and turned her gaze to me. All the pressure, all the focus, instantly converged on me. I slowly raised my head, facing the dense crowd and the flashing cameras. “My relationship with my husband, Tyler, is indeed ‘stable’.” I said, enunciating every word. “Stable in the sense that there is a third party.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “392083”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

To allow the female lead to successfully conquer him, the system faked my death. When I opened my eyes again, six years had already passed. I stood on the street penniless. The male and female leads were already living happily ever after, while I had just escaped a massive fire, so disheveled I didn’t even have a single shoe. Feeling a bit lost, I sent a message to Arthur. “…Could you come pick me up?” A call came back very quickly. But the person speaking wasn’t Arthur. A child stayed silent for a moment, then said with deliberate coldness: “Oh, another one pretending to be my mom.” 1 But he still came. A kind-hearted passerby had told him my location. The breathing on the other end of the receiver hitched. The voice was soft and sweet, and he hung up abruptly. “Be there soon.” I returned the borrowed phone to the passerby and mouthed a silent “thank you.” When I was young, a high fever ruined my vocal cords. Since then, I hadn’t been able to speak a single word. Before long, a car stopped in front of me. A child jumped out of the car, his legs kicking the air. When he saw my face, his eyes flashed. With a cold little face, he quietly observed me for a moment. His gaze landed on the foot missing a shoe. Disheveled, dirty, covered in black soot. Because I had just escaped from a fire. When I opened my eyes again, I had time-traveled six years into the future. My fingers curled; I belatedly felt a sense of embarrassment. But I pretended not to care and used sign language to say: “I didn’t mean to disturb you.” “Could you lend me some money? I’ll leave right away.” Six years had passed, and the male and female leads were already living happily ever after. Even my child had changed his tune and was calling someone else “Mom.” Halfway through signing, I suddenly realized Leo didn’t understand sign language. I borrowed the driver’s phone, but just as I was about to type, Leo, looking unhappy, pulled me into the car. It was the evening rush hour. I thought he was angry because he heard the honking of the cars behind us urging us to move. He turned his head and stared out the window without speaking, so I had no choice but to show him the phone. Leo kept his little face straight and asked me very seriously: “How much money do you want?” I typed: “One thousand dollars.” Leo stared at those three words for a moment, then said uncertainly: “Ten million?” My vision went dark. I stared at him in disbelief and quickly waved my hands. Leo pursed his lips, his voice full of childish innocence: “Is that not enough?” “I don’t have that much money, but when we get home, I’ll ask Dad to give it to you.” I furiously tapped on the phone screen. But he pushed the phone I held in front of him away, his young voice sounding a bit muffled: “I don’t know a lot of characters. I can’t read it.” How many words does a six-year-old actually know? He clearly recognized a complex word like “borrow” just now, but now he couldn’t tell the difference between “thousand” and “million.” I gave up in frustration, but when I looked down, I saw that Leo’s shoes were on the wrong feet, and his socks were different colors. Was he in that much of a hurry to leave the house? I pursed my lips, feeling a bit sad, and reached out to point, wanting to let him know. But he seemed to misinterpret my intention. Tilting his head, he asked me: “Do you want to hold hands?” He scrunched up his face, acting as if it were a huge imposition, but he still reached his hand over. “Fine, I’ll reluctantly let you hold it for a little while.” 2 Arthur was like this when he was little too. Back then, I was living at his house. At first, no one thought much of me, the little mute girl. He had been kidnapped when he was young, and his parents both died in that incident. Mr. Vance, his grandfather, was worried he might develop trauma responses, so he had him pick a playmate in Capitol City. And out of a crowd of chattering kids his age, Arthur chose the clumsy, slow me. Consequently, the Hastings family rode his coattails to success. I only found out later that Arthur chose me that day because I was the quietest, not noisy. One stormy night, after I had been living invisibly in the Vance household for some time, the thunder woke me up. Then I heard a knock on the door. When I opened it, Arthur was standing there, clutching a blanket, his face tense. He enunciated every word: “Are you afraid of the thunder?” I looked blank and wanted to shake my head. But he pressed a hand to my head and said, a bit unnaturally: “Got it. Then I’ll reluctantly keep you company tonight.” …So stupid. Did he really think I couldn’t tell that he was the one who was scared? People who crave love usually have a hard time getting it. Just like how, as a child craving maternal love, I never once received my mother’s favoritism. The only time she praised me was the night I was chosen by Arthur. So, the Arthur who didn’t belong to me was destined to be separated from me. Six years ago, before that fire broke out, the female lead, Serena, had shown me her future with Arthur. It turned out I was just a vicious supporting character who accidentally had a messy one-night stand with the male lead, secretly gave birth to his child, and tried to use the child to extort a massive fortune. In that future, I died in a huge fire. After my death, the female lead saved the male lead, and years later, they lived happily ever after. Even my child accepted someone else as his new mother. After seeing that, I felt a bit lost. Was I really that bad in someone else’s story? Later, I actually found myself trapped in a massive fire. I only had time to pass the child through a narrow gap before I was completely blocked inside by the devouring flames. I inhaled a lungful of thick smoke, and when I opened my eyes again, I was six years in the future. I am a mute. I can’t say pleasant things, and I can’t say mean things either. I can’t even win an argument. If I hadn’t been truly desperate, with Arthur’s phone number being the only one I remembered… I thought we would never see each other again. But right now, I was starting to regret it. I never intended to return to the Vance family. In my expectations, Arthur would have unhesitatingly thrown money at me and told me to get lost. After all, in his eyes, that chaotic night was a trap set by the Hastings family and me. But things seemed to have deviated. I suddenly felt like I was sitting on pins and needles. I wanted to say I didn’t want the money anymore, I wanted to get out of the car. But Leo pushed the phone away, saying he couldn’t read it, and the driver kept his eyes glued to the road ahead. So I could only watch helplessly as the car drove into the Vance family’s underground garage. 3 To my relief, Arthur wasn’t home. The driver explained that he had gone abroad early this morning to negotiate a business deal and wouldn’t be back until next week. My phone was accidentally smashed during the fire. When I put my SIM card into a new phone and turned it on, a dense swarm of messages frantically poured in. The screen even froze for a second. I was startled. Messages from the service provider showed that a massive amount of credit had been added to my phone plan. And the other missed calls and unread messages mostly came from the same familiar number. I pursed my lips and clicked on them. Scrolling from top to bottom. [Chloe Hastings, sleep and run?] [I’m not angry. Come out, stop hiding.] This timestamp… it must have been during the few months when the Hastings family dragged me back and locked me in the attic, forcing me to secretly give birth to the child. At that time, my phone was confiscated, and I lost contact with everyone. […They said you died. I didn’t believe it.] [The Hastings family traded the child for those plots of land in the East District. I gave it to them.] [How much do I have to give for you to be willing to appear again?] [The child looks a lot like you.] [Today, someone scammed Leo out of $200 using your name.] [Idiot, if you don’t show up soon, your son is going to be kidnapped.] … The last message was from two years ago. [If you see this message, call me.] After that, silence. I figured this was probably the point where the female lead successfully saved Arthur. So Arthur finally gave up sending me messages. I lowered my eyelashes. My chest felt tight, almost suffocating, but I couldn’t explain why. Actually, I had seen it. While standing on the street waiting for Leo, I saw the advertisement on the giant mall screen. At that time, I stared blankly up and saw Serena endorsing a brand under the Vance Group. For some inexplicable reason, I cried. No matter how hard I wiped, I couldn’t dry my tears. It turns out it really isn’t true that you can’t live without someone. Now that they are happy and fulfilled, my appearance would only be an intrusion. Right then, I had just been about to leave, but Leo happened to appear in front of me. And through a series of mishaps, I got into the car and returned to the Vance household. I checked my bank account balance. I didn’t know if the Hastings family thought the meager amount in my account was beneath them, or if they truly didn’t care about me. After I “died” six years ago, they didn’t even cancel my registration. Clutching the reassuring balance, I planned to transfer the money for the phone and clothes to the Vance family staff to pass on. And then leave this place. …Since everyone was happy, I shouldn’t intrude anymore. Just as I pushed the door open. Leo, standing outside, instinctively took a step back, startled by me. He lifted his chin, using his childish voice to pretend he was asking casually: “Where are you going?” When I was in the room, I had downloaded a translation app in advance. I typed the words and played the audio out loud. “Thank you. I’m leaving now.” Time really is a magical thing. The infant who was wailing loudly in my arms just a few hours ago could now jump and skip in the blink of an eye. His eyes widened slightly, the rims suddenly turning red. Very nervously and frantically, he grabbed my hand and yelled loudly: “No! You still owe me money, you can’t leave!” All his previous feigned coldness was gone. I crouched down to look him in the eye. Very carefully, very cherishingly, I stroked his soft black hair. I had seen that future. In that future, everyone was happy. Leo had a perfect mother, and he grew up safe and happy. There was no calculating grandfather, nor a mute, unlikable mother. I pressed the play button, and the calm, mechanical voice echoed in the hallway. “I will transfer the money for the phone to you.” Leo glared at me, stubbornly clutching my hand and refusing to let go. Crying so hard he was gasping for air, he shook his head and said: “Not that one.” “You messaged me asking me to transfer $200 to you.” “That day after school, I sneaked out and waited for you on the pedestrian bridge for a long time.” “You lied to me. You never came.” His somewhat jumbled words reminded me of what Arthur had mentioned in the text message—someone had used my name to scam Leo out of $200. My eyes stung. I used my hand to wipe away the tears on Leo’s soft cheeks. If Serena came back and saw this, it would be bad. She was the new mother Leo liked; I absolutely couldn’t let my presence cause a rift between them. Maybe later, she and Arthur would have their own child, and she would have her own favorites, but the first one is always different. I didn’t want her to feel nothing but disgust and awkwardness whenever she saw Leo because of me. I wanted to leave before Serena came back. Just as I turned around, Leo threw himself at me and hugged one of my legs. I swallowed the sourness in my chest and looked down helplessly at the clinging, pestering Leo. But then, a rustling sound came from ahead. Sensing something, I looked up. Only to crash into a pair of pitch-black eyes. In the long hallway, someone stood travel-worn at the top of the stairs, his trench coat soaked by the heavy rain, his voice very hoarse. Arthur said: “…Chloe Hastings.” “How can you bully a child?” 