Since childhood, I’ve been a stubborn “literalist” who doesn’t understand jokes. When my grandmother said I was found in a dumpster, I taped “Missing Mother” flyers on every trash can for a week. When a boy remarked my wide hips were good for bearing sons, I went to his house and measured his mother’s hips for comparison. People soon learned not to joke around me—my presence made rooms polite and terrified. Then came my engagement, and my fiancé’s “just one of the guys” best friend. At a pre-wedding party, during Truth or Dare, she smirked: “Sloane, Julian has a mole on his inner thigh—it’s pretty when he’s… exerting himself.” The room froze, then erupted in laughter. I set down my glass, looked at my smirking fiancé, and said calmly: “Take off your pants. I need to verify that.” 1 The laughter in the VIP suite died instantly. Kelly looked at me, stunned by my directness. She let out an awkward, high-pitched laugh. “Sloane, oh my god, you aren’t actually mad, are you?” “We’re just playing a game! I just dropped a little bombshell to spice up the mood. You don’t have to be so serious. You’re making Julian look bad.” I slammed my phone onto the marble table. I hit play. The two sentences she had just spoken began to loop on high volume. I grinned at her, watching the blood drain from her face. “Sorry,” I said, my voice flat. “But I don’t do comedy.” “I’m going to strip Julian right now. If I find that mole exactly where you described it, that’s proof of infidelity before marriage. I will post the photos to both the Lister and Vance family group chats. On repeat.” The groomsmen gasped in unison. Julian’s face turned a violent shade of red. He struggled to break free from my grip—I had grabbed his belt—and snatched a jacket from one of his friends to cover his crotch. He looked at me like he wanted to strangle me. “Sloane! Have you lost your mind?” “Kelly and I grew up together! We bathed together as toddlers! There isn’t an inch of me she hasn’t seen!” “Are you really going to ruin everything over a harmless joke?” Ah, the classic defense. As if the word “joke” was a Get Out of Jail Free card. As if saying it meant I had to swallow any disrespect they served me. Unfortunately, they didn’t know me well enough. I unlocked my phone and opened a video call recording from yesterday. It was from Kelly. In the video, the “tomboy” girl wasn’t acting like a bro. She was wearing translucent, seductive lingerie, panning the camera to show a sleeping man next to her. You could only see the man’s side profile, but the implication was clear. Her eyes in the video were full of provocation. “Sloane, I heard you’re engaging to the Vance family.” “Too bad you’ll never match my place in Julian’s heart. Bet you anything that on your wedding night, he’ll be wishing he was with me.” I AirDropped the video to everyone in the room. “Enjoy the details,” I said. “Is this a joke too? If it were you, could you accept your partner having a ‘best friend’ who sends videos like this to his fiancée?” The men I pointed at looked away, suddenly finding the floor patterns fascinating. They didn’t dare breathe. I pointed a manicured finger at Kelly. “You. Speak.” “If your boyfriend had a ‘brother’ like this, would you tolerate it?” Kelly trembled. She cast a desperate, pleading look at Julian. But Julian was staring at her in shock. clearly, he hadn’t known she was bold enough to record him sleeping and taunt me with it. Kelly bit her lower lip until it turned white. Finally, looking like a martyr, she bowed deeply to me. “I’m sorry, Sloane.” “Sending that video really was just a prank. I… I just wanted to test if you trusted Julian enough.” She dragged out the word test, loading it with unspoken meaning. Seeing the stiffness in Julian’s face melt away, Kelly knew she had survived. Tears began to stream down her face instantly. “I hope you can forgive me. I won’t bother you again. I’ll keep my distance from Julian.” Before I could speak, my fiancé—my fiancé—rushed forward to help her up. He looked at me with disappointment. “Alright, Sloane. Kelly explained it. You’ve made your scene. Can we drop it now?” “Because of you, the party is ruined. Isn’t that enough?” “If this engagement is called off, your family’s business will suffer too. I suggest you learn your place and behave yourself.” He supported the sobbing Kelly, who looked like she was about to faint from dehydration, and walked her out of the room. The rest of the “bros” looked at each other, then scrambled to follow him. They left me with glances ranging from pity to schadenfreude. I sat alone in the mess, the corners of my lips curling up. Julian was right about one thing. My family’s business did need this merger. Which meant this game… could continue. 2 Julian’s frat-boy circle began to isolate me. They didn’t speak to me for a week. The group chat I was in remained silent, save for a few boring news links. But thanks to my friends’ “accidental” sightings, I knew they had partied at four different nightclubs that week. I raised an eyebrow. This was getting exciting. Three days later, it was Julian’s birthday. The Vance family threw a lavish banquet. To maintain the appearance of a happy union, he had to invite me as his fiancée. I bribed the Vance family’s tailor to install a micro-camera in the lapel of Julian’s suit. The tailor had looked at me with sheer terror. “Miss Lister, this is illegal. If Mr. Vance finds out, he’ll kill me.” I smiled at him, gentle and sweet. “Don’t be silly.” “It’s just a little game between lovers. Julian loves jokes. He won’t take a little prank seriously.” I showed him the lens, my smile widening until it didn’t reach my eyes. The tailor took one look at my expression and booked a flight out of the country that night. On the day of the banquet, Kelly ditched her usual gender-neutral style. She wore a stunning blue and white gown. The pattern on her chest matched Julian’s tie perfectly. She walked in on Julian’s arm. But the moment her eyes met mine, her face went pale. She took a dramatic step back, stumbling into one of Julian’s friends. Her face was a mask of wronged innocence and fear. “I’m sorry, Sloane! I know you don’t want to see me. I’ll stay away from Julian!” She turned and ran. Julian glared at me with pure hatred, then chased after her toward the balcony. Julian’s parents looked at me disapprovingly. “Sloane, we heard about the trouble you caused a few days ago.” “We watched Kelly grow up. It’s Julian’s good fortune to have a friend like her.” “Just because you’re engaged doesn’t mean you can strip Julian of his right to have friends.” “A future Mrs. Vance needs to be magnanimous. Don’t turn the house upside down over a few jokes.” I tilted my head at them, feigning confusion. “So, what you’re saying is, everything between them can be explained away as ‘friendship’ and ‘jokes’?” “In that case, Julian and I are playing a little joke right now. I’m sure you won’t mind.” I pulled out my tablet and opened the live feed from the camera on Julian’s chest. On the screen, Kelly was sobbing into Julian’s embrace. “Julian, do we really have to stay apart forever? I don’t want that.” “Julian… can you give me one thing?” Julian’s voice trembled. He sounded heartbroken. “Name it.” “Anything.” “A child. I want a baby.” Kelly’s voice dropped to a seductive whisper. “We’re practically brothers, right? Our bond is for life. Don’t you think raising a child together would be the ultimate bond? It’s stable… and thrilling.” “We don’t even need to sleep together. Just come to the clinic with me. We can do IVF…” Mr. and Mrs. Vance turned green. I almost laughed out loud. I already knew Kelly had an appointment at a fertility clinic. I knew the camera would catch something juicy, but I didn’t expect her to pitch a sperm donation scheme in the middle of a birthday party. I looked at Mrs. Vance with wide, innocent eyes. “Mrs. Vance, I’m a bit slow. I can’t tell what’s a joke and what isn’t.” “Is Kelly serious about wanting your son’s sperm?” 3 A few minutes later, Julian and Kelly walked back in. They stood a respectable two feet apart, looking the picture of restraint and propriety. No one would guess the filthy conversation they’d just had. Seeing me standing with his parents, a shadow crossed Kelly’s eyes. She forced a broken, humble smile. “Uncle, Auntie, sorry I haven’t visited lately.” “I made a few jokes with Julian that upset Sloane, so I didn’t dare show my face.” Mrs. Vance shot her a cold look. She signaled for them to follow us into the private lounge. Kelly looked confused. Usually, Mrs. Vance would have hugged her and comforted her by now. The shock truly hit when the door closed. Slap. Mrs. Vance backhanded Kelly across the face. Tears sprang to Kelly’s eyes instantly. Julian’s face twisted in anger. He moved to shield Kelly, looking ready to yell at his own mother. Mr. Vance kicked him hard in the back of the knee. Julian crumbled to the floor. Mrs. Vance, shaking with rage, glared at them. “I thought you two were just close friends. I didn’t realize you were disgusting perverts behind our backs.” “Planning a baby? Are you trying to saddle the Vance family with a bastard scandal?” “How are we supposed to explain this to the Listers?!” Julian’s face went white. His gaze snapped to me, sharp as a dagger. “How do you know that? Were you spying on me?” I shrugged, tapping the tablet screen. “Like I said, I can’t tell if you and your ‘bro’ are joking or being serious.” “So, I figured I’d livestream it to your parents and let them decide.” Julian’s chest heaved. But surprisingly, he swallowed his pride. He lowered his head. “I’m sorry. Kelly and I crossed a line.” “But I chose to marry you, Sloane. I won’t betray you. I won’t meet Kelly alone ever again.” “After the wedding, I’ll send her to Australia.” Kelly let out a gasp. Julian shot her a warning look. She turned her glare on me, eyes full of venom. I didn’t care. I shrugged again. I’m a mule, remember? What I want, I get. What I want to do, gets done. 4 The wedding day arrived quickly. Kelly volunteered to be my bridesmaid. Her dress was suspiciously similar in style to my wedding gown. And it matched Julian’s suit perfectly. I watched them making eyes at each other, acting like tragic lovers torn apart by cruel fate. It was nauseating. After my makeup was done, I went to an empty lounge to rest. I sat down, and before I could react, a rope tightened around me, binding me to the chair. I turned my head just in time to receive a heavy slap from Kelly. She pried my jaw open and forced a cup of liquid down my throat. She smiled, a look of pure malice. “Sloane, you shouldn’t have messed with me.” “On your big day, I’m going to ruin you.” “A bride seducing old men at her own wedding? Imagine if that gets livestreamed. Will the Lister family survive the shame?” I coughed, choking on the bitter liquid. “Aren’t you afraid of my family’s revenge?” I rasped. Kelly scoffed. “What is the Lister family without the Vance connection? Just another bankrupt tragedy waiting to happen.” “You think I’m scared of you?” She smirked, ripping part of my dress and patting me down. “I know you like to record things. Don’t worry, I’m checking you thoroughly.” “After today, you and your family will be erased from high society.” She signaled to two sleazy-looking older men by the window. With a victorious smile, she left the room. The two men looked at me with predatory eyes. I started laughing. Don’t worry, Kelly. I prepared a show for you too. I hope you enjoy your leading role. The ceremony began. But the bride and groom were missing. My parents sat in the front row, faces stern. Mr. and Mrs. Vance were sweating through their formal wear. “In-laws,” Mr. Vance stammered. “I’ve sent people to look.” “Maybe Julian and Sloane got caught up talking. Young love, you know? They lose track of time.” “We will give you an explanation.” My father glanced at him sideways. “You better. Or that waterfront development project…” He let the threat hang. Mr. Vance looked like he might throw up. Suddenly, a static hum came from the speakers. “Ah,” Mr. Vance said, relieved. “Here we go. The mic is on.” But instead of a greeting, a woman’s crude, unmistakable moan echoed through the banquet hall. My parents’ faces turned to stone. 5 The hall had been filled with joyous chatter. Hearing the noise, guests froze, looking around in confusion. A few rich playboys in the back laughed. “Who has the balls to watch porn at a Lister wedding? Do they want to be chopped into pieces?” “Right? I heard the Listers just secured massive capital. They own this town now.” Mr. Vance’s face was chalk-white. My father cracked his knuckles. “Ye Cheng,” he said, using Mr. Vance’s full Chinese name, which he never did. “I hope you have a very satisfying explanation for this.” Mr. Vance was sweating profusely. He shouted at his staff. “Cut the power to the mics! Find who is doing this! I’ll kill them!” Mrs. Vance clutched her chest, looking ready to faint. She knew that voice. She knew it all too well. But before the staff could intervene, a massive projection screen slowly lowered at the front of the hall. The obscene image flickered to life. A man and a woman, entangled, desperate. Even through the screen, the heat between them was undeniable. The woman rolled over, exposing her face to the hundreds of guests. A collective gasp swept through the room. “Holy shit, isn’t that the Vance family’s adopted daughter? Kelly?” “You’re right. Her dad was their driver who died saving Mr. Vance. Everyone knows the charity case.” “Wait… doesn’t the man look familiar?” No one dared to say the name out loud. They were afraid of slapping the Vance family in the face. But Julian had a mouth. And he was using it. On screen, his breathing was ragged, his voice thick with lust. “What’s got into you today? Did you eat something? You’re so… enthusiastic.” Kelly buried her face in his neck, refusing to let go. Julian tried to push her gently. “Okay, okay. It’s time. My parents are probably losing their minds.” “If I don’t go, Sloane is going to start another war.” Kelly laughed, a muffled, dark sound. “What are you afraid of? Did you forget the plan?” “I fed her the drug. Right now, she’s probably playing with those old men, losing her mind. It’s all being livestreamed to the internet.” Hearing this, my father shot up from his chair. The guests turned pale. They looked like they wanted to run. The Lister family was famous for protecting their daughter. Hearing a plot like this… were they all going to be silenced as witnesses? 6 My father grabbed Mr. Vance by the collar. “Ye Cheng, you animal! You begged us for this marriage!” “Now your son conspires with an outsider to destroy my daughter?” “If anything happens to Sloane, I will burn your entire family to the ground.” Mr. Vance’s legs gave out. He was practically dangling. “Mr. Lister, I swear, I didn’t know! I swear!” “I promise I will return Sloane to you unharmed! Please, give me a chance!” I rolled my eyes from the doorway. I pushed the heavy doors open and walked in. “Relax, Dad. I’m fine.” If I had relied on the Vance family, I would be destroyed by now. Hearing my voice, my father exhaled a breath that sounded like a sob. He waved me over frantically. The moment I reached them, my mother smacked me on the butt. “Are you trying to kill us? We almost had heart attacks!” “Why didn’t you warn us? You want us to die of shock?” I winced but didn’t argue. People didn’t know that in the Lister house, Mom was the real boss. Before Dad’s company hit that minor crisis years ago, Mom had already fixed it before the rumors even spread. Julian was naive to think he could manipulate me. He didn’t know this marriage was something his father had begged for on his knees. And from the moment I met Kelly, I had decided to end this. Julian wasn’t worthy of marrying into my family. They never stopped to think: without my parents’ absolute backing, how would I dare to be such a literal, vengeful “mule”? It takes heavy resources and heavy love to be this fearless. I turned to the Vances and gave a polite, ladylike smile. “Sorry, Auntie, Uncle. Like I said, low IQ, low EQ.” “You kept saying Kelly was just joking. I recorded them before, and you didn’t do anything.” “So, I figured… why not let everyone see the joke together?” I took the microphone from the stunned MC and turned to the crowd. “Julian says Kelly is just his ‘bro.’” “Kelly told me it’s all just ‘banter.’” “What do you think? Is this a joke?”

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After being framed time and again by the impostor who took my place, my parents kicked me out. I starved to death on the cold streets of the city. In the Afterlife, the Arbiter reviewed my file, his brow furrowing as he looked over my mortal record. “You were set up multiple times. Why didn’t you defend yourself?” “I did,” I said, choking back tears. “I told them the truth. But no one believed me.” The Arbiter signed a document with a flourish. “If no one believed you, then let’s make her speak the truth herself.” “I’m giving you a second chance. Good luck.” A wave of dizziness hit me, and suddenly, I was back. Back to the day my biological parents finally brought me home. Only this time, I had a Truth System installed in my rival. Jessica, the girl who had been raised in my place, saw me walk through the door. She smiled sweetly and started to say, “Sister, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” But her tongue twisted, and what actually came out was: “Dammit, they actually found this trash. I need to figure out a way to make Mom and Dad kick her out onto the street!” Jessica clamped her hands over her mouth in panic. The entire room went silent. Every eye landed on her. Good, Jessica, I thought, suppressing a smirk. Let’s see how you act your way out of this one. 1. My parents, Richard and Martha Vance, stared at her, eyes wide with disbelief. “Jessica! What has gotten into you? You never use foul language!” “We raised you to be a Vance, a lady of high society. How can you curse like a sailor?” My chest tightened. The point of her sentence was that she wanted to manipulate them into disowning me. Yet, they completely ignored the malice. They didn’t care that she wanted me gone; they didn’t care that she called me trash. They only cared that their carefully cultivated “perfect daughter” had slipped up on her etiquette. Thinking back to my past life, to how easily they bought into her lies… I realized something. They weren’t just blind. They just didn’t care about me. Jessica quickly pivoted, putting on her best wounded-doe expression. “I… I don’t know what happened…” “I couldn’t control my mouth just now. Those weren’t my thoughts…” “Daddy, Mommy, I don’t know if I should say this, but the moment Elara walked in, I felt this dark, heavy energy…” My parents turned to me, their gazes instantly hardening into disgust. “Elara, what kind of voodoo did you learn out in that backwater town? How dare you use it on your sister?” “Listen to me. Now that you are a Vance, you will follow our rules. Leave that low-class garbage behind!” “We brought you back not expecting you to bring us glory, but the least you can do is not embarrass us!” My biological brother, Tyler, rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Jessica started acting strange the second Elara arrived. She must have brought something unclean into the house.” “We need a cleansing. I won’t feel safe sleeping under the same roof otherwise.” I shook my head frantically. “I didn’t bring anything! Jessica just accidentally spoke her mind!” They ignored me. Richard immediately called up the family’s “spiritual advisor,” a man named Brother Thomas. Thomas was a regular grifter who knew exactly which side his bread was buttered on. He exchanged a subtle glance with Jessica before putting on a solemn face. “Miss Elara is indeed carrying a dark attachment. This entity cannot be removed by prayer alone. It requires physical expulsion.” “Since the entity has targeted Miss Jessica, she must be the one to wield the instrument. She must strike Miss Elara eighty-one times with a leather whip to drive the spirit out.” Without a second thought, my parents ordered the staff to tie me up. Jessica picked up the whip. Her eyes gleamed with venomous delight. “I’m so sorry, Elara. I’m only doing this for your own good.” She giggled, a triumphant sound, and raised her arm to strike. But as the whip came down, her mouth betrayed her again: “Look at this. Mom and Dad always take my side. I say you’re cursed, and they let me beat you. In this house, you’re nothing but a dog to me!” Hearing this, my parents just frowned. “Jessica, hit harder! Beat the demon out of her!” Jessica put her whole back into it. The leather sliced through my clothes, cutting into my skin. When the eighty-one lashes were finally over, they untied me. I collapsed to the floor, paralyzed with pain. My parents told a servant to help me upstairs, but Brother Thomas held up a hand. “Wait. Miss Elara should not stay in a spacious, comfortable room. Dark entities thrive on comfort and will return. A cramped, dark space is best.” My parents thought for a moment. “The storage closet on the first floor is small and has no windows. But a bed won’t fit…” Thomas nodded sagely. “That is perfect. If Miss Elara suffers a bit, the entity won’t want to come back.” 2. I was thrown into the damp, dark storage closet. I curled up in the corner, my body trembling with agony, despair clawing at my throat. I thought having the Truth System would make this life easier. I didn’t expect it to start off even harder than the last one. The door creaked open. Jessica walked in, looking down at me like I was a cockroach. “You did something, didn’t you? Made me speak the truth.” “You’re so naive, Elara. Even if I say it out loud, so what? Mom and Dad will always choose me.” “So what if you’re the blood daughter? You’re just a loser from the boonies. You think you can compete with me?” “Do yourself a favor and go back to the dirt you came from…” Footsteps approached from the hallway. Jessica’s face instantly shifted to terror. “Sister, what are you doing? Please, don’t hurt me!” She grabbed a letter opener from a shelf and jammed it violently into her own arm. Hearing her scream, my parents burst in, pushing past me to cradle her. “Elara! What did you do to Jessica?!” I looked at them coldly. “I didn’t do anything. I just watched her perform a one-woman show.” “You think we’d believe Jessica stabbed herself? Are you insane?” Jessica gasped weakly, leaning into Martha. “I just… I just asked if she was scared sleeping alone, if she wanted company… and she… she stabbed me…” Richard and Tyler glared at me with pure hatred. “Elara, how can you be so vicious? How did the Vance bloodline produce something so heartless?” My father raised his hand to slap me. But Jessica’s voice rang out again. “I came in here to trigger this bitch, told her she has no place here, and then I stabbed myself to frame her!” She slapped her hands over her mouth. My father’s hand froze in mid-air. The room went dead silent. I looked at my parents. “Did you hear that? That is the truth.” Tyler scoffed, breaking the tension. “Clearly the cleansing wasn’t thorough enough. The demon is still making her say crazy things to frame Jessica.” My parents didn’t argue. They told Tyler to take Jessica to get bandaged up. They glanced at me with cold indifference and turned to leave. “Why?” I asked the question to their retreating backs. “You know she’s telling the truth. You know she staged it. Why do you still side with her?” Martha turned, a sneer curling her lip. “Elara, love is built over time. It doesn’t just appear because of DNA.” “For over a decade, Jessica has been our daughter. We poured everything into her.” “Even putting feelings aside—look at her. Her elegance, her speech, her education. That is what a Vance daughter looks like.” “You? You’re a farm girl. You can’t compare.” “A daughter represents the family face in public. Look at yourself. You’re unpresentable.” “Then why bring me back at all?” “You think we wanted to? The police made a huge scene about finding you!” “We couldn’t leave our biological daughter out there without the media tearing us apart.” “The Vance family won’t let you starve, but don’t you dare think you can replace Jessica.” They walked away. That was the moment my heart finally froze over. I remembered the secret the Arbiter had told me about Jessica. I smiled. I didn’t want their cheap affection anymore. I was going to make sure they knew the truth. And then, I was going to make sure they lost everything they cared about. 3. I went to find Brian Powell. The Vance and Powell families had arranged a marriage between Brian and Jessica years ago. Brian hated the arrangement, but he couldn’t defy his family’s orders. When I was brought back, my face had been plastered all over the news. Brian recognized me immediately. He looked at me with bored indifference. “What? Is the Vance family swapping brides now?” I shook my head. “I’m here to make a deal.” Brian raised an eyebrow. “What kind of deal?” “I know you don’t want to marry into my family. It’s just business pressure.” “If Vance Enterprises suddenly went bankrupt, your parents wouldn’t force you to go through with the wedding, would they?” “I have a way to tank their stock.” Brian sat up straighter. He laughed, a sharp, cynical sound. “It seems the prodigal daughter has realized that blood isn’t thicker than water.” “Well? Do we have a deal, Mr. Powell?” “If your family goes under, you go down with them. You’re willing to lose everything?” “I told you, this is a trade.” “I help you destroy the Vance legacy. In return, you give me ten million dollars in cash. And when the bank auctions off the Vance estate, you buy it and deed it to me.” “That’s it?” “That’s it.” Ten million was enough for a lifetime of comfort. As for the villa… in my last life, they kicked me out of it to die. In this life, I was going to kick them out. Brian nodded slowly. “Bankrupting Vance Enterprises isn’t a small task. What do you need from me?” “First, the money. Now. I don’t trust you not to stiff me.” Brian took the slip of paper with my account number, handed it to his secretary, and five minutes later, the funds cleared. I smiled. “You aren’t worried I’m scamming you?” “It’s just ten million. I’ll take the gamble. Besides, no one in this city is stupid enough to scam Brian Powell.” “What’s part two?” “Next week, the Powells are hosting the Grand Gala. I need you to add a segment to the program…” When I finished explaining, Brian looked at me with confusion. “That’s all it takes?” I nodded. “Just sit back and watch the show. You’ll witness the Vance empire crumble in real-time.” A week later, the Grand Gala—the most exclusive event in the city—arrived. When the invitation arrived at the house, Jessica noticed a new addition to the schedule. All heirs and heiresses will take the stage to share a personal story from their upbringing. Jessica squealed with delight. “This must be Brian’s idea! He wants to get to know me better but is too shy to ask directly, so he made a whole event out of it.” “It’s so romantic! Like, ‘to hug you, I hugged the whole world’ vibes!” “I have to write the perfect speech!” She glanced over at me, her eyes narrowing. “Mom, Dad… does Elara have to speak, too?” “I’m so curious what a farm girl would even talk about. Shoveling pig manure? Is that what you did all day, Sister?” 4. My parents looked at me with undisguised revulsion. “It’s a high-society gala. What could she possibly share without making us vomit?” “Elara, listen to me. Everyone knows you’re back, so we have to take you. But keep your mouth shut.” “Smile more, speak less. Do not show your lack of breeding. We cannot afford the embarrassment.” “And I heard you went to see Brian the other day? You think just because you’re the biological daughter you can steal Jessica’s fiancé?” “Look in a mirror. Brian wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot pole even if he had brain damage.” “From now on, you don’t see anyone without our permission. Stop humiliating us.” Jessica beamed, soaking up my humiliation. “I’m going to go write my speech. Don’t worry, Daddy, Mommy. I’ll make the Vance name shine!” Watching her skip away, a cold smile touched my lips. Yes, Jessica. Prepare that speech. Make it perfect. Polish every word. It’s a waste of time. Because when you open your mouth, not a single word on that paper is going to come out. Mom, Dad… I can’t wait to see the look on your faces when you learn the truth. The night of the gala arrived. The Powell ballroom was a sea of crystal chandeliers and designer gowns. Jessica walked arm-in-arm with Tyler, while my parents beamed with pride behind them. I trailed behind like an unwanted shadow. People recognized me as the returned daughter and came over to look. Martha pinched the fabric of my dress, pulling me forward roughly. “Yes, well, she’s a country girl. Hasn’t seen the world. Apologies if she’s awkward.” “We feed her, clothe her, try to teach her, but she’s just… hopelessly rustic.” The guests offered polite, empty platitudes. “At least she’s home. Don’t push too hard. You already have such an outstanding daughter in Jessica.” Nearby, Jessica was fluttering her eyelashes at Brian. “Brian, you have to listen carefully when I give my speech later, okay?” The event began. The heirs and heiresses took the stage one by one. Soon, it was Jessica’s turn. She glided up to the microphone, tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and held up her speech cards. “Good evening, everyone. I am Jessica Vance. As many of you know, I was an orphan adopted by my wonderful parents.” “They gave me the best…” She didn’t finish the sentence. Her tongue twisted violently. And then, the bombshell dropped. “Actually, I’m not an orphan. My coming to the Vance family was entirely…

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1 Five years after my divorce from Rovan, I saw him again. I was working at a preschool when he, the man who had fought me tooth and nail in court, walked in with a little boy who looked uncannily like me. “He missed his mom,” Rovan said, his voice calm and natural, as if no time had passed at all. “I brought him to see you.” I remembered the warning he had given me when we divorced. With the same calm I had learned to master, I replied, “You’ve got the wrong person. I’m not his mother.” In the next instant, the boy hiding behind Rovan’s legs ran to me, his small voice choked with tears. “Mommy, please don’t leave me.” — “Don’t say that,” Rovan murmured, his eyes downcast. “Leo is your son, after all. You’ll break his heart.” His tone was gentle, a world away from the cold indifference he’d shown me five years ago. I can still hear his words from that day, a permanent echo in my mind: “Clara, from this day forward, the child has nothing to do with you. If you dare to even try and see him, I will call the police and get a restraining order. I’ll make sure you never see him again.” And now, here he was, telling me our son missed me. I looked down at the weeping boy clinging to my leg. “Does Victoria know you brought him here?” I asked quietly. Victoria. His former assistant. His new wife. The boy’s mother on paper. The woman for whom Rovan had destroyed our marriage, the woman he had protected while sending me to hell. Rovan’s lips parted, but no words came out. After a moment, a look of stunned surprise crossed his face. “Clara… you can… you can talk?” He quickly corrected himself. “I mean, you can speak in full sentences?” I’ve had a severe speech impediment since I was a child. Words would get stuck in my throat, and it could take me ages to form a single coherent sentence. Many people just called me ‘the stutterer.’ To communicate with me, Rovan had bought me a special journal. For the urgent things, write them down, he’d said. For everything else, I have all the patience in the world. Just take your time and tell me. But later, when he confessed that he’d fallen for another woman and wanted a divorce, I had tried to ask him why. I got one word out before he cut me off, his face a mask of irritation. “Clara, you might as well be mute. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to come home after a long day and have to summon the patience to listen to you struggle?” “You want to know why I love Victoria?” he’d continued, his voice dripping with cruelty. “Because it’s easy with her. I talk, she responds. She understands my stress, she knows how to help me. And what about you?” He’d completely forgotten his own words from years before: “Clara, no matter what, you will always be the one and only Clara to me.” He knew my speech was my deepest insecurity, the source of all my shame. And he had used it as a weapon to gut me for another woman. I didn’t answer his question now. I gently pried the little boy’s hands from my leg. “Take him home, Rovan,” I said. “And don’t come back.” Without another glance, I turned and walked toward my office. Behind me, I heard Leo’s desperate cry, tears flooding his big, watery eyes. “Mommy, don’t go! I want my mommy!” I faltered for a half-step, but I didn’t stop. When I entered my office, my best friend, Maya, looked up from the teaching materials she was organizing. “Clara, I heard someone was looking for… hey, why are you crying?” I lifted a hand to my cheek. It came away wet. Before Rovan and the boy had shown up, I thought I was over it. I thought that if I ever ran into them, I could smile like a polite stranger and say, “Do you remember me? I used to hold you when you were a baby.” But it turned out I wasn’t over it at all. I pressed my lips together, forcing down the wave of emotion that threatened to overwhelm me. “It was Rovan,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “He brought the boy.” “What?” The name, unspoken for so long, ignited a fire in Maya. “That bastard! What is he doing here? Hasn’t he hurt you enough? Where is he? I’m going to kill him!” She yanked open her desk drawer, pulled out a fruit knife, and started for the door. Then she froze, a new panic on her face. “Wait, they didn’t bring the police, did they? This doesn’t count as you seeking him out, right? It won’t cause any trouble?” The day after the divorce was finalized, our nanny had called me. She said Rovan and Victoria were out celebrating their anniversary, and our son had a high fever. The nanny had a family emergency and couldn’t stay. She asked if I could come. The moment I heard “high fever,” I panicked. I rushed over, took my son, and went straight to the hospital. As he was being examined, Rovan and Victoria arrived. With two police officers. Before I could say a word, Rovan’s voice, cold as ice, cut through the room. “Clara, you have violated the court order by taking the child without permission. I am filing for an emergency order. You will never see him again.” My son was still burning up in my arms. I tried to tell Rovan he needed to see the doctor, but he snatched the boy from me and handed him to Victoria. “Remember this,” he said, his eyes like steel. “Victoria is his mother now. He has nothing to do with you.” He had the police escort me away. He said he wanted to teach me a “profound lesson.” He had me locked up for three days. Maya was the one who picked me up, her face streaked with tears. She looked at my empty eyes and sobbed, “Clara, let’s leave this city. Let’s start over, okay?” For five years, I never set foot in Crestwood again. I thought if I stayed away, I would never have to see the man who had been my angel, only to become the demon who cast me into hell. “No, don’t worry,” I told Maya now, my voice more confident than I felt. “We won’t be seeing each other again.” I believed it. The Rovan who had patience for me was long gone. But I was wrong. The next day, after work, he was there again. With the boy. “Clara, it’s Leo’s birthday today. His only wish is for you to have dinner with him. For his sake, will you please consider it?” Rovan looked at me, his eyes full of a desperate hope, as if there was so much more he wanted to say. Little Leo stood beside him, mirroring his father’s pleading gaze. Then, out of nowhere, Maya appeared. She was holding a bucket of water, which she promptly flung at Rovan. “You bastard! How dare you show your face here? Get out! She doesn’t want to see you!” The water soaked his tall frame, but little Leo, standing right next to him, was perfectly dry. Rovan’s lips tightened, but his dark eyes remained fixed on me. He said nothing. Maya sneered. “What, are you trying to cook up another charge to use against her? Let me tell you, I did this. All me. You won’t use me to threaten her again!” When Rovan first demanded the divorce, determined to build a new life with Victoria, I had refused. I wouldn’t sign the papers, and I wouldn’t give up custody of our son. I still held on to a sliver of hope that his infatuation would fade, and he would come back to us. How naive I was. When Maya found out he was trying to take our son, she lost her mind. She stormed into his law firm, found Victoria, and screamed at her in front of everyone, calling her a homewrecker and slapping her across the face. In response, Rovan and Victoria sued Maya for assault and slander. As a top divorce lawyer, Rovan knew exactly how to operate without leaving a shred of evidence against himself. All I knew was what he wanted me to know. When my lawyer asked for proof of his affair to countersue, I had nothing. He was too smart, too careful. His phone’s screen saver was a picture of me and our son. His texts with Victoria were all about work. They were never seen alone together in public. I had no proof. I knelt on the floor and begged him, head to the ground, to drop the charges against Maya. There was no pity in his eyes, only the cold condescension of a victor. “You have one option,” he’d said. “Agree to the divorce and give up custody. Otherwise, I will make sure Maya pays.” The stress was unbearable. I couldn’t sleep. I started taking sleeping pills just to get through the night. And on the day of our divorce hearing, he used it all against me. He presented photos of me taking the pills. He showed the court a video of me on my knees, sobbing and begging him. He told the judge I was mentally unstable, a housewife with no means to support a child, and therefore unfit for custody. My speech impediment, always worse under stress, became a complete blockage. I stood in the defendant’s box, the eyes of the entire courtroom on me—pitying, confused, impatient—and I couldn’t get a single word out. I looked at him, pleading with my eyes. He looked away. Then, he delivered the final, crushing blow. He produced the journal he had given me. “Clara is functionally mute,” he said, his voice steady and calm. “This is the journal she uses to communicate. If she can’t even speak, how can she possibly be a mother?” The person who knows you best knows exactly where to stick the knife. He twisted it, again and again, in my deepest wound. And I couldn’t even say a single word to defend myself. The time allotted for my testimony ticked away. I remained silent. I lost. Completely. As we walked out of the courthouse, Rovan and Victoria approached me, holding our one-year-old son. Victoria’s face was glowing with triumph. “Don’t you worry, Clara,” she said with a sweet smile. “I’ll take good care of him. Rovan and I will raise him as our own.” Rovan looked at her with the same tenderness he once reserved for me. “I trust you,” he said. “He’ll be better off with you.” Then, he turned to me, twisting the knife one last time. “Don’t blame me for taking him, Clara. You wouldn’t want him to be asked at school why his mother is a stuttering mess, would you?” He had taken everything, and then told me not to blame him. The sun was warm that day, but I felt like I had been plunged into an icy abyss. I cried, asking him over and over why he was doing this to me. My only answer was the sight of their retreating backs as they walked away with my son. Now, standing in front of me, Rovan said nothing as Maya berated him. But little Leo, his voice small and hesitant, spoke up. He looked at me with a mixture of hope and fear. “Daddy said… that the day I was born was a really hard day for Mommy. So… today is my birthday, but it’s also Mommy’s day of suffering. I… I saved all my allowance. I wanted to buy Mommy dinner.” The day Leo was born. Rovan was out of town, handling a divorce case. We were both from the foster care system; we had no parents to help us. I was in the delivery room, waiting, my body wracked with pain. I cried his name, over and over, terrified, praying he would get back in time. He couldn’t. He called me on video instead. The Rovan from back then, the one who still loved me. I could see him pacing a hallway, his voice trembling as he tried to soothe me. “It’s okay, Clara, don’t be scared. You and the baby will be fine. I’ll be home soon. Let me tell you a story, okay? Please don’t cry.” He started telling me a fairy tale, but his own eyes filled with tears, his voice cracking. “No more,” he’d choked out. “Clara, after this one, we’re not having any more children.” Little did we know, his words would come true in the worst way possible. After Leo, there was no “us” anymore. Because what no one knew… was that the story of Rovan and Victoria also began that day. While I was in agony, giving birth to our son… he was getting drunk and falling into bed with Victoria. When I called him to tell him our son was born, safe and sound… he had just finished a night of passion. The next morning, he texted me that he had just woken up from a drunken stupor. But that text… Victoria had sent it from his phone. He was torn between guilt over his betrayal and his attraction to the vibrant, cheerful woman who was not his wife. And from that day on, his patience for me began to fray. Often, I’d start to say something, and he’d cut me off. “Just write it down. The baby’s a light sleeper, you’ll wake him.” But when Victoria called him in the middle of the night, upset about something, he could stay on the phone with her for hours. When she expressed her ambition to be more than just a legal assistant, he broke his own rule about not taking on apprentices and brought her under his wing. He let her, an unlicensed trainee, sit in on his biggest cases. He gave her all his favor. When others questioned it, he would simply say, “Because she’s worth it.” Only he knew why. But as a partner at the firm, no one dared to challenge him. Now, hearing Leo’s sweet, innocent words, a cynical smile touched Maya’s lips. “You’re right, kid. The day you were born was the day her suffering began. But do you know who caused it?”

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On our wedding night, my husband, Bobby, made a bet with his best friend. “I bet you’ll cheat within ten years. And when you do, half your company is mine.” Bobby slammed his fist into the wall, a spray of blood marking the impact. “Serena, you listen to me!” he roared, his eyes wild. “If I ever lay a hand on another woman, I swear on my life, may I die without an heir!” For the next nine years, he was the perfect husband. He transferred his entire salary to my account, his phone’s location was open to me 24/7, and he was never alone with another woman. When his best friend’s wife confessed her feelings for him in a drunken stupor, Bobby threw a glass of wine in her face. “Try that again,” he snarled, “and I’ll let your husband deal with you.” I was more certain than ever that he would never cheat. But on the eve of the ten-year anniversary of our bet, I received a link to an anonymous cloud drive. Inside were over a hundred videos. Sex tapes of Bobby and his best friend’s wife, twisted together in every conceivable position. In one, the woman was lying on our marital bed. She looked into the camera, flashed a victory sign, and whispered: “Ten years are up. He lost the bet. And I won him.” So, you like to gamble, I thought. Fine. Let’s play this to the end. … The lights were still on in the living room when Bobby came home late that night. Just like always, he loosened his tie and leaned in to kiss me. “Serena, why are you still up? Waiting for me?” I turned my head, his lips meeting empty air. I pushed the divorce agreement across the coffee table toward him. “Sign it. I’ll see you at the courthouse tomorrow morning. Nine a.m.” The smile on Bobby’s face froze. He picked up the papers, his brow furrowed in confusion. “Serena, stop playing games. Tomorrow is our tenth anniversary.” Just then, his phone buzzed on the table. It was Leo, his best friend. The husband of the woman in the videos. Bobby put the call on speaker, and Leo’s furious roar filled the room. “Bobby! Are you even human, you son of a bitch?! I treated you like a brother, and you played me for a fool!” Bobby’s face went white. He shot a panicked glance at me. “Leo, calm down…” “Calm down?! I’ve seen the videos! A hundred of them! You two really had fun, didn’t you? Trying out positions we never even got to!” Before Bobby could respond, another call came through. It was Kelly. He answered it immediately, his voice softening into a gentle murmur. “Kelly? Don’t be scared. Did he hit you? Where are you? Are you hurt?” He paced the living room, his voice a low, soothing balm for the woman on the other end of the line, while I sat there like an irrelevant stranger in my own home. A moment later, the front door was kicked open. Leo stormed in, his eyes bloodshot, with a sobbing Kelly trailing behind him. “Bobby!” Leo lunged, his fist connecting with Bobby’s jaw. Bobby staggered back, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. But he didn’t even look at Leo. His first instinct was to rush to Kelly’s side, shielding her trembling form with his own. “Leo, if you’re angry, take it out on me! Don’t you touch her!” “Touch her?” Leo laughed, a ragged, broken sound. He spun to face me. “Serena! Do you see this?! Nine years ago, to prove his love to you, he made a show of throwing wine in my wife’s face! And I actually believed he was some kind of saint! Turns out they were screwing each other the whole time! And now that it’s all out, his first move is to comfort this slut! He hasn’t even asked you if you’re okay!” Every word was a poisoned needle, piercing my heart until I couldn’t breathe. Bobby pulled Kelly closer, his eyes finally finding mine, a flicker of pleading in their depths. “Serena, this has nothing to do with Kelly. It’s my fault. All of it. Don’t blame her.” Even now, he was protecting her. Afraid I would hurt her, afraid I would blame her. And what about me? What was I? I rose to my feet and walked toward him, step by deliberate step. “Bobby,” I said, my voice steady, “do you remember our baby? The one we lost?” His body went rigid. The color drained from his face, and the hand protecting Kelly began to tremble. “Serena… don’t.” “Why not?” I smiled, but tears streamed down my face. “I remember that day. I was lying in a hospital bed, and you were holding my hand, crying like a child. You told me the pain was killing you. And you know what, Bobby? I actually believed you.” As I spoke, my gaze fixed on the way Kelly’s hand instinctively flew to cover her stomach. Understanding dawned on Leo’s face. He lunged at Kelly, tearing at her clothes, a manic grin spreading across his face as he stared at Bobby. “Pain? You weren’t in pain, you son of a bitch! You were fucking ecstatic! She’s pregnant! With your child! It happened that day! The same day Serena had her miscarriage! You were holding my wife in your arms while you texted Serena that you loved her! You’re not a man, you’re an animal!” BOOM. My world collapsed. On the day I lost my child, my husband was with another woman, creating a new life for themselves. Leo had completely lost it, screaming that he was going to kill Kelly, that he wanted them both dead. Without a second thought, Bobby shoved me aside, throwing himself in front of Kelly, shielding her with his body. I stumbled, my forehead cracking against the sharp corner of the coffee table. A searing pain, and then warmth. Blood trickled down, blurring my vision. The world spun. Through the chaos, I could hear Kelly’s terrified screams and Bobby’s desperate reassurances. “Kelly, don’t be scared! I’m here!” The blood from my head dripped onto the floor, one drop at a time, blooming like a dark, beautiful flower. The doctor gave me five stitches and told me to stay for observation. Bobby didn’t even glance my way. He was standing guard outside another room. Kelly had been shaken by the ordeal and was inside being examined. He paced back and forth like a caged animal. Nine years ago, when I was hospitalized with acute appendicitis, he’d stayed by my side for three days and nights straight, his eyes red from lack of sleep. I’d stroked his face, my heart aching for him. “Serena,” he’d whispered, “as long as you’re okay, nothing else matters.” Now, I was bleeding, and he couldn’t spare me a single look. A nurse came out of Kelly’s room. Bobby rushed forward. “How is she? Is the baby okay?” “Don’t worry, Mr. Vance. The fetus is stable. The mother is just a bit emotionally distressed.” He let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief, looking more shaken than he had on the day I’d lost our baby. Finally, he seemed to remember me. He turned and walked over. “Serena, what did the doctor say? Does your head still hurt?” He reached out, as if to touch the bandage on my forehead. I snapped my head up, my eyes locking onto his. “Bobby, you told me you fell in love with me the first time we met.” His hand froze. His gaze flickered. “You said I was the only light in your life.” “You said you would die without me.” My voice was a whisper, but each word was a knife, carving up the mockery of our past. His throat worked, and he finally managed to speak. “Serena, my love for you… it was real…” “Real?” I laughed, and the laughter turned into sobs. “Then is it also real that the baby in her stomach was conceived on the same day I had a miscarriage?” The question struck him like a bolt of lightning, leaving him ashen-faced. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Just as I thought he might offer an explanation, even a lie, the door to Kelly’s room opened. A nurse poked her head out. “Mr. Vance, the patient is very unstable, she won’t stop crying. Could you please come in?” Bobby flinched, then immediately scrambled to his feet and headed for the door. He glanced back at me, a flicker of something like pity in his eyes. “Serena, wait for me here. Kelly… her situation is delicate right now.” There it was again. Always for Kelly. I looked at him and felt a surge of bitter amusement. My head was throbbing, the bandage already stained red with fresh blood. But in his eyes, my pain was worth less than a single one of Kelly’s tears. He didn’t even ask if my wound was serious before rushing into that room. I could hear his gentle, cooing voice through the door, each soft word another slice into my already shredded heart. I don’t know how I made it home. The huge villa was empty, as cold and silent as a tomb. I sat on the sofa all night. From dusk until dawn. Bobby never came back. Not a single call, not a single text. I knew where he was. He was at the hospital, watching over Kelly and their child. Just like he had watched over me nine years ago. No. He was even more attentive now, more anxious. The difference between love and non-love was painfully clear. I opened my social media. Kelly had posted an update. It was a photo of Bobby, asleep by her hospital bed, one hand resting protectively on her stomach. The caption read: With you here, I can rest easy. Thank you, my hero. It was followed by a heart emoji. I stared at the picture, my heart grinding into dust. In college, a senior wouldn’t stop harassing me. Bobby found out and beat the guy so badly he ended up in the hospital. He’d held me then, as I shook with fear, and whispered, “Don’t be scared, Serena. I’m your hero. No one will ever hurt you again.” Now, my hero was protecting another woman. And I was just the old, discarded thing he’d left behind. It wasn’t until ten in the morning that the front door finally opened. Bobby walked in, smelling of exhaustion and antiseptic. He saw me on the sofa and froze, a flicker of guilt in his eyes. “Serena, you… you’ve been up all night?” He came closer, bringing with him the faint, cloying scent of Kelly’s perfume. I didn’t answer. I just looked at him. The wound on my forehead had seeped blood overnight, matting my hair to my skin. I must have looked pathetic. His brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you go back to the hospital to get that changed? The doctor told you to stay for observation.” A harsh, ugly laugh escaped my lips. “You remember that?” My laughter seemed to needle him. His voice turned cold. “Serena, can you stop with the sarcasm? Kelly just had a major scare. I couldn’t leave her.” “She had a scare?” I stood up slowly, advancing on him. “And what about me? I have five stitches in my head. I bled all over the floor. Do I just deserve that?” “It’s not the same!” he blurted out. “Kelly’s pregnant! If you hadn’t provoked Leo, would he have gone crazy? Would Kelly have been in danger? You should be the one thinking about what you did!” I froze, the blood turning to ice in my veins. He was blaming me. For everything. In his mind, Kelly was the innocent, fragile victim who needed protection. And I was the vicious, spiteful villain who started it all. I remembered a time, long ago, when a colleague at work stole one of my designs and tried to frame me. Bobby had heard my side of the story and, without a moment’s hesitation, had his team gather evidence and destroy her career. “I trust my Serena,” he’d said, ruffling my hair. “No questions asked.” Now, the man who had promised unconditional trust was pointing a finger at me, telling me it was all my fault, all for the sake of another woman. I looked at the face I had loved for ten years and saw a complete stranger. All the love, the resentment, the bitterness… it all vanished in that one moment. “Bobby,” I said, my voice eerily calm, “let’s get a divorce.” I pushed the signed papers toward him. “If there are no objections, sign it.” He glanced at the document, his eyes turning to ice. “Serena, what’s the point of this? Kelly and Leo’s marriage was a mistake. She was unhappy. I was just trying to comfort her.” “Comfort her?” I sneered. “Comfort her until she got pregnant with your child?” He didn’t deny it. Instead, he became defiant. “Serena, this is our family’s bloodline. I can finally give my parents a grandchild. Maybe you should blame your own barren womb. Ten years, and you couldn’t even give our family an heir. In a way, Kelly was helping you!” My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vise. I couldn’t breathe. I snapped. SLAP. The force of my hand striking his face echoed in the silent room. “You make me sick! These ten years, I must have been blind!” Bobby clutched his reddening cheek, his voice a low snarl. “If you want a divorce, fine. But not now. The annual company conference is in two days, and as my wife, you are required to be there.” SLAM! He stormed out, leaving me alone in the wreckage. On the day of the Vance Group’s annual conference, I arrived in a stunning evening gown, not as a wife, but as a shareholder. Kelly, her baby bump prominent, swept towards me. She leaned in close, a mocking smile on her lips. “You lost, Serena. Today, I’m going to show everyone who the most important woman in Bobby’s life really is.” Before I could react, she grabbed my wrist with surprising strength and slammed my hand onto her pregnant belly. In the same instant, she let out a blood-curdling scream and threw herself backward. “Aaaah—!” The entire ballroom erupted in chaos. Bobby’s face went sheet-white. He sprinted across the room, catching her just before she hit the floor. “My stomach… it hurts so much…” Kelly wailed, tears streaming down her pale face. She clung to Bobby’s arm with one hand, while the other pointed a trembling finger at me. “Serena… I know you hate me, but the baby is innocent… Why did you push me?!” Bobby, cradling Kelly, looked at me with pure, unadulterated venom. “Serena, I never knew you could be so evil!” “I didn’t,” I said, my voice shaking despite myself. “You dare deny it?!” he roared. “Do you want them both dead?! If anything happens to Kelly, I will destroy you! Security! Get this crazy woman out of here!” The flashbulbs of the press exploded around me. The air was thick with whispers. “She pushed a pregnant woman… What kind of monster is she?” “The barren hen is jealous of the one who can lay eggs.” “Get out of the Vance family, you vicious bitch!” The accusations washed over me, a tidal wave of hatred. Hundreds of eyes, like poisoned daggers, were aimed at me. I was frozen, unable to defend myself. Bobby carefully lifted Kelly into his arms. The look he gave me was devoid of any lingering affection, filled only with rage. Just then, a hand closed around my wrist. It was Leo. “Come with me.” Away from the crowd, he let go and pulled a USB drive from his pocket. “What’s this?” I asked. “Every hotel record, every bank transfer between Bobby and Kelly for the past ten years. And some… other highlights.” I stiffened. Leo’s voice was tinged with a desperate, hollow laugh. “Yesterday, that bastard asked me to step aside and ‘let them be happy.’ To bless their happy little family.” A cold smile touched my lips. “Did those two really think Serena Vance was a doormat they could just walk all over? Everything they’ve done to me… I will repay them a hundredfold.” Under the shocked stares of everyone in the room, I walked to the main stage and plugged the USB drive into the central computer. The massive screen behind the stage lit up. Bobby, who was about to carry Kelly out, froze. His face went so white he nearly collapsed. On the screen, crystal clear for everyone to see, was security footage from our bedroom. Bobby and Kelly, tangled together on our bed. Gasps rippled through the crowd. The people who had been screaming at me just moments before were now silent. Bobby’s face was no longer just pale; it was the grey of a corpse. He stared at the screen, his body trembling uncontrollably. He couldn’t accept that the perfect image he had so carefully curated was being destroyed in such a public, humiliating way. “No… that’s not real… it’s not real…” he muttered, lost and broken. He staggered backward and fell to the floor, the light gone from his eyes. “What is the tech team doing?” Bobby, on the stage, roared. “Turn it off! Turn it off now!” He lunged for the computer, but Leo was there, blocking his path. The crowd murmured, their attention glued to the screen. On the bed, Kelly looked directly at the camera and smiled, a triumphant, smug expression on her face. Bobby froze, his face a mask of horror. The video’s audio kicked in, followed by a recording of their conversations. Kelly’s voice, sweet and seductive. “Bobby, darling, the ten years are almost up. Are you really going to lose half your company to Leo?” Bobby’s voice, full of contempt. “It’s just a bet. That idiot Serena actually believed my whole devoted husband act. After the bet is over, I’ll find a way to get Leo’s shares too. The whole company will be ours.” “And your wife?” “Her? She’s just a pretty vase with no connections. Without me, she’s nothing.” Dead silence. Then, an uproar. The camera flashes were blinding, aimed at Bobby on the stage and me in the crowd. The board members’ faces were thunderous. “You ungrateful whelp!” Bobby’s father, shaking with rage, pointed at his son. His mother’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted. “Mom!” “Someone call an ambulance!” The scene descended into chaos. Bobby charged toward me, his eyes blazing. “Serena! You did this! You poisonous bitch!” He raised his hand to strike me. Leo stepped in front of me and delivered a swift, hard kick to Bobby’s chest. “You touch her, Bobby, and I’ll kill you.” Leo’s eyes were murderous. I pushed him aside, picked up a microphone, and walked onto the stage. The noise instantly died down. I looked at the man I once loved, now a pathetic heap on the floor, and felt nothing but disgust. “Ladies and gentlemen,” I said, my voice clear and cold. “As you can see, this ten-year marriage was nothing more than a carefully orchestrated business fraud.” “I, Serena Vance, am hereby announcing my immediate divorce from Bobby Vance.” I paused, my gaze sweeping over the horrified faces of the board members. “Furthermore, as a shareholder of the Vance Group, I, along with the other victim in this matter, Mr. Leo Vance, will be launching a full investigation into this fraudulent scheme. We will pursue legal action against all responsible parties.” I dropped the mic. With cameras flashing all around us, I took Leo’s arm and walked out of the ballroom, my head held high. Behind me, Bobby’s desperate, fading roars were the last sound I heard.

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1 The men broke when they saw the last child in the safe room torn apart by a zombie while still alive. “Captain! You said she was just a jealous liar! You told us to guard you and Serena during the fireworks!” “So why is my month-old son in pieces?!” Jason’s face turned deathly pale. I watched, my heart bleeding. In my past life, during the zombie attack, my husband Jason took all the guards to watch fireworks with his childhood sweetheart, Serena. I screamed myself hoarse, calling them back, and saved everyone. But angry about missing the show, Serena stormed out alone and was torn to pieces by zombies. After killing the horde, Jason held her remaining leg bone, silent. That silence lasted until the day I gave birth. Then, he chopped off my limbs alive and fed me to the zombies. He’d watch them eat me, heal me, and repeat it, over and over. “You venomous bitch,” he’d snarled. “You killed her. So your death will be a thousand times worse.” When I opened my eyes, I was back—back to the day the zombies first attacked. … I was reborn the moment the sound of their guttural roars echoed through the forest. On pure instinct, I shot out of my room and threw myself at the console in the broadcast center. “Attention, everyone! Attention!” My voice crackled over the speakers. “A massive zombie horde is approaching! All personnel, evacuate to the safe room immediately!” The words had barely left my lips when the first terrified screams erupted outside. “Move!” I grabbed the machete from my belt, trying to herd the panicked crowd while simultaneously hacking down the first few infected that broke through the perimeter. The retreat was a chaotic nightmare. I scooped up a few children who were frozen in terror and shoved them through the heavy steel doors of the safe room. CLANG! The lock slammed shut, sealing us off from the hell outside, if only for a moment. The survivors, still reeling from the shock, collapsed to the floor, their sobs echoing in the enclosed space. A woman clutching an infant grabbed my arm, her eyes wide with panic. “Aria… you have to find Captain Jason! Get them back here to save us!” I closed my eyes, forcing myself to deliver the cruel truth. “Jason took the entire security team to the summit on the edge of town. He’s protecting Serena while she watches the fireworks.” The room exploded. “Fireworks? Now?” “He’s insane! He left us all here to die… for her?” Just then, a deafening sound reverberated through the room. BANG! BANG! BANG! The steel door shuddered with each impact, the center beginning to buckle and warp. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before it gave way. We couldn’t wait for him. “Maybe… maybe we don’t need them,” I said, a desperate idea forming. I turned to Jason’s mother. “Mom! The electric fence! If we can activate the high-voltage grid, we can fry them!” Her eyes lit up. “Yes! The fence!” She quickly pulled out her comms device. With every eye in the room fixed on her, she made the call. A moment later, Jason’s voice came through, laced with annoyance. “Mom? What is it? I’m a little busy right now.” His mother swallowed her rage, her words coming in a rush. “Jason, the base is under attack! A whole horde! The safe room won’t hold for much longer! You have to activate the perimeter fence, now!” The air grew thick with tension. “Are you kidding me?” he scoffed. “The power is being diverted to the summit lights. I can’t spare a single watt. Do you want to ruin the mood for Serena’s birthday?” He actually laughed. A cold, dismissive sound. “Is Aria whispering poison in your ear again? She’s that jealous? I’m just watching some fireworks with Serena. Does she really have to stoop this low, getting you to lie for her just to drag me back?” His mother was trembling with fury. “You foolish, pig-headed boy! Do you have any idea—” The line went dead. He had hung up on her. A dead silence fell over the room, thick with despair. “It’s over,” someone whispered. “We’re really going to die here.” I stared at the dented door, my heart clenching. Could it be that even with a second chance, I couldn’t change a single thing? In that suffocating silence, his mother looked at me, her eyes hardening with resolve. “I trained that security team myself!” she declared. “There’s a service path up the back of the mountain. I’ll go to them. They won’t disobey a direct order from me! I’ll bring them back!” A flicker of hope ignited in my chest. Without another word, she slipped out a side maintenance hatch. “Wait for me,” was all she said before disappearing into the darkness. An hour later, a jagged hole was torn in the main door. A rotten, skeletal hand snaked through the opening, reaching for the infant in the woman’s arms. The baby’s cry was cut short by a sickening crunch. The mother collapsed, her eyes instantly vacant. As despair washed over us, a figure stumbled back through the side hatch. It was his mother. “Is the team back?” everyone asked at once. She was covered in blood. “Quick! Block the breach!” I rushed to support her. Her voice was a ragged whisper. “That bastard son of mine… He barricaded every path. He set up defenses to make sure no one could interrupt her precious birthday.” Her eyes were red with a furious, helpless rage. A chill crept up my spine, and I stumbled backward. Jason had been so determined to keep me away that he had blocked his own mother. “No! We can’t just give up!” I looked around at the terrified faces. “If we can’t get our own team, we’ll call for outside help!” I scrambled to the emergency comms, frantically cycling through the frequencies for other nearby outposts. I finally got a response and quickly explained our situation, begging for aid. There was a long pause on the other end. “I’m sorry,” the voice finally said. “We can’t send help.” “An hour ago, we received a priority communication from Captain Jason himself. He warned us that someone at your base might be making a false distress call. His direct order was to disregard any and all requests for aid from your location tonight.” He had gone this far. To protect Serena’s birthday party, he had proactively severed every lifeline, calculated every possibility, and sealed our tomb. His mother’s face went white. “This is Jason’s mother. I’m begging you…” “Ma’am,” the voice interrupted, still cold and professional, “the Captain was very specific. He said we should especially disregard any orders coming from you.” “He stated that unless you came to our gates in person to request aid, no assistance would be dispatched.” The line went dead again. In person? A journey of dozens of miles through a sea of the dead? It was a suicide mission. The breach in the door was temporarily patched, but we all knew it was a flimsy fix. I put my arm around his mother. “Mom, I’ll go with you.” I glanced at the fresh pool of blood on the floor, my voice hard as steel. “Everyone here is counting on us. If we stay, we die. If we go, there’s a chance!” She looked at me, a deep, searching gaze, and finally, she nodded. We moved through the darkness, me supporting her as best I could. Her left arm was gone, torn clean off by a zombie. Blood still streamed from the wound. “Just over this ridge… we’re almost there…” she gasped. From halfway up the mountain, we could see the distant lights of the neighboring outpost. Hope surged through us. And then the world exploded. A firework—a military-grade flare—detonated right in front of us. The shockwave threw us violently through the air. Dazed, I looked up toward the summit and saw him. Jason, with his arm around Serena. His mocking voice boomed across the valley from a set of loudspeakers. “Aria. I knew it. When playing the victim didn’t work, you decided to try brute force, didn’t you?” His voice turned to ice. “I knew you wouldn’t give up on ruining Serena’s birthday! I won’t let you succeed!” The explosions intensified, a deadly rain of light and fire. “Mom, you have to tell him it’s you!” I screamed. His mother gathered all her remaining strength and yelled toward the summit. “JASON!” For a moment, there was silence. Then, Jason’s laughter, louder and more maniacal than before, echoed down the mountain. The distance was too great; he could only make out our silhouettes. “Aria, you really will do anything to ruin this for her, won’t you?” he shouted. “First you get my mother to lie for you on the phone, and now you’ve hired an actress? An amputee, no less! Did you really think I’d fall for that?” His mother trembled with rage. “It is me, you fool! It’s your mother! Can’t you even recognize my voice?!” For a split second, I saw a flicker of doubt on Jason’s face. But Serena immediately tugged on his sleeve, her voice trembling with manufactured hurt. “Jason… I know Aria has never liked me. Maybe we should just cancel my birthday. We can go back.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “It’s okay… I’m used to it.” That was all it took. Jason’s face hardened, his rage renewed. “Keep firing!” he commanded. More shells rained down, completely cutting off our path. The moon hung high in the sky, a cold, indifferent witness. “There’s no time,” his mother said, her grip tightening on my shoulder. “I’ll draw their fire. You have to go! You have to get help back to them!” She shoved me away from her. “They’re all waiting for you!” She began to stumble toward the summit. I scrambled after her, grabbing for her remaining arm. “Mom, no! They don’t recognize you! They’ll kill you!” Jason’s voice, colder than the grave, echoed from the peak. “Aria, if you’re so determined to die just to spoil Serena’s night, then I’ll be happy to oblige you!” He shouldered a rocket launcher. The next second, a massive firework shell screamed toward me. “Aria, look out!” His mother threw herself at me, tackling me to the ground and shielding me with her broken body. BOOM! The explosion was deafening, a physical blow that nearly shattered my eardrums. A thick, hot spray of blood covered my face. Her body went limp on top of me. Her back had been blown open, a gaping, cavernous wound. My hands trembled as I reached for her, feeling only the warm, sticky wetness. I shook her gently, but there was no response. A raw, animal cry tore from my throat. “Mom!” Serena’s delicate voice floated down from the speakers. “Aria, you should probably push the body off the cliff. Otherwise, the zombies will smell the blood and come for you, too.” 2 Several of the guards on the summit had witnessed the whole thing, their faces etched with uncertainty. A younger guard leaned toward his friend. “She… she didn’t look like she was faking it.” He hesitated. “What if she was telling the truth? What if something really happened at the base?” His friend cut him off. “Are you crazy? The captain would know if something was wrong. It’s just her, being jealous of Serena again. You know how women get.” But the young guard persisted. “But what if? Our families are down there!” A squad leader stepped in, his voice sharp. “The captain wouldn’t risk our families. End of discussion.” A moment later, I was dragged roughly up to the summit. My body was a mess of cuts and bruises, caked in a mixture of blood and mud. Serena approached, her face a perfect mask of concern. “Oh, Aria, you’re bleeding so much. Here, let me help you.” She reached out to touch me. “Don’t touch me!” I snarled, slapping her hand away with enough force to make her stumble. “Aria!” Jason roared. “Your pettiness knows no bounds! Serena is trying to be kind to you, and this is how you repay her?” He stalked over and stomped on my pinky finger. “It seems you’ll never learn without a little punishment!” A blinding, white-hot pain shot through my entire body. I curled into a ball on the ground, but my own agony was nothing. The people in the safe room… they were still waiting. I forced myself to look up, to meet Jason’s eyes. “Jason,” I said, each word a shard of glass. “The safe room is about to fall. Every minute you waste here, another person dies.” “Don’t you hear them?” I pleaded, my voice cracking. “Don’t you hear the zombies at the walls?” At my words, Serena burst into tears. “Jason, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have had a birthday. I shouldn’t even exist.” He pulled her into a protective embrace, his voice dripping with venom as he glared at me. “How long are you going to keep up this act, Aria? The base has the best defense system on the coast. How could it possibly…” I cut him off, despair turning my voice hollow. “All of your elite guards are here, protecting you and her. All the power for the electric fence has been rerouted here for your light show! Jason, you are going to regret this!” At this, several guards exchanged uneasy glances. “Captain, maybe… maybe we should send someone to check?” the young guard asked tentatively. An older guard beside him scoffed. “You must be new. She pulls stunts like this all the time to get at Miss Serena. This isn’t the first time she’s cried wolf.” “Yeah!” another chimed in. “Remember when she claimed Serena pushed her down the stairs?” Jason’s face grew even darker. “Take her! Tie her to that tree and let her think about what she’s done!” In his arms, a triumphant smirk flickered across Serena’s face. I fought with everything I had left. “Jason, if you don’t go back now, everyone’s families—your family—will be torn apart and eaten alive!” My only answer was a vicious backhand across the face. “The more you do this, Aria,” he hissed, “the more I hate you.” Just as they dragged me toward the tree, it happened. WEEEEEEEEEE— A blood-curdling siren screamed up from the base below. It was the level-one emergency alarm. The fail-safe. It meant the safe room had been breached. No survivors. Everyone froze. The older guard who had been mocking me was the first to react. He stumbled to the edge of the cliff, his eyes wide with horror as he stared down at the base. “The primary alarm… Oh God, the primary alarm! My wife… my little girl… they’re in there!” The young guard’s face was sheet-white, his lips trembling. In the dead silence, I looked at Jason, my voice barely a whisper. “Do you hear that, Jason? They’re all dead.” “This is the fireworks show you bought for Serena with all of their lives. Are you satisfied now?” “Even your own mother, the woman you claimed to respect more than anyone… you killed her, too.”

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1 After the divorce, I fled to the mainland, scarred and broken, and disappeared into a quiet life under a new name and face. Everyone believed I’d died in a gang war that burned the docks to ash. For five years, my ex-husband Marco’s men visited my grave—until an old acquaintance walked into my barbecue shop. Stunned, he asked, “You’re alive? Why haven’t you returned? Marco’s been trying to kill himself out of guilt. He’s given up on the Family.” Marco, once one of Port City’s underworld Reapers, had vowed with his partner Isabella not to marry until they restored their Family’s glory by thirty. But he met me at twenty, married me, and broke their pact. Isabella turned vengeful: she poisoned me on our wedding night, locked me in a freezer while I was pregnant—each time, Marco saved me. This went on for three years. On the ninety-ninth attempt, she strapped me with timed bombs and left me at a rival gang’s door. With three minutes left, I ran to the police. … When Marco finally arrived, the first words out of his mouth weren’t of concern, but of accusation. “There are a dozen guys in the Family who could’ve defused that. Did you run to the cops on purpose? Were you trying to get Bella arrested?” The complete lack of care in his voice left a bitter taste in my mouth. “She was trying to kill me! Your men all listen to her. Where else was I supposed to go?” For the first time, I didn’t back down, and my defiance infuriated him. “I came up with Bella in this life. I know her. She values loyalty above all else. She was just trying to toughen you up.” “I’ll send her overseas to expand our operations later,” he continued, “but she’s the one who brings in the money for the Family. Nothing can happen to her.” He slid a settlement agreement and a credit card across the table, his tone leaving no room for argument. “Sign it. There’s a hundred thousand on the card. For your trouble.” I stared at him, my heart feeling like it was being crushed in a vice. Was that all I was worth to him? A hundred thousand dollars? When I didn’t move, he frowned. “Ava, everything you have, everything you wear—Bella’s work paid for it. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” “I’ll sign it when I’m dead.” Marco’s eyes turned to ice. “You can do this the easy way or the hard way.” He swiped his phone open. The sound of our daughter’s terrified screams filled the air as one of his men twisted her little hand at an unnatural angle. “No!” I shrieked. “Marco, that’s your daughter too!” A cold smile touched his lips. “Sign it, or she spends the rest of her life as a cripple. Your choice.” On the screen, the man snapped our two-year-old’s forearm. She convulsed in agony. “Don’t hurt her! I’ll sign!” I sobbed, my hand shaking too violently to hold the pen. Marco grabbed my hand and forced it to trace out my name, stroke by stroke. I looked at the man I had loved for so many years, my voice choked with tears. “Why? Why would you do this to us, just for her?” A flicker of regret crossed his face. He started to reach for me, but then he saw Isabella in the interrogation room next door and stopped himself. “I didn’t want to use our daughter, Ava. I had no choice. Try to understand.” “Bella is my second-in-command, and she’s my mentor’s only child. She’s never seen the inside of a precinct before. She’s not like you.” He called one of his men and ordered them to take our daughter to the best hospital in the city. “If anything, and I mean anything, happens to my little girl, I’ll have your heads.” I watched, my heart turning to a block of ice, as he snatched the agreement and rushed to get Isabella. My love for him, blurred by a torrent of tears, died with that signature. As I left the precinct, I called his mentor, Don Rossi—Isabella’s father. My voice was raw, final. “Don Rossi, I know you’ve always seen Marco as your son-in-law. I know you’ve always thought I stood in the way of him and your daughter.” “Now, you have your wish. I’m divorcing him.” The old Don was surprised, but his voice was laced with smug satisfaction. “You’re a smart girl. But everything Marco has, the Family and my daughter gave to him. You’ll leave with nothing. And you’ll leave Port City for good.” “Sign the papers and get them to me as soon as possible. The divorce will be final in a month. After that, I never want you to show your face in front of Marco again.” “Done,” I said, my voice crisp. I hung up, signed the divorce papers immediately, and had a lawyer deliver them to Don Rossi. For the next two weeks, it was as if Marco had vanished from the face of the earth. I stayed by our daughter’s side in the hospital, sleepless and alone. He only reappeared the day she was discharged. He was wearing an apron, a feast laid out on the table to celebrate our “homecoming.” He bought me a limited-edition sports car. He commissioned a solid gold statue in our daughter’s name at the local cathedral, to ensure her “divine protection.” The tabloids hailed him as a “devoted family man,” while I was the “trashy girl who got lucky.” It was as if his cruelty at the precinct had been a figment of my imagination. But I knew this wasn’t about guilt. It was about confidence. He was sure that, just like every other time, a few grand gestures would be enough to make me forget, to make me continue to endure Isabella’s abuse. Nausea churned in my stomach. I ran out of the cathedral for some fresh air, only to come face-to-face with Isabella herself. “Well, well, Mrs. Ricci. A new car, a golden statue. You must be on top of the world,” she purred, blowing a cloud of smoke in my face. “Marco loves you so much, doesn’t he? But do you know where he was while you were playing nurse?” She grinned, a venomous, triumphant look in her eyes. “He was with me. On a private resort down the coast, helping me get over the ‘trauma’ of being in a police station. We hiked during the day, and he kept me warm in bed at night. While you and your brat were left to rot in that hospital.” Every word was a dagger to my heart. He knew how badly our daughter was hurt, and he still chose to comfort the uninjured Isabella. This was a house of God. I clenched my fists, forcing myself to swallow my rage. But Isabella blocked my path, whispering in my ear, “If you don’t want your precious daughter to end up in a body bag, meet me in the chapel in ten minutes.” I rushed there, my hand freezing on the door handle. From inside, I could hear the unmistakable sounds of sex. A woman’s voice, moaning, “Marco… I’m coming…” The world went black, and I stumbled backward. A young acolyte saw me and rushed to help. His voice, calling out, “Ma’am, are you alright?” silenced the noises from within. The door creaked open. Marco stood there, shirtless, his pants half-zipped. Our eyes met. The color drained from his face. He fumbled with his zipper and ran after me. “Ava, it’s not what you think! A rival family drugged Bella! She barely escaped with her life and came to me for help!” Tears were already streaming down my face. I slapped him, hard. “Go to hell!” I turned and ran, blindly, crashing straight into a group of workers moving the new golden statue into the cathedral. The massive, heavy statue toppled over, crushing me beneath it. I felt my bones splinter, and then, without even a cry for help, I blacked out. I don’t know how much time passed. I thought I heard Marco’s voice, somewhere in the darkness. When I opened my eyes again, I was on an operating table. A doctor was on my phone, speaking frantically. “Mr. Ricci, your wife has multiple fractures. A piece of bone has pierced her heart. She’s in critical condition. We need you to get down here and sign the consent for surgery immediately.” There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Then, a sound that made everyone in the room blush. A woman’s sultry moan. “Oh, Marco… you’re so big… so deep…” Marco wasn’t even listening to the doctor. His voice was a ragged pant. “My wife… I’m saving Bella… whatever it is… it can wait…” The line went dead. The entire surgical team looked at me with pity. A bitter, ironic smile touched my lips. Every breath was an agony. It took me a moment to find my voice. “My apologies for the scene,” I rasped. “I’ll sign for myself.” When I woke up again, it was the next day. Marco was by my bedside, his eyes bloodshot, his hair a mess. He saw me open my eyes, and his own filled with tears. “Ava, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault. I didn’t know you were really hurt. I thought you were just angry about Bella and trying to get my attention.” I didn’t even look at him. I fumbled for the call button. “There’s a visitor disturbing my rest. Please have him removed.” “Ava, I’m not leaving. You don’t have anyone else in this city. I have to take care of you.” He was genuinely panicked now by my cold indifference, gripping my hand tightly. When security arrived, he pulled out a gun and pressed it to the guard’s forehead. He cancelled all his meetings, delegated all his responsibilities, and stayed by my side, day and night. The tabloids called him “Husband of the Year.” The day I was discharged, Marco went to handle the paperwork. His men cornered me, and a sharp blow to the back of my neck sent me into darkness. A bucket of ice water shocked me awake. I was naked, strapped to an operating table. Isabella stood over me, holding a splintered wooden rod, her eyes gleaming with a sick, manic excitement. “You little slut. You like using hospitals to steal Marco from me? Well, today, you’re going to get all the ‘treatment’ you can handle. By the time I’m done with you, the thought of touching you will make him sick.” She plunged the rod into me. Blood bloomed between my legs. Several of his men were already unbuckling their belts, their greasy hands stroking my thighs. I trembled, screaming, “No, no, please…” Isabella just laughed, filming the whole thing on her phone. Just as they were about to descend on me, the door to the operating room burst open with a deafening crash. Marco stood there, a gun in each hand, his face a mask of demonic fury. When he saw my state, a guttural roar of rage tore from his throat. He opened fire, each shot finding its mark. “Ava!” He ran to me, his hands shaking as he fumbled with the restraints. He pulled me into his arms, his entire body trembling. “It’s okay, you’re safe now! Anyone who hurt you is going to pay!” The terror of what had just almost happened washed over me, and I finally broke down, sobbing. He gently covered me with his jacket, his voice a soothing murmur. Then he swept me up into his arms to get me to a doctor. Isabella, her face twisted in a snarl, blocked our path. “You’re not going anywhere! She pissed me off. I’m going to cripple her today.” Marco didn’t back down. His eyes were cold steel, his voice lethal. “Isabella, for the sake of our history, I’ve put up with all your games. But you don’t mess with my wife’s honor. She’s my woman. Only I can touch her. If anything serious happens to her today, I will personally take your head and offer it to her as an apology.” The sheer killing intent rolling off him made her stumble backward. She couldn’t comprehend it. The Marco who had always taken her side was now defending me. Her eyes went wild. “Apologize to her? That piece of trash? You broke our vow first! You’re the one who betrayed me! Leaving her with me is the least you can do. If you insist on leaving… you’ll have to walk over my dead body!” She snatched a gun from one of the dead men and pulled the trigger on herself. The moment the shot rang out, Marco instinctively dropped me and lunged for Isabella. I hit the floor hard. The wooden rod inside me was driven deeper, and blood poured from the wound. Marco didn’t even hear my scream. He was already running out the door with Isabella in his arms. I didn’t dare pull the rod out. I started to crawl, leaving a smear of blood on the floor behind me. I had just made it out of the operating room when a hand grabbed my hair and yanked me up. It was Marco. He dragged me, kicking and screaming, down the hall to another O.R. “Bella’s kidney was damaged by the bullet. You’re a match. You’re giving her one of yours.” I raked my nails down his arms, drawing blood, my voice a hysterical shriek. “You’re not human, Marco! She set me up! She shot herself! Why do I have to pay for her crimes?” His grip didn’t loosen. His eyes were resolute. “She did it because she was mad at you, Ava. You’re the one who caused this. Besides, you can live with one kidney. Bella has lived a pampered life. She needs both of hers. I’ll owe you for this one. I’ll get you the best doctors, the best care. I’ll even buy you a villa on the Peak as compensation.” I tried to fight, but he pressed a cloth soaked in chloroform over my mouth and nose. His last words to me before I passed out were, “Since you’re not objecting, I’ll take that as a yes.” My mind screamed, I object, Marco! And I hate you! And then, I was lifted onto the operating table, and the world faded to black. When I opened my eyes, he was there, just like before. The concern and guilt in his eyes were real. “Ava, you’re awake. You were in bad shape. The doctors were worried.” “Here, let me help you sit up. Have some soup…” Before the spoon could reach my lips, I slapped the bowl from his hand. It shattered on the floor, the shards digging into his feet. He didn’t even flinch, so desperate was he to appease me. But it was too late, Marco. The next evening, while he was on a phone call, Isabella stormed in. She looked down at me, her eyes filled with contempt. “My kidney was fine, you know. I lied to him. And he didn’t even think twice before he had yours cut out for me.” “Pathetic, isn’t it? The great boss’s wife, so pitiful and weak. He says he loves you, but every time I hurt you, he takes my side. Don’t you see who he really loves?” I was shaking with rage, barely able to grit out the word, “Get out.” Her expression soured. She slapped me across the face. “You dare talk to me like that, you bitch? Fine. You just wait. I’m going to finish you today.” She stormed out. A moment later, Marco came in, his face livid. He punched me, right on my surgical wound. Pain exploded through my body. Blood soaked through my bandages. “Ava, I told you I would make it up to you. Why did you have to go after Bella?” I couldn’t believe it. “She came here to provoke me!” “Bullshit!” Another punch landed on the same spot. “The nurse confessed. You bribed her to throw away Bella’s anti-rejection meds. You were trying to kill her.” He didn’t even investigate. He just pronounced me guilty. My heart felt like it had been carved out of my chest. “Is that what you really think of me, Marco? That I’m that evil? Have you even considered that I’ve been by your side every single day? When would I have had time to bribe a nurse?” “For years, she’s been the one hurting me! Have I ever once fought back? Haven’t I always let it go, just because you asked me to?” “You’re the only one with a motive to hurt her,” he said, his voice cold and final. “Couldn’t she be the one lying? Trying to frame me?” I screamed. The injustices of the past three years felt like mountains pressing down on me. His distrust was the final straw. I struggled to sit up, grabbing anything within reach and hurling it at him. “You’re a monster, Marco! A heartless bastard! You say you love me, but everything you do is to protect her! For three years, the words I’ve heard most from you aren’t ‘I love you,’ but ‘Let it go, Ava. I owe Bella.’ I’m sick of your love! I don’t want it anymore!” He’d never seen me so furious. He looked lost, reaching out to comfort me. But then Isabella ran in, her face pale, a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth. She threw her arms around his waist, sobbing. “Marco, I almost died. Aren’t you scared? Do you want this to happen again? Ava’s been with you for three years, and she still hasn’t learned how to be an obedient wife. If you can’t teach her, then I will. Just say the word, and we’ll call it even.” Marco hesitated. His fists were clenched at his sides. Isabella tugged at his sleeve again, and something inside him seemed to snap. He made his decision. “Fine. Teach her some manners. But don’t kill her.” Isabella’s lips twisted into a cruel smile as she glanced at me. Two of his men rushed in, grabbed me, and dragged me out to a waiting van. I was helpless. My only hope was to appeal to him one last time. “For the sake of what we once were, don’t let them take me. They’ll kill me!” He just looked down, taking Isabella’s side once again. “Ava, it’s time you learned how to be a good wife. I’ll come get you when you’re ready.” For the next week, I was tortured. Nails were driven through the soles of my feet. Filth was poured over my head. I was strapped to an electric bed, thrown into a freezer until I passed out, and then scalded with boiling water to wake me up. Isabella watched it all from a chair, sipping a glass of red wine. She only called a halt when my vital signs began to plummet. “Useless thing. I wasn’t even done playing! When is Marco going to let me kill you? I’m getting bored.” She ground her heel into my bloody, mangled face. “Get her to a hospital. If she actually dies, Marco will probably kill himself.” I was dumped at the entrance to the emergency room. The doctors were afraid to even touch me, for fear I would die on the spot. It took a team of specialists three days and three nights to bring me back from the brink. The moment I opened my eyes, I received a message from Don Rossi. [The divorce is final. It’s time for you to honor your promise and disappear.] I replied instantly. [Good. Arrange for my faked death. Tie up all the loose ends.] This time, he called. “There’s a turf war going down at the docks tonight. I’ll have my men start a fire in the confusion. I’ve already found a body double for you. Get on the boat at the harbor and don’t look back.” After I hung up, a wave of relief washed over me, greater than any I had ever known. I changed into street clothes, avoided the cameras, and headed straight for the harbor. The lights of Port City grew smaller and smaller, until they were just a faint glimmer on the horizon. At that same moment, Marco received a call from the hospital. “What’s wrong with Ava? You said you were just teaching her some manners. Why is she in critical condition?” “Bullshit! Manners don’t cause full-body skin ulceration, multiple fractures, and internal bleeding! She was tortured!” Marco flipped a table at the casino and drove like a madman toward the hospital. But as he reached the docks, he found his path blocked by a full-blown war between the city’s two largest gangs. He dodged knives and bullets, getting cut several times as he tried to push through. He had just reached the hospital entrance when he saw the thick, black smoke and the towering flames. A panicked crowd surged out, making it impossible for him to move forward. He could only watch as the fire consumed everything. Finally, the fire crews pulled a charred body from the wreckage. “Mr. Ricci, we’ve confirmed it’s your wife. Please accept our condolences.”

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1 My wife, who always hated carrying a key, had the smart lock on our front door replaced with an old-fashioned deadbolt. She even started locking the bathroom door when she showered. Now, I have to call her every time I come home, just so she’ll let me in. I couldn’t live with that kind of humiliation. At the next family dinner, I slid a stack of divorce papers onto the table. Everyone thought I was just drunk and joking. Then my wife, Ruby, slapped me hard across the face, her eyes blazing. “Is it so hard to call first? You promised you’d respect me forever!” I looked at her, my face a cold mask, and let out a short, bitter laugh. “If I leave you for good, isn’t that the ultimate sign of respect?” … “Shut up!” “James, if I hadn’t gotten postpartum depression after our daughter was born, I wouldn’t be so insecure!” “This reason for divorce is insane! I won’t accept it!” Ruby jabbed a finger at my face, her eyes turning red. I didn’t even bother to look at her. I closed my briefcase with a snap. “Sign them. Don’t make me force you.” I grabbed my things and stood to leave. The entire family stared, caught between Ruby’s trembling form and my cold, resolute back. I could hear their whispers, wondering how the man who once put Ruby before everything else could suddenly demand a divorce over something so trivial. Ruby froze for a second, then reached out to grab me. Her father started to rise from his chair. But before I could take a step, Ruby’s psychiatrist, Dr. Collins, pushed me back down into my seat. “Mr. Vance, your wife is suffering from severe postpartum depression. She has extreme insecurity,” he said, his voice dripping with condescension. “She only locks the door to feel safe! How can you, her husband, be so callous?” “It’s your constant antagonism that’s making her condition worse!” My in-laws immediately sided with him. “Dr. Collins is right!” “He’s just in a bad mood and taking it out on his wife!” “For a man who married into this family, he’s got a hell of an attitude. If it wasn’t for Ruby loving him, he’d be nothing today!” Ruby shot them a look that silenced them, then turned her gaze to me, her voice softening into a fragile, pleading tone. “Honey, I’m so sorry.” “I know my illness has been hard on you. You never used to raise your voice at me. For the sake of the ten years we’ve loved each other, please, just calm down.” “Is it your mother’s medical bills again? Don’t be afraid to ask. Your mom is my family, too.” Watching Ruby humble herself to coax me, the relatives clucked in admiration, but their glares at me grew sharper. “James, for a woman as sick as Ruby to treat you this well… you should be grateful,” one of them said. “Have we ever not taken care of your mother’s needs? Just tell us how much you need. We’ll figure it out,” Ruby’s father added, leaning on his cane. I knew what they were thinking. That I was too proud to ask the Ashwood family for more money, so I was resorting to this ridiculous drama. I met Ruby’s eyes as she reached for my hand. I pulled away. “The feeling is gone,” I said, my voice flat. “Let’s end this.” A dead silence fell over the room. Ruby threw her arms around me, her voice breaking into a sob. “James, don’t lie to me…” I pushed her off, taking two steps back. “It’s the truth.” “Let’s stop here. Try to keep some dignity.” Ruby stood there, stunned. In the corner, our daughter started wailing from her stroller. Ignoring everyone, I turned to leave again. CRASH. A water glass shattered on the floor in front of me. Dr. Collins had thrown it. He lunged forward, slamming the divorce papers against my chest, his finger pointing at my face as he spat, “James, are you even a man?” “Ruby gave up a scholarship to study abroad to marry you! She loves you so much! Is this how you repay her?” “Now that she’s sick, you’re just going to abandon her and your daughter?” “You ungrateful bastard!” I looked at the psychiatrist, who was practically vibrating with rage, and found it all amusing. “Dr. Collins, this is a matter between my wife and me. It has nothing to do with you, does it?” Spittle flew from his lips as he grabbed my collar. “She is still your wife!” “You have no idea how good you have it! Do you have any clue how much of the Ashwoods’ money you’ve burned through for that dying mother of yours?” “If Ruby hadn’t taken pity on you, if she didn’t love you, your mother would have been dead and buried years ago, you worthless bum!” I kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him stumbling backward. “Get lost. A family dinner is no place for a shrink to play hero.” Ruby shoved me aside and scrambled to help Dr. Collins. “James, why are you taking it out on him? He’s innocent!” “He’s a piece of trash who needs to learn to watch his mouth!” I snarled, glancing at the two of them on the floor, their dynamic making my resolve even harder. The chorus of insults from the relatives grew louder, a wave of condemnation washing over me, erasing ten years of my life and my dedication. They called me a leech, saying Ruby had suffered endlessly by marrying me. Dr. Collins patted Ruby’s hand. “It’s okay, Ruby. It’s my fault.” “As an outsider, I shouldn’t have judged Mr. Vance. Don’t get upset, you’ll make yourself sick.” He shook his head, his voice full of feigned regret. “How could it be your fault?” Ruby’s eyes were overflowing with sympathy for him. She looked up at me, her voice choked with tears. “Honey, do you really want to humiliate everyone like this?” “You know I love you. All our family is here today. Can’t you just give me this one thing? Let’s go home and talk.” Her tears fell, splashing onto Dr. Collins’s chest. I almost laughed. She only cried harder. The relatives rushed to comfort her, her performance painting me as the villain of the century. “James, you’ve taken good care of Ruby all these years.” “I’ve seen your hard work and how you care for your mother.” “Just be honest with us. What really happened? If it’s our family’s fault, we won’t deny it.” Ruby’s father limped over, trying to reason with me. But I wasn’t having it. My face was granite. “This marriage is over.” Her father choked, his face turning beet red. Ruby scrambled up from the floor and grabbed my arm, begging, “Honey, please don’t go.” When I didn’t move, she screamed, “You must be cheating on me!” I just looked at her, saying nothing. The sharp rap of a cane hit the floor. Her father’s voice was a low growl. “James Vance!” “Everything you have, every piece of clothing on your back, came from this family! And you still have a sick mother to support!” “You can either be a good husband, or you can leave with nothing but the clothes on your back. The choice is yours.” “I suggest you think very carefully. You have two days.” It was supposed to be a terrifying threat. The faces around me were hungry for my surrender. I ripped my arm from Ruby’s grasp. And walked out the door. As soon as I got in my car, a file was handed to me from the passenger seat. “This report should be more than enough.” My childhood friend, Maya, tilted her head toward the conclusive results. “Thanks for your hard work.” “And don’t forget,” I added, “the big gift we have for Ruby tomorrow.” I let out a long breath and opened the video Maya had just sent me. Every day, just before I was scheduled to get home from work, a figure would slip out of my front door. Then, as a final act of defiance, he’d taunt the security camera, dangling a different pair of lace panties each time. Two days was too long. I wanted to send them all to hell as fast as possible. When I went to pay for dinner, the server informed me my card had been declined. For years, the Ashwoods had controlled every cent I spent. They claimed it was to stop me from making risky investments, but really, it was to ensure the man who married their daughter never gained any real power. Ruby was the one who transferred money to my account each month. If she was in a good mood, I got a little extra. If she wasn’t, I got nothing. Since she changed the locks, the account had been empty. The next morning, I drove back to the house to pack my things. Before I even entered the gated community, a group of neighborhood women started pointing at me. “Isn’t that the Ashwoods’ son-in-law?” “I heard he found a richer mistress and is abandoning his wife and baby! What a white-trash freeloader!” “And that poor Ruby! She’s been sick ever since the baby was born, and now she has to deal with this! It’s a disgrace!” They spat sunflower seed shells in my direction, their voices sharp and loud enough for the whole street to hear. I started to turn, to defend myself. “Honey~” A Porsche pulled up beside me, and Ruby’s sweet voice drifted from inside. “I knew you’d be back. I just bought you a new tie. Come home and see it.” My face was a blank mask as I got into the back seat. I glanced at the designer label on the tie box and tossed it out the window. Ruby’s mouth opened, but no words came out. “Hey! That must have cost a fortune!” “He just threw it away?” The women outside scrambled toward the car to grab it. “Drive,” I said, nodding toward the underground garage. She suppressed her anger and followed me to our front door. When she opened it, Dr. Collins was in the living room, gently rocking our daughter’s cradle. Ruby’s eyes widened in shock. She struggled to compose herself, her voice stuttering. “Dr. Collins… was scheduled to… come by… for my therapy session.” I ignored them and walked straight to the bedroom. I was only here for one thing: the family heirloom bracelet my mother had asked me to give to my wife. Ruby no longer deserved it. Before I could step inside, Dr. Collins pushed the cradle in front of me, blocking my path with a self-satisfied smile. “James. It’s good that you came home.” “A child so young needs her father.” “Come and see your daughter.” He tried to pull me toward the cradle. I shook him off. He grabbed me again. My patience snapped. I shoved him away, my voice filled with disgust. “Get lost.” I went into the bedroom, opened the nightstand drawer, and took out the bracelet box. Dr. Collins followed me, lunging for the box, but I was too quick for him. “This belongs to my family. You think you’re worthy of touching it?” I pushed him hard. He stumbled back. Suddenly, the room was filled with a loud crash and the sound of a baby screaming. Dr. Collins was on the floor next to the overturned cradle. Ruby ran in, saw the scene, and immediately started screaming at me. “James! If anything happens to my daughter, I will destroy you!” She snatched up the baby, frantically checking her for injuries. “Ruby, it was all my fault,” Dr. Collins whimpered from the floor. “I just thought the baby missed her daddy, but James didn’t care at all… he just pushed us away.” While I was distracted, Ruby lunged, ripped the jewelry box from my hand, and slammed it on the floor with all her might, her eyes bloodshot. “For this piece of junk! You’d hurt your own flesh and blood?” My mind went blank, focused only on the bracelet. Thankfully, the box was sturdy. The heirloom was unharmed. Dr. Collins yelled from behind me, “You’re a monster! Your daughter gets hurt and all you care about is a stupid bracelet? Is it more important than her life?” Ruby righted the cradle, her eyes swimming with tears as she stared at me. “James, you better pray that she’s okay!” “Take your trash and get out of my house!” “And never come back!” “After the court hearing tomorrow, not only will you leave with nothing, but I’ll make sure you lose everything and everyone you care about!” “Get out!” she shrieked like a madwoman, throwing whatever she could grab. I just protected the box and walked out of that toxic hellhole. I wasn’t even out of the neighborhood when Maya called, telling me to check the trending topics online. A tidal wave of hate crashed over me. I was a money-grubbing scumbag. A leech who could only survive by clinging to rich women. A misogynist who valued a non-existent male heir over his own daughter. Countless accusations were piled on me, illustrated with AI-generated images that made them look horrifyingly real. “Scrub everything about my mother. For the rest of it, file lawsuits,” I told Maya and hung up, letting the storm rage. After lunch, I announced I would be holding a livestream that afternoon. Ruby called me over a hundred times. I didn’t answer. Finally, she showed up outside Maya’s apartment building with a banner and a bullhorn. The noise was deafening. “James, the entire internet hates you right now!” “Going live won’t help! If you just apologize and come to your senses, I’m willing to give you another chance!” I watched her from behind the floor-to-ceiling window, my face impassive. Dr. Collins took the bullhorn. “Ruby is willing to forgive you! Why are you making this so hard on yourself? This livestream will only make things worse!” “Just admit you’re wrong, and your mother might still have a chance!” Ruby’s father was there too, sitting under a patio umbrella. His voice was a low rumble. “James, don’t be so impulsive.” “What man in his right mind divorces his wife because she changed the locks on the door?” Their words were supposed to sound like advice, but they felt like threats. I watched the second hand on the clock complete its final sweep. The livestream started. As expected, the comments were a waterfall of insults. Not to be outdone, Ruby started her own stream using her company’s account and requested to join mine. The screen split in two. “James, since you refuse to see reason, don’t blame me for what comes next.” On her side of the screen, she displayed my credit card statements from exclusive private clubs and a series of sordid, fabricated chat logs. 【Wow, he really is trash! So dirty!】 【Poor Ruby! I support the divorce!!】 【I’m a lawyer, and I can tell you this scumbag is leaving with NOTHING!】 “So, what do you think? Let’s let the public be the judge today!” Ruby said, smugly fanning herself behind a pair of oversized sunglasses. I gave a cold, humorless laugh, turned up the A/C, and said calmly, “Eight hundred and ninety-one.” At that, Ruby froze. She quickly resumed fanning herself, faster this time. “Don’t start quoting legal statutes. You don’t know any.” “Is it a legal statute, Ruby?” Beside me, Maya couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter. It was time to unwrap the gift.

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My mother gave us a choice. Go with her to the Knight estate, where we could attend the same elite high school as the Knight heir but would have to stay in the country for college. Or stay in our hometown, finish school here, and be sent to study abroad. My sister, Maya, didn’t hesitate. “Mom, I want to go with you. To the Knights.” A pleased smile spread across our mother’s face before she turned to me. “Your sister has chosen. As the older one, you should let her have her way. I’ll send you abroad after you graduate. That way, I’ll have fulfilled my duty to both of you.” Watching Maya cling to our mother’s arm, her face glowing with anticipation, I knew. She had been reborn, too. Too bad for her. Gareth Knight would never fall for her. 1 “Elara, the Knights need me back, so your sister and I are leaving today. Take care of yourself.” After packing her bags, my mother left with Maya, just like that. A stark contrast to my first life, where she’d stayed for ten excruciating days, trying to convince Maya to come with her. In that life, when our mother laid out the two choices, Maya had also been quick to decide. But she had chosen to study abroad. After my parents divorced, I was sent to live with my father. For ten years, my mother never visited, not once, but I thought of her every single day. It wasn’t until my father passed away and the police brought me to her that I had a mother again. So when Maya chose to go abroad, I was ecstatic. It meant I could finally be with my mother. But my mother had wanted Maya. She spent those ten days relentlessly trying to change her mind, but Maya was convinced the grass was greener overseas and wouldn’t budge. So, I was the one who went with my mother to the Knight estate. And there, I met Gareth. He was breathtakingly handsome, with a cool, aristocratic air and a brilliant mind. He was the prince charming of every girl in school. I couldn’t help but fall for him. I knew we were worlds apart, so I buried my feelings deep inside. Until the night of our high school graduation. After a party, Gareth, flushed with alcohol, cornered me in the basement. “Elara,” he whispered, his voice intense. “Come abroad with me.” I forced myself to look away. “I can’t afford it.” A slow smile spread across his face, lighting up the dim room. “I’ll pay for you.” In that single moment, I realized the boy I had secretly loved for three years loved me back. The happiness was overwhelming. I rushed to tell my mother the news, my heart soaring. Her response was a sharp slap across my face. “Absolutely not. You gave up the right to go abroad when you chose to come here. The money I’ve saved is for Maya’s education.” I cupped my stinging cheek. “But Gareth said I wouldn’t have to pay. He’s covering my tuition.” She scoffed, her eyes raking over me with contempt. “Have you no shame? Seducing him for his money? Have you forgotten your place? He’s a Knight. You’re the help’s daughter. A boy like that might find you amusing for a while, but when he gets bored and dumps you, who do you think will have to clean up the mess? Forget about going abroad. If you disobey me, you will never call me ‘mother’ again. And stay away from him. Don’t ruin my job.” Starved of a mother’s love my whole life, the threat of losing her again terrified me. Numb with grief, I turned Gareth down. But he was resolute. “Distance doesn’t matter,” he told me solemnly. “I can afford the plane tickets.” We started a long-distance relationship in college. He flew back to see me every month, and the sweetness of his love filled me with hope for our future. When my mother found out, she went behind my back and asked Gareth to look after Maya, who was studying in the same country. Gareth, unaware of our family’s twisted dynamic, naively took on the role of a protective future brother-in-law. Then, one day during my senior year, I received a text from Maya. It was a picture. She was topless, her arms wrapped around Gareth’s neck as they lay in a hotel bed. [He’s with me now, Elara. Stop bothering him.] After three years together, I knew Gareth would never betray me. My first thought was that he’d been set up. Blinded by rage, I called Maya. I never saw the truck. As my soul drifted from my body, I heard my mother’s voice, clear and cold. “It’s good that she’s dead. Now, hurry up and win over the young master. You’re going to be the next Mrs. Knight.” Maya’s triumphant laugh echoed. “You were right all along, Mom. Asking Gareth to look after me was a stroke of genius. It gave me the perfect chance to drug him and get that photo. I was just trying to make Elara give up, but her dying like this? It’s a gift from heaven. I’ll just wait for him to get over his little heartbreak, then I’ll offer myself up.” I had always believed that even if my mother favored Maya, she still loved me as a daughter. I was wrong. She felt nothing at my death. My spirit, shattered, drifted to find Gareth. I found him in the bathtub, clutching my photograph, gone. He had followed me into death. Only then did I truly understand. Gareth’s love for me was stronger than life itself. A wild, desperate power surged through me. I focused all of it on Maya as she descended the grand staircase. I tripped her. I watched her body tumble, her life ending with a sickening crack at the bottom of the stairs. Only then did my soul find peace. And now, I was back. Back on the day my fate was decided. But this time, Maya had chosen the Knight estate. She thought that by being close to Gareth, she could win his heart. She was so wrong. Gareth would never love her. And I would make them both pay for what they did to us. 2 The moment my mother and Maya left, my aunt told me to move into the school dorms early, claiming they were renovating my room. My mother worked as a live-in maid for the Knights, so Maya and I had been living with my aunt and uncle. My mother sent them money every month for our expenses. In my first life, when I left with my mother, she increased the payments to ensure they took good care of Maya. Clearly, this time, the payments had stopped. I didn’t argue. I packed my few belongings and left. But before heading to school, I had another stop to make. I went to the bank. My father had set up a small savings account for me, depositing a little money on every birthday. Only I knew about it. I withdrew the cash and boarded a long-distance bus to a remote cemetery. A fierce storm was raging. I huddled under a tree in my raincoat, waiting. Just as dusk settled, a sixteen-year-old Gareth Knight burst through the gates, ignoring the downpour. Several bodyguards trailed behind him. He was soaked to the bone, his sharp eyes cold and intense, but his steps were determined. He stopped in front of a particular gravestone and began frantically clawing at the overgrown grass around it. “Young master, the rain is too heavy! It must have been washed away. We can come back and look when the storm passes.” Gareth acted as if he hadn’t heard a word. He searched until he was exhausted, his shoulders slumped in despair. That’s when I stepped out from behind the tree. “Excuse me,” I called out. “Are you looking for this?” I pulled a necklace from my pocket. Gareth’s eyes lit up, and he rushed over. Seeing how drenched he was, I instinctively raised my umbrella to shield him from the rain. His hand trembled as he took the necklace, a wave of relief washing over his tense features. “How did you find this?” In our past life, after we got together, Gareth told me that his greatest regret was losing the necklace he and his mother had made together during the summer he was sixteen. So I came here. To fix his regret, and to meet him. I shrugged, feigning a shiver. “The rainwater must have washed it down here. I just picked it up. When I saw you searching so desperately, I figured it must be yours.” “Thank you,” he said, his voice stiff. “This necklace is very important to me. What can I give you as a reward?” He was grateful, but his guard was still up, his posture keeping me at a distance. My teeth chattered. “Could you… could you buy me a cup of instant noodles? I’m cold and starving.” He blinked, surprised, and then a genuine laugh escaped him. “Okay.” Half an hour later, at my insistence, Gareth Knight ate his first-ever cup of instant noodles. “I never knew this stuff was so good,” he admitted. In our past life, it had been his favorite comfort food. After we finished, he asked for my number, insisting he still owed me a proper thank you. I smiled and shook my head. “If we’re meant to, we’ll see each other again.” The moment I turned away, my eyes burned with unshed tears. I wanted so badly to run back, to throw my arms around him and tell him everything. To tell him how much I had missed him, how the thought of him had kept me sane. But he would have thought I was insane. I didn’t give him my number because I already knew his every move for the next few years of high school. We would meet again. And he would think it was fate. Not a carefully orchestrated plan. 3 The first day of school finally arrived. The coursework was a breeze. I began plotting my second meeting with Gareth. During the fall break, I got a part-time job cleaning the local ice hockey rink. On the third day, Gareth came to practice. I watched him from the shadows, my heart aching with a familiar love. When he was finishing up, I spoke, just loud enough for him to hear. “You need to twist your wrist more on the pass.” He spun around. I couldn’t see his eyes under the helmet, but I could feel his shock. “It’s you! How did you know that was my weakness?” How could I not? He had been the one to tell me, years ago. I played dumb. “Just a lucky guess. Have we met before?” He pulled off his helmet, and his eyes sparkled with surprised recognition. I widened my eyes in mock astonishment. “Oh, it’s you!” We had lunch together. “You’re underage. How are you working here?” he asked. “Shh!” I whispered conspiratorially. “Don’t tell the manager. I pretended I was older.” “Do you need money that badly?” “My dad died in a car accident,” I said, letting the truth of my past life color my tone. “My mom took all the settlement money and left with my sister. If I don’t work, how will I survive?” Gareth was quiet for a moment. “Practice with me this afternoon.” I hesitated. “But I have to finish cleaning.” “Five hundred dollars an hour.” “You got it, boss!” He laughed again, nearly spitting out his food. After practice, he asked me to dinner. I was about to say yes when I saw Maya lurking outside the rink, watching us. “Maybe next time! I’ve got to go.” We exchanged numbers when he paid me. Back in my dorm, a message from him came through. [Did you get home safe?] A smile tugged at my lips. I simply replied: [Yes.] 4 After the break, I started preparing for the regional debate tournament. In my first life, even though Gareth and I knew each other, we moved in different circles. At school, he was in the top class, I was in the lowest. At home, he lived on the top floor, I lived in the basement. We were two parallel lines, never meant to cross. It was the debate tournament that made him truly see me. This time, I was determined to shine even brighter. But when I went to sign up, I discovered my school, Maplewood High, had no intention of participating. Furious, I took my sleeping bag and camped out on the principal’s doorstep. He finally relented, agreeing to let me form a team and register, but we would have to cover all the expenses ourselves. Luckily, plenty of students were eager to join. We threw ourselves into preparation, a whirlwind of research and practice sessions. Gareth would text me occasionally. Each time, I’d stop everything, reading his short messages over and over before composing a brief, restrained reply. Just before winter break, I led our underdog team to the finals. Gareth spotted me immediately. “Are you working a part-time job here, too?” I flashed my school ID badge. “I’m here for the finals.” He glanced at the badge, and his eyes widened. “You’re the debater from Maplewood High they’re all talking about?” “‘Talking about’?” His expression was intense, his gaze burning. “For a school like yours to make it to the finals… it’s practically a miracle. Half the audience today came just to see your team captain. You have to introduce me after the match.” Just then, one of my teammates ran over. “Captain, our seats are over there. Let’s go!” Gareth froze, the look in his eyes shifting as he stared at me.

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On my wedding day, my best friend Jess gave me a cheap lottery ticket as a gift. I saw disgust in her eyes as she said sweetly, “It’s the thought that counts. Besides, I’m pregnant—I need every penny. You wouldn’t take money from me, right?” Chilled but unwilling to cause a scene, I let it go. Later, I discovered the ticket was worth $50 million. My husband Mark and I claimed the prize, but the news spread fast. Jess showed up at our door, frantic and accusing me of stealing her luck. In the struggle, she lunged with a knife—but it struck Mark instead. As I tried to call for help, she tackled me. We crashed through the balcony glass and fell to our deaths. Then I woke up—back at the wedding, the lottery ticket still in my hand. 1 My hand was frozen in mid-air. A second later, Jess slapped it down, hard. A sharp, stinging pain shot up from my knuckles, snapping me back to reality. I was back. Back at my own wedding. I watched as Jess shot me a venomous glare and stuffed the lottery ticket—the one meant to be my gift—back into her own pocket. As she did, she carefully, almost obsessively, checked to make sure it wasn’t bent or torn. “Jess, what are you doing?” I asked, my voice trembling slightly. “Weren’t you giving that to me?” Her face contorted with rage. “Giving it to you? Who said I was giving it to you?” she shrieked. “This is mine! I bought it for myself! Who the hell do you think you are? You think you deserve something of mine?” I quickly glanced at the numbers on the ticket. They were identical to the one she’d given me in my past life. What she didn’t know was that her ticket was a dud. The reason I’d won fifty million dollars in my past life was because I had also bought a ticket for myself that morning. The real winner was mine. The cheerful buzz of the reception hall died down, replaced by a stunned silence. All eyes were on us. A few of our mutual friends hurried over. “What’s going on? Why are you two fighting?” But Megan, who had seen the whole exchange, couldn’t help but sneer. “It’s Liv’s wedding day, and you give her a lottery ticket as a gift, which is tacky enough. But now you’re asking for it back? You’ve got some nerve!” That was the spark that lit the fuse. Jess’s eyes went wide. She shoved Megan violently. “What do you know? What could you possibly know?” “That ticket was always meant to be mine!” Her manic energy scared everyone. The crowd took a collective step back. And in that moment, I knew. She had been reborn, too. In my past life, at this exact moment, she had handed me the ticket with a smile. “I bought this lottery ticket especially for you today,” she’d said, pressing it into my hand. “Make sure you keep it safe.” “It’s the thought that counts. Just take it. Oh, and by the way, my due date is in six months. As the godmother, you’d better start saving up for a big gift.” At the time, I was just confused. I thought it was some kind of weird joke. We had known each other for over twenty years. When she got married, I had been her rock. The wedding dress, the diamond ring, even the designer handbag she carried—I bought them all for her. She had promised me that when I got married, no matter what, she would be my maid of honor. So when Mark and I set our date, she was the first person I called. Her response was a flat rejection. “I’m pregnant. I can’t be a maid of honor. It’s too much work. You wouldn’t make a pregnant woman do all that, would you?” I was hurt, but I understood. Being a maid of honor is exhausting. “Olivia! Are you deaf?” Jess’s shrill voice cut through my memories, yanking me back to the present. The thought of how I had died because of her made my fists clench at my sides. “Fine! Since Megan already called me out, I’ll just say it!” Jess shrieked, her voice echoing through the silent hall. “From this day forward, Olivia and I are done! We have nothing to do with each other!” She steadied herself on someone’s arm and climbed onto a chair, addressing the whole room. “Everyone, listen up! Anyone who goes to Olivia right now and gets their wedding gift back, I’ll give you five thousand dollars in cash! Right now!” People just stared at her like she was insane. She didn’t care. She pulled out her phone and called her husband, telling him to withdraw all their savings from the bank. When she hung up, she shot me a triumphant, vicious grin. “Liv, don’t blame me for being ruthless. You can only blame yourself for taking something that was never yours to begin with!” 2 She spat the words out, her teeth clenched. The atmosphere was thick with tension. A few people tried to gently pull her aside, but it was a half-hearted effort. They wanted to see the show. My wedding ceremony was scheduled to start in fifteen minutes. Instead, I was surrounded. “It’s Liv’s wedding day. Can’t this wait until after?” someone murmured. Jess tilted her chin up. “Let me repeat myself. If you cut ties with Olivia right now, I will give you five thousand dollars each!” Just as she finished speaking, her husband arrived, panting, dragging a heavy black duffel bag. “Put it on the floor!” she commanded. He grunted and dropped the bag, unzipping it to reveal stacks and stacks of cash. “Honey, all of our savings. Twenty thousand dollars. It’s all here.” The sight of that much cash stunned the room into silence. Megan, standing beside me, gasped. Her voice was suddenly syrupy sweet. “Jess, you’re… you’re serious?” Jess laughed, a short, sharp sound. “Of course, I’m serious. When have I ever lied?” “And believe me, I’m about to have a lot more money than this.” Before, they would have dismissed her as crazy. But now, with a bag full of cash at her feet, they were listening. Megan was the first to turn. Her eyes flicked over to me, and she held out her hand. “Liv, I wish you all the best. Now, about that two-hundred-dollar gift I gave you… can I get that back?” Before I could even speak, Jess was already counting out five thousand dollars and shoving it into Megan’s hands. “Limited-time offer! First come, first served!” That was all it took. A wave of people surged toward me, demanding their gifts back. Among them were some of my own relatives. “Liv, sweetie, I know this hurts,” my own aunt said, not even trying to hide her greed. “But who can resist an offer like this? Five thousand dollars! Do you know how little I make a month cleaning houses?” She turned and yelled over her shoulder, “Me! I’m next! I’m officially cutting ties with my niece! Can I get a little extra for being family?” The few guests I had were now all crowded around Jess. A few minutes later, the once-stuffed duffel bag was empty. As everyone quietly counted their money, Jess strode toward me on her tiptoes. In front of my disbelieving eyes, she called over the venue manager. She pointed around the beautifully decorated hall. “I want to book this ballroom. Right now. How much will it cost?” The manager shot me a troubled look. “Ma’am, I’m afraid that’s not possible. This ballroom has already been booked by this…” “Whatever she paid, I’ll pay double!” The manager hesitated. “Ma’am, it’s against our policy to…” “Triple!” A flicker of excitement crossed his face. He was wavering. “Four times! No! I’ll pay five times her price to book this hall. Right now.” That sealed it. The manager was sold. Without even looking at me, he agreed. “Yes! Of course! I’ll have my staff change the decorations immediately.” Throughout the entire exchange, he treated me like I was invisible. “Don’t bother,” Jess said, a smirk on her face. “Leave everything as it is. Just take down their wedding portrait from the stage.” She shot me a look of pure triumph. The manager, ever the professional, pulled me aside. “Ma’am, you saw what happened. We’re a business, and we need to make a profit. So… I’m very sorry, but we will, of course, compensate you for the breach of contract.” 3 I curved my lips into a smile. “Well, for a spineless opportunist, you’re surprisingly polite.” His face turned a shade of green. After a sharp huff, he ordered two waiters to remove my wedding portrait. I didn’t catch it in time. It fell to the floor with a crash. As I bent to pick it up, Jess’s foot came down on the photo, right on my face. I looked up and met her contemptuous gaze. “Back when you were doing better than me, you always looked down on me,” she sneered. “Now, it’s my turn.” “Thank God! The universe is finally setting things right. It’s my time to be rich!” A fire burned in my chest. “Look down on you? When did I ever look down on you?” “You dare say you didn’t? At my wedding, you gave me that diamond ring in front of all my friends. Wasn’t that just to show off how much money you had?” Her foot twisted on the photograph, grinding it into the floor. I couldn’t help it. I laughed. So that’s when it started. She had hated me since then. No wonder she’d grown so distant after she got married. And I, like an idiot, had kept worrying about her. The only reason I bought her that diamond ring was because she told me she loved it but couldn’t afford it. She had no idea I’d worked a month of overtime and emptied my own savings account just to buy it for her. I was an orphan, raised by the charity of neighbors. From the moment I met Jess, I had considered her family. Now I saw that it had all been one-sided. But at least I was seeing things clearly now. The photo was ruined. I didn’t want it anymore. I slowly straightened up. “Jess, I just hope you don’t regret this.” Booking this hall had cost me five thousand dollars. Five times that was twenty-five thousand. “Regret?” she scoffed. “Liv, you think too small. When you find out how much money I’m about to have, I promise you, you’ll be on your knees begging me to be your friend again.” Just then, my husband, Mark, came out of the dressing room. He was supposed to be greeting guests with me, but earlier, Jess had “accidentally” spilled a drink on him, and he’d been changing. “What’s going on?” he asked, then his eyes fell on the discarded portrait. “Jess? What are you doing?” He moved to pick it up, but two security guards grabbed him. “Jess, what the hell is going on?” Mark yelled. I was shaking with rage. A second later, guards grabbed me, too. “This is my party now,” Jess announced coolly. “And you two are not welcome. In fact, you don’t deserve to be here. So I’m having you removed.” She waved a dismissive hand, and the guards shoved us toward the main entrance, their hands on the back of our necks. Jess followed us out, a small, smug smile on her face. She was holding a piece of paper. She handed it to the manager, who taped it to the glass door. It read: “No Dogs or Millers Allowed.” 4 Mark went ballistic. He tried to lunge at her, but I held him back. Jess saw my gesture and her smile widened. “That’s right, Liv. You need to understand the new reality. You and I… we’re not in the same class anymore. When you see me from now on, you should probably bow. You wouldn’t want to get sick with envy over all my money.” A crowd of our former friends gathered around her, laughing and cheering her on. “Jess, I always knew you were destined for great things, even back in school! I was right!” Sarah, another classmate, gushed, linking her arm with Jess’s. “Jess, I always hated Liv,” she added with a venomous glance in my direction. “If I hadn’t heard you were coming, I never would have shown up to this pathetic wedding.” The most sickening part was seeing my own aunt in the crowd, fawning over Jess. “Jess, dear, do you remember me? When you were little, I told you not to play with Liv. I knew she was bad luck and would ruin your fortune!” Surrounded by her new entourage of sycophants, Jess was escorted back inside. When they were all gone, Mark finally exploded. “What is wrong with her? What just happened?” I took a deep breath and explained everything as best I could. He looked shocked, but he believed me. I gently touched his shoulder. “Let’s just take a trip. A honeymoon, just the two of us. We don’t have to deal with any of these people.” He stroked my cheek, his eyes full of concern. “Okay.” On the drive home, my wedding dress felt cumbersome and ridiculous, but I didn’t care. Today, I had seen everyone’s true colors. It was a painful but necessary lesson. My phone started buzzing nonstop. I opened it to a flood of photos and messages from my former friends. “Thanks to Jess, we’re eating king crab!” “Hey Liv, thanks for putting this all together! We wouldn’t be eating all this amazing seafood without you!” I calmly turned off my phone. I knew exactly what Jess was doing. She was spending her future. That afternoon, she took her new fan club on a shopping spree at the mall, buying designer bags and luxury goods. A trip like that with so many people would cost a fortune. She was betting everything on that fifty-million-dollar prize. What she didn’t know was that I was holding the real winning ticket. The time for the lottery drawing was getting closer, and I couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when she realized her numbers didn’t hit. I was wondering where she got all her cash when a friend who worked in real estate messaged me. “Hey, check this out. Is this your friend Jess’s house? She’s selling it for half the market value! Did she win the lottery or something?” I smirked. “Something like that.” So that’s how she was funding her grand performance. She’d sold her car, sold her house—liquidated every asset she had. All to throw money at people who would abandon her the second it ran out. Late that night, as I was packing our suitcases, my phone rang. It was Jess. Her voice was smug. “Guess where I’m staying tonight? A luxury presidential suite. Have you ever even seen one, Liv?” “Let me tell you something. After tonight, the gap between you and me will be a chasm you can never cross. Tomorrow, I will be a multimillionaire.” “Fifty million dollars! You’ll never see that much money in your entire life!” I couldn’t stand the sound of her voice. I hung up. The next morning, I woke Mark up early. We had to get out of the state. Just as we were about to cross the state line, her number appeared on my screen again. A frantic, desperate series of calls. I answered. A furious roar erupted from the other end. “OLIVIA! WHAT DID YOU DO?” “WHERE IS MY FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS? WHERE IS MY MONEY?” “WHY? WHY AM I STILL BROKE IN THIS LIFE?!”

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Sneaking back into the country, two weeks ahead of schedule, I found a stranger in my home. She was draped in my mother’s silk dressing gown, wearing a necklace that belonged to the Shaw family—a piece of heirloom jewelry. When her eyes landed on me, she pointed a freshly manicured finger right at my face and spat fire. “Did you sanitize before you dared walk into my house? I’m carrying the Wells Fortune’s golden grandson, and lowlife trash like you isn’t fit to breathe the same air!” “Mr. Peterson! Get the disinfectant wipes! Sterilize this tramp and whatever cheap takeout she brought with her!” I stared at the unfamiliar woman, my mind blank with a shock so profound it stole the air from my lungs. It took an age before I managed to grind the words out. “This is Robert Wells’ house. The CEO Robert Wells. Am I wrong?” Her eyes went wide, not with fear, but with venomous indignation. She swung her hand, a stinging slap across my cheek. “Another desperate hussy trying to hook my husband, are we? Get her out! Throw her onto the street!” I was hauled out and dumped onto the manicured lawn of Greenwich, Connecticut. I numbly reached for my phone and called my mother. “Mom, you need to come home. Dad didn’t just cheat; he had a son, and now that son is about to have a baby of his own.” 1 I hung up, my hands shaking not from fear, but from a terrifying cold resolve. I turned back toward the imposing Georgian mansion, shoving my way past the startled staff and storming back into the foyer. I grabbed the woman by her hair—my mother’s emerald silk brushing against my knuckles—and ignored her thrashing screams. I kneed her, hard, then shoved her bodily out the same front door. “You keep shouting about the Wells heir. Fine. Let me tell you something: Robert Wells doesn’t have a son. He only has me, his daughter, Anya Wells!” The woman, sprawled on the porch steps, scrambled up, her face a mask of disbelief and rage. She lunged, trying to claw at me. “Everyone knows the head of Wells Industries and his wife have a marriage for the ages! He announced he was leaving his entire fortune to his only child and even got a vasectomy to prove his devotion! Only a moron would do all that for a daughter when he could have a proper heir! The Wells child is a son, and he is my darling husband!” I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. The absurdity was staggering. “Alright, then. Call your ‘darling husband.’ Bring him here for a confrontation. I want to see exactly who has the balls to occupy Anya Wells’ place.” She snatched up her phone, ready to dial, then paused. Her eyes narrowed, raking over my high-end travel clothes, my expensive but slightly rumpled appearance. She sneered. “The tricks these gold-diggers use now are truly pathetic.” My frozen expression must have convinced her. She nodded, her voice dripping with condescension. “You trash. You must be some stray trash Brendan picked up. Now that you’ve heard I’m pregnant, you’re here to cause a scene, hoping to drive a wedge between us so you can slide in. It’s not going to happen.” I was almost laughing, a sharp, bitter sound, at her twisted logic. “I told you. I am Anya Wells, Robert Wells’ daughter. The Wells family has no son. We never have.” “If you don’t believe me, go up to the second-floor sunroom. That’s my bedroom. The walk-in closet has a hidden room. The code is my birthday: 1011. There are journals and records of my entire childhood in the top drawer.” “If that isn’t enough, call out the staff. Ask them who they recognize: me, the true heiress, or you, the poor fool who got scammed into marrying an imposter.” She wavered, clearly thrown by the specificity, but quickly regained her composure. “Brendan and I had an engagement ceremony witnessed by both sets of parents. We’re having the wedding today! My father-in-law, Robert Wells, personally gave me an eight-million-dollar black card at the party. There is no mistake!” “Everyone! Come out and look! Does anyone recognize this lunatic?” My heart sank, confirming my initial chilling suspicion. If this whole scenario wasn’t a mistake, the problem lay with one person: my father, Robert Wells. The kitchen and cleaning staff began to emerge, wiping their hands on aprons. They looked at me, then back at the woman, and shook their heads one by one. “Apologies, Ma’am, we’ve never seen her before.” I looked at them, a hollow ache spreading through my chest. Not a single familiar face. The staff who had raised me, the people who had been fixtures in my childhood, were all gone. To replace the entire domestic team in a house this size? Only one person had the authority and the motive. The woman, whose name I didn’t yet know, puffed out her chest, vindicated. “There you have it. Trespassing, attempted robbery, and slander. Get her! Let’s show this pathetic little tramp who she’s messing with!” The staff immediately surged toward me. I was outnumbered, a rain of fists and feet assaulting me. I tasted blood, and my vision swam. Then, the main door creaked open again. A hurried, panicked voice cut through the chaos. “The Butler said we had an intruder! Tinsley, are you hurt?” I focused on the newcomer. He was handsome, in a slick, forgettable way, dressed in an impeccably tailored tuxedo. I didn’t recognize him, either. Brendan Cole. Brendan immediately spotted me, bloodied on the floor. His face contorted in a furious snarl. “You have a hell of a nerve!” he roared. “I am Robert Wells’ only son and heir! You dare attack my fiancée and the mother of my child! I will make sure you never see the light of day again!” He was spitting his words, desperate to tear me apart. I pushed myself up, maintaining a cold dignity despite the pain. “You claim to be the CEO’s son. Where is the proof?” I demanded. “This is my house. You two broke in, set up shop, and tried to steal my life. I want to know who gave you the authority to do this.” Brendan stopped short, momentarily stunned. He then let out a laugh of pure disbelief. “Lady, are you high? You’re the daughter? Who the hell doesn’t know that Robert Wells took a solemn oath on the day his child was born? He said his entire life, and all of his billions, would go to his one and only heir. Who would do that for a daughter? That’s laughable.” “This isn’t about you staking a claim. You heard Tinsley was pregnant, and you thought you could use the commotion to get my attention. Well, guess what? She’s carrying a boy. No one can touch her position!” Tinsley melted into Brendan’s arms, deeply moved. “Oh, darling, you are the best.” Watching their sickening display, my fury spiked. “I’m telling you, I am the only heir to the Wells Fortune.” Brendan shoved Tinsley away and took a step toward me, his hand raised. “My father, Robert Wells, is a public figure. He kept me out of the spotlight all these years to protect me—not to give a raving lunatic like you a chance to impersonate me!” He yanked out his phone. “I’m calling my Dad right now. Let’s hear straight from him whether he had a son or a daughter!” My stomach dropped as he dialed the familiar number. He put the phone on speaker. The next second, Rob Wells’ voice, loud and booming, came through. “Son! My boy! Dad’s at the venue setting up the final details for your wedding. Is everything alright?” Brendan gave me a smug, triumphant look. “Yeah, Dad, fine. Just a quick question: Do I have any siblings?” My father’s voice, a little too loud, a little too reassuring, replied. “You goofball. What are you thinking? Your father had a vasectomy for you! How could you possibly have a sibling or a—a half-sibling? When I’m gone, this entire empire is yours. Relax.” The hatred in my chest reached a boiling point. I shouted my father’s full name—“Robert Wells!”

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