After eight years of pursuing Liam Sterling, the paraplegic “Monk,” he finally showed 1% affection for me and took me to a concert. But the star of the concert looked just like his first love. Disheartened, I was about to leave when terrorists attacked. The “paraplegic” Monk suddenly stood up from his wheelchair, pushed me aside, and rushed onto the stage to take a bullet for the star. Because of his push, I got shot too. The system declared my mission failed. At that moment, I activated the “No Love, No Desire” system. Once activated, I would lose all emotions and desires, loving no one. Chapter 1 Chaos erupted at the concert. On stage, Liam Sterling held Chloe tightly. Panic was written all over his face. He ignored the bullet wound in his own arm, his eyes fixed only on Chloe. “Are you okay? Don’t scare me.” “Please, don’t die.” It was the first time I’d seen Liam so flustered. After all, he was known as the aloof “Monk,” never moved by worldly matters. Only now did I realize he had lied to me for eight years. He was never paralyzed; he just pretended to be for eight years. I lay on the ground, watching my own blood pool around me. My heart hurt so much. [Host, your mission failed because you are dying.] The System’s voice rang in my ears. I remembered I had been pursuing Liam for eight years. Today, I was happy because his affection for me had finally ticked up to 1%. But now I understood. He just wanted to see Chloe. The woman who looked like his first love. [The exit channel is being constructed. Estimated time: three days. Host, you can leave in three days.] As the System spoke, I saw Liam pick Chloe up. His eyes were red, shouting for a doctor. “Doctor! Where’s a doctor?! Save her!” His eyes were full of this stranger, with no room for me. How laughable. I followed him for eight years and never earned his love. “System, I agree to leave. But before that, please activate the ‘No Love, No Desire’ system.” My voice choked, tears falling. The “No Love, No Desire” system was a reward I got from a previous mission, never used. The System was surprised: [Host, with only three days left, you still want to activate this system?] “Yes.” I answered without hesitation, staring at Liam. He had already left with Chloe in his arms, forgetting I even existed. My heart died completely in that moment. [Okay, Host. ‘No Love, No Desire’ system activated. You will gradually lose all emotions and desires, loving no one.] I closed my eyes, letting one last tear fall. Liam Sterling, this is the eighth year I’ve loved you. Today, I finally give up on you. Someone once said, you can never wake a person who is pretending to be asleep. Just like how I pursued Liam for eight years, yet never moved his heart. Chapter 2 When I was rushed to the hospital, voices buzzed around me. “Liam Sterling actually carried a woman into the hospital.” “Didn’t he declare himself a ‘Monk,’ never touching women?” “That woman looks familiar. She looks like Liam’s first love.” “Years ago, Liam turned to Buddhism because his first love died. Now that someone so similar appeared, of course he panicked.” Lying on the gurney, I felt cold all over. When I first came to this world, Liam’s first love had just died, and he had just become reclusive. The System said he was hard to conquer, but I didn’t believe it. I believed that as long as he was human, he had emotions and could be moved. Now I knew how wrong I was. After being wheeled into the operating room, the System told me: [Host, the bullet hit your abdomen. You wouldn’t have survived, but since the exit channel isn’t ready, I’m keeping you alive.] [By the way, you were pregnant. The fetus was hit by the bullet. Medically, it can’t survive. I can’t revive it.] I froze. “What?” “I was pregnant?” [Yes. Didn’t you know?] Of course I didn’t know. Liam and I rarely had physical intimacy. The only time was on the anniversary of his first love’s death, when he got drunk. He mistook me for her. I thought just once wouldn’t result in pregnancy. [Host, your child is dead.] [For the next three days, I wish you a good life.] Tears fell like hot pearls. Liam was the only target I ever loved. I really wanted to have a child with him. But now, the child was gone. I would never forget the moment terrorists entered the concert, and Liam pushed me away hard. He rushed to Chloe without hesitation, shielding her, taking a bullet for her. Eight years, and I never made it into his heart. When I woke up again, I was in a hospital room. Liam was lying in the bed next to mine. He was looking at me, slightly dazed. “Are… are you okay?” I looked at the thick gauze on my abdomen and chuckled lightly. “What do you think?” “I’m sorry.” “The situation was critical. I just wanted to save Chloe. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” “By the way, about my legs… I lied to my family about being paralyzed because I didn’t want them setting me up on blind dates.” His tone was polite, as always. Eight years by his side, and we were still strangers. “You don’t need to explain.” In the future, we have nothing to do with each other. I couldn’t bring myself to say that sentence. After all, I had loved Liam deeply. “Don’t worry. I’ll hire the best doctors for you.” He spoke again. Once, I craved his concern. Now, his concern only disgusted me. “No need.” I replied coldly, turning my back to him. Chapter 3 The System alerted me: [Host, Liam’s affection value for you has risen to 10%.] I was startled. How is that possible? I did nothing. Why did his affection suddenly rise? [Host, I can give you a chance if you want to continue the mission.] “No need.” I refused immediately. Eight years of chasing, I was tired. I never wanted to do it again. Thinking of this, I felt my love for Liam fading bit by bit. I knew my emotions were disappearing. The doctor suddenly came in to update me on my condition. “You were shot in the abdomen. The fetus was hit too, so we couldn’t save it.” “What?” Liam spoke first. The always steady, aloof Monk had disbelief in his eyes. “She was pregnant?” “Yes, Mr. Sterling. We tried our best, but we really did all we could.” I touched my abdomen. There used to be a little life there. Now it was gone. After the doctor left, Liam got out of bed and held my hand. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” Maybe I was seeing things, but there seemed to be a trace of heartache in his eyes. But how could he ache for me? He never gave me a kind look. Back then, I took care of him daily, massaged his legs. He never said a word to me, only smashed things and told me to get out. Once, for his birthday, I made him a cake. He threw it in the trash without hesitation. He said, “Stop making useless efforts. I won’t love you.” Then he would go to his study, look at his first love’s portrait, and touch her collarbone. Muttering how much he loved her. Even later, when his family urged him to marry me, he refused. Now I’ve accepted it. I disturbed his life. I should exit. Chapter 4 Chloe pushed the door open. Carrying a fruit basket, she smiled when she saw Liam. “You’re really here.” “Mr. Sterling, thank you for saving me.” She walked over, put down the basket, and took out a string of black prayer beads. “Oh, you dropped this when you saved me.” Liam took it with a gentle expression and asked, “Are you okay?” My heart felt stabbed. My existence felt laughable. Once, I accidentally touched those black beads, and he kicked me out of the house. He told me coldly, “That’s not for you to touch. Know your place.” Yes, I understand now. I should know my place. To him, I was just an irrelevant stranger. Chloe went to wash strawberries for Liam. He ate them. But he never liked strawberries. Just because his first love died on the way to pick strawberries. I lay in bed, breathing hurt. Soon, I would lose all emotions and never feel sad again. “Mr. Sterling, who is this?” Chloe suddenly looked at me. Liam froze, looking at me with complicated eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “She’s my assistant.” Assistant. I gripped the bedsheet. Taking care of his food, clothing, and life for eight years like a nanny. Indeed, assistant work. I didn’t refute him, just lay there.

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When I was three years old, I actively sought out traffickers and asked them to kidnap me. Later, a wealthy couple named Sterling came looking, crying about picking up their biological daughter. I ran forward excitedly, but my adoptive parents locked me up and whipped me mercilessly. “Only my daughter deserves to be the Sterling heiress!” “Once our little Rainie becomes a rich lady, we’ll never worry about money again!” Just like that, my adoptive mother’s daughter, Rainie, was taken away by the Sterling family, while I endured their beatings and abuse at home. But they waited and waited. Instead of Rainie sending money, they received a battered and bruised Rainie sent back to the mountains. My adoptive parents panicked, but I smiled. This time, it’s my turn. Chapter 1 “Trash, I’m warning you! Rainie is coming back from the Sterling family soon. Don’t you dare ruin her good fortune!” My adoptive mother slapped me across the face, and the taste of blood instantly filled my mouth. Since the year I voluntarily let myself be trafficked into these mountains, I had grown accustomed to her beatings. She beat me when she was in a bad mood, she beat me when she was in a good mood, and she often locked me up without food. She even pushed me into the river several times. If I didn’t know how to swim, I would have died long ago. She even tried to marry me off to a man in the village who had beaten several wives to death. Thankfully, he was arrested, allowing me to live to eighteen. All this because a few years after I was taken, the Sterlings heard that my adoptive parents had adopted a child and came looking. My adoptive parents conspired to lie, claiming their biological daughter, Rainie, was the adopted one, and sent her off in the Sterlings’ luxury car. From then on, my adoptive mother’s favorite phrase became, “My Rainie will send money home soon, and we’ll be rich!” But there had been no news from Rainie for years, until today. My adoptive mother smiled, her face wrinkling like a dried apple. “The Sterlings called me personally! Mr. and Mrs. Sterling are bringing Rainie back together! They must be coming to thank me for raising her and give me money!” I looked at her coldly, saying nothing. She raised her hand and slapped me again. “What’s with that look? Remember this! Rainie is the Sterling heiress, and you, Trash, are just a lowly girl born and bred in these mountains!” “If you say anything you shouldn’t in front of the Sterlings, you’re dead!” Not satisfied with just hitting me, she kicked me viciously, pinching my waist as she did. My whole body ached terribly, but I endured it silently. No one knew better than I did that if I made a sound, she would only get worse. After she finished venting, a child ran over. “Auntie Liu, the car is here! It’s a fancy car!” Chapter 2 My adoptive mother immediately dropped me and ran to the gate to light firecrackers. A luxury car stopped steadily at the entrance. The door opened, and a couple dressed in opulent clothing stepped out. My adoptive mother immediately greeted them with a fawning smile. “Mr. Sterling, Mrs. Sterling, I’m Betty Liu, the one who adopted Rainie back then!” She started wiping away fake tears. “When Rainie came to us, they asked for ten thousand dollars, and I gave it without hesitation!” She rambled on about how pitiful Rainie was back then and how she had saved her. But everything she said was fake. The real protagonist was me. “Although my family is poor, Rainie never suffered a bit. I always provided her with good food and drink!” Before she could continue, Mrs. Sterling covered her nose in disgust. “Enough. We came here to return Rainie to you.” My adoptive mother froze instantly. “Return her to us? What do you mean?” She looked at Mr. and Mrs. Sterling in disbelief. But they ignored her. She looked behind them, but there was no sign of Rainie. As she tried to look into the car, the driver pulled her up. Mrs. Sterling pointed in disgust to a van behind them. “She’s over there.” My adoptive mother looked at the van, even more bewildered. “A van? Why would Rainie be in a van?” The driver walked to the van and slid the door open. My adoptive mother looked inside suspiciously, then let out an earth-shattering scream. “Rainie!” “My Rainie!” She screamed again. I looked through the open door into the van. The seats had been removed. There was a simple wooden board, and on it lay a person, emaciated beyond recognition. Half her body was exposed, eyes tightly closed, showing no sign of waking. My adoptive mother dragged her out of the van. Only then did I see that Rainie’s exposed skin was covered in bruises, not a single good patch left, and there was a faint scar on her stomach. “She was fine when I gave her to you. What did you do to her?” My adoptive mother held the battered Rainie, her eyes red with rage. Mr. Sterling frowned, looking stern. “You have the nerve to ask us? You gave us an imposter claiming she was the Sterling heiress. I didn’t kill this lowly waste directly, which is already mercy enough for you!” My adoptive mother was stunned. After a moment, she spoke guiltily. “W-what imposter? You came to us back then, saying the child I adopted was your daughter, so I gave Rainie to you!” Mr. Sterling looked at her coldly. “We’ve already investigated. You had a biological daughter and an adopted daughter. Rainie is your own flesh and blood!” My adoptive mother panicked. “N-nonsense! My own daughter died long ago. Rainie is your biological child!” “I see you won’t admit it until you see the coffin! Hold her down!” Mr. Sterling signaled the driver. Two drivers pinned my adoptive mother to the ground. Mr. Sterling stepped on her hand. “Speak! Where is my daughter?” My adoptive mother grimaced in pain but trembled and insisted, “It… it’s Rainie…” Mr. Sterling pressed down harder, crushing her hand. She gasped in pain but remained silent. Seeing the timing was right, I walked out from the crowd to the front and called out, “Dad, I am the daughter you are looking for.” Chapter 3 My adoptive mother immediately cursed, “Trash! What nonsense are you spouting! Get lost!” I ignored her and walked straight to Mr. Sterling. “Rainie is indeed Betty Liu’s biological daughter. I am the one you are looking for.” My adoptive mother struggled desperately. “No, she’s lying! Mr. Sterling, she has nothing to do with your family!” I looked into Mr. Sterling’s eyes. “Back then, I wanted candy, but you wouldn’t let me have it. So I snuck out of the house and was tricked into coming to the mountains.” “I have a round birthmark on my shoulder.” “I was wearing a gold bracelet when I left.” I opened my hand. In my palm lay a small, round gold bracelet. I had buried this bracelet under the tree in the yard, waiting for this day. Finally, it had come. My adoptive mother on the ground cursed even louder. “You little bitch! When did you hide a gold bracelet?!” “You slut, why didn’t I just strangle you back then!” Mrs. Sterling snatched the bracelet, frowning as she looked at the inside, as if searching for something. A moment later, she nodded to Mr. Sterling. “There’s an ‘S’ for Sterling. It’s ours!” Mrs. Sterling pulled me to her side, enduring her disgust as she pulled aside my collar to check my shoulder. “The birthmark is correct too. Honey, this is our daughter!” My adoptive mother finally stopped struggling, lying motionless, staring at me with venomous eyes. Amidst the envious gazes of the crowd, I got into the luxury car. The familiar village drifted further away. I was finally returning to the Sterling family. On the way, perhaps because we had been apart for so long, no one spoke. Mrs. Sterling’s phone suddenly rang. Seeing the caller ID, she put on her kindest, gentlest smile. “Yoyo, Mom and Dad are coming back soon. Be good and stay in the hospital. You can have the surgery very soon.” On the other end was my sister, Yoyo. She had leukemia since childhood and was the apple of my parents’ eyes. Even I was born solely to cure her illness. I didn’t expect her to still be alive after I had been gone for so long. As soon as we arrived at the Sterling mansion, Mrs. Sterling had a maid take me to shower. I wanted to use hot water but didn’t know how to adjust it. I was about to go out and ask the maid when I heard voices in my room. I turned on the faucet, and amidst the sound of water, I peeked through the crack in the door. I heard Mrs. Sterling ask Mr. Sterling, “The name ‘Trash’ is too ugly. Should we change it back for her?” “Why bother? She’s just a mobile blood bank for Yoyo. I don’t think she even needs a name.” Mrs. Sterling nodded. “I’ll have the nanny put something in her water. Once she’s asleep, we’ll go to the hospital. Yoyo can’t wait!” They talked as they left the room. I closed the bathroom door and took a cold shower. When I went out, sure enough, there was a glass of water on the nightstand. I poured half of it into the sink, pretending to have drunk it, and put the glass back. I lay on the bed and closed my eyes. The bed was soft, and I was exhausted. For a moment, I almost fell asleep. But I pinched my thigh hard and woke up. After waiting with my eyes closed for who knows how long, the door opened. Mrs. Sterling called softly in my ear, “Trash? Trash?” I lay there with no reaction. A moment later, several people walked over quietly and lifted me off the bed. Chapter 4 I was carried onto the same van that brought Rainie back. It didn’t drive for long before stopping. I was carried off again. I heard Mrs. Sterling say, “Doctor, this is Yoyo’s real sister. Do the transplant as soon as possible.” The doctor sounded uncertain. “Miss Sterling’s body is already rejecting the bone marrow from the wrong blood type last time. If we make another mistake, her life will truly be in danger!” “I suggest waiting. Let’s do another match test and transplant only after confirmation.” Mrs. Sterling got anxious instantly. “Yoyo can’t wait! A match test takes days. Her condition is getting worse. Who can guarantee she’ll live until the results come out?” The doctor fell silent. Mrs. Sterling continued, “When I gave birth to this child, it was IVF. We screened her and confirmed she could donate to Yoyo before birthing her. Last time we got the wrong person, but this one is Yoyo’s biological sister. It absolutely cannot be wrong!” “Just schedule the surgery. I want Yoyo to live!” Mr. Sterling also said sincerely, “Yes, Doctor. I can assure you, this is really Yoyo’s biological sister!” Finally, the doctor sighed. “Alright.” They wheeled me into the operating room. Since I had supposedly taken sleeping pills, Mr. and Mrs. Sterling feared anesthesia would affect the bone marrow quality for Yoyo, so they didn’t let the doctor give me any. The doctor extracted bone marrow from my spine. Immense pain struck, but to keep up the pretense of being asleep, I could only grit my teeth and endure. Just when I was about to faint from pain, the extraction was finished. I was wheeled out, and the doctor went to give my bone marrow to Yoyo. Mr. and Mrs. Sterling paid no attention to me, pacing anxiously outside the operating room. After a long time, the doors opened. Mrs. Sterling rushed up happily. “Doctor, how is Yoyo? The surgery was successful, right?” But the doctor shook his head. “Rejection occurred during the procedure. Please sign the critical condition notice.” Mr. Sterling looked incredulous. “How could there be rejection? Is she really our biological daughter?” Mrs. Sterling froze too. She turned sharply to look at me lying nearby. “Rejection? Impossible! We matched them before! Unless she isn’t our daughter at all!”

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My other personality is a handful. While I was asleep, she flirted shamelessly with my boyfriend’s best friend and roommate. She spent the whole night sucking face with him. So, naturally, I woke up in his bed. What’s worse, the clingy, possessive pretty boy propped his head up with one hand, the other stroking my waist: “So, babe, about us… Do you think Liam will mind?” Later, my cold, serious boyfriend found out. I tried to break up, but he pinned me down and kissed me, his voice hoarse: “If you like it wild, I can learn.” 1 I opened my eyes. A handsome face was right in front of me. Exquisite brows, a high nose bridge, thin but rosy lips. It was a hot guy, but it wasn’t Liam. I rubbed my eyes, suspecting I was still dreaming. Suddenly. The hand on my waist tightened its grip. Then, a clear, clean voice drawled lazily: “Morning, babe!” I blurted out, “Morning…” Wait? Babe? That voice sounds so familiar. I blinked slowly. A bad feeling washed over me. I looked at him again. He was propped up on one arm, a thin sheet covering his waist. Smooth, lean muscles, a hint of V-lines, covered in hickeys. He followed my gaze, chuckled lightly, the mole under his eye mesmerizing: “Didn’t get enough last night?” My brain buzzed, finally clearing. “Xander?” He raised an eyebrow. “Mmhmm.” My vision went dark. Wait a minute! What happened? Why am I here? I remembered Liam calling me last night. He said he was too busy at the company to leave. I went to bed early after hearing that. How did I go to sleep and wake up in his roommate’s bed? I swallowed hard. I scooted back a little. “Running away?” Xander flipped over and pinned me under him. His warm breath sprayed on my ear, his eyes darkening: “Remember?” “Last night you told me you couldn’t help yourself, and I helped you…” “Now, I can’t help myself either. Babe, want to help me out?” 2 His abs felt hot and hard. He took my hand and guided it lower. Just touching the edge burned me, and I shrank back instantly. I pushed him away frantically. No, this behavior is way out of line! I sat up, frantically fixing my hair, giving a smile uglier than crying: “Xander, are you saying I came to you last night?” He leaned against the headboard, shirtless, looking dissatisfied at being pushed away, lazily saying: “Babe, I recall you weren’t drunk last night.” My smile froze. How did he know what I was going to say? I started awkwardly: “Um…” He cut me off again: “No sleepwalking.” “No mistaken identity.” “You called me Xander clearly last night. You said you liked me, you wanted to kiss me, begged me to fulfill your wish.” He accused me, his eyes suggestively glancing at the hickeys on his body. What wish? The wish to suck him dry from head to toe? I closed my eyes in despair, dying of shame. Finally, I looked at my relatively intact clothes and asked with a shred of hope: “We… we didn’t do anything irreversible, right?” He raised an eyebrow, about to speak. Suddenly, a knock on the door— My heart skipped a beat. Rarely did anyone visit the apartment. They both liked quiet and usually weren’t disturbed. The only person who would knock on Xander’s door at this hour was— While I was terrified thinking about it. A voice sounded from outside: “Xander, have you seen Luna?” 3 Hearing the voice outside, Xander blinked innocently: “Babe, Liam’s looking for you.” “About us… he shouldn’t mind, right?” Saying that, he made to get up. Scared out of my wits by his movement, I quickly hugged his waist: “No!!” He was covered in hickeys, and the bed was a mess. Most importantly, as Liam’s girlfriend, being in his roommate’s bed early in the morning… The picture was too beautiful. I dared not imagine Liam’s expression if he saw this. I hugged him tight, preventing him from opening the door, at least not like this. He looked down at me, asking strangely: “What’s wrong? Liam is still knocking.” Liam was indeed still knocking. My mind was a mess, I dared not speak loudly, so I pressed against Xander, whispering a plea in his ear: “Don’t let Liam know yet.” He looked down at where I touched his chest, suddenly letting out an inexplicable sigh. I followed his gaze. My face flushed instantly, and I quickly pulled away. But I didn’t dare let go completely, so I blinked at him pitifully. He finally understood. Raising an eyebrow in realization: “I get it, babe, you want to have an affair with me.” 4 ? I was thunderstruck. No… Which sentence gave him that illusion? “Is that it?” He pressed his nose against mine, deliberately dragging out the tone, the crisp scent of cedar making me dizzy. The knocking sounded like a death knell. Under the double pressure, I felt like my life was in danger. I was about to cry: “Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say.” “Can you just cooperate and deal with Liam first?” I don’t know which word pleased him. He laughed and became obedient, casually throwing on a hoodie. Loose and baggy, covering nothing. I was dead inside. I grabbed him again, found a turtleneck, and handed it to him, mouthing: “Wear this!” With so many strawberries on his neck, he couldn’t tell Liam they were mosquito bites. He took it. Touched his lips with his finger, smiling brightly. This guy is pushing his luck! Seeing him about to persist. I gritted my teeth, pulled his head down, and bit him viciously. “So sweet.” He licked his lips, eyes glistening like a satisfied fox. Finally, he got up slowly. I exhaled and rushed into the bathroom to hide. After a while, I didn’t know what Xander said, but soon, there was silence. Must have fooled him. Just as I relaxed. Next second. My phone rang suddenly. It was my phone. My phone was lying on Xander’s bed, ringing happily. Doomed! I forgot to take my phone just now. My scalp went numb. The voice at the door grew louder. I heard Liam ask in confusion: “Xander, why is Luna’s phone on your bed?”

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My best friend, a “fake heiress” who married into wealth, had a habit of using me as a cover. She stole a project proposal from her husband’s company, telling him I was new and just wanted to learn. She transferred ten million dollars from his account, claiming she was buying me a villa to settle down. She sold the luxury car he gave her as a wedding gift, saying she wanted to give me a means of transportation. When her affair with his assistant and their embezzlement of company assets were discovered, she claimed I had deceived her and used her as a pawn. In the end, her husband sent me to prison. There, I was murdered by her lover to silence me. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day her husband confronted me. Chapter 1 Every time Sophia needed to scheme with her lover, she used “shopping with me” as her excuse to leave the house. This time, her husband, Ethan Cole, messaged me again, demanding to know when I would let her go home. I frowned at the message and deleted the chat thread without replying. Just as I put a face mask on, my phone rang abruptly. My hand, scrolling through TikTok, accidentally hit the answer button before I could pull back. The next second, his voice, suppressing anger, rang out: “Emily Zhang, when exactly are you planning to let my wife come home?” “The baby has cried three times already. Don’t you know she’s a mother? How selfish can you be? It was one thing before, but she’s not alone anymore!” “Please get this straight: I am her husband. You’re shopping with my card, riding in my car. What do you mean by making her block my number every time?” “I’ve tolerated you for a long time. Don’t you feel like a third wheel?” His tone grew heavier with each sentence, clearly at the end of his patience. But my anger far exceeded his. If not for his “perfect” wife in my past life, how could I have ended up in prison for no reason? Just because I came from the same small town as her and was her only friend here, I became the convenient fig leaf for her scandals! Back then, I didn’t know what she was up to every day. Since she got married, our contact had dwindled. Countless times, Ethan called me, and I, confused but kind-hearted, covered for her. Once, I was asleep in the middle of the night and had to face Ethan’s angry interrogation. “What are you doing this late? Does styling hair take this long?” I almost slipped up in my grogginess, but Sophia hurriedly sent a message. [Just say we’re getting our hair done, and a massage place opened next door so we tried the sisters’ package. I sent him the photos! Thanks babe~] So later, in Ethan’s eyes, I became the culprit destroying his family harmony. The next day, he sent me a warning message. After that, I gradually reduced contact with Sophia. But I never expected to be sent to prison by her in the end. Ethan already resented me, so sending me away felt like getting rid of a pest to him. Reborn, I won’t be her stepping stone again! Seeing I didn’t speak for a long time, he lost patience. “Is Sophia with you? Put her on. Her son misses his mom.” I raised an eyebrow, a cold sneer curling my lips. I held the phone away and pretended to shout: “Sophia? Sophia? Your husband is calling.” She wasn’t there, so naturally, no one answered. So I acted surprised. “Oh, sorry Mr. Cole. Your wife is getting her hair washed. The water is too loud, she can’t hear. It’s the same salon as last time!” “She’ll contact you when she’s done~” After speaking, my face went cold instantly, and I hung up hard. But unexpectedly, five minutes later, just as I peeled the mask off my face, violent knocking sounded at the door. I opened it, and the immense force from outside almost knocked me to the ground. Ethan had actually brought a group of bodyguards to my home. Held down by bodyguards, I could only watch as he rummaged through my house with a face full of rage. The small apartment was quickly turned upside down, but Sophia was nowhere to be found. Only then did he walk up to me, frowning with impatience. “Where is Sophia? Where did she go? You said shopping, but I watched downstairs for ages. Your lights were on; you couldn’t have gone out!” Looking at his face, distorted by anger to the point of irrationality, a sense of vengeful pleasure rose in me. How could Sophia tell me where she went? I was just the scapegoat she prepared in advance! Under Sophia’s subtle influence, Ethan had long hated me and would never believe my explanation. Seeing me silent, he shot a glance to the side, and the bodyguards held me firmly. He stepped forward, grabbing my jaw tightly, his gaze like a poisoned blade. He gritted his teeth: “I’ll give you one last chance. Where did Sophia go?” Chapter 2 I couldn’t help but laugh sarcastically. “You know she’s a mother, an adult with hands and feet. Can I control where she goes? Even her mother couldn’t control her.” The next second, the grip on my jaw loosened abruptly. That hand raised high and slapped me across the face. A crisp sound rang out. My eyes turned red with hatred. But the more anxious Ethan got, the more ridiculous I found him. He bent down to pick up the phone I dropped, grabbed my finger to unlock the screen. He tapped the phone threateningly against my face. “Do you think I can’t do anything to you if you don’t speak?” “I got you into that company; I can make you roll out!” “What if your boss knew all your proposals were plagiarized?” Under my murderous gaze, he found the contact I labeled “Boss” and dialed. Before it connected, he seemed to remember something, hung up, and switched to a video call. The call connected. My boss was still working overtime. Frowning at the man on the screen, his eyes widened a moment later. He stammered: “Mr… Mr. Cole?” Ethan said coldly: “It’s me. Do you know this person?” He pointed the screen at my face. The boss quickly said: “Yes, yes. Is something wrong?” “Can your company tolerate an employee who rose through plagiarism? Do you know how her work is completed?” As he spoke, he stared at me threateningly. Mouthing: “This is your last chance.” But I pressed my lips tight and didn’t make a sound. My indifferent attitude ignited Ethan’s rage. He roared: “All of Emily Zhang’s proposals are plagiarized from our company! If you can’t handle this today, I’ll have my legal department contact you!” “I brought my lawyer today. Looks like you haven’t left work yet.” He crossed his arms, clearly adopting a “you deal with it” attitude. Two sentences completely destroyed any thought my boss had of speaking up for me. He couldn’t afford to offend the Cole Group. I suddenly laughed coldly. “Mr. Cole, demanding the company fire me without any evidence… I can sue you for this. It’s slander!” Hearing my words, Ethan laughed disdainfully. “Can’t handle it already? I have worse. Want to tell me where Sophia is? I’ll give you one last chance.” “Took ten million, sold my car, and now you kidnap my wife. Emily Zhang, I’ve really given you too much face!” As he spoke, several bodyguards held me tighter, making it hard to breathe. Getting the boss’s decision to fire me, Ethan sneered and continued burying his head in my contacts. Seeing the darkness in his eyes, I had a bad feeling. Gritting my teeth, I said: “This is trespassing. Aren’t you afraid I’ll call the police?” He didn’t stop his movements, lips curling into a sneer as if hearing a joke. “Police? Need me to dial for you? You kidnapped my wife, the mother of my son. Who do you think the police will arrest?” “My last chat with Sophia says she’s with you tonight.” Then, his eyes lit up. “Found it.” I watched helplessly as he dialed the landlord’s number. A plan gradually formed in my heart. Chapter 3 Ethan terminated my lease with the landlord right in front of me. When I tried to explain to the phone, a bodyguard slammed his hand over my mouth, silencing me. Physiological tears welled up in my eyes. I just felt Ethan was stupider than me. If I really got the villa, why would I still be in this rental apartment? He cut the call, eyes almost spitting fire. “Still won’t talk?” The bodyguard loosened his grip. I said coldly: “Why don’t you ask your assistant? Maybe he knows.” Ethan’s eyes flickered. After a moment, he suspiciously took out his phone and called his assistant. The moment it connected, the panting on the other end stopped abruptly. “What’s up, Mr. Cole?” “Check Sophia’s location for me. I need to find her, it’s urgent.” Silence on the other end for a moment, then a troubled voice: “The last few times I drove Mrs. Cole and her friend shopping, as soon as she got out, that girl pulled her away, didn’t give me a chance to speak.” “Later I got out and ran up to ask, and that girl scolded me, told me not to be nosy. I didn’t dare ask again. Now you suddenly ask me, I don’t know either…” Ethan’s face darkened with his words. I just wanted to sneer. Worthy of being Sophia’s lover; even the blame-shifting moves are identical. After hanging up, just as he was about to speak, his phone rang again. It was the nanny at home, saying the baby couldn’t be comforted and was crying harder. Hearing this, Ethan frowned deeply, losing all patience. He hung up and ordered the bodyguards to drag me into the car. “Since you won’t talk, I’ll search every shop!” Arriving at the beauty salon street, he grabbed my collar and roughly dragged me to the ground. Surrounded by bodyguards, our group quickly attracted the attention of passersby. A few minutes later, crowds had formed circles around us. Hearing Ethan say his wife was kidnapped by her best friend, they all showed expressions of gossip. Someone even shouted: “These days you never know what’s under a best friend’s skin. An aunt in my hometown was taken by her sister to run away. When the police found them, it was bigamy!” “There are many news stories about trafficking victims falling prey to best friends. Look at those girls taken abroad, weren’t they all tricked by friends?” “She doesn’t look rich. If she’s that bad, she wouldn’t be this poor, right?” “What do you know? Dressing plainly makes the act believable! Look at those criminals, who doesn’t look pitiful?” Their discussions rang in my ears constantly. Ethan’s face was black as the bottom of a pot. He had bodyguards take me into the first shop. But the owner said she didn’t know me, never saw me. Yet photos of this shop had been used countless times by Sophia as an excuse to go out with me. Hearing this, Ethan instantly ignited with rage, grabbing my hair on the spot. My head was forced back. “Emily Zhang, you’ve been playing me from the start!” The group rushed out of the shop. Ethan said coldly: “Call the police. Let them help search. Even if I have to turn this street upside down today, I will find her!” My eyes flickered. I whispered: “Police? Why don’t you call reporters too? Nail me to the pillar of shame?” He squinted at the bodyguards. “Heard that? Satisfy her request.” Hearing this, a triumphant smile appeared on my lips. Make a scene. Better if the whole world knows. I want to make sure Sophia never recovers in this lifetime! Chapter 4 Bodyguards dragged me through every shop on the street, getting the same result. This street was way above my consumption level; naturally, I couldn’t have been here. On the way back, Ethan was video calling his son. Hearing the bodyguard’s report, he almost crushed the phone on the spot. Gritting his teeth, he said bye to his son, hung up, and smashed the phone onto my head. The expensive phone was fine, but my forehead swelled up instantly. More passersby gathered. Hearing the helpless crying of the child calling for mom in the video, they looked at me with disgust. “What kind of person is this? Kidnapping from a family with a child? Watching a family break apart, isn’t that sinful?” “Look at how scary this woman’s eyes are! She committed the crime, but you’d think this man killed her whole family!” Just then, police and reporters arrived together. Several people followed behind them. As they approached, my eyes widened instantly. Ethan saw my expression, face full of gloom. My parents, far away in the village, were brought over by him. Hearing the news that I kidnapped Sophia on the way, they were sweating with anxiety. Seeing me, they rushed over. The bodyguards holding me let go at Ethan’s signal. Thinking of my mother’s disappointed face when I went to prison in my past life, tears instantly filled my eyes. Just as I reached out to hug her. A solid slap landed on my face. I covered my burning face, looking at her in disbelief. Mom’s eyes were red, hating iron for not becoming steel: “I thought you were working hard in the big city. What have you done?” She was so angry she couldn’t stand steady, falling backward the next second. I rushed to pull her, but my hand mid-air was ruthlessly swatted away by her. “Mom—” I shouted in shock. Dad supported Mom, turning to roar indignantly: “Don’t call us. We can’t bear it. We don’t have a daughter like you! Don’t know when we’ll be sold by you!” Having experienced the past life, I regretted everything. I originally planned to go back to my hometown to accompany them after solving Sophia’s matter. But I didn’t expect my parents to be brought by Ethan first. I quickly turned to look at Ethan. He was standing in the distance whispering to the police. Just as I wanted to speak, my ear was yanked violently. Mom was crying, eyes full of disappointment. “Tell Mr. Cole where you took Sophia! Otherwise, don’t call us Mom and Dad anymore. We don’t have a daughter like you!” Seeing this, the curses from passersby grew louder. I reached out to cover my ear, which was already torn with pain and bleeding. But just as my hand touched my face, my dad found a stick from somewhere. He hit me hard on the back of my knee. I screamed and knelt on the ground on the spot. Mom didn’t stop in time. Blood gushed from my ear, soaking one side of my shoulder. Ethan walked slowly up to me and told my parents about me taking his ten million and a car. My parents were so angry they couldn’t stand. They were disappointed to the point of collapse. Yelling: “Sinful! It’s us old couple who wronged you…” The police whispered something in Ethan’s ear. His gaze instantly became sharp. Then he turned and ordered: “Take her away. Search the property under Emily Zhang’s name!” I knew that was the evidence Sophia arranged to frame me. And the paradise for her and her lover before the incident. It’s finally ending.

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I won $8.88 million in the lottery. When I went to claim my prize, the presenter handed me a donation form. “Sir, as is customary, winners of large prizes are expected to make a charitable donation. The minimum is five thousand dollars. How much would you like to contribute?” I shook my head. “I’m not donating.” “Sir, this is standard procedure. It’s for a good cause.” Her smile vanished. “You shouldn’t be so selfish. You’ve come into all this money for nothing. What’s wrong with giving a little back?” “I’m not donating. Not a single cent.” “What a cheapskate,” she spat, her voice dripping with contempt. “If you’re not going to donate, then you can just wait for your prize money to be processed.” She confiscated my original lottery ticket and had security throw me out. That night, “The Greediest Lottery Winner in History” trended on social media. I became public enemy number one. “He’s rich and heartless! Let’s find him!” “We should go to his house and livestream, force him to donate!” Angry netizens swarmed towards my home. The next day, the lottery commission respectfully delivered the check to my door. 1. Two security guards grabbed me by the arms, one on each side, and dragged me out of the prize claim center. “Get out of here, you pathetic loser!” I was thrown onto the marble floor, my knees slamming into the hard surface. Behind me, the presenter, a woman named Lisa, sneered. “Look at this trash. Wins a bit of money and forgets who he is.” “Let him go through the official process. The long process. Until he agrees to donate.” I scrambled to my feet and rushed back to the entrance, but the guards blocked my way. “Give me back my ticket!” I screamed at them. “That’s my money! I need it urgently!” Lisa crossed her arms, a smug smile on her face. “Urgent? In a hurry to buy a luxury car or a mansion?” “Mr. Cole, I’ll give you one last chance. Sign the donation form. Five thousand dollars is nothing to you.” Her voice boomed through the hall’s sound system. “I said, I’m not donating,” I repeated, refusing to back down. Lisa’s expression turned cold. “Fine. Very well.” “Have it your way.” “We’ll follow the procedure then. Identity verification, tax processing, financial review… best-case scenario, it’ll take a month. Worst case, half a year.” A month? Half a year? My heart sank into an icy pit. No. I couldn’t wait. I couldn’t even wait a single day. “Please,” I begged, pressing my forehead against the glass door. “Give me the money. I really… I really need it!” “Get lost!” was her only reply. The guards shoved me away again, this time with more force. I stumbled back and fell to the ground. People in the crowd pointed and whispered, their eyes filled with disdain. It was as if I wasn’t a lucky lottery winner, but a despicable thief. I pulled out my five-year-old phone, its screen crisscrossed with cracks. I opened a news app. A bold headline popped up. 【The Greediest Lottery Winner in History is Born! Wins $8.88 Million, Refuses to Donate $5,000 to Charity!】 Below it was a high-resolution photo of me being dragged out of the lottery commission, looking utterly pathetic. 2. I clicked on the article. The comment section was already a warzone. “What the hell! Who is this guy? Does he have a soul?” “$8.88 million! And he won’t even donate five grand? Is he that cheap?” “Does this kind of person even deserve to win? God must be blind!” “He looks like a bum, and he’s rotten on the inside too.” “【Angry emoji】Someone find this guy! Let’s see what this piece of trash is really made of!” I turned off the screen and took a deep breath. My lungs ached as if they were filled with ice. My phone rang. It was my mom. “Joel! You’re on TV! Did you really win the lottery?!” Her voice was filled with unrestrained joy. “Mom, I…” “Eight point eight-eight million dollars! Oh my God! Why didn’t you tell us sooner, son!” “Your brother needs to get married, and his fiancée’s family is asking for a thirty-thousand-dollar dowry. I was so worried! This money came at the perfect time!” Before I could say anything, she had already planned everything out. “And your uncle needs fifty thousand for his new house, and your cousin needs ten thousand for college, and…” “Mom,” I interrupted, my voice hoarse. “I need this money for something else.” The line went silent. A few seconds later, my mom’s tone changed. “Joel! What are you trying to say?” “Mom, I’m not giving this money to anyone.” Her anger flared. “You think you’re so big now, don’t you? You win a little money and forget your own family?” “I raised you for nothing! You won’t even share your winnings with us? You’re going to be cursed!” She started screaming at me, her words more vicious than any of the online comments. I quietly hung up and switched my phone to silent. The world was quiet again. But my heart was in turmoil. I leaned against the cold wall and pulled a faded photograph from my pocket. In the picture, a group of young men stood with their arms around each other, their faces beaming with joy. The one in the center was me. Back when I still had two legs. I gently traced the faces in the photo with my thumb. I whispered their names, a silent prayer. “Wait for me. I’m almost there.” My phone screen lit up again. A text from an unknown number. 【Joel Cole, right? We have your address. Apartment 401, 3rd building, XX complex.】 【So you won’t donate, huh? We’re coming to deliver some justice.】 【We’re going live. The whole country is going to see your ugly, greedy face!】 My pupils constricted. They had found my home. I clutched my phone tightly. No. I couldn’t let them go there. I wasn’t the only one living in that apartment. I staggered to my feet and ran towards the subway station, a single thought pounding in my head. Go back. I had to get back before they did. 3. I burst out of the subway station and ran like a madman towards home. The walk that usually took ten minutes, I covered in five. A crowd had already gathered at the foot of my old apartment building. A group of flashy-looking young people were delivering a righteous speech to their phone cameras. “We’re here, everyone! This is the cheapskate’s nest!” “Today, on behalf of all the good-hearted people out there, we’re going to bring this immoral bastard to justice!” The livestream chat was scrolling wildly, filled with messages of “support,” “go for it,” and “get him.” I pushed through the crowd, trying to get to the stairs. “He’s back! That’s him!” someone shouted. Dozens of phone cameras swiveled to face me. “You have the nerve to show your face?” “Donate the money! Or you’re not going anywhere!” “Get him! People like him deserve a beating!” A man lunged forward and grabbed me by the collar. His face was contorted with righteous fury. I didn’t fight back. I just looked at him and said, word by word: “Let me go upstairs.” “Go to hell! You’re not going anywhere until you donate that money!” He punched me in the face. “This one’s for the children in the mountains!” Another punch landed on my shoulder. “This one’s for the lonely elderly!” I didn’t dodge or retaliate. I just wanted to go upstairs. There was something up there that I had to protect. In the chaos, people started pushing and pulling at me. I swayed in the crowd like a lone boat in a storm. “Don’t let him get away!” “Let’s go to his apartment! Let’s expose what he’s hiding!” They were jealous. Why did I win the lottery, and not them? Why didn’t I just donate the money and live a quiet, subservient life? My refusal to donate was the perfect excuse for their jealousy to masquerade as justice. The crowd went wild. They pushed me along, forcing their way up the stairs. The stairwell echoed with their excited shouts and my ragged breaths. I pressed my body against the door of apartment 401, holding it shut with all my might. “Get out!” I roared. BANG! Someone kicked the door. The old wooden door groaned in protest. BANG! BANG! Again and again. Each impact felt like a kick to my heart. BANG! One final, deafening crash. The door burst open. The crowd surged in like a tidal wave. I was knocked to the ground. 4. My small, dilapidated apartment was instantly packed. Phone lights flashed in my face, accompanied by a torrent of insults. “Holy shit! He’s rich but lives in this dump?” “This place is a garbage heap. Are we sure we have the right address?” “The address is right. He’s probably just pretending to be poor! He must have hidden all the valuable stuff!” “Search the place! Search it carefully! Find it and expose him!” The leader of the group, a streamer with bleached blond hair, kicked over a nearby cardboard box. Instant noodle containers rolled across the floor. “Look at this, everyone! This is the genius of a millionaire. Rents a crappy apartment to pretend he’s poor so he doesn’t have to donate, and he can avoid friends and relatives asking for money. Smart!” The livestream chat erupted in laughter. They were like a band of robbers, ransacking my home. My clothes, my books, everything I owned was thrown to the floor. I tried to get up, but someone pinned me down. “Stay put!” I lay on the floor, my cheek pressed against the cold concrete. Humiliation and rage churned in my chest. But I couldn’t fight back. If I did, things would only get worse. I just needed them to leave. “Hey? What’s this?” Someone with sharp eyes pulled a locked wooden box from under my bed. “Found it! The good stuff must be in here!” They all got excited, like they’d discovered a treasure chest. They surrounded the box, kicking it, trying to pry it open with a crowbar. “No!” I screamed. “Don’t touch that box!” I lunged forward, shielding the box with my body. “Get away! All of you, get away!” “He’s panicking! He’s panicking!” The blond streamer laughed even more maniacally. He ordered two of his cronies to grab me. “Pull him away!” Two large men grabbed my arms and dragged me back. My fingernails scraped bloody lines on the wooden box. “Let me go!” I struggled with all my might, my legs kicking against the floor. In the chaotic struggle, I suddenly felt my right leg go light. I lost my balance and fell to the side. Clunk. It wasn’t the sound of flesh and bone. In the noisy room, the sound was unnaturally clear. Everyone froze. The livestream chat, which had been scrolling frantically, paused for a moment. All eyes were on my empty right pant leg. And on the object that had fallen to the floor beside it… my prosthetic leg.

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A year after I was exposed as the fake heiress, my friends all said I was like a different person. I was no longer the spoiled, extravagant girl who desperately chased after my parents’ approval or threw tantrums to win Sebastian’s love. The harsh reality of my financial situation had me scrambling to survive, and it taught me that love and affection were the most useless things in the world. I became the quiet, unassuming person they had always wanted me to be. So later, when Sebastian brought the real heiress home again, I simply went to the guest room, quietly waiting to surrender everything that was once mine. But the very people who had wished for my obedience were now furious, asking me why I had stopped fighting. … When Sebastian brought the real heiress, Isla, home again in the dead of night, I didn’t make a scene. I just forced my exhausted body out of bed and quietly moved to the guest room. As I passed Isla, she grabbed my hand, her voice a sickly sweet coo. “Zara, you’re misunderstanding me.” “I just came to get a necklace I left here last time. I’m not trying to steal Sebastian from you…” Sebastian frowned, about to scold me for being possessive, just like he always did. But I cut him off, my voice calm. “I know. Our marriage was only because I was in your place. He… was always meant to be yours.” I had already come to terms with it. Marriages between wealthy families were never about the individuals, but about their backgrounds. When my true identity was revealed, Sebastian had immediately demanded a divorce. I had cried and screamed, starved myself, and even threatened suicide, barely managing to hold on to the title of Mrs. Croft. But what was the point? My parents had taken back everything they had ever given me, and the Crofts wouldn’t give me a single cent. I had the title, but in reality, I was broke and desperate. Isla, probably not expecting my response, stared for a moment before speaking. “Oh, well, that’s good then. I was worried you’d be upset that I’m starting a new job as Sebastian’s personal assistant at his company.” She knew where it hurt. She knew I couldn’t stand seeing them together. I could see the glint of triumph in her eyes, but I just nodded calmly. “That’s great. Once you’re trained, you’ll be ready to take over the Thorne Corporation.” “Dad… Mr. Thorne will be very pleased.” I gently removed her hand from my arm. “Sorry, I’m a little tired after a full day of food deliveries.” “I’m going to lie down. You two carry on.” The guest room door closed softly behind me. I shut my eyes, a wave of weariness washing over me. The ache in my chest felt like a draft from a broken window in winter, seeping cold into my bones. I was just drifting off to sleep when the door was kicked open with a loud bang. Sebastian stood by my bed, his face a dark storm cloud. He demanded, “What game are you playing now?” 2 What game could I possibly be playing? For the past year, I’d been blacklisted by every major corporation. I ended up delivering packages, doing food delivery, and even trying my hand at live streaming. The pampered princess I once was had long since vanished. I was a porcupine with all its quills plucked out, yet he was still afraid I would hurt someone. He offered a rare explanation. “Isla felt dizzy last time, so I let her rest on the bed for a bit. The necklace must have fallen off then.” “Her being my personal assistant was your father’s idea, so she could learn from me. Don’t overthink it.” I kept my eyes closed and murmured a soft, “Mm.” He remained standing by the bed, silent. After a long moment, just when I thought he had left, I heard his voice again. “My dad’s birthday is the day after tomorrow. The banquet.” “You’d better not make a scene with Isla. If you do, you can forget about the title of Mrs. Croft.” I sighed softly, my mind racing to calculate how many deliveries I’d have to make tomorrow to afford a gift. I was completely drained, with only a few words left in me. “Okay, I understand.” … I scraped together just enough money at the last minute, rushing into the store to buy the gift just before it closed. By the time I got to the hotel, I realized from everyone’s expressions that something was wrong. Isla was the first to speak, a laugh in her voice. “Zara, why are you wearing your delivery uniform to the banquet? There are so many people here today. You could at least try to save Sebastian some face.” I looked down and saw that in my haste, I had forgotten to change. The bright yellow delivery uniform felt like a slap across my face. I held out my hands, red and chapped from the cold, and gently placed the gift on the table. “Dad, I’m sorry I’m late… I was held up.” “This is just a small token. I wish you good health and a long life.” My father-in-law’s expression didn’t soften. My mother-in-law picked up the gift, glanced inside the box, and then contemptuously tossed it on the floor. “If you truly wished your father-in-law a long life, you would agree to divorce Sebastian.” “How dare you present such a cheap gift. It’s utterly pathetic. You’re an embarrassment to the Croft family.” “Honestly,” she sighed, but that small sound was like a heavy stone dropped into the placid water of my heart. My own father lifted his chin, his voice filled with righteous indignation. “Blood really does tell. You can’t change the cheap genes in her bones.” “When my wife, Eleanor, gave birth in the hospital, the babies were switched by accident. My poor Isla suffered out in the world for twenty-five years before she could come home… but by then, Sebastian was already married…” My mother started to wipe away tears. “And what’s worse is that this cuckoo in the nest still shows no remorse for what she’s done!” … I looked up at the parents who had once doted on me, now wishing I were dead. I saw the undisguised contempt on my in-laws’ faces. It all felt so meaningless. The chilblains on my hands were itching intensely. I lowered my gaze, wanting to tell them that I had worked from dawn till dusk, racing against the clock for this gift, nearly crashing my moped several times. But in the end, I just opened my mouth and then closed it, choosing to leave in silence. I walked for what felt like an eternity before I heard Sebastian’s voice drift from behind me. “Dad, actually, this vintage fountain pen… it’s quite a nice one.” 3 I didn’t know why Sebastian was defending me. Was it because my public humiliation reflected poorly on the Croft family? For a fleeting moment, a tiny sprout of hope tickled my heart. I slowed my pace, straining my ears to hear my father-in-law’s response. “Get it out of my sight.” A sharp clatter followed. The pen had hit the floor, and it felt like my heart had fallen with it. That night, I raced home on my moped, the cold wind whipping against my face like a thousand tiny knives, scattering my tears into the darkness. I finally understood that a person could die quietly, without anyone ever noticing. By the time I had shed all my emotions and arrived home, Sebastian was already there. I tiptoed inside, but Isla’s head popped out from one of the rooms. “Oh, Zara, you’re back?” “I figured you probably hadn’t eaten since you ran out like that, so I took the liberty of packing up some leftovers for you.” She covered her mouth with her hand in mock surprise. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Zara. I completely forgot you never eat leftovers. Unlike me… when I was taken away… I was always hungry, never sleeping well, and I was beaten all the time. Back then, a scrap of leftover food would have been a feast…” Her words were always laced with poison. Stinging me, reminding me that I had stolen twenty-five years of her princess life, that my crime was unforgivable. I used to jump to my own defense, arguing that I was innocent too, that even though I wasn’t their biological daughter, we had lived together for over two decades, and they had loved me just the same. But that was always just wishful thinking. They didn’t love me. My in-laws didn’t love me. And Sebastian didn’t love me. I stood in the entryway and offered a polite thank you. “It would be a shame to throw it away.” “Just put it in the fridge. I’ll heat it up tomorrow.” Isla stood frozen, her mouth agape, her eyes wide with shock. I turned and went back to the guest room, pulling out cotton swabs and antiseptic from a drawer. I carefully rolled up my pant leg. A raw, gaping wound bled steadily. Just then, Sebastian opened the door. Assuming he was here to confront me, I spoke without thinking. “I’m sorry, I forgot to change my clothes today.” But instead of his usual anger, he took the cotton swab from my hand and began to clean the wound himself. I froze. I used to do anything just to get him to look at me. But now, the muscles in my leg tensed, and my entire body felt rigid and uncomfortable. “Does it hurt?” I blinked, about to shake my head. But he answered for me. “It must. You used to cry bloody murder if you got a tiny paper cut.” I didn’t understand what was happening with him. He looked at me. “I had a few drinks tonight, so Isla drove me home.” “There’s nothing between us.” I pulled my pant leg down and nodded casually. “She’s your assistant. It’s normal for you to spend time together. It’s all for work.” His gaze grew complicated. I couldn’t decipher the emotions swirling within it, and I no longer had the energy to try. He watched me for a long time before finally taking a black card from his pocket and placing it on my nightstand. “Stop doing those menial jobs.” “From now on, I’ll deposit your monthly allowance into this card.” “And… don’t eat those leftovers. I’ll make you some noodles.” 4 It seemed that in this silent war between us, I had finally won. He used to say, “Isla has suffered so much. How can you live so comfortably with a clear conscience?” My parents would cry, “Why? Why is the child we loved for twenty years someone else’s?” They all hated me, directing all their resentment at me. Sebastian was busy in the kitchen. I leaned against the doorframe, watching him beat eggs for the soup. The last time I had seen this was when he was celebrating Isla’s birthday at home. She had said she wanted to taste his cooking, and he had immediately obliged. I had fought and screamed, demanding he cook for me too, only to earn everyone’s disgust. It was a shame, though. I never got to eat his noodle soup. Isla called, crying that she had hurt her hand. Sebastian frantically dropped the spatula. “Isla, she…” Before he could finish, I handed him his coat. “You should go.” He patted my head twice, as if rewarding a pet. “You’ve really become obedient. I’ll make it for you another time…” I smiled. There wouldn’t be another time. I didn’t tell him that I had been accepted into a university in Australia, and that my flight was tomorrow. This past year, I had sold the few remaining things I had, and combined with my meager savings, I had just enough for my tuition. My thoughts were a whirlwind when Sebastian called me. “Zara, you need to get to the hospital! Now!” … Isla had cut her hand. There was a lot of blood. She looked at me, her eyes red-rimmed. “Zara, the doctor said I need a blood transfusion. I remember our blood types are the same.” “Could you…” My mother was frantic. “Of course, she can! After being pampered by the Thorne family for over twenty years, the least she can do is give you a little blood!” My father impatiently waved a doctor over. “Why are you wasting time talking to her? Just arrange the transfusion!” I stood there in silence, which made Sebastian anxious. “Zara, now is not the time to throw a tantrum. This is a matter of life and death!” I emotionlessly beckoned a nurse over. After I signed the consent form, the nurse inserted the needle. I watched as my blood flowed through the thin tube, drop by drop. And then, drop by drop, into Isla’s body. In that moment, I felt a sudden sense of relief. It was as if everything I had enjoyed in my past life was now being returned to its rightful owner, in a different form. This was my atonement, wasn’t it? The transfusion was over, and the nurse was about to remove the needle when my mother stopped her. “Doctor, draw some extra, just in case.” “We can pay for the blood bags. If we don’t end up using them, we’ll just throw them away.” My face was pale as I looked at my mother. I suddenly laughed. There was nothing left to hold on to. Thankfully, I was leaving anyway.

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After my husband died a hero’s death in a massive fire, I opened a small grill near his old station. His old crew still came by after their shifts to support the business. The moment they walked in tonight, the new recruit, a kid named Will, stared at me in shock. “Wait… aren’t you the captain’s ex-wife? The one he said died in the fire?” I froze. My husband was the one who had died in that fire. The entire department knew it. But Will was dead serious. “No, our captain isn’t dead. He just showed us a family photo last week.” “He said… he said his current wife is the only woman he’s ever truly loved.” 1 “Will, you’re drunk! Shut your damn mouth!” The air in the private dining room turned to ice. Captain Hines, my husband Leo’s old chief, shot to his feet, his face a thundercloud as he clamped a hand over the young firefighter’s mouth. “He’s just a kid, Lynn, doesn’t know what he’s saying. Don’t take it to heart.” He started dragging Will toward the door. “Captain, I’m not drunk! I’m telling the truth! The chief, he—” Will’s frantic protests faded as Hines shoved him out, the heavy door slamming shut, cutting off the sound. A dead silence fell over the room. Leo’s “brothers,” the regulars who came by so often, were all staring at their plates. None of them dared to meet my eyes. My son, Noah, was looking up at me, his eyes a perfect copy of his father’s, wide with confusion. “Mommy, what’s wrong with the uncles?” I snapped back to reality, forcing a smile as I stroked his hair. “Nothing, sweetie. They’re just playing a game.” I turned my gaze to Hines, who had returned, his own smile plastered on and stiff. “Lynn, Will’s new, doesn’t know the ropes. He got our Leo mixed up with another captain from the next city over. Don’t pay him any mind.” “Yeah, that’s right! Crazy how two people can look so alike.” “Exactly! Our Leo was a hero. The whole city knows it!” They all chimed in, a chorus of clumsy explanations. But the more they talked, the heavier the stone in my stomach grew. I knew Leo for ten years, was married to him for three. Five years ago, the inferno that had devoured half the city’s Westside warehouses had taken him from me. He had charged back into the collapsing structure to save one last trapped child. A selfless act of bravery. They never even found a body. All that was recovered from the smoldering ruins was his wedding ring, melted and twisted by the heat. For five years, I’ve raised our son alone, surviving on the department’s pension and the charity of these “brothers.” I always believed they were helping us out of loyalty, looking after the family of their fallen comrade. But now, a chilling doubt began to creep in. Maybe it wasn’t what I thought at all. I raised my glass to Hines. “Captain, I don’t know what I would’ve done without you all these years.” “Don’t say that, Lynn. It’s the least we could do,” he said, quickly draining his own glass as if trying to wash something away. I lowered my eyes, my voice barely a whisper. “So… that other captain Will mentioned. What was his name?” Hines’s body went rigid. The men beside him turned pale. “Oh, him… hell if I can remember,” he stammered, his eyes darting around the room. “It was just a mix-up, that’s all. A misunderstanding.” The rest of the meal was a blur of tasteless food and forced conversation. They left in a hurry, practically fleeing the restaurant. Later that night, I tucked Noah into bed, watching his small face, so achingly similar to Leo’s, and my heart clenched with a pain so sharp it stole my breath. My husband was dead. So why would that new recruit say those things? He said his current wife is the only woman he’s ever truly loved. Then what was I? And what were the last five years of my mourning? A cold, terrifying idea began to bloom in the darkness of my mind, and I knew, with sickening certainty, that I had to find the truth. 2 The next day, I made a pot of soup and brought it to the fire station, using gratitude as my excuse. The men greeted me with their usual calls of “Hey, Lynn!” but their warmth was a thin veil over a nervous energy, a desperate avoidance in their eyes. I didn’t see Will anywhere. “Hines, where’s Will? He seemed pretty out of it last night. I just wanted to make sure he’s okay,” I asked, trying to sound casual. Hines was polishing the trophies on the honor wall. His hand jerked, nearly dropping one. “Oh… Will. He had a family emergency back home. Took off first thing this morning.” The lie was so flimsy it was almost insulting. A rookie who’d been there less than a month, whose paperwork probably wasn’t even fully processed, had a sudden emergency? My gaze drifted to the honor wall. In the very center was a black-and-white photo of Leo. His smile was brilliant, his eyes full of life. Below it, an inscription: LEO VANCE, FALLEN HERO. I stared at the picture, a suffocating pressure building in my chest. Next to it was a group photo of the rescue squad, taken just a month before the fire. Leo stood in the middle, his arm wrapped around my shoulders. We looked so happy, so blissfully ignorant. But my attention was snagged by a woman standing in the background, almost hidden in the corner. She wore the uniform of a support staff member, but her eyes were glued to Leo, a look of raw, undisguised obsession. I had no memory of her at all. “Hines, who is this?” I asked, pointing to the woman. “I don’t remember her.” Hines’s face went taut again. “Her? Oh, she was just a temp… Chloe something… Only worked here for a couple of weeks and then left. Not important.” He quickly changed the subject, pulling me over to show me their new fire engine. I nodded and smiled, my mind a million miles away, replaying the image of that woman’s possessive stare. Back home, I tore through Leo’s belongings, everything they had given me from his locker. A locked metal box tumbled out from the bottom of a storage container. It was our “time capsule,” something we’d bought together before he joined the academy. We were supposed to fill it with our most precious memories. He kept the key, promising we’d open it together on our golden anniversary. But he was gone. I found a hammer and, without a second of hesitation, smashed the lock open. Inside, there were no love letters, no photos of us. Just a thick stack of pictures and a pink diary. The photos were of Leo and that woman, “Chloe something.” Kissing on a beach, holding each other on a snowy mountain, their smiles a blinding, painful mockery in every shot. My hands trembled as I opened the diary. The elegant script chronicled a woman’s sick, obsessive love for my husband… and her venomous hatred for me. Why did he have to marry her? She’s not good enough for him! He says he loves me, so why does he still sleep in her bed? Leo promised me. After this next big call, he’s going to tell Lynn everything. He said he’s going to give me and our baby a real family. Our baby… My mind went blank, a roaring static filling my ears. Tucked into the last page of the diary was an ultrasound photo. The name on it was “Chloe Summers.” The date was from six years ago. A full year before my Noah was even born. 3 In that single moment, my world didn’t just crack. It disintegrated. The epic love story I thought I was living was nothing but a one-woman show. The hero I had mourned for five years hadn’t just been cheating on me with another woman; he’d had a child with her, a child older than my own son. A wave of nausea washed over me, so violent and overwhelming I barely made it to the bathroom before I was retching into the toilet. I collapsed onto the cold tile, silent tears carving paths down my face. Chloe Summers… I searched the cluttered archives of my memory. And then I found it. A passing comment from Leo before we got married. He’d mentioned a girl from his hometown, a neighbor who’d always had a crush on him. I’d laughed it off at the time. It wasn’t a joke. It was a time bomb buried beneath the foundations of my life. I wiped my tears and forced myself back to the box. Beneath the diary and photos, I found an unstamped letter. It was in Leo’s handwriting. Chloe, my love, it’s all set. The fire at the Westside warehouses will be our new beginning. I’ve found a way to lure Lynn there. After the fire, she’ll be declared an ‘accidental casualty.’ I’ll be declared ‘killed in the line of duty,’ and I’ll take on a new identity. Once things cool down, I’ll come for you and our boy. Wait for me, Chloe. Soon, nothing will ever keep us apart. At the bottom of the letter, he had drawn a crude smiley face. I stared at the words, each one a poisoned blade carving my heart into ribbons. He wasn’t going to save someone. He was going to murder me. He had orchestrated a massive fire, planning to burn me into an unidentifiable corpse so he could run off with his mistress. So what went wrong five years ago? Why did he “die” instead of me? I forced my mind back, dredging up every detail from the day of the fire. I was a photographer back then. I did have a shoot scheduled at the Westside warehouses that day. But just before I left, Leo had called me. His voice was softer, more tender than I’d ever heard it. He said he had a bad feeling, a premonition that something terrible was going to happen. He begged me to cancel the job, to take Noah and go stay with my parents for a few days. He even said he’d bought us train tickets, and they were on the nightstand. At the time, I was touched by his concern, thinking he was just worried about me. Now I knew the horrifying truth. He wasn’t worried; he was getting me out of the way! He needed evidence that I was “at the scene,” but he couldn’t have me actually die, because he needed me alive to go to the city clerk’s office and sign his death certificate! My press pass! In my rush that day, I’d left my work bag in my car. The bag with my press credentials and shooting permit. And my car was parked in the warehouse lot! The official report mentioned they found a female body, burned beyond recognition, with my press pass scattered nearby. Everyone assumed it was me until the DNA test came back negative. The police treated it as a loose end, a mystery. And I was too lost in my grief to pay any attention. He found a replacement. An innocent woman to die in my place. How could this man be so cruel? My body shook uncontrollably, not from fear, but from a rage so profound it felt like it would burn me alive from the inside out. Leo. Chloe. And Captain Hines and the rest of them… Everyone who had a hand in this deserved to go to hell. 4 I thought I had married a hero. It turned out he was a monster. I thought their support was a gesture of brotherhood. It was a surveillance operation. They weren’t taking care of a hero’s widow. They were guarding a witness who could shatter their web of lies at any moment. For five years, I’d been a fool, dancing on the strings of their meticulously crafted puppet show. My grief, my loyalty, my widowhood—all of it was a cosmic joke. But the grief had now curdled into a cold, hard rage. Tears wouldn’t solve anything. I wanted revenge. I was going to make Leo and his pack of hyenas pay a price so steep it would cost them everything. I looked at the woman in the mirror—pale, her eyes swollen and red—and a slow, chilling smile spread across my lips. It felt alien on my own face. Lynn, you’ve already ‘died’ for Leo once. From now on, you live for yourself. Taking a deep breath, I dialed a number I hadn’t called in years. A cynical, world-weary voice answered on the other end. “Well, well. If it isn’t the great Lynn Hayes. What’s a world-class photographer doing calling a bottom-feeder like me?” “Jack, I need your help.” He paused, his tone shifting from playful to serious. “What’s wrong?” Jack was my senior in college. Now, he was one of the country’s top investigative journalists, running a team that struck fear into the hearts of celebrities and politicians alike. We used to be partners until Leo’s disapproval of my career pushed me away. “My husband,” I said, each word precise and cold. “I don’t think he’s dead.” Jack sucked in a sharp breath. “Holy shit. Your hero husband? Lynn, that’s not a story. That’s a goddamn earthquake.” “I need you to find someone for me. A young firefighter named Will. And… I need you to find Leo.” “Consider it done. If he’s on this planet, my guys will find him,” Jack said, the excitement palpable in his voice. “One more thing. Pull every file you can on the Westside warehouse fire from five years ago. I want everything on the unidentified female victim. The more detailed, the better.” “Lynn… what are you planning?” I gazed out the window as the sky began to lighten. “Nothing,” I whispered. “I’m just going to make a dead man talk.” After the call, I took all of Leo’s “mementos” and set them ablaze in my fireplace. In the dancing flames, I saw the ghost of an innocent woman and the reflection of my own stolen years. Leo. Did you think a new name meant a new life? Did you think I’d play the grieving widow forever? You were wrong. Hell is empty, and all the devils are here. And I’m the one who clawed her way back to drag you down with me.

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It was the 99th time Tessa and I were supposed to get our marriage license. After a single phone call, she told me she had to take her uncle for a medical check-up. We’d have to do it another time. I was about to protest when a stream of text suddenly materialized before my eyes. 【Don’t. Just let her go.】 【In your past life, your girlfriend insisted on going with her uncle. You went back to the observatory alone and predicted that the dormant volcano next to Fenton Creek would erupt tonight. You intercepted Tessa and forced her to go back to the village, saving her grandfather.】 【Her uncle, Adrian, was diagnosed with terminal cancer during his solo check-up. In despair, he threw himself from the hospital roof.】 【After Adrian’s death, Tessa blamed you for everything. She laced your dinner with rat poison and killed you.】 … I froze, every muscle in my body locking up. As the text continued to flicker, a searing pain erupted in my abdomen—the phantom memory of being poisoned, so vivid it felt like it was happening all over again. Seeing me stunned, Tessa’s voice sharpened with impatience. “Sean, get out of my way! I have to get my uncle to the hospital!” I stared at her familiar face, a storm of emotions churning inside me. Could she really hate me so much over Adrian’s death? Enough to murder me? Tessa and I had worked together for years at the Volcano Observatory. Proximity had blossomed into love. But she’d always been honest about one thing: she’d been in love with her sickly uncle, Adrian, since they were children. Adrian was her grandfather’s adopted son, and her grandfather had strictly forbidden any romantic relationship between them. She never brought it up again, but her feelings for Adrian remained something more than familial, yet not quite a lover’s. She could never fully commit to us. I loved Tessa deeply and was still willing to marry her. I did everything I could for her, hoping my devotion would eventually win her heart. But it wasn’t long before she asked Adrian to move in with us. She gave him the master bedroom and relegated me to the guest room, claiming his poor health required round-the-clock care. I told myself it didn’t matter. They were just family. … “Are you even listening to me?” Tessa’s shrill voice sliced through my thoughts. I snapped back to reality and quickly turned to my computer. I pulled up the eruption forecast data, printed it, and shoved it in front of her. “Mount Vulcan is going to erupt at midnight. A VEI-4, at least. The mountain is right next to Fenton Creek!” Tessa snatched the report, her eyes barely scanning the page before she ripped it to shreds. She slapped me hard across the face, the force of it leaving a fiery sting on my cheek. “All you care about is getting that stupid piece of paper! You’d even make up a lie about a dormant volcano coming back to life just to stop me from taking my uncle to his appointment?” “That piece of rock next to Fenton Creek hasn’t moved in a thousand years, and you’re telling me it’s going to erupt tonight? Do you think I’m an idiot?” I fought back the rage building in my chest and explained calmly, “I’m not lying. The seismic activity under Mount Vulcan has been increasing. Even dormant volcanoes can reawaken…” She cut me off with a cold laugh, her eyes dripping with contempt. “Your data is garbage! I’m taking my uncle to the hospital, and if you say one more word of this nonsense, we’re through!” With that, she grabbed my car keys and left without a backward glance. After she was gone, I ignored the throbbing pain in my face. I emailed the report to my superiors and hailed a cab to Fenton Creek. I had to get her grandfather out myself. I had to make sure he was safe. The car had barely pulled out of my neighborhood when my boss, Evans, called. His voice was stern. “Sean, what the hell are you playing at? What is this report you just submitted? A dormant volcano erupting?” My heart sank. “Sir, it’s real—” “Real? Bullshit!” he roared. “Tessa already called me! She said she needed to take a family member for a check-up, but you were insisting on getting married today, so you made up this ridiculous story!” “Sean, have you lost all professional integrity? Not only are you treating your work like a joke, but you’re using a volcanic eruption as a punchline! I’ve already retracted your report. You need to take a good, long look at yourself.” “Evans, I’m not joking,” I said, my voice weak. “The data is solid. I’ve run the models a dozen times. There’s a genuine risk of an eruption tonight…” “Hello?” He’d already hung up. Frantic, I dialed the Director’s number, hoping for one last chance. But after I explained, his voice was like ice. “Mr. Evans has already briefed me. Sean, your actions are grossly irresponsible. As of now, you’re fired.” I stood there, stunned, the phone slipping from my hand. Fired? Just like that? Because of Tessa’s words, all my work, my professional judgment, was dismissed? I couldn’t believe Evans and the Director would ignore my data analysis and just take her word for it. Her grandfather had worked hard his whole life, raising a large family. He’d always been kind to me. I couldn’t let him be consumed by fire and ash. This was about more than just him; it was about the hundred-plus lives in Fenton Creek. There was no time to waste. I forced myself to calm down and called her grandfather. “Grandpa, the mountain next to the village, Mount Vulcan, is going to erupt tonight! It’s dangerous! You need to talk to the village chief and get everyone to evacuate now!” He sounded surprised. “What? Mount Vulcan’s gonna blow? That can’t be right.” “It’s true, Grandpa,” I pleaded. “Please, trust my expertise. Find the chief and get everyone out of there. Immediately.” He agreed, but a knot of dread remained in my stomach. Five hours later, the taxi finally reached Fenton Creek. The villagers were in the fields, working as usual. No one was evacuating. I found her grandfather and the village chief in the community hall, drinking. I rushed in. “Grandpa, why haven’t you organized the evacuation? I told you the volcano is erupting tonight! It’s already afternoon!” He put down his glass and shot me a dismissive look. “Evacuate? Stop spreading nonsense! Tessa already called. She said you were lying, just trying to scare people.” The chief chimed in with a cold snort. “Sean, you can’t go around doing things like this. Just because you’re a little jealous of Adrian, you pull a stunt like this? You know how much time and money it would cost to move everyone and everything? It’s not right.” Just like the Director, they didn’t believe me either. Before I could explain, her grandfather kicked me hard in the shin. The pain was so sharp I nearly collapsed. He pointed a finger at me, his voice full of scorn. “Get out of here! Stop embarrassing me!” I clenched my jaw, fighting through the pain in my leg, and tried again. “Grandpa, Chief, I’m not lying! Mount Vulcan will erupt tonight. I’m a researcher at the Volcano Observatory. I’ve run all the numbers. At midnight, the eruption will be at least a VEI-3, possibly even a 4!” The chief hesitated, hearing the conviction in my voice. But her grandfather just scoffed. “My granddaughter Tessa studies volcanoes too, so how come she says it’s not going to erupt? You think my own flesh and blood would lie to me? I told you, you’re just making this up because you don’t want her with Adrian!” I took a deep breath and dropped to my knees in front of the chief, my voice trembling. “Chief, I’ve loved studying nature my whole life. I majored in geology. I’ve been working at the Observatory since graduation. I’ve dedicated more than twenty of my thirty years to studying volcanoes. I am not wrong about this. If the volcano doesn’t erupt tonight, I’ll accept any and all consequences.” The chief frowned, seeming to waver. But then her grandfather let out a cold laugh. “You were just fired for filing a false disaster report! Don’t think I don’t know. Tessa got the notification and told me all about it!” Hearing this, the chief’s face hardened. “Get out of here! Go! Stop causing trouble!” I threw caution to the wind, pulled a card from my pocket, and held it out to him. “Chief, this is my debit card. It has over seven thousand dollars in it. It’s yours. Just please, use the money to get everyone out. People, livestock, valuables—everything. There’s still time. If the volcano doesn’t erupt, that’s more than enough to cover the costs. No one loses anything.” The chief stared at me, then at the card, his expression complex. Her grandfather grabbed me and started dragging me toward the door. I clung to the doorframe, my eyes wide with desperation as I yelled at the chief. “Chief! If I’m right, if it’s a VEI-4 eruption, Fenton Creek will be wiped off the map! Your parents, your children, your grandchildren, you—everything will be gone! Are you really willing to gamble everyone’s lives on this?” The chief stood up, taking the bank card from my hand. “I’ll trust you this one time, son. I’ll consider this a loan. But if nothing happens, Sean, you’ll have to answer to me.” Her grandfather watched, dumbfounded, as the chief left the hall. I let out a sigh of relief. “Grandpa, come on, let’s go home and pack!” He just cursed at me for being unfilial, for shaming him in front of the village. I endured his temper and followed him home. But when we got there, he shoved me outside and locked the door. I stood outside, yelling, pleading with him, but he completely ignored me. Hours later, my throat was raw, my voice gone. I tried calling Tessa, hoping she could convince him. The call connected, but before I could speak, Adrian’s voice, slick and smug, came through. “Tessa’s busy. What do you want?” I swallowed my fury. “Adrian, Fenton Creek is in danger! Her grandfather has to leave with me now. Put Tessa on the phone, or you call him yourself!” He just laughed. “Sean, stop with the drama. Tessa told me you’re a liar.” “Guess where we are now?” I had no time for his games. “We’re at a hotel next to the hospital,” he continued, his voice dripping with malice. “Tessa’s in the shower. Her appointment isn’t until tomorrow, but she insisted we stay here tonight. Said it would be… inconvenient with you at home.” “Haha, why do you think it would be inconvenient, Sean?” Then he hung up. I gripped my phone, my knuckles turning white. It was already past nine o’clock. I looked toward the dark silhouette of Mount Vulcan in the distance. The sky above its peak was glowing with a faint, ominous red. Time was running out. Fenton Creek was isolated, the only village at the foot of the mountain. Far in the distance, I could see the taillights of the last convoy of villagers disappearing. Now, it was just me and her grandfather. But that isolation was also a curse. The nearest town was dozens of miles away. If I didn’t leave by nine-thirty, I wouldn’t make it out either. I turned on my phone’s camera, pointed it at myself, and yelled toward the house. “Grandpa, look at the sky! It’s glowing red! If you don’t believe me, believe your own eyes—” Before I could finish, a heavy ceramic planter sailed through the air and crashed down on my head. Pain exploded behind my eyes. Warm blood streamed down my face, and my vision exploded in a wash of crimson. From inside the courtyard, her grandfather’s voice rained down curses, as if I were the devil himself. “How did Tessa end up with a lying piece of trash like you! My family has farmed this land for generations! That mountain has never made a sound! Why would it erupt the moment you show up? You’re just cursing me, wishing me dead, you bastard—” The blood was too much. I couldn’t stand any longer. I stopped the recording and stumbled toward the village entrance where the taxi driver was waiting. When I got in the car, he stared at me, horrified. “What happened to you? You’re bleeding everywhere! Hey… don’t get that on my seats!” I managed a weak, bitter smile. “It’s okay, I’ll pay for the damages. Just drive. Get us to the next town.” “And don’t stop until we’re there.” The driver nodded and peeled out. I drifted in and out of consciousness in the back seat. I don’t know how long I was out, but through the haze, I heard it. A deep, distant, deafening, world-shattering roar. The volcano had erupted.

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At twenty-five, I saved Sean Vance’s life and became a vegetable. Sean worked himself to the bone, day and night, to cover the staggering medical bills that kept me alive in a private ICU. When I woke up seven years later, the world had been turned upside down. Terrified and disoriented, I waited for Sean to come and take me home. But when I saw him again, my young lover had fine lines etched around his eyes. He knelt before my wheelchair, holding another girl’s hand. And begged me to set him free. … When I first woke up, the hospital was full of strangers. The world had moved on for seven years, and I was terrified. I kept calling Sean’s name, my voice a slurred whisper. My caregiver tried to comfort me. “I’ve never seen a more devoted man than your boyfriend,” she said. “The nurses told me that on the night you were brought in, you were covered in blood. Your boyfriend held you and just sobbed his heart out.” “He swore he’d get you the best treatment, no matter the cost. And those astronomical bills? He’s never missed a single payment.” “In the beginning, he was here every day, washing you, talking to you.” “He must be incredibly busy now, that’s why he comes less often.” “But he still has me send him a picture of you every single day.” Hearing this, the panic I’d felt when I first saw my atrophied muscles and the scars that littered my body seemed to fade, just a little. Sean finally appeared two weeks after I woke up. He stood taller, his features sharper and more mature than the boy in my memory. His hands inexpertly wiped away my tears, his voice filled with a bittersweet nostalgia. “You’re awake.” I learned that for my sake, Sean had worked himself half to death, drinking so much at business dinners that he’d ended up with a perforated stomach. He’d heard about advanced medical technology overseas and flew back and forth constantly. He’d humbled himself, bowing and begging strangers, just to find better treatment options for me. For him, I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stand. The pain of physical therapy was excruciating, but I never made a sound. I hated that I couldn’t get better faster. It went on until my doctor, his face stern, finally put a stop to it. He turned on Sean, who had rushed to the hospital. “What kind of family member are you?! You can’t rush rehabilitation like this!” Sean stood to the side, his expression unreadable. When I tentatively reached for him, he flinched away. Then he exploded, a stranger in a familiar body. “Clara Hale, I’ve spent almost twenty million dollars on you! When you first had the accident, I couldn’t sleep for nights on end. Can you please, for once, stop making me worry?” “My life doesn’t revolve around you! Why is it that the moment you wake up, you’re causing me trouble?” “What’s the difference between you and an invalid right now? Do you think you’re healthy? That you can just push yourself like this?” His eyes were red as he screamed, his voice raw with an emotion I couldn’t decipher. I tried to take his hand, but he shook me off again. All I could do was offer him a placating smile. “I’m sorry, Sean. I didn’t mean to.” Sean started supervising my physical therapy sessions. He never looked happy, but he never looked unhappy either. He just grew quieter. The seven-year gap between us felt like a chasm, and I didn’t know how to cross it. Back when our love was new, whenever I was upset, Sean would make silly faces to cheer me up. Now, when I clumsily tried to imitate him, he just pinched the bridge of his nose. “Clara, you’re thirty-two now. Try to be a little more mature.” He turned his back on me. I slowly lowered my hands, my heart sinking. The days in the hospital were a monotonous blur. One afternoon, as Sean was helping me practice walking, he looked up and froze. Through the window, a young woman was staring at us, tears streaming down her face. She was young, beautiful. She looked just like I did, back when I was healthy. The moment he saw her, his hand supporting me was suddenly gone. His eyes trembled. He ran after her in such a hurry that he slammed into the wall, never even noticing that I, having lost my balance, had crashed heavily to the floor behind him. I dragged myself to the wall and slowly pulled myself up. And I finally understood. All of Sean’s recent distraction, his unspoken words, it all made sense now. A smile, uglier than any sob, stretched across my face. Waking up has been so bitter. 2 Sean came back late that night, carrying the faint, unfamiliar scent of another woman’s perfume. I turned away from him, my eyes shut tight. He sat down on the edge of my bed, his exhaustion a palpable weight in the room. “I broke up with her.” He paused for a long time. When he spoke again, his voice was thick with tears. “But God, Clara, I hate you. I hate you for saving me that day.” Business is a cutthroat world. Sean had climbed too high, too fast, making enemies along the way. Some were jealous enough to hire a hitman. That day, when the car came barreling toward him, my body had moved on pure instinct. I’d used every ounce of strength I had to push him out of the way. “For years, I sat by your side, day and night. You were just… a living corpse lying there, and no one could tell me what to do.” “I watched your body waste away. You couldn’t even control your own functions… I had to clean you.” “I waited for you, year after year, but you never woke up. In my darkest moments, I thought about us just dying together.” “I was so tired. I would have rather been the one lying in that bed.” “I had finally, finally crawled out of your shadow. I was ready to start a new life. I had someone new to love.” “She could cry, and laugh, and share things with me. She wasn’t just lying there, motionless.” “So why, Clara? Why did you have to wake up now?” I bit down on my lip so hard I could taste blood, fighting to keep my own sobs from escaping. So, my waking was no longer something my lover had hoped for. He resented me. I had become his burden. He bent over, his body wracked with sobs, a man at the end of his rope. “You just can’t stand to see me happy, can you?” “Whatever I owed you, haven’t I paid it back by now? After all these years? Why are you doing this to me?” My throat was raw, and my heart felt like a gaping wound, cold wind howling through it. The next day, however, Sean acted as if nothing had happened. He took my hand, a robot going through the motions. “Sorry I wasn’t with you yesterday.” I saw the dark circles under his eyes. I hadn’t slept either. I gently pulled my hand away, forcing a light, cheerful tone. “If you have things to do, you should go. Don’t worry about me.” “Those first two weeks, I was on my own anyway.” Sean’s face darkened instantly. He grabbed me from behind, his body trembling with a suppressed violence. “Clara, what’s that supposed to mean? Are you blaming me?” “What right do you have to blame me?” His voice rose to a desperate shout, a release of pent-up frustration. His grip was painful. I sniffled, my nose stinging with unshed tears, but I kept the smile on my face. “Sean, you misunderstood.” “I really can manage on my own.” He took a deep, shuddering breath and slowly released me, his expression smoothing over into a calm mask. His voice was flat, devoid of emotion, tinged with a weary resignation. He sounded like a man surrendering to his fate. “Alright, Clara. Stop it.” “You can barely walk. What could you possibly do by yourself?” “I don’t have anything else to do. I made all this money to pay for your treatment in the first place.” An impulse seized me. “Sean,” I asked, “do you still want to marry me?” His hand stiffened. After a long pause, he sighed. “When you’re better, we’ll get married.” He lowered his eyes, his expression wooden. It was the look of a man accepting a life sentence. Before the accident, when I was twenty-five, Sean and I had already started planning our wedding. We were excited, getting married for the purest reason: because we were in love. Now, it was just something he repeated, as if trying to convince himself as much as me. “We should have been married a long time ago.” “Marrying you… it’s the right thing to do.” 3 The second time I saw Chloe, she came to the hospital to find me. She told me she’d met Sean in my fourth year of the coma. He was in a terrible state back then, and she had burst into his world like a ray of sunshine. At first, he’d ignored her, but slowly, he’d softened. They traveled together. The number of photos grew—holding hands, kissing, embracing. The smile had gradually returned to Sean’s face. “He loves me,” she said, her voice sharp. “If it weren’t for me, the torture of you lying there like a zombie would have broken him long ago.” Those two weeks after I woke up, they had been on a trip for her twenty-fifth birthday. “When he got the call that you were awake, it was like he was dragged right back to the day I met him. A walking corpse.” “He’s only taking care of you now because you saved his life. He can’t abandon that responsibility. I’m begging you, can’t you just let him go?” Before I could form a response, Chloe cried out in pain and stumbled to the floor. I looked up and saw Sean standing a few feet away. He rushed over, shoved me aside—my wheelchair slammed into the wall with a dull thud—and knelt by Chloe, frantically checking if she was hurt. Then he turned to me, his eyes cold, a deep-seated resentment simmering beneath the surface. “Clara, I already promised I’d marry you. What more do you want?” He was so blinded by worry, he’d forgotten. I didn’t even have the strength to push a healthy adult to the ground. The day I was discharged, Sean carried me to the car. He barely spoke to me. In his free moments, he just stared at his phone, unconsciously scrolling through pictures of Chloe. I had snuck a look at his phone once. The moment it unlocked, my eyes had filled with tears. His passcode was still my birthday. I also saw that he had muted all notifications from my caregiver. There were nearly a thousand unread messages. He hadn’t opened a single one. I held his phone, laughing and crying at the same time. Pathetic. Tragic. My love was no longer my love, and I didn’t know who to blame. A specially designated ringtone shattered the silence in the car. I saw Sean’s eyes light up. He answered the call with an almost reverent tenderness. The voice on the other end was frantic. “Mr. Vance, you asked us to help Ms. Chen move out today.” “She got really emotional… she took a bunch of pills. We’re at the hospital now.” Sean lost all composure. The calm he had so carefully constructed shattered into a million pieces. The car screeched to a halt. His face was a blank mask as he practically threw me out onto the side of the road. He didn’t even bother to get my wheelchair out of the trunk. The car spun around and sped away. I stood there as the wind whipped past my exposed skin, a chilling breeze that brought tears to my eyes. The moon rose, but no one came back for me. So I started walking, one unsteady step at a time, leaning heavily on my cane. I had no phone, no money. A few passersby looked like they wanted to help, but their companions pulled them back. “Don’t. What if she tries to scam you?” The sky grew dark, and a heavy rain began to fall. Finally, following the faint path of my memory, I made it back to the home Sean and I once shared. My hair and clothes were soaked, plastered to my skin. I shivered. Through the black curtain of rain, Sean’s car pulled up. He was holding an umbrella, his other arm wrapped around Chloe. When he saw my pathetic, drenched figure, his eyes widened in shock, as if he’d only just remembered he’d left me behind. But his attention was quickly drawn back to the woman in his arms, and he walked past me into the house. I was exhausted. Just as my last ounce of strength gave out, Sean reappeared and helped me into my wheelchair. The house, which I hadn’t seen in seven years, was filled with the scent of another woman. Matching couples’ mugs, stuffed animals scattered about, his-and-hers pajamas draped over the sofa. Sean began to unpack the boxes Chloe had started to fill, putting each item back in its place. I watched him shield Chloe, fussing over her, giving her medicine, drying her hair. He tucked her into bed and pressed a gentle good-night kiss to her forehead. And I sat by the door, still dripping water onto the floor. The house was so big, but there seemed to be no place for me. Sean quietly closed the bedroom door and finally seemed to notice me. He walked over and slowly knelt before me. His voice was steady and clear. “Clara, I’m sorry. Let’s break up.” “When you were twenty-five, I lost you. Now she’s twenty-five. I can’t lose her too.” “I’ll take care of you until you’ve recovered. I’ll compensate you.” His eyes were red. “Please, just set me free.” I lifted my hand, but before I could touch him, the world went black. I never got to give Sean my answer. What a shame. Such a terrible shame. The last time he had knelt before me, he was proposing. His hand, holding the ring, had been trembling. He had said, “I will only ever love one person in my life: Clara Hale.” I woke up from a long sleep only to realize I was the only one still trapped seven years in the past. 4 I fell ill, a high fever that took three days to break. Sean wouldn’t let me leave my room. “Chloe’s not well either. I don’t want you getting her sick.” The room was too quiet, which only made the sounds from the other side of the wall seem louder. I heard Sean coaxing Chloe to take her supplements, telling her with a pained voice that she couldn’t play with her health like that. I heard them discussing when I would leave. I heard them watching a movie. Sean slipped socks onto Chloe’s feet, telling her she couldn’t walk around barefoot. Chloe snuggled into his arms. “Then you’ll just have to carry me everywhere.” Sean’s voice was gentle. “Okay. I’ll always carry you.” Always. What a beautiful word. He’d said it to me, too. I buried my head under the covers, weeping silently in the dark. When I was better, it was time for me to go. “Clara, I’ve picked out a new house for you.” “Chloe… she’s used to this place. She doesn’t want to move.” He had arranged everything, down to the last detail. I finally cut him off. “I get it. I’m not a fool. You should go back to her.” His hand opened and closed, over and over. He started to say my name, but I looked down, hiding my tear-filled eyes, and quickly pushed him out the door. “Go on, go. Go back to her.” I saw him glance back once before he walked away, disappearing from view. I lived alone, recovered alone. The next time I heard Sean’s voice, it felt like a lifetime had passed. He was flipping through my old sketchbook. “Clara, I’m getting married.” “Chloe found your old design portfolio. She saw the wedding dress you designed and fell in love with it. We were hoping to buy the design from you.” I had designed that dress for my wedding with Sean. It had taken months, with countless revisions. But we would never use it now. I smiled. “No need. Consider it a wedding gift.” “It’s not like I have anything else to give you.” Sean’s brow furrowed. He opened his mouth, then closed it. “Clara, you don’t have to be like this, trying to make me feel guilty.” A sharp pain lanced through my chest. I wanted to explain, but the words wouldn’t come. When my body was almost fully recovered, I received an invitation to Sean’s wedding. It was a fairytale ceremony. Staring at the names of the bride and groom printed side-by-side, I felt a surprising sense of calm. I stood in the very back, watching Sean as if it were the last time I would ever see him in this life. They read their vows, exchanged rings, did all the things I had once dreamed of a thousand times over. “Goodbye, Sean.” I lowered my head and turned to leave, bumping into a mutual friend from our past. She stared at me, stunned. I was walking too fast for her to keep up. “Clara? Is that you, Clara Hale?” Sean’s kiss on his new bride faltered. He instinctively looked in the direction of the voice. But there was nothing there. Only a branch of flowers, swaying in the wind.

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Port Sterling’s infamous playboy Jimmy Cabot had one rule: girlfriends were monthly, not lifetime. No strings attached. Women lined up across the city hoping to be his next fling. A good mood might earn you a villa; a bad one still came with a million-dollar goodbye. Everyone pitied me, calling me history’s most pathetic society wife. They assumed I’d endure it forever. Then Jimmy brought home Coco Miller—a plain university student who broke his one-month cycle. He gave me two choices: an open marriage with Coco as my equal, or a divorce taking half his wealth. His friends smirked, betting I’d stay for the money. Without hesitation, I chose divorce. In my past life, I chose tolerance. Coco then banned Jimmy from touching me or sharing his fortune. Old and alone, I watched her surrounded by family. When Jimmy died, his will omitted me entirely—everything went to her. I died a lonely queen in an empty castle. Reborn, I finally understood: take the money and leave. This time, we mean nothing to each other. 1 I took the divorce papers and read them carefully before reaching for a pen. Jimmy’s voice, a rare intrusion, cut through the silence. It was tight, laced with a tension he himself didn’t seem to notice. “Nina, think this through. Once you sign, there’s no going back.” My hand didn’t waver. The pen carved a clean, decisive arc across the paper. Signed. “I’ll pack my things and leave tonight.” How could I possibly have regrets? In my last life, I’d foolishly believed that bringing Coco home was just another one of his cruel games to get a reaction out of me. I thought, after all the years we’d been tangled together, he must have felt something for me. Pathetic. He and Coco had two children in three years and lived out a storybook romance. Meanwhile, I became a forgotten piece of furniture in my own home, an awkward fixture for half a lifetime, the butt of every joke whispered behind cupped hands. It wasn’t until we were old that I overheard him talking to Coco in his hospital room. He told her that the whole sordid affair—the half-dressed man in our bed—he’d orchestrated it all. “I was just tired of her,” he’d said, his voice raspy with age. “I didn’t want to make things too ugly, so I staged the whole thing.” There wasn’t a shred of guilt in his cloudy eyes. “That way, whatever I did afterward seemed justified.” So that was it. No wonder my desperate explanations were always met with his cold, unyielding disbelief. He knew the truth from the very beginning. He didn’t love me, yet he used a crime I never committed to chain me to him for fifty years. He could have made a clean break, but instead, he chose death by a thousand cuts. Looking up at his face now—younger, but still etched with that same casual cruelty—I felt nothing of the love that had once consumed me. Only a churning, bitter hatred remained. He stared at the signed agreement, his eyes wide with disbelief. Outside the door, the rustling sounds of eavesdroppers abruptly stopped. A second later, my “esteemed” in-laws burst in, their faces beaming. My mother-in-law grabbed Coco’s hand, her eyes appraising. “Oh, it’s so wonderful to have some youth in this house! So much vitality!” My father-in-law, a man who usually treated me with icy disdain, was now smiling warmly. He shot a pointed look in my direction. “Finally getting rid of the dead weight who’s been warming a seat for years. All this time, and not a single heir to show for it.” Coco lowered her head, a picture of shy modesty. “Oh, Uncle, don’t say that. I’m not that much younger than Nina…” She paused, a blush creeping up her cheeks. “Actually, I’m a month pregnant. We didn’t want to say anything until we were sure.” I raised an eyebrow. Of course. The same backhanded compliments, the same nauseating performance. Only this time, I didn’t care. For years, in my quest to be the perfect Mrs. Cabot, I’d worked like a dog at Cabot Industries by day, only to come home and cater to these two demanding relics by night. I was just over thirty, but gray hairs were already starting to streak my temples. I really had aged. I turned and walked to our bedroom to pack the few miserable belongings I could call my own. My mind was already racing, planning my first post-divorce vacation spot. I didn’t notice Jimmy had followed me in. “It’s late. You don’t have to move out immediately. You can go tomorrow.” “The villa on the west side is empty, isn’t it? You can stay there for now. I’ll come visit when I have time.” “Nina, I know you love me. Stop this tantrum.” He seemed to recall something, a fond, patronizing smile playing on his lips. “But the title… I can’t give you that anymore. I won’t let my child be born with the stigma of being illegitimate.” I didn’t answer. I just picked up my suitcase, walked past him, and headed straight for the door. “I have nothing to say to you. I’m thrilled to be divorced.” “If you have any shred of decency left, you’ll wire me the money you owe me as soon as possible.” The night wind, carrying flurries of snow, hit my face. It was cold, biting, but it couldn’t extinguish the fire that was finally roaring to life inside me. 2 Jimmy was, as always, brutally efficient. When I woke up the next morning, three billion dollars had been deposited into my bank account. The first thing I did was book a full-day package at Port Sterling’s most exclusive private spa. New haircut, full body massage, the works. The haggard woman with graying temples in the mirror vanished. In her place was a bombshell with audacious crimson hair and eyes that glinted with a sharp, newfound fire. I had just slipped into a new dress when my best friend, Kara, called. She started screaming before I could even say hello. “Nina! What the hell is going on with you and Jimmy? Has the whole world gone insane?!” I held the phone away from my ear, a lazy smile on my face. “What’s wrong?” “What’s wrong? You haven’t seen the news?” Kara’s voice was thick with disbelief. “It’s everywhere! Photos of Jimmy at the gala with that little tramp!” “He told the reporters, right to their faces, that she was his one and only wife! He said they’re planning the wedding now!” “And your holier-than-thou in-laws were right there, gushing about how she ‘deserves’ it all!” Her voice softened, laced with concern. “Nina… are you okay?” The public acknowledgment I had craved, the validation I had begged for my entire life—Jimmy had given it all to someone else. “I’m fine,” I said, admiring my new look in the reflection of a champagne flute. “We’re divorced.” “Divorced?” Kara couldn’t believe it. She had watched me love Jimmy for over a decade. She had watched me bend and break and debase myself for this marriage, wagging my tail for any scrap of affection he might throw my way. I didn’t explain further, just chuckled softly. “Are you free tonight? Drinks are on me.” At Port Sterling’s most decadent nightclub, our table was covered in bottles of Ace of Spades. A group of handsome young models surrounded me, diligently keeping my glass full. Kara’s eyes were wide. “Holy shit. Now I believe you. You’re really over him. This isn’t the old Nina.” The old Nina, desperate to prove she wasn’t a gold digger, would agonize over the price of everything. She was terrified Jimmy would think she was frivolous, a spendthrift who didn’t care about their home. Now, sitting in this opulent booth, I saw a stranger in the mirrored wall. The fiery red hair, the perfectly tailored couture dress—she was both unfamiliar and intimately known. Kara raised her glass and clinked it against mine. “This is more like it. You look like the girl from A-University’s finance program, the star they hadn’t seen in a century.” She took a long swallow of champagne, her voice full of righteous anger on my behalf. “Every venture capital firm in the country was fighting to hire you. If you’d started your own company, you would have crushed Cabot Industries by now!” “You slaved away for his family for a decade, and this is all you get in the divorce.” “Nina, you deserved so much better.” More than a decade. In my last life, under my leadership, Cabot Industries had become the top corporation in the country. Yet in my final years, I couldn’t even afford a box of painkillers. I was eventually kicked out onto the street by Coco’s “devoted” children, left to freeze to death next to a pile of garbage on a cold winter night. The empire I had built with my own blood and sweat became the inheritance for Coco and her offspring. At the thought, I downed the rest of my champagne. The liquid burned my throat, but it only stoked the flames within me. Fine. Let them all watch. Let’s see how well they do without Nina Sterling. 3 The next day, news that I had registered a new company spread like wildfire through the city’s elite circles. Some sensed an opportunity and came knocking with investment proposals overnight. But most, wary of offending the Cabots, chose to watch from the sidelines, their amusement barely concealed. Someone, probably at Jimmy’s direction, had the tabloids running stories mocking my overconfidence, painting me as a bitter ex-wife playing at business. I scrolled past the headlines on my phone, my expression blank. I didn’t, however, expect a call from Jimmy himself. “Nina, stop this nonsense.” “Running a company isn’t a game. That money won’t last you long. Your position at Cabot Industries is still open. Come back.” “No thank you, Mr. Cabot,” I said coolly. There was a pause on the other end. He sounded annoyed, but he reined it in. “Nina, can’t you be a little more understanding? I just… I found my soulmate.” “Besides, why start some pathetic little company when you have a place at Cabot? That Southbridge acquisition you were handling…” I hung up. Of course. He only remembered my value when he needed his most capable tool back. The Southbridge project was a beast I had spent six months wrestling with, a deal I’d secured at the cost of a bleeding ulcer. Without me, Cabot Industries was completely lost. At Cabot, my official title was President, but my monthly salary was a paltry three thousand dollars. My “esteemed” father-in-law had once told me, “We’re all family, don’t be so concerned with money.” I used to believe it was a test of my character. Now I saw the truth. I was nothing more than a cheap, ruthlessly effective workhorse they had found. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. My mind was made up. The deals I had secured for Cabot Industries in my past life—this time, even if my new company couldn’t swallow them whole, I would personally deliver them into the hands of Cabot’s greatest rival. 4 After I hung up on him, Jimmy threw his phone against the wall. He had grown accustomed to my obedience over the years, to having me at his beck and call. To be dismissed so cleanly was a blow to his ego he couldn’t stomach. Just then, his executive assistant entered, looking flustered, carrying a stack of documents Jimmy couldn’t begin to comprehend. He needed signatures. The recent stress, combined with years of being disconnected from the company’s daily operations, had left him completely overwhelmed. Coco followed the assistant in, her eyes full of theatrical concern as she took Jimmy’s hand. “Jimmy, darling, don’t work yourself to death. I’m your wife now. Let me join the company and help you.” He hesitated. “You’re still young, you don’t know the business. Maybe you should spend some time in different departments first.” Coco’s eyes instantly filled with tears. “Nina got to be President. Why can’t I?” Jimmy’s first instinct was to say that Nina was a top graduate from A-University’s finance program. But the moment he looked into Coco’s big, pleading eyes, all logic fled his mind. He softened, nodding his assent. Her tears vanished as quickly as they’d appeared. She threw her arms around him. “I just worry about you so much,” she cooed. “You’ve gotten so thin lately.” Within two weeks of its launch, my company was already thriving. During that time, Coco sent more than a few troublemakers my way. They were petty, amateurish attempts at sabotage, all of which I dismantled with ease. The network I had built in Port Sterling over the years was far beyond what a naive girl like her could ever challenge. A few of my most loyal senior employees from Cabot, whom I had personally mentored, had been eager to jump ship since they heard I was striking out on my own. Coco’s arrival had made their lives a living hell, constantly undermining them. I told them to be patient. All I asked was that they create a few small, critical problems on their way out as a… parting gift. Coco thought the departure of a few employees was no big deal. She was probably celebrating the purge of the “ex-wife’s loyalists.” What she didn’t understand was that some people aren’t just employees; they’re the main arteries of a company. Project after project began to fail. Cabot Industries’ stock price plummeted. My company, on the other hand, was now a powerhouse. My new team was a well-oiled machine, landing several multi-million-dollar contracts in quick succession. Standing before the floor-to-ceiling windows of my conference room, I watched my jubilant team below and announced, “Tonight, the Seafront Club! My treat! We celebrate until we drop!” “To the boss!” Amid a chorus of cheers, I led my people out the front door. A familiar black Rolls-Royce Phantom was parked silently at the curb. The door opened, and Jimmy stepped out, a smug look on his face as he beckoned to me. I didn’t even glance his way, leading my team straight past him. His assistant moved to block my path. Jimmy caught up, his face a mask of irritation and anger. “Nina, what is the meaning of this? Didn’t you see me? You’ve gotten bold.” I was losing my patience. “Can I help you, Mr. Cabot?” I asked, my voice dripping with detached formality. My tone caught him off guard, but he pressed on, his voice a command. “Shut down this little company of yours and come back to Cabot.” His audacity was so staggering I almost laughed. He mistook my smile for hesitation, and his voice softened. “Nina, I’m exhausted. Can you please stop this game and come back? Please?” He paused, as if making a monumental concession. “If Coco is really bothering you that much, I can have her move out for a while.” Looking at this self-absorbed man, I seriously questioned my judgment from my past life. “I’m not playing a game,” I cut him off coldly. “Mr. Cabot, we are divorced. I would appreciate it if you would stop interfering in my life.” His patience snapped. “I’m already compromising!” he yelled. “What more do you want? The company needs you right now! Is this really the time to be playing hard to get?!” I suddenly realized there was no getting through to him. In his world, everyone and everything was supposed to revolve around him. “If you need help, Mr. Cabot, you should ask your loving wife, Coco. I’m just an outsider. It’s not my job to clean up your messes.” A look of dawning comprehension crossed his face. “Is that it? You’re still hung up on the title?” “Nina, once Coco has the baby, I’ll… consider it.” “But you have to promise to keep it a secret. I don’t want to hurt Coco’s feelings.” I stared at him, articulating each word with precision. “I’ll say this one more time. Get. Lost. And don’t ever let me see you again.” “I don’t want to remarry you. Not in this lifetime.” Jimmy’s face contorted with rage. “Nina, don’t push your luck!” he snarled. “This is Port Sterling! I could crush a pathetic little startup like yours without breaking a sweat!” Just then, a clear, drawling male voice cut in. “Oh? Is that so, Mr. Cabot? Such big words.” “Not only are you publicly harassing my fiancée, but you’re also threatening to destroy her company?” Jimmy spun around, his jaw dropping when he saw who it was. Liam Vance. Heir to the other great family of Port Sterling, and Jimmy’s lifelong rival. Liam strolled over, his movements lazy and confident, and casually wrapped an arm around my waist. He rested his head on my shoulder with practiced intimacy. “Darling,” he purred, “I was waiting for you in the garage forever. Didn’t realize you were out here getting barked at.” Jimmy was trembling with rage. He pointed a shaking finger at me. “Nina! Explain yourself! Why would you betray me?!” Then, as if a brilliant thought struck him, his expression shifted to one of smug certainty. “I see! This is all an act, isn’t it? You’re just using Liam to make me jealous!” Liam rolled his eyes dramatically and started pulling me away. “Don’t waste your breath on idiots. It lowers your IQ.” “Stop!” Jimmy shouted, trying to follow. But the combination of his fury and weeks of sleepless nights caught up to him. A sharp, stabbing pain shot through his stomach. “Ah—” he cried out, doubling over and clutching his abdomen, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead. “Nina… my stomach… it hurts…” I didn’t stop. I didn’t even slow down. I didn’t look back once. Behind me, I could hear his muffled groans of pain and the frantic cries of his assistant.

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