4 I don’t know when the rain started falling outside the window. But I somewhat frantically pried Leo’s hands off me, then hurriedly looked behind Arthur. I didn’t see anyone else. Only then did I let out a sigh of relief. Leo clung to me again, hugging my leg while shouting at Arthur: “Dad, quickly give Mom ten million!” “If you give it to her, she won’t leave.” Me: “…?” Facing Arthur’s subtle gaze, I pursed my lips and couldn’t help but raise my hands to defend myself: “I didn’t.” “I originally only wanted to borrow one thousand. Leo doesn’t know sign language and can’t read, he misunderstood.” My hands moved flying fast, terrified he would misunderstand. Arthur clearly understood, but his expression paused, and he inexplicably let out a sneer, saying ambiguously: “Leo doesn’t understand sign language?” I felt the little hands gripping my pant leg suddenly tighten. But Arthur quickly glossed over the topic. He told the whining, clinging Leo to go back to his room first. Leo glared at him angrily: “Why should I?” “I’m the one who brought Mom back.” “And Mom sent me a text and called me. She came back because of me!” Even while arguing, he didn’t forget to show off. Arthur lowered his eyes, looked at him for a moment, and curled his lips mockingly: “If you hadn’t secretly swapped my SIM card again, would it have been your turn to pick her up?” He tried to pull Leo away, but couldn’t budge him. “How about this? You ask her yourself if she’ll let you go back to your room.” The next instant, two pairs of eyes shot toward me simultaneously. My scalp tingled. I instinctively looked away, hesitating for a moment: “…How about I just leave?” Arthur turned his head and, with a straight face, spewed complete nonsense to Leo: “See, she says it’s very late and you should be a good boy and go back to your room to sleep.” “You’re lying! She clearly—” Arthur cut him off: “Kids who don’t understand sign language shouldn’t make wild guesses.” Hearing this, Leo’s voice stopped abruptly. He pouted and looked at me pitifully, but ultimately didn’t say anything. Seeming to notice Leo’s reluctance, Arthur pulled me into the study and said to me concisely: “This stubborn kid won’t give up.” “Can you wait here for me for a bit?” Then, he crouched down in front of Leo and seemed to whisper something softly. Leo immediately quieted down. He sneaked a hesitant glance at me, then obediently let Arthur lead him away. The surroundings instantly went quiet. I snapped back to reality and heard the patter of rain coming from the half-open French windows in the study. The wind was strong, whipping the sheer curtains outward and making the papers on the desk flutter loudly. Worried the rain would mess up or get the documents wet, I walked over and closed the window. But as I turned around, I knocked a book off the shelf. A ten-dollar bill with a torn corner fell out from the title page. 5 Seeing that familiar ten-dollar bill, I froze. I felt like I had been transported back to that summer. By then, Arthur was no longer as cold to me as when we first met. I don’t know when it started, but he had secretly learned sign language. I even clearly remembered the first time he clumsily used sign language to tell me, “Got it.” His expression was still cold and casual. But he still managed to say stubbornly: “Waiting for you to write it down every time wastes too much of my time.” I smiled, my eyes curving, just about to reply “Thank you.” When the door was violently pushed open. “Who does Arthur think he is, always pulling a long face all day?!” “A bastard with no parents! He just does whatever he wants because of his family background, otherwise, who would bother sucking up to him!” “Wait until the old man kicks the bucket, let’s see if he can still be this arrogant!” Arthur’s expression remained indifferent until he heard his grandfather mentioned, at which point his face turned cold and his lips set in a hard line. The person seemed completely unaware of Arthur and me hidden in the corner behind layers of boxes. I recognized that voice; it was the youngest son of the Monroe family. Today was Grandpa Vance’s birthday banquet. Earlier at the banquet, Mark Monroe had offered a toast to Arthur, but Arthur didn’t drink. Instead, he swapped it for a glass of water, clinked glasses, and took a small sip. Mark’s face had looked terrible before he left, and now I knew the reason. But from my observation, Arthur hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol; even when he toasted his grandfather, he drank water. So Arthur wasn’t targeting him specifically. He was indiscriminately targeting everyone. Everyone knew Arthur had been cold and quiet since he was kidnapped as a child, and they were used to it. I don’t know how it became “pulling a long face” in his eyes. But after cursing Arthur, he started cursing me. “And that mute from the Hastings family too! I can never get her to come out; she avoids me like the plague.” “Just a broken mute. Does she really think she’s climbed the social ladder by being with the Vance family?” I felt Arthur lower his head, his gaze lingering on my face for a second. I slightly turned my head away, feeling inexplicably nervous, keeping my face straight and my lips pressed together. The people around Mark comforted him for a while and gave him ideas. For example, deliberately spilling wine on me later, or bribing a waiter to put wasabi in Arthur’s water to humiliate him in public, things like that. When Mark finally vented his anger and left, Arthur slowly walked out from the shadowed corner. Then he turned into the kitchen. He rummaged around, seemingly unsatisfied. Inexplicably, I just knew he was looking for wasabi. I walked past him and pulled a handful of chili peppers from a corner of the prep area. Then I signed to ask him: “There’s no wasabi.” “These peppers are very spicy. Is chili water okay?” Arthur lowered his eyelids to look at me, reached out to take the peppers, and gave a lazy “Hmm.” He summoned two waiters, whispered a few instructions, and then took me to the railing on the second floor. That was probably the liveliest scene of the night. While toasting with his elders, Mark spat everything out with a “Pfft,” knocking over the champagne tower next to him and getting drenched in alcohol. The Monroe elders lost all face, apologizing profusely while publicly scolding him, chewing him out completely. Thoroughly humiliated, Mark seemed to sense something, looked up, and finally saw us watching the whole thing from the second-floor railing. Arthur tilted his head slightly, raised an eyebrow, lifted the glass of water in his hand in a distant toast. And mouthed, word by word: “Now this is doing whatever I want.” The petty squabbles between the younger generation naturally couldn’t be hidden from Grandpa Vance. Arthur could afford to be reckless, but I couldn’t. Perhaps acting on Grandpa Vance’s instructions, my mother, who had dumped me at the Vance household for years, unprecedentedly told me to go home with her that night. Seeing the birthday banquet coming to an end, I hesitated for a moment and apologized to Arthur: “I’m sorry, I might not be able to come to the Vance house to keep you company anymore.” My mother’s expression had been very grim earlier, and I suspected Grandpa Vance had kicked me out. Arthur clearly understood the underlying implications. He said dismissively: “If you don’t want to go back, then don’t. No one here is kicking you out.” Seeing me still hanging my head dejectedly, he pulled me into the security room and showed me the footage of the kitchen and hallway. Only then did I realize the footage of us secretly doing bad things earlier had already been replaced. He copied the footage of Mark cursing and plotting onto a USB drive and signaled me to hold out my hand. “If he bothers you again, just throw this footage in his face.” He paused for a second, then said: “You’re going to stay with me until ten o’clock later.” “Believe it or not, even if the Hastings family’s car leaves, no one will come to kick you out tonight.” Arthur stayed with me on the rooftop feeding mosquitoes until ten o’clock. I saw the Hastings family’s car actually leave, and before leaving, my mother even gave me a very gentle, gratified smile. I was overwhelmed by the unexpected favor. I was very grateful to Arthur. I felt like the relationship between us was somewhat different now. Although helping me get revenge was just something he did in passing, he solved my problem and stayed with me on the rooftop to feed mosquitoes. This kind of thing was something only friends would do. So I used sign language, unable to resist asking: “Are we friends now?” “No.” Was being Arthur’s friend really that hard? I was a bit disappointed, but not too sad. After all, Arthur had always been aloof and hard to please. If not this time, I would just try harder next time. But the next moment, I heard Arthur say slowly: “It’s a tighter, unbreakable relationship of accomplices.” I widened my eyes slightly, staring blankly at him, inexplicably feeling that the relationship he described was much more important than just being ordinary friends. He suddenly spoke, his voice scattering in the wind: “Do you have any money on you?” I rummaged for a long time and finally pulled out a crumpled, torn ten-dollar bill from my pocket. Arthur accepted it unhurriedly. His shadow, cast on the ground by the moonlight, leaned toward me. “Now, I owe you ten dollars. You are my creditor.” “So, in the future, if you encounter trouble, or run into something you don’t want to do, or someone you don’t want to see, you can always come to me to collect the debt, understand?” Seeing me spacing out, Arthur surprisingly didn’t get angry, but patiently repeated: “Got it?” I nodded hastily and promised him: “Don’t worry, I won’t forget it for the rest of my life.” Perhaps there were a few more similar earnest instructions like tonight’s later on. I went from being cautious at first to proactively “collecting debts” from Arthur over trivial matters later. When I encountered difficulties, I no longer suffered in silence alone. It had been ingrained into a conditioned reflex by him. So much so that when I was trapped in the massive fire, opened my eyes, and found myself transported six years into the future— At that moment, standing on the bustling street, looking at the unfamiliar world, my mind was blank, and only panic remained. Yet even so, it never crossed my mind to contact my mother and return to the Hastings family. Instead, I instinctively borrowed a phone from a passerby. And sent a message to Arthur: “I am Chloe Hastings.” I immediately typed the second half, hitting send without hesitation. “…Can you come pick me up?” 6 I picked up the ten-dollar bill that had fallen from the book. The wrinkles on the bill had long been pressed flat by the pages, leaving only the exact same torn corner from back then. I never thought Arthur would still keep it. The study door behind me was pushed open at that moment. I turned around and saw Arthur. It hadn’t even been two minutes since he led Leo back to his room. His gaze landed on the ten-dollar bill in my hand, and he asked: “Are you ready to collect your debt from me now?” I didn’t follow his lead, but instead asked him: “Is my household registration still active?” Arthur said: “Yes, when the Hastings family tried to cancel it back then, I stopped them and forced them to change it to missing.” I breathed a sigh of relief. That’s good. At least I wasn’t undocumented now; I could still go out and look for a job. Otherwise, my savings would eventually run out. So, I solemnly held up the ten-dollar bill and signed: “I want to collect the debt.” Arthur adopted a listening posture. “Give me an umbrella.” The rain outside was heavy. I used the original ten dollars to finally exchange it for an umbrella. “Only this?” I nodded. Only this. I carefully folded the ten-dollar bill, intending to tuck it away in my pocket. This would be the last time I used this bill to collect a debt from Arthur. I remembered the feeling of standing under the giant screen, looking up at that advertisement and inexplicably shedding tears. It felt like seeing a beautiful, unattainable dream. If everyone could be happy, that would be great. From now on, there would be no more vicious supporting characters showing up to disrupt things. Taking back this old bill meant Arthur and I were completely even. But Arthur effortlessly slipped the ten dollars from my hand, tucked it back into the book, and placed it on a higher shelf. I was stunned. Me: “…What are you doing with my money?” Arthur lifted his eyelids to look at me, saying with utmost conviction: “I owe you money. You asked me for an umbrella, so this ten dollars belongs to me now.” “Chloe, if you take both, isn’t that a bit too greedy?” That seemed correct. But this way, the final interpretation rights of the ten-dollar debt would always be in Arthur’s hands. The entanglement between us would never end. Caught in Arthur’s logic, I pursed my lips, stood on my tiptoes, and reached up to grab it. “Then just give me the money. I don’t want the umbrella.” Arthur pressed down on my hand resting on the book cover, and as I lost my balance, he gently supported my waist. Our eyes met, mere inches apart. “Then consider it me borrowing another ten dollars from you.” “This time, what do you want me to do?” He added: “Anything is fine. Even if you want to live in the Vance house forever, that’s fine too.” His tone was coaxing. But I understood his implication. I scrambled out of his embrace in a panic, feeling a bit angry at his unreasonable pestering. Six years had passed, and Arthur seemed to have gone bad. After he and the female lead achieved their happy ending, he still came to pester me. Did he want me to be his mistress? I gave him a very condemning look and refused without hesitation: “No.” Arthur paused upon hearing this. His expression was flat, revealing nothing, but his tone carried a hint of regret: “Alright.” He actually dared to feel regret? I thought, feeling a bit sad and sorrowful. I never expected the Arthur six years later to be like this. Not only had he gone bad, but he also lied to kids. I started bringing up the past. “Why did you just translate my sign language however you wanted to deceive Leo?” “A six-year-old child is already sensible. If you talk to him properly, he will understand.” At that time, I said I was leaving, but he told Leo I said to go back to his room and sleep. If Leo woke up the next day, saw an empty room, and realized he had been lied to, wouldn’t he be heartbroken? “Translate however I wanted?” Arthur let out a low laugh, meaning unclear: “You don’t seriously think Leo doesn’t understand sign language, do you?” I was taken aback by his question, just inexplicably recalling Leo’s tense and bizarre reaction in the hallway. Arthur said slowly: “A kid who slept hugging a sign language book when he could barely speak… A person who, relying on the fact that others couldn’t understand, used sign language to mock other kids in kindergarten when they had conflicts, eventually starting a fight and getting his parents called in—” “Do you think he doesn’t understand sign language?” I was dumbfounded. So, Leo was angry when he came to pick me up, not because of the impatient honking of the traffic jam. But because he understood that I meant I would leave immediately, and that’s why he was angry? But I felt something was off. Whether it was Arthur’s tone of voice or Leo’s eager attitude to be close to me, it all felt very strange. Could it be that after six years, the male and female leads were only keeping up appearances, and their relationship had fallen apart? After all, it was so late, and Serena still hadn’t come home. I pursed my lips, deciding to test the waters. “Don’t worry. After so many years, I’ve long since moved on.” “I won’t disturb you and Serena.” Arthur frowned slightly, visibly stunned. “What does she have to do with this?” But he quickly reacted, as if my previous desperate attempts to escape had finally been explained. “You don’t seriously think there’s something between her and me, do you?” Arthur lowered his eyelids and fished a watch out of his pocket. He hadn’t had time to switch his SIM card back; that smartwatch belonged to Leo. “You said you’ve moved on. Fine.” He pulled up a text message and held it in front of me. “If you really didn’t like me anymore, didn’t care anymore, why would you send me a message like this?” A familiar block of text appeared on the small screen, casting shadows in the light. My breath hitched. There could be no one more familiar with this text than me. That text message that failed to send in the massive fire six years ago— The him of today, had received it.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “392104”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I secretly dated the boy next door for six years, and we were finally planning to go public. I was happily preparing a family dinner, hoping to surprise him, when I overheard a familiar voice coming from next door. “Ethan, your innocent first love is coming back. What are you going to do about the backup sister?” He didn’t say anything. As the silence stretched, another friend laughed: “I gotta say, Ethan’s got some serious charm. Even the Vance family heiress fell for him. He’s been enjoying all the perks of a devoted ‘little puppy’ for six years.” “Mia, that innocent little flower, she wants to wrap you around her finger the second she gets back. She even invited you to celebrate her birthday. If you show up with your backup sister, do you think she’ll regret leaving you?” … The next day, Ethan actually brought me to Mia’s birthday party, putting on a huge show of how deeply in love we were. But when Mia ran out crying, he shoved me aside and frantically chased after her. I went home covered in spilled wine and bruises, and climbed up to the attic he never allowed me to enter. The entire wall was plastered with photos of him and Mia! My heart turned to ash. I called my brother, who was living abroad. “Matt, I’ve thought about the arranged marriage. I agree to it!” 1. “Chloe, is everything okay?” The line was quiet for three seconds before my brother’s familiar, worried voice came through. A wave of warmth rushed over my heart, my nose stung, and I almost burst into tears. “What could possibly be wrong? It’s just… I saw the neighbor’s dog just had her second litter of puppies, and I’m still single. It’s not fair.” My brother burst out laughing, his tone lightening significantly: “Very ambitious of you!” “Wait, isn’t your neighbor Ethan Sterling? He’s been terrified of dogs since he was a kid. He has a dog now?” I was suddenly speechless, not expecting my brother to have such a good memory. Thankfully, he didn’t press the issue and got back to the point: “So, when are you coming back? Or do you want to meet him first before making a final decision?” I quickly replied: “No need. I trust you and Dad’s judgment. You guys start planning the wedding; I’ll finish things up here and head back immediately.” “Alright.” “Are you going to invite Ethan to the wedding? I heard his ‘innocent little flower’ is back. He might just end up getting married right after you.” So, everyone knew he was waiting for his innocent little flower. I was the only one kept entirely in the dark. I lowered my head, fighting back the sting in my eyes. “I’m not inviting him. We had a massive falling out.” My brother paused, instinctively asking, “Why?” “Because of their dog.” Just as I finished the sentence, I heard a noise at the door. I quickly hung up the phone. When I looked up, I met Ethan’s smiling eyes. “What dog? Who were you talking to?” “My brother. We were talking about your dog.” “I don’t have a dog.” Realizing I was taking a jab at him, Ethan didn’t get mad. Instead, he laughed and tackled me onto the sofa. “If I’m a dog, then what are you, huh? My little puppy?” I tried to push him away, but he grabbed my hand and pulled it toward his waist. “Isn’t this the ‘dog waist’ you like so much?” He leaned in closer, his breath brushing against my nose, almost kissing my lips. This level of intimacy used to make my heart race and my face flush. Now, it only made me feel uncomfortable and resistant. As I struggled against him, a clear row of teeth marks on his collarbone was revealed. I don’t know what scraped against the cuts on my leg, but it felt like they were being torn open again. The sharp pain made tears fall uncontrollably. Seeing me cry, Ethan immediately panicked. “What’s wrong, Chloe? Did I hurt you?” He helped me sit up and looked me up and down. Finally, he noticed the several bleeding cuts on my calf. His voice began to tremble with heartache. “How did this happen? How did you get so many cuts? Why didn’t you call me?” He seemed to have completely forgotten what happened at the birthday party. I stayed silent, unsure if I should remind him and rip off his mask of deep devotion. “Be a good girl, stop crying. I’ll put some medicine on it.” He kissed my forehead and got up to fetch the first aid kit. “You’re so bad at taking care of yourself. What would you do without me?” I stared blankly at his back. Yeah, what would I do without him? I chased after him for twenty-two years, and for the last six, we were inseparable. But Ethan, what I wanted was never a fake dream or a fake you! 2 I couldn’t sleep. Jolting awake from a nightmare in the middle of the night, I slipped out of Ethan’s arms and sat barefoot on the bay window, watching the moon. I must have dozed off at some point, because I woke up with a start when Ethan picked me up in the morning. He smiled helplessly: “Why are you sitting on the windowsill instead of sleeping in bed? And you’re not even wearing enough.” Before he even finished his sentence, his expression drastically changed. “Why are you burning up?” I felt groggy, my brain like mush, and I didn’t want to talk. I let his palm rest on my forehead, bringing a cool, comforting touch. His handsome brows furrowed. He wrapped me in a blanket and silently started changing my clothes, maneuvering my limbs to get me dressed. I weakly raised a hand to push him away. “I can do it myself. Just… just get me a cold towel.” It felt like my tongue was tied in knots as I spoke. Ethan effortlessly swatted my hand away. “I’ve dressed you so many times before. Why are you suddenly shy now that you’re sick?” After forcefully getting me dressed, he carried me to the car. While we were waiting in line to register at the hospital, Mia walked in from outside, her eyes red. She locked eyes with Ethan and stood there, speechless and tearing up. “Ethan…” Ethan’s face shifted. He immediately stepped out of line, grabbed her shoulders, and asked nervously, “Where does it hurt?” “I… I was being clumsy. I burned myself making porridge.” She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a red, swollen patch on her arm. Ethan’s eyes instantly reddened. He gently lifted her arm and blew on it carefully. “Don’t do this kind of rough work anymore. Tell me whatever you want to eat.” Mia nodded, breaking into a smile through her tears. “Ethan, you’re the only one who treats me this well.” Ethan raised a hand and ruffled her hair. “Silly, if I don’t treat you well, who will?” Mia smiled coyly, her gaze sweeping past me sitting on the bench. But Ethan seemed to have completely forgotten about me. He registered for Mia, fussed over her, and never once looked back at me until they left. See, this is the difference between the backup and the main character. No matter how deeply devoted he acted, the moment Mia appeared, my role as the understudy vanished into thin air. I let out a bitter laugh, forced my heavy body to stand up, registered myself, and headed to the outpatient clinic. My fever was too high; I needed an IV drip to bring it down. Fighting off dizziness, I went to get my medication alone, then headed to the IV area. I was so exhausted during the drip that I fell asleep. I don’t know how long I slept, but I was shaken awake by a little kid next to me. “Miss, why isn’t your boyfriend here with you? Your blood started backing up into the tube while you were asleep. My mom called the nurse for you. But we have to leave now, and it’s dangerous for you not to have anyone watching.” I gratefully thanked the kid and his mom, then forced myself to stay awake and watch the IV bag. It was already afternoon by the time the IV finished. Ethan still hadn’t looked for me, not even a single phone call. I stood up, planning to go home by myself, but fell back into the chair, dizzy and weak. Left with no choice, I dialed Ethan’s number. Hearing that I was still at the hospital, he froze for a long time. “I’m sorry, Chloe. Mia was in so much pain, and she couldn’t stand the smell of the hospital, so I thought I’d drop her off and then immediately come find you…” Before he could finish, Mia’s sweet voice came through the receiver. “Ethan, is it done yet? I’m so hungry~” Even though Ethan immediately covered the receiver, her clear words still reached my ears. “Chloe, it’s not what you think. Head home first, and I’ll explain everything later.” I curled my lip, not really caring to hear his “explanation.” His so-called explanations were nothing but endless lies. I said: “It’s fine, Ethan. I can manage on my own.” There’s no one in this world who can’t survive losing someone else. Especially Chloe Vance losing Ethan Sterling! I hung up, hired a courier to help me, and safely made it back home. That night, Ethan didn’t come home like he promised. Late at night, while my boss had me working on an urgent file, my phone suddenly chimed. I checked it and saw that Ethan had shared one of Mia’s posts. It was a picture of their shadows leaning intimately against each other, accompanied by a sentimental caption. [Who says no one will wait for you where you left them? The person who truly cares about you is the one who, no matter how far you go, will always be there when you look back!] I was just about to click “like” when I noticed the post had been deleted. However, the next moment, a notification popped up on my alternate account. He had reposted it. He blocked my main account when posting but forgot I had him added on my alt. I smiled and unfollowed him on both accounts. 3 That night, without Ethan, I actually slept incredibly well and woke up feeling much better. I arrived at the office right on time and handed my resignation letter to the director. She was very reluctant to see me go, but knowing I was going back to get married, she could only helplessly offer her blessings and a hug. After I finished handing over my work, my colleagues, who had just been sad to see me go, started clamoring for me to treat them to a farewell dinner now that they knew I was leaving to get married. Of course, I didn’t refuse. I booked a restaurant and a karaoke room. I don’t know if Mia and I were bound by some twisted fate, but I actually ran into her again when I went to the restroom during karaoke. Meeting my surprised expression, Mia seemed much more composed. “What a coincidence. You’re here to play too, Chloe?” I gave her a polite smile. I didn’t think we had anything to talk about, so I turned to walk back to my private room. But she didn’t seem to share the sentiment and sidestepped to block my path again. “You seem to really dislike me, Chloe. Why? We have so much in common. You even dip your beef in vinegar, just like me.” Her words made me turn my head slightly to look at her. I had always wondered why Ethan insisted on dipping beef in vinegar for me every time. He had explained that it tasted better that way, but I could never get used to it. Looking back now, that was just an excuse. The vinegar dipping was just him projecting his habits with Mia onto me. My stomach churned with acid; I felt nauseous enough to throw up. But Mia kept talking. “Besides, don’t you think we look very similar, Chloe?” That one sentence completely destroyed all my defenses. The strength and dignity I had forced myself to maintain crumbled in an instant. “Is that so? What a coincidence. I have things to do, so I won’t keep you company.” I shoved past her shoulder and fled. Back in the private room, feeling my hands and feet turn icy cold, I downed a glass of liquor just to feel warm again. My colleagues were cheering for me to sing a song. Just as I was about to pick one, the door was violently thrown open. Ethan stood in the doorway. He stared at the packed room for a few seconds before his furious eyes locked onto me. I was about to ask him what was wrong when he crossed the room in three strides, grabbed me by the neck, and roared, “Who was the guy you brought with you?!” I had never seen him look so ferocious. I trembled slightly. “What guy? What are you talking about?” Ethan’s eyes were bloodshot. Even as my colleagues surrounded him, pulling at him, he didn’t loosen his grip in the slightest. “The guy you brought into the restroom to assault Mia! Tell me, who is he?!” As it became harder and harder to breathe, I slapped Ethan hard across the face. Shocked, he let go, but the suppressed rage radiating from him only grew thicker. Protected by my colleagues, I slumped onto the sofa, coughing for a long time before I found my normal voice again. “Ethan, have you gone crazy?! How could I possibly bring a man into the restroom and assault Mia?!” “If it wasn’t you, then who was it?! You were mad that I left you at the hospital for her, mad that I didn’t come home for two days to take care of her, so you orchestrated this revenge! How can you be so venomous?!” My heart ached bitterly. I offered a sad smile and nodded. “Since you’re already so convinced it was me, why didn’t you call the police?” Ethan pressed his lips tightly together. The disappointment in his eyes pierced me inch by inch. “You were so brazen because you knew I wouldn’t call the police, didn’t you?” I met his gaze, the mockery and derision in my heart roaring loudly. He’s ready to strangle me to death; what wouldn’t he dare do? He suddenly grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the room. My colleagues stepped in front of us to block him. I gratefully shook my head at them. “I’m sorry. My personal issues are ruining the mood. You guys keep playing; I’ll be right back.” Only then did my colleagues step aside. Ethan dragged me into another private room. Inside, Mia was huddled on the sofa, wrapped in Ethan’s jacket, shivering, while several of his close friends surrounded her, trying to comfort her. Ethan threw me in front of Mia and commanded sharply: “Apologize to Mia.” “You should be glad Mia wasn’t seriously hurt today. Otherwise, I would absolutely make you pay the price.” My knee slammed into the corner of the sofa, and I hissed in pain. Mia, tears shining in the corners of her eyes, shook her head repeatedly. “Ethan, let it go. It’s not Chloe’s fault. I was just unlucky.” Having said that, she let out low, whimpering sobs, like a pathetic kitten, making everyone feel sorry for her. But what did I do wrong? I chuckled softly and stood up from the floor. “I’m really curious, Ethan.” “As the old saying goes, ‘catch the thief with the loot.’ You’re concluding that I hurt Mia based entirely on your own words. Sorry, but I won’t accept the blame, and I don’t have time to play along with this farce. If you bother me again, I’m calling the police.” 4 Twenty-two years of being childhood friends, I thought my character needed no proving in Ethan’s eyes. However, in front of Mia, twenty-two years meant absolutely nothing. His bias and favoritism were so blatantly obvious, and I… I was nothing but a stand-in in this game of love! I didn’t go back to my colleagues’ room. I paid the bill at the front desk, apologized to everyone in the group chat, and said my goodbyes. When I got home, I collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted. In a daze, I remembered six years ago when a drunk Ethan begged me to take him in. I helped him onto the sofa in the living room and stared blankly at his sharply defined, handsome face. I don’t know how long I watched him before he suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze was burning, trapping me like a ring of fire. “Do you like me?” Hearing his question, I nodded as if possessed. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He yanked me toward him, grabbed the back of my head, and kissed me passionately. From that day on, I became his girlfriend in everything but name. I had heard of Mia, but I had never met her. When Ethan and she were dating, I was a junior in college, getting tortured half to death by my thesis. By the time I finally had some free time, their story had already reached the “abandoned by love” phase. I thought I was the medicine that healed his broken heart, but looking back now, those six years were nothing but a joke. The next day, I hired a moving company to pack everything into boxes. Ethan didn’t have much stuff here. His house was right next door. Because he found it troublesome, he didn’t move everything over when we started living together; he only brought over his daily necessities. Now, returning his things only took one small cardboard box. I opened the front door to his house, retrieved all the photos of me and the little couple’s trinkets I had given him, and left the key on the table. As for my belongings and some old items in the apartment, I packed them all up and shipped them abroad. After doing all this, as the real estate agent was conducting the final walkthrough, I finally remembered that Ethan still had a key. I called him, but he hung up on me time and time again. Finally, he sent a text: [Unless it’s an apology and reflection on what you did, I don’t want to hear another word from you right now.] Speechless, I simply hired a locksmith to change the lock. After handing over the apartment, I took my suitcase early the next morning and boarded the plane leaving the country. Leaving the home I had once been so attached to, I felt incredibly light and free. Just before boarding, my phone received numerous birthday wishes. My friends wished me a bright future, peace, happiness, and a beautiful marriage! I replied to them one by one, then turned off my phone. As the plane took off, I thought to myself: With so many blessings, I will definitely be happy! 5 When the plane landed, it was the dead of night in London. I dragged my suitcase out of the airport and immediately spotted my family waiting anxiously. “Dad, Mom, Matt.” My brother seamlessly took my suitcase, allowing me to run straight into my mother’s arms unimpeded. It feels so good to hug my family again! I hugged my mom tightly, tears nearly springing to my eyes. “It’s so good you’re back. I missed you so much.” My mom patted my back gently, making my guilt grow even heavier. Nine years ago, driven by that hazy infatuation in my heart, I ignored my parents’ advice and insisted on staying in Shanghai for college. Though they were helpless, they couldn’t bear to force me and ultimately let me stay. I never expected that separation to last nine years. I only ever went home for brief visits during Christmas. Making them endure the agony of missing me for nine years… I was truly an unfilial daughter! “Mom, I’m never leaving again. I’m going to stay right here with you and Dad.” My mom and dad looked at each other and smiled: “That’s wonderful! Your dad and I have been waiting for the day our family would finally be reunited.” Laughing and chatting, I took my dad’s arm with one hand and my mom’s with the other as we walked out of the airport. Meanwhile, back at Ethan’s house, the situation was completely different. He sat on the floor, having an emotional breakdown, repeatedly dialing my number. Every year for my birthday, Ethan would order a custom bracelet from Stars well in advance, and on the day of my birthday, he would get a reminder to pick it up. This year was no exception. When he received the call, he suddenly realized today was my birthday. But looking at his phone, he suddenly realized I hadn’t initiated contact with him a single time recently. Not even today. He felt as if something had drained from his heart, leaving his chest tight and uncomfortable. After thinking it over, he sent me a message. [Since it’s your birthday, I’ll let this go. As long as you say sorry to Mia, we can consider this matter closed.] When he sent the message, a glaring red exclamation point appeared next to it. The pop-up notification on the screen made his eyes widen in disbelief. [Sorry, you are not friends with this user. Please add them as a friend first.] This time, Ethan was truly angry. He furiously dialed my number, but only heard the prompt that my phone was turned off. After calling over a dozen times, the panic in his heart grew larger and larger. Finally, unable to bear it anymore, he ignored Mia’s attempts to stop him, floored the gas pedal, and sped home as fast as he could. When he arrived at my door, he found that his key no longer opened it. He couldn’t understand why I was throwing such a massive tantrum this time. Clearly, I was the one in the wrong. He kept banging on my front door, but the people who opened it were a newlywed couple. He returned to his own home in defeat, only to realize he couldn’t find a single item related to me anymore. Even our one pair of matching mugs and slippers had vanished without a trace. And those little trinkets I had given him over the years—he couldn’t find a single one either. He deeply regretted not properly storing those small items. Mia rushed over and tried to comfort him: “Sister Chloe is probably just upset and went out to clear her head. She’ll be back once she cools down.” He shook his head in agony. “You don’t understand her. She’s never been one to do things without considering the consequences.” As soon as he said that, he froze himself. The events at the karaoke bar flashed through his mind. He stared at Mia with a dark, intense look, as if trying to see right through her. “That day at karaoke, are you sure it was Chloe who brought that man in to assault you?” Mia shuddered. “I never said it was Chloe! I only said that right after Chloe left, that man came in. I…” “Get out!” Before she could finish, the man roared at her. As Mia ran out of the house crying, Ethan suddenly smashed his phone and violently slapped himself twice across the face. 6 I knew nothing about what was happening in Shanghai. Perhaps due to the insomnia from the previous few days, I didn’t even suffer from jet lag and slept straight through until the sun was high in the sky. As soon as I came downstairs, I was greeted by my family enthusiastically wishing me a happy birthday! Holding my gifts, my entire heart felt stuffed full of happiness. After breakfast, feeling bored and lazy, I crouched in the plaza watching some kids skateboard. It looked so fun that I borrowed a skateboard from a little girl to try it out. Unfortunately, I pushed off too hard and almost went flying. Just as I was about to fall, a pair of strong arms caught me securely. “Thank you!” When I looked up, I was stunned by an incredibly handsome face. He had very Eastern features, but with a pair of light blue eyes. This combination made him far more handsome than any male celebrity I had ever seen. “Want to learn how to skateboard?” He tilted his head slightly toward me, offering a gentle smile that naturally made people feel at ease. I couldn’t help but nod. With that, he steadied me. Using his toe, he expertly flicked the skateboard up and helped me onto it. I thought he was going to teach me how to glide, but the next moment, he stepped onto the board as well. With a single push, the skateboard started moving. Under his guidance, we even performed two simple tricks on the board, drawing applause from the kids around us! By the time we stopped, my face was bright red. It was my first time being so close to a stranger. No wonder people say foreign cultures are more open. While I was feeling awkward, my brother ran over from a distance. He looked at him, then looked at me. “You two seem to hit it off. You got familiar fast.” “Huh?” Before I could react, the man held his hand out to me and introduced himself. “Miles Sterling. Nice to meet you. I hope I didn’t leave a bad first impression on Ms. Vance.” I looked at him in surprise, not expecting him to be Miles Sterling, my prospective fiancé. While I was zoning out, my brother suddenly winked at me. “He’s still holding his hand out.” Embarrassed, I quickly reached out and shook his hand. “Hello, Chloe Vance.” He didn’t mind my awkwardness at all and continued, “What do you want to do for your birthday today? Amusement park, shopping, or a movie?” His composure instantly made me feel a little less stiff. “Anything is fine.” He thought for a moment. “Hmm, then I’ll arrange the schedule. If we do all of them, we might get home a little late.” I was a bit stunned. Is that what “anything is fine” meant to him? But I truly hadn’t relaxed in a long time, so I didn’t correct his interpretation. When we went to the amusement park, my brother shamelessly insisted on tagging along. Not only that, but he also brought a whole bunch of his friends. This loud, rowdy group swarmed through the amusement park like a plague of locusts. Miles stayed by my side the entire time, carefully looking out for me. It didn’t take long for me to realize that this group seemed terrified of Miles. One look from him, and they immediately kept their distance. After playing for two hours, Miles seemed to notice I was losing interest, so he took me and ditched the rest of the group. After lunch, we went to see a movie. I don’t know if we just had bad luck, but a bratty kid sat behind me and kept kicking my seat the entire movie. At first, Miles very politely asked the parent to control their child. But the parent just let it go in one ear and out the other, completely ignoring him. A cold smirk appeared on the corner of Miles’s mouth. A few minutes later, he suddenly waved at the empty air. Two minutes after that, he moved to the row behind us, sitting two seats away from the kid, and started continuously chatting with the empty seat next to him. I don’t know what he talked about, but less than five minutes later, the kid burst out crying and absolutely refused to stay in the theater with his mom any longer. I spent the whole time trying to suppress my laughter, completely unable to focus on the movie. When Miles walked back to his seat, he adjusted his jacket and whispered to me, “Laugh if you want to. Don’t hold it in.” I mouthed one word to him. “Legend.” By the time we finished shopping, it was completely dark outside. I thought Miles was going to take me home, but instead, he drove me to the beach. My brother and his friends had set up barbecue grills and tents on the sand. We all crowded together, talking and laughing. When the moon was at its highest, they brought out rows of fireworks and eagerly lit them. The fireworks bloomed, filling the sky with brilliance. My brother patted my head. “Make a wish. Miles said a cake was too cliché. Fireworks are perfect—grand, and closest to the stars.” I turned to look at Miles, gave him a grateful smile, then closed my eyes and made a wish to the sky.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “391827”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

The “engagement dinner” had just ended, and my boyfriend made it Instagram official. I zoomed in on the photo, only to find my wrist sporting a thick, gold Cartier-style bracelet, a heavy diamond necklace resting against my collarbone, and massive diamond studs edited onto my ears. His caption read: [Even with flawless diamonds hitting record highs today, I still want to give you the absolute best.] The comments section was blowing up. Our friends were universally praising him as the ultimate provider, a good man who spent every last dime spoiling his girl. A few minutes later, my boyfriend replied to a thread: [🐶😊 Chloe is my future wife, of course I’m going to spoil her rotten! You know what they say: Happy wife, happy life. Treat your queen right, and the universe rewards you with success.] I looked down at my bare, empty wrist. Suddenly, I was wide awake. 1 “Babe, you are so fake for this! How are you going to get engaged and not even tell me?” I had barely stepped into my apartment when my best friend, Sarah, called. I accidentally tapped the speakerphone button, and her teasing voice echoed through the room: “Gotta hand it to Liam, though. He’s got serious cash to drop on you. That diamond necklace? And those earrings? Absolutely blinded me.” “What diamonds?” This year’s New York winter was especially brutal. Coming inside to the blasting radiator heat made my face feel hot and tight. “Liam’s Instagram post! He’s in the comments talking about ‘happy wife, happy life.’ Honestly, locking you down is the best move he’s ever made.” With stiff fingers, I opened Instagram. The very first post on my feed was Liam’s official announcement. In the photo, my neck and ears were sparkling, not to mention the heavy gold bangle that looked at least an inch thick on my wrist. Gold and diamond prices had been skyrocketing lately. Coupled with Liam’s caption about giving me the best despite the market, it had drawn everyone’s attention. Liam and I had been together since college, and we shared a lot of mutual friends. I swiped through the comments, but there were too many to read. The ones that stung the most were from his old fraternity brothers. Brother A: [Yooo, so this is what it takes to lock down Chloe? She doesn’t come cheap!] Brother B: [Congrats, man! Third time dropping a bag on a proposal and you finally got her to say yes.] Brother C: [My guy is moving up in the world! When are you bringing the future Mrs. out to buy the boys dinner? We don’t ask for much, just keep it to the standard of that engagement ring.] “Babe? Chloe?!” Sarah seemed to sense something was wrong through my prolonged silence. She asked tentatively, “What’s wrong?” I looked down at my empty wrist. My eyes stung. “Tonight wasn’t an engagement dinner…” Right then, a text from Liam popped up. My screen vibrated, and I saw his hesitant message: [Babe, you home yet?] [My parents are coming to the city for Thanksgiving. They want to meet your parents. Is that cool?] [Also… jewelry is just so overpriced right now. Let’s skip the expensive engagement rings when we actually get married. That stuff costs as much as a Manhattan rent deposit, it’s really not worth it…] Staring at his rambling texts, my patience finally snapped. [Then what is the meaning of that Instagram post?] [We literally just had a normal dinner tonight. Why did you tell everyone we’re engaged?] [And the diamond necklace? The Cartier bracelet? What is going on?] The typing bubble at the top of the screen appeared and disappeared. After a long time, he finally replied, defensive and irritated. [Yeah, I used an AI app to Photoshop the jewelry on you.] [I just wanted to look good in front of my frat brothers and coworkers. Is that a crime?!] [Sarah heavily edits and filters her selfies all the time. I just Photoshopped some jewelry. Why are you blowing this out of proportion?] Blowing it out of proportion? Never mind the fact that Liam and I worked at the same tech firm. Dozens of our coworkers and managers were on his Instagram. He knew perfectly well that after the holidays, I was up for a critical promotion to management. The company never said it out loud, but the unspoken rule was that they frowned upon promoting women who were about to get married or go on maternity leave. The corporate ladder was already hostile enough for women, and he had just thrown a massive, unnecessary roadblock in my path. More importantly—I hadn’t even said yes to marrying him! On the phone, Sarah suddenly gasped. “Holy crap!” “Chloe! Liam is in the comments saying you guys are trying for a baby! Is that true?!” I refreshed the page, only to find that Liam had restricted my account. I couldn’t see the post anymore. 2 Liam and I had been together for five years. We started dating in the spring of our junior year. When we got together, he asked me repeatedly if I minded that he came from a poor farming town in the Midwest, that he was broke, and that he was drowning in student loans. Back then, I just smiled like an idiot. I thought I had hit the jackpot. Liam was poor, but he was brilliant. We constantly fought for the top spot on the Dean’s List. His roommates told me he was meticulous and scrubbed their dorm clean every weekend. Plus, he was gorgeous. He had sharp, striking features and stood at a solid six-foot-two. That same year, my dad’s business went under. I was too embarrassed to ask my parents for an allowance, so I took a job serving food in the campus dining hall. Even wearing a hairnet and mask, feeling the stares of classmates I knew made my face burn with shame. One day, an arrogant pre-med student—a guy I regularly beat in exams—stood on the other side of the glass sneering at me. He complained that his beef stew only had potatoes, then whined that his pasta was overcooked, intentionally trying to humiliate me. The line behind him was backing up, and the murmurs were getting louder. That was when Liam appeared. He took the serving spoon right out of my hand and expertly scooped a perfect portion onto his own tray. The pre-med guy opened his mouth to complain, but Liam’s voice was icy: “You got your food. Move.” The guy glared at me but eventually slinked away. After that day, Liam was always looking out for me. Then, toward the end of our junior year, a miracle happened. Some old factory land my dad bought years ago was purchased by commercial developers. A massive windfall hit our family—enough that we would never have to worry about money again. I quit the dining hall job. The day I quit, Liam confessed his feelings. “Chloe, I’m in love with you.” My heart nearly leapt out of my chest. “But…” He hesitated. “I don’t have money. My family is broke. Even with my scholarships, the second I graduate, every paycheck is going straight to my student loans.” “Knowing all that, do you still want to be with me?” At the time, my family was newly rich. My dad spent his days bragging about the zeros in his bank account. With zero financial worries of my own, I was fully prepared to dive into a romance where money didn’t matter. I nodded vigorously and promised I didn’t care. Liam let out a huge breath of relief and took my hand. I held onto that hand for five years. In those five years, Liam “proposed” to me three times. The first time was at our graduation. Riding an adrenaline high, he snatched a bouquet of carnations his frat brother was supposed to give to a professor and dropped to one knee in front of the whole quad. The second time was our second year in the workforce. He had finally paid off his student loans. He took me out for cheap tacos, downed a few beers, and proposed using the aluminum pull-tab from his beer can. The third time… The third time was this past New Year’s Eve. He actually put effort into it. He booked my favorite ski resort, dressed up in a ridiculous bear mascot costume, and bought roses and champagne. But it was also that exact proposal that led to a massive fight. It ended in disaster. We had been giving each other the silent treatment for a month until tonight, when he asked me to dinner to apologize. And that dinner resulted in this absurd “engagement” and the AI-generated jewelry. “Chloe… what are you thinking?” Sarah asked over the phone. What was I thinking? I forced a bitter smile. Over the past month of our cold war, the word breakup had been hovering on the tip of my tongue countless times. That night, my sleep was plagued by nightmares. I dreamt I was running, and Liam was chasing me, holding jewelry folded out of gold foil wrappers. He was screaming, “Chloe! Marry me! If you don’t like the AI jewelry, I made you some out of paper!” 3 I woke up in a cold sweat at 4:00 AM. Unable to go back to sleep, I went into the office early. The power in the third-floor breakroom was out, so I took my mug down to the second floor. Just as I reached the landing between floors, someone pushed open the fire-escape door, chatting with the person behind them. “With prices this high, you really dropped that kind of cash on diamonds for her?” Diamonds. The word set off alarm bells in my head. I quietly stepped back and hid in the shadow of the stairwell. A familiar voice sighed. It was Liam. “Honestly, man, I’ll level with you. I Photoshopped it.” His tone was heavy, like he was carrying the weight of the world. “You know my background. I grew up with nothing. I can’t afford the kind of rings Chloe expects. I just wanted to save face for her. She’s always saying that once people see you in an outfit, it’s basically secondhand. I figured if I Photoshopped the jewelry and everyone saw it, it’s practically the same as her owning it.” “But… she threw a massive fit over it.” The man across from him was silent for a moment before speaking. “I always thought she was just a bit overly ambitious.” “I never realized she was this shallow.” “You’ve got the patience of a saint.” Liam’s voice was filled with nothing but helpless resignation. “What can I do? We’ve been together for years. I just have to take the hit.” I peeked through the gap in the stairwell. Standing across from Liam, smoking an e-cigarette, was David—the senior manager who mentored me when I first joined the company. David was notoriously strict and unsmiling. When I was first assigned to his team, I had actually complained to Liam about him. Liam had convinced me to stick it out, saying that a year under David was worth three years under anyone else. Surprisingly, the first time David met me, he smiled. “You’re Chloe? I remember the portfolio you submitted. Great work.” He dropped his harsh exterior and patiently mentored me. To me, he was both a teacher and a friend. But not long after, at the company retreat, Liam—who had agreed to keep our office romance a secret—suddenly grabbed my hand during an all-hands meeting, announcing our relationship to the entire firm. Shortly after that, David abruptly removed me from his core project team. When I chased him down to ask why, he just pressed his lips together and said coldly, “I don’t keep team members with ulterior motives.” He had looked at me with such ice in his eyes, as if I had committed an unforgivable crime. Yet right now, David was patting Liam on the shoulder like a brother. “If you hadn’t warned me back then that Chloe was a flight risk and planning to leak our core data, I never would have guessed she was that kind of person,” David said darkly. “You really can’t judge a book by its cover.” “Are you seriously going to marry a woman like that?” “Listen, Liam. I have a friend from grad school. If you want…” Under the dim fluorescent lights, I stared blankly at Liam’s shadowed face. The core project data had always been securely stored on my encrypted laptop. I had never leaked it. The only time it was ever vulnerable was one weekend when Liam claimed his hard drive crashed and borrowed my laptop to “work overtime.” After I was kicked off the team, Liam was mysteriously drafted onto it the very next quarter. He quickly got a promotion, got a raise, and paid off the rest of his student loans. “No,” Liam said, suddenly looking up, brushing away the gloom. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to take responsibility for Chloe for the rest of my life.” “No matter how awful she is.” Looking at the fierce, self-righteous expression on Liam’s face, a massive question mark exploded in my head. Why? My brain was a tangled mess. Tiny details I had forgotten over the years suddenly rapidly unspooled. Then, as the motion-sensor lights flickered off— It all made sense. 4 To verify the incredibly absurd theory forming in my head, I immediately took PTO and rushed back to my apartment. During our cold war, I had kicked Liam out to stay at a friend’s place. Sitting on the coffee table was an old iPad Liam had been meaning to sell online. If I was lucky, his iMessage and iCloud were still logged in. Months ago, he had complained about running out of storage, so I had upgraded him to the highest tier of cloud backup on my dime. Everything synced automatically. I knew I would find exactly what I was looking for. And I did. In the dead silence of my apartment, my knuckles turned white gripping the tablet. I scrolled back five years. Back before we were officially dating, right after he ‘heroically’ defended me in the dining hall, he was texting his college roommates: [Some people will put on a pathetic act just to get out of doing real work.] On graduation day, when he hastily proposed with stolen flowers, he told me it was an impulse and it was okay if I said no. But to his frat brother, he texted: [Chloe thinks carnations are too cheap. She’s demanding 999 roses before she’ll say yes.] When he borrowed my laptop, he fabricated a digital trail making it look like I was trying to sell David’s core data to a rival firm. Then he turned around and begged David not to fire me, playing the hero who prevented the leak, effectively securing his own spot on David’s team. When I teased him that his second proposal with a beer tab lacked a bit of effort, he spent the entire night complaining in his department’s group chat, playing the self-deprecating martyr: [I guess it’s true what they say. Love without money is like sand in the wind. How am I supposed to afford a 5-carat diamond?] When coworkers gasped and asked if I specifically demanded five carats, he stayed silent, letting their imaginations run wild. And then came this past New Year’s Eve. He booked the resort, put on the suit, and I admit—when he took off the heavy mascot head, sweating and smiling, I was genuinely moved. Until I noticed his phone propped up on a tripod, live-streaming the entire thing. He had sent the link to all our college alumni and colleagues. Hundreds of people were watching. In that moment, I couldn’t tell if he actually loved me or if I was just a prop for his performance. We had a screaming match and didn’t speak for a month. What I only discovered now was that after I stormed off that night, Liam kept the livestream running for hours. His frat brothers took turns joining the stream, calling me a gold-digging opportunist and urging him to dump me. Brother A aggressively demanded: “With your tech salary, you’re doing just as well as these Manhattan girls. Dump her. You can find someone younger and richer. Why are you hung up on her?!” Liam played the role of the tragic, loyal boyfriend to perfection. “We’ve been together for five years. She gave me her best years. Walking away now would be a betrayal.” “Besides, she’s not a bad person. It’s just her background. Her best friend Sarah is gorgeous and loaded. It makes sense that Chloe feels insecure and wants more material proof of my love.” “I just need to work harder. Once I save enough, I’ll bring her home.” With just a few sentences, he solidified his image as the ultimate devoted partner. But during our month-long cold war, Liam had been actively swiping on dating apps and meeting new women. Yet, upon entering the brutal New York dating market, he quickly realized that a handsome face and a decent tech job weren’t enough to secure the wealthy, elite city girls he secretly desired. He hit a wall. And so, he orchestrated this dinner to break the ice and win me back. He didn’t propose because he loved me. He proposed because, after weighing the pros and cons, I—the girl with an apartment, no debt, and blind devotion to him—was his safest safety net. That was why he used AI to generate the jewelry on Instagram to mark his territory. If he hadn’t restricted me from the post, I would have stayed in the dark forever. I sat frozen on my sofa, my blood turning to ice. I couldn’t move a muscle. Suddenly, my phone buzzed. Sarah sent me a photo. I zoomed in. Liam was smiling brightly at a café. Sitting across from him was a young woman, and next to her was David—setting up the blind date he had promised. 5 [Chloe, what the hell is this?] Sarah texted. Sarah and I grew up together. She was the only person who knew my true financial situation. After surviving my family’s bankruptcy, the debt collectors at our door, my exhausting shifts, and our sudden massive windfall, I became incredibly private about money. I never flaunted it. To Liam, I was just a middle-class girl with an apartment. I called Sarah and quickly gave her the rundown. She was seething. “That absolute parasite! I am going to ruin his little blind date right now…” Before she could finish, she suddenly burst into vindictive laughter. “Oh my god, never mind! The girl just asked about his family background. Her face went pale, and she literally walked out before the coffee arrived.” “Seriously, Chloe, what did you ever see in him? Sure, his job is okay, but with his salary, he couldn’t afford a down payment on a shoe box in Queens. His parents have medical debt, and his older brother is a deadbeat who lives in their basement…” I didn’t say anything. I asked myself the same question: What did I see in him? To my face, Liam was gentle, polite, passionate, and responsible. But in the shadows, he spread rumors, stabbed me in the back, and manipulated my image. He was a leech, sucking the life out of me to make himself look better. The more monstrous I looked to the outside world, the more saintly he appeared by comparison. If I actually married him, my family’s wealth would be used to prop up his entire existence. I morbidly wondered: if he found out my family had an eight-figure bank account, how would he spin my “gold digger” narrative then? But the thought vanished instantly. I wasn’t going to have a future with this man. The sun began to set, casting a faint glow through the window. When Liam’s text finally came through, I snapped out of my daze. In just a few hours, my heart had been on a rollercoaster—from fury, to breakdown, to self-doubt, and finally landing on absolute, cold clarity. I wiped away tears I hadn’t realized I shed. My mind was made up. [Babe, I was so vain for posting that yesterday. I was wrong. Can you forgive me?] [I bought tickets for my parents and my brother. They’ll be in New York for Thanksgiving. Let’s get both our families together for dinner. Please?] I let him sweat. I could picture his face on the other end perfectly. Brows furrowed, unconsciously biting his nails, pacing anxiously for my reply. I watched the typing bubble appear and disappear for hours. I made dinner, took a shower, and only then picked up my phone. [Sure.] [But send me a photo of your family first. I don’t want to accidentally greet the wrong people at the restaurant. That would be embarrassing.] 6 Probably because his blind dates kept crashing and burning, Liam became incredibly attentive. He kept hovering around my desk at work, dropping hints about when he could move back into my apartment. I deflected every time. During those weeks, I broke my lease on the small apartment. I threw away every single thing tied to Liam—the cheap stuffed animals, the yellowing phone cases, the photobooth strips. Five years of a relationship, bagged up like garbage and tossed into the dumpster. I told my parents everything. Furious, my dad immediately bought a luxury penthouse in Manhattan under my name and wired seven figures into my personal account. “Money is an adult’s armor,” my parents told me. “And we are your fortress.” Armed with that fortress, I went to Liam’s Thanksgiving dinner. Standing outside the private dining room, I could hear the raucous cheers through the heavy oak door. Loud. Very loud. The moment he sent me the restaurant address, I knew this was going to be the “grand, public proposal” he had promised his audience. I pushed the doors open. Instantly, dozens of eyes locked onto me. Liam was the first to stand up, walking toward me with a massive bouquet of flowers. His face was a mask of tender affection. Behind him were our college friends, colleagues, his frat brothers, and his parents and brother. He slowly pushed a worn, patched-up cloth bag across the table toward me. He dropped to one knee and untied the string. Inside were crumpled bills. Very few hundreds; mostly tens, fives, and ones. “Babe, you always said my proposals weren’t formal enough, not grand enough.” “This time, my family is here. Our friends and colleagues are here. With everyone as my witness, I am offering you my absolute all. This is the life savings my parents scraped together for my wedding. It’s exactly $13,268.” “I know it’s not a lot to someone from the city, but this is everything my humble family has to give to our new life together.” He had clearly rehearsed this. His voice trembled with orchestrated emotion, every word echoing with noble sacrifice. “So, Chloe Bennett, will you marry me?” I looked at his frat brothers. Beneath their fake excitement, I saw the gleam of mockery. To them, it was the perfect joke: the greedy city girl forced to accept the broke country boy’s pennies. “Say yes! Say yes!” his roommate chanted. “He already got you the diamonds! You can’t say no now!” I stood there in dead silence. The cheering slowly died down, replaced by a bizarre, heavy tension. You could hear a pin drop. Brother B clicked his tongue, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Wow. Liam bought the jewelry, brought his life savings, flew his family out here. You show up late, your parents didn’t even bother coming, and you’re still acting like you’re too good for him?” Liam frowned, playing the hurt puppy. “Chloe, we agreed both our parents would be here…” I reached into my bag, pulled out a stack of oversized, high-gloss printed photos, and slammed them into his chest. Hard. The top photo was an AI-generated family portrait. Liam’s real family was on one side, but the “bride’s” family was composed entirely of AI-generated avatars. It looked terrifyingly fake. “What is this?” he demanded, shocked and angry. “You love using AI, don’t you? If you can Photoshop diamond rings, I can Photoshop a family portrait. Consider our parents officially introduced.” I tossed the next photo on the table. It was a poorly edited image of a pink carnation drowning in a sea of 999 red roses. I looked directly at the frat brother whose flowers Liam had stolen years ago. “Chad, right? Years ago, Liam stole your carnations and told everyone I rejected him because I demanded 999 roses. Consider the debt paid.” Chad stared at the photo, dumbfounded. “Photoshop…? Wait, what?” I smiled sweetly. “Liam told everyone that as long as you guys see the Photoshopped jewelry, it counts as me owning it. So, you’ve seen the roses. That means he bought them. Flawless logic, right?” Next, I pulled out an absurdly scaled photo of a 5-carat diamond ring and slid it toward his coworkers. “I never asked for a 5-carat diamond. I got a beer tab. But I’m gifting him a picture of one. Fair trade, wouldn’t you say?” “…” The photos rained down on the floor like snow. The final item I threw was a cheap, plastic jewelry set coated in fake gold paint I bought off Temu for $9.99. “You faked diamond jewelry for Instagram. I bought you plastic jewelry. How’s that for matching your energy?!” I looked at him with pure disgust. “For five years, you played me for a fool.” “Now it’s your turn to see how it feels.” Amidst the stunned silence of the room, I grabbed my purse, turned on my heel, and walked out. On the cab ride home, my phone didn’t stop vibrating. By the time I walked into my new penthouse, I had over a hundred missed calls. His latest text was pathetically desperate: [Chloe, I know I have a fragile ego. I know I’m poor. But I never wanted to hurt you. If you asked me to, I would literally die for you.] [Please, for the sake of our five years together, don’t throw me away like this.] Right now, to him, I was a winning lottery ticket he was terrified of losing. I knew the battle wasn’t over. But with the truth on my side, I wasn’t afraid of him anymore.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “391845”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

Three days before the wedding, I was hit by a car, and my spine was fractured. Lucas, my fiancé, put the driver behind bars. I lay in the hospital bed, refusing to wake, devastated by the news of my paralysis. In a haze, I overheard Lucas’s conversation with the doctor. “Mr. Stone, it’s still not too late for the surgery. A few more days, and Ms. Hayes will truly be paralyzed for life! You just want Lily to be your bride; why take on half a life’s burden?” “Disabled is disabled. I will take care of her for the rest of her life. If she recovers, she’ll definitely cause trouble at the wedding. I promised Lily I’d bring our child into the Stone family with all due pomp. Only when Clara is completely incapacitated will she treat my child as her own. Being disabled is fine; at least she won’t bully the child.” In an unnoticed corner, a single tear traced a path down my temple. So, the wedding I had so eagerly anticipated was nothing but a lie. The love I yearned for was also my death warrant. If that was the case, I would grant his wish. “Don’t say anything extra. Follow my plan. The hysterectomy must be thorough, leaving no trace for her to discover. Once she wakes, I’ll take her to the orphanage to pick up the child. Without the chance to have her own children, she’ll surely dote on Rose.” The doctor wiped sweat from his brow, his conscience pricked. “Mr. Stone, perhaps you should reconsider? Ms. Hayes is already paralyzed. Removing her uterus would be like taking her life! How will she face the elders of the Stone family afterward?” “Besides, your child with Ms. Evans is three years old now, and the girl looks remarkably like you. If Ms. Hayes ever found out, everything would be ruined!” Lucas reached out, skillfully wiping my cracked lips with a wet tissue again and again. His voice was filled with the regret of a love unfulfilled. “She won’t find out. As long as she’s disabled, she’ll be confined to the Stone family estate for life, unable to take a single step outside. I promised Lily I’d give her a grand wedding and watch our child grow up with my own eyes. Even if she’s married to someone else now, I will never let her have any worries.” The doctor beside him sighed, looking at my pale face on the hospital bed. “Clara is a good girl. You two grew up together, and you insist on clinging to that… never mind. I won’t say anything more. If you think it’s okay, then proceed.” “Go prepare for the surgery. Remember, make it clean, leave no traces. While Clara is still unconscious, I don’t want her to feel too much pain.” The doctor quickly left the room. Lucas took out his phone and sent a voice message to his assistant. “That driver didn’t spill the beans, did he? As agreed, pay his family two million and help them move out of this city. Don’t let Clara find out.” Tears fell uncontrollably, soaking into the pillow. Lucas meticulously wiped my body with warm water again and again. A chill, however, still ran through me. It turned out the wedding I had anticipated for five years was merely preparation for Lily. The car accident was no accident at all. It was just his way of clearing me, a stumbling block, for Lily. My imagined happiness and perfection were nothing but illusions. Lies and betrayal were the true nature of our relationship. I struggled to open my eyes. But soon, an anesthetic was injected into my body. Before being wheeled into the operating room, Lucas kissed my forehead with feigned tenderness. “Be good, it’ll be over soon, Clara. I’ll be waiting for you.” Cold instruments continuously churned inside me. My shattered heart grew even colder. When I opened my eyes again, I was already in the recovery room. I still had no sensation below my waist. Lucas sat by my bedside, his face etched with worry when he saw me awaken. He took my hand in his, gently pressing it against his cheek. “Clara? You’re awake? Is anything still bothering you?” “Tell me if you’re in pain, and I’ll have them change your medication.” His expression was as doting as ever, but I could no longer detect any warmth in his eyes. For someone to go to such lengths for another… I gently shook my head, my fingers tracing the stubble on his chin. “You haven’t slept all night, have you? I’m fine; you should rest a bit.” Lucas, unsuspecting, relaxed and quickly drifted off to sleep. I picked up his phone from the bedside table and unlocked it. The wallpaper was still our wedding photo, taken in advance. His social media app was open. The pinned contact was saved as Lily. Tapping into the chat, beyond cute cat emojis, were only photos of Lily holding a child. “Rose kept asking for Daddy again today. She’s so young and already knows Daddy is handsome. She’s definitely going to be obsessed with good looks later.” “Rose had a good appetite today; she ate the entire cake you sent all by herself.” “Rose is begging to go to the amusement park with Daddy. I can’t convince her otherwise. Come over if you have time.” Lucas hadn’t replied, but beneath each photo were video logs lasting up to two hours. Remembering he once said he didn’t like children, I now understood. He didn’t dislike children; he just disliked children born from my womb. He had created a separate album for Lily, the password being the child’s birthday. Five thousand photos documented the child’s three years of growth. Every important holiday, Lucas had been by their side. The second chat box in the app was a conversation with the wedding planner. From the moment he started planning the wedding a month ago, Lucas had given Lily’s name. The wedding dress was her size. The invitations were handwritten by both of them. From the very beginning, he had never intended for me to be at this wedding. I laughed at myself, a bitter sound, and stopped scrolling. I contacted my best friend, asking her to find another hospital for me abroad for surgery. I also applied to cancel all my identification documents in the country. My best friend, not thinking much of it, just assumed I had finally seen Lucas’s true colors. Her messages were filled with joy for me. Putting down my phone, I fell into a deep sleep. I woke again, startled by Lucas’s sobs. He clutched a hospital report in his hand, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably. “Clara… the doctor said they found during the examination that you were born without a uterus, you’re infertile.” “Don’t worry, I won’t look down on you. No matter what you become, you are my wife. How about we adopt a child after you’re discharged? With a child by your side, you’ll slowly get better.” I was the one who had lost the ability to conceive, yet he seemed more heartbroken than I was. His acting was convincing, and I couldn’t be bothered to expose him. After a long silence, looking at the report in his hand, I nodded slowly. Lucas, moved, shed tears and pulled me into his embrace. “I will take good care of you. Don’t be afraid. No matter what anyone says, I will stand by you.” “After we get married, I’ll transfer all my assets to your name, as your security.” Our chests pressed tightly together. Yet our heartbeats were on different rhythms. After a while, Lucas struggled to speak. “The wedding is already prepared, but now your body hasn’t recovered, so it might have to…” “Find someone to go in my place. Don’t let the Stone family lose face.” I knew what he wanted to say. Rather than being passive, it was better to be proactive. At least I could maintain some dignity. Lucas was surprised by my change in attitude. But with his wish fulfilled, he didn’t want to pry. His phone rang. He glanced at it, surprised. “Clara, what documents did you cancel?” I quickly swiped away the message, calmly explaining, “Nothing, my documents expired. I’ll just replace them online.” He didn’t think much of it, hugging me tighter, his voice full of tenderness. “Now that you’re not well, just tell me anything you need, and I’ll handle it for you.” “Lucas, I want to leave the hospital.” His emotions suddenly tensed. “No, your body hasn’t recovered. I don’t agree.” I tugged on his arm, shaking it, a smile playing on my lips. “Didn’t you say you wanted to take me to adopt a child? We have nannies at home; nothing will happen. I want to visit the orphanage, okay?” In our five years together, this was the first time I’d ever acted so sweetly with him. Lucas couldn’t refuse me and softly agreed. On the way, he took out the cakes he had prepared in the car and arranged them in front of me, saying he had specially bought them for me. But the “suitable for toddlers” label on the packaging still stung my eyes. I closed the bag, tossing the cakes to the back, and feigned discomfort, closing my eyes. This five-year-long deception, it was time for it to end. As soon as we entered the orphanage, I was in my wheelchair. A little girl familiarly rushed up and hugged Lucas’s leg, incessantly calling him “Daddy.” Lucas’s face changed, and fearing my suspicion, he quickly explained, “Don’t misunderstand, I sponsor this orphanage. I’ve visited a few times before. This child is an orphan, and she’s always called me that.” I nodded, smiling as I stroked the child’s face. “She looks a lot like you. If you hadn’t said anything, I would have thought she was your child.” “What’s her name?” “Rose, she’s the one I’m planning to adopt.” Before he could explain further, Rose cried, calling for “Mommy.” Lucas’s face instantly went pale. He frowned deeply, looking at me. “I’m fine. Go comfort her. This child is beautiful; I like her too.” My words visibly eased his tension. Lucas didn’t think further, picking up the child and heading into the office. I excused myself to the restroom to escape. But from the doorway, I kept hearing the staff discussing. “Why is Mr. Stone making his own child pretend to be an orphan? Those clothes are high-end; they cost more than my life. Who would believe she’s an orphan?” “What do you know? Mr. Stone has it all planned. This is the only way for the child to legitimately enter the Stone family. Be smart when you go out later; don’t let anything slip in front of Ms. Hayes.” “Indeed, the one closest to Mr. Stone’s heart is still Ms. Evans. They both loved volunteering here during college. I noticed it back then, and now it’s come true! A man and a woman alone in the same room; now they might even be…” Amused laughter reached my ears, pressing down on my chest until I could barely breathe. I moved my wheelchair to the door. Inside, I heard a familiar voice. “Is he still good to you?” “He’s quite good. It’s just that he’s often abroad, so there are some things he can’t manage. This is good too; he won’t discover Rose’s secret, and he’s even nagging me to have another child with him.” Lucas smiled, but his eyes were filled with bitterness. “Once Rose is settled in the Stone family, you won’t have to worry anymore. If you need anything, just message me.” “Oh, and this is a bracelet I just bought. Consider it my wedding gift to you.” Lily took the gift box, winking playfully. “Why are you giving me gifts again? How many wedding gifts have you given me in our year of marriage? My closet is overflowing. Clara would definitely be unhappy if she knew.” Though she said this, she didn’t stop accepting the gift. Beside them, Rose smiled, clinging to her, continuously calling her “Mommy.” The director, eager to process the paperwork, rushed to me and pushed open the door. A flicker of panic crossed Lucas’s eyes. “Clara, what are you doing here?” “Don’t misunderstand. Lily is a volunteer here at the orphanage. She just happened to be visiting today to discuss my adoption of Rose…” Lily stood up, holding Rose in her arms, and waved to me. “Clara, long time no see.” I sat in my wheelchair, smiling and nodding, swallowing my hurt. “It’s fine; I’m just looking around. Since you’re busy, I won’t bother you. I’ll wait in the car.” With that, I turned to leave. Lucas thought I was angry and followed me, explaining for a long time. “Don’t misunderstand. She often comes here to volunteer. All the children in the orphanage call her Mommy. I’ll explain everything to Rose once the adoption paperwork is done.” Watching him fret over me, I suddenly felt like laughing. To legitimately bring his child into the family, he didn’t hesitate to stage a car accident to paralyze me. Now that he had gotten his wish, who was he playing the victim for?

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “391875”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

After my family went bankrupt, my mother’s best friend took me in, bringing me to the Sterling residence. That’s how I ended up entangled with the two Sterling brothers for twenty years. Their relentless pursuit and undeniable favoritism made everyone green with envy. But when I wanted to settle down and start a family, they both turned me down. My older brother, Sterling, said, “My career comes first; I have no time for marriage.” My younger brother, Lance, quipped, “I’m still young, I want to have fun for a few more years. Besides, fleeting romances aren’t meant to be taken seriously.” The very next day, at my birthday party, they both proposed to the housekeeper’s daughter. To cheer her up, they even forced me, despite my stomach condition, to down a high-proof liquor. As I was rushed to the hospital with a stomach hemorrhage, they simultaneously covered her eyes, mocking my dramatics. My heart shattered beyond repair. The day I was discharged, I dialed my mother’s number. “I’ll marry Tim Maxwell.” 1. Stepping out of the hospital, my body hadn’t yet adjusted to the biting autumn chill. My older brother, Sterling, called. His tone was sharp, laced with accusation. “Willow, where have you run off to? Do you think running away will absolve you of responsibility? Get back here and apologize to Melanie Ross.” Lance’s voice chimed in from the background. “It’s all your fault for faking illness and upsetting Melanie. She’s delicate, and you’ve made her lose her appetite these past few days!” I looked at my reflection in the glass. Gaunt and frail, as if a gust of wind could sweep me away. I’d always had a sensitive stomach and a weak constitution. In the past, those two brothers had fussed over me endlessly. I remembered one night, I fell ill in the middle of the night, and Sterling carried me up twenty flights of stairs. Lance scoured the entire city to buy my favorite yam cake to cheer me up. After that, they meticulously monitored my every meal and drink, always hands-on. Sadly, once Melanie appeared, all those memories were tossed aside. I silently hung up the phone and dialed my mother’s number. “Mom, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll marry Tim Maxwell.” My mother paused. “Willow, this is your life. Are you absolutely sure?” When Dad passed, and our family business collapsed, Mom sent me to Havenport, bravely propping up our struggling family on her own. She spent twenty years building connections with the Maxwell family, securing a chance for our family to rise again. But more than our family’s prosperity, she cared about my happiness. Even when Mrs. Maxwell instantly took a liking to me as a potential daughter-in-law, she still left the choice to me. I used to believe in finding true love, torn between the Sterling brothers. Now, I understood I was nothing more than a passing amusement for them. It was time to leave gracefully. I opened my phone to book a flight, only to see Melanie’s latest social media post: “True love needs no grand gestures. Only pathetic old women cling to desperate attempts to climb the social ladder.” She brazenly flaunted two different diamond rings on her hand. She was lying in my room, wearing the couture suit and crystal shoes the Sterling brothers had custom-made for my birthday six months ago. I quietly blocked Melanie. “Mom, I’m serious. I want to have my own child soon.” During my hospital stay, the doctor told me the incident had severely weakened my body. If I didn’t get pregnant and have a child while I was still young, I might never have one of my own. I couldn’t afford to wait any longer. “Alright, darling, I respect your decision.” “Mrs. Maxwell had your horoscopes read. Next Sunday is an auspicious day for registering your marriage. As long as you come back, I’ll handle everything.” My mother must have understood. She only added before hanging up, “Remember to say goodbye to Mrs. Sterling.” I looked up at the grey, overcast sky. The doctor said recovery would take about a week. I’d use this week to say goodbye to everything. 2. I hailed a taxi back to the villa. The moment I stepped through the door, a sudden splash of cold water drenched me to the bone. “Willow, I’m so sorry! I was watering the flowers and didn’t see you.” Melanie stood with the hose, only putting it down once I was soaked through. I struggled to open my eyes. My cherished lily of the valley, which I’d nurtured for years, had been completely dug up. In its place, vibrant roses bloomed in vast swathes. The cold wind bit, and my recently operated body immediately felt awful. I swayed, nearly collapsing. But Sterling and Lance exchanged a glance, their expressions mirroring disdain. They seemed to be mocking me for putting on an act the moment I returned. “Willow, I thought you were truly that stubborn, that you’d never come back.” Lance scoffed, “Her mom doesn’t even want her; where else would she go?” My heart clenched painfully. I suddenly remembered the day I first arrived at the Sterling home. Lance, holding my hand, tried every trick to cheer me up. He even said, “Willow, don’t be scared. This is your home now.” Sterling, on his own initiative, cleaned out the largest, best room in the old mansion for me. Later, the three of us moved to this villa for work. Sterling remembered my preferences and meticulously decorated the master bedroom. He announced to everyone that, now and always, I was the irreplaceable mistress of this villa. Until that day, when Melanie came to the villa, ostensibly to help Mrs. Ross. Every day, besides clinging to the brothers, she would “accidentally” break my belongings. At first, I sympathized with her hard life and didn’t make a fuss. But she grew bolder, deliberately smashing my father’s keepsake right in front of me. My patience snapped. I stepped forward to confront her, only to be pushed away by Sterling. He frowned, “Melanie’s life is hard enough. Why do you, a pampered princess, have to pick on a naive young girl?” Lance added, “Melanie is even younger than I am. Can’t you, at your age, be a little more accommodating?” I clutched the broken jade pendant, feeling lost and helpless for the first time. After that, everything changed. I was no longer the most important person in the brothers’ hearts. The housekeeper’s daughter gradually replaced me, becoming the new mistress of this villa, pushing me out. Since that was the case, there was nothing for me to cling to. I just wanted to pack my things and leave quickly. Walking inside, I saw all my belongings haphazardly piled in the hallway. Sterling, with Melanie’s arm around him, looked down at me. “Willow, know your place. You’re just a parasite leeching off the Sterling family, you have no right to look down on Melanie, and certainly no right to throw a princess tantrum at her!” “From now on, you’ll move to the maid’s room. Company matters will also be handled by Melanie. I’ll transfer you to logistics for odd jobs until you understand what it means to be a decent person.” Lance tore up the teddy bear my mother had given me to make Melanie happy. “Willow, if you ever upset Melanie with your tantrums again, I won’t go easy on you.” Willow, Willow dear. A single word difference, yet a world apart. The old me would have been heartbroken and sleepless after hearing such words. But now I was leaving, and I had no time to bother with them. I just said flatly, “You’re both right.” “I’ll move out as soon as possible.” “And you don’t need to trouble yourself, Mr. Sterling, to transfer me to another department. I quit.” Sterling sneered. “You’re truly determined to cling to the Sterling family, to be a useless freeloader.” “Fine, for Mom’s sake, I won’t hold it against you this time.” “Just remember your place from now on.” I walked past Sterling, softly saying, “There won’t be a ‘from now on.’” This place certainly held many beautiful memories for me. But ultimately, this wasn’t my home. 3. I thought packing my luggage would take a long time. But looking closely, there wasn’t much left. My clothes were almost all chosen by Sterling. Back then, he used to say, “Our Willow is the most beautiful princess, of course, she has to dress beautifully every day.” Now, those clothes were soaked in dirty water, giving off an unpleasant stench. And I, from his princess, had become a parasite with a princess complex. Moving the clothes aside, I saw photos scattered across the floor. Lance used to love taking pictures of me, saying he wanted to capture all my different looks. Every time we took a group photo, these two brothers would compete to be closer to me. Now, in our group photos, my face was crossed out with a red marker. I couldn’t bear to look further. I simply threw everything into the trash. Sterling and Melanie came downstairs just as I was doing this. A flicker of shock crossed his eyes. After all, I had always treasured these things. But then, he let out a cold laugh. “You’re certainly wasteful with Sterling family money.” Sterling once showered me with expensive gifts to make me happy. Now that Melanie was by his side, everything I did was wrong. I had lost the right to be willful, and the desire to argue. I simply said, earnestly, “I’ll pay it back.” “The Sterling family isn’t short on a bit of money. Just remember, don’t ever make trouble for Melanie again!” Melanie tugged at Sterling’s sleeve, pouting. “Sterling dear, don’t waste time on unnecessary people. I still want to go to our secret stargazing spot. Let’s go.” I froze, stopping in my tracks. The ‘secret spot’ Melanie spoke of was something Sterling had created for me when I first came to the Sterling household. Mrs. Sterling was often busy with work back then, so she entrusted the responsibility of caring for me to Sterling, who was six years my senior. Sterling gave me almost everything good in the world. He said I was his muse. So, he personally designed a patch of eternal, shimmering stars for me. That day, beneath the starry sky, he looked at me with deep affection. “Willow, remember, this is your sky, and it’s a symbol of my love, just for you.” We spent twenty years, little by little, perfecting that starry sky, building a dreamy secret hideaway. From then on, my heart leaned towards Sterling. But every time I was close to making a choice, Lance would pop up, throwing a fit, and the decision would be indefinitely postponed. As for now… They had their new ‘red rose’ and had long forgotten me, their ‘fading moon.’ But it didn’t matter. I took a deep breath and walked away. I didn’t want either of them anymore. 4. Melanie suddenly grabbed my wrist. Her long, manicured nail left a scratch on my arm. “Willow, why won’t you let me finish? Do you despise me?” I winced in pain and yanked my hand away from Melanie. She stumbled backward, collapsing. “Sterling dear, save me!” Sterling cried out in alarm, scooping Melanie into his arms. Before I could even react, he slapped me across the face. Lance, alerted by the commotion, rushed over and bellowed at me. “Willow, why are you always making trouble for Melanie?” “Don’t you forget, if the Sterling family hadn’t taken you in, you, a lonely orphan, would probably be scavenging for scraps somewhere! Not only are you ungrateful, but you’re also biting the hand that fed you!” A ringing echoed in my ears. This was the first time I had ever been hit. My entire world seemed to shatter in that instant. Sterling looked at me, stunned, as if he realized the impropriety of his actions. “Are you okay? I…” “I’m fine. I don’t blame you.” I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth. I didn’t blame him; I considered that slap payment for his past kindness. From now on, all debts were settled, all scores even. But Lance wouldn’t let it go, blocking my path. “Don’t leave yet. Apologize to Melanie!” His fierce gaze was a stark contrast to the boy who used to cling to me, calling me “big sister Willow.” I knew his methods. Once, in school, a boy harassed me. Lance secretly dealt with him, and Sterling cleaned up the mess. The two brothers worked in perfect sync, forcing the boy’s entire family to flee Havenport. I never imagined then that one day, they would turn those ruthless tactics on me. I glanced at the triumphant Melanie, collecting my scattered thoughts. “I will never apologize. I’ve done nothing wrong.” I had nothing to fear. Even without their intervention, I would be leaving anyway. 5. Lance was still fuming. Sterling, feeling a pang of guilt, restrained him, lowering his voice slightly. “Forget it, I was impulsive just now. Don’t take it to heart. I’ll bring you your favorite chestnut cake when I get back.” “But you have to promise me one thing: don’t ever bother Melanie again.” A slap, followed by a piece of chestnut cake. But he forgot. I had a stomach condition and couldn’t eat chestnut cake. Back then, Sterling changed countless chefs, never satisfied, until he stayed up late researching and personally creating medicinal meal plans for me. Lance, too, tirelessly ensured I stuck to the regimen. Now, they had both forgotten. A gust of wind swept by, and a chill spread from my heart, enveloping my entire body. I shivered, remembering I hadn’t changed out of my wet clothes yet; I was probably developing a fever. Just as I felt my worst, Lance strode past me, deliberately bumping into me. “Still faking it.” I couldn’t stand any longer and fell directly into a puddle. Sterling looked back, a flicker of indecision in his eyes. But in the end, he and Lance, one on each side, shielded Melanie and walked away. After struggling for a long time, I painstakingly crawled out and called an ambulance for myself. The doctor, seeing my miserable state, berated me. “Just discharged, and you’ve already done this to yourself? Don’t you know what condition your body is in? I think you’re asking for trouble!” I dared not speak much, obediently staying in the hospital for a few days for observation. Only after my fever completely broke was I discharged. So much time had been lost; I had to speed up my plans. I went back to the company to handle my resignation, intending to say goodbye to the colleagues I was close to. But I learned they had all been fired by Melanie. The remaining staff treated me like a plague. I was left waiting at the company entrance for half a day before being informed that Sterling had gone on a business trip with Melanie. The three of them had gone to the beach I loved most as a child and to places I’d always wanted to visit but never had the chance. I forced a bitter smile and tossed my resignation letter aside. I had been wrestling with how to explain my departure, only to realize no one cared about my existence anyway. Now, I just needed to say goodbye to Mrs. Sterling. Then I could leave, truly unburdened.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “391909”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel