1 “I’m going to kill myself! My husband doesn’t love me anymore!” The moment I stepped into the clinic, I heard the shrill, tearful scream of a woman. I looked toward the source. A girl in a fluffy pink designer dress was standing by the window, holding a diamond-encrusted box cutter against her wrist, threatening to slice it open. My colleague pushed me forward, clasping her hands in a pleading gesture. “Wendy, thank God you’re here. This is Mrs. Sterling, wife of the Sterling Group heir, Gavin Sterling. She’s demanding a therapist with a happy marriage. You’re the best we’ve got. Please.” “Who?” I asked, a frown creasing my forehead. My husband’s name was Gavin, too. But he wasn’t an heir to a billion-dollar empire. He was just a long-haul trucker. It had to be a coincidence. Same name, different world. I suppressed the unease rising in my chest and took the clipboard. I scanned the intake form. Name of Spouse: Gavin Sterling. Seeing those two words in black ink made my heart lurch. A bad feeling wrapped around me like a cold mist. “Ms. Shaw, please come with me to the consultation room,” I said, forcing my best professional smile. Luna Shaw saw me and immediately dropped the cutter. She ran over, linking her arm through mine as if we were old friends, tears streaming down her face. “Dr. Sage, you have to help me. My husband has changed. I can’t lose him.” Her movements were natural, the actions of a girl who had been pampered and spoiled her entire life. Once inside, Luna whipped out her phone and shoved a photo in my face. “Look at him. Isn’t he gorgeous?” She beamed with pride. “We grew up together. He’s been following me around since we were four, calling me his ‘wifey.’ He used to be obsessed with me. I said I wanted the stars, so he bought me a star registry certificate for ten of them.” “I said I wanted the moon, so he sponsored a lunar mission just to get me a vial of moon dust.” “No matter how busy he was, he was always there. But two years ago… he went missing for three months. When he came back, he was different. He’s always ‘busy’ now. He goes on business trips for days at a time. I tracked him to this city, but when I called him thirty minutes ago, he let it ring twice before answering…” Luna kept rambling, but her voice turned into a dull buzz in my ears. My world was spinning. I stared at the man in the photo, my vision blurring with tears. It wasn’t a coincidence. The billionaire heir, Gavin Sterling, was my husband of nearly two years. Two years ago, on a rainy night, I found a man unconscious on the street. He’d been hit by a car. When he woke up, he remembered nothing but his first name: Gavin. I felt sorry for him, so I took him in. For those three months, his entire world revolved around me. We fell in love. Hard. He treated me like I was made of glass. He burned his hands making my favorite beef stew. He delivered food day and night just to buy me a birthday gift. He took nine stab wounds protecting me from a violent patient at the clinic. That was the day I agreed to marry him. We didn’t have a wedding. Just a pair of cheap pawn shop rings and a marriage license that I now realized was probably fake. The first month of marriage was bliss. He couldn’t keep his hands off me. He’d whisper in my ear, “I can never get enough of you, Wendy. I’d die for you…” Then, he disappeared for a whole day. When he came back, he was different. Polite. Distant. Even our intimacy became restrained. He told me he got a job as a long-haul trucker. He was gone twenty days a month. It turned out, he had just regained his memory. The time he wasn’t with me, he wasn’t driving a truck. He was being the Sterling heir, pampering his little princess. “Dr. Sage? Are you listening? Do you think if I actually kill myself, he’ll love me again?” Luna pouted, wiping a tear. Then she looked at me. “Oh my god! Dr. Sage, are you crying? You feel bad for me too, right? You’re such an empathetic doctor!” I quickly wiped my face. I hadn’t realized I was crying. Before I could speak, the clinic door slammed open. Gavin Sterling stormed in, shoving a nurse aside. When his eyes met mine, he froze. The color drained from his face. But it only took him a second to compose himself. He shot me a glare—a silent warning—before rushing to Luna and pulling her into his arms. “Hmph! What are you doing here?” Luna struggled, pounding his chest. “You don’t love me anymore!” “You’re killing me, Luna! My love for you is written in the sky! You are my everything!” His voice was low, magnetic, charming. I dug my nails into my palms. My chest felt like it was stuffed with cotton—suffocating, painful. I hadn’t heard him use that tone in so long. The last time was when we were newly married, arguing over whether to buy a roasted sweet potato on the street corner because we were broke. He had hugged me and said, “Wendy, I’m sorry I’m making you suffer. I swear, when I’m rich, I’ll buy you an island just to grow your favorite food…” We never bought that potato. But I was so moved I cried. Now, my eyes burned. I turned my head away. “Baby, if I ever have a change of heart, may lightning strike me down…” Gavin raised three fingers, swearing an oath. Luna immediately covered his mouth. He kissed her hand, completely ignoring my existence. Luna giggled, her anger gone, and let him carry her out of the room. I stood there, frozen. My heart felt like it was being sliced into ribbons. I don’t know how long I stood there. Eventually, I pulled out my phone and called my mom in Vancouver. “Mom… I’ll do it. I’ll immigrate.” “Really? Oh, honey, finally! Bring your husband. Your stepdad and I can support you both until you get settled.” “He’s not coming. I’ll file the paperwork tomorrow. See you next month.” I laughed bitterly. The heir to the Sterling empire didn’t need us to support him. I hung up, packed my things, and walked out of the clinic. Gavin was waiting for me by the entrance. “We need to talk.” 2 He was leaning against a Maybach, dressed in a crisp white shirt and black slacks, holding a cigarette that was burning down to the filter. The smoke obscured his expression. I paused, curled my fingers into fists, and nodded. It was my first time in his car. The passenger seat was clearly Luna’s territory—custom pink leather, completely out of place in the sleek vehicle. There was a pillow printed with their wedding photo. Acid rose in my throat. I moved the pillow to the back seat. Top-tier billionaires apparently liked tacky romance too. But he hadn’t taken a photo with me in over a year. We drove in silence to a high-end French restaurant. I recognized it. I’d seen it on TV. I used to tell Gavin how much I loved the décor, and he promised he’d save up to take me here for our anniversary. We were here now, but there was no joy. Only dread. Gavin ordered in fluent French, snapped the napkin onto his lap, and finally looked at me. “When did you find out who I was?” His voice was calm. No love. No guilt. I gripped the hem of my dress under the table. “Today. When I saw you.” “Hm.” He poured me a glass of wine. “Keep quiet. Don’t let this get back to Luna, and I’ll consider keeping the status quo.” What? I stared at him, unable to process the words. “You… you want me to be your mistress?” “Mistress? I don’t have romantic feelings for you, and frankly, your body isn’t that appealing…” He scoffed, swirling his wine. “You took care of me. I was repaying a debt. But now? It’s unnecessary. Five million dollars. To buy out the ‘life-saving grace.’ Is that enough?” My heart stopped. Even expecting the worst, his words were daggers. To him, I wasn’t even worthy of being a mistress. “What about our marriage license?” I asked, biting my lip until it tasted like iron. “I had amnesia. I made up an identity. That license is legally void,” he frowned, looking annoyed. “The feelings I had when I lost my memory were real, sure. But look at us. We aren’t from the same world. If no one had popped this bubble, I might have kept playing house. But now? I don’t want Luna to be sad.” Tears welled up, but I pinched my thigh to stop them. The happiness I cherished was just charity to him. “Fine,” I whispered, swallowing the blood from my lip. “Five million. To buy out my saving your life.” I wasn’t going to be stupid. I deserved that money. To pay his medical bills back then, I worked three jobs. I sold the only thing my late father left me. If we were cutting ties, we were cutting them clean. Gavin nodded, satisfied. “I’ll have the lawyers draft it. Eat. Didn’t you always want to come here?” He brought me here on purpose? I picked up my knife and fork. The silence was deafening. I cut the steak, my knuckles white. Suddenly, his phone rang. It was a custom ringtone of Luna’s voice. “Hubby, pick up the phone!” He answered on the first ring. “Luna? Don’t be scared, I’m coming!” Panic flooded his face. He stood up immediately. He took two steps, then turned back and grabbed my arm. “You’re coming too!” “What?” “You’re a therapist. Luna had a nightmare. You need to comfort her!” He dragged me to the car and sped up the mountain to his private estate. He dragged me into Luna’s bedroom. She was crying hysterically. Seeing us, she ignored me and threw herself into his arms. “Gavin, I was so scared! I dreamt you left me!” He held her like she was precious porcelain. “I won’t leave. Don’t be silly. You are always in my heart. Look.” He pulled down his collar, revealing a tattoo under his left collarbone. An artistic letter ‘L’. “My heart only has you.” He guided her hand to the tattoo. The sight blinded me. I had always thought the ‘L’ was a stylized ‘W’ for Wendy. I used to cry while putting ointment on it, touching it tenderly while he slept. He must have been laughing at me the whole time. I turned to leave. “Where are you going?” Gavin’s voice was ice cold. “I told you to comfort her.” I wiped my eyes. “Sorry. Not my job.” “You don’t want your father’s watch back?” he threatened. I spun around. “You found the watch?” I had sold my father’s vintage watch to pay for Gavin’s surgery. It was my biggest regret. “Did you find it?” I asked, my voice trembling. He stared at me coldly. “Comfort her.” I compromised. I walked to the bed. 3 As soon as I got close, Luna threw a pillow at my face. “Why were you with my husband?” she shrieked. “I don’t want you near him!” Gavin hugged her tight. “Luna, shh. I thought you’d like a story from a professional. That’s why I brought her.” “I don’t want other women around you! Get her out! Get out!” She threw another pillow. “Okay, okay.” Gavin kissed her forehead, then turned to the bodyguards. “What are you staring at? Throw her out!” Before I could say a word, two men grabbed me and dragged me out of the villa. It was late autumn. The mountain air was freezing. I stood outside the gate, shivering. I couldn’t get a cab up here. I had to walk down. I remembered when we first met. We went to the mountains to volunteer. We missed the last bus. Gavin carried me on his back for two hours. His cheap shoes gave him blisters, but he didn’t complain. “Blisters heal, Wendy. As long as you’re okay. I’ll never let you suffer.” That Gavin was dead. My heel got stuck in a crack in the asphalt. I tripped, skinning my palms. Pain shot through me. I sat on the cold road and wept until I had no tears left. I limped down the mountain. By the time I got back to the city, the sun was up. I went straight to the immigration office and paid for the expedited processing. Fifteen days. Then I resigned from the clinic. Just as I walked out, Gavin called. “Go pick up Luna’s evening gown and bring it to me. I sent the address. You have forty minutes.” “Gavin, we’re done. I don’t work for you,” I said. He laughed. “Don’t want the watch? Luna knows about you now. Come apologize to her. Now.” He hung up. I gritted my teeth and went. I found them in the VIP lounge of the hotel. The door was slightly ajar. Gavin was on the sofa. Luna was straddling his lap, teasing him. “Luna, let me…” Gavin groaned, his voice thick with lust and love. “No! I’m still mad you were with that cheap woman, Wendy!” Luna sobbed. “I was ambushed by my brother, I had amnesia! I really didn’t know,” Gavin explained hoarsely. “Since I got my memory back, I only touched her once. And that was because I was drunk and thought she was you…” “She means nothing to me. I’m giving her money to disappear. Believe me, I only love you. If you don’t let me have you, I’m going to explode.” Outside the door, my face went pale. When he was with me, he never asked. He just took. He used to say, “Wendy, I love you too much, I can’t control myself.” I thought it was passion. It turns out, when he truly respects a woman, he begs for permission. “Just… just once then,” Luna whispered. I watched them. I listened to them. “What about Wendy? How should we punish her for stealing my husband?” Luna panted. “Whatever you want, baby. Make her your dog if you want. Just let me love you…” 4 My blood turned to ice. I bit my tongue until I tasted copper to keep from screaming. I placed the gown box on the floor and walked away. Around the corner, I collapsed against the wall, clutching my chest. It hurt. It physically hurt to breathe. I cried until I felt empty. Then I washed my face, fixed my makeup, and texted Gavin. I was getting that watch. “Wendy Sage! You bitch! Liar!” The moment I entered the ballroom, a slap echoed across my face. Luna stood there, furious. “You stole my husband! Were you laughing at me in the clinic?” “I didn’t know,” I said, holding my stinging cheek. “Until I saw him, I didn’t know. It was a misunderstanding.” “If I hadn’t come here and investigated, you two would have kept sneaking around!” Luna’s eyes were red. “You stole him! You deserve to die!” She signaled the bodyguards. They surrounded me. “What are you doing?” I backed up. “I hate when people touch my things. Especially my men. Wendy, get on your knees, slap yourself, apologize, and lick my shoes clean!” Luna demanded, chin high. “No. That’s unreasonable…” “She can do whatever she wants.” Gavin walked over, looking elegant and cruel. He wrapped an arm around Luna. “My Luna gets what she wants.” He nodded to the guards. They forced me down in front of Luna. I looked up at him. “I did nothing wrong. I won’t apologize. Gavin, I agreed to leave…” Slap. Luna hit me again. “Apologize!” I turned my head, refusing. She hit me again. And again. Gavin watched coldly. Only after the third slap did he catch her hand. “You feel bad for her?” Luna pouted. “Your hand is getting red. It hurts me to see you in pain,” he said tenderly. “Let the guards do the dirty work.” Luna giggled and snuggled into him. “Okay. Beat her until she apologizes.” Gavin smirked and nodded at the guard. The guard was heavy-handed. Two slaps and I tasted blood. But I wouldn’t break. Luna stomped her foot. Gavin narrowed his eyes and pulled a worn leather watch from his pocket. “Still won’t apologize?” He dangled it in front of me. My eyes burned. “Dad’s watch! Give it to me!” So he had it the whole time. “Give it back!” I screamed. Gavin looked at me without emotion. My strength left me. I slumped to the floor. “I’m sorry, Miss Shaw. Two years ago, I shouldn’t have saved him. I shouldn’t have loved him. It was my fault. I was wrong…” Gavin’s hand stiffened. His chest felt tight. Before he could speak, Luna snatched the watch. “Is that an apology or a demand? You want this trash?” She threw the watch into a large decorative display filled with cacti. “No!” I screamed, pushing past people, diving into the planter. Thorns pierced my skin instantly. “Whoever finds it first gets fifty thousand dollars! Find it and smash it!” Luna yelled. The crowd surged forward. I found the watch, curling around it to protect it. People stepped on me. They tore at my clothes. Thorns dug deeper. Blood soaked my dress. Someone ripped the watch from my hand. He ran to Luna, smashed it on the marble floor, and stomped on it until the face shattered into dust. My heart shattered with it. I truly regretted it. I regretted ever loving Gavin Sterling.

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Chapter 1 After graduation, I was stopped outside the basketball court by Luke Hayes. “Maya Lin, you ghost. You’re the reason my sister is a living corpse. How dare you show your face for graduation photos?” “If I could have it my way, I’d never see you again for the rest of my life!” I watched Luke brush past me, silently clutching the medical report in my hand. The doctor said I have a tumor in my brain. College isn’t in the cards for me anymore. Luke probably will never know— His wish is about to come true. After this summer, he’ll never see me again. … The cicadas were singing loud, summer in full swing. Standing by the basketball court, I took out my phone and snapped a secret photo of Luke and me at graduation. The lighting was spotty. I opened my notes app and used voice-to-text. [June 12, 2025, 10:00 AM. Took a graduation photo with Luke. No smile today, just hate in his eyes.] I suddenly forgot why Luke hated me. Scrolling up to the last note, the fragmented past came rushing back. A month ago, I went to karaoke with Luke’s twin sister, Lily Hayes, to blow off steam after finals. On the way home, we ran into some thugs. She shielded me and got stabbed in the heart with a broken beer bottle. She’s been in a coma ever since. The doctor said only a heart transplant could save her. Otherwise, she’d remain a “living corpse” forever. Thinking of the hate in Luke’s eyes, I knew there was a permanent scar between us now. I turned off my phone, ready to leave, when a basketball came flying out of nowhere. Thud. It slammed into my back. I lost my balance and hit the concrete, scraping my knee raw. A group of guys from our class walked over, looking down at me. “Maya Lin, you put Luke’s sister in the hospital. How do you have the nerve to show up here?” “It’s bad enough you’re trash, but dragging Lily down with you? How does our school have someone as toxic as you?” “Get lost. Or we’ll beat you every time we see you.” … After they left, I wiped the gravel off my knees and elbows and stood up. Looking up, I saw him under the blazing sun. Luke Hayes, tall and tense, casting a shadow over me. “Maya, stop with the pitiful act. It’s annoying. Lily is the one who deserves pity!” I endured the pain, explaining to him again and again, just like always. “That day, Lily told me to go get security, that’s why I ran… I didn’t think something would happen in just a minute… If I could, I’d trade my life for hers.” “Great! Wake her up, and I’ll believe you!” Luke’s eyelashes fluttered, his cold voice dripping with sarcasm. “Lily needs a heart transplant to wake up. Someone as selfish as you, would you give her your heart?” He turned and walked away. Watching his back, I whispered, “Yeah. I would.” Two years ago, the doctor found a tumor in my brain. If we couldn’t control it, college was out. I took the meds, did the treatments, fought hard to live. But fate had other plans. The tumor is growing. My memory is fading every day. Since I can’t change the ending, let my heart beat somewhere else. I left school and went straight to the Red Cross. “Hi, I’d like to sign a designated organ donation agreement.” The staff looked at me. “Sorry, we don’t accept living donations.” I pulled a crumpled medical report from my backpack. “I have malignant glioma. My grandmother and mother both died from it. The doctor says I won’t make it past this summer.” “So I want my heart to keep beating and help my friend get better.” After reviewing my documents, the staff handed me a form. “You’ll need a guardian to sign a document after you fill this out.” I shook my head. “My parents are dead. And I’m eighteen. I can be my own guardian.” I signed my name solemnly on the voluntary donation agreement. And on the beneficiary line, I wrote “Lily Hayes.” Chapter 2 After I filled out the form, the staff pointed to a blank space at the bottom. “You need to fill in an emergency contact here.” I hesitated for a moment, then wrote down Luke’s name and number. Luke’s biggest wish is for Lily to recover. When he finds out later, he’ll be happy, right? Leaving the Red Cross, my phone alarm reminded me it was time for my shift at the bubble tea shop. Walking down the street, I passed an internet cafe and saw my brother, Sam, sitting on the steps smoking with some other boys. His young face had dark circles that didn’t belong on a teenager. My heart tightened. I rushed over. “Sam, it’s Tuesday. Why are you skipping class again? Are you dropping out?” Sam saw me and stubbed out the cigarette. “What’s the point of school? Gaming pays better.” I grabbed his arm. “SATs are next year. How are you getting into college like this? Come back to school with me!” Sam shook me off, annoyed. “You can work, why can’t I? Maya, stay out of my business. Get lost!” He shoved me and slammed the door shut. I stumbled, nearly falling off the steps. I watched through the glass as Sam put on his headset and sat back down at the computer. The manager wouldn’t let me in. I had to leave, looking back with every step. Walking along, I opened my notes app again. [3:00 PM. Found my brother skipping class on the way to work. Smoking, gaming… doing everything a high schooler shouldn’t do.] [Mom and Dad died early. My brother is addicted to the internet. If I die, what’s going to happen to him?] Finished recording, I realized I was at the bubble tea shop door, but felt confused. Why was I here? I checked my schedule. Right, my part-time job. Just as I was about to enter, the manager walked out. “Maya, this is the sixth time you’re late. You’re fired. Here’s this month’s pay.” He handed me five hundred bucks. My face went pale. “Manager, I’m sorry. Please give me another chance. I really need this job.” I had to save enough money for Sam’s tuition while I was still healthy. But the manager shook his head. “I’ve given you too many chances. Go home. You just finished finals, you should rest up for college.” Dejected, I turned to go home, only to see Luke walking towards me, pushing a black mountain bike. The boy was tall and lean, glowing in the sunlight. I instinctively called out, “Luke…” Seeing me, Luke frowned in disgust, parked his bike, and went into the shop. “One strawberry milk tea. Less ice, less sugar, add sago and mochi…” Hearing his order, I vaguely remembered. That was Lily’s favorite—the Strawberry Deluxe. Every Saturday, Luke would buy one for her and bring it to the hospital. And today was Saturday. The door opened, and Luke came out carrying the tea. I opened my mouth, asking hoarsely, “Luke, can I come with you to see Lily?” Luke paused pushing his bike. “What right does the culprit have to see her? You want to see Lily? Unless you die. Move!” He shoved me aside and rode off. Thinking of my condition, I silently followed him. I knew if I didn’t find a chance to see Lily now, I never would. Not long after, the sky darkened. Storm clouds gathered. I looked up as the pristine sky started to drizzle, catching me off guard. I didn’t have an umbrella. I trudged forward like a stray dog through the puddles. Waiting at the bus stop, Luke rode past on his bike, laden with milk tea and flowers. His tires hit a puddle, splash, soaking me with muddy water. A gust of wind blew. I felt cold from head to toe, right down to my bones. Chapter 3 It took forever on the bus to get to the hospital. Outside the ICU, I saw Lily lying there, tubes everywhere. Luke put the strawberry milk tea and flowers on the nightstand. With gentle eyes, he started reading a romance novel to her. Watching this, my eyes welled up. Lily loved novels. She used to hug me and say: “Maya, you can learn stuff from novels. It says twins have telepathy.” “See? My favorite person is you, and my brother’s favorite person is you too.” But Lily, Luke doesn’t like me anymore. Do you still like me? Through the glass window of the ward door, I traced Lily’s face in the air. “Lily, the three of us promised to go to the same college. But you missed the entrance exams to save me…” “But it’s okay. In a little while, I’ll give you my heart. Then you and your brother can go to the same college.” I secretly watched Lily for a long time. Only when Luke got up to leave did I flee the hospital. Back home, still soaking wet, I went straight to the shower. Hot water ran down my head, easing the cold, sticky feeling a bit. Lying in bed after my shower, I hugged the robotic dog on my nightstand, just like always. It was mottled with age, a gift from my mom before she passed. She said it was loyal and would keep me company in her place. I pressed the record button. “Today, I lost my job at the bubble tea shop. It was hard to find, but I blew it.” “I went to the hospital to see Lily. She’s thinner now, like Sleeping Beauty…” “Too bad Luke won’t let me in. Maybe the day Lily wakes up is the day he’ll finally talk to me properly.” But by then, I’ll be six feet under. I talked to the robot dog for a long time before falling into a heavy sleep. Maybe because of the rain, I slept poorly. The next day, my head was groggy when the phone rang urgently. “Maya Lin! Your brother Sam skipped class and got into a fight. Get to school now!” I woke up instantly and rushed to school. Principal’s office. I saw Luke. His face was bruised and battered, standing opposite Sam. My heart jumped. Sam hit Luke? Seeing me, the principal got straight to the point. “Maya, your brother is a junior. Skipping class is one thing, but assaulting an upperclassman?” “Luke and other students have signed a petition to expel Sam. Here are his expulsion papers.” Hearing this, I looked at Luke in panic. “Luke, I’m sorry! I’ll pay for your medical bills. Please forgive him. Don’t let him get expelled.” Since our parents died, my brother went from an honor student to a delinquent. I failed him. Before I go, I can’t let him lose his education. Sam interrupted me, looking defiant. “Luke said nasty things! He deserved it! I don’t need you apologizing for me!” Luke wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, expressionless. “In that case, no forgiveness.” He walked up to me and whispered so only I could hear. “My sister couldn’t take the exams. Your brother doesn’t deserve to either.” With that, he walked out. Sam grabbed his backpack and stormed out after him. I bowed to the principal and chased after him. “Sam! Stop!” But Sam ignored me. He walked to the dumpster and threw his backpack in. “Who told you to apologize? He ruined your reputation. He deserved it.” “Expel me, whatever. I didn’t want to go to school anyway. I’ll work and pay for your college tuition.” He lit a cigarette casually and handed me a bank card. “This is money from leveling accounts in games. I’m grown. I can take care of myself and you.” Looking at the pain patch on his wrist and the dark circles under his eyes, my heart ached. Suddenly, my nose felt warm. A drop of blood hit the bank card. Sam froze. “What’s wrong?” I wiped my nose, but the blood kept coming. Seeing Sam’s panicked face, I felt helpless. “Sam, I don’t have a future. If you quit school now, what happens later?” “When I see Mom and Dad on the other side, what am I supposed to tell them?!” I tilted my head back to stop the bleeding and saw Luke standing under a ginkgo tree across the way, staring at me. I didn’t know how long he’d been there. Chapter 4 My heart skipped a beat. I quickly looked away. When I finished cleaning up the blood and looked back, Luke had turned and walked into the ginkgo avenue without a second glance. Sam looked at me nervously. “What’s wrong with you? Is it heatstroke?” I shook my head, not knowing how to explain my illness. Sam got annoyed. He threw the cigarette on the ground, crushed it, and waved me off. “If you’re sick, go home and rest. I’m going back to work.” I wanted to call him back, but he rode off on his bike and disappeared. I sighed. “Sam, what are you going to do alone?” When I was ten, Mom died from the torture of glioma. Two years ago, Dad died in a car accident on his way to buy Sam a birthday cake. Now… I’m dying too. I fished Sam’s backpack out of the dumpster, carefully dusted it off, and went home. My stomach was empty, my head spinning. I realized I hadn’t eaten all day. I cooked a bowl of tangyuan (sweet rice balls) and brought it to the living room. Looking at my parents’ photos, I put one in my mouth. The sesame filling burst, but I couldn’t taste any sweetness. “Mom, you used to say the sweetness of tangyuan could cover life’s bitterness. But why can’t I taste any sweet at all?” “Sam doesn’t want to study. I’m dying. My life… seems like a total mess…” Tears fell into the bowl, one by one, creating ripples. Wind blew the curtains against my cheek, gentle like a mother’s touch. After eating, I broke into a sweat. My head felt a little better. After resting, I started looking for summer jobs again. I had to save more money for Sam’s future. I asked shop after shop along the main street, getting rejected every time. Finally, at 2 PM under the scorching sun, I found a flyer distribution gig downstairs. In the stifling summer heat, I wore a heavy bear suit, weaving through the crowd handing out flyers. The suit was airless. Within minutes, I was soaked in sweat. A group of kids ran over, jumping around me. “Look, a bear! I want to play with it!” The lead boy yanked my tail hard. I lost my balance, stumbled back, and fell on my butt, flyers scattering everywhere. The other kids swarmed, kicking my legs, punching me. The fattest kid sat right on my back, yelling: “Giddy up! Ride the stupid bear…” The weight was crushing. My head throbbed. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out. “Hey! She’s not a toy!” The weight lifted instantly. The kids scattered. “You okay?” I sat up and took off the headgear, meeting a pair of amber eyes. “…Luke…” His face went cold instantly, seemingly surprised it was me inside the suit. “Maya, seriously? Doing this for sympathy again?” I blurted out, “No, it’s a summer job.” Luke’s mother walked up behind him and handed me a bottle of ice water. “Drink some water. Don’t get heatstroke.” I took it. “Thanks, Godmother.” She was silent for a moment. “You don’t need to call me that anymore. Just… take care of yourself.” My heart stung. I knew she was in more pain than I could imagine. Giving me water was already her greatest mercy. If only I hadn’t left that day. Or if I had let Lily leave first. “I’m sorry…” Besides those words, I didn’t know what else to say. Mrs. Hayes didn’t answer, eyes red. She walked toward the community gate with Luke. Just then, a black sedan pulled up. A person in business attire got out and handed a document to Mrs. Hayes. “Mrs. Hayes, the hospital found a matching heart. This is the donor’s information.” My breath hitched. Did they find out about my donation so soon?

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I was being framed for shoplifting by the campus convenience store owner. Just as he reached out to “search” me—a thin excuse to rip my clothes off—I raised a wooden stick in rage, ready to smash this dump to pieces. But suddenly, a barrage of crystal-clear comments floated right in front of my eyes, stopping me cold. (Nora! Stop! Don’t smash anything! He’s trying to provoke you on purpose!) (Trust us, we’re here to help. This creep took money from the principal to humiliate you. If you trash the store, they’ll call the cops, you’ll get a record, and you’ll be expelled…) (That disgusting pig is trying to strip-search you! Get your phone out and record his ugly face instead! Let the internet see what he really is!) Thank god they stopped me. Otherwise, I would have been totally screwed. Chapter 1 I held the stick frozen in mid-air. The owner, a greasy man named Mr. Zhu, grew impatient and lunged to grab my shirt. I dropped the stick and started screaming like a banshee. “Back off! Back off! Eeeeek! Help!” While I channeled my inner screaming marmot, I frantically texted my roommates under the counter. Just as Mr. Zhu’s filthy hands were about to touch me, my five roommates burst in like the Avengers. “Let her go!” My roommate, captain of the cheer squad, Sam, launched a flying kick at Mr. Zhu. It looked cool as hell, but Mr. Zhu barely budged. He was built like a brick outhouse; I couldn’t blame her. Mr. Zhu swatted Sam’s leg away, knocking both of us to the ground. He spat, “Birds of a feather! Thief’s friends are probably thieves too. Probably stole half my inventory already.” “Little delinquents. I’ll teach you a lesson today…” I ignored his filth and scrambled up. Following the floating comments’ advice, I started my counterattack. My roommates and I had telepathic chemistry. One look, and they knew the plan. I acted terrified and begged for mercy, while they backed out of the store. Another roommate, Hannah—a beauty influencer with a decent following—had already quietly raised her phone to record. Mr. Zhu, chin up and lips curled in a smug sneer, pressed his advantage. “Hurry up! You stole from my store and won’t admit it? If you don’t strip to prove your innocence right now, I won’t let you leave.” I wailed loudly, clutching my clothes tightly. “Sir, I only bought three packs of ramen! I swear I didn’t steal anything!” Mr. Zhu stroked his chin, eyes leering. “I saw you sneaking stuff into your clothes. Who knows if it’s in your pockets or down your pants?” I feigned a mental breakdown. I frantically shook my pants and turned my pockets inside out. “See? Can you see now? I didn’t steal anything!” Mr. Zhu wouldn’t let up. He insisted on a full strip search. I screamed, “I’d rather die!” and threw myself toward the wall. The video cut there as my roommates rushed in to “stop” me. Mr. Zhu, seeing I hadn’t actually cracked my skull, continued to harass me. “Tsk tsk tsk. Thought you were gonna end it all? Why stop? Guilty conscience, huh? The stolen goods are in your pants, aren’t they? Take them off.” My five roommates were seeing red. They pointed at him and unleashed hell: “You look like a pig and think with your dick! Do the world a favor and drop dead!” “Look at that perverted face! Everyone knows what you’re trying to do! Disgusting!” “Karma’s gonna get you, old man. Watch your back.” “Everyone knows you’re scum. Charging twenty bucks for a ten-dollar item. Black-hearted greed!” “What? Can’t make money ripping people off anymore, so now you’re framing students? If you can’t afford to run a business, close it! Stop being gross!” Mr. Zhu flew into a rage. He grabbed a baton from behind the counter and swung it at us. I didn’t dodge. The baton cracked right against my forehead. Blood sprayed instantly. On my signal, Hannah uploaded the video to our class group chat. Students eating in the cafeteria saw it and exploded. They swarmed over like a tidal wave. They arrived just in time to see me get hit, blood pouring down my face. The rage was instantaneous. They roared for vengeance. Mr. Zhu, seeing thirty angry students, quickly hid the baton behind his back, pretending nothing happened. The basketball captain, Tyler, dumped his lunch tray right on Mr. Zhu’s head. “You dare touch my classmate? You must have a death wish! Get him, boys!” Chili oil dripped into Mr. Zhu’s eyes. He squealed like a stuck pig. Before he could wipe it off, the guys grabbed every bottle of Coke and Sprite from the shelves, shook them violently, and sprayed him down. He looked like a drowned rat. Meanwhile, I lay on the floor playing dead, waiting for the ambulance. Chapter 2 The video of Mr. Zhu humiliating me spread from the class chat to the whole school. One to ten, ten to a hundred. Within minutes, almost every student knew. Mr. Zhu was the only game in town, and he abused his monopoly. Ten bucks for a soda, fifty for a pack of pads. He had made plenty of enemies. Now, seeing him pull this crap? The students snapped. Impulse took over. Hundreds of students stormed the store. Seeing Tyler and the boys already engaging, the mob lost all restraint. They rushed in. Smash! Crash! “Eighty! Eighty!” In minutes, the convenience store looked worse than a landfill. The siren of the ambulance finally halted the chaos. Everyone watched as the paramedics loaded me onto a stretcher. The moment the ambulance doors closed, the students scattered like roaches in the light. Mr. Zhu, covered in footprints and sticky soda, couldn’t catch a single one. He pried open his swollen, chili-burned eyes to see his ruined store and let out another pig-like wail. Before he could finish screaming, the cops handcuffed him. That hit gave me a concussion. I was going to sue him for every penny. Sitting in the interrogation room, Mr. Zhu finally realized he had screwed up. He hadn’t provoked me into smashing the store; instead, he had assaulted a student. How would he explain this to the Principal? Desperate, he lied to the cops. He claimed I was “loose,” that I stole from him, and then called a gang to beat him up. He said he only grabbed the baton for self-defense, and accidentally hit me while protecting himself. He claimed my injury was just bad luck and had nothing to do with him. The cops laughed in his face. He didn’t know that the video of him harassing me was already trending on local news. Netizens were ripping Mr. Zhu and his ancestors to shreds. Principal Higgins was fuming in his office, cursing Mr. Zhu for being useless. I was in the hospital, so Higgins couldn’t touch me yet. In his rage, he took it out on Tyler and the boys. He called them to his office and screamed: “Nora Vance stole things! She had a conflict with Mr. Zhu! What does that have to do with you? You smashed his store! You’re all paying for it!” Tyler was smart. His retort nearly gave Higgins a stroke. “First: Nora didn’t steal anything. She’s the victim.” “Second: We didn’t smash anything. Don’t slander us without evidence. My aunt is a top lawyer. I’ll have my parents sue you for defamation if you’re not careful.” Tyler’s family was full of legal sharks. He wasn’t scared of a high school principal. The other boys chimed in: “Yeah, we saw Mr. Zhu had chili in his eyes. We just opened some sodas to help him wash it out! We were being good Samaritans!” “When we left, the store was fine. We don’t know anything…” Mr. Zhu had to eat the loss. He had turned off the surveillance cameras to frame me, so there was no footage of who smashed what. He literally played himself. Principal Higgins didn’t get to vent; he just swallowed more anger. Chapter 3 Lying in my hospital bed, I scrolled through the floating comments. From them, I learned this world was a novel. And I was just a stepping stone for the male and female leads’ romance. In the original plot, Mr. Zhu framing me and trying to strip me was all orchestrated by Principal Higgins. The reason? The school had two guaranteed spots for a prestigious study abroad program. They belonged to me and the male lead, David Chen. Principal Higgins’ daughter, Jessica Higgins—the female lead—wanted to go abroad with David. So she begged her daddy to get rid of me and give her my spot. But as long as I didn’t drop out, Higgins couldn’t touch that spot. So he resorted to this dirty trick to force me out. In the book, I fell for the trap. I was humiliated, smashed the store in rage, and got expelled. Jessica took my spot, went abroad to get “gold-plated,” and returned as a celebrated success story. Meanwhile, with an expulsion on my record, I hit wall after wall in society. I worked like a dog. Finally, I got into a decent company and was about to be promoted… When Jessica returned, parachuted in as my boss, and stole my position. She didn’t feel an ounce of guilt. Instead, she sabotaged me at every turn until I was forced out. If these comments hadn’t saved me, I would have lived through that hell. Just thinking about it made my chest ache with rage. Damn Higgins. Damn Zhu. And that trash female lead. I wasn’t letting any of them off. Chapter 4 After the injury assessment, I was discharged. Nothing serious. Mr. Zhu was still in lockup. I hired a lawyer for compensation. I definitely wasn’t settling. The moment I returned to school, Higgins called me to his office. Before I could enter, he had a female teacher frisk me to ensure I had no recording devices. Only then did he close the door and start his high-and-mighty lecture. “Why didn’t you report this to a teacher? Why did you have to be so barbaric?” “I know all about what happened with Mr. Zhu. It was a small misunderstanding that you blew up into a scandal.” “It takes two to tango. Why would Mr. Zhu accuse you for no reason?” “Reflect on yourself. Was it because you were dressed inappropriately?” He glared at me with his dead fish eyes, spouting victim-blaming nonsense. I cut him off calmly. “Principal, didn’t you see the video of him verbally sexually assaulting me?” Higgins scoffed. “He just used some improper language. You were the one who overreacted.” “Now Mr. Zhu is in jail because of you. Don’t you feel guilty? You’re stubborn.” “You need to sign a settlement and get him out. Otherwise, don’t blame me if this goes on your permanent record.” I sneered. “Are you threatening me, Principal?” Higgins bared his yellow teeth, thinking he had me cornered. “Threatening? I’m educating you! Sometimes you have to forgive and forget. Don’t be ungrateful.” I was disgusted. I fired back. “Since you’re so generous, why don’t you send your daughter, Jessica, over to Mr. Zhu for a ‘chat’?” “I have dignity. I can’t handle that kind of humiliation. Since you can, I hope your daughter meets a man like Mr. Zhu every day. My ancestors were shamans; my curses stick. Good luck to her!” Higgins slammed his desk. “You little bitch! Dare curse my daughter? I’ll make sure you never graduate!” “Get out! You’re done here!” I laughed loudly. “Why so mad? Weren’t you just preaching forgiveness? Now that it’s your daughter, it hurts?” “You hypocritical tyrant! You stab others but scream when you get pricked!” “Forgive and forget? You’re unreasonable, yet you argue. I’m right, so why should I forgive?” I didn’t hold back. I aired all his dirty laundry. Higgins took over three years ago. The previous principal, Mr. Shen, was an honest man who clashed with Higgins. Mr. Shen had a disabled son. With approval from the board and the education bureau, Mr. Shen hired his son to work in the print room. Minimum wage. Not taking a teacher’s headcount. The son cherished the job. In five years, he never missed a day. The moment Mr. Shen retired, Higgins fired the son, citing his disability. No severance. Mr. Shen had to sue to get the pension. Everyone knew Higgins was a scumbag for that. I threw that in his face. He nearly passed out from anger. Beep… beep… beep… … After thirty minutes of verbal combat, he couldn’t take it anymore. Panting like a cow, he kicked me out. The comments helped. For every sentence he said, they gave me ten comebacks. Chapter 5 Because I refused to settle, Mr. Zhu stayed in jail. His store was trashed and uncompensated. His family took a huge hit. Soon, they hired shady bot accounts to smear me online. They said I was an attention whore trying to become an influencer. That Mr. Zhu was innocent. Since the video only showed verbal abuse, they spun a story. They claimed students stole so much that Mr. Zhu was going broke. That he had an 80-year-old mother and a toddler to feed. That he snapped under pressure. Some business owners bought it. They started cyberbullying me. Higgins saw the tide turning and started dreaming again. He thought he could kick me out and send his daughter abroad. He was grinning ear to ear. I didn’t panic. I had the ace up my sleeve. A student filming from a distance had captured the entire incident and sent it to me. Before my roommates arrived, Mr. Zhu had said some truly vile things and physically groped me. I waited for the rumors to peak, then sent the full video to a local news reporter. The video dropped in the morning. The internet exploded by noon. The people who defended Mr. Zhu felt like idiots. Their shame turned to rage. They doxxed Mr. Zhu’s family. His wife got fired. His son, Zhu Jr., was stripped and humiliated on his way home from school. Don’t feel bad for the kid. He was a bully too. He once blinded a classmate in one eye with a ruler. Because he was ten, his parents just paid a fine. The blinded kid’s parents set off fireworks for a week when they heard the news.

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My stray cat, whom I regularly feed, dragged in a half-dead white snake as a “gift.” I nearly fainted from shock, but then a barrage of floating comments appeared before my eyes: [No way! The snake-shifter male lead was supposed to be saved by the kind-hearted heroine! Instead, he got dragged in by a stray cat as a present for its human?!] [Damn it! That stray cat is useless! Bad kitty! Poor snakey!] [The biggest catch just fell into the villainess’s lap! This white snake guy is loaded. Whoever saves him gets the gold!] My eyes lit up instantly! I grabbed the snake and rushed inside. A snake that drops gold coins? Finders keepers! 1 After cleaning the white snake’s wounds, I placed him in a glass terrarium. Looking at the snake, which was nearly six feet long, I felt a shiver of fear. This is considered a pet snake? Someone clearly misunderstands the definition of “pet.” I thought pet snakes were supposed to be as thick as a few fingers. I rummaged through my kitchen and found a few pieces of raw meat in the freezer, tossing them into the terrarium. The white snake flicked its tongue, glanced at the frozen meat, and turned away disdainfully, coiling itself up. “It’s not gourmet, I know, but I’m broke. Since you’re my pet now—” Before I could finish, the white snake suddenly raised its head. [LMAO! Look at the shock in his golden eyes! Did he hear that right? Who are you calling a pet?!] [Male Lead: I was forced here! Forced! Do you understand?!] [Damn it, where is that culprit cat?] The culprit, a fat orange tabby named Garfield, ignored everything and happily crunched on kibble nearby. Crunch, crunch, yum, yum, crunch. Delicious. [Male Lead: I will not eat this cheap trash like that fat cat!] [I’d rather starve!] [What’s the point of living if I have to eat this garbage?!] This snake has some nerve. Being picky isn’t a good habit. I ignored the snake, went to the kitchen, made myself some instant noodles, cracked an egg into it, and added two leaves of lettuce. A balanced, luxurious meal! Just as I finished slurping, the doorbell rang. I shuffled to the door in my slippers. Through the crack, I saw my neighbors—Mr. Zhang and Mrs. Lee—armed with brooms and spatulas, looking fierce. “Daisy! Where’s the snake?!” “Don’t hide it from us! Someone saw that orange cat drag a snake into your apartment. You’re a girl living alone; we came to help!” Their eyes locked onto the terrarium in the living room. “That’s the white snake! Don’t be scared, we’ll kill it for you!” As they raised their weapons, the white snake panicked. It pushed the lid open with surprising force, its scales rustling against the floor as it slithered straight into my bedroom. Not the bedroom! Mr. Zhang and the others charged in after it. “Where is it?” Mr. Zhang rubbed his eyes. I pretended not to see the white coil on the ceiling light fixture. “It probably escaped,” I lied to Mr. Zhang. “That snake doesn’t bite. Besides, you know I love animals. I was thinking of getting a pet anyway.” Mr. Zhang dropped his can of bug spray. “A girl keeping a six-foot snake? Aren’t you afraid it’ll crawl into your bed at night?” I forced a smile, my fingers digging into the doorframe. “Just for fun. And… and for self-defense.” Mr. Zhang looked at me, exasperated. “Well, if that’s the case, then—” Crash! The ceiling light and the snake fell together. Before anyone could react, the white snake wrapped around my body, rubbing its head against my cheek affectionately. “See? I told you it makes a great pet.” 2 The comments scrolled by frantically, filling my vision with mockery directed at the male lead: [His arrogance lasted exactly one second.] [Slap in the face! Male Lead one second ago: I will never be a pet. Next second: Why can’t I be a pet?] [Look at how tight he’s holding on! He’s terrified Mr. Zhang will turn him into snake soup!] [I admit, I’m jealous of the snake. The villainess’s body is fire!] [Am I the only one looking at her waist? Drop the workout routine, sis!] … The neighbors left, shaking their heads. I tugged at the snake’s tail, trying to peel him off me. He wouldn’t budge. The white snake blinked curiously, as if discovering a new continent. Its tail rubbed against my skin. Its tongue flicked against my neck. The snake stared at me for a moment, then nuzzled into the crook of my neck. When its golden vertical pupils met mine, I swear I saw a faint blush. I sighed helplessly. “Um, can you get down? I can’t breathe.” Only then did the white snake slither down. On its way back to the terrarium, it bumped into the wall three times and the table leg twice. [Help! The snake boy is so satisfied his brain short-circuited!] [The virgin snake boy just experienced happiness for the first time in twenty-something years.] [Overheating warning! He was so arrogant wrapping around her, now he can’t even walk straight! Hahaha!] [So innocent? Did he already name their future snake babies just from that hug?] [Emergency! My snake seems to have concussed himself from happiness!] 3 Maybe it was my “self-defense” comment. Since that day. When I left for work in the morning, the white snake would be waiting at the door. When I came home, he would follow me everywhere. Eating at the table. Sleeping in the bed. My already cramped apartment felt even smaller. Maybe it was Big Data listening, but since I got the snake, TikTok only recommended snake content to me. Snake habits, snake species, even… snake anatomy… But I wasn’t interested in snakes. I was only interested in money. I kept scrolling. Suddenly, a video of a guy with abs flashed on the screen, tagged “Black Snake.” “Sister, do you like a black snake like me?” The shameful voice echoed in my apartment. I shivered. Okay, fine. I’m interested in money and men. My morals were hanging by a thread called “poverty.” Just as I hit “like” and opened the comments to type “Big Data knows me well,” the white snake slithered over. With a flick of its tail, it swiped the screen. It selected: Show less like this. Then, satisfied, it slithered over to the other side of my bed. I pondered his motivation. Hm. Probably the same reason Garfield hates when I feed other stray cats. Instinctive possessiveness. 4 News of my pet snake spread through the neighborhood fast. The aunties and uncles held a meeting and decided that relying on a snake for protection wasn’t a long-term plan. They concluded that a single girl living alone must be insecure to keep a snake. So the next day, they showed up with a stack of photos of eligible bachelors. “This one makes good money. Short, but his parents are locals. Not bad looking.” “This one is tall and handsome, but his job is unstable.” Auntie Sun asked me, “Daisy, what’s your type? You have a stable job, you’re pretty, and you don’t have parents to worry about this for you. We’re your family now. Tell us what you want!” I’m shallow. Life is already hard; if my husband is ugly, I might just give up. I looked at the photos. There was a guy named Simon Shen. Handsome, and younger than me. “Him. I like handsome guys.” Auntie Sun beamed. “Got it! Arranging it!” They happily planned the first date location and left. I closed the door and turned around to meet a pair of staring snake eyes. Under his gaze, I felt guilty, like a cheater. Auntie Sun quickly set up the date. As I was getting ready to leave, the white snake suddenly wrapped around my waist. “No. You can’t come.” Raising this snake was temporary. I had my own life, and I was serious about finding a boyfriend and getting married. Bringing a snake? Absolutely not. But the snake wrapped tighter, his eyes refusing to take no for an answer. I pulled hard on his tail to unwind him. “Stop it.” But seconds later, he was back. Helpless, I had to postpone the date.

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After we got back together, Nathan became clingy. What I ate, what I drank, who I saw—he needed a full report on everything. One day, he called, his tone a careful probe. “Zack brought some girls over. We’re heading to the spa.” I just said, “Oh. Have fun.” The line went dead. Twenty minutes later, he was blocking my doorway, his voice a raw whisper. “You’d just let me go off with someone else?” I took a step back under his intense gaze. “Isn’t this the ‘boundaries’ you wanted?” My words hung in the air, and he froze. 1 “Are you done?” I asked, my voice flat. “If you’re done, you can go. I really don’t mind.” Fearing he might misunderstand, I added a thoughtful assurance. “Don’t worry, I’ll play my part perfectly for your parents tomorrow.” Nathan’s face instantly darkened. “Aria,” he bit out, “you’re really something else.” He slammed the door on his way out. The commotion had completely shattered my drowsiness. I curled back into bed and scrolled through my phone. At two in the morning, a few photos arrived from an unknown number. A young woman, clad only in a bikini, her pale skin gleaming, was straddling Nathan. Steam curled in the air around them. His arm was wrapped casually around her waist, only a thin slip of fabric separating their bodies. Hey wifey, I’m scared of the water so Nate’s holding me tight 😉 So jealous you have such a caring hubby!~ I stared at the screen, considering my options. Should I get up and go catch them in the act? But it was so late, my driver was off for the night, and getting a ride would be a nightmare. Well then… maybe write a long, scathing essay tearing Nathan apart? The weather was too cold; my fingers would freeze. Maybe I could just copy and paste one of my old rants from our chat history. As I scrolled through the archives of my own fury, I somehow drifted off to sleep. No wonder Nathan never read them. When you strip away the emotion, the words are just long, rambling, and utterly exhausting. Turns out, they’re a pretty effective sedative. The next day was New Year’s. We were at the Vanderwood family estate. I was making small talk with the elders when the doorbell chimed. When the door opened, the girl from last night’s photos stood there, a picture of shy audacity. She was clutching a pair of men’s underwear. “This… he left this at my place yesterday.” The style was young, bold. There was only one man in this house they could possibly belong to. The scene was painfully familiar. The year we got engaged, another girl had shown up just like this. I’d gone ballistic, grabbing her hair and throwing her to the ground. Nathan had pulled me off her and left with the girl without a second glance, leaving me in a crumpled, humiliated heap on the floor. That night, the estate was in chaos. No one had a happy New Year. The old folks always say you shouldn’t start the year on a bad note. Sure enough, that was the year Nathan and I fought the most viciously. The living room fell silent. Everyone was waiting for my reaction. I immediately plastered on a smile and smoothed things over. “Oh, that’s my cousin. She grew up abroad, you know how wild they can be. We were all together for New Year’s Eve last night.” Nathan’s father let out a sigh of relief, but his mother’s eyes were sharp with suspicion. “Really?” “Of course,” I insisted, pulling the girl inside and shutting the door. The last flicker of hope in Nathan’s eyes died out. 2 On the drive back, I pulled the underwear from my pocket and tossed it at Nathan. He stammered out an explanation. “Last night wasn’t what you think. That girl is Zack’s sister, and I was drunk, I didn’t do anything…” I tore open a sanitizing wipe and began meticulously cleaning my hands. “You can just drop me here. I’m meeting Nancy for a poker game.” Nathan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His voice softened. “I can pick you up when you’re done?” “No need,” I said, pushing the car door open. “You go do your thing.” I didn’t want to know what that pair of underwear had been through. I just didn’t want to be contaminated by any of it. At Nancy’s place, I took a long, hot shower and changed into a fresh set of clothes she’d laid out for me. Only then did the tight, suffocating feeling in my chest finally begin to dissolve. Nancy watched Nathan’s car drive away, then raised an eyebrow at me. “So, how was the battle? What was the body count? And why didn’t you call for backup?” I sank into her sofa. “There was no battle. Scaring away the man is a small loss, but what if I scare away the money tree?” That New Year’s Day years ago, the Vanderwood estate had been a war zone. Several elders had been so upset they ended up in the hospital. As I lay on the cold floor, it was Nancy who had finally come for me, bundling my mud-stained self into her sports car. As she turned the key in the ignition, she couldn’t resist a bit of dark humor. “Trying to live out a childhood dream, were we? Making mud pies at the Vanderwood estate?” The moment I opened my mouth, tears streamed down my face. “Nancy, how did it get like this?” She panicked, fumbling to wipe my tears away, but she had no answer. No one could have predicted that Nathan and I would end up in such a toxic mess. We were childhood sweethearts, friends since we were in diapers. To get into the same university as him, I’d woken up before the chickens and gone to bed after the dogs, pouring every ounce of my being into my studies. The day I got my acceptance letter, my mother was amazed. “If I’d known all it took was Nathan to make you work this hard, why did I spend a fortune on all those tutors?” Everyone just assumed that Aria and Nathan were meant to be. A package deal for life. But just as we finally grew up, no longer needing to share a single order of street-cart fries, he was the one who let go of my hand. He resented his family for mapping out his future, for forcing him to abandon his dream of music to take over the family corporation. That resentment found a new target in me when I joyfully accepted the engagement. Back then, I was too blinded by my own happiness, too caught up in the fantasy of finally marrying the man I loved, to notice that the love had long since vanished from his eyes. After the engagement, he was never home. I’d wake up to a phone flooded with “concerned” messages from well-meaning friends. Nathan had dropped a fortune on some model; Nathan was on a yacht surrounded by women; Nathan had thrown a mock wedding for himself somewhere… The messages were like mold in the rainy season—impossible to scrub clean. I used to scream, to demand answers, to lose my mind and make a scene for everyone to see. All it earned me was a deeper layer of Nathan’s disgust. “Can’t you have some goddamn boundaries? You don’t like it? Then go tell my mother to call off the engagement!” Nancy once accurately described our relationship as less like a married couple and more like a rebellious teenager and his overbearing mother. One desperately trying to escape, the other clinging on for dear life. I thought I would be tangled up with him like that forever. But then, somewhere in the middle of all the fighting, I just got tired. Friends like Nancy don’t need words. A single look is enough. Seeing my strange calm, she asked softly, “So, what’s the plan?” I took the warm water she handed me. “The London project… both our families have invested a lot. I’m going to go oversee it myself.” “For how long?” “Tentatively, three years.” She wrapped her arms around my neck, not wanting to let go. “Before you leave, we’re going to party hard. My treat.” “Don’t you worry,” I leaned against her shoulder with a smile. “You won’t get out of it.” 3 I was jolted awake late that night by the doorbell. Nathan was slumped against the doorframe, drunk, his tie hanging loosely around his neck. I glanced at my phone. The Do Not Disturb notification showed 99+ unread messages in our chat. So, he couldn’t reach me and just came over. A year ago, I would have been flattered that he’d even thought to come home while drunk. I would have bustled around, helping him inside, getting him water, fussing over him for half the night. But now? My hair was freshly washed and fragrant, my apartment was spotless, and the last thing I wanted was the stench of a drunk man tainting it. He saw I had no intention of letting him in and asked, his voice hoarse, “You’re just going to leave me out here?” “You’re at the wrong place,” I said calmly. “This is my apartment, not our marital home.” “I’ll call someone to pick you up.” As I looked down to find a number, he shamelessly pressed closer. “Aria… I want the soup you make.” I took a deep breath, pushing down the last lingering sting in my heart. “Really? You’ll leave right after you have the soup?” He nodded eagerly. I opened the DoorDash app and held my phone out to him. “Pick whatever kind you want.” He froze, the alcohol seeming to evaporate from his system. “Aria, you never let me eat this stuff…” He was probably remembering the early days of our engagement when I, determined to be the perfect wife, had hired a chef to teach me how to cook, starting from the very basics of chopping vegetables. But he never even glanced at the food I made, let alone tasted it. I would secretly post pictures of my carefully prepared meals on Instagram, hoping the likes and comments from our mutual friends would tempt him to come home for a taste. Instead, I overheard him laughing with his friends at a bar. “If you had a stage-five clinger like Aria, you’d think my life was a tragedy too. Why would I eat her pig slop when I have a world of delicacies waiting for me outside?” Amid the roar of laughter, I ran home and cried for three days straight. Nancy was both furious and heartbroken for me. “My darling girl, you’re the type of person who’d rather starve than turn on a stove! Why are you learning to cook for a man?! He’s out living it up while you’re turning yourself into a ghost!” That was my wake-up call. I never cooked for him again. “Mine doesn’t even taste good,” I said, pushing the phone closer to him. “Just order something.” He sighed and took the phone. As his fingertips brushed my palm, his other hand instinctively moved to wrap around my shoulder. I recoiled violently, my back hitting the door with a dull thud. In the dead silence that followed, he lowered his head and lit a cigarette. The tiny flame flickered in the dark, illuminating the sharp lines of the face I once adored. “Aria, I’m your fiancé, not a walking biohazard.” “You never know,” I countered, taking another half-step back. “I need to sleep. I have work tomorrow.” I don’t know when he left. The next morning, the hallway outside my door was littered with cigarette butts. 4 On the way to the office, waiting at a red light, my mind drifted back to the night I finally broke things off. Nathan had locked me out that night, too. But that was at our marital home. He and a crowd of people were partying inside. He’d even changed the security code. The deep winter wind cut like a knife. I pounded on the door, my hand instinctively cradling my stomach, my voice choked with sobs. “Nathan, open the door… something’s wrong… my stomach…” It was the same girl from the spa who answered me through the intercom. “Hey, you out there! Nate said the one he has to marry is the Vanderwood family, not him. You should probably go. He said you need to learn about boundaries.” I froze for a second, then started hammering on the door like a madwoman. The people inside must have found it amusing. They recorded me through the security camera. In the background, I could hear the spa girl’s sweet, cloying voice. “Nate, she says something’s wrong?” His voice, slurred with alcohol and thick with annoyance, came through crystal clear. “Ignore her. She’s just playing the victim.” In the video, I looked like a deranged mess, crying and screaming. Eventually, I stopped, picked up my suitcase, and stumbled away, disappearing around the corner. That video made the rounds in our social circle. Nathan only found out after a full day of people looking at him with expressions that screamed, You’re a real piece of work. He finally, confusedly, clicked on the link. He didn’t think it was a big deal. So what? He was having a good time at home and didn’t want her to come in and ruin the mood. But the Vanderwood elders were furious. They said his actions were disgraceful and had brought shame upon both families. So he came to me, wearing the sullen expression of someone forced to apologize. “I didn’t know you would… walk out alone so late. I heard about the video.” He looked at me, as if assessing whether I’d learned my lesson. “People are talking… saying I drove my own fiancée out onto the street… Aria, stop being so dramatic and come home.” He never knew what happened in the darkness after the video cut off. And I was done trying to explain. Lying on the hospital bed, I wearily turned over. “It’s not your fault.” On the surface, it seemed we had reconciled. But from that day on, I stopped caring where he slept or if he ever came home. I quietly moved out of our marital home and back into my own small apartment. 5 Saying it wasn’t his fault was a lie. I’m no saint. Giving up on someone you’ve loved for so, so long feels like tearing a part of yourself from your own flesh and bone. When the withdrawals hit, I’d lie awake all night, a gaping hole in my chest where my heart used to be, the icy wind from that winter night howling through it. Besides, my family’s fortune and the Vanderwoods’ were already deeply intertwined, like the roots of two ancient trees. Tearing them apart would have consequences neither side could bear. I knew better than anyone that in the face of family interests, the squabbles of two young people were as light as a feather. Maybe the pressure from his family scared him. Maybe he belatedly realized he’d gone too far. Whatever the reason, Nathan started to rein it in. No more all-nighters. No more ignoring my existence. Instead, he began reporting his every move to me, in excruciating detail. One day, I was in the middle of a high-stakes negotiation, finalizing the core terms of a nine-figure project. We were at the final impasse over profit-sharing. You could hear a pin drop in the conference room. All eyes were on me, waiting for my response. And that’s when his messages started flooding my phone screen, one after another. Something about an appointment with a famous wedding dress designer; he needed to know what style I wanted. When I didn’t reply, he started calling. Again. And again. The buzzing of my phone was deafeningly disruptive. The lead negotiator on the other side said sympathetically, “Please, take your time. It might be urgent.” I maintained a polite smile, nodded my apologies, and ducked into the restroom before finally answering, hissing into the phone. “What the hell do you want? Why are you blowing up my phone over something so trivial? Are you that bored? Can’t you have some goddamn boundaries?!” After my tirade, the line went dead silent. I was the first to snap out of it, rubbing my temples wearily. “I’m sorry. I’ve been pulling all-nighters for this project, I’m just exhausted. The style… you can just pick one for me.” On the other end of the line, Nathan was quiet for a long time before he finally managed a strained, “Okay.” 6 The car pulled up in front of the Vanderwood Corporation headquarters. I was here to consolidate some resources before heading back to my own company. In the breakroom, I overheard some colleagues gossiping. “Did you see? Mr. Vanderwood came in with her again this morning.” “I know! I heard he even left his underwear at her place last time…” “What is with that? Isn’t he engaged?” “Please, everyone knows how much he can’t stand Miss Aria. He’s always saying he wishes she would just disappear.” … Thanks to Nathan’s strict policy of never acknowledging our relationship at the office, I, Miss Aria herself, was privy to all the juiciest gossip. I lowered my eyes and sipped my coffee, feeling nothing. This little scandal was nothing. These people were amateurs. They’d never seen a female delivery driver show up late at night wearing a matching set of lacy lingerie underneath her uniform. They’d never had to deal with the mountains of explicit late-night texts on his phone. They’d certainly never been toasted at a family banquet by some random girl who called me ‘sis’ as if we were best friends. Nathan never said no to anyone outside our home, and I was always the one left to clean up his messes. A pair of forgotten underwear barely even registered on the scale of his transgressions. I fought the urge to go over and say something. Then I looked up and saw that the subject of the gossip was standing right in front of me. The girl from the spa—the one who was “afraid of water”—was clinging to Nathan as if she had no bones of her own. When Nathan saw me, he frowned and told her to stand up straight. I took a second look. Of all his flings, she had certainly lasted the longest. The girl pouted and shoved a file into my hands. “You’re the one from his house, aren’t you?” I took the file and met her gaze. “And you’re the one who sat on him in a bikini at the spa.” The breakroom went dead quiet. Her face paled. She bit her lip and demanded, “Can’t you just let him go?” I held up my hands in surrender. Don’t drag me into this, kid. I’m just trying to get my materials and get out of the country. In a moment of desperate inspiration, my voice rising an octave, I threw Nathan’s own excuse back at them. “You call him ‘bro,’ I call him ‘bro.’ What’s this about letting him go or not?” “Aria.” Nathan’s warning tone came from behind me. “What nonsense are you spouting now?” I waved the file in my hand and turned to press the elevator button. “Bro, deal with your own drama. Leave me out of it.” The elevator doors slowly slid shut, reflecting Nathan’s thunderous expression and the hurt look on the girl’s face beside him. Were they having another fight? Not my problem. I glanced down at the flight confirmation email on my phone. In twenty-four hours, I would be gone. 7 I’d partied too hard with Nancy the night before, so I was barely holding it together at Nathan’s grandfather’s banquet. I placed my prepared gifts on the table. The first was a rare bottle of aged whiskey, a toast to the old man’s good health. The second was the heirloom sapphire bracelet his grandfather had personally placed on my wrist at our engagement party. Today, I was returning it. The message couldn’t be clearer. I stood behind Grandpa Vanderwood and gently massaged his shoulders. “Grandpa, I’m begging you, please grant my request to break off the engagement with Nathan.” He grew agitated. “Did that boy force you into this?” I shook my head, my voice soft but firm. “This is my decision. The love is gone. This engagement is meaningless.” I added, “I will personally oversee the London project. I won’t let the interests of our two families suffer.” Grandpa Vanderwood looked at the sapphire bracelet, then let out a long sigh. “The Vanderwood family has wronged you.” He paused for a moment, then added, “For the London project, you will have full authority. On top of the original terms, the Vanderwood family will grant an additional five percent of the profits to you personally. Consider it a small token from an old man.” “Thank you, Grandpa,” I said with a small smile, not refusing the offer. I had earned it. My flight was in two hours. I offered a final toast and made my excuses to leave early. As the car pulled away, I took one last look at the grand estate where Nathan and I had grown up together, from innocent playmates to deeply entangled lovers. Now, the story was over, and I was the only one walking off the stage. As we turned the corner, I saw Nathan’s car pulling into the driveway. I could just make out the silhouette of the spa girl in the passenger seat. Our cars passed each other, going in opposite directions. Nathan, I hope you get everything you ever wanted. And I hope my future is limitless. 8 Nathan rushed into the banquet hall, but he couldn’t find the familiar figure he was looking for. He sidled up to his grandfather, feigning a casual tone. “What did Aria get you?” His grandfather swirled the whiskey in his glass, then pushed another velvet box toward him. Inside lay the solitary sapphire bracelet. The thing she had treasured above all else, now returned by her own hand. A knot of anxiety tightened in Nathan’s chest. “Where is she?” Grandpa Vanderwood took a sip of his drink, his voice betraying no emotion. “Gone. She said she’s setting you free. The engagement is off.” He glanced pointedly at the spa girl who had followed Nathan in. “You should be happy now.” Nathan stood there, stunned. His first feeling was an overwhelming wave of exhaustion. He thought of all his clumsy attempts to change—calling her even when he was drunk, learning to cook for her, even taking charge of the wedding dress selection… He had done so much, had bent so far. And she was still throwing a tantrum. A hot surge of anger, the anger of being played for a fool, rose in his throat. Knowing Aria, she was probably already on a flight to London. He furiously typed out a message to Nancy. [Was it fun playing games with me?] [Did you two get a kick out of watching me run around like an idiot, trying to change for her?] Nancy didn’t reply with a single word. Instead, she sent him a link to a surveillance video. It was from a convenience store not far from their marital home.

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At nine, I was caught in the shockwave of an explosion trying to save Greg. I’ve needed a hearing aid ever since. The guilt ate him alive. He was the one who insisted on the promise between our families, his eyes red as he swore to me, “Willow, I’ll take care of you for the rest of my life.” But when I was eighteen… To pass a test set by the school’s queen bee… He pulled out my hearing aid himself. In front of her and all his friends, his voice dripped with disgust. “You little burden. I’m so sick of you.” “I wish they’d never saved you when you were nine. I wish you’d just died.” I clutched the doctor’s report in my pocket—the one that said I was cured—and said nothing. When I got home, I quietly changed my college application choices. Then, I went with my parents to his house to break the promise. Greg, from that day on, our paths would diverge. We never needed to meet again. 1 “Willow, I wish they’d never saved you when you were nine. I wish you’d just died.” The moment Greg said it, the private room erupted. “Damn, Greg, you’re a savage!” “Next time, wait till her hearing’s fixed, then say it right to her face. I bet she’d cry. She’s always so meek and quiet, like some kind of saint.” “So what if she heard? Who’d want a cripple anyway? You’re the only one generous enough to put up with her, man.” I froze, my hand clenching the report in my bag until my knuckles were white. My parents had taken me to a specialist right after final exams. The surgery was a success. I didn’t need the hearing aid anymore. Today was my birthday party. I had planned to surprise Greg. To tell him my hearing was back, that I wouldn’t be his burden anymore. But my carefully planned surprise had unearthed a bloody, rotten truth instead. Greg’s words were a blade twisting in my heart, stealing the air from my lungs. Pain bloomed in my palm where my nails dug into my skin. I bit my lip and looked up at him, wanting to ask why. But he didn’t even seem to notice me. He was busy toying with the white hearing aid in his hand, a lazy, mocking smile on his face. “Alright, that’s enough,” he said. “She did save my life once. Watch what you say. Don’t let it get back to her.” The group caught his drift instantly. “Right, right. Our lips are sealed, bro.” “Tsk, for a shot at a guy like Greg? Being deaf for life is a small price to pay for her.” Another round of jeering laughter filled the room. “Okay, okay, guys, lay off,” Jessica said, stepping forward with a smile. She was the queen bee, the girl at the center of it all. “Willow’s a sweet girl, not a tomboy like me who can roughhouse with you guys. Don’t be too mean.” She turned to Greg, her voice full of theatrical gravity. “Greg, you passed my test.” “Now I believe you’re really not into Willow. So… we can go on that date tomorrow.” A slow smile spread across Greg’s face, his eyes so full of affection it looked like it could spill over. He murmured, “Okay.” I just stood there, my mind a complete blank. The world seemed to grind to a halt. The mocking laughter, the whoops and hollers—it all swirled around me, crescendoing into a sharp, painful ringing in my ears. “Hey, what are you thinking about?” Greg was suddenly in front of me, gently placing the hearing aid back in my ear. A smile played on his lips. “Speechless with joy?” I should have been. An eighteenth birthday, a confession from the boy I loved, our relationship made official in front of all our friends. It was like something out of a movie. But now, when I tried to speak, my throat was too dry, too tight for any words to escape. His friends jumped in, their voices a cheerful chorus of lies. “Willow, you missed it! Greg pulled out your hearing aid and whispered a ton of cheesy romantic stuff. We all got goosebumps.” “Man, I wish I had a childhood sweetheart.” “You lucky bastard,” Jessica said, slinging an arm over Greg’s shoulder and giving his chest a playful punch. “What did you do in a past life to deserve a girl as sweet as her?” 2 I didn’t say a word. My eyes scanned the faces in the room, one by one. They were all smiling, congratulating us, patting him on the back. A few even joked about saving the date for the wedding. Not a single crack in their performance. Their expressions were flawlessly, unnervingly natural. I suddenly remembered all the other parties, the other gatherings this year. There were so many moments just like this one. Greg would take out my hearing aid, his eyes soft, and say something I couldn’t hear. When he put it back, everyone would rush to tell me he was whispering promises, swearing he’d never let me down. If my hearing hadn’t been restored… If I hadn’t heard the shards of glass hidden in his honeyed tones, the utter ugliness of his words, I would have been trapped in that lie forever. “Oops!” Jessica suddenly exclaimed. She dropped her arm from Greg’s shoulder and turned to me with an exaggeratedly apologetic look. “Sorry, Willow! We’re just like brothers, always messing around like this. Don’t be jealous, okay?” Greg laughed. “Give me a break. You’re such a tomboy, nothing ladylike about you.” With that, they started chasing each other around the room, play-fighting as if no one else existed. Everyone watched, completely unfazed. I closed my eyes, took a breath, and turned to leave. But Jessica, quick as a flash, stepped in my way. Her eyes were filled with disapproval. “Everyone came here for you, for your birthday. You’re just going to walk out?” Greg came over and ruffled my hair, his voice laced with feigned patience. “You haven’t even opened your gifts yet. Come on, don’t be a princess.” I frowned and instinctively pulled away. Ignoring the darkness that flickered in his eyes, I told him, each word clear and deliberate, “We’re breaking up. Don’t ever contact me again.” Then I walked out of the room without a backward glance. 3 On the way home, my phone buzzed relentlessly. Greg was confused. “What’s with the drama now? Everyone worked so hard to come celebrate with you, to get you presents, and you just bail on them?” “Jessica was just excited. She’s not like other girls, all sensitive and complicated. She’s straightforward. That’s why she put her arm on my shoulder. She let go right away and even apologized, didn’t she?” Then the DMs started coming in from the group chat. “Willow, that was way out of line.” “You just stormed out for no reason. What did we ever do to you?” “Seriously? No good deed goes unpunished.” I almost laughed. A cold reply typed itself out: “Who was really out of line?” Then I blocked them, one by one, and left the group chat. When I got home, I gave my parents the short version of what happened. I bit my lip, the concern on their faces making the tight, aching knot in my chest swell. My voice cracked. “I don’t love him anymore…” “I don’t want to go to NYU with him. I don’t want to be with him. I don’t want to marry him.” My mom pulled me into a hug, wiping away my tears. “Oh, sweetie. That’s not the end of the world.” “Dad and I will go with you tomorrow to call off the engagement. You can apply wherever you want. We’ve got your back. We’ll always have your back.” My dad led me to the living room and placed the cake knife in my hand. “The cake never even made it to the party. Perfect. Now we can have a quiet birthday, just the three of us.” “Eighteen years ago, when you were born, I think I smiled so much my face cracked. Come on, birthday girl, no more tears. Make a wish. Cut the cake.” A watery smile broke through my tears. I made my wish to their chorus of blessings and blew out the candles. Just as I was about to cut into the cake, the doorbell rang. I composed myself and opened the door. It was Greg. A light drizzle had started, punctuated by rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning. He was soaked to the bone, water dripping from his hair onto his shoulders, but he didn’t seem to care. He just smiled and held out a beautifully wrapped jewelry box. “See? I picked it out just for you.” “Stop the drama. Everyone’s still at the restaurant waiting for you. And don’t talk about breaking up again, okay?” I stared at the diamond bracelet inside the box. It looked familiar. Jessica had been wearing a necklace from the same brand today. I didn’t move, didn’t take it. Greg’s arm hung in the air, suspended between us. After a long moment, he finally lowered it, his patience fraying. “What the hell is wrong with you today?” he demanded. “You were crying with happiness when you accepted my confession. Now you just flip a switch?” “Willow, have you forgotten how sweet and obedient you used to be?” A lump formed in my throat. I didn’t even want to look at him. I had been living in a dream, believing he loved me, that we’d go to NYU together, build a life, and that after graduation, we’d get married and have kids. Today, that dream had been violently torn apart. I finally understood. He never loved me. To him, I was just the burden who had saved his life as a child, a nuisance he couldn’t shake. I took a deep breath and repeated calmly, “I’m not causing drama. I’m serious. We’re over. Don’t contact me again.” Suddenly, he snapped. He threw the jewelry box on the ground, his face dark with anger. “Willow, for fuck’s sake, when are you going to stop—” He was cut off. My dad stepped in front of me, his brow furrowed. “Greg, watch your language.” “You’re soaked. You should go home, take a hot shower, and get some rest. It’s late, we won’t ask you to stay.” My mom appeared with a slice of cake on a plate, her smile polite but distant. “Willow already made her wish. She doesn’t need the gift. Take this cake with you.” “Get home safe. You need to be careful when you’re out, too.” Greg stood there, stunned. I knew why. In the past, whenever he came over, my parents were warm and welcoming. They’d never, ever left him standing on the doorstep. He had no idea what had caused this sudden shift, and he opened his mouth to say something, but it was too late. The door clicked shut in his face. 4 I had no appetite. After a few bites of cake, I went to my room. My mom followed, sitting on the edge of my bed. “Willow,” she asked softly, “are you absolutely sure about this?” She knew me better than anyone. She knew how much I loved Greg. How much I had always loved him. I looked down at the white hearing aid in my hands. What was there to say? It was just… astonishing how much a person could change. When we were kids, just after my family moved into this neighborhood, I used to follow Greg around like a shadow, always calling him “big brother.” Our families were close, business partners. That day, we all went to a factory on the outskirts of town. No one saw the explosion coming. I remembered the emergency drills my parents had taught me and got out. But Greg was trapped inside. I saw the flames licking higher and higher, saw him frozen in place as the fire closed in. I don’t know where the strength came from. Before anyone could react, I ran back in and pulled him toward the exit. We were almost out. Then a secondary explosion threw me against a wall. I was knocked unconscious and didn’t wake up for a long time. When I did, the world was silent. My parents were quiet and grim. Greg’s parents hovered, their faces etched with guilt. I just lay in bed, listless, refusing to speak or interact with anyone. Greg stopped going to school. He brought me snacks and toys, but I ignored them. He decided the hospital was too depressing, so he snuck me out and took me to a shop where he had this hearing aid made for me. He drew a tiny fish and a stalk of wheat on it with his own hands. He was just a kid himself, but he fumbled to put it in my ear, his expression deadly serious. “Willow,” he promised, “I’ll protect you from now on.” “My tutor said wheat is strong, that it always grows back, no matter what. You’ll get better too, Willow.” “And the fish… well, they say fish have a seven-second memory, but I won’t. I’ll never forget you.” “I’ll always be your knight.” I was the only one who remembered that promise. If the nine-year-old Willow had heard the eighteen-year-old Greg say, “I wish you’d just died,” she would have cried for days. But over the years, I’d grown used to the whispers and stares my hearing loss attracted. So I accepted this change in him, too. People grow up. I saved his life, and his family had been trying to make up for it ever since. For years, they’d given our family’s company a nearly fifty-percent discount on all our joint ventures. That was more than fair. We didn’t owe each other anything anymore. And I was my own person, not an accessory to someone else’s life. I didn’t need anyone to survive. So I looked up at my mom, my voice firm. “I’m sure.” With my mom’s help, I changed my college applications. From NYU to a university in Boston. I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, but I slept like a rock. I woke up around noon, groggy, and instinctively reached for my phone. Two new voice messages from Greg were waiting for me. He must have used a friend’s phone. His voice was cold, laced with ice. “Willow, are you done with this tantrum? Block me, unblock me… how old are you?” “Jessica feels terrible about you leaving last night. She keeps saying she doesn’t know how to make it up to you. She even went up to the roof, threatening to jump. I had to talk her down.” “We still have a few weeks of summer left. I’m taking her and a few of the guys to Aspen for a ski trip to clear her head. Don’t be jealous. It’s partly your fault she almost did something stupid, after all.” His shamelessness made me laugh out loud. Jessica? Kill herself? Not a chance. At school, she was always bragging about being a “cool girl,” not one of those “fake, high-maintenance girls” who wore no-makeup makeup and acted all innocent. But she was the most manipulative person I knew. Four months ago, at my best friend Chloe’s birthday party, Chloe had picked out a special dress and done her makeup, hoping to get some beautiful photos. Jessica, of course, had to ruin it. The second she walked into the room, she’d started in on her. “Damn, Chloe, look at that body. You been sleeping around?” “Don’t be shy! We’re all friends here. Spill the tea.” When Chloe burst into tears, Jessica threw her hands up in mock surrender. “Jesus, can’t you girls take a joke? This is why I don’t hang out with girls. So. Much. Drama.” Another time, when we were all cramming for the SATs, exhausted and stressed, she went around snapping unflattering photos of everyone. She turned them into memes and posted them on the school’s gossip page with the caption: “Our junior class queen. Line up, boys.” It only stopped after half the class reported her to the principal. And I’d known for two years that she’d only joined the basketball team as “manager” to get close to Greg. I just hadn’t taken her seriously. Back then, I was arrogant. I thought no one could take what was mine. Now that she had, I had to admit it. I was a poor judge of character. I’d saved a snake. “Willow, if you have any conscience at all, you’ll come and apologize to everyone, especially Jessica…” The messages kept coming. I didn’t even listen to the end of the voice note. I just blocked the new number, too. Outside my door, my mom was calling for me. “It gets cold in Boston in the winter. Let’s go buy you some warmer clothes.” I nodded. I never expected that after buying a few sweaters on the second floor of the mall, we’d run right into Greg and his crew.

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Five years after the divorce, I ran into Jason in the designer section of a department store. The sales associate was just finishing boxing up the tie I’d chosen for my husband. Her tone brightened when she saw Jason approach. “Mr. Collins, good to see you. The suit your wife selected for you is ready.” The man gave a slight nod, his gaze lingering on the tie in my hand. “Add hers to my bill.” I politely declined, placing a few bills on the counter. He seemed to sigh. “Ava,” he said, his voice low, “it’s been so many years. You still hate me, don’t you?” I just smiled, saying nothing. Hate him? I didn’t have the time. I had let him go long ago. 1 I took the small shopping bag, dropped it casually into the canvas tote full of groceries, and walked out. The early autumn wind whipped around me. By the time I reached the bus stop, a place etched in my memory, my hair was plastered across my face, stinging my eyes. When I finally pushed the strands away, I saw Jason’s car idling in front of me. He saw my reddened eyes and his brow furrowed. “Get in. I’ll give you a ride.” “No, thank you. I’ll take the bus.” His eyes swept over me, from my simple clothes down to my sensible flats. When his gaze landed on the canvas tote slung over my shoulder, he asked, his voice cautious, “Have you… been doing okay these past few years?” “I’ve been great.” Jason obviously didn’t believe me. “Please, just get in. Let me drive you home.” The bus behind his car was laying on its horn, but he didn’t budge. With everyone staring, I had no choice but to get in. “Serenity Apartments,” I said, giving him the address. The car was silent for a moment before he spoke, his voice strained. “Why are you living there? That place is practically abandoned. It’s not safe for a woman alone, especially with…” He trailed off, unable to finish. But I knew what he was going to say. It was where my mother had died. Ten years ago today, she had refused to attend my wedding to Jason. Instead, she had jumped from the roof of that ten-story building. The back seat was spacious, but the heat was blasting. I cracked the window open. “You’ll catch a cold,” he said immediately. “Close it. If you’re hot, I can turn the temperature down.” I shook my head, a small smile on my face. “That doesn’t happen anymore. But do as you like.” He said nothing more. A moment later, his phone rang, the sound filling the car. “Honey, did you get the suit? Where are you now?” The voice coming through the speakers was familiar, but it held a playful, coquettish tone I’d never heard from her before. “I got it. I just ran into Ava. I’m giving her a ride.” Silence on the other end. “Ava’s back? It’s been so long! Why didn’t you say so? You’re having a reunion without me?” I had known Rosalie for over a decade and had never once heard her speak like that. She had always been quiet, reserved, an artist who poured her entire soul onto the canvas. When someone stole her spot in a competition, all she did was hide and cry. I was the one who had taken a baseball bat to the plagiarist’s entry, written a letter exposing the rigged contest, and spent three days in juvenile detention to get her justice. It’s true what they say. Unconditional love can make a person bloom. “It was just a chance encounter. She has things to do. I’ll be home right after I drop her off.” “But a chance encounter means it’s fate! What’s wrong with buying an old friend dinner?” “Rosalie, stop it.” The other end went quiet. Jason had always been gentle when he was trying to placate someone, but once his mind was made up, no one could change it. Rosalie, of all people, should have known that better than I did. The call was abruptly ended just as the car pulled up to the apartment building. “Thanks,” I said, getting out. Jason’s eyes scanned the dilapidated surroundings before he called out to me. “Ava… can I ask who that tie was for?” “My husband.” He gave a weary smile, rubbing his forehead as if he thought I was just saying it to spite him. “It’s the same brand, the same style you used to buy for me five years ago.” “And?” I met his gaze, my own perfectly calm. “You don’t have to pretend to be strong in front of me. After all this time, all I ever wanted was for you to be happy. Not… like this.” Like what? My reflection in the glass door of the building showed a woman in a casual tracksuit and flats, carrying a tote bag overflowing with groceries. The picture of an ordinary person struggling to make ends meet. But for someone who had grown accustomed to designer clothes and fine jewelry, there was nothing wrong with this picture. I smiled, not the least bit offended. “I think I’m doing just fine.” For a moment, he looked completely lost. “Ava… you’re really not the same person you used to be.” “No,” I said. “A lot of people say that.” I turned and walked away, and this time, I didn’t look back. I climbed the five flights of stairs and unlocked the door. The apartment was exactly as it had been this time last year. My mother’s black-and-white portrait sat next to the old television, the candle in front of it long since extinguished. I expertly replaced it with a new one, tied on an apron, and went into the kitchen. I quickly prepared a simple meal, setting a bowl of rice at the empty place across from me. I ate slowly. “Mom, I saw Jason today.” “Don’t worry, he can’t hurt me anymore. And I’m not as stupid as I used to be.” Only silence answered me. I had no appetite. I put down my chopsticks, went into the bedroom, and pulled out an old photo album. “Let’s look at how beautiful you were. These old black-and-white photos are so boring.” Before I could even open it, a single photograph slipped out and fluttered to the floor. When I bent to pick it up, I saw the faces. Jason. Me. Rosalie. Three young, beaming faces, laughing recklessly for the camera. I was in the middle, my arms linked through theirs, my smile the biggest of all—a gap where my right canine tooth should have been made me look goofy and utterly happy. That was the summer I turned thirteen. Loan sharks had shown up at Jason’s house, screaming and threatening to kill his family. None of the neighbors dared to intervene, not even my parents. But I ran out. The fist that was meant for Jason’s face caught me instead. My tooth shattered on impact. My face was swollen for a month. My mother, her heart aching for me, told me to stay away from the Collins family. But then Jason’s mother, her legs disabled, dragged herself to our house and knelt before my parents, banging her head on the floor as she thanked them. My mother’s heart softened. For the next ten years, there was always an extra bowl and set of chopsticks for Jason at our dinner table. Whenever we got new clothes for the holidays, there was always something for him, too. When my mother wasn’t busy, she’d help his mother with her street stall, and if anyone tried to bully her, my mother would unleash a fury so fierce they’d never dare come back. They called each other sisters. No one could have predicted that the timid, stuttering younger sister would crawl into the older sister’s husband’s bed. I came home to find our apartment destroyed. My mother stood in the middle of the room, sobbing uncontrollably, the five angry red finger marks on her cheek a terrifying sight. My father stood protectively in front of another woman. His mother. “Let’s get a divorce,” my father said. “You can have everything. All I want is Susan.” Jason, who was standing beside me, went pale and reached for his mother’s hand. My mother slapped him. Twice. Hard. I shoved her. She stumbled and fell, staring up at me in disbelief. I was crying too, but my words were like daggers. “Mom, how could you hit Jason?” The memories swirled, a chaotic mess, finally settling on the small photograph in my hand. After Jason and I divorced, I burned everything that had to do with him. I couldn’t believe this one had survived. Just as I was about to toss it in the trash, there was a knock at the door. I assumed it was Mrs. Gable from downstairs, who always stopped by at this time of year. I opened it without thinking. But it was Rosalie, holding onto Jason’s arm. She beamed at me. “Ava! It’s been so long! You haven’t changed a bit.” “Jason couldn’t say no to me. I hope we’re not interrupting, just showing up like this.” I looked at them both, my expression cool. “I won’t invite you in. Is there something you need?” Rosalie, having hit a wall, looked up at Jason with a wounded expression. “Rosalie just wanted to see you,” he said. “She brought you a gift. That’s all.” He stepped forward and placed a bag on the entryway cabinet. Rosalie immediately launched into her sales pitch. “I’ve been using this skincare line, and I absolutely love it. I had an extra set at home, and since we used to share everything, I thought I’d bring it to you.” I glanced down at the box. It looked like the same brand my housekeeper used. “That photo…” Rosalie’s eyes suddenly grew misty. “Ava, after all these years… you still haven’t let go, have you?” I crumpled the photograph in my hand and tossed it into the bin. “Don’t be ridiculous.” She reached for my hand, then stopped, her fingers hovering in mid-air. “I know you’re still holding a grudge. If you and Jason were still together, today would be your anniversary.” “What happened back then… I didn’t have a choice. If you’re really over it, then let us take you out to dinner. And if there’s anything you need, anything we can do to help, please tell us. We’re old friends, after all.” I was about to refuse without a second thought. Suddenly, the candle in front of my mother’s portrait crackled loudly. Pop. A small smile touched my lips. I changed my mind. “Alright.”

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1 I snagged the city’s most eligible billionaire heir with nothing but a seven-dollar latte. That day, when a handsome guy walked into the coffee shop asking to “borrow” a drink just to take a photo, the entire room went silent. I was the only one who handed mine over. My best friend, Mia, was quick to grab my arm, whispering, “Don’t do it. Guy’s probably a nutcase or a scammer.” I didn’t think it was a big deal. The guy shot me a look of genuine gratitude, took my cup, and started filming a video on his phone. “4 PM. Afternoon tea time. Living the affluent life in this clean, high-society circle. A seven-dollar Starbucks latte—an absolute daily necessity for someone of my stature.” As soon as the words left his mouth, the surrounding customers were stunned. A split second later, the shop erupted in laughter. “No way,” someone snickered. “Can’t afford his own coffee, so he borrows someone else’s to flex online? That’s a new low.” Mia threw her hands up helplessly. “See? told you not to lend it. He’s just using your drink to fake a lifestyle.” The guy finished filming, handed the coffee back to me, and spoke with a clean, sincere voice. “Thanks. You really saved me there.” The murmurs and mockery around us were getting louder. I felt a pang of sympathy and, on impulse, blurted out: “I have a coupon. Do you want me to order one for you?” I paused, then added, “You look like you really want some coffee.” The guy stood tall, completely unbothered by the crowd. A smile played on his lips. “No time to drink it right now. How about we exchange contacts? I’ll treat you next time, deal?” I was about to pull up my QR code when Mia grabbed my hand again, anxious. “Don’t add him. Use your head, Serena. Pretty faces are the best liars.” But this time, I ignored her. almost as if guided by a ghost, I scanned his code. “Okay. See you next time.” “See you.” He turned and walked away on long, model-esque legs. I watched his retreating figure, then took a sip of my coffee. Mia was still complaining beside me. “You, seriously. You’re too innocent. You’re going to get played one day. You need to keep your guard up.” Mia didn’t know. That “scammer” was Lucas Sterling. The heir to the Sterling empire. The richest, most untouchable scion in the entire elite circle. 2 Inside a private hotel suite, Lucas Sterling tore off his jacket and tossed it onto the sofa, his face twisted in disgust. “That Truth or Dare challenge was ridiculous. Who came up with ‘borrow a stranger’s drink to film a flex video’? It was humiliating.” The room erupted in laughter. “Hey, you lost the game, Lucas! Sebastian had to go film a breakup video by the elevators earlier. We’re all suffering here.” “Come on, let’s see the video!” The group huddled around the phone screen. “I’m dying! Lucas, look at that smug expression. You look so punchable, it’s incredible.” “Wait, who’s the girl in the frame? She’s actually really pretty.” Hearing this, the tips of Lucas’s ears turned a faint shade of pink. His fingers absently traced the rim of his glass. “Just a kind stranger. The whole coffee shop was staring, and she was the only one willing to lend me her drink.” The boys immediately started jeering. “Oho? Do I detect a little crush?” Lucas rolled his eyes at them, glancing down at our chat interface. “Get lost. Stop talking nonsense.” 3 Two days ago, I learned the truth about my birth. I was the fake heiress of the Joyner family. They had found their biological daughter. My adoptive parents gave me an ultimatum: leave with dignity, or be thrown out without it. Today was the deadline. I silently packed my suitcase. Dragging my heavy feet to the door, I found my path blocked by Chloe Joyner. “Don’t even think about taking anything that belongs to this family,” she said, her face twisted with arrogance. She kicked my suitcase over, sending it sprawling. She rummaged through it, snatching up the bracelets, necklaces, and jewelry the Joyners had given me over the years, piling them onto the floor. Only my messy clothes remained. “I don’t want the clothes you’ve worn. Take those rags and get the hell out.” I looked toward the sofa. My parents sat there, watching everything unfold, making no move to stop her. My brother, Xavier, who used to dote on me, sat with his laptop, typing away. He didn’t even spare me a glance. Humiliation burned in my chest. I silently repacked my clothes. I took one last look at them and said, enunciating every word: “I will never, ever come back.” Even if they begged me on their knees one day, my heart would not soften. I was temporarily crashing at Mia’s place. She was applying makeup in the mirror, comforting me between strokes of mascara. “Oh, don’t be so sad. Isn’t it fun living with me? Just the two of us. As long as my parents aren’t home, no one will bother us.” It wasn’t a long-term solution. Mia accepted me, but her parents didn’t welcome a fallen heiress. Mia always said I was innocent, but in reality, she was the pure one. I knew how to calculate better than anyone. A fire burned deep within me. I wanted everyone who hurt me to regret it. Meeting Lucas Sterling at the coffee shop yesterday wasn’t just an accident; it was an opportunity. Lucas had just returned from studying abroad. His heart was still sincere; he hadn’t been corrupted by the cynical playboy lifestyle of the local elite yet. Maybe he could help me achieve what I wanted. Or maybe, I could use him. I thanked God for giving me a beautiful face. It might be the only card I had left to play. 4 On the third day, Lucas sent me a message. Lucas: [Does that offer to let me treat you to coffee still stand? I’m craving it now. You have to let me pay this time.] I stared at the screen, the corners of my mouth lifting. Serena: [Of course it stands. Same place. 4 PM. I’ll wait for you.] As soon as I walked into the coffee shop, I sensed something was off. Too many people were stealing glances at me. Some held books upside down; others peered over newspapers; a few were blatantly peeking from behind potted plants. Lucas was already waiting. When he saw me enter, he gave a deliberate cough. Immediately, the eavesdroppers straightened up, pretending to be busy. Lucas’s ears were red. I understood instantly. These were his rich friends, here to watch the show. I walked over calmly and sat opposite him. I had worn a white dress today—modest in the front, but with a tasteful open back that hinted at allure. “I haven’t asked your name yet,” I said softly. Lucas seemed nervous. He cleared his throat. “Lu… Luke.” I extended my hand, smiling. “I’m Serena Joyner.” Lucas tried to maintain his cool-guy persona, but the flush spreading across his ears betrayed him. Around us, his friends were grinning like idiots. I caught Lucas mouthing “Get lost” in their direction when he thought I wasn’t looking. It seemed that cup of coffee was a worthy investment. He was easier to approach than I had imagined. After coffee, we parted ways. I stood at the bus stop, and faintly, I heard Lucas roaring in the distance: “Who told you guys to follow me?! Who?! I wanted a private date, do you understand? Five or six third wheels… are you trying to keep me single forever?” I waited for the bus. It took a long time. I used to have a driver. The disparity in life stung. Right now, Chloe must be living the good life in my old home. It started to rain. By the time I got back, I was soaked. Mia handed me a towel. “Where have you been running around all day? You’re drenched.” She was so kind. So attentive. My throat tightened, but I held back the tears. I, Serena Joyner, had lived nineteen years, and in the end, all I had was one best friend, a pitiful bank balance, and a nineteen-year-old body. Lucas began messaging me frequently. He shared the mundane trivia of his high-society life. Lucas: [We have banquets every day. So boring. I miss drinking Starbucks with you. Can I invite you again?] In the photos he sent, I saw Chloe. She was surrounded by my parents, holding a champagne flute, laughing brightly. The gala was high-end. He didn’t try to hide his wealth, but he sent a photo of his long legs stretched out. Lucas: [Stood for so long. So tired.] I played along. Serena: [Your legs are so long. I thought you looked tall that day. Are you over 6 feet?] Lucas: [6’1″. Barefoot.] I could imagine him sitting on a sofa somewhere, smiling smugly at his phone. 5 Some people are truly easy to coax. But some people don’t need to do any coaxing to get everything I never had. Like Chloe. She had a terrible temper and didn’t hide it, yet she was spoiled rotten. I was different. My father had raised me with strict discipline. Just as he was about to publicly introduce me to society, Chloe returned and seamlessly took my place. I only found out a few days ago that my parents had known for a long time I wasn’t their biological daughter. No wonder when I got perfect scores or reached Level 10 in piano, despite my desperate efforts, they were never that happy. My brother, who used to love me most, now only had eyes for Chloe. I was the unwanted one. Except for Mia, nobody wanted me. So, I had to fight for myself. Lucas: [It’s a good thing I have you to talk to, otherwise this party would kill me.] Serena: [What party? Can’t you skip it?] Lucas: [It’s the inheritance ceremony for the daughter of the Joyner Group, Chloe Joyner. Mandatory attendance.] Chloe’s inheritance ceremony? My phone slipped from my hand and hit the floor. Nearly two decades of nurturing couldn’t compare to blood. I knew that. Lucas: [What happened? heard a loud bang.] Serena: [Dropped my phone. It hurts a little. But why do you have to go? A generic guy like you getting invited to such a big event?] Lucas is typing… Lucas: [Hehe, I snuck in as a waiter. Do you want anything to eat? I can steal you a slice of cake.] Serena: [You’re amazing, sneaking in like that. Can you bring me a piece of strawberry cake? I’m craving it.] Lucas: [No problem.] We set a time to meet. I looked at my cracked screen, heart aching. I couldn’t just buy a new phone whenever I wanted anymore. Life was tight. I had to speed up the plan. I decided that during this meeting, I would hook Lucas for good. I went to the convenience store to buy a few things. I never made it. A familiar Porsche Cayenne pulled up in front of the store. My brother, Xavier Joyner, stepped out. He opened the passenger door and helped out Chloe, who was dressed like a princess. “Xavier, this place is so run-down and dirty. I don’t want to be here.” Xavier gently held her hand, fixing her slightly messy, diamond-encrusted hair clip. “We’re just here to warn Mia Thorne not to meddle. Bear with it, Chloe.” Mia Thorne was my best friend. The girl who took me in. My eyes turned red. Warn her? Because she gave me shelter? Xavier… Brother… are you really going to be this cruel? Why?! Because of Chloe? The abandoned daughter is treated like grass to be trampled on. I believed it now. I texted Mia: Serena: [Tell my brother I died in a ditch somewhere. I won’t come to you again. And I won’t interfere with him and his precious sister.] I crouched at the entrance of the alley. I waited a long time until that familiar Cayenne drove away. Mia’s family was well-off, but they were constrained by the massive influence of the Joyner family. When I walked into Mia’s house to get my things, her father looked at me coldly. Her mother looked disgusted. Mia stood awkwardly in the middle. “Serena, I…” I forced a smile and grabbed my suitcase. Before leaving, I bowed deeply to them. “I am very sorry and very grateful. I won’t disturb you again.” 6 I was completely alone. I squatted on the curb, my suitcase beside me, counting the teardrops smashing onto the clean concrete, blooming into dark water stains. I checked my phone. 99+ unread messages. I thought it would be Xavier regretting his actions, or Chloe mocking me. Unexpectedly, it was Lucas. I had almost forgotten about him. Lucas: [Serena, I’m here. 30 minutes early.] Lucas: [Holy crap, I just saw an ant choke on food, and two other ants patted its back. Nature is wild.] Two hours later. Lucas: [Are you here yet?] Lucas: [Girls take time to do makeup, I know. Take your time.] Lucas: [I dressed really handsome today. Hehe.] Lucas: [Bought you ice cream. Waiting to eat it with you.] Another hour later. Lucas: [Where are you?] Lucas: [Don’t want to talk to me anymore?] Lucas: [The ice cream melted. I ate it.] Lucas: [Serena, next time I’ll take you to Starbucks instead, okay?] Several missed calls. Lucas: [Where are you? Did something happen? I’m waiting right here. Reply with a 1.] I messily wiped the tears from my face. Serena: [Sorry, Luke. Something happened at home. I have to cancel.] Serena: [Eat the cake for me.] Serena: [Sorry for making you wait so long.] I dragged my suitcase, walking aimlessly. If I asked to stay at Lucas’s place, he surely wouldn’t refuse. But… I didn’t want to. Running to him now would make me cheap. Being abandoned by parents, being driven to extinction by the brother who used to love me… it hurt too much. Mia called me. I composed myself and answered with a smile. “I’m staying at a hotel, a nice suite. I’ll worry about tomorrow when it comes. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, right?” Mia was silent for a moment. “Serena Joyner, you are sitting on the curb. I am watching you.” “My parents are uncontrollable, but I am me. I can help you.” I turned around. 7 Mia was staring at me. She placed a key on top of my suitcase. “My dad gave me this apartment key years ago. Serena, stand up.” Nineteen years old. A confusing, ignorant age. Yet Mia stood before me like an adult. It made me feel suddenly heartbroken and brave. “Thank you.” She helped me pull the suitcase. “Don’t get polite with me.” On the way to the apartment, sitting in the car, I saw a figure sitting on a bench by the park. A small cake box rested on his long legs. He was staring at his phone screen. Unblinking. Lucas. The apartment Mia’s father rented long-term hadn’t been cleaned in ages. Mia stayed and helped me scrub the place for three hours. She was a rich girl too. Neither of us was good at this. I wanted to hire a cleaner, but looking at my empty balance, I closed my phone. Lucas stopped spamming messages, but the count was already high. After cleaning, Mia left. “I have to go. Can’t stay out overnight. Call me if you need anything.” “Okay.” I sat on the bed, hugging a pillow. I used to have strict curfews too. My parents never let me stay out. But now, even if I invited eight men to this rental, my parents and brother wouldn’t spare me a glance. After all, Chloe was their real princess. I started a video call with Lucas. He practically bounced off his bed in excitement. “I thought you hated me. Thought you were ignoring me.” “You said something happened at home? Do you need help?” “Just ask. I can do anything.” “You lent me a coffee. I should repay you.” “I really thought you were ghosting me.” One second he was posting “Heartbroken” on his feed, the next he was sending “Absolutely Not” happy dog memes. Only someone raised in a loving family and a loving environment could grow up like this. Strangers. A vast difference in status. A person tells you something happened at home and doesn’t reply for hours, then calls. Any other rich heir would think this was a setup. A scheme. Instead of saying: “Whatever help you need, I can give it.” I laid my head on the new $7 pillow. It was soft. No different from the $1,500 pillows at home that were replaced monthly. I looked at Lucas’s eyes. They had the purity and brightness of a recent college grad. “Luke, why did you call me so many times?” “Because I was worried about you.” I replied, “You’re so warm-hearted. Are you this concerned about everyone?” He got a bit flustered, even annoyed. “Only worried about you.” “Really?” I swung my legs playfully. Lucas: “Because to me, you’re different.” I looked into his eyes. “Luke, I want to be your girlfriend. Will you allow it?” Ten, nine, eight… If he didn’t agree, I would give up on the seduction plan. Rich kids aren’t stupid. In the end, I’d only play myself. I’d be tossed on the ground like trash. “Serena Joyner? The arrogant ex-heiress? Just playing around.” “Miss Joyner, you’re fun to play with.” Followed by laughter. My pride wouldn’t allow it. Four, three… I was about to hang up. He finally snapped out of his shock, stuttering, his ears turning instantly crimson. “R-really? Can I? “I do!! I mean, yes!!” I smiled from the bottom of my heart, the exhaustion of the day finally washing over me. “Go to sleep, Luke.” 8 When I woke up the next day, I realized the video call had been running all night. It only cut off when my phone died. Since Lucas accepted me, I had to re-enter his circle as his girlfriend. The Joyner family was big. But not bigger than the Sterlings. He added me to his “Bros” group chat. Lucas: [Ahem. Introducing… my girlfriend.] Serena: [Hello everyone. I’m Serena Joyner.] These were his friends from abroad, so none of them knew me. But soon enough, they would know I was the fake heiress kicked out by the Joyners. We went on a date. I went on an empty stomach. My bank cards were frozen, digital payments locked. All I had was $300 in cash. Chloe had left it for me. She had smashed my piggy bank. “Fifteen thousand dollars? Haha. Serena, did you think you could take this? This is mine.” She threw three hundred dollars at me. “Don’t say we treated you poorly.” “This is what you deserve. You occupied my nest for so many years. Serena, you owe me.” My parents watched from the side. No one stopped her. Chloe threw my clothes and shoes out of the bedroom. Then she took my jewelry, bags, and savings. My brother, Xavier, patted her head. “Leaving her three hundred proves that Chloe is truly kind and sensible.” That day, I rushed out of the house and found Mia. She took me for coffee to clear my mind. Lucas stood at the door asking, “Can anyone lend me a coffee?” I wanted to grab that chance. So I raised my hand.

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My mission was to win over Sam Sheffield. I succeeded. We got married. There were no fireworks, just a quiet warmth that settled over our days. A peaceful life. Until the day he learned that the story’s female lead had gotten a divorce. He locked himself in his study and didn’t come out all night. That’s when I finally understood. The destiny of the devoted second male lead is to be a silent guardian for the heroine. Nothing and no one can change that. So, I made a graceful exit. I left on my own. The next time we met, I was back in the country with my fiancé for our wedding. And Sam Sheffield? He was the best friend my fiancé couldn’t stop talking about. He was also our best man. 1 I returned to the States with my fiancé, Cole Anderson, to get married. But then he got into a car accident. I rushed to the hospital, tears streaming down my face in a panic. “Drinking and driving? If you don’t want to marry me, just say so!” Cole sat up, pulling me into his arms with a soft laugh. “I worked way too hard to get you to say yes. You think I’d risk messing that up now?” he murmured, his voice a low hum against my hair. “It was my best friend who was driving. Neither of us had a drop to drink. Who knew he could screw up this badly sober?” Just as he finished, a rustle came from the next bed. My fiancé yanked the curtain aside with a lazy drawl. “You’re awake?” “Good. You can explain this to my fiancée right now. If she gets mad and leaves me, I swear I’ll end you.” I shot him a glare. Even now, he couldn’t be serious. His friend remained silent. Cole glanced over, and his brow instantly furrowed. “Sam, what are you staring at?” My heart seized at the name. It couldn’t be. Not that much of a coincidence. My body went rigid. Slowly, I turned. The moment our eyes met, the air left my lungs. Sam Sheffield. My ex-husband. The man who was once my mission. 2 When I first arrived in this world, the main characters had already fallen for each other. Sam was in a deep depression, his grades plummeting. To survive, I had to follow the System’s orders: win him over. I used every trick in the book. He was drawn to the heroine’s bright, sunshine-y personality, so I molded myself into that image. I pestered him relentlessly, striking up conversations and bringing him homemade sweets every day. At his basketball games, I was the loudest one in the stands, waving pom-poms and cheering his name until my voice was raw. Even when he gently turned me down, I played dumb, trailing after him like a lost puppy. In reality, I’m quiet and reserved. No matter how hard I tried, I was just a pale, clumsy imitation. I was on the verge of giving up, convinced the mission was a failure. Then, one day, the System’s voice echoed in my mind: [Host, objective value has reached 100. Congratulations on earning permanent residency in this world.] And just like that, it was gone. I never figured out what triggered the success. The elation was dizzying, but a thread of anxiety ran through it. I was terrified it was all just a dream. Sam, ever perceptive, noticed my turmoil. He smiled, his face warm and brilliant in the sunlight. “Ava, just be yourself. I like you just the way you are.” He had seen through it all—the awkwardness and fumbling that came after every desperate attempt to be someone I wasn’t. From that day on, everything felt natural between us. With the mission complete, our feelings for each other only deepened. We got married right after college. Life was simple. We shared chores, watched movies, and found our rhythm in the quiet flow of everyday life. It was perfect for us. Then came the late-night phone call. On the other end was a woman’s voice, choked with tears. I knew who it was. The story’s female lead, Monica. She and the male lead had divorced. Sam got up and went to his study. He didn’t come back out all night. After that, our routine shattered. He started leaving early and coming home late. I’d occasionally run into them together at work events they both happened to attend. Monica had become his assistant. I couldn’t tell if I felt more sadness or relief. I felt it was time for a change in my own life, too. Neither of us liked to fight. So when I brought up divorce, he agreed without much hesitation. The settlement was more than enough to let me live comfortably for the rest of my life. Because of him, I’d been given a new life without suffering too much for it. I genuinely wished him happiness. And five years later, I found my own. I just never imagined fate would be so cruel. That the best friend Cole had mentioned was Sam. 3 The weight of Sam’s gaze on my face was so heavy that even Cole picked up on it. His brow tightened, and his voice dropped, turning cold. “You know Ava?” At the sound of my name, Sam’s eyelashes fluttered. The faint color in his already pale lips seemed to drain away completely. I spoke first. “We went to the same high school. We saw each other around.” Sam quickly composed himself. Pushing himself up with one arm, he offered me a polite, distant smile. “Ava. It’s been a long time.” Cole’s expression softened slightly, but he took my hand, his fingers lacing through mine. He deliberately angled it so the diamond on my finger caught the light—like he was staking a claim, or maybe firing a warning shot. He picked up where I left off. “Not as handsome as me. Stop looking at him.” A laugh escaped my lips. “You’re shameless. Who praises themselves like that?” The tense atmosphere slowly began to dissolve. I didn’t look at Sam again. It was as if we were truly just strangers who had crossed paths a few times, long ago. Cole’s injuries were just minor scrapes, nothing serious. After I finished his discharge paperwork, I turned around to find Sam standing right behind me. His right hand was in a cast, and he looked worn out and disheveled. 4 “About our past… let’s wait until after Cole and I are back overseas to tell him. You know how he is…” I pressed my fingers to my temple, a wave of exhaustion washing over me. Cole was a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of person. He wore his heart on his sleeve, his loyalties fierce and his grudges sharp. He knew I’d been married before, but he had no idea my ex-husband was Sam. If I told him now, I was afraid their friendship would implode, and things would get ugly. “Is he good to you?” Sam asked suddenly. I blinked, taken aback. “He is.” This was just too weird, talking about my current relationship with my ex-husband. The air grew thick with silence. Just as I was about to leave, a woman rushed toward us. She hurried past me and went straight to Sam, her hands immediately flying to his arm to inspect the damage. “Sam, why didn’t you tell me you were in an accident?” she demanded, her voice laced with worry. “Your hand is hurt? Is it bad? Will it affect your drafting work?” It was Monica. She looked more mature than she had in her youth, but her features were just as captivating. Sam gently eased her hands away. “I’m fine.” Monica froze, her gaze finally landing on me. Her expression flickered, and she forced a smile. “Ava, long time no see.” I nodded, deciding it was better to clear the air. “We just ran into each other and were catching up. I’m back in the country to get married.” “Oh, I see.” A barely perceptible wave of relief washed over her. Sam’s lips thinned. The knuckles of his left hand, clenched at his side, turned white. 5 That evening, I was curled up in Cole’s arms, half-watching a horror movie. The plot was so dull we were both losing interest. I was still debating whether to tell him everything now. Out of the blue, Cole spoke. “Let’s not have Sam be our best man.” An unexpected wave of relief washed over me. “Why not?” He nuzzled the side of my neck. “He’s injured, so it’s inconvenient. Plus, it’s bad juju. Might jinx our epic love story.” I gave him a surprised look. “I didn’t know you were so superstitious.” He didn’t confirm or deny it. “Just a gut feeling.” He paused, his tone shifting. “Besides, the way he was looking at you… it was weird. I hope I’m wrong, because if I’m not, that’s the end of our friendship.” I stared blankly at the screen. Yeah, definitely better to wait until after the wedding. Cole had been living abroad for years. Now that he was back, he was swamped with dinners and catch-ups with old friends. I had no desire to see Sam or any of their mutual friends, so I usually stayed home. The truth was, very few people even knew we had been married. We weren’t big on public displays, so we’d just taken a long honeymoon and called it a destination wedding. We never posted pictures of our faces online; it was practically a secret marriage. After turning him down one too many times, Cole wrapped his arms around me, his voice taking on a pathetic, pleading tone. “Babe, please come with me just this once. I’ll be so lonely without you.” I raised an eyebrow. “Not worried about me running into Sam?” “He’s not invited. These are my friends from high school. They don’t know him.” I couldn’t resist his puppy-dog eyes, so I finally agreed. When we got to the private room, it was filled with unfamiliar faces, just as he’d promised. I felt myself relax, listening as they shared embarrassing stories about Cole from back in the day. The atmosphere was light and fun. Until the door swung open, and Sam walked in. Monica was right behind him, looking like she’d failed to stop him. 6 Seeing Monica with him seemed to placate Cole slightly. His expression, while not warm, was less hostile. “You’re still injured. What are you doing out and about?” Sam’s voice was flat. “It was my arm, not my legs. Why can’t I be out?” The air crackled with tension. And as he spoke, his eyes were fixed on me. The room fell silent. No one knew what was going on. Cole moved to stand slightly in front of me, a shield. The muscle in his jaw was tight, his patience wearing thin. “How did you know we were here?” A cheerful, laid-back voice drifted in from the doorway. “I told him, of course!” a newcomer announced. “You jerk, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for weeks. The second you get a fiancée, you ditch your pathetic old friends, is that it?” My breath caught in my throat. It was one of the few people who knew Sam and I had been married. I looked up and my eyes met Ben’s. He stumbled back in shock. “Holy shit! A-Ava? What are you doing here?” Cole turned his head, his gaze sharp and piercing. “You know her?” Ben realized he’d stepped in it. He stammered, trying to backtrack. “Uh, yeah, we’ve met a few times. Just surprised to see her, that’s all, haha…” A vein throbbed at Cole’s temple. His entire body was coiled like a drawn bowstring. Someone, sensing disaster, tried to step in and smooth things over. But surprisingly, Cole didn’t press the issue. “I’ve had too much to drink tonight. I’m gonna have to skip the next round. My fiancée and I are heading home.” I stood up and took the hand he offered me. I could feel the sheer force of his grip, a testament to the rage he was barely holding back. I managed a tight, apologetic smile for the others. “Sorry, everyone. We’ll catch up next time.” Sam’s gaze shifted from our clasped hands to my face. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he’d been drinking. “She’s my ex-wife.” 7 His quiet words were a spark in a powder keg. The suppressed fury in Cole finally ignited. He spun around. And slammed his fist into Sam’s face. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, saying that now!” he snarled through clenched teeth. Monica rushed to Sam’s side, her face a mask of panic. “Cole, what are you doing? He’s still injured!” Cole pulled his fist back, sneering. “He’s lucky that’s all he got for eyeing my fiancée.” “Are you insane? They’re ancient history! You two have been friends for twenty years!” Monica glared at Cole, her voice sharp with disbelief. But Sam brushed her hand away. His gaze cut through the crowd, landing on me with an unyielding intensity. Our eyes locked, and the calm was gone, replaced by a churning storm. “It’s not over.” His voice was a whisper, as if meant only for himself, but it carried through the stunned silence, reaching every ear in the room. No one moved. Ben covered his face, unable to watch. Monica’s face went pale as she stared at Sam, tears welling up in her eyes. Sam pushed himself to his feet and walked over to Cole. Ignoring the blood trickling from his split lip, his eyes held a tempest I had never seen before. “Eyeing your fiancée?” he repeated, his voice low and dangerous. “She was my wife first. You’re the thief who snuck in when I wasn’t looking.” Cole’s rage exploded. “Sam, you’re asking for it!” He swung again, each punch harder than the last. Sam fought back with equal ferocity. They were trying to kill each other. Ben rushed in to pull them apart, his face crumpled in despair. “Stop! Stop it! Sam’s hand is still broken! What if you make it worse?” When he couldn’t separate them, he looked at me, his eyes pleading. “Ava, can you please get them to stop?” A cool, calm smile touched my lips. “Go on, let them fight. Be even better if one of them dropped dead.” They both froze instantly. 8 The chilly night air, tinged with the salty dampness of the river, did little to cool the fire in my chest. I stared coldly at the man across from me—bandages still wrapped around his arm, fresh bruises blooming on his face. “Are you sober now?” “I’m sorry.” Sam’s eyes were downcast, unable to meet mine. A bitter laugh almost escaped me. “Do you think I want your apology? I thought we had a clear understanding that day.” To avoid each other at all costs. That should have been our silent, mutual agreement. I had done everything I could to prevent a scene like this. And what had he done? I took a deep breath, my gaze fixed on the shimmering surface of the river. “Sam, I honestly don’t understand what you’re thinking.” “Why did you have to make things so humiliating for everyone?” His voice was raw. “I don’t understand it either.” “Just like I don’t understand how you could leave so calmly back then,” he said, the words heavy with accusation. “Five whole years. Not a single word.” Sam finally looked up at me, his entire being engulfed by a wave of profound sorrow. “Ava, all these years, I’ve been wondering… did you ever really love me?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “What’s the point of asking that now?” “I need an answer.” His dark eyes were fixed on me, stubborn and unwavering. My gaze drifted to the distance, where Cole was leaning against his car. The wind picked up, seeming to carry his restless energy toward me. Sam followed my line of sight. The emotions in his eyes deepened into something unreadable. I told him the truth. “I did, once.” “But later… you became my comfort zone, a habit. You were like mineral water.” Not something I couldn’t live without. 9 During our honeymoon, Sam and I traveled to many countries. On one island, our guide told us it was a world-famous spot for paragliding. It was a kind of thrilling adventure I had never experienced. The sky was filled with vibrant arcs of color, punctuated by joyful screams of release. My heart began to pound, a warmth spreading through my body. I wanted to try it. Sam held my hand. “It’s too dangerous, Ava. We can do something else.” But his eyes never left the scene before us. I saw the nostalgia in them, clear as day. Monica had once shown me a collection of photos of her and Sam growing up. Among them was a picture of them paragliding together when they were fifteen. I couldn’t help but wonder. In that moment, was he genuinely concerned for my safety? Or was he jealously guarding a memory that was theirs and theirs alone? Later, I understood. Love is defined by its nuances, by the small, telling differences in how it is given. Sam was a celebrated genius in architecture, known for designing landmark projects. But after Monica’s divorce, he was willing to personally design her a new home. Every night he spent in his study, sketching her blueprints, his eyes shone with a joy brighter than any desk lamp. Monica’s ex-husband—the male lead of this world—once sought me out. He looked at me with pity. “Your husband spends all his time with the woman he’s been in love with for years, and you don’t seem to care at all.” When Sam found out about it, he explained everything. “The guy cheated on her and won’t leave her alone. I’m just protecting her for now. Ava, please don’t misunderstand.” He looked flustered, which was rare for him. My voice was gentle. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.” Sam seemed to freeze for a second. And I truly didn’t mind. I’ve always been a passive person. I measure how much affection I should return based on how others feel about me. His love for Monica and his love for me were always different—one heavier, one lighter; one more, one less. My love for him mirrored that. When his feelings for me were at their peak, I loved him. Gradually, that love settled into a habit. A quiet life like that, forever, seemed fine. Now, all I felt was the lightness of a burden lifted. Even the main characters could break from their destined paths and choose different lives. Why should I continue to let myself be slowly boiled alive in lukewarm water, all for the sake of habit? When a comfort zone is no longer comfortable. When a habit becomes an inconvenience. When I realized that mineral water, unlike plain water, isn’t essential, and it lacks the exhilarating fizz of a soda… I knew it was time for a new way of life. On our third wedding anniversary, Sam prepared a meticulous candlelight dinner. He even turned off his phone. “Just the two of us tonight,” he said. “There’s something I want to tell you.” We were in sync, as always. My heart hammered against my ribs, that familiar warmth spreading through me, just like when I’d seen the paragliders. Only this time, I was going to act. “I have something to tell you, too.” As he looked at me with anticipation, I smiled and slid a document across the table. A divorce agreement. “Sam, let’s get a divorce.” 10 “What did you say to him? He looked like he was about to shatter.” Cole toyed with my hand, his tone casual, almost indifferent. But the sour note underneath was impossible to miss. I knew he was upset, so I tightened my grip, lacing my fingers through his. “You want to know?” The driver silently raised the partition between us. Cole closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat, a deep weariness etched on his face. “Forget it.” The car wasn’t the right place for this conversation anyway. I glanced down at our tightly clasped hands, which he refused to let go of, and let him be. The moment I keyed in the code for the front door and the crystal chandelier flooded the foyer with light, Cole’s kiss crashed down on me. It was fierce and desperate, a battle for oxygen. By the time he was done, my legs had turned to jelly, and I could only lean against him, gasping for breath. He’d been pushed to his limit today. His emotions were running higher than usual. He lifted me onto the entryway console, his hands planted on either side of me, leaving no room for escape. After another searing, possessive kiss, the lights went out, plunging us into darkness. The house was silent except for the sound of our ragged, intertwined breaths. I rested my hands on his broad shoulders, trying to calm my racing heart. Suddenly, I felt a weight in the crook of my neck, followed by a cool, damp sensation against my skin.

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The alpha billionaire, Damian Blackwood, was sterile. Desperate for an heir, he kept a hundred ‘canaries’ at his sprawling estate. He made a public declaration: whoever bore him a child would receive a billion-dollar prize. A year later, ten of the canaries gave birth in succession. But every single one of them had their limbs hacked off and were buried alive. The reason given was infidelity. A month after that, my own ten-month pregnancy came to term. But one look at my newborn child, and I started sobbing in terror. The children of the other women, the ones buried alive for their betrayal, were at least human. My baby… wasn’t even human. It was five tiny calico kittens. 1 The private physician who delivered them fainted on the spot. Only my personal maid, Martha, was left, her eyes wide as she stammered, “Miss Monroe, what… what is this?” What was this? I wanted to know too! How could a human being give birth to cats? I pinched my thigh, hard, praying this was all just a nightmare. But the pain was sharp and real. This was not a dream. I was finished. The gruesome fate of the first ten women flashed through my mind, and I collapsed onto the bed, too numb for tears. A year ago, I was brought to this luxurious estate along with a hundred other young women from all corners of the country. That day, Damian Blackwood had announced his terms to all of us: the first woman to give him a child would walk away with one billion dollars. And so, the race began. Pills, acupuncture, desperate prayers to any god who would listen… every trick in the book was tried, but no one got pregnant. Until a month later, when the plainest of us all, a quiet girl named Jenna, suddenly announced she was expecting. Damian was ecstatic. He showered her with attention, a constant stream of jewels and fine things delivered to her room. Over the next month, nine more canaries fell pregnant. I was the last one to sleep with Damian. And it only happened because he was drunk, stumbled into the wrong room, and took me in a hazy stupor. I thought my chances were zero. But to my shock, the next month, I too tested positive. Just as all the expectant mothers were praying for a smooth delivery, Jenna gave birth. It was a boy. Everyone envied her, believing the billion dollars was as good as hers. Instead, her arms and legs were severed on the spot, and she was buried alive with her child. The reason? Infidelity. The child wasn’t Damian’s. One by one, the other women gave birth. And one by one, they were accused of cheating, of borrowing another man’s seed, and were met with the same brutal end. At first, I didn’t understand how Damian found out. Not until my own labor began. Damian stood guard outside the door himself, flanked by doctors and his personal security. The moment a child was born, a paternity test was performed. The first ten canaries failed that test, and their sentences were carried out immediately. It was true they had risked everything, getting pregnant by other men for the money. But I hadn’t! So why did I give birth to five kittens? Right now, Damian Blackwood and his entourage were waiting just outside my door. What could I do? The other women at least had a baby that could be tested. But I had a litter of tiny, fluffy kittens. The second Damian saw them, he would have us all ground to dust. As panic consumed me, Damian’s cold voice cut through the door. “What’s with the silence in there?” His urgent footsteps approached… 2 Damian was about to push the door open. I was frantic. I scrambled to scoop up the squirming kittens and shoved them into Martha’s arms, hissing in a low voice, “Quick! Hide them in the trash bin!” Martha gave me a shocked look, but her body moved faster than her brain. In a flash, all five kittens were nestled in the bin. Just as she finished, the door swung open. Damian’s gaze swept from the fainted doctor on the floor to my empty delivery bed. His brow furrowed. “What happened? Where’s your child?” His eyes bored into me, demanding an answer. I knew if I couldn’t come up with a believable explanation, I’d be in a shallow grave within the minute. My heart hammered against my ribs, my mind racing. In that split second, I took a deep breath, rolled off the bed, and gave Damian a deep, solemn bow. “Mr. Blackwood! I… I have failed you!” Damian’s face instantly darkened. “Tell me, how exactly have you failed me?” As he spoke, the bodyguards behind him rested their hands on the hilts of their daggers. I clutched my stomach, feigning extreme shame, my voice trembling. “Mr. Blackwood, what I just fought to deliver… it wasn’t a baby!” “It was a giant, foul-smelling, years-old… bowel movement!” “The stench is what made the doctor faint!” The room fell into a dead silence. The doctors and bodyguards stared, their professional masks cracking with disbelief. Damian’s lips twitched. He eyed my stomach suspiciously. “Who performed your prenatal check-ups?” “Dr. Wells,” I said quickly. “Mr. Blackwood, Jenna and I never got along. Dr. Wells was her lover. I suspect he deliberately misdiagnosed me to make me look like a fool in front of you! I was stupid enough to believe him. I spent months eating everything in sight, thinking I was growing a baby, but I was just getting fat! The terrible pain just now… it wasn’t labor, it was… relief!” Dr. Wells had already been disposed of along with Jenna. A dead man couldn’t defend himself. He was the perfect scapegoat. Damian’s face was a thundercloud. “So, I’ve been waiting outside all this time… for you to take a dump?” 3 The humiliation was crushing, but I forced myself to nod. “I never expected such a… bizarre situation. I’m so sorry to have wasted your time.” Damian gave me a look I couldn’t decipher, then barked an order to the doctor behind him. “Dr. Miles, examine her. See if she’s telling the truth.” It’s over! Dear God, you’re determined to take both my dignity and my life, aren’t you? Under Damian’s intense gaze, I held out my arm, feeling like the Grim Reaper was already calling my name. Dr. Miles conducted a thorough check, then pushed his glasses up his nose. “Mr. Blackwood, Miss Monroe’s physical condition is… quite unique.” Damian raised an eyebrow. “Unique how?” Dr. Miles’s tone was serious. “Her heartbeat is strong, her vitals are excellent. She shows none of the signs of a woman who has just endured childbirth. From a medical standpoint, she does not present as postpartum at all.” My eyes lit up. I wanted to fall at Dr. Miles’s feet and thank him. Of course, a normal woman would be half-dead after giving birth. But I wasn’t normal! The five kittens combined weighed next to nothing. Delivering them had been no different from… well, what I claimed it was. If Damian wasn’t here, I could probably run a hundred-meter dash. Hearing the doctor’s report, Damian’s face grew even darker. He was probably picturing himself waiting anxiously outside the door for a pile of crap. A vein pulsed in his temple. He stared at me, his voice a low growl. “You absolute idiot.” “From now on, you’re moving to the back shed! You are not to come out without my permission!” The back shed? I nodded eagerly. “Thank you, Mr. Blackwood, for your immense generosity!” It worked! I was alive! The sheer joy of survival made me dizzy. I quickly grabbed a stunned Martha and the trash bin containing my children, and we moved into the shed that very night. It was dilapidated and old, but as I looked at the five tiny kittens nestled on a makeshift cushion, it felt like paradise. “Martha, quick, get some rice water. These little ones must be hungry.” Martha brought the water, but no matter how we tried, the kittens wouldn’t drink. Seeing them huddled together so pitifully, Martha hesitated. “Miss Monroe, since you… gave birth to them… maybe you should try nursing them?” A human nursing cats? Was that even a thing? But they were mine. I couldn’t just watch them starve. I managed to express a little milk into a bowl. The moment I did, the five kittens, their eyes still sealed shut, scrambled toward it as if drawn by an invisible force. They lapped up the entire bowl in seconds. Just like their mother, I thought with a swell of pride. Tough little survivors. As I continued to feed them, I pondered the whole situation. I had only been with one man in my entire life: Damian Blackwood. So why did I give birth to a litter of kittens? I retraced every single detail before and during my pregnancy. My diet was normal. I hadn’t been exposed to anything strange. The only unusual thing was the day before I slept with Damian. I’d found a pure white stray cat in a corner of the garden and given it some meat. Could it be? Was that cat repaying my kindness by gifting me five of its children? As I was lost in thought, I heard a soft, sweet voice. “Mama, hungry.” I thought I was hearing things. I looked down, and nearly jumped out of my skin. The five kittens who had just been greedily drinking milk had transformed into five plump, cherubic babies! 4 My hand trembled, and the bowl crashed to the floor. Martha shrieked and dove behind me. “Miss Monroe! The cats… they turned into people!” I swallowed hard. “I see them.” One moment, they were five balls of fluff. The next, five chubby human babies. Right now, all five of them were staring at me with wide, round eyes, repeating in their tiny, singsong voices, “Mama, hungry, eat-eat.” Oh, God, are you trying to kill me with shock? Giving birth to kittens was one thing. But now the kittens were turning into babies? “Martha! The door! Lock the door, now!” I practically threw myself at the door, fumbling with the lock. Then I took a deep breath and walked back to the cushion. Hesitantly, I reached out and poked the cheek of the nearest baby. It was soft. Warm. A real, living human. “You… you can talk?” I asked in disbelief. The baby I’d poked nodded vigorously and held out his little arms. “Mama, hold.” The other four immediately started whining. “Mama, hungry, eat-eat.” Oh, my God. Not only had they turned into people, but they could talk from birth? What in the world had I given birth to?! After the shock wore off, a strange wave of maternal instinct washed over me. Looking at their adorable, chubby faces, my heart melted. I didn’t care if they were cats, demons, or humans. They were my children now. I snapped into action, picking them up one by one to nurse them. Perhaps because they were cats at their core, their appetites were small. They were all full in no time. The following days were a whirlwind of chaotic baby care in the shed. The five little ones spent most of their time as cute, well-behaved infants. They only transformed back into kittens when they were scared, usually when I scolded them. They grew at an astonishing rate, changing almost daily. Within two weeks, they could walk and even jump. I had warned them sternly never to leave our room, and they were obedient, so we avoided any close calls. While life inside the shed was a peaceful bubble of secrecy, outside, the story of “Ava Monroe’s ten-month pregnancy that produced a giant turd” had become the joke of the entire city. The estate buzzed with mockery. “Did you hear? That Ava Monroe was so desperate for money she was rubbing a belly full of crap and calling it her son!” “I heard the doctor fainted from the smell! He was so traumatized he quit on the spot!” “Now the whole city knows our estate has a woman who was pregnant with poop for ten months!” “And get this, she’s gone crazy in that shed. People hear her talking to herself, calling out for her ‘babies’ all day!” Martha would stomp her feet in anger whenever she heard the gossip, but I let it roll off my back. What did they know? I had five shape-shifting, talking babies! Whatever their origin, their intelligence was clearly superior to that of any drooling, ordinary infant. I even started to feel like it was a blessing in disguise. No more competing for favor, no more backstabbing. Life was a little poorer, but guarding my five precious secrets, it was also quite fulfilling. The only downside was the shed’s terrible condition. It was cold and drafty, and our daily meals consisted of leftovers from the main house. For five growing babies, cold scraps were barely enough to fill their tiny stomachs. One evening, I was staring at our empty bowls, wondering what to do, when I turned around and saw their cushion was empty! All five babies were gone!

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