On the very day the “True Heiress” returned, I was kicked to the curb. My adoptive parents insisted I taste the bitterness their biological daughter had endured for twenty years. Ha, bitterness? To us real hustlers, this is just a little “budget cut.” Playing the underdog? That’s my specialty. 1 It was midnight, and a torrential downpour was hammering New York City. I stood outside the Vanderbilt mansion, owning nothing but the clothes on my back and the phone practically glued to my hand. Less than two hours after the real daughter came home, my adoptive parents threw me out. Lily, the real daughter, said she had suffered for twenty-two years in my place, so it was only fair I tasted what it was like to be destitute. The heavy iron gates slammed shut, and the icy rain slapped my face mercilessly. 2 As a corporate slave who transmigrated into the role of a disposable “fake heiress,” I enjoyed the high life for less than twenty-four hours before becoming broke again. I circled the villa and found a dry corner under the first-floor terrace, right below my brother Lucas’s room. “Don’t worry, she’s broke. Once she suffers a bit, she’ll realize how good she had it here. She’ll come crawling back to beg you soon enough,” Lily’s voice drifted down from the drainpipe. Tsk, so much for soundproofing in a mansion. I knew it. Lucas, who was all handsy this afternoon and giving off weird Flowers in the Attic vibes, was suddenly silent tonight. Turns out he wants to keep me as a pet. Well, he calculated wrong. For Lucas, owning only one luxury condo means poverty. But for a true hustler like me, having two hundred bucks in my digital wallet means I can survive for two weeks. Plus, I still had the eighty thousand dollars left over from this month’s allowance in my account. To the rich, that’s ice cream money. To us normal folks? That’s years of living expenses if I’m careful. What they think is hitting rock bottom is just a lifestyle downgrade for me. 3 Twenty minutes later, my Uber arrived. The driver got out with an umbrella and opened the door for me—a full VIP service that made me feel like an heiress again. Worth the 20% surge pricing. I don’t know what’s wrong with TV heroines who walk in the rain until they get a fever after being kicked out. Pure masochism. I don’t have money for medical bills. Life is hard enough; I’m not suffering unnecessarily. 4 The driver dropped me off at the nearest budget hotel. $150 a night. I took a hot shower and changed into the hotel bathrobe while sending my clothes to the front desk for dry cleaning. Before sleeping, I downed two packets of Emergen-C I ordered on DoorDash. When you’re out on your own, health is wealth. If no one loves you, you gotta love yourself. 5 I woke up feeling refreshed. Wearing my dry-cleaned clothes, I left the hotel and headed to a nearby wholesale market. I squeezed into a crowded stall and haggled like my life depended on it, spending a hundred bucks on four t-shirts, three pairs of shorts, and a pair of canvas shoes. As I left, the stall owner complained while bagging my stuff, “Girl, you dress so fancy but bargain so hard. I gave you the cost price and even threw in a nice bag.” Of course. I needed a decent bag to sell my Louis Vuitton outfit for a good price. It’s a pity about the lambskin shoes. Rich people must burn money for fun; these shoes got scuffed soles after one day. Can’t even sell them secondhand. But my rhinestone phone case is worth something. An $800 phone with a $3,000 case. If I hadn’t checked the shopping history, I wouldn’t believe money could be wasted like this. And the original owner of this body couldn’t survive and went to work at a bar? Brain dead behavior. 6 I spun like a top all morning and finally liquidated all my valuables. Now, nothing on me costs more than $29.99. It’s giving “Temu chic,” and honestly? I’m comfortable. This fits my spending habits way better. Walking with an extra sixty-five thousand dollars in my account, I felt like I was floating. Rich! I gotta treat myself. I found a hole-in-the-wall noodle spot near the CBD. Not much meat, but the sauce was authentic and fragrant. Best of all? Cheap. Fifteen bucks for a huge bowl, free noodle refills. I hadn’t eaten properly since last night, so I slurped it down fast. Scraping the last bit of sauce and meat, I let out a loud burp. I didn’t dare eat before selling my clothes, afraid of staining them and lowering the value. Wearing gold and silver makes me nervous; downgrading my lifestyle makes me happy. I guess I’m just not cut out for fine dining. 7 That afternoon, I bought a prepaid SIM card and swapped my $800 phone for a $200 budget Android. The familiar OS felt like home. Ah, smells like value. Dropping it doesn’t hurt my heart anymore! Durable as ever. I scrolled through my chat history. The last two days were filled with mockery and sarcasm, plus “sponsorship” offers from rich second-generation kids led by my “brother.” Screw them. Money rotted their brains. How did the original owner live like this? Her social circle was trash. Not even one brain-dead bestie to borrow money from. The most annoying message was from Lucas, acting like a king: “Have you realized your mistake yet?” What mistake? Does he think he can hang me from the city walls? It’s a society of laws, buddy. I sent a “F*** off” and blocked him. Realize my mistake? As if! What a piece of work. 8 After liquidating everything, I checked out of the hotel carrying a big black trash bag. Inside was my entire life: my new clothes, plus the hotel’s disposable toothbrush and slippers. Hotels in Manhattan are too expensive. I planned to move further out to Queens or Brooklyn. The reason I hadn’t left the expensive city yet was that, as a senior, I needed to pick up my diploma and degree certificate soon. Before transmigration, I was sent to a factory right after middle school. A true fish that slipped through the compulsory education net. Thinking about becoming a certified college graduate made me a little excited. Modern novels really lack logic just to torture the cannon fodder characters. Why would someone with limbs and a bachelor’s degree go work at the male lead’s bar just to get humiliated? Waiting for a drink to the face? 9 I went back to school the day after graduation, specifically avoiding the ceremony. Seeing Lily’s triumphant, high-and-mighty face once was enough. I didn’t need to nauseate myself a second time. We were actually roommates, though I only slept there once or twice. During school, I lived in a luxury apartment bought by the family, complete with a maid. Lily, who had to work part-time every day, was insanely jealous. Classic foil setup to draw aggro. One of the reasons she targeted me. But it wasn’t my fault, or even my parents’ fault. They were migrant workers who happened to have a baby in the room next to the VIP suite on the same day. The rival family that the Vanderbilts bankrupted switched the babies for revenge. The original owner’s parents were poor but responsible. They raised Lily to get into the same university as me before passing away from illness. I don’t understand why the Vanderbilt family had to humiliate that old couple. What did they do wrong? Do poor people not deserve to have children?

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My mother was desperate for a son. After finally getting pregnant, she took every sketchy “gender-swapping” pill and herbal remedy she could find, convinced they would turn her fetus into a boy. In my past life, I begged her to stop. I showed her science books, pleaded with her to be healthy. She listened, stopped the crazy remedies, and gave birth to a healthy baby girl. My entire family blamed me. They said it was my fault the baby wasn’t a boy. I ended up dying at their hands. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the moment my mother announced her pregnancy. This time, I kept my mouth shut. Chapter 1 “Penny, I’m pregnant. Do you want a little brother or a little sister?” When I heard my mom say those words, I realized I had been reborn. In my previous life, my mom got pregnant with her second child at forty. Desperate for a son, she resorted to every trick in the book—”gender-swapping pills,” weird herbal brews soaked with animal parts, you name it. I tried to stop her, showing her parenting books and articles about the dangers. Because of my intervention, she had a healthy baby girl. My family blamed me. They claimed my interference turned the “brother” into a sister. They said I was responsible for her. I loved my little sister and took care of her tirelessly. But she grew up hating me, blaming me for her gender because the guy she liked was gay. In a fit of rage, she hacked me to death with a kitchen knife. This time, I’ll give them exactly what they want. I flashed a huge smile. “Of course I want a brother! Otherwise, who will carry on the family name? Mom, Dad and Grandma treat you so well, you can’t let the family line end with you!” My dad and grandma immediately shot me approving looks. My mom’s smile froze for a second before she forced it back. “Penny, how can you say that? A sister would be just as sweet and well-behaved as you.” Heh. In my last life, when I honestly said I wanted a sister, she went crying to Dad and Grandma, claiming I cursed her to have a girl because I was afraid a brother would steal my inheritance. Dad beat me black and blue for that. “What’s good about a girl? If you don’t give me a brother, who’s going to have my back? When I make money, am I supposed to give it to outsiders?” I said with righteous conviction. Grandma beamed, grabbing my hand. “Our Penny has grown up! She finally understands!” I hugged Grandma affectionately. “Grandma, it’s all thanks to my little brother. Just the thought of him makes me sensible. He’s going to be the pillar of this family!” In the past, whenever Dad and Grandma bullied Mom, she would just cry. I’d rush to defend her, only for her to turn around, play peacemaker, and join them in scolding me for being disrespectful. I took countless beatings for her. Never again. Mom’s face turned pale, and she looked like she might faint. Chapter 2 Soon enough, Grandma found some “gender-swapping pills” for Mom. “Even though it’s probably a boy, we can’t leave it to chance. I spent a fortune on these pills. The seller guaranteed it’ll be a boy if you finish the course.” Grandma handed the bottle to Mom. Mom looked at me. I focused on mopping the floor, pretending not to see a thing. She had no choice but to take them. “Grandma, I heard pregnancy makes you forgetful. Maybe you should keep the pills and give them to Mom every day. This is about my little brother; we can’t risk any mistakes,” I suggested. You love taking them? Eat up! Grandma nodded vigorously. “Right, right! Penny is so smart. All that schooling wasn’t for nothing.” I gave Grandma a sweet smile. That night, while Dad was working the night shift, Mom pulled me into the master bedroom. “Penny, I don’t want to take those pills. Look at these news articles, they say those pills are dangerous,” she whimpered, showing me her phone. So she knew. She knew they were scams, yet in my past life, she told my sister that if I hadn’t stopped her, my sister would have been a boy. I treated her as my closest ally, a fellow victim of this family. I fought her battles, and she sacrificed me without hesitation. Good. Very good. I smiled slightly and raised my voice. “Mom, how can you believe the media? They write nonsense all the time!” I walked out of the room, shouting, “Grandma! Come quick! Mom doesn’t want to take the pills!” Mom couldn’t stop me in time. Grandma rushed in hearing my shout. I shoved the phone in Grandma’s face. “Grandma, look! Mom is reading this garbage because she doesn’t want to take the pills. She doesn’t want a son!” Grandma was illiterate, but she squinted at the phone anyway. “Mom, no! It was Penny who told me this! She’s always scheming, how would I know about this stuff?” Mom immediately tried to throw me under the bus. I widened my eyes innocently and pulled out my old Nokia phone, playing the recording I had just made. The recording stopped right before her accusation. Mom was speechless. Chapter 3 For the sake of the “grandson” in her belly, Grandma didn’t scold Mom too much, just gave her a death glare. She pulled me out of the room. “Penny, don’t hold it against your mother,” Grandma advised. She wasn’t siding with Mom; she was siding with the “grandson.” I smiled obediently. “Grandma, how could I blame Mom? I’m just worried…” “Worried about what?” “I’m worried little brother will think Mom doesn’t welcome him. What if he decides not to come?” I said with a concerned face. Grandma’s eyes darted around nervously. I stopped there. I knew she got the message. I didn’t want to be involved anymore. I was a senior in high school; studying was my priority. In my last life, I split my focus taking care of Mom and only got into a decent state college. With this second chance, I deserved a better life. “Grandma, I’m graduating soon. Once I’m done, I’ll get a job and won’t need my room anymore. Why don’t I move into the dorms now? That way, you can turn my room into the nursery for little brother,” I told Grandma. My boss taught me well in my past life—always paint a pretty picture. Grandma beamed, praising my thoughtfulness. I don’t know what she told Dad, but he agreed. The day I left for the dorms, I saw Grandma carrying a jar of “special herbal wine” like it was treasure. Mom, enjoy your days ahead. Chapter 4 I started living at school, throwing myself into my studies. Although Dad and Grandma agreed to let me stay at school, they gave me a pitiful allowance. It was barely enough for three meals a day. Since I didn’t want to go home on weekends, I skipped breakfast to save money, eating only twice a day. My deskmate, Sarah, noticed I hadn’t eaten breakfast for a week. One morning, she handed me two meat buns. “Here. You can’t study on an empty stomach. Don’t worry about it; my family owns a bakery. Feeding you is nothing.” I laughed and cried at the same time, clasping my hands together. “Thank you, benefactor! I will repay this kindness one day!” “Shut up,” she pushed me playfully. In my past life, we were best friends too. After I was murdered, she couldn’t reach me and called the police immediately. But because my sister was a minor and my parents wrote a letter of forgiveness, she only got three years in juvie. Classmates noticed my situation and often gave me food—an apple here, a bag of chips there. But Sarah’s two meat buns every morning were a constant. Time flew by, and the semester ended. I jumped from the 50th rank to the top 10 in the final exams. Teachers and classmates were happy for me. After finals, winter break arrived, and I had to go home. Chapter 5 The moment I opened the door, my jaw dropped. The house was a mess. The smell was indescribable—a mix of rot and something sour. Jars of murky liquid with questionable animal parts lined the kitchen counter. The olfactory assault almost made me vomit. “Penny, you’re back!” Grandma returned from grocery shopping, beaming. She shoved her bags into my hands. I saw a plastic bottle filled with bright red liquid. It looked like blood. “What is this?” I asked. “Deer blood.” Grandma snatched it back as if afraid I’d drink it. “It’s good stuff! The recipe says drinking buck’s blood guarantees a son. It’s for your mom, don’t even think about it.” My mouth twitched. In this life, without my interference—and with my encouragement—Grandma had gone completely off the rails. “Penny.” Mom walked out. She should be about six months along, but she had ballooned. A double chin, a terrifyingly huge belly. Her hair was thinning, her eyebrows had fallen out, yet she had a dark shadow of a mustache and visible pores. She used to be so vain about her beauty. She was beautiful. Now, she had nothing to do with the word. She looked at me teary-eyed. “Penny, you didn’t come home for so long. Is it because you’re unhappy about having a brother?” “Come back. Even with a brother, you’re still our daughter. He won’t take your place.” Crazy woman. I rolled my eyes. Judging by her appearance, Grandma had been feeding her a lot of “good stuff.” She wanted me back just to use me as an excuse to stop eating them. It’s not like she called the shots in this house anyway. Ignoring her, I pulled Grandma aside. I mysteriously pulled out a talisman I had drawn based on a Baidu search. “Grandma, my classmate’s mom had a son last year. He said she wore this talisman every day. I begged him for ages before he gave it to me.” Grandma’s beady eyes lit up. She snatched the talisman. “You’re a smart girl.” I stayed home for one night and witnessed Mom’s diet. Greasy meat, followed by “fetal preservation pills” washed down with deer blood, then two bowls of that “special wine.” Watching Mom’s face turn ash-gray after drinking it, I was impressed. The “brother” in her belly was still kicking after all that. Talk about vitality. Mom kept shooting me pleading glances while drinking the blood. I ignored them all. Eventually, her gaze turned venomous. My room had already been converted into a nursery, so I slept on the living room sofa.

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When I started college, my mom came up with the brilliant idea of giving me my allowance in “installments.” “Penny, you’re all grown up now. To help you develop financial planning skills, I’ve decided to give you your allowance in installments.” At first, I thought she meant monthly, or maybe even weekly. But on move-in day, after she toured the cafeteria, she Venmoed me exactly $1.05. I was confused. “Mom, did you send the wrong amount?” She smiled and shook her head. “Silly girl, that’s for your lunch today. I checked the prices; you can get the cheapest meal deal at that one stall.” “From now on, just submit an expense request to me for every meal based on this standard.” I stood there, completely dumbfounded. So when she said installments, she didn’t mean monthly or weekly. She meant per meal. By the third day, I was standing in the breakfast line, short 25 cents for a boiled egg. When I texted her, instead of sending money, she replied: “I bought your brother a house in cash yesterday. I’m tight on funds right now. Skipping a meal won’t kill you.” The cafeteria lady’s look of surprise and pity burned a hole through my fragile self-esteem. That day, holding the egg the lady gave me for free, I went on a job search site and found work. But later, when I finally stopped needing her, she panicked. Chapter 1 On the fourth day of orientation, I agonized over the text, deleting and retyping before finally hitting send. “Mom, there are still a few days of orientation left. If I don’t eat breakfast, I won’t have the energy to train.” “Can you send me two dollars?” To my surprise, she replied instantly. But when I read the message, my heart sank. “Two dollars? Isn’t an egg like a dollar fifty? Why do you need so much? Are you trying to scam me?” Sweat trickled down my forehead. My stomach was cramping from hunger. Still, I explained carefully: “One egg isn’t enough. I want to buy a bagel too.” This time, she didn’t reply for a long time. My roommates had already finished their breakfast and were heading to the field for drills. I clutched my empty stomach, my eyes drifting involuntarily to my roommate’s desk. There sat a box of delicious-looking muffins. Chloe, who slept in the bed next to mine, was a pampered rich girl. On the first day, her parents had frowned at our six-person dorm room. Worried their daughter wouldn’t sleep well or would clash with her roommates due to her “unique” personality. I still remember her mom, a powerful CEO type, tirelessly asking the rest of us to look after her daughter. It was a side of a mother I had never seen in my own. Right now, Chloe was complaining about a hole in her uniform. I thought about it, then tossed my shattered pride to the wind. I picked up my uniform and said to Chloe, “Chloe, I’ll trade with you. But can you… give me a muffin?” Instantly, I felt burning gazes on my back. Then came the snickers. “Is she starving or something? Does her family not feed her?” My face burned, but I couldn’t say a word. Because since I started college, they really didn’t want to feed me anymore. Just as I thought Chloe would mock me like the others… I felt a warmth in my palm. I looked up. A muffin had been placed in my hand. Chloe didn’t say a word. She swapped our uniforms and left the room. As I ran to the field gnawing on the muffin, I got a text from my brother. “Penny, heard you asked Mom for money this morning. She was so upset she couldn’t even eat. I have to say something.” “Mom’s been stressed about the renovation costs lately. You shouldn’t keep asking her for money. Here, I’ll send you a little to tide you over. Don’t bother Mom for a while.” I stared at the two messages, frozen. Finally, I wiped my stinging eyes. I accepted the five dollars my brother sent. Yeah, enough to get me through the rest of orientation. But I still never expected my mom to love me this little. Halfway through training, the RA suddenly called me out. She asked me seriously, “Did you scam money from your family?” Chapter 2 I looked at the RA blankly. “No, I didn’t.” Her expression darkened. “You’re Penny Zhu, right? Your mom just called me, naming you specifically, saying you tricked your brother into sending you money behind her back.” “Student, online scams are serious. If you have financial trouble, tell your parents first. If not, come to me. Don’t go down the wrong path!” Her words felt like a bucket of ice water. So that’s it. I took my brother’s money, yes, but I never tricked him. To prove my innocence, I pulled up the chat history with my brother. “RA, I really didn’t scam him.” The young woman in front of me, only a few years older, looked surprised after reading the messages. “Five dollars?” I nodded. Just then, my brother called. With the RA’s nod, I answered. Immediately, my sister-in-law’s voice screeched through the phone: “Penny, what is wrong with you? You know your brother and I are stressed about renovation costs, and you still ask him for money?” “Send it back right now!” Embarrassed, I lowered my voice. “I didn’t ask him for it. He gave it to me voluntarily.” But she wasn’t listening. She cursed into the phone, “Your mom was right, you’re just a money-loser! If you hadn’t jinxed your dad to death, would your brother and I be struggling like this?!” Of course. Family knows exactly where your weak spots are, and where to pour the salt. Hearing her mention Dad, I shook with rage, clutching the phone. “Shut up!” That was probably the first time I ever spoke to her like that. There was a moment of silence on the other end. Then she exploded, spewing every curse word imaginable. But what hurt the most wasn’t her words. It was Mom’s voice in the background. “Yes, scold her good.” “She took money she shouldn’t have. She deserves it!” The call ended with a click. I stood there, legs trembling. Seeing the RA’s complicated expression, I instinctively apologized, “Sorry RA, causing you trouble…” But she interrupted me. When she looked at me again, her eyes were full of gentleness. “It’s not your fault, Penny.” “I’ll testify for you. You didn’t scam them.” She took my phone and, before I could react, opened my Venmo QR code. “Five dollars isn’t enough for anything. If you have trouble in the future, come to me first.” A notification chimed. “You received $50.00…” I waved my hands in shock. “No, RA, I can’t take your money.” She shook her head, face serious again. “What are you thinking? Consider it a loan.” I didn’t cry when I starved for three days. I didn’t cry when my sister-in-law cursed me out. But feeling the kindness from an RA I’d only known for three days, tears streamed down my face. With her help, I ate full meals for the next few days and finished orientation. Job hunting went smoothly too. Passing out flyers at the mall, $15 an hour. I calculated I could pay the RA back in a week. But the day I got my first paycheck, Mom called. “Penny, did you sneak out to work part-time?” Chapter 3 I was in disbelief. Aside from my roommates, I hadn’t told anyone about the job. Suddenly, I realized something. Yesterday was Saturday. I left early and tried to be quiet, but I still woke Chloe up. She snapped immediately: “Penny, are you sick? Why are you making so much noise this early? Don’t you know I’m sleeping?” I was in the wrong, so I apologized patiently: “Sorry, I’ll be more careful next time.” But she wasn’t satisfied. She rolled her eyes as she got out of bed. “Parents send you to college and you run off to hand out flyers. How pathetic.” That was my first taste of Chloe’s temper. I didn’t have the standing to fight her. Besides, she was right. I was pathetic. I just wanted to eat. But would she tell my mom? Confused, I heard my mom say, “Since you can make money now, I’ll pause your allowance.” I sighed in relief. But after hanging up, she sent me a “bill.” Black and white, listing eighteen years of raising me. I owed her $180,000. “Repayment Installment Plan: Penny pays $1,000 a month.” I tried to type, but my fingers wouldn’t stop shaking. Mom sent another voice note. “Considering you’re still young and can’t earn much, I’ll give you a discount. Just pay me $700 a month during college. After graduation, you’ll have to pay more.” The more I listened, the dizzier I got. When I was born, no one told me my life came with a debt. Or maybe I really did owe her. After all, three years ago, I was indirectly responsible for Dad’s accidental death. It was the first semester of tenth grade. I got into the city’s top high school. Everyone was happy, especially Dad. But back then, Dad’s project payment hadn’t come through. To scrape together my $200 monthly living expenses and the $1,000 for books and dorm fees… Dad took a temp job at a construction site. On the phone, he sounded happy, saying he’d be home with the money in three days. But fate played a cruel joke on me, and on my honest, hardworking father. He never came home with the money. An accident kept him forever at that sun-scorched construction site. That’s why I accepted Mom’s “installment plan” for my allowance. But now, three years later, the bullet fate fired finally hit me right between the eyes. I realized belatedly that there are mothers in this world who truly don’t love their children. Fine. Since I owe her. Once I pay it off, I’ll be free, right? In one week, I applied for financial aid and studied like my life depended on it between shifts. Fueled by spite, I forced myself to stand outside the mall all day. I wanted money. Lots of money. But back then, I didn’t realize that just burning through your health doesn’t equal making money. On the fourteenth day of working, my blood sugar crashed. Through blurry vision, I saw a white-haired old lady saying something to me. But before I could respond, I face-planted onto the ground. When I woke up, a kind stranger had taken me to the hospital. And with that, I met my first turning point. By my bedside, the first person I saw was that old lady. Yesterday, I helped her push her recycling tricycle across the street. Today, she held my hand, eyes full of tears. “Nana, you’re awake?” “Grandma has been watching over you. Don’t be scared, don’t be scared.” Chapter 4 I looked at her in confusion. Before I could ask why she called me “Nana,” Mom called. Answering, I still held onto a sliver of hope that she might care. But she was just here to collect. “Penny, you’ve been working all weekend, right? You must have made some money. Remember to transfer it at the end of the month. Oh, just send it directly to your brother.” The smell of disinfectant was sharp. My eyes watered. Just as I was about to tell her I fainted and was in the hospital… The door burst open. A young man in a suit rushed in. He looked expensive. Who was he here for? I watched as he walked over. “Grandma, why did you run off again?” “I heard you were at the hospital, you scared me to death!” I realized. He was the old lady’s grandson. I thought he would take her away. But the man stared at me blankly. Then, his eyes turned red. “Grandma, the ‘Nana’ you talked about… is her?” I was lost. While still confused, I was handed a contract. This time, not a repayment bill. But a “Sponsorship Agreement.” Grandma held my hand, not looking away for a second. The man’s mouth moved: “I’m Chen. My grandma misses her late granddaughter and mistook you for Nana. She’s been looking for you for days.” “As for just now, I heard your phone call. You seem to be in a tough spot. Maybe this contract can help you, and help us.” Feeling like I was in a dream, I read the contract. Chen was telling the truth. Three years ago, his sister Nana died in a car accident near that mall. Grandma couldn’t handle the grief and started collecting recyclables around the mall every day. By chance, she saw me handing out flyers and mistook me for Nana. Because Nana had been working part-time there when the accident happened. She had been looking for me for three days. Today I fainted, and she just happened to find me. This time, she finally saved her “granddaughter.”

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I bought myself a gorgeous urn. I excitedly imagined myself turning into ash and lying inside it. I couldn’t wait, so I swallowed a whole bottle of sleeping pills. Just as I was full of anticipation, ready to say goodbye to this world, a call from an unknown number interrupted me: “Is this Miss Lin? I want the urn you just bought. I need it urgently. Name your price.” I looked at the empty pill bottle and laughed in anger: “What a coincidence, are you dying today too?” “How about this? Whoever kicks the bucket first gets it?” “But I should be faster than you.” “If we die at the same time, mixing our ashes together works too.” Silence on the other end for a moment, then: “…Deal.” Chapter 1 Today is a good day to die. Before I go, I plan to treat myself. I never lived like a princess, so I might as well be extravagant in death, right? So I walked into a funeral home and picked out a super shiny, blinged-out urn. It was the complete opposite of my dull, gray life. The sales girl tapped her finger on the sample urn. “Full payment or installments?” Wow, insulting me even now. Who the hell buys an urn on installment? “Full payment,” I said firmly, slapping my credit card on the counter. “Sign the contract now.” The sales girl looked at me like I was crazy. The moment the card swiped, my phone buzzed. Caller ID: “Third Brother.” I rolled my eyes and picked up. Before he could speak, I cut in: “Not lending money, not giving gifts, not buying a house, don’t need insurance, won’t like, share, or comment on your posts…” He interrupted through gritted teeth: “Lin Yang, just… go die!” Then he hung up. I raised an eyebrow at the phone. Thanks for the invitation, already working on it. Walking out of the funeral home, I took a deep breath and pulled a bottle of sleeping pills from my bag. The doctor said the brain tumor pressing on my nerves would make the end excruciatingly painful. Better to… The phone rang again. Unknown number. Why does everyone want to interrupt my death?! “Hello?” I answered impatiently. The voice on the other end was confident: “Is this Miss Lin? I want the urn you just bought. I need it urgently. Name your price.” ??? I laughed in anger, chewing on the pills resentfully. “…Coincidence much? You dying today too?” …Silence on the other end for a moment. When he spoke again, he was suddenly polite: “Miss Lin, I’m Gu Yan. This urn is really important to me.” Gu Yan? The Gu Group heir who’s all over the financial news? I almost choked on the pills. “Is CEO Gu terminally ill too?” I looked at the empty bottle and explained, “This really isn’t about money.” I added fuel to the fire: “How about this? Whoever kicks the bucket first gets it?” Gu Yan’s tone suddenly turned smug: “Then it’s definitely me. I’m already cutting my wrists.” I wasn’t convinced: “Impossible. I should be faster. I just took the pills. If you want to beat me, you better hurry up.” “Where are you?” Gu Yan’s voice suddenly tightened. I thought I heard a kitchen knife drop. “I’ll send someone over right now.” He’s in a rush? Where did this sudden competitive spirit come from? “Don’t waste your energy.” “I’ve been unlucky since I was a kid. Suicide is the one thing I’ll definitely be faster at…” Before I could finish, a sharp pain exploded in my temples. Before losing consciousness completely, I used my last bit of strength to call my mom, planning to say goodbye. The moment it connected, everything went black. When I woke up, the first thing I saw was a handsome, angular face. “Awake? I’m Gu Yan.” I blinked. “I’m not dead?” “Stomach pumped.” He handed me a cup of water. “Doctor said you swallowed over three hundred pills. Almost died from overeating.” My phone vibrated. I glanced at a voice message from my third brother in the family group chat. I played it on speaker. His furious voice echoed through the ward: “Lin Yang, are you done yet? Ningning is getting married tomorrow, and you pick now to pull this stunt?” Gu Yan raised an eyebrow slightly. I replied calmly. [Yangyang Not Late: Yes.] As soon as I sent it, the system notification popped up: “Dad left the group chat.” A moment later: “Mom left the group chat,” “Second Brother left the group chat,” “Eldest Brother left the group chat.” …I stared silently at the (1) behind the group name. “Brilliant.” Gu Yan suddenly started clapping. “More exciting than our board meetings.” Chapter 2 I finally took a good look at this legendary financial tycoon. He was young and handsome, just unnaturally pale. He pulled a document from his briefcase: “About the urn…” “No deal,” I said firmly. “That’s the last bit of dignity I’m giving myself.” “One hundred million,” he said lightly. “Deal!” Before I could speak, someone answered for me. The ward door burst open, and my mother rushed in, smelling of perfume. Her eyes landed on Gu Yan, and her face changed instantly: “Gu… CEO Gu? Why are you here?” Gu Yan stood up calmly: “I came to visit my fiancée.” My mother and I widened our eyes simultaneously. Mother pointed at me, stuttering. “Fi… fiancée?” “Her?” I pointed at myself, trembling: Me? Gu Yan kept a straight face: “Yes. We both liked the same urn and plan to mix our ashes together after we die in a couple of days.” I almost choked on my own spit. The day after my stomach was pumped, I was lying in bed studying my brain CT scan. I looked up to see Gu Yan standing at the door with a fruit basket. He had swapped his suit for casual wear, looking much more approachable—if you ignored the three suited bodyguards behind him. “CEO Gu.” I pointed at the fruit basket. “Are you visiting a patient or making an offering?” Gu Yan put the basket on the nightstand: “Heard you like strawberries.” I froze. …I’m allergic to strawberries. The door slammed open. Third Brother, Lu Zichen, stormed in smelling of alcohol, followed by my parents and—Lu Ningning in her wedding dress. “Lin Yang!” Third Brother ripped the IV tube from my hand. “You f*cking—” His roar cut off abruptly as Gu Yan’s bodyguards pinned him against the wall. The room went dead silent. I looked down at the blood beading on my hand and suddenly found it hilarious. This is my family. Even when I’m dying, they have to yell at me first. Mother reacted first, pointing a trembling finger at the CT scan: “Is this true?” Father snatched the medical record, flipping through it loudly: “Impossible! Last week she was still—” Third Brother broke free from the bodyguards, grabbed my CT scan, and smashed it against the wall, voice shaking: “How can this be? Lin Yang, you’re lying about this now?!” “Zichen!” Father shouted, then turned to me, voice suddenly terrifyingly gentle, “Yangyang, Dad knows a brain specialist. We’ll transfer you, right now…” I shrank back. “No need. I’ve already hired the best medical experts from the Gu Group for her.” Everyone’s eyes shot to Gu Yan. He stood calmly by my bed, like a dutiful fiancé: “After all, Lin Yang is my responsibility now.” Third Brother froze, then sneered, “Buddy, who are you?” Gu Yan slowly pulled a photo from his jacket pocket and held it up to Third Brother: “Recognize this?” In the photo, a tiny me and a tiny Gu Yan stood in an amusement park. I was holding cotton candy, and he looked disgusted while wiping sugar off my face. The whole family was stunned. Including me. My family was “escorted” out of the ward. The last to leave was Lu Ningning. She looked back at me, lips trembling, saying something I couldn’t hear. After the door closed, I collapsed on the bed. “When… when did this happen?” I stammered. “Last night.” “Tech department stayed up all night photoshopping it,” Gu Yan said with a shrug. I stared wide-eyed: “You… why?” Gu Yan took an apple from the basket and started peeling it: “Just didn’t like what I saw.” I took the apple and took a bite: “So what’s your illness?” Gu Yan paused: “Who said I was sick?” “If you’re not sick, why buy an urn?” “Collecting.” I almost choked on the apple: “CEO Gu, unique hobby you got there?” Gu Yan sighed, suddenly unbuttoning his shirt to reveal a small scar on his chest: “Heart surgery last year.” I stared at the scar: “So…?” “So I’m half dead too,” he said casually. “Sharing an urn with you isn’t a bad deal.” My nose suddenly tingled, and I quickly looked down to gnaw on the apple to hide it. “By the way.” Gu Yan pulled a black card from his pocket and placed it on the pillow. “Medical expenses.” I stared at the card and laughed: “CEO Gu, is this you being my sugar daddy?” “Consider it an investment,” he said calmly. “I’m betting on your design talent.” “What design talent?” “Designing the urn.” He pointed to a folder. “My condition is, leave a QR code. Scanning it shows our photo.” I burst out laughing: “And then what? ‘Congratulations, you’ve scanned a pair of doomed lovebirds’?” Gu Yan actually nodded: “Could work.” We both laughed together. Chapter 3 Gu Yan’s heart condition was serious. How serious? Let’s put it this way. My death was a countdown; Gu Yan’s death could happen any second. “Mahjong! Full flush, kong on the river!” I pushed my tiles down. A wail erupted from the nurses in the ward. “Miss Lin! This is the ICU, not a casino!” the head nurse yelled. Gu Yan calmly pulled out a black card: “Damage compensation.” Gu Yan’s bodyguards were shaking with suppressed laughter. One accidentally knocked over the IV stand, pulling off Gu Yan’s ECG leads. “Beep—” The heart monitor flatlined instantly. “CEO Gu!” The bodyguards panicked. I didn’t even look up as I shuffled the tiles: “Don’t panic. He pulled this trick yesterday to skip rounds.” Gu Yan slowly reconnected the leads, and the heartbeat curve returned. He winked at me: “Fast learner.” The sight of the head nurse fleeing made me laugh until my IV tube shook. “Again?” he asked. I looked at the clock: “One more round, then radiation therapy.” “Coming back after?” “Yeah. I can play while on the drip. Just hang the bottle on the mahjong table leg.” Gu Yan laughed, and he looked kind of good doing it. Suddenly his face changed, and he clutched his chest and collapsed. “Gu Yan?!” On the third day after Gu Yan’s heart attack, I invented a new therapy—using mahjong tiles to spell out ECG patterns. “Look, sinus rhythm.” Professor Zhang, Gu Yan’s doctor, stood at the door, dropping his clipboard: “Miss Lin, do you know where the psychiatric department is?” “Yep,” I said without looking up. “Borrowed a deck of cards from their rec room last week to play ‘Guess Who Dies First’ with Gu Yan.” Professor Zhang looked like he’d seen a ghost. Gu Yan smiled weakly: “Professor, she’s just… expressing concern in a special way.” “Special?” Professor Zhang pointed at the abstract art on the wall made of CT scans. “She turned your MRI into Starry Night!” I puffed out my chest proudly: “Van Gogh would be proud!” Professor Zhang stormed off. Gu Yan looked at the ceiling and suddenly said: “When I was a kid, my hospital room was never this lively.” I stopped arranging tiles: “Why?” “Sick kids in the Gu family are weaknesses,” he said lightly. “The board questions your eligibility to inherit.” I imagined little Gu Yan lying in a hospital bed surrounded by suits pointing fingers, and suddenly got angry: “Damn it! I’ll go paint your headquarters Hello Kitty right now!” Gu Yan laughed until he coughed: “I’d be disowned.” “Even better,” I handed him an oxygen mask. “Be my henchman. I’ll treat you to spicy food and good drinks.” “With your savings?” He raised an eyebrow. “You maxed out your credit card for an urn.” “Hey!” I threw a pillow at him. “Who are you looking down on? I’m at least—” The door opened. Lu Ningning stood there with a fruit basket, eyes red like a rabbit: “Sis… can I come in?” My face fell instantly: “Wrong room. Your sister is in obstetrics.” Lu Ningning’s tears fell. “I… I came to apologize.” She rushed over and knelt: “Sis! I really know I was wrong! I peeked at your diary and found out what you went through all those years…” My blood ran cold. Chapter 4 That diary from when I was fifteen recorded every unbearable memory from the seven years I was trafficked. And the reason I was kidnapped was to protect my sister. All these years, I thought no one but me remembered. Lu Ningning tremblingly pulled out a stack of papers: “I… I found everyone you mentioned… the orphanage worker has been arrested, and that…” I snatched the papers. On top was a police report receipt. Dated the day I was diagnosed. “Why?” My throat was dry. “Don’t you hate me most?” Lu Ningning cried, makeup running: “How could I hate you? I just wanted your attention, but you always…” Gu Yan suddenly sat up: “Lin Yang, you look pale.” Of course I was. Memories I deliberately buried came crashing back—the worker’s belt, fighting dogs for food, the dark storage room… These bloody wounds never disappeared. They were reefs hidden under the skin, aching in every moment I felt unloved. “Get out.” I pointed at the door. “Everyone out.” Lu Ningning wanted to say more but was dragged out by Gu Yan’s bodyguards. After the room quieted, I realized I was clutching the papers tightly. “Want to talk?” Gu Yan asked softly. “About what? How I was abused for seven years? How I was locked in a cage like livestock to be picked? How I was sold three times?” My smile was uglier than crying. “Or how I came back to find this family never accepted me?” Gu Yan listened quietly, then said: “I was kidnapped when I was ten.” I looked up sharply. “My uncle hired them,” he said calmly, like telling someone else’s story. “They locked me in a basement, one cup of water a day, to force my dad to sign over shares.” My throat tightened: “Then?” “Then I escaped, went straight to the shareholder meeting.” He twitched his lips. “Appeared in the conference room covered in blood, exposed my uncle right there.” “So your heart…” “Root of the problem from back then,” he glossed over it. “My point is, pain doesn’t need comparison. Your pain isn’t less important just because mine was worse.” “And some scars look like defects, but who says they can’t be art from another angle?” My nose stung, and I looked down, pretending to organize papers: “CEO Gu, your chicken soup is a bit salty.” Gu Yan smiled and pulled a folder from the nightstand: “Speaking of which, I have a proposal.” Inside was a “Patient Alliance Special Action Plan,” detailing how to use our remaining time: Establish the Brat Foundation, treating unreliable parents. Teach every kid in the hospital to weave bracelets from IV tubes. Perform death metal at the Gu Group annual meeting. Send a box of screaming chickens to everyone who bullied us. Family Crematorium (Total destruction of toxic family). “This…” I flipped through the plan. “When did you make this?” “While you were snoring last night.” He handed me a pen. “Sign?” The plan was like a light suddenly turning on. I realized living doesn’t have to be waiting for death. It can be blowing up years of grievances into fireworks before the finish line. I signed my name with a flourish: “Happy cooperation, partner.” Gu Yan picked up the call button: “Nurse, we need two glasses of champagne.” “Alcohol is prohibited!” the head nurse roared over the speaker. “Then two bottles of saline,” I added. “Vintage ’82.”

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Sophomore year, I sent my boyfriend a box of gifts. He was happily video chatting with me when his roommate suddenly interrupted: “Why are you showing off that cheap junk?” My boyfriend turned to him, teasing, “You treat that raggedy charm like a treasure too. Won’t even let anyone touch it.” The next second, my ex-boyfriend’s face appeared on the screen. I immediately remembered my senior year of high school. I was framed for stealing exam papers and lost my guaranteed admission spot. The bad boy who once promised to be my shield looked at me impatiently and said: “What is she, and what are you? Do you really have to provoke her?” Chapter 1 I froze for a second before recognizing the face on the screen. It was Caleb. I hadn’t seen him in a few years. He was even more handsome now. No longer pretending to be a poor kid in front of me, he was back to being the wealthy young master, just less flashy and raw than before. The moment he glanced at me, the cigarette in his hand trembled. Ash fell onto his hand. He looked away quickly and scoffed: “That’s it?” Liam’s face went cold instantly. “If you can’t say anything nice, get lost. My girlfriend is the best in the world.” “The best? Who knows if she’s just after your money.” Caleb leaned back against the headboard, his eyes unreadable. Liam turned back to me, grinning brightly. “Babe, what else do you like? Anything money can buy is no problem. You know I’m so rich it hurts.” “Please, let me spend some money on you.” He acted cute towards the camera. I looked down at the floor. Caleb suddenly sneered. “Isn’t this what you’ve been waiting for? Hurry up and ask for it.” Liam only had a good temper with me. He couldn’t stand anyone badmouthing me. He turned around and kicked the table. “Did the Gu family go bankrupt? You’re so sensitive about money!” Finally, Liam frowned and roasted him again: “Are you on your period? You’ve been shady to my girlfriend all day.” As soon as he finished, Caleb’s face turned black. His chest heaved, but he couldn’t say a word. He stormed out, slamming the door. Liam acted like he didn’t hear a thing, continuing to lie on the desk talking to me. “Babe, I’m sorry. I don’t know what his problem is. Don’t be unhappy. I’ll take you to see some houses.” “My family’s new development is finished. Want to go see? I reserved the best units for you.” He rambled on, carefully watching my expression. If anyone else saw the pampered prince of the Shen family talking to a woman like this, their jaws would drop. I looked up and gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay.” “Let’s talk about the houses later. Class is starting soon.” “Okay, wait for me. I’ll come pick you up right away.” Honestly, I was prepared to run into Caleb when I came here. But I didn’t expect him to be roommates with Liam. When I was fighting tooth and nail to climb up, I always thought about showing Caleb that leaving him only made my life better. But now that I saw him, I didn’t feel anything. Chapter 2 It started raining when I came out. I leaned against the dorm entrance reading a paper, waiting for Liam. “You’ve gotten bold, Penny.” “Where’s Liam?” I looked past him, gazing into the distance. Caleb suddenly reached out and pulled me under his umbrella. “Can’t I pick you up?” One sentence dragged me from the Ivy League campus back to the damp slums. Heavy rain poured outside the window. The power went out in the classroom. Other students were celebrating getting out early, but I was calculating how much extra I could make delivering food in this weather. I had no choice. I was an orphan. If I didn’t make money, no one would. Plunging into the rain, I was soaked instantly. Afraid of getting a complaint, I took off my raincoat to cover the delivery box on the back. Before I could celebrate earning some money, my electric scooter skidded and crashed heavily. My leg was scraped badly. I tried for a long time but couldn’t stand up. Helpless, I called my childhood friend to pick me up. But instead of him, Caleb came. Back then, Caleb was still a delinquent. Wearing jingling accessories, looking like a walking hardware store, he ran through the wind and rain to my side. “Where’s Kevin?” “Can’t I pick you up? I’m your good friend too.” He helped me lift the scooter and then picked me up. A faint smell of herbal medicine surrounded me. I lay on his back, watching the young master fumble to start the scooter, cursing the whole time. “Penny, are you sick? Can’t you tell me if you need money? Delivering food in this rain, aren’t you afraid of an accident?” “Mr. Wang would have a heart attack in front of the whole class if something happened to you.” Mr. Wang was our homeroom teacher who took great care of me. I lay on his back, feeling his warmth. Maybe because I found him annoying, or maybe my fast heartbeat was messing with my brain, I reached out and covered his mouth. “Shut up.” It was instantly quiet around us, except for the sound of rain and my pounding heart. His breath hit my hand, making my ears burn even more. I, who always valued efficiency, suddenly wished time would stop for a while. But now. I wished time would speed up, letting me escape being with him. “Penny, I’m here.” Liam arrived. I couldn’t wait to run to him. He pulled me into his arms before looking at Caleb. Caleb stood in the rain, looking lonely for no reason. He clutched the charm in his hand, opening and closing his mouth. Liam glanced at it, his grip on my hand tightening. “Let’s go.” But Caleb called out to him. “Do you know who gave me this charm?” My body stiffened. Liam turned around with a smile. “Does it matter who gave it?” “Aren’t you just pining over a raggedy charm after getting dumped?” Caleb didn’t get angry. “But when she gave it to me, she put a safety talisman inside. She begged for it personally.” “Liam, has your girlfriend ever given you one?” They stared at each other in silence. Liam suddenly grabbed my arm, revealing the bracelet on my wrist. “I can’t bear to let my girlfriend do those things for me, so I begged for one for her.” Caleb’s pupils constricted. The charm in his hand was crushed into wrinkles. He opened his mouth, then closed it. I guessed he wanted to ask. If the scar on my wrist had healed. Chapter 3 Back then, the day I found out Caleb was in the hospital due to a car accident, I learned what it meant to be scared out of my wits. Kevin took me to the hospital, but I could only watch him through the glass. Caleb lay amidst buzzing machines, tubes all over his body. The doctor was telling the Gu family about his condition. “The patient’s situation is not optimistic. Whether he wakes up depends on today and tomorrow. If he doesn’t wake up by tomorrow…” “The family should prepare for the worst.” I covered my mouth and slowly slid down the wall to the floor. In that moment, staring at the white wall, I thought about praying to gods for the first time. For eighteen years, I had been an atheist. But this time, I wanted to beg the heavens to let me be lucky once and keep him. I guarded the door of his ward all night. The next day, Kevin took me to a temple. It was said to be the most efficacious temple in the area, located on a mountain so high you couldn’t see the top. Even though there was a cable car, few people took it. Because everyone thought climbing up the mountain path showed more sincerity. That way, the Buddha would grant their wishes. Kevin silently accompanied me up the mountain. The mountain path was hard, but Kevin and I didn’t dare delay for a second. By the time we got up there, we were soaked in sweat. Kneeling before the Buddha, I offered all my piety. “Please, Buddha, let Caleb wake up.” A monk beside me handed me a safety talisman and smiled. “Though there are twists and turns, it will end in fulfillment.” I joyfully put the talisman into the charm pouch. I practically ran down the mountain. But joy turned to sorrow. I fell, gashing a large cut on my arm. Right then, the hospital called to say Caleb was awake. I cried and laughed, ignoring my injured wrist, and rushed to the hospital. Caleb had just woken from a coma, still wearing a ventilator. His hand kept waving. I thought he was uncomfortable and went to call the doctor. But when the doctor came, he just pointed at my wrist. “Hurts…” “Worry about yourself first.” Anxiety turned me into a firecracker, unable to speak properly, but he just smiled good-naturedly. Later, when he was discharged, I gave him the charm with the safety talisman. He had a scar on his back from the accident. I had a scar on my arm because of him. “These are couple scars.” Caleb pulled me into his arms, holding the charm. “Penny, let’s be together.” The messy stitches on the charm hid a girl’s secret crush. I agreed, starting a secret campus romance. Back then, I thought Caleb and I would have a happy ending. And now, the scar on my wrist was covered by a bracelet engraved with Liam’s name. Chapter 4 After a calculus class, I was energized, but Liam turned into a wilted puppy. He switched to his second personality, clingily leaning on me to act cute. “Babe, I’m so dumb compared to you.” I rubbed his head amusingly to comfort him. “Not dumb, not dumb. I’ll explain whatever you didn’t understand.” “No, let’s eat first.” He pulled my hand and walked out, then stopped halfway. “I left my phone on the desk.” “I’ll get it, wait for me.” He ran off quickly. I leaned against the wall filling out an application form. Recently, there was an internship opportunity in the department, and people were fighting over it. Although I was first in my year, I couldn’t slack off. My temples started throbbing again. My hand reached into my bag. “Here.” A lighter and cigarettes were placed in my hand. But I took out a piece of candy instead. “Quit.” Caleb nodded, an emotion I couldn’t read in his eyes. “Do you have to work yourself so hard?” He had said this before, and we fought. Before the college entrance exam, I reached the point of tying my hair to the beam and pricking my thigh with an awl (metaphorically working extremely hard). To stay awake, I learned to smoke. I was ambitious. I had to go to Tsinghua University. It was the first stop of my dream. When Kevin came to deliver food on his mom’s orders, he was shocked. But he didn’t say anything, just threw me a box of supplements. “Eat, then study.” I nodded and ate silently. My phone rang repeatedly. It was a message from Caleb. “Penny, I miss you so much. Come find me, okay?” Below was the address of a famously expensive bar. I didn’t want to go, but it was his birthday. I softened. When I entered the private room, Caleb reached out and hugged me. “You haven’t been with me for a long time. Stay with me today.” “No, I have to go back to do practice questions at ten. After the exam…” Before I could finish, a female voice interrupted. “Forget it. She’s a self-reliant straight-A student. Why are you interfering?” I knew the speaker. It was Caleb’s childhood friend, Vanessa. She looked me up and down with disdain and sneered. “Tsk, playing hard to get should have a limit. Don’t cry when you overplay your hand.” Laughter erupted as soon as she finished speaking. Caleb’s face went cold. He smashed a glass on the spot. “Say one more shady thing and see what happens?” “What my girlfriend does is none of your damn business.” He threw a huge tantrum. Those friends didn’t dare say another bad word about me. He dragged Vanessa over to apologize to me. Actually, I knew his friends looked down on me, thinking I was with him for money. But I didn’t care about their opinions. I only cared about Caleb’s opinion. As long as Caleb believed in me and supported me, I had nothing to fear. That night, Caleb ended the celebration early and personally drove me home. “Don’t get too tired. Rest early after finishing the questions.” His eyes were bright. Finally, he spoke shyly. “Can you say happy birthday to me?” “Happy birthday. Here’s your gift.” It was a pair of boxing gloves. It cost me a month’s salary. Caleb grinned from ear to ear. “I love it.” I took a deep breath buried in his jacket, feeling all my fatigue disappear. In the days that followed, he silently took care of my three meals a day. I studied like crazy. Finally, I found a free day to visit him. But I heard him complaining to Vanessa. “Does she have to make herself so tired?” “Isn’t it good to just stay by my side? I’ll give her whatever she wants. I don’t know why she’s being so stubborn.” I didn’t hear what he and Vanessa said afterwards. I just felt a sudden sourness in my heart. But at that time, I thought he was just concerned about me. I didn’t know this was just the beginning of the explosion of conflicts between us.

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Before high school graduation, I gave the boy I secretly loved a jar of hand-folded paper stars. At the graduation party, my heart was full of hope, ready to confess my feelings. But just outside the private room, I heard him complaining to his friends. “In this day and age, who gives folded stars as a gift? It’s so cheap and tacky.” His friend laughed. “Why is it that Lily gave the gift, but you’re the one embarrassed? Want me to throw it away for you?” “Sure!” Caleb didn’t hesitate for a second. He tossed the jar to his friend. And his eyes met mine, standing just outside the door. I watched quietly as his smile faded, then I turned and walked away. Years later, old classmates told me Caleb spent ten years looking for me. Chapter 1 Caleb probably never expected that I, the subject of his ridicule, would overhear his conversation. So when the waiter opened the door, the smile on his face froze instantly. His friend saw me and immediately wiped the smirk off his face. He placed the jar of stars back in front of Caleb. “After all, it’s Lily’s heartfelt gift. It wouldn’t be right to throw it away.” Caleb looked distressed, not knowing how to explain himself. Every single star in that jar had a note written inside. I squeezed out time every night before bed to fold them. Nine hundred and ninety-nine stars in total. Actually, there was something else inside—a necklace, buried under the stars. The necklace wasn’t expensive, maybe fifty bucks, but I saved up for a long time, skipping meals to buy it. But he surely wouldn’t care for it. After all, Caleb came from a wealthy family, while I was just a girl from the countryside. My monthly living expenses weren’t even a fraction of his pocket change. I stepped forward and took back the jar of stars. “Sorry, I’ll throw it away myself.” I grabbed my things, turned, and walked out of the private room. I left the restaurant and headed straight for the nearest dumpster. I stopped and instinctively looked back. I saw Caleb had chased after me, but he stopped at the restaurant entrance. My emotions were a mess. It felt like someone had ripped away my dignity, leaving me exposed and pathetic. Especially Caleb’s casual, mocking tone—it made me feel incredibly ashamed. Hardening my heart, I tossed the jar into the trash can and walked away without looking back. My two-year crush ended with an imperfect period. I didn’t expect this one incident to plant a thorn in my heart that would fester for years, impossible to remove. After throwing away the stars, I didn’t return to the restaurant. I went home. The dinner was split-bill. I didn’t have much money and hadn’t planned to go, but I wanted to confess to Caleb, so I showed up. Chapter 2 Luckily, I found out he didn’t like me before I confessed. Otherwise, being rejected in front of everyone would have been so embarrassing. Back home, Dad wasn’t back from work yet. Mom was making dinner. I hurried to help, adding firewood to the stove. Seeing me, Mom was surprised. “Sweetie, weren’t you at the graduation dinner? Why are you back?” I smiled and explained, “What’s there to celebrate? It was boring, so I came back.” Mom asked anxiously, “Did you not have enough money? I’ll go get some for you!” She wiped her wet hands on her apron. I quickly stopped her. “No, Mom. I just felt it was meaningless. We probably won’t contact each other for a hundred years after graduation. The food isn’t even that good, and it’s a waste of money. I’d rather eat with you and Dad.” Mom didn’t insist, continuing with dinner. I threw wood into the stove. The fire roared to life, warming my face. “Mom, when I get into a good college and find a good job, I’ll bring you and Dad to live in the city.” I started daydreaming and planning the future. Mom listened and kept saying okay. A table full of dishes was ready, just waiting for Dad. Usually, he would have been home by now. Mom looked worried too. “I’ll go to the construction site and check,” I said, getting up. Just as I was about to leave, Uncle Liu from the village came running in a panic. “Bad news! Bad news! Brother Li was hit by a steel plate at the site!” When Uncle Liu took Mom and me to the hospital, the doctor told us they had done their best. Hundreds of pounds of steel had crushed my dad, causing massive internal bleeding. Mom fainted upon hearing the news. Seeing Dad’s body, I burst into tears, throwing myself on him and shaking him. “Dad, wake up! Didn’t you want to see me get into college?” But he wouldn’t wake up. Suddenly, screams came from the hallway, followed by a loud “thud.” “Someone jumped! Someone jumped off the building!” people shouted in panic. I was drowning in the pain of losing my father. Not long after, Uncle Liu rushed back, looking lost. He said to me, “Lily, your mom jumped.” It turned out the person who jumped was my mother. I heard the news with strange calmness. Tears fell one by one, unstoppable. I experienced so much in one day. I learned the person I liked never liked me back. And I lost both parents instantly, becoming an orphan. I knew Mom couldn’t handle the blow of Dad leaving. Although we were poor, they loved each other deeply. Mom had always been in poor health and needed medication long-term. Dad loved Mom dearly, never letting her work or suffer. He worked construction just because the wages were slightly higher. My dad’s name was Li Hua (Flower), my mom’s name was Wang Ci (Kindness), so my name is Li Aici (Love Kindness/Lily). They loved me too, giving me the best of everything they could. I used to have a loving mom and dad, a happy home. Chapter 3 But now, I had nothing. For the next few days, I was like a walking corpse, calmly handling my parents’ funeral. I hadn’t slept for days. My eyelids were fighting a losing battle. I was so tired. So I lay down in the cornfield and fell asleep instantly. In my dream, I was reunited with Mom and Dad. I came home from school. Mom was cooking dinner in the kitchen, smiling and telling me to wash my hands. At the table, Mom kept putting food in my bowl, and Dad sipped his little cup of wine. Life was hard, but being together was happy. Just as the three of us were happily eating, the scene changed abruptly. I saw Dad lying quietly on the operating table, un-wakeable. I saw Mom jump from the roof, blood flowing. I was plunged into darkness, screaming helplessly. The sweet dream turned into a suffocating nightmare. “Mom! Dad!” I snapped my eyes open, screaming hysterically. Only the air answered me. I wasn’t on the hard ground anymore, but in a soft bed. I sat up, gasping for air. My pajamas were soaked in sweat. Slowly, I came back to reality. It had been ten years. The eighteen-year-old girl was now twenty-eight. I had this dream almost every day. In the dream, there was Caleb’s disdainful mockery, the reunion with my parents, and the sudden separation by death. I lived through joys and sorrows in my dreams, over and over. Sometimes I couldn’t even tell if I was living in reality or a fantasy. The ticking of the wall clock was loud in the silent night. I turned on the lamp, picked up the sleeping pills on the nightstand, and sighed deeply. Failed again. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve failed to kill myself. After my parents left, I took my dad’s worker’s compensation and went to college in another city. Later, the government built a highway and took the village land. Every household, including mine, got a large demolition compensation. But I couldn’t feel happy at all. I became more silent, unable to sleep night after night. After graduation, my mental state wasn’t fit for work. Finally, on the advice of a community worker, I saw a psychiatrist. The doctor said the events when I was eighteen caused deep repression, trapping me in a maze I couldn’t escape. The final diagnosis was somatic symptom disorder with fatigue and depression. The psychiatrist played soft music and started chatting with me. “Lily, actually, you can try distracting yourself with life.” I didn’t understand him. I looked puzzled. “Distracting myself with life?” Chapter 4 The psychiatrist nodded. “For example, raise a cute pet. That way, your attention will naturally focus on the animal.” I was silent for a minute, then sighed deeply. I was barely alive myself; where would I find the energy to raise a cute animal? “Buddhism says ten years is a cycle of reincarnation. I’ve been chanting and praying for my parents for ten years. Do you think they should have reincarnated by now?” I asked casually. Yes, after receiving the demolition money, I suddenly became rich. But with my parents gone, what use was money? My college roommate told me to find something to pin my hopes on. So I often went to the temple to pray, hoping my parents would have a better next life. I continued, “It’s time for me to go back and see them.” Our home had become a highway. I had settled my parents in the nearest cemetery. I hadn’t gone back once in ten years. I didn’t dare to. The psychiatrist handed me the medicine, instructing, “Remember to take your meds on time.” I thanked him and took the medicine. I asked with a smile, “We’ve known each other for almost five years, right?” The doctor nodded. “Mmh.” I didn’t say anything else and got up to leave. “Li Aici.” The doctor called out to me as I was opening the door. I stopped and turned around. He looked at me meaningfully, then smiled gently. “I’ll wait for you to come back from your hometown. I still have many days of chatting left with you.” I didn’t answer him. I opened the door and left. I weighed the bag of medicine in my hand. It felt heavier. Seems my condition is getting worse. I had my ID with me when I left the house, so after leaving the hospital, I went straight to the airport and bought the earliest ticket home. As soon as I got on the plane, I fell asleep again. In the dream, my parents and I were sitting under the big tree in front of our house, cooling off. We saw a plane flying overhead. “That plane is so small. Wonder what it feels like to sit inside,” Mom asked. She was a born-and-raised country woman, uneducated, illiterate. The farthest place she had been was the town hospital. She had never been to an airport. I smiled and explained, “It looks small in the sky, but it’s huge on the ground. When I have money, I’ll take you guys on a plane.” Mom looked happy and expectant, then worried. “But I heard tickets are super expensive.” I patted my chest. “I’ll be rich then, so tickets won’t be expensive.” After landing, I transferred to a high-speed train back to the small town. Ten years had passed. The town had changed a lot. The roads were wider, high-rises had been built. I couldn’t find the look of my memories. I took a taxi straight to the cemetery. I bought a paper villa, a paper car, and lots of gold and silver ingots at a funeral supply store, then went to my parents’ grave. “Mom, Dad, I’m here to see you.” I lit the paper money and placed it on the paper house. The fire roared to life instantly. “Sorry I haven’t come to see you for ten years. For ten years, day after day, I dream that you’re still here, the three of us eating together.” “Mom, Dad, you always said the big city is great. But I don’t think so. Every time I go home, it’s cold and lonely. I have no friends.” “Ten years is a cycle. I wonder how you are now? I miss you. Can I come accompany you?” The fire burned the paper money, baking the tears streaming down my face.

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I went home for Christmas with a split lip. My childhood friend, who always looked down on me, sneered: “Did a dog bite you again?” In front of a room full of relatives, I said: “My boyfriend bit me.” My childhood friend’s face turned black instantly. Chapter 1 Under my mom’s ultimatum to come home early for the holidays or else, I rushed back on the very last day of the deadline, arriving at night. The moment I stepped through the door, I saw my childhood friend, Julian, and his parents. We locked eyes for a moment. Julian put on a mocking expression: “Chloe, did a dog bite you again?” When I was five, I insisted on kissing a dog and got bitten, resulting in three rabies shots. Julian was the one who accompanied me to get the shots, albeit reluctantly. But this became his go-to joke to mock me. Probably recalling the past, the adults in the room all laughed. I touched my lip. The wound had scabbed over, standing out starkly against my pale lips. Amidst their laughter, I said: “No, my boyfriend bit me this morning.” The laughter stopped abruptly. Everyone looked shocked, except for Julian, whose face turned dark. Because we used to have a “baby engagement.” Chapter 2 In the pin-drop silence, Julian’s mom spoke up: “Chloe has a boyfriend?” I responded politely: “Yes, a senior from my college.” Under Julian’s almost furious gaze, I continued: “He didn’t have time to come this trip. I’ll find a time after New Year’s to bring him over for dinner.” Julian finally exploded, shouting: “Dinner my ass!” Then he turned and stormed out to the balcony. Julian’s mom gave me a panicked look and followed him to the balcony. I shrugged, used to this, and wheeled my luggage into my room under the awkward gazes of the remaining adults. I could still hear snippets of the argument from the balcony. “You were the one who said you’d rather die than marry Chloe! Now she has a boyfriend, what are you freaking out for?” Julian’s mom finished, and after a long silence, I heard Julian say: “Anyway, I don’t agree!” I lowered my eyes and smiled. Three years ago, at a gathering of our two families, Julian’s mom joked again, calling me “daughter-in-law.” Unexpectedly, Julian snapped on the spot, accusing his mother of not knowing boundaries with jokes, then turning to accuse me of being shameless and following him around, telling me not to bother him anymore. Julian’s dad slapped him right there. And he blamed me for it all. We parted on bad terms. I even chose a university in the Southwest, far away from Julian. I thought Julian and I would just be childhood acquaintances from then on. So what is he doing now? Chapter 3 By the time I changed into loungewear, Julian was already sitting at the dining table. I don’t know how his mom coaxed him, but he seemed less angry than before. During the meal, everyone deliberately avoided the topic from earlier, only asking about my studies. Just as the atmosphere relaxed a bit, my phone suddenly rang. Glancing at the caller ID, I pursed my lips in a smile. “Taking a call. Auntie, please continue eating.” I got up and walked out the door. It was my boyfriend Ethan calling, just asking if I had eaten. I whispered to him: “Why did you bite my lip so hard it bled? I didn’t even notice.” Ethan hummed and hawed on the other end before squeezing out: “I did it on purpose.” Just as I was about to speak, a loud bang came from behind the door. I turned my head. Julian’s face was red, full of impatience: “Are you eating or not? If not, I’m washing the dishes.” Ethan’s voice came from the phone: “You haven’t finished eating yet? Should I order you some fried chicken?” Hearing Ethan’s voice, Julian’s face turned iron green: “Who is that?” I looked up at him, smiled, and said slowly: “My boyfriend.” Chapter 4 Ethan was silent for a moment on the phone, then said: “Call me tonight. Waiting for you~” The sound of him hanging up came from the other end. In the hallway, only silence remained between Julian and me. Julian stared at my lips for a long time before suddenly saying: “How long have you been dating? And you… kissed?” I turned off the screen and put the phone in my pocket: “Almost a year.” I watched his face turn black then red. “How come I haven’t seen you mention him?” I thought about it. Julian was probably talking about my social media. After falling out with him, I didn’t delete him, but we rarely messaged each other. I rarely updated my status, didn’t change my profile picture or bio, and never posted anything about Ethan. I said: “I forgot to update.” I put the phone in my pocket as I spoke. Julian chuckled lightly: “Seems like you don’t like him that much.” He seemed relieved. I looked at him in confusion: “Why do you say that?” “If you liked him, you wouldn’t not mention him at all.” I clenched my fist lightly. “No, I like him very much.” I looked up, staring into Julian’s eyes, wanting to tell him I wasn’t lying. Julian looked down at me. Seeing that I didn’t seem to be lying, a trace of unease flashed in his eyes. I didn’t want to tangle with him anymore and started to walk away. Passing by Julian, he asked softly: “How could you move on so quickly?”

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The third year Benjamin and I were married to the Beaumont sisters, their old flame came back. At a family dinner, Benjamin’s wife, Stella, slapped him across the face for defending the guy. When I found him, half his face was swollen and his eyes were bloodshot. “Noah, I can’t take this anymore. She hit me—for him!” he choked out. “I want a divorce. What about you?” I thought of how Clarissa had grown colder and colder since Tristan Davenport returned, of all the nights she hadn’t come home. A bitter smile touched my lips. “If you’re leaving, I’m leaving. We’ll go together.” We planned our escape for weeks, and finally, we boarded a flight abroad, having told no one. But as I settled into my seat, I looked up and met the icy gaze of my wife, Clarissa Beaumont. We were dragged off the plane and locked in a dark room in the Beaumont estate to “reflect.” As I wracked my brain trying to figure out where our plan went wrong, Benjamin’s voice, small and weak, cut through the silence. “Sorry, Noah… I did it for your own good.” 1 I stared at my best friend, Benjamin Shaw, my mind blank. “What do you mean?” Benjamin was already afraid of the dark, and my flat, emotionless question was the final straw. He swallowed hard and finally confessed. “Just… don’t get mad, okay?” he whispered. “Clarissa runs the entire Beaumont corporation. She’s sharp as a damn razor. She knew we were up to something for ages! The day we left for the airport, I opened my door, suitcase in hand, and she was just… standing there. Waiting for me.” “You know how terrified I am of your wife, especially when she gets that look on her face. The second she started questioning me, I couldn’t even think of a lie. I just told her everything.” I never would have guessed. Our escape was foiled by a traitor in our midst. A firestorm of anger roared inside me, but one look at the genuine fear and apology written all over Benjamin’s face, and it fizzled out. I couldn’t stay mad at him. It was just… exhausting. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and forced my voice to soften. “Then why didn’t you tell me on the way to the airport? If we knew she was onto us, we could have canceled the plan, thrown her off the scent, and tried again later. Now she has us right where she wants us.” At the mention of that, Benjamin’s own anger flared. “It’s all Clarissa’s fault!” he seethed. “I thought, even if she stopped us, she’d only take you back. I never thought she’d care about me leaving! I’m not her husband!” …What a wonderfully simple way of thinking. That was the thing about my best friend. He had a heart of gold, but sometimes his logic was so simple it bordered on idiotic. The Beaumont sisters had lost their mother young. Clarissa, as the eldest, had practically raised Stella. Of course she wouldn’t let him just walk away, not after he made such a scene at dinner a few days ago. If he disappeared right after that, what would people say? I sighed and closed my eyes, hiding my fatigue. I had put so much work into planning this escape. Benjamin watched my face, not daring to speak. Then, he threw an arm around my shoulders. “Noah, don’t be mad, please? I was thinking of you, I swear. Before I told her, I thought about it. Clarissa’s always been good to you, hasn’t she? Gives you anything you want. If you really left with me, we’d have to struggle for a long, long time. I couldn’t stand to see you suffer. I figured… if you stayed with her, at least you’d be safe.” He paused, his expression turning bitter. “Besides… Stella definitely doesn’t want me anymore. I’m sure Clarissa told her our plan the second she knew. And look—Stella didn’t even try to stop me. She didn’t care that I was leaving. It doesn’t matter if you run or not, but for me… it’s real. She doesn’t love me anymore.” Seeing his pain, the last of my anger evaporated. I pulled him into a hug, about to offer some comfort when the door to the room was kicked open. Stella stood in the doorway, her face a thundercloud. “Benjamin Shaw, you’ve really grown a backbone, haven’t you?” she sneered. “A man who gets lost five blocks from his own house dares to run away from home? Who gave you the nerve? So I slapped you. We’ve fought plenty of times growing up. Is it really that big of a deal?” 2 They were childhood sweethearts, and their fights always devolved into dredging up the past. Sure enough, Benjamin shot to his feet, incensed. “You think what happened then is the same as what happened the other night? We were kids! That was just messing around!” Stella’s eye twitched. She crossed her arms, her expression flat. “Right. Messing around. When we were nine, you pulled my chair out from under me as I stood up to answer a question in class. I hit my head on the desk behind me and got a concussion. When we were thirteen, you tied my shoelaces together while I was asleep. I fell, broke my leg, and spent New Year’s in the hospital. If all of that was just ‘messing around’ in your eyes, then after all these years, a single slap seems pretty damn fair, don’t you think?” This kind of bickering was their normal. Watching them, I felt an unexpected pang of envy. Benjamin was speechless, his face turning cold as he struggled to catch his breath. “No matter what, you hit me for another man,” he said, his voice low and hard. “I will remember that, Stella. Even if I can’t leave today, this marriage is over.” Anyone who knew him understood: as long as he was yelling and fighting, it wasn’t serious. But when he went quiet, when he lost the energy to argue… that’s when you knew his heart was truly broken. Stella realized the gravity of the situation. She knew she couldn’t talk him down easily. Her expression finally turned serious. She sighed and turned to me. “Noah, don’t just stand there watching the show. You’re the one who really needs to think about what you’ve done. Benjamin and I have our issues to sort out, but my sister has respected you for the three years you’ve been married. She’s given you all the dignity a husband in our world could ask for. You shouldn’t have gotten involved in his drama.” Benjamin blinked, now looking at me too. “Yeah, Noah, I never asked. Why did you want to leave with me? I always thought Clarissa treated you with respect. She never embarrassed you in public, always gave you your space. Not like me…” He shot a glare at Stella and huffed. “I had no choice but to leave!” I flinched and looked down, a bitter smile on my face. Yes. Respect. Everyone could see it, even someone as dense as Benjamin. Clarissa had only ever shown me respect. I used to think that for someone as cold as her, respect and dignity were all she had to give. But after Tristan Davenport came back, I learned that she was capable of love, too. 3 Unlike Benjamin and Stella, who had grown up together, Clarissa and I were nothing more than a business arrangement. At first, I told myself her detached personality was a result of running the Beaumont empire for so long. That, combined with a loveless arranged marriage, made her coolness toward me seem normal. But three years in, I often wondered if it was more than just coolness. It was an almost complete absence. We were husband and wife, but aside from obligatory family dinners and polite morning and evening greetings, we barely spoke. If I ever tried to show a little more concern, she would shut me down. “I don’t like needy men.” “Don’t do unnecessary things.” If it weren’t for her father pressuring us for an heir, I doubt we would have been intimate more than five times a month. And even then, it was like she was completing a task assigned by her elders. The moment it was over, she would pull away without a trace of lingering affection and head for the shower. I never felt an ounce of passion from her. If Benjamin hadn’t been there, living in the same house, I think the loneliness would have driven me mad. I knew she wouldn’t change for me, so I tried to change for her, forcing myself to accept her coldness. Until Tristan came back. I watched her face carefully the day she got his call. Longing, joy, resentment, stubbornness. It was the first time I had ever seen such a complex storm of emotion on Clarissa’s eternally frosty face. And in that moment, I knew how wrong I had been. The day Tristan returned was my birthday. I had swallowed my pride and begged her for days to spend it with me, to act like a normal couple in love—a walk, a movie, a candlelit dinner. But after that call, she didn’t even glance at me again. As she rushed out the door, she threw a careless line over her shoulder. “Something urgent came up at the office. I’ll take you out when I get back.” I clung to that promise. I put on my best suit and waited. And waited. I knew that Clarissa never broke a promise. But I sat there, watching the sun climb high in the sky and then sink below the horizon, and my heart sank with it, piece by piece, into a dark abyss. At three in the morning, I stared at the long list of rejected calls on my phone and dialed her number one more time. This is your last chance, Clarissa, I thought. One more rejection, and I’m done. But this time, the call connected. I froze, a thousand emotions rushing to my lips, leaving me speechless. Before I could say a word, I heard it from the other end of the line. A soft, intimate gasp. Then another, more heated and intense. And finally, her voice, a breathy, tender whisper I had never heard before. “Kiss me.” It was nothing like she was with me. She didn’t have to say another word. I understood everything. And my heart turned to ash. She wasn’t a frozen lake, after all. She just wouldn’t create waves for me. … After I finished my story, Benjamin’s eyes were red. “Noah, why didn’t you ever tell me any of this? I had no idea you were going through so much. If I had known, I swear, even if Clarissa had skinned me alive today, I wouldn’t have told her our plan!” Stella listened in silence, then hesitated. “Noah, my sister, she…” Benjamin cut her off, his voice raw. “Get out! Both of you sisters are cut from the same rotten cloth!” He shoved Stella out of the room. Turning back, he saw the lingering bitterness on my face and pulled me into another tight hug. “We’re a real pair, you and me. Brothers in misery.” I let out a quiet sigh. If this marriage was a mistake, then it was time to cut my losses. I forced myself to rally, managing a weak smile. “It’s okay. We’ll get another chance. This time we failed, so we’ll just try again. But next time,” I warned, “you are not allowed to sell me out.” 4 At dinner, Benjamin and I were finally released. A number of Beaumont family elders were present, and to my surprise, so was Tristan. Of all the younger generation present, I was, by birthright, the least qualified to marry Clarissa. Our marriage was a formality, a way for the Beaumonts to repay a debt to my family, the Vances, for helping them in their early days. It was less a merger and more a favor, a way to elevate my family’s standing. Because of this, my father-in-law, Marcus Beaumont, held me in the lowest regard. He’d heard about our escape attempt. With Benjamin, he was merely patronizing, a few light scoldings. But when his gaze fell on me, his entire demeanor shifted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Benjamin was genuinely hurt, so a little tantrum is understandable. But you, Noah Vance, as the eldest son-in-law, you should have been talking sense into him, not joining in on the foolishness. Utterly classless. Can’t you use your brain? It’s a disgrace.” I wasn’t being foolish. And since everyone was here, it was the perfect time to clear the air. I shot a cool glance at Tristan and was about to speak. But he beat me to it, his voice smooth and warm. “Marcus, please don’t be angry. I bear some of the blame for this misunderstanding. I came today specifically to explain. The day I returned, I accidentally answered a call on Clarissa’s phone from an unsaved number. The person on the other end hung up without saying a word. Thinking back, it must have been Noah. I imagine he must have gotten the wrong idea, which led to all this.” He smiled gently, but his eyes held a glint of challenge. I forced the corner of my mouth up. “So?” I said, my face a mask. “What’s your explanation? What were the two of you doing that day?” He chuckled, feigning innocence. “I had just gotten back to the country. I missed Clarissa terribly, so we were just… catching up.” Catching up? Was that what he called a conversation that consisted of nothing but breathless gasps? I let out a cold laugh, ready to expose the truth. But Clarissa finally had enough. “If you’re going to cause a scene, you can leave,” she said, her voice low and dangerous. She wasn’t looking at anyone, as if warning the entire table. But I could feel her gaze on me from the corner of her eye. She was warning me. But I had been perfectly composed since I sat down, having said only one thing. Who was really causing the scene here? A bitter pill lodged in my throat. It took all my strength to keep the tears from falling. Benjamin saw my distress and secretly squeezed my hand under the table. “Say the word,” he whispered. “You start the fight, I’ll jump in. We married sisters for a reason, right? So we could have a united front against unreasonable in-laws and useless wives. I’m still scared of Clarissa, but for you, I’ll fight.” I managed a weak, sad smile and shook my head. Let it go. I had no hope for this family anymore. Clarissa’s outburst silenced the table for a moment. But it wasn’t long before Marcus started up again. “Some people just have no class,” he muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear. “I always preferred Tristan, to be honest. But my late wife insisted on repaying your family’s kindness. What could I do? I’m sure if Tristan had married one of my daughters, he wouldn’t be throwing a fit over some baseless rumor. He wouldn’t cause such an embarrassing spectacle.” He fixed his glare on me. “Noah, since you married up, you need to learn your place. In our world, a woman can’t be expected to have only one man in her life. Whether it’s true or not, you have to be tolerant. Do you understand? You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” His tone was so condescending, as if my marriage to Clarissa was an act of his charity. Benjamin, with his famously short fuse, had been simmering for a while. The screech of his chair scraping back was loud in the silence as he shot to his feet. But before he could say a word, Stella and I grabbed his wrists from either side, holding him down. I shook my head, too tired to even smile. There was no point in arguing. If I still held any hope for this family, for Clarissa, maybe I would have fought back. But my mind was already made up. I was leaving. Fighting with them now was utterly meaningless. 5 After dinner, Clarissa and I returned to our room. Since Tristan’s return, she had started staying out all night. Soon, it became days at a time. We were husband and wife, but thinking back, aside from being caught at the airport today, we hadn’t seen each other in nearly two weeks. Now, being alone with her in the same room felt suffocatingly strange and awkward. I couldn’t stand the oppressive atmosphere. I silently tried to walk past her to the bathroom. But she grabbed my arm, her voice heavy. “In the Beaumont family, we don’t divorce. We have widows. Now that we’re married, it’s for life. You can’t run away. I don’t want this to happen again. Do you understand?” Her grip was painfully tight, as if she was truly afraid I would flee again, as if she could physically restrain me from leaving. But on what grounds? No divorce, only widows. It should have been a vow of loyalty, but between us, loyalty had only ever been a shackle for me. When had that word ever constrained her? A sarcastic smile twisted my lips. “In that case, if I insist on a divorce, would you die for me?” She frowned, not answering my question. “You know that’s not what I meant. Tristan and I are in the past…” “Enough!” I cut her off, my face cold. “I don’t want to fight with you, and I don’t care about your past. Let’s… let’s just go back to how things were before.” Without another look at her, I escaped into the bathroom. The warm water sluicing over my body brought a sliver of clarity to my mind. Her words had given me an idea. Simply running away would always leave loose ends. But death… death was final. If the only way out was to be a widower, then I would die for her. 6 The next day, the Beaumont sisters left for their respective businesses, and Benjamin and I finally had a chance to talk. When he heard about the “no divorce, only widows” rule, he exploded. “Are the Beaumonts all brain-dead? What century is this? How can they have such a backward, idiotic rule? What did all the men who married into this family do when their marriages fell apart? Did they all jump off a building?” “No way, I can’t accept that. The only way I’m leaving Stella is if we have a duel to the death on the interstate!” I thought for a moment, then said quietly, “Actually… that’s not a bad idea.” Benjamin froze, grabbing my shoulders. “Noah, don’t! Get a grip! Don’t throw your life away for a marriage that isn’t worth it!” I sighed, half-amused, and steadied him. “What are you talking about? I meant, if divorce and running away won’t work, we can fake our deaths to get out.” “But jumping off a building is too risky and hard to fake. How about the ocean? We’re both strong swimmers.” The moment he realized there was a way out, Benjamin’s eyes lit up. “The ocean is boring! If we’re going to do this, let’s go big! Let’s blow up this damn mansion! What do you think?” I blinked. “What?” He looked around the sprawling villa, a mix of nostalgia and hatred in his eyes. “This house is old. It’s filled with memories of me and Stella growing up. That’s the only reason we didn’t buy a new place when we got married. But now… I hate these memories. I don’t want to take them with me, and I sure as hell don’t want to leave them for her. So, let’s just burn it all down.” I hadn’t realized how much he had come to resent Stella because of her old flame. I wasn’t part of their childhood, so I didn’t know the history between the three of them. But it must have been painful. He didn’t want to talk about it, and I didn’t need to ask. I pushed aside my stray thoughts and considered his idea. It wasn’t bad. An explosion would take care of the problem of needing bodies. I refined the plan, then looked at him seriously. “I’ve confirmed it. Clarissa is leaving for a business trip tonight and will be gone for at least a week. The day after tomorrow, Stella is going to a friend’s birthday party in the countryside and won’t be home that night. That’s our only chance.” “I’ll find a way to send all the staff out so no one gets hurt. The only thing I’m worried about is you. This time, you can’t make any mistakes. Understood?” Benjamin gripped my hands, his expression just as solemn. “Deal.”

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I made a killing in the stock market. When my colleague, Mark, found out, he begged me to let him in on the action. “Come on, we should all get rich together,” he’d said, clapping me on the shoulder. “I’ll just wire you the cash, you buy whatever you’re buying. We’re work buddies. I trust you.” “I know the risks,” he assured me. “If it all goes to zero, I won’t blame you. It’s on me.” “And when we cash out, drinks are on me.” Against my better judgment, I caved. Then, his mother was hospitalized. He came to me, demanding half a million dollars. “You can keep whatever’s left over as your fee,” he pleaded. “Just please, I need to withdraw the money. My mom is sick. It’s an emergency.” I stared at him, completely baffled. “But… you already pulled all your money out. What are you talking about?” A shadow fell over his face. “I’ve wired you my entire salary for years,” he snarled. “Even with a few losses, there’s no way you don’t have half a million. Don’t think for a second my money is your money. Cut the crap and pay me.” I held my ground, insisting that he was the one who had moved the funds. That’s when his wife showed up at my door, screaming. They launched a vicious smear campaign, turning the internet against me. But when I finally laid out the bank statements, they learned a hard lesson in regret. 1 “Just give me the money! Have you no sympathy? My mother is lying in a hospital bed, waiting for the money to pay her bills!” Mark’s voice was a raw mix of fury and grief, his eyes burning into me with accusation. The office was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone seemed glued to their work, but I knew every ear was tuned to the drama unfolding at my desk. “I trusted you,” he pressed on, his voice cracking. “That’s why I asked you to invest for me. Just be straight with me—how much did you lose?” Seeing me remain silent in front of my monitor, he spun my chair around and jerked me to my feet. “Look, how about this?” he said, as if offering a generous concession. “Whatever was lost, I won’t make you pay for it. Just transfer the rest back to me. My mom needs that money.” A wave of irritation washed over me. I had a deadline to meet, and I didn’t have time for this nonsense. “The money’s already gone because you transferred it out,” I said, my voice sharp. “There’s five hundred dollars left in the account. I can send you that right now if you want.” I pulled out my phone, opening the trading app to shove the screen in his face. Mark’s eyes bulged. He grabbed my arm, his grip bruising. “Are you kidding me? For the past three years, I’ve sent you my entire eight-thousand-dollar paycheck every single month! That’s over two hundred grand! You’re supposed to be some stock market genius; you should have doubled it by now. And you’re telling me there’s only five hundred bucks left? Do you think I’m an idiot?” Chloe, another colleague, decided to chime in. “Mark’s right, Ava. We all saw him transferring his salary to you every month. You say he took it back out? Where’s the proof?” That was the signal. The dam broke, and the office erupted in a chorus of judgment. “Ava, listen to me,” an older colleague said with a sigh. “You have to have a conscience.” “Don’t defend her, Rick!” someone else snapped. “This is life-or-death money we’re talking about. How can she be so shameless?” “These young girls today… Now I see how she affords all that coffee and takeout. She’s living it up on someone else’s dime.” “I trust Mark. He’s a good guy. It has to be Ava who pocketed the money.” … One of the more hot-headed guys even gave me a shove. I was in my twenties, fresh out of college, completely unprepared for the vicious, shameless tactics of these seasoned office sharks. I bit down hard, fighting back the sting of tears. “I never wanted to invest his money in the first place! He begged me to, and I told him about the risks. You want proof? Fine. I’ll show you the proof.” I started scrolling through the transaction history on my phone. As I did, a flicker of panic crossed Mark’s face. He shot a quick glance at Chloe. Just as I found the records, Chloe rushed forward, clutching a stack of files. “Make way! Make way!” she shouted, then “accidentally” slammed into me. My phone flew from my hand, tumbling down the nearby stairwell with a sickening clatter. The screen went black. A smug smirk played on Chloe’s lips. “Oops. I just bumped you. How did your phone end up down there? Don’t tell me you never had any proof to begin with and you were just trying to blame me.” Rage flooded my senses. I gave her a cold, hard stare. “We both know who’s guilty here. It doesn’t matter. The records are synced to my computer.” I turned to log in to my work PC, where all my important accounts were saved. But Mark lunged forward, grabbing my hand. “Enough with the act!” he roared. “Is it really that hard to just give me back my money? Stop with all these games!” “I didn’t take your money, so why should I pay you back? You’re stopping me from getting the proof. Are you scared of what I’ll find?” My words hit their mark. A nasty look crossed his face, his eyes darting around as he scrambled for a new strategy. Just then, his phone rang. “Hello? Okay, I’m on my way!” It was the hospital. Mark grabbed my arm again, dragging me out of the office. When we got to the hospital, it turned out his mother’s bill was due. A nurse was speaking to him in a soft, sympathetic voice. “Honestly, sir, at this point, you’re just throwing money away. Your mother’s condition…” Mark cut her off, his face grim, and pulled me away from the payment counter. “Please, I’m begging you,” he said, his voice dropping to a theatrical whisper. “My mom’s illness can’t wait. Just give me back the money.” For some reason, the hospital was unusually crowded today. He had pulled me into the thick of it, and now his voice suddenly boomed, drawing the attention of everyone around us. “You can keep all the profits you made from the investment! Just give me back the principal. I’m out of options. I’ll even say I’m borrowing it from you!” He looked utterly heartbroken, as if I were the villain in a Greek tragedy. A few people holding cameras, who must have been reporters, smelled a story and instantly swarmed us. “I know I had my own selfish reasons for asking you to manage my stocks,” Mark cried out to the crowd, “but you’ve made a lot of money off me, too! My mother is innocent in all this! If you just give the money back, I’ll do anything you want!” I scowled and took a step back. “Stop trying to guilt-trip me. You know exactly where your money went. As soon as I get home, I can throw the proof in your face.” From across the lobby, his wife, Linda, came running, a designer bag—my designer bag—slung over her shoulder. “You little bitch, how dare you show your face here!” she shrieked. “Look what you’ve done to my mother-in-law!” “Everyone, come and see!” she wailed. “This woman is holding our money hostage! My mother-in-law needs it to live! Is there no justice in the world?” The couple performed their parts perfectly, painting me as a heartless monster. The crowd murmured, and cameras flashed in my face. It took everything I had to push my way out of the throng and escape. I found out later that the reporters were from some tabloid, originally there to stalk a celebrity. I’d just handed them an even juicier story. I let out a bitter laugh. I was about to become famous. And I was right. It didn’t take long for my social media accounts to be flooded. The comments were a cesspool of filth. Mark and Linda gave an interview to the reporters, weaving a tale so tragic it would make a statue weep. The video ended with a direct condemnation of me. “To this Ms. Ava, how can you sleep at night, stealing money meant to save a life? Do you not fear divine retribution? We urge you to return the funds immediately. The public is watching, and you won’t get away with your lies.” The internet exploded. Self-proclaimed warriors of justice came out in droves. One user posted their location, just a mile from my apartment. “Alright, people, what do you need me to do? Taking requests. Your friendly neighborhood enforcer is on the scene.” “I looked her up. This girl graduated from a top university. Guess that school’s standards have really slipped!” “Don’t you dare lump us in with her! It’s a disgrace that we went to the same school. She probably bought her degree.” “Her parents are supposedly well-educated people. If my daughter turned out like that, I’d hang myself from the shame. And look at them, still traveling and posting pictures.” “Maybe she’s paying for their trips with the stolen money. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” “He trusted you with his money, and you steal it when his mother’s life is on the line? You’re not even human.” In no time, trolls had dug up every piece of my personal information, slinging mud that splattered across three generations of my family. On my own posts—vacation photos, pictures with friends—the same people who used to leave fawning comments were now tearing me to shreds over unproven accusations. I scrolled through the hate, a stone sinking in my stomach. This had to stop. I compiled every single transaction statement, ready to print them out and shove them in Mark’s face. Just then, my mom called, her voice trembling. “Honey, what’s going on? A group of young people just came up to us out of nowhere and started screaming at us, calling you names. Your father was so upset he could barely breathe.” “Are you being bullied? Don’t be afraid. Mom and Dad are coming home right now to stand by you.” I hadn’t cried through all the insults and accusations, but now, hearing my mother’s voice, my eyes burned. I swallowed hard, not wanting them to worry, and calmly reassured them. This was my fight to finish. But then I saw a new comment. It was a picture of my parents. “Family, I’m here. Let me know what needs to be done. I’m about to teach these two a lesson on how to raise a child so she doesn’t grow up to be a menace to society.”

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After my peacekeeping tour ended, I made a special trip back home to spend Christmas with my wife. But the moment I reached the main gate of the military base, I was stopped by a sentry. He raised his rifle, his voice a sharp bark. “Today is Commander Vincent Payne’s christening party for his newborn twins! All unauthorized personnel are to leave immediately!” I stared at him, my mind reeling. “I am Vincent Payne,” I said, the words catching in my throat. “When did I have a second and third child? How could I not know?” “You must be mistaken.” The sentry let out a cold laugh. The click of the bolt sliding home was unmistakable. “Impersonating a military officer? That’s a serious offense. We can detain you on the spot!” A laugh, raw with disbelief and fury, escaped me. I pulled out my officer’s credentials and snarled, “Do I need to impersonate myself?!” The sentry’s face was grim. He suddenly shifted his rifle, aiming it not at me, but at the large projection screen inside the banquet hall. Forcing down my rage, I followed his gaze. On the screen, my wife, Evelyn, stood beside a strange man. Each of them was holding a baby, smiling as they acknowledged the crowd. Standing beside them was a little girl, about ten years old. A happy family of five. My world went white. I looked down at the name on my military ID: “Vincent Payne.” I was stunned into silence. If he was Vincent Payne… then who the hell was I?! 1 The rage in my chest was a wildfire, threatening to burn me to ash. I had no time to argue. I lunged forward, determined to force my way in. Seeing my movement, the sentry’s face hardened. “Halt!” he roared, taking a quick step back and raising his rifle to the sky. “One more step and I’ll shoot!” A tremor ran through me, and I froze in my tracks. The fury intensified, now laced with a chilling, surreal absurdity. I was a commander, and I was being held at gunpoint at the gate to my own home. I had to get through that door. “Insubordination,” I said, my voice dangerously low. “I have the right to confiscate your weapon.” Before the words had even left my mouth, my wrist snapped forward. In the next second, his rifle was in my hands. I lowered the barrel, my tone like ice. “I don’t want to do this. Let me in.” The color drained from the sentry’s face. He stared at me, too shocked to react. Just then, a cold shock hit my lower back. The hard, unmistakable press of a pistol dug into my spine. An instant later, a searing pain shot through the back of my knee. I let out a choked grunt, nearly collapsing. I whipped my head around to see a face that was angelic yet twisted with malice. It was the little girl from the screen. She was holding a small, silver handgun, the muzzle jammed against me. Her eyes held a viciousness that was terrifying in a child so young. “Where did this lowlife come from, making a scene?” she spat, her sweet features contorted with disgust. “Can’t you see it’s my baby brother and sister’s party? Get the hell out of here!” Her features were so similar to Evelyn’s. A jolt went through me. “Little girl,” I heard my own voice, dry and trembling. “Your mother… is her name Evelyn?” The girl shot me a look like I was the stupidest person on earth. She rolled her eyes. “Duh, asshole. My mom is Evelyn Xia, CEO of the Xia Corporation.” It was like a sledgehammer to the chest. The world started to hum. Fighting down the shock and rage, I pressed on. “And your father is…” “You’re so annoying!” she shrieked, shoving me hard. “My dad is Vincent Payne, and my name is Maya Payne! Now will you piss off? Talking to an idiot like you is exhausting!” An icy chill shot up from my feet, freezing me from the inside out. My wife had cheated on me. She’d had children with another man. But why would this girl, Maya, say that Vincent Payne was her father? I knew I didn’t have any children. This was insane. Utterly insane. I laughed, a bitter, broken sound. “That’s impossible,” I said, my voice low and heavy. “I am Vincent Payne, and I don’t have a daughter.” “Pfft!” Maya spat in my direction. “A loser like you dares to pretend to be my dad?” A cruel glint entered her eyes, and she jabbed the gun harder into my back. “Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson. You’ll learn who you don’t mess with.” My eyes were fixed on the gun. I knew that weapon better than anyone. It was the gun I’d had specially commissioned for Evelyn’s thirtieth birthday. I had taught her, step by step, how to disassemble it, how to load it, how to aim. I’d told her it was her last line of defense, a way to protect herself when I wasn’t there. And now, it was in the hands of a foul-mouthed child, and it was pointed at me. A tidal wave of fury crashed over me. No more words. I spun around, my hand a blur of motion, and snatched the pistol from Maya’s grip. “You are not worthy of this gun!” As I spoke, I expertly ejected the magazine, bullets scattering across the pavement. The entire sequence was over in a flash. Maya barely had time to register that her hand was empty. “Ah—!” She froze for a second, then erupted into a piercing scream. She threw herself onto the ground, kicking her legs and wailing. “Help! Murder! Daddy, save me! Someone stole my gun, he’s going to kill me!” Between sobs, she hurled the most vicious curses she could think of at me. Her cries had barely echoed before a dark figure burst out of the banquet hall. 2 I didn’t have time to react. A powerful kick sent me stumbling back, my chest exploding with pain. I looked up and saw him—the man who was impersonating me. Not only was he a fraud, but he had the audacity to show his face so brazenly. My eyes burned with rage. Before I could speak, he swept Maya into his arms and roared, “You dare touch Vincent Payne’s daughter? You’ve got a death wish!” Looking at this man, who looked nothing like me but wore my name like a stolen coat, I trembled with fury. “Cut the crap! I am Vincent Payne! Who the hell are you, and why are you pretending to be me?!” At that, Maya pointed a vicious finger at me. “You piece of trash, still spouting nonsense!” she screeched to the man. “Daddy, not only is he pretending to be you, he stole my gun and was asking about Mom!” “The nerve!” the man snarled. “Touching my daughter, lusting after my wife… you’re begging to die! Seize him! Break his legs and throw him to the dogs!” At his command, several guards swarmed me like predators. I clenched my fists, but before I could move, a dozen black muzzles were aimed at my vital points. “Let me go!” I struggled, but I was slammed onto the cold, hard ground, my cheek scraping against the pavement. The guests who had followed the imposter out were now pointing and whispering. “Is this guy crazy? Commander Payne is right there, and he’s still trying to impersonate him.” “Right? Does he not know where he is? Causing trouble at a military base!” “Major Evans! Captain Thorne!” I roared, my voice raw, at the familiar faces in the crowd. “We were fighting side-by-side in the borderlands just last month! Have you all lost your goddamn minds?!” But the men I had once called brothers turned away in disgust, looking at me like I was a rabid dog. I scanned their faces, a dizzying wave of confusion washing over me. Why were they all acting like they didn’t know me? What was happening? I refused to accept it. With a surge of adrenaline, I broke free, flinging my military ID at the imposter’s face. “Bullshit! Look closely, you bastards! I’m Vincent Payne! You’re all insane! He’s the fake!” The imposter merely glanced at the ID with contempt. “Forging military credentials is a prison offense,” he sneered. “If you’re going to be a con artist, at least pick a better location. And of all people to impersonate, you had to pick me.” He slowly looked me up and down, then ground my ID into the pavement with the toe of his boot. “On this base, everyone knows the face of Vincent Payne.” His eyes were cold, like a snake waiting to strike. There was no fear, no panic of being exposed. A rush of blood pounded in my head. My identity had been stolen. After ten years of being child-free, I suddenly had three kids. And my wife… Evelyn! Where was she? What role was she playing in this grotesque charade? Countless questions and a bottomless rage churned inside me, threatening to swallow me whole. “I want to see Evelyn!” I screamed with every ounce of strength I had. “Get her out here!” The imposter chuckled. He walked over and looked down at me. “Heh. You really won’t give up until you’re staring at your own coffin. You want to see Evelyn? Fine. I’ll let you.” He leaned in, his voice a venomous whisper in my ear. “But I suggest you prepare yourself. Don’t come crying to me when you see the truth.” With a wave of his hand, he motioned for the guards to release me. I never expected him to be so confident. The blood drained from my face.

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