Category: English

“Ms. Harding, this is your seventh ticket.” Building manager Finn, a young man, handed over the pink slip, avoiding my gaze. Forty dollars. With the previous six, I’d been fined $280 this month for “obstructing the hallway.” I glanced at the AED in the corner and smiled wryly. I’d bought it three months ago for $2,500, placing it on the 17th‑floor landing because Mr. Davies across the hall has a heart condition. “Ms. Harding, I can’t help it,” Finn whispered. “Ms. Peterson reported it again. She even went to the city council…” Ms. Peterson—Laura from 1702. Ever since she learned reports earned reward points for groceries, the building’s been in chaos. I sighed. “Fine, I’ll move it.” Finn looked surprised. “Huh?” I’d already opened an app, finger over “Terminate Service.” After three seconds, I pressed it. [Everest Elevators – Vista Towers, Building 1 – Annual Maintenance Contract Terminated] I’m Chloe Harding, 32, lived here fifteen years, always the “good Samaritan.” 1 It all started two months ago. I came home from work that day, stepped out of the elevator, and saw Laura Peterson standing by my door, snapping photos with her phone. “Ms. Peterson, what are you…” “Chloe Harding, you have far too much stuff piled up in the hallway,” she said, not looking up. “Fire extinguishers, first-aid kits, and this big metal box. You know that’s public space, right?” I followed her gaze. That “big metal box” was the AED I’d just installed last month. An automated external defibrillator, something that could save a life in an emergency. Mr. Davies was 68 this year, and his heart wasn’t good. Once, he’d had an episode in the hallway, and if I hadn’t happened to pass by, the consequences would have been unthinkable. After that, I bought this machine and even got certified in CPR and first aid. “Ms. Peterson, this is a defibrillator, for Mr. Davies across the hall…” “I don’t care what kind of instrument it is,” she cut me off. “Rules are rules. You can’t put things in the hallway.” “It’s life-saving equipment.” “Then put it inside your own apartment! What’s the point of putting it in the hallway? To show off how rich you are?” I was stunned. Show off how rich I was? This thing cost $2,500. I specifically found an inconspicuous corner to place it, afraid neighbors would think I was flaunting my wealth. “Ms. Peterson, if it’s in my apartment, there won’t be enough time to get it out if something happens.” “That’s your problem.” She shoved her phone in front of my face. It was the reporting interface, the photo already uploaded. “I’ve already submitted it. If the building management doesn’t handle it within 72 hours, the city council will send someone.” With that, she turned and walked away. I stood there, clutching my keys, motionless for a long time. The door across the hall opened a crack, and Mr. Davies poked his head out. “Chloe, I heard everything,” he sighed. “Maybe you should move the machine. Don’t cause trouble for my sake.” “Don’t worry, Mr. Davies. The machine stays.” He hesitated, then added, “Don’t mind Laura Peterson. That’s just how she is.” “I know.” I actually knew more than just that. I knew more than anyone else in the entire building. 2 The next day, building management showed up. It was Old Man Miller, who had been with the building for almost ten years. “Ms. Harding, about this…” He looked at the AED with a troubled expression. “According to the rules, you really can’t put things in the hallway.” “Old Man Miller, this is a defibrillator. It saves lives in critical moments.” “I know, but someone reported it, and I can’t just ignore it.” “So, what do you suggest?” Old Man Miller scratched his head. “How about you move it inside for now? Just until things calm down…” “Old Man Miller.” I cut him off, my voice calm. “Who pays to replace the fire extinguishers in this building every year?” His expression stiffened. “Who bought the motion-sensor lights for the hallways?” “…” “Who installed the public water dispenser?” Old Man Miller lowered his head, saying nothing. Only the building management knew about these things. For fifteen years, I had never mentioned them to any neighbor. “Ms. Harding, I know you do a lot, but…” “Alright, I won’t make it difficult for you.” I unmounted the AED from the wall and carried it into my apartment. Old Man Miller looked relieved. “Thank you for understanding, Ms. Harding.” I closed the door without answering. I opened my phone and found the building’s group chat. Sure enough, Laura Peterson was posting her “battle report”: [Report successful! The illegal clutter on the 17th floor has been removed. Everyone should report violations promptly to maintain public order. [Rose emoji]] Below, a flurry of likes. And messages: [Ms. Peterson is amazing!] [Who is that on the 17th floor? How can they be so shameless, taking up public space?] [Exactly, some people just have no self-awareness.] I watched silently, scrolling through them one by one. Seventy-two households, and not a single person remembered that AED cost me $2,500. Not a single person remembered— This elevator hadn’t had a single breakdown in fifteen years. 3 Laura Peterson’s reports didn’t stop. The third day, the first-aid kit was reported. My first-aid kit, placed on the 15th-floor landing, contained bandages, antiseptic, band-aids, and the heart medication I’d specifically added. Fine: $40. The fifth day, the public water dispenser was reported. I’d installed that water dispenser eight years ago, replaced the filters twice a year, and paid the electricity bill. When building management came to me, they had a “Notice of Rectification for Illegal Occupation of Public Space.” “Ms. Harding, Ms. Peterson says she doesn’t know who installed this water dispenser, and if it leaks electricity, it’s a safety hazard.” “I installed it.” “Even so, it’s not allowed. It wasn’t reported, didn’t follow procedure…” Fine: $40. The seventh day, the shared umbrellas I’d placed for children in the hallway were reported. It was a plastic bucket with about ten umbrellas, which I replenished annually. Kids who forgot their umbrellas on rainy days could borrow them and return them after use. Laura Peterson called it “random clutter, affecting the building’s appearance.” Fine: $40. The tenth day, the fire extinguishers were reported. Eighteen floors, two fire extinguishers per floor, all replaced at my own expense every year. The building management’s fire extinguishers had expired three years ago. I couldn’t bear to see them, so I paid out of my own pocket to replace them. Laura Peterson said: “The fire extinguishers are too old and faded, affecting the hallway aesthetics.” Fine: $40. I stood in the building management office, five pink tickets spread out before me. “Ms. Harding,” Old Man Miller sighed, “I really… Ms. Peterson, you know how she is…” I knew. I knew all too well. Laura Peterson, 52, retired, her husband a section chief at the city’s consumer protection agency. She moved into this building three years ago, and in her first month, she reported the barbecue stall downstairs, the hardware store on the ground floor, and the pigeon coop on the top floor. She exchanged reports for points, earning over four hundred cartons of groceries in a year. “Old Man Miller, I’ll pay those fines.” I slapped $200 in cash on the table. He opened his mouth. “Ms. Harding…” “But I have a condition.” “Tell me.” “From today on, I’m taking everything I bought for this building.” Old Man Miller froze. “Huh?” “The fire extinguishers, the first-aid kits, the water dispenser, the motion-sensor lights, the shared umbrellas, and that defibrillator.” “Ms. Harding, these… these are public facilities…” “No,” I corrected him. “They are my private property. Your building management has never paid a cent for any of these things.” I slapped a stack of invoice photocopies on the table. “Fifteen years of invoices are all here. Take a look yourself.” Old Man Miller flipped open the first page, his hand starting to tremble. 2009 – 36 fire extinguishers, $576. 2010 – 18 hallway motion-sensor lights, $720. 2012 – 1 public water dispenser, $240, annual filter fee $96. … 2024 – 1 AED defibrillator, $2,500. Page after page, densely packed. Old Man Miller’s face turned pale. “Ms. Harding, this… in these fifteen years, you’ve spent a total of…” “One hundred seventy-four thousand eight hundred sixty-four dollars.” I stated the number, my tone flat. As if talking about the weather. “Don’t thank me, I was willing. But now someone finds these things an eyesore, so I’m taking them back.” Old Man Miller stood up, his lips trembling. “Ms. Harding, please don’t be impulsive. These things… everyone uses them…” “So?” “So… just don’t bother with it. Ms. Peterson is…” “Old Man Miller,” I cut him off. “Am I being difficult? Did I report her clothes drying in the public area? Did I report the shoe rack she put in the hallway? Did I report her taking up a public parking spot?” He fell silent. “I didn’t. I just did what I wanted to do and spent the money I was willing to spend.” I stood up, gathering the invoice photocopies. “But she doesn’t appreciate it and still wants to fine me. Fine, then I won’t do it anymore.” I walked out, stopping at the door. “Oh, one more thing.” “What is it?” “Our company maintains the elevators in this building.” Old Man Miller’s expression was as if he’d seen a ghost.

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After a car crash, the fake heiress claimed she was from five years in the future and that she was married to my husband. Late at night, she stripped naked, threw herself at my fiancé, and sobbed: “Five years from now, Chloe will steal all your assets, betray you, and even abort your child!” “I’m the only one who truly loves you! We are soulmates!” Ethan coldly tossed her out into the snow, repeatedly wiping his hands where she had touched him. “You’re a lunatic.” “The only woman I love is Chloe. Pull a stunt like this again, and I’ll throw you back to the slums where you belong.” The fake heiress tried everything. She took him to the place where they supposedly fell in love in the future, even trying to drug him to show him their “favorite future position.” Ethan remained completely unmoved. And I firmly believed our love was as solid as a rock. Until the week before our wedding. I walked into our newly bought house and found Ethan, who was supposed to be on a business trip, pinning the fake heiress against our marital bed, kissing her passionately. “You win. You knew I couldn’t bear to see you cry.” “In three days, I’ll force the Sterling family to acknowledge that you are the true heiress.” “As for Chloe, she has me. That’s enough for her.” A sharp, plunging pain ripped through my heart, like a thousand arrows piercing my chest. But almost immediately, a cold laugh escaped my lips. Where did Ethan get the absolute delusion that I could only ever depend on him? ······ “Aren’t you afraid Chloe will find out and leave you?” Ethan let out a dismissive chuckle. “She dreams of marrying me. Even if she found out, she’d only cling to me tighter. I’m her only lifeline.” “Besides, she’s spent the last twenty years acting as the fake heiress. She’s used to settling.” A sharp sting pierced my heart. Mia’s biological mother, a maid, had swapped us at birth. Because of her, I spent twenty years living as a servant’s daughter, enduring endless scorn and eye rolls. Ethan knew exactly how deep the bad blood ran between me and Mia. Yet he chose to sleep with her anyway. I took a deep breath, watching through the crack in the door as the two of them defiled my wedding bed. Strangely, my emotions began to completely detach and cool down. I dialed Ethan’s number. A shrill ringtone shattered the mood in the room. The two lovebirds jumped. Ethan answered, his breathing slightly ragged. “Chloe? Hey, sorry, work is crazy right now. Go ahead and try on the wedding dresses without me. Buy whichever ones you like.” Ethan had always been generous with his money. But this was the first time he had ever lied to me. No, maybe he had been lying ever since Mia started using that ridiculous “time traveler” excuse to seduce him. Who knows how many times they had played me for a fool. I fought back the burning sensation in my nose and asked: “But you promised you’d come with me.” “You missed picking out the wedding rings, too.” Mia giggled softly, licking Ethan’s Adam’s apple. Her small hand slid down his chest. “My silly little sister. That’s because he was in my bed last time, too~” Ethan quickly covered the phone’s microphone, shooting her a warning glare. “Chloe, sweetie, I’m swamped right now. You can handle this, be a good girl.” Ethan hung up immediately. He pulled down Mia’s skirt and slapped her backside. “You little brat. You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” The sickening sounds of their entanglement drilled into my ears, shattering my last line of defense like a blade. Ethan, I gave you a chance. I walked out of the house and immediately made a phone call. “The conditions you proposed last time… I accept.” “But before we sign, you need to help me put on a little show.” That night, Ethan came home very late. He lifted the covers and pulled me into a tight embrace. “Chloe, I love you so much.” “Do you like it? I had a friend bring it back from Paris.” Acting like he was presenting a grand treasure, Ethan pulled a sapphire necklace from his pocket. The gem was flawless, reflecting the eager, fawning look in Ethan’s eyes. I just felt disgusted. I had seen this exact necklace resting on Mia’s upper thigh this afternoon. I didn’t take it. I gently pushed him away. “I don’t wear second-hand goods.” Ethan’s face stiffened for a fraction of a second. “What do you mean? It’s brand new.” “If you don’t like it, I’ll get you something else, okay?” “Chloe, are you just nervous about the banquet?” “I’ll be right by your side at the recognition banquet in three days. I am your rock.” Ethan looked at me with immense tenderness. It was the exact same look he always gave me, but now, it only made me feel a profound, chilling sadness. “Are you really still my rock?” “Ethan, swear to me. If you ever lie to me, I will never speak to you again.” Ethan didn’t take it seriously, assuming I was just having pre-wedding jitters. He squeezed my hand. “Of course I’ll always be your rock.” “Once the banquet is over, my parents won’t have anything left to say, and I can finally marry my Chloe properly.” I desperately wanted to convince myself to trust him one last time. He truly used to be my greatest protector. When I was still considered the maid’s daughter, the Sterling family sponsored my attendance at an elite prep school. But Mia spread malicious rumors, claiming I was a thief who stole her things. The bullying got so bad I nearly lost my life. Ethan broke two ribs fighting them off to save me. He always stood firmly behind me. He shielded me from the rumors, fought off the bullies, and even stood up to his own parents for me. My eyes welled up with hot tears. I clumsily changed the subject. “Tomorrow is my final wedding dress fitting. You have to come with me.” “I will.” But early the next morning, Mia was standing in our living room, beaming as she clung to Ethan’s arm. “Since you guys are going to get divorced in five years anyway, it doesn’t matter if I tag along for the fun, right?” Ethan pulled his arm away, looking at her with apparent disgust. “You’re talking nonsense again!” He walked over, took my hand, and rubbed his temples in exasperation. “She’s having another episode. Just spewing crazy talk.” “If it bothers you, I’ll have security kick her out.” “But your parents might complain about it later.” My parents were just a convenient excuse. The person he actually cared about was her, wasn’t it? It must be exhausting, working so hard to put on this act for me. Finding the whole situation darkly amusing, I nodded. “Fine. Let’s all go.” When he unlocked the car, Mia lunged forward and slid into the passenger seat before I could. “Oops, sorry! This is going to be my designated seat in the future anyway.” “You don’t mind if I exercise my privileges a little early, right?” Ethan shook his head with a sigh. “You really are…” That helpless, utterly doting tone. I don’t think he even realized he was doing it. A tearing pain ripped through my chest. I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms. “Sure.” “I’ve never liked using things that other people have already touched anyway.” My words carried a heavy double meaning. The guilty party instantly looked uncomfortable. Ethan stepped toward me, opening his mouth to explain. I slammed the back door shut, cutting him off completely. The wedding dress had already been tailored to near perfection. This appointment was just a formality for the groom to see the final look. But as soon as I stepped out, Mia suddenly burst into tears. Looking utterly heartbroken, she sobbed: “That dress is exactly the same as the one we wear at our wedding five years from now!” “Ethan, it’s okay if you don’t remember, but I do!” “You can’t be this cruel to me!” I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms as I watched her perform. Ethan looked at me helplessly. “Chloe, maybe… maybe you could pick a different dress?” I let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. “Because of some psychotic delusion she just made up, you want me to change my wedding dress?” “Ethan, do you actually still want to marry me?” Ethan panicked and pulled me into a hug, trying to soothe me. “You are the only woman I will ever marry.” “But Chloe, it’s just a dress. Is it really worth making a scene over?” I had waited six months for this dress. I hand-sewed every single pearl onto the bodice myself. My fingers had bled from needle pricks countless times. Ethan knew all of this. Yet, the moment Mia shed two fake tears, he immediately folded. For the first time, I saw with absolute, crystal clarity: this man no longer loved me. I took two steps back. “Fine. If that’s how it is, do whatever you want.” I turned on my heel and walked out. But Ethan didn’t immediately chase after me like he used to. Instead, a few minutes later, Mia texted me a video. They were in the bridal boutique’s changing room. Mia was wearing the dress I had bled to create, and Ethan was standing behind her, his hands gripping her waist. “If you don’t chase after her, aren’t you afraid Chloe will get mad and cancel the wedding?” Ethan laughed dismissively. “I’ve spoiled Chloe so much her ego has gotten out of control. It’s good for her to swallow some pride before the recognition banquet.” “Cancel the wedding? Please. If she doesn’t marry me, she’ll just be a maid’s daughter for the rest of her life.” Mia burst into triumphant, malicious laughter. I calmly saved the video to my phone. When the pain reaches its absolute limit, you stop feeling anything at all. I went back to the house Ethan and I had bought. And piece by piece, I packed up every single thing I owned and had it couriered to a new address. I knew Ethan wouldn’t be coming home tonight. Ethan didn’t show his face for three days. When he finally appeared, he was holding another “gift.” It was a diamond bracelet. I had seen it on Mia’s Instagram two days ago. Ethan had fastened it around her ankle. The wild, uninhibited lust he displayed with her was something I had never seen. We had known each other for twenty years and dated for five. Ethan always told me his family strictly forbade premarital sex. So, we had never crossed that line. He was always so disciplined, so proper, the perfect gentleman. Turns out he had a wild, ravenous side too; he just saved it for someone else. Ethan offered the bracelet to me like a grand prize. My body reacted instinctively. I gagged. Ethan’s face immediately darkened. “Chloe, I know you’re mad about the dress, but there has to be a limit to these tantrums.” “If you hate me this much, why are you insisting on marrying me?” I took a sip of water to calm my stomach, then looked at him with an amused smile. “What about you?” “Do you still want to marry me, Ethan?” “The next time Mia uses her ‘time traveler’ excuse, are you going to throw me under the bus for her again without a second thought?” Ethan was momentarily speechless. I took a deep breath. I pointed at the wall of shelves filled with designer boxes. “Forty-four gifts.” “Every single time you made me suffer for Mia’s sake, you bought me a gift.” “Ethan, your heart shifted a long time ago. Just like my parents’.” I stated the facts calmly, then turned and walked away. We parted on terrible terms. I headed straight to the recognition banquet. Mia was fluttering around my biological parents like a social butterfly. When my parents saw me, their reaction was entirely lukewarm. They just repeatedly lectured me, warning me that no matter what happened today, I needed to remember Mia was the ‘true’ heiress who had suffered, and I shouldn’t cause a scene. I knew instantly that Ethan had interfered. And my parents had silently agreed to play along with whatever he planned. Even though I had long accepted that no one in this world would ever stand unconditionally behind me… In that moment, a tiny, bitter ache still flickered in my chest. Ethan arrived late. Wearing a perfectly tailored tuxedo, he stood next to my parents and Mia. They looked like the perfect, happy family. Among the guests were several alumni from our old prep school. Seeing me, two of them walked over, swirling their champagne glasses as they looked me up and down with mocking sneers. “Today is Mia’s big day. How did a rat like you sneak in?” “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re just a maid’s daughter. With your filthy bloodline, do you really think you can steal Mia’s family and her man?” “Security! Throw this trash out!” I was quickly surrounded and harassed. Seeing the commotion, Ethan immediately started walking toward me. “Ah!” Mia dramatically faked a twisted ankle, grabbing his arm with a pitiful look. “It hurts.” Ethan’s attention was instantly diverted. He gave her a helpless, fond smile. “You’re so clumsy. Tripping on a perfectly flat floor?” Despite his words, he immediately scooped her up into his arms. My eyes stung sharply. I quickly looked away, hiding my humiliation. “Aww, is the little rat crying?” The group laughed obnoxiously, reaching out to shove me. I didn’t hesitate. I slapped each of them hard across the face. I spoke in a flat, icy tone. “You’re about to find out who really belongs outside.” “It’s been years, and you’re still playing the same pathetic high school bullying games. I actually feel sorry for you.” They glared at me, furious, but they were genuinely shocked by my reaction. None of them dared to lay another finger on me. Just then, the music swelled over the speakers. The recognition ceremony was beginning. My parents, beaming with joy, led Mia onto the grand stage. “As you can all see, we are hosting this grand banquet today to celebrate finally bringing our biological daughter back home.” “There have been some… rumors circulating recently, which I’m sure many of you have heard.” “We want to formally clarify right here and now: the Sterling family has one, and only one, precious princess, and that is Mia. As for anyone else claiming otherwise, we have no idea what malicious individuals are spreading such lies.” The crowd erupted into furious whispers. Dozens of malicious, mocking stares landed on me. But I didn’t react at all. I calmly raised my glass and took a slow sip of red wine. Mia blinked her large, innocent eyes at me, playing the perfect, victimized angel over the microphone: “Sister, I know you lived in our house for so long, and your heart was corrupted by the luxury. I know you dream of being a true daughter of the Sterling family.” “Even though you stole my fiancé, and tried to steal my parents, I don’t blame you.” “If you want, I can ask Mom and Dad to legally adopt you as a goddaughter. But please, I’m begging you, give Ethan back to me. I really can’t live without him.” Ethan frowned slightly, but made absolutely no move to stop her. In that exact second, the very last, microscopic shred of affection I held for him evaporated into nothingness. I offered a faint smile. “So, you’re the true heiress of the Sterling family?” “Of course. Mom and Dad just announced it. Didn’t you hear them?” “Then what is this?” I pulled a certified DNA paternity report from my purse and held it high. The bold print clearly stated that the probability of paternity between the Sterlings and myself was 99.99%. And the probability for Mia was 0.014%. The ballroom exploded in shock. Mia’s face turned a sickly shade of gray. Ethan marched over, his face devoid of emotion. He snatched the report from my hand and ripped it into shreds without a second thought. Ruthlessly issuing a death sentence to the truth. “Chloe, stop throwing tantrums. Why do you have to compete with Mia for everything? Isn’t having me enough for you?” “Mia is the one and only true heiress of the Sterling family. If you keep playing these crazy games with fake reports, I’m not going to tolerate it anymore.” “Take Chloe out of here.” Ethan’s bodyguards grabbed my arms and started dragging me toward the exit. I fought back fiercely. “Ethan! Let me ask you one last time. Are you absolutely certain you want to stand with Mia?” I locked eyes with him, staring into his soul. This final question was the only grace I was offering him, a repayment for the time he saved my life in high school. But Ethan disappointed me to the bitter end. He looked at me with deep exasperation, like dealing with an unreasonable child. “Are you done acting crazy?!” “Mia is younger than you. Why are you always trying to compete with her?”

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I only found out after I died that I was the sacrificial pawn in a “Golden Girl” novel—the scorned side character whose miserable end paved the way for the protagonist’s glorious ascent. My death, apparently, jolted my neglectful, son-obsessed parents into valuing a daughter. It taught my arrogant younger brother compassion—which he then lavished upon the heroine. It made my cold childhood crush regret his callousness—which he then compensated the heroine for. And the heroine, Phoebe, basking in the glow of all this undeserved affection, magnanimously forgave them on my behalf. “She’d want me to be happy, even from the afterlife.” Happier in the afterlife? Bullshit. When I opened my eyes again, I was fifteen. It was the very day my parents brought Phoebe home. 1 “Juniper Wallace, what are you doing just lying there? Get up and make sure your sister’s room is ready!” My mother, Elaine, viciously twisted my ear, yanking me straight off the bed. The blinding pain snapped me back to the present. I wasn’t dead? I stumbled to the mirror. Seeing my own impossibly young, pale face, my eyes welled with tears. My death in the last life hadn’t been sudden. Before it happened, I’d known I was seriously ill. I begged Mom and Dad to take me to the doctor, but they were taking Miles to the amusement park and ignored me. I had to smash the meager savings I’d hoarded from years of recycling cans and bottles just to drag myself, step by agonizing step, to a local clinic. The clinic doctor, seeing how critical my condition was, called an ambulance to the city hospital. But it was too late. I died from severe depression and long-term malnutrition that led to kidney failure. A miracle couldn’t have saved me. Yet, when they first heard the news, there was little emotional tremor. They were almost relieved—one less mouth to feed, one less bill. But slowly, the consequences set in. No one woke up early anymore to make their breakfast. No one came home early to cook dinner and wait for them. The sheets and duvet covers weren’t changed weekly. The laundry wasn’t folded neatly and put away in the drawers. And when my parents were angry, there was no longer a human punching bag. They began to regret how vile they had been to me, how obsessively they prioritized Miles. They started staring at my grainy, unflattering funeral portrait, weeping through the nights. So, they funneled all that belated guilt and debt into Phoebe, the sister they’d shipped off to the country two years earlier. They bought Phoebe the best clothes and fed her the finest food. My cynical younger brother, Miles, suddenly became a doting, reformed older sibling, and from that day on, Phoebe never had to lift a finger. The most monstrous part was Phoebe herself. She had witnessed my entire miserable life, yet she had the audacity to declare to them: “June won’t blame you in the afterlife, Mommy and Daddy. She’d want you to be at peace. After all, we’re family.” My soul had nearly detonated with rage. Phoebe never suffered my pain, so how dare she forgive everyone on my behalf? Later, I learned the truth: I was the book’s expendable character, and Phoebe was the celebrated heroine, designed to build her “Golden Girl” status on the rubble of my life. I remembered protecting Phoebe before I died, taking all the parental abuse and neglect onto myself to shield her from a similar fate. But on the night I died, Phoebe was downstairs. She heard my cries for help but did nothing. She wouldn’t even corroborate my story, knowing our parents thought I was being dramatic. She never said a word. 2 The familiar scene jolted me out of the flashback. I twisted hard, shaking free from my mother’s grip, and stared at Elaine with cold, lethal fury. Perhaps it was the first time she had ever seen that look in my eyes, because she actually flinched and recoiled slightly. But in an instant, my mother recovered, her face contorting. She struck me across the face with a hard slap. “Are you trying to test me, looking at me like that? You need a good beating!” My parents’ obsession with a son was the axis of our lives. I was the firstborn. When Phoebe was born—another girl—they broke. They sent her to a distant relative’s farm when she was two. They got lucky with their next pregnancy: Miles. After he was born, our home was finally filled with celebratory cheer. I always thought Phoebe had it worse, being separated from them so young. But all their resentment was redirected to me. Even before Miles was born, they began calling me a jinx, a failure who couldn’t bring them a son. After Miles arrived, the neglect became habit: daily abuse, incessant criticism, and all the household chores dumped onto my shoulders. In reality, Phoebe was loved by the relatives in the country. She didn’t have pretty dresses, but she had all the unconditional love two old people could give. In that moment of clarity, I realized the only truly pitiful person was me. I held my burning cheek, silent, the hatred in my heart a heavy, unmoving stone. Mom dragged me downstairs. By the front door stood Phoebe, timid and nervous. Her skin was a healthy tan, and her cheeks were plump. I, in contrast, was skin and bone, my collarbone prominent. “Mommy, Daddy, I missed you so much! I thought you didn’t want me anymore.” Phoebe burst into tears and threw herself into their arms. They wouldn’t have even bothered bringing her back if the elderly relative hadn’t passed away. Phoebe recounted a tearful tale of hardship, heavily implying our parents were cruel for abandoning her. Since they were already racked with guilt—and convinced Phoebe was the “lucky charm” who brought them Miles—they showered her with compensatory affection. I was too young to see the cunning spark in Phoebe’s eyes back then. I hadn’t noticed she showed zero grief when her guardian died, or that she never mentioned visiting the surviving relative since she’d been back. I should have known then: Phoebe was a self-serving opportunist, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. After a tearful family reunion huddle, Phoebe acted as if she’d just noticed me, her eyes becoming doe-like and pathetic. “I’m so envious of you, June. You got to stay here with Mommy and Daddy and live a good life. I never even got to see them.” 3 It was the exact same scene, the exact same words as my past life. Back then, ignorant of the truth, I felt an immediate kinship with Phoebe, believing her life had been rough. We were both daughters in this awful house. Fearing she’d suffer as I did, I protected her fiercely, always stepping in front of her. Even when she messed up, I took the blame. And that white-eyed wolf, in return, forgave my abusers on my behalf after I died. Not this time. I won’t be a coward. I won’t beg for a shred of affection that was never mine. I managed a chilling smile. “I’ll admit, I’m a little envious,” I said, my voice sweet as poison. “Looks like Gramps and Grandma fed you well.” Phoebe froze, clearly not expecting me to call attention to her weight. She was speechless. My mother wheeled around, glaring at me. “What is that supposed to mean? Are you blaming us for starving you, you ungrateful wretch? Are you lacking food or clothes in this house?” If this were before, I wouldn’t have dared talk back. I was too afraid, and a sliver of me always hoped that if I just kept quiet, they might still care. I was just waiting to be loved. But I had already died once. They were the reason I didn’t live a full life. I let out a cold, sharp scoff. “You tell me, Mother. Don’t you know the answer already?” Elaine lunged as if to hit me again, but I was already back in my room. I shut the door and ignored the stream of vulgar curses directed at me from the hallway. I was only fifteen; I couldn’t physically leave. But I could claw my way toward a new future. That night, Phoebe knocked on my door. I was finally reading, something I’d never had the time or energy for in the past life, my grades a hopeless mess. Now, let someone else deal with the chaos downstairs. I wasn’t sacrificing my future for them. I didn’t want to answer, but Phoebe was persistent, her soft tapping utterly grating. I yanked the door open in annoyance. Phoebe stood there, wearing one of my new dresses. It was stretched tight across her body, but she clearly loved it. “June,” she said, looking innocent. “Mommy said she didn’t have time to take me shopping, so she let me wear your new dress. You aren’t mad, are you?” It was true. My mother rarely bought me clothes. This dress was bought before the school year, a token meant only to save face. Now, Phoebe had gotten to it first. It was exactly what I expected, and I felt nothing. I had been ignored for so long that I was used to it. An article of clothing was nothing; I’d spent years eating their leftovers. I just couldn’t figure out why Phoebe had bothered to come and gloat. Did she need proof that she was the favored daughter now? This petty Mean Girls routine felt tiresome. 4 I just gave a flat, indifferent grunt: “Oh.” Phoebe’s face visibly clouded over. She clearly wanted me to throw a fit, to fight with her so she could showcase her superior maturity and compliance, proving to Mom and Dad that she was the only daughter worth keeping. But Phoebe had miscalculated. In this house, only Miles was unconditionally cherished. Phoebe and I were merely the failed products. Right now, Phoebe was novel, but I hadn’t died yet, so their regret was still shallow. Phoebe stood frozen for a moment, then immediately burst into fake tears. “June, do you hate me? If you’re upset, I’ll give the dress back right now!” I watched her coldly, and simply held out my hand. Phoebe blinked, confused. “You said you’d give it to me,” I explained flatly. Now it was Phoebe’s turn to feel awkward. She clutched the hem of the dress, unable to take it off, and instead began to sob hysterically. Mom and Dad rushed into my room, drawn by the noise. Seeing Phoebe crying, Elaine didn’t ask a single question; she raised her hand to hit me. “How dare you! You’re the older sister, and she just got here! How could you make her cry?” I darted back, easily dodging my mother’s swing, and fixed her with a hard, level gaze. “Phoebe came in here, wearing my new clothes to provoke me. She said if I was unhappy, she’d give it back. I told her I was unhappy, and she won’t return it. Now she’s crying. What exactly did I do wrong?” My parents were prejudiced, but they weren’t stupid. And now that I had found my voice, I wouldn’t be silenced. Last time, Phoebe often tried to pit us against each other, but I always covered for her. Now, she wouldn’t treat me like a soft target. Phoebe was crying without a scratch on her, and our parents hated unnecessary drama. Mom and Dad looked skeptically at Phoebe. She only cried harder. “June, you misunderstood! I was just worried you’d be angry, but you shouldn’t say such cruel things! You said I was a child they didn’t want! They love me!” Ah, that was her real goal. My parents’ eyes immediately hardened with rage. Sending Phoebe away was the thing they were most ashamed of; the neighborhood had scorned them for it. Phoebe had just ripped off their social fig leaf. Phoebe had some low-level cunning; she’d figured out how to wound our parents just hours after arriving. I calmly reached into my backpack, turned on my voice recorder, and played back the entire conversation—all of Phoebe’s sniffling drama and manipulative lines. I’d bought the recorder with hoarded money to practice my English pronunciation. Now, it served a better purpose. Mom and Dad’s faces went pale. Phoebe panicked and grabbed Elaine’s sleeve. “Mommy, June is scary! She’s recording our own family!” Elaine gently stroked Phoebe’s head. “There, there, darling. Go get some rest.” 5 It was the expected reaction. I hadn’t presented the evidence for justice; I knew they were biased, and I was the least-favored child. If this were my previous life, I would have been heartbroken. But now, it was irrelevant. I knew what I wanted, and their flimsy affection was no longer necessary. On the first day of the school year, I used to wake up before dawn to make breakfast. This time, I left early and bought breakfast with my own savings. From now on, I would eat well and regularly. I wouldn’t waste away from malnutrition. I also applied for on-campus housing. Before, my parents flat-out refused; they needed me for chores. I went to my guidance counselor, Ms. Peterson. Though my grades were weak, she was kind-hearted and guaranteed the deposit for me, even covering the first month herself. I promised her I would study relentlessly, get into a good university, and repay her kindness. She even provided me with a bedding set. My throat burned. A stranger, a person with no blood connection to me, had done this. My parents had only ever treated me like a tool. After that, I stayed on campus, only returning for necessities on weekends. I studied under the desk lamp every night. My grades skyrocketed from the bottom percentiles to the top of the class. Ms. Peterson was delighted. Phoebe, spoiled and enabled by her country relatives, was completely unmotivated. Relying on our parents’ misplaced guilt, she simply slacked off. She was two years younger, but her grades were already abysmal. When it came time for the high school entrance exams, I placed first in the entire district and was accepted into the elite magnet school. Before graduation, Ms. Peterson held my hand and told me to keep pushing. She only wanted me to succeed. I promised her, tears streaming down my face. Returning home afterward, I prepared myself for the inevitable storm. I knew my parents hadn’t dared cause a scene at school; they were waiting for me. The moment I stepped inside, a porcelain mug flew past my head, clipping my forehead. A thin line of blood immediately trickled down my temple. “You ungrateful wretch! You think you can just show up when you feel like it? Why didn’t you just stay dead outside?” 6 My mother looked noticeably haggard. Since I left, she had to take over all the chores. She never considered how exhausting it was for me, a teenager, to handle all of it alone. I casually wiped the blood away. Phoebe walked in from outside, a smug look of schadenfreude on her face. My father, Arthur, sat on the sofa. He never physically hurt me, but his passive indifference was equally chilling. Miles was on his tablet, headphones on, as if the entire household existed merely to serve his entertainment. I placed the acceptance letter from the magnet school on the coffee table. “I’m going to school. I can’t focus here.” Mom froze. She snatched the letter, read it closely, and her expression immediately shifted from thunderous rage to a triumphant smile. I knew the truth: my parents, while prioritizing Miles, were slaves to social image. They neglected me not just because I was a girl, but because my grades made me worthless. If I had tried to ask to board at school before, they would have said no. In their minds, my only value was as a household servant until I was old enough to be married off for a high dowry, which would then be used for Miles. I had to succeed, to prove my value. Since I couldn’t change my gender, I had to change my external worth. “Oh, my June is so smart! Did you really get this score?” I didn’t react to their sudden joy or attention, just nodding numbly. I only wanted to survive; otherwise, I would have walked out and never looked back. Arthur’s perpetually grim face finally cracked a smile. He snatched the letter from Elaine, beaming. “They said my family wouldn’t produce an academic star! I’ll show them! My daughter is going to the best school in the state!” Miles’s grades were pathetic, and Phoebe’s were unmentionable. The atmosphere in the house changed instantly. Miles remained oblivious, but Phoebe’s expression darkened to a storm cloud. Elaine turned to Phoebe. “You finished your semester too, right? Where are your grades?”

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I’d been transmigrated into a trashy CEO novel as a doctor, and the female lead had just been diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy. The CEO domineeringly grabbed her wrist. “I’m keeping this child.” Then he ordered me, “Move the baby from outside the uterus to inside.” Me: “…” 1. I’d been stuck in this brain-dead CEO novel for a month, but a request like that still gave me the absurd feeling of being dive-bombed by a ninety-year-old grandma in a fighter jet. The male lead, Leo Howell, was the king of all scumbags. He was stringing along three different women at once, and in the name of fairness and equality, he’d put all three of them through hell. If I’d heard him say that a month ago, I would’ve personally escorted him to the psychiatric ward for a brain scan. But I was a mature woman now. I understood that the world of a CEO novel didn’t need logic. Was it reasonable for a multi-billionaire business elite to not know what an ectopic pregnancy was? In this world, it existed, and it was reasonable. I pushed up my glasses and said nothing. My colleague, a nameless side character, couldn’t help but try to explain to him why an ectopic pregnancy was a serious medical issue. The CEO, Leo, roared in response, “Useless!” The female lead, Elara Warren, leaned weakly against his chest. “We were never meant to have a child…” Leo’s cold gaze landed on me. His tone left no room for argument. “Dr. Chen, you can do it, can’t you?” I gave him a firm “OK” sign. Elara smiled. My colleague turned to stone. … After all, in three days, Elara would run away heartbroken after learning that Leo was entering into a business alliance marriage, and she would have the surgery for the ectopic pregnancy alone. All I had to do was put on a show for three days. Never mind moving the baby from outside the uterus to inside. I’d tell him I could move it into his brain if he wanted. I’d figured it all out on my first day here. If I wanted to change my fate as a disposable side character, Leo Howell was the best ATM I could ask for. I needed to make money. A crazy amount of money! As expected, Leo was very pleased with my confidence. He immediately hired me as his private physician. Two days later, at one in the morning, I was sound asleep when my phone rang. “Dr. Chen! Elara is in pain! I want to see you at the villa in ten minutes!” 2. Perfect. The classic CEO novel doctor experience. Always on call in the middle of the night to treat the female lead. I slowly got dressed, my voice feigning panic. “Oh my god, how could this be? Oh, poor Miss Warren, may the heavens protect her. I’m on my way, just around the corner, wait for me!” When I arrived at the villa with my medical bag, Elara was wiping her nose, her cheeks rosy, looking perfectly fine. Leo was pacing anxiously, his face dark. “Don’t you worry, I will cure you. Don’t you even think about leaving me again!” I rolled my eyes when he wasn’t looking. Dude, it’s a common cold. A bit dramatic, don’t you think? I took a box of cold medicine from my bag. “It’s nothing serious, just take this twice a day…” Leo immediately cut me off. “My woman does not take such cheap medicine. You haven’t even run any tests. Are you looking down on me?” I was silent for a moment, then my expression changed completely. “This illness… it’s very serious.” Leo: “Just tell me what to do.” I gave him a list. “First, you need to take Miss Warren for a full cardiopulmonary examination, a complete surgical check-up, a routine gynecological exam, a white blood cell count, a liquid-based cytology test, an ENT exam, an EKG, a complete blood count, liver and kidney function tests, serum total cholesterol and triglyceride tests, a fasting blood glucose test, and a quantitative alpha-fetoprotein test.” I took a deep breath after rattling that all off and continued, “And while you’re at it, get her eyes checked too.” After all, for her to have missed what a massive idiot you are, it’s hard not to question her vision. Leo frowned and turned to the butler beside him. “Did you get all that?” The butler nodded. “All noted.” Only then did I realize there was a butler standing in the room, his presence almost nonexistent. He didn’t look very old, and his face was stern. Wait… Was that a twitch at the corner of his mouth? Was he trying not to laugh? When I looked again, he was perfectly composed. Leo looked at me, his eyes filled with admiration. “Dr. Chen, you truly are someone I can trust. You’re very professional.” I smiled and nodded. “Yes, I am.” I’m a professional idiot-spotter. It’s a crime the hospital doesn’t give me a commission. After giving my instructions, I pointed to the air conditioner. “And if you could turn off the AC that’s set to fifteen degrees Celsius, Miss Warren would probably feel better a lot faster.” Pfft. I definitely heard it that time. The butler was laughing. 3. The next morning, Leo took Elara for her tests. According to the plot, she would overhear some gossip at the hospital—that Leo was about to marry the daughter of the Howell Group. Elara would be heartbroken and sneak out of the hospital, running away. Leo, furious and anxious, would vow to turn the entire city upside down to find her. While the main characters were playing their game of cat and mouse, I was busy hauling a truckload of fake antique vases and porcelain into the villa. “Dr. Chen, what are you doing?” The villa’s maid stopped me. I froze, trying to come up with a lie, when a clear voice cut in. It was the butler. “Dr. Chen is very health-conscious,” he explained calmly. “We don’t have any dumbbells here, so she’s using the vases for exercise.” Me: “…” The maid quickly apologized. “My apologies, that was my oversight. I’ll have someone prepare a set for Dr. Chen immediately.” After she left, the butler looked me up and down. “I know you’re a transmigrator too. You’re trying to swap out the antiques and sell them? Don’t be stupid. Leo’s an idiot, but people come to this villa all the time. Anyone with a bit of knowledge will spot the fakes immediately.” I gave him a mysterious smile and continued moving my fake antiques. Then I carefully replaced all the real ones. Two hours later, Leo stormed back into the villa. He was a mess of anger and laughter, pacing the living room in a powerless rage. “That damn woman! She ran away! She ran away again!” I stood by, offering my sincere advice. “Mr. Howell, please calm down. Don’t worry about Miss Warren. Maybe she’s already left the city and found her freedom.” My words only fueled his anger. He kicked the sofa violently. “She’s carrying my child! Where could she possibly go? I will find her!” I gasped. “Mr. Howell, be careful! Don’t hit that vase! Miss Warren loves those vases. It would be such a shame if one broke.” Hearing this, Leo grabbed the nearest vase and smashed it on the floor. It shattered with a crisp, satisfying sound. His eyes were wild as he started to laugh. “How dare she! How dare she leave me!” With every word, he grabbed another vase and smashed it. Within half an hour, the living room was a wreck. As he stomped upstairs, he yelled, “I don’t want to see anything in here that reminds me of that woman! Julian, clean up this mess!” I stood by the door, digging my nails into my palms to keep from laughing. I’m rich! I’m rich! The butler, Julian, glanced at the pile of fake shards on the floor and slowly uttered one word: “Impressive.” 4. Leo had smashed all the fakes himself, leaving no evidence. The genuine articles were all mine. Time to ship them out and sell them. With a racing heart and trembling hands, I grabbed my car keys, ready to leave. But I ran right into Leo on his way downstairs. His clear, yet utterly stupid, eyes looked me over. “Leaving, Dr. Chen?” Duh. The female lead is gone. You expect me to stick around and be your nurse? So I nodded. Leo: “Good. Go home and pack your things. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be living here.” Me: “?” Leo’s eyes burned with a furious fire. “I’ll find her within a week, at most. That damn woman never takes care of herself. I need you on standby at all times.” What could I say? Whatever makes you happy. I put on a somber expression. “I hope Miss Warren is safe and sound.” As I turned to leave, he called out again. “Dr. Chen, why are your hands shaking?” Crap. I couldn’t control my excitement at the thought of my newfound wealth. But Leo had already come up with his own explanation. “You must be exhausted from the last couple of days. Julian, drive Dr. Chen home.” Julian and I exchanged a look, both of us with our own ulterior motives. In the car, Julian’s eyes scanned the row of antiques in the backseat. His icy demeanor melted away, and he grabbed my hand excitedly. “Sis! You’re my one and only sis!” I was flabbergasted. “You change your tune fast.” Julian’s face fell. “I’m an actor! I transmigrate into a book and end up as a butler whose only line is ‘It’s been so long since the young master has been this happy.’ Ugh, I’ve had enough of that moron! When you get rich, don’t forget about me!” I had to admit, Julian’s role as the butler was incredibly convenient for my get-rich-quick scheme. So we put our heads together and planned to mark all the valuable items in the villa over the next few days, looking for opportunities to snag them. But I never expected that instead of an opportunity, we’d get the second female lead. Leo’s fiancée, the heiress of the Thorne Group, Lucy Thorne. Leo was out hunting for his runaway lover, so Julian and I had sent the other staff away and were running around the villa like two weasels in a melon patch, searching for treasure. Lucy strode in, decked out in designer heels, a Chanel suit, and a Hermès bag. She walked through the front door with an air of righteous fury. I was crouched by a table, examining the jewels on its legs to see if they were real. Without a word, Miss Thorne marched over and slapped me across the face. 5. The slap echoed through the room, and I fell to the floor. Lucy scoffed. “I heard Leo Howell was hiding his first love here. That must be you. Did you know he has a fiancée? Have you no shame?” So much drama. So much unnecessary drama. If you want to fight, go find his first love! Why are you hitting me? Julian rushed to stand in front of me. “Miss Thorne, how could you just hit someone without a word?” You bastard. Did I say anything? What do you mean “without a word”? I lay on the floor, playing dead. Seeing me “unconscious,” Julian panicked. “Oh my god, she’s dead!” He started pacing around me like a frantic monkey. Lucy frowned at him. “Butler Julian, the last time I saw you, you were much more composed.” Julian paused for a second, then his icy mask was back in place. “This is the young master’s private physician. You have just knocked her unconscious, and her life is in danger. I, a mere bystander, am concerned. As the perpetrator, do you not feel the slightest bit of guilt, Miss Thorne?” This kid was good. I squinted my eyes and saw a flash of panic on Lucy’s face. The guilt trip was working. I secretly tugged on Julian’s sleeve and whispered, “Call an ambulance. At the hospital, tell them I hit my head. Get me a full body scan. I can save on my annual check-up fee.” Then I went back to playing dead. Julian muttered, “You’re a real cheapskate.” He knew me well. At the hospital, he ordered the most expensive check-up package, and Lucy paid for it all. Nice. After the tests, I took a nap in a VIP room. When I figured enough time had passed, I slowly “woke up.” Lucy looked apologetic. “I’m so sorry. It was a case of mistaken identity.” Then she frowned, as if confused. “But it’s so strange. I’ve had an excellent upbringing, I’m well-educated and worldly. Logically, even if I knew Leo was still involved with his first love, I would have handled it in a more dignified way. Why would I be so impulsive as to hit someone?” I really wanted to shout in her ear, “Because you’re trapped by the plot!” You’re the female antagonist, so you have to be tortured by the male lead and lose all reason for his sake. Ugh, this novel was disgusting. 6. Lucy said that despite her exceptional abilities, her family had never allowed her to get involved in the business. They told her her only value was in a strategic marriage. She knew it was wrong, but she’d always forget by the next day. I slowly realized that Lucy was starting to develop a sense of self-awareness. So I tested the waters. “Miss Thorne, the reason you find it strange is because you’re a character in a CEO novel. Do you want to change your character’s path? I can help you.” Lucy froze, then tossed her curly hair back and laughed. “That’s an interesting thing to say. Even if I were a character in a novel, I’ve had a perfect life, and my fiancé is one of the most eligible bachelors in the country. Why would I want to change such a wonderful fate? Give me one good reason.” I was silent for a moment, then I delivered the cruel blow. “You’re the shrewish, evil second female lead.” … The world went silent. I could almost hear the sound of her reality shattering. Lucy’s face went white with rage. “That piece of trash, Leo Howell! What a joke! I’m rich, I’m beautiful, I have men lining up from here to France, and he makes me the evil second female lead?” She pointed a finger at me, her voice filled with newfound determination. “Fine. You’ve convinced me.” … Getting through to her was much easier than I expected. Lucy and I hit it off immediately. I asked her, “Your family and Leo Howell are both trying to acquire a software company called WindSignal, right?” Lucy nodded. “But my uncles and cousins all say we should let the Howells have it…” I said, “Let them have it, my ass! Listen to me, you have to get that company. A game they’re currently developing is going to blow up in a year.” My words fired Lucy up, but we quickly realized there was a major problem. Lucy had no say in her family’s business, and her personal savings weren’t enough to acquire the company on her own. I calculated the value of the antiques, and even with that, we were still about twenty million short. Lucy and I slowly turned to look at Julian, who was standing in the corner. Julian looked like he was about to cry. “You finally remembered I exist.” I walked over and patted his shoulder. “Get over it. That’s your character. The butler with a nonexistent presence.” Julian looked at my shifty expression and clutched his chest. “You could sell me and you still wouldn’t get twenty million.” Me: “…” I threw an arm around his neck. “Let’s go. The golden goose should be home by now. Back to the villa to pluck some more feathers!” 7. Julian and I snuck back to the villa. The moment we walked through the door, we saw the golden goose, I mean, Leo, smashing things again. He had the classic CEO red-rimmed eyes as he sulked on the sofa. He frowned when he saw us. “Why were you two out together?” I lied without batting an eye. “My colleague called and said she saw someone who looked just like Miss Warren. Butler Julian and I went to check it out, but it was a false alarm. Sigh.” I sighed again. “Miss Warren is so small and helpless. Where could she have gone? She doesn’t have any other friends. Sigh…” The more I sighed, the more remorseful Leo became. He clutched his head and muttered, “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have let her find out about the engagement. Elara must hate me.” Pah! You scumbag! Even now, your first thought is to hide it from her, not to call off the engagement. I’m not leaving until you’re bald! I gritted my teeth and casually mentioned, “If we offered a reward for information about Miss Warren, we could probably find her pretty quickly. It’s just a shame…” I sighed again, shook my head, and started walking toward my room. I counted down in my head. Three, two, one… Leo: “Wait.” Hehe, the sheep has taken the bait. Leo thought for a moment. “Why did you say it’s a shame?” I feigned ignorance. “Because a reward would cost a lot of money, right? Is it worth spending so much just to find someone?” Then I covered my mouth with my hands, my eyes wide with mock disbelief. “OMG, I forgot! Miss Warren is the love of your life! You’d spend any amount of money to find her, right?” Leo’s eyes were firm. “Of course!” He sat on the sofa, thinking for a moment, then gestured to Julian. “Julian, you handle this. Notify the major news outlets, put it on the giant screens in every city, get the word out about this reward. We’ll pay for any information about Elara, based on how useful it is.” Julian asked, “What’s the total budget?” Leo was the epitome of a CEO. “Whatever it takes.”

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When Carter and his secretary crossed the line, I hadn’t even left the house yet. They were so intensely engaged they completely lost themselves. Right up until the end. When Carter finally noticed me, he offered a careless apology: “Sorry, didn’t know you were still home.” He looked down, cleaning himself up, then suddenly glanced back at me. “Listening for that long, you must be feeling it too, right? “How about you help me finish cleaning up? And I’ll… “Fulfill you?” 1 Whoosh. A wave of sheer humiliation rushed from my head straight down to my feet. I tried to push him away, but he grabbed my chin, squeezing so hard tears sprang to my eyes. In the bathroom, the steam was thick. Carter leaned down. “Staying behind on purpose… you just wanted to hear how I am with other women, didn’t you? “Now that you’ve heard it, you’re unhappy?” It wasn’t like that! I was originally heading out. But I realized I forgot the lipstick Carter had given me. So I came back. Before I could even find the lipstick, I heard Mia’s giggles. “Why did you call me over at this time?” I wanted to say something. To let them know I was still here. But before I could even push the door open, I didn’t know who pushed who, but they slammed against the bathroom door from the inside. I was trapped. I could only bite my lip as hard as I could. To avoid the utter humiliation… Mia asked him, “Why do you still call me over when your wife is back?” He let out a low groan, but still managed to answer her. “She’s dirty.” Tears of pure degradation broke through the dam. I forced myself to stand up straight, staring directly at Carter. “Those men never touched me… I am not dirty, Carter. My body is clean.” Before I could finish. Mia walked back from washing up in the other room, her eyes meeting my red, tear-filled ones. Her gaze slowly dragged down to the lipstick tube I was clutching so tightly. She gave a slight, mocking smile. “Oh, does the missus really like that lipstick? That’s a shame. Carter bought me a designer bag, and the store threw that in as a free sample.” 2 I froze in place. I couldn’t believe what Mia was implying. This lipstick… It was clearly brand new. It was sitting at home in its perfect, unopened packaging! I… I thought Carter had finally realized the truth. That he had given it to me as a peace offering, a chance to mend our relationship. That’s why I was heading out to carefully pick out a return gift for him… Mia seemed to see right through my confusion. Smiling brightly, she turned around and dropped her towel right in front of me. “Since the missus likes it so much, I’ll just give you all my free samples from now on. “I’m a bit picky anyway. “Free samples… they just feel so dirty to use.” Dirty?! That word again?! The string of sanity in my head snapped violently. I charged at her, using every ounce of strength I had to rip at her hair, dragging her and slamming her against the wall. Mia never expected me to get physical. She screamed in agony. Her smooth forehead instantly swelled where I smashed it against the drywall. It didn’t stop until Carter ripped us apart. He shielded her behind him, looking at me in absolute disbelief. “Chloe, are you insane?!” Yeah! I was insane! What kind of woman could just stand there and watch her husband sleep with another woman?! I glared at him. A wave of overwhelming, crushing sorrow surged up my throat. “I was kidnapped and dragged out to the middle of nowhere because of Mia! I was never touched by those men… “Carter, how many times do I have to say it before you believe me…” I couldn’t stop the sob from escaping. A flicker of emotion, maybe guilt, flashed in his eyes. But Mia suddenly yanked on his arm, her voice trembling. “Stop lying. “When Carter and I burst in there to save you… “Your legs were literally spread apart by those men!” Carter froze. That brief flicker of emotion instantly vanished. He picked Mia up in his arms, his expensive shoe crushing the lipstick tube on the floor. “Chloe, you are truly disgusting.” 3 The water in the bathtub submerged my head entirely. Just ten minutes. Clinical death… then there’s no saving me. I closed my eyes. The darkness, the suffocation, it felt exactly like three years ago. Carter had disappeared without a word. Unreachable. His whole family was frantic. When we finally managed to get a hold of his secretary, Mia, she told me in a panic: Carter had gone to a rural county for a project. His signal was lost deep in the mountains! She suspected… I called the police, but I was so terrified I followed the GPS pin Mia sent me myself. A heavy blow to the back of my head. When I opened my eyes again, I was tied up. A man who only knew how to let out a sickening, guttural laugh was tearing at my clothes, muttering, “Rich man’s wife… so pale… gonna make a great breeder.” I struggled. I fought like a madwoman. They brutally snapped my leg. I was barely breathing. My clothes were in shreds. I felt the cold air against my exposed skin. His filthy, reeking hand clamped over my mouth and nose. I couldn’t breathe… Just a little bit more. Just a little bit… Splash—! I violently sat up from the water, like tearing myself away from a years-long nightmare. My ears were ringing. Why? Why should I be the one to die? I was the victim! It was Carter who refused to believe me! It was Carter who wanted revenge against me. For a whole month, I lay alone in the hospital. No matter how I explained that no man had touched me, he wouldn’t believe it! He only wanted to believe what he saw! He decided I ran off to the mountains and got myself kidnapped just to spite him. He thought I was using my body to manipulate him. But I was incredibly stupid. Even while trying to “manipulate” him, I let those disgusting men take advantage of me! My leg was tortured until it broke. The only time I saw him, Carter stared at me coldly. “Played too hard and got burned. Are you satisfied now? “You reap what you sow. Absolutely idiotic.” Then he left. He ignored every single one of my calls. Desperate to explain, I checked myself out of the hospital early, only to come home and find him in bed with Mia! She was panicked. He didn’t even try to hide. The pristine white sheets were stained with red blood. Carter leaned against the headboard, lazily narrowing his eyes. “No need to look so upset. “At least the person I found is cleaner than the ones you found.” 4 I squeezed my eyes shut, waking up from one unbearable memory after another. My lungs felt like they were going to explode. I was coughing violently. I decided I didn’t want to die. I drove straight to the nearest emergency room. Fighting through the pain, I parked the car, only to see Carter and Mia walking out. She had a fresh bandage taped to her forehead. Her eyes were brimming with tears, looking incredibly wronged. “Carter, maybe I shouldn’t go to your place anymore. Chloe… I don’t know what she’ll do next time, I’m scared…” She didn’t finish. Carter tilted her chin up. Even though I wasn’t that close, I could clearly see the soft, affectionate look in his eyes. “Scared of what? If she won’t let you come over, I’ll just go to your place.” Mia fell silent. She meekly lowered her head. “Then why don’t you… just divorce her?” Carter’s smile faded slightly. “I’ll buy you a new condo in a few days.” Mia pouted slightly. When she looked up again, she met my eyes. Her face drained of color. “Chloe…” Carter frowned. “You followed us here? Chloe, do you really have to pull these pathetic, stalker stunts?!” I walked toward them, step by step. The feeling of water in my lungs made my chest feel like it was cracking open. “Get out of my way!” 5 They didn’t move. I shoved them hard. Carter’s face went cold as he grabbed my arm. “What the hell are you doing?!” My chest felt like it was ripping apart. I coughed uncontrollably. Carter frowned deeper. “Faking an illness now?” Mia looked at me, then gently shook his arm. “I understand Chloe, really. If I were her, and I came up with a stupid plan that ended up getting me violated by other men, I’d try everything to win you back too… “Carter, why don’t you…” She bit her lip, looking pitiful. “Why don’t you just go home with her for now.” Carter reacted like he had touched something filthy. He forcefully threw my arm away, an expression of utter disgust on his face. “I truly didn’t expect you to still be acting at a time like this. Chloe, you’ve hit a new low!” The force of his shove nearly made me pass out. I couldn’t catch my breath. Cold sweat poured down my body. Just then, a man in a white doctor’s coat rushed out and quickly caught me. “Chloe!” He sounded furious, scolding me: “I told you to let the ambulance go get you! Near-drowning is no joke! Thank God I came out to look for you!” By the elevators, two nurses ran out to help me onto a gurney. Carter suddenly grabbed Dr. Arthur Miller’s arm. “Drowning? You’re helping your stepsister lie and scam people now?!” Arthur glanced at Mia standing next to him, his expression completely detached: “Before this moment, I had no idea you were hooking up with this woman again!” 6 Perhaps it was because I finally saw someone I could trust. My consciousness quickly slipped away. Everything went dark and blurry. It felt like I was back a long, long time ago, when the Miller family finally claimed me. Everyone said my grandmother was worried my mom would be despised by the Millers for giving birth to a girl. So she secretly swapped me out for a baby boy and sent me away. That boy was Arthur Miller. He grew up in my house, forming a deep, unbreakable bond with my biological parents. When they found me, they decided to keep us both. But I grew up in a poor, rural town. When I returned to the Miller estate, I realized they had strict etiquette for everything, even eating. I couldn’t learn it. I felt helpless and deeply ashamed. With so many people at the dining table, Carter was the only one who gently held my hand and softly guided me. “Use your left hand first, then apply pressure with your right…” That night, at the banquet celebrating the return of their biological daughter. I, the actual daughter, hid in an unnoticed corner and quietly blushed. Dreams. Fragmented and broken. It felt like ever since I returned to the Miller family, everyone knew how I felt about him. They silently allowed me to follow Carter around like a shadow. Back then, the term ‘simp’ didn’t exist yet. Everyone just said the Miller’s biological daughter was throwing herself at him. Only Arthur warned me to stay far away from Carter. Because everyone knew… Carter already had a “moonlight” in his heart—an untouchable first love. So, when I heard they broke up, I waited by Carter’s side, overjoyed. So, when Carter got drunk, he gave me a chance… The next morning, holding a cigarette, he said: “I’ll marry you.” But I waited for the clouds to part, forgetting that storms can roll in without warning. Mia suddenly appeared in our lives. I realized with sheer terror: Mia only looked a tiny bit like his first love, but Carter was absolutely determined to keep her by his side. We engaged in cold wars, we fought bitterly. Until I couldn’t take it anymore. I went to find him to make peace… and was tricked by Mia into going to that remote mountain village. Tears slipped from the corners of my eyes. Arthur’s voice sounded next to me. “Since you’re awake, start thinking about your future.” 7 I sniffled. “No wonder they love you so much. Nothing gets past you.” Arthur paused. He handed me a tissue. “Mom and Dad never expected you to fall so deeply for Carter.” I wanted to laugh, but I lacked the energy. Some things, the beneficiaries will never understand. My expression must have been too obvious. Arthur frowned. “Chloe, you need to understand, Mom and Dad didn’t have to bring you back.” True. To the Miller family, a daughter’s use value was basically zero. Arthur wanted me to know my place and be grateful. He was also reminding me that without the Miller family, I never would have even had the chance to get close to Carter. I closed my eyes. Feeling the suffocating frustration churning in my chest. “Once I divorce him, I’ll be of absolutely zero use to the Miller family.” “Divorce?” “Divorce?!” Two male voices echoed in the hospital room simultaneously. Unlike Arthur’s shock. Carter’s voice carried a distinct, icy edge. He marched straight in, his gaze locking onto me. “Chloe, what did you just say? You want to divorce me?” This time, Mia wasn’t with him. His sharp eyes bore into mine, looking down at me from his towering height. “Plan A failed, so you’re moving to Plan B? “What kind of crazy act are you putting on this time? Who’s your male lead? Your stepbrother?” He shifted his gaze to Arthur’s face. “What do you think? “Isn’t Chloe your sister? You’re going to get inside her? Doesn’t the very thought of it make you sick?!” “Carter!” I couldn’t take it anymore and screamed his name! The next second. Arthur grabbed his collar and delivered a vicious, bone-crushing punch. The sickening thud of fist meeting flesh. The two men tangled together, neither holding back. “You animal!” Arthur’s eyes were bloodshot as he hoisted Carter up by his collar. “If we knew you were capable of this kind of bastard behavior, our family never would have let Chloe marry you!” They fought until they were both panting heavily and finally separated. Carter looked at me. There wasn’t a shred of apology in his eyes. “What happened with Mia and me just makes us even. Don’t try to threaten me with divorce. “Chloe. “You cry wolf too many times, and eventually, nobody believes you.” 8 I stared quietly at this man. My gaze slid over his sharp, familiar features. I offered a silent smile. “Okay. I understand.” Carter looked momentarily bewildered, staring at me blankly for a long time. “I hope you actually have the self-awareness you’re projecting right now.” Carter left. My phone buzzed with a $50,000 transfer notification. This was an incredibly rare occurrence. The only time anyone got compensation from Carter was when he felt genuinely guilty. Arthur looked at me. His expression was incredibly complicated. I told him, “I suddenly realized something. Regarding that kidnapping… even if I had been violated, what right does Carter have to punish me for it? “This obsession with ‘purity’… it’s just adopting the moral standards of the criminals who kidnapped me. “Don’t you agree, brother?” Arthur’s face went completely blank for a second. He asked, belatedly: “What did you just call me?” I didn’t elaborate. Arthur took a deep breath. “Chloe, whether you believe it or not, Mom, Dad, and I… we all love you very much.” 9 I used to hate Arthur. I hated him for taking my place, for enjoying the love of my parents. He was the reason that even after returning to the Miller family, I remained a child starved for affection. Because I was starved for love. The moment Carter showed me that tiny shred of kindness. I fell hard. I tried so desperately to find proof that I was loved in that relationship. But I forgot that Carter’s kindness toward me was nothing more than an accidental, fleeting act of charity. I suddenly remembered something. After I was rescued, Mia had stopped me and said: [Did you really think I could fool someone as smart as Carter?] [He just doesn’t care. He doesn’t care about you, and he doesn’t care about your marriage.] [After all, when he wasn’t answering your calls, we were just about to…]

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I had been in a car wreck. A nasty concussion. And it had wiped my fiancé right out of my mind. Not only had I forgotten him, I’d been vicious. I’d told him I only loved my ex-boyfriend and ordered him to get the hell out of my life. When he stood waiting for me, heartbroken, on the street below my apartment, I’d walked downstairs and dumped a bucket of ice water on his head. Then, on the day he was set to marry someone else, I remembered everything. 1 The day the memories returned wasn’t marked by any special occasion. No medicine mix-up, no near-drowning, and certainly not another car crash like the one that had stolen my past in the first place. I was just sitting there, curled up with a book. I wasn’t even reading anything profound, just a line that spoke of a tree and how it wouldn’t be so green if it knew the sorrows of the world. I was thinking, Of course, it’s easier to be the fool, to know nothing, to have no clue… …no clue… Suddenly, my brain detonated. A blinding rush of fragmented scenes flashed behind my eyes. His eyes, red-rimmed, asking if I didn’t want him anymore. His voice, choked, asking if I’d ever regret this. The time he took me to the lake to fly a kite, the string slicing his hand… The tidal wave of memory was immediate and suffocating. My head clogged and throbbed with the sudden influx of a life that wasn’t mine until seconds ago. I grabbed the phone, my fingers flying to the number I knew better than my own name. That number—the one that had always been answered instantly, no matter the hour—was now met with a cold, metallic voice: “We’re sorry, the number you have dialed is currently busy.” I hung up and immediately dialed my oldest friend, Darian. “Darian, where is Cas? Where is he right now?” Darian and I had been friends since we were kids; I knew his family, the Eastons, had corporate ties with Cas’s family, the Blackwoods. He had to know. During my amnesia, my friends had all patiently, sometimes desperately, urged me to give Cas a chance, to at least try to get to know him again, warning that I’d regret it otherwise. But I hadn’t been able to hear them. I’d been too lost in my own fog. The raw panic in my voice was all Darian needed to hear. He understood immediately. “Rory, did you… did you remember?” “Yes, everything. I remember. Tell me where he is. I have to go to him.” I was sobbing, barely able to breathe. His reply was heavy, reluctant. “Maybe… maybe you shouldn’t.” “Why? You know I’ve wanted this, Darian. You always told me I’d regret it,” I cried, the words tearing out of my throat. “Please, just tell me. I need him. I need to see him…” “Rory,” he said, his voice quiet and devastating. “He’s getting married today.” The receiver felt like a bolt of lightning against my ear. When Cas had desperately tried to hold onto me, he’d asked: “Rory, do you remember promising to marry me? You said you wanted pure white bellflowers everywhere, and a dress like a thousand stars. I remember all of it. If you throw me out like this and I marry someone else, won’t you regret it?” The memory of my reply then was a physical stab in my chest now. I had looked him straight in his pleading eyes and said, with icy detachment: “Just let me go, okay? I hope you marry someone quickly and permanently, so you can stop bothering me.” 2 Darian’s voice came back through the phone, sharp with old resentment. “You were so sure, Rory. You told everyone you wouldn’t regret your choices, even if your memory returned.” “I do regret it! I regret it! Is that not allowed?” I wailed, slamming the phone down. I wiped my face and stumbled out the door. Darian’s sleek black car was already idling at the curb. He was always there, no matter how unreasonable, how wild my decisions were. He wouldn’t abandon me. “Darian, I—” I began, shamefaced. He cut me off, his expression unreadable. “I was going anyway. Get in. You won’t stop until you see it for yourself.” Tears welled again. I choked them back and climbed into the passenger seat. He tapped a local address into the GPS—a venue in New Haven, the city where we had gone to college. The silence in the car was thick with unspoken history. Cas’s family estate was in New Haven, and that’s where we’d attended university. He’d transferred into my major, and his student ID number was sequentially right after mine. It had felt like fate. After graduation, when I insisted on moving back to Manhattan to find a job, he hadn’t hesitated for a second. “Rory,” he’d promised, “wherever you go, I go. We’re never separating.” I’d been so touched, my eyes blurring with tears. “You’re the best! I’ll take care of you.” But less than six months later, I’d shattered him into pieces and he’d retreated, devastated, back to New Haven. After he left, Darian would watch me from across a table at a bar, nursing a drink, while I pretended not to care. His gaze was always complex. “Rory, are you really sure you won’t regret this?” “No,” I’d insisted. “What if you remember?” “The doctors said it’s a million-to-one shot. How would I remember? Besides, even if I did, I probably still wouldn’t regret it.” And now I had remembered. And I regretted it. Regretted it so fiercely I wanted to die. Darian dropped me off at the entrance of the Grand Regent Hotel and went to find parking. I stood alone on the pavement. I hadn’t even made it inside the ballroom, but I was already stunned. The scale and lavishness of the wedding went far beyond anything I could have imagined. White bellflowers were everywhere, a sweeping cascade of them from the entrance onward. Pure, dense, and blindingly white. “Wedding must have bellflowers,” his voice echoed in my memory. He always loved bellflowers. He used to tell me: “Rory, you’re just like a bellflower—so pure and beautiful.” He had described our wedding to me countless times. For a flashing, insane moment, I thought I was hallucinating. Could this be my wedding with Cas? Was I still in that hospital bed, trapped in a nightmare, waiting to wake up? My daydream dissolved the moment I saw the enormous welcome sign at the entrance. White florals framed the display, making it solemn and utterly exclusive. “Mr. Caspian Blackwood and Ms. Kendall Lynch. A Match Made in Heaven.” Kendall. Of course, it was her. The girl who had always wanted to be with him had finally won. Below the main announcement, a secondary line was engraved, solidifying the union: “The heir of Blackwood Group and the daughter of Lynch Enterprises: A perfect union of power and pedigree.” The photo of the happy couple, all beaming smiles, was drowned in the white floral sea. They looked sweet, warm, and utterly right. I watched the stream of luxury cars and the distinguished, wealthy guests flowing past me and understood with painful clarity: Even without the recent betrayal, it never would have been me. 3 Kendall was Cas’s childhood friend. The kind who had supposedly been trailing after him for over a decade. She had even transferred to our university the day after Cas did. She was beautiful, savvy, and wealthy, and she wasn’t shy about spending money on people, quickly becoming a kind of social queen. When our class played a charity basketball game, she kitted out the entire men’s team in custom-designed jerseys. For our group retreat, she had a full semi-trailer of high-end gear hauled in to set up the party. No one disliked her. So, when Cas and I first got close, the whispers about me were vicious. “Kendall and Cas are soulmates, a family arrangement. Rory is just the cheap distraction.” “Rory is poor, she’s just latching onto the richest guy she can find.” “Rory’s necklace must be stolen. There’s no way she could afford something like that.” I was poor, but I wasn’t without pride. For a long time, I wouldn’t speak to Cas, wouldn’t allow us to have any interaction, and certainly wouldn’t accept his attention. Eventually, Kendall must have decided I was too beneath her to bother with and stopped trying to actively exclude me. She even started skipping classes. Cas, however, had none of the arrogance of a rich kid. He was hardworking, serious about his studies, and always prepared study guides for everyone before finals. Once, he took me to the university’s quiet lake. He said he wanted to fly a kite for me. He ran across the grass, holding the string, looking a little clumsy but full of vibrant energy. He really was the most infectious, radiant person I’d ever met. I was lost in my own thoughts when he ran back, pulling the kite behind him, and shouted over the wind: “Rory! You’re my kite!” The wind was strong by the water, and his hair blew across his face. He grinned, his teeth straight and dazzling white. He handed the spool to me. Distracted, I missed the catch. The spool tumbled, and the string began to unwind in frantic circles. He scrambled to retrieve it, slowly winding the line back in. He finally came back to me, holding the collected kite and spool. His palm was cut by the taught string, red dots of blood welling up. He just smiled. “No big deal.” In that moment, not falling for him was impossible. Cas assured me that Kendall was just a friend, maybe a family friend, a little sister. He swore he had no interest in her. If he did, he wouldn’t be with me. So, I tried to ignore Kendall’s occasional harassment. I could handle the gossip. But about a year into our relationship, Kendall started actively inserting herself into our lives. More accurately, into his life. She’d drag him to lunch. She’d insist he come shopping with her. She’d always include him in her exclusive parties. Her parties were always in high-end, member-only venues, full of complicated social rituals. I knew she wanted to watch me fumble. She wanted me to feel utterly out of place, to get the message that I didn’t belong. I managed to hold my own, but I was exhausted by it. She was constantly sitting too close to him, insisting they sing duets together, or “accidentally” drinking from his glass. I finally exploded at Cas. He promised he would draw a firm boundary with her. Not long after that, I had the car crash and lost my memory. “Hurry up! The bride’s bouquet! Just finished the custom requests!” I turned to see a frantic wedding coordinator shoving a bouquet into my hands. “Long wait! Ms. Lynch’s changes are done! Get this to her, please!” Then she rushed off. I must have looked like a stunned venue assistant, standing there in my plain clothes. I stared at the bouquet—bellflowers woven together, diamonds subtly set in the arrangement. A bitter laugh caught in my throat. I resigned myself and walked inside. After fumbling through three wrong doors, I pushed open the door to the bridal suite. The room was bright, lit with a glowing, starlight-like luminescence. The woman in the mirror seemed to radiate light. Kendall was wearing a massive dress with an enormous train, tiny water-based diamonds sprinkled everywhere, exposing her beautiful neck and arms. “Cas! I sent you to get the flowers, what took you so long—” She called out happily, then turned and saw me. Her smile froze and her expression immediately turned cold. “You. What are you doing here?” Wordlessly, I extended the bouquet to her. “I just ran into it. Here.” She took the flowers with a look of distaste and immediately grabbed a bottle of floral spray and misted the bouquet. “You can go now,” she dismissed me, waving a manicured hand impatiently. When I didn’t move, her expression changed to a wary probe. “Did you remember?” I nodded once. A flicker of panic crossed her face, quickly replaced by a victorious smile. She patted my shoulder—a gesture of false camaraderie. “We owe you everything. You gave him up. You saved his life.” I didn’t want to say another word. I turned to walk away. The room was too beautiful, she was too beautiful, and her dress was like a thousand stars. The stars Cas had promised me. 4 I was a few steps down the hall when I realized a piece of delicate chiffon fabric was snagged on my shoulder. It must have caught on something in the dressing room. I needed to return it. As I reached the door, I heard Cas’s voice inside. “I waited for half an hour, I didn’t see anyone—wait, you already have it?” Kendall’s voice, smooth and falsely contrite, responded: “Cas, Rory was just here. She brought the bouquet to me. She said she was so happy to see us together, that she hopes we’ll be eternally happy, and that you should never think of her again.” The doorknob rattled, as if someone was preparing to open the door. I was about to slip away when I heard Kendall continue: “She doesn’t want to see you, Cas. She remembered a while ago, but she’s marrying her ex-boyfriend now, and she won’t look back. Think about those messages. She told you herself that he’s the one she loves the most.” Ex-boyfriend…? Chat logs…? Suddenly, everything clicked into place. The fog of my partial recovery cleared with stunning, brutal force. After my accident, I had actually started to like Cas again. He had been so patient. “Rory, I’m sorry I rushed things. It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember. We can start over. You can fall in love with me again. We don’t need the past.” I was just about ready to let go of the past and start a new relationship with him. Until that night, when he took me to a friend’s gathering. When I was in the restroom, Kendall—the only other woman there—cornered me. “Rory, your timing was impeccable,” she’d said, her voice dripping with poison. “Even if Cas was determined to break up with you, he couldn’t just dump a girl in a coma.” Kendall told me Cas’s family had always despised me because I was an orphan with no connections. Cas, under pressure, was planning to end the engagement. The day of the accident, she insisted, we weren’t going to look at wedding venues; he was going to break up with me. The only reason he hadn’t was because breaking an engagement after a life-threatening accident would ruin the Blackwood Group’s reputation. He was only taking care of me until the PR fallout faded. I was reeling. “He never said any of this to me.” “We’re all friends here. I’ve watched you both,” she continued, pushing her advantage. “I even told him to cherish you and ignore the whole ‘perfect match’ business. But you don’t remember anything now. You’re fundamentally incompatible. Did you know Cas can’t eat spicy food? And you’re constantly putting chili in his meals.” I hadn’t known. Since I’d left the hospital, Cas had done all the cooking, and he often made spicy food. I assumed he liked it too. “Do you know you’re supposed to accompany him to corporate functions? Do you understand the language they speak? Have you ever been to those places? Can you afford the clothes? Do you know the constant pressure Cas is under because of you?” I stared blankly as her mouth moved. “If you truly haven’t remembered, just let him go, okay? Dragging him down with your illness is selfish.” Her words resonated with the self-sacrificing part of me. I couldn’t ruin his life. I went home and immediately began to distance myself, preparing to move out. The day I was moving my last boxes, Kendall knocked on my door. Her eyes were red. “Since you’ve made the decision, can you be crueler? Make him give up? This uncertainty is hurting him. Just tell him you love someone else. Like an ex-boyfriend or something.” She said Cas was drunk and waiting downstairs, desperate for an answer. I agreed. I went upstairs, filled a bucket with water, and poured it over his head. When he looked up, stunned, I spoke every word with measured coldness: “I don’t love you. I have someone else I love. Can you please stop bothering me? Just get out of my life.” He was speechless for a long time, then his expression turned to ash. “But… didn’t you two break up?” “It was a misunderstanding.” “So, the messages are real,” he whispered, utterly defeated, pulling himself off the pavement. “I didn’t want to believe it. Fine. I won’t bother you again.” I turned and ran back inside, holding back tears, and forgot to ask the one thing that mattered: How did he know the person I loved was an ex-boyfriend? The truth was, I didn’t have an ex-boyfriend. While I was recovering in the hospital, a guy had requested to follow me online. He claimed to be an ex-boyfriend, said we broke up over a misunderstanding, and just wanted to check on me and be friends. I believed him and accepted. I was struggling to recognize Cas and was constantly lost in my memory loss, so I chatted with this guy occasionally. It was mostly small talk and venting about the pain of losing my past. There was never anything romantic. When I decided to try and start over with Cas, I explained everything to the ‘ex’ and blocked him. How did Cas know about that? The “chat logs” he mentioned—I hadn’t understood them then. But hearing Kendall reference them today, I finally saw the crystal-clear picture. Kendall had told him. That “ex-boyfriend” was a figment of her manipulation, possibly her own online persona or a paid accomplice. She had fabricated the messages, or heavily edited them, and sent them to Cas, claiming I didn’t love him. He hadn’t believed her and came downstairs drunk to confront me. She then pleaded with me to use the ‘new lover’ excuse to reject him. She used my own amnesia, my vulnerability, and the fact that I didn’t recognize her as a threat to make me personally destroy my future with Cas. He gave up. He left. She won.

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The day I nearly died in the delivery room, Carter was out cheating on me. Throughout my entire postpartum recovery, he flew that woman all over the globe, buying out every luxury boutique in sight. When he finally returned, he didn’t forget to hand me a set of divorce papers. “Chloe hates being called a homewrecker, so we have to divorce.” “Sign it. I purposely waited until your postpartum recovery was over to give this to you. Consider it my final act of kindness.” “I don’t want the kid anyway. Keep her as a souvenir. Chloe will give me my own children in the future.” I didn’t say a single word. I just picked up the pen and signed. I was terrified that if I hesitated for even a second, I would delay my reunion with the man I truly loved. Three months later, I received an emergency call from the hospital right in the middle of my wedding. They said a female patient had engaged in such vigorous intercourse that she suffered a ruptured corpus luteum. Furthermore, because this patient had been sleeping with multiple men simultaneously, she had developed severe pelvic complications. The situation was so critical they had to pull me in for emergency surgery. I pushed open the doors to the ER, and what a coincidence— The woman lying on the operating table was none other than my ex-husband’s fiancée. 1 I looked down and carefully read the patient’s name on the chart. Chloe Montgomery. Before my divorce from Carter Sterling, I had heard this name come out of his mouth countless times. He called her his “sweet Chloe,” his voice dripping with so much affection it made you sick. I thought he had found some kind of flawless, perfect true love. Turns out, this was it. I remembered the day I gave birth. Complications arose, and I suffered a massive hemorrhage. The doctors were frantic, paging my family over and over. But Carter’s phone was unreachable. Meanwhile, the tabloids were flooded with paparazzi photos of him and Chloe Montgomery walking into a luxury hotel, wrapped in each other’s arms. With the sheer power of the Sterling family’s wealth, no media outlet would dare publish those photos unless Carter explicitly allowed it. The truth was clear: Carter didn’t want to hide her anymore. He was giving her official status. When I miraculously survived and woke up, Carter finally showed up. A look of impatience flashed across his face. “Sarah, why do you always have to make yourself look so pathetic?” “You were a top student, and you’re a doctor yourself. Did you really have to push yourself to have this baby?” “I don’t even want it. Your idea of using a child to secure your position as Mrs. Sterling is honestly laughable.” “I’ve been very busy lately. I don’t have time to sit here and watch you throw a pity party…” Before he could finish, his phone rang. He answered it right in front of me without the slightest hesitation. “Chloe…” The voice on the other end cut him off playfully. “Carter, babe! Is my birthday surprise ready yet?” “You said you were just going to the hospital to check on the old ball-and-chain. It’s been half an hour! Why aren’t you back?” “I heard she was bleeding everywhere? Isn’t it gross and messy?” “Hurry back, Carter. Don’t get your shoes dirty over there.” Carter chuckled softly. “You’re always looking out for me, Chloe. I’m heading back right now.” “Your birthday gift has been ready for days. I promise it’ll be a surprise that keeps you in bed all night…” Carter talked as he walked out the door, never sparing me another glance. Naturally, it didn’t even cross his mind to go look at our newborn daughter. Fortunately, I wasn’t heartbroken. After confirming my baby was healthy and safe, all I felt was relief. Relief that I could finally talk to Grandpa Sterling about our original agreement. I took the initiative to call him. “Grandpa, the baby is safe and healthy. May I leave now?” Years ago, when the Sterling empire was on the verge of bankruptcy, Grandpa Sterling sought me out. A psychic had told him that my astrological chart was perfectly aligned to bring prosperity to the Sterling family. As long as I bore them a child, their wealth would be secured forever. I was already a medical intern at the time. To a woman of science, it sounded like utter nonsense. But the ultra-rich are often the most superstitious. When I refused the marriage, Grandpa Sterling used his influence to get my younger brother expelled from his university. Then, my parents called me, sobbing. They had just been in a hit-and-run accident and were an inch away from being killed. I was forced to compromise and agree to the marriage. In truth, I already had a boyfriend I’d been dating for ten years. He knew the whole truth, and he had been waiting for me the entire time. Grandpa Sterling sighed heavily over the phone. “I saw the news over the past few days. Since you can’t force a horse to drink, I’ll let you go.” “But your body is weak right now. I’ve hired a professional postpartum care team. Wait until your first month of recovery is over before you leave.” 2 Chloe’s shrieks pulled me back to the present. I took a quick look at her condition. Severe vaginal tearing accompanied by a massive infection. Localized tissue was already showing signs of necrosis. The situation was much trickier than I had anticipated. She was convulsing in pain, yet she was still cursing up a storm. “Useless! You’re all useless! You can’t even handle a tiny little cut? Believe me, I’ll have this hospital shut down by tomorrow!” “Those filthy men are all trash! They get their kicks and run, leaving me here to suffer! Once I get out of here, I’ll skin them alive!” Expressionless, I snapped on my sterile surgical gloves. “Ms. Montgomery, based on the examination, you have severe lacerations and multiple pathogen infections. We need to perform surgical debridement immediately.” Hearing the word “surgery,” she ignored the agonizing pain and continued screaming: “Surgery?! Who gave you permission to cut me open! I’m warning you, if you leave a single scar on my body, I’ll make you pay!” “I have to wear a haute couture wedding dress! I’m marrying into a billionaire family! Can you afford to ruin that?!” She glared at me fiercely. “Are you doing this on purpose? Trying to ruin me? Let me tell you, my fiancé is the wealthiest man in the city! One word from him and you’re all fired!” I cut her off. “It’s too early to worry about that. If we don’t operate immediately and the infection spreads, forget about a wedding—your reproductive system will suffer permanent damage, and it might even cost you your life.” I was merely stating objective medical facts. For a patient like this, sympathy was entirely useless. A nurse beside me handed over the pre-op consent form. Chloe snatched it and tore it to shreds. She roared hysterically, “I’m not signing anything! You quacks are trying to hurt me! I’m filing a complaint! I’ll ruin your careers!” Suddenly, as if recognizing something, her eyes turned venomous as she locked onto me. “Who the hell are you? You think you’re qualified to operate on me? Get your Chief of Surgery here right now! Or I’ll have my fiancé tear this garbage hospital to the ground!” If her condition wasn’t so critical, I would have washed my hands of her. But it’s my duty as a doctor. I couldn’t just turn around and walk away. I had no patience for her nonsense either. “Aside from me, there probably isn’t another surgeon in this hospital capable of handling this procedure. Where is your family? We need a signature.” At the mention of family, Chloe clearly panicked. “Family? I don’t need family. I make my own decisions.” “Hurry up and do the surgery! If you delay my plans, can you bear the consequences?!” I reminded her again, “Hospital policy requires a family member’s signature. Alternatively, where is your fiancé?” I pressed the issue, my tone remaining flat, strictly business. Chloe’s face twisted. “You all better keep your mouths shut. If a single word of this leaks out, I’ll make sure you die without a grave!” I raised an eyebrow and didn’t push further. We see things like this in the hospital all the time. I simply placed a new consent form in front of her. “Think clearly and decide quickly. Time waits for no one. Once your surgery is done, I still have to get back to my wedding…” My words were interrupted by a man’s voice booming from behind me. “Wedding? Who are you marrying?” “We’ve only been divorced for three months and you’re already getting married?!” 3 Carter Sterling blocked the entrance to the operating room, flanked by four men in black suits. His bespoke suit accentuated his tall frame, and his aura was suffocatingly oppressive. “Sarah, did you hear me talking to you?” “What? It’s only been three months, have you forgotten your own ex-husband?” His gaze moved past me, and before I could even answer, his face changed drastically the moment he saw Chloe on the operating table. Chloe was hooked up to an oxygen tube, her face ashen. Carter’s eyes instantly filled with heartbreak. The chill in his voice was directed entirely at me. “Sarah, what did you do to her?!” “She was perfectly fine when she left the house this morning! What have you done to her behind my back?!” Chloe weakly raised a hand toward him. “Carter! She’s trying to kill me!” Her voice was hoarse and broken. “She was digging around inside my stomach with a scalpel! She said, ‘After this cut, you’ll never be able to have kids again!’ I kept begging her, but she hurt me so much I thought I was going to die…” Before she could finish, she started coughing violently, her chest heaving. The medical monitors began blaring sharp alarms. Gasping for air, she used all her strength to scream, “It turns out she’s your ex-wife!” “Carter, she’s just jealous! Jealous that I can give you children, jealous that I’m going to be Mrs. Sterling!” I calmly tossed my blood-stained gauze into the biohazard bin, picked up the medical chart, and waved it slowly in front of Carter’s face. “Mr. Sterling, a ruptured pelvic abscess triggered sepsis. If your fiancée had arrived forty minutes later, she’d be lying in the morgue right now.” Before Carter could take the chart, Chloe snatched it away. “Carter, she’s lying! She’s framing me!” “Because she knows you divorced her for me, she’s using her position to get revenge!” Chloe aggressively ripped the IV needle out of her hand. “Look, Carter! She intentionally missed the vein, and she pinched me all over! Look at all these bruises, even on my neck!” “She even threatened me! She said she was going to leak my medical records to the press, so everyone would know that Carter Sterling married a woman inferior to her!” I turned my head to look at Chloe. Her body was indeed covered in dark purple bruises and hickeys. But those were there the moment she was admitted. Obviously, they were the aftermath of a wild sexual encounter. Carter pulled her into his arms, stepping heavily on the medical chart that had fallen to the floor. “Sarah, years ago you used my grandfather’s life-saving medicine to force me to marry you. That failed, and now you want to destroy Chloe?” He let out a scoff. “Mercy General Hospital? You think you’re worthy of working here?” “It seems I was too merciful when we divorced, allowing you to think you could touch my woman.” “Sarah, I guess you’ve never experienced the consequences of crossing Carter Sterling.” As his words fell, two bodyguards stepped forward swiftly, pinning my arms behind my back. I was forced to bow in front of Carter and Chloe. I looked up at him, my voice dripping with mockery. “Carter, aren’t you curious why she refused to consent to the surgery even if it meant her death?” The bodyguards tightened the leather restraints around my wrists, the straps biting into my flesh, sending sharp pains throughout my body. My body hadn’t fully recovered from the traumatic hemorrhage during childbirth, and I was still nursing. Being forced to bend over exacerbated the dull ache in my abdomen. Cold sweat poured down my face. I enunciated every word clearly. “She has the contact info of seventeen different ‘sugar daddies’ in her phone, and she booked hotel rooms with three different men just last week. Call your private doctor right now and ask him just how severe the consequences of an extremely promiscuous lifestyle can be!” 4 “You’re lying! You’re planting evidence!” Chloe burst into tears, burying her face into Carter’s chest, looking utterly victimized. She sobbed, “Carter, she’s gone too far. She’s using her status as a doctor here to forge documents and slander me.” “You know me, Carter. I’ve always been with you. How could I possibly be with other men, let alone catch some virus?!” “Carter, are you just going to let her bully me like this? You have to get revenge for me…” As she cried, Carter’s face grew darker and darker. “Drag her to the sub-zero biological storage room! Without my orders, no one lets her out!” The bodyguards hauled me toward the service stairwell. I struggled, but their grip only tightened. The pain was so intense that the stairs seemed to blur and sway in front of my eyes. “Carter Sterling! You’ll regret not believing me!” Behind me, Chloe’s crying grew louder. “Carter, make her disappear. I don’t want to see her ever again. If she knows we’re getting married soon, she’ll definitely try to ruin our wedding.” Carter comforted her softly, “Be good, baby, trust me. I won’t let a single thing ruin our wedding.” “You’re going to be the most beautiful bride in the world.” “…” The heavy metal doors of the sub-zero storage room slowly clicked shut. The -15°C (5°F) air hit me like thousands of icy needles piercing my bones. I curled up next to a medical freezer, pounding on the door. “Carter, let me out!” “This is false imprisonment! It’s illegal! Let me out!” My thin surgical scrubs offered absolutely no protection against the bone-chilling cold. My consciousness slowly began to blur from the freezing temperatures. I don’t know how much time passed, but suddenly, Carter’s voice echoed through the intercom. “Do you know what you did wrong? Will you ever dare do it again?” “Sarah, don’t think that just because you gave birth to a child for me, you can touch my people.” “Today, I’m going to teach you exactly what happens when you touch someone who belongs to me.” Carter was standing right outside the heavy glass panel of the storage room, holding Chloe in his arms. She was wrapped securely in his tailored suit jacket. Her face was still pale, but a calculating, malicious glint shone in her eyes. Chloe shrank deeper into Carter’s embrace. “Carter, it’s so cold in there. Won’t she freeze to death?” I had seen her bloodwork. Her condition was incredibly severe. Instead of worrying about me, she should be worrying about herself and how long she had left to live. “But she’s so evil, making me suffer so much. She deserves to freeze a little,” Chloe said, looking up at Carter with feigned terror. “I’m just so scared she’ll take revenge on me when she gets out. The way she looked at me in the OR… it was terrifying, like she wanted to eat me alive.” Carter held her tighter, glancing at me through the glass, his voice cold and hard. “With me here, she can’t touch you.” Chloe’s eyes reddened again. “But I’m afraid she holds a grudge and will spread rumors everywhere that I’m promiscuous.” “The things she said earlier were completely made up. She’s just jealous and trying to frame me…” “If this affects your reputation and the Sterling Group, that would be terrible.” “Carter, you absolutely cannot believe her lies. My heart only belongs to you. She’s just trying to drive a wedge between us so she can crawl back to you.” My teeth chattered violently, my whole body ached, and my brain was sluggish from the cold. “Chloe… do you dare unlock your phone and show Carter… do you dare let him check your hotel records from last week…” “Shut up!” Chloe’s voice hit a shrill pitch. “Look, Carter! She’s still spouting nonsense! I didn’t! She’s framing me!” She purposely pressed harder into his chest, “accidentally” aggravating the bruises on her wrists, and let out a pained cry. “Ah… it hurts… Carter, I don’t want to hear her voice anymore!” The darkness in Carter’s eyes deepened. He gave an order to the bodyguards: “Turn the temperature down to the absolute lowest. Let’s see if she dares to speak another word of nonsense.” The bodyguard at the panel immediately complied. The blast of cold air intensified instantly. White frost began forming on the metal walls. I tasted copper in my throat. My fingernails scraped against the inside of the freezer, making a screeching sound. As my vision began to fade to black. I heard Carter’s final warning. “Sarah, whenever you learn to be obedient, I’ll let you out.” “Otherwise, you can stay in there forever.” My consciousness was slipping away. My body was so frozen I couldn’t move an inch. With the absolute last sliver of my strength, I whispered, “Carter… let me out…” But he just turned around, carrying Chloe away. Right as they were about to leave the corridor, the double doors burst open. The Head Nurse sprinted in, clutching a stack of lab results, her voice panicked and shrill: “Chloe Montgomery’s HIV test came back positive! Every instrument in that OR must be incinerated immediately!” She slammed the lab results onto a nearby counter and yelled at the bodyguards: “All of you who came into contact with her blood just now! Get to the clinic for PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) treatment immediately! If you wait, it’ll be too late!” Carter’s hand froze in mid-air. The blood instantly drained from his face, leaving him ghostly white. “What did you say?! How is that possible?!”

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My hopelessly romantic daughter insisted on marrying a gold-digging freeloader. To prevent him from bleeding our family dry, my husband and I demanded that their second child take my maiden name, Vance. Later, my daughter announced in our family group chat that she was pregnant with her second baby. I immediately wired her $10,000 as a congratulatory gift and casually replied: “The Vance family finally has a legacy.” My daughter accepted the money in a second, but her reply was dripping with sarcasm: “Mom, you’re honestly so shameless.” “Sure, we agreed to it back then, but I’m having a boy! Making my son take his mother’s maiden name—isn’t that completely emasculating my husband?” “Oh, and just to let you know, my husband is planning to move me and his parents to Europe. Get $1,000,000 ready for us, and transfer the deed to that villa in Tuscany into our names.” Before I could even process the audacity of her words, she coldly added: “If you give us the money, maybe my husband will spare you a smile when you’re old and fly back to visit occasionally. If you don’t… well, good luck.” “But I suggest you look on the bright side. I’m your only daughter. Just consider it me spending my inheritance in advance!” I stared at the word “inheritance” and let out a laugh. The next second, I tagged my husband in the group chat: “Call the fertility clinic. I want to have a second child.” 1 The moment I sent that message, the group chat went dead silent. Then, my daughter Chloe’s messages started rolling in like rapid fire. “???” “Have a second child?! Mom, are you insane? You’re fifty-five! You hit menopause years ago, what kind of geriatric medical miracle are you trying to pull?” “If you aren’t embarrassed, I am! I’m absolutely disgusted! How am I supposed to look my mother-in-law in the eye? She’s two years younger than you and she’s already playing with her grandson!” Every word of her interrogation was laced with thick sarcasm and disbelief, as if I had committed the ultimate cardinal sin. I was just about to reply. But my husband, Arthur, tagged me first. “Yes, honey. I’ll arrange the best doctors and the top private clinic immediately.” Arthur’s unwavering support completely ignited Chloe’s fury. “Dad! Are you going crazy with her?! What are you two trying to do? Just because I won’t let my son take your last name, you’re going to literally manufacture a kid to steal my inheritance?!” Hearing her say that, the relatives who had been quietly lurking in the chat couldn’t sit still anymore. “Chloe, when you married Liam, your parents gave you a penthouse, luxury cars, and a massive trust fund. This was their only request, and you both promised the second child would take the Vance name. We were all witnesses.” “Exactly! Now that you’re having a boy, you go back on your word, and you still have the nerve to demand a million dollars and a villa? That’s really crossing the line.” “Your mom has worked so hard her whole life, and she’s given you everything you ever asked for…” The relatives’ attempts to mediate only poured gas on the fire. Chloe aggressively interrupted them. “Enough! You’ve all been brainwashed by my parents’ hypocrisy!” “You only see the penthouses, the cars, and the cash they threw at me, but do any of you know what kind of life I actually lived?” “At parent-teacher conferences, my seat was the only empty one in the classroom! When I had a 102-degree fever and begged my mom not to leave, she walked right out the door to fly across the country for some stupid contract! To her, money has always been more important than my life!” “I don’t need their money! Can money buy love? Can it buy the warm glass of milk my husband makes for me every night?!” 2 The group chat fell dead silent again. It was a silence born of absolute, speechless shock at her sheer delusion. But Chloe mistook the silence for victory, assuming she had swayed the audience. She continued: “It wasn’t until I joined Liam’s family that I finally learned what it meant to be cherished!” “I have a sensitive stomach, and my mother-in-law makes me homemade soup every single day. When I get leg cramps at night, my husband massages my calves for fifteen minutes straight!” “And what about you two? You ignored me when I was a kid. When I grew up and found true love, you fought tooth and nail to stop me from marrying Liam. And now you’re trying to force my son to take your last name! Your need for control is genuinely terrifying!” Looking at her tearful, dramatic accusations on my screen, it felt like someone had sliced my chest open. Growing up, whenever I wasn’t working, I spent every available second with her. Every birthday gift after she turned ten was either Louis Vuitton or Hermès. And that time she had a fever? My company was on the absolute brink of bankruptcy. If I secured that contract, the company would survive. If I failed, our entire family would go bankrupt and be buried in millions of dollars of debt. I only boarded that flight after confirming with the pediatrician that it was just a viral cold and ensuring Arthur was by her side the entire time. When my business eventually stabilized and flourished, the very first thing I did was buy her a five-million-dollar penthouse in Manhattan, fully paid in cash. That is a lifestyle most people couldn’t achieve in ten lifetimes. But Chloe never mentioned any of that. She only remembered the one time I couldn’t sit by her bed. Now, her mother-in-law makes her soup using the imported organic truffles and premium ingredients I have shipped to their door. Her husband massages her legs using the $2,000 custom Swiss massager I bought for them. In her eyes, this cheap, performative “care” was infinitely more valuable than the millions of dollars and two decades of blood, sweat, and tears we poured into raising her. I let out a cold scoff and typed my reply: “Since that’s how you feel, starting this month, your $10,000 monthly allowance is cut off. Every supplementary credit card under your name will be permanently frozen.” “Furthermore, since you find my ‘need for control’ so terrifying, I am letting go. Have your kids, move to Europe—I won’t ask a single question. You want freedom? You have it.” “Finally, since you think your mother-in-law’s soup is warmer than two decades of my devotion, I hope you enjoy every drop. Have a nice life.” 3 Less than three seconds after I hit send, my perpetually quiet son-in-law, Liam, tagged me in the chat. His tone was perfectly calculated. “Mom, please don’t be angry. Chloe is just spoiled and doesn’t know when to bite her tongue. But she has a pure heart; she didn’t mean any of it.” “Honestly, I don’t care whose last name the second baby takes. But Chloe felt that if the first grandson of the Miller family doesn’t carry the Miller name, my parents would be utterly humiliated back in their hometown. They’ve worked hard their whole lives, and Chloe just couldn’t bear to break their hearts.” Then, he smoothly pivoted. Sounding like a peacemaker, he sneakily tried to back me into a corner: “Besides, Mom, do you know how high the mortality rate is for a pregnancy at your age? You wouldn’t just be knocking on heaven’s door; you’d have one foot inside. You’re just saying these angry things to force Chloe to back down, right?” “Chloe, hurry up and apologize to Mom. Mom would literally die for you, how could she not love you?” I don’t know what Liam texted her privately, but ten minutes later, my daughter tagged me. “Mom, I was wrong.” “I shouldn’t have said those hurtful things. You’re my mom, you’re the closest person to me in the world.” “I thought about it, and no matter the last name, the baby is still my flesh and blood. Don’t worry, when the baby is born, he will absolutely take the Vance name.” Her words were earnest, a complete 180 from her hysterical rant just moments before. Arthur quickly sent me a private message: “Eleanor, Chloe knows she messed up. Since we’re flying into Boston tomorrow to sign that contract anyway, let’s swing by and pick her up. We can bring her back to New York for a few days and clear the air face-to-face.” I stared at Arthur’s message and fell silent. At the end of the day, she was my own flesh and blood. I had poured my heart and soul into raising her for twenty-something years. Completely severing ties felt like taking a dull saw to my own heart. I sighed and typed back, “Okay.” 4 The next day, our business negotiations in Boston went incredibly smoothly. After signing the contract in the afternoon, Arthur drove our car, heading toward Chloe and Liam’s townhouse in the suburbs. No one could have predicted what happened next. Shortly after we merged onto the highway, a sports car swerved aggressively across two lanes, slamming violently into our rear bumper! CRASH! A deafening explosion of metal. I was sitting in the backseat. The massive impact launched me forward, and my forehead smashed brutally against the back of the front seat. Blinding pain shot through my skull, and warm liquid instantly blurred my vision. “Eleanor! Eleanor, are you okay?!” Arthur’s panicked voice rang in my ears. He immediately dialed 911. Remembering that Chloe lived nearby, he frantically called her number. “Chloe! Your mother and I just got rear-ended on the highway!” “Your mom has a huge gash on her head, she’s bleeding everywhere, and she’s severely dizzy! Which hospital around here has the best trauma center?! We don’t know the area well…” The other end of the line went dead silent for a moment before Chloe’s evasive, hesitant voice came through: “Oh? A car crash? Is Mom… is it really bad?” “But I… Liam and I aren’t in Boston right now. We’re in a neighboring town… running some errands. Don’t panic, we’ll head back right now!” Arthur urged, “Hurry! Drive safe! We’re going to the ER!” 5 The ambulance arrived quickly. Although my face was covered in blood and looked terrifying, the scans showed I was incredibly lucky—just a severe laceration and a mild concussion. After getting stitched up, Arthur supported me as we walked out of the emergency room. “Eleanor, let me get you a cab to Chloe’s place so you can rest. I need to go to the Highway Patrol station to handle the accident report, then I’ll come pick you up,” he said, looking heartbroken at the thick gauze wrapped around my head. I nodded, leaning heavily against him. My gaze drifted aimlessly across the street. Right at that moment, I spotted two familiar figures. My daughter was affectionately linking arms with her mother-in-law, Susan. And in Susan’s arms was a plump, gray British Shorthair cat. The two of them were chatting and laughing as they walked straight into a brightly lit, high-end veterinary clinic. In that instant, the blood freezing in my veins turned to ice. “Don’t call the cab yet,” I said, my voice shockingly calm. “Help me walk over there.” 6 The pet hospital smelled strongly of antiseptic. Chloe and her mother-in-law were standing in a corner near the isolation ward where pets received injections. Arthur and I stood hidden in the shadows behind a tall display rack of pet food. They were so engrossed in their conversation they didn’t notice us at all. Chloe was watching a vet tech administer a shot to the cat, her eyes welling with dramatic tears. “Mom, Shadow is so brave. He isn’t even crying during the shot. It breaks my heart to watch.” Susan replied fondly, “I know. I’ve had him for six years, he’s always been a good boy.” After a moment, Susan hesitated before speaking: “Chloe, maybe… maybe you should go check on your mother?” “Your dad just said on the phone that she was bleeding heavily…” Chloe immediately tightened her grip on Susan’s arm and whined playfully: “Mom! But I promised yesterday that I would come with you and Shadow to the vet!” “You’ve raised Shadow for so long, he’s basically your family. And your family is my family!” “I treat you like my real mother, that’s why I couldn’t bear to break my promise to you!” Susan hesitated. “But she is your biological…” “Mom!” Chloe cut her off, a twisted sense of vindictive satisfaction in her voice. “When I had a 102-degree fever as a kid, she abandoned me to go sign a contract. If she can do that to me, why can’t I do it to her?” “Besides, I know my dad. He loves her more than his own life! If she was actually in critical condition, he’d be losing his mind. He wouldn’t have had the bandwidth to calmly remind me to ‘drive safe’.” She scoffed and rested her head on Susan’s shoulder. “Mom, ever since she tried to force my son to take her last name, you are the only mother I have left in my heart.” Standing behind that shelf, every last ounce of strength was drained from my body. Every single word my daughter spoke was like an ice-coated needle driving directly into my heart. So, while I was lying in an ambulance bleeding from the head, my daughter was busy crying over a cat. My safety and my life were worth less than her mother-in-law’s pet. Beside me, Arthur’s fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were white. He was about to storm out and confront them. I grabbed his arm firmly and shook my head. Not because I held any lingering hope for this daughter. But because I wanted to see exactly how utterly soulless the child I had treasured for thirty years could truly be. The thought had barely crossed my mind when I saw a flicker of unmistakable, mocking contempt flash through Susan’s eyes, quickly masked by a heavy layer of exaggerated emotion. She patted Chloe’s hand, looking deeply moved. “Oh, you sweet girl. Liam is so blessed to have married you. Our family must have accumulated good karma for eight lifetimes.” “It’s just… about the baby’s last name… your mother’s demand…” Chloe immediately soothed her: “Mom, don’t worry. Liam and I already figured it out. We’re just going to pretend to agree for now. Once we get all their assets, the penthouses, and the corporate shares transferred into my name…” “Forget about changing his last name back. When they get old and their health fails… whether we hire a cheap nurse to look after them or just dump them in a state-run nursing home… won’t that be entirely up to us?” BOOM. The very last string of affection in my brain snapped. The world spun violently, my vision went black, and I lost consciousness completely. “Eleanor!” Arthur’s desperate, trembling voice cried out my name. Chloe instinctively began to turn her head toward the sound. But just then, the vet popped his head out of the back room: “Shadow’s owners? You can come back and get him now!” Her attention instantly snapped back to the vet. She never looked behind her. 7 When I woke up again, I was staring at a hospital ceiling. Arthur refused to take any chances. He insisted I stay under observation for two days. Only after the doctors confirmed I was completely out of the woods did he take me back home to New York. During that time, my daughter called exactly once to ask how I was doing. Arthur answered and coldly said, “Your mother is fine.” She didn’t contact us again. The day after we returned to New York, Arthur and I visited the most prestigious private fertility clinic on the East Coast. After running a full panel of tests, the results were more optimistic than expected. The head specialist looked over my chart, his tone objective. “Mrs. Vance, both you and your husband have maintained exceptional health. Your biological age is significantly younger than your chronological age.” “However, I must be brutally honest. A pregnancy at your age is considered extremely high-risk. The dangers during gestation and delivery are significantly elevated.” I took the report from him. “Doctor, I’ve been a businesswoman my entire life, and I believe in one core principle—” “High risk yields high rewards.” “When my company was on the verge of collapse, I bet my entire net worth on a single opportunity. Now, for the future of the Vance family, I am more than willing to take this risk.” The doctor nodded, continuing with his professional advice: “We can start you on a hormone and wellness regimen to attempt natural conception first. If we don’t have good news in six months, we will initiate the IVF protocol.” “Perfect. Let’s do it.”

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Three years with the man of my dreams, and just as we were starting to talk rings, my body became a prison I shared with my cousin. Now, all I can do is watch her, wearing my skin, as she embraces, kisses, and… well, does everything else with him. In the dead of night, my Adam, who should have been with my cousin—in my body—suddenly knocked and squeezed his way into the room, pulling me into a hug, ready to kiss me senseless. “Celeste…” He mumbled my cousin’s name, and a bucket of icy water was thrown over my heart. I shoved him away. Celeste Wells. That was my cousin’s name. 1 From a young age, I knew I wasn’t as likable as Celeste. My mother would often tap my forehead in frustration, sighing, “Daisy Wells, tell me, why can’t you be more savvy? Looks are one thing, but can’t you at least be clever? Pay attention to Celeste; she’s so sharp.” Celeste was beautiful, effortlessly outgoing, and she had a knack for charming every adult she met. At holiday gatherings, she always walked away with more coveted gifts and more social currency than I did. I, Daisy, was plain, timid, and aside from decent grades, I felt utterly forgettable. The bravest thing I’d ever done was pursue Adam Holloway. I chased him for an entire semester, writing dozens of clumsy notes, inventing elaborate “chance” encounters, bringing him water during his intramural basketball games, and studying beside him in the library. One night, as we were leaving the library, I was fumbling to hand him a Bluetooth earbud, when he suddenly grabbed my wrist. “Daisy Wells,” he asked, his voice low, “are you even trying to chase me?” He looked down at me, his impossibly handsome face inching closer, his breath warm. My heart hammered so hard it felt like it might escape, and my face and ears flamed. “I… I’m a disaster of a pursuer.” Adam just smiled, then lowered his head and kissed me. “Then let me show you how it’s done.” When Adam and I started dating, everyone around us was stunned. One of my less-than-friendly roommates was cuttingly passive-aggressive: “Her? She’s so mousy and dresses like a librarian. I bet she had to pull some major strings to land Adam.” I once asked Adam why, out of everyone, he chose to be with me. We were crammed onto a commuter rail train, and he had me circled in his arms because of the crowd. He answered casually, resting his chin on my head, “Because you’re my girl.” Celeste later told me that a man only resorts to calling you ‘cute’ or ‘my girl’ when he can’t find any real, outward qualities to compliment. That summer, Celeste came to visit me in Newport, and Adam drove with me to the station to pick her up. He walked ahead, dragging her ridiculously large suitcase, while Celeste leaned in to whisper to me, “Oh my God, Sis, your boyfriend is my absolute dream guy.” My stomach dropped. Celeste had always been the one to take things from me—toys, attention, even friendships—and my family always insisted I be the bigger person. She was the gilded shadow I could never escape. If Celeste decided she wanted Adam, I knew I would lose. I had no fight in me against her. Over the next few days, I showed Celeste around, and though Adam offered to join us, I stiffly refused. I forced a brittle smile. “No, that’s okay. I’ll hang out with her. It’s a holiday weekend; the city’s going to be crowded. You know how you hate noisy places.” Adam looked at me, a long, searching look, before he suddenly pulled me close, pressing a hard kiss to my lips. In broad daylight, I glanced around, embarrassed, and quickly pulled away. He gave me a wounded, theatrical look. “Fine. I’ll just drown myself in the lab then. Let me know when my future Mrs. decides to grace me with her presence.” 2 Three years into our relationship, I finally brought Adam home for Christmas break. Celeste’s family lived nearby, and my dad, with the brilliant idea of “letting the youngsters bond,” booked us a group of suites at a thermal resort outside the city. When we arrived, we found out it wasn’t just the three of us. There was a fourth person—a stranger. The guy smiled, extending his hand. “Gale Abbott. I’m a neighbor of Celeste’s.” From the way Gale looked at Celeste, it was clear he was completely gone on her. Later that evening at dinner, he was overly attentive, warning Celeste, “Celeste, you’ve been having those allergies lately. Maybe skip the Spicy Shrimp Scampi?” Celeste accepted his concern with a shrug, but her eyes kept drifting toward Adam. Adam ignored them both, ordering the Scampi anyway. Then, he looked at Celeste (who was in my body) and added coolly, “Daisy loves shrimp. If you have an allergy, just don’t eat it yourself.” That night, I’d had a little too much wine. Lying next to Adam, I asked him again, blearily, “Adam, why do you actually like me?” He was just as tipsy, rolling over to kiss me, his answer dismissive and soft. “Because you’re my girl.” I hesitated, swallowing the real question I wanted to ask. What if you had met Celeste first? But just as he was starting to get serious, I pushed him away, pulling the duvet over my head. “I’m sleepy.” His reply was quiet, a little cold. “All right.” I never could have predicted that I’d wake up as Celeste. The door creaked open early the next morning, and someone slipped in, shutting the door quietly behind them. She smiled, looking down at me. “Sis.” Staring at that familiar, yet now utterly alien face—my face—I used every ounce of willpower I had to stop the horrified scream bubbling in my throat. “Celeste?!” She was wearing my body, and she walked calmly to the edge of the bed and sat down. She cut me off before I could speak. “I wouldn’t try to tell Adam, if I were you. It’s too unbelievable. He’ll think you’ve had a breakdown.” The air rushed out of me, leaving me utterly defeated. She was right. Adam was rational, science-minded. I’d sound insane. Celeste looked at me, a slow, triumphant smile spreading across my lips. “Besides, haven’t you always been jealous of me?” “Consider this a trade. I’ll lend you my body for a few days, and you’ll lend me your Adam for a while.” 3 At breakfast, I watched Celeste, in my own body, perch next to Adam, batting her lashes as she cooed into his ear. “Honey, I need those peeled. I’m too tired.” “Babe, I want a bite of your bagel.” “Darling, I heard they have private couples’ mineral baths here. Should we go try one later?” The scene was a physical assault. My eyes burned. I hunched over my plate, blindly shoveling food into my mouth. Suddenly, a hand reached over, silently placing a fresh napkin in front of me. I looked up. It was Gale. His lips were pressed into a thin line, his expression clearly unhappy. I belatedly realized he liked Celeste. He must think I (Celeste, in this body) was jealous of my own sister—or rather, my own body—and was sulking. That certainly wouldn’t please him. I sucked in a shaky breath, forcing a small smile, and took the napkin from his hand. “Thank you.” But then Adam’s chopsticks reached out, placing a piece of Truffle Parmesan Fries on my plate. I snapped my head up, staring at him. Adam cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact. “You mentioned last night that you can’t eat seafood. I saw you really liked these fries, so I ordered a second batch.” My heart plummeted. I was in Celeste’s body. Celeste’s recent allergy to seafood was something Gale mentioned briefly last night. And the fact that she liked those specific fries was also a new, small detail. He was attentive. He remembered. He was caring—about the wrong person. I pushed back my chair. “I… I’m not feeling great. I’m going back to the suite to rest.” Gale was blocking my path. When I didn’t move, I had to prompt him. “Excuse me? Could you step aside, please?” “I’ll walk you back,” Gale said, standing up and following me. On impulse, I glanced back. I met Adam’s eyes. The look he gave me was purely, openly worried. And it was directed at me—at Celeste’s body. Walking back, I stayed silent, terrified of betraying myself. Gale broke the silence first. “Are you sick? Should I get you something from the pharmacy?” “No… thank you. Just a headache, maybe from not sleeping well. I’m sure a nap will fix it.” I stopped at the door, saying goodbye. He really was a good-looking guy—taller than Celeste, with ink-dark eyes that, for some reason, felt strangely familiar. “Your sister… she seems a little different today.” My heart skipped a beat. I tried to sound natural. “Does she? No, I think she’s just being normal with her boyfriend. That’s what girls in relationships do, right?” I was inwardly panicked. How could he be so perceptive? Gale watched me, a flicker of something knowing in his deep-set eyes. “Not every girl. At least—I don’t care for that kind of attention-seeking.” 4 Back in the suite, I realized I’d left my phone back at the table in my haste. I didn’t know Celeste’s passcode, but thankfully, she used face-ID. Opening her texts, I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of unread messages. A stream of guys—asking her out, flirting, suggesting late-night drives. It was an existence I’d never known. My own phone usually only had messages from Adam and my best friend, Jordan. This overwhelming, exhausting flood of attention was the reality of being a gorgeous, popular girl. I only replied to a few messages from her parents, then tossed the phone aside and fell into a heavy sleep. Somewhere between waking and dreaming, I saw Adam. He was wearing his vintage Michigan State jersey, looking clean and radiant, walking toward me on the court. He grabbed my wrist, pinning me against a concrete wall, leaning in for a kiss. I turned my head, avoiding his mouth, and asked the same question. “Adam, why do you like me?” He smiled tenderly. “Because you’re so beautiful, so fun, and you have such an outgoing personality.” The joy flared for only a second before I looked into the nearby mirror. Staring back was Celeste’s bright, dazzling face. I went instantly cold. It was Celeste’s face! I shot up in bed, gasping for air. I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead, realizing belatedly it was just a nightmare. But the dream was too vivid. It had ripped open the deepest part of my insecurity, exposing it to the light. A knock sounded on the door. I assumed it was Celeste, but when I opened it, I found Gale. “What’s wrong?” I asked, my voice still hoarse. The next second, a warm hand landed on my sweat-damp forehead. “You’re running a slight temperature. Definitely coming down with something.” Gale held up a paper pharmacy bag. “I got you some cold medicine and a cup of soup. You didn’t eat this morning; have the soup first, then the meds.” I looked up at his clear, sky-blue eyes, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. Gale was truly kind to Celeste—attentive to an almost obsessive degree. Yet, she didn’t want him. She wanted the one man who was already taken. Was this the cliché of wanting only what you couldn’t have? I drank the soup and took the pill. As the headache began to recede, I felt sticky with sweat. I asked Gale, “I feel gross. I’m going to go soak in the thermal pool for a while. Want to join me?” Gale readily agreed. However, as soon as we reached the pool area, I spotted two familiar figures. Celeste, in my body, was aggressively pinning Adam against a stone wall, whispering something up at him. Then, she grabbed his collar, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him. I froze, staring. The dull, persistent ache in my chest surged, turning into a wave of pain that made me sway. A hand shot out and steadied my shaking body. I turned to see Gale’s eyes fixed on mine. He asked quietly, “You’re in love with him?” I nodded, the movement painful. “But he’s your sister’s boyfriend.” The hand holding me was warm, but his words were like an icy wind, carrying a strange, knowing edge. “Celeste, you’re beautiful, but that’s not a golden ticket. Adam chose Daisy for a reason. That means he genuinely loves her. You can’t just barge in.” I shook my head weakly, biting down hard on my lip to stop the tears. “You don’t understand.” How could I tell him? This illogical, unscientific disaster had led us here. The person Adam was with was me, yet she wasn’t. And I, living in Celeste’s body, could clearly feel the increasingly urgent, almost hungry desire in Adam’s eyes when he looked at me. “Stop crying.” Gale’s voice was suddenly right by my ear, a gentle sigh in his tone. The next second, I was pulled into a warm, solid embrace.

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During the year I loved him most, my uncle drugged me and threw me into the bed of his greatest rival. That night, I was tormented in every imaginable way by Liam Sterling, a man rumored to have severe sadistic addictions. When I was finally rushed to the hospital, Liam fell to his knees, his eyes red, begging for my forgiveness! Meanwhile, my uncle publicly proposed to the girl who had ruthlessly bullied me in high school, preparing to give her the wedding of the century! On his wedding day, I kidnapped the bride, forced her into mourning clothes, and made her bow to a dog in a mock wedding ceremony. I recorded the entire thing and broadcast it across the internet! When my uncle arrived, he pressed a knife to my throat and warned me. “Elena Vance, pull a stunt like this again, and I’ll make sure you die without a grave.” Seeing the raw heartbreak in his eyes for another woman, I was suddenly just… exhausted. From that moment on, I only wanted to cut him out of my life forever. But when I was four months pregnant, and everyone sighed about how Liam Sterling, the ultimate romantic, pampered me to the heavens, I accidentally overheard a conversation between him and my uncle. My uncle asked uncertainly, “Are you really determined to risk Elena and the baby’s lives by forcing a premature birth at seven months, just to harvest the cord blood and save my wife?” Liam didn’t hesitate for a second. He nodded firmly. “Yes. Chloe saved my life. Her illness can’t wait any longer.” While I was wandering the streets in a daze, someone sent me a text. “Elena Vance, choose me!” “I’ll help you put them both behind bars!” Gripping the stair railing, I listened to the two men inside the room. The chill seeped from my fingertips straight into my heart, freezing me inch by inch. My uncle, Arthur Vance, teased with a mocking tone. “Mr. Sterling, you’re willing to sacrifice your own flesh and blood for my wife. Such profound devotion.” He shifted his tone, full of arrogant triumph. “Unfortunately, Chloe has always loved me.” “Even Elena’s little hidden crush from her youth was focused entirely on me, wasn’t it?” Liam’s voice was cold and hard as he shot back. “Don’t get cocky, Arthur.” “If you hadn’t put a hundred-million-dollar bounty on the dark web, orchestrating this whole scheme to get Elena pregnant just to harvest her cord blood, and if Chloe hadn’t personally begged me, I would never have conspired with scum like you.” “Oh?” Arthur scoffed. “And after all this is over, do you really intend to marry her?” Liam was silent for a moment before answering seriously, “Yes. I’ll marry her and spend the rest of my life making up for the harm this will cause her.” “Suit yourself,” Arthur agreed casually. “Saves me the trouble of dealing with her delusional feelings.” “I’ll prepare a generous dowry for her.” I covered my mouth and stumbled backward, fighting the suffocating pain in my chest as I fled like a madwoman. It turned out that all the bone-deep torment, followed by the meticulous, careful pampering… it was all a massive conspiracy to take my baby’s life to save their precious darling. I stood in the pouring rain, crying until my voice was hoarse. I couldn’t believe that my romance and my marriage had been nothing but a scam to harvest medicine for someone else from the very beginning. At that exact moment, the massive jumbotron on the mall across the street was playing an old interview with Liam. The reporter asked sharply, “Mr. Sterling, there have been persistent rumors that Ms. Elena Vance, the woman you hold so dear, is actually secretly in love with her uncle, Arthur Vance.” “Many say… Ms. Vance’s feelings are unnatural, and that she is completely unworthy of your passionate devotion. Do you have any response to this?” On screen, his posture was dominant, his voice resonating with power. “My wife, Elena Vance, is the most pure, noble existence in this world.” “Anyone who dares to slander her again makes themselves an enemy of Liam Sterling!” “For the rest of my life, I am her strongest shield and her sharpest blade!” The vows that once made my heart race and filled me with pride now felt like knives carving into my heart, leaving me bleeding and raw. My phone kept ringing. He had called dozens of times. I used to answer him instantly, but now, I never wanted to hear his voice again. When I stumbled home in a daze, he was waiting at the door, his face pale with panic and anxiety. When he saw me, he looked like he had finally caught his breath, striding over and pulling me into a desperate, crushing hug. “Elena, where were you? I rushed back overnight after finishing the overseas project. Do you know how frantic I was when I couldn’t find you?” “Why didn’t you answer your phone?” I replied casually, “I went for a walk. Didn’t look at my phone.” He immediately started wiping my wet hair and changing my clothes, his eyes full of distress, while ordering someone to call the private doctor to check on me. “You little fool, you need to tell me before you go anywhere from now on.” “The rain is so heavy. What if you slipped? What if something happened to you and the baby?” His tone was filled with nervous worry, but I couldn’t tell anymore if he was worried about me, or the baby whose cord blood he needed to harvest. That night, my sleep was incredibly restless, plagued by nightmares. Sometime after midnight, I heard the private doctor’s disapproving voice coming from the living room. “Mr. Sterling! Performing the surgery in seven days is too risky! The Madam’s life will be in grave danger! Why can’t we wait until she reaches full term…” Liam cut him off coldly: “Seven days. Go prepare for it. The longer we wait, the more Chloe suffers.” My heart felt like it was being ripped apart. So, to him, my life and my child’s life weren’t worth a single moment of Chloe’s discomfort. Just then, his phone lit up. A message from Chloe popped onto the screen. “Liam, thank you for everything you’ve done for me. If there is a next life, I promise I will never fail you again.” Meanwhile, on her social media, she was flaunting the “honor” of having two powerful men abandon multi-million-dollar deals for her. The photos showed Liam’s suit jacket draped over a chair, and her hands tightly clasped with my uncle’s. How ironic. His excuse for missing my prenatal checkup today was suddenly glaringly obvious. He didn’t sneak back into the bedroom until dawn, having finally put out his cigarette. When he saw my face covered in tears, he froze, a flash of panic and guilt in his eyes. “Baby, why are you crying?” I looked into his eyes and said bitterly, “Liam, I had a nightmare… I dreamed about the year my parents died in that car crash. The bleeding just wouldn’t stop…” “And I dreamed about the days when Chloe rallied everyone in school to trap me in the bathroom and force me to drink dirty water.” The arms holding me stiffened slightly. Then, he hugged me even tighter. “Don’t think about it. It’s all in the past.” But then, he instinctively tried to excuse Chloe. “Chloe… she was young back then. It was probably just a thoughtless mistake.” With one phrase—”thoughtless mistake”—he erased all my bloody, agonizing history. I silently pulled away from his embrace, turned my back to him, and curled up in the dark to digest my emotions alone. The very last, microscopic sliver of hope in my heart was thoroughly extinguished. Early the next morning, Liam brought a breakfast he had cooked himself to my bedside. “Elena, try this. It’s a new nutritional meal I learned that’s great for pregnant women. If you like it, I’ll make it for you every day.” After speaking, he slid an iPad over to me. On the screen was the architectural rendering of a massive hospital. “Elena, look. This is the hospital I funded and built exclusively for you.” I suppressed a cold sneer and didn’t expose his lie. To ensure his plan was foolproof, he really spared no expense. He even went through the massive trouble of building an entire hospital. “In six days, the world’s top team of obstetric specialists will convene here.” “I’ll go with you. We’ll be good and get a comprehensive checkup and conditioning. It’s all to ensure that you and the baby… are completely safe when the critical moment comes.” His display of deep, sincere affection made my stomach churn violently! Those specialists were undoubtedly prepared for Chloe! “In six days… it’s my birthday.” I instinctively guarded my lower abdomen, making one last, feeble struggle. “Can we not go? I don’t want any checkups. I just want to stay quietly at home with our baby.” “You said you’d take me to Disneyland for my birthday every year. Why does it have to be a hospital this year?” He frowned, his gentle tone laced with undeniable authority. “Be good. It’s just for this year. We have to go.” He reached out to stroke my hair, but I subtly dodged his hand. “Elena, you need to listen to me. This is all for your own good.” He stood up, as if to cover up the awkwardness of the moment. “Your favorite porridge is still warm in the kitchen. I’ll go get it for you.” In the brief moment he turned and walked into the kitchen, my phone screen lit up. It was a message from Chloe, dripping with the arrogant pity of a victor: “I heard Liam promised to go with you to take maternity photos today?” “What a shame. I suddenly got the urge to reshoot some wedding photos with your uncle today.” “Unfortunately, our photographer’s skills aren’t as good as Liam’s. I want him to come help us.” “Who do you think… he’ll say no to today?” The nausea in my stomach became unbearable. I crawled to the bathroom and vomited until the world spun. When I finally came out, only the cold porridge was left. Liam was gone without a single word. Two hours later, he finally sent a message explaining. “Baby, I’m so sorry! We’ll have to take those photos another day.” “An urgent meeting came up. I have to go handle it.” I swallowed my bitter laughter and dialed the very last number in my contacts list. “Uncle Chen, I’m ready to officially take over the company. Help me revoke Arthur Vance’s proxy control over my shares. Investigate all the illegal transactions he’s conducted using his position over the years, gather the evidence, and prepare to file charges.” “Also, terminate all business ties with the Sterling Group. Cut off all resource allocation to them immediately.” After hanging up, I went to the hospital alone and consulted about an abortion procedure. Liam didn’t come home for an unprecedented two days. I didn’t go back either. But in those two days, he didn’t send me a single message. I knew he was just too “busy” to come home. What was even more laughable was that he would occasionally send me a fake update. A forged flight ticket, or a staged photo of a meeting room. He exhausted himself trying to trick me into believing he was busy working! Meanwhile, I could always spot him in Chloe’s social media posts. Just like now. While I was recovering my health, they were busy celebrating their perfect wedding photoshoot. Chloe specifically sent me a video. It showed her toasting Liam. “Liam, thank you for dropping everything to be my photographer.” “I took up two days of your time. Are you sure it’s okay? Do you want me to go back with you to explain things to Elena?” “She already dislikes me because I exposed her for bullying classmates in high school. If she finds out you lied to her, won’t she throw a fit?” Liam shook his head dismissively. “Chloe, don’t worry about it. She won’t make a scene.” “She’s very dependent on me now. She treats me as the most important person in her life, aside from her late parents.” “She’s smart. Even if she finds out, she’ll know her place.” My uncle, Arthur, chimed in, refusing to be outdone. “Exactly! With Elena’s personality, she sticks to whoever she latches onto like a leech.” “Even if she throws a tantrum, she can’t make any real waves.” “Back then, to keep me around, she willingly signed over all her corporate shares to me.” “I had such a headache trying to shake her off during those days. But thankfully, she’s latched onto Liam now, and my world is finally peaceful.” I didn’t watch any further. Chloe bullying me and then pinning the blame on me was just sickening. As for whether these two men defended me or not… it didn’t matter anymore. That night, I replied to the message I had previously ignored. “Sebastian, I choose you.” “But you have to help me compile all the evidence that Chloe bullied me, and the proof that she stole my identity as Liam’s savior.” After he readily agreed, I forwarded Chloe’s boastful photo to Liam. “Weren’t you overseas on a business trip, so busy you couldn’t even answer the phone?” “Why is this bully saying you’re personally acting as her photographer?” Almost the second the message was sent, he called. His voice sounded slightly rushed, as if he was scrambling to get his story straight. “Elena, listen to me. I was dealing with a project. I just finished the meeting.” “Running into Chloe was a total coincidence. She and your uncle were taking wedding photos nearby, and I just happened to run into them, so I helped snap a few shots.” Seeing that I didn’t respond, he rushed to explain further. “You know… she did save my life, after all. It was a small favor, I really couldn’t refuse. Please don’t take it to heart.” “If you don’t like it, I promise you, I will never have any unnecessary contact with her again. I just want you to feel secure.” Listening to his riddled, yet self-righteous defense, my heart was as still as stagnant water. I just asked one question. “Liam, what if the person who saved you back then was me, not her?” “Would you ever regret what you’ve done to me?” He froze for a second, then answered impatiently. “How is that possible? It was her who saved me. That’s a fact.” “Baby, I know you’re angry and you don’t like her, but you can’t… you can’t just make up crazy lies about a life-saving debt. That’s absurd.” I didn’t say another word and hung up the phone. But what I never expected was that in the middle of the night, he actually brought Chloe back to our house. When he saw me packing my things, he froze and instinctively stepped in front of Chloe to shield her. But Chloe walked right past him, stopping in front of me with a smug, victorious smile. “Ms. Vance, your uncle and I had a fight. I’m just crashing here for the night. You don’t mind, do you?” I looked at her undisguised, provocative smirk—which was perfectly hidden from Liam’s view—and said coldly: “Get out.” Chloe’s smile instantly vanished. Her eyes immediately turned red, and acting as if she had suffered a monumental injustice, she ran out crying. “Elena Vance!” Liam’s brows immediately furrowed, his tone carrying obvious blame. “Why are you throwing a tantrum again? This is my house too! Chloe saved my life. She’s upset and just wanted to stay the night. What’s the problem?” He stepped forward, his eyes full of disappointment and disapproval. “You know she just had a fight with Arthur and is feeling down. Why did you have to use such harsh words to insult her at a time like this? When did you become so mean?” Seeing my silence, he took a deep breath, as if trying desperately to suppress his anger, and finally dropped a cold ultimatum. “Stay home and reflect on your behavior. The day after tomorrow… I’ll come pick you up for the hospital.” With that, he didn’t hesitate to chase after her. He didn’t even notice the abortion appointment confirmation sitting right next to him. Fine. At this point, I couldn’t be bothered to waste my breath on him! Without a shred of hesitation, the moment he turned to comfort his “savior,” I calmly packed up all my important belongings and completely abandoned this meticulously crafted gilded cage. I chose a highly secluded, top-tier postpartum recovery center to rest. The sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows was perfect. Sebastian sat beside me, elegantly feeding me peeled grapes, a hint of theatrical amusement playing on his handsome features. “Take a look,” He presented the tablet like a grand prize, pulling up a live stream video. “The show is starting.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “391157”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